October 15, 2023 • 37 mins
The cast of Hocus Pocus are coming to Salem for the film’s 30th anniversary! Omri Katz, Vinessa Shaw and Jason Marsden talk to James and Jamie about the “It’s Just A Buncha Halloween” event and the ongoing actors strike.
www.ItsJustABunchaHalloween.com
New England's film industry is booming with multiple projects constantly under production. Projects include commercials, television shows and full-length feature films.
Jamie and James are hosts of The Hub on Hollywood. The podcast focuses on New England's growing film industry, as well as entertainment news and reviews.
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www.ItsJustABunchaHalloween.com
New England's film industry is booming with multiple projects constantly under production. Projects include commercials, television shows and full-length feature films.
Jamie and James are hosts of The Hub on Hollywood. The podcast focuses on New England's growing film industry, as well as entertainment news and reviews.
SUBSCRIBE & FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM & TikTok!
https://linktr.ee/hubonhollywood
bdowdcasting.com
bostoncasting.com
cpcasting.com
slatecasting.com
kendallcoopercasting.com
ldipro.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
All right, this is a veryspecial episode of The Hub on Hollywood.
This week we talked to the castmembers of the Disney cult classic hocus Pocus,
Omri Katz, Vanessa Shaw, JasonMarsden, as well as Thora Birch.
They are all coming to Salem inOctober October twentieth and twenty first for
a fantastic, amazing events, amazingreunion around the thirtieth anniversary of the cult
(00:31):
classic. Jamie, it was amazingthat they took the time to talk to
us. Yeah, it was adream, childhood dream come true. Well,
you know we at the Hub onHollywood where we attract just all of
the A listers honestly, no,but really it was a huge, huge
honor and the perfect time of theyear and the perfect place. Thirty years.
(00:53):
I can't believe that that it's beenthirty years since the first hocus Pocus
came out. But a really amazingcelebration and opportunity for a lot of people.
And we're going to tell you allthe details about how you can party
with the original cast of hocus Pocusand maybe with us as well. But
yeah, James, maybe we shouldjust hop right in and a tip of
(01:17):
the witch. Right herery go,let's hop right into it. Our interview
with Omri Katz, Vanessa Shaw,and Jason Marsden. Joining us on the
Hub on Hollywood is a group ofvery talented actors who many of us are
very familiar with. They will bein Salem, the Halloween capital of the
(01:38):
world, on October twentieth and twentyfirst. It is my pleasure to introduce
the original cast members of hocus Pocus, Omri Katz, Vanessa Shaw, and
Jason Marsden. Thank you so muchfor joining us. Hey, thanks for
having us, Thank you, yeah, thank you. True pleasure to have
you folks on the podcast. Ifeel like i've I like, I talked
(02:02):
to Jamie last week and I wassaying that a certain movie and we'll adjust
the elephant in the room right nowthat actors strike is going on, so
we can't really go into specific detailsof hocus Pocus, but it is a
movie that has been on repeats,you know, every year since, uh
since I was a child. Sotrue pleasure to have you guys on and
(02:23):
a true pleasure to have you folksvisiting Massachusetts in just a couple of weeks.
By a show of hands, whohas you've all been to Salem,
right, is it only is onlyJason who hasn't been to to our neck
of the woods. I I yes, I've been to Salem. I'm not
an official capacity like Armory Vanessa,but uh, but I did go to
(02:46):
Salem a few years ago. Yeah, and I'm I'm a an East Coast
person anyway. I'm from Rhode Islandoriginally, so it all felt very familiar.
Awesome. I was in Salem lastyear. I did an event with
Joe and his crew, and sothat was the first time in thirty years
(03:06):
or sorry, yeah, thirty yearsactually since we filmed that movie we shall
not name a year prior. Nobodyknows what he's talking about. Yeah,
nobody knows what could possibly be.Yeah, this will be no trouble.
(03:30):
Yeah, this will be my firsttime visiting Salem since the shooting of the
movie We Can't Name. And I'mso excited because they're basically thora and I
always talk about the olfactory connection tothe movie We Cannot Name because when we
(03:52):
were shooting it, they brought inall the trees from Salem or like really
indigenous trees for us to shoot with. Having already left Salem and for the
first few weeks of shooting. Soit's literally ingrained in my body. Can't
wait to smell it in person againin thirty years. So how does that
(04:16):
feel? So in Salem, right, Halloween is the essence of Salem,
Massachusetts. That's it's time to shine. You can barely get close to there
this time of the year. So, and you guys are a part of
this, this cult classic. Somany people know who you are, but
in Salem you're you basically are fnality. So what does it feel like being,
(04:48):
you know, back in Salem alltogether? Right? I imagine you
guys are going to be having ablast. I cannot wait. I am
so I did not just to beback in Salem, but to hang out
with these fine folks once again underour terms, under our circumstances. It's
(05:09):
going to be a blast. Yeah, same, can't wait. I echo
what Amri said. And also,you know, a New England guy spent
too much time in Los Angeles nowin Nashville, but you can't beat the
fall colors of Salem, Massachusetts andthe vibe. And if you leave,
you love Halloween like I love Halloweenlike nothing is more synonymous than being in
(05:33):
Salem. So we're very much lookingforward to to being amongst you guys and
feeling it from your perspective, andgetting to celebrate with these guys as well.
Now we'll go into the event injust a second. But are you
have you have you been warned abouthow popular Salem has become over the past
thirty years, because it is nothow it currently is. It is not
(05:55):
how it was thirty years ago.We were for Warren, Yes, but
I think Amri got a taste ofit. It's basically I want to defer
to him. Yeah, it was, Uh, it was pretty nutty.
I like, I didn't really anticipatewhat was being told to me in terms
of the amount of people. Iguess it's not gotten. Well, I
(06:16):
guess I just had forgotten how smallof a town it really is, and
to cram that many heads over weekendslike that just uh looked like a fire
hazard to me. Did you saythough, that you couldn't like you've never
been recognized so much in your entirelife. Yeah, in in my entire
(06:40):
life, I was recognized more onthat weekend than my entire life, well,
at least since that movie which I'llnot name. It was pretty but
everybody was so everybody was so respectfuland so kind. Nobody was like,
you know, approaching me necessarily.They would just yell from like across the
(07:00):
street or whatever, like hey Max, I'm like you dude, No,
it's funny. And again, wellwe're all dancing around the name of it.
But the funny thing is this newsurvey came out talking about the state's
most popular kids Halloween movies in twentytwenty three. And I won't mention it
(07:21):
because we can just guess of whichmovie is massachusetts most favorite popular you know,
kids Halloween movie for Massachusetts. Andso yeah, Salem's Lot, Shandlot,
is that what you said? Butit could be the Shandlot, It
(07:41):
could be it could be they're allgood movies, but no, so yeah,
it's gonna be insane. So youknow, just mentally prepare yourself for
a sea of people who are goingto be not only there for the Halloween
festivities, but for it's just abunch of Halloween on October twentieth and twenty
first we mentioned it before you talkedto Joe Amri. Joe Manganaro seen it.
(08:07):
It's such an Italian East Coast namedmangan Narrow. Yeah, when you
talk, Whi's up, Joe manganNarrow. Your mom she good? Hey,
Yeah, I said Joe the otherday a meme and it's like was
like a picture of some like apair of like khaki pants and said khakis
(08:33):
and then it said in Boston.It showed a set of car keys,
and I was like, that's perfect, said that to Joe and he was
like, yeah, pretty much,you see my khakis. Yeah, the
accents are going to be insane becausenot only obviously the local accents is really
(08:54):
thick and can be very thick,but we're gonna have a lot of people
from out of state, so we'regonna get you know, Southern accents.
We're gonna get some New York accentswhen he gets some California accents. So
that's gonna it's gonna be a hugeparty. But yeah, so Joe and
Brian Simms with Salem's Black Hat Society. Uh, this was like this weird
serendipitous moment where they were both talkingto or each of them were talking to
(09:16):
you Amri and you Jason about youknow, reuniting the group, the cast
and then you know, teaming uptogether to make this happen, Jason,
how did that come about? Whenwhen did the first steps uh start getting
you know, laid for this event? Well, months and months and months
ago after Amri went to Salem likelast year. So last year. Sorry,
(09:39):
I've been fever. I'm just gettingover words difficult. Yeah, and
he said he had. He went. He did a modest appearance at a
local comic shop and it was insaneand he had not only that, but
he loved it. He loved beingin Salem, loved the vibe of the
people he hung out with. Iremember when I was hanging out in Salem
(10:01):
with such a good time, andI kept checking my calendar in October and
we had nothing booked, and like, how do we have nothing booked in
October? As I'm like, maybewe could do something ourselves. So we
chatted about it. We uh amriywas talking with Joe. I talked with
the Brian Simms aka Bora y Borah. Yes, and uh that's a good
(10:26):
Bora. Oh thanks. I'm auditioningto be her apprentice stunt double stunt,
yes, not the stage. Allthese readers that I got, we gotta
jump over this flame. Uh.So we got them to talk with their
enthusiasm and their interest, and andand and hooking us up with so many
(10:48):
great local artists and and people atJohn Andrews. The Creative Collectives been very
valuable with this process, finding usa place where we could throw a party,
finding us a place where we couldmeet everybody that they'd be safe and
cohesive and and fun. Uh.And that's uh that leads us to the
talk with you guys. Yeah,Amri, how do you how did that
(11:09):
come about? Well? I canadd exactly like, uh, you know,
Joe hit me up last year randomlyon Instagram, and I don't always
reply to people, but like forsome reason I can confirm confirm, I'm
sorry, Should I just I'll mutemyself. Yeah, I don't want to
(11:31):
respond to anything, Jason says duringthis interview anymore. We'll put a divide
between you two. I'm sorry.I'll be drinking being quiet sea. So
Joe hit me up, and uh, I was like, you know what,
let's do it. Let's go toSalem, let's check it out.
Why not? I had nothing goingon? Then I had a great time
(11:54):
spoke to these beautiful people that weare that are amongst us here on this
interview about it and they were like, yeah, that would be an amazing
idea. And then Brian he didan event with us back in March out
in Florida, and he was like, we got to do something in Salem.
We got to do something in Salem. And we're like, yeah,
we do, we do, wedo. Time went on, we just
(12:16):
you know, it was just itwas we were just talking about it a
little bit. And then Jason kindof like jumped the gun. He's like,
dude, let's do this. LikeI'm I'm all in, and I'm
like, okay, I'm all in. Vanessa was like I'm all in.
We got thora to hopefully be allin and yeah we are. Uh we
(12:39):
are here now. So I'm excited. I'm STOKEDA is in it. She's
just very schedule is different that soshe can't do the the promos like like
we can't, but but Thoraville isvery excited to be there. She will
be there both. Benz, Yeah, I was gonna ask me, is
she the wild card? It seemedlike it. I'm just gonna stuck her
in my suitcase and make sure.You know. We had the two connections
(13:03):
of Joe and Brian, and thenwe just built out from there and it's
been so wonderful because everyone, thelocals who are really integral to Salem basically
open their doors to us, andwe just cannot thank them enough. Like
we feel so grateful that we're open, you know, the doors are open
to your town, and that we'reyou know, pretty much getting free reign,
(13:26):
being welcomed as if it's if it'sour own home hometown, you know,
And I just feel so grateful.We have these zoom calls with everyone.
We're really producing this all on ourown, So this is just really
great to have all of our headstogether, and we could not have done
it without them because of obviously,you know, we didn't want to come
(13:50):
in just saying we want to dothis event and you know, basically have
no idea what we're doing. Soyou know, we are so happy to
utilize everyone and they strengths and learnfrom them really and that's why we're here
doing this now. So it's great. There there are some people who are
literally opening their doors for us asas a private bathroom if we need it
(14:13):
to break on Salem come and youdon't know how important that is walking distance,
like we can well let them useour bathroom. But it's just for
us. That is a really bigdeal. You don't understand because yeah,
they have portapottis and everything, butthere's always a line. Again, it's
it's a it's going to be amad house outside wherever you go in Salem.
(14:33):
So that is really cool. That'slike having a key to the city
when you have that kind of access. Looking forward to it, we do,
yeah, I guess. So wealso just want to make sure,
like you know, we don't getmobbed and uh, you know, people
opening up their doors and being sohospitable is extremely gracious and great, so
(14:54):
we don't have to hopefully deal withanything too insane. Yeah, I'm five
foot one and I'm highly abductible.I don't want to have to look for
me or wonder where my whereabouts.So we have who is in charge of
that. Well, we'll put aleash on all of you. What was
that, We'll put a leash onall of you, Yes, yeah,
(15:16):
or at least like some sort ofan air track or one of those Apple
air tags. Yeah, we'll findyou. So on on Friday, October
twentieth, that is the party atBitbar. And this isn't just like you
know people can walk in and walkby and say wave or whatever, like
they're going to be kind of likepartying with you. Is that a fair
(15:37):
description? One down, Yes,there's it's not going to be like there's
a balcony and we appear, wewave to everyone and go back inside.
We're going to be there at bitBar. The first thing that you do
if you want to come, forthose who are listening, is you you
(15:58):
get a tick. You come onin and the first thing you do is
you get a photo op with usfrom local business Witch Picks. That's gonna
set up a really nice, uhpro photo for you. We're all gonna
be dressed up. I'm not gonnatell you, but I'm gonna look.
I'm gonna look fly and uh thephoto with us. They get game tokens.
There's like bit bar bar food andsoft drinks, uh cash bar.
(16:22):
Uh. There will be a DJplaying ambient music. When we're done with
the pictures, hopefully we'll get donewith everybody will come out saale ever everybody
again, are we have a femcMiss Diamond Wigfall, one of your like
most like famous popular local drag performerswill be our femc uh we'll be walking
around talking can talk about whatever youwant. There'll be performances, drag performances
(16:45):
for less performances, and the raffleand aw, that's right, raffle.
Yeah, with every ticket to basicallytwo hundred bucks worth of a raffle that
we're raffling off some items for NAGLI, the local lgbt Q foundation that's we
(17:08):
found in Salem and we want toobviously through this raffle donate to them.
So we are raffling off some prettyhot ticket items. You want me on
to come and see that as well? Yeah, what we can't We can't
tell what it is. Yeah,you can. I just if you want
(17:29):
element of surprise. It's kind ofcool too, r okay with to tell
people buy your tickets now so youcan find out. Yeah, find Yeah,
because like your your your your partyticket is your raffle ticket, so
you automatically get entered this raffle ifyou come in and and and the prizes
are could be on the level oflike I don't lounge fly items or lego.
(17:55):
I don't know if anyone's heard oflego. It's this new concept,
but uh but uh yeah, yeah, that's uh that's like like a knitting
kid, right legos they make knittingkits frustrating as knitting. Yeah, my
frustrating legs. Honestly, Yeah,I know my son as well. It's
(18:18):
crazy up. So where do peopleget the tickets? Where do how do
people get to this event? Tellthe memory? Oh, what's the big
deal. It's just a bunch ofhalloween dot com dot com. There you
go, Yes, our website.Go to our website for all the information,
(18:45):
tickets, anything you need to know. You can even ask questions and
they will be answered accordingly. Anduh, it is it's just uh a
bunch of halloween dot com. Howare you doing? In a Boston accent?
And so you know, if youcome over year, if you go
(19:08):
over, you know to our websitecalled it is just a bunch of Halloween
dot cam. There you go,there you go. That's that's to finish
it, accent. You have tofinish it by saying dude at the end,
dude, let me tell you.Since since I haven't been uh in
the showbiz, Uh, I haven'tbeen in showbiz for a while, my
(19:33):
accents have kind of Okay, you'llforgive me o accents. You'll forget you
forgive me. You haven't been inthe business for a while, you are
still very much a character Australian accent. I don't know how much that helps
with my uh information regarding bossman.Oh that's good out. So I did
(19:57):
one for friends mine who was Australianand he's like, oh, it's a
little too British. Slammed by myfavorite. I have my favorite Sekiwi accent.
I love the way they say no, it's naive nice, yeah,
several syllables. I'm like, what, this would be a good demo reel
(20:21):
for just all of our our accenttalents out there. We could just put
them out there. So we talkedabout really quick the Friday October twentieth party
at Bitbar, but also twenty firstat Salem Common. You can be also
doing autographs and photos there. That'sgonna be the most hectic place, I
think, just because it's on thecenter of Salem pretty much where all of
(20:45):
them witchcraft in and Hoopla happens.So no, I understand you guys have
a tent a tent. There willbe a line again, I think tickets
for that also, right or no? Yes, if you would like our
auto graph there is a just tomake it easy. Uh, you go
to the website and you can selectif you'd like an autograph or a selfie
(21:07):
with the four of us. It'salso there is no charge if you just
want to come in and say hello, like people are asking like I have
to pay the just to say alove Like, No, you don't have
to pay to come sayalo to us. We would love to say loa to
everybody. Uh, just know thatyou're gonna have to wait in line like
everybody else. And uh and ourour our time will be precious. Uh
but are we are going to bethere from noon to seven pm? And
(21:32):
uh yeah, look for the biggiant white tent and the the orange shirted.
It's a bunch of Halloween People's ourteam, our team members. Can
you sign this for me? Yeah, we gotta we gotta scan your QR
code just so are you jumping?That's why I have a team, because
(21:56):
I'd be like, yeah, whatever, absolutely, I know you to the
exchange of a number because the scenewas shot in that area. That's rights
common. Yeah, of a certainmovie, an Omri's character from a certain
movie. Yes, and they actuallyuh well yeah, I might as well
(22:17):
talk about it, but I guessthey deleted the number from that certain yes,
people getting crank called, Yeah,getting crank called too much? Oh
yeah, that's alious. Now thenumber doesn't exist. Well, that was
during I guess a certain time whenI think the two thousands, early two
(22:37):
thousands. Now it's back apparently,Oh well the more you know, yeah,
kind of like an eight nine thenumber. I thought, that's I
thought that's why they used five fivefive, because yeah, but there's so
many people in the world now thatyou need five five five. So now
(23:02):
some poor soul it is like,stop, not that movie and so and
so, because we we have beenclearly dancing around certain topics. It is
because, as we mentioned before,the ongoing actors strike sag AFTRA, the
writer strike Writers s Gouil of America. They were able to reach a deal
(23:22):
recently where actors are still holding strongtrying to reach h and find and get
an equitable deal that ensures, youknow, everybody isn't screwed out of their
hard work and talent. Do youdo you have any thoughts on on the
ongoing matter? How has it affectedyou folks? You know, Jason,
(23:45):
do you want to start? I'mfor it. The industry has grown exponentially.
There's so much technology out there.Uh the there's no mobiles anymore.
They're just they're there. They're thestudio heads and there's not a lot of
creativity, and they devalue all thecreatives, the writers, the actors,
(24:08):
and now especially more than ever,it's it's important to fight, and that's
why it's been going on for forover five months. And I hope it
you know, and I'm prepared forit to go in other fives if necessary.
I hope it doesn't come to that. I'm sure, I know there's
talks happening, right but I'm sureVanessa has something to say about this.
(24:30):
Yes, I mean I actually ama living example of a person who's been
affected by this. I you know, been working consistently for thirty five years
in this business. I haven't hadto get another job. It's I'm just
considered myself lucky, like a slotmachine player. And last year because of
(24:53):
streaming, I lost my health insurance. I'm back on track, but it's
still like it's still something that obviouslyis like hit everyone hard. And again,
I'm honored to be one of thetwo percent of actors and the screen
Actors Guild that actually work the onepercent or the movie stars. So like,
(25:15):
you know, I'm a middle classactor and I you know, for
all this time, have gotten myinsurance and back on track now. But
the thing is is, like noone should live that way where it's just
based on arbitrary monies that you know, huge corporations are making and we're not
getting our fair share. So I'mreally really proud of Screen Actors Guild as
(25:36):
well as the WGA and and allthe artists that have been supporting, even
like Yatzi and all that, allof them, because you know, what
we did is actually changing the faceof society right now, Like we're kicking
off all these you know, laborstrikes across America because of what we stood
up for. And yes, theAI thing is a big concern, but
(25:57):
first and foremost, just basic equalpay we want, So that's what we're
going for, and of course everythingelse is needs to follow suit as well.
So I think it's going to takea little while. We really have
to dig into all the points.That's why I think it's going to take
longer for the actors. But I'mjust so proud to be a Guild member.
(26:18):
More than I ever have because ofus inspiring other labor unions to speak
up as well. Yeah, theresiduals, Like people used to be able
to live off of residuals. Youmake movie and you you get paid for
that. Now they're there are limitson it. There's you get paid less.
There's the artificial intelligence that's replacing thebackground showing Assess fifty four. It's
(26:48):
like not even McDonald's like I can'teven afford a happy mail. You can't
afford it. It's unreal. Andpeople don't realize like, oh, yeah,
you were in a movie, youget paid forever, and but they
don't realize that that has been erodedso much. And that's that's incard six
six dollars. Especially for the streaming. It was streaming. I've I have
(27:11):
shows that worked on this. Oneshow in particular, I know has been
exclusively on Netflix for five or sixyears, and I haven't seen a cent
of that. Streaming is such adifferent beast, and there's it's hard to
get the facts and anyone to backyou up and and fight on your behalf.
So this is this is where thefight is happening, and this is
(27:32):
where these are the points that needto be addressed. Capitalism at its finest.
Yes, yeah, we just Netflixwas filming in Massachusetts on Nantucket Island
off the Cape, and we hadSAG AFTER members who actually picketed the shoot
because they were gonna be shooting broll. And Jamie interviewed one of the
(27:55):
sag AFTER members who helped organize thatthat picket. But you see like company
like you know, studios like Netflixtrying to you know, get past you
know, say, oh, we'reonly getting b roll, but when in
fact, you know, you're stilltaking jobs from actors, from background actors
who would normally take those spots,who would normally be vision drivers exactly.
(28:15):
So you know, thanks Jamie,thanks for fighting for Thanks. I did
want to say one of the benefitsof being on the on strike right now
is that the SAG interim agreements arestill going. The SAG interim agreement films
are still going, and so Iwas honored to be able to work on
(28:37):
one that actually was a passion projectcalled The Wilderness, and that just in
and of itself, because it's lowerbudget, they've greeched all the terms.
Those movies are the ones that arebeing pushed to you know, the forefront,
and obviously the bigger conglomerates are fallingbehind and losing billions of dollars.
But we could continue on without them. Maybe we all do like a Taylor
(29:02):
Swift and just sound sound straight tothe theaters. Like you know, it's
just all this nonsense of like,you know, again, disrespecting, devaluing
the artists. You know, ithas to stop, and so that's what
everyone's fighting for. But again,these you know, interim agreement films are
(29:22):
the examples of still honoring art andtelling us in storytelling, but doing it
according to normal human terms, livableright, livable humanistic terms. Yeah,
okay, all right, Well beforewe let you guys go, I have
one last question for you. Sothis is also this event that you guys
(29:47):
are going to be a part of. It's part of a big anniversary.
I want to know how you guysfeel about this anniversary. How many yeah
see this you speak? Who amI talking with? No? But because
(30:11):
but because of such a you knowthat timeframe. Again, you have fans
who are you know, our ourage, and then you have fans who
are so much younger who are justlearning about some of these you know,
these projects and stuff and so itmust be amazing to you know, go
to different places and see that widerange of fans who appreciate your work,
(30:33):
and so that there's a silver liningother than you know, the old feeling.
I think that the silver lining isthat you know that it's a great
impact across different generations. That's agreat point, James. I mean we
basically are like in awe of themulti generational fandom that's going on. It's
(30:55):
so cool. Like grandmas are like, you know, with their grandchildren and
you know, some one woman theother day was like, I missed my
grandma. She brought me to thismovie. You know, she's like maybe
a few years younger than me.You know, She's like, she brought
me to this movie and I willforever think of her every year because of
it. You know, it's likethat kind of real deep connection, because
(31:15):
of you know, the beauty andlike you know, fun, magic,
scary. It just hit all theright spots and I just think that that's
what people connect with. And nowit's synonymous with trick or treating. I
feel like like people who eat theircandy and watch the movie and yeah,
you know, have the parties.No, there was a bleep there,
(31:45):
no but them out. Yeah,I will bleep them all out. No,
but it is the most popular moviekids Halloween movie in Massachusetts. So
you're gonna hang that on your mantle. Yeah. I just shared it with
one. I just shared it withmy eight year old son too. So
it's it's a beautiful thing. Youknow, when we when we all come
(32:05):
together, like Vanessa, Jason andI, I think we always are like
baffled and shocked at its popularity thirtyyears later that were just like it's just
insane to watch it keep growing andgrowing. Like I kind of just you
know, moved on with my lifeand just you know, continue to do
my own thing. And like Ijust would have never imagined that I would
(32:29):
be like hanging out with these peepsin Salem in less than two weeks,
raging it up, eating the magic, cool people, signing autographs, just
doing all this stuff based off ofsomething we did thirty years ago. It
just still it's it's baffling. It'sreally baffling, and it's amazing and beautiful.
Yeah, if you could have toldour sixteen year old selves that we'd
(32:51):
be you know, because it bombedand so now like we're we're having friendships
rekindled and seeing again these families,and then we're going to do our you
know, our own party in Salemwith you all. So we're calmed,
excellent, well, Amri, Vanessa, Jason, thank you so much for
joining us on the Hub on Hollywood. We cannot wait to see you again
(33:14):
on October twentieth and the twenty first. For it's just a bunch of Halloween.
If you have not bought your ticketsyet, buy them right now.
It's just a bunch of Halloween.Dot Com. Be sure when you guys
do come to Salem dress warm,because it does not feel like southern California
right now. No, no flipflops and board shorts. The locals will
be wearing board shorts and flip flops. But for you out of townies,
(33:37):
yeah, I guess that the dressa little warmer. I'm gonna I'm gonna
bring my bearskin rug wrap myself.They fit right in, right in.
Thank you, it was a pleasureto be aug here. Thank you so
much. Yeah, thank you,James, Thank you. James and Jamie
appreciate you, guys, Yeah,both of you appreciate you. And Happy
(33:58):
Halloween, Happy Halloween, Happy Halloween. Jamie, if you would have told
me twenty twenty five years ago thatI would be one day interviewing the cast
of hocus Pocus, one, Iwould say, who the heck are you?
I don't know you? Where aremy parents? And then two I
(34:21):
would be saying I wouldn't believe it. I wouldn't believe it. But yeah,
childhood dream come true. Talking tothem, Amri, Vanessa, Jason,
you know, sending them I loveto an apologies. I was at
the very end my camera kind ofcrapped out, but it was just phenomenal.
And you're right, I don't thinkthat we ever sort of expected to
(34:45):
just kind of be hanging out andchilling with these wonderful people on air.
But we can in person go meetthem, and so can you in this
incredible celebration that they're having for thethirtieth anniversary. And it's just really really
cool, really fun, and Ijust love that they're so down to earth,
(35:05):
just wonderful, cool cats. Yeah, so if you want to hang
out with those cool cats, justgo to It's just a bunch of Hocuspocus
dot com links will be in thebio. They will be here in Salem
in Massachusetts, October twentieth and twentyfirst, And once you're checking that information
out in the bio, you canalso check out our social media information.
You can follow us already if youare not at hub on Hollywood on Twitter,
(35:30):
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, threads, wherever you go for your socials,
we're there too. But Jamie,this was an amazing episode of the
Hub on Hollywood. Let us knowif one you plan to go check out
the Hocus Pocus cast in Salem?And what are you dressing up as?
Again? I feel underdressed. Youdressed for the interview. You're dressed right
(35:52):
now. I don't know what I'mgonna be. Do you know what you're
gonna be yet? House. I'mgonna be the pink jumpsuit Barbie, you
know when they're all in the pinkjumpsuits at the end and they save the
Constitution or whatever. So that'll beme with with really cute like nineties hair,
pink hair thingies and and all that. So I'm excited about which can
(36:13):
which can will your husband be?He will be sarcastic jogging? Can jogging?
Can marathon runners slash sarcasm? Ken? Yeah? Excellent? I don't
know what I'm gonna be. Istill need a brainstorm. Please comment down
below, whoever comments with the mostcreative Halloween idea, I'll do it.
(36:35):
It has to be a good one, has to be a good one,
and has to have a couple oflikes or not. Yeah, thank you
so much. Just wear suits andand have like a trigger, like a
hand trigger, a grenade or something. Oh god, oh goodness, oh
goodness. We'll let us know downbelow, should us you know? Some
photos if you have any Halloween costumes. But yeah, great episode for the
(36:58):
Hub on Hollywood. I'm James,I'm Jamie. We'll see you next time,
see you next time. Maybe it'ssale. That's right, let's go.
All right, this is a veryspecial episode of The Hub on Hollywood.
This week we talked to the castmembers of the Disney cult classic hocus Pocus,
Omri Katz, Vanessa Shaw, JasonMarsden, as well as Thora Birch.
They are all coming to Salem inOctober October twentieth and twenty first for
a fantastic, amazing events, amazingreunion around the thirtieth anniversary of the cult
(00:31):
classic. Jamie, it was amazingthat they took the time to talk to
us. Yeah, it was adream, childhood dream come true. Well,
you know we at the Hub onHollywood where we attract just all of
the A listers honestly, no,but really it was a huge, huge
honor and the perfect time of theyear and the perfect place. Thirty years.
(00:53):
I can't believe that that it's beenthirty years since the first hocus Pocus
came out. But a really amazingcelebration and opportunity for a lot of people.
And we're going to tell you allthe details about how you can party
with the original cast of hocus Pocusand maybe with us as well. But
yeah, James, maybe we shouldjust hop right in and a tip of
(01:17):
the witch. Right herery go,let's hop right into it. Our interview
with Omri Katz, Vanessa Shaw,and Jason Marsden. Joining us on the
Hub on Hollywood is a group ofvery talented actors who many of us are
very familiar with. They will bein Salem, the Halloween capital of the
(01:38):
world, on October twentieth and twentyfirst. It is my pleasure to introduce
the original cast members of hocus Pocus, Omri Katz, Vanessa Shaw, and
Jason Marsden. Thank you so muchfor joining us. Hey, thanks for
having us, Thank you, yeah, thank you. True pleasure to have
you folks on the podcast. Ifeel like i've I like, I talked
(02:02):
to Jamie last week and I wassaying that a certain movie and we'll adjust
the elephant in the room right nowthat actors strike is going on, so
we can't really go into specific detailsof hocus Pocus, but it is a
movie that has been on repeats,you know, every year since, uh
since I was a child. Sotrue pleasure to have you guys on and
(02:23):
a true pleasure to have you folksvisiting Massachusetts in just a couple of weeks.
By a show of hands, whohas you've all been to Salem,
right, is it only is onlyJason who hasn't been to to our neck
of the woods. I I yes, I've been to Salem. I'm not
an official capacity like Armory Vanessa,but uh, but I did go to
(02:46):
Salem a few years ago. Yeah, and I'm I'm a an East Coast
person anyway. I'm from Rhode Islandoriginally, so it all felt very familiar.
Awesome. I was in Salem lastyear. I did an event with
Joe and his crew, and sothat was the first time in thirty years
(03:06):
or sorry, yeah, thirty yearsactually since we filmed that movie we shall
not name a year prior. Nobodyknows what he's talking about. Yeah,
nobody knows what could possibly be.Yeah, this will be no trouble.
(03:30):
Yeah, this will be my firsttime visiting Salem since the shooting of the
movie We Can't Name. And I'mso excited because they're basically thora and I
always talk about the olfactory connection tothe movie We Cannot Name because when we
(03:52):
were shooting it, they brought inall the trees from Salem or like really
indigenous trees for us to shoot with. Having already left Salem and for the
first few weeks of shooting. Soit's literally ingrained in my body. Can't
wait to smell it in person againin thirty years. So how does that
(04:16):
feel? So in Salem, right, Halloween is the essence of Salem,
Massachusetts. That's it's time to shine. You can barely get close to there
this time of the year. So, and you guys are a part of
this, this cult classic. Somany people know who you are, but
in Salem you're you basically are fnality. So what does it feel like being,
(04:48):
you know, back in Salem alltogether? Right? I imagine you
guys are going to be having ablast. I cannot wait. I am
so I did not just to beback in Salem, but to hang out
with these fine folks once again underour terms, under our circumstances. It's
(05:09):
going to be a blast. Yeah, same, can't wait. I echo
what Amri said. And also,you know, a New England guy spent
too much time in Los Angeles nowin Nashville, but you can't beat the
fall colors of Salem, Massachusetts andthe vibe. And if you leave,
you love Halloween like I love Halloweenlike nothing is more synonymous than being in
(05:33):
Salem. So we're very much lookingforward to to being amongst you guys and
feeling it from your perspective, andgetting to celebrate with these guys as well.
Now we'll go into the event injust a second. But are you
have you have you been warned abouthow popular Salem has become over the past
thirty years, because it is nothow it currently is. It is not
(05:55):
how it was thirty years ago.We were for Warren, Yes, but
I think Amri got a taste ofit. It's basically I want to defer
to him. Yeah, it was, Uh, it was pretty nutty.
I like, I didn't really anticipatewhat was being told to me in terms
of the amount of people. Iguess it's not gotten. Well, I
(06:16):
guess I just had forgotten how smallof a town it really is, and
to cram that many heads over weekendslike that just uh looked like a fire
hazard to me. Did you saythough, that you couldn't like you've never
been recognized so much in your entirelife. Yeah, in in my entire
(06:40):
life, I was recognized more onthat weekend than my entire life, well,
at least since that movie which I'llnot name. It was pretty but
everybody was so everybody was so respectfuland so kind. Nobody was like,
you know, approaching me necessarily.They would just yell from like across the
(07:00):
street or whatever, like hey Max, I'm like you dude, No,
it's funny. And again, wellwe're all dancing around the name of it.
But the funny thing is this newsurvey came out talking about the state's
most popular kids Halloween movies in twentytwenty three. And I won't mention it
(07:21):
because we can just guess of whichmovie is massachusetts most favorite popular you know,
kids Halloween movie for Massachusetts. Andso yeah, Salem's Lot, Shandlot,
is that what you said? Butit could be the Shandlot, It
(07:41):
could be it could be they're allgood movies, but no, so yeah,
it's gonna be insane. So youknow, just mentally prepare yourself for
a sea of people who are goingto be not only there for the Halloween
festivities, but for it's just abunch of Halloween on October twentieth and twenty
first we mentioned it before you talkedto Joe Amri. Joe Manganaro seen it.
(08:07):
It's such an Italian East Coast namedmangan Narrow. Yeah, when you
talk, Whi's up, Joe manganNarrow. Your mom she good? Hey,
Yeah, I said Joe the otherday a meme and it's like was
like a picture of some like apair of like khaki pants and said khakis
(08:33):
and then it said in Boston.It showed a set of car keys,
and I was like, that's perfect, said that to Joe and he was
like, yeah, pretty much,you see my khakis. Yeah, the
accents are going to be insane becausenot only obviously the local accents is really
(08:54):
thick and can be very thick,but we're gonna have a lot of people
from out of state, so we'regonna get you know, Southern accents.
We're gonna get some New York accentswhen he gets some California accents. So
that's gonna it's gonna be a hugeparty. But yeah, so Joe and
Brian Simms with Salem's Black Hat Society. Uh, this was like this weird
serendipitous moment where they were both talkingto or each of them were talking to
(09:16):
you Amri and you Jason about youknow, reuniting the group, the cast
and then you know, teaming uptogether to make this happen, Jason,
how did that come about? Whenwhen did the first steps uh start getting
you know, laid for this event? Well, months and months and months
ago after Amri went to Salem likelast year. So last year. Sorry,
(09:39):
I've been fever. I'm just gettingover words difficult. Yeah, and
he said he had. He went. He did a modest appearance at a
local comic shop and it was insaneand he had not only that, but
he loved it. He loved beingin Salem, loved the vibe of the
people he hung out with. Iremember when I was hanging out in Salem
(10:01):
with such a good time, andI kept checking my calendar in October and
we had nothing booked, and like, how do we have nothing booked in
October? As I'm like, maybewe could do something ourselves. So we
chatted about it. We uh amriywas talking with Joe. I talked with
the Brian Simms aka Bora y Borah. Yes, and uh that's a good
(10:26):
Bora. Oh thanks. I'm auditioningto be her apprentice stunt double stunt,
yes, not the stage. Allthese readers that I got, we gotta
jump over this flame. Uh.So we got them to talk with their
enthusiasm and their interest, and andand and hooking us up with so many
(10:48):
great local artists and and people atJohn Andrews. The Creative Collectives been very
valuable with this process, finding usa place where we could throw a party,
finding us a place where we couldmeet everybody that they'd be safe and
cohesive and and fun. Uh.And that's uh that leads us to the
talk with you guys. Yeah,Amri, how do you how did that
(11:09):
come about? Well? I canadd exactly like, uh, you know,
Joe hit me up last year randomlyon Instagram, and I don't always
reply to people, but like forsome reason I can confirm confirm, I'm
sorry, Should I just I'll mutemyself. Yeah, I don't want to
(11:31):
respond to anything, Jason says duringthis interview anymore. We'll put a divide
between you two. I'm sorry.I'll be drinking being quiet sea. So
Joe hit me up, and uh, I was like, you know what,
let's do it. Let's go toSalem, let's check it out.
Why not? I had nothing goingon? Then I had a great time
(11:54):
spoke to these beautiful people that weare that are amongst us here on this
interview about it and they were like, yeah, that would be an amazing
idea. And then Brian he didan event with us back in March out
in Florida, and he was like, we got to do something in Salem.
We got to do something in Salem. And we're like, yeah,
we do, we do, wedo. Time went on, we just
(12:16):
you know, it was just itwas we were just talking about it a
little bit. And then Jason kindof like jumped the gun. He's like,
dude, let's do this. LikeI'm I'm all in, and I'm
like, okay, I'm all in. Vanessa was like I'm all in.
We got thora to hopefully be allin and yeah we are. Uh we
(12:39):
are here now. So I'm excited. I'm STOKEDA is in it. She's
just very schedule is different that soshe can't do the the promos like like
we can't, but but Thoraville isvery excited to be there. She will
be there both. Benz, Yeah, I was gonna ask me, is
she the wild card? It seemedlike it. I'm just gonna stuck her
in my suitcase and make sure.You know. We had the two connections
(13:03):
of Joe and Brian, and thenwe just built out from there and it's
been so wonderful because everyone, thelocals who are really integral to Salem basically
open their doors to us, andwe just cannot thank them enough. Like
we feel so grateful that we're open, you know, the doors are open
to your town, and that we'reyou know, pretty much getting free reign,
(13:26):
being welcomed as if it's if it'sour own home hometown, you know,
And I just feel so grateful.We have these zoom calls with everyone.
We're really producing this all on ourown, So this is just really
great to have all of our headstogether, and we could not have done
it without them because of obviously,you know, we didn't want to come
(13:50):
in just saying we want to dothis event and you know, basically have
no idea what we're doing. Soyou know, we are so happy to
utilize everyone and they strengths and learnfrom them really and that's why we're here
doing this now. So it's great. There there are some people who are
literally opening their doors for us asas a private bathroom if we need it
(14:13):
to break on Salem come and youdon't know how important that is walking distance,
like we can well let them useour bathroom. But it's just for
us. That is a really bigdeal. You don't understand because yeah,
they have portapottis and everything, butthere's always a line. Again, it's
it's a it's going to be amad house outside wherever you go in Salem.
(14:33):
So that is really cool. That'slike having a key to the city
when you have that kind of access. Looking forward to it, we do,
yeah, I guess. So wealso just want to make sure,
like you know, we don't getmobbed and uh, you know, people
opening up their doors and being sohospitable is extremely gracious and great, so
(14:54):
we don't have to hopefully deal withanything too insane. Yeah, I'm five
foot one and I'm highly abductible.I don't want to have to look for
me or wonder where my whereabouts.So we have who is in charge of
that. Well, we'll put aleash on all of you. What was
that, We'll put a leash onall of you, Yes, yeah,
(15:16):
or at least like some sort ofan air track or one of those Apple
air tags. Yeah, we'll findyou. So on on Friday, October
twentieth, that is the party atBitbar. And this isn't just like you
know people can walk in and walkby and say wave or whatever, like
they're going to be kind of likepartying with you. Is that a fair
(15:37):
description? One down, Yes,there's it's not going to be like there's
a balcony and we appear, wewave to everyone and go back inside.
We're going to be there at bitBar. The first thing that you do
if you want to come, forthose who are listening, is you you
(15:58):
get a tick. You come onin and the first thing you do is
you get a photo op with usfrom local business Witch Picks. That's gonna
set up a really nice, uhpro photo for you. We're all gonna
be dressed up. I'm not gonnatell you, but I'm gonna look.
I'm gonna look fly and uh thephoto with us. They get game tokens.
There's like bit bar bar food andsoft drinks, uh cash bar.
(16:22):
Uh. There will be a DJplaying ambient music. When we're done with
the pictures, hopefully we'll get donewith everybody will come out saale ever everybody
again, are we have a femcMiss Diamond Wigfall, one of your like
most like famous popular local drag performerswill be our femc uh we'll be walking
around talking can talk about whatever youwant. There'll be performances, drag performances
(16:45):
for less performances, and the raffleand aw, that's right, raffle.
Yeah, with every ticket to basicallytwo hundred bucks worth of a raffle that
we're raffling off some items for NAGLI, the local lgbt Q foundation that's we
(17:08):
found in Salem and we want toobviously through this raffle donate to them.
So we are raffling off some prettyhot ticket items. You want me on
to come and see that as well? Yeah, what we can't We can't
tell what it is. Yeah,you can. I just if you want
(17:29):
element of surprise. It's kind ofcool too, r okay with to tell
people buy your tickets now so youcan find out. Yeah, find Yeah,
because like your your your your partyticket is your raffle ticket, so
you automatically get entered this raffle ifyou come in and and and the prizes
are could be on the level oflike I don't lounge fly items or lego.
(17:55):
I don't know if anyone's heard oflego. It's this new concept,
but uh but uh yeah, yeah, that's uh that's like like a knitting
kid, right legos they make knittingkits frustrating as knitting. Yeah, my
frustrating legs. Honestly, Yeah,I know my son as well. It's
(18:18):
crazy up. So where do peopleget the tickets? Where do how do
people get to this event? Tellthe memory? Oh, what's the big
deal. It's just a bunch ofhalloween dot com dot com. There you
go, Yes, our website.Go to our website for all the information,
(18:45):
tickets, anything you need to know. You can even ask questions and
they will be answered accordingly. Anduh, it is it's just uh a
bunch of halloween dot com. Howare you doing? In a Boston accent?
And so you know, if youcome over year, if you go
(19:08):
over, you know to our websitecalled it is just a bunch of Halloween
dot cam. There you go,there you go. That's that's to finish
it, accent. You have tofinish it by saying dude at the end,
dude, let me tell you.Since since I haven't been uh in
the showbiz, Uh, I haven'tbeen in showbiz for a while, my
(19:33):
accents have kind of Okay, you'llforgive me o accents. You'll forget you
forgive me. You haven't been inthe business for a while, you are
still very much a character Australian accent. I don't know how much that helps
with my uh information regarding bossman.Oh that's good out. So I did
(19:57):
one for friends mine who was Australianand he's like, oh, it's a
little too British. Slammed by myfavorite. I have my favorite Sekiwi accent.
I love the way they say no, it's naive nice, yeah,
several syllables. I'm like, what, this would be a good demo reel
(20:21):
for just all of our our accenttalents out there. We could just put
them out there. So we talkedabout really quick the Friday October twentieth party
at Bitbar, but also twenty firstat Salem Common. You can be also
doing autographs and photos there. That'sgonna be the most hectic place, I
think, just because it's on thecenter of Salem pretty much where all of
(20:45):
them witchcraft in and Hoopla happens.So no, I understand you guys have
a tent a tent. There willbe a line again, I think tickets
for that also, right or no? Yes, if you would like our
auto graph there is a just tomake it easy. Uh, you go
to the website and you can selectif you'd like an autograph or a selfie
(21:07):
with the four of us. It'salso there is no charge if you just
want to come in and say hello, like people are asking like I have
to pay the just to say alove Like, No, you don't have
to pay to come sayalo to us. We would love to say loa to
everybody. Uh, just know thatyou're gonna have to wait in line like
everybody else. And uh and ourour our time will be precious. Uh
but are we are going to bethere from noon to seven pm? And
(21:32):
uh yeah, look for the biggiant white tent and the the orange shirted.
It's a bunch of Halloween People's ourteam, our team members. Can
you sign this for me? Yeah, we gotta we gotta scan your QR
code just so are you jumping?That's why I have a team, because
(21:56):
I'd be like, yeah, whatever, absolutely, I know you to the
exchange of a number because the scenewas shot in that area. That's rights
common. Yeah, of a certainmovie, an Omri's character from a certain
movie. Yes, and they actuallyuh well yeah, I might as well
(22:17):
talk about it, but I guessthey deleted the number from that certain yes,
people getting crank called, Yeah,getting crank called too much? Oh
yeah, that's alious. Now thenumber doesn't exist. Well, that was
during I guess a certain time whenI think the two thousands, early two
(22:37):
thousands. Now it's back apparently,Oh well the more you know, yeah,
kind of like an eight nine thenumber. I thought, that's I
thought that's why they used five fivefive, because yeah, but there's so
many people in the world now thatyou need five five five. So now
(23:02):
some poor soul it is like,stop, not that movie and so and
so, because we we have beenclearly dancing around certain topics. It is
because, as we mentioned before,the ongoing actors strike sag AFTRA, the
writer strike Writers s Gouil of America. They were able to reach a deal
(23:22):
recently where actors are still holding strongtrying to reach h and find and get
an equitable deal that ensures, youknow, everybody isn't screwed out of their
hard work and talent. Do youdo you have any thoughts on on the
ongoing matter? How has it affectedyou folks? You know, Jason,
(23:45):
do you want to start? I'mfor it. The industry has grown exponentially.
There's so much technology out there.Uh the there's no mobiles anymore.
They're just they're there. They're thestudio heads and there's not a lot of
creativity, and they devalue all thecreatives, the writers, the actors,
(24:08):
and now especially more than ever,it's it's important to fight, and that's
why it's been going on for forover five months. And I hope it
you know, and I'm prepared forit to go in other fives if necessary.
I hope it doesn't come to that. I'm sure, I know there's
talks happening, right but I'm sureVanessa has something to say about this.
(24:30):
Yes, I mean I actually ama living example of a person who's been
affected by this. I you know, been working consistently for thirty five years
in this business. I haven't hadto get another job. It's I'm just
considered myself lucky, like a slotmachine player. And last year because of
(24:53):
streaming, I lost my health insurance. I'm back on track, but it's
still like it's still something that obviouslyis like hit everyone hard. And again,
I'm honored to be one of thetwo percent of actors and the screen
Actors Guild that actually work the onepercent or the movie stars. So like,
(25:15):
you know, I'm a middle classactor and I you know, for
all this time, have gotten myinsurance and back on track now. But
the thing is is, like noone should live that way where it's just
based on arbitrary monies that you know, huge corporations are making and we're not
getting our fair share. So I'mreally really proud of Screen Actors Guild as
(25:36):
well as the WGA and and allthe artists that have been supporting, even
like Yatzi and all that, allof them, because you know, what
we did is actually changing the faceof society right now, Like we're kicking
off all these you know, laborstrikes across America because of what we stood
up for. And yes, theAI thing is a big concern, but
(25:57):
first and foremost, just basic equalpay we want, So that's what we're
going for, and of course everythingelse is needs to follow suit as well.
So I think it's going to takea little while. We really have
to dig into all the points.That's why I think it's going to take
longer for the actors. But I'mjust so proud to be a Guild member.
(26:18):
More than I ever have because ofus inspiring other labor unions to speak
up as well. Yeah, theresiduals, Like people used to be able
to live off of residuals. Youmake movie and you you get paid for
that. Now they're there are limitson it. There's you get paid less.
There's the artificial intelligence that's replacing thebackground showing Assess fifty four. It's
(26:48):
like not even McDonald's like I can'teven afford a happy mail. You can't
afford it. It's unreal. Andpeople don't realize like, oh, yeah,
you were in a movie, youget paid forever, and but they
don't realize that that has been erodedso much. And that's that's incard six
six dollars. Especially for the streaming. It was streaming. I've I have
(27:11):
shows that worked on this. Oneshow in particular, I know has been
exclusively on Netflix for five or sixyears, and I haven't seen a cent
of that. Streaming is such adifferent beast, and there's it's hard to
get the facts and anyone to backyou up and and fight on your behalf.
So this is this is where thefight is happening, and this is
(27:32):
where these are the points that needto be addressed. Capitalism at its finest.
Yes, yeah, we just Netflixwas filming in Massachusetts on Nantucket Island
off the Cape, and we hadSAG AFTER members who actually picketed the shoot
because they were gonna be shooting broll. And Jamie interviewed one of the
(27:55):
sag AFTER members who helped organize thatthat picket. But you see like company
like you know, studios like Netflixtrying to you know, get past you
know, say, oh, we'reonly getting b roll, but when in
fact, you know, you're stilltaking jobs from actors, from background actors
who would normally take those spots,who would normally be vision drivers exactly.
(28:15):
So you know, thanks Jamie,thanks for fighting for Thanks. I did
want to say one of the benefitsof being on the on strike right now
is that the SAG interim agreements arestill going. The SAG interim agreement films
are still going, and so Iwas honored to be able to work on
(28:37):
one that actually was a passion projectcalled The Wilderness, and that just in
and of itself, because it's lowerbudget, they've greeched all the terms.
Those movies are the ones that arebeing pushed to you know, the forefront,
and obviously the bigger conglomerates are fallingbehind and losing billions of dollars.
But we could continue on without them. Maybe we all do like a Taylor
(29:02):
Swift and just sound sound straight tothe theaters. Like you know, it's
just all this nonsense of like,you know, again, disrespecting, devaluing
the artists. You know, ithas to stop, and so that's what
everyone's fighting for. But again,these you know, interim agreement films are
(29:22):
the examples of still honoring art andtelling us in storytelling, but doing it
according to normal human terms, livableright, livable humanistic terms. Yeah,
okay, all right, Well beforewe let you guys go, I have
one last question for you. Sothis is also this event that you guys
(29:47):
are going to be a part of. It's part of a big anniversary.
I want to know how you guysfeel about this anniversary. How many yeah
see this you speak? Who amI talking with? No? But because
(30:11):
but because of such a you knowthat timeframe. Again, you have fans
who are you know, our ourage, and then you have fans who
are so much younger who are justlearning about some of these you know,
these projects and stuff and so itmust be amazing to you know, go
to different places and see that widerange of fans who appreciate your work,
(30:33):
and so that there's a silver liningother than you know, the old feeling.
I think that the silver lining isthat you know that it's a great
impact across different generations. That's agreat point, James. I mean we
basically are like in awe of themulti generational fandom that's going on. It's
(30:55):
so cool. Like grandmas are like, you know, with their grandchildren and
you know, some one woman theother day was like, I missed my
grandma. She brought me to thismovie. You know, she's like maybe
a few years younger than me.You know, She's like, she brought
me to this movie and I willforever think of her every year because of
it. You know, it's likethat kind of real deep connection, because
(31:15):
of you know, the beauty andlike you know, fun, magic,
scary. It just hit all theright spots and I just think that that's
what people connect with. And nowit's synonymous with trick or treating. I
feel like like people who eat theircandy and watch the movie and yeah,
you know, have the parties.No, there was a bleep there,
(31:45):
no but them out. Yeah,I will bleep them all out. No,
but it is the most popular moviekids Halloween movie in Massachusetts. So
you're gonna hang that on your mantle. Yeah. I just shared it with
one. I just shared it withmy eight year old son too. So
it's it's a beautiful thing. Youknow, when we when we all come
(32:05):
together, like Vanessa, Jason andI, I think we always are like
baffled and shocked at its popularity thirtyyears later that were just like it's just
insane to watch it keep growing andgrowing. Like I kind of just you
know, moved on with my lifeand just you know, continue to do
my own thing. And like Ijust would have never imagined that I would
(32:29):
be like hanging out with these peepsin Salem in less than two weeks,
raging it up, eating the magic, cool people, signing autographs, just
doing all this stuff based off ofsomething we did thirty years ago. It
just still it's it's baffling. It'sreally baffling, and it's amazing and beautiful.
Yeah, if you could have toldour sixteen year old selves that we'd
(32:51):
be you know, because it bombedand so now like we're we're having friendships
rekindled and seeing again these families,and then we're going to do our you
know, our own party in Salemwith you all. So we're calmed,
excellent, well, Amri, Vanessa, Jason, thank you so much for
joining us on the Hub on Hollywood. We cannot wait to see you again
(33:14):
on October twentieth and the twenty first. For it's just a bunch of Halloween.
If you have not bought your ticketsyet, buy them right now.
It's just a bunch of Halloween.Dot Com. Be sure when you guys
do come to Salem dress warm,because it does not feel like southern California
right now. No, no flipflops and board shorts. The locals will
be wearing board shorts and flip flops. But for you out of townies,
(33:37):
yeah, I guess that the dressa little warmer. I'm gonna I'm gonna
bring my bearskin rug wrap myself.They fit right in, right in.
Thank you, it was a pleasureto be aug here. Thank you so
much. Yeah, thank you,James, Thank you. James and Jamie
appreciate you, guys, Yeah,both of you appreciate you. And Happy
(33:58):
Halloween, Happy Halloween, Happy Halloween. Jamie, if you would have told
me twenty twenty five years ago thatI would be one day interviewing the cast
of hocus Pocus, one, Iwould say, who the heck are you?
I don't know you? Where aremy parents? And then two I
(34:21):
would be saying I wouldn't believe it. I wouldn't believe it. But yeah,
childhood dream come true. Talking tothem, Amri, Vanessa, Jason,
you know, sending them I loveto an apologies. I was at
the very end my camera kind ofcrapped out, but it was just phenomenal.
And you're right, I don't thinkthat we ever sort of expected to
(34:45):
just kind of be hanging out andchilling with these wonderful people on air.
But we can in person go meetthem, and so can you in this
incredible celebration that they're having for thethirtieth anniversary. And it's just really really
cool, really fun, and Ijust love that they're so down to earth,
(35:05):
just wonderful, cool cats. Yeah, so if you want to hang
out with those cool cats, justgo to It's just a bunch of Hocuspocus
dot com links will be in thebio. They will be here in Salem
in Massachusetts, October twentieth and twentyfirst, And once you're checking that information
out in the bio, you canalso check out our social media information.
You can follow us already if youare not at hub on Hollywood on Twitter,
(35:30):
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, threads, wherever you go for your socials,
we're there too. But Jamie,this was an amazing episode of the
Hub on Hollywood. Let us knowif one you plan to go check out
the Hocus Pocus cast in Salem?And what are you dressing up as?
Again? I feel underdressed. Youdressed for the interview. You're dressed right
(35:52):
now. I don't know what I'mgonna be. Do you know what you're
gonna be yet? House. I'mgonna be the pink jumpsuit Barbie, you
know when they're all in the pinkjumpsuits at the end and they save the
Constitution or whatever. So that'll beme with with really cute like nineties hair,
pink hair thingies and and all that. So I'm excited about which can
(36:13):
which can will your husband be?He will be sarcastic jogging? Can jogging?
Can marathon runners slash sarcasm? Ken? Yeah? Excellent? I don't
know what I'm gonna be. Istill need a brainstorm. Please comment down
below, whoever comments with the mostcreative Halloween idea, I'll do it.
(36:35):
It has to be a good one, has to be a good one,
and has to have a couple oflikes or not. Yeah, thank you
so much. Just wear suits andand have like a trigger, like a
hand trigger, a grenade or something. Oh god, oh goodness, oh
goodness. We'll let us know downbelow, should us you know? Some
photos if you have any Halloween costumes. But yeah, great episode for the
(36:58):
Hub on Hollywood. I'm James,I'm Jamie. We'll see you next time,
see you next time. Maybe it'ssale. That's right, let's go.
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