Producer/Director Paul Feig, “The Housemaid” based on Freida McFadden’s novel

Totally Booked with Zibby

Zibby Owens

Moms, Arts, Books, Parenting, Connection, Literary, Reading, Inspiration, Entertainment

4.5 • 643 Ratings

🗓️ 19 December 2025

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this special episode of the podcast, Zibby interviews acclaimed producer/director Paul Feig at a press junket for THE HOUSEMAID, the highly acclaimed film adaptation of Frieda McFadden’s bestselling novel. The two dive deep into what makes a great book-to-screen adaptation, the art of misdirecting an audience, and the power of music, production design, and point of view. Paul also shares behind-the-scenes insights into shaping THE HOUSEMAID as a “Nancy Meyers movie that goes horribly wrong,” his love of twists, his admiration for McFadden’s writing, and his thoughts on creativity, movie theaters, and finding your own voice as an artist.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, this is Zibi Owens, and you're listening to Totally Booked with Zibby. Formerly, moms don't have time to read books. In my daily show, I interview today's latest, best-selling, buzziest, or underrated authors and story creators, whose work I think is worth your time. As a bookstore owner, publisher, author, and obviously podcaster, I get a comprehensive
0:24.0	look at everything that's coming out and spend my time curating the best books so you don't
0:29.3	have to.
0:30.3	Stay in the know, get insider insights, and connect with guests like I do every single day.
0:36.2	For more information, go to zibbmedia.com and follow me on Instagram
0:40.2	at Zibby Owens. This is a very special episode centered around the movie The Housemade
0:49.3	based on Frieda McFadden's best-selling novel. I had the opportunity to attend a press junket,
0:55.3	which basically means I got to go to the Essex House Hotel on a floor where every room
1:00.7	was inhabited by a different, important person from the film The House Made. And I was ushered
1:07.5	into the room with Paul Feig, where there were like, I don't know, 10 cameramen and 10 other
1:14.0	people and I just sat right down in the chair and we had this amazing conversation, which not only
1:19.6	was about the movie, but about what makes great movie adaptations from books and some other
1:26.6	really important stuff that I thought you all would
1:29.3	really enjoy. Here's a bio on Paul, and also I encourage you all to see The Housemaid and read
1:36.6	Frida McFadden's novel. Paul Feig is an American film director, producer, screenwriter,
1:42.0	an actor. He is best known for directing films such as
1:45.0	bridesmaids, The Heat, Spy, Ghostbusters, A Simple Favor, and Last Christmas. He has also
1:50.3	directed episodes of The Office. Paul often collaborates with actress Melissa McCarthy. He is also
1:55.9	a brilliant advertising director with his Diet Coke spots showing his incredible comedic talents. Enjoy.
2:02.7	Welcome, Paul. Thank you so much for coming. I'm totally booked. Delated to have you.
2:06.6	Thank you, so good to meet you. Good to meet you, too. Congrats. The housemaid is amazing. Oh, my gosh.
2:12.3	Oh, good. I loved it. Oh, good. Thank you. I feel like we need a shopable housemate. I would like to get a few of the things from the house. Yes. The outfits. Are you working on that? Yeah, you know, we should actually get the whole store going. Yeah, exactly. Well, it's funny because when we were putting the movie together, my main thing that I said to everybody on the team was like, this has to be like a Nancy Myers movie that goes
	...

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