We Love TV!
This is just an unofficial fan page, we have no connection
to any shows or networks.
Please click here to vote for our site!
By
Suzanne

Interview with Authors Michael and Gina
Spehn, actors Lacey Chabert and Warren Christie, and
executive producer Dan Paulson of the movie "Color of the
Rain" on Hallmark Movie Channel 5/21/14
I enjoyed speaking to the people involved with this film.
The Spehns seems like very nice people. Their book was very
uplifting.
Read my review! I'd spoken before with Warren
Christie when he starred on a great Syfy show I enjoyed,
"Alphas". Now he's on the NBC show "Motive". Lacey
Chabert was wonderful years ago on "All My Children" and in
everything she's done since.
Much & House Public Relations
Moderator: : Bryan deCastro
May 21, 2014
2:00 PM ET
Operator: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank
you for waiting. Welcome to the Color of Rain
teleconference. All lines have been placed on listen only
mode and the floor will be open for your questions later in
the call.
Without further ado, it is my pleasure to turn the floor
over to your host, Ms. Stephanie Sherman from Crown Media
Family Networks. Stephanie, the floor is yours.
Stephanie Sherman: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, thank
you for joining us today. Hallmark Movie Channel is proud to
bring viewers its new original movie, The Color of Rain,
inspired by the true story of Michael and Gina Spehn and the
New York Times bestselling book they wrote together.
The Color of Rain will premier Saturday, May 31st at 9:00
p.m. Eastern Pacific Time, 8:00 Central. Joining us today
are the stars of the movie, Lacey Chabert and Warren
Christie, as well as the authors of the Color of Rain,
Michael and Gina Spehn, and the film's executive producer,
Dan Paulson. Welcome everyone and thank you so much for
joining us today.
I will now turn it over to the Moderator: to begin the
interview.
Operator: The floor is now open for your questions. If you
do have a question, please press the number 7 on your
telephone keypad. And our first question does come from
Beatrice Perry of Peanut Butter Hair. Beatrice?
Beatrice Perry: Hi, thank you. My question is for Mr. and
Mrs. Spehn. I was wondering if you could tell us about the
creative process? Your story is so beautiful, can you tell
us about the process of what it was like to write your book
together?
Michael Spehn: Sure. And thank you for your question.
Writing the book really started out as just an exercise of
writing down our memories of the experiences for the sakes
of our children, who were very young when all of this
occurred. And it kind of grew into something significantly
more. The more we wrote the stories and we realized that our
two families had intersected many more times before Gina and
I ever met.
In terms of the process itself, we had kind of a unique
process. We wrote primarily in our home, although Gina liked
to write out at she was a big fan of Panera Bread. But we
would each kind of go away from each other and write a
chapter or two, and then sort of exchange the pages. And so
before it ever got out into the world, we had already gone
through a kind of a series (ph) round of editing just of
each other's work. And we were both very candid with one
another. We both really, I think, just wanted to produce a
really compelling story that was accurate to our
experiences. And so we would go at it that way. Isn't that
pretty much what we did?
Gina Spehn: Yeah. I think that it was I think that it was a
very therapeutic process for both of us to pour out such a
personal and profound story of our losses and of love and of
all that. But it was sort of a greater purpose behind it as
well, and I think that many people were able to sort of find
themselves within our story. We heard that over and over
again. And the point was, you know what, write this down and
share what happened to us and hopefully other people will be
able to apply our some of the lessons of our journey to
their own lives.
And it was a lot of fun truthfully, and a lot of times just
the editing process was fun, working together. But it was
also very therapeutic at the same time.
Michael Spehn: Yes. And I'll throw in once last comment,
because I realize that there was a lot of discovery for the
two of us.
Beatrice Perry: Wow.
Michael Spehn: I think we learned things about each other's
lives that we didn't know. I think Gina learned a lot about
my childhood and my origins. And one thing that was a
genuine blessing to me was to literally get to know Matt
Kell in a way, intimately, through the eyes of his wife, in
a way that I would never have been able to. So that was a
genuine privilege.
Beatrice Perry: Thank you.
Operator: The next question comes from David Martindale of
Hearst Newspapers. David?
David Martindale: Thank you. Thanks for doing the call,
guys. First for Lacey and Warren. What was it about this
movie, this story, the characters that spoke to you, made
you want to do this movie?
Warren Christie: Lacey, you can go ahead first if you like.
Lacey Chabert: Okay. I saw a piece that Gina and Michael had
done on the Today Show, and I was really moved just by their
story and the fact that they were able to find each other
after suffering through such loss. And I read the book
actually before I read the script, and I was just so moved
by it. And whenever you have the opportunity to play someone
that is a real live person, and to be a part of telling
their story, it's an exciting chance.
And I also think it came with a great responsibility because
I wanted to make them proud of what we were doing. But I
just thought this story was so special in how inspiring it
was. And I thought it would be something that people could
relate to and hopefully also learn from. And I was really
honored to be a part of it.
Warren Christie: I'll echo that a little bit. Mine happened
a little differently when I was sent the script. I didn't
realize that it was a true story until the very last page,
and at that moment my stomach dropped a little bit and I
went back to figure it out. You know there's obviously an
added responsibility, like Lacey said, that comes and you
want to make sure you put the heart and soul into the story
that it deserves and that it warrants.
And I just thought it was a really beautiful story about
love and loss and healing, and an important one, and one
that was going to resonate with a lot of people. So once I
think I got over my initial fear of playing a real live
person and that responsibility, we just tried to go at it
with that, you know to make sure that the essence of the
story was there, and then the family was going to be happy
with it in the end.
Operator: The next question comes from Heather McLatchie at
tvgoodness.com. Heather?
Heather McLatchie: Hi everybody. Thank you so much for
talking to us today. I have a couple of different questions
so I'll start with the Spehns. Thank you so much for sharing
your story with us. Do you have a favorite moment that
happened in the film where you thought this is (inaudible)
going to take this to whole other level of people
understanding our story and getting something from it?
Michael Spehn: You know the movie was beautifully made, and
I don't know if there's any one moment and she put us on the
spot.
Heather McLatchie: I'm sorry. That was my fault.
Michael Spehn: No, no, no, we'll come up with one.
Gina Spehn: Actually no, there were a couple of moments. One
in particular, I really loved when and it's kind of weird to
talk about your husband in the third person like this but
when the character of Michael, played by Warren, kind of
reached this point where he, he kind of was at the end of
his rope and he realized that (inaudible) complete
brokenness that he needed something, you know maybe even
just more than himself, his own strength, his own you know
he actually turned to the pastor in the story and kind of
reached out, and even kind of cried out to him in a way, and
was trying to make sense of everything. And to me that was a
very pivotal moment in the story.
I also loved the way they told some of the they told some of
the back story. And there was this very tender moment that I
shared with my husband in real life, that was captured right
in the beginning of the movie where like Lacey was playing
my character and she was with Matt, and she was actually
shaving his face, which is something that I did for Matt
before he went to church one night. And it was a really
tender, sweet moment that happened in real life and it was a
moment where he was thanking me for taking care of him. And
I don't think what he realized was that to take care of him
was such a privilege and I wanted to return that to him. So
those were the two moments in the movie that I really loved.
Operator: The next question comes from Suzanne Lanoue from The
TV MegaSite. Suzanne?
Suzanne Lanoue: Hi, good morning.
Unidentified Participant: Good morning.
Unidentified Participant: Good morning.
Suzanne Lanoue: This is my question for Michael and Gina.
Now I haven't read the book. It sounds very interesting.
Coming from this as a TV stand, of course when I first heard
this I thought real life Brady Bunch a little bit. Has
anyone ever made that comparison to you?
Unidentified Participant: Yes.
Michael Spehn: Yes. Yeah, people have done that for quite a
while. We kind of say we're the real live Brady Bunch but we
don't have Alice around here to clean up after everybody.
Suzanne Lanoue: That would be good, huh?
Unidentified Participant: Actually we refer to it as Love
Story meets the Brady Bunch.
Suzanne Lanoue: Oh yeah. I guess you probably have more
bathrooms in your house than they did.
Michael Spehn: Yes, and I am named Mike but I'm not an
architect.
Suzanne Lanoue: That's cool. That's cool. I'm looking
forward to watching the movie. What inspired you to-- I mean
obviously your real life story inspired you to do the things
you've done, but what gave you the idea to start the
foundation?
Michael Spehn: Well that was really born out of Matt Kell's
friends, they wanted to do something immediately after he
passed away, and they did a golf tournament. Here in the
Midwest we just refer to it as a golf outing. And they said
let's not just play golf, let's try to raise some money, and
they raised over $70,000. Matt had such a wide circle of
friends, and generous people of faith out here in Michigan
that they raised all this money. And so we looked around and
said to each other, there's something really (inaudible)
there's a passionate servant heart in all of these people
and we need to capture it formally. And so in the aftermath
of that, we formalized the New Day Foundation.
Both Matt Kell and Cathy Spehn were people of incredible
faith and of incredible generosity toward others. And I'm
not just talking monetarily, I'm talking in their love and
their fellowship. And so to be able to carry their legacies
forward in a practical application, like the work of the
Foundation, is a privilege that we get to have every day.
Operator: The next question comes from Sandy Robinson of the
Examiner. Sandy?
Sandy Robinson: Yes, my question is for Michael and Gina. I
want to know how the book turned into a movie. Did you want
to do this? Did Hallmark come to you? How did you get to
that point?
Gina Spehn: Well actually I think Dan Paulson would be the
best person to answer that question.
Sandy Robinson: Okay.
Gina Spehn: We didn't actually know that it would ever
become a movie. And Dan, go ahead and tell the story.
Dan Paulsen: Yeah. I got a call actually from my
co-executive producer, David Permut, who had seen Michael
and Gina on the Today Show, and said this is a tremendous
story. I mean it's something that should be told. And I went
and I read the book and agreed with him.
And we then actually it was a long process in getting this
started, but I went directly to Bill Abbott, who is the
President of Hallmark. And Michael and Gina did a little
sizzle reel for us. Actually their son had shot it. It was
like seven or eight minutes, and they kind of told their
story. And I sat with Bill, we sat in a room and looked at
it. And I'll never forget, the lights went up and Bill said,
give me one good reason why we shouldn't make this film,
it's great. So the network got behind it and the rest is
history.
Sandy Robinson: That sounds amazing. Was it a hard decision
for you, Gina, when they came to you? Did you have to think
about it or were just like yes, this is what I want to do?
Gina Spehn: No, I mean it wasn't an immediate yes because,
you know it's our story and we're handing it over to someone
to kind of care for it. And I guess, you know in the
beginning it was not an immediate yes reaction, but I will
tell you that when we first talked with David Permut and Dan
Paulson, we could tell immediately how genuine they were and
what care they had intended to take with our story. And they
really earned our trust right away and so it became very
easy after talking with them to definitely put our story in
their hands. They really created confidence in us and as it
turns out, it was a great decision and they did it so
beautifully and we're truly pleased with the outcome.
Operator: The next question comes from Lisa Steinberg of
Starry Constellation Magazine. Lisa?
Lisa Steinberg: Hi. Thank you all so much for speaking with
us. (Inaudible). Congratulations Lacey on your recent
nuptials.
Lacey Chabert: Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate that.
Lisa Steinberg: I'm wondering about, Lacey, with regards to
your portrayal and of course with the story, are you
learning anything or did you learn anything from working and
being a part of the movie that you've kind of translated now
into your own married life?
Lacey Chabert: Yeah, you know it is interesting that as we
were filming I was actually getting prepared to get married,
so I think that there was a much more personal depth that I
was able to bring to it, thinking about you know the
(inaudible) family that I hope to have one day in the
future.
I think on the Spehns in general, after reading their book
and the script and then portraying Gina and more than that,
getting to know them and spending time with them, I think
I've learned that first of all, they have such a great sense
of humor about everything, and I think it's always important
to find the levity in life and situations.
But I've been personally so inspired by how they truly live
their faith, and the hope and peace that that brings to
their life. Like they're just really a shining example of
that for me. And they're just very, very beautiful people,
and the fact that they've been able to you know they found
each other and now have become this one big beautiful
family. They're just really, I hate to use the word
inspiring, but they're just a family of incredible strength.
Operator: The next question comes from Troy Foreman from Pop
Culture Principal. Troy?
Troy Foreman: My question is for Dan. Dan, what kind of
challenges, if any, did you face bringing this story to the
small screen?
Dan Paulson: Well I think the main challenge is, you know
when you're doing a true story, and a story like this, you
want to be sensitive to the principles, and make sure that
it's done right. So yeah, I mean we had to take extra
special care to get it right, and again be sensitive to
Michael and Gina so it's something that they'll be happy
with at the end of the day.
Operator: The next question comes from Kelly Larson from
Soaps In-Depth Magazine. Kelly?
Kelly Larson: Hi, my question is for Lacey. Can you tell me
about some of the obstacles and adversity that this couple
faces as they attempt to blend their families?
Lacey Chabert: This may be best for Michael and Gina to
answer.
Gina Spehn: You know what, it's never easy, right, because
you have you have two completely different sets of ideas and
you know kids have lost someone and try to blend them. For
Michael and I, obstacle wise, you know Lacey pointed out a
really good one, you know the kids questioning what to call
us. But I will tell you that our experience maybe is a
little unusual because our kids were really good friends
right from the get go, and really hit it off.
And when the time enough time had passed and we all kind of
realized this is getting serious, the kids were really
excited and onboard. And maybe one of the biggest questions
that came up was this idea of you know does it betray my
late parent to call you mom or dad. Does it change that? And
Michael especially helped to teach the kids that concept
that Lacey touched on about growing new heart and about that
you don't have to take love from one person in order to give
it to another. And that love is not a zero sum gained (ph),
that you can actually love two people as equally and it
doesn't mean that you love your late (inaudible) any less.
So it's one of those moments where I thought they did it
beautifully in the movie, but it was in real life as well.
Michael Spehn: In terms of obstacles of blending our family,
probably the biggest one was we didn't have a big enough
refrigerator. (Laughter). There's a lot of mouths to feed in
our house.
Gina Spehn: I mean the laundry was a little much.
Operator: The next question comes from Sadina Bowman from TV
Equals. Sadina?
Sadina Bowman: Hi everyone, thanks so much for speaking with
us today.
Unidentified Participant: Of course.
Sadina Bowman: My question I actually wanted to follow up a
little bit on something Lacey said earlier. I was wondering
Lacey, and also Gina, how much time did you guys spend
together preparing?
Unidentified Participant: (Inaudible).
Lacey Chabert: Not very much. It would have been nice to
actually have spent a little more time together. But when I
got the role I immediately, or shortly after I called Gina
and we spoke on the phone. And it was really nice to
introduce ourselves and you know she was incredibly
supportive from the get go, which was really comforting for
me.
And then the family actually came out while we were filming
and they were there for a couple of weeks and it was so nice
to have them on set. A very unusual experience though to
have someone that you're playing sitting right off camera as
you're doing a scene that they lived in real life. But they
were very supportive and them being there really elevated
the atmosphere on set.
Operator: The next question comes from comes from Rick
Gables from TV Weekly Magazine. Again, if you do have a
question, please press 7. Rick, go ahead.
Rick Gables: Yeah, I should press 7?
Unidentified Participant: I think you already did.
Rick Gables: Okay. Yeah. Oh, good. (Inaudible).
Unidentified Participant: You pressed 7. You did it.
Rick Gables: Anyway, thank you again, as everyone has
mentioned, to spend some time with us today. And obviously
what happens when you get down in the question, maybe the
20th to 25th question, you're going to get repeats. So
whereas I originally was going to address a question to
Michael and Gina and Dan on how they felt the movie told the
story and their feelings about it, I think that's been
answered very, very nicely on both sides.
So I'm going to switch gears and ask Michael something. I
guess your kids either go to school with the Keever (ph)
kids, and or you know them. And Michael Keever shared
something with me when I guess he forwarded our TV Weekly
article and then the one we did on our site. And he
mentioned this story briefly about I guess when you were
still in grade school and I guess there was a Build-a-Bear
and then all the kids sort of developed hearts. It just blew
me away. So I was wondering if you would elaborate on that.
Michael Spehn: I have to apologize, you lost me a little. I
don't know the individual you said that our kids go to
school with.
Rick Gables: Oh Michael. Yeah, the Keevers, Michael Keever
and his wife. I think it might have been his wife that
shared our article with you. And Michael evidently, through
his wife, had heard this story.
Michael Spehn: I feel very sheepish and I apologize to you,
sir. I am drawing a blank on the name.
Rick Gables: Okay.
Michael Spehn: Which Build-a-Bear story, because that's
Rick Gables: This is a case where and I didn't get a lot of
information but it just sounded so great where the kids in
your class developed these hearts that eventually were put
in the Build-a-Bear that I guess your mother who had passed
away or no actually yeah, had given
Michael Spehn: I think you may be thinking of Gina's best
friend Colleen Schumacher (ph), whose son had a heart
transplant.
Gina Spehn: (Inaudible) it happened to them.
Michael Spehn: And I think that happened to that family,
which is our dear friend. But that's the Schumacher family
and they don't have a book or a movie. (Laughter).
Rick Gables: But there's one in the works? Well I will make
sure Michael understands that so that he doesn't tell a
whole lot of other people that story.
Michael Spehn: I think I remember the Build-a-Bear for Tommy
Schumacher, who is our son's best friend in the world, and
Gina is best friends with the mother.
Gina Spehn: She's in the book.
Michael Spehn: And she's in the movie. Colleen is the
character in the movie. But the trials the challenges they
had with their son and his heart transplant are not
represented in the movie. So I apologize for
Rick Gables: No, nothing, it's just the opposite. I
apologize for not getting all the facts. But I guess just in
closing it out then, I love what you guys said about the
parts in the movie that moved you, and therefore obviously
were on target. Just overall, your feeling on both sides
about the movie that we're all about to see at the end of
May, is it a family oriented thing that all of us as a
family should sit and watch?
Michael Spehn: It's certainly available to all ages. I think
there are some emotional points that you know it doesn't
dwell in them, but there are certainly some cheerful moments
in the film. All of our children have seen it. There were a
number of children at the Detroit premiere last week. So I
think it's certainly a family film, like all Hallmark
productions. You're about to see I think a beautiful film,
truly a Hallmark love story that is beautifully written and
acted. And for our sake, we're really proud of it selfishly
because it gives another place for our story to live in a
new way, and hopefully turns some focus back to the work of
our nonprofit foundation so that we can serve more families
than ever.
Operator: The next question comes from Diana Simeon from
Your Teen Magazine. Diana?
Diana Simeon: Hi. I was hoping to ask a little bit about
your children. Are they all teenagers now? And maybe if you
could just talk a little bit about their journey and their
role in writing the book and also the movie. Thanks.
Gina Spehn: Sure. Well, there's five of them and they are
18, 16, 15, 13 and 12. The 12-year-old will be a teenager in
September. So we're almost a full house of teenagers right
now. So yes, you may all begin praying now because that's
for real. The process of writing the book, the kids really
weren't involved in that process. It was something that you
know to be honest with you, I don't think Michael or I even
knew that it would become a book. We had never attempted to
get into publishing or you know looking into that..
The way that our story happened was we poured out what was
on our hearts, and when we shared it with a friend, it ended
up in the hands of a literary agent, not by design but just
sort of almost accidentally. And when that happened, that
literary agent, his name is Curtis Yates, he decided to take
the story and kind of give it wings, and you know it became
a published book just a couple of years after that.
And so you know the children didn't have much to do with the
writing process, but when it came time for the book to be
turned into a movie, that was a little different because now
your story's going to be on television and it's very
accessible to a lot of people that way, and what do you
think. And we had a lot of conversations and really truly
our kids were excited about it and I think understand it
beyond just wow, how cool that someone's making a movie
about us.
I think that they understand sort of the bigger picture of
it and we've been able to kind of teach them about the value
of this process and that it does definitely extend beyond
sort of the glitz and glamor side of being associated with a
movie, that there's really some practical blessings I guess
that come through it. And so they've been very supportive.
In fact had such a great time at the premiere party the
other night, they had a blast with their friends and getting
all dressed up and getting to see Lacey and Warren again and
just having fun with it and really enjoying the time.
Operator: The next question comes from Curt Anthony Krug of
Oakland Press in Detroit, Michigan. Curt?
Curt Anthony Krug: Hello everyone. Thank you for doing this.
Gina, it's nice to talk to you again.
Gina Spehn: Thanks Curt. Nice to talk to you.
Curt Anthony Krug: Got a question for your husband, Michael.
First of all, sir, and Gina, I'm very sorry for your losses.
Gina Spehn: Thank you.
Curt Anthony Krug: Gina told me that Nancy Silvers consulted
you about the script to see if it was authentic, and you
contributed to some of the script. Is that correct? Can you
elaborate?
Michael Spehn: Well I don't it wasn't really a consultation.
That sounds very formal. And you know the entire team that
Dan Paulson assembled, whether it be the on-screen talent or
the crew, or certainly the screenwriter and so forth,
everyone just simply had a collaborative, creative spirit
throughout the entire process. And as Dan has already
articulated, a big priority for them and for Hallmark was to
really convey the story as closely as possible on screen.
And so we were just simply a part of the conversation all
along the way. The creative process was one that I mean we
were very new to it. We didn't know how books became movies
or even how movies became actual movies. And so but all
along the way we were included in the conversation by
everyone. And when we got on set, that continued through the
generosity of Warren and of Lacey, and frankly all the
on-screen talent. I think probably, you know I would have to
look at the the accountants would have to verify this, but I
think our family being on set really raised their craft
services budget right through the roof. (Laughter)
But other than that, we were just simply included. There
wasn't any sort of formal consultation process or any other
thing like that. You know the kind of group that Dan Paulson
and David Permut assembled to make movies just seemed to be
a group that was focused on collaborative, creative
accomplishment.
Operator: The next question comes from Heather McLatchie of
tvgoodness.com. Heather?
Heather McLatchie: Hello again. So my question is for Lacey
and Warren. And Warren, congratulations on the Motive
renewal this morning. That's awesome.
Warren Christie: Oh, thank you.
Heather McLatchie: And so I wanted to ask both of you,
you've touched on this a little bit, but can you talk a
little bit about the challenges and the rewards of playing a
real person versus playing a fictional character? Does that
change your process or how you approach the role and how you
play the role?
Warren Christie: Want to go first, Lacey?
Lacey Chabert: Sure. I mean I think at the end of the day
you do have to separate yourself and realize we are just
actors in this piece. So there definitely for me felt like a
greater responsibility to be as honest with the story as
possible and to portray Gina in a way that was as truthful
as possible and in the light of who she really is. So having
her on set and having them there was really nice and
comforting. They were very trusting of us and very
supportive, but I certainly wanted to make sure we captured
the strength and the beauty of their story.
Warren Christie: Well I mean I was terrified. It's a very
beautiful story with a lot of obviously sensitive and
personal material. So when you are portraying someone like
that, you want to make sure that at the very least you're
grabbing the essence and getting the story across. Once the
family showed up, and we were able to spend a little time
together, you know there's little things you try and pick up
and little things you try and grab.
And we have to also understand at the end of the day with
what we're doing, you have much less creative freedom as far
as you know you want to get the specifics down but you are
still telling a story, and so certain things get changed.
And I'm sure Michael and Gina will tell you also the story,
it's a movie and there's things going on within it. But that
added responsibility really at first was very terrifying.
And then when we heard the family was coming to join us a
week into shoot, it got even more terrifying.
But I think that, not to speak for Lacey, but we kind of sat
down and realized that as long as we put everything we could
in this, our heart and our soul, and at the end of the day,
as long as the family was happy with the end product, then
that's all that really mattered to us. We hope it reaches a
bigger audience, and I think it's an important concept to
get out there and an important idea, but for us it was about
making sure the family felt that their story was told with
all the heart that they were, you know, so forthcoming with
putting in their book and then putting in the script.
Lacey Chabert: Yeah, and to echo what Warren said also, like
we weren't doing an impersonation of them. So I think the
challenge was just finding the essence of who they are and
trying to portray that.
Warren Christie: Uh-hm.
Operator: The next question comes from Troy Foreman of Pop
Culture Principal. Troy go ahead.
Troy Foreman: Yeah, my question is for Warren. What did you
personally take away from working on this project?
Warren Christie: Oh, I mean to be honest with you it's going
to be similar to what Lacey said. I mean you know I told
this story, but when I first read the script I remember
thinking, oh this is a nice story and whatnot, but when you
get to the final page and I realized it was about a real
family and it was all true, it changes everything. And you
know you go back and you look at little details.
But the family is truly inspirational, not just for who they
are and how they live their lives and how they've gone
through what they've gone through and come out in such a
beautiful way, but how then they've worked so hard to pay it
forward. They are a million times better people than I will
ever be you know with everything that they do. It's how they
live their lives and how they've continued live their lives
moving forward. They are inspirational. I mean Lacey said it
earlier and I don't think that that word is misused here in
any way.
Lacey Chabert: And can I also just add that I think that I
really hope that from this there's a lot of attention
brought to their foundation, the New Day Foundation for
Families. We were able to see on set, and also last week
firsthand how many people they actually touch and help and
truly impact. So if I could say anything, it would be to add
that, that I hope it brings attention to their foundation.
Operator: The next question comes from Sandy Robinson from
the Examiner. Sandy?
Sandy Robinson: Yes, my question is for Michael and Gina. I
know that you've already told your story and this is what
got you to where you are today, but can your fans expect
more books from you in the future? Are you going to let them
in on how things are going or is this the end for you in
that creative way?
Michael Spehn: Our fans? Oh dear. Around here that's just
the thing on the ceiling that spins around. We don't really
(laughter) we don't really see ourselves as people who have
fans, that's why that really kind of took me aback, so
pardon my hesitation. You know, there's certainly lots more
story to tell. And when we go we go around the country and
speak about some of our experiences and tie in the book and
the Foundation together.
And the privilege of that is we get to connect with so many
people who, as Gina spoke before, have seen themselves
reflected back in the text of our book and of our story. And
so there's certainly a thirst out there for these kinds of
experiences. And I guess it's turned out that Gina and I
know how to construct a declarative sentence, and so we
would love to continue to write. And what shape that
manifests, I don't know. I mean whether that's in book form
or in some other medium, I guess time will tell.
Operator: We have one other question on the line. It comes
from Curt Anthony Krug of Oakland Press. Curt?
Curt Anthony Krug: Thank you again. Lacey and Warren and
Dan, the question's for you. You went to the premiere in
Detroit. Can you talk about that experience last week on the
red carpet, all three of you please?
Dan Paulson: Well let me I'll chime in. I thought it was
first rate. It was like a Hollywood premiere. Michael and
Gina and the New Day Foundation did a great job, very, very
professional. And it was exciting. It was exciting when we
got in the theater to watch the crowd. We hadn't seen it
played before a big audience and it just went of real well.
Lacey Chabert: Yeah, it was really nice for us all to be
together again. We hadn't seen each other as a group in
nearly a year, since we filmed the movie. And yeah, the
event was so elegant and well done and put together so well.
And I thought it was really nice to be around the family and
meet their friends and family. And every single person I
spoke to really spoke about Gina and Michael just how what
incredible friends they are and how supportive they are in
their community. And it just speaks to the type of people
they are, which we knew already, which is people of great
integrity. And the service that they do to the Foundation is
really inspiring and worthwhile and something that I hope
the movie brings a lot of attention to.
Warren Christie: Yeah, I thought it was great. I think
everyone it was a beautiful room full of a lot of love. And
I think just to echo also what Lacey had said earlier, to
see on a bigger scale the New Day Foundation and what they
do, to really get a more clear insight into just how many
lives they touch and what they do and how much they pay it
forward was an amazing thing to see. To see their friends
all come out and see the support that they have, but I had a
blast.
Lacey Chabert: And there was free popcorn and candy so it
was just awesome.
Warren Christie: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Gina Spehn: And you know I have a story to tell about that
night because we had a family that was in attendance that
evening who was one of the families that our Foundation had
helped recently. And the mom of the family actually passed
away the day of our event, and it was her intention to come
to the event because she had a cameo role in the movie. And
it was this beautiful moment happened when her entire family
showed up to honor her and to be there to you know to
fulfill this dream. She had intended to be there. She had a
dress. She had her heart set on it.
And I will tell you, this is the part of the story that I
just love. So we took a minute and pulled the family back
into the green room. And Lacey and Warren went and spoke
with the family members and hugged everyone and just thanked
them for being there, and it was this beautiful moment. And
then at one point Lacey had been talking to the kids and she
comes to me and she said, hey come with me, we got to go get
some stuff for these kids. So okay, where are we going.
So we head down to the concession stand in the lobby of the
movie theater, completely separate from the party. And she
must have bought 20 bags of candy, popcorn, cotton candy.
She took care of these kids and ran back upstairs with all
these goodies for them and just spoiled them all. And it was
such a sweet gesture and it really made them all smile. And
I just love that moment and I was so grateful to both Warren
and Lacey for taking the time to connect with these
families. It's not an easy thing to do on literally the day
that they lost their mother, their sister, their friend. You
know they had about 15 people there in attendance. So it was
a really beautiful moment.
Unidentified Participant: Ah, that's sweet. And they're (ph)
a very special family.
Operator: There are no other questions in the queue at this
time.
Stephanie Sherman: Thank you very much Lacey, Warren,
Michael, Gina and Dan. And thank you everybody who
participated in the call. Just a friendly reminder that the
Color of Rain premiers Saturday, May 31st at 9:00 p.m.
Eastern Pacific Time, 8:00 Central, on Hallmark Movie
Channel. This concludes our call today.
Unidentified Participant: Thank you guys.
Unidentified Participant: Thank you. Bye.
Unidentified Participant: Thanks everybody. Bye, bye.
Unidentified Participant: Thanks.
Unidentified Participant: Thank you.
Back to the Main Articles
Page
Back to the Main Primetime TV Page
We need more episode guide recap writers, article
writers, MS FrontPage and Web Expression users, graphics designers, and more, so
please email us
if you can help out! More volunteers always
needed! Thanks!
Page updated 8/15/14
    
|