Pete Volk

Hi! I'm Pete. I'm an editor and writer with over a decade of experience in digital media in entertainment and sports. I'm available for freelance and consulting work, including internal work like production notes. Here is a collection of just some of my work!

Some of my favorites

PV Guide •

Ghost Killer review: A hilarious, electric action comedy with a ghostly gimmick from the team behind Baby Assassins

The all-star team behind the excellent Baby Assassins franchise is back with another banger, the ridiculous and entertaining supernatural action comedy Ghost Killer, from writer Yugo Sakamoto (who wrote and directed the Baby Assassins movies) and director Kensuke Sonomura (who designed the action on those movies). Featuring terrific action choreography, likeable characters, and a lead actress with superb control over every part of her performance, it’s a great time that is now available for digi...
PV Guide •

Dirty Laundry co-hosts Lily Du and Grant O’Brien talk the Dropout show’s new look and their dream guests

The season five premiere of Dirty Laundry aired Tuesday night with a new, art deco-inspired look for Dropout’s drinking game show and a cavalcade of new, ridiculous stories to gab over. I talked to co-hosts Lily Du and Grant O'Brien about the changes, the show’s evolution from season one, Lily’s first season as a Dirty Laundry executive producer, and who their dream guests would be.I wanted to start, Lily, by congratulating you on getting the hero edit of the Game Changer episode “The Drinking G...
PV Guide •

Jason Mantzoukas Taskmaster interview, part 2: “Taskmaster Series 19 will undo Brexit and undo the 2024 US election”

Good morning, PV Guide readers! This is part two of my interview with Jason Mantzoukas, the hilarious actor, podcaster, and comedian who recently starred on Taskmaster Series 19. You can read part one here, and you can watch the season on the Taskmaster YouTube channel.Let’s jump right into it.I have to ask about the haunted painting you put up as a prize task, especially because you have two like it behind you. You ended up winning that episode. Do you still have the painting?Yes, of course I h...
PV Guide •

"I feel like my best mode is chaos." Jason Mantzoukas on his heel turn in Taskmaster, one of his favorite shows

While each Taskmaster series features large personalities, few contestants have been able to make an impression on the same level as Jason Mantzoukas. The first American-based contestant on the British panel show, Mantzoukas burst onto the series with his signature comedic style, sowing a path of chaos and destruction wherever he went.Mantzoukas is also one of the rare contestants to ask to be on the show, rather than vice versa. A long-time fan of the series, Mantzoukas took his shot and reache...
Polygon •

John Wick’s director breaks down how he got to design action on Lazarus, ‘the funnest job’ he’s ever done

Chad Stahelski: I had talked to Joseph Cho, who’s a producer on it. I’m very fascinated by animation. We’re trying to do one of our own right now as well. So we had been going back and forth with Joseph, who became a good friend, and knew my love of anime, and he just happened to be a producer on Lazarus. Every time somebody interviews me for John Wick, I always bring up anime and what I love about it, from Ghost in the Shell to one of my biggest influences, Cowboy Bebop, and obviously Samurai C...
Polygon •

‘It was real cat wrangling’: Alex Horne and Greg Davies on Taskmaster’s ‘chaotic’ series 19

Horne: That’s a good question. There’s a spreadsheet which me and the director and the producer constantly play with as we’re recording ’em, thinking, OK, that could be an opener for the series, that could be a closer for the series. And then you sort of slot them in thinking, Well, we’ve got one in the garden, so we should have one inside next. So it is boring location stuff and then thinking, Well, this is really high-energy, good to have a low-energy one next, or This one’s artistic, it shoul...
Polygon •

How the Righteous Gemstones brought sci-fi to church with the magic of jetpacks

As it barrels through its characteristically outlandish fourth and final season, Danny McBride’s HBO comedy The Righteous Gemstones has cemented a reputation for itself. Yes, it’s side-splittingly funny. Yes, its “failchildren of a crumbling empire” narrative is surprisingly relevant. Yes, there is a core of sincerity at the center of the madness. But Gemstones’ legacy wouldn’t be complete without talking about the bold ways McBride and co. spend the budget on ridiculous props and movie-level se...
Polygon •

If John Wick director Chad Stahelski ‘could get away with it,’ he’d fully pivot to anime

The official announcement of a John Wick animated prequel movie should come as no surprise. Franchise auteur Chad Stahelski (who is producing the prequel) is a longtime anime fan who has made no secret of the medium’s influence on his work (“I hope people can watch at least John Wick: Chapter 4 and go, Oh, he’s got a heavy, heavy anime influence,” he told Polygon), and has been dropping hints about the project for months. He’s also recently flexed his action design chops in that arena, working o...
Polygon •

2024’s best movies were about waking up and becoming the person you want to be

Self-improvement is a common theme in fiction. Across genres, too — in action, romance, sci-fi, and more, we like to see characters better themselves and come into their own. Many of 2024’s most memorable movies held an even closer lens to this idea than usual, with a focus on how passivity can prevent people from living the lives they desire. These movies’ inciting moments of action come not from dramatic external conflicts, but from interior decisions, as their protagonists resolve to become (...
Polygon •

The host of Dropout’s Smartypants tells you how to throw a banger PowerPoint party

“You just need people that are willing to have fun with each other. You could have all the other elements, but if you don’t have a good chemistry or vibe, it’s just like any other party where you’re like, Oh, this is a new friend, or God, a friend’s new boyfriend. And then everyone’s having an awful time talking to the friend’s boyfriend. He’s super weird. You’re like, Why is my friend dating him? And if you have to hear a presentation from that guy, no way. Maybe pre-screen your presentations i...
Polygon •

The art of gore: Timo Tjahjanto on why keeping movie action bloody is a matter of ‘respect’

I think there was a phase in my life — when I just started as a filmmaker, I did this little film with Kimo [Stamboel], my friend. It’s called Macabre, one of the first Indonesian slasher films. And I think at the time, our goal was like, Let’s be the goriest Indonesian flick ever. But weirdly, after The Night Comes for Us and everything, I just don’t feel like I was necessarily aiming for gore. I think it’s just that there needs to be a certain, weirdly enough, respect to violence and what it c...
Polygon •

The host of Dropout’s new cooking show wants you to ‘have more fun’ with your food

I’ve always loved food and cooking ever since I was a child. My mom and I have always cooked a lot together. My grandma and I wrote a cookbook when I was little that my dad printed and laminated and we still have. So it’s always something that I’ve been very, very interested in. And I grew up on the Food Network, like Unwrapped and Rachael Ray. All of those shows were what I was coming home from school every day and watching. So I’ve always loved it. I went to NYU for college for acting. I did t...
Polygon •

An oral history of the action classic Blood and Bone

Cordeiro: I had seen a YouTube wushu reel at the time, and I said, “I have a proposal, and I’d like to show you.” And Michael saw the kick and goes, “Oh, that’s amazing.” And I asked, “Do you mind if I [am the one who gets kicked]?” Because I figured they’re going to give it to a more seasoned stunt performer. And [co-fight coordinator] Fernando [Chien] was so nice. He said, “No no no, David, you suggested it, you keep it.” And I’m like, Oh my God, this is my big moment. On the day we do it, I g...
Polygon •

The Never Stop Blowing Up cast breaks open their time in the Dimension 20 dome

Rekha: Part of learning D&D to me is learning how big our playground is. And I think with this campaign, we’d throw something out and be like, Whoa, that seemed easy. Throw something out a little further, like, Holy crap, the playground is even bigger. And you keep going and pushing and pushing, and it was like, Wow, there seems to be no end. So that was so fun. To me, that felt like home. I thrive in that space where we’re all just going a little nuts. I love just yes, and-ing anything. I love...
Polygon •

Brennan Lee Mulligan talks the ‘freedom and joy’ of Never Stop Blowing Up

It’s very fun to be blown away by somebody and then also be like, Of course, of course you’re this. You know, Jacob’s reputation precedes him. He is such a brilliant performer in a season that was all about big swings and goofiness. What really stuck out to me about Jacob was for someone whose training is very [much in] long-form improv comedy, he locked in to the heart of his character in so many ways. Dang stays as this emotional core of the season who is, in many ways, the most affected and g...
Polygon •

Karyn Kusama on the ‘wonderful and painful’ process of revisiting Girlfight for Criterion

Girlfight, the story of a troubled high schooler who takes up boxing in secret as an outlet for her frustrations, aches with high school emotions in and out of the boxing ring. At the same time, it subverts boxing-movie tropes. Rodriguez plays Diana Guzman, a teenager who’s frequently in trouble for fighting at school and alienated from her father (Paul Calderón) at home. When she tries boxing in secret to get some of that tension off her chest, she shows a real talent for the sweet science. At...
Polygon •

One More Shot’s director on trying to get an entire action movie through airport security

James Nunn: Well, it’s funny, because it started as an exercise in How can I push something? How can I be different? How can I be unique? How can I use Scott’s raw, amazing ability to the best? And how can I use my technical knowhow? So it actually started as more of an experiment in just proving to people, I’m really good technically, he’s really good physically and on camera — merge them skills, make a movie. That was where the initial pitch came from. But as time went on, and as we started fi...
Polygon •

How Mayhem! crafted one of the best elevator fight scenes in action movie history

2024 started off with a bang for action fans with the release of Mayhem!, the excellent new revenge thriller from some of the people behind Gangs of London. The movie isn’t just an action slugfest — it distinguishes itself from many of its peers with a heartfelt story that doesn’t feel like window dressing. But when the action hits, it really hits.Polygon spoke to director Xavier Gens, action designer and second unit director Jude Poyer, and star Nassim Lyes, who combined forces to create a movi...
Polygon •

John Woo on returning to Hollywood at 77 and trying ‘to do it a bit different’

Woo hasn’t been gone since Paycheck, just gone from Hollywood and working in China. His output in that time has included a few historical dramas (highlighted by the epic two-part Red Cliff) and the action thriller Manhunt. While there have been some gems in there, Woo told Polygon that since Paycheck, he hasn’t been happy with the limited projects available to him.“In China, all I could do [were] historical movies,” Woo says. “In America, since I’d been established as a big-budget movie director...
Polygon •

‘I like testy relations.’ Greg Davies and Alex Horne on Taskmaster’s success and the novelty of series 16

Greg Davies: Well, I guess I would say that one of my comfort watches in life is Seinfeld, and now that Seinfeld is on Netflix, I’m revisiting it all. Having watched it all many years ago, I’m now revisiting all nine seasons. And I think that I just want to be part of their gang. I just want to be there talking about sardines, or whatever whimsy they’re knocking about in any given episode. And I think at its heart, our show is a gang show — and I hope inclusive. It’s no surprise to us both, I do...
Polygon •

Michael Jai White talks his long-awaited spiritual sequel to Black Dynamite

I shot the trailer, and it was a one-day shoot, because I designed the actual trailer on paper first and shot what was in my head. And so that became the campaign for getting the money for the movie, with crowdfunding, and eventually with private monies. And the crazy thing is, a lot of people saw that trailer and thought the movie was done already. So that became a little confusing to folks. And so even folks in Hollywood, and WME, one of the high-ranking people there, he said, Yeah, I want to...
Polygon •

Andrew Koji on how Warrior (and hard work) saved his acting career

“Going from being in the red and really struggling, and emotional uncertainty and insecurity and financial insecurity,” he reflects, “my only goal ever as an actor was just to be able to survive and live off acting. It wasn’t anything too highfalutin, like ‘become an A-lister’-style nonsense. So I’m happy that I’m doing that. There’s still challenges, there’s still things to overcome. There’s still problems, and as I’m starting to see behind the curtain now, there’s a few things that still need...
Polygon •

Mushrooms aren’t a threat, they’re our future

In 2021, my partner and I bought digital tickets to the Indie Memphis Film Festival. We watched many movies that we loved, including We’re All Going to the World’s Fair and I Was a Simple Man (both on Polygon’s list of our favorite movies of 2022), and an incredibly funny documentary about a group of bus drivers who put on a stage production of Alien called Alien on Stage (still awaiting for the wider release of that one)!The documentary spends time with a variety of people worldwide whose lives...
Polygon •

Why Day Shift’s vampires move like that, and what the director’s stunt background brought to Netflix’s new action comedy

Sure, many vampire movies have broken from the haunting, deliberate shamble of Nosferatu — the Blade vampires, for instance, or the vampires from the Twilight series — but Netflix’s new movie Day Shift takes things to another creepy level, bringing in contortionist work and an unusual camera technique to amp up the horror element of this action horror comedy.“[As an action coordinator], the technical filmmaking part of that is infinitely more difficult and more intricate,” Perry says. “And also...