Written by Stu Krieger… (Part 2)

Writer Stu Krieger returns! With many DCOMs under his belt, Will and Sabrina continue the conversation with Stu about films he’s written including Zenon, Smart House, Tru Confessions and more!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:14):
Thank you for joining us on this Parkapper episode of
Magical Rewind. We've got one of the OG's friend of
the show knows where a lot of the bodies are buried.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Help to write.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Basically most of the movies that we love, we say
his name all the time. I mean, we're gonna be
talking about smart House, We're gonna be talking about true Confessions,
We're gonna be talking about I can't even i can't
even have a proof point xenon.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
I'm not even.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
I'm gonna let him tell us his resume from now on.
It's like every time, because it's insane. He's the man
who put the words into people's mouths in movie after
movie after movie.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Please help us. Welcome once again Stu Creeker.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
Hey, welcome back Shirt.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
Yes, love this shat.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Oh that is amazing. Well, thank you for joining us
once again.

Speaker 4 (01:08):
So happy to see you guys.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
Because we have Yeah, and we've now watched a whole
bunch more of the films that you've written.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
So many more.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
It feels like every week we're saying either Stu Kreeger
or Paul Hoan just over and over and over again.

Speaker 4 (01:25):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
So I mean we just Sabrina.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Should we just jump right in because we know we
want to. We want to get to as many as
we can while we have you here.

Speaker 5 (01:34):
Full disclosure. The only one I haven't watched in the
recent past just proof Point. So if I'm a little
fuzzy on that, I've had every intention of doing it
this week and just life got too busy.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
I understand. So we'd like to start with poof Point.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
No, I'm kidding, well, well, we would love to start
so one of the fan favorites, which we knew even
before going in, and one that even I'd heard of
before starting this podcast, because again I'm the old guy,
so I'm going back and trying to learn, but it
was in the zeitgeist. We want to start with Smart House, Yes,

(02:10):
which we recapped and which we both really enjoyed.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
So, I mean, I don't even know where to jump in.
First of all, how did you first hear about this
project and how did it take off?

Speaker 4 (02:23):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (02:24):
So my relationship with Disney Channel, as you guys know,
started with Xenon and I had done two films before
the dcoms were a thing for them, so they knew me,
they knew my work. I did the parent Trap two
and the Freaky Friday remake that was Shelley Long and
Gebby Hoffman. So they knew me, they knew my work.
That's how I got in the door for Xenon. Then
we'll get to that, yeah. But then with Smart House,

(02:46):
it was a project already in development. There had been
a bunch of drafts, and kind of what happened for
me with all the projects I did for them is
either I was the only writer or the last writer,
and the feather in the cap being the last strat
is it means you gave them the draft that they
could greenlight and get into production on. So with Smart House,
it was basically when it came to me, it was

(03:09):
we loved the premise, we love the setup, we love
a lot of the mechanics of it. We don't feel
that yet has the heart, and that's something you seem
to do really well for us. So can you kind
of go back and reconfigure the relationships, reconfigure some of
the underlying issues of it. And one of the things
that kind of shocked the heck out of me when

(03:30):
I went back and watched it is some of the
real talk between the father and son kind of blew
me away in a way that I didn't fully remember it,
and I was kind of amazed that Disney let me
get away with it and didn't kind of pull it
back and tone it down. And so that's something I'm
very proud of. But I also think it's part of
why the film has resonated the way it has, because

(03:51):
so much of them, especially now that I'm on social media,
I see all that thread of oh my god, what
this meant to me as a kid, or I had
lost my mom, or seeing this relationship or all those
beautiful things I now get to see that I didn't
really know in the time or have been such a
rewarding part of the smart House experience.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
Well, that's one of the things that we talked about
that really resonated with us was the was the quiet
moments in the movie, because so often in dcoms you'll
get some decoms that have great directors, great casts. I
keep bashing this movie. I don't mean to continue bashing
this movie, but we keep going with Dad Napped and
where it's just there's no real quiet moments. It doesn't
make a whole lot of sense. It's just very let's

(04:28):
it's a good excuse to get cover kids with slime,
and again there's a place for that in the Disney
Channel obviously, sure. But yeah, the thing we loved about
Smart House was those moments of it was real. I mean,
in my yes, the house was was robotic and it
had all the cool kind of Disney effects, but then
you had these moments of you know, we we this

(04:50):
kid not wanting to replace his mom, not wanting his
dad to move on, not wanting you know, wanting the
family to just be there, and it was just such
another layer of the film. Was that all you what
was any of that there when you got the original
script or was all of that kind of something that
you did?

Speaker 5 (05:05):
Most of it was me, I mean again humble brag, Sure, no,
of course, but there was the a whole idea of
like using pat and the whole montage of the fifties
mom and I loved all the parody sitcoms that they
did with my three.

Speaker 4 (05:20):
Moms or whatever. Yeah, but you know, all of that.

Speaker 5 (05:23):
I loved how they executed the vision. But that idea
of trying to learn what a mom was from that,
you know, those sitcoms of the fifties, that was all
stuff that I brought to it, and then out of
that sprang me but what's a real mom?

Speaker 4 (05:35):
What does a mom really mean?

Speaker 5 (05:36):
And like I said, the moment that kind of blew
me away was when Kevin Kilner whirls on Ryan and says,
you're not the only one who lost somebody?

Speaker 4 (05:44):
Yes, And it was like, dude, damn.

Speaker 3 (05:47):
I know.

Speaker 6 (05:47):
I remember rewatching it going whoa ye, Like I mean,
because how real is that moment? And I'm sure, like
you said that the people, that is probably a moment
that really stuck with kids because Disney didn't always tap
into that they you know, it wasn't a fluff moment.
It was straight to the point, very real, and something

(06:11):
that kids needed to hear too, you know, because parents
had a hard time talking that directly to kids as well,
you know, and that and navigating a very hard and
sensitive subject like another parent dying. This was just such
a great moment for it to be so real, for
the parent to not just worrying about the kid's emotion.

Speaker 5 (06:35):
Yeah, I think we touched on it last time, but
I was saying that, you know, in my entire experience
with the Disney Channel, my personal mandate was I'm not going.

Speaker 4 (06:43):
To do a dumb dad.

Speaker 5 (06:44):
Yes, yeah, really, you know we talked about that troph
Dad's an idiot and yep, pually incompetent, and so that
was one thing again in this movie that was really
important to me that he be a fully dimensional character
as well, and that he have a point of view
and he'd be able to you know, be kind and
loving and be all those things but still push back
about I've got my needs too. Yeah, you know, seeing

(07:08):
it in retrospect, that is one thing I'm very proud of.

Speaker 3 (07:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:11):
Now, what was it like working with LeVar Burton? Was
were you did you get to collab with him at all?

Speaker 2 (07:16):
Or yeah?

Speaker 6 (07:17):
I was not.

Speaker 5 (07:18):
I mean kind of what my m with most of
the decons was I would be around for the table,
read around for some rehearsals, around a couple of days
of shooting, and then dip out because like again I
think we touched on this about my aversion to being
on set.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yep.

Speaker 5 (07:36):
Uh. LaVar was amazing. I mean he was just he
so got it. The couple of meetings we had we
were very very much on the same page. And then
I had one wonderful day that I've talked to my
students about so often, because I say, you will never
get over the first day you get to be on
the set of something that you envisioned in your head
and you're going type type talk.

Speaker 4 (07:55):
You know, there's screens over here, and there's Kitsen over here.
And then did it.

Speaker 5 (07:59):
And when I got to the set for the first time,
he said, you want to come see in the Smart
House and I was like, yeah, I do. I have
my my daughter would have been probably like eight or
nine years old. I had her with me and we
were going from room to room and sitting in the
big chair and you know, seeing the screen to doing
all that, and LeVar was so wonderful about I want
to make sure you see every nook and cranny, not

(08:21):
just where we're shooting today, because it's all constructed on
a couple of sound stages out and see me Valley.

Speaker 4 (08:28):
So getting to do that was wonderful.

Speaker 5 (08:29):
And like I said that, we were very very much
in sync of what the movie was, and I loved
how he executed it and what his vision was. But
there was no kind of tug of war or conflict
with any of that.

Speaker 4 (08:40):
Nice's really cool.

Speaker 6 (08:41):
Were you really happy with all of the inventions of
the smart House, Like, was there anything when you went
up they could have done that better? Or was it
just like, yes, they totally did it just as I wanted.

Speaker 4 (08:52):
No, they dailed it.

Speaker 5 (08:53):
I think for me the moment was when I saw
the dailies of the big arm coming out and grabbing
the newspaper.

Speaker 4 (08:59):
Yes again, you.

Speaker 5 (09:00):
Know, you're always very aware of their budgets and what
they're going to be able to do and not do.
And with that, I thought all of the effects really worked,
and all the big screen stuff and yeah.

Speaker 6 (09:10):
I think the only one we picked apart was with
the Oranges and we're like, how is she getting the
produce under the You gotta remember it's a Disney movie.

Speaker 3 (09:28):
Sparkle and pixie dust on some of this stuff. Of course?

Speaker 2 (09:32):
Was it?

Speaker 1 (09:32):
Was it a big win when you found out that
Katie Siegal was going to be playing the role.

Speaker 4 (09:36):
Absolutely, How did she.

Speaker 3 (09:38):
Get involved in it?

Speaker 4 (09:40):
I do not remember.

Speaker 5 (09:41):
I mean, I'm assuming because it was not a decision
I was involved in it initially that it was just
the casting people going hey, let's try right, And then
I got the word she's.

Speaker 4 (09:50):
In and it was like, guess she is.

Speaker 5 (09:52):
That's cool, And she actually was working the day that
we visited the set, so I got to read her
and she was in the full Patrick Galea and I
have a picture somewhere of being in her with the
apron and the hole smash.

Speaker 2 (10:03):
Oh that's great, that's amazing, very fun.

Speaker 3 (10:07):
Then.

Speaker 1 (10:07):
So one of the other things we notice is that,
of course it's Disney. They love their synergy, so they
had there's the scene with Bewitched the group popping up.
Is that something where they come to you and say, hey,
this band has to be in there some way, or
is it just righte a pop band and.

Speaker 2 (10:26):
We'll get somebody to come in and be the pop band.
How does that work?

Speaker 5 (10:29):
Yeah, that's really the second choice. Okay, okay, construct the
scene so there is a band involved.

Speaker 2 (10:35):
And then they just go and try to find a band.

Speaker 4 (10:37):
Yeah, yeah, okay.

Speaker 2 (10:38):
Interesting.

Speaker 1 (10:39):
I always wondered if they came in, like we're trying
to release, trying to get this band out, make it Bewitched,
But no, they just say make it a pop band and.

Speaker 3 (10:46):
Go from that they whoever they can get to.

Speaker 4 (10:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (10:54):
Sometimes, like with cow Bells, Allie and A J were
already attached when I got involved in that project.

Speaker 4 (10:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (11:00):
Times it work the other way of you know, we're
doing a movie for them, right it it's fini laar
as you can be with what their stick is and
kind of you know.

Speaker 2 (11:14):
Okay, wait, should we stay on cow I want to jump?
Do we jump around?

Speaker 1 (11:17):
No? Let's stay on cow Bell's Let's stay We talked
a little cow Bells last time. So curiously, again, in
the writing process, is this something to where already script
exists and it's like, hey, Stu, can.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
You can you can you stew this cow Bells script up?
Or is this?

Speaker 4 (11:34):
It was?

Speaker 2 (11:34):
Okay?

Speaker 1 (11:36):
So curiously, when you have to do something like that
and you know that you've got Ali and Aj who
are already attached, is where when then you take a
script like that? Is it then okay, I've really got
to add more to the characters that they have, or
is it more I've got to really focus on just

(11:58):
making Ali and Aj the star that Disney wants them
to be.

Speaker 4 (12:02):
It was really a little bit of both.

Speaker 5 (12:04):
I mean I was not terribly terribly familiar with them
before I came to the projects. So then I did
my due diligence and saw I could see it, saw
the dynamic between them. But then it was also I
don't think we talked about this last time. Stopped me
if we did, but but there was. It was post
nine to eleven. And my thing with all of these
movies was always I want to do any kind of

(12:25):
research I can so that I have a base of knowledge.
It's coming from a reality thing. How does a dairy work?
How does that whole process of the pasteurization and anything
they might be involved?

Speaker 4 (12:36):
And happened.

Speaker 5 (12:37):
So I was nosing around and trying to get a
dairy that I could tour, and I got one lined up.
Nine to eleven happened. They came back and they said,
one of the things that we're now paranoid about is
somebody getting in and poisoning the milk supply, because that
would be another terrorist. We're sorry, no outsiders can come.

(12:58):
We can't get to clearance. We have to cancel the tour.
You cannot come. So I said, okay, you know, I understand,
I'm disappointed, but is there anybody I could talk to?
And the guy I got on the phone said, now,
why were you coming initially? Because I really can't tell
you anything. And I said, well, I'm working on a
movie for Disney for the Disney Channel, Oh you are

(13:19):
suddenly I'm dropping threadits And he goes, well, I really
can't tell you anything, but what kind of questions did
you have if I could?

Speaker 1 (13:25):
Okay.

Speaker 5 (13:27):
I ended up on the phone with him for almost
an hour, and every time he would say, Okay, I
can't really tell you that, but if I didn't tell you,
this would be the answer.

Speaker 4 (13:34):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (13:35):
So they tried to help as much as was possible.

Speaker 1 (13:38):
Cool.

Speaker 5 (13:39):
So I ultimately did not physically get to go, but
he was really really helpful in terms. I just had
a whole page of questions and he told me without
telling me.

Speaker 3 (13:48):
Yeah, now.

Speaker 1 (13:50):
And so from a writing standpoint, you again, you're Disney
Channels usually has a pretty specific tone.

Speaker 2 (13:57):
We've noticed.

Speaker 1 (13:57):
The thing that's funny is that we've noticed that that
tone has changed over time. We're watching movies now, like
prom Pact or zombies or anything. And while there are
certain tropes that they kind of hit, no matter what,
they've definitely gotten more adult than they were in say
the mid nineties or even the late nineties. Was there
something that you tried to hit in every film you

(14:19):
did where it's kind of it became almost your signature
of you could tell this is a stue project because
this happened in every film he did.

Speaker 3 (14:27):
Is there a.

Speaker 1 (14:28):
Certain almost I don't want to use the word easter egg,
but certain stew thing you would do For every script
that you wrote, there's usually.

Speaker 5 (14:38):
Some homage to previous Disney movies or Disney lore. It
was very, very funny because when I did Parent Trap
two for them, I was I think we talked about
this also a bit, just a giant, insane Hailey Mills
fan and so like out of my mind that I
was going to get to write a movie for her
and meet her to the point we are still friends.
I did that with eighty six. I just got an

(15:00):
email from her last week because I wrote her on
her birthday in April and she was given the update
on the kids and the grandkids and all.

Speaker 4 (15:07):
That was amazing.

Speaker 5 (15:08):
But the really funny thing was so because I was
such a fanatic, all of the characters in that movie
are named for other roles that she played in her
early Disney movies. Really her boss is Walter Elias because
Walt's middle name was Elias. And then when we met,
I said something about it and she goes, what And
I said, Mary Grant was your character in The Castaways.

Speaker 4 (15:30):
Nikki Ferris was your character some in Moonsclarers.

Speaker 5 (15:34):
And she goes, oh my god, I didn't even realize
that she.

Speaker 4 (15:38):
Had forgotten it.

Speaker 5 (15:39):
But almost every single character in that movie is named
for roles she had played in previous Disney movies.

Speaker 2 (15:44):
That's awesome.

Speaker 3 (15:47):
So you did that along. Also within your d coms
that you read.

Speaker 4 (15:52):
Yeah, there would be little drops of something that was
some other.

Speaker 3 (15:55):
But you got to give us some of them.

Speaker 2 (15:57):
Yeah, what's your favorite one's.

Speaker 3 (15:59):
Or smart house that you remember?

Speaker 5 (16:01):
Oh man, I have to really think back because it
was always something that was, you know, again related to this,
but an homage backwards.

Speaker 4 (16:10):
So I'll have to think about that one. Okay.

Speaker 2 (16:12):
I think I'm so curious to know what they.

Speaker 6 (16:15):
Are, especially if you can think of one that we
haven't seen yet so we can like look for I think, Oh,
I think that's great.

Speaker 4 (16:22):
I can't come with it on the spot, I'll email
you after.

Speaker 3 (16:25):
Yes, that's that's all we need. That's all we need.

Speaker 2 (16:28):
Okay, let's let's go to True Confessions. Now.

Speaker 1 (16:32):
This is one of the few movies that we talked
about that was based on a novel going in so
it was written in the form of a diary. How
how does that change the way you approach a script
when a it's from existing ip not just an existing script,
but a book and then also a book in a
completely different form. How do you tackle writing a script

(16:55):
for something like that.

Speaker 5 (16:56):
A couple of different things connected with that, which was
really interesting backstory. At that point, I had done at
least five movies for them and a producer that I
had worked with on other things, and ultimately True Confessions
was the first one, and then we did something for
ABC Family. Oh Going Too The Map is the other

(17:17):
one that she produced. But with this, she came to
me with the book and she said, I think this
would make an incredible dcom I know you have a
relationship with them. Do you want to go in together
and pitch it? And when I approached the executives about
coming in, they said, just so you know, there have
been two other sets of writers that have brought us
this book that we passed on it. We're only going

(17:38):
to take the meeting because of our relationship with you.
Come in and tell us your take. And so pressure
was on, Yeah, you know, we've already passed twice. But
and then when Jennammemma and I went in with the book,
I had already kind of conceived that again, we got
to take what was a diary and make it active,
make it visual, make it physical, maget all those things.

(17:58):
So the idea of doing of law, which was a
fairly new thing at that point, that Truth's going to
do this as a video diary and we're actually going
to get to see the process rather than somebody sitting
at a desk writing. That was something that really appealed
to them.

Speaker 4 (18:11):
And then it was.

Speaker 5 (18:12):
Kind of the that coupled with we know you, we
know what you're capable of, let's go so wow, the
leap of faith that you know, Like I said, they
had enough trust in me at that point that we're
willing to make the lead.

Speaker 1 (18:25):
Well yeah, because again if they've said no twice, then
it's just all based on you.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
I have to imagine, should you in.

Speaker 6 (18:32):
Any sense talk about having shyl A bof A is like?
Was that you're like, kind of this would be a
great we see this being such a great role for him.

Speaker 3 (18:40):
Did you bring up him at all? That was not me.

Speaker 5 (18:43):
They came back to me, but came back fairly quickly
because the thing with true true is the thing that
I did have done the least drafts of in my
entire career anywhere, you know, Disney and beyond. Because what
happened was fairly quickly. They came back and somebody, you know,
and again I don't know if it was Gary Rshe
who initially put Shia to the project, but they said,

(19:03):
we want Shia in this role. And we've got this
tiny little window between even Stephens seasons, right, you know,
we need the script quickly and then we need to
be going quickly because there's where our window of opportunity is.
So from you know, first type type to production was
three drafts and and then we were on the set,

(19:23):
So I mean, all that happened really fast. And then
the other incredible thing was I was in typical form.
I was up there for the table read, for the
week of rehearsals, for the first couple.

Speaker 4 (19:34):
Of days of shooting. I bailed and came home.

Speaker 5 (19:36):
And then the last week of production is when nine
to eleven happened. They were in Toronto and the cast
and crew ended up having to drive back across the
country because there were no planes in.

Speaker 4 (19:48):
The air for a month.

Speaker 5 (19:48):
Yeah, and they realized, you know, we ain't getting home
any time soon.

Speaker 4 (19:52):
Waiting for a flight.

Speaker 5 (19:53):
Yeah, they all had to do across country caravan drive
back to LN.

Speaker 1 (19:59):
Now does the US has change it all when it's
based on another author's book or do you still have
carte blanche?

Speaker 2 (20:05):
I mean, how does that work?

Speaker 1 (20:06):
Does the original author have any kind of say in
where the script goes or no?

Speaker 2 (20:11):
Okay?

Speaker 4 (20:12):
Yeah, So basically is.

Speaker 5 (20:14):
That they have the right to say, I'm not selling
the rights to the book, right, but once the rights
have been sold, have at it. And you know, being
a writer, being somebody who's published two novels, I am
very respectful of the source material, but ultimately you have
to look at it as that's not filmic, or that
doesn't make visually or how you know, you kind of

(20:36):
have to give yourself permission to Now I have to
take the essence of and the underlying heart of the
material and hang under as much of it as it can,
but it has to make sense filmically. And you know,
this is a very different medium than has different demands
and that's where my fidelity now.

Speaker 4 (20:52):
Has to be sure.

Speaker 3 (20:53):
And this was a project that you collaborated with Paul
hoan On.

Speaker 4 (20:58):
Yes, and I.

Speaker 6 (21:00):
Was able to work with Paul with one of the
Cheetah Girls movies. We love him, We've had him on
the podcast. He's amazing, you know, legend at Disney Channel,
just as you are. So it's awesome that you guys
are now joining forces. And wow, did it just work
on every aspect because this movie was absolutely one of

(21:20):
my favorites to.

Speaker 2 (21:21):
Watch me too, great movie.

Speaker 3 (21:23):
But can you tell me about.

Speaker 6 (21:24):
The process of working with Paul because I know he
really loves to like dive in and include everyone, and
you know Rework and Rework, So I mean you might
have just had to get up to a certain point.
But how was it working with him as he then
jumped into his role.

Speaker 5 (21:42):
Instant love affair and again we are still friends, you know,
as you guys know. I don't know if you know
this part of it, but three weeks from now I
will be retiring, so I know. But I've had I've
done since I've been there for nineteen years, a class

(22:03):
called the Filmmaker's Life where I teach every other year
and I bring in people from Hollywood to talk about
their lives, their experiences, their careers, how they got their start,
and Paul has done that class for me at least
three or four times over the cool and we're still
in touch on a regular basis, have lunch when we can.
So really it was one of the greatest collaborations of
my career in terms of just came.

Speaker 4 (22:25):
In the room and yeah, we get each other.

Speaker 5 (22:27):
I like you, you like me. You know, my wives
met our kids, Matt, we hung out together. I mean,
we really had a wonderful relationship and still do. But
he was somebody who just same waveling, get it, got
it good, let's go.

Speaker 1 (22:41):
There are some some creative people that you just instantly
have a shorthand with where it's just it's like, oh, okay, brother, sister, instantly,
that's good, let's go.

Speaker 5 (22:50):
I was gonna say there was a couple of times
during production after I was back in LA where he
would call and say, you know, we're shooting this thing tonight.
I just went through it and wouldn't be possible if
we shifted this to that Or there was one time
where the location fell out and I forget where they
were originally going to be, but we got to move
it to a different place. Can you rewrite the scene tonight?
To make it more accommodating the new location. Hey buddy,

(23:11):
I'll have.

Speaker 6 (23:11):
It in an hour.

Speaker 4 (23:12):
Here you go. And you know, so like phone in
facts days, so i'd have to stick up my fax machine.

Speaker 3 (23:21):
Machine.

Speaker 6 (23:22):
Oh man, if you had the bad paper, it really
but it was the best.

Speaker 1 (23:27):
It was.

Speaker 2 (23:27):
It was it was still magic, Like how did I
get this thing? This is incredible?

Speaker 1 (23:39):
Did you find that having to write for a character
with an intellectual disability? Do you have to approach that
differently than you do any other character when you're writing
for Disney?

Speaker 5 (23:49):
Yeah, and very much Again for me, it's important whenever
the subject matter, whatever the people, the characters, there has
to be an authenticity to it. So Janna and I
went and we went to it. It was like a
residence home for folks with various degrees of mental disabilities
and handicaps and stuff. So we went and spent a
day with them. And I found people that were as

(24:11):
close to what Shi's disability was and sat at the
table and talked to them and talked to their life
experience and do you mind if I'm Johnny notes while
we're talking kind of thing, and really navigated that as
carefully as I could, and so between what was in
the book, which was based on the author's life experience, Yeah,
and the day we got to spend, you know, with

(24:33):
folks with similar disabilities were really informative. And then the
other blessing with this project was because I knew it
was shy and knew what he was capable of. There
were things that I pushed in a direction of I
know he can do this. I'm worried about, you know,
is it going to come off as disrespectfuler in any
way inauthentic? And I trusted he would get there, and

(24:54):
of course he did.

Speaker 2 (24:55):
Yeah, he did a wonderful I mean he was great,
He really was.

Speaker 4 (24:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (25:00):
Did you get a chance to interact with him?

Speaker 5 (25:02):
For the week I was up there, We went out
to dinner a couple of times. I was you know,
like I said, I was there for the table raading
rehearsals and hanging around. And then they did a premiere
on the Disney back Loot. When the movie was done,
I got to see him again there and cool, great,
I mean he was really very funny, very energetic, very engaged,
just lovely and another one that you know. For the premiere,

(25:24):
I took my kids and he came over and I
introduced them and he was smoothing with them, and.

Speaker 1 (25:29):
Yeah, well, especially as a child actor, he was arguably
one of the best to ever do it. I mean,
and that's not hyperbole ever, He's truly one of the
best child actors that's ever existed. Obviously, his adult life,
the acting is still there. He's had his problems, as
people can. But from an acting standpoint, I mean, you
watch him at sixteen and almost every other actor at sixteen,

(25:49):
and you just go, oh, they're working on completely different levels.
So yeah, quite he really took that role and made
it very special. But now we're going to come to
the one that you said you knew the most about.
Backwards Forward, Sideways remember everything about it.

Speaker 2 (26:02):
Let's talk poof point. So it's a time.

Speaker 1 (26:07):
Travel movie that first aired on September fourteenth, two thousand
and one. Do you remember kind of what it was
like having a movie coming out so close to nine
to eleven?

Speaker 2 (26:18):
I mean, what was what was that like?

Speaker 4 (26:21):
It really was.

Speaker 5 (26:22):
I mean, we were all still so in shell shock
of what world do we now in habit that I
think everybody was clinging for anything that was a little
bit positive and a little bit you know, take your
mind off it for a couple hours. So sure, aspect
of it was very positive, But at the same time,
it was just that surreal life goes on and these
things are happening. But it didn't have the same kind

(26:44):
of celebratory launch that some of the other ones did.
So I'm ninety nine percent sure there wasn't a screening
Brasina on Smart House, True Confessions we had on the
back lot with castin krew and did all that.

Speaker 4 (26:58):
I don't remember any.

Speaker 5 (26:59):
Event connected the Proof Point because of the timing of
all of that.

Speaker 1 (27:03):
Sure, was this also a script that you you came
in last or were you first on this one? You
came in last on this one, So I have a question,
So I'm just full disclosure. Poof Point was not my
favorite of the of the films we've seen. Have you
ever gotten a project and you don't have to say
the name of it, but have you ever gotten a project?
And kind of said, I'll do what I can, but

(27:25):
I don't know how much can be done with this one.

Speaker 5 (27:28):
Yes, And there was also I mean there was one
for them and then a couple outside of them for
my career where I would get it and just go,
I can't make this better.

Speaker 3 (27:40):
Right.

Speaker 4 (27:42):
I was secure enough.

Speaker 5 (27:43):
And working enough that when I genuinely felt that, it
was like, I respectfully decline, you know, even getting involved
because I can't make it better. And I'm not somebody
that's going to do the money grab and give you
a half a job. It's like, if I'm doing it,
I'm doing it because I believe that I can put
it across the finish line. And so there was one

(28:04):
in particular for them where I just went good luck, right,
And like I said, a couple outside things, there was
one project, if I could digress for just a second,
least a project. And they called and they said, we
bought the rights to this for a million dollars. We
think it needs a page one rewrite. Will you take
a crack at it? So already I'm like, you paid

(28:26):
a million dollars for what? Now?

Speaker 4 (28:27):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (28:29):
And then I'm reading the script and it is about
a kid who becomes like an eight or nine year
old who becomes a Hollywood agent.

Speaker 4 (28:37):
Okay, And it was like, what.

Speaker 5 (28:40):
About this would appeal to anybody in the universe? Why
is this a thing to begin and why did you
pay a million dollars more. It's not funny, it's not cute.
If he's the best kid agent in the world, I
hate this kid.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
Yeah, kids won't want to watch it, Adults won't want
to watch it.

Speaker 2 (28:58):
Who did you buy this for?

Speaker 3 (29:01):
At an age? Are not going?

Speaker 1 (29:02):
You know?

Speaker 3 (29:02):
One day?

Speaker 2 (29:03):
I don't even a power agent. Oh did they ever
shoot it?

Speaker 5 (29:08):
No?

Speaker 2 (29:09):
Oh my god?

Speaker 5 (29:09):
And they had paid a million dollars for the specscript.
And that was when I finished reading it and I
called my agent and I said.

Speaker 4 (29:17):
I can't do this. There's no version of this where
anybody in the world would want to see this.

Speaker 5 (29:24):
And I called them back and I said, you know you, guys,
I just don't get it. I don't get the best
version of this is.

Speaker 4 (29:30):
I don't get it. Good luck to you. Yeah, never
heard about it again.

Speaker 1 (29:34):
Did the movie that that you kind of the same
thing happened for Disney?

Speaker 2 (29:38):
Did they make that movie without you? Or did they
not make that.

Speaker 4 (29:40):
Movie without you? Ever got made?

Speaker 2 (29:42):
Okay, we don't even don't.

Speaker 6 (29:44):
Even need a t if we pull in our number
one Hail Mary and he says, ah, we probably.

Speaker 2 (29:52):
Can't do that.

Speaker 5 (29:56):
And it's really interesting because I honestly wish I had
had the opportunity need to see poof Point before we spoke,
because I feel the same way it is when I list,
you know, for you've seen some of the social media stuff.
When I get asked to name your top five Disney
movies that you wrote, it ain't ever there.

Speaker 6 (30:13):
Yeah, you know, I think I think one of the
biggest things that's that stands out about poof Point, especially
when you have something like Smart House, is those like
supposed to be really cool gadgets and they're scientists, and
and the way that things happen, what was done on set.
It wasn't the set that that you had for Smart House.

Speaker 3 (30:34):
That wasn't that didn't.

Speaker 2 (30:37):
Factor to it what she's trying.

Speaker 6 (30:39):
To say, Yes, thank you, thank you. It just wasn't
that caliber. So it's like when you're going into that
fantasy land and the set just doesn't It was not
it was the set was hard to like because it
was so big and that you were seeing it and
it was everywhere, and they were trying to make you
believe certain things that just like it was the production
and you just.

Speaker 1 (31:00):
It was also the some great actors doing some really
terrible fake guitar playing.

Speaker 2 (31:07):
Yes, that's one of the things that really stuck out
to US's like.

Speaker 1 (31:12):
Wow, they're not even faking guitar playing very well, you know,
they know how to do it. So from your past
growing up, And we might have touched on this a
little bit last time, but xenon Smart House poof point,
there seems to be almost an underlying sci fi fantasy
kind of vibe to a lot of the stuff you do.

Speaker 2 (31:28):
Were you a sci fi fantasy fan growing up?

Speaker 4 (31:31):
Not at all?

Speaker 2 (31:32):
Really, I think I.

Speaker 3 (31:33):
Remember this actually from the last time.

Speaker 1 (31:37):
Maybe I'm asking again because I'm shocked, really because you
wanted to be so chic, all fantasy writers, all fantasy
backer not really nothing growing up.

Speaker 5 (31:47):
No, it's really interesting because you know I've talked about
part of my love of the Disney movies of my
era were the reason that I felt like I was
the right person to be in the dcom Go To Guy.
But all of those were like, you know, the opposent
minded Professor, Swiss Family, Robinson, parent Trap. Those were the
things that were really my you know, bread and bones

(32:07):
in terms of every you know, Disney was on the
seven year reissue cycle when you didn't have DVDs and
the rest of it, and any opportunity to see those movies.

Speaker 4 (32:15):
I was always there. And when they would run on.

Speaker 5 (32:17):
The Wonderful World of Disney, Yeah, Front Rose Center, I
was there. But so much of like the adventure, fantasy
play of things I Swiss Family Robinson and then the
fantasy of the parent Trap coupled with my crush on
Hayley besides you know, all of those things. That was
really my go to much more than I wasn't a
Star Trek fan.

Speaker 4 (32:36):
I wasn't okay, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (32:38):
Yeah, that's so funny.

Speaker 1 (32:39):
There was that the fantasy adventure, I guess is the
way you're saying, like the Swiss Family Robinson, the way
they did that, it's essentially it's adventure Land at Disneyland
as opposed to Tomorrowland at Disneyland, which which really had
more of the vibe of kind of the earlier Disney
lifestyle for lack of a better term, it was that

(33:00):
kind of occasionally it would be almost something chitty chitty
bang bang, but other than that, it was really that
kind of family Swiss Family Robinson kinds.

Speaker 5 (33:08):
Yeah, and if you really look at my over it's
families at the center of all of them. Yeah, And
you know, and that's the thing that I know, that's
the thing I'm most comfortable with. As I've talked about
with you know, my son is four years older than
my daughter, and if you watch the evolution of my movies,
it's almost always an older brother with a younger sister.
That was the stuff we talked about before of opening

(33:29):
the door and listening to them and you know, closing
it and going back to writing. But so the big
the through line for me was always those Disney movies
that I grew up, and there was an element of
wish fulfillment. There was always the kid empowerment because they
had the opportunity to whether it was getting the parents
back together and man parent trap or you know, building

(33:51):
this incredible treehouse and racing your ostrich in Swiss family Robinson. Yeah,
you know, all of those things had a wish fulfillment
coupled with the family at the center or of it. Yeah,
if you watch you know, my cannon of Disney movies,
that's almost central to all of them as well.

Speaker 2 (34:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (34:13):
Curiously, what of your canon, which one was the most
difficult for you to write?

Speaker 4 (34:18):
Mhm, oh, good question.

Speaker 5 (34:24):
Proof Point had its issues in terms of because there
was I wasn't as connected to the whole situation and
set up and all the rest of it, So that
was a little bit of a challenge. True Confessions was
the hardest in terms of.

Speaker 4 (34:39):
I really want to get this right.

Speaker 5 (34:41):
Right, there's a there's a way where you can jump
the shark in a really uncomfortable you know, whether it's
condescending or not respecting the ability of the disabled, you know,
whatever those things are. It's just much more of a
minefield of really, I want to get this right. I
want to you know, be fair to the characters, to
the really sure. I think that was more like I

(35:03):
really felt, reason.

Speaker 6 (35:05):
You have a hard time with that dad because that
dad was a jerk.

Speaker 3 (35:09):
Oh, I mean.

Speaker 6 (35:10):
And I know how you normally are with dads and
eventually it comes together and you and it's all circle around.
But like hard, Yeah, was that hard for you to
to like go there as far as letting him take
that character to be really you know, I mean he
really struggled, Yeah, and he really struggled with how his emotions,
which I think is real. And I said that over

(35:32):
and over again while we rewatched it. I think this
is such a it has to be hard for every
single person in that house.

Speaker 3 (35:39):
Yeah, to handle.

Speaker 6 (35:42):
And I think it's like real that the dad who
has this high power job and then also this and
you know, but was that hard for you, because I
know the dad was such a huge thing for you
with the characters all.

Speaker 2 (35:53):
He wasn't a dumb dad, but he.

Speaker 3 (35:54):
Wasn't a dumb dad, but he was. He really struggled,
He really struggled.

Speaker 5 (36:00):
I am carefully calibrating my response, and I'm thinking, I mean,
because it actually was based on someone we know who
had a kid with a disability that just could not
accept it, could not come to terms with it.

Speaker 4 (36:13):
It really rocked his world in a way. And as
I was calibrating by answer, it's like, he's never going
to hear the podcast. I'm good.

Speaker 2 (36:22):
Fans too, but I don't.

Speaker 5 (36:26):
But he was somebody that I observed trying to come
to terms with his own son and he still really hasn't.
I mean, the sun is now in his forties and
it's still a day to day issue in terms of reconcile.

Speaker 4 (36:39):
Wow, that relationship hard, so hard.

Speaker 5 (36:44):
Yeah, So again, it wasn't difficult in the sense that
I felt a fidelity to this is hard and and
and not everybody gets up to speed immediately, and not
everybody gets you know, gets to terms with it. And
so again to make it it's just.

Speaker 4 (37:01):
You just adapt, you just go. It's all you know,
you go with it. That's what life is.

Speaker 5 (37:04):
Didn't feel to anybody in nea great And so as
long as there was some glimmer of evolution, as long
as there was some you know, opening in that window
for him before the movie was over, I was okay
with taking that journey.

Speaker 6 (37:20):
Yeah, yeah, I thought, I mean it was it made
it so much again, so many of those choices just
made the situation without ever going through anything like that,
seem like wow, Like just my level of empathy just
kept building because it was like, oh man, there's this
extra layer that you don't think about, and it was
just I mean, it just feels like it just did
the job perfectly.

Speaker 3 (37:41):
That movie was just like so good, so good.

Speaker 5 (37:45):
And one of the things that's you know, so gratifying
again with the social media presence of the last couple
of years is people saying my dad and I watched
that movie together, and I have a handicapped brother, and
I had never seen a character like that portrayed on
screen before, and then every time it was on my
dad I would go back and watch it again and
we would cry together and we would you know, it
was so meaningful to us, and thank you and you

(38:06):
know those kinds of responses, which how can it get
better than that?

Speaker 2 (38:10):
That's amazing, incredible.

Speaker 1 (38:14):
And finally, we need to talk a little bit this
time about the shirt you're wearing about this Xenon, which
you said might be the favorite one that you made
for the channel, but we've also heard since that it
was first thought of as a TV show.

Speaker 5 (38:31):
No, it's really funny because I just did an event
two weeks ago that was the most wonderful because it
was a room full of just Disney Channel geeks and I.

Speaker 3 (38:43):
Saw the clip. I saved it.

Speaker 4 (38:48):
I saved it. There you go.

Speaker 5 (38:50):
And it was so much fun because what they did
is they screened the movie first and then I did
a Q and A afterwards. But all through the movie they
were yelling at the screen and they were talking back
every time.

Speaker 2 (39:01):
It was like Rocky Horror Picture Show, but for Xenon.

Speaker 5 (39:03):
One hundred and like the first time she makes Google
eyes at Greg across the room and they're all O.

Speaker 4 (39:12):
It was really fun.

Speaker 5 (39:13):
And then they were all singing Jim Zim zoom at
the end and everybody dumpling and clapping and singing along.

Speaker 4 (39:20):
So the question you just asked came up that night
as well.

Speaker 5 (39:23):
Yeah, but what the evolution was was it was based
on the kid's book that I think I told you
last time that I pitched Eloise at the Plausa on
the space station. Yeah, that's why I got the job,
wrote the movie. The movie was a huge success for them,
to the point of again got a brag. But when
they had a party celebrating the first hundred movies, Garry

(39:43):
Marsh got up at the beginning of it and he said,
when people talk to me about dcoms, most people assume
it's about high school musical and he said, it's actually not.
The two movies I get asked about the most are
Xenon and Smart House.

Speaker 4 (39:57):
Yeah, you do, thank you very much.

Speaker 5 (40:03):
So anyway, because it did so well, the sequel was
ordered pretty quickly. We did this equal then the third
movie was supposed to be a feature film. Okay, and
again part of the reason that that movie is not
great directly to your point, Sabrina, about poof point, if
you look at Z three it looks like a feature

(40:23):
film shot on a Disney Channel budget, and so a
lot of the effects are really cheesy. It was really
they were down in South Africa and they're on the
beach one night and there's like this you know, uh
windstorm basically, and like the sand is hitting them in
the face and they're trying to get.

Speaker 3 (40:40):
The like crew guys with buckets of sand.

Speaker 5 (40:47):
The wind going and they didn't have enough time or
you know, budget to postpone or whatever. But it really
looks like a feature shot on a Disney Channel budget
because it was conceived as a feature. It was supposed
to be a collaboration between at the time Hollywood Pictures,
which was a Disney Division feature and the Channel, and
they got into a turf war pissing contest over who

(41:09):
had the ultimate buck stops here with the script thing,
and they became this huge tug of war and Disney
Channel was it's our property, we developed it, we get
the final say, and they're like, but we're the Feature Division.

Speaker 4 (41:20):
We get the.

Speaker 5 (41:20):
Final say, and eventually they went, we're going to agree
to disagree, take a movie and go home, and point
it was like, well, we're this committed, We're making it
as a Disney Channel movie, but we don't have enough
time to do a full on rewrite.

Speaker 2 (41:33):
Oh no, so was it ever going to be a
television show? And they were talking about it.

Speaker 4 (41:37):
Yeah, So all.

Speaker 5 (41:38):
That happened, and then I don't know the timing. Somewhere
within the next couple of months, I got a call
from Suzanne to Pass and Suzanne Costin, who were the
producers of the three movies, and they said, we have
great news. We've been picked up to series. You're the
one of the executive producers and head writer of the show.
We've got I forget if the initial order was twelve

(41:59):
episodes and whatever it was, but we have an order
for this many episodes of the show. Come on in
tomorrow morning for a production meeting so we could start
to talk about because we had pitched here's how it
would play out as a series, and the idea is
going to be that Xena was sent down to Earth
to run a space camp to train the kids who
are going to be going to space, and part of
that was so it was much more sustainable on a

(42:21):
series budget to not have to face all the time
and do it all. Yeah, so we sold that that's
what they bought. That's what we're doing. Come in Friday
morning for a production meeting. Before I ever got to
the production meeting, I got a call and said the
series has been canceled.

Speaker 4 (42:36):
And it's like, wait, what happened?

Speaker 5 (42:38):
We were excited yesterday and this is Yeah, when I'm
always talking to my students about you never get to
be happy in show business.

Speaker 2 (42:45):
But anyway you can play a happy character.

Speaker 4 (42:49):
That's about it.

Speaker 5 (42:50):
Because they were in the Disney Channel cheap, they did
not have any kind of holding deal with Kirsten Sheet
in the interim signed a contract with General Hospital for
she has now been for twenty years.

Speaker 1 (43:04):
Yeah, she's still there. It's like she's done eight thousand episodes.

Speaker 5 (43:07):
Yeah, but she had sorry, the General Hospital contract, and
they said we could recast, but she's so identified with
the role and people so love her in the role.

Speaker 4 (43:15):
We're not going to recast. We're not going to do it.
We're scrubbing the series.

Speaker 2 (43:20):
And that was it. Oh no, oh no, oh, that's
the worst.

Speaker 4 (43:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (43:24):
So if they had had a holding deal, if they
had had a second position deal, if they had a.

Speaker 6 (43:29):
Yeah, all things that they I'm sure learned lessons of
because when we talked to people about Hannah Montana. You
know a lot of them that the hard part was
not Hannah Montana in the movie, it was what was
the movie we did that was a TV show that
they turned into a movie. Disney ended up having to

(43:49):
they for whatever reason, had to get a whole new
writing crew, and some of the actors had a hard
time with that because.

Speaker 2 (43:54):
They're, oh, no, that was that was Hannah Montana. Was
that Hannah don't you remember?

Speaker 1 (43:57):
Yeah, because the writers from Hannah Montana didn't then write
the movie from Hannah Montana, which is why they were like, Okay,
that didn't seem to really have.

Speaker 3 (44:03):
The same vibe with the Wizards.

Speaker 1 (44:06):
Yeah, yeah, maybe it was also Wizards that it was
two Wizards was.

Speaker 6 (44:09):
A different team that made it a movie, And it
was like the heart and the essence of what had
been built, you know, and with you with that franchise
is gone because it's not the same people that were
doing it. So the characters were missing a lot that
the actors could feel it, you know, the producers or
whoever else was around that didn't get replaced, like that's

(44:31):
such a big deal and and it is almost worth
like taking the I would say budget cut any weather
it doesn't look as good, but like the heart and
the essence has to be there. You cannot just like
throw away characters and things that matter within the franchise
and the brand that's being built each I can't.

Speaker 5 (44:49):
I would give you the underline to that. I always
have to like start it. Am I gonna get in
trouble it? What do I care?

Speaker 4 (45:00):
Movie party?

Speaker 5 (45:01):
The head of development came up to me and he said,
oh my god, I'm so glad you're here tonight. We're
trying to reboot Xenon. And so this was, you know,
a decade beyond the third movie, maybe even longer, but
we're trying to reboot the franchise. I'm so happy you're here.
Do you have any ideas We've met with a bunch
of writers and not working so far.

Speaker 4 (45:20):
Will you come in and pitch us something?

Speaker 5 (45:23):
So it was I can date it because it was
this time that Creed was just coming out, and I said,
what you have to do is a legacy movie, because
they what their idea was to have a new kid
playing Xenon, and I said, don't do that, but do
the legacy handoff movie like Creed did with Rocky to Creed,

(45:44):
where Xenon's now the teacher on the space station. She's
got to deal with a kid who's the mirror image
of her at that age. Suddenly she's in the commander
playing authority role, trying to deal with this rap Skellion
that's her younger self. And then if that works, you
can take that character and give her as many movies
as you want. Need that transition legacy.

Speaker 2 (46:05):
Yeah, hand the Torch movie. Yeah, you pass the Torch movie.

Speaker 5 (46:08):
Exactly, and now you know whatever other gas the new
scene is. You know, now Noble's running with the torch,
whatever it is. So that's what I pitched, and the
two executives in the room were like, oh my god,
that's wonderful. Great, we'll get back to you. They took
their boss for whatever reason, they passed, So again I'm out.

Speaker 4 (46:27):
It's good, God bless you.

Speaker 2 (46:28):
My life is fine because go do your thing.

Speaker 5 (46:33):
Maybe six months later, the original producers to Pass and
Coston call me and they say, as you know, they're
trying to reboot the franchise. They hired this husband and
wife team. They have a script that we're really really
unhappy with. Would you off the record read it for
us and give us any thoughts.

Speaker 4 (46:48):
That you have.

Speaker 5 (46:50):
Xenon was a clinically depressed thirteen year old. They were
going to do just a complete remake, not a reboot
in anyway. But now the Xenon character was passively depressed
because you'd be living in space too long and deprived
of all And I read the script and I called
them and I said, are.

Speaker 4 (47:10):
You kidding me?

Speaker 2 (47:11):
Is this a joke?

Speaker 5 (47:12):
There is not one thing about this that has any
of the energy and the spirit the love. But you
know whatever, there is no Xenon in the script at all.
And they go, well, you know, we didn't really think
so either, but what would you do? And I said
I would dip out figure. Yeah, yeah, good luck to you.

Speaker 4 (47:31):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (47:32):
And it's not what they did.

Speaker 4 (47:33):
That's what I did. I don't know what they did,
but it never happened.

Speaker 1 (47:36):
Oh man, well, oh god, well, hey, everybody takes it
a different route.

Speaker 2 (47:41):
I guess clinically depressed Zeno. It's called Xenon. Okay. So finally,
two quick questions.

Speaker 1 (47:50):
One, did you know that NASA used SETAs laptis in
an Instagram post?

Speaker 4 (47:57):
No?

Speaker 2 (47:58):
Yes, apparently they did. So you're like.

Speaker 4 (48:02):
Katy Perry Thinger, No, it wouldn't have been with it.

Speaker 1 (48:04):
No, I think it's well before well before that. So yeah,
I think the NASA has used CI slipedus.

Speaker 4 (48:10):
Nice.

Speaker 1 (48:10):
It's been to space apparently in Instagram. And the second
thing I'd like to ask is will you come back again?
Because we've now we still have Xen on the Zequel
Z three and Freaking Friday and Phantom.

Speaker 2 (48:21):
In the Megaplex.

Speaker 4 (48:22):
Oh, definitely to watch.

Speaker 1 (48:24):
So when we do those four, will you come back
for another interview? Please?

Speaker 4 (48:30):
It's okay, good with you guys.

Speaker 2 (48:32):
Are you looking forward to retiring?

Speaker 5 (48:35):
It's funny I have quoted to several people. There is
a line into the woods from Little Red Riding, Who's
when she encounters the wolf, she says, I'm excited and scared.

Speaker 2 (48:47):
There you go.

Speaker 5 (48:48):
That's exactly what's happening with the impending retirement. There's a
lot of things I want to do, a lot of
things I'm looking forward to. But I have worked for
fifty one straight years. A lot of my identity, a
lot of my big fat ego is all tied into.

Speaker 2 (49:04):
Well, you're still gonna write though, right, Yeah.

Speaker 5 (49:06):
Actually, a couple of different book projects and a possible
subject idea that's floating about.

Speaker 2 (49:15):
Okay, so very cool.

Speaker 5 (49:18):
Definitely be doing that and we can talk more about
that next time.

Speaker 1 (49:21):
Okay, perfect, Well, thank you so much for joining us
again and giving us all the all the awesome stories
about how all these amazing movies were made and they
couldn't have been done without you, so Stu.

Speaker 3 (49:33):
Thank you so many of them.

Speaker 2 (49:34):
We do talk to you, we do.

Speaker 4 (49:36):
Like I said, just always a pleasure with you guys.
So I so appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (49:39):
And we'll see you next time.

Speaker 4 (49:41):
All right, thank you, Stu, Bye bye.

Speaker 2 (49:46):
Oh god.

Speaker 1 (49:47):
I love the stories that he tells and the things
that he's like. I probably shouldn't say this, but ask
for it.

Speaker 3 (49:51):
I'm just well, yeah, he got to lose. Like it's
just like, you know, awesome, It's true.

Speaker 6 (49:59):
It's some point you do have to like not always
sugarcoat what the industry does and how how things work,
how things, how things get built, how things get taken down,
how things get pulled, you know, how it is. That's
just the reality of the business and and how people.

Speaker 1 (50:13):
There's a there's also a lot of times when people
wanted to find the quote next big hot thing, and
so to do that, they'll get rid of the thing
that's worked the entire time to get them there. It's
like the equivalent of you know, you've you've you've played
a certain way. Now you're halftime at the super Bowl
and you're gonna change everything you're gonna do and you're
gonna have to win. It's like, yeah, right, you've got
you doing yeah exactly. So uh oh man, what a

(50:36):
great interview. Thank you so much against Stu for joining us,
and thank you because I know he's going to join
us again.

Speaker 3 (50:40):
We've got we've watched so many of his and we
still so.

Speaker 2 (50:43):
Many him and Paul. We could just have the two
of them on. We should just sit back and should
just be magical rewind with Paul Ho and Stu Krieger,
and that would be true.

Speaker 3 (50:52):
And I love it.

Speaker 6 (50:53):
Like I said, I watched I came up on my
feed of him at this this event that he went
to recently, and he's just like the cutest guy. And
if they asked him, where does Lapitas come from?

Speaker 3 (51:04):
And it's just so like you.

Speaker 6 (51:06):
Could tell, especially with that franchise because he built it
from the ground up.

Speaker 3 (51:10):
Yeah, is like he it's his baby. He loves it,
he is in it. He loves wearing the shirts, he
loves repping it. You know, it's great, It's awesome.

Speaker 2 (51:19):
Yeah, great.

Speaker 1 (51:20):
What a writer, what a guy, what a respect Hey,
if you're a decom person, he's responsible for a lot
of your favorite lines. I can tell you that right now.
So thank you everybody so much for joining us. Join
us next time over on the other feed where we're
doing a little movie called Cheetah Girls too, or in France,
Cheatah Girls is what I think.

Speaker 3 (51:40):
It was called. We were in Spain, so.

Speaker 1 (51:43):
Okay, so it would have been Cheata Girl's Dose then,
which is great.

Speaker 2 (51:47):
But I'm saying in France.

Speaker 1 (51:48):
It was Cheatah Girls, that's just the way it was.
In Germany it was Cheetah Girl's Spy. Thank you very much.
This is me being able to count to ten in
several languages. But yes, join us over there, and thank
you again, Stu.

Speaker 2 (52:00):
What an interview, and we will see you next time.
Bye bye m