“I don’t like depending on my art for income, because then I start to think in a mercenary way.” — Soman Chainani
Soman Chainani (@SomanChainani) is a detailed planner, filmmaker, and New York Times best selling author.
Soman’s debut fiction series, The School for Good and Evil, has sold more than a million copies, has been translated into more than twenty languages across six continents, and will soon be a film from Universal Pictures.
A graduate of Harvard University and Columbia University’s MFA Film Program, Soman began his career as a screenwriter and director, with his films playing at over 150 film festivals around the world. He was recently named to the Out100 and has received the $100,000 Shasha Grant and the Sun Valley Writer’s Fellowship, both for debut writers. Special thanks to mutual friend Brian Koppelman for making the introduction!
Grab a notebook, pay attention, and please enjoy my conversation with Soman Chainani!
You can find the transcript of this episode here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
Want to hear a podcast with an award-winning movie maker? Listen to my conversation with Brian Koppelman, co-writer/producer of Rounders, The Illusionist, and Ocean’s Thirteen. In this episode, we explore how he got started, how he handles rejection, his big breaks, creative process, and much more (stream below or right-click here to download):
This podcast is brought to you by Audible. I have used Audible for years, and I love audiobooks. I have two to recommend:
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
- Vagabonding by Rolf Potts
All you need to do to get your free 30-day Audible trial is go to Audible.com/Tim. Choose one of the above books, or choose any of the endless options they offer. That could be a book, a newspaper, a magazine, or even a class. It’s that easy. Go to Audible.com/Tim and get started today. Enjoy.
QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
Selected Links from the Episode
- Connect with Soman Chainani:
Twitter | Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
- The School for Good and Evil Series Complete Box Set: Books 1, 2, and 3 by Soman Chainani
- Universal Picks Up Rights to ‘School for Good and Evil’ by Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter
- Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
- The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance by W. Timothy Gallwey
- The Hard Facts of the Grimms’ Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar
- The Little Mermaid by Disney vs. The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen
- Hansel and Gretel Standard Edition: A TOON Graphic by Neil Gaiman and Lorenzo Mattotti
- The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco
- Garden Cities of To-Morrow by Ebenezer Howard
- The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
- His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman
- The Neverending Story by Michael Ende and Ralph Manheim
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (which also happens to be my favorite audio book.)
- Considering its source material, The Golden Compass really should have been a better movie.
- Soman doesn’t cook, so he uses services like Portable Chef and Heart & Belly.
- A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
- Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu
- Trainer Dave at CrossFit NYC is “a non-bro, bro.”
- The Eating Clubs of Princeton (I still donate to Terrace)
- Some Practical Thoughts on Suicide by Tim Ferriss
- Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
- Cirque du Soleil: The Spark — Igniting the Creative Fire that Lives within Us All by John U. Bacon
- Cirque du Soleil: Fire Within
- Dior and I
- Valentino: The Last Emperor
- Lagerfeld Confidential
- Ballet 422
- The Making of South Park: 6 Days to Air
- That Time South Park’s Trey Parker & Matt Stone Dropped Acid At The Oscars by Shannon Carlin, Refinery29
- Theater of War
- The Velvet Rage: Overcoming the Pain of Growing Up Gay in a Straight Man’s World by Alan Downs
- Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger
- Mother Dirt AO+ Mist Live Probiotic Skin Spray
- My No-Soap, No-Shampoo, Bacteria-Rich Hygiene Experiment by Julia Scott, The New York Times Magazine
- InnoGear Aromatherapy Essential Oil Diffuser
- Majestic Pure Lavender Essential Oil, Therapeutic Grade
- The One-Handed Concert Pianist, Nicholas McCarthy
- Starbucks Mint Majesty Herbal Tea
- Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
- The Man Who Studied 1,000 Deaths to Learn How to Live
- Ed Cooke, Grandmaster of Memory, on Mental Performance, Imagination, and Productive Mischief
Show Notes
- How did Brian Koppelman help Soman get back on his feet after a failed filmmaking project? [06:33]
- Soman gives us the current state of “The School for Good and Evil” series. [08:47]
- Why did Soman continue tutoring well after getting lucrative book and movie deals that took care of his financial needs? [10:02]
- Soman talks about the small island town where he grew up and the factors that contributed to habits of high performance. [12:10]
- On coming out as openly gay: why he’s envious of the way it’s done now compared to when he did it, and how his parents reacted. [14:45]
- What appealed to Soman most about the idea of filmmaking? [20:35]
- What advice does Soman have for the tennis novice? [22:05]
- What makes a good coach? [26:32]
- What are some of Soman’s weaknesses in tennis that manifest elsewhere? [28:29]
- “The School for Good and Evil” is a way to revisit the darker origins of fairy tales in which heroes sometimes died as a consequence of their decisions. [31:51]
- We talk about the city-building aspirations of Walt Disney, and how it relates to a future project Soman has in mind. [35:12]
- On the flaws of heroes. [37:45]
- Favorite failures? [39:03]
- How marketing books for kids is different from marketing books for adults. [43:24]
- The disaster that occurred during one of my first book signing events. [45:04]
- Soman fills me in on the nuances of categorizing fiction for children and young adults. [47:40]
- How does Soman protect the integrity of his work — especially when translating it from book to screen? [51:27]
- How does Soman minimize the likelihood of stupid studio notes getting forced into his script? [54:56]
- With irons in so many fires, Soman shares time management tips. [57:01]
- Favorite ways to wind down at the end of the day. [1:03:04]
- Bedtime rituals. [1:03:30]
- What’s Soman reading now? [1:04:01]
- A contrast of training styles. [1:08:29]
- How Soman chose his personal trainer and agent. [1:12:20]
- As a young student filmmaker, how did Soman get into so much debt? [1:15:04]
- Would Soman recommend film school? [1:17:08]
- What’s the problem with Stanford? [1:20:32]
- We consider ourselves the odds and ends who don’t fit in anywhere. [1:22:02]
- Books and documentaries that will inspire artists. [1:25:35]
- What books has Soman gifted the most? [1:33:31]
- The best investment of energy, money, or time Soman has ever made. [1:35:13]
- Health tips for frequent travelers. [1:42:47]
- If Soman were to give a TED Talk about something for which he’s not known, what would it cover? [1:45:10]
- The problem with “follow your passion” as advice. [1:47:50]
- Soman’s billboard, and musings on life and death. [1:49:51]
- Parting thoughts. [1:52:09]
People Mentioned
- Seth Godin
- Noah Kagan
- Brian Koppelman
- Adam Robinson
- Steven Spielberg
- J.K. Rowling
- Mike Belkin
- Jimmy Connors
- Derek Sivers
- Walt Disney
- Maria Tatar
- Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
- Hans Christian Andersen
- Neil Gaiman
- Glenn Beck
- Jane Startz
- Joe Roth
- David Magee
- David Stogsdill
- Justin Peck
- Trey Parker
- Matt Stone
- Amelia Boone
- Nicholas McCarthy
- BJ Miller
- Ed Cooke