Latest / Besties Do Verticals / Episode 20 - Interview with JP (Jen Parkhill)

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Episode 20 - Interview with JP (Jen Parkhill) · Besties Do Verticals

• Aleta: Hello and welcome to Besties Do Verticals with your besties, Alita and Lucy. And today we have a special guest. Hi, I'm Alita. Lucy: And I'm Lucy. JP: And I'm JP. Aleta: As you know, the aim of our podcast is to promote and support queer verticals, actors, and all the other creatives that go into producing the projects we love. We're so thrilled to have our sixth interview guest today. Lucy: Yay! And we are so excited to have Jen Park Hill, or better known to most of us, is JP. JP is an incredible queer director in the vertical space who has brought us some of the BL darlings like JP: Mm-hmm. Aleta: Ha ha ha. Lucy: pool boy, water boy, stable boy, and waterboy Aleta: Mm-hmm. Lucy: too. What is amazing is that after some digging, it is Very clear that JP is so much more than just a director of certain queer verticals that we love. They are a pure artist who has been classically trained as an actor. I had no idea this is exciting. So I JP: Ha ha ha Lucy: want to hear all about it. We want to hear all about it. Would you introduce yourself? JP: Absolutely. what's up everybody? my name's JP. as Lucy said, yeah, just super excited to to dig into all the things with y'all and what a delight to get to talk about not only the boy love universes that I've worked on, but you know, my work outside of those as well. So yeah, super excited to chat. Lucy: This is so great. And I was going to ask, would you be okay playing a would you rather game with us? We kind of do it as an icebreaker. okay, good. We do this. All right. JP: yes. What love. Aleta: Ha ha ha ha. Yeah. Lucy: We have some icebreaker questions here and and we'll all answer with you. Okay, JP: Mm. Lucy: JP, would you rather live in a tree house or in a cave? JP: Ooh, definitely a tree house. yeah, I I have like fantasized about living in a tree house since I was a little kid. I don't I don't know what the movie was that I saw. is it something the Robinsons or something? I do y'all know this movie? Aleta: Swiss family Robinson? JP: Swiss Family Robinson. Since that I've like I've thought that that it would just be so cool. So yeah, Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: definitely would want to be up there in the trees. And and Lucy: like it. JP: funny enough I actually call my home a a tree house, because I have so many like plants and it just it I've created a little pseudo tree house of Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: of my own. Lucy: He That is so cool. What about you, Alita? Aleta: say a tree house also, not because JP: Yeah. Aleta: of the plant thing, because I have a black thumb. But JP: Huh. Aleta: I just couldn't do a cave. So I think a treehouse would be better than a cave. Lucy: I want to say a tree house because it's cool, but I don't know guys. Aleta: Ha ha. JP: Mm-hmm. Lucy: I'm getting older. Could I climb up into a tree house anymore? Like I don't know. I'm Aleta: Well there is that. JP: Hehehehehe Lucy: just I'm just being realistic here. I if it was Aleta: Ha ha. Lucy: a fancy cave, maybe it could be a fancy cave. Maybe. Maybe a fancy cave. JP: You could make it a fancy cave. Plus you can have like fire and it can be like warm and stuff, you know? Lucy: Yeah. Yeah. But the kid in me says treehouse. A hundred percent. Yeah. JP: Yeah. Lucy: All right. Would you rather be able to speak any language or be able to communicate with animals? JP: Ooh, I think I'd rather be able to speak any language. I do so I'm Cuban and my my mom is the Cuban side and did not teach me Spanish, which is a common thing for people that, you know, assimilate into the country and you know, kind of leave some of those roots behind in order to assimilate and it's like a huge regret for both of us that that I wasn't taught Spanish and so there's there's just so many people in my life that I wish I could communicate with. And I feel like there's an unspoken language already with animals that is sort of energetic and intuitive. So yeah, I think I would do I would take languages. Lucy: Very cool. What about you, Alita? Aleta: You know my answer. JP: Mm-hmm. Lucy: Languages. Yeah. Languages. Aleta: Yes, absolutely. Lucy: She speaks three. She's fancy. So she speaks French JP: Amazing. Lucy: and Spanish and I JP: Ray Lucy: try to get her to speak French as much as possible on the podcast. JP: It's so beautiful to listen to, right? Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: gosh, I could listen to it all time. Lucy: Yeah. She's it is very good. It's very good. I I think JP: Mm-hmm. Lucy: I'd wanna communicate with animals. I'm a big animal lover. I JP: Mm. Lucy: I would love to be able to speak all languages though. I I've tried to learn many and I I just always kind of fall off. I think just JP: Mm. Lucy: around me there's There just hasn't been someone I can actively talk to in my personal life, like in a different language. So that's probably been part of my problem. But I've wanted to learn Japanese. I've tried. I still know a lot JP: Mm-hmm. Lucy: of words. Spanish recently, and I do have a friend who speaks Spanish. I just Aleta: Ha ha ha. Lucy: I struggle. but I don't know. I love animals. I want to know. I want to know what they're saying and what they're thinking. But there is an unspoken JP: Yeah. Yeah. Lucy: language, I agree. Okay, would you rather go back to kindergarten with everything you know now or know now everything your future self will learn? If that question made sense. JP: okay, explain the second part. Lucy: Okay. So it's basically asking, would you like right now, JP now, would you like to JP: Mm. Lucy: know everything your future self already knows and that they've learned? Or JP: god Wow Lucy: take everything you know now and just transport back to kindergarten, but you have all this knowledge JP: Back to Kiddingary. Lucy: up until this age. Aleta: Start over kind of thing. Lucy: Yeah. Aleta: Yeah. JP: Wow. So that is such an interesting question. I think I think I would wanna know everything that I will ever know now. although that would change the whole trajectory of my life. Because Lucy: Yeah. JP: it's all the things that we go through to get all of that knowledge. So wow. Going back to kindergarten at all just sounds like Terrifying. I was so shy and kindergarten was such a challenge for me that I don't want to go back there even with any of the knowledge I have. So I d I choose the other one. And middle school for sure. Aleta: And middle school. Lucy: Ha ha ha. JP: Absolutely, yeah. Lucy: Agreed. I I agree with just about everything that you said. I'd probably rather JP: Mm. Lucy: know now, like just what's going on in the future and go from there. I I JP: Mm. Lucy: don't know, but maybe I changed my maybe I d maybe I would. Because I feel like middle school was torture for me, but I could probably handle it a lot better if I knew what I knew now. I don't know. But I also could have JP: That's true. Yeah. Lucy: gotten my butt kicked a lot more, so it's very possible, you know. JP: Yeah, Lucy: That would have been sassy. Alita. JP: mm Aleta: Yeah, I mean either way it would change your life completely, right? 'Cause if JP: Yeah. Aleta: you were s starting over with all of that knowledge, you'd do things differently. So but JP: Mm-hmm. Aleta: yeah, I think future knowledge I I don't wanna go through. I mean, I I didn't I didn't get bullied or anything in middle school, but it's still JP: Yeah. Aleta: there's so much angst when you're when you're a a preteen and a teen. I I don't really wanna go through that again. JP: Mm. Lucy: Yeah. the angst. Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: The angst. my gosh. Lucy: I I've I've got one that's just starting that. And so I'm just like JP: Yeah. Lucy: just doing my best, trying to help him through it. JP: yeah. Absolutely. Lucy: All right. Well if you are right, we're gonna go ahead and start getting into questions. JP: Yeah, let's do it. Lucy: So JP, it is very JP: Mm. Lucy: clear to us now that you are an actor, a writer, a producer, and a director. How did you get into all of this? And did it just start with acting and grow from there? JP: gosh, you know, i y yes and no. I mean I I think like I mentioned, I was a very shy child. and then I think somewhere around elementary school, I acted in my first play. And and then that just kind of like changed life for me, honestly. I played Charlie in the Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when I was in the fifth grade. And I just fell in love with acting. And and so I started like rounding up all the neighborhood kids to put on plays in the garage. Aleta: Ha ha. JP: And then, you know, my grandmother lent me her VHS camcorder and we started making movies. And as my mom likes to to put it, I was just like the bossy kid in the neighborhood that was making everybody Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: perform and, you know, partake in in all of these things and and so I think I I kind of and I was acting in them too and and then I would go and edit them on my little like I had like a T V VHS combo, you know, and so I'd plug the camera in and put a VHS tape into the, you know, T V set and you you had to like manually like hit when to record, you know, and and so that was how I would edit these little movies that I was making. And I just lived for it. It was, you know, the thing that that just really lit me up. And I think at that time it didn't even occur to me that somebody could be a director. I just was kind of doing it and not really knowing that that's what I was doing. And so actor felt like the the past. And so I followed that. And I started writing probably like in my early twenties, started writing scripts and and things and kind of trying trying to get short films made and was approaching directors and saying like please make this 'cause I I th I think I still didn't know that I I could just do it myself. And then at some point in college I I went to I went to the Tisch School of the Arts and I directed a play in school and that was sort of like our third year project was you elect somebody from within your class to direct the play. And and so it just it just kind of like happened naturally. My roommate was a cinematographer. He started inviting me to come and like coach the actors on some films and slowly I was starting to direct these things and co direct and And then he and I started a a production company straight out of college in New York and were doing commercials and got into some documentary work, which I had also never done before. but found that, you know, really exciting too. And so I just kind of fell into all of it. And producing happens totally by accident and out of necessity, because when you want to get an independent project made, you kind of just have to learn how to how to make it happen. And and so I was doing that, you know, I was like, like, okay, we gotta we gotta make this film hap and I was bringing together crew and you know, finding the ways to fundraise and I I think I kinda went, I guess this is what I'm doing is producing. and so and now and now all of those different things that I do really work in tandem with each other and I I really love to be a part of the process from start to finish and the opportunity to write something that I can also act in and or direct is is just like the best because I ultimately just want to keep doing what I've been doing since I was a child, which is to make art with my friends and just bring all of those amazing people together and It's it's just it's the best to be on a set with people that you cherish and trust and have worked together bef before and it just becomes this beautiful sort of dance. And so that's kinda how it it all s came together. Lucy: I am so impressed and I I love hearing how natural it was for you and it just kinda kept it it was just something you naturally kinda picked up. It wasn't s you know, you just kind of fell into everything and I honed in on how you used to edit the videos because JP: Mm. Lucy: same, you know, I I when JP: I love it. Yes. Lucy: I when I was younger too, I used to tr v drag friends around and make similar videos and when I was in high school I took a college class like a film class and I got to make videos with the my friends and I at that time JP: Mm, mm, yeah, yeah. Lucy: it was like Final Cut Pro but I remember before that the VCR and like how having my goodness. So JP: Yeah. Totally. Lucy: that is amazing. Do you still have those tapes that you tip? JP: I s I I still have quite a few of them. Yeah. And they are absolutely cringe worthy, you know. I Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: watch them now and I'm like, my god. But there are some like little seedlings of things where I'm like, Wow, these are things I still do or like, you know, those are I I don't know, there's like certain little like tropes and camera angles and like just like tone I think too. that that like Still today, I think, is is very much I see my essence through through all of it. And so that's kind of fun and cool to see too. Lucy: That is really Aleta: Love that. Lucy: cool actually. To think back on, you know, what you take in as a kid and it still sticks with you. I love that. What a JP: Mm. Totally. Lucy: cool like history of like how this came to be. JP: Mm. Lucy: can you actually tell us a little bit about your time at Tish? Like, did that education prepare you for what you are doing now? JP: Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, four of the best years of my entire life. and I went to college late. I mean I I lived in LA for a long time and was just pursuing life as an actor, for years before I actually made the decision to go to college and I I really I'm really glad that I did it at the time that I did. because I just valued every single moment of being there and it was a choice and it was you know s something that I was also the person that was taking out loans to make it happen. And so it was like all on me, you know, to really just I don't know, it was it was it was a magical experience to get to do the thing that I love. all day long, from the moment I woke up until the minute I went to bed and just be with all of these other young artists that were doing the same thing and cared so much and with teachers that were really, you know, invested in in helping us become the best artists we could possibly be. And and that meaning, you know, to be the most ourselves as our as our you know our unique artist selves and really learning how to bring all of that. to the table and studying all of these incredible playwrights and you know being on stages in New York City is something that I had dreamed about since I was a little kid. And yeah I mean in every possible and I took advantage of every program there that I possibly could. I studied at the Atlantic Theater Company for the first three years that I was at Tisch and I was really thrilled. You you don't have a choice in which studio you're placed in. And there's I think eight tracks at NYU. there's Meisner, there's Stella Adler, there's the experimental wing, there's The Atlantic and the Atlantic's technique, practical aesthetics, really I'm a I'm a script analysis nerd and their technique is very focused on script analysis and And so and and really on like the written word and studying the playwrights. And then there's some Meisner elements of of really learning how to be in the moment and repetition and body work and you know, understanding yourself in in physical space. It was just a very well rounded education. but at times a little bit heady and so I I wanted to also really become an embodied actor. And so I took a summer was accepted into a experimental program that like I think it was like eighteen of us in Amsterdam doing devise theater and clown and commedia dell'arte and all Aleta: cool. JP: kinds of devised work and so that was like that just like I think was a a moment where I think it was clown for me that that really just opened me up as an actor and it was so exciting to to really just sort of like play. and it's also probably some of the most vulnerable work that I'd ever done. Trying to make people laugh on purpose is unbelievably vulnerable. I was Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: Terrified. yeah, I mean you you basically just like they stick a nose on you and you're in front of an audience and your goal is just to make them laugh and in whatever means you can. And I would be up there for like close to an hour and just like not even a chuckle. And and then I would get emotional and just start weeping. And then all of a sudden everybody would start laughing and I like, I don't understand. Okay, it's my pain, that's my you know, it's like just such a wild experience. But I I went back to school the next semester at to the Atlantic and was that was the year that we started actually getting to her perform in plays. And I I played a really fun character in the House of Bernardo Alba, where I was sort of the comic relief. Aleta: Cool. JP: I I was like the the maid who had who kind of like raised all the girls and it like they were very like stoic moments where like I would be the one that would get just like a little burst of of comedy and in a in a a play that was otherwise very, very serious and I just had so much fun with that. and and and then in my third year that was also when I started I directed a play and then started kind of getting involved in like the the film track via my my roommate at the time. and so then I picked up a a minor in film production and wound up making a film of my own and then also writing and starring and co-directing in my roommate's thesis. And so that was a a really exciting opportunity. the first meeting that we had with the crew, you know, this they like there was a projector and they they like put up a treatment with like a breakdown of, you know, locations and head of departments, you know, kind of inspiration about what we were gonna be shooting. And it was all, you know, based on this script that I had written. And I just I was I was so taken aback to to to see something that like had lived in my head starting to come to life and for all of these different creators to be, you know, holding it and and w w watching it take shape is just really, really powerful. And so I think the the fuse really got lit for me, with creating film at the at that moment. I knew I really wanted to be a part of not only, you know, being an actor and and acting in the theater and perhaps directing in the theater, but directing and and acting on film was was really kind of s started to take center stage and I also minored in creative writing, so I I did a couple of programs abroad. I was like every opportunity to travel. I love, I'm a Sagittarius, I love to travel the world. and so I did my my minor in creative writing in Florence, Italy, studied poetry, learned that the work that I do as a poet really kind of I think all of my work kind of stems from from a poem in some way, 'cause it's so abstract and just like this like raw feeling on on a page. And so yeah, the I actually I c when I came back from studying poetry in Florence was when I wrote this film that became my friend's thesis. And the main character in it as a poet. And a poem that I had written in Florence kind of became the the backbone and the the score or like voiceover, main voiceover of the of the script. And I think that that's a a trend that has kind of stayed with me is that poetry has always had a a big hand in the the things that I I write and create in some capacity or another, even if it's just something that kind of inspires me while I'm writing the script. and yeah and then I and then I spent my last year of school. I did a program called Stone Street which was the on-camera film acting program at Tisch and got to really kind of hone my on-camera skills there and and then my very last semester I spent in Germany, doing some more device work, Brecht and Stanislavsky and seeing a bunch of German theater and getting really inspired by directors like Thomas Ostenmeier, who runs the Schalbuna Theater in in Berlin and was taking a lot of the classics like Hedda Gobbler and just kind of spinning them on their head and and making them new and exciting in this way that I had never seen before. And yeah, and then and then I was released back out into the real world, which was Aleta: Ha ha. JP: you know, kind of a shock after being in four years of this like fever dream that was this education. So yeah, it was just an an absolutely incredible a life giving experience for me. Aleta: Okay, so what is the title Lucy: That's beautiful. Aleta: of that that project? I I'm a lit nerd. My degree is in French and Spanish literature, so I'm like La Casa de Bernard Alba. I it's on my bookshelf. but I I would love to JP: Yeah. my gosh. my gosh, yes. my god, I love that. Yes. Aleta: see that. That sounds amazing. Is it available somewhere to watch? JP: my gosh, yes. I I wish. that was that was a live stage performance, so that one was Aleta: okay. Nada. JP: not recorded sadly. I have photos from it that I could that I Aleta: Darn. JP: could share with you, but Lucy: Please. JP: that that's that is all I have from that that specific performance. Aleta: Cool. Aww. Lucy: just lives on in the memories at this point. A few things JP: Mm, definitely. Lucy: stuck with me. I you know what is this is gonna sound so silly, but when you were saying, I went off and like, you know, traveled and did the special program JP: No. Lucy: where you were basically doing clown work. At first I was like, Is is that is she being literal? And I when you started JP: Ha Aleta: Ha ha Lucy: explaining it, I'm like, this is incredible. And when You were talking about standing up there for like an hour just waiting JP: Mm. Lucy: that that hit me because that sounds extremely vulnerable. JP: Mm. Lucy: you know, I have always liked the arts and liked acting and I my daughter is a huge theater kid, and so I was JP: Mm. Lucy: able to do a couple of like just play like musicals with her. And JP: Ya. Lucy: I remember just the feeling, you know, of standing up there. JP: Mm-hmm. Lucy: And just delivering lines, but to have to sit there and actually make the effort to just improv basically and attempt to engage an audience like that's JP: Yeah. Lucy: I was feeling for you. And then the minute JP: Mm. Lucy: you're like I just said I started crying and everyone was laughing like Aleta: Ha ha ha ha. It's my nightmare as a shy person. Lucy: But I was thinking of you too, Alita. I I I would get up and do it, but I I would be very Aleta: no. Lucy: I would feel very, very vulnerable. And so but to hear JP: yeah. Lucy: you immediately went and did a comedic character, so I'm assuming that that just prepared you to just nail JP: Right. Totally. Lucy: it. JP: Yeah. Totally. Totally. There's something so beautiful about like the innocence of clowns. I mean, I knew nothing about clown work when I when I started that program. And there's but they're so like present. There's there's nothing more present than a clown because they're observing every little detail and then like making magic out of it, and that's sort of like The humor comes out of this sort of innocence, of just like observation and it's it's it's like a close cousin of mine, I think. and yeah, it just it helps me understand that I d that comedy is not always necessarily about like hitting somebody overhead the head with a joke, that it can be as simple as a a little tiny expression and yeah, to me there was something I don't know. I think when I when I took it back to my character in House of Bernardo Alba, I I I I thought a lot about my grandmother and like my my great aunt and some of the like you know, just l Latin women in my family who like i there's there's something in that culture too that's like the tiniest little like glance, or like expression is just so funny. and so I don't know, there was something about clown also that I think helped me like understand my own culture in a new way too, if that makes any sense. and then that also helped me kind of like fuse that with this play that I was I was getting to participate in. Lucy: Did you ever since you were doing so much theater, were you ever on the musical theater side too? JP: I was in I went to a a performing arts high school and and so I did I I was very i in like the dance and and theater of it all. I wasn't much of a singer. I loved it, but like I I I can't really hold a tune. It's I'm I'm not a professional singer whatsoever, but but I was a dancer and w we did a couple of plays that were very dance heavy. I was in a production of Sweet Charity and And so I got cast in one of the leads. I could sing just enough. but I was I I excelled at at at the dance component and this character needed to be a really strong dancer and I struggled so much to become brave enough to be able to sing the songs. it was a a lot of a lot of like private time with with my vocal teacher to to get that figured out. But yes, I love I love musical theater too. and a a lot of I have a lot of friends that are professional musicians and some of which were in that cast actually and that I'm still friends with since since high school that went on to my best friend Ash is she sang Backup for Rihanna for like five years on tour and is has a a band with her husband now and they're amazing. But I think growing up alongside her, I mean she opens her mouth and angels fly out. And so I Aleta: Ha ha JP: like I I I compared myself to that growing up. Aleta: Hm. JP: So I was like, I'm not a singer, so I kind of gave that up a long time ago. But I was in a a a musical in New York like shortly after I graduated that was a a hip hop musical and so I rapped in it. I danced and rapped in it and it was a it was like a spoof of Orange is the new black, but we were Lucy: Okay. JP: dogs and cats in a shelter. It was a completely absurd and hilarious fun like late night show. but yeah, that that's kind of my my history with musical theater. Lucy: That is awesome. I would have loved to have seen that. Wow, people are so creative. Very Aleta: Ha ha ha. Lucy: cool. JP: Yeah. Aleta: Well, we I JP: So Aleta: mean we've heard so much about all these different things. Is do you have a preference in any of these areas? Like do you prefer acting, directing or writing? Or just love it all? JP: Mm. That's such a great question. I really love it all. You know, I think I think like there was a time when I thought that I had to choose Elaine and you know, the industry really kind of like wants to do that to you. there's a lot of pressure to kind of choose because there's like this notion that people aren't gonna take you seriously in something else if your energy is sort of like split. and I think that's going away and I hope it's going away because I do think that they all strengthen one another. So I I love them all. you know, I n I no longer feel like I would be like cheating on acting by being a director. Aleta: Mm-hmm. JP: and if anything, I think that the fact that I do both really they they just go hand in hand. Lucy: Absolutely. I agree with that. Do mmm No, still you. Sorry, Alita. Aleta: No, that's I I was just gonna say that's aww so cute. JP: Hi, baby. Aleta: That's that's what Greg said too, that he thought that he had JP: Mm. Aleta: to choose if he wanted to be a musician, he had to just do that. And now JP: Mm. Yeah. Aleta: the acting and the music has been so complementary to each other. So it's JP: Right, right. Aleta: it's very cool. JP: Yeah. Makes total sense. Aleta: So I guess we're we know the answer to this already, which was do the boy universe verticals were they your first foray into directing? But clearly not. JP: No, they were not. But they were definitely a new format. you know, I directing vertical is like a whole different i you have to think completely differently 'cause there's no creating an establishing wide, you know, which was Aleta: Yeah. JP: how you know, horizontal directing had been for me. It's like okay, you shoot an establishing wide and then we get to so it it it was a a whole new set of challenges, which I embraced, you know, and I think it really took me back to like being a little scrappy filmmaker kid and just kind of having to make stuff up as you go and figure out how to make stuff work. And you know, it gave me like flashbacks to like shooting things when I was like twelve, you know, where it was like, okay, Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: we're gonna put a set of twins in this and figuring out like Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: how we're gonna make that happen, you know. So yeah, it was it was new in its own way, for sure. Lucy: I was gonna ask like how did that d how did that even come about? Like like when when you were either offered or looking to move into verticals, was JP: Mm. Mm-hmm. Lucy: were were you just kind of confused like everyone else at first? Like what the heck are these? Like how did that even happen? JP: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I I mean I I got a text from a producer that I'd worked with in New York a long time ago. We hadn't spoken in a little bit, but somebody who has always just really been in my corner and and hired me on one of my first directing jobs when I was fresh out of college. and he's always like i he's somebody that I adore because he will create an opportunity for me where you know I I'm gonna have to kind of jump off of a ledge because it's gonna be something new but he's always like you'll figure it out. he always has more faith in me than I do, which I really appreciate. So yeah he was like have you directed a feature yet? And I was like no you know I I feel I feel like that's the next journey for me but I feel ready but no I haven't yet. He was like, okay, I think I have something for you. how do you feel about directing romance? And I was like, love it, you know, yeah. And then I came to set to shadow on one of the other ones, and I was like, Okay, these are like Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: the modern day soap opera, I think. and i I mean, instantly I had a blast being on set for that day of of just kind of shadowing. and then you know, chatting with with production there there was talk of the next one was gonna be a queer one. And then I got really excited. because I I as far as I could tell, so far there really wasn't a lot of queer material in these and and so yeah that that really excited me. And then when they offered it to me you know, I d I then learned that there I think there had been like five directors who had come to set at various times to to shadow and that I had been the choice and I think also part of that the producer that was hiring really wanted to ensure that there was a queer director on on this first one and and that was really important to her. So that made me really happy too because I do think it's so important to have queer people, you know, as telling their own stories, you know, just involved in the in the product and finding all of the little tiny news nuances that make them real and authentic and connect with audiences. So but yeah, I I I really was like, I don't I don't know what these are, but I'm di I'm diving in. Aleta: Ha ha. JP: It has not led me astray yet, and so, you Lucy: Ha ha JP: know, a challenge accepted, we'll we'll Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: dive in. Lucy: I feel so strongly about you saying that they wanted a queer director. So JP: Mm-hmm. Lucy: I've watched almost at least all of the Western BLs JP: Mm. Lucy: and I'm almost caught up on the girl loves. Those are all coming out really fast and new. JP: Mm. Lucy: And I feel like and and and and when we break down recaps, we do usually try to investigate a little bit the directors and the writers and such. And it JP: Mm-hmm. Lucy: And and I can't say for sure, but our favorites have been directed by queer directors. And I JP: mm, mm Lucy: think the ones that have rewatchability, and that and that's something JP: Mm. Lucy: we've spoken about before. I think JP: Yeah. Lucy: and and and obviously we're rewatching a lot of them because there's not as many out as the other content. But JP: Mm-hmm. Lucy: you know, I can't this will like I d I don't I don't I don't know if I'll get emotional about it, but JP: Mm. Lucy: It's so weird. So, like, I've always like straight until he kissed me has always been my favorite. I've always always rewatched JP: Mm. Lucy: it so much. But Stable Boy, I am compelled JP: Mm. Lucy: to watch that over and over and over again. It is just so good and pure and and and there's so much about it. And I there's been some queer verticals that have come out that I've kind of tilted my head a little. And I'm like, did they have JP: Yeah. Lucy: queer creatives behind this one? Because it is missing JP: Mm, Lucy: something. They are missing something. And JP: mm, mm. Lucy: the ones that I think we all really enjoy rewatching are the ones where we have there are queer actors, there are, you know, queer people JP: Mm. Yeah. Lucy: behind the camera because I do think it really conveys to the audience. At least that's my experience. So JP: Mm. Absolutely. Yes, totally. Totally. I'm glad that you mentioned the actors too, because I do think it makes you know, I think actors are transformative and they can do anything. they really can. If they if they are able to to access, you know, that like kind of liminal space where anything is possible and bring that forward and they're vulnerable enough to do so. I think anybody can do can do it. But often it do you know it does make a huge difference to have queer actors playing queer people and because they're they're they just have, you know, the the life experiences that are gonna enhance what they're able to bring to that character. And not that like, you know, love can translate in any way, but there there might just be like little details that they don't that they don't know. And that's extra research that that person would have to do to then try to authenticate for themselves and and historically straight actors have mostly played queer characters and been given awards for that. And to to me, it's like are are those awards coming because they're like having to like cross this enormous bridge in order to be able to to get to that place where they're playing somebody who's so different from themselves. I just feel like there's the it's important for queer people to get those opportunities to play those characters that have been sort of mostly occupied by by hetero actors. And yeah, so it's it was really special to to get to be a part of the casting process and able to communicate to the casting director Tracy that it was really important to me you know, that we prioritize queer actors and leave room for the possibility that who we cast, you know, wouldn't be. And without explicitly asking anyone, you know, like really just Lucy: Yeah. JP: kind of energetically trying to like figure out you know, who who who might be queer in real life. so Yeah, and then and then meeting Declan and Skye, I mean, and their chemistry was just instantly palpable. They were on on a zoom casting and, you know, were in different we were all three of us were in different countries and yet, yeah, there was just a a immediate electricity between the two of them that also made me go, There's there's no way that these actors aren't queer or at least have like some queer bones. Aleta: Ha ha ha Lucy: Ha ha ha. JP: which like I you know, I think all artists kind of like have like a a fruitiness to them that they can like kind of you know like it doesn't mat it doesn't really matter what their sexual orientation is. They can kind of like go there and but yeah they just they were instantly just so those characters and and so eager to play. And that's I think what I always look for when I'm when I'm casting a project is when I you know, if I if I throw them a curveball, what do they do with it? Do they take it and run? Do they get nervous? Do they shut down? Or do they like kind of come into the room like like a dog with their tail wagging ready to just like play? You know, And because I wanna play and I've as an actor myself, like I wanna feel like we're all kind of like in the room together, having this playful experience. So yeah, really, really loved getting to to cast queer actors in in these projects. Lucy: I love that you said that. No, you go ahead, go ahead. Aleta: And they all kind of talk about sorry, ma Lucy. JP: Mm. Aleta: they all kind of s have have talked about the importance of of creating something that they would have loved to see when they were young. And JP: Yes, yeah. Aleta: so they must be so much more invested, right? In in creating JP: Yeah, yeah. Aleta: a good a good product, a good experience. JP: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Absolutely. It's some it means so much more to the to them. It's so much more than just an acting job. it's you know, there's there's an element of just really getting to give something to their community. they just care so much and it's so evident. Lucy: And that's all I was gonna say too is no, no, exactly Aleta: sorry. Lucy: what you just said too, JP is it's been very clear because we we enjoy interacting with the actors and watching their content. And, you know, Evan and several others have spoken about JP: Mm-hmm. Lucy: exactly what Alita said getting to see something and to be a part JP: Mm. Lucy: of changing somebody's life, to changing someone JP: Yeah. Lucy: who's not quite sure where they're at yet. But they've also JP: Mm-hmm. Lucy: discussed that. it just it it it is a different investment, you know. And and I do think JP: Mm. Yeah. Lucy: there are straight actors out there who do care and do make it the investment. Like I JP: Mm-hmm. Yes. Lucy: talk a lot about Queer as Folk, one of my favorites of all time, and Brian was played by a straight man. But I know JP: Mm. Yeah. Lucy: that he Gail put in everything into that role. And I'm like, I appreciated that what he tried to do. I I think back, JP: Mm, yeah, mhm. Lucy: I'm like, it would have been really great to have a queer actor. But, JP: Sure. Lucy: you know, I I've been joking that they should just remake it. And We've got you've got a cast ready. Like I Sky can play Brian. Evan will play Michael. Like I have already got the list. They should remake it. I'm just saying. JP: Yeah Yes, yeah. Let's go, yeah, amazing, yeah, definitely, yeah. Aleta: Ha ha Lucy: this is actually awesome because I feel like you've touched on so many of like the questions we had. So we can JP: Mm. Aleta: Sure. Lucy: we can hop on around. Alita, I think you should do the choose any film. Aleta: Okay, yeah. If y if you could choose any film, which one would you most like to have been in and in which role? Or which one would JP: Mm. Mm. Aleta: you most like to have directed too? That's another interesting aspect. JP: wow. Wow. That's such a cool question. I there's so many, you know. I think I think the first one that comes to mind simply because it's one of my favorite films and I could never do it the way that these actors did. but I think it would be really fun to play the the role of Marianne in Portrait of a Lady on Fire. and if you haven't seen it, it's a gorgeous movie. it's a French film, it's a queer film, it's a girl love story, and yeah, I Lucy: See ya. JP: think just to have the opportunity I I haven't it's a period piece also. So I think there's like there's a lot of things in there that that sort of appeal to me. I love a period piece, especially acting in one and getting to like transform time. and that it's a girl love story. and it's just a very like quiet, beautiful, potent, erotic, just gorgeous movie. and I think I I would have I would give anything to be directed by Celine, the director that that did that movie is just an absolute genius. So I wouldn't direct it. she Aleta: Yeah. JP: did it perfectly. yeah. but yeah, definitely recommend that film too. It's it's it's beautiful. It's one of my favorites. Lucy: I'll have to see that. That sounds really intriguing. I I feel like there's not enough girl love. There just really is not. Yeah. JP: There's not. No. No, I know. There really there really isn't. And yeah, I mean I I am I I've been dying to get into that space. and have, you know, asked a lot of the producers that I've worked with, like, when can we do a girl love? and let me add it, you know. I wanna Lucy: Please. JP: direct one so badly. Lucy: I want you to direct one so badly. Because we have four verticals of of proof proof of concept here that you know what you're drinking doing. And I just know it's gonna be good. Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: Thank you so much. Aleta: Ha ha ha ha. Lucy: I I ha I just have certain criteria at this point after having seen so many of like the Western verticals. JP: Mm. Lucy: She's laughing because she has to listen to me talk about it constantly. And I won't say it on a recorded podcast, but you know. JP: Ha ha Lucy: I know. Yeah. JP: Well I've well I'll fly in about that later. Lucy: But I would I would just love to see it. And especially JP: Mm. Lucy: you know, I and and we've only done I think a few recaps of Girl Loves and I think to be honest, I don't know if anyone who's directed them has been queer. And I JP: Mm. Lucy: so my apolog like I think we've only done two or three and I JP: Mm. Lucy: I just don't have a guarantee that, you know, JP: Yeah. Lucy: And and and so yeah, I I'm looking forward to one that I think maybe speaks more to you know, who it's meant for. Is I guess is I guess what I will say. I can say that. JP: Totally. But yes, that yes. Totally. I Aleta: Yeah. JP: do feel like I I actually haven't watched any of the girl love ones, which is surprising, but I actually haven't watched a lot of verticals in general, which I know is like kind of I feel embarrassed to admit that. Lucy: No, don't don't. JP: but you know, I I think in general the the like girl love content that exists is often like it feels like it's for a male gaze and so Aleta: Yep. JP: you know I just yeah. I think Lucy: That's exactly what I wanted to say. my gosh, I JP: I think that's why I love the movie that I mentioned because it is so it is made by a a queer filmmaker and there are queer actors in it and and actually funny enough the the one of the lead actors and the director were lovers at one time and And there's something so beautiful about that too. I think we're community, like we r we really I say this all the time and that you know, we stay in each other's lives. Like we've lost so much family, many of us as it is, that, you know, when we love someone it's it's really kind of forever. Even if we don't speak to that person anymore, there's like a tenderness there, usually that that stays. I I think about like the late Andrea Gibson who who who passed pretty recently had like four of their ex girlfriends at their bedside when when they were dying. and how all of those people just I don't know, there's something so gorgeous about that. I don't know how I got off on that tangent, but Aleta: Ha ha. Lucy: That's okay. JP: But yeah, I mean in general I I I think that the girl love content is is very much made for for a male gaze and like misses a lot of the nuances. it's often like femme femme, femme for femme. And you know, there's there's frankly Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: not a lot of that. So I don't know why that's the majority of the I mean it exists for sure. but there's so many other different variations of girl love and And sapphic love, I guess, you know. so I wanna see a a reflection of like what my you know, my community really looks like. I have a enormous community of of lesbian friends and artists and you know, it ought what I see in my real life is not at all what I often see on screen. And and so I wanna I wanna bring that to to the screen and and make something that is for our community because there's not very much of it. So I feel really, really passionately about about getting some something made that that we can all love and enjoy, that feels authentic to to who we are. So yeah. Lucy: You are singing everything that I have been saying and griping about and frustrated. So truly, I I I don't I'm gonna tag like every app known to man and be like, I need Aleta: Ha ha. Lucy: you to have JP direct this because JP: Ha. Aleta: Ha ha ha. Lucy: so okay, the closest thing we have, and I can I can recommend this. It's very, very sweet. And it's free on TikTok. Say yes to my tomboy roommate. We just recapped, JP: Okay. Lucy: say we just recapped this. It's got Nare Is Rillian last name. Right, Alita? Said it correctly. Nare Isrillion. Aleta: Yeah, I think so. Lucy: She is gorgeous, but she is mask. And so JP: Okay. Lucy: I was previously married. my my original marriage, I god, I'm like saying so much about myself here, but I was married to a very butch woman, and she's a hundred percent my type, and I loved her to pieces, and JP: mhm, yeah, mhm Lucy: there is no reflection of my relationship. anywhere hardly in media. Like I, JP: Right, right. Lucy: you know, like my the women I've loved have just had a lot more swag. So like Michelle Rodriguez, my god, JP: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Lucy: I I will watch anything that woman does. So hot. And JP: So hot. Absolutely. Yeah. Lucy: the L word I liked because it did have a variety. So Poppy and JP: Totally. Yeah. Aleta: Mm. Lucy: Shane just meant so much to me. And I do think there is a place for femme femme. JP: Yes, totally. Ugh, Shane forever. Aleta: Ha ha Lucy: Shane. JP: what a heart throb. Lucy: Well, okay, and nare reminds me of Shane. So I'm just saying, when you get time, just go on TikTok and just check it out. And it's very sweet, very, very n I I wish it a say yes JP: Great. Cool. Yeah. Tell me the name one more time. I'm gonna just write it down. Lucy: to my tomboy roommate. JP: Okay. Lucy: it's got her and Kaylin in it and I think Peluso, JP: Yeah, we're. Lucy: and she's done like a lot of like I think straight work, but JP: Mm. Lucy: I thought their chemistry was really sweet. It's just it I think it was basically a K-drama that had no adaption JP: Mm. Lucy: to like a Western story. So like the whole JP: Okay. Lucy: time I'm just like K-drama, K drama, K drama. But I feel like the actresses really put effort into that. And JP: mhm, mhm Lucy: so that one I've really loved. There there is another one on my JP: Mm. Lucy: drama called The Summer in Between, and that stills stars Bella Moraz and Kaylee Jenkins. JP: Mm. Okay. Lucy: They were lovely together. They're f they're femme, but this they JP: Okay. Lucy: but but Kaylee's character had just this I I don't wanna keep saying swag, but she just had this vibe to her. She had an edge to her that really spoke to me. And I just Aleta: An edge. Yeah. JP: Yeah, right. Mm-hmm. Lucy: I've been saying the male gaze thing for a while and I've been really frustrated. JP: Yeah. Lucy: And I don't want to diminish people who do want to see femme femme. It's just there needs JP: Totally. Lucy: to be a variety. JP: Absolutely. Lucy: And I also can't help but feel like it's a hundred percent for the male gaze. Why JP: Yeah. Lucy: are we doing it? Do you have a queer woman directing this, please? JP: Right. my gosh. Right. Lucy: so a but another one that you might really like is a shot at love, and that's on Chara TV. That one is actually really lovely. Rachel Rose directed JP: Okay, okay, cool. I really Lucy: it. JP: I really like what Share T V is doing. Aleta: Beautifully filmed, like just gorgeous. It does not look like a vertical. Lucy: me too. Beautiful. JP: I really wanna work with Lucy: No. JP: cool. Lucy: Yeah, they are doing really good work. So JP: They're doing really, really good work and you know, so like female driven. I just yeah, I'm dying to work with them. If they're listening Yeah. For real. Yeah, I totally agree Lucy: I hope you too. Yes. Higher JP, please. Stuart girl love. JP: with you. I mean, I I I wan I wanna watch romance that features like the kinds of characters that I get all romantic and mushy about. So, you know. Yeah, I wanna see like some of some more of those more mask, androgynous, you know, non binary, you know, like the full spectrum of what like Safic community looks like on screen. Lucy: Agreed. We just don't have enough of it at all. So JP: Mm. Totally. Lucy: Okay. I'm gonna jump just a little bit, Alita. Out of Pool Boy, The Water Boys, and Stable Boy, which one JP: Mm. Lucy: was the most challenging to direct? JP: Ooh, they are all challenging in their own ways. I I would say Colo Boy was the most challenging, I think, because it was also my first one and so there was the learning curve was so steep for me and we had actors in water almost every single day and in and out of water and trying to coordinate how to, you know, shoot things in an order that was gonna make sense and and keep them warm and out of the sun and and figure out how to make a pool that was in someone's backyard look like a swimming pool out of school. we just were really limited in a lot of ways for that one. and yeah, I mean I I was just learning so much about the vertical format and and about just like the sort of like episode holds, you know, shooting those is like a whole new thing that I had never done before where we're shooting like, you know, it's the scene can go in this way or that way. And so yeah, I think being that it was the the first time, and that I was having to really like rack my brain about how to make this pool work. And the poor actors were so cold so much of the time. Aleta: Yeah. JP: They were just so cold. I mean, I Lucy: They talk about that. JP: I was like begging the producer I was like, we have to heat this pool overnight. I Lucy: Yeah. JP: can't I cannot ask them to go in there for that length of time. And so I finally I managed to get like the producers to agree to like crank the heat overnight so that the pool would be warm for the following scenes and stuff. But yeah, that one was really hard. It was really, really hard, I'm not gonna lie. I I I actually went away from that project being like, Will I ever do this again? Aleta: Ha ha ha ha. Lucy: Ho ho ho ho my goodness. JP: Yeah, I really was just like I because I absolut I loved our cast. working with them was was such a blast. but there were so many parts of the production itself that were really, really challenging, in a way that like damn near broke me a few times. So yeah. Lucy: Gosh. I'm glad that you came back because we got some really great verticals after that, of course. But I am shocked because I think I remember the scene that you're talking about where I I just assumed it was a school pool. Like with the lanes that you put in, you guys did a really good job. I really looked like a school pool. I can't believe that's someone's pool in their backyard. JP: I'm so glad. I watch it and I'm like, that's definitely a backyard, but I'm glad Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: that the illusion like came together because we definitely ooh, there was like Lucy: It came through for me. So JP: the deep end was the only s end that was you know, safe for them to dive into. And so we had to keep repurposing the lanes and like putting them the orientation of them different in order to make every shot come together. The puzzle of it all was crazy. Like the illustrations that I made in my notebooks and stuff, like my Room looked like that movie A Beautiful Mind. Like I had all these Aleta: Ha ha JP: little scraps of paper everywhere and I was like, you know, just try and then trying to get the crew on board with what the vision was inside my head of how we were gonna make that work was really crazy because then we had to also figure out, okay, what order can we shoot this in so that we're not having art department have to come in and rearrange everything every single shot. so And and that was all I think on day one that we were doing those most challenging like swim lane scenes. So I was Lucy: Ha ha ha. JP: like, Whoa this is this is insane what we're doing. And I have like, you know, the client on me like cr kind of critiquing every move that we were making, and I was like, I swear it's gonna make sense. I swear. It's Lucy: Ha ha ha! JP: gonna cut together, I promise. Lucy: You're like, I have seven more days of this first day. my goodness. That is fr JP: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Aleta: Like if you d if you don't like this, perhaps you could up the budget so we can have a better pool. Lucy: Ha ha ha. JP: Right. Exactly. Always. Always my Lucy: my JP: comment. Lucy: that is some really good behind the scenes though, I cannot lie. That is really interesting to hear. I just I JP: Ha Lucy: I guess you know what? We talk about this a lot. We we let so many things go in verticals and JP: Mm. Lucy: and and you know what's so sad is I I went to the movie theater recently and I watched some of the newer JP: Mm. Lucy: movies and I'm so hard on them. Like I'm so hard, yeah, I'm so hard on the acting and the direct I always have been. I've been a film buff since I was a kid. But for JP: yeah. Yeah. Totally. Mhm. Lucy: some reason with the verticals, like I think it's just because we all know they are just what they are. Yeah, and I'm just like so JP: Totally. Totally. Lucy: you know, like a few of that have come out, like like I I'm just gonna throw out a couple of names here, but like Bound, JP: Mm. Lucy: like Amanda Fallon Smith directed that one. And what was the other one? A shot at a shot at love. Like they made him JP: Yeah. Lucy: a little less like vertical like, I guess. Aleta: Mm. Lucy: And I'm like, it's a damn masterpiece because you're comparing it to like you know what I mean? You're comparing it to like our Aleta: Ha JP: my gosh, yeah. Lucy: our campy fun and and those have their place too. But I JP: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Lucy: and I and that might be what it is too, a little bit for me with Stableboy, is Stableboy was JP: Mm. Lucy: so raw and real to me. Like JP: Mm. Lucy: Were there cute little quirk things, quirky things in there? Yeah, but not JP: Mm. Lucy: to anywhere near to the extent of like straight until he kissed me, which was like, we're gonna have sounds for, you know, eyebrows and like, he falls. Yeah. And I do love those. I do like Aleta: Yeah. Little cartoon sounds. JP: Sure. Yeah. Right. Right. Right. Yeah. Lucy: the sound effects. I'm one of the only ones I think that does, but I adore them. They are so fun. They are so JP: They're fun. I think they're so fun. Yeah. Lucy: fun. JP: Yeah. And I love Lucy: But I think that's where JP: that they all, you know, have their own personalities. And I and I love that you mentioned Stable Boy as like, you know, having a like just a different energy about it. Cause we felt that when we were making it. And I felt it even reading the script that it was gonna be a little different. And I think just having animals involved too changes everything. Horses are just so Spectacular. There's something Lucy: Yeah. JP: just so incredibly magical about a horse and and just the energy that they bring. And so even just being on a set where we're, you know, we're shooting something and they may not even be on camera, but there's they're in the stall right next to us and they're they're watching and their energy is in the space. And, Aleta: Ha ha ha. Lucy: Ha ha ha JP: you know, like I have some really fun like BTS videos and stuff where there's a horse just kind of like over me, like watching monitor with me. It's like this is Lucy: Cute. JP: magic, you know? And so that energy can't help but but translate onto the screen and like kind of inherently it becomes a little less camp, I think, Lucy: Yeah. JP: just because of their their energy. Yeah. I don't know. And that that location was so beautiful. y it just it w it wants to be cinematic. When you we like set the camera down there and it's like, how are we gonna not we actually almost cut the or I guess not w I shouldn't say we time and budgets and, you know, producers were pressuring me to cut the the final scene where they're sort of on the horse at sunset. I know. And I Lucy: No Aleta: no JP: I I don't often like really put my foot down about something. Like but you know, they approached me and they were like, we're losing light and then we have this other scene to shoot and I think that we need to do that scene. like at nighttime and I was like, No, I hate that. I'm sorry, but we have to do that. we Lucy: Yeah. JP: ha like everyone is watching for that final like ride off into the sunset moment. Are you joking? We have to. It's and and Lucy: Yeah. JP: like how could we possibly miss out on that spectacular, you know, scenery. And I was just so thankful that they made it happen. Because w I mean w what a moment to even be a part of and then to have it captured on screen. I mean it looks like a like a green screen or something. It's just so such a such a gorgeous piece of earth to to get to to film. Lucy: It is Yes They were glowing And it really Aleta: And the light that glow like it just gorgeous. JP: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Lucy: was like riding off into the sun so I thank you for pushing for that It was part of JP: Totally. my pleasure. And I wanted Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: it for the actors too, because like they really they they needed that sort of payoff moment. I mean the moment we got up there, Declan like in tears, you know. Sweet sweet, sensitive Declan. Just s my goodness, Aleta: He's such a sweetheart. JP: yeah. Lucy: He's soaked half full though. He was like, but it's fine. You know, I made it through. You know, it he'll tell tell his subscribers JP: Totally, totally. Aleta: Ha ha ha. Lucy: all the time, it's okay. Yeah, I was itching. I was really red, but it's okay. We're like, Declan, my gosh, but JP: I know, poor baby. Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: my god, I know that was crazy to discover that he was allergic to hay, like right in the middle of a scene where he's literally falling into a barrel of it. We're Aleta: No. Lucy: Poor guy. JP: like, no, I know. my gosh. Lucy: I'm glad you fought for that. And and you know, and I do want to say too, like the campy ones, I still love them. Like my they're like some of the the like Straight Until they Kiss Me will always be like a number one for me. But I do JP: yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Lucy: like we talked about a variety of different types of actors. It's so great. JP: Mm. Lucy: Like let's do a variety of different types JP: Mm-hmm. Lucy: of queer verticals. And JP: Mm. Lucy: I think they're working towards it. I mean we're seeing some of it. It's JP: Yeah. Lucy: there's just a place for all of it I think and I just wanna see more. JP: Mm-hmm. Me too. Me too, me too. Lucy: Ooh Alita, the next one. Aleta: Was there anything you wish you could have changed about any of the Boy Universe verticals? JP: Ooh. Some things for sure. gosh, it's hard to it's hard to pinpoint like one sort of Big thing. you know, I I think a big I don't know if I would change necessarily, but what I'd like to see moving forward is just to see more diversity. it's something I'm always talking about, with producers, with casting director, and I don't always have a lot of say and ownership in that, but Just really want to see more more diversity on screen. Lucy: Yes. JP: There's some things, I mean, I think like scenes that are that that are sexual in nature, I I think dropping some some notes and some hints about safe sex, is important, you know. I was we were really hoping to sneak at least a shot of a condom into Waterboy and it it it didn't happen despite my wanting it to and so you know things like that I think I I would like to see change. and if I could go back, that's something I would definitely put in that one. but other than that, I I don't know. Yeah, I think it's I think it's more just like the those little details that just kind of authenticate and will will like better represent the community at large that I would change. But other than that not a lot. Yeah, Aleta: Mm-hmm. Lucy: You're really speaking JP: yeah. Lucy: like the fans' language, I think. Like I've been really surprised by a lot of things that you shared. I'm like, wow, JP: Mm. Lucy: this is a lot of what all of us have been saying. And there JP: yeah. Wow. Lucy: when Waterboy came out, that was one of the most commented things. Like, hey, JP: Mm. Lucy: this is really hot, but like they JP: Yeah. Lucy: would use a I mean, they would do more, but they would use a condom. You know what I mean? And JP: Yeah, yes, yes, yes. Aleta: Ha ha ha. Lucy: I know in tutoring my rival boy they did get that in there, and that was a real short one. Aleta: Mm-hmm. JP: Yeah. Yes, I did notice Lucy: You know JP: that. Yeah. Lucy: So JP: And that was a bit, you know, s Sky and I felt so passionately about it and you know, it was one of those things that just got cut and I I I think the I mean that's that's really why I'm looking to ha have a little bit more of like a sorry about Joey squeaking a toy. Lucy: No, it's gr it's great. Let him go to town. Aleta: Done. JP: but you know I I would like to have a little bit more of a a stake in the content. I you know, often I I feel like I'm a little bit just like plugged in to execute versus getting to really have agency you know over big choices like that. and so yeah, really really looking to expand and perhaps create some series of of my own. I I think get to utilize my, you know, my background writing and producing to to really get to have a little bit more ownership and and make sure that those things that are important to me and are important to the fans make it to that final cut and to be able to ha to to be in the room for the cut for the edit at all and get to weigh in Lucy: Absolutely. JP: on those things going forward is something that I'm that I'm really looking forward to and something that I'm that I'm working on. Aleta: Mm-hmm. Lucy: How do you? JP: so yeah, hopefully stay tuned for for what's gonna come. But But yeah, yeah, those are those are definitely things that like fans, I hear you. You know? Yeah. Aleta: Yeah. Lucy: Well, it's amazing 'cause I feel like we're obviously speaking each other's languages. Like it's you know, like it sounds like the queer creatives they and and the queer fans, everyone's JP: Mm. Lucy: on kind of the same page, I think, with it. And that's JP: Yeah. Lucy: really awesome to hear and I am very excited JP: Mm. Lucy: for whatever you kinda have in the works. I JP: Mm. Lucy: I've just been so impressed with what you've done. I I'm looking forward to I I I well cause I hadn't done a whole lot of research. I'm like, what does she have going on that I can watch? You know, that is out there. So I'm looking forward to watching anything that you do make. And and I'd love to see JP: Aw, thank you. Lucy: what your full vision is, right? Because we know the verticals, JP: Mm. Lucy: like there's usually a business behind it and there's usually a model behind it. And, you know, fair. Some of it sucks you JP: Mm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Totally. Lucy: in. It does. Like there's a place for it. But I I JP: Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. Lucy: do think there's a specific JP flavor that has JP: Mm. Lucy: transcended those Boy Universe verticals. And it's because I've watched so many of them JP: Yeah. Lucy: and you are the only one that has done multiple, I think. So I'm pretty sure you're the only one. And maybe no, because JP: interesting. Wow. Mm. Lucy: Dee Dee Harlan did only Secret Agent twice, and that's it. JP: wow, interesting. Yeah, Lucy: Yeah and JP: I feel really honored that I've gotten to stick with it. and it and what a rare thing, you know, to to get to play with these actors over and over again and continue to deepen our relationship. And I mean a huge I think part of why I've gotten the opportunity to t to direct you know, all four of these was because of my report with the actors and And I really appreciated that Real Short recognized that and you know, kept us together. I think that was really important to the to the the universe, you know, that that we get to continue to like expand on on what we were building together. So yeah, Lucy: Beautiful. JP: and I do feel like, you know, thank you for seeing my s my stamp on it, you know. I it Aleta: Mm-hmm. JP: it is in very many ways a formula, these verticals, but it's really exciting when the little the the little things that I push for kind of like slip through the cracks and like leave an imprint and I get to really like do the thing that I love which is collaborate with people and like, you know, r recognizing the skills of of the crew around me and being able to like create this very like you know theater ensemble type of energy onset. I really like to to kind of like bring that ensemble vibe that I learned in the in the theater with me onto the set. And you know, like Water Water Boy, that was another example of of something that almost got cut, but that opening sequence, the dream sequence, I was like, you know, in the moment we had to move the scene indoors because of the rain. And I had some other ideas for what we were gonna do. It was originally supposed to be on a football field and it poured rain in LA for like most of the the days that we were slotted to shoot outside. So we moved it into the gym and I like, okay, well how can I translate this like idea that I had for the field into the gym and I was like, okay, I let's just pump the gym full of fog. and dream sequences are so fun because they're you know, you get to be so sort of like experimental with them. because anything goes in a in a dream, you know, and so Lucy: Ha ha ha. JP: it was very like theater for me and Shauna, whom I love, my DP that I had for both Water Boys, is always just like so game for whatever harebrain ideas I have. And Aleta: Ha ha. JP: so I was like, okay, what if it's just, you know, it's it's just me and you and the camera and we're and we track with the actors and kind of do this thing where we float in a circle and then we'll be able to like speed ramp it in between the dialogue. And we had to really rehearse it to get that shot to to flow the way that it did. So it was taking time, which is something that's so valuable on a vertical set. And and so I could feel, you know, client producers getting really antsy about it 'cause we weren't quite getting it. And I was like, just hold on, just hold on. Like we're gonna get it and then it's gonna be amazing, I promise. they were like, no, let's just shoot it the traditional way. They kept trying to like cut it and and have us just kind of like put camera on sticks and shoot it traditional. And I really wanted this reveal to happen where we're kind of we're circling, we're circling and then all of a sudden, you know Sky kind of disappears and this cheerleader bully shows up. and it's in this like magic moment. And actually in the cut, they didn't really do what I intended, but that's okay. But we ended up being able to pull off the shot and and then once they saw it kind of come together, it was everybody was so thrilled. so that was like one of those moments where I was just so thankful that we took a shot at it and that we were able to convince everybody to stay on board for long enough that we could pull it off. And and that was just really like one of those childlike moments on set where I felt like we really got to bring our creativity and our, you know, the the skill set of this incredible crew forward and and not just follow the formula Lucy: Yeah. JP: that's that's sort of prescribed. so I look forward to getting to to experiment with the format more and more and and get to just really, you know, make it my own and make it unique to to every crew that that I work with because everybody's so talented. It's like why not, you know, why not break the formula and and try some things that could end up being awesome, you know? Lucy: I feel like every time the formula's broken, it is awesome. Like I really do. JP: Mm. Lucy: I we've heard about actors getting to kinda improv and you know, when those get left in, they're they're really special and that's what actually sticks with fans, I think. And it does. It absolutely JP: Mm. Mm. The most. The most. Yeah. Lucy: does. And the beginning sequence, I'm I'm now 'cause I've seen Waterboy a lot and so I'm JP: Hm. Lucy: like just envisioning the dream sequence and you're right, it was It was like I'm just imagining how you were saying you were moving around. And I would I wish you could have gotten like the vision that you had been thinking, but I I thought that scene was beautiful. You know, it gets used in a lot of edits and like people love it and they're so cute and Declan and Skye are just great together. So I just love hearing this perspective that you have. Like we've speak to the actors, but JP: Mm. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cool. Aleta: Ha ha. Lucy: to hear from somebody who actually has to put it all together and make it happen. JP: mm Lucy: This is brilliant. You're really good at yeah. JP: Aww, thank you so much. It's so it's so much fun. It's an absolutely insane puzzle and it's it's a blast. Thank you. Lucy: You're good at putting it together, that's for sure. Aleta: know whether we're like I mean we're maybe not representative of the vast majority of vertical watchers, right? But it's so I mean they did that that love whispers thing that Real Short did with with Declan and Skye and Andrew and Greg and it JP: Mm-hmm. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Aleta: just it was looked beautiful and I was like I JP: It's gorgeous. Yeah. Aleta: want to see a vertical like this without JP: Yes. Aleta: all the tropes JP: Right. Aleta: that looks beautiful, like JP: Yeah. Aleta: because very often they are sh they are kind of soap opera feel, right? Like you said, in in the way they look too. But JP: Right, yeah. Mm-hmm. Aleta: just to have that it can be done. The Chara JP: Yes. Lucy: Mm-hmm. Aleta: shot at love, it didn't feel like a vertical. Like but I guess that JP: Yeah, yeah, mm-hmm. Aleta: that requires a lot of buy-in from the from the companies to to JP: Yes, exactly. Lucy: Yeah. JP: Yeah, exactly. Mm-hmm. Aleta: Do something like that. Yeah. Lucy: I think as like JP: Yeah. Lucy: more American companies come out, that'll change. You know? I think a lot of people JP: Mm, mhm. Lucy: are creating apps and companies and JP: Mm. Lucy: so JP: Yeah, I think there's a lot of hesitation around like, you know, straying away from a formula that's like tried and true, which makes sense, you know, it's it's it's working for them. But I am excited to branch out and you know, and see what what other companies are doing and the risks that they're taking and really eager to work with companies that are wanting to push those boundaries and Aleta: Mm-hmm. JP: I I thought the Love Whispers was such a beautiful departure from what we normally see from Real Short and Aleta: Yeah. JP: and in general I think our s our series have been a a pretty big departure from from Aleta: Hm. JP: their formula and I appreciate getting to to take those those risks and yeah, I just wanna do more and more of it and kinda blend the worlds. It's like there are certain things about verticals that you know, s like allowing the cracks to kind of show and like to get away with it being a little camp is like is part of the experience. It is a different medium than sitting down in a theater to watch a movie. It almost lives somewhere between being a film and being like a TikTok made by Lucy: Yep. JP: a creator. Aleta: Yeah. JP: And so like I don't want to lose all of that. Like I don't want the production value to become so high that it is just a film 'cause That's different. That's a different thing. I mean, maybe, maybe they're maybe that's what we want. I don't know. I mean it's still kind of like the Wild West. both, yeah, for sure. Yeah. Aleta: I think there's room for both. Like, you know, some people are gonna prefer the the the tropes and the and the campiness and some people are gonna JP: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Aleta: be like like I was, wow, this feels like a film, you know, like when watching A Shot at Love or Bound, they they JP: Yes, yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. Aleta: feel you know, but I mean I love them I love them both, right? Like JP: Yeah. Yeah. Totally. Totally. Yeah. And I think there's probably a way to like blend so that it's, you know, it doesn't necessarily have to be campy, but and can still have that beautiful feel, but still retain a little of that like homemade quality, I guess. Aleta: Hm. Lucy: Yeah. JP: where it's sort of handheld. Even even just being able to shoot handheld was something that was sort of like a no no when I when I first started on these. It was like, we don't do that, it's always on sticks. And I was like, but Lucy: Wow. JP: movement. I want movement. I wanna like, you Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: know, I really kind of I became obsessed with the idea of any time that Declan and Sky's characters were alone together that we would be handheld and kind of the camera would sort of breathe with them because I wanted the audience to feel like they were in the space with them and kind of experiencing that like heart palpitating moment of like being alone with your crush, which you just can't achieve if you're on if you're static and you're on sticks. Lucy: Yeah. JP: you know, it's it's such a different feel when the camera operator is like there kind of like breathing with the characters. They're they're a part of their performance in a w in a way when they're when they're getting to s sort of float. so yeah, there's so many like fun fun ways to to break the the formula. And yeah, I'm excited to kind of experiment with all of them. Lucy: I'm excited to get to see you do all of that. I'm just waiting. We're just waiting. Aleta: Mm. JP: Me too. Lucy: So how did it feel to have Waterboy win vertical of the we of the year at Vertical Drama Love Awards? I know we saw a lot of it and we we love it, but I'm just so curious in your own words, like kind of what it meant. Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: Yeah. Yeah. it was huge. It was it was an absolute shock. Aleta: Ha ha ha ha. JP: I was not prepared for that whatsoever. I I mean I was so honored to you know that we won the queer vertical of the year and I was really just there to celebrate that. It it wasn't even like You know, I think Declan asked at one point, like while we were getting ready to go to the awards, like, Well, what are we gonna say if we win? And I was like, We don't need to worry about that. I wow, that's cute, but we don't need to even think about that. I mean, I really was casually eating a protein bar in the fourth row or whatever when they called us 'cause I was just not even it took me like I think a full minute to get out of my seat and actually the girl next to me was like, That's your show, go like she was like pushing me. so yeah, I mean, I it it was what a moment. I mean, I get emotional just thinking about it because it just meant so much for a queer show to win something like that, a fan award especially. Aleta: Mm-hmm. JP: you know, that people just connected with it in such a big way and especially just given like the landscape and the the texture of, you know, the world and the country that we're living in and how incredible for a queer love story to be celebrated in such a big way, you know. and that I got to be a part of it was just you know, my heart was just doing backflips. And and to to be able to celebrate it with two actors that I love so dearly, who created characters that that the world is connected with in such a way. what a thrill. Yeah, it just it left me just really, really moved. Lucy: I knew it was gonna win. I knew when JP: You did? Lucy: I knew it was gonna win. I I am telling you guys. JP: Mm. Lucy: So it's so funny because I think Declan said something similar, like, we just didn't expect it. And I'm like, guys, I don't think you realize the like I don't want to say viciousness, but the passion of this fandom. Like, it's not JP: Wow. Lucy: just like people creating like edits and podcasts and like there it is JP: Mm. Lucy: so a part a a big part of it really I hmm. It really is the actors. Like they are JP: Mm-hmm. Lucy: choosing to engage and be vulnerable about their JP: Yeah. Lucy: own lives with these fans. So it goes JP: Yeah. Lucy: past just, hey, I spent 10 days on a shoot and my vertical JP: Yeah. Lucy: release is two months later and I'm on to the next one, you know? And JP: Right. Lucy: I think there's something so special because JP: Mm. Lucy: these actors are also queer and there are so many JP: Mm. Lucy: people who are queer in the community. JP: Yeah. Lucy: that it just it just resonates all around and so when that was that voting was coming out JP: Mm. Lucy: I mean I remember like reposting that and promoing it and people were like JP: Mm. Lucy: hell yeah I voted I did this and then I remember Jen Cooper coming on and saying you will be really surprised by what and I was like it's freaking water boy I know it and I was waiting the whole time like watching I was like I better not be wrong and I was like I'm not wrong yes So I just I had a feeling and I think that's why that was so damn special. And for us in the queer community, like the queer vertical JP: Yeah. Lucy: fan fan group, JP: Mm. Lucy: I think that speaks a lot about, JP: Yeah. Lucy: you know, I I hope they they do try to like listen to us and the people working on JP: Yeah. Lucy: these projects because we we we care a lot is I guess what I w what I wanna say, you know? JP: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. True. It's yeah, absolutely. Lucy: The stakes feel higher. JP: I mean, I think that's been like really truly the most powerful part of this whole experience for me is just the fans. it's just connecting with the fans, seeing how how excited and touched and moved and reading the comments and hearing, you know, that people are finding the courage to come out. or talk to their families and be who they are and I I mean I it was so I mean I I I felt it in the moment when we were shooting it. I just I had goosebumps all over my body when that scene when when Sky's character comes out at the homecoming and his dad comes up and embraces him. That filming that scene was so powerful. I was in tears behind the monitor. and then seeing the way that that fans reacted and connected with it was just so it just it it made everything that I do feel worthwhile. It's like this is what I do it for. I do it for this right here. Like this is why I'm a storyteller is is to connect with people and make them feel seen and and hopefully, you know. help them see themselves, especially, you know, when we have so little queer, you know, content out there, to be able to contribute to that canon. Like, whoa, whoa, that's that you know, I s I say it every day when we start one of these, you know, I when we kind of go around and say hello, to c with cast and crew during our our first safety meeting. you know, I I just remind everybody what a what a privilege it is and an honor it is to get to make stories like this come to life. so yeah, just just these fans are mean everything to me. They really do. They really, really do. Lucy: all the fans love you and your work and Aleta: Mm-hmm. Lucy: like the boys and just everything. JP: No. Lucy: And I I immediately JP: Mm. Lucy: I think I was thinking exactly what Alita was thinking when you said that. I that JP: Mm. Lucy: I don't want to say it's a fantasy because there are wonderful parents out there, but I think that is what queer kids need to see is they need to see an accepting parent. You know, it's JP: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Lucy: it's fascinating to me with Stable Boy. with how much I loved it and it's like my favorite of the boy universes because the dad is not he's awful at the end. And JP: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Lucy: but that's the damn truth. That is the damn truth for so many JP: It is. It is. Lucy: kids and and and adults out there who are queer. And JP: Yeah. Lucy: but but there but the but there are Sean McHughes out there, you know what I mean? Who who JP: Yes, yes. Lucy: who will accept you. Like and and that's that's JP: Yeah. Lucy: me as a parent. That's Alita as a parent. Like we JP: Mm. Lucy: Except our you know, selves and our queer children. We get mad so mad Aleta: We get so mad at the parents in these verticals. We're like, why are they all JP: yeah, me too. Aleta: don't have a kid if you cannot accept who they are? Like JP: Yes. Right. Exactly. Yes. Lucy: I know. JP: Huge. Yeah, Lucy: Feelings. JP: I think you're so right. I think kids really do need to see that that that you know that it's possible. And what I love about Stable Boy too is that that is the truth. But then you watch this little family come together. Lucy: Yes. JP: and you know, the way that they embrace each other and how found family is such a a huge part of this community too is, you know, okay, the you know, the parental figure sometimes it's not always the parent, you know, sometimes it's just finding that one adult who loves and accepts you and encourages you to be who you are that makes all the difference. And that can be a teacher, a coach, a friend's parent, you know, the bus driver. Whatever, it can it it can be anybody that feels, you know, safe and can recognize you and appreciate you for for who you are. And I feel really lucky to have parents that ex love and accept me, you know, it it not without its challenges at times, you know. but I I have l a lot of friends, you know, that that don't have that and Such a a huge passion of of mine to help people find those spaces where they can feel, you know, embraced for exactly who they are. And so I l I love that there's that little moment in in Stable Boy where you get to see, you know, Evan's dad comes into the fold and Aleta: Mm-hmm. JP: embraces them. And it's Lucy: Yeah. JP: such a beautiful moment to me. And And with both of those both of those actors, both of those men, both in Waterboy and in Stable Boy, it was so interesting because I think at first both of those actors kind of brought their like vertical persona. like as they're instructed to do, like a lot of those actors are kind of instructed to be a little bit more camp, and make the characters really like bold and and sort of caricatures. Lucy: Yeah. JP: and And b in both of those scenes I got to kind of like peel off to the side with each of them and and have a little like heart to heart moment and just invite them to to really just go there. And I was it w it was so beautiful to watch it happen on screen when they when they kind of like released that that like vertical persona and just allowed themselves to like let their heart shine through. because it makes all the difference. I I really think it makes all the difference in the the way that those scenes kind of turned out in the way that they connect with people. Lucy: They did. I mean it they were both beautiful and and and raw and real, I think in both JP: Mm. Lucy: of the verticals. and sad. And sad. JP: And sad, yeah, totally. Yeah. Lucy: So JP: Yeah. I feel like that's you know, half of my job is just to give permission. It's just to go, just do the thing that you actually want to do. Lucy: Yeah. Thank you for telling JP: Just do it. Lucy: them that, because it translates. Alita, we're gonna go to Aleta: Yeah. Lucy: just the last couple, but I was hoping I wanna ask this one question real quick before Aleta: Yeah. Lucy: we jump down. I would love to see you direct or act in a GL JP: Mm. Lucy: vertical. Is that something you would ever be interested in? And if so, what would you actually like to see from a GL vertical? JP: Ooh, I feel like we talked about it a little bit, but yeah, I would I would love to act and or direct a GL vertical. I think I yeah, like we said, I think I think I'd really like to see something that better reflects the community that I'm a part of. I would love to see, you know, like a little bit more of like a you know, gender bendy kind of experience in it. I mean, I I I I am, you know, slightly more femme presenting, but I also I I I use they them pronouns, as well as she her pronouns. I are really I think a lot a lot of the people within the sort of like lesbian space really get to like play with gender roles and more masculinity and And the way that that sort of like flip flops too, like in a lot of my relationships, I I think I've gotten to kind of like play with like, I'm like the more mask today and you're the more femme, and then and then it flips Lucy: Hehehehehe. JP: back and forth and and there's like and it's hot and it's and it's beautiful and it's fun and so I wanna see more of that. And I don't know what those characters would look like necessarily. but I think it would be fun to play with something that that's got like a romantic comedy kind of tone to it. and something that I think kind of like what we saw with the love whispers, something that has that really sort of like elegant, beautiful tone to it Aleta: Mm-hmm. JP: is something that I'm dying to play around with with a girl love vertical, where it feels a little bit more cinematic, a little bit more art forward, a little bit more poetic, which I think Aleta: Mm. JP: is is very much like very much you know, the the sort of like emotional connection that happens b between two women is such a such a specific, like beautiful, kinetic experience that I'd love to see in a in a vertical in some capacity. Lucy: I would love to see that too. I really would. Okay, Alita, is there one you want to particularly ask before we ask our last one? Aleta: My gosh. well, maybe just one light one before we get into the heavy one. JP: Yeah. Aleta: Do you have any fun behind the scenes stories that that we don't know about from any of these projects? JP: Mm, I feel like you guys probably know Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: the lore at this point. Yeah, I mean Aleta: Declan shares. JP: I'm sure you guys have heard all about the shower scene in Waterboy, and how funny and hilarious that was to shoot. Lucy: Ha ha ha. JP: I I mean I am like literally holding Declan's back. And like serving as like the wall that he's supposed to be leaning into in in that scene when we shot skies coverage. because the way that things were were going that day and the time that things were taking, it was gonna be like a huge art reset for us to flip the entire world and shoot in the other direction. And that wall was really ugly and I was like, Okay, how can we make this happen? faster and without having to redo all of this art. And so I just I don't know, I had this wild idea where it's like, well maybe we just flip the actors around and we flip where the shower is. So we put the shower that was like on a hose on a C stand and and just flipped the whole thing around if that makes any sense. and so then the shower wall was actually not a wall anymore. And so I stood there and Declan was kind of like leaning into me while Sky was here and then the shower is like on a C stand and it's hitting, you know, Sky and we had all of our camera team like it wearing literal trash bags so that they wouldn't get wet. and yeah, had the best time of our lives. And it was Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: I j I just I live for things like that. I love like the the like gorilla filmmaker moments when you just have to make it work. And so it's so magic when also when I'm like, you know, I turn to my team and I'm like, okay, what if just hear me out? I know this sounds crazy, but what if we put the sh what if we take the shower and we like put the thing over here and we connect it to a C stand. Before I'm even finished talking, like the grips are on it and they're making it happen. And suddenly we're able to shoot. And God, I just I I I l I love my crew so much. Aleta: Ha ha JP: and having a shower with warm water was so important to me Aleta: Ha. JP: be after having the boys be so cold, you know, on Pool Boy. So yeah, and we lucked out with that coming together in this really weird backwards way 'cause that scene was actually supposed to be shot at a different location. And you may have heard this story, but We were supposed to film it like nights previous and and at that location the shower we hadn't run the shower until it was time to shoot and then when we turned it on it was like leaking water everywhere and there were like cords and cables and all kinds of things on the Lucy: Cause JP: on the ground and I actually just I had to say I'm not comfortable shooting here. Lucy: Yeah. JP: this is a safety hazard and we can't we just can't do it. And and that shower had a completely different look to it and it was like one little stall and so the angles that we would have been able to get in that space would have been entirely different as it is and the scene just wouldn't have been what it is. So it it worked out in a way that that you know that it was not a tenable shooting location Aleta: Ha ha ha. JP: for us because where we ended up was so much better. Lucy: It's crazy how life works, right? And then it JP: Mm-hmm. Lucy: feels like it's just this crazy series of risks and all those risks that you know you're talking about, they just paid off so wonderfully. I mean, and I guess not all of them are risks. They're just your creativity and it's JP: Mm. Lucy: just getting them to understand the importance of it. And when they see it in the final product, it's just perfect. It really is. JP: Mm. thanks. Lucy: All right, we are because because we could talk to you for like hours and hours and hours and so many more questions, but we are gonna end it on this final one. if you could give 10-year-old JP any advice or JP: Mm. Lucy: encouragement about their future, knowing what you know now, what would it be? JP: Ooh. Mm. Gosh. You know, I I think I think it would just to be to say, like, trust yourself, baby. You you know, trust yourself. like continue to have fun and trust yourself. There's been so many moments over you know, the course of my career which is very much still getting started that I've just absolutely doubted or shrunk in myself or like you know, doubt it just doubted it all. and felt like I had to fit a specific formula in order to succeed and I think that what I'm learning is that The more I let my instincts come through, like the better it it works out, you know. even when there's pressure kind of not to. and and to just trust like trust the teams that I'm that I'm working with too. So you know, I was actually I was I was I'm very fortunate to have really supportive amazing parents. and I was chatting with my dad about some some stuff the other day that it was related to career and it just went don't ever stop being you, you know, don't be afraid to be you. so I I think just that, just just to hold tight to not being afraid to be me. Lucy: I love that. Yeah, no, that's really beautiful. And I think when we think back to our childhood, we just can't ema like we know our younger selves could not imagine what we would be doing right now. So, you know JP: Mm. Totally. Yeah, totally. I'm more like that ten year old now than I was like maybe like ten years ago. I think I I lost myself for like a little section of time and I now feel closer to that little kid that was making those, you know, little movies on a on a camcorder and it feels really good to be back. And Aleta: Mm. JP: and I think part partially that's just like getting older and getting more comfortable with like letting go of what what other people think and I I feel I feel excited to like, you know, just at an age now where I can let go of some of that and and start getting back to to who I am and what I wanna create. Lucy: It's very freeing when you start realizing you you should be doing things for that little girl or that little boy. You know, for that little JP: Mm. Lucy: part of yourself that was just afraid of so many things or couldn't imagine JP: Mm. Lucy: what we are all capable of as people. And JP: Mm-hmm. Yep. Lucy: it's amazing what everyone is capable of. We can do so many good things. So JP: Mm-hmm. Lucy: I love that you're doing that for JP: Indeed. Lucy: little JP and I bet little JP is really proud and happy and excited about where they are at right now. Aleta: Mm. JP: Yeah, I think so. You know, it's like so funny to think back on my first play, you know, playing Charlie Charlie and Charlie in the Chopping Factory. Like that little queer kid was like so in there and so already playing with gender and and with storytelling and so yeah, yeah, it's it it does f it feels good. Lucy: Well, JP, it has been a genuine pleasure. It means JP: Mm. Lucy: so much to us and the fandom that you took the time to speak with us. I am so JP: Thank you. Lucy: impressed by all the work that you have done for the LGBTQIA community and it truly means the world. So thank you so much for saying yes and coming on and doing JP: No. Lucy: this with us. JP: Thank you so much Aleta: Mm-hmm. JP: for having me. What what an absolute privilege. Thank you for having me. Lucy: I hope it wasn't too torturous and it wasn't too long and you're okay. Yay. Save. Aleta: Ha ha ha JP: I could chat with you guys all day long. Aleta: Ha ha ha. Lucy: All right, Alita. Aleta: Alright, it's time to go, besties. Thank you for being with us for this very special episode. We hope that you'll join us again next time. Bye besties. Lucy: Bye besties. JP: Bye Besties Aleta: Yay. Lucy: Okay.