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!

PV Guide •

Back in action: January 1991

This year, I’m taking a month-by-month look at the action movies released globally in 1991 and comparing them to those released in 2026, talking about the trends and individual titles that made the year in the genre. I’ve always been interested in projects that take a look at a year in film – taking a snapshot of a particular year, looking for patterns, what still remains today, what’s gone. There are many great similar projects out there, but this one is specifically inspired by the film critic...
PV Guide •

Vic Michaelis talks spy stories, birds, the weather, and the process behind VIP

It’s been a very busy start to 2026 for Vic Michaelis. Their deliriously funny improv interview show, Dropout’s Very Important People, is midway through its third season. They just made their debut in the Dimension 20 Dome, playing Hugi in the new season, Gladlands. And their highest-profile project yet – a role on the spy comedy Ponies, alongside Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson – premieres this Thursday on Peacock.

I talked with Michaelis about their impressive lineup of projects, their...
PV Guide •

Michael Jai White on his busy 2025 and the challenges of making action movies today

“Nowadays, you have to do the same movie folks would have expected 10 years ago with half the budget”

Few people had a busier 2025 than Michael Jai White. In January, his action comedy Don’t Mess With Grandma, about a drunk Army ranger protecting his unaware grandma from home invaders, premiered on Tubi. In August, his throwback action comedy Trouble Man (which he also directed), where he plays a private investigator looking for a missing R&B star, premiered in theaters. So did action comedy Ho...
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Sono Lino director Jacob Patrick on getting 'spoiled' by 'working with the Michael Jordan of glass'

After a warm reception on the festival circuit last fall, Jacob Patrick’s documentary Sono Lino, about legendary glassblower Lino Tagliapietra, is finally getting a wider release. Amalgamation Pictures will be releasing the film on Sonolino.com on December 19, with a 20 minute never-before-seen bonus chapter.

Sono Lino studies a fascinating artist who changed the art of glassblowing globally. Tagliapietra started blowing glass at the age of 11 after dropping out of school to work at a factory,...
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Maisie Adam on her time on Taskmaster: 'Chaotic, competitive, and with varying degrees of success'

After chatting with Ania Magliano last week, I'm continuing interviews with contestants from series 20 of Taskmaster (which you can watch on the Taskmaster YouTube channel) with Maisie Adam. Maisie is an award-winning stand-up comedian and panel show contestant who hosts the award-winning women’s football podcast Big Kick Energy. As the dramatic winner of series 20, that’s another award for her already-busy trophy cabinet.

Maisie made an immediate impression on Taskmaster audiences with her com...
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Ania Magliano on Taskmaster: 'It puts you back into this childlike mindset'

Series 20 of Taskmaster was another high point in a show full of high points, with a charming cast of contestants spread across the doesn’t-give-a-shit to highly-motivated spectrum  – crucial to any great series of the show. Some (Sanjeev Bhaskar) very openly didn’t care how they performed, while others tried very hard to win it all, resulting in the closest final standings yet. You can watch all of series 20 on the Taskmaster YouTube channel.

Some of the series’ excellent contestants are shari...
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Fortnite Talk Show host thelukeman on creating an interview show that isn't about celebrities

“People don’t get a lot of chances to talk about themselves because it’s considered rude or improper. I think of Fortnite Talk Show as a place where it’s like 'No, I want you to tell me what your life is like.'”

One of my favorite recurring series right now is Twitch streamer thelukeman’s Fortnite Talk Show. He queues up alone in a random Fortnite game and, after innocently asking if anyone has a mic, blares talk show intro music and attempts to get one of his teammates to answer questions abou...
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Tron: Ares writer Jesse Wigutow talks sci-fi, Daredevil, and the scriptwriting process

The screenwriter shares some of his influences for Tron: Ares and what to expect from the next season of Daredevil

Veteran screenwriter Jesse Wigutow has worked with almost every major studio in Hollywood, but until recently, most of it has been uncredited. That all changed after Wigutow served as a consulting producer on season one of Daredevil: Born Again, writing two episodes, and then penned the screenplay for the upcoming Tron: Ares, which is now in theaters.

I spoke with Wigutow about hi...
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Marko Zaror on why he wanted to keep the action in his new sci-fi movie grounded

The past few years have been good to Chilean martial arts star Marko Zaror. After a memorable supporting part in John Wick: Chapter 4 and an even more memorable dual role in the excellent Shaw Brothers-style throwback The Fist of the Condor, Zaror has had supporting roles in The Killer’s Game and Fight or Flight, and stole the screen as the Anton Chigurh-meets-the-Terminator villain in Diablo.

His latest movie, Affinity, is his third 2025 release. Set in Thailand, it follows Bruno (Zaror), a de...
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Izzy Roland on her new movie D(e)ad: 'It felt like we had been working on this family project for my whole life'

Comedian, screenwriter, and Dropout star Izzy Roland’s new movie D(e)ad is a true family affair. Roland wrote the script, produced the movie, and stars as lead Tillie, Roland’s mom Claudia Lonow directed and stars as Tillie’s mother, and Roland’s step-father, grandparents, and husband Brennan Lee Mulligan all play roles in the movie. There are other familiar faces for Dropout fans, too, including Vic Michaelis as Tillie’s sister, and Zac Oyama as a particularly eager doctor. The movie plays in l...
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Alice Wu reflects on love and Saving Face with new Criterion release

Alice Wu’s heartfelt 2004 debut Saving Face was added to the Criterion Collection this August, with a new director-approved blu-ray filled with special features. The rom-com follows a young Chinese American surgeon (Michelle Krusiec) navigating falling for her new dancer girlfriend (Lynn Chen), the unexpected pregnancy of her unmarried mother (Joan Chen), and the cultural stigmas around each.

Wu originally wrote the script while working at Microsoft and taking a screenwriting class at the Unive...
Rogue •

I’m finally playing most single-player games on easy mode, and I couldn’t be happier about it

My epiphany first happened while playing Metaphor: ReFantazio. I was many hours into the game, completely gripped by the story, art design, characters, and banger soundtrack, when it was time to fight Sogne the Icebound, an ice dragon that appears well-past Metaphor’s halfway mark. Sogne is the single biggest difficulty spike for a mandatory boss in the campaign, and I was struggling – failing repeatedly, and getting frustrated with a game I had, so far, been extremely invested in.

So I gave up...
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Baby Assassins 3 review: Pure action comedy bliss

My favorite modern movie franchise has returned and upped the ante once again, with another ridiculously fun installment that delivers on the breezy tone, compelling character relationships, and fantastic action design built by the first two movies. Baby Assassins 3 is now out on digital and Blu-ray, and is one of the standout new movies of 2025.

The Baby Assassins movies feel like crime thrillers turned upside-down in the best way possible, as if a pair of fun side characters from an Elmore Le...
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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...
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Polygon Exit Interview: Christina Gayton, social video producer

Welcome to Polygon Exit Interviews, a series of chats with my excellent former Polygon employees who were laid off (along with me) when Valnet purchased the website from Vox Media May 1. We’re talking about how these talented people got to Polygon, what they did in their time there, and what they hope is next.

Next up: Christina Gayton, who was a social video producer at Polygon. Christina made short-form videos for Polygon’s TikTok and Instagram, in addition to co-hosting streams and appearing...
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Cloud review: A searing action thriller about our increasingly digital world

The internet has a funny way of making us feel insulated from the consequences of our actions. Anonymous user names, private browsing, digital avatars … the sheer intangibility of the virtual world can make everything that happens online feel like it’s less real.Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa is deeply interested in this phenomenon, and exploring it through his work. The Japanese horror master delved into this topic in Pulse, one of the scariest horror movies of the century, in which ghosts invade th...
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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 •

Polygon Exit Interview: Chelsea Stark, Executive Editor

Welcome to Polygon Exit Interviews, a series of chats with my excellent former Polygon employees who were laid off (along with me) when Valnet purchased the website from Vox Media May 1. We’re talking about how these talented people got to Polygon, what they did in their time there, and what they hope is next. I’ll publish most of these in the next few weeks, which will likely result in a higher-than-usual cadence for this newsletter this month.

Next up: Chelsea Stark, who was a key part of Pol...
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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...
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"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...
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Rematch creative director on making a sports game for everyone

I’ve loved sports games my whole life, but lately, they’ve been largely restricted to two categories: AAA simulators like NBA 2K or Madden, or glorified-Excel-sheet management simulators like Football Manager (note: I say this with love and an embarrassing number of hours played). There are exceptions, to be sure, but the market is dominated by games trying to replicate the real thing as closely as possible, which inevitably results in shortcomings when you see the seams of the simulation. (Find...
PV Guide •

Ally Beardsley and Siobhan Thompson talk life on an airship in Dimension 20’s Cloudward, Ho!

After years of watching Dropout’s comedy shows, I was drawn into the world of Dimension 20 with their action-movie focused campaign Never Stop Blowing Up. In that season, a group of video store employees find themselves magically pulled into the over-the-top world of a 1980s action movie, a premise that turned out to be an excellent match for the players’ penchant for outrageous hijinks.After a couple of sequel campaigns to previous adventures and a wrestling-focused one that looks neat but is n...
PV Guide •

Lost Bullet director Guillaume Pierret on shooting real fireworks at a real helicopter in the action trilogy’s final entry

The Lost Bullet trilogy, from director Guillaume Pierret and streaming on Netflix, knows exactly what you want from action movies featuring cars. While the movies also deliver tense, fast-paced crime narratives and brutal melees, the trilogy excels on the road. Each movie features some of the most intricately choreographed vehicular action you’ll ever see, with high-speed chases, inventive new gadgets, and a tangible authenticity and sense of danger that many green-screen heavy Hollywood blockbu...
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...
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