INTERVIEW WITH DEBRA MEYERS
by Silvia (Cordy) – June 15th 2006

This interview is an EXCLUSIVE OF EVIL HAND ISSUES, and the co-owner, Cordy (who did the interview) STRICTLY forbids the use and the reproduction on other sites, blogs, mailing lists, etc...
 

Cordy: My first question is almost a must, I’d say: Can you tell us the story of this movie?
Debra: Certainly! Our film, “Her Minor Thing”, is the story of a young professional woman, whose life is turned upside-down when her reporter boyfriend accidentally reveals that she’s a virgin on TV.

Cordy: How did you decide to write this script?
Debra: Jim and I had a friend whose boyfriend was SUCH a jerk. (The original title of the movie was “Men are Jerks.”) She’s the only one who didn’t see this. This was combined with a boyfriend in my life who wanted to marry a virgin yet wanted to sleep with me. So we started asking women about their relationship issues and there were many funny funny stories.

Cordy: How was it like (and how it is) to work with your husband? Are there disagreements about scripts?
Debra: Laugh – people always ask this question. We really had a good time writing together and are working together again on another script. We’d sit around our kitchen table and laugh until our sides hurt. We did have a big disagreement about one scene. But a couple of re-writes down the road, we threw out the scene and now it seems silly to have disagreed about it so much in the first place.

Cordy: What kind of script do you like to write about most?
Debra: We really enjoy humor and romance, so it does make sense that we write romantic comedies. We see humor in so many things in life and prefer to laugh, rather than cry!

Cordy: Was there any specific reason to place the movie in Sacramento?
Debra: We originally had set the movie in Boston, MA. However, we changed it when we decided to make it ourselves and decided to show off Sacramento as it really is.

Cordy: I know this movie was shot in a very short time, was it hard?
Debra: Incredibly hard. Jim worked 16 hour days at least and we both worked seven days a week with no break for two weeks before or three afterwards.  Jim worked for four months prior to the shoot this way. The shoot was six-day-work weeks, when the crew wasn’t working I did the payroll with a friend. I’d go home at night and write checks while Jim kept an eye on the set.

Cordy: What’s Charlie Matthau like? Is he like his father?
Debra: Charlie is a lot like his father in humor and looks.

Cordy: Was there synergy between the cast members? Or some of them didn’t get along with each other?
Debra: Absolutely. We had a very good set of actors who genuinely liked each other and enjoyed each other’s company on and off the set. They goofed around quite a bit. We show some of their goofing off in the “Her Minor Thing - Behind the Scenes.”

Cordy: Which HMT actor or actress did you like the most and why?
Debra: Oooh, that’s really difficult. I think that Estella really shines at times and gives us a fun performance. I loved Christian’s performance. He brings an air of charm and angst-all rolled into one.  Michael is quite funny and charming in real person and gives such a ‘blond’ performance, which was really needed for his role. Kathy Griffin is just hilarious. I laugh ever time I see the movie and trust me, I’ve seen it OVER and OVER again. Rachel Dratch’s facial expressions are also so funny. Her sarcasm is very much me, so I adored her getting that right.  Victoria Jackson is so ditzy, she actually brought her character more to life that what we wrote! Flex Alexander and his ad-lib in the park, which is so funny – you know, in the trailer, about the midget…

Cordy: Of all the characters of the movie, which one is your favourite and why?
Debra: I think the Paul character, because my husband is much like this character.

Cordy: Do you have a particular scene you liked the most?
Debra: Yes I do, however it’s towards the end and I don’t want to spoil the movie by describing it!

Cordy: Is there any funny episode that happened in the backstage you wanna share?
Debra: There are a couple; First I was running down a little hill to give Flex his per diem, I slipped and he chivalrously kept me from falling. All I could think of was the actor’s INSURANCE and Jim saying later, “Don’t HURT the talent!”  Second, Christian taking off to go fly-fishing in Tahoe over the 4^th of July and never making it. He ends up in some little town between here and there, drinks too much, gets in a fight and breaks two of his ribs. Fortunately he didn’t tell us about this until the last day of the shoot!

Cordy: What did the crew members (and in particularly you and Jim) feel when one of the main actors won a “Best Actor” Award for HMT?
Debra: We were thrilled! We felt it also showed we’d put the right words on the page. This enabled Christian to bring forth a wonderful performance for the award he richly deserved!

Cordy: Could you describe Christian Kane in 3 words?
Debra: “Second Hand Lions”  - I feel this role he played in this film best reflects Christian.

Cordy: Are there good chances for the distribution in Europe?
Debra: It’s being distributed now. In fact, we sold it to an Italian distributor in February. I’m not sure when it’s showing or when you may buy the DVD. It’s playing in France in July.

Cordy: Forgive me for the question I’m going to ask, but since the whole movie is based on this 27-year-old girl who’s still a virgin, I feel to ask: what value do you give to virginity?
Debra: Honestly the virginity thing is what’s called our ‘hook’. It’s one of those hot words people generally have quite a lot to say about. I always found it to be over talked about, which we reflect in the movie somewhat. After we’d written the script, we showed it to one of our partners, an L.A. Actress. She was 27 (which was the original age of the character.) She stunned my husband by telling him she was a virgin. She’d always been dating someone, so we, as many people do, made assumptions.

Cordy: What is the most beautiful memory of this movie you’ll keep in your heart?
Debra: The first time we saw a rough cut of it and our words had jumped into reality.  Laughing at Christian’s expressions a couple of times. Seeing a couple of Actor’s expressions that just MADE the scene.

Cordy: Tell us about your future projects?
Debra: We’re currently working on a script that we hope will be a bigger Hollywood production. We’ve also discussed working with some of the actors again and writing for them.

Cordy: If you were told to write a script for a single episode of a tv series, which one would you like to be?
Debra: Laugh. I only watch one TV series and this is “Stargate” – I started watching it as I’m fairly convinced if it’s happening on that show, it can’t possibly happen to me in real life.

Cordy: Before ending our interview, one last question: If you had to say a slogan to convince Italian people to go and see the movie, what would you say?
Debra: Come see our fun, sexy romantic comedy, you’ll have a great time!