This is a transcript of SYS 527 – From Film Crews to Producer/Director with Shari Hamrick Grewal .
Welcome to Episode 527 of the Selling Your Screenplay podcast. I’m Ashley Scott Meyers, screenwriter and blogger of its sellingyourscreenplay.com. Today, I’m interviewing director and producer Shari Hamrick Grewal, who just did a feature holiday rom -com called Winter’s Garden, which will be screening at this year’s festival. It’s going to screen Saturday, October 5 at 1 PM. You can get tickets and learn more about it through our website, www.sixfigurefilmfestival.com. There you can find all the films that are screening, as well as get tickets and just learn more about the films. But today, Shari is on the podcast here to talk about her new film, Winter’s Garden, and how she put that project together. So, stay tuned for that interview.
If you find this episode valuable, please help me out by giving me a review in iTunes or leaving a comment on YouTube or retweeting the podcast on Twitter or liking or sharing it on Facebook. These social media shares really do help spread word about the podcast, so they’re very much appreciated. Any websites or links that I mention on the podcast can be found on my blog in the show notes. I also publish a transcript with every episode in case you’d rather read the show or look at something later on. You can find all the podcast show notes at www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/podcast, and then just look for episode number 527. If you want my free guide, how to sell a screenplay in five weeks, you can pick that up by going to sellingyourscreenplay.com/guide. It’s completely free. You just put in your email address and I’ll send you a new lesson once per week for five weeks, along with a bunch of bonus lessons. I teach the whole process of how to sell your screenplay in that guide. I’ll teach you how to write a professional logline and query letter, and how to find agents, managers, and producers who are looking for material. Really, it’s everything you need to know to sell your screenplay. Just go to sellingyourscreenplay.com slash guide. So, now let’s get into the main segment. Today, I am interviewing director Shari Hamrick Grewal, here is the interview.
Ashley
Welcome, Shari, to the Selling Your Screenplay podcast. Really appreciate you coming on the show with me today.
Shari Hamrick Grewal
Thanks for having me.
Ashley
So, to start out, maybe you can tell us a little bit about your background. Where did you grow up and how did you get interested in the entertainment business?
Shari Hamrick Grewal
Well, originally, I am from Texas, and we’re all big in Texas, big attitude, big hair, big mouth. So, I gravitated to theater. I wouldn’t say I mean, I moved out of Texas and traveled internationally with my family. I was very lucky that my dad happened to be a helicopter instructor, and ended up getting a contract in Iran in the 70s. And I got to travel quite a bit. That was really helpful. But then we settled for a little bit in Las Vegas, Nevada for a bit, and then back to Texas, been around a little bit. But theater was my main things. I did a lot of plays. I was part of a children’s theater group for a long time, did dinner theater. I was lucky enough to do a USO show in Germany. I did a performance at all the military bases through Germany of the odd couple, I got to play one of the Seth Lee kitchen, you know, roommates in that play. And then from there, started working on set on like television and just being a general pain in the butt. Anytime a local show came in, I was on the set trying to run coffee, anything where I could just be part of the…
Ashley
And let’s talk about that for a second. So where were you at this point where you’re just trying to get on set?
Shari Hamrick Grewal
Well, that started around I was about 14. And my father was retiring from flying and we were in Las Vegas, and he was doing some property management and doing real estate. And so, he would get a notice whenever a TV show was coming into Vegas looking for locations. So, the minute I found out there was a TV show coming from Hollywood or wherever, and they’re going to be filming in Las Vegas, I would show up. I would be an extra, I get a PA job, anything I could do just to be in the mix. I did that for a long time.
Ashley
Just give us some tips for people like that. There’s got to be, you know, lots of people listening to this. They’re in their small town, well, far from Hollywood. They hear that there’s a movie coming to their town. What do you recommend? How do you get on that set and not seem just like a movie buff that’s just, you know, star struck? How do you get on there? How do you act professional and how do you just get in their favor? Any tips on that?
Shari Hamrick Grewal
Well, I just always just had to hide the fact that didn’t look like a goofball whenever the stars were around, because I would be wanting autographs and things like that. But I didn’t do it, I just acted like they were just the regular person, you know, I tried to ignore that. But I was working in like, bringing more of a production assistant vibe, they really like to rely on locals that are connected. So, if you know where all the local shops are, discount stores, or, you know, cool food, or anything like that, if you come to there with that flavor of the local support, they’ll probably bring you on as a PA, I mean, it doesn’t pay great, but it’s a great way to start meeting those people. Getting on lists, I, you know, I found that everybody gets on a crew list. So even if you work for a week, or you work for a day, you’re getting on a crew list, your names and numbers are in a crew list. And when people go from production to production, they take those old crew lists with them. So, making good relationships, you know, being really helpful and sweet and kind. And, you know, if you’re cranky in the morning, make sure you’re having your coffee and your chocolate before you get there, because nobody wants to deal with cranky people. And problem solving, just be a problem solver, you know, a good team player, that type of stuff. And then get on those lists, because then they will, they come back to that area, they will always go back and remember those local people and getting that experience is really helpful.
Ashley
Yeah. Sound advice for sure. So, your dad was a pilot. You’re moving around the world. It sounds like, do you have any insight? Why were you so passionate about theater? It sounds like you love to perform. You’re doing the theater wherever you went. But just now with years of reflection, you’ve been in the entertainment business for awhile. Like what was it that really attracted you to it originally?
Shari Hamrick Grewal
I would have to say I came out that way if I was doing like little shows and little plays with my dolls and truck from the time I was two or three, four years old, I was doing fake radio shows and I just have always been doing that writing, writing short stories. My parents could not stop me from that path. They try to talk me several times, get a regular job. What are you doing? You can’t make a living this way. I just kept doing it. I finally got to the point where, you get old enough where you’re trying to get an apartment, you try to grow up, I didn’t want to like, as I was acting a lot, that was hard to make a living in theater as an actor, so I started working behind the scenes in the theater settings as well. So, if I wasn’t in the show, I was on the show regardless. And then I decided that I didn’t want to be a waiter necessarily and then try to do this part -time. So, I took any job on any show starting, you know, where I was even legally allowed to work at 18, whether it was a PA, whether it was in locations or costume or runner or a dress, I took any job in the, the deal. I’ve been doing that my whole life. So, I just transitioned from acting into the production side. You know, I started doing independent stuff, putting my own stuff together. Cause you know, I wasn’t getting enough jobs. So, I said, well, I’ll just make my own. And then what I would do as a, this is how I gravitated more to the producer side for a while was that I would fire myself as an actor. Cause I would get a bigger name in there. So, I would have a role thinking this is going to be my role. And then I would be like, okay, I’m not this person. They have this name and they’re going to make this sale. So, I would remove myself and put a bigger name in. I did that as for directing for a while too. I would, I’m going to direct this one. I have to make this one. And now I get a really great director who has a similar vision as me that would concentrate on that. And then I would fire myself as a director and bring it in a director. And then that way I could concentrate on producing and raising the money and selling. But did that for a really long time. Um, I started working for bonding companies for a while as a problem solver, the fixer to find out why we’re productions going over budget. Why were they running so many days? Like where was the problem? Was it the, you know, we say it’s the director, but sometimes it wasn’t the director, it could have been like logistically some, you know, maybe it rained for a week and they were flooded out or, and then I found that I started taking over productions that were in trouble when they would fire or remove a director and then I would have to finish them maybe for the bond cut. I never got credit. Like I was just, but at that point I was just working, making paychecks. And, and in that time, I also produced for human beings for children and a family and, you know, trying to juggle, you know, travel and go into hungry to make a movie. And I’ve got, you know, little ones at home. So that definitely slowed down the amount of production I would take on.
Ashley
Yeah. For sure. So, I’m curious to get your take on this. And I know I experienced this when I moved out to LA, I would get jobs as a PA and you’d be working 12-14 hours a day. You’d come home and you’re exhausted. Like, and you had just said, oh, well, I didn’t want to wait tables and do the acting part time, but there is a balance there. And where do you land on that? I know it’s, it’s, you can find these products. If you move to LA, you can find these production jobs. And I do think there’s a lot of value, especially for screenwriters to see that. But I also think there’s a point at which it starts to drain you to the point where you can actually focus on writing. Where do you land on some of that stuff? How much experience do you need versus how much time do you just need in your room writing by yourself and actually pumping out some drafts that you can send to people.
Shari Hamrick Grewal
Well, hopefully, whoever’s listening is similar. I mean, I was squeezing three hours a day, maybe four. I mean, I’m squeezing out every minute, because like you said, it’s a lot. And nowadays, it’s even harder because the cost of living is so high. So, it’s really hard to say, oh, I can just be a PA all the time, full time, and then find time for writing something or independently producing something. It makes it very difficult, for sure. There’s no real answer to that. I mean, I have worked as a waiter, I worked at a title company, I worked, I did take other jobs, but I just decided that I needed some normalcy and that craziness, you know, I needed a break. So, for vacation, I would go work somewhere else for a while, but then spend time writing or getting with creative groups. So, then we started shooting shorts on weekend, things like that, we were just always trying to create something and just never really stopped. Making a living at it, it’s very difficult to do for sure.
Ashley
So, let’s dig into your feature film Winter’s Garden. Maybe to start out, and this is a movie you directed and produced, and maybe to start out you can just give us a quick pitch or log line. What is this film all about?
Shari Hamrick Grewal
Well, this film is just about, you know, it’s very stereotypical Christmas in a way, except for I tend to lean into things that have a little bit more story to them. And so just, you know, the girl works at an ad agency goes home to the farm. And then, you know, there’s a little bit of a formula there, all the tropes and things that you have to play with in that in that lane. This one had a World War Two backstory. And I do a lot of things with my nonprofit, Vetflix, under my 501c3 that I have. And we try to either make sure we’re hiring veterans, or that we have supporting like a veteran has a story to tell, or that there’s some veteran element in the film. So, this one, what attracted me to this one is that it is about a young girl who ends up meeting a woman, an elderly woman who served in World War Two, who passed in the passing away. And so, she tries to do the right thing and getting the woman back to where she wanted to be laid to rest. And in doing that ends up discovering her entire story about, you know, how was she, she was a part of a, you know, a lot of this didn’t end up in the final movie, but it will on the website where the elderly woman actually served in the Red Cross, and she was in the UK during the war. And so, there’s little sprinkles of that while you’re still having this romance, you know, where she goes, and she meets the guy in the UK. And through that solving of that mystery, fall in love, you know, at the end of the movie, they’re going to, you know, kiss and do all that wonderful stuff. But it has just a little bit more meat potatoes. And that’s kind of what attracted me to it. But the screenwriter, who I actually produced other films with, sent me this one, and said, hey, what do you think about doing this? And I just fell in love with it. And I said, we’re making it.
Ashley
So, just tell me about this idea of doing a film with veterans and your 501c. How does that play into it? Do you get some, like it allows you to keep the budget lower, you get some tax incentives. Maybe you can talk to that. It was just giving back. You just have a passion for veterans and so you want to give something back to them. But maybe you can speak to that a little bit.
Shari Hamrick Grewal
Well, you know, when you’re in the independent lane, I found that when you’re doing movies for like, under a million dollars, you never really make your money back anyway. So, you’re already working as a nonprofit, because there isn’t any profit. You’re just trying to pay yourself back for the expenses. So that, that was one reason we looked at that. We’re like, we’re not, what do we get? How are we going to get this out? This was another film, not necessarily Winter’s Garden, so we just went out for sales this month. And it’s been pretty good conversations, the movies being really well received. So that’s a blessing. But for the nonprofit side, we coordinate with a company called Vet Pick, which is another partner 501c3. And their job is to get live events, whether it be a concert or movie, F1 race car, whatever, and they like to get discounted or free tickets, and they give them to the veterans and their families to go and attend. So, we kind of went through it in that way to see if we told a story that was strong enough, would they come? Like, could we invite the veterans to come? The reason this is blown up now, since I’ve been doing this full time since 2014, as far as the 501c3 is concerned, is that there were a lot of veterans coming out that wanted to learn how to be in the business, they were transitioning out of a traditional, whatever they were doing in the military, and now that they’ve retired, and they’re trying to get a different skill, and they’re trying to learn something else, or they have a story that they’ve written, or something to say, either based on their experience or not. And we just started putting them into places or onto other films, or we would be hired to promote films like Hacksaw Ridge, or things like that, to that audience. I never did any of that trying to make any money, I don’t take any salary. When I’m working with the 501c3 or anything with veterans, I don’t take a salary at all. All of that, anything we raise or any support we get goes 100% to the veterans and what they’re doing.
Ashley
Gotcha, gotcha. And is this a passion? Do you have some veterans in your family that you got involved with this?
Shari Hamrick Grewal
Oh, sure. My father was an army, a pilot, but also former Marine and his wife, as well as a police officer. My uncle was as well. My brother was, I have two nephews serving right now. One is a Marine and the other is an army ranger, young man, and they’re off in places around the world holding down the port. So yeah, definitely a personal thing.
Ashley
Yeah, interesting. So okay, so you mentioned with this Winter’s Garden screenplay, it was from a writer that you had worked with before. But maybe you can speak to that a little bit. How do scripts typically come across your desk? Is it writers you’ve worked with before? And then even take us back, how did you originally meet this writer? Do you remember? And just so our own writer’s kind of know what sort of events or what sort of ways could they possibly meet a producer like you?
Shari Hamrick Grewal
Well, I do read every query myself, personally, that comes into me or any of my companies, they come through my desk, and then I will either ask to read the script, or I’ll pass it on to someone else to read it if it just didn’t quite get me excited about it. But I take submissions from unknown people to me as well. And they I get a lot, I get maybe I don’t get as many because I don’t promote myself. I don’t like appear because it’s like for sort of like any promotional stuff for a long time. But I’ve been around for a long time. So, my name and addresses in a lot of those screenplay things. So, I used to get like 100 a week and now I get about 100 a month still of just unknown queries that will come to me. So, I will take unknown to me writers, I’ll take first time writers. But it doesn’t matter. What I find interesting about the communication between writers and myself when I get a query is, a lot of them are so first time that they don’t know how to do a query. And they just blow it like right in the email, right? Where it makes me just say, you know, thanks for thinking of us, but we’re not taking anything on right now. And technically, I’m really not looking for stuff, but you always keep the door open. You know, a Christmas miracle comes in. And I do read other things besides holiday fare, of course, you know, I do. I have found that I’m leaning away from I used to love to do horror with my favorite genre. And I used to a lot of horror movies. I don’t really do those anymore. I don’t do anything that’s considered torture porn or graphic, they grow sore. I’m kind of maybe because I’m getting older. This one, you know, I just want to have a nice entertainment, nice time. So, tend to I feel like crime thrillers are really good twisty crime thriller is good as long as it’s not too graphic, or I would say a hard R. I would stay away from that for me personally, I would do PG 13 ish versions of crime thrillers. And of course, my new label, which is now called Happy Chairs Incorporated, which is just all going to be rom coms, we have a specialty label for that. So, I’ll be letting you know, because I’ll be sending out a an invite for people to submit to us. I would just say that, you know, find out how to write a really good query letter. What is that, you know, we’re not going to do a class on that right now. But maybe sometimes, you know, I’ll come back and we can have a class on that. A really good query letter. You never attach the script unless it’s requested. That kind of stuff. There’s some basic rules to submissions, especially if you’re not like it’s not your manager sending it or a lawyer sending it. Most people wouldn’t even take an unrequested submission because of just the legal, the legal ramifications and then they all require a release saying hey, you know, you sent it to us, we didn’t request it, we may have similar films in the work here. So, if we pass on you, you know, you can’t come and see us if we’re just going to read it kind of thing. There’s just some rules that they need to follow I think on the query.
Ashley
Yeah. And so do you think this writer who wrote Winter’s Garden did she I mean she had worked with you before do you think it was in her part of her strategy was make sure there’s a sort of a veteran tie -in or a military tie -in in the backdrop because I know Shari is into that like was there some strategically you know on her part to actually write something that specifically met what you were looking for a romcom with this military background.
Shari Hamrick Grewal
No, she’d already had this script for quite some time. I got you. She dusted it off and sent it to me. So, she had written this, this particular writer in this space of holiday fair is prolific and has had over 17 of her scripts produced into movies. So, she’s not, she knows what she’s doing. She understands, the beats that are required in a holiday rom -com, things like that. I mean, there are very specific rules, especially if you’re trying to get a, you know, a hallmark to take on your tail. I mean, they use a nine-beat structure where everybody else uses eight. I mean, they have very specific roles and it’s very difficult to get in there. So even this writer, she’s been around so long. She’s so good at that. She mentors writers who are trying to get into that. So, she’s had like five writers that she’s mentored with their own scripts that, that sent them to her and she gave them notes how to fix it and have sold their scripts directly to Hallmark. So, there’s definitely a formula if you’re in that path. Right now, as a general, let’s say you’re, some of your listeners that have nothing to do with Christmas, like they’re not interested, you know, they’re decried thriller or maybe a really cool horror. That’s maybe leads more to like an old school heart. Because I don’t want to give advice on, you know, the next bar or something. It’s just too, too gross for me at this point. I’m a grandmother now. I guess I’ve ironed out my need to, you know, be shocking when I’m making stuff. The worst thing that happens now for my day is that the Christmas cookie was broken during the time. Like that’s the most trauma I want to deal with right now. But even I think for all the writers, they need to kind of stay up with some of the trends. I’m finding a lot of submissions are still coming in to me that are over 120 pages or more in scripts. And that is just, I know that that used to be the thing, right? 120 pages, right? It’s not the thing anymore. If you’re sending people that anything that’s over 105 pages, they may not even read it. When you start getting to 110, you’re out. Unless you’re a known writer, they’re not going to read it. Very difficult. So I really like getting things that are 95 to 105 to eight, no more than 110 pages. If I see that’s 120, 125 pages, I’m already like, it’s too much. It’s too long.
Ashley
Are there some really good examples of these Christmas or holiday rom coms, just some titles that if someone wants to get into this, they could go and sort of look at those. Obviously, Winter’s Garden is your film, and hopefully people check that out. But are there some other films as well that are sort of real sort of guideposts in this genre that you could just.
Shari Hamrick Grewal
Well, you have so much of it. There’s like Hallmark alone is doing a, you know, there’s like, they’re doing 100 titles. I mean, the you can go to any you can Google and just see go to any channel during the holidays and watch as many of them as you can. You know, watch them on up TV, watch them on Great American Family, watch them on Hallmark. You’ll see that there’s books written about patterns and how to write them and stuff. I mean, you can the ones you aspire to, if you’re in the rom-com space, just because it happens to be Christmas tail. You know, the holiday is always a good banner. You know, love actually, these are like those level what I would call more of a Christmas drama, not really rom comedy, not every romantic comedy. So no, I mean, there’s good ones and bad ones. I think the key is when you’re writing, if someone is listening and really wants to write a Christmas movie, and they’re not haven’t watched a bunch of Christmas movies, I think they’re going to have a really hard time doing it. It’s just for sure. Too much of a formula. It’s too much of a thing. I mean, yep, the Christmas tea writing. I mean, there’s just so many of these little tropes that I mean, a lot of writers try to stay away from tropes trying to stay away from stereotypes, because they’re trying to be unique and organically original. But in this instance, in this particular lane, they embrace trope. They embrace the stereotypes of the Christmas movies, you know, that every single movie is mostly almost, I would say 90% have a Christmas tree lighting, you know, where the whole town is around where they boom bullet the Christmas town’s Christmas tree. But there are some recognizable stereotypical repetitive marks to meet in a Christmas spread. So, you just have to be in that market and immerse yourself in watching those things. It really to get yours to come above it to because the noise is so high, and you want to be the cream that rides at the top of a very crowded market space, then that all relates to real writing, which is your character development, the backstory, is there chemistry between the two characters? Is there a cute thing that’s called a meet cute? Like how did they how are they meeting in the script? Is it adorable? Is there chemistry between these characters that you’re writing? That’s the only way you’re going to get it to elevate outside of the stereotypes of these beats that you have to hit in order to get into that market. Very tough markets, very crowded, very noisy.
Ashley
Yeah. Okay. Som once you got your winner’s garden script, you got the script in whatever shape you wanted it in, what were those steps then to go out and raise money? This is, as I said, a holiday rom-com. Are there some people you reached out to? And I’m just sort of asking like for writers what they can expect. They get it to an experienced producer like yourself. You know the market; you know the players and the things. What is actually going to happen? Like what’s best case scenario that you’re going to take this movie out, you’re going to get it produced. And then what does that look like?
Shari Hamrick Grewal
Well, I think for writers that are listening, I think that they have to manage their expectation about what is going to happen once they option or license off, you know, they sell their script. So, the majority of the time in this area, I mean, riders overall, they sign an option, they get paid for the script, whatever the terms that they’re accepting, you know, maybe with a rewrite or 25 grand, whatever the deal is, depending on the size of the companies they’re involved with. And then they’re usually not involved anymore. That’s the end of it for them. I would say 90% of the time, that’s the end of it, there is no other involvement. Then what happens is sometimes the producer will bring in either, you know, they’ll make tweaks and changes. And then during filming, because maybe a location got flooded out or something, that’s going to be changed in the script during filming, which the producers and directors have a right to do. But the end product is not really going to match what they wrote to begin with. And they really need to manage the expectation about how that happens. Because it’s not good. The dialogue will change, things will change, an actor will change a line, it will not match what was the script when they optioned it. So they have to be careful about what’s going on in their expectation about, oh my god, I just watched it. It doesn’t resemble my thing at all. And now it’s been ruined. Because a lot of us writers are like, you know, they wrote it, they want to be protective of that scene or that location or that moment. And it may never even end up in the final cut of the movie. I was lucky to have Joni, the writer actually was able to come to set for a week. We met and had some talks about the limitations of the script and the things that I wanted to change. And she was very happy to be a part of that conversation. And I think that wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t already had a relationship with her from having done two other films with her. You know, I trusted her, she’s not precious over like, but it said the tree was on the left, you know, it’s on the bridge. And now you’re in a driveway. Like, you know, she’s about the little nugget of the story surviving, right, the spirit of the story that was thriving. So, because she just been around enough to not be precious over that. So I don’t think that would have happened if I hadn’t known her.
Ashley
And so, what is that process as a producer? How do you take this script out and ultimately get it funded?
Shari Hamrick Grewal
In this particular instant, I had a fellow person that I actually met playing golf actually, and we were chit chatting and, uh, was telling her I was thinking about doing this Christmas movie. And she is a huge, um, but no semi, a huge Christmas fan. So, she actually put together the money and we went and made the movie together. That was a little bit of an anomaly.
Ashley
And in general, how long does it take these movies? I mean, the way you’re describing, there is a certain formula to them. And I’m sure that’s not just the screenwriting, but also the producing. What does it take to get one of these movies made? The first year of our screenwriting contest was actually a lifetime movie that actually got produced. And it was incredibly fast, just compared to my other experiences as a screenwriter, like I think it was all within less than a year. By the time the, you know, the screenwriter met the producer, he took it to Mar Vista. The thing was produced. It was all took place in less than, I’d say, maybe even eight months, nine months from script to being produced. But just in general, how do you find these movies compared to other independent films?
Shari Hamrick Grewal
I would say anything for me that I do that are 3 million and under, and 2 million and under, et cetera, we can turn them around and get them done and out in a year. What broke that for us was 2023, though we were, you know, shooting things in 2022 and early 2023 till about June, and then the strikes happened. But the writer strike and the stuff. So, we were not able to, even though we had one of the movies in the can finished, we were not able to finish the editing on it because the ADR and things like that were stopped due to the strike and being a low budget movie, we were not willing or financially able to sign the waiver that the unions were offering to do. So we actually had to sit. So, it’s these next few movies are going to take two to three years to get out. So that really kind of, and then I found also it’s really difficult to set these next few up because all of the productions that got stopped in 2023 got pushed into 2024. So everything I had scheduled for 2024 got bumped because 2023 kind of replaced it. They’re like, hey, we have contracts that we have to execute. We can’t pay the current 2024 stuff because now we’re having to clean up 2023 and finish those things. And so now we got pushed to 2025 and 2026. And one of them now is 2027 before it’s never going to get made.
Ashley
Gotcha. So, as we’ve been talking about Winter’s Garden, I just want to give the audience a quick head up. We’re going to be playing this film at SYS’s film festival this year, 1 pm. Saturday, October 5th. You’ll be there so filmmakers and the other filmmakers can come out and meet you as well. Obviously, I’ll be there. But let’s talk about a couple other screenings. The festival’s opening night feature film is another film that you worked on called Give Me My Money. Just quickly, what is that film all about?
Shari Hamrick Grewal
Well, give me my money is just a, you know, there’s this is how I’m going to classify this as our review. There’s a very famous saying that says, you know, you know, my mom made a dish with everything but the kitchen sink. Well, this movie is everything in that plus we threw in the kitchen sink. It is just a zany action comedy type thing, which started out with a buddy of mine who had known for a long time actually started this project at oh nine. It took a long time to come to fruition. But it was really made with all that were actual stunt people that wanted to do their own acting. So the fun part of this one was that, you know, you hire an actor and you give them a writer that says, you’re going to do your own stunts, we’re going to pay extra. So, all the stunt people signed the agreements and the addendum said you must do your own acting. Right? So, bring you’re A-game. It was just a fun zany action comedy. Billy with like a 70s kind of vibe, really awesome music, but it’s a current day movie, but it’s got this tone and theme that’s just really kind of an homage to those, you know, karate movies and those kick ass movies from the late 70s and early 70s.
Ashley
Yeah. People can check out, and I will link to this in the show notes, sixfigurefilmfestival.com. You can go there. You can get tickets to all these screenings. We’re also going to be doing a special screening of a film called Sergeant Stubby, an American hero. It’s an animated World War one, film about a dog during World War one. You’re involved in that film as well. Maybe you can talk to that, um, talk about that film as well. What is this film all about? And this one’s going to be 3 PM on Sunday, October six, two for folks that want to check that out. But what is Sergeant Stuppy all about? I think that sort of leans into to your sort of, um, veterans and, and whole, um, there. Yeah. So maybe you can talk about that a little bit.
Shari Hamrick Grewal
Yeah, so Sergeant stubby is an independent animated film, which is very difficult to pull off. And Richard Lanny is the writer director, and he launched a company called fund Academy, where he brings history to life in a fun way, where it’s actually educational, but you don’t feel like you’re getting a lesson. So he wanted to bring this true story. This is a true story about a real dog. His real name is Sergeant stubby. And he was a, you know, a mutt out on the streets in Connecticut and ended up getting adopted by a young army, infantry group and man named Conroy, Robert Corney. And this dog ended up going to France and being in the war, and actually saved a French village and a bunch of soldiers and became a huge hero. And there’s a big statue of him now that they put in in Connecticut. He was part of the 102nd division of the army. He was actually awarded the rank of Sergeant the first furry animal to receive that rank. He’s in the Smithsonian Institute. So, this is a true story. And the fun part of it is, is that it’s a way for what our experience has been in sharing this movie. I’m even I’ve got 80-year-old veterans. I’m like, I don’t want to watch a cartoon. I’m like, this is not a part of this animated bear. So, they all call me up after Oh, my God, I cried. Oh, my God, I laughed. That’s just the best thing I ever saw. They really, really love it. And it’s also cool because they can sit there with their grandchildren and their great grandchildren, and watch something about a topic that they aren’t able really to figure out how do you discuss service? How to do they discuss that they served in a war? Most of them, of course, are not from World War One, these are guys from either Vietnam or Korea, that are elderly, World War Two, and we’ve almost lost all of our I mean, just based on the time goes by and a lot of them have aged and have passed out, passed away. I mean, not passed out, passed away. But this is a cool way to bridge that gap of those topics from people who are in service on, on what the camaraderie and the buddyhood and do it in a safe way that those topics can be discussed. Like most of the kids I interviewed after my big screenings with variety kids and the boys and girls clubs that we did, you know, they took away things like, wow, I didn’t know how the Spanish flu happened, because the Spanish flu was in the movie. So they were learning bits of history in a safe way in a celebratory way with this dog. I mean, certainly there’s a little bit of a war action and things like that. But the topics are handled in an age-appropriate way. And then at Fun Academy’s website, they have coloring books that we partnered with, you know, educational in the history, teachers associations and things like that, where busloads of kids can come and watch Sergeant Subby. So, the reason we’re sharing it now is we’re redoing a re-release theatrically for this Veterans Day holiday, 7 to 11. We’re going to re -release it theaters across the country. And we’re also letting people know that Fun Academy is going to be making Sergeant Subby two, which is more adventures about the dog and what happened to him before and after the war. Fun stuff like that. But the powerful thing about this is that this was done as an independent movie. So it was raised with independent money, shot independently without any studio help. Paramount’s going to take it out on kind of like a home video DVD thing. It’ll be also it’s available right now. But they’re doing a big push again for December following our 11-11 re-release in theaters. It’s a very special story about a true furry hero in our country.
Ashley
Yeah, perfect, perfect. Yeah, so everyone can just definitely check that out. SixFigureFilmFestival.com. You can get tickets and get all the specific details. So, Shari, I just really appreciate all your time coming on and talking with us today. I like to end the interviews just by asking the guests. Is there anything you’ve been watching recently? HBO, Netflix, Hulu that you can recommend to our mostly screenwriting audience?
Shari Hamrick Grewal
Well, I watch everything. I had some time off this weekend and we have been like venting, catching up on films that I’ve missed, you know, things like Twisters. You know, I didn’t get a chance to see that.
Ashley
Yeah, I didn’t either. Well, how was Twisters?
Shari Hamrick Grewal
Oh, I loved it. I thought it was really great. Those are so many. I’m a huge fan. So, it’s hard for me. I watched some movies that I actually was very disappointed in because it had like Mel Gibson in it. And the quality of the film was pretty low. And so that was a little disappointing. I wouldn’t recommend that one. I’m not going to bash it. That wasn’t a show, right…
Ashley
What are some of those shows you’re watching?
Shari Hamrick Grewal
I have to look them up. I just, I just click them on, you know, broad church and which was a great, great one. I just watched the Watchers. I wanted to catch up on that. I watched Trap, which was, uh, you know, pretty good. I was surprised. I didn’t think I was going to like it as much as I did. I thought it was pretty good. So yeah, just all across the board, action crime, watch it all. If you’re a writer, watch it all.
Ashley
Perfect. So, in addition, we’re going to be showing Winter’s Garden as mentioned here in October. But what is your release schedule like that? If people can’t make it out to the festival, when will they be able to find this film and where will they better find it?
Shari Hamrick Grewal
Well, that’s the rub. So, we thought we had our deal, which kind of collapsed, sadly. But we, we will probably by the time the screening happens at your festival, we will know if it’s found a home for this Christmas, or if it’s going to be for next Christmas, it is possible that they will want it for next holiday because the marketing run up time now. Yeah, the like to have, you know, August, September, October, to really start driving traffic, throughout the end of that window. Right now, we can deliver the film, sometimes these people that take these films, you know, can take up to 90 days just to see your movie, you know, where they kick it back as a channel made a noise or you know, whatever’s happening on the digital side, and we have to tweak it or fix it or up against that part where if anybody had a note, kind of time to fix any notes. So hopefully by the time we’ll be able to announce that it has a home for this holiday, if not, and everybody got a sneak peek for next year’s Christmas movie.
Ashley
Perfect. And what’s the best way for people to keep up with just what you’re doing in general? Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, anything you’re comfortable sharing, I’ll round up for the show notes.
Shari Hamrick Grewal
Well, I think my phone numbers and all my emails are on IMDb, they can Google me. was married many years ago, but a lot of my credits are still under a maiden name thing. So, I think Shari Grewal has only, you know, a couple of things, but it’s really Shari Hamrick or Shari Hamrick Grewal and they’ll be able to find me and I welcome all queries.
Ashley
Okay. Perfect. That’s very generous. Yeah, I’ll link to your IMDb page so people can find you over there and get in touch.
Shari Hamrick Grewal
That’ll be helpful if they also said – Hey, I listened into the podcast with Ashley, you know, blah, blah, blah. And here’s my query. And then I’ll make sure that, you know, I give them some special attention and give them a good reply or notes or something helpful or referral, if I’m not able to help or consider taking on any new projects. So happy to communicate.
Ashley
Perfect Shari, that’s very generous. Well, this has been great getting to know you a little bit on this podcast. We will see you in a month at the festival and looking forward to screening.
Shari Hamrick Grewal
Cast and crew will be there. We’re all going to be there to support the festival. We’re very excited.
Ashley
Perfect, perfect. Shari, I really appreciate it.
Shari Hamrick Grewal
Thanks. Have a great day.
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Once again, Winter’s Garden is going to be screening October 5th at 1pm. Her other film, Give Me My Money, is actually our opening night feature film, which is screening Friday, October 4th at 6pm. And then the other animated feature that she mentioned, Sergeant Stubby, that film is screening 3pm on Sunday, October 6th. We’re expecting a lot of cast and crew at all of these screenings, which is a fantastic audience to watch a film with. They’re there to have a great time. All the jokes get big laughs. All the sad moments will get big tears. And it’s infectious. When everyone around you is having a great time watching a movie, for sure you’ll have a great time as well. If you’ve never been to a screening with a lot of cast and crew there, you definitely want to check one out. I’ll be there all weekend at every screening. So, if you do come out to the festival, please do just stop by. Say hello. I always love meeting people who listen to the podcast. Also, we’ll be announcing all the festival winners next week after the festival. So do keep an eye on the festival website for that www.sixfigurefilmfestival.com. And we’ll be making our final announcement about this year’s screenplay contest as well. So, keep an eye out for that announcement. And we do that announcement on our regular website sellingyourscreenplay.com. That’s the show. Thank you for listening.