Malcolm D. Lee on Sacrifice, Sable Bourbon, Soulmates & “The Best Man” Legacy

Malcolm D. Lee on Sacrifice, Sable Bourbon, Soulmates, “The Best Man” Legacy + More

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
What's up.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
It's way up with Angela yee. And this is indeed
a special day. We have Malcolm d Lee here with us.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Thank you for joining me, oh man, thank you for
having me.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
And this is the book release The Best Man Unfinished Business,
the first in a trilogy and your first book period.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Yeah, yeah, my first time.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
I can't believe that you did this. I remember watching.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
You do interviews for the twenty fifth anniversary of the
movie The Best Man, and you didn't mention necessarily that
there was a book coming. So when did you decide that.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Yeah, it wasn't. Then I'll tell you that I was.

Speaker 4 (00:33):
I was pretty much, you know, done with the story,
done with telling this you know, version of it, and
I said, well, the thing what happened was I knew
that people still wanted more. I didn't know what else
I needed to do, and I knew it was going
to be very difficult to bring everybody back, you know,
for the story.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
But I've always loved the written word.

Speaker 4 (00:53):
I fantasized by writing the novel, and I said, well,
here's my shot to do something that. Here's some characters
that people know, already established backstory and people want it,
so here let me take my chance of doing that.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
Was this something that just hits you or did somebody
suggest it to you and try to convince you it's funny.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
You know.

Speaker 4 (01:11):
One of my boys, he's a screenwriter, name is Malcolm Spelman.
He said, Yo, Malc, you need to go ahead and
you know, make best man books. And honestly, and I
was like, you know what, as I thought about it,
I said, that's probably a good idea because again, given
you know what I wanted to do, you know, in
the space of novel writing, I said, that's a good idea.
Let me let me give this a shot, even though

(01:32):
I don't really have time to do this because I'm trying.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
I still have a day job, you know, you.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Do have a day yeah, own company and right, and
so trying to you know, so it's like, well, let me,
let me, let me see if I can make this happen.

Speaker 4 (01:46):
And I brought on a novelist, Jane Allen, and you know,
collaborated with her to try to figure out, you know,
how I want to do this very literary thing, not
just you know, oh, let me just make this so
I can like translate it into film and television. That
that's not the purpose of it, the purposes to make it,
to make a book.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
You know, it's interesting because in this book, one of
the things that's happening early on, so it's no spoiler,
but Tay Diggs's character, well, I can't. Harper is working
hard at trying to figure out what he's going to
write as well. That's correct, and so it's kind of
a parallel universe. How was that process for you trying
to figure out where was this story going?

Speaker 1 (02:25):
It wasn't that difficult, to tell you the truth.

Speaker 4 (02:28):
I mean, I thought, like, okay, I knew like the
arcs of the characters, at least the first three, and
that's Harper, Robin, and Jordan.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
And you know where they were living at what stage.

Speaker 3 (02:37):
Of their life Harper, Robin, Jordan.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
Yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 4 (02:40):
We're that proudly. So you know, I wanted to say,
see what life was like post divorce, you know for
Harper and Robin. You know, Robin has moved off to Ghana,
you know, is raising their their preteen daughter. Harper's living
that bachelor life in Dumbo in Brooklyn, you know, trying.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
To figure out life.

Speaker 4 (02:59):
But he also kind of feels look kicked out of
his life and same with Jordan likes she's had to
kind of like take herself out of the whole corporate
structure as well as kind of just distance herself from Harbor.
So you know, I felt, Okay, that's a good starting
place for all three of them and what is life
like for them at this point going forward.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
So it wasn't that difficult.

Speaker 4 (03:20):
And once, especially once once I started like thinking about
how it's gonna tell the.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
Story, but it's also a trilogy, so you have to
map out what's gonna happen.

Speaker 4 (03:28):
Yeah, it's funny because honestly, what we were planning on,
or what I was planning on, was like ending this
you know novel with just these three characters, and then
we would tell the other characters perspectives each each just
want to back up for a second.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
Each chapter is a character's perspective, their.

Speaker 4 (03:48):
Own POV and we we we experienced it through them,
and I was planning on doing that with the with
the with the next novel with you know, where we
experienced the POV of Lance and Quentin and Uh and
Lance New Broad Jasmine and you know, Merchant Candice. But
as fate will have, as stories dictate, you know, we

(04:10):
did not end Harper, Robin and Jordan's story here. We
kept it going, so they're gonna be continuing. We knew
they were going to be continuing in the other books,
but not in a way that we ended up being.
So it's gonna be very much a clipphanger the end
of this book.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
Let's say a character like Harper was your friend in
real life and he was like, who do you think
I should choose?

Speaker 3 (04:31):
Right? Should I go with my wife?

Speaker 1 (04:34):
Well?

Speaker 3 (04:34):
Ex wife? Now who I do?

Speaker 1 (04:36):
Still?

Speaker 3 (04:37):
I messed that up? Like he definitely dropped the ball there.
She was like his rock.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
She's the person that advises him on things, his support system, right.
You know, it felt like he was better when she
was in his life or Jordan, who arguably might be
his soulmates.

Speaker 1 (04:53):
You know, what would I tell Harper to do.

Speaker 4 (04:55):
I'd say, like search your feelings, like, you know, think
about this, like, you know, spend some time. You know,
you know you you you spend a lot of time
and built a life with Robin. You know, are you
and Jordan still compatible?

Speaker 1 (05:08):
Are you compatible? Now? You know?

Speaker 4 (05:10):
Why don't you ever take the chance? You know, I'm
not gonna say, like, oh, choose this person choose that.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
I'm like, I'm.

Speaker 4 (05:15):
Team Whoever, right, Like there's a lot of Team Harp,
there's a lot of Teams Jordan's a lot of Team
Robin out there.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
And I think that's a very healthy debate.

Speaker 3 (05:22):
Do you believe in soulmates?

Speaker 4 (05:25):
I think yes, kind of. I don't know, like it's
it's it's a that's an interesting question. Do I believe
in it? I kind of do at least I think
that that people want that people you know, see that,
you know, for themselves.

Speaker 1 (05:41):
I don't know if it's how.

Speaker 3 (05:42):
Real it is, I mean, and that we have just one.

Speaker 1 (05:46):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (05:47):
I think I think people are in your in your
life for you know, for a reason or a season
or whatever. And I think that that that that happens,
like you know that people are in your in your
They're they're gonna be in your life for a journey,
right and like are does the journey end with that person?

Speaker 1 (05:59):
Does it continued? Does it? You know? Uh? You do?
You learn something from that?

Speaker 4 (06:03):
And I think you're going to learn something from every
experience about who you are as a person, who you
are as a couple, and.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
What you have to be committed to.

Speaker 4 (06:11):
Is you know the long term of you know, your
your your religship together and you're.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
Also growing individually.

Speaker 4 (06:20):
So it's like, I don't know, man, like I think
that that that that there's you know, there's romance and
there's fantasy and there's this idea of soulmates and whatnot. Well,
you know, it's because it's like people want to believe
in that, right, And I think it's you have to
also be realistic about like what your expectations are and
you know who you think you are as as a

(06:40):
person and who you are evolving to be because we'll
never stopped.

Speaker 3 (06:43):
Changing, right, You're right. So I'm not quite sure if
you believe in.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
I don't know if I do.

Speaker 4 (06:49):
I mean I think I think a part of me
used to used to believe in that, and I think for.

Speaker 1 (06:53):
The purpose of this story, yes I do believe in soulmates.

Speaker 3 (06:57):
Yeah, that's interesting, you know.

Speaker 2 (07:00):
So I feel like in this book, as people read it,
they'll see a lot of just storylines of people they
could relate to if not for themselves. Like we all
know somebody who's lost a wife, as Lance obviously lost
the love of his life and has had to move
on and we're happy for him in that space. That's
not an easy thing for a person to be able

(07:21):
to do when they lost somebody that they love as
much as he loved Mia, Right, So we're happy to
see him just kind of like get through that find
somebody else who's compatible, because sometimes sometimes you think that's it, Like.

Speaker 4 (07:34):
Yeah, and we're going to explore that, you know, in
the next book with Lance and Jazz and there and
they're you know, dynamic and see what what that you know,
because Jasmine is not Mia, he may you know, and
of course Lance, you know, has kind of very traditional
values about what he thinks, you know, a wife should
be and whatnot.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
He's evolved over the years, but you know, some of
those he had to, Yeah, he had to and and.

Speaker 4 (07:57):
But and some of those, you know, those things are
something that know, he has to work through still, so
you know, and then he's in a different stage of
his life.

Speaker 1 (08:03):
He's not he's not a pro athlete anymore. He's a
coach now.

Speaker 4 (08:06):
So and he's raising four children and like, you know,
one of the children is non binary, and so how
are you going to navigate all those things? We want
to dive deeper to that in the second book. But
this book, we get we get a glance, a glimpse
of what's happening with Lance, and I think, yeah, that's
what's so great about having this great ensemble of characters
to tell, you know, further stories and dive deeper. And

(08:28):
you know, as I get mature, more mature, and these
characters get more mature, we get into some more.

Speaker 1 (08:34):
A greater depth of of of character.

Speaker 2 (08:36):
Now you also talk about Robin moving to a Crah
and Ghana, right, and you actually had to travel there
in order to be more connected to that experience of
what she's going through.

Speaker 1 (08:47):
It's interesting.

Speaker 4 (08:48):
Yeah, I you know, we were wrote the first draft
of it, you know, before I went to Ghana, and
just try to say, okay, like you know, let me
see what lively you look at and you're looking online,
you're looking at you know what you know with pictures
and but you can't really get a you know, a
sense of place and you go there, right, So like
I went there last November.

Speaker 1 (09:07):
It was last I'm sorry October and then.

Speaker 4 (09:09):
Into November for about a week and you know, just
fully absorbed, you know what, not fully absorbed.

Speaker 1 (09:15):
You can't fully absorb something in a week.

Speaker 4 (09:16):
But I got a good taste of you know, what
it was like for an expatriot or what they like
to call it, returnees on the continent.

Speaker 1 (09:25):
And so that was a great experience.

Speaker 4 (09:26):
She's having a very kind of new spiritual awakening.

Speaker 3 (09:31):
I do love that for her though.

Speaker 1 (09:33):
Yeah there too, that's right.

Speaker 2 (09:35):
And to see the way that because we that was
also in the series. You know, people got to keep
up on everything because I feel like this isn't a
standalone situation. If you read when you read this book,
not if when you read this book, that's right, thank you.
You have to make sure that you revisit if you
you know, or make sure that you have the background
on what happened prior to how we got here.

Speaker 4 (09:55):
Yeah, I think that that fans who are familiar with
it the characters are going to love this book, and
those who even aren't familiar with the characters are going
to love the book.

Speaker 1 (10:05):
I think it's you know, it's well written.

Speaker 4 (10:07):
You know, I think it's it's it's it's robust, it's
it's propulsive, it's you know, it's got romance, it's got sex,
it's got you know, uh, a mature adult themes happening
in it.

Speaker 1 (10:18):
And I think it's a it's a book that people
are going to be entertained.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
By, Yes, men faking orgasms in here?

Speaker 3 (10:25):
Who does that?

Speaker 1 (10:27):
What? What self respecting men?

Speaker 2 (10:30):
I have to imagine that men have every man has
at some point done that if he just it's not
going to happen, just like for women. I don't think
probably as much. I don't know that to be a fact.

Speaker 1 (10:43):
But have you ever been with a partner that faked it?

Speaker 2 (10:45):
I mean, if he faked it good enough, I shouldn't
be able to know. But I have to imagine that
at some point, because there has to be times when
maybe it just isn't going to happen.

Speaker 1 (10:54):
Right, Well, I don't know.

Speaker 4 (10:56):
I mean, you know, if it's not gonna happen, then
then the equipment will often fail. But I mean, you know,
if you're faking it, then it's I think it's it's
it's one of those things where it's like, I don't
want to do this anymore, I'm done.

Speaker 2 (11:06):
But is that because sometimes it could be for whatever reason,
it could be good because it didn't seem like he
wasn't having a good time.

Speaker 3 (11:14):
It could be good.

Speaker 2 (11:14):
But maybe it's just like for some reason I can't
get to the finish line. Maybe there's a lot of
things on your mind.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
You know, I'm sure that that that that could happen.

Speaker 2 (11:23):
And a real conversation guys are having now is about
the whole like not orgasming on purpose.

Speaker 1 (11:29):
Oh yeah, you know, there's a.

Speaker 3 (11:31):
Lot of men today.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
I feel like we've had that discussion with a few
different artists, Yeah, who are like they don't do it
to they just hold back and they don't finish, and
that's like a practice that they're doing. What is it
called again, Oh yeah, seemen retention. Kevin Gay said it.
Joey Badass said it as well. Yeah, that's the more
you know, what is this book is like timely too.

Speaker 3 (11:54):
I feel like as you're reading.

Speaker 2 (11:55):
It, it feels like it was really written like today.
You can tell just from some that things like it's
you know, after COVID, it's the whole going to Ghana,
which I feel like a lot of people now are
having those conversations about building, buying land, starting businesses.

Speaker 4 (12:10):
You know, Ghana and across specifically, you know, is a
country and a city that's on the rise, and I
think a lot of people are, you know, seeing the
value in going back to their motherland and returning there
and and you know built you know, bringing back you
know what we've learned here and you know, building up

(12:30):
the country has it's been you know, things have been
taken taken from them, including people. So I you know,
I think for Robin's journey, you know, she was not
just you know, disgruntled with her marriage, but she's also
disgruntled with the country that she.

Speaker 1 (12:44):
Was living in. She didn't want to fight anymore.

Speaker 4 (12:46):
She wanted to like be in a place where she
wasn't being judged by her skin color and her hair
texture and just wanted to be you know, just wanted
to be a person.

Speaker 1 (12:54):
And she's able to then she's.

Speaker 4 (12:55):
Found that in in living in in in Ghana, and
you know she to you know, open a restaurant, which
is that's that you know, really kind of gets her
creative juices flowing. You know, it's a little bit more
difficult on the business side for her, but you know
she is managing to balance that and.

Speaker 1 (13:14):
You know, attract a new love interest.

Speaker 3 (13:16):
Right right. I'm not going to give that part away because.

Speaker 2 (13:21):
I'm not all right anyway, but I do want to
talk about the journey also that Jordan Is on having
left her high profile job at MSNBC and now pitching
her own projects, which I think was great. And there's
one part in here hold on because I definitely.

Speaker 3 (13:36):
Oh, this is the wrong one bookmark.

Speaker 2 (13:37):
I bookmarked it because I do feel like this is
just so relevant to conversations you know that we're having
today where she's pitching an idea for a show that
she wants to do, And she said, I know how
it feels to stress, the anxiety, the taking on of
other's expectations of what they know or think a strong
black woman is, and having this feeling that you have
to overachieve, you have to represent, you have to live

(13:58):
up to a standard, and no other women in society
have to contend with. We get questioned by everyone, not
only from other women, white women, white men, black men,
but nobody cares. And she said, when I went temporarily
blind three years ago, I brushed it off. I didn't
prioritize my health. I felt like that was just really powerful,
thinking about how as black women we have to show
up to work.

Speaker 3 (14:17):
You have to be better than everybody.

Speaker 2 (14:19):
You have to make sure that you don't get too emotional,
you have to make sure that if you come across
as strong, they might also think that you're a problematic. Yeah,
just so many different things that black women have to
contend with. I just thought all of these things are
just so timely.

Speaker 1 (14:32):
Well it is.

Speaker 4 (14:33):
It's like it, look, you know, we had a viable
candidate for the United States presidents who was like, you know,
at all the qualifications, right, and they.

Speaker 3 (14:42):
Still act like she was a DEI person.

Speaker 4 (14:44):
Yeah, it's like what like, and black women have done
their job to try to saved American democracy for decades, right,
And so it's like Robin and Jordan are both like
to say, you know what, I'm gonna take care of
me on this journey with this book. They're going to
take care of themselves and put themselves first, put themselves
on the list.

Speaker 3 (15:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (15:06):
I just was like, because certain things, you know, I
think and as I asked, I'm going to ask you
this too, but I think about what character do I
relate to the moment it's that well, yeah, you know,
I would say definitely Jordan somebody that is very career oriented.
But also now she's living in Malibu, She's wants to
do things on her own term. She's thinking about legacy,

(15:26):
what's next? How do I make sure I live this
great life, but also just really cautious about other things,
like you know, not wanting to just jump out there.

Speaker 1 (15:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (15:36):
No, Like you know, Jordan's always led with her head, right,
She's never been wont to lead with her heart, and
that's been to her detriment, you know sometimes, And now
she's in therapy about that. And she's also you know, like,
you know, she wants to she wants she gave you
a her high profile job, and she's you know, again
put us up first. And at this point in her life,
you know, she's like dealing with you know that, but

(15:59):
also thinking, like there's a poll still of the grind.
She's I've never known anything but the grind. So she's like, oh,
I do want something for myself. I do want to
get back out there and and and.

Speaker 1 (16:09):
And try to like work again.

Speaker 4 (16:12):
But you know, at the same time, she also needs
to and wants to find love.

Speaker 3 (16:17):
What do you who do you resonate with the most?

Speaker 1 (16:19):
You would say, it's funny. People are gonna say.

Speaker 3 (16:23):
They're gonna have an assumption the I think is.

Speaker 4 (16:25):
That it's harper or merch or you know. But but
it's really it's it's all the characters. But I've always
said that, like Jordan is some money, that that is
in my brain. Also, I don't, you know, I have
gotten married and I've got children, and I've got you know,
both a life with somebody, so you know, I'm not
not that far so. And I think that I relate
to all the characters because I've you know, they've been

(16:47):
me at some point, or I've been around people like this,
you know, and are friends with folks like this.

Speaker 2 (16:52):
Just thinking about Harper and how he's selfish in many ways,
I wonder if to be a writer, you think you
have to be a little selfish.

Speaker 1 (17:00):
Yeah, to be.

Speaker 4 (17:01):
An artist, you have to be selfish, you know, you
have to, like you know, it takes a lot out
of you. You're giving so much of yourself to the page,
to the screen, to the you know, to the to
the canvas whatever, like you know, it's it is you
have to find that balance though, you know, if you
if you hope to have relationships, and I think you
know that is also part of life and in deepening

(17:22):
your artistry is to have experiences and and to have
relationships with people. So but yeah, there is a certain
level of selfishes that has to come along with being
an artist, a writer, or an author, a filmmaker or
an actor that you know, but at the same time,
you do.

Speaker 1 (17:38):
Have to find a balance. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (17:39):
I was going to ask you how have you found
that balance, because that is a job that you've had
from a very young age.

Speaker 1 (17:44):
Yeah. Yeah, it's just.

Speaker 4 (17:47):
You know, trial and error, you know, and having a
very understanding partner, you know, and someone that's that's supportive
of me, and it's somebody that like is in my
corner and encourages me to like pursue my dreams and
pursue things. But at the same time saying, hey, coming
off the trash and take the kids in school, and
I got to talk to for me, won't you schedule this?

Speaker 1 (18:07):
And noa da da da.

Speaker 4 (18:08):
So you know, it is a balance, right, And so like,
you know, I've lived and learned and I've a very
you know, understanding partner in my life since since we
were twenty four.

Speaker 2 (18:23):
It's you know, do you think it's a luxury to
have had your life just kind of like from when
you were young, you knew what you wanted to do professionally. Yeah,
And the first ever movie you did, ends up being
a number one at the box office film. And then
you've been with your wife since you were you know,
early twenties, been married. There's like a certain level of
like your life is you know, some people are trying

(18:45):
to figure it out later.

Speaker 1 (18:46):
And yeah, I've been very fortunate.

Speaker 3 (18:48):
Yeah, I mean that's amazing.

Speaker 1 (18:50):
No, it happened in a great way. You know. Is
that what I don't even know? Right, but that's not
would right, Okay, we'll knock on something anyway. I've been fortunate.
You know, I.

Speaker 4 (19:01):
Come from a grounded family. I'm a grounded individual, and
so and my soul is my wife were both Earth signs,
so like we were very yes, Capricorn and my wife
from Virgo.

Speaker 1 (19:12):
So it's like, you know, so we we fit very
well together.

Speaker 4 (19:16):
And you know, again she's been very supportive of me
in the entire time. And you know, I would not
have my success that I have if I don't have
her support.

Speaker 1 (19:24):
In her my life.

Speaker 2 (19:25):
And your father is a musician, yes, and usually you
hear stories about like, you know, musicians and being on
the road and things.

Speaker 1 (19:32):
Like that, and no, but he was a school teacher.

Speaker 4 (19:35):
Okay, you know, so like you know, My father is
also very practical individual, right, Okay, he took care of
his family.

Speaker 1 (19:41):
He made sure that like his kids were provided for.

Speaker 4 (19:44):
That we had a house in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, that
you know, and along with my mom like they you know,
they both a life together and made sure there was
stability there.

Speaker 2 (19:54):
What are a great creative fan? What are family reunions
like in gatherings?

Speaker 3 (19:57):
For you?

Speaker 2 (19:58):
You know, because I know you worked with your cousin
Spike Lee early on in your career. I believe you
said he told you to make black tell black stories.

Speaker 4 (20:06):
Well, he said make black film, you know, whenever he
would whenever he would because he always have a companion
book to all his movies. He'd write in it, make
black film, Malcolm, you know, and then you know, send
that to me and to go off to school, you know,
and so you know, yeah, I mean, you know, we
don't we we The family reunions are kind of like
you know, we see each other from here here here,

(20:29):
from time to time here and there, and you know,
it's been great that he has been a leader and
a mentor for me. Know, he lived in my parents'
basement when when he was in film school, so I
got and I had no idea that I was like
wanted to go and that that film was even an
option when I was growing up. But he always encouraged
me to write and to write stories. And the only
way I went able was able to make.

Speaker 1 (20:50):
My first movie was to write the right script at
the right time.

Speaker 4 (20:52):
So, you know, being a storyteller, being somebody that's somebody
that enjoyed writing from an early age. You know, I
knew that I was going to make my way in
the world by being a storyteller. And you know this
is just another example of that with this, with this.

Speaker 3 (21:04):
Novel and the Best Man.

Speaker 2 (21:06):
I remember you also had said when you first wrote
that you had another story you were actually trying to sell. Yeah,
and it wasn't resonating at that time, so you figured,
let me do something commercial.

Speaker 4 (21:17):
What happened was, I was I had this this great
romantic comedy that I was trying to tell, this great
New York story like in the Vein of Annie Hall
and when Harry met Sally. This you know, this this
very organic love story, but it was very funny. But
you know, I couldn't get the money. I couldn't raise
the money to make it, so I said, Okay, I'm
going to write something so commercial that I'm going to

(21:37):
sell it and use that money to make my indie movie.
And when I was in the midst of writing it,
and I titled it My Homeboy's Wedding to Begin, but
I knew that.

Speaker 1 (21:46):
Was never going to be the title.

Speaker 4 (21:48):
But I started writing, I was like, oh, I can
direct this, right, And so you know, that was and
it was funny because that was the script that you know,
the Spiker read every one of my scripts, but when I.

Speaker 1 (21:59):
Gave him that, he was like, this is the one.

Speaker 4 (22:01):
Oh wow, yeah, and it was like, you know, within
like a month, I was going to meet the heads
of Columbia Studios.

Speaker 3 (22:08):
So whatever happened with that first movie.

Speaker 1 (22:10):
It's still on the shelf collecting dust.

Speaker 2 (22:13):
Is that something that you think one day you could
me repackage? Because I would, I think that would love
to know what that is.

Speaker 4 (22:20):
I've gone it's called Feast and Famine, and I've come.
I've gone back to it a couple of times. Maybe
I'm making a novel.

Speaker 1 (22:26):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (22:26):
You know, oh yeah, because now you are an author.

Speaker 4 (22:29):
Listen, listen, you got you gotta have you gotta be
very diversified in this day and age, you know, you
can't you can't just stick to one thing.

Speaker 3 (22:36):
How much do you think it would cost to make
this now?

Speaker 2 (22:38):
Because those characters that you had in the original Best Man,
I mean at Terrence Howard. That was Regina Hall's first
movie that she ever was in.

Speaker 3 (22:47):
She's been thriving.

Speaker 2 (22:48):
I love her as a human beings, you know, Nia
Long just think about like these younger It's kind of
like what was that movie The Outsiders where everybody ended
up being real famous and it's kind of like, what
this is everything?

Speaker 3 (23:01):
Diggs?

Speaker 1 (23:02):
It's the Black Pack.

Speaker 3 (23:03):
Yeah, the Black Pack. What do you think it would cus?

Speaker 2 (23:05):
Like what if you had to go to a studio
and be like, here's the budget to do Unfinished Business?

Speaker 1 (23:11):
Well?

Speaker 2 (23:12):
Where in Paro starring in from I love that series.
I watched I'm waiting for the new season to start, right.

Speaker 4 (23:18):
Morris not doing yes? And you know, like, look, I
think it's one of the reasons to write the book.
You know, it's kind of cost prohibitive. It might be
Ai we well we're in We're in four different you
know cities, we're on two different continents. That just like that,
you can't do that you know and and and hope
to be you know successful and to keep it, you know,

(23:40):
keep a budget and to make something that actually displays
nicely on screen. So you know, this allows people to
like have the experience of being with these characters and
be with these with this friend group and going to
different locales.

Speaker 1 (23:53):
So you know, a movie like this, I don't even
want to christ tag on it. It would be it
would be high.

Speaker 3 (24:01):
How much The Best Man was? How much to make?

Speaker 1 (24:03):
The first one was nine million dollars?

Speaker 3 (24:05):
Ooh, okay, first one was nine million dollars.

Speaker 4 (24:07):
The amazing one was seventeen I want to say, sixteen nineteen,
something like that.

Speaker 3 (24:13):
Seventeen I think, yeah, well that price.

Speaker 1 (24:15):
Boy, yeah, yesterday's price is not today's price.

Speaker 2 (24:18):
And you also have this bourbon which I'm so excited
to try, Sable.

Speaker 3 (24:21):
So tell us the story behind this.

Speaker 1 (24:23):
You've got to try Sable.

Speaker 4 (24:24):
So it actually it was born out of you know,
the Best Man in the relationships that I cultivated there.
You know, when we did Best Man final chapters for Peacock,
you know, there was always a brown spirit, you know
during when the fellas would get together play cards or
hang out or what have you. And so Harold Parano
was like, hey, you know, why don't we do our
own you.

Speaker 1 (24:44):
Know, liquor.

Speaker 4 (24:45):
And I was like, you think and he's like yeah,
So you know, he myself more chef's nut Tay Diggs
came together. We approached Bespoken Spirits and they loved the idea.
And you know, everything from the color, the flavor, the packaging,
the bottle, it was all us and we all you know,
agreed on what it should be. And really it's kind

(25:07):
of a culmination of like kind of like our friendship.
I mean, these all those dudes were at my wedding,
you know, for example, you know, and like this.

Speaker 1 (25:15):
You know, we're very integral and started my career.

Speaker 4 (25:18):
So you know, it made sense for us to keep
working together and to you know, show something and and
let people experience the book outside of it, you know,
with with something they can you know, share with other
with other people.

Speaker 3 (25:31):
I cannot wait to try that.

Speaker 1 (25:33):
It's very smooth.

Speaker 3 (25:34):
How was your bachelor party?

Speaker 1 (25:36):
Great?

Speaker 4 (25:38):
Fun, good times, good time, never to be spoken about again.

Speaker 3 (25:44):
It just made me think of the movie.

Speaker 4 (25:45):
Okay, my bachelor party was not as team not as
the one in the in the Best Man.

Speaker 3 (25:53):
Okay, we'll say we'll leave it at that. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (25:57):
And then also Blackmails Production Production is your production company.

Speaker 3 (26:01):
I love the name of it too. It's black male
like M A L E. D.

Speaker 1 (26:05):
That's correct.

Speaker 4 (26:06):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, listen that that's been
my mantra. That's been my you know, my mission to
normalize black life in America.

Speaker 1 (26:14):
Number one.

Speaker 4 (26:15):
Number two really about black men, really making sure that
black men are humanized in a way that that that
feels authentic and real. And that's what, you know, that's
the stories I like to tell, whether it's you know,
friendship or fatherhood or or what have you, your brotherhood.

Speaker 1 (26:30):
You know, I really want to you know, display that kind.

Speaker 4 (26:34):
Of those kind of stories and that and I can
that starts from you know, moves and television and now
into into books.

Speaker 2 (26:42):
What would you tell an aspiring screenwriter thinking about how
you got your start and the first movie debut that
you did was number one at the box office. You know,
clearly you just went out there and made it happen.
And sometimes that's hard for people to do and get
out of their own way. But if somebody it's a
different and age, Now, what would you tell an aspiring

(27:03):
screenwriter you got to just.

Speaker 4 (27:04):
Keep writing, you know, like you know that The Best
Man was my sixth screenplay that I've ever written. The
other five, you know, still collecting dust or they're in
a digital file somewhere, you know what I mean. So like,
you know, you're not gonna, you know, hit it out
the park the first time. You know, it just doesn't.
It doesn't happen because this this thing as an overnight success.
You got to keep working at your craft. And what
I would say is, when you know, I was very

(27:25):
intentional about how I was writing The Best Man. Again,
I was trying to write something very commercial, and what
was I looking at in the marketplace at the time,
wedding movies very popular. I knew I could bring something
to that genre with what I want to say about
black men and black men's relationships and college dedicated black men.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
And so I was like, Okay, I can.

Speaker 4 (27:44):
I can set it over a three day weekend, because
that's what how the wedding's gonna be. And you got
the trappings of what a wedding as you gave your
natural set pieces the wedding, the reception, the rehearsal, dinner,
bachelor party. Okay, you do all these things, and so
again it was very intended. So I think for aspiring
film makers, they got to look at what's being what's
popular out there.

Speaker 1 (28:04):
And also what is missing. And I think there's a
lot of you know, there's there's a space right.

Speaker 4 (28:08):
Now for young people to make their generational movie right now,
you know, because like where's that, Where's the super Bad
for this generation? Where's the Breakfast Club for this generation? Yeah?
And I think that there's a lane for it and
somebody that there's somebody's going to crack the code and
make it.

Speaker 1 (28:24):
And I'm hoping I'm going to be producing it.

Speaker 2 (28:25):
Yeah, well you know, you know where to go, guys blackmailed?
All right, Well, thank you so much for doing me.
I'm so happy that we were able to do this.
The book is available, The Best Man Unfinished Business, the
first in a trilogy.

Speaker 3 (28:38):
It is.

Speaker 2 (28:39):
You know, it's a fun read, especially when you love
having watched the first two movies the series, but.

Speaker 4 (28:45):
You don't have to have seen it. In fact, my my,
what's so weird? My co author Jane now, her dad,
he's a doctor. He reads nothing but like medical journals.
He picked the book. He couldn't stop reading he'd never
seen the movie.

Speaker 1 (28:57):
It's amazing, and he was just like, this is incredible.

Speaker 3 (29:00):
Relate to somebody or something, without a doubt.

Speaker 1 (29:02):
My first pick up the book, pre order now.

Speaker 3 (29:05):
And don't fake your orgasms.

Speaker 1 (29:07):
Yeah, don't do that.

Speaker 3 (29:10):
Thank you, Malcolm de Ley. I appreciate.

Speaker 1 (29:12):
Thank you. ANGELA way up.