August 5, 2026 • 3 mins
"Monsters of God" is a new docuseries on HBO. It tells the story of exotic reptile smuggling from the perspectives of traffickers, collectors and wildlife officers. Veronica Carter and Bret Burkhart spoke with director, who's also the creator of Netflix's "Tiger King" and the founder of Goode Films, Eric Goode.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
A new docu series called Monsters of God, comes out
tomorrow on HBO, looks into the world of exotic reptile
smuggling from the perspectives of traffickers, collectors, and wildlife officers
working to stop him.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Joining us now on the COCON News Liveline is the
director Eric Good. He's also the creator of the twenty
twenty Netflix hit series Tiger King, the founder of Good
Films Boy. Eric, thank you so much for joining us
on San Diego's Morning News. It's a pleasure to talk
to you.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
K having all right, So tell us, is this going
to be anything like Tiger King? How will it be
different or the same?
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Oh? Gosh, I can't give that away. It's very different
than Tiger King. But obviously it involves wildlife, in this case,
cold blooded creatures that I personally love, reptiles and reptiles
smuggling and everything to do with reptiles smuggling going back
over half a century.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
I'm sure that you did a lot of research into this.
I didn't know that reptile smuggling was such a thing.
We have a facility here in San Diego County called Lions,
Tigers and Bears. They even have a couple of the
tigers from Tiger King himself. I didn't know of such
a thing. What did you find out when you were
doing the research.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Well, it's complicated. You know, a lot of people know
about the drug trade and drug smuggling and human trafficking
and arms trafficking, but very few people know about reptile
smuggling and the size of it and the scale of
it around the world. Reptiles coming into our country and
leaving our country are native reptiles. San Diego, for example,
(01:41):
has really interesting reptiles. You guys have red diamondback rattlesnakes
and all kinds of interesting horned lizards. But yeah, it's
a global market and many people don't realize it, and
they don't they don't, you know, think about it as
much as drugs, because we think our drugs as being
such a you know, a terrible thing this country. But
really smuggling wildlife is such a toll because they're living
(02:05):
creatures and there's an extinction crisis we're going through, and
so you know, it has really serious ramifications as well.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Yeah, so for a great cause, we're speaking with award
winning director Eric Good, the creator of the Netflix series
Tiger King, and your latest episode is called Monsters of
God Monster Episodes. I should say it's a series, but
it debuted at south By Southwest and I'm curious as
to what the reaction was.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Oh, you know, I think we won some award called
Audience Appreciation Award or something. I don't know. I think
it very well south By Southwest, but I'm really hoping,
you know, the real test is seeing how it's going
to do when it comes out tomorrow and we people
see all five episodes.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
The Tiger King was so popular, everybody was talking about it.
What do you think it is about it that drew
people in?
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Oh, listen, who could have planned a film coming out
when COVID hit and I had a captive audience watching
captive cats. You know, that was fortuitous, to say the least.
And it was filled with incredible characters in this story.
Monsters of God has really interesting characters as well.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
That's I mean, it is remarkable, And I was going
to ask you about that. I mean, I think the
pandemic really fueled the interest in Tiger King. And boy,
I have so many stories of people say, you got
to see Tiger King, you got to see Tiger King,
So congratulations on all your accomplishments, and thank you so
much for joining us to preview Monsters of God, which
premieres tomorrow on HBO.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
I remember were the monsters guys? Yes?
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I should have asked that question.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Thank you, Eric.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Thanks Eric,
A new docu series called Monsters of God, comes out
tomorrow on HBO, looks into the world of exotic reptile
smuggling from the perspectives of traffickers, collectors, and wildlife officers
working to stop him.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Joining us now on the COCON News Liveline is the
director Eric Good. He's also the creator of the twenty
twenty Netflix hit series Tiger King, the founder of Good
Films Boy. Eric, thank you so much for joining us
on San Diego's Morning News. It's a pleasure to talk
to you.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
K having all right, So tell us, is this going
to be anything like Tiger King? How will it be
different or the same?
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Oh? Gosh, I can't give that away. It's very different
than Tiger King. But obviously it involves wildlife, in this case,
cold blooded creatures that I personally love, reptiles and reptiles
smuggling and everything to do with reptiles smuggling going back
over half a century.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
I'm sure that you did a lot of research into this.
I didn't know that reptile smuggling was such a thing.
We have a facility here in San Diego County called Lions,
Tigers and Bears. They even have a couple of the
tigers from Tiger King himself. I didn't know of such
a thing. What did you find out when you were
doing the research.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Well, it's complicated. You know, a lot of people know
about the drug trade and drug smuggling and human trafficking
and arms trafficking, but very few people know about reptile
smuggling and the size of it and the scale of
it around the world. Reptiles coming into our country and
leaving our country are native reptiles. San Diego, for example,
(01:41):
has really interesting reptiles. You guys have red diamondback rattlesnakes
and all kinds of interesting horned lizards. But yeah, it's
a global market and many people don't realize it, and
they don't they don't, you know, think about it as
much as drugs, because we think our drugs as being
such a you know, a terrible thing this country. But
really smuggling wildlife is such a toll because they're living
(02:05):
creatures and there's an extinction crisis we're going through, and
so you know, it has really serious ramifications as well.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Yeah, so for a great cause, we're speaking with award
winning director Eric Good, the creator of the Netflix series
Tiger King, and your latest episode is called Monsters of
God Monster Episodes. I should say it's a series, but
it debuted at south By Southwest and I'm curious as
to what the reaction was.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Oh, you know, I think we won some award called
Audience Appreciation Award or something. I don't know. I think
it very well south By Southwest, but I'm really hoping,
you know, the real test is seeing how it's going
to do when it comes out tomorrow and we people
see all five episodes.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
The Tiger King was so popular, everybody was talking about it.
What do you think it is about it that drew
people in?
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Oh, listen, who could have planned a film coming out
when COVID hit and I had a captive audience watching
captive cats. You know, that was fortuitous, to say the least.
And it was filled with incredible characters in this story.
Monsters of God has really interesting characters as well.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
That's I mean, it is remarkable, And I was going
to ask you about that. I mean, I think the
pandemic really fueled the interest in Tiger King. And boy,
I have so many stories of people say, you got
to see Tiger King, you got to see Tiger King,
So congratulations on all your accomplishments, and thank you so
much for joining us to preview Monsters of God, which
premieres tomorrow on HBO.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
I remember were the monsters guys? Yes?
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I should have asked that question.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Thank you, Eric.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Thanks Eric,
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