April 23, 2025 • 25 mins
Who helps studio execs decide what movies get made—and what are they thinking about when they make their recommendations? For Shivani Patel, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Universal Pictures, it’s where creative opportunity meets commercial strategy—and every decision has to be backed by the data.
Shivani plays a key role in shaping Universal’s film slate, bringing both business insight and a lifelong love of movies to the table. In this episode of Seen on the Screen, Jacqueline Coley talks with her about the journey from Friday night runs to Blockbuster with her family to sitting in the room where “greenlight discussions” happen
They talk about the moments that shaped her—why The Dark Knight changed everything, how Chef made her a grilled cheese obsessive, and what it felt like to help bring films like Yesterday and Get Out to life. Shivani also reflects on the importance of showing up fully at work, and how the best decisions are often made when instinct and insight come together.
Shivani plays a key role in shaping Universal’s film slate, bringing both business insight and a lifelong love of movies to the table. In this episode of Seen on the Screen, Jacqueline Coley talks with her about the journey from Friday night runs to Blockbuster with her family to sitting in the room where “greenlight discussions” happen
They talk about the moments that shaped her—why The Dark Knight changed everything, how Chef made her a grilled cheese obsessive, and what it felt like to help bring films like Yesterday and Get Out to life. Shivani also reflects on the importance of showing up fully at work, and how the best decisions are often made when instinct and insight come together.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This episode of Scene on the Screen is brought to
you by Peacock Movies. Transport us to new worlds, connect
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With Peacock, It's all possible right from your living room.
Stream hit films from Universal Pictures, Illumination, Focus Features, DreamWorks, Animation,
(00:20):
and more. Sit back, relax and enjoy the show because
the best movies are home on Peacock. If you had
to pick one of the stereotypical breakfast clubs, which one
was the closest to you, do you feel?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Probably say Brian, only because he was the bookworm.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
I'm not gonna lie, but you probably would have guessed.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Hello, I'm Jackal and Coley. Welcome to Scene on the Screen,
brought to you by Make It Universal and Rotten Tomatoes,
where we talk movies with some of the people behind
the scenes at NBC Universal. When entertainment works best, sometimes
it opens a window into world we've never imagined. Other
times it shows us a mirror image of our lives
with a heightened sense of home. Today we're going to
(01:07):
dig into the question what have you seen on the
screen that has done that? My guest today is Senior
Vice president a Strategy and business Development, Shavanni Patel. You'll
learn which Christopher Nolan movie made her want to work
in the entertainment industry, how family movie nights shaped her
taste in film, and the grilled cheese scene that always
(01:29):
lifts her spirits. Shavanni, Welcome to the Scene on the
Screen podcast. Thank you all right, First question, my favorite one.
Who are you and what do you do for NBCUniversal.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Yeah, I'm Shavannie Pateel, senior vice president's Strategy and business
Development for our film group.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
What does that meaning? That's like such an impressive title.
I was just sitting here mesmerind but so.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
In a nutshell, I support the green light process for
all our films, and my team provides the financial insights
that help determine what movies we make.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Yeah, after I met you, I was like, she's the
gal with the numbers. And my favorite word and one
we'll use in this is comps, which is comparable properties. Right,
That's what that means, learning new tool every day. So
your team's job is to really look at the comparable
movies before you make a movie, so that you have
an idea of what audience.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah, So that's just one piece of the process. If
I kind of demystify green light as a term for
a second, at the kind of most baseline level, when
a project comes into the studio and we decide whether
to make it or not, there's various different elements we
need to look at. But if I had to distill
it down to two main elements, one is the creative
so the development team will read the script, is there
(02:48):
a compelling narrative, is there a cast we're excited about,
a director we want to be in business with. And
then there's the financials, like we want to make movies
that will make money.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
So that's where my team will come in and.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
We will look at the full life cycle of a project,
monetization through every single window, and essentially identify the performance
levels where we can make a meaningful return. And that's
just the beginning of the process. Marketing and distribution.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Will weigh in.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
We'll work with business affairs as they're structuring the deals
with talent and producer since that's a big component. That's
the basics of where my team fits into the green
light process.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
But what's crazy about it is it's such an impressive job,
but It's one of these again, jobs that are behind
the scenes, and unless you know about it, you wouldn't
do it. I think it's even more interesting that you
had a whole nother life in a different career and
then came to this. So I'd love you to talk
a little bit about your journey to entertainment creative.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
So I actually started my career in investment banking, which
is very different. I practically covered every industry, not intentionally,
but every industry accept entertainment.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
But I, as cliche as it.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Will sound, I knew since I was a kid that
I wanted to work in the industry in some capacity.
I grew up in southern California and so Hollywood and
entertainment seemed like an industry that was very close yet
very far away in terms of career attainability. But I
grew up in a big, multi generational Indian family, So
(04:17):
my family, my cousins, my aunts, my uncles, and so
the one activity you can do together when you have
such a big family as watch movies. So essentially I
was exposed to every era and genre of movies since
I was a kid. So from the og Bond movies
with Sean Connery, who my dad loves, or the nineties
two thousands rom coms. There was a divide in the
(04:38):
family who loved Lord of the Rings versus Harry Potter.
But essentially, movies.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Were a big part of my childhood.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
And so when I was ready to figure out the
next steps in my career after banking, I was browsing
through job listings and I saw the job at Universal,
and I was first of all surprised that people can
do this for a living. So, yeah, I applied for it,
and I've been here ever since.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
And so how long have you been with NBC Universal?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
For ten years? Ten years?
Speaker 1 (05:03):
That's the other thing. It's like I was like, I
was like, no, no, put it out there because I want
people to understand how impressive it was at the time
that you started that. And then the part of the
business that you're leading now, which is just again so impressive.
Since your family was a big movie family, what if
were the traditions, Like you mentioned some of the films
that y'all fought over, but like, gathering that many people
together is a task in itself, So.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
We would watch movies together as a family every Friday night,
and it would just be funny because a different person
would get to choose every week. So my dad would
take one of us to Blockbuster and you would choose
the movie, and you would kind of just be forced
to watch the movie that person chose. So there would
be some interesting ones, like one of my cousins would
always choose the prestige oscar dramas, which when you're a
(05:46):
ten year old kid, that's the last thing you want
to watch. I'd gravitate towards like the adventure of fantasy
films that the girls and the family would not love
because they'd want to watch a rom com. But it
really kind of forced all of us to embrace every
time of genre.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
With that being said, since you did the thing that
I guess every parent especially I think parents of immigrants
are maybe the first ones in their generation to go
to school or that kind of thing, you did the
thing that most of them want. You were investment banking.
So was it a bit of a like hey guys
when you told them that you wanted to do entertainment
or were they, like one supportive.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
My parents have been pretty supportive. They just said, if
you do whatever you want to do, just make sure
you're good at it. And you're successful, and so they
they also didn't fully understand what I was doing.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
I'm convinced up until.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Two or three years ago they thought I was actually
physically making movies. But they just get excited that I
work in the industry and so and they see that
I get a lot of joy out of it. So
they've been supportive from the start.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
They hitting you up for premiere tickets or have you
taken them?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
I have, I've taken my sister. I took her to
Ticket to Paradise and it was just very sweet because
I could just see her having this out of body
experience when she saw George and a Mall Clooney walk in.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Sometimes most of us will do let's be real.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Yeah, so that was nice.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
I dig that all right? Excellent. Now let's dive into
our popcorn buckets. So you've watched the podcast, right, so
you know it's up all right. First one, it's our quotes.
Sarcasm is the refuge of losers.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
That's the dad from Little Miss Sunshine.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Such a creat I'll.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Finish that quote for you. Sarcasm is losers trying to
bring winners down to their level.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Oh that's a great.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
He has the best quotes in the movie, even though
he's the worst character in the movie.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
But you know what, Bear, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Bear the more I think about it, and then Alan
arkint basically being the best version of every grandpa exactly
what is your attachment to a little miss Sunshine?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
So that was a movie that when I saw it,
I was a lot older than Abigail Breslin's character in
the movie. I was a teenager. But there's something about
her character that was really drawn to. She almost represented
someone I wish I could be, in the sense that
she had a vision, She had this dream to go
compete at this pageant, and she really stood strong against
(08:08):
a lot of the pressures that younger girls face in
terms of being or looking a certain way. And you
could see throughout the movie that there were points in
time where she might crack, the insecurities are creeping in,
but she stays true herself. And I think the movie
overall is just kind of a commentary if you even
just take a look at this quote, a commentary on
society's obsession with what does it mean to be a
(08:30):
winner or loser? And every character brings their extreme philosophy.
But I love the ending of it, for that exact reason,
because none of the characters get anything they want. She
loses a pageant, gets banned forever, but they're all closer
as a family, and I think at its core it
is a movie about family, and I gravitate towards films
(08:52):
like that, and so it's one of those movies that
brings a smile to my face every time I watch it.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Yeah, comfort film. Yeah, that's so interesting that you say that,
because now that I think back on it, it really
is a movie about the people who maybe society would
call losers, Yeah, still thinking of themselves as winners. And
that's like a really powerful moment, right Yeah, exactly. I
think even the most successful people, somebody might be calling
them a loser by comparison, right exactly. Very powerful. Yeah,
(09:17):
I'm going to move on to our second quote. This
is a good one. You either die a hero or
you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
It's Harvey Dead from Dark Knight.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
I love that you. Also, again, this is the extra
credit we were talking about everyone. No, that is such
a great one. Yeah, because he was talking about forget people,
forget who he was talking about that he was talking
about Caesar and Rome because they were like, you know,
they would get one man and like some console and
he's like lives Like. That's what I thought was interesting
is the hero he was talking about that was was Caesar.
(09:52):
But Dark Knight. What a movie.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yeah, that was the movie that I watched, and I
knew I had to work in film in some capacity.
Like I remember everyone was talking talking about the performance
of Heath Ledger. I wasn't particularly drawn to superhero movies.
I hadn't seen Batman Begins. I loved the Jack Nicholson
Michael Keaton Batman, so I kind of went into it
just wanting to watch it because of the hype around it.
(10:14):
And it was a movie that really surprised me because
even more so than a superhero movie, it's a genre movie.
It's a crime thriller, but if you are a fanboy,
you'll like the mythology. But it was unlike anything I'd
ever seen before visually, and there was character development in
a way that I've not seen in any other super
hero movie since then. And it was a movie I
(10:35):
talked to my friends a lot about after we left
the theaters. I kept you thinking around some of the
decisions that the characters make. It also was the beginning
of my obsession with all Chris Nolan soundtracks, And I
remember I watched it three times in the seventy millimeter
Imax screen. So it was a big deal even back
then to watch a Chris Nolan movie in that Imax screen.
(10:55):
And each time I brought back a different friend who
did not like of superhero movies to convince them that
this was going to be the movie that changed their mind.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
And so it was one of those films that that
I remember. I think it was just a big, kind
of big moment for people in my generation overall.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Yeah, and cinema too. Yeah, also look at you creating
disciples of cinema a little bit. And then it's interesting
because then to work with Christopher Nolan, to be in
that meeting where they greenlit open High it feels like a.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Full circle moment, which happens a lot when you're in
those green light meetings. To see filmmakers that you grew
up watching that now you're in the meetings where you're
deciding whether their movie should get made.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Yeah, kind of insane. I'm very glad that y'all did it.
To the tune of nearly one billion. I'm sorry the
marketing folks get now when I say that, but I'm like,
it's so close.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
It's close.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
It's so close. You made that billion on the home vhs.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Will we release it in a few years and then
we'll keep doing that and we'll it'll ultimately creep up.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
And it will be No. No, I want to put
the money for the phishysic media in that number. In
my personal opinion, that's that's my thing. I know the
marketing people and actually you would be like no, but
in my mind, physical and digital exactly, that's a billion.
I know it is. Let's go to be the third quote.
How did I get in the wrong column? How did
(12:19):
I get in the friend manager ROADI column instead of
the end I love her column?
Speaker 3 (12:25):
That's from yesterday.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
That's a great one. Yeah. That film is one of
these films that I absolutely loved because it was a quiet,
little hit, but it was so good and so sweet
and so earnest.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Yeah, it was one of the movies in the time
that I worked at Universal made me the most proud
to work at the studio because we cast a British
Indian actor to play the lead for a movie about
the Beatles, and I distinctly remember that not a single
time in the green light meeting did the fact that
he was Indian come up as a reason why the
movie couldn't be commercially viable. The only relevant question that.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Was asked was can he sing?
Speaker 2 (13:00):
And I just thought that was like, really important because
a lot of times when you make casting decisions like that,
you have to find a backstory to have it make
sense or a rationale, and it was just that he
happened to be Indian, and I thought that was like,
that made me very proud that we can make a
decision like that as a studio.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Yeah, and he can sing. It's a very beautiful and
touching movie. You've given us a little bit of a
preview inside these green light meetings, which I should also say,
this is a very heavy room we're having, like a
lot of big folks at the studio. Is there other
memorable green light meetings that you've been a part of.
You've already given us again a few, but I'd love
to hear if there's any more that you hold particularly dear. So.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
I actually think it's not quite in the context of
green light meetings, but in terms of films that we've
greenlit that at the time you don't realize how big
they are until they become that. So I would say
get Out is another one where it came through a
partnership with Blumbhouse, made at an efficient price, so not
very risky, But it wasn't until you actually saw the
movie and saw the preview that you saw how special
(14:02):
it was. And even then you couldn't have predicted, like
what a big moment it became in the zeitgeist. So
that's another one, And I think that's like the beauty
of movies is that you think that you're making something
and you sometimes you can't anticipate how big it's going
to be.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Yeah, and your team, I know, you study the first
what ten years of the film's life cycle, so you
could job you look at I remember it, Well, you're
studying a little bit into the future, like you're studying
how this film will do at the five year anniversary,
at the ten year anniversary, and a lot of the
points along its journey that are not just a part
of that release.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Yeah, and I think that's like another element of the
process where there could be movies that open to a
certain box office level. So I'll use Puss in Boots
two as an example. That opened to around twelve million
domestically and it ultimately got to one hundred and eighty five,
and that it was just a movie that played by
word of mouth. It was a well reviewed movie, and
(14:57):
it continued to do really well in the home as well.
And so those are other types of movies that tend
to surprise me because it's just that audience that's driving.
There's other strategic considerations that help as well, where it's
dated on the calendar, and then you'll we're seeing that
with Wild Robot as well.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Yeah, definitely with Wild Yeah. Yeah, the legs and animation
is something that's really noteworthy. Well, very good job. We're
going to move on to our next popcorn bucket. Okay,
this one is going to be true or false questions.
John Hughes left the library confession scene in the Breakfast
(15:33):
Club mostly unscripted and let the actor ad lib there
are reasons for being in detention true or false.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
I'm pretty sure that's true. He gave them general directions,
but they improvise the rest.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
My favorite is still Alison when she says I'm here
because I had nothing better to do on my.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Sat so real though, that was so real in the
best joke. Yeah, no, he did. He told each of
the actors some generalities, but they got to improvise it.
And again one of the most powerful scenes from that show.
I think every girl of like a millennial set, like
the Breakfast Club hits different. Yeah, even though that's a
gen X movie. Yeah, it was us too.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Yeah, it was a movie they probably watched when I
was a little bit too young to watch it. But again,
because I was in such a big family, I could
kind of get away with that. But it also represents
to me, like a lot of times, especially for me,
you are able to relate to characters that you might
not think you have anything in common with or look
anything like you. And I remember and this is why
(16:31):
I'm particularly drawn to John Hughes movies, because they have
the elements of like Dysfunctional Family, Underdog, Fish out of Water,
not feeling like you fit in, especially as a teenager,
which is something I could have really related to back then.
And I actually just really appreciate how much they accomplish
in that movie with doing very little, like it takes
place almost entirely in one room for the most part,
(16:55):
and you don't need to see these characters actually as
cool to understand the dynamics. It's very much like through
this confession scene or what each of them brings to
lunch or where they're city, and you kind of get
an understanding of their social hierarchy. And so I really
related to it, even though even if like the characters,
didn't feel like I fit into any one of their stereotypes.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
That's so great. Yeah, which one was the closest to you?
Do you feel if you had to pick one of
the stereotypical breakfast clubs.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Probably say Brian only because he was the bookworm.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Lie, but you probably would have guessed I mean the
math is mathing.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Yeah, I don't think I had the same exact struggles
as him, but I probably would have related to him
the most.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
I think if you would have asked my mother in
high school, I was the criminal, but I was a
little bit maybe closer to the bath. I was more
of like the Ali Shedy, Like I was a weird
musical theater kid. Yeah, but in Texas that was Ali Sheety,
Like if you were not into like football, you were
as basket casey as he could be. Very much so
trivia question number two. John Favreau, who starred in the
(18:02):
twenty fourteen film Chef, attended culinary school early in his
life before becoming a full time actor.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
True.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
A false.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Oh, it's partially false because he didn't go to culinary
school early in his life.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Right, No, but he basically did. Yes, it is false
because in pre production Favreau shadowed Roy Choi, who was
also a co producer of the film, and he did
a little mini training school with him on the culinary arts,
so he learned how to do it right.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
You could see that in the movie because this movie
has the best like ASMR food scenes ever, like the
scene where he's making his son the grilled cheese sandwich.
I like, well, I think about that girl cheese sandwich
all the time.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
So fun fact, when they filmed that movie, I lived
in Austin. I actually watched them film that movie. That
is like Gary Clark performing on Sixth Street. That is
the real Franklin's Barbecue that still to this day, the
only person to ever skip the line was Obama. Like
that was a very like when they showed Austin like that,
I was like, oh yeah, this is like they really
(19:02):
did understand the Austin food scene, and I love that
movie as well.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
They also have like a Truck now, the Open Truck
Together in Vegas, and they also did a show together.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Yep, yeah, they have the Chef Show. So it's like
spawned even more. I love chef movies. Yeah, I know
you say you definitely love the food aspect of it,
but I would also imagine like Food, it's maybe like
a comfort food type movie.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
I'm drawn to stories where characters are kind of chasing
their passions but sometimes it leads them down a different path.
And so I also think that it's something with the
genre of like chefs and like the way that you
have to see them hustle in movies that I'm drawn
to because I'm also drawn to TV shows like The Bear,
and so that's just like my go to feel good
(19:45):
movie and it's there's elements of like family in there
as well.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
All Right, last trivia question. True false, Bridesmaids is Judd
Apatow's highest grossing movie to date. True false.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
It's a sighest grossing produced movie.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Yes, yes it is, because Paul Fee directed it exactly.
I was thinking that too. I was produced by Jo Appatau,
I mean the house the Bridesmaid built. We have other
people on the podcast this year that were involved in
Girls Trip, and one of the things I think is
great is there's a direct line between Bridesmaids to Girls
Trip and like showing sort of how you could start
(20:20):
with one and then see like this can be done
and show different identities.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Yeah, it started a new era of female ag comedies
with Melissa McCarthy headlining a bunch of her own films
I always forget, but she got nominated for an Oscar
for her performance, and then obviously with Rebel Wilson and
with train Wreck. It was the first R rated movie
that I watched where I wasn't offended by how women
were being portrayed, and they weren't being overly sexualized or
(20:45):
shown in a condescending way. And obviously a great kind
of reflection of what female friendships look like, and just
showing that women can be funny the same way that
men are.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
I think one of the things that you said that
I found to be really interesting is it gave you
an opportunity to do one of your favorite parts of
your job. I'd love for you to tell a little
bit more about that.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yeah, So I feel like my favorite part of the
job is that I get to be part of the
team that helps shepherd a movie from inception to green light.
You can have all the right creative elements, but it
needs to be economically viable, and so that's like my
favorite part of the job is that working with the
rest of the Universal team to how do you structure
the movie in a way that allows us to green
(21:28):
light it and ultimately be able to make those bold
decisions creatively. Just being part of those rooms that you
mentioned earlier where you see the entire business coming together.
It's not just creative and business development. It's also marketing
and distribution and franchise management, brand development.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
You're looking at all aspects.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Of a movie before you're making a decision to make it.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Lots of factors. Just bring it hit. But hey, the
proof is in the pudding, right Yeah, all right, so
perfect so far. I'm going to grab this right here
and hand it to you. If you pop the top
of that, yep, there you go. We're gonna dive into
the world of Universal films and you're gonna give me
a quote from one of these movies and I get
(22:10):
multiple choice because they're usually harder. But I've been done
well lately. We'll see how we go.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
I made my family disappear. A the kids are all right,
be home alone, see the invention of lying.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Definitely McAuley cul can home alone alone. I'm gonna put
I'm trying to put the Shavani effect on. I'm trying
and see if I can remember who said it. I'm
watching a movie like this is the Last Little to
Get Right, Like that.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Was a special one in the Patel household.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
It was.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
I would imagine it was a year round, not only
Christmas movie. And I'm actually the youngest in my entire
extanded family. So some of the quotes that the older
cousins and siblings said to Kevin, my cousins would say
to me as a joke. I knew how to pack
my suitcase though. But yeah, there is a lot of
elements that I could relate to. I thought I was
Kevin McAllister in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
I mean, we all kind of wanted waiting.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
For a house to be robed so I could save
the day.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
I just wanted to talk boy, all right.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
I know I'm devastatingly good looking, but you got to
stop staring at me.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Oh this was hard.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Yeah a yesterday b First Man see gravity.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Yes, I'm gonna say gravity. Yeah, that's right. Yes, that's
George Clooney. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
It feels like it's a little bit too comical for
first Man.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
No, definitely too comical for first Man. All right, Okay,
one more.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Worse nineteen years of my life. A ticket to Paradise
be this is forty sea Ladybird.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
That's gotta be tickets to Paradise. Yeah, yeah, George Clooney,
Julia Roberts.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
While they're on the plane, I'm pretty sure.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Not gonna lie is a child of divorce? Very similar beats.
All right, well, Swani, thank you so much for doing this.
We have one more thing before you get out of here,
if we have a little bit of rapid fire. What's
your favorite movie snack?
Speaker 2 (24:03):
The Kids Pack at AMC Theaters, which I will always
look around to make sure I don't know anyone before
I order it. But it's the best value for the money.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
You could pull off a kids It.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Comes in a little pale to be seen with it,
but it's it's the best value.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
I would say the Kids Pack is fine, but honestly
I would be like, what makes you think I'm not twelve?
Like I would literally just lean into it. What was
the last show you binged? Uh?
Speaker 3 (24:26):
The latest season of Shrinking.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
That's a good one. Yeah, Jessica Williams is a goddess.
I love it. Favorite movie star.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Right now, I'll give two Zindia and Glenn Powell.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
That's a good pair. They need to do a movie. Yeah,
I would watch that going to the movie theater alone.
Yes or no? Uh? Yes, good one. And favorite classic
universal film Jurassic Park. Yeah, Jurassic Park. And you're not
the first person to say that one, but it still
hurts my pride a little bit that it's a classic film.
Now yeah, classic car. Yeah, Shawani, thank you so much
(25:00):
for being on the scene, Instagram podcast, and yeah telling
us about your journey.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Of course, thank you.
This episode of Scene on the Screen is brought to
you by Peacock Movies. Transport us to new worlds, connect
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With Peacock, It's all possible right from your living room.
Stream hit films from Universal Pictures, Illumination, Focus Features, DreamWorks, Animation,
(00:20):
and more. Sit back, relax and enjoy the show because
the best movies are home on Peacock. If you had
to pick one of the stereotypical breakfast clubs, which one
was the closest to you, do you feel?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Probably say Brian, only because he was the bookworm.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
I'm not gonna lie, but you probably would have guessed.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Hello, I'm Jackal and Coley. Welcome to Scene on the Screen,
brought to you by Make It Universal and Rotten Tomatoes,
where we talk movies with some of the people behind
the scenes at NBC Universal. When entertainment works best, sometimes
it opens a window into world we've never imagined. Other
times it shows us a mirror image of our lives
with a heightened sense of home. Today we're going to
(01:07):
dig into the question what have you seen on the
screen that has done that? My guest today is Senior
Vice president a Strategy and business Development, Shavanni Patel. You'll
learn which Christopher Nolan movie made her want to work
in the entertainment industry, how family movie nights shaped her
taste in film, and the grilled cheese scene that always
(01:29):
lifts her spirits. Shavanni, Welcome to the Scene on the
Screen podcast. Thank you all right, First question, my favorite one.
Who are you and what do you do for NBCUniversal.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Yeah, I'm Shavannie Pateel, senior vice president's Strategy and business
Development for our film group.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
What does that meaning? That's like such an impressive title.
I was just sitting here mesmerind but so.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
In a nutshell, I support the green light process for
all our films, and my team provides the financial insights
that help determine what movies we make.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Yeah, after I met you, I was like, she's the
gal with the numbers. And my favorite word and one
we'll use in this is comps, which is comparable properties. Right,
That's what that means, learning new tool every day. So
your team's job is to really look at the comparable
movies before you make a movie, so that you have
an idea of what audience.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah, So that's just one piece of the process. If
I kind of demystify green light as a term for
a second, at the kind of most baseline level, when
a project comes into the studio and we decide whether
to make it or not, there's various different elements we
need to look at. But if I had to distill
it down to two main elements, one is the creative
so the development team will read the script, is there
(02:48):
a compelling narrative, is there a cast we're excited about,
a director we want to be in business with. And
then there's the financials, like we want to make movies
that will make money.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
So that's where my team will come in and.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
We will look at the full life cycle of a project,
monetization through every single window, and essentially identify the performance
levels where we can make a meaningful return. And that's
just the beginning of the process. Marketing and distribution.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Will weigh in.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
We'll work with business affairs as they're structuring the deals
with talent and producer since that's a big component. That's
the basics of where my team fits into the green
light process.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
But what's crazy about it is it's such an impressive job,
but It's one of these again, jobs that are behind
the scenes, and unless you know about it, you wouldn't
do it. I think it's even more interesting that you
had a whole nother life in a different career and
then came to this. So I'd love you to talk
a little bit about your journey to entertainment creative.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
So I actually started my career in investment banking, which
is very different. I practically covered every industry, not intentionally,
but every industry accept entertainment.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
But I, as cliche as it.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Will sound, I knew since I was a kid that
I wanted to work in the industry in some capacity.
I grew up in southern California and so Hollywood and
entertainment seemed like an industry that was very close yet
very far away in terms of career attainability. But I
grew up in a big, multi generational Indian family, So
(04:17):
my family, my cousins, my aunts, my uncles, and so
the one activity you can do together when you have
such a big family as watch movies. So essentially I
was exposed to every era and genre of movies since
I was a kid. So from the og Bond movies
with Sean Connery, who my dad loves, or the nineties
two thousands rom coms. There was a divide in the
(04:38):
family who loved Lord of the Rings versus Harry Potter.
But essentially, movies.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Were a big part of my childhood.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
And so when I was ready to figure out the
next steps in my career after banking, I was browsing
through job listings and I saw the job at Universal,
and I was first of all surprised that people can
do this for a living. So, yeah, I applied for it,
and I've been here ever since.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
And so how long have you been with NBC Universal?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
For ten years? Ten years?
Speaker 1 (05:03):
That's the other thing. It's like I was like, I
was like, no, no, put it out there because I want
people to understand how impressive it was at the time
that you started that. And then the part of the
business that you're leading now, which is just again so impressive.
Since your family was a big movie family, what if
were the traditions, Like you mentioned some of the films
that y'all fought over, but like, gathering that many people
together is a task in itself, So.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
We would watch movies together as a family every Friday night,
and it would just be funny because a different person
would get to choose every week. So my dad would
take one of us to Blockbuster and you would choose
the movie, and you would kind of just be forced
to watch the movie that person chose. So there would
be some interesting ones, like one of my cousins would
always choose the prestige oscar dramas, which when you're a
(05:46):
ten year old kid, that's the last thing you want
to watch. I'd gravitate towards like the adventure of fantasy
films that the girls and the family would not love
because they'd want to watch a rom com. But it
really kind of forced all of us to embrace every
time of genre.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
With that being said, since you did the thing that
I guess every parent especially I think parents of immigrants
are maybe the first ones in their generation to go
to school or that kind of thing, you did the
thing that most of them want. You were investment banking.
So was it a bit of a like hey guys
when you told them that you wanted to do entertainment
or were they, like one supportive.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
My parents have been pretty supportive. They just said, if
you do whatever you want to do, just make sure
you're good at it. And you're successful, and so they
they also didn't fully understand what I was doing.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
I'm convinced up until.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Two or three years ago they thought I was actually
physically making movies. But they just get excited that I
work in the industry and so and they see that
I get a lot of joy out of it. So
they've been supportive from the start.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
They hitting you up for premiere tickets or have you
taken them?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
I have, I've taken my sister. I took her to
Ticket to Paradise and it was just very sweet because
I could just see her having this out of body
experience when she saw George and a Mall Clooney walk in.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Sometimes most of us will do let's be real.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Yeah, so that was nice.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
I dig that all right? Excellent. Now let's dive into
our popcorn buckets. So you've watched the podcast, right, so
you know it's up all right. First one, it's our quotes.
Sarcasm is the refuge of losers.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
That's the dad from Little Miss Sunshine.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Such a creat I'll.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Finish that quote for you. Sarcasm is losers trying to
bring winners down to their level.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Oh that's a great.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
He has the best quotes in the movie, even though
he's the worst character in the movie.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
But you know what, Bear, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Bear the more I think about it, and then Alan
arkint basically being the best version of every grandpa exactly
what is your attachment to a little miss Sunshine?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
So that was a movie that when I saw it,
I was a lot older than Abigail Breslin's character in
the movie. I was a teenager. But there's something about
her character that was really drawn to. She almost represented
someone I wish I could be, in the sense that
she had a vision, She had this dream to go
compete at this pageant, and she really stood strong against
(08:08):
a lot of the pressures that younger girls face in
terms of being or looking a certain way. And you
could see throughout the movie that there were points in
time where she might crack, the insecurities are creeping in,
but she stays true herself. And I think the movie
overall is just kind of a commentary if you even
just take a look at this quote, a commentary on
society's obsession with what does it mean to be a
(08:30):
winner or loser? And every character brings their extreme philosophy.
But I love the ending of it, for that exact reason,
because none of the characters get anything they want. She
loses a pageant, gets banned forever, but they're all closer
as a family, and I think at its core it
is a movie about family, and I gravitate towards films
(08:52):
like that, and so it's one of those movies that
brings a smile to my face every time I watch it.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Yeah, comfort film. Yeah, that's so interesting that you say that,
because now that I think back on it, it really
is a movie about the people who maybe society would
call losers, Yeah, still thinking of themselves as winners. And
that's like a really powerful moment, right Yeah, exactly. I
think even the most successful people, somebody might be calling
them a loser by comparison, right exactly. Very powerful. Yeah,
(09:17):
I'm going to move on to our second quote. This
is a good one. You either die a hero or
you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
It's Harvey Dead from Dark Knight.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
I love that you. Also, again, this is the extra
credit we were talking about everyone. No, that is such
a great one. Yeah, because he was talking about forget people,
forget who he was talking about that he was talking
about Caesar and Rome because they were like, you know,
they would get one man and like some console and
he's like lives Like. That's what I thought was interesting
is the hero he was talking about that was was Caesar.
(09:52):
But Dark Knight. What a movie.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yeah, that was the movie that I watched, and I
knew I had to work in film in some capacity.
Like I remember everyone was talking talking about the performance
of Heath Ledger. I wasn't particularly drawn to superhero movies.
I hadn't seen Batman Begins. I loved the Jack Nicholson
Michael Keaton Batman, so I kind of went into it
just wanting to watch it because of the hype around it.
(10:14):
And it was a movie that really surprised me because
even more so than a superhero movie, it's a genre movie.
It's a crime thriller, but if you are a fanboy,
you'll like the mythology. But it was unlike anything I'd
ever seen before visually, and there was character development in
a way that I've not seen in any other super
hero movie since then. And it was a movie I
(10:35):
talked to my friends a lot about after we left
the theaters. I kept you thinking around some of the
decisions that the characters make. It also was the beginning
of my obsession with all Chris Nolan soundtracks, And I
remember I watched it three times in the seventy millimeter
Imax screen. So it was a big deal even back
then to watch a Chris Nolan movie in that Imax screen.
(10:55):
And each time I brought back a different friend who
did not like of superhero movies to convince them that
this was going to be the movie that changed their mind.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
And so it was one of those films that that
I remember. I think it was just a big, kind
of big moment for people in my generation overall.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Yeah, and cinema too. Yeah, also look at you creating
disciples of cinema a little bit. And then it's interesting
because then to work with Christopher Nolan, to be in
that meeting where they greenlit open High it feels like a.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Full circle moment, which happens a lot when you're in
those green light meetings. To see filmmakers that you grew
up watching that now you're in the meetings where you're
deciding whether their movie should get made.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Yeah, kind of insane. I'm very glad that y'all did it.
To the tune of nearly one billion. I'm sorry the
marketing folks get now when I say that, but I'm like,
it's so close.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
It's close.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
It's so close. You made that billion on the home vhs.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Will we release it in a few years and then
we'll keep doing that and we'll it'll ultimately creep up.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
And it will be No. No, I want to put
the money for the phishysic media in that number. In
my personal opinion, that's that's my thing. I know the
marketing people and actually you would be like no, but
in my mind, physical and digital exactly, that's a billion.
I know it is. Let's go to be the third quote.
How did I get in the wrong column? How did
(12:19):
I get in the friend manager ROADI column instead of
the end I love her column?
Speaker 3 (12:25):
That's from yesterday.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
That's a great one. Yeah. That film is one of
these films that I absolutely loved because it was a quiet,
little hit, but it was so good and so sweet
and so earnest.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Yeah, it was one of the movies in the time
that I worked at Universal made me the most proud
to work at the studio because we cast a British
Indian actor to play the lead for a movie about
the Beatles, and I distinctly remember that not a single
time in the green light meeting did the fact that
he was Indian come up as a reason why the
movie couldn't be commercially viable. The only relevant question that.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Was asked was can he sing?
Speaker 2 (13:00):
And I just thought that was like, really important because
a lot of times when you make casting decisions like that,
you have to find a backstory to have it make
sense or a rationale, and it was just that he
happened to be Indian, and I thought that was like,
that made me very proud that we can make a
decision like that as a studio.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Yeah, and he can sing. It's a very beautiful and
touching movie. You've given us a little bit of a
preview inside these green light meetings, which I should also say,
this is a very heavy room we're having, like a
lot of big folks at the studio. Is there other
memorable green light meetings that you've been a part of.
You've already given us again a few, but I'd love
to hear if there's any more that you hold particularly dear. So.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
I actually think it's not quite in the context of
green light meetings, but in terms of films that we've
greenlit that at the time you don't realize how big
they are until they become that. So I would say
get Out is another one where it came through a
partnership with Blumbhouse, made at an efficient price, so not
very risky, But it wasn't until you actually saw the
movie and saw the preview that you saw how special
(14:02):
it was. And even then you couldn't have predicted, like
what a big moment it became in the zeitgeist. So
that's another one, And I think that's like the beauty
of movies is that you think that you're making something
and you sometimes you can't anticipate how big it's going
to be.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Yeah, and your team, I know, you study the first
what ten years of the film's life cycle, so you
could job you look at I remember it, Well, you're
studying a little bit into the future, like you're studying
how this film will do at the five year anniversary,
at the ten year anniversary, and a lot of the
points along its journey that are not just a part
of that release.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Yeah, and I think that's like another element of the
process where there could be movies that open to a
certain box office level. So I'll use Puss in Boots
two as an example. That opened to around twelve million
domestically and it ultimately got to one hundred and eighty five,
and that it was just a movie that played by
word of mouth. It was a well reviewed movie, and
(14:57):
it continued to do really well in the home as well.
And so those are other types of movies that tend
to surprise me because it's just that audience that's driving.
There's other strategic considerations that help as well, where it's
dated on the calendar, and then you'll we're seeing that
with Wild Robot as well.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Yeah, definitely with Wild Yeah. Yeah, the legs and animation
is something that's really noteworthy. Well, very good job. We're
going to move on to our next popcorn bucket. Okay,
this one is going to be true or false questions.
John Hughes left the library confession scene in the Breakfast
(15:33):
Club mostly unscripted and let the actor ad lib there
are reasons for being in detention true or false.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
I'm pretty sure that's true. He gave them general directions,
but they improvise the rest.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
My favorite is still Alison when she says I'm here
because I had nothing better to do on my.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Sat so real though, that was so real in the
best joke. Yeah, no, he did. He told each of
the actors some generalities, but they got to improvise it.
And again one of the most powerful scenes from that show.
I think every girl of like a millennial set, like
the Breakfast Club hits different. Yeah, even though that's a
gen X movie. Yeah, it was us too.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Yeah, it was a movie they probably watched when I
was a little bit too young to watch it. But again,
because I was in such a big family, I could
kind of get away with that. But it also represents
to me, like a lot of times, especially for me,
you are able to relate to characters that you might
not think you have anything in common with or look
anything like you. And I remember and this is why
(16:31):
I'm particularly drawn to John Hughes movies, because they have
the elements of like Dysfunctional Family, Underdog, Fish out of Water,
not feeling like you fit in, especially as a teenager,
which is something I could have really related to back then.
And I actually just really appreciate how much they accomplish
in that movie with doing very little, like it takes
place almost entirely in one room for the most part,
(16:55):
and you don't need to see these characters actually as
cool to understand the dynamics. It's very much like through
this confession scene or what each of them brings to
lunch or where they're city, and you kind of get
an understanding of their social hierarchy. And so I really
related to it, even though even if like the characters,
didn't feel like I fit into any one of their stereotypes.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
That's so great. Yeah, which one was the closest to you?
Do you feel if you had to pick one of
the stereotypical breakfast clubs.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Probably say Brian only because he was the bookworm.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Lie, but you probably would have guessed I mean the
math is mathing.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Yeah, I don't think I had the same exact struggles
as him, but I probably would have related to him
the most.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
I think if you would have asked my mother in
high school, I was the criminal, but I was a
little bit maybe closer to the bath. I was more
of like the Ali Shedy, Like I was a weird
musical theater kid. Yeah, but in Texas that was Ali Sheety,
Like if you were not into like football, you were
as basket casey as he could be. Very much so
trivia question number two. John Favreau, who starred in the
(18:02):
twenty fourteen film Chef, attended culinary school early in his
life before becoming a full time actor.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
True.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
A false.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Oh, it's partially false because he didn't go to culinary
school early in his life.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Right, No, but he basically did. Yes, it is false
because in pre production Favreau shadowed Roy Choi, who was
also a co producer of the film, and he did
a little mini training school with him on the culinary arts,
so he learned how to do it right.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
You could see that in the movie because this movie
has the best like ASMR food scenes ever, like the
scene where he's making his son the grilled cheese sandwich.
I like, well, I think about that girl cheese sandwich
all the time.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
So fun fact, when they filmed that movie, I lived
in Austin. I actually watched them film that movie. That
is like Gary Clark performing on Sixth Street. That is
the real Franklin's Barbecue that still to this day, the
only person to ever skip the line was Obama. Like
that was a very like when they showed Austin like that,
I was like, oh yeah, this is like they really
(19:02):
did understand the Austin food scene, and I love that
movie as well.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
They also have like a Truck now, the Open Truck
Together in Vegas, and they also did a show together.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Yep, yeah, they have the Chef Show. So it's like
spawned even more. I love chef movies. Yeah, I know
you say you definitely love the food aspect of it,
but I would also imagine like Food, it's maybe like
a comfort food type movie.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
I'm drawn to stories where characters are kind of chasing
their passions but sometimes it leads them down a different path.
And so I also think that it's something with the
genre of like chefs and like the way that you
have to see them hustle in movies that I'm drawn
to because I'm also drawn to TV shows like The Bear,
and so that's just like my go to feel good
(19:45):
movie and it's there's elements of like family in there
as well.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
All Right, last trivia question. True false, Bridesmaids is Judd
Apatow's highest grossing movie to date. True false.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
It's a sighest grossing produced movie.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Yes, yes it is, because Paul Fee directed it exactly.
I was thinking that too. I was produced by Jo Appatau,
I mean the house the Bridesmaid built. We have other
people on the podcast this year that were involved in
Girls Trip, and one of the things I think is
great is there's a direct line between Bridesmaids to Girls
Trip and like showing sort of how you could start
(20:20):
with one and then see like this can be done
and show different identities.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Yeah, it started a new era of female ag comedies
with Melissa McCarthy headlining a bunch of her own films
I always forget, but she got nominated for an Oscar
for her performance, and then obviously with Rebel Wilson and
with train Wreck. It was the first R rated movie
that I watched where I wasn't offended by how women
were being portrayed, and they weren't being overly sexualized or
(20:45):
shown in a condescending way. And obviously a great kind
of reflection of what female friendships look like, and just
showing that women can be funny the same way that
men are.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
I think one of the things that you said that
I found to be really interesting is it gave you
an opportunity to do one of your favorite parts of
your job. I'd love for you to tell a little
bit more about that.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yeah, So I feel like my favorite part of the
job is that I get to be part of the
team that helps shepherd a movie from inception to green light.
You can have all the right creative elements, but it
needs to be economically viable, and so that's like my
favorite part of the job is that working with the
rest of the Universal team to how do you structure
the movie in a way that allows us to green
(21:28):
light it and ultimately be able to make those bold
decisions creatively. Just being part of those rooms that you
mentioned earlier where you see the entire business coming together.
It's not just creative and business development. It's also marketing
and distribution and franchise management, brand development.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
You're looking at all aspects.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Of a movie before you're making a decision to make it.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Lots of factors. Just bring it hit. But hey, the
proof is in the pudding, right Yeah, all right, so
perfect so far. I'm going to grab this right here
and hand it to you. If you pop the top
of that, yep, there you go. We're gonna dive into
the world of Universal films and you're gonna give me
a quote from one of these movies and I get
(22:10):
multiple choice because they're usually harder. But I've been done
well lately. We'll see how we go.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
I made my family disappear. A the kids are all right,
be home alone, see the invention of lying.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Definitely McAuley cul can home alone alone. I'm gonna put
I'm trying to put the Shavani effect on. I'm trying
and see if I can remember who said it. I'm
watching a movie like this is the Last Little to
Get Right, Like that.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Was a special one in the Patel household.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
It was.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
I would imagine it was a year round, not only
Christmas movie. And I'm actually the youngest in my entire
extanded family. So some of the quotes that the older
cousins and siblings said to Kevin, my cousins would say
to me as a joke. I knew how to pack
my suitcase though. But yeah, there is a lot of
elements that I could relate to. I thought I was
Kevin McAllister in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
I mean, we all kind of wanted waiting.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
For a house to be robed so I could save
the day.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
I just wanted to talk boy, all right.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
I know I'm devastatingly good looking, but you got to
stop staring at me.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Oh this was hard.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Yeah a yesterday b First Man see gravity.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Yes, I'm gonna say gravity. Yeah, that's right. Yes, that's
George Clooney. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
It feels like it's a little bit too comical for
first Man.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
No, definitely too comical for first Man. All right, Okay,
one more.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Worse nineteen years of my life. A ticket to Paradise
be this is forty sea Ladybird.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
That's gotta be tickets to Paradise. Yeah, yeah, George Clooney,
Julia Roberts.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
While they're on the plane, I'm pretty sure.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Not gonna lie is a child of divorce? Very similar beats.
All right, well, Swani, thank you so much for doing this.
We have one more thing before you get out of here,
if we have a little bit of rapid fire. What's
your favorite movie snack?
Speaker 2 (24:03):
The Kids Pack at AMC Theaters, which I will always
look around to make sure I don't know anyone before
I order it. But it's the best value for the money.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
You could pull off a kids It.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Comes in a little pale to be seen with it,
but it's it's the best value.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
I would say the Kids Pack is fine, but honestly
I would be like, what makes you think I'm not twelve?
Like I would literally just lean into it. What was
the last show you binged? Uh?
Speaker 3 (24:26):
The latest season of Shrinking.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
That's a good one. Yeah, Jessica Williams is a goddess.
I love it. Favorite movie star.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Right now, I'll give two Zindia and Glenn Powell.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
That's a good pair. They need to do a movie. Yeah,
I would watch that going to the movie theater alone.
Yes or no? Uh? Yes, good one. And favorite classic
universal film Jurassic Park. Yeah, Jurassic Park. And you're not
the first person to say that one, but it still
hurts my pride a little bit that it's a classic film.
Now yeah, classic car. Yeah, Shawani, thank you so much
(25:00):
for being on the scene, Instagram podcast, and yeah telling
us about your journey.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Of course, thank you.
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