Latest / The Jeff Crilley Show / Danielle Hawthorne, Entertainment Host + Co-Founder, Playbook Marketing | The Jeff Crilley Show
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- Coming up next on The Jeff Crilley Show, you're gonna meet the great Danielle Hawthorne. She is a very popular entertainment host. She's been doing it for more than a decade. She's also an expert on marketing and storytelling. We're gonna hear her incredible journey next. Many are predicting that the worst is yet to come, which is unfortunate, said one person here. Until now, they've enjoyed the reputation of being the nation's icebox. Watched a burglar in his home this morning by webcam. As a journalist of over twenty five years, stories are what make my world turn. Reporting live from The Dallas Newsroom tonight, Jeff Crilley, Fox four news. But in 2008, I took the jump from my familiar life and started a PR firm from my home. We're talking about anyone with a camcorder like the one I'm using becomes a television network. We started slowly growing the company, and we now have over a 100 clients. And we've branched into the world of live digital broadcasting. I now own eight different TV studios and have a huge team. And the stories that I now get to share are sometimes the most important of my life. Life has a funny way of coming around full circle. This is The Jeff Crilley Show. Alright. So many of you know my wife was an entertainment reporter for ten years for the WB and then CW here in Dallas, and so I got to live vicariously through all her stories of meeting some of the biggest stars in Hollywood. I am thrilled to have in my studio right now, Hawthorne, she's been an entertainment host for more than a decade, that's incredible, congratulations. It's a long time. Start at the beginning, how did this celebrity journey begin? Yeah, actually it began right here in Dallas with a movie theater called Studio Movie Girl. Oh, of course I remember that. Yeah, so I lived in LA and decided LA was not for me and when I moved back to Dallas, I really loved entertainment, but I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to continue that path And here in turns out, we have a lot of entertainment in Dallas. And at the time, someone said, hey, I know this movie theater that's hiring, you know, at entry level positions, I just, I think you would be a really good fit there. Wow. And I went and interviewed to go support both marketing and film. Got the job, and while I was there, they were gracious enough, you know, to really support employees when they had a vision, or they showed interest in building something really unique. And so fortunately for me, they opened the doors and let me really pursue this thing called entertainment hosting. I love that. And we together built this really cool brand for Studio Movie Grill. And then when my time there was over, I continued to grow my career and go on to do other things. Do you remember who your first big celebrity interview was? Yes, it was Mark Wahlberg. Oh, wow! He was my first big like national junket. And I remember at the time, I got a phone call, and they said, hey, will you get on the plane, a plane tomorrow morning to go to LA to do a junket? Lions Gate said they'll give you a spot if you'll show up. Wow. And I had been asking and like really pushing. Was like, just give us a shot, give us a shot. I've been doing local junkets, I and was like, give us a shot. And they said, yes, and we'll give you a spot. I said, I'll be on an airplane, I'll be there. Who told me where to where, I'll be there. And sure enough, I flew out and that was my first big one and from there, No you know, kept growing and pressure, just a big A listers. I was like, oh, okay, we'll start small, don't worry. So as I was doing homework on Danielle this morning, I went on her YouTube channel and found she has a number of different Sizzle Reels. This one's about a year older, maybe more. It's Totally. It's time for a new one, but know what? It serves its purpose. But let's go ahead and roll that now. It's not that red red Valley center. I'm good. I'm looking at Danielle from where? Danielle from Dallas. Oh, from Dallas. Yes. Yes. To The Real Dallas. Today, we are talking big films both in theaters near you and streaming on Netflix. How do you set up the perfect movie night? You need the right glass of wine, the right amount of popcorn, and the right boov next to you. Let's talk Oscars. Who's gonna take hold the Oscar tonight? As far as I'm concerned, this is Brad Pitt's year. As far as I'm concerned, every year is Brad Pitt's year. Every month is Brad Pitt's month, and every day is Brad Pitt's day. You and I are on the same wavelength We're yeah. We're totally syncing. Hey, guys. I am here in New York City on the yellow carpet for the world premiere of Detective Pikachu. Stay tuned because I'm gonna be sitting down with the cast. How does one go about getting the job title Ocean Master? Well, you have to get four of the seven undersea armies to join together so they can you can be given that title so then you can go fight the surface. So piece of cake. Of cake. Piece of fish cake. Piece of fish cake. I see what you did there. Thank you. Are we gonna get a Nick Fury Howling Commandos film? Like, is this gonna happen? That would be kinda nice, but no, not yet. It's amazing that you even know that. It was so nice to see a woman on screen fighting, bleeding, punching. Thank was our thought behind all of that? But that was our thought behind all of it, so the fact that you picked up on that means a lot. Oftentimes, stories are kind of laid out, like, Here's what you have to think. Here's how you have to follow. This movie, it really feels like you are allowing us as audience members to participate in a very intelligent way. How do you unpack that as a writer, as a director, as a filmmaker? I think there are a lot of films, some great films, by the way, that kind of assume the audience is dumb. And I like to assume my audience is smart. I wish I could just give you, like, a giant fist bump for this movie because You you all can. Want to Let's fist bump Go on. When my dad found out that I was coming to sit down with you today, he just about lost his mind. He's a huge Where is he? He's in Louisiana. What's his name? Harry. Hey, Harry. I'm here with your beautiful baby girl. Happy birthday. Winch's birthday. Oh, it's in November. Oh, we'll save it. We'll save it. Girl, this movie. Yes. So much fun. I love the relationship between your character and Brie's character, Captain Marvel. That's like friendship goals. Literally friendship goals. Yes. 100%. What do you hope women who come to see this film get after seeing these You beautiful don't just have to objectify girls. You can objectify men, too. A Bad Mom's Christmas. Yeah. Our three favorite bad moms are back on the big screen, and it's time to tackle the mother of all holidays. Yeah. Christmas. This film is like a party from start to finish. So I thought, let's just keep the party going and let's play a game. Yes, we love getting We love that getting game. Oh, God. Easy. I feel like I'm breaking everything. Okay. So being a big bull in a china shop is a lot harder than I anticipated. Food is really important to us here at Studio Movie Grill, but so is fun. And that's why we've incorporated a bit of fun into our freshly prepared all American grill menu and full service bar. Now that you guys have been through night school Mhmm. If you had to create a night school class to teach people how to go to the movies the right way, what would that curriculum look like? Wow. The right way. Sometimes I wake up and I hear a voice in my head going, Oh, that's a fucking character. Should do that. Just try that. Yeah, yeah. That's so cool. Don't ever tell anybody when I hear voices. Yeah, that's right. Right. I think it's good. That's right. It's a good thing. It's a good thing. Do you have a favorite scene, location, that or just an event that took place within the movie that you just had so much fun creating? I love a lot of it, obviously. Well, I would hope so. Yeah. If Will Smith and Lucille Ball had a comedy baby, that would be you. I accept that. Will? Hey, Dave. Come pick me up at any time. Happy birthday. You very We're giving your gift. Where's the camera at? Go watch this movie at Studio Movie Grill. Danielle and me will come over there and put you right on top of your head. We asked some fans what they wanted to know from you guys. And we thought, what better way to pick which questions get asked than to have you guys shoot them? Do mind if I hold this a little bit back for you? All right, here we go now. Alright. So how much training did you have to do to prepare for your role? A lot. Good couple of months. Yeah. Good couple of He was already he's always in an amazing show. American woman. Wait for me. And that's alright. Wow. So much fun. I love it that you you play with them. And Mhmm. You know, bringing props into a movie junket or something like that, it's always risky, you know, will they Every time. Will they go along with you? Yeah. Are they tired at the end of the day and they don't wanna play games? I mean, did you feel any pressure when you would bring out these props? Yeah. And it's funny, because I haven't seen that reel in a long time, because it is several years old at this point, reminder, get a new one. But it's a hit and miss. Like you never know what's gonna work and what isn't. Just kind of like cross your fingers and say a little prayer, please like let this work. Because sometimes it doesn't land, right? Sometimes you go in and you're like, I'm gonna shoot my shot, I'm gonna do it. I hope you're gonna come with me. If not, this is gonna be weird. No. You know, and sometimes it is weird. Sometimes they look at you like, what? And you're like, Okay. That's great to Hopefully that And then after a while they remember you. So the next time you do a junket, they're like, They remember, Oh, from Dallas. Yeah. Okay. It's always fun too, because they're doing a million interviews. Yes. And if you can also do something that like brings a little levity, Yes. Or a little fun, something that's a little different maybe, then it's always nice to try to do that for them as well. I love that. Yeah. Okay. So I know you, it's hard to pick your favorite baby. Of all the celebrities you've interviewed, what's one that stands out? People ask me this a lot, and I say a lot of them because a lot of the people that I get to interview are actually really kind, really fun people. Like I just sat down with Ryan Gosling for Project Hail Mary, and he's so lovely. He's the loveliest of humans. He's exactly how you would hope he would be. He's fun. We had like a little fun thing when I was interviewing him. Now there's in person and Zoom post I put this video on the screen because Yeah. So tell us about that. He's commenting my, like on my plants. Yeah. He's saying, I love your plant placement. And for whatever reason, and because I will bring this up any chance given, I decided I needed to show him my dinosaur as well. Yes. Because I have the whole collection of dinosaur stuffed animals that were in the original Jurassic Park film. No kidding. The ones from the gift shop. My dad bought them for me, my parents bought them for me when I was younger. And I have them, and I will tell anyone about them, because I love dinosaurs, and I love Jurassic Park. And for whatever reason, that moment I was like, plants, yes, but have you seen my dinosaur? And he was like, oh, great! He's just, and I know you've interviewed him on the red carpet as Yeah. He's just kind, I mean, makes sense? So kind. And stand out for you? He's really calming, and he's very kind, and like, it's like you're just having a great conversation. I love that. When I was on the carpet, there was a kid journalist that came up to him, and he was so present with that kid, and he was so lovely to him. And the kid and his dad had made chocolate bars for him, and he just, the excitement that he showed for that kid, that kid will never forget that. Yes. And you don't always get that with people when you interview them. He is that way, all the time. And I just, you know, it's great when you get to talk to somebody like that. And I love it when celebrities like bring their A game to these interviews, because what most people don't know is that they sign a contract that says, okay, you are committed to promote this film. Sometimes they're promoting it two years after they made the film. Yeah. And some of them are like, okay, I'm contractually obligated to talk to all these reporters. And it's a long press tour. And so imagine like sitting in a chair. Just interview after interview after interview. And you know, like interviews are like they get asked questions that they would rather not talk about or answer. That makes it tough, know. So they're also sitting there going, okay, what's what's gonna happen next? Right. You know. But I think it's wonderful when they, you know, bring energy to the interview and are present for the interview, so congratulations and that's in large part because of you. You also have a very successful marketing company. Let's go ahead and put this on the screen. Give us the name of the marketing company. Yeah, it's called Playbook Marketing. My partner and I, we started this to really help female business owners and brands with female led audiences. We noticed that there was a gap. I love working with entrepreneurs too. I, my background is in storytelling, in the movies, in exhibition, but I think that translates really well to business. Yes. You know? And brands, you got to tell your story, you have to tell it in the right way. And you have to find a way to connect, and you have to find a way to connect really quickly. It's the same thing I have to do in an interview, And you there are a lot of business owners who are so good at what they do. Yes. But they are not marketers, or they're not storytellers. And why should they be? Because they're really phenomenal at this other thing. Yes. And so that's where we come in. We come in and really help give them the framework to be successful, doing the thing that they're really good at doing. And I think you were so smart because you started that company during COVID when there were no movies being made. There was nobody doing junkets or anything. So your business went from, you know, a 100 miles an hour to zero. Yes. So we started Playbook kind of towards the tail end of everything, but during the pandemic there, I mean, Hollywood went dark, as everybody knows. Yeah. You can't really make productions or go to the movies when COVID is going on. So, that I did went dark overnight. I was like, Oh, this is new? I've never experienced this before. And so that was a really, it was a really scary, really difficult time of trying to navigate what now. Okay. What am I supposed to do? We have about two minutes left. So Danielle, the floor is yours. Final thoughts, what do you want to leave the audience with? Or what's next for you? Yeah, I have some really big things coming up. I have CinemaCon next week, which is this huge conference where the studios and movie theaters come together. And essentially, we get to all like, look at showcase all the movies that are coming to cinemas for the next year, which I love. It is one of my favorite things. And then too, we have the Dallas International Film Festival starting April I, you know, there's so much cinema in this town. Yes. We have so many movie theaters that are based here. We have so many filmmakers that are coming to Texas, that are filming here in Dallas and Fort Worth. Yes. And so my last thing is, if you love entertainment, you love movies, go to the movies this year. You'll probably see me there at some point, and go to the Dallas International Films Festival. Because the more we support entertainment, and we support, you know, what we're building here in town, the more of it we get in Dallas. Mhmm. So, that's my my final thoughts here. That's so beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing your heart and your wisdom. We're gonna end with her website, which is the playbookmarketing.com. The great Danielle Hawthorne, thanks for coming on the show. Thanks. You bet. That's it for now. We'll see you next time.