BONUS EPISODE: Inside Creating Top Gun & Writing in Hollywood with Jack Epps Jr.

It is an absolute thrill to have Jack Epps Jr. on the show today.
The award-winning writer, USC Cinematic Arts professor and
filmmaker is a member of the Writer's Guild of America and the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He’s best known for
writing Top Gun (1986), Pigs vs. Freaks, The Secret of My Success,
Turner & Hooch, and Anaconda 1997 screenplay. 

Jack first became involved in making films while doing his
undergraduate at Michigan State University. Inspired by a student
film festival, Epps made his first film the following semester
which became Pig vs. Freaks that was later titled Off Sides.

Top Gun was Epps’ big break. He partnered with Jim Cash who was his
screenwriting professor at Michigan State University, to write
several projects and Top Gun was one of those screenplays. Top
Gun’s success was seismic. It became a box office number one
grossing $ 357.1 million on a $ 15 million budget while also
stacking several accolades including an Academy Award, Golden
Globes, and a number of other international film
awards. 

Epps is credited for the original screenplay in the sequel, Top
Gun: Maverick which will be released this November.

Epps shares co-writing credits with Jim Cash and Hans Bauer for the
screenplay of the Anaconda adventure horror film series of 1997 and
2004. The first story follows a "National Geographic" film crew in
the Amazon Rainforest that is taken hostage by an insane hunter,
who forces them along on his quest to capture the world's largest -
and deadliest - snake.

While the first film did not receive critical acclamation, it
grossed $136.8 million worldwide against a budget of $45
million.

In the second film, Anaconda: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, the
premise is quite similar. A scientific expedition team of
researchers set for an expedition into the Southeast Asian tropical
island of Borneo, to search for a sacred flower for which they
believe will bring humans to a longer and healthier life, but soon
become stalked and hunted by the deadly giant anacondas inhabiting
the island.

These are some classics and I couldn’t wait to chat with Jack about
his creative journey---from his work as a cinematographer and an
assistant cameraman on various local productions, to his love for
writing or reviewing romantic comedies films like Viva Rock Vegas,
and Sister Act.

Let's dig in, shall we? Enjoy this conversation with Jack
Epps.

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