DISCLAIMER:
The following output was transcribed from our audio recording.
Although the transcription is largely accurate, it may be incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors.
It is posted to aid in understanding the interview but should not be treated as an authoritative record.
Mindy Cohn 00:01
Hi everyone, welcome back to Monday's with Monday Say hi to everybody question everyone. Welcome back to the show. Today's episode features a conversation with producer, writer, actor and director will McCormack born in New Jersey will graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He quickly began working as an actor in dozens of films and TV shows, including the sopranos, brothers and sisters dirt, and even had a recurring role in in plain sight, which starred his older sister Mary, one of his older sisters. While performing in Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize along Christmas write home will win the prestigious Lucille lortel Award. In 2012, we'll partnered up with Rashida Jones to write the Independent Spirit Award nominated film Celeste and Jesse forever solidifying their partnership they formed the production company load train train to produce many other projects, including the hit show clause on TNT. And we'll be going back into production soon on AMC new series Kevin Can bleep himself is your imagination starring Creek Emmy Award winning actress Annie Murphy, as a writer will has continued with projects like Toy Story for a to z on NBC and currently he is adapting the novel Challenger Deep for Disney plus, he recently completed the most beautiful animated short film if anything happens, I love you, which he CO and co directed with Michael govier, a mutual friend of ours. He's also at the bgb studio. It's a film about parents grieving the death of their daughter killed in a school shooting. The film has been so well received in dozens of film festivals, and will be coming to a streamer very soon. And in my humble opinion, Mark, my word will win and should win the Oscar in its category this year. I've been privileged to watch him work with well in class and however talented a creative and he is as a writer and producer, I can say unabashedly that will is one of the most talented actors I've ever seen. Period. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife out just Emily and their son.
Christian Brescia 02:10
Awesome. I am excited to meet him. Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome to the show. Will McCormick.
Will McCormack 02:21
Hello, I'm so excited to be here with you guys. Thank you for having me. Thanks for
Mindy Cohn 02:25
joining us. Thanks very happy to see your face and upper torso. So we start each podcast, I'm just randomly grabbing five questions that Christian I came up with, like 20 questions. Okay. And this way, we just start gabbing. Yeah, kind of thing. And then we'll get into it.
Will McCormack 02:43
I have not been fed the questions. I just want to tell the audience...
Mindy Cohn 02:47
No, you have not. I have barely How did where you grew up? Or did it influence your creative aesthetic?
02:54
It's a great question. So did it I mean, an extremely Yes, I think it informs everyone in some way, whether they're conscious of it or not. But I grew up in New Jersey in Plainfield, New Jersey, exit 131 in the parkway and 10 A on the turnpike.
Mindy Cohn 03:09
That means a lot to an East Coast guy I could tell you.
03:13
And from a hill in my neighborhood, you could see New York City. And it was like this green light on daisies dock from The Great Gatsby. And then it was like this thing that was out of reach. But I sort of knew at a very young age that I had to live in New York, that it was like calling me and calling me and I also One of my earliest remembers of New Jersey was I gotta get out of here. And now that I'm older man in the middle of my life, I love where I'm from. But as a child, I couldn't wait to get out of there. And I love it because people from New Jersey are very direct. And where I grew up is very blue collar. And what you see is what you get, and there's an authenticity there that I love. And I'm so proud to hail from there. But as a kid, I was dying to get out there. And one of the ways that I dreamt of leaving was just going to the video store every single day and renting every single foreign film I could find but you know, part of being from New Jersey and living in sort of like the armpit of one of the greatest cities in the universe. It gave me a lot of desire, and it gave me a lot of aspiration to know that like I wanted to move to the big city and then just get crushed by New York. Not completely crushed. Come on Rasht. Oh, no, but I think growing up in New Jersey was really informative. It gave me a sense of self of who I am and where I'm from, but it also I could literally see Manhattan and I knew that it was there and I knew that it was calling
Mindy Cohn 04:37
Okay, so I kind of just have to ask, I'm going off script Lifeline films.
04:41
Well, I've always sort of been a Francophile and I just love imagining and seeing a place that I had never been but I also think like French actresses to make sense.
Mindy Cohn 04:51
So Italian actors for me.
Will McCormack 04:54
Because Juliet But no, she's amazing. She doesn't live here.
Mindy Cohn 04:57
I like watched Rififi, like 5000 time okay so basically i think i a little are but like to myself silly to like yeah person Rififi the first time So anyway, my parents now we're just going What? Well, what's your favorite place in the world and
05:15
why this is gonna sound really corny but it's true. My favorite place in the world is wherever I'm with my son.
Mindy Cohn 05:23
Yeah, not corny,
05:24
especially right now. Yeah, when my son was born, it was psychedelic joy. And I don't remember who said this, I read some poem. I wish I could cite it. But when the doctor put the baby in this woman's arm, she taught for the first time suddenly, oh, this is what my arms are for. Oh, gosh, the baby. His name is sonny. When they put him on my chest for the first time, I felt like I don't know. I mean, to be really honest with you. I guess I had like a lot of like, I just didn't know if I was ever going to be a father or if I was equipped. And the moment I met him, I felt like I had always known him. And I felt like I could take care of him. And I felt like I was ready for the job. And so it's wherever I'm with my son. Oh, that's good. Yeah, I like
Mindy Cohn 06:04
did anything attitude or mood change when Sonny was put on your chest? Did you have any flashes at all of your dad?
06:11
So many, you know, becoming a father gave me a completely newfound respect for my own dad. You know, when I was born, my father's father died a couple of weeks before I was born. So for him, it was this. Wow, incredibly heavy and light moment in his life, I'm sure yeah. But it made me rethink fatherhood and what it means to be a son. And it's the heaviest and latest moment of my life.
Mindy Cohn 06:39
Yeah. What's the last thing you binge done?
Will McCormack 06:42
The last thing I binged on...
Christian Brescia 06:45
doesn't have to be TV...
Mindy Cohn 06:47
Yeah.
Will McCormack 06:48
A lot of TV during the pandemic.
Mindy Cohn 06:51
Yeah, of course. Is there any one or two things that really you know, you were so thrilled you got to binge on them? That moved you?
06:58
I don't know if it moved me, but like 90 day fiance is drugs.
Mindy Cohn 07:02
Oh, my gosh, you're like my fifth person in my as said that. Yes. I understand that. It's
07:07
drugs. I mean, I can't get enough and I don't do drugs anymore. So I go to shows like 90 day fiance to like, yeah,
Mindy Cohn 07:14
exes. Yeah, I do have to say my current obsession right now. If you haven't watched it as Ted last Oh, on Apple TV. Well, today, I started twice. I don't know why I thought of you two specific times. I thought of you when I was literally binge eating. I watched the whole thing in two days, because I could not stop. It's probably one of the best things I've seen in a good two years.
07:34
I'm gonna check it out. I haven't found my flow on Apple TV plus, but maybe that's my entry point.
Mindy Cohn 07:39
Oh my gosh, okay. Everybody out there, like Run, run, run and set. That's a good endorsement because you don't typically quite like that. So you know, I don't write like I actually reached out to Jason today. And I don't do that either. Like, I'm not a react router. But I was just like, okay,
07:55
you're welcome. To reach out. Totally.
Mindy Cohn 07:57
It's hard. It's hard. Yeah. I mean, I love it when someone says something nice to me. And I'm a fan. But I really just enough said everybody watch it. That's all I have to say. Yeah, I and I thought of you and I think you might know why I did twice.
08:10
Okay, we're late to the game, but my wife and I've started Downton Abbey, which everyone in the world has seen but us but that is such an amazing show for
Mindy Cohn 08:19
you agreed? Yeah, yeah. I mean, if you're slowed down, you might as well watch something it's like, to me it was like reading a good you know, nonfiction book about that time like Totally, yeah, chill into it. Um, when was the last time you cried when
08:32
God I mean, all I do is cry.
Mindy Cohn 08:36
And love that about you, by the way.
08:37
Oh, so much crying.
Mindy Cohn 08:38
It's so healthy and good.
08:40
Yeah. The last time I cried was probably you know, it's a lot about my son. But I think just a moment with him. It was a joy cry of like seeing him see the ocean for the first time and Oh, we've been sort of locked in the house and in our neighborhood and we had some we all got coronavirus, tested and to see him on the beach with other little boys and girls who were about his age and to see them just interact with each other and it felt like oh, this is like what parenthood feels like to see your son happy you I was just like overwhelmed, because we haven't had a lot of that. Like he has no friends or sort of inside the house. Of course. So incredible to see him see the Pacific Ocean.
Mindy Cohn 09:21
Oh, yes. Yeah. Oh, how magical How old is he? Well, he's 13 months. So he's really like discovering everything at them. Yeah, he's becoming a boy. I remember ocean I mean, oceans everything to see it because it's so unusual and huge and the sounds that's not like everything. Your senses.
09:40
Yeah, it's pneumatic. It's spiritual. Absolutely. Yeah.
Mindy Cohn 09:43
Okay, what is your best habit and what is your
09:46
worst? My best habit is I'm super dedicated to my work. And I am really regimented about schedule, and I'm assiduous and I love to work and I I have no problem working. And I don't believe in writer's block. It doesn't exist. I just push it away. And I show up every day to my work. And I love it. And I think I show up with open arms and open heart and had a problem judging myself and other areas of my life. But when it comes to writing, I'm very kind to myself and open about the growth and about the process. And I have very good habits as a screenwriter.
Mindy Cohn 10:25
Do you think that's one of the reasons you're so prolific? Thank
10:28
you. I don't know I feel are Thank you. I mean, I think that this business I mean, writing is actually the easiest part of my life right now. By no means Robert Towne. But it is a craft and I have been doing it for a long time now. And I do know how to do it. And I don't feel like I'm faking it, which is a great feeling. It's huge. But the truth is, I think it's endurance, like I have good scripts and bad scripts. I have good years and bad years. And I just keep going and I'm pretty vigilant about my work ethic. My worst habit is I'm totally addicted to nicotine. And I go on and off Nicorette and like I'm sober and every hour of my life, but it's when I do get stressed I sometimes to Nicorette, okay, it's about habit.
Mindy Cohn 11:06
Well, that's it. There's grosser to be quite frank with you. But that's your best habit. It's so interesting that you said that because I feel that as an actor, very much. So my I feel the same way. I'm it's a joy to do it. There's good years. There's bad years, but I keep doing it and practice. And yeah, I mean, that's fascinating. I've never really heard someone talk like that about writing, except maybe the fact of like, sitting down and doing it every day, but not in the creative way that you talked about it, which I like, do you think that comes from starting out as an actor, or now
11:34
I think it has something to do with that. To be honest, I think I'm so grateful to make a living doing what I love that that's sort of my baseline. And I don't want to take that for granted ever. I mean, if you had told me that I would live in Hollywood and work in movies and you know, be doing a podcast with you guys and talking about my work. And I would not have believed you. So I do pinch myself. I mean, I'm very, very lucky to make a living doing what I love to do. very fortunate. I'd never take that for granted. Same.
Mindy Cohn 12:01
So it's interesting, because I feel like you did talk about the creative process. So one of the reasons I don't know why Christian and I started this podcast, but one of the things that was happening to me in quarantine, or Safe at Home, whatever you want to call it, the one thing that I just really missed that there was no other substitute for was talking to other creatives. And I am not, which is why writing is never been appealing to me, I work well with others, I work my best. And I feed off of and inspired and find other creatives of all other kinds, aspirational. And it's necessary for me, there's nowhere to get it old movies kind of did it for those first couple of months. And then it was over. And so I just wanted to talk to a mist finding people and whether it was through work or class or somewhere else talking to people about their creative process. So if someone were to ask you, what's your creative process? As you define it, what would you say?
12:53
First of all, I feel the same way as you I crave and need that creative energy from other people. And I think that that's what makes one successful is that ability to collaborate this business, you cannot be a Solitaire, you will work with other people. And I think that your success in a large part is based on your ability to work well with other people. If you want me to be really honest about my creative process. I do. I think there's a dollop of fear of I don't want to be fraudulent in any way. And I want to, you know, everything that I'm doing, but for the most part, generally, I'm trying to do stories that matter. And I'm trying to tell stories that are meaningful to me. And I don't know that I'm even that virtuous. I feel like that gives me the best opportunity to have a good career because I think people want stories that matter. Quincy Jones once told me the reason why he has so much money is that he always did what he loved. And I'm sort of tried to keep that as like my North Star of like, if I love this, and I connect to this, the proof is the pudding, right? There's no way that this can be bad because it will be true. And if it's true, it will speak to someone. So my creative process is there's three rules to screenwriting. Nobody knows what they are. But I know that for me, it's getting to the center of a story. And sometimes it's a battle. Sometimes it's a war. Sometimes it's a dream. Sometimes it's an accident, but usually it's about commitment. It's about showing up and being available and getting out of your own way and knowing that these ideas are channeled through you not because of you but through you and staying open in that process. Okay, well,
Mindy Cohn 14:24
so I have to say full disclosure that we met in bgb studio in a class which I hate to call it a class because it's really like what it says it's a workout, right? That's how I feel about it, I have to say and I truly just want not only you to know because i think you know me and my heart but to the listeners out there, I'm not blowing smoke. You truly are one of the best actors I've ever seen.
14:44
Oh my god.
Mindy Cohn 14:45
And I say that not with a jump back kiss myself that I've been around like every amazing actor, but I've been around some pretty friggin amazing actors in my whole life and you're up there well, and it sort of when you first came to class, I just thought Where have I seen him before? Because he should just be I mean, was it getting an award of some kind? You're that good? I think and I'm just wondering, because you've had so much success as a writer and a producer, does that call you anymore? at all? Do you do it just for exercise and emotional, whatever, I'm just curious,
15:18
if you ever call me to work with you in any capacity to act, I will be there in a heartbeat. And thank you so much. I mean, it's gonna sound like I'm watching your car, but I feel the same about you, you are so gifted, and you, you approach the work in such an open, authentic way. And you put such a leader in that environment, and I drafting off you because I'm such a fan of you and how you approach the work. So thank you, I don't really act that much anymore. And I go to class, because I love actors, and I love acting. But my wife's an actor, my sister's an actor, my best friend's an actor, and I just love actors. And for me, I want to stay connected to that, because those are my roots. And I think acting in writing and directing all of that are in the same cookie jar
Mindy Cohn 16:03
is storytelling, right? Totally without question, but I just wonder when you have what you have. I wonder if there and I don't live in it. Okay, I'm not living in your body or your psyche. But I wonder if there are moments where you're like, I gotta do this. I got to get back on stage or in front of a camera, whatever it is. Yeah, you have it
16:21
at all. I do. And I think I'm admitting it now to you out loud. Yeah, I do. I do. Yeah. I mean, you know, in the course of the business, I think acting sort of like broke my heart. And then I got a couple breaks as a writer, and I was getting meetings and sort of opportunities as a writer that I wasn't getting as an actor, and I sort of like turned my back on it. And I don't think it was wholly healthy breakup. Do you know how I've hit BGP? No, I did a little bit of writing on a big Disney movie. Yes. I did a couple weeks on a movie. Yeah. The director really liked me. And she was like, Oh, you're funny. And she asked me to come do a couple days on the movie.
Mindy Cohn 16:57
Wait, it's a voiceover No, no, no. As an actor. Oh, it was live action. Oh, it was
17:02
live action and like a movie with people and cameras. And it was one I don't know if you've ever had this, I would love to know. But like I was in my trailer in the morning. I had like a 630 call. And I was supposed to work at 730. The day kept going, the daycare going, but I was drilling coffee in my trailer and also and I remember they finally started calling me to set at sunset and I had this feeling of how do I get out of here? Like how can I get to my car and not go to set and I had a panic attack, which I've never had in my life. I mean, I pitch movies, extemporaneously, I'm not bragging. So I'm walking to set and they're miking me, and I'm broadcast news flop sweating, thinking like, there's no way I don't want to be looked at I want to get out of here. four cameras, one on a crane coming down for my coverage. And the camera came and I was I just drew a blank. And I got through it because I have a lot of experience. But like I butchered my way through the work. And I kept thinking, what does this mean? What is this I do sort of now attributed to coffee, but I called a friend of mine. And I said, I need a really good acting class because I feel like I have some feelings there that I need to explore. And I kind of want to know what happened. And I do think at the end of the day was caffeine. But I also think as you know, in that class, you just get very comfortable and it's about doing reps. It's like going to the gym as an actor. And I was like I want to so I also think that's why I'm always ready. Like if someone does call me I want to be able to go and feel like I'm connected to it and not because I didn't feel like I was in it because I hadn't been I hadn't been studied right?
Mindy Cohn 18:35
Well, I always tell people when they asked me, you know difference between television and film. I'm like a theatre person. I'm the most comfortable on a stage. I am never nervous. I am excited. Cloris Leachman taught me that she said the same physicality you have when you're nervous is also excited. Am I correct? And she was and so, but on a film set, I am the most nervous because you for me, I always feel the least prepared because of all the waiting. Mm hmm. So it's like you shoot your adrenals out trying to like you know, um, so that is much of an art form to me being staying ready in the waiting than anything else. But I just want to say sheer talent and emotional vulnerability. And I don't know the Genesee quad. If somebody has where you want to watch them, you just have that for me. You are one of those people that I just really want to watch. Oh, and and you move me so I just never want you to ever say to me just like blatantly if you just never want to act again. Just lie to me.
19:33
I you and I'm not lying.
Mindy Cohn 19:34
Okay, that makes me so friggin happy. And it should to all of our listeners because it really yeah, I'm very excited about that. Thank you. So as far as and we'll get into the new film, which I am such a huge fan of the animated short that's kind of front and center along with your other couple writing projects too. But before that, what is inspiring you right now, okay, take something out of it. But what inspires you right now
19:59
watching Lot of music based films because I'm writing a music film. So I've been watching Bach the line I watched A Star Is Born all of them I watched a mile. So I'm watching a lot of music based film. So when I'm writing something that's sort of in the zip code of something, I'm working on a sort of tend to watch everything in that universe to see things that inspire me and things that I don't like and things that I would maybe try differently. I mean, I just watched Walk the Line, and I don't know if you've seen it recently. But Joaquin Phoenix is performance in that movie is absolutely breathtaking. And he does feel like he's dialed into some other sort of planet on his work is really remarkable. But yeah, I just been watching a lot of music based films.
Mindy Cohn 20:46
Okay, so I know it's I'm being a little bit of a tangential treaty. What do you want to say?
20:50
I've also been reading a lot of Sharon Olds poetry and I was obsessed with poetry in college. And then I just heard her recently recite a couple poems, and I've been going back to poetry too. But yeah, I mean, I was an English literature major in college. And all I used to do was read fiction and novels. And you get away from that a little bit as you get older because you start reading screenplays and it becomes a job, but I'm really trying to get back to reading and it takes a little bit of work to become a good reader again, I just got rid of my phone. What
Mindy Cohn 21:19
does that mean? I know logically, what does that look like? Are you not texting? Are you just emailing
21:25
I have a phone is called a light phone to this is not a commercial, but it's just text calls in GPS. That's fantastic. Thanks. I was at the beach with a friend of mine who doesn't have a phone. He's got like a flip phone and listen Topanga and at a time we weren't doing something he was reading, and he looks really happy and everyone else was sort of on their phones, and I'm checking like, Laker scores, and you know, like, just such a waste of time. So I'm going to try to go without a phone for the rest of the year. Hopefully, I'll read more.
Mindy Cohn 21:52
Okay. I love that for so many reasons. Because I'm just being a ridiculous conversationalist. I just miss them. And people just seem to just not even want to do it anymore. Or, you know, everyone's the one trick pony. It's either politics or sports, like the art of conversation is lacking. And I miss it because I'm a gambler. And I like it. And it's how I learned it's my favorite thing to do. I
22:16
do too. I take my son for walks in the morning and we talk to everybody in the neighborhood my wife saying how do you know all these people?
Mindy Cohn 22:23
Okay, so yeah, so that's the sociologist me I think that I just like people's in that way. Yeah. Okay, let's tangential, Trudy a little and just jump into if anything happens. I love you. Yeah. Talk to me about how you and Michael came upon this decided to do it together. Just give me the beginning the middle and then I'll join you at the end.
22:44
Okay, if anything happens, I love you is a short animated film that I made with my super talented friend, Michael Gobi, our friend who's a brilliant writer, and director. And we all met at this class. And we're both writers, and we would meet and talk about ideas. And he had this beautiful kernel of an idea, which I just love, which is what if our shadows and souls sort of represented feelings that we couldn't reach? And I thought, God, that's such a beautiful idea. And often I find great ideas are sort of a pastiche of a couple. So you know, we were reading the news, like everyone in there, these school shootings, which are horrific, and then happen again, and again and again. And one is too many. And we just sort of felt like I'm sort of obsessed with grief and how people overcome grief and face grief and Endor grief, and what are the gifts of grief? But I thought, what if we could write a film about this sort of insurmountable grief of losing a child. And there was this sort of Korean proverb that we taped on our cork board, which was, when a parent dies, you bury them in the ground, but when a child dies, you bury them in your heart. We talk to men and women who had lost children and we partnered with every time for gun safety. And we just started building this film we had we found a great producer, Marianne Gallagher, who was our the captain of our ship, and there's no way who could have made the movie without her. The film was made possible by Gary Gilbert, one of the producers on lala land and we just had this incredible team and we just started building it. We found a woman who is Korean, who was a recent graduate of Cal Arts, this woman young ran no and
Mindy Cohn 24:15
go, I guess, work.
24:16
Oh my gosh, well, so the movie is super, super spare, lean, parsimonious, 2d animation. And that was our goal, because we wanted the film to feel lean and barren, like grief can feel and we just started building it. And we finished it, which is a real achievement for any film, but especially one that we really was truly independent. And we have won a bunch of festivals and we're playing in festivals everywhere, and soon we will be coming to the entire world.
Mindy Cohn 24:46
Yes, I know that. And I also said in the intro that I just feel it will win the Best Oscar in its category because it shed
24:53
Well, hopefully, if we've been in that conversation, that would be incredible. Yeah.
Mindy Cohn 24:58
He'll be in that conversation.
24:59
Thank you and I think it'll raise awareness for the film. And that would be awesome to be in that conversation Talk
Mindy Cohn 25:04
to me a little because as with the animation, for me, it was also the score was really I mean to say additive just sounds pejorative, but I mean, it was so additive, like it stayed with me. It stayed with its wanting and moving media, we
25:18
got really lucky. I mean, the moment we met, young ran that animation director, she knew exactly the style that we wanted. And the moment we sat down with Lindsey Marcus, our composer whose work I had loved and admired, but I'd never gotten the opportunity to work with her. And now can't imagine not work with her the moment her first compositions were the compositions of the film, even so much so that Michael and I had to sort of run around the block to come back to that, or she just got it. I believe it, we had to sort of circle them. And we're like, well, and they were immaculate. They were perfect. And that really was her first impressions of the film. And she was very moved by it. So what came out of her was really sort of like, cathartic and just raw and beautiful. And haunted.
Mindy Cohn 26:00
Yes, well, I have to say, obviously, I have never lost a child to a shooting. In talking to Michael about it a little bit. I said, I too, am also very fascinated with grief, I have always warned my friends that when my parents passed, I will not be okay. Truly, and certain kinds. I feel like we as human beings the same way we're loving all the time, we're grieving all the time over different things. So I'm a little mildly obsessed with it, I would say as well, this movie just makes you confront your own grief about little and big things. It's so to me what art is supposed to be about that. It's the literal thing of what it's about. But it also if it's good, makes you think and feel about things that you didn't think were right up there ready to be expressed and thought about and talked about. And so it's magnificent. Well,
26:46
really cute.
Mindy Cohn 26:47
I just told Michael Taylor, just Bravo exclamation point, whatever.
26:51
Thank you. And I'm really excited
Mindy Cohn 26:52
for you guys. Thank
26:53
you so much. I think one of the things that has really moved us is, you know, the film is about the loss of a child to gun violence. But really, so many people have come up to me who have lost a parent who've lost a friend that the movie is really just about loss and grief. And what can we do in the face of that pain, and normally, not a lot. But what we can do is be there for one another, and that we can show up and meet each other and see each other and connect with one another. And that sort of like ability to know that like that's empowering that when we do go through that we need to be there for one another. That's been so moving that people have said that to me. Yes. It's just too great. I've been obsessed. I like keep writing about grief in one form or another. I've had a lot of loss in my life. And
Mindy Cohn 27:33
the thing about the film, I think that was so moving is that it is almost easier sometimes however difficult to not share it Yes, break off, or you know, do it so low, even if it's to the detriment of a relationship, but really, so much more can come out of just staying together in community or with a person. Yeah. So anyway, amazing. Well, amazing.
27:54
You know, Michael, and I were so inspired by these men and women who've lost children and their ability to stand up for this cause and get up in the morning and keep going. It's just so heartbreaking, but also so inspiring that we tried to do our best to create some sort of energy around it, and you get it. Thank you.
Mindy Cohn 28:11
How long did it take you to make the movie from like inception to where you are now,
28:15
honestly, we spent a year on the script, which was only 12 pages long, because we knew that it had to be perfect, because we wouldn't have a lot of money to animate short, and we didn't. So whatever. It's like an indie film, like you only had to do at once and sort of the imperfections of the movie, they sort of add to what it is, it should feel it shouldn't feel perfect. We're not going for this great Pixar a 3d version, we're going for something that feels real and worn in and lived in. So that actually was an advantage stylistically, but the actual process of filmmaking was not long, it was three or four months, three months, maybe. But you know, writing the movie, and then raising the money and getting replaced takes years. Yes.
Mindy Cohn 28:58
So were you on the Disney plus project when quarantine hit? Were you in the middle of something, right? You're in the middle of that. And one other thing, correct? Well, but
29:08
yes, I have a couple TV shows I produced for Cheetah but my writing life has been so full. And I'm I'm currently on my just candidate. I had a call of duty this morning. And in my second draft of Challenger Deep, I'm doing an adaptation of Neil schusterman. His novel about a kid Yeah, it's about a kid named it's a huge hit away world but a kid who's facing and living with mental illness and half of the book takes place in the real world where he's trying to hide his mental illness. And the other half of the book takes places in his brain where he's sailing across the sea of mental illness source of deepest part of the ocean challenge or deep. So the book is really cool and beautiful. And it's about an important thing. It's about kids, you know, living with mental illness and facing them and it's about suicide, and it's about how we overcome that. And I was so inspired by the novel and JC has been a great Rate partner, and I don't know if they're gonna make it, but I hope they do. And it's all looking really, really positive. So I hope they do do a total honor to write the story.
Mindy Cohn 30:09
Wow. All right. Well, I just want to thank you so so much. First of all, before I get rid of you, I do have to say, one of the last times you are on social media probably. Did you post a picture of your sister with Ruth Bader Ginsburg? Yeah. Okay. So you know, my mom's a lawyer. Cool. So Ruth's always kind of been a person also that in my family between my mom, my sister and I, we Anyway, it was very moving to see that notorious Yeah. And I wondered how she's doing. As far as he's
30:40
fighting the good fight. My sister Bridget is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Michigan. And we're very proud of her. And just she was an extraordinary public defender. And then she was the youngest Professor ever at Yale Law School, and then became the Dean of the Law School of the University of Michigan and then became a justice and then became the chief justice Supreme Court. And she's just been such an inspiration to me. And Mary, my other sister is phenomenal actress. Yes. And she's really led the way for our family. She's just an extraordinary human being just with like, also a very big brain, but an even bigger heart.
Mindy Cohn 31:12
Yeah, I guess because I love and like my mother so much. She's one of my most favorite people in the world. It just another thing. It just moved me, you know, and I love that you have a member of your family like that. Oh, we
31:24
do.
Mindy Cohn 31:24
Yeah. I just think it makes me better that I am the daughter of her. And I wonder if you feel the same way being the brother of her, you know? 110%
31:34
right. I can't brag about her enough.
Mindy Cohn 31:36
Yes. Yeah. Okay. outsider standpoint, the McCormick family has a lot of like, you guys really need to get your stuff together. And I really own your weight over there. Yeah, they're not doers. I know. Well, just sitting around for slackers, like put something on your resume.
31:50
Yeah, it was enormous pressure. Having these two older sisters, I mean, pressure that I put on myself, but I idolized them when I was little. They were like superheroes. To me. I still are. But when you were a little kid, I mean, they were just they were so smart. And they were great swimmers. And they were great sisters, but I always felt like this was gonna be tough to be like the rush, the runt of the litter here.
Mindy Cohn 32:12
And I am, but it's a great lesson. And there's well Oh, no, I'm here to attest to that. That's a deep dark now. Well, I adore you copious amounts. Thank you so so much for just coming on, and gabbing. And you inspire me just all the time. I appreciate it so much.
32:28
You inspire me, I adore you. And I can't wait to see you in real life again, one day and I feel connected to you. And I'm so grateful that you're doing this and giving voices to artists and you're a superstar Christian, it's a joy to meet you on the computer. I love to being with you. And I hope I get to have dinner with you guys. One day when all this is over. Hopefully, it will
Mindy Cohn 32:48
happen. Great. So our listeners or viewers know head to Monday's with Mindy calm, we will have lots of information about the upcoming film and his other projects, even though he's not totally on social media, there is some social media that you can follow up you'll notice the handle over his video is for the film. So we're gonna continue to help him promote that to get the word out there. And once that becomes available to the public to see on a much grander scale, we'll make sure to add that link as well. So head to Monday's with media.com to check out the podcast, the YouTube of this and of course all the stuff that we'll be keeping busy with once again. Well thank you very much for joining us, ladies and gentlemen, john McCormick.
33:20
Thank you so much.
33:22
I have so much fun
