April 2, 2025 • 47 mins
ICYMI: Hour Two of ‘Later, with Mo’Kelly’ Presents – Mo’ at the Movies: a breakdown of the “Snow White” controversy AND a recap on the major ‘CinemaCon 2025’ reveals…PLUS – Brian Volk-Weiss, Founder and CEO of The Nacelle Company, returns to the program with a preview of his new Tubi show, ‘RoboForce: The Animated Series,’ debuting April 12th - on KFI AM 640…Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
We're going to talk about snow White, why the movie failed,
and I think it's more than one reason, but it's
emblematic of a larger discussion of what we expect out
of movies in the twenty first century, especially this time
in America. And before we get to that conversation, I
(00:27):
want to see that if you will with some general thoughts,
and let me start with you, Tuala. And you don't
know that I'm doing this. This is going to be
very open ended because I think it sets the stage
for the discussion I think we can have or should have.
When you want to go to the movies or to
see a movie, what are some of the prerequisites or
(00:51):
the expectations.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
That I will be entertained, that I will experience some
form of the escapism, and that I will walk away
feeling that my money was well spent having received both.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
That's good for me. I can't add to that, because
that's all I really want. I don't put any extras
on top of that. Mark Ronner, what are your expectations
or requests going in?
Speaker 4 (01:22):
It's gotta be something special that I don't want to
wait for. I just saw the Black Bag movie that
Steven Soderberg did two weeks after its released. It's available
for streaming, and so I wanted to see it at
the time because I want to support everything he does,
because I think he's brilliant. But if it's gonna be
something you can access from home two weeks later, no way.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Okay for me. Let me just add this. I need
the escapism. In other words, I don't want to feel
like i'm and it's an extension of what I do.
But me, this is only me. I don't put any
extras on it. In other words, I look at the
movie for what it is. I don't think about who
(02:02):
the director is or the director's political leanings.
Speaker 5 (02:05):
I don't think about the casting.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I want to put myself in a space where the
movie and its presumed content would it be enjoyable to me,
because I know if I knew every political thought of
this actor or that actress, or this company or that
president of that company, I probably wouldn't agree with them,
(02:28):
and I probably would would be less inclined to see
a movie. I try to take movies at face value,
just what it is. If it's an action movie. If
there is some sort of subtle messaging going on, oh okay.
But I enjoyed the movie as it is. And I
always like to use the example of Rocky four. Rocky four,
(02:53):
Sylvester Stallone, he's fighting Ivan Drago during the height of
the real world Cold War? Is that propaganda? I would
say so. Is that a political message? I would definitely
say so. But was the movie entertainment? Was the movie escapism?
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Did I ever think about the politics of Sylvester Stallone,
which we all know now? No? Does that preclude me
from watching a show like Tulsa King and enjoying it
any differently? I didn't say more or less thinking about
his politics.
Speaker 5 (03:31):
Not at all. I can maybe I'm just different that way.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
I don't get caught up in any of that stuff
because it's all make believe. The show is make believe
everything that's happening, make believe the actor is acting, and
outside of that, I don't have any misgivings. I don't
have any hang ups on that. But that seems to
be an unpopular view. I would say that's the minority view,
(03:56):
and people get caught up in the casting. Has to
be a certain way, the politics of the perceived politics
of the company needs to be a certain way, or
we can't support the movie. I don't know how we
got here. I don't know why we got here. I
just know it makes no damn sense at all. I
have never gone into a Marvel movie, for example, and said,
(04:19):
I don't know if I can support this movie because
I don't like the politics of Isaac pearlbuter the former
president of Marvel, and he has some real effed up politics.
I went in to see what I thought was going
to be in entertaining two and a half hours of escapism.
Speaker 5 (04:36):
That was it.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
I didn't go into the movie saying like, oh my gosh,
I can't believe they got rid of Terrence Howard and
to replaced it with Don Cheatle.
Speaker 6 (04:45):
No.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I went to see the movie. That was all I
wanted to this day. I don't know about Robert Downey
Junior's politics.
Speaker 5 (04:54):
I don't know. I have some suspicions, but I don't know.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
But it's never figured in to my equation of whether
I'm going to see him in Oppenheimer or whether I'm
going to see him as as Tony Stark or doctor Doom.
That's just me. Now, there are those actors or actresses
who may have something so inflammatory where it makes it
impossible to ignore it.
Speaker 5 (05:18):
I just can't think of one at the moment. Mel
Gibson for some for.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Some, No, I'm sorry, since you mentioned Mel Gibson, I'll
tell you exactly what I think about Mel Gibson.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
And you know we've been trying to get him on
the show.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, he has said some things publicly that are pretty
hard to swallow, from his anti Semitic remarks to his
racist remarks, using the N word talking to his girlfriend.
Speaker 5 (05:42):
I remember or what I remember as well.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
And this is my assumption, and it may be wrong,
it may be right, it may be hard.
Speaker 5 (05:51):
For some people to swallow. That's just my assumption.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I just assume that every actor who has come in
here who happens to be of the Caucasian persuasion has
used the inWORD.
Speaker 5 (06:01):
Well, that saves time, doesn't it. No, But I'm just saying,
I'm not going to kid myself. What do I say.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
We don't know these people, and we got to see
a glimpse of mel in those moments plural, and to me,
it's like not surprising at all, because there are a
lot of folks who are very nice and then you
hear let's say, Dog the Bounty Hunter or a Hulk
Hogan for example, surprises me not at all, not at all.
(06:32):
Does it disappoint me absolutely? Now does that change my
view of pro wrestling?
Speaker 5 (06:39):
Not really. Still think it's real.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Yeah, But my point is, I guess my expectation level
set lower than others.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
Well, and everybody falls in a different place on the
spectrum of separating the art from the artist. I've written
there the number of HP Lovecraft inspired comics, and he
was an absolutely not so racist yeah, and one of
my comics I mocked his racism in the comic. But
some people decide they want nothing further to do with
(07:09):
him once they find that out.
Speaker 5 (07:11):
Look, I'm not a fan of Mark Twain. Sorry.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
You know, I've read all the work of Mark Twain
and Huckleberry Finn. That's not enjoyable for me. You know,
I think everyone has their limit, but for each person
is different.
Speaker 5 (07:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
I think that in my lifetime, there's only been one
instance that someone's behavior, something that someone said rubbed me
the wrong way. In the moment, I know that I
received it, and that's so market hood is who I
have not been able to forgive. Even though he wasn't
talking to me. It wasn't a conversation I was a
(07:51):
part of. It was Damnar even a hot Mike moment.
I don't know, and at this point I don't care,
Like you know, I still watched that damn John Wicks
spin off The Continental, and I thought that mel Gibson's
performance in it was okay, like mel Gibson to be
is still doing mel Gibson as acting to the point
(08:13):
where I'm like, oh, yeah, that is dude that said
all that crazy stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
But you could at least point to an individual and
say something specific. And it's not like you go out
on social media and have this campaign like don't watch
mel Gibson movies.
Speaker 5 (08:28):
And that's why I think it's something different. Now.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
I don't have that kind of time of the day
to tell people what not to watch. Tell even if
I complain about something, I'm just telling you my complains,
my views, so that you haven't informed idea of what
I thought about something. But there's only I think maybe
two films I would say don't go see because they're
just that bad, not because anything political or what someone
(08:50):
said this and no, because films like Madam Webb are
trashed and I value your time.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
That's another likening ride before we go to break.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Just for example, sake Kevin Sorbo Oh God, Kevin sorbo
Or even James Woods, both very far right on the
political spectrum. I watch their stuff just like anyone else.
I think James Woods is a fantastic actor, and whether
I'm gonna watch his movies is gonna come down to
(09:19):
what the movie is or his role in the movie.
He plays a terrific villain. It's almost like kind of
suits him. Oh, if you don't love cop, there's something
wrong right right, So it's not about what someone believes or,
at least in my world, whether it's worthy of support.
(09:40):
But now, as we get ready to get into the
snow White discussion, we live in a world where it's
about not only do I not like the supposed politics
or the supposed racial casting. Now I got to make
sure I review Vombit and I lie about a movie
I didn't even see in the hopes that I somehow
damage it and damage the company.
Speaker 5 (10:01):
It's a little bit different. We're going to get into
that next.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
We're going to talk about snow white and why, among
other reasons it is going to fail to the tune
of maybe one hundred and fifteen million dollar loss.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
That's next.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 7 (10:19):
Welcome to MO on the Movies, right, don't be ridiculous, darling,
it's MO on the Movies, not a.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Jansm KFI Mo Kelly. We're live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
And I'm the first to admit I don't think I
was born at the right time, maybe on the right planet,
(10:52):
because I'll be the first to say that I don't
see the world the way that most people do.
Speaker 5 (10:57):
I see it very differently.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
And when it to movies, my desires, my wants, my needs,
my requirements are usually very different than other people. And
I know movies can be very personal. That's part of
the reason why we talk about them. They are not
only entertainment pieces. They can be overtly political. They can
be agents of change. There are a lot of movies
(11:20):
we can go back to newsreels and how that they
were so instrumental and not only providing information but inspiration
in the management of the media aspect of a war effort.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
Media has power you.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Can talk about, and I've made mention of TV shows
like Star Trek, how that was a statement on where
America should be headed. You can point to any number
of TV shows which have done that on varying levels.
But today it seems using Snow White as one of
(11:55):
many movies which have fallen into this bucket is some
sort of fightening rod for people who expect companies and
creators to present movies in a way which aligns with
their personal politics, not for the purpose of free expression.
(12:20):
If we know anything from Citizens United, we know that
corporations are people. Well, Disney is a corporation and Disney
and I've always let me back up. I've always been
of the opinion that creators should create and can create
as they see fit, and if I don't want to
support it, then I don't support it. It's not like
I'm going to tear it down or tear the company down.
(12:42):
Not everything is for everyone. I wouldn't expect everyone to
appreciate Tyler Perry, but there's a market for Tyler Perry.
Not everyone's going to appreciate Kevin Sorbo's movies, but there
is a market, tiny one but there is a market
for Kevin Sorbo's movies, and if you want to support it,
then you'll support it. But if you don't agree with
(13:04):
Kevin Sorbo, you know, I don't know why people will
waste their time foyning to review Bomb. For example, snow
White has been in the news for quite some time
leading up to its film release for a number of reasons.
It was for the casting of Zelger as a snow White.
It was in the news for the casting of Galcadutt
(13:27):
and her public remarks. There have been a number of
controversial my word, public remarks made by cast members which
probably turned some audience goers or would be audience goers
against it. But I think it's more than that, I
really do. I there's there's a there's a mean spiritedness
(13:50):
where seemingly we have groups of people who are setting
out to be offended, who are looking for reasons to
try to torpedo movies. Now I can talk about the
business expecting I would say, you're fighting against your own interest.
If you want to have movies done a certain way, well,
the Disney Corporation is probably not the one you want
to hurt, if only because it just means fewer movies
(14:12):
gonna be made, fewer theaters are going to stay in business,
and you're just gonna have less content of any caliber
out there.
Speaker 5 (14:22):
TWELLA, let me come to you. Where do you come
out on this? As far as snow.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
White, thus far, I have been thoroughly disappointed at how
obvious the attacks against snow White have been. The attacks
against snow White are an offshoot of the attacks against
Disney being quote unquote who all right, Because the very
(14:47):
first attacks against snow White, sight unseen, was the casting
of an actress that would be viewers felt did not
look like this make leave character okay, as if in
the Land of Neverland, race matters, because we're also talking
(15:07):
about a film with seven magical creatures of diminutive height
who walk around singing and living a mind and all
types of magic stuff, and a girl who talks to
animals and sings to birds. But you want to argue
about the race of the casting of the character.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
So it started with that. So that was the first.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Thing that everyone tried to glomb on, And then all
of a sudden people started hearing these varying views of
both Galgadut, who's been very very public with her views
and I heard yes and and but she actually served
in you know, the Israeli armies, Like who do you
think Galagadut is that?
Speaker 5 (15:47):
That's who she's always been.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Then when you see Rachel Zelger coming through on her
social media posts after the film's made saying hey, you know,
I will stay with Palestine, then all of a sudden
you turn this into and is versus palistin I think,
And then both sides start review bombing the film.
Speaker 5 (16:04):
Again sight unseen, sight unseen. This film is horrible.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I would never waste about this film shouldn't be shown
by anyone, do you know? And then they always tag
it with uh free Palestine, freeze or whatever, and it's like,
what does any of them have to do with the movie,
Because I know people who have actually seen the film,
and everyone I know who's actually seen the film watched
they're taking their kids.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
They have all said the exact same thing.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
This is quite possibly the truest interpretation of a live
action Disney film that we have ever seen, in that
it's exactly like the original animated movie.
Speaker 5 (16:43):
It's just live action.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
If you look at the original animated movie and you
put Rachel Zegler side by side, tweeze her eyebrows. She
is the same hue, same hair color, same cheek color
as the animated version of Snow White.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
It's honest, except the animated character wasn't Polish and Spanish.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
I know those who don't know Rachel Ziegler's half Colombian,
half Polish, Well there you go. And they're complaining about
obviously the hash half Columbia because the Polish would have
been okay, it would seem. Yes, these are insincere arguments
because there is a group of people separate from the
Free Palace nine and you know, support Israel contingentous. There's
(17:29):
a contingent of people who believe that castings should be limited.
And let's be very honest, it only works in one
direction that any person of color who's cast in a
quote unquote perceived white role, because Snow White is not
an actual person. So I say, perceived white role is
somehow an offense. And I've used this example before. We
(17:52):
can talk about Noah and the movie with Russell Crowe.
Nobody said anything. We all know Noah's met Sopotamian, okay,
from the Middle East. We can talk about Exodus Gods
and Kings with Christian Bale and others who played Moses,
so it only works in one direction. As far as
the supposed outrage, Here's where I stand because when I
(18:15):
get your headmail, I need you to know exactly what
I said, not what you imagine. I am all for
creators choosing the cast that the creators want.
Speaker 5 (18:27):
Period.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
If you want to do a black Panther movie, and
this is the example, everyone says, what if they have
a white black panther, knock yourself out and if the
movie does well, it does well. Now, if you happen
to know anything about black Panther, it is written into
the character that is from an indigenous place in Africa
and is not touched by colonization, so there would be
(18:50):
no outside influences. But if you want to write that
story and you think you can pull it off, knock
yourself the hell out. At the same time, I'm not
going to lose any sleep because snow white, which is
not really having to do with the supposed skin color,
because this not an alabaster type albino woman who's walking around.
Speaker 5 (19:13):
If you are gonna.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Get your ass on your shoulders because a half Columbian
woman is gonna play the role, then stop saying, why
do you guys make it all about race all the time,
because there is no legitimate argument for that. Now, if
you don't keeping this all together, if you don't want
to see the movie for whatever reasons, that's your business.
I'm just saying it's a silly ass excuse, and it's
(19:36):
an insincere and a disingenuous one because you don't apply
that same standard to all the movies. I try to
be consistent in all of my reasoning. Look, I don't
care about the casting. Is the movie good. I don't
like Disney live action movies. I've said that many times before,
But I damn sure I'm not gonna make a decision
(19:57):
on it to make sure that it's racially pure.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
It's just crazy to me.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
And this is the same America who says we need
to get over this race thing.
Speaker 5 (20:07):
We'll do your part.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
It's Later with Mo Kelly k if I AM six forty,
WeLive everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
You're listening to Later with Mo Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
If you want to weigh in on that conversation regarding
snow White, number one.
Speaker 5 (20:23):
Number one, you better be polite. I'll just block you
simple as that.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Also, please refer to something I actually said, not what
you wish I said, or imagine I said, or hoped
I said, or just wanted to get off your chest.
Speaker 5 (20:37):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
I have no problem with entering dialogue with anyone on
these very complex issues.
Speaker 5 (20:43):
At times.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
You can reach out to me on threads at mister
mo Kelly, Instagram at mister mo Kelly, Are at later
with mo Kelly and we can have an adult conversation
on these things.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
Twalla Sharp tell us about CinemaCon.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
CinemaCon is where, damn it, we should broadcast year because
they are giving us the teases on every single thing
coming to theaters this year and beyond. I absolutely am
in love with some of the teases that they've released
thus far. So far, we've only seen Sony Believe, Warner
Brothers Lionsgate, but Sony kicked it off and they dropped
(21:18):
the trailers and teases for the new Resident Evil film.
It's being relaunched, all right. They also gave us the
biggest Marvel news that we've seen in a minute, next
to the five hour Avengers Doomsday trailer. Right the fourth
Spider Man film has finally been titled Spider Man a
(21:39):
Brand New Day and it is coming out next year.
Speaker 5 (21:42):
Oh wow live I mean next year?
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Okay, that means the film was probably already done pretty much.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
I mean, look, they've been shooting. I think they're doing
a few little reshoots.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
But the magic of this film is this film is
coming out in between Doomsday and Secret War. Because everyone's wondering, like,
why was in Tom Hollands. Peter Parker announced because the
events of Doomsday affect the events of Spider Man for
a Brand New Day, which puts him into Secret Wars.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
So I'm excited about that.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
But that's not the only Spider Man news, because one
of the greatest treats we've ever ever been treated to
in cinema was the surprise hit of Spider Man and
the Spider Verse, the animated films.
Speaker 5 (22:24):
Right, we didn't know we were going to get into
the Spider Verse. Well now we are.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
We know officially that we are going to get another
Spider Man film. Spider Man Beyond the Spider Verse is
officially coming June fourth, twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 5 (22:38):
But it's still coming.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
I have a question, Yes, is there any possibility that
Miles Morales may.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
Be included into the MCU as we know it. There
are rumors that say Spider Man Beyond Beyond.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
The Spider Verse is the film that actually puts Miles
Morales into the mc and introduces his way in as
a live action character.
Speaker 5 (23:05):
Yes, so like that one there.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
I know for Mark, Mark is a fan of this
film and or at least this franchise. But they dropped
some real, real treats on twenty eight years later, and
then twenty eight years later the Bone Temple. I don't
know anything about it, Mark, but it sounds scary like.
Speaker 5 (23:22):
You love it. Oh, the first two were great. I
can't wait.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Well, then you're won't have to wait long because June
twentieth of this year it'll be on the Rhino Report.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
You can go see it. Is Danny Boyle directing this
third one. Yes, yes, yes, that's very important.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Continuity of directors usually means continuity of vision.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
And the Bone Temple one, the one that comes out
January sixteen of twenty twenty six, is done by Nia DaCosta,
and I'm a fan of her work because of what
she did with Lovecraft.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
Yes, I thought that her work on that was great.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Going back to what Mark was saying talking about HP
love Craft and the complexity of him as an individual,
Lovecraft on HBO took that and flipped it on its head,
acknowledging the history of HP Lovecraft and created a world
out of that.
Speaker 8 (24:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Yeah, in a world touched by reality. That just had
people shook like that actually happened. Yep, when talking about
the Tulsa Masacre, that actually happened, Like, yeah, yeah, I did.
Speaker 4 (24:24):
That actually happened. That's the lasting takeaway from that show.
People who are Lovecraft fans like me were a little
bit shafe that there wasn't really any Lovecraft in it,
but culturally it was a really significant piece of work.
You mean no Cthulhu among other things. Yeah, sure, the
great God, your respect.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
The only disappointing thing for me from Sony's releases, surprisingly
was the Karate Kids Legends trailer.
Speaker 5 (24:55):
I was looking forward to that.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Yeah, I'm gonna see it, no doubt. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
you know, it just seemed and I'm going to steal
this from you, Tuala, it seemed more Netflix than wide
theater release quality. Yeah, I would be upset if I
paid money to see Cobra Kai in theaters. It's fine
on Netflix. This just had a Netflix feel. It didn't
(25:18):
feel as big as any of the previous Karate Kid movies.
It's kind of sketch how Jackie Chan's Mister Han and
Daniel LaRusso is supposed to be two branches of the
same tree. I know it's all make believe, but they're
really stretching the limits of martial arts trying to integrate two.
Let me just say this real quick. When you're into
(25:41):
traditional martial arts which are based on cultural traditions, be
it Japanese and karate, Chinese and kung Fu, the philosophies
are completely different based on their history and wars they
fought all that, and when you try to combine it
in one form, especially in a movie. To anyone who's
(26:04):
an actual martial artists like me, it's like, come on,
you can't do that. You know, They're just no, you
just can't. So if I can get over that, if
I can suspend my disbelief there, then maybe I'll enjoy
the movie.
Speaker 5 (26:18):
And I'll give you a perfect example. I know, we
gotta go to break Cobra Kai.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
They were all sorts of references between Dojon, which is Korean.
One of the villains in this Cobra Kai heard Dojon.
It was set in Korea. The whole idea that Korean
martial arts was being called karate and they were referring
to their instructor as Senseay. It's like, no, you would
never do that. It's disrespectful, especially if you know the
history of the Japanese occupation of Korea.
Speaker 5 (26:44):
There would not be any type of blending like that. No,
never speaking of martial arts.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
Real quickly, Lionsgate dropped today absolute bombs. It seems they're
building out the john Wick universe with yes a John
Wick Chapter five with Keanu Reeve's returning. It came out
he is returning. There is a reason and a way
how they're going to do a prequel film animated anime style.
(27:11):
It's an anime prequel for that. They're also dropping the
Ballerina this summer, and then they're going to do a
Cane film So Caine, which is starring.
Speaker 5 (27:25):
Uh isn't that done?
Speaker 8 (27:27):
In done?
Speaker 5 (27:28):
I'm sorry? Yeah, Donny in and he is going to
direct it, not David Cardy and.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
No, damn it, no, no, no, okay, although that would
have been cool, you damn right?
Speaker 5 (27:38):
That does it come out with a ballgag? Oh? Too soon?
Isn't it been a decade? Still too soon? Oh? Man?
Speaker 4 (27:51):
Did did you see anything about the new David Cronenberg
movie The Shrouds?
Speaker 5 (27:56):
No? No, no, no no. And probably because I wasn't looking
for it.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
Okay, boy, that looks terrific and he seems like he
might actually be getting sicker in his old age. And
I can't tell you how much I love it and
I'm looking forward to it when.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
We come back. I'll be joining on the show by
Brian Volkwiss. You probably know his comedy specials. He's done
comedy specials with all the big names from Kevin Hart,
Jim Gaffigan, Bill ingvall on Down. He does the The
Icons on Earth series on Vice TV, and so much more.
We're going to talk about his latest property, Robo Force,
the animated series, which is going to premiere on TV
(28:31):
on April twelfth. That's coming up next. KFI AM six
forty Live Everywhere, the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 5 (28:44):
With Mo Kelly on k.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
Six will become.
Speaker 5 (29:16):
In twenty eighty nine Detroit.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Robo Force is obsolete and has no hope of becoming heroes.
That is until a mysterious code virus infects the UA
one oh one bots, and no one besides robo Force
can stop them. Roble Force, the animated series premieres April
twelfth on TV, which also happens to be the most
watched free TV and movie streaming service in the US. Producer, director,
(29:38):
and friend to the show, and also founder and CEO
Today Sale Company, Brian Volkwiz is back to tell us
all about Robo Force the animated series and I suspect
the future of streaming entertainment as well.
Speaker 5 (29:49):
Brian, nice to have you back on sir. How you doing.
Speaker 8 (29:52):
Always a pleasure, and I do not use that term lightly.
It is literally always a pleasure. I was in a
good mood before I saw you. Just now now I'm
in a great mood.
Speaker 5 (30:01):
Thank you, well, thank you.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
We had a nice conversation before this conversation off air,
and it seems that my NERD credentials have expanded greatly,
very quickly.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
Share that story.
Speaker 8 (30:12):
Yeah, so I'm reading this great book now. It's funny.
I know the author's name, Steve Kozak. I don't know
the name of the book, but it is about the
Star Wars Holiday special and I saw this name, Moe Kelly,
all throughout the book, so I was like, Oh, I'm
talking to him tomorrow. So I've been reading your name
(30:34):
all over because we're doing press worldwide international tour for
Robofs and that is the book I am reading while
on the tour.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
HI praise and I appreciate you for that, but let
me respond in kind. Everyone has seen your work, and
I mean everyone. Some may have seen your comedy specials
you produce for Kevin Hart, Jim Gaffigan, Andrew Schultz, Bill
Ingvill and others. Some know you work with icons on
Earth series installment. I'm always intrigued as to what motivates
you in this media space.
Speaker 5 (31:05):
What makes a good story to tell or show?
Speaker 8 (31:09):
In my mind, anything good needs two things, heart and humor.
And you know I always give two examples. The perfect
examples to that premise are seven you know, the Brad
Pitt Morgan Freeman movie and Bridesmaids. Seven Dark Mean, What's
(31:30):
in the Box? The John Doe, Oh, the Terrible Blood Gore.
There's also a lot of humor, like a lot. Just
because you've got a library card doesn't make you Yoda,
one of the funniest lines of all time. Conversely, Bride'smaids,
people pooping in stores, getting drunket parties, knocking over fountains.
(31:54):
There's a lot of heart in that movie. There's a
lot of pathos the movie. Yes, it's about all the
girls getting back together and all the craziness at a
wedding and everything, but it's also fundamentally about friendship and marriage,
so you need both. I'll give you an even crazier example.
(32:17):
The greatest movie of last year, The Beekeeper. Yes I
said it, dumbass action movie, stupider, I get it. I
dressed like him for Halloween. But it literally opens if
you watch the movie again if you haven't seen it,
it literally opens with like this pretty powerful scene between
(32:39):
Jason Statham and ra shot thank you, Like this pretty
intimate scene of them, like not sexually intimate, but like
two people having coffee as the sunsets this very powerful
surrogate mother story where her surrogates like and then it's
(32:59):
the dumbass action movie, but that scene it makes the
movie work, And without that I wouldn't be talking about it.
Right now.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
It's interesting you said that not to name Joup, but
I was just speaking to the director of the Beekeeper
and also his latest film, A working Man, David Ayre,
last week on this show. So it's almost serendipitous that
you happen to mention the Beekeeper. But I can see
where you're coming from. Let me ask you this as well.
Animation has seemingly gone under a remodel over the decades.
(33:32):
What was originally just for kids is now for adults
and kids, and this underlying action figure market also supported
by both I need not tell you that, but why
do you think animation has become ageless?
Speaker 5 (33:44):
And it's appealed ageless in many respects?
Speaker 8 (33:48):
You know, I think it's because we start I always say,
like the beginning of what we now call pop culture.
I really would argue our definition started with Planet of
the Apes, because Planet of the Apes it was before
Star Wars to a certain degree, you could argue from
(34:09):
a pop culture point of view, it was before Star Trek.
Even it was the first brand that had a movie,
then another movie, toys then a TV show and everything else, plates, bowls,
t shirts. So it's like we've gotten to this multi
generational stage of pop culture. I played with Bumblebee, I
(34:32):
played with Optimist Prime. So does my six year old
kid last night. And I think that's a huge part
of what's also happened with animation, because the same way
I grew up watching Transformers and my parents didn't. When
my kids got into Rescue Bots initially and Dino Trucks
(34:54):
and now Transformers, I'm with them, like, I'm so excited
to sit on the couch with them and watch this,
And that wasn't going on in the nineties or eighties,
let alone the seventies. So I think that had a
lot to do with the switch, the transition. And a
great example of that is the original X Men, which
(35:15):
of course now we call X Men ninety seven. But
I watched X Men by myself, but in retrospect, yeah,
I think my parents would have loved it too.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
How do you in your mind effectively translate, explain, describe
the subtleties, the nuances. Because you talked about Rescue Box,
we could talk about Transformers. We can talk about robo
Force as we are going to and how that occupies
different spaces and people dinal Box. People understand the subtleties,
the nuances because I know someone's listening, Like my eyes
(35:47):
are glazing over. I don't understand the differences in all
these properties. How is it different? Why is it different?
Why do people find themselves attracted you one summer?
Speaker 8 (35:56):
All not to be cheesy, but you're asking a very
in a good way. You're asking a very simple question.
So I have to give you a very simple answer.
It's the writing. The writing creates the characters. And everybody
talks about the world and world building and cannon. You know,
we use these big artsy fartsy words like I'm teaching
(36:19):
a class at NYU. The truth of the matter is
it's about characters, like I always have responded to Jedi
Luke and Ahsoka Tano like so yes, I love Star
Wars as a whole, but that which brings me into
Star Wars is a very specific Luke Skywalker, not even
(36:39):
a new Hope Luke and Ahsoka twenty five thirty years
later kept me into it. You know, I was watching
Wicked for the second time with my daughter Sunday night,
and like, again, this is gonna sound crazy, but the
whitest man ever I relate to Elfhaba. So I'm sitting
here almost forty nine white guy from Queens connecting to
(37:03):
a black woman playing a green woman in a movie,
and like, that's who I connect with.
Speaker 5 (37:09):
What do you think that connection is there for you?
Before we go to your daughter.
Speaker 8 (37:12):
I think it's because my life and career are similar
to the whoop, I almost said the S word to
the stuff, not that word.
Speaker 5 (37:22):
I said word.
Speaker 8 (37:24):
My life and career, especially my career just happens to
connect with what she's going through in the movie. My daughter,
who is eleven and has not yet had her teeth
kicked in the way we all do. After we leave
our home, our parents home, she connects with Gutlinda So
again forty nine year old guy from New York, eleven
(37:46):
year old girl born and raised in la Completely different connections.
But that's what makes anything great is you have something
in there for all of you, for every one I mean,
and that's what pulls you in a character.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Brian Volkwiss, we have to take a quick break, but
that is a great stopping point and we can all
marinate on that. During the break, we're going to talk
about Robe Force, the animated series which is going to
premiere on April twelfth on two BM speaking with Brian
volk Weiss, who's the president and CEO. Friend of the
show of course, but president's CEO of Naysale Company. More
in just a moment, can't if I Am six forty
Live everywhere in the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 5 (38:32):
Someone has to turning down and I have the one
on one.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
They've been attacking people and we have the power to
start it.
Speaker 8 (38:39):
You sure you wouldn't want a Jolas Well that went well.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
What was unthinkable a few days ago has become a pattern.
Speaker 5 (38:47):
Those one on ones were infected with some ro code.
Speaker 8 (38:50):
You got this, You're programmed to lead, You got this?
You got this? Oh my god, Duke, she's going to
figure this out.
Speaker 5 (39:00):
We need to do so before she does.
Speaker 8 (39:04):
The entire army of you A one of once to attack.
Speaker 2 (39:07):
Humanity isn't a liberation, it's assaulter. I Am six forty
Later with mo Kelly. We're live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
We're talking about Robo Force, the animated series, which is
going to premiere April twelfth on tub and we're going
to talk about.
Speaker 5 (39:26):
It right now.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
With Brian volk Weiss, who has been on the show
a number of times. You know his work from Icons
on Earth and his many comedy specials that he's produced,
and animation and action figures. He does a little bit
of everything. But right now, let's talk about Robo Force,
the animated series. I got to ask you, Brian, sometimes
I think the city of Detroit gets a bad rap.
(39:47):
It seems like it's nothing but bad news and media
when it comes to the city. RoboCop Detroit, Assault on
Precinct thirteen Detroit, the Betsy Detroit, The Crow, dark Man,
Evil Dead Detroit.
Speaker 5 (39:58):
You give my point. Why Detroit for Robo Force.
Speaker 8 (40:02):
I'm gonna give you an answer you're not even gonna believe.
But I will say this before I answer you. I
believe the Detroit that we showed is positive. You won't
see any burnt out buildings or any of the other stuff.
But here's why it's in Detroit. It's funny to me
you started with this question. We were this close to
(40:23):
buying Robo Cop, so I had found out while making
movies that made us. I was in Dallas, which is
where RoboCop was shot for the most part, with Ed
Newmyer and Ed Newmeyer over dinner mentioned this wacky thing
called the Sonny Bono Law, which meant the rights were
(40:45):
going back to him in about nine months. So we
made an offer, and we were getting close to acquiring
robo Cop. And while that was all going on, we
were developing I hope I don't confuse every with all
the robos robo Force. So I said to myself, when
(41:05):
we get the deal done for RoboCop, we will have
RoboCop and robo Force work together. Well, I don't know
if you've heard of this company. You seem smart Mode,
but maybe you don't notice. There's a company called Amazon,
and this is going to blow your mind. They got
more money than I do. They bought MGM while we
(41:28):
were negotiating. So when I thought we were about to
get the deal done, Amazon came in bought MGM. And
remember I told you they got more money than I do.
So we ended up not getting RoboCop, but we were
already in pre production on robo Force, so we left
it in Detroit.
Speaker 5 (41:48):
Let's talk more about robo Force set the stage for
the story for me.
Speaker 8 (41:53):
So the story of season one we took from real life.
What happened in real life. Was the toy company that
made robo Force came up with this huge, crazy idea
for the biggest toy launch of all time, robo Force.
Most toy lines launch with seven characters. Robo Force launch
(42:14):
with thirty two characters. Most toy lines first waves start
with maybe one vehicle. Roboforce started with three vehicles. You
never have a play set for a first wave, the
biggest playset you've ever seen, of course, except for the
USS flag. They go to Toy Fair. And for anybody
who doesn't know what toy Fair is, imagine like the
(42:35):
Sundance Film Festival for toys. But imagine if there were
no other film festivals, only Sundance. That's toy Fair. So
they go to Toy Fair nineteen eighty three, they're like,
look at this, isn't this great? And everybody thought it
was great. Toys r US made the biggest order in
the history of toys, r US two million units of
(42:58):
robo Force Wave one.
Speaker 5 (43:00):
Wow.
Speaker 8 (43:01):
You might be asking yourself, well, if it was such
a big deal, how come nobody really knows what robo
Force is? Right, That announcement was on a Tuesday. Guess
what was announced on Thursday, Transformers. So Transformers comes out,
destroys robo Force. Sticking with the same comp robo Force
(43:22):
toys r us order two million goes to two fifty
KB had done. Half a million order goes to fifty
destroys to robo Force. Not only that bankrupts the company
that made it. So we took that story and made
it our DNA. So at the beginning of robo Force,
(43:44):
essentially you see Roboforce getting announced to the world like yay,
we're the best, We're gonna save the world. Across town
an evil company, Utopia Ages they announced their new robots,
the UA one oh ones. The UA one o ones
are much better than Roboforce, and robo Force is decimated.
(44:06):
So for fifteen years, the members of Robofce have miserable lives,
horrible jobs, they fall apart, they get into fights with
each other. It's terrible. Then, believe it or not, the
UA one o ones they get hacked, They get corrupted,
and guess who is the only force that can stop
(44:26):
the UA one o ones robo Force. You got it? Wow,
Never we can invite you to Jeopardy. So that's our story.
So the story takes place fifteen years after they had
their teeth kicked in and their shin's broken and all
of that, and it this is what I can promise
anybody who watches. It's a redemption story. There is not
(44:51):
a single character at the beginning of the series that's
the same at the end. Heroes become villains, villains become
hero and you're watching everybody evolve in a way that's
really I think typical of life in that it's your experiences,
you know, going back to Wicked, it really is your
(45:13):
experiences that make us. And we show that Robo Force
rising basically all but from the grave. They learned a
lot in those fifteen years of being in the wilderness
and now they're finally getting their shot at being heroes.
Speaker 2 (45:30):
My time is run short with you, Brian Vogewise, very
quickly tell me the significance of this being on tub
and the future of streaming as you see it. You
have that free model where everyone else struggles seemingly with
charging the subscription.
Speaker 8 (45:44):
Why to be so we were very lucky, you know,
we financed Robo Force and then we took it out
to the market, so it was obviously a little risky,
but we got a bunch of offers, and we went
with tub because they were remind me of like the
early days of streaming in that they're very aggressive in
(46:05):
a good way. They're very confident, and they really picked
their battles carefully, and one of the battles that they
picked was that they are free, so they've made it
so easy for anybody to sign up, and that's part
of the reason. I think, other than Netflix in the YouTube,
I think Toob is number three overall and number one
(46:30):
as it relates to the rise and percentage of all
the viewers that they have. So we wanted to be
with a partner that was kind of young and scrappy
like us, and like would fight to win and not
just be like, oh, let's put it out and see
how it does. That was our goal and we have
had no better partner.
Speaker 5 (46:49):
We can't have a better guest.
Speaker 2 (46:51):
Brian vulk Weiss Rubble Force, the animated series premiere is
April twelfth. On to b Brian Volk wise, thank you
so much for always coming on and sharing your work
with us, and you know it's not going to be
the last time, so I look forward in advance to
our next meeting.
Speaker 8 (47:05):
At Zoee's Mode thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (47:07):
It's later with Mo Kelly kf I AM six forty.
We are live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (47:14):
The more you know, the easier it is to avoid
the idiots around you.
Speaker 8 (47:19):
K s I and KOST HD.
Speaker 2 (47:22):
Two Los Angeles, Orange County live everywhere
Speaker 5 (47:25):
On the Ehart Radio app.
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
We're going to talk about snow White, why the movie failed,
and I think it's more than one reason, but it's
emblematic of a larger discussion of what we expect out
of movies in the twenty first century, especially this time
in America. And before we get to that conversation, I
(00:27):
want to see that if you will with some general thoughts,
and let me start with you, Tuala. And you don't
know that I'm doing this. This is going to be
very open ended because I think it sets the stage
for the discussion I think we can have or should have.
When you want to go to the movies or to
see a movie, what are some of the prerequisites or
(00:51):
the expectations.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
That I will be entertained, that I will experience some
form of the escapism, and that I will walk away
feeling that my money was well spent having received both.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
That's good for me. I can't add to that, because
that's all I really want. I don't put any extras
on top of that. Mark Ronner, what are your expectations
or requests going in?
Speaker 4 (01:22):
It's gotta be something special that I don't want to
wait for. I just saw the Black Bag movie that
Steven Soderberg did two weeks after its released. It's available
for streaming, and so I wanted to see it at
the time because I want to support everything he does,
because I think he's brilliant. But if it's gonna be
something you can access from home two weeks later, no way.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Okay for me. Let me just add this. I need
the escapism. In other words, I don't want to feel
like i'm and it's an extension of what I do.
But me, this is only me. I don't put any
extras on it. In other words, I look at the
movie for what it is. I don't think about who
(02:02):
the director is or the director's political leanings.
Speaker 5 (02:05):
I don't think about the casting.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I want to put myself in a space where the
movie and its presumed content would it be enjoyable to me,
because I know if I knew every political thought of
this actor or that actress, or this company or that
president of that company, I probably wouldn't agree with them,
(02:28):
and I probably would would be less inclined to see
a movie. I try to take movies at face value,
just what it is. If it's an action movie. If
there is some sort of subtle messaging going on, oh okay.
But I enjoyed the movie as it is. And I
always like to use the example of Rocky four. Rocky four,
(02:53):
Sylvester Stallone, he's fighting Ivan Drago during the height of
the real world Cold War? Is that propaganda? I would
say so. Is that a political message? I would definitely
say so. But was the movie entertainment? Was the movie escapism?
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Did I ever think about the politics of Sylvester Stallone,
which we all know now? No? Does that preclude me
from watching a show like Tulsa King and enjoying it
any differently? I didn't say more or less thinking about
his politics.
Speaker 5 (03:31):
Not at all. I can maybe I'm just different that way.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
I don't get caught up in any of that stuff
because it's all make believe. The show is make believe
everything that's happening, make believe the actor is acting, and
outside of that, I don't have any misgivings. I don't
have any hang ups on that. But that seems to
be an unpopular view. I would say that's the minority view,
(03:56):
and people get caught up in the casting. Has to
be a certain way, the politics of the perceived politics
of the company needs to be a certain way, or
we can't support the movie. I don't know how we
got here. I don't know why we got here. I
just know it makes no damn sense at all. I
have never gone into a Marvel movie, for example, and said,
(04:19):
I don't know if I can support this movie because
I don't like the politics of Isaac pearlbuter the former
president of Marvel, and he has some real effed up politics.
I went in to see what I thought was going
to be in entertaining two and a half hours of escapism.
Speaker 5 (04:36):
That was it.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
I didn't go into the movie saying like, oh my gosh,
I can't believe they got rid of Terrence Howard and
to replaced it with Don Cheatle.
Speaker 6 (04:45):
No.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I went to see the movie. That was all I
wanted to this day. I don't know about Robert Downey
Junior's politics.
Speaker 5 (04:54):
I don't know. I have some suspicions, but I don't know.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
But it's never figured in to my equation of whether
I'm going to see him in Oppenheimer or whether I'm
going to see him as as Tony Stark or doctor Doom.
That's just me. Now, there are those actors or actresses
who may have something so inflammatory where it makes it
impossible to ignore it.
Speaker 5 (05:18):
I just can't think of one at the moment. Mel
Gibson for some for.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Some, No, I'm sorry, since you mentioned Mel Gibson, I'll
tell you exactly what I think about Mel Gibson.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
And you know we've been trying to get him on
the show.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, he has said some things publicly that are pretty
hard to swallow, from his anti Semitic remarks to his
racist remarks, using the N word talking to his girlfriend.
Speaker 5 (05:42):
I remember or what I remember as well.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
And this is my assumption, and it may be wrong,
it may be right, it may be hard.
Speaker 5 (05:51):
For some people to swallow. That's just my assumption.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I just assume that every actor who has come in
here who happens to be of the Caucasian persuasion has
used the inWORD.
Speaker 5 (06:01):
Well, that saves time, doesn't it. No, But I'm just saying,
I'm not going to kid myself. What do I say.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
We don't know these people, and we got to see
a glimpse of mel in those moments plural, and to me,
it's like not surprising at all, because there are a
lot of folks who are very nice and then you
hear let's say, Dog the Bounty Hunter or a Hulk
Hogan for example, surprises me not at all, not at all.
(06:32):
Does it disappoint me absolutely? Now does that change my
view of pro wrestling?
Speaker 5 (06:39):
Not really. Still think it's real.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Yeah, But my point is, I guess my expectation level
set lower than others.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
Well, and everybody falls in a different place on the
spectrum of separating the art from the artist. I've written
there the number of HP Lovecraft inspired comics, and he
was an absolutely not so racist yeah, and one of
my comics I mocked his racism in the comic. But
some people decide they want nothing further to do with
(07:09):
him once they find that out.
Speaker 5 (07:11):
Look, I'm not a fan of Mark Twain. Sorry.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
You know, I've read all the work of Mark Twain
and Huckleberry Finn. That's not enjoyable for me. You know,
I think everyone has their limit, but for each person
is different.
Speaker 5 (07:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
I think that in my lifetime, there's only been one
instance that someone's behavior, something that someone said rubbed me
the wrong way. In the moment, I know that I
received it, and that's so market hood is who I
have not been able to forgive. Even though he wasn't
talking to me. It wasn't a conversation I was a
(07:51):
part of. It was Damnar even a hot Mike moment.
I don't know, and at this point I don't care,
Like you know, I still watched that damn John Wicks
spin off The Continental, and I thought that mel Gibson's
performance in it was okay, like mel Gibson to be
is still doing mel Gibson as acting to the point
(08:13):
where I'm like, oh, yeah, that is dude that said
all that crazy stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
But you could at least point to an individual and
say something specific. And it's not like you go out
on social media and have this campaign like don't watch
mel Gibson movies.
Speaker 5 (08:28):
And that's why I think it's something different. Now.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
I don't have that kind of time of the day
to tell people what not to watch. Tell even if
I complain about something, I'm just telling you my complains,
my views, so that you haven't informed idea of what
I thought about something. But there's only I think maybe
two films I would say don't go see because they're
just that bad, not because anything political or what someone
(08:50):
said this and no, because films like Madam Webb are
trashed and I value your time.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
That's another likening ride before we go to break.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Just for example, sake Kevin Sorbo Oh God, Kevin sorbo
Or even James Woods, both very far right on the
political spectrum. I watch their stuff just like anyone else.
I think James Woods is a fantastic actor, and whether
I'm gonna watch his movies is gonna come down to
(09:19):
what the movie is or his role in the movie.
He plays a terrific villain. It's almost like kind of
suits him. Oh, if you don't love cop, there's something
wrong right right, So it's not about what someone believes or,
at least in my world, whether it's worthy of support.
(09:40):
But now, as we get ready to get into the
snow White discussion, we live in a world where it's
about not only do I not like the supposed politics
or the supposed racial casting. Now I got to make
sure I review Vombit and I lie about a movie
I didn't even see in the hopes that I somehow
damage it and damage the company.
Speaker 5 (10:01):
It's a little bit different. We're going to get into
that next.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
We're going to talk about snow white and why, among
other reasons it is going to fail to the tune
of maybe one hundred and fifteen million dollar loss.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
That's next.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 7 (10:19):
Welcome to MO on the Movies, right, don't be ridiculous, darling,
it's MO on the Movies, not a.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Jansm KFI Mo Kelly. We're live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
And I'm the first to admit I don't think I
was born at the right time, maybe on the right planet,
(10:52):
because I'll be the first to say that I don't
see the world the way that most people do.
Speaker 5 (10:57):
I see it very differently.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
And when it to movies, my desires, my wants, my needs,
my requirements are usually very different than other people. And
I know movies can be very personal. That's part of
the reason why we talk about them. They are not
only entertainment pieces. They can be overtly political. They can
be agents of change. There are a lot of movies
(11:20):
we can go back to newsreels and how that they
were so instrumental and not only providing information but inspiration
in the management of the media aspect of a war effort.
Speaker 5 (11:32):
Media has power you.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Can talk about, and I've made mention of TV shows
like Star Trek, how that was a statement on where
America should be headed. You can point to any number
of TV shows which have done that on varying levels.
But today it seems using Snow White as one of
(11:55):
many movies which have fallen into this bucket is some
sort of fightening rod for people who expect companies and
creators to present movies in a way which aligns with
their personal politics, not for the purpose of free expression.
(12:20):
If we know anything from Citizens United, we know that
corporations are people. Well, Disney is a corporation and Disney
and I've always let me back up. I've always been
of the opinion that creators should create and can create
as they see fit, and if I don't want to
support it, then I don't support it. It's not like
I'm going to tear it down or tear the company down.
(12:42):
Not everything is for everyone. I wouldn't expect everyone to
appreciate Tyler Perry, but there's a market for Tyler Perry.
Not everyone's going to appreciate Kevin Sorbo's movies, but there
is a market, tiny one but there is a market
for Kevin Sorbo's movies, and if you want to support it,
then you'll support it. But if you don't agree with
(13:04):
Kevin Sorbo, you know, I don't know why people will
waste their time foyning to review Bomb. For example, snow
White has been in the news for quite some time
leading up to its film release for a number of reasons.
It was for the casting of Zelger as a snow White.
It was in the news for the casting of Galcadutt
(13:27):
and her public remarks. There have been a number of
controversial my word, public remarks made by cast members which
probably turned some audience goers or would be audience goers
against it. But I think it's more than that, I
really do. I there's there's a there's a mean spiritedness
(13:50):
where seemingly we have groups of people who are setting
out to be offended, who are looking for reasons to
try to torpedo movies. Now I can talk about the
business expecting I would say, you're fighting against your own interest.
If you want to have movies done a certain way, well,
the Disney Corporation is probably not the one you want
to hurt, if only because it just means fewer movies
(14:12):
gonna be made, fewer theaters are going to stay in business,
and you're just gonna have less content of any caliber
out there.
Speaker 5 (14:22):
TWELLA, let me come to you. Where do you come
out on this? As far as snow.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
White, thus far, I have been thoroughly disappointed at how
obvious the attacks against snow White have been. The attacks
against snow White are an offshoot of the attacks against
Disney being quote unquote who all right, Because the very
(14:47):
first attacks against snow White, sight unseen, was the casting
of an actress that would be viewers felt did not
look like this make leave character okay, as if in
the Land of Neverland, race matters, because we're also talking
(15:07):
about a film with seven magical creatures of diminutive height
who walk around singing and living a mind and all
types of magic stuff, and a girl who talks to
animals and sings to birds. But you want to argue
about the race of the casting of the character.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
So it started with that. So that was the first.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Thing that everyone tried to glomb on, And then all
of a sudden people started hearing these varying views of
both Galgadut, who's been very very public with her views
and I heard yes and and but she actually served
in you know, the Israeli armies, Like who do you
think Galagadut is that?
Speaker 5 (15:47):
That's who she's always been.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Then when you see Rachel Zelger coming through on her
social media posts after the film's made saying hey, you know,
I will stay with Palestine, then all of a sudden
you turn this into and is versus palistin I think,
And then both sides start review bombing the film.
Speaker 5 (16:04):
Again sight unseen, sight unseen. This film is horrible.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I would never waste about this film shouldn't be shown
by anyone, do you know? And then they always tag
it with uh free Palestine, freeze or whatever, and it's like,
what does any of them have to do with the movie,
Because I know people who have actually seen the film,
and everyone I know who's actually seen the film watched
they're taking their kids.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
They have all said the exact same thing.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
This is quite possibly the truest interpretation of a live
action Disney film that we have ever seen, in that
it's exactly like the original animated movie.
Speaker 5 (16:43):
It's just live action.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
If you look at the original animated movie and you
put Rachel Zegler side by side, tweeze her eyebrows. She
is the same hue, same hair color, same cheek color
as the animated version of Snow White.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
It's honest, except the animated character wasn't Polish and Spanish.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
I know those who don't know Rachel Ziegler's half Colombian,
half Polish, Well there you go. And they're complaining about
obviously the hash half Columbia because the Polish would have
been okay, it would seem. Yes, these are insincere arguments
because there is a group of people separate from the
Free Palace nine and you know, support Israel contingentous. There's
(17:29):
a contingent of people who believe that castings should be limited.
And let's be very honest, it only works in one
direction that any person of color who's cast in a
quote unquote perceived white role, because Snow White is not
an actual person. So I say, perceived white role is
somehow an offense. And I've used this example before. We
(17:52):
can talk about Noah and the movie with Russell Crowe.
Nobody said anything. We all know Noah's met Sopotamian, okay,
from the Middle East. We can talk about Exodus Gods
and Kings with Christian Bale and others who played Moses,
so it only works in one direction. As far as
the supposed outrage, Here's where I stand because when I
(18:15):
get your headmail, I need you to know exactly what
I said, not what you imagine. I am all for
creators choosing the cast that the creators want.
Speaker 5 (18:27):
Period.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
If you want to do a black Panther movie, and
this is the example, everyone says, what if they have
a white black panther, knock yourself out and if the
movie does well, it does well. Now, if you happen
to know anything about black Panther, it is written into
the character that is from an indigenous place in Africa
and is not touched by colonization, so there would be
(18:50):
no outside influences. But if you want to write that
story and you think you can pull it off, knock
yourself the hell out. At the same time, I'm not
going to lose any sleep because snow white, which is
not really having to do with the supposed skin color,
because this not an alabaster type albino woman who's walking around.
Speaker 5 (19:13):
If you are gonna.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Get your ass on your shoulders because a half Columbian
woman is gonna play the role, then stop saying, why
do you guys make it all about race all the time,
because there is no legitimate argument for that. Now, if
you don't keeping this all together, if you don't want
to see the movie for whatever reasons, that's your business.
I'm just saying it's a silly ass excuse, and it's
(19:36):
an insincere and a disingenuous one because you don't apply
that same standard to all the movies. I try to
be consistent in all of my reasoning. Look, I don't
care about the casting. Is the movie good. I don't
like Disney live action movies. I've said that many times before,
But I damn sure I'm not gonna make a decision
(19:57):
on it to make sure that it's racially pure.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
It's just crazy to me.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
And this is the same America who says we need
to get over this race thing.
Speaker 5 (20:07):
We'll do your part.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
It's Later with Mo Kelly k if I AM six forty,
WeLive everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
You're listening to Later with Mo Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
If you want to weigh in on that conversation regarding
snow White, number one.
Speaker 5 (20:23):
Number one, you better be polite. I'll just block you
simple as that.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Also, please refer to something I actually said, not what
you wish I said, or imagine I said, or hoped
I said, or just wanted to get off your chest.
Speaker 5 (20:37):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
I have no problem with entering dialogue with anyone on
these very complex issues.
Speaker 5 (20:43):
At times.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
You can reach out to me on threads at mister
mo Kelly, Instagram at mister mo Kelly, Are at later
with mo Kelly and we can have an adult conversation
on these things.
Speaker 5 (20:53):
Twalla Sharp tell us about CinemaCon.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
CinemaCon is where, damn it, we should broadcast year because
they are giving us the teases on every single thing
coming to theaters this year and beyond. I absolutely am
in love with some of the teases that they've released
thus far. So far, we've only seen Sony Believe, Warner
Brothers Lionsgate, but Sony kicked it off and they dropped
(21:18):
the trailers and teases for the new Resident Evil film.
It's being relaunched, all right. They also gave us the
biggest Marvel news that we've seen in a minute, next
to the five hour Avengers Doomsday trailer. Right the fourth
Spider Man film has finally been titled Spider Man a
(21:39):
Brand New Day and it is coming out next year.
Speaker 5 (21:42):
Oh wow live I mean next year?
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Okay, that means the film was probably already done pretty much.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
I mean, look, they've been shooting. I think they're doing
a few little reshoots.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
But the magic of this film is this film is
coming out in between Doomsday and Secret War. Because everyone's wondering, like,
why was in Tom Hollands. Peter Parker announced because the
events of Doomsday affect the events of Spider Man for
a Brand New Day, which puts him into Secret Wars.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
So I'm excited about that.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
But that's not the only Spider Man news, because one
of the greatest treats we've ever ever been treated to
in cinema was the surprise hit of Spider Man and
the Spider Verse, the animated films.
Speaker 5 (22:24):
Right, we didn't know we were going to get into
the Spider Verse. Well now we are.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
We know officially that we are going to get another
Spider Man film. Spider Man Beyond the Spider Verse is
officially coming June fourth, twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 5 (22:38):
But it's still coming.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
I have a question, Yes, is there any possibility that
Miles Morales may.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
Be included into the MCU as we know it. There
are rumors that say Spider Man Beyond Beyond.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
The Spider Verse is the film that actually puts Miles
Morales into the mc and introduces his way in as
a live action character.
Speaker 5 (23:05):
Yes, so like that one there.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
I know for Mark, Mark is a fan of this
film and or at least this franchise. But they dropped
some real, real treats on twenty eight years later, and
then twenty eight years later the Bone Temple. I don't
know anything about it, Mark, but it sounds scary like.
Speaker 5 (23:22):
You love it. Oh, the first two were great. I
can't wait.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Well, then you're won't have to wait long because June
twentieth of this year it'll be on the Rhino Report.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
You can go see it. Is Danny Boyle directing this
third one. Yes, yes, yes, that's very important.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Continuity of directors usually means continuity of vision.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
And the Bone Temple one, the one that comes out
January sixteen of twenty twenty six, is done by Nia DaCosta,
and I'm a fan of her work because of what
she did with Lovecraft.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
Yes, I thought that her work on that was great.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Going back to what Mark was saying talking about HP
love Craft and the complexity of him as an individual,
Lovecraft on HBO took that and flipped it on its head,
acknowledging the history of HP Lovecraft and created a world
out of that.
Speaker 8 (24:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Yeah, in a world touched by reality. That just had
people shook like that actually happened. Yep, when talking about
the Tulsa Masacre, that actually happened, Like, yeah, yeah, I did.
Speaker 4 (24:24):
That actually happened. That's the lasting takeaway from that show.
People who are Lovecraft fans like me were a little
bit shafe that there wasn't really any Lovecraft in it,
but culturally it was a really significant piece of work.
You mean no Cthulhu among other things. Yeah, sure, the
great God, your respect.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
The only disappointing thing for me from Sony's releases, surprisingly
was the Karate Kids Legends trailer.
Speaker 5 (24:55):
I was looking forward to that.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Yeah, I'm gonna see it, no doubt. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
you know, it just seemed and I'm going to steal
this from you, Tuala, it seemed more Netflix than wide
theater release quality. Yeah, I would be upset if I
paid money to see Cobra Kai in theaters. It's fine
on Netflix. This just had a Netflix feel. It didn't
(25:18):
feel as big as any of the previous Karate Kid movies.
It's kind of sketch how Jackie Chan's Mister Han and
Daniel LaRusso is supposed to be two branches of the
same tree. I know it's all make believe, but they're
really stretching the limits of martial arts trying to integrate two.
Let me just say this real quick. When you're into
(25:41):
traditional martial arts which are based on cultural traditions, be
it Japanese and karate, Chinese and kung Fu, the philosophies
are completely different based on their history and wars they
fought all that, and when you try to combine it
in one form, especially in a movie. To anyone who's
(26:04):
an actual martial artists like me, it's like, come on,
you can't do that. You know, They're just no, you
just can't. So if I can get over that, if
I can suspend my disbelief there, then maybe I'll enjoy
the movie.
Speaker 5 (26:18):
And I'll give you a perfect example. I know, we
gotta go to break Cobra Kai.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
They were all sorts of references between Dojon, which is Korean.
One of the villains in this Cobra Kai heard Dojon.
It was set in Korea. The whole idea that Korean
martial arts was being called karate and they were referring
to their instructor as Senseay. It's like, no, you would
never do that. It's disrespectful, especially if you know the
history of the Japanese occupation of Korea.
Speaker 5 (26:44):
There would not be any type of blending like that. No,
never speaking of martial arts.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
Real quickly, Lionsgate dropped today absolute bombs. It seems they're
building out the john Wick universe with yes a John
Wick Chapter five with Keanu Reeve's returning. It came out
he is returning. There is a reason and a way
how they're going to do a prequel film animated anime style.
(27:11):
It's an anime prequel for that. They're also dropping the
Ballerina this summer, and then they're going to do a
Cane film So Caine, which is starring.
Speaker 5 (27:25):
Uh isn't that done?
Speaker 8 (27:27):
In done?
Speaker 5 (27:28):
I'm sorry? Yeah, Donny in and he is going to
direct it, not David Cardy and.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
No, damn it, no, no, no, okay, although that would
have been cool, you damn right?
Speaker 5 (27:38):
That does it come out with a ballgag? Oh? Too soon?
Isn't it been a decade? Still too soon? Oh? Man?
Speaker 4 (27:51):
Did did you see anything about the new David Cronenberg
movie The Shrouds?
Speaker 5 (27:56):
No? No, no, no no. And probably because I wasn't looking
for it.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
Okay, boy, that looks terrific and he seems like he
might actually be getting sicker in his old age. And
I can't tell you how much I love it and
I'm looking forward to it when.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
We come back. I'll be joining on the show by
Brian Volkwiss. You probably know his comedy specials. He's done
comedy specials with all the big names from Kevin Hart,
Jim Gaffigan, Bill ingvall on Down. He does the The
Icons on Earth series on Vice TV, and so much more.
We're going to talk about his latest property, Robo Force,
the animated series, which is going to premiere on TV
(28:31):
on April twelfth. That's coming up next. KFI AM six
forty Live Everywhere, the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 5 (28:44):
With Mo Kelly on k.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
Six will become.
Speaker 5 (29:16):
In twenty eighty nine Detroit.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Robo Force is obsolete and has no hope of becoming heroes.
That is until a mysterious code virus infects the UA
one oh one bots, and no one besides robo Force
can stop them. Roble Force, the animated series premieres April
twelfth on TV, which also happens to be the most
watched free TV and movie streaming service in the US. Producer, director,
(29:38):
and friend to the show, and also founder and CEO
Today Sale Company, Brian Volkwiz is back to tell us
all about Robo Force the animated series and I suspect
the future of streaming entertainment as well.
Speaker 5 (29:49):
Brian, nice to have you back on sir. How you doing.
Speaker 8 (29:52):
Always a pleasure, and I do not use that term lightly.
It is literally always a pleasure. I was in a
good mood before I saw you. Just now now I'm
in a great mood.
Speaker 5 (30:01):
Thank you, well, thank you.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
We had a nice conversation before this conversation off air,
and it seems that my NERD credentials have expanded greatly,
very quickly.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
Share that story.
Speaker 8 (30:12):
Yeah, so I'm reading this great book now. It's funny.
I know the author's name, Steve Kozak. I don't know
the name of the book, but it is about the
Star Wars Holiday special and I saw this name, Moe Kelly,
all throughout the book, so I was like, Oh, I'm
talking to him tomorrow. So I've been reading your name
(30:34):
all over because we're doing press worldwide international tour for
Robofs and that is the book I am reading while
on the tour.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
HI praise and I appreciate you for that, but let
me respond in kind. Everyone has seen your work, and
I mean everyone. Some may have seen your comedy specials
you produce for Kevin Hart, Jim Gaffigan, Andrew Schultz, Bill
Ingvill and others. Some know you work with icons on
Earth series installment. I'm always intrigued as to what motivates
you in this media space.
Speaker 5 (31:05):
What makes a good story to tell or show?
Speaker 8 (31:09):
In my mind, anything good needs two things, heart and humor.
And you know I always give two examples. The perfect
examples to that premise are seven you know, the Brad
Pitt Morgan Freeman movie and Bridesmaids. Seven Dark Mean, What's
(31:30):
in the Box? The John Doe, Oh, the Terrible Blood Gore.
There's also a lot of humor, like a lot. Just
because you've got a library card doesn't make you Yoda,
one of the funniest lines of all time. Conversely, Bride'smaids,
people pooping in stores, getting drunket parties, knocking over fountains.
(31:54):
There's a lot of heart in that movie. There's a
lot of pathos the movie. Yes, it's about all the
girls getting back together and all the craziness at a
wedding and everything, but it's also fundamentally about friendship and marriage,
so you need both. I'll give you an even crazier example.
(32:17):
The greatest movie of last year, The Beekeeper. Yes I
said it, dumbass action movie, stupider, I get it. I
dressed like him for Halloween. But it literally opens if
you watch the movie again if you haven't seen it,
it literally opens with like this pretty powerful scene between
(32:39):
Jason Statham and ra shot thank you, Like this pretty
intimate scene of them, like not sexually intimate, but like
two people having coffee as the sunsets this very powerful
surrogate mother story where her surrogates like and then it's
(32:59):
the dumbass action movie, but that scene it makes the
movie work, And without that I wouldn't be talking about it.
Right now.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
It's interesting you said that not to name Joup, but
I was just speaking to the director of the Beekeeper
and also his latest film, A working Man, David Ayre,
last week on this show. So it's almost serendipitous that
you happen to mention the Beekeeper. But I can see
where you're coming from. Let me ask you this as well.
Animation has seemingly gone under a remodel over the decades.
(33:32):
What was originally just for kids is now for adults
and kids, and this underlying action figure market also supported
by both I need not tell you that, but why
do you think animation has become ageless?
Speaker 5 (33:44):
And it's appealed ageless in many respects?
Speaker 8 (33:48):
You know, I think it's because we start I always say,
like the beginning of what we now call pop culture.
I really would argue our definition started with Planet of
the Apes, because Planet of the Apes it was before
Star Wars to a certain degree, you could argue from
(34:09):
a pop culture point of view, it was before Star Trek.
Even it was the first brand that had a movie,
then another movie, toys then a TV show and everything else, plates, bowls,
t shirts. So it's like we've gotten to this multi
generational stage of pop culture. I played with Bumblebee, I
(34:32):
played with Optimist Prime. So does my six year old
kid last night. And I think that's a huge part
of what's also happened with animation, because the same way
I grew up watching Transformers and my parents didn't. When
my kids got into Rescue Bots initially and Dino Trucks
(34:54):
and now Transformers, I'm with them, like, I'm so excited
to sit on the couch with them and watch this,
And that wasn't going on in the nineties or eighties,
let alone the seventies. So I think that had a
lot to do with the switch, the transition. And a
great example of that is the original X Men, which
(35:15):
of course now we call X Men ninety seven. But
I watched X Men by myself, but in retrospect, yeah,
I think my parents would have loved it too.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
How do you in your mind effectively translate, explain, describe
the subtleties, the nuances. Because you talked about Rescue Box,
we could talk about Transformers. We can talk about robo
Force as we are going to and how that occupies
different spaces and people dinal Box. People understand the subtleties,
the nuances because I know someone's listening, Like my eyes
(35:47):
are glazing over. I don't understand the differences in all
these properties. How is it different? Why is it different?
Why do people find themselves attracted you one summer?
Speaker 8 (35:56):
All not to be cheesy, but you're asking a very
in a good way. You're asking a very simple question.
So I have to give you a very simple answer.
It's the writing. The writing creates the characters. And everybody
talks about the world and world building and cannon. You know,
we use these big artsy fartsy words like I'm teaching
(36:19):
a class at NYU. The truth of the matter is
it's about characters, like I always have responded to Jedi
Luke and Ahsoka Tano like so yes, I love Star
Wars as a whole, but that which brings me into
Star Wars is a very specific Luke Skywalker, not even
(36:39):
a new Hope Luke and Ahsoka twenty five thirty years
later kept me into it. You know, I was watching
Wicked for the second time with my daughter Sunday night,
and like, again, this is gonna sound crazy, but the
whitest man ever I relate to Elfhaba. So I'm sitting
here almost forty nine white guy from Queens connecting to
(37:03):
a black woman playing a green woman in a movie,
and like, that's who I connect with.
Speaker 5 (37:09):
What do you think that connection is there for you?
Before we go to your daughter.
Speaker 8 (37:12):
I think it's because my life and career are similar
to the whoop, I almost said the S word to
the stuff, not that word.
Speaker 5 (37:22):
I said word.
Speaker 8 (37:24):
My life and career, especially my career just happens to
connect with what she's going through in the movie. My daughter,
who is eleven and has not yet had her teeth
kicked in the way we all do. After we leave
our home, our parents home, she connects with Gutlinda So
again forty nine year old guy from New York, eleven
(37:46):
year old girl born and raised in la Completely different connections.
But that's what makes anything great is you have something
in there for all of you, for every one I mean,
and that's what pulls you in a character.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Brian Volkwiss, we have to take a quick break, but
that is a great stopping point and we can all
marinate on that. During the break, we're going to talk
about Robe Force, the animated series which is going to
premiere on April twelfth on two BM speaking with Brian
volk Weiss, who's the president and CEO. Friend of the
show of course, but president's CEO of Naysale Company. More
in just a moment, can't if I Am six forty
Live everywhere in the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 5 (38:32):
Someone has to turning down and I have the one
on one.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
They've been attacking people and we have the power to
start it.
Speaker 8 (38:39):
You sure you wouldn't want a Jolas Well that went well.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
What was unthinkable a few days ago has become a pattern.
Speaker 5 (38:47):
Those one on ones were infected with some ro code.
Speaker 8 (38:50):
You got this, You're programmed to lead, You got this?
You got this? Oh my god, Duke, she's going to
figure this out.
Speaker 5 (39:00):
We need to do so before she does.
Speaker 8 (39:04):
The entire army of you A one of once to attack.
Speaker 2 (39:07):
Humanity isn't a liberation, it's assaulter. I Am six forty
Later with mo Kelly. We're live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
We're talking about Robo Force, the animated series, which is
going to premiere April twelfth on tub and we're going
to talk about.
Speaker 5 (39:26):
It right now.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
With Brian volk Weiss, who has been on the show
a number of times. You know his work from Icons
on Earth and his many comedy specials that he's produced,
and animation and action figures. He does a little bit
of everything. But right now, let's talk about Robo Force,
the animated series. I got to ask you, Brian, sometimes
I think the city of Detroit gets a bad rap.
(39:47):
It seems like it's nothing but bad news and media
when it comes to the city. RoboCop Detroit, Assault on
Precinct thirteen Detroit, the Betsy Detroit, The Crow, dark Man,
Evil Dead Detroit.
Speaker 5 (39:58):
You give my point. Why Detroit for Robo Force.
Speaker 8 (40:02):
I'm gonna give you an answer you're not even gonna believe.
But I will say this before I answer you. I
believe the Detroit that we showed is positive. You won't
see any burnt out buildings or any of the other stuff.
But here's why it's in Detroit. It's funny to me
you started with this question. We were this close to
(40:23):
buying Robo Cop, so I had found out while making
movies that made us. I was in Dallas, which is
where RoboCop was shot for the most part, with Ed
Newmyer and Ed Newmeyer over dinner mentioned this wacky thing
called the Sonny Bono Law, which meant the rights were
(40:45):
going back to him in about nine months. So we
made an offer, and we were getting close to acquiring
robo Cop. And while that was all going on, we
were developing I hope I don't confuse every with all
the robos robo Force. So I said to myself, when
(41:05):
we get the deal done for RoboCop, we will have
RoboCop and robo Force work together. Well, I don't know
if you've heard of this company. You seem smart Mode,
but maybe you don't notice. There's a company called Amazon,
and this is going to blow your mind. They got
more money than I do. They bought MGM while we
(41:28):
were negotiating. So when I thought we were about to
get the deal done, Amazon came in bought MGM. And
remember I told you they got more money than I do.
So we ended up not getting RoboCop, but we were
already in pre production on robo Force, so we left
it in Detroit.
Speaker 5 (41:48):
Let's talk more about robo Force set the stage for
the story for me.
Speaker 8 (41:53):
So the story of season one we took from real life.
What happened in real life. Was the toy company that
made robo Force came up with this huge, crazy idea
for the biggest toy launch of all time, robo Force.
Most toy lines launch with seven characters. Robo Force launch
(42:14):
with thirty two characters. Most toy lines first waves start
with maybe one vehicle. Roboforce started with three vehicles. You
never have a play set for a first wave, the
biggest playset you've ever seen, of course, except for the
USS flag. They go to Toy Fair. And for anybody
who doesn't know what toy Fair is, imagine like the
(42:35):
Sundance Film Festival for toys. But imagine if there were
no other film festivals, only Sundance. That's toy Fair. So
they go to Toy Fair nineteen eighty three, they're like,
look at this, isn't this great? And everybody thought it
was great. Toys r US made the biggest order in
the history of toys, r US two million units of
(42:58):
robo Force Wave one.
Speaker 5 (43:00):
Wow.
Speaker 8 (43:01):
You might be asking yourself, well, if it was such
a big deal, how come nobody really knows what robo
Force is? Right, That announcement was on a Tuesday. Guess
what was announced on Thursday, Transformers. So Transformers comes out,
destroys robo Force. Sticking with the same comp robo Force
(43:22):
toys r us order two million goes to two fifty
KB had done. Half a million order goes to fifty
destroys to robo Force. Not only that bankrupts the company
that made it. So we took that story and made
it our DNA. So at the beginning of robo Force,
(43:44):
essentially you see Roboforce getting announced to the world like yay,
we're the best, We're gonna save the world. Across town
an evil company, Utopia Ages they announced their new robots,
the UA one oh ones. The UA one o ones
are much better than Roboforce, and robo Force is decimated.
(44:06):
So for fifteen years, the members of Robofce have miserable lives,
horrible jobs, they fall apart, they get into fights with
each other. It's terrible. Then, believe it or not, the
UA one o ones they get hacked, They get corrupted,
and guess who is the only force that can stop
(44:26):
the UA one o ones robo Force. You got it? Wow,
Never we can invite you to Jeopardy. So that's our story.
So the story takes place fifteen years after they had
their teeth kicked in and their shin's broken and all
of that, and it this is what I can promise
anybody who watches. It's a redemption story. There is not
(44:51):
a single character at the beginning of the series that's
the same at the end. Heroes become villains, villains become
hero and you're watching everybody evolve in a way that's
really I think typical of life in that it's your experiences,
you know, going back to Wicked, it really is your
(45:13):
experiences that make us. And we show that Robo Force
rising basically all but from the grave. They learned a
lot in those fifteen years of being in the wilderness
and now they're finally getting their shot at being heroes.
Speaker 2 (45:30):
My time is run short with you, Brian Vogewise, very
quickly tell me the significance of this being on tub
and the future of streaming as you see it. You
have that free model where everyone else struggles seemingly with
charging the subscription.
Speaker 8 (45:44):
Why to be so we were very lucky, you know,
we financed Robo Force and then we took it out
to the market, so it was obviously a little risky,
but we got a bunch of offers, and we went
with tub because they were remind me of like the
early days of streaming in that they're very aggressive in
(46:05):
a good way. They're very confident, and they really picked
their battles carefully, and one of the battles that they
picked was that they are free, so they've made it
so easy for anybody to sign up, and that's part
of the reason. I think, other than Netflix in the YouTube,
I think Toob is number three overall and number one
(46:30):
as it relates to the rise and percentage of all
the viewers that they have. So we wanted to be
with a partner that was kind of young and scrappy
like us, and like would fight to win and not
just be like, oh, let's put it out and see
how it does. That was our goal and we have
had no better partner.
Speaker 5 (46:49):
We can't have a better guest.
Speaker 2 (46:51):
Brian vulk Weiss Rubble Force, the animated series premiere is
April twelfth. On to b Brian Volk wise, thank you
so much for always coming on and sharing your work
with us, and you know it's not going to be
the last time, so I look forward in advance to
our next meeting.
Speaker 8 (47:05):
At Zoee's Mode thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (47:07):
It's later with Mo Kelly kf I AM six forty.
We are live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (47:14):
The more you know, the easier it is to avoid
the idiots around you.
Speaker 8 (47:19):
K s I and KOST HD.
Speaker 2 (47:22):
Two Los Angeles, Orange County live everywhere
Speaker 5 (47:25):
On the Ehart Radio app.
Later, with Mo'Kelly News
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