TRUST

Hollywood is back baby!

It’s been a year since the Rise of Red Descendants 4 premiere, so it was fun to be back at another movie premiere this week—one where I was invited and actually on the list! Hilariously, when Rise of Red premiered, I was on the “list of VIPs for photographers” but I didn’t actually receive an invitation to the event. A publicist who was setting up interviews for the movie asked if I would do interviews with some You Tubers on the red carpet and I said, “What? It’s the premiere? LOL No one told me!” A hundred Disney emails later- thanks to my awesome publishing team—they got me and Mike an invite to the premiere.

I never take anything personally. Huffing up and screeching HOW COULD YOU FORGET TO INVITE ME DO YOU KNOW WHO IAM? would be so anathema to my personality, just so gross. I know who I am. I’m nobody! Everyone’s nobody! Shonda Rimes left Disney for Neflix because they wouldn’t give her an extra ticket to Disneyland. SHONDA. RIMES. Treated like a nobody. That’s Hollywood for you. You can’t take it personally because it would drive you insane.

So I was amused and excited to go. Except we didn’t have time to see the actual screening since my mom was in the hospital so instead we just made it to the after-party which was super fun and we watched a lot of Disney Channel stars break-dance on the Wonderland themed dancefloor.

This premiere was for my friend Oren Koules’ movie TRUST. Oren optioned my book How to become Famous in Two Weeks or Less more than twenty years ago and we’ve been friends ever since. Disney actually signed on to develop it. And if not for a screenwriter who named the Paris Hilton character - I kid you not - Minnesota - maybe we would have had a shot at getting it made lol. Oren is also the incredible producer of all the Saw movies. More importantly he is married to one of my dearest friends Shereen Azam who owns and runs all the delicious Terroni restaurants in Los Angeles and Toronto. Anyway it was a family affair, as it’s the first movie Oren’s son Miles produced.

Mike in a linen/cashmere hoodie from latest shopping trip in Rome, here you can see my new black, white and gold heels I also bought in Rome. Am obsessed with Shereen’s sexy heels and Oren’s great tan!

I am getting to the age now that we go to movies that “the kids” made, and soon—this fall—kids’ weddings! Fun fun fun! TRUST was also written by my dear friend Gigi Levangie, whom I met almost twenty years ago when she wrote a hilarious essay for my book Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys. Gigi was then married to Brian Grazer, and my friend Tom Williams was his assistant and got us connected to Gigi.

With Gigi who wrote the movie and Shereen whose husband and son produced it! In my Maison Mayle dress, Valentino clutch, Tom Ford glasses. Shereen is in all Bottega Veneta. I forgot to ask Gigi who she was wearing, my bad. The invite said “dress smart” and we all joked it meant wear glasses to look intellectual.

The movie TRUST is about a sitcom star who is “America’s Sweetheart” who grew up in front of the cameras. Played by an amazing Sophie Turner, the star is the victim of an iCloud hack - nudes, private things revealed. Then it’s a scary scary trapped-girl movie. It’s scary like Saw but also funny and very timely. And at the heart, very dark. It’s great. It’s ninety minutes, it’s what Hollywood movies used to be - ENTERTAINING -and I’m glad to see it return. Between you and me, I really cannot watch any more superhero movies. I’m skipping the nth iteration of Superman, the third iteration of Fantastic Four, the reboot of the Naked Gun—can’t we have new stories? Tell us something new about the culture, show us, us. That’s what TRUST does and it’s a gem.

Oren and Miles introducing the movie! YAY!

We had a blast. Ain’t nothing like a Hollywood party. We were on the Paramount lot, and it’s always a thrill to go through the gates and onto the studio. After twenty-three years here, I can finally say I love LA. I really do. I like the way people dress, like everyone is their own superhero. It’s very eclectic. Meanwhile everyone at the premiere said Mike and I give off very New York energy. I think it meant we were determined to have as much fun as possible and were not self-conscious about it. New Yorkers love a party. Or maybe it was the glasses lol. We look “smart.”

Paramount is also developing Blue Bloods! They re-upped the option for another two years! Woot! Thank you for the money Paramount! We spent it in Italy!

The cast of Love Island is somewhere in this shot, there were a lot of famous young people I didn’t recognize since I am old. BUT I DID SEE AUSTIN FROM AUSTIN AND ALLY! Yay Disney stars! I thought, is that a kid who went to our school? No it’s Austin! I should have gotten a selfie lol.

Anyway, this is your invitation to invite me to your premiere. Fancy parties thrown by fabulous friends are the best. I get to justify my wardrobe and current shopping, have free drinks and eats (the ahi tuna tacos were chef’s kiss) and it was fun and meaningful to celebrate our dear friends and their kid’s accomplishments. A magical night!!

Wishing you a starry August!

XOXO

Mel