Speaker 1: Thank you so much everybody for joining us on this
Speaker 1: par Copper episode, and we've got a very special one
Speaker 1: today for a number of reasons. One because well, we
Speaker 1: already watched Read and Weep and we talked about Reading
Speaker 1: and Weep, but also because we're meeting something that is
Speaker 1: somewhat of a rarity in the world, a friend of Sabrina's.
Speaker 2: I'm kidding, I love you so much.
Speaker 3: I had to.
Speaker 1: I had to do it, not only a friend of Sabrina's,
Speaker 1: but somebody who has worked with Sabrina on a pretty
Speaker 1: cool project which we're going to get into. I'm not
Speaker 1: going to hold up anymore.
Speaker 2: You know, I love you Sabrina again. You please help us.
Speaker 1: Welcome author Julia de Villers. Hi, Julia, I've heard so
Speaker 1: much about you. Sabrina talks about you glowingly and Tru
Speaker 1: said you had such a wonderful time working together. And
Speaker 1: we're going to get into all of that, of course, yes,
Speaker 1: but we have to start with well why, I mean,
Speaker 1: you're here for a number of reasons.
Speaker 2: But we watched Read It and Weep?
Speaker 1: Why, Well, we did, and we love we liked Read
Speaker 1: It and Weep a lot, and we have several questions,
Speaker 1: and by that I mean a whole bunch of questions
Speaker 1: about the project and just curiously, how did the entire
Speaker 1: thing come to fruition?
Speaker 2: Where did this come from?
Speaker 3: So the short answer is, I guess read it and
Speaker 3: we've actually came from my brain, my imagination, which is
Speaker 3: kind of wild. One moment, you're, you know, making up
Speaker 3: an alter ego. The next minute, I guess it comes
Speaker 3: on the screen. So read it and weep was such
Speaker 3: a great experience. I wrote the book. It was based
Speaker 3: on how my private personal journal became a bestseller, and
Speaker 3: it was kind of a wish fulfillment of what I
Speaker 3: would have wanted to happen when I was a teenager.
Speaker 3: I loved books, and I thought, wouldn't it be cool
Speaker 3: if I became a best selling author? Where's the you know,
Speaker 3: where's the drama in that? So and Jamie is the
Speaker 3: most like me of any character that I've written. And
Speaker 3: the spoiler alert, the book actually ends with the main
Speaker 3: character getting a movie deal. Oh okay, So it turns
Speaker 3: out to be a lot like real life. It's almost
Speaker 3: like I'm manifested in a book. So let your listeners,
Speaker 3: anyone who wants to write a book use that as
Speaker 3: something to inspire them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll say so.
Speaker 3: When the book came out, somebody at Disney was scanning
Speaker 3: the shelves at Barnes and Noble. She pulled it out
Speaker 3: and she said, I see this as a d com.
Speaker 1: Ah, that's just that's great advice. And when I leave here,
Speaker 1: I'm going to write a book where at the end
Speaker 1: I win the lottery, which will be great. So we
Speaker 1: can we can get that manifested in the world, which
Speaker 1: will be fun. Now, were you familiar with the world
Speaker 1: of dcom? Was this something that you were excited about?
Speaker 1: Did you know anything about it? Where you were you
Speaker 1: ware wry about going into the world? How did that feel?
Speaker 3: Just pure excitement? I had little kids?
Speaker 4: Yeah. How old was Quinn at this time? She has
Speaker 4: a daughter named Quinn?
Speaker 3: How old was she Quinn when we went to the set,
Speaker 3: which I think I've got some good stories for you about.
Speaker 3: Quinn was ten when that was filming, or ten and
Speaker 3: my son Jack was too little to come to the
Speaker 3: set and he's you know, forever bidder. So we'll put
Speaker 3: in another movie and get him on there.
Speaker 4: But so would they d calm watchers like were you
Speaker 4: seen d com? You were in the mom World of
Speaker 4: Disney Channel just on your screen twenty four to seven.
Speaker 3: Then my favorite was Stuck in the Suburbs, which stars
Speaker 3: Danielle Pana Baker.
Speaker 4: Does so okay, So then you get contacted by the
Speaker 4: channel at how involved were you able to be just
Speaker 4: alone in the castine process? Were you able to come
Speaker 4: into any castine reads or were they putting anyone's name
Speaker 4: in front of you at all? For opinions, I think.
Speaker 3: This one might have gone a little differently because they
Speaker 3: wanted to hurry into production, so they green lit this
Speaker 3: movie really fast because Danielle and kay Pana Baker had availability,
Speaker 3: I believe. So when they called me, they said, we
Speaker 3: have the two stars. It's up to you say yes
Speaker 3: or no.
Speaker 4: So the power that is very cool they gave you
Speaker 4: that that's pretty awesome.
Speaker 3: As a writer, I wanted to be low maintenance. You know,
Speaker 3: you don't want the writers hovering or you know, getting
Speaker 3: becoming an obstacle in the process. So I was thrilled
Speaker 3: that I even knew who was starring in it. Never
Speaker 3: thought i'd hear from them again until the movie came
Speaker 3: on the air. But that wasn't the nic.
Speaker 1: It's also I mean, that's one of the things we
Speaker 1: loved about the movie was you couldn't have done better
Speaker 1: casting where it's your older sister playing the idealized version
Speaker 1: of yourself. There's some things so kind of wonderful about that.
Speaker 1: I mean, forget about the fact. So Danielle. I've met
Speaker 1: Danielle and she's wonderful and as an actress she's phenomenal.
Speaker 2: But Kay killed it in this movie.
Speaker 1: Uh, and we've seen her in a couple now and
Speaker 1: she is really really talented.
Speaker 2: Were you was this kind of like just a home
Speaker 2: run for you? Casting wise? Home run?
Speaker 3: It was amazing, from Kate and Danielle to the zach
Speaker 3: Efron look alike. Oh man, I think who was still
Speaker 3: a friend of mine. He still comes to my book signings,
Speaker 3: believe it or not.
Speaker 2: Oh gosh, so sweet.
Speaker 3: Allison Skagliotti played the meanest, mean role but was the
Speaker 3: nicest person. But I have to tell you that I
Speaker 3: think you all owe me a thank you because if
Speaker 3: it wasn't for me, not really, Jason Dolly wouldn't be
Speaker 3: Oh Jason, Sir, Jason, Jason.
Speaker 4: Was this his first Disney thing?
Speaker 3: Jason Dolly's very first is the Chapel role, and I
Speaker 3: believe it or not, he wasn't the one originally cast
Speaker 3: for it. He was, I believe, the backup plan. And
Speaker 3: he might have told you.
Speaker 4: This, but he did. He did tell us this, Yes, And.
Speaker 3: What was really interesting was the other actor they had
Speaker 3: picked to play Connor ended up acting in other things.
Speaker 3: And he looks nothing like Jason. He has dark hair,
Speaker 3: and he started Jason is the epitome of who I
Speaker 3: had in mind when I wrote the character of Connor.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Speaker 1: Well, that's one of the things I wanted to ask
Speaker 1: you about because you know, a lot of times you
Speaker 1: talk to writers, especially television writers or film writers, and
Speaker 1: they'll write with an actor or actress in mind. So
Speaker 1: when you're writing a novel, the characters obviously created in
Speaker 1: your head. You're the only one in the world who
Speaker 1: actually knows what this character looks like. How close did
Speaker 1: they get? I mean, you said Jason was kind of
Speaker 1: right on the button. How close were the rest of
Speaker 1: them for the cast? Was it? Did you walk in
Speaker 1: and go, oh, there they are, That's that's who was
Speaker 1: in my head.
Speaker 3: Yes and no, So Kay absolutely, because I have to say,
Speaker 3: Kay is the epitome of a cooler version of what
Speaker 3: I looked like at that age. So I walked in
Speaker 3: and I thought, okay, was a mini meme, which is
Speaker 3: kind of how I wrote this first character. Now I
Speaker 3: have to put it out there that I in the
Speaker 3: book Is is solely a fictional character. She does Jamie
Speaker 3: does not talk to Is in the book. Okay, she
Speaker 3: is an altered ego, but she doesn't go back and forth.
Speaker 3: So you know, Danielle was a revelation. She's such a
Speaker 3: hugely talented actor, and the dynamic between the sisters was
Speaker 3: really incredible on and off the screen. So that was
Speaker 3: thrilling to see how they took my idea and brought
Speaker 3: it to life. And then all of the other actors,
Speaker 3: they were great. So I got to come to set,
Speaker 3: So we'll back up a little bit there. I guess
Speaker 3: I was low maintenance enough. They invited me and my
Speaker 3: daughter's set.
Speaker 4: Yes, so I thought we'd.
Speaker 3: Again be fighting in the corner. No one would know.
Speaker 3: I told my daughter, don't speak for the next three days.
Speaker 3: He walked in and it was just full on welcome.
Speaker 3: The cast came in and they said, I'm Harmony, and
Speaker 3: I hope I do it for justice and or they'd say,
Speaker 3: I'm Jennifer one and two, can you give us some
Speaker 3: backstory and motivation? So we ended up being really really
Speaker 3: part of the process, and you know, I love that.
Speaker 3: I thank Paul Howe and the director, you know, and
Speaker 3: all the cast and crew for making us feel such
Speaker 3: a part of things. Yes.
Speaker 4: Wow, so you were on set for three days?
Speaker 3: Then?
Speaker 4: Yes, okay, how fun? And to me, I feel like,
Speaker 4: obviously for you, it's amazing to see your book come
Speaker 4: to life, But how is it watching your daughter? I
Speaker 4: mean she was a fan, like you said of the
Speaker 4: Panabaker's sisters, Like, how amazing was it as a mom
Speaker 4: to watch her just like light up? And you know,
Speaker 4: both your kids have so much personality and they both
Speaker 4: act a little bit right, Yes, So how amazing was
Speaker 4: that to just watch her be on a set and
Speaker 4: see like, this is if this is what you kind
Speaker 4: of want to do?
Speaker 3: Here we are like, oh, it's you'll see it. And
Speaker 3: your daughter's dancing, so when you see he and glow
Speaker 3: and shine, it's that mom feeling. But also for good
Speaker 3: or for bad, it really did spark my daughter into
Speaker 3: wanting to be in the entertainment business.
Speaker 2: Hey, that's a good way of saying it. That's absolutely.
Speaker 3: She is a play right in New York City. She
Speaker 3: just had a very successful run off a play she created,
Speaker 3: So that's exciting. And my son again a little bitter
Speaker 3: in hindsight, he didn't get to come. So he's actually
Speaker 3: an actor and his first movie role was with Ross
Speaker 3: Lynch of the Disney Channel.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, sure all comes.
Speaker 4: Full certain I remember that.
Speaker 1: How so did you know that they were going to
Speaker 1: put like, put you in a scene when you got there?
Speaker 1: Was this something they had discussed with you? Or are
Speaker 1: they like, hey, why don't you come and just sit
Speaker 1: right here?
Speaker 3: Yes? So they said, oh, you do you want a
Speaker 3: cameo quinn to my daughter, and of course she said,
Speaker 3: you know, I would love to. So they brought her
Speaker 3: back to hair and makeup. You know, they fixed her
Speaker 3: cute little outfit. They put her in the it's the
Speaker 3: Pizza place and they put her at the chair and
Speaker 3: then they looked at me and they said, mom, can you,
Speaker 3: you know, just go sit with her and watch her.
Speaker 3: You might be in the background. And I said, sure,
Speaker 3: no hair, no makeup, nothing, So I go and I
Speaker 3: sit in the chair and they said, just be natural,
Speaker 3: have natural reactions. So, actually, we're sitting in the Dad's
Speaker 3: you know, bizarre pizza place, and suddenly I smell the
Speaker 3: worst smell I possibly have ever smelled in my life.
Speaker 3: And I kind of look out of the corner of
Speaker 3: my eye and I see the cast and crew just
Speaker 3: cracking up, laughing. They bring out this pizza and you
Speaker 3: can see it in the movie. They served us a
Speaker 3: chicken feet pizza. My daughter went, Mommy, that's not real,
Speaker 3: is it? And I said, of course, it's not real.
Speaker 3: It was totally real.
Speaker 1: Oh, you could spell it.
Speaker 3: So I make a fake that I will spare you
Speaker 3: because unfortunately I've seen it thousands of times, Oliver, because
Speaker 3: they did a close up on us, which is adorable,
Speaker 3: but I think I'm going to vomit. So imagine me
Speaker 3: like premieres seeing on the big screen moment is me
Speaker 3: looking like I'm literally going to throw up.
Speaker 2: My god, Oh I love that so much.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm curious. You mentioned that you wanted to be
Speaker 1: kind of in the background. You didn't want to be,
Speaker 1: you know, the overbearing writer. But that being said, was
Speaker 1: there any part of the book where you were kind of,
Speaker 1: you know, steadfast, like you can't change this, this this
Speaker 1: part right here is not up for grabs.
Speaker 3: No, I gave it to Disney. I trusted the writerstricken
Speaker 3: Beth Wow. I was a big d Coom fan. But
Speaker 3: they were kind enough to let me see the script,
Speaker 3: and there were that I thought didn't quite fit, just
Speaker 3: two minor things. So I asked, you know, I suggested
Speaker 3: those as changes, and they made those as changes, and
Speaker 3: then they changed a lot in the movie the I
Speaker 3: didn't have an older brother, I had an older sister.
Speaker 3: She did not talk to her alter ego and interesting ways,
Speaker 3: Oh we said flicked. I had it like them flicking
Speaker 3: instead of zapping. But when you say flick somebody off,
Speaker 3: that's probably not the greatest.
Speaker 2: You know, that might sound a little too close to
Speaker 2: another word.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, So they changed that, and she in my book,
Speaker 3: she didn't really lose touch with reality. But that's a
Speaker 3: whole other moment. But one scene that made the movie
Speaker 3: from my book that really cracked me up was something
Speaker 3: when you were talking about embarrassing moments in Hollywood, and
Speaker 3: I remember you asked, Sabrina. I listened to your episode,
Speaker 3: of course, because I follow your podcast mostly because of Sabrinas's.
Speaker 2: I know, I get it. That's why I'm on it.
Speaker 3: I love the podcast. But one of the things is,
Speaker 3: I remember you had asked if she had ever had
Speaker 3: an embarrassing moment in Hollywood, and I actually wrote a
Speaker 3: scene that took place at one of the hotel clubs
Speaker 3: in Hollywood. I was working at the time for Mister
Speaker 3: T of the A Teen. Yes, I'll just you have
Speaker 3: to picture this. I live in Ohio, so I'm working
Speaker 3: suddenly for mister T. I'm out in Hollywood. There were
Speaker 3: tons of A listers. There were these really cool round couches,
Speaker 3: so I sat down on one and I lay back
Speaker 3: looking at the sky, and I remember thinking, this is
Speaker 3: a moment I will not forget. This is really cool.
Speaker 3: You know. I was really young at the time. And
Speaker 3: then all of a sudden something yanked my hair. I
Speaker 3: had a butterfly bar and my hair and someone else
Speaker 3: had leaned back on the couches. I look up. I
Speaker 3: see one of the Friends cast members looking at me,
Speaker 3: and he said, uh are you are you guys okay?
Speaker 3: And we both went we just like in the movie.
Speaker 3: Do you remember the scene where, of course, of course, yeah,
Speaker 3: Amber Tiffany's Tiara I had gotten caught in one of
Speaker 3: the friends stars of Friends here which friend? Yeah, David Swimmer.
Speaker 2: That's awesome.
Speaker 3: So I so we try to sit up and just
Speaker 3: like they filmed it in the movie, and I remember
Speaker 3: acting this out for somebody. We went out and we
Speaker 3: go through the Montopoi Hotel, the ladies room, stuck together,
Speaker 3: where we finally untangled. So that and then they pulled
Speaker 3: that right out of my real life.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, what moments have you ever seen him since?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 2: No, okay, because I mean that there's so many things, there's.
Speaker 1: So many interactions with people in your life you're never
Speaker 1: gonna remember. But the time you were connected to somebody
Speaker 1: at the hotel by your hair, I'm guaranteeing you he's
Speaker 1: gonna he would remember that instantly.
Speaker 3: So I can tell you I there are a lot
Speaker 3: of other alest celebrities. There were musicians, there were actors.
Speaker 3: It was the biggest scene place to be, and we
Speaker 3: went through them going excuse me, for me, excuse me? Me?
Speaker 4: Oh my god.
Speaker 3: Oh.
Speaker 1: I hope we get a chance to talk to him someday,
Speaker 1: because I swear he will absolutely remember that.
Speaker 3: Remember that for the moment, and the funniest it was
Speaker 3: as if you had written it because I remember leaning
Speaker 3: back looking at the stars in the sky above and thinking,
Speaker 3: I will always remember this moment. Out didn't we didn't weep?
Speaker 2: Love it?
Speaker 4: Was there anything in the movie that kind of bombed
Speaker 4: you out that they that they added in or was
Speaker 4: there anything that they took out that you were like, Ah, man,
Speaker 4: I wish they had. I know you were, I know
Speaker 4: how you are, and I know you would not You
Speaker 4: just gave it to them and and knew they'd do
Speaker 4: a great job. But was there anything that kind of went,
Speaker 4: oh man, they missed the mark.
Speaker 2: On that, or I wish I would have done it? Yeah?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I wish they would.
Speaker 3: Yeah, one single line that must have been put in
Speaker 3: after I read the script, and that was about having
Speaker 3: a nutty.
Speaker 2: Was it really? Isn't we we did a whole thing
Speaker 2: about that?
Speaker 4: Really?
Speaker 2: Oh man? Because even Sabrina was like, what does that mean?
Speaker 4: He will knew what that meant? Like, oh of course,
Speaker 4: And I'm like, I can only think terrible thoughts of
Speaker 4: whatever that means. That does not sound like a Disney
Speaker 4: line in any sense. I feel like it doesn't need
Speaker 4: to be there. We could have thought of something else.
Speaker 4: I'm right there with you again.
Speaker 2: Back in the day pitching a nutty.
Speaker 1: You can't, Yeah right, you can't.
Speaker 2: Don't flick a nutty. That's not a good thing.
Speaker 3: Will You saw decades of me wondering did they pick
Speaker 3: it up where they dispatch happened? I was like a
Speaker 3: second he an embarrassing watching her try to say that line.
Speaker 1: I thought, did you like now you said that in
Speaker 1: the book is doesn't interact with her alter ego? Did
Speaker 1: you like how they did that or was that kind
Speaker 1: of like not sure I would have gone that route.
Speaker 3: Well, Danielle and Kay did such an amazing job with it. Yes,
Speaker 3: sometimes I was a little concerned for my characters, especially
Speaker 3: as I said, you know, I wrote this character as
Speaker 3: a mini me, so I wld check to make sure that,
Speaker 3: you know, I hadn't talked to any imaginary characters that
Speaker 3: I have written. Most people, No, my husband may have
Speaker 3: said yes, but but he did so. I mean it
Speaker 3: was such and of the moment. Yes, it was really
Speaker 3: of its time. Everything from that computer tablet that she
Speaker 3: got to draw, and we didn't have anything like that nothing.
Speaker 4: We have said that time and time again about Disney
Speaker 4: being so much on the forefront of technology. We just
Speaker 4: did We've done Smart House recently, and it's like the
Speaker 4: whole movie, you're just going.
Speaker 2: It's just they just put their predicted the future.
Speaker 4: They knew.
Speaker 2: Everything all this.
Speaker 4: You're just going, how does Disney do it? I mean
Speaker 4: this is lightly This was years before any of this
Speaker 4: stuff that's come out. So yes, the tablet was so
Speaker 4: cool and it looked great how they did it, and
Speaker 4: you know, I mean, it was just so fun for me.
Speaker 4: I loved it because I felt like it really talked
Speaker 4: to a girls' teenage point of view. A lot of
Speaker 4: stuff that you go through, a lot of things that
Speaker 4: you kind of make up in your head, you know
Speaker 4: what I mean, as you go through those those teenage years.
Speaker 4: And I just feel like it was such a great
Speaker 4: message and it was just fun. It's an easy watch.
Speaker 4: You don't have to sit there and ask questions. There's
Speaker 4: some movies Will and I've covered that were like, I'm like,
Speaker 4: my brain was on overdrive trying to figure out what's
Speaker 4: going on? Why does the magic situation not make sense?
Speaker 2: Like all that this isn't the dog talking like the
Speaker 2: dog talking?
Speaker 4: And I think that I think when you talk about
Speaker 4: those two characters having someone an actual interaction I think
Speaker 4: made it make it easier versus like her being like
Speaker 4: on her shoulder or like you know, or in her
Speaker 4: head of some sort. Having them actually have interactions when
Speaker 4: you read it through a book is easy to do,
Speaker 4: but watching it on camera was it just made it
Speaker 4: so such a nice watch it did.
Speaker 1: I think I mentioned smack a little bit of mental illness.
Speaker 1: We talked about that a little bit as she's talking
Speaker 1: to imaginary people the whole time. It does maybe as
Speaker 1: a parent, would concern you slightly if you're walking around
Speaker 1: talking to imaginary people.
Speaker 3: Yeah, possibly it's a conversation between parents and children's about
Speaker 3: important mental health issues. Yes, absolutely, But like I said,
Speaker 3: I don't talk to my fictional characters. Let's make that clear.
Speaker 1: It was I think that, Hey, I have a friend
Speaker 1: of mine who's a screenwriter who he writes all the
Speaker 1: dialogue with two puppets. So he does the voices and
Speaker 1: the puppets are going, we'll have the puppet on you
Speaker 1: chan and they go back and forth as he writes
Speaker 1: the dialogue.
Speaker 2: So, wow, what the writing process.
Speaker 3: Rina our next book? Maybe we have puppets. We have
Speaker 3: a will puppet?
Speaker 4: Yes, oh my god, brought it up. Destroys to Rita.
Speaker 2: And never you brought it up.
Speaker 1: So we've got to talk about Please take it away
Speaker 1: because you both wrote a book together.
Speaker 4: Right, Yes, it's right behind her. Do you see that
Speaker 4: little bit?
Speaker 2: I do? I see it?
Speaker 3: Right next to it is the Indonesian edition.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Indonesia picked it up as well, which was really very cool.
Speaker 1: So how did how did you guys meet? How did
Speaker 1: this process start? Who came up with this idea?
Speaker 4: Come on, dish, Well, I feel like did we did
Speaker 4: Mel introduce us? Is that how we met? And how
Speaker 4: do you? I don't remember what your connection is with Mel?
Speaker 3: Yeah? So I met Mel at a book festival. Mel's
Speaker 3: a book person and a creative person, and she and
Speaker 3: I was doing a keynote and she came up afterward
Speaker 3: and she said, I would love to talk to you,
Speaker 3: and then we just hit it off immediately, as you
Speaker 3: do with Mel.
Speaker 2: Who's Mel?
Speaker 4: Mel's my manager? Oh okay, yeah, Who's been with me
Speaker 4: for years, like just a few years. Outside of the
Speaker 4: Cheetah Girls, she worked with Deborah Martin Chase, who we've
Speaker 4: talked about, who's done Princess Diaries, Cinderella, and also the
Speaker 4: Cheetah Girls. So Mel worked with Deborah and that's how
Speaker 4: I got introduced with Mel. And she's just amazing. She
Speaker 4: just she's the visionary. I swear she's just incredible.
Speaker 3: And she said, I really want to connect you with
Speaker 3: Sabrina Brian who's going to have a movie coming out
Speaker 3: called the Cheetah Girls. And went, how nice, thank you.
Speaker 3: Let me sign your book. But then we did an event.
Speaker 3: Do you remember this, Sabrina, Yes, limited to which was
Speaker 3: between the stores that were in all the malls and
Speaker 3: all the raining and we did an event at Legal
Speaker 3: Lands and it was a meet and greed and a concert.
Speaker 4: Jessica Simpson and Nick Lache when they were together, performed
Speaker 4: at it. Yeah, that was fun. That was that Lego Land,
Speaker 4: so fun Lego Land.
Speaker 3: So that's where I first met Sabrina. But what was
Speaker 3: amazing was it was right after Cheetah Girls was aired.
Speaker 4: Yeah, like just a few months after.
Speaker 3: I feel like, yes, very close after, and girls were
Speaker 3: coming running up to Sabrina and asking for her autograph.
Speaker 3: And I got to see and I you know, I joked,
Speaker 3: I didn't mean you were immature, You've never been immature,
Speaker 3: but you were maybe you were young and you handled
Speaker 3: it with such toys, and you were so kind and
Speaker 3: generous to all of the fans that were coming up
Speaker 3: and asking for your autograph, asking for Cheetah Girl stories.
Speaker 3: It was it was adorable.
Speaker 4: It was a really it was a fun, fun day,
Speaker 4: and we sort of talked about like kind of and I,
Speaker 4: you know, anything that I would ever want to write,
Speaker 4: and I mean not trying to this is also should
Speaker 4: be very inspirational in the sense of like I liked writing,
Speaker 4: but I knew I wasn't super good, like in school,
Speaker 4: I just wasn't wonderful at it. And it was amazing
Speaker 4: to have her take my ideas in us and teach
Speaker 4: me so much and work together. But where the Princess
Speaker 4: of Gossip idea came from was that was back in
Speaker 4: the day when my Space was huge, and that's just
Speaker 4: really aged me. But my Space was big, and there
Speaker 4: was I don't know if it was a girl or
Speaker 4: a boy, but there was someone on MySpace that was
Speaker 4: posing as me Adrian Keeley and Raven and they had
Speaker 4: four different myspaces and they were like she would chat like,
Speaker 4: hey girl, so fun, I loved that hat that you
Speaker 4: wore the other day, Raven so cool, And then she'd
Speaker 4: be like thanks babe, like kisses, and like it was
Speaker 4: I found these pages and they're going back and forth
Speaker 4: and it's not us, right, Like.
Speaker 1: So wait, it wasn't supposed to be fake, like you
Speaker 1: didn't they were. This person was actually claiming to be
Speaker 1: the four of you.
Speaker 4: Correct, Yeah, and would make announcements like We're going to
Speaker 4: be at this mall at three thirty and all this stuff, right,
Speaker 4: and had a lot of followers on it, and so
Speaker 4: I kind of was telling her. I was like, this
Speaker 4: would be such a cool idea. I mean, this is
Speaker 4: talking about like cat fishing before casha was a thing,
Speaker 4: and I'm like that just somebody kind of posing as
Speaker 4: an influencer type situation that we now have. This was
Speaker 4: before influencing and all that stuff. And it was like,
Speaker 4: but how cool would it be if they actually got
Speaker 4: into like events and we're able to like create this
Speaker 4: actual alter ego and become kind of famous. But nobody
Speaker 4: knows who she is. So that's where we started. And
Speaker 4: then she's I mean she came back maybe a week
Speaker 4: later with just the full I got all these ideas
Speaker 4: and I'm like, oh my gosh, yes, yes, yes, and
Speaker 4: we just started bouncing and then the book kind of
Speaker 4: just came to be and it was I love it.
Speaker 4: I've just read it recently again. Just it's just so
Speaker 4: crazy to see how relevant it is now because of
Speaker 4: influencers and stuff. Right, Like people actually have that as
Speaker 4: a job. Literally, that's their soul income now is something
Speaker 4: based off not based off of what you know. They
Speaker 4: didn't get the idea for me, but that's kind of
Speaker 4: what the book's about.
Speaker 3: So but talking about vision, I mean, you had that choo,
Speaker 3: so it's incredibly creative for ideas. Oh I remember you
Speaker 3: had an idea about identical twins and one of them
Speaker 3: was a ghost. That's always stuck my head.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, So one of the twins died during
Speaker 1: birth or something.
Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean, well, because my grandmother was a set
Speaker 4: of a twin and her twin passed away. And it's like,
Speaker 4: what if that twin kind of came with you along
Speaker 4: with your life. Like I've always been obsessed with twins.
Speaker 4: I wish I was one. I prayed so hard that
Speaker 4: I would have a set of twins. There's still time.
Speaker 4: I just am obsessed with twins. I just love it.
Speaker 4: So yeah, I would be like, what if I actually
Speaker 4: did have a twin and she just was with me
Speaker 4: all the time, but nobody knew.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, one of my best friends is a twin.
Speaker 1: So he said, you're He said, you're born with a
Speaker 1: friend or an enemy for life, period forever.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I actually am an identical twin, are you?
Speaker 4: She is? It's bonkers. I mean I do.
Speaker 1: Friend or enemy for life, friend of me.
Speaker 3: Some of the books behind me we co author. She's
Speaker 3: also an author.
Speaker 2: John Amazing.
Speaker 1: My mom is an author and she co authors with
Speaker 1: her sister, No, so the two of them partner together.
Speaker 1: They do historical fiction novels.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I would love to read those.
Speaker 1: They're really cool. They're they're actually very very cool. The
Speaker 1: first series of three is about a group of girls
Speaker 1: who get involved with the Boston Tea Party and the
Speaker 1: birth of the country. They become like spies for they've
Speaker 1: become American spies, this group of like fifteen sixteen year
Speaker 1: old girls.
Speaker 2: It's really cool. Yeah.
Speaker 1: The first one's called The Trouble with Tea. It's they're
Speaker 1: they're really great. So yeah, so twins is that that's
Speaker 1: a great idea.
Speaker 2: I want to read that. But it's a great children's
Speaker 2: story that's also such a d Coom right there.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I know it would be so cool.
Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, kay, and Daniel is the parents they ant.
Speaker 1: All right, Okay, you mentioned stuck in the Suburbs because
Speaker 1: we got to get back a little bit to dcom.
Speaker 1: Other than Stuck in the Suburbs, what were some of
Speaker 1: your other favorites?
Speaker 3: Well, it was what was really fun was right before
Speaker 3: read it and Weep was filmed in Salt Lake City.
Speaker 3: We did the whole Little America. You know. The movie
Speaker 3: that had just wrapped filming was High School Musical one.
Speaker 2: Okay, wow, I.
Speaker 3: Remember when you know they drive you back and forth
Speaker 3: in the shuttles and golf courts and things, and they
Speaker 3: kept saying, you don't understand who was in your room
Speaker 3: before you You don't know who Zach Efron is, but
Speaker 3: that was his hotel room vs. Yes, my daughter later
Speaker 3: tells that story. You know, Oh, you could wait till
Speaker 3: you find out what High School Musical and Vanessa Hudgins
Speaker 3: so we got kind of a sneak preview of High
Speaker 3: School Musical. So that was so exciting of course when
Speaker 3: that came out. But of course, you know I love
Speaker 3: the Cheetah girls. I mean I met Sabrino when like
Speaker 3: right after they had the biggest premiere I think in history, right,
Speaker 3: I mean exploded.
Speaker 4: Yeah that at the time, Yes, it was, and it
Speaker 4: was right when there was like a huge blackout in
Speaker 4: New York, so we couldn't believe that. We all kind
Speaker 4: of went dang, that sucks, like we just lost a
Speaker 4: giant region of what the viewers would be and it
Speaker 4: still broke the numbers of the time. So, I mean
Speaker 4: it was pretty pretty awesome.
Speaker 3: And then Rina invited me to Cheetah Girls concert. Great,
Speaker 3: you have to see this, so if you're listening, I
Speaker 3: will explain it to you. This is by Cheetah Girls,
Speaker 3: One World awesome. Yes, sticker, Oh my gosh, I love that.
Speaker 3: Youthing in my house I didn't have to go look for.
Speaker 3: But so what a journey that was. I love to
Speaker 3: jump in.
Speaker 2: We haven't done jump In yet.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's with Corbin Blue. Yeah, and we haven't talked
Speaker 4: about you working with Paul Holan. We'll get there. But
Speaker 4: he did jump in as well. And Cheatah and Cheetah
Speaker 4: three One World.
Speaker 3: Right, and that was my favorite. And then even recently
Speaker 3: on my three of my very close friends had a
Speaker 3: d com called Upside Down Magic made just wo maybe
Speaker 3: two years ago, so that's new ones. That's super fun.
Speaker 3: We kind of do that one, yes, because I did.
Speaker 3: We were there at you know, such a golden moment
Speaker 3: of d coms with cheetah girls and people and and everybody.
Speaker 3: So that was really fun. And the Disney Channel games,
Speaker 3: the whole era was so exciting, Jason, unless.
Speaker 2: You're on the team. Apparently, according to Sabrina.
Speaker 3: Oh, I tried cheering on the Yellow team. It was
Speaker 3: you and Jason, Dolly. It was really hard. I think
Speaker 3: defected Chi's team, but it.
Speaker 4: Just gets worse.
Speaker 2: That's great.
Speaker 4: That people noticed how bad we were.
Speaker 2: Was there ever a talk of a sequel?
Speaker 3: There wasn't, but there have been talks about other books
Speaker 3: that I've written, and you know, and hopefully, you know,
Speaker 3: I would love to have another d com. I loved
Speaker 3: the experience. Paul hon and crew, everybody was you know,
Speaker 3: so fabulous, and it was so fun watching the movie.
Speaker 3: I watched it again this weekend. You know, I don't
Speaker 3: sit and watch it like in a dark room, you know,
Speaker 3: for Will and Sabrina this weekend, and I just it
Speaker 3: made me so happy, you know, I loved it, so
Speaker 3: I love writing in this space and if something you
Speaker 3: know can be on the big screen.
Speaker 4: Totally, I mean that is your prime like demo, inspiring
Speaker 4: young kids and stuff with all of your books. So
Speaker 4: I'm sure there'll be many more d coms in the future,
Speaker 4: and especially since I know how easy you probably were,
Speaker 4: just like hands off, you guys, do your thing. I
Speaker 4: trust you. And I was really excited because you know,
Speaker 4: I didn't reckon when it came out and I watched
Speaker 4: it the first time back in the day, Paul Howen
Speaker 4: wasn't a name that I was like super aware of.
Speaker 4: And now what's amazing is I got to do the
Speaker 4: third movie with him. He did your movie and he's
Speaker 4: done a bunch other How was it for you with him? Like,
Speaker 4: how was that collaboration? I know how great Paul is,
Speaker 4: so how was that for you? With working with him?
Speaker 3: So cool? I mean I have to say I got to,
Speaker 3: you know, work with and interact with both Gary marsh
Speaker 3: and Paul Hohen. I mean, you know, it's legends. So
Speaker 3: with Paul on the set, they took my daughter off
Speaker 3: and they were swimming in the pool with her or
Speaker 3: something for I don't know, something fun. And Paul took
Speaker 3: me to lunch, so I got to know him over
Speaker 3: lunch and I just thought that was amazing that, you know,
Speaker 3: he would take the time to sit and talk to
Speaker 3: me about everything. So he's just I mean, he's fabulous. Yeah,
Speaker 3: he's so like you know Instagram stories.
Speaker 4: Yes, yeah.
Speaker 1: Now you also because you you haven't an interesting story
Speaker 1: in that you can show us both sides of something
Speaker 1: that maybe a lot of people don't get a chance
Speaker 1: to see. So not only did you have a DCM
Speaker 1: that was very successful, but you also sold a pilot
Speaker 1: to CBS.
Speaker 3: I did, and it's very, very different than anything I'd written.
Speaker 3: But you know, I'm a children's book author obviously, as
Speaker 3: you know, I'm actually married to a terrorist and gang prosecutor.
Speaker 2: Sheeesh, isn't that amazing?
Speaker 1: Slight, the slight, the slight, the slight, balance of life,
Speaker 1: I would say, the two sides of the coin.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So I would be, oh, no, I have to meet
Speaker 3: my deadline. I don't know what my character, you know,
Speaker 3: is going to what drama is going to happen to
Speaker 3: my character? And my husband would be like, I'm going
Speaker 3: to Iraq, I'm going to work on the Saddam Hussein trial,
Speaker 3: so there was a definitect.
Speaker 1: Wait, you're right, that's what Little Rosemary will do in
Speaker 1: the book.
Speaker 2: She will go to a terrorist ore goan to say, okay, wait,
Speaker 2: that's not gonna work. Well, thank you.
Speaker 4: That gonna work for a little.
Speaker 3: Very His party stories are great. So of course, you know,
Speaker 3: I've been writing steadily ever since have my Private Personal
Speaker 3: Journal became a bestseller. It was actually my very first
Speaker 3: novel that I wrote.
Speaker 4: Wow, I didn't know that. Okay, I did write.
Speaker 3: Fiction before that, but that was my first fiction. So
Speaker 3: ever since then, I've it's been steady and I've been
Speaker 3: writing books, you know, hopefully to inspire and motivate kids
Speaker 3: and teenagers and you know the people the growing ups
Speaker 3: who like to read the books too. So when I
Speaker 3: was talking to a producer friend of mine, and you know,
Speaker 3: I said, yeah, my husband, she said, well, there's a
Speaker 3: show right there. So what if the children's book authors
Speaker 3: start solving the terrorists and gang prosecutors crimes.
Speaker 2: Behind this great idea?
Speaker 3: So it was pitched. CBS bought it, and it was
Speaker 3: pitched to sort of been update to Moonlighting with a
Speaker 3: very bantery husband and she gets into his business, which
Speaker 3: in real life I do not because I'm squeamish. I've
Speaker 3: learned the hard way not to look through his files
Speaker 3: and things.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, I couldn't do it any.
Speaker 3: But you know, we'll get made. I don't know, but
Speaker 3: kind of a cool, cool thing. So that's my one
Speaker 3: of a couple adult grown up projects.
Speaker 2: That I that's really great. Well, so last question for you,
Speaker 2: if that's all right.
Speaker 1: I got to ask, of all of the ip that
Speaker 1: you have, of all the books that you've written, if
Speaker 1: you could pick one to become the next d com,
Speaker 1: which one would you pick?
Speaker 3: Man two?
Speaker 2: Sure, you're the guest. You can do whatever you want.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 3: Now I'm being high maintenance. Of course, is Princess of
Speaker 3: Gossip or whatever. Sabrina and I were brainstorming how to
Speaker 3: develop that into different media. No. I love working with Sabrina,
Speaker 3: of course. And the other one. Thanks for asking. My
Speaker 3: next book, Yeah, it's called Meet Me in Wonderland. This
Speaker 3: is a mock up because it's not out yet and
Speaker 3: it's a teen rom com that I wrote in you know,
Speaker 3: keeping the old school d coms in mind. It's actually
Speaker 3: inspired by my own high school job at Chuck E Cheese.
Speaker 3: As Chuck E cheese.
Speaker 1: You were chuck e chee, you were chucky.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, thing I wouldn't admit for a long time,
Speaker 3: but now it's out. The opening chapter takes place. The
Speaker 3: girl is in a sweaty mascot costume, just like I
Speaker 3: had to do me. She stumbles into the employee breakroom
Speaker 3: to get some fresh air because you can just think
Speaker 3: of the stench of s a sewer wrap costume. He
Speaker 3: stumbles into the breakroom, she just like me, takes off
Speaker 3: the head, your hair, staticky, your sweaty. You look and
Speaker 3: you see the cutest boy you've ever seen in your
Speaker 3: entire life sitting there for got his new job application.
Speaker 3: Oh that happy and that really happened I in my
Speaker 3: real life. I tried to shove the head back on
Speaker 3: and back out of the room so he see me
Speaker 3: in what she drips falls and you know, and a
Speaker 3: whole dramatic meat cute ensues.
Speaker 2: Did you date in real life? I have to know?
Speaker 2: Did you date in real life?
Speaker 4: You did?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 4: He gets the guy.
Speaker 3: You know I write about. I really want kids to
Speaker 3: be validated that you can, you know, have these embarrassing moments.
Speaker 3: Have I had a really rough middle school after having
Speaker 3: a great you know, growing up childhood at a rough
Speaker 3: middle school. And I think that's why it tappened too
Speaker 3: that age group, because I want, you know, kids to
Speaker 3: realize that you know, yes, you can be embarrassed, humiliated,
Speaker 3: you can be bullied, all these terrible things you know
Speaker 3: that kids go through in drama. But look at the
Speaker 3: kind of things that can happen, you know, afterwards in life.
Speaker 3: And also if it didn't happen to me, I wouldn't
Speaker 3: have all this material to write about.
Speaker 2: So right, exactly.
Speaker 4: Totally, and you get through it, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4: It's you know, when time is tough and and I
Speaker 4: just that age is so hard. We stayed a lot
Speaker 4: on on the podcast of these things that we see
Speaker 4: in d com and it's like that comes where whoever
Speaker 4: was writing it, that came from somewhere probably yeah, because
Speaker 4: it is rough to go through such a hard time.
Speaker 4: It's just being a teenager is not easy. It's you're
Speaker 4: you're growing, You've got a little bit of independence, you
Speaker 4: want to fight for more, you know, you're trying to
Speaker 4: figure out how things are just working out whatever, and
Speaker 4: but you get through it. You know, there is it,
Speaker 4: there is another side take your learning lessons and well.
Speaker 1: What's the old thing is it? Is it trauma plus
Speaker 1: time equals comedy.
Speaker 4: I don't know, but I love that.
Speaker 3: Love that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what happens. I mean, that's just how it is.
Speaker 1: So you have to you have to flip it and
Speaker 1: make it your own.
Speaker 4: So totally.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I mean Will cracks me up because he talks about
Speaker 4: how like he's like, oh, that just wasn't me. I
Speaker 4: wasn't the cool guy. And I'm like, you were like
Speaker 4: so many people's first crush. They're probably still crushing on you.
Speaker 2: Like very sweet. No one I knew, very sweet.
Speaker 1: No one believes you will your Well, it's true, it's true.
Speaker 1: I didn't have a date on prom night, so I
Speaker 1: ended up in the parking lot of a bowling alley
Speaker 1: with a bunch of hippie kids and we couldn't even
Speaker 1: rent shoes because they were wearing tivas with no socks,
Speaker 1: and they wouldn't rent us the shoes because no one
Speaker 1: had socks. That was my prom night. So yeah, I
Speaker 1: promise you. Yeah, Trump time equals comedy. You could laugh
Speaker 1: at it now your.
Speaker 3: Face is plastered all over you know girls walls, and
Speaker 3: yeahous weird.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm I'm convinced it was just because the pictures
Speaker 1: were load bearing in the house would have fallen down
Speaker 1: without them. Oh, thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 2: This was awesome. Everybody, Please go out read all the books.
Speaker 1: We've got, Princess of Gossip of course, which was also
Speaker 1: written by our very own Sabrina Bryan, and your new
Speaker 1: one coming out, Meet Me in Wonderland, which sounds incredible.
Speaker 1: And then we've got the goat the original because it
Speaker 1: was read it and weep on Disney. But it was
Speaker 1: how my personal Journal became a bestseller?
Speaker 3: Right, yes, and will on set they hadn't changed the
Speaker 3: name yet to read it and weep, and I think
Speaker 3: they finally gave up on trying to Danielle and Ca
Speaker 3: actually gave me a mug afterwards with how my private
Speaker 3: personal journal became a bestseller?
Speaker 2: Love came here you go.
Speaker 3: I think they just couldn't say it anymore, and honestly
Speaker 3: neither could. I.
Speaker 1: Well, please come back and join us again, and we
Speaker 1: want to know all about the new book when it
Speaker 1: comes out. And of course when that becomes a d com,
Speaker 1: we'll uh we gotta watch that one too, So that's too.
Speaker 3: Cool well and Sabrina. This was so much fun. Thank
Speaker 3: you for thank you for coming.
Speaker 4: It was so good seeing you again. I can't wait
Speaker 4: till we can get together.
Speaker 3: Can't wait.
Speaker 2: I'm joining, I'm joining.
Speaker 4: Yes, you're you're.
Speaker 3: In, You're in the click now.
Speaker 2: Yes, I'm so excited.
Speaker 1: I'm such a I'll get my cheetah chatter down and
Speaker 1: my my all my read it and weep stuff and I'll.
Speaker 3: Sell he won't zap you away from the lunch table, or.
Speaker 1: Please don't flick me, or I will have a nutty.
Speaker 1: That's all I'm saying. Thank you so much, bye, thank you.
Speaker 2: By She is so sweet, isn't she the sweetest?
Speaker 4: I just love her.
Speaker 2: I can't you know.
Speaker 1: The interview amazing, the book's incredible, the dcom wonderful. But
Speaker 1: I'm the thing I'm taking away from this is what
Speaker 1: a great idea that is of yours of the twins
Speaker 1: where one of them's a ghost.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it'd be so cool. We're really trying
Speaker 4: to like sess that out and figure out.
Speaker 1: How to give a name to a title. There's got
Speaker 1: to be a great title for that.
Speaker 4: No, we haven't gotten to the title part. We're kind
Speaker 4: of just still, we really do want to do something
Speaker 4: with Princess of Gossip that's kind of where like where
Speaker 4: can we take it, you know, whether it is something
Speaker 4: like a d com or is it something we could
Speaker 4: do on a podcasting type thing. And because there's just
Speaker 4: so many adventures that that that main character could still
Speaker 4: go on, sure continue, especially nowadays because it's actually very
Speaker 4: relevant now.
Speaker 3: It is.
Speaker 2: It's almost answers in a way.
Speaker 1: It's almost like Leonardo DiCaprio's movie Catch Me if you Can. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but for for for more based on a you know,
Speaker 1: the female side of it, where it's likely somebody who's
Speaker 1: getting into all these cool events and is kind of
Speaker 1: lying their way into everything, and yeah, the real kind
Speaker 1: of question becomes who are they really?
Speaker 2: Do they even know who they are exactly?
Speaker 4: So yeah, where's the reality of life for them? And
Speaker 4: I mean it all came from an actual fan of
Speaker 4: the Cheetah Girl that I found and it was like
Speaker 4: I can say I was catfish, but it was like
Speaker 4: in such a the best way to be catfish because
Speaker 4: it gets a safe way is safe way and there
Speaker 4: was no harm being done, you know, she just whoever
Speaker 4: it was, was just living this like idea of being
Speaker 4: a cheetah girl and what that would be with friends.
Speaker 4: So it was safe and and it was okay, I'm
Speaker 4: not condoning catfishing, but.
Speaker 1: No, of course not unless you're actually fishing for catfish,
Speaker 1: in which case we can done that all day.
Speaker 2: That's a healthy practice. Go get some catfish, but don't
Speaker 2: do the other one. Yes, So thank you everybody so
Speaker 2: much for joining us.
Speaker 1: Thank you Julia de Villars for joining us. That was
Speaker 1: such a fun conversation. And you can see how you
Speaker 1: guys get along so well and seem to work together
Speaker 1: so well, and we're hoping for big things from both
Speaker 1: of you in the future. Join us over on the
Speaker 1: other feed where we watch our next movie, because we
Speaker 1: can't do this without you. You need to watch with us.
Speaker 1: We're having so much fun and we will see you
Speaker 1: next time. Bye everybody, Bye,