In honor of last night's episode, Cole sat down with Brian Studler, who co-wrote the episode with Sherri Cooper-Landsman. Brian is the newest member of the writing staff, but he handled the interview like an old pro.
Cole: So this is your first episode as a staff writer. What has the transition been like for you?
Brian:
It's been really exciting. I did the two freelance episodes, but
because I'm now a staff writer my focus is entirely on writing. I
don't have my other duties to run around with. I wound up being on set
a lot more during this episode because I didn't have to stay at my desk.
[Laughs at Cole, who is chained to the desk this very moment] And also, I co-wrote this episode with Sherri Cooper--
Cole: Yeah, how was it, teaming up with Sherri?
Brian: Well, Coop I love. She's the greatest. And she was like, you
know, eight and a half months pregnant by the end, I think, of our
writing. So by the time we finished she went on maternity leave, and I
wound up covering the episode on set the entire time. So that was
really cool.
Cole: So you liked covering set?
Brian: Yeah, it was great. I've
gotten to spend a little bit of time on set in the past, but not much,
so it was really good. I got to know our crew a lot better, who are
amazing, absolutely amazing and really fun. I'm still a little
nervous around some of the actors, but I think doing this was really
helpful. I got used to talking to them, and they figured out who I was. I actually
could not have asked for a better experience as far as that stuff goes.
Cole: Whose idea was it to send the brothers to Baja? That seems like a Brian Studler idea...
Brian: I don't remember whose idea it was initially. It might
have actually been our co-showrunner Monica's idea. I will say that while we were in
the writers' room, Monica, for whatever reason, always referred to it
as "The Baja." We actually kept wanting to do that in the script, like
have one of the brothers refer to it only as "The Baja" and the others
pick on him. But we didn't have room for that. We knew we kind of
wanted to get the brothers away from everybody else, that it needed to be a
sort of self-contained little thing, and we wound up getting really
really lucky, I have to say. Our brilliant production designer, Denny
Dugally, did a great job creating the cantina and hotel that we had in
mind.
The brothers have a beachside heart to heart
Cole: So for the folks at home, we didn't actually go to “The Baja?”
Brian:
We did not actually go to “The Baja.” All of the interiors were shot
here, on the Disney lot, on a brilliant set. And then we had a glorious
day down at the beach in Malibu--or actually just north of Malibu. And
it was really funny-- it was this one week sandwiched right in between
a couple really cold rainy weeks, could not be more beautiful weather. It was 85 degrees, perfect-- not windy, not cold. We were all
out till, you know, 11:30 at night on the beach, just in shirt sleeves,
you know, with 80 extras in bathing suits... also I should point out,
there's 80 extras in bathing suits.
Cole: Yeah, I hear the crew was pretty happy about that.
Brian: They thanked me profusely.
Cole: I heard you got slipped a few gifts.
Brian:
There was some gifting. It was fantastic. We actually had a really good
time. Everybody was really nice. I thought casting did a great job on
this episode, with all the various people that they meet in Baja.
Cole: Yeah, I was going to say, this episode has more guest spots than usual. What was it like for you working with a lot of new actors, and not just the main cast?
Brian:
So nice. Everybody was really cool. There was a gaggle of girls that
the brothers meet down in Baja-- they were all just lovely, they were
so sweet, and really fun.
Desiree Hall as Tessa, one of the episode's Spring Breakers
Cole: Now, did you attend the auditions for any of these guest
spots? In particular, I’m wondering about the Shot Babe and Shot
Hottie.
Brian: [Laughs] Shot babe and shot hottie? That whole
incident with the Shot Babe and the Shot Hottie, that's all based on my
own personal experience in Tijuana, years ago. We don't talk about it.
But uh, yeah.
Cole: [laughs]
Brian: I thought both those actors were
just spectacular. They were about as perfect as you could ask for. The other
thing that was amazingly cool about this episode for me was that
Richard Coad directed it, who is our first AD. I've known Richard
for many many years from working on Alias and just love him. He's the
greatest guy. So having this be his first Brothers & Sisters
episode to diect-- to be on the set with Richard as the director-- that
helped make me a lot more comfortable just because I know him so well. It was just cool and really fun. The cast and
the crew all love him so much, and so it was a really great atmosphere
on set this episode. Even more than normal.
Cole: In previous interviews you've expressed how stressful table reads can be.
Brian: Nah, that wasn't me.
Cole: How was the table read for this episode?
Brian: It was really fun. Uh... I was nervous... but it was actually kind of great.
Cole: I remember the room was crowded, with all the dayplayers. The cast kept looking around the room whenever the dayplayers spoke. It was like, for once the regular cast had a separate show to just sit back and watch.
Brian: Yeah, it was funny. I think we had a higher turnout than normal of all these little guest roles in this one.
Cole: Normally it's just one of us shouting out a line.
Brian: Yeah, it wasn't like you and Marc Halsey playing parts. It was the actual
actors. It was pretty fun, though--because of that, I think. It's also
always funny when a bunch of guest actors come in and see our sort of
dysfunctional family at table reads. We've all gotten very comfortable
with each other.
Cole: [Laughs] They're like, 'What is going on?"
Brian:
[Laughs] "This isn't even a TV show. This is some
kind of weird soap opera in real life." No, I actually
thought that table read was really fun. The
actors did a great job of finding the fun parts in it and making it
funnier than it might have been otherwise.
Spring Breakers kept the episode (and table read) very entertaining
Cole: Cool. I wanted to shift gears to talk about another storylines. This episode is also about Kitty being a new mother. What
were you guys going for with this storyline, and was there any
collaboration with Calista Flockhart?
Brian: With all our actors-- and
Calista is one in particular who's really good about this-- we always
get their input and their feedback from the first drafts, and then sort
of help tailor it. We're also getting notes from
the studio and network, but Calista had a lot to say about
it in a really good way, actually.
Cole: Being a mom herself.
Brian: Yeah, and we had Sherri Cooper, obviously
a mother and at that point imminent mother-to-be. We also got a lot of help from Co-Executive Producer Jennifer Levin, another mom. I should give an enormous shout-out to Jennifer. She was
very much a part of writing this episode. Actually, most of our writing staff have kids, so we had a lot
experience to draw from.
Cole: So when you guys were breaking the story, what were you trying to capture with the Kitty storyline?
Brian: Well, certainly that exhaustion of new
motherhood, but then coupled with the fact that her
husband had just had a heart attack and there's
clearly other strains on their marriage. We really just tried to dramatize Kitty's frame of mind
and the state of her own life and marriage. This is also the
episode where she finally meets her mysterious half-brother. What we're really trying to
do at this point, in episode 319, is tee up for the end of the season. Not to give anything away, but there's a lot of things
that we have to put in place for what is going to happen.
Cole: So, was there a particular storyline that
took the most work and the most thinking about?
Brian: Well...
obviously the Baja story takes up a lot of real estate of the script
and is very important in terms of what happens with Tommy and the
brothers. Although, we had a really clear idea of what that
story was, from the beginning. I mean, the mechanics
of it needed to be worked out, and a lot of that story is scenes that
are more light-hearted and fun, you know, when they're drunk in Mexico.
But really the Kitty story, that whole Kitty arc, was the thing that
probably took the most time and the most finessing. I also
like it on our show when we get those pairings you don't always see,
and I like the scene with Sarah and McCallister when she goes up to the
ranch to talk with him. I was very happy to work on that scene. That
was really cool. You don't always see those two together.
Cole: Cool. And was there a favorite scene to film?
Brian:
[Laughs] Hmm. I should be careful what I say. There were some things in
Mexico that were really great to film... Yeah, any scene with the
donkey in it. I love the donkey. He was cool.
Cole: Who was responsible for the donkey?
Brian: I
don't know that this is 100 percent true, but I hear that in looking at
pictures of spring break in Mexico and things, Richard Coad
actually saw a donkey with kegs strapped to it the way that our donkey
had, and decided that he needed that to realize his vision.
Cole: So that was based in reality.
Brian: Completely based
in reality. There are donkeys with kegs. But yeah, he was a very sweet
donkey. We liked him very much. He tried to go swimming, at one point.
Cole: I also heard, didn't Michael Morris almost hit the donkey with his car or something?
Brian: That's quite possible. He's British. They often are on the wrong side of the road.
Cole:
[Laughs] So do you think you're getting a reputation for being the
funny guy on staff? Your last episode was also one of the more
lighthearted episodes...
Brian: [Long pause] No. [Both laugh.]
Cole: Well, that's easy enough, then.
Brian: I don't-- it's far too soon for me to have a reputation yet. I'll work on that.
Cole: We'll see what happens next year.
Brian: Next year it's all tear-jerkers, all the time.
Cole: [Laughs] Well, we look forward to it. Thanks again for sitting down with us.
Brian: Thank you, Cole Fowler.
