This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Robert Bannon: Are you ready? It's The Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon.

[0:09] Robert Bannon: Well, welcome to The Roundtable, everybody. My name is Robert Bannon. You're listening to us on Broadway World, the Broadway Podcast Network, iHeart, Spotify, where artists are here to talk about art. And we have somebody who does a little bit of everything. Broadway books, Hallmark movies, just magic. The Tony Awards are good. Look, I've had a lot of Tony Award winners on the show. Everyone promises me that they're going to let me flick the Tony, and nobody has ever come through. I don't have a selfie with the Tony. I have not held the Tony. I think our next guest may be the one that lets me hold her Tony. I just want a selfie. Just, Brisa, I just want a selfie with this. You got three. You could loan one to me.

I mean, you have three of them. See, that's all I want in my whole time bucket list. She is a Tony Award-winning producer from Hamilton, Beautiful, and Moulin Rouge, and award-winning novelist, and making her Hallmark screenwriting debut with Double Booked for the Holidays. Welcome to the show.

[1:06] Brisa Carleton: Thank you. Thank you for having me. I love your show. And that Tony would love to have a selfie with you. So come over anytime.

[1:10] Robert Bannon: I need it. I need it. You are incredible. Your journey and your career is incredible because you literally do a little bit of everything.

[1:21] Brisa Carleton: Oh, thank you.

[1:22] Robert Bannon: Where are you from? And when did you want to work in art?

[1:25] Brisa Carleton: I was a theater kid from birth. I am the ultimate theater nerd. I know more show tune lyrics than anybody you've ever met. And that's saying a lot. But I'm from Portland, Oregon. And so I moved to New York to be a producer, which is a pretty crazy thing. In retrospect, at the time, it seemed like a perfectly reasonable thing to do. But here we are.

[1:49] Robert Bannon: What made you want to be... Before we talk about books and Hallmark and all that, what made you want to be a... Of all the things you could have been, how did you know to be a producer?

[1:58] Brisa Carleton: Well, it turns out actually producing is perfect for what I love about theater. But it wasn't what I sought to do at the beginning. I mean, like most of us, I started as the theater kid and all the performances and things like that. My mom loved theater. So she got me in. She was one of those stage moms. And unfortunately for both of us, I just wasn't that good. So I loved it and I really tried and I really wanted to, but ultimately I had enough self-awareness to be like, maybe there's a higher and better use for me than being on stage. So that's when I gravitated. I've always been a little bossy. I gravitated toward theater.

[2:37] Robert Bannon: So my question for you before we get... I'm fascinated by producing. So what was the first show you helped produce?

[2:45] Brisa Carleton: So I came to New York thinking, oh, how hard can this be? I got to tell you the story of actually how I even got into the first show, because it's kind of crazy. I was running a little theater company in Portland and I'm like, great, I can produce on Broadway. How different can it be? It turns out it's a little different, but I didn't know anybody. And so I was trying to get meetings and meet with some of the producers that I idolized and everyone's busy. But somebody told me that they all hang out at the second floor bar at Sardi's. And I was like, great. So I started going to Sardi's every night at like 5:30 or 6, the hour before the show and sitting at the bar and ordering a martini and just sort of eavesdropping on all the Broadway business happening around me with the producers and the theater owners.

These aren't the Broadway stars. I mean, they were my Broadway stars, the people that were making the shows happen. And after weeks of doing this, finally one of the bartenders, because the bartenders at Sardi's are part of the institution, were like, what are you doing here? And I said, I want to be a producer. And this one bartender said, got it, let me help you. And he just started introducing me to people as they would come up to get their drinks. And I went from, there's Brisa, we don't know who that is, to, oh, that's Brisa, she knows everybody. And so from there, I was able to get involved as a co-producer on my first show, which was Bonnie and Clyde. And it was an incredible experience.

Jeremy Jordan, Laura Osnes, Frank Wildhorn, this whole thing. I absolutely loved it. From what I could tell, the audience loved it. It opened and two seconds later it closed. And it still is one of the best producing experiences I've ever had because I really got to be in the room for so much of it. But also because I went to all the people involved in production and said, can you explain to me, I don't understand. Because at the time, there was really, it was 2010, there weren't a lot of classes for Broadway producing. There are more now, but there wasn't anything then. And they very generously said, yeah, let's chat. And they taught me about Broadway budgets and about marketing and about just the politics of it all. And I think if I hadn't been involved in a show that flopped so spectacularly, I probably wouldn't have had the success that I have subsequently had, or at least not as quickly.

[5:10] Robert Bannon: Can I, look, I invested money in a show one time, a friend of mine was producing. And when I think of producing, I think of it as a lot of raising money. There's a money part. And theater is-

[5:24] Brisa Carleton: No, that's a huge part of it.

[5:26] Robert Bannon: It's expensive. And my question for you is, for people who don't know this, and maybe I'm wrong. So you raise money, you raise a certain amount of money, you get to be a producer, you get to be a part of the decision-making of the show. You don't make money until the investment is returned. And then people that invested and you split it 50-50. So you may spend years, months of time and never make $1 off of doing it. That's the risk involved, isn't it?

[5:55] Brisa Carleton: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the line that they say for theater producing is you can't make a living, but you can make a killing. So you're in it, you have to love it. You have to be doing it because you just love it. And they say the same thing about actors or really anybody involved in theater. It's not the business to get in if you want to make a ton of money or have job stability or any of that type of thing. But I mean, we all just love it so much. What else would we do?

[6:19] Robert Bannon: What else are you going to do? Well, you did make a killing. You have been involved in shows that have made a killing. You're involved in a show that may be the biggest hit show ever. And not to be in your business, but I'm sure the checks still clear.

[6:31] Brisa Carleton: Yeah. Hamilton checks are still very much clear. And that was a life-changing thing to get to just be a little tiny investor in that show. I met Lynn back when he was doing In the Heights and basically handed him a blank check and said, whatever you do next, I want to be part of. And thank goodness he didn't cash a check at the time because I had no money. But he remembered that he kind of stayed in touch. I would run into him all the time and just walking down the street. And he started telling me about this idea he had for this new show that ended up becoming Hamilton. And to his credit, Hamilton, he didn't need anybody's money, but he let just a handful of us be part of it with him. And so I was really honored and it's been incredible.

[7:14] Robert Bannon: It will make money for you probably the rest of your life and the generations after. And what's incredible about that story is that you knew nobody. And it's a real lesson. A lot of people ask me, how do you become friends with people? How do you start? Broadway is really small. Entertainment is small, period. And being in the right places and just putting yourself out there and meeting people and networking and being not a user, but a friend and a supporter.

[7:38] Brisa Carleton: I just started showing up. And one of my favorite things is now connecting people to each other from my network. I get so much joy from being like, oh my gosh, you need to know so-and-so. And really helping those connections happen. It's so much fun.

[7:53] Robert Bannon: I love it. Well, now, I'm not going to hit you up for anything. I'm good. I swear. I'm good. I won't say never, but you never know everybody. Sometimes you need a house seat to Hamilton. When did you decide to pivot? You can live in the theater world forever, but then at some point you wanted to write a book. And then more came a calling. So tell me about this transition for you.

[8:13] Brisa Carleton: To be clear, I literally live in the theater world. I live right in Times Square. And I will live in the theater world forever. I absolutely love it. But I had never really thought of myself on the creative side of things. I was always involved in developing musicals. I've always been a huge reader. I've consumed stories constantly. And I love storytelling, but I had never thought I could do it myself. And I was going through a very stressful time with just a lot of projects. And I thought, what is something that I can do that is quiet, has no people? I can just lose myself in my head. And I took a 90-day novel writing course, an online 90-day novel, novel in 90 days situation, and just started coming up with ideas.

And my first novel came out of that. And I had absolutely no expectations. I didn't tell anybody I was doing it. I just thought, let's see what happens with this. And that became Last Call at the Savoy. And from there, I thought, oh, okay. It was like discovering I had this hidden skill that had been sitting there all along. And that's when I said, now what can I do? And I've always loved Hallmark. I've always been obsessed with Christmas, obsessed with Hallmark movies. I love the whole thing. And again, similar to getting involved in Broadway, I just started asking around to see if I had any connections to Hallmark, because Hallmark notoriously does not take submissions. They have a group of writers they work with, or they'll sometimes reach out to people that they're interested in, but you can't just apply.

But I, through various connections, found somebody. They were like, we don't take submissions, but you want to send a couple ideas, go ahead. And sorry, it's a long story. Okay. And so I said, okay. So I sent a couple ideas. And a few months later, I hear back, thank you so much. We appreciate it, but we're good. And I was like, and they ended it, but like, oh, feel free if you have ideas in the future. I'm like, turns out I do have more ideas. So I sent three more ideas, same process happened again. But this time they said, let us give you a little more information about what you're looking for, because it became clear that I could do that all day. I have a hundred ideas. I will keep going.

And so the process repeated itself several times, and I didn't go away. And they kept giving me feedback that was amazing. And here we are. I finally, they finally accepted a pitch and the movie comes out November 22nd. I don't know when this is going to air, but if it's before.

[10:50] Robert Bannon: November 22nd for sure, and it'll be up before your book is out called Just Her Holiday Type, which is about a screenwriter whose typewriter brings her a fictional dream man.

[11:01] Brisa Carleton: Yes.

[11:02] Robert Bannon: Which is a trip and a half of a story, and it sounds like a Hallmark movie as well.

[11:06] Brisa Carleton: Totally. It's basically a Hallmark movie in book form, like literally.

[11:10] Brisa Carleton: And Julia Whelan and Jonathan Bennett did the audio book, which arrives...

[11:14] Robert Bannon: Can you believe it?

[11:16] Brisa Carleton: He's been here, and I love him.

[11:18] Robert Bannon: He's a sweetheart.

[11:19] Brisa Carleton: He's the best. What a good guy.

[11:21] Robert Bannon: Yeah.

[11:22] Brisa Carleton: And then, so if you love someone for Christmas, and you're looking for a book club for December, if you're looking for your friends, you're going to see your family on Thanksgiving, and you're like, let's do something fun together. Let's celebrate the holidays, mom, aunt, boyfriend, girlfriend, whomever. You have your book for the Christmas.

[11:35] Brisa Carleton: I have a husband who has six Christmas trees up in my house already, so...

[11:39] Robert Bannon: Perfect. Love him.

[11:41] Brisa Carleton: This is for him. Then, everybody, when you're going through all your Hallmark movies, and you go through them and watch them, and I hear so many people tell me how much they love Hallmark movies, November 22nd, double book for the holidays.

[11:52] Brisa Carleton: It's your first Christmas movie for Hallmark, starring Rachael Leigh Cook, right in a Welsh town of Han. Tell me about this town. Tell me where this idea came from.

[12:01] Brisa Carleton: Oh my gosh. I had this idea. I had heard about a real life Airbnb, where you can live above a bookstore and work in it for a week, and I was like, oh my gosh, I want to do that. The wait list for it, it really exists, it's like miles long, and it's based in Scotland. It always stuck in my head, and so that was the idea I pitched to Hallmark, of what if two sisters end up there at Christmas, and they said, we love it, but we just did a movie in Scotland, so find someplace else nearby, and so I'm like, all right. My husband and I drove around Wales and Northern England, looking for the perfect bookstore to set it, and we stumbled upon this town called Hay-on-Wye, that is an entire town of bookstores. Literally, every storefront, along its adorable cobblestone streets, are bookstores, and it has a castle in the middle of the town that has a bookstore in it. It's unbelievable. In my head, it's like Notting Hill in real life, but not Notting Hill.

[13:00] Brisa Carleton: Yes, but better, but even more bookish.

[13:06] Robert Bannon: You know, back to my husband. You have a husband.

[13:08] Brisa Carleton: Yes.

[13:10] Robert Bannon: Does he think Christmas is a crazy life, or does he love this showbiz world?

[13:12] Brisa Carleton: Both. He's not from showbiz, but he has embraced it. I have a husband who's a banker, right, who I met when he was working on Motor City Pride, and he hired me to sing for Pride here in Detroit.

[13:25] Robert Bannon: Oh my God, the Christmas Cup.

[13:28] Brisa Carleton: He loves it and thinks I'm insane, and this whole world is insane, but he's obsessed with Christmas, and he's obsessed with anything in British culture, and UK, and et cetera, and he goes to sleep at night watching castle tours, and they scare me, because I think they're haunted, but this is made. This is me. He will love this movie, and also with the twins, there's a double romance, so we have two of just the sweetest.

[13:52] Robert Bannon: And you're in it. You make a cameo.

[13:54] Brisa Carleton: I maybe make a little cameo, yes.

[13:57] Robert Bannon: Okay, well, we've got to watch. For you, is it surreal to go from behind the scenes to now being the name on this? You could be a name on a marquee, you could be a name in a playbill, but now it's going to say screenplay by you. This is your baby.

[14:11] Brisa Carleton: It is totally surreal. It is. It is. It's a Christmas miracle. I mean, it is a dream I didn't even dare to dream to have that is coming true, and I'm loving it. I'm loving that I get to live in Christmas in my head all year round. I love that I get to connect with people around not just Broadway now, but books, and Christmas, and all the things I love, and it's been amazing. I cannot wait for the movie to come out so that people can see it and see this beautiful Welsh book world.

[14:42] Robert Bannon: Did you think 20 years ago you would have had the courage and guts to put yourself forward like that, to pitch something to Hallmark and write a book? How have you grown over the past 20 years in New York and in this business?

[14:55] Brisa Carleton: I mean, I would like to think I would have thought I could, but over the last 20 years, I definitely have learned that you can just sort of try things, and I think part of that is being in the theater community because you do have to, as a person in theater, put yourself out there and risk doing something silly or taking a creative leap that may or may not work out in the short term, and so you get kind of used to just saying, what's the worst that can happen? If it doesn't work, I'll learn something and move on and try again. I think as 20 years have gone by, I've just gotten more and more used to saying, might as well give it a shot because there's not really a downside, and the upside is I get to be here.

[15:43] Robert Bannon: Incredible. Well, I have a couple more questions for you if you would have a moment, but I just want to say again, November 5th, the book, Just Her Holiday Type, comes out. December 8th, the audio book is out, so get ready. And then November 22nd, I'm sure they'll be replaying it for the holidays, Double Booked for the holidays starring Rachel Leigh Cook comes out on Hallmark. There's a really, okay, Hamilton producer, beautiful, three Tony awards, Hallmark book. There's another weird part of your bio. You were chosen by the Prince of Monaco to run the Princess Grace, like Grace Kelly Foundation.

[16:21] Brisa Carleton: That's, I thought networking at Sardis was good. That's one hell of a networker right there. Doesn't that sound like a Hallmark movie? I feel like I was in a Hallmark movie for five years working for a prince. What bar do you go to to meet that band?

[16:34] Robert Bannon: What happened?

[16:36] Brisa Carleton: Did not meet the prince at a bar, although I have shared a cocktail with him before. He's a great guy, lovely, lovely person. And it was an absolute privilege to get to represent his late mother, Princess Grace Kelly, and run her arts foundation. And I got involved because I've always been very interested in arts philanthropy and supporting artists. And when Grace Kelly passed away, her family made a foundation for her to support emerging artists in theater, dance, and film. And so I had the amazing job of getting to give away money. And we had amazing Princess Grace award winners like Leslie Odom Jr. in Hamilton. John Shu, who just directed the Wicked movie and everything else. And just on and on and on. Incredible, incredible artists that the foundation supported from when they were just coming up, but long before that they were the stars they are now.

[17:33] Robert Bannon: Incredible. Shout out to Leslie. Shout out to John. They've been here too. See? Look at that. You're connected. Now if I need something, I'm calling you.

[17:41] Brisa Carleton: I don't know nobody.

[17:43] Robert Bannon: But let me tell you, Prince of Monaco, you got 15 minutes.

[17:47] Brisa Carleton: Yeah, exactly.

[17:50] Robert Bannon: He does not have 15 minutes. I watched a documentary about him. It's fascinating. His office is fascinating. There's piles of papers he's got to sign. Then the whole thing is that to be a resident, like a citizen of Monaco, he's got to sign off on you. He runs that country. I mean, it's a small country, but he runs every inch of it. It's a big job. It's a hard job. Working that closely to royalty, you really see it is hard work. It is not magic carriages and balls all the time. It's a lot of work.

[18:26] Brisa Carleton: He looks like he throws a meme party.

[18:28] Robert Bannon: He does. Well, you have an amazing life. I'm ready for your Lifetime movie and the memoir of your life, because what a journey. Do you have a show coming up? Maybe you can't tell me, but are you producing anything now? Are you in a different world for this year?

[18:44] Brisa Carleton: I still keep my fingers in things. I made a small investment in Warriors. Again, anything Lynn does, if I'm allowed to be a part of it, I will. Then I see everything. I'm on the board of the American Theatre Wing. I'm a Tony Award voter, which is the most incredible thing, because you not only get to see every Broadway show, but you have to see every Broadway show if you want to vote. And so I see, generally, that's 40-something Broadway shows a year, and I absolutely love every single one of them. The voting is one of the hardest things I ever have to do, because how do you decide between all these incredible performances?

[19:26] Robert Bannon: Well, look, everybody, you want to support her, get the book, watch the movie. If you have not seen Hamilton, go see Hamilton on tour. It is absolutely incredible. We'll live forever. Go see Moulin Rouge on tour. Go see Beautiful on tour. Go see the shows that she's had a part of. And then when you're home, nuzzled up with some hot chocolate with the fire going, or you're wrapping gifts, or you're looking for something fun to do this holiday season, something new and original, Double Book for the Holidays is out November 22nd, just in time for Thanksgiving week. And then get the book. Read it all this holiday season, just her holiday type. And my show is your show anytime. I was so grateful.

I had an emergency. She was here waiting to talk to me. I hung up on her. If Lin-Manuel Miranda and the Prince of Monaco doesn't hang up on her, who the hell do I think I am? And you've been so gracious and kind to make time for me. I apologize to you. And I thank you. You're delightful.

[20:12] Brisa Carleton: Not at all. I'm so glad we connected. I love your show. I love hearing from readers, from viewers. So absolutely, let everyone listening, please feel free to be in touch. One of the hardest things about being a writer and a screenwriter now is I'm used to live audiences. I'm used to being able to stand in a theater and hear people react to the work that I'm part of. And it's very quiet in the book world because people are sitting reading quietly or watching on their own couches. So I'm around on Instagram and my website. So I love hearing from people. So don't hesitate to reach out.

[20:45] Brisa Carleton: The links for Instagram and the website will be below. Click it. Send a DM. Tell them how you loved it and that you watched it. Send a picture. Post and tag you watching it.

[20:53] Brisa Carleton: Yes. Oh my gosh. I'm so looking forward to pajama pictures on the launch day. So yeah, send them all my way. I am living for that. I'll be following because I can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve next. I know the best is yet to come. And I'm so grateful and excited. And Robert, I want to know what your husband thinks. I want his reviews.

[21:11] Brisa Carleton: I'm going to send him a message. He's going to watch it. He's younger than me, but he's like an 87-year-old man. And this is going to be something that he's going to love because he's not going to fall asleep. So when we go to the theater, I can tell if he likes the show if he makes it to intermission awake.

[21:26] Robert Bannon: Yeah, yeah. All the shows you've produced, he's done. He's made it.

[21:29] Brisa Carleton: Yes. So we'll be watching. We hallmark it up all of November and December. So I'll be there.

[21:36] Robert Bannon: Thank you so much for being here. What a pleasure.

[21:38] Brisa Carleton: Thank you. Great to chat.

[21:40] Robert Bannon: You too.