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The PodcastEPISODE #93
A Dog's Purpose, A Couple's Mission: Cathryn Michon & W. Bruce Cameron of Surprise Hit Films, Los Angeles, Part 2 We are back in Los Angeles with the killer couple behind Surprise Hit Films. W. Bruce Cameron and Cathryn Michon are best known as co-screenwriters on the box-office busting movies from the film franchise that began with A Dog’s Purpose. They’ve been involved in studio pictures, independent film, TV, and bestselling novels. In this episode, we hear about how important is knowing who’s the boss—and handling staff complaints about the boss in a way that honors the partnership. This is especially important when the business is clearly not a democracy. There’s also a special warning for a couple considering collaboration—and why you might not want to do it. There’s an very, very VERY important question for any couple in business together: Ever wonder why your favorite scenes from your favorite movies are the scenes they are? (Who saw that coming?) And how Bruce and Cathryn support each other in business is instructive—and speaks to the power of a proper collaborative partnership. Hear some interesting and useful tips about the dynamics of working as a couple with staff—especially when it comes to having a conversation with contentious potential. You’ll hear a few references from Part 1, including “Amber on the slide.” She’s a capable and enthusiastic stunt dog. And there’s a reference to Ruddy McCann, who’s the hero of Bruce’s Repo Madness novels. We get more Hollywood moments from their real life together. They include romantic incredulity and projectile crying. And there’s maybe the best lightning round ever. (Will they win the Ginsu knife?) CLICK HERE FOR A COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF PLACES TO HEAR THIS SHOW FOR ITUNES, CLICK HERE FOR GOOGLE PODCASTS, CLICK HERE DOWNLOAD THE MP3 BY RIGHT-CLICKING HERE AND SELECTING "SAVE AS" |
THE TRANSCRIPT
Interview with Cathryn Michon & W. Bruce Cameron of Surprise Hit Films, Los Angeles, Part 2
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Honey
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Blaine
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highest budget podcasts in creation, I will have you now.
Honey
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we do all of our interviews in person. It's expensive.
Blaine
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Honey
Parker: 00:28 I
bet we make less.
Blaine
Parker: 00:31 Well, I can
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Honey
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Blaine
Parker: 00:36 Welcomed to
CoupleCo, working with your spouse for fun and profit. I'm Blaine Parker.
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Honey
Parker: 02:28 Today we are
bringing you episode 93, where we are back in Los Angeles with the killer
couple behind surprise hit films.
Blaine
Parker: 02:36 Yeah, W. Bruce
Cameron and Cathryn Michon are best known as
co-screenwriters on the box office busting movies from the film franchise that
began with A Dog's Purpose.
Honey
Parker: 02:46 This Hollywood
creative power couple has been involved in studio pictures, independent films,
TV and best-selling novels.
Blaine
Parker: 02:54 Cathryn is an actor
and director known for her independent comedies, Muffin Top and Cook Off!
Honey
Parker: 02:59 Bruce's bestselling
book, Eight Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter became an ABC sitcom.
Blaine
Parker: 03:04 And as this show
goes live, Bruce is touring the nation to promote the third novel in the A
Dog's Purpose series, A Dog's Promise.
Honey
Parker: 03:12 In this episode, we
hear about how important it is knowing who's the boss and handling staff
complaints about the boss in a way that honors the partnership.
Blaine
Parker: 03:20 Staff complaints
about the boss. We've never had those, have we? Who's the boss? Ooh, another
ABC sitcom.
Honey
Parker: 03:29 Try to avoid it,
yes.
Blaine
Parker: 03:30 This is especially
important when a business is clearly not a democracy. There's also a special
warning for a couple considering collaboration and why you might not want to do
it.
Honey
Parker: 03:41 There's an important
question for any couple in business together. Ever wonder why your favorite
scenes from your favorite movies are the scenes they are?
Blaine
Parker: 03:49 Yeah, who saw that
one coming? And how Bruce and Cathryn support each other in business is
instructive and speaks to the power of a proper collaborative relationship.
Honey
Parker: 03:59 Here's some
interesting and useful tips about the dynamics of working as a couple with
staff.
Blaine
Parker: 04:04 Mm-hmm
(affirmative). Especially, when it comes to having a conversation with
contentious, potential. Contentious, but that just sounds dangerous.
Honey
Parker: 04:12 Contentious
potential is that a band?
Blaine
Parker: 04:15 Could be.
Honey
Parker: 04:15 You'll hear a few
references to things that happened in the first episode, including Amber on the
Slide.
Blaine
Parker: 04:21 Yeah, she's a
capable and enthusiastic stunt dog who performed amazingly on a playground
slide. And there's a reference to Ruddy McCann who's the hero of Bruce's Repo
Madness novels.
Honey
Parker: 04:32 We get more
Hollywood moments from their real life together.
Blaine
Parker: 04:36 And they include
romantic incredulously and projectile crying.
Honey
Parker: 04:42 And there's maybe
the best lightning round, ever.
Blaine
Parker: 04:45 Will they win the
Ginsu knife? Big questions there. And here, as with part one, if you hear dogs,
people and small planes, we've recorded this in their home with the sliding
doors open to the beach for authentic So Cal ambience.
Blaine
Parker: 04:59 Here now, part two
of Cathryn Michon and W. Bruce Cameron of Surprise
Hit Films, recorded in Marina Del Rey, California.
Blaine
Parker: 05:08 As a couple working together,
in this crazy town, would you have it any other way?
Cathryn
Michon: 05:14 Oh, no. I mean, I
don't know. Like, we're not going to break up the band. But, I mean-
W
Bruce Cameron: 05:19 I
mean, I guess the answer is... Right, I'm trying to even like grapple with the
question. I would find it very difficult to write something and not turn and
hand it to Cathryn. Like, if we said, "As an experiment, you're going to
take a book all the way from idea to publication without Cathryn reading it."
That would trouble me. I would feel like I was really missing out on her fine
eye.
W
Bruce Cameron: 05:46 And I've come... We
know each other's strengths and weaknesses so well as creative artists that I
know that I leave some things in my manuscripts and in my screenplays that are
kind of unaddressed, because I know that she will make recommendations that
would be better than what I could come up with.
Cathryn
Michon: 06:02 And to be fair, we
are a couple of working, but we work in an incredibly, collaborative business.
We have had the same amazing producer on all our studio films. Gavin Polone. We have an amazing manager, Sherri Rosenberg
Kelton. We have a fantastic lawyer. Like, I mean we... There are people that
are our nearest and dearest creatively that are part of our team that-
W
Bruce Cameron: 06:23 And it's so
important, too. Especially, here.
Cathryn
Michon: 06:25 Yeah. So, you know,
we are really lucky with that. And we've had two studios that have been very
supportive of us and support the books, as well as the movies. I mean, like, it
isn't just us, you know?
W
Bruce Cameron: 06:39 No.
Honey
Parker: 06:39 No.
Blaine
Parker: 06:39 Well, and
congratulations on that because finding those people can be such a challenge,
not just in this town. I mean, it's hard in Hollywood. But, it's hard anywhere.
Cathryn
Michon: 06:48 It's hard anywhere
and you know, my goal as a filmmaker was always to be like the Coen brothers
who, you know, if you ever watch a Coen brothers movie or West Anderson's same
thing. It's like you're going to, they have a cast of players, they're the
people that they love, they get cast over and over. They have the same... Well,
the Coen brothers are their own editors, but you know, they have the same
composers, same, same, same, same.
Cathryn
Michon: 07:09 And you know, we are
starting to build those kinds of relationships and that would be my goal
because, it's like, I come from theater. I grew up doing, Summer Stock and Rep
and like that kind of stuff. And it's like, if you can get a core group that's-
W
Bruce Cameron: 07:27 Yeah.
Cathryn
Michon: 07:27 Or, you know, like I
worked in television with James Burrows. He's the same. James has the same DP
and the same line producer and you know, like he's got his team. And that's, I
think in our business, a great way to work.
W
Bruce Cameron: 07:42 Finding a good team
is such a bonus and almost, I hate to call it a luxury. But again, it's hard to
do.
Cathryn
Michon: 07:50 Yeah.
W
Bruce Cameron: 07:50 And you know what? I
knew people who would work on Jonathan Demme movies
so you'd be so excited when the next Jonathan Demme
movie was coming around because he had kind of a repertory company.
Cathryn
Michon: 07:59 Yeah.
W
Bruce Cameron: 08:00 We made a change in
our business years ago. We were having challenges with some of our early
clients and we decided we were not going to work with anyone unless we would
look forward to having dinner with them. And it changed our business
completely.
Cathryn
Michon: 08:12 It did change
everything. Yeah.
Blaine
Parker: 08:13 But, it's a small
business and you know, it doesn't have the same stakes that, well, okay Honey,
I'm sorry, I said it was a small business.
Honey
Parker: 08:19 You can say whatever
you want.
Blaine
Parker: 08:22 Good on you for
getting that.
Cathryn
Michon: 08:24 Yeah, I mean we're
not there yet. I mean, we hope to have a long career as filmmakers and content
creators
Blaine
Parker: 08:30 Oh, I just figure
your... That it's a given this is going to continue to evolve into some... an
empire.
Cathryn
Michon: 08:36 That's well, the
Bruce-iverse.
Honey
Parker: 08:39 Bruce-iverse.
W
Bruce Cameron: 08:39 Bruce-iverse.
Cathryn
Michon: 08:39 I
was like-
Honey
Parker: 08:39 I
like that he gets to, he gets the... The world is named for him.
Cathryn
Michon: 08:45 Well, because of you
know, our studio business is a Bruce-iverse. And I
think our indie business is more of a Bruce and Cathryn-iverse.
I don't know. That's [crosstalk 00:08:57].
W
Bruce Cameron: 08:54 I'll just say, you
go for it, I can't.
Cathryn
Michon: 08:58 Catchy.
Blaine
Parker: 08:58 Cath-iverse.
Cathryn
Michon: 09:00 Yeah. Bruce left the
room.
Blaine
Parker: 09:02 Okay, for a couple
working together in business, what would be a pitfall to avoid? Have you got
any advice for people, I mean, you're in a creative business, which is
especially difficult for two people.
Cathryn
Michon: 09:14 I
think you have to be and we've negotiated this out. And I'm usually the one
that trips up up. I think there are some
conversations that you have to have that you're like, "You know, let's
take a 10 and go somewhere else and have this conversation." Because, it
can make people very uncomfortable if it's a contentious conversation and it's
a couple having it, you know? And like, we might be fine with it, but other
people are like, "Oh, my God, they're fighting now what? Mom and Dad are
fighting." Like, so...
Blaine
Parker: 09:43 Yeah, we know
nothing about that.
Cathryn
Michon: 09:44 Yeah, so I think that's
a really good tip is when it feels like it's going to be a contentious,
potentially conversation, don't make other people have to decide whether or not
you guys are okay. You know?
Blaine
Parker: 09:59 That's really
interesting [crosstalk 00:10:00].
Cathryn
Michon: 09:59 Which is different
than other co-workers. I think other co-workers can sit there and scream at
each other and people are like, "Oh, Joe and Jim are fighting again,
whatever," you know, like I think we all, and this would be true
regardless of the gender orientation of anybody. If you're a couple, if you are
in coupled and in business, people will regard you as Mom and Dad or Dad and
Dad or whatever you are and they will worry the way kids worry when the parents
fight... or seem to be fighting.
W
Bruce Cameron: 10:29 I
think that's excellent. If I had anything to add, it would be a pitfall is
allowing, this is whenever you're, whenever you have staff or whenever you have
a production team or a crew, don't let them figure out a way to triangulate.
Don't let them isolate you from your partner by sneaking around her back and
saying, "Well, this is what she's doing."
W
Bruce Cameron: 10:57 Because as,
especially in the role I've been playing on the films, which is his producer,
being a producer on a independent movie is, you spend
a lot of time talking people out of quittin. Because
they're... I mean, they're working really hard and they're not getting paid
very much money and they get frazzled a lot and they get very sensitive and
sometimes it has happened to me and I have to confess I didn't do it, I didn't
handle it well because I was trying to be a good manager where I was trying to
placate people and forgetting that Cathryn is my partner and if somebody comes
to me and complains about Cathryn, I can't take that at face value.
W
Bruce Cameron: 11:34 I
have to recognize that my loyalty is to Cathryn and kind of no matter what she
has done, it's we who did it because we're a partnership.
Cathryn
Michon: 11:43 Well also, it's
inherent in the job of directing that you have to, sometimes you have to be bad
guys. You have to say, "No." You have to say, "We're not doing
it that way. We're doing it my way. Go back and fix it." Blah, blah, blah.
W
Bruce Cameron: 11:54 It's so not a
democracy.
Cathryn
Michon: 11:56 It is so not a
democracy. And so, any director is going to have people complain to the
producer about them and so that's something that is a tricky situation for you,
but you have to just deal with it.
W
Bruce Cameron: 12:09 Yeah. It's a
totalitarian collaboration.
Cathryn
Michon: 12:12 Yeah.
W
Bruce Cameron: 12:13 If that makes sense.
I have no idea.
Blaine
Parker: 12:15 What would you say
to someone who thinks they want to work with a spouse, especially in a creative
capacity?
W
Bruce Cameron: 12:20 Well, I'd say if
you're at the point where you're just thinking you might want to work with a
spouse, you probably shouldn't do it.
Cathryn
Michon: 12:25 Right, right.
W
Bruce Cameron: 12:27 Yeah, yeah. Don't
talk yourself into it. If it feels like it's organic and it's got to happen and
it's happening. I mean, what would happen for Cathryn and me was that it was
just organic to just being near each other. We found, we would go out to
breakfast and we would have a conversation and we'd be making notes and we'd
come up with all these ideas for pitches and all that sort of thing without
ever stopping and saying, "Hey, let's formally form a partnership and work
together."
W
Bruce Cameron: 12:55 It just sort of
happened. We couldn't stop it. We have the same interests. We're very creative.
And when it comes to, I like to make up stories and Cathryn can very often say,
"That's a terrible idea." And then, she's right, but her fixation on
some stuff that I've considered to be completely unimportant, like how people
are dressed in a movie, I don't care about that. But, she is very particular
media.
Cathryn
Michon: 13:24 Well, it's a visual
medium.
W
Bruce Cameron: 13:24 Yes. But, what is-
Cathryn
Michon: 13:24 You do get a Oscar's
for.
W
Bruce Cameron: 13:24 Yes. But, what it
says about the character to me is just not that big of a deal, for me. There's
just one example of where we compliment each other
with our skills, but it all happened not on purpose.
Cathryn
Michon: 13:35 Yeah.
W
Bruce Cameron: 13:36 It happened because
we couldn't prevent it from happening.
Cathryn
Michon: 13:38 I
think that's the best advice. Don't, don't do it unless it's already
organically happening.
Blaine
Parker: 13:43 All right. Bruce-
W
Bruce Cameron: 13:45 What?
Blaine
Parker: 13:45 How does Cathryn
make you better?
W
Bruce Cameron: 13:48 How does she make me
better? Well, I'm going to start with the professional side because Cathryn Michon was the one, when she taught me how to write
screenplays, I realized I had been writing novels incorrectly. I was just so
eager. I was like, Amber going up over the slide. I was so eager to get going
that I would just, I would just have an idea and a world and some characters
and boom! I'd start writing.
W
Bruce Cameron: 14:16 Sometimes, I didn't
even know how the book was going to end. I just wanted to get into it. You
know? And what Cathryn taught me was, you have to sit... You've got a budget of
120 pages. You have to have a first, a second, a third act. Story needs to be
structured. The characters need to be clear. All these things that I wasn't
really paying attention to as a craftsmen. I was just bleh, just throwing stuff
out there. And so, from that point on when I, now, when I write a story, I
outline it three times. I have such an extensive blueprint to follow before I
write the first word.
W
Bruce Cameron: 14:52 I
very often know what the last sentence of the book is going to be when I start
writing the first sentence. And she taught me all of that. From a professional
standpoint, I wouldn't, I wouldn't be a number one New York Times bestselling
author if it weren't for Cathryn.
Blaine
Parker: 15:07 It's interesting,
you know, you say you were writing novels the wrong way. You're writing, were
writing novels exactly the way Stephen King says to write them in On Writing.
W
Bruce Cameron: 15:16 Yeah.
Cathryn
Michon: 15:16 Right, right. It
works for him.
Blaine
Parker: 15:18 Yup.
W
Bruce Cameron: 15:19 You know, it also
took him a long time.
Cathryn
Michon: 15:21 Also, I mean I have
a theory that I think we stick to both in screenplays and that you stick to in
books, which is, I had read a poll that was done. People say their favorite
movie, what's your favorite movie? And then, someone says, you know, An
Unmarried Woman. Okay. What's your favorite part of?
W
Bruce Cameron: 15:40 Unmarried Woman?
Cathryn
Michon: 15:40 Well, I just, that
was-
W
Bruce Cameron: 15:43 Oh, no, I just love
that you just pulled that out of nowhere.
Cathryn
Michon: 15:43 Random access, but I
could, the reason why I pulled it out will be clear. And then, someone says,
"Why is that your, what's your favorite scene in that movie?" And
it's like, "When she's walking down that street with that painting and
she's like heading off and doing her life." And it's like, they will
inevitably choose-
W
Bruce Cameron: 15:58 It's a great scene.
Cathryn
Michon: 15:59 It is a great scene.
But, they will inevitably choose a scene from the movie that is in the last
five minutes of the movie. Every single time.
Cathryn
Michon: 16:07 If you ask someone
their favorite movie and then what's their favorite scene? It will be something
from the last five minutes of the movies. Because, that's what your takeaway
is. That's what... You loved the whole thing. But generally, when you're
calling up why it's your favorite movie, it's because it's a movie that
succeeded in delivering you the last five minutes that really stuck with you
and that's why it's one of his favorite movies.
Cathryn
Michon: 16:31 And you know, like
The Apartment is one of my favorite movies. "Shut up and deal," is
the last line of dialogue in the movie. Like I, because I love that whole movie
and I can recall every scene, but that last scene is so important. And so, both
in books and movies, we really focus on the last five minutes of the movie.
W
Bruce Cameron: 16:50 Well, it, that plays
right into my belief that the reason Casablanca, I don't know if it still is,
but used to be the most rented movie of all time because everybody keeps
watching it, hoping he's going to get on that plane with her.
Cathryn
Michon: 17:02 Yes, that scene at
the plane! It's the scene at the plane.
W
Bruce Cameron: 17:02 But, he can't.
Cathryn
Michon: 17:06 Right. But, try to
even think of other scenes in that movie. You only think of that scene. The
thing that you cling to, the thing that is why you have such an affectionate
feeling for Casablanca is that scene in front of the plane.
W
Bruce Cameron: 17:17 And it's so much
bigger than them. Ultimately, yah, for that.
Cathryn
Michon: 17:20 Yeah.
Blaine
Parker: 17:20 It's your turn.
Honey
Parker: 17:21 All right. I'm going
to Cathryn, ask you, how does Bruce make you better?
Cathryn
Michon: 17:26 Oh, he cooks.
Honey
Parker: 17:29 Smelled really good
when we came in here, by the way.
Cathryn
Michon: 17:31 I
was so hungry before I met Bruce. No, I mean, that's the joke answer. Bruce
makes me better because he challenges me not to step away. I wouldn't be a
director if it weren't for Bruce and nobody wants any girls to be a director,
anyway. Like, it's not like the world was saying that to me and you know, the reason
I wrote the book, The Grrl Genius Guide to Life is
all about trying to build up my confidence and you know, say, "Yes I can
do that." And I was certainly doing that for myself.
Cathryn
Michon: 18:13 But, when Bruce came
into my life and encouraged me to do things like take the risk to direct a
movie or many, many things that he... I mean, I did a one woman show, like
there were just things that are like "No one wants someone to do one woman
show, please don't do that. Don't... Get more women and then do a show."
Cathryn
Michon: 18:33 But, Bruce would
always say, "You would be great at that. You should do it." And I
think as much as I've always tried to be that person for myself, he has helped
me to take the step of whatever the new thing is that's really, really hard for
me to do.
Honey
Parker: 18:49 Yeah-
W
Bruce Cameron: 18:50 Right-oh.
Honey
Parker: 18:50 That's great.
Cathryn
Michon: 18:51 And he cooks.
Blaine
Parker: 18:52 You know what that
means?
Honey
Parker: 18:54 It's time.
Blaine
Parker: 18:55 It's time for the
lightning round. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. All right. This is the only
reason anybody sits through this show is to get to this segment right here.
This is the fearsome five.
Cathryn
Michon: 19:07 All right.
Blaine
Parker: 19:07 This is where you
are going to win all the prizes, everything you [crosstalk 00:19:10] so far.
Cathryn
Michon: 19:09 Oh, yes, I will, I'm
very competitive. Make no mistake.
Blaine
Parker: 19:11 And if you get
through these five questions, you get them all right, you do get the Ginsu
knife.
Cathryn
Michon: 19:16 Nice.
Honey
Parker: 19:17 Come on. You've got
to work at this.
W
Bruce Cameron: 19:19 I
hate stuff like this. I'm already, I'm already sweating and shaking. [crosstalk
00:00:19:24].
Blaine
Parker: 19:24 I
have faith in you, Bruce. I think your Midwestern fortitude is going to break
through and-
Cathryn
Michon: 19:30 Suck it up,
buttercup. Let's go.
W
Bruce Cameron: 19:30 All right.
Honey
Parker: 19:32 I'm going to ask
Cathryn first. So Bruce, you get a little time to think about this, since
you're concerned-
Blaine
Parker: 19:40 Your like your cheat
sheet.
W
Bruce Cameron: 19:40 I
have no idea what we're doing.
Honey
Parker: 19:40 Cathryn-
Cathryn
Michon: 19:40 Yes.
Honey
Parker: 19:40 What is Bruce's
biggest pet peeve about you?
Cathryn
Michon: 19:43 I
don't save receipts.
W
Bruce Cameron: 19:45 Wow.
Cathryn
Michon: 19:46 Am I wrong?
Honey
Parker: 19:47 Super simple.
Blaine
Parker: 19:48 All right.
W
Bruce Cameron: 19:49 We could, I would
say there's a list of things.
Cathryn
Michon: 19:52 [crosstalk 00:19:52]
but that would be number one on the list. You hate that.
Blaine
Parker: 19:55 Okay, Bruce. What is
Cathryn's biggest pet peeve about you?
W
Bruce Cameron: 19:59 This is a little difficult,
but I think we're going to, we're going to have to go with, apparently in some
households, men put their dirty clothes in the hamper instead of near the
hamper or near them, or [crosstalk 00:20:16].
Honey
Parker: 20:17 Hamper adjacent.
[crosstalk 00:20:17].
W
Bruce Cameron: 20:17 Wherever the socks
come off. That's-
Honey
Parker: 20:19 Yeah.
W
Bruce Cameron: 20:20 And so, I think
that's her biggest pet peeve.
Blaine
Parker: 20:21 It's mythological.
Cathryn
Michon: 20:23 Mm-hmm
(affirmative), that's fair. [crosstalk 00:20:23].
Blaine
Parker: 20:24 Bruce.
W
Bruce Cameron: 20:24 Yeah.
Blaine
Parker: 20:25 What single person
living, dead or fictional would you hire to work at Surprise Hit Films if you
could.
W
Bruce Cameron: 20:31 Hire to do what now?
Blaine
Parker: 20:32 Work at Surprise Hit
Films.
W
Bruce Cameron: 20:34 What person living
or dead?
Blaine
Parker: 20:36 Or fictional.
W
Bruce Cameron: 20:37 Or fictional, would
a hire to work at Surprise Hit Films?
Blaine
Parker: 20:40 Yes.
W
Bruce Cameron: 20:42 I'm going to have to
go with Ruddy McCann, the repo man.
Blaine
Parker: 20:45 Ooh, good one. I'd
hire Ruddy in a heartbeat.
W
Bruce Cameron: 20:48 He's smart, he's
funny, he's big. He can do a lot of things, physical things. And I really want to
meet his dog, Jake.
Blaine
Parker: 20:58 Yeah, I don't blame
you. All right, good one.
Honey
Parker: 21:00 All right, Cathryn,
what single person living, dead or fictional would you hire to work with you if
you could?
Blaine
Parker: 21:05 Knowing Ruddy McCann
has been taken.
Honey
Parker: 21:09 Your hubby, you have
him.
Cathryn
Michon: 21:10 You know, I would
hire all my Hitchcock, the editor-
Blaine
Parker: 21:14 Ooh.
Cathryn
Michon: 21:14 Of all of Alfred
Hitchcock's films and probably the reason why you love Alfred Hitchcock's
films, but she never really gets the credit and you probably don't even know
her name. And that's just me off the top of my head. Picking one of many, many
unsung women in the film business.
Blaine
Parker: 21:34 So the editors ever
get any credit?
Cathryn
Michon: 21:36 No, they do. I mean,
you know, and like it was just really interesting because they were a very
collaborative filmmaking partnership, but everyone's like, it's Hitchcockian,
it's the Hitchcock film... And no one ever talks about her.
Blaine
Parker: 21:50 You know, without
the editing on that shower scene who'd be talking about it?
Cathryn
Michon: 21:52 That's right.
Honey
Parker: 21:53 All right, Cathryn,
what is a time when Bruce really surprised you?
Cathryn
Michon: 22:00 When he proposed,
actually. Yes. We decided to take a little getaway to Catalina. You know, I had
said, we were both been divorced. I wasn't sure he would ever really want to be
married. We were going to be together. I knew that, I was comfortable in that,
but I didn't know if it would be like all wedding-y or whatever.
Cathryn
Michon: 22:20 And we went to
Catalina and he said, "Oh, let's go for a hike before sunset. It'd be
beautiful. Let's go up to that bell tower, that's so pretty." I'm like,
"That sounds great. Let's go." And we're hiking. And it turned out
there was like a lot of windy roads and you couldn't really get to the
bell" tower. I'm like, Oh, you know, it doesn't matter. It's still a nice
hike." He's like, "No, we have to get to the bell tower!" I'm
like, "Okay, but I don't even know why it's important."
Cathryn
Michon: 22:42 And then, the bell
tower, it had like a bunch of fencing around it and he's like, "Oh,
well." I said, "Well, we can't actually go in there." And he's
like, "No! There's a hole in the fence." And we like crawled in the
fence.
Blaine
Parker: 22:50 A hole in the fence?
Cathryn
Michon: 22:52 Yeah. And then, we
got to the bell tower and I'm like, "Okay, are you happy? We made it to
the bell tower." And he said, "I have a question for you. And if you
give a good answer you will get a prize." I'm like, "Excellent. I'm
in." And just like I am right now.
Blaine
Parker: 23:08 Did you play field
hockey as a kid?
Cathryn
Michon: 23:10 No, but I'm very
competitive.
Blaine
Parker: 23:11 All right.
Cathryn
Michon: 23:11 And he...
W
Bruce Cameron: 23:16 Well, you know, I
needed to interrupt. I'll note that before I even asked the question, you said,
"Yes, I'll start saving my receipts."
Cathryn
Michon: 23:23 That's right. I did
say that. And I said, "Yeah, I'll save my receipts, I'll do that."
And like, "Give me the prize." And he's like, "That's not the
question." And then, and then he, you know, dropped to one knee and
produced a ring box and said, "Will you marry me?" And then, I said
something so not how I would write the scene. I'm like, "Are you
kidding?"
W
Bruce Cameron: 23:41 This is such a
Hollywood moment.
Cathryn
Michon: 23:46 And then, I started
projectile crying like a cartoon character.
Blaine
Parker: 23:49 Projectile crying.
Cathryn
Michon: 23:51 [crosstalk 00:23:51]
my eyes and I said, "Yes, yes. I would love to marry you."
W
Bruce Cameron: 23:54 How do they rig
that, anyway?
Cathryn
Michon: 23:55 I
know, I'm so glad nobody, the people that film those things, I'm like uh, I
would not want that on camera.
Blaine
Parker: 24:00 Okay, Bruce.
Cathryn
Michon: 24:01 Okay, so-
Blaine
Parker: 24:01 What's the time
that-
W
Bruce Cameron: 24:01 Okay, so I know
exactly when this moment was because we wanted to get a dog, but we were living
in a high rise apartment and I wanted to get a puppy, but it didn't want to
have a puppy in a high rise. We were really sort of casting around for the
right equation. And then, my daughter who runs an animal rescue in Denver,
calls me and says, :I've got the perfect dog for you." And I said,
"You know, Cathryn and I were just talking about this. We're not quite
ready.
W
Bruce Cameron: 24:24 And my daughter
says, "I'll be there Wednesday." And so, we're driving to the airport
and Cathryn is, you know, she practically has her talons out and she says,
"Look, I don't like this whole idea that your daughter's just thrusting a
dog on us. She's just making us take this."
Cathryn
Michon: 24:38 Well, I love Georgia
Lee. She's bossy and I don't consider that to be a negative thing. I think it's
good to be bossy. And by the way, she's a Denver cop and that's how cops should
be.
Blaine
Parker: 24:46 She's a cop, too?
Cathryn
Michon: 24:47 She's also a cop,
yeah.
Blaine
Parker: 24:48 Wow. Yeah, I knew
she ran the animal rescue.
W
Bruce Cameron: 24:50 Yes.
Cathryn
Michon: 24:51 She's a-
W
Bruce Cameron: 24:52 She's a police
officer and so, when she says, "Step out of the car, sir," you do,
even know though I'm her father, I'll get out of the [crosstalk 00:24:58].
Blaine
Parker: 24:57 Someone with a night
stick and a Glock, so yeah.
W
Bruce Cameron: 25:01 Cathryn says,
"All right, look, she's here for the weekend, but she's going back and
she's going to take this dog back with her, and I'm doing this as a favor, but
we said we were not ready for a dog." And so, we get there and my daughter
is standing there holding Tucker, this little, tiny puppy in her arms and
Cathryn gets out of the car to give Georgia a hug and Georgia hands Tucker to
Cathryn and Cathryn accepted Tucker, turned to me and said, "This is my
dog."
Cathryn
Michon: 25:27 The baby.
Blaine
Parker: 25:31 Oh, wow, you guys
are aceing this round. This is terrific. Okay, this
one, next one, you can answer it together or separately. Since working
together, what has been your best date night?
W
Bruce Cameron: 25:41 Oh, God. I got to
say it was when we were, we were working so hard on a whatever project it was.
And this is very early in our relationship-
Blaine
Parker: 25:51 Oh, I know what
you're going to-
W
Bruce Cameron: 25:53 And we said, and it
was, we do this a lot. We'll say, "I didn't thaw anything. There's, I've
got no food. We, let's just go out to eat."
Cathryn
Michon: 26:00 Or we'll be sitting
there like we're both working our laptops and we haven't even gotten up to turn
on the lights. And now, the whole place is dark and our little glowing screens
and I'm like, "I'm hungry!"
W
Bruce Cameron: 26:11 Yeah, so we walked
to a restaurant in the neighborhood where we were living at the time, and it's
like we pass a restaurant because there's people lined up and we pass another
restaurant. It's so crowded. And we finally managed to get into a restaurant
and after a long wait we're sitting at the table and Cathryn's looking around
and she says, it's just like, I don't-
Cathryn
Michon: 26:29 What's going on?
W
Bruce Cameron: 26:30 What's going on?
Cathryn
Michon: 26:30 Why is everybody so
[crosstalk 00:26:31]?
W
Bruce Cameron: 26:32 And then, the server
came over and said, "Happy Valentine's Day." We didn't even know it
was Valentine's Day.
Blaine
Parker: 26:40 That is way too far
down the bottle of work, but hey, you know, it does tell you that work actually
is a little better than it could be.
Honey
Parker: 26:47 Yeah. Yeah.
Blaine
Parker: 26:48 If you can spend
Valentine's Day, doing that.
Cathryn
Michon: 26:50 Yeah, we just didn't
even know.
Blaine
Parker: 26:51 All right, here's
the final of the lightning round. Bruce, describe Cathryn in one word.
W
Bruce Cameron: 27:00 So... I have to
decide, do I want to be accurate? Or do I want to sleep on the couch? Perfect.
Cathryn
Michon: 27:12 That's pretty good.
Honey
Parker: 27:14 All right.
Blaine
Parker: 27:14 [crosstalk
00:27:17].
W
Bruce Cameron: 27:17 I'm off the couch.
Honey
Parker: 27:20 Cathryn? Describe
Bruce in one word.
Cathryn
Michon: 27:22 Kind.
W
Bruce Cameron: 27:27 Oh, that's a good
one too.
Cathryn
Michon: 27:27 It actually is a
good one and it-
W
Bruce Cameron: 27:27 That might be
perfect.
Cathryn
Michon: 27:29 And it's like, at
the end of the day, you're going to disappoint each other and you're going to
not be perfect, as it turns out. And someone who is just inherently in their
soul, I mean the reason why The Dog's Purpose books are what they are is
because it comes from someone who has a very kind soul and can relate to the
kind soul of a dog. And so, I think it isn't a flashy quality and that isn't
the thing that, you know, people tend to build a statue out of it. You know?
How many statues of kind people are there? There should be.
Blaine
Parker: 28:06 I
can't think of a one.
Cathryn
Michon: 28:07 You know, Jesus,
maybe, but-
Blaine
Parker: 28:08 Oh, okay, yeah, all
right, there's that.
Honey
Parker: 28:11 There's lots of
those.
W
Bruce Cameron: 28:11 The whole job of
being a writer is to string together words and not just come up with a word.
And so, when I said perfect in my mind I was saying, Perfect for me."
Because, that's what I meant.
Blaine
Parker: 28:24 I
assumed that was what you meant.
Honey
Parker: 28:26 I
did, too.
Blaine
Parker: 28:27 But, if you felt a need
to clarify, we will leave it in.
Honey
Parker: 28:31 Mr. Parker, do you
believe that they won?
Blaine
Parker: 28:33 I
think they won.
Honey
Parker: 28:34 All right.
Blaine
Parker: 28:34 All right. Here you
go.
Cathryn
Michon: 28:35 Do we really get a
prize?
Blaine
Parker: 28:36 You're getting the
Ginsu knife.
Honey
Parker: 28:36 You get the Ginsu
knife.
Cathryn
Michon: 28:38 Oh, my God.
Honey
Parker: 28:38 We don't lie.
Cathryn
Michon: 28:39 I
love a prize.
Honey
Parker: 28:40 Yeah.
Cathryn
Michon: 28:41 I'm so excited.
W
Bruce Cameron: 28:41 It's an actual Ginsu
knife, wow.
Cathryn
Michon: 28:42 That is amazing!
Blaine
Parker: 28:44 We thought so.
Cathryn
Michon: 28:44 I
love a prize.
Blaine
Parker: 28:45 It's like,
"Hey, can we start giving out Ginsu knives? Yes, we can."
W
Bruce Cameron: 28:48 I
want to like, be in a Jackie Chan movie now.
Honey
Parker: 28:52 Do you remember,
there's the commercial like, "There is, this is is
one way to cut a tomato, but it's no-"
W
Bruce Cameron: 28:58 And he'd karate shop
the tomato, was it?
Honey
Parker: 28:58 Yeah.
Blaine
Parker: 29:01 Anyway, Cathryn Michon-
W
Bruce Cameron: 29:03 Thank you.
Blaine
Parker: 29:03 W. Bruce Cameron of
Surprise Hit Films, the creators of The Dog's Purpose film franchise-
Honey
Parker: 29:09 And so many-
Blaine
Parker: 29:10 And so much else. I
mean-
Honey
Parker: 29:11 Other.
Blaine
Parker: 29:11 I
want to run down the list. I can't even do it. You know what? I'll do it.
Cathryn
Michon: 29:15 You know what? It is
too much time.
Blaine
Parker: 29:16 It is too much time.
Oh, you know here's the beauty of being a podcast is we can do whatever the
hell we want, but I will do this in an organized fashion when I intro and outro
you. Is there a website you would like people to go to after hearing this?
Cathryn
Michon: 29:28 I
think, well we, I mean, I have CathrynMichon.com, you have WBruceCameron.com
but then there's also ADogsPurpose.com, which is our probably our live list
website.
W
Bruce Cameron: 29:37 Yeah, I'd go to
adogspurpose.com ,where you can get gifts and you can answer questions and
feedback to us and [crosstalk 00:29:46].
Cathryn
Michon: 29:46 And we do something
on A Dog's Purpose.com that I don't think any other author in America,
certainly not any other number one New York Times bestselling author does,
which is that if you buy W. Bruce Cameron book and you think, "Oh, I wish
I had gotten it signed to my mother, "Dear Nancy, the best dog mom
ever." But, you didn't happen to go to an event or have that happen and
you think, "Oh, well I can't do that." But, for free, we will send
you a signed W. Bruce Cameron book plate that if you write in the comments
section, "I want it to say to Nancy, the best dog mom ever. W. Bruce
Cameron." He will do that and we will mail it to you for free.
Blaine
Parker: 30:25 That's fantastic.
How did I miss that?
Honey
Parker: 30:27 And it is so
bizarre, because Blaine's mother's name is Nancy.
Cathryn
Michon: 30:30 Well, there you go.
Honey
Parker: 30:31 And she is-
Cathryn
Michon: 30:32 If you don't get a
book plate for her, she's going to be mad now. She is the best dog mom ever.
Blaine
Parker: 30:34 She might be better
with Puppy Tales, though. Which, is the entire series of books for kids, so you
don't have to worry about the teary stuff.
Cathryn
Michon: 30:41 But, we just decided
that we think books are so special and we love that the way Bruce's brand has
evolved, that people really, you know, not surprisingly A Dog's Purpose was
written to help someone with their grief at the loss of a dog and it helped me.
It's truly did.
Cathryn
Michon: 30:58 And so, people often
give one of those books to someone who's lost a dog and we thought that's
pretty important, so we want to always be able to have it be that it can be
signed and inscribed to the person that's getting it.
Honey
Parker: 31:11 That's lovely.
Blaine
Parker: 31:11 You two are dynamic
and sweet. All right, Bruce, Cathryn, thank you very much. Really appreciate
this. Thank you for letting us into your home and-
Cathryn
Michon: 31:19 Thank you, it was
fun.
Blaine
Parker: 31:20 We'll get ready to
get kicked out.
W
Bruce Cameron: 31:21 Yeah, all right,
thanks.
Honey
Parker: 31:23 Thank you.
Cathryn
Michon: 31:23 Thanks.
Blaine
Parker: 31:26 This has been part
two of Cathryn Michon and W. Bruce Cameron of
Surprise Hit Films recorded in Marina Del Rey, California. If you want to know
more about Bruce and his current tour supporting the new book, A Dog's Promise,
visit ADogsPurpose.com.
Honey
Parker: 31:38 And join us next
time as we go a mile high.
Blaine
Parker: 31:41 A mile high. We
venture to the Denver area to meet a retail couple who are competing profitably
with Amazon, Back Country and REI.
Honey
Parker: 31:49 And they are
crushing it. Not bad for a business started by an ex-cop in his mom's basement.
Blaine
Parker: 31:55 Not bad for people
who had zero experience in online retail and who have grown from internet only
to having a local retail operation.
Honey
Parker: 32:03 These two are
amazing.
Blaine
Parker: 32:04 Pretty much. Join us
as we talk with Amy Danwolf and Jordan Jones of
Powder7 in Golden, Colorado. Next time, here on CoupleCo. Working with your
spouse for fun and profit.
Honey
Parker: 32:14 Copyright, 2019. All
rights reserved.
Blaine
Parker: 32:16 Love you, baby.
Honey
Parker: 32:17 Love you, too.
Blaine
Parker: 32:17 CoupleCo out.
