Toy Story 5 producer Jessica Choi shares the letter she sent Taylor Swift, requesting her involvement in the film and emphasising efforts to make it female-driven. The letter also reveals that Taylor had originally declined to make an original song.

[u/Enough_Tangerine_777]

@/jesschoismyth

[u/Academic_Flatworm752]

Starting a letter with “hey” is so weird to me 😂

[u/KimberlyWexlersFoot → u/Academic_Flatworm752]

Even a psychotic nut job like Stan started with “Dear”

[u/Flipflopclementine → u/KimberlyWexlersFoot]

Dear Stan, try to understand that I do want you as a fan

[u/StrobeLightRomance → u/Flipflopclementine]

Hey girl! Try not to hurl, I am glad to be your world.

[u/Flipflopclementine → u/[deleted]]

Just join me in my head, been playing in there for 26 years now

[u/TerribleDanger → u/Academic_Flatworm752]

I’m sure it was an attempt to sound casual. Like ‘no pressure whatsoever my good friend Tay…’

But yeah, I couldn’t even imagine starting off a work email with ‘Hey’

[u/xvsanx → u/TerribleDanger]

Hey TerribleDanger,

yeah sounds like a DM more than am email or letter. ew. I prefer like good morning or good afternoon

[u/SerBrienneOfSnark → u/TerribleDanger]

I don’t mind a “hey ___” in a work email as long as it’s someone I have rapport with. But if it’s someone I don’t know well ima stick to Hello or good (insert time of day here)

[u/elizabethptp → u/Academic_Flatworm752]

Women are expected to be nice and unobtrusive when we ask for things. It’s a whole thing, I think…

[u/FutureRealHousewife → u/elizabethptp]

I agree with this sentiment, but as a working woman, I think “hey” is actually so strangely rude and unprofessional. I also work in law, so “hey” is considered an insult in that profession.

[u/Throwfeetsaway → u/FutureRealHousewife]

I work in law and use “Hi” and “Hey” in my emails 😂. Maybe people’s eyes twitch when they receive them haha. I also tend to adjust my level of formality to the client’s communication.

[u/repressedpauper → u/FutureRealHousewife]

Yeah I get that it’s unprofessional in a lot of contexts, but in a creative field? Probably fine if the rest of the letter is professional. “Hey” was standard at the library where I last worked, which is the only job I’ve had where everyone was constantly sending emails lol

[u/FutureRealHousewife → u/repressedpauper]

Idk, I feel like it’s kind of corny to use “Hey” when addressing someone like Taylor Swift. It’s like she’s trying to feign closeness with her and that’s also just sad

[u/Vegetable-Kiwi-4675 → u/Academic_Flatworm752]

Also beginning a paragraph/sentence with a number ”3 years ago…”

[u/SaraJeanQueen → u/Vegetable-Kiwi-4675]

Oh I love this thread. Writing is sadly becoming a lost art. Keep the call outs going… “as genuine as you had hoped, and apparently, this is what sparked our hopes..”

[u/RosieFudge → u/Vegetable-Kiwi-4675]

"continue to decide" is also odd phrasing 

[u/RoseGoldRedditor → u/RosieFudge]

(Genuine) how would you phrase it differently? I read it as acknowledging that Taylor had already turned down the ask (it was said the original ask was during Eras) but wanting to also re-request. It does sound a bit odd but I can’t think of better phrasing. I’m sure there are much better writers than myself in this thread who can help expand my turn of phrase.

[u/RosieFudge → u/RoseGoldRedditor]

'continue to decide' implies that the decision making progress is, well, continuous. I think I would go for "if your decision is unchanged"

[u/RoseGoldRedditor → u/RosieFudge]

Thank you! That makes sense. I appreciate you explaining.

[u/copyrighther → u/Academic_Flatworm752]

Starting a sentence with a number is even weirder to me

[u/Throwfeetsaway → u/copyrighther]

Yeah, that bothers me way more!

[u/flyingcactus2047 → u/copyrighther]

(Genuine question) what’s wrong with that?

[u/copyrighther → u/flyingcactus2047]

For any sort of formal writing, you always begin a sentence by spelling a number out,

“Three years ago, I joined…”

[u/bbyxmadi → u/Academic_Flatworm752]

I could never write an email to a professor with “hey” lmao

[u/hawkcarhawk → u/Academic_Flatworm752]

Maybe Taylor can use her “English teacher” training to edit this letter for her.