Danielle Schaum 0:42

Welcome to the people of Northwest Arkansas. My name is Danielle Shom and we are really excited about our guests today.

Danielle Keller 0:48

And I'm Danielle Keller. Let's welcome our guest, chris Mann, a film producer living here in NWA. She's produced some incredible projects, including Meg Ryan's newest rom-com, what Happens Later. Welcome, chris-san. Welcome, thank you. Thanks for having me. Thanks for being on the show. We can't wait to talk about your news film, but first let's talk about you. We want to learn a little bit more about you, since we are the people of Northwest Arkansas. So just tell us how you ended up in NWA and what brought you here.

Kristin Mann 1:16

Yeah, so I was born and raised in Little Rock, so you know, in Arkansan. The good chunk of my life, and then the last like 12 years or so, have bounced back and forth between Austin, Texas and Los Angeles. And then there were some meetings actually that I was having in Fayetteville. There was a person here that was a repeat investor in some of my projects, and so I would come out here and every time I'd come out I kind of had my eye on Bentonville and could kind of like fantasize about living in this small town, like small town life again, you know, yes, and then I would leave and kind of forget about it and you know it becomes like a thing that's like, oh, that's nice to dream about, but you know it's not realistic. Then the pandemic happened and everybody was moving across the. You know we were all virtual and moving everywhere and I've thought now's the time to do it if I'm going to do it.

Kristin Mann 2:05

So I really thought that I was moving to Bentonville for like a six month. You know, nature reset, you know, and then I would leave and go back to Austin or Los Angeles and I just fell in love with it. I fell in love with Bentonville and the whole area and the people and I saw potential for bringing movies here and, you know, somewhat burgeoning, you know, industry here and so decided to stay and it's worked out so far. I really love it. That's awesome.

Danielle Schaum 2:30

That's kind of a similar story. I'm from Dallas and I love Austin, by the way, and I love how everyone is just flooding to Austin, everyone's like and now Bentonville, so it's like Austin's gotten really big. But I love Bentonville too. I love that small town. I feel like so many people that we've had on here too are like I leave, and the more I leave and travel, the more I love Bentonville and Northwest Arkansas. Yeah, oh, the nature, just the ability to like, have that small town feel but kind of the big city wants and needs.

Kristin Mann 2:59

Yeah, it really. I go to LA a lot still for work and I, when I go to LA, I appreciate like both spots more. Almost it's like I appreciate if there's things about Bentonville I appreciate more when I go there and vice versa. But yeah, everyone in the industry is always asking me like what in the world am I doing?

Danielle Schaum 3:19

I hear that in Dallas too. Absolutely, what are you doing in Arkansas? Oh, yeah, yeah.

Kristin Mann 3:23

It makes zero. Especially for working in film, it's like it makes zero sense. So it's like I always tell people. It's like it's not really for work, it's more like it's this cute, you know, adorable little town that has all the perks of, or the charm of, living in a small town but has some of the bigger city perks. It's a very, like, unusual place. I've not ever been to a small town like this before.

Danielle Keller 3:45

Me neither. Same. I have a question too, being from California people, oh yeah, when I first moved out to Arkansas my friends were like why yeah?

Danielle Schaum 3:54

what Like? What are you?

Danielle Keller 3:55

doing. I know and yeah, it's absolutely, and now I can't, I can't imagine not living here?

Danielle Schaum 4:02

Yeah, no, me neither. And I said the same thing in Dallas. I did voiceover in my agent, was like well, the nearest sister studio is in Little Rock, and I was like I'm definitely not driving there for work.

Danielle Keller 4:12

Yeah, Don't offend her, she's from Little Rock, and well, no, it's just, I have a little bit of drive.

Danielle Schaum 4:19

I can't drive three and a half hours every time I want to like audition or record, so I went rogue and it worked out. It didn't work out, yeah.

Kristin Mann 4:28

Little Rock? Yes, I was born and raised there, but this is a very different place from Little Rock.

Brock Short 4:33

It could not be more different. I feel like.

Kristin Mann 4:35

Yeah, Sure proud of it, but I would not want to live there again.

Danielle Schaum 4:38

What do you miss in LA? Because in Dallas I miss, like fresh green juice and shopping.

Kristin Mann 4:43

It's the like the produce, the produce Like the fruits and vegetables. The farmer's market's great here, but there aren't like fruit, like fresh fruit, and you can get it all year round. Of course, the sunshine, you're right, like sunshine, gal Sunshine.

Danielle Schaum 4:58

Absolutely. I don't miss the sunshine in Texas. I'm just going to tell you, it's like I'm being like on the devil's doorstep all year round. Oh my goodness, it was 90 when I was at my 20 year high school reunion last weekend.

Kristin Mann 5:08

How do you dress for fall? Yeah, it's a different kind of sunshine.

Danielle Keller 5:11

And it is very different. Fall is very different. In mild climate it's baking.

Danielle Schaum 5:15

Yes.

Danielle Keller 5:16

I remember when I came and I was here in Arkansas and then I moved back to LA area for about a year and I remember my roommates going, oh my gosh, it's so cold, it's like 60 degrees. Oh yeah, that's when I go into like, oh man, I miss 60 degree cold. I would take that any day over the 30 below, whatever temperatures that we get the temperature here now. Yeah.

Brock Short 5:41

Absolutely.

Danielle Schaum 5:42

I mean, it was like December, december 60 degrees. This is a bad time for me to get a puppy, because I had to take her out at night and I'm like I just throw. I'm like a Lenny Kravitz. I like throw my comforter on like a scarf and I'm out there like hurry up, please.

Danielle Keller 5:55

We sound like a couple old ladies.

Danielle Schaum 5:57

I know I'm going to take up crocheting soon. Oh my gosh, she's telling yeah, the little librarian over here. Yeah, my kids told me, I look like a librarian, but you're a book lover.

Danielle Keller 6:08

I do, I do, I do, I do, I do.

Kristin Mann 6:13

I don't normally do this, but I'm reading a couple of books at once. I'm reading a kind of a boring financial book. Oh, I like that though.

Danielle Schaum 6:20

Practical.

Kristin Mann 6:21

Yeah, practical. And then, to kind of get away from that, I'm reading something that's a little bit more like a woo-woo, like a wanderlust yoga type book. Oh you know, balance it out. Yeah, I read all kinds of stuff. I'm all over the place I can relate with that.

Danielle Keller 6:35

Yeah, you can relate a lot. Little yoga instructor. Right here I am a certified yoga teacher.

Danielle Schaum 6:39

Oh nice, I do teach yoga. Let me think how like I'm bad with math today. Ten years yeah, Ten years I've been teaching Wow. But I love the actual book Wunderless, because I used to go to the festivals. Have you been?

Kristin Mann 6:50

to one no.

Danielle Schaum 6:51

No, pretty cool. I mean, I don't know, they don't ever come through here.

Kristin Mann 6:54

Yeah, like the big cities, they're probably more fun to go to than read a book about it.

Danielle Schaum 6:57

But do you go to Yoga on the mountain? Yes, way more fun to do that.

Danielle Keller 7:01

I should do that. Yeah, yeah, especially since the name is Wunderless.

Danielle Schaum 7:05

I know, I know.

Danielle Keller 7:08

Go travel, explore. I love exploring, though.

Danielle Schaum 7:11

How long have you practiced Yoga?

Kristen's Journey Through Film and Producing

Kristin Mann 7:13

Yeah, here I'm more of like a dabble in it. Ok, just because I'm one of those that I like to do it at home alone versus going to classes, I'll go to classes every now and then.

Brock Short 7:24

But yeah.

Kristin Mann 7:25

So I've never really like, because I'm not learning from someone, I'm not really progressing. You know, sure, it's more just like stretching. At least you're doing it.

Danielle Keller 7:35

Hey, that's good. Stretching is important.

Danielle Schaum 7:37

Yeah, stretching is important, it really is.

Danielle Keller 7:40

I love that we're getting so far off topic, but no, this is on topic.

Danielle Schaum 7:44

That is on topic. I can talk yoga all day.

Danielle Keller 7:47

Kristen, we are super excited to talk to you about film. Tell us a little bit about your journey through film and how you got started and kind of what keeps you going as an artist.

Kristin Mann 7:57

Yeah. So I knew that I wanted to work in film since I was little. Like I mean, I remember watching the movie ET when I was, like no joke, four years old, I mean like super, super young. I have a memory of that. That's awesome.

Kristin Mann 8:09

And obviously not knowing what the film industry was then, but looking at this and being like, how do I be a part of this magical world, you know? And then as I got older and learned you know what making a movie was, I thought I wanted to act, just simply because I thought that was the only thing you could do as a woman. I didn't realize that you could like do other things and help make me proud. And then, as I got older and older and started learning about it and sort of jumping in, I started assisting and I went to UCA and Conway for school, mainly just to kind of have a college experience, not really for, you know, film or anything. And then after I graduated, went to New York for a summer to do an internship. So that was like my first big, you know, step into the industry. And I did that for years Like assisted, worked in the art department, assisted producers, directors, worked in post, just kind of hopping around trying to figure out what exactly I wanted to do.

Kristin Mann 9:01

And then I noticed a pattern forming which was people would come up to me after and be like you should really think about producing. Like your skill set seems to kind of align. And I would always say no way, that sounds like a ton of responsibility, I have no connections to financing. Like that makes no sense, you know. And then one day some friends who were writers, directors in Little Rock came to me and said we have this short film. This was wacky, a little short film. We want you to produce it. We're going to literally give you the money, the budget. Just will you please do it?

Kristin Mann 9:32

And I was like, all right, ok, so did that. And it was like everything clicked for me. Once I did it I realized like, ah, this is what I'm supposed to be doing. Like, I'm good at this, I enjoy the challenges, it's like exciting and tough and all the things. And so after that, that's when I like pushed pretty hard into, like, ok, I'm going to, you know, try to make it as a producer.

Kristin Mann 9:54

And then shortly after that, I started working on the movie Mud that came through Arkansas with the filmmaker Jeff Nichols, who's from Arkansas, and after that experience moved to Austin to start assisting him and his producer and Terrence Malick, and so that experience was a big like. It gave me an opportunity to work on some really big movies behind the scenes, but also some smaller budget movies, and I had a ton of responsibility because we were doing so much, basically working as a lower level producer, like an associate producer, and then from there, after like three or four years, moved on to doing my own movies, producing, and I've done that for the last, like you know, 10, 12 years or so.

Danielle Keller 10:33

I love that. I love hearing people's story For our listeners who don't know a lot about the process of filmmaking. Yeah, in your own words, describe maybe what a producer does, what kind of like the day to day responsibilities look like.

Kristin Mann 10:45

Yeah, it's a lot and there are different types of producers. So I can explain what type I am, because there's different. There's like financing producers, there's like line producers that manage the budget. I'm more of a sort of all encompassing you know, really get your hands dirty producer. So I'm doing everything from sourcing the material, which is that, which is everything from finding a script or optioning a book and creating a screenplay based on the book or play, to hiring the director to casting the film, raising the money and doing all those deals which can take, you know, sometimes years, and then hiring everyone for production, overseeing that and then post production, release, you know, marketing, festival sales, the whole, the whole thing. So it's it's kind of like starting a small company each time and it's a lot.

Danielle Keller 11:37

It is a lot. You're the superhero of movies. Yeah, you do all of the things. What is another analogy we can think of?

Danielle Schaum 11:45

I'm thinking about spinning plates, spinning plates oh absolutely. What is it? Not the Lorax, but the cat in the hat, the cat in the hat. He has all those plates with like fish bowls, and yeah, I think of that. Oh, yeah, or if you've ever waited tables and you have, to like, do all the things. Oh, yeah, yeah, that's what I would equate it to. Yeah, I feel like everyone should have to wait tables. I agree, it's a very good life lesson.

Kristin Mann 12:09

Yeah, I think it makes me a better producer, having done it for years.

Danielle Schaum 12:13

Yeah, Better tipper, more appreciative of what they go through. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Danielle Keller 12:17

What have been some of your just highlights from working on working in film and maybe some of your favorite aspects of producing.

Love and Travel in Filming Locations

Kristin Mann 12:26

Yeah, ooh, good question. I mean, one of my favorite things about producing is hiring like key department heads, like cinematographer, the production designer, costume designer, and then putting them all together Because it's the whole process. It's like one thing to like meet with the director and make sure they jive with the you know, costume designer and each of those people and we do as producers and make sure that they have the creative vision that aligns, but then to put all three people that have never worked usually they've never worked together together and go okay, let's step back and see what happens.

Danielle Schaum 13:00

Yeah, that part is super exciting, that's a nice experiment.

Kristin Mann 13:03

Yeah.

Danielle Keller 13:04

Yeah, that's it. Sometimes it doesn't go so well.

Brock Short 13:07

Oh.

Danielle Keller 13:07

I can imagine Just having worked on teens before. You never know, you never know, you never know. Yeah, you never know.

Kristin Mann 13:12

But when it does, it's like such a fun thing to watch and work off of each other and inspire each other. Highlights oh my gosh, there's been so many cool things. I guess another thing that I love about producing and maybe it's a love hate because it's another reason why I'm somewhat like I've stepped away from it a little bit this last year to take a break but traveling and getting to experience these towns and these places that you film in, like a local you know for, like anywhere from four to four weeks to two, three months, however long it is, that's fun. Like I've made a couple of movies in New Orleans and I don't know that I would have experienced New Orleans in the way that I did. I've made two movies during Mardi Gras, which was wild, oh yes, yeah.

Danielle Keller 13:52

I'm like why did I do this the second time I've been?

Danielle Schaum 13:54

to New Orleans and during Mardi.

Danielle Keller 13:56

Gras, it is wild.

Danielle Schaum 13:57

It is, and I can only handle two nights. So, yeah, yeah, I won't tell you those stories on this part. Oh, I could tell you some stories.

Danielle Keller 14:05

Sidebar.

Danielle Schaum 14:06

Sidebar, but it's a love hate because so you love it.

Kristin Mann 14:10

But it's also like, as I'm getting older and I want, like I'm finding I want structure, like more and more structure and like I'm good with a routine you know, and so I love it and I and I'm like really love being home as well and like all the cool things that come, you know, with just being home and settled.

Danielle Schaum 14:28

But yeah, I could see that Every time I travel. Well, first of all, I think post COVID the delays in travel have increased so much, and I don't know if it's that or it's my age, but now I'm like I wish I was home in my bed, yeah, and.

Danielle Keller 14:44

I need more things. I need like a fan and need like a sound machine.

Kristin Mann 14:48

Yeah, you have all your things, yeah, all your comforts, yeah.

Danielle Schaum 14:52

Oh my goodness, my chapstick. Does anyone else have to keep chapstick?

Kristin Mann 14:55

Oh, yeah, yes, okay, speak of my language here. Yeah, all the things, my sound machine, you know all the stuff.

Danielle Schaum 15:00

Yeah, my husband's always looking at the stuff I pack. He's like seriously, Like seriously. It's like it's one night. I'm like I know it's one night and this one night matters to me. I need sleep, I mean. Well, I'm sure.

Danielle Keller 15:14

Kristen, what is your number one travel companion?

Danielle Schaum 15:17

Oh, I want to hear this. What helps you oh?

Kristin Mann 15:20

I mean, this is going to sound really bougie, but I don't know what to do without bougie I don't know what to do without face oil now.

Danielle Schaum 15:28

What face oil do you use?

Kristin Mann 15:29

Oh, let me tell you it's called the beautiful face oil by KJR Weiss. I think it's the brand.

Danielle Keller 15:36

Okay, I've heard of that, but if it's called the beautiful face oil, I need to look at it.

Danielle Schaum 15:41

It's real good. Oh no, I don't care. My daughter she's nine, she's really into skincare. She took her on a retreat I'm creating a little monster. She had all these little girls. She opened up this whole bag. She takes my like Codile, she likes drunk elephant, she's got Tatcha, I mean, and these girls are like what's this? And all the moms are looking at me like I'm so sorry, but I'm trying to get her away from makeup and more skincare.

Danielle Schaum 16:03

Yeah, yeah, yeah you know, because I feel like when they're teens, they think they have to wear a lot of makeup. I'm trying to go Alicia Keys with her. Yeah, and just take care of your face. Yeah, the only problem is she puts on like 20 things in the night and I'm like that could work against you.

Danielle Keller 16:20

Hopefully it works for her.

Danielle Schaum 16:21

I'm going to have to look at the face oil, though I don't know what your version of expensive is, but is it, like lemur, expensive? I haven't used a lemur, a lemur, am I saying wrong?

Kristin Mann 16:31

Yeah, I'm not sure I may be saying it wrong. Okay, I use drunk elephant.

Danielle Keller 16:35

So drunk elephant yeah, which the face cream is like 60 or $80,. I want to say which is outrageous, but yeah, I like it Well that's something I will splurge for myself.

Danielle Schaum 16:48

That is something I will splurge for myself. What do you have to?

Danielle Keller 16:50

take to travel. What do I have to take to travel? Oh, I would say chapstick and water. Those are like key things for being on a plane at least I often actually know my husband would correct me on this pillow, pillow 100%, you bring your own pillow. If I'm not flying, I will bring my own pillow.

Danielle Schaum 17:08

If I'm flying.

Danielle Keller 17:09

I have like a little neck pillow but, I just love, I just I don't know. I like having my pillow.

Danielle Schaum 17:15

You want to hear something that's really freaky. My husband is a guy that could go with nothing no phone, no headphones he just goes. He'll just sit. He looks like a psychopath. He just sits there and I'm like what is wrong? People are going to think something's wrong with you.

Danielle Keller 17:31

We're so off topic right now.

Danielle Schaum 17:34

I know I just had to throw that in there because I think it's funny that we're like that.

Kristin Mann 17:38

You're saying that we're in a like that. We're in a position in society where, like, a person's like fully comfortable with himself without anything and we're like he's a freak. I know.

Danielle Schaum 17:49

You're like people are looking at you.

Danielle Keller 17:50

What's funny is we call or I call him bougie Elliot and he was named after ET, his brother.

Danielle Schaum 17:56

when you said ET, I thought of it because his mom was pregnant and his brother was like we should name him Elliot. Oh wow, is that Elliot?

Danielle Keller 18:02

He's now named Elliot, all right, what is? What is a town that you've been to that you fell in love with, aside from Bentonville?

Memorable Experiences and Challenging Filming Days

Kristin Mann 18:10

Yeah, aside from Bentonville, I mean I guess I have to say New Orleans, because I didn't make two movies there and it was just a unique experience and that town has a way of just swallowing you up in a way that other places don't, which can also be bad, but it's an experience.

Danielle Keller 18:29

Yes absolutely.

Kristin Mann 18:30

It's an experience I've made a movie in like super small towns in Oklahoma and you know, love Oklahoma, nothing against it. But that is very challenging to like make a movie somewhere where there's, you know, no resources and hardly any crew and I would not like to repeat that experience again.

Danielle Keller 18:45

Absolutely, I was going to ask you. The next question I had was what are some of those experiences that you will never forget, that you are like whoa. What am I doing here?

Kristin Mann 18:56

Oh, I got some. I got plenty of those stories. I'll share one with you that I probably shouldn't, but I will.

Danielle Schaum 19:02

Those are the ones we like. Yeah, they both just perked up.

Kristin Mann 19:06

Yeah, so day I think it was day two of a movie that we were shooting in Oklahoma. Day one went amazing. Day two it's this like low budget film that I made a few years ago. We were having like experiencing challenge after challenge after challenge. We were shooting in the middle of like a field. It was one of the windiest like like it felt like tornado type winds, you know where. You know the actress's hair is just going everywhere and like you couldn't keep like a flag up. You know, with your filming, with the old cars that we were shooting in, because it was a period film we're breaking down, it was just like not going well.

Kristin Mann 19:38

We all decided to like just go to lunch early and kind of reassess and figure out how do we save this day. So we cut, you know, cast and crew to go to lunch. We figure out some kind of plan to save the day at lunch. We come back from lunch and everything's going fine. We haven't quite started filming yet, but I get a text like we're starting, almost starting to film.

Kristin Mann 19:56

I get a text from the makeup artist saying, hey, I'm not going to make it over to set. I am really sick. Like I just got really, really sick and I was like, ok, so sorry, you know, let us know if we need anything and we'll cover for you. Maybe 20 minutes passes and she texts again and she's like this is really really bad, like really bad. And I was like, oh God, ok, she's out for the day. Then my mind's going like how do we get her home and how do we replace her for the day, you know?

Kristin Mann 20:20

And then somebody else comes over and is like I'm not feeling so well and I'm like, oh, that's interesting. So then I'm like, all right, maybe I'm just going to check in with check in with people and I start going around to each department and everyone's like, yeah, feeling fine, feeling fine. And I did this around each department, like went to like cinematographer, like the grip and electric truck, you know. And by the time I made the round and made it back to the first like truck, people were thrown. So what we quickly discovered was everyone had been poisoned at lunch, like we all eaten really bad. So the day went from like really bad to like worse nightmare, like, oh, my goodness, imagine coming back and having an entire cast and crew vomiting everywhere Just food poisoning?

Kristin Mann 21:38

Like yeah. So then it turned into like how do we get everybody to the hospital and save it?

Kristin Mann 21:44

OK, and you're in small town, oklahoma, yeah in small town, oklahoma, no, and so, mind you, this is day two, so I haven't even met all of the crew yet, like I'm still walking around introducing myself to people that. So I met some people for the first time at the hospital while they were in a bed, like oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, I'm the producer, like welcome, welcome, it was a disaster, and like I don't know, it looked really bad because I didn't get sick and my producing partner didn't get sick and the director didn't get sick, and I'm like this does not look good. Oh no, I promise we did not plan it this way.

Danielle Keller 22:21

We just needed to poison all of you, to kind of reset.

Danielle Schaum 22:23

Oh my God, it was a total nightmare. This is the movie.

Danielle Keller 22:27

Yeah, so how many days later were you able to get all your crews back? I?

Kristin Mann 22:31

think we basically like, took the next day, you know, of rest and just like let's not, you know we can't shoot, we don't have anybody. And then I don't really remember. It's been a while. I tried to scrub that memory from my brain. I think we took a day or two and then came back.

Danielle Keller 22:45

Yeah, I will say I think I know a film you're talking about too. Yeah, Because is it? Can I say it?

Brock Short 22:50

Yeah, To the Stars. Yeah, was it that?

Danielle Keller 22:53

Which it was an excellent film. I loved it.

Kristin Mann 22:56

Thank you, it premiered at.

Danielle Keller 22:57

Bentonville Film Festival, and I remember watching it there, yeah, and I really enjoyed it. I think that was the first time I met you as well.

Kristin Mann 23:03

I think so yeah.

Danielle Keller 23:04

I think there was a Q&A afterwards and a couple of the actresses I think were there. And yeah this is a really, really good period film about a topic that was never something that you talked about back in the 50s.

Kristin Mann 23:18

Yeah, right, yeah. Yeah. That was one of the first like projects that I produced, you know, on my own not the first, but one of the first and super proud of that movie. We premiered at Sundance and Competition and that was an amazing experience. And, yeah, just one of those, one of those films I feel like turned out really well, but I also love the dialogue it generates and, yeah, proud of that one.

Danielle Keller 23:38

And the stories you have to tell about it. Yeah, even if it is everyone throwing up on set. Oh my gosh. Day 2. Day 2. Oh man, day 2.

Brock Short 23:46

Yeah.

Danielle Keller 23:47

Did you? Were you able to reset the morale of the?

Kristin Mann 23:51

Yeah, but it was challenging.

Filming a Rom-Com Challenges and Excitement

Danielle Keller 23:52

Yeah, yeah, I can imagine, yeah, I can imagine.

Danielle Schaum 23:55

So, shifting to the most recent movie, what happens later? Hopefully nothing like that happens. Yeah, no, but they were at.

Danielle Keller 24:05

Crystal Bridges. I think they were good.

Danielle Schaum 24:07

And filming at the airport, yeah, so what was that like? I want to hear you know.

Kristin Mann 24:12

Oh yeah, it was a lot of work, very challenging it it. You know, both locations really were challenging. We shot basically half of it at Crystal Bridges Museum and then half of it at XNA Airport. The entire movie takes place in the span of about 24 hours really less than 24 hours in an airport and so we were tasked with you know what locations do we shoot in and how do we stitch them together to make it look like the same same place, because there's a little bit of a like magical element to the movie. So we couldn't really shoot the entire thing at XNA Airport just because it's a pretty like basic, you know functioning airport, but that's. You know. We needed the functioning aspect and then we needed that magical element, which is what Crystal Bridges sort of brought into the picture.

Kristin Mann 24:55

Both were challenging because both were active. You know, the museum at night. We shot a lot of nights there, a because the film most of the film takes place at night, but B because that's the only time we could have that was just owned. You know where. There weren't visitors walking through and noises happening. So both you know locations and everybody there were amazing and it took a lot of work, but yeah, it was challenging to figure out how do we film during the day at Crystal Bridges around visitors and they had a ton of events, you know, that month that we were filming in.

Kristin Mann 25:25

So working with that, and we basically came up with the plan to leave up some of the design and the museum got on board with it because we made the case that like hey, this is actually kind of a work in progress, like a piece of art in progress, so you can actually lean into it and when visitors come in, it can be something you can point out to them and say, hey, this is a movie that's in the process of being made, versus it just being like total mess, like it being disturbing to the guests and then at the airport, that was incredibly challenging just because you can't we couldn't shut down an airport at any point and you know I was waking up each day and coordinating with, like TSA and like the chief of police and the captain, you know there and airport management, and then, like the vendors, you know there'd be times that we made plans to shoot at a gate and something shifted.

Kristin Mann 26:20

You know, and you know Meg would come over and be like we needed, or the cinematographer would come over and we would decide to shift gates. And then I'm on the phone with, like, literally, american Airlines or like the airlines being like can you reroute the flight to this gate Cause we need to shoot. So it was a wild time, from about like three or four weeks, trying to coordinate all that.

Danielle Schaum 26:39

And you had to be nocturnal too, right Cause you did work all night. All like losing our minds.

Danielle Keller 26:43

Yeah.

Kristin Mann 26:46

And Meg directed it. Yeah, yeah, meg directed and starred alongside David DeCuffney.

Danielle Keller 26:49

Wow I love Meg Ryan. I know how did you get connected to this film.

Kristin Mann 26:54

So it's based on a play and two of the producers had approached the playwright and talked about adapting it into a screenplay. And those producers approached the other producer and myself and brought us on just basically saying, like we don't want to do this ourselves, we want, you know, some help. And so we all kind of banded together and adapted the play into a screenplay and then, once we felt really good about that, then it's the process of like, okay, who are we going to get to direct it? And this never happens. But Meg was literally the first person we sent it to.

Kristin Mann 27:25

You usually, like, have to plan for months, sometimes years, trying to find your, your person, and we, you know I have relationships with the agency that she's at and thankfully she read it right away and, you know, fell in love with it and wanted to get involved, which was, you know, total dream come true. We honestly just kind of thought, like, what's the harm in sending it to her? She's probably not going to want to do it. But let's just, it's Meg Ryan, let's see, you know, and, yeah, much to our like, surprise and elation, she dove in.

Danielle Schaum 27:55

I can see how this would be perfect for her, because, yes, and it's just, that's her rom-com is her thing. Yeah, absolutely. And just the premise of it at the airport.

Kristin Mann 28:05

Yeah, I grew up on her movies and literally had posters of her on the wall.

Danielle Schaum 28:08

Okay, what's your?

Kristin Mann 28:09

favorite, oh, when Harry met Sally hands down.

Danielle Schaum 28:11

Oh, I mean yes, yeah. What about French kiss, though? That's my second favorite Meets?

Kristin Mann 28:16

oh, I love French kiss. I feel like a lot of people haven't seen that or don't talk about it for whatever reason.

Danielle Schaum 28:22

That's why I had to bring it up because I grew up watching with my mom. She'd always have to skip that one like scene and I remember being like close your eyes or ear muffs, but then the rest, like I love that movie so much.

Kristin Mann 28:32

She's great in that movie.

Danielle Schaum 28:33

Yes, that's what kind of client?

Kristin Mann 28:34

Oh yes, it's really funny.

Danielle Schaum 28:36

It's so funny, I want to watch it again.

Danielle Keller 28:39

Oh, I like. I think we should have a May Gryan marathon. We should do a marathon. I really love that you took a chance and said we're just going to send this to her and we're going to see, and the worst that could happen is she says no, and how? That is a theme that we've been hearing a lot.

Danielle Schaum 28:57

Ask and you shall receive. I try to teach my kids that Don't be afraid to just ask. Ask for what you want.

Danielle Keller 29:03

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Ask for.

Kristin Mann 29:06

I mean, that's kind of reasonable but also ask for what you want. Ask for what you want Be reasonable Ask for what?

Danielle Keller 29:10

you want.

Danielle Schaum 29:10

Yes, be reasonable, but.

Danielle Keller 29:13

Absolutely, I think. I think a lot of our listeners are going to be really thrilled to listen to this podcast. As far as May Gryan, she's an icon. She has, I mean, she's made generations laugh. She's helped us fall in love and I think that there's something really special about her coming here to Northwest Arkansas and filming a rom-com that you know filmed, produced here. It's really exciting to think about that.

Kristin Mann 29:44

Yeah, and you know and on that note it was, you know, obviously amazing that she agreed to do it. But then it was even more amazing when she got on board with coming, you know, here because I'm always, every time I have a movie and if it makes sense creatively, I throw Arkansas into the mix, because I'm from here and I know making a movie here your money goes pretty far and it's just my home state and I've wanted to come back and make a movie here but no one ever goes for it. So make sense and this because they don't get it. They don't.

Kristin Mann 30:16

But thankfully, you know, I had flown out to meet Meg for the first time in California and at that point we knew she was in and we started floating out ideas for locations and throughout. You know, arkansas and specifically this area because I was, you know, drawn to it and got really lucky in that she had been here before for the Bentonville Film Festival and had been to Crystal Bridges, and so when I said it I could see her wheels turning and she's like wait a second, what if we? How crazy would it be if we could shoot at the museum? And secretly I'll let you know, in my head I was freaking out because I was like, oh my God, I can't get that. There's no way I'm going to be able to get that.

Kristin Mann 30:56

On the outside I was like, yeah, it's great, sounds good. But yeah, she immediately like went for it and started dreaming up this world at the museum and got excited about coming here and experiencing the town. And you know I don't want to share too much about her. Obviously she's kind of a private person, but like, she totally, like you know, immersed herself in the community and was, you know, riding her bike around town and loved it.

Kristin Mann 31:20

Oh like in City of Angels, although that was a sad movie.

Danielle Keller 31:23

Yes, I just had that image that crossed through my mind of Meg Ryan.

Danielle Schaum 31:27

No, I did too actually.

Danielle Keller 31:28

Yeah, riding her bike. Yeah, Did you enjoy working with her? Yeah, yeah.

Danielle Schaum 31:33

It was lovely, yeah. So David Duke-Evany, when did he come on board?

Kristin Mann 31:37

So he came on board somewhat significantly later because you know, again, it takes a while to find your team. But once he came on board and we started meeting with him and talking with him about the project and they started going through the script, we got to a point where we were like we literally can't see anybody else playing this role, like we're so lucky that we got him. He's so funny in a way that I just fully did not realize.

Kristin Mann 32:01

I mean, of course I see him, seeing him and stuff, but I didn't truly realize, like, how funny and witty he is, and so he was adding a lot to the material and like throwing in one liners and things. You know. We were like, oh, this is exactly what we need, you know, to bring this character, this guy, to life, because it's just them too, the entire movie. That's a huge challenge in and of itself, like not having other people that you interact with, and so we needed this guy to like come in and, you know, really bring him to life. And then they just got along, you know, brilliantly, which is what we needed, as well as that chemistry.

Danielle Schaum 32:34

Wait, we need to give a trailer for the movie real quick. A trailer? Well, we should tell our listeners if they haven't.

Kristin Mann 32:40

What's it, what it's?

Danielle Schaum 32:41

about.

Films, Tattoos, Favorite Spots in Arkansas

Kristin Mann 32:42

Yeah, so essentially it's about these two people. Basically, at the beginning of the movie you see them both get off of a plane and are sort of, you know, rummaging through the airport and run into each other, and you come to learn that they used to be together, you know, 25 years previous and hadn't seen each other in that entire time. And so this massive snowstorm hits. They get stuck in the airport overnight and are sort of forced to, you know, reconnect and you'll see what happens later, later.

Danielle Schaum 33:14

Is there anyone in? I know you're married. Is there anyone you could see that happening with in your own life, like someone I've met in the past? Is there an opportunity there?

Danielle Keller 33:27

I feel like all of us have one we do, I think you do Absolutely.

Danielle Schaum 33:32

Right, I just had to ask that because everyone tries that. I'm sure when people watch it they'll think of that one person you know and it could be like, even if you're married, it's like let's say, you know, let's just say you're not married. If you never did, you'd think of that one that got away or like your first love, whatever it was, and how crazy to be stuck in an airport with them. Totally Like you have to say the thing you never wanted to say yeah, or that you should have said.

Kristin Mann 33:57

Yep, that's exactly. You're like literally saying stuff from the movie, exactly.

Danielle Schaum 34:03

It's like you read this script. No, I haven't, I haven't. That's really cool. I cannot, I can't wait to see it.

Kristin Mann 34:09

Yeah, I think it's something that a lot of people will be able to relate to and connect with, hopefully.

Danielle Schaum 34:14

I love that it's here in Arkansas, because you just don't hear about too much, but I feel like more and more films are coming here.

Kristin Mann 34:22

Yeah, I have plans to bring another project here, so just got to raise the money for it and hope that will happen.

Danielle Schaum 34:27

That was my next question. You already addressed it. I love that yeah.

Kristin Mann 34:30

Yeah, yeah, I have a comedy. It's hilarious that I'm hoping to shoot here. I'm really, really excited about it.

Danielle Schaum 34:36

That's my favorite movie genre. Yeah, comedy yeah.

Kristin Mann 34:40

Mine is right now for sure.

Brock Short 34:41

Yeah.

Kristin Mann 34:41

Everything that's happening in the world. I'm like I need to laugh, Thank you.

Danielle Schaum 34:44

Yes, comic relief. Yeah, they were talking about horror movies. I don't like horror. I'm not huge fan either, but I like thriller. Yeah, thrilling movies, but slashers, gore, not really into it. I can't do horror either.

Kristin Mann 34:59

Yeah, did you guys see that Five Nights at Freddy's is like breaking all kinds of?

Danielle Keller 35:04

Yeah, we heard about that, it's wild I actually.

Kristin Mann 35:08

So the company is another company that I work for. I'm essentially I'm essentially producing for a post production sound design company out of LA and we did the sound for that movie.

Danielle Keller 35:19

So congratulations. Yeah, that's really exciting.

Danielle Schaum 35:22

You sound like you're busy. Oh my God, I'm a little too busy.

Kristin Mann 35:25

A little too busy. I mean it's good, I'm grateful for it. But it's a yeah, it's a very busy time.

Danielle Schaum 35:31

So I saw you had a tattoo. Can do you mind sharing what it is? Yeah?

Kristin Mann 35:34

Which one? This one.

Danielle Schaum 35:35

Left arm. Okay, I didn't see the one on your right this one.

Kristin Mann 35:37

Yes, this is. This is an outline of my dog Sammy his ears. He passed away in January from cancer, sadly, and I wanted something to like memorialize him, and this is where he would like when I hold him is where his his head would lay. So I got his little ears, but I love it. I can look down there and see his little.

Danielle Schaum 35:58

I love that tribute ears? Yeah, that's what kind of dog.

Kristin Mann 36:02

He was a Chihuahua Whip it mix. Oh, a whip it Super cute.

Danielle Schaum 36:06

So cute Cause the Whippets are like kind of tall like a little bit.

Kristin Mann 36:10

Yeah, they're so small, right, yeah, okay, super fast, and then you had another one here.

Danielle Schaum 36:15

Um here, yes.

Kristin Mann 36:16

Yeah, this is initials MS. So this is sort of after. This is inspired by Gloria Steinem's magazine Miss magazine, sort of sort of a feminist statement. Oh, I like that. Yeah, I like that, and I've got a hummingbird over here. This is my most recent and obsessed with hummingbirds.

Danielle Schaum 36:32

Are you? Yeah, have you seen the hat that people put on? Yes, that's a hummingbird.

Kristin Mann 36:37

Do you know? Hang on, do it. Side note, this might actually be something you guys appreciate. There's a woman that lives in Bentonville. Her uncle invented that.

Danielle Schaum 36:46

What? Okay, I need to support her uncle Actually the video that you've probably watched.

Kristin Mann 36:50

That's her uncle.

Danielle Schaum 36:51

Yeah, yeah, oh, my goodness, you know what you guys. Arkansas is where everything's at these days Innovation, business hummingbird hats. Hummingbird hats.

Danielle Keller 37:00

I kind of want to get one Well.

Kristin Mann 37:02

I'm getting one.

Danielle Schaum 37:03

Yeah, I don't kind of get one, okay, we need to do it Like the videos, do like a TikTok, absolutely.

Danielle Keller 37:10

Well, I love the TikToks and the reels that are everywhere now about being like in your 40s or being older, and setting your birdwatcher.

Danielle Schaum 37:17

It creeps up, creeps up on you real fast yeah.

Kristin Mann 37:20

I used to think those creep up weird and now I get it.

Danielle Schaum 37:22

Now I'm like okay, birding, I am a birdwatcher.

Danielle Schaum 37:25

Oh same. And my mom lives in Texas and I'm like she's always telling me that Texas is the number one birdwatching state, and so I was like mom like come on, but now I can see why she likes it, because it's pretty interesting it is. So I'm with you on the hummingbirds. Yeah, no, I ask because I don't have any tattoos. My husband does, and he just got a new one of the Buffalo, a Buffalo in the river. Oh cool, he's going to like do a little map. I guess we can anytime we're talking. Oh right, here, Like point to it. And so I'm really into stargazing, so I kind of want to do something stargazing focus so thinking about maybe my, you know my, when I was my zodiac, the cancer.

Danielle Keller 38:05

But that's a good idea I don't know, we'll see.

Danielle Schaum 38:08

I got to think about it a little more, yeah.

Kristin Mann 38:09

I never had one. So one thing I always tell people at least this is my experience is I was always nervous about getting a tattoo until I decided on something.

Kristin Mann 38:18

I sketched it out and I laid it next to my bed and for like six months every day I'd wake up and look at it and I decided like after six months if I wasn't sick of it and I would I would get it on my body and like I started to do that and it made me feel because I had ideas, and then, like a few weeks later was like dear God, thank you, like I did not get that, you know. Yeah, so just a little, I don't know suggestion that worked for me. I like that too. That's a really great idea.

Danielle Keller 38:43

I haven't had any tattoos yet. I have a few that have in mind as well. One of them is kind of in a way, to memorialize my dad and he. I want to get the word love in his handwriting.

Danielle Schaum 38:54

I like those tattoos, the handwritten, yeah, yeah.

Danielle Keller 38:58

All those hand writings, All the all, the uh, the word, all the words love that I found in his handwriting are kind of a clue.

Kristin Mann 39:09

That's even better. Actually it is better, yeah, yeah.

Danielle Keller 39:13

I mean it's not, it's not deterring me from getting it. I, I, I gotta say some of those are the best tattoos, ones that are like little imperfect.

Kristin Mann 39:21

Yes, I'll say really quickly a friend of mine in LA recently got super drunk at a party and got a tattoo and she got it's like a little parakeet and she meant for it to be. It's on her tush and she meant for it to be sitting in the direction where it would look like it'd be sitting on her um bikini. She got it flipped on the wrong side. That's what makes it so great. Though it's like it's facing the wrong direction, she didn't get it at the party or she got it at the party.

Danielle Schaum 39:47

Yeah, oh my God. Yeah, this is a great party. I've heard about tattoo parties.

Kristin Mann 39:51

You can go to a party and get a face tattoo. Yeah, oh my God, yeah, I'm going to get a face tattoo.

Danielle Keller 39:58

They're in right now. I don't know. They're in right now.

Danielle Schaum 40:02

Well don't go to a tattoo place and tell them you have none, because they're like, ooh, blank canvas. They get really excited when they hear that because I told them when my husband was getting one a couple of weeks ago that I didn't have any. They're like we can spin a wheel. If you can't decide, we'll just pick. I'm like that scares me.

Danielle Keller 40:15

Yeah, I'm terrifying. No, that is definitely not you, but they are addictive.

Kristin Mann 40:20

They are addictive. I've heard that Once you get one.

Danielle Schaum 40:22

Yeah, I want more. I think it's like okay, when can I come back? Yeah.

Danielle Keller 40:28

Yeah, okay. So if we could hear and tell our listeners what is your favorite scene from what happens later, that's a good question.

Kristin Mann 40:37

This is going to come out after the movie's released, so I can maybe talk a little bit, but actually this won't really give anything away. But there is a scene towards the end where they both are just kind of like they both let loose and dance and it well, it's in the airport, but it actually was at the museum where we shot it, and that would be that would be my favorite favorite part of the film.

Experiences in Arkansas and Film Promotion

Danielle Schaum 40:58

I'm excited. I am too. I cannot. We need to go get our ticket. Yeah, we do. Okay, I love that. And then away from the movie. More on Northwest Arkansas what's your favorite spot here? Like, is there a certain place you go to to kind of ground yourself or just to let loose, because you said you came here to a nature detox?

Kristin Mann 41:14

Yeah.

Danielle Schaum 41:15

I know some people don't like to give away their spot, but no, it's, it's.

Kristin Mann 41:19

it's kind of like anywhere in the woods, honestly, Like when I was living over at Red Barn. You know anybody locally is going to know where that that is, and there are trails that surround that entire area and I loved that. I could just wake up in the morning, step outside onto a trail and not have to drive my car anywhere, you know, starting my day every day. So there's a trail over there where there's like a little creek. It's not a specific trail. I would literally go on something different, you know, every day, but then the area or a surrounding, like crystal bridges, is gorgeous.

Kristin Mann 41:48

Love it over there I do too so lucky we have that.

Danielle Keller 41:51

We are so lucky, I know. I remember during the pandemic we we just live maybe a mile from crystal bridges and we would take our bikes and ride them through the trails.

Brock Short 42:02

Yeah, because there was no one there.

Danielle Keller 42:04

Yeah, there was no one hanging out there.

Kristin Mann 42:06

Yeah, there's very few people. It's so beautiful.

Danielle Keller 42:08

It is. It is beautiful, my kids absolutely love going there and it's great. I mean we are very lucky to have that place here.

Kristin Mann 42:15

We are. I've told people in LA I'm like sometimes I feel like I'm in a Disney movie when.

Brock Short 42:19

I'm like walking around on my bike.

Kristin Mann 42:21

There's like butterflies and hummingbirds and like flowers and art sculptures in the middle of nowhere. I'm just like what is this? I brought a friend here.

Danielle Schaum 42:28

She brought a daughter. She put her finger on a butterfly, landed on it. I was like I'm telling you it's straight out of a Disney movie, it really was. It really is.

Brock Short 42:36

And it just fluttered its wings.

Danielle Schaum 42:38

I felt like a little fawn was going to like crawl, like, like this is Arkansas. You guys don't understand.

Danielle Keller 42:44

And Dallas, you know, oh my goodness. Well, there was in Siloam Springs. There was a little deer who, like, became really friendly with people and so people would go up pet it and like talk to it and all this. And then it became a thing where people got upset about it, and so then they like they got upset about it.

Danielle Keller 43:04

They got upset because they were. Some people were worried that you know the steer is going to grow up and then your kids are going to get hurt and you're. You're messing with wildlife and you shouldn't be doing that. And I was like and the theme steer was the deer's name was a Doug Doug the deer he was. He was given a name and I think they, like, re-homed him somewhere. This is giving me little.

Danielle Schaum 43:25

Sebastian vibes, little Sebastian from Parks and Rec where they have the little pony, like the little pony in the town everyone loves. Oh, my God.

Danielle Keller 43:35

Doug the deer. I miss Doug the deer. I love the deer here. They are fantastic.

Danielle Schaum 43:40

I know.

Danielle Keller 43:41

Yeah.

Brock Short 43:42

Yes, north Carolina is a great place, it is.

Danielle Keller 43:45

It really is. It tells us about where, where someone can see the film and what you're hoping for that.

Kristin Mann 43:52

So locally, I think the only place in Northwest Arkansas it's playing is the AMC in Fayetteville. Okay, and everyone should go. Well, this is going to come out after, but as quickly as possible, because they usually like they've got their eyeballs on like opening weekend, opening week, and that will determine whether they extend it. But it's playing in like cities all over the country. Thankfully we have a theatrical deal and, yeah, it's playing, playing all over. You should be able to just do a quick Google and figure out. You know where where we are at.

Danielle Keller 44:16

Awesome. Where can we find? Can we find the film on social media?

Kristin Mann 44:21

Yeah, there's, um, so Bleaker Street is the distributor, the domestic distributor, so you could follow them. And then there is a I believe it's what happens later movie on Instagram, but maybe Bleaker Street. And then, um, yeah, I'm, I'm on Instagram under will the woman? It's, I think it's underscore W, I, l, d, e, underscore woman, or maybe the underscores, I don't know, you'll find it, will the woman.

Danielle Keller 44:45

We'll add it to the show notes.

Danielle Schaum 44:47

Yeah Well, I don't even know why.

Danielle Keller 44:49

I'm glad that you pronounce that because we both were thinking it was wild woman. I love that she's a wild woman, wild, woman, wild woman Wild woman.

Kristin Mann 44:57

Yeah, everyone thinks that, though it's fine, it was, um, I did that years ago and it was kind of after will the beast, like it was after that, and I heard a song called will the woman that I was absolutely obsessed with, and so it was inspired by that.

Danielle Schaum 45:10

So find her on social. She's the will, the woman. Yeah, all right.

Danielle Keller 45:14

All right. So thanks for having me. Thanks for having me, it's fun.

Danielle Schaum 45:17

Hey. Thanks so much for listening today. If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing to the podcast so you never miss an episode. You can also follow us on Instagram at people of NWA. Thanks so much.

Brock Short 45:28

People of Northwest Arkansas with the two Danielle's produced by me. Rock short of civil republic productions. Please rate, review and like us on any podcast platform where you listen. For more information about today's guests and the show, please check the show notes. Thanks for listening.