“How to Win Friends and Disappear People” Interview with Creator Sophia Lopez
How to Win Friends and Disappear People is a new fiction audio series created, written, and directed by Sophia Lopez, and produced by QCODE Media.
Starring Leslie Grace, this 10-episode supernatural thriller follows Nancy (Soni Bringas), a nebbish computer scientist, who becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor. It doesn’t take long for her to uncover a dark secret: the mystery woman, El (Leslie Grace), is actually a centuries-old vampire. As Nancy becomes her familiar (basically her assistant), bringing the vampire into the social media-driven world of millennial New York City, they are both pulled down a rabbit hole of deceit, murder, and mayhem.
We got to speak with Sophia Lopez about the creation of this podcast!
Devon DiComo: Can you give us a brief intro as to how you got started with the podcast, How to Win Friends and Disappear People? How did you develop this idea?
Sophia Lopez: I was first struck by an image, or rather a scene in my imagination. The scene was: a timid and insecure, overworked and under-appreciated young woman walks down the hall to her apartment late at night after a grueling day at the office. Then, just as she’s getting home, her neighbor across the hall, a magnetic and charismatic, confident young woman, leaves for the first time all day to go out for a night of fun. I liked the image of these two vastly different women, one coming and one going, night after night, like mirror images. I started with that, then I filled in more detail — where is the cool girl going? Does the insecure girl resent her, or fantasize what it would be like to be that cool, or both? To me, there were a lot of emotions on both sides of the picture and I channeled those thoughts and feelings into two characters, Nancy and El, who are extremely different on the surface but have very similar emotional underpinnings. While Nancy is awkward, cringe-y, and disliked, El is charming, sexy, and popular. But at their cores, they are both lonely, unfulfilled, and — in their own unique ways — monstrous. I knew I wanted to give each of them a dark secret. And, as someone who is obsessed with vampires, I knew El’s secret had to be that she is a vampire.
DD: Describe the show for folks who haven’t had a chance to listen yet.
SL: This is a supernatural thriller about an intense, toxic friendship that spirals out of control. It’s an unlikely friendship story at its core, about Nancy — an insecure data analyst living a lonely existence in New York City — who inadvertently falls into a vampire-familiar relationship with El, a cold, hardened, centuries-old killer. Through their working relationship, Nancy realizes El is just as much an outcast as she is, and the two women become codependent besties. However, their bond quickly becomes all-encompassing, suffocating even, as the relationship evolves into a constant power-struggle. And all the while, they are leaving a tangled web of murder victims in their wake.
DD: What made you want to make it come to life now?
SL: I really wanted to examine this one particular friendship, between two women, that is toxic yet life-changing.
I also wanted to address how women are often underestimated in certain ways, and see these two characters use society’s expectations to their benefit. Nancy gets away with a lot because as a woman deemed “mousy” or “unattractive” by society’s standards, people look right past her. On the flip side, El can easily lure male victims because she is seductive and plays into society’s idea that women are prey, not predators.
I wanted to make it, ultimately, because it’s something that I wanted to listen to! And I hope that people will enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed working on it.
DD: What did you look for when casting for this show?
SL: El and Nancy both change so much throughout the season that each actress had to be able to play cruel and sinister, as well as empathetic and unassuming. Leslie Grace and Soni Bringas are absolutely incredible in their roles! It was a dream come true to listen to the final cut and hear El and Nancy as fully realized, multi-dimensional people.
The show is sort of genre-hybrid because in the storyline between El and Nancy, it’s a tense feminine thriller. And then when it’s just with Nancy or El individually, it’s often horror. Then, when we have Nancy interact with the world at large, it’s more of a workplace comedy. James Paxton was incredible as Nancy’s workplace nemesis, Sid — James is able to convey so much emotion in his voice, which is so important for a podcast and particularly for an antagonist, so we can really see the intensity of who Nancy’s up against. I was lucky enough to get to work with some of my favorite actors, Katrina Bowden and Rico Rodriguez — who play Paulina and Luis, Nancy’s co-workers who come a little too close to solving the central mystery. A lot of the workplace scenes brought comedy, which is a really important element of the podcast. Because it eases the stress of the more horrific scenes, and also lulls listeners into a false sense of safety so they’re primed for another big scare.
The How to Win Friends and Disappear People cast is amazing and I feel so lucky to have been able to create this world with them!
DD: The two leads, Leslie Grace and Soni Bringas have such great chemistry. What is it like in the studio when they’re recording?
SL: Leslie and Soni have such amazing chemistry. It’s crazy to think that we recorded them separately! We recorded with Leslie in the QCODE studios in Hollywood, and Soni over Zoom as she was in New York — and their recording dates did not overlap. When we recorded each of them, we had an in-studio reader who would read the lines opposite them, so we could establish a scene’s rhythm. And each time, we’d do a few takes — specifically, one “bigger” (louder, more intense), one “smaller” — so that way when we got to the editing stage, we’d have options and be able to weave them together seamlessly.
The recording sessions were amazing. As a director, I made sure we always found time to be creative, explore, and have fun — because it’s important and adds a lot of authenticity and freshness to the show. There was so much collaboration and fun and I hope that comes through in the final product.
DD: There are definitely some creepy elements in this podcast, such as the opening scene and when Sid visits Nancy’s apartment. How did you go about directing the soundscape and audio to accentuate the story and create that mood?
SL: The show’s scripts actually read a lot more “dark comedy” than “horror,” but I love scary podcasts — some of my favorites are The Burned Photo and Borrasca — and I feel like the audio space really lends itself to horror. So, as I took off the writer’s hat and put on the director’s hat, I decided to really lean into horror with the sound design. With Christophe Classé, who designed the SFX, and David Tatasciore and Deron Johnson, who scored the show, we all discussed treating the SFX and music for this podcast as straight horror, though the scripts felt more comedic than straight-up horror. I remember when I set out, my one goal was: I hope that this podcast is so creepy, so unnerving, so spine-tingling, that listeners will stop and look over their shoulder as they listen to make sure no one’s there.
DD: What is the biggest challenge when creating fiction podcasts?
SL: With writing for film and TV, I try to follow the advice: show, don’t tell. I try to make things as visual as possible and convey as little information in the dialogue as possible. But in the audio space, show, don’t tell goes out the window. There was a bit of a learning curve to adapt and modify my writing to give context clues and verbal hints to the audience about what’s physically happening in a scene since they can’t see it.
DD: What do you like most about this story? What do you think will stand out to listeners?
SL: I love that at its core, this is a female friendship story, heightened with supernatural elements. For me, there’s a real emotional undercurrent as these two women are forever changed — for better or for worse — by an important friendship.
I think for listeners, what’s really cool about this podcast is that it’s at the intersection of vampires and true crime, which is really fun. And, if you like feminine thrillers with twists and turns, it’s a wild ride as El and Nancy are drawn down a rabbit hole of obsession, deceit, mayhem, and murder.
DD: What do you hope listeners will come away from this podcast having learned and experienced?
SL: I hope listeners will come away from this story questioning — what makes a monster? And to feel like they’ve walked a mile in El or Nancy’s shoes.
DD: What’s next for you? Will you be making more audio in the future?
SL: I had the best time making this podcast and would love to make more audio in the future. It’s such a cool storytelling medium and there’s so much opportunity to do some really interesting stuff that is unique to audio. In terms of what’s next, I hope to continue working on stories I love, about characters I’m obsessed with!
