From WXXI news I'm Matthew Turk, artistic director at the Little Theater.

Filling in today for Evan Dawson.

And this is connections in the new thriller film drop.

A widowed mother named Violet goes on her first date in years.

The date takes a terrifying turn when she's bombarded with anonymous, threatening messages on her phone during the upscale dinner, leaving her questioning who is behind the harassment drop is now playing in theaters thanks to Universal Pictures.

And joining me here in the studio are screenwriters Gillian Jacobs and Chris Roach, who moved from Los Angeles to Rochester in 2021.

Thank you so much for being here and congrats on the success of the film.

Thank you.

Thanks for having us.

so it's in its second week of release.

Yes.

it's doing well worldwide.

In that case, which is always, I think, both a great indicator of current box office, but also to the testament of the story and the fact that audiences seem to really be responding to it.

I saw that, yeah, it was like huge in Mexico this past week.

I didn't see that.

Okay.

Good to know.

Yeah.

I want to start with just kind of like the kernel of the idea.

Like, where did the idea for drop come from?

Go ahead.

Well, the original idea, actually came from two of the producers.

not really the story, but the idea of airdrops being a threatening, thing that could make a good movie.

they were in Italy and at a dinner, and someone was sending them Shrek memes and airdrop over airdrop, so they knew it was someone at the restaurant, but they couldn't figure out who it was.

And it was like a game.

They started playing at their dinner and it just took up their whole evening.

And then they were like, that was kind of interesting.

Like, could that be something?

Yeah, there's were non-threatening.

They were.

Yeah.

It's ridiculous.

Shrek two.

but they, you know, we had one of the producers was an actor in a movie we wrote, called Truth or Dare in 2018.

And we had wanted they had wanted to find a project with us, and they came back and they said, this happened.

Is there a movie with airdrops?

And we thought maybe there is, so we got to work.

And our original idea, had a lot of similar things in it.

However, it all took place at a hotel and, and it was to spread out and it was sort of hard to really focus in.

But there was a dinner scene and then we said, could we just make this all at dinner?

Is there enough.

And yeah.

And then it was sort of like okay well how can you already make the dinner kind of tense or nerve wracking and that's like a first date.

You know it's everyone.

It's so universal.

And yeah.

What kind of character would that be?

Even scarier for?

And that's, you know, how we came up with Violet and, you know, being a single mom and a widow and everything.

So, yeah, just kind of snowballed.

Yeah, I, I have so many directions that I want to go in the conversation with this, but for anyone who is listening, if you have a question for our guests, you can call 844295 talk in Rochester the number is (585) 263-9994. or you can comment on connections on the Z, YouTube news channel.

So, you just mentioned like universal, like the universal ness of it.

I one of the things that I really love about the film is I think that there's a real balance between the modern and the classic in it, things that, again, feel very much like of like a common, universal experience.

But then also you've put such a modern twist on it.

phones are something that I want to focus on a second here because I, I was doing some research and I was like new of but was surprised how common phones are in horror.

I think in that case like iconically at the beginning of scream, but then also Black Christmas like is so terrifying in that case.

so I want to take just a quick second, and, I want to play a quote from lead actress Megan Fahy, talking about a bit about her character receiving a sudden phone message, this idea that it's totally within the world we live in, that you can receive a message like that unsolicited from a person that you don't know.

And you can look around the room, as she does in the film and see everybody in it on their phone, and have even less of an idea of who it could be.

And so I think that that's actually a really effective part of the way that the film is shot, because it's so the world that we live in.

So how, in effect, did you try to find a way in, like writing this to make it both fit?

Like a phone connects us to other people, but also in drop specifically is so isolating and so terrifying.

Right?

Yeah.

It's funny.

It's funny you mention those other films like Scream and Black Christmas, because I think one of the challenges as a screenwriter, especially working in horror thriller as technologies get better, certain things that work before don't work.

So, you know, in the old days, it could be like someone's cut the phone line and now I'm completely isolated.

So but there is something about our cell phones and being glued to our phones that is isolating.

And, you know, all of us are kind of everyday in our own world.

And we don't, you know, we're both guilty of it and everyone is and you don't know what's internally happening.

And I think that's that lended itself well for this character because, you know, she could almost just like she's being rude.

She's worried about her kids.

She's whatever.

But there's this whole world that only she's privy to on her phone, which is something we all experience, just not in an intense way.

Yeah, I think it's it was also just a really fun way to make it, you know, literally the tagline is like, everyone's a suspect.

And it's like, you know, you go anywhere and everyone's, you know, staring at their phones.

And so that was something we really definitely wanted to utilize to our advantage is just to, you know, really just show the prevalence of these things and how it, you know, if you don't if you don't know who it is, like, how are you going to figure it out?

You know, and it literally could be anybody within this range.

So that was like, that's that's always fun about airdrops too, because, you know, I'm sure maybe you'll get into this.

But like texting in movies and as like a threatening thing, you know, it's obviously been used a lot.

But what we liked about this was that, you know, with an airdrop, the person is within a certain range.

So that was fun too, was just getting to use the space in that way.

Yeah.

And I think it's that that uncertainty of what's on the other end is what continues like, weirdly, like I was thinking about the fact that, again, so much of like, let's call it earlier, phone technology, again, is audio based in that case.

And when I was actually looking at pulling clips of the film for this episode, or I kind of had a hard time with it because so much of the phone interaction in this case is text based and silent.

And what is what is that like writing for that?

Yeah, I mean, that was I feel like when we were writing it, something that we were a little concerned about that we wanted to obviously, like make the person feel like a character, but also not just have like a ton of, you know, shots of her looking at her phone kind of thing, like, through it.

And I know Chris, the director, Chris Landon, you know, knew right away.

I think he knew that he didn't want to be cutting to her phone or anything.

So that's why, you know, that's the reason for the text on the screen.

And I think they really set up shots in a lot of ways to really make the text, like they knew exactly where they would have it to make it look like it was oppressive to her in, in this space.

but so yeah, but it was I mean, we were very aware of, yeah.

I mean, one fun thing we did with the script, which we've, I've never done in a screenplay, is we actually put we created the memes, unlike them in the screenplay, before it starts getting to like, the texting messages when she's first just getting the memes.

And so we were we would create the memes and send them to each other.

Yeah.

And if you like this work, try all kinds of different memes.

Yeah, there's so many classic memes now.

And yeah, you can do meme generators online and have them say anything.

And some of them were ridiculous.

Ridiculous.

But but it ended up working.

Yeah.

Did you you mentioned that obviously the initial kernel came from from AirDrop.

And of course I think yeah, that the proximity aspect is what makes that so unique and so interesting.

But was there at any point a sense of you wanting to be like, oh, what if we convert this to text messages?

Or what if we change the technology or even change how AirDrop works?

Like, I feel like without getting into the specifics, that I don't know of understanding how the technology actually works.

In that case, was there a sense of you wanted to be like, oh, let's make this less realistic or something?

Yeah, I mean, we definitely knew that Apple, the actual like actual airdrops would not end up being the technology.

Right.

you know.

Yeah.

So that was obviously I think we knew that we could sort of, fudge it a little bit to be what we needed it to be.

Yeah.

I mean, in the script, one thing you can do is, like, on an iPhone, you can write a note in the note app and AirDrop that, so I think in the script it said they were sending, you know, the bag I would be sending notes as opposed to a text message.

But then I think for efficiency when they made the movie, they call it, did you drop in?

It just has a text messaging part of it as well.

Yeah.

I think you just yeah, I think that probably made it cleaner and everything too.

But, yeah, when we, when we were writing it, it we definitely were, you know, trying to make it as realistic as possible.

Yeah, it feels like it.

And I think I was very surprised watching the film that I was like, oh, yeah, these are real memes.

Like, it's not like they invented a Hollywood version of something to skirt around that.

I was like, oh no, this is literally the world we're living in in this case.

So I love hearing that.

Like, you actually were testing that out and sending them back and forth.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, we obviously we're like, you know, we don't know if any of these are going to stay, but these are ones that people recognize that were could get the point across.

But yeah, we would be like air dropping each other on our house.

Also seeing like how far away you could be and that kind of thing and you know, yeah, changing the messages on them just, you know, get them to get them exactly right.

But that was fun.

Yeah.

Had had you dealt in previous works with other like dealt with technology in such a prevalent way in like previous writings.

I did before we started writing together.

I co-wrote a movie called nonstop, which has Liam Neeson, and it's on a plane.

And it was it came out in 2014, but I wrote it with, someone else in 2011, and it was it was really when planes started getting Wi-Fi.

And so our idea was, you know, can this be used in a movie where someone's I mean, it's similar in a way someone you don't know on the plane is communicating with this air marshal in the air, you know, and threatening the air marshal and the passengers on the plane.

so that was kind of the first time I did that.

And it's, you know, it's fun to utilize these technologies, and they're so quickly changing that when you have an idea, it's kind of a limited window.

Yeah.

I actually even think like the AirDrop technology on iPhones is like there's like a different format to it now.

I think when we were writing this, it had really started to become a thing that people recognize that like when you're on a train or, you know, out in public, like, you know, I feel like it's like teen sending people random, you know, things that it was starting to become a thing.

So I think by the time it got made, Apple was obviously like like we need to, you know, make it so that it's not as you know, people easy to yeah, send strangers random things.

Yeah.

I got my first one in March.

I don't know what my settings were set to that point, but literally this past March and I was like, what is happening?

I still never happened to me, but it happened to some of the actors, apparently.

Oh, various.

Yeah.

Times.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, it's definitely, I think probably especially if you're like in New York City or Chicago, where there's a ton of people around all the time.

I've heard of it happening on planes, too, that I was in.

I wasn't on a plane, but yeah, I was in a, let's call it a contained area with a lot of people.

And so, yeah, I was like really surprised by it.

that sense again, of like the current technology.

Like, do you, did you at any point think while writing it like, oh, this, this isn't going to hold up because like this technology might go away or something.

Yeah.

I think we were definitely like, you know, this has to go quickly or else it's going to be, you know, it's yeah, going to be obsolete or something.

Like with any movie getting made, there's so much anxiety, there's so many things that could prevent it from getting made right.

And so during the process, even though we got very lucky and Christopher Landing came aboard pretty quickly and everyone seemed interested, there's always that like, okay, this one thing is going to make it fall apart.

And I remember us talking, being like, they got to make it because in two years, air dropping is probably not even going to be a thing.

Yeah.

Like that's that was literally my question.

Like I feel like yeah.

Because I was surprised watching it and being like, oh, this is, this is of now right?

Yes.

Yeah.

Yes.

Very much so.

Yeah.

With that then as both like talking about like both previous works you've worked on or maybe even looking ahead to the future sort of a situation.

I mentioned in the previous hour and I hate that I'm talking about Minecraft so much, but like, hey, we just got so like, a minecraft movie has been doing crazy numbers in that case.

And I think, like, as we look beyond cell phones in that case, to like, Twitch streaming or like TikTok influencers or anything, do you think that like part of what is connecting with audiences, both in terms of Minecraft, in terms of drop, is the fact that these are actually modern stories that are reflecting like modern days, and people feel familiar with what they're seeing.

not to keep going off on a tangent there, but like, like, listen, I love the Lord of the rings, and I'm not at all going to be, like, disparaging to the Lord of the rings.

In that case.

But like, oh, that's not my reality.

Like, and I love that, that it's escapism.

But I feel like like Drop Again works because it's like so current.

Like, do you feel like other technologies need to be represented for audiences to, like, connect to it, to modern films?

I mean, clearly, you know, IP exists because people are connecting to something, right?

Like we saw the Minecraft movie, which we actually both like.

Awesome.

I haven't seen it.

It's, it's actually it's pretty funny, but we have an eight year old who knows Minecraft, and that's why we saw it.

And I think, you know, I think, you know, I think people want to see want to have some connection to something, you know.

So if it's IP, whether it's Marvel or Minecraft, you know, it's like, that makes me feel something, whether I'm a kid and it's it's just part of my identity or I'm an adult and I feel nostalgia for it.

so I do think, I mean, I think it would drop, which I mean, truthfully, like we're happy it came out.

We wish it would do better at the box office, but it's very hard for, you know, what original original movies.

but, you know, I think that's why we like the first date aspect of it even more than the AirDrop thing, because that's a universal thing that people experience.

Yeah.

Agreed.

And I think, I mean, the I feel like people were so surprised at how well Minecraft did, but it's like if you have a kid, you're like, of course it's going to do well, because I mean, kids love it.

And then there's, you know, young adults who grew up with it.

And, you know, there's so many things, properties that get made into movies that are geared towards our age, you know, the nostalgia there.

And obviously Mario kind of hit both.

Yeah.

But like, yeah, I think it's there hasn't been as many things that are just for this like younger generation.

I think that's really why they were just really starved for something that they knew that they loved, that, you know, feels like it's for them.

Yeah, I think that's why that did really well.

Absolutely.

I think there's been such yeah, interesting discussions about the fact that it'd be like, oh, instead of like repurposing, like, here's another Indiana Jones, which isn't really, in that case, targeted at like current kids.

It's really more for, again, people who felt nostalgic for the originals or even to some extent, certain aspects of Star Wars.

In that case.

yeah.

But like my notes, Buster's even though the I don't necessarily feel like they're for kids, that's not that the original is necessarily for kids either, but it definitely is.

Like, this is for the people who grew up with Ghostbusters.

Yeah, yeah.

And I again, I not to not to keep bring it back to phones.

But like I think that that's also the thing that like as an, as an elder millennial at this point, like I feel like as technology has been changing, I'm starting to finally feel that sense of like, do I want to join another social network?

Like, do I really, even at this point, want a smartphone?

I do, but like, I feel like there is that sense of worrying about, like both our addiction to it, but also how we are perceived by other people and by society.

In that case.

Yeah.

the question I like quickly have to like pull off of something else was which is the restaurant production design in this film is gorgeous.

Just like the tunnel going into it is amazing.

were you because of the fact that, like, the restaurant is mostly three rooms in that case, like the, like hostess stand, the restaurant, and then the bathroom?

Were you ever tempted in working on this to expand that scope?

I know that it bookended both sides, like outside the restaurant, but still, you mean expand like the actual, like, setting?

Yeah, like the footprint of it.

Yeah.

I mean, I think we it actually ended up looking a lot like how we had written it, I think because, you know.

Yeah, it is one of those things where you do need it to be and want it to be kind of in its own contained space.

And I'm Chris Landon, the director.

He he in production added the, the tunnel, the hallway that she goes in.

Yeah.

That obviously is just so fantastic.

It's like, Dorothy walking into Oz kind of moment.

And, you know, he really wanted to, like, separate the hostess stand and everything, but, you know, whereas where the bar was, the fact that it, you know, they were right up against the windows, that was all pretty much how we had envisioned it.

I think in an early draft, we had her go into the kitchen at one point.

Right.

just because we were looking for ways of how do you give her something else to do in the space?

It's not just sitting at the table.

No.

Of course.

but yeah, for the most part, it was it was pretty much what can we do realistically?

I mean, in a restaurant setting, like originally we were like, does it have two levels?

But then it sort of becomes, you know, the challenge is how do you make a movie at dinner?

Yes.

Exciting and thrilling and also make it seem like she actually has a shot to figure out who it is.

You know?

Yeah.

if it gets to be too large, it's sort of like, okay, well, then, you know, if you can't even see everybody, but, but yeah, it's just, I think keeping it in, like what, that one large room for the most part, really kind of helped make it tense because she's in this space, but she's kind of trapped within it, you know?

Yeah, absolutely.

And I think that again, like, as you built in like these little other side characters who we kind of gradually get to know over the course of it.

And by side characters, I mean almost suspects throughout the course of it.

but I also, I particularly I loved the relationship that Violet has with the bartender, I think is established so quickly and so deeply in that case that like, immediately I was like, I'm invested.

Like, oh, I love like whichever direction that goes very invested in their relationship.

How did like writing that or like developing that come about?

yeah, I mean, I that's definitely one of the parts of the movie that I'm really proud of that's still in there.

I mean, we always had Violet going to the bar before Henry shows up.

So we, you know, we liked the idea that she was alone when she first got when she got the first drops and everything, but, you know, we always envisioned the bartender as, you know, a suspect, I guess.

but what I, I just really love that she ends up just kind of being like, a real girl's girl.

And it's like these.

Well, spoiler alert, but, I think early on in one of the drafts, too, there was like some, with notes with producers.

It was like, how can we make this, you know, more surprising and maybe, you know, maybe the bartender's in on it, and and it just didn't feel right.

Like I, her character is just, I don't know.

I just think it's a fun relationship.

You don't really get to see very much on screen.

So, yeah, I'm glad with how that worked out.

That's a friend of mine who is a barista, like, was talking about like, that sense of like feeling like immediately like, you know, over time you get your favorites, you get your regulars, sort of a situation.

It's just naturally how that goes.

But like that connection in drop was so immediate and like, you immediately felt like, oh, they're they're on the same team.

Yeah.

No spoilers for the ending.

But you know, but like but at least at the beginning like they're, they're on the same team.

In that case I think that was like so beautifully put together.

So I also just like Violet, you know, comes from a history of abuse.

And this bartender sees people's interactions and could sense the abuse that Violet was going through.

She really was going through.

Now, you know, she thought it maybe was a bad day, which she's seen a million times, probably, but just that she's aware of things like that and wants to help and wants to take care of, you know, people we really, really thought it felt like a realistic character, but also, again, just, you know, a character relationship that you don't that's really just sort of based in like feminine camaraderie.

You know, it's like how girls will go in the bathroom at a restaurant or whatever and just make friends, you know, like we're, you know, that, like it's just that cliche.

But I feel like that's how most women are, you know?

But you don't always get to see that.

Do you find that, like, as you're writing, you're trying to like, pull these from like, experiences that you've personally experienced or are you trying to pull, like, things from like your friends and or just generally just writing a good story regardless?

I mean, sometimes it just sort of depends, I think, on what seems to fit within the realm of what we're trying to do.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Because I, I feel like again, like, yeah.

Talking about like, I was, I like, I, I like, like the balance of, like trying to play with tropes go against tropes, serve a situation.

But yes, there, there's a group of younger women at one point who are in the bathroom with Violet or whatever.

And I thought it was so interesting that they were very suspicious of her, as they should be, because she's acting weird.

But at the same time, they absolutely were like, yep.

Like, you know, here's, here's my make up that you can, like, share in everything.

And I was like, I just I thought that felt very lived in.

Yeah.

Go ahead.

Yeah.

I mean I think obviously, you know, this is a movie about going on a date and going to a restaurant.

And lucky for us, we do that a lot.

So, you know, and I think for that's another thing about the universality of it is just everyone, you know, knows the beats of being on a date and going to dinner and all these, you know, things that we've all experienced.

So I think that is also just what makes it.

Yeah.

Feel more lived in.

Yeah, absolutely.

one of the other restaurant specific questions I want to know is that did you, in the writing of it specifically, are like, these are the drinks they're ordering.

These are the food dishes they're ordering.

Like, how specific did you get for like, a culinary world?

well, yeah, we did.

I mean, you know, a lot of it was just giving the waiter dialog.

Yeah.

So she could, you know, deal with the airdrops.

but, yeah, I mean, a lot of the things, like in the first draft, you know, when he's talking about the specials and he says, like the Alaskan lobster or whatever, South African, like South African lobster, those were all in there.

Yeah.

Chris had written that whole speech, basically where he's going down the specials, like very pretty early on, I would say.

And it never really changed.

I think Violet salad was like slightly tweaked.

I think we had her order like a salmon salad, but, but yeah, they're like the wine and everything like that.

but yeah, I mean, I think Chris was just enjoying writing this kind of, like, kooky waiter who's just, you know, being, you know, very extra.

Yes.

so.

Yeah.

And to give Violet time to deal with, you know, what she's dealing with.

So.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

But yeah, it was all pretty specific.

Did in that case, I know I'm jumping around in production process in this case, but like in that case when they were actually, like then shooting it, filming like having the food style, did they ask your like ask you about like what were you envisioning for the food or drink in this case like now I think by that, you know, we worked so closely with the director on the script that I think, you know, by that point that was just his ball game.

So he, you know, I guess if he felt like changing something, like Jill said, he would change the salad.

But so much of it was just, you know, what we had in there and just went forward.

Yeah.

No, absolutely.

we're going to take a short break.

but when we come back, I have lots more questions about, with our guests, screenwriters Gillian Jacobs and Chris Roach.

I'm Megan mack.

Tuesday on the next connections, our colleague Raquel Steven guest hosts the show.

In her first hour, she talks with a local football coach whose influence on players extends both on and off the field.

Then a local chef shares her story about how a run in with the law set her on a path to success in the culinary arts.

That's what Raquel Steven on Tuesday talk to you soon.

Support for your public radio station comes from our members and from Mary Carolla Center.

Proud supporter of connections with Evan Dawson, believing and informed and engaged community is a connected one.

Mary Carrie ola.org.

We're back from the break.

This is connections.

I'm Matt de Turk sitting in for Evan Dawson.

We are talking about the new movie drop now playing in theaters.

Written by Gillian Jacobs and Chris Roach, who are joining me today in the studio.

one of the things I think that is, again, cool, is that like seeing from like taking from the script, going to the actual film in that case is, Christopher Landon, the director, I think has been building such a, like a really cool body of work.

I hate to just, you know, say it's just cool, but, like, it is.

Yeah, for sure.

It's very stylish and poppy.

Yeah.

I just literally within the last month, like watched Happy Death Day.

Happy birthday to you.

Freaky.

Like, wasn't even intending to lead up to this moment.

In that case, I know right?

but my spouse is like, a huge horror fan in that case.

And he was like, oh, this is a blind spot.

We need to catch up in this case.

so really, like, cool in this case that, like, it just built up to them.

Naturally we went and so drop love it.

Yes.

you mentioned right before the break a little bit about the waiter, in that case, Chris Landon.

I think, has been interesting as a queer director, has been, at least in his last several movies, probably also earlier, which I haven't gotten to yet.

been adding in some queer representation and some queer characters.

so I'm curious, in that case, if the waiter, as you wrote, was meant to kind of fill that role in that case, or that's just how Chris spun it out in that case.

go ahead.

Yeah.

I mean, I mean, no, we, you know, we didn't we unless it's some something important about the character, we sort of don't get into it because we feel like the director should have the freedom to cast anyone they want in roles, whether it's, you know, yeah, their diversity or, that.

And I think it was probably they he just wanted someone who was really funny.

And Jeffrey's amazing.

Yeah.

He's so good.

Plays the waiter and, Yeah, I think he just had, like, a really hilarious.

self-tape.

And Chris, I think I, you know, he watched it and was, like, howling and and basically was like, all right, call off the search, because, yeah, Jeffrey is he's just so funny.

And he was improvising a bunch of stuff I think, too, but yeah, but we we try not to describe even like body types or anything.

Just so you know, people can imagine when they read it, whoever they want.

yeah.

And also just.

Yeah, when the casting process is happening that it's, it's not, closed to closed off and unless it's really important.

but yeah.

So Chris, I mean, that was definitely, you know, Chris's, find for sure.

Yeah.

And like what how how did your interactions, in effect go with him?

Did you have interaction with him as a director from you completing the script through actually, now that it's released, like, how did how did your working relationship with him go?

I mean, we worked with him mostly, like as you know, leading up to production and everything doing, you know, he you had he would, had notes for us and we would do the notes, talk about them with him.

And really it was, you know, very collaborative.

He was, always had really good ideas, always just really trying to make sure we were constantly, upping the tension and the surprises throughout and just really every draft trying to make it, like, tighter, you know, more exciting, more satisfying.

so we really did a lot of that with him.

And then, they shot in Ireland.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

And they, they built that whole restaurant on a stage.

I guess that makes sense.

But also.

Wow.

Yeah, it's pretty amazing.

but that's that also really allowed him to do all those really fun camera flourishes, you know, because we had full control of the set.

but we didn't end up going to set.

We have two young kids.

so, yeah, we didn't we didn't continue on really past that point, but script was.

Yeah.

I mean, yeah, it was pretty much done.

But he's very generous, you know, he's a, a writer.

He was a writer before he was a director.

And, you know, I think in a lot of situations like this, director could, you know, once the script is sold, could just take it themselves and say, okay, now I'm going to do it this way.

But he he didn't he didn't kick us off.

He worked with us the whole time.

And I mean, he luckily really liked our first draft and then helped us craft the changes he wanted.

And, we've actually worked with him on a new script now, like, he's, he's he's very cool.

And yeah, he was just really he was really collaborative and smart.

And I feel like we both learned a lot just working with him through the notes and everything.

So it was a great experience.

That's awesome.

Have you, not to name any names on any previous things, but have you found that like that going back and forth from either director notes or producer notes has been something that's been that that's been common or like kind of Chris, as you said, like just it's more been like up, it's sold.

We're done.

We'll see it later when it comes out.

I mean, depends on the project.

Yeah, it can vary.

Like I mentioned, nonstop was was the first script I ever sold.

And once we sold it, that Liam Neeson got on board on our draft.

But then the director took over and hired a writer he had worked with to do a production draft.

you know, and which is understandable, is the first thing I'd ever written.

And then we've, you know, every project's different.

But I think, you know, what was great about working with Chris is a he knows what it's like to be a writer.

You know, his his first big movie that he wrote was Disturbia, which is also sort of Hitchcockian thriller.

so he's he's been in our shoes and he was also just amazing to learn from because he's got such great ideas and he knows how to make things cinematic.

Yeah, I think that that balance again is what like, really works so well in this case.

And I think that's such that's so fun to hear that it was like a good collaboration and like, you know like I know that, not firsthand, but like through the general stories of Hollywood productions that that is not always the case for sure.

Yeah.

but no, I think that that's that's really great.

And I think that that balance of tone and styles is like, partly what works so well in this, partly why is in that case, I'd like to, play a clip from the trailer because it kind of, again, I feel like echoes back to a little bit of the multiple styles going on in this.

Hey.

Hi.

Sorry, I got a drink because I was nervous.

I had a couple in the car on the way over.

Okay, I'll be honest.

I can't believe we're actually doing this.

I mean, you are the first guy who didn't ask for picks the second day thing, so.

I me.

Okay, somebody sent me this.

It's just dumb kids trying to mess with you.

It's weird.

How do you think it is?

Oh, I don't know.

We can figure this out.

Then you got to be within 50ft to send the job so that someone in the restaurant.

Gets.

Fired by everything.

Okay.

I never thought that the.

I mean, listen, I have anxiety from when my phone goes off, but, like, now, after this, like, the noise, I'm just like, oh, it's like jaws, you know?

You want them back in the water.

Yeah.

Sorry, everyone.

This is why I'm no longer returning my texts.

I would never I would never presume to be as impactful as jaws, by the way.

So no.

Or get people to put their phones down.

Yeah.

Like, which is I think.

Yeah.

A tough, tough ask at this point.

Yes.

kind of like taking that.

But going to the flip side of the coin though, is we did mention briefly earlier that there is actually a through line about trauma.

throughout the film.

but it's also I feel like it's about abuse.

It's about trust of other humans.

and again, not trying to go into spoilers here, but there's a really beautiful scene deep in the film where Violet and Henry are both at the table and sharing feelings about regret over hurting other people.

that I feel like, feels like such a culmination of pulling together.

Of all the threads that you've woven so far, can you talk about maybe a little bit about how that scene, like, came to pass, because it's such a different moment from other parts?

Yeah.

I mean we, we had always from the very first draft sort of, you know, wanted to lean into this idea of Violet's history.

and you know, why, why is she a single mom.

Why is she in this position and who is she?

She who is someone that would be in this position that maybe has a past that could come back to haunt her?

so we had always there is always a version of that.

and I think the thing Chris did that really elevated it is it was sort of more about her originally and, you know, her sort of guilt she felt about exposing her son to that abusive relationship was always there.

and Henry's trauma or what he was going through was more of an afterthought, more of something we were holding back.

And I think, you know, that was one of the last changes to the script.

And, and Chris added in Henry, sort of giving his point of view.

And I think it made it an even more impactful scene because they're both secretly dealing with these things, but also wanting to share with each other, which is, you know, the foundation of what will hopefully be a good relationship for them.

Yeah.

I yeah, I just, you know, it really tied together.

I think Henry's story and what's going on with him and what's going on with her, and it was this moment of connection, even though they both can't quite say what's happening.

But yeah, I think, I think a lot of people have talked to have mentioned that scene is just being really impactful to them.

And I'm.

Yeah, it's was always meant to be like, you know, because it's also sort of at this part of the movie where she kind of was getting to have no choice, and she's going to have to make a decision on what to do.

So it makes it even harder.

yeah.

That was a that was the other thing that we always wanted in there was for her to have this connection of, I really like this guy.

This is a guy I could trust, but now I have to kill him.

Yeah, yeah.

and I have to say throughout the course of this, like, he is a saint.

Like like.

Yeah.

That's true.

Yes, that was it.

Early notes we got from the producers of, like, why isn't this guy left yet?

And then luckily, you know, we to, you know, Jill's credit, she wanted him to be, you know, a really nice guy because Violet deserves a nice guy.

After what she had been through.

And luckily, Chris came on and said, you know, I like that.

He's a nice guy.

I like that he's staying and he's ultimately it's like she's gone through so much hell and like, he's not that he's like a reward, but he kind of is, you know, it's like in the end, like he is the the guy that is going to, you know, take care of her and protect her and never hurt her, you know, and that's sort of like what she deserves after everything she's been through.

So yeah, we liked that.

Yeah.

I think that that, that human connection element that you mentioned.

In that case, I feel like you want that connection for like a date, but also I feel like ties back into the interesting darker sides of connection of technology and how people are connected.

But I think ultimately at the end of the day, taking like, I guess the tech out of it, but just being like, no, we're still we're looking for good connections.

We're looking for positive connections.

We're looking for somebody who will stick around, someone who will be there through all of our crap.

Right?

Yeah.

And I think what's interesting technology wise, is they had been talking on DMs over this app for so long, but now she's seeing who he really is.

And is he the guy that was he just putting on a front to get her on a date, right?

Or is this who he really was?

And I think in that moment she realizes, no, this he really is this good guy that I, that I've finally let myself go on a date with.

And now I have to kill him.

Yeah.

Decisions.

Decisions.

Speaking about human connections, can you talk a little bit about like, how is it working together as, like a screenwriting duo in that case?

Like how do you do you share drafts back and forth?

Do you work like how does that process work?

well, when I'm when we're starting something new, we'll sit down and we outline together so that can take however long that takes, you know, weeks maybe.

but we'll we'll sit down.

We'll go for walks, just like, you know, banging out an outline and I think, Chris, I'll usually do the typing on that one.

but once we have an outline that we're satisfied with that we feel like is detailed enough but still has some room to, like, play around.

we'll split off and we each take we'll just agree whichever section we feel comfortable starting with.

and then we'll both sort of head off and do that, and then we swap those sections, and do a pass on each other's pages until, and then just keep going from there until we have a whole draft.

And then once we have that draft, we'll sit down together and just read it out loud and make changes as we go, or talk about bigger picture issues and that kind of thing.

I, I want to know, like, like, did this start as, like an easy process, like working together.

Was that very natural to begin with, or was it a little hard to be like, I'm going to take my creativity and merge it with your creativity?

Like, what do you think I, I mean, I think Jill's a great writer.

I think she has natural talents that I don't, and she is.

So I think we work really well together.

I think we elevate each other's, material.

I think we have different skill sets.

I think I can sometimes think about big picture better.

But she is so good at character and dialog and bringing is really good at like, premises.

And, you know, the big idea, like it was, it was him.

But when we were talking about the hotel version that wasn't working or like what could this be?

He was the one who was like, what if it's all at a dinner on a first date and then, you know, leading to the, kill your date or I kill your kid like that, which, you know, the airdrops get a lot of attention, but really, it's like the hook of this movie, I think is, you know.

Yeah.

Is that so?

Yeah.

Chris is really good at that.

but we were married, so, I think we have sort of like a shorthand and, you know, similar sensibilities.

And we connected a bit on, about movies.

And that's sort of what drew us together, too.

So I think that just sort of there's just sort of a baseline there.

And I'm not trying to get into like couples therapy at the moment.

I'm just I'm curious, like, do you find it difficult to separate, like home and work then because you're working together and you're married?

No, I mean, we get along very well.

We do.

I think it makes it convenient because it's like, if, you know, one of us is, you know, I don't know, it's like I'm having a shower and then I'm like, oh, I have an idea.

Then he's just like, hey, what about that?

You know, it's like, makes it a little easier or like, you know, and just at night, you know, putting our kids to bed or whatever.

And then it's like, hey, what about this?

Yeah.

Honestly, the most difficult part is, you know, if we wrote separately, you know, I would have meetings and she could watch the kids or do what else needs to be done.

But since we have to do everything together, it's finding the time for everything from, you know, living our married life to watching our kids to writing, to doing everything else that needs to be done.

We sort of do everything together.

So it kind of limits our time.

Yeah, I think that that's both beautiful and very sweet and also, I imagine is very difficult to try to find the time for all those various patterns.

It can be that's the hardest.

But yeah.

Yeah.

So that kind of takes me to how did you end up from LA to Rochester in that case?

Like how did how did that transition happen.

Go ahead.

Well, Covid happened and we had a small house in LA.

We only had one, son at the time.

he was young and at the time we were like, you know, are we ever going to see our families again?

You know, my family's in Rochester.

She has family in Boston and Columbus, and Rochester is actually kind of the halfway point.

and then zoom started happening.

And, you know, we would go to meetings and it would take like two hours in traffic.

And we started doing these zoom meetings and they'd be like, we should have just done this the whole time.

And what have saved you?

It really felt like zoom was not going away, even after things got better.

But it was pretty early on, I think.

I mean, it was like around August of 2020 that we probably found our house in Rochester.

so it wasn't that long into the pandemic that we were like, let's jump ship.

Yeah.

But at the time we were like, is this this crazy?

Or are we just locked in here and we don't know what we're doing?

I mean, we had always sort of talked about missing the seasons and being in a place that's more manageable for having kids because, I mean, LA is, you know, before Covid, you'd go to a playground, it'd be so hot there'd be literally a thousand families there.

You have to wait.

Any kind of family activity would just be like a nightmare.

Yes.

I think we saw an opportunity and took a risk, and we thought maybe it would be really detrimental to our career, but, But, yeah, I mean, was the writing was on the wall that, you know, zoom was going to be around for a while.

And every time we came and visited here, I think we would always drive around and be like, you know, in another life, like it'd be fun to live here.

And.

But yeah.

And then, we saw that opportunity, but we also, you know, we were going to have another child and that really kind of pushed things towards the edge, I think.

Do you think family.

Yeah.

Do you think that like, by starting, starting and not starting being I mean, but starting in L.A. in that case with career wise and everything, and then like kind of putting down some roots in that case, and then from that point, moving from there, did that help in that case?

I am not using these terms correctly, but you get my general idea.

In that case, I think.

Yeah, I mean, I don't think we'd be where we are if we hadn't lived in LA for a significant amount of time.

I mean, we got our opportunities because of meeting the right people in LA.

We had two movies come out when we were in LA, too.

So sort of we're already, you know.

Yeah, we reached that point.

But, you know, we already had an agent and we already, you know, so I think the world started changing.

But luckily we had those connections already that, you know, made this possible.

That would never have been possible if we hadn't gone to L.A.. Now, I'm not saying everyone has to go to LA.

I think what's most important is that you're passionate about what you do and have a good story.

but for us, it was great that we had and still have those roots there.

Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I think that again, what we keep going back to is like it's story, story, story.

And I think in that case also you've mentioned like good collaborations in that case and like being able to work with other people as being like you've got concept, you've got like good characters, you've got the pieces of it.

And then on this case also, you can build from it because you also, you know, had some tethers back in that case.

Yeah.

So yeah, for sure I will say this is a time, you know, when I first moved to L.A. or Jill first moved to L.A., I think you really had to go to LA, or New York City.

And now I do think, you know, if someone had a great script that gets in the right hands, you don't have to be in LA to meet with a studio.

They'll meet you on zoom.

And yeah, I do think, yeah, the zoom part of it all probably has opened that up a bit.

And, you know, putting your script out there can can work if you're, if it's good.

Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

so what I feel like it's a big question, but like, what's next?

What are you working on from this point?

but you can talk about of course.

Yeah.

What's not under NDA.

So yeah.

I mean, we not getting too many details.

Chris had a story idea, which we really loved and he brought to us.

And so we've written a script, that, you know, with, with his guidance that hopefully can be turned into a movie, but that's always an uphill battle.

and then, you know, we have a few of our own ideas that we're working on that we've, you know, we've we've done so many things that have got made or not gotten made, like for Blumhouse for so many years that we haven't worked as much on our own ideas, that we're trying to make room for that.

I mean, I think about screenwriting, it's always an uphill battle.

There's a million people who want to do it.

There's, you know, you can't constantly have to be writing.

So everyone thinks they have a good idea.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, that's the one of the hard and sad things about it too, is you do it and then you're done, and then, oh, you have to do it again.

You know, it's all over.

It is.

It's climbing a mountain and then it's movie comes down.

People are like, oh, cool.

And then it's like, all right, I'll go climb that mountain, right?

Yeah.

Do you, do you I mean, like in both previous works.

And then also with this, do you feel that sense of being like, oh, I want to revisit these characters again, like immediately.

Like maybe you'll feel differently in several years or something, but like, like in this case, like, did you at any point, like be like ready to do more with Violet already?

I mean, I don't know if Drop's going to get a sequel and if it if it did, I don't know if they would even want to continue with those characters, but I would love to write.

Violet and Henry, sequel.

Just, you know, where their relationship is.

And I think it'd be a fun, you know, a fun sequel to see them actually in a relationship.

And then something crazy happens.

Yeah.

I mean, I always imagined drop is a is a one off, or if it was had a sequel, it would be different characters in that situation with with airdrops.

but yeah, I mean, I think, I think, you know, you got to be prepared to leave the characters because most movies don't get sequels.

But yeah, I think it's got it.

It's got a yeah, you can't approach it from necessarily that, you know, hoping for that.

But yeah, it's gotta just be like one good story and then if you're lucky.

Yeah.

But we did get to write a sequel to Truth or Dare that didn't get made, but that was a really fun one.

We actually, it wasn't the same characters, but it was the same actors because it was like a meta sequel.

So the the actors in the first one were playing themselves.

So that was like kind of our one sequel experience.

That was really fun.

It was fun.

It was a really fun of the first movie.

Yeah.

It was it was great.

And all the actors from the first movie were really great.

And so we had we enjoyed writing in their voices and stuff.

So yeah.

And that's I, bring it back to Chris Landon for a second.

Like, that's one of the things I liked about, Happy Birthday to you was that it took what I liked about the first one, but kind of spun it in a new direction and gave more invigoration to the characters, by by adding, like, a sci fi element to it.

And so, I wanted to say, in this case, is there like, this drop being a thriller, like working within thriller horror?

Is there, do you feel like that's a good, like, comfortable space for you, or do you want to be like, it's time for a, I don't know, your full filmography, but do you want to do like a period romcom in like, you know, the UK?

I would love to try to write a comedy or rom com of some kind and, you know, but we we love horror and thrillers and that's, you know, again, something that we really connected on.

I've always loved, those kinds of things.

Like, I feel like I have memories as a kid of seeing jaws on the TV for the first time and just like, you know, being terrified.

But it was so exciting and all that.

So I've always loved those kinds of things.

We both definitely.

We were spooky people at heart, but but yeah, I think it'd be fun to branch out and try to write a comedy or a rom com.

I really enjoyed writing the romance element of drop and their rapport and everything, so yeah.

and then I guess maybe my like last thread pulling from there is that in that case.

So now that you've, you know, been in Rochester for several years, in that case, do we think that maybe themes, images or even just the changing of the season may end up influencing, like what you end up working on next.

Probably.

Yeah.

I mean, we live in Pittsford and we're always, you know, movies are made in LA, but it doesn't have a very cinematic or very spielbergian feel to it.

Right?

But like Pittsford walking around that town, it feels like a town in movies.

So I think it does inspire us.

Yeah.

You know, it, it like there's just so much and so much more beauty here that we didn't get in LA that, you know, I don't know if we're going to set a movie in Rochester, but who knows.

Yeah, but we talk all the time just about how.

Yeah, so much more inspiring it is and how beautiful it is here.

And especially like in the fall and everything.

And we've got some and, you know, some nice view in our backyard that just, you know, sometimes it's just like, I can't believe we, we get to look at this every day.

Yeah.

No it's it's gorgeous.

Like again it's I love this area like and love hearing about films that have local connections to here in that case.

So I want to say thank you both so much for being here.

Thank you, Gillian Jacobs Chris Roach, screenwriters of drop, now playing in theaters.

Hopefully we'll have one of your films at the Little Theater.

We can keep having discussions about that.

but thank you everybody so much for listening and watching, to connections here on Sky news.

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