"Wicked" and the Best Ad Campaign of 2024

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Today on the Film and Whiskey
podcast, I'm joined by an extra

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special guest to break down the
new movie Wicked.

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We're talking about it as a
movie and as a Broadway

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adaptation.
Then I'm joined by CMO Mike

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Spadier from Still Austin
Distillery talking about the

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best marketing campaign of 2024.
That's all I had on Film and

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Whiskey.
Well, hey everybody, welcome

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into the Film and Whiskey
podcast.

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I'm Bob Book and I'm not flying
solo today, but I am bradless

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because I am joined by an
extremely special guest,

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somebody who has been just
groveling at my feet, begging to

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be let onto this podcast.
You know what?

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You can probably tell by the
resentment in the voice that it

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is a relative of mine, and it
is, in fact a relative of mine.

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It's my sister, Julie.
Julie, how's it going?

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It's going good.
How about you?

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I'm doing great.
Julie's here as a representative

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of the Twins on Tour podcast and
more importantly than that,

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Julie, being my sister, got to
tag along with me to a screening

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of the movie Wicked yesterday.
So she got to see what it's like

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for Old Bob to be surrounded by
die hard fans of something.

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And what a grump I have become.
Yeah, Bob literally left the

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theater soon as they were like,
who's ready to do some trivia?

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Bob was like, not me.
And he left.

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They had a whole trivia section
before the movie started, and

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then they called people down to
do a singing contest to see if

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they can hit the high note from
the song Defying Gravity.

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And I was like, no, baby, what
is you doing?

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I can't.
I walked out.

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I could.
I couldn't do it.

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I didn't want to laugh at those
poor people.

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They were so brave.
All really good.

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Though I'm glad they were but.
Assumed they'd be bad and that's

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what's wrong with you.
It's why I don't like listening

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to the Star Spangled Banner
before sporting events, because

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it's like, you don't want to
laugh at our nation song, but if

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the guy sucks, what are you
going to do, you know?

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That's true.
I mean, I guess you just say

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that guy sucks and move on with
your life.

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But that's.
True.

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So today's episode is a cross
branded episode between film and

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Whiskey and the Twins on Tour
podcast.

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So depending on where you're
listening, you might be catching

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us on Twins on Tour.
Julie, tell us a little bit

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about your podcast and how it
lines up with Wicked.

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Yeah.
My twin sister Jen and I, we

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review all of the travelling
Broadway productions that come

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through Playhouse Square up in
Cleveland and EJ Thomas Hall in

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Akron.
We're in our fourth season, just

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about to start our fourth
season, and we've done all kinds

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of shows, including Wicked.
So you guys look at it from the

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theatrical production side of
things.

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I look at movies, and now we
have a movie that kind of hits

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both of those things.
We haven't really been able to

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make this work so far because
there haven't been a lot of

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Broadway adaptations hit movie
theaters in the last few years,

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especially during the pandemic.
Like you and I weren't going to

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go out and see In the Heights,
right?

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Especially ones that are
actively touring as well because

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West Side Story came out.
But I haven't seen a

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professional production of West
Side Story come through in 10

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plus years, so.
There you go.

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So Julie, I think let's dive
into talking about Wicked.

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We saw it before most of the
general public is gonna be able

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to see it.
And you know, spoiler alert,

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good movie.
Excellent.

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I like this movie a lot, Julie,
I'm not gonna lie.

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Yeah, I was really surprised
because the book for Wicked came

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out in 1995.
I've never read the book, but

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the musical's been around since
2003.

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And right before the movie
started, Bob looked at me and

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went, I know absolutely nothing
about this.

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And I went, how have you escaped
Wicked?

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Anything.
It's been on Broadway for 20,

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one year's down.
He's like, I know, defying

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gravity and that he does not
like Indiana Menzel's voice.

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And that's all he knew going
into Wicked.

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I mean, can you blame me?
Honestly, I was like a 13 year

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old boy when this came out, but
it definitely was by design that

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I avoided it.
Like it just didn't.

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Seem like you avoided it.
It just didn't seem like it was

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up my alley.
I don't know.

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And I think it was kind of like
it was the big diva show on

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Broadway for a long time.
And I think that like I, I love

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a good musical.
Wicked.

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Just something about it was
like, it doesn't seem like it's

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gonna be for me.
And so I went into this.

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Yeah.
Because.

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Growing up in our house, I know
how much the Wizard of Oz was

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loved in our household.
And for something, anything

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Wizard of Oz related for you to
be like Nah, pass.

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That's what's shocking to me.
What's really shocking is is how

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much of A diva I am and.
Bob's not being extraordinaire.

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So, yeah, like the lights go
down on this thing and I look at

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you and I'm like, I really don't
know.

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I I know Defying Gravity.
I am familiar with the song for

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good, which is spoiler alert
again, not in this movie, but

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that's pretty much it.
So I I wanted to bring you on

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today, Julie, and kind of crash
your party on your podcast feed

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because you know so much more
about this musical than I do.

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And I think we can look at it
from your point of view, from

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the angle of how is this as an
adaptation of the stage play and

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then kind of talk a little bit
more about how is it just

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generally as a movie.
So maybe let's dive into talking

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about the adaptation of it all.
You've seen the the Broadway

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show, I think multiple times,
right?

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Yep, twice.
OK, how does this stack up to

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the show?
Both in like overall quality,

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but also in terms of this is a
two hour and 40 minute movie

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that only covers Part 1 of the
musical so I'm sure they added a

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ton of stuff here.
Yeah, just for spoiler alert for

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anyone who has not seen the
track listing that was released

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online several weeks ago, this
only covers act one of the

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musical, which going in, I was
really worried seeing that it

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was a 2 hour and what, 41 minute
runtime or something like that.

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I went, OK, that's about the
runtime of the whole musical.

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I was really, really impressed
with what they did with this.

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I think John M Chu was a perfect
director to pick for this movie

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because he really does pour
everything he does into his

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movies and they really took a
lot of parts of the musical.

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If you listen to our episode on
Wicked, it's our longest episode

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because there is so much that
happens in this musical.

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And one thing that I said in our
episode was that Wicked's pacing

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is really bad because it covers
so much in so little time that

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it takes a while to process.
You sit there after the curtain

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drops on Defying Gravity at the
end of act one, and you're like,

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OK, a lot has just happened.
And we take our mom to a lot of

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these musicals usually.
And it's usually like telling

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mom like, OK, did you understand
what was happening here?

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Did you understand what was
happening there?

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Because it covers a lot of stuff
in a short amount of time and I

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really appreciated the fact that
they took all of those things

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that maybe were the
conversations at intermission

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from a musical and flesh them
out completely in this movie.

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There is no question on what's
happening or why something's

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happening in this movie and I
really appreciated that from a

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storytelling standpoint.
It was really nice to see.

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Did it feel like they fleshed
things out like appropriately?

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Did anything drag for you that
like they they went overboard

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on?
Like overcompensating for?

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I don't think so.
I think everything was pretty

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well paced in this.
There were a couple dance

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numbers, the Ozdesk ballroom in
particular.

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I thought that whole sequence
went a little bit too long when

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Alphaba and Glenda were doing
their little dance together.

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That probably could have been
chopped in half and had the same

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emotional impact on you because
it takes about 14 seconds in the

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musical.
But I really thought that the

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things they decided to flesh out
more, like a lot of Alphaba's

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back story, the whole thing
about Mama Bear raising her and

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everything, that's not in the
musical.

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It was her parents didn't like
her because she's green, here's

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her sister, let's head off to
school.

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So having that whole back story
and seeing her relationship a

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little bit better with her
father, I think kind of helped

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you understand where Alphaba was
coming from a lot better than in

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the musical.
I'm realizing now that like we,

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we haven't really set the stage
for what this musical is for

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anyone who might not be
familiar.

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So it is based on the Wizard of
Oz IP.

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It is essentially the origin
story of the Wicked Witch of the

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West and Glinda the Good Witch.
And so you meet Elphaba, who

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becomes the Wicked Witch of the
West, and Glinda when they are,

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I don't want to say school
children, essentially like

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university students.
Yeah, yeah.

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Yep, it's college.
OK, so you meet them in college

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and they become frenemies and
then besties, and then a whole

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bunch of stuff goes down in the
Land of Oz, political cover ups

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galore.
And then Elphaba essentially

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becomes the scapegoat for all of
this.

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And Julie, you already alluded
to this.

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The movie is left on a
cliffhanger as she is kind of

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driven out of Oz, becoming a
fugitive, but, you know, fully

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empowered by her anthem defying
gravity.

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And that's like the end of the
movie right there.

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Yeah, and the tagline for the
musical is so much happened

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before Dorothy dropped in,
because it basically shows you

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where everything that you're
going to see in The Wizard of Oz

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comes from, which I really enjoy
because there's some Easter eggs

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in this first movie that if
you've seen it, give things away

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for the second act.
But I was in the car with Bob on

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the way home going, Oh my gosh,
I could spoil so many things for

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you.
And he's going don't because I

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think I'm in a good place right
now.

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Yeah, I really thought that this
movie did a great job of knowing

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what the audience is probably
familiar with from The Wizard of

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Oz, like lore and dropping in
what I assumed to be Easter eggs

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for things that are going to
happen in the musical.

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But like, most of them went over
my head.

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But I could still tell that they
were trying to, like, do a

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little bit of fan service, but
it never felt like Pandaree.

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It never felt like the way they
do it when you're watching a

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Marvel movie or something like
that.

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And I, I really appreciated that
because, you know, me being a

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complete noob to this story, I
thought that that John Chu and

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the screenwriters really kind of
held my hand and watched me

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through this world in a way that
built out the world that didn't

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seem like cloying or like it was
talking down to me.

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And I was also never bored.
And that's like that says a lot

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over the course of two hours and
40 minutes.

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Mm hmm, and they really did have
a brick of a book because the

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book for Wicked is probably like
400 plus pages.

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Wait, so are you like when you
say the book, are you talking

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the?
The book that the musical is

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based off of Wicked.
Like a novel.

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Yes, there is a whole novel.
It came out in 1995 and it's

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like thick.
I've never read it.

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I've heard really good things
though.

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But they really pulled from the
book to fill things in here and

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to flesh things out more.
And again, I haven't read the

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book, but I think they really
did stick to the source material

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because everything that's
supposed to get hit in the

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musical gets hit and explained
upon.

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So you can tell they definitely
dived back into that original

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source material to tell this
story better.

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All right, so let's kind of talk
about the cast here.

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And I wanted to go through like
all the tiny side characters

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because you were telling me, Oh,
such and such is a guy that was

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on Broadway.
And to be frank, Julie, like

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this is a this is a two person
musical.

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Like it is.
Of course Michelle Yeoh deserves

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a mention here and and Jeff
Goldblum as the Wizard deserves

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a mention, but even they feel
like third level characters, do

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you know what I mean?
Like they're the 2nd or the 3rd

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00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:15,840
and 4th largest characters in
the movie probably.

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00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:19,120
And they feel like they're
pushed off to the side because

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00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:23,040
this is such a two person show.
So you've got Ariana Grande as

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00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:26,840
Glinda, you've got Cynthia Arevo
playing Elphaba, and they are

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00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:30,440
filling in the shoes that were
made famous by Kristin Chenoweth

230
00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:33,120
and Idina Menzel, respectively,
on Broadway.

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00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:36,560
Who would you like to start with
'cause I think these both both

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00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:38,400
of these performances deserve
some discussion here.

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00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:40,920
I honestly could start with
either of them.

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00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:44,440
It's you can tell that on
Broadway Linda and Alphaba bow

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00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:48,160
together at the end.
There is no lead character per

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00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:51,960
SE in this musical even though I
personally believe it is Alphaba

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00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:53,800
as the main character of this
show.

238
00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:56,760
But they put them both up for
best actress in the musical.

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00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:59,680
They competed against each other
because they agree with your

240
00:11:59,680 --> 00:12:03,160
opinion there that it is a two
person leading musical.

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00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:05,480
So I mean, I'm good with
starting with either.

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00:12:05,680 --> 00:12:09,080
Let's start with Ariana Grande
because my my hottest take on

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00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:13,600
the movie is that Ariana Grande
is good, period.

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00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:16,680
Like I I would say she's better
than fine.

245
00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:18,880
I would say that there are
definitely scenes where

246
00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:21,360
especially towards the end of
the film where she's more like

247
00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:25,080
exasperated and gets tearful
that she actually brings out the

248
00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:28,320
acting chops.
But I felt like for about 75% of

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00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:32,960
the movie, her role was to be
overblown mean girl Comic

250
00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:36,560
Relief, and she did that well.
But when you're going up against

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00:12:36,560 --> 00:12:40,680
Cynthia Areevo, she's playing a
more shallow character.

252
00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:44,120
And I also felt like she wasn't
really like plumbing the depths

253
00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:46,880
that that Cynthia Areevo was
acting wise either.

254
00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:51,600
Yeah, I really, I thought her
performance was a complete

255
00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:55,040
beautiful homage to Kristin
Chenoweth's Glenda.

256
00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:58,640
Because if you're like me and a
nerd, you've watched all the

257
00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:01,480
behind the scenes stuff, talking
about it and her story with

258
00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:04,760
trying to get Glenda and how
proud she wanted to make Kristin

259
00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:07,120
Chenoweth 'cause they're really
good friends in real life.

260
00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:10,520
You could tell that she put the
character work in to make

261
00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:14,240
Kristin Chenoweth proud.
And I think she did here because

262
00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:18,440
I was really worried with, you
know, we all know Ariana Grande

263
00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:19,160
is.
Yeah.

264
00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:20,920
When she sings, you know, she's
like, yeah.

265
00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:23,840
And I'm Ariana Grande.
And I was really worried she was

266
00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:26,160
going to bring too much of that
into this character.

267
00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:29,080
When she originally was
announced as Glinda, you could

268
00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:31,760
tell the girl took some voice
lessons to make her voice sound

269
00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:33,560
operatic.
I thought her singing was

270
00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:36,440
beautiful in this.
She definitely has the, like,

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00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:39,840
the physical vocal range to pull
this off, which I didn't realize

272
00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:43,080
that she could hit that upper
register as as much as she can.

273
00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:45,440
And you were telling me before
the film started about Kristin

274
00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:48,280
Chenoweth being a trained opera
singer before she moved to

275
00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:50,960
Broadway.
I do think that like some of the

276
00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:54,640
really, really high operatic
notes, like she hits them,

277
00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:56,720
they're not her strong suit, you
know what I'm saying?

278
00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:00,720
And I think that like if we can
move to Cynthia Erivo, I just

279
00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:03,720
there's there's so much
surrounding this movie and

280
00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:07,240
Cynthia Erivo maybe or maybe not
being difficult to work with and

281
00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:08,200
they'll.
Don't erase her, Bob.

282
00:14:08,680 --> 00:14:10,280
Yeah, the whole don't erase me
thing.

283
00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:13,080
And I think people are kind of
carrying in some ill will

284
00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:15,000
towards her as they go into this
movie.

285
00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,520
And once the movie starts, it's
like, oh, no, Cynthia Erivo is

286
00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:20,120
one of the most talented people
in the world.

287
00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:24,880
Like she she does this thing,
this kind of knowing, sideways

288
00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:29,000
little smirk grin that she does
100 times in this movie and it

289
00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:30,680
works every single time.
Every time.

290
00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:34,320
Oh my gosh, she just, the levels
of charisma dripping off of this

291
00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:38,680
woman are unbelievable.
But then she brings so much

292
00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:43,160
emotion to every single song in
this film that she sings.

293
00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:46,440
It was like I would forget that
this was a musical for long

294
00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:48,120
stretches because there wouldn't
be a number.

295
00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:51,000
And especially when they would
just plop you into a Cynthia

296
00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:53,560
Arevo song.
I was like, oh, this is this is

297
00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:55,120
what musicals are supposed to
be.

298
00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:59,080
Yeah, I it's very alphaba of her
to have a controversy

299
00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:02,760
surrounding her as this huge
important role probably for at

300
00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:05,640
least right now, the defining
role of her life so far coming

301
00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:07,440
out that she's got all this
controversy.

302
00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,720
It's very alphaba of her because
everywhere Alphaba goes, she

303
00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:14,680
causes controversy.
And I mean, I knew she was going

304
00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:17,320
to kill it.
I was blown away.

305
00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:20,720
I mean, like you said, every
time they pulled close to her

306
00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:22,280
face.
And, you know, they probably did

307
00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:25,960
this after just watching how
charismatic she is on screen.

308
00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:28,760
Every time they pulled close,
you just felt such emotion.

309
00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:31,240
And when she cried, I'm finding
myself tearing up.

310
00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:33,360
I've seen this musical.
I know what's about to happen.

311
00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,080
And I'm sitting there going,
she's going to defy gravity.

312
00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:40,600
She's gonna do it, man.
The first real song that she

313
00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:42,800
gets is kind of.
Wizard and I.

314
00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:44,560
Yeah, it's it's like the I once
song.

315
00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:48,000
It's called The Wizard and I
again, you boy, not familiar

316
00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:53,120
with this musical.
And it it goes the whole bell in

317
00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:56,160
Beauty and the Beast running
across an open field at the end

318
00:15:56,160 --> 00:16:00,160
of this musical number.
By the way, pretty bad CGI in

319
00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:01,960
that.
That was probably the worst part

320
00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:05,480
of CGI in that whole movie was
those white cliffs with her just

321
00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:07,800
like superimposed stand with her
arms.

322
00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:13,520
Up And yet we're in a packed
theater yesterday and there's

323
00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:16,520
just something special, like
when you can feel the charged

324
00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:20,680
energy of a crowd watching
something I I would have bet my

325
00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:23,840
life savings that that crowd was
about to erupt into applause

326
00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:25,760
when she hit the last note of
the wizard and I I.

327
00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:27,840
Was ready to.
I was too.

328
00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:30,320
I'm surprised nobody did it.
I feel bad that I didn't start

329
00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:34,280
that round of applause, but it's
it's kind of a throwaway song in

330
00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:36,880
the grand scheme of the musical
'cause you're waiting for

331
00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:39,800
something having big like
Popular or Defying Gravity.

332
00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:45,880
And even that number had so much
care and and effort put into it

333
00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:48,400
by Cynthia Erivo that I was like
ready to give her a standing

334
00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:52,240
ovation right then and there.
Yeah, it definitely, I've said

335
00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:53,560
this to you in the car out on
the way home.

336
00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:57,120
In most musicals, that would be
the 11:00 number with how much

337
00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:01,360
it builds and builds and those
last few notes that she hits

338
00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:04,800
like that's it's a huge number
for almost any other show that

339
00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:06,480
I've seen.
And they're just like, this can

340
00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:09,960
be, I guess, third in this one.
I guess we'll just, you know,

341
00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:12,880
give her a little doodad here
and move on with our lives.

342
00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:14,560
And it's like what?
Right.

343
00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:17,560
Yeah, that's every other
musical's best number by far.

344
00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:20,400
Yeah, and she's just like, I
guess I'll pump this out third

345
00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:24,200
and move on with my Dick.
So let's talk about it as a

346
00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,480
movie a little bit.
And, and, you know, obviously

347
00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:30,640
you can't separate it from it
being a, a musical or an

348
00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,440
adaptation, but I'm trying just
like if we can try to talk about

349
00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:37,080
it in a vacuum.
I think it's a really good

350
00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:39,160
movie.
I don't think it's like a 10 out

351
00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,680
of 10 movie for me.
And part of it is that there are

352
00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:44,280
definitely a couple walls for
me.

353
00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:46,520
And it was funny, you and I were
kind of disagreeing about this.

354
00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:49,160
On the way home.
There's a Prince character named

355
00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:51,480
Fiero.
And when he arrives on the scene

356
00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,960
at university, they give him
like the I'm a bad boy kind of a

357
00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:59,480
greaser, like the way that he,
like, undoes his little jacket

358
00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:02,840
and it looks like he has like a
Danny Zuko shirt underneath it.

359
00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:07,000
And they have this big extended
dance sequence to a song called

360
00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:09,960
Dancing Through Life.
And I got to be honest, sis,

361
00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:14,040
like, that was that was long.
I checked my watch a couple

362
00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:17,160
times.
Dancing through life always a

363
00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:19,320
skip for me.
I've every time I listen to the

364
00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:21,240
soundtrack I skip dancing
through life.

365
00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:25,440
Jonathan Bailey, my favorite
Fiero that I've seen.

366
00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:30,000
The ones I've seen live.
Jonathan Bailey was fantastic.

367
00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:32,040
He doesn't have much of A
character.

368
00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:34,160
He doesn't.
And that's why I was so

369
00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:36,160
surprised that I'm sitting there
watching dancing through Life,

370
00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:39,240
being like, wow, I want to go to
the Oz Dust Ballroom with you,

371
00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:42,120
Jonathan Bailey, AKA Anthony
Bridgerton.

372
00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:44,960
Anthony Bridgerton's the worst.
And I'm like, yeah, Anthony

373
00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:49,880
Bridgerton, let's go.
But I really, he had that.

374
00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:54,720
I kept thinking, like, boy band
appeal, that he definitely sang

375
00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:56,520
it poppier than I've singing on
Broadway.

376
00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:58,720
And I think that's what that
song needs.

377
00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:01,360
He'd sing it more like Harry
Styles would get up and sing it

378
00:19:01,360 --> 00:19:04,080
if Harry Styles was it karaoke
night, You know, he had runs in

379
00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:08,240
there that weren't Broadway, but
they worked so well for his

380
00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:09,400
character.
And I'm like, this is what

381
00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:13,000
Fieros needed this entire time.
He needs to come and be like,

382
00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:15,800
you know, don't break my heart,
all that kind of stuff.

383
00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:18,640
It was really good.
I thought his charisma was

384
00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:21,760
fantastic.
Yeah, And maybe it's just that

385
00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:24,600
I'm pushing back on the
inclusion of that song at all

386
00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:27,600
because for me, you know, I'm
watching this movie and there's

387
00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:31,640
this subplot about animals who
can talk, and they're losing

388
00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:34,000
their voice because they're
being oppressed and

389
00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:38,160
systematically, like, genocided
by by who knows who.

390
00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:40,840
And you're like, oh, man,
there's a lot of intrigue going

391
00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:42,240
on.
And right before that happened,

392
00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:45,080
you you start to get the kind of
bickering greenness between

393
00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:47,640
Elphaba and Glinda.
They sing this song about like,

394
00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:50,680
how they loathe each other.
I thought that was hilarious.

395
00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:53,200
And so I'm on board.
And I'm really caught up in the

396
00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:55,000
momentum that this movie's
building.

397
00:19:55,360 --> 00:19:58,520
And then they're like, and a
love interest needs to come in

398
00:19:58,520 --> 00:19:59,880
now.
And I just thought Wickeds.

399
00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:02,200
Boys to fight better than
Wickeds, girls to fight better

400
00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:04,160
than over a boy.
That's true.

401
00:20:04,360 --> 00:20:06,200
I just felt like a ground the
thing to a halt.

402
00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:09,560
And then as soon as they move
past that, they go to this big

403
00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:14,320
kind of ball called the Oz Dust.
And I thought that that scene

404
00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:15,840
was maybe the best scene in the
whole movie.

405
00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:18,880
And it was a scene that you said
like that was the lull for you.

406
00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:23,360
And and watching Cynthia Erivo
get emotional as they're like

407
00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:26,360
ridiculing her.
I just thought that's like,

408
00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:29,120
that's the Oscar clip for
Cynthia Erivo.

409
00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:32,680
Like put that thing in the
Oscars clip because it it nailed

410
00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:36,320
it for me.
Yeah, I think there's this thing

411
00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:39,960
when you study theater.
It's called the Rodgers and

412
00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:43,160
Hammerstein formula.
When they wrote Oklahoma, they

413
00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:46,280
have a specific formula that
every musical followed from that

414
00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:48,320
point out.
It was boy meets girl, girl

415
00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:50,360
meets boy.
Whoever's the lead, they fall in

416
00:20:50,360 --> 00:20:52,240
love.
They have a conflict and then

417
00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:54,840
they have to resolve it.
And I think they definitely

418
00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:58,360
included the Fiero character in
the Fiero Problem, especially

419
00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:02,600
for this movie to fulfill that
golden rule of Broadway.

420
00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:05,680
Because without the inclusion of
Fiero, you just have two girls

421
00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:08,160
bickering.
And the rule with Rodgers and

422
00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:10,560
Hammerstein is if you don't have
I have Love in it, it's not a

423
00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:14,320
good musical.
And obviously Fiero plays a much

424
00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:17,520
bigger role in all of this in
Act 2, which will be Part 2 of

425
00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:19,680
Wicked.
But he definitely comes in and

426
00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:23,000
plays the role he needs to play
in this for his character.

427
00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,000
Because like you said, he really
is a small character for how big

428
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,200
of a number they give him in act
one.

429
00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:32,560
And it this sounds like A to be
continued, but it makes a lot

430
00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:36,320
more sense once you see Act 2.
See, and that that's the issue

431
00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:39,640
for me as a guy who's like, I'm
just trying to look at this as

432
00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:42,200
one self-contained piece of
movie making.

433
00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:45,160
And you can't really do that
because, you know, there's an

434
00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:48,720
act 2 coming.
So it's like, I don't, I'm not

435
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:52,560
saying I want to hold it against
the movie, but the answer can't

436
00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:54,320
always just be like, oh, don't
worry.

437
00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:56,960
Like it'll make way more sense
once you see the second one.

438
00:21:56,960 --> 00:21:59,160
And that's an issue I've had
with tons of movies recently,

439
00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:01,440
like Dune.
I just feel like we've gotten to

440
00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:05,080
the point where we're taking IP
that should be one movie and

441
00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:08,800
we're purposely expanding it to
234 movies just to try to milk

442
00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,840
as much money as we can.
And I think to this movie's

443
00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:16,160
credit, I didn't feel like that
99% of the time.

444
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:18,600
You know what I mean?
I I don't know if he felt the

445
00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:20,440
same way, but.
Yeah, 'cause they really, they

446
00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:24,440
probably could have made a
fantastic, both acts included in

447
00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:27,680
one movie adaptation of Wicked.
And for the fans it would have

448
00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:29,000
been fine.
It would have been satisfying if

449
00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:31,920
they just copy pasted.
I really do think they took a

450
00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:34,240
gamble though, because I
Remember Me and you were having

451
00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:36,920
a conversation before you were
like, man, I didn't expect this

452
00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:40,040
many people to show up to this
today at the screening we saw

453
00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:42,840
and you're like, I had AI
thought like there was a portion

454
00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:45,320
of my mind that was like, maybe
this thing's gonna bomb because

455
00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:48,400
they have been pushing this
movie harder than anything I

456
00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:53,560
recall in the last few years.
Like huge, huge advertising

457
00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:55,960
budget for this movie.
So they really did take a risk

458
00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:58,000
of what if they would have put
all of this into it and the

459
00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:01,600
movie completely bombs and we
don't get Act 2 because we've

460
00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:04,760
seen that happen with a lot of
movies recently in all these

461
00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:06,840
standing franchises of something
bombs.

462
00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:08,400
And they're just like, all
right, we're going to release

463
00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:10,240
you direct to Disney Plus or
whatever.

464
00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:13,920
So they really did take a OK,
we're going to put all of this

465
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,400
fleshing out and character
building into one movie and just

466
00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:19,480
cross our fingers and say like,
we're either going to release

467
00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:21,280
both of them knowing they're
bombing, or we're going to

468
00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:23,240
release 1 and just have it stand
by itself.

469
00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:26,840
All right, spoiler free because
I haven't seen Act 2.

470
00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:30,080
Obviously.
Having now seen the two hour and

471
00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:33,680
40 minute version of Act one, do
you feel like they made the

472
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:36,120
right choice?
A to split it into two movies

473
00:23:36,120 --> 00:23:38,720
and B to flush it out as much as
they did.

474
00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,720
I do.
I will say though, I don't think

475
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:43,160
they can do that with the second
movie.

476
00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:45,480
I think the second movie has to
be significantly shorter.

477
00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:48,480
Is there just not as much
musical left or like there's?

478
00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:52,000
A There's a lot of music left,
but there's not the rest of the

479
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,200
story.
Where we pick up in Act 2 only

480
00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:58,280
takes a few weeks, so they can't
flesh it out over.

481
00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:00,400
There's like a time jump between
1:00 and 2:00.

482
00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:04,320
They can't flesh it out into two
hours probably without having to

483
00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,960
pull a lot from the book
material because the musical,

484
00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:10,600
the second act moves very fast.
OK.

485
00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:14,440
So I think if they, I think they
made the right decision in doing

486
00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:17,920
all of this world building, but
I don't think the second-half of

487
00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:20,960
this can be two hours and 40
minutes without it really

488
00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:24,400
dragging in places.
Before we wrap up, I do want to

489
00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:27,040
say you were just talking about
the marketing for this movie.

490
00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:30,080
And I do think that this is like
the most classical movie

491
00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:31,520
marketing I've seen in a long
time.

492
00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:34,240
Like I'm seeing it on TV, I'm
hearing it on the radio.

493
00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:37,040
Like they're using channels that
they just usually ignore

494
00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:40,280
anymore, which I really love.
It feels like, hey, let's all go

495
00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:44,280
back to the movies finally, you
know, But all of the marketing

496
00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:48,000
has been built around that final
note of defying gravity.

497
00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:51,920
And having now seen the movie, I
think it's so brilliant because

498
00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:54,880
you know it's coming and you
know, that's probably where the

499
00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:58,120
movie is going to end.
And they even within the song,

500
00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:00,480
they keep cutting away.
The music keeps dropping.

501
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:02,960
They keep building to it.
And every time you think she's

502
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:05,200
going to go to it, she doesn't
go to it.

503
00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,720
And then then when it finally
happens, it's pretty rare that

504
00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:10,840
something gives me chills in a
movie theater now.

505
00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,920
But like, legitimate chills at
the end of that song.

506
00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:16,560
The only thing I was upset
about, I don't know if this is a

507
00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:18,800
huge spoiler or not, but I
discussed this with you as we

508
00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:21,280
were leaving the theater.
I really wish they would have

509
00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:24,600
cut as soon as the note hit like
they do on Broadway because the

510
00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:28,040
end of act one in Defying
Gravity, she sings the note,

511
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:30,720
everyone in the chorus hits
their big note and then it's

512
00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:34,400
blackout and they showed Alpha
but like fly off in glory at the

513
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:35,720
end and I'm like, that was
great.

514
00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:37,440
You look great, Cynthia, proud
of you.

515
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:41,000
But that was about 15 extra
seconds of just music that we

516
00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:42,520
didn't need.
I think it would have been a lot

517
00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,680
more powerful to follow the
Broadway there and just black

518
00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:48,600
out on the note.
Yeah, yeah, folks, sorry for the

519
00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:51,560
spoiler, but there's 15 seconds
of flying at the end of this

520
00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:54,000
movie.
I, I don't know how upset people

521
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:55,600
are going to get there to be
like, why would you give that

522
00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:57,200
away?
They probably will.

523
00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:00,800
What did you think of the color
saturation throughout this

524
00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:02,360
movie?
That was one thing.

525
00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:06,600
Oz is colorful and there were
times where I felt Oz looked

526
00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:07,880
muted so.
There's.

527
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:09,800
Lots of pastels.
It wasn't as vibrant as I

528
00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:12,160
pictured because like we all
think of the part where Dorothy

529
00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:16,560
walks from Kansas into Oz and
how big and bright everything

530
00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:19,480
was and I missed the brightness
in some parts.

531
00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:22,320
Yeah, it looked, it had the
color palette of like one of

532
00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:25,720
those shitty Tim Burton Disney
movies.

533
00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:28,960
Yeah, you know what I mean?
Like it looked exactly like the,

534
00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:32,760
the Tim Burton Alice in
Wonderland aesthetic and that

535
00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:35,200
really sucked.
I, I think that they try to do

536
00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:37,240
as much as they could,
especially in the early scenes,

537
00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:40,960
like when they're doing kind of
Ding Dong the witch is dead of

538
00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:44,200
showing like the flowers on the
ground looking really vibrant.

539
00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:46,960
But even then, it looked like
it's kind of like when you buy a

540
00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:49,280
light bulb in your house and you
can either buy the ones that are

541
00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:52,400
more yellow or than ones that
are more like daylight white.

542
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,240
It looked like they filmed
everything under daylight white

543
00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:57,760
in those scenes.
And so it still didn't have like

544
00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:00,920
that Technicolor pop to it.
Yeah, that was the only thing,

545
00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:03,400
because I agree with you, like
sets, costumes, like they put in

546
00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:05,240
the work and they're going to
get up for everything,

547
00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:07,480
deservedly so.
But that was the only thing is I

548
00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:09,480
just felt the color saturation
was off.

549
00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:12,360
And that's the biggest thing
I've seen online as a complaint

550
00:27:12,360 --> 00:27:15,200
from people who have seen the
movie early, is that they missed

551
00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:17,080
the big brightness.
And I agree with that.

552
00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:18,800
Yeah.
And I think the only other thing

553
00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:22,560
that is like a big hang up for
me is I think the CGI is pretty

554
00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:25,080
bad, pretty rough in parts.
Hit and miss for sure.

555
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:28,840
Like, and when it's hitting,
it's still very obviously CGI.

556
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,840
That's The thing is it's not
like seamless, but the very

557
00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:34,800
first shot of the movie is this
kind of long extended Warner

558
00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:39,760
where they're showing like the
the ruins of the witch's castle

559
00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,760
and you see her hat and then it
flies out and follows a monkey

560
00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:46,200
and just like everything CG and
it looks real bad.

561
00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:49,480
They even give us our quartet
from Wizard of Oz walking back

562
00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:52,400
down the yellow brick road and
they were very clearly CGI it.

563
00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:57,160
Looks like APS 2 game.
It really did, yeah.

564
00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:00,480
And so when your movie costs
like $200 million, you do kind

565
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:02,400
of hope that it would be a
little bit better than that.

566
00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:05,920
But I think, again, to the
movie's credit, it doesn't over

567
00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:09,040
rely on those things.
And I think for the most part,

568
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:11,840
you know, the the monkeys come
back in at the end of the movie

569
00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:16,080
and they're pretty substantial.
And so it does, again, it takes

570
00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:18,880
it down just a really small peg
for me from where it could have

571
00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:21,320
been.
But I did like that it wasn't

572
00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:24,640
over reliant on CGI.
Yeah, I agree a lot of that

573
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:28,080
stuff because when you meet the
Wizard of Oz, I assumed that the

574
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:30,760
whole mask that Jeff Goldblum
talks through when he's I'm Oz

575
00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:32,040
the Great and Powerful, all
that.

576
00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:36,560
I assumed that was CGI and that
was real, that whole that whole

577
00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:38,640
room they were in.
Because I saw a TikTok last

578
00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:41,120
night of people doing interviews
on there with Jeff Goldblum and

579
00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:42,280
he's like, Nope, this whole
thing's real.

580
00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:43,920
Like he was showing how to work
it and everything.

581
00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:46,080
And I was like, look at you,
Jeff Goldblum, you go.

582
00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:49,120
All right, I think we should
give this movie some final

583
00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:51,760
scores here.
So I'm I'm looking at it not

584
00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:53,920
from like how faithful of an
adaptation is it?

585
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:57,280
I'm just trying to look at it as
how good of a movie is this?

586
00:28:57,720 --> 00:28:59,520
And I think this is like an 8
out of 10 movie.

587
00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:01,200
This is really, really darn
good.

588
00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:04,960
I actually think it's a better
movie movie than In the Heights,

589
00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:08,640
which was John Chu's last movie
and last adaptation that he did.

590
00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:13,240
I think it's right on par with
like The Color Purple that came

591
00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:16,880
out a couple years ago.
I think that the craftsmanship

592
00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:19,880
in this movie in terms of like
set design, costuming,

593
00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:22,000
incredible.
Like it's going to, it's going

594
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,960
to be nominated for a ton of
Oscars and it feels like big old

595
00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:27,760
fashioned movie making in a lot
of ways.

596
00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:29,520
I had a blast, Julie.
I'm gonna give it an 8 out of

597
00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:31,680
10.
I think I'm looking at this more

598
00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:35,960
from a movie or a musical to
movie adaptation instead of just

599
00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:37,960
like I'm gonna score it as a
movie 'cause that's your thing,

600
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:39,640
Bob.
So I'm gonna score it as like

601
00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:42,800
how good of an adaptation.
I think this is up there with

602
00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:46,120
me, probably with Hairspray.
Hairspray is one of my favorite

603
00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:48,040
all time movie musical
adaptations.

604
00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:52,000
I really think this was a
fantastic adaptation of a

605
00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:56,160
musical to a movie.
They really did the homework and

606
00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:58,880
went through and got the things
they needed to help the audience

607
00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:02,200
who, like you, were not familiar
with what Wicked is about, to

608
00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:05,200
understand it completely and to
get invested in the world.

609
00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:09,600
I'm, I'm going to give it a 9.5
out of 10 because I really, I

610
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:13,520
went in expecting to be
disappointed and it surpassed it

611
00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:16,040
at every level for me.
Because when you look at

612
00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:19,040
something as iconic and as big
and as influential as Wicked as

613
00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:22,720
been on Broadway, you expect it
to disappoint you.

614
00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:24,320
And it did not disappoint me at
all.

615
00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:26,960
Well, that's awesome.
All right, So it's an 8 for me.

616
00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:30,320
It's a nine and a half from the
Twins on Tour podcast over here.

617
00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:31,800
You're welcome, Jen.
I scored it for you.

618
00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:35,040
For an average of an 8.75 out of
10.

619
00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:37,480
Wicked is in theaters today,
folks.

620
00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:39,160
Go see it.
It's a good Thanksgiving movie.

621
00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:41,120
It is.
It's a good family film.

622
00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:43,640
Julie, it's good to have you on
the show.

623
00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:46,560
Yeah, I mean, we've been talking
about having you on for so long.

624
00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:49,000
You guys are Harry Potter
experts and we did all eight

625
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:50,440
Harry Potters without having you
on.

626
00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:53,000
So I was very better about.
That this is me making it up to

627
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:54,240
you.
Thank you so much.

628
00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:57,560
Julie, where can we find you and
tell us the handles for Twins on

629
00:30:57,560 --> 00:30:58,920
Tour?
All right, so where?

630
00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:00,760
I mean, we're everywhere.
You can listen to a good old

631
00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:06,040
podcast on Instagram.
We are the dot twins dot on dot

632
00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:08,920
tour 1 because it that's the
only name it let us pick.

633
00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:11,160
We are on threads at twins on
tour.

634
00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:14,080
We are on Facebook, the Twins on
Tour podcast and you can pretty

635
00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:16,920
much just find us anywhere you
Google the Twins on Tour podcast

636
00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:18,240
where the first thing that pops
up.

637
00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:21,160
There you go.
All right, let's get to my

638
00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:24,280
interview with Mike Spadier from
Still Austin Distillery.

639
00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:31,760
All right.
I'm joined by Mike Spadier, who

640
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:34,560
is the head of marketing for
Still Austin Distillery.

641
00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:36,880
Mike, how are you today?
I'm doing well, man.

642
00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:39,200
How are you?
I'm doing great, folks.

643
00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:43,320
It's not super often that my day
job and my podcast job overlap

644
00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:45,160
like this.
But as you guys know, I'm a

645
00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:49,120
marketer by day and I saw a
really exciting marketing

646
00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:52,400
campaign kind of come across the
Internet over the last week and

647
00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:56,080
hit Instagram pretty hard.
And people are justifiably

648
00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:59,480
freaking out about it because
still Austin, who you may

649
00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:01,680
remember, remember from some of
our reviews on this podcast

650
00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:05,720
based out of Austin, TX, is
really disrupting the industry

651
00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:08,800
with this new campaign.
Mike, before we even really dive

652
00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:11,800
into the specifics of the
campaign, first of all, thank

653
00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:14,240
you so much for being here.
Tell us a little bit about your

654
00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:16,000
history with the brand.
How long have you been doing

655
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:17,480
marketing for them?
Yeah.

656
00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:21,760
So thanks for having me on,
first of all, and for the kind

657
00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:22,920
words.
Yeah.

658
00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:26,600
I've been working with Still
Austin since about 2020.

659
00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:32,320
So I used to own a marketing
agency here in Austin and Still

660
00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:37,920
Austin became one of my clients
and we were doing kind of

661
00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:41,800
digital advertising, social
media, content design, things

662
00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:47,720
like that.
And in 2022, I sold my agency

663
00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:50,600
and came on full time as Chief
Marketing Officer for Still

664
00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:53,080
Austin.
So been working with the brand

665
00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:56,280
since 2020, kind of a fractional
CMO for the first couple years

666
00:32:56,280 --> 00:32:59,240
and then full time CMO since
2022.

667
00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:01,840
All right.
Let's kind of set the stage for

668
00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:03,400
this marketing campaign a little
bit.

669
00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:06,400
So obviously I'm not working
there with you in Austin, but I

670
00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:09,920
have to imagine that when you
are starting a whiskey company

671
00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:13,800
outside of Kentucky and your
primary focus is on bourbon and

672
00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:18,120
rye that you're automatically
fighting both the perception of,

673
00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:21,960
hey, it's not from Kentucky, so
therefore it's lesser quality.

674
00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:25,160
And also the perception that
people have, which is again, is

675
00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:28,400
an incorrect one that oh, it's
not in Kentucky, so therefore it

676
00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:31,680
can't be called bourbon.
So I think you guys have done a

677
00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:34,480
great job of leaning into that.
Hey, we got to educate the

678
00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:36,360
public a little bit here side of
things.

679
00:33:36,720 --> 00:33:39,640
But I imagine that before you
kind of went all in on making

680
00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:43,880
that your marketing like lean
that it was a huge point of

681
00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:46,320
frustration for you guys.
I'm sure this is a conversation

682
00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:47,800
you're having all the time with
people.

683
00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:52,240
You know, I would say the first
first couple years, it was very

684
00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:54,520
frustrating.
It was always kind of like a

685
00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:56,440
man, how come people don't
understand this?

686
00:33:56,440 --> 00:33:58,880
It's really easy to Google.
Why does everyone think this?

687
00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:02,960
And then probably after a year
or so, we were kind of like just

688
00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:05,360
resolved to it.
Like, oh, that's OK, be cares.

689
00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:10,400
And then, and then in the last,
I would say 6 to 8 months or so,

690
00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:15,639
it became like a, like you said,
like, let's see how we can lean

691
00:34:15,639 --> 00:34:19,159
into this, right?
And so we made a couple of

692
00:34:19,159 --> 00:34:23,480
videos and social media posts
that were almost like making fun

693
00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:25,719
of the idea.
So we did a lot of posts that

694
00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:28,080
were like kind of clipping
people's comments and all this

695
00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:32,840
stuff.
And, you know, basically bourbon

696
00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:37,000
outside of Kentucky is going to
always have a, an initial stigma

697
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:38,880
of like, well, it's probably not
any good.

698
00:34:39,199 --> 00:34:41,280
I think we've done a good job
over the last few years of kind

699
00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:45,159
of proving that it can be from
anywhere and still be good.

700
00:34:45,159 --> 00:34:48,840
And so then we just kind of kept
playing with this notion that

701
00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:52,760
what could we do to highlight
this and lean into it and

702
00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:55,080
everything else.
And then we looked at the

703
00:34:56,840 --> 00:35:01,120
calendar because we're the,
we're the official whiskey

704
00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:04,080
partner of the Texas Longhorns,
which is here in in town, the

705
00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:07,160
University of Texas.
And we were looking at the the

706
00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:09,440
calendar and the schedule of
games coming up and we noticed

707
00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:14,280
that on Saturday, November 23rd,
Kentucky was coming to play us

708
00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:15,920
here for football.
That's.

709
00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:17,560
Awesome.
I was like, oh, we should do

710
00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:21,720
something to, you know, make fun
of that or, or celebrate that,

711
00:35:21,720 --> 00:35:23,440
however you're looking at it.
And that's kind of where the

712
00:35:23,440 --> 00:35:25,440
idea came from.
Oh, that's awesome, man.

713
00:35:25,720 --> 00:35:27,560
Yeah.
I mean, and beyond that kind of

714
00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:30,640
timing, I think it really is the
best possible time for you guys

715
00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:33,360
to stake your claim here because
we've been talking about it on

716
00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:36,320
the podcast all year.
The bourbon industry has really

717
00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:38,280
been in kind of a state of flux
over the last year.

718
00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:41,240
I think that a lot of the big
name players are trying to find

719
00:35:41,240 --> 00:35:42,920
their footing again.
We've seen a lot of

720
00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:45,440
acquisitions.
And so for you guys to really

721
00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:49,000
stake your claim out in Texas as
hey, not only are we, you know,

722
00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:52,960
the Texas whiskey that needs to
be on your radar, but put us up

723
00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:55,560
against any of these Kentucky
brands and see exactly what we

724
00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:58,040
can do.
It seems like a really ripe time

725
00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:00,560
for you guys to try to get a
corner on the market right now.

726
00:36:01,600 --> 00:36:05,920
You know, yeah, thank you.
I, I think if we were to just

727
00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:09,680
be, you know, starting from
scratch and then just coming out

728
00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:12,280
of the gate saying where is good
or better than Kentucky, Where

729
00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:14,240
is good or better, Kentucky,
Kentucky, Kentucky.

730
00:36:14,560 --> 00:36:19,320
I think I've actually seen quite
a few brands maybe overplay

731
00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:22,840
their hand a little bit and try
and like make the case to say,

732
00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:24,440
hey, we should be in this
conversation.

733
00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:30,640
And to be honest with you, the
only reason we've even embraced

734
00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:35,360
that sort of like topic is
because it's being said about

735
00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:39,120
us.
We, we didn't set out to be the

736
00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:42,040
anti Kentucky or be in the
conversation with Kentucky.

737
00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:43,880
We just set out to like make
good whiskey.

738
00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:46,840
But what's happened over the
last four years is a lot of like

739
00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:51,920
really well known critics and a
lot of urban people online and,

740
00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:56,480
and in comments and forums and
podcasts and everything.

741
00:36:56,760 --> 00:36:59,120
They're the ones that keep
saying it, You know, they keep

742
00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:01,640
saying, I can't believe this is
from Texas.

743
00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:04,240
This is some of the best stuff
to come out of Texas.

744
00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:06,880
This is as good as stuff that's
coming out of Kentucky.

745
00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:09,680
And so, yeah, at at some point
we just said, all right, screw

746
00:37:09,680 --> 00:37:11,480
it.
If if people are saying this

747
00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:13,400
about us already, let's just go
for it.

748
00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:14,920
Yeah.
Well, and I think what I love

749
00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:18,120
about the way that the campaign
is rolled out to this point has

750
00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:20,560
been that you guys aren't on the
offensive.

751
00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:23,840
You're not taking on Kentucky.
It's just like, hey, we want to

752
00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:27,120
make you guys aware that good
whiskey can come from anywhere.

753
00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:29,280
Good bourbon can come from
anywhere in the United States

754
00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:32,600
and that shouldn't be a burden
or an obstacle to you trying

755
00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:34,880
this.
And I think let's get into

756
00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:37,280
talking about this actual new
campaign because this thing is

757
00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:39,840
exciting as hell.
I was talking with my Co host

758
00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:42,200
Brad about it right before I
jumped on with you.

759
00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:45,520
And I asked him, like, you know,
if you had to sum up the the

760
00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:47,960
spirit of this campaign, what
would you call it?

761
00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:49,920
And he's just kept saying
cheeky.

762
00:37:49,920 --> 00:37:52,440
It's real cheeky.
And I, I really like that phrase

763
00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:55,000
because there's a playfulness
about it that it's, you guys

764
00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:56,720
aren't for, you know, pardon my
French here.

765
00:37:56,720 --> 00:37:58,040
You guys aren't being assholes
about it.

766
00:37:58,040 --> 00:38:00,760
You're not taking on the entire
industry in Kentucky.

767
00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:04,960
But it's a really playful take
on this perception of what

768
00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:08,480
whiskey, you know, should come
from or should look like.

769
00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:11,040
Mike, why don't you go ahead and
break down a little bit for our

770
00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:12,720
audience what the new promotion
is?

771
00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:17,880
Yeah, so it all stems from that,
that misinformation.

772
00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:21,200
And so from all everyone kind of
for years saying it's not real

773
00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:23,920
if it's it's not real bourbon,
if it's not from Kentucky or it

774
00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:25,720
can't be any good because it's
not from Kentucky.

775
00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:28,840
And so he said, all right, well,
what can we do here?

776
00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:34,080
So let's let's say the enemy or
the target or whatever you want

777
00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:36,720
to say in your words, not being
Kentucky is correct.

778
00:38:36,720 --> 00:38:39,320
We definitely don't want to say
we're, you know, screw Kentucky.

779
00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:40,920
We're better than them.
They don't make good stuff.

780
00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:43,440
Like, clearly they're the
originators.

781
00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:45,760
There's no disputing Kentucky
makes good stuff.

782
00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:50,280
Our whole thing is like, OK,
well, we we've belong in that

783
00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:52,320
conversation.
I think we've proven that good

784
00:38:52,320 --> 00:38:55,920
stuff can come from anywhere.
And so the target or the enemy

785
00:38:55,960 --> 00:38:59,560
in the cheekiness of the
campaign is really kind of the

786
00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:04,520
invisible misinformed customer,
right?

787
00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:09,240
And, and I think what's nice
about that is, you know,

788
00:39:09,240 --> 00:39:12,240
typically if you see somebody
online say, oh, it's not real,

789
00:39:12,240 --> 00:39:14,720
if it's not part in Kentucky or
whatever, you typically will see

790
00:39:14,720 --> 00:39:18,120
something underneath that where
somebody's, you know, joining

791
00:39:18,120 --> 00:39:20,680
into the the conversation.
Actually, that's not true.

792
00:39:20,680 --> 00:39:24,160
Here's the truth, You know, so
it's like we're almost like

793
00:39:24,240 --> 00:39:28,600
attacking the misinformed
consumer that everyone is sort

794
00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:31,120
of like educating at the same
time, which I think is sort of

795
00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:32,640
the cheekiness of the whole
idea.

796
00:39:33,240 --> 00:39:37,080
So calling it, you know,
Kentucky fill up day is

797
00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:39,800
basically what what the whole
idea is to say.

798
00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:43,120
All right, Well, you think, I
think the the intro is really

799
00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:47,120
like, in spite of our best
efforts to let people know that

800
00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:50,600
good bourbon can come from
anywhere, there's still a lot of

801
00:39:50,600 --> 00:39:53,560
misinformation out there that
only good bourbon can come from

802
00:39:53,560 --> 00:39:56,800
Kentucky.
So what we're saying is all

803
00:39:56,800 --> 00:39:59,320
right, once you're finished with
your next bottle of your

804
00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:03,200
precious Kentucky bourbon.
Bring that empty bottle to us

805
00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:07,320
here at our distillery in Austin
and we will refill it with our

806
00:40:07,320 --> 00:40:11,080
award-winning Cast Strength
bourbon whiskey for only $1.00

807
00:40:11,400 --> 00:40:14,880
so that you can see for yourself
just how good Texas whiskey is.

808
00:40:15,680 --> 00:40:17,720
And so that's kind of the start
and the finish of the whole

809
00:40:17,720 --> 00:40:19,880
thing.
And obviously being able to say

810
00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:22,920
like come get a dollar bottle of
whiskey is already kind of its

811
00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:27,560
own, you know, popular thing.
People that already know our

812
00:40:27,560 --> 00:40:31,360
brand and love our Cast Strength
bourbon are, you know, jumping

813
00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:33,280
at the chance to get a dollar
bottle of that.

814
00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:36,640
And then really the fun cheeky
part is like, we're going to put

815
00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:41,560
it inside of Kentucky's bottles.
So, so you know, some of the

816
00:40:41,560 --> 00:40:44,320
imagery I think you've probably
seen, but maybe see like a

817
00:40:44,320 --> 00:40:47,840
bottle of Makers or Bullet or
Jim Beam or something like that

818
00:40:47,840 --> 00:40:50,720
with our label just stuck on top
of it is pretty appalling to

819
00:40:50,720 --> 00:40:54,240
some people.
Well, I mean, so again, you

820
00:40:54,240 --> 00:40:56,760
know, when when you work in
marketing, you learn to see a

821
00:40:56,760 --> 00:41:00,120
good campaign and from the
optics of it, first of all, like

822
00:41:00,120 --> 00:41:03,000
seeing your whiskey in a Maker's
bottle is just that's, it's

823
00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:05,880
brilliant marketing.
The $1.00 aspect of it is

824
00:41:05,880 --> 00:41:07,720
brilliant marketing.
People feel like they're getting

825
00:41:07,720 --> 00:41:09,080
an incredible value and they
are.

826
00:41:09,080 --> 00:41:13,120
I mean, it's what like $60.00
off the, the shelf price of this

827
00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:15,320
stuff.
But then I have to also imagine

828
00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:18,040
that like, your bosses are
pretty happy with this as well

829
00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:20,000
because you've already made the
product.

830
00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:22,920
Like it's, it's just, it's stuff
you guys have on hand that

831
00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:26,000
you're able to, you know,
essentially be a loss leader for

832
00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:28,280
you guys.
It's just, dude, I, I don't know

833
00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:31,880
what else to tell you, but this
is for me, the most brilliant

834
00:41:31,880 --> 00:41:34,600
marketing campaign I've seen in
the alcohol space this year.

835
00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:39,520
I really appreciate that, man.
I think the team, the team is

836
00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:42,560
really excited about it.
We were really, you know, as you

837
00:41:42,560 --> 00:41:46,440
said, your bosses are happy.
I was expecting the bosses to

838
00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:50,840
shut this down after.
This is one of those campaigns

839
00:41:50,840 --> 00:41:53,400
where like, you know, I'm, I'm
sure you understand this, but

840
00:41:53,920 --> 00:41:56,480
you sit around with your team,
you come up with weird ideas all

841
00:41:56,480 --> 00:41:58,520
day long.
And then every once in a while

842
00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:01,320
you go, oh, that's kind of fun
or that's really interesting.

843
00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:03,320
Let's let's run that up the
flagpole.

844
00:42:03,560 --> 00:42:06,440
And this is one of those ideas
where, you know, we were fully

845
00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:09,840
expecting once we go run this
up, they're just going to say,

846
00:42:10,040 --> 00:42:12,000
oh, that's funny.
But yeah, there's no way we can

847
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:15,040
do that.
And you know, the further we got

848
00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:17,000
through the planning and
everyone just kept saying, yeah,

849
00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:19,440
I love it, let's go for it.
I was like, it's eventually

850
00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:21,440
someone's going to say no to
this, right?

851
00:42:22,240 --> 00:42:26,960
And Nope, hey, let us do it.
It's almost scarier when you get

852
00:42:26,960 --> 00:42:28,560
green lights all the way up.
Totally.

853
00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:30,880
Oh.
Yeah, absolutely.

854
00:42:30,880 --> 00:42:36,080
I, I had a few moments, you
know, crisis of confidence with

855
00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:38,560
the team where I was like, I
think what's bugging me here is

856
00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:43,000
that nobody said no to this.
And I fully expected it and I

857
00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:48,360
don't know what to do.
Well, Mike, I, I again, I think

858
00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:51,040
this is super successful ad
campaign for you guys.

859
00:42:51,080 --> 00:42:53,840
Tell us a little bit about
what's coming up next for Still

860
00:42:53,840 --> 00:42:55,360
Austin in the wake of this
thing.

861
00:42:55,360 --> 00:42:58,120
I imagine you guys are going to
take a nice long nap after

862
00:42:58,120 --> 00:43:00,960
Kentucky Fill up day, but you
guys have anything coming down

863
00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:03,120
the Pike that you'd like to
announce here or plug a little

864
00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:04,120
bit?
Yeah.

865
00:43:04,120 --> 00:43:08,880
I mean, we've had nothing but
non-stop marketing, product

866
00:43:08,880 --> 00:43:11,720
releases, campaigns this whole
year has been nuts.

867
00:43:11,720 --> 00:43:14,200
And we've we've seen some
really, really strong success.

868
00:43:14,720 --> 00:43:18,440
And so Kentucky Phillips Day is
this weekend, I'm not sure when

869
00:43:18,440 --> 00:43:21,560
this is coming out, but
Saturday, November 23rd.

870
00:43:22,040 --> 00:43:26,840
And then next week right on the
heels of that, we will be making

871
00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:30,640
our full announcement for our
most premium release we've ever

872
00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:32,400
had before, which is called
Tanager.

873
00:43:32,600 --> 00:43:36,640
And if you follow us or, or or
in our orbit, you might have

874
00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:39,960
seen some a little bit of info
or imagery that's been released

875
00:43:39,960 --> 00:43:43,960
about that so far, our most
premium release.

876
00:43:43,960 --> 00:43:48,240
It's it's a really, really cool
mix of old world techniques from

877
00:43:48,240 --> 00:43:53,360
our master blender, Nancy Fraley
that she's learned from Armagnac

878
00:43:53,360 --> 00:43:57,120
and cognac regions.
And the Nashville is a red,

879
00:43:57,120 --> 00:44:01,640
white and blue corn mix and
really, really interesting like

880
00:44:01,640 --> 00:44:03,560
process for how this thing was
made.

881
00:44:03,600 --> 00:44:08,200
And if you're familiar with like
slow water reduction, how we how

882
00:44:08,200 --> 00:44:12,720
we kind of like reduce our, our
bourbon now or we slowly add

883
00:44:12,720 --> 00:44:16,800
water over time, this is kind of
like a successor to that a

884
00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:21,400
little bit more interesting in
the way the process works.

885
00:44:21,400 --> 00:44:23,520
And I think on the site you'll
be able to kind of read all

886
00:44:23,520 --> 00:44:25,160
about it.
But it's this process called

887
00:44:25,160 --> 00:44:28,960
Petito, which they use in cognac
and Armaniac.

888
00:44:29,400 --> 00:44:33,480
And essentially what it is is
after we've extracted whiskey

889
00:44:33,480 --> 00:44:38,280
from a barrel, we then add water
back to the barrel and that

890
00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:41,800
water ages in the barrel.
And so the water is taking on

891
00:44:41,880 --> 00:44:45,760
all kinds of wood sugars and
flavors and characteristics of

892
00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:48,480
that spent Ferrell over the
course of the year.

893
00:44:49,040 --> 00:44:54,280
And then it kind of it takes on,
you know, 20 to 50 kind of proof

894
00:44:54,320 --> 00:44:59,080
actually of, of, of alcohol.
And then instead of adding water

895
00:44:59,520 --> 00:45:03,480
like we normally would in the,
in the process, we actually take

896
00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:06,920
whiskey that we've been aging
for five or six years and then

897
00:45:06,920 --> 00:45:10,040
add it to the water.
And so the water creates this

898
00:45:10,040 --> 00:45:14,000
really interesting mouthfeel and
super long lingering finish.

899
00:45:14,400 --> 00:45:18,200
And Nancy, who the, the our
master blender sort of kind of

900
00:45:18,200 --> 00:45:21,880
created this cigar blend
bourbon.

901
00:45:22,360 --> 00:45:25,880
And so with this whole process,
it's our very first cigar blend

902
00:45:25,880 --> 00:45:28,200
bourbon.
It's called Tanager and it's

903
00:45:28,200 --> 00:45:30,360
going to be awesome.
Folks, this has been Mike Spade

904
00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:32,480
Here.
He is CMO over at Still Austin,

905
00:45:32,480 --> 00:45:36,080
and he has headed up the best ad
campaign of 2024 in the spirits

906
00:45:36,080 --> 00:45:37,680
realm.
Mike, thank you so much for

907
00:45:37,680 --> 00:45:39,720
joining us today.
I appreciate it man.

908
00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:43,080
You can find Film and Whiskey on
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,

909
00:45:43,080 --> 00:45:46,960
TikTok or YouTube at Film
Whiskey, or you can jump into

910
00:45:46,960 --> 00:45:49,080
our Discord server.
We're on there every single day

911
00:45:49,080 --> 00:45:52,840
talking to you guys, fans of the
Film and Whiskey podcast, about

912
00:45:52,960 --> 00:45:55,720
Wicked, about Broadway, about
anything you want.

913
00:45:55,920 --> 00:45:58,440
You can find the link to our
Discord at the end of every

914
00:45:58,440 --> 00:46:02,600
single one of our show notes.
We'll be back next Tuesday with

915
00:46:02,600 --> 00:46:06,560
a regularly scheduled episode,
but until then, I'm Bob Book and

916
00:46:06,560 --> 00:46:07,680
we'll see you next time.