Lights… camera… candy!

Thursday, November 15, 2007 - by Caitlin

A few weeks ago, a production company here in New York City contacted Brian about a pilot they were producing for the Food Network. It seems they were looking for “experts” to interview about movie snacks, including those old standbys of the theater experience – red licorice, Goobers, M&Ms, Sno-Caps, etc. That’s where I came in. Yes, that’s right, I’m now a “licorice expert!”

A few days later, I got a call from the production company asking if I would come in to do an on-camera interview. IN TWO DAYS. Oh, crap. After I feverishly called to make an appointment for a hair cut (I thought the homeless look I was sporting wasn’t really what they were looking for) and making arrangements with my employers to take an afternoon off, I finally took to the subway to make my way into Manhattan.

Amazingly enough, the subway was actually running fast, and I ended up early to all of my various appointments. I even managed to get someone to slap some makeup on my face, that being one of those feminine things completely beyond my skill set. I kind of knew what to expect, since Sera had done the same interview the day before.

Once at the location (which I walked past twice), I was led into a room to wait for the previous interview to finish. Armed with some emergency sustenance (RJ’s Black Natural Soft Eating Licorice), I settled in with a book to wait for my turn.

Surprisingly, I wasn’t overly nervous. I had spent the last few days feverishly studying the history of various candies, and I was pretty sure I knew the basics. Once I got in the little room with the camera, though, I realized that wasn’t exactly the case; while I knew the details, I was no longer able to put the dates with the correct candies! I think I faked my way through it pretty well, though.

For the most part, they asked me questions about Twizzlers and Red Vines, but we also touched on some of the other popular movie theater snacks. For instance, did you know that both Goobers and Raisinettes were first produced by the same company in the 1920s? Or that Red Vines were the “original” red licorice, produced some years before Twizzlers ever saw the light of day? Being a history lover, I spent a lot of time talking about the history of various candies, but they also wanted our opinions on why certain snacks seemed to be better for movies than others.

Overall, it was a pretty fun experience. I got to talk about candy with some friendly folks, and might even get on TV for it. Of course, it isn’t a guarantee; even if the pilot gets picked up, there’s no certainty that I would be featured. Still, who’d have thought that I’d ever end up being interviewed for a TV show, all due to this wonderful website of ours!

Goobers, red licorice, Twizzlers, Red Vines, movies, theater, interview