At the 2025 New York Comic Con, Josh Horowitz did a talk about “Interviewing Like A Pro.” So first, who is Josh Horowitz? He is the host and producer of the Happy Sad Confused Podcast that’s been going for about 11 years and counting, interviewing people in the film and tv industry. His self-proclaimed day job is with MTV, hosting red carpet and sit down interviews for nearly 20 years. “So I definitely have the 10,000 hours plus of experience.”
Tip 1: Be yourself
“I think it’s easy to fall into that trap as an interviewer to want to be a version of Charlie Rose or Ryan Seacrest.” But Josh said it is always going to be easier in the end to be just yourself in a professional setting.
Tip 2: Ask the questions you want to ask.
Instead of trying to find a way to cater to everyone, concentrate on your audience and what you are interested in knowing.
Tip 3: Have a good go-to question
“It’s kind of good to have in your back pocket, some questions that you can return to over and over again. It’s taken me years to figure out the ones that work. I end every podcast of something I call, The Profoundly Random Questions. And one that I find works really well, and don’t steal it! is What is the worst note an actor has ever received from a director.
Josh shared his backstory, being a NYC kid, starting his career in a small radio station in the Rochester/Syracuse area. “We had a listenership of like 12 people. But I positioned in a little bit differently in my (job applications).” It’s a good note. Practice makes perfect, no matter how big it is. Which led to his
Tip 4: Go and make shit!
| Photo by Tara Jabbari
“Put in your get your 10,000 hours in because I was not good for a long time. Nobody is. It’s okay. Be patient.”
He added, “The other takeaway from my experience creating my own radio show and just trying, succeeding and failing in private was, how satisfying it is to make something for yourself on your own terms.”
Eventually, he learned was hired at MTV and without asking, he started the Happy, Sad, Confused Podcast during his off hours.
“My podcast was something I created on my own. It was not for MTV or any podcast network. It was something I made because I desperately wanted to talk to folks longer than 4 minutes at a junket.” He noted that for the first 5 or 6 years of the podcast, he made no money off of the podcast.
Tip 5: If you do it for free, that’s a good sign. Follow that impulse.
He also went back to the start of his career. Before he started at MTV, he worked for Charlie Rose for four years asa researcher. He learned a lot from that job. The big thing was:
Tip 6: It is better to be overprepared and know your stuff!
His job was making detailed briefing packets for Charlie Rose on the person coming in for the interview. “(Charlie) probably used 6% of the packets. But that totally stuck with me. It sticks with me, so this day. I over prepare like a maniac. I don’t know any other way to do it. I want the security to know that I know my stuff as well as anybody because that then lets me be in the moment. There’s no other way to do it as far as I’m concerned. Know your stuff, and then you can have fun.
Tip 7: Don’t be deluded, everyone struggles and we are all in this together
Josh also said that he was laid off from Charlie Rose and it stung. But it is common, we all will face failures and being laid off. He said that even with the success of Happy, Sad, Confused Podcast, he still gets people who refuse to come on his podcast. But he doesn’t share all of those struggles online. No one really does, so there is an idea that these people are always succeeding. That is not the case.
Tip 8: Keep evolving
“I always evolve, and part of that is because we all know the (entertainment) industry is exponentially evolving by the minute. But internally, I want to evolve. I don’t want to do the same interview for the rest of my life.”
From figuring out his go-to questions, to adjusting for video content, Josh keeps evolving.
Tip 9: Be authentic and true to yourself.
“What works for me is being brutally authentic as much as possible in an interview setting. I talked to my mom or my wife the same way I would to George Clooney. I really do. Like, that’s, if I had a skill, maybe that’s my skill is like I’m able to quiet the part of my brain that is in awe of the filmmakers and actors that I grew up with. Again, not saying you have to do this, but I’m saying that’s what works for me.” It is what feels authentic to him.
During his talk, he had two other interviewers join him, Liam Crowley from Screen Rant and Grae Drake from CBR to share their experiences and give tips.
Grae shared that it took time for her to figure out her vibe as an interviewer. “I’m an editor and a cinematographer from back in the day. And so being able to watch my own stuff and edit my own stuff and cover up my own, what I thought were flubs, it showed me much more quickly what I was up to and what people seemed to be responding to, which I think is also the strength of social media.”
| Photo by Tara Jabbari
Tip 10: Watch back your interviews, learn from them
And this question came with fun stories and perspectives: What do you do when you feel like you blew it?
Josh: The good part about our jobs is, there’s always tomorrow.
Grae: That’s honestly the only solution is to like start focusing on the next thing. It’s like the, it’s like to be a shark. just keeps swimming.
LIAM: I interviewed Cillian Murphy a couple weeks ago. I blew it, it was so awkward. I watched it back and I was like, that’s as good as it was going to go. It’s never quite as bad. I feel like this is also metaphorical for life. Like, it’s never quite as bad as you think it was. And also, you have to make failure your friend.
Tip 11: Make failure your friend
With that, take these wise tips and stories, go on and interview like a pro:)
