Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Kristin Davis, and I want to know are
Speaker 1: you a Charlotte? Hello, everybody, welcome to Are You a Charlotte?
Speaker 1: Today we are talking to someone so incredible. It is
Speaker 1: Chris Albrech, who was the head of HBO Original Programming
Speaker 1: and the CEO of HBO in general. And he is
Speaker 1: the person who greenlit Sex and the City, who also
Speaker 1: green lit the Sopranos, and who really put us all
Speaker 1: together and you know, was there for the formation and
Speaker 1: development of the show basically, and we owe so much
Speaker 1: to him. So it's going to be a really fascinating conversation.
Speaker 1: Here we go.
Speaker 2: Hey, how are you, Chris? I'm good. How are you?
Speaker 2: I'm will It's so nice to see you. Thank you
Speaker 2: for the invite.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, I'm so excited you're here. I talked
Speaker 1: to Michael Patrick yesterday. I have so many things to say.
Speaker 1: He sends love and messages. It's thrilling to have you.
Speaker 2: Great congratulations on the news.
Speaker 3: I mean it's sort of a new show now in
Speaker 3: the third season or whatever, but yeah, it's so great.
Speaker 4: It's so interesting, isn't it.
Speaker 1: And I you know, we are going to jump right
Speaker 1: in because I really, really just have to honor your
Speaker 1: place in really creating us.
Speaker 4: You know, like we think about you and might cry.
Speaker 5: I'm feeling very emotional lately, but you know, it's just
Speaker 5: been such a journey and we wouldn't even be here
Speaker 5: if you hadn't been so brave and like out front,
Speaker 5: you know, creating, just purely creating.
Speaker 1: That's how I think of HBO when when I met you, guys,
Speaker 1: how do you think of it?
Speaker 2: You know, I think of HBO as it was.
Speaker 3: It was a vehicle to be able to provide talented
Speaker 3: people to come together in what's a collaborative medium, right
Speaker 3: What we do is a collaborative medium, talk about things
Speaker 3: that had a point of view, were relatable to the
Speaker 3: human experience, and luckily, because of our business model, we
Speaker 3: were able to provide them with the resources to realize
Speaker 3: their vision. And kind of luckily, especially in the beginning
Speaker 3: when we first started with Sex and the City, nobody
Speaker 3: was paying attention to us, so we had a chance.
Speaker 3: What did you do things that real grond ums might
Speaker 3: not let.
Speaker 1: Us do totally totally, and we didn't have advertisers, which
Speaker 1: I mean, we obviously understand, but not everyone listening will
Speaker 1: realize how different the landscape was at the time.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 3: I mean, television was supported by companies, you know, marketing
Speaker 3: their products, and they wanted to have marketing that would
Speaker 3: bring in the biggest audiences, and that meant not offending people.
Speaker 3: So you know, programs were a lot more mild tempered,
Speaker 3: even if they were you know, core thrillers or cop traumas.
Speaker 3: And also couldn't take a stronger point of view about
Speaker 3: what people really went through because you might offend somebody.
Speaker 2: Was really the bottom, and we didn't. Not only didn't
Speaker 2: we kind.
Speaker 3: Of worry about that, but we were not as a
Speaker 3: badge of honor that we were trying to offend people,
Speaker 3: but we wanted to really get people to look at us.
Speaker 2: And say, I can relate to that.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think Sex and the City is the
Speaker 3: perfect example of a show that so many people related to,
Speaker 3: even if they didn't live in you know, New York City,
Speaker 3: even if they weren't you know, upwardly mobile professional women
Speaker 3: in their early thirties. And I would say, you know,
Speaker 3: I'm not sure if the show was set in Cleveland
Speaker 3: you would watch it, But if the show if you
Speaker 3: were in Cleveland, you definitely got it right.
Speaker 1: So I remember, like you, you were at HBO from
Speaker 1: I believe in the eighties, right eighty five.
Speaker 4: Amazing.
Speaker 1: So when I thought of HBO, HBO was this thing
Speaker 1: that was like really expensive and you hoped you could
Speaker 1: afford it, and it had a lot of sports and
Speaker 1: then movies, and then in a way you just started slowly.
Speaker 4: Growing the original programming. Is that accurate?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, we had a real opportunity when there
Speaker 3: was a change in the top leadership when Jeff Buchers
Speaker 3: came in to be the CEO and I got moved
Speaker 3: up to the head of programming and technology. Was our
Speaker 3: friend a k BAN satellite DirecTV Dish. They were coming in,
Speaker 3: they were bringing a new revenue, and we were doing
Speaker 3: really well.
Speaker 2: And you know, I had.
Speaker 3: Been trying to get HBO to do its own programming
Speaker 3: for a while, I mean really, you know, dip both
Speaker 3: feet in and Jeff said, okay, let's give it a try,
Speaker 3: and we opened the doors and one of the first
Speaker 3: people to come in who really knew what they were
Speaker 3: doing was Darren Starr, who obviously had two successful television
Speaker 3: shows under his belt, which was great for us because
Speaker 3: we hadn't done any successful television and you know, Darren's
Speaker 3: a terrific producer, and he brought the he brought Candice's
Speaker 3: book to us with the you know, which was an
Speaker 3: assembly of the columns, the Sex and the City columns,
Speaker 3: and I read it. Karen Strauss read it, and I
Speaker 3: I thought, I haven't seen these people on TV.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And then Darren did what a great producer does, is
Speaker 3: he put he puts a great team together. Of course,
Speaker 3: he brought in Michael Patrick. And then the casting process
Speaker 3: was amazing.
Speaker 4: Is that how you remember it? Amazing?
Speaker 1: I remember it lasted really a long time, and everyone
Speaker 1: in New York in LA read for it.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, it was amazing in the sense that
Speaker 3: I think we really canvassed people. Yeah, and I don't know,
Speaker 3: I mean, you know this story, but Darren Starr had
Speaker 3: Sarah Jessica somewhere in the back of his mind. We
Speaker 3: didn't know if she would do it or not. And
Speaker 3: then everybody else was, you know, kind of a work
Speaker 3: in progress. I mean, it was the combination of finding
Speaker 3: the actress who really could help not embody the character
Speaker 3: because they weren't even fully developed in the first script,
Speaker 3: but you know, somebody who could bring their own personality
Speaker 3: and acting experience and kind of take on what the
Speaker 3: outlines of the role were and then turn them into
Speaker 3: flesh and bone human beings for everybody in the audience.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think it was one of the shows
Speaker 3: where probably more people believed that you guys were really
Speaker 3: those those people than almost any other show that I
Speaker 3: was involved with. They can remember. I mean, maybe it's Brano.
Speaker 3: A lot of people believe that those guys were in
Speaker 3: the in the mafia. But secially, the city certainly touched
Speaker 3: a bone that I don't think had been touched before
Speaker 3: by television.
Speaker 1: And did you, like, did you envision that that would
Speaker 1: be true or was it still just kind of a
Speaker 1: crazy thing that happened?
Speaker 2: You know it I always.
Speaker 3: Always but when people ask me, you know, what are
Speaker 3: what are the ingredients, It's like, Okay, here's the ingredients
Speaker 3: for a successful television show.
Speaker 2: In my opinion, you need.
Speaker 3: An artist who with a strong point of view about
Speaker 3: something that is relatable to the human experience. Hopefully a writer, producer,
Speaker 3: because those are the television series business. Those are the
Speaker 3: people who really are the generators of the team.
Speaker 2: They're the center of the team.
Speaker 3: And then you know, you need to hire really talented
Speaker 3: people around them, and like I said before, give them
Speaker 3: the resources, which includes the talent to help that that
Speaker 3: come to fruition. And then you do it. And even
Speaker 3: though you have all those pieces, it doesn't mean that
Speaker 3: it's going to end up being what you what what
Speaker 3: what what these things become because I think the ingredient
Speaker 3: that only happens sometimes and I can't explain why it happens,
Speaker 3: and I'll use this word because I mean, it is magic.
Speaker 3: There's just a little bit of magic that ends up
Speaker 3: coming from these creative people doing this together. It's what
Speaker 3: one of the things that makes our business unique and
Speaker 3: is long lasting and is globally you know, pervasive as
Speaker 3: it's as as in a good way as it's become
Speaker 3: hopefully in a good way.
Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely in a good way.
Speaker 1: So there, I can't not talk about the Sopranos, which
Speaker 1: you know because for me to think back on what
Speaker 1: it was like in the early days, right, we filmed
Speaker 1: our whole first season without it being on the air,
Speaker 1: and you guys were just incredibly supportive, not nitpicking notes,
Speaker 1: you know, just kind of supporting the vision that Darren
Speaker 1: had at that point. And I think you brought Michael in,
Speaker 1: you know, in the first season. And what Michael said
Speaker 1: to tell you, especially, which I need to remember to do,
Speaker 1: is that he thinks that you were the best executive
Speaker 1: to work.
Speaker 4: For because you understood jokes. And it's a rare thing
Speaker 4: if you think about it.
Speaker 2: Well, you know what I did.
Speaker 3: I mean, I was a standard an unsuccessful stand up
Speaker 3: comedian who then ended up managing and being part of
Speaker 3: owner of the Improv of New York. So and all
Speaker 3: those comedians, many of them were my peers. The guys
Speaker 3: that became famous then became famous later there as performers
Speaker 3: or you know, writers and big, big TV stars. So
Speaker 3: I lived a lot life with people around trying to
Speaker 3: be funny. And I think one of the things growing
Speaker 3: up in New York and learning the comedy in New
Speaker 3: York was that we learned a comedy that was more
Speaker 3: first person, more about the personal experience.
Speaker 2: And certainly, in my mind, the things.
Speaker 3: The television shows that really resonate most with people are
Speaker 3: the ones that come across almost as first person.
Speaker 2: You know, the audience identifies with that.
Speaker 3: And one of the ways to make something palatable is
Speaker 3: to make it kind of funny, because life is funny,
Speaker 3: and irony is comedy. And if there's one thing that
Speaker 3: we know over and over again is life's ironic and
Speaker 3: it's unpredictable. And the women in Sex and the City
Speaker 3: explained it experienced that unpredictability no matter no matter.
Speaker 2: What their plans were.
Speaker 3: Definitely they were not necessarily foiled at every turn, but
Speaker 3: it was it was a journey that the audience was
Speaker 3: looking forward to taking, you know, with them. I remember
Speaker 3: getting the first It's a very episode and I would
Speaker 3: take it was back when we had you know, cassettes,
Speaker 3: and I would take it home in my in my
Speaker 3: shoulder bag. And Sex and the City was one of
Speaker 3: the one or two shows that I had to watch
Speaker 3: the first.
Speaker 2: Cut, no matter what.
Speaker 3: It was my job, but I couldn't wait to watch
Speaker 3: the first cut us too.
Speaker 1: I remember waiting for that VHS and you know, running home,
Speaker 1: running home to put it in. It's so funny to
Speaker 1: think about now.
Speaker 4: Here you are.
Speaker 1: You come from this stand up background, which is so unusual,
Speaker 1: you know, in your job, I think, I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't know any other you know, I mean, yeah, very rare,
Speaker 1: and you're you're kind of at the forefront of like
Speaker 1: creating this original programming for HBO.
Speaker 4: You've got Us.
Speaker 1: You filmed the Sopranos pilot right after ours, because I
Speaker 1: remember our crew. You tried to make a double deal
Speaker 1: with crew members, like will you now go to New
Speaker 1: Jersey and do this mobster thing?
Speaker 4: We were like, what you're going to do?
Speaker 2: What?
Speaker 1: But obviously, I mean literally lightning in a bottle? I mean,
Speaker 1: what do you remember about that?
Speaker 4: What were you thinking? What was going through your head?
Speaker 2: You know what? I think.
Speaker 3: The lucky thing for us is we weren't doing a
Speaker 3: lot of thinking. We were doing a lot of reacting, experiencing.
Speaker 3: It's not like we had a floodgate of people coming
Speaker 3: to pitch us stuff.
Speaker 2: And so when we had something like.
Speaker 3: The Sopranos, which came from David Chase, who knew how
Speaker 3: to do television, just like Darren Starr who knew how
Speaker 3: to do television, then the job.
Speaker 2: Was, well, these guys actually know more than we do
Speaker 2: about making this.
Speaker 3: Let's help give them the freedom to expand their thinking
Speaker 3: and like, you know, make this a clubhouse. And that's
Speaker 3: kind of what The Sopranos became very different than Sex
Speaker 3: and the City in terms of what went on the screen,
Speaker 3: but not very different from Sex and the City in
Speaker 3: terms of the kind of ingredients that came together and
Speaker 3: gelled to end up with this experience that audiences.
Speaker 2: I mean, I look, if there was Sex.
Speaker 3: And the City parties when Sex and the City was on,
Speaker 3: there was the Pranos parties when Panos was I don't
Speaker 3: know a lot of other shows no that that that
Speaker 3: had that phenomenon. We might we might have even started
Speaker 3: it with with with that.
Speaker 1: It felt like that, Yeah, absolutely, And I remember for
Speaker 1: us it was like kind of a really you know,
Speaker 1: we were so in it and we were working you know,
Speaker 1: as you know, all night, you know, every night for
Speaker 1: the time that we were filming, and because we filmed
Speaker 1: the whole first season with you know, kind of in
Speaker 1: a bubble, which was wonderful, right we could just kind
Speaker 1: of try to find ourselves, which you know, the first
Speaker 1: season kind of all over the place. But now that
Speaker 1: I'm rewatching it, I am really impressed with it, Like
Speaker 1: it's so much more. It has all the elements were
Speaker 1: right there. They weren't like woven together in the more
Speaker 1: practiced way that we became, but they're all there, you know.
Speaker 2: And what's also so interesting is the evolution of the show.
Speaker 3: I mean, if you watch the pilot, you know, it's
Speaker 3: talking to camera, it's it's chirns, it's uh, it's a,
Speaker 3: it's a it's a little and and this show morphed
Speaker 3: and then the other thing.
Speaker 2: I think that was certainly fun. It was.
Speaker 3: Although you the cast and and and the production team
Speaker 3: were experienced professionals, and although we had been working and
Speaker 3: you know, running this network, we all shared, you guys
Speaker 3: and those of us on the inside, we shared this
Speaker 3: experience of having this kind of unexpected and and joyous.
Speaker 3: I mean, it wasn't at all times where it wasn't
Speaker 3: that it weren't the bumps along the road when you
Speaker 3: make doing any of this stuff with all kinds of people.
Speaker 2: But I think you you were You were a great partner.
Speaker 3: You were a great uh ambassador for the show, not
Speaker 3: just when you were on the show, but in in
Speaker 3: in your life. You were always so great to deal with.
Speaker 3: And you know, whether we were whether we were whether
Speaker 3: or we were talking about scripture, renegotiating deals, you know,
Speaker 3: it was it was thank you.
Speaker 2: It was a happy time.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I.
Speaker 3: Have to believe that also contributed to uh what came
Speaker 3: through absolutely, you know, for the audience.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, I agree with what you're saying.
Speaker 1: And it's interesting to think about because you know, now
Speaker 1: obviously the industry is just profoundly different in so so
Speaker 1: so many ways, and I feel like because of all
Speaker 1: the changes, there's you know, kind of a lot of
Speaker 1: fear and no one knows what to do, you know,
Speaker 1: it's uneven. Whereas like for us, I really did feel
Speaker 1: that we were you know, together and united and the
Speaker 1: kind of insane experience that we knew we were going
Speaker 1: through that was amazing that you know, each year built.
Speaker 4: And also because you guys were really.
Speaker 1: Partners, it was a very different experience in terms of
Speaker 1: like creatively, you know, Michael always goes rhapsodic talking about
Speaker 1: you know, we can list the notes that you and
Speaker 1: Carolyn gave us on our hand, right like you were
Speaker 1: just support, You were like true support and teammates.
Speaker 3: Well, I always looked at our job as not to
Speaker 3: shuffle the deck. But if you think about it as
Speaker 3: a deck of cards, once in a while card is
Speaker 3: kind of sticking out on the side.
Speaker 2: You just every once in a while we would help
Speaker 2: the show do this. It's great, but also for Sex.
Speaker 3: And the City, it was you know, it It brought
Speaker 3: a point of view, It brought characters to the screen.
Speaker 2: It gave the audience a chance to see themselves.
Speaker 3: Like I said, even if they weren't those specific had
Speaker 3: that specific.
Speaker 2: Lifestyle, the inner monologue, the inner life. It was different
Speaker 2: enough in each character.
Speaker 3: And yet united enough that together they presented a world
Speaker 3: that hadn't been on TV before. And it was an
Speaker 3: opportunity we had an HBO to do that. Sex and
Speaker 3: the City changed television.
Speaker 2: Yeah, changed. I don't know it changed.
Speaker 3: It changed in the sense that it was an example
Speaker 3: for people of what was possible to do on television.
Speaker 4: Yes, yes, for sure.
Speaker 1: Now did you think about the fact, like like in
Speaker 1: your prioritizing in terms of so we've got sopranos, we've
Speaker 1: got Sex and the City.
Speaker 4: We're growing, We're growing. It's like so exciting.
Speaker 1: You know, at certain points we start getting nominated for
Speaker 1: Emmy's Like what were you thinking? Were you like, yeah,
Speaker 1: this is amazing, this is what I wanted? Or like,
Speaker 1: was it out of control?
Speaker 4: Was it what was it for you?
Speaker 3: All of those things. It definitely took on a life
Speaker 3: of its own, right. I think the what it's kind
Speaker 3: of like the show, you know what people saw on
Speaker 3: the show wasn't necessarily.
Speaker 2: What we all talked about being in the show.
Speaker 3: Right When when we would read articles, when people still
Speaker 3: read articles about Sex and the City, or would read
Speaker 3: an article about Sopranos or or you know, other shows,
Speaker 3: I would say to Carolyn Strauss, I'd say, we don't.
Speaker 3: We never had that conversation, but they would see it
Speaker 3: in that and therefore it became. It became larger than
Speaker 3: you know, It took on a life of its own,
Speaker 3: and so we were, I think often as surprised as anyone,
Speaker 3: you know, to see the reaction, and it grew so much.
Speaker 2: I remember one year at the Globes, I think Sex.
Speaker 3: And the City one, Sopranos won, the actors won, the
Speaker 3: actresses won, and we won the movie.
Speaker 2: We won every and we were.
Speaker 3: All sitting there at the HBO table, which of course
Speaker 3: was you know, the best table in the TV section.
Speaker 2: We were in the movie section, which was.
Speaker 3: On the floor, and I turned to my team that
Speaker 3: was at the table, and I said, remember this's not
Speaker 3: because it'll never happen again, you know, it was just
Speaker 3: and by that time people were already trying to emulate
Speaker 3: what we were doing, because it wasn't.
Speaker 2: It wasn't a secret formula.
Speaker 3: It was just one that we identified as an opportunity
Speaker 3: for us, and other people tried to follow in the
Speaker 3: footsteps until it then, like every other thing that is
Speaker 3: a good thing, is too much, right.
Speaker 2: You know, there were probably a lot of Greek plays written.
Speaker 3: Most people only remember the ones by Eschylus and and but.
Speaker 2: You know the same thing with I'm sure there were
Speaker 2: a lot of Elizabethan you know.
Speaker 3: Poets who wrote who wrote plays, but we don't know.
Speaker 3: There's only a couple that ever be remember, so there could.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of television shows, but there's not very
Speaker 3: many that have had the impact and have the longevity,
Speaker 3: and so many people so glad to see, uh, you
Speaker 3: know you those characters come back on screen again and
Speaker 3: share their new experiences and continue on the journey with them.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I mean it has been obviously just an experience
Speaker 1: that we never could have ever imagined even remotely.
Speaker 3: And I have to say Sex and the City was
Speaker 3: I mean, there are shows, you know, people talk all
Speaker 3: the people don't compare Sex and the City and sopranos.
Speaker 2: They don't compare. They'll compare the dramas together or the
Speaker 2: comedies together. But for me, especially with.
Speaker 3: The timing and everything, but for me with the audience
Speaker 3: that we didn't have before.
Speaker 2: We didn't have a big female audience on HBO.
Speaker 3: We had boxing and you know, we had to stand
Speaker 3: up comedy shows and sex and the city was was
Speaker 3: was really the game changer for us.
Speaker 2: And it's not about more reviews or more or or
Speaker 2: or more awards.
Speaker 3: It was the cultural impact of that and the the
Speaker 3: you know sort of how it just became into the lexicon.
Speaker 2: Absolutely people's lives.
Speaker 3: And I mean to the point of view about you know,
Speaker 3: the title of your podcast, you know You're Charlotte. I mean,
Speaker 3: it was all people were that was those were real
Speaker 3: conversations people.
Speaker 1: Were, I know, and they still have them, which is insane,
Speaker 1: But I think it's important to say that, you know,
Speaker 1: and I know as an actor. When I when Darren
Speaker 1: sent me the first script, I wasn't really aware of
Speaker 1: Kansas's colle but the idea that there would be a
Speaker 1: show with four lead women who were unabashedly over thirty
Speaker 1: was shocking. I was like, what I have to be
Speaker 1: on this show? Like, when you really think back, it's
Speaker 1: hard to even remember how unusual that was, and what
Speaker 1: a risk it was.
Speaker 4: What did you think about that?
Speaker 3: Well, you know, it was right about the time that
Speaker 3: that was I don't know if it was Time magazine
Speaker 3: or whatever.
Speaker 2: It was, that thing that came out where like a.
Speaker 3: Woman over thirty had had, you know, more of a
Speaker 3: chance of being hit by lightning than getting married, right, yes,
Speaker 3: And so, oh my god, that was a statement that
Speaker 3: probably hit a lot. I mean, I don't know how
Speaker 3: many people saw it, but it certainly traveled in in
Speaker 3: you know, conversations with people.
Speaker 2: And then I think this show came on and the
Speaker 2: heels of that, right, and on one hand.
Speaker 3: Illustrated those challenges and yet on the other hand, really
Speaker 3: humanized it and the desires and also even though you know,
Speaker 3: the show was bittersweet in many ways, but it was
Speaker 3: life affirming.
Speaker 4: Absolutely. It was joyous.
Speaker 3: Yeah, because these women were successful people. I don't mean
Speaker 3: successful in their jobs. It was all those things. But
Speaker 3: they persevered in spite of you know, the challenges first
Speaker 3: of being a woman, right, and and then and you know,
Speaker 3: secondly the all of the you know, other cultural and
Speaker 3: physical things that happened. And now seeing the characters years later,
Speaker 3: it adds another whole dimension, but it was it was.
Speaker 3: It was definitely it was a risk for us to
Speaker 3: take back then, but a risk. If you had those
Speaker 3: odds in Vegas, you probably wouldn't play, but if you
Speaker 3: got that result in Vegas, you'd go home a happy person.
Speaker 1: The other thing I think about is when I remember
Speaker 1: my audition, my test or whatever you would call it,
Speaker 1: and I mean literally I think there was you and Carolyn,
Speaker 1: maybe Michael Hill was there, maybe Kerry Barton was there
Speaker 1: or Billy Hopkins one or the other, but and Darren,
Speaker 1: Like there was so few of you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't think that. I think it was probably
Speaker 3: Darren and certainly Carolyn and me and maybe Michael Hill
Speaker 3: and maybe.
Speaker 4: Carme oh yeah, CARMEI right, but so few like it
Speaker 4: was it tiny?
Speaker 2: Yeah, but maybe not.
Speaker 3: We were really only only a couple. And that's how
Speaker 3: we did it. I know that's how we did it.
Speaker 2: And it became our way of.
Speaker 3: Being able to make the casting decisions that were part
Speaker 3: of making the show successful because obviously critical, that's.
Speaker 2: What the audience sees.
Speaker 3: And as you know, oh, there were even some changes
Speaker 3: along the way.
Speaker 2: I mean, the first person cast as uh.
Speaker 3: Samantha wasn't Kim right right, And then Kim became available
Speaker 3: and Darren called me and he said, I really had
Speaker 3: her in mind.
Speaker 2: What do you want to do?
Speaker 3: And I said, well, We're spend a lot of money
Speaker 3: on this, and you know, if you think this is
Speaker 3: the right thing to.
Speaker 2: Do, let's do it.
Speaker 3: So uh, yeah, history you know made before yeah, or
Speaker 3: we even got on the on on on the floor
Speaker 3: for the first rehearsal, I know.
Speaker 1: And it's just it's just mind boggling to think about.
Speaker 1: First of all, I love you know, I had Alan
Speaker 1: Culter came on and and talked about he had been
Speaker 1: on Soprano's first season and then you guys had said, hey,
Speaker 1: would you go over there and work on Sex and
Speaker 1: the City and bring some you know, kind of more
Speaker 1: cinematic you know, qualities to it, which he absolutely did,
Speaker 1: and I'd love hearing what he remembers. I feel like
Speaker 1: once we kind of started cross populating the directors, our
Speaker 1: production value, you know, really leapt up, which was part
Speaker 1: of the magic of being there.
Speaker 3: You know, you know, and from the very beginning, Darren
Speaker 3: wanted New York City to be to be a character
Speaker 3: in the show, and you know, a lot like the Sopranos,
Speaker 3: which we shot in Jersey. You know, Sex and the
Speaker 3: City would not have been the same show. How do
Speaker 3: we not shot it in New York and not shot
Speaker 3: in New York the way we shot it?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know it became Look.
Speaker 3: Shows always get a boost when the audience wants to
Speaker 3: be the people on screen and wants to live the
Speaker 3: lives they're living. And certainly in spite of all the emotional,
Speaker 3: you know, challenges and psychological conflicts that the characters had
Speaker 3: within themselves and sometimes with each other, I think the
Speaker 3: audience always said.
Speaker 2: I either want to be them or I want to
Speaker 2: be their friend.
Speaker 4: Yeah, which is so nice.
Speaker 1: I sometimes still fe apologetic because you know, these young
Speaker 1: girls will move there and then then I'll run into
Speaker 1: someone somewhere and they'll be like, oh, I moved there
Speaker 1: when I was twenty five, and you know, it's really
Speaker 1: hard to get a cab or just like really basics.
Speaker 1: I'm like, I'm so sorry that we didn't always it
Speaker 1: wasn't always accurate, you know what I'm saying. It was
Speaker 1: a little bit glamorized, as we know, with the shoes
Speaker 1: and you know what I'm saying, Like I wouldn't spend
Speaker 1: a day in those shoes in the city if I
Speaker 1: weren't playing Charlotte for goodness sake, But that was the
Speaker 1: fun of it, you know.
Speaker 3: In so it is, it is show business, but it's
Speaker 3: show business that it's.
Speaker 1: Best, absolutely absolutely, and I feel, you know, as the
Speaker 1: show went on, I mean, just I'm curious, you're I mean, first.
Speaker 4: Of all, how did you feel about us ending the show?
Speaker 2: I never wanted it to end. It was I mean,
Speaker 2: it was.
Speaker 3: I guess Michael and Sarah Jessica's decision. Yeah, and obviously
Speaker 3: if Michael didn't feel there was more in it. We
Speaker 3: were not the type of place to change horses, right
Speaker 3: and continue with the framework without the heart.
Speaker 4: No, that would have been crazy.
Speaker 3: And I don't know that any of you would have
Speaker 3: done that. So, but you know, we definitely I'm like,
Speaker 3: I wish I would have had more episodes every season,
Speaker 3: you know, but there were people that had limitations with
Speaker 3: their schedules and.
Speaker 4: Life babies started happening.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think we could have gone on
Speaker 3: at least another couple of seasons and it would have
Speaker 3: been to all of our benefits.
Speaker 1: Certainly mine, I agree one hundred percent. Now let me
Speaker 1: ask you about this. Do you remember how we had
Speaker 1: this plan that we were going to do the film
Speaker 1: but then we ended, which was largely based I mean
Speaker 1: really in my mind, I think creatively, yes, it was
Speaker 1: it's very hard to make a show every week, right
Speaker 1: or whatever.
Speaker 4: You know, we weren't making it every week, but you
Speaker 4: know what.
Speaker 1: I'm saying, it's really hard the pressure of the writing
Speaker 1: and whatnot the creative team. And I think that pressure,
Speaker 1: you know, had somewhat taken a toll on Sara, Jessica
Speaker 1: and Michael, as you said, but also, you know, Cynthia
Speaker 1: had a baby, Sir, Jessica had a baby. You know,
Speaker 1: you have that you're so torn by being parent as
Speaker 1: you know, and feeling like you need to be the
Speaker 1: best parent you can be. And but when we had
Speaker 1: been working, my perception of it was that it was,
Speaker 1: you know, all encompassing, like our our lives were about
Speaker 1: the show and promoting the show and riding this wave
Speaker 1: that had happened, you know, kind of unexpectedly, and I
Speaker 1: think all of us really knew that it was, you know,
Speaker 1: a once in a lifetime situation, right, So it was like,
Speaker 1: remember we would jet around you know with you Yes,
Speaker 1: I remember.
Speaker 2: Yes, we had a good time. We had a good time.
Speaker 2: Everybody worked hard, but we made sure to have some fun.
Speaker 4: Yes, I mean, I remember when She's Nevus. Do you
Speaker 4: remember that on the horses?
Speaker 1: It was so much fun with all the cable guys,
Speaker 1: the cable cowboys. I mean, just amazing times, amazing times.
Speaker 1: But I think so then we were going to do
Speaker 1: the film right. But then like we didn't. We didn't
Speaker 1: really know who would make the film. Do you remember
Speaker 1: all this strength?
Speaker 2: I remember?
Speaker 3: So what happened was I commissioned the script right, and
Speaker 3: we didn't have the film sold, and I didn't know
Speaker 3: how we were going to get it financed. And then
Speaker 3: and we're trying to put together budgets, but we were
Speaker 3: really you know, it was one of those times when
Speaker 3: HBO became timid because it was getting out of our
Speaker 3: comfort zone for some people. And then to my memory, anyway,
Speaker 3: I think the the product, the Devil Wears product movie
Speaker 3: came out and I said to everybody, I said, that's
Speaker 3: our movie.
Speaker 2: I said, they just did our movie.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Speaker 2: So then the momentum went back.
Speaker 3: And the movie I had gone to Newline and they
Speaker 3: jumped in, which gave us the sort of film credibility,
Speaker 3: and then kind of kind of it was within the
Speaker 3: company also because they were a division of Time Warner,
Speaker 3: as was HBO, so.
Speaker 2: It put it on a track. And then of course Michael.
Speaker 3: Wrote the script and then you know, in a not
Speaker 3: unheard of move but a somewhat unusual move, Michael got
Speaker 3: to direct it right, and everybody came on board. And really,
Speaker 3: I look at the first films.
Speaker 2: As the finale to the series.
Speaker 4: So much, yes, yes, yes, yes, so much.
Speaker 1: And that's what was really wonderful about it, because when
Speaker 1: we did end the show, the only reason that I
Speaker 1: didn't completely fall apart, which I set fell apart, because
Speaker 1: I really passionately loved the show, as you know, but
Speaker 1: I really did believe in my heart that we would
Speaker 1: do a film.
Speaker 4: I didn't know how. I mean, it was really odd.
Speaker 1: It was like you're taking one thing in one medium
Speaker 1: and even though of course it's still storytelling, you'd need
Speaker 1: a film company and distribution and all of the things,
Speaker 1: like it's a different animal in so many ways, and
Speaker 1: you guys hadn't done that yet, so it didn't there
Speaker 1: wasn't a clear tract for it to be going on, right,
Speaker 1: It took a lot of creativity on everyone's part to
Speaker 1: make it work out. But I did believe that was
Speaker 1: going to happen or I have really been just fully
Speaker 1: decimated because I never really want us to end, which
Speaker 1: you know, like I don't know that's rat at this point.
Speaker 5: But.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's hard when you.
Speaker 1: Have something that you love so much, you know, it's
Speaker 1: like it's just so like I could not have a
Speaker 1: better creative experience.
Speaker 2: I think we all love that show.
Speaker 3: I think it was it was it was, you know,
Speaker 3: considering how successful it was, it had a really unusually
Speaker 3: small amount of problems. Yeah, and you know, because the
Speaker 3: show is you got to keep a group of people together.
Speaker 2: For a long time.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, and no matter how good friends they
Speaker 3: are on camera, it doesn't mean that they're that that
Speaker 3: they're that.
Speaker 2: Way in real life.
Speaker 4: Yes.
Speaker 2: Well, but yes, I think the movie was really important.
Speaker 3: And again to my memory, it was a while ago now,
Speaker 3: you know, twenty years ago. Uh, the product film helped
Speaker 3: prod into you of doing it. Yeah, because and it
Speaker 3: may have been Michael Patrick that first said it to me,
Speaker 3: but it was like, okay, and and even as much
Speaker 3: as I enjoyed that film, I thought our film was
Speaker 3: a bigger experience because it was the end of a
Speaker 3: journey that had taken you know, had taken years, and
Speaker 3: for the first time, really the show gave the audience
Speaker 3: what it had been craving.
Speaker 4: So true. Yeah, that's so true. I hadn't thought about that.
Speaker 1: But it had a more complete because in a you know,
Speaker 1: a two hour storytelling, you're able to complete things in
Speaker 1: a way and go deeper as opposed to Like, one
Speaker 1: of the things when I'm rewatching the show that I'm
Speaker 1: really amazed by is how much we could do in
Speaker 1: a relatively short time. In the show, they're not that long,
Speaker 1: and so much happens, and it's like funny and then
Speaker 1: deep and then silent for a second and funny and
Speaker 1: like it's it's very I'm super impressed by us.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Well, a series has the advantage, especially serialized, of being
Speaker 3: able to tell a story over a much longer period
Speaker 3: of time, getting to know the characters in a different way,
Speaker 3: and a film hasn't. But that's a big challenge. A
Speaker 3: film has an advantage in that it gets to tell
Speaker 3: the beginning, middle, and end of a story all in
Speaker 3: one sitting, and so it's a different you know, a
Speaker 3: different structure and can be a more satisfying experience in
Speaker 3: a way, because you know, you get to sit down
Speaker 3: at the meal, eat it and have dessert, and pay
Speaker 3: the check and leave.
Speaker 1: Totally, totally, totally. I do also think that as time
Speaker 1: goes by, like when you first start, especially the pilot,
Speaker 1: the pilot is physically so dark that you're like.
Speaker 4: Where are we?
Speaker 1: I mean, it's very cool, like it's interesting, but you know,
Speaker 1: as time went on, like we're beautifully lit, you know,
Speaker 1: and the production values are just keep rising and rising
Speaker 1: and rising, and then the film it's like whoa, you know, somebody,
Speaker 1: let us really play. And we kind of have had
Speaker 1: trouble coming back from that, I will say, like we
Speaker 1: had we had these thoughts that when we came back
Speaker 1: to doing just like that, that we were going to
Speaker 1: try to be like our early selves when we would
Speaker 1: like film on one corner and then like wheel the
Speaker 1: lights down the block, you know, and like have a
Speaker 1: handheld scene on the other corner. Well, we can't go
Speaker 1: back to that. It's impossible, you know what I mean, And.
Speaker 2: The audience expects something different.
Speaker 3: I mean, I look, even in the pilots, as central
Speaker 3: as the women were, there were lots of other things
Speaker 3: going on, and as the show evolved quickly it became
Speaker 3: those four women right as the center of the center
Speaker 3: of the heart of the show.
Speaker 1: Absolutely absolutely all right, is there anything that you want
Speaker 1: to talk about that we didn't just thank you? Oh
Speaker 1: my god, no, for all that you did for all
Speaker 1: of us, you thank you. You really are like our
Speaker 1: you know, special godfather who you know not only greenlit
Speaker 1: and put us together like so thoughtfully put the pieces
Speaker 1: together of what is still you know, in existence. And
Speaker 1: we couldn't love each other much more, you know, we
Speaker 1: couldn't be more thankful for what you guys created.
Speaker 2: Thank you. We took that journey together and it changed
Speaker 2: all of our.
Speaker 4: Lives, I know it.
Speaker 1: And you, I mean you basically gave us, especially myself.
Speaker 1: I mean all of us are a little different, as
Speaker 1: you know, but for myself you you really you you gave.
Speaker 4: Me my career and I can't thank you enough.
Speaker 3: You know, Christy, I got to say, you were pretty easy.
Speaker 5: Thank you.
Speaker 4: I appreciate that. I really do, I really do.
Speaker 1: I love our I love our team, and I'm happy
Speaker 1: to be in a collaborative you know situation.
Speaker 4: I that's part of the joy of it for me,
Speaker 4: you were that.
Speaker 2: You were definitely definitely that.
Speaker 1: Thank you, babe, Thank you, and thank you for being on.
Speaker 1: It's so special to get to hear from you.
Speaker 4: I feel so lucky.
Speaker 2: Maybe I get to see you person one of these days,
Speaker 2: we're sure.
Speaker 4: Let's have been with Dave.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Great.
Speaker 1: I'm so glad that he connected us. And Michael sends
Speaker 1: his love and he's so.
Speaker 4: Happy that you're talking to me.
Speaker 2: Please send mine.
Speaker 4: I will.
Speaker 1: I love to have the tapestry of all of us
Speaker 1: who are there in the beginning. I want it to
Speaker 1: be here for people to find and discover and hear
Speaker 1: from the different points of view of like what it
Speaker 1: was like to be together back then.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm glad you're doing this, and thanks for including me.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Chris.