Inside the Lively v. Wayfarer Studios Case: The Recorded Phone Call (Full Audio)

Audio Recording of Lively v. Wayfarer Studios LLC, Case No. 1:24-cv-10049, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, 8/29/2024, accessed via physical CD-ROM obtained from the Records Department, Southern District Court.

The litigation Lively v. Wayfarer Studios LLC (Case No. 1:24-cv-10049) is an unfolding legal matter in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York involving Wayfarer Studios, an independent film production company. The case centers on disputes linked to the production and release of a film that has attracted both media attention and public scrutiny. Issues raised in the case highlight the challenges facing independent filmmakers, including media narratives, internal conflicts, and public relations battles that can affect a project’s success and reputation.

Independent film production is a complex and often precarious endeavor. Unlike major studio-backed projects, independent filmmakers navigate limited budgets, limited marketing resources, and heightened risks related to public perception. The Wayfarer case offers a real-world look into how media coverage and social media dynamics can escalate tensions around creative projects, potentially impacting box office performance, reputational standing, and relationships within the industry.

This situation reflects broader industry realities, where original, female-led, and underrepresented voices struggle to break through a market dominated by sequels, franchises, and studios with vast promotional power. The case underscores the tensions between creative aspirations and business pressures, including the management of intellectual property, partnerships with corporate entities, and community outreach strategies.

The recorded phone call contained in the court records brings an unprecedented glimpse behind the curtain. It captures candid conversations on marketing strategies, team dynamics, social media challenges, and legal preparedness. The recording illustrates how the filmmakers contend with external negativity, internal disputes, and the balancing act of maintaining artistic vision while navigating commercial realities.

For industry professionals and observers, the audio is particularly instructive. It reveals the personal toll and strategic considerations involved in managing an independent film’s lifecycle—from production through distribution and public reception. This evidence enriches the conversation around the power of social media, the potential for misinformation campaigns, and the defense mechanisms filmmakers employ to protect their work.

In an age where information is often consumed through soundbites and sensational headlines, engaging with the full audio recording promotes informed perspectives. It enables a deeper appreciation for the complexities of independent filmmaking, the vulnerabilities of creatives, and the multifaceted nature of public controversies tied to media projects.

This blog post provides both the transcript and the full audio as part of the public record, offering transparency and encouraging readers to listen fully before forming opinions. For anyone interested in the intersection of media, law, and the arts, this is an opportunity to engage directly with primary source material that captures the realities of producing independent film in today’s challenging environment.

Transcript of recorded call by Claire Ayoub and Steve Sarowitz co-founder Wayfarer Studios

[00:00:00] You in a few weeks. Oh, same. I can't wait. I can't wait. Yes. Thank you. Be good. That would be good. Thank you. Course. What's up Steve? And I'll let you and Steve chat. Awesome. Great to see you, Elise. Nice. Take care. Bye bye. Oh, she's awesome. What's up? She's awesome. Your whole team is just they, I just wanna say thank you.

Like everyone has been so wonderful to work with and I'm a big believer when you see people doing great work to be like. You're [00:00:30] doing great work, so thanks for, and it's been, it's been a long few weeks actually. Oh, I'm sure. It's been a long few weeks. Absolutely. But, you know, I think people can say what they want to say and I don't know if you're watching the media at all.

No, I haven been, I don't, I don't know what's going on. I haven't, no one's spoken to me about it, so I just know I, I don't know what happened on that set, but I know the media can turn really, uh. [00:01:00] Really bad and negative. And I just rejoined TikTok for the film and I was sexting rain. I was like, I rejoined and it scares me, but I'm doing it.

Um, and just seeing how fast stuff blows up there too, um, is really tough. Really tough. Well, I don't think you're gonna have any issues with this film. No. We, Steve, when I tell you our cast and just, just the response from people. Just from the trailer, like, and this is why I wanna give major kudos to Ash me, [00:01:30] uh, who's kicking ass at marketing.

I like emailed way back. I emailed, uh, she helped me out so much early on in our relationship with Blue Fox and she was able to make a graphic for me with our awards 'cause I was gonna be featured in the newspaper to like hype our, um, film festivals and everything. And she created that herself at I legit and like was there with all the answers there to help there to push.

And when I, I like basically emailed, I think it was Jamie, Andrew, [00:02:00] and Ryan being like, please give her either a raise or a promotion or both, because this is someone who, like, I worked in advertising for a long time, and when you see someone who's good at what they do, um, oh man. She's been a real, real dream.

Real dream. And clay's, uh, easy to work with, huh? Oh, yeah. At the theater. So no problems there. Um, oh yeah, no, Clay's been great. Absolutely. I'm excited to see the space, the ends with less drama. Simply that it's a drama. I'm done with it. Yeah. Good. It's, [00:02:30] it's gonna happen when it's gonna happen. You know, whatever's gonna happen, whatever people want to think they're, they're gonna think.

I was worried about it at one point and now I just, uh, uh, now I'm. Just gonna let let the ships wall fall where they may. Honestly, it likes us. Great. If they don't, they don't. We are who we are. I think it's really tough too when it's something you've been really excited about. Right. I think that makes it hurt even more when it almost eclipses the work and the message and all of [00:03:00] that, and it's, it's really painful.

To see the time we released, uh, we were not excited about it. We just wanted to get done with it, so, oh, I'm sorry. No, I way before, way before all the stuff. No, I'm sure. I'm sure this too tough. Let's get through it. Let's, hopefully it's not too bad and it's turned out very well. We've made a lot of money. I was gonna say it's been very successful and I love the no more partnership.

I think that's awesome and important and like, you know, looking at that side of doing that work and focusing on that and focusing [00:03:30] on centering a story of. You know, domestic violence that is so common, um, for so many people in the US and around the world. So I'm, I was really glad to see it resonate around the world too.

Um, 'cause it's very much not an American issue. No, it's, it's a worldwide issue. So, yeah, we, um, we did our best Yeah. To try and keep it centered on that. We didn't succeed, but That's okay. The public said, please center on us. There you go. I know, I know. It's tough. It's tough with that side of. [00:04:00] F I've been very grateful to have, be able to be in the room because it's my production company and because I own the ip, I've been very lucky to be able to have my voice, have weight.

And since it is a s even though for me it's a huge movie and thank you for funding it, um, like looking at that right of, of having people who respect the work that's already been done and are aligned with the impact right. Of, of really being like. We instead of like creating a fashion line, what we're gonna [00:04:30] be doing, I'm so excited.

Um, we're gonna be, you're not creating a fashion line not for this, what we're gonna be doing for the social. I mean, if you did create a fashion line, oh no, it'll be great. Keeping it will be great. But for now, for like social, we're gonna be amplifying the work of everyone who's already doing inclusive fashion.

Uh, accessible fashion to drive people to their stores, to drive people to their accounts. So like that's what we're gonna be doing for the lead up. 'cause I got to meet so many people in this process, Steve, who are the Lenos, right? They [00:05:00] are doing this work, especially both in the plus size space, but also the accessible fashion space, including like disabled designers who are creating what they wish they had.

So that is what I'm so psyched about. Um, and just continuing to build our community in that way. But yeah, and, and we're making, um, I'm creating, I'm running leading merch, so I'll send you merch when it comes out, which I'm so excited about. Um, and yeah, it's just, it's really fun. We're working with this great designer, um, illustrator who did, I dunno if you ever saw the illustration of the five [00:05:30] girls before the casting call.

I basically had no ability to make a composite to show what our cast would look like because this kind of representation had not been seen. In films. And so I basically had her draw me an illustration of the five characters and we used that until we had stills from set. Like it's incredible. So she is creating all these like fun quote graphics and then we split, um, it's a 60 40 with Wayfair and p and g on profits.

So I'm super psyched and so we're gonna be. [00:06:00] Creating that. I think we got the okay to use. We're gonna be making the empire waste t-shirts from the movie, which I'm so excited about. Um, and getting our, uh, our designers from that involved, which I'm so psyched. So that is fun. But for now, for this first, first line, it's really pushing people to see the work that's already being done out there.

'cause a lot of 'em have their own communities too, and using this as a way to amplify ditto other female writer directors, right? There are a lot of people out there that aren't gonna have our. Commercial. Well, you know, female-centric films will never succeed. So, I don't [00:06:30] know. LOL Oh my God. Barbie baby. And, and it ends with us and Right, exactly.

They dis did, they dis did. Oh, it's always like gladly mess. Um, it ends with us. I was talking to people, talked to some people their numbers. Yeah. Like a couple months ago at CinemaCon and maybe three months ago, and, and they said this is gonna do 40 million domestically. Yeah, women of course, like, you know, women are not expected to, like, [00:07:00] women are like the ones who drive so many things.

Of course, a female-centric movie's gonna do well. Like, that's crazy, honestly. And what drives me bananas, ditto. I talk, I mentor a lot of creators, especially writers of color and directors of color. And what drives us bananas is that if you look at the box office, if you look at a lot of the big sales.

Leading up for the first part of the summer, majority of your audiences were black and latino. Right. Yet the majority of stories we're seeing on screen are not [00:07:30] reflecting them and their stories and their experiences. So you have this incredible juggernaut of the economy willing to go to the box office, yet they're not taken seriously or worthy enough to be, have projects backed to be seen on screen.

So it's just, it's really undermining. The power of different, of different groups, like breaking it down into financials, right? And undermining the power of word of mouth from women, undermining the power of word of mouth, of [00:08:00] communities of color, right? Of saying, this has our seal of approval. We all have to show up and show out for this person.

Right? It's incredible. So it's just this, it's really frustrating and one of the reasons I held onto the IP was I wanted with my other projects to be able to fund similar to me, like voices that are not seeing themselves. People not seeing themselves represented on the screen just for development. Right.

Just to be like, set aside time to do these live readings, set aside time to meet your audience where they are and develop it 'cause you are [00:08:30] worthy of doing it. Uh, because that for me, and yeah, if you look at Hollywood, Hollywood, like the top, so it ends with us, is now I think the 11th highest grossing film.

It's gonna be 10 pretty soon. Woo. I'm so excited for you. But it's. The every film in front of it is a, is a rerun. Yeah. Right, right. Every, the, the best feedback we've been getting, in addition to people seeing themselves represented on screen has been, oh my God, it's not a [00:09:00] remake or a sequel. And I'm like, and then take it from like, I'm part of these amazing, um, filmmaker communities, and I'm sure you have them too in Chicago, of just people creating incredible original work.

Who they're not seen as being valuable. 'cause it doesn't have an IP or it doesn't have, you know, isn't, hasn't been proven that it works before. So you look at it and it's like the industry can be incredibly, um, uncreative for being a creative industry. And it's one of the reasons why, like, I encourage [00:09:30] people to meet your audience first.

Like prove that 'cause our movie resonated with people from 14 to 84. Acro like, and that was for me, in addition to the creative, this is why I teach it. I teach the creative, but I also teach the business. I'm like, prove why you are worth an investment and like be comfortable talking about that. I think it would go lower than 14, I think.

Oh no, that was just the script. The movie went down to eight. Yeah, movie went down to eight and beyond. And like that for us, our, I dunno if I told you this, our editor, um, Aziza her, [00:10:00] she has a, now her daughter's God, eight, seven. She, she was five years old when we were editing. And she, we edited on Zoom for most of it.

And she would love watching the movie. She still quotes the movie, but there's one part where Kayla goes, it's me bitches during like a photo shoot. And Aziza would jump in front of her and go, ah, so she wouldn't hear the words start saying it over and over. It's the best. But the best part was when we moved to, from remote to our, um, edit [00:10:30] Bay as, uh, Satya drew all these adorable dresses that we covered our whole, all our walls in, in the edit bay.

And she would come to visit us and like, you know, she was five and I had a designer who I met who's an amazing, um, Melissa Mercedes. So I'm gonna ask to do some work for us, um, for screenings. Like she brought her 16-year-old daughter and her 8-year-old son. And it was so cool. 'cause Melissa, Marissa, she's crying.

She's crying from the emotional side of being a mom, being a woman who's plus size. Her daughter turns to me and goes. [00:11:00] I'm gonna force everyone I know to see this like is so earnest. And then her son goes, I liked when the dad put his hand in peanut butter. Like it was just so rad, right? Because it hit.

Everybody, and it hits everyone. Oh. It's an original movie, which we don't have. Like I said, we, Ezra, which we made was an original movie, which Great. Which I loved, which I loved. We just have to get, we have to get more people out, so let's see what happens. You know? We'll put it out there. We'll, we'll, we'll, I'm sure we'll have a good run here in Island Park, at least DC Oh, I can't wait.[00:11:30]

I can't wait. No. We'll see. And the bottom line is that the victory is getting it out, honestly. Right. And the fact that we're gonna be in theaters, uh, we're gonna be, um, on Friday, we're gonna be, our trailer's gonna be in theaters, which for me and Crystal, I like stopped our meeting. With Blue Fox and I was like, sorry, I'm just gonna scream real quick.

That is so cool. And the fact we had like a million views on Twitter. We had like just an incredible response. And all these people, Steve, who inspired me to get into this [00:12:00] work, who have incredible followings, are now following and reaching out to me and asking if I'll talk about it. I'm like, your book shaped.

How I, you know, your wonderful, your social movement shaped how I see the world like, and you know, so that in particular, like the word of mouth campaign, as well as the, the, um, like, uh, paid, we're gonna be putting behind this. I know we got I think 150 k promise from p and g, which is gonna make a big difference.

But for the education curriculum, the conversation we had with Debbie is [00:12:30] fantastic because a lot of what we're doing for Crystal and I are doing is really. Like word of mouth, spreading everything, uh, to people who will really be able to amplify the education curriculum too. So that way we can keep the money focused on promoting the film and getting, you know, butts in seats for theaters.

And then us, uh, amplify our network, which is really fun. Amazing. We'll do our, we'll do our best to, no, you're doing great. You're doing great. But I also know [00:13:00] coming off the ends with us, Steph, I just wanted to say I see you and it. Is exhausting. It's exhausting it. It's a lot. It's a lot. Jamie. Jamie was the most exhausted.

Everybody. Well, he was I'm sure the go-between with Sony, right? He was the go-between. He was the one who was taking the brunt of the hits. 'cause you didn't see the brunt of the hits, like the, the slam drops on us. Oh, I didn't. No, because nobody saw it. Right? It we, Jamie was stopping it. So Jamie [00:13:30] was stopping the worst of the worst.

There was a point where they were trying to slam the Baha faith. He, he got that done and out. So, you know, basically here, here, who was, was it Sony or was it public? Yikes. That's icky. That's icky. Oh, they, they, they went after everything we had. Luckily I was out of it. So like, I'm glad nobody ever mentioned me and glad else 'cause I'm a buddy.

I'm, I'm nobody. You know, we know who you are. Yeah, but nobody knows. It's kind of a blessing, let me tell you. It's kind of a blessing. I know, I know, [00:14:00] I know. But that's right. No, there's all these things that you know Well, because Blake and, and Ryan paid for the movie, I'm like, really? I really send me a check every time I've seen that or some of the comments I see, or on the flip, they'll say That Blake sold her cut back to, and I was like, that's not how it works.

They own, you own the footage. Like that's not how it, and so, and people will say it so confidently. And they'll be like, yeah, 'cause they bankrolled the movie. And I'm like, that's not how it, no, that's not how it worked. Right. But [00:14:30] we just sit there quietly. I know. And let them think what they want. And you know, ultimately we're not gonna, you know, but Blake and Ryan are billionaires.

I don't think they are actually. No. And even if then, like, everyone has a stake in everything. It's just, it's a lot. Yeah, I think it was just fanning the flames and people I saw this. Great. Okay, so I started following this great TikTok, um, who is a PR expert and she specifically talked about how August is like the worst thing for something to happen because [00:15:00] people blow it up 'cause it's like very quiet.

And so like looking at that, she's fascinating, but she basically is like a lot of the biggest dramas have happened in August when people are like out of office at these publisher at these like. Publications and people just kind of run rampant. 'cause it's still summer and just blow everything up. But no matter what, it just sucks to, I'm just, I'm sending up a love.

I'm sorry. It's been so exhausting. I'm hoping this is, I'm hoping this is a positive boost. I just talked to Jamie. He's going on vacation for two weeks, so [00:15:30] I'm hoping that nothing, it's too hard while he is on vacation. There you go. Good. Good. So hopefully he needs a two week vacation. He's been working around the clock.

Yikes. He interest and. Their families are going on vacation. Good. Good. I'm glad. I'm glad. Yeah. So what can I do when you're in Chicago? Oh my God, who knows? I mean, I'm just excited to see you. I'm, I'm excited to meet the Humanity Rising kids. Seriously. Like very, 'cause this is what Crystal and I love doing, and so do me and Mima.

Um, but no, [00:16:00] I think looking at that, talking to students always makes us really happy. Um, I know I'm going to try to find a photographer to do like a little photo shoot with me, MIMA and Mia since we're all gonna be together, all glammed up. So I'll keep you tuned in on that 'cause I'd love for you to be in on that too.

Um, but yeah, no, I think for us, we're just excited to reunite and I think Blue Fox is working with humanity rising to get some like, press involved and stuff like that. Um, but yeah, but you, [00:16:30] you, you let me know.

Um, that's good. Um, I think, uh, press, uh. Uh, no. Are you, are you Blue, blue Fox is gonna do the press, is that correct? Blue Fox, yes. So they have their PR person who's pushing, and then I connected him with Debbie. Um, 'cause oh man, she's on top of it. She sent me like three emails, uh, the next day being like, here are eight different things you can do.

I'm like, all right. Hell yes. So I connected her to all people, um, to help out. So [00:17:00] she's gonna connect us to. So Alicia Gupta, who's at NBC, who's a partner, um, who featured Humanity Rising. And then I also have some folks in d in, uh, Chicago that I'm reaching out to who are, uh, writers on the ground, um, and great folks that could potentially, um, amplify our work to, which is the best.

Um, but yeah, yeah, we'll work with our community and, um, try to get our community out there. I think we'll probably push our community more on the, on the sense. [00:17:30] Well, let me know. Honestly, Steve, this is a collab. So like you let me know if you want me to spread the word with our, I wanted to make sure you guys get priority for filling the space, but also if you want me to push our, well all you got it.

Push it all. I'd rather have, I'd rather be turning people away. You got it. So I, you know, look, our, uh, unless our theater's full every night, you guys, which is not you guys, you guys can push all you want. Awesome. We rarely fill the theater. [00:18:00] Yeah. So yeah. This is what, 198, right? A hundred ninety eight, one hundred ninety nine.

Oh, that's exciting. Worst case scenario, we're turning people away at the door. Yeah, that's great. Cool. I know we have, 'cause we have our, so my, we call it the Wellesley Mafia. I went to Wellesley College and uh, when I tell you they are the mafia who is like a huge reason why I got the movie made in the first place.

'cause I did that like nationwide. Um, script tour and they were the ones that were like amplifying when I would be in different cities that were like putting me up, that were calling in favors, that were hosting me for the [00:18:30] events and stuff. And so they're all over the country and we're gonna be doing, I dunno if I told you this, we're doing a nationwide or a Wellesley Worldwide watch party, um, for opening weekend.

We're basically, we, I just sent it out yesterday to all the different, there are 80 different alumni clubs around the world. So we sent it out specifically for the US and Canada, um, to do opening weekend to go together with their organization, do group tickets, um, and like post about it. And then Wellesley College is gonna be posting about it and they're gonna encourage all their students to go [00:19:00] opening weekend too.

'cause we should be in Framingham, um, in Massachusetts. So like, it's really exciting. But we have a, a very active Chicago club, so I will, uh, share it with them. Invite 'em all. Yeah, I'll share it with them. Invite 'em all their families, their friends. Oh, they'll love it. They'll love it. They'll love it. No, absolutely.

So no, we'll, we'll team up on that. I always wanna make sure that's what Debbie was saying too. I was like, I wanna make sure, you know, we have space for humanity rising students, and, but if you want me to, to fill that place up, we will fill it up. And Crystal has spoke too. Fill it up. Yeah. And then we, [00:19:30] we have another showing on the 30th.

Awesome. Our people get, or on the 29th Awesome. With rain so they can go to the rain showing and if they don't wanna go to the rain showing, if they can't make that. Yeah. There's a showing on the 30th. The 30th. I love it. I, and I'm so glad he is coming down there for opening night when I tell you he has been, he really had my back during filming.

I can't tell you how, I'm sorry. The 29th is what? 27th. 27th. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. But like he really had my back during filming, um, because this was my first feature and he. Just really, he would always, when he had a [00:20:00] thought, he'd go, you don't have to take this. I was like, Brandon, I'm gonna take your thought.

It's gonna be great. But he really, you know, I was so grateful to work with him and just the way he approached the actors and he still does it being like, I'm an equal, like I'm rain, hello. Like that for me, for all of them, made them feel really seen and safe to feel. It must have been like, so, like starstruck to be working with Ray Wilson.

They were, but he like, like from the first time we talked on the phone, he's like, I don't want them to feel intimidated by me. Like that was, and I, and I relayed that to the team. I was like, Rainn wants [00:20:30] you to know. And he walked the walk. When he got there, he like shook everyone's hand, including the extras who had no lines and like no names, uh, in the movie.

And he's like, I'm Rainn. It's so nice to meet you. Let's have fun. And like when I tell you, 'cause that was like the vibe we were really cultivating on this set of making sure people felt safe. Um, and he, wow. What a gift. What a gift. The iron irony is Justin is just like that and Yeah, and like you things from the, and it ends with us set.

So you hear two, two different sets. It's like, what, which set was it? Was it the set that Brandon Lenner talked about or was amazing? [00:21:00] Yeah. Or was it the set that Brandon Lenner talked about? Honestly, it's just, it's so tricky. Especially, yeah. I don't know. I don't know. 'cause I, again, I wasn't there, so I don't know what it was like I was.

You were there, was it bad? No. Oh God. Justin never has a bad set. Yes, it was the worst set he is ever been on. But no, it wasn't bad. I was there on set. It was, you know, Justin is is really kind and loving and he's like, rain. So you [00:21:30] imagine rain's running a set. It's just, yeah, it's a Baha set. It's never gonna be like that.

No. It was just, everything was made up. It was manufactured and it was. It was manufactured on purpose in order to take Justin down. It sucks. I'm sorry, I'm just sorry. 'cause I know the intentions of making the movie. Were with such a purpose. I'm sorry to have this going on. I'm hoping it's, the good news is it didn't take, it didn't take Justin down.

No. I'm hoping it's winding down. Fingers crossed. I think it's go well. [00:22:00] Hollywood's still got a hold of it. Yeah, that's 'cause it's quiet again. August man. August. I'll send you this video from this TikTok, or, I love her. I love her. She is just like, she is a pro, I think she's in her like fifties and she like breaks it down to like educate people to also make them better consumers of being like, Hey, is what you're reading true?

Or you know, what is a source? Like who could it be? You know, like breaking it down to everything to make people more informed readers too. 'cause yeah, when I saw everything blowing up, I was just like, [00:22:30] oh Jesus. Like it just, and. And just, yeah, I was, I was actually in Chicago for a wedding, uh, for a friend's wedding that weekend, and I was just like, had rejoined t TikTok to like, share the trailer and then I was like, oh my God, what's going on?

But yeah. Yeah, I've read, I've read more of that. I've never was on TikTok before. I've read enough, but Right. You know, seems like, uh, TikTok, uh, Instagram are pretty pro Justin. Yeah. Yeah. Reddit is a little bit more even, but Reddit just seems to me spirited [00:23:00] Reddit can be very weird. I've almost, I've been on some pages that are like, so like for plus size fashion and stuff, it's very supportive, but I think it's also, they're different corners of it where people go just to be like, terrible.

Yeah. Reddit freaks me out. Reddit freaks me out. Oh, Reddit. Oh, they're both, they're both assholes. Whatever. No, Reddit freaks me out. It's just you have no idea what you're talking about. That's the thing. You haven't read anything. You haven't watched anything. You're just trying to be mean. Yeah, and like that's the thing.

We're also. Uh, there's a big push right now about Parasocial relationships. Like, I don't know if you know [00:23:30] the, uh, singer Chapel Rone. Um, she just blew up this year. She was like an indie artist, I wanna say like six months ago and like completely blew up. And she actually came out this week, uh, or last week on an, on a podcast talking about that it's not okay to stalk people because they're famous.

Like, it's not okay. Like, you don't know me. And like, it was very honestly brave because people are like. Well, you know, I made you, and she's like, no, like I don't owe you anything. And my family's in danger right now, and people keep [00:24:00] trying to touch me and keep trying, you know, and like putting up that kind of boundary to be like, we don't know each other, but people form these parasocial relationships, right.

Of where they're like, oh, I know you, I've known everything you've ever made. And, and I, you know, they attach their hopes and dreams to a person who's human, who they've never met or like haven't worked with, or, you know, it can just be really scary. It can be super scary. Um, I don't know. I don't know, but I'm sorry.

It's been So Are you able to take a vacation soon? Steve? Do you get to [00:24:30] rest your brain? No. No, but mine isn't so bad. I'm, I'm Okay. Yeah. Jamie one working till 11 o'clock at night. I just checked in occasionally. Yeah. There was a week that was long for me when we thought we were gonna have to go into court.

Oh God. And I still don't know that we won't have to go into court. Sure. I just know that for right now. It seems like detton. And then if they persist and they push to the limits, then we'll go to court and then it's all on me. Then, then I'll be working harder than Jamie did because I'm gonna, [00:25:00] it's gonna be protecting the studio, right?

Um, I will protect the studio like Israel protected, um, itself from Hamas, there were 39,000 dead bodies. There will be two dead bodies when I'm done minimum. And so not dead, but you know dead. I know dead to you're dead to me. You're dead to me. So that kind of, that, that kind of dead but dead to a lot of people.

If, if, if they ever get me to that point and I'll make it worth their while. 'cause I'm gonna spend a lot of money to make sure [00:25:30] the studio's protected. Yeah. Um, but I don't think we'll go there. Yeah. I hope not. Hope as you're, as someone who, that's not the world I want to live in. No, no. I hope it goes away.

I just hope it goes away. Or that people lose interest or realize it's harming everyone's career. Yeah, I think that we'll just probably for years. Yeah. This, this is not gonna go away. I don't think it's gonna go away anytime soon. Yeah. We'll, we'll have to be defensive for years because there'll be stuff coming at us.

Um, [00:26:00] I will be defensive for years, so Yeah. If they ever crossed the line ever. And I will go after them. Yeah. And Jamie at one point called me up and said, I think we're gonna need you. Yeah. And then. And we have lawyers ready to go. We have, we have our press people, our PR people working. We haven't had to engage the lawyers much yet.

So That's good. That's a good sign. That's a good sign. Yeah. Because that can actually, yeah, nothing's really hit our studio. You're like, it's never like, basically people love Justin and they still love Justin. [00:26:30] Yeah. That's good. That's good. And if you meet Justin, how could you not love Justin? I know, but yeah, I'm, I'm just glad that I'm just sending all the good energy.

I hope it, I hope it stays. Safe. I hope it stays safe. It's tough. I, um, you know what, just, you were lucky. You had a, you had a production like that. Almost all of our production is, um, almost all of our productions are like that. I'm glad. Oh, I also heard, wait, [00:27:00] just total tangent. A-D-H-D-I heard the hurricanes got their trailer premiered on NBC this morning.

Really? Yeah. They got their premier on NBC, which is, so we, uh, they talked about it in our meeting on, uh, Tuesday. I'm so excited to see this doc. I'm so, so, so, so excited. It's like right up my alley. I'm so psyched. That is, yeah. Hurricanes is very good. Yeah. We've been involved with some really cool stuff.

Yeah. And play it. And we've got other films by other people we're playing. Yeah. We're playing a film about disabled people called dma. [00:27:30] Ooh. We're playing where we have, uh. We have a film that's coming out. We have, uh, sugarcane, which is playing now. And then we have, uh, hang on,

I'm trying to think of the name of the next film. Uh, bull Street. Cool. I was gonna ask, have you always wanted to open a movie theater or was it, is it something that's been percolating in your brain or was it just uh, 'cause I [00:28:00] love. A dear friend of mine, I thought of you, a dear friend of mine who's like, she's a product manager and she's a phenomenal filmmaker as well on the side.

Um, but she's trying to switch careers and wants to open up a movie theater. So I'm loving talking to people who run them to ask what got in you, what made you get into it, and also any advice you have for them, I could pass along. Um, what is her job right now? Mm, product manager at Warby Parker. She's a genius.

She keeps everything moving and she's based in New York. Shirley wants to move to Barcelona. She lived in, I think, France for [00:28:30] years, right outta college or right after high school. And we met in a, a theater festival we were both in. And she is just one of those people who's brilliant, but also supports the hell out of other creators.

And I just love being her friend. But she loves, loves, loves movies, basically movies are how she gets through tough times at work. Double up on her movie going during the week and like wants to share that with people. So here's what I would say. People aren't going to movies. Yeah. It's been a challenge for me.

I've lost a lot of money. Ugh. Yeah. Um, having said that, it's also, I don't think [00:29:00] movie theaters are completely going away. No, not at all. I think the renaissance will come, but you have to have an angle at it. Yeah. Right. Does she have, does she have the money to withstand some bad times? No, not yet. Not yet.

Not yet. So I wouldn't do it unless she had a little, little extra money. I know. I think for her it's more, it's a dream in the future, but also like she wants to learn how to run one. Um, but no, but that's, but that's important to know. Same thing with, that's why I love, I'm like very close to my lawyer for this reason where I like talking through stuff with her to be [00:29:30] like, okay, what is the real.

Meat and potatoes. Same thing with my accountant, right? Where I'm like, Hey, how do I actually do this? Like, what's the paperwork? How much will it cost me to keep accounting going for this one project? Right? And like stuff like that of knowing the nitty gritty. But I feel you. Is there any way I can support y'all for, for Wayfair theaters?

Um, just give us a shout out. Give us a video. A video would be great saying, Hey, so work with, work with Clay on that. A video would be great. And we're gonna be there. So like [00:30:00] for us, especially creating that kind of a fun experience with like the catwalk and just Steve, thank you. We're so fricking excited to do the screening there.

Like, and to have us be together for that is so exciting. And you love, you're gonna love, love, love. I can't wait. The theater itself, I can't wait. I love a theater. Theaters make me feel, this is why my friend and I are friends. Like theaters make us feel very safe and like we're about to explore a different universe.

It's always the best. Our theater is not a typical theater. I love it. I love it. You heard much about it. Wait, no. [00:30:30] I know that the point of it is to Wait, do you mean the actual space? Oh wait, walk me through now I know about what you're offering, but I don't know about the space. You walk in and there's, um, a hologram of Justin and Jamie and Tara and me saying, welcome to Wayfair and the guy, oh my God, I'm obsessed.

And then there's, um. You walk upstairs. Actually, when you walk in your right it says Flowers of one garden community. Yeah, so it's community board. Love it. Then you walk upstairs and it says oneness. Then there's a [00:31:00] nine pointed behind star in the ceiling. Whoa. The lobby's all been redone. There's a big screen in the back showing the movies we make and there's a cafe.

And then as you walk down the hallway though, there's, there's kind of cool carpeting and ceiling and. There's also a Lily Bloom's flower shop right now. I love that. Oh, do I saw that from the screen from uh, social. I did. I thought it looked very cool. It's a, a sign that says where there was love, nothing is too much trouble, and there's always time.

Love it. At the end of the hall. So [00:31:30] basically what I'm saying is that it's a, it's a Baha inspired Yeah. Open, high inspired movie theater, but which is beautiful. Everyone knows like, we will not play. Violent movies will not play horror movies. There you go. We're only playing like, and so we've got just this ton of women and empowered movies over the next few months.

Very cool. Very cool. Well, I have a question. How far is, is it DePaul? How far is DePaul from you? About an less than an hour, depending on traffic. So I have [00:32:00] a, a friend of mine who I met through the Blacklist, who is a, he's like a genius. He works with them for their feature lab. So he was my mentor for that.

But he teaches at DePaul, so it could be a potential collab for them to show like their student films to like do that kind of collaboration or even like to turn it into like a film marathon for them to like learn from or things like that if they're an hour. But I could connect y'all, uh, connecting with Clay.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that, oh, no, I love, I love the community stuff, so that's why I ask how can I help? Um, [00:32:30] and, and I have, I'm, I'm extremely connected. Oh, I know you are. Yeah. So, but especially, I think that's, that's been the coolest thing. And I know for me, like the first time I got to see my movie on a baked screen, like was unreal.

Like unreal. Or even like going to film festivals and stuff and meeting other filmmakers is just always really. Fun and affirming. Uh, and I know, let me, let me ask around, I'll ask around, especially in the Highland Park area, uh, who I know doing stuff, uh, because yeah, especially like for young kids of color to see stuff that they've shot on their [00:33:00] fricking iPhone, like up on a big screen.

Like it's so cool. It's so cool. We've done that. We've done that. I love it. More of that. I love it honestly, like that, that side and it's clear where your heart is too, but it's, it's tough with the business side of wanting to make sure you know everything. Of course, it's in the black 'cause That's our job.

I, I have a friend who might want to do that for me. I gotta talk to Yeah, like start doing classes for kids. Honestly, like when I tell you like, this is, I teach and I always offer, um, financial aid because a lot of folks just to like clear that [00:33:30] barrier. But what is so fun about it is it's them starting to build their own community too.

So it's like having a teacher, but for them to be able to text each other, to support each other and like start building that community early instead of feeling isolated like my filmmaker community. Had my back so hard during this, like half of them were part of my director's cut early screening when I was like getting notes and things like that.

And, and we support the hell out of each other. Um, and, and like forming that early as a young creator, I mean, no brainer. And [00:34:00] making this, especially since you have a cafe, making it a place to hang out and like bring your ideas. Something I had for an idea down the road was having like a little board. Of like looking for creatives, like looking for a cinematographer, looking for a, you know, like kind of a thing where you can hang out.

So like even turning your cafe into that kind of a supportive space for filmmakers could be fun. We got a lot of work in front of us right now. We're we, I know, know. I know, I know. Anyway, I better run so I can have my break today. [00:34:30] Go have your break and it was great talking to you and I'm just sending all the love.

I hope. I hope it, I do hope it calms down. I will say. It's gonna calm down. It's already calmed down. Yeah. Good. I'm glad. All right, my friend. It was great to see you. Thanks for hanging out. Just we, we will see each other in person in, in, uh, one month. I'm so psyched. I'm so psyched. And I'll, I'll send you all the good stuff.

Well, I'm, I'm really looking forward to, you know, getting it out there and I'm glad that. You know, I, I couldn't believe we weren't gonna do anything. I know I was a little bummed too. [00:35:00] I was a little bummed too. I know that. Uh, but I also, it's such a huge ensemble and it's such a small budget film and like, you know, blue Fox is putting up a lot of cash to do a lot of this stuff, which I'm so grateful for.

Um, so for us, what I'm gonna try to do between you and me, if we do a New York screening with Blue Fox, I'm gonna see who they're flying out, and then I might fly out. Uh, two other people from our, like forecast so they can all just like reunite together and we could just celebrate and like go do karaoke or something just to celebrate.

Um, dope. Yeah. It's [00:35:30] just, it's, it's why we do it, right? Community's everything. Community's everything. But when I tell you how excited people are around the world, I am un it's unreal. It's. That's wonderful. It's so, you know, it just be a sleeper hit then that would be really cool. Honestly, that's what everyone's saying.

It's very, it's very cool. I'm not getting at, that would be great if we have another hit for Wayfair and we're gonna do No right it and, and that's the thing, and this is a female led project, right? Like of, of really like all female department heads, like everyone working on this project. I'm really centering like our casting [00:36:00] team that did the nationwide casting call because the casting agencies didn't have people.

They didn't have them. So like, we're hoping with especially, um, blacklist is gonna be really amplifying the development process and what we did. So like adding that to industry recognition is gonna be huge. So I'm very excited, very excited. So hopefully I love, I love this woman empowerment. You know, we, uh, we have another, I think I told you another first time director.

We supported female director. Yes. Uh, a, a, a small, uh, a woman named, uh, Scarlet Johanson. Yeah. I'm so excited for [00:36:30] her. I'm so excited for her. We're trying to get her first big break. Maybe people will hear her from her after. After this. I mean, what Scarlet Joe, who? I can't. I love it. No, but honestly, every time you're a first time feature director, it's your first time being a feature director.

It's tough. I love that. She was very, she was so cool, calm, collected, and confident. I'm glad. No, she And, and nice. And nice, which is what you want. And just professional, right? You want someone who's professional, who like, I don't, uh, you know, it's so interesting because you work with so many people and, and almost everybody's nice.

And then there's Blake, [00:37:00] who she's totally different than everyone else's. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's like, not to say anything bad about her, but No, no. She's different. Different. There you go. There you go. And, and I don't, uh. I think, uh, for the most part, most people see what we're doing. See, we're nice and they're nice back.

Yeah. Even like, even if they weren't perfectly nice. And I just think, you know, some people forgot to learn how to be nice. We Oh, the industry. I left it, I left it for a while, Steve, I left it for a while. There was a reason I was originally gonna make this movie in my, my hometown. It's a tough, [00:37:30] icky place.

It can be a very icky place. Um, I think that there's a lot of good people out there. So we're, what we're doing is we're figuring out who we wanna work with, who we don't wanna work with. And then we'll just work with them and then it's done. There you go. And anyway, have a wonderful day. I'll see you too.

You too. I hope you enjoy your break. It's good to see you. Let, tell, tell all your friends I will. No, I'm gonna send the invite out. Absolutely. And I just have them. RSVP to Clay, right? I think. Yes. Perfect. Exactly. Perfect. Awesome. R sv P to Clay and, and, and or Elise. Awesome. She can help as well. Anyway, you can [00:38:00] talk to Elise and Clay and ask who they want.

Perfect. I'll, who wants to. I actually think that it's probably better having it go through release in her team, but ask them who they want it to go through. I'll ask. I'll ask. Awesome. Thank you, Steve. I hope you have a good rest of your week. You too. Bye. I'll see you.