Hey everyone!
Thanks again for so many awesome questions about High School (the show!). I tried to get to as many as I could. I deleted/consolidated some, as there were some repeats. There are some things we just can’t get into yet, we don’t want to give away too much, but hopefully, this satisfies you all for a little while!
We are so excited about the show and really appreciate the early enthusiasm about it. One of the things that makes me happiest about the show is how different it is from the book. Rather than a show where people pretend to be us and our family and friends, it is instead a beautiful story that I think more people will relate to because of its more universal feel. When we were on set making the show, one of the things I felt happiest about, was how each cast member poured something totally different and new into their part. Some days I could actually feel myself enjoying what I was seeing and forgetting that it was based on our life. And I think that’s a good thing!
Anyway! Below is the best I could do for now about the show! Enjoy!
Tegan
PS! Our cover of Smashing Pumpkins Today came out yesterday! Check it out here!
PPS! The trailer for High School, with our cover in it, is live now! Check it out here.
1. Can we expect the same general storyline as the book?
Season one is set in tenth grade – so for now we can only really say what will happen then – but yes, it has the same general storyline. It’s so different too. Clea and Laura (co-writers) definitely used the book as a jumping-off point. So there are tons of fictionalized events and all the characters besides Tegan and Sara are composites of characters from the book. It does not follow the book exactly, and we all think that’s a good thing. One thing to note is that our memoir was our story from our perspective, but the show really zooms out and captures the world around Tegan and Sara. So, there is character development and stories that had to be created and filled in.
2. Do you both make some sort of appearance in the tv show? (soundtrack or as an extra maybe?)
The music Tegan and Sara write and perform in the show is all early Tegan and Sara music we wrote in high school. All the bands you hear in the show are from the 90s. We do not (thank god) make any appearance in the show! HA!
3. What was the best part in making the tv show?
It was truly just a joy to do something entirely different. It felt really satisfying to be involved in bringing our book, and our story to life. We enjoyed learning about a whole new industry too. After twenty three years in music, it was cool to apply some of our skills to a new world!
4. Will season 1 cover the entire book?
Season 1 is just tenth grade.
5. You found Seazynn and Railey on tiktok but when did you meet them? Was is before or after they were cast, and how surreal was it?
I met Seazynn and Railey in person, after they were already cast in Los Angeles in January of 2022. I was there for a few months working and the show had moved S+R there from Fresno to start acting lessons and music lessons. We would hang out every week or so and it was really fun. They are very sweet.
6. Did you document the behind the scenes in any way that will be released later? Or blooper reels?
I am sure there will be blooper reels!? And there was an on set photographer there to capture content and we encouraged all the young cast to document their journey. So there is definitely a lot of fun video/photos from their time shooting that will be released in the coming months!
7. Do T&S perform for other people in season 1?
Yes, T&S do perform music in Season 1.
8. Is your dad in season 1?
Yes, he is.
9. Will the soundtrack be ‘90s songs?
Yes, all the music is true to the timeframe.
10. Will Railey and Seazynn’s recordings be released on streaming?
Yes, we have been told the recordings they did for the performances on the show will be released. Not sure of the details but we have had confirmation they will.
11. Question about the show for the spoilers substack: Who made the decision/how was the decision made to have Railey be Tegan and Seazynn be Sara? What went into that decision? Did you/they have any input?
Great question. They chose! And it’s perfect casting.
12. You've said there is a certain level of removal from your real life versus the book High School (names changes, some stories removed/altered, all that reasonable stuff), while keeping "true to the story/history" so to speak. Would you say that it's the same level of removal between the book and the show? Or is it more/less removed from the book?
The story has become even more fictionalized. For example, Tegan and Sara start a new high school in the first episode but have no friends. This is not how it actually happened. We had tons of friends. But it was important to really create this isolated environment for Tegan and Sara to set up the distance they felt between them at the start of high school. So there is a lot that doesn’t happen in the show that happened in the book but it’s all super purposeful and let’s be real, it creates drama, which you need on TV!
13. You said in the video that there was a "rewriting" for the series, did you have a word to say about it and at some point did you say "No , it wasn’t like that, I would have not done or say that " ? Or maybe you didn’t want to intervene in that process.
Clea and Laura were very open to feedback throughout the script writing process. Sara and I were the first to see scripts and give notes on them. Clea was adamant that we be happy and be involved and that was part of why we chose someone we knew to develop the book. We most definitely gave feedback about certain changes and sometimes Clea and Laura would change things and sometimes not. Ultimately, we were always just trying to protect the people in the story (the real-life people) and ensure the story still felt like ours, even though it was fictionalized a lot. I like to say we were quality control. But most of what we pushed back on was small. There were no real dramatic battles. I think we were most sensitive about the portrayal of our parents as that is almost entirely fictional and so we were always trying to balance how our real parents would be perceived by these fictional parents Clea and Laura were writing.
14. Also, in the book you’re talking a lot about drugs very explicitly, did you have to be less explicit about it for the TV show (to avoid age restriction or to convince a platform)?
Yes, there are far less drugs in the show than in the book. Sara and I really didn’t want to neuter or gloss over our drug use or drinking - as so often happens with young women - and so I imagine you will see more of it in the future seasons if we get future seasons, but there are rules around drugs on TV and so there was much thought and discussion about how/when/why/where you see drug use. Also you can’t say Fuck, so we had to clean up the language a lot compared to our book! HA!
15. I do wonder, though, if fans who don’t live in the US and can’t have access to FreeVee are going to be able to watch High School on Prime Video (even if it requires subscription)?
We are working on an answer about where people will be able to watch the show. We are fairly certain everyone will be able to watch, and it will be free, but we are just waiting to hear the exact location for each country. More soon on that.
16. Were there any big blowouts/disagreements between you on making decisions for the show as producers?
There were no massive blowouts or disagreements. It was delicate and at times an emotional experience and not just for Sara and me. Clea has been our friend for 15 years and she wanted us to be happy, to get it right. It’s not just a story, it’s our story. So sometimes we had feelings about things. HA! But overall, I think it was a collaborative and positive experience. We certainly learned a lot along the way. Also, Clea and Laura are both whip-smart, funny, brilliant women and we ultimately trusted them and they were kind and patient with us as we went through the process together.
17. -We know Naomi is called Phoebe in the show, what’s Alex’s name? And why were their names changed?
Everyone but Tegan and Sara had their names changed. Even our parents. To be totally honest, I am not entirely sure why they had to change the parent names. It feels a bit weird to us even now. But it did further fictionalize the show which we agreed was a good thing. For the show and our parents and so many of the people still in our lives who were depicted in the book and show up in the show. There were also so many characters in the book and Clea wanted to simplify the story. Which makes sense. So, all the characters are composites of other characters. Naomi/Phoebe might be the only character that closely resembles ONE person from the book. But even she will continue to evolve to different places than Naomi does in the book if there are future seasons. So. I wouldn’t go into the show expecting to see each character from the book as they were written. Each character in the show carries the essence of multiple characters from the book but they bloom into new things.
18. Is your dad in the tv show? (Didn’t see mentions of an actor who plays him?), if not, why?
Wow. People are really worried about our dad!!! HA! Our dad is on the show. You’ll see more of the parents and the rest of the cast in the next trailer. This is all part of the rollout. You can’t give everyone everything at once.
19. -Is Spencer in the show (or his character), if so do him and ‘Tegan’ date in tv show?
I can’t give away too many details about specific characters. But there is a boy in the friend group who is loosely based on Spencer.
20. -Is there any special cameos like you two, or one of you, Emmy or one of your partners?
No cameos! I did joke about appearing in a concert scene, but in the end didn’t do it. Missed opportunity! Next season!
21. -Were any of the cast fans of T&S before they were cast? If so what was that like for you two? (If not, how!?).
I think many of the cast were aware of who we were, and all seemed to genuinely be thrilled to bring the story to life. Most read the book and seemed legitimately committed to being on the show and in their characters. It was an incredibly sweet and kind cast and their vibe on set together was lovely. They were very welcoming of us and tons of fun to hang with. Cobie Smulders is the NICEST person ever.
22. Which set was your favorite to film at? You guys did so much filming on location around the city. Much more than I expected. I anticipated more of built sets but you found some amazing places to recreate. Can't wait to see Crescent.
It was surreal shooting in our actual high school. The actual sets they built of our house and bedrooms were also really cool but they don’t really look like our actual bedrooms or house so it was less weird than being at our actual high school. But it was all cool.
23. Were there any scenes that you disagreed with or disliked during filming?
There were things I think I would have done differently, but we trusted Clea entirely. I think the choices she made, even the ones we didn’t agree with in the moment, are part of a bigger plan/story/vision she has and we did our best to try and be supportive and helpful but also respectful of her process. We entrusted her with our story, not the other way around. So we had to let things go. Again, Laura and Clea were both so open and receptive and so often it was just about being able to talk through things and have things explained and then we could let it go. But I think conflict is healthy and don’t want to gloss over that we did have conflict at times with ideas/stories/choices and we would voice them and we didn’t always get our way, and that is okay.
24. How many seasons can we expect?
Let’s cross our fingers we get 5? All three years of high school and a few summer seasons? Could be cool!
25. How long is an episode? What time of day will they be available? Will the drop at a time that will mean different parts of the world sees it at different times like some of your music or will we get it all at once like FUWM and Yellow?? (Gotta plan a gc zoom....need to know these things....you're invited to join us if you'd like...we'd love to share our initial reactions with you)
These are all great questions. We will post soon about where/when you can watch depending on time zone/country. We don’t have that info now. The episodes are all about 24 minutes long.
26. Has revisiting your high school experience impacted your friends to examine their high school experience also? I know you have written about being kinder and more compassionate to your younger selves. Has this translated to others who knew you in high school?
I think it forced many of the friends in our close circle to think more about high school than they had, and some more than they wanted to. I think the process of releasing the book and the show is hard on everyone to some degree. Sara put it so beautifully, the time before we became a professional band in 1999 is private. And by choosing to move the marker back a few years and write about our time in high school it’s like we’re dragging all our personal friends/family into our career somehow. That’s why we are so intense about being involved in everything, we want to be careful not to say/do anything that isn’t fair or comfortable for the people in our life. This is why further fictionalizing the show was so important. It needs to be our story, but also leave room for the people in our lives to remain private and protected. Our hope is that it will be easier for people, including our parents, to see fictionalized versions of themselves, as opposed to portrayals that closely resemble what actually happened.
27. How involved were you with selecting the soundtrack for the show?
We were involved in choosing the music supervisor and were a part of building playlists and talking through with everyone what kind of music we listened to, the bands we loved, the music from that era and the local bands we loved etc. Some of the music stuff just comes down to budget. The dream list of songs was millions of dollars, which we did not have. So you have to get creative. The team did an excellent job though. There is a good mix of big 90s iconic bands on the show and then smaller local bands and really cool indie stuff we loved from then too.
28. Do Alex and Spencer feature in the show?
Most characters from the book from tenth-grade show up in season one. They are not pure versions of the book characters though. There is tons of fictionalized stuff and each character sort of embodies multiple characters.
29. Are you involved in the score for the show?
We were involved in choosing who would score the show and we are beyond thrilled with her work. She is absolutely incredible and we’ll definitely talk more her, her work, and the process, closer to air! I’d love to actually do a video chat with her like we did with John Congleton to learn/share more about her process of creating music for the show!
30. What duties did you have as executive producers?
We developed the show with Clea. Then the three of us pitched the show to production companies and then we pitched it along with Clea to networks/streamers to sell it. We were involved in everything after that. From casting to music, to scripts, to who would be involved on social media marketing. Clea is the showrunner, so she has final say on everything, but overall she’s been very inclusive and as EP’s we have had a say in most things.
31. Did they use any of your own guitars in the show?
No. We did talk about having our original acoustic made for Seazynn and Railey, but we decided to have them play smaller bodied guitars in the end. It’s just easier to play a smaller bodied guitar when you are small, which they are. And we are. And we also thought the smaller guitars looked better on camera. But the guitars are Fender! Fender provided them! Which was who made our first guitar. So. It all worked out.
32. Also is there any original furniture or any items from your teenage years in the show?
Nope! We did offer up some patches from the 90s of ours, for the backpacks of “Tegan and Sara” but I don’t know if they got used.
33. How involved have you been with the music for the show outside of the songs associated with the book? Will all of the songs from the book appear in the show?
We were involved in the music stuff for sure. Especially the stuff that related to lessons, and what songs would be played, and the recording of those songs, and were always on set for those days that the girls were playing in the show etc. I answered about the other music stuff above!
34. I would love to hear more about the show's costume design; from the teaser the costumes look incredible. Did you have specific aesthetic or creative inspirations (like My So Called Life or other movies/shows from the time) that went into decisions for costuming? Did a lot of it come from memories/photographs of that time?
Sara and I shared an enormous collection of photos and videos from that time. Clea ended up going with a much more muted, darker pallet than we were dressed like/our houses looked like, but it still really works. We were quite bright and colourful in the 90s, but a choice was made to go quite a bit darker. It almost feels like the early 90s as opposed to the mid-90s. But I think this was probably a good thing. Rather than feeling overly nostalgic or pastiche, or relying too heavily on props that will scream “NINETIES” or “RAVERS” instead, the show feels more organic and timeless. I think the team that dressed the cast and built the sets and helped to design the world did an excellent job. It’s a really beautiful show and it feels like…both nostalgic and current. Which is weird but it does. It just doesn’t feel like a show that is saying HEY WE ARE FROM THE 90S. It’s more subtle and beautiful than that.
35. Excited to see all of the Calgary locations. Calgary has changed so much since you were in highschool. What efforts were made to take us back in time to the Calgary that you remember? What was it like shooting here?
Major efforts were made to capture the energy and look of Calgary in the mid-90s. I think the team did an amazing job. For example, Cobie, who plays our mom, drives the same teal Jeep our mom drove when we were in high school! We shot at a house a block from our best friends house in high school and it’s just…a time warp to be back in the hood where we grew up. Shooting in Calgary was epic. It was so nice to be back and to know that when the show comes out you will see Calgary being Calgary. So often cities are the backdrops for other cities, and it felt good to show off Calgary.
36. Did you guys write or record any original songs for the show? Without telling us what the intro theme song is can you tell us the process of deciding what it would be? Is there an opening theme song?
There is no theme song/opening song. It’s always a song from a band from the 90s. And we didn’t write anything for the show. The music is all is from the 90s. There are tons of T&S songs but all written in that era and re recorded with Railey and Seazynn singing. It’s very Back To The Future, but you can’t have T&S NOW in a show that’s about T&S in the 90s. :)
37. Is this going to be a limited series? Will there be a season 2? Any chance we might see a follow up to the book?
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