Meredith Littas, Meghan Rienks, & Kendall Rhodes, THE BREAK UP DIET
[0:01]Hi, I'm Sivi Owens, and you're listening to the award-winning podcast,
[0:05]Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books.
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[0:36]Hi, hi, hello.
[0:38]Enjoy the show.
[0:40]Meredith Littis, Meghan Rinkies, and Kendall Rhodes are the co-authors of The Breakup Diet.
[0:47]Meredith is a former executive who started a new career as a multi-high-finite writer-director and creative producer.
[0:53]She got her start at innovative artists' agency and eventually found her way to DOS films,
[0:57]becoming the head of development overseeing their feature film slate.
[1:01]In 2018, Littis pursued writing and producing on her own and completed a short film, Escape, which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival and was featured in the female quotient, the rap, and American cinematographer magazine.
[1:12]Currently, she's writing and producing multiple television series and movies, as well as her first book.
[1:18]She lives in Hollywood with her boyfriend and dog.
[1:20]Meghan Rinkies is an actress and creator of her own wildly popular comedy and lifestyle YouTube channel.
[1:26]Meghan flexes her acting muscles and sometimes her real muscles in a number of series, including freakish, twelve deadly days of Christmas,
[1:33]Mr. Student Body President, and in her first feature film The Honor List.
[1:37]As a social media tastemaker, Meghan has been named one of Teen Vogue's top six Instagram A-listers, and a Laura's Instagram influencer of the year she lives in Los Angeles.
[1:47]Kendall Rhodes has been an entrepreneur, studio executive, producer, and talent manager working in the entertainment industry for over 20 years.
[1:54]Currently, she is the founder of Para Lumen Media, a boutique talent management and production company.
[2:00]She represents a variety of talent from top-tier influencers to screenwriters.
[2:04]Previously, Rhodes was a talent manager and co-head of digital and untitled entertainment.
[2:08]Before untitled, Rhodes served as senior vice president of digital and relativity media studios,
[2:13]where she was responsible for growing and expanding digital programming, social media strategies, branded videos for relativity's feature films,
[2:20]development of intellectual property, and growing relativity media's digital properties.
[2:25]From 2014 to 2009, Rhodes ran cherry road films.
[2:29]She's secured a lucrative first-look deal at Warner Brothers and produced a number of feature films, including
[2:34]Southland Tales with Dwayne Johnson and Justin Timberlake, The Hunting Party with Richard Gere and Terrence Howard,
[2:40]Eulogy with Ray Romano and Zoe Deschanam.
[2:42]She is an MFA and film from Columbia University and her BA from UNC Chapel Hill.
[2:47]She resides in Los Angeles with her family.
[2:49]Welcome, ladies. To moms, don't have time to read books.
[2:52]I am joined today by Meredith Bledas, Megan Rinkis.
[2:56]I'm probably mispronouncing everything. And Kendall Rhodes, you can now repronounce your names and tell everybody who you are
[3:03]and why we're all in the Zoom together to talk about the breakup diet and fictions.
[3:08]So who wants to go first?
[3:10]Sure, I'll go first. I'm Meredith Liedis. I'm a creator.
[3:15]I'm a writer and director on fictions. I love it.
[3:18]I wrote the breakup diet, y'all wallpaper and a few others.
[3:22]And I'm a screenwriter. I'm in the middle of writing a couple memoirs.
[3:26]And I'm just super excited to be here. So thank you for having us.
[3:30]You're in the middle of writing a couple memoirs. You don't hear that all the time.
[3:33]Yeah, a series of them.
[3:36]The breakup diet initially started. I wanted it to be a memoir.
[3:40]And then it turned into the audio series. And then I was also wrote a proposal for a different memoir.
[3:47]They're both comedy, but the other one has a little more trauma.
[3:50]So trauma and comedy in it.
[3:52]I love that term. I've never heard of that.
[3:54]That's my entire brand.
[3:56]Literally my entire brand.
[3:59]Well, let's loop back at the end, Meredith, because I have a publishing company now two called Zibi books.
[4:04]And we published fiction and memoir.
[4:07]And anyway, if you want to talk about it.
[4:10]Love to hear more about your memoirs and all that.
[4:12]Okay.
[4:13]Always pitching here for my other businesses. Okay.
[4:16]Who's next?
[4:17]Jump in.
[4:18]Megan, do you want to go next?
[4:19]Sure. I'll go next. Yeah.
[4:20]My name's Megan Rinks.
[4:21]I am a content creator actress. I host two podcasts. I wrote a book.
[4:28]I don't even know really what else I do.
[4:31]Apparently, tromity is my sense of humor, which now I understand. Thank you for the term.
[4:36]Yeah, so I got to play Rose in the brick of diet, which I really loved.
[4:43]By the way, Megan, I was like, her name, your name sent us a familiar and I obviously knew of your work.
[4:48]And I was like, but some, anyway, I went through my emails and I had been pitched your memoir.
[4:53]And I had said, yes, I want to do it.
[4:55]And then I said, let's meet up in LA.
[4:57]I'm there all the time because we have a place out there and we're there all the time.
[5:00]And they said, sure. And then the pandemic hit.
[5:03]Yeah.
[5:05]Yeah, press was definitely a very odd thing. I think I did like nine podcasts in a row that I was like, well, now I don't have to like leave my house. Like, this is like nice for social anxiety, but it was wild.
[5:17]Amazing. Okay, Kendall.
[5:20]Hi, I'm Kendall Rose and I am a talent manager. And I also helped co create fictions back.
[5:30]And that's it. Really, that's it.
[5:35]I don't really know. I really like Meredith and that also a mom.
[5:40]You have dog. I am a mother. And I do like books.
[5:44]Yeah, I'm obsessed with your background, Zibi.
[5:47]Because it's like, I'm kind of like entranced by. I kind of want to close up of all how you did that.
[5:53]That's so cool.
[5:54]Yeah, I guess all the way around there.
[5:56]Oh my God, it goes.
[5:57]Yeah.
[5:58]I need like an architectural digest home tour of like a library. Like that's beautiful.
[6:02]Thank you.
[6:03]Like that is stunning.
[6:04]Thank you.
[6:05]And look at mine. I mean, it's like a hack job behind me.
[6:08]Oh, stop it.
[6:10]What like a plant and some books. I got to do better.
[6:14]But anyway, so I guess I'm a mom.
[6:18]I'm a 13 year old daughter.
[6:20]And I have two dogs and that's it.
[6:23]Really?
[6:24]I have two 14 year olds.
[6:26]I have 14 year old twins by the way, a boy and a girl.
[6:28]And I have a seven and a year old.
[6:30]So lucky.
[6:31]Yeah.
[6:32]And a lab who's sleeping over there.
[6:34]But anyway, that's my story.
[6:35]Wait, can we start by talking about fictions, the app, which is such a cool idea.
[6:40]And just tell me about how you started it.
[6:44]And especially coming from a place of talent management.
[6:46]Like where did this come from?
[6:48]How did you launch it?
[6:49]Where do you see it going?
[6:50]I'm like, I'm totally into it.
[6:52]Okay.
[6:53]So it goes way back.
[6:54]I mean, Megan and I talked about kind of doing like female forward podcast a long time ago.
[7:01]And we had this whole idea. Do you remember her pod?
[7:05]So we kind of start.
[7:06]Yeah.
[7:07]And it started with that.
[7:08]And.
[7:09]But I think the idea wasn't like fully formed yet in terms of like what, what kind of content would we want to do?
[7:17]Because there's so many podcasts right now.
[7:20]And there's, you know, every, every personality has a podcast.
[7:23]And every YouTuber now has a podcast.
[7:25]And, you know, so it kind of became like, well, wait, how can I have a community?
[7:30]That's a little separate from that.
[7:33]Like not just like a one off.
[7:35]And then I heard some narrative podcast.
[7:38]And I was like, oh my God, I love this medium.
[7:42]Because it's more, you know, it's more in my realm of like making TV or making movies or narratives and stories.
[7:50]And one of the things that my background in film was always optioning books and turning them into movies.
[7:57]And that was kind of like my sweet spot, which I really liked because I liked working with the authors.
[8:03]And so I was like, there's so many great short stories that don't get developed that kind of get overlooked by all these great authors.
[8:10]So that's where I kind of started.
[8:12]And I approached a bunch of authors.
[8:14]It was like a really great.
[8:16]They were like, oh, cool.
[8:17]It's like a teleplay.
[8:18]I mean, I've had a hard time trying to explain what it is we're doing.
[8:22]But it's, I like we changed it a lot. Like we'll say audio narratives or we'll say, you know, narrative podcasts.
[8:29]Like it's kind of, but basically it's like a teleplay, I guess, with actors dramatizing, you know, stories.
[8:36]And then we do it like in short serialized way because just because of my time as a mom.
[8:43]And I feel like other people can relate, but like I don't always have two hours to sit down and listen to like a book or a two hour podcast. Like I just don't even, I'm always, you know, so like 20 minutes here or 15 minutes here.
[8:57]It's more fun for me because I can kind of continue it in my head and then check it back later.
[9:03]And so we're playing with the different formats and the links, but that's kind of where it is.
[9:08]Basically it's like based on books and novels and some original ideas if they're really good like merit us.
[9:14]And you know, which was basically a pilot that we adapted.
[9:18]So it was already an IP, but that's kind of where our sweet spot is.
[9:23]And then also it's it's female authors and and women's stories like all women.
[9:28]And that's also really important to me because I find like, you know, like a lot of the number one books or a lot of the things that are like that dominate.
[9:37]Hollywood are white male driven content like it's just it's like just the way it is.
[9:43]So it is hard to find that kind of content.
[9:46]It's getting better, but it's not really great.
[9:49]So so the idea of bringing more any women, you know, we aren't just like the sidekick, right.
[9:55]And so even though like James Patterson's like the number one author, you know,
[10:00]So there's so many great authors that maybe don't get that
[10:03]publicity that he gets, you know,
[10:05]and their stories are just so good and imaginative.
[10:08]So I'm trying to like put more light onto that area.
[10:13]So great.
[10:14]What are some of the books and authors you worked with
[10:17]in the past to option that you're really excited about?
[10:20]Yeah.
[10:20]Well, we, I'm really excited about working with Lori Storles.
[10:24]Do you know her?
[10:25]She wrote Lewis for Nightmares and Jane Anonymous
[10:29]and Bleed.
[10:30]And we're doing Bleed first.
[10:32]I saw that.
[10:33]Yeah, that doesn't really mean.
[10:34]And Megan is one of the stars in Bleed, too.
[10:37]She plays Merle, which is a really cool character.
[10:40]And so that I really like that.
[10:43]Also, Dina Sedinat De Silva,
[10:46]she's a big Brazilian writer.
[10:49]She's, she's written like 20 books.
[10:51]She's amazing.
[10:53]And we did three of her short stories.
[10:55]Her short stories are really beautiful
[10:56]because they're like fables.
[10:58]So that was really fun.
[10:59]Do you know the rock eaters?
[11:01]No, I'm just sounding like, look, you know, a moron.
[11:03]I mean, I do know of a little books.
[11:05]But I'm just not knowing of these.
[11:06]I'm sorry.
[11:07]The role the rock eaters, we just, we optioned a short story
[11:12]called Miazza from the rock eaters.
[11:14]And that's a really great story about two teen girls.
[11:17]One is very wealthy and one is not wealthy.
[11:20]And they play each other in tennis.
[11:23]And it's a really good story because they kind of bond over
[11:27]that. They're very competitive.
[11:28]They're both 14.
[11:30]And it's a real, it's, I love that story.
[11:32]I don't want to give away the end of everything.
[11:34]But it's really well written.
[11:36]We just did from the neck up with Aliah Whitley.
[11:39]She's a really great writer.
[11:41]She raised in like every genre.
[11:43]She wrote Skywarden and the loosening skin.
[11:47]And she also wrote from the neck up,
[11:49]which is just a really imaginative kind of out there story
[11:54]about a girl who finds ahead in her bed.
[11:57]And becomes friends with it and nurtures it.
[11:59]And it grows into this beautiful plant that produces flowers
[12:05]that she's able to make a living from.
[12:06]It's a really cool story when I could go on and on.
[12:11]But I know those were just some highlights.
[12:13]Yes. And I know we'll talk about the break of day.
[12:15]But one last question, when you're optioning short stories,
[12:19]do you option the whole collection?
[12:20]Or do you, like if it's all in a book?
[12:22]When I do short stories, we, we, okay.
[12:24]So only a few times they wanted me to option the whole book,
[12:27]but honestly, only maybe one or two,
[12:31]I feel will adapt to a series and also will adapt,
[12:36]because we don't want to just read an audio book.
[12:38]Some short stories are just one person narrative.
[12:41]And that's harder.
[12:42]We want dialogue, we want action.
[12:44]We want things to happen.
[12:46]We want sounds.
[12:47]Yeah.
[12:48]So when we look for it, we look for that.
[12:49]So usually it's one or two from a collection.
[12:52]It's rare to find a whole book.
[12:55]But like for instance, bleed, I would say it's like 10 short
[13:00]stories, about 10 different teenagers kind of like that,
[13:04]but they put it out as a book.
[13:05]And for us, all 10 worked.
[13:07]So we option the whole book.
[13:09]Got it.
[13:10]Very interesting.
[13:11]I love this model.
[13:12]Meredith, talk about the break of diet
[13:15]and what happened to you that was autobiographical,
[13:17]that inspired it.
[13:20]Okay, so it was really fun.
[13:22]I was writing a really dark, adapting a dark book
[13:25]during COVID and I was getting really depressed.
[13:28]It was triggering some events that had happened to me.
[13:31]So I just wanted to write something really funny
[13:33]and I hadn't gone into comedy yet.
[13:35]And I was just thinking like, what if I still
[13:37]worked for that boss at that talent agency in COVID,
[13:40]she would totally make me work even though I'd be furloughed
[13:43]and I'd be rolling calls and then working with the clients.
[13:46]And then one of that ex-boyfriend was like living with me.
[13:50]He would totally be a squatter and never leave and take dates.
[13:53]And so I just like started writing
[13:55]because I knew I wanted to do the memoir,
[13:57]kind of like how I broke up with myself to become bland today.
[14:01]But then I was like, well, I really want to use these stories
[14:04]that happened.
[14:05]So I just started writing the pilot
[14:06]and it kind of just like flew out of me.
[14:09]And so I like the character which Megan did such
[14:12]a great job of playing.
[14:14]It's really me and it happens to be Megan apparently.
[14:17]So I'm for the same person.
[14:18]But I love that I used to be a bad feminist.
[14:21]So I would be like, I'm a feminist and then I would not be.
[14:24]And it was just like making fun of myself.
[14:26]And I was always Miranda Hobbs.
[14:28]And I'm a sex in the city fanatic.
[14:30]But every time I took a quiz, I would like pray for Carrie
[14:34]and I would be Miranda.
[14:35]And it's like every time I get that character,
[14:38]even when my group of friends are like, who are we?
[14:40]I'm Miranda for Halloween.
[14:42]So I just kind of went with that.
[14:45]And all of it is pretty true, except for placing it in COVID.
[14:49]It was really fun to revisit.
[14:52]I love, it's always great to see a chapter
[14:54]called like, am I Miranda Hobbs?
[14:56]Or just having Miranda Hobbs is a reference point.
[14:58]You know, you're already like in conversation
[15:00]with the person writing it.
[15:01]Yes.
[15:02]And Miranda's great.
[15:04]Like I have come to learn that Miranda
[15:06]is one of the best people to be compared to.
[15:09]Like aside from Cynthia Nixon being amazing.
[15:12]But I mean, she was always so sure of herself strong.
[15:15]And then it helped people no matter what.
[15:18]And so I like came to find that her spirit was actually
[15:21]the best to be compared to.
[15:22]So yeah.
[15:24]Megan and Kendall, which sex in the city person are you?
[15:30]I am a Leo.
[15:31]So I'm like a little bit obsessed with myself.
[15:33]So in that way, I guess I'm kind of like Carrie.
[15:35]But like that's a very embarrassing thing to admit.
[15:37]Like growing up is realizing you want to be Miranda not Carrie.
[15:41]But I would say that like I am probably in my friend group.
[15:44]I am like most definitely the Samantha.
[15:47]Like I am the one who like says things and my friends are like,
[15:51]oh my God, stop.
[15:52]This is so embarrassing.
[15:53]I'm like, what do you mean?
[15:54]Like I'm very much that I think.
[15:57]I think it was the other one.
[16:00]You are.
[16:00]I can tell you who you are.
[16:02]Yeah, who's that one?
[16:03]The Charlotte.
[16:04]Yeah.
[16:04]Because out and out.
[16:05]Like, oh, I got Charlotte.
[16:07]Oh, like it is very that like,
[16:09]I got Charlotte on Facebook once.
[16:11]I took a test.
[16:14]Yeah, I got a doubt, Charlotte.
[16:16]And I was like, no, I'm not.
[16:17]I was like super upset.
[16:18]And then it was like, oh, my God, that she would do that.
[16:21]Yeah.
[16:21]She was upset.
[16:25]I'm a Leo too of Megan.
[16:27]I'm when you're birthday.
[16:28]August 22nd, when you're so August 4th.
[16:30]August Leo's are superior.
[16:32]And I didn't know that.
[16:34]OK, well, we are.
[16:35]That's a thing now.
[16:36]OK, sometimes I feel, you know,
[16:38]inadequate because I'm approaching the Virgo cut off.
[16:41]But you know, it's a common own, the Leo.
[16:43]So I desperately wish I had some Virgo in my chart
[16:47]or really any earth to kind of like keep me grounded.
[16:50]And like, but I don't.
[16:51]I am not that.
[16:52]I would love Virgo too.
[16:54]I feel like they're so organized.
[16:56]They're so Meredith, what are you?
[16:58]You're, I'm in areas.
[17:00]Oh, that's why you're areas.
[17:02]Love, but it's worth, I believe.
[17:05]But yeah.
[17:06]And Kendall, what are you?
[17:07]These are random questions.
[17:08]I don't usually ask, but OK, Libra.
[17:10]Mm-hmm.
[17:11]All right, yeah.
[17:13]But I would love that Virgo energy.
[17:15]Me too.
[17:15]Sometimes I wonder.
[17:16]I mean, I was born early.
[17:18]Does that mean I'm like really a Virgo?
[17:20]Like, should I have been born?
[17:22]Does it matter what your due date really was?
[17:23]I don't think so.
[17:25]I was late.
[17:25]Some people say your moon is more important than your.
[17:29]Yeah, you're so confident.
[17:31]Who you are like when you're alone or like by yourself,
[17:33]which I like to talk about because I'm a Pisces
[17:35]moon, which is just like inside.
[17:37]You are sad and inadequate.
[17:39]And I'm like, OK, don't need to tell me fine.
[17:41]I told you what my moon was.
[17:43]And you were like, oh, I'm so sorry.
[17:45]Oh, yeah, I'm from, no.
[17:47]I said I was a cover board moon.
[17:49]And you were like, oh, I'm really sorry for that.
[17:53]Someone's engaged with a Capricorn.
[17:55]Like, you know, you guys are hard on yourselves.
[17:58]Wait, Megan, you started off by saying your whole brand
[18:01]is comedy.
[18:03]Explain.
[18:04]I think that I am definitely laugh at myself, self
[18:10]deprecating kind of humor person.
[18:12]But I have just kind of just throughout the content
[18:15]that I've made over the years and then like through my book
[18:19]and then through my movie and all of that stuff.
[18:21]Like there is this kind of through line of that kind
[18:25]of finding humor and like through all of these things
[18:28]that you go through.
[18:29]And there's this thing of like, you know,
[18:31]breeds resilience or whatever.
[18:33]And I'm like, for sure, struggle breeds resilience.
[18:35]But like it also breeds humor.
[18:37]And I joke that I'm like the funniest one of my friends.
[18:39]I'm like, that's because you all had it so easy.
[18:41]Like I also had transition lenses in middle school.
[18:44]Like I had to develop a good personality and be funny.
[18:48]So people would like me.
[18:49]But yeah, I've always just kind of been that person.
[18:53]Like I really like to, I don't know, on my podcast,
[18:56]we do a lot of like advice and like helping people
[18:58]and doing things like that.
[19:00]And I always think it's best to come from a place
[19:02]where you are relating to someone and being like,
[19:06]okay, I can totally understand what you're going through.
[19:08]Like here's my like, let me unpack some of the stuff
[19:10]that I've been through that I relate to with this.
[19:12]Now I feel like we can kind of relate to each other better
[19:15]because I mean, we've all been through that stuff.
[19:17]And I think once we start talking about it,
[19:18]it's a lot easier to be like, oh my gosh,
[19:21]I relate to you, I relate to you.
[19:23]Yes, I do some of that.
[19:26]And I know I saw your podcast, Don't blame me.
[19:30]It's like so super popular.
[19:33]And I try, I do a podcast with a British sex expert,
[19:37]named Tracy Cox.
[19:38]It's called Sex Talk.
[19:39]It's gonna be interesting.
[19:40]And we answer these anonymously searched sex questions.
[19:43]And if she answers and I kind of blush and ask them
[19:45]from the pile, anyway, it reminded me of your show
[19:49]in this like instinct to try to help and whatever,
[19:51]but yours of course is like amazing stuff.
[19:53]What I'm not saying, it's fun.
[19:55]Yeah, check it out.
[19:56]Okay, back to fictions and the breakup diet.
[19:58]So, Megan.
[20:00]And what was it like embodying a character
[20:02]and knowing it would just be audio?
[20:04]Like how did it feel to prep for this role?
[20:07]How did you like get into it?
[20:10]Did you record it as if it was like an audio book
[20:12]and a studio?
[20:14]Is there a difference between audio and podcast?
[20:17]I don't know, all that sound stuff.
[20:19]Honestly, I think there is a pretty distinct difference
[20:21]between like I recorded my own audio book.
[20:23]Like there is a difference between recording an audio book,
[20:26]recording a podcast and doing like a narrative podcast
[20:29]because you are acting
[20:32]and like I very much related to the character
[20:34]when I read it immediately.
[20:36]I was like, if anybody else does this,
[20:38]I will be so upset.
[20:39]Like this is like me.
[20:40]Like I have to do this.
[20:42]Like Meredith and I have such a similar voice
[20:44]and like the internal monologue of the character.
[20:46]I was like, oh, this is like in my head.
[20:48]Like I completely understand that.
[20:51]So it is very different than like prepping
[20:53]for like any other kind of role
[20:55]because it is, yes, totally just audio.
[20:58]So like I was focused a lot more
[21:00]on like drinking a lot of water,
[21:02]having like teen year by
[21:03]and you are just paying much more attention
[21:07]to your voice and how that sounds.
[21:10]And when you're acting on film,
[21:13]it's a lot of like, okay,
[21:14]I'm not gonna read into anything too much
[21:16]because I wanna be natural and do all of that kind of stuff.
[21:19]But you have to like look at the subtext
[21:21]to things a little bit differently
[21:22]when it's just audio to kind of give the listener
[21:25]an indicator that it's not written on your face.
[21:27]Like kind of have to hear it.
[21:29]So it was really, I really liked it.
[21:31]It was really, really fun.
[21:32]And it is, I think just such a cool take on
[21:38]what we think of when you think of like audio books
[21:40]and that stuff and like I personally find these
[21:43]like so much more engaging and all encompassing
[21:46]because yeah, for like some of them
[21:47]you have a lot of like actiony noises
[21:49]or like I recorded one last week.
[21:52]And we spend like new director Karen spent like 15 or 20
[21:56]minutes of her being like,
[21:57]okay, so can you just do some like heavy breathing here?
[21:59]And I'm like, okay, with my post COVID lungs,
[22:01]like this will be a fun time.
[22:03]And we're doing all of this other stuff.
[22:04]And like I'm so excited to see how it's like
[22:06]interwoven into that, which you don't usually hear.
[22:09]And audio books and you also don't really get to
[22:11]necessarily be a part of that process as an actor
[22:13]for like film and television.
[22:15]Like you'll do ADR and you'll come in and like be like,
[22:17]now make efforts cause you're fighting a zombie
[22:20]and you're like, okay, and you're in a sound booth.
[22:22]But here I'm just like, it was in my,
[22:25]like it's our guest room
[22:26]that's turned to my podcast room during the pandemic.
[22:29]And I'm just like making those noises into my microphone.
[22:32]And so it feels like, I don't know,
[22:34]you're there really much more from the very beginning of it.
[22:36]And you can kind of envision how it's going to come together.
[22:39]Very interesting.
[22:40]I'm also interested in how you've grown your whole brand.
[22:44]You know, it's so interesting and I am DB now.
[22:46]It's like, it's not just film and TV.
[22:48]It's like your personal stuff, right?
[22:50]It's just as important.
[22:51]It's just as relevant.
[22:52]And it takes a really sort of a student business person
[22:54]to market yourself that way, right?
[22:57]And tell you also doing jobs like this
[22:59]and you know, passion projects and all the things you do,
[23:02]but also sort of crafting your own role in the world.
[23:05]It's really neat.
[23:06]I mean, all of you are doing that in one way
[23:09]or another with establishing this amazing company,
[23:12]writing the works that you want,
[23:14]like adapting all of it to changing audio scape, if you will.
[23:19]Yeah, I mean, yeah, how I kind of started all of this
[23:24]purely luck and accident, which I don't think is something
[23:27]that you can really do anymore.
[23:28]But like I started making YouTube videos
[23:30]in my bedroom recorded on my computer
[23:33]because I got mono and I was stuck at home over the summer
[23:37]and I was like super bored.
[23:38]And it was kind, it was before it was like cool
[23:41]to be on the internet and like talking about your life
[23:45]and doing things like that.
[23:46]And so I didn't really have, which is like very theme
[23:50]of my life.
[23:51]I didn't really like know what I was doing.
[23:53]Nor did I do a lot of research of what other people
[23:55]were doing.
[23:56]So I just like got on there.
[23:58]I was like very much my own personality
[24:00]and I realized like, oh, people don't swear.
[24:01]People aren't making dirty jokes.
[24:03]They aren't doing any of this stuff.
[24:04]And I was like, well, well, the new already started doing that.
[24:06]And so I really came like very personality first.
[24:10]And that was just like a kind of just like stuck.
[24:12]And I was like lucky enough that I just had this like side hobby.
[24:18]And I was like, I'm kind of like Hannah Montana.
[24:20]Like I go to high school and then I come home
[24:22]and I like recorded video on my computer
[24:24]at like, what's in my school book?
[24:26]And like, it just kept continuing and doing it.
[24:29]And I've done it for, I can't do math,
[24:32]like 11 years or maybe almost 12 years.
[24:35]It's weird.
[24:36]It's wild.
[24:37]It's awesome.
[24:38]This is why I like my little kids want to be youtubers
[24:40]and they grow up, you know, this is like the feel and all.
[24:42]And Kendall, what about sort of identifying
[24:45]this market opportunity with fictions and going into that?
[24:48]Oh, well, how did it start?
[24:50]I think it was just me wanting more content
[24:55]that was female centered.
[24:58]And, you know, there was that.
[25:00]And also how I love when I heard narrative podcasts,
[25:04]how I really liked that too.
[25:06]And thought, wow, I wonder if this is something
[25:09]that my, you know, other people will like narrative podcasts
[25:12]like, will that be a trend?
[25:13]I don't know.
[25:14]I am hoping, but I wrote a business plan
[25:17]and then an investor came on board.
[25:19]And so that was how we kind of were able to, you know,
[25:22]get it started and go and build that.
[25:25]Amazing.
[25:26]Okay, Meredith, not to neglect you up there.
[25:28]And the zoom, how about adapting to a new,
[25:31]this new medium of writing?
[25:33]And like, what is that entail?
[25:34]Like, do you have to really, what considerations do you have
[25:38]to keep in mind when you're writing for audio versus
[25:42]for film or TV?
[25:44]Yeah, it's totally different.
[25:46]And you have to think that all visual descriptions,
[25:48]people are not gonna hear.
[25:50]So you have to look through those descriptions
[25:52]and see how you can make them audio to get your point across.
[25:56]And, you know, sometimes like writing for its TV or film,
[26:00]you don't want to be like really boring
[26:01]and expositional with your dialogue.
[26:03]And I felt the same way.
[26:05]That was the hardest part for me,
[26:06]because I do not do that in my screenwriting.
[26:09]And I did not want to do that in the audio series.
[26:12]So it's like coming up with a different unique way
[26:14]with that sound and dialogue to convey.
[26:17]This is what's happening.
[26:18]And then the listener doesn't get confused.
[26:20]Cause like, for example, something that Megan does
[26:23]on the audio series is she has like a drug trip.
[26:26]Like, how do I, and she was so awesome at it.
[26:29]So it's like, and I directed that one too.
[26:32]But it's like, how do you get someone to sound like
[26:34]they're on a trip so that people listening hear that.
[26:37]You know, cause, and a film you would have like psychedelic
[26:40]certain camera movements and things.
[26:42]And it was like, you know, matching the music
[26:44]to what Megan was doing, which made it perfect.
[26:48]What do you think it is about audio?
[26:50]Like, why?
[26:50]Why is this so popular right now?
[26:52]Why podcast by audio?
[26:54]Why have we turned to this, do you think?
[26:56]Why is this such a big deal?
[26:58]I think it's easy.
[26:59]You listen to it.
[27:00]You can get immersed into the world.
[27:02]You don't like Kendall said, you don't have to sit down
[27:05]and read a book for hours.
[27:07]You don't have to sit down and watch the movie.
[27:09]You can consume like, I think break up debt and correct me
[27:11]if I'm wrong, it's like 35 minutes altogether.
[27:14]So like, everyone has a little bit of the time
[27:17]where they can listen to something.
[27:19]And I think that it's been proven to be strong,
[27:21]especially in the entertainment industry
[27:23]because homecoming was an audio series before
[27:26]and there are so many other examples.
[27:28]And now a lot of celebrities are turning to doing podcasts.
[27:32]And I think one celebrity recently said to my fiance,
[27:36]like the audio series is now the pilot.
[27:39]And that's how things are getting made.
[27:41]because consumers want that.
[27:42]It was great.
[27:43]Each chapter is only about five minutes.
[27:45]I'm like, well, this is totally doable, you know?
[27:48]You can also be the intimacy of podcasts
[27:52]and even narrative podcasts
[27:53]because there's something about like,
[27:56]so for instance, like there's certain movies,
[27:58]like a Paul Greengrass movie, for instance,
[28:00]where he shoots everything with the camera
[28:02]and it's like you're in his head
[28:04]or you're in that person's head, right?
[28:07]And you're, it's like a first person narrative.
[28:09]So when you're listening to a podcast,
[28:11]it's the same kind of experience
[28:13]because it's in your head.
[28:14]It's through your ears and your head.
[28:16]There's no visual stimulation.
[28:18]You're actually immediately there.
[28:21]And I think there's some connection in the brain
[28:23]that it's, and I think that's why a lot of celebrities
[28:27]are making podcasts because they're trying to connect
[28:30]with their audiences and their fans
[28:32]and whatever and build that relationship.
[28:34]And it's in more of an intimate relationship
[28:36]than just a post like, hey, you know?
[28:40]So I think that there's that,
[28:41]but I think it's the same with storytelling.
[28:43]Like there's something about like sitting around
[28:45]the campfire telling stories, you know,
[28:48]that people still do and still have like
[28:51]visceral reactions to that's not just sitting back
[28:55]and watching on a movie screen.
[28:56]There's something more immersive about it.
[28:59]So I think there's something cool there,
[29:00]but I don't know, I've never like done a study,
[29:03]but it would be fun to do like that.
[29:05]Mind you, I'm like asking you this on a podcast
[29:07]which is ridiculous, but yeah, you know,
[29:09]I mean, obviously I think about audio a lot
[29:12]and you know, why do I listen?
[29:14]Why do I record why this is my whole life now?
[29:16]It's all these podcasts, you know?
[29:18]I don't know who did it.
[29:19]Anyway, I find it endlessly fascinating.
[29:22]But you know, it's really interesting
[29:24]because like, you know, Zoom became such a thing
[29:27]during COVID before we would all just do conference calls.
[29:30]Nobody wanted to do Zoom, you know?
[29:33]It was like, no, I'm not doing Zoom.
[29:34]I'll do a conference call.
[29:36]Now you kind of have, it's the opposite.
[29:38]It's like, what do you mean you're not doing Zoom?
[29:40]I know, it's a conference call.
[29:41]It's like, yeah, it's offensive,
[29:43]but I think people can get drained
[29:46]from that visual stimulation, right?
[29:48]And they just wanna go back to talking, right?
[29:51]You know, if it's just gonna be an intellectual banter
[29:54]or whatever, it may be phones easier
[29:56]because you don't have all the distraction
[29:58]of the Zoom and the visual.
[29:59]And it comes.
[30:00]something like that with podcasts too. It's just like, you can just tune in. You don't have to deal
[30:05]with all the, you know, watching the actor in this and understanding, you know, that's a whole
[30:10]different experience. Okay. But it's a good one too. I like that too. Let's question for you guys.
[30:17]After a breakup or a really bad day, what is the diet that you would like to be on,
[30:22]like non-stop? Like what foods are you go to foods for your own sort of breakup diet?
[30:27]Breaking up. Like if you're having a bad day, like not, if you're just having, if you're having
[30:34]a terrible day, what do you like to eat? Oh, mac and cheese, mac and cheese. Yeah. I always say,
[30:40]I feel better after that. Okay. I mean, a little bit of mac and cheese, or yeah, that's like my,
[30:48]I always feel better. A good one. I would probably say Mexican food sounds like my go to like, it's my
[30:54]go to on my birthday, but it's also my go to something good happens, something bad happens,
[30:58]like there's like one specific, I'm not going to blow up. I mean, actually, whatever. If anyone's
[31:04]in LA, Gloria is in Culver City, Fandons, and specifically, I used to live right down the street.
[31:10]And so Gloria specifically knows me. And so we go once a week and we get pick up and they like,
[31:16]no, our order. And so there's something really comforting about like that aspect of it too,
[31:20]but even if I'm not in LA, like Mexican food is like, the comfort of your food is my favorite
[31:25]food, I think too. Like, if I go out, that's what I like to do. Yeah. I agree. Mexican food is my
[31:32]favorite. Two of them. Yeah, we're so LA. So my favorite. So basically all of us might not.
[31:38]It's true in LA, we get the best Mexican food. It's good here. We do. I went to Salt Lake City for a
[31:47]project and they took me to time obsessed with the diners, drive-ins, and dives. And they took
[31:51]yes, and again, they took me to a Mexican restaurant that you went to. And I was like, what is this?
[31:57]It's because we have such a good Mexican food that this is probably really great in Salt Lake City,
[32:02]and no shade to the place. But I was like, everyone needs to come to California because it's the best.
[32:08]I'm very different. I like cake or like something sweet or cookie. So yeah, it's either a chocolate
[32:14]chip cookie or Susie Cakes rental bouquet. Susie Cakes marble cake is my favorite food on the planet,
[32:21]I think. That one is good. It's so good. Every so often there's a chocolate chip, and it's like,
[32:26]really, you don't know when it's going to come. It's so good. It's like that. Yeah, they're frosting.
[32:31]Yeah, they're frosting. Yeah, because it's got buttercream, right Megan? Yeah, she's an insane.
[32:39]Yeah, because one of her many talents is the fact that she can bake these insane masterpieces.
[32:44]And she taught me about buttercream. I didn't even know that. There's lots of different kinds.
[32:49]Yeah, the rumor with Susie Cakes is they put buttercream in their like batter too. And like,
[32:55]that's why it's like so moist. But like, it is there's like a secret thing. Like, it is like within
[32:59]the baking community. There's like everyone knows like Susie Cakes has a thing. Like they have like,
[33:04]it's like SpongeBob and the Krabby Patty. Like there is like the secret recipe for it.
[33:09]But the speculation is that there is like literal buttercream in the cakes.
[33:14]I would make sense. It does taste like that. Yeah, it does. Who knows.
[33:19]It's been a lot of time thinking about Susie Cakes. So this has come
[33:22]a very welcome piece of information. Thank you. All right, ladies, thank you so much for talking
[33:27]about fictions. I'm so inspired by this app for short women's fiction. It is so cool.
[33:34]And thank you for talking about it. Anyway, thanks to everybody. Thank you.
[33:40]Okay. Nice to meet you. Bye. Good to meet you guys. Okay. Bye. Bye. Bye.
[33:47]Thanks for listening to this episode of Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books. Don't
[33:51]forget to follow me on Instagram at ZB Owens and at Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books.
[33:56]Also sign up for my newsletter at ZB Owens.com and sign up for my virtual book club and meet
[34:00]lots of authors on Zoom every other week. Thanks so much to Steve and Ryan in fact,
[34:04]texture sound for the sound editing. And thank you to Morning Moon Productions for providing
[34:09]this fantastic intro and outroom music.