WEBVTT - How Reese Witherspoon Turned Star Power Into an Empire

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Emily Chang, and this is the circuit. This week

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<v Speaker 1>on the Pod, a conversation about power, purpose, and the

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<v Speaker 1>business of storytelling with Reese Witherspoon. What does it take

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<v Speaker 1>to be the main character in your own story? I

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<v Speaker 1>think we all know if you're over a certain age,

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<v Speaker 1>you realize no one's coming to save you.

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<v Speaker 2>You are the hero of your story. No one's coming

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<v Speaker 2>to save the day.

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<v Speaker 1>Witherspoon has built a career playing women who refuse to

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<v Speaker 1>be underestimated, from Legally Blonde el Woods to Cheryl Strade

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<v Speaker 1>from Into the Wild. But behind the scenes, she was

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<v Speaker 1>watching who held the power and who didn't.

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<v Speaker 3>And I dread reading scripts that have no women involved

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<v Speaker 3>in their creation because in eviily, I get.

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<v Speaker 2>To that part with the girl turns to the guy

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<v Speaker 2>and she goes, what do we do now?

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<v Speaker 3>Now? Do you know any woman in any crisis who

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<v Speaker 3>has absolutely.

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<v Speaker 2>No idea what to do?

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<v Speaker 1>In twenty sixteen, she founded Hello Sunshine to tell women

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<v Speaker 1>stories not as side plots, but as the center of

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<v Speaker 1>the narrative. In twenty twenty one, the company sold to

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<v Speaker 1>Candle Media for a headline grabbing nine hundred million dollars,

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<v Speaker 1>but just a few years later, Hollywood finds itself in upheaval,

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<v Speaker 1>with streaming slowdowns, shrinking budgets, and an industry still figuring

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<v Speaker 1>out what comes next. I met up with Witherspoon in

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<v Speaker 1>Los Angeles at her live summit shine Away, where hundreds

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<v Speaker 1>of women gathered to share ideas with a list stars, authors,

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<v Speaker 1>and innovators in a celebration of ambition, community, and the

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<v Speaker 1>power of women's stories. Here's my conversation with actress, producer,

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<v Speaker 1>and founder Reese Witherspoon.

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<v Speaker 4>Vibe check. How are you feeling.

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<v Speaker 3>It's kind of overwhelming because it's the It's like the

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<v Speaker 3>physical manifestation of a dream that I've had for a

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<v Speaker 3>long time.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, but now here we are and all these people

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<v Speaker 2>are here.

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<v Speaker 4>What are the big seams that you want the audience

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<v Speaker 4>to take home.

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<v Speaker 3>I think a big part of why I'm excited about

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<v Speaker 3>today is community. I think we all crave it as

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<v Speaker 3>human beings. We don't connect as much, particularly in this

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<v Speaker 3>modern world where we're flying a lot, and we're all

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<v Speaker 3>very occupied with things that are going on online and

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<v Speaker 3>our daily problems, and I think the idea of connecting

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<v Speaker 3>over like minded ideas and sharing and connecting is just

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<v Speaker 3>something people need to experience, and there's something about it

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<v Speaker 3>coming to life today that's been really emotional for me because.

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<v Speaker 2>I imagine this.

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<v Speaker 3>I did a whole exercise when I started this company

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<v Speaker 3>where I wrote down what I wanted it to look like,

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<v Speaker 3>and a big part of it was having this moment

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<v Speaker 3>of people actually seeing each other in one space.

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<v Speaker 4>I mean, you got emotional up there, you know what.

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<v Speaker 3>Women came from thirty different states, from other countries to

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<v Speaker 3>meet their favorite authors, to be inspired by entrepreneurs and

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<v Speaker 3>women in healthcare.

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<v Speaker 2>And it's really emotional to me, and it's not lost

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<v Speaker 2>on me.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm so I feel really lucky to be a woman

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<v Speaker 3>in this position to gather other women and help enhance

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<v Speaker 3>their lives, even if it's only just for a day,

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<v Speaker 3>or even if you have one little life mob take away.

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<v Speaker 3>It's that kind of community that can really change people's lives.

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<v Speaker 1>What does it take to be the main character in

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<v Speaker 1>your own story?

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<v Speaker 3>I think we all know if you're over a certain age,

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<v Speaker 3>you realize no one's coming to save you.

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<v Speaker 2>You are the hero of your story.

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<v Speaker 3>Whether that means you save yourself in a financial situation,

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<v Speaker 3>you've saved yourself from a relationship, that didn't work.

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<v Speaker 2>No one's coming to save the day.

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<v Speaker 1>Over time, How has your appetite for risk and your

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<v Speaker 1>level of ambition changed.

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<v Speaker 3>The thing about risk is when you do it and

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<v Speaker 3>you kind of get away with stuff and it works out,

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<v Speaker 3>you keep taking more risks, and then you started I

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<v Speaker 3>get excited about the challenge of trying something new.

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<v Speaker 1>Looking back on your career, you seem to pick the

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<v Speaker 1>perfect roles at the perfect time.

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<v Speaker 4>How would you describe your instincts?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, first of all, thank you for saying that.

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<v Speaker 3>I think back a lot about the opportunities that came

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<v Speaker 3>my way in my early twenties, because a lot of

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<v Speaker 3>the movies that I made in my early twenties and

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<v Speaker 3>my late twenties are sort of the movies that made

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<v Speaker 3>me who I was, imprinted on people's mind to who

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<v Speaker 3>I am as an actress. I was always really clear

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<v Speaker 3>about what I wanted to express. Even I remember doing

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<v Speaker 3>Legally Blonde and thinking, this isn't a story about a

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<v Speaker 3>ditsy girl who goes to Harvard. It's actually about a

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<v Speaker 3>woman who's very substantive but is unapologetically feminine, and the

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<v Speaker 3>two can exist at the same time. You didn't have

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<v Speaker 3>to be strident, to look a certain way, to be

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<v Speaker 3>considered academic or serious.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean also had fun with feminism.

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<v Speaker 4>It did look like you were having fun.

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<v Speaker 2>I had so much fun.

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<v Speaker 4>We had fun.

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<v Speaker 3>I know that role changed my life in so many ways. Also,

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<v Speaker 3>because it became a musical, so many young girls have

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<v Speaker 3>played that part. So it's kind of the only role.

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<v Speaker 3>El Woods is the only role that I've had that

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<v Speaker 3>I share with so many different people.

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<v Speaker 1>My son's middle school is putting it on in a

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<v Speaker 1>couple of weeks, and we've got tickets.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and it's.

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<v Speaker 3>Fun and it's part of conversation still twenty years later.

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<v Speaker 3>That's why I'm really excited to be doing the Elwoods.

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<v Speaker 3>We're doing a television show with Amazon where we're going

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<v Speaker 3>to do the prequel where she's in high school. I

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<v Speaker 3>know you've got an open casting call, having open casting,

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<v Speaker 3>so I thought it'd be fun to open it up

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<v Speaker 3>and let people feel like they might be the next Doll. Ways.

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<v Speaker 1>I hope you're going to teach her the bend and

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<v Speaker 1>snap because it needs to be perfect. I mean, of course,

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<v Speaker 1>you set out to create a company that would change

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<v Speaker 1>the conversation for women. Does it feel like you're going forward.

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<v Speaker 3>I think it feels like we are taking the right

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<v Speaker 3>strides forward. But even if you look at the statistics,

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<v Speaker 3>it's not fifty to fifty. I mean, there's still a

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<v Speaker 3>deficit of female directors, a deficit in screenwriting, but it's

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<v Speaker 3>making meaningful change. I mean the numbers, the percentages are jumping,

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<v Speaker 3>and I think the consciousness around it has totally changed.

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<v Speaker 3>It's like the lights are on. You can't pretend that

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<v Speaker 3>you don't know that we aren't hiring women and people

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<v Speaker 3>of color for these jobs. So there's definitely more of

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<v Speaker 3>an acceptance that stories aren't just need to be told,

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<v Speaker 3>but the same twenty filmmakers over and over again.

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<v Speaker 4>How much progress do you feel you've made so far.

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<v Speaker 3>I think there's been a lot of progress since I started.

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<v Speaker 2>I really started.

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<v Speaker 3>The first iteration of this company was around twenty eleven.

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<v Speaker 3>It was just a wildly different time. There wasn't streaming,

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<v Speaker 3>there wasn't social media. The idea of using all these

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<v Speaker 3>new technologies and these ability to gather women in a

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<v Speaker 3>positive way through storytelling and empowering different filmmakers and different

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<v Speaker 3>authors to share these stories that have been sitting in

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<v Speaker 3>their mind, it's just incredible and to see what we've

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<v Speaker 3>accomplished in just a relatively short amount of time.

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<v Speaker 2>We really got ramped up around twenty sixteen.

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<v Speaker 1>And your book club now has a massive influence over

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<v Speaker 1>the publishing industry. By some estimates, it's bigger than Oprah's.

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<v Speaker 4>How do you view that power?

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<v Speaker 3>I have a sort of a tricky relationship with the

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<v Speaker 3>word power.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, it doesn't feel like power to me.

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<v Speaker 3>To me, it's there's definitely a feeling of maybe influencing

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<v Speaker 3>people towards literacy. Our main metric at Hell Sunshine is like,

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<v Speaker 3>is it shareable? Because I want to build community around reading.

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<v Speaker 3>I don't want you to read it and feel siloed

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<v Speaker 3>and you don't want to have a conversation. I love

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<v Speaker 3>that idea and that energy of people sharing things and

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<v Speaker 3>talking about them and creating conversation. And my original idea

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<v Speaker 3>was what I really dreamed about, was taking the book

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<v Speaker 3>club out of your living room and into the global

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<v Speaker 3>community online. In some ways, this today is like taking

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<v Speaker 3>it back down to its essential elements. And having so

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<v Speaker 3>many authors here is such a thrill for me because

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<v Speaker 3>those are my rock stars.

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<v Speaker 2>Authors are my rock stars.

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<v Speaker 1>You've got books, you've got podcasts, movies, TV, obviously live events.

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<v Speaker 4>What era is hello Sunshine in now?

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<v Speaker 3>Well, we're definitely beyond the beginning. One of my favorite

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<v Speaker 3>things about being part of a company like this is

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<v Speaker 3>it's ever evolving, so it feels like it's always growing.

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<v Speaker 3>And then we're also we're you're young enough and new

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<v Speaker 3>enough that we can pivot. So that's really important to

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<v Speaker 3>me because you have to watch. It's not about telling

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<v Speaker 3>people come to us. We have to be able to

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<v Speaker 3>go to them. And if that means podcast, great, If

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<v Speaker 3>that means television shows are more popular in the movies

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<v Speaker 3>at a certain time, we can sort of drive the

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<v Speaker 3>ship towards that.

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<v Speaker 2>So I feel lucky that we're nimble.

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<v Speaker 1>I asked folks what they wanted to hear most from you,

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<v Speaker 1>and you know, starting a business is hard.

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<v Speaker 2>It is hard.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, what was the hardest lesson you had to learn

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<v Speaker 1>and how did you push through it?

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<v Speaker 3>I think the hardest lesson for me was even if

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<v Speaker 3>you have great creative ideas, it doesn't mean you have

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<v Speaker 3>the business plan to back it up. So I've learned

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<v Speaker 3>a lot of hard lessons in business. If certain verticals

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<v Speaker 3>don't work, you have to really look at them critically.

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<v Speaker 3>Even though you think it's a good idea, it doesn't

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<v Speaker 3>mean it is and it doesn't mean that you should

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<v Speaker 3>stop taking risks. But you need to understand that you

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<v Speaker 3>can't continue to risk if things aren't providing economic value.

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<v Speaker 3>So it's this constant battle in my mind between the

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<v Speaker 3>art of things and the commerce of things. I came

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<v Speaker 3>from the middle of America, and I loved big, poppy,

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<v Speaker 3>popular films, and I love television shows.

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<v Speaker 2>I watched hours of it after school.

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<v Speaker 3>So I've always gone to that place of how does

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<v Speaker 3>this speak to people? How does this make people feel?

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<v Speaker 2>And I do think there's always a world where you

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<v Speaker 2>can do well and do good at the same time.

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<v Speaker 1>Your company sold for almost a billion dollars, How do

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<v Speaker 1>you live up to the expectations, the public's expectations, investors expectations.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I mean one of the main things that kept

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<v Speaker 3>occurring to me when I was in the process of

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<v Speaker 3>selling the company was not necessarily how it made me

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<v Speaker 3>feel validated, but I thought it was really important that

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<v Speaker 3>a company that was about female storytelling mattered. The value

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<v Speaker 3>of it mattered, because it's such a reflection in this

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<v Speaker 3>world about do we care and invest in women's stories?

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<v Speaker 3>And I'm so proud of everything we've created. My team

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<v Speaker 3>is impeccable. They work so hard, but they also wake

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<v Speaker 3>up working on this mission that they truly believe. And

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<v Speaker 3>that's like all I could have ever hoped for is

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<v Speaker 3>just to create a company that makes me proud and

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<v Speaker 3>makes me think the women who came before me would

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<v Speaker 3>be very proud.

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<v Speaker 1>There's a sense that Hollywood still hasn't recovered from the downturn.

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<v Speaker 1>Has the content bubble popped and how is that changing

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<v Speaker 1>the strategy?

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<v Speaker 3>I think definitely there's a shifts in any market. You know,

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<v Speaker 3>we're seeing things are contracting, for sure, but I think

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<v Speaker 3>it's going to get back to a business that's really

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<v Speaker 3>based on great storytelling, and we continue to look for

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<v Speaker 3>the best books to turn into movies and television shows.

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<v Speaker 3>We have a dynamic where because of the book Club,

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<v Speaker 3>we get access to these incredible authors who give us

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<v Speaker 3>these great manuscripts. So we're getting early access and I'm

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<v Speaker 3>determined to just keep elevating stories for women. I'm not

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<v Speaker 3>here to tell, you know, a million stories. I want

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<v Speaker 3>to tell really great stories that really resonate with people.

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<v Speaker 3>And my biggest compliment is when people come up to

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<v Speaker 3>me on the street and say that story reminded me

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<v Speaker 3>of something that's going on in my life, or my

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<v Speaker 3>sister's life, or my cousin's life, because that's what I

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<v Speaker 3>wasn't seeing when I started the company.

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<v Speaker 1>Compare the streaming era of Hollywood to the studio era,

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<v Speaker 1>Like what's it like working with Apple and Amazon and

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<v Speaker 1>Netflix versus traditional studios.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, there's obviously there's different dynamics because we have data.

0:11:28.360 --> 0:11:31.720
<v Speaker 3>We have empirical data that like button is pretty powerful,

0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:35.760
<v Speaker 3>Like button is powerful, the data transparency is very powerful.

0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:38.320
<v Speaker 3>So we're getting that from some of our studio partners

0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:41.520
<v Speaker 3>and others not. But I do see things shifting towards

0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:46.000
<v Speaker 3>sharing more data so that we can create more targeted

0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:47.960
<v Speaker 3>content to the people who really want to see it,

0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:51.760
<v Speaker 3>and also rewarding people who are doing great at what

0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:56.560
<v Speaker 3>they do. Every business has to have a way to

0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:04.040
<v Speaker 3>reward products or materialial that continues to rise. So as

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<v Speaker 3>I see this evolution, I see it as I mean,

0:12:07.400 --> 0:12:10.800
<v Speaker 3>it's kind of a great opportunity to refine our ideas.

0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:15.200
<v Speaker 3>And there was so much going on for that was

0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:17.680
<v Speaker 3>just being bought and made and bought and made, and

0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:19.680
<v Speaker 3>it was it was about time that we needed to

0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:22.720
<v Speaker 3>sort of get to the real premium content.

0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:25.160
<v Speaker 1>Again, the world is so different today than when you

0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:28.920
<v Speaker 1>were playing el Woods. It's dominated by algorithms and AI

0:12:29.280 --> 0:12:32.839
<v Speaker 1>and social media. How do you imagine your career might

0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:35.079
<v Speaker 1>be different if you were just starting out now?

0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:38.120
<v Speaker 3>Oh my gosh, Emily, I don't think my career would

0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:38.800
<v Speaker 3>be possible.

0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:40.600
<v Speaker 2>It's a different world.

0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:42.960
<v Speaker 3>I see young people, and I have so much compassion

0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:46.680
<v Speaker 3>for young performers and actors because they have to be

0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:49.720
<v Speaker 3>the producer, the director, They have to shoot their own videos,

0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:52.280
<v Speaker 3>they have to market themselves. That's not something that I

0:12:52.400 --> 0:12:55.200
<v Speaker 3>understood when I was twenty years old. It was something

0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:59.040
<v Speaker 3>there was an entire apparatus to market material. So it's

0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:03.959
<v Speaker 3>a different challenge time. That said, the incredibly talented people

0:13:04.000 --> 0:13:08.119
<v Speaker 3>will always rise, right, even in a glut of information,

0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:11.720
<v Speaker 3>real talent survives and thrives.

0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:13.240
<v Speaker 4>What do you think is next?

0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:19.000
<v Speaker 3>I think we're seeing women getting the economic empowerment and

0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:24.240
<v Speaker 3>also now we have this empirical data that women's stories matter,

0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:28.640
<v Speaker 3>female artistry matters. The market is responding right because women

0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:34.000
<v Speaker 3>consume media. They are on these platforms really liking and

0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:37.040
<v Speaker 3>proselytizing on social media about the things they love. They're

0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:40.520
<v Speaker 3>marketing these products, and I think it's really nice to

0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:45.040
<v Speaker 3>see the acknowledgment by different industries that acknowledging women as

0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:47.640
<v Speaker 3>consumers is actually good business.

0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:52.400
<v Speaker 1>You found a way to embrace femininity but also power

0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:56.000
<v Speaker 1>and agency. How do you imagine that journey being different

0:13:56.000 --> 0:13:59.199
<v Speaker 1>for girls today? Do you have any advice for our daughters.

0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:01.480
<v Speaker 2>I think we have to trust our daughters.

0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:04.240
<v Speaker 3>They are listening. I think we have to lead by

0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:07.000
<v Speaker 3>example and do the very best we can to.

0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:08.920
<v Speaker 2>Walk the walk. I know.

0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:13.640
<v Speaker 3>I try really hard with my company to show a whole,

0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:18.040
<v Speaker 3>dynamic spectrum of the female experience, because if we normalize that,

0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:21.880
<v Speaker 3>there are all kinds of different women making different life choices.

0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:24.760
<v Speaker 3>Whether you want kids, you don't want kids, you want

0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:26.080
<v Speaker 3>to be a career woman, you don't want to be

0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:29.600
<v Speaker 3>a career woman, you struggle to make it, wait, you worry,

0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:33.920
<v Speaker 3>you question about your origins. Right when we see more stories,

0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:36.320
<v Speaker 3>we become more compassionate about each other as humans.

0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:39.200
<v Speaker 1>I have three sons and a daughter, so it's just

0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:42.000
<v Speaker 1>crazy seeing how life is different from.

0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:42.480
<v Speaker 2>What's your daughter.

0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:43.440
<v Speaker 4>She's five.

0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:46.520
<v Speaker 2>I think it'll shift, I really do.

0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:50.080
<v Speaker 3>I think it'll shift back to I see young people

0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:53.520
<v Speaker 3>too kind of reverting back to this idea of stripping

0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:54.640
<v Speaker 3>off all that artifice.

0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:56.880
<v Speaker 2>I think it's kind of punk rock.

0:14:57.080 --> 0:14:59.400
<v Speaker 4>It's punk rock and not authenticity.

0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:00.880
<v Speaker 2>It's punk I talk about it.

0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:02.320
<v Speaker 3>I'm like, I think it's kind of punk rock to

0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:03.840
<v Speaker 3>not put a bunch of filters on yourself.

0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:04.360
<v Speaker 2>I love it.

0:15:04.560 --> 0:15:06.200
<v Speaker 4>I love it hashtag no filter.

0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:11.960
<v Speaker 1>And that's Reese Witherspoon, actress, producer, and founder of Hello

0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:16.400
<v Speaker 1>Sunshine reminding us that empowerment isn't just a storyline, it's

0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:18.920
<v Speaker 1>a strategy. You can watch this full episode of the

0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:22.000
<v Speaker 1>circuit on Bloomberg Originals and the Bloomberg YouTube channel. You'll

0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:24.880
<v Speaker 1>hear from both Reese and members of Hello Sunshine c

0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:29.000
<v Speaker 1>suite team, newly appointed CEO Maureen Polo and President of

0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:32.520
<v Speaker 1>Film and Television Lauren Newstatter. You can follow me on

0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:35.600
<v Speaker 1>ex and Instagram at Emily Chang TV and let us

0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:39.160
<v Speaker 1>know what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,

0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:42.480
<v Speaker 1>or wherever you get your podcasts. Our senior producer is

0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:45.760
<v Speaker 1>Lauren Ellis, Our producer is Abigail Harper. Our editor is

0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:49.600
<v Speaker 1>Grammarcy Post. I'm Emily Chang, your host and executive producer.

0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:50.640
<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening,