Are you ready for a trip into the mind of an accomplished animation writer? Get those dice ready because Meredith Kecskemety, renowned for her work on the Legend of Vox Machina and the Midnight Gospel, is here for a chat and to share some incredible insights from her illustrious career. We kick off with her early days in the industry, her shift from children's to adult-oriented shows, and how the Hollywood writers' and actors' strike influenced her journey. Meredith then takes us behind the scenes at Titmouse Animation and recounts the inspiring tale of her involvement with Vox Machina.
The conversation takes a fun turn as we venture into the world of Dungeons & Dragons and the process of adapting Critical Role's content for the animated avatar. How open was the cast to innovation? How did their personal connection to their D&D characters affect the writing? Find out in this fun and enlightening discussion. Plus, a unique Q&A where the depth of the answers will be decided by a roll of a d20. Are you game?
In the final act of our chat, we explore the nuances of working on productions with varying budgets, and how factors like tax breaks and labor costs come into play. We also discuss the significant role of a good crew and Meredith's love for D&D gaming. Add a sprinkle of trivia related to popular topics like Lord of the Rings and Dungeons & Dragons, and a candid discussion on creating a show without an ending page, and you have an episode rich with information, entertainment, and fun. Join us on this thrilling journey through the realms of animation and fantasy role-playing!
Are you ready for a trip into the mind of an accomplished animation writer? Get those dice ready because Meredith Kecskemety, renowned for her work on the Legend of Vox Machina and the Midnight Gospel, is here for a chat and to share some incredible insights from her illustrious career. We kick off with her early days in the industry, her shift from children's to adult-oriented shows, and how the Hollywood writers' and actors' strike influenced her journey. Meredith then takes us behind the scenes at Titmouse Animation and recounts the inspiring tale of her involvement with Vox Machina.
The conversation takes a fun turn as we venture into the world of Dungeons & Dragons and the process of adapting Critical Role's content for the animated avatar. How open was the cast to innovation? How did their personal connection to their D&D characters affect the writing? Find out in this fun and enlightening discussion. Plus, a unique Q&A where the depth of the answers will be decided by a roll of a d20. Are you game?
In the final act of our chat, we explore the nuances of working on productions with varying budgets, and how factors like tax breaks and labor costs come into play. We also discuss the significant role of a good crew and Meredith's love for D&D gaming. Add a sprinkle of trivia related to popular topics like Lord of the Rings and Dungeons & Dragons, and a candid discussion on creating a show without an ending page, and you have an episode rich with information, entertainment, and fun. Join us on this thrilling journey through the realms of animation and fantasy role-playing!
What's up everybody? How's it going? What's going on? Chat Looks like Chad is kind of moving a little bit. How's it going? How's it going?
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Bad Chest podcast. I am your host, the current, the reigning, the defending and the undisputed third worst chess player on kick Katie215. And this is the very first episode of the Bad Chest podcast. But don't let the title fool you. Just like I am a Bad Chest streamer, I am also also a very Bad Chest podcast. You're so bad. In fact, this podcast has nothing to do with chess. So what is it about? Who knows? I guess it's kind of about having fun hanging with people I really respect and admire, and there are a few people I admire more than our guests today. She has been a part of some of the best animation in recent years, including being the staff writer for seasons one, two and three of the legend of Vox Machina. If you're not sure what Vox Machina is, I'm gonna I'm gonna roll the trailer from Amazon just to get everybody up to speed. Our only hope lies in these brave warriors.
Speaker 2:What the fuck.
Speaker 1:Right. Who else have we got? I'm sorry, who the hell are you? Vox Machina? We fuck shit up.
Speaker 2:Let's go. Come on, come on work. Steadies help. You can't be seriously considering them for such a task. Our reputation is less than stutter. If killing for gold isn't getting us anywhere, maybe we try doing some good this time. No worry, Kill Vox Machina. If this evil persists, the kingdom will starve to death.
Speaker 1:I suggest we run right now the legend of Vox Machina huh. So without further ado, I want to introduce you to tonight's guest. She has often been called Mark Hamill's best friend, Meredith Kaskimetti. Meredith, How's it going?
Speaker 2:Hello hi.
Speaker 1:Hi so, Vox Machina. Huh yeah, I just want to put this out there to start, for those who don't know. There's a strike going on. The writers are on strike, the actors are on strike. It limits some of what we can talk about. Do you want to just start with that, just so everybody knows up front where the limits are?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I will be very, very obvious the strike is very important. The strike is exactly what needs to be happening in Hollywood right now. It is sort of touching. It's touching animation in different ways than it is live action. Fortunately, vox well, fortunately, and unfortunately, lots of different reasons Vox Machina is not a WGA show and it's an animation guild show. Writers are in the animation guild, which is a separate contract, and actors in animation right now are still able to record, and that is also a separate contract than what SAG is striking. So, from my knowledge far as my knowledge, that's in the clear, and some other shows that I've worked on are in the clear too.
Speaker 1:So yeah, cool.
Speaker 1:So, I want to start with. I don't really want this to be an interview show, but obviously we have to put some questions out there. To me, the biggest one is I have known you a long time. For those who don't know, I've known Meredith for a ridiculously long time and when I met you, your dream was to write for children's shows. In fact, I believe you wrote an episode. If you give a mouse a cookie, yes, how do you go from I'm writing children's shows to? I mean, we just saw the trailer, clearly not a children's show.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean it kind of goes back to a few different factors. I going into school and like the impetus that got me into film school in the first place and was like I want to make TV, I want to make movies, was having the Lord of the Rings movies come out when I was. I don't know if this ages me, but when I was in middle school and those were like had such an imprint on my brain about what it was possible to do with fantasy in a visual medium like that, that just really inspired me to go into TV and film in the first place when I got to school. That when I went to college, that's when I really got into children's TV and the kind of cool experimental ways you could take that I just felt like a lot of people tend to kind of dumb down and shit on kids TV, but I feel like there is a few are watching the right shows, there's definitely a level of sophistication and there's some weird experimental stuff that they can get away with there that I feel like doesn't happen necessarily in adult TV. So that was kind of my goal for like my second half of college. That's when I really kind of like found that weird niche and then, yeah, I wound up years later.
Speaker 2:I wound up at Titmouse Animation, which is the animation studio that does Vox Machina, and I was the executive assistant to the head of that studio for two years and when I was ready to make my move and we were looking for, I knew I wanted to write at that point and we were looking for like a good show that was at the studio that I could potentially move over to a script coordinator. There was a show that came through the studio or that was coming through the studio, called the Midnight Gospel, which, for those of you who are unfamiliar it's a very short show, only ran one season, 10 episodes on Netflix. It's by Pendleton Ward and Duncan Tressel. Pendleton Ward is the creator of Adventure Time, for those who don't know, and Duncan Tressel is a comedian who has his own podcast and that was a very adult show and I was obviously a fan of Penn Ward and kind of interested in the show and they needed a writer's assistant script coordinator.
Speaker 2:I was actually kind of hesitant to take to kind of go for it at first because of my kind of Headspace, of being like I do kids TV, I want to do kids TV like I. Like there's lots of other kids shows at the studio. I should, I want to do one of those, and my boss at the time was really the one who like pushed me. He's like no, no, no, you want it, you want to go for this show. This show is gonna be, even if it, even if it goes one season or a million seasons, so we are really good show to like have on your resume and work with these people. Very grateful that he did that. And that was kind of my first Foray into adult animation and I really loved it and realized that the original thing that drew me to TV and film was kind of these fantasy worlds and fantastical settings and there was still a space For that in adult animation.
Speaker 1:So yeah, and you know just to to put out there you and I actually met on a very, very big, well-known kids show. We met working on Sesame Street together. What's yeah? What seasons were you there? 43 and 44 yeah, I've, I've done Sesame Street, for I Feel like 20 years now.
Speaker 2:I feel like 20 years so, and I feel like the only reason I know that so quickly is because now my nephew is two and a half and he is watching Sesame Street and I tried I Well, I watched them with him and I tried to get him really to think I'm cool, I want to be the cool. And I tried again to think that I'm cool by showing him the episode that I was an extra in, and he did not give a shit. He was just Extremely unimpressed, didn't? I had different color hair, so that was kind of it. He looked at me and was just like that's not you like you did have different color hair.
Speaker 1:You, if I recall correctly, you looked oddly similar To Carly Rae Jepsen when I met you. I mean you had the same hairstyle, the same haircut your face.
Speaker 2:I should, I should, I should do my hairstyle like her because she's blonde now, and then I could just, you know, be her number one snacker fan.
Speaker 1:That's what drew me to you was I've continually made fun of the fact that you looked like Carly Rae Jepsen. I mean, oddly, like Carly Rae Jepsen, she also um, you worked in child talent and, fun fact, my napping couch was in the child talent office. It's where I like to nap during the day. It's my napping couch. I mean, look, if you work and you have the opportunity to have a napping couch, you should have a napping couch. And I did. Yeah, it was in that office.
Speaker 2:Imagine if that wasn't your napping couch, or if I had a different job on the show, like if I had been a PA or in the production bullpen or whatever. Or they had like what would our lives be now?
Speaker 1:So Fox Machina, let's talk about it. I mean it is, it's everywhere, it's it's critical role. They obviously, if you guys don't know who critical role are, they are very well-known Dungeons and Dragons streaming and podcast group. They they kind of Are one of the the people that really helped Shape Dungeons and Dragons into what it is today, which right now is actually. You know, the fandom is still kind of up in arms against, but but it really helped bring Role playing, tabletop gaming, to the forefront. Them and I would say, acquisitions incorporated, which I was always a bigger fan of. The critical role. But you know groups like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, especially on streaming and being able to have access to D&D. If, as a viewer and as a casual person, I think D&D when I was growing up was such this there was, it's felt like there was such a high point to entry and Seeing other people play too many roles. Yeah, and just you know, it felt like, yeah, it felt like you had to go home and Read for 10 hours before you could even start a game and you needed all these things and you're like what even? Is it like? Are we role playing? Are we just sitting there like what is what is it exactly? And then that you know, now you can actually watch other people do it before you dive in, so you're kind of know what you're getting yourself into so Explain how you first came to to link up with Vox Machina.
Speaker 2:So yeah, that's all goes back to working at tip mouse animation week. Two or three of me having the job at tip mouse, my boss At the time, chris Pernosky great man, wonderful, wonderful guy. He had me set a meeting. They were the Critical role was wanted to come in and Pitch. And I came in, pitch an idea for this show. They've been trying to. They've been teasing of our like joking about doing an animated series on their stream for a while and but it was one of those kind of pipe dream things and I think they finally were like well, let's see if we can actually do this. So they came in to pitch it to tip mouse and I was already a fan at that point. I knew who they were. You know I played D&D's and I'd known about them and other other that whole world and so I was like very excited about it and Chris was very excited about to. He loves D&D. But I think his hesitation was he was a little worried. He was like you know, I know this Streaming D&D, streaming stuff is getting really popular, but like I'm an old school guy, you know, I just I just want to play it. I don't want to watch other people play it like how sustainable is it? Like, is it popular with staying powers? It's just like trendy, popular and. But I think, like he quickly realized like oh no, no, this is like legit. This is, this has got a fan base that's gonna Stay around. And so he started getting really into it. And so, yeah, for like the entirety of my two years of being his assistant, they were working on the show and developing the show and trying to get it ready to pitch and they that's when they. Then, when I was on Midnight Gospel sorry, trying to get my timeline straight when I was in Midnight Gospel Working on that show, I had already finished being his assistant or moved on was screw-cornered on Midnight Gospel.
Speaker 2:That's when the kick started, dropped and Quickly broke a lot of records and got lots of lots and lots of money. And they realized, oh, I Think we have enough money. They were originally just gonna do like 40, 45 minute short or pilot presentation With the idea of like, hey, let's just get a bunch of money to do a pilot, because the big issue is selling into networks at that time, and Still a lot today is fantasies for kids. Everyone, they knew they were gonna keep hitting the wall of like everyone being like this is great. We love your subscriber count, we love how many fans you've got. Let, it's got a built-in audience, but can you make it for kids Because it's fantasy? So they were like we really need to have something to show why it needs to be for adults.
Speaker 2:So the idea was to get money to do like 20 to 40 minute Animation. But then they got enough money to do a whole first season. So I Reached out to them while the Kickstarter was still going, like being like hey, I think you guys are gonna have enough money to do a whole season. Are you gonna be looking for a? Are you gonna be looking for a Crew coordinator or writers assistant because my show is gonna wrap? So that was a nice they were. And then, yeah, they were super sweet and they obviously I'd been able to Build a relationship with them over the two years, so I was able to move over there when I wrapped on Midnight Gospel and then was promoted staff writer Partway through, I think. See it between season one and two. So yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I have a confession. You're one of your, one of my dearest friends on the planet, and I haven't watched Fox Mocking. I've watched the episodes that you wrote specifically yes. But I don't remember that. Look, here's my problem, right I? So I was exposed to the live. You know, the bigger D&D stuff I want to say was acquisitions incorporated. They did a stage thing that ended up being shown in theaters and I went to a theater to watch something else, and I think I'm gonna be telling me the story and and so I just was like, well, whatever, I'm just gonna walk into this thing.
Speaker 1:Because it was a live event, I figured I would check it out. And the place was packed. I mean the seats were just Um, absolutely I couldn't believe the number of people that were in there. And I watched it and I was like I didn't get it. I mean, I'm gonna be honest, I didn't get it.
Speaker 1:And I've played D&D. I like I love tabletop gaming and board games and RPG, video games and whatever. I just I I'm not into watching other people play the game as much as I'm into playing it myself. So I kind of let those guys go. And I had always heard about critical role. And then so Everyone's like you got to watch him, you got to watch him and after watching the production value of acquisitions Inc. And then go into critical role, I was like oh, oh. But everyone's like no, there's still, it's just better storytelling. It's just you got to watch this, and so from, I just couldn't get into it. So then obviously the cartoon comes out and I know you're involved and I'm like I'm gonna, I'm gonna watch this, like I'm gonna, I'm gonna get all in, I'm gonna support you, and then I just I Feel like my bias towards critical role Carried over into me watching the cartoon, because I remember sitting through the first episode saying, what am I like, why am I watching this? And I fell asleep. I.
Speaker 2:Mean, it's not in common. For you know, d&d streaming can be really hard. That's another talk about high point of entry. To get into that, like you know, those episodes are long. I struggle to watch. I have mostly I when I I have to listen like just do the podcast version of them For whatever reason. Maybe it's just how my brain works, like if I'm doing something else and I'm listening, I can focus so much better on the story than if I'm actually watching them play, which seems counterintuitive. So I actually normally do that. And but I will say production value, they've gotten a lot more money in the most in the more recent campaign, so they're definitely, you know they've got their own studios now, so so you, you worked on season one, you worked on season two, season three.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, season three is in the works.
Speaker 1:In the works did. Did you write episodes? Have you written any episodes for season three? Yes okay, all right, but we're not. We can't talk about them and talk about them.
Speaker 2:I don't know when it'll come out. I I Animation takes a long time, unfortunately.
Speaker 1:So let's talk about your, the writing process for the episodes you wrote for seasons one and two.
Speaker 1:So so you're, obviously you're not yeah, so Obviously, as the staff writer, obviously you're the writer that stays on After the scripts are written to help make changes and edits and whatever right. But then you write episodes as well, and so, but you're not the only writer. So is it difficult writing an episode for a series where Because critical role, the, the, the people themselves are writers, right, like they're writing their own adventures? If you, it just seems like there's a lot of writers. So how much?
Speaker 2:I think it was it. It was. I mean, I looked it wasn't really the I would say the one Person like the one person that was like the hardest to compete with in terms of the story was just like this adaptation and the kind of expectation that we felt the audience was gonna have. That was like the hardest thing. I think the cast in general was super gracious about like us taking liberties and doing what we had to do to Condense everything down, because you know it's hours and hours and hours of content being condensed down into 22-minute episodes. Some of them, for the most part, they were really cool with it and yeah, they're all you know writers and stuff, but I think they they were very respectful of the fact that you know animation and storytelling through animation was like you know the writers that they brought on. That was, you know our medium, we, we know this format and how to tell a story in this format. So I think they were very open to that um, collaboration, um, but yeah, I think and they were also excited to try new things with this and go different directions to kind of subvert fan expectations too. So it was honestly like a lot easier than I thought it would be. I thought it would be a lot of care-pulling and just like that, being like, listen, you get it, we can't tell a word for word remake of the show. That's not gonna work. Um, it's just it would be impossible or you could do it but you would need a hundred times the budget. So, um, but yeah, and they were in the writers room.
Speaker 2:It was like we kind of for season, we kind of did it the similar for the first couple seasons where we would do like a big summit with all the writers for a few weeks and the cast would kind of join sometimes to kind of listen in. Or if we knew we were going to be breaking an episode that heavily involved their character, they would come in case we had questions or wanted to throw out suggestions or like different ideas that like their character could be doing and they could kind of the other. The other hard thing with this, not only being characters they created, but dnd characters is I think there's just such, there's another layer of feeling, that personal connection to your character when you've created a dnd character and you've lived a dnd character. Um, so at some sometimes it felt like if we wanted to try something new with their characters, uh, and they didn't like it. It wasn't just that they didn't like it for that character, it's like they didn't almost like it for themselves. Like it was like this whole other level of consent.
Speaker 1:I felt like we had to navigate um with them so who was your favorite of the cast to work with and who was your least favorite controversial? You have to answer both after.
Speaker 2:No, we gotta do, um, you gotta do something. You gotta do like, uh, andy Cohen's plead the fifth, so that I can like give me an option to do something to plead the fifth, um, I mean, all right, who was your favorite?
Speaker 1:who was my favorite everyone's allowed a favorite um, for example, watch I'll go first of all of the casting assistants at sesame, you were my favorite singing it's very easy. Of all of them, you were my favorite.
Speaker 2:I they were all. They all like brought such different energies to their um. I think, like the person who I obviously like geeked out the most about who I was just like I can't believe we're listening like every day of the week. I'm like, oh, we're listening to just like hours of him. Additionally, world building was Matt Mercer, obviously, um, like that was great. I I also the person who I had always just like looked up to the most and was like oh, I, she's so badass was Laura Bailey. So that was just really cool to be in a writer's room with her um, and then uh, but, uh, but I'm gonna say something nice about everyone, because I just like Marisha Ray was also really badass. I love her, like her um. And then so say something nice about everybody keep going yeah, uh, yeah they were.
Speaker 2:They were also great. Um, sam and Travis were like are the kind of spearheaders of it and they're, they were the people who, um, they brought me on originally and I will just always have soft spot in my heart for them. And there they were really good about reigning everyone in and and getting everyone, because like we could have gone on for like 10 drafts of a script with them giving notes and like they were just amazing at reigning everyone in getting everyone on the same page, being like great we could. We could take this story in 10 different directions, but like this is where we gotta go, um. And then, uh, ashley and and Taliesin I will say it's funny because there's like certain people who were like certain seasons they were like I'm not, I don't really want to be involved in writing, and then later they were just like way more into it. Um, like I feel like I didn't see Ashley and Taliesin a lot in the beginning and then they got really involved, like later, um, which was cool.
Speaker 1:Ta-da, this is gonna be a fun question. Did have you played D&D with them, right? I knew you were a D&D player at some point. Did you ever, you ever say hey, I'm gonna join the campaign or say hey, come join my campaign.
Speaker 2:No, but I have. Um, I have run a couple D&D campaigns for people on the, for other people on the crew. Um, I ran one when we first started. There was like we, when we still had a pretty small crew, like it was just like pre-production people and like our production manager, and there were a few people who had never played D&D before. So I ran a special game for people specifically who, like didn't really have any familiarity with D&D so they could kind of get into it, um, and then, uh, yeah, and then I ran a second game later, um with other, with other crew people, but yeah, I've never played, unfortunately. Um, I have sat at the table, at the critical table, but so we have actually talked about doing a D&D stream.
Speaker 1:You know, playing a game, I mean, I've talked about putting it together and you playing in it, yeah, but. But my problem is the same thing as with this podcast I I don't half-ass anything, and so I I keep taking the time to put stuff together for it, and I feel like I spend more time building something than I do actually doing it uh-huh, uh-huh but, uh, I mean, it's gonna happen one day and I feel like we have a great group of people, which I'm not gonna mention everybody now, but I feel like it's gonna happen.
Speaker 1:So sit tight, we're gonna. We're gonna have a campaign. It's gonna be ridiculous.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna show something, but I actually I'm gonna say I'm gonna change my answer. Travis is my favorite because Travis gave me this it's a signed can of strong jaw ale and he said I signed your name so that you couldn't sell it and why would?
Speaker 1:why would you want to sell it?
Speaker 2:I laughed at that. Um yeah, I was like like no, that's gonna. I was like I was like what am I gonna do?
Speaker 1:yeah, I'm not selling that, but yeah, so there are some people in the chat that that I think have have some questions right um which I want to.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna open it up to some of them for uh, but, by the way, there's a fan in the chat of midnight gospel uh-huh that gospel was very trippy, loves midnight gospel, so so if you want to ask any midnight gospel questions, or whatever, ask any question you want, she will take the questions. But but we're gonna, we're gonna do it with a little bit of a, a little bit of a twist, um on the script, because, because, because vox machina is a dnd show, uh, we're gonna put a little dnd spin on this and on the screen we have a d20 when you ask the question, when I pose the question to her, we are going to roll the d20 if it's for a knowledge check. Obviously for those of you who don't play dnd, we have to do a knowledge check for her.
Speaker 1:If we roll a 12 or higher, she knows ever she can answer the question in all honesty. I mean, she might not know anything. That might be the right answer. That she may not be able to answer the question, but she can. She can go on with everything she wants. If it's between like an eight and 11, she, she's gonna, she's gonna give a tiny answer. Just, she knows a little something about it, anything less than eight, and she knows nothing about the question you're asking, but will bullshit an answer just to make you feel good and make you feel like you've had your question answered, because I don't want to, I don't want to leave anybody feeling, um, like they, like they weren't, they weren't heard. So so if, if anybody has a question that they would like to ask, we, we will ask, and then we will roll the d20 and we will, we will see and you, mary, you can see the d20 on your screen right yes, yes I can okay.
Speaker 1:So, uh, anybody in chat, anybody with questions, it's. The chat has now has now slowed to a crawl. When I pawn, that's. I feel like we asked that question, but I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna roll it, I'm gonna roll pawn. Pawn wants to know what your favorite show you worked on is, ever of any show you've ever worked on, we're gonna roll the d20, remember 12 or 12 or better you can answer it on it.
Speaker 1:You know big eight to eight through 11. Answer it small, just quick. Answer anything under that lie, just lie at 19 it's almost a perfect 20. You go ahead and answer how.
Speaker 2:What's your favorite show you ever worked on okay, well, I will say, um, and I think most people have, uh, in in LA, we have very short attention spans, um, uh, so I feel like most people are gonna give you answers about stuff. I, the show I'm working on right now, um, which is, uh, I'm working on an unannounced disney show. Um, I would say the crew on the show is just a goddamn delight. Uh, they are so lovely.
Speaker 2:Um, I also feel like maybe it's because it's the first show I worked on, um, that's somewhat that's hybrid, back in the office and everyone is just coming out of. It's like the first suit round of shows this past year that have been somewhat in person. Um, so people are really excited to be back and socializing with people, so that might also be it. Um, the show that, uh, yeah, so, yeah, that's my answer about that, but I feel like I give a little more because it rolled in 19. I think the show that I was the most excited to and I knew the most about and like ended up being just this crazy experiment or experience, was obviously Vox Machina. Working on that was just a dream come true and that's been really cool and still.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the chat wants to know if you have a favorite character on Vox. Maybe, wait, and we're going to phrase this two ways A favorite character personally and a favorite character to write. And we're going to, we're going to roll the d20. We're going to do a knowledge check here. Does, does she know what her favorite characters are? Do you want to roll the d? You want to roll a knowledge check for both or just for for each question individually? Yeah, let's do that?
Speaker 2:Do it? Do it for both, because if I don't know how to have answer that unless there's two parts to it.
Speaker 1:Oh okay, so then here we go. Then here we go, we're rolling the d20. Let's go. Oh no, I need to need to bullshit the answer.
Speaker 2:Gotta bullshit. The answer, you know what is. What is Vox Machina Does it have doesn't really have individual characters with individual traits. I feel like my favorite character is probably just you know how, in Cheers, the bar was a character and I feel like I'm on the city that they're in. Is there's really character in itself and I think that's you know, just just the world's and the big Xandria itself is my favorite character.
Speaker 1:Okay, what are some highs and lows with working on shows with big production value compared to something where the budget is tight? Here we go. We're going to, we're going to. We got to do a knowledge check, here we go.
Speaker 2:All right, I can't just dance. Oh no, I think like it's just really cool when you have all this money and you're just like, wow, I can just do anything I want. There's no limitations whatsoever, what like budgets don't exist. That's a really cool part. And it's really cool when you're working on a big, major property and you have absolutely and you don't have any legal oversight. You don't have to worry about S&P, you don't have to worry about any lawyers or anything like that. Everyone's just really chill. When you have a ton of money to work on a show, you know no one's investing a lot, and then when you're working, when you're working on a show with no money, it's just I love kind of the heroin chic look and just looking like I haven't slept in 12 days and you know I'm not worried about paying my rent at the end of the month. That's really fun. That's my favorite part.
Speaker 1:Hey, hey guys. Also, we're going to do a trivia with Meredith where it's going to be a generic nerd trivia While we're answering the next couple of questions. If you type plus one in the chat, you're going to be up for a prize. If she gets the questions correct, you win a prize. If she gets the questions wrong, no prize for you. So go ahead and just type plus one in the chat, literally just the plus sign on the number one, and it'll look like like this Boom and get yourself in there. So see, are there any more questions or any other good questions? Let's see. Let's see. Um, a couple people said your work is incredible. Your work is incredible, which is just so, so lovely. Um.
Speaker 1:I don't know anything you want to talk about while we're, while I'm looking for perusing the chat here for the questions- Um, I can talk about.
Speaker 2:I just got a really funny email that someone that I work with accidentally sent a company wide email. I was intended for one person. That's funny. Let's see, is it an older person?
Speaker 1:or is it a younger person? Because? I feel like younger people now are way more guilty of sending incorrect.
Speaker 2:Um, so it's just, it's, I'm, I'm, I feel I just want to go give them a hug right now. It's like when um, what was it when? The HBO sent out that email to all its subscribers the test email and they, I, the entire world, was just like collectively, like let's go give that intern a big hug, like we feel so bad for.
Speaker 1:So if there's, if there's no other questions, we're going to move on, we're going to, we're going to roll this, uh, this, this, this, uh, this chat thing. We're going to see who who's going to, who's going to play for prize. Oh wait, we have another question. Oh boy, by the way, man, man, okay, you, uh, you have, you have won the prize. It says write something in the chat to claim your prize. You have 20, 22 seconds from botrix, by the way. So, okay, we're going to, uh, we're going to roll. The question is what show have you worked on in the past where you missed the crew a lot? And it's a 14,.
Speaker 1:You have all the knowledge for this one.
Speaker 2:It's weird because I'm. It's funny because I'm on a show right now, but like it doesn't have a lot. I've never worked with most of the people before, but it's right next to a show that has a lot of people I've worked with before, so it's kind of like I haven't even left. I really miss the Midnight Gospel people. We had such a solid production team and in animation your production team really makes for Breaks a Show.
Speaker 2:I always said like I mean, artists are amazing and they have the most. Like their gifts are like God-given, it is beautiful. But like you can draw pretty pictures all day if no one knows where to find them and put them together, then you're screwed. So I truly like whenever they really taught me how to make sure I know who is on the production side before saying yes to a show, because that show itself could have just been an absolute hot mess and disaster just because of all of the elements in that show and there's no, there's very little reuse because every episode is in a different location. That show really could have been a nightmare if we did not have such a strong, solid production team and I miss them and I'm still on a group, chat with them and talk to them all the time.
Speaker 1:Oh, by the way, there is a reminder in chat to a friendly reminder to remember to drink water. Remember to drink water. We're going to do an initiative check. Does she remember to drink water? Let's, we're rolling for initiative. No, she does not remember to drink water.
Speaker 2:I don't get to have my Marco Rubio moment, Meredith.
Speaker 1:Meredith, Meredith, she's going to. I do actually remember to drink water.
Speaker 2:Okay, can I drink? Can I drink a?
Speaker 1:No, go ahead, have a water, go ahead, you're fine.
Speaker 2:I live in LA, I'm constantly dehydrated.
Speaker 1:I live in the East Coast. I'm constantly dehydrated right now. Okay, so we're going to play some trivia. You, before the show, you have pre-selected some trivia categories. The one category that the top of your list was Lord of the Rings, and what's the Caviar?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know all these topics very well. I'm very familiar with all these topics. I'm terrible at trivia and have a shit memory, so Listen, listen, it's fine.
Speaker 1:You're playing for Mano right now, you know. Let's see if you can win Mano a prize. You know, what's funny is, you kind of gave yourself away a little bit before, when we were testing the stream. You saw the trivia questions. You're like, oh yo, I got these answers, so I made the questions a little harder. Okay, good, and these questions come courtesy of dorky geeky nerdy.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:And here we go. First question Do not meddle in the affairs of who? For their subtle and quick to anger.
Speaker 2:Do not meddle in the affairs of elves Such a final answer. I can't. I'm going to say yes because you're, you always do that, you always try and hey.
Speaker 1:What's the elves called Gandalf?
Speaker 2:Um, um, uh, I know this, I can imagine them saying it.
Speaker 1:These are really hard questions.
Speaker 2:No, this one is not a hard question. I should know this. I've like it's in the books many times. Um, but yeah, my, my ADD brain will not pull it out, sorry, oh, miss, miss Randi. Yes, pippin's full name. Uh, pippin Randy. Buck Herodron. Oh yeah, mary Doc. Oh yeah, the other one, all right listen, I'm going to.
Speaker 1:We're going to back this up a little bit. We're going to back this up a little bit. We're going to make this easier for Mano to win. Sorry, mano, we're we're going to go. We're going to go to some easier questions for her.
Speaker 2:I know Sam Tony's name. I knew the next one.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, did you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's Bill.
Speaker 1:All right, here we go. Get in here. Before it was called Golem, what was he known as? It's me Goll. I mean, I don't think he gets any easier than that. Frodo's shirt of mail is made from what fictional metal?
Speaker 2:Me Thrill.
Speaker 1:Oops, it is. How many members are there in the fellowship? Nine, there are nine. There are nine. Legolas Hales, from what Forest?
Speaker 2:Um what, uh God, it's uh LaFlorin. No Um is it LaFlorin.
Speaker 1:I think it's Merckwood.
Speaker 2:Merckwood.
Speaker 1:It is Merckwood.
Speaker 2:Merckwood Okay.
Speaker 1:Sorry, that's a wrong question. It's a wrong answer. What character?
Speaker 2:initially goes by the name Strider Ergorn.
Speaker 1:Ergorn is correct.
Speaker 2:I got to go.
Speaker 1:Oh God, what creature did Gandalf say could not pass?
Speaker 2:The Balrog.
Speaker 1:The Balrog. What inn do the hobbits go to in Bree?
Speaker 2:Um the Prancing Pony.
Speaker 1:It is the Prancing Pony. What is the name of Elrond's home, God? These questions are easy.
Speaker 2:Rivendale.
Speaker 1:It is Rivendale, Is the name of Frodo's sword Um the one that Bilbo gives him, the Glows Blue when Orcs near.
Speaker 2:Um, dabby, I don't know. Sting, sting, yes, oh my God.
Speaker 1:Who was Faramir's brother?
Speaker 2:Boromir it was.
Speaker 1:Boromir, that's right. Somebody says that they're on a call with a prank person. I want to be on a call with a prank person. Why don't I get to be on a call with a prank person? What were the other categories that you said you were good at?
Speaker 2:Uh, I didn't say. I never said if you looked at email legal. I did not say I was good at these, I just said I would do Pixar.
Speaker 1:Oh, you said Pixar. Hold on, I want to do the Pixar one with you. We'll do the easy Pixar one. Um, because I don't think you're going to get it. I'm going to be honest with you.
Speaker 2:Really. Yeah, it's probably like they do a bunch of their shorts, which I I, I mean, I don't know.
Speaker 1:I just feel like it's going to be too, too nerdy. Okay, what's the name of the lamp that serves as the Pisk pick? It serves as the mascot for Pixar.
Speaker 2:I as a name, as in it. Is it picks? Is it lamp Luxo?
Speaker 1:Junior.
Speaker 2:Luxo Junior. I love to tell my nephew Um, so I was. I was with my nephew last week and, uh, I was watching him and he wanted. He was like I want to watch something. And I was like what do you want to watch? And he, he was just like the thing with the bouncing lamp. And I was like I was like what? And then I finally figured it out and I was like, oh, buddy, do I got some exciting news for you? There's so many movies that have the bouncing lamp at the beginning. We can, we can watch this on repeat.
Speaker 1:I mean, as somebody who works in animation, I feel like you should just be able to fire off the answer to every one of these questions, but I know you're not going to be able to. What actor has voiced characters in every Pixar film?
Speaker 2:Um uh, john Markhamel.
Speaker 1:John.
Speaker 2:Ratsenberger, john Ratsenberger, john Ratsenberger.
Speaker 1:You know what? I don't know that from working in animation.
Speaker 2:I know that from when I was a worked at a voiceover agency. Because he was a. He was one of our clients, really yeah, along with Mark Hamill.
Speaker 1:So is that? Is that how you became known as Mark Hamill's best friend?
Speaker 2:Yes, that is how I earned that nickname.
Speaker 1:What movies? Pictures only prequel.
Speaker 2:Prequel. I Know this, so I don't wait. I'm blanking, I know like, oh, I Keep going back to Toy Story, but those movies were all in order. Those weren't prequels.
Speaker 1:All right, I'm gonna have to call it so sorry.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry, monster university, oh my god yeah.
Speaker 1:Lightning McQueen's number oh.
Speaker 2:Gosh, I should know that. I think I know this. So, like I know this, it's like 23 year, I Think it's 95 was the year that story came out. That makes sense. Yeah, probably 95 95. You knew that. You knew the second one what?
Speaker 1:what fashion designer has an aversion to capes?
Speaker 2:in the mood.
Speaker 1:What is the name of the monstrous Baron brave?
Speaker 2:Um only seen brave like two, a couple, two times, so I do not know.
Speaker 1:More do, more do. But by the way, our mod Don says he would be kicking our butts in this Route 66. What town do Maynard, sally and Doc all call home?
Speaker 2:what town Radiator Springs?
Speaker 1:Right Radiator Springs. We know he's just firing the answers off. The phrase Dia de los muertos was almost trademarked in anticipation of what film.
Speaker 2:Coco. Coco they tried to try to trademark that because, oh my god, that's stupid.
Speaker 1:We can know there's a woman in Baltimore who trademarked the word hun and Became like the villain of the city.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's just great. I guess she she gave the trademark back. It was an episode of Gordon Ramsay's kitchen nightmares Because she had a restaurant that literally nobody would go to, because she was the villain of the city.
Speaker 2:Is he trademarked on?
Speaker 1:because she trained mark ton and finding Dory Hank has described as what kind of creature.
Speaker 2:She is the Hink, the octopus.
Speaker 1:He is. He is an octopus, oh.
Speaker 2:But it's more specific than that. It's like yes. Oh, I don't know.
Speaker 1:Aceptopus, because he only has seven arms.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay.
Speaker 1:What 2003 short feature to jaggle open a shy sheep?
Speaker 2:Isn't it like bounding or bounce the one where that Bounding?
Speaker 1:Don bet you didn't know that one. Don bet you didn't know that one.
Speaker 2:Truly don't know where I found that one nugget in my brain.
Speaker 1:Can clear that out for some of that.
Speaker 2:Lord of the Rings, knowledge more important see this was fun.
Speaker 1:Trivia was fun. Who said you suck at trivia? I did. I feel like we should do around where we have to roll and do a knowledge check. You know if you actually you know Harry Potter. You're Harry Potter fiend, Mm-hmm. But we can look back on this moment and remember the times that you messed up Harry Potter trivia. How do you feel about Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone?
Speaker 2:I mean, I feel like I'm like I try, I'm sure I don't know. Uh, okay, I could do that. I haven't run them in a really long time, my my, my fandom has my fandom has waned in recent years. I'm like not that on Top of Harry Potter anymore.
Speaker 1:Here we go. I Just think it would be funny to have you have to answer the questions wrong, oh.
Speaker 2:God, I wouldn't.
Speaker 1:I wouldn't be able to answer any of these questions. Oh no, oh no, here we go. Let's just give it a shot before you answer. Do you know that you know the answer?
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Chat, do you think she knows the answer? She, she seems very, very sure of herself. Let's see, I don't. I don't think she knows the answer, meredith, what's?
Speaker 2:the answer the answer is Three magic place.
Speaker 1:So sorry. It's number four, private drive, don. You were wrong too, don, so sorry. What's what's Harry's birthday? Do you know the answer?
Speaker 2:Um, I think so.
Speaker 1:Oh, hold on, let's see.
Speaker 2:I know at least the month.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, you can know it. What is it?
Speaker 2:Can I just say, I just know it's in July. I think it's July 11th or July 31st, 31st, okay.
Speaker 1:What is the title of the first chapter I?
Speaker 2:Know that.
Speaker 1:But do you know it? Let's find out with a knowledge check. You do know it. What is, what is it? The boy who lived the boy who lived is correct. Go ahead. Ron tries to turn scammers. What color Do you?
Speaker 2:know the answer.
Speaker 1:Do you know it? I believe so. Does she know it with a knowledge? Oh, you don't know it. I'm so sorry. I Rainbow. If you did know what was your guess. Yellow yeah, you know the chat, the chat screaming yellow, and yellow is the answer. What color is the ink on Harry's letters from Hogwarts? Do you know it?
Speaker 2:Maybe I.
Speaker 1:Mean you definitely don't. But go ahead and make the guess anyway, because it's a guess an actual guess, I think it's maybe green. Like the chat says red, survey says Yo, it's green. How did the girl guessing get it in y'all? And chat who's so sure that you had it?
Speaker 2:Here's the thing it's not a memory based on, like the words in the book or anything. It's memory of my memory, of the image of. So I was like if it's what it was in the movies, it's green, but I wasn't sure if that's what it was.
Speaker 1:Whose bike does Hagrid borrow to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle's house?
Speaker 2:I know this.
Speaker 1:Like you definitely definitely know it.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:But do you know it? Do you know it? Does chat know it? You do know it? What's the answer? Serious black. It is serious black. Come on, this is a fun game. Hmm, who is the first Weasley that Harry meets? Do you know it?
Speaker 2:I think so.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, the knowledge check says you know it. So what is the answer?
Speaker 2:I think it's a true question, percy Weasley.
Speaker 1:Oh, Mrs Molly Weasley.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1:The mountain troll invades Hogwarts. On what day?
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, I know it.
Speaker 1:But do you? Um, yeah, just a quick answer.
Speaker 2:Halloween.
Speaker 1:It is Halloween. What kind of owl is Hedwig? Okay, do you know it? Do you know it?
Speaker 2:Uh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Of course you know it. What's the answer?
Speaker 2:A snowy owl, if that's Snowy owl?
Speaker 1:I don't know.
Speaker 2:Okay, I wasn't sure if that was like the actual scientific brief.
Speaker 1:Who teaches history of magic? Do you know it?
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:But does she know it With a knowledge check? The knowledge check says you know it, professor Bins. Professor Bins, see, see. Trivia can be fun Trivia can be fun.
Speaker 2:Trivia can be fun.
Speaker 1:Trivia can be fun.
Speaker 2:I retained a lot more that I thought I had.
Speaker 1:I think the D20 is fun too. Like I feel like that should just be a bit that persists through my um, through this podcast.
Speaker 2:I liked coming up with like the fake answers. That was fun.
Speaker 1:Do you want to answer any of the questions for real, like um? Is there some of the highs and lows with working on shows with big budgets? Compared to when, were the budgets tight?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it really comes down to where it depends on where the money's being allocated. Like, I've worked on shows with really big budgets but it was all ballooned for talent, um, and so it was still really stressful on the crew and I worked on really low budget stuff, but it felt about the same because we were in the similar situation. I think, uh, more money just gives you more people, so it's a lot less workload and more or more worked load to go around, like you can spread it out, so it's just uh can feel less stressful at that point. Um, but I will say, usually with bigger budget shows comes bigger budget problems. Usually the networks have a lot more opinions and are way more stressed and way more uh over your shoulder while you're doing everything, because they're very nervous about their like very expensive investment Rightfully so, like they want to make sure you're doing your job correctly. When they put a lot more money on the line, um, whereas, like, a show like Midnight Gospel was a lot lower budget, um, if, by you know Netflix standards, it was definitely a lower budget show for them.
Speaker 2:Um, but it uh, it was definitely really tight crew and, um, that one was also the cool thing about Midnight Gospel versus like Vox, machina or the show that I'm working on now, is that was all animated in-house so we did not ship uh the show anywhere um to actually be animated. A lot of shows in the US um like the pre-production and boarding and editing the animatic and all the way up to that phase is done in the US and then it's sent somewhere to another country where it's cheaper to animate Um oftentimes Korea. We have, uh Tim House has another studio in Vancouver which it'll ship kind of to itself um, or even sometimes it'll be shipped within the US, like to New York um every, uh pretty much every other state outside of California has really good tax breaks, so it can often be cheaper to do parts of production in other states or other countries Um Canada also gives really good tax breaks, especially for animation Um.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I feel that that's killed the industry in California in general. Right, I mean not just animation, but I mean look at the number of productions that have moved to Atlanta. I mean Vancouver was always a hotbed of of production, but you know Louisiana has gotten really big recently in New York, I mean they don't. They don't stop building studios in New York and New Jersey too.
Speaker 2:There's a we can never like Canada will give us like half of the money back and like tax breaks if we hire Canadian people, like if we hire Canadian animators and stuff, um, you can make like half of your budget through that. And I think New York, you get like a third back. Um, if you hire New York people, um, and I'm assuming they're similar in other in other places, and then obviously if you go overseas, it's, you know, labor in general is cheaper and that's a whole other fun economic story. Um, so yeah, india is getting actually really popular too as a place to ship for animation, especially 3D.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. That's look. I am over the moon that you came on to do this with me tonight.
Speaker 2:By the way, like of course, I am one of my. You're my favorite. You're like, you're one of my truly favorite people. You are the you are, you are. So when I was a 22 year old, running around with, like chicken, with my head cut off, just not knowing what I was even doing in this industry, you, like, took me under your wing and you were so sweet and kind um to me.
Speaker 1:It's a very stressed job. I don't remember that. I don't think that's true.
Speaker 2:I was. I mean if I felt, if I looked put together or I felt like I was coming off put together. Back then it was just purely because of my own delusion.
Speaker 1:Um which is a good way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like I think I bought a lot of my own bullshit back then, but in a healthy way, like if I had actually known how hard breaking into this industry was going to be, I probably wouldn't have even tried.
Speaker 1:Um, but I don't know what you're talking about. I was really easy for me. I just rode my bike to a studio when I was 14 and asked for a job. That's a true story, by the way.
Speaker 2:I know that you and you and Steven Spielberg, just like, just like, jump jumpies.
Speaker 1:Well, look, I I I appreciate you coming on. You know everybody again. Meredith Kess Kimetti, writer of Vox Machina, um seasons one, two, three coming out at some point soon. Mark Hamill's best friend. We didn't get to that story, but we will in the future. Um, look, we're going to do this every week, guys. Um, I know, next week our guest is uh Stephanie DeVruzzo. She is uh huge. I mean Broadway. You know her. You remember Steph, uh Broadway star she uh.
Speaker 1:Tony nominated for her work in Avenue Q. She's done Sesame Street. She um Pooh Corner is. Is her right? Isn't she Pooh Corner too? I think, look, she's done a lot. Oh, she's. Musical episode of scrubs people. Musical episode of scrubs, episode of scrubs.
Speaker 1:So if you, if you like this podcast, come back next week, I'm going to. I'm going to keep the D 20 thing going. So when we get to questions for her, she's probably not going to get the D 20, but I feel like it's just going to be what sets us apart. So, everybody, meredith, check her out on Instagram. Her Instagram's back up on the screen. It's Meredith stories She'd love to follow. She'd love a follow if you get a chance and uh, look again, I'm. I'm Katie 215, the third, third worst chess player on kick.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much. Is there an ending? I don't have an ending page for this. That's crazy.
Speaker 2:I don't have an ending page.
Speaker 1:I did, and you know it's funny, mano has made me an ending page for all that I can. I think I could put it together really quickly if we just stall for like, no, I bring it back, bring it back, bring it back. I can't. I can't put it up. This is horrible. This is the worst day ever. Um, there was an ending page. I'm going to put up the be right back page for the ending page. That's a post it note. Thank you so much everybody. Thank you so much.