WEBVTT

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The entertainment industry, it is a personality

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driven business. So at a nine to five, if you're

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working in corporate, you can hate your staff

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members, right? You can hate your staff members,

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right? But you either quit the job or you show

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up, but replacing the human, even the art that

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you see, like some of the videos, it's still

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lifeless. And people go, man, this looks real.

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T -word, look real. But it's not real. Yeah.

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I do what I do because the world sees us as how

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America portrays. Yeah, and America itself is

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a strong power in the world. The most influential.

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What would happen if you treated your creative

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path like a business and your purpose like a

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mission? So in today's episode, we dive into

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the real blueprint behind discipline, longevity,

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and sustainable success. We also break down how

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martial arts level focus helps you thrive in

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competitive spaces, how social media and AI can

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amplify your voice instead of diluting it, and

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why ownership and representation matter now.

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more than ever and the person walking this journey

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with me is someone who I deeply respect, Troy

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Skinner. He is a Brooklyn -born actor, director,

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and entrepreneur with over 25 years in the industry.

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He's a world -building creative who builds and

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leads Dark Ant Entertainment, the studio behind

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the award -winning film, A New Life, which has

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earned over six million streams. He's an NAACP

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Image Award nominee, a World Entertainment Awards

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Best Writer winner, a martial artist, and a coach

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who builds disciplined, purpose -driven artists.

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So this conversation is packed with insight,

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mindset, and real strategy for actors, filmmakers,

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entrepreneurs, and anyone ready to build something

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that lasts. Lean in. This conversation will shift

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how you create, lead. and thrive what's up fam

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before we get into this conversation let me say

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this look i know it's a thing right but if what

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we do here on this channel speaks to you if it

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lifts you centers you or helps you see your life

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a little clearer I invite you to like the video

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and subscribe so you stay connected. And if you

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want these conversations with you beyond YouTube,

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download the Thrillable Journey podcast on your

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favorite RSS platform. It is a small ass that

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goes a long way and it really truly helps us

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create the kind of content that doesn't just

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entertain but actually supports your journey

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of growth and alignment. So hit that like, subscribe,

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let's breathe in, get present. step into the

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conversation. Troy Skinner, we just talked just

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a little bit, man, but I want to, I really, I

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mean, I really truly want to welcome you to the

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podcast, man. Welcome to the Thrawable Journey.

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Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for having me, man.

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I appreciate you. Absolutely, man. I mean, we

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go back, I don't know, mid -20s, 2000s? Yeah.

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Yeah. We, you know, we met at, in Bobby Chance's

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class, the legendary Bobby Chance. Expressions

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unlimited. Expressions unlimited, man. How have

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you been? I've been well, man. You know, counter

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to everything else that's been going on in the

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world and in life. Just keep pressing forward.

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Today, I came up with a slogan of the keys to

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success, right? Or a recipe to success. I will,

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I must, and I can. Not necessarily in that order.

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I think I think the whole slogan because I'm

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making up a whole bunch of slogans for t -shirts.

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Okay, and so I can I must I can I will I must

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and those are like some of the things that We

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keep in mind. I was in the shower and that came

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to me and I was like, yeah Okay, I gotta put

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that on a shirt. So there's definitely someone

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to put on a shirt I got like right now I got

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about a good six of them that I'm gonna put on

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a shirt. You got a t -shirt coming up. What's

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going on? That's the plan, you know motivational

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motivation t -shirt Yeah, any t -shirts that

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kind of has great slogans of motivation. I mean,

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obviously, there's nothing new under the sun.

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King Solomon said it best, right? So we can think

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that we came up with something, but more than

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likely, somewhere in the time and the history

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of man and across the world, somebody else said

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it maybe in another language. Yeah. I mean, all

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we are just influenced by things that are in

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our atmosphere and are in our worlds and beyond.

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And we get that information and we come up with

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what we come up with. And it's not necessarily

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new. But you, again, we met in Hollywood, Los

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Angeles, years ago. You have been journeying

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and doing your thing, man. Like I've been watching

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you. I'm really excited and proud of your journey.

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what you've accomplished in your years. Because,

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you know, in the acting world, it ain't no joke,

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man. You know, it's a crazy game, right? Absolutely.

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Just to lay some background, though. You were

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born in Brooklyn. Yeah, yeah. I'm the product

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of the projects. I was born and raised in Brooklyn,

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New York, East New York, not too far away from

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Mike Tyson, literally down the street from him.

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What? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I moved to Augusta,

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Georgia at the high school. So my mom wanted

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us out of New York. And so I moved from Brooklyn

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to Augusta. And then from Augusta, following

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my dreams, I relocated in Los Angeles. And now

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I'm back in Augusta. So it's just weird how all

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that works. Full circle. When, so when did you,

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when did you move to LA? Oh, I moved to LA in,

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I would say 97. 97. 97. I was, yeah, I was, I

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was in music. And so I had been pursuing music

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since I was a kid. Yeah. And I perfected my craft

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in, in, in Georgia. So I had the East coast flavor

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and then I had the Southern flavor and then I

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had the West coast. So I had all the different

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areas and a R &B artist named Rune came through

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Augusta and I went to his show. And it was an

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amazing experience because I got to see how R

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&B artists, specifically the males, have to deal

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with the fans afterwards, like in the van and

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how he was feeling. Because what a lot of people

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don't know is that R &B artists, the males, they

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get grabbed at a lot, if you understand what

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I'm saying. So a lot of times the women do actually

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snag onto what they're grabbing at. I had to

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get that brother some ice. Literally, I had to

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get him a, you know, I made a makeshift Ziploc

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bag, put some ice in it, bought the ice for him

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to put on it. So from there, he was like, you

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know, he listened to my tape. And then from there,

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he just, he promised me he'd fly me out to LA.

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And that happened in September when I met him.

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And then it was November that I was in LA. And

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that was the beginning of my LA journey. That

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was the beginning of your LA journey. And so

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music was it, what kind of music were you? Oh,

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I did everything. I mean, from classical to house

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and dance music, R &B. Like I said, the South

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gave me the Georgia bounce flavor. So I had that

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Miami bass flavor inside of me when I moved to...

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LA so I could do anything and I got to do a couple

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of remixes in LA got to sit up in a bunch of

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record labels and manage and work with a bunch

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of artists but it was you know I tell you when

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I tell people the music industry as wild as it

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is I never really got caught up with it but it's

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what launched me into film so Although I went

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out to do music, and that was my objective. I

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swore I was going to have a top 10 hit and win

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Grammys and give my mom a big house because of

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it. That's not what God wanted. I was going to

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get into film. And so now, being a director in

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film, all that music experience helps me when

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it comes to score and soundtrack. Yeah. So that

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was a building block for you. And I remember

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this. Martial arts. Oh, yeah. Talk about that.

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Oh, yeah. How was that? What was where did that

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fit into in your journey? Yeah. Well, martial

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arts came to me as a gift. You know, I've grown

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up in Brooklyn. At the time that I lived in Brooklyn,

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it was noted as one of the most dangerous cities

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to live in. Not New York City, but just Brooklyn

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area. They used to have a saying, a slogan was,

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you got to do a die best die. So I was blessed,

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man. My mom was very big on keeping us out of

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the streets and everything. So martial arts came

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to me early after a couple of violent incidents

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and some muggings. I got into martial arts and

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I never looked back. With having the martial

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arts in my life, I realized that there was nothing

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that I couldn't accomplish. If I let the martial

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arts revolve around my life and my life revolve

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around the martial arts, there was nothing I

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couldn't accomplish. And so because, you know,

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not just the physical pain, but the mental aptitude

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you got to have and the spiritual desire to want

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to be better than who you are, martial arts gives

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that to you. And what I saw in my journey in

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film and what I continue to see is the top people

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in it. I know you were a track runner. You ran

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track. That was one of your discussions. When

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I first met you, we talked about, you guys gotta

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see this man's, his legs are incredible. Can't

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get rid of them. Can't get rid of them. Yeah,

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but they stay forever. I've met guys who would

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stay forever because they train football or play

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those physical attributes stay with you forever.

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I had realized that the martial arts, it's one

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of the things that I noticed a lot of people

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who study martial arts, sports, and military

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have strong aptitude and strong discipline to

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be able to pursue their objectives and their

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dreams. I see it now, even as an acting coach,

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I see the ones who I know, okay, yeah, a year

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from now, they'll be in it, you know, or they

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may not be it. One of my students, Brandon Bell,

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he's on foundation. He was a lacrosse player

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when he came to me, you know, and look at him

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now. So I've noticed that that was a instrument

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that most people would use for their form of

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discipline because you figure, for me, I was

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like, well, I've been punched in the face. So

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what's getting up in front of a bunch of people?

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You know what I mean? Who can't really physically

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harm me, you know? And so, it helped give me

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clarity on that. And to this day, I mean, I still

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study, I still train. And I tell people that,

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hey, you know, use what you did in high school

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in sports and if you're in the military. Because

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most of our top actors are sports, ex -sports

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players, or they still play. And you look at

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The Rock. The Rock was a wrestler. So, you know.

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There's a mindset that comes along with that,

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with the martial arts or the sports and things

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like that, where I remember when I was getting

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my first agent, he actually looked at that and

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said, oh, you know the work ethic. You can actually

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go out there and make something happen. And just

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that way of being, it goes with you. And it speaks

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for you as well for agents in other areas. Yeah.

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Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think the greatest

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gift that a parent can give their child is a

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form and source of discipline. Yeah. You know,

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we're not talking about corporal discipline.

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We're talking about discipline and helping them

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to know that they can do something. Kids want

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to, you know, I'm not a parent, but I've seen

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and been around enough kids to know as being

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a mentor or someone who is helping programs,

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the kids want to be able to have that. They want

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that. You know, my years of teaching martial

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arts to children before I moved to Los Angeles,

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all of those kids are now adults with their own

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families and all of them. Pretty much all of

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my students who are black belt under me are very

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successful people. Shantia Northley was the first

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black American female NASCAR driver. and she

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studied under me. She was a black man under me.

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When I look at that and I look at the achievements

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that people make, again, that's that formula

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for the recipe. I can, I will, I must. Those

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are things that we understand that we have to

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implement, that desire, that passion, that thought

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process. Yeah. Your passion has taken you around

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and helped you create your own thing. As as like

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you're talking about other people is always it

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has also been the same thing for you. I mean,

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25 plus years in Hollywood is a man that's no

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small feat. And I know you're here in Georgia,

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but the things that you're producing, and you're

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creating is, you know, is it's, it's wonderful,

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right? And in you, I mean, you, you appeared

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in many things. I mean, you were you were in

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the in the shield. We share that history. The

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audience will notice this man's an amazing actor.

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I think whenever he decides he wants to do it

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again, he'll be awesome at it. Hey man, put me

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in one of your fantastic films and I'll show

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up. How I Met Your Mother, Reno 911. These are

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people, these things that other people produce,

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but we, I'm going to get to yours at some point

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because what you've what you're creating, what

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you're building, and what you're laying down

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for the future is really amazing. But you know,

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as well as being actor, you're also a director,

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right? Yes. Those experiences that you have from

00:13:48.779 --> 00:13:51.879
those those those TV shows and films, like, what

00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:55.120
did that? What did that bring to you? On your

00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:57.840
on your own set? Yeah, it's interesting. You

00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:01.299
say that? I mean, um, being that, you know, and

00:14:01.299 --> 00:14:03.259
I have, I always tell people this, my mom says,

00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:04.860
why do you always tell that? I said, because

00:14:04.860 --> 00:14:08.059
people need to know that There is a level of

00:14:08.059 --> 00:14:11.779
growth from people who work hard, right? So being

00:14:11.779 --> 00:14:15.159
a project kid, I was always very appreciative

00:14:15.159 --> 00:14:18.500
of Anything and everything that I received, you

00:14:18.500 --> 00:14:21.360
know as a kid I make sure I wouldn't wear out

00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:23.899
my clothes or make sure I wouldn't wear out break

00:14:23.899 --> 00:14:26.419
something people give me gifts I used to hold

00:14:26.419 --> 00:14:28.340
on to them for years. I'm pretty sure I still

00:14:28.340 --> 00:14:33.039
got stuck when I was 15, but understanding that

00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:37.070
when you're When you're when you're working in

00:14:37.070 --> 00:14:39.610
one arena, right? So say, for instance, being

00:14:39.610 --> 00:14:42.570
on set, I was always over the shoulder of the

00:14:42.570 --> 00:14:45.730
director if I was capable of doing that. And

00:14:45.730 --> 00:14:49.629
what I realized is that just incongruent when

00:14:49.629 --> 00:14:51.669
it comes to people in general, people want to

00:14:51.669 --> 00:14:54.509
be treated fair. People want to be appreciated

00:14:54.509 --> 00:14:56.970
and they want to be treated fair. They want to

00:14:56.970 --> 00:14:58.669
be acknowledged and they want to be noticed.

00:14:59.289 --> 00:15:02.309
And when I was on set, I realized that the people

00:15:02.309 --> 00:15:04.789
who would get me to work hardest for them were

00:15:04.789 --> 00:15:07.289
the ones that recognized me. They would say,

00:15:07.529 --> 00:15:09.590
oh, you know, I saw your audition. You know,

00:15:09.590 --> 00:15:11.990
I'm glad you were able to take the part. And

00:15:11.990 --> 00:15:14.490
they would work well with me. You know, we, like

00:15:14.490 --> 00:15:16.509
I said, we share in common the shield. That was

00:15:16.509 --> 00:15:18.590
one of my great experiences working with Walton

00:15:18.590 --> 00:15:22.149
God in the senior year. Um, and, and just having

00:15:22.149 --> 00:15:25.649
that experience because the, the, the director

00:15:25.649 --> 00:15:29.730
of my episode was the, was the head DP. So that

00:15:29.730 --> 00:15:32.950
spoke volumes to me that he had chose me. And,

00:15:32.990 --> 00:15:36.490
you know, I realized that when I do projects,

00:15:36.570 --> 00:15:39.389
I want to make sure that people know that they're

00:15:39.389 --> 00:15:41.909
appreciated, that they're acknowledged, that

00:15:41.909 --> 00:15:46.470
they have a say, that the set is fun. You know,

00:15:46.610 --> 00:15:49.549
time is all we really all have. That's the most

00:15:49.549 --> 00:15:52.450
tangible thing that we really have. You lose

00:15:52.450 --> 00:15:54.889
it, you don't get it back. So someone is taking

00:15:54.889 --> 00:15:57.210
the opportunity to come and be there and show

00:15:57.210 --> 00:16:00.500
up because I love working with people who have

00:16:00.500 --> 00:16:03.080
strong integrity like just show up that's the

00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:05.679
number one thing then I want to make sure that

00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:08.700
experience is awesome yeah so I was able to bring

00:16:08.700 --> 00:16:12.360
a lot of that to the art of directing and working

00:16:12.360 --> 00:16:15.720
with actors and being able to say okay I got

00:16:15.720 --> 00:16:18.960
to work with my crew this way because if you're

00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:20.940
asking people to do stuff that's outside their

00:16:20.940 --> 00:16:24.200
normative process or their comfort zone you got

00:16:24.200 --> 00:16:27.139
to make it a relaxed relaxed environment you

00:16:27.139 --> 00:16:30.019
know and you've worked with a lot of people.

00:16:30.039 --> 00:16:32.960
But before we get to that leads me to something

00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:35.120
that you talked about. I don't know how when

00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:38.139
you talked about this, but you talked about loyalty

00:16:38.139 --> 00:16:42.299
in Hollywood. And things have things have changed.

00:16:42.360 --> 00:16:45.019
But you're talking about how you brought up the

00:16:45.019 --> 00:16:49.639
ASAP fables and, and how people that bring the

00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:52.259
work with their teams. I think you mentioned

00:16:52.259 --> 00:16:55.799
Seth Rogen and and how they still work with their

00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:58.179
teams, they don't flake, they work through the

00:16:58.179 --> 00:17:00.519
hard times and it's still together and produce

00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:04.579
and create, you know, fantastic film. Share your

00:17:04.579 --> 00:17:08.099
insight on that and just share your insight on

00:17:08.099 --> 00:17:09.900
that first and then I'll go to the next part.

00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:13.460
Well, the thing that people and I wish I knew

00:17:13.460 --> 00:17:16.319
this early on, very early in my career as an

00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:19.900
artist of any regard, business is the same in

00:17:19.900 --> 00:17:24.279
every, you know, in every environment, business

00:17:24.279 --> 00:17:27.319
is the same. You know, spend less, make more,

00:17:27.420 --> 00:17:31.900
make sure you set a date, execute that project

00:17:31.900 --> 00:17:35.380
by that date. Those are all things that travel

00:17:35.380 --> 00:17:37.759
across all the mediums of anything, you know,

00:17:37.900 --> 00:17:40.880
corporate business, you know, medical business,

00:17:41.019 --> 00:17:44.079
the medical field. Business is business. And

00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:46.960
what I've learned is that a lot of times people

00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:50.019
don't realize that it's business. The entertainment

00:17:50.019 --> 00:17:53.789
industry, It is a personality -driven business.

00:17:54.369 --> 00:17:58.170
Yes. Right? Yeah. So at a nine to five, if you're

00:17:58.170 --> 00:18:00.309
working in corporate, you can hate your staff

00:18:00.309 --> 00:18:02.529
members. You can hate all the staff members.

00:18:03.190 --> 00:18:06.490
Right? But you either quit the job or you show

00:18:06.490 --> 00:18:09.869
up. Right. You see, with acting, you have to

00:18:09.869 --> 00:18:12.170
act that you like people even if you don't like

00:18:12.170 --> 00:18:14.230
them. You understand? Now, people can say, well,

00:18:14.230 --> 00:18:16.890
we do that in corporate. No, eventually it does

00:18:16.890 --> 00:18:20.779
come out. Right? It does come out. In the acting

00:18:20.779 --> 00:18:23.799
world, you don't know who you're gonna work with.

00:18:24.440 --> 00:18:26.619
You have no idea who you're gonna be dealing

00:18:26.619 --> 00:18:30.339
with until you get the part. So it's different

00:18:30.339 --> 00:18:32.400
than how it is when it comes to corporate. Corporate,

00:18:32.519 --> 00:18:34.660
you're showing up to a job every day. You're

00:18:34.660 --> 00:18:36.819
working to get some contracts. You're working

00:18:36.819 --> 00:18:39.539
to get different work. You're making bids. With

00:18:39.539 --> 00:18:42.920
an acting job, you don't know who your co -star,

00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:45.720
especially on television. You have no idea unless

00:18:45.720 --> 00:18:48.119
you do a reading. If you do a table read, then

00:18:48.119 --> 00:18:50.849
maybe you have an idea. But if you show up that

00:18:50.849 --> 00:18:53.390
day, and then you don't know how that person's

00:18:53.390 --> 00:18:56.410
gonna be, right? So you show up and next thing

00:18:56.410 --> 00:18:58.369
you know, maybe they stood out that night and

00:18:58.369 --> 00:19:01.670
got a hangover. You gotta deal with that. Maybe

00:19:01.670 --> 00:19:04.549
the chick that has the part in that feature film

00:19:04.549 --> 00:19:06.910
slept with the director and got the role last

00:19:06.910 --> 00:19:08.930
week and never did a day of acting her life.

00:19:08.990 --> 00:19:13.930
You gotta put up with that. So to me, that's

00:19:13.930 --> 00:19:17.380
something that I tell people a lot. You have

00:19:17.380 --> 00:19:20.099
to understand the business of the entertainment

00:19:20.099 --> 00:19:23.259
business period, not just the acting world. It

00:19:23.259 --> 00:19:26.920
is a business of personality. You're putting

00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:29.599
up with whatever that person may feel. They could

00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:32.839
be very, they can have a lot of crazy idios.

00:19:33.460 --> 00:19:35.720
It could be dealing and dabbling in alcohol or

00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:38.099
drugs. They can have personal issues and they

00:19:38.099 --> 00:19:41.890
bring that to the set. You don't know but you

00:19:41.890 --> 00:19:43.630
just have to show up and you have to know that

00:19:43.630 --> 00:19:45.589
the project is all that matters And of course

00:19:45.589 --> 00:19:47.529
that's similar to how it would be in the corporate

00:19:47.529 --> 00:19:49.809
world product. The project's gonna keep going

00:19:49.809 --> 00:19:51.849
you get fired They're gonna hire somebody else.

00:19:51.849 --> 00:19:54.509
Yeah, the business doesn't go under you do right?

00:19:55.289 --> 00:19:57.349
So, you know, you I thought you had more because

00:19:57.349 --> 00:20:00.690
I was I was Everywhere and I was like, yes. Yes.

00:20:00.690 --> 00:20:02.769
Yeah, but all that that all that is true and

00:20:02.769 --> 00:20:05.430
it is a business I mean, it's a it's like you

00:20:05.430 --> 00:20:08.390
said personally personality driven. It's people

00:20:08.390 --> 00:20:11.930
don't necessarily I think beginning actors, actors

00:20:11.930 --> 00:20:14.970
who are warning to the bright lights and all

00:20:14.970 --> 00:20:17.329
that kind of stuff and the fame. They may not,

00:20:17.450 --> 00:20:19.190
not all of them, but some of them probably don't

00:20:19.190 --> 00:20:21.869
approach it as a business. You know, they don't

00:20:21.869 --> 00:20:27.130
see the loyalty that you can create in a team

00:20:27.130 --> 00:20:32.369
and bring, you know, professionalism to the set.

00:20:33.289 --> 00:20:36.269
So for those, just speak to the newbies or those

00:20:36.269 --> 00:20:40.440
that are interested in starting acting, what

00:20:40.440 --> 00:20:44.099
would you say to them? Well, I'll tell you, when

00:20:44.099 --> 00:20:47.839
I was acting full time, and I still act, but

00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:50.579
I tell people that when I was acting full time

00:20:50.579 --> 00:20:56.440
and studying in a class, competition wasn't so

00:20:56.440 --> 00:20:59.940
prevalent. It wasn't like, you know, because

00:20:59.940 --> 00:21:02.720
most acting schools are very close to how theater

00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:05.140
is. Theater is based a certain way, so if you're

00:21:05.140 --> 00:21:08.200
in the theater, it's a community. And when you're

00:21:08.200 --> 00:21:10.099
at certain acting schools, depending on the acting

00:21:10.099 --> 00:21:13.000
school, it's a community and everyone is a little

00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:16.640
bit supportive of each other, you know, or they

00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:18.640
would see someone accomplish something and be

00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:20.740
like, oh man, so there's hope for me. But now

00:21:20.740 --> 00:21:24.119
it's very competitive. And so what I always tell

00:21:24.119 --> 00:21:28.200
the new generation of actors is that you have

00:21:28.200 --> 00:21:30.380
to take advantage of the benefits and the benefits

00:21:30.380 --> 00:21:34.700
of social media. Social media has done greatness

00:21:34.700 --> 00:21:39.259
for people and has disrupted the industry in

00:21:39.259 --> 00:21:42.359
a bad way. In a bad way. So there are, yeah,

00:21:42.380 --> 00:21:44.539
there are good points and bad points to it. You

00:21:44.539 --> 00:21:47.380
know, a lot of times I tell people you can hide

00:21:47.380 --> 00:21:50.680
behind social media, but if you're keen, you

00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:53.799
can see the truth in social media, right? So

00:21:53.799 --> 00:21:57.539
the new actors, a lot of the things that we didn't

00:21:57.539 --> 00:22:01.420
have, which like the IMDb that came like maybe

00:22:01.420 --> 00:22:05.369
in my 10th year as an actor, uh, being a relevant

00:22:05.369 --> 00:22:09.509
thing. Social media came years, a couple of years

00:22:09.509 --> 00:22:13.289
ago. You look at the 2B actor that people like,

00:22:13.309 --> 00:22:15.390
there's been this little thing going back and

00:22:15.390 --> 00:22:17.309
forth where this one guy mentioned 2B actors

00:22:17.309 --> 00:22:20.190
aren't really actors. And I'm like, I know 2B

00:22:20.190 --> 00:22:22.829
actors doing better than actors who have a manager

00:22:22.829 --> 00:22:26.210
and agent submitting them big projects because

00:22:26.210 --> 00:22:28.809
they're making their money. And they understand

00:22:28.809 --> 00:22:32.289
that social media is a means to be able to build

00:22:32.289 --> 00:22:36.430
a following. Because marketing is key. I learned

00:22:36.430 --> 00:22:39.710
that on my last feature film. I just sat down

00:22:39.710 --> 00:22:42.650
with a young brother yesterday. He just graduated

00:22:42.650 --> 00:22:45.049
high school. He's going into college. But he's

00:22:45.049 --> 00:22:48.509
been making films for the last three years. And

00:22:48.509 --> 00:22:51.130
he says, I want to do distribution on this new

00:22:51.130 --> 00:22:52.950
film I have. And I said, OK, well, what's the

00:22:52.950 --> 00:22:56.130
running time? And I asked him all the valid questions.

00:22:56.710 --> 00:22:58.750
And I said, what's your marketing plan like?

00:22:59.399 --> 00:23:01.759
Hey, he looked at me. He says, oh, I got tick

00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:03.920
-tock. I said, how's your Facebook looking? Well,

00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:06.220
I'm not on Facebook. How's your Instagram looking?

00:23:06.299 --> 00:23:08.220
I'm not on Instagram. And I said, well, now guess

00:23:08.220 --> 00:23:10.640
what? You got to do all of them because each

00:23:10.640 --> 00:23:13.900
one has a different age grouping and classification.

00:23:13.900 --> 00:23:18.240
That is very true. Right. And so I was able to

00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:21.819
do over six million views on A New Life primarily

00:23:21.819 --> 00:23:24.779
because I understood my audience, number one,

00:23:25.220 --> 00:23:27.759
and I sat my behind down in the chair and did

00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:30.849
the marketing. Okay. See, so for the new actors,

00:23:31.930 --> 00:23:35.009
bear in mind, you have all the tools you need

00:23:35.009 --> 00:23:37.890
and all the resources you need exhaust them.

00:23:38.410 --> 00:23:41.349
Yeah. Yeah, I agree with that. Definitely exhaust

00:23:41.349 --> 00:23:43.089
them. I think just in a business standpoint,

00:23:43.089 --> 00:23:44.769
that's what I'm learning too, because first of

00:23:44.769 --> 00:23:47.529
all, like I said, I'm almost 50, right? And you

00:23:47.529 --> 00:23:49.450
mentioned back in the day, we didn't have all

00:23:49.450 --> 00:23:51.210
the things that they have today because the way

00:23:51.210 --> 00:23:56.029
that we had to market ourselves was either showing

00:23:56.029 --> 00:23:59.819
up in the rooms with where they showed up, or

00:23:59.819 --> 00:24:02.599
our head our headshots and all that kind of stuff.

00:24:02.859 --> 00:24:05.579
And I don't know exactly how it is now, except

00:24:05.579 --> 00:24:09.779
that, you know, social media has played a part

00:24:09.779 --> 00:24:14.660
in transitioning Hollywood to or or black Hollywood

00:24:14.660 --> 00:24:19.400
into what it is now. Where do you see the future

00:24:19.400 --> 00:24:24.779
of of Hollywood or the arts? Well, the danger

00:24:24.779 --> 00:24:28.160
right now is AI, obviously. But AI has been around

00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:33.539
for a while. AI was a strong aspect of the industry

00:24:33.539 --> 00:24:36.180
for a while, and people didn't know that. A lot

00:24:36.180 --> 00:24:39.960
of the films that had been released were released

00:24:39.960 --> 00:24:43.680
through studios that were using software to analyze

00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:47.339
who would be the best person to cast and who

00:24:47.339 --> 00:24:50.559
do we go to in order to make this film? how to

00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:53.279
assign the right director, what's the numbers.

00:24:53.819 --> 00:24:56.400
It was an actual software that was floating around

00:24:56.400 --> 00:24:59.420
that was doing the work for the producers. The

00:24:59.420 --> 00:25:05.099
visual artistic aspect of AI. I was just talking

00:25:05.099 --> 00:25:08.279
to my manager today and I said there's a point

00:25:08.279 --> 00:25:13.180
that people will bore themselves because they

00:25:13.180 --> 00:25:16.329
don't understand human behavior. Human behavior

00:25:16.329 --> 00:25:18.529
is, you know, you look at the first rock star,

00:25:18.609 --> 00:25:21.150
the first rock star was Jesus Christ, right?

00:25:21.509 --> 00:25:23.109
Everybody wanted to be around him. They wanted

00:25:23.109 --> 00:25:25.789
to touch him. They wanted him to give them something.

00:25:25.789 --> 00:25:28.069
They wanted him to make them feel a certain way.

00:25:28.589 --> 00:25:34.089
And so human beings by nature love following

00:25:34.089 --> 00:25:37.089
people and love seeing people. So, OK, you got

00:25:37.089 --> 00:25:39.990
the social media. If you make it create an AI

00:25:39.990 --> 00:25:42.990
character, that's great. But. The other aspect

00:25:42.990 --> 00:25:45.029
of human beings, because we're base creatures,

00:25:45.369 --> 00:25:47.589
right? The base needs, the wants and desires,

00:25:48.410 --> 00:25:50.529
eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, make love, all

00:25:50.529 --> 00:25:54.009
these things. The base aspect of a human being

00:25:54.009 --> 00:25:58.109
still is to find something to get into and to

00:25:58.109 --> 00:26:01.410
find something and someone to follow. So that's,

00:26:01.410 --> 00:26:03.170
there's a reason why, you know, people always

00:26:03.170 --> 00:26:05.549
say, well, Hollywood is dead, films are dead.

00:26:05.970 --> 00:26:09.480
Really? Okay, explain Terrifier 3. And they go,

00:26:09.519 --> 00:26:11.400
what do you mean? And I've sat in rooms talking

00:26:11.400 --> 00:26:14.319
to people who I've wanted to help me fund my

00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:16.579
film. And they go, your numbers are off. And

00:26:16.579 --> 00:26:18.759
I'm like, are they? And I'm like, Terrifier 3

00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:21.859
was a film that cost $1 million to make, $500

00:26:21.859 --> 00:26:26.640
,000 to market and to do P &A for. It made over

00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:30.940
$93 million. It rang the bell. The clown rang

00:26:30.940 --> 00:26:34.099
the bell at Nasdaq. If you can't explain that,

00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:38.400
then you don't really understand that. that the

00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:41.940
model is what it's always been. It's giving people

00:26:41.940 --> 00:26:46.720
what they want. And so you can't create an AI

00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:51.079
art to clown and have it ring NASDAQ. People

00:26:51.079 --> 00:26:56.180
want to meet what they see on television. We've

00:26:56.180 --> 00:26:58.039
all been that way. It's been like that since

00:26:58.039 --> 00:27:00.440
the beginning of time. In Vaudeville, people

00:27:00.440 --> 00:27:04.460
wanted the celebrity to come back to their city

00:27:04.460 --> 00:27:08.769
and their town. That's who we are. We want to

00:27:08.769 --> 00:27:13.170
be around greatness. We're gonna have AI basketball

00:27:13.170 --> 00:27:16.450
players, AI boxers. So I always tell people,

00:27:16.670 --> 00:27:19.230
don't fear. It's gonna play itself out. I firmly

00:27:19.230 --> 00:27:22.250
believe that. Now, having AI as a tool, yeah,

00:27:22.329 --> 00:27:26.049
absolutely. I'm big on that. Help me with my

00:27:26.049 --> 00:27:28.990
scheduling. Help me with my budgeting. Help me

00:27:28.990 --> 00:27:32.920
with my storyboarding. Absolutely. Help me with

00:27:32.920 --> 00:27:36.819
chat GPT to write up a brief or something. Sure.

00:27:37.779 --> 00:27:41.759
But replacing the human, even the art that you

00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:45.500
see, like some of the videos, it's still lifeless.

00:27:45.819 --> 00:27:49.180
And people go, man, this looks real. T -word,

00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:53.059
look real. But it's not real, yeah. You can't

00:27:53.059 --> 00:27:57.240
satiate your hunger with a bagel that's not real.

00:27:57.339 --> 00:28:00.299
As well said, I get that. You know, that's actually

00:28:00.299 --> 00:28:05.000
speaks to a little bit where people are creating

00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.160
these chat GPTs or not chat GP, but the AI is

00:28:09.160 --> 00:28:12.359
like love interest. Like, you know, and you were

00:28:12.359 --> 00:28:15.819
you use the word satiate, like you cannot fulfill

00:28:15.819 --> 00:28:19.400
something that can't that can't be fulfilled

00:28:19.400 --> 00:28:22.579
without another human. Yeah, absolutely. actual

00:28:22.579 --> 00:28:26.900
things in life. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, society

00:28:26.900 --> 00:28:30.799
has groomed people to be that way. We live in

00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:33.559
a fast food society. Everything is fast food,

00:28:34.180 --> 00:28:40.259
right? You want it quicker, bigger, better, tastier,

00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:44.500
everything is fast food. And our attention span

00:28:44.500 --> 00:28:47.539
is short. It's always been short and it's gotten

00:28:47.539 --> 00:28:53.240
shorter. With AI, people... are able to disconnect

00:28:53.240 --> 00:28:56.099
themselves more, but the key is knowing you have

00:28:56.099 --> 00:29:00.619
to come back. It's kind of like a vacation. You

00:29:00.619 --> 00:29:03.740
got to come back. You can go and, oh, this is

00:29:03.740 --> 00:29:07.160
awesome. The reality of the world, you won't

00:29:07.160 --> 00:29:10.359
be able to function because the powers that be,

00:29:10.539 --> 00:29:13.579
yeah, they're introducing AI, they're introducing

00:29:13.579 --> 00:29:18.819
a lot of the transhumanism stuff, but still,

00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:22.619
the spiritual aspect is important. You know,

00:29:22.759 --> 00:29:25.460
you can't build, again, like you gotta have a

00:29:25.460 --> 00:29:28.279
team. You gotta have, I had to learn what that

00:29:28.279 --> 00:29:33.480
was to collaborate. And now even major companies,

00:29:33.539 --> 00:29:36.079
that's how they're working with people. They're

00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:38.099
collaborating. The word collaborate is the number

00:29:38.099 --> 00:29:40.079
one word. We'd love to collaborate with you.

00:29:40.400 --> 00:29:44.759
We'd love to work together. It's saving them

00:29:44.759 --> 00:29:47.809
tons of money in advertising and marketing. If

00:29:47.809 --> 00:29:50.890
I get someone who's on social media and they

00:29:50.890 --> 00:29:53.769
have three million fans or they have one million

00:29:53.769 --> 00:29:57.450
fans, and normally what it would cost for me

00:29:57.450 --> 00:30:00.970
to make a commercial would have been maybe $250

00:30:00.970 --> 00:30:04.970
,000, $500 ,000. And now I'm paying this guy

00:30:04.970 --> 00:30:07.890
$5 ,000, maybe $10 ,000 and sending him free

00:30:07.890 --> 00:30:11.369
product. And then maybe if I need to do some

00:30:11.369 --> 00:30:14.029
additional work, I get some AI to do some stuff,

00:30:14.069 --> 00:30:17.549
some footage or some posters or something. Look

00:30:17.549 --> 00:30:20.670
how much money I've saved. And so that's where

00:30:20.670 --> 00:30:23.710
we're going. But at the same time, once you do

00:30:23.710 --> 00:30:25.670
meet and greets, because people want to get outside,

00:30:25.710 --> 00:30:28.690
they want to go somewhere, right? That's why

00:30:28.690 --> 00:30:33.430
you'll always have these expos. You have like

00:30:33.430 --> 00:30:36.930
a lessons expo and all the different expos. People

00:30:36.930 --> 00:30:39.710
want to get out and meet who they're buying from.

00:30:40.130 --> 00:30:43.170
It's not going to be an AI person. Again, you

00:30:43.170 --> 00:30:46.180
want to feel appreciated, right? So it's the

00:30:46.180 --> 00:30:49.200
human experience that we're remembering that

00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:52.079
no matter what the human experience is you have

00:30:52.079 --> 00:30:55.880
to live you have to live I mean there's an automatic

00:30:55.880 --> 00:31:00.900
way of being for human beings is to connect and

00:31:00.900 --> 00:31:05.500
AI and all that good stuff there is a place for

00:31:05.500 --> 00:31:09.099
it, but I don't really feel and believe that

00:31:09.099 --> 00:31:12.849
people should have that take place of you know,

00:31:13.329 --> 00:31:17.069
human nature, human ways of being, because connection

00:31:17.069 --> 00:31:22.730
is a needed thing, 100%. Absolutely, yeah. You

00:31:22.730 --> 00:31:27.109
know, and I think people bank on trends, you

00:31:27.109 --> 00:31:30.930
know. We're very trendy as a culture. The world

00:31:30.930 --> 00:31:33.750
is, not just America, but the world is very trendy.

00:31:34.390 --> 00:31:36.529
You know, what's hot, what's not, what's new,

00:31:36.710 --> 00:31:40.589
what's the scandal, you know. Okay, what you

00:31:40.589 --> 00:31:45.490
know the iPhone company right proves that You

00:31:45.490 --> 00:31:48.009
know the every year the new iPhone. What's wrong

00:31:48.009 --> 00:31:50.589
with the last one? I had probably nothing. How

00:31:50.589 --> 00:31:53.529
is it better? Well, you know, it's got more it's

00:31:53.529 --> 00:31:56.150
got more things, you know, I tell you I have

00:31:56.150 --> 00:31:58.990
bought a car a couple years back 2018 I bought

00:31:58.990 --> 00:32:01.150
a car and everyone's telling me to lease it and

00:32:01.150 --> 00:32:03.009
I leased it right? It's like it's smart to lease

00:32:03.009 --> 00:32:05.049
it builds your credit. It helps you out. I said,

00:32:05.210 --> 00:32:07.349
okay great I lease it and then I went to the

00:32:07.349 --> 00:32:10.599
car dealership And they were like your car is

00:32:10.599 --> 00:32:12.420
better than the car that's out now. The only

00:32:12.420 --> 00:32:14.740
difference is that the technology so they said

00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:17.779
Every year, we're looking to increase better

00:32:17.779 --> 00:32:20.660
technology in something that has nothing to do

00:32:20.660 --> 00:32:23.319
with taking you back and forth Yeah, honest that

00:32:23.319 --> 00:32:25.960
the car the car is taking you back and forth,

00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:28.140
but they look at it as well people spend their

00:32:28.140 --> 00:32:30.500
time in their car So how can we make that the

00:32:30.500 --> 00:32:32.339
car more like their house because most people

00:32:32.339 --> 00:32:33.900
don't even live in their house You know, they

00:32:33.900 --> 00:32:35.859
have beautiful homes and they barely spend time

00:32:35.859 --> 00:32:37.960
again go back to the base need of human beings

00:32:37.960 --> 00:32:40.799
They want to be out. They want to be or go go

00:32:40.799 --> 00:32:45.690
go to any any main street in any city on a Saturday

00:32:45.690 --> 00:32:49.430
night people are out or Saturday morning people

00:32:49.430 --> 00:32:51.269
are out and about they don't want to be home

00:32:51.269 --> 00:32:54.329
all day right so that human interaction that

00:32:54.329 --> 00:32:58.809
we're talking about you know it that it's understanding

00:32:58.809 --> 00:33:01.730
how humans are that you know yeah you can have

00:33:01.730 --> 00:33:05.029
an ai boyfriend a girlfriend but so what what's

00:33:05.029 --> 00:33:07.569
that gonna do how you gonna play it off and show

00:33:07.569 --> 00:33:10.049
it off to everybody you know it's it's a weird

00:33:10.049 --> 00:33:15.700
concept um i had a guy on uh Nick Jane. So he

00:33:15.700 --> 00:33:18.440
deals with AI and he has this wonderful company

00:33:18.440 --> 00:33:23.420
that he started. And, you know, I mean, it was

00:33:23.420 --> 00:33:25.460
almost like we'll have the conversation. It was

00:33:25.460 --> 00:33:28.259
like, they were actually creating AI to make

00:33:28.259 --> 00:33:31.359
sure they did it. It was datable to human beings.

00:33:31.359 --> 00:33:33.240
I was like, I don't know about that, man. It

00:33:33.240 --> 00:33:35.519
was like, you know, people want their basic needs

00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:39.519
met. Yeah, you know. And we were growing to that.

00:33:39.640 --> 00:33:42.140
That's not something that you know the nuclear

00:33:42.140 --> 00:33:45.700
family has been destroyed right so we live more

00:33:45.700 --> 00:33:48.579
in an environment where people like I said they

00:33:48.579 --> 00:33:52.339
want that fast food and relationships are a thing

00:33:52.339 --> 00:33:54.839
that sometimes for some people yeah I think what

00:33:54.839 --> 00:33:58.019
people made their mistake is especially dealing

00:33:58.019 --> 00:34:00.759
with either the churches or dealing with people

00:34:00.759 --> 00:34:04.829
who are in their sense, morally justified and

00:34:04.829 --> 00:34:07.250
how they see things. People made their mistakes

00:34:07.250 --> 00:34:09.650
in realizing that some people just aren't geared

00:34:09.650 --> 00:34:13.489
up for relationships, right? And so the truth

00:34:13.489 --> 00:34:16.809
of that is that they go through these scenarios

00:34:16.809 --> 00:34:19.389
where things are not working. It's just falling

00:34:19.389 --> 00:34:21.630
apart all the time, right? Either through self

00:34:21.630 --> 00:34:26.909
-sabotage or they just were groomed to believe

00:34:26.909 --> 00:34:31.920
that they would make the best spouse. What happens

00:34:31.920 --> 00:34:35.679
is is that AI is something where it comes in

00:34:35.679 --> 00:34:38.659
and it feels that need and people get lost in

00:34:38.659 --> 00:34:40.440
the thought that thinking that okay Well, this

00:34:40.440 --> 00:34:43.119
is the way it is for me. No, no, you don't even

00:34:43.119 --> 00:34:45.619
need AI. You just need to get back to yourself

00:34:45.619 --> 00:34:50.440
and Find a way to appreciate self Self -appreciation

00:34:50.440 --> 00:34:53.219
is lost in this day and age and one of the things

00:34:53.219 --> 00:34:56.679
that I teach actors now is knowing that there

00:34:56.679 --> 00:34:59.760
is a greatness in all of us and You recognize

00:34:59.760 --> 00:35:01.699
the greatness and others that recognize the greatness

00:35:01.699 --> 00:35:05.000
in you so thereby you'll find your team of people

00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:08.280
who can work close with you and Collaborate that

00:35:08.280 --> 00:35:12.219
word again buzzword and build because we're creatures

00:35:12.219 --> 00:35:15.619
of wanting to build That is who we are. Yeah.

00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:20.440
Yeah and You are a creature of building this

00:35:20.440 --> 00:35:25.199
of your your world in in in film and TV and want

00:35:25.199 --> 00:35:28.230
to talk about And I can I can never say it is

00:35:28.230 --> 00:35:33.030
a dark, dark, dark, dark, dark. Right. Yeah.

00:35:33.090 --> 00:35:35.610
Okay. Yeah. It's it's an independent film and

00:35:35.610 --> 00:35:41.269
media production company. Right. Yes. And you

00:35:41.269 --> 00:35:44.869
have created some films that, you know, that

00:35:44.869 --> 00:35:48.710
that are doing great things. Right. So your mission

00:35:48.710 --> 00:35:51.889
I'm reading here is, you know, to bring quality

00:35:51.889 --> 00:35:55.750
media filmmaking and content to film and television.

00:35:56.559 --> 00:35:59.780
And one of your latest film, I believe, is A

00:35:59.780 --> 00:36:02.260
New Life, right? Is that the latest one? Okay.

00:36:03.199 --> 00:36:05.079
You mentioned it earlier. You had six million

00:36:05.079 --> 00:36:09.980
streams and you won awards. Talk about that journey

00:36:09.980 --> 00:36:13.400
from beginning to where it's at now. Yeah. Well,

00:36:13.460 --> 00:36:17.300
I wrote the film. It's 25 years old, actually,

00:36:17.300 --> 00:36:20.559
at this point. But I wrote it over 25 years ago.

00:36:20.579 --> 00:36:26.300
I wrote it in 2000. And I just... At that time,

00:36:26.320 --> 00:36:28.440
if you remember, there wasn't many great roles

00:36:28.440 --> 00:36:31.940
for black male actors at all. Like, we were getting

00:36:31.940 --> 00:36:33.820
good with hunting in class. Bobby was giving

00:36:33.820 --> 00:36:37.519
us stuff that her husband wrote, you know? Yeah.

00:36:37.539 --> 00:36:40.760
And it was so... Well, before you move on, it

00:36:40.760 --> 00:36:43.460
was... Now that you brought that up, I was having

00:36:43.460 --> 00:36:45.039
thoughts about that. Like, you know, I mean,

00:36:45.119 --> 00:36:47.500
it was a great class, right? But the roles that

00:36:47.500 --> 00:36:50.440
we were getting, I would always look at it, you

00:36:50.440 --> 00:36:53.960
know, at the roles that she was giving us. And

00:36:53.960 --> 00:36:58.460
it was just so like one time, you know, not one

00:36:58.460 --> 00:37:01.099
time, multiple times I got the I'm pretty sure

00:37:01.099 --> 00:37:06.239
you did too. The Samuel Samuel Jackson role that

00:37:06.239 --> 00:37:08.480
and of course, we put our own spin on it. But

00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:10.340
it's such a classic movie and population, you

00:37:10.340 --> 00:37:14.579
know, classic role that you know, how do you

00:37:14.579 --> 00:37:16.820
switch that from people not thinking about, you

00:37:16.820 --> 00:37:21.699
know, Samuel Jackson and What I love about what

00:37:21.699 --> 00:37:23.980
you're doing is you're creating these other films

00:37:23.980 --> 00:37:30.000
that are really shining a new light on black

00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:35.800
film and black men. And so go ahead, go ahead.

00:37:36.039 --> 00:37:38.920
I didn't mean to... No, no, no. I'm bringing

00:37:38.920 --> 00:37:42.400
back memories. I remember you performing and

00:37:42.400 --> 00:37:46.239
you nailed it. that's kind of what brought my

00:37:46.239 --> 00:37:48.320
my attention to you because I remember I was

00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:50.719
like oh he's kind of switching it up the way

00:37:50.719 --> 00:37:53.139
you had did it was different yeah but it worked

00:37:53.139 --> 00:37:55.360
I mean you would come out that door and I was

00:37:55.360 --> 00:37:59.300
like whoa you know and I remember how many times

00:37:59.300 --> 00:38:01.360
she wanted you to play that character because

00:38:01.360 --> 00:38:04.260
you know that's how Bobby was and Larry was the

00:38:04.260 --> 00:38:07.940
same way he got rest his soul but you know um

00:38:07.940 --> 00:38:11.300
with a new life I realized I said you know I

00:38:11.300 --> 00:38:14.639
want It was at a time where there was nothing

00:38:14.639 --> 00:38:18.239
but like gang member roles and I mean You know

00:38:18.239 --> 00:38:21.039
to get to get something of substance for a black

00:38:21.039 --> 00:38:23.880
male actor in the 90s, you know All the roles

00:38:23.880 --> 00:38:27.559
went to Morris Chestnut and Taye Diggs, right?

00:38:29.099 --> 00:38:33.280
They got all you know all the great roles So

00:38:33.280 --> 00:38:35.820
us up -and -coming actors, you know, we in class

00:38:35.820 --> 00:38:38.900
doing good will hunt and then you know any ethnicity

00:38:39.119 --> 00:38:42.780
I used to hate that on auditions, all ethnicities.

00:38:42.800 --> 00:38:45.199
And it's like, no, no, that means I'm not getting

00:38:45.199 --> 00:38:47.780
it because they're not really looking for the

00:38:47.780 --> 00:38:50.059
body black. They're just being inclusive. So

00:38:50.059 --> 00:38:53.260
I wrote it, I wrote it like in three months.

00:38:53.280 --> 00:38:55.820
It was my actual first script that I wrote by

00:38:55.820 --> 00:38:58.159
myself. I had wrote a previous script with someone

00:38:58.159 --> 00:39:01.260
else and I wrote it and I said, I'm going to

00:39:01.260 --> 00:39:03.739
get this made. And I ran around meeting with

00:39:03.739 --> 00:39:07.579
people. I gave a copy of it to Lisa Ray. I was

00:39:07.579 --> 00:39:09.260
looking for Morris Chestnut. Everybody was like,

00:39:09.599 --> 00:39:11.780
oh, yeah, go here. Morris Chestnut is here. And

00:39:11.780 --> 00:39:13.300
I'd go there and wait all day. He wouldn't be

00:39:13.300 --> 00:39:15.619
there. And then I hear, oh, yeah, Morris Chestnut

00:39:15.619 --> 00:39:18.320
showed up. I was like, oh, man. So for years,

00:39:18.480 --> 00:39:21.059
I was looking to get him attached to it. And

00:39:21.059 --> 00:39:23.559
it didn't work out. So I just put it to the side.

00:39:23.679 --> 00:39:25.780
One of the things as being a writer and being

00:39:25.780 --> 00:39:29.099
a creative and someone who builds is you don't

00:39:29.099 --> 00:39:32.380
stop on one project. I was telling my mom. You

00:39:32.380 --> 00:39:33.900
know, she said, how many scripts do you have?

00:39:33.900 --> 00:39:35.639
And I got to 10 and I was like, wait a minute,

00:39:35.679 --> 00:39:38.400
I got more. And then I got to like 16. I was

00:39:38.400 --> 00:39:41.559
like, how many more do I have? So I just put

00:39:41.559 --> 00:39:44.280
it to the side. And then during, right before

00:39:44.280 --> 00:39:50.039
COVID, 2019, which was one of the best years

00:39:50.039 --> 00:39:52.380
for me, it was like, man, I said, I want to do

00:39:52.380 --> 00:39:55.380
this film. I had met an actor in my class who

00:39:55.380 --> 00:39:58.619
I was coaching, Chris Rouse. And I said, I think

00:39:58.619 --> 00:40:00.469
you could play this role. And I think we can

00:40:00.469 --> 00:40:03.590
make this for, you know, 100K, make it a micro

00:40:03.590 --> 00:40:06.269
budget film. We can make it. And so we went looking

00:40:06.269 --> 00:40:08.170
for the money and everything and then COVID hit.

00:40:08.670 --> 00:40:11.630
Yeah. So there was no sag. We were all locked

00:40:11.630 --> 00:40:14.130
down and my actors, you know, I took everything

00:40:14.130 --> 00:40:16.210
online for a while, but I was like, this doesn't

00:40:16.210 --> 00:40:18.989
work. So we said, you know what, let's just make

00:40:18.989 --> 00:40:21.530
this film. Let's make it. You know, we have the

00:40:21.530 --> 00:40:23.889
technology that we need, a black magic camera.

00:40:24.429 --> 00:40:26.949
We can come out of our own pockets. Everybody

00:40:26.949 --> 00:40:30.489
went and got wardrobe and We made the film. We

00:40:30.489 --> 00:40:32.929
shot it in 16 days. I'll never forget. The next

00:40:32.929 --> 00:40:35.369
day I moved back to Georgia to be with my mom

00:40:35.369 --> 00:40:37.590
to help her out. But I took the film with me

00:40:37.590 --> 00:40:40.170
and I edited it. It took me a couple of months

00:40:40.170 --> 00:40:43.590
to edit it and I got distribution locked in.

00:40:43.789 --> 00:40:46.090
That's magnificent right there. People don't

00:40:46.090 --> 00:40:48.449
understand how, first of all, the editing process

00:40:48.449 --> 00:40:52.150
is nuts, right? That process is nuts. You're

00:40:52.150 --> 00:40:56.119
doing it... on your own. And then you turn around

00:40:56.119 --> 00:40:58.719
and you get distribution. Yeah, it's a lonely.

00:40:59.780 --> 00:41:02.800
It's editing. There's a I've met you know, I've

00:41:02.800 --> 00:41:05.800
met more editors than DPS who said that they

00:41:05.800 --> 00:41:09.360
they don't want to edit. I edit this. Well, I

00:41:09.360 --> 00:41:12.880
did. I did the podcast and I outsourced it and

00:41:12.880 --> 00:41:15.019
then I was like, let me take it back because

00:41:15.019 --> 00:41:17.480
I didn't like, he was fine, but I wanted a different

00:41:17.480 --> 00:41:19.300
thing and it would have cost more. So I was like,

00:41:19.380 --> 00:41:22.019
let me bring that back. And actually I'm ready

00:41:22.019 --> 00:41:25.960
to give it away again. Yeah. It's a lonely job.

00:41:26.139 --> 00:41:28.079
It really is to me. It's one of the loneliest

00:41:28.079 --> 00:41:30.820
jobs, which, you know, working with AI and putting

00:41:30.820 --> 00:41:33.139
in prompts reminds me of that waiting for it

00:41:33.139 --> 00:41:35.960
to render. And I'm like, nah, I'm probably gonna

00:41:35.960 --> 00:41:39.800
always be a hands on guy. After the edit, once

00:41:39.800 --> 00:41:41.860
I got the distribution, then there was that,

00:41:41.940 --> 00:41:45.099
you know, getting the film ready to be released

00:41:45.099 --> 00:41:48.699
and handling all the deliverables because it

00:41:48.699 --> 00:41:52.739
was a no -budget film and I had to, you know,

00:41:53.000 --> 00:41:56.019
do most of the work. That film opened up a lot

00:41:56.019 --> 00:41:59.179
of my life for me. It just, the experiences,

00:41:59.260 --> 00:42:01.579
I've always been blessed that the experiences

00:42:01.579 --> 00:42:05.079
that I've had from the films that I've made have

00:42:05.079 --> 00:42:07.780
opened up. different aspects of life for me and

00:42:07.780 --> 00:42:10.239
gave me great experiences. Black Lightning to

00:42:10.239 --> 00:42:12.800
Bison's Revenge took me to Cannes. You know,

00:42:12.880 --> 00:42:16.639
A New Life got me an NAACP Image Award nomination.

00:42:17.340 --> 00:42:19.780
So, you know, it's always funny to see people

00:42:19.780 --> 00:42:22.880
wonder like, how did you get here? And it's like,

00:42:23.139 --> 00:42:26.340
the work actually does it for you. Yeah, you

00:42:26.340 --> 00:42:30.300
put the grid in. I was gonna, I'm gonna talk

00:42:30.300 --> 00:42:33.579
about Black Lightning, but you So you were nominated

00:42:33.579 --> 00:42:37.280
with the NAACP of image award. But then you also

00:42:37.280 --> 00:42:41.380
got I got to have notes here. You got words.

00:42:42.079 --> 00:42:45.500
Okay, so you got the 2024 NAACP image awards

00:42:45.500 --> 00:42:48.039
as a nominee of that one. But then you got a

00:42:48.039 --> 00:42:52.079
writer's award. Yes. World Entertainment, World

00:42:52.079 --> 00:42:55.840
Entertainment. Yes. How'd you feel when you got

00:42:55.840 --> 00:42:58.340
that man? Like, talk to me about because that's

00:42:58.340 --> 00:43:00.980
an accolade. I mean, you put the work in, you

00:43:00.980 --> 00:43:03.920
put the work in and you know, it is what it is,

00:43:03.940 --> 00:43:07.719
but then you put it out and then you get an accolade

00:43:07.719 --> 00:43:11.599
for all the work that you put in. Yeah. I mean,

00:43:11.599 --> 00:43:14.800
if anyone tell you awards like winning awards

00:43:14.800 --> 00:43:17.619
aren't fun, they're lying to you. Like it's always

00:43:17.619 --> 00:43:20.920
great to, you know, we come up in a, in a culture

00:43:20.920 --> 00:43:23.780
of wanting to win and wanting to receive of needing

00:43:23.780 --> 00:43:28.039
to have. And I thought I didn't get it because

00:43:28.039 --> 00:43:30.989
I was nominated. opposite someone else. And she

00:43:30.989 --> 00:43:35.610
was in two categories. And I knew her from a

00:43:35.610 --> 00:43:39.670
festival that we shared in Vegas, where it was

00:43:39.670 --> 00:43:44.130
the Las Vegas Action Film Festival or something

00:43:44.130 --> 00:43:45.829
like that for Black Lightning. So she reminded

00:43:45.829 --> 00:43:49.150
me all the way back then. Her name's Amy McCorkle.

00:43:49.449 --> 00:43:52.190
And they called her name when there's alphabet

00:43:52.190 --> 00:43:55.050
writing, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Right?

00:43:55.570 --> 00:43:58.639
And I was like, Okay, okay, Amy, you know cuz

00:43:58.639 --> 00:44:01.360
she had told me choices and she said if I don't

00:44:01.360 --> 00:44:05.920
win I want you to win. Yeah And I thought she

00:44:05.920 --> 00:44:10.019
won so all of the you know, I don't get nervous

00:44:10.019 --> 00:44:12.840
But I do get anxious and all the anxiousness

00:44:12.840 --> 00:44:14.659
left my body and everything and I was just sitting

00:44:14.659 --> 00:44:16.780
there I almost got up and went to the bathroom

00:44:16.780 --> 00:44:19.599
and then they called out two other awards and

00:44:19.599 --> 00:44:23.460
then they said for best writer choice And I forgot

00:44:23.460 --> 00:44:27.000
that she was nominated for Best Writing Award

00:44:27.000 --> 00:44:30.400
and Best Writer. And so I thought that she had

00:44:30.400 --> 00:44:34.079
beat me out. But I won for Best Writer. She won

00:44:34.079 --> 00:44:37.840
for Best Writing. And so I was just like, oh,

00:44:38.000 --> 00:44:41.760
man. And so yeah, that was a moment. that was

00:44:41.760 --> 00:44:43.920
a moment because you know a lot of times if you

00:44:43.920 --> 00:44:46.300
win an award you go up on the podium you don't

00:44:46.300 --> 00:44:48.400
get to say anything and this was the same month

00:44:48.400 --> 00:44:51.380
that the fires happened in LA and the people

00:44:51.380 --> 00:44:54.119
I knew was affected by it so I got to shop shop

00:44:54.119 --> 00:44:57.340
them out and just you know I write my speeches

00:44:57.340 --> 00:44:59.280
I don't I don't play it off the cuff because

00:44:59.280 --> 00:45:00.960
I don't want to say the wrong thing and miss

00:45:00.960 --> 00:45:03.860
anybody's name yeah but it was a moment for sure

00:45:03.860 --> 00:45:07.639
it felt great well much more to come I know because

00:45:07.639 --> 00:45:13.570
absolutely because I mean, so you started, I

00:45:13.570 --> 00:45:15.929
know this is like your first film, was it Wingman?

00:45:16.210 --> 00:45:17.929
Wingman Inc, yeah, that was my first feature

00:45:17.929 --> 00:45:22.489
film. Your first feature film. And I move on,

00:45:22.650 --> 00:45:27.250
and I'm seeing, now did you write, let me see

00:45:27.250 --> 00:45:29.710
what I got here, did you write, what is that,

00:45:29.750 --> 00:45:32.949
Keep the Faith? Yeah, Keep the Faith, and that's

00:45:32.949 --> 00:45:35.230
still in the editing phase, like every year I'm

00:45:35.230 --> 00:45:37.260
telling myself. I'm going to pull it out, blow

00:45:37.260 --> 00:45:39.559
the dust off of it, because it still looks amazing.

00:45:39.699 --> 00:45:43.280
I shot it well. That was when I picked the camera

00:45:43.280 --> 00:45:45.760
up and shot it myself. And it looks amazing.

00:45:45.840 --> 00:45:48.840
I just used the right science to keep it where

00:45:48.840 --> 00:45:53.260
it wouldn't be lost and outdated. So that'll

00:45:53.260 --> 00:45:56.039
come soon enough. That'll come soon enough. Black

00:45:56.039 --> 00:45:59.739
lightning to vices of revenge. OK, so I remember

00:45:59.739 --> 00:46:02.960
when you were posting some things about this.

00:46:02.980 --> 00:46:04.519
I think there may be clips or shorts or something.

00:46:05.039 --> 00:46:07.559
I was like, dang, man, he did it. He's doing

00:46:07.559 --> 00:46:12.880
it. That's exciting. First of all, being a superstar

00:46:12.880 --> 00:46:21.980
hero. How was that whole experience? Yeah, I

00:46:21.980 --> 00:46:24.420
give a lot of credit to James and Black, man.

00:46:24.480 --> 00:46:28.289
That kid, he's not a kid. He's just... he's like

00:46:28.289 --> 00:46:31.849
my mentee and he's a younger version of me, but

00:46:31.849 --> 00:46:34.429
on a better level when it come artistic vision.

00:46:35.610 --> 00:46:37.809
We had just came off of doing keep the faith.

00:46:38.329 --> 00:46:41.769
We had some special effects in there that had

00:46:41.769 --> 00:46:45.110
VFX that had to be done in there that would have

00:46:45.110 --> 00:46:48.489
cost us 30 ,000 that we didn't have. And so I

00:46:48.489 --> 00:46:51.030
said, man, you know, we need to get Hollywood's

00:46:51.030 --> 00:46:52.829
eyes on us. We need to make something that people

00:46:52.829 --> 00:46:56.269
are going to be blown away for. Well, that was

00:46:56.269 --> 00:47:00.980
the the horizon of superhero films. And so there

00:47:00.980 --> 00:47:02.920
was a point where everyone was doing fan films,

00:47:03.019 --> 00:47:05.980
a lot of fan films and getting noticed by Hollywood,

00:47:06.639 --> 00:47:09.239
get bigger budgets for films and stuff. So I

00:47:09.239 --> 00:47:11.360
said, well, we should do a fan film. And I'm

00:47:11.360 --> 00:47:13.559
like, it's got to be something good. It's got

00:47:13.559 --> 00:47:16.400
to be a hero that that nobody knows about or

00:47:16.400 --> 00:47:19.619
seen. And so it was Black Lightning. And because

00:47:19.619 --> 00:47:22.380
I used to read a lot of comics and and I said,

00:47:22.519 --> 00:47:24.909
I wanted him to come in a static. So He came

00:47:24.909 --> 00:47:27.329
in, we wrote the script together, and then we

00:47:27.329 --> 00:47:28.969
just started shooting it. He's like, let's just

00:47:28.969 --> 00:47:31.969
shoot it. Again, all my actors out of class.

00:47:32.050 --> 00:47:33.429
And I said, if you get the wardrobe, you get

00:47:33.429 --> 00:47:37.250
to be in it, I'll give you a character. And the

00:47:37.250 --> 00:47:40.269
doors just bust open from that, right? We didn't

00:47:40.269 --> 00:47:43.349
get a lot of attention from the industry like

00:47:43.349 --> 00:47:45.929
we wanted. And I think a lot of that had to do

00:47:45.929 --> 00:47:48.070
with marketing. I think if we had some money

00:47:48.070 --> 00:47:50.590
for marketing, then maybe that would have made

00:47:50.590 --> 00:47:54.380
a difference. But we were two years in just handling

00:47:54.380 --> 00:47:59.179
the VFX. And the announcement for Black Lightning

00:47:59.179 --> 00:48:03.079
TV series came out. So what we did, we were like,

00:48:03.159 --> 00:48:05.239
we gotta be the ones to come out with it first.

00:48:05.659 --> 00:48:08.880
We rushed and finished out half of it, put it

00:48:08.880 --> 00:48:12.300
out as the first episode, and then finished the

00:48:12.300 --> 00:48:14.480
second half before the series dropped and put

00:48:14.480 --> 00:48:19.099
out the second episode. And then we made the

00:48:19.099 --> 00:48:23.480
full... fan film out, short film, and we started

00:48:23.480 --> 00:48:26.880
going on our festival run and we did phenomenal.

00:48:26.880 --> 00:48:29.920
Like I say, we got to put a can that in itself,

00:48:29.920 --> 00:48:32.679
you know, to get on a plane and go all the way

00:48:32.679 --> 00:48:35.579
to Europe for something that you created. Yeah.

00:48:36.079 --> 00:48:38.219
I still have a lot of pride for that. You know,

00:48:38.280 --> 00:48:41.639
people today look at it and hit me up on YouTube

00:48:41.639 --> 00:48:43.840
and say, this is what the show should have been.

00:48:44.139 --> 00:48:48.440
Nice. Okay. Nice. You know, that as so it took

00:48:48.440 --> 00:48:51.510
you it took you to to cans, cans, everyone pronounce

00:48:51.510 --> 00:48:54.610
it right. What was that experience like being

00:48:54.610 --> 00:48:59.170
there? You know, it was weird. I told my mom,

00:48:59.349 --> 00:49:01.250
I say, mom, go in the can. And she was like,

00:49:01.409 --> 00:49:03.110
whoa, Paris. And I said, I didn't say I was going

00:49:03.110 --> 00:49:08.250
to Paris. And then I realized she wanted to go.

00:49:08.550 --> 00:49:10.289
So I called her back and I said, do you want

00:49:10.289 --> 00:49:13.019
to go? And so what I did was I made all these

00:49:13.019 --> 00:49:15.219
business plans to handle while I was in Cannes,

00:49:15.340 --> 00:49:19.679
and then I said I would take her to Paris at

00:49:19.679 --> 00:49:21.500
the end of the week, which I did. We did like

00:49:21.500 --> 00:49:23.500
two days in Paris, and then we came back to Cannes,

00:49:23.500 --> 00:49:27.820
and then I finished off the leg of work. But

00:49:27.820 --> 00:49:30.599
it was an experience. It was an experience. I

00:49:30.599 --> 00:49:34.280
mean, people say that that's the epicenter of

00:49:34.280 --> 00:49:37.219
getting your film made. And I'm like, uh -huh,

00:49:37.300 --> 00:49:39.440
I wouldn't say that. Maybe at one point, you

00:49:39.440 --> 00:49:41.340
know, because people were going in to make money

00:49:41.340 --> 00:49:44.019
and make deals. And I met with some people when

00:49:44.019 --> 00:49:46.460
they shook my hand and they, you know, said that

00:49:46.460 --> 00:49:48.559
they were interested and stuff, but nothing ever

00:49:48.559 --> 00:49:51.539
transpired from it. But I could say the same

00:49:51.539 --> 00:49:53.239
about being here in the States, you know, no

00:49:53.239 --> 00:49:57.079
matter how much flak I got from the film being

00:49:57.079 --> 00:50:00.119
what it was and the awards that I won and...

00:49:59.960 --> 00:50:03.039
the attention that I got, it still didn't open

00:50:03.039 --> 00:50:06.099
up doors for me. So there's a point where as

00:50:06.099 --> 00:50:08.900
a filmmaker, you say to yourself, OK, why am

00:50:08.900 --> 00:50:10.800
I doing this? It's no different as an actor.

00:50:11.219 --> 00:50:13.559
I've met people who were acting, had great careers

00:50:13.559 --> 00:50:15.400
and said they wanted to quit and left and went

00:50:15.400 --> 00:50:17.699
and did something else. You have to know why

00:50:17.699 --> 00:50:21.619
you want to do it. And I again, my objective

00:50:21.619 --> 00:50:24.980
or agenda, as many as they are in Hollywood,

00:50:25.579 --> 00:50:27.960
is I want people to see black men in the positive

00:50:27.960 --> 00:50:30.750
light. you know, even with the negativity that

00:50:30.750 --> 00:50:33.650
could be in a character, that there is a redemptive

00:50:33.650 --> 00:50:38.530
theme revolving around it. And so I think I did

00:50:38.530 --> 00:50:41.630
that for Black Lightning, you know? And I got

00:50:41.630 --> 00:50:44.769
a lot of applause from people who know the real

00:50:44.769 --> 00:50:47.670
character of Black Lightning because they say

00:50:47.670 --> 00:50:49.710
your interpretation. You know, I'll tell you,

00:50:49.710 --> 00:50:52.670
the greatest gift that I got was someone made

00:50:52.670 --> 00:50:56.849
up a mock -up of Black Lightning in different

00:50:58.739 --> 00:51:00.900
platforms. Black Lightning the TV show, Black

00:51:00.900 --> 00:51:03.119
Lightning my fan film, Black Lightning the video

00:51:03.119 --> 00:51:06.300
game, Black Lightning the comic. And I was like,

00:51:06.300 --> 00:51:09.780
wow, that almost brought a tear to my eye because

00:51:09.780 --> 00:51:13.039
I'll be known as Black Lightning. Nice. They

00:51:13.039 --> 00:51:14.860
had two questions that just went split just like

00:51:14.860 --> 00:51:19.159
that in my head, man. One, the first question

00:51:19.159 --> 00:51:23.579
is, why is it important to you? And I would have

00:51:23.579 --> 00:51:26.219
my own answer and I can probably think of what

00:51:26.219 --> 00:51:29.199
you're going to say, but Why is it important

00:51:29.199 --> 00:51:33.699
to you to produce film that put Black men in

00:51:33.699 --> 00:51:36.440
a positive light in a different level of what's

00:51:36.440 --> 00:51:40.119
been shown in the past? Yeah, listen, we're not

00:51:40.119 --> 00:51:42.679
perfect by any means. I mean, you know, a man

00:51:42.679 --> 00:51:46.539
in a suit has the same pain and energy and love

00:51:46.539 --> 00:51:50.300
and desire as a man in a durag and jeans hanging

00:51:50.300 --> 00:51:53.269
around his behind, but... The difference is that

00:51:53.269 --> 00:51:56.670
the world sees us a specific way. And I'll tell

00:51:56.670 --> 00:51:58.969
you this, I'll segue this right into my trip

00:51:58.969 --> 00:52:03.650
to Cannes. When I went to Cannes, when you get

00:52:03.650 --> 00:52:08.230
off at Heathrow and you go and you take another

00:52:08.230 --> 00:52:09.630
plane, and then when you get off, you go into

00:52:09.630 --> 00:52:13.289
Germany before you go take another plane. And

00:52:13.289 --> 00:52:19.519
in Germany, when you go through the... the customs

00:52:19.519 --> 00:52:23.860
area, the men, the German men sit above up on

00:52:23.860 --> 00:52:26.260
these platforms and they look down at you. That's

00:52:26.260 --> 00:52:27.880
just the way they made it. I don't know if it's

00:52:27.880 --> 00:52:29.860
still like that, but it was like that for me

00:52:29.860 --> 00:52:39.280
in 2017. And they look down on you. And basically

00:52:39.280 --> 00:52:42.800
what happens is they give, especially I noticed

00:52:42.800 --> 00:52:45.880
is that how they were treating black men in particular.

00:52:46.449 --> 00:52:49.670
When they were walking up to that and they would

00:52:49.670 --> 00:52:51.949
look at you like passport, you know You put it

00:52:51.949 --> 00:52:53.630
up there and they look at it and they look at

00:52:53.630 --> 00:52:57.030
you, you know with an arm like, you know German

00:52:57.030 --> 00:53:00.610
guy, you know, and then for me my passport says

00:53:00.610 --> 00:53:04.750
choice James Harrell Skinner. So he took James

00:53:04.750 --> 00:53:07.090
Skinner and he looked up on the phone and he

00:53:07.090 --> 00:53:09.349
said he didn't see he looked up on his personal

00:53:09.349 --> 00:53:11.550
phone and said you don't see any You don't see

00:53:11.550 --> 00:53:13.730
and I'm like, oh you put in James can you got

00:53:13.730 --> 00:53:16.719
to put in choice Skinner? And he puts in choice

00:53:16.719 --> 00:53:20.280
get it and you know five pages of Google show

00:53:20.280 --> 00:53:24.059
up for me, and he was like oh You know because

00:53:24.059 --> 00:53:27.699
I told him I said I'm going to can I'm a director

00:53:27.699 --> 00:53:29.380
and that's when he picked up the phone It was

00:53:29.380 --> 00:53:31.539
like you ain't no director. Yeah, and then that's

00:53:31.539 --> 00:53:33.860
when I told him and I kept telling my mom cuz

00:53:33.860 --> 00:53:35.699
she's like that's right my son blacklight and

00:53:35.699 --> 00:53:42.460
I said don't say nothing Several times that I've

00:53:42.460 --> 00:53:45.030
been overseas You know, another time when I did

00:53:45.030 --> 00:53:47.769
a film, I did a film called Transylvania, and

00:53:47.769 --> 00:53:50.909
they flew me over. I was the American stunt team

00:53:50.909 --> 00:53:53.130
coordinator, and I flew over there, and I went

00:53:53.130 --> 00:53:55.389
out of my hotel. I went on to the store. It was

00:53:55.389 --> 00:53:58.030
nighttime, and I'm walking past these Romanian

00:53:58.030 --> 00:54:00.269
kids. It's a group of about six of them. In my

00:54:00.269 --> 00:54:02.510
mind, you know, I'm like, oh, man, I had on my

00:54:02.510 --> 00:54:04.989
bomber, my boots. You know, I'm East Coast minded

00:54:04.989 --> 00:54:07.849
at that point. It's cold, snowing, and I'm like,

00:54:07.929 --> 00:54:09.929
these cats want to try something. You know, I'm

00:54:09.929 --> 00:54:13.719
ready for them, right? And one of them looks

00:54:13.719 --> 00:54:16.460
at me, he goes, throws his arms up, because I

00:54:16.460 --> 00:54:18.260
said, I know they're gonna say something to me.

00:54:18.679 --> 00:54:20.880
He recognized that I was an American, because

00:54:20.880 --> 00:54:23.539
when you're overseas, they'll go African, or

00:54:23.539 --> 00:54:25.920
they'll say French, because, you know, they'll

00:54:25.920 --> 00:54:27.659
think that, you know, we have black people over

00:54:27.659 --> 00:54:32.159
there. And he said, nigga, my nigga. And I said,

00:54:32.940 --> 00:54:37.360
what? And he was like, take me with you to America.

00:54:37.679 --> 00:54:41.519
And he thought my response was gonna be, yo,

00:54:41.659 --> 00:54:44.570
MTV. He thought my response was going to be BET.

00:54:44.769 --> 00:54:47.469
And I said, see, this is why I do what I do.

00:54:47.650 --> 00:54:49.869
He didn't come and say, let's work together and

00:54:49.869 --> 00:54:53.929
make some money. He said, he wanted to go and

00:54:53.929 --> 00:54:57.469
party. He wanted to go over and hang out, see

00:54:57.469 --> 00:55:02.050
some girls. And I said, nah, man. I was like,

00:55:02.050 --> 00:55:04.590
hey. I gave him a hug and everything. All of

00:55:04.590 --> 00:55:06.849
them. It was like three girls and four boys.

00:55:07.469 --> 00:55:11.039
And I was like, wow. I said, so this is why I

00:55:11.039 --> 00:55:15.340
do what I do. Because the world sees us as how

00:55:15.340 --> 00:55:18.639
America portrays us. Yeah, and America itself

00:55:18.639 --> 00:55:21.400
is a strong power in the world. The most influential.

00:55:22.099 --> 00:55:25.760
And we as a whole black people are the most influential

00:55:25.760 --> 00:55:28.219
culture on the planet. So if you see the negative

00:55:28.219 --> 00:55:30.599
aspect of who we are more than you see any form

00:55:30.599 --> 00:55:34.019
of positivity, that's how their perception is.

00:55:34.360 --> 00:55:37.139
They can't help it. That's just the way it is.

00:55:37.340 --> 00:55:40.159
When you're over in other countries, the television

00:55:40.159 --> 00:55:44.579
that they play is usually either old or late,

00:55:45.199 --> 00:55:48.760
or the channels that are out there. So if the

00:55:48.760 --> 00:55:51.960
channel that they get is MTV, and who we are

00:55:51.960 --> 00:55:54.500
on MTV, they see us that way, that's how they're

00:55:54.500 --> 00:55:55.480
gonna perceive us. That's how they're gonna perceive

00:55:55.480 --> 00:55:58.679
us, yeah. Yeah, I didn't have an experience like

00:55:58.679 --> 00:56:03.650
that over there, but you could tell. the perception

00:56:03.650 --> 00:56:07.570
that they have of us. And your guy, his introduction

00:56:07.570 --> 00:56:11.429
to you was, why? Yeah. He thought he had the

00:56:11.429 --> 00:56:15.170
right because of the information that was fed

00:56:15.170 --> 00:56:19.230
to him. And he wasn't mean in it. I could tell

00:56:19.230 --> 00:56:24.190
genuine energy. It was very genuine, you know?

00:56:24.650 --> 00:56:29.190
And he meant well by it. He meant well by it.

00:56:29.230 --> 00:56:32.250
Now, obviously, I'm not the type of person to

00:56:32.250 --> 00:56:36.989
be moved by words. And so I can read it quick.

00:56:37.150 --> 00:56:39.690
I'm just like, as long as my life is not in jeopardy,

00:56:39.789 --> 00:56:45.050
we good. But a couple of hugs and some handshakes

00:56:45.050 --> 00:56:47.590
that they wanted, and I'm on my way. They wanted

00:56:47.590 --> 00:56:50.800
to go. to new york many wanted to you know listen

00:56:50.800 --> 00:56:54.099
to the rappers and smoke weed and that's wild

00:56:54.099 --> 00:56:57.300
that is wild are from hawaii you know i was like

00:56:57.300 --> 00:57:00.920
yeah i wouldn't know where the plug is at i'm

00:57:00.920 --> 00:57:04.679
like hey man you got the wrong one bro um that's

00:57:04.679 --> 00:57:09.219
wild but completely believable oh my god so you

00:57:09.219 --> 00:57:12.820
you have this company and you're doing you're

00:57:12.820 --> 00:57:16.619
putting out this great product these good products

00:57:16.619 --> 00:57:21.170
um What's your what's your hope for for your

00:57:21.170 --> 00:57:24.650
for your your company and how it affects the

00:57:24.650 --> 00:57:28.769
future? Yeah. Um, yeah, lately, I've been more

00:57:28.769 --> 00:57:34.489
into empowering others. I think the future and

00:57:34.489 --> 00:57:36.590
I tell this to people because I said I'm investing,

00:57:36.929 --> 00:57:39.429
you know, I believe a real investment is never

00:57:39.429 --> 00:57:42.670
in the idea or the product, but it's in the people

00:57:42.670 --> 00:57:47.110
behind the idea. And so the reason why you see

00:57:47.360 --> 00:57:50.239
companies go under or people go under a lot is

00:57:50.239 --> 00:57:52.820
because they don't create a strong web. They

00:57:52.820 --> 00:57:56.119
create networks, but never strong webs. And so

00:57:56.119 --> 00:57:58.840
I've been investing a lot of my energy and time

00:57:58.840 --> 00:58:02.199
into people who I see great qualities that I

00:58:02.199 --> 00:58:06.820
know will keep moving things. You know, with

00:58:06.820 --> 00:58:10.019
Darkhound Entertainment, I want to eventually

00:58:10.019 --> 00:58:13.539
get to a point where I'm doing two films a year.

00:58:13.559 --> 00:58:16.650
And it doesn't have to be me directing or uh,

00:58:16.730 --> 00:58:19.170
me producing, you know, I can empower someone

00:58:19.170 --> 00:58:21.550
else. I think that's where things will start

00:58:21.550 --> 00:58:24.550
to change. Um, you see that happening in some

00:58:24.550 --> 00:58:27.929
of these other people's, uh, uh, briefs lately

00:58:27.929 --> 00:58:31.449
there, there, but is it genuine, you know, see

00:58:31.449 --> 00:58:36.010
the thing is, is you don't want to control so

00:58:36.010 --> 00:58:37.889
much the people who are making stuff. You want

00:58:37.889 --> 00:58:42.449
to empower them and, and, and inform them that

00:58:42.449 --> 00:58:46.039
there is power in media. And so for me, all of

00:58:46.039 --> 00:58:47.719
the films that I have lined up, whether it's

00:58:47.719 --> 00:58:50.820
sci -fi. I mean, I've been... It's weird. I constantly

00:58:50.820 --> 00:58:53.460
get pushed into making comedies, man. You know,

00:58:53.480 --> 00:58:55.400
it's like, I want to do some action so bad, I

00:58:55.400 --> 00:58:57.539
got a film called And Then You Die. You know,

00:58:57.699 --> 00:58:59.760
at the beginning of this year, there were people

00:58:59.760 --> 00:59:02.119
interested, financial people, and all of that.

00:59:02.409 --> 00:59:05.929
fell through once the fires happened. So, Jamal

00:59:05.929 --> 00:59:08.130
Lewis, who's the star of it, he and I have been

00:59:08.130 --> 00:59:10.250
running around asking people about it. But then

00:59:10.250 --> 00:59:12.670
this other film that I wrote with two other actors,

00:59:13.250 --> 00:59:16.349
the Fincher Cousins, Dylan Fincher and Willis

00:59:16.349 --> 00:59:22.389
Fincher, they have like a Seth Rogen, Judd Apatow

00:59:22.389 --> 00:59:24.869
type of sense of humor. So I got with them, we

00:59:24.869 --> 00:59:27.070
wrote the script and we're shooting at September.

00:59:28.269 --> 00:59:31.190
You know, for me, I want to, the hope, you said,

00:59:31.329 --> 00:59:35.809
is to be able to have the financial means to

00:59:35.809 --> 00:59:38.909
either make micro budget films or to move up

00:59:38.909 --> 00:59:41.429
to another level where I'm making films, you

00:59:41.429 --> 00:59:44.510
know, five million and under. That would be sublime

00:59:44.510 --> 00:59:46.369
because then there's stories that I'd love to

00:59:46.369 --> 00:59:49.329
tell. The Henry Johnson story, the story about

00:59:49.329 --> 00:59:52.469
Henry Johnson from the Harlem Hill Fighters.

00:59:52.650 --> 00:59:55.269
You know, people don't know the G .I. Joe, the

00:59:55.269 --> 00:59:58.300
actual G .I. Joe figure, the doll. was based

00:59:58.300 --> 01:00:02.579
off of Henry Johnson. See, I didn't, the name

01:00:02.579 --> 01:00:06.340
was like, I've heard the name before, but okay.

01:00:06.590 --> 01:00:09.670
So that's what I think is so important man those

01:00:09.670 --> 01:00:12.130
stories actually being out in the world so people

01:00:12.130 --> 01:00:15.369
can actually Get that kind of history. Yeah see

01:00:15.369 --> 01:00:17.949
so much more of who we are because we are intellectual

01:00:17.949 --> 01:00:21.550
We we do provide for our families. We do love

01:00:21.550 --> 01:00:26.210
our families. We do You know strive to be articulate.

01:00:26.210 --> 01:00:30.039
We strive to be mentally apt You know what I

01:00:30.039 --> 01:00:33.519
mean? And mentally informed. You know, we do

01:00:33.519 --> 01:00:36.639
have conversations of brilliance. It's not just,

01:00:36.860 --> 01:00:39.539
you know, I mean, you know, cats cut up sometimes.

01:00:39.739 --> 01:00:42.199
They do their things, but we're professional,

01:00:42.340 --> 01:00:45.139
no different than any other culture. We are professional.

01:00:45.500 --> 01:00:48.980
And I want people to see that. And we are sacrificial.

01:00:49.230 --> 01:00:51.849
in a sense of we'll do what it takes to take

01:00:51.849 --> 01:00:54.090
care of our families. We're not just deadbeat

01:00:54.090 --> 01:01:00.429
dads. We're not just thugs as they see us. And

01:01:00.429 --> 01:01:02.929
it's a battle. It's a battle because a lot of

01:01:02.929 --> 01:01:04.929
times the culture themselves don't want to see

01:01:04.929 --> 01:01:07.349
it. They'll take muck before they'll take anything

01:01:07.349 --> 01:01:11.190
inspirational. You see Ryan Kugler and Michael

01:01:11.190 --> 01:01:13.469
B. Jordan making something like Sinners which

01:01:13.469 --> 01:01:16.960
had history in it and it showed. people coming

01:01:16.960 --> 01:01:19.739
together and doing certain types of things, even

01:01:19.739 --> 01:01:22.940
though it was a horror. Yeah, you know, who wouldn't

01:01:22.940 --> 01:01:25.019
want to do that kill two birds with one stone,

01:01:25.139 --> 01:01:28.000
you're entertaining the masses. And you're giving

01:01:28.000 --> 01:01:30.400
a great message. Yeah, one of the biggest film

01:01:30.400 --> 01:01:32.840
of the year, mostly doing better than these other

01:01:32.840 --> 01:01:35.460
films that cost more money. Right. And giving

01:01:35.460 --> 01:01:38.559
them some education. Absolutely. Yeah. Well,

01:01:38.559 --> 01:01:41.380
I mean, I see big things on the horizon for you.

01:01:41.380 --> 01:01:43.480
And are you working? You just named one of the

01:01:43.480 --> 01:01:45.099
films that you're working on? Was there something

01:01:45.099 --> 01:01:48.179
else that that looked up that you had going on

01:01:48.179 --> 01:01:51.119
as well? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mentioned it, then

01:01:51.119 --> 01:01:54.139
you die. You know, it's ready to go. We're still

01:01:54.139 --> 01:01:56.539
just working on locking in some finance for that.

01:01:57.019 --> 01:02:00.340
But until that happens, again, I didn't want

01:02:00.340 --> 01:02:03.519
to leave out 2025 without making something. Every

01:02:03.519 --> 01:02:06.500
year I make something, whether it's a short or

01:02:06.500 --> 01:02:09.880
a feature. And I'd rather be able to make two

01:02:09.880 --> 01:02:13.139
features a year. But this year, I said, OK, well,

01:02:13.239 --> 01:02:15.780
we're in a in the third quarter going into the

01:02:15.780 --> 01:02:20.340
fourth quarter. I says, well, September, I'm

01:02:20.340 --> 01:02:22.800
going to, I have a whole bunch of companies already

01:02:22.800 --> 01:02:25.539
sponsoring me, providing me with the tools that's

01:02:25.539 --> 01:02:27.260
needed. I have the tools, we don't have the money,

01:02:27.380 --> 01:02:30.440
but we have the tools and I have the talent that

01:02:30.440 --> 01:02:32.820
I've coached. And so we're just gonna get together

01:02:32.820 --> 01:02:34.019
and we're just gonna make it. And we're gonna

01:02:34.019 --> 01:02:36.059
shoot when we can. I mean, if it's three days

01:02:36.059 --> 01:02:39.219
and... Chunks and that's what we'll do and we'll

01:02:39.219 --> 01:02:42.860
find you know, $100 here $50 ,000 there whatever

01:02:42.860 --> 01:02:45.920
happens happens Yeah, but the objective is to

01:02:45.920 --> 01:02:48.880
have a completed feature film that is compatible

01:02:48.880 --> 01:02:53.260
in the market to go theatrical. Yeah Not just

01:02:53.260 --> 01:02:55.579
to say oh, we're gonna go it on to be and that's

01:02:55.579 --> 01:02:58.579
great if you do that But you still gotta have

01:02:58.579 --> 01:03:01.139
a great marketing plan the films that people

01:03:01.139 --> 01:03:04.730
talk about the most More people gravitate to

01:03:04.730 --> 01:03:07.210
and see there's a level of importance, right?

01:03:07.690 --> 01:03:09.889
It's like going up to the nightclub if they don't

01:03:09.889 --> 01:03:11.849
know you you're standing out front like everybody

01:03:11.849 --> 01:03:17.889
else So for me With this film. I know that I

01:03:17.889 --> 01:03:21.349
have to make it so good that it looks like a

01:03:21.349 --> 01:03:25.829
film that was made for two million dollars and

01:03:25.829 --> 01:03:30.409
then a strong marketing plan but that we're starting

01:03:30.409 --> 01:03:34.610
on that now and with some of the sponsors they're

01:03:34.610 --> 01:03:36.949
excited and they're seeing you know but I learned

01:03:36.949 --> 01:03:39.230
all of this from a new life you know again like

01:03:39.230 --> 01:03:41.110
I was telling someone yesterday I said listen

01:03:41.110 --> 01:03:43.369
my film has six million views that's nothing

01:03:43.369 --> 01:03:46.130
there's nine almost nine billion people on the

01:03:46.130 --> 01:03:49.349
planet and they haven't all seen it yeah yeah

01:03:49.349 --> 01:03:52.750
so that's how my mind works you know everybody's

01:03:52.750 --> 01:03:56.349
gonna see it And I tell people, when you make

01:03:56.349 --> 01:03:58.670
something, if you make a short, know that there's

01:03:58.670 --> 01:04:01.989
a two to three year process with that short.

01:04:02.389 --> 01:04:04.110
And if you make a feature, there's a three to

01:04:04.110 --> 01:04:08.710
four year process. I'm still now online, people

01:04:08.710 --> 01:04:11.409
say, what's good to watch? A new life. And I

01:04:11.409 --> 01:04:14.050
put the poster in their comments. And that's

01:04:14.050 --> 01:04:16.030
why I say Facebook is still important because

01:04:16.030 --> 01:04:19.559
there's a lot of people on Facebook groups. that

01:04:19.559 --> 01:04:23.099
are still communicating that way. Some people

01:04:23.099 --> 01:04:27.079
don't like Instagram or TikTok. I'm barely on

01:04:27.079 --> 01:04:30.860
TikTok. I do it because I have a post, but I'm

01:04:30.860 --> 01:04:34.039
barely on there. It's fast. It's fast. Well,

01:04:34.280 --> 01:04:38.760
one of my aims, I don't know, it's more of a

01:04:38.760 --> 01:04:42.320
five, six, seven year aim is why I'm so driven

01:04:42.320 --> 01:04:44.380
in my own business and my company and building

01:04:44.380 --> 01:04:49.760
it is because I want to be an investor. in film,

01:04:50.260 --> 01:04:52.960
because that is my first love. That is my love,

01:04:52.980 --> 01:04:56.780
you know? But I saw a bigger picture for me to

01:04:56.780 --> 01:05:00.059
be able to support arts and entertainment, and

01:05:00.059 --> 01:05:04.380
that's what I'm working on. But, you know, if

01:05:04.380 --> 01:05:08.280
a role does come this way. Well, you know, when

01:05:08.280 --> 01:05:10.420
you reached out to me, that's when I said, you

01:05:10.420 --> 01:05:12.159
know, I'm planning on shooting and then you die

01:05:12.159 --> 01:05:15.079
in Atlanta. So it's nothing for you to come on

01:05:15.079 --> 01:05:18.059
through and grace the screen with your presence.

01:05:18.820 --> 01:05:21.179
You know, you know, what's a great actor, great

01:05:21.179 --> 01:05:23.360
actor. I don't believe in rust. People say, oh,

01:05:23.360 --> 01:05:25.619
I'm rusty. I'm like, there's no such thing. You

01:05:25.619 --> 01:05:28.500
know, I had an actor, he took two years off and

01:05:28.500 --> 01:05:31.179
went and toured and backpacked across Europe

01:05:31.179 --> 01:05:33.599
and came right back and went right to work. I'm

01:05:33.599 --> 01:05:37.510
like, That wouldn't happen back in the 90s. You

01:05:37.510 --> 01:05:42.570
disappear. That's it. You don't know, but I guess

01:05:42.570 --> 01:05:44.789
he found himself brother. I'm happy for you.

01:05:44.969 --> 01:05:47.190
So, you know, it's just like, you know, it's

01:05:47.190 --> 01:05:49.409
bad. Once you get when you got balance, once

01:05:49.409 --> 01:05:52.690
you once you get balance, you got it. You can't

01:05:52.690 --> 01:05:55.050
lose it. You know, man, I think that's the same

01:05:55.050 --> 01:06:00.710
thing with acting. And this has been an incredible

01:06:00.710 --> 01:06:02.429
conversation with you. I mean, I don't want to

01:06:02.429 --> 01:06:07.969
quit, but we're past the hour. But, you know,

01:06:07.969 --> 01:06:10.750
this has been tremendous to catch up with you

01:06:10.750 --> 01:06:12.909
to see what's going on with you to see that,

01:06:13.269 --> 01:06:15.610
you know, you're, you're, you're built, you're

01:06:15.610 --> 01:06:17.730
continually building, you're thriving, and you're

01:06:17.730 --> 01:06:21.570
doing magnificent things in the world. Not only

01:06:21.570 --> 01:06:23.710
for yourself, but for people. And you're you've

01:06:23.710 --> 01:06:26.489
always been that being supporter of people. And

01:06:26.489 --> 01:06:30.300
you're still coaching. Yeah, we have class every

01:06:30.300 --> 01:06:33.219
Monday night. The class is be dark for the month

01:06:33.219 --> 01:06:35.159
of September, because most of those actors are

01:06:35.159 --> 01:06:39.119
in the movie. So if you're doing your job. Yeah.

01:06:39.260 --> 01:06:43.760
I mean, I'm very big on giving people an opportunity.

01:06:43.980 --> 01:06:47.599
And I'm a firm believer of in word and deed.

01:06:47.900 --> 01:06:50.739
That's something that I use a lot. People need

01:06:50.739 --> 01:06:52.860
to take account of that. When people say, you

01:06:52.860 --> 01:06:55.420
know, I care about you, I love you. but they

01:06:55.420 --> 01:06:57.599
go and they jump in their Ferrari and drive off

01:06:57.599 --> 01:07:00.860
and you're still waiting on the bus. Do they

01:07:00.860 --> 01:07:05.619
really care? I never forget this gave me a ride

01:07:05.619 --> 01:07:07.960
one night. I didn't have a way home at the class

01:07:07.960 --> 01:07:10.900
and I never forget that. Never forget that. And

01:07:10.900 --> 01:07:13.360
we used to get out late. We used to get out like

01:07:13.360 --> 01:07:18.010
3 o 'clock in the morning and I was like. The

01:07:18.010 --> 01:07:20.329
class was an amazing class that night. Bobby,

01:07:20.630 --> 01:07:22.789
for whatever reason, it was a big class. I think

01:07:22.789 --> 01:07:25.349
it was a Tuesday night. Everybody wanted to get

01:07:25.349 --> 01:07:28.349
on on Thursday because there were some agencies

01:07:28.349 --> 01:07:31.170
coming. And so it was a crowded night. We didn't

01:07:31.170 --> 01:07:34.309
get to do our scenes till late. And we stayed

01:07:34.309 --> 01:07:37.969
till the bitter end. And I was like, the buses

01:07:37.969 --> 01:07:41.980
aren't running. And this was before the age of

01:07:41.980 --> 01:07:44.980
having cell phone technology where you can, you

01:07:44.980 --> 01:07:47.300
know, text someone to call. That long before

01:07:47.300 --> 01:07:50.219
I was four. You remember that? And I said, there

01:07:50.219 --> 01:07:55.079
is no one to call. And everybody else who I would

01:07:55.079 --> 01:07:59.980
have asked left. And I was like, there's no way

01:07:59.980 --> 01:08:04.380
I can walk to where I stay. It was like... in

01:08:04.380 --> 01:08:08.780
the morning. It was like, meet you and two other

01:08:08.780 --> 01:08:11.840
girls, I think. And they were driving together.

01:08:11.840 --> 01:08:13.960
And I was like, I don't want to ask them, because

01:08:13.960 --> 01:08:15.800
I think one of them think I want to hit on them.

01:08:16.460 --> 01:08:20.100
And then I was like, maybe this brother will.

01:08:20.119 --> 01:08:22.060
And I asked you. You was like, yeah, come on.

01:08:22.460 --> 01:08:25.939
And I tell that story to my actors still to this

01:08:25.939 --> 01:08:29.039
day. I said, people have no idea of the power

01:08:29.039 --> 01:08:31.739
that they have over a moment. Cause you could

01:08:31.739 --> 01:08:33.640
have been like, nah, I gotta go to work. I'm

01:08:33.640 --> 01:08:36.199
sorry. That's too far off. You took me home and

01:08:36.199 --> 01:08:40.560
I never forget that. You know, I mean, but that's

01:08:40.560 --> 01:08:42.159
the kind of energy that you have and that's what

01:08:42.159 --> 01:08:45.880
you give as well. And, you know, again, man,

01:08:45.880 --> 01:08:49.479
I'm just really excited about where you are in

01:08:49.479 --> 01:08:52.539
life and what you're continuing to do. Um, as

01:08:52.539 --> 01:08:56.979
your last words on this podcast this time, and

01:08:56.979 --> 01:08:58.699
what's on your heart when your mind that you

01:08:58.699 --> 01:09:01.590
would like to share? Yeah, I think, um, Persistence

01:09:01.590 --> 01:09:05.829
is key. I think what I've learned personally

01:09:05.829 --> 01:09:08.210
because people ask me, do you have moments of

01:09:08.210 --> 01:09:11.189
doubt? And I said, no, those moments are gone.

01:09:11.289 --> 01:09:13.789
Like I don't doubt anything anymore. But what

01:09:13.789 --> 01:09:16.989
I realized is that am I in the moment? And like

01:09:16.989 --> 01:09:19.350
truly, you know, when you're in acting class,

01:09:19.430 --> 01:09:21.970
a class can say acting is about moments, living

01:09:21.970 --> 01:09:24.729
realistically and truthfully and honestly in

01:09:24.729 --> 01:09:27.250
a moment. I take it further than that. It's like,

01:09:28.090 --> 01:09:31.260
what does this moment do for me? when I'm going

01:09:31.260 --> 01:09:34.619
to be 70, if I live that long. And I'm seeing

01:09:34.619 --> 01:09:37.939
by myself, is it going to be a fond memory? Is

01:09:37.939 --> 01:09:40.960
it going to be something that I flippantly just

01:09:40.960 --> 01:09:42.760
didn't pay attention to? Or is it going to be

01:09:42.760 --> 01:09:45.159
something that really matters to my heart? And

01:09:45.159 --> 01:09:48.520
I'm learning to live moments like that. And I

01:09:48.520 --> 01:09:52.479
think if anybody's watching this, learn to do

01:09:52.479 --> 01:09:55.800
that. Like not stop and smell the roses because...

01:09:55.600 --> 01:09:57.920
You know, you can stop swirl roses and the dog

01:09:57.920 --> 01:10:03.760
pisses on I'm saying in itself because it's where

01:10:03.760 --> 01:10:06.840
it starts Are you are you really in the moments?

01:10:07.300 --> 01:10:10.560
You know, are you are you really present? And

01:10:10.560 --> 01:10:14.739
uh That that's what i'd leave Because I don't

01:10:14.739 --> 01:10:16.560
really want anything like people say what do

01:10:16.560 --> 01:10:18.479
you want? I don't want anything like I yeah I

01:10:18.479 --> 01:10:20.640
want to make movies obviously, but if it doesn't

01:10:20.640 --> 01:10:24.380
get made Well, um, there's nothing out of life

01:10:24.380 --> 01:10:26.939
that I want Um, and I feel like I am already

01:10:26.939 --> 01:10:30.739
successful. I don't believe in money as being

01:10:30.739 --> 01:10:34.939
the gauge of success. I only do not believe that

01:10:34.939 --> 01:10:36.619
if you showed up and you did what you say you're

01:10:36.619 --> 01:10:39.180
going to do, you were successful. You are successful.

01:10:39.500 --> 01:10:42.119
You made it a day. Some people didn't, you know,

01:10:42.300 --> 01:10:45.659
and so I would leave with that. Just, you know,

01:10:45.880 --> 01:10:47.800
being in the moment, like truly being in the

01:10:47.800 --> 01:10:50.539
moment, being present and appreciate in the moment,

01:10:50.899 --> 01:10:53.100
no matter how bad you may feel things are. Yeah.

01:10:53.819 --> 01:10:56.699
Good word. Good word. Choice, we're going to

01:10:56.699 --> 01:10:59.319
put all your information below, but how do people

01:10:59.319 --> 01:11:02.899
get in contact with you? How do investors give

01:11:02.899 --> 01:11:05.300
you money so you can produce your films that

01:11:05.300 --> 01:11:08.159
you want to get produced? Absolutely. If you're

01:11:08.159 --> 01:11:10.239
watching, you got some money. Hit me up. Let's

01:11:10.239 --> 01:11:13.199
make something happen. You can reach me at Instagram.

01:11:13.899 --> 01:11:18.300
Darkon2000, D -A -R -K -A -N -2000. On my YouTube

01:11:18.300 --> 01:11:23.140
is DarkonENT. My Twitter is DarkonENT. Yes, I'm

01:11:23.140 --> 01:11:26.420
still on there too. D -A -R -K -A -N -E -N -T.

01:11:26.579 --> 01:11:33.520
My TikTok is Darkon2000. And my Facebook is ChoiceJSkinner.

01:11:33.560 --> 01:11:38.279
You can go to my website as well. DarkonENT .com.

01:11:38.430 --> 01:11:42.430
D -A -R -K -A -N -E -N -T dot com. Perfect. And

01:11:42.430 --> 01:11:44.850
our quiz. And I'm on LinkedIn. That's not pushing

01:11:44.850 --> 01:11:47.710
LinkedIn more. LinkedIn, yeah. I got a lot of

01:11:47.710 --> 01:11:49.890
good things. Just look for Choice Skinner. I'm

01:11:49.890 --> 01:11:53.350
on it. I converse daily with people. Nice. All

01:11:53.350 --> 01:11:55.890
right. And we'll put all the information in the

01:11:55.890 --> 01:11:57.670
description below. And the question of the day

01:11:57.670 --> 01:12:01.050
is, what's one bold move you're making this year?

01:12:01.420 --> 01:12:04.760
to own your voice or build your purpose -driven

01:12:04.760 --> 01:12:09.399
path like Choice has done and is doing. And as

01:12:09.399 --> 01:12:11.539
we always say around this time, let's make thriving

01:12:11.539 --> 01:12:13.720
our new normal, and we'll talk to you next week.