Hollywood Handbook - Aaron Chen, Our Promotional Friend

Episode Date: February 10, 2026

The Boys invite AARON CHEN back on the show to kick off The Dink promotional campaign, only to discover there is a lot of work to be done.Get a Hat Pack Hat here!Watch the video of today’s episode at Patreon.com/HollywoodHandbook This is a Headgum podcast. Follow Headgum on Twitter, Instagram, and Tiktok. Advertise on Hollywood Handbook via Gumball.fm See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a headgum podcast. My lips are dry. Does headgum keep chapsic? Not anymore. Headstick. They left some chapgum. Chapstick. Kind of like outside the door.

And they keep it really dry in here. There's like no humidity in here. They're like sucking all the moisture out of the air. And then you're supposed to like, they have chapsic kind of like dangling. Yeah, right. From like a telephone pole outside. So people will like go outside and... To the street.

To the street. Yeah. To use this chap. Shove them into the street. Oh, to kill them. To kill them. Yeah. People who work here.

Yeah. What's the point? Well, nobody works here. You know what I mean? First of all, do what you love. You'll never work a day in your life. And everybody here loves this work. world, this podcast world, it's so exciting. It's the Wild West podcasts, you know. If you started

one yet, Aaron? I have not got a podcast yet. Aaron. I'm thinking about it. Stop, you have to. Are you talking about the podcast world? You're thinking all of the podcast they exist in one world? They all work in pretty much the same way, the PCU, which is you make a freaking butt crap of money. Yeah. And they in exchange. For literally talking to your friends. For literally talking to your friends, Aaron. And they in exchange to say like, should anything happen, obviously we would want to be included.

That's because we're basically family here in your last will and testament. Yes. And so everything we gave you and plus a little extra. and your home, your children's future. I'm sure nothing's going to happen. You know, what could happen? We're all young. We're just having fun out here.

So where does the pushing happen? In the street. In the street. Yeah, the pushing happens in the street. But it happens on the sidewalk and then it ends in the street. I've managed to either a car wasn't coming or I've managed to do kind of a spin move where I hang onto the pole and I swirl all the way around. So that's what I was asking. While he's spinning, his lips are grazing up against it.

all of a chapstick. So you're winning. Perfect coverage on the chapstick and landing, falling a little bit. Of course I scrape up my legs and my hips and butt and stuff, but it's not like that bad.

And they also have Bassetreson in the bathroom. You can only use... What is Bassetracin? We don't know. Bassetracin, so Bassetracin is sort of a topical antibiotic ointment.

And... You guys call it marmoner. My mite. Yeah. Yeah, Marmite is, that's the second tier one. Veggimite top tier, Marmite's second tier. For wounds? For wounds.

Not as good for wounds. Yeah. So this is good to know because this is not as good. This is why we wanted to have you on, honestly, to sort of bridge some of these cultural divides. Yes. I remember one day you walked up to me. We have had him on. I just want to.

I forgot to. No, what? Oh, I knew we'd had him on before, but I'm saying why we didn't. People are probably going, well, I heard the first one. Why the fuck do you have him back? Right. Okay. And this is why. And why did you? You were saying why? Well, he's telling you. Yeah. I kind of told you some of these cultural divides. When I asked Kevin about the chapstick, I said, do headgum still keep it here? He said, not anymore. So I guess they took it off the telephone pole. I don't know what happened. Maybe you got to wait to clean up the husk of Rachel Billson off the.

Off the pavement, one of the other hosts they've managed to throw under the... Yeah, she does a show here. Not anymore. Not anymore. Not anymore. But she tried it. There's a show out there now. Yeah.

Yeah, now the whole show is smeared all over the... Oh, because she's stuck on the road, but she can still part. She got hit, so they're probably going to do fresh chapstick. So I got to wait while they replace it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But we do want to have you back and people know, If you didn't hear the first episode, we have Aaron Chen. It's going to go better this time.

And this guy is your stand-up comedian. Yeah, Aaron? Yeah, I am a stand-up comedian. So where can we see you perform? All over. And what kind of jokes would I expect to hear? Like, what can I look forward to, like, some of the comedy that I would hear if I went to see? So I'm, you know, because a lot of our listeners are just, they're regular guys.

And they want to laugh. And so they're kind of going, hey, I'm going to spend my hard-earned dollar seeing this guy do comedy. Yeah. What can I look forward to hearing? Like, what kind of jokes are we going to hear? You want a nice night out with your lover? Girlfriend. Yeah.

No, it's a girlfriend. Yeah. And her husband and like what, like, where can I just go to like. His stepkids. Yeah. Well, so you're saying that the main guy in this equation is this guy who's like, the third of it's a

it's a girlfriend it's this guy's girlfriend and the girl friend her husband but this guy's such and their stepkids and their husband his step kids yeah

the husband likes this guy and his stepkids are of course the girlfriend's kids I mean I don't yeah yeah his girlfriend's kids yeah if that's helpful to you yeah that's very helpful

and their husband yeah I think guy, if this guy loves observational comedy. So what kind of observations could I look forward to? You want me to start doing them? Well, I just even want to know the general area. Like, what are we observing? Because I'll be honest, I've tried to do some of that stuff.

And it's harder than it looks. No, no, no. But I've tried to observe. And it's harder than it looks. You know, you sometimes feel like you have something. And it's either not true. or it's too true in a way where it's just so obvious. You'll be the only one who saw it?

You just end up in a like doing a bit where you're not processing any information. Like you're not observing anything at all. You're not taking in sight, sound, smell. I'm finding a lot of my experiences are not universal at all. Yeah. And they're either indescribable or they are so unique that, people are made uncomfortable well I was about to say normal stuff

but I guess it's not normal and so to him he thought it was normal stuff but realized on stage that what was normal to him is actually something that no one else has ever experienced before I'd be like you know I'd be like hey remember the first Monday after Christmas break

when your parents would make you wear all the wrapping paper from the gifts to school they did that to you I'd just say hey remember that boxing bag yeah people don't remember that that didn't really well i was finding that nobody remembered that but i would say you know you that you'd rip off the wrapping paper and they'd say like hey you know we're just going to throw this out it's a lot of good paper and they'd make you put it all on you know you'd fashion sort of a wrapping paper bikini with like santa's face uh and beard serving

as sort of a de facto uh pubic triangle oh it'd poke out of the wrapping paper I was thinking there was an image of Santa's face on the wrapping paper. I thought you were the beard underneath the wrapping paper. And it's like you have a big bush or something? Yeah, not really. Not really. Now you're, it's not really the vibe that his family was working with.

But you like Sean's observation? I didn't say I like it or don't like it. It's not familiar to me. I don't think he does. I called it boxing day because that's how it worked in my family. And we called it that because that's how my dad would wake me up that day. Boxing. By a little bit of boxing.

Throwing on some gloves and and and foxyboxing me. He said when I do it, it's foxyboxing. What's foxy boxing? It's what my dad would put on gloves and he'd sort of box him away. And boxed me away. You're both kind of observational? So I guess to back up to what I was saying before is I was curious what kind of observations you're making so that I would have something to go off of my attempts at doing observational humor have not really resonated with people. You, I assume, have some kind of audience.

Maybe you could do alternative comedy. People were saying in the crowd, he would say you guys know about when this blah, blah, blah, whatever he said, they would say almost in unison. Like, no, sorry, we don't know about that. No, sorry, we don't know about. Yeah. The whole sentence. Yeah. It sounds interesting, though.

We don't know about that. No, sorry, we don't know about that. That sounds really interesting. We don't know about that. They'd say, that sounds interesting, though, but not for here. And. Yeah. It's difficult for me, because I'm up on stage.

I go, well, you just said it sounded interesting, so I was going to at least try to push through, even though you didn't connect to it. But then when they say, but not for here, I go, oh, wow. So they only. And then you say, they're aware. It was like pluribus. Have you seen pluribus? I've seen one episode of Pluribus.

robust. Okay. So it was like that. Did you watch the whole thing? Yeah. Not really big on Apple TV. Now, so no, no, no, no, no. It's okay.

So let's say, let's just say the promo starts right now. Are you doing? You know? So the promotional tour for your movie that you're in that's on Apple TV. Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You are maybe a subscriber to. I guess they give one episode out for free.

to non-subscribers. So. Plurbus. Episode 1. Yeah. And so was it that you had a... Love the show. Hated the interface and hated. And so let's start it.

No, no, no. Let's start it now. Let's start it now. Where the promo for the movie, which is on Apple TV, we were gonna start the... Like the promotional window for the movie.

It starts now. They work so hard on the interface. On the interface. talked to, like, these are my partners in this. Like, I've talked to them, like, they're so proud of that interface and, like, that so much thought went into it. Like, and the new sound that they have. They got a new sound?

Yeah, the little apples, there's, like, almost colorful slices of apples. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I haven't watched too much of it, to be honest. Well, that's fine. To have not watched too much of it. Yeah. To not watch too much of it is fine. No, that's fine.

Yeah, that's fine. Because it's like, I think a lot of people. There's got to be something, you know, I haven't made anything that's like so for me that like I just have to watch it and subscribe. But I hear there's something good coming out soon. What is it? You're, you're the movie that you're in. Yes, it's the movie you're in. Oh.

It's going to be on Apple. Okay. That's going to be on Apple? Yeah. very, I think that's a big mistake. What's that? I can't be, it's a mistake?

Can you change it? Can you change where it comes up? What do you, what the fuck are you talking about? You could upload to YouTube. Wait, wait, wait. Well, is it possible to change it? I mean, why would it be a mistake?

I think it might, what he's saying might be helpful. What's a mistake about it? Because, you know, Apple, they have a machine. You need to buy, a machine to use Apple. That's not true, but

say it were true. Everything else, they don't have a machine, you can use whatever machine to get onto Apple. Okay. You know what I'm talking about. Hang on, hang on. I'm not arguing yet, and Hayes, you can keep drawing this out. I just want to say,

I want to recap what we've learned so far, for Merritt, which is Apple, you need to have a machine, you have to buy a machine to get onto Apple. Everything else, You don't need a machine. You can use whatever you want to get onto Apple. There doesn't have to be a machine.

It can be some other device that's not a machine. Television. Okay, that is a machine. But you did say to get onto Apple. Yeah, they have a... At the end of, like, that you don't need a machine. They have a machine that only you can find it at Airbnb's. Mm-hmm.

You know the machine? Apple TV? Mm-hmm. We don't want the machine. The machine is hard to get. You don't like that. And when you see it in the Airbnb, you say, I don't want this here. Tube.

Yeah. Direct to consumer. Yeah. Fubo. Mm-hmm. Larry Ellison. Mm-hmm. So.

And so you're thinking is that it should be on... What's this? Fubo, because of Larry Ellison. What is that? That's my daughters. Don't touch that. Okay, sorry. Like, that's my families.

That's your family. Yeah. Okay. Sorry for bringing your family. By the way, I'm just leaves my family. I'm in the Apple family. You're on the Apple family. Yeah, right for the Edwards.

I got a movie there. Is that public? You arrived for Severance? I thought they weren't really saying. We are actually, Sean is starting to make that public. Yes, he is.

They finally pulled it out of me. Sort of lift the veil on that part of his life. Usually he likes to keep, show us here. I'm crying uncle. Severance is over here. It's interesting. But they have started to say,

hey, if you could maybe start talking about this, it might be helpful. Severance is a very successful. It's a very successful show Severance. Not for you, though, necessarily, sounding like the way you're describing it just in terms of its success in relation to other people.

Let me guess you've seen one episode of it. I've seen actually a lot of severance. Okay. A lot of it. Well, on YouTube, people, they put like one-minute clips, part 17, part 18. I've seen a lot of them, yeah. You're watching it on YouTube instead.

YouTube shorts. Yeah. It's YouTube, but it's not Chuby, I noticed. Should it also be Chuby? Chuby doesn't have a lot of stuff. Okay, doesn't have a lot of stuff. They don't have a lot of stuff. You still think that it should be on there.

Because it has space for some more stuff. Yeah. What I'm saying with, what I wanted to say about the severance thing is, it's very interesting they got you to write on it. You don't think it's a fit. it's very strange it is very strange but it's kind of an off-kilter show severance is serious

it's beautiful yeah they probably want to they want A-listers on severance I've heard a lot of A-listers they get upset by Sean's writing what the fuck you talking about the A-listers get upset by

well they love my stuff maybe if he has a suggestion a lot of them they punch your punch your scripts a lot of them a lot of them they do that yeah You know, people get emotional.

It's a business where, you know, these actors, which are one of them, what we love about them is the passion that they bring to these projects. They really care. And normally they leave that on the screen, not before action. Sometimes it's on the screen. Sometimes they're punching the script because they're upset. And that's all. Punching someone doesn't mean that you don't like love them.

I mean, like, taking the time to put on gloves. You just like punch someone awake is like. The opposite of love is indifferent. Ted Lasson, aren't they all, did they touch the we believe sign? That's almost like a punch, right? Or believe in yourself or something? That's on screen as well.

You don't hear about Sadeca's reading a script. So much. You know why you don't hear about it? Because a lot of that stuff, a lot of that stuff, that what happens on set, it stays private between the people who are there, who really understand the context.

They're not out here running around, going on every podcast, bringing up these stories that who even remembers if script got punched, didn't get punched, who cares? What do you think of Ted Lassow is that? Lasso is amazing. You really like Ted Lassau, okay. And that's on Apple TV.

That's on Apple TV. In spite of the platform. The interface didn't keep you from enjoying that. Wow. That is a show you don't even need to worry about the interface because you just let it wrong. You just let it keep going. You don't even, you press one button.

A machine in the interface. That's horrible. You go on the machine, you turn the machine on you. There's a horrible stuff. You press one button. Ted Lasso S1E1. You let it rock. You sit there, you let it rock.

You don't deal with the interface again. Yeah. Because this is funny, but also hard-orning. It's trying to, like, move you away. Are these the kind of observations you're doing on stage? Like, so if I'm, so, you know, because we've got a lot of regular Joe's listening this podcast. So if they're going to spend their hard-earned dollars,

you know, to go see comedy. This is the kind of stuff. You're talking about the interface, stuff like this? I thought maybe you'd be doing some observations that, like, our audience could connect to. This is a little inside baseball. Punch and scripts, that stuff. Punching, yeah, that is.

That is inside baseball. So, like, what kind of observations would you have? Stuff about what? Dating, women? We get into that at all? Well, I'm actually married. I'm off the market. Yeah, well, not a fucking contest, buddy.

So am I. Okay. And are you going to, like, tell her that you're going to be on Apple TV now that you know this, or is that something that you're going to, is that a difficult conversation to have with your wife? That I'm going to be on Apple TV. Mm-hmm. How do you have, like, how do you share something like that? She likes it. She likes it. She knows how to use that machine. Wow.

Yeah. Okay. It has a separate remote. You know you have the remote for the TV and then you've got a small remote for the machine. Mm-hmm. That's not even true. Do they still do that, the machine? They still do. They have the machine.

They have the machine. We don't have to have the machine. Okay, well, now we're making progress. You think you changed it just now by complaining about it? You don't think I did? You don't think I moved the needle a little bit? I guess I can't say for sure. I don't think you've needed to have the machine for a little bit now.

Okay, well, we like Apple TV. Yeah, I like it. You know, the other machines do have their own. apps that they want to put stuff on your like your roku and things like that Apple TV doesn't make it on to a lot of the remotes so your problem is you're looking for a button on the remote how are they going to watch the movie if they can't get it in one click so you that you are and they need the machine you know even if you press the machine you'd have to wait a

day we've gone we've established they they don't need the machine we don't need the machine yeah so but it was a good point when getting the sure getting the if it were if it were true that would have been a really interesting point mm-hmm we're just true of a lot of the stuff that I yeah just think about it from my perspective for a moment if you did have to have the machine to watch Apple TV would be a horrible service let me somehow become stupid enough to think of it from your perspective hold on okay I see it Thank you. Okay, I see it.

And now we can continue. Now, you don't need the machine. So that's done. Having a button, one button... You don't think that adds that much. I think you still might need to press another button to watch the movie. I'm curious as someone who is, you know, is rooting for the movie. It's success is my success in a lot of ways.

I want the best for... for Sean and for you. Do you think you will be able to not talk about this when you are promoting the movie? There's going to be like, it's sort of weeks and weeks. It's a little ways out the movie, like, transparently.

It's still about when's this episode? Five months away or something? I don't know. I don't know if we're going to release this one. It's coming out in a couple weeks. I had sort of been thinking during this episode, we could say like, okay, now it's time. The promotion begins now.

Yeah, I heard you say that and I thought, wow, Hayes is doing a really good job. But I am now going to delay the start time. I'm going to push it a little bit just to like see where we're at in terms of talking about how you think it's a mistake for the movie to be on Apple TV. I just don't. I just don't even want to engage with that because we can't, you know, you would ask, can we change where it's on. We can't change where it's on. And actually, I wouldn't want to. You wouldn't want.

I think they're an incredible partner for us. And I'm just engaging. I couldn't be more excited to be in business with this wonderful company. It's made so many great things. I'm just engaging with it to say I don't think it's helpful for the movie to like have to put that out there at all. To say that it should. So I'm engaging with it to say like I think it's counterproductive. You seen hijack?

No. They're on a train now. What is hijack? Is that on Apple TV? You step out of the room, call your wife. Right now? Find out what hijack is. She, okay, because she's Apple TV, Stan.

She knows how to work the machine. Yeah. In Australia, we have one called Stan. Could you put it on that? I can talk to, I mean, we can talk to that. Maybe partnering. Could be interesting. We are trying to bridge these cultural divides, you know?

Oh, you're trying to get the movie popping in Australia. That was, well. What do you think you're doing here, man? Interesting. We don't even really. have pickable. Yeah. I didn't really understand the script.

They didn't have spices either. I played with you. Oh, yeah. That was pickable. You didn't understand the script. I didn't really get it. Yeah. Well, it was confusing about it.

I was not the only one confused, though. Let's just say that. Well, let's just say that. You never answer my question. What kind of observations are you making? You start talking about something else. Yeah. Then I go, okay, well, and nothing.

Everything's a question. Question with a question. Oh, do you talk about dating? Well, I'm married. That's not a question. Okay, fine. That's one example where it's not. But it's never you actually contributing anything that is helpful to the show.

You're never helping us move forward. All you do is take us down these very damaging backroads. Unless can stuff be changed in the movie now? if there's an issue that he had with, what was confusing for you? Because if it's worth, like, getting in there. But there's something you really didn't understand that you think people won't understand.

Like, I mean, no, I want people to be able to enjoy it. I want people to like it. So, like, by the way, it's like five months ago. You don't even have to. So maybe there's time. No, there's time. There's time. I just don't know that this would be what this whole episode is about.

I thought that maybe we could kind of bridge some of this cultural divide, you know, between Australia and America. Could we make the movie about rugby or AFL? That's a really big change to do now. We could just change the shape of the ball. I think it's more.

Is that all you have to do? That's C.G. I think AI? I think they could probably change the shape of the ball? Change the shape of the ball. I don't think that would make it about rugby. Not just the shape. I mean, the size, too. They have to make it huge. Yeah. And then like, but they'd still be

it with a paddle. So they'd have to change the size of the paddle. Paddle's okay. The paddle looks good. At that size, wouldn't they have to make it huge? You make the pedal a little bit bigger, but that's an easy change.

That's really good. It would be really expensive to make all those changes for something that I'm not sure would make the movie. Is that it? You think we could. Easier to understand for most people. They are using a lot of, um,

CGI and movies now. I, yeah, I'm aware. He's saying it's expensive. He's not saying they don't use it at all. He's saying it's expensive to use. It's a big expense for us to go in and make those changes.

But he knows that they do. No, no, no, it's not expensive. You don't need a separate machine or anything. It's just on the computer. Separate machine from what? You do need a special machine. It's just a laptop. You can do a lot of the editing and stuff, a lot of, uh, okay, but that's like,

I have Gen Z. What is the machine? What is the machine you think you need for Apple TV? You can't even do it. a lot of CGI on the... He's thinking of the little box, yeah. Okay.

Which you don't actually need to watch. You can... You can watch it without that. I was just going like... But do you admit you can watch it on the box? How is a laptop not a special machine to do the CGI? Yeah, you could watch it on the box.

You got the box. You got the box. You got the box. You can watch it on the box. It's true. You can also watch all the other things you're talking about, all the other platforms on the box. And every time the new movie comes out, do you need to take that box into the Apple store and get them?

movie on there because I'm worried a lot of people might have the box. But the dink won't, they might have bought it before the dink came out. They, you don't have to bring it in to put on, they come to your house. If they have it, they did, they did buy it before the dink came out. They will come to you. And that could be really interesting if you were. I've seen a lot of these boxes, so I'm worried they won't be dink ready. It's not a like different software update you need for the movie.

No, the movie comes out. They put out movies all the time, you know, I mean, not that many. special. We're still special. But they put out stuff all the time and it just, you don't need a special new software update that just goes right into the box the same way you have the box and everybody can relax. The dink might have new

software because we will be doing a lot of CGI on it. I'm not sold on doing CGI to change the shape of the ball to make it feel more like a you do a firmware update. It doesn't have to be like you'd take it in like it could. You said you didn't understand

the script and that a lot of people were confused by my writing, I don't think the shape of the ball with CGI is going to solve whatever this confusion was you were describing for most people. Can I ask when you were reading the script

was the shape of the ball? Because I read it. I don't remember it even being described. I didn't even really think that it was a ball when I saw it. This object they used, it was... You didn't think it was a ball

when you saw it. It was bright yellow. had a lot of holes in it. I've never seen a ball like that in my life. Okay, and this happened when you were reading the script? Because you said that when you read the script. You said the writing was confusing, you didn't understand the script. You saw the ball when you were reading the script?

In my mind. You could see it. Okay, so it was described. I just don't remember that part. I don't remember writing that, but if I did it, I guess I could have done a better job describing the ball. So you saw it and that was confusing to you. I'll take some accountability for that. And I guess the size of the paddle.

was the paddle I don't I've been on record saying I don't mind the paddle but you do want us to use a lot of CGII budget to go in and make the paddle slightly larger even though you don't have an issue with it really that doesn't cost a lot I'm telling you that doesn't cost money you don't need another machine I think it is expensive I do it's just a laptop you could do it right now if our options are

rugby or Australian rules football is it the same ball or is there one that's maybe a little more manageable for us in terms of changing it in every frame. We'll do both and see which one looks better. I think it might make it confused. Just to say, I think it might make it confusing for people that do know what pickleball

is, that they're playing within Australian rules football, ball. Like, are we in some ways creating a new problem even though we're solving your specific bump which is Australians don't really have the sport

of pickleball? I don't know. You may be picking that's true. Some new understanding among some viewers. In the next couple months, they may get it, you know, because they're getting ready for the movie. I don't know about that.

No, you don't know. You don't know. So you can't say for sure that it's not going to happen. So it's like, you're telling me you don't know about that. So it's like,

yeah, you don't know about that. You don't know. I don't know. Because it could also be like a promotional opportunity where like you are going into Australia and kind of helping be an ambassador for pickle to help promote the movie.

Boy, that could be nice. You're saying you're not. you're saying you're not going to do that. No, so what I'm hearing is we go to Australia. When you said no, just know you're saying no. You immediately said no where Hayes was driving, oh boy, you going and, you know, being sort of positive about the movie and trying to bring in more of an audience, you know, to your homeland.

Explain what pickleball is to, I mean, and maybe in sort of a comedic way because you're an observational comedian. Like a comedic, funny. You can be sort of like, you can be sort of like poking at it while you're, But you're also excited about it. I'm okay with a little teasing. It's just an option, but you're saying you're not going to do that. You're saying, so just in Australia, we use the CGI. When we do the promotion, we pay for the whole.

That's not what he was saying. With CGI. I do think if we were, I actually, I actually, one with a lot of CGI enhancements and one without, I think is also going to create an issue. They do it for languages. And I feel like. now that we're doing the CGI to make it into an AFL ball, it doesn't make sense that AFL ball you think is the better one than the RAN.

AFL is good, I think. We'll start with that. Okay. But we have to get rid of doing others. We have to get rid of Jake from the new one. Is every country going to have their own ball? I do think if we're doing one, it should be that every country has a, has a different ball. I do think it would be weird to just do it for Australia. Ireland.

What ball? Gay league football. Is that a different ball? That's a different ball, yeah. That's tough. I was really kind of crossing my fingers that it was a... If it was the same ball, that would be. It's not even similar?

It's not similar. Okay, what's that? What's going on with that one? It's a round ball. Okay. I don't think we're going to do. Well, that's the ball is round. The ball is round already.

But it has holes in it and CLO, yeah. You know. That one seems maybe easier. That we can color correct or something. Is it okay that it has holes? No, no. Okay. It can't have balls.

That's the, that's the problem. I'm saying that's the problem with your script. That's the problem by script. The only ball with holes in it. And people don't get that. Yeah, Wiffleball. That actually angers people. A Wiffleball has them.

We don't know Wiffleball. Why didn't you make it a Wiffleball? If you made it a Wiffleball movie. But you just said you don't know about it. So wouldn't that be the exact same? But he's arguing it's Wiffle Ball has it, but it's not about. I've said if you made it about Wiffle Ball, we can talk about Wiffle. Okay.

But I also don't want to make it about. Well, no, I didn't make it about Wiffle Ball, but I don't want to. but I don't want to do that. But he doesn't want to do, he doesn't want to promote people in Australia. You know, like people are doing it. It was fun,

you know, I thought when we were doing it, we were having fun. Can I talk about a moment where we sort of bridge the cultural divide on the movie that felt really special to me, which is, you know,

at craft services, they had these little things called Aussie bites. And one day I walked over and I was eating one. It was a nice little snack, little breakfast snack, a little oat, you know, sort of like,

um, treat. And I am eating it. And Aaron Chen, my friend, walked up to me and he said, are you having an Aussie bite? And I said, I am. And he said, good day. Is this a real story?

Yeah. And it was so special. And I thought, oh, I'm connecting to this guy. You know, here we are bridging this cultural divide, you know, that has pushed us apart. Yeah. I'm enjoying, you know, some part of his culture. And he's kind of welcoming me in, you know.

He did not want to talk about it. Yes, of course it's true. You don't remember this? Oh God, it was so impactful for me. I said, wow, I really bonded with Aaron today and he really shared a part of, you know, his history with me and my... By saying, good a day. Are you having an Aussie bite? Are you having an Aussie bite? Yeah, and I said, I am. Do it a bit more Australian. Are you? Are you? I, are you having an Aussie bite? Are you trying to like learn how to be Australian from... From Sean? From Sean Plymouth. Is that where you ask him to do it? It's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, Maclemore.

Maclemore? Macklemore. Guys, running a small business is tough. Depends how small, actually. I think what they're talking about is tough, but I, there is a business that is so small that I run, but I actually find it pretty easy to do. I don't want to take away from what nerd wallet is explaining because I do think that like

a lot of small businesses and what people probably think of when they hear small business running that is tough. And when it's time to get a loan, it can feel impossible to find a lender you actually trust. I don't find that with my extremely small business, which maybe I should even call like a tiny business. If a business is small, obviously a business. business can be like so huge. It's like impossible to like carry around with you and like even one that's like kind of small can still be really heavy. If you have a business for example that

just like operates out of a little pouch. Right. And the yes. The business is and maybe some people wouldn't even consider it a business. It does operate entirely in the sort of crown of an acorn. And so like then it's can yes, it can be. Yes. It can be. tough to like at some point it's so small to like it's tough to keep track of the business and you can actually like lose your entire business if the wind blows kind of hard but if you know what you're doing yeah yeah but even then it can be impossible to find a lender that you actually trust and who like frankly trust you when it's time to get a loan thankfully i haven't encountered a we bootstrap this thing and so i haven't had to raise money yet but when we do have to do that

like our series A seed round. I can see that. What better series A seed like that ACORD is a series A seed. Yeah. It's just the crowd of it. Big Banks say no. The internet full of sketchy offers

with sky high rates and fine print. You can barely read. Sorry. I missed the punctuation there. It says the internet. Full of sketchy offers with sky high rates and fine print, period. You can barely read. Whether you need help covering payroll, managing cash flow, investing growth, you deserve better.

That's why I recommend the small business marketplace Fundera, powered by nerd wallet. It's a free, easy-use platform, though, as you compare real financing offers from trusted lenders all in one place. What I like is you don't need perfect credit to get started. No spam, no bait and switch. Just personalized options. I have to issue an apology. Yeah, yeah. So I just reached in my pocket to sort of do a little bit of business.

Yeah. a big chunk of the acorn shell did break and kind of crumble up. And I lost the bug that was in there too. So I'm now realizing a pretty core asset. It's really tough to run a small business. And here I was having not encountered any hardship in my business at this point in my role as CEO. Yeah. And I now have to take a long, hard look at the judgment I was bringing to the top of the

ad read where I thought, it's not that hard. It's tough to run a small business these days. And I'm going to need a pretty sizable loan to repair this acorn shell if it's even possible. CEO for your business, of course, stands for a chipmunk eviction officer. Points. And so you don't have a small business anymore, but if you did, this is what you would use fundera. And here's the best part. For a limited time when you visit nerd wallet.com slash the boys and fill out the no

obligation for him, you'll get VIP treatment and talk with a real person who knows all the ins and outs of small business lending. Don't risk your business on unreliable lenders. Go to nerdwallot.com slash the boys to find the funding you deserve. Fundera Inc. NMLS ID number 12403038. Ha, ha, ha, merry quincements. It's me. Who should be like the Quincements Santa equivalent? We've done so many Santa things. I know. So we have to really find something. There has to be a reason to do another one. So it has to have value.

Vince Quinstments. Vince Quinstance. And it is like, it has to be good because the Quinsman season is eternal. Yes. We can't just pick someone like Vince Quinsman's and have it be something that is not going to sustain itself. We're going to be living with it for ever. I did explain that.

you know, on the last ad if you missed it, that, you know, Christmas is over, but Quincements is still here and the Quincement season runs from January 2026 up until your eventual death. And Vince Quincements

is going to say a few words about some of the clothes they have. Oh, no. Oh, you got a get dressed. I don't think this can be it. I can't do this the whole time.

It's not sustainable for you. I think it might be for the listener because it's just, it's kind of small. But we, I mean, it has to be about them and you. One thing they want us to say is that the Quincements,

of course, is like, applies. The Quinsman season applies everywhere in the world except the shower. Yeah. Probably because it is a close, clothing company.

You're not supposed to wear it in there. I have found myself taking longer showers, not because I don't like quince. I do really, I wear a lot of the pieces. Love it. I have sweaters. I mean, I got the drawers on right now. If you're looking at me, I got

I got quince. Check downstairs. On bottom. Mm-hmm. But I, just having that space to, like, not be quincements, And the shower has to be on.

It's not Quinsman's in the shower when the shower is on. So like, you know, I just find myself just taking a second to be like to have something else, you know? That's it. The idea of eternity can be oppressive. Yeah. But you know what's impressive are the organic cotton sweaters, poolos for every occasion that you can even jump in the pool wearing. Lighter jackets keep you warm in the changing season. The list goes on.

They work with top factories that cut out the middleman. not paying brand market. Top factories for the top factories are for the shirts and the sweaters. They work with bottom factories as well. Everything's built to hold up to daily wear and still look good season after season, except in the shower. They only partner with factories that be rigorous standards for craftsmanship and ethical production. Vince Quinsman's, you want to come and say anything else?

I just don't have it. I just don't have it. It was different for sure. Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to quince.com slash the boys for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. available in Canada too that's Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash the boys free shipping and 365-day returns quince.com slash the boys so I just to reset a little bit here yes I can't be that we can do an episode about bridging the cultural divide which is what I think we have to do

that later now I think we have to kind of punt that whole thing because we got so in the weeds with we got in the weeds and honestly I think the cultural divide is harder to bridge than I realize. Yeah. Like, I honestly thought we were close enough that we'd be able to in one episode connect these two different cultures in a really beautiful, harmonious way. And what I'm realizing just from this 34 minutes of conversation is that we are so far apart.

Did you think it was longer or shorter? I thought it was much longer. I thought we were near in the end. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, you're finding out that the gap is larger, that he didn't, that he didn't enjoy doing the movie the script was confusing. That he found the script confusing that the most confusing with the shape of the ball that he wants to move it off of the platform which I was really

excited. It's felt like a big win to get on this big platform. Can I just finish that that thought really quick? Oh there's more to you you have more to say about that because of the ball the ball we need to recast everyone you need to recast everyone to Jake to Chris Hemsworth. Okay. We go Ed Harris for Russell Crowe. Yeah. Mary Steenbergin who we putting Nicole Kidman maybe you guys you're the one who's doing it yeah I will say right now as an objective person beyond my bias is rooting for the movie mm-hmm his cast I think is likely to do more numbers but it's Chris Hemsworth he's been filmed Chris Hemsworth instead of Jake we're talking like he says there's only one machine to like

Like if we're changing the ball, the ball is like a character in the movie, right? So now we're basically, we're recasting the ball. We're CGI inserting Chris Hemsworth over Jake. Yes. Well, you can do AI now. That would be harder if Jake were bigger than Chris Hemsworth. You know what I mean? Because then parts of Jake would kind of be sticking out from the back.

But Chris. But this is a little easier to sort of envelop. Russell Crow and Ed Harris, easy. Ed Harris is like a wiry He got a little smaller Russell Crow is strong He's like he's beefier Yeah

Yeah And Nicole Kimman Certainly taller Than Mary Steenbergen I would say I've never matter We don't want to say that for sure I don't know who's

I don't know who's taller I This is making me think then If we're just If we're doing this anyway That perhaps we could put Rebel Wilson over her and shit Or I mean should it be

You're not understanding the premise of what I'm saying. Okay, well, that's the premise. That it's just Australia. I am Australian already. But you are in the movie, I just want to say. Yeah, but we're kind of upgrading everybody, right? And also, like, your role in the movie is as a comedic, like, foreign presence.

Yeah. You know what I mean? Where, like... Oh, right. Right. And at the point that everyone else is Australian, then we may want to put Jake over area? Jake. Jake would...

Who people in Australia can look at. movie, which he's, you know, already, you know, supposed to do some promotional stuff. Look at his unusual foreign ways and say, like, oh, this is, like, amusing to me. What the bloody hellie? Well, that's not something he would say, but, like, people, you know,

listen to you now in America here, something like that and say, like. What's this Yank doing in Australia? That's what they're, yeah, like, what's he doing here? He says, like, buzz off or something. Buzz off. Right. He's going buzz off.

And then... I don't hate it. I don't hate it. So they got a big ball. It's Chris Hemsworth saying what's, you know, what's Jake doing here? Jake saying it buzz off. Yeah. Russell Crow.

And then... I guess is Chris Hemsworth's dad now? And but also like we're swapping out Andy Rodick, I guess, for who? Nick Curious. Oh. I do want to say the movie is now not about... pickleball it's about pickleball being played with an Australian rules football yeah yeah I don't know if a tennis player I'm just suggesting maybe it is an Australian rules football player if we are

changing so much of the dialogue and stuff too because they're talking about tennis and stuff because then I feel like we could just use a tennis ball have them playing pickleball with a tennis ball if Nick curious is a solution for you you see what I'm saying if we're changing antirotic to another tennis player so we're not doing mark philippooses is what I thought that you liked that it was a tennis player that's why I suggested a tennis player okay yeah then again I want to come back to can it be

a tennis ball because if you are okay oh like uh well there are tennis balls in the movie challenges then you're just making challenges like tennis really just we actually had some of the team from challengers on the movie is that true yeah

I must say some of the shots in the were amazing to watch They used a drone as the ball one time. So some of the shots, it was amazing to watch the machines moving around. This guy was so anti-machine to start the episode. It's not specific machines. It's a specific machines, yeah.

It's a certain ones that he likes. But, yeah, I agree some of the shots are amazing. And I think that parts of the script also are not confusing at all. You can enjoy them. Parts of them weren't. We'll have to get that drone shot again, no, because the ball won't. doesn't move the same way. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's, I mean, let's be honest. That ball is lost on what the ball is going to be now. It's going to be on Australian rules football with a slightly bigger paddle. And so, but I thought we were talking about a tennis ball. That ball, I was pitching that, but he didn't really go for it.

Okay. That ball is not making it over the net. And so the drone is going to have to just kind of like, kind of tumble along the surface of the court. Is it still a court that they're playing on, like a tennis or a pickleball court? Before we go on, can I just ask you this? Are you happy with the script?

That feels like a trap, no? Are you happy with it? I mean like, I think he's just wondering. This feels like a trap. Is yes or no? Nothing's ever perfect, you know? Okay, so. There's always places you wish me had a little more time to get it just right.

But it's just a yes or no. What places? I guess when I was describing the ball, I could have been a little more Yeah Could have been a little more locked in Yeah I think I maybe rushed through

Some of the descriptions of the ball I remember I was on a pretty tight deadline To turn stuff around They said you know We've almost got Aaron Chen But he's demanding Pretty extensive rewrites And we don't get them to him

The next 24 hours He's gonna sign on for another project I believe it was pluribus I think it was a Christmas pickleball movie Regardless And so I I do remember sort of feeling like some of the ball descriptions I put in the script works. It has some beautiful descriptions.

Some of them were good, yeah. But I was describing the ball on almost every page. Some descriptions were stronger than others. I can admit that now. And I definitely could have included dialogue on some of the pages that were just ball descriptions. Just so you guys would have had some idea of what you should be saying in the scenes. but I mean the fact that you took so much time

to explain the ball and yet still that that was still a sticking point for him yeah and I you know it's been a while since I've read the script so I do have to kind of go into my mind palace a little bit to work through it but I would say overall

yes I'm happy with the script obviously I wish I had more time to describe the ball okay well if you're happy then we leave it as is that's very generous if you think it's good we can do I actually think I mean

if I'm an executive I do want more than that you know like I like I want more than just I want more than just it's a movie now we don't even have to talk about this we don't even have to talk about this

well it's not a movie now it's a film movie there's five months yes it's five months before it's available to the public but it's I do agree with you purchased they're planning

that they're, as you said, language changes and everything being done, you know, title translation, all this stuff, it's all, you know, we've got a whole team gearing up to get this thing out in the world. I think it's, you know, the script is almost an afterthought now that movies done. They might be really interested in a challenge of like challengers, changing the movie in ways that like make it easier to understand for people all over the world and they would yeah so they would like it so they would like it yeah I want people to like it I do want people to like it

you know and it has people in it yeah that are objectively like and like your cast is great yeah I was an incredible experience all timer cast the one he's describing is, I mean, I'm not even saying like these are like nicer people or whatever that is a hell of a cast. Would we still have Ben Stiller or is that

Russell Brand now or something? That's your guy, right? It can't be Russell Brand. Why? At the moment, he's, he's kind of busy at the moment. You're keeping track of his his whereabouts.

You were telling me about keeping track of his whereabouts. You're designing a special app that's just... Just... That's called On Brand. On brand and where's brand? What's brand up to? We're trying to get him back in the movies, but...

Trying to get him back in the movies. Yeah. But this is not the one. Okay. This is not... Well, who's your suggestion? Because I think Ben's a pretty big star. He's obviously not Australian.

So you're thinking Chris Hemsworth, Russell Crow, Nicole Kidman Nick Curios we can get But Russell Brae Jake as Aaron Who's playing Who's playing Ben's role? Well Ben Stiller

He's meant to be like a funny character Or something like that Oh yeah Funny guy He brought a lot You're asking me if he's meant to be a funny character Well Yeah that was the intention

Is that there be funny Maybe like an Australian funny man could Ben got there And he didn't really know what to make of He didn't really know what it was doing He was telling you that. He was saying the ball was weird. He went to you and he said, I don't know what to make of it.

He took me aside and he said, hey, you've been on this set for a few more days than me. Yeah. Do you know what the ball is supposed to be? He was involved. He was involved very early on. I said, you're the old hand. You're coming to me for advice. Yeah, I guess that would be flattering.

And he felt very sorry for you. and um he said that huh yeah he said i feel very sorry for him he'd come up with this this ball with holes in it yeah i didn't invent the idea of the the ball you're saying it's been around for before the ball are yes i need to pee really bad you did then leave then leaf can i can i don't know if that's necessary i don't know if that i don't think we're going to do a pee and come back like We're going to do a P and then. Yeah, I think we're just going to.

It's probably a P and don't ever come back. It's probably what we're at, you know, in terms of what we should do now because it's been just a really damaging episode of the show. Did I offend you? I can't be offended, okay? I can't. Did I say anything offensive to Sean? To me, it wouldn't, you know, like I, I like, I like feet. I got a really thick skin. No, I love feedback. I love feedback. I love making projects better.

I do too. And so when I hear that like the script didn't work, it was confusing to me. It's going to be confusing to the audience. The platform was a mistake and all that. I hear that and I think like, okay, that's like helping me improve the project. And I'm not saying like it's never done. Like, you know, it's not like the project. just like done. At some point it is done. Like it is. You can edit it after it's released.

But also why? It's on the machine, right? Like other stuff change. Like I have like my stories that I write on my machine that like I can go back and change him any time. I am going to pee. I'm going to be really. Sorry.

Yeah. Did this happen last time to? I think so. He was in the bathroom immediately before coming in. I know. And I did something kind of nasty. I don't need your permission to keep going on the on the show. It's my show.

He delivers his message, I think, in a sort of unconventional way. Yes, that's part of it. But I do think he is smart. And I think if you sit with it for a little bit, it might not be everything, but I think there might be some things. Well,

I mean, yeah, I'm open to feedback always too. I'm open to feedback always too. And I do, I do know that for him,

there's something he's reacting to, whether it actually is the shape of the ball, you know, whether that is a fix, that there's some reason that he's feeling a disconnect from the material. It seems specifically to be the ball. I don't,

I mean, just hearing him say it. But even if we just were to change, even maybe the, you know, I mean, this isn't. but something like a character's name or the font of the poster.

He may go, oh, you know what? The ball wasn't bothering me. It was this. I think it is the shape of the ball. Okay. So that's a big challenge, I don't know if it's, I don't know if it's that one. I don't know really what that shape is, but as I was hearing him say it, I had the exact that I thought that I was like.

You had an issue with that as well. The shape of the ball. That was a problem for you in the movie. It lost me. It lost me. That lost you. Yeah. And this was never just like we filmed this thing for like 30 days.

Someone to articulate it. I needed someone to articulate it because I was having this like what is it? Because yes, like feedback is it can be valuable. But there are times when it certainly is more helpful than others. Like if the shape of the ball is an issue, that's something that could come up in one of the first like prop meetings or something. Right. Like that's something where the production designer could have maybe

gotten in front of it. But when the entire movie has been filmed and edited and sold color corrected sound mix best time to bring up the shape of the ball is in one of the first prop meetings. Second time. The best time is right now. Thanks for

I'm still taking up the torch for this. I'm taking up the torch for the movie. You struck the nerve with Hayes. He's come around to agreeing with some of your issues and I just I was lamenting that none of that was discussed earlier. You were on set the entire time.

You never said anything about it. I was scared of you. In fact, you... Okay. I'm like being scary. I'm not being scary. I'm nice. Well, if you were scared of you, then you were being scary.

Some people think you're only writing for severance because you're the only one in the writer's room with a gun. That scared him. It scared him that you had a gun. That was in the Hollywood Reporter. I'm... It's said in the Hollywood reporter that some people think that. Some people allegedly...

I don't even think that's true. I'm not... I don't believe I'm the only one with the gun. I'm the only one with an open carry license. Right. But that's like... But you think that there are other people in the room with a gun? Or at the very least you have to account for that possibility. I just don't think...

Yeah, I don't think they have, they could say that conclusively. Which of the severance riders do you think owns a gun? Or is it different on different days? Like who has, who has actually brought it to work? There's a guy named Eli there. Yeah. Yeah. I got a feeling he's back in heat.

Nice. Yeah. I think he actually. Wait, wait, wait, sorry. So you think he's nice, you think it's cool that he, you heard that Eli has a gun and you said nice. Yeah. But. you're saying you don't care for it when Sean

and you see what he does right where he's changed the subject now to where it was like I'm scary on set and then he goes then I read in the Hollywood reporter that you're the only writer on several of the guns it's like that's nothing to do with my behavior on the set of the dink and why you wouldn't tell me that you didn't think the shape of the ball was good

that he was maybe Googling like it was scary to other people but the timeline falls apart but the timeline falls apart like it's all a timing issue because I wasn't in the room yet at that time So this, you know, this supposed article wouldn't have come out yet. Well, if the article was... My question is, how did the ball get holes?

And then I read about this gun and I'm thinking... I shot it with bullets. And that's why in the prompt meeting it didn't come up. They sell them with holes already. For the movie, I shot the ball. Because it just... It was just easier to know that we were going to have... the holes the way that we wanted, that we wanted powder burns around the edge of the hole,

so it looked sort of lived in, you know, they'd been used before. It was, that was a certain look we were going for. So yes, I did obviously shoot the, we got whole plastic, you know, entire pickleballs that were solid and I, and I would shoot them immediately before every take. You call them entire pickle balls. Yes, yes. I would shoot them before every take. But that was not ever meant to be.

be threatening or scary and it was actually supposed to be fun for the cast. But you can see how it affected you when the cast members were being violent against your script. Every person was doing, it was. They're passionate. They care about the movie. We're all trying to make something great. And that's how you felt about the ball. And so that's why it was a little painful for him to hear when, you know, when you're not,

you felt like the ball was a mistake. Yeah. Ball doesn't work. Needs to be changed. I don't think. Strongly suggest. I mean, that's, I'm saying, from his perspective. It just has not come up with from anyone else.

And then now you're agreeing with him. Not on what the ball should be. Yeah. But that it urgently needs to be changed. If we talk about this in this way, everyone's goal. going to be looking for this to be an issue. Then they're watching. Then they're watching.

But if we, but they're watching with it through a negative lens. And they're hopefully watching. They're watching to, to, to criticize, they just could be enjoying the movie, let the shape of the ball.

If it's crazy, if it's weird, whatever, let it wash over them. I think if we didn't talk about it, so I'm nervous about releasing this. I think if we don't mention it before the movie comes out,

that a lot of people won't even occur to them as it had not occurred to you. But I, something was off. I did tell you that something while you were out

I was saying like, and I put a name to it. Yes. And it's, I don't think, I don't know if the ball that you're describing is going to work,

but I think it needs to be different. Well, if you two have two different ideas of what the ball would need to be to fix it, then we're in the same situation where everybody's going to have a problem with some, you know.

Bowling ball. It's funny. It's funny. It should be funny. It should be funny. paddle would have to be almost like a trampoline or something that'd be really funny the battle is a

big trampoline it's a funny idea holy shit the ball is a trampoline shooting a bowling ball yeah that's really funny that's really good dangerous if you shoot it though but it does have holes in it it already has the holes you don't need to shoot them

think about it He is thinking. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So he's clearly thinking. And are we leaving the cast in that case? They'd have to be more bowling guys. I agree on having Andy Roddick in there.

Yeah. Talking about a game when you're using trampolines to shoot bowling balls back and forth. A lot of bounce. It's not going to read as much. Mm-hmm. But who are we getting then? We're getting the Big Labowski. The Big Labowski.

Hi. That was a hit gum podcast