Podcast #12 – Filmmaking 101: Inside the Mind of Hollywood Producer Kim Waltrip

Doug Dvorak (00:01.458)
Good day Mission Possible podcast community. I’m your host, Doug Dvorak, and I’m extremely excited to bring you inspiring stories from incredible guests. These individuals are on a mission to create remarkable possibilities, not only that enhance their own lives, but make a lasting impact on the community and individuals they serve. Stay tuned for some truly amazing conversations. My guest today is Hollywood producer, Kim Waltrip. Hi, Kim.

Kim Waltrip (00:28.716)
Hi Doug!

Doug Dvorak (00:29.948)
Where are you on the planet today?

Kim Waltrip (00:31.81)
Today I’m in Los Angeles actually Long Beach. So yeah, I know I’d be bop around a lot but today in LA

Doug Dvorak (00:38.952)
and I thought I traveled. Well, great to see you, Kim.

Kim Waltrip (00:40.628)
I know, you do.

Kim Waltrip (00:46.434)
Wow.

Kim Waltrip (01:03.246)
It’s hard to say.

Doug Dvorak (01:07.451)
Thanks, Kim. It’s a high honor and privilege to have you on the Mission Possible podcast. A little bit about Kim among her many film productions. She’s also the president of Palm Springs Women in Film and has served as a juror for the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, the California Independent Film Festival, the Red Rock Film Festival and the International Youth Silent Film Festival and is co-founder of the Fear-tastic Film Festival.

Kim Waltrip (01:11.224)
Thanks, Doug.

Doug Dvorak (01:34.171)
She has moderated many panels, including the Palm Springs Comic-Con and has received the most valuable patron award by the Garden State Film Festival. Again, welcome.

Kim Waltrip (01:44.728)
Welcome. Thanks for having me, Doug. It’s nice to see you. Usually we’re on the mountain.

Doug Dvorak (01:48.082)
Nice to see you. So Kim, we’re normally on the mountain in Idaho taking some turns, but I’m so excited about today’s conversation. And I know our listeners on the Mission Possible podcast. So Kim, what inspired you to pursue a career in film production and how did you get your start in Hollywood?

Kim Waltrip (02:06.786)
Well, when I first started, was actually, I was modeling for a while in New York and in Europe. Then when I came back from there, I started doing commercials. So I did a lot of commercials. Then I stopped. I moved to Palm Springs after my friend Sonny Bono passed away. And my best friend Mary Bono said, I’m going to run for a seat in Congress. Will you come help me? So I said, sure.

Moved out to Palm Springs, worked for her for a while. When she won her seat, she asked me to come work as her district director. I said, sure. So I did that for a few years and then stopped. And then totally unexpected, I had a friend whose children were going to the same school as mine. And he handed me a script, who knows why, and said, hey, do you want to go make this movie?

And was like, sure. I’m really good at saying sure. so I read the script. I’m like, my gosh, this looks like fun. And it’s actually a script that, know, and it’s the writer Charles Everett. So he handed me a script called adopt a sailor. And it’s an actual program with the USO, that they put on when the sailors come to New York during fleet week in May.

Doug Dvorak (03:19.495)
Mm-hmm.

Kim Waltrip (03:33.288)
And it’s a program where you can adopt a sailor. You can cook them meals, do their laundry, whatever. So this was written, Charles wrote it right after 9-11. He wrote a short play and then he decided to make this into a screenplay. And I read it and thought it was fabulous. And I was like, yeah, let’s go do this thing. And I was 50 at the time. So my first production was at the age of 50.

Doug Dvorak (04:01.958)
Wow.

Kim Waltrip (04:02.798)
And I mean, I kind of knew what needed to happen because I had been on set before as an actress. So I was like, I don’t know, we got to hire a crew. didn’t have a lot of crew. I didn’t know anybody on that side of it. And one of the most challenging things was we wanted to film that year and we wanted to actually film Fleet Week in New York. So.

Doug Dvorak (04:30.672)
Mm-hmm.

Kim Waltrip (04:32.01)
We were in a time crunch. So we put out a casting notice to cast our sailor. We auditioned a whole lot of people. And then this really tall, beautiful guy walks in, sits down, reads, and we’re all like hitting each other like, my gosh, this is him. This is the guy. And he just happened to be the grandson of Gregory Peck. So Ethan Peck was our sailor. And so we

Doug Dvorak (04:55.003)
Wow.

Kim Waltrip (05:00.546)
We got the approval of the Navy to do this. They read the script and said, you know, if you take out these two lines, we’re good to go. And so what they do with that is they gave us a PAO officer, a public affairs officer, she took us to Port Waineme, Point Magoo. We got Ethan a haircut. We got his uniform, all of his little patches. And then…

I had to raise the money for this project and we didn’t have the money yet, but we had to get to New York. So I paid for this portion of the project, flew everybody to New York. And the great thing about having the Navy supporting us is they picked us up on helicopters, took us out to sea. We landed on an aircraft carrier. We inserted our sailor into, you know,

Doug Dvorak (05:31.239)
Mmm.

Kim Waltrip (05:55.176)
their entire crew and they do this thing called the manning of the rails where it’s one Marine one sailor one Marine one sailor and then you come into New York that way and so our sailor was there he came out of the hole with the rest of them lined the ship and we filmed it all and I mean the Navy was they were so great and then we filmed some of it on the ship and then at the end as well.

And then we went into the Times Square where the USO had, they had a big event there and they’re like, would you like us to put your sailor on the Jumbotron? We’re like, yeah. So we got our sailor up there and it was like, I mean, it’s just, we couldn’t afford any of that if we had to pay for it. So, but it was really great. So we finished all of that. And then we went, I went back to Palm Springs where I was living at the time.

Doug Dvorak (06:31.623)
You

Kim Waltrip (06:48.854)
And then I was like, well, now we got to raise the money to do the rest of the movie. And so I did. I found the money from this great person, Mike Merrick, who lives in Texas. He was like, yeah, I’ll give you the money, which you never hear that. Like, it’s a bill maker. Nobody ever calls me and says that. So, Bibi Neuwirth, I know you all know her, singer, dancer. She was Lilith on Cheers. She was on Madame President, one of those shows.

Doug Dvorak (07:11.143)
I know baby. Cheers.

Kim Waltrip (07:18.572)
Anyway, she’s extremely talented and she had done a reading of this stage play. so Chuck sent it to her and said, would you like to play our Patricia? And she’s like, I’m in. then you, so funny. If I knew then what I know now, I would have never done most of what I did. Cause it just kind of made me fearless that I didn’t know what I was doing. So I’m calling CAA, one of the largest agents in the world.

Hi, I have no money, but I’d to hire so-and-so. They did not laugh me out of the business, but they were all so kind, really, seriously. But Bebe had worked with our new Peter Coyote, and she said, anybody like Peter Coyote as much as me? And we’re like, yeah. So she sent this script to Peter. He loved it. He’s like, I will work for Peanut Butter Sandwiches. I just love this dialogue. I’m like, well, we will pay you.

But so now we had our cast and now we’re like, okay, now where are we gonna shoot this thing? Because New York is expensive. We didn’t have a lot of money. mean, our whole budget was $200,000. So I was walking around my house in Palm Desert and I was like, I got the director on the phone. Should we film here? And he’s like, I’ve been to your house. And he’s like, you know what? That’s a great idea.

Doug Dvorak (08:28.624)
Wow.

Kim Waltrip (08:42.794)
So we actually built walls in the house, because New York is not as big as some of the homes in California. So we built walls to block off areas. We got a trans light for the window outside, so it looks like New York in the background. And when we were in New York, when we started, we had Ethan Peck, our sailor, walk up to a place, and then he goes inside. We just didn’t know where he was going to come out. So we filmed in my house in Palm Desert.

And the most challenging part, two things. Number one is we shot in August. The desert in August is horrible. And you you have to turn the air conditioning off because it makes a hum in the background. So it’s not good for sound. And not only were we all just roasting, sweating the poor actors, but the biggest problem where the crickets got in the house from all the guys opening the doors and bringing in equipment and stuff.

Doug Dvorak (09:21.095)
Mmm.

Doug Dvorak (09:41.55)
no.

Kim Waltrip (09:43.136)
And so when we did our sound in post, the sound guy’s like, you have a lot of ADR to do. That’s when you re-record your lines. Because of the crickets. It wasn’t because of the humming of the air conditioner or whatever. It was these damn crickets. So poor Bibi, I think she had like 122 lines of ADR and she nailed it. Of course she’s such a pro, but.

That was my foray into filmmaking as a producer.

Doug Dvorak (10:13.287)
great story and I had the privilege to meet Chuck and actually I played your sailor it was was a great opportunity and Chuck’s a really interesting kind man and what he’s doing for the the actor director producer community up there out east. That’s a great story this leads into my next question can you share some additional behind-the-scenes stories from your most memorable projects?

Kim Waltrip (10:18.242)
And you played our sailor! Yes.

Kim Waltrip (10:30.126)
for sure.

Kim Waltrip (10:39.094)
Well, there was one I was in. We shot a movie called Back in the Day with Michael Rosenbaum that he wrote and directed. Most fun I’ve ever had on a set. We were in Indiana, in Evansville, Indiana for like three months. And it was like a weird winter because we filmed in, I think we’re in prep in December, then filmed in January for something like that. But it was just a weird time where there were a lot of tornado warnings and

our production office was an old bank. So every time these tornado warnings would go off, we all hustle into the vault. We’re like, this has got to be safe, right? So it was fine. Then you get the all clear and everything’s fine. But one night, it was still in pre-production, the first AD, Sherry and I, we rented a house. We didn’t want to stay in a hotel. So we rented a house. It was this beautiful, historic home.

It was like one block up from the Ohio River. And about two o’clock in the morning, this tornado warning goes off. So I go downstairs and I’m sitting by the staircase. Sherry comes out of her bedroom. We’re sitting there like, what do we do? So we sat there for a minute and then it got really loud. And we looked out the window and it was dark, but we could see all this debris flying by. And she was like, my God.

The basement, remember there’s a basement off the bathroom, or off the kitchen. So we crawled in and we went down to the basement and we waited for the all clear. And sure enough, when we got out, we were hit by a tornado. And the house we were in, it was fine. I mean, it was so sturdy, this house. I mean, there was broken glass and stuff. The houses below us, like rooftops were gone.

Doug Dvorak (12:16.455)
Wow.

Kim Waltrip (12:29.826)
the restaurant over there, half of the restaurant was gone. But we went outside and there was this beautiful, like 60 foot beautiful pine that was in front of her home. It fell and it missed her house by inches. And we’re like, my gosh, we were so lucky. And I felt so bad for the tree. I would go out there and pet it. I was like, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, bud.

Doug Dvorak (12:52.93)
Hahaha

Kim Waltrip (12:55.67)
Yeah, that was a little interesting. Nothing happened when we were filming. I mean, we had rain, but nothing like that. It was just in pre-production. It was weird.

Doug Dvorak (13:04.167)
That’s a great story. So Kim, what does a day in the life of a Hollywood producer look like?

Kim Waltrip (13:09.518)
Well, it depends because that is so true. Yeah, if you don’t have money, your days are spent finding money. You know, the producers get the best picture Oscar for a good reason because producers find the project, find the money, hire the cast and crew, see it through production, post-production, and then sell it, right?

Doug Dvorak (13:11.77)
if you got money or not.

Doug Dvorak (13:33.019)
Wait, let me pause there. I did not know that. I thought the director hired the talent.

Kim Waltrip (13:39.073)
No.

Doug Dvorak (13:40.325)
Wow, I just learned something that is so interesting the Purdue

Kim Waltrip (13:43.02)
Yeah, well, the director has a hand in it, you know, because they want to work with people they want to work with. But you have to remember it’s a it’s a financial it’s a business. So we have to make sure we’re going to sell this project. So we get a say in, you know, because if they want to hire some terrible actor, it’s like, yeah, no, not going to happen because this movie is not going to do well, we’re not going to make any money. But it’s also about the cast. So.

Doug Dvorak (13:46.15)
Yeah.

Doug Dvorak (13:53.36)
Mm-hmm.

Kim Waltrip (14:08.802)
Cast versus budget. If you’ve got a big budget, you got to have a bigger cast because you have to sell it, right? So if you have nobody in it, nobody’s ever heard of it, it better be a really good project that you put a lot of marketing behind or it’s got word of mouth to make any money. So it’s all budget versus cast ratio.

Doug Dvorak (14:32.057)
Interesting. So how do you decide which projects to take on and what draws you to a script or a story?

Kim Waltrip (14:39.362)
Well, mostly it’s the story, right? If it’s not on the page, it’s not on the stage. So it’s got to be a really good script. I mean, I’ve done a couple of them for friends that, you know, they’re not something I would have taken on by myself. But usually it’s about the story. mean, one of them, I did a project that Dax Shepard wrote and directed, and I was on a plane to New York and I got this email that said,

Hey, we’re looking for funding for a project that Dax Shepard wrote. Kristen Bell is going to star in it alongside Bradley Cooper for $2 million. I was like, I couldn’t wait to land the plane because I called my partner. like, we have to find the money for this project. It was ridiculously cheap for Bradley Cooper status, right? I didn’t even read the script, but I figured if Dax wrote it, it’s going to be good. And if Bradley’s going to be in it, it’s going to be good.

We called one of the producers, Nate, and we said, yeah, we’d like to give you money to do this project. And he’s like, who is this? Because again, people don’t normally call you to give you money, right? So we got involved with that and it was so cool. And we made that film and it was, it’s still out there. It’s awesome. I think you saw it. It’s a great film. It’s called Hit and Run. Yeah.

Doug Dvorak (15:43.431)
Ha

Doug Dvorak (15:58.108)
Hit and run, yes, I remember. It’s a well-done film. Kim, Hollywood and the film industry is known for its challenges. What was one of the biggest obstacles you faced and how did you overcome it?

Kim Waltrip (16:10.36)
think the obstacles are, know, every time you do a production, you’re working with a whole different crew. They become your family for a few months. And that is the most difficult part is how do you expect all of these different personalities to get along? And sometimes it doesn’t work. You try to nip it in the bud immediately. If somebody doesn’t work out, try, you know, just, I’m so sorry, I’ve got to let you go.

Because it becomes cancerous, know, the whole production is affected. There was one project that I worked on. It was awful. It was just, it was horrible. The whole experience was just horrible. But the core people, we all stayed friends and we laugh about that time. But we had like the meanest crew on the planet and you can’t fire everybody, right? So we just plowed through it, pushed through and made sure we never spoke to them again.

No, it’s just, it’s, you you just do what you have to do to get through it and make it the best you can. So that’s challenging, working with a bunch of different people. And I’m working on one now that we’re prepping, we’re going to be shooting in Spain, Romania, DC, and New Jersey. So I have not filmed in a foreign country yet. So that, that will be challenging. We’ll see how that goes. And in a different language. yeah.

Doug Dvorak (17:31.93)
Interesting. So when you’re on the set, it’s really important to have that cohesion and that family attitude where everybody gets along. You’re dealing with powerful people, talented people. I just finished Warner Herd’s Hogg’s book, and I watched a lot of his films. I’m a big fan, but I don’t know how he and Klaus Kinski got along. Kinski was a

an interesting actor, a great actor in my humble opinion, but to make that work and the stress on the crew and the production staff, it was really insightful into how Herzog and Kinsky got together. So Kim, Hollywood has evolved significantly over the years. What major shifts have you noticed and where do think the future is headed?

Kim Waltrip (18:02.008)
Right.

Kim Waltrip (18:19.81)
Ooh, that’s a really good question. I wish I knew the answer to that. And if you find the answer, will you tell me?

Doug Dvorak (18:25.615)
I will. Well, maybe how about this? You know, I think back six, 12 months ago, the writer strike part of their their beef was AI and creative control. So maybe AI is a piece of that. But from where you sit, you’re in the bowels of producing, going out for money. What are how has it evolved and what are some things on the horizon that are positive or maybe a threat to Hollywood?

Kim Waltrip (18:39.488)
It is.

Kim Waltrip (18:46.339)
Yeah.

Kim Waltrip (18:51.564)
Yeah, you know, when I started, I was doing indie films, right? So you raise the money and there weren’t any streamers. So your hope was to put it into movie theaters and have people go see it. then that just started shifting into, well, and also people filmed on film. And actually Adopt-A-Sailor was one of the first digitally shot films ever. so…

post-production was weird because people were like, how do you do that? How do you do the rest of it? so then all the streamers came about, it’s like, well, nobody’s because maybe people won’t go to the movie theater anymore. They’re just gonna stay home and watch movies on their TVs. so it was hard to navigate those waters of, you know.

Now, what is my role? Because my role as an independent film producer is very different from a network taking over. They have their own producers and whatever. like, where do I fit? So, but the independent world is still alive and thriving. Thank goodness. Yeah, this whole AI stuff, it is crazy. Somebody actually made an AI video of me and sent it to me. I was like, this is frightening, frightening.

Doug Dvorak (20:13.649)
Really.

Kim Waltrip (20:14.698)
And yeah, as an actor, would not want people doing that. It’s so easy to do though. It’s so scary. I don’t know how that’s going to trans, I don’t know how it’s going to move forward. have no idea, but it’s scary.

Doug Dvorak (20:28.719)
It is scary. So Kim, how do you balance, you mentioned being a producer, it’s a business and you’ve got to get funding and hope that it’ll be well received and profitable. But how do you balance the creative and business aspects of film production?

Kim Waltrip (20:44.492)
Yeah, I mean, you just, you always have to think as a producer, you have to mitigate your risk, right? You’re not going to ask an investor to put money into this project and have them lose it. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. So you’ve got this wonderful project and you you want your neighbor down the street to star in it. It’s just not going to happen. And so you just have to make people understand this is a business. This is an investor and we’re here to.

make a good project, but also we want that investor to make their money back. Otherwise, you know, we wouldn’t have a business, right? People keep investing and not making money back. So, you you just, think most people in this business understand that. So, you know, you’re not really teaching somebody what, what, what it’s all about, but I, I think that’s the, the biggest part is you want to be as creative as possible. You want to give the director.

free reigns to go make their project, but you also have to be a smart business person and say, but you just, yeah. And then, know, stuff happens on set too where the cinematographer will say, I need some, you know, some more lighting. I need to light this whole street up. And it’s like, we don’t have that in the budget. You want to have it in the budget, but sometimes you just don’t. We do have a contingency line item, but you know.

Every department is asking for new stuff. it’s, yeah, you just have to be on top of it constantly. You have a great line producer, UPM, who is working with you. You know, we talk all the time, updating us on budgets. You know, the first AD is like, we’re going to go overtime today. got it. Now you got to pay every, if you’re going to go overtime, you got to pay everybody extra money. If you, if you move into lunch, like if you’re not breaking for lunch, you can call Grace, which I,

I it’s like six minutes you’re loud before you have to break your crew. But if you’re in the middle of a great scene and the weather is perfect and all is good, you don’t want to break. So you have to ask the producer, can we go into overtime? So it’s a whole bunch of stuff to think about. It’s like a little puzzle.

Doug Dvorak (22:53.864)
A lot of moving parts. Great. Kim, what are some common misconceptions people have about producing movies?

Kim Waltrip (23:02.19)
I think people don’t understand how hard it is. It’s really difficult. I mean, I think I saw a meme one time. It like, this is a producer. And it was a guy riding his bike. Like, everything’s on fire around him. His hair’s on fire, whatever. And he’s like plowing through a big crash scene. It’s like, that’s what a producer is. It’s just, it’s hard work and you have to be tenacious. You just got to have, you have to keep pushing forward. You cannot give up.

You know, there have been times when I’m like, I’m out of here. You can’t do that. You know, some other people can. The crew could quit if they wanted to, but as a producer, you can’t do that. it’s hard work, but you also have to, I mean, if you love it, just be tenacious. Just keep going, keep pushing. You’ll make it happen.

Doug Dvorak (23:48.551)
Excellent. Kim, what advice would you give to aspiring filmmakers or producers trying to break into the industry today?

Kim Waltrip (23:55.084)
Yeah, I think again it’s tenacity. That’s my motto, tenacity, tenacity, tenacity. You just have to, don’t be discouraged. I mean, there’s a lot of rejection out there and you just don’t take it personally. I mean, there are a lot of studios that turn down great movies that have become hugely successful. and know, art is subjective. So if you love it and you want to get it done, just believe in yourself, be tenacious and go do it.

Doug Dvorak (24:22.151)
advice. Kim, as a female producer in Hollywood, you’ve faced some unique and significant challenges. How has the landscape changed for women in the film industry today?

Kim Waltrip (24:33.846)
I think, I think it’s changed a lot. think people have become more respectful, you know, of the voice of a woman. And I mean, there, you know, I haven’t had too many difficulties. have been a few misogynistic men out there who like they treat you like you’re an idiot or that you don’t exist. but again, you just, yeah, I’ve not experienced that. Thank goodness. my gosh. Yeah. Yes. That was a thing. I mean, that’s why Harvey Weinstein’s in jail.

Doug Dvorak (24:53.135)
or the casting couch.

Doug Dvorak (24:58.022)
I wasn’t implying, you know, I…

Kim Waltrip (25:03.534)
so I have not, but people wouldn’t, they wouldn’t dare go there today. They would be in big trouble. Yeah. Which is a really good thing. I mean, even as a model, cause I was a model before this. you know, I did see a bit of that, but I was tough. I remember I was on a shoot with a photographer. We were shooting in Bordeaux in France and he came over to me and put his hand in my.

Doug Dvorak (25:10.695)
Good, good.

Kim Waltrip (25:33.602)
I said, nope, I quit. Take me home, take me back to Paris. He’s like, no, no, it’s okay, it’s okay. I was like, no, it isn’t. And I made him take me back. And I was like, I did not put up with that. It’s like, no, thanks.

Doug Dvorak (25:41.287)
Good for you. Good for you. So Kim, do you see progress in diversity and inclusion behind the scenes in Hollywood, or what more needs to be done?

Kim Waltrip (25:53.442)
Yeah, think everybody is aware. It’s like, you know, everybody’s qualified, but let’s take the best qualified person, right? The most qualified person. But yeah, of course. I mean, you want to include everybody. So I mean, I don’t even think about it. I don’t think about race, color, religion. I don’t think about any of that when we’re casting. It never comes into play. So you want the best. Yes, exactly.

Doug Dvorak (26:15.227)
You want the best. You want the best. Excellent. So Kim, what makes a great film? Is it the story, the cast, the director, or something else?

Kim Waltrip (26:24.33)
All of that story, it starts with a story. Seriously, if it’s not on the page, if it’s, if the story’s not there, I don’t know how you make it good filming it. It’s yeah, it starts there. Great director, great cast. Yeah. And, and in editing, a lot happens in editing. It’s like a whole other movie gets made in editing. So you just have to make sure you’re all on the same page. It’s so funny. I worked with a director once.

Doug Dvorak (26:27.184)
starts with the story.

Kim Waltrip (26:51.894)
He didn’t know he didn’t have final cut on the project. He found out after he signed his contract. And we made sure we put that in there, but he was so upset. And he brought in, this was a comedy, and he brought in, it was like a two and a half hour movie. like, you’ve got to cut this down. This is way too long and it’s not funny. And so I remember, and it’s my job to tell him that.

He had to do that. But so I was in the room with the editor, the assistant editor and the director. He made them leave. Then he stood over me and he said, you bleep and touch my bleep and movie. I’m coming after you and your bleep and family. I was like, okay. And yeah, he threatened to take his name off of it and he didn’t. And we cut it down. It was fine, whatever. But it was like, it was funny.

Doug Dvorak (27:36.004)
my goodness. Okay.

Doug Dvorak (27:47.335)
So Kim, how do you work with directors, writers, and actors to bring a vision to life?

Kim Waltrip (27:55.074)
Well, I think my job as a producer is to hire the best actor, hire the best director, hire the best actors, and get out of their way. Let them make the movie. Because this is why prep takes so long. I mean, you really do diligence in making sure everything is put in place. You’ve got the story. You’ve got the actors, director. We have the vision. We have the locations.

There’s a storyboard, there’s a shot list, everything’s good to go. And then it’s like, okay, step back, let it flow.

Doug Dvorak (28:30.065)
Excellent. So Kim, what’s a film or project you’ve worked on that holds a special place in your heart and why?

Kim Waltrip (28:36.75)
I think my first one just became, first of all, it’s beautifully written. If I had Jeff Bezos’ money, I would only produce films that Chuck Everett wrote, because he’s so brilliant. But it was just so special. It my first one. I had no idea what I was doing. It was film school 101 for both Chuck and I. We’re like, oh, what do we need to do now? It was really, it was a learning experience, right? So I actually, I have since…

started through Palm Springs Women in Film. I started a program, it’s called the Kim Walters Filmmakers Lab. It was called the Filmmakers Lab, but they have since named it after me, which is very sweet. And it is to teach people how to make a film by making a film because that’s how I started. I just went and made a film. So we’ve shot, we just wrapped our fifth short film, I believe.

So we’re teaching our members, they sign up for various departments, you know, hey, I worked in wardrobe last time, I want to do props. And so they’re learning as they go and we keep getting new people. So it’s kind of fun. It’s kind of nice to pay it forward because that’s how I started.

Doug Dvorak (29:46.791)
Excellent. Kim, with social media platforms and independent filmmakers gaining more traction, how does that change Hollywood’s traditional structure?

Kim Waltrip (29:56.44)
well, you know, it used to be where you had to spend a whole lot of money on print and advertising P &A, it’s called. I know on hit and run, I think it was $10 million or something. But nowadays with digital, you know, shrink that by, you know, four. So it’s really made it a lot easier to get the word out there to people.

Doug Dvorak (30:18.983)
Excellent. Kim, if you could produce any dream project, past or present, what would it be?

Kim Waltrip (30:30.828)
gosh, my gosh. Well, I have a few in my little slate that I’ve been trying to get made and I won’t say what they are, but I do have one that’s very, very, very special that I really want to get made and I want Stephen Soderbergh to direct it. I want Adrian Brody to star in it. I love him. He is like the male version of Meryl Streep in my book. He can do no wrong. He’s unbelievable.

Doug Dvorak (30:51.747)
I love Adrian Brody.

Doug Dvorak (30:59.634)
he is. I did not.

Kim Waltrip (30:59.746)
Did you see the brutalist yet? he is phenomenal. He’s just such a.

Doug Dvorak (31:06.023)
Is that where he plays a Czech or Romanian, Eastern European? The brutalist. I’ll put that on my watch list. Thank you. Excellent. So what’s a piece of advice you received early in your career that still resonates with you today?

Kim Waltrip (31:11.926)
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Architecture, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Doug Dvorak (31:25.041)
Beyond Tenacity.

Kim Waltrip (31:26.766)
I think, you know, I don’t know that I received any sort of advice from anybody, but my friend Peter, he was a director. He did a lot of commercials. I did a lot of commercials with him as an actress. He would just always tell me to, like I would say, I would love to do this. He’d do it. And so there was, I did this little video called Griffin Goes to the Grand Canyon starring my son. He was two.

And it was going to be a series of teaching kids about the Grand Canyon from the kid’s perspective. So he’s just like, go do it. So I did. I went and did it. And then when I was done, he’s like, this is so good. It’s so bright. And then I said, I want to do this. And he go, go do it. So it was always that push, gave me confidence and always encouraged.

I think that was probably the most wonderful thing I received. It wasn’t really advice. Well, it was. Go do it.

Doug Dvorak (32:29.191)
Go do it. Just do it. Kim, if you had to describe your producing style in three words, what would they be?

Kim Waltrip (32:35.682)
It would be fun. I like to have fun. And I try to do things on set like work on the days off, like organize a picnic or a baseball game or something, because you’re all working so hard, long hours, and you just want to have some fun, you know, and just get out of your head. And also you want to build that community, right? You want to all be a family and you want to keep everybody happy and together. so, yeah, just have

Doug Dvorak (33:02.567)
Excellent. So any fun or unexpected moments on set that stand out to you?

Kim Waltrip (33:10.222)
Well, besides the tornado, we did it. We pulled a prank on Dax Shepard. We had this scene where he was taking his, his four wheeler, I forget what it’s called, razor or whatever it is, big huge thing. And he’s supposed to go up these stairs at this college. And you know, it’s a big deal to get the location and get all the people and the permits and whatever, got the whole crew just for this one thing. And then his friend, Nate.

Doug Dvorak (33:12.551)
decide the term.

Doug Dvorak (33:23.227)
Razor,

Kim Waltrip (33:40.076)
went up to him and said, we have to leave. They pulled the permit that we can’t do this today. And Dax was just like, wah! Crazy, and so it’s fun to pull little pranks like that.

Doug Dvorak (33:49.146)
You

Doug Dvorak (33:52.838)
Yeah. So Kim, we’ve got through the long form questions. Now we get into rapid fire question round. I’m going to give you some questions rapid fire, one word response or short word phrase. Are you ready? Favorite movie of all time.

Kim Waltrip (33:59.053)
Kim Waltrip (34:05.974)
Okay. Okay.

out of Africa?

Doug Dvorak (34:11.729)
director you’d love to work with. Most unexpected moment on set.

Kim Waltrip (34:13.902)
Steven Soderberg.

Kim Waltrip (34:18.882)
Tornado.

Doug Dvorak (34:20.503)
One actor or actress who always delivers.

Kim Waltrip (34:24.492)
Meryl Streep, Adrienne Brody, Michelle Williams.

Doug Dvorak (34:26.961)
Dream project you’d love to produce.

Kim Waltrip (34:32.139)
I think it would be great to produce a big musical. That would be fun.

Doug Dvorak (34:37.913)
Excellent. If you weren’t a producer, what would you be?

Kim Waltrip (34:42.094)
Ooh, yikes. I don’t know. I’ve changed so many times. I have no idea. I think at this point in my life, I think I’d like to be retired. Retired.

Doug Dvorak (34:50.375)
So retired. One word to describe Hollywood.

Kim Waltrip (34:59.05)
And confusing. Yeah.

Doug Dvorak (35:02.407)
confusing. A hidden gem movie everyone should watch.

Kim Waltrip (36:09.1)
Well, if you’re older and you haven’t seen the older Disney movies, go see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or Mary Poppins or whatever on the big screen. You have to go on the big screen.

Doug Dvorak (36:15.205)
I love it.

Doug Dvorak (36:19.055)
Excellent. Popcorn or candy at the movies?

Kim Waltrip (36:21.902)
popcorn and I don’t share.

Doug Dvorak (36:24.345)
Okay, and Kim, if you could go in a time machine back 35 years and give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?

Kim Waltrip (36:35.704)
Be brave. Be braver than you. You’re stronger than you think you are.

Doug Dvorak (36:41.679)
Excellent. Well, Kim, it’s been a high honor and privilege to have you on the mission possible podcast. Kim, if people want to watch your movies or get in touch with you, how can they do that?

Kim Waltrip (36:44.739)
so fun.

Kim Waltrip (36:52.802)
They can email me at kim at wonderstarproductions.com.

Doug Dvorak (36:59.579)
Kim at wonderstarproductions.com. Well, thank you, Kim. And thank you, Mission Possible podcast community. Check us out on missionpossible.biz. Thank you so much and Carpe Diem.