December 1, 2023 • 49 mins
Join us on this week's episode of Angie Martinez IRL as she sits down with Ryan Coogler, the visionary filmmaker behind films like 'Fruitvale Station' ‘Creed’ and 'Black Panther,' for a deep dive into life, success, and powerful lessons learned along the way.
In this episode, Angie and Ryan explore the nuanced concept of competition. Ryan's take on the competition, shaped by his journey from college sports to Hollywood, offers a fresh perspective, and Angie’s take offers coping mechanisms for confronting your competition head-on.
Ryan also shares the profound impact that 'Fruitvale Station' had on him, as it not only catapulted his career but also transformed his approach to storytelling. Ryan shares his initial aspirations with the film, aiming to spark change and the sobering realization that the world doesn't always change as we hope.
The conversation takes an intimate turn as Ryan bravely opens up about recognizing and combating work addiction, emphasizing the importance of building a supportive team. However, the most important person on his team is his childhood sweetheart and now wife, a vital part of his journey. Ryan is no stranger to loss. It’s been a tough few years, including the loss of his dear friend, Chadwick Boseman. Ryan shares firsthand reflections on Chadwick's remarkable impact, describing his intentional and present nature that left an indelible mark and invaluable lessons in grace and presence.
Prepare to be inspired, moved, and enlightened as Ryan Coogler opens up his world in real life, revealing layers of wisdom and vulnerability that make this episode a truly memorable experience.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Andrew Martinez in Real Life Podcast. This episode and conversation
is powered by I Do say, Ryan, I think my
crew might be a little under pressure today because you're
my guest. I think my crew might feel a little
under pressure today because you're my guest.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Because you're my first filmmaker on the on the on
the pod. You're my first filmmaker I've had.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
I've had actors, athletes, rappers, Thanks.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Man, Ryan Coogler, everybody.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I mean, is this weird you out a little bit?
On the other side of the camera decided.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Fall was like supposed to actor.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
You can't act at all. I mean you could never
even never even tempted.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
School or something like. But agast films make you do it.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Oh, you're probably pretty good for me because because I
feel like the truth tellers make really good actors.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Like if you could be in truth all the time,
I mean, I'm sure there's.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
More to it, not just no, no, I'm just thinking
about it.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Because if you are in a state of truth all
the time, then you are whatever line it is you
are delivering your truthfully. That would make you a good actor.
I think maybe what does make a good actor?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Do you know.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
You should know I think, like the ability to like
trigger empathy, like curiosity, and then there's a technical thing
to him too, like a lot of a lot of
the real dope wings like was trained.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
You know, they got like a lot of techniques.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
So I'm so excited you're here.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Number one.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
I'm a fan, man, what I am a fan? I
am a fan. I've been a fan.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Likewise, I watched so when it's funny that Fruitville is
coming on it's ten years, right, you just hit ten
year anniversary of Fruitville.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
I remember watching that movie and thinking to myself, who
made this? Like, I remember thinking to myself, who made this?
And because it was so I don't know, it's so
specific and so honest, and so I don't know. I
just I was so drawn to it, and I was
really curious about who made it. That's kind of I'm
sure people have told you that.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Yeah, like like.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
There's been a while since talking about that movie, and
it feels like yesterday when we made it. But at
the same time, it flight was a long long time
ago because a lot happened.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Since a lot.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Yeah, I couldn't make that movie today. I think, like
like just just because I was I was, I was
like twenty five six, naive really making it thinking that
it would keep things like that from happening again, you
know what I mean, you know, and what happened after
it came out was, you know, more video.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
You believe you could change the world with one story.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
Yeah, I think, not changeing, but I believe you know,
maybe maybe, yeah, maybe outside of the impact.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
You not feel like it did.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
I definitely didn't after I made because like when the
movie came out, the George Jimmeryman verdict came down, you know,
like I think the week the weekend we released it,
so we were doing press what that news was breaking,
you know, and you know, in the year since, you know,
if you put yourself in that mindset, it's not like
this film deal what it was supposed to.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Do, you know if that makes sense.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Yeah, But you know, getting older and learn more about
the world, and you know more about the things in
society affect you know, emotionally. I think I got more
more respective able to like, you know, have a healthier
existence as it relates to it.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
I do want to talk today about the ten years
because ten years from then to now, the lessons you've
learned and yeah, yeah, you know you've been privy too.
I'm sure it's amazing. But but first, I think, you know,
just thinking about you and why I'm such a fan,
aside from just the actual work, it's like I feel
like you move with integrity with the chices that you
(04:00):
make and the films that you make and watching you
do interviews, and.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
I mean not trying man like I'm like everybody else.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
I'm trying to move uh honest and do right about
people and do what I say I'm gonna do kind
of thing.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
But it's it's really just being where I'm from, Like
I found that that, you know, it's it's beneficial to
move like that.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
I was watching the speech that you gave. It was
at bath and you started it like it was beautiful,
stop all right on. You were like you started by saying,
I'm really nervous and I'm gonna need to take a
few minutes.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
I'm a bit I'm a bit nervous. Y'all bear with me.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
I might take some mom extended pauses, uh to collect myself.
Uh do the nerves and natural fear of public speaking.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
You saying out loud. Yah, I'm nervous, y'all. I'm it's
like you let it go.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
It's like it's like I feel like when people hold
on to things that are not true. It imagine you
didn't say that at the beginning of that speech. It's
like you release it by letting the truth out like happening. Yeah,
even if it's uncomfortable.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
You get it out or whatever.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
You know.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
That's and so I think I think there's a lesson
in that for people, just in terms of like what
we hold on to and just getting it out.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
And yeah, I was thinking about it. I don't know why.
Sometimes something somebody else does to bring up something for me.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
In the middle of my radio career, my dream interview
was always Oprah Winfrey, right, because I grew I'm an
Oprah baby. I grew up on Oprah my purpose and
I want to know you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
You get it obviously, I'm an Oprah baby, right.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
So I always was like, this is my dream. I
dream my dream, and I interviewed Jay Z a hundred times.
This is you know, Biggie Pok. I don't interviewed everybody.
Oprah Winfrey was on my list I'm driving to work
one day.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
I'm in the car. We had just some competition had
just come on the radio.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
They put ed level on against me in the afternoon,
drive them all my way to work, feeling good about
my day.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
I clicked to see what the competitors doing.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Ed Lover is on the radio and he has a
very special guest today stopping everything.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
He has Oprah win Free in the building.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Right right.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Now, I'm driving to work and I want to cry
right because I'm like, well, this was supposed to be mine.
Speaker 5 (06:16):
I worked twenty years to get this interview. Why would
they take her down there? He just got on the
radio down there, So I'm having all those feelings. And
then I'm like, everybody I work with knows that Oprah
is my and they know she's on the other.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Station right now.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
I guess.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
So now I have to walk in the building and
see everybody. So I'm like, fuck, what am I gonna front?
Am I gonna walk in there?
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Like?
Speaker 2 (06:42):
I don't care?
Speaker 1 (06:44):
I could I could probably pull it off. I'm good
enough to maybe pull it off, but really could I
pull it up?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I don't know?
Speaker 1 (06:50):
And so I was like, you know what, So before
I went upstairs. I called Ed lover and oh, I
had text him, yeah, and I told him that that.
I was like, you got my dream a man of you,
but you're killing it. Congratulations, amazing, Like let it go.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Yeah, that's that's super mature.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yes, And I was younger.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I was probably I don't know, a long time ago, right,
So I was younger, But I learned something about myself
in that moment, and I've always thought about that, like,
if you let it go, even if it's uncomfortable, whether
it's jealousy, envy, nervousness, insecurity, all that shit, if you
let it go, the power has less power.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
It's like, right, So it's the same thing. I don't
know why.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
When I saw you do that, it reminded me of
that moment. I was like, damn, that's a I don't know,
it's just a moment for me, a story to realize that.
So I walked in and I was like, it's fine
because I was really fine because Ed hit me back
and was like, yo, thank you know how much that
means to me, Like coming from you, it was beautiful.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
It turned into like I was like a mess to like.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
It was like a dope moment where he was like, man,
coming from you, that means everything.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
That's huge.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
So then I walk into work, I'm fine.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
It's amazing, right because I had to go When was
it that happened?
Speaker 2 (08:03):
This was gosh, this was I don't know, twenty years ago,
like a long time ago.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
That's fucking like incredible because because you it's like a
story of emotional maturity and wisdom. Yeah, like like radical
like radical self care, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
And it's like when you have a moment where you
teach yourself something. I was like, oh, should I feel
better survival tactics?
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Yeah, like like because because you something that you loved, Like,
that's a recipe for a lot of internalized negativity. Like
there's a recipe for envy. There's a recipe for you.
You know, you might you might have went in there
and lash out. That's mighty in the office, you know
what I'm saying, or lash out yourself, but man, you
you you you took that acknowledge it. Congratulate the person
(08:49):
who is a competition building like made them feel seen, seen,
but also like appreciated.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Body here, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
He really did do a good jock. He was great.
It was a great count.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
He was being honest, you know what I'm saying, like
like acknowledging that it was dreaming of yours putting it
out like that's that's incredible, Like that's so, that's so,
that's what I was asking when it happened, because that's
like I deal with that, man, Like like coming up,
I grew up as an athlete before I wanted to
be a filmmaker like you were. You know, I would
play and you you know, it didn't happen too often, thankfully,
(09:26):
Like while you come.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Across somebody who was better than you know, you know
what I'm saying, how you handle that? Well, you know,
I played football. I played.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
I would handle it by acknowledging it first, like mentally.
Like a good example is like I played Marshawn Lynch
a bunch like you know, Pop Warner and high school college.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Oh you had a good class.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Yeah, but he was really really, really really good in
high school. And I met at some point in it
during the game it's like this dude, like this dude's incredible.
We figure out how to tackle him, you know, you know,
so we how like you know, you know, figuring out
are you grab one leg, I grabbed this leg.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
You gotta do it, you know.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
But but before even before you even getting to that point,
is you gotta realize, like this, this person is exceptional
at this and we gottawit, we gotta switch tactics, you
know what saying, and just just but just that, just
that realization is scary, you.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Know, and you feel it.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
Like so, by the time I was in film school,
I learned to, like if I got the feeling like
somebody's that feeling Markshan gave me when I was playing
against you. But but artistically, like I'll meet another student,
it's like, all this person is better than me at
this thing or for further along. And I get that,
I get that feeling, I'll run towards you. You know,
I'll try to, you know, try to befriend the person
(10:38):
and be around them, and she would I can learn,
you know what I'm saying. We could collaborate as opposed
to like like being like I don't want to Did.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
You have to? Did you have to learn how to
do that?
Speaker 4 (10:48):
I think sports taught me, you know, like life kind
of taught me before I got to grad school. So
I was already I was already in the in the
in the zone there.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
You know, do you see people do look at other
directors or other people now and think have those feelings.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
At the time? Really yeah all the time, man, Like
that's why I know.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
That's why I know something is good if I get that,
if I get that feeling again, like you know, like
like you know, oh, man, I got to compete with this.
This is I don't know if I ship you know
what I'm saying like that that you know, But what's
great is in is in and what I do now
it's not really competition.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
It's not really competitive like like sports is you know,
like with sports, like the Hollywood is not competitive. No,
it's a lot.
Speaker 6 (11:29):
Really yeah, how is that possible?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Because like.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
Even when we was in film school, it was like
this is just competition. It was because cause I came
straight from like I walked off like my last football
season was two thousand and seven, and I got accepted
to film school and walked into film school class and
spring in two thousand and eight, you know what I'm saying.
So I was like fresh off the field in the
(11:56):
in the class, and that was like, it's just you're
in competition with this person next to you, and it's
competition flat, competition flat, and you get into it, it's like, man,
it's not a competition. Like nobody trying to stop me
from making the movie I want to make. And nobody's
if I'm honest, making some honest to myself, nobody's gonna
make this. Like in football, like when I go out
on the field and I'm trying to catch a touchdown,
it's another person standing there whose job it is to
(12:18):
stop me from from from doing that. You know, you
know what I mean, like like nobody's doing that here.
Nah nah, you know, like you know, a fight against
like time or or money.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Because you and I push back on you because I
feel like the reason you have that luxury is because
you have locked into It's like a thing that only
you could do, right, It's like you locked into the
truth of what your strengths are. Not everybody gets to
that point. So some people are in a pool of like, oh,
there's five directors that could do this job.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
Yeah, I mean that that that's absolutely that's absolutely true.
You have suations where there's more people working there our
jobs that go around. Uh so yeah, like I wouldn't
take away that the competitiveness to get the to get
the oven job like that. You know, that's like the
(13:07):
labor market though, right, you know, you know what I'm saying,
I'm saying it more in terms.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Of like somebody's trying to cut you.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
You know, like I said, as filmmakers, you know, like
like I don't know how much of that exists.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Do you think maybe that's because that's how you operate
versus that's how Hollywood operates.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
It's possible, yeah, you know, it's possible. Everybody a prisoner of
their own perspectives. But but but but like.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I don't know, I don't know if it's directors out
there saying this director somebody say yeah, maybe maybe you
know they stuck in that.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
The prisoner of that, prisoner of that right there.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah. Yeah, But I mean I don't know.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
I was going to ask you about because you were
saying about competitiveness and stuff like that. You have had success,
like a lot of success, like your films have been
commercially successful. How how important.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Is that to you?
Speaker 4 (14:13):
Sh h, that's such a great question. Very important. You
don't have any control over that, you know, but it's
super important, like like and it's important like in a
few different ways. Like for me, I didn't grow I
(14:34):
grew up loving movies, not knowing that I would eventually
like discover a passion for making them, you know what
I'm saying. But like I love I loved movies. My
family love movies. That was what we would Do's go
tot's go to the movies. Would tell jokes from movies
and talk about it's just like this movie is just
like that movie, you know what I'm saying. Got that
from my mom more than anything, but also my father
(14:56):
and we didn't grow up on art house movies, you know,
like it was it was we in the Bay Area.
There was art house theaters, you know what I'm saying,
But that wasn't what we was. We was we was
going to the We was going to multiplaces, you know
what I'm saying, Like, yeah, yeah, so I'm when I
get the opportunity to make a movie, that's that's that's
(15:17):
going all over the place, being like master shibuted.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
I feel like I'm connecting with like with like that
version of myself, you know what I'm saying, Like I
got the opportunity to to to to push something out
there that's enjoyable for like like the kid me you know,
you know what I mean, Like like the other part
of it is, uh, you know, my job is kind
(15:43):
of like bowling, right, you know what I'm saying, Like
if you have success, you know what I mean, like
people will let you.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Yeah, like people people let you people will let you
rock again, you know. You know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Like like if you don't, you know, you know, maybe
maybe your opportunities dry up.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
So there's that there's that anxiety of like.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
I think we all have, you know, when you're working
in entertainment, it's like it's like all right, when it's
gonna work, okay, cool that, let me do another one.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
You know.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
You know what I'm saying that they you know, they
being that the power is that the power that be
because you can't you know, making making movies is very expensive.
It's not like it's not like I'm at to plant rocket,
just do it on my own, you know what I'm saying.
Somebody gotta somebody gotta fund it, right, So there's so
there's that aspect tours like Okay, this job being successful
and that was me, they get it to get another one,
(16:33):
you know.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
So those are the reasons why it matters to me.
And and then.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
The other piece of it is changing, you know, because
it's becoming more of us, you know, filmmakers that look
like you, like me, you know what I'm saying. But
you know, it's a product that a of us being
a minority that doesn't have a ton of capital power,
(17:01):
that that that often times we judged by what one
of us does, you know what I'm saying, Even if
that's not what's actually happening, it's something that can be internalized,
you know what I'm saying. So, like there's also the
added pressure of, like, I hope this works. So the
next time, you know, you know, Gina makes something or
or or Steven makes something or might be make something,
they can point to what we did on this and
(17:23):
they can get that stuff made. You know what, you know,
what does that make sense?
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Of course, that's the pressure though, there's a pressure in that,
which is what I wonder for somebody like you. Even
we talked about fruit built, fruitful being ten years ago,
you went from that, which I'm sure there was pressure always.
That was what was the budget. It was a big budget,
medium budget in your world.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
It was big for me at the time. Yeah, it was,
it was. It was right around a million dollars, like
it was, it.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Was you did that movie for a million dollars.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
Yeah, I think it was a little a little less,
Yeah it was.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
We have a script.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
We're trying to figure out how much millions every time
somebody says they made.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
How much I need?
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Yeah much?
Speaker 3 (18:00):
How much I need to make your script?
Speaker 4 (18:02):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Yeah, no, we have a script. How much to make
the movie?
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Yeah? How much?
Speaker 2 (18:05):
I need to always figure out something. I hear stories
of that. It's very exciting.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
You give it to a line producer, not yet, but
that's the next step.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
Yeah, yeah, like so yeah, and you know that money
brought us twenty days.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
You shot it in twenty days. Yeah, okay, But so
you go from that then you go to Creed.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
Yeah yeah, yeah, Crew was Crew was the next for
my own right to correct that one with with Aaron
Covey teams.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
But you go from that to Creed to Black Panther,
and these are big budget movies, not just budget, but
it's just the expectation behind it and the level of
just the pressure.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Yeah, it's a different level of pressure.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
How do you manage that? How do you show up
be creative not? How do you block out that? Because everybody,
whether they are a filmmaker or there, whatever, there is,
if you're good at it and you're growing, growing, growing,
there'll be a point where you're.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Ship totally pressure. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
I was there from day one, like like from the
moment I showed up in film school, you know, because
like film school, I think I left out of there
two hundred grand in debt and I was on full
scholarship in undergrad playing football, so like, you know, so
I had never had debt before, you know what I mean. Like,
so every day in school I'm thinking, like, man, it's
place expensive. I gotta you know, I gotta do my thing.
(19:24):
What if what if this movie sucks and this is
my shorts? Right if this movie sucks and the professors say, man,
get out of here, Man go back, you know, go
back home to the bay, you know. And you know
when when when Prouville you know, got green lit by
the Great Forest Whitaker and Nani Yang by Jovi, I
was I was terrified to let them down, you know
(19:45):
what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Terrified and it was more money, and you know, I
didn't know. It's like he's a million dollars. Oh my god,
you know what?
Speaker 4 (19:52):
You know what I'm saying, like like I didn't want to,
you know, lose that money for the for the investors.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
So the same pressure from then to black Panther as
the same.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
It's from the outside looking in there's clearly like more
at stake, but the stress level, you know, it's at
the maximum. I'm saying each on each wind, if that may,
If that makes so, I mean like it feels like
I'm it feels like I'm as stressed as I could be.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Do you have a trick or a thing that you do?
What that you tell yourself? Is there? Like when that
starts starts creeping.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
In, I try to remind myself to control what I
can control. It's a collaborative medium, so I try to
hire the best people that I can. I got an
imagining wife who's been with me, knowing me a long time,
and it's always very honest with me.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
It's very smart. So I keep her around and.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
Let her in on everything I'm doing, you know, so
she can kind of get me perspective from when I'm
drowning in stress. She can tell me, yeah, you should
be worried or not trip me. You know what I'm saying, I'll.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Let people work to the MAXI and that capacity.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
So if I got a co writer, or if I got.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Cinematary for a d you know, let them, let them
take as much off.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Of my players as they can and then shyly because
I'll deal with work addiction.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Ah.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
I try to work myself into the place of being
comfortable what I'm doing. You know, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Well, two things out, two things I want to know.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Talk to me about work addiction because I completely understand
and I'm doing my best in this part of this time.
It took me to this time in my life to try.
At least I have some tools that I use. But
it's still it's still a struggle.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
It's tough.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
But I've never really heard somebody just own it and
claim it, Like like, work addiction, what is that?
Speaker 4 (21:58):
It's a self diagnosis, right, But like I kind of
discovered it when I was going through something really emotionally intense.
Actively I owned disclose what it was, and I realized
that I was unconsciously working like I was working at
a time and I really shouldn't have been working. I
should have been dealing with what was happening. Yeah, yeah,
(22:19):
I should have been dealing with what was happening. And
I kind of got called out on it, like Yo,
why are you sending emails and making calls about this thing?
We got this going on, you know, And I was
when I realized, like, oh, I got a problem, you
know what I mean? Like, so I navigated, you know
what I'm saying. But it's a lot, Like it's a
lot like if somebody who gotta eating disorder, right because
(22:40):
you have to work, you know what I mean, to live,
you know what I mean, Like, you gotta eat to live.
So when you're dealing with things that's like necessities, it
gets tricky.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
But you also love it too, dude.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
Yeah yeah, and it brings good things, you know what
I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
So it's complicated, you know, like, but it also ruined
your life blues the things that's most important, right, you
know what I mean. Like, so I'm monitory, you know
what I'm saying, But like, yeah, like if I'm feeling
the tricky part is like if I'm stressed about a scene, right,
it's often because I haven't given it enough time, you know, Like,
(23:19):
so what I what I kind of have to do
to make myself less stresses to work on it, you
know what I mean? If that makes sense?
Speaker 3 (23:26):
So I got to negotiate, right, it's all right, I'm
gonna sleep to night. You know where? Am I gonna work?
Speaker 4 (23:31):
The shine to the point that it feels like it's doing?
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Not healthy?
Speaker 4 (23:36):
So should I show up to work tomorrow for this
ten hour day that might end up being fourteen or sixteen?
Should I show up with a good night's sleep but
the work un finished? You know what I'm saying, and
we work out all the day, or should show up
completely sleep deprive? But I know the work is here,
(23:57):
you know what I'm saying. In some days at little
actors am I working?
Speaker 3 (24:01):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 4 (24:02):
Are they good to work with on the spot? Or
they gonna get freaked out if it's not. If it's
not done, they're gonna show a panic. You know what
I'm saying, Like, y'all this scene ain't working.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Cool? What we're gonna do?
Speaker 4 (24:11):
Like like if I got the ones, that's gonna be cool,
working all the day, not going to sleep, you know
what I'm saying?
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Getting better at that going to sleep?
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Yeah I can, I can. I can navigate it a
little better, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
Like when I first started, like Repouval, I just didn't sleep,
you know, twenty days, but Cree was fifty days, Panther
was close to one hundred. So I can't not sleep
one hundred days coming from you gotta sleep.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
You know What's helped me, and that's because I'm I
have work addiction too, But I don't know, I've really
locked into like just locking into like the faith of
it all and and uh waiting for their just have
the faith.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
It's just the faith.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Do as much as I can, and then have faith
that whatever it is supposed to be is gonna be,
which I didn't I used to say it, but actual
actively actively actively going I want to stay up till
five am because this should be in love. I can't,
so I'm going to go to sleep. And because I can't,
(25:13):
so I'm gonna do it or something false false flat.
I have to have faith that was supposed to fall
flat for whatever reason. And I've been finding it's only
been a few years that I've been actively living that way.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
There really is something to it. It's really something to
that because.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
You get the peace and the comfort, and then you
also sometimes it comes out better than you if you
are micromanaging and trying to control it so much comes
better because the magic in the recreating or whatever it is,
fixing something that broke is that you missed that magic
if you're over controlling everything.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
It's a process. It's all process. But the other thing
that you said before that, I was like, oh, I
got a question about that is just your wife and
her support of you and the importance of choosing the
right partner in your life and.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
Yeah, I mean, yeah, super important, Like you know.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Did you know that? But as you grew up in
not many of my guests have.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
We were talking about this before because we've always talked
about daddy issues and things like this, and it's because
most people don't have two parent households.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
Yeah, you you have a two parent households to have
daddy is. But I mean, yeah, my parents was My
parents was both both in my life. They still are.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Yeah, But did they teach you the importance of picking
the right partner or did you get that young or
you're just having a lot of bluck up, Like was
it intentional.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
Yeah, it's a complicated question. Okay, no, no, it's fine.
I'm just I'm just trying to think about how to
answer you. I mean with my pop will say my
pap actually will say that. He'll say, I'm from the Bay.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
We got a lot of phrases and sayings and like,
but he'll.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Say more is caught than talked. What that means. He's like, like.
Speaker 4 (27:09):
You can sit down and teach somebody something, but if
they're around you every day, they gonna catch what you do,
you know, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
So my parents, you know, I was around.
Speaker 4 (27:19):
Them all the time, you know, and picked up a
lot of things from them, just like just from them
being around you know, you know what I'm saying. It
wasn't like they sat down and was like, man, when
you pick a you pick your mate, you gotta pick
the right price and everything, you know. You know, But
I watched how I watched how I got down, you
know what I'm saying. And maybe it was I never
did this kind of self analysis that's almost like on
(27:41):
a therapy or something.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
I know people said that to me all the time.
I really haven't really done there too much. But but
but what what is true. Though.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
It is true, you know, is that my parents met
when they were kids. That's the reality.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
You guys met young? Yeah, high school, Yeah I met.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
I met her when I was kids. Your kids I
met when I was thirteen. Wow.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
Yeah, so like it's probably something to me as a kid.
And I was like, when I might meet I might
meet the one.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
You didn't even know.
Speaker 4 (28:13):
Yeah, I was looking for I was moving because I
knew that's how I worked out with my parents.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
Whatever you feel me?
Speaker 4 (28:20):
Yeah, good, Yeah, I looked out. I looked out. I
definitely looked out.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
And since we're talking about family though, though, I wonder
how much being a father has changed you. But what
have you learned from that? Yeah, it's probably it's probably
kicked into why you're aware of your work addiction.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
I'm sure that's part of it.
Speaker 4 (28:45):
Uh, yeah, it's totally a part of Yeah, I was
on I was on vacation once in a whiter.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
I asked me and and if we had kids, we
should know And he was like and he was like, man,
it's just wait he's and he's like, I just had
a kid, he said, and and it's like everything before
the kid was black and white and now everything is
in color, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
And that's that's like the best description of it. You
feel like, like I like, it's no disrespect people who
not capable or looking for having.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Kids, you know what I'm saying. Like it's not like
like no disrespect.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
But but for me personally, yeah, it felt like it
felt like everything leading up to this was practice. You're
not a game, not a game started. That makes sense totally. Yeah,
it's that kind of It's that kind of feeling. But
also it is crazy because like the things nobody tells you.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Actually, you know what, somebody did. Somebody did tell me this.
It was it was real. It was a little real.
He told me why he was working on Judis in
a black masside.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
But he was like he was like, Yo, there's nothing
more entertaining than than your own kids, you know what
I'm saying, Like they're just so entertaining. And that's that's
the other thing. Like I watched I watched less movies
and TV and everything because like because they because they
just saw they so interesting, you know what I mean.
It's so constantly exciting and like nerve racking. You know,
you know what I'm saying, that like that that you know,
(30:17):
everything else is kind of like everything else kind of.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Like pills and comparison, you know.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
You know what I'm saying, Like you get more adrenaline
from like them running around the kitchen and they socks,
you know what I'm saying, because like every step they
might they might, they might, you know what I mean.
It's it's more not then then then action movie than anything,
you know.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
You know.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
Yeah, so like you kind of like I weren't ready
to be like kind of like perpetually like unimpressed by.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Everything else, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (30:46):
Yeah, but but it's it's wild man, that's beautiful. Yeah,
you definite but you definitely get like more aware of
your mortality too.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Oh my gosh, for sure. I was telling you this early.
That's how this podcast started. My first chapter colled World
Gonna Die because it's like, when you're starting to become
aware of your mortality, to me, it could do one
of two things. You could get freaked out or scare
bite or depressed or sad, or you could be inspired
by that and realize the time, how important time is
(31:16):
and how important our choices are and what we're doing
with our time here, And.
Speaker 4 (31:21):
It's crazy because like it's like where I'm from and
the time coming up. In the time that I came
up in, we was surrounded by the concept of like
young death and like old death, you know what I'm saying.
Like that that was the thing, Like it was it
was non like it was in our movies, but it
(31:42):
was also started to happen to us, like I could
get shot, you know what I'm saying, Like I could
get I could get smoked, like like high school college age.
That was like that was like the fear like I'm
gonna I'm going to a party, man, I might haven't
I might get smoked, you know what I'm saying, Like
we're you know, we might get caught with something I
gotta go away from forever or whatever, you.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (32:00):
Like like but but what I kind of wasn't prepared
for it was like like late twenties, early thirties, Like
you know, you know what I'm saying. It's like it's
like it's like oh wow, Like what's what's this is
gonna look like? And and now it's getting crazy like
like like late thirties because I'm seeing like family. I'm
seeing like like the changing of the guard with the family.
(32:22):
Like I'm seeing like my parents' age become the oldest,
you know what I mean. It's like, oh, ship, we
next up, you know you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Like it's so funny.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
I told you I had Joe Button. We had Joe Button,
and we were talking about the elevator of life. Yeah,
it's like an elevator. So who it's like they know
and then it's like, what's You're becoming the dad and
you'll be the grandfather.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
Like strangely, we was prepared for like an exit on
the third floor, right like teenage, teenage, young young twenties,
but like but like now you're a fifth floor, sixth floor.
It was it was kind of like a like kind
of unknown, you know what. You know what I'm saying,
like and it brings like a strange it's strange thing
like like like I remember when when Kobe passed away,
(33:07):
My wife and I had just met him. We just
we just met him, him and him and Vanessa, you know,
and Vanessa was pregnant and jen was pregnant, you know
what I'm saying. Like that was it was both. It
was both like I think she was more pregnant than
Jense he was, you know what I mean. And I remember,
you know, chopping up with Kobe, and I remember how
big he was, you know what I'm saying. He was
(33:27):
just he was just like like like like sawing Paulsy,
you know what I mean, and chopping it up and everything.
And you know, we we and were back home. We
find out, we find out about the accident, and uh
and we devastate and j just thinking about it, you know,
the the young the young kid that I was pregnant with,
you know, and and her her maybe having it, not
(33:51):
having a chance to have her you know, relationship with
him that in the physical sense that she's remembring and
and we realized it was like, oh wait, what's something happened?
Speaker 3 (34:00):
What's not having nuts right now? Like like you know,
you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (34:03):
We didn't we didn't have we didn't have a trust,
we didn't have a will, we didn't you know, we
didn't have any of our stuff in order, and like
we didn't even know how to do it, you know what.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
You know what I'm saying, because we.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
From applies where people don't have those things, you know,
you know what I'm saying, yeah, like like it was
like it was it was bananas, you know what I mean.
It was like and we you know, we had a kid,
and it's like, oh my god, we gotta we gotta
get on our ship, you know.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
Like, so I called Charles King. It was like, bro,
we gotta.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Get I'm notting surprise, but I'm not surprised.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
I was very not that it was not that long
ago that I finally got all that stuff in order.
Speaker 4 (34:35):
To Yeah, but you called Charles, called Charles immediately, yeah,
and and he helped us get everything squared away.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
Like everybody listening, man, that ship taken care of.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
That's for real. And you've had a string of of
loss in the past couple of years. How have you
I don't know how is that shaped you? Just because
it's like confronting mortality, but also is grief, right and
sadness that comes with that?
Speaker 2 (35:03):
How have you managed that?
Speaker 4 (35:05):
I mean, I carry man, you know what I'm saying, like,
oh wow, yeah, this the director of under Rade. It's
just it's just a little girl. We lost her between nineteen.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Chadwick is on the other one, cha Chad.
Speaker 3 (35:23):
Yeah, you know, by.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
The way, the chain is fire. Is that black?
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Ye black diamonds.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
Yeah, of course it's black diamonds. Yeah, that's fire. Yeah,
I love that.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Yeah, he ain't really wear it. He didn't really wear it.
Speaker 4 (35:36):
He wasn't a jewelry guy, it was, but he was.
Maybe he would wear he would wear like African bracelets.
He wouldn't wear GYM STM or nothing like that, you
know what I mean. It would be like bespoke stuff.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
He got me this.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
He got me this copper bracelet when we wrapped the
first Panther, and I didn't I didn't even want to
take no gift from him.
Speaker 3 (35:59):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (36:00):
He was he gave such such He gave me the
greatest gift with that performance. You know what I'm saying,
His friendship and I and I never forgive myself for this.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
Man.
Speaker 4 (36:11):
I took your home and put it like in a
box somewhere we moved. I still got it. But it's
like stories, I gotta, I gotta, I gotta go find it.
Speaker 3 (36:17):
Please go find that media.
Speaker 4 (36:19):
Got I will, man, but but but I meant it.
Though I didn't need nothing material from him, But I
know he was gonna lose him so soon, you know,
what I'm saying, like like, yeah, so I got this
one made, but I gotta Yeah, I got a black
dog for him because I know he was like no
diamonds in that man, I got. I got the black ones.
Speaker 3 (36:38):
But should you carry man? You know, And it's something
you learn.
Speaker 4 (36:41):
How to how.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
To move with man like you know. But but yeah,
a lot of lost.
Speaker 4 (36:49):
John, yeah single, Yeah, a lot of lost man. But
but but everybody deals with it.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
You know. It's like it's like it's such a part
of life. You know, it's going to happen.
Speaker 4 (37:02):
On all of us, and learning how to navigate and
learning how to like acknowledge and get through it in
your own way.
Speaker 3 (37:12):
It's like a necessary, necessary part of life, you know
what I'm saying. But it don't make it.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
Easy, Nah, never easy.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
But it should inspire you to, like we always say
when somebody first passed, is like, oh you got to
live for the moment, life short you say all those things. Yeah,
to actually live a life like that intentionally all the time. Yeah,
it's like a gift I think from having experienced something.
Speaker 4 (37:36):
Like that, Yeah, and also being close to Chad Man.
He was so like in the time that I knowing
he was he was sick. You know, I didn't know
to actually pass, but he was. He was so intention
like so present, you know, you know what I'm saying.
And I don't know if that was just who he
was or what he was dealing with a combination of both.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
It had to be, you know.
Speaker 3 (37:56):
Also yeah, but yeah, he was a great teacher at
that me my house.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
So give us a lesson in that or like one.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
It's like back to all saying my pops like more
caught and talked.
Speaker 4 (38:06):
He never he never shot me down and shaid, cool,
just how you gotta live your life, you know what
I'm saying. And he was child, was older than me,
and he totally could have I would have listened, you
know what I'm saying, Like like if you'd been like, hey,
let me tell you something, young man, but he didn't.
It was just how it was how he worked, you know,
like like he would he rarely had his phone with him.
We would be working, he would, you know, I'll give
(38:29):
him directions.
Speaker 3 (38:30):
He would stop. He would look look me right in
the eye. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
You know, I'm right here, yeah, right here, and like
and like if to think about something, he would take
a deep He would take deep breaths, you know, like
he moved at his own pace. I've never seen him rush,
but he was like all right on time. One of
them kind of people you know.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
Like.
Speaker 4 (38:55):
And and he kind of he couldn't be hurried neither.
You know what I'm saying, be hurried crazy the rector,
I mean, the ad War, you know what I'm saying,
Because like for me, I was like, okay, yeah, here
king on set. So like you know, I get it,
you know, you know what I'm saying. But yeah, like
like he was gonna he was gonna move on a
long pace. And then you realize what he was dealing with,
(39:17):
you know, and what he was doing it for. You know,
you know what I'm saying. It's like, man, you know,
so he was somebody like that. You you go back
and replay you know, every everything he realized. Man, that
was that was I realized me. He was showing me.
He was showing me a lot.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
You know what a great lesson. Yeah, what a great thing.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
It's a dope video of me.
Speaker 4 (39:39):
Man, Like given the Howard commencement speech, and if you're
watching the video, they put the graduating like Tarsaloni and
he does the thing I'm talking about. He takes like
a deep breath and he acknowledges, like what just what
just happened?
Speaker 3 (39:54):
You know what I'm saying. There's something that like not
a lot.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
Of people do, I'm gonna do. I'm stealing that today.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Yeah, I feel like every episode and something I take
away a couple of things I take away. There's a
few things you said today. I'm definitely taking it right.
But I'm taking that too from Chack. I'm taking that
from Check.
Speaker 4 (40:09):
I definitely started from you, man, Like if the kid
do something crazy where if somebody say something kind or
I make a decision, I'll like to pull a chat
like I'll just think about it for a bit, you
know what I'm saying, registered and then move. But if
you want to see him do it large, check that
commission man, because he doesn't. You can tell, like how
(40:30):
much he meant to him that that's beautiful. You know,
that's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
I would imagine you're in a position you could probably
this probably projects being thrown at you one hundred a day.
Speaker 4 (40:41):
I mean, I mean, uh me ZIZI and several hundred.
We started a company called Proximity Media started in twenty eighteen,
we did Space Jam.
Speaker 3 (40:51):
And Julius right away, Judis and Black and Side, and then.
Speaker 4 (40:55):
We started to expand, got in the you know podcast
like like you're doing right now. We got a podcast
called in Proximity. That's that's really that's really fun. But
we started to expand and hire people that are really
good at doing certain things. Pete Nicks, who directed Underwrited,
also directed Anthem for its just on who but he
runs non fiction, you know, and and and yeah, like
(41:18):
now that we have executives and staff were able to
like to look at you know, look at more, look
at more.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Projects that might come in.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
Does this side of stuff exactly?
Speaker 3 (41:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (41:29):
Eric Payton, who found the Unanimous Media with Stephen Curry,
called with the idea and they had worked out quite
a bit and I love, I love the idea and
I'm from from the Bay Area, big Warriors fan, love
Steph and ended up making like a beautiful movie about
like yeah, yeah totally, but also about like the power
(41:51):
of being seen, you know what I'm saying, Like, like
so often, you know, people, especially like in business or
or who was sports especially people oftentimes look at at
a player and they she was not there as opposed
as opposed what's there?
Speaker 1 (42:09):
Yeah, when they were reading off his NBA whether his
draft what is that called?
Speaker 2 (42:13):
Like his draft bio that was wild.
Speaker 3 (42:17):
A lot of people got it wrong.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
Of course they got it wrong. Yeah, but that's how
the world is.
Speaker 3 (42:21):
Who did who got it right?
Speaker 2 (42:22):
That's how the world is.
Speaker 1 (42:23):
Everybody, anytime you're trying to do something that's like groundbreaking,
is going to be people that don't see you.
Speaker 2 (42:28):
And then but he for some reason didn't. He didn't
listen to any of that.
Speaker 4 (42:33):
We had people who saw him, you know, and people
who gave him a chance, believed in and built him up.
And what's great about Stephen was right about the movie
is he gives back to those people. You know, It's
like it's not he not just taking like you know,
he he told his mom he's gonna graduate and then
and when did it? You know, you know what I'm saying.
And one of his jersey up there and you know, Davidson,
(42:56):
so he could get back to his coach, you know,
who gave so much to him.
Speaker 3 (43:01):
So I think that I think that he made a
beautiful movie.
Speaker 2 (43:05):
Man, beautiful movie. Okay, you know what I mean. I
usually I started my interviews this today. We didn't do
it today. I usually start the interview with how happy
are you on a scale of one to ten right
now right now?
Speaker 3 (43:17):
Mhm mhmm, like a nine point five?
Speaker 1 (43:26):
Really god bless Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, nine point five
based on just life for I.
Speaker 3 (43:33):
Mean right now in the moment.
Speaker 2 (43:34):
Yeah, yeah, I love that.
Speaker 3 (43:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (43:37):
Thanks, that's Ama as more teenager in New York Health Insurance.
Speaker 3 (43:47):
Falk straight.
Speaker 1 (43:48):
You know, yeah, what in real life? What are you
most proud of?
Speaker 3 (43:55):
H wow, holy ship.
Speaker 1 (43:59):
Sorry, it's not super light. It could be light for
some people. You you're a thinker, you like to.
Speaker 3 (44:05):
Yeah, I'm gonna ask you honestly, man, what is pride like?
What is that.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
Something that you feel makes you feel good about you?
I think.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
I and for me, I would say, I'm I'm proud
that I always get back up. And then I write
my longevity not just not just career career, but my
career probably like yours, meshes into my real life.
Speaker 6 (44:39):
Right right right right, So it all is about there's
really no separation, I mean my kids and my family,
but for me, for for you personally, like I don't know,
is it a career moment?
Speaker 1 (44:51):
Is it a project, Is it a something about your
projects so that you're most proud of or mm hmm, oh.
Speaker 2 (45:05):
Hello about the awful you are.
Speaker 3 (45:09):
I think it's probably.
Speaker 2 (45:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
Fuck, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (45:20):
It's a lot, man, like I got like I think,
I think it's probably in twenty eighteen, what's going through
a lot.
Speaker 3 (45:29):
But I got to.
Speaker 4 (45:32):
Take my wife, my mom, and my grandmother who was
in her nineties to the continent for the first time.
All three it was all three of the first time
beautiful and I got him, I got him there, got.
Speaker 3 (45:47):
Him back shape. So I think that's probably the biggest deal.
Speaker 4 (45:51):
And why it was a big deal is because like
I grew up hearing about Africa from people who had
never been you know what I'm saying, do like what
happened to our ancestors, you know, so like taking taking
the others member of my family there was It was
a probably probably a big deal.
Speaker 2 (46:09):
That's a proud moment.
Speaker 4 (46:11):
Maybe yeah, maybe maybe, But there's so many I've been blessed,
Like for real, that's one. I guess that's interesting.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
That's a good one. Okay, last thing and we're gonna
let you go.
Speaker 1 (46:21):
Uh. It's really a two parts so it's up to
you how quick or short you want to make it.
What do you want people to learn from it? To
learn from your life?
Speaker 3 (46:32):
You as cold questions.
Speaker 4 (46:34):
Sorry, it is supposed to be a speed ground, so yeah,
like like.
Speaker 2 (46:39):
And then what's left? What is what is the what
is the what is the star?
Speaker 3 (46:43):
For you? I guess what I want people to learn
from my life.
Speaker 2 (46:48):
Is mm hmm.
Speaker 4 (46:57):
That there's power in finding out what you love, you
know what I'm saying and doing it Like like I
found what I loved in a roundabout way, you know,
but I thank god I was like open to it,
you know, as an option, you know, when it was
presented to me.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
So you could have easily been totally one way.
Speaker 3 (47:20):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it would have been very easy for me.
Speaker 4 (47:23):
What happened with me it was a teacher recommended it
in a class that was not a filmmaking class. It
was was a credit writing class. I wasn't really aiming
my life towards and she read something I wrote. It
was like, hey, you should write screenplays, you know what
I'm saying. And that's that's kind of what led me.
When they saw I'm thankful that I was.
Speaker 3 (47:40):
I was. I was listening. I'm thankful for that teacher.
You know what I'm saying. I think like probably like
the power of the community.
Speaker 4 (47:45):
I think when anything is what I helpe people take
from it, you know what I'm saying, Like I'm a
product of the people who who saw me and and
it spoke confidence to me, supporting me. You know what
I'm saying, what's next?
Speaker 3 (48:03):
Ship?
Speaker 2 (48:04):
Yeah, and what do you have left? Like what's the
what's the north star for you?
Speaker 3 (48:06):
Truth? The north star for me?
Speaker 4 (48:09):
It's to is to like I'm trying to like live
a long time, you know what I'm saying, Like and
be productive and uh conscious, present, kind I think you
know what I'm saying, Like that, that's that's that's what
I'm trying to do.
Speaker 2 (48:24):
You feel just present and kind.
Speaker 3 (48:27):
Like take care of myself along the way, because because.
Speaker 2 (48:29):
To yourself as well, right, kind to yourself.
Speaker 4 (48:31):
Yeah, exactly, Like like you know, because I got a
lot of you know, I've seen a lot of people
check out early, you know what I'm saying, So I'm
trying to maximize the time and and like yeah, like
like work consistently not like in a way that's crazy.
Speaker 3 (48:49):
You know what I'm saying not like a yeah, the
relationship with the grind.
Speaker 2 (48:56):
You decide to work, be here to receive it right on.
Appreciate you so much, Thank you for today.
Speaker 3 (49:03):
Thanks thank you, of course, imagine.
Speaker 1 (49:05):
Thank you Ryan Cool, our first filmmaker in real life,
Andrew Martinez in Real Life Podcast. This episode and conversation
is powered by I Do say, Ryan, I think my
crew might be a little under pressure today because you're
my guest. I think my crew might feel a little
under pressure today because you're my guest.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Because you're my first filmmaker on the on the on
the pod. You're my first filmmaker I've had.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
I've had actors, athletes, rappers, Thanks.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Man, Ryan Coogler, everybody.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I mean, is this weird you out a little bit?
On the other side of the camera decided.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Fall was like supposed to actor.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
You can't act at all. I mean you could never
even never even tempted.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
School or something like. But agast films make you do it.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Oh, you're probably pretty good for me because because I
feel like the truth tellers make really good actors.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Like if you could be in truth all the time,
I mean, I'm sure there's.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
More to it, not just no, no, I'm just thinking
about it.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Because if you are in a state of truth all
the time, then you are whatever line it is you
are delivering your truthfully. That would make you a good actor.
I think maybe what does make a good actor?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Do you know.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
You should know I think, like the ability to like
trigger empathy, like curiosity, and then there's a technical thing
to him too, like a lot of a lot of
the real dope wings like was trained.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
You know, they got like a lot of techniques.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
So I'm so excited you're here.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Number one.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
I'm a fan, man, what I am a fan? I
am a fan. I've been a fan.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Likewise, I watched so when it's funny that Fruitville is
coming on it's ten years, right, you just hit ten
year anniversary of Fruitville.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
I remember watching that movie and thinking to myself, who
made this? Like, I remember thinking to myself, who made this?
And because it was so I don't know, it's so
specific and so honest, and so I don't know. I
just I was so drawn to it, and I was
really curious about who made it. That's kind of I'm
sure people have told you that.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Yeah, like like.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
There's been a while since talking about that movie, and
it feels like yesterday when we made it. But at
the same time, it flight was a long long time
ago because a lot happened.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Since a lot.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Yeah, I couldn't make that movie today. I think, like
like just just because I was I was, I was
like twenty five six, naive really making it thinking that
it would keep things like that from happening again, you
know what I mean, you know, and what happened after
it came out was, you know, more video.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
You believe you could change the world with one story.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
Yeah, I think, not changeing, but I believe you know,
maybe maybe, yeah, maybe outside of the impact.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
You not feel like it did.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
I definitely didn't after I made because like when the
movie came out, the George Jimmeryman verdict came down, you know,
like I think the week the weekend we released it,
so we were doing press what that news was breaking,
you know, and you know, in the year since, you know,
if you put yourself in that mindset, it's not like
this film deal what it was supposed to.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Do, you know if that makes sense.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Yeah, But you know, getting older and learn more about
the world, and you know more about the things in
society affect you know, emotionally. I think I got more
more respective able to like, you know, have a healthier
existence as it relates to it.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
I do want to talk today about the ten years
because ten years from then to now, the lessons you've
learned and yeah, yeah, you know you've been privy too.
I'm sure it's amazing. But but first, I think, you know,
just thinking about you and why I'm such a fan,
aside from just the actual work, it's like I feel
like you move with integrity with the chices that you
(04:00):
make and the films that you make and watching you
do interviews, and.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
I mean not trying man like I'm like everybody else.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
I'm trying to move uh honest and do right about
people and do what I say I'm gonna do kind
of thing.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
But it's it's really just being where I'm from, Like
I found that that, you know, it's it's beneficial to
move like that.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
I was watching the speech that you gave. It was
at bath and you started it like it was beautiful,
stop all right on. You were like you started by saying,
I'm really nervous and I'm gonna need to take a
few minutes.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
I'm a bit I'm a bit nervous. Y'all bear with me.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
I might take some mom extended pauses, uh to collect myself.
Uh do the nerves and natural fear of public speaking.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
You saying out loud. Yah, I'm nervous, y'all. I'm it's
like you let it go.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
It's like it's like I feel like when people hold
on to things that are not true. It imagine you
didn't say that at the beginning of that speech. It's
like you release it by letting the truth out like happening. Yeah,
even if it's uncomfortable.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
You get it out or whatever.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
You know.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
That's and so I think I think there's a lesson
in that for people, just in terms of like what
we hold on to and just getting it out.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
And yeah, I was thinking about it. I don't know why.
Sometimes something somebody else does to bring up something for me.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
In the middle of my radio career, my dream interview
was always Oprah Winfrey, right, because I grew I'm an
Oprah baby. I grew up on Oprah my purpose and
I want to know you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
You get it obviously, I'm an Oprah baby, right.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
So I always was like, this is my dream. I
dream my dream, and I interviewed Jay Z a hundred times.
This is you know, Biggie Pok. I don't interviewed everybody.
Oprah Winfrey was on my list I'm driving to work
one day.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
I'm in the car. We had just some competition had
just come on the radio.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
They put ed level on against me in the afternoon,
drive them all my way to work, feeling good about
my day.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
I clicked to see what the competitors doing.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Ed Lover is on the radio and he has a
very special guest today stopping everything.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
He has Oprah win Free in the building.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Right right.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Now, I'm driving to work and I want to cry
right because I'm like, well, this was supposed to be mine.
Speaker 5 (06:16):
I worked twenty years to get this interview. Why would
they take her down there? He just got on the
radio down there, So I'm having all those feelings. And
then I'm like, everybody I work with knows that Oprah
is my and they know she's on the other.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Station right now.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
I guess.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
So now I have to walk in the building and
see everybody. So I'm like, fuck, what am I gonna front?
Am I gonna walk in there?
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Like?
Speaker 2 (06:42):
I don't care?
Speaker 1 (06:44):
I could I could probably pull it off. I'm good
enough to maybe pull it off, but really could I
pull it up?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I don't know?
Speaker 1 (06:50):
And so I was like, you know what, So before
I went upstairs. I called Ed lover and oh, I
had text him, yeah, and I told him that that.
I was like, you got my dream a man of you,
but you're killing it. Congratulations, amazing, Like let it go.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Yeah, that's that's super mature.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yes, And I was younger.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I was probably I don't know, a long time ago, right,
So I was younger, But I learned something about myself
in that moment, and I've always thought about that, like,
if you let it go, even if it's uncomfortable, whether
it's jealousy, envy, nervousness, insecurity, all that shit, if you
let it go, the power has less power.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
It's like, right, So it's the same thing. I don't
know why.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
When I saw you do that, it reminded me of
that moment. I was like, damn, that's a I don't know,
it's just a moment for me, a story to realize that.
So I walked in and I was like, it's fine
because I was really fine because Ed hit me back
and was like, yo, thank you know how much that
means to me, Like coming from you, it was beautiful.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
It turned into like I was like a mess to like.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
It was like a dope moment where he was like, man,
coming from you, that means everything.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
That's huge.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
So then I walk into work, I'm fine.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
It's amazing, right because I had to go When was
it that happened?
Speaker 2 (08:03):
This was gosh, this was I don't know, twenty years ago,
like a long time ago.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
That's fucking like incredible because because you it's like a
story of emotional maturity and wisdom. Yeah, like like radical
like radical self care, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
And it's like when you have a moment where you
teach yourself something. I was like, oh, should I feel
better survival tactics?
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Yeah, like like because because you something that you loved, Like,
that's a recipe for a lot of internalized negativity. Like
there's a recipe for envy. There's a recipe for you.
You know, you might you might have went in there
and lash out. That's mighty in the office, you know
what I'm saying, or lash out yourself, but man, you
you you you took that acknowledge it. Congratulate the person
(08:49):
who is a competition building like made them feel seen, seen,
but also like appreciated.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Body here, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
He really did do a good jock. He was great.
It was a great count.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
He was being honest, you know what I'm saying, like
like acknowledging that it was dreaming of yours putting it
out like that's that's incredible, Like that's so, that's so,
that's what I was asking when it happened, because that's
like I deal with that, man, Like like coming up,
I grew up as an athlete before I wanted to
be a filmmaker like you were. You know, I would
play and you you know, it didn't happen too often, thankfully,
(09:26):
Like while you come.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Across somebody who was better than you know, you know
what I'm saying, how you handle that? Well, you know,
I played football. I played.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
I would handle it by acknowledging it first, like mentally.
Like a good example is like I played Marshawn Lynch
a bunch like you know, Pop Warner and high school college.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Oh you had a good class.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Yeah, but he was really really, really really good in
high school. And I met at some point in it
during the game it's like this dude, like this dude's incredible.
We figure out how to tackle him, you know, you know,
so we how like you know, you know, figuring out
are you grab one leg, I grabbed this leg.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
You gotta do it, you know.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
But but before even before you even getting to that point,
is you gotta realize, like this, this person is exceptional
at this and we gottawit, we gotta switch tactics, you
know what saying, and just just but just that, just
that realization is scary, you.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Know, and you feel it.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
Like so, by the time I was in film school,
I learned to, like if I got the feeling like
somebody's that feeling Markshan gave me when I was playing
against you. But but artistically, like I'll meet another student,
it's like, all this person is better than me at
this thing or for further along. And I get that,
I get that feeling, I'll run towards you. You know,
I'll try to, you know, try to befriend the person
(10:38):
and be around them, and she would I can learn,
you know what I'm saying. We could collaborate as opposed
to like like being like I don't want to Did.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
You have to? Did you have to learn how to
do that?
Speaker 4 (10:48):
I think sports taught me, you know, like life kind
of taught me before I got to grad school. So
I was already I was already in the in the
in the zone there.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
You know, do you see people do look at other
directors or other people now and think have those feelings.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
At the time? Really yeah all the time, man, Like
that's why I know.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
That's why I know something is good if I get that,
if I get that feeling again, like you know, like
like you know, oh, man, I got to compete with this.
This is I don't know if I ship you know
what I'm saying like that that you know, But what's
great is in is in and what I do now
it's not really competition.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
It's not really competitive like like sports is you know,
like with sports, like the Hollywood is not competitive. No,
it's a lot.
Speaker 6 (11:29):
Really yeah, how is that possible?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Because like.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
Even when we was in film school, it was like
this is just competition. It was because cause I came
straight from like I walked off like my last football
season was two thousand and seven, and I got accepted
to film school and walked into film school class and
spring in two thousand and eight, you know what I'm saying.
So I was like fresh off the field in the
(11:56):
in the class, and that was like, it's just you're
in competition with this person next to you, and it's
competition flat, competition flat, and you get into it, it's like, man,
it's not a competition. Like nobody trying to stop me
from making the movie I want to make. And nobody's
if I'm honest, making some honest to myself, nobody's gonna
make this. Like in football, like when I go out
on the field and I'm trying to catch a touchdown,
it's another person standing there whose job it is to
(12:18):
stop me from from from doing that. You know, you
know what I mean, like like nobody's doing that here.
Nah nah, you know, like you know, a fight against
like time or or money.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Because you and I push back on you because I
feel like the reason you have that luxury is because
you have locked into It's like a thing that only
you could do, right, It's like you locked into the
truth of what your strengths are. Not everybody gets to
that point. So some people are in a pool of like, oh,
there's five directors that could do this job.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
Yeah, I mean that that that's absolutely that's absolutely true.
You have suations where there's more people working there our
jobs that go around. Uh so yeah, like I wouldn't
take away that the competitiveness to get the to get
the oven job like that. You know, that's like the
(13:07):
labor market though, right, you know, you know what I'm saying,
I'm saying it more in terms.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Of like somebody's trying to cut you.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
You know, like I said, as filmmakers, you know, like
like I don't know how much of that exists.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Do you think maybe that's because that's how you operate
versus that's how Hollywood operates.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
It's possible, yeah, you know, it's possible. Everybody a prisoner of
their own perspectives. But but but but like.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I don't know, I don't know if it's directors out
there saying this director somebody say yeah, maybe maybe you
know they stuck in that.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
The prisoner of that, prisoner of that right there.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah. Yeah, But I mean I don't know.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
I was going to ask you about because you were
saying about competitiveness and stuff like that. You have had success,
like a lot of success, like your films have been
commercially successful. How how important.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Is that to you?
Speaker 4 (14:13):
Sh h, that's such a great question. Very important. You
don't have any control over that, you know, but it's
super important, like like and it's important like in a
few different ways. Like for me, I didn't grow I
(14:34):
grew up loving movies, not knowing that I would eventually
like discover a passion for making them, you know what
I'm saying. But like I love I loved movies. My
family love movies. That was what we would Do's go
tot's go to the movies. Would tell jokes from movies
and talk about it's just like this movie is just
like that movie, you know what I'm saying. Got that
from my mom more than anything, but also my father
(14:56):
and we didn't grow up on art house movies, you know,
like it was it was we in the Bay Area.
There was art house theaters, you know what I'm saying,
But that wasn't what we was. We was we was
going to the We was going to multiplaces, you know
what I'm saying, Like, yeah, yeah, so I'm when I
get the opportunity to make a movie, that's that's that's
(15:17):
going all over the place, being like master shibuted.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
I feel like I'm connecting with like with like that
version of myself, you know what I'm saying, Like I
got the opportunity to to to to push something out
there that's enjoyable for like like the kid me you know,
you know what I mean, Like like the other part
of it is, uh, you know, my job is kind
(15:43):
of like bowling, right, you know what I'm saying, Like
if you have success, you know what I mean, like
people will let you.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Yeah, like people people let you people will let you
rock again, you know. You know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Like like if you don't, you know, you know, maybe
maybe your opportunities dry up.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
So there's that there's that anxiety of like.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
I think we all have, you know, when you're working
in entertainment, it's like it's like all right, when it's
gonna work, okay, cool that, let me do another one.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
You know.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
You know what I'm saying that they you know, they
being that the power is that the power that be
because you can't you know, making making movies is very expensive.
It's not like it's not like I'm at to plant rocket,
just do it on my own, you know what I'm saying.
Somebody gotta somebody gotta fund it, right, So there's so
there's that aspect tours like Okay, this job being successful
and that was me, they get it to get another one,
(16:33):
you know.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
So those are the reasons why it matters to me.
And and then.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
The other piece of it is changing, you know, because
it's becoming more of us, you know, filmmakers that look
like you, like me, you know what I'm saying. But
you know, it's a product that a of us being
a minority that doesn't have a ton of capital power,
(17:01):
that that that often times we judged by what one
of us does, you know what I'm saying, Even if
that's not what's actually happening, it's something that can be internalized,
you know what I'm saying. So, like there's also the
added pressure of, like, I hope this works. So the
next time, you know, you know, Gina makes something or
or or Steven makes something or might be make something,
they can point to what we did on this and
(17:23):
they can get that stuff made. You know what, you know,
what does that make sense?
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Of course, that's the pressure though, there's a pressure in that,
which is what I wonder for somebody like you. Even
we talked about fruit built, fruitful being ten years ago,
you went from that, which I'm sure there was pressure always.
That was what was the budget. It was a big budget,
medium budget in your world.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
It was big for me at the time. Yeah, it was,
it was. It was right around a million dollars, like
it was, it.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Was you did that movie for a million dollars.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
Yeah, I think it was a little a little less,
Yeah it was.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
We have a script.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
We're trying to figure out how much millions every time
somebody says they made.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
How much I need?
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Yeah much?
Speaker 3 (18:00):
How much I need to make your script?
Speaker 4 (18:02):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Yeah, no, we have a script. How much to make
the movie?
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Yeah? How much?
Speaker 2 (18:05):
I need to always figure out something. I hear stories
of that. It's very exciting.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
You give it to a line producer, not yet, but
that's the next step.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
Yeah, yeah, like so yeah, and you know that money
brought us twenty days.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
You shot it in twenty days. Yeah, okay, But so
you go from that then you go to Creed.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
Yeah yeah, yeah, Crew was Crew was the next for
my own right to correct that one with with Aaron
Covey teams.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
But you go from that to Creed to Black Panther,
and these are big budget movies, not just budget, but
it's just the expectation behind it and the level of
just the pressure.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Yeah, it's a different level of pressure.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
How do you manage that? How do you show up
be creative not? How do you block out that? Because everybody,
whether they are a filmmaker or there, whatever, there is,
if you're good at it and you're growing, growing, growing,
there'll be a point where you're.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Ship totally pressure. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
I was there from day one, like like from the
moment I showed up in film school, you know, because
like film school, I think I left out of there
two hundred grand in debt and I was on full
scholarship in undergrad playing football, so like, you know, so
I had never had debt before, you know what I mean. Like,
so every day in school I'm thinking, like, man, it's
place expensive. I gotta you know, I gotta do my thing.
(19:24):
What if what if this movie sucks and this is
my shorts? Right if this movie sucks and the professors say, man,
get out of here, Man go back, you know, go
back home to the bay, you know. And you know
when when when Prouville you know, got green lit by
the Great Forest Whitaker and Nani Yang by Jovi, I
was I was terrified to let them down, you know
(19:45):
what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Terrified and it was more money, and you know, I
didn't know. It's like he's a million dollars. Oh my god,
you know what?
Speaker 4 (19:52):
You know what I'm saying, like like I didn't want to,
you know, lose that money for the for the investors.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
So the same pressure from then to black Panther as
the same.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
It's from the outside looking in there's clearly like more
at stake, but the stress level, you know, it's at
the maximum. I'm saying each on each wind, if that may,
If that makes so, I mean like it feels like
I'm it feels like I'm as stressed as I could be.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Do you have a trick or a thing that you do?
What that you tell yourself? Is there? Like when that
starts starts creeping.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
In, I try to remind myself to control what I
can control. It's a collaborative medium, so I try to
hire the best people that I can. I got an
imagining wife who's been with me, knowing me a long time,
and it's always very honest with me.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
It's very smart. So I keep her around and.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
Let her in on everything I'm doing, you know, so
she can kind of get me perspective from when I'm
drowning in stress. She can tell me, yeah, you should
be worried or not trip me. You know what I'm saying, I'll.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Let people work to the MAXI and that capacity.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
So if I got a co writer, or if I got.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Cinematary for a d you know, let them, let them
take as much off.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Of my players as they can and then shyly because
I'll deal with work addiction.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Ah.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
I try to work myself into the place of being
comfortable what I'm doing. You know, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Well, two things out, two things I want to know.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Talk to me about work addiction because I completely understand
and I'm doing my best in this part of this time.
It took me to this time in my life to try.
At least I have some tools that I use. But
it's still it's still a struggle.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
It's tough.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
But I've never really heard somebody just own it and
claim it, Like like, work addiction, what is that?
Speaker 4 (21:58):
It's a self diagnosis, right, But like I kind of
discovered it when I was going through something really emotionally intense.
Actively I owned disclose what it was, and I realized
that I was unconsciously working like I was working at
a time and I really shouldn't have been working. I
should have been dealing with what was happening. Yeah, yeah,
(22:19):
I should have been dealing with what was happening. And
I kind of got called out on it, like Yo,
why are you sending emails and making calls about this thing?
We got this going on, you know, And I was
when I realized, like, oh, I got a problem, you
know what I mean? Like, so I navigated, you know
what I'm saying. But it's a lot, Like it's a
lot like if somebody who gotta eating disorder, right because
(22:40):
you have to work, you know what I mean, to live,
you know what I mean, Like, you gotta eat to live.
So when you're dealing with things that's like necessities, it
gets tricky.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
But you also love it too, dude.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
Yeah yeah, and it brings good things, you know what
I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
So it's complicated, you know, like, but it also ruined
your life blues the things that's most important, right, you
know what I mean. Like, so I'm monitory, you know
what I'm saying, But like, yeah, like if I'm feeling
the tricky part is like if I'm stressed about a scene, right,
it's often because I haven't given it enough time, you know, Like,
(23:19):
so what I what I kind of have to do
to make myself less stresses to work on it, you
know what I mean? If that makes sense?
Speaker 3 (23:26):
So I got to negotiate, right, it's all right, I'm
gonna sleep to night. You know where? Am I gonna work?
Speaker 4 (23:31):
The shine to the point that it feels like it's doing?
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Not healthy?
Speaker 4 (23:36):
So should I show up to work tomorrow for this
ten hour day that might end up being fourteen or sixteen?
Should I show up with a good night's sleep but
the work un finished? You know what I'm saying, and
we work out all the day, or should show up
completely sleep deprive? But I know the work is here,
(23:57):
you know what I'm saying. In some days at little
actors am I working?
Speaker 3 (24:01):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 4 (24:02):
Are they good to work with on the spot? Or
they gonna get freaked out if it's not. If it's
not done, they're gonna show a panic. You know what
I'm saying, Like, y'all this scene ain't working.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Cool? What we're gonna do?
Speaker 4 (24:11):
Like like if I got the ones, that's gonna be cool,
working all the day, not going to sleep, you know
what I'm saying?
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Getting better at that going to sleep?
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Yeah I can, I can. I can navigate it a
little better, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
Like when I first started, like Repouval, I just didn't sleep,
you know, twenty days, but Cree was fifty days, Panther
was close to one hundred. So I can't not sleep
one hundred days coming from you gotta sleep.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
You know What's helped me, and that's because I'm I
have work addiction too, But I don't know, I've really
locked into like just locking into like the faith of
it all and and uh waiting for their just have
the faith.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
It's just the faith.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Do as much as I can, and then have faith
that whatever it is supposed to be is gonna be,
which I didn't I used to say it, but actual
actively actively actively going I want to stay up till
five am because this should be in love. I can't,
so I'm going to go to sleep. And because I can't,
(25:13):
so I'm gonna do it or something false false flat.
I have to have faith that was supposed to fall
flat for whatever reason. And I've been finding it's only
been a few years that I've been actively living that way.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
There really is something to it. It's really something to
that because.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
You get the peace and the comfort, and then you
also sometimes it comes out better than you if you
are micromanaging and trying to control it so much comes
better because the magic in the recreating or whatever it is,
fixing something that broke is that you missed that magic
if you're over controlling everything.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
It's a process. It's all process. But the other thing
that you said before that, I was like, oh, I
got a question about that is just your wife and
her support of you and the importance of choosing the
right partner in your life and.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
Yeah, I mean, yeah, super important, Like you know.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Did you know that? But as you grew up in
not many of my guests have.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
We were talking about this before because we've always talked
about daddy issues and things like this, and it's because
most people don't have two parent households.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
Yeah, you you have a two parent households to have
daddy is. But I mean, yeah, my parents was My
parents was both both in my life. They still are.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Yeah, But did they teach you the importance of picking
the right partner or did you get that young or
you're just having a lot of bluck up, Like was
it intentional.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
Yeah, it's a complicated question. Okay, no, no, it's fine.
I'm just I'm just trying to think about how to
answer you. I mean with my pop will say my
pap actually will say that. He'll say, I'm from the Bay.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
We got a lot of phrases and sayings and like,
but he'll.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Say more is caught than talked. What that means. He's like, like.
Speaker 4 (27:09):
You can sit down and teach somebody something, but if
they're around you every day, they gonna catch what you do,
you know, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
So my parents, you know, I was around.
Speaker 4 (27:19):
Them all the time, you know, and picked up a
lot of things from them, just like just from them
being around you know, you know what I'm saying. It
wasn't like they sat down and was like, man, when
you pick a you pick your mate, you gotta pick
the right price and everything, you know. You know, But
I watched how I watched how I got down, you
know what I'm saying. And maybe it was I never
did this kind of self analysis that's almost like on
(27:41):
a therapy or something.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
I know people said that to me all the time.
I really haven't really done there too much. But but
but what what is true. Though.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
It is true, you know, is that my parents met
when they were kids. That's the reality.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
You guys met young? Yeah, high school, Yeah I met.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
I met her when I was kids. Your kids I
met when I was thirteen. Wow.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
Yeah, so like it's probably something to me as a kid.
And I was like, when I might meet I might
meet the one.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
You didn't even know.
Speaker 4 (28:13):
Yeah, I was looking for I was moving because I
knew that's how I worked out with my parents.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
Whatever you feel me?
Speaker 4 (28:20):
Yeah, good, Yeah, I looked out. I looked out. I
definitely looked out.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
And since we're talking about family though, though, I wonder
how much being a father has changed you. But what
have you learned from that? Yeah, it's probably it's probably
kicked into why you're aware of your work addiction.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
I'm sure that's part of it.
Speaker 4 (28:45):
Uh, yeah, it's totally a part of Yeah, I was
on I was on vacation once in a whiter.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
I asked me and and if we had kids, we
should know And he was like and he was like, man,
it's just wait he's and he's like, I just had
a kid, he said, and and it's like everything before
the kid was black and white and now everything is
in color, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
And that's that's like the best description of it. You
feel like, like I like, it's no disrespect people who
not capable or looking for having.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Kids, you know what I'm saying. Like it's not like
like no disrespect.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
But but for me personally, yeah, it felt like it
felt like everything leading up to this was practice. You're
not a game, not a game started. That makes sense totally. Yeah,
it's that kind of It's that kind of feeling. But
also it is crazy because like the things nobody tells you.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Actually, you know what, somebody did. Somebody did tell me this.
It was it was real. It was a little real.
He told me why he was working on Judis in
a black masside.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
But he was like he was like, Yo, there's nothing
more entertaining than than your own kids, you know what
I'm saying, Like they're just so entertaining. And that's that's
the other thing. Like I watched I watched less movies
and TV and everything because like because they because they
just saw they so interesting, you know what I mean.
It's so constantly exciting and like nerve racking. You know,
you know what I'm saying, that like that that you know,
(30:17):
everything else is kind of like everything else kind of.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Like pills and comparison, you know.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
You know what I'm saying, Like you get more adrenaline
from like them running around the kitchen and they socks,
you know what I'm saying, because like every step they
might they might, they might, you know what I mean.
It's it's more not then then then action movie than anything,
you know.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
You know.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
Yeah, so like you kind of like I weren't ready
to be like kind of like perpetually like unimpressed by.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Everything else, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (30:46):
Yeah, but but it's it's wild man, that's beautiful. Yeah,
you definite but you definitely get like more aware of
your mortality too.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Oh my gosh, for sure. I was telling you this early.
That's how this podcast started. My first chapter colled World
Gonna Die because it's like, when you're starting to become
aware of your mortality, to me, it could do one
of two things. You could get freaked out or scare
bite or depressed or sad, or you could be inspired
by that and realize the time, how important time is
(31:16):
and how important our choices are and what we're doing
with our time here, And.
Speaker 4 (31:21):
It's crazy because like it's like where I'm from and
the time coming up. In the time that I came
up in, we was surrounded by the concept of like
young death and like old death, you know what I'm saying.
Like that that was the thing, Like it was it
was non like it was in our movies, but it
(31:42):
was also started to happen to us, like I could
get shot, you know what I'm saying, Like I could
get I could get smoked, like like high school college age.
That was like that was like the fear like I'm
gonna I'm going to a party, man, I might haven't
I might get smoked, you know what I'm saying, Like
we're you know, we might get caught with something I
gotta go away from forever or whatever, you.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (32:00):
Like like but but what I kind of wasn't prepared
for it was like like late twenties, early thirties, Like
you know, you know what I'm saying. It's like it's
like it's like oh wow, Like what's what's this is
gonna look like? And and now it's getting crazy like
like like late thirties because I'm seeing like family. I'm
seeing like like the changing of the guard with the family.
(32:22):
Like I'm seeing like my parents' age become the oldest,
you know what I mean. It's like, oh, ship, we
next up, you know you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Like it's so funny.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
I told you I had Joe Button. We had Joe Button,
and we were talking about the elevator of life. Yeah,
it's like an elevator. So who it's like they know
and then it's like, what's You're becoming the dad and
you'll be the grandfather.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
Like strangely, we was prepared for like an exit on
the third floor, right like teenage, teenage, young young twenties,
but like but like now you're a fifth floor, sixth floor.
It was it was kind of like a like kind
of unknown, you know what. You know what I'm saying,
like and it brings like a strange it's strange thing
like like like I remember when when Kobe passed away,
(33:07):
My wife and I had just met him. We just
we just met him, him and him and Vanessa, you know,
and Vanessa was pregnant and jen was pregnant, you know
what I'm saying. Like that was it was both. It
was both like I think she was more pregnant than
Jense he was, you know what I mean. And I remember,
you know, chopping up with Kobe, and I remember how
big he was, you know what I'm saying. He was
(33:27):
just he was just like like like like sawing Paulsy,
you know what I mean, and chopping it up and everything.
And you know, we we and were back home. We
find out, we find out about the accident, and uh
and we devastate and j just thinking about it, you know,
the the young the young kid that I was pregnant with,
you know, and and her her maybe having it, not
(33:51):
having a chance to have her you know, relationship with
him that in the physical sense that she's remembring and
and we realized it was like, oh wait, what's something happened?
Speaker 3 (34:00):
What's not having nuts right now? Like like you know,
you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (34:03):
We didn't we didn't have we didn't have a trust,
we didn't have a will, we didn't you know, we
didn't have any of our stuff in order, and like
we didn't even know how to do it, you know what.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
You know what I'm saying, because we.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
From applies where people don't have those things, you know,
you know what I'm saying, yeah, like like it was
like it was it was bananas, you know what I mean.
It was like and we you know, we had a kid,
and it's like, oh my god, we gotta we gotta
get on our ship, you know.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
Like, so I called Charles King. It was like, bro,
we gotta.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Get I'm notting surprise, but I'm not surprised.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
I was very not that it was not that long
ago that I finally got all that stuff in order.
Speaker 4 (34:35):
To Yeah, but you called Charles, called Charles immediately, yeah,
and and he helped us get everything squared away.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
Like everybody listening, man, that ship taken care of.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
That's for real. And you've had a string of of
loss in the past couple of years. How have you
I don't know how is that shaped you? Just because
it's like confronting mortality, but also is grief, right and
sadness that comes with that?
Speaker 2 (35:03):
How have you managed that?
Speaker 4 (35:05):
I mean, I carry man, you know what I'm saying, like,
oh wow, yeah, this the director of under Rade. It's
just it's just a little girl. We lost her between nineteen.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Chadwick is on the other one, cha Chad.
Speaker 3 (35:23):
Yeah, you know, by.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
The way, the chain is fire. Is that black?
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Ye black diamonds.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
Yeah, of course it's black diamonds. Yeah, that's fire. Yeah,
I love that.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Yeah, he ain't really wear it. He didn't really wear it.
Speaker 4 (35:36):
He wasn't a jewelry guy, it was, but he was.
Maybe he would wear he would wear like African bracelets.
He wouldn't wear GYM STM or nothing like that, you
know what I mean. It would be like bespoke stuff.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
He got me this.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
He got me this copper bracelet when we wrapped the
first Panther, and I didn't I didn't even want to
take no gift from him.
Speaker 3 (35:59):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (36:00):
He was he gave such such He gave me the
greatest gift with that performance. You know what I'm saying,
His friendship and I and I never forgive myself for this.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
Man.
Speaker 4 (36:11):
I took your home and put it like in a
box somewhere we moved. I still got it. But it's
like stories, I gotta, I gotta, I gotta go find it.
Speaker 3 (36:17):
Please go find that media.
Speaker 4 (36:19):
Got I will, man, but but but I meant it.
Though I didn't need nothing material from him, But I
know he was gonna lose him so soon, you know,
what I'm saying, like like, yeah, so I got this
one made, but I gotta Yeah, I got a black
dog for him because I know he was like no
diamonds in that man, I got. I got the black ones.
Speaker 3 (36:38):
But should you carry man? You know, And it's something
you learn.
Speaker 4 (36:41):
How to how.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
To move with man like you know. But but yeah,
a lot of lost.
Speaker 4 (36:49):
John, yeah single, Yeah, a lot of lost man. But
but but everybody deals with it.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
You know. It's like it's like it's such a part
of life. You know, it's going to happen.
Speaker 4 (37:02):
On all of us, and learning how to navigate and
learning how to like acknowledge and get through it in
your own way.
Speaker 3 (37:12):
It's like a necessary, necessary part of life, you know
what I'm saying. But it don't make it.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
Easy, Nah, never easy.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
But it should inspire you to, like we always say
when somebody first passed, is like, oh you got to
live for the moment, life short you say all those things. Yeah,
to actually live a life like that intentionally all the time. Yeah,
it's like a gift I think from having experienced something.
Speaker 4 (37:36):
Like that, Yeah, and also being close to Chad Man.
He was so like in the time that I knowing
he was he was sick. You know, I didn't know
to actually pass, but he was. He was so intention
like so present, you know, you know what I'm saying.
And I don't know if that was just who he
was or what he was dealing with a combination of both.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
It had to be, you know.
Speaker 3 (37:56):
Also yeah, but yeah, he was a great teacher at
that me my house.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
So give us a lesson in that or like one.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
It's like back to all saying my pops like more
caught and talked.
Speaker 4 (38:06):
He never he never shot me down and shaid, cool,
just how you gotta live your life, you know what
I'm saying. And he was child, was older than me,
and he totally could have I would have listened, you
know what I'm saying, Like like if you'd been like, hey,
let me tell you something, young man, but he didn't.
It was just how it was how he worked, you know,
like like he would he rarely had his phone with him.
We would be working, he would, you know, I'll give
(38:29):
him directions.
Speaker 3 (38:30):
He would stop. He would look look me right in
the eye. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
You know, I'm right here, yeah, right here, and like
and like if to think about something, he would take
a deep He would take deep breaths, you know, like
he moved at his own pace. I've never seen him rush,
but he was like all right on time. One of
them kind of people you know.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
Like.
Speaker 4 (38:55):
And and he kind of he couldn't be hurried neither.
You know what I'm saying, be hurried crazy the rector,
I mean, the ad War, you know what I'm saying,
Because like for me, I was like, okay, yeah, here
king on set. So like you know, I get it,
you know, you know what I'm saying. But yeah, like
like he was gonna he was gonna move on a
long pace. And then you realize what he was dealing with,
(39:17):
you know, and what he was doing it for. You know,
you know what I'm saying. It's like, man, you know,
so he was somebody like that. You you go back
and replay you know, every everything he realized. Man, that
was that was I realized me. He was showing me.
He was showing me a lot.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
You know what a great lesson. Yeah, what a great thing.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
It's a dope video of me.
Speaker 4 (39:39):
Man, Like given the Howard commencement speech, and if you're
watching the video, they put the graduating like Tarsaloni and
he does the thing I'm talking about. He takes like
a deep breath and he acknowledges, like what just what
just happened?
Speaker 3 (39:54):
You know what I'm saying. There's something that like not
a lot.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
Of people do, I'm gonna do. I'm stealing that today.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Yeah, I feel like every episode and something I take
away a couple of things I take away. There's a
few things you said today. I'm definitely taking it right.
But I'm taking that too from Chack. I'm taking that
from Check.
Speaker 4 (40:09):
I definitely started from you, man, Like if the kid
do something crazy where if somebody say something kind or
I make a decision, I'll like to pull a chat
like I'll just think about it for a bit, you
know what I'm saying, registered and then move. But if
you want to see him do it large, check that
commission man, because he doesn't. You can tell, like how
(40:30):
much he meant to him that that's beautiful. You know,
that's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
I would imagine you're in a position you could probably
this probably projects being thrown at you one hundred a day.
Speaker 4 (40:41):
I mean, I mean, uh me ZIZI and several hundred.
We started a company called Proximity Media started in twenty eighteen,
we did Space Jam.
Speaker 3 (40:51):
And Julius right away, Judis and Black and Side, and then.
Speaker 4 (40:55):
We started to expand, got in the you know podcast
like like you're doing right now. We got a podcast
called in Proximity. That's that's really that's really fun. But
we started to expand and hire people that are really
good at doing certain things. Pete Nicks, who directed Underwrited,
also directed Anthem for its just on who but he
runs non fiction, you know, and and and yeah, like
(41:18):
now that we have executives and staff were able to
like to look at you know, look at more, look
at more.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Projects that might come in.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
Does this side of stuff exactly?
Speaker 3 (41:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (41:29):
Eric Payton, who found the Unanimous Media with Stephen Curry,
called with the idea and they had worked out quite
a bit and I love, I love the idea and
I'm from from the Bay Area, big Warriors fan, love
Steph and ended up making like a beautiful movie about
like yeah, yeah totally, but also about like the power
(41:51):
of being seen, you know what I'm saying, Like, like
so often, you know, people, especially like in business or
or who was sports especially people oftentimes look at at
a player and they she was not there as opposed
as opposed what's there?
Speaker 1 (42:09):
Yeah, when they were reading off his NBA whether his
draft what is that called?
Speaker 2 (42:13):
Like his draft bio that was wild.
Speaker 3 (42:17):
A lot of people got it wrong.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
Of course they got it wrong. Yeah, but that's how
the world is.
Speaker 3 (42:21):
Who did who got it right?
Speaker 2 (42:22):
That's how the world is.
Speaker 1 (42:23):
Everybody, anytime you're trying to do something that's like groundbreaking,
is going to be people that don't see you.
Speaker 2 (42:28):
And then but he for some reason didn't. He didn't
listen to any of that.
Speaker 4 (42:33):
We had people who saw him, you know, and people
who gave him a chance, believed in and built him up.
And what's great about Stephen was right about the movie
is he gives back to those people. You know, It's
like it's not he not just taking like you know,
he he told his mom he's gonna graduate and then
and when did it? You know, you know what I'm saying.
And one of his jersey up there and you know, Davidson,
(42:56):
so he could get back to his coach, you know,
who gave so much to him.
Speaker 3 (43:01):
So I think that I think that he made a
beautiful movie.
Speaker 2 (43:05):
Man, beautiful movie. Okay, you know what I mean. I
usually I started my interviews this today. We didn't do
it today. I usually start the interview with how happy
are you on a scale of one to ten right
now right now?
Speaker 3 (43:17):
Mhm mhmm, like a nine point five?
Speaker 1 (43:26):
Really god bless Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, nine point five
based on just life for I.
Speaker 3 (43:33):
Mean right now in the moment.
Speaker 2 (43:34):
Yeah, yeah, I love that.
Speaker 3 (43:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (43:37):
Thanks, that's Ama as more teenager in New York Health Insurance.
Speaker 3 (43:47):
Falk straight.
Speaker 1 (43:48):
You know, yeah, what in real life? What are you
most proud of?
Speaker 3 (43:55):
H wow, holy ship.
Speaker 1 (43:59):
Sorry, it's not super light. It could be light for
some people. You you're a thinker, you like to.
Speaker 3 (44:05):
Yeah, I'm gonna ask you honestly, man, what is pride like?
What is that.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
Something that you feel makes you feel good about you?
I think.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
I and for me, I would say, I'm I'm proud
that I always get back up. And then I write
my longevity not just not just career career, but my
career probably like yours, meshes into my real life.
Speaker 6 (44:39):
Right right right right, So it all is about there's
really no separation, I mean my kids and my family,
but for me, for for you personally, like I don't know,
is it a career moment?
Speaker 1 (44:51):
Is it a project, Is it a something about your
projects so that you're most proud of or mm hmm, oh.
Speaker 2 (45:05):
Hello about the awful you are.
Speaker 3 (45:09):
I think it's probably.
Speaker 2 (45:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
Fuck, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (45:20):
It's a lot, man, like I got like I think,
I think it's probably in twenty eighteen, what's going through
a lot.
Speaker 3 (45:29):
But I got to.
Speaker 4 (45:32):
Take my wife, my mom, and my grandmother who was
in her nineties to the continent for the first time.
All three it was all three of the first time
beautiful and I got him, I got him there, got.
Speaker 3 (45:47):
Him back shape. So I think that's probably the biggest deal.
Speaker 4 (45:51):
And why it was a big deal is because like
I grew up hearing about Africa from people who had
never been you know what I'm saying, do like what
happened to our ancestors, you know, so like taking taking
the others member of my family there was It was
a probably probably a big deal.
Speaker 2 (46:09):
That's a proud moment.
Speaker 4 (46:11):
Maybe yeah, maybe maybe, But there's so many I've been blessed,
Like for real, that's one. I guess that's interesting.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
That's a good one. Okay, last thing and we're gonna
let you go.
Speaker 1 (46:21):
Uh. It's really a two parts so it's up to
you how quick or short you want to make it.
What do you want people to learn from it? To
learn from your life?
Speaker 3 (46:32):
You as cold questions.
Speaker 4 (46:34):
Sorry, it is supposed to be a speed ground, so yeah,
like like.
Speaker 2 (46:39):
And then what's left? What is what is the what
is the what is the star?
Speaker 3 (46:43):
For you? I guess what I want people to learn
from my life.
Speaker 2 (46:48):
Is mm hmm.
Speaker 4 (46:57):
That there's power in finding out what you love, you
know what I'm saying and doing it Like like I
found what I loved in a roundabout way, you know,
but I thank god I was like open to it,
you know, as an option, you know, when it was
presented to me.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
So you could have easily been totally one way.
Speaker 3 (47:20):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it would have been very easy for me.
Speaker 4 (47:23):
What happened with me it was a teacher recommended it
in a class that was not a filmmaking class. It
was was a credit writing class. I wasn't really aiming
my life towards and she read something I wrote. It
was like, hey, you should write screenplays, you know what
I'm saying. And that's that's kind of what led me.
When they saw I'm thankful that I was.
Speaker 3 (47:40):
I was. I was listening. I'm thankful for that teacher.
You know what I'm saying. I think like probably like
the power of the community.
Speaker 4 (47:45):
I think when anything is what I helpe people take
from it, you know what I'm saying, Like I'm a
product of the people who who saw me and and
it spoke confidence to me, supporting me. You know what
I'm saying, what's next?
Speaker 3 (48:03):
Ship?
Speaker 2 (48:04):
Yeah, and what do you have left? Like what's the
what's the north star for you?
Speaker 3 (48:06):
Truth? The north star for me?
Speaker 4 (48:09):
It's to is to like I'm trying to like live
a long time, you know what I'm saying, Like and
be productive and uh conscious, present, kind I think you
know what I'm saying, Like that, that's that's that's what
I'm trying to do.
Speaker 2 (48:24):
You feel just present and kind.
Speaker 3 (48:27):
Like take care of myself along the way, because because.
Speaker 2 (48:29):
To yourself as well, right, kind to yourself.
Speaker 4 (48:31):
Yeah, exactly, Like like you know, because I got a
lot of you know, I've seen a lot of people
check out early, you know what I'm saying, So I'm
trying to maximize the time and and like yeah, like
like work consistently not like in a way that's crazy.
Speaker 3 (48:49):
You know what I'm saying not like a yeah, the
relationship with the grind.
Speaker 2 (48:56):
You decide to work, be here to receive it right on.
Appreciate you so much, Thank you for today.
Speaker 3 (49:03):
Thanks thank you, of course, imagine.
Speaker 1 (49:05):
Thank you Ryan Cool, our first filmmaker in real life,
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