Rina Mimoun Wants You to Feel Privileged
JoAnna Garcia and Rina Mimoun (inset)
Around this time last year, I was writing a script for Pushing Daisies that involved windmills and a one-winged pigeon, when the book "How To Teach Filthy Rich Girls" showed up on my desk. A perfect excuse to procrastinate, I read the book in one sitting. Two things immediately struck me.
1) I missed writing about teenagers. Having spent almost ten years on the WB, I was longing for some good, old-fashioned Creek romance and Ferris wheel goodness. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to get back to what I loved writing about most. Family. Love. Angst. Pool parties…
2) It was all about Girl Power! Having spent four years on Everwood, I enjoyed exploring the drama of father and son, and was so blessed to have a great young actor like Gregory Smith to bring those teenage boy troubles to life. (Ephram's first time with Madison? Something I will never forget.) But I always dreamed of writing for a character like Megan. Someone with heart and flaws and humor and love. When I met JoAnna Garcia, I knew she was our girl. And it was a miracle that we found her when we did.
It was 6:00 pm on a Friday night, and we had just been informed that if we didn't find a Megan by the end of the day, we probably would have to shut down production. When Jo walked in, we knew right away – we were saved! She was so funny and sweet and sparkly, but even more than that – she is someone you can relate to instantly. Joanna is such a genuinely good person, it just comes across onscreen. We started shooting the pilot in Malibu about two weeks after that. And right now we're shooting episode 9 and praying that we get to make a lot more!
Next week we need everyone to come check out Privileged and help get us our back 9 so that we can reveal Sage's deep dark secret, meet Marco's boyfriend, watch Rose self-destruct, heat up Megan's never-ending boy troubles, and see what happens when she finally realizes what everyone else knows – that Charlie is totally in love with her! And the way she finds out is when we all find out exactly what Charlie did for her five years ago …