HOT, FUNNY, and UNIQUE: my chat with ERIN TATUM
I love Erin Tatum. What is there not to like? I met her at the American Film Market convention in Las Vegas, NV. I was having a very polite and sweet conversation with a lady producer/director about her latest Christian movie she just finished. Out of the blue.. out of the blue zone shall we say, we were interrupted by a gasp throated holler and spastic flailing arms. She dove right in with a ridiculously outrageous sense of humor and playfulness that completely disarmed me. Quickly my other guest was forgotten, so much so that she literally walked away! Erin and I became fast friends and I brought her on my live stream for FilmThreat with host Chris Gore. She was a star immediately. Let’s get to know just what makes her tick…
TIM CHIZMAR: Thank you for joining us today. Could you tell the readers a little about yourself?
ERIN TATUM: I have cerebral palsy since when I was 12, I was almost randomly cast in a Canadian movie, but it wouldn’t have worked because I wasn’t supposed to speak. And on top of not only being glad that they cast me for a disability that I myself don’t represent, I don’t think at 12 years old, I could have realistically stayed silent or not making any noise. And there was also supposed to be a heavy religious overtone to the movie. But then luckily for them, I had to go have a spinal fusion because my severe scoliosis, and in the interim when I was recovering, I’m pretty sure they ran out of money. So I just have effort and I never heard from that again. So that was my one brush with fame.
TIM CHIZMAR: One brush? There was another one?
E.T. And then my other one would be when I bumped into Amal and George Clooney and I called for a mob because personally, and I’m sure many people would agree, I find her to be the more impressive of the Clooney. So she finally heard my weak ass voice and she came back to talk to me and George came back and he said, “Hi, I’m George.” And I looked him dead in the face and I said, “I have no idea who you are. I just want a picture with your wife.” And they both cracked up. So that is a moment I’ll be chasing the high of that moment for the rest of my life, and I replay that moment frequently as I fall asleep at night.
TC: That’s pretty funny. I can see why you’d be a great host for your own talk show or interview streaming content.
ET: Let’s see what else is interesting or appealing about me? Oh, well, like I told you previously, Tim, you don’t have to put this aside in the interview, but I got into interviewing because I always thought as a kid growing up that people treated me disrespectfully because I was a child. And then when I became an adult, I realized people were treating me disrespectfully because I had a disability. So I was like, hmm, dunno how to deal with that because I can stop being a child, but I’ll never stop being disabled. So how do I rectify that? Luckily, I was always good at writing and pretty fucking funny. So I decided not only to combine those two powers, but also I realized the universal truth that everybody’s favorite subject is themselves! So I decided specifically to get into interviewing because frankly, it was a way to force people to make eye contact with me and talk to me in a way that I was craving in real life that I wasn’t getting. Also, again, everyone’s favorite subject to themselves. So if you start asking them questions about themselves, not only will they never stop talking, but they’ll also develop a natural affinity for you because however, genuinely or artificially and performatively you expressed an interest in them. So it’s more likely to bottom them to you for a longer period of time than just the interview, which is how I charmed you. And also my long-term goal for using my profession as a roundabout way to make friends, because I’m generally just a lonely person. And even beyond being lonely, I’m really gregarious and social for someone who spends most of her time by herself.
TC: I find that hard to believe that you could be lonely. You’re a blast to be around.
ET: So for me, it was just basically a more efficient way of making friends was to basically guide my alternate universe trajectory as a bougie socialite by couching it through interviews and asking people’s questions about their art projects and their personal lives as a means of gaining their affection and attention. While this is really starting to sound like Sunset Boulevard, but hopefully your audience will know what I mean.
TC: I think they will. Plus they trust me, I run a CULT. The Cult of TIM CHIZMAR! (we laugh) You might end up with a shirt by end of this interview.
ET: Only if my mom can have one too! And now in an ongoing campaign for social justice, disability justice, and of course personal notoriety, that’s mostly a joke, but also slightly not. I started WHEEL LIFE STORIES as vehicle, no pun intended, to get broader conversations going about the disability community and hopefully utilize the celebrity power of my guest and maybe the personal vehicle of my personality of that also gains traction to broach larger conversations around social norms, disability, justice, disability, and inclusion.
TC: Tell us more about the show since that is why you are here at AFM. Why should we watch it anyway?
ET: Watch it! Love it! Love me! Because I said so… okay okay, I want to structure the show in such a way where it’s not just about me. I also want to include broader conversations around disability and catalyze a wider dialogue or more free frying dialogue because I feel as though the continuing fear and awkwardness and social stigma around disability is really hindering our integration society at large. So my hope is that one of the goals of the show would be to make people realize that there’s a way to talk about disability in a mode that’s respectful and engaging without being really invasive and disrespecting our privacy. But at the same time, realize that there’s a way to go about asking questions without always fearing offending somebody or getting canceled. And also those dialogues can be engaging educational and inclusive without being offensive or inspiration porn, if that makes sense. So yeah, I have a producer, I’m with Shake the Tree Productions, and we’re currently looking for distribution and financing.
TC: Sounds like a solid fit.
ET: So if you’re in that world or if you or any colleagues are on the hunt for unscripted comedy content based in diversity and inclusion, certainly hit Tim up, hit me up, whatever, and we’ll get the ball rolling from there. I feel like there’s naturally a lot of wheel puns in this conversation, but why not? Especially because our tagline is rolling through life one story at a time. And in general, I’m also really charismatic and humorous and just a really nice all around person. So I feel like I would be honored to be not the spokesperson for the community, obviously, because we’re not a monolith. But I feel as though my 11 years of experience as an I viewer and the fact that I’m generally a warm and inviting person sets me up well to be, not only be a spokesperson, but to also platform people from the myriad of other, the myriad of other lived experiences in the community. And not only lived experiences, but also the dozens and hundreds of intersectional identities that come along with disability that for some reason people are loathed to talk about. So I intend to do it through laughs and humor and general kindness and just general goofiness and also the prerequisite to Bowery. So join me on my journey and ride a mile in my wheels because there’s plenty of room on the bandwagon and I want to take everyone with me.
TC: Thank you for talking to us. Let me go get you and your mom a kickass TIM CHIZMAR shirt!
ET: You are such a nerd.
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