Latest / Hallmark Mysteries & More / Talking Mystery Island with Jonathan Christian Plummer

Transcript

Talking Mystery Island with Jonathan Christian Plummer · Hallmark Mysteries & More

• 0:00
  Eric: This podcast was created by fans or fans and is not affiliated with or sponsored by Homeark or the Homeark channel.
• 0:09
  Eric: This is Eric, this is Tiffany and this is Homeark Mysteries and more.
• 0:17
  Eric: Ok, ok, we're back, we're back.
• 0:20
  Eric: We're back with the legend Jonathan Christian Plummer.
• 0:31
  Eric: How are you doing?
• 0:34
  John: Good Eric, how are you?
• 0:35
  Eric: I am good.
• 0:36
  Eric: Last time we talked was was well, we talked obviously via social media and emails and stuff, but talk like this was when you shared the ending for episode eight or what episode eight would have been.
• 0:48
  Eric: And I tell you what.
• 0:49
  Eric: That was our by far our biggest episode we've ever had.
• 0:53
  Eric: We got actually some other press coverage referring to us.
• 0:56
  Eric: I was just on YouTube yesterday and I'm still getting people giving comments.
• 1:02
  Eric: Thank you for the closure.
• 1:03
  Eric: So, once again, thank you very much for for doing that.
• 1:08
  John: Thank you for providing a forum for us.
• 1:11
  John: Yeah, it's really great.
• 1:13
  Eric: But then I'll admit I also then still get the people who are very angry and refuse to move on.
• 1:20
  John: So I know, I know, I know, and sometimes they say like weirdly attacking things, like sort of side eye attacks on me on the social media, and it's like you know, why didn't you fight hard for it?
• 1:36
  John: I'm like what do you think I was doing, my goodness.
• 1:40
  Eric: I mean, I know, I don't want that paycheck.
• 1:43
  John: I know they care about the show, but don't they think I care about it?
• 1:46
  John: I mean, I spent years, like literally years of my life, making that show, so of course I fought hard.
• 1:54
  John: It's just a complicated situation, you know, and you know a lot of moving parts, a lot of different people involved, if and you know we, you know, but I fought very, very hard for it to, and I've.
• 2:08
  Eric: I get in my discussion.
• 2:09
  Eric: I always tell people if it was a simple decision, they of course would have continued, but there's running a business like that.
• 2:16
  Eric: There's so many moving parts, as you said.
• 2:18
  Eric: There's things we as fans and you probably, you know you, or even there's things that I don't know.
• 2:24
  John: I mean there's the insider right and you don't right.
• 2:26
  Eric: There's that whole other level behind the closed door.
• 2:28
  John: Oh, my goodness, it's a huge company, it's a huge, huge guy, and people might decry that and say, oh, it's too, it's too big and it's too corporate.
• 2:36
  John: But listen, it's that you.
• 2:39
  John: You have to do that.
• 2:40
  John: If you want to reach millions of people every day, you have to get big and corporate.
• 2:45
  John: I mean, that's just the fact.
• 2:47
  Eric: So, and I guess the way I see it.
• 2:49
  Eric: But nice, I figure.
• 2:49
  Eric: We may not know it, we may not understand it, but there is a reason why it had to be done.
• 2:55
  Eric: Yeah, and anyway it's where it is, but I find it ironic which today is a mystery 101 marathon going on.
• 3:05
  Eric: So, as we're talking, I, I would have.
• 3:07
  John: I look up, I still hugely popular.
• 3:10
  John: I mean, it does very, very well.
• 3:12
  John: Yes.
• 3:13
  Eric: I had a one of the people who dropped a little comment on me because I posted like hey, it's the marathon today, give it a watch.
• 3:19
  Eric: And he's like, why would I?
• 3:21
  Eric: With that ending?
• 3:21
  Eric: I'm like, because you should appreciate what you have and not, you know, be upset with what you don't.
• 3:26
  Eric: And then I move on.
• 3:27
  Eric: I can't, I can't fight that battle anymore.
• 3:28
  Eric: Let's move on.
• 3:30
  Eric: Yeah, so the big news going on is is the strike.
• 3:34
  Eric: I was hoping that when we first talked you'd have a wonderful some news, but hopefully getting close right, Refreshing that Apple news app.
• 3:47
  John: Yeah, I think we're getting really close.
• 3:48
  John: So, just just so people have a sense of this is a Saturday, Saturday the 23rd.
• 3:53
  John: It's a Yom Kippur weekend.
• 3:55
  John: It's Yom Kippur on Monday, which you know, usually in Hollywood in the entertainment industry, you know, any weekend, any long weekend, is a chance to take like five days off.
• 4:07
  John: And in fact, we started, the studios agreed to come back to the negotiating table on Wednesday and meet with our negotiating committee and, and, amazingly, four of the CEOs from NBC, universal Disney, Netflix and and Warner Discovery all all joined the talks and which is great, because normally there's this sort of go between group that they created, the studios created, called the AMPTP, which is like a bunch of lawyers basically, and it's a weird group because it's sort of it will not sort of it is a cartel and much like the, the, the OPEC cartel in the Middle East.
• 5:00
  John: These studios, they're in competition with each other, but when they come to negotiate with labor, they have this group in which they pretend like they're all united, but they're not united, Not really, because they're in competition with each other.
• 5:15
  John: It's fine, they're supposed to be right, it's a competitive, capitalistic business, but but this is, I think, because a lot of people family, friends have asked me why is this strike taking so long?
• 5:26
  John: And the reason it's taking so long is because the studios have not come back to the table until this past Wednesday.
• 5:32
  John: But then that begs the question of why have they not come back to the table?
• 5:36
  John: And I think it's because, well, first of all, they thought their old playbook would work, which is throw us some scraps and we'll come running.
• 5:44
  John: But you know, we're labor is stronger than it's ever been, not just in Hollywood, but obviously across the country.
• 5:50
  John: The United Auto workers are striking.
• 5:51
  John: Ups workers were able to avert a strike by threatening just threatening a strike, getting a great contract, and this is just great for the middle class and for everybody.
• 5:59
  John: So, you know, great for the country to again, to to, because we're all middle class people.
• 6:05
  John: So you know, I mean, or most of us are.
• 6:07
  John: Yes, there are a few show runners who are millionaires, but most of us are solidly middle class people, and when the middle class is strong, the country's strong right and the culture is strong.
• 6:17
  John: But anyway, sorry for that little political detail, but I think it's important to understanding what's going on.
• 6:24
  John: So the old playbook didn't work because labor is strong and we said, no, we're going to strike.
• 6:29
  John: And then the actors joined us, which made it really strong and then, and but then I think the other reason the studios have taken so long to come back to the tables, because they are competitive with each other and, you know, Netflix wouldn't mind if ABC went out of business.
• 6:44
  John: Quite honest, right, I mean, Netflix is trying to put ABC out of business, normally so, but what they've finally realized is you know what we have this group.
• 6:53
  John: We're supposed to be united.
• 6:55
  John: We are going to come back to the table, be united.
• 6:57
  John: So that started on Wednesday, I think.
• 7:00
  John: The talks.
• 7:01
  John: We got a, we got a joint message from our negotiating committee, WGA negotiating committee and the AMPTP on Wednesday night, and that was so encouraging to everyone, so encouraging that I think some people were predicting the strike would be over on Thursday.
• 7:15
  John: It wasn't, you know, and it wasn't over on Friday either.
• 7:18
  John: And but the amazing thing is they've said we pause negotiations, we will continue on Saturday, which is today a holiday, you know, a weekend on a holiday weekend, and so I think that's very encouraging.
• 7:32
  John: It means we're getting close, it means we're getting really close and you know there's going to be compromise from both sides, because that's what negotiations are about, but but it really is important because, as Fran Drescher, the brilliant and so beautifully spoken president of SAG, has said, the industry has changed, which of course you know, everybody knows the industry has changed and so the contracts that the people who make the industry operate under those have to change too.
• 8:04
  John: You know, like, for instance, I had a film that played on on Hallmark last year, Francesca Quinn PI and you know it did did well on Hallmark.
• 8:14
  John: I got nice residual checks and now it only played a couple of times on on the network and it went right to their streaming platform, Hallmark Movies Now.
• 8:25
  John: And I just got a, just got a check for that and I was told that it was the one of the top watch mysteries on that platform.
• 8:35
  John: Just one moment next slide, please.
• 8:37
  John: All right, Okay, this check was for $86.
• 8:40
  John: It's been on the platform for, I think, three months, four months, one of the top watch shows and it's $86.
• 8:49
  John: And that's because, according to my contract, what I can make on a separate streaming platform is miniscule.
• 8:56
  John: This is why things have to change Right.
• 8:59
  Eric: Oh, I totally get it, because I just this past summer, about two months ago, finally did the cord cut.
• 9:10
  John: And.
• 9:10
  Eric: I'm now in that world and, as you said, the industry has changed and the only way I can sit while there's YouTube live TV, but for the most part it's mostly some sort of streaming service and that's just sort of.
• 9:29
  Eric: It's the way it is, and so you're right To do something that I'm sure when your contract was last done, streaming either didn't exist or it was such a small portion of the viewing that it was easy to say, yeah, that's not that important, but it's so dramatically different.
• 9:47
  John: Our contract was it's a three-year contract, and so it's.
• 9:51
  John: But remember what was happening three years ago.
• 9:54
  John: We were all wearing masks and socially distant and there was a global pandemic on and we really wanted to bring these issues to the table at that time.
• 10:02
  John: But we and the actors actually said we're not going to press because the world, you know, does not need us to press on this.
• 10:13
  John: And so of course, we said that, thinking that in three years you guys, the studios, will say, hey, you really did us a solid three years ago.
• 10:23
  John: And PS, we had our biggest profits ever.
• 10:27
  Eric: I was about to say that, yeah, when, when streaming was at an all time high because you couldn't leave the house for us, but instead they didn't.
• 10:36
  Eric: They didn't show their appreciation, and we've been on strike for 146 days, so well, here's crossing the fingers that by the time Mystery Island premieres strike will be in the rearview mirror and all will be restored.
• 10:54
  Eric: Yeah, so, which brings me to one of the interesting things is we're getting to chat and so, whereas obviously with the strike there's a lot of restrictions, but Hallmark has been getting waivers, and one of the things that I've been told and you can help clarify it's part of the reason why Hallmark is getting waivers is they've been agreeing to a lot of the conditions from the strike and, like they're giving you guys what you're, what you're wanting from those major studios.
• 11:28
  Eric: They're sort of honoring those and, as a result, you guys are getting waivers to be able to participate more in promotion of Hallmark and some other networks or productions.
• 11:40
  John: Actors.
• 11:40
  John: I mean, I think you know, like you I, the way the writers work, the way our strike rules work, is if somebody reaches out to us directly.
• 11:52
  John: Like you and I know each other directly.
• 11:54
  John: So you know, and even if we've been put in touch initially through the PR wing of the studio, you could, if you reach out to me directly and say, hey, john, you know, want to come do another podcast, then I'm allowed to say yes, because it's it's it's a personal relationship, it's a personal connection.
• 12:12
  John: What I'm not allowed to do is if the if have the PR, you know reps at home at Hallmark, if they say, hey, we want you to go talk to Eric, and you know I would have to say no, I can't, gotcha.
• 12:27
  Eric: So OK, all right, so you have been 141 days, or whatever, there, so have you been actually.
• 12:36
  Eric: While you're not officially writing, do you still?
• 12:39
  John: know anything.
• 12:40
  Eric: And just can't help it, right, you're a writer.
• 12:43
  John: I mean, just so everybody knows like I don't.
• 12:45
  John: I'll just speak for myself and my friends.
• 12:48
  John: I know we're all writing, everybody's writing.
• 12:51
  John: We're just not writing under contracts that you know these studios are, are paying us for, but so we're unemployed, but we're not, we're not we're, we're not Not laboring.
• 13:06
  John: Let's just say I mean I've been writing a ton.
• 13:10
  John: I wrote a whole season of a series that I created during this strike.
• 13:16
  John: So no, I've been very, very busy.
• 13:19
  Eric: Is it?
• 13:19
  Eric: Is it?
• 13:19
  Eric: I know it's not ideal and things, but is it kind of liberating that you're kind of just writing for yourself?
• 13:25
  John: Yeah, it is liberating, oh, it's wonderful.
• 13:27
  John: It's always great to be able to write.
• 13:29
  John: I mean, I always try with everything I'm doing to bring myself 100 percent Good and, and you know, make it mine.
• 13:37
  John: But you know you, yeah, no question, it's really.
• 13:42
  John: And I actually started writing a book about writing mysteries for the screen.
• 13:47
  John: It's called Mystery Writing 101.
• 13:49
  John: I love it.
• 13:50
  John: It is a book that's designed to teach people how to do what I do, which is, you know, write.
• 13:56
  John: Who done it?
• 13:57
  John: For the screen?
• 13:58
  John: So, or for, or for publication.
• 14:01
  John: Of course, you know all the things apply.
• 14:03
  John: But but yeah, yeah, so I started because I thought, you know, my, my cousin said why don't you write a book on this, you know, and because people I think a lot of people would want to know how to do it.
• 14:14
  John: So, anyway, I started doing that.
• 14:16
  Eric: It's a little different type of writing when you're writing a book than screenplays, obviously, right.
• 14:22
  John: Yeah, yeah, definitely, but I've done that too, so yeah.
• 14:25
  Eric: All right.
• 14:26
  Eric: Well, let's get to what everyone's wanted to hear about a little mystery island.
• 14:30
  Eric: So you tease this way back in the spring.
• 14:33
  Eric: So how does it feel to finally having this come to fruition?
• 14:38
  Eric: Because you said it was like this, really cool, you know, novel idea.
• 14:43
  John: Well, I mean, I don't know how novel it is, but it Hallmark's never had anything like close to this.
• 14:51
  John: This is a show that I mean, it's a movie, original movie.
• 14:54
  John: Hopefully they've become a series of movies that I pitched to Hallmark last Summer.
• 15:01
  John: They were asked my, my friend, emily, who's my, one of my executives at Hallmark had said to me we're looking for something really fun and that really dives like full on into the who done it thing.
• 15:16
  John: And so I had this idea that I pitched her, called Mystery Island, which is a place you know it's about a place called Mystery Island, which is a destination vacation for, you know, mostly wealthy people, to go and play one of those murder games where they, you know, they get it to, you know there's a pretend murder and they get to spend their weekend solving it and and, of course, in in this episode, the somebody ends up really dead and and the but so anyway, that's that's the premise and that's the setup, and the lead character is a, is a psychologist, psychiatrist, rather, who works for, who works for the police force in London, for the Metropolitan Police Force in London, and and then she so she's there on the island with her best friend, who's a Baroness, who is very rich woman, who brings her to the island because because Amelia, who's the lead character, is having second thoughts about doing, about the work that she does, and she just really needs to a reset.
• 16:35
  John: And so her friend, janie, baroness Alcott, insist that she come to Mystery Island, for just because all the investors the original investors in Mystery Island are are coming together for a special anniversary weekend, and it's there that this unexpected murder happens and real, real murder.
• 16:56
  John: And that brings Amelia and Janie into, you know, the orbit of of a detective from the mainland who's an American originally named Jason Trent.
• 17:09
  John: And so the three of them end up, you know, working together to solve this mystery in in a short amount of time too, because there's a lot of time, there's a sort of a ticking clock on it and everything.
• 17:21
  John: So that's basically the premise of the show, and it's me.
• 17:26
  John: I don't know what questions you want to ask, but I will just say real quickly that it's a lot, it is a lot of fun.
• 17:32
  John: I, I, I, I, I've gotten to see it, you know, of course, I wrote the script and the final polish three days before we went on strike, and so I was not involved in the casting at all, which I normally am.
• 17:47
  John: They weren't able to contact me while they were shooting.
• 17:50
  John: I didn't see any of the location scouting which I normally do.
• 17:53
  John: I didn't get any phone calls during the shoot to ask me to do a quick rewrite of something.
• 17:59
  John: So I watched it at home with my family like a week ago and I was.
• 18:07
  John: I was actually so nervous that I asked my wife can you please watch it first, because I'm nervous.
• 18:13
  John: It didn't go well.
• 18:14
  John: And she and so, and she, you know, we weren't even at the same house when she watched it and like she was in the down in the city and she called me and she's like it's so great, you've got to watch it right now.
• 18:28
  John: She really, really loved it and so that that that was heartening.
• 18:31
  John: And I still watched it, very antsy, with my son and my mom and dad and they they loved it and I honestly did too.
• 18:38
  John: They did a tremendous job with it.
• 18:41
  John: It's so good.
• 18:42
  John: The cast is fantastic.
• 18:43
  John: The production design, the locations oh it's nuts man, I got to tell you, eric, the production values are so high.
• 18:51
  John: I mean it looks so good.
• 18:54
  John: It really looks incredible.
• 18:56
  John: It's really theatrical, you know, like it could, it's it, it could be released in theaters.
• 19:02
  John: It's really, really powerful.
• 19:05
  Eric: That's Sydney and I have been talking about it since you.
• 19:08
  Eric: Once again I can say you tease us back in March with it.
• 19:11
  Eric: So you know, we're very, very excited and we just did our our little preview because it's a homework, doing four mysteries in a row, which is, you know, it's kind of like you know, christmas for us here before they do their big, you know 31 movies.
• 19:26
  Eric: But but yeah, so we're just can't wait, wait for it, and it's awesome that you got to see it.
• 19:34
  Eric: So, which brings me to the next question, so you did like you say, you did get to see it and you were not involved, as you said, as we usually are.
• 19:43
  Eric: When you saw the director, nicholas Humphrey, like his vision of what he created, were there any surprises to it from what you wrote?
• 19:55
  Eric: Like, oh, like he interpreted that a little differently than when I wrote it that there was.
• 20:01
  Eric: Was there like one big surprise that you were?
• 20:04
  John: Well, yeah, a couple of.
• 20:05
  John: I mean, first of all, I have to compliment him.
• 20:07
  John: I mean, I've never met him, of course, but he, he just did a tremendous job and you'll see when you see it.
• 20:13
  John: I mean, you know this the shot selection, the framing, the way he sets scenes up, the way he moves the camera, the way he did a lot of long takes which I thought were really smart.
• 20:23
  John: He did a lot.
• 20:24
  John: He did some some terrific cutting that just in some in this one interrogation scene that was like really cleverly done.
• 20:32
  John: I thought he just, yeah, he did a tremendous job in terms of the way he shot it and then also in terms of working with the actors, because the performances are great, the chemistry, especially between the three leads, is really strong, and so whatever he did on set really brought things to life.
• 20:52
  John: But as far as surprises go, yeah, I had originally written it where there was going to be the central house and then multiple cabanas, because I just didn't think they could find a low key.
• 21:04
  John: I mean, you know we had talked about it, the producers and I.
• 21:07
  John: You know they couldn't find a location where everybody could be housed in one property, but they found it and it's and it's fantastic and I'm so glad they did, because then it allows them to do things with hallways and I mean just some really.
• 21:23
  John: I mean some stuff that's laugh out loud funny, where it's just like that is.
• 21:27
  John: So there's this one shot where these three characters duck down and hide and the framing of it is so and just the framing of it makes you laugh out loud and yeah, it's so.
• 21:38
  John: That really surprised me.
• 21:39
  John: I didn't think they could find that and then I guess I would say the only other thing that sort of surprised me is that they just delivered on everything.
• 21:48
  John: I mean, like there's, you know you're on this beautiful island.
• 21:52
  John: You know you have the beach, you have a waterfall, you have, like you know, remote locations in the jungle this, you know, and the idea is that the house is where the whole mystery takes place should feel like, you know, like you're in an Agatha Christie story Again, caribbean set, but a Caribbean Agatha Christie mystery where it's just gorgeous.
• 22:19
  John: You know, and I'm telling you they completely delivered on all of that.
• 22:24
  John: Yeah.
• 22:25
  John: So that sort of it surprised me not saying that about their competence, because these are terrific producers, but I was just surprised they could deliver it, you know, on time and on budget.
• 22:37
  John: So, and they did.
• 22:38
  Eric: So it was not shot in like suburban Vancouver.
• 22:43
  John: No, no, no, no.
• 22:43
  John: Okay, you shot in Panama.
• 22:46
  Eric: Panama.
• 22:46
  Eric: Okay, all right, so you also.
• 22:49
  Eric: You did mention the casting.
• 22:50
  Eric: I was going to ask, like, what you thought of it, but clearly you are excited.
• 22:56
  Eric: So there's Elizabeth Henshringe who plays the primary character.
• 23:01
  Eric: Who's British?
• 23:01
  Eric: Was she written to be British?
• 23:04
  John: He was written to be British.
• 23:05
  John: Yes, so, yeah.
• 23:09
  John: So we I wrote several characters that were Latino and several characters that were English, and actually the detective originally the police detective Jason was originally English as well.
• 23:20
  John: And the producers said, you know what, can we just to mix it up and shake it up, can we make him American?
• 23:27
  John: And I said, yeah, of course, but knowing we were going to shoot it somewhere in, potentially, the Virgin Islands or that area or Latin America, we knew that it would be easier to get those actors in, those from those English or Latino, and also we just wanted diversity for one thing.
• 23:53
  John: But yeah, and then it was just really important to me that the British characters were played by British actors.
• 24:02
  John: No shade on Americans doing English accents.
• 24:05
  John: They're.
• 24:05
  John: You know that.
• 24:06
  John: You know, my son just did a movie where he did an accent for the whole movie.
• 24:10
  John: But I just thought, especially with Janie and Amelia, we wanted them to really be British and, you know, to have the, not just to have the accent but to have the you know the way they turn a phrase and just sort of their whole history where they've, you know, studied at Oxford and you know some of the.
• 24:31
  John: And you know we want.
• 24:32
  John: You know Janie's a Baroness and stuff like that, so you know it just wouldn't have worked with American characters.
• 24:38
  Eric: So you're a nice when you shared the little preview clip and I'll tell you, english accents aren't usually something I find sexy.
• 24:47
  Eric: But Elizabeth, yeah she.
• 24:51
  Eric: I'll admit I am excited to watch this performance.
• 24:54
  John: She's wonderful, I mean she's so terrific and you know.
• 24:58
  John: So this it's really fun.
• 25:01
  John: The show, I want to say it's really funny.
• 25:03
  John: I mean it's laugh out loud funny.
• 25:05
  John: I think Especially some of the stuff between Janie and Amelia is, and also this other character called Sarge, stuff between him and Janie is laugh out loud funny.
• 25:17
  John: But there's also, you know, I mean we're dealing with a murder, we're dealing you know, homicide that that's pretty brutal and so we wanted it to have stakes.
• 25:27
  John: And, of course, amelia is a psychiatrist who works with the Metropolitan police helping them identify killers.
• 25:35
  John: So we wanted it to have stakes and have some emotional resonance and also, you know, without spoiling it, some of Jason's backstory also has emotional resonance and these actors and Charlie Weber, who plays Jason, is fantastic and you know, they just really were able to play all the different emotional colors that the script asks for and, yeah, they're terrific.
• 26:06
  Eric: So one of the things and I don't know why, but I always get fascinated by character's names in it.
• 26:12
  Eric: So when you write it, like, how do you like come up with the name, like, oh, this is going to be Amelia, you know, priestly, because the name just seems perfect.
• 26:23
  Eric: I haven't seen the movie yet, but just looking at her and her character seems like a perfect name.
• 26:28
  Eric: Like, how do you come up with these names?
• 26:29
  Eric: And then, as the story progresses and you're, you know you're further along in the writing, do you ever go back and go?
• 26:35
  Eric: That's not.
• 26:36
  Eric: You know, betty Smith, that should be, you know whatever, jane Von Struton or something Like.
• 26:43
  Eric: Do you go back and like rewrite their name after you've developed the character a little more?
• 26:48
  John: Sure, yes, I mean as far as how I come up with the names, well, as you know, I chant and which is chant Namya Ho-Rang, you know, every day and that's sort of the beginning of my writing process, because it's this meditation process and things come to you and a lot of times that's where the names come to me while I'm chanting and you know.
• 27:08
  John: So that's just sort of listening to the universe in a lot of ways.
• 27:11
  John: And then, as far as changing the names, yeah, I mean, sometimes you do end up changing the names.
• 27:15
  John: A lot of times it's because, like, jason wasn't originally named Jason but there was a licensing issue or not a licensing issue, a clearance, clearance issue.
• 27:24
  John: So there's a department in all film and television production called Rights and Clearances and their job is to look and see if there's a character named, for instance, amelia Priestley who works in London for the police force as a psychiatrist, and if there is, then her name needs to change because of course the real Amelia Priestley could quite rightly-.
• 27:50
  Eric: Oh, you mean not an act, not someone who's had that role, an actual, real-life person, real-life person.
• 27:55
  John: So that's the reason names get changed in scripts.
• 27:58
  John: It's because there's a real-life person who has that name, who is in the same field or lives in this area, you know.
• 28:08
  John: So when it's a character is based in London, you don't have to worry about the area because there's millions of people who live in London.
• 28:14
  John: But like when we doing Curious Cater, for instance, or Mystery 101.
• 28:21
  John: So with Mystery 101, Travis Burke was not originally named Travis Burke, he was-.
• 28:25
  Eric: Oh, you're gonna kill some people right now.
• 28:27
  Eric: They're not gonna be able to deal.
• 28:30
  John: But it doesn't matter what it was.
• 28:31
  John: It was Travis, something else.
• 28:32
  John: But there was a Travis someone else who lived in a small, who lived in a small town in Washington state, and therefore they asked us to come up with a new name, and so that's how I got Travis Burke.
• 28:49
  Eric: So that when we're done recording, will you tell me what it was supposed to be, if I keep it a secret?
• 28:53
  John: I have to look it up.
• 28:54
  John: Actually I don't even remember.
• 28:55
  John: Yeah, because he's Travis Burke.
• 28:58
  John: It doesn't even have Right, yeah, I mean, think about it like with babies.
• 29:02
  John: You know, when people are gonna have a baby they go through a lot of names, right, and then they finally land on the one that is the right one.
• 29:10
  John: And then you know, hopefully the person lives into that name.
• 29:13
  John: Sometimes they don't.
• 29:14
  John: Sometimes, as you know, some adults decide to change their names for various reasons and that's wonderful because you know you wanna get the right name and names matter.
• 29:23
  John: Names are important and, as you point out and I think sometimes you wanna see as a writer when you're writing these characters, is the character living into that name or does that name not feel right?
• 29:36
  John: The other thing, you know, I am a sort of amateur etymologist.
• 29:42
  John: I love the meanings of names.
• 29:44
  John: In fact, without giving too much away the meanings of names, is part of Mystery Island.
• 29:51
  Eric: Oh, I have to do some digging now.
• 29:53
  John: Okay, all that will come up, oh, it's right out in the open.
• 29:56
  John: But you know, priestly, you know, is of course speaks to somebody who has a passionate commitment to something right.
• 30:05
  John: A priest right, I mean, you know it's and so I think that's she.
• 30:12
  John: Just, it just felt like the right name.
• 30:14
  John: And Amelia, I love that name.
• 30:16
  John: I mean going all the way back to Othello, you know, yago's wife Amelia.
• 30:20
  Eric: Got to bring in your Shakespeare.
• 30:22
  John: Yeah, of course, of course, and yeah.
• 30:25
  Eric: So I thought your priestly was just your big 90210 fan and you know it was a nod to Jason Priestly, but a little deeper than that.
• 30:34
  John: Little deeper.
• 30:35
  John: Yeah, anyway, yeah, so that's.
• 30:37
  John: But you know we do you wanna kind of see if the character lives into the name?
• 30:43
  John: You know, like my name, john, which you know I would, when I would teach writing class, I would say my name, john Plummer, means both the thing and the person who fixes the thing Right, and you know to figure out what I was talking about, but you know, but John literally means a gracious gift of God and Plummer is someone who digs.
• 31:07
  John: You know who digs deep, and so I don't know about the first part, but you know, and obviously Christian is a follower of the Messiah, christ.
• 31:16
  John: Christos that means Messiah or anointed one.
• 31:19
  John: So I'm a follower of the anointed one, but mostly importantly, I'm a Plummer.
• 31:23
  John: I used to hate my name, my surname Plummer, because we would get crank calls for people wanting us to fix their sinks and such.
• 31:30
  John: But you know, eventually, once I understood the history of the name, it's somebody who digs deep and you know, I try to be a person who digs deep into things.
• 31:40
  John: So I really come to treasure my surname.
• 31:45
  Eric: So mine was just made up at Ellis Island when my great grandfather immigrated.
• 31:50
  Eric: From what?
• 31:52
  John: country.
• 31:54
  Eric: It was a Russian name, that they just sort of chopped apart and said this is your new last name.
• 31:58
  Eric: Yeah, yeah, ok, so you actually brought it up.
• 32:04
  Eric: What I was going to ask is if this was written as, just because when you just think about the notion of it, it does seem like it could be a single movie.
• 32:12
  Eric: So I was going to ask if it was a single movie or if it had something that had the ability to continue on, and you you answered that like you've written it, so it could I quite it.
• 32:22
  John: There's a gigantic cliffhanger at the end.
• 32:24
  John: No, I, of course.
• 32:27
  Eric: That's why actually that was my next question.
• 32:29
  Eric: If you build a cliffhanger, oh, I learned that lesson.
• 32:34
  John: That's for it.
• 32:35
  John: I don't want to give it to him.
• 32:36
  John: No, it, it, oh, no.
• 32:38
  John: It all resolves quite, quite wonderfully, but there's a nice little coda at the end that gives us a place to go.
• 32:48
  John: If, if you know, if we get a lot of eyeballs on this and people talk it up and go on their social media and say it's the best movie they've ever seen since Mystery 101, and or you know whatever, you don't have to say it in those exact words.
• 33:02
  John: These are just suggestions, but I'm joking.
• 33:07
  John: But I I think, you know, there's definitely room for this to grow, to become a series, for sure, and I would love it if that would happen, because I think there's a lot of room.
• 33:20
  John: You know, and again, the characters are so great and the setting so terrific in the premise of this, of this place that has these, you know it's to me.
• 33:29
  John: So what I wanted to do was kind of do like a love letter to all the, all the sleuthers, you know, all the Hallmark mystery fans out there, to make a movie.
• 33:41
  John: That is Because I'm, you know, I'm one of them.
• 33:45
  John: I mean, I love, I love mysteries so much.
• 33:48
  John: But so this, this is a movie for people who love mysteries, about people who love mysteries.
• 33:55
  John: So love it.
• 33:56
  John: Yeah, I love it.
• 33:58
  Eric: So one of the things that we've like, a little bandwagon that we've got on which I'm guessing being a writer because you want to get those eighty six dollar checks from you know Hallmark movies now, but is we think that Hallmark, whenever they a green light, a mystery, they should always at least say we're going to do a trilogy, and I think Curious Cater is a great example.
• 34:22
  Eric: Why?
• 34:22
  Eric: Because Curious Cater, the dying for chocolate, we enjoyed, but then in grilling season, the characters we like understood them a little more and the dynamic was just, at least the way I felt, was tenfold.
• 34:37
  Eric: You know, the relationship between Marla and Goldie was just fantastic, and it was because you had that first episode to really bring it and you're able to create some background and some depth.
• 34:49
  Eric: And then you know it just, and then the three at least lets you tell a whole story.
• 34:54
  Eric: And that's why we like the mysteries as opposed to the rom-coms.
• 34:57
  Eric: The rom-coms that get all you know neatly wrapped up in a minute and 24 seconds or an hour and 24 minutes, right, whereas the mysteries, like the characters, just have so much more death to them.
• 35:10
  Eric: And so that's.
• 35:11
  Eric: You know, one of the things that so many people are frustrated is you get a, you know a, Francesca Quinn.
• 35:16
  Eric: Are we going to get another?
• 35:17
  Eric: Are we not Right?
• 35:18
  Eric: Because we really want to know more?
• 35:20
  Eric: Right, and there's color murder, which I know you weren't part of, but like there's just so much more we want to know.
• 35:28
  Eric: So that's our thing, is we just want Hallmark to commit to three and the US, obviously, the writer.
• 35:32
  Eric: It's not the worst thing that three projects are lined up.
• 35:37
  John: Yeah, I mean, like, for instance, with Curious Cater.
• 35:39
  John: I totally agree.
• 35:40
  John: I mean, once we first one was successful and they asked for the second one and I got to write it.
• 35:46
  John: I was really fortunate to get to write it and, and I think it really, you know, like you said, it really delivered and people loved it so much so that they then greenlit more, not just another one.
• 35:58
  John: I mean they'd actually the first one was so successful, they greenlit two more at the same time, which is why I'm not involved and the third one, which is coming shortly it's up and pretty soon and that was written by another couple of writers that I've heard great things about it.
• 36:14
  John: But I'll be writing the next one of the next ones after that, because so they've actually greenlit an additional couple more.
• 36:24
  John: It was Cater, I think, and, like with Francesca, you know that that came at a time when they were, you know, just trying to kind of figure out what they were doing with mysteries.
• 36:35
  John: But I'm hoping, fingers crossed, that we're going to get to do another one of those, at least one more of those, because I think, as I said, it's doing really well on the streaming service and people really like it.
• 36:47
  John: It's really a terrific movie too.
• 36:49
  John: But yeah, so far there's.
• 36:55
  John: You know they're doing this model where they do one and if it does well, then I think they order a few more and I hope they'll keep doing that.
• 37:05
  John: But I also would be absolutely down with them.
• 37:07
  John: You know green light few, but I understand.
• 37:10
  John: I understand the reasons behind.
• 37:12
  John: You know it's partially just.
• 37:14
  John: You know financial prudence reasons, like with Mystery 101, when we did the original one, that was just a one off.
• 37:19
  John: They didn't know how it was going to do.
• 37:21
  John: Obviously there was room for more and then they ordered three more after that.
• 37:25
  John: And is that right?
• 37:29
  Eric: Yeah, I think three more, yeah, so yeah, and it gets back to like how we started this conversation, sort of the difference between the fans' view of how entertainment industry should work and corporate, the corporate realities of how it works.
• 37:46
  John: But you are correct in that If a show's successful, if they do one, then they're very wisely then ordering a bunch more, whether it's two or two.
• 38:02
  John: Somewhere between two to four are being then ordered after that.
• 38:06
  John: And that's smart from an amortization standpoint because if you can shoot those things right back to back, you're reducing your costs, because pre-production costs are setting and prepping and all that stuff.
• 38:22
  John: And if you can shoot it all back to back which is why I did not write this third curious cater because they actually needed to shoot it immediately after they had you're pretty quickly after they had shot grilling season and it needed to be written at the same time that I was writing grilling season.
• 38:39
  John: So Gotcha.
• 38:43
  Eric: But yeah, like I said, and then even the act, like I said, the writing aspect about they have more death.
• 38:49
  Eric: But just even the actors you could see they had so much more comfort with each other, cause now Nikki and Andrew have worked together a bunch and they're very well acquainted, but just with a lot of the other characters, just so much more naturalness with the whole thing.
• 39:04
  Eric: So that's why I liked grilling season more than the first one.
• 39:08
  Eric: I just plus.
• 39:09
  Eric: I thought Marla was hilarious.
• 39:11
  John: It's the same thing with Mystery 101.
• 39:13
  John: I mean, each one was better than the one before it.
• 39:15
  John: I mean that's why people kept wanting more.
• 39:16
  John: So hopefully this continues to happen with Mystery Island as well.
• 39:21
  John: Is that we'll get to do another one, and another one, and another one.
• 39:26
  Eric: Okay, so speak, where we are talking little curious caterer.
• 39:29
  Eric: Just one quick question, and I mentioned Marla.
• 39:31
  Eric: So in the first one Marla has her little florist where she does floral, yet in the second one she's abandoned her floral and she's become like the catering sidekick.
• 39:44
  Eric: Right, and you do.
• 39:47
  Eric: Was that like consciously, like hey, I'm getting her out of the floral business, or is it just sort of, would it just make this go in?
• 39:54
  Eric: Eric's the only one who pays that much attention to Marla.
• 39:58
  John: She's doing the.
• 39:59
  John: She's not a florist like where she has a big flower shop, Right, she does flowers for Goldie at her events, you know.
• 40:09
  John: So I mean, I'm sure you know people like this, or I'm sure the listeners know some people like this.
• 40:13
  John: It doesn't mean that person's like a full-time florist, but it means they'll do the.
• 40:18
  John: I know people like this who do flowers for events, work with caterers, work Sometimes they'll work with a venue, you know, and they'll just be the flower person for that venue.
• 40:27
  John: You know so whenever there's a wedding there, they'll be the flower person there.
• 40:32
  John: So that was my vision of what Marla was, and so then, so she was already helping Goldie and you know, in the first one, in Dine for Chocolate, she's right there, right at the beginning, you know, but she's focusing on the flowers.
• 40:48
  John: In the second one, the idea was well, time has passed, many months have passed, and Goldie's business is, you know, rocketing up and she's doing much better and Marla is now on board with a more, you know, on board role with the catering.
• 41:06
  John: But also we get to see Marla that she's also managing this coffee shop which you know gives us a nice location for, you know, a hangout spot and various reasons.
• 41:20
  John: So, yeah, I mean, it didn't feel like we were.
• 41:24
  John: You know, it wasn't like she suddenly became a podiatrist or something.
• 41:28
  Eric: Right, yeah, yeah, yeah, Of course.
• 41:29
  Eric: Okay, so back to Mr Island.
• 41:32
  Eric: You said it's not ending on a cliffhanger, even though it has a little bit of an opening to continue.
• 41:41
  John: I see, let's put it that way for the hope for more and it.
• 41:45
  John: But if it doesn't get any more, that's okay.
• 41:51
  John: You know it's no different than I would say, like the teases at the end of you know, an Agatha Christie, you know, or whatever.
• 42:02
  John: You know where there's this sense that you know Poirot will have another case, but you know, whether we see it or not, it's you know.
• 42:11
  John: And of course his life isn't hanging in the balance and you know there's not a dead body.
• 42:16
  John: Somebody's fiance isn't dead, so, or maybe not their real fiance, so anyway, yeah, no, no, you did get to watch it, your advanced copy there.
• 42:29
  Eric: Are you gonna watch it next?
• 42:30
  Eric: Or I guess it would be this Friday by the time this airs you gonna watch?
• 42:34
  John: it again.
• 42:35
  John: Yeah, oh yeah.
• 42:36
  John: Yeah, I'm not.
• 42:37
  John: I'm no longer on that platform, that formerly known as Twitter, so I used to like tweet with fans during it, but I got off of that for obvious reasons.
• 42:48
  John: I there's enough toxicity in the world.
• 42:52
  John: I don't need to be on that platform anymore, and I also.
• 42:56
  Eric: I just can't handle the name change On the face.
• 42:58
  Eric: I don't even get the X thing, but whatever, that's whole.
• 43:02
  Eric: Another conversation there.
• 43:05
  John: So yeah, I'll be on the Facebook platform.
• 43:09
  Eric: Okay, the old fashioned platform, the old Facebook.
• 43:11
  Eric: Okay, all right, so we talked a little about it, cause we can't you know, we can't talk to you without talking in little mystery one-on-one.
• 43:20
  Eric: I have two quick questions for you.
• 43:22
  Eric: Number one what is your favorite episode?
• 43:25
  Eric: That of the mystery one-on-one of the seven, like everyone's like.
• 43:31
  Eric: Oh, you know, you can't have a favorite child, everyone's got a favorite child, so you gotta have a favorite episode.
• 43:40
  John: It is a tough one.
• 43:41
  John: I think it is words can kill.
• 43:45
  John: That's my favorite because it's, I think the mystery is really terrific.
• 43:50
  John: It's about books and I love books.
• 43:54
  John: It's about, you know, it's about writing and how powerful writing is and how powerful books are.
• 44:01
  John: How powerful books are, and I mean powerful enough that you know they can lead to murder.
• 44:07
  John: Robin, who played Graham, is so fantastic.
• 44:11
  John: He's fantastic in the entire series, but that's really an episode where he gets to, you know, come up and kind of with Jill and Chris and be, you know, working, you know, as a co-star with.
• 44:26
  John: I mean, he was always a co-star, whatever the terms mean but you know he gets more, he gets more to do.
• 44:30
  John: In that he's so good.
• 44:32
  John: And then you know, the character of Celia was, I think, really, really tremendous and the actress who played her is so fantastic, and so that whole cast was fantastic.
• 44:44
  John: So I just thought they did such a great job producing that one, but I think the story is like my favorite, so I would say that one All right.
• 44:56
  Eric: And then the other thing so I did little Instagram posts this morning because I like to say, I woke up, I walked the dogs and all of a sudden I was on the TV and it was like Mystery 101 Marathon, I'm like.
• 45:07
  Eric: So I did a little.
• 45:08
  Eric: You know, mystery 101 Marathon, make sure you watch it, and little picture of the TV with Amy on there.
• 45:18
  Eric: And then someone's response is best, best Hallmark mystery ever.
• 45:24
  Eric: And I, because I can't help but instigate responded like until Mystery Island, right Of which they did not agree with me quite strongly.
• 45:35
  Eric: But what would you say to these Mystery 101 people who have like sworn off new mystery, saying you know, all I want are more Mystery 101s.
• 45:45
  Eric: What are you gonna say to them?
• 45:47
  John: Like, get them excited for Friday's episode of Mystery Island, I mean first of all, you know, if all you wanna, you know, think about it.
• 45:58
  John: For like food, right?
• 45:59
  John: I mean, of course I love tacos and I could eat tacos every week, but you know, if that's all I were to eat, it would be bad for me, and you know it's good to shake things up.
• 46:17
  John: So I would just encourage anybody who says all they ever wanna watch is just Mystery 101.
• 46:22
  John: As wonderful as that sounds, as wonderful as tacos are, you know I gotta mix it up sometimes.
• 46:28
  John: Gotta throw a little sushi in there or whatever.
• 46:30
  John: As far as you know, getting them excited to watch this.
• 46:36
  John: Well, I mean, you know, as wonderful as Chris and Jill and Robin and all the actors are on Mystery 101, I think they would be the first to tell you I mean, chris just told it to me the other day like we're nothing without the script, and so you know I'm the person that.
• 46:53
  John: So if you like Mystery 101, I'm certainly part of the reason you liked it, my writing, which you know, my mind, my heart, that gave birth to Mystery 101, or at least created the blueprints for the beautiful mansion that was Mystery 101 that the actors and the crew all built.
• 47:16
  John: And so I would say to you.
• 47:19
  John: You know, if you like my writing, if you like Mystery 101, that means you like my writing.
• 47:24
  John: So if you like my writing, you should watch Mystery Island.
• 47:26
  John: The other thing I would say to take it out of the realm of you know credits and who you know most people, it's like who cares?
• 47:34
  John: They don't care.
• 47:35
  John: But it has a lot of think of it.
• 47:42
  John: Think of it.
• 47:43
  John: You know, mystery 101 was a lot about the love of it's.
• 47:48
  John: What I said to you earlier, eric, it was about it was the reason I think people love Mystery 101 is because it was not just for people who love mysteries.
• 47:57
  John: It was about people who love mysteries, specifically Amy, who makes it in her life's work to teach the way mysteries are.
• 48:05
  John: So in Mystery Island we have a similar situation where you have people who love mysteries in a completely different way.
• 48:16
  John: There's no literature professor.
• 48:18
  John: You know it's a total, but in a lot of ways because you have this destination vacation where these original mystery stories happen and people are living in.
• 48:32
  John: It's like they're living inside a mystery novel.
• 48:35
  John: You know Amy was outside the mystery novel teaching about it and then, of course, she would get pulled into a real life mystery.
• 48:42
  John: In Mystery Island.
• 48:45
  John: The people are putting themselves inside a mystery novel to play it out, but then inside that mystery novel a real mystery takes place and so that, just you know, foments their furor even more to solve this.
• 49:03
  John: And it's just you know.
• 49:05
  John: As I said at the outset, I think another part of the reason people love mystery 101 was for the dialogue, the banter, the way these characters interacted with each other, their senses, their humor, their intelligence and, if you like that, about Mystery Island.
• 49:24
  John: Mystery 101, rather, mystery Island has that, you know, tenfold I would say.
• 49:30
  John: I mean, there is so much terrific banter.
• 49:35
  John: And also, I think the last thing that I will say as a comp is that comparison is that, you know, I think what people obviously love about Mystery 101 is the chemistry.
• 49:49
  John: The chemistry between Travis and Amy and Graham and the chemistry between Amelia and Janie and Jason is it's not the same chemistry but it's terrific chemistry.
• 50:05
  John: It really, really is.
• 50:06
  John: And I can say that as a viewer.
• 50:08
  John: You know, I was not on set, I did not decide on, I didn't even view one single casting tape or make one single casting decision, so I came to it in much the same way that viewers will totally, you know, a new, you know, novitiate, not knowing any of these people and man, I was totally blown away.
• 50:29
  John: And my wife is the same thing.
• 50:30
  John: She was like their chemistry is fantastic.
• 50:33
  John: So I think that kind of, especially the chemistry between the two, the male and female lead, in this case you know, elizabeth and Charlie, that you know again, it's not the same as Jill and Chris, but what like.
• 50:51
  John: In the same way that Jill and Chris have great chemistry, elizabeth and Charlie have great chemistry.
• 50:56
  Eric: Well, you got me excited and I agree with you with your first point.
• 51:00
  Eric: And that's sort of one of the things I always once again when I because I can't help but instigate, but I always say it's like you know, this is John's writing this, so you know, that's where this all comes from.
• 51:12
  Eric: You don't bag on, you know.
• 51:14
  Eric: Oh, that's the one's terrible You're, it's the same guy.
• 51:17
  Eric: So, okay, but you got me excited.
• 51:20
  Eric: Like I say, I'm really excited to, and I think that's you know, that's part of the reason why we watch the mysteries on Hallmark versus some other places, for that chemistry.
• 51:31
  Eric: So the fact, like you're saying, that it that they nailed it is very exciting.
• 51:36
  Eric: Now, just-.
• 51:38
  John: I think the sense of fun, you know, like with Francesca Quinn, I know you know some people might say, well, I watched that and John wrote that and I didn't like that.
• 51:46
  John: It's too dark, you know, but that was, that was the remit for Francesca Quinn.
• 51:51
  John: You know what she was just saying.
• 51:53
  John: Let's make something a little darker.
• 51:55
  John: You know this really a hard boiled private investment.
• 51:57
  John: I mean, she narrates the thing for crying out loud, right?
• 52:00
  John: So it's that was intentional.
• 52:02
  John: This mystery island is much more tonally in the pocket with mystery 101.
• 52:09
  John: It's fun.
• 52:09
  John: It's really, really fun.
• 52:11
  Eric: Francesca Quinn's an interesting one because it seems to have people absolutely love it or they're like I don't like it, and it's probably right, because it's the darker.
• 52:23
  Eric: It's not like any other hallmarks, it's by far, I would say, the darkest of all the hallmark.
• 52:28
  John: Well, I mean serial killer, I mean like a real serial killer.
• 52:31
  John: He's a real character and you know and who's not just like you know, in two scenes as a device.
• 52:38
  John: This is like yeah, so I think that was it, because the people who, I think the people who didn't like it were just expecting something else.
• 52:47
  John: The people who loved it were really blown away by it.
• 52:51
  John: And there's an appetite for that and that's what it showed.
• 52:55
  John: And, honestly, the fact that it's such a big hit on the streaming platform proves that there's the.
• 53:01
  John: The hallmark audience is not monolithic and there's an appetite for some darker stuff.
• 53:05
  John: There's an appetite for some sillier stuff too, and you know.
• 53:09
  John: So everything in between, I agree.
• 53:11
  Eric: Yeah, okay, I have one last question, kater, and then we're gonna do a little rapid fire questions to wrap up.
• 53:17
  Eric: Is you may or may not be able to answer this?
• 53:20
  Eric: You said you're doing the fourth one, I think, or fourth or fifth.
• 53:25
  Eric: Can I know we can't reveal too much?
• 53:28
  Eric: Can you at least say what book it's based off of, which I know has nothing to do with your writing, because grilling season, as we talked, took one tiny little scene from the grilling, from the book you don't adhere too much to those pages.
• 53:45
  John: I can't say because I don't know, because I'm on strike.
• 53:50
  John: So all.
• 53:51
  John: I know oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 53:52
  John: The only reason.
• 53:53
  John: So if I weren't on strike I'd be writing it right now, honestly, and I'm sure as the strike ends I'll get a contract.
• 54:01
  John: And you know the producers are wonderful and they've all.
• 54:04
  John: You know, they gave me a choice with grilling season of what book to adapt and I chose that one again, mostly for the some of the raw ingredients of it.
• 54:14
  Eric: But Right so like the one there.
• 54:17
  John: I'll get a choice on this one too, so, but I don't know yet, obviously yeah.
• 54:22
  Eric: Okay, so here we're going to go and rapid fire.
• 54:24
  Eric: Just short, little answers just to wrap up.
• 54:28
  Eric: So do you have a go to writing snack that you like grab when you're about to go?
• 54:34
  Eric: Do you like grab a couple of twizzlers before you start typing away, or do you have anything?
• 54:40
  John: No man, I can't eat while I'm writing.
• 54:42
  John: I mean, you know, water seltzer, you know like Just hydrate Indripped, there we go Spinning Okay.
• 54:50
  Eric: Yeah, yeah, all right, I guess that maybe lean to the next question then.
• 54:54
  Eric: Do you have an actual schedule that you adhere to or do you just write when inspiration hits?
• 55:00
  Eric: Are you like I'm writing every day from seven to eight, or whatever the case may be?
• 55:06
  John: I homeschool my son so, who's a senior in high school right now.
• 55:10
  John: I teach him English, history and film.
• 55:13
  John: So I do have a schedule, but it varies every day because it's built around his schedule.
• 55:18
  John: He has some other teachers, so during the school year I have a schedule.
• 55:22
  John: I guess everything's gonna change next year when he hopefully goes away to college, and then I would probably go back to what I used to do before I homeschooled him, which is I, you know, I would chant in the morning and then I would write for like three hours in the morning, yeah, okay.
• 55:38
  John: And I know when people hear like that, oh, you just write for three hours, oh, it's three exhausting hours.
• 55:47
  John: And then, of course, some days when you're under a deadline, I'll write for 14 hours, you know, yes.
• 55:53
  Eric: No, I have to do.
• 55:54
  Eric: You know, for marketing I'll have to write like an email, which is significantly shorter than writing a script, and that takes three hours just to write three paragraphs that you're trying to get right.
• 56:07
  Eric: So imagine dialogue and all those.
• 56:11
  John: So yeah, I totally can get where you're coming from Like 10 pages a day.
• 56:14
  John: You know when I'm writing.
• 56:15
  John: You know when I'm writing a script.
• 56:17
  John: I'm trying to write about 10 pages a day.
• 56:19
  Eric: Okay.
• 56:19
  Eric: So you and Sydney got me hooked on these British mysteries.
• 56:23
  Eric: I now have subscription to both Britbox and Acorn.
• 56:26
  Eric: Oh my God, and I'm watching.
• 56:28
  Eric: I'm watching them all.
• 56:29
  Eric: Right now I'm doing I just started yesterday Shakespeare and Hathaway I don't know if you've seen that one, which or?
• 56:38
  John: so which.
• 56:39
  John: I mean, I mean I mean I believe that the plays written under the name Will Shakespeare, which is a punning pseudonym, are actually written by Edward Devere, the 17th Earl of Oxford.
• 56:51
  John: It's it's it's one of the greatest literary mysteries in the in history.
• 56:55
  John: It probably is the greatest literary mystery in history.
• 56:57
  John: And there's a plug a book right now called Shakespeare was a Woman and Other Heresies, by Elizabeth Winkler and I think the subtitle is is how the authorship question became the greatest taboo in literature, and it shouldn't be a taboo.
• 57:14
  John: People should talk about it and ask questions about it and and investigate it and be curious about it, because if they did, they'd find, you know, just an incredibly wealth of fascinating history there.
• 57:26
  John: And but anyway.
• 57:28
  John: So Shakespeare and Hathaway I should check it out.
• 57:31
  John: I have a sort of bias again.
• 57:34
  Eric: It's a fun.
• 57:35
  Eric: It's a fun little cute one.
• 57:36
  Eric: Okay, private detective is Hathaway, and then the woman who he gets paired with is is Shakespeare.
• 57:45
  Eric: He is the first client, but is there a British mystery though that you would recommend, like series, that I should tune into?
• 57:56
  John: Well, yeah, I mean, so I think that they're on Brit box Is the Marple and Poirot adaptations, which are both so fantastic.
• 58:07
  John: I mean, the Poirot is incredible because it's comprehensive, it's every single Poirot story that Agatha Christie ever did.
• 58:12
  John: And and then Marple is really great, which is not Miss Marple, it's just called Marple.
• 58:19
  John: It was done to different actors because one of them passed away and I love those.
• 58:24
  John: But Sarah Phelps did these Christie adaptations.
• 58:31
  John: She did four Christie adaptations and her adaptation of and then there were none I strongly recommend I think that's on it on prime, which is the island.
• 58:44
  John: I mean, obviously it's an island, there's a mystery on an island.
• 58:49
  John: I was obviously looking at that a lot as an inspirational source for Mystery Island.
• 58:55
  John: But then she did an adaptation of the ABC Murders.
• 59:00
  John: Sarah Phelps is the writer.
• 59:01
  John: I watched that one, yeah, with John Malkovich, yep, well, it's a three-parter and it is phenomenal.
• 59:08
  John: I loved it.
• 59:09
  John: So I would definitely Sarah Phelps her.
• 59:13
  John: And then she did an ordeal by innocence and the pale horse, and so it was cool.
• 59:20
  John: Yeah, I think that's what it's called.
• 59:21
  John: But then recently there was a that's also on Britbox that I strongly recommend, especially for Hallmark fans, because the chemistry it's funny, the chemistry between the leads is so great.
• 59:34
  John: It's a new adaptation of why didn't they ask Evans and with-.
• 59:38
  Eric: I just saw that.
• 59:39
  Eric: I didn't.
• 59:40
  Eric: I haven't seen it.
• 59:40
  Eric: I just saw it in the guide.
• 59:43
  John: I just put it on the top of the list.
• 59:45
  John: It's a three-parter.
• 59:47
  John: It was it's Hugh Laurie did the adaptation, the great Hugh Laurie who played Dr House, and he's in it as well.
• 59:58
  John: And it is so clever it is.
• 1:00:02
  John: Oh man.
• 1:00:03
  John: I just absolutely adored it.
• 1:00:05
  John: I've watched it twice and I strongly recommend that one.
• 1:00:10
  John: So I mean, I'm partial to the Golden Age mysteries stuff.
• 1:00:15
  John: I can also recommend to your listeners this podcast called she Done it, which is a celebration of Golden Age detective fiction created by this really wonderful British podcaster, and I strongly recommend that too.
• 1:00:32
  John: But yeah, but that was my long, short answer.
• 1:00:36
  Eric: Well, actually I appreciate that because I was, since I've gotten hooked on these and it's been one of those probably started beginning of the summer and I went looking for a podcast for British mysteries and I wasn't really finding anything.
• 1:00:50
  Eric: So the she Done it or who Done it, she Done it is.
• 1:00:54
  John: Or she Done it okay, done it, yeah.
• 1:00:55
  John: So all one word is really, really great, I mean.
• 1:00:59
  John: And then obviously I don't know if you've seen line of duty.
• 1:01:02
  John: I mean it's not a mystery per se, but it's Jed Mercurio, who also created Bodyguard, which was on Netflix for one season, and then he just executive produced this new series called Trigger Point, which is about bomb squad specialist.
• 1:01:22
  John: It's a mystery and a thriller and I think what Jed Mercurio does is terrific.
• 1:01:29
  John: It's not traditional like who Done it mysteries with a detective and there's a dead body and you have to solve it by the end.
• 1:01:35
  John: But it is just some really cracker jack thriller pacing and writing and characters, great actors.
• 1:01:44
  John: So that's a line of duty.
• 1:01:47
  John: Is all on Brit box.
• 1:01:49
  Eric: So you just filled up my queue so, but I think I'm gonna do the what's the Evans one?
• 1:01:55
  Eric: Why didn't they ask?
• 1:01:57
  Eric: Why didn't they ask?
• 1:01:59
  John: I think I'm gonna do that tonight we have to tell you I can get through three, again, again, like Will Polter and Lucy Boynton are the two leads, and they are just such wonderful chemistry.
• 1:02:09
  John: So good, so good.
• 1:02:12
  Eric: Okay, now some of the really tough questions.
• 1:02:15
  Eric: What do you put on your pizza?
• 1:02:16
  Eric: What's your pizza order?
• 1:02:21
  John: Well, I try not to eat pizza anymore because I don't eat gluten and I don't eat dairy because of cholesterol issues.
• 1:02:28
  John: So I used to eat pizza like crazy.
• 1:02:31
  John: I used to eat it, like you know, four or five days a week Not no joke, cause I lived in New York city and it was easy to do that.
• 1:02:39
  John: But now I put on my pizza a cauliflower crust and goat cheese.
• 1:02:43
  John: Because I eat goat cheese, because it doesn't have the same cholesterol properties that cow cheese does Well, goat cheese is fantastic.
• 1:02:53
  Eric: So yeah, I can relate.
• 1:02:54
  Eric: When I used to live in California, in Hermosa Beach, there was a place called the Pizza man and every eighth pizza was after eight pizzas, you got one free.
• 1:03:01
  Eric: And the highlight of my life was when I got my free pizza in under a week and they would actually would know me when I'd call.
• 1:03:12
  Eric: So I had a friend who was over and we're like, hey, let's do pizza.
• 1:03:15
  Eric: I'm like, okay, you order it and I'll you know you pick it up and I'll pay.
• 1:03:22
  Eric: And so he calls up and they answer the phone hey, eric.
• 1:03:25
  Eric: And he was like blown away that they knew me.
• 1:03:27
  Eric: I'm like, yeah, I ordered a few pizzas from the Pizza man, so okay.
• 1:03:31
  Eric: So the next question is are people who put pineapple on their pizza psychotic?
• 1:03:37
  John: No, not at all.
• 1:03:38
  John: Not as long as they put, not as long as they put ham on it with the pineapple.
• 1:03:42
  John: Okay, Of course, ham, I mean prosciutto, parma ham or, I guess, pepperoni.
• 1:03:49
  John: But no, I've done that and it wasn't a mainstay for me.
• 1:03:53
  John: But yeah, man, Hawaiian pizza.
• 1:03:55
  John: I mean, that's like calling the entire state of Hawaii psychotic.
• 1:03:59
  John: How can one seriously our most beautiful state be filled with psychopaths?
• 1:04:05
  John: It's not possible.
• 1:04:06
  John: No, sorry, they're not psychotic, All right.
• 1:04:10
  Eric: So who would play you if they were doing a JCP biography?
• 1:04:14
  Eric: Who would you want to play you?
• 1:04:18
  John: Done Charlie, you know who's a fantastic actor, but if not him, obviously John Malkovich.
• 1:04:24
  John: You know that would be my dream casting.
• 1:04:27
  John: I mean, I'm a little bit younger than him but many, many people it's either him or Billy Bob Thornton.
• 1:04:33
  John: People say to me you look like that guy.
• 1:04:35
  John: Who's that guy?
• 1:04:36
  John: Billy Bob Thornton?
• 1:04:37
  John: They're like no, john Malkovich, yeah.
• 1:04:40
  Eric: All right.
• 1:04:41
  Eric: What's the best Agatha Christie mystery if you had to pick one?
• 1:04:49
  John: Well, the best, I think.
• 1:04:52
  John: I think by the best you mean like what's my favorite?
• 1:04:57
  John: Yeah, and I would actually say the ABC murders.
• 1:05:03
  John: I mean it's really has the things I really love which are puzzles, which is tremendous.
• 1:05:11
  John: Misdirection in the ABC murders and then a serial killer, which I'm a big fan of.
• 1:05:22
  Eric: I'm a fan of serial killers.
• 1:05:26
  John: I mean because it makes everything harder, because the stakes get higher, because you know the detectives need to solve.
• 1:05:33
  John: It is gets worse and worse, you know.
• 1:05:36
  John: So, yeah, so I would say the ABC murders.
• 1:05:40
  John: All right, I, obviously everybody loves murder on the iron express.
• 1:05:47
  John: It's absolutely sublime and brilliant and I just re-read it a couple of years ago to my son and you know it's still an incredible read.
• 1:05:59
  John: But I think the ABC murders for the reasons I said.
• 1:06:03
  Eric: OK, all right.
• 1:06:04
  Eric: So Mr Island's obviously about a mysterious destination.
• 1:06:07
  Eric: What's the favorite place you visited?
• 1:06:12
  John: Oh, wow, what a great question.
• 1:06:13
  John: Well, you know recency bias, but I just got right after the strike began we had booked a trip to go, but before the strike began we booked a trip to go to an island, to go to Corfu in, you know, off the coast of Greece, and that's probably it.
• 1:06:38
  John: My son was shooting a film there and it was unbelievable, I mean just absolutely extraordinary, and so I guess I would choose the island of.
• 1:06:51
  Eric: Corfu, Would that be a good place to have a mystery island too.
• 1:06:56
  John: Oh yeah, oh, my goodness.
• 1:06:58
  Eric: You'd have to be on set for that one right.
• 1:06:59
  John: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, you know I love islands.
• 1:07:03
  John: I mean I used to.
• 1:07:04
  John: I lived on Martha's Vineyard and worked there one summer.
• 1:07:06
  John: Islands are fantastic places, you know, and they're great places for for murder because, of course, you know you have lots of challenges in terms of solving it.
• 1:07:18
  John: You know you're isolated and and it's beautiful and there's treacherous terrain and all of these things.
• 1:07:25
  John: So, yeah, corfu, that'd be number one for me.
• 1:07:27
  John: I've never been there before.
• 1:07:28
  John: It was incredible, awesome, strongly.
• 1:07:31
  Eric: All right, how do you feel about cliffhangers?
• 1:07:37
  John: I love them as long as there's a next chapter.
• 1:07:40
  John: You know, dickens was one of the real pioneers.
• 1:07:43
  John: I don't think he invented it, but he was one of the pioneers of it and he did it in in.
• 1:07:49
  John: You know, because Dickens published his novels that initially in newspaper form, you know.
• 1:07:55
  John: So there'd be a new chapter every week.
• 1:07:57
  John: In fact there's like an incredible story, because they'd come over on on steamships to America that they bring the galleys and people would wait at the docks for the next chapter of Little Dorot or whatever you know, just wanting to get their hands on it.
• 1:08:14
  John: So obviously, and of course it comes from a character literally hanging off a cliff and wondering will he, you know, fall or somehow crawl back?
• 1:08:26
  John: So I love it as long as you get to tell the next chapter.
• 1:08:31
  John: I am not at all a fan of it If nobody should be left hanging on a cliff.
• 1:08:38
  John: No human and no, no narrative should be left hanging on a cliff.
• 1:08:44
  John: It's not nice.
• 1:08:48
  Eric: I think I have many people who agree with you.
• 1:08:49
  Eric: Ok, last question.
• 1:08:50
  Eric: So there's the big Powerball tonight and I'm planning on winning it.
• 1:08:57
  Eric: And I said in our podcast from last week that, if I want it, I'm opening up Mystery Island.
• 1:09:03
  Eric: I just told my wife today.
• 1:09:06
  Eric: She did not put up too much resistance, so that's my goal is I'm going to win the Powerball and open Mystery Island.
• 1:09:14
  Eric: So the question I have for you is can I hire you to be writing the murder mysteries for each of the guests on when I open up Mystery Island?
• 1:09:25
  John: Well, later you can write a number on a piece of paper and hand it to me and tell me.
• 1:09:31
  Eric: Eighty six dollars and thirty eight cents.
• 1:09:34
  John: But yes, of course you can.
• 1:09:35
  John: Yes, I would love it.
• 1:09:37
  John: Man, All right.
• 1:09:39
  Eric: So all we have to do now is go through the formality of me winning the Powerball.
• 1:09:43
  Eric: And then there's Mystery Island, and now I know it Panama is where I need to head Somewhere down there, yeah.
• 1:09:50
  Eric: OK perfect, all right.
• 1:09:51
  Eric: Well, thank you very much, it was.
• 1:09:55
  Eric: It was fun talking and hopefully some of our listeners with these last couple of questions, a little more fun and just getting to know you a little bit better.
• 1:10:01
  Eric: As always, I appreciate you giving time to talk to us, but is there any?
• 1:10:07
  Eric: I guess?
• 1:10:07
  Eric: Really the strike, even if you are newling on something you can't really talk about, the strike socks.
• 1:10:14
  Eric: Well, that, just that, the strike's going to end soon.
• 1:10:17
  John: It's going to end, and hopefully very soon.
• 1:10:19
  John: And then, yeah, Chris Palaja and I have a project that we sold to Hallmark and it's an original mystery, and that's all I can really say about it, but that should be enticing enough for folks that you know.
• 1:10:34
  John: It's me and Chris getting back together again and working on something new and I we are really excited about it, really really excited about it.
• 1:10:45
  John: It's going to be a lot of fun for people.
• 1:10:47
  John: So so Sydney and I last week were talking about it, but we think you need to start making some cameos in your, your episodes.
• 1:10:56
  Eric: I'm in on that too.
• 1:10:57
  Eric: That sounds great.
• 1:11:01
  John: Like hitch just in the background doing right Exactly.
• 1:11:03
  John: Yeah, OK, sure I'll talk to Chris about that.
• 1:11:04
  John: That's a great idea.
• 1:11:05
  John: I think I think you just said that.
• 1:11:07
  John: Ok, sure I'll talk to Chris about that.
• 1:11:09
  John: That's a great idea.
• 1:11:10
  Eric: I think, I think you, if I think the next one, yeah, the one of the Chris, you should, you definitely need to be in.
• 1:11:15
  John: Well, get me there OK.
• 1:11:16
  Eric: Thanks there.
• 1:11:16
  Eric: All right, John, it is great talking to you until next time, and I hope I can't wait to get the little message from you strike over and we can really start having fun again.
• 1:11:27
  Eric: That's great.
• 1:11:28
  John: Thank you.