Episode 76: Gluten is a Joke Documentary with guest Robin Hofmann

On this episode, Jules and Erica talk to filmmaker and director Robin Hofmann. She wrote and directed the Gluten is a Joke documentary, in which Jules stars. They'll cover Robin's background, how she got into filmmaking, the bumps along the way, and coming into your dream job later in life. She'll talk about the upcoming documentary and how you can help spread the word in anticipation of the launch this fall/winter!

RESOURCES:

Gluten is a Joke website

Gluten is a Joke Instagram

Gluten is a Joke YouTube

Hoffy's Heart Productions

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Transcript

Erica [00:00:13]:
Hey, I'm Erica.

Jules [00:00:14]:
And I'm Jules. Most people have at least one thing that they can't or won't eat.

Erica [00:00:19]:
Yeah, we're definitely like that.

Jules [00:00:21]:
We started this podcast to talk about the gluten free food industry, like new

Erica [00:00:26]:
products and some of the stories behind

Jules [00:00:27]:
your favorite brands and living life with a specialty diet and also some important healthcare topics.

Erica [00:00:34]:
Since we're basically both broken inside.

Jules [00:00:36]:
You had me at eat.

Erica [00:00:43]:
Hello. Welcome to another episode of you had me at eat. I am your host, Erica, along with my co host, Jules. It's Jules, everyone. Hey, hey, hey. We are joined here for a very special momentous day. We finally have Robin from gluten is a joke on. And I mean, Robin is from so many different things and she will be able to tell you her background and what brought us kind of all together as a.

Erica [00:01:15]:
As a group of people who care about the well being of people with celiac disease and people who have to be gluten free. So I hope you tune in for today's entire episode. I hope you tune in for future endeavors from Robin. But first, let's kind of dive into who Robin is. Who is this mystery guest that we have on today?

Jules [00:01:37]:
Yeah. For anyone who's had their head in the sand recently and didn't know who this famous Robin is that we've been talking about. Robin Hoffman, director, famous director extraordinaire, Robin Hoffman. Robin is not just known for gluten as a joke, which is the production we're talking about, which is yet to be released, but will be released soon. But Robin has had some other productions that have come out that have been pretty famous in their own right. Robin, welcome. Please tell us about your background and what brings you here today.

Robin Hofmann [00:02:11]:
Hi. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited. Yeah. So I am here because I have celiac disease and I wanted to do something about it. Yeah, exactly. Now, I became a filmmaker about eight years ago. In fact, eight years ago today was our first shooting day for a baking show I used to host.

Erica [00:02:29]:
Congrats. Thank you. That's.

Erica [00:02:31]:
Happy birthday.

Robin Hofmann[00:02:32]:
Happy birthday. Well, we don't do it anymore, but it's neat to see how everything has come about since then. But it was a gluten free baking show and. And I invited a guest with a disability each episode. So while we were baking, we would discuss their diagnosis, their strengths, their challenges, and it was just a way for people to learn a great recipe, a great gluten free recipe and learn about a specific disability and just watch somebody who can do all the things right just like anybody else. They were talking, they were baking. They were able to see just how functional and what a big part of. Of society everybody with every disability should be.

Robin Hofmann [00:03:14]:
So if people got to learn more than one thing. But that's.

Jules [00:03:17]:
Baking brings so many people together for so many years.

Robin Hofmann [00:03:20]:
Yes. And everyone could eat it.

Robin Hofmann[00:03:22]:
That's right.

Jules [00:03:23]:
That's right. What was your favorite? If you have a favor, what was the favorite thing that you made on that baking show?

Robin Hofmann[00:03:29]:
Oh, gosh. I mean, because I made it dairy free and gluten free. Everything was. Was great with me. I'm trying to think of what my. I can't pick a favorite, but I did have my daughter on. She has Ehlers Danlos, and we did an episode together. So that that might secretly be, like, it's not a secret anymore.

Robin Hofmann[00:03:48]:
My favorite episode. Yeah, that's great. Yeah. So I started eight years ago just getting into the field. I mean, my entire career prior to that was in disabilities. I was a behavior analyst, and I worked with children and adults with varying disabilities over the years. And so. So when I started in this field, I couldn't really leave that behind.

Robin Hofmann[00:04:09]:
And if you watch a lot of my work, you'll see that I'm very open to having diverse. Sorry, A diverse. And cast and subject matter.

Jules [00:04:25]:
That's really cool how you've been able to bring that other part of your life, always and your work into work.

Robin Hofmann[00:04:31]:
Yes. Inclusion will always be important to me in every aspect of my world, professionally and personally.

Erica [00:04:37]:
That's awesome.

Jules [00:04:38]:
So it was after the baking show, what happened?

Erica [00:04:40]:
Yeah. You have a great story, too, about how you, like, got into directing.

Robin Hofmann[00:04:45]:
Yeah, it's. It's a little unusual. Yeah. So of course I loved the experience on the baking show. And I've been a writer my entire life. I've always been that person that, no matter where I was in college, in a workplace at home where somebody would say, hey, can you write this for me? Like, oh, I need. How should I say this? Or I have a resume I need to build or even, even, Even love letters to people in their lives. Like, I've always just been that person.

Robin Hofmann[00:05:09]:
And I've written several children's books, and I've written a novel. You know, mama, all the things. Just always a writer.

Jules [00:05:15]:
I've written a novel, several children's books.

Erica [00:05:18]:
You know, I just, I kind of want to focus on the fact that you wrote love letters for people, and that in and of itself could be like a whole Netflix series. And I just love that for you and I hope that that like remains in the back of your head for the future.

Robin Hofmann [00:05:30]:
And some of them a little spicy. It was.

Erica [00:05:34]:
You're in your crime right now. Romance novels. Let's it switching gears.

Robin Hofmann[00:05:40]:
Did you bring any with you? I want to hear some of those so that you know, I've always been a writer. So let's get back during the baking show. It was really great. We had such a great time. And there was not one episode where I didn't have somebody emailing me, messaging me, saying something like, oh my goodness, my daughter has that, or my cousin has that. My grandmother, my mother, my so and so. So they felt so. So the best one was when I had my daughter on.

Robin Hofmann [00:06:05]:
I. I'm getting goosebumps to this day. And it was eight years ago. I had a mother reach out to me and said, my, my 13 year old has Ehlers Danlos and she had never met anybody else with it. So we sat and we watched your episode together. Look, I'm getting a little bit cleansed. We watched your episode together and she said, mom, she's just like me. And she felt empowered by that.

Robin Hofmann [00:06:27]:
And just right then and there I was like, I've done, I've done my work. Like, this is, this is all I needed to do. If it affects one person, I say that every day. Like, everybody's like, oh, millions of people are going to see that. That's great. If I change one person's life, I've done my job. That's all, that's all I ever want to do in everything I do. But so the show was doing really great.

Robin Hofmann [00:06:46]:
We were gaining traction, we were getting a lot of views. And then Covid hit and it shut the entire studio down. It shut us down. And it didn't come back. We just weren't able to come back from that. When I, when they opened back up about a year later, all of my stuff, my set was dismantled and my stuff was gone. So I took that opportunity to say, what can I do next? Like what? Okay, we. This, this did work for a little while and we weren't able to impact some lives.

Robin Hofmann[00:07:14]:
So what can I do to impact more? So during COVID I wrote a lot. A lot. Because what else were we doing back then? Sides wiping down our groceries and going insane. So I wrote a lot and I made a lot of connections and I basically just put it out there that this is what I want to do. If I can just jump back to my childhood. I literally said that I wanted to make movies when I was like 10 years old. And I. This is not trauma dumping.

Robin Hofmann [00:07:40]:
It wasn't traumatic for me. I was just told that that wasn't a career. It's just not a career, particularly for women. So I was like, okay. So I did what I was supposed to do and I got my degree in psychology and went from there. So it's always, it's always been within me. I ask any of my old neighbors, my cousins, my siblings, I made them put on shows that were crazy with our parents clothing and draped sheets. And when my uncle got a VHS like camcorder where you put the whole VHS tape in it and he let me make movies in the basement with it, you know, I wish I could find those because that would be a trip down what a treasure and a treasure music videos.

Robin Hofmann [00:08:20]:
I. I joked that I was the first Weird Al Yankovic. I used to change lyrics to like every song I would sing and make it like silly and funny. So it was always within me and I don't think I would have been ready for it back then. So I love the path that it took because it's not an easy business. And learning about human behavior and learning to meet people where they're at in every realm has helped me as a director. So I kept writing. I reached out to anyone I knew that was a filmmaker.

Robin Hofmann [00:08:52]:
Put me in touch with anyone. Let me on your set, I'll work for free. And I literally did. I changed garbage, I made coffee. I did anything that anyone needed me to do for free if they would just let me on their set and teach me or just let me learn. I read all the books, I watched every YouTube video and I just started getting on sets and letting people see what I was capable of doing. And then I started writing short films and I started bringing in some of those people into my sets and said, okay, let's. Let's do this together.

Robin Hofmann[00:09:23]:
I made some very successful shorts. They got. They were recognized really well, mostly about different disabilities. I had my first one that really hit was about a young lady with a speech impediment. It was great little film called Speak. And then when I was ready, I decided it's time to make a feature. And once I was able to show people what I was capable of doing, people started hiring me to do it for them. So I am a writer and a director for hire as well.

Jules [00:09:53]:
Can you just briefly tell us about. I win.

Robin Hofmann[00:09:58]:
Oh yes, I win. My first dramatic feature film. Yes. That is also about a young man with a disability. It's surrounds a senior in high School who loses his father, and he's forced to move to a new high school his senior year, and he meets a young man with down syndrome, and they change each other's lives. So beautiful. And you can watch that on Tubi. T U B I Tubi for free.

Erica [00:10:24]:
Yes.

Erica [00:10:25]:
Please put the plugins when you can, because we definitely want to support you. I just. It's so wonderful just to see a woman, especially, like, one that's not 10 years old, who was just like, I want to do this. And they face zero challenges in life. And you're like, great, good for you. That's. But, like, to see what most normal people go through, which is like, you were told that you can't do one thing, and so you go about your life, and then all of a sudden, when you're a little bit later in life, like past your 30s, when you feel like you finally have things figured out and you're just like, I'm going to do this now. And you're like, okay, great.

Robin Hofmann [00:10:57]:
And you go ahead and do it, and you're successful and you love it, and you finally are feeling like this. This is the magic that I was born for. And I think that that's a really reassuring story to a lot of people who are out there trying to figure out, like, oh, maybe my first career wasn't actually what I want to do when I grow up, because there's no really version of growing up. Right. You're always just becoming someone new and changing.

Robin Hofmann [00:11:19]:
I think multiple things can be true. Like, I think it was what I was meant to do. Also, like, working with people with disabilities defined who I was. It made me who I was. I say it all the time, like, it's great that I was able to support them, but they made me who I am. They taught me more than I could have ever learned outside of that. So I'm super grateful for that portion of my life. And.

Robin Hofmann [00:11:41]:
And yeah, it's. It's pretty cool. I was 47 years old when I left that career. 47. Like, that's. It was. It was scary. But, like, also, it was.

Robin Hofmann [00:11:52]:
I was firm in what I wanted to do, and I've never looked back. I've never regretted it for a day. I can't imagine doing anything else. I joke that, like, I don't want to be an influencer in regards to social media, but I want to influence people through my movie.

Jules [00:12:09]:
Right. Well. And all of the things that you learned in that earlier career you have been able to take and, you know, has shaped you and has made you a better who you are in this career. Right. Like, so to Erica's point, if you had just started out in this career, now you wouldn't be who you are.

Robin Hofmann [00:12:31]:
No. 100% producer, writer, director.

Jules [00:12:34]:
You wouldn't have had all of those other experiences to shape and mold and make you a more well rounded person who brings all of those things into your life.

Erica [00:12:46]:
And the subject matter. The subject matter is so important. I mean, and it's a subject matter that obviously not a lot of people are talking about right now. The inclusion of disabilities is amazing. And I just want to say this leads us up to what we're actually talking about today, which is this incredible documentary and movie and series and magic that will come from this filming event that Jules got a chance to participate in, which is Gluten is a joke. So can you talk about kind of what gave you this idea to even start something about gluten and your kind of the precipice on why you gave the title what it is?

Robin Hofmann [00:13:30]:
Yeah, for sure. Yeah. So Gluten is a Joke came about because I was diagnosed with celiac 17 years ago. And I really. Just because I have a love of TV and film. I just noticed this trend over the past decade where jokes about people who have to eat gluten free became more and more prevalent. At first, they were really, really nasty. Really, really nasty.

Robin Hofmann [00:13:56]:
So I will say I've seen a shift in the nastiness, but it's still being joked about. And what happens then? Whether it's a funny joke or a random joke or a kind joke or an ugly joke or whatever, when it's joked about en masse like that, it affects our entire community. Because what happens is people aren't even cognizant of what's happening. They just start thinking gluten is a joke. So if they're sitting around somebody and somebody says, oh, I'm sorry, I can't eat that. I'm gluten free, there's an immediate, probably a visceral response of just finding it annoying or funny. Like it. Because that's what they're told over and over and over and over again.

Robin Hofmann [00:14:35]:
And when people do not take us serious, that puts our health at risk. Straight, period. That's it. That's. That's it. So I knew something had to be done, but I wasn't really sure what that would look like until I was deep into filmmaking. And I thought, you know what? People need to hear the truth about this. And when I first came up with the title Gluten as a joke.

Robin Hofmann [00:14:54]:
I was actually mad at myself. I was like, what are you doing? But I think that the anger is important. I think that it's important. And the title is, you know, a Few Different Ways. Gluten has Become a Joke. But I'm going to tell you why it shouldn't be. But I'm also going to tell you how we can joke about it. That's not a detriment to our community.

Erica [00:15:14]:
I love that. So what gave you the idea, the concept of, like, oh, I actually want to involve other people. And it's not just like me interviewing a doctor or me interviewing myself. Like, what?

Robin Hofmann[00:15:27]:
Because I've seen those documentaries. I've seen documentaries like that, and I find them. I'm not very interested in them. I want to be able to keep people's attention. I want them interested in it. And sometimes the only way to educate somebody is through laughter or through entertainment or to put them in our shoes. Because I'm not going to say every skit we do is funny. Some of them are pretty darn serious.

Robin Hofmann [00:15:48]:
Some of them are coded in funniness and humor, but are actually, you know, they'll just. Each time I watch it, like, my chest is like, oh, why did you do this? But this is why I did this. It's because I want people to feel that. I want people to understand what it's like to be in our shoes. Because the three of us sitting here, we all know food is the least struggle. It is the least, you know, not the least concerning, but you know what I'm saying, It's. It's one of the easier parts of living with celiac disease.

Jules [00:16:18]:
It's scratching the surface.

Robin Hofmann [00:16:19]:
It's correct.

Jules [00:16:20]:
Yeah.

Robin Hofmann [00:16:22]:
It's, you know, the social, emotional stuff, the mental toll, everything that we have to go through on a daily basis that people don't have to think about. Like, I have a perfect examp example. I went away for a couple of days with one of my friends who I've been friends with the entire time. I have had celiac. In fact, prior to that as well, and I'm just the person who shows up with my lunchbox. I show up at my events with lunchbox. I show up. I.

Robin Hofmann[00:16:44]:
Honestly, prior to this documentary, and we could talk about this, too, until the day we did the interviews with everybody, I didn't talk about my disease. I just dealt with it. It was something I had been doing for so long. So I just lived with it. And I lived it with it in a very, very lonely. Excuse me, I didn't know I was gonna get emotional in a very lonely and isolating way.

Erica [00:17:04]:
You don't cry. Then Jules is gonna cry. And then when Jules cries, I cry.

Jules [00:17:10]:
This is the way it works.

Robin Hofmann [00:17:13]:
Yeah, I think that that's. That's an important part of this whole thing is like, when they watch a documentary and they see this and they. We talk about the influencers that you brought in and everything. It's also you being able to share your story in a way that you've never been able to share your story. I feel like it's. It must have been so cathartic for you to, like, see other. I literally have chills right now. But for you to talk to other people in person that were like, oh, my God, I'm not the only one that does this.

Robin Hofmann [00:17:43]:
I'm not the only one that does this. I'm like, wow, I can't believe we are all just been doing this in private. We have all these, like, secret little things that we do. And then you're like, oh, other people do this too. I'm not just like a freak. I'm not just like the only weirdo doing this alone. And I think that, you know, that's why when Jules and I became friends and we started doing the gluten free expos Rip together, you know, those were big for us to be like, oh, my God, like, look at us doing this. We found each other so beautiful.

Erica [00:18:15]:
But also, like, every time, Jules and I would always get a crier in the audience because they're like, I've never found anyone that, like, put it in a way that I get it. Or like, you've never. Someone's never been able to put it so succinctly, like, how different I feel and how lonely I feel in room of crying, proud of people. So I feel like that that's like, that was a joy that Jules and I had years ago. And I hope that everyone gets to find that. And I love that you found that on set for yourself, who cares about everything else. But, like, for you, Robin, like, that's a great.

Robin Hofmann [00:18:48]:
That's magic, you know, you totally nailed it. And it was to a point I couldn't even imagine because I had been living that life for so long, and that was just the way I lived. And even in creating this documentary and putting it together and inviting people here, I still didn't know. I just wanted to make a difference. I just knew I wanted to make a difference. And the day that we sat down, I didn't really get to spend a lot of time with anybody prior. So there still wasn't that discussion. So it was crazy.

Robin Hofmann [00:19:16]:
Sitting in the director's chair, interviewing people and wanting to converse. I literally, in my brain, I'm not kidding you, a million times, I was like, do your job. Focus and do your job. Focus and do your job. Because I wanted to say. I felt like that. I wanted to say that happened to me or this happened to me or I understand what you're saying, because. But I couldn't.

Robin Hofmann [00:19:35]:
I couldn't say any of that, which I got to afterwards because we all hung out for quite a bit. So I'm not saying I didn't get it. What I'm saying was it was such a bizarre position to be in that. That seat and listening to people say the things that I've wanted to hear for so long. And I kept thinking to myself, this is. This is going to be this. I knew while we were filming that this was growing into something that was so beyond me, that it's just been such an incredible journey, even just with social media, because, again, I'm not an influencer. I don't want to be an influencer.

Robin Hofmann [00:20:04]:
I definitely want to influence lives, but not in the social media realm, but having to be out there, because that's a whole part of the filmmaking thing, watching people's reactions and having people message me personally at just how excited they are. They don't even know what this is hardly about, except that it's about gluten is a joke, Right. And about people with celiac disease. I have had. I keep joking that I want to get a map and pinpoint every country I've heard from asking, are we going to be able to see this movie? I mean, Austria, the uk, Canada, Japan, Israel. I don't know. I have to start writing it down because I will forget. But people from all over the world.

Robin Hofmann [00:20:44]:
There are 3 million people in the United States alone that are diagnosed and many who are not diagnosed, who I felt like we could make a difference to. And now we can make a difference to people around the world like this. No pressure.

Jules [00:20:57]:
And this is not just a film for people with celiac disease.

Robin Hofmann [00:21:01]:
Oh, definitely.

Jules [00:21:01]:
This is a film for people who have to eat, you know, for any medical reason, have to live without gluten. But it also resonates for people who have other dietary restrictions. I mean, it's not. It's really not unique to that, because our experience is a lived, shared experience of feeling isolated because of food. Right. And that can be anything. It can be, you know for any reason. And it can be any food.

Erica [00:21:41]:
Robin, tell us about. I mean, I'm not gonna try to give away what's in the film, but you've been previewing some things, so tell me. So you have some influencers in the film or some professionals in the gluten free world. You have those people, you have physicians, you have comedians. Tell us a little bit about how you structured it, who you brought into the film and why.

Robin Hofmann [00:22:07]:
Awesome. Yeah, I felt like just we needed to keep people's attention and I wanted to. If I'm going to tell you that this shouldn't be a joke, but you know, we can joke about it in a way that's not detrimental, then I better show you how that, what that looks like. So I thought all of the different places that we see the joke happening are what I should address. So movies, TVs, comedy clubs, things like that. So I brought in a few comedians. One in particular, James Yan, who is going to be just telling a joke throughout the entire documentary. It's just like spurts of things.

Jules [00:22:39]:
And then I remembering James through anything is a good idea.

Robin Hofmann [00:22:43]:
He is going to host our cast and crew screening as well. So that'll be so much fun. Very cool. But yes. So, and then I wrote 12 different skits and actually I wrote way more than that, but I narrowed it down to 12 different skits that I said. Like I said are some are funny and some are very serious. It just kind of shows, I'll call them reenactments. But and then I brought to interview, I brought in influencers and advocates of people with who have to eat gluten free, but primarily celiac disease.

Robin Hofmann [00:23:18]:
And I interviewed a variety of doctors as well. So we interviewed a gastroenterologist, a peds gastroenterologist, an ER physician, an endocrinologist and a psychiatrist. So we've got some really great information because people with these disorders are affected from all of those different aspects. So it's good to hear from, from all the different, different doctors. So it's literally just going to be a documentary of, you know, speckled through with comedy of the seriousness of the, these diseases and disorders with light and love to our communities. And I want to do two things. I want to validate those with the disease and educate those who don't have it.

Erica [00:24:04]:
So what made you think you have a group of influencers? So let me just put it out there. I was invited to be a part of this.

Robin Hofmann [00:24:15]:
Okay, let me just say something, Erica. You're excited to be a part of this. You were one of the first people to be invited, just so you know. I'm just saying.

Erica [00:24:22]:
Thank you. I, however, got Covid so lovely because I was traveling so much for the other job, and I was like, do I go and possibly spread Covid to literally the entire cast? But you know me, I am kind of a stickler when it comes to, you know, former CDC. All right, again, another RIP. Former CDC requirements for not passing COVID 19 onto others. So I did my due diligence. Diligence and did not come and was absolutely heartbroken and so pissed because.

Jules [00:25:05]:
So this is. So we can insert the. The video in there, by the way that was done. Where the montage. Where is the video of me with my lonely cup of Erica sitting there showing how very heartbroken and pissed I was that you weren't there as well.

Erica [00:25:24]:
So, honestly, if I could go back and just spread COVID 19 to absolutely everyone. But I'm like, you know what? This is like, the worst group to spread it on, right?

Robin Hofmann [00:25:32]:
We all have autoimmune disorders.

Erica [00:25:34]:
If I was just on, like, some sort of other trip, I would not feel horrible as bad as I would being like, no, these people absolutely cannot get another infection or post COVID 19 illness. So that's just to be fair. That's why I am so, like, honored just to know that this project exists. Jules is featured in it along with many of our other friends. And I think that this is just. I was caught up on some of the filming. On my deathbed, Jules sent me information, like, just. It was lovely to see it all kind of happen.

Erica [00:26:09]:
And there are some real. There were some real winners on that. On that team, and I cannot wait to see it.

Robin Hofmann [00:26:17]:
You were absolutely missed. Just so you know. And in my heart and soul, in. When I think of every. All of the influencers that are a part of this, you still come up in my. Like, you. You are a part of it. And I.

Robin Hofmann [00:26:27]:
I don't know why that is. I. But to me,

Robin Hofmann [00:26:32]:
you're just part of

Robin Hofmann [00:26:33]:
the gluten is a joke family.

Erica [00:26:34]:
Yeah, it's a. I was. I was on remote. I was a remote team member. So. So for everyone who wants to know more about this, like, I'm sure they're chomping at the bit to be like, hey, this is great. When can I see this? We know that movies obviously take time and take funding and take a lot of things to happen. How can people connect with you now to know when the film is released? And do you have any thoughts on when you think the film will be released.

Robin Hofmann [00:27:06]:
I have a few thoughts. Yes. I would love for people to follow us. We are at. Gluten is a joke on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Facebook. So I'll be definitely updating everybody on all things. And plus, we. We share.

Robin Hofmann [00:27:20]:
I've. I've started to share a little bit of content that I'm not using in the documentary so people can get to see a little bit about, you know, kind of what it might look like. But yes, definitely updates will be on. On those platforms. But I am thinking that we are going to have a fall of 2026 release into the streaming world. That is the goal. Fall, winter. Ish.

Jules [00:27:46]:
That's exciting.

Erica [00:27:47]:
Yeah, I'm like, I don't even know if I'll have my. My. My taxes done by then. Like, my extension taxes done by fall, winter. You know, I'm just like, dang, that's. That's.

Jules [00:27:57]:
That's amazing. I'm shocked. I really didn't think it'd be out this year, so I'm really impressed.

Robin Hofmann [00:28:02]:
Yeah, we're hoping. I mean, I can't. I can't. Definitely can't make a promise. I mean, it really just depends on the streaming service and the. The distribution reps who pick us up. But I will is. This has never happened to me in my film career, but there is already interest, which nobody's seen anything.

Jules [00:28:19]:
Tell us a little bit about how that works, because, I mean, this is a side of industry that I'm unfamiliar with. How does it work when you. When you make a film like this?

Robin Hofmann [00:28:27]:
Yeah.

Jules [00:28:28]:
How does it even make it onto a streaming service? What is the process there?

Robin Hofmann [00:28:33]:
So I can speak as an independent filmmaker. I'm not. We are not big Hollywood. Although I do believe that this film is going to go big. So basically, we, as just an individual person, cannot just go to a streaming app and say, I want to be on your platform. You need to have a distribution rep. So the first thing is to get a distribution rep that believes in your project. And unfortunately, I learned through I Win that there are a lot of.

Robin Hofmann [00:29:00]:
So, unfortunately, as in the independent world, there are some distribution reps that are just crappy and aren't really there for you. They're just trying to take your films. But there are definitely some reputable ones. So it's just a lot of research and time. And you send what's called a screener link to these different distribution reps. And when somebody says, oh, I'm interested in your film, then they make you an offer, and it could be. It's very commonly and like an 8020 split, unless they have a huge budget for, to invest in your film, meaning they want to make a better trailer and get the posters to look, you know, incredible and, and advertise for you. Then they might come at you and say, I'm just going arbitrarily.

Robin Hofmann [00:29:41]:
Grab a number. Here's $20,000 not to give to us, but we're going to spend $20,000 on getting your film exactly how we want it and getting the assets exactly how we want it. So basically we're going to get our $20,000 back first and then it'll be an 8020 or 7030 split from there for however many years. Very common is seven years. Lately I've seen people taking 15 years. I'm like, I can't give my film away for that many years. That's just, that's just scary. So that, that's for the, the smaller streaming apps, if you will, the Tubies Prime, Amazon Prime, Apple tv, any of those that you can do.

Robin Hofmann [00:30:21]:
But something like Netflix is an entirely different beast. Number one, they like to film their own stuff. And even a lot of distributions reps don't have access to something like that. But commonly what I've heard from independent filmmakers is if, if you're. You've done such an incredible job and Netflix wants your film and they just outright buy it and then you don't own it anymore. And I've heard unfortunate horror stories where their film was bought. They're so excited. They made all this money and then they never released it.

Robin Hofmann [00:30:47]:
So I can't lose control like that. It's just not who I am. It's more important to me. I would put it on YouTube tomorrow for free. You know what I mean? If I could, just because it's more important to me to get them the content and the message out there. So I'm not going to do anything crazy where I'll lose all control. So we'll see. We'll see where it goes.

Robin Hofmann [00:31:07]:
Wow, this is me just being honest about everything.

Jules [00:31:09]:
Yeah.

Erica [00:31:10]:
I mean, but I think that people should understand because, I mean, I think people see a project like that and they're like, when is it going to come out? Why is it kind of, why can't I see it on this platform? Why can't I see on the.

Erica [00:31:19]:
Yeah, because it's.

Erica [00:31:20]:
There's a, it's entire underworld and business and things that nobody understands. Right. Until you get into a production. It's fascinating and horrible and of course, like I'm such a documentary fan. Like, I would just love to see more and more weird documentaries being made. And yet, you know, I, I understand

Jules [00:31:36]:
it costs a lot of money.

Erica [00:31:38]:
Exactly. And you know, it's not AI, so bless it, you know, we're using real people and it's. Well, our robot overlords can't make a documentary for us.

Robin Hofmann [00:31:51]:
Right.

Jules [00:31:52]:
Speaking of costing a lot of money. I know that. And this is a two part question there. You had some financial backing in order to get to this point. Point. So can you first of all speak to that and give some credit that I know you would like to, to do, like have an opportunity to thank.

Robin Hofmann [00:32:13]:
So glad you brought that up, Jules.

Jules [00:32:15]:
But then also the two part question is if people would like to support the project now, how would they do that?

Robin Hofmann [00:32:23]:
Great, great questions. So absolutely. I. When I first had the idea for Gluten is a joke, I reached out to a friend of mine, Lisa Goldman, and we had met because alongside of my baking show, I also did a talking podcast called Chat with Me. So it's Bake with Me and Chat with Me. And I had invited Lisa onto the podcast because her daughter and her husband have celiac disease. And when her daughter was younger, she created these little puppets where she would go into the elementary schools and she would teach children about people who had food allergies or issues with certain foods like celiac disease. So I thought what she did was so cool.

Robin Hofmann [00:33:03]:
So I brought her on to chat with me and then we remained friends ever since. And I believe that was like seven years ago. So I had the idea and I just reach out to her because she's just a such a loving and supportive person. I just honestly felt like I would just get the emotional support and so, and I. And she was one person that I knew, knew what celiac was and, and how it had it, how what it's like to live with it. So I called her up and I was like, hey, I've got this idea. And she literally just said, I'm in, I'm in. She just kept saying, I'm in.

Robin Hofmann [00:33:34]:
I'm like, but I haven't even told you what it is. I don't care. I'm in. She goes, I have been waiting for the day that you called me and said this to me. And I was like, what? It just wasn't, I don't know, it was so wild. And since that moment, she has been by my side, supporting me in every way, emotionally, financially, like all. Every way possible. So, yeah, she is one of Our executive producers.

Robin Hofmann [00:33:58]:
It's honestly, it's me and her. So we 50, 50 split the cost of the film. And just because we both believe in it so much again. And we're. We. We understand that it's a risk. It's not even. It's filmmaking.

Robin Hofmann [00:34:14]:
We. We do understand that, but it was more. Again, more important for us to get this information out to people than it was about the money.

Jules [00:34:21]:
Wow.

Erica [00:34:22]:
So how can we. How can we support. Like, how can people support you financially, emotionally, physically, spiritually?

Robin Hofmann [00:34:29]:
I'll take all the emotional and physical support ever. Financially. I mean, we're. We're okay right now. Like, we've done. We've already done it. We've done the thing. Advertising wise, obviously.

Robin Hofmann [00:34:42]:
Yes. Once the movie's out, having any kind of support in. In advertising is great. So anyone with a voice, anyone with a platform, anyone with anything, it actually would be helpful now to just. Just follow us and. And give us that. That support. Because, again, I know I keep saying it, and it's not.

Robin Hofmann [00:35:02]:
It's really not that funny of a joke, but, like, I. I'm not trying to be an influencer. I'm not trying to sell anybody anything. I want people to be interested in our content. But the reality of it is, is when you do start looking for distribution, the first thing they ask you is, how many followers do you have? They want to know that you have a following. Yeah, they want.

Robin Hofmann [00:35:19]:
I not only have followers, I have influencers on my team that have followers.

Robin Hofmann [00:35:26]:
That's the interesting part, too, is when I do post something, we do get a lot of views because people are sharing it, but not necessarily. People don't just necessarily follow. So I do need that so that I can prove that we have a base, that we do have an interested audience. So that's definitely very helpful to do that. And then when the film is out, I'll need everyone to. To just tell everybody how wonderful it is and go watch it.

Erica [00:35:49]:
So this is amazing. Robin, thank you so much for joining us today. I mean, obviously, Jules was intimately involved with this, so we're so excited to support you. And whatever happens to the future of gluten is a joke. I'm intimately involved. Even though I wasn't there, I was there in spirit. My water bottle was there. And I'm just so happy for this to like, to move forward, and I'm so excited to see kind of what becomes of this.

Erica [00:36:17]:
So, I mean, we'll definitely keep you involved here on the podcast, but as always, make sure you follow Robin and The gluten is a joke cast and you will be updated on when anything happens with gluten is a joke. And I'm, I'm just so excited to see where this all goes.

Robin Hofmann [00:36:33]:
Me too. I. I hope it helps any, any person. It already has that felt. It already has.

Erica [00:36:40]:
I mean, it already has started so

Jules [00:36:42]:
many conversations and as you already have alluded to here, like, you've talked to so many people, people have opened up to you have felt like they have a con, a community, they've had a place to go. I mean, you've already helped people.

Robin Hofmann [00:36:56]:
Oh, thank you. Yes. It's amazing.

Erica [00:37:00]:
Thank you.

Jules [00:37:01]:
Thanks for coming on with us. Thank you for all that you've done and for sharing and for coming on to talked about the documentary and we can't wait to, you know, for it to come out and, you know, share even more. So it's gonna be very exciting.

Robin Hofmann [00:37:14]:
Thank you for having me.

Erica [00:37:16]:
Thanks for listening to You Had Me At Eat. We'll see you on the next episode.

Jules [00:37:27]:
Thanks for tuning in to You Had Me At Eat, the number one voted gluten free podcast in the country. Remember to like and subscribe. Tell all your friends and we'll talk to you next time.