PV and Franny - After Show

That was badmansman, we are recording?
Are we actually recording?
Now?
Are we recording? Oh no, stop with the buttons. This
is terrible.
Hold on, wow, this is like shock jocks.
It is Thank you everyone, Thank you. I'm gonna have fun.
I'm gonna have fun with that one every time, every time,
every time in the track like a network sitcom, like
some no matter what hysteric. So, Tommy, where are you
from the cantsie?
All right, Jack, take it away, take it away, another
take away. So we just wrapped table read our most recent.
Recording, our sixth, our sixth the script record.
It is our sixth script and we had a script
by writer Tommy Wallack.
That's just incredible.
Tommy is here with us.
Hello, I'm here.
Erica Schechter is here with us from Desert Whale.
Hi.
And we just did a reading of this incredible script. Pevian,
Franny and Tommy, tell me a little bit about you,
and tell me a little bit about this script.
I can do that.
Probably Probably what's important about it is it's a script
about music. I grew up in music world. I was
a musical theater actor as a kid. I was doing
like eight shows a week. Oh, don't do it.
That's great, that's solid, thank you. It is funny.
And then I kind of switched over to trying to
be a singer songwriter, sort of Rufus wayn Wright, ben
fold Zey, piano based stuff. And I was trying to
do it when I was a teenager. And I got
really excited about this idea of a couple of teenagers
starting a together because that's such a unique and special time.
And there have been shows and movies a lot of
them about musicians and bands, but very few about that
really special team time.
You want to start a band, No, I want to
continue a band, but with more musicians than I have.
Now, Oh, how many musicians do you have? Now? One?
What do you play? Guitar leader, rhythm? Yes, what about you?
Primarily cassio, vi altone, monophonic synthesizer and glockenspiel.
Cool. So what do you want to call the band?
What's your name again, Franny? Hmmm?
Probably just a movie called singh Street, which is amazing,
which is that that does this this kind of area,
but not a series. So I got really excited about that,
and that's sort of where it came from.
And how long ago did you write the script a while.
This has been around.
So I had the script probably four years ago, maybe
even five, and my sort of team, I'm doing air quotes.
My team at the time was just like no, no,
don't we don't get it. No no, So it never
It wasn't even like sent out people. It was just
like kind of a thing in a drawer. And then
I got a new manager, as happens sometimes in this business,
and she loved it. It's Nedda and she sent it
to everyone on Earth. And that's when desert Will came
on board. Yeah, yeah, about that.
Were you one of the people who did the reading
or was it placed on your desk for someone else
or did you discover this?
Yeah?
So Dessert Will, for context, is Ty Burrell's production company,
and I run out with him and this Netta had
reached out. She said she has an amazing script, something
that we would be crazy not to consider. She sent
it to us and I read everything that comes across
my desk, and with the help of Cresca, and the
minute I read it, there was something there. You know,
you read a lot in this business, and it's very
easy to tell very quickly if something has something special
and this script was undeniable. It's one of the best
scripts to this day I've ever read.
And so what was it? You read scripts every day?
I mean, listen, I love the script. It's incredible. It's
so funny. Tommy, he's a genius.
But break it down. What was special about the script?
It was so funny and so charming, and so it
occupied its tone From the moment you read the first page,
you just fall into this world. It's surreal, it's heightened,
but it also has air conditioning.
That's okay, Well, we're just about to take off.
We're on the jet. We didn't tell the audience.
The script is so surreal, it's so heightened, but it's
also so grounded in this relationship between these two kids.
And everyone's been in Franny's shoes and had a crush,
and everyone's at least I've been in TV's shoes and
they hated everyone.
Right, Franny, it must have been one of those terrible musicians.
You've passed your audition. Let's start a band.
She puts out a hand to shake, but as Franny
reaches for it, Pev pulls back.
Does to be perfectly clear.
Once we're in a band together, there can never be
any sort of romantic relationship between us.
Oh why, I mean not that, not that it, but why.
I just thought it was so relatable well, and it
was just so in itself. There's a lot of scripts
that you read that like, aren't fully there. They're not
they don't have everything. They are funny, but they're not
structured well, or they're not about something special enough. And
this one just checked every box.
It checked it for us too.
The minute that you sent it to us, we all
read it and immediately we thought, well, why isn't this
something yet? Because it was so good and and you know,
the aspect of the kids and their music, and you know,
when we saw the songs, you know, it's such passion
and weirdness in those songs.
It's so freaking beautiful. It's interesting.
While we were reading the first act and I said
this to you, and I don't know if I said
this to you, Tommy, I thought, who passed on this?
Because I think it's so brilliant, And you know, once
we kind of get it fully formulated with music and
sound effects and everything, I think it's undeniably something that
needs to be seen as well as being heard.
I'll tell you who passed that this the return of Hollywood.
Yes men who are only looking for things that are
like something.
Else, hold on, say that praternity of what I said.
Well, the problem is it's Hollywood superficial. Yes men, thank you, Mark.
We have to like that up because we do want this.
To be stan You know what I mean. I mean
the networks.
You know, that's what they're buying, is this kind of sitcom. Yes,
you know, it's no different than Hollywood when they're they're
buying superhero films and not romance.
They're buying action, not drama.
Well, I could tell you that everyone who read it
had amazing feedback. And you can tell when people pass
on something and they didn't like it, you get the
Hollywood pass, You get the yeah, yeah it was really great,
but or like it's just not for us. With this one,
every pass was very intentional and thoughtful, and it really,
I think came down to programming their slates, and if
we're being honest, scripts in the young adult shows in
the young adult space just don't attract super wide viewership
that drives AD revenue and that drives a ton of eyeballs.
This script, in my opinion, is a script that everyone
can relate to in terms of, you know, buyers programming
their slates. They across the board were not looking for YA.
And there were some buyers who had YA projects already
on their slates, and I thought, well, what a fantastic companion,
and they're like, those didn't do great for us. I
do think also, this is a moment in Hollywood where
there's some disruption obviously even before the strikes, with restructures
and on the corporate level. So I'm holding out hope.
I'm going to say they're going to spend this strike
summer evaluating their slates and saying we need more YA.
Yeah, and uh Ya means young adult.
Oh that was very nice. Yeah.
So I was a young adult novelist. So that was
how I got into screenwriting. Was I wrote books first,
and I wrote in the young adult space a bunch
of books. And I've been through this a lot, so
things that got optioned. I adapted a couple of my things,
one as a movie, one is a series, and in
both cases I got the same kind of response, which
is like, why are programming is kind of tough for us.
HBO was like, we're trying it with this thing called euphoria.
We'll let you know how it goes.
Truly, how did that go?
By the way, you know what I actually I think
you have a you have a smirk, like maybe it
went terribly? Did it go terribly?
I watched a couple of episodes that I thought it was.
I thought it was interesting. It was a very interesting take.
Yes, absolutely huge.
Yeah, so very different vibe from from this though. The
closest thing to like an inspiration.
Show to this.
And I'm showing my age here because a lot of
people don't know this show. But long ago, there was
a TV show on Nickelodeon called The Adventures of Pete.
And Pete.
Strange. You look apper, I can say this.
We have you been the dog yet?
I don't know if anyone remembers this show, but it
was amazing. I'm sure nobody watched it. It was I
did okay, awesome, we both did. I mean I had, yes,
I had like bootleg DVDs of it. It was a
show for kids that you know in the credits. One
of the like the thirteen year old boy his tattoo
was a character that was in the credits. This is
live actions is not animated. Their bus driver who took
them to school was played by Iggy Pop actually Iggy
popow and they cast all of these New York performance
artists in all of the roles. It was the most surreal,
wonderful thing.
I would be terrified if Iggy Pop were my school
bus driver.
He was kind of terrified. Yeah, that was the energy.
By the way, Tommy, I think you were a little
You weren't as generous to yourself as you should be.
Tommy's a New York Times bestseller. His book, his novel
We All Looked Up is phenomenal and everyone should, especially
anyone who enjoys listening to PV and Franny should read
that book.
It's phenomenal.
Absolutely, Tommy, I wanted to touch on that. I mean,
do you come from an entertainment family? How is it
that you're playing instruments and writing books and no seeking
of screenplays and no.
So Franny's story is my own.
I was raised by a single mom, only child, and
my mom was an airline pilot. She was the tenth
female pilot in America. Actually wow, so so no, just
a lot of time alone. That's where it all came from.
Yeah, and what are you doing now outside of PV?
And Franny, what are you doing?
Yes, I do a lot of film and TV stuff,
though not right now.
Obviously we're on strike, Go strike. I own an escape room,
the number one escape room in LA. We're called Hatch.
I was gonna say, give me a plug.
Is there a website? Remember that Hatch.
We're called Hatch Escapes.
Our room is called Labrat, and we're building our second room,
which is this epic thing. It actually stars an actor
named Jordan Belfy who's on Entourage, and an actor named
Tony Revel Laurie who was the bell hop from the
Grand Budapest Hotel, which is also kind of a touchstone
for PV and Franny.
There's something I haven't told you. Ka, Okay, we stole
a painting. It's very valuable, maybe five million clue backs.
In fact, I don't know if anyone's even noticed it's
missing it. But something should happen to me in mister Gustock.
You steal art one picture.
Anyway, we need to make a plan for your survival. II.
This it's in code and you might need a magnifying
glass to read it, but it tells you exactly where
and how to find boy with Apple Take less than
half the retail lasting price.
Also, I'm a baker filmed.
Obviously he's not going to be live in the room.
That would be insane in his career would have to
take a very bad turn. And then I also just
wrote a musical. I spent the past year and a
half writing a musical that's a retelling of Frankenstein said
in the nineteen fifties, and I'm doing a developmental reading
of that up in New York in September.
So those are those are the main things.
Yeah, just a few things.
A couple of things Erica.
What's on slate for Desert Whale? Well, well take this
what's on hold for desert to strike out of the equation.
We have a couple of projects that we sold last
year or the year before that are still alive, still kicking.
Hopefully we'll pick them up. We have a sitcom at
ABC called Forgive and Forget, written by this phenomenal writer
Eugene Garcia Cross about basically a father son's story. It's
a comedy about Alzheimer's but it's really based on Eugene's
personal experience.
The most forgettable comedy on this I couldn't.
Push that, but I know, no, it sounds crazy, but unforgettable, right,
forgive and forget?
Okay, all right, close you would have gotten there.
It's a father son's story and estranged father and son.
You know they haven't their polar opposites. The father gets
diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's and has to reconnect with
the son, and then they have to live together under
the same roof. And it's it's a project that like this,
like what We Love, is a company as stories that
can make you laugh, can warm your heart, maybe even
make you cry. I think the best comedies do all
of that.
Well, thanks you guys, Thank you both, Thanks so much
for making this all happen.
Yeah, what did you think of the screams?
Those were the greatest screens.
They were really impassionate screen.
Yeah, because on the demo I had to do the
screams on the demo and they were so lackless.
Well, we're going to talk to Kensington and we're going
to bring up the screams. I don't know if you
guys can hear that plane. I think it's a plane.
Missed it, we missed the plane.
Yeah, coming to live from the bourbonk Hollywood Airport.
For I sit around the tarmac we're about to get off.
Guys, thank you very much.
It was really it was our pleasure bringing this script
to Live today because we love doing this and when
we find a script that just speaks to us myself,
Jack and Sean, we really want to push hard to
make it the best that we can.
So thanks for writing something so brilliant.
Thank you Erica for trusting us uh with this and
bringing it to our attention.
Yeah, and for you.
Know, we thank you guys for putting it together.
Absolutely phenomenal performers today and a plane.
Thanks you guys. Thank you, Jack and Mark back. So
that's pretty good. What are we here with? So this
is Liam Richardson.
Liam is playing Franny and Kensington Tallman is playing PV.
These are our leads in the fabulous Tommy Wallack script
PV and Franny.
Hi kids, Hi, how was your experience today?
Absolutely incredible?
It was awesome, excellent.
Now did you enjoy the characters? Did you find them relatable?
Yes? One hundred percent. I love PV. I think she
just has so much confidence and I think that's what
I love about her the most, And I just really
connected with her in a really unique way, and I
think the script was so brilliantly written, and I just
had a blast. Everyone was so awesome.
Oh yeah, Tommy did a great job, and you did
a beautiful job bringing TV to life. Now, are there
things that you found relatable about the character that you
see in yourself?
And no, no, we got to try that wrong place for.
The Okay, what I want to know is tell me
things about the character that you found relatable, and tell
me things about the character that you found enviable.
I loved that PV had this amazing I think the
confidence because I think I myself am pretty confident, but
I also would love to have more confidence. And I
love how she just she doesn't say sorry, She just
doesn't take no for an answer. She just is herself.
What about the album? I'm torn at the moment.
Either my Sorrow is stepthless or Where's My Pony?
They're both really good. I know you want to hear
a song?
Sure, Peev stands up and shouts at the Mauristo, who
has been playing a tranquil Nora Jones tune.
Hey Hey.
He turns off the song and she sits cross legged
cracks her knuckles.
This one's called.
I think that was a really important lesson that I
learned from PV, knowing that it's enough to be yourself
and it's enough to just be who you are.
Absolutely, Liam, tell me a little bit about Franny.
Tell me, tell me what you relate to about For me,
I find Franny way more relatable than I probably care
to admit.
He's just like a dufist.
He's an awkward, like lovable guy, and I find a
lot of things relatable. I don't know if I find
anything enviable maybe about him. I relate a lot to
his awkwardness. Sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to let
you know you've been invited to join my band our
band me and.
PEV Peevee wants me to join her band.
Yes, we both do our band, so resals aren't Thursdays.
I'll tell you he really wants to do something right,
like he really wants to get this thing right.
Absolutely So.
The script deals with the you know partly the chase
and the retreat with you know, Franny kind of chasing
after PV and PV kind of going no. He's setting
up boundaries very quickly.
Great platonic bandmates for life. First rehearsal tomorrow. Sure, Oh wait,
I can't. I've got Chinese class. We'll have to do Wednesday.
Do you find that that's kind of a real life
scenario in your age group at this particular.
Point in life.
That's definitely something happens to people in day to day life.
Yeah, I think one hundred percent. I think you know
people saying like, oh, you know, like if we're in
a band together, Oh, if we're doing this project together.
Oh like if we're working together at a wherever. I
think Yeah, I think, like you said, Liam, I think
it's very relatable in that sense.
Yeah.
So, Kensington, you were fantastic.
Tell me a little bit about what you're doing now
and how it is you ended up in Hollywood on screen?
Thank you so much. Well, I've been doing some on
screen and animation stuff, and I just I love acting,
and I love performing, and I love art so much.
I want to continue acting, and I'd also love to
produce one day and direct even ray. I think, just
you know, continue to do what I love. This was
such a fun experience. Yeah.
I heard you say you've done what voice work before?
Where else have you done voice work?
I am doing some animated things for Nick and Disney,
which is some like Disney Junior and Nick Junior's stuff.
And then I have some upcoming animated projects in the future.
Yeah, and Liam, tell me about you. You're a musician,
you're an actor. Tell me how you ended up doing
this and what you've been up to.
Yeah.
I've always been a part of like the voice acting community.
My mom's a voice actor, so I've always loved this
line of work. And yeah, I play the guitar and
I play keyboard and nuculelean.
Babe, So you are Franny.
Yeah, you know.
Anything, anything, anything except that you.
That's why when I saw the script, it spoke so
much to me. And I'm also going to school for animation,
so when I read it, I was like, this is
totally an animated show I would watch. It was an
awesome experience. I really enjoyed, especially working with Tommy. He's
such a cool guy.
I like him.
Yeah, yes he is. He is Jack.
I think we're good. I got the backstory. We're gonna
be good to go, guys. You guys were fantastic in
about six or eight weeks. And I'll keep you in
the loop so you can hear it. And I look
forward to working with you both again.
Yeah, you guys did great. Thank you so much.
Thank you for having us today.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
You too, You too, You can overlap.
I just don't know what I love.