It's a gorgeous morning here in
San Francisco, California.
What? How would you know if it's
a nice morning in San Francisco?
I mean, that's obviously where
we are.
I mean, no. And it would only
be 7 a.m. in San Francisco.
Yeah, that's still morning.
Anyway, it's a lovely morning
in southern New England.
The bugs are bugging. The sun
is sunning. The breeze is breezing.
What more could you ask for?
Cheese quesadilla.
Of course. Of course. This, you
know, it's going to get said at
least once per show, I'm pretty
sure, until he gets sick of it.
Maybe.
When are you going to get sick
of cheese quesadillas?
Who knows?
Yeah, well, you know, the good
thing is, if that museum idea
works out, we'll have plenty of
hands that we can use to eat
the cheese quesadillas.
Yeah.
So what's going on?
In terms of what?
I don't know. We're walking.
Start talking.
About what?
What do you mean, about what?
About what?
I don't know. You said you were
doing something the other day.
Well, what were you doing the
other day, first of all? So you.
So. What has been exciting for
you lately?
I have been. I terminated some
plants on Thursday. Oh, that's
why there were those green.
Yeah. Spikeys. Yeah. Up in the
in the brush pile. Yeah. Did
you enjoy cleaning? Cutting the
green spikeys? They attacked me.
They attacked you? Yeah. Well,
you got to keep in mind they
attacked me too. I mean, really,
they had it coming.
But yeah, Kit does do some
assistance with the yard when
required to. I won't say when
volunteering because he doesn't
volunteer anything. Anyway.
So, so the weeds. What about
the weeds?
So, I found out that they, they,
they don't just come out of the
ground. They also go back into
it. Yeah. Yeah.
So, like, especially, like, not
so much just rose bushes, but,
like, uh, pricker type weeds.
It's really interesting. So
they'll grow. And they'll get
so big that the other side of
it will, like, penetrate into
the ground.
And then that will start
becoming roots. So then you get,
like, a double-sided vine,
which is really weird. It's all
one big root system. Yeah. And
this gets to my idea. Well,
hang on. Let me finish. So the
problem with weeds, really, is
that if you don't kill the
roots, they will keep coming
back over and over again. Yeah.
Which is why there's specific,
like, plant killers that you
have to use. So that the... Or
you can just dig a bunch. It'll
ingest the poison down all the
way into the roots. Like, even
sucking it down through the
stem and whatnot. That's... You
know, we killed a bunch of
poison ivy last year.
And that stuff... Supposedly.
That stuff will come back rigorously.
It... It... It wants to live.
It wants to live. And it will
fight hard. Yeah. It'll fight
hard to live. Yeah.
Anyway, so... Weeds that...
That grow vines that then
become roots on the other side
of the vines or plant. What...
What did this bring up for you?
What... What is your idea? So...
Imagine there's this movie...
Okay. About... A... A plant parlor.
A plant parlor? Yeah. What's a
plant parlor? I don't know,
like a flower shop or something.
Like... Like... Like... Little
Shop of Horrors?
uh not exactly but they
probably sells plants and stuff
so okay so it's a they they
have the
the the pretty flowers growing
outside on vines okay uh and
then the the the they go making
to
grandma here's the thing those
flowers aren't the actual plant
flower uh you you see all of
those
all those the all the vines
with the flowers are really
just the roots and the real
plant is
underneath the building okay
yeah that's interesting so so
what's the plot though
uh like what why why well well
obviously uh it's one hive mind
plant okay it's a hive mind
plant but
like what what gets okay so let's
set the scene here you have
some kind of arboretum
or uh or florist we don't know
which yet but like it's
someplace where you can go to
look at plants
and purchase plants yeah okay
so far we're on the same page
yeah outside of this place
now does it start off like it
does does the movie start off
with this place
already already existing or
does this place kind of just
show up overnight i was
thinking it would
already exist okay place
already exists and everybody
knows about this place so there's
there's nothing
suspicious about yeah okay all
right fine so this is just
normal nice place for people to
go and look at
and/or buy plants. Yeah. Okay.
Outside there are these vines
that are like maybe hanging off
the
building or like they have all
this lattice work where it's
like you know wooden structures
or
metal structures and there are
these vines hanging down and
the vines all connect to
flowers and have
flowers on them. Yeah. Okay.
All right. At least they look
like flowers. Okay so they look
like
flowers. Fine. How does this
and and you know we discover at
some point later on that it's
all
connected to this giant plant
of some kind underneath the
building in either a cave
system or in another
building in a room that was
specifically built for it. Yeah.
Okay. Why is that drama?
Because
the plant is evil obviously.
But what does the plant do?
Like because keep in mind like
what you're describing is like
the end of Little Shop of Horrors
right now. Yeah.
Like Little Shop of Horrors. It's
one giant pod that eats people
and then at the end it has all
these little mini things that
are growing off of its its its
its vine arms. Yeah. And they
sing. Yeah. And it's creepy.
Yeah. So we obviously can't
redo that. Yeah. So I like the
premise so far.
what does the plant do over
time well my original idea was
that it could hypnotize people
okay that's interesting now to
what end what do you mean okay
so people come
to this this place and they're
looking at the flowers and
somehow through pheromones or
something
else they get hypnotized by the
flowers okay now what they're
hypnotized what are they hypnotized
to
do and why well plant more with
the plants of these plant more
of the plants yeah okay but the
question
i have is so let's presume this
is taking place in one town
this this is not going national
or anything
these things aren't like super
famous this is just one small
town in in like middle of
nowhere usa
or canada or canadia yes yeah
also known by leno ruley as
fake america so okay i'm with
you so far
now when they plant the flowers
so so obviously these flowers
would look as if they have
their own roots
because you're not going to
drag a vine all the way from
the store back to your house so
these would
have to be like little seedlings
yeah but do the seedlings then
underground grow a vine back to
the
main one okay so basically the
story is plant hive mind is
using its hive mind influence
through hip
hypnosis of its flowers to get
people to plant more of the
flowers to expand its reach
across a small
town in the united states or
canada yeah okay okay wait i i
have i have a full idea now
okay do go on so
Originally in this town, there
was a laboratory.
And they were testing on
genetic manipulation on plants,
as a lot of places do.
Okay.
And one day, a horrible tragedy
occurred where a suddenly sinkhole
appeared.
It was definitely a sinkhole,
and none of the plants they
made caused it, for sure.
Okay.
So there's a few different
genetically modified plants
trapped down there.
And the biggest one is the one
that now has the shop built
over it.
I'm now getting a little bit of
Batman and Robin vibes when,
you know,
scientists have been
experimenting with plant
extracts and whatnot,
and kills Lady and, like, all
the plant extracts and, like,
hybrid plants grab her.
And then she becomes, like, Poison
Ivy is, like, what her
character's name is.
But still.
So, yeah, obviously that
happens.
And they built the new flower
shop on top of it.
Well, yeah.
Wait, the plants built it?
No, the plants didn't build it.
Okay.
Some people did.
So, okay.
So, laboratory basically falls
into sinkhole.
Definitely natural causes.
Definitely.
You know, the scientists don't
know that this has happened.
Like, maybe, like, well, how do
you foreshadow that without it
being obvious, though?
Like, hey, whoops, I dropped
one of the sample seeds and it
fell somewhere and it's lost.
I don't know how you set that
up in a way that's organic.
Hey, organic.
Yeah, there we go.
All right.
But I don't know how you set
that up in a way that is not
obvious from the get-go.
But then again, this is a bee
movie, probably.
So, people probably don't care
that it's obvious.
They're like, I bet that's
going to come back later.
So, okay.
So, scientists are working with
genetically inbred plants.
I said inbred plants.
They're keeping their
relationship in the plant
family.
Anyway, moving on.
So, plant, seed, pod gets
dropped at some point.
And then, entire building
randomly collapses.
Scientists don't really know
what's going on.
But the entire building
collapses into a sinkhole.
And then the town comes and,
like, fills the sinkhole in
with, like, dirt and stuff to
make it stable again.
Yeah.
So, they fill it in with, like,
concrete, dirt, whatever.
And then they sell the lot.
Yep.
And what do you know?
There's this nice, like, you
know, nice man and his wife, we'll
say, who, you know, are looking
to start a florist.
Like, they want to start.
Well, maybe the town donates
the land to make it into an arboretum
and, like, plant sale place.
Yeah.
And, you know, there's man and
wife who have always loved
plants.
And they get elected to be in
charge of this thing.
So, they don't truly know what's
going on.
Yes.
All right.
So, they plant all the nice
plants.
You know, it's a nice story of
them, like, getting to pursue
their passion.
People from the town come and
help.
And pretty soon there's this
thriving arboretum.
Yeah.
And then, like, Guy notices,
huh, like, we have these really
pretty vines.
I don't know what genus they
are.
I don't know what they are.
But they're making these really
pretty flowers.
Why don't we help them to
thrive?
We'll put some, you know,
structures that they can grow
on outside.
And, you know, we'll encourage
them because it'll be pretty.
Yeah.
Okay.
Also, there will be the three
main characters.
Okay.
Three main characters.
Let's go.
There will be the four shot
people, which are the two
people.
So, that's like, you're
counting that as one character.
They're not unique in and of
themselves.
No, I'm saying they're two
characters.
Okay.
Two characters.
And then, the third main
character would be the whistleblower
guy.
The whistleblower guy.
Yeah.
Because, obviously, they're
going to try to cover up that
anything bad happened to this
laboratory.
Oh, okay.
So, this guy, he'd be going on
about making alien plants and
such.
Alien plants that suck people's
blood.
And, there's definitely no
reference there.
Wait.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Let's stop for a minute.
Hey, I'm smelling something
different here now.
Wait a minute.
We've got some opportunity.
I think that this story has
just taken a turn.
Because, you're like, well, the
story is about this hive mind.
Plant.
Yeah.
No, no, no, no.
See.
Here's where we go with this.
Whistleblower guy is actually
one of the former mad
scientists who nobody knew that
escaped.
Yeah.
Okay.
And, he doesn't know what
happened to the building.
He just knows that the town
filled it in and whatnot.
And, he's trying to make sure
that he's distancing himself
from anything having to do with
it.
Because, you know, it was kind
of...
I mean, none of his work
survived.
And, you know, he's kind of
ashamed that nothing, you know...
Like, what did we do?
We made some plants that didn't...
And, he's like, we've got to
make plants that, like, do
stuff.
We've got to make...
Oh, wait.
We can be even more stereotypical.
So, his part of the lab, unbeknownst
to everyone else in the lab,
was run and funded by the U.S.
military.
Of course.
So, they're trying to get...
He was trying to weaponize
plants.
Yeah.
Now, everybody else was just
trying to do, like, good
studies.
Like, trying to gauge the
intelligence of plants.
Or, make healthier plants for
eating.
Right.
Or, to, like, you know,
determine, like, hey...
Like, there are some stories
out there that plants actually,
you know, feel things.
And, like, if you yell at them,
they grow better sometimes.
And, if you, you know, if you
mistreat them, they don't like
it.
And, maybe they have some sort
of pain tolerance thing.
You know, who knows?
There's some studies around
that.
They're probably sketchy, but
still.
So, you have the majority of
the lab doing, you know,
legitimate science and trying
to create hybrid plants that,
you know, maybe look prettier,
smell nicer.
Grow faster.
Or, maybe they do try to look
into plant intelligence.
And, meanwhile, this shady guy
is off in his own corner just
trying to do whatever.
And, he's about to make a
breakthrough on plants that'll,
you know, like, be able to be,
like, planted in the enemy
fields, grow quickly, and then,
like, overwhelm them.
Yeah.
So, he goes and he starts
working on this.
He starts working on this.
Like, after he escapes from the
lab, he goes to his basement
and keeps sending progress
reports to the government or
whatever.
And, nobody knows about this
guy.
Okay.
Yeah.
All right.
Then, why would he be calling
him a whistleblower?
Just, just, no, no, no.
He's not going to be a whistleblower
guy.
I got an idea how we'd change
this.
So, he doesn't want anybody to
know about the lab or what he's
doing.
So, he's, maybe there's another
scientist that's actually, like,
good scientist that's, like,
hey, I also, like, look, I don't
want to admit that I was
associated with this project
because there were all these
weird stuff.
But, like, there was this guy
at the lab.
We never found him.
We never found his body.
But, he, like, we really think
he was doing some sketchy stuff.
So, here's where the twist
happens, okay?
So, you have hive mind plant.
Yeah.
And, really, hive mind plant
doesn't hurt anybody.
Hive mind plant is just trying
to grow and expand.
It hypnotizes people to plant
more of it.
And, you really set it up so
that everybody perceives that
hive mind plant is probably
going to be the evil one.
But, as it turns out, here's
where the fun comes in.
So, meanwhile, evil scientist
guy starts planting plants, you
know, on the edges of town.
Like, maybe, maybe there's a
local prison.
And, he plants the plants
outside of the prison.
And, they look a little bit
like hive mind plants.
So, you can't, like, so, at
first, you're thinking they are
part of the hive mind.
The only thing is, like, maybe
the hive mind plants are purple.
And, these are obviously red.
All right?
But, they...
Well, no, like, the middle part
would be a different color.
Fine.
Yeah.
It has to be more subtle.
You can't make it too obvious.
Yeah, that's true.
Speaking of pretty flowers, we
got a bunch of pretty pink and
white flowers off to our left
right now.
You can't see them because this
is a podcast.
But, they do be looking pretty.
Well, there's some magenta ones.
Yeah.
They're pretty.
Yeah, pretty magenta ones.
Anyway.
So...
All of them, I was saying.
Speaking of...
So, like, one night, there's a
prison break.
And, these prisoners escape.
And, these flowers, like...
Quack.
Attack them with poisonous barbs.
And, then, suck their blood.
And, like, absorb their bodies
under the ground.
Like, they pull the bodies
under the ground.
Look at the quackers.
Yay, quackers.
All right?
Ducks.
So...
Ducks.
But, the flowers are so similar
to the hive mind plant.
That, everybody is presuming
this is one big thing.
Like, Scientist Man didn't...
So, Scientist Man, like, is
sketchily planting these things.
But, you're presuming that
those are the same things that
are planted elsewhere.
But, the twist comes...
When...
Arboretum people...
Like, are starting to get
accused of, like, something
weird going on with their
plants or whatever.
And, they're able to trace down
and discover the hive mind
plant.
Yeah.
And...
Deep in the basement.
Deep in, like, the sub-levels.
Like, they manage to find a
tunnel or something.
Yeah.
And, they go down there and the
thing is psychic.
Yeah.
And, it starts communicating
with them.
And, they're like, why are you
killing people?
What's going on?
And, it's like, look...
All I want to do is live.
And, you have treated me so
well.
I have...
You know...
My only purpose has been to
keep you safe.
And, while I may have
influenced people to plant, you
know, offshoots of me
throughout the town.
There's a reason.
And, what do you mean there's a
reason?
You're killing people.
I have killed no one.
You see, back when I was just a
seedling.
And, my intelligence was just,
like, beginning to take root.
Hey!
Um...
There was...
There was a man...
You know, there was a man...
Who...
Was doing these really bad
experiences to my plant
brethren.
And, turning them into man-eaters.
Wait, I thought of another
twist, too.
So...
Uh...
I'll get to that in a minute.
So, it turns out that hive mind
plant has really just been
expanding its influence...
In order to try to find...
This guy...
That it knows survived.
So, it's not the plant killer.
And, so...
They've got to figure out, what
is this killer plant?
What's going on?
And, so...
They kill one of the killer
plants.
But, they start following the
roots.
And, they manage to follow the
roots like this shack on the
edge of town.
And, instead of there being a
hive mind plant...
There...
Instead...
They find the scientist just
sitting in a chair...
With all of these vines
connected to him.
He's like, welcome.
I have become one with nature.
And, the military is gonna love
it.
Your town has been perfect
subjects.
And, you will succumb to my...
Obviously, there's gonna be
some other killings and stuff,
too.
But...
Yeah.
You will succumb to my...
My plantly wiles.
And...
And, so, like, at some point
there's a conflict.
And, the people look like they're...
Toad...
Whoa.
Told you, Toad.
Look at him go.
I wasn't sure if it was dead or
not.
But...
But, like...
It gets to the point...
So, they start fighting this
guy.
But, he's able to use the vines...
To, like...
Block them from killing him.
And, like...
He shoots, like, one of the
poisonous barbs.
And, like...
Plant Lady collapses.
You know?
Because, it's...
Like, one of the bugs that
knocks you out before it can
suck your blood, you know?
Yeah.
So, she's collapsed.
The guy is at the edge of his,
like...
The edge of, like...
What he could do.
He's about to get killed by,
like, Scientist Guy.
And, then...
The hive mind plants roots bust
through.
And, a bunch of the townspeople
along with it.
And, they have flamethrowers.
And, they start flamethrowers.
So, then...
Then, unfortunately, like...
The guys got all this, like,
explosive stuff in there, too.
Like, toxic gas.
And, it's like, come on.
We gotta get out here.
But, no.
Like, the hive mind plant that's
been our friend is gonna get
destroyed.
Nah, we gotta leave.
We gotta leave now.
No.
Like...
We...
No.
We gotta protect hive mind
plant.
And, hive mind plant is like,
no.
Trust...
You know...
I've served my purpose.
Go without me.
Hmm.
And, run, humans.
Run.
And, so they run.
I mean, what the...
And, there's a massive
explosion.
And, they come back.
So, they defeat the bad guy.
And, they come back to the arboretum.
And, all the vines are withered
and dead.
Hmm.
All the hive mind flowers are
dead.
We're all very sad.
And, so, like...
So, like...
It cuts to, like, five days
later.
Yeah.
You know, you do one of those,
like, five days later things.
Yeah.
And, they're just finishing up,
like...
Taking all the vines that have
been cut.
And, like, burning them.
And, like, the place just doesn't
look as good.
Hmm.
And, the guy...
The guy and his wife are just,
like, getting ready to go back
into the arboretum where the
other plants are.
And, they look down.
And, as they pass the corner of
the building, like, they go
around the corner to get into
the building.
And, there's a little flower
just starting to sprout right
next to, like, the walkway
through the door.
Hmm.
And, they're...
You know, maybe they call the
hive mind Charlie or something.
I don't know.
Hive mind plant Charlie.
They're like...
And, the plant just kind of,
like, the flower just kind of bops
up and down really quick like a
yes.
Hmm.
And, then, they look at each
other.
They smile warmly at each other.
Hold each other's hands.
And, go inside.
And, then, here's the evil foreshadowing
moment.
At the end of the credits.
Where the chair where the
scientists used to sit.
There's a small bowl.
A small what?
A small bowl.
A small what?
A small bowl.
Bulb.
Yeah.
Well, I think we one up that.
We can go more cliche than that.
So, you see this bulb that has
a little tiny sprout.
Yeah.
But, then, whether it's
mechanical effects or visual
effects.
Because, you know, you had
close ups of like...
Like, you had hyper close ups
of the bad guy's face at times,
right?
Yeah.
So, what you do is you have the
bulb kind of open up and inside
is the bad guy's eye just like
kind of looking around.
And, you hear like kind of a
maniacal laugh from the bad guy.
Yeah.
There we go.
Okay.
So, I think that, you know what?
Your idea is great.
This is a good idea.
Mm-hmm.
The question I have for you
though is...
Okay.
So, we got a basic plot.
Yeah.
We've got a concept.
We've...
You know what?
I think between the two of us,
this is, again, one of those
things that Hollywood...
Look, if you...
Should do.
If you're looking for ideas, we'll
be happy to sell this idea for
you for the low, low cost of
what? 55,000?
Yeah.
Well, you know, but just keep
in mind that you have to act
soon because as we go through
this walk...
Inflation.
So, by the time we're done with
this walk, it's going to be
like a million.
Just for the idea.
Maybe even five.
Yeah.
If you're not.
Just for the idea.
Hypothetical, a million dollar.
Like this is...
You know, you can make this
movie on the cheap.
You can make this movie for
like, you know, five to ten
million dollars easy.
Yeah.
And just make hundreds of
millions.
You could get tenfold what you
invested in pure profit.
Exactly.
And all...
All stack quickly before
inflation...
And all we're asking is, you
know, a low, low writer's cost
of a million dollars...
60...
To the right.
And, you know, 5% of the gross.
That's all we're looking for.
Yeah.
It's not that much, really.
No, not really.
I mean, we're well worth it.
All right.
So, we workshopped the movie.
Yeah.
Which I think again,
congratulations, this was a
great idea.
You gotta come up with a type
of name.
You're not gonna sell it
without a good name.
But if you want it to sound
like a bad movie, I already
have two names for you.
Okay.
So, you could...
You could just simply call it
The Parlor of Plants.
Or...
Wait, what was the first one?
If you want it to sound okay,
you could call it The Parlor of
Plants.
The Parlor of Plants?
Okay, that's got a good 1950s,
60s vibe to it.
But if you want it to sound
like a bad MST 3K movie, you
could call it Attack of the
Killer Weeds.
Well, I mean, Parlor of Plants
also fits that.
Let's be honest.
Yeah.
Hmm.
You know what?
I think we can simplify this.
Just call it Vines.
I mean, it's probably been done
already.
The name's probably been taken,
but I'm just gonna say like,
just calling it Vines.
Because then that implies that
like, the hive mind thing with
all the vines that you see in
the beginning is actually...
The evil.
You know?
I mean, really, the vines are
its roots.
Yeah.
By the way, we also have to rig
it up so that like, evil
scientist man looks like...
What we gotta do is, he has to
purchase one of the like, hive
mind plants.
Yeah.
And what we don't know is, he
took it back to his private lab
and experimented on it.
We just see him planting it and
that the coloration is slightly
different.
Yeah.
But there's no explanation as
to anything.
So you have it, you still have
it so that the audience...
The audience believes that it's
the same plant.
Yeah.
Same hive mind plant.
You know?
But, uh...
So yeah, I mean, I like the
idea of Vines being the name.
Ooh, Hive Vine.
Instead of hive mind, do you
use hive vines?
No.
That's not good for a name.
for a name. The plant that
saved America. Beware of toads.
There may be toads. There's a
cricket
over there too. I mean, you
could, if you wanted to go like
the kind of like interesting
route,
so like if you had the plant's
name be Charlie or something,
you'd just call it Charlie. But
I don't know that that, that
would get people in. Yeah. But
really, I think this is a good
idea. I think your concept is
good. I think. Or you could
call it Charlie's Parlor.
Charlie's Parlor. Hey, or
Charlie's Arboretum. Yeah. I
like it. I like it. That's
because then people are
wondering like the whole time.
Like wait, like the guy who's
running the Arboretum, his name's
not Charlie. And his wife's
name isn't like Charlize or
anything that could be mistaken
for Charlie. Who the hell is
Charlie? Or if you want to go
even like, if you want to sound
more formal, you could say
Charles is, but Charlie sounds
better. Yeah. The two sila,
like it, Charles. Like it's, it
just doesn't roll off the
tongue the same way. And
Charlie makes it sound friendly.
Yeah. Like you don't, you don't,
Like, oh, oh, Charles. Like you're
not going to call it Chuck
either. Like, come on. Like you're
not going to be like Chuck's
Parlor. Like who cares about
Chuck's Parlor? Yeah. No. Or
Chuck's Arboretum. Like it's
just, it's not Charlie. Sounds
nice and friendly.
You know, it gives a little bit
of an air of like openness, but
it doesn't exactly say that
Charlie is truly friendly. It
just is a friendly sounding
name. Yeah. I like it. You know,
I think your, your initial idea
plus, um, a couple of, you know,
like,
our creative... A couple of
additions, like our creative
input together here, usually
has this
impact. We've got a... Look. We
have a good movie idea. We've
got a good movie here,
Hollywood.
And look, just for the low, low
cost of $2.5 million plus 8% of
the overhead,
this idea could be yours. It's
really not that big of a cost.
No, I mean, again, this is a
movie
you can make using old school
movie techniques with a little
bit of CGI, like well-intentioned,
well-thought-out. You've got to
have a good director. The
director's got to know how to
use a great
combination of practical and CG
together to really be
intentional about the shots.
But I think that this could
work. And besides, you don't
even really have to have the
hive mind
plant Charlie actually like be
like speaking like Audrey too
does. Like you could do it
completely
via telepathy. Yeah. But the
plant just kind of maybe pulses
in line with what it's saying
or thinking.
Yep. And that can, that can all
be done practical effects. I
mean, you just have like this
really
nice plant. You get some glycerin
on it. So it looks like it, you
know, you do some foam rubber
stuff.
I mean, you could even just
have it be a glowing light. I
mean, you could, but you don't
want to go
that cheap. This is, you know,
we are in the era of, you know,
good movie making effects. But
I would say
that like you make the main
plant, it doesn't even have to
be a pod. It could be something
else, but
like you make it have a unique
look to it. You do the coloration
really good. You add some glycerin.
So
it kind of like, you know,
shines a little bit and you add
some air bladders to it so that
it, you know,
can like kind of pulsate and
move. And there you go. You don't
even have to like, I mean, and
you can
enhance it digitally a little
bit. Like you can make it so
that the pulses are better time
to what it's
thinking. Yeah. Um, you know,
you could add a little bit of
ambiance, like add some extra
mist and smoke in
the room. Yeah. That's more
controlled. You know, you could
do stuff like that, but like,
this is not
a VFX heavy movie. And it's
something that you could do
like relatively inexpensively,
like a vine
wrapping around somebody. You
just roll the camera with the
vine already wrapped around
them. And then
you pull it off of them and you
play it in reverse. Like this
is, this is something that's
been done for
generations. Yeah. That's not
that hard. You want to shoot a
barb out of the plant. You tie,
you have a, like you have
fishing line attached to the
barb. That's like ready to go
in like the vine.
You do a shot of the barb
flying out. You do a shot of
like it being stuck in the
person's neck
and you use VFX to erase the
fishing line. Yeah. It's just,
this is, look, this is gold
here.
We're, we are telling you, you
can make this movie for $12
million. All right. You make
the movie for
$12 million. You advertise it,
you know, using grassroots
advertising. Like you, you pay
some
YouTubers. You invite all the
big TikTok influencers that are
into horror films and B films
to like a
special screening and they go
nuts and talk about it. And
they'll, they'll come for free
because you
know, they want it for the
content. Like you're just like,
you send an invite to all of
the horror film,
TikTokers and Instagrammers and
red letter media. Oh yeah. And
you got to have red letter
media,
like do an interview with you,
you know, and maybe for the
visual effects, like for the
times that you
are using them, because you
will use them, give the raw
footage and the complete
breakdowns of how you do
everything to corridor digital.
Yeah, obviously. Or better yet,
hire corridor digital to do the
effects
for you and work with them.
Well, to help do the effects
anyway. Yeah. To help do the
effects.
Obviously you need a good like
onsite, like effects team as
well to do like the latex and
stuff
and to make the vines and
whatnot. But look, this is a
low budget movie. I mean, you
play your cards,
right. You can get, like I said,
10 times, maybe even more,
maybe 15 times your initial
investment. Of
course. And this idea can be
yours for the low, low costs of
$3.25 million. Uh, plus, you
know,
5% of the gross. Yeah. Yeah. I
think that's, I think that's
fair. You know, we've workshopped
this
for you. We've come up with all
the characters. We've come up
with a lot of the design
aspects.
We've really done all of the
work. We might even have some
more design aspects in the, in
the
picture for this podcast. Yeah.
So again, Charlie's Arboretum.
Charlie's Parlor. Charlie's Parlor,
Charlie's Arboretum. Yeah. You
know, we like this. Uh, we, we
think that this could be a huge,
huge
deal for, you know, independent
film in Hollywood. And, uh, we
really think that even if a
small studio
were to pick this up, it would
be a huge success. Yeah. I mean,
you make bank. You make bank. I
mean,
we start production, pre-production.
Now we start the planning and
the storyboarding and all that.
We start that now. We could
have this out by, uh, October
of 2026. Easy. Yeah. And just
to give you an
idea, I mean, we're recording
this in August of 2025. So, I
mean, you know, you've got just
over a year of
leeway on this before the
release date. You get us
together with the right people.
You get the right
team put together. You can make
this happen easily. Yeah. There's
not going to be like a huge
amount of
dialogue. There's not going to
be like, this is just a good
old fashioned beef though, you
know? Yeah.
But it will make a lot of money.
Make a lot of money. So,
speaking of money, if you get
any value
out of our crazy ideas and what
we talk about with this podcast,
please feel free to show equal
value
in return by going to ko-fi.com/nontopical .
I mean, if you, if you get a
dollar of entertainment, shoot
us a dollar. If you get more
than that, shoot us whatever
amount you want.
Come up with funny numbers. We
appreciate the funny numbers.
Yeah. But I mean, granted, we're
doing this for fun. We just
chat while we walk and
occasionally we come with an
agenda, but most of the time we
don't. And we eventually
stumble upon something that's
fun. So if you're having fun
with us, please let us know.
And one of the ways you can
show us value is by sending us
feedback. It costs you
absolutely nothing except for a
few moments of your time.
feedback@nontopical.com .
So, with that, Charlie's,
Charlie's Arboretum or Charlie's
Parlor comes to a close. Yeah.
And we hope that you enjoyed
this, this brand new V-film in
Hollywood. Like, if you're
listening, just think about how
inexpensive we are compared to
all of the focus groups and
everything else that you're
doing, you know? We're working
on the cheap. You know, we're
here for you. So, until next
time.
Roll credits. Roll credits. Kit,
do you have anything else to
say? We love Charlie. Yes, we
love Charlie.
Alright everybody, thanks. Have
a great rest of your day,
evening, or whatever. We'll see
you next time. Bye!
Bye!