WEBVTT - Wicked Fun with Jon M. Chu 0:00:01.720 --> 0:00:04.440 And That's what You Really Missed with Jenna. 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:07.080 And Kevin An iHeartRadio podcast. 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:11.520 Welcome to and That's what You Really miss Podcast. It's 0:00:11.520 --> 0:00:16.720 a very exciting day. We have an old friend here 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:25.080 who's maybe one of the biggest stars of Hollywood right now. John, 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:25.800 I'm true. 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:34.000 John is just a great guy. He's just a good, 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:37.600 good person person and I'm so happy we get to 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:41.319 chat with him. And I think you will. How he 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:43.479 is when we talk to him now is how he 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:46.760 is all the time. Yes, the difference, there's no ego. 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:51.960 There's just the love for the craft exactly, love for 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:54.840 his friends, love for his coworkers, love for story and 0:00:54.880 --> 0:00:57.800 what he's doing, and family and that goes into every 0:00:57.800 --> 0:01:01.440 single thing he does. Also, forgot he was around us 0:01:01.520 --> 0:01:02.640 during Glee. 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:07.560 Oh yeah, my way I think my way in was 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:10.600 like he was doing were like he's doing the Justin 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:14.280 Bieber like movie, which was one of the first of 0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:17.600 those movies, right and he did it the best. And 0:01:19.400 --> 0:01:21.880 he was just around us and I remember him with 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:26.240 Harry and you and everybody, and he's just the fact 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:28.680 and like his memories of Glee also are so sweet 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:30.840 and just like watching us and seeing us so like, 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:34.480 I'm I'm still astounded, and he remembers that, but that 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:37.039 was such a you know, and. 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:40.039 One breath I am and one breath I'm not because 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:43.280 that's the sum No, I know exactly. Well. 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:48.919 I hope you guys enjoyed this conversation with John. Yeah, 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:49.920 that's all I have to say. 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:53.440 Yes, strap In, this is John. I'm chu director of 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:56.760 Wicked and Wicked for Good. Where are you right now? 0:01:57.640 --> 0:02:01.800 I am in New York City? Oh same, Yeah, I 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:05.120 know it's crazy because I was here only for Crazy. 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:06.960 Wh Change is the musical. So we have a twenty 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:09.160 nine hour read, which I've never done because I've never 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:10.919 directed a skill before. 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:13.519 So it's a wild that's so exciting. 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:15.279 Wow. 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:18.440 Wow, we have a whole cast of people. It's been 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:22.359 like today we do like a run through of it 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:23.519 and it's gonna be really fun. 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:27.079 Why do I sneak into that? That is incredible. 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:31.000 Wow, that's really cool. It's good to see you. 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:32.360 Yes, thanks for doing. 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:36.280 This great, thank you. It's been I've waited a long 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:39.760 time to do this. Guys watched I've listened. 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:45.519 Oh John, Oh my god, the business man at the 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:47.760 moment your podcast. 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:51.280 How are you doing? Like how do you feel mentally 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:53.320 physically through all of this, Like do you. 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:58.880 I feel, you know, exhausted. But as I saw in 0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:02.480 some TikTok inspirational video, how blessed are we to be 0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:05.760 exhausted for the work that we dreamed of since we 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:08.720 begged the universe for it since we were kids. Yeah, 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:12.000 I'm like, thank god we get to tell stories. Yeah, 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:17.040 and I got five kids, that's crazy. I gave year old, 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:18.560 six year old, four year old, two year old, and 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:21.360 one year old. And so the exhaustion is like beautiful, 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:24.240 Like you know how it is, Jenna, Like it's just 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:29.040 you watch someone discover the world every day. Yeah, it's 0:03:28.720 --> 0:03:32.200 a cynical and annoyed. It can annoying sometimes it can be. 0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:36.280 It can be like my little boys doing this poking 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:38.240 thing where he just like pokes you instead of like 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:41.760 holds your hand. And my wife's like, how do I 0:03:41.800 --> 0:03:42.240 tell him? 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:44.560 Like it's really really annoying. 0:03:44.640 --> 0:03:47.960 Like give him options, maybe say my head instead. I 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:49.960 don't know, And then I try to do it like, oh, 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:51.520 that's a great idea, John, let me just try to 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:54.600 do that, and he was like, nah, no, that's my 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:55.280 life basically. 0:03:55.360 --> 0:03:59.080 Yes, when I think about like how are you or 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:02.440 anyone in your position. You have young kids, you're also 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:06.320 juggling a billion work things and also trying to like 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:09.600 because you work in a creative field, so like, how 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:10.920 do you keep your creative And I was like, you 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:14.080 know what, whenever I want something done, like I know, 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:16.839 Jenna is like the best person to call, or like 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:23.040 anybody with kids because either awake already. Yeah, but also 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:25.200 you have to be organized. You have to know how 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:27.960 to like still as much little free time you have 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:29.760 with whatever you want to be doing. 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:31.320 It's like Christian as possible. 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:33.680 Yes, yeah, you just roll with it. You just roll 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:37.279 with it, you go, you have solutions as quickly as possible. 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:39.359 Probably what makes you such a good director. You're like, 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:42.640 here's three options for you instead of the one. 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:46.440 Yeah, I couldn't tell what which which came first. Now 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:49.920 it's all blurred. But I'm pretty sure that directing helped 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:54.760 my parenting. My parenting actually helped my my directing more 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:57.920 because I think I think being a parent is really 0:04:57.960 --> 0:05:00.600 creative and I think that it actually set rates. Like 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:02.320 I used to get stressed because I used to think 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:04.919 about the movie or the project when I went home. 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:07.640 When I'm sleeping when I get up and it's like 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:11.160 that's that's actually more exhausting, and that actually is a problem. 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:13.440 But when I when you come home and you got 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:15.680 to change a diaper, you gotta like calm a fight 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:18.719 down or something. You leave all that stuff gone and 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:20.520 you're still I mean, you can still jump back in, 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:23.839 but but yeah, there's a separation and your brain gets 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:26.960 to rest. And I think that that's amazing and I'm 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:29.599 more creative than ever for sure. Oh wow, that's great, 0:05:30.240 --> 0:05:32.800 And to share this journey is insane. I can say, hey, 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:35.320 see these drawings, like now, these are going to become 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:37.360 real things. And then my kids come to the set 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:39.719 and they're like, oh now and feel the fabric, look 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:42.359 at the things. And then you go and you and you. 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:44.359 They go to school and now their friends have t 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:46.599 shirts of the drawing that they saw back in the 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:48.960 day and they were there, they were actually on the 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:52.160 yellow brick road. I think, I don't know how that 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:55.240 really messes with their head, but I think you dream 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:58.480 and it happens, and that's a natural thing of the world. 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:03.000 And actually, as a kid, when our imaginations are so 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:06.760 explosive and everything is an opportunity to use your imagination 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:08.760 when you're a kid. Also as an adult, boat we 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:11.840 have to remind ourselves of that. I think, yeah, and yeah, 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:15.440 that has to be such a crazy thing because most 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.000 of us are like, you know, using like cardboard boxes 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:21.720 and like sheets that we found to build costumes and like, 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:24.600 at least I was like building sets and things in 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:27.080 my house. And then they actually get to walk on 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:31.560 like people at the top of their craft doing like 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:33.400 the biggest thing possible. 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:36.680 Well, you know, as a as a kid, myself and 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:40.239 we would go to see shows, musicals, opera, ballets, whatever 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:43.680 it was, watching movies. You know, when you don't know 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:46.520 much about the business. You also don't the only access 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:48.440 point you have is like the acting side of it. 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:50.640 So you're in musical theater, you do all this stuff, 0:06:50.680 --> 0:06:52.480 and then later you learn, oh, there's like a whole 0:06:52.520 --> 0:06:56.039 other side. Yeah, like do this thing called directing. And 0:06:57.200 --> 0:07:00.320 my kids definitely know like, oh there's like directing, there's 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:02.720 like in front and behind the camera. They understand what 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:05.919 all the things are, at least the concepts of and 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:08.240 so I think that's really interesting. We'll see how that affects. 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:13.320 Someone actually the producer, Okay, exactly. I love to tell 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:16.720 you speaking of little kids, I'm curious to hear, like 0:07:17.400 --> 0:07:21.440 I just I can imagine somebody who studied the craft 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:25.280 and you know study, you know, production and TV in 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:28.120 school and all of these things, and just was immersed 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:30.920 in it as a kid. Like what would that John 0:07:31.720 --> 0:07:37.680 say about John? Now, like did you manifest this? 0:07:37.800 --> 0:07:40.200 Did you know? Or were you like would he be 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:41.440 like shell shocked? 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:45.120 Well, I have the weird answer and probably the more 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:46.160 realistic answer. 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:49.640 Well, give us the weird one. 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:53.320 The weird answer is, yeah, I knew. I feel like 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:56.240 I've already lived this life, and I felt like I've 0:07:56.280 --> 0:07:58.480 seen all of this before and I was on a 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:00.000 journey and I had to stick to it. And that's 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:01.680 that's what I made myself. Whether it's real or not, 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:04.040 I don't know, but I really believed it. Since I 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:08.280 was probably nine years old, I did see this life 0:08:08.840 --> 0:08:12.680 and in a weird way, did it make me sort 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:15.960 of just know that like whatever path I'm on, it 0:08:16.000 --> 0:08:18.040 felt like a book that I was just on certain 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:20.640 chapters on and once I get through this chapter is 0:08:20.680 --> 0:08:22.640 actually the next good part. And then I would tell 0:08:22.680 --> 0:08:25.080 myself this. So again, whether it's true or not, I 0:08:25.080 --> 0:08:29.120 don't know. But I sort of made myself believe that 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:31.120 that that's how I was going to survive all of this. 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:36.160 So every bad moment was I knew, oh no, don't worry, 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:38.560 You'll be fine. And for some reason, for some I 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:41.320 know that's not that doesn't necessarily work, but for some reason, 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:43.680 I did keep going, and I because of that, I 0:08:43.720 --> 0:08:46.640 did get here to this point. But I don't think 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:48.920 that that's like a philosophy of life. I don't know, 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:53.080 but that's that's what I think now. The reality of 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:59.240 it all, I think, deep down, I don't believe I'm 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:03.280 any of this, and that I have to work really 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:07.439 hard to catch up to the image or what people 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:11.720 think or what my even my movies sort of present 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:17.280 to the world. So I'm always but I like to 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:20.160 try to live up to that. So I'm always chasing, 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:21.360 chasing this thing. 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:26.880 I feel like that's probably that sounds healthy, both of those, 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:30.440 like the balance of both of those. Like if you 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:32.240 had one of that the other night, I would be 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:36.560 worried about you. But because you have both, in my 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:39.640 professional opinion, because I will. 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:42.480 Be hungry, right like it keeps hungry if something's chasing 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:45.160 me and I'm chasing something and something's chasing me, and 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:48.400 I think that's an okay balance. I've never felt so 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:52.560 chased that I'm just scared. But I will say that 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:55.560 the thing that I think is the difference for me, 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:59.320 and sometimes I feel shame about it, is that my 0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:02.439 entry point into movie making. I grew up loving movies, 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:05.360 watching movies, all those things, but my entry point was 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:08.360 making actually making movies because I was given a camera 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:12.400 and I was started to make stuff before I knew 0:10:12.960 --> 0:10:15.240 even my full love of cinema. I was just it 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:18.080 was a process of making and I fell in love 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:19.839 with the shooting. I fell in love with the editing. 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:23.160 I fell in love with delivery, showing sharing to me 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:25.800 that I just knew that I was going to do 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:27.680 that for the rest of my life, whether whether I 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:29.240 was going to get paid for it or not. If 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:31.360 I wasn't getting paid by a studio, I'd be making 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:33.560 wedding videos and bar mits videos the way I did 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:36.080 in high school. Like I get just as much enjoyment 0:10:36.640 --> 0:10:42.280 of videoing my children and videoing someone's wedding than making wicked. 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:45.480 To be honest, like there is something the process is 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:49.439 what I love at any scale. It is what I'm 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:51.680 addicted to, and so I guess maybe that's there's a 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:55.720 calmness to that that win or lose. I still got 0:10:55.760 --> 0:10:58.320 my camera and I still got my editing and knowing 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:02.280 about that. So I don't know, maybe that's the that's 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:05.280 the part that I lean on often and and I 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:07.680 get embarrassed with that sometimes because some people want me 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:10.040 to be so in love with cinema that I know 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:14.320 every director and every shot and everything, and or they 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:16.480 want to know what's your dream job, like what's the 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:18.400 movie that you're ultimately going to make? And I'm like, 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:22.280 I just I'm not that person. Wicked is probably the 0:11:22.280 --> 0:11:27.480 closest thing to that dream like image. But I but 0:11:27.640 --> 0:11:32.480 I am. I. I like to exercise this tool and 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:34.520 I love to find new things. I love to reflect 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:36.720 what I'm going through in my life through it, and 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:38.440 I love to discover my life through it. 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:42.520 So wow, Yeah, I mean that sounds like something we 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:46.240 all can learn from, though, especially in the entertainment business. 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:50.440 So forget the shame, John, because I mean the process, 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:53.320 the experience of it, of why we actually love it. 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:57.360 I think so often like we can bear ourselves down 0:11:57.400 --> 0:12:00.880 in like comparison, compare ourselves to others or going for oh, 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:02.640 I want my movie to look like this other movie 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:06.200 that was done by being able to actually like have 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:09.520 the tangible thing of being on a set or at 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:12.400 a wedding or whatever it is and actually doing it. 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:16.480 If that's if that's your way in like that sounds 0:12:16.520 --> 0:12:19.120 like a really sort of wonderful thing to be able 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:19.760 to fall back on. 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:24.000 Yeah, I think I appreciate. I think I love the 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:27.839 collaboration as well, learning new ways to figure out how 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:32.080 to get better collaboration or get access to those things 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:35.000 while also having my vision. I think I love the 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.040 technical part of like how do you communicate and finding 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:39.079 finding the right words. 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:52.240 Yeah, we talked to Chris Scott, who we love, saying 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:56.680 I love and sweet man, I feel like you're like 0:12:56.760 --> 0:13:04.120 Oprah and I'm alhamas I was Oprah Oprah because and 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:09.120 I swear this goes back to collaboration, because the whole joke, 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:11.439 like I have some of my friends like we all 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:13.559 want to be the Oprah where like if one comes up, 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:17.880 everybody comes up. And I feel like you have done 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:20.040 that in so much of your collaboration and in your 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:23.559 friendship and there's a lot of overlap there and someone 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:28.000 like Chris Scott, who choreographed Wicked and for Good and 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:31.000 The Heights, all these things, someone you've known. We've all 0:13:31.000 --> 0:13:33.199 known each other for so long. 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:36.120 Long, long time now, and it's but. 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:40.040 It's really beautiful to see and as we've all sort 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:44.880 of grown up in this business where loyalty and friendship 0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:49.720 often play second fiddle to like, you know, yeah, getting 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:54.320 a step ahead or like whatever it may be, and 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:58.080 building collaboration and building teams especially, I think something for 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:03.280 like these Wicked films where it's a gigantic team, where 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:06.880 do you start? And like how in that process of 0:14:06.920 --> 0:14:10.040 building the collaboration is Chris Scott front of mine? Because 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:12.880 this is someone you have and you have a dialogue 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:16.320 with friendship and working dialogue with, like how how does. 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:19.880 That work well? First of all, even just to give 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:24.400 your audience some context for us, we were babies when 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:28.680 we all met, and you were even more babies when 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:33.080 you guys became superstars. So it's kind of crazy that 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:36.000 it was on the Paramount lot. I think lot some 0:14:36.040 --> 0:14:38.120 of us met me and Kevin maybe we met right 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:41.960 before that at Adam Savanni's house or something like, Yeah, 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:44.240 I played Moose and step up to the Street, which 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:48.560 was my first first movie. And then all my friends 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:54.800 Harry Shum got onto this show called Glee, this pilot 0:14:55.280 --> 0:14:58.720 that everyone was on. Danny my ad for my first 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:03.480 movie was also the eight There and Zach and all 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:09.080 these people. And suddenly and I was editing g I Joe, 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:13.720 Oh no, maybe I was editing Justin Bieber never Yes 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:17.440 on the lot, on the Paramount lot, and they are 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:21.000 these group of crazy kids running around shooting, shooting a show. 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:23.640 I was like, what is going on? And then it 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:27.040 becomes this massive hit. Of course I watched it on 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:29.160 that what was at a Super Bowl Sunday the PHO, 0:15:31.600 --> 0:15:34.240 watched everybody wait for the whole summer for this show 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:36.360 to come out. It was just so I will never 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:40.880 forget the joy and the excitement of this new show 0:15:40.920 --> 0:15:43.480 with these new this new generation of people that were 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:47.640 going to show us how musical theaters have done. And 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:51.000 I was I just I always think, to me, watching 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:55.720 that become so mainstream and so beloved showed me that 0:15:56.520 --> 0:16:01.040 this was like that it was still in our blood here. Yeah, 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:04.440 like have joy and root for each other and be 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:07.960 silly and funny all the things and be serious about 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:11.640 real things. That the combination was so cool. And then 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:13.880 to watch you guys grow as people and have your 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:16.280 own families and the things, and and it was just 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:19.720 it's just been like, really, when you talk about people, 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:23.560 I think about that a lot. Gus we're supportive of 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:26.880 each other and they're for each other. And and I 0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:29.520 watched just from the other side of the door, you 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:33.560 guys do all that. I love that a lot of 0:16:33.600 --> 0:16:34.960 those people are part of my family too. 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:39.280 Likewise, like I mean, we I think we met during 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:43.680 the Adam and Miley like dance battle. Yeah, we had 0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:47.320 a YouTube dance YouTube dance because I was really close 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:49.720 with Adam's brother v. We're in a boy band together 0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:54.080 and a great band. Oh yeah, And so I met 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:57.000 you through you filming dance, do you know what I mean? 0:16:57.040 --> 0:17:02.000 Like to me, your storytelling has always been like music driven. Yeah, 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:04.639 And so like on the flip side, we've all gotten 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:08.560 to watch you like go from project to project and 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:11.440 see your growth and see your family grow, and it's 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:16.000 been like this wonderful, like beautiful experience and also something 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:17.640 for all of us to be so proud of where 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:21.679 it feels like like one of us, you know. And yeah, 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:24.960 also because like you're just I know, people see you 0:17:25.000 --> 0:17:27.639 and you're like, he's this big, huge director, which you are, 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:32.800 but also you're just like the kindest, like normal, approachable human, 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:37.399 which I also think is really just lovely to see. 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:40.760 And I think you also see that reflected in like 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:45.040 the crazy media press tours of it all how which 0:17:45.080 --> 0:17:47.919 also goes back to you know, my original question about 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:51.679 like collaboration. Because you're at the top, you set the 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:53.960 tone for everything, and just knowing you as a human, 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:58.280 it makes so much sense to me of why everybody 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:01.879 feels this way. Yeah, sort of under your stewardship. But 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:04.680 you know, I've never been and I I haven't directed 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:07.840 a huge studio films, and so I know things start 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:09.879 at the top and you hope they trickle down, but 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:13.640 I'm not sure what the intentional or not that process. 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:19.160 It's yeah, it's intentional. Yes, it's intentional because in order 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:22.760 from what I found is that I work best when 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:27.000 there isn't people trying to crowd the court. I've discovered 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:32.080 through all these years that when everybody when there's when 0:18:32.080 --> 0:18:34.359 someone who takes like the oxygen out of the room 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:39.880 in a bad way or an ego way, or distrustful way. 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:43.160 I don't. I can't step in like I don't have 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:46.159 like I don't think it's worth it. I'm like, I 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:49.000 have my ideas, and I hope people like want these ideas, 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:50.040 and I'm going to go give it to you. And 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:52.280 I work best when when I have an environment of 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:54.320 people like John, what do you What do you have 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:56.120 to say? Like, let's open up the court for you 0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:59.800 and go run. It's like Forrest Gump, like just go John, 0:19:00.359 --> 0:19:02.439 and I can do that. But when people are blocking 0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:04.720 and they don't, they're taking the space. I don't take 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:07.359 the space. So I've just learned to like And doesn't 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:10.479 mean I find people that don't say anything or something. 0:19:10.640 --> 0:19:15.080 I find people who don't feel threatened by hearing other 0:19:15.119 --> 0:19:19.080 ideas but also have a vision and who are not pushovers, 0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:22.280 because I don't like someone who just floats anyway. I 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:24.959 want you don't want a yes man. I don't want 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:27.639 a yes man. I want people who love what they do. 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:29.560 That's probably the number one thing that you love what 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:31.240 you do. You'd willing to stay up four in the 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:34.439 morning or get up at four in the morning just 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:38.439 to do it because it's your life's dream. And we 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:40.840 get to do this and you recognize that this is 0:19:40.840 --> 0:19:43.240 it that we have in our life, because that also 0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:46.760 makes feels my passion because I love what we get 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:50.280 to do. And so I start there like who we 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:51.760 bring in got to be the best of the best. 0:19:51.760 --> 0:19:54.600 There's no compromise of that. But you also have to 0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:57.480 love it. It can't be some other obsession. It has 0:19:57.480 --> 0:20:01.640 to be this. And then we start communicating at our 0:20:02.320 --> 0:20:05.560 currency level. So I when I meet someone or I 0:20:05.600 --> 0:20:08.320 bring them in, I need to understand that we that 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:10.480 we don't have to have the same currency of why 0:20:10.520 --> 0:20:13.400 we're here, but we have to. I have to understand 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:17.639 that what I want or what I'm aiming for fulfills 0:20:17.840 --> 0:20:22.440 or is in parallel or whatever cross sections your currency 0:20:22.440 --> 0:20:23.840 for why you're doing it. Why do you want to 0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:25.320 do this? What do you need from this when you 0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:28.119 come out of this, Oh, Cynthia, you want to try 0:20:28.160 --> 0:20:30.960 something new, put on a new thing, or go worldwide 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:33.040 or whatever it may be. Does that cross over with 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:37.240 my vision of retelling the American fairy tale and questioning that, Oh, yes, 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:38.639 you want to talk about it in this way, but 0:20:38.680 --> 0:20:40.600 I want to talk about Okay, So the combination is 0:20:40.640 --> 0:20:44.040 going to be really interesting and you are Brande. Oh 0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:47.120 you've never let a movie before. Okay, I've directed people 0:20:47.160 --> 0:20:49.120 who haven't done it. I know the difficulties of that. 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:50.960 I know how to protect you. But I also know 0:20:51.440 --> 0:20:54.320 that you have to be ready for this. Can I 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:56.639 see those little do I? Can I see the hints 0:20:57.000 --> 0:20:59.520 of knowing that she can be ready for this? Away 0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:04.920 she wait ready for this. It's like old baby. Yeah, 0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:07.760 and then we can work together to find that and 0:21:07.960 --> 0:21:10.280 so anyway that that's where it starts. And and then 0:21:10.280 --> 0:21:13.760 when we go I'm like, I love to visualize and communicate. 0:21:14.320 --> 0:21:18.359 It's always communication. That's number one when we're making a creative, collaborative, 0:21:18.400 --> 0:21:22.080 giant project. And so I fill rooms with with with words, 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:26.760 with images, with models, with videos that I'm always cutting together, 0:21:27.280 --> 0:21:30.840 so everyone has as much of stuff in the digital 0:21:30.880 --> 0:21:33.840 soup and in the physical soup as possible. So whatever 0:21:33.920 --> 0:21:35.919 we're every and I give a lot of people freedom 0:21:35.920 --> 0:21:42.000 to yes and everything. I tries to say no as 0:21:42.040 --> 0:21:45.160 little as possible, just to like see where we go. Yeah, 0:21:45.640 --> 0:21:47.840 then we can then we can really minimize and and 0:21:47.840 --> 0:21:50.440 and actually like focus and have clarity on what we're 0:21:50.440 --> 0:21:50.960 trying to say. 0:21:51.160 --> 0:21:55.639 Yeah, yeah, Wow. When you're like planning something that is 0:21:55.680 --> 0:22:03.159 this big, Yeah, as is bohemous. What is the I 0:22:03.160 --> 0:22:05.880 guess maybe like the workflow for you in terms of 0:22:05.920 --> 0:22:09.560 when you're getting what's coming up first? I guess right, 0:22:09.680 --> 0:22:15.720 like the production design is casting is figuring out where 0:22:15.720 --> 0:22:16.920 you're going to shoot this damp thing? 0:22:17.359 --> 0:22:17.760 Like what? 0:22:18.119 --> 0:22:21.800 And are all these things happening happening simultaneously or is 0:22:21.840 --> 0:22:24.720 there like a process for you in which I need 0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:26.199 to know this before I can do this, and I 0:22:26.200 --> 0:22:27.159 need to know that before that. 0:22:28.280 --> 0:22:31.480 Yeah, at a certain point, things are happening all the 0:22:31.520 --> 0:22:33.840 same time. But but but in terms of layering, it 0:22:33.920 --> 0:22:37.440 starts with the script. Like I get on board, they 0:22:37.440 --> 0:22:39.760 call me, they what do you think about Wicked? I 0:22:39.800 --> 0:22:41.040 was like, yeah, I'm down. 0:22:41.560 --> 0:22:44.639 Yeah, so you approached about it because there's been so 0:22:44.720 --> 0:22:49.840 many you know, like almost it's almost happened so many times. Yes, yes, 0:22:49.880 --> 0:22:52.359 And then like ring ring, I was watching those. 0:22:52.200 --> 0:22:54.760 Same articles and reading those things that I actually I 0:22:54.800 --> 0:22:58.119 actually email my my team like what's going on with Wicked? Dude? 0:22:58.280 --> 0:23:00.600 They keep missing these dates and I want to see 0:23:00.600 --> 0:23:03.040 that movie. And by the way, is that a sign 0:23:03.119 --> 0:23:04.919 that they're having trouble? Because I know how to make 0:23:04.960 --> 0:23:07.879 this movie? I know exactly what to do, Like I 0:23:07.960 --> 0:23:09.960 knew I knew what this movie was since I first 0:23:09.960 --> 0:23:10.239 saw it. 0:23:10.400 --> 0:23:11.879 What was that feeling? Like, what was the thing? 0:23:12.040 --> 0:23:12.080 Like? 0:23:12.200 --> 0:23:14.040 This is how, this is how I would do it. 0:23:14.240 --> 0:23:16.840 I know your way into it. 0:23:17.480 --> 0:23:20.000 My way into what it was. It was so much 0:23:20.040 --> 0:23:22.960 the relationship between these two women. I mean, that's obvious now, 0:23:23.000 --> 0:23:24.280 but when I first saw it was before I was 0:23:24.280 --> 0:23:26.679 on Broadway, and it was so clearly, like, Wow, that 0:23:26.760 --> 0:23:31.880 is so smart that you're reinventing the American fairy tale 0:23:32.040 --> 0:23:34.720 from the inside out through the relationship of these two women, 0:23:34.760 --> 0:23:39.840 of bringing two very different women together and finding their 0:23:39.880 --> 0:23:43.000 power together. And I'm like me being in college at 0:23:43.040 --> 0:23:45.200 the time that I watched it, going through film school, 0:23:45.280 --> 0:23:48.840 I under and letting go of my childhood American fairy 0:23:48.880 --> 0:23:51.600 Tale of the Wizard of Oz and ushering in a 0:23:51.680 --> 0:23:55.399 new idea of friendship. What happened to those friends that 0:23:55.440 --> 0:23:57.119 you had for all those years? What happened to the 0:23:57.119 --> 0:23:59.480 person you were all those years who you're turning into. 0:24:00.119 --> 0:24:03.600 What is the new? Do you still have that optimism 0:24:03.880 --> 0:24:07.320 or is the world actually way different than what you 0:24:07.359 --> 0:24:09.399 thought and you're going to change because of it? Like 0:24:09.560 --> 0:24:11.679 all those questions were happening at the same time, and 0:24:11.960 --> 0:24:14.320 a musical form. And I was going to film school, 0:24:14.359 --> 0:24:16.760 so I saw the shots. I saw the world of 0:24:17.400 --> 0:24:19.879 Oz is not a dream. It's a real physical place, 0:24:19.920 --> 0:24:23.200 and these are real relationships, and like, let's get in, 0:24:23.359 --> 0:24:24.200 let's get in, like. 0:24:24.240 --> 0:24:28.800 To make it into your head already, Yeah, and never 0:24:28.840 --> 0:24:30.960 thinking in a weird way more like a fan fiction 0:24:31.040 --> 0:24:35.760 thing that would be so cool, right, yeah, but like 0:24:35.800 --> 0:24:38.359 it's probably your subconscious over all those years. 0:24:38.400 --> 0:24:42.080 It's like, and the idea of a musical as the biggest, 0:24:42.119 --> 0:24:45.840 most epic musical ever created by Hollywood, Like yeah, like 0:24:45.960 --> 0:24:49.560 show that we still can do it and use visual 0:24:49.560 --> 0:24:56.639 effects and sets and stunts and live singing in ways 0:24:56.680 --> 0:24:59.840 that we can give theater to everybody, but also cinema 0:24:59.880 --> 0:25:03.040 to everybody. That all of them are like one upping 0:25:03.040 --> 0:25:06.680 each other and and as big as any and as 0:25:06.680 --> 0:25:09.320 big a swing as any musical ever had. Yeah, to me, 0:25:09.480 --> 0:25:11.639 like that was that was And they came to me 0:25:11.760 --> 0:25:16.320 during COVID lockdown, So in a way, we didn't even 0:25:16.359 --> 0:25:21.120 know if movies were going to be made anymore. 0:25:19.320 --> 0:25:20.560 Like, are people are ever going to go back to 0:25:20.600 --> 0:25:21.200 the movie theater? 0:25:21.359 --> 0:25:26.040 Yeah, go for it. John. Let's see, we think we 0:25:26.040 --> 0:25:29.120 think musicals are dead, we think movies are dead. We're 0:25:29.160 --> 0:25:31.560 not sure we all going to touch each other or see 0:25:31.520 --> 0:25:33.160 each other again, but if you want to try. 0:25:33.640 --> 0:25:35.679 It was also that weird era like right after that, 0:25:35.720 --> 0:25:39.600 where there are a couple like musicals that like people 0:25:39.680 --> 0:25:43.400 weren't advertising as musicals. Yeah, you know, there's like that 0:25:43.440 --> 0:25:45.400 whole thing where it's like what is everybody doing? 0:25:45.720 --> 0:25:47.680 Yeah, I do have I do have a philosophy about 0:25:47.720 --> 0:25:50.600 that though, because we advertise musicals and so there is 0:25:50.640 --> 0:25:53.840 an issue. There is an actual physical issue because every 0:25:53.840 --> 0:25:56.199 time I'm like, guys, show all the music, and like 0:25:56.400 --> 0:25:59.120 you try to do all the music because it's getting crazy. 0:25:59.640 --> 0:26:03.080 Change is lyrics. If you try to do like like 0:26:03.800 --> 0:26:07.280 trailers have to be so ancise. The moment you put 0:26:07.280 --> 0:26:09.359 a song in, you better stick to that song a 0:26:09.359 --> 0:26:13.480 little longer, just switch, and the moment you switch, it's 0:26:13.480 --> 0:26:15.800 like mayhem, and then the words better be right and 0:26:15.840 --> 0:26:17.760 they're not always in the right place. So there is 0:26:17.800 --> 0:26:20.600 an actual technical that we never talked about because. 0:26:22.040 --> 0:26:25.600 Let the people know, this is my soapbox. 0:26:26.600 --> 0:26:29.639 Hey, it's way more difficult. You can put a dance 0:26:29.880 --> 0:26:33.480 movement in something fine sure, but actually physically a person. 0:26:33.880 --> 0:26:37.240 You know, in trailers, we're constantly cutting different things together 0:26:37.280 --> 0:26:42.560 and different word together to give a cohesive, simplified idea 0:26:42.600 --> 0:26:45.359 of the movie. That people get it when you have songs, 0:26:45.440 --> 0:26:48.840 they're just not that like concise. 0:26:49.320 --> 0:26:52.960 Yeah, sorry, it's fair. That makes a lot of sense. 0:26:53.600 --> 0:26:56.320 Yes, that's why, like we have we actually have a couple. 0:26:56.920 --> 0:27:00.680 If you watch the Wicked trailer evolution, there are some 0:27:01.359 --> 0:27:03.119 that we just were like, okay, now let's do the 0:27:03.200 --> 0:27:05.080 version where we just do all the music and it's 0:27:05.119 --> 0:27:08.600 like one actually I thought went really well and I 0:27:08.680 --> 0:27:10.760 was like, that's actually awesome. But you have to have 0:27:11.160 --> 0:27:14.679 such a talented music editor in your and that's not 0:27:14.760 --> 0:27:16.320 part of the movie. This is part of a whole 0:27:16.400 --> 0:27:19.760 nother department of market. Yeah, all these companies. Yeah, that's 0:27:19.800 --> 0:27:23.399 someone who really understands it, and the composer has to 0:27:23.440 --> 0:27:28.879 approve it. The original composer, Stephen Schwartz, doesn't like, sorry, 0:27:29.040 --> 0:27:30.960 you guys, start over and you just spent six weeks 0:27:32.720 --> 0:27:35.920 so Steven anyway, it's a. 0:27:35.880 --> 0:27:41.280 Lot, guys, every piece, every piece is that The. 0:27:41.280 --> 0:27:43.720 Thing about a musical is that people don't realize the 0:27:43.760 --> 0:27:48.280 technical how technical it really is. Because if you're doing 0:27:48.359 --> 0:27:50.439 the musical right, it's supposed to look really easy. It's 0:27:50.440 --> 0:27:53.919 supposed to never look sweaty, almost not be a musical 0:27:53.960 --> 0:27:57.959 at all. You just feel it, every ounce of it, 0:27:58.040 --> 0:28:01.960 every rhythm, every can ruin it, every sound effect. How 0:28:02.040 --> 0:28:04.000 much folly do you hear when they close the door 0:28:04.359 --> 0:28:06.359 and they're singing the song, or do you not do 0:28:06.480 --> 0:28:09.360 that at all? And every filmmaker has their own philosophy 0:28:09.400 --> 0:28:11.760 about that. You guys on the show had a philosophy 0:28:11.800 --> 0:28:14.439 at how sound and music should play together or how 0:28:14.520 --> 0:28:17.760 reality and those things relat together. And every filmmaker has 0:28:17.800 --> 0:28:19.720 to make that choice, if they even know they had 0:28:19.760 --> 0:28:21.440 to make that choice. Some people who are starting a 0:28:21.520 --> 0:28:23.600 musical have never made a musical. Suddenly you're in it 0:28:23.640 --> 0:28:25.520 and you're like, oh that, there's not like a rule. 0:28:25.800 --> 0:28:27.280 You're like, no, it's like, how what do you go? 0:28:28.240 --> 0:28:30.040 It's a taste. It's a taste level thing. 0:28:30.320 --> 0:28:32.600 Yes, and sometimes it takes you a whole movie to 0:28:32.640 --> 0:28:35.359 figure out what your taste or what your strategy is 0:28:35.359 --> 0:28:36.840 with this, and that by the end you're like, oh, 0:28:36.840 --> 0:28:39.040 I'm done, i gotta do another one. And then people 0:28:39.040 --> 0:28:40.520 don't do another one because they're too scared. 0:28:40.680 --> 0:28:43.360 Yeah, I was actually thinking about those little things you 0:28:43.360 --> 0:28:47.160 were saying about sound. So you and I ran into 0:28:47.200 --> 0:28:50.040 you and Chris at the Grove when Wicked came out 0:28:50.120 --> 0:28:53.280 last year, and I remember you ran. You ran out 0:28:53.280 --> 0:28:55.560 of the theater because you wanted to like adjust the 0:28:55.560 --> 0:28:57.920 sound because it was quiet. For the record, I think 0:28:57.960 --> 0:29:01.960 the Grove has terrible sound anyway, they always have. But 0:29:02.200 --> 0:29:02.920 you don't have to say that. 0:29:03.000 --> 0:29:04.320 I was saying, I. 0:29:06.200 --> 0:29:09.360 Never go to that theater. That was the one time 0:29:09.920 --> 0:29:12.080 I went to that theater because I already had tickets 0:29:12.080 --> 0:29:15.880 with my friends. But I boycott that location anyway. But 0:29:16.280 --> 0:29:17.640 I when I went to see it in New York 0:29:18.840 --> 0:29:21.000 at a different AMC, and the sound was great, and 0:29:21.080 --> 0:29:24.000 I was thinking about and no, good deed, there's so 0:29:24.080 --> 0:29:26.680 much going on. There's so much you know, sound effects 0:29:26.760 --> 0:29:31.640 and fully things happening, but you can still hear every 0:29:31.960 --> 0:29:36.440 every instrument, Cynthia's voice coming through and like that perfect balance. 0:29:36.720 --> 0:29:38.640 I was like, oh, I don't know what John's on, 0:29:39.320 --> 0:29:43.040 but whatever is happening, it is all sounding correct in 0:29:43.080 --> 0:29:45.920 my ears like it is. I'm seeing and hearing every 0:29:45.960 --> 0:29:46.520 single thing. 0:29:47.000 --> 0:29:51.719 Yeah, thank you. Yeah, that's our mixed team is amazing, 0:29:51.800 --> 0:29:58.920 Andy Nelson, Simon Hayes, who's recording the live, actual singing live, unreal, 0:29:59.560 --> 0:30:02.520 and are John Marcus are mixed everybody, and we're all 0:30:02.520 --> 0:30:04.760 in the room together, and we already because we did 0:30:04.760 --> 0:30:07.640 in the Heights, we already have a full philosophy about 0:30:07.680 --> 0:30:09.040 how much we want to hear. I want it to 0:30:09.080 --> 0:30:10.760 feel real. I want to feel like it's emerging from 0:30:11.280 --> 0:30:14.200 from a from a person's so it feels like dialogue, 0:30:14.200 --> 0:30:17.040 but of course it escalates again, so and then how 0:30:17.120 --> 0:30:20.000 much the wing flaps interrupts her lyrics or things like that. 0:30:20.000 --> 0:30:21.920 That's but I also know how important it is to 0:30:21.960 --> 0:30:24.040 hear those lyrics. There's one lyric in there that I 0:30:24.040 --> 0:30:27.360 wish it was more clear, but we look went through 0:30:27.400 --> 0:30:30.320 all the live versions and couldn't get quite the clarity, 0:30:30.360 --> 0:30:36.200 and so you know, we're just eking it in. But yeah, anyway, yeah, 0:30:36.240 --> 0:30:38.280 so it's a constant, constant tweaking there. 0:30:47.120 --> 0:30:49.640 Obviously, you have like two of the best singers in 0:30:49.640 --> 0:30:52.520 the world who led this with you. 0:30:52.600 --> 0:30:55.680 Yeah, I know, it's just like it's not important at all, 0:30:55.720 --> 0:31:00.800 but no, they absolutely truly incredible, And so I know 0:31:00.840 --> 0:31:04.280 that they've spoken about this in press where you guys 0:31:04.320 --> 0:31:06.160 made the decision that you were going to sing live, 0:31:06.640 --> 0:31:09.640 So was there in your mind was there any other 0:31:09.840 --> 0:31:12.120 option before they were cast where you're like, oh, we 0:31:12.200 --> 0:31:15.120 might have to pre record this, or were you open 0:31:15.200 --> 0:31:17.800 to the pre recording or were you passionate about the 0:31:17.840 --> 0:31:21.760 live being element being there because of you know, the 0:31:21.760 --> 0:31:25.200 performances as it's been done before in other movie musicals. 0:31:25.840 --> 0:31:29.320 Yeah, when we were doing In the Heights and we're 0:31:29.360 --> 0:31:33.600 shooting here in Washington Heights, it was a beautiful experience 0:31:33.600 --> 0:31:35.920 because I have nothing against pre records, like I love 0:31:35.960 --> 0:31:39.360 pre records. If the intention of the scene is in 0:31:39.400 --> 0:31:41.920 the pre record, there's a version of the pre record 0:31:41.960 --> 0:31:43.520 that you do before you even start. That's part of 0:31:43.520 --> 0:31:45.120 the rehearsals and part of the things. And then you 0:31:45.200 --> 0:31:47.560 discover what you're doing, and then you should record re 0:31:47.560 --> 0:31:50.320 record that. Yes, oh yeah, the money to rerecord it, 0:31:50.360 --> 0:31:52.400 you should be doing that, yea. And I think sometimes 0:31:52.400 --> 0:31:56.280 people don't do that, and so then you feel that separation. Yeah, 0:31:56.280 --> 0:32:00.320 but in the Heights, we would rerecord it every few 0:32:00.320 --> 0:32:03.840 weeks because our guys are in rehearsals, things would change 0:32:04.040 --> 0:32:07.400 and so it stayed in parallel with us. And then 0:32:07.440 --> 0:32:09.880 when we're on set. What we realized is there's nothing. 0:32:10.760 --> 0:32:13.880 It's hard to do live because there's buses and cars 0:32:13.920 --> 0:32:16.160 and people that don't give us here in New York 0:32:16.200 --> 0:32:18.840 that you're shooting a musical. And yeah, so it was 0:32:18.880 --> 0:32:21.520 really hard to do live all the time. But there 0:32:21.520 --> 0:32:23.280 were moments where we got to do it, or when 0:32:23.320 --> 0:32:25.080 we felt like it was clear enough and you could 0:32:25.360 --> 0:32:28.120 you could record and see and get and possibly get 0:32:28.160 --> 0:32:30.560 something from this. And that was an amazing experience, which 0:32:30.600 --> 0:32:33.160 meant we have We had a pianist every day on 0:32:33.240 --> 0:32:35.360 set ready to go, and we did more live than 0:32:35.400 --> 0:32:38.800 I expected in here in Washing Heights, on the streets 0:32:38.840 --> 0:32:40.960 and suddenly you're singing in the middle of a sidewalk 0:32:41.120 --> 0:32:43.680 or in a subway and there's a live pianist and 0:32:43.720 --> 0:32:45.480 your everyone's and no one can hear it, and you're 0:32:45.520 --> 0:32:47.560 just hearing the vocals, but you could hear it in 0:32:47.600 --> 0:32:51.400 your ears, the on your on your calms to the 0:32:51.680 --> 0:32:54.960 pianists and her or him and I and I always 0:32:55.040 --> 0:32:57.000 loved that. I felt like that's where we were getting 0:32:57.000 --> 0:32:59.920 the juice. And so with these these ladies of course 0:33:00.040 --> 0:33:01.600 coming in, I was like, they can do it, and 0:33:01.600 --> 0:33:04.160 we're on sound stages essentially like we're not going. 0:33:03.960 --> 0:33:05.200 To a placement. 0:33:05.280 --> 0:33:07.760 Yeah, you try it, but I don't. I don't know 0:33:07.800 --> 0:33:12.360 how they feel. They may want their their vocals super pristine, 0:33:12.400 --> 0:33:14.080 and we're just gonna have to do what we did 0:33:14.120 --> 0:33:17.520 and in the heights where we just keep re recording 0:33:17.560 --> 0:33:19.280 until we find the right one and maybe even after 0:33:19.360 --> 0:33:21.760 once we shot the scene, we recorded again. So that 0:33:21.840 --> 0:33:25.360 was the technique we began with record the pre records 0:33:25.400 --> 0:33:27.440 when they first arrived because I wanted They had never 0:33:27.480 --> 0:33:30.920 gone through Wicked School with Stephen Schwartz and Steven Arimas, 0:33:31.120 --> 0:33:34.800 so I go through Wicked School. Just just do it. 0:33:34.960 --> 0:33:36.800 Just get to know them. I we will. We have 0:33:36.880 --> 0:33:38.880 not even had rehearsals yet, so then you come to 0:33:38.920 --> 0:33:41.120 me and then we'll discover the character. So just take 0:33:41.160 --> 0:33:44.920 it as like a physical, uh, muscle memory exercise. And 0:33:44.960 --> 0:33:47.400 they did that with Stephen and Stephen, and then they 0:33:47.440 --> 0:33:51.840 also did muscle movement exercises with Chris Scott to just 0:33:51.920 --> 0:33:54.479 get movement in and so he could assess what they 0:33:54.520 --> 0:33:57.680 can or cannot do. He's getting languages from them, like 0:33:57.880 --> 0:34:01.000 movement languages of where they're thinking. Even though none of 0:34:01.000 --> 0:34:02.600 them have talked to me. Yet. I mean we've met, 0:34:02.600 --> 0:34:04.920 but not really. Like then we got into a room 0:34:04.960 --> 0:34:07.000 and we start Then me and the girls start working 0:34:07.040 --> 0:34:09.120 on these scenes and we start to discover these characters 0:34:09.160 --> 0:34:15.239 and we're like, oh, actually, yeah, Alphabet actually moves more 0:34:15.320 --> 0:34:17.400 than we expect from the Wicked Witch to the West. 0:34:17.880 --> 0:34:21.360 She actually has more dignity for herself than you think 0:34:21.360 --> 0:34:23.600 in the joke of the Wicked Witch of the West. 0:34:23.680 --> 0:34:27.480 Because since it's bringing that, okay, that means her movement 0:34:27.600 --> 0:34:29.799 is different. So bring that to your rehearsals next time 0:34:29.800 --> 0:34:31.160 and let me all come in there and make sure 0:34:31.200 --> 0:34:33.480 he understands what we're trying to talk about here. Yeah, 0:34:33.520 --> 0:34:35.920 and bring that into the show. Oh, Steven's trying to 0:34:35.960 --> 0:34:39.000 push you to be have that cackle, but actually that 0:34:39.040 --> 0:34:41.640 cackle should come from a place of joy actually, and 0:34:41.680 --> 0:34:43.840 that it's like it's like a laugh that you're a 0:34:43.840 --> 0:34:47.440 belly laugh. So like, rather than the iconic laugh, do 0:34:47.480 --> 0:34:49.880 the belly laugh version, and so let me talk to Steven. 0:34:49.920 --> 0:34:52.320 So we do it step by step as we build 0:34:52.360 --> 0:34:54.800 both and so by the time we actually get to set, 0:34:54.960 --> 0:34:57.280 we know all of it. We probably haven't re recorded 0:34:57.280 --> 0:35:00.239 that voice, and so we were like, let's just record 0:35:00.320 --> 0:35:02.319 it live. We have the best Simon Hayes, the best 0:35:02.880 --> 0:35:06.640 recorder is, you know, on set for live stuff. He 0:35:06.640 --> 0:35:08.239 did le Mis, he did all these things, so he's like, 0:35:08.239 --> 0:35:10.680 I could do it, John. So he's hiding mics in 0:35:10.719 --> 0:35:14.239 their hats, and sometimes we have mics on their skin 0:35:14.280 --> 0:35:17.520 because there's no clothes up here, and we're just painting 0:35:17.600 --> 0:35:19.839 those out later. So we're trying to get the clearest sound, 0:35:19.840 --> 0:35:22.319 and sometimes that's annoying. Sometimes the girls are like I 0:35:22.320 --> 0:35:24.319 can feel the weight, and you're like, I know, but 0:35:24.360 --> 0:35:26.560 we're doing this live, like I need a mic somewhere, 0:35:27.080 --> 0:35:30.520 and so we're constantly trying to figure things out, and 0:35:30.520 --> 0:35:32.919 then you record it and you realize, oh, the live 0:35:33.040 --> 0:35:36.560 version is absolutely one that's connecting. Let's just do it 0:35:36.600 --> 0:35:38.360 the next day. Let's do it the next day. And 0:35:38.360 --> 0:35:40.759 by the end you're like, nobody wants to do it 0:35:40.800 --> 0:35:45.120 not live. Yeah, you always have the option. Yeah. To me, 0:35:45.200 --> 0:35:47.440 I'm like, I never if you come in sick today, 0:35:48.360 --> 0:35:50.359 I need you next week, don't worry about it. Yeah, 0:35:50.400 --> 0:35:52.440 let's do it and we'll figure it out. 0:35:51.880 --> 0:35:52.080 Yeah. 0:35:53.160 --> 0:35:55.239 So and then I remember happens, to be honest, all 0:35:55.280 --> 0:35:57.399 the fifty something days that we shot. 0:35:58.000 --> 0:35:59.959 Not to get too into the weeds about that, but. 0:36:00.520 --> 0:36:02.440 Actually live they did happen a couple of days that 0:36:02.480 --> 0:36:04.480 they got sick, but they pushed through it and it 0:36:04.520 --> 0:36:06.319 actually helps the performance in a where you could hear 0:36:06.400 --> 0:36:06.880 their voice. 0:36:06.920 --> 0:36:09.040 Yeah, I get that. 0:36:09.480 --> 0:36:12.359 It's so effective. It's effective in every way that they 0:36:12.800 --> 0:36:15.640 showed up. It just it was like the performance when 0:36:15.680 --> 0:36:17.840 you're sick, it doesn't you know, if you're performing, it 0:36:18.400 --> 0:36:20.600 works if you're not, like one hundred and two fevers. 0:36:21.120 --> 0:36:22.719 You have two people like that who are used to 0:36:22.760 --> 0:36:24.839 live performing and probably pushing through those things. 0:36:24.920 --> 0:36:26.000 Yeah, that's true. 0:36:26.160 --> 0:36:27.319 They know how to work around it. 0:36:27.760 --> 0:36:28.880 Like we're not sacking insurance. 0:36:29.280 --> 0:36:31.120 Yeah we did one hundred and sixty shows, we did 0:36:31.120 --> 0:36:31.759 a hundred whatever. 0:36:32.600 --> 0:36:33.880 Yeah, Yeah. 0:36:33.920 --> 0:36:36.200 I like we've been watching a lot of musicals on 0:36:36.239 --> 0:36:39.280 this podcast lately, like different movie musicals, and I'm always 0:36:39.280 --> 0:36:41.680 just fascinated. You don't have to go into two in 0:36:41.719 --> 0:36:43.920 depth about this, but because you answered a lot of it. 0:36:44.560 --> 0:36:47.960 But when you're recording the live, obviously we want the 0:36:47.960 --> 0:36:51.000 live because there's the emotion, the rawness of it, but 0:36:51.120 --> 0:36:55.720 the recording, like the mics you're using themselves obviously different. 0:36:55.719 --> 0:36:59.239 If you're in a recording booth with that sound and 0:36:59.280 --> 0:37:02.439 those mics that are made exactly for that, and you're 0:37:02.520 --> 0:37:05.440 using probably like mics that are maybe made to capture dialogue. 0:37:05.440 --> 0:37:08.680 And then you have Cynthia flying and she's singing, Like 0:37:08.840 --> 0:37:11.399 how are you able to sort of like bridge that 0:37:11.480 --> 0:37:15.320 gap maybe of like having a vocal, a singing vocal 0:37:15.440 --> 0:37:18.680 that still sounds good up against music that is cinema 0:37:18.680 --> 0:37:22.279 worthy and also I think you know still makes the 0:37:22.320 --> 0:37:25.240 audience feel like you do in the theater. For example, 0:37:25.239 --> 0:37:28.240 when she's singing define gravity and you have that emotional reaction, 0:37:28.800 --> 0:37:31.399 which I imagine helps having the live singing because you're 0:37:31.400 --> 0:37:33.880 in a complete crient medium. But like the technicality aspect 0:37:33.960 --> 0:37:37.000 of recording the vocal and then mixing it afterwards to 0:37:37.040 --> 0:37:39.200 make sure it still sounds like studio quality. 0:37:39.360 --> 0:37:41.759 I guess we got Simon Hayes, who's the best of 0:37:41.800 --> 0:37:46.360 the best, and he's also like super militant about the quiet, 0:37:46.440 --> 0:37:49.480 Like there was we be shooting in a warehouse and 0:37:49.560 --> 0:37:51.840 like we're not warehouse of our stage and it's a 0:37:51.840 --> 0:37:54.120 brand new stage and we have this whole jungle that 0:37:54.160 --> 0:37:57.680 we built, so this forest and every time Cynthia would sing, 0:37:58.800 --> 0:38:01.200 you'd hear birds in the right afters they start singing 0:38:01.200 --> 0:38:04.040 because they made nests, and you're like, what the heck 0:38:04.120 --> 0:38:05.880 is that. You're like, oh, these are birds. They only 0:38:05.920 --> 0:38:08.400 sing when Cynthia is singing, which is wow, it's like 0:38:08.960 --> 0:38:14.000 amazing anyway, and so Simon was like, those birds they're 0:38:14.040 --> 0:38:16.720 on your track. We've got to get them off this track. 0:38:17.200 --> 0:38:20.000 And so he started playing these birds of prey sounds. 0:38:20.080 --> 0:38:26.200 He's like, to scare the birds. He's quiet, and Cynthia heard. 0:38:26.280 --> 0:38:29.239 She's like, what the hell is that? And like, that's 0:38:29.280 --> 0:38:30.719 that's We're trying to scare the birds so that they 0:38:30.719 --> 0:38:34.239 don't go on the track. Cleinging tracks just for you. 0:38:34.320 --> 0:38:37.080 And she's like, that will not happen, not on the sets. 0:38:37.480 --> 0:38:40.080 Tell them, do not play those sounds. If they're on 0:38:40.120 --> 0:38:41.680 my track, then God wants them to be on my. 0:38:43.200 --> 0:38:44.160 Nimals do. 0:38:45.880 --> 0:38:49.040 It's in her and the reality is those those birds 0:38:49.040 --> 0:38:52.520 are sometimes on her track. And that's what you can 0:38:52.560 --> 0:38:54.120 get along. You can get away with a lot. You know, 0:38:54.280 --> 0:38:57.240 we also have, you know, our our mixed team after 0:38:57.800 --> 0:39:01.440 you know. I think the hardest part about directing a 0:39:01.680 --> 0:39:07.160 musical is that director's role of pulling the thread through 0:39:07.480 --> 0:39:11.080 is way more important, because a musical walks on this 0:39:11.239 --> 0:39:16.480 fine edge of of permission to do what it does. 0:39:17.000 --> 0:39:19.960 And I won't say cringe because I think that I 0:39:20.000 --> 0:39:24.600 think cringe is a nasty word by pessimists who don't 0:39:24.640 --> 0:39:26.880 want to just see joy. But I will say that 0:39:26.920 --> 0:39:31.160 I understand the that that an audience in a cinema 0:39:31.400 --> 0:39:34.840 has to agree to this, to entering this world of 0:39:34.880 --> 0:39:38.239 the musical, and has to agree to believe in the 0:39:38.280 --> 0:39:42.960 realities of the rules of a musical world, and that 0:39:43.040 --> 0:39:46.240 if you cross that reality, how annoying that can be. 0:39:47.080 --> 0:39:49.160 You have to stick with the things that you you 0:39:49.440 --> 0:39:52.800 had set up in the first ten minutes of the movie. 0:39:53.000 --> 0:39:57.080 And I think that as a director your your movie, 0:39:57.280 --> 0:39:59.840 that line is walked by every element of your movie. 0:40:00.040 --> 0:40:01.799 That's in the color, that's in the costume, that's in 0:40:01.840 --> 0:40:05.040 the pacing of the editing, that's in how where you're 0:40:05.040 --> 0:40:08.560 making cuts, that's in the sound mix of where does 0:40:08.560 --> 0:40:10.800 the instruments feel like they come from, how the entrances 0:40:10.800 --> 0:40:13.480 and exits of those, the transitions of that, that is 0:40:14.280 --> 0:40:17.919 in the actual mix of of of of of the 0:40:18.200 --> 0:40:21.520 urgency of things. It comes in a lot of different forms. Yeah, 0:40:21.840 --> 0:40:24.120 own jokes, how you play jokes, is or winked to 0:40:24.160 --> 0:40:26.960 an audience? Is there not? Or does anybody look at 0:40:27.000 --> 0:40:29.319 the camera? Do we brave that forth? Like, these are 0:40:29.360 --> 0:40:33.000 all things that one misstep and you're and you lose 0:40:33.040 --> 0:40:36.600 the audience really quickly. So you have to pull that thread, 0:40:36.880 --> 0:40:39.480 just just as a medium, the director has to pull 0:40:39.520 --> 0:40:42.680 that thread from the very words on the script all 0:40:42.760 --> 0:40:45.920 the way to the delivery of the color when you're 0:40:45.920 --> 0:40:47.960 color timing, and the and and the coughs that you 0:40:48.000 --> 0:40:50.000 hear in the mix, or the saliva that you hear 0:40:50.040 --> 0:40:52.759 when they singing or or sniffles that they hear when 0:40:52.800 --> 0:40:57.040 they're off camera and crying. That that that alone is 0:40:57.640 --> 0:41:01.280 a big task for that And that's not even talking 0:41:01.280 --> 0:41:04.880 about how you tell the story. That's just technical tone. 0:41:05.960 --> 0:41:08.319 And I'm not even talking about technical like actually tech, 0:41:08.360 --> 0:41:11.480 but like technical as in how you keep the how 0:41:11.480 --> 0:41:14.000 you agree to the rules of this world. Then you 0:41:14.000 --> 0:41:16.359 have to get into the actual storytelling of where you 0:41:16.440 --> 0:41:19.840 pull the audience into the drama or to the comedy 0:41:19.840 --> 0:41:23.440 of it. So anyway, I forget the question, but that's 0:41:23.560 --> 0:41:26.560 great that pull through. I have to know my conversations 0:41:26.560 --> 0:41:29.800 with Cynthia and Ariana in a office building that we 0:41:30.080 --> 0:41:33.160 discussed a certain scene, because if I don't follow through 0:41:33.160 --> 0:41:35.160 with that on the other end, they'll be doing stuff 0:41:35.160 --> 0:41:38.040 that doesn't matter. But if I bring that into the 0:41:38.040 --> 0:41:40.759 mix and say, hey, for good, is something where they're 0:41:40.800 --> 0:41:43.719 actually looking at each other and speaking these things, and 0:41:43.760 --> 0:41:46.640 so let's play it as dialogue. So let's let's minimize 0:41:46.680 --> 0:41:49.560 that orchestration. Even though we have one hundred piece orchestra, 0:41:49.520 --> 0:41:51.880 they have amazing stuff. I want to hear the and 0:41:51.960 --> 0:41:55.040 you would never hear the leaves blow by, but in 0:41:55.040 --> 0:41:57.520 that one space, let the leaves blow by. I want 0:41:57.560 --> 0:42:01.160 to feel the space between them and have that. Let's 0:42:01.160 --> 0:42:03.799 hear the rustling of the branches in there, so we 0:42:03.840 --> 0:42:07.040 can feel the loneliness or whatever like, or feel how 0:42:07.120 --> 0:42:09.719 high they are by the type of winds that you have. 0:42:10.000 --> 0:42:12.359 And so I can conform that because of our conversations 0:42:12.400 --> 0:42:15.520 way back then and anyway, when those things start to 0:42:15.520 --> 0:42:19.720 tie together, it becomes much more cohesive experience that every 0:42:19.800 --> 0:42:23.640 element is carrying you lyrically in this that I think 0:42:23.640 --> 0:42:26.400 it is a musicality, Kevin. I know we talk a 0:42:26.400 --> 0:42:29.040 lot about musicality because I think that's something I discovered 0:42:29.160 --> 0:42:32.000 when working with dancers It's like there are dancers and 0:42:32.040 --> 0:42:34.720 they do things, and some people do tricks and whatever, 0:42:35.320 --> 0:42:37.839 but that's not dancing. To me, Like the highest bar 0:42:37.920 --> 0:42:42.040 of dancing is someone with musicality, because musicality isn't about 0:42:42.080 --> 0:42:45.600 what you're trained to do. It is about interpreting the music, 0:42:45.640 --> 0:42:48.640 and if the music changes, your musicality better change. Otherwise 0:42:48.880 --> 0:42:50.440 what are you doing. You're just doing a routine that 0:42:50.480 --> 0:42:53.520 you learned. But if your dance movement changes because the 0:42:53.560 --> 0:42:56.360 song changes, it means you're connected to that song. And 0:42:56.440 --> 0:42:59.360 I learned to respect that so much working with dancers 0:42:59.480 --> 0:43:01.319 that that's what I look for, number one. And in 0:43:01.320 --> 0:43:03.399 a weird way, I look for that musicality in all 0:43:03.440 --> 0:43:06.800 of life, whether that's an actor or a cinematographer or 0:43:06.840 --> 0:43:10.400 a costume designer, that they are reacting to the fabric 0:43:10.480 --> 0:43:12.759 of the emotion of a scene or of life. The 0:43:12.800 --> 0:43:15.120 messiness of life is well, but they're interpreting and finding 0:43:15.160 --> 0:43:17.840 in their medium. And to me, if I get to 0:43:17.840 --> 0:43:20.239 bring that and connect the dots to that, like that 0:43:20.400 --> 0:43:22.160 is the power of cinema. You get to sit back 0:43:22.160 --> 0:43:24.440 and experience all of those things together in concert. 0:43:24.640 --> 0:43:26.640 Somebody said that because I see that in all your work. 0:43:26.840 --> 0:43:29.200 You've always done that and like how music has always 0:43:29.239 --> 0:43:31.719 led your storytelling in that way, the musicality of it all. 0:43:32.200 --> 0:43:35.279 Yeah, thank you John. Before we let you go, we 0:43:35.320 --> 0:43:37.920 always ask people on the podcast what is the feeling 0:43:38.000 --> 0:43:39.919 that Lee leaves you with? But since we're talking about 0:43:39.960 --> 0:43:42.400 Wicked here, I'm going to ask you what is the 0:43:42.440 --> 0:43:43.640 feeling that Wicked leaves you with? 0:43:45.680 --> 0:43:50.520 Let me answer both, okay, Because I love Glee and 0:43:50.560 --> 0:43:54.360 I love being around you all during that time, and 0:43:54.440 --> 0:43:58.960 there is this this this dreamy aspect of seeing you 0:43:59.000 --> 0:44:05.120 guys walk lunch together with all the pas and the 0:44:05.120 --> 0:44:08.640 golf car going crazy, or you guys in different costumes 0:44:08.640 --> 0:44:12.359 every day, and it just to me was like this 0:44:12.520 --> 0:44:16.880 youthful joy. And I every day I go out and 0:44:17.000 --> 0:44:19.680 see that happening, and you guys were always so kind 0:44:19.680 --> 0:44:21.600 to me. I was just the weird guy who's editing 0:44:21.600 --> 0:44:29.120 a movie over there. I felt. I felt like that's 0:44:29.160 --> 0:44:32.239 the dream of a creative environment that you want to 0:44:32.239 --> 0:44:34.719 be in, that you can do the both most excellent 0:44:35.080 --> 0:44:38.359 work and be affecting the world and have so much 0:44:39.280 --> 0:44:41.719 fun and joy no matter how intense it was. And 0:44:41.760 --> 0:44:43.840 I saw you guys on tour, I saw how the intensity. 0:44:43.840 --> 0:44:46.360 I saw how exhausted that is, and I felt for 0:44:46.400 --> 0:44:49.319 you as well. But you never I never saw you 0:44:49.320 --> 0:44:53.759 guys treat fans in a way that didn't include them 0:44:53.760 --> 0:44:56.480 in that joy. And I because I knew behind and 0:44:56.600 --> 0:44:59.040 in front of the scenes, I knew that that was true. 0:44:59.200 --> 0:45:01.640 So I just I always looked up to that. And 0:45:01.680 --> 0:45:05.080 I think I wanted in Wicked to really feel that 0:45:05.160 --> 0:45:07.439 we could be the most do the most excellent work. 0:45:08.120 --> 0:45:14.839 We could break all these precedences that were set before us. 0:45:15.560 --> 0:45:20.440 That we could have a queer man and a queer 0:45:20.440 --> 0:45:23.320 woman play a couple in the movie, and we didn't 0:45:23.320 --> 0:45:26.520 have to talk about it. Yeah, we have a woman 0:45:26.560 --> 0:45:28.720 who uses a wheelchair to play Nessa for the first 0:45:28.760 --> 0:45:31.440 time ever and we didn't have to talk about it. 0:45:31.800 --> 0:45:36.319 That we could have an Asian matter morrible. And by 0:45:36.320 --> 0:45:38.160 the way, did you guys know that Madam Horrible upside 0:45:38.160 --> 0:45:40.799 Down is like Wicked? Pretty amazing? Ye? 0:45:42.480 --> 0:45:45.480 That did you just come up with that? 0:45:45.920 --> 0:45:49.200 And and to me, so you can have a musical 0:45:49.239 --> 0:45:54.160 that said something about our world and and actually affect 0:45:54.200 --> 0:45:56.319 the world and bring joy out there. So anyway, I 0:45:56.320 --> 0:45:59.000 guess I hope that people get get a little bit 0:45:59.000 --> 0:46:01.880 of what I got from when I was the observer, 0:46:02.719 --> 0:46:04.319 that you can do all of it. You can have 0:46:04.320 --> 0:46:06.640 a beautiful set, you can make great work, and you 0:46:06.640 --> 0:46:09.239 can break ground, and that all exists together and it's 0:46:09.280 --> 0:46:09.839 not about toy. 0:46:10.600 --> 0:46:13.279 That's so nice of you to say. It's yeah, thank 0:46:13.320 --> 0:46:13.920 you for saying that. 0:46:14.400 --> 0:46:15.840 Thanks for the reflection. 0:46:15.960 --> 0:46:19.319 It's nice to hear from somebody who was there, who 0:46:19.520 --> 0:46:22.080 got to see those early days, and. 0:46:23.880 --> 0:46:24.839 For us to see you. 0:46:26.080 --> 0:46:29.880 Continue to wear your heart and storytelling on your sleeves 0:46:30.360 --> 0:46:34.080 and it literally like seep into every piece of work 0:46:34.160 --> 0:46:36.920 and every detail from the rustling of the wind to 0:46:37.040 --> 0:46:39.960 how high the wind is, like it's so divine and 0:46:40.040 --> 0:46:44.160 so inspiring, and it's truly. I wish there were more 0:46:44.560 --> 0:46:46.640 John Che's out there, and I know there are, and 0:46:46.840 --> 0:46:49.440 I hope that people listening to this are inspired to 0:46:49.520 --> 0:46:51.600 go do the thing that you're doing and do it 0:46:51.640 --> 0:46:55.920 with such grace and detail and finite. You know, I 0:46:55.920 --> 0:46:59.000 don't know the feelings like I am just always so 0:46:59.160 --> 0:47:02.360 inspired by you, and we're just so grateful that we got. 0:47:02.200 --> 0:47:04.560 To connect with you again and have you here and 0:47:04.800 --> 0:47:05.319 hear you talk. 0:47:05.360 --> 0:47:07.640 We could hear you talk for hours and hours and hours, 0:47:07.680 --> 0:47:11.400 but We're just it's just wonderful to see you again 0:47:11.400 --> 0:47:12.839 and your words. 0:47:13.040 --> 0:47:15.640 Yeah yeah, thank you so much for spending so much 0:47:15.680 --> 0:47:18.719 time with us. We appreciate it. The busiest man in Hollywood, 0:47:19.040 --> 0:47:20.720 true truly. 0:47:21.360 --> 0:47:27.040 Good luck with the workshop today is one. 0:47:26.840 --> 0:47:30.080 Of the best. It is a musical, especially it does 0:47:30.080 --> 0:47:32.080 a musical making it a musical. 0:47:33.320 --> 0:47:35.920 Is there a wedding scene in it? The beauty is 0:47:35.960 --> 0:47:36.840 the beautiful wedding. 0:47:36.960 --> 0:47:40.680 Do you love weddings because all the weddings are just. 0:47:40.600 --> 0:47:43.719 So many weddings growing up. But I'm like, I know 0:47:43.760 --> 0:47:44.239 how to do it. 0:47:44.239 --> 0:47:48.600 It makes so much The two most beautiful, like cinematic 0:47:48.640 --> 0:47:51.000 weddings I've ever seen in films aren't for you and 0:47:51.040 --> 0:47:54.480 crazy irritations. I was like, this knows how to do 0:47:54.560 --> 0:47:55.080 a wedding. 0:47:55.840 --> 0:47:57.520 I told you I love weddings, and I get to 0:47:57.560 --> 0:47:58.320 control the wedding. 0:47:58.400 --> 0:48:02.800 Yes, are you? Oh my gosh, we love it. 0:48:03.600 --> 0:48:03.839 Thanks? 0:48:04.200 --> 0:48:09.440 Thank you, John Bye, Oh my gosh, she's so sweet. 0:48:10.320 --> 0:48:13.480 Uh John, true everybody John. 0:48:13.600 --> 0:48:15.920 Just John. I feel like we just need to do 0:48:15.960 --> 0:48:17.920 like a yearly check in with him. 0:48:18.400 --> 0:48:21.480 I mean, I just want to hear to speak about 0:48:21.920 --> 0:48:26.080 I mean, we barely scratch the surface and it's like. 0:48:28.000 --> 0:48:33.560 Just the detail in which he knows how to. 0:48:35.280 --> 0:48:35.480 Look. 0:48:35.680 --> 0:48:39.279 People know can direct whatever, but to direct on the 0:48:39.400 --> 0:48:43.200 level that he's directing on and you hurt it yourself 0:48:43.239 --> 0:48:47.600 paying attention to the detail every word that he hangs 0:48:47.640 --> 0:48:51.360 on from every person in the camp like is really 0:48:51.840 --> 0:48:54.279 it's what elevates. 0:48:53.560 --> 0:48:55.359 His stuff and makes it so good. 0:48:55.880 --> 0:48:58.520 And you can tell that he truly does love what 0:48:58.560 --> 0:49:02.719 he does, whether he's shooting a wedding, somebody's wedding or 0:49:02.760 --> 0:49:04.600 shooting a wedding at the highest level. 0:49:04.680 --> 0:49:08.600 So I think that's also what makes me like him 0:49:08.640 --> 0:49:14.000 a really great director for the Wicked movies, because he 0:49:14.280 --> 0:49:20.520 sees it in a way like we all want to 0:49:20.560 --> 0:49:23.359 be seen like he does it in a way that's 0:49:23.400 --> 0:49:26.560 so approachable. And I mean that in like the best 0:49:26.560 --> 0:49:31.279 way possible, where like Wicked could have gone wrong in 0:49:31.400 --> 0:49:32.120 so many. 0:49:31.920 --> 0:49:33.960 Ways no I know, but he knew. 0:49:34.120 --> 0:49:38.279 He knew. You can revere something you know like you 0:49:38.360 --> 0:49:40.520 have the utmost respect for it and still have your 0:49:40.600 --> 0:49:44.120 vision for it where you can bring in new audiences 0:49:44.160 --> 0:49:46.239 around the world to something that I've never seen it 0:49:46.840 --> 0:49:48.279 and they can love it. And then you can also 0:49:48.320 --> 0:49:51.320 bring in people who have loved the stage show for 0:49:51.320 --> 0:49:54.279 forever and they can also love it, and that's a 0:49:54.320 --> 0:49:59.000 really hard balance to strike. And Yeah, I think he's 0:49:59.360 --> 0:50:01.959 really found because you can hear. I'm so glad people 0:50:02.000 --> 0:50:05.680 can hear just how much he cares deeply, not just 0:50:05.680 --> 0:50:08.960 about the final product, but about every little thing that 0:50:09.000 --> 0:50:11.920 goes into the process, the people he's surrounding himself with, 0:50:12.040 --> 0:50:14.240 and his love and understanding of the story. 0:50:14.800 --> 0:50:21.279 Yeah, thank you John for literally taking the time to 0:50:21.640 --> 0:50:24.440 go to a workshop. Yeah, you go direct a workshop 0:50:24.760 --> 0:50:26.399 for crazy djation, It's no big deal. 0:50:27.560 --> 0:50:30.320 And for you guys to hope you guys enjoyed the 0:50:30.320 --> 0:50:34.360 conversation and come back next week. 0:50:34.680 --> 0:50:37.960 That's what you really missed. Thanks for listening, and follow 0:50:38.040 --> 0:50:40.839 us on Instagram at and that's what you really miss pod. 0:50:41.160 --> 0:50:43.000 Make sure to write us a review and leave us 0:50:43.000 --> 0:50:44.520 five stars. See you next time.