September 29, 2025 • 35 mins
Carlos sits down with DeVon Franklin for a special Soulful Sunday conversation. In this exclusive one-on-one interview, DeVon opens up about how he honors God while pursuing his career, the ways he cultivates joy, his partnership with Tyler Perry, and his latest film, Ruth & Boaz.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Reality with the King is hosted by me, Carlos King.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
I'm an executive producer who have produced some of your
favorite shows from the Real Housewives in Atlanta, New Jersey
and my own creation, The Love and Marriage Franchise and
Bell Collective. Every episode we recap reality television from the
Real Housewives Franchise to The Bachelor or Selling Sunset, in
(00:27):
addition to celebrity guests, whether in the unscripted space or
scripted as well. Hey, rain drops on today's episode Reality
with the King. We're doing our Soulful Sunday special and
my first guest on my new series is somebody who
I have watched for many many years. He not only
(00:51):
is a faith based man, he is a powerhouse executive
in Hollywood, but he's also like a very nice person,
a cool person, and we are here to talk about
his new film, his new projects, in addition to how
faith has manifested into everything he has going on today,
his cup run it over, give it up for the
(01:12):
One the Only Demon Franklin. Thank you man, glad to
be here. We haven't seen each other in a little
wild minute. You look refreshed, you look great. You've been
in the gym a little bit. You know what I'm saying,
You know, I.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Mean how much you bench pressing? Brother?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Like, you know what, I don't even know. I haven't
really tested a while. I mean, my max I think
is like two ninety five. That was like one rep.
You know what I'm saying. Yeah, yeah, so you know,
and I don't do that all the time.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
You want to hear my max? What's your max? Ninety five?
Come on, Carlo, get your point. You don't trying to.
But that's all I got.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
But now listen, I am so grateful to have you
sitting here. You're a busy guy. And one thing that
I don't think a lot of people really do was
the fact that I used to watch your sermons all
the time online and when I moved to Los Angeles
when one church at the time was of course passed
by Terrey Roberts and his lovely wife, you know, pastor
(02:16):
Sarah Jakes Roberts.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
You would sometimes be a guest on there.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
And you have no idea, sir, how your words, oh brother,
your words of how you applied faith in Hollywood, which
some people may look at as being like oil and
water they mix. And you inspired me so much because
(02:41):
I remember you telling a story about how you got
this job. I believe it was at Sony or it
was at Will Smith's Company and you honor the Sabbath.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Yes, that was it Will Smith's, Will Smith's.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Company Overbrooke Entertainment, and you were so nervous because you
were like, I.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Won't get fired, yah, and I get hired.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Talk to me about that story because the reason why
I want to start there, and we'll get into your
recent projects, is because I want my audience to know
how you never allowed your business ambition to ever take
over your faith.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Yes, yes, yes, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
So for me, you know, it's like I came to Hollywood,
or at least I had the vision to go to
Hollywood and the dream to be in Hollywood when I
was a teenager, and it was just you know, my
father died when I was nine years old of a
heart attack when he was thirty six, and yeah, I know,
me's so young, and it was my mom didn't have
money for therapy, so it was a combination of watching
movies and going to church that really became my therapy.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
And that combination was just so powerful to me.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
I just was like, Wow, I really want to be
a part of this industry that you know, makes these
movies that can bring hope and can bring you know.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
A sense of peace. And so that's what I pursued.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Now, my pursuit was always financed by my belief that
or my curiosity if God was actually in it. Sometimes
we have an idea and we don't know if God's
in it. Maybe it's just our idea and the only
way to find out is to get confirmation. And so
I went to Los Angeles, went to the University of
Southern California, and when I got that first internship interview,
(04:23):
which was for the company that managed Will Smith, they
asked me at the end of the interview, is there
anything else you want us to know? And so I
told him, I said, well, look, you know, I observed
the Sabbath, so of taking this internship would require me
to work on the Sabbath, I won't take it.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Now. At the time, I wasn't even it wasn't even
like a thought to me.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
It was just like, this is my conviction and I'm
not going to compromise this for this opportunity. And what
happened inadvertently was one they said, okay, no problem. But
what it also did was it gave me confirmation like, Okay,
I can honor God and still pursue this career and
he will open doors instead of Sometimes we think that
(05:03):
compromise is the key that opens the door. And yes,
compromise can open a door. The question is where you
supposed to walk to that door to begin with. And
when we don't compromise on whatever our belief may be,
whatever our conviction about how who we are and how
we work, when we don't compromise that and the door
still opens, then we know that's a door that is
(05:25):
meant for us to walk through. But if we know
that we had to compromise who we were, compromise our
belief system, compromise our identity to get in the door,
is that really God or is that us? And for
me as it related to Hollywood, you know, not compromising
and being a man of conviction was the key that
unlocked the door. And the interesting thing about Hollywood is
that just staying that path And now, I mean I
(05:48):
got my internship about thirty years ago, so you know,
just staying the path, doors just continue to open. And
you know, as long as I'm adhering to who I
am and my foundation And the other thing I would
say is you can only be tempted by what you want.
So temptation is not in my experience and my point
of view, it's not a general thing, because what may
(06:11):
be tempting to you is not tempting to me.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Right if, right now, you.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Know, one of your producers comes in and brings a
piece of seven up pound cake. If you don't like
pound cake, that's not tempting. But if I'm going to
die and I love pound cake, that's tempting. So for me,
I've never wanted the business or the success of in
entertainment to be at the expense of my soul, at
the expense of my peace. So as a result, that's
(06:36):
never been a temptation for me. Now, my own ambition
at times has been a thing where I've had to
manage it. Where I want to be successful for myself.
I want to be the best version of myself, and sometimes,
you know, we get impatient, and I've gotten impatient at times,
and I've had to calm down. But in terms of
like just wanting the business or entertainment for entertainment's sake,
(06:57):
that's just never been something I've wanted. So as a result,
the industry in and of itself has not presented that
level of temptation.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
That's very fascinating to me because listen, when you are
in Hollywood, and.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
OK, thank you so much, welcome when you're in Hollywood.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
I think the biggest perception that people have, obviously the Vaughn,
is the fact of like you know, life, camera action,
the gliss and the glamor. And they also think of
other things that people may think of sin right where
it's alcoholism, addiction and all those things. Were you ever
in a situation as you were growing up in this business,
because a lot of my listeners are people in the
(07:36):
business that you were faced with your moral compass being compromised?
Speaker 1 (07:42):
You know where my moral compass was come from? You
know where that was a question?
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Not in the traditional sense, you know what I mean, Like,
I've never been in a situation where fundamentally you know
who I am and what I'm about has been challenged
in that way. You know, there have been situations like so,
for example, when I was an executive for Columbia Pictures,
which is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment. I was
there for about ten years, worked on everything from Pursuit
(08:13):
of Happiness all the way to Jumping the Broom and
the Karate Kid remake.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
And Heaven Is for Real.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
And while I was there, you know, there was a
project that they wanted me to work on, and I
was like, well, no, I don't believe in this project.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
I don't believe in these portrayals.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
If I have an opportunity to give notes and help
improve these portrayals, then great, I'm happy to be a
part of it. But you know, on the excuse me,
on the surface, no, I said, this is not something
that aligns with who I am. It's not something that
I believe in. And I was pretty honest about that,
you know, and they were like, okay, no problem, you know,
and they found some other executives to work on it, because,
(08:50):
you know, you really, from a Hollywood studio standpoint, do
you want people that believe in the material to work
on the material because they know how to push that
material along and ultimately it made. But no, I really
haven't had that kind of you know, moral dilemma that
has been presented to me in my journey. And I
know that might, you know, sound kind of crazy that
(09:11):
that hasn't happened, but it just hasn't. It's just, you know,
I've been following the path, staying on the path, committing
to the process, and this is where the process has
led me. And I think also, what sometimes I think
has happened in my career is being upfront about just like, hey,
this is who i'm, this is who I.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Am, this is what I'm about.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
I think it keeps things out, you know, and it
also then allows things in that align with that. And
so I think there's something about me just being very
clear from the beginning that you know, I don't know
any people just know that, and so as a result,
certain things aren't even broad you know, certain certain opportunities
(09:54):
or experiences aren't.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Even presented, you know.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
But yeah, sometimes I look back, say, wow, that's interesting
that I know I haven't experienced what you may traditionally
think a quote unquote mortal moral dilemma would be.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
No, I can relate to you when it comes to that,
and I agree with you, because when you show up authentically,
you know, there's this saying that if you're not invited
to the party, it is because you're not meant to
be there, because they know you don't get down like that.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
There it is right, So I agree with you.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
I think it was the fact that you and listen,
I don't want people to really negate the power of
your self that you have as somebody who said, if
I'm not able to honor the Sabbath, I can't take
this job, you know, because some people say, well, they
got to know that I do that, you know, sort
of like hide it. But it was the fact that
(10:43):
you allowed your authenticity to be shown first and foremost.
And I think that's the reason why God, amongst other reasons,
has blessed you so fruthfully in your purpose, in your mission.
One of the movies you've done recently, I want to
say it was last year, was on Hulu with Evil
Long or Blame It Not Devn Franklin, And if you
(11:05):
guys haven't watched Flame Hot, it's an amazing story about
this man who pretty much started Cheetos, you know, Cheetos,
And it's an amazing story on faith, is an amazing
story on what I always believe, Devon is God gives
(11:25):
you the vision and sometimes the vision no one else
can see. And the reason why I have studied a
lot of your sermons over the years is because I
always felt that outside of you, and you know pastor
Terrain Silver Jakes, I always felt that there wasn't somebody
who understood what it's like to be a faith based
man in this business because sometimes you're put into situations
(11:48):
where people want you to behave a certain way or
act out a certain way, and most importantly may not
just understand your desires. Because tell this day, my father
has no idea what is that I do. He's like,
I see my son on TV and I'm happy he's.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Living right, right, right right.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
But your practices has always felt that you were informing
generations of utilizing your faith for what that mission may be.
And that's why I flame my Hosts to Me is
one of the best, one of the best films you've
ever done.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Thank you talk to me about advice.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
That you would give people who do want to whether
it's in Hollywood or it can be any place in
the world when it comes to the fact that they
sometimes feel like.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Did God forget about me?
Speaker 2 (12:40):
No one understands me, No one gets my vision, no
one understands my mission.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Is it meant for me to pivot to something else?
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Or is it meant for me to be steadfast and
to make sure that I continue to develop the relationship
with God so that I'm hearing his voice versus the
noise of the background.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
M hmm. Yeah, okay, So let's unpack it. So when
you think about like okay, having a dream of desire,
working towards it, but not seeing the fulfillment of it.
So what happens is God gives us, I believe, an
idea of what we're supposed to do, glimpses. We may
(13:24):
not see the whole picture, but we see glimpses. Okay,
this is I see, you know, for me, I see
myself working in this business. So God gives the vision,
and then what happens is the temptation and many of
us fall pray to it. I know I have at
times is believing that we have to make the vision happen,
and that we own the timetable for the vision happening.
(13:45):
And so when we're trying to make it happen, and
when we feel like, Okay, well I've been doing this
for five years and it hasn't turned over yet, or
I've been doing this for ten years, well God looks
at eternity and he's like, well, what's time Your ten
years is just a blip on the radar, and I'm God,
so I know when it's meant for you to unleash
(14:06):
or become who I created you to be in the earth.
So part of the steadfastness is taking the ownership off
of the manifestation and and and the timeline for such.
So you look at even like you know, let's go
to the Bible. You look at David. He was annoyed
to king to be the next king. He didn't go
sit on the throne. He went right back to tending
(14:27):
the sheep. There was that in the Bible. There was
there was no record. There was no conversation after that.
And after he was a noiady to be next to
be the next king, there was no conversation. But he
never said well when am I going to be king?
That wasn't even the focus. His focus was how can
I be of service? And him his desire to be
of service put him on a path that ushered in
(14:48):
him ultimately ultimately being the next king. Why is that important?
Because so often we put so much energy and effort
into forcing this dream to come to fruition that we
don't have control over. I started working in Holley when
I was eighteen. I knew at eighteen years old that
I wanted to have my own production company. It took
eighteen years before I was able to open my company.
(15:11):
Eighteen years of showing up, being you know, teachable, learning
the business, building my character, building my integrity. So by
the time that I, you know, it was, it was manifest.
By the time the dream happened, I was able to
handle it. So I share all that to say, if
somebody is in a season of impatience, I would say,
don't do that to yourself. When do you know to pivot?
(15:34):
You may never need to pivot. Do what you need
to do to keep the lights on, pay the bills.
But if you have a dream, keep pursuing it, keep
working at it. Why not and guess what what if
it never happens, If you've made the commitment to be
of service and to have a great life, you will
have a great life. And maybe you say, okay, well
that's a dream that you know. I had fun working
(15:55):
on it, but it never turned out to be what
I thought it was going to be. And that's okay,
because here's what I did with my life. And so
for me, it's really about that perspective. You know, at
times when things were not moving at the pace I wanted,
I had to find other things to really give me
outlets for creativity. So when I was working, you know,
as an executive, you know, it's like, Okay, that executive
(16:16):
path isn't necessarily.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
A fast path.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
It's you know, it's a steadfast, fast path where you
just have to take your time and you know, you
have to wait your turn and all of these things.
And so for me, what I didn't want to do
is I didn't want to put all of my joy
in my happiness in the Hollywood basket. I believe that
God was going to deliver the company at some point,
(16:40):
but at the time when I was an executive, I
didn't know when.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
But I also knew that if I put all my.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
Happiness in this job and in this industry, I'm not
going to be very happy because then my happiness is
going to be subject to what happens and what doesn't happen.
And then that means I'm not actually the keeper of
my happiness. I'm actually outsourcing my happiness to circumstances and
situations and people that what about on Monday they loved me,
but Tuesday they hate me. If my happiness is contingent
(17:05):
on them, then I'm never really going to be happy.
So what I started to do was to find while
I'm still working, still doing the job, still learning how
to tell great stories, I started to do other things.
One of those things was preaching. I was like, Okay,
preaching is a good outlet for me. It's a good outlet.
I can express myself, I can express my creativity. I
can help people, you know, it was great. Okay, writing books, okay, great,
(17:27):
I can write books. I can you know, help, I
can give advice. Those were things that God allowed me
to have the opportunity to do while I stayed committed
to what I believed he was going to do. So
I would encourage anyone that is, you know, struggling or
wondering should I pivot?
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Should I not?
Speaker 3 (17:44):
I would say, the dream was never meant to depress you.
That's not the design.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Of the dream. The dream was never meant It.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Was never meant to depress you. If anything, the dream
was meant to excite you. That God gave us that
should be a source of excitement.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Oh wow, And that's when you can identify you on
the right path exactly because it's like, oh, this is exciting.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
I mean not be exactly where I want to be,
but I'm learning, I'm making progress. This is exciting. Every
time I think about it, I get excited. To me,
when we think of the dream and we get depressed,
it's because we're putting too much on the dream we
are in. We're imposing our will on that dream. Let
that dream be what it is, a source of vision,
a source of excitement, a source of direction.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
And enjoy the.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Process because ultimately the process is the result. Meaning you
can get to a result, but if you didn't enjoy
the process, you're not going to enjoy the result. You
have a you know, dynamic production company, and you know
your you know, dynamic talent, and have the podcast and
all of the things. But leading up to that, if
(18:53):
you didn't find peace, enjoy in the process, you get
to this moment and then this moment you can't enjoy
any of it because you and you weren't practicing that.
And if you think the destination is going to be
the source of fulfillment, then what happens is when you
get to that destination and it doesn't fulfill you the
way you thought it would, you then you don't know
(19:15):
what to do because you're like, I've struggled, I've given
all my life for this, and I thought this was
going to produce this feeling and I got this and
it didn't. Why Because the feeling, the practice of that
good feeling is something that we got to work on
right now. Doesn't matter how much money you got into
bank account, it doesn't matter what kind of job you got.
All of us have happiness, love and enjoy within us
(19:37):
right now. How do I know? Because right now, if
somebody listening, and let's say someone came to somebody watching
this as they're watching it and say, hey, here's a
check for a million dollars, what's going to happen?
Speaker 1 (19:47):
That person is probably gonna be very happy? Well, where'd the.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
Happiness come from? What is in the Was it in
the check or was it in our response? If it's
within our response, that means it's already within us. So
then we are the ones that determine when we produce
happiness and when we produce joy, and when we produce fulfillment.
So my belief is work on producing that right now,
(20:11):
because the more you find your joy in whatever you're doing,
the more joyful the process and the more joyful the result.
So anyway, it's a long ends zero question. I mean,
Listen's sen I need a collection plate because.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
I mean give me the cash apt to tie my temple.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
You know, you do talk about service, and that's the
reason why I'm so happy for you. You have a
multi year deal with Tyler Perry. Yes, some who's a
friend of mine as well. And one thing I know
about mister Perry because he said to me, you call
me mister Perry, and I'll tell you to call me Tyler. So,
mister Perry, I'm waiting for you to give me. I
call you by your first name, so I won't tell you.
(20:50):
Give me the permission what you're able to call him Tyler.
You are of service to not only the industry. What
I love about the partnership to me is the fact
that it shows that two powerhouses can work together on
the common goal of producing movies and television. You have
a new film that is coming out tomorrow called Ruth
(21:12):
and Boas And what in case there's somebody who has
not read their Bible, explain to us the story of
them and what we can expect from this film.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Well, I'll start with the expectation this film is going
to be your new favorite love story. It is so good.
Felicia Rashad is in it. She plays the kind of
matriarchal character called Naomi. Ruth is played by Sorea and
Boas is played by Tyler Lepley. And when you see
these two on screen, it is nothing but pure magic.
And the story is really about Ruth. You know Ruth
(21:44):
if you go back to the scripture, you know she's
a woman who's lost her mate and she goes on
a journey back to the.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Homeland of Naomi.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
And Naomi originally is like, no, I don't want you
to come with me, but Ruth says, no, I'm supposed
to help you. And so she goes back to her
homeland and Ruth has to find a way to provide
for her in Naomi, and so she goes out to
get a job and she finds herself working in the
field that is owned by Boaz and because of her
work ethic, he takes notice of her and then he
(22:15):
starts to get to know her. And the thing about
Ruth in our film is that she comes from a
very difficult background. You know, she was put in the
foster system. Her mom abandoned her when she was a
young child. She was in the foster system. She was
bounced around a lot. She you know, had a voice,
and so she found herself on the Atlanta music scene.
But there was something in her spirit that did not resonate,
(22:35):
and she felt like every time she led someone in
to her heart, there was always a tragedy or something
difficult that happened. So when she meets Boaz in our film,
she's just there to work. She's working in his vineyard.
She's just there to work and go on about her business.
But he sees a light in her and he wants
to get to know who she is. But initially she's
(22:58):
very resistant because she doesn't know she can trust it.
There's something about him that just seems too good. And
over the course of the film you start to see
her let down her walls and him also find a
safe space in her. And then there's a you know,
there's some dynamic where her past comes to haunt her
(23:18):
and her and Boaz had to figure out how they're
going to deal with it.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
But this is a story that is rooted in the word.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
The Book of Ruth, you know, is one of the
most you know, famous books in the Bible, and this
story has stood the test of time. Because what I
find so beautiful about the story, which is why I
wanted to make this movie. There's a lot of people,
you know, are out here looking for love. And when
I looked at the story, I said, Oh, this is fascinating.
Whenever we talk about Ruth or Boaz, you know, in
(23:46):
the church, it's like, oh, go find your Boaz, like
that is like every black church in the country, you know.
But the thing about this is Ruth nor Boaz went
looking for love.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
That's not what happened.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Ruth made a commitment to Naomi to be of service,
and as she fulfilled that commitment, the reward was her
being blessed with love. Boas wasn't looking for love. He
was there trying to be a good steward over the
blessing that God had given him in the form of
the fields and the things that he owned, and right
(24:20):
there he didn't have.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
To go looking. God brought her to him.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
So when you see this movie, you see two people
that the only thing they have to do is to
be open to love.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
They don't have to look for love.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
And I wanted to do a movie with this kind
of message because I see so many people that are
depressed and frustrating and angry and just wondering, you know,
when's my turn and why not me? And what I
realize is that when you're looking for something, you enhance
the absence of it instead of living in the presence
of it. Okay, you don't have to have a looking spirit,
have a receiving spirit, be ready to receive love however
(24:57):
it chooses to arise. However, what I would encourage someone
to not do, and you'll see this in the film, is,
you know, don't stop living your life. You know, don't
stop find out what is the greater good for you
and commit to that, commit to being of service, commit
to finding the value in your life. Enrich your life
right now through commitment and service. And I believe that
(25:19):
when we do that, when love does show up, we
actually actually have more to give and we don't overburden
the relationship by trying to get that person we're in
relationship with to do something for ourselves that we don't do.
So if I'm looking for love and I find you know,
my wife Maria, if I find her, let's say before like,
(25:39):
you know, what I get I find her, and I'm
not practicing loving myself, I'm not practicing contentment. Then what
I'm gonna do is I'm a demand that she does
all the things that I need her to do for
me to feel happy. Why because I'm the one that
hasn't done the work to know what happiness even looks like.
So a lot of times we're out here trying to
find someone and then we find that person and we
don't actually even know what it is. We think it's
(26:00):
their job to make us happy. No, happiness is inside job.
And so when you see this film, both of them
have to take ownership of that happiness and that love,
and then when they come together, they have something to share.
And that, to me is when people see this film.
What I'm excited about is that it shows it in
such a beautiful, tender, loving way, in a way that
(26:22):
I haven't seen in a love story in our culture
in a very long time.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Well, I definitely believe in God's timing, and that's why
I want you all to watch Ruth and boas that's
on Netflix. One thing I will say is in regards
of God's timing, you do speak about Maria, your wife,
and first of all, I havn't senior since you got married,
So congratulations, Thank the Internet with the photos. My audience
(26:47):
is largely women from all walks of life. Who what
you said about this love story Ruth and Boas is
about loving yourself first before you can really go out
there looking for love. We all know about a seer
a prayer she found Russ. Okay, I want to know
what is the Divonne Franklin prayer? Because for you, you were
(27:08):
able to find you know, love this time around. And
when you speak of Ma Maria and all the things
that she provides in your life, your face lights up.
So for those who may have gone through, you know,
a divorce or breakup of anything, what advice or.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Prayer I should say? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Should we tell ourselves in terms of being in a
place to receive that. Oftentimes what people do, unfortunately divine,
is they rush into something or they're desperate to get it.
And when I look at you, you you were a
man who was able to take his time in and
was able to you know, find love.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Yeah, yeah, you know there's a scripture that says created
me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
And when you're going.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Through something or you've been through something you just have
to pause and acknowledge is what you went through. You know,
right now, if you walk out on the street and
we're in New York and a car hits you, and
you get up from the scene of that that accident,
and you know your leg is bloody, and you know
maybe you even have a broken bone, and you start
trying to walk down the street as if nothing's wrong,
(28:17):
people gonna look at you like you're crazy. We saw
you got hit. Well, I don't want to I don't
want anybody to know. No, we all saw it. It's
okay you you can acknowledge that you're hurt, because when
you acknowledge that you're hurt, you can then actually get healing.
But if you are walking like nothing's wrong and then
you're just trying to rush down the street, what's going
(28:38):
to happen. Your injury is gonna get worse. So when
it comes to relationships, when it comes to heartbreak, we
first just have to say it happened, and it hurt,
and and and sit in that pain, sit in it
for a moment, and say, wow, that really Because what
(28:59):
we want to do is to rush. Something happens and
we don't want we don't want to feel it, we
don't want nobody know we felt it. But then we
don't actually get the benefit it could provide if we
allowed it to teach us something. So sitting in that pain,
you know when I say, creating me a clean heart
and renew a right spirit within, Lord, help me understand
(29:20):
what I can take from this pain. What does this
pain want to teach me? So then the other part
of this was sitting in it. Part of the prayer
was that, okay, Lord, give me the ability to learn
what I need to know from this. And then the
other part is, okay, Lord, the prayer is the same
grace in space that you give all of us. Lord,
(29:44):
Please give me the strength to give that to myself.
When I say grace in space, I mean hey, grace
to say, Hey, I'm hurt and I need the grace
from God to help me figure out how to move
forward and the space for myself to heal so that
I'm not you know, saying Okay, well, I've got to
(30:05):
go back out here and I've got to present this
image and I've got to do this, and I've got
to do that because people are expecting this and da
dah da da dah. And I have this image and
I need to hold the image. And so uh uh no,
that's a very's that's very tight. That's a very suffocating
place to live versus space. Like, hey, you know what, Hey,
people are going to think what they want to think.
I'm not worried about their thoughts. I'm not trying to
manipulate or manufacture anyone's opinion about me. I'm going through
(30:27):
a process where I've got a heal from what I
just went through. And in that process of healing, and
and part of healing is introspection and and and looking within,
you know.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
I mean, I have therapists.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
And life coaches and you know, journal and wrote, I mean,
and prayed and studied the world. I did so many
things and continue to do these things as it relates
to my healing journey. Yet as I did these things,
you know, the prayer was God truly creating me a
clean heart, a new heart, like renew a right spirit
(31:03):
within me, you know, Like I don't want my heart
to be hardened. I want my heart to stay open.
I want to learn from this. I want to become better.
I want to become a better individual, a better you know,
human being, more loving, more understanding, more compassionate. And as
(31:23):
I prayed that prayer and as I align my actions
with it, what began to happen is the prayers started
to get answered. Right, And so meeting Maria wasn't the
answer to the prayer. It was it was an extension
of what God was already doing. So I had started
the prayer, you know, years ago, as I was trying
(31:46):
to put the pieces of my life back together, and
then God would continuously give me answers like, Okay, here's
how you're going to feel stronger today.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Here's what's going to happen.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
And then when Maria shows up, going back to what
we even talked about earlier, because I had already been
practicing that joy, that love, that healing, that commitment to
the process, that space and that grace, Maria shows up
and I'm like, oh, okay, this is time because it
was consistent with the process that started years before I
(32:17):
even ever knew she existed. And so for me, you know,
when you talk about, you know, the prayer, the prayer
is really about the work, you know, and the work
is not a burden. It's not a burden, but it
does require effort. It does require a lot of effort,
you know, because one of the things we don't like
(32:37):
to do. We like to take selfies, but we don't
like to look at each other look at ourselves. We
like to take a selfie, but we really don't like
to look at ourselves. And when I say look at ourselves,
I'm talking about we don't like to look in the
emotional mirror and identify what's going on. It's very easy
for us to point the finger and say, well, it's
their fault, or if my boss had been this way,
(32:59):
or my mama I have been that. We love to
point the finger, but pointing the finger points it away
from what we actually have control of, which is us
coming through what I went through. The only person I
could change was me. So I instead of pointing the
finger and saying, well, you know, this person didn't do that,
and that person didn't do this. Okay, that may be true,
(33:19):
but Devin, what you're gonna do, and allowing myself to
look at myself and identify, here's what I did wrong,
Here's what I could have done better. Here are some
areas and opportunities for growth without judgment. Instead of judgment,
myself how could you be so stupid? No, no, no,
We all around this journey called life. We do the
(33:41):
best we can, but what we know when we know it,
and sometimes we're gonna look back and say, oh, well
I didn't know what I know now, so I did
the best I could at that moment. So why judge myself?
Why judge yourself? We all go through experiences and have
mistakes and things that we wish we would have done different,
but then we didn't and we get.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
A chance to learn from it.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
So you know, that was in so many different words,
that was the prayer, you know, creating me a clean
heart and renew a right spirit within me. And I
feel grateful that he has done that and continues to
do it.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
I mean, I can't even thank you enough for that.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
I mean, the words of wisdom and listen, like I said,
I know my audience and your words that you have
blessed us with is going to change their lives because
the articulation of not only the wisdom, but the spirituality
that was felt in this room, you know, from God
through you to me and subsequently to them has really
(34:46):
manifested a breakthrough. So I can't thank you, and it
really has. It really has, and I can't thank you
enough or for being here. I know you're a busy guy,
So rain Dross, make sure to go on your Netflix,
don't go on your auntie's app, don't log in through
her app. We need to make sure this is number
one okay on Netflix, So spend the twelve ninety nine
(35:09):
if you may, and make sure you all check out
Ruth and Boaz that is out on Friday.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Thank you so much to offer. You're welcome. Thank you,
my brother truly appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Reality with the King is executive produced by me Carlos King,
produced by Lizzie Nimitz, and a partnership.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
With the Lack Effect Network.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
You can also find us on my YouTube channel at
the Carlos King Underscore
Reality with the King is hosted by me, Carlos King.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
I'm an executive producer who have produced some of your
favorite shows from the Real Housewives in Atlanta, New Jersey
and my own creation, The Love and Marriage Franchise and
Bell Collective. Every episode we recap reality television from the
Real Housewives Franchise to The Bachelor or Selling Sunset, in
(00:27):
addition to celebrity guests, whether in the unscripted space or
scripted as well. Hey, rain drops on today's episode Reality
with the King. We're doing our Soulful Sunday special and
my first guest on my new series is somebody who
I have watched for many many years. He not only
(00:51):
is a faith based man, he is a powerhouse executive
in Hollywood, but he's also like a very nice person,
a cool person, and we are here to talk about
his new film, his new projects, in addition to how
faith has manifested into everything he has going on today,
his cup run it over, give it up for the
(01:12):
One the Only Demon Franklin. Thank you man, glad to
be here. We haven't seen each other in a little
wild minute. You look refreshed, you look great. You've been
in the gym a little bit. You know what I'm saying,
You know, I.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Mean how much you bench pressing? Brother?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Like, you know what, I don't even know. I haven't
really tested a while. I mean, my max I think
is like two ninety five. That was like one rep.
You know what I'm saying. Yeah, yeah, so you know,
and I don't do that all the time.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
You want to hear my max? What's your max? Ninety five?
Come on, Carlo, get your point. You don't trying to.
But that's all I got.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
But now listen, I am so grateful to have you
sitting here. You're a busy guy. And one thing that
I don't think a lot of people really do was
the fact that I used to watch your sermons all
the time online and when I moved to Los Angeles
when one church at the time was of course passed
by Terrey Roberts and his lovely wife, you know, pastor
(02:16):
Sarah Jakes Roberts.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
You would sometimes be a guest on there.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
And you have no idea, sir, how your words, oh brother,
your words of how you applied faith in Hollywood, which
some people may look at as being like oil and
water they mix. And you inspired me so much because
(02:41):
I remember you telling a story about how you got
this job. I believe it was at Sony or it
was at Will Smith's Company and you honor the Sabbath.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Yes, that was it Will Smith's, Will Smith's.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Company Overbrooke Entertainment, and you were so nervous because you
were like, I.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Won't get fired, yah, and I get hired.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Talk to me about that story because the reason why
I want to start there, and we'll get into your
recent projects, is because I want my audience to know
how you never allowed your business ambition to ever take
over your faith.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Yes, yes, yes, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
So for me, you know, it's like I came to Hollywood,
or at least I had the vision to go to
Hollywood and the dream to be in Hollywood when I
was a teenager, and it was just you know, my
father died when I was nine years old of a
heart attack when he was thirty six, and yeah, I know,
me's so young, and it was my mom didn't have
money for therapy, so it was a combination of watching
movies and going to church that really became my therapy.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
And that combination was just so powerful to me.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
I just was like, Wow, I really want to be
a part of this industry that you know, makes these
movies that can bring hope and can bring you know.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
A sense of peace. And so that's what I pursued.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Now, my pursuit was always financed by my belief that
or my curiosity if God was actually in it. Sometimes
we have an idea and we don't know if God's
in it. Maybe it's just our idea and the only
way to find out is to get confirmation. And so
I went to Los Angeles, went to the University of
Southern California, and when I got that first internship interview,
(04:23):
which was for the company that managed Will Smith, they
asked me at the end of the interview, is there
anything else you want us to know? And so I
told him, I said, well, look, you know, I observed
the Sabbath, so of taking this internship would require me
to work on the Sabbath, I won't take it.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Now. At the time, I wasn't even it wasn't even
like a thought to me.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
It was just like, this is my conviction and I'm
not going to compromise this for this opportunity. And what
happened inadvertently was one they said, okay, no problem. But
what it also did was it gave me confirmation like, Okay,
I can honor God and still pursue this career and
he will open doors instead of Sometimes we think that
(05:03):
compromise is the key that opens the door. And yes,
compromise can open a door. The question is where you
supposed to walk to that door to begin with. And
when we don't compromise on whatever our belief may be,
whatever our conviction about how who we are and how
we work, when we don't compromise that and the door
still opens, then we know that's a door that is
(05:25):
meant for us to walk through. But if we know
that we had to compromise who we were, compromise our
belief system, compromise our identity to get in the door,
is that really God or is that us? And for
me as it related to Hollywood, you know, not compromising
and being a man of conviction was the key that
unlocked the door. And the interesting thing about Hollywood is
that just staying that path And now, I mean I
(05:48):
got my internship about thirty years ago, so you know,
just staying the path, doors just continue to open. And
you know, as long as I'm adhering to who I
am and my foundation And the other thing I would
say is you can only be tempted by what you want.
So temptation is not in my experience and my point
of view, it's not a general thing, because what may
(06:11):
be tempting to you is not tempting to me.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Right if, right now, you.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Know, one of your producers comes in and brings a
piece of seven up pound cake. If you don't like
pound cake, that's not tempting. But if I'm going to
die and I love pound cake, that's tempting. So for me,
I've never wanted the business or the success of in
entertainment to be at the expense of my soul, at
the expense of my peace. So as a result, that's
(06:36):
never been a temptation for me. Now, my own ambition
at times has been a thing where I've had to
manage it. Where I want to be successful for myself.
I want to be the best version of myself, and sometimes,
you know, we get impatient, and I've gotten impatient at times,
and I've had to calm down. But in terms of
like just wanting the business or entertainment for entertainment's sake,
(06:57):
that's just never been something I've wanted. So as a result,
the industry in and of itself has not presented that
level of temptation.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
That's very fascinating to me because listen, when you are
in Hollywood, and.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
OK, thank you so much, welcome when you're in Hollywood.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
I think the biggest perception that people have, obviously the Vaughn,
is the fact of like you know, life, camera action,
the gliss and the glamor. And they also think of
other things that people may think of sin right where
it's alcoholism, addiction and all those things. Were you ever
in a situation as you were growing up in this business,
because a lot of my listeners are people in the
(07:36):
business that you were faced with your moral compass being compromised?
Speaker 1 (07:42):
You know where my moral compass was come from? You
know where that was a question?
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Not in the traditional sense, you know what I mean, Like,
I've never been in a situation where fundamentally you know
who I am and what I'm about has been challenged
in that way. You know, there have been situations like so,
for example, when I was an executive for Columbia Pictures,
which is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment. I was
there for about ten years, worked on everything from Pursuit
(08:13):
of Happiness all the way to Jumping the Broom and
the Karate Kid remake.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
And Heaven Is for Real.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
And while I was there, you know, there was a
project that they wanted me to work on, and I
was like, well, no, I don't believe in this project.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
I don't believe in these portrayals.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
If I have an opportunity to give notes and help
improve these portrayals, then great, I'm happy to be a
part of it. But you know, on the excuse me,
on the surface, no, I said, this is not something
that aligns with who I am. It's not something that
I believe in. And I was pretty honest about that,
you know, and they were like, okay, no problem, you know,
and they found some other executives to work on it, because,
(08:50):
you know, you really, from a Hollywood studio standpoint, do
you want people that believe in the material to work
on the material because they know how to push that
material along and ultimately it made. But no, I really
haven't had that kind of you know, moral dilemma that
has been presented to me in my journey. And I
know that might, you know, sound kind of crazy that
(09:11):
that hasn't happened, but it just hasn't. It's just, you know,
I've been following the path, staying on the path, committing
to the process, and this is where the process has
led me. And I think also, what sometimes I think
has happened in my career is being upfront about just like, hey,
this is who i'm, this is who I.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Am, this is what I'm about.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
I think it keeps things out, you know, and it
also then allows things in that align with that. And
so I think there's something about me just being very
clear from the beginning that you know, I don't know
any people just know that, and so as a result,
certain things aren't even broad you know, certain certain opportunities
(09:54):
or experiences aren't.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Even presented, you know.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
But yeah, sometimes I look back, say, wow, that's interesting
that I know I haven't experienced what you may traditionally
think a quote unquote mortal moral dilemma would be.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
No, I can relate to you when it comes to that,
and I agree with you, because when you show up authentically,
you know, there's this saying that if you're not invited
to the party, it is because you're not meant to
be there, because they know you don't get down like that.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
There it is right, So I agree with you.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
I think it was the fact that you and listen,
I don't want people to really negate the power of
your self that you have as somebody who said, if
I'm not able to honor the Sabbath, I can't take
this job, you know, because some people say, well, they
got to know that I do that, you know, sort
of like hide it. But it was the fact that
(10:43):
you allowed your authenticity to be shown first and foremost.
And I think that's the reason why God, amongst other reasons,
has blessed you so fruthfully in your purpose, in your mission.
One of the movies you've done recently, I want to
say it was last year, was on Hulu with Evil
Long or Blame It Not Devn Franklin, And if you
(11:05):
guys haven't watched Flame Hot, it's an amazing story about
this man who pretty much started Cheetos, you know, Cheetos,
And it's an amazing story on faith, is an amazing
story on what I always believe, Devon is God gives
(11:25):
you the vision and sometimes the vision no one else
can see. And the reason why I have studied a
lot of your sermons over the years is because I
always felt that outside of you, and you know pastor
Terrain Silver Jakes, I always felt that there wasn't somebody
who understood what it's like to be a faith based
man in this business because sometimes you're put into situations
(11:48):
where people want you to behave a certain way or
act out a certain way, and most importantly may not
just understand your desires. Because tell this day, my father
has no idea what is that I do. He's like,
I see my son on TV and I'm happy he's.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Living right, right, right right.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
But your practices has always felt that you were informing
generations of utilizing your faith for what that mission may be.
And that's why I flame my Hosts to Me is
one of the best, one of the best films you've
ever done.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Thank you talk to me about advice.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
That you would give people who do want to whether
it's in Hollywood or it can be any place in
the world when it comes to the fact that they
sometimes feel like.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Did God forget about me?
Speaker 2 (12:40):
No one understands me, No one gets my vision, no
one understands my mission.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Is it meant for me to pivot to something else?
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Or is it meant for me to be steadfast and
to make sure that I continue to develop the relationship
with God so that I'm hearing his voice versus the
noise of the background.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
M hmm. Yeah, okay, So let's unpack it. So when
you think about like okay, having a dream of desire,
working towards it, but not seeing the fulfillment of it.
So what happens is God gives us, I believe, an
idea of what we're supposed to do, glimpses. We may
(13:24):
not see the whole picture, but we see glimpses. Okay,
this is I see, you know, for me, I see
myself working in this business. So God gives the vision,
and then what happens is the temptation and many of
us fall pray to it. I know I have at
times is believing that we have to make the vision happen,
and that we own the timetable for the vision happening.
(13:45):
And so when we're trying to make it happen, and
when we feel like, Okay, well I've been doing this
for five years and it hasn't turned over yet, or
I've been doing this for ten years, well God looks
at eternity and he's like, well, what's time Your ten
years is just a blip on the radar, and I'm God,
so I know when it's meant for you to unleash
(14:06):
or become who I created you to be in the earth.
So part of the steadfastness is taking the ownership off
of the manifestation and and and the timeline for such.
So you look at even like you know, let's go
to the Bible. You look at David. He was annoyed
to king to be the next king. He didn't go
sit on the throne. He went right back to tending
(14:27):
the sheep. There was that in the Bible. There was
there was no record. There was no conversation after that.
And after he was a noiady to be next to
be the next king, there was no conversation. But he
never said well when am I going to be king?
That wasn't even the focus. His focus was how can
I be of service? And him his desire to be
of service put him on a path that ushered in
(14:48):
him ultimately ultimately being the next king. Why is that important?
Because so often we put so much energy and effort
into forcing this dream to come to fruition that we
don't have control over. I started working in Holley when
I was eighteen. I knew at eighteen years old that
I wanted to have my own production company. It took
eighteen years before I was able to open my company.
(15:11):
Eighteen years of showing up, being you know, teachable, learning
the business, building my character, building my integrity. So by
the time that I, you know, it was, it was manifest.
By the time the dream happened, I was able to
handle it. So I share all that to say, if
somebody is in a season of impatience, I would say,
don't do that to yourself. When do you know to pivot?
(15:34):
You may never need to pivot. Do what you need
to do to keep the lights on, pay the bills.
But if you have a dream, keep pursuing it, keep
working at it. Why not and guess what what if
it never happens, If you've made the commitment to be
of service and to have a great life, you will
have a great life. And maybe you say, okay, well
that's a dream that you know. I had fun working
(15:55):
on it, but it never turned out to be what
I thought it was going to be. And that's okay,
because here's what I did with my life. And so
for me, it's really about that perspective. You know, at
times when things were not moving at the pace I wanted,
I had to find other things to really give me
outlets for creativity. So when I was working, you know,
as an executive, you know, it's like, Okay, that executive
(16:16):
path isn't necessarily.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
A fast path.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
It's you know, it's a steadfast, fast path where you
just have to take your time and you know, you
have to wait your turn and all of these things.
And so for me, what I didn't want to do
is I didn't want to put all of my joy
in my happiness in the Hollywood basket. I believe that
God was going to deliver the company at some point,
(16:40):
but at the time when I was an executive, I
didn't know when.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
But I also knew that if I put all my.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
Happiness in this job and in this industry, I'm not
going to be very happy because then my happiness is
going to be subject to what happens and what doesn't happen.
And then that means I'm not actually the keeper of
my happiness. I'm actually outsourcing my happiness to circumstances and
situations and people that what about on Monday they loved me,
but Tuesday they hate me. If my happiness is contingent
(17:05):
on them, then I'm never really going to be happy.
So what I started to do was to find while
I'm still working, still doing the job, still learning how
to tell great stories, I started to do other things.
One of those things was preaching. I was like, Okay,
preaching is a good outlet for me. It's a good outlet.
I can express myself, I can express my creativity. I
can help people, you know, it was great. Okay, writing books, okay, great,
(17:27):
I can write books. I can you know, help, I
can give advice. Those were things that God allowed me
to have the opportunity to do while I stayed committed
to what I believed he was going to do. So
I would encourage anyone that is, you know, struggling or
wondering should I pivot?
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Should I not?
Speaker 3 (17:44):
I would say, the dream was never meant to depress you.
That's not the design.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Of the dream. The dream was never meant It.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Was never meant to depress you. If anything, the dream
was meant to excite you. That God gave us that
should be a source of excitement.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Oh wow, And that's when you can identify you on
the right path exactly because it's like, oh, this is exciting.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
I mean not be exactly where I want to be,
but I'm learning, I'm making progress. This is exciting. Every
time I think about it, I get excited. To me,
when we think of the dream and we get depressed,
it's because we're putting too much on the dream we
are in. We're imposing our will on that dream. Let
that dream be what it is, a source of vision,
a source of excitement, a source of direction.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
And enjoy the.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Process because ultimately the process is the result. Meaning you
can get to a result, but if you didn't enjoy
the process, you're not going to enjoy the result. You
have a you know, dynamic production company, and you know
your you know, dynamic talent, and have the podcast and
all of the things. But leading up to that, if
(18:53):
you didn't find peace, enjoy in the process, you get
to this moment and then this moment you can't enjoy
any of it because you and you weren't practicing that.
And if you think the destination is going to be
the source of fulfillment, then what happens is when you
get to that destination and it doesn't fulfill you the
way you thought it would, you then you don't know
(19:15):
what to do because you're like, I've struggled, I've given
all my life for this, and I thought this was
going to produce this feeling and I got this and
it didn't. Why Because the feeling, the practice of that
good feeling is something that we got to work on
right now. Doesn't matter how much money you got into
bank account, it doesn't matter what kind of job you got.
All of us have happiness, love and enjoy within us
(19:37):
right now. How do I know? Because right now, if
somebody listening, and let's say someone came to somebody watching
this as they're watching it and say, hey, here's a
check for a million dollars, what's going to happen?
Speaker 1 (19:47):
That person is probably gonna be very happy? Well, where'd the.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
Happiness come from? What is in the Was it in
the check or was it in our response? If it's
within our response, that means it's already within us. So
then we are the ones that determine when we produce
happiness and when we produce joy, and when we produce fulfillment.
So my belief is work on producing that right now,
(20:11):
because the more you find your joy in whatever you're doing,
the more joyful the process and the more joyful the result.
So anyway, it's a long ends zero question. I mean,
Listen's sen I need a collection plate because.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
I mean give me the cash apt to tie my temple.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
You know, you do talk about service, and that's the
reason why I'm so happy for you. You have a
multi year deal with Tyler Perry. Yes, some who's a
friend of mine as well. And one thing I know
about mister Perry because he said to me, you call
me mister Perry, and I'll tell you to call me Tyler. So,
mister Perry, I'm waiting for you to give me. I
call you by your first name, so I won't tell you.
(20:50):
Give me the permission what you're able to call him Tyler.
You are of service to not only the industry. What
I love about the partnership to me is the fact
that it shows that two powerhouses can work together on
the common goal of producing movies and television. You have
a new film that is coming out tomorrow called Ruth
(21:12):
and Boas And what in case there's somebody who has
not read their Bible, explain to us the story of
them and what we can expect from this film.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Well, I'll start with the expectation this film is going
to be your new favorite love story. It is so good.
Felicia Rashad is in it. She plays the kind of
matriarchal character called Naomi. Ruth is played by Sorea and
Boas is played by Tyler Lepley. And when you see
these two on screen, it is nothing but pure magic.
And the story is really about Ruth. You know Ruth
(21:44):
if you go back to the scripture, you know she's
a woman who's lost her mate and she goes on
a journey back to the.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Homeland of Naomi.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
And Naomi originally is like, no, I don't want you
to come with me, but Ruth says, no, I'm supposed
to help you. And so she goes back to her
homeland and Ruth has to find a way to provide
for her in Naomi, and so she goes out to
get a job and she finds herself working in the
field that is owned by Boaz and because of her
work ethic, he takes notice of her and then he
(22:15):
starts to get to know her. And the thing about
Ruth in our film is that she comes from a
very difficult background. You know, she was put in the
foster system. Her mom abandoned her when she was a
young child. She was in the foster system. She was
bounced around a lot. She you know, had a voice,
and so she found herself on the Atlanta music scene.
But there was something in her spirit that did not resonate,
(22:35):
and she felt like every time she led someone in
to her heart, there was always a tragedy or something
difficult that happened. So when she meets Boaz in our film,
she's just there to work. She's working in his vineyard.
She's just there to work and go on about her business.
But he sees a light in her and he wants
to get to know who she is. But initially she's
(22:58):
very resistant because she doesn't know she can trust it.
There's something about him that just seems too good. And
over the course of the film you start to see
her let down her walls and him also find a
safe space in her. And then there's a you know,
there's some dynamic where her past comes to haunt her
(23:18):
and her and Boaz had to figure out how they're
going to deal with it.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
But this is a story that is rooted in the word.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
The Book of Ruth, you know, is one of the
most you know, famous books in the Bible, and this
story has stood the test of time. Because what I
find so beautiful about the story, which is why I
wanted to make this movie. There's a lot of people,
you know, are out here looking for love. And when
I looked at the story, I said, Oh, this is fascinating.
Whenever we talk about Ruth or Boaz, you know, in
(23:46):
the church, it's like, oh, go find your Boaz, like
that is like every black church in the country, you know.
But the thing about this is Ruth nor Boaz went
looking for love.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
That's not what happened.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Ruth made a commitment to Naomi to be of service,
and as she fulfilled that commitment, the reward was her
being blessed with love. Boas wasn't looking for love. He
was there trying to be a good steward over the
blessing that God had given him in the form of
the fields and the things that he owned, and right
(24:20):
there he didn't have.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
To go looking. God brought her to him.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
So when you see this movie, you see two people
that the only thing they have to do is to
be open to love.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
They don't have to look for love.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
And I wanted to do a movie with this kind
of message because I see so many people that are
depressed and frustrating and angry and just wondering, you know,
when's my turn and why not me? And what I
realize is that when you're looking for something, you enhance
the absence of it instead of living in the presence
of it. Okay, you don't have to have a looking spirit,
have a receiving spirit, be ready to receive love however
(24:57):
it chooses to arise. However, what I would encourage someone
to not do, and you'll see this in the film, is,
you know, don't stop living your life. You know, don't
stop find out what is the greater good for you
and commit to that, commit to being of service, commit
to finding the value in your life. Enrich your life
right now through commitment and service. And I believe that
(25:19):
when we do that, when love does show up, we
actually actually have more to give and we don't overburden
the relationship by trying to get that person we're in
relationship with to do something for ourselves that we don't do.
So if I'm looking for love and I find you know,
my wife Maria, if I find her, let's say before like,
(25:39):
you know, what I get I find her, and I'm
not practicing loving myself, I'm not practicing contentment. Then what
I'm gonna do is I'm a demand that she does
all the things that I need her to do for
me to feel happy. Why because I'm the one that
hasn't done the work to know what happiness even looks like.
So a lot of times we're out here trying to
find someone and then we find that person and we
don't actually even know what it is. We think it's
(26:00):
their job to make us happy. No, happiness is inside job.
And so when you see this film, both of them
have to take ownership of that happiness and that love,
and then when they come together, they have something to share.
And that, to me is when people see this film.
What I'm excited about is that it shows it in
such a beautiful, tender, loving way, in a way that
(26:22):
I haven't seen in a love story in our culture
in a very long time.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Well, I definitely believe in God's timing, and that's why
I want you all to watch Ruth and boas that's
on Netflix. One thing I will say is in regards
of God's timing, you do speak about Maria, your wife,
and first of all, I havn't senior since you got married,
So congratulations, Thank the Internet with the photos. My audience
(26:47):
is largely women from all walks of life. Who what
you said about this love story Ruth and Boas is
about loving yourself first before you can really go out
there looking for love. We all know about a seer
a prayer she found Russ. Okay, I want to know
what is the Divonne Franklin prayer? Because for you, you were
(27:08):
able to find you know, love this time around. And
when you speak of Ma Maria and all the things
that she provides in your life, your face lights up.
So for those who may have gone through, you know,
a divorce or breakup of anything, what advice or.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Prayer I should say? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Should we tell ourselves in terms of being in a
place to receive that. Oftentimes what people do, unfortunately divine,
is they rush into something or they're desperate to get it.
And when I look at you, you you were a
man who was able to take his time in and
was able to you know, find love.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Yeah, yeah, you know there's a scripture that says created
me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
And when you're going.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Through something or you've been through something you just have
to pause and acknowledge is what you went through. You know,
right now, if you walk out on the street and
we're in New York and a car hits you, and
you get up from the scene of that that accident,
and you know your leg is bloody, and you know
maybe you even have a broken bone, and you start
trying to walk down the street as if nothing's wrong,
(28:17):
people gonna look at you like you're crazy. We saw
you got hit. Well, I don't want to I don't
want anybody to know. No, we all saw it. It's
okay you you can acknowledge that you're hurt, because when
you acknowledge that you're hurt, you can then actually get healing.
But if you are walking like nothing's wrong and then
you're just trying to rush down the street, what's going
(28:38):
to happen. Your injury is gonna get worse. So when
it comes to relationships, when it comes to heartbreak, we
first just have to say it happened, and it hurt,
and and and sit in that pain, sit in it
for a moment, and say, wow, that really Because what
(28:59):
we want to do is to rush. Something happens and
we don't want we don't want to feel it, we
don't want nobody know we felt it. But then we
don't actually get the benefit it could provide if we
allowed it to teach us something. So sitting in that pain,
you know when I say, creating me a clean heart
and renew a right spirit within, Lord, help me understand
(29:20):
what I can take from this pain. What does this
pain want to teach me? So then the other part
of this was sitting in it. Part of the prayer
was that, okay, Lord, give me the ability to learn
what I need to know from this. And then the
other part is, okay, Lord, the prayer is the same
grace in space that you give all of us. Lord,
(29:44):
Please give me the strength to give that to myself.
When I say grace in space, I mean hey, grace
to say, Hey, I'm hurt and I need the grace
from God to help me figure out how to move
forward and the space for myself to heal so that
I'm not you know, saying Okay, well, I've got to
(30:05):
go back out here and I've got to present this
image and I've got to do this, and I've got
to do that because people are expecting this and da
dah da da dah. And I have this image and
I need to hold the image. And so uh uh no,
that's a very's that's very tight. That's a very suffocating
place to live versus space. Like, hey, you know what, Hey,
people are going to think what they want to think.
I'm not worried about their thoughts. I'm not trying to
manipulate or manufacture anyone's opinion about me. I'm going through
(30:27):
a process where I've got a heal from what I
just went through. And in that process of healing, and
and part of healing is introspection and and and looking within,
you know.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
I mean, I have therapists.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
And life coaches and you know, journal and wrote, I mean,
and prayed and studied the world. I did so many
things and continue to do these things as it relates
to my healing journey. Yet as I did these things,
you know, the prayer was God truly creating me a
clean heart, a new heart, like renew a right spirit
(31:03):
within me, you know, Like I don't want my heart
to be hardened. I want my heart to stay open.
I want to learn from this. I want to become better.
I want to become a better individual, a better you know,
human being, more loving, more understanding, more compassionate. And as
(31:23):
I prayed that prayer and as I align my actions
with it, what began to happen is the prayers started
to get answered. Right, And so meeting Maria wasn't the
answer to the prayer. It was it was an extension
of what God was already doing. So I had started
the prayer, you know, years ago, as I was trying
(31:46):
to put the pieces of my life back together, and
then God would continuously give me answers like, Okay, here's
how you're going to feel stronger today.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Here's what's going to happen.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
And then when Maria shows up, going back to what
we even talked about earlier, because I had already been
practicing that joy, that love, that healing, that commitment to
the process, that space and that grace, Maria shows up
and I'm like, oh, okay, this is time because it
was consistent with the process that started years before I
(32:17):
even ever knew she existed. And so for me, you know,
when you talk about, you know, the prayer, the prayer
is really about the work, you know, and the work
is not a burden. It's not a burden, but it
does require effort. It does require a lot of effort,
you know, because one of the things we don't like
(32:37):
to do. We like to take selfies, but we don't
like to look at each other look at ourselves. We
like to take a selfie, but we really don't like
to look at ourselves. And when I say look at ourselves,
I'm talking about we don't like to look in the
emotional mirror and identify what's going on. It's very easy
for us to point the finger and say, well, it's
their fault, or if my boss had been this way,
(32:59):
or my mama I have been that. We love to
point the finger, but pointing the finger points it away
from what we actually have control of, which is us
coming through what I went through. The only person I
could change was me. So I instead of pointing the
finger and saying, well, you know, this person didn't do that,
and that person didn't do this. Okay, that may be true,
(33:19):
but Devin, what you're gonna do, and allowing myself to
look at myself and identify, here's what I did wrong,
Here's what I could have done better. Here are some
areas and opportunities for growth without judgment. Instead of judgment,
myself how could you be so stupid? No, no, no,
We all around this journey called life. We do the
(33:41):
best we can, but what we know when we know it,
and sometimes we're gonna look back and say, oh, well
I didn't know what I know now, so I did
the best I could at that moment. So why judge myself?
Why judge yourself? We all go through experiences and have
mistakes and things that we wish we would have done different,
but then we didn't and we get.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
A chance to learn from it.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
So you know, that was in so many different words,
that was the prayer, you know, creating me a clean
heart and renew a right spirit within me. And I
feel grateful that he has done that and continues to
do it.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
I mean, I can't even thank you enough for that.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
I mean, the words of wisdom and listen, like I said,
I know my audience and your words that you have
blessed us with is going to change their lives because
the articulation of not only the wisdom, but the spirituality
that was felt in this room, you know, from God
through you to me and subsequently to them has really
(34:46):
manifested a breakthrough. So I can't thank you, and it
really has. It really has, and I can't thank you
enough or for being here. I know you're a busy guy,
So rain Dross, make sure to go on your Netflix,
don't go on your auntie's app, don't log in through
her app. We need to make sure this is number
one okay on Netflix, So spend the twelve ninety nine
(35:09):
if you may, and make sure you all check out
Ruth and Boaz that is out on Friday.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Thank you so much to offer. You're welcome. Thank you,
my brother truly appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Reality with the King is executive produced by me Carlos King,
produced by Lizzie Nimitz, and a partnership.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
With the Lack Effect Network.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
You can also find us on my YouTube channel at
the Carlos King Underscore
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