Matthew Sand is the co-writer of “Deepwater Horizon.” On April 20, 2010, one of the world’s largest man-made disasters occurred on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Directed by Peter Berg (“Lone Survivor”), this story honors the brave men and women whose heroism would save many on board, and changed everyone’s lives forever. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, John Malkovich, Gina Rodriguez, Dylan O’Brien and Kate Hudson. Lionsgate is set to release the Summit/Participant production on September 30, 2016. For Sand, the story is not about the tragedy, but a simple act of heroism.
Sand was drawn to the story of “Deepwater Horizon” after reading a New York Times piece about a floor-hand on the rig, Mike Williams, and many others. Williams, a father-figure to the crew, risked his life to save others. When Sand began working on the project in 2010, there was no list of the eleven people who died (and no president at their funerals). To honor those men, one of the first things he did was find their names and set them down.
After moving to Los Angeles from his native Brooklyn where he worked in fine art, Sand quickly began writing and has written over 40 screenplays and teleplays for all of the major studios including “The Summoner,” “Beowulf” and “10,000 BC.” This lead him to meeting sibling American film directors Lana and Lilly Wachowski, who hired him for his first credited screenplay job, “Ninja Assassin.”
“Ninja Assassin,” directed by James McTeigue (“V for Vendetta”) was released in 2009. The story follows a young ninja who turns his back on the orphanage that raised him, leading to a confrontation with a fellow ninja from the clan. Sand resides in Los Angeles with his wife where he enjoys rock climbing and museums.
Currently, he is working on a mini-series for the BBC about the 3rd Crusade, “Little Brother” based on the novel by Cory Doctorow for Paramount, and an untitled feature film script for Netflix.
Joining us is filmmaker Benjamin Cox to talk about his film opening today, BETTER OFF SINGLE. Ben wrote, directed, produced, and edited the film. The film opened at this year’s Santa Barbara International Film Festival last February where Frank saw it’s first screening. The film stars Aaron Tveit, Abby Elliot, Lewis Black, Abby Elliot, Kal Penn, and a bounty of other great actors that create a wonderful ensemble. Ben also was apart of our red carpet interviews for our 31st Santa Barbara International Film Festival podcast where you can listen to 
We are very excited to announce and introduce artist and actor STEPHEN LACK to join our actor’s spotlight series. All of our listeners will instantly recognize Stephen as Cameron Vale in David Cronenberg’s 1981 classic SCANNERS. He then re-teamed with Cronenberg in the role as Andres Wollek in DEAD RINGERS. He was also featured in Larry Cohen’s PERFECT STRANGERS, Michael Grant’s HEAD ON, and Allan Moyle’s RUBBER GUN which Stephen also co-wrote. Please check out Stephen’s website 
Podcasting Them Softly is thrilled to present a discussion with screenwriter Todd Komarnicki, whose new film, Sully, from director Clint Eastwood, lands in theaters this weekend! This was an enormous treat to speak with Todd about his writing process, the development of the film, his experiences with the cast and crew, and this rather miraculous true story in general. And as fans of Clint Eastwood in general, it was fascinating to find out more about the legendary director and how he operates. Todd’s other writing credits include the James Foley thriller Perfect Stranger, and he was one of the producers of the blockbuster holiday classic Elf. He’s also prepping a project as both writer and director called The God Four, with Michael Douglas, Jai Courtney (Suicide Squad), Natalie Dormer (The Counselor), and Brenton Thwaites (Son Of A Gun). We hope you enjoy!
Podcasting Them Softly 