Episode 2227 - #1 NYT Bestselling Author W. Bruce Cameron on Netflix Premiere & A Dog's Perfect Christmas
Prepare for a masterclass in storytelling, heartwarming cinema, and laugh-out-loud humor!
In this exclusive, must-listen episode of The Ash Said It Show, host Ash Brown sits down with the legendary literary powerhouse and cinematic mastermind, W. Bruce Cameron.
If you’ve ever shed a tear, laughed out loud, or fallen completely in love with the furry heroes on your screen, this is the interview you cannot afford to miss.
As a New York Times #1 Best-Selling Author, screenwriter, film producer, syndicated columnist, and humorist, Bruce Cameron has an unmatched gift for capturing the profound bond between humans and animals—along with the hilarious, messy realities of everyday life.
From conquering the bestseller lists to dominating the streaming and box office charts, Cameron’s creative footprint is legendary:
* A Dog's Purpose: Spent an incredible 52 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was adapted into the beloved global blockbuster film starring Josh Gad, Dennis Quaid, and Britt Robertson.
* A Dog's Journey: The sensational sequel that continued the magical cinematic journey.
* 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter: The iconic 2002 cultural touchstone that famously secured a Hollywood adaptation before the book even hit shelves!
During this exclusive interview, Bruce dives deep into his highly anticipated upcoming film, A Dog's Perfect Christmas, premiering on Netflix in Fall 2026.
Fans are in for an absolute treat with this star-studded holiday masterpiece featuring an iconic powerhouse cast including Dennis Quaid, Milo Ventimiglia, Jennifer Tilly, and Mary Steenburgen.
Bruce shares behind-the-scenes magic about co-writing and producing the film alongside his incredible wife, Cathryn Michon, who also directed the feature. Expect exclusive insights into the creative process, on-set stories, and what it takes to bring these heartwarming holiday tales to life!
Listeners get exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the creative genius behind Hollywood's biggest animal-loving blockbusters, unfiltered humor and heart exploring the comedic inspirations that shaped iconic hits like 8 Simple Rules, and invaluable industry insights perfect for aspiring writers, screenwriters, filmmakers, and fans of heartwarming storytelling.
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Speaker 1: What it is, what it do, CyberWorld. It is your girl,
the one and only Ash Brown, and this is the
Ash set It show. Over twenty two hundred episodes since
twenty fourteen, half a million plus streams all around the globe.
None of this is possible without you, guys, So thank
you so much for the shares, the cares. It makes
a huge difference. Today we have a very special guest
with us. This is a New York Times number one
best selling author, screenwriter, film producer, columnist, humorist. We've got
the wonderful Bruce Cameron with us today.
Speaker 2: Hey Bruce, heyt a split personnel.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, Bruce, you got all these magic powers.
I'm trying to see, like, how do you how do
you work? How do you operate? Where does this come from?
Speaker 2: Also make a mean burrito.
Speaker 1: Mean Brita. We're gonna put it at the next opening.
I'm just saying, so, Bruce fir to talk about your book,
which is the original inspiration. Where did that book even
come from? A Dog's Purpose?
Speaker 2: So all the way back to a Dog's Purpose. That
origin was very interesting because I was dry.
Speaker 3: I had moved to California.
Speaker 2: Because I had a TV show on the air if
you could Believe It, Eight Simple Rules was based on
my book. And so I came out to work in
television and I met this I was divorced and I
met this woman, and she and I started to I'm
going just roll my eyes when I say date because
I just feel like I'm way too old and gone
out on a date.
Speaker 1: And then it's worse.
Speaker 3: She says, I want you to meet my parents, and
I'm like, oh my.
Speaker 2: God, are we doing that?
Speaker 3: You know what's the next prom So.
Speaker 2: I've so I We're driving up the coast of California
to meet her parents.
Speaker 3: She turns me out of the blue and says, I will.
Speaker 2: Never have another dog. And I'm like, what, well, our
dog died and she's like, I can't go through that again.
And I'm like that You're getting out at the next
gas station because I Am not going to go through
life or even on this trip with the woman, will
even entertain the idea of a dog. And because it's
a long trip from LA to San Francisco area takes
approximately eighteen years, I thought, Okay, I'm gonna have to
I'm gonna have to fix this situation when I want
to make a point. I tell a story, and in
this case, I made up a story about a.
Speaker 3: Dog, very special dog, because.
Speaker 2: I've wanted her to believe that the same love you
have from your dog, the most beloved dog you've ever had,
is available to you from the heart of another dog.
Speaker 3: If you just open yourself up to it.
Speaker 2: Further, it might even be the same dog come back
to you. So I described a situation where a dog
dies and is reborn and reincarnates, learns all these lessons
and eventually finds his way back to his original boy.
And that was the origin of the movie A Dog's
Purpose because when I told her the story, she said,
you have to write that in a book, And so
I wrote it as a book, and she loved the
story so much she married me, and the book became
you know, it was a number one New York Times bestseller,
and it became a movie, and it has it sort
of propelled me into being the dog book guy.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, what was your reaction when the book was
gaining so much notoriety and so many people were into it,
you know, number one sign book. How did that make
you feel? Well?
Speaker 2: I had spent my whole life trying to get books
going and had only recently tumbled on to some success,
and so it felt like head snapping accelerations when it
felt like it felt like, Wow, I spent my whole
adult life trying to take the first step, and now
I am a whole football field away from where I started.
It was exhilarating, it was. But the thing that hit
home the most, honestly, which really convinced me I was
doing good in the world, was going to set for
the first day of the filming of the movie A
Dog's Purpose, And as we.
Speaker 3: Took the shuttle bus and we went over the top
of this.
Speaker 2: Rise and we looked down below, there's a night scene
all and I could see all these people, all these
There were pop cars, there were security people, there were
transport people, there were people carrying things, and there were
lights and everybody was milling around. I had to be
two hundred people right there in my vision.
Speaker 3: And I thought none of these people would.
Speaker 2: Have a job doing this if I hadn't written that book.
And that really that's when it hit home that I
had done something is phenomenal.
Speaker 1: And of course, the film A Dog's Perfect Christmas is
coming this fall to Netflix. That's huge.
Speaker 2: Yes, we're doing it again, A Dog's Perfect Christmas.
Speaker 3: This so this is based on my.
Speaker 2: Book A Dog's Perfect Christmas, and Catherine Sean and I
wrote the screenplay together. We've become a writing team. And
Catherine as well as directing this one, and.
Speaker 3: It's her first big studio movie.
Speaker 2: She's directed other independent movies, but this is her first
one and first studio and it has gone great. And
we had a great cast at Dennis Quaid and by
Little Ventimiglia and Mary Steam Virgin and Jennifer Tilly and
then we've got some Yes, she's one.
Speaker 1: I love Jennifer Tilly.
Speaker 3: She is amazing.
Speaker 1: She's a genius. I love her. I'm sorry.
Speaker 3: She is so much fun. She brought so much to
the role of Lucille in this movie, and it was
just great to hang out. And then you know, we've
got a couple of fairly.
Speaker 2: New stars giving them both a big break. One of
them is brook Lena Johnson, and she steals the movie.
She's this young actress. We're playing a senior in high school.
Everyone is going to go into the theater never having
heard of her, and come out saying, oh my gosh,
that was such a performance.
Speaker 3: And Wow, this was so much fun.
Speaker 2: And there's also a guy named Ethan Loomis, and Ethan
has really been in nothing. You've been in nothing. This
is his first shot and people.
Speaker 3: Are going to say, Oh, this kid's going to be
We're going to see him again. He's got other roles coming.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 1: What can you tell us about the dogs in the
movie as far as like, how many are you? Are
you dealing with different ones? How many?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah. So I wrote A Dog's Perfect Christmas, and when
I wrote the novel, I envisioned instead.
Speaker 3: The old dog is a big old hound.
Speaker 2: For the movie, we made him a basset hound, and
then I pictured Ruby.
Speaker 3: The puppy is just being a sort of a puppy.
Speaker 2: But we made her into a corky puppy.
Speaker 3: And so we have a we have on the film.
Speaker 2: We've got Winstead and Ruby, a basket hound and a corky.
In a flashback, we see the basset as a puppy. Uh.
Speaker 3: The Corgi is a puppy all the way through the movie.
Speaker 2: And because it takes place essentially from Thanksgiving to Christmas
one year, and the Corgi was there were three Corky's,
so they each played different roles. One of them learned
how to skateboard. It was just amazing, these these puppies
and they were they just brought and it just brought
so much cute. It was really wild. Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1: So we would definitely be looking forward to that this fall.
You know, you guys keep eyes out on social and
everything else, so we'll be looking for those dates.
Speaker 2: I love.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, Bruce, if Hollywood was to ever decide to
adapt your life as a humorous as a best selling
author into a movie, who do you think could portray
you the best on screen?
Speaker 2: Well?
Speaker 3: I think if we're going with just look, it's going
to have to be Brad.
Speaker 2: Pitt, because he and I are practically twins, and the
people always hate to me. You are like a better
looking Brad Pit, aren't you? And I say, well yeah,
so obviously the first step it was it would have
to be someone completely demented delp No.
Speaker 3: Well I don't, I don't.
Speaker 2: Even I don't even know of an actor who who
would want to play me. They'd be like, that's so wait,
let me let me understand. There's a character. He's on
screen the entire movie, and all he's doing is typing.
How is that? How is that interesting? I would you know,
people would be like, yeah, all he does is type
that's not that interesting.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm sure there's other stuff to weave into there, Bruce.
It's gonna be random things to happen, you know, folks
popping in, popping out.
Speaker 2: You never know, Yeah, yeah, okay, well yeah, I mean
I don't live in a sitcom. I do.
Speaker 3: I try to see.
Speaker 2: People from popping in and popping out, just like to
write my book, just like to write my book.
Speaker 1: I love it.
Speaker 3: But a dog for me Christmas.
Speaker 1: He is a book.
Speaker 2: I wanted to emphasize that because the book itself, the
producers that read it, we're just in love with the book.
They all wanted to make the movie. And the reason
they wanted to make the movie is because it's just
a great story.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we need some more just feel good stories
being told. So that's what I'm really excited about. All
of these stories that everyone can obviously pick up now
on Amazon and all different online headquarters. They can go
and pick these wonderful books up, but they can also
look forward to seeing the film adaptation this fall.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, yeah, go to the movie and the sim theaters.
If it just goes to streaming, which is possible if
you have Netflix, kee it up because you're gonna you're
not gonna be disappointed, and get the family around the
big screen and watch this movie.
Speaker 1: I love it. Bruce, Thank you so much for coming through.
We so appreciate you.
Speaker 3: Well, thank you as I really appreciate being.
Speaker 1: Here that I'm prov but much more success to you,
your team, your beautiful wife, all those good vibes. Well,
we love in that.
Speaker 2: I'll tell my once again, we're going into the age
of delusion that I have a team. But yes, my
entire team.
Speaker 3: I'll tell them.
Speaker 1: Okay, Ben, everybody, Yeah, this is what's going on. Ash
sends good vibrations. She's sending good vibes to us. Loving,
not perfect. Yes, I appreciate each and every one of
you guys. Thank you so much for all of your
love and support. Keeping in mind. Anyone to tell you
that you can't do what you want to do, you
look them square in the face. You tell them, don't
believe me. Just watch watch what I do. Watch me
make it happen, watch me make history. That's what we're doing.
This for the history books. Social media is nice, but
real life is so much better. Until next time you guys,