December 14, 2023 • 24 mins
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Curious about what 2024 holds for the industry? Join as we lay out our expectations and hopes for next year. But before we leap forward, let's rewind and reflect on the wild ride that was 2023 – the highs, lows, and the unexpected twists that shaped our journey. Get ready for an insightful blend of foresight and hindsight, all served with a splash of booze as always!
Topics: #commercialproduction, #producerlife, #setlife, #agencylife, #filmproduction
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CREDITS
Christopher Daniels - Branding & Design Specialist
www.misterstyles.com
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Sister Christian
www.sisterchristianproduces.com
Lawrence T. Lewis
www.lawrencetlewis.com
Lawrence is also a professional Voice Over Talent and Actor. Listen to his VO reels here:
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Connect with Us!
www.producershappyhourgroup.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sister Christian (00:00):
Oh, the weather outside is fucking cold
in LA. Must be December.
Lawrence (00:07):
It is. It's December for
Sister Christian (00:10):
sure. Boy, I can I have a long list of things
that I did not know even thoughI've been here and worked here
for 10 years until you movedhere? Yeah. It is very
interesting.
Lawrence (00:22):
Turns out LA is a desert. We do actually get cold
weather, and it's bitingly coldeven though it's only, like, you
know
Sister Christian (00:30):
And it's raining too. Reason. I know.
Lawrence (00:33):
Yeah. But, hey, this is our last episode of the year.
It's a year in review, but moreimportantly, what we should be
expecting to happen in 2024.We're ready for better.
Sister Christian (00:43):
Yeah. I am ready to put 2023 behind me and
ready to just look ahead forpositive future, full of work
and happiness and no depression.Yeah. No. I'm just ready to put
2023 to bed.
Yeah.
Lawrence (01:02):
We all are. We all are.
Sister Christian (01:04):
Exactly. I think I think we
Lawrence (01:05):
are. And we've got some special things coming up
for us. Producers happy hour in2024. Stick around to the end
where we tell you all about it.Grab a drink, put in your
earbuds, and, roll the intro.
Welcome to The Producer's HappyHour with your hosts, Sister
Christian and Lawrence Lewis.
Sister Christian (01:21):
We are 2 producers with over 20 years of
experience each, chatting overdrinks about what it means
Lawrence (01:26):
and what it takes to be a good producer.
Sister Christian (01:29):
Join us for insightful interviews and
informative show topics thatwill help you get through your
toughest jobs.
Lawrence (01:34):
Biggest production challenges.
Sister Christian (01:36):
And most difficult clients. So grab a
drink.
Lawrence (01:38):
You're gonna need it.
Sister Christian (01:40):
And let's get to it.
Lawrence (01:41):
Because making shit is hard. Sister Christian, how the
hell are you?
Sister Christian (01:45):
I'm not a Debbie downer, but, I mean, I'm
okay. Like, I I almost feel likeCOVID times where we would just
say, I'm fine, which covered awhole gamut of, like, I'm down
here. I'm up here. I'm probablydrinking too much and maybe
smoking too much and maybetaking too much, but, you know,
it's the holidays. So
Lawrence (02:06):
It is the holidays. I, you know, I saw this I saw this
meme. I don't know, whichculture says this, but there is
some culture out there that whenasked the question, a common
response is, I'm awake and notcrying. So, you know, that's a
good
Sister Christian (02:20):
thing. Probably. Probably. Probably.
He's from Denmark.
How are you?
Lawrence (02:26):
I oh, I'm okay. You know, awake and not crying. You
know, it's been a strange year.It really has been a strange
year. I I can I can barely takethe news cycle these days?
It is so atrocious, and work hasbeen strange for sure.
Sister Christian (02:47):
Yeah. Work has been non existent or, you know,
like it or weird or the requestshave been like off the wall. I I
know it's just just been weird.
Lawrence (02:57):
Or or, like, cancellations. So many
cancellations or just jobsdisappearing or yeah. Who knows
what? So we're looking for abetter, better 24. So I'm
definitely having a stiff drinkfor this episode.
Christian, what are you having?
Sister Christian (03:11):
Well, I'm having my my fail safe martini.
And since it does happen to bethe holidays and I'm not
working, I've been drinking themall day. How about you?
Lawrence (03:20):
But I'm just doing, tequila on the rocks. A little,
little, yeah, quesadoras.Simple.
Sister Christian (03:26):
Lovely.
Lawrence (03:27):
Yeah. Clean.
Sister Christian (03:28):
Easy. Yeah. Drink them all day.
Lawrence (03:31):
Alright. Well, before we dive into this episode, all
you production pros out there,pay attention because, you know,
we know the struggles of stayingon top of everything that's
going on in this industry.There's been so much going on
this year, especially with,labor unions. But fear not,
we've got something just foryou.
Sister Christian (03:49):
Is our producer's happy hour episode
guide packed with insights,resources, and all the intel you
need to stay on top of thisindustry.
Lawrence (03:56):
So get ahead, stay informed, and join us. Join the
party. Sign up at producershappy hour dot com or just hit
the link in the show notes. Anda little housekeeping note here
for all of you who are on theepisode guide, We just changed
our email provider and also ouremail address. So take a minute
to mark hello at producers happyhour dot com as not spam so you
(04:19):
don't miss the episode guides.
And if you don't see them, maybecheck your promotions, filter or
your spam filter or whatever yougot.
Sister Christian (04:32):
Big highlight of the year. I know you think
it. I think it. We're veryexcited that we actually had a
producer's happy hour mixer.
Lawrence (04:40):
Yeah. IRL in real life for the first time
Sister Christian (04:43):
ever. Weird. I know. Without masks.
Lawrence (04:46):
Without masks. Yeah. Since we're both in LA, it was
obviously here in LA at, one ofmy favorite wine bars in Los
Filos, and it was great. We gotto meet a lot of you, had some
old friends come, made some newfriends, and, had a really good
time just kinda chatting aboutthe industry and also not
chatting about the industry fora
Sister Christian (05:07):
change. That part, I know. It always like,
some spouse's game. It wasgreat. And, we just got to put
some faces to some names.
You know? Like, I feel like weknow everybody out there who's
listening.
Lawrence (05:27):
You. Yeah. For sure. So, Christian, that means in
2024, we're gonna have toschedule one of these for New
York.
Sister Christian (05:34):
List to every town.
Lawrence (05:36):
Yeah. Every town. Just wanna make sure.
Sister Christian (05:37):
Yeah. Like, we're going on tour. Looking for
crowdsourcing on that. So ifanybody's interested, let us
know.
Lawrence (05:43):
Yeah. If you want us to come to your town, let us
know. So before we dive intoexpectations for next year, this
is episode 425. That means we'vedone 25 episodes this year.
Yeah.
Sister Christian (05:56):
I guess that means we've done 25 episodes
this year, which is just about 1every 2 weeks. If if my math is
math and right.
Lawrence (06:05):
Yeah. So some of the most popular there was a recent
one episode 423. This is if caseyou missed it, you should go
back and listen to these becausethese were highly popular. Just
a couple episodes ago, we didkind of live tete a tete where
we posed
Sister Christian (06:23):
Oh, right.
Lawrence (06:24):
Big problems to each other and asked them to solve
it, live live on the show. So onset crisis management was that
episode, and it was a lot of funto, troubleshoot with you live
on the podcast.
Sister Christian (06:36):
It's good to hear that one was popular
because that one was a lot offun. And I think that we also
revealed some things aboutourselves that were pretty
personal, but also like, youknow, in a, in a, in the spirit
of letting you know that if youhave a crisis on set, you're not
alone. We've probablyexperienced that crisis before
too. So
Lawrence (06:56):
Yes. The topic of providing drugs for clients came
up and, oh, man.
Sister Christian (07:01):
We got some fodder about that. That that
ruffled a lot
Lawrence (07:04):
of feathers, but you know what?
Sister Christian (07:06):
Sure did. It happens, guys.
Lawrence (07:09):
It happens, and there's no reason for us to stay
silent about, you know, somebullshit that happens in this
industry. It happens. So thereyou go. It's real.
Sister Christian (07:16):
A 100%. It's real. Like, it happens. And,
like, just because I don't talkabout it doesn't mean it doesn't
happen. So why not talk aboutit?
Yeah.
Lawrence (07:25):
And there are there are producers newer to the
industry coming up under us thatmight feel really trapped by
those scenarios. So talkingabout it helps them know they're
not alone, and they've got thetools to kinda navigate those
tricky situations.
Sister Christian (07:38):
100%. Another episode that was popular was our
double episode interviewing ourstand with production friends,
Cheyenne and Aaron.
Lawrence (07:48):
Yes. That was great. And we got to, like, celebrate
in their success of finallyestablishing a union for
commercial production people.This has been something you and
I, Christian, have been involvedwith many different iterations
of this attempt to bring a unionto this department over over the
many, many years.
Sister Christian (08:08):
Mhmm. Better working conditions. Exactly.
Like, it's always been a alarge, It's something I I love
to mention all the time is Idon't belong like, when I would
deal with union representativesand stuff like I don't have a
union, but I'm required to knowall of your rules, everything
for every person in every localfor IATC. Like, it's just insane
(08:30):
What we have to know asproducers, so it's finally after
see like, figuring those timecards and knowing that they get
something that we don't eventhough we're working just as
hard, if not harder.
Like, of course, I'm not workcomparing, but we do work hard
as producers. It just was yeah.It's it's just so rewarding to
finally have somebodyrepresenting me.
Lawrence (08:53):
Yeah. Us. Yeah. And all of and our listeners out
there that that do this kind ofwork.
Sister Christian (08:58):
Never thought it happened.
Lawrence (08:58):
That's episode 417418. And, if you wanna learn more
about it, it's now IATC Local111. The it's called the
Production Workers' Guild, thePWG, and their website's
pwg111.org. So go check themout, and, of course, sign up.
The prices to join are nevergonna be as low as right now,
(09:21):
and expect to see it grow.
Guess what was another hugeepisode, which I kind of knew
would be, Christian. Can youtake a guess?
Sister Christian (09:30):
Was it one of our union, like SAG, or was it
one of the
Lawrence (09:35):
Why would you think that, Christian? I know. What
was it? I'm gaslighting you.
Sister Christian (09:39):
Oh, yeah. There you go.
Lawrence (09:41):
It was our gaslighting episode. It was, a bow about,
how to recognize it, not befooled by it, not think it's
your fault, recognize when it'ssomeone else just gaslighting
you, and then how to kind ofnavigate those tricky moments.
Sister Christian (09:57):
And I have to say that that episode was so
triggering for me that I it hadat least 2 or 3 drinks. It could
have been 3. I remember by theend being, you know, beyond the
ability of mine to, be coherent,I think.
Lawrence (10:12):
But Yeah.
Sister Christian (10:13):
Even remembering it now, and I'm just
so happy that there is now thisterm that even though the term's
been around forever, that thisterm of, like, what happens to
us in these situations becausenow I can recognize it better,
and now I can combat it becauseit happens all the time in our
industry.
Lawrence (10:32):
It really does. And it's so destabilizing because it
makes you second guess yourselfand self doubt yourself about
what is the reality of themoment. So it's episode 413. Go
back and listen to it if youmissed that one. It's a good
one, and it it really you know,our goal always is to make sure
everyone out there doesn't feelso alone in this crazy role of,
(10:54):
you know, producing orproduction work that we do.
So that one, I think that oneresonated with a lot of people.
Sister Christian (10:59):
I hope so.
Lawrence (11:05):
Hey, Christian. What's the most important thing about
film production?
Sister Christian (11:08):
The setup. Preproduction. The most
important part.
Lawrence (11:11):
But you know what? A lot of people think that, but
you're kinda missing a step.
Sister Christian (11:14):
Oh, right. The kickoff calls. Because that's
how you set up your prep.
Lawrence (11:19):
Right. That's where you gotta get all the right
questions answered at the righttime and set deadlines for those
answers so you can put your prepon the right path to success.
Sister Christian (11:27):
Exactly. Right. And this can be
accomplished with 4 kickoffcalls. You need at least 4, in
my opinion.
Lawrence (11:34):
And I think for us, producers, the most important
one is the one with yourproducing partner, either the ad
agency producer or your mainclient contact because that's
where, like you said, set thetone, set expectations, give
them deadlines for when you needthese answers because timelines
are already way too short forprep.
Sister Christian (11:51):
I know. We can always use more prep time.
Right?
Lawrence (11:54):
And budgets are shrinking, so don't waste any
time. So what we've done is weput together our top seven
questions that you should askyour agency producer or client
now on that very first kickoffcall.
Sister Christian (12:03):
Not only does it help answer questions that
you may have, it also allows youto set the tone and, you know,
establish yourself as the leaderof the project, which is also a
very important step as well.
Lawrence (12:15):
So we'll put a link in the show notes where you can get
on our website and take a listento our free audio bonus, another
delightful conversation betweenme and sister Christian about
best ways of setting yourself upfor success.
Sister Christian (12:27):
Yeah. It's a page turner.
Lawrence (12:30):
Check it out. But, alright, this has been the year
of strikes, economic nonsense,shrinking budgets, production
slowdowns. Oh my god. So let'sput all of that behind us. What
can we look forward to?
What are you expecting for 2024,Christian?
Sister Christian (12:52):
Well, part of my hopes and dreams, and
expectations are that there willbe more work. And, in full
disclosure, like we always arevery transparent on this
podcast, work this year washorrible. Like, as seasoned as I
am and, you know, how I feellike I'm at the top of my game
and I know my job inside andout, I still wasn't getting the
(13:14):
work that I normally do. And ifI wasn't working the way that I
normally the volume that Inormally did, then I know tons
of people out there were notworking what they normally did.
You know?
Every town that I would go to,everywhere that I filmed all
over the country, nobody wasworking.
Lawrence (13:32):
Yeah. Yeah. I I have been to a couple holiday
production company parties, andeveryone's a little concerned.
Like, people that are, you know,a list people that do the big
jobs at the big companies.They're like, it's not been
good.
So, hopefully, my expectationfor next year is exactly that.
Sister Christian (13:54):
That it can't Yeah. That it could get any
slower for us.
Lawrence (13:58):
It can't get any slower.
Sister Christian (14:00):
Right. So, yay, expectations are it's gonna
get better.
Lawrence (14:03):
It's gonna get better. It will. And that was that was
the tone of a lot of the partiesI went to. It's like, hey,
advertising doesn't go away.I've been hearing from some EPs.
I've been seeing a lot ofboards. Obviously, I've been
doing some
Sister Christian (14:15):
Oh, nice.
Lawrence (14:16):
So, you know, hopefully, those things are
coming back, and, you know,unions are getting stronger. And
so the protection and theconditions for its members are
getting better. So that is apositive thing, and you've seen
it across all industries. Right?Like, so many industries have
unionized or fought for betterrates and wages and other better
(14:38):
conditions.
I'm hoping my expectation fornext year is that working
conditions and and people'smental health and ability to
sustain a a healthy, lifestyleis gonna be easier to do.
Sister Christian (14:54):
Yes. Hopefully, we're over the hump.
Mhmm. The reason why you strikeis to get better conditions, you
know, negotiating power, all ofthe things. That's over.
So hopefully, like, you know,hopefully, this leads to the
willingness and excitement toget back to work because we know
the majority of our industrywants to work. They want to be
(15:16):
out there working. They wannafeel like they're contributing
and creative and that they'reuseful and all the things that
capitalism makes us feel. Yeah.I'm really looking forward to
it.
I want to feel good again,which, unfortunately, has died
to work sometimes.
Lawrence (15:36):
Now there is some scuttlebutt about Oh, yeah. IATC
IATC renegotiating theircontract. So Yeah. There is
Sister Christian (15:47):
Now there were IATC members.
Lawrence (15:49):
Yeah. There is, a little fear about another IATSE,
strike. But, honestly, I don'tthink there's an appetite for
it. I know people wanna get backto work.
Sister Christian (16:05):
And, hopefully, Zag and the writers
have softened up the entitiesthat the negotiations will be
like, great. No problem.
Lawrence (16:13):
Exactly. Through.
Sister Christian (16:14):
That's not an idea of
Lawrence (16:15):
what they don't. Yeah. I'm not saying that whatever,
you know, issues still are outthere aren't worth fighting for.
Of course, they are.
Sister Christian (16:23):
Of course. Totally.
Lawrence (16:24):
And I also think though it's it's it's important
to, you know, get this industryback to work, get that economy
flowing again in Los Angeles,because, you know, this is this
town is built on that economy,the film economy. And I just am
seeing restaurants close,businesses close. It's it's it's
looking a little dire. So Idon't know. I don't think
there's gonna be a SAG strike,hoping not, hoping we can get
(16:47):
back to work, and we continue toget the rates, wages, and
conditions that we deserve.
Sister Christian (16:52):
Oh, and there could be a new avenue for work,
Lawrence. I don't know if you'venoticed this or not, but most
streaming services now offerads. You can either pay, you
know, like, 3 699 for somethingwith ads or 1299 to be ad free.
Well, in this economy, I mean, Ihave had to cut a few streaming
(17:16):
services out. Right?
And so, like, going down to thead one is, you know, an
economical choice for people outthere. But that also means for
people like us who work in thead industry and make
commercials, Hopefully, morecontent more content to make,
more avenues to put ouradvertising more like yeah. So
(17:37):
let's just cross our fingersthat that means more work.
Lawrence (17:40):
You know, there's ads on YouTube, and there's just so
much YouTube content. I justit's growing and growing and
getting so much moresophisticated that, hopefully,
that also contributes to theneed for more ads, more branded
content, anything and everythingthat we do. Also, points to the
fact that that next year is anelection year,
Sister Christian (17:59):
and we could look at that. Hang on. I know. I
know. I have no idea.
Please keep telling me aboutthis mystical thing called an
election.
Lawrence (18:10):
Now, I I am hoping I'm gonna look at this positive
because it can be so scary tothink about it, but I'm looking
at it as a positive as a lotmore. There's gonna be more news
coverage, more debates, morecontent, more programming, that
there's gonna be advertising.Maybe some of our listeners work
(18:31):
in political advertising.There's gonna be a ton of that.
I I do some voice over forpolitical advertising.
So I'm hoping some work willcome from you that way, and
mostly broadcast TV stuff.Right? That will need
advertising, and, hopefully,some advertisers will be putting
a little more money to get theirmessages out during this cycle
where people are watching a lotmore television.
Sister Christian (18:51):
No. That makes sense. These days, the
sophistication of regionalelection, like, it just so many
different levels and so much hasride so much rides on every
election, whether it's for theschool board, your local school
board, or your staterepresentative, or your county.
Like, it's all important. So,yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
(19:12):
We could get some a little boostfrom it being like a
presidential election year. Thatmakes sense. Okay. Fine. Yeah.
I'm I'm I went down I went thejourney with you, and I'm not
entirely angry. I'm just alittle bit.
Lawrence (19:28):
Yeah. I know. Hey. You know, it's still let's be
honest. It's still gonna be aroller coaster of a year.
There's still a lot of hurdleshurdles that have to be
overcome, but
Sister Christian (19:36):
It's like opening back up almost again.
It's so weird. Like, we didthat. We we shut down. We COVID.
We navigated COVID. We thought,you know, like, coming out of
COVID 2022, it's gonna be likegang but and it was. It was
insane. It was. And then it juststopped.
In, like, the beginning of thisyear, it was just like, oh,
okay. It's a little slow, andthen it just stopped. And so
(20:00):
it's been long enough now. Ifeel like this is the biggest
lull that I've seen in mycareer. So, yes.
I'm saying all the affirmations.
Lawrence (20:08):
All the affirmations.
Sister Christian (20:09):
Lighting all the candles. I'm rubbing all my
crystals together.
Lawrence (20:13):
Yeah.
Sister Christian (20:14):
I'm doing it all because I'm very excited to
release 2023. I'm a cancel it.
Lawrence (20:21):
But Cancel it. Believe Done.
Sister Christian (20:22):
Yeah. But at by 2 o'clock the day before, so
I don't have to
Lawrence (20:27):
pay it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Releasing it.
Sister Christian (20:30):
And, you know, I'm also very much looking
forward to doing more podcastswith you. Is that selfish? Yes.
Jack all the big subjects.
Lawrence (20:39):
We're gonna take a little break, obviously, over
the holidays. This is our lastpodcast for the year. You know,
we might take a little bit oftime off in January as well, but
then we'll be coming back fullsteam with a boatload of new
podcasts and new learningcourses. Obviously, you know,
we're a bit off schedule comingout with this episode because of
the holidays, but also we'vebeen working on our new learning
(21:02):
course, demystifying unioncontracts, which will be out,
very soon in a few days, fromthe day that we're recording
this. And we have a lot morecourses planned for the new
year.
So, you know, check out ourwebsite courses. Click on that
and go see what we've got comingup. We're gonna put some wait
lists for some future coursesjust to kind of get people on
the wait list to know who'sinterested in what. Yeah. We're
(21:24):
just gonna be making all kindsof educational content for next
year, and, of course, someawesome podcasts with some great
guests.
I can't wait.
Sister Christian (21:33):
1000%. And I am I get excited to do these
courses, to be honest, Lawrence,because I have to refresh my
memory back to all the thingsthat we do. So, like, for me,
it's a it's a refresher courseand gets me ready to go for, you
know, like, like so like youjust said, we we just finished
up with demystifying meetingcontracts, and I was like, oh, I
(21:55):
need I need to do a refresher.And I did, and it was so great
because you forget some ofthose, like, you know, small
things in the contract that, ofcourse, they don't forget.
Lawrence (22:05):
They do not forget.
Sister Christian (22:07):
But it was a it was a great one. And I like,
I feel like it's prepared meready to go for that next round.
Lawrence (22:12):
And it's so easy, you know, especially at our, you
know, well defined age and yearsin this industry, it's easy to,
like, get comfortable and reston your laurels and be like, oh,
yeah. That's fine. My productionmanager will figure it out.
Exactly. Yeah.
Blah, blah, blah. Nope. And, youknow, no. You really gotta stay
on top of it because you'remaking decisions at the top that
affect things down down theline. And Listen.
Sister Christian (22:34):
If something goes wrong, you get blamed for
it. You you I mean, like and ifit goes right, you you the team
takes credit. So, you know,like, why ever allow it to get
to the point where it's right orwrong? Just know it.
Lawrence (22:47):
Sandra, as always, we wanna hear from all of you. So
if you have any expectations orhopes and dreams for 2024,
please email us. We love hearingfrom everybody. Don't forget our
email address is new. Hello atproducers happy hour.com.
We're so professional now. Wehave our own email address.
Sister Christian (23:04):
I think we had a coupon, Lawrence. I don't
know.
Lawrence (23:06):
We had a coupon. Yeah. And if you have any show topics
you want us to tackle next year,let us know. We're down to 2.
Whatever, content suits
Sister Christian (23:13):
you. Yeah. You wanna be a guest?
Lawrence (23:15):
Let us know.
Sister Christian (23:16):
Hey. Let us know. Hey. Listen. We're here.
Lawrence (23:19):
Alright. That's it. I gotta finish this tequila soda
in in peace and quiet.
Sister Christian (23:28):
I win. Okay. Damn. I finished first. Oh,
Lawrence, happy holidays.
And
Lawrence (23:35):
Yeah. You too.
Sister Christian (23:36):
Thank you. And if, people wanna get you, how
are they gonna do that?
Lawrence (23:42):
Let's do 2 ways. Lawrence tlewis.com. That's for
all my producing nonsense.Voiceoflawrence.com. If if you
need one of those politicalvoiceovers, you can get me
there.
Sister Christian (23:53):
If you would like your political ad read by
Lawrence, it definitely has tobe of a certain, like, the
content needs to align withLawrence's
Lawrence (24:02):
a certain political persuasion.
Sister Christian (24:04):
And morals. Exactly.
Lawrence (24:07):
Sister, how do people get ahold of you?
Sister Christian (24:09):
I'm at sisterchristianproducers.com.
Lawrence (24:12):
Alright. See you all next year. Happy holidays.
Sister Christian (24:15):
See you later. Producers Happy Hour is brought
to you with the help of thehandsome Christopher Daniels.
Lawrence (24:22):
Who is a design and branding specialist.
Sister Christian (24:24):
And brindrandrussell@podlad.com, who
is our fabulous editor.
Lawrence (24:28):
If you enjoy this podcast and wanna dive deeper,
subscribe to our listenersnewsletter. Simply go to
producers happy hour dot com tosign up.
Sister Christian (24:35):
Thanks for listening, and remember
Lawrence (24:37):
Enjoy happy hour while you can.
Sister Christian (24:39):
Because making shit is hard.
Oh, the weather outside is fucking cold
in LA. Must be December.
Lawrence (00:07):
It is. It's December for
Sister Christian (00:10):
sure. Boy, I can I have a long list of things
that I did not know even thoughI've been here and worked here
for 10 years until you movedhere? Yeah. It is very
interesting.
Lawrence (00:22):
Turns out LA is a desert. We do actually get cold
weather, and it's bitingly coldeven though it's only, like, you
know
Sister Christian (00:30):
And it's raining too. Reason. I know.
Lawrence (00:33):
Yeah. But, hey, this is our last episode of the year.
It's a year in review, but moreimportantly, what we should be
expecting to happen in 2024.We're ready for better.
Sister Christian (00:43):
Yeah. I am ready to put 2023 behind me and
ready to just look ahead forpositive future, full of work
and happiness and no depression.Yeah. No. I'm just ready to put
2023 to bed.
Yeah.
Lawrence (01:02):
We all are. We all are.
Sister Christian (01:04):
Exactly. I think I think we
Lawrence (01:05):
are. And we've got some special things coming up
for us. Producers happy hour in2024. Stick around to the end
where we tell you all about it.Grab a drink, put in your
earbuds, and, roll the intro.
Welcome to The Producer's HappyHour with your hosts, Sister
Christian and Lawrence Lewis.
Sister Christian (01:21):
We are 2 producers with over 20 years of
experience each, chatting overdrinks about what it means
Lawrence (01:26):
and what it takes to be a good producer.
Sister Christian (01:29):
Join us for insightful interviews and
informative show topics thatwill help you get through your
toughest jobs.
Lawrence (01:34):
Biggest production challenges.
Sister Christian (01:36):
And most difficult clients. So grab a
drink.
Lawrence (01:38):
You're gonna need it.
Sister Christian (01:40):
And let's get to it.
Lawrence (01:41):
Because making shit is hard. Sister Christian, how the
hell are you?
Sister Christian (01:45):
I'm not a Debbie downer, but, I mean, I'm
okay. Like, I I almost feel likeCOVID times where we would just
say, I'm fine, which covered awhole gamut of, like, I'm down
here. I'm up here. I'm probablydrinking too much and maybe
smoking too much and maybetaking too much, but, you know,
it's the holidays. So
Lawrence (02:06):
It is the holidays. I, you know, I saw this I saw this
meme. I don't know, whichculture says this, but there is
some culture out there that whenasked the question, a common
response is, I'm awake and notcrying. So, you know, that's a
good
Sister Christian (02:20):
thing. Probably. Probably. Probably.
He's from Denmark.
How are you?
Lawrence (02:26):
I oh, I'm okay. You know, awake and not crying. You
know, it's been a strange year.It really has been a strange
year. I I can I can barely takethe news cycle these days?
It is so atrocious, and work hasbeen strange for sure.
Sister Christian (02:47):
Yeah. Work has been non existent or, you know,
like it or weird or the requestshave been like off the wall. I I
know it's just just been weird.
Lawrence (02:57):
Or or, like, cancellations. So many
cancellations or just jobsdisappearing or yeah. Who knows
what? So we're looking for abetter, better 24. So I'm
definitely having a stiff drinkfor this episode.
Christian, what are you having?
Sister Christian (03:11):
Well, I'm having my my fail safe martini.
And since it does happen to bethe holidays and I'm not
working, I've been drinking themall day. How about you?
Lawrence (03:20):
But I'm just doing, tequila on the rocks. A little,
little, yeah, quesadoras.Simple.
Sister Christian (03:26):
Lovely.
Lawrence (03:27):
Yeah. Clean.
Sister Christian (03:28):
Easy. Yeah. Drink them all day.
Lawrence (03:31):
Alright. Well, before we dive into this episode, all
you production pros out there,pay attention because, you know,
we know the struggles of stayingon top of everything that's
going on in this industry.There's been so much going on
this year, especially with,labor unions. But fear not,
we've got something just foryou.
Sister Christian (03:49):
Is our producer's happy hour episode
guide packed with insights,resources, and all the intel you
need to stay on top of thisindustry.
Lawrence (03:56):
So get ahead, stay informed, and join us. Join the
party. Sign up at producershappy hour dot com or just hit
the link in the show notes. Anda little housekeeping note here
for all of you who are on theepisode guide, We just changed
our email provider and also ouremail address. So take a minute
to mark hello at producers happyhour dot com as not spam so you
(04:19):
don't miss the episode guides.
And if you don't see them, maybecheck your promotions, filter or
your spam filter or whatever yougot.
Sister Christian (04:32):
Big highlight of the year. I know you think
it. I think it. We're veryexcited that we actually had a
producer's happy hour mixer.
Lawrence (04:40):
Yeah. IRL in real life for the first time
Sister Christian (04:43):
ever. Weird. I know. Without masks.
Lawrence (04:46):
Without masks. Yeah. Since we're both in LA, it was
obviously here in LA at, one ofmy favorite wine bars in Los
Filos, and it was great. We gotto meet a lot of you, had some
old friends come, made some newfriends, and, had a really good
time just kinda chatting aboutthe industry and also not
chatting about the industry fora
Sister Christian (05:07):
change. That part, I know. It always like,
some spouse's game. It wasgreat. And, we just got to put
some faces to some names.
You know? Like, I feel like weknow everybody out there who's
listening.
Lawrence (05:27):
You. Yeah. For sure. So, Christian, that means in
2024, we're gonna have toschedule one of these for New
York.
Sister Christian (05:34):
List to every town.
Lawrence (05:36):
Yeah. Every town. Just wanna make sure.
Sister Christian (05:37):
Yeah. Like, we're going on tour. Looking for
crowdsourcing on that. So ifanybody's interested, let us
know.
Lawrence (05:43):
Yeah. If you want us to come to your town, let us
know. So before we dive intoexpectations for next year, this
is episode 425. That means we'vedone 25 episodes this year.
Yeah.
Sister Christian (05:56):
I guess that means we've done 25 episodes
this year, which is just about 1every 2 weeks. If if my math is
math and right.
Lawrence (06:05):
Yeah. So some of the most popular there was a recent
one episode 423. This is if caseyou missed it, you should go
back and listen to these becausethese were highly popular. Just
a couple episodes ago, we didkind of live tete a tete where
we posed
Sister Christian (06:23):
Oh, right.
Lawrence (06:24):
Big problems to each other and asked them to solve
it, live live on the show. So onset crisis management was that
episode, and it was a lot of funto, troubleshoot with you live
on the podcast.
Sister Christian (06:36):
It's good to hear that one was popular
because that one was a lot offun. And I think that we also
revealed some things aboutourselves that were pretty
personal, but also like, youknow, in a, in a, in the spirit
of letting you know that if youhave a crisis on set, you're not
alone. We've probablyexperienced that crisis before
too. So
Lawrence (06:56):
Yes. The topic of providing drugs for clients came
up and, oh, man.
Sister Christian (07:01):
We got some fodder about that. That that
ruffled a lot
Lawrence (07:04):
of feathers, but you know what?
Sister Christian (07:06):
Sure did. It happens, guys.
Lawrence (07:09):
It happens, and there's no reason for us to stay
silent about, you know, somebullshit that happens in this
industry. It happens. So thereyou go. It's real.
Sister Christian (07:16):
A 100%. It's real. Like, it happens. And,
like, just because I don't talkabout it doesn't mean it doesn't
happen. So why not talk aboutit?
Yeah.
Lawrence (07:25):
And there are there are producers newer to the
industry coming up under us thatmight feel really trapped by
those scenarios. So talkingabout it helps them know they're
not alone, and they've got thetools to kinda navigate those
tricky situations.
Sister Christian (07:38):
100%. Another episode that was popular was our
double episode interviewing ourstand with production friends,
Cheyenne and Aaron.
Lawrence (07:48):
Yes. That was great. And we got to, like, celebrate
in their success of finallyestablishing a union for
commercial production people.This has been something you and
I, Christian, have been involvedwith many different iterations
of this attempt to bring a unionto this department over over the
many, many years.
Sister Christian (08:08):
Mhmm. Better working conditions. Exactly.
Like, it's always been a alarge, It's something I I love
to mention all the time is Idon't belong like, when I would
deal with union representativesand stuff like I don't have a
union, but I'm required to knowall of your rules, everything
for every person in every localfor IATC. Like, it's just insane
(08:30):
What we have to know asproducers, so it's finally after
see like, figuring those timecards and knowing that they get
something that we don't eventhough we're working just as
hard, if not harder.
Like, of course, I'm not workcomparing, but we do work hard
as producers. It just was yeah.It's it's just so rewarding to
finally have somebodyrepresenting me.
Lawrence (08:53):
Yeah. Us. Yeah. And all of and our listeners out
there that that do this kind ofwork.
Sister Christian (08:58):
Never thought it happened.
Lawrence (08:58):
That's episode 417418. And, if you wanna learn more
about it, it's now IATC Local111. The it's called the
Production Workers' Guild, thePWG, and their website's
pwg111.org. So go check themout, and, of course, sign up.
The prices to join are nevergonna be as low as right now,
(09:21):
and expect to see it grow.
Guess what was another hugeepisode, which I kind of knew
would be, Christian. Can youtake a guess?
Sister Christian (09:30):
Was it one of our union, like SAG, or was it
one of the
Lawrence (09:35):
Why would you think that, Christian? I know. What
was it? I'm gaslighting you.
Sister Christian (09:39):
Oh, yeah. There you go.
Lawrence (09:41):
It was our gaslighting episode. It was, a bow about,
how to recognize it, not befooled by it, not think it's
your fault, recognize when it'ssomeone else just gaslighting
you, and then how to kind ofnavigate those tricky moments.
Sister Christian (09:57):
And I have to say that that episode was so
triggering for me that I it hadat least 2 or 3 drinks. It could
have been 3. I remember by theend being, you know, beyond the
ability of mine to, be coherent,I think.
Lawrence (10:12):
But Yeah.
Sister Christian (10:13):
Even remembering it now, and I'm just
so happy that there is now thisterm that even though the term's
been around forever, that thisterm of, like, what happens to
us in these situations becausenow I can recognize it better,
and now I can combat it becauseit happens all the time in our
industry.
Lawrence (10:32):
It really does. And it's so destabilizing because it
makes you second guess yourselfand self doubt yourself about
what is the reality of themoment. So it's episode 413. Go
back and listen to it if youmissed that one. It's a good
one, and it it really you know,our goal always is to make sure
everyone out there doesn't feelso alone in this crazy role of,
(10:54):
you know, producing orproduction work that we do.
So that one, I think that oneresonated with a lot of people.
Sister Christian (10:59):
I hope so.
Lawrence (11:05):
Hey, Christian. What's the most important thing about
film production?
Sister Christian (11:08):
The setup. Preproduction. The most
important part.
Lawrence (11:11):
But you know what? A lot of people think that, but
you're kinda missing a step.
Sister Christian (11:14):
Oh, right. The kickoff calls. Because that's
how you set up your prep.
Lawrence (11:19):
Right. That's where you gotta get all the right
questions answered at the righttime and set deadlines for those
answers so you can put your prepon the right path to success.
Sister Christian (11:27):
Exactly. Right. And this can be
accomplished with 4 kickoffcalls. You need at least 4, in
my opinion.
Lawrence (11:34):
And I think for us, producers, the most important
one is the one with yourproducing partner, either the ad
agency producer or your mainclient contact because that's
where, like you said, set thetone, set expectations, give
them deadlines for when you needthese answers because timelines
are already way too short forprep.
Sister Christian (11:51):
I know. We can always use more prep time.
Right?
Lawrence (11:54):
And budgets are shrinking, so don't waste any
time. So what we've done is weput together our top seven
questions that you should askyour agency producer or client
now on that very first kickoffcall.
Sister Christian (12:03):
Not only does it help answer questions that
you may have, it also allows youto set the tone and, you know,
establish yourself as the leaderof the project, which is also a
very important step as well.
Lawrence (12:15):
So we'll put a link in the show notes where you can get
on our website and take a listento our free audio bonus, another
delightful conversation betweenme and sister Christian about
best ways of setting yourself upfor success.
Sister Christian (12:27):
Yeah. It's a page turner.
Lawrence (12:30):
Check it out. But, alright, this has been the year
of strikes, economic nonsense,shrinking budgets, production
slowdowns. Oh my god. So let'sput all of that behind us. What
can we look forward to?
What are you expecting for 2024,Christian?
Sister Christian (12:52):
Well, part of my hopes and dreams, and
expectations are that there willbe more work. And, in full
disclosure, like we always arevery transparent on this
podcast, work this year washorrible. Like, as seasoned as I
am and, you know, how I feellike I'm at the top of my game
and I know my job inside andout, I still wasn't getting the
(13:14):
work that I normally do. And ifI wasn't working the way that I
normally the volume that Inormally did, then I know tons
of people out there were notworking what they normally did.
You know?
Every town that I would go to,everywhere that I filmed all
over the country, nobody wasworking.
Lawrence (13:32):
Yeah. Yeah. I I have been to a couple holiday
production company parties, andeveryone's a little concerned.
Like, people that are, you know,a list people that do the big
jobs at the big companies.They're like, it's not been
good.
So, hopefully, my expectationfor next year is exactly that.
Sister Christian (13:54):
That it can't Yeah. That it could get any
slower for us.
Lawrence (13:58):
It can't get any slower.
Sister Christian (14:00):
Right. So, yay, expectations are it's gonna
get better.
Lawrence (14:03):
It's gonna get better. It will. And that was that was
the tone of a lot of the partiesI went to. It's like, hey,
advertising doesn't go away.I've been hearing from some EPs.
I've been seeing a lot ofboards. Obviously, I've been
doing some
Sister Christian (14:15):
Oh, nice.
Lawrence (14:16):
So, you know, hopefully, those things are
coming back, and, you know,unions are getting stronger. And
so the protection and theconditions for its members are
getting better. So that is apositive thing, and you've seen
it across all industries. Right?Like, so many industries have
unionized or fought for betterrates and wages and other better
(14:38):
conditions.
I'm hoping my expectation fornext year is that working
conditions and and people'smental health and ability to
sustain a a healthy, lifestyleis gonna be easier to do.
Sister Christian (14:54):
Yes. Hopefully, we're over the hump.
Mhmm. The reason why you strikeis to get better conditions, you
know, negotiating power, all ofthe things. That's over.
So hopefully, like, you know,hopefully, this leads to the
willingness and excitement toget back to work because we know
the majority of our industrywants to work. They want to be
(15:16):
out there working. They wannafeel like they're contributing
and creative and that they'reuseful and all the things that
capitalism makes us feel. Yeah.I'm really looking forward to
it.
I want to feel good again,which, unfortunately, has died
to work sometimes.
Lawrence (15:36):
Now there is some scuttlebutt about Oh, yeah. IATC
IATC renegotiating theircontract. So Yeah. There is
Sister Christian (15:47):
Now there were IATC members.
Lawrence (15:49):
Yeah. There is, a little fear about another IATSE,
strike. But, honestly, I don'tthink there's an appetite for
it. I know people wanna get backto work.
Sister Christian (16:05):
And, hopefully, Zag and the writers
have softened up the entitiesthat the negotiations will be
like, great. No problem.
Lawrence (16:13):
Exactly. Through.
Sister Christian (16:14):
That's not an idea of
Lawrence (16:15):
what they don't. Yeah. I'm not saying that whatever,
you know, issues still are outthere aren't worth fighting for.
Of course, they are.
Sister Christian (16:23):
Of course. Totally.
Lawrence (16:24):
And I also think though it's it's it's important
to, you know, get this industryback to work, get that economy
flowing again in Los Angeles,because, you know, this is this
town is built on that economy,the film economy. And I just am
seeing restaurants close,businesses close. It's it's it's
looking a little dire. So Idon't know. I don't think
there's gonna be a SAG strike,hoping not, hoping we can get
(16:47):
back to work, and we continue toget the rates, wages, and
conditions that we deserve.
Sister Christian (16:52):
Oh, and there could be a new avenue for work,
Lawrence. I don't know if you'venoticed this or not, but most
streaming services now offerads. You can either pay, you
know, like, 3 699 for somethingwith ads or 1299 to be ad free.
Well, in this economy, I mean, Ihave had to cut a few streaming
(17:16):
services out. Right?
And so, like, going down to thead one is, you know, an
economical choice for people outthere. But that also means for
people like us who work in thead industry and make
commercials, Hopefully, morecontent more content to make,
more avenues to put ouradvertising more like yeah. So
(17:37):
let's just cross our fingersthat that means more work.
Lawrence (17:40):
You know, there's ads on YouTube, and there's just so
much YouTube content. I justit's growing and growing and
getting so much moresophisticated that, hopefully,
that also contributes to theneed for more ads, more branded
content, anything and everythingthat we do. Also, points to the
fact that that next year is anelection year,
Sister Christian (17:59):
and we could look at that. Hang on. I know. I
know. I have no idea.
Please keep telling me aboutthis mystical thing called an
election.
Lawrence (18:10):
Now, I I am hoping I'm gonna look at this positive
because it can be so scary tothink about it, but I'm looking
at it as a positive as a lotmore. There's gonna be more news
coverage, more debates, morecontent, more programming, that
there's gonna be advertising.Maybe some of our listeners work
(18:31):
in political advertising.There's gonna be a ton of that.
I I do some voice over forpolitical advertising.
So I'm hoping some work willcome from you that way, and
mostly broadcast TV stuff.Right? That will need
advertising, and, hopefully,some advertisers will be putting
a little more money to get theirmessages out during this cycle
where people are watching a lotmore television.
Sister Christian (18:51):
No. That makes sense. These days, the
sophistication of regionalelection, like, it just so many
different levels and so much hasride so much rides on every
election, whether it's for theschool board, your local school
board, or your staterepresentative, or your county.
Like, it's all important. So,yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
(19:12):
We could get some a little boostfrom it being like a
presidential election year. Thatmakes sense. Okay. Fine. Yeah.
I'm I'm I went down I went thejourney with you, and I'm not
entirely angry. I'm just alittle bit.
Lawrence (19:28):
Yeah. I know. Hey. You know, it's still let's be
honest. It's still gonna be aroller coaster of a year.
There's still a lot of hurdleshurdles that have to be
overcome, but
Sister Christian (19:36):
It's like opening back up almost again.
It's so weird. Like, we didthat. We we shut down. We COVID.
We navigated COVID. We thought,you know, like, coming out of
COVID 2022, it's gonna be likegang but and it was. It was
insane. It was. And then it juststopped.
In, like, the beginning of thisyear, it was just like, oh,
okay. It's a little slow, andthen it just stopped. And so
(20:00):
it's been long enough now. Ifeel like this is the biggest
lull that I've seen in mycareer. So, yes.
I'm saying all the affirmations.
Lawrence (20:08):
All the affirmations.
Sister Christian (20:09):
Lighting all the candles. I'm rubbing all my
crystals together.
Lawrence (20:13):
Yeah.
Sister Christian (20:14):
I'm doing it all because I'm very excited to
release 2023. I'm a cancel it.
Lawrence (20:21):
But Cancel it. Believe Done.
Sister Christian (20:22):
Yeah. But at by 2 o'clock the day before, so
I don't have to
Lawrence (20:27):
pay it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Releasing it.
Sister Christian (20:30):
And, you know, I'm also very much looking
forward to doing more podcastswith you. Is that selfish? Yes.
Jack all the big subjects.
Lawrence (20:39):
We're gonna take a little break, obviously, over
the holidays. This is our lastpodcast for the year. You know,
we might take a little bit oftime off in January as well, but
then we'll be coming back fullsteam with a boatload of new
podcasts and new learningcourses. Obviously, you know,
we're a bit off schedule comingout with this episode because of
the holidays, but also we'vebeen working on our new learning
(21:02):
course, demystifying unioncontracts, which will be out,
very soon in a few days, fromthe day that we're recording
this. And we have a lot morecourses planned for the new
year.
So, you know, check out ourwebsite courses. Click on that
and go see what we've got comingup. We're gonna put some wait
lists for some future coursesjust to kind of get people on
the wait list to know who'sinterested in what. Yeah. We're
(21:24):
just gonna be making all kindsof educational content for next
year, and, of course, someawesome podcasts with some great
guests.
I can't wait.
Sister Christian (21:33):
1000%. And I am I get excited to do these
courses, to be honest, Lawrence,because I have to refresh my
memory back to all the thingsthat we do. So, like, for me,
it's a it's a refresher courseand gets me ready to go for, you
know, like, like so like youjust said, we we just finished
up with demystifying meetingcontracts, and I was like, oh, I
(21:55):
need I need to do a refresher.And I did, and it was so great
because you forget some ofthose, like, you know, small
things in the contract that, ofcourse, they don't forget.
Lawrence (22:05):
They do not forget.
Sister Christian (22:07):
But it was a it was a great one. And I like,
I feel like it's prepared meready to go for that next round.
Lawrence (22:12):
And it's so easy, you know, especially at our, you
know, well defined age and yearsin this industry, it's easy to,
like, get comfortable and reston your laurels and be like, oh,
yeah. That's fine. My productionmanager will figure it out.
Exactly. Yeah.
Blah, blah, blah. Nope. And, youknow, no. You really gotta stay
on top of it because you'remaking decisions at the top that
affect things down down theline. And Listen.
Sister Christian (22:34):
If something goes wrong, you get blamed for
it. You you I mean, like and ifit goes right, you you the team
takes credit. So, you know,like, why ever allow it to get
to the point where it's right orwrong? Just know it.
Lawrence (22:47):
Sandra, as always, we wanna hear from all of you. So
if you have any expectations orhopes and dreams for 2024,
please email us. We love hearingfrom everybody. Don't forget our
email address is new. Hello atproducers happy hour.com.
We're so professional now. Wehave our own email address.
Sister Christian (23:04):
I think we had a coupon, Lawrence. I don't
know.
Lawrence (23:06):
We had a coupon. Yeah. And if you have any show topics
you want us to tackle next year,let us know. We're down to 2.
Whatever, content suits
Sister Christian (23:13):
you. Yeah. You wanna be a guest?
Lawrence (23:15):
Let us know.
Sister Christian (23:16):
Hey. Let us know. Hey. Listen. We're here.
Lawrence (23:19):
Alright. That's it. I gotta finish this tequila soda
in in peace and quiet.
Sister Christian (23:28):
I win. Okay. Damn. I finished first. Oh,
Lawrence, happy holidays.
And
Lawrence (23:35):
Yeah. You too.
Sister Christian (23:36):
Thank you. And if, people wanna get you, how
are they gonna do that?
Lawrence (23:42):
Let's do 2 ways. Lawrence tlewis.com. That's for
all my producing nonsense.Voiceoflawrence.com. If if you
need one of those politicalvoiceovers, you can get me
there.
Sister Christian (23:53):
If you would like your political ad read by
Lawrence, it definitely has tobe of a certain, like, the
content needs to align withLawrence's
Lawrence (24:02):
a certain political persuasion.
Sister Christian (24:04):
And morals. Exactly.
Lawrence (24:07):
Sister, how do people get ahold of you?
Sister Christian (24:09):
I'm at sisterchristianproducers.com.
Lawrence (24:12):
Alright. See you all next year. Happy holidays.
Sister Christian (24:15):
See you later. Producers Happy Hour is brought
to you with the help of thehandsome Christopher Daniels.
Lawrence (24:22):
Who is a design and branding specialist.
Sister Christian (24:24):
And brindrandrussell@podlad.com, who
is our fabulous editor.
Lawrence (24:28):
If you enjoy this podcast and wanna dive deeper,
subscribe to our listenersnewsletter. Simply go to
producers happy hour dot com tosign up.
Sister Christian (24:35):
Thanks for listening, and remember
Lawrence (24:37):
Enjoy happy hour while you can.
Sister Christian (24:39):
Because making shit is hard.
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