00:00You've written a couple of these. Did you ever expect that you would be getting behind the camera for this?
00:06I'm sorry, I was listening to her. Ask that question again, because I totally would. I'm standing next to McKenna
00:13and Grace.
00:14You've written a...and a camp, yeah.
00:20No, you've written...you've written a couple of these. Did you ever expect you would be getting behind the camera and
00:26directing one?
00:27No, never. I never thought. I kind of, after Scream 4 and after West Pass, I kind of thought it
00:32was over for me.
00:33I said, this franchise, I've said goodbye to this franchise so many times, and they keep luring me back in,
00:40but I didn't.
00:43With Scream 4 and 5, you know, Jamie Vanderbilt called me. I'd been friends with him for a lot of
00:47years, and he said,
00:48we really want you to be a part of this movie. I go, and do what? What am I going
00:52to do?
00:52And he said, you're a godfather of the project. I go, what does that mean? I don't quite know what...what
00:58does that mean?
00:59And so, what it meant was I got to be part of a new family. I got to be part
01:03of this new crew of people
01:05who loved Scream so much that they wanted to make one.
01:09And I got to work with Matt and Tyler and Guy Busiek, and it was just so, it was so
01:13much fun that I didn't want to leave.
01:15And so, I kind of sort of hung around a little bit, and the next thing you know, Neve Campbell's
01:20in 7,
01:20and so we're working on a new script for that, for the new 7, and then I got a phone
01:27call from Neve,
01:28and I went, uh-oh, she's got notes. She's going to give me a bunch of notes.
01:31And she asked me to direct.
01:33Yeah, I'm standing here because of Neve Campbell.
01:37Yeah. I've known her for 30 years, and she's probably one of the greatest human beings on the planet.
01:42And after Melissa and Jenna's departures, I mean, you guys really had to kind of start from scratch.
01:46Did you always know where this was going to go, or...?
01:49No, no. You know, it's so funny.
01:52I got a call from one of the producers, William, and he said,
01:57Well, we're going to have to come up with something else, and here's what Jamie and Guy were thinking.
02:03And I said, well, let's talk about it.
02:06And so, they wrote a script, and then I kind of just gave some notes.
02:12You know, that's what I do. I do whatever I'm asked, you know, and I'm here to please you.
02:17And then, like I said, and so we started working on a new story.
02:21Once we knew that we had Neve Campbell back, I've known Neve for 30 years.
02:26I knew what she wanted.
02:28You know, yes, there was the salary dispute and paying her, but she also is an actress, and she wants
02:34to act.
02:35And she wants a role.
02:37And so we wanted to do a Sydney-centric film and catch up with Sydney Prescott all these years later
02:43and sort of see what she's up to.
02:45And so that was sort of the emphasis.
02:47What's her family like?
02:49What would happen if she had a daughter the same age as she was when this all started?
02:53How does she parent?
02:54How does she talk about the past?
02:57She's so traumatized.
02:58Every conversation Sydney has ends in blood and guts.
03:02Mom, what was your first time like?
03:04Well, it was the night all my friends got killed.
03:07What was college like?
03:08Oh, well, my first semester, everyone got killed.
03:11You know, it's just not something you want to talk about.
03:14But if you have a daughter who desperately wants to connect with you, that's a conflict that we sort of
03:22establish in the movie,
03:23and that's what it's about.
03:25And the decision to bring all these people that we had thought died back, I mean, how early did that
03:30come about?
03:31How did you guys kind of figure all that out?
03:34I wish I could take credit for everything, but I can't at all.
03:37That was someone else's idea, and I want to point right at Guy Busiek and Jamie Vanderbilt.
03:43I didn't even cross my mind, and they said, well, what about this?
03:46And I went, yeah, that'd be a great idea.
03:51I had that exact reaction.
03:53I was like, it's kind of like when they said they were going to go to New York.
03:56Well, we're going to take the movie to New York.
03:58I went, I don't think it's going to work.
03:59I think it's a small-town story.
04:01And then, boy, was I wrong.
04:03I read that script, and it was, I love it.
04:06I think Matt and Tyler crushed Six.
04:07I love Six.
04:08And then I just have to ask, as with everyone else, obviously there are some protesters outside.
04:13How are you kind of navigating that and kind of that commentary?
04:18Writing in, I saw them, and my heart just sort of stopped, you know, because I, look, we live in
04:23America.
04:24Everyone has a right to protest, and I want everyone's voice.
04:26Everyone should be heard.
04:28And if you have your truth, and you want other, you know, if you want to stand up and be
04:34heard, you protest.
04:35That is your right in this country, and I stand by, I support that 100%.
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