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Transcript

Hollywood Producer Reveals Secrets & How She Got Promoted w/ Loni Rodgers · Clyde Confidential

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Was it tough? Yes? Like was could he be an asshole? Yes?
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Hi guys, welcome back to another episode of Clyde Confidential.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: I am sitting here with my gal, Lannie Rogers. Lonnie
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: was my first friend that I made on my first
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: movie ever.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Oh my god, you were my first friend.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Oh my god?
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Really ever? No first fee scene? Yeah, because that was
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: my first movie set me too, really yeah?
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that was twenty nineteen.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: I love that for us.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: I do love that for us too. That actually makes
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: this more special. I didn't realize that. I thought you
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: had been on a million sets because of all your
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: other jobs.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: No, that was my first. I mean I've been on
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: set before, but just in a smaller capacity, whether it
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: was like for like something that was unscripted or anything
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: like that. But an actual proper movie set.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: No, for wow, Okay, well there is so much to
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: just us around that movie set and our friendship. That
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: was twenty nineteen. And if I'm doing math correctly, that
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: was six years ago, right.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, I thought.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: You were thinking about the math wow both right.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Six and a half years ago. Half years ago. So
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: we started I think in the spring spring, yeah, because
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: she was a summer yeah, yeah.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: And you just reminded me of that first initial before
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: we even got down to New Orleans, we were doing
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: tapings at Jenzol department. Is that when we had.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: First That's when we first met, and I met you
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: through your pup tape.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I did bring him everywhere back then, which was
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: probably a mistake, but it was not a mistake. He
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: was everywhere with her French bulldog in this meeting and on.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: Her French bulldog meeting, so it was very special.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: He was very attached to me.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: I know, he follows you everywhere.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: Everywhere And if you guys, hear some chomping on a bone,
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: it's because my dog will not leave this room. And
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: he's my left right now and just staring at both
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: of us. So uh, hopefully it's not too loud. But anyways,
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: twenty nineteen, we're Atens apartment. We were prepping for Causeway,
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: which back then had no name. Yeah.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: It was Red, White and Water, yes, and then it
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: was untitled Soldier Project. Yeah forever, yes, until eventually.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: And then remember we at Crafty they had that jar.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, they had a jar that said what do
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: you think this movie should be called? And someone wrote
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: heat Stroke because literally, imagine doing a movie that takes
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: place in Vermont, where it's supposed to be what like
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: like twenty degrees snow Orleans. We were, but the movie's
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: supposed to take he plays in Vermont? Oh really?
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: I was like, girl, we were in New Orleans, Like,
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: where were you? I was down in Louisiana. I was.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: I was out there.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: I don't know where you were.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: They were like, I mean, they were like trying to
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: do like this movie magic with like the fake snow,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: making it think it was like Vermont snow or whatever,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: but it was ninety something degree and didn't jin have
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: to have like ice under her coat? Or am I
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: thinking about a different action? I don't remember that ice
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: I have the actors.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: I truly had no idea that the movie was supposed
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: to be based in Vermont.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: So I guess, am I just making that up? Maybe
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: everything just blending together.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: Maybe I don't know it.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: Was supposed to be somewhere cold.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: We'll find that out when we hang up this podcast.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: And I'm so curious. Okay, but yeah, we met on
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: that set. You were my first friend. I what was
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: your first impression of me?
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: My first impression of you was wow, she's here with
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: a dog and she's crazy. But I was like, you
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: were You were so nice and you were so just
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: here's this, here's that. Let me know if you need anything.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: Like it was. It was refreshing.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: I just remember going into that film not knowing what
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: to expect. I had no idea what the set, Lingo was.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: You taught me so much on that set, though. You
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: showed me the ropes. You introduced me to people, you
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: knew your ship. I did not know my ship until you.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: You were working for Scott Ruden and Eli Bush at
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: the time, and you were Scott's assistant.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: You realized Eli's assistant. I was on set with you guys.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: And that was when they were still attached to the film.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, yeah, yes, because the I don't was it
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: like post COVID where everything kind of like went down
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Scott so he lost a lot of his eight twenty
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: four projects.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah. So that was twenty nineteen. We did our first,
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: our first take it filming. We were there from June
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: until August? Were we there June until August? I don't know.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: Jue, yes, end of June to the beginning of August.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: Beginning of New Orleans in the summer.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: Is it was before your birthday?
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, good memory, girl. When's my birthday?
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: Thirteen?
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: Whoa, thank you? All right, that's really sweet. That's really
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: really sweet. Yeah, it was before my birthday. But we
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: were in New Orleans in the dead of the summer.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: I have never been so hot in my life. I
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: just remember the humidity is next level down I mean.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: You were legitimately living down there. I at least got
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: to pop out and then come back.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, so you didn't fully live down there, you
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: were just in and out.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: No, because it was very much And I think that's
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: just kind of how producer assistance are, because a producer
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: will pop in, especially if they have like a pod
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: you know, which is a production company. They'll pop in
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: there for specific needs, et cetera, et cetera, and then
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: go back to handle whatever else needs to be done
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: on other projects and then just kind of come back
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: on an as needed basis. So I was coming back whenever,
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: you know, Eli was like, hey could use some extra
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: help down here, or we were.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: We were in it for a long time. New Orleans
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: is an interesting place. So many people love it. I
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: know Jen loved it. I know Justine loved it. I
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: didn't love New Orleans. I thought it.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: Was the food.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: The food was just real creamy. And I would drive
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: to this place called the Little Beat and try to
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: get some salad every day and then would just be
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: drinking be juice and with salad, and you know, I
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: was so scared of just eating something that would just
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: hurt my stomach because I'm already hot. I'm like, I
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: don't need diarrhea. I just don't. I'm just going to
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: stay away. And I stayed away. But it's it was cool.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: I just our houses were haunted and I was.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: I was. It was just really hot, so you know,
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: it was also just I mean, And I guess this
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: is kind of the fault of just when everyone decided
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: to film, which is during hurricane season.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: Oh my god, Okay, do you remember, yes, Okay, were
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: you there for evacuation?
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: I was there, and I remember just being petrified, and
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: for the first time while working at got Root in Productions,
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: not caring if I get fired or not, because literally
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: we I just remember us having to go to a
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: store or something to film for that day. It was
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: raining too much, too much was going on, so we
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: decided to shift the schedule, go to some to a
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: house which ended up being Jinn's house, the mother's house
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: in the film. And literally as we're there, the rain
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: keeps going and going and going. It's starting to come
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: up and up and up and up and up our
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: I believe it was the production designer, but someone on
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: crew had to go get the director's assistant who was
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: like stuck in her car or something. Grace yes, had
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: to get great, didn't want to name name. I know
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: who Grace is. She's the best. She's a very talented director.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: Someone else really yes, her and Lilah. So they love
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: each other. Oh God, also Lovelah we love They are
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: going to come on together, hopefully soon for another episode.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: That's exciting.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: I can't wait.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: You have to tell me so I could just run
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: over say hide to both of them, and then I will.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: Because you live down the street.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: I live, literally, don't.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: Last time I saw you was when I was on
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: Tanlac the boulevard walking.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: We were walking the dogs and just casually I'm like, wait,
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: you're in La You're like I literally just about the
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: house down.
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: The block's a renter. She's a renter.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: She's beautiful. Whatever she is, she's hot.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: She's renting down the street. But yeah, we are neighbors
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: and we need to hang out more now that I'm back,
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: we do. But yeah, so okay, so Grace.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so Grace had to get Grace. Grace like just
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: had to get Grace. And I just remember the magnitude
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: of how serious the storm was. When this guy, I
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: think it was a production decidery, but this guy he
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: went outside. Mind you, he's about like six two maybe
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: six three. He's a tall guy, and the water was
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: about up to his I want to say, his chest area.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: It was high, high, and it was like, was either
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: I don't think that you guys, I.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: Think we heard about the storm, and then left me
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: along with yeah, I think I think we heard about
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: the storm. We're like, I don't really want to mess
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: with that. I think we're gonna go home. And then
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: it was scary. It was really scary.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: It was scary.
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: We were we were evacuating our rental house, and I
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: just remember seeing cars floating away. I had never seen
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: anything like that in my life. I grew up in
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: Long Island. Yeah, we're filming in New Orleans and the
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: storm got so bad that we were trying to leave
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: our house and the water was actually up to like
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: my chest and we got in the car and it
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: was so scary, and then we flew out. But while
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: we were on the way to the airport, I saw
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: dogs in the world, like I saw dogs just in
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: this lake. It was it was so sad and as
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: a dog mom, I'm like Jesus Christ, like that was
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: so scaring. But you know, I think if the storm lasted,
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: I don't know, a day or so, and then after that,
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: about a day or so, people were like Okaya, back
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: to normal.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: Back to like every day life. I mean, it was
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: very It was humbling because we were in that house
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: for I want to say, like about two hours. But
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: as every minute is passing, you don't know if the
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: next minute is going to be twenty minutes, you have
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: no idea how long it's going to be.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: Eventually this like boat bus came to get us that
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: just floated on top of everything, picked us up. We
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: got in and I just remember as we were floating
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: driving whatever it was to safety and to higher ground.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: You literally see people swimming to their cars. You see
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: people with dogs. As a fellow dog like, it's yeah,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: it's you.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: Say, it's so scary and the crew, you guys all
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: went to Mississippi. You evacuated New Orleans or Mississippi.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: Right when they said Mississippi, I was like, I am
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: getting on the next plane tomorrow morning. I am not
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: going there.
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: Did you get on a plane? Yes?
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Immediately. I remember Eli I called and I was shaking
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: because I was like, I'm leaving my boss and Eli's
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: the nicest, nicest person, but like, like, my boss didn't
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: tell me I can go. I literally just booked a flight.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: That's the moment where you thought, I don't care if
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: I get fired.
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And he was like where are you? And I'm
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: like I'm literally at the airport and he was like,
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: I'm right behind you. He got right on out of there.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: So it was very scary, and it was a moment
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: where you feel humbled and you realize how lucky we are.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: Totally, and obviously none of this is a joke. It
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: is so scary and serious. What happens when you leave
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: let's say in LA or New York and there's these
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: crazy weather conditions a La Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans just
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: had seen it all at that point, So I think
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: the people who live there were sort of just that
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: was the normal, I guess when happened, and for us
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: to come down there filming a project and having never
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: experienced anything like that, it was just so surreal and
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: it just made me so sad and really just changes
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: your perspective about how lucky we are to not have
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: to deal with that on a daily basis and to
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: live somewhere where hurt, you know, I mean, listen it
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: the fires in La just happened. That was horrible. Yeah,
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: thank you for coming to my project.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: Of course, thank you for having that and having resources
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: that allow for people who feel as though they're so
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: unseen during this time because I think a lot especially
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: folks in Altadena, because I feel like a lot of
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: attention was given to the Palisades. So the fact that
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: you created these resources for people to come to still
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: feel like it's not just a handy down kind of thing,
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: Like there's a sense of glamour to it, which I
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: read like the fact that you had like a nail
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: station section and people getting their hair done like it
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: just it was an amazing, amazing event.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: Thank you, well. I was happy that you came, and
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: I think, you know, when stuff happens to pick up
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: the phone and rally people and see who shows up.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: Is always you find out where who your true friends
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: are in those moments. A lot of people I called
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: didn't show up, which was shocking because it was such
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: a crazy thing to have happened in LA And I'm
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: the type of person that was like, why isn't everyone here?
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: I don't understand why people don't want to help? And
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: you showed up and I will the people who showed up,
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: I won't forget it. So thank you so much. That
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: was really cool.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: Well, you show up for me a lot, A lot
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: a lot. She's the real one. Guys showed up for
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: me today.
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: You believe in me clearly, so I appreciate it, of course.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: Lady.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that hurricane was nuts. I that was also really scary,
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: and I feel lucky that we were able to get
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: out in time. But some of the crew ended up
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: going to Mississippi and they were held there for a
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: couple of days, and then we lost set days, so
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: we had to take some insurance days. And I, as
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: a new beat a set, this was all new information
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: to me. Was I was learning so much about when
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: a natural disaster happens, you lose a day. It's expensive people,
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: stuff gets destroyed. You have to now move locations. It's
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: what do you do with a whole entire film crew?
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: You know? Yeah, and it's tough because losing a day
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: and set life isn't just losing one day, because a
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: lot of people are like, oh, no, big deal, like,
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: you know, just add a day on the end. But
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: what if that location isn't available until this day and
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: then whatever you had planned for this day, you know,
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: have to move that to that day. And there's all
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: this reorganization and shuffling that people don't kind of take
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: into account for, and also the problems that that can
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: stir within the crew members or the talent that you have,
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: because what if they had another commitment that they right,
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: you know, schedules, Yeah, exactly, but they're in first position
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: for this, so you know, now they have to say
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: good goodbye or no to like some opportunity that could
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: have been absolutely incredible.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: And speaking of that, I remember so that was our
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: first take on the film too in nineteen and then
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: COVID happened. So when we went back to do reshoots,
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: that kept getting pushed because of the pandemic and people
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: weren't allowed to return to set yet, So I remember
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: just we had a loose timeline of I think we
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: were supposed to do reshoots in twenty twenty. You got
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: pushed in twenty twenty one. It was supposed to be
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: one month, was the next month because of people's schedules
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: and the pandemic and everything pushing, and that was a
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: really chaotic time. But I think we did end up
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: going back summer twenty twenty one again in the summer.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And didn't it shoot in LA or did it
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: shoot in New Orleans?
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: We been back to New Orleans? Okay, Yeah, So at
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: that time, I guess the film had separated from Scott Ruden.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: So you did not return to set because of that exactly.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: And I wouldn't have anyway, because by that time I
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: had left in twenty twenty one. Yeah, I had just
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: moved to LA and I started a new job at
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: Amazon Studios, so I was already removed from all so
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: either way, but yeah, I heard it was a very
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: challenging time because also the industry was trying to figure
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: out what is the new norm, right, you know, post
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: COVID with these regulations restrictions keeping everyone safe, which is
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: everyone's first priority anyway.
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that was a gnarly time. I can't believe COVID
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: was also almost six years ago.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: Time is probably going to be another So just there is.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know think that's what people say.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: I really I'm a walking COVID target. I'll get every
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: variation of whatever new strand you just hit me like
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: I know I'm going to get it. Anyways, that's not important.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: But okay, so how long? How long did you work
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: for Scott Rudin.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: I was there from twenty nineteen, but the very beginning,
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: like I think, fresh out of a new year, I
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: popped in the office and I was there until twenty
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: twenty one.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: Okay, so that was pretty long run for someone in
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: that office.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah. It's funny because I don't know if I ever
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: told you, Like the lead up to it, I was
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: at Nickelodeon.
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, let's talk about your journey. So how did you
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: get there?
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah? I went to North Eastern University because they have
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: this co op program that allows you to do these internships.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: So I knew I wanted to be in entertainment, so
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: I went there. Did my internships. All of them weren't
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: unscripted in New York because I was too afraid to
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: come to LA because I didn't have my driver's license.
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: As a native New Yorker girl, I still barely have
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: my driver's My next question, do you have it? I do, allegedly.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: But did all of that? Did the Tonight Show, did
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: VH one, Comedy Central, MTV? All of that led me
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: to Nickelodeon. I was there for some time and I
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: was like, Okay, this is amazing, but I don't necessarily
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: want to do children's content. I am happy that I'm
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: learning scripted and learning this world, but it's the shoe
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: doesn't fit. And that's when CB ended up buying Viacom
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: or doing that merger or whatever it was. In nineteen
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: twenty eighteen, and I found out that Rudin was hiring. Now,
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: mind you, I didn't know who he was. I haven't
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: heard of him. But when I looked him up, literally,
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: I'm like, the only producer that I see to get
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: an egot. His work is incredible. He is clearly a genius.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: He's been doing this for years in multiple variations of
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: this industry. I was like, I, why are people telling
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: me no? And everyone was just like don't do it.
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: Don't do it. Don't do it. Of course that means
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: now I have to do it. So I did it,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: and three months in I was the most senior assistant there.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: I was hired under Eli Bush, who was again absolutely
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: incredible and who is Scott's second man, secondhand man, left
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: hand man in charge mostly kind of overseeing like the
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: movie side and television side of things, but really the
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: movie side. And yeah, I'm I mean, I know a
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: lot of people have opinions about Scott, and a lot
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: of people have come and gone throughout the years there.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: I can't say that I personally had a crazy time there.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: I think it was a challenging office for me personally,
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: because you go from Nickelodeon and you go from Rudin.
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: That by itself is a culture shock. But it's interesting
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: given like a lot of like the stuff that's come
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: out over the years of my perception of how things
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: went versus what I saw on the page, which I
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: found fascinating, right.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: I mean, I definitely saw something on the page about
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: a stapler being thrown at someone. Is that true?
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: The stapler being thrown I did not witness a stapler
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: being thrown at anyone's head. But I know there's a
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: lot of people who stand by that story, okay, And
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: I like, I mean, it's no secret that he definitely
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: had his way and definitely kind of went about things
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: a certain type of way to the point of being
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: a perfectionist. And I think a lot of people kind
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: of ask like, well, what was your secret? How did
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: you like survive and how did you kind of do
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: all of this stuff? And I think, like, the thing
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: I always say is I kind of went in with
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: the intention of just wanting to learn as opposed to
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: wanting to be him. Uh huh, you know, like I
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: wanted to like go and absorb everything I can learn
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: everything I can do a good job as the assistant
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: in the office, as opposed to like trying to think
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: about the next thing and then see where things go
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: and then I end up getting promoted and the rest
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: is kind of history.
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: I think that's really good advice, And that's something that's
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: a conversation I have with a lot of our candidates
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: who they graduate college, they automatically want to be producers
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: and directors. And I always go back to them and
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: I say, having been the assistant, I can't encourage that
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: path more because when you're someone's assistant, and you're an
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: excellent assistant for X amount of years, when you're young
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: and you put in the time from there, you can
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: do anything you want and you can't be too focused
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: on getting ahead. You really have to just be an
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: excellent assistant and go work for someone who you really respect,
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: earn their trust. The more they trust you, the more
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: you get to do, the more you're exposed to. You're
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: in rooms of people you can't even imagine. You have
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: several pinch me moments, But in order to get there,
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: you have to be really comfortable with just doing the
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: big stuff but also grabbing coffee.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: And there is a job too small. And I think
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: to your point, a lot of people forget that part.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: Like why I remember, like some of my first advice
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: and something I realize working under Scott and working in
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: the company, which is why would someone trust you with
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: bigger things if you can't even get a coffee order right?
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: Like if you can't, why would I trust you to
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: give you know these notes or trust you to go
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: on set and figure something out if you can't even
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: get this coffee order right? Like I think, And that's
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: not to say that like, it's no excuse for being rude,
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: it's no excuse for being mean or anything like that.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: I think that's strictly like a personal problem with whoever
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: is that way, but the actual foundation of what's being asked.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: It's a very small task, but you're expecting to excel
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: at the bigger ones, and I think you have to
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: walk before you can run, well, said girl.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: How did you even get the job in Scott's office
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: going from Nickelodeon to Scott? Was it through a random recruiter?
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: Was it through LinkedIn?
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: Literally? Because of the nature of the office, his job
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: postings were always available, I understand, but no one knew
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: what it was. It was like anonymous and I applied
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: or whatever. Like I kind of said I was interested.
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: They were like, we'll call you. I didn't hear anything
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: about it. Eventually I got a call in to be
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: the phone assistant. Again, I didn't know anything about this office.
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: I didn't know anything. I came in and I remember
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: everyone everyone was just telling me how that's the most
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: difficult position in the office, which I'm sure is very
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: easy to kind of look up and read on the
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: internet as to why. But it was the most difficult
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: position whatever. I came in and they were like, oh, well,
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: actually the phone assistant position, Mundu. This is over the
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: course of twenty four hours. The phone assistant position has
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: been filled, but we can interview hours in twenty four hours.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: They were like, we can interview you for the document's assistant.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: The doc's assistant is the best assistant position on Scott's desk.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: He has like four and it's because you're always reading scripts.
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: You're preparing the reader the we can read. It's where
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: you can digest the most and learn the most about
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: being a producer and how his head you know, works
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: or whatever, like his taste, all this other stuff. So
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: was there and then they told me during that interview,
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: after I kind of learned the ins and outs about
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: the logistics of the office, they were like, okay, like
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: we'll call you, we'll see what's going on. I left.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: I followed up and I was like, hey, probably like
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: a couple weeks later, followed.
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: Up, did you interview with him directly?
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: No, okay, it was with hr who was handling everything.
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: I didn't meant him until I started, but followed up
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: a couple weeks later they were like, hey, doc assistant
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: actually there's a position there. But Eli Bush, who's another
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: person I've never heard of. They were like, he has
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: an opening that will probably, you know, be available. I
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: was like, what is going on in this office? Like
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: what is this so fast forward? I just forget about
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: the job now. Every night I put my phone on
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: do not Disturb, and I just forget about it this
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: night for whatever reason, I guess, I was like drinking
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: and just out having wine, having a good time for
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: whatever reason I don't remember now, and I forgot to
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: put my phone on do not disturb. I get a
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: call at I want to say, like five in the morning.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: Five in the morning, and something just tells me to
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: pick up. I kind of like hungover. I pick up
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: and they're like, Hi, do you want to come in
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: right now for an interview at Scott Rudi Pronounc's for
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: Eli Systay. He's looking to fill this asap. We know
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: that you've kind of like been in conversations and would
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: love for you to come in this morning as soon
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: as you can.
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: At five.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: This was five o'clock in the morning when I got
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: this call, and I was like yes, So I got up,
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: I came in min Jo. I'm still working at Nickelodeon
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: at this time. I got up, I came in and
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: I interviewed, and then I met Eli and it was
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: like the quickest, most pleasant two minutes in the world.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: And they were like, yeah, you start tomorrow, you start now,
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: you start now, put your stuff down. Literally. Wow. Yeah.
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: I mean, Eli's amazing, and I'm sure that you guys
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: met and just clicked. And I mean you were with
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: him for how many years? From two and a half
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: two and a half and a half or so. Yeah, wow,
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: So you never worked directly for Scott, but you just
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: worked for Eli.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: It's interesting because I was on Eli's desk, yes, and
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: I think that that is another reason why my longevity
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: was the way that it was. Yeah, But I because
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: so many people came and went on Scott's desk, someone
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: had to fill those roles and I was the only
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: one that knew how to do them. So besides being
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: his scheduler, I was the one that was kind of
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: doing a lot of those roles, kind of rolling calls
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: and doing all this. So I kind of did every
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: job at one point until I got promoted.
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: So throughout the first ten months, I just.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: Remember being on set with you and you would always
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: go into the hallway to call the interns. And I
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: was so blown away by your ability to just you know,
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: tell them what to do but respectfully, but also meant
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: you were a meant you were a huge mentor to them.
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: And I remember listening in being like, Lani knows her shit,
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: like you were. You were the person that they looked
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: up to in the office and you ran the interns,
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: And I just think that's so cool.
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: I appreciate that. Yeah, I mean it's so funny. And
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: I think this is something you start to realize as
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: you continue to go on the industry, which is, yes,
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: your taste and all of that is very important. It's
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: a large piece of currency on the producer's side, but
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: also your network and people like whether it's an intern,
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: whether it's someone who has been there for like a
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: second and they decide to do another industry altogether and
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: decide to come back later. Like you, it's such a
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: small industry. You want to work with good people. You
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: want to be good so that you can attract good
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: So you have to like just be a freaking person.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: You know a lot of people forget that we're people first.
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: Totally, and there's some people in offices who won't take
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: the time to get to know the interns or to
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: teach them and educate them and help them and be
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: a mentor. And you were that person. And I'm also
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: curious how being a black woman of color in a
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: male dominated industry working for Scott Rudin probably in an
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: office full of how many other women were in the office.
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: There were a few came and went, no one lasting
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: too long. Yeah, in terms of like being like an
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: assistant Caroline who was in the HR kind of like department,
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: she was there for a while and she's incredible and
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: she was super smart. But I think, yeah, it wasn't many,
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: especially other black people, like I think two maybe in
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: two years, and they lasted probably a week or two.
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: So you lasted for many, many years. You held the
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: four down. You arrived in that environment, you were so
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: respected in the office. How did you do it all?
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: I mean, that environment notoriously is super tough. Every resume
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: we get from someone who worked Forrest got Rooten or
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: at that office is probably didn't have as great of
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: a positive experience as you did.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's I don't know. I think it's
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: just a matter of again being a person and also
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: like being very sure of myself. Like I didn't go
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: in wanting to kind of do what ELI did in
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: terms of well, of course I wanted to, but I
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: didn't lead with that. I didn't go in wanting to
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: just you know, forget about why I was hired and
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: my assistant duties and just try to kind of go
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: above my head. And I think the longevity aided into
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: respect because a lot of the longevity was also helping
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: out my fellow colleagues because then when I needed something,
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: they were able to help me as well. So it
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: was very much a give and take from like a
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: very human level as opposed to me just thinking about myself. Yeah,
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: because you're gonna need people just like people are gonna
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: need you always. So if you're just kind of leading
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: with selfishness or leading with you know what it is
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: that will best interests and serve me always without thinking
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: about the people around you, you will always fail. Yeah,
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: And I think that was a big part of being there.
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: So in terms of like the interns coming in helping
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: them to me didn't feel like I was, you know,
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: bending over backwards. It was very natural, just like if
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: I needed them for absolutely anything, which of course I
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: did because I was being asked a lot to do.
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: You know, a lot was being asked of me being
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: the most senior assistant at the office and then a
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: coordinator slash junior executive, A lot was asked of me.
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: So of course I needed, you know, the hands of
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: other people there. So it was great to have that
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: reliance and also feel as though I can be reliable
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: to other people.
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: Wow. I mean, that's really great advice. And I think
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: the power of networking and just doing things to be
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: kind and not because you need something will really get
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: you a long way. And clearly it worked out for you.
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: So it's funny because when I was younger and I
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: told my family that this is what I wanted to do.
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: My grandmother and I we were watching a movie and
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: at the end of the movie, when the credits were rolling,
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: she turned to me and she was just like, do
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: you see how there are so many different names at
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: the end of these credits. That means it makes it
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: takes multiple people to make this one product. It's not
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: just you, it's a community of people. So think about that.
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: Your community is everything. Don't lose yourself and just trying
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: to be the one like it takes a village. And
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: this was years ago. I had to have been about
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: ten when she said this, So I think it really
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: stuck with me, and I think it's why I was
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: able to car of the path that I did.
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so when you were ten, did you know that
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: you wanted to grow up and become a bad ass producer?
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: When did you?
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: When was that moment? When did that hit?
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: I don't think it was a singular moment. I think
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: it was. I mean, I grew up. This is gonna
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: sound sad, but it's not. I'm an only child, it's not,
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: I promise. I'm an only child, and I didn't have
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: the kind of.
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: Family give only child at all.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: It's because I have cousins and I have a lot
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: of family members who were just always in my face.
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: Love them if they're watching, but always in my face.
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: But I had the kind of family with my parents
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: that I were. We were just kind of instead of
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: being around the table for a special event or for
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: family dinners, whenever we were celebrating something, we'd watch a
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: movie or we watch shows and we wouldn't really speak
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: about it. We would just watch this movie. So I
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: think that I started to associate television or features or
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: movies or anything like that with bonding, family communication, way
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: of life. And I think that's why I knew that
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: this was something I wanted to do. I didn't really
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: know what capacity, but I knew I wanted to somehow
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: make movies.
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: That's really sweet. I feel similar to you. I think
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: movies growing up for me, I was always fascinated and
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: it was sort of an escape because when you watch
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: a movie, no matter what's going on during the day
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: with anyone in your family, you can just sit and
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: in silence and calm yourself with the film.
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: And lose yourself and someone else's story.
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, what's your favorite movie?
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: Hmmm? You know, I've been asked this question over the years,
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: and I never have an answer. What. I never have
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: an answer money. It's so funny. Eli actually asked me that,
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: like on my.
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: First A pretty normal question as someone who works in
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: the entertainment.
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: Very much is and I'm special not having an answer.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: I don't know. I I think because each version of
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: myself I like a different movie. Yeah more than that.
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: Let's let's go through.
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: I can't. I love Interstellar. I love that movie. Okay,
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: I love that movie. You know, it blends every genre
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: that I love together, Like.
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's a strong answer. I feel like we
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: should have a couple like I have. I have a
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: favorite rom com, I have a favorite drama.
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: It's your favorite I love really?
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: Oh my god, yeah, I love it so much. I
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: love it.
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: So, you know, they say you could tell a lot
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: about someone by their favorite romance.
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: I mean, if you saw the list that I create
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: on letterbox, you would make fun of me.
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: I have.
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: I have a category called a good cry, and then
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: I have a good law, and then I have rom coms.
• 34:47
  Speaker 2: I just I love. I'm a rom com gal. I'm
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: not a horror gal.
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: Oh, I'm a horror girl and a rom com gal.
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: I'm not a West thirteen thirty okay, but I love
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: that movie wrong, yeah, I mean, and then a strong
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: Number two is How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days.
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: Of course classic.
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: Yes, it's like fifty one forty nine for me.
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: Okay, So you have favorite movies, yeah.
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: But like not one singular, like oh, this is my
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: favorite movie. I'm like yeah. People ask me that, I'm
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: like prepared to be very you can have.
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: The favorite movie in every category. I think that's fair.
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: That's fair. Yeah, And you don't like horror? Hell no,
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: that's what I grew up watching.
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: Why would I like horror?
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: First movie I ever remember watching in my life was
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: Brida Chucky.
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: That's great in my life, that's so weird. I just
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: don't mess with it.
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: You know, it's such a skill to be able to
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: evoke fear out of someone, And when you think about
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: it, it's all sounds. You ever like, watch something scary onmute?
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: It's hilarious.
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: Well, now that I've been on movie sets, when I
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: watch a horror movie by force, it's never my choice.
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: I think about them differently, and I can actually handle
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: them because I know that there's a cameraman standing in
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: that corner, or the blood's actually fake, and I don't
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: get too freaked out. But I definitely don't gravitate towards herever.
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: What about dramas. I love a good drama girl. Yeah.
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: So, Alanie, when did you know it was time to
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: spread your wings and fly and move on from Eli?
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: Well, I had just moved to La.
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: I was here for Great because you were still working
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: for him when you first moved to La.
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: Got it, And it was never my intent to leave.
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: It was never my intent. I honestly wanted to work
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: with Eli until the day I die, like that's how
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: amazing he was. But I know that there was no
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: real path for me to move up.
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: You moved to LA and you're still working for Eli
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: when he was in New York. So that probably made
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: things difficult, not being in person all the time, And
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: I'm sure that had something to do with your departure.
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: I mean it was I think being not being in
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: person was okay because by that time COVID was happening,
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: we were there, we were ready remote for a little bit.
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: I think there was just no upward momentum. You know,
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: I loved working with Eli. I loved the lifestyle of
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: the company in terms of being able to do whatever
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: project we wanted to do, having access to so many
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: phenomenal filmmakers and talent and you know, creative players in
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: the industry. It was just incredible to be under the
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: umbrella of Scott's reach, if I'm being honest, And I
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: didn't really see what will be on the other side
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: of that, but I knew that I had to go
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: on the other side of that because there was no
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: real room for me to grow in a company. And
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: I think that became really really apparent when the creative
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: executive that was based in LA left got it, and
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: the fact that no one automatically offered me the job
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: because I was in LA. So I'm like, yeah, it
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: seems to me me that it was clear. Why wouldn't
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: I have that job if I've been here for like
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: a little bit.
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: So, and I think that it's no body's faults per se,
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: But it's more so it's just not for me to stay,
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: like I need to kind of like figure out what
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: I want to do next. It was definitely time I
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: found out that Amazon was hiring, and I also were
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: getting I was getting calls from like the deadlines and
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: the Hollywood reporters and stuff, So I knew something was
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: brewing anyway over Scott and a company.
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: And you never talked to any publication about.
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: The Scott ridden stuff. No good for you, I did it.
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: I mean, hey, that that is a huge testament to
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: your character as an employee, because they think so many people,
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: if they're contacted by a publication of that caliber, they
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: may have jumped on the opportunity to give a quote
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: or say something. And because you're discreet, and because you're
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: a professional, you did not say a word until now,
• 38:59
  Speaker 2: but you didn't even say think bad on this podcast.
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: But you know, you have great respect for both of
• 39:04
  Speaker 2: these men who you worked for and had a really
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: positive experience for the most part, right, just generally you
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: had to Scott every.
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: I feel like it was. Was it tough, yes, like
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: was could he be an asshole? Yes, like it's there's
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: all of that is very excuse my language, all of that.
• 39:22
  Speaker 2: We're talking about Scott Eli Scott to be clear, Yes, yes.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: Not talking about Scott like I think that he is
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: very old Hollywood and that was very apparent throughout his time.
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: And I never want to be an apologist at all
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: for his behavior. It was not okay. But I did
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: realize something, No, but period, I did realize something when
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: I looked at the articles and a lot of the
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: people except for you know, I won't say all most
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: of the people that decided to talk to the Hollywood
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: Reporter were people that were at the job for like
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: a day or two days. Because I remembered all of
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: those stories. Crazy it was, and it was funny because
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: one of them, I just like, they put someone dead
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: on the incoming call list and told Scott that this
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: person was calling and that's no excuse to like fire someone.
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: But it's like, there was so many like circumstances they
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: put someone dead on the incoming call list instead he's
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: calling and Scout's like, what, please get out of here.
• 40:30
  Speaker 2: And honestly, that's fair, that's fair.
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: But it was a lot of stories like that that
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: were within it. Like a lot of the people that
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: raised their hand to talk were people that were let
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: go because of reasons that And it's tough because I
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: don't want to say that that's a valid reason to fire,
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: to be fired, but yeah, it's things that happened after
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: a circumstance, you know, versus the people that were there
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: for a long time or were there for a while
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: didn't say anything.
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's more powerful to just not say anything.
• 41:02
  Speaker 2: And if you are an assistant to someone powerful and
• 41:06
  Speaker 2: they're going through a public moment and you get contacted
• 41:09
  Speaker 2: by a publication, the first thing you should do is
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: tell your boss. You should tell your boss, hey, this
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: publication just emailed me. Tell their publicist, do not respond.
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: Do not keep that to yourself, because then you just
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: look guilty of a leaking something to the press or
• 41:28
  Speaker 2: just not being authentic. The first person I'm flagging if
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: someone's asking me for a quote or asking me about
• 41:35
  Speaker 2: something really personal that has nothing to do with me,
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: is the person it has to do with or my
• 41:40
  Speaker 2: greater team, you know. So for any assistants listening, please
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: don't please don't respond, and you should always flag your team.
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: I think that's rule number one. You know that that's
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: what makes you trustworthy because there are press leaks and
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: there are paparazzi leaks, and you don't want to ever
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: be associated with that. It's just really bad form.
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: And people take things out of context all the time.
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: So they're looking for the naivety of these assistants that
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: just don't really know what's what when it comes to
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: these kind of situations, so that they can take these
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: things and pull these things on the record, by the way,
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: and blast about you know whoever the talent is.
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah so, and it's never okay, it's not okay. Do
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: I read the Daily Mail? Of course? Do I believe
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: the Daily Mail? Of course? Not? It is It is
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: so silly, you know, you can't you can't fall into that.
• 42:34
  Speaker 2: I have I have friends who for sure will ask
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: me crazy things. I'm like, guys, are you kidding me?
• 42:39
  Speaker 2: That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard, you know,
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: so people listen to these people do listen to it.
• 42:45
  Speaker 2: And anyways, that is that is all silly stuff. But Lonnie,
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: so you were at Amazon and how long were you
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: at Amazon?
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: I was at Amazon for a couple of years. I
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: was on an international side for television English language. It
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: was incredible in terms of like learning from the buyer side,
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: having that experience and learning how to put the pieces
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: together from that top level where you are the last stop,
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: and it was great. But I did miss being a producer,
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: and that's why I decided to put some time in
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: there and then go back to a production company. I
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: found out that Angela Bassett ord Toby Vans they were
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: looking to expand her team, so I went there.
• 43:30
  Speaker 2: Next amazing And how long were you there?
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: I was there for a couple of years as well,
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: from twenty twenty three twenty twenty three.
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: Okay, so I just left. You were an assistant who
• 43:42
  Speaker 2: climbed the ladder, landed at a production company. And now
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: what's next?
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: Now I am independently producing my own features. I have
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: one television and television series and a doct as well.
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: That's looking like a limited so more so things that
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: have a beginning, middle and ends, I think is my jam.
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: But yeah, just got financing on my feature, which I
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: have some things in development with exciting talents. I'm exciting filmmakers.
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: I spanned between super art hosts to commercial a little
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: bit of everything. So hopefully by the time this comes out, yeah,
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: we'd have shot it, ye girl.
• 44:26
  Speaker 2: Well if you need any background actresses, you know some dogs,
• 44:33
  Speaker 2: do you remember? Oh my god? They never put it
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: in the movie, but I remember Lyla called me one
• 44:38
  Speaker 2: day saying, our dog Walker forgot to come to set.
• 44:42
  Speaker 2: Will you bring Tate to set? So they filmed me
• 44:44
  Speaker 2: in New Orleans. While I thought I was so cool.
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: I was what is my first movie? That keep in mind,
• 44:49
  Speaker 2: and I'm like, I literally like sprinted to set with
• 44:53
  Speaker 2: Tate and they filmed me walking down the streets of
• 44:55
  Speaker 2: New Orleans with Tate. Never made the movie, but I
• 44:58
  Speaker 2: thought I was hot.
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: Che features special features like.
• 45:02
  Speaker 2: My dog is going to be famous here I am world.
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: This is the time where you plug his Instagram? You
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: plug it?
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: Oh I stopped posting. I actually got into a fight
• 45:13
  Speaker 2: with uh with dumois on Tate's account several times because
• 45:19
  Speaker 2: they posted something so stupid about Jen and I remember
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: just dming them from my dogs, my French bulldog's account,
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: being like, take that down right now, it's not true,
• 45:27
  Speaker 2: and they actually they actually took it down. Lannie, you've
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: accomplished so much you are only how old?
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: How old am I? Thirty one?
• 45:37
  Speaker 2: Thirty one? Girl?
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: Thirty one?
• 45:39
  Speaker 2: I'm an old hag. Over here, I'm thirty three, but
• 45:41
  Speaker 2: not an old hag?
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: Is it cute? Goodness? Look how much you've accomplished, Like
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: we were speaking on, look at this platform right now.
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: I remember it was just an idea.
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: That's very sweet of you. Well, I'm curious for anyone
• 45:55
  Speaker 2: who wants to become a producer, who is probably more
• 45:59
  Speaker 2: than half of my candidate pool. They come through our
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: inbox and they say, I want to produce, I want
• 46:04
  Speaker 2: to direct. What do you say to them? And what
• 46:08
  Speaker 2: advice do you have to give to all of those
• 46:10
  Speaker 2: kids who want to grow up and be just like you?
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: I would say two sources of currency that we have
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: in this industry, which is our taste, and it's also
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: our network network sideways look at the people to your
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: left and your right. Don't think about, you know, trying
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: to get too far too fast. It's good to build
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: and create that foundation. Now. Be good at the job
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: that you have that's in front of you. Be reliable,
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: Be a good assistant. And when you're a good assistant,
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: then people naturally want to help you because they want
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: you around. Because people want to work with reliable people.
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: They want to work with the same people again and
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: again and again until the wheels fall off. No one
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: wants to meet, you know, be around people that they
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: don't really know that well. So be that person that's
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: reliable that always shows up. No job is too small.
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: Really gather your community now and it'll happen before you
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: know it.
• 47:06
  Speaker 2: That's great advice, and I really do think it's so
• 47:09
  Speaker 2: important to listen to what Lannie just said. Guys, for
• 47:12
  Speaker 2: all of the younger listeners. You have so much time.
• 47:17
  Speaker 2: You can be an assistant from twenty three to twenty
• 47:20
  Speaker 2: six and then go do whatever you want. You know,
• 47:24
  Speaker 2: you don't need to graduate college and automatically go work
• 47:28
  Speaker 2: at the production company or work for a director, or
• 47:32
  Speaker 2: automatically start producing your own stuff. You have so much
• 47:35
  Speaker 2: time I didn't know what I really wanted to do
• 47:40
  Speaker 2: until my late twenties. You know, if I didn't have
• 47:43
  Speaker 2: this company, though, I think I probably would have loved
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: to be an assistant forever because I loved that job
• 47:48
  Speaker 2: so much and it really does teach you how to
• 47:50
  Speaker 2: do everything, and the skills that you learned from being
• 47:52
  Speaker 2: an assistant will take you so far, and you just
• 47:55
  Speaker 2: meet really amazing people along the way you do. I
• 47:57
  Speaker 2: wouldn't have met you if I wasn't an assistant. I
• 48:00
  Speaker 2: probably wouldn't be in LA if I hadn't been an assistant.
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: Working as an assistant, I started spending time in LA
• 48:05
  Speaker 2: and really fell in love with it. And do you
• 48:07
  Speaker 2: feel the same way.
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: I feel the same way. It's yeah, Like I didn't
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: become an exact until I was twenty nine so, and
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: I was an assistant probably since interning, so I would
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: say nineteen. So that was you know, ten years of
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: just being the Clyde and it was great and I
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: loved meeting the people that I met. I loved learning
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: what I learned. It is completely invaluable and it's skills
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: that will take you for the rest of your life.
• 48:35
  Speaker 2: Totally. Well, thanks for coming on girl. I can't wait
• 48:39
  Speaker 2: for us to do our dog date soon. I know,
• 48:42
  Speaker 2: get together more because we're so close.
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: But I know, thank you for having me, of course.
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: It's just so fun.
• 48:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was so fun. Well, thank you guys all
• 48:49
  Speaker 2: for listening. You can tune in more on our Instagram
• 48:52
  Speaker 2: page at Clyde Confidential. And Lannie Rogers is so impressive
• 48:56
  Speaker 2: and I'm so happy that she came on today. I
• 48:59
  Speaker 2: have a lot of love for them, this girl alright,
• 49:01
  Speaker 2: see you guys.