May 21, 2025 • 35 mins
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Tony Gibson isn't just an actor, he's a creative force who morphs into his characters with an unrivaled intensity. As he reveals in our conversation, this transformative approach stems from his early days in metal music scenes, where he discovered a personal philosophy that now permeates his artistic expression across film, music, and literature.
Follow us on IG @nolafilmscene, @kodaksbykojack, and @tjsebastianofficial. Check out our 48 Hour Film Project short film Waiting for Gateaux: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5pFvn4cd1U . & check out our website: nolafilmscene.com
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, my name is Tony Gibson.
I'm an actor, writer, director,producer and author as well.
I'm happy to be on NOLA FilmScene.
Welcome to NOLA.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Film Scene with TJ Plato.
I'm TJ and, as always, I'mPlato.
All right, welcome back to NOLAFilm Scene.
I'm here with my friend, tonyGibson.
Tony, thanks for joining us.
It's been a long time coming.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Yeah, yeah, it has.
Appreciate you guys having meon the show Finally here.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
We are indeed Finally here.
Took a little bit of scheduling, but that's what happens when
you're busy and successful,right?
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Yeah, it's something like that.
I'm just like every day is ablessing for me, man.
It's one way or another.
If it's fame that comes, orsuccess, great you know.
If not, I'm just going to loveand live life, man.
It's like I think that is atreasure in itself, you know.
But yeah, again, thank you guysfor having me on the show, for
(00:56):
sure.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
So we've got a few things to unpack here.
You've got a movie that you'reworking on, a book based on the
movie.
You're an actor, director,producer, musician, published
author.
Have I left anything out?
Speaker 1 (01:12):
mad how many hats.
Yeah, that's good though.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah, it's an inspiration, yeah, you know for
sure, thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Thank you.
Yeah, I do music and stuff aswell, I believe and like
producing, and that's a littlebit of an add on to that.
But, to be honest, it's likedirecting film is so much more
involved than it is just actingfor a film, you know so.
(01:38):
When you're acting in a film,it's pretty cut and chase.
It's like you show up, you knowyour lines, you have a couple
of different proposals to giveto your director.
What works, what doesn't.
Chemistry-wise, you have alittle bit of wood room to play
with to make it look or feel theway it should feel with acting.
(01:59):
Directing, that's another story.
Directing is if anybody elsethe 30 or 40 people are lost or
something is going haywire,you're the one they come to on
top of everything that you'retrying to accomplish creatively
right.
So it's, it's a, it's a, it's anight and day experience, but
yet it's.
It's all a good experience whenyou, when you know you've got
(02:23):
the right ammunition to go withright music.
For me, though, I'll be behonest, there's something I've
kind of comes full circle backaround to, and that's where I
began my journey, so to speak.
So to come back full circle,back around to music, it's.
It's rewarding really, is thatto just like be back in that
(02:44):
moment where you left a piece ofyourself in the shadow and with
that kind of being said andbeing an author, this to me is
opening up more channels for meto orchestrate.
It's like an orchestra.
So, yeah, I'm excited.
I'm excited to have the bookbecome a movie.
(03:06):
I I think I've had my my daywith independent.
I love independent filmperspective in the highest
matter and highest form, becausethat is the greatest school.
But immortal limitations willnot be an indie film.
Yeah, they won't be.
I've set the standard too highfor 20 plus years experience.
So doing what'm doing, yeah,and I'm just going all out on
(03:29):
this one.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
So yeah, and with the way the film industry is
starting to dwindle in the NewOrleans area lately, especially
since the strike, yeah, it'sgood to see projects like this
come along.
I know I'm friends with quite afew people that have already
signed on to your project andthat's a great thing to see
(03:51):
people getting work out of it.
So when you and I talked before, when we were getting to know
each other a little bit, youstarted with music in high
school and then the love forperforming kind of progressed
from there, right.
You did theater in addition tothe music?
Did you start theater in highschool, or was it after high
(04:13):
school when you started gettinginvolved with that?
Speaker 1 (04:15):
A little bit after high school.
High school I was in trouble alittle bit.
You know, more than the averagebear.
I think I had to get pastseveral things with anger.
You know things I had withinmyself that music actually
helped to relieve.
It was its own medicine for me.
So you know starting mosh pitsand you know being among people
(04:39):
who created the same vibe toother people who didn't
understand it metal, it was justanger or that it was.
You know insanity.
You know people just being outthere doing what they're doing
in a pit, but then there was aformula and an understanding to
it that came along with tom.
And after being in the pit, youknow there were people who were
(04:59):
a little bitty, that probablydidn't belong there, but the
moment they fell down you hadthis huge guy helping them up,
you know, and if you got he hadyou know girls just there having
fun and she gets felt up.
You had somebody coming inthere and, like you know,
spearing the guy.
You know it's a matter, it's amutual respect.
Yeah, there's nothing about itwas an anger release.
(05:20):
In the same sense, it wassomething that you, you felt
unified.
It was like a unity is what itwas it's like to me, like
buffaloes running together yeahyou know, that's kind of what it
, what it symbolized to me on alike a native american way, you
know.
So, yeah, it was its ownhealing medicine for me back
(05:43):
then, you know, which helped toget me to where I am today.
And, like you said, it's likefor theater.
Theater came at a time when Iwas no longer performing in
front of, like you know, people.
In that aspect, you know, Icame from wearing the long
(06:04):
dreadlocks and in mosh pittingto do what I was doing to kind
of being suddenly a family man,you know.
And that changed a lot ofthings for me when my daughters
started, you know, my daughterswere born, almost took a small
hiatus away from being so angry,I had more reason, reason to
(06:24):
love being a father.
So from there, that's kind of,you know, within that time
period of my life between mebeing a metalhead and then me
being a father, that's probablywhen I went into theater.
Theater for me was a chance toget back to some kind of relived
(06:45):
.
You know, reviving this, thisperson that I used to used to be
in a different method, causeI've always, I was always
fascinated by acting, you know,always fascinated.
But I'm just like you know howdo I get in here and and and get
my feet wet and find out what'syou know what this is all about
Ended my feet with and find outwhat's you know what this is
(07:07):
all about ended up going to asmall college and actually got
involved with theater production, several of them.
Then, right off the top of thehat, I had to, like, become a
1930s cop, and then the old man,within 25, 20 minutes of each
other, roughly, you know, it'smy first gig and I'm like wow,
how'd I go about this, you know.
(07:27):
But it was a great experienceto live in that moment that I
felt say I felt I felt alive ina different way than than
performing in front of people,but it was something that was
fulfilling.
You know it was.
I was becoming these peopleplaying these people, and then I
had my professor, who wasactually there to teach me, tell
(07:49):
me that, look, you belong infilm.
And he's like he really reallywent out of his way.
He's like you remind me ofJohnny Depp.
I'm like, wow, that's way abovewhere I'm trying to be, you
know, way above where I'm tryingto be, you know, and like he's
like.
But john depp scares me.
I'm like he scares you.
I'm like, why, why, why is that?
I didn't get the connectionuntil later?
(08:11):
He's like well, he's likebecause he's, he's involved so
much into what it's no longerwords on the script for him.
He's actually like morphedhimself into these people, these
, these characters, in a fun way, and I guess that's something I
attached onto myself.
I was diving deep into who thesepeople were and I was having
(08:33):
fun with it.
I was having fun with theirbody language being different
and everything being differentabout my voice or their body or
the way they would walk into aroom.
That's acting for me issomething that's somewhere on
that caliber of understanding.
You've got to walk into thisunderstanding.
Not everybody will love you.
(08:55):
Some people might hate you,hate your acting.
Some people might love you andthink you're incredible.
You're going to get the best ofboth worlds in this and what
I've learned by doing what I'mdoing is to not take too much to
heart whether it's good or bad.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
You know it can't be so good that it's swelling your
head to where you are.
You think you know everythingis.
You know you're way abovenormal people.
You can't think like that, youknow, or that you're way above
normal people.
You can't think like that, orthat you're way, way underneath
because somebody kicked your ego.
I mean, you've got to have thebalance of both.
(09:34):
So to me that's understandingwho.
That goes back to my music days, where it's like it was a place
of rage where I was coming from, but I found the place of peace
inside the rage.
That was something else thatwas happening with both film,
with writing, with doingeverything I was doing.
(09:57):
I was finding the peace and therage, and that's what I do with
characters.
I morph into these people.
Yeah, that's part of my, Iguess, my transformation.
Some people I guess they havethe schooling or the technique
to shut it on, shut it off.
I can't, I don't possess that.
I have to morph it intosomething else yeah like I'm a
(10:18):
carpenter, I'm this, I'm several, I'm an artist in yeah, but I
have to morph it into somethingelse.
Yeah, this can't just like shutit off.
Yeah, you know as the morph, so, but that's, that's just me,
that's my thing.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
I can see it too.
So you and I have met in persona few different times film
festivals and meeting for coffeeto talk about projects, meeting
for coffee to talk aboutprojects and we worked together
on matt carroll's project theone on the train and the
character you embodied for that,that scene, that role, was
completely different from thetony that I know.
(10:57):
You were a completely differentcharacter.
So I definitely get what youwere saying.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I appreciatethat man.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
It's partially having just have fun with anything
that just you land like that.
Like you said, there's a lothappening in Louisiana right now
that people really need somesort of inspiration.
Hope you know.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
I'm just looking to try to bring all of my I'm
bringing all my guns to thetable in New Orleans.
I love New Orleans.
It's always felt like home tome.
Yeah, you know, to be honest,that word is something that I
would recognize different fromother people, because I've been
all over the place.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
I've kind of been a little bit everywhere.
But there's something specialabout this place and I'm not I'm
proud to admit that.
You know, and I think otherpeople, a lot of people see it
and maybe they maybe they don'ttake it for granted what could
be done, like the potential thatcould be done here, or maybe
they've just thought well, youknow, movies come and go through
(12:01):
here.
That might be true.
But you also gotta thinkeverything changes and everybody
grows, you know, and there'ssomething you have to grow with.
You know, you haven't made thatnext great movie until you've
made it yeah you know I'm sayingcan't just be a thought, it's
got to be, you know, in action.
(12:23):
There's got to be a right timefor it too yeah I've had people
that I kind of counted on at onetime I was, you know, some
investor, wise and stuff likethat and I've learned a lesson
to just kind of again, don'ttake too much to heart.
There's a lot in industry thatcould make you really bitter,
but I try to steer from you justgot to kind of take it with a
(12:46):
grain of salt and do what youcan to kind of you know, finance
stuff.
That's and this is the hardest,my hardest way, because
everything takes time and money.
You have to find the happymedium to do it, to try to do it
yourself until you getrecognized for someone who is
more than capable of doing whatthey do on on a very high level.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Then you'll draw the attention in of people who
actually understand that you aremore.
You're wanting to do more on anartist level than just it just
being a fling.
Time tells who you are.
You know what I'm saying withthe things that you love to do,
and that's just been my historyyeah you know, let's talk about
in the book, in the film project.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
I know the screenplay came first.
Right, you did werewolves firstand now you're doing vampires.
I'm not going to give anyspoilers.
If people want spoilers,they're going to have to go out
and get the book, yeah there yougo.
They don't need to wait for thefilm, they need to go get the
book and then see the film.
So you adapted the book fromthe screenplay.
(13:58):
Yes, tell us how you came upwith the idea for the film
project and the book withoutspoiling it too much.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Okay, the film project in the book without
spoiling it too much, okay, soImmortal Invitations has been on
my radar for a very long time.
I love vampires and, as you say, gypsy Moon was my first film.
Werewolves different take onwerewolves is what I was kind of
(14:28):
going for Same type of methodswith a different take on
vampires.
So Immortal Invitations wasinitially something that I kind
of dipped back into, a feelingthat I used to have performing
and that thrill of what it wascan be something I'm trying to
deliver into through a book andthen eventually, you know, give,
(14:52):
give people an insight on whatthe story is, what is happening,
who these people are, who weknow the, the pattern and the
form of the formation ofcharacter arcs, where it's you
know what I'm saying whenexactly, where's the chemistry
behind what is going on?
I want people to get thatfirsthand.
Yeah, the chemistry behind whatis going on.
I want people to get thatfirsthand through the book
before they see the movie,because I'm personally trying to
(15:13):
get it's like a dopamine hitout of just reading something
One of the greatest rushes thatyou could possibly get sitting
in a theater or sitting in achair and absorbing what is
happening on a film.
I'm trying to get that dopamineto a very high level of
intensity and I know there's aformula, there's a science to it
(15:37):
, there's a way to it can't belike a sudden strike.
It's got to be like a climax ofthings that happen, that one
thing falls into a place thatreally just is like it's hook
line and sinker with what'sgoing on in the story.
But vampires, I wanted anothertake.
I wanted a different type ofvampire than everything that's
(15:58):
been out there.
You know so I'm a huge fan ofLost Boys.
You know I grew up watchingthat stuff, like Vamp, like the
old school ones that I canremember, like Salem's Lot, like
the old school ones that I canremember, like salem's lot, like
the 1978 77 version of salem'slot.
Uh, stephen king, there wereseveral different things
inspirational that I kind ofpulled from.
(16:19):
Yeah, you know so lo logan isour main character in this, who
is, you know, one of the guys,one of our friends we have in
common, billy slaughter.
He's playing logan and logan islike an investigator that's
kind of caught up in this, thisworld of the supernatural
already, because of the thingsthat the types of darkness that
(16:42):
he falls into, as far as whathe's wanting to try to bring to
light in the certain type ofdarkness and things kind of form
the non-believer into abeliever of true supernatural
powers in a different way.
(17:02):
My vampire is being, you know,you've got your nocturnal
creatures.
You know everything that's outthere is like a snake in the
heart or holy water crosses, etcetera, et cetera.
Right, with my vampires they'renot so much hurt or harmed by
light, like sunlight, they'renot killed by that, but they are
(17:24):
very weak.
They can't have their fullpowers unless it's dark.
That's when they're at theirpeak and they're almost like
kind of like a butterfly in acocoon that comes out at night.
You know, that's when they'relike full, that's when they have
full capacity, full powerduring the day, because they're
(17:44):
shadow creatures.
It can be day but they stillhave to maintain in the shadows
of wherever.
That is, just like, you knowthe way light bends into a room
and somewhere in that roomthere's going to be a place
where there's a shadow.
That's where they would linger,because they're shadow
creatures.
So just a couple things.
I won't throw any more fullspoilers out there, but sure
(18:06):
yeah, it's got intense moments.
That happens in the story and Ilove the time joke.
We definitely prepare for thatas far as audiences out there.
I'm a time jumping lover, sowe'll do a lot of, you know,
1920s, I think, 30s, very jazzystyle kind of jumps.
We even go back to the 1700swhere coffin case girls was a
(18:28):
thing that was coming off of theships in the harbor.
They were French, you know.
They were French descent, soall of that will be.
You know, we're seeing the birthof, you know, when, new Orleans
was brand new.
This is basically what we'regoing to be seeing in the film.
You know, new Orleans was brandnew and it was thriving with
(18:51):
everything that made us who weare today.
You know, including things ofsupernatural.
Missy LaValle LaValle is one ofmy characters and she's Marie
LaValle's great.
She's her granddaughter,basically what she is.
That's in the film.
I love to bring these types ofthings into a setting to where
(19:13):
you're just almost anticipatinganything, anything that could
happen.
That would strike you as likewow, that's like I didn't expect
that.
That's something that's givenme some kind of high, some kind
of thrill.
You're going to find that inboth the read and the movie.
I mean, that's what I'm gearingfor.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Nice.
Yeah, I know this is kind ofoff the topic a little bit, but
my own curiosity when youstarted the book publishing
process, how difficult was thatcompared to doing stuff on the
film side, getting projectsgoing?
Was it challenging to get it toan editor and get it published?
Speaker 1 (19:54):
I had a lot of help with Stacey Newton.
Okay, so here's my thing as abrand new as far as an author,
kind of brand new to this worldof literary you know people and
agents and all that stuff wastold that I needed to basically
make the screenplay into a book.
I'd have several friends cometo me and ask well, that would
(20:16):
be a great idea to try to getthat out there first.
And Stacey was someone who Ikind of leaned a little bit on
her expertise for learning whatneeds to happen.
So to me, I'm still learning.
It's still difficult Getting apublisher, just kind of word of
mouth.
And then friends of friends thatgot me involved with some
(20:38):
people out of Brooklyn, new York, and then they are the ones
that kind of strapped me intothe chair and was like here's
what this is, here's what we cando.
And of course, like anything,it's pay to play.
We're always looking forscammers and we're looking for
you know we're trying to avoidthat at all costs.
So it was good to actually findsomeone who was trustworthy.
(21:00):
Once you have what you think istangible for a good series or a
good book, you, you have thattogether.
There's a lot of ways out therein the world now where you can
self-publish, you can get youryour thoughts out of your book
out there, etc.
And of course you know I'm oneof those guys that that shoot
for the moon.
So I'm like, okay, I wantbarnes and noble or amazon.
(21:24):
You know, I want to be in theirbook signing with stacy, you
know, etc.
Etc yeah, and that was anotherreason for for her coming on
board and actually she was verykind.
We we was back and forth withwith the story being right.
Big thank you to her for forgetting me started on that.
Our own bars of noble, you know, amazon we're about to hit the
(21:45):
whole world up there's platforms.
I've never even heard of it'son right now, so that's a really
good feeling.
God, thank google books.
This was another popular one.
I think emil spark is like anactual way.
That's probably one I wouldrecommend to any brand new
author is england spark, becausethey get you on multiple
(22:06):
different platforms as well.
You just have to make sureyou've got a few things yourself
protected, legally protected.
You have to have your ISBNnumbers and stuff like that.
You have to have your barcodes.
These things you have topurchase so that they link to
you, they link to the author, sothat you don't run into that
case later down the road where,okay, somebody in Italy's
(22:28):
stealing your book or whatever.
You know that's not something Iwould think people would try to
tackle if you've got everythingin advance to kind of protect
you.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
So yeah, and if you didn't know this I learned this
doing original research inschool you can actually send
your paper, anything that youwrite through the post office,
where it has to be signed forand leave it sealed and that
copyrights it.
(22:57):
Yes, we've got a lot of friendsthat are writing screenplays,
short films, feature films,plays, and people weren't even
aware of that.
I had a friend that was talkingabout writing something
recently and he was kind ofstressing about getting a
copyright and I said send itthrough the post office.
I mean, that's a cheap way todo it until you get further into
(23:21):
it and the process.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Right.
And one thing I'm prettyadamant about is like WGA
registration.
The writer guild of America iswhat I normally I pay the money.
It's not much like 30, 40 bucks.
You know it's a one-time thingand that gets it registered.
You know that right.
There is another way to kind ofprotect yourself.
Every screenplay I write.
(23:43):
That's kind of what I gothrough.
I go through that process.
Same thing kind of happenedwith, well, a little bit
different process with this one.
Here Everything was donethrough kind of Brooklyn Sure,
Through them Sure.
But yeah, the book is out nowand I hope you guys check it out
.
Something I'm very excited,very, very excited about
(24:04):
shooting, especially coming outof Supernatural Realm with
werewolves.
And then I had a little vikingexcursion was my other film myth
among legends.
Um, I did a shot at new mexico,northern new mexico, and that
was like during the winterapocalypse, a valentine's day of
all places, of all times yeahvalentine's day?
Speaker 2 (24:24):
yeah, like 2020 or something like that right before
, right before the world came toa stop came to a stop man,
everything was like it was rightthere.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
It's like we did the viking, actual viking shoot,
authentic period piece stuff.
And the helmet I wore was soheavy it's probably 40 something
pounds I had on my head andwhat we was working with costume
wise it wasn't much.
I mean, I had like deer skinson me and basically like deer
(24:55):
skin pants and it was.
It was close to 15, like six,seven degrees out there, you
know, and I was like I wasbasically naked, except for that
fur.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Yeah, you know out there.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
That was a good experience.
That was actually for me.
That was one of the greatesttimes of my life in the acting
world Was being able to live inthe moment, you know, because it
wasn't just a set, it was anactual mountain with snow, snow
covered, you know, and everybodywas in that moment, that zone,
(25:29):
you know, to shoot this, thisproject yeah it was really,
really, really neat.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
You know, brian and I ask people a lot if they had
one thing, do they have like adream project, something that
they that's on their bucket listthat they want to do as an
actor, or if it's a director orproducer or whatever that we're
talking to?
And I've always kind of thoughtabout it and I'm like I don't
know, maybe people think it'sdumb One.
(25:56):
I've already checked off thelist with Matt.
He did a faith-based film andthat was the Soldier's Heart.
Billy was in it, hick was in it, a lot of our friends were in
it.
And the other one has alwaysbeen something Vikings.
I've always been fascinated byVikings and just the and the
culture.
And yeah, I watch documentarieswhen I can, right, and I don't
(26:21):
know.
That would be a fun project towork on.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Yeah Well, I have to keep you.
You got a Viking.
Look too, you really do.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
I mean, I could see me holding a big battle axe or a
big sword, you know right Imean jerk the beard, have the
braids, all that right.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
And there's one thing about that culture man I love
nordic culture is man they're,they're like, they're like
earthly people.
You know for a culture.
They just like.
They love Mother Earth andgrowing their own.
You know stuff.
People live this way stilltoday.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
You know there's a lot of the Nordic, I guess I
don't know if you recall likewhat we would have for Native
American spiritual, like somekind of passed down from
ancestry type of spiritual, youknow, and everything in them is
like is very, very warrior mode,but it's a very beautiful thing
(27:21):
, man, and it's primitive butyet it's forever lasting.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
You know, to me the Nordic culture really had a lot
of things figured out for me.
You know, in my thought processSometimes the shades of the
moon will tell you a lot more inits own way than our clock does
today.
You know, just by seeing theway that a wave will move in on
(27:47):
the way that the shade happensin the time of the moon, you
know there's a lot of thingsthat I know is pretty
predominant with our culture.
That is very interesting to me,very intriguing.
Come from a Christianbackground and also a full-on
Nordic.
You know Nordic pagan and theyhave a lot of that culture.
(28:10):
That's what that culture is.
Predominantly it's pagan.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
It is pagan.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
It's very pagan, but there's a lot of, you know, a
lot in that culture.
That's beautiful as well.
To me it's not an evil thing.
It feels like it's more beingspiritually aware of the runes
and the symbols and the stufflike that.
They all have a meaning behindwhat they are.
You know, some people see theZodiac as something evil.
(28:34):
To me that's very it's not.
It's very intriguing to me.
Anything to do with thesupernatural.
Vikings is something I'm hopingMythemon Legends picks up
somewhere and yeah, yeah, I'ddefinitely catch it.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
That would be cool, something that I've always been
fascinated about the Vikingculture being a sailor with my
military background.
They would sail across vastwaterways in these hand-built
boats that weren't big bytoday's standards but they would
(29:10):
survive it and they developedways to navigate those great
distances without before thenthey'd have to use some type of
landmark to navigate.
And then, once they developedthat one thing that would help
them get across, that was wheneverything changed and they
started expanding.
And I don't know, I wasfascinated by the seafaring side
(29:34):
of the things that they did.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Yeah, really tough, tough, tough culture man.
No matter what the weather waslike, they were out and in it,
they were in it.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
They didn't care that it was cold.
They didn't care that it waswet.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
They didn't care that it was wet, no, it was just
everyday life, you know it was,and their women were really
tough and they actually.
What they apprised above allthings with the nordic culture
is there.
They didn't restrict theirwomen, they gave them a sword
and they also defended theirfamily if they were warriors too
, if they were warriors too, andthey were some of them were
badass.
I mean, they're beautiful andbadass, you know.
(30:09):
So it was that that struck meabove all and that's something
that I wrote in Myth AmongLegends to be on that side of,
of embracing like a femininepower.
One of the characters in mystory was played by Versailles
Knight, and she was one of thesewarriors who you know.
(30:31):
You just look at her and she'sa little bitty thing, but for
someone to anticipate that, forbeing her size, in the film she
actually takes down one of theseguys who's supposed to be a
giant.
You know, these ginormous,barbarian style man, gorillas or
whatever you know, with an axe.
You know, and it's just acouple of seconds and he's, he's
(30:53):
laid out.
You know she's got, you knowshe put him, put him to the
sword.
You know so little things likethat I take pride in in, and
that that's where that thrivesfrom.
You know, that thrives for meand also me being a father of
three daughters.
I want them to be brave, I wantthem to challenge, you know, I
want them to be out thereadventuring and doing what
(31:13):
they're doing fearlessly, andthat's what they do, yeah that's
cool, Pretty cool man.
But yeah, vikings is definitelysomething I would love to jump
back up on Once I get a littlebit past past.
I'm in a vampire mode right now.
Vampires are especially in neworleans.
Vampires in new orleans I'm notthe first one to be doing this.
I have multiple people who'vecome in and a couple of man.
(31:37):
Rice is a huge one.
She's like the queen ofbasically new orleans when it
comes to vine box.
You know she's made her way andshe built her, her history
around him.
She's a lot that I think theinterview with the vampire that
was done by her and there was acouple more.
I mean I was, I liked it, butit to me like vampires.
I loved, I think, the scenerymore than I did anything.
(32:00):
You know the storyline andstuff like that.
I think the way way I guess Iwould be inspired by am inspired
by just about everything thatI've seen as far as New Orleans
and vampires.
I'm going to find something inthere.
Even if it was a project thatdidn't have a huge budget or
(32:20):
whatever, I'm going to findsomething about it to be
inspired by.
And then again, as a creator,you always want to try to have a
new take.
You want to develop somethingthat someone hasn't seen.
You know they'll be like.
You know might see a part ofyour movie like but wait, that's
a carnival scene.
And you know, you kind of gotsome stuff going on over here
(32:41):
with vampires, that's lost boys.
I'm like, yep, you're right,vampires, it's lost boys.
I'm like, yep, you're right,that's exactly what I'm inspired
by, you know, and there's,there is the carnival scenes and
stuff like that in immortallimitations yeah, you know
there's things of that naturethat I love the way that that
felt.
You know the way that the needlethings were happening with
music or with rides or with youknow part of the story.
(33:03):
You know that was very enticingto me.
That's that's a part of themovie that got.
Know that was very enticing tome, that's a part of the movie
that got me and I wanted to makemy own version and kind of
amplify that dopamine.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
Yeah, I think being a musician will help too, when
you talk to whoever yourcomposer is going to be.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
You have that ear for music, I think is going to help
them intensify this moment.
Yeah, it's just fine.
Well, the guy jamiechristopherson is I've got a
lawyer.
This guy, jamie christopherson,he's the one that did the score
for myth of my legends, whichis he is like an a-list composer
.
He's done so much stuff.
He's always, always, his musicis always on netflix.
He's one of these, he's one ofthe bigger guys out there and
(33:50):
his, his, his stuff is justreally good.
You know, jamie's stuff is likeit's just phenomenal and and
what he does is he does in amusician's way and respectfully,
as from musician.
Musician he does things thatwhere he is like he is deep into
it yeah you know, it's likehe's seeing the scene and he
(34:10):
just starts.
He's this invisible noise juststarts coming to his ears yeah
and this is what he's creating.
It's kind of what I do in thescene and people, like you know,
wonder why I'm just staring offin outer space.
I'm behind a monitor somewherebecause I can hear the music.
Yeah, I can hear the musicactually playing.
Nobody else can hear it, but Ican hear it in the scene and
(34:32):
that's to me.
That's how I'm cutting.
You know, that's how I'm kindof cutting what is happening in
this scene or what's happeningin this picture different from
the next scene.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, so yeah, he'll be the guy.
Jamie will be my guy in War ofLimitations.
Dude is sick.
(34:52):
Definitely check out his work.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Excellent.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Yeah, very cool man.
Yeah, if you haven't got yourWar of Limitations book, please
pick it up at any Barnes, noble,amazon.
We're on IngramSpark, googleBooks, apple Books and the movie
soon to come out.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
What about your socials?
You want to share your socials.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
As far as social media, you can find me on
Instagram Howling Full Moons,goship36,.
Facebook, I'm on Tony Gibson 85, tiktok.
I have a YouTube channel aswell.
I guess I can give you the linkto drop in there.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
We can drop it.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
You can drop it.
Drop my IMDb.
I'm out there on IMDb.
I'll be out in New Orleans herepretty soon with this film.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Tony, it was great having you.
Thanks for sitting down with usand really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Yeah, absolutely man.
It was a pleasure, Pleasure tobe there.
Thank you all for having me onthe show.
Hello, my name is Tony Gibson.
I'm an actor, writer, director,producer and author as well.
I'm happy to be on NOLA FilmScene.
Welcome to NOLA.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Film Scene with TJ Plato.
I'm TJ and, as always, I'mPlato.
All right, welcome back to NOLAFilm Scene.
I'm here with my friend, tonyGibson.
Tony, thanks for joining us.
It's been a long time coming.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Yeah, yeah, it has.
Appreciate you guys having meon the show Finally here.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
We are indeed Finally here.
Took a little bit of scheduling, but that's what happens when
you're busy and successful,right?
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Yeah, it's something like that.
I'm just like every day is ablessing for me, man.
It's one way or another.
If it's fame that comes, orsuccess, great you know.
If not, I'm just going to loveand live life, man.
It's like I think that is atreasure in itself, you know.
But yeah, again, thank you guysfor having me on the show, for
(00:56):
sure.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
So we've got a few things to unpack here.
You've got a movie that you'reworking on, a book based on the
movie.
You're an actor, director,producer, musician, published
author.
Have I left anything out?
Speaker 1 (01:12):
mad how many hats.
Yeah, that's good though.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah, it's an inspiration, yeah, you know for
sure, thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Thank you.
Yeah, I do music and stuff aswell, I believe and like
producing, and that's a littlebit of an add on to that.
But, to be honest, it's likedirecting film is so much more
involved than it is just actingfor a film, you know so.
(01:38):
When you're acting in a film,it's pretty cut and chase.
It's like you show up, you knowyour lines, you have a couple
of different proposals to giveto your director.
What works, what doesn't.
Chemistry-wise, you have alittle bit of wood room to play
with to make it look or feel theway it should feel with acting.
(01:59):
Directing, that's another story.
Directing is if anybody elsethe 30 or 40 people are lost or
something is going haywire,you're the one they come to on
top of everything that you'retrying to accomplish creatively
right.
So it's, it's a, it's a, it's anight and day experience, but
yet it's.
It's all a good experience whenyou, when you know you've got
(02:23):
the right ammunition to go withright music.
For me, though, I'll be behonest, there's something I've
kind of comes full circle backaround to, and that's where I
began my journey, so to speak.
So to come back full circle,back around to music, it's.
It's rewarding really, is thatto just like be back in that
(02:44):
moment where you left a piece ofyourself in the shadow and with
that kind of being said andbeing an author, this to me is
opening up more channels for meto orchestrate.
It's like an orchestra.
So, yeah, I'm excited.
I'm excited to have the bookbecome a movie.
(03:06):
I I think I've had my my daywith independent.
I love independent filmperspective in the highest
matter and highest form, becausethat is the greatest school.
But immortal limitations willnot be an indie film.
Yeah, they won't be.
I've set the standard too highfor 20 plus years experience.
So doing what'm doing, yeah,and I'm just going all out on
(03:29):
this one.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
So yeah, and with the way the film industry is
starting to dwindle in the NewOrleans area lately, especially
since the strike, yeah, it'sgood to see projects like this
come along.
I know I'm friends with quite afew people that have already
signed on to your project andthat's a great thing to see
(03:51):
people getting work out of it.
So when you and I talked before, when we were getting to know
each other a little bit, youstarted with music in high
school and then the love forperforming kind of progressed
from there, right.
You did theater in addition tothe music?
Did you start theater in highschool, or was it after high
(04:13):
school when you started gettinginvolved with that?
Speaker 1 (04:15):
A little bit after high school.
High school I was in trouble alittle bit.
You know, more than the averagebear.
I think I had to get pastseveral things with anger.
You know things I had withinmyself that music actually
helped to relieve.
It was its own medicine for me.
So you know starting mosh pitsand you know being among people
(04:39):
who created the same vibe toother people who didn't
understand it metal, it was justanger or that it was.
You know insanity.
You know people just being outthere doing what they're doing
in a pit, but then there was aformula and an understanding to
it that came along with tom.
And after being in the pit, youknow there were people who were
(04:59):
a little bitty, that probablydidn't belong there, but the
moment they fell down you hadthis huge guy helping them up,
you know, and if you got he hadyou know girls just there having
fun and she gets felt up.
You had somebody coming inthere and, like you know,
spearing the guy.
You know it's a matter, it's amutual respect.
Yeah, there's nothing about itwas an anger release.
(05:20):
In the same sense, it wassomething that you, you felt
unified.
It was like a unity is what itwas it's like to me, like
buffaloes running together yeahyou know, that's kind of what it
, what it symbolized to me on alike a native american way, you
know.
So, yeah, it was its ownhealing medicine for me back
(05:43):
then, you know, which helped toget me to where I am today.
And, like you said, it's likefor theater.
Theater came at a time when Iwas no longer performing in
front of, like you know, people.
In that aspect, you know, Icame from wearing the long
(06:04):
dreadlocks and in mosh pittingto do what I was doing to kind
of being suddenly a family man,you know.
And that changed a lot ofthings for me when my daughters
started, you know, my daughterswere born, almost took a small
hiatus away from being so angry,I had more reason, reason to
(06:24):
love being a father.
So from there, that's kind of,you know, within that time
period of my life between mebeing a metalhead and then me
being a father, that's probablywhen I went into theater.
Theater for me was a chance toget back to some kind of relived
(06:45):
.
You know, reviving this, thisperson that I used to used to be
in a different method, causeI've always, I was always
fascinated by acting, you know,always fascinated.
But I'm just like you know howdo I get in here and and and get
my feet wet and find out what'syou know what this is all about
Ended my feet with and find outwhat's you know what this is
(07:07):
all about ended up going to asmall college and actually got
involved with theater production, several of them.
Then, right off the top of thehat, I had to, like, become a
1930s cop, and then the old man,within 25, 20 minutes of each
other, roughly, you know, it'smy first gig and I'm like wow,
how'd I go about this, you know.
(07:27):
But it was a great experienceto live in that moment that I
felt say I felt I felt alive ina different way than than
performing in front of people,but it was something that was
fulfilling.
You know it was.
I was becoming these peopleplaying these people, and then I
had my professor, who wasactually there to teach me, tell
(07:49):
me that, look, you belong infilm.
And he's like he really reallywent out of his way.
He's like you remind me ofJohnny Depp.
I'm like, wow, that's way abovewhere I'm trying to be, you
know, way above where I'm tryingto be, you know, and like he's
like.
But john depp scares me.
I'm like he scares you.
I'm like, why, why, why is that?
I didn't get the connectionuntil later?
(08:11):
He's like well, he's likebecause he's, he's involved so
much into what it's no longerwords on the script for him.
He's actually like morphedhimself into these people, these
, these characters, in a fun way, and I guess that's something I
attached onto myself.
I was diving deep into who thesepeople were and I was having
(08:33):
fun with it.
I was having fun with theirbody language being different
and everything being differentabout my voice or their body or
the way they would walk into aroom.
That's acting for me issomething that's somewhere on
that caliber of understanding.
You've got to walk into thisunderstanding.
Not everybody will love you.
(08:55):
Some people might hate you,hate your acting.
Some people might love you andthink you're incredible.
You're going to get the best ofboth worlds in this and what
I've learned by doing what I'mdoing is to not take too much to
heart whether it's good or bad.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
You know it can't be so good that it's swelling your
head to where you are.
You think you know everythingis.
You know you're way abovenormal people.
You can't think like that, youknow, or that you're way above
normal people.
You can't think like that, orthat you're way, way underneath
because somebody kicked your ego.
I mean, you've got to have thebalance of both.
(09:34):
So to me that's understandingwho.
That goes back to my music days, where it's like it was a place
of rage where I was coming from, but I found the place of peace
inside the rage.
That was something else thatwas happening with both film,
with writing, with doingeverything I was doing.
(09:57):
I was finding the peace and therage, and that's what I do with
characters.
I morph into these people.
Yeah, that's part of my, Iguess, my transformation.
Some people I guess they havethe schooling or the technique
to shut it on, shut it off.
I can't, I don't possess that.
I have to morph it intosomething else yeah like I'm a
(10:18):
carpenter, I'm this, I'm several, I'm an artist in yeah, but I
have to morph it into somethingelse.
Yeah, this can't just like shutit off.
Yeah, you know as the morph, so, but that's, that's just me,
that's my thing.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
I can see it too.
So you and I have met in persona few different times film
festivals and meeting for coffeeto talk about projects, meeting
for coffee to talk aboutprojects and we worked together
on matt carroll's project theone on the train and the
character you embodied for that,that scene, that role, was
completely different from thetony that I know.
(10:57):
You were a completely differentcharacter.
So I definitely get what youwere saying.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I appreciatethat man.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
It's partially having just have fun with anything
that just you land like that.
Like you said, there's a lothappening in Louisiana right now
that people really need somesort of inspiration.
Hope you know.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
I'm just looking to try to bring all of my I'm
bringing all my guns to thetable in New Orleans.
I love New Orleans.
It's always felt like home tome.
Yeah, you know, to be honest,that word is something that I
would recognize different fromother people, because I've been
all over the place.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
I've kind of been a little bit everywhere.
But there's something specialabout this place and I'm not I'm
proud to admit that.
You know, and I think otherpeople, a lot of people see it
and maybe they maybe they don'ttake it for granted what could
be done, like the potential thatcould be done here, or maybe
they've just thought well, youknow, movies come and go through
(12:01):
here.
That might be true.
But you also gotta thinkeverything changes and everybody
grows, you know, and there'ssomething you have to grow with.
You know, you haven't made thatnext great movie until you've
made it yeah you know I'm sayingcan't just be a thought, it's
got to be, you know, in action.
(12:23):
There's got to be a right timefor it too yeah I've had people
that I kind of counted on at onetime I was, you know, some
investor, wise and stuff likethat and I've learned a lesson
to just kind of again, don'ttake too much to heart.
There's a lot in industry thatcould make you really bitter,
but I try to steer from you justgot to kind of take it with a
(12:46):
grain of salt and do what youcan to kind of you know, finance
stuff.
That's and this is the hardest,my hardest way, because
everything takes time and money.
You have to find the happymedium to do it, to try to do it
yourself until you getrecognized for someone who is
more than capable of doing whatthey do on on a very high level.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Then you'll draw the attention in of people who
actually understand that you aremore.
You're wanting to do more on anartist level than just it just
being a fling.
Time tells who you are.
You know what I'm saying withthe things that you love to do,
and that's just been my historyyeah you know, let's talk about
in the book, in the film project.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
I know the screenplay came first.
Right, you did werewolves firstand now you're doing vampires.
I'm not going to give anyspoilers.
If people want spoilers,they're going to have to go out
and get the book, yeah there yougo.
They don't need to wait for thefilm, they need to go get the
book and then see the film.
So you adapted the book fromthe screenplay.
(13:58):
Yes, tell us how you came upwith the idea for the film
project and the book withoutspoiling it too much.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Okay, the film project in the book without
spoiling it too much, okay, soImmortal Invitations has been on
my radar for a very long time.
I love vampires and, as you say, gypsy Moon was my first film.
Werewolves different take onwerewolves is what I was kind of
(14:28):
going for Same type of methodswith a different take on
vampires.
So Immortal Invitations wasinitially something that I kind
of dipped back into, a feelingthat I used to have performing
and that thrill of what it wascan be something I'm trying to
deliver into through a book andthen eventually, you know, give,
(14:52):
give people an insight on whatthe story is, what is happening,
who these people are, who weknow the, the pattern and the
form of the formation ofcharacter arcs, where it's you
know what I'm saying whenexactly, where's the chemistry
behind what is going on?
I want people to get thatfirsthand.
Yeah, the chemistry behind whatis going on.
I want people to get thatfirsthand through the book
before they see the movie,because I'm personally trying to
(15:13):
get it's like a dopamine hitout of just reading something
One of the greatest rushes thatyou could possibly get sitting
in a theater or sitting in achair and absorbing what is
happening on a film.
I'm trying to get that dopamineto a very high level of
intensity and I know there's aformula, there's a science to it
(15:37):
, there's a way to it can't belike a sudden strike.
It's got to be like a climax ofthings that happen, that one
thing falls into a place thatreally just is like it's hook
line and sinker with what'sgoing on in the story.
But vampires, I wanted anothertake.
I wanted a different type ofvampire than everything that's
(15:58):
been out there.
You know so I'm a huge fan ofLost Boys.
You know I grew up watchingthat stuff, like Vamp, like the
old school ones that I canremember, like Salem's Lot, like
the old school ones that I canremember, like salem's lot, like
the 1978 77 version of salem'slot.
Uh, stephen king, there wereseveral different things
inspirational that I kind ofpulled from.
(16:19):
Yeah, you know so lo logan isour main character in this, who
is, you know, one of the guys,one of our friends we have in
common, billy slaughter.
He's playing logan and logan islike an investigator that's
kind of caught up in this, thisworld of the supernatural
already, because of the thingsthat the types of darkness that
(16:42):
he falls into, as far as whathe's wanting to try to bring to
light in the certain type ofdarkness and things kind of form
the non-believer into abeliever of true supernatural
powers in a different way.
(17:02):
My vampire is being, you know,you've got your nocturnal
creatures.
You know everything that's outthere is like a snake in the
heart or holy water crosses, etcetera, et cetera.
Right, with my vampires they'renot so much hurt or harmed by
light, like sunlight, they'renot killed by that, but they are
(17:24):
very weak.
They can't have their fullpowers unless it's dark.
That's when they're at theirpeak and they're almost like
kind of like a butterfly in acocoon that comes out at night.
You know, that's when they'relike full, that's when they have
full capacity, full powerduring the day, because they're
(17:44):
shadow creatures.
It can be day but they stillhave to maintain in the shadows
of wherever.
That is, just like, you knowthe way light bends into a room
and somewhere in that roomthere's going to be a place
where there's a shadow.
That's where they would linger,because they're shadow
creatures.
So just a couple things.
I won't throw any more fullspoilers out there, but sure
(18:06):
yeah, it's got intense moments.
That happens in the story and Ilove the time joke.
We definitely prepare for thatas far as audiences out there.
I'm a time jumping lover, sowe'll do a lot of, you know,
1920s, I think, 30s, very jazzystyle kind of jumps.
We even go back to the 1700swhere coffin case girls was a
(18:28):
thing that was coming off of theships in the harbor.
They were French, you know.
They were French descent, soall of that will be.
You know, we're seeing the birthof, you know, when, new Orleans
was brand new.
This is basically what we'regoing to be seeing in the film.
You know, new Orleans was brandnew and it was thriving with
(18:51):
everything that made us who weare today.
You know, including things ofsupernatural.
Missy LaValle LaValle is one ofmy characters and she's Marie
LaValle's great.
She's her granddaughter,basically what she is.
That's in the film.
I love to bring these types ofthings into a setting to where
(19:13):
you're just almost anticipatinganything, anything that could
happen.
That would strike you as likewow, that's like I didn't expect
that.
That's something that's givenme some kind of high, some kind
of thrill.
You're going to find that inboth the read and the movie.
I mean, that's what I'm gearingfor.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Nice.
Yeah, I know this is kind ofoff the topic a little bit, but
my own curiosity when youstarted the book publishing
process, how difficult was thatcompared to doing stuff on the
film side, getting projectsgoing?
Was it challenging to get it toan editor and get it published?
Speaker 1 (19:54):
I had a lot of help with Stacey Newton.
Okay, so here's my thing as abrand new as far as an author,
kind of brand new to this worldof literary you know people and
agents and all that stuff wastold that I needed to basically
make the screenplay into a book.
I'd have several friends cometo me and ask well, that would
(20:16):
be a great idea to try to getthat out there first.
And Stacey was someone who Ikind of leaned a little bit on
her expertise for learning whatneeds to happen.
So to me, I'm still learning.
It's still difficult Getting apublisher, just kind of word of
mouth.
And then friends of friends thatgot me involved with some
(20:38):
people out of Brooklyn, new York, and then they are the ones
that kind of strapped me intothe chair and was like here's
what this is, here's what we cando.
And of course, like anything,it's pay to play.
We're always looking forscammers and we're looking for
you know we're trying to avoidthat at all costs.
So it was good to actually findsomeone who was trustworthy.
(21:00):
Once you have what you think istangible for a good series or a
good book, you, you have thattogether.
There's a lot of ways out therein the world now where you can
self-publish, you can get youryour thoughts out of your book
out there, etc.
And of course you know I'm oneof those guys that that shoot
for the moon.
So I'm like, okay, I wantbarnes and noble or amazon.
(21:24):
You know, I want to be in theirbook signing with stacy, you
know, etc.
Etc yeah, and that was anotherreason for for her coming on
board and actually she was verykind.
We we was back and forth withwith the story being right.
Big thank you to her for forgetting me started on that.
Our own bars of noble, you know, amazon we're about to hit the
(21:45):
whole world up there's platforms.
I've never even heard of it'son right now, so that's a really
good feeling.
God, thank google books.
This was another popular one.
I think emil spark is like anactual way.
That's probably one I wouldrecommend to any brand new
author is england spark, becausethey get you on multiple
(22:06):
different platforms as well.
You just have to make sureyou've got a few things yourself
protected, legally protected.
You have to have your ISBNnumbers and stuff like that.
You have to have your barcodes.
These things you have topurchase so that they link to
you, they link to the author, sothat you don't run into that
case later down the road where,okay, somebody in Italy's
(22:28):
stealing your book or whatever.
You know that's not something Iwould think people would try to
tackle if you've got everythingin advance to kind of protect
you.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
So yeah, and if you didn't know this I learned this
doing original research inschool you can actually send
your paper, anything that youwrite through the post office,
where it has to be signed forand leave it sealed and that
copyrights it.
(22:57):
Yes, we've got a lot of friendsthat are writing screenplays,
short films, feature films,plays, and people weren't even
aware of that.
I had a friend that was talkingabout writing something
recently and he was kind ofstressing about getting a
copyright and I said send itthrough the post office.
I mean, that's a cheap way todo it until you get further into
(23:21):
it and the process.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Right.
And one thing I'm prettyadamant about is like WGA
registration.
The writer guild of America iswhat I normally I pay the money.
It's not much like 30, 40 bucks.
You know it's a one-time thingand that gets it registered.
You know that right.
There is another way to kind ofprotect yourself.
Every screenplay I write.
(23:43):
That's kind of what I gothrough.
I go through that process.
Same thing kind of happenedwith, well, a little bit
different process with this one.
Here Everything was donethrough kind of Brooklyn Sure,
Through them Sure.
But yeah, the book is out nowand I hope you guys check it out
.
Something I'm very excited,very, very excited about
(24:04):
shooting, especially coming outof Supernatural Realm with
werewolves.
And then I had a little vikingexcursion was my other film myth
among legends.
Um, I did a shot at new mexico,northern new mexico, and that
was like during the winterapocalypse, a valentine's day of
all places, of all times yeahvalentine's day?
Speaker 2 (24:24):
yeah, like 2020 or something like that right before
, right before the world came toa stop came to a stop man,
everything was like it was rightthere.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
It's like we did the viking, actual viking shoot,
authentic period piece stuff.
And the helmet I wore was soheavy it's probably 40 something
pounds I had on my head andwhat we was working with costume
wise it wasn't much.
I mean, I had like deer skinson me and basically like deer
(24:55):
skin pants and it was.
It was close to 15, like six,seven degrees out there, you
know, and I was like I wasbasically naked, except for that
fur.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Yeah, you know out there.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
That was a good experience.
That was actually for me.
That was one of the greatesttimes of my life in the acting
world Was being able to live inthe moment, you know, because it
wasn't just a set, it was anactual mountain with snow, snow
covered, you know, and everybodywas in that moment, that zone,
(25:29):
you know, to shoot this, thisproject yeah it was really,
really, really neat.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
You know, brian and I ask people a lot if they had
one thing, do they have like adream project, something that
they that's on their bucket listthat they want to do as an
actor, or if it's a director orproducer or whatever that we're
talking to?
And I've always kind of thoughtabout it and I'm like I don't
know, maybe people think it'sdumb One.
(25:56):
I've already checked off thelist with Matt.
He did a faith-based film andthat was the Soldier's Heart.
Billy was in it, hick was in it, a lot of our friends were in
it.
And the other one has alwaysbeen something Vikings.
I've always been fascinated byVikings and just the and the
culture.
And yeah, I watch documentarieswhen I can, right, and I don't
(26:21):
know.
That would be a fun project towork on.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Yeah Well, I have to keep you.
You got a Viking.
Look too, you really do.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
I mean, I could see me holding a big battle axe or a
big sword, you know right Imean jerk the beard, have the
braids, all that right.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
And there's one thing about that culture man I love
nordic culture is man they're,they're like, they're like
earthly people.
You know for a culture.
They just like.
They love Mother Earth andgrowing their own.
You know stuff.
People live this way stilltoday.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
You know there's a lot of the Nordic, I guess I
don't know if you recall likewhat we would have for Native
American spiritual, like somekind of passed down from
ancestry type of spiritual, youknow, and everything in them is
like is very, very warrior mode,but it's a very beautiful thing
(27:21):
, man, and it's primitive butyet it's forever lasting.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
You know, to me the Nordic culture really had a lot
of things figured out for me.
You know, in my thought processSometimes the shades of the
moon will tell you a lot more inits own way than our clock does
today.
You know, just by seeing theway that a wave will move in on
(27:47):
the way that the shade happensin the time of the moon, you
know there's a lot of thingsthat I know is pretty
predominant with our culture.
That is very interesting to me,very intriguing.
Come from a Christianbackground and also a full-on
Nordic.
You know Nordic pagan and theyhave a lot of that culture.
(28:10):
That's what that culture is.
Predominantly it's pagan.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
It is pagan.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
It's very pagan, but there's a lot of, you know, a
lot in that culture.
That's beautiful as well.
To me it's not an evil thing.
It feels like it's more beingspiritually aware of the runes
and the symbols and the stufflike that.
They all have a meaning behindwhat they are.
You know, some people see theZodiac as something evil.
(28:34):
To me that's very it's not.
It's very intriguing to me.
Anything to do with thesupernatural.
Vikings is something I'm hopingMythemon Legends picks up
somewhere and yeah, yeah, I'ddefinitely catch it.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
That would be cool, something that I've always been
fascinated about the Vikingculture being a sailor with my
military background.
They would sail across vastwaterways in these hand-built
boats that weren't big bytoday's standards but they would
(29:10):
survive it and they developedways to navigate those great
distances without before thenthey'd have to use some type of
landmark to navigate.
And then, once they developedthat one thing that would help
them get across, that was wheneverything changed and they
started expanding.
And I don't know, I wasfascinated by the seafaring side
(29:34):
of the things that they did.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Yeah, really tough, tough, tough culture man.
No matter what the weather waslike, they were out and in it,
they were in it.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
They didn't care that it was cold.
They didn't care that it waswet.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
They didn't care that it was wet, no, it was just
everyday life, you know it was,and their women were really
tough and they actually.
What they apprised above allthings with the nordic culture
is there.
They didn't restrict theirwomen, they gave them a sword
and they also defended theirfamily if they were warriors too
, if they were warriors too, andthey were some of them were
badass.
I mean, they're beautiful andbadass, you know.
(30:09):
So it was that that struck meabove all and that's something
that I wrote in Myth AmongLegends to be on that side of,
of embracing like a femininepower.
One of the characters in mystory was played by Versailles
Knight, and she was one of thesewarriors who you know.
(30:31):
You just look at her and she'sa little bitty thing, but for
someone to anticipate that, forbeing her size, in the film she
actually takes down one of theseguys who's supposed to be a
giant.
You know, these ginormous,barbarian style man, gorillas or
whatever you know, with an axe.
You know, and it's just acouple of seconds and he's, he's
(30:53):
laid out.
You know she's got, you knowshe put him, put him to the
sword.
You know so little things likethat I take pride in in, and
that that's where that thrivesfrom.
You know, that thrives for meand also me being a father of
three daughters.
I want them to be brave, I wantthem to challenge, you know, I
want them to be out thereadventuring and doing what
(31:13):
they're doing fearlessly, andthat's what they do, yeah that's
cool, Pretty cool man.
But yeah, vikings is definitelysomething I would love to jump
back up on Once I get a littlebit past past.
I'm in a vampire mode right now.
Vampires are especially in neworleans.
Vampires in new orleans I'm notthe first one to be doing this.
I have multiple people who'vecome in and a couple of man.
(31:37):
Rice is a huge one.
She's like the queen ofbasically new orleans when it
comes to vine box.
You know she's made her way andshe built her, her history
around him.
She's a lot that I think theinterview with the vampire that
was done by her and there was acouple more.
I mean I was, I liked it, butit to me like vampires.
I loved, I think, the scenerymore than I did anything.
(32:00):
You know the storyline andstuff like that.
I think the way way I guess Iwould be inspired by am inspired
by just about everything thatI've seen as far as New Orleans
and vampires.
I'm going to find something inthere.
Even if it was a project thatdidn't have a huge budget or
(32:20):
whatever, I'm going to findsomething about it to be
inspired by.
And then again, as a creator,you always want to try to have a
new take.
You want to develop somethingthat someone hasn't seen.
You know they'll be like.
You know might see a part ofyour movie like but wait, that's
a carnival scene.
And you know, you kind of gotsome stuff going on over here
(32:41):
with vampires, that's lost boys.
I'm like, yep, you're right,vampires, it's lost boys.
I'm like, yep, you're right,that's exactly what I'm inspired
by, you know, and there's,there is the carnival scenes and
stuff like that in immortallimitations yeah, you know
there's things of that naturethat I love the way that that
felt.
You know the way that the needlethings were happening with
music or with rides or with youknow part of the story.
(33:03):
You know that was very enticingto me.
That's that's a part of themovie that got.
Know that was very enticing tome, that's a part of the movie
that got me and I wanted to makemy own version and kind of
amplify that dopamine.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
Yeah, I think being a musician will help too, when
you talk to whoever yourcomposer is going to be.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
You have that ear for music, I think is going to help
them intensify this moment.
Yeah, it's just fine.
Well, the guy jamiechristopherson is I've got a
lawyer.
This guy, jamie christopherson,he's the one that did the score
for myth of my legends, whichis he is like an a-list composer
.
He's done so much stuff.
He's always, always, his musicis always on netflix.
He's one of these, he's one ofthe bigger guys out there and
(33:50):
his, his, his stuff is justreally good.
You know, jamie's stuff is likeit's just phenomenal and and
what he does is he does in amusician's way and respectfully,
as from musician.
Musician he does things thatwhere he is like he is deep into
it yeah you know, it's likehe's seeing the scene and he
(34:10):
just starts.
He's this invisible noise juststarts coming to his ears yeah
and this is what he's creating.
It's kind of what I do in thescene and people, like you know,
wonder why I'm just staring offin outer space.
I'm behind a monitor somewherebecause I can hear the music.
Yeah, I can hear the musicactually playing.
Nobody else can hear it, but Ican hear it in the scene and
(34:32):
that's to me.
That's how I'm cutting.
You know, that's how I'm kindof cutting what is happening in
this scene or what's happeningin this picture different from
the next scene.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, so yeah, he'll be the guy.
Jamie will be my guy in War ofLimitations.
Dude is sick.
(34:52):
Definitely check out his work.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Excellent.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Yeah, very cool man.
Yeah, if you haven't got yourWar of Limitations book, please
pick it up at any Barnes, noble,amazon.
We're on IngramSpark, googleBooks, apple Books and the movie
soon to come out.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
What about your socials?
You want to share your socials.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
As far as social media, you can find me on
Instagram Howling Full Moons,goship36,.
Facebook, I'm on Tony Gibson 85, tiktok.
I have a YouTube channel aswell.
I guess I can give you the linkto drop in there.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
We can drop it.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
You can drop it.
Drop my IMDb.
I'm out there on IMDb.
I'll be out in New Orleans herepretty soon with this film.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Tony, it was great having you.
Thanks for sitting down with usand really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Yeah, absolutely man.
It was a pleasure, Pleasure tobe there.
Thank you all for having me onthe show.
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