Reggie Hudlin (2:29)

Five gold rings.

Alison Stewart (2:33)

Find the five gold rings before the clock tower dings.

Reggie Hudlin (2:36)

That bell only chimes on Christmas Eve at 8 o'. Clock. That's in three days. Hurry, man. Get those Rings.

Robin Thede (2:43)

It's the only way to save yourself.

Alison Stewart (2:45)

The pentatonix ornaments will not stop singing. A Deadline review said director Reginald Hudlin keeps it hopping and has a first rate team behind the camera, including production design that aces the assignment and is guaranteed to get family viewers in the hopping holiday mood. Candy Cane Lane is streaming now on Amazon Prime. Joining me now is director Reginald Hudlin, who directed the classic movies Boomerang, who's also starred at Murphy, by the way, House Party and The critically acclaimed 2022 documentary Sidney, about Sidney Poitier. Hi, Reggie.

Reggie Hudlin (3:15)

Hey, how you doing, Allison?

Alison Stewart (3:16)

I'm doing great. Also joining us is Robin Thede, comedian, actress and creator of the Emmy nominated and fantastic show A Black lady sketch show. She stars as Cordelia, one of the folks in that unfortunate ornament situation. Hi, Robin. Nice to meet you.

Robin Thede (3:30)

Good to see you. You know, it's not so bad. You have a very small waist when you're that short.

Alison Stewart (3:35)

So we're looking the bright side. Always looking on the bright side. Reggie, you've made so many different kinds of films. You've produced giant award shows. What do you now know about making a holiday movie that you really hadn't considered before? Didn't know.

Reggie Hudlin (3:52)

Well, I'm a big holiday movie consumer, so I had some very strong opinions, all of which were correct in terms of you've got to have great Christmas music, you've got to have great Christmas visuals and a lot of love. Like, because really that's what Christmas hits. So if you don't deliver the love part, then it doesn't work. But what I didn't know is the intensity of the Christmas viewing audience. Right. Because I thought I was the fan and like, no, no, no, no. There's a level of fandom way above that. And when we first tested the movie, we get these reactions of cards. I was like, oh, okay, this is a very serious audience. So let's, let's, let's up our Christmas quotient even higher than my early high standards.

Alison Stewart (4:50)

Robyn, what were your first impressions of the script?

Robin Thede (4:53)

Oh, I thought it was so much fun. I loved the action and adventure element that Reggie captured so beautifully. I think, you know, we got a chance to sit down and talk about it really early on. I mean, the cast was still coming together. You know, first of all, when Reggie Odlin calls and says, do you want to be in? You don't wait for the end of the sentence. You just say yes. But then he said, wait, wait, Eddie Murphy. And I was like, I already said yes, where do I show up? But we had a. He's so giving and so great. Even in our roles. He was like, look, what's on the page is already great from the script from Kelly Younger. But he really had a vision for us to bring our own comedy to it with me and Chris Redd and Nick Offerman. I mean, we just felt like such an instantly bonded trio. I knew Chris before, but I had never met Nick. And when we all came together, it was truly magical. And that was important because there's a lot of elements of. So, you know, when we first talked about it, just being able to amp up every level of Christmas movie. The adventure of home alone times 10, the comedy of anything that Reggie and Eddie and tracy do times 10. The cuteness of the kids, the like, you're gonna get everything in multiples in this movie. And so it was just a no brainer to be a part of Reggie.

Alison Stewart (6:17)

What felt fresh about this script from Kelly Younger?

Reggie Hudlin (6:21)

Well, when you read the first act, you go, oh, I know what this movie's about. And then it takes this really hard left turn right. And you're like, oh, oh, it's that movie at all, right? And then there was this amazing twist in Act 3, and I'm like, oh, this is great. I'm genuinely surprised, right? Which I think, you know, there's a lot of talk all year about audience satisfaction and what people want from movies and, you know, so this script had all those things. And my contribution was basically, let's make things weirder. Like, how far can we go with an already pretty extreme piece of material?

Robin Thede (7:00)

Reggie never told us no. Which, you know, a good director won't dole out a lot of no's, but I never have heard the word no from Reggie. I'm like, okay, we want to do this thing. And he's like, just do it. Do it. Yeah, do it. We love it. And then, like, it ends up in the movie. He's not just like, telling you that to, like, make you happy and then cut it. You know, he's like, yeah, let's do it. I mean, so I think every. Everybody is just trying to top each other with, like, in a good way, like, okay, how do I make this person break in the scene I'm in? How do I make them laugh? And people keep asking me when we talk about it, like, did you guys break a lot? And I'm like, well, we didn't want to waste any takes, but we definitely, as soon as we cut, we were on the floor, you know, and that was. That was so super fun.

Alison Stewart (7:44)

Robin, when did you first see you?

Reggie Hudlin (7:45)

You could.

Alison Stewart (7:46)

Oh, go ahead, Reggie.

Reggie Hudlin (7:47)

I was gonna say, you can do that when you pick the right collaborators. Which is why Robin Feedy was on board very early, because I was a giant fan of Robin forever, and I was always pissed that we hadn't worked together yet. So I was just like. So I was like, this is it. This is the role. She's going to annihilate it, and I'm going to put it with fellow killers. So I just really feel I had, like, the dirty dozen of, like, comedic assassins, and their interplay was impeccable.

Alison Stewart (8:17)

Robyn, when did you first see that ornament version of yourself?

Reggie Hudlin (8:20)

Oh, early.

Robin Thede (8:22)

Early. I mean, I feel like definitely before we started working, because I would just show up to the Amazon lot and just be in Reggie's office, and he.

Reggie Hudlin (8:33)

Was like, oh, hey, Robin.

Robin Thede (8:34)

I was like, yeah, I was here for some other stuff, and I'm just here.

Reggie Hudlin (8:37)

Can I see?

Robin Thede (8:38)

Like, I just. I love his process. He's so includes just everyone in on it. That's why the production design was so amazing. The cinematography just everything was so collaborative. A lot of sets that you go on, especially behind the scenes, it feels like a war is going on, and, like, everyone's vying for control, but Reggie's, like, I don't know, so giving. And there's no question that he's in control, you know, because he's been doing this and, like, everyone just wants to make him happy and then wants to make Eddie and Tracy laugh. And, like, when everyone's working towards those same goals, it's kind of, you know. Anyway, you asked me about my character. I saw it probably a couple weeks before we started shooting, but it always blew me away. Although we got to go in and see the sets as they were being built, and the store where the elf Kringles, where the elf is working, was. What do you think, Reggie? Like, 90% practical. It's just like the ceiling that wasn't. But everything was so practical and gorgeous. That the collaboration between what Reggie and the team created physically and then what ILM did in terms of CGI animation, whatever, just worked so beautifully together. It was really cool.

Alison Stewart (9:53)

We're talking about Candy Cane.

Reggie Hudlin (9:55)

Yeah. I mean, I'm sorry. We're just eating up your poor Internet.

Alison Stewart (9:59)

I was trying to say the name.

Reggie Hudlin (10:00)

Of your movie, man.

Alison Stewart (10:00)

I was just trying to let people know what it is, you know, that's.

Reggie Hudlin (10:04)

All on Candy Cane Lane. There you go. It's like, look, everyone there is A filmmaker like Robin the. Is writing, producing and starring a TV show every week. Right. That's a massive job. So she's a filmmaker by, you know, ilm. They've made some of the greatest special. I mean, so, like, like, look, I have a bunch of filmmakers. Everyone should know everything I don't have, you know, so that way everyone, Everyone can feed off each other's creativity and brilliance and it just works better.

Robin Thede (10:35)

Yeah.

Alison Stewart (10:35)

I'm going now. Name of the film is Candy Cane Lane. My guest director, Reggie Hudlin and actor Robin Beatty. How did you work with your. With your actors, Voice actors, Reggie, what's the difference for you?

Reggie Hudlin (10:49)

What do you need to know? Well, there's no difference. I mean, meaning. I mean, here's the difference is that the three of them, who are all brilliant, perfect, different, perfectly overlapping styles of comedy, right? And they. They merged in the way that I dreamed and they never stopped. Right? So the live action actors had earwigs so they could hear them. Right? And the thing is, they literally never stopped. So the actors on stage are like, oh, my God, they're just going to keep talking all the time, right? Is that what's happening? It was like, yeah, well, kind of. Yeah.

Robin Thede (11:33)

We had to be told to shut up sometimes because we literally. Whether it was about the movie or not, it didn't matter if Reggie cut or was rolling. We were going like.

Reggie Hudlin (11:42)

I don't know.

Robin Thede (11:43)

I can't explain it. It was just. When the three of us get together, it's just energy and comedy and it's just. We were so sad when we had to stop filming. It was so rejuvenating for me as a performer just to be around people that are that level of funny and just so giving and so good.

Reggie Hudlin (12:03)

So, I mean, so then in editorial, I had this. This huge ocean of great material. So it was just about making the hard choices to play. Here's three genius jokes. Which genius joke are we gonna go with? Okay, this one. But we're gonna test it. And if for any reason there's anything left in, like, an ocean of laugh after, we could try another week and try another.

Robin Thede (12:27)

Yeah. You know what line people keep saying to me? It's a line that said, in the middle of chaos, and I say, oh, shaking ornament syndrome or something. Gillian's character is, like, shaking us. And I just think it's so people hear everything we say. The sound design is really brilliant. The way Reggie and the sound mixing, just how they did everything is really brilliant because you get a lot of jokes upon Repeat viewing that you would have missed the first time from us. And also because in. In post and in adr, we could just keep adding jokes and they could just keep animating us. And because they work so fast, I think that's how you get the joke density from us too, which is really fun.

Reggie Hudlin (13:11)

Yeah. Well, it's funny. When I was being interviewed earlier, there was this reporter from another from Italy, I think, who said Reggie. And an interview you did 30 years ago. I'm like, oh, terror. Right. God. I say 30 years ago, Angie goes. You talked about the dense pack theory of comedy. Yeah. I'm like, oh, my God. I actually did say that. I remember what I said, which is that I liked some people when you make a movie, they say, oh, space out the jokes. So people won't. You people won't. Won't laugh over your lines. I mean, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm going to pack every square inch with jokes so that on the fifth time you discover a new joke. And that's funny to say that about Shaken ornament Syndrome, because it's one of my favorite jokes that you said, it's so funny. And I thought that was a third time joke. And the fact that people are catching it first time, that is people really. Because we deliberately mixed it kind of low.

Robin Thede (14:11)

Yeah.

Reggie Hudlin (14:12)

Throw away. And it's like. But it's still landing. That's amazing.

Robin Thede (14:16)

Yeah.

Alison Stewart (14:16)

We're talking about the film Candy Cane Lane with director Reggie Hedlund and actor Robin Thede will hear some of those jokes after a quick break. This is all of It. You're listening to all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. My guests are director Reggie Hudlin and actor Robin Thede. We're talking about Kandi Kane Lane. Streaming now on Amazon Prime. We just got a text about Shaken ornament Syndrome to your point, from nowhere to somebody saying they love that line. So, Robbie, you're an excellent comedy writer. What are some ways that this film really engages in good comedy writing and what does it take to what. What are some of the elements of good comedy writing?

Robin Thede (15:05)

I think good comedy writing takes relatable things and turns them upside down so that you get to see them differently and presents it in a way that's approachable but unexpected. And I think writer Kelly Younger did a great job with that. If I wasn't following Reggie like a lost puppy on set, I was following Kelly. I am such a comedy writing nerd and I just wanted to know his process. I wanted to know how he addresses changes during production. I mean, I'm just so obsessed with all of that. So for me, the best things are exactly what he took. He took a human story that is actually his story about his father, who would make toys and decorate the house, you know, every year for Candy Cane Lane in El Segundo, California. And he took the love that his father gave his whole family for Christmas and built this beautiful story on it. So I think there's the relatability of that or the aspirational elements of that if you can't directly relate. But then I think there's so many unexpected moments that happen with this. With this framework of the 12 Days of Christmas going rogue. So. And then on top of that, you get interpretations from legends like Eddie and Tracy, but also Gillian Bell, who plays this evil elf, who, honestly, you're kind of rooting for at different parts in the movie. She doesn't play it in a way that you hate her. She plays it in a way that makes her endearing. And you and Kelly did a really beautiful job of giving her a backstory that you kind of understand. And I think it's one that we all struggle with. What does Christmas really mean? And that's a universal theme that's in thousands of Christmas movies. But the way that he tackles it in this script is really beautiful. And then I think you just gotta have great punchlines. And then once you combine all those things, you get a really fun movie. And I had a private viewing of the movie for, like, 50 people at my house when it came out. And I had kids from 3 years old up to grandparents in their 80s, and everyone laughed at the same things. And to me, that comedy is. That's proof that comedy is a universal language.

Alison Stewart (17:12)

There's. It's an interesting film because it's one film for little kids. And then there's a film for adults in there.

Robin Thede (17:17)

Totally.

Alison Stewart (17:18)

And there's also a film for film buffs in there. At one point, the elf is like. Kind of like Carrie. There's, like a Carrie shot when she's just walking.

Robin Thede (17:25)

Yeah. There's a few nods to classic cinema that Reggie.

Reggie Hudlin (17:30)

I don't know.

Robin Thede (17:31)

You know, Reggie's a student of film, obviously, and a legend in his own vein in the industry. And I'll just say these things. Cause he won't say these things about himself. But. But you see it. You see it. And I would sneak and listen to him and the DP talking about shots and stuff, and I would ask about which cameras and how they were combining formats and all this. I am just such a nerd about movie making and TV making in general. So they were very lovely because I would ask lots of questions and there's so many homages in the action sequences. I'm like, you know, you see lots of different influences, but you also see Reggie has a signature style, especially when you're doing walk and talks. When you're doing. You cover conversations better than anyone else. The relationship between Tracy and Eddie's husband and wife is so lovely. She's not a nag, which is what women always tend to be in these types of movies. She's not helpless. And she and Eddie make each other funnier in every successive scene. And I think it takes a really open director to stray away from those stereotypes. And that's just what I love about it too.

Alison Stewart (18:49)

Yeah. To follow up on that, Reggie, what were some of the conventions that you wanted to upend?

Reggie Hudlin (18:55)

Well, I mean. Well, I mean, a lot of it. I mean, you know, Kelly made a movie about his family and when I read it, I was like, this is not about your family. It's about my family. That so many of the dynamics between the husband and wife are conversations that my wife and I have. Conversations. I mean, as you know, I'm making a movie about a daughter about to go off to college. I'm waiting on word from colleges about my daughter going to college. So it's Harvard.

Alison Stewart (19:30)

And I know Chrisette, so I think Tracy is a good Chrisette, by the way.

Reggie Hudlin (19:34)

Yeah. Yes. So I mean, just with like method directing where like, no, I'm living all this stuff very personally. Right. And. And I just wanted to make a movie literally about. I mean, I, you know, I, I married the woman. I did because she's like my mom who was also a professional, you know, and an amazing mom. So I just feel like, well, I know these people, they're in the real world, so I'm just putting real. And. But the thing that really strikes me is the number of middle aged dads who 100% relate to Eddie's character getting fired. They're like, dude, that's that, like you could have made that section twice as long. I mean, they so super relate to that fear and that anxiety and I mean, that's the grounding that makes all the fantastic stuff work, is that, you know, these are real world problems that we can really relate to. And yes, we need some magic to help solve those problems sometimes.

Alison Stewart (20:41)

Let's listen to a clip from Candy Cane Lane. In this scene, Chris, played by Eddie Murphy and his daughter are Meeting the ornaments, Pip. Lamplighter Gary, played by Chris Redd. Pip is played by Nick Offerman. Cordelia, played by my guest, Robin Thede. And the Chorire, played by Pentatonix. Let's take a listen. This is from Candy Cane Lane.

Reggie Hudlin (21:00)

Morning, m'. Lady. Good morning, good sir. What the. Easy, gov. Bit of an edge scratcher, isn't it? But no worries. Pip here at your service.

Robin Thede (21:16)

Nice to meet you, Pip. I'm Holly.

Reggie Hudlin (21:18)

Hey, Holly. Don't get so close to that little tiny man.

Robin Thede (21:21)

But he's so cute.

Reggie Hudlin (21:23)

He's not real. Oi. Are you real? As real as you. At least I was.

Robin Thede (21:30)

We all were. Until we fell into that elf sick, twisted trap.

Reggie Hudlin (21:34)

Yeah. Don't get screwed like us, man. It ain't good. No. Christmas is wonderful once a year, but every day it's a nightmare. I've been eating nothing but chestnuts for 10 years. I'm right clogged up.

Robin Thede (21:46)

The relentless good cheer, these ridiculous outfits.

Reggie Hudlin (21:49)

And it never ends. I light the lamp, I blow it out. Light it.

Robin Thede (21:52)

Blow it out again.

Reggie Hudlin (21:53)

Light blow. Light blow.

Robin Thede (21:55)

Stop it.

Reggie Hudlin (21:55)

I wouldn't love to, Cordelia. So Pepper's a real elf.

Alison Stewart (22:00)

Pepper was Santa's favorite, but any mistake and she put you on the naughty list. Her standards were impossible.

Reggie Hudlin (22:06)

One strike and you're out. So Santa demoted her all the way down to the reindeer stable. Ew.

Robin Thede (22:12)

And then she just quit. Who quit? Santa. Now she's made it her mission to punish anyone who makes it onto her naughty list. And I got news for you fellas. We're all on the naughty list. Now the benefit is I do have a 2 inch waist.

Alison Stewart (22:25)

That was Robin Theodey. So, Robyn, what did Cordelia do to end up on an ornament?

Robin Thede (22:30)

So she's very materialistic and shallow. And Pepper doesn't like that. You know, for her, it's all about going to the mall and getting the cutest things. And, you know, she's a woman who's insecure and filling her insecurities with material goods. And she really needs to learn that Christmas is not about that. And I think even at the end of the movie, she's starting. I think everyone starts to realize it in their own way. But for Cordelia, I think, you know, I think we need seven spinoffs to really delve into, you know, what's going on with her. Alison. So if you just campaign for that here on live radio, that would be great.

Alison Stewart (23:13)

I always say just put it out in the universe. We've just put it out into the universe. Now.

Robin Thede (23:20)

But they all do something, I think, that is very relatable. Right. Like, I'm not sure what Gary did. Probably hit on the wrong person because he is a little horny. But, you know, Pip is this. We're all such. We're on the spectrum very different from what we've done to, you know, engage the ire of evil Elf pepper. So it's really interesting because I think there's a lot left unsaid that hopefully makes people interested in knowing more about all these characters. But it's super, super fun, and I think people will see themselves in at least one of the different characters throughout the movie. It's really, really sweet.

Alison Stewart (23:59)

Reggie, what's something you got to do with this film that you haven't been able to do before?

Reggie Hudlin (24:04)

I have been dying to make a special effects movie. Dying, dying, dying.

Robin Thede (24:08)

And, boy, did you. And fast also, by the way, we shot this, like, yesterday.

Reggie Hudlin (24:14)

Yeah. No, it's crazy. We made a movie, this movie in nine months, right. And we've got a little under a thousand special effects shots, so it was just a massive amount of effects work. But I must say, the people at ILM is like, yeah, all the people who did Star wars and Jurassic park, they know a thing or two about this. But they had so much fun because it was not them doing what they normally do, and they got to shelve their comedic side. And they were really partners with Robin and the other voice actors in terms of, you know, figuring out the body language and adding to the humor with the body language. We also. I mean, I've done almost all my movies with Marcus Miller as my composer.

Robin Thede (24:58)

Fantastic.

Reggie Hudlin (25:00)

Yeah. I mean, he's a genius, obviously, from Luther Vandross to Mouse Davis. But we had never worked with a full orchestra before, so it was like, oh, my God, you've given us the keys to like, a really, you know, to an F1 car. And just working on that scale musically was also a tremendous amount of fun.

Robin Thede (25:21)

Yeah. It's so good. And then Raphael Sadiq came in to do the soundtrack. I mean, casual. Yeah.

Reggie Hudlin (25:27)

And that was the thing, because I was.

Alison Stewart (25:28)

One day.

Reggie Hudlin (25:29)

Yeah. I mean, we. I was. I was again, walking in, I was like, we got to have a Rafael Sadiq song. That was because Raphael is friends and has collaborated with Marcus. He's a friend of mine, and he's a friend of Eddie Murphy's. So I was like, well, we all are going to want Raphael, right? He's a genius songwriter, so let's bring him in. So he just came in and we're like, here's this assignment. It's a song. There's going to be three versions of it in different parts of the movie. You got to make it work all three times. And we had no time for you to finish it. And he goes, I got that in that cool Oakland way. Okay. And then, like, delivers. Like, bam. Wow. That's it. That's kind of perfect. And again, the joy of a level collaborators, whether actors or technicians or musicians, and everyone just having fun.

Alison Stewart (26:27)

The name of the film is Candy Cane Lane. I've been speaking with its director, Reggie Hudlin, and Robin Thede, she plays Cordelia. Thanks to both of you. Really nice to have you. Nice to meet you, Robin. Hello to the family, Reggie.

Reggie Hudlin (26:39)

Yes.

Robin Thede (26:41)

Thank you, Allison.

Reggie Hudlin (26:43)

Thank you, Allison.

Alison Stewart (26:45)

And that's all of it for today. I'm Alison Stewart. I appreciate you. I appreciate you listening, and I will meet you back here next time.

Robin Thede (26:54)

Surprise Beach Day. No excuses. I'm in. Give me five. With Bic Soleil Glide Razor, you'll have hydrated, smooth skin that's ready to go on the fly. No shave cream needed. You can prep, shave and hydrate all in one step thanks to moisture bars that hydrate your skin skin during and after shaving. 5 flexible blades hug your skin for a close shave. Glide into smooth. It's your time to shine with bixsolate. Buy now at Amazon and Walmart. Ready? Your skin looks amazing. So smooth and beach ready.

Reggie Hudlin (27:21)

Let's go. I'mma put you on, nephew. All right, unc. Welcome to McDonald's.

Robin Thede (27:27)

Can I take your order, miss?

Reggie Hudlin (27:28)

I've been hitting up McDonald's for years. Now it's back. We need snack wraps. What's a snack wrap? It's the return of something great. Snack wrap is back.