1 of 4 | Olive (L) and her best friend Celia enjoy Girl Scout cookies in “Cookie Queens,” in theaters Friday. Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions <\/p>\n
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 4 (UPI) — Cookie Queens, in theaters Friday, follows four Girl Scouts through a six-week cookie season. Featured scouts Olive, Shannon Elizabeth and Nikki said they learned business tactics watching each other.<\/p>\n
In a recent Zoom interview, Olive, now 14\u00bd, said she learned from the youngest Scout profiled, Ara.\n<\/p>\n
“I stole Ara’s tactic of saying that the sandwich cookies were the same number of cookies,’ Olive said. “But because they’re sandwich cookies, they’re technically more, like double the amount.”<\/p>\n
Olive’s father also gave Nikki, now 11, an idea by dressing up as a cookie to stand with her.<\/p>\n
“I’m definitely putting a cookie costume on my dad thanks to Olive,” Nikki said. “I need him eating a cookie while trying to get people to buy cookies.”<\/p>\n
Olive was pleased that her father’s cookie cosplay will help other Scouts.<\/p>\n
“My dad will be very happy to hear that,” Olive said.\n<\/p>\n
Shannon Elizabeth, now 10, also observed Olive’s sales pitch. Olive was able to sell additional boxes by telling customers five boxes would be an even $30.<\/p>\n
“It’s always hard to break the change and stuff,” Shannon Elizabeth said. “Instead, just make it even.”<\/p>\n
Olive recognized that she did not exactly have to twist people’s arms to sell them on an extra box of cookies. She thought about how she might sell a product that is less enticing.<\/p>\n
“Nobody wants to buy insurance but everyone needs it,” Olive said. “If you upgrade your insurance so you’re paying us more a month and you get this better service because of it, then we’ll also send you a free T-shirt that says you’re a gold member of our insurance company.”<\/p>\n
Director Alyssa Nahmias said she related to Ara, who was 5 when Nahmias filmed her, eagerly not taking no for an answer from passersby.<\/p>\n
“I joke sometimes that that is how I feel when I’m pitching a film to an investor or to a studio,” Nahmias said. “They’re like, ‘Oh, we’ll call you back or we’ll be in touch.’ You’re like, come on, let’s do this, but you don’t know if they’re ever really going to come back.”\n<\/p>\n
Cookie Queens addresses the economics of children volunteering to sell products for Girl Scouts of the USA. The Scouts are competing in regional sales contests to win a trip to Girl Scout Camp, but along the way they discover their troop only keeps $1 of the $6 box.<\/p>\n
“These are really important questions that we need to ask about what we’re teaching young people and whether we’re gonna honor their voices and take them seriously,” Nahmias said. “What’s fair? How does this work and why does it have to work this way?”<\/p>\n
Olive becomes a vocal advocate for a more equitable profit split. After the film, she served on an advisory board.<\/p>\n
“The advisory board isn’t quite as successful as I hoped but that does not mean I’m going to stop fighting,” Olive said.<\/p>\n
Some business lessons were tougher to learn. Shannon Elizabeth’s family attends a flea market on an empty day, and sets up outside a Panda Express when snow keeps people from stopping.<\/p>\n
“We were next to the busy street but for some reason busy street does not also mean busy place,” Shannon Elizabeth said. “We had to learn that.”<\/p>\n
Nikki and her sisters also ended up selling outside on a rainy day.\n<\/p>\n
“Everyone was so cold that day,” Nikki said. “My socks were wet. It was not a very nice feeling but we just pushed through. We didn’t give up.”<\/p>\n
Nahmias also admired the clever ways the individual girls drew attention to their sales. Like Olive’s father’s cookie costume, Nikki and her sisters performed songs.<\/p>\n
“All these kids are super creative and that was important to me because we really collaborated,” Nahmias said. “It’s our movie. It’s not something I did for them or they were just a part of. We are the film team on this.”<\/p>\n
The film team also includes Archewell Productions, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s production company. Harry and Meghan are executive producers.<\/p>\n