September 22, 2020 • 38 mins
Scott Budnick is the Founder of One Community Films, the Founder of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, and one of the most successful comedy film producers in history.
Scott was the Executive Producer of the Hangover film franchise and via One Community Films, the producer of Just Mercy, the feature film that details the story of Bryan Stevenson, the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative.
Scott's work with the Anti-Recidivism Coalition began as an annual camping trip bringing together a few dozen formerly incarcerated young people with positive mentors to offer encouragement, guidance, and resources.
Today, ARC has grown into a support and advocacy network of more than 450 members and hundreds of volunteers, mentors, and allies committed to helping one another through reentry and advocating for a fairer criminal justice system.
ARC provides its members with mentorship, mental health services, supportive housing, access to jobs and education, opportunities to advocate for criminal justice reform, and has been responsible for changing dozens of laws that create a more humane reality for those at the bottom of our society.
He joins us to discuss his circuitous journey, from producing the Hangover franchise to founding one of the leading advocacy+policy groups affecting criminal justice reform, and back again to making films and television whose stories seek to change policy by changing perceptions.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Art of the Hustle is a production of I Heart Radio.
You're listening to the Art of the Hustle, the show
that breaks down how some of the world's most fascinating
people have hustled and learned their way into achieving great things.
(00:21):
I'm your host Jeff Rosenthal, founder of Summit, and on
today's show, I had the pleasure of chatting with my
dear friend, Scott bud Nick. Scott is the founder of
One Community Films, the Anti Recidivism Coalition, and is one
of the most successful comedy film producers in history, as
well as one of the most successful recidivism activists alive today.
(00:41):
Scott was the executive producer of the Hangover film franchise, and,
via One Community Films, the producer of Just Mercy, the
Future film about Brian Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative.
Scott's work with the Anti Recidivism Coalition began as an
annual camping trip, bringing together a few dozen formally incarcerated
young people with pat of mentors to offer encouragement, guidance,
(01:02):
and resources, and today a r C has grown into
a support and advocacy network of more than four hundred
and fifty members and hundreds of volunteers and mentors, allies
committed to helping one another through re entry and advocating
for a fairer criminal justice system. Talking with Scott is
always a great reminder that luck isn't everything. He admits
(01:23):
he was quite lucky to land a job with Top
Phillips early in his career, but it wasn't until his
encounter with the criminal justice system that led him down
the path to creating some of the most rewarding and
fulfilling work of his life. So please enjoy my conversation
with Scott. But hey, Scott, thanks for joining me on
(01:45):
the podcast. Jeff, I'm so happy to be here brother.
Thank you of course. Where where am I reaching you today?
Where do we find you posted up? I am posted
up in Los Angeles, California. Just got back from some
road trips to Oregon and to call a Rotto, and
now we are quarantining and staying indoors. Fantastic man. I
(02:07):
do admire that I saw some of those photos, Scott.
You and I are old friends. We've been buddies for
close to ten years now, and maybe a little more,
maybe a little less. I would love it if you
would introduce the listeners a bit to your work. Absolutely, Um,
I'm a bit of a hybrid, to say the least.
I started out. I moved from Atlanta, Georgia to Los
Angeles to get into the film business and got very
(02:29):
lucky that my first job was with Todd Phillips on
his first movie, Road Trip, and it was the beginning
of a relationship that lasted sixteen years professionally and still
last personally. I started out as a production assistant, that
is assistant, and literally by the second movie, was a
junior producer and then producing all of his movies after that,
as well as being the president of his company and
(02:52):
running his production company. There was a great run road Trip,
Old School, star skiing Hodge School, Firs, scoundrels that we
rarely talked about, Hangover one to three do date Project X,
War Dogs, and I ended up leaving right before we
went to shoot War Dogs. But where everything kind of
changed for me was after Old School. A friend of
(03:12):
mine that worked on the film with me invited me
down to a local juvenile hall in the San Bernardo
Valley and I sat at a table inside a jail
for children with kids fourteen fifteen sixteen years old, that
we're all facing life in prison. I turned to the
young kid next to me and said, how was your week?
Are you doing okay? And he said, Uh, it's been
(03:34):
a really tough week. I just got sentenced to three
hundred years to life in prison. And I paused, I
said what happened? He said, my best friend shot the
victim in the butt for standing next to him, uh,
and not touching the gun. I got three hundred years
to life. The victim was in and out of the
hospital in a day. And I realized in this moment, Jeff,
(03:55):
that if this was our child, he would be out
on bail. He wouldn't be sitting in that jail, and
it would have the best lawyer in Los Angeles, and
he would get probation and not spend a day in
prison for standing next to someone that shot someone in
the butt. But because David didn't have our skin tone
or our resources, and came from the foster care system
and had been victims of physical abuse and sexual abuse, etcetera,
(04:18):
David was going to prison for three years to life.
And that was completely fucking unacceptable to me. As I
heard the stories around that table, it was really hurt people,
hurt people. I ultimately told those kids, if they make
the commitment to change that I'm gonna be by their
side the entire time. I jumped in to teaching that
class every week after. In that same class, there was
(04:40):
a kidnamed Adam who was going to prison for six
years for a robbery. Looked like he was eleven years old,
and with his hand shaking, he said, can I get
your number when I get out? I want to make
my mom proud, And ultimately Adam got out called me.
We were in pre production on the Hangover. I said,
show up internship, twelve dollars an hour, be early, work hard,
(05:01):
six am tomorrow, and Adam ended up showing up at
three thirty in the morning and beat everyone to set
ran circles around everyone, attitude of gratitude every day, and
ultimately our prop master said, this is one of the
greatest kids I've ever hired. I'm putting him in the Union.
Adam went into the Union, started making forty two an hour,
and now his four brothers are in the Union, all
(05:21):
of them making over a hundred thousand dollars a year,
lifting their families out of poverty, buying their family a House,
and I just became the film producer that was very
involved in criminal justice reform. And then after War Dogs
and really or before we shot War Dogs and after
Hangover three and really after being in a theater and
(05:41):
seeing Twelve Years of Slave, I went to Todd Phillips
and said I want to leave and start a nonprofit organization,
and he was gracious let me write out my contract
and ended up starting a a nonprofit called a RC,
the Anti Recisan Coalition. Jeff, that you were one of
the founding board members of, so thank you for that.
That's now grown into one of the largest criminal justice
(06:05):
reform organizations in the country. We've passed tons of bills.
In fact, we're able to end life sentences for young people.
I got to go into prison and see David N.
Negretty who had three hundred years to life, and tell
David that, congratulations, we were able to pass Senate built
to sixty and you now have twenty five to life.
And then I was able to see him another time,
(06:26):
Jeff uh and let him know that Governor Jerry Brown
just decided to commute his sentence. And believe it or not, David,
who just had twin girls three weeks ago, is going
to the pro board in November and is likely going
to be home by New Year's. Congratulations to you and
David and everyone. That's incredible. Thank you, brother, And we'll
(06:47):
talk more about one community. But that's kind of the
weird hybrid of movie producer and criminal justice reformed guy.
You've now you know, refocused both of these things. You know,
making a law rich impact in the world through your
efforts and you know, producing films. I don't want to
gloss over that, but talk about that first experience when you,
(07:08):
you know, we're producing these these films, and you had
a pretty unbelievable and enviable career as a producer, as
a film producer, and I remember that when you were
going deep into this, people thought you were like kind
of kidding it first. Now it's ten years later and
it's the issue of our time, but I recall like
it was a lot of side eye for you. Correct.
(07:29):
I mean, it's not normal for producer at Warner Brothers
to walk the tears of Men's Central Jail at six
in the morning and then be in his office by aid.
But I'll be honest with you, Jeff, when I ended
up leaving the movie business and starting a nonprofit and
taking a nine pay cut. Those were the best five
(07:50):
years of my life because the people in the movie
business that we're real and it cared about more than
just pro it's got involved in what we were doing
at a rc UM. They become a huge part, and
I was able to really distinguish who were the real
ones and who aren't. And that's when everything great started
(08:11):
to happen. Right. It wasn't when I was running in
the film business that all of this happened. It was
when I left to start a nonprofit that President Obama
called and asked me to be on as my brother's keeperboard.
It's from Jerry Brown was calling to ask to help
with criminal justice reform. It was when Common and John
Legend and Kim Kardashian and many others, we're calling to
(08:34):
get involved, right, and so leaving many many of whom
you brought to prison for the first time, correct, all
of whom I brought in prison, j Cole right like,
because they're real ones. And it was actually leaving a
position of power that brought them all to me. There
was nothing I could do for them. I couldn't cast
them in a movie. I couldn't help them with their album.
I couldn't bring a feature to their album. There was
(08:56):
nothing I could do for them. And to see them
come and want to get involved because they knew I
was coming from the right place and they didn't want
anything out of it, nor did I. It was just
like a beautiful thing. It was a great run, five
years running that non nonprofit and passing sixteen laws in
California that affected thousand young people that were in California
(09:20):
prisons and sentenced to die in prison. Now all thousand
have a chance to come home and prove transformation. I'll
tell you, Jeff, Like, that's what brings happiness, right, Like
sitting in my in a ARC. You've been there, Jeff.
Like seeing people come and sit on my couch. Not
big actors, writers and directors, but people in their first
(09:42):
moments out of prison. That just a new life, right
and they want to find housing and a mentor or
a job or a career. They want to go to college.
And it was just the most beautiful thing. But there
was so much I learned at a RC that led
me to of this next step. This overlap between impact
(10:03):
and entrepreneurship is something that is you know emergent in
our generation, where it's really something, there's there's a there's
a mutual benefit to it, right Like there's there's a
there's a multiplier effect for the outcomes for both when
you combine these things thoughtfully, but for us personally to
be heart connected to an issue, to actually experience it
on the ground, I just want to you know, I
just thought it was a story that you know, I
(10:25):
wanted to give light to you in credence to because
you didn't just tell us you you you, you brought us. Yeah,
And and that's really Jeff like seeing you guys sitting
in that hallway in that creative writing class, you know,
as Brian Stevenson says, that you have to get proximate
to human suffering to to to change lives and change
(10:46):
the world, like like it's the truth, and it is.
No one I ever brought into a juvenile horror Joe
or prison who thought one way for maybe forty or
fifty or sixty years of their life left after sitting
across from children, human beings left feeling the same way. Right,
(11:07):
it changed everybody's hearts and minds. Doesn't matter, Democrat doesn't matter.
Republican doesn't remember. It doesn't matter, race, doesn't matter, religion,
even people who are in law enforcement. It changed them.
And I realized, Jeff, that like I, had an enormous
power in the film business to tell stories that brought
people proximate. Right. You can't bring everybody into a jail
(11:29):
or a prison to witness what you witness, but you
can through storytelling, right, And you can through a film
or a television show. The moves people and everything changed. Jeff.
I met a guy who ran like was one of
the guys that ran the political movement for marriage equality,
and I asked him, how did you literally take the
issue of gay marriage off the table? I mean, it
(11:51):
was illegal in fifty states, and ten years later it's
legal everywhere. How did you do it? What was the
game change? And he looked at me without missing a
beat and said, Willing Grace and Ellen and Glee and
Modern Family and Milk and Broke Back Mountain. It was
a television show about a cute gay couple that humanized
(12:12):
gay marriage to Middle America. That got people who were
deeply opposed to soften an opposition or even support, And
that was crucial and a huge part of the movement.
To legalize gay marriage right, and so I realized ship
the biggest tool I have in my toolbox to change
the way that people think about the people I love
(12:32):
in the criminal justice system, or immigrants or refugees, or
people struggling with poverty, or people struggling with racism, or
women and girls struggling with equality, or environmental justice, port
broken education systems, people struggling with addiction and mental health,
all issues of inequality that we could make film and
television and podcasts to change people's hearts and minds, move legislation,
(12:56):
increased philanthropy, etcetera. And so, Jeff, really, with your help
and the help of the Summit community, I went out
to raise fifty million dollars for this company and brought in,
as you know, Royce Salter, who has raised two billion
dollars for entertainment and created a model which had an
eight percent return. So not an uber Twitter, Instagram investment,
(13:19):
but for someone that wants to make a difference, that's
someone that really wants to make an impact alongside an
investment and make a little bit of money, it was
a good investment and so we were able to bring
on it. So literally at the end of year one,
I had raised zero dollars. At the end of year two,
I had raised zero dollars. Um. A couple falls start.
If you remember, Civic Capital Partners in China was going
(13:41):
to be the lead and then that didn't work out.
And then we talked for a long time with Kobe Um,
God rest his soul, it was going to be a
lead investor. And although he didn't invest, he was such
a supporter and even bought out theaters for Just Mercy,
and Um did wonderful things for us. And ultimately it
was w Me, William Morris, Endeavor Um and Endeavor Content
(14:04):
that became our lead investors. And behind them a bunch
of unbelievable folks came. Ultimately Michael Rubin who owns the Sixers,
and uh west Edens who owns the Bucks, and Mike
Novergrats and Dan Loeb and Barry Stern look who started Starwood.
They wanted to invest in something that made them feel
(14:25):
great because they were actually making a difference. We'll be
back with more out of the Hustle after the break,
and Scott, I want to talk to you about Just Mercy.
We haven't really cut it up just about this in
particular because you you are always doing something for the movement.
(14:48):
There's always a state senator calling you or an inmate
calling you that you're organizing a pickup for It's like
no job too big, no job too small, And there's
just like you were describing this huge blend of four
offit and nonprofit and impact and you know, in your work,
but with just Mercy in particular, you know, like, I
would love for you to walk us through a bit
of that, because how has the world changed since there
(15:10):
was a full feature that told Brian's story. Yeah, it
was an unbelievable experience. The fact that our first investment,
our first co finance project, was in the issue area
that I've spent the last so many years passionate about.
And I've also been an enormous Brian Stevenson fan, friend, supporter,
(15:32):
We've done panels together. So to be able to support
Brian in the telling of his story was unbelievable. The
team was incredible, Michael b Jordan, Jamie Fox, Bree Larson
all in this to change the criminal justice system, not
just make a movie. Our producers, Asher and Guild, director Destin,
the Studio, Warner Brothers, everyone kind of marching in the
(15:56):
same direction. And the difference between our company and every
company in holl Would is really we're not just an
entertainment company. We're an impact company, right, and we're going
to thousand x the impact of most anyone else. So
obviously we invested in Just Mercy as investors right looking
for a return, But separate from that, I raised a
(16:17):
nonprofit philanthropic See three fund to run one of the
largest social impact campaigns ever around a film. A year
year and a half long campaign around Just Mercy. We
started by screening the film for over a dozen governors,
where I was able to sit next to governors who
control mass incarceration in their state, hand them tissues as
(16:40):
they were crying at the end of the film, and
then sit with them in their chiefs of staff and
their cabinets and talk about what bills and what reform
they're willing to do. And now we're actually working in
nine states on criminal justice legislation. From screenings of Just
Mercy with these governors, we created an incredible partnership with
the NBA Out out to West Eden's and Michael Rubin,
(17:03):
the Bucks and the Sixers shout out two. Genie Buss
and the Lakers and vivec Runadive and the Sacramento Kings,
Deep Bomber and the Clippers, Dan Gilbert and the Cleveland
Cavaliers were able to screen the film for so many
NBA teams, owners, players, coaches, and then those teams that
wanted to take a deeper dive into criminal justice reform
(17:28):
came inside prisons with us, where the players and the
coaches played basketball with men and women inside prison, had
deep healing conversations, and now in most of those cities,
those teams have adopted criminal justice reform as part of
their official platform and have adopted those prisons being able.
(17:49):
I really the reason we created it was in looking
at places that are predominantly white. When you go to
a Utah Jazz game, the arena's entirely white. When you
go to an Colhoma City Thunder game, the arena is
entirely white. In fact, they even pray after the national anthem.
And the cultural influencers in those cities are those players
(18:10):
and to be able to engage them deeply in this issue.
The team's deep believe these issues, the coaches deep believe
the issues, and ultimately the fans deeply in these issues.
That's to me how you change, especially in people who
haven't experienced the criminal justice system firsthand in their lives
or in their families lives. In film, we've normalized and
romanticized violent policing, but when you look back at it,
(18:35):
we've double criminalized criminals culturally in a sense and celebrated
this crime and punishment mentality where it's like, yeah, well
you screwed up and now you're serving your time. Well,
even look at the Jeffrey exactly right, even look at
the procedurals, like all the law and orders right, good
totally bad guy easy solutions. Yes, Chicago p D or
(18:57):
Magnum p I or I mean I never saw an
episode of either, so I can't really say for sure,
but um, you know the theme is there, and you know,
I'm curious. So you have people that, you know, I
think they think one way about this issue and then
they've gotten exposed to the content, and then the you know,
the supporting campaign that you've been building alongside of the content.
(19:21):
Tell us about like people who have shifted their thinking
through this experience. Yeah, I mean, it's it's been unbelievable.
We've been able to engage crime victims right, people who
have lost loved ones to violence. We have been on
the other side for the most part about criminal justice
reform and then having deep dialogues working with an organization
(19:42):
called Healing Dialogues and Action. I think, Jeff, you met
Javier Starring when you served on the a RC board.
His organization that has mothers whose children have been murdered
sit with mothers whose children have committed murder. You can
imagine how d those conversations are and they ultimately become
(20:04):
great friends because they both experienced loss. Obviously, the survivor's
loss is more intense than a mother who's lost their
child to prison for life. But you see the mothers
who have lost their children and the most unimaginable thing
you could ever go through soften when sitting with the
mothers whose children have done this and to see the
(20:26):
remorse that these mothers have for their children's actions. So
we've had some incredible work with survivors of crime lawns
and like, aren't there people like the Koch Brothers are
like huge supporters surprisingly of on our campaign. The Koch Brothers,
the American Conservative Union. We screen Just Mercy for the
(20:47):
National Association of evangelicals who came aboard and huge support
of Just Mercy people, from Pastor Rick Warren to Bishop
td Jake's to Governor Kevin Still of Oklahoma. We're talking
about a white Republican evangelical governor of a state where
every county voted for President Trump and had been the
(21:09):
largest incarcerator in the world. And this incredible man, Governor
Stit and his wife, two people of faith who live
their life in a very faithful way. Governor Stit that
the largest single day commutation of sentence of any governor
in the history of this country. Him and his wife
saw justin Mercy. I was able to speak to the
(21:30):
governor's pastor, who's an incredible man, and we're doing tons
in Oklahoma now on criminal justice reform because of the
Just Mercy screening and because of the governor. And when
I really talked to the people of Oklahoma, they were
many were ashamed of their past. Many were ashamed of
being the largest uh incarcerator in the world. Many were
(21:52):
ashamed of some of the racial bias that existed in
the committee in the community decades ago. And all of
the homans that I met wanted to get to a
more fair and just system, and so just being able
to do this through just mercy, and then people who
just dove headfirst into the issue, like I gotta give
it up for Kim Kardashian who's using her platform to
(22:15):
try to shine lights on people who are innocent or
unjustly sentenced, to John Legend of Common to j Cole,
to the incredible Alison Williams who started get Out, even
supermodels like Emily Radakowski who've gotten so uh involved in
in criminal justice reform. One of the things I wanted
(22:36):
to ask you about just because you know, here we are,
we're in a pandemic. There are protests in the streets
being led by gen Z, you know, around the movement
for Black Lives and really like there's a huge, huge
movement around just a rethinking of you know, economic participation
on the right and the left. And so you work
with this intimately for a long period of time with
(22:57):
this community, You've seen where it goes wrong, and you've
seen the conditions that you can provide for people to
make it go right. And so I'm curious because there's
people coming out of the military, there's people coming out
of universities with crippling debt. There's those that didn't graduate
from anything and are just you know, like trying to,
you know, get a foothold somewhere in this country. And
I imagine this will apply to the other areas of
(23:19):
focus that One Community Films now works on, Like what
are what are so what are those base blocks? What
are the things that you think we can provide to
people that in ourselves to you know, take these steps
forward into new lives. Well, Jeff, you're you're right when
you say that justice and mercy and redemption are not
either democratic or Republican ideals. There are ideals that most people,
(23:44):
regardless of political affiliation share, right and so a huge
part of One Community, that's the name of our company,
One Community, is to bring people together under these common values,
um around all these issues of inequality, to find allusions
and when you talk about this not just being a
moral issue but also being an economic issue. In California,
(24:07):
to incarcerate one kid for one year, it's three hundred
and ten thousand dollars. Wait wait, wait, wait, wait, but
qualify that. How is that possible? Three hundred and ten
thousand dollars for one juvenile in jail? In California. I mean,
the backstory is there are ten thousand people in there
and now there's a thousand, so just economies of scale.
(24:28):
They haven't been closing the facilities because they don't want
people to lose their jobs and officers to lose their jobs,
so they've been keeping the facilities open to it that
once accommodated a lot more to accommodate a lot less now,
So where they have four facilities now, they probably could
have to and it could cut that cost in half.
But that's that that's really not that relevant. What's relevant
is we spend three thousand dollars. We could send one
(24:51):
of these kids to Harvard for four years for that amount.
But what's relevant is we don't give them what all
the data shows us. And you're talking about these opportunities
that change lives and get people to leave crime. Ultimately,
we spend three dollars for seven out of ten of
the people we released to come right back to prison
(25:11):
when all of the research and all the data shows
what they need, which is love, accountability and mentorship and
a job and a path towards a living wage career
and housing and therapy and healing, right, all of things
that our children need is what they need, but we
(25:33):
keep them in a dehumanizing system that spends three thousand
dollars where seven out of ten end up failing. If
I was the CEO of that business, I would be
fired in the business would be bankrupt. But we've done
this for a hundred years. And so Jeff, what you
talked about and what we did at a r C,
and I thank you, Jeff for all that you did
for our members, even bringing some of our members to
(25:56):
Summit at Sea. I'll tell you this, to see one
person who was in prison for twenty four years on
that Summit ship, another that had done time in the
juvenile system in James who worked for us, who did
time in the juvenile system on their first cruise in
those panels, learning so much on their own panel, feeling
(26:19):
like superstars and talking about social justice and criminal justice
reform to the Summit community. That was so beautiful. And
and I know, Jeff, you saw when you were on
the board of a r C. When you give these
folks opportunities, they crush it. And we we started the
largest construction union training program for folks coming out of
(26:41):
prison and have placed hundreds of people into the construction Union.
We had dozens building the Rams Stadium, so Fi Stadium.
We have placed dozens, if not hundreds, into the film
and television unions. Just like the story about Adam that
I told earlier, we started the first fire camp with CDs,
c R and CAW Fire for people coming out of
(27:03):
prison to become cow fire firefighters. We have hundreds and
hundreds and hundreds of our members in colleges and universities,
even some that are in law school and learning to
be lawyers. And so, you know, Jeff, when you provide opportunity,
when you set the bar high and let people know
(27:25):
that there is nothing stopping them, and they have the
mentorship and we are able to use our privilege to
help them get to where they want to get and
follow their dreams. It is absolutely the most beautiful thing
to see. I couldn't agree with you more on all fronts.
In fact, it does remind me. I forgot about some
of at sea and the A r C members that
came on the boat with us. And and you know,
(27:46):
there is an amazing story. There's this like very very
well known entrepreneur um investor who you know has flown
around the world and has his own jet, and you know,
has been on plenty of you know, cruise ships and
ocean liners and whatever else he's ever wanted. Took a
steam and this guy goes into the steam room and
(28:08):
it was the you know, nineteen twenty year olds from
a r C who he met in the steam room
and they ended up hanging out for like three hours.
Actually I don't believe the whole time of the steam room.
That's a long steam. It was amazing. He told me.
This story was like, oh, I have to tell you,
this is my favorite experience I've ever had. Its summit
because I go into the around this corner, into this spa,
(28:28):
I go inside and I meet these kids who are
in their first ever steam on their first ever cruise
after taking their first flight outside of California, who are
like on this ship and you know, here I am
like thinking that, like, you know, the water wasn't hot
enough on my tea this morning, and what was me
you know what I mean? And the perspective that he got,
He's like, what's incredible about you know? And this is
(28:50):
this is just the beauty of like, you know, interacting
with people that just don't share your background or your experiences,
is that like their perspective on all the things that
you think are apps, Salute troops are are different and
and informed in their own way. I remember standing in
like the lounge and this guy who will call Mr K.
(29:11):
I think if I remember correctly, he had come straight
from the steam and was in his robe still, and
so Mr K comes be lines up to me and says,
I just had the most amazing steam of my life
and just like pins me against the wall and tells
me this story. And it was just such so beautiful
because you know that these young a RC members lives
(29:34):
are changing with this experience, and they're feeling human and
part of society and part of the elite and part
of power and part of genius conversations. Right. But on
the flip side, Mr Ka was only one of multiple
people that came up to me on that trip and said,
I think I just had the deepest conversation of my life.
(29:55):
And I think these people I just talked to have
done more work on themselves when ninety five percent of
people in society and I think I've learned more about
myself today because of this conversation that I've had. So
the just the beautiful win win and kinship that happens
when you put people together from those various worlds is beautiful.
(30:18):
Art of the Hustle will be right back after this
short break. I mean, there's so many critical issues in
our society today, and just what you said about hope
really resonates with me, you know, because I feel like
we're in a pretty hopeless time where people you know,
(30:40):
can't really see opportunities to get out of their situations.
You know often and you know what I'm often seeking
on this podcast and just in my life is sort
of those like little nuggets of wisdom that empowered the
people that you know road that road before you in
a sense, you know so and for you, like when
you think about the next issues that you want to
apply this work to you personally, Like where else are
(31:02):
you excited to lean into? Right now? We're developing a
film with Ben Affleck directing and Martin Scorsese and Harry
Belafonte producing, called King Leopold's Ghost, And I am excited
about this because so much of what we focused on
is domestic, but this is really a global story um
(31:22):
of King Leopold of Belgium, who decided that it would
be cute to have a his own African continent and
went to the Congo and made it his own and
pretended to be a missionary, but ultimately was a slave
owner and enslaved over a million people to make him
money off of rubber, cut people's arms, off, murdered people.
(31:43):
That's not what the movie is about. The movie is
actually about the first ever human rights campaign led by
black Congolese, white Africans. I'm white, I'm sorry, White Europeans,
black Europeans, white Americans, black Americans all teaming up together
are to expose these atrocities and really show the world's
first human rights campaign. And it's funny that even after
(32:06):
George Floyd, I was reading about all of the King
Leopold statues in Belgium being toppled and thrown into the river,
but really excited to kind of tackle those issues of colonialism,
which obviously are part of our country's history as well,
tackling issues of racial justice and bringing people together, really
interested in in in destigmatizing mental health issues, working on
(32:30):
issues around creating equity and equality for women and girls.
Looking at our immigration system, I find the rhetoric around
immigration right now absolutely disgusting and I do believe that
if we look at our our immigration rhetoric ten years
from now, it is going to be the next gay marriage.
We're gonna be in shock that we ever did this
to human beings. I see it as I see it
(32:52):
as what we did around marriage equality, as well as
our history with slavery. Um, those are the issues that
are really kind of a kind of front and center
for for me right now. We also we are in
negotiations on a big, huge, major music film kind of
in the vein of like Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman and
Walk the Line that deals with issues of racial justice
(33:13):
that I'm really excited about but I can't talk about yet.
We're in negotiations on a really exciting and environmental and
kind of sustainability film that is really kind of human
centered and human based, which I think is exciting. We're
looking at a project that is all kind of Latino
and Latin X representation that's awesome. We have a small
(33:36):
independent film that is a beautiful mother's son immigration story
that we're developing. I mean, we are, We're going hard.
We want, we want to make change, and many many
different issues, but obviously criminal justice reform was was was
my heart, but we're going much wider. It's amazing, man.
And when you are building out these these projects, I
(33:57):
know a lot of it is film finance, so it's
something that you know, you guys will you know, they'll
they'll often be a director or like the actors signed
on or whatever. But I imagine that you're attracting, you
know now, especially that you have a track record in
this with combining the impact in the film. You know,
do do actors and producers and directors seek you out
or do you find scripts? And you're like, oh, I
(34:17):
happen to know that so and so is really into
this specific issue. It's funny you say that it was
at first it was the outgoing call business where I
was just calling everyone to try to educate them on
one community, and it's now the incoming call business. I
think we add, I mean any actor we work with.
We just had such a beautiful relationship with Michael B.
(34:38):
Jordan's on Just Mercy, not only with him as an actor,
but also with him as a producer and his whole
team Alana Mayo who runs Outlier, and his agent, Phil's
son and his publicist Lindsey Gallen. I mean, everyone is
family at this point, and Michael was so interested. Um,
two days before Christmas, which was a few weeks but
(35:00):
where Just Mercy came out. Two days before Christmas, we
had the opportunity to go to the Ventura Youth Facility
where kids have been incarcerated for three to five years,
take fifteen kids, boys and girls out of their cells,
put them in a van they had never written on
the highway in years, and take them somewhere where they
(35:20):
didn't know where they were going. We ultimately brought them
to the Lakers training facility. And this is something that
me and Michael b and Linda Rambis and Rob Lincoln,
Kurt Rambis and Genie Buss kind of schemed on when
the Lakers screened Just Mercy. We brought them to the
Lakers training facility and their vans pulled in and Michael B.
(35:42):
Jordan's walks out and greets them. So that's freak out
number one. They lost their minds. Then Michael walks them
into the training facility and there's fifteen pairs of lebron
shoes in their shoe sizes, a note from Genie Bus
with them a jersey, so they all get their shoes on,
they get their jerseys on, we go upstairs and have
(36:03):
a deep conversation with Michael b Jordan's and Jennie bust
Willans the Lakers and Linda and Kurt Rambis and Rob
Polinka and a couple of the Lakers legends, Robert Ory
and Metal World Peace And then they get to go
downstairs and play a scrimmage on the Lakers training facility,
and just when they thought it couldn't get better, the
entire team comes out and Lebron and Anthony Davis and
(36:27):
Kyle Kuzma come out and just show them mad love
and take pictures and it was incredible, but it was
really it's Michael b Man And it's like because of that,
Lakers like Kyle Kuzma have stayed involved in this issue,
Lebron stepping out and doing stuff on this issue, going
big on voting and just lending their platforms to change lives.
(36:51):
And so yeah, seeing uh talent flock to what we're
doing now because of this, and because Mike keeps talking
about the experience and his people keep talking about the
EXPERI are and some it's been beautiful. Is there anything else?
Because you know the theme of the show out of
the hustle. I think a lot of the listeners are
building their own enterprises, are on this journey, whether they're
where they're trying to create something where there isn't necessarily
(37:12):
a path that's laid out for them. You know, anything
else that comes to mind for you, like that's empowered
you on your journey. I'll say this, man Um. I
would just love anyone listening who wants to get involved
in criminal justice reform or wants to get involved in
the film and television company. I want them to reach out.
My Instagram is Scott bud nick One. Feel free to
(37:34):
shoot me a direct message. The website for our Just
Mercy campaign that anyone can plug in anywhere around the
world is represent Justice dot org. What we're doing at
a RC that Jeff has helped me with and helping
people come out of prison. That's a r C dash
C a dot org. And anyone that wants to get
(37:56):
involved in the film and television stuff, reach out to Jeff.
He is my partner and look forward to just building
more with the Summit community and getting more active and
other things and getting in the Summit community more active
with us. Well, thank you, Scott Thank you for listening
out of the hustle. I love you brother, keep rocking.
(38:31):
For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the I
Heart Radio app Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows,
Art of the Hustle is a production of I Heart Radio.
You're listening to the Art of the Hustle, the show
that breaks down how some of the world's most fascinating
people have hustled and learned their way into achieving great things.
(00:21):
I'm your host Jeff Rosenthal, founder of Summit, and on
today's show, I had the pleasure of chatting with my
dear friend, Scott bud Nick. Scott is the founder of
One Community Films, the Anti Recidivism Coalition, and is one
of the most successful comedy film producers in history, as
well as one of the most successful recidivism activists alive today.
(00:41):
Scott was the executive producer of the Hangover film franchise, and,
via One Community Films, the producer of Just Mercy, the
Future film about Brian Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative.
Scott's work with the Anti Recidivism Coalition began as an
annual camping trip, bringing together a few dozen formally incarcerated
young people with pat of mentors to offer encouragement, guidance,
(01:02):
and resources, and today a r C has grown into
a support and advocacy network of more than four hundred
and fifty members and hundreds of volunteers and mentors, allies
committed to helping one another through re entry and advocating
for a fairer criminal justice system. Talking with Scott is
always a great reminder that luck isn't everything. He admits
(01:23):
he was quite lucky to land a job with Top
Phillips early in his career, but it wasn't until his
encounter with the criminal justice system that led him down
the path to creating some of the most rewarding and
fulfilling work of his life. So please enjoy my conversation
with Scott. But hey, Scott, thanks for joining me on
(01:45):
the podcast. Jeff, I'm so happy to be here brother.
Thank you of course. Where where am I reaching you today?
Where do we find you posted up? I am posted
up in Los Angeles, California. Just got back from some
road trips to Oregon and to call a Rotto, and
now we are quarantining and staying indoors. Fantastic man. I
(02:07):
do admire that I saw some of those photos, Scott.
You and I are old friends. We've been buddies for
close to ten years now, and maybe a little more,
maybe a little less. I would love it if you
would introduce the listeners a bit to your work. Absolutely, Um,
I'm a bit of a hybrid, to say the least.
I started out. I moved from Atlanta, Georgia to Los
Angeles to get into the film business and got very
(02:29):
lucky that my first job was with Todd Phillips on
his first movie, Road Trip, and it was the beginning
of a relationship that lasted sixteen years professionally and still
last personally. I started out as a production assistant, that
is assistant, and literally by the second movie, was a
junior producer and then producing all of his movies after that,
as well as being the president of his company and
(02:52):
running his production company. There was a great run road Trip,
Old School, star skiing Hodge School, Firs, scoundrels that we
rarely talked about, Hangover one to three do date Project X,
War Dogs, and I ended up leaving right before we
went to shoot War Dogs. But where everything kind of
changed for me was after Old School. A friend of
(03:12):
mine that worked on the film with me invited me
down to a local juvenile hall in the San Bernardo
Valley and I sat at a table inside a jail
for children with kids fourteen fifteen sixteen years old, that
we're all facing life in prison. I turned to the
young kid next to me and said, how was your week?
Are you doing okay? And he said, Uh, it's been
(03:34):
a really tough week. I just got sentenced to three
hundred years to life in prison. And I paused, I
said what happened? He said, my best friend shot the
victim in the butt for standing next to him, uh,
and not touching the gun. I got three hundred years
to life. The victim was in and out of the
hospital in a day. And I realized in this moment, Jeff,
(03:55):
that if this was our child, he would be out
on bail. He wouldn't be sitting in that jail, and
it would have the best lawyer in Los Angeles, and
he would get probation and not spend a day in
prison for standing next to someone that shot someone in
the butt. But because David didn't have our skin tone
or our resources, and came from the foster care system
and had been victims of physical abuse and sexual abuse, etcetera,
(04:18):
David was going to prison for three years to life.
And that was completely fucking unacceptable to me. As I
heard the stories around that table, it was really hurt people,
hurt people. I ultimately told those kids, if they make
the commitment to change that I'm gonna be by their
side the entire time. I jumped in to teaching that
class every week after. In that same class, there was
(04:40):
a kidnamed Adam who was going to prison for six
years for a robbery. Looked like he was eleven years old,
and with his hand shaking, he said, can I get
your number when I get out? I want to make
my mom proud, And ultimately Adam got out called me.
We were in pre production on the Hangover. I said,
show up internship, twelve dollars an hour, be early, work hard,
(05:01):
six am tomorrow, and Adam ended up showing up at
three thirty in the morning and beat everyone to set
ran circles around everyone, attitude of gratitude every day, and
ultimately our prop master said, this is one of the
greatest kids I've ever hired. I'm putting him in the Union.
Adam went into the Union, started making forty two an hour,
and now his four brothers are in the Union, all
(05:21):
of them making over a hundred thousand dollars a year,
lifting their families out of poverty, buying their family a House,
and I just became the film producer that was very
involved in criminal justice reform. And then after War Dogs
and really or before we shot War Dogs and after
Hangover three and really after being in a theater and
(05:41):
seeing Twelve Years of Slave, I went to Todd Phillips
and said I want to leave and start a nonprofit organization,
and he was gracious let me write out my contract
and ended up starting a a nonprofit called a RC,
the Anti Recisan Coalition. Jeff, that you were one of
the founding board members of, so thank you for that.
That's now grown into one of the largest criminal justice
(06:05):
reform organizations in the country. We've passed tons of bills.
In fact, we're able to end life sentences for young people.
I got to go into prison and see David N.
Negretty who had three hundred years to life, and tell
David that, congratulations, we were able to pass Senate built
to sixty and you now have twenty five to life.
And then I was able to see him another time,
(06:26):
Jeff uh and let him know that Governor Jerry Brown
just decided to commute his sentence. And believe it or not, David,
who just had twin girls three weeks ago, is going
to the pro board in November and is likely going
to be home by New Year's. Congratulations to you and
David and everyone. That's incredible. Thank you, brother, And we'll
(06:47):
talk more about one community. But that's kind of the
weird hybrid of movie producer and criminal justice reformed guy.
You've now you know, refocused both of these things. You know,
making a law rich impact in the world through your
efforts and you know, producing films. I don't want to
gloss over that, but talk about that first experience when you,
(07:08):
you know, we're producing these these films, and you had
a pretty unbelievable and enviable career as a producer, as
a film producer, and I remember that when you were
going deep into this, people thought you were like kind
of kidding it first. Now it's ten years later and
it's the issue of our time, but I recall like
it was a lot of side eye for you. Correct.
(07:29):
I mean, it's not normal for producer at Warner Brothers
to walk the tears of Men's Central Jail at six
in the morning and then be in his office by aid.
But I'll be honest with you, Jeff, when I ended
up leaving the movie business and starting a nonprofit and
taking a nine pay cut. Those were the best five
(07:50):
years of my life because the people in the movie
business that we're real and it cared about more than
just pro it's got involved in what we were doing
at a rc UM. They become a huge part, and
I was able to really distinguish who were the real
ones and who aren't. And that's when everything great started
(08:11):
to happen. Right. It wasn't when I was running in
the film business that all of this happened. It was
when I left to start a nonprofit that President Obama
called and asked me to be on as my brother's keeperboard.
It's from Jerry Brown was calling to ask to help
with criminal justice reform. It was when Common and John
Legend and Kim Kardashian and many others, we're calling to
(08:34):
get involved, right, and so leaving many many of whom
you brought to prison for the first time, correct, all
of whom I brought in prison, j Cole right like,
because they're real ones. And it was actually leaving a
position of power that brought them all to me. There
was nothing I could do for them. I couldn't cast
them in a movie. I couldn't help them with their album.
I couldn't bring a feature to their album. There was
(08:56):
nothing I could do for them. And to see them
come and want to get involved because they knew I
was coming from the right place and they didn't want
anything out of it, nor did I. It was just
like a beautiful thing. It was a great run, five
years running that non nonprofit and passing sixteen laws in
California that affected thousand young people that were in California
(09:20):
prisons and sentenced to die in prison. Now all thousand
have a chance to come home and prove transformation. I'll
tell you, Jeff, Like, that's what brings happiness, right, Like
sitting in my in a ARC. You've been there, Jeff.
Like seeing people come and sit on my couch. Not
big actors, writers and directors, but people in their first
(09:42):
moments out of prison. That just a new life, right
and they want to find housing and a mentor or
a job or a career. They want to go to college.
And it was just the most beautiful thing. But there
was so much I learned at a RC that led
me to of this next step. This overlap between impact
(10:03):
and entrepreneurship is something that is you know emergent in
our generation, where it's really something, there's there's a there's
a mutual benefit to it, right Like there's there's a
there's a multiplier effect for the outcomes for both when
you combine these things thoughtfully, but for us personally to
be heart connected to an issue, to actually experience it
on the ground, I just want to you know, I
just thought it was a story that you know, I
(10:25):
wanted to give light to you in credence to because
you didn't just tell us you you you, you brought us. Yeah,
And and that's really Jeff like seeing you guys sitting
in that hallway in that creative writing class, you know,
as Brian Stevenson says, that you have to get proximate
to human suffering to to to change lives and change
(10:46):
the world, like like it's the truth, and it is.
No one I ever brought into a juvenile horror Joe
or prison who thought one way for maybe forty or
fifty or sixty years of their life left after sitting
across from children, human beings left feeling the same way. Right,
(11:07):
it changed everybody's hearts and minds. Doesn't matter, Democrat doesn't matter.
Republican doesn't remember. It doesn't matter, race, doesn't matter, religion,
even people who are in law enforcement. It changed them.
And I realized, Jeff, that like I, had an enormous
power in the film business to tell stories that brought
people proximate. Right. You can't bring everybody into a jail
(11:29):
or a prison to witness what you witness, but you
can through storytelling, right, And you can through a film
or a television show. The moves people and everything changed. Jeff.
I met a guy who ran like was one of
the guys that ran the political movement for marriage equality,
and I asked him, how did you literally take the
issue of gay marriage off the table? I mean, it
(11:51):
was illegal in fifty states, and ten years later it's
legal everywhere. How did you do it? What was the
game change? And he looked at me without missing a
beat and said, Willing Grace and Ellen and Glee and
Modern Family and Milk and Broke Back Mountain. It was
a television show about a cute gay couple that humanized
(12:12):
gay marriage to Middle America. That got people who were
deeply opposed to soften an opposition or even support, And
that was crucial and a huge part of the movement.
To legalize gay marriage right, and so I realized ship
the biggest tool I have in my toolbox to change
the way that people think about the people I love
(12:32):
in the criminal justice system, or immigrants or refugees, or
people struggling with poverty, or people struggling with racism, or
women and girls struggling with equality, or environmental justice, port
broken education systems, people struggling with addiction and mental health,
all issues of inequality that we could make film and
television and podcasts to change people's hearts and minds, move legislation,
(12:56):
increased philanthropy, etcetera. And so, Jeff, really, with your help
and the help of the Summit community, I went out
to raise fifty million dollars for this company and brought in,
as you know, Royce Salter, who has raised two billion
dollars for entertainment and created a model which had an
eight percent return. So not an uber Twitter, Instagram investment,
(13:19):
but for someone that wants to make a difference, that's
someone that really wants to make an impact alongside an
investment and make a little bit of money, it was
a good investment and so we were able to bring
on it. So literally at the end of year one,
I had raised zero dollars. At the end of year two,
I had raised zero dollars. Um. A couple falls start.
If you remember, Civic Capital Partners in China was going
(13:41):
to be the lead and then that didn't work out.
And then we talked for a long time with Kobe Um,
God rest his soul, it was going to be a
lead investor. And although he didn't invest, he was such
a supporter and even bought out theaters for Just Mercy,
and Um did wonderful things for us. And ultimately it
was w Me, William Morris, Endeavor Um and Endeavor Content
(14:04):
that became our lead investors. And behind them a bunch
of unbelievable folks came. Ultimately Michael Rubin who owns the Sixers,
and uh west Edens who owns the Bucks, and Mike
Novergrats and Dan Loeb and Barry Stern look who started Starwood.
They wanted to invest in something that made them feel
(14:25):
great because they were actually making a difference. We'll be
back with more out of the Hustle after the break,
and Scott, I want to talk to you about Just Mercy.
We haven't really cut it up just about this in
particular because you you are always doing something for the movement.
(14:48):
There's always a state senator calling you or an inmate
calling you that you're organizing a pickup for It's like
no job too big, no job too small, And there's
just like you were describing this huge blend of four
offit and nonprofit and impact and you know, in your work,
but with just Mercy in particular, you know, like, I
would love for you to walk us through a bit
of that, because how has the world changed since there
(15:10):
was a full feature that told Brian's story. Yeah, it
was an unbelievable experience. The fact that our first investment,
our first co finance project, was in the issue area
that I've spent the last so many years passionate about.
And I've also been an enormous Brian Stevenson fan, friend, supporter,
(15:32):
We've done panels together. So to be able to support
Brian in the telling of his story was unbelievable. The
team was incredible, Michael b Jordan, Jamie Fox, Bree Larson
all in this to change the criminal justice system, not
just make a movie. Our producers, Asher and Guild, director Destin,
the Studio, Warner Brothers, everyone kind of marching in the
(15:56):
same direction. And the difference between our company and every
company in holl Would is really we're not just an
entertainment company. We're an impact company, right, and we're going
to thousand x the impact of most anyone else. So
obviously we invested in Just Mercy as investors right looking
for a return, But separate from that, I raised a
(16:17):
nonprofit philanthropic See three fund to run one of the
largest social impact campaigns ever around a film. A year
year and a half long campaign around Just Mercy. We
started by screening the film for over a dozen governors,
where I was able to sit next to governors who
control mass incarceration in their state, hand them tissues as
(16:40):
they were crying at the end of the film, and
then sit with them in their chiefs of staff and
their cabinets and talk about what bills and what reform
they're willing to do. And now we're actually working in
nine states on criminal justice legislation. From screenings of Just
Mercy with these governors, we created an incredible partnership with
the NBA Out out to West Eden's and Michael Rubin,
(17:03):
the Bucks and the Sixers shout out two. Genie Buss
and the Lakers and vivec Runadive and the Sacramento Kings,
Deep Bomber and the Clippers, Dan Gilbert and the Cleveland
Cavaliers were able to screen the film for so many
NBA teams, owners, players, coaches, and then those teams that
wanted to take a deeper dive into criminal justice reform
(17:28):
came inside prisons with us, where the players and the
coaches played basketball with men and women inside prison, had
deep healing conversations, and now in most of those cities,
those teams have adopted criminal justice reform as part of
their official platform and have adopted those prisons being able.
(17:49):
I really the reason we created it was in looking
at places that are predominantly white. When you go to
a Utah Jazz game, the arena's entirely white. When you
go to an Colhoma City Thunder game, the arena is
entirely white. In fact, they even pray after the national anthem.
And the cultural influencers in those cities are those players
(18:10):
and to be able to engage them deeply in this issue.
The team's deep believe these issues, the coaches deep believe
the issues, and ultimately the fans deeply in these issues.
That's to me how you change, especially in people who
haven't experienced the criminal justice system firsthand in their lives
or in their families lives. In film, we've normalized and
romanticized violent policing, but when you look back at it,
(18:35):
we've double criminalized criminals culturally in a sense and celebrated
this crime and punishment mentality where it's like, yeah, well
you screwed up and now you're serving your time. Well,
even look at the Jeffrey exactly right, even look at
the procedurals, like all the law and orders right, good
totally bad guy easy solutions. Yes, Chicago p D or
(18:57):
Magnum p I or I mean I never saw an
episode of either, so I can't really say for sure,
but um, you know the theme is there, and you know,
I'm curious. So you have people that, you know, I
think they think one way about this issue and then
they've gotten exposed to the content, and then the you know,
the supporting campaign that you've been building alongside of the content.
(19:21):
Tell us about like people who have shifted their thinking
through this experience. Yeah, I mean, it's it's been unbelievable.
We've been able to engage crime victims right, people who
have lost loved ones to violence. We have been on
the other side for the most part about criminal justice
reform and then having deep dialogues working with an organization
(19:42):
called Healing Dialogues and Action. I think, Jeff, you met
Javier Starring when you served on the a RC board.
His organization that has mothers whose children have been murdered
sit with mothers whose children have committed murder. You can
imagine how d those conversations are and they ultimately become
(20:04):
great friends because they both experienced loss. Obviously, the survivor's
loss is more intense than a mother who's lost their
child to prison for life. But you see the mothers
who have lost their children and the most unimaginable thing
you could ever go through soften when sitting with the
mothers whose children have done this and to see the
(20:26):
remorse that these mothers have for their children's actions. So
we've had some incredible work with survivors of crime lawns
and like, aren't there people like the Koch Brothers are
like huge supporters surprisingly of on our campaign. The Koch Brothers,
the American Conservative Union. We screen Just Mercy for the
(20:47):
National Association of evangelicals who came aboard and huge support
of Just Mercy people, from Pastor Rick Warren to Bishop
td Jake's to Governor Kevin Still of Oklahoma. We're talking
about a white Republican evangelical governor of a state where
every county voted for President Trump and had been the
(21:09):
largest incarcerator in the world. And this incredible man, Governor
Stit and his wife, two people of faith who live
their life in a very faithful way. Governor Stit that
the largest single day commutation of sentence of any governor
in the history of this country. Him and his wife
saw justin Mercy. I was able to speak to the
(21:30):
governor's pastor, who's an incredible man, and we're doing tons
in Oklahoma now on criminal justice reform because of the
Just Mercy screening and because of the governor. And when
I really talked to the people of Oklahoma, they were
many were ashamed of their past. Many were ashamed of
being the largest uh incarcerator in the world. Many were
(21:52):
ashamed of some of the racial bias that existed in
the committee in the community decades ago. And all of
the homans that I met wanted to get to a
more fair and just system, and so just being able
to do this through just mercy, and then people who
just dove headfirst into the issue, like I gotta give
it up for Kim Kardashian who's using her platform to
(22:15):
try to shine lights on people who are innocent or
unjustly sentenced, to John Legend of Common to j Cole,
to the incredible Alison Williams who started get Out, even
supermodels like Emily Radakowski who've gotten so uh involved in
in criminal justice reform. One of the things I wanted
(22:36):
to ask you about just because you know, here we are,
we're in a pandemic. There are protests in the streets
being led by gen Z, you know, around the movement
for Black Lives and really like there's a huge, huge
movement around just a rethinking of you know, economic participation
on the right and the left. And so you work
with this intimately for a long period of time with
(22:57):
this community, You've seen where it goes wrong, and you've
seen the conditions that you can provide for people to
make it go right. And so I'm curious because there's
people coming out of the military, there's people coming out
of universities with crippling debt. There's those that didn't graduate
from anything and are just you know, like trying to,
you know, get a foothold somewhere in this country. And
I imagine this will apply to the other areas of
(23:19):
focus that One Community Films now works on, Like what
are what are so what are those base blocks? What
are the things that you think we can provide to
people that in ourselves to you know, take these steps
forward into new lives. Well, Jeff, you're you're right when
you say that justice and mercy and redemption are not
either democratic or Republican ideals. There are ideals that most people,
(23:44):
regardless of political affiliation share, right and so a huge
part of One Community, that's the name of our company,
One Community, is to bring people together under these common values,
um around all these issues of inequality, to find allusions
and when you talk about this not just being a
moral issue but also being an economic issue. In California,
(24:07):
to incarcerate one kid for one year, it's three hundred
and ten thousand dollars. Wait wait, wait, wait, wait, but
qualify that. How is that possible? Three hundred and ten
thousand dollars for one juvenile in jail? In California. I mean,
the backstory is there are ten thousand people in there
and now there's a thousand, so just economies of scale.
(24:28):
They haven't been closing the facilities because they don't want
people to lose their jobs and officers to lose their jobs,
so they've been keeping the facilities open to it that
once accommodated a lot more to accommodate a lot less now,
So where they have four facilities now, they probably could
have to and it could cut that cost in half.
But that's that that's really not that relevant. What's relevant
is we spend three thousand dollars. We could send one
(24:51):
of these kids to Harvard for four years for that amount.
But what's relevant is we don't give them what all
the data shows us. And you're talking about these opportunities
that change lives and get people to leave crime. Ultimately,
we spend three dollars for seven out of ten of
the people we released to come right back to prison
(25:11):
when all of the research and all the data shows
what they need, which is love, accountability and mentorship and
a job and a path towards a living wage career
and housing and therapy and healing, right, all of things
that our children need is what they need, but we
(25:33):
keep them in a dehumanizing system that spends three thousand
dollars where seven out of ten end up failing. If
I was the CEO of that business, I would be
fired in the business would be bankrupt. But we've done
this for a hundred years. And so Jeff, what you
talked about and what we did at a r C,
and I thank you, Jeff for all that you did
for our members, even bringing some of our members to
(25:56):
Summit at Sea. I'll tell you this, to see one
person who was in prison for twenty four years on
that Summit ship, another that had done time in the
juvenile system in James who worked for us, who did
time in the juvenile system on their first cruise in
those panels, learning so much on their own panel, feeling
(26:19):
like superstars and talking about social justice and criminal justice
reform to the Summit community. That was so beautiful. And
and I know, Jeff, you saw when you were on
the board of a r C. When you give these
folks opportunities, they crush it. And we we started the
largest construction union training program for folks coming out of
(26:41):
prison and have placed hundreds of people into the construction Union.
We had dozens building the Rams Stadium, so Fi Stadium.
We have placed dozens, if not hundreds, into the film
and television unions. Just like the story about Adam that
I told earlier, we started the first fire camp with CDs,
c R and CAW Fire for people coming out of
(27:03):
prison to become cow fire firefighters. We have hundreds and
hundreds and hundreds of our members in colleges and universities,
even some that are in law school and learning to
be lawyers. And so, you know, Jeff, when you provide opportunity,
when you set the bar high and let people know
(27:25):
that there is nothing stopping them, and they have the
mentorship and we are able to use our privilege to
help them get to where they want to get and
follow their dreams. It is absolutely the most beautiful thing
to see. I couldn't agree with you more on all fronts.
In fact, it does remind me. I forgot about some
of at sea and the A r C members that
came on the boat with us. And and you know,
(27:46):
there is an amazing story. There's this like very very
well known entrepreneur um investor who you know has flown
around the world and has his own jet, and you know,
has been on plenty of you know, cruise ships and
ocean liners and whatever else he's ever wanted. Took a
steam and this guy goes into the steam room and
(28:08):
it was the you know, nineteen twenty year olds from
a r C who he met in the steam room
and they ended up hanging out for like three hours.
Actually I don't believe the whole time of the steam room.
That's a long steam. It was amazing. He told me.
This story was like, oh, I have to tell you,
this is my favorite experience I've ever had. Its summit
because I go into the around this corner, into this spa,
(28:28):
I go inside and I meet these kids who are
in their first ever steam on their first ever cruise
after taking their first flight outside of California, who are
like on this ship and you know, here I am
like thinking that, like, you know, the water wasn't hot
enough on my tea this morning, and what was me
you know what I mean? And the perspective that he got,
He's like, what's incredible about you know? And this is
(28:50):
this is just the beauty of like, you know, interacting
with people that just don't share your background or your experiences,
is that like their perspective on all the things that
you think are apps, Salute troops are are different and
and informed in their own way. I remember standing in
like the lounge and this guy who will call Mr K.
(29:11):
I think if I remember correctly, he had come straight
from the steam and was in his robe still, and
so Mr K comes be lines up to me and says,
I just had the most amazing steam of my life
and just like pins me against the wall and tells
me this story. And it was just such so beautiful
because you know that these young a RC members lives
(29:34):
are changing with this experience, and they're feeling human and
part of society and part of the elite and part
of power and part of genius conversations. Right. But on
the flip side, Mr Ka was only one of multiple
people that came up to me on that trip and said,
I think I just had the deepest conversation of my life.
(29:55):
And I think these people I just talked to have
done more work on themselves when ninety five percent of
people in society and I think I've learned more about
myself today because of this conversation that I've had. So
the just the beautiful win win and kinship that happens
when you put people together from those various worlds is beautiful.
(30:18):
Art of the Hustle will be right back after this
short break. I mean, there's so many critical issues in
our society today, and just what you said about hope
really resonates with me, you know, because I feel like
we're in a pretty hopeless time where people you know,
(30:40):
can't really see opportunities to get out of their situations.
You know often and you know what I'm often seeking
on this podcast and just in my life is sort
of those like little nuggets of wisdom that empowered the
people that you know road that road before you in
a sense, you know so and for you, like when
you think about the next issues that you want to
apply this work to you personally, Like where else are
(31:02):
you excited to lean into? Right now? We're developing a
film with Ben Affleck directing and Martin Scorsese and Harry
Belafonte producing, called King Leopold's Ghost, And I am excited
about this because so much of what we focused on
is domestic, but this is really a global story um
(31:22):
of King Leopold of Belgium, who decided that it would
be cute to have a his own African continent and
went to the Congo and made it his own and
pretended to be a missionary, but ultimately was a slave
owner and enslaved over a million people to make him
money off of rubber, cut people's arms, off, murdered people.
(31:43):
That's not what the movie is about. The movie is
actually about the first ever human rights campaign led by
black Congolese, white Africans. I'm white, I'm sorry, White Europeans,
black Europeans, white Americans, black Americans all teaming up together
are to expose these atrocities and really show the world's
first human rights campaign. And it's funny that even after
(32:06):
George Floyd, I was reading about all of the King
Leopold statues in Belgium being toppled and thrown into the river,
but really excited to kind of tackle those issues of colonialism,
which obviously are part of our country's history as well,
tackling issues of racial justice and bringing people together, really
interested in in in destigmatizing mental health issues, working on
(32:30):
issues around creating equity and equality for women and girls.
Looking at our immigration system, I find the rhetoric around
immigration right now absolutely disgusting and I do believe that
if we look at our our immigration rhetoric ten years
from now, it is going to be the next gay marriage.
We're gonna be in shock that we ever did this
to human beings. I see it as I see it
(32:52):
as what we did around marriage equality, as well as
our history with slavery. Um, those are the issues that
are really kind of a kind of front and center
for for me right now. We also we are in
negotiations on a big, huge, major music film kind of
in the vein of like Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman and
Walk the Line that deals with issues of racial justice
(33:13):
that I'm really excited about but I can't talk about yet.
We're in negotiations on a really exciting and environmental and
kind of sustainability film that is really kind of human
centered and human based, which I think is exciting. We're
looking at a project that is all kind of Latino
and Latin X representation that's awesome. We have a small
(33:36):
independent film that is a beautiful mother's son immigration story
that we're developing. I mean, we are, We're going hard.
We want, we want to make change, and many many
different issues, but obviously criminal justice reform was was was
my heart, but we're going much wider. It's amazing, man.
And when you are building out these these projects, I
(33:57):
know a lot of it is film finance, so it's
something that you know, you guys will you know, they'll
they'll often be a director or like the actors signed
on or whatever. But I imagine that you're attracting, you
know now, especially that you have a track record in
this with combining the impact in the film. You know,
do do actors and producers and directors seek you out
or do you find scripts? And you're like, oh, I
(34:17):
happen to know that so and so is really into
this specific issue. It's funny you say that it was
at first it was the outgoing call business where I
was just calling everyone to try to educate them on
one community, and it's now the incoming call business. I
think we add, I mean any actor we work with.
We just had such a beautiful relationship with Michael B.
(34:38):
Jordan's on Just Mercy, not only with him as an actor,
but also with him as a producer and his whole
team Alana Mayo who runs Outlier, and his agent, Phil's
son and his publicist Lindsey Gallen. I mean, everyone is
family at this point, and Michael was so interested. Um,
two days before Christmas, which was a few weeks but
(35:00):
where Just Mercy came out. Two days before Christmas, we
had the opportunity to go to the Ventura Youth Facility
where kids have been incarcerated for three to five years,
take fifteen kids, boys and girls out of their cells,
put them in a van they had never written on
the highway in years, and take them somewhere where they
(35:20):
didn't know where they were going. We ultimately brought them
to the Lakers training facility. And this is something that
me and Michael b and Linda Rambis and Rob Lincoln,
Kurt Rambis and Genie Buss kind of schemed on when
the Lakers screened Just Mercy. We brought them to the
Lakers training facility and their vans pulled in and Michael B.
(35:42):
Jordan's walks out and greets them. So that's freak out
number one. They lost their minds. Then Michael walks them
into the training facility and there's fifteen pairs of lebron
shoes in their shoe sizes, a note from Genie Bus
with them a jersey, so they all get their shoes on,
they get their jerseys on, we go upstairs and have
(36:03):
a deep conversation with Michael b Jordan's and Jennie bust
Willans the Lakers and Linda and Kurt Rambis and Rob
Polinka and a couple of the Lakers legends, Robert Ory
and Metal World Peace And then they get to go
downstairs and play a scrimmage on the Lakers training facility,
and just when they thought it couldn't get better, the
entire team comes out and Lebron and Anthony Davis and
(36:27):
Kyle Kuzma come out and just show them mad love
and take pictures and it was incredible, but it was
really it's Michael b Man And it's like because of that,
Lakers like Kyle Kuzma have stayed involved in this issue,
Lebron stepping out and doing stuff on this issue, going
big on voting and just lending their platforms to change lives.
(36:51):
And so yeah, seeing uh talent flock to what we're
doing now because of this, and because Mike keeps talking
about the experience and his people keep talking about the
EXPERI are and some it's been beautiful. Is there anything else?
Because you know the theme of the show out of
the hustle. I think a lot of the listeners are
building their own enterprises, are on this journey, whether they're
where they're trying to create something where there isn't necessarily
(37:12):
a path that's laid out for them. You know, anything
else that comes to mind for you, like that's empowered
you on your journey. I'll say this, man Um. I
would just love anyone listening who wants to get involved
in criminal justice reform or wants to get involved in
the film and television company. I want them to reach out.
My Instagram is Scott bud nick One. Feel free to
(37:34):
shoot me a direct message. The website for our Just
Mercy campaign that anyone can plug in anywhere around the
world is represent Justice dot org. What we're doing at
a RC that Jeff has helped me with and helping
people come out of prison. That's a r C dash
C a dot org. And anyone that wants to get
(37:56):
involved in the film and television stuff, reach out to Jeff.
He is my partner and look forward to just building
more with the Summit community and getting more active and
other things and getting in the Summit community more active
with us. Well, thank you, Scott Thank you for listening
out of the hustle. I love you brother, keep rocking.
(38:31):
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