WEBVTT
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Hi Guys, I'm at you.
My Name is Joseph David Jones. Hey,
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this is Kevin Sussman. Hey,
this meni suit, and don't re
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stay this on. You're listening to
script, to scream, the script to
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screen, scrow, screen, scripts, screens, screen. Hello and welcome
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to a brand new episode of the
script screen. Here we go the five
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episode relaunch of the show. I
wanted to do a little bit of housekeeping
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before introducing the guests for today's episode. I wanted to let you guys know
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that, since I'll be, since
I've been working on my screenwriting and trying
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to focus and put my energy,
creative energy, into that, that the
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podcast has not going to be a
week to week after these five episodes.
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So I will be putting out episodes
as I get them, in five episode
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chunks, because I need to give
myself the time to focus on my writing,
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because I realize that with trying to
keep up on social media, blogging,
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reviewing, podcasting, I'm really not
leaving enough time for me to do
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my writing, and my writing is
my priority right now, especially that I
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feel, especially with working with open
gate entertainment and feeling the support of their
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team and and pushing my pile it
forward and the series and all that stuff.
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You guys know, you follow me
on social media, so you know
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what I'm going through. I just
feel like I need to prioritize and I
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don't want to give up on the
podcast because it's a such a great thing
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for me, as well as a
writer as a storyteller, to be having
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these conversations. But I'm not going
to be releasing the podcast as consistently as
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I thought I was. I'll wait
until I have five episodes and then release
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those Weektweek tweek. So we'll be
doing five week stints. I guess I
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don't know how to how to explain
it. Speaking of storytellers, today's episode
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is going to be, I know
it's going to be super special because this
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this this lady, this woman,
this amazing storyteller, has has brought to
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life along with her team. I
have to mention her team, because every
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time I talk to her she's like
it's so it's a team effort. It's
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a team effort and it makes me
think of the quote that my film teacher,
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when I was still still in college, used to always tell us in
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class. Used to say, Alan, it takes a village. It takes
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a village, and it's very true. It takes a village and in this
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case it takes a community, a
community in a fictional town called serenity,
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sweet magnolia. Season Two just premiered
a couple of weeks ago, but by
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the time you're listening to this episode
it would have been out for quite some
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time. By the time it released, it was, I believe, number
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one for seven days straight on Netflix
in fourteen different countries. So you can
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tell does a lot of love for
the show. And forgod reason, in
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a time where we're bombarded by negativity
and toxicity and so much hate and so
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much division and so much anger and
frustration from, you know, the lockdowns,
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the quarantines, all that stuff,
it's almost like when season one was
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released we were just entering the lockdown
time, you know, lockdown time and
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quarantine time, and by the time
season two releases we're sort of coming out
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of it, getting back into it. We're still not sure, we're very
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confused and it's like it honestly nothing. I can't explain it. Besides,
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it's like God knew we needed hope
and so he gave us season one at
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the right time. And gave a
season two at the right time and and
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that's what it feels like and revisiting
the sweet little town of these beautiful characters
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and this beautiful story that doesn't focus
too much on and I said this in
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my review, and if you read
my review, you read this quote and
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I said it. It's like it's
this story. It's like the writers on
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the show and the creatives behind the
show give priority to the story and the
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characters first and they let them do
all the talking, without too much preaching,
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without politicizing, without putting ideology.
It's just about the story and these
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characters and it does the job tremendously. And I've been talking for four minutes
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and I have to bring her on
the show. So here she is in
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all her glory, the the showrunner. First, sweet Ragnolias, Sheryl Jay
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Underston, welcome to the show.
Thank you very very much and I really
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appreciate it. Like I said before
we started, I've been looking forward to
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talking to you, actually talking to
you. Know, we I know we
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had a few DMS on twitter.
When social media works beautifully, it's like
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when social media does the social part
of it, it works beautifully. So
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thank you for taking the time and
being on the show. As always,
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in the beginning of every episode I
really do give the mic over to my
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guest to sort of take us through
the journey of where they started and how
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they got to where they are today. And it seems like storytelling has always
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been part of your journey. Oh
absolutely. I was very, very fortunate
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to grow it with parents who put
a lot of emphasis and a lot of
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value on reading and theater and film. My father was a career naval officer
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and so it wasn't, you know, like he was passing down the family
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business, but both my parents were
extraordinary storytellers and fabulous conversationalists. My brother
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and I were read to from day
one, learn to read ourselves really early,
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and our parents took us to the
theater, took us two movies and
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always encouraged us to discuss what we
had seen. And so my my brother's
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a lawyer and I'm a writer and
wow, you pointed out one Christmas that
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it wasn't all that surprising because we
both spend our days using language for emotional
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appeals. So I went to college
intending to be a playwright because, as
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I said, interesting on theater a
lot when I was growing up, and
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then a couple of women who were
ahead of me in the program at my
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university came to California and I was
going to go to New York and,
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you know, because that's where playwrights
go. I think I wanted to be
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Oscar Levant and and the Gals who'd
come out here to Los Angeles. One
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of them said, why are you
going to New York? Come to Los
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Angeles. The weather's better, in
the money he's better. So I came
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out to visit her and it really
hadn't occurred to me until that vacation that
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film and TV was a possibility.
And so I went back home for a
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bit and wrote madly and saved up
my money and then came to Los Angeles
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with the intention of being a feature
writer because that seemed like the most logical
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as though anything in this business is
logical. Transition, writing the heures.
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But then I got my first industry
day job, which was working in development
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at an extraordinary television production company where
I was working for some giants of the
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business and I thought, Oh wait, TV looks fun and at the same
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time I was trying. My first
feature was option and never made, which
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ninety five percent of people in this
town can say. But as I was
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working on my next feature, I
realized that structure was my weak spot and
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I okay, we're going to circle
back to that later, because that's a
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very interesting sentence right there. I
that's interesting. Okay. So I thought,
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well, I'm working into television production
company, I'm reading scripts all day.
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I'm going to teach myself how to
write a half hour script that's well
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structured and then I'll teach myself our
and then I'll circle back around and be
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able to write a two hour.
Well, the half hour experiments got me
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freelance assignments, which is how you
used to break into TV, and I
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worked in half hour for some time, but I realized my heart was in
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a different kind of storytelling. So
I started writing our specs and I moved
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into our television and I thought,
Oh oh, this is it, this
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is the sweet spot, this is
where I belong. And my first our
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TV show was the original charmed and
nobody listening, nobody listening actually saw what
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I just did, but I just
did a happy dance because that original show
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I never like. I don't think
I missed an episode. I was up.
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I was obsessed, like I was
legitimately obsessed with the original charmed.
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Well, it was a fabulous adventure
and I met a lot of terrific people,
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but it also solidified the fact that
I had found my intersection of all
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the things that I liked best.
So I have been an hour ever since
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I did. I have written some
TV movies, so I've almost circled back
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around to my original plan to write
to hour. But one hour is where
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I want to be interesting. And
then so that journey. How long were
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you on charmed? Where you want
it for? I was the first three
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years. Okay, so the Shannon
doorty years essentially. Yes, yes,
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okay, okay, awesome. So
then how did you come about finding sweet
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Magnolia's sweet Magnulli has found me.
Oh right, okay. I I created
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a series that shot in Vancouver in
Twenty fifteen and the line producer was a
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ridiculously talented and absolutely magnificent young man
and we worked really well together. Really
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enjoyed the we call it horse trading
that goes on during production, like if
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if I change this and downsize this, can I still have this? And
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so matt and I got along really
well, Matt went from my show to
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chesspeak shores, which is a hallmark
series which is expect produced by Dan Paulson
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and is based on the series of
novels by Sheryl Woods. Okay, so
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Dan also had that's so interesting.
I didn't realize that she wrote. She
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wrote Chesapeake shores as well, because
that one's a that one's a family like.
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My sister and my mom loved chest
speak shores. I never got into
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it per se. I watch.
I think I watched the first season,
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but it didn't hit home for me
as much as sweet magnolias has. So
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yeah, did. If different shows
strike different chords for different people? Absolutely
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absolutely. But Dan also had the
rights to sweet Magnolia's and when Netflix let
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it be known that they were interested
in getting into romantic dramas, he took
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sweet Magnolia's to Netflix and Netflix said
yes, let's do this, but he
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needed a show runner and Matt said
you should talk to Cheryl. Wow,
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that's so beautiful. That's so beautiful. It is. It's and the beautiful
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thing is that Matt is a very, very important part of Sweet Magnolia's to
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he's he's by Kobe Pete. So
it was delightful. I mean they they
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interviewed a lot of people, but
I was very fortunate that they responded to
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my take on the material and I
was thrilled to work with Matt again.
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I adored Dan. Miss Woods is
so lovely and really understands what we're doing
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on the sort of the nuts and
bolts side of things, because she was
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a critic. She's, you know, experienced chest peak shores. So she
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has been very collaborative and very understanding
of the alterations that we've had to make
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in adapting the books into a series. So that's that's how I was fortunate
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enough to come aboard Sweet Magnolia's and
I love that you beautiful, excuse me,
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I love that you beautifully allow me, like allowed me, without even
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knowing, to ask you the next
question, which is all about adaptation,
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because we're living in a very and
this is so interesting because I've been talking,
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I've been talking to my partner about
like wanting to have these really deep
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conversations about storytelling, and here we
are in this is the perfect thing.
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There's their adaptation is very tricky,
especially, MMM, especially, when it
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comes to devout fans of, let's
say the original source material and so like
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for me as someone who, and
I'll share this as a as an example,
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because I haven't, obviously I haven't
read the the sweet and Magnolia's books.
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All I know is the show.
So I'm very like that's the only
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segue to me, or that's the
only key to me into that world.
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But something like, for example,
the Lord of the Rings, which is
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now being adapted by Amazon and has
been met with extreme yuckiness because of what
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Amazon is doing, whereas someone like
me, who's sort of like understands what
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adaptation is, and I even wrote
a massive, like venting blog post about
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you cannot compare the two. They're
very different mediums. You know, they're
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very different mediums. You can't look
at a TV show or a movie and
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Go, well, the book is
better. Well, no, the book
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is different. It's not better or
worse. That's always how I've seen it.
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It's like because you you know there
are things that are you read them
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in a book and you imagine them
in your mind and you're like, oh,
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that's so amazing, but then come
to actually make it and bring it
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into reality and your like that would
look ridiculous or that just wouldn't work or
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that slows down the episode or that
slows down the movie. It's very it's
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a very different process. So what
has your process been like when it comes
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to adaptation? Have you had people
who are like dive out to the book
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going well, why did you make
this change or that changer? Well,
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before before I answer that piece of
it, I just like to suggest that
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one of the issues. Shouldn't even
call it an issue, but I think
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part of what we encounter when we
take a beloved book and adapt it for
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a visual medium is that we are
taking a deeply emotional interior experience and creating
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a deeply emotional exterior experience. Wow, that's beautifully said. Yes, I'm
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a huge reader myself. I mean
I was the kid where my mom used
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to pull the book out of my
hands and say, I've called you for
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dinner three times. Did you not
hear me? Like no, because I
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was reading. But I think that
quite often we get to the end of
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the book and we think, Oh, I love that book and part of
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what you have fallen in love with
is the movie in your own head,
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which I'm sure was glorious and beautiful
but most of the time would have a
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running hour of you know, eight
hours, ten hours, and we can't
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do that with television or film,
and it's just it's a there are different
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demands in television and film. We
have to move more quickly. We cannot
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linger on those really interior moments,
your favorite characters, biggest model interior monolog
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in a novel. That's somebody looking
out a window in a TV show and
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that's just that's it, and it's
like thirty seconds at most of that shot
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and then you move on. So
in adaptation, what's important for me is
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to take the what what in our
room we call the tent Poles, the
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core relationships, the core sweeps of
story and the key emotional experiences, as
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well as the theme, and be
faithful to those but build around them in
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a way that enhances the inherent conflict, makes it more visually friendly and moves
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it along at the pace that,
whether we're aware of it or not,
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we demand when we're watching film and
TV, the the whole reading experience.
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It's just it's a different speed,
it's a different tone, it's a different
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experience because it's just you in the
book it's but in them it's like an
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intimate experience and it's like it's so
intimate variance and TV and film is a
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public community experience. So I have
tremendous respectfulness woods and her books, but
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I told her at the very beginning
there were things that we were going to
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change and that there were characters we
were going to add, and she was
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very supportive and I understand that some
of her fans would prefer to preserve their
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memory of reading the books and I
respect that. I just hope that we
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are introducing her book to all whole
community of viewers that doesn't know them,
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that will go back now and read
the books and understand, while they are
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different, that I was incredibly moved
and inspired by the books and that's why
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I wanted to do the TV show, why Dan and Matt wanted to do
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the TV show and why we were
able to assemble the wonderful community that creates
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serenity, because people responded to this
show, which is, at the heart
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of it, about the power of
friendship and the power of community. Yeah,
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yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And
then what's so funny is that I
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learned that I took a guess and
then the hunter, Burke, the actor
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that plays this character, confirmed it, but I was like I have a
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feeling that trotter was not in the
books and and hunter was like yet,
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Nope, that's a that's a new
character that that was added for the show.
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And in my mind, and as
you're explaining this now, in my
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mind going I can't imagine serenity without
trotter now, like for me it's like
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he's such an integral part of this
world, like this kind sweet soul who's
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just always beaming and always smiling and
just like lights up a scene whenever he's
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in it, like you know,
and it does. It's weird. It's
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weird to me when people like what
I wrote in my critique of people being
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so critical of like adaptations. What
the final thing that I said was like
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you are limiting your own experience when
you do this. You're limiting an experience
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of enjoying the work through someone else's
eyes. Your you're you're limiting. It's
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such a limiting thing. Why would
you block yourself from that? Like,
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why would you not be open to
revisiting the world in a new way?
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I don't know, it's just it's
weird. Well, but but I mean,
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I think some people are just very
passionate about, like I said,
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preserving the emotional environment round the experience
of reading a book that they adored.
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And if they aren't comfortable looking at
somebody else's version, you know, I
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respect that. I just did encourage
them to let other people experience it as
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they would like and understand that all
of us who adapt beloved books are doing
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it out of love. We're not
doing it to say your experiences invalid.
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We're doing it to say we'd like
to enhance your experience. And I'm I'm
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always fascinated by the differences between a
book and a film or TV show.
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But I mean I'm biased because of
what I too for living right and say
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it's same here, you know,
like I've always been fascinated by it.
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I you know, the closest thing
to that experience for me would be the
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Harry Potter books, because I read
those twice and then I went and saw
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the movies and I was never bothered
by what they did in the movies.
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And I had other friends who are
like what, no, and I'm like
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come on, like this is so
much fun, like we're actually seeing it,
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like why? I don't know.
It's weird. I want to talk
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to you. I want to go
back and focus on sweet magnolias and your
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and this and your experience there.
What's it like being a showrunner? I
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think that's something that I've always been
fascinated with, because that's all it.
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That's been a dream of mine to
be a showrunner, to be sort of
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like have a writer's room and to
be with a group of writers and to
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talk about story. That's always been
something I've wanted to do. So I'm
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curious what that is like for you. It's the best job ever. Okay,
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I that's what I mean. Why? Well, I mean, you
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know, I've been doing this for
a very long time and as I was
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coming up through the ranks, I
had the opportunity to work for some wonderful
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show runners and I had the opportunity
to work for some distinctly not wonderful show
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runners, but I learned from both. Yeah, yeah, this, this
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works, this doesn't, and so
when I had the opportunity to create and
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run my own shows, I was
very aware of the opportunity that I also
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had to to build a community that
was enjoying the opportunity to bring their best
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to the table. And what I
love most about being a showrunner is that
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collective experience of asking fantastic writers to
come join the Party and listening to their
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stories and how they inform the stories
we're telling on the show and watching iron
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sharp and iron as writers work together. Well, I see it this way.
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Well, I see it this way
and to a large extent I see
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my job as the head writer to
be. Will wait, let's take this
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piece of your idea and this piece
of your idea and maybe we mix it
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up this way, because because I
think you're both saying the same thing,
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but for this character at this moment, then we could add this extra layer
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and everybody is pitching and everybody's excited
and everybody's passionate and I get to synthesize
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the fabulous ideas that are being pitched, the incredible memories that are being shared
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and together, because this is an
absolute group effort from the Writers Room to
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the cast and crew, to bring
the best out of that mix and then
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take it to stage where our wonderful
directors, incredible production heads and their departments
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and our stellar cast, oh my
gosh, your cast, oh my gosh,
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your cast. We have a million
bench is what I like to say.
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We have strong players in every position
and then some behind the Cay.
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It's it's it's superb, and I
what I loved. Okay, so my
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love of serialized content is the growth. I love seeing ARCS, I love
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seeing growth and as a storyteller,
that's heaven for me. It's absolute heaven
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for me. What I love is
that it's not only just the characters that
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are growing, but you can legitimately
see the growth of the actors growing as
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well, and they're there like they
all brought their a game in season two.
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I mean, I mean, I
I don't remember crying as much in
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season one as I did in season
two, like I just I do not
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remember crying, and not all of
them were like heartbreak crying, like there
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were some that were like, obviously
there's a massive one. That's I got
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huge killer. And since this is
releasing in March, I'm just gonna say
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quick. Well, I mean,
well, I'm sorry, yeah, tee,
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fine, beside is the big one. Is the big one. Yeah,
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so, and and like a little
spoiler alert, and I'm going to
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say it now, but since this
episode is releasing in March, if you
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haven't seen season two yet, what
on earth are you doing at this point?
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Really, like so, for me, Heather's performance when she has the
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thing. I still stilled. Yeah, I still don't want to spoil it
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for anyone. I said spoiler alert, but I still do want to spoil
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it. I appreciate that. But
when heather, Heather, experiences that experience
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with their character, the raw the
Rawness, the the authenticness, the ABS
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like I felt I was suffocating when
that happened and I just and and this
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again. This just it's story,
story, story, it's characters, it's
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the writing, it's the actors and
and it's everybody working beautifully and so harmoniously
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together, because that's the only way
something quality like this will exist in this
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industry is when everybody's working together harmoniously. I soundly believe that. I strongly
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and very deeply believe that. I
and I absolutely agree, because you know,
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if if, in particular, we
look at the moment on the staircase,
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I mean that heather, but that's
also the director, that's the DP,
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that's the camera man, that's the
sound people, it's hair and makeup,
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it's our composers, it's everybody,
and everybody brings their best at every
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moment, but there are certain moments
that just stand apart because the intersection of
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everyone's talents is so extraordinary and I
it's very important to me. I I
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say this all the time and they
actually gave me a tshirt that says this
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in the season two. We work
too hard not to have a good time
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and I will make sure that people
are coming from a place of joy when
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they're doing their work, because I
think that gives them the freedom to completely
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inhabit the moment and completely offer up
their gifts, and moments like that not
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only wreck me, and I've seen
them like two dozen times this at this
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point, but make me so proud
of the community that creates serenity, because
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it's an example of everybody bringing their
a game. Yeah, and as in
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respect for what the characters going through. Yeah, absolutely. I want to
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ask about who it is you credit
where credit is do. Heather suggested that
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storyline and I was really impressed and
delighted to take that back to the writers
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and say, you know, this
is something that heather suggested Helen might be
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wrestling with, and we were all
like yes, please. I mean it
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says a lot not just about her
character but how her community comes around a
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support her. Absolutely, absolutely.
I mean again, like themes. I
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think for me, what I love
most in season two was the was the
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it was very clear that the theme
of the Season Two was forgiveness. That
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was very much, very present in
season two. Do you go into each
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season sort of setting an arcing theme, like is that something that is that
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happens? Like what are you know, like what theme are we doing this
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season? Like, what is it
that where? Is that something that's part
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of the process? It's absolutely part
of the process because it helps us stay
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on course. You know, if
this season's north star is forgiveness and we
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feel like we're wandering a little bit, then we can course correct. Well,
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00:33:49.180 --> 00:33:52.420
wait a minute, we're talking about
forgiveness this season, so how can
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we bring this storyline in alignment with
that? Not that, not that we're
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saying. You know, every scene
is about that. But what we're saying
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is we're looking at what everybody's going
through this season through that lens and it's
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into yeah, sorry, I didn't
mean to cut you off. Go ahead,
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getting to know. I just saying
presenting different facets of that journey,
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because we also say that everyone,
no one in serenity is beyond redemption.
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It just takes some folks a little
longer to get there. I love that.
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I love that. I love that
because there's a particular character this season
348
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specifically, well, also in season
one, but more so this you know,
349
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in season two. I kid you
not, I the moment season two
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ended, one of the first things
that came to mind was like, I
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wonder when they're going to redeem this
character, because it just feels like,
352
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it feels like it's inevitable, because
it is. It is serenity, but
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I wonder how long it's going to
take for that to happen. So the
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other thing that I wanted to you
know, the thing that I wanted to
355
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sort of add on to what you
were saying, and you sort of said
356
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it, was that I love that
we saw forgiveness through many lenses, as
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you said. You saw the the
shades of forgiveness. It was like,
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you know, friendship forgiveness. It
was selfforgiveness, it was, you know,
359
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marriage forgiveness. It was it was
so many different things. I mean
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like, you know, outside of
what what you know her head, there's
361
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character are goes through. You had
Dana, sue and Ronnie story, which
362
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is just, I would I legitimately. When I called my mom, I
363
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was like you have to watch this
because honestly, I'm not going to spoil
364
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this, because they did something on
this show that I don't think I've ever
365
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seen in any other series ever that
I know of with this story arc.
366
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It really felt very new to me. It felt it for I don't know
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why and I'm sure it's been done
before, but maybe in the way that
368
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it was presented within these characters and
the way that it was handled felt very
369
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real to me. I don't know, I was just so happy with that
370
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storyline personal well, thank you.
Thank you. It was. It was
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an important storyline for us because,
you know, it's it's easy to hold
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on to hurt. It's hard to
let it go right right. We want
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to show the the process of that
because again, in terms of forgiveness and
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in terms of community, you know, we can have somebody that we love
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deeply, that we talked to every
day and we still don't fully understand the
376
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depth of their individual pain and we
can want to help them move forward,
377
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but ultimately you have to make that
choice to move forward and you don't have
378
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to get there alone. I personally
I believe you can't get there alone,
379
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but that if you are willing to
accept help when it's offered, that you
380
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can get there and be healthier happier
for it. Yeah, I guess.
381
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I guess my excitement for that narrative
was also for me. It was in
382
00:37:42.300 --> 00:37:46.210
many ways refreshing to see that in
two thousand and twenty two, you know,
383
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we're seeing a narrative on television that
was actually where you saw two people
384
00:37:51.690 --> 00:37:57.090
fighting for their marriage versus giving up
on their marriage, and not for me.
385
00:37:57.570 --> 00:38:00.440
For me I was just like this
is this is going to validate all
386
00:38:00.519 --> 00:38:05.039
these you know, all of these
people who know that marriage is not like
387
00:38:05.280 --> 00:38:09.079
it's not a honeymoon and eternal honeymoon
phase. It's up sits downs, it's
388
00:38:09.400 --> 00:38:15.670
conflict, it's argument, it's making
mistakes, it's compromise, it's it's Yucky,
389
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but it's beautiful. But it's Yucky, like it's you're going to have
390
00:38:17.750 --> 00:38:21.389
to get dirty, like you're gonna
have to get well. You know,
391
00:38:22.150 --> 00:38:24.789
I don't know if I'd go so
far as Yucky, but it certainly can
392
00:38:24.909 --> 00:38:30.940
be messy. That's what I am
you know, I see much is you
393
00:38:31.059 --> 00:38:38.059
know, we want to believe that
any relationship is always Christine and lovely.
394
00:38:39.219 --> 00:38:49.849
I think the I think the relationships
you value most or the relationships with people
395
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that you've gone through tough time ms
with, because you understand the depth of
396
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your love for them and their love
for you. Absolutely, absolutely. I
397
00:39:02.480 --> 00:39:06.920
do want to ask another quick question
about your writers room. Outside of like
398
00:39:07.039 --> 00:39:12.829
setting the theme for for every season, do you know ahead of time,
399
00:39:13.670 --> 00:39:20.510
like the end or where your end, like the end of the work is
400
00:39:20.750 --> 00:39:23.070
essentially like? Do you know what
that cliffhangary scene is at the end?
401
00:39:23.150 --> 00:39:27.539
You know where that's heading, or
do you sort of discover that as you're
402
00:39:27.699 --> 00:39:37.809
moving forward? Some of both,
because we start off doing what in TV
403
00:39:37.889 --> 00:39:42.489
we called blue skying, just you
know, we could do this, we
404
00:39:42.610 --> 00:39:47.809
could do that. Oh, everybody
responded to that, so let's you know,
405
00:39:49.010 --> 00:39:52.840
let's hold on that. But if
this is happening for her, what's
406
00:39:52.880 --> 00:39:58.239
happening for him? What's happening for
her? And then and we get a
407
00:39:58.320 --> 00:40:05.920
sense of, you know, where
where we want it land everybody. But
408
00:40:06.480 --> 00:40:13.550
then when we start breaking individual episodes, sometimes those end points shift a little
409
00:40:13.590 --> 00:40:15.789
bit. You know, we want
to get here sooner. We're not going
410
00:40:15.829 --> 00:40:21.389
to get as far as we thought
this season. Well, wait, if
411
00:40:21.460 --> 00:40:25.980
she's sending here, then she needs
to end somewhere different. So, because
412
00:40:27.019 --> 00:40:34.059
the beauty of having an ensemble show
with three leads is you know, somebody
413
00:40:34.139 --> 00:40:37.610
can be up, while somebody else
is down, while somebody else is in
414
00:40:37.650 --> 00:40:44.050
the middle, and even though they
always come to Margarite to night and share
415
00:40:44.090 --> 00:40:47.690
where they are, they're never all
in the same place. Yeah, absolutely,
416
00:40:47.730 --> 00:40:52.360
because you're never in the same place
with your friends. We don't go
417
00:40:52.719 --> 00:40:59.599
through life in the lap step.
So we always have a target. We
418
00:40:59.760 --> 00:41:05.469
know where we want to come down, but and we always know where we
419
00:41:05.630 --> 00:41:14.230
want to come down thematically. But
the particulars of those final landing spots in
420
00:41:14.429 --> 00:41:21.059
the last episode of a season can
slide a little bit because you know,
421
00:41:21.179 --> 00:41:25.619
when you're in episode two you're like
we're absolutely going to end here, but
422
00:41:25.739 --> 00:41:34.369
then all the time you're breaking episode
six it's like, MMM, we short
423
00:41:34.409 --> 00:41:38.369
changed a piece of this journey.
You know, and and again in the
424
00:41:38.409 --> 00:41:44.969
writers room what we call that is
have we earned that moment? I Love
425
00:41:45.289 --> 00:41:51.760
I love using that word earned.
I love using that word. I use
426
00:41:51.800 --> 00:41:52.960
it all the time when it comes
to my writing. I see use it
427
00:41:53.079 --> 00:41:57.840
on my students all the time because
I when I taught screenwriting at local libinges
428
00:41:57.880 --> 00:42:00.079
universities. I was always like,
you need to earn that moment. If
429
00:42:00.079 --> 00:42:02.590
you don't earn that moment, you
lose your audience. Your audience is going
430
00:42:02.590 --> 00:42:07.110
to judge you like I love so
you saying that. That's awesome. So
431
00:42:07.269 --> 00:42:13.030
the other the other thing I want
to ask is in terms of again,
432
00:42:13.070 --> 00:42:16.539
in terms of the writing room,
how often, if at all, do
433
00:42:16.659 --> 00:42:22.420
you refer back to the books?
Well, we you know, we're we're
434
00:42:22.460 --> 00:42:28.420
drawing from the first three books,
because there's a big time jump between,
435
00:42:28.619 --> 00:42:34.969
oh, three and four and another
jump between four and five. So we're
436
00:42:35.170 --> 00:42:40.130
really focused on the the first three
books and we all read them at the
437
00:42:40.210 --> 00:42:46.960
beginning, and you know so,
so that there are underlying Ip they are
438
00:42:47.239 --> 00:42:57.119
our primary sources. But it's also
as as the show goes on, particularly
439
00:42:57.320 --> 00:43:07.429
because we added characters. You know, we we have to go go in
440
00:43:07.550 --> 00:43:15.460
directions that the books don't go to
to be able to round out everybody's journeys.
441
00:43:16.500 --> 00:43:22.219
But you know, it's say it's
still Miss Wood Woods Foundation. We
442
00:43:22.340 --> 00:43:27.329
might just be really adding an extra
wing to the house. Yeah, it's
443
00:43:27.369 --> 00:43:31.010
basically it's like it's Miss Woods is
like sandbox and you're just playing within that
444
00:43:31.130 --> 00:43:36.889
sandbox and adding things from your imagination
and having fun within there, and that's
445
00:43:36.929 --> 00:43:39.170
I mean, that's a beautiful that's
a beautiful opportunity as well for creatives,
446
00:43:39.329 --> 00:43:45.280
I think, and it's a beautiful
opportunity for Miss Woods's work to find new
447
00:43:45.440 --> 00:43:50.760
life, I guess, and in
almost like an expansion to it in a
448
00:43:50.800 --> 00:43:54.829
way. Absolutely, because at the
end of season one we had a bit
449
00:43:54.869 --> 00:44:02.429
of a cliffhanger. You think,
well, then we had to wait almost
450
00:44:02.550 --> 00:44:09.300
two years. Oh, I know, I would just people would in random
451
00:44:09.460 --> 00:44:16.260
conversation. I mean I dear dear
friend of mine who I adore. In
452
00:44:16.340 --> 00:44:21.619
the course of that two years we'd
be talking about something else and she'd say,
453
00:44:21.699 --> 00:44:24.130
you know, I forgot to ask
you the last time we saw each
454
00:44:24.130 --> 00:44:30.369
other. WHO's in the car?
And I feel like Mary Bath Plains.
455
00:44:32.289 --> 00:44:39.639
So, but the car accident isn't
in the books. Okay. And so
456
00:44:40.159 --> 00:44:45.559
at the end of season one,
when everyone was like, who's in the
457
00:44:45.679 --> 00:44:47.639
car? I'm going to go buy
the books and find out who's in the
458
00:44:47.800 --> 00:44:52.789
car, I thought, well,
good, because Miss Woods deserves all those
459
00:44:52.949 --> 00:44:58.630
people who haven't read the books yet
coming to read the books. That's and
460
00:44:59.230 --> 00:45:04.190
I'm I'm sorry. The car accident
is in the books, but I'm delighted
461
00:45:04.269 --> 00:45:10.460
that you're reading the books. So
that's awesome. It has always been our
462
00:45:10.539 --> 00:45:19.179
goals since day one that people who
don't know the books who are watching the
463
00:45:19.340 --> 00:45:24.489
series cannot tell what comes from the
books and what comes from us. Okay,
464
00:45:24.849 --> 00:45:28.650
wonder, and that's a great I
feel like that's a great sort of
465
00:45:28.809 --> 00:45:32.690
target to have and like that's a
great mindset to have. Is like that.
466
00:45:32.969 --> 00:45:37.119
You know, an audience that hasn't
read the book shouldn't tell what's source
467
00:45:37.239 --> 00:45:40.800
material and what's show material, because
it should all work seamlessly together and that's
468
00:45:40.840 --> 00:45:52.949
that's absolutely to your seamless point.
What we're doing is refitting a beautiful dress
469
00:45:53.230 --> 00:45:59.269
that she has made and we don't
want anybody to see where we took it
470
00:45:59.469 --> 00:46:02.550
in and spots and where we let
it out in spots. And you know,
471
00:46:04.269 --> 00:46:08.300
was that train always there or did
we had that for effect? So,
472
00:46:08.940 --> 00:46:14.659
yeah, it's always our goal to
have people go, I don't remember
473
00:46:14.780 --> 00:46:19.610
this in the books. Yes,
that means it was in the books and
474
00:46:19.809 --> 00:46:27.769
it wasn't. That's awesome. Do
you have any like any favorite moments from
475
00:46:27.929 --> 00:46:31.050
season one and season two, like
do you have like moments for season one
476
00:46:31.090 --> 00:46:35.199
moments of season two separately. Don't
have to combine them. But do you
477
00:46:35.320 --> 00:46:38.159
have any moments for you? We're
as as like a show runner. You
478
00:46:38.360 --> 00:46:43.079
looked at these moments and when I'm
proud of this, like I know it's
479
00:46:43.079 --> 00:46:45.760
like you're. It may be a
little bias because you're probably proud of the
480
00:46:45.840 --> 00:46:49.949
whole thing, which is normal,
but like we're there standout moments for you
481
00:46:52.869 --> 00:46:57.469
in every episode of every show.
I mean, you're asking me which of
482
00:46:57.670 --> 00:47:00.190
my baby's is cuter. True.
True, it's an unfair question. I
483
00:47:00.230 --> 00:47:02.860
wouldn't want to be as that question
either, but I figured I'd put it
484
00:47:02.940 --> 00:47:08.460
out there anyway and in it and
I appreciate it. But, like I
485
00:47:08.579 --> 00:47:14.980
said, we have such a deep
bench and we have such a tremendous crew.
486
00:47:15.050 --> 00:47:20.650
Are Directors, Norman Buckley, as
are producing director man, I mean
487
00:47:20.730 --> 00:47:24.449
like and he's he's like he's iconic
legend, like the OC gossip girl.
488
00:47:24.530 --> 00:47:30.199
He I mean he's been around family
dramas you know, like exactly exactly,
489
00:47:30.480 --> 00:47:37.000
and you know our guests, directors, everybody who works on the show is
490
00:47:37.239 --> 00:47:45.110
just so wonderful and so collaborative that, as I was saying earlier about that
491
00:47:45.349 --> 00:47:51.309
moment on the staircase. What I
love is I can watch the show now
492
00:47:51.670 --> 00:47:57.110
and kind of stop at any moment
and remember, Oh, in the production
493
00:47:57.269 --> 00:48:02.340
meeting we talked about this, and
what you can't tell is that day was
494
00:48:02.860 --> 00:48:08.980
ninety five degrees and ninety five percent
humidity. But look at our amazing hair
495
00:48:09.059 --> 00:48:15.409
and makeup department and look at our
amazing costume department that everybody looks crisp and
496
00:48:15.650 --> 00:48:19.929
fresh and lovely and you don't know
that the rest of us are standing there
497
00:48:20.090 --> 00:48:25.570
just wrenched in sweat trying to make
sure that everybody has what they need.
498
00:48:28.119 --> 00:48:35.239
So I can't have a favorite moment
because the moment I think Oh, this,
499
00:48:35.719 --> 00:48:38.679
I'm immediately like, oh no,
there are fourteen others in that very
500
00:48:38.840 --> 00:48:43.510
episode. So wow, okay.
Well, I mean, that's still an
501
00:48:43.550 --> 00:48:49.869
amazing answer. I always do this. I always I always do this with
502
00:48:49.949 --> 00:48:52.510
with my guests, because I do
know that a lot of people that listen
503
00:48:52.590 --> 00:48:59.019
to the show are still are either
some of my students are the youth who
504
00:48:59.059 --> 00:49:01.780
want to be in the business,
who are growing or ambushes or, you
505
00:49:01.860 --> 00:49:07.460
know, goals and dreams and as
they should. What piece of advice as
506
00:49:07.539 --> 00:49:13.610
a storyteller, what piece of advice
would you would you share with people who
507
00:49:13.690 --> 00:49:23.880
want to envision themselves in, you
know, in the industry? Appreciate the
508
00:49:24.039 --> 00:49:31.519
people around you and learn from them, be kind to them, respect what
509
00:49:31.679 --> 00:49:39.030
they have to teach you and understand
that, because this is a long journey
510
00:49:39.429 --> 00:49:46.909
that will require your patients, that
building community and rising up with others will
511
00:49:47.070 --> 00:49:54.900
make the journey more joyous. That
I just I mean, that was perfect.
512
00:49:57.900 --> 00:50:00.619
And I and I call and I
say, I say it this way
513
00:50:00.619 --> 00:50:05.579
and it's so I mean, it's
so true. Hunter said, Hunter legitimately
514
00:50:05.659 --> 00:50:12.010
said you are going to love your
episode with Cheryl. She's like the fairy
515
00:50:12.090 --> 00:50:17.889
godmother of the show and of like
storytellers and writers and all that stuff.
516
00:50:17.969 --> 00:50:24.159
And I I now understand why he
said that because, like, if I,
517
00:50:24.800 --> 00:50:30.199
and I say this very genuinely and
very authentically, if I have a
518
00:50:30.280 --> 00:50:36.429
chance of one day crossing your path
in my career, I would be like,
519
00:50:36.829 --> 00:50:39.110
I would I know for a fact
that I would learn so much and
520
00:50:39.349 --> 00:50:43.309
grow so much as a storyteller.
So I do want to thank you so
521
00:50:43.349 --> 00:50:49.230
much for coming on the show today
and for sharing all these beautiful tidbits and
522
00:50:49.429 --> 00:50:52.699
and and, like some find,
I was literally like writing notes as you
523
00:50:52.739 --> 00:50:55.619
were talking. I was like this
is great, like I love this.
524
00:50:58.579 --> 00:51:02.940
So I do appreciate that so much. Well, you know, as as
525
00:51:04.059 --> 00:51:08.809
we say in serenity, appreciate you
and thank you very very much for the
526
00:51:08.929 --> 00:51:15.889
invitation and I'll have to talk to
hunter about where I'm going to get my
527
00:51:15.130 --> 00:51:21.239
crown and wand. If we get
seasonal, great, but I appreciate you
528
00:51:21.400 --> 00:51:25.000
sharing that with me too, because
I adore him as an actor and a
529
00:51:25.039 --> 00:51:35.309
human being and I'm it. It
always lifts my heart to know that people
530
00:51:35.349 --> 00:51:38.750
are having a good time. So
I've had a really good time with you,
531
00:51:38.869 --> 00:51:44.869
Alan and I wish you'd the best
with your podcasting and your writing and
532
00:51:45.070 --> 00:51:49.659
I have no doubt our paths will
cross at some point. That would be
533
00:51:49.659 --> 00:51:52.980
a dream. That would be a
dream. So thank you again. I'm
534
00:51:52.179 --> 00:51:55.340
just gonna send out a little message
here to all my screeners. You heard
535
00:51:55.380 --> 00:52:00.929
her, what she said. Learn, appreciate, respect and grow with your
536
00:52:01.010 --> 00:52:05.809
community. Create and grow with your
community. Those are the themes for this
537
00:52:05.969 --> 00:52:10.369
episode. Thank you so much for
tuning in again week after week. Thank
538
00:52:10.369 --> 00:52:15.690
you all for your support. If
you're not subscribe to the podcast, please
539
00:52:15.760 --> 00:52:20.039
do so. Leave a review wherever. You can check out my website for
540
00:52:20.119 --> 00:52:23.960
any updates. You can follow me
on social media at stories by Alan on
541
00:52:24.159 --> 00:52:30.070
all social media platforms, twitter,
instagram, facebook, etc. Make sure
542
00:52:30.070 --> 00:52:34.989
that you tune in and watch or
stream. I guess it wouldn't be tuned
543
00:52:35.030 --> 00:52:40.349
in. I guess stream sweet Magnolia
seasons one and to exclusively on Netflix.
544
00:52:42.349 --> 00:52:44.230
By the way, I didn't I
don't know if I shared this with you,
545
00:52:44.300 --> 00:52:49.980
but it was number eight in Lebanon. It was sweet magnolias was number
546
00:52:50.019 --> 00:52:52.219
eight in the top ten for almost
a week as well. So it was
547
00:52:52.260 --> 00:52:57.099
another one, but it was top
ten in Lebanon. So that's that's kind
548
00:52:57.139 --> 00:53:02.329
of that's kind of awesome blessing.
Thank you, and here's the hoping for
549
00:53:02.449 --> 00:53:07.130
season three, because y'all deserve it. Honestly, you've earned it also.
550
00:53:12.010 --> 00:53:15.639
So yeah, basically, thank you
for tuning in. God bless you all
551
00:53:16.239 --> 00:53:22.679
and have a wonderful rest of your
your day. Will be back scripto screen
552
00:53:22.719 --> 00:53:25.639
will be back once another five episodes
are basically set, so we'll see you
553
00:53:25.760 --> 00:53:30.070
then. Take care. Let you
all have a good listen
1
00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:03.520
Hi Guys, I'm at you.
My Name is Joseph David Jones. Hey,
2
00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:06.639
this is Kevin Sussman. Hey,
this meni suit, and don't re
3
00:00:06.759 --> 00:00:10.669
stay this on. You're listening to
script, to scream, the script to
4
00:00:10.750 --> 00:00:31.500
screen, scrow, screen, scripts, screens, screen. Hello and welcome
5
00:00:31.620 --> 00:00:36.009
to a brand new episode of the
script screen. Here we go the five
6
00:00:36.289 --> 00:00:42.250
episode relaunch of the show. I
wanted to do a little bit of housekeeping
7
00:00:42.289 --> 00:00:46.689
before introducing the guests for today's episode. I wanted to let you guys know
8
00:00:46.850 --> 00:00:53.840
that, since I'll be, since
I've been working on my screenwriting and trying
9
00:00:53.880 --> 00:00:57.159
to focus and put my energy,
creative energy, into that, that the
10
00:00:57.719 --> 00:01:00.479
podcast has not going to be a
week to week after these five episodes.
11
00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:04.829
So I will be putting out episodes
as I get them, in five episode
12
00:01:04.829 --> 00:01:08.909
chunks, because I need to give
myself the time to focus on my writing,
13
00:01:08.950 --> 00:01:12.870
because I realize that with trying to
keep up on social media, blogging,
14
00:01:14.030 --> 00:01:17.870
reviewing, podcasting, I'm really not
leaving enough time for me to do
15
00:01:18.030 --> 00:01:22.060
my writing, and my writing is
my priority right now, especially that I
16
00:01:22.180 --> 00:01:26.500
feel, especially with working with open
gate entertainment and feeling the support of their
17
00:01:26.620 --> 00:01:32.379
team and and pushing my pile it
forward and the series and all that stuff.
18
00:01:32.420 --> 00:01:34.489
You guys know, you follow me
on social media, so you know
19
00:01:34.569 --> 00:01:38.569
what I'm going through. I just
feel like I need to prioritize and I
20
00:01:38.650 --> 00:01:41.370
don't want to give up on the
podcast because it's a such a great thing
21
00:01:41.489 --> 00:01:44.209
for me, as well as a
writer as a storyteller, to be having
22
00:01:44.250 --> 00:01:49.599
these conversations. But I'm not going
to be releasing the podcast as consistently as
23
00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:53.159
I thought I was. I'll wait
until I have five episodes and then release
24
00:01:53.239 --> 00:02:00.159
those Weektweek tweek. So we'll be
doing five week stints. I guess I
25
00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:06.349
don't know how to how to explain
it. Speaking of storytellers, today's episode
26
00:02:07.430 --> 00:02:12.629
is going to be, I know
it's going to be super special because this
27
00:02:12.949 --> 00:02:16.780
this this lady, this woman,
this amazing storyteller, has has brought to
28
00:02:17.020 --> 00:02:21.539
life along with her team. I
have to mention her team, because every
29
00:02:21.580 --> 00:02:23.180
time I talk to her she's like
it's so it's a team effort. It's
30
00:02:23.180 --> 00:02:29.740
a team effort and it makes me
think of the quote that my film teacher,
31
00:02:30.090 --> 00:02:34.129
when I was still still in college, used to always tell us in
32
00:02:34.330 --> 00:02:38.449
class. Used to say, Alan, it takes a village. It takes
33
00:02:38.490 --> 00:02:42.449
a village, and it's very true. It takes a village and in this
34
00:02:42.689 --> 00:02:46.759
case it takes a community, a
community in a fictional town called serenity,
35
00:02:49.400 --> 00:02:53.240
sweet magnolia. Season Two just premiered
a couple of weeks ago, but by
36
00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:55.520
the time you're listening to this episode
it would have been out for quite some
37
00:02:55.719 --> 00:03:00.789
time. By the time it released, it was, I believe, number
38
00:03:00.909 --> 00:03:07.949
one for seven days straight on Netflix
in fourteen different countries. So you can
39
00:03:07.990 --> 00:03:09.949
tell does a lot of love for
the show. And forgod reason, in
40
00:03:10.349 --> 00:03:15.300
a time where we're bombarded by negativity
and toxicity and so much hate and so
41
00:03:15.419 --> 00:03:22.659
much division and so much anger and
frustration from, you know, the lockdowns,
42
00:03:22.699 --> 00:03:27.969
the quarantines, all that stuff,
it's almost like when season one was
43
00:03:28.050 --> 00:03:32.169
released we were just entering the lockdown
time, you know, lockdown time and
44
00:03:32.169 --> 00:03:37.650
quarantine time, and by the time
season two releases we're sort of coming out
45
00:03:37.689 --> 00:03:39.810
of it, getting back into it. We're still not sure, we're very
46
00:03:39.889 --> 00:03:49.319
confused and it's like it honestly nothing. I can't explain it. Besides,
47
00:03:49.800 --> 00:03:53.919
it's like God knew we needed hope
and so he gave us season one at
48
00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:57.550
the right time. And gave a
season two at the right time and and
49
00:03:58.710 --> 00:04:04.229
that's what it feels like and revisiting
the sweet little town of these beautiful characters
50
00:04:04.669 --> 00:04:10.740
and this beautiful story that doesn't focus
too much on and I said this in
51
00:04:10.860 --> 00:04:13.060
my review, and if you read
my review, you read this quote and
52
00:04:13.099 --> 00:04:15.019
I said it. It's like it's
this story. It's like the writers on
53
00:04:15.100 --> 00:04:20.300
the show and the creatives behind the
show give priority to the story and the
54
00:04:20.339 --> 00:04:27.050
characters first and they let them do
all the talking, without too much preaching,
55
00:04:27.209 --> 00:04:31.170
without politicizing, without putting ideology.
It's just about the story and these
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characters and it does the job tremendously. And I've been talking for four minutes
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and I have to bring her on
the show. So here she is in
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all her glory, the the showrunner. First, sweet Ragnolias, Sheryl Jay
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Underston, welcome to the show.
Thank you very very much and I really
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appreciate it. Like I said before
we started, I've been looking forward to
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talking to you, actually talking to
you. Know, we I know we
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had a few DMS on twitter.
When social media works beautifully, it's like
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when social media does the social part
of it, it works beautifully. So
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thank you for taking the time and
being on the show. As always,
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in the beginning of every episode I
really do give the mic over to my
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guest to sort of take us through
the journey of where they started and how
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they got to where they are today. And it seems like storytelling has always
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been part of your journey. Oh
absolutely. I was very, very fortunate
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to grow it with parents who put
a lot of emphasis and a lot of
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value on reading and theater and film. My father was a career naval officer
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and so it wasn't, you know, like he was passing down the family
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business, but both my parents were
extraordinary storytellers and fabulous conversationalists. My brother
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and I were read to from day
one, learn to read ourselves really early,
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and our parents took us to the
theater, took us two movies and
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always encouraged us to discuss what we
had seen. And so my my brother's
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a lawyer and I'm a writer and
wow, you pointed out one Christmas that
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it wasn't all that surprising because we
both spend our days using language for emotional
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appeals. So I went to college
intending to be a playwright because, as
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I said, interesting on theater a
lot when I was growing up, and
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then a couple of women who were
ahead of me in the program at my
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university came to California and I was
going to go to New York and,
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you know, because that's where playwrights
go. I think I wanted to be
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Oscar Levant and and the Gals who'd
come out here to Los Angeles. One
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of them said, why are you
going to New York? Come to Los
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Angeles. The weather's better, in
the money he's better. So I came
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out to visit her and it really
hadn't occurred to me until that vacation that
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film and TV was a possibility.
And so I went back home for a
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bit and wrote madly and saved up
my money and then came to Los Angeles
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with the intention of being a feature
writer because that seemed like the most logical
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as though anything in this business is
logical. Transition, writing the heures.
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But then I got my first industry
day job, which was working in development
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at an extraordinary television production company where
I was working for some giants of the
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business and I thought, Oh wait, TV looks fun and at the same
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time I was trying. My first
feature was option and never made, which
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ninety five percent of people in this
town can say. But as I was
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working on my next feature, I
realized that structure was my weak spot and
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I okay, we're going to circle
back to that later, because that's a
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very interesting sentence right there. I
that's interesting. Okay. So I thought,
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well, I'm working into television production
company, I'm reading scripts all day.
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I'm going to teach myself how to
write a half hour script that's well
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structured and then I'll teach myself our
and then I'll circle back around and be
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able to write a two hour.
Well, the half hour experiments got me
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freelance assignments, which is how you
used to break into TV, and I
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worked in half hour for some time, but I realized my heart was in
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a different kind of storytelling. So
I started writing our specs and I moved
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into our television and I thought,
Oh oh, this is it, this
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is the sweet spot, this is
where I belong. And my first our
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TV show was the original charmed and
nobody listening, nobody listening actually saw what
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I just did, but I just
did a happy dance because that original show
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I never like. I don't think
I missed an episode. I was up.
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I was obsessed, like I was
legitimately obsessed with the original charmed.
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Well, it was a fabulous adventure
and I met a lot of terrific people,
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but it also solidified the fact that
I had found my intersection of all
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the things that I liked best.
So I have been an hour ever since
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I did. I have written some
TV movies, so I've almost circled back
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around to my original plan to write
to hour. But one hour is where
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I want to be interesting. And
then so that journey. How long were
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you on charmed? Where you want
it for? I was the first three
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years. Okay, so the Shannon
doorty years essentially. Yes, yes,
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okay, okay, awesome. So
then how did you come about finding sweet
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Magnolia's sweet Magnulli has found me.
Oh right, okay. I I created
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a series that shot in Vancouver in
Twenty fifteen and the line producer was a
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ridiculously talented and absolutely magnificent young man
and we worked really well together. Really
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enjoyed the we call it horse trading
that goes on during production, like if
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if I change this and downsize this, can I still have this? And
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so matt and I got along really
well, Matt went from my show to
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chesspeak shores, which is a hallmark
series which is expect produced by Dan Paulson
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and is based on the series of
novels by Sheryl Woods. Okay, so
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Dan also had that's so interesting.
I didn't realize that she wrote. She
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wrote Chesapeake shores as well, because
that one's a that one's a family like.
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My sister and my mom loved chest
speak shores. I never got into
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it per se. I watch.
I think I watched the first season,
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but it didn't hit home for me
as much as sweet magnolias has. So
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yeah, did. If different shows
strike different chords for different people? Absolutely
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absolutely. But Dan also had the
rights to sweet Magnolia's and when Netflix let
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it be known that they were interested
in getting into romantic dramas, he took
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sweet Magnolia's to Netflix and Netflix said
yes, let's do this, but he
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needed a show runner and Matt said
you should talk to Cheryl. Wow,
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that's so beautiful. That's so beautiful. It is. It's and the beautiful
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thing is that Matt is a very, very important part of Sweet Magnolia's to
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he's he's by Kobe Pete. So
it was delightful. I mean they they
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interviewed a lot of people, but
I was very fortunate that they responded to
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my take on the material and I
was thrilled to work with Matt again.
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I adored Dan. Miss Woods is
so lovely and really understands what we're doing
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on the sort of the nuts and
bolts side of things, because she was
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a critic. She's, you know, experienced chest peak shores. So she
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has been very collaborative and very understanding
of the alterations that we've had to make
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in adapting the books into a series. So that's that's how I was fortunate
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enough to come aboard Sweet Magnolia's and
I love that you beautiful, excuse me,
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I love that you beautifully allow me, like allowed me, without even
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knowing, to ask you the next
question, which is all about adaptation,
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because we're living in a very and
this is so interesting because I've been talking,
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I've been talking to my partner about
like wanting to have these really deep
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conversations about storytelling, and here we
are in this is the perfect thing.
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There's their adaptation is very tricky,
especially, MMM, especially, when it
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comes to devout fans of, let's
say the original source material and so like
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for me as someone who, and
I'll share this as a as an example,
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because I haven't, obviously I haven't
read the the sweet and Magnolia's books.
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All I know is the show.
So I'm very like that's the only
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segue to me, or that's the
only key to me into that world.
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But something like, for example,
the Lord of the Rings, which is
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now being adapted by Amazon and has
been met with extreme yuckiness because of what
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Amazon is doing, whereas someone like
me, who's sort of like understands what
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adaptation is, and I even wrote
a massive, like venting blog post about
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you cannot compare the two. They're
very different mediums. You know, they're
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very different mediums. You can't look
at a TV show or a movie and
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Go, well, the book is
better. Well, no, the book
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is different. It's not better or
worse. That's always how I've seen it.
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It's like because you you know there
are things that are you read them
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in a book and you imagine them
in your mind and you're like, oh,
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that's so amazing, but then come
to actually make it and bring it
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into reality and your like that would
look ridiculous or that just wouldn't work or
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that slows down the episode or that
slows down the movie. It's very it's
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a very different process. So what
has your process been like when it comes
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to adaptation? Have you had people
who are like dive out to the book
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going well, why did you make
this change or that changer? Well,
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before before I answer that piece of
it, I just like to suggest that
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one of the issues. Shouldn't even
call it an issue, but I think
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part of what we encounter when we
take a beloved book and adapt it for
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a visual medium is that we are
taking a deeply emotional interior experience and creating
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a deeply emotional exterior experience. Wow, that's beautifully said. Yes, I'm
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a huge reader myself. I mean
I was the kid where my mom used
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to pull the book out of my
hands and say, I've called you for
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dinner three times. Did you not
hear me? Like no, because I
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was reading. But I think that
quite often we get to the end of
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the book and we think, Oh, I love that book and part of
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what you have fallen in love with
is the movie in your own head,
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which I'm sure was glorious and beautiful
but most of the time would have a
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running hour of you know, eight
hours, ten hours, and we can't
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do that with television or film,
and it's just it's a there are different
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demands in television and film. We
have to move more quickly. We cannot
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linger on those really interior moments,
your favorite characters, biggest model interior monolog
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in a novel. That's somebody looking
out a window in a TV show and
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that's just that's it, and it's
like thirty seconds at most of that shot
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and then you move on. So
in adaptation, what's important for me is
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to take the what what in our
room we call the tent Poles, the
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core relationships, the core sweeps of
story and the key emotional experiences, as
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well as the theme, and be
faithful to those but build around them in
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a way that enhances the inherent conflict, makes it more visually friendly and moves
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it along at the pace that,
whether we're aware of it or not,
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we demand when we're watching film and
TV, the the whole reading experience.
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It's just it's a different speed,
it's a different tone, it's a different
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experience because it's just you in the
book it's but in them it's like an
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intimate experience and it's like it's so
intimate variance and TV and film is a
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public community experience. So I have
tremendous respectfulness woods and her books, but
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I told her at the very beginning
there were things that we were going to
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change and that there were characters we
were going to add, and she was
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very supportive and I understand that some
of her fans would prefer to preserve their
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memory of reading the books and I
respect that. I just hope that we
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are introducing her book to all whole
community of viewers that doesn't know them,
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that will go back now and read
the books and understand, while they are
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different, that I was incredibly moved
and inspired by the books and that's why
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I wanted to do the TV show, why Dan and Matt wanted to do
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the TV show and why we were
able to assemble the wonderful community that creates
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serenity, because people responded to this
show, which is, at the heart
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of it, about the power of
friendship and the power of community. Yeah,
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yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And
then what's so funny is that I
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learned that I took a guess and
then the hunter, Burke, the actor
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that plays this character, confirmed it, but I was like I have a
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feeling that trotter was not in the
books and and hunter was like yet,
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Nope, that's a that's a new
character that that was added for the show.
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And in my mind, and as
you're explaining this now, in my
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mind going I can't imagine serenity without
trotter now, like for me it's like
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he's such an integral part of this
world, like this kind sweet soul who's
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just always beaming and always smiling and
just like lights up a scene whenever he's
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in it, like you know,
and it does. It's weird. It's
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weird to me when people like what
I wrote in my critique of people being
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so critical of like adaptations. What
the final thing that I said was like
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you are limiting your own experience when
you do this. You're limiting an experience
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of enjoying the work through someone else's
eyes. Your you're you're limiting. It's
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such a limiting thing. Why would
you block yourself from that? Like,
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why would you not be open to
revisiting the world in a new way?
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I don't know, it's just it's
weird. Well, but but I mean,
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I think some people are just very
passionate about, like I said,
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preserving the emotional environment round the experience
of reading a book that they adored.
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And if they aren't comfortable looking at
somebody else's version, you know, I
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respect that. I just did encourage
them to let other people experience it as
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they would like and understand that all
of us who adapt beloved books are doing
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it out of love. We're not
doing it to say your experiences invalid.
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We're doing it to say we'd like
to enhance your experience. And I'm I'm
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always fascinated by the differences between a
book and a film or TV show.
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But I mean I'm biased because of
what I too for living right and say
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it's same here, you know,
like I've always been fascinated by it.
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I you know, the closest thing
to that experience for me would be the
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Harry Potter books, because I read
those twice and then I went and saw
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the movies and I was never bothered
by what they did in the movies.
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And I had other friends who are
like what, no, and I'm like
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come on, like this is so
much fun, like we're actually seeing it,
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like why? I don't know.
It's weird. I want to talk
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to you. I want to go
back and focus on sweet magnolias and your
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and this and your experience there.
What's it like being a showrunner? I
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think that's something that I've always been
fascinated with, because that's all it.
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That's been a dream of mine to
be a showrunner, to be sort of
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like have a writer's room and to
be with a group of writers and to
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talk about story. That's always been
something I've wanted to do. So I'm
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curious what that is like for you. It's the best job ever. Okay,
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I that's what I mean. Why? Well, I mean, you
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know, I've been doing this for
a very long time and as I was
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coming up through the ranks, I
had the opportunity to work for some wonderful
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show runners and I had the opportunity
to work for some distinctly not wonderful show
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runners, but I learned from both. Yeah, yeah, this, this
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works, this doesn't, and so
when I had the opportunity to create and
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run my own shows, I was
very aware of the opportunity that I also
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had to to build a community that
was enjoying the opportunity to bring their best
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to the table. And what I
love most about being a showrunner is that
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collective experience of asking fantastic writers to
come join the Party and listening to their
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stories and how they inform the stories
we're telling on the show and watching iron
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sharp and iron as writers work together. Well, I see it this way.
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Well, I see it this way
and to a large extent I see
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my job as the head writer to
be. Will wait, let's take this
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piece of your idea and this piece
of your idea and maybe we mix it
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up this way, because because I
think you're both saying the same thing,
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but for this character at this moment, then we could add this extra layer
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and everybody is pitching and everybody's excited
and everybody's passionate and I get to synthesize
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the fabulous ideas that are being pitched, the incredible memories that are being shared
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and together, because this is an
absolute group effort from the Writers Room to
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the cast and crew, to bring
the best out of that mix and then
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take it to stage where our wonderful
directors, incredible production heads and their departments
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and our stellar cast, oh my
gosh, your cast, oh my gosh,
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your cast. We have a million
bench is what I like to say.
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We have strong players in every position
and then some behind the Cay.
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It's it's it's superb, and I
what I loved. Okay, so my
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love of serialized content is the growth. I love seeing ARCS, I love
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seeing growth and as a storyteller,
that's heaven for me. It's absolute heaven
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for me. What I love is
that it's not only just the characters that
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are growing, but you can legitimately
see the growth of the actors growing as
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well, and they're there like they
all brought their a game in season two.
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I mean, I mean, I
I don't remember crying as much in
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season one as I did in season
two, like I just I do not
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remember crying, and not all of
them were like heartbreak crying, like there
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were some that were like, obviously
there's a massive one. That's I got
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huge killer. And since this is
releasing in March, I'm just gonna say
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quick. Well, I mean,
well, I'm sorry, yeah, tee,
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fine, beside is the big one. Is the big one. Yeah,
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so, and and like a little
spoiler alert, and I'm going to
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say it now, but since this
episode is releasing in March, if you
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haven't seen season two yet, what
on earth are you doing at this point?
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Really, like so, for me, Heather's performance when she has the
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thing. I still stilled. Yeah, I still don't want to spoil it
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for anyone. I said spoiler alert, but I still do want to spoil
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it. I appreciate that. But
when heather, Heather, experiences that experience
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with their character, the raw the
Rawness, the the authenticness, the ABS
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like I felt I was suffocating when
that happened and I just and and this
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again. This just it's story,
story, story, it's characters, it's
305
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the writing, it's the actors and
and it's everybody working beautifully and so harmoniously
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together, because that's the only way
something quality like this will exist in this
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industry is when everybody's working together harmoniously. I soundly believe that. I strongly
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and very deeply believe that. I
and I absolutely agree, because you know,
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if if, in particular, we
look at the moment on the staircase,
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I mean that heather, but that's
also the director, that's the DP,
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that's the camera man, that's the
sound people, it's hair and makeup,
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it's our composers, it's everybody,
and everybody brings their best at every
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moment, but there are certain moments
that just stand apart because the intersection of
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everyone's talents is so extraordinary and I
it's very important to me. I I
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say this all the time and they
actually gave me a tshirt that says this
316
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in the season two. We work
too hard not to have a good time
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and I will make sure that people
are coming from a place of joy when
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they're doing their work, because I
think that gives them the freedom to completely
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inhabit the moment and completely offer up
their gifts, and moments like that not
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only wreck me, and I've seen
them like two dozen times this at this
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point, but make me so proud
of the community that creates serenity, because
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it's an example of everybody bringing their
a game. Yeah, and as in
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respect for what the characters going through. Yeah, absolutely. I want to
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ask about who it is you credit
where credit is do. Heather suggested that
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storyline and I was really impressed and
delighted to take that back to the writers
326
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and say, you know, this
is something that heather suggested Helen might be
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00:32:45.220 --> 00:32:51.339
wrestling with, and we were all
like yes, please. I mean it
328
00:32:51.579 --> 00:32:57.380
says a lot not just about her
character but how her community comes around a
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00:32:57.420 --> 00:33:01.690
support her. Absolutely, absolutely.
I mean again, like themes. I
330
00:33:02.329 --> 00:33:06.210
think for me, what I love
most in season two was the was the
331
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it was very clear that the theme
of the Season Two was forgiveness. That
332
00:33:12.450 --> 00:33:17.240
was very much, very present in
season two. Do you go into each
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00:33:17.319 --> 00:33:22.200
season sort of setting an arcing theme, like is that something that is that
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00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:24.200
happens? Like what are you know, like what theme are we doing this
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season? Like, what is it
that where? Is that something that's part
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of the process? It's absolutely part
of the process because it helps us stay
337
00:33:35.710 --> 00:33:44.099
on course. You know, if
this season's north star is forgiveness and we
338
00:33:44.299 --> 00:33:49.140
feel like we're wandering a little bit, then we can course correct. Well,
339
00:33:49.180 --> 00:33:52.420
wait a minute, we're talking about
forgiveness this season, so how can
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00:33:52.500 --> 00:34:00.970
we bring this storyline in alignment with
that? Not that, not that we're
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saying. You know, every scene
is about that. But what we're saying
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is we're looking at what everybody's going
through this season through that lens and it's
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into yeah, sorry, I didn't
mean to cut you off. Go ahead,
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getting to know. I just saying
presenting different facets of that journey,
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because we also say that everyone,
no one in serenity is beyond redemption.
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It just takes some folks a little
longer to get there. I love that.
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I love that. I love that
because there's a particular character this season
348
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specifically, well, also in season
one, but more so this you know,
349
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in season two. I kid you
not, I the moment season two
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ended, one of the first things
that came to mind was like, I
351
00:34:54.969 --> 00:35:00.409
wonder when they're going to redeem this
character, because it just feels like,
352
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it feels like it's inevitable, because
it is. It is serenity, but
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I wonder how long it's going to
take for that to happen. So the
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other thing that I wanted to you
know, the thing that I wanted to
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sort of add on to what you
were saying, and you sort of said
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it, was that I love that
we saw forgiveness through many lenses, as
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you said. You saw the the
shades of forgiveness. It was like,
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00:35:25.429 --> 00:35:29.750
you know, friendship forgiveness. It
was selfforgiveness, it was, you know,
359
00:35:30.349 --> 00:35:34.110
marriage forgiveness. It was it was
so many different things. I mean
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like, you know, outside of
what what you know her head, there's
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character are goes through. You had
Dana, sue and Ronnie story, which
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00:35:44.420 --> 00:35:49.099
is just, I would I legitimately. When I called my mom, I
363
00:35:49.179 --> 00:35:51.329
was like you have to watch this
because honestly, I'm not going to spoil
364
00:35:51.369 --> 00:35:57.610
this, because they did something on
this show that I don't think I've ever
365
00:35:57.690 --> 00:36:04.440
seen in any other series ever that
I know of with this story arc.
366
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It really felt very new to me. It felt it for I don't know
367
00:36:07.840 --> 00:36:12.079
why and I'm sure it's been done
before, but maybe in the way that
368
00:36:12.159 --> 00:36:16.519
it was presented within these characters and
the way that it was handled felt very
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real to me. I don't know, I was just so happy with that
370
00:36:22.230 --> 00:36:27.829
storyline personal well, thank you.
Thank you. It was. It was
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00:36:27.869 --> 00:36:37.019
an important storyline for us because,
you know, it's it's easy to hold
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00:36:37.059 --> 00:36:40.900
on to hurt. It's hard to
let it go right right. We want
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to show the the process of that
because again, in terms of forgiveness and
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in terms of community, you know, we can have somebody that we love
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deeply, that we talked to every
day and we still don't fully understand the
376
00:37:00.010 --> 00:37:07.280
depth of their individual pain and we
can want to help them move forward,
377
00:37:07.639 --> 00:37:15.269
but ultimately you have to make that
choice to move forward and you don't have
378
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to get there alone. I personally
I believe you can't get there alone,
379
00:37:23.150 --> 00:37:31.059
but that if you are willing to
accept help when it's offered, that you
380
00:37:31.179 --> 00:37:37.940
can get there and be healthier happier
for it. Yeah, I guess.
381
00:37:37.980 --> 00:37:42.219
I guess my excitement for that narrative
was also for me. It was in
382
00:37:42.300 --> 00:37:46.210
many ways refreshing to see that in
two thousand and twenty two, you know,
383
00:37:46.329 --> 00:37:51.409
we're seeing a narrative on television that
was actually where you saw two people
384
00:37:51.690 --> 00:37:57.090
fighting for their marriage versus giving up
on their marriage, and not for me.
385
00:37:57.570 --> 00:38:00.440
For me I was just like this
is this is going to validate all
386
00:38:00.519 --> 00:38:05.039
these you know, all of these
people who know that marriage is not like
387
00:38:05.280 --> 00:38:09.079
it's not a honeymoon and eternal honeymoon
phase. It's up sits downs, it's
388
00:38:09.400 --> 00:38:15.670
conflict, it's argument, it's making
mistakes, it's compromise, it's it's Yucky,
389
00:38:15.750 --> 00:38:17.670
but it's beautiful. But it's Yucky, like it's you're going to have
390
00:38:17.750 --> 00:38:21.389
to get dirty, like you're gonna
have to get well. You know,
391
00:38:22.150 --> 00:38:24.789
I don't know if I'd go so
far as Yucky, but it certainly can
392
00:38:24.909 --> 00:38:30.940
be messy. That's what I am
you know, I see much is you
393
00:38:31.059 --> 00:38:38.059
know, we want to believe that
any relationship is always Christine and lovely.
394
00:38:39.219 --> 00:38:49.849
I think the I think the relationships
you value most or the relationships with people
395
00:38:50.449 --> 00:38:55.400
that you've gone through tough time ms
with, because you understand the depth of
396
00:38:55.519 --> 00:39:02.360
your love for them and their love
for you. Absolutely, absolutely. I
397
00:39:02.480 --> 00:39:06.920
do want to ask another quick question
about your writers room. Outside of like
398
00:39:07.039 --> 00:39:12.829
setting the theme for for every season, do you know ahead of time,
399
00:39:13.670 --> 00:39:20.510
like the end or where your end, like the end of the work is
400
00:39:20.750 --> 00:39:23.070
essentially like? Do you know what
that cliffhangary scene is at the end?
401
00:39:23.150 --> 00:39:27.539
You know where that's heading, or
do you sort of discover that as you're
402
00:39:27.699 --> 00:39:37.809
moving forward? Some of both,
because we start off doing what in TV
403
00:39:37.889 --> 00:39:42.489
we called blue skying, just you
know, we could do this, we
404
00:39:42.610 --> 00:39:47.809
could do that. Oh, everybody
responded to that, so let's you know,
405
00:39:49.010 --> 00:39:52.840
let's hold on that. But if
this is happening for her, what's
406
00:39:52.880 --> 00:39:58.239
happening for him? What's happening for
her? And then and we get a
407
00:39:58.320 --> 00:40:05.920
sense of, you know, where
where we want it land everybody. But
408
00:40:06.480 --> 00:40:13.550
then when we start breaking individual episodes, sometimes those end points shift a little
409
00:40:13.590 --> 00:40:15.789
bit. You know, we want
to get here sooner. We're not going
410
00:40:15.829 --> 00:40:21.389
to get as far as we thought
this season. Well, wait, if
411
00:40:21.460 --> 00:40:25.980
she's sending here, then she needs
to end somewhere different. So, because
412
00:40:27.019 --> 00:40:34.059
the beauty of having an ensemble show
with three leads is you know, somebody
413
00:40:34.139 --> 00:40:37.610
can be up, while somebody else
is down, while somebody else is in
414
00:40:37.650 --> 00:40:44.050
the middle, and even though they
always come to Margarite to night and share
415
00:40:44.090 --> 00:40:47.690
where they are, they're never all
in the same place. Yeah, absolutely,
416
00:40:47.730 --> 00:40:52.360
because you're never in the same place
with your friends. We don't go
417
00:40:52.719 --> 00:40:59.599
through life in the lap step.
So we always have a target. We
418
00:40:59.760 --> 00:41:05.469
know where we want to come down, but and we always know where we
419
00:41:05.630 --> 00:41:14.230
want to come down thematically. But
the particulars of those final landing spots in
420
00:41:14.429 --> 00:41:21.059
the last episode of a season can
slide a little bit because you know,
421
00:41:21.179 --> 00:41:25.619
when you're in episode two you're like
we're absolutely going to end here, but
422
00:41:25.739 --> 00:41:34.369
then all the time you're breaking episode
six it's like, MMM, we short
423
00:41:34.409 --> 00:41:38.369
changed a piece of this journey.
You know, and and again in the
424
00:41:38.409 --> 00:41:44.969
writers room what we call that is
have we earned that moment? I Love
425
00:41:45.289 --> 00:41:51.760
I love using that word earned.
I love using that word. I use
426
00:41:51.800 --> 00:41:52.960
it all the time when it comes
to my writing. I see use it
427
00:41:53.079 --> 00:41:57.840
on my students all the time because
I when I taught screenwriting at local libinges
428
00:41:57.880 --> 00:42:00.079
universities. I was always like,
you need to earn that moment. If
429
00:42:00.079 --> 00:42:02.590
you don't earn that moment, you
lose your audience. Your audience is going
430
00:42:02.590 --> 00:42:07.110
to judge you like I love so
you saying that. That's awesome. So
431
00:42:07.269 --> 00:42:13.030
the other the other thing I want
to ask is in terms of again,
432
00:42:13.070 --> 00:42:16.539
in terms of the writing room,
how often, if at all, do
433
00:42:16.659 --> 00:42:22.420
you refer back to the books?
Well, we you know, we're we're
434
00:42:22.460 --> 00:42:28.420
drawing from the first three books,
because there's a big time jump between,
435
00:42:28.619 --> 00:42:34.969
oh, three and four and another
jump between four and five. So we're
436
00:42:35.170 --> 00:42:40.130
really focused on the the first three
books and we all read them at the
437
00:42:40.210 --> 00:42:46.960
beginning, and you know so,
so that there are underlying Ip they are
438
00:42:47.239 --> 00:42:57.119
our primary sources. But it's also
as as the show goes on, particularly
439
00:42:57.320 --> 00:43:07.429
because we added characters. You know, we we have to go go in
440
00:43:07.550 --> 00:43:15.460
directions that the books don't go to
to be able to round out everybody's journeys.
441
00:43:16.500 --> 00:43:22.219
But you know, it's say it's
still Miss Wood Woods Foundation. We
442
00:43:22.340 --> 00:43:27.329
might just be really adding an extra
wing to the house. Yeah, it's
443
00:43:27.369 --> 00:43:31.010
basically it's like it's Miss Woods is
like sandbox and you're just playing within that
444
00:43:31.130 --> 00:43:36.889
sandbox and adding things from your imagination
and having fun within there, and that's
445
00:43:36.929 --> 00:43:39.170
I mean, that's a beautiful that's
a beautiful opportunity as well for creatives,
446
00:43:39.329 --> 00:43:45.280
I think, and it's a beautiful
opportunity for Miss Woods's work to find new
447
00:43:45.440 --> 00:43:50.760
life, I guess, and in
almost like an expansion to it in a
448
00:43:50.800 --> 00:43:54.829
way. Absolutely, because at the
end of season one we had a bit
449
00:43:54.869 --> 00:44:02.429
of a cliffhanger. You think,
well, then we had to wait almost
450
00:44:02.550 --> 00:44:09.300
two years. Oh, I know, I would just people would in random
451
00:44:09.460 --> 00:44:16.260
conversation. I mean I dear dear
friend of mine who I adore. In
452
00:44:16.340 --> 00:44:21.619
the course of that two years we'd
be talking about something else and she'd say,
453
00:44:21.699 --> 00:44:24.130
you know, I forgot to ask
you the last time we saw each
454
00:44:24.130 --> 00:44:30.369
other. WHO's in the car?
And I feel like Mary Bath Plains.
455
00:44:32.289 --> 00:44:39.639
So, but the car accident isn't
in the books. Okay. And so
456
00:44:40.159 --> 00:44:45.559
at the end of season one,
when everyone was like, who's in the
457
00:44:45.679 --> 00:44:47.639
car? I'm going to go buy
the books and find out who's in the
458
00:44:47.800 --> 00:44:52.789
car, I thought, well,
good, because Miss Woods deserves all those
459
00:44:52.949 --> 00:44:58.630
people who haven't read the books yet
coming to read the books. That's and
460
00:44:59.230 --> 00:45:04.190
I'm I'm sorry. The car accident
is in the books, but I'm delighted
461
00:45:04.269 --> 00:45:10.460
that you're reading the books. So
that's awesome. It has always been our
462
00:45:10.539 --> 00:45:19.179
goals since day one that people who
don't know the books who are watching the
463
00:45:19.340 --> 00:45:24.489
series cannot tell what comes from the
books and what comes from us. Okay,
464
00:45:24.849 --> 00:45:28.650
wonder, and that's a great I
feel like that's a great sort of
465
00:45:28.809 --> 00:45:32.690
target to have and like that's a
great mindset to have. Is like that.
466
00:45:32.969 --> 00:45:37.119
You know, an audience that hasn't
read the book shouldn't tell what's source
467
00:45:37.239 --> 00:45:40.800
material and what's show material, because
it should all work seamlessly together and that's
468
00:45:40.840 --> 00:45:52.949
that's absolutely to your seamless point.
What we're doing is refitting a beautiful dress
469
00:45:53.230 --> 00:45:59.269
that she has made and we don't
want anybody to see where we took it
470
00:45:59.469 --> 00:46:02.550
in and spots and where we let
it out in spots. And you know,
471
00:46:04.269 --> 00:46:08.300
was that train always there or did
we had that for effect? So,
472
00:46:08.940 --> 00:46:14.659
yeah, it's always our goal to
have people go, I don't remember
473
00:46:14.780 --> 00:46:19.610
this in the books. Yes,
that means it was in the books and
474
00:46:19.809 --> 00:46:27.769
it wasn't. That's awesome. Do
you have any like any favorite moments from
475
00:46:27.929 --> 00:46:31.050
season one and season two, like
do you have like moments for season one
476
00:46:31.090 --> 00:46:35.199
moments of season two separately. Don't
have to combine them. But do you
477
00:46:35.320 --> 00:46:38.159
have any moments for you? We're
as as like a show runner. You
478
00:46:38.360 --> 00:46:43.079
looked at these moments and when I'm
proud of this, like I know it's
479
00:46:43.079 --> 00:46:45.760
like you're. It may be a
little bias because you're probably proud of the
480
00:46:45.840 --> 00:46:49.949
whole thing, which is normal,
but like we're there standout moments for you
481
00:46:52.869 --> 00:46:57.469
in every episode of every show.
I mean, you're asking me which of
482
00:46:57.670 --> 00:47:00.190
my baby's is cuter. True.
True, it's an unfair question. I
483
00:47:00.230 --> 00:47:02.860
wouldn't want to be as that question
either, but I figured I'd put it
484
00:47:02.940 --> 00:47:08.460
out there anyway and in it and
I appreciate it. But, like I
485
00:47:08.579 --> 00:47:14.980
said, we have such a deep
bench and we have such a tremendous crew.
486
00:47:15.050 --> 00:47:20.650
Are Directors, Norman Buckley, as
are producing director man, I mean
487
00:47:20.730 --> 00:47:24.449
like and he's he's like he's iconic
legend, like the OC gossip girl.
488
00:47:24.530 --> 00:47:30.199
He I mean he's been around family
dramas you know, like exactly exactly,
489
00:47:30.480 --> 00:47:37.000
and you know our guests, directors, everybody who works on the show is
490
00:47:37.239 --> 00:47:45.110
just so wonderful and so collaborative that, as I was saying earlier about that
491
00:47:45.349 --> 00:47:51.309
moment on the staircase. What I
love is I can watch the show now
492
00:47:51.670 --> 00:47:57.110
and kind of stop at any moment
and remember, Oh, in the production
493
00:47:57.269 --> 00:48:02.340
meeting we talked about this, and
what you can't tell is that day was
494
00:48:02.860 --> 00:48:08.980
ninety five degrees and ninety five percent
humidity. But look at our amazing hair
495
00:48:09.059 --> 00:48:15.409
and makeup department and look at our
amazing costume department that everybody looks crisp and
496
00:48:15.650 --> 00:48:19.929
fresh and lovely and you don't know
that the rest of us are standing there
497
00:48:20.090 --> 00:48:25.570
just wrenched in sweat trying to make
sure that everybody has what they need.
498
00:48:28.119 --> 00:48:35.239
So I can't have a favorite moment
because the moment I think Oh, this,
499
00:48:35.719 --> 00:48:38.679
I'm immediately like, oh no,
there are fourteen others in that very
500
00:48:38.840 --> 00:48:43.510
episode. So wow, okay.
Well, I mean, that's still an
501
00:48:43.550 --> 00:48:49.869
amazing answer. I always do this. I always I always do this with
502
00:48:49.949 --> 00:48:52.510
with my guests, because I do
know that a lot of people that listen
503
00:48:52.590 --> 00:48:59.019
to the show are still are either
some of my students are the youth who
504
00:48:59.059 --> 00:49:01.780
want to be in the business,
who are growing or ambushes or, you
505
00:49:01.860 --> 00:49:07.460
know, goals and dreams and as
they should. What piece of advice as
506
00:49:07.539 --> 00:49:13.610
a storyteller, what piece of advice
would you would you share with people who
507
00:49:13.690 --> 00:49:23.880
want to envision themselves in, you
know, in the industry? Appreciate the
508
00:49:24.039 --> 00:49:31.519
people around you and learn from them, be kind to them, respect what
509
00:49:31.679 --> 00:49:39.030
they have to teach you and understand
that, because this is a long journey
510
00:49:39.429 --> 00:49:46.909
that will require your patients, that
building community and rising up with others will
511
00:49:47.070 --> 00:49:54.900
make the journey more joyous. That
I just I mean, that was perfect.
512
00:49:57.900 --> 00:50:00.619
And I and I call and I
say, I say it this way
513
00:50:00.619 --> 00:50:05.579
and it's so I mean, it's
so true. Hunter said, Hunter legitimately
514
00:50:05.659 --> 00:50:12.010
said you are going to love your
episode with Cheryl. She's like the fairy
515
00:50:12.090 --> 00:50:17.889
godmother of the show and of like
storytellers and writers and all that stuff.
516
00:50:17.969 --> 00:50:24.159
And I I now understand why he
said that because, like, if I,
517
00:50:24.800 --> 00:50:30.199
and I say this very genuinely and
very authentically, if I have a
518
00:50:30.280 --> 00:50:36.429
chance of one day crossing your path
in my career, I would be like,
519
00:50:36.829 --> 00:50:39.110
I would I know for a fact
that I would learn so much and
520
00:50:39.349 --> 00:50:43.309
grow so much as a storyteller.
So I do want to thank you so
521
00:50:43.349 --> 00:50:49.230
much for coming on the show today
and for sharing all these beautiful tidbits and
522
00:50:49.429 --> 00:50:52.699
and and, like some find,
I was literally like writing notes as you
523
00:50:52.739 --> 00:50:55.619
were talking. I was like this
is great, like I love this.
524
00:50:58.579 --> 00:51:02.940
So I do appreciate that so much. Well, you know, as as
525
00:51:04.059 --> 00:51:08.809
we say in serenity, appreciate you
and thank you very very much for the
526
00:51:08.929 --> 00:51:15.889
invitation and I'll have to talk to
hunter about where I'm going to get my
527
00:51:15.130 --> 00:51:21.239
crown and wand. If we get
seasonal, great, but I appreciate you
528
00:51:21.400 --> 00:51:25.000
sharing that with me too, because
I adore him as an actor and a
529
00:51:25.039 --> 00:51:35.309
human being and I'm it. It
always lifts my heart to know that people
530
00:51:35.349 --> 00:51:38.750
are having a good time. So
I've had a really good time with you,
531
00:51:38.869 --> 00:51:44.869
Alan and I wish you'd the best
with your podcasting and your writing and
532
00:51:45.070 --> 00:51:49.659
I have no doubt our paths will
cross at some point. That would be
533
00:51:49.659 --> 00:51:52.980
a dream. That would be a
dream. So thank you again. I'm
534
00:51:52.179 --> 00:51:55.340
just gonna send out a little message
here to all my screeners. You heard
535
00:51:55.380 --> 00:52:00.929
her, what she said. Learn, appreciate, respect and grow with your
536
00:52:01.010 --> 00:52:05.809
community. Create and grow with your
community. Those are the themes for this
537
00:52:05.969 --> 00:52:10.369
episode. Thank you so much for
tuning in again week after week. Thank
538
00:52:10.369 --> 00:52:15.690
you all for your support. If
you're not subscribe to the podcast, please
539
00:52:15.760 --> 00:52:20.039
do so. Leave a review wherever. You can check out my website for
540
00:52:20.119 --> 00:52:23.960
any updates. You can follow me
on social media at stories by Alan on
541
00:52:24.159 --> 00:52:30.070
all social media platforms, twitter,
instagram, facebook, etc. Make sure
542
00:52:30.070 --> 00:52:34.989
that you tune in and watch or
stream. I guess it wouldn't be tuned
543
00:52:35.030 --> 00:52:40.349
in. I guess stream sweet Magnolia
seasons one and to exclusively on Netflix.
544
00:52:42.349 --> 00:52:44.230
By the way, I didn't I
don't know if I shared this with you,
545
00:52:44.300 --> 00:52:49.980
but it was number eight in Lebanon. It was sweet magnolias was number
546
00:52:50.019 --> 00:52:52.219
eight in the top ten for almost
a week as well. So it was
547
00:52:52.260 --> 00:52:57.099
another one, but it was top
ten in Lebanon. So that's that's kind
548
00:52:57.139 --> 00:53:02.329
of that's kind of awesome blessing.
Thank you, and here's the hoping for
549
00:53:02.449 --> 00:53:07.130
season three, because y'all deserve it. Honestly, you've earned it also.
550
00:53:12.010 --> 00:53:15.639
So yeah, basically, thank you
for tuning in. God bless you all
551
00:53:16.239 --> 00:53:22.679
and have a wonderful rest of your
your day. Will be back scripto screen
552
00:53:22.719 --> 00:53:25.639
will be back once another five episodes
are basically set, so we'll see you
553
00:53:25.760 --> 00:53:30.070
then. Take care. Let you
all have a good listen
