The Politics of Hollywood with Chris Debiec

Welcome to an unrivaled journey through the Hollywood landscape with Chris Debiec, a seasoned producer with over 35 years of experience in the entertainment industry. Dive into this episode of Generally Irritable as we discuss Debiec's iconic career journey, ins and outs of the Hollywood industry, and his prophetic insights on its future. This charismatic advocate for filmmakers is sure to fascinate with tales of navigating the industry and his efforts to make Texas a paramount hub for film production.

This engrossing discourse spans from the forming of the Texas Media Coalition to Chris's work alongside legendary James Cameron, creating a vivid portrayal of his vast experiences. Our guest Benjamin Nathaniel Redic II adds an exciting twist, illuminating us on set safety procedures. Join us for this episode filled with rich behind-the-scenes stories, the politics of Hollywood and Debiec's passion for nurturing the art of film.

Explore the notion of overcoming challenges and striving for progress amidst complexities, in both personal and professional spheres. The episode reflects on the journey of founding Austin Action Fest, advocating for the film industry, and their efforts to drive big projects to Texas. It also touches on the promising potential of Artificial Intelligence in the entertainment industry and its implications on both creators and actors.

Delve into how streaming trends accelerated by COVID have transformed the entertainment landscape. Be part of this insightful conversation as we examine how digital production is empowering independent filmmakers, hear tales of historical reluctance to technology, and the need to reassess its evolving role. DeBeck's captivating anecdotes and expertise are sure to provide a unique perspective on Hollywood and its future.

This riveting discussion ends with a touch of resolve and realism. Exploring the story of a courageous young woman from Austin, Texas, amidst an invasion documented by a war documentary, "Why We Went". A riveting narrative that proves the immense power of technology when entwined with potent storytelling. In conclusion, we cast a hopeful gaze at the future of filmmaking – one that recognizes technology as a transformative tool for content creation that resonates deeply with global audiences.

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
And we're live,
just kidding you guys i was gonna do the countdown but i wasn't paying enough
attention when it started so it's weird to like have you see me go to a countdown
and then come back again what do you think should i should i start the countdown

(00:23):
now we don't have any viewers yet okay watch out it hasn't started yet hold on.
Music.

(00:50):
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Thursday edition of Generally Irritable.
It is a fine day, you guys, but I'll tell you what, we are thunderstorming up here in Central Texas.
So if we have any trouble, I will let you know our lights flickered a little bit a minute ago.
So just just warning you, if we lose you, it's because there's a thunderstorm

(01:13):
here. But hopefully it won't be a problem.
All right, you guys, I'm really excited for our show today. We've got a fella.
His name is Chris DeBeck.
He is a producer. producer he's been
working in Hollywood and films for
for for decades I think he said 28 years
he's going to correct me when we come on he might be mad at me for for telling

(01:36):
you how long he's been a producer but we got to meet at an event South by Southwest
event last week and he is just a fascinating individual he has all of this behind
the scenes knowledge he has all this historical historical information,
context, and more importantly, he's now here in Texas with us.

(01:58):
He started the Texas Media Coalition. He's working on getting us tax credits.
So when we talk on this show about the intersection between politics and culture.
You know, Chris is one of the folks who is helping produce the culture, right?
He is one of the the people who has who you may not even know that you have

(02:22):
watched one of his shows before.
So we're going to talk a little bit about his experience doing reality TV and
and how similar it is to watching the news these days.
He's I think he said, what did he say, Benjamin? He said, I know I know reality TV when I see it.
I know spin when I see it or something like that. I love it.
And, you know, my favorite thing about these kind of conversations is that.

(02:49):
A lot of times we end up in our own bubble.
You know, it's really easy to just be around the same people all of the time.
Everybody agrees with you. You hear the same stories and it's all the same stuff.
And I'm really excited on this channel that I've had more opportunities to talk
to people who don't necessarily line up exactly completely politically,

(03:14):
but they understand just like like we do,
that we need to take care of ourselves,
that we need to take care of our community, and we need to be responsible for
building up and creating our own opportunities.
Because so often nowadays, the people in charge, you know, are more concerned
about keeping their power, keeping their influence, keeping,

(03:37):
you know, saving face than they are about, you know, know, uplifting the team.
And I could just tell that Chris really cares. He really cares about filmmakers.
He really cares about creators.
He really cares about making sure that there is a space where people can make money and be fulfilled.

(03:57):
And I just loved that. I just saw that passion in him. And I really wanted to
share it with you guys today. So we're going to be talking about his documentary.
We're going to be talking about AI and we're going to be talking about
the politics of hollywood so without oh and i'm so excited you guys we've got
ben reddick benjamin nathaniel reddick the second lord violence himself from

(04:17):
austin action fest joining us you know because he's he's he's our film guy he's
our film guy so we're going to be having a really fun conversation.
And be without without any further delay mr chris debeck hello hello okay so
did i get it right was Was it 28 years you've been doing, you've been doing this? 35. 35.

(04:38):
That is amazing. You don't even look old enough to have been working for 35
years. And yeah, I started when I was 20.
I did see. Okay. So I Googled you, of course, because I was looking for a good
headshot for, for the show.
And I saw some pictures of you when you were younger. You look like a little baby.

(05:00):
That's what happens when you're younger. Yes.
So what has it been like, say, share a little bit about what had you like, okay.
So you've been doing this for a long time. So share a little bit about your
experience, what you think about entertainment in general, and then what brought you to Texas?

(05:25):
Oh, that's a lot. We could do the entire 45 minutes on that.
Well, first of all, I started, the first job I ever had in the entertainment
industry was the grand opening of Disney MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida.
So that was in 1990-ish.
And it was it was fun it was something i

(05:46):
never experienced before i didn't want to get film and tv i didn't
go to film school i didn't do any of that i was actually a sous
chef but i liked okay okay you
went from being a sous chef to being a producer we're gonna
we're gonna have to we're gonna have to share that many years
between the puff but yes so when
you worked at mgm were you working as a chef

(06:08):
or were you no no in in the entertainment industry there's
a position called craft service that was the first job i had
right so i was assistant to a craft service person and
i i just learned you know i found different pathways
you know i did craft service for like a year and
a half and then i had an opportunity to work as a pa then
i'd paid but i paid many many different jobs

(06:31):
i mean i i think you know i
can't speak for anyone else but i'm one of the few people in hollywood that
has actually worked in every position with
a camera i mean i was a grip i was camera i
was uh hell i did hair and makeup on
a show because the two makeup the hair makeup girls got sick
so you know i was brushing hair and powdering a nose and you know i was just

(06:53):
like i mean that hey the job's got to get done you know so what are you gonna
do about it and no yeah so yeah so i've literally held every position you can't
i mean i did special effects i was working on the crow when brandon lee was killed.
Yeah that that's that's a whole story my job was
very simple i i was i had a little sledgehammer and uh

(07:16):
we the direct the director alex proyas would yell action and i would walk up
and down hose lines because if you remember the the first crow there was a lot
of rain it was rain at night it was cold yeah kind of gross so the only job
i had in special effects was to walk up and down the hose lines and break the ice.
Cause we were shooting in North Carolina, February and it was cold and freezing and rain.

(07:39):
And so I'd smash the hose lines in order for it to have rain.
So that, that was what I did.
Okay. So side note, we're going to derail a little bit here.
I'm just curious when I saw that they were remaking the crow,
I had a feeling about it because Brandon Lee died on that set.
There was something to me that, that feels like.

(07:59):
Sacrilegious yeah like like they should
not i'm curious given that you were actually on the set
do you have a feeling about it am i just being a weird emotional girl
about it or well i mean first of all hollywood is making money and and frankly
to be honest brandon would it be a star right now if he would have served if
he'd be alive yeah it was a terrible accident there wasn't a curse there wasn't

(08:22):
there were you know aliens didn't come down and try to you know and kill I mean,
it was a terrible accident that culminated in several smaller incidences.
Like, you know, it started with, you know, a piece of the fake bullet that,
you know, my department made, broke off, and got lodged in the barrel.
Then the prop master didn't look down the barrel of the gun when he handed it to the actor.

(08:47):
Then the actor pointed it at Brandon when he never should have pointed it,
because there was no reason. Brandon, because the actor was off camera.
Wow, does this sound familiar? It's just a domino effect of things that happen.
That sounds a lot like the circumstance with...
Alice Baldwin. Yeah. Well, it may sound like that, but I think those two situations

(09:13):
are absolutely very, very different.
Okay. Yeah. I mean, because there was a live round in that.
Well, right. But I mean, like the failure, like the constant failure and then
pointing at somebody when you don't have to.
And it's just like. Again, when Rust came out, I got calls from various news
organizations to ask me what my thoughts were on this. And I turned them all

(09:37):
down because I'm like, what thoughts? Somebody fucked up.
Sorry. No, you're fine. You're totally fine. Don't worry about it.
Somebody screwed up. I mean, I wasn't on set, so I can't tell you.
With the crow was a different situation.
I kind of seen all the steps and what happened. But with this,
no, I couldn't say anything to it other than why is there a live round anywhere

(10:00):
near that set, guys? Impressive.
Yeah. I mean, that's pretty wild. especially Benjamin as a, as,
as a stunt man, fight coordinator, you know, and you've been on sets where you're
handling guns, you're handling munitions, right?
Was it total recall that you guys had told it? Sorry.
I knew I was going to do that. Total rewind. You guys were like had cannons

(10:24):
and stuff there. Didn't you?
No, we had a 50 Cal. We had a couple of different for things okay
very careful the people I
work with I trust for this reason and I mean very rarely do we use blanks and
we've never fired blanks directly out of person yeah so and that so that's a
lot of the projects you do with Matt Poitras here or Darren like those are heavy guns.

(10:51):
Stunts I'm just thinking about the one that you worked on the cowboy one too
you guys had Glass posse. Glass posse.
So you're working with these things a lot.
It's almost surprising that there isn't more accidents. Maybe that's a testament
to how good the stunt people are and how good the prop people are.
Yeah, the people we work with are heavy into action and do this all the time.

(11:15):
So it's just not that kind of a... There shouldn't be any accidents.
There shouldn't be any because there's no cause for it.
Well, and what is... I mean, you've got... The point is that you have redundancies
and processes and procedures to avoid these things, right? Correct. Yeah, you should.
In theory. Okay, so getting back to my original, so getting back since I derailed

(11:40):
us, how did we get so lucky to have you grace Texas with your presence?
What brought you to Texas? this?
So, so I, I spent six years producing for James Cameron.
I produced his underwater documentaries, Aliens of the Deep,
Ghosts of the Abyss, Expedition Bismarck, and Last Mysteries of Titanic.

(12:02):
And that was from the year 2000 to 2006.
So I became friends with the family. John Cameron is Jim's baby brother.
I became, he was one of my best friends.
So throughout the years, you know, I've had other jobs.
You know, I spent six years as the vice president of production for E1,
Entertainment One Television, which just got purchased by Lionsgate.

(12:24):
But because I spent so much time with the Cameron family and Jim and John,
they bring you in and out all the time.
It's like kind of being in the mob. Just like when you thought you were out, they bring you back in.
So with the advent of the pandemic, 2020, the show I was working on shut down

(12:46):
like everybody everybody else did.
John calls me up and a couple of months later, like in April or April,
May and says, Hey, I need your help with Jim to go get Avatar 2 way of the water up and running.
We need to go find PPE and booties and all that stuff.
So I, you know, John, with all your experience doing the underwater stuff.
And so, so John and I live close to each other. So I drove up to his house off Laurel Canyon.

(13:11):
And we talked about it. And he also
ran something called the Human Health Organization, which was a vaping.
You know, he wanted to try to quit smoking. So he created a,
some new vaping devices. And he had some companies in China.
That's where they manufacture that stuff.
So we got him on the hook and they made PPE, masks, booties,

(13:33):
all that stuff for Jim and Avatar 2.
So because of the work that John and I did, Avatar 2, Way of the Water was one
of the first films to be shooting during the pandemic.
So John thought it would be a great idea to do a testing company.
So we did rapid testing and PCR testing for all of the Hollywood.

(13:55):
So basically, it's like, we know, we recognize this need that we're going to
have to address for ourselves and our own projects.
Let's just create a business out of it. Let's just do a business.
So Jim and John, they have elderly parents.
Their parents were both in their 90s at the time, and they had many doctors.
So we just reached out to each of the doctors that help the parents and they signed up.

(14:16):
So we started purchasing rapid test and we got a nursing company called Nurse
Corps, who's an international nursing company for labor.
And John and Jim both said to me, do not advertise.
Chris, you know, everybody just call a couple of your friends,
see what they want to do. I said, okay. So I have a buddy that was shooting a show over at Netflix.

(14:37):
Netflix was our first client. They bought like 60 grand worth of tests.
And we wrote up the whole protocols for them, which by the way,
Netflix stole later because you know, our protocols were what they ended up
the unions ended up taking, which is fine.
And then the second client I had with Lionsgate, ironically enough,
because I have a relationship with Kevin Banks, who's the chairman of Lionsgate television.

(15:00):
And without giving you a number, let's put it this way, Lionsgate,
all of their movies, all of their TV series, everything that Lionsgate has, we were now tested.
So you can imagine that was a lot it's a massive order but we were able to keep
that going once that happened.
Then all the unions put my name my phone number my email address and a human health organization,

(15:26):
on the we were the top we were the only three approved vendors to do testing
so i couldn't pick up my phone so we did you know during the pandemic i was
it was the busy out of 35 years in entertainment,
the pandemic was the busiest time I ever had.
I couldn't, seven days a week, 15 hours a day, just going set to set to set,

(15:47):
calling this, calling that, ordering this, ordering that, make sure this happened,
make sure that happened.
Oh my God, we have a problem here. Go do that. Go do this. Go do that.
It was great, but it was just a lot of work.
So John and I, John was working 17 hours a day, smoking cigarettes, drinking Mountain Dew.
He was He was an ex-breed, so he lived life hard.
Got it. So October 25th, 2020, John died of a heart attack.

(16:12):
My CEO, my best friend, Jim's baby brother passed. You know,
he died in his house of a heart attack.
So I took over the interim CEO position. Jim wanted me to shut down the company immediately.
And I said, Jim, we're doing a million dollars a month.
And we have 200 clients a month. Yeah, the film Hollywood is counting on you guys at this point.

(16:36):
So Jim said to me, I need to close his account. count. It's a year in California.
So he closed, he's like, you're done October, 2021.
And I said, fine, no problem. So luckily for the pandemic was slowly kind of
easing out a little bit, and bigger companies were taking over the littlest jobs we were doing.

(16:59):
So I closed the company, it's over November, 2021.
And I found myself in one of those kind of midlife crisis situations where my best friend just died.
We just went through a pandemic and it's just like, you know, LA sucked.
I mean, you know, my apartment building got broken into three times,
the homeless encampment burned down under the, you know, one-on-one and the

(17:24):
whole area smelled like rubber and burnt hair.
So it kind of smells like in LA anyway. Anyway, so I can't imagine how much
worse it would have been.
So I have a business partner. His name's Robert Hanson, and we do a podcast.
My podcast is called The R Snake Show.
And Robert...

(17:45):
Was my CTO at human health organization.
He's, he's one of the top cybersecurity experts in the globe.
So Robert said, Chris, why don't you come check out Austin? It's really cool here. You'd love it.
So, you know, I'm like, I took a week and I thought, you know,
I come to Austin and I would scout life scout.
And I loved it. Robert introduced me to all his friends. I went to the gun range.

(18:09):
The range at Austin was my first social interaction. Kind of like.
You know yeah that's what i'm like that's what we do here in texas
can you see it's i got it right here on my
monitor so that was
my very texas that was in my introduction to austin and
you know i i own four guns but you know i

(18:30):
use them for hunting and you know just you know shooting we have
a farm in central pa so yeah oh
that's right that's where you're from i'm from pennsylvania it
yeah yes y'all chris is is a northerner a northeaster northeasterner just like
me i made the mistake of calling him a yankee and he was like i'm not a yankee

(18:50):
i'm from pennsylvania no i was like i thought everybody from the northeast i
said i'm not a yankee i'm a philly.
I don't like the yankees the yankees see that's i was like i thought everybody
from up north was It was called a Yankee.
I thought that was just like a slur for all of us Northerners from the Texans down here.

(19:13):
So that was my introduction. So they brought you out here. You said, these guys are awesome.
I moved. I packed up my stuff. I was no longer on a lease. I was going month to month on rent.
I came to Austin, rented a nice little house. I lived in South Austin.
When I got here, I got hired to produce this little movie, a little Western film.

(19:36):
The investment group asked me to check out what the tax incentives were for
the state. So I went and met with Stephanie Whalen, the film commissioner,
and she explained to me how bad they were.
And they run out of money for years. Basically non-existent, essentially.
So I said to her, I'm like, well, you know what? I've worked in a lot of states

(19:58):
and I've done a lot of tax incentive audits.
I do this stuff. So why don't I write something up for you guys?
Maybe we can get a new law passed or something.
She laughed. She just laughed at me, saying, good luck with that.
So over the next three months i started writing
a new program for texas and and

(20:18):
here's the funny part it's not it's
nothing like i invented myself i just took like seven different states that
are doing it really really well making a lot of money and i just took the best
of the best brought it down and said here you go texas there you go and this
i got some yeah i got lobbyists to jump on on board with me to help me.

(20:40):
And the bill, it got unanimous in the House subcommittee.
It was unanimous in the Senate subcommittee.
But when it got to the Lieutenant Governor's office, he put a stop on it. Why?
Well, Dan Patrick said that, number one, he wasn't about to replace a program

(21:01):
unless there was a very deliberate, very deep study on it.
So they're doing an interim study on my bill. Listen, it takes a long time for
Texas to change anything.
But what he did say was, you know what, I'll tell you what, we're going to increase
the amount of money because they had $45 million for every two years,

(21:23):
which ran out immediately. That's nothing.
That's like a couple of productions.
Correct. So Dan Patrick said, we're going to bring that up to $200 million.
So that'll help kind of kickstart you guys while we do the interim study for
the next session to see if this is where we want to go. What would be worth it?
You'll have enough money to bring in business and then show us,

(21:45):
prove to us that, you know, this will work.
And we took it as a win and said, yay.
Yay. I mean, that is a win y'all. So check out it's Texas media.
Ooh, there we go. Texas media coalition.
And so here's their website. So you can learn more. I just put the link in the
chat for everybody to go check out.

(22:07):
So Texas Media Coalition, so you are not part of the Texas Film Commission.
No. You basically started a separate organization to cooperate to try to get
the Texas Film Commission to do something, basically. No, no, no.
Actually, the Texas Film Commission does do something. They administrate.

(22:27):
Okay. But what we were trying to do is get the government of Texas,
the state government, we shine a bright light on a problem that exists here in Texas.
Now, unfortunately, there's not a lot of work here for film and TV.
There's independents. They have independents. They have commercials. They have video games.

(22:49):
But, you know, coming from L.A., working in Georgia, working in Louisiana,
Oklahoma, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, I could go,
you know, name 15 states right now they're doing better.
Yeah. I couldn't work here. I couldn't get a job.
So I just finished two movies in L.A. I got a movie I'm going back to Pennsylvania

(23:09):
to do. And then I got another movie in Georgia.
So I would love to continue living here, but it's a little rough.
Well, and that's so this is one of the this is one of the interesting questions
I would love to get your perspective on because they're.
You mentioned there's independent projects here, and I think a lot of independent
filmmakers are actually afraid because what is it?

(23:32):
Disney is building a soundstage, sound studios now. Netflix is building here.
And I think a lot of independents are actually afraid of Hollywood coming here.
Wait, they're building here? Tell me where.
It's, what is it? Dripping Springs? I think I'm Dripping Springs.
Dripping Springs is Stray Vista. they have a virtual production

(23:53):
stage down there yes correct but like zachary levi's
here i don't know what his plan is zach we
just we just had an event i'm a i'm on the board of something
called a eb which is all entertainment
business and we just had a big event
at south by with zachary levi and i our organization
is working with zach to he owns 90 acres and

(24:14):
dripping and bass drop and what he he's trying
to do is make his land into
like a soundstage community compoundy kind
of place where you can work and live and do all that stuff and
and we've been helping zach for a while but it's been
it's been rough i mean i have to admit it's not texas is.
Not an easy state to get anything pushed forward

(24:37):
and you gotta really you gotta squeeze it
very hard so yeah i'm familiar with
a lot of that there's a studio in san marcos that
they've been talking about building for since i arrived here
but they never stuck a shovel in the dirt yet so
i have no idea what's happening with that the only the
only thing i know is that tommy warren and spiderwood

(24:58):
studios out in bass drop they they have
been working to try to expand they've been working to
try to to deuce so i think bass
drop will actually be the next place that has more work more attention will
be placed to from various studios and other companies so do you think will the

(25:19):
the tax incentives and the new law do you think it will separate or differentiate independent.
From bigger budget films do you think there'll be
like are you trying or are
they trying to make sure that there's a carve out for both so
that yes we're trying we're trying no local folks the whole idea is to get local

(25:41):
folks working okay so we want the big movies we want the tv series because texas
right now with with all the things that were passed in this past legislation we,
we, they have a 70% requirement to residency requirement.
We lowered it to 55 because the problem is that all the studios will bypass Texas.

(26:04):
They'll fly right over the state, not even look at us with a 70%. We wanted zero.
And here, and the reason we want zero is because there are a lot of other States,
the very successful States, all are zero residency, because the idea is that
we just just want you to come here. Spend the money that you have here.
We will hire local people. We will always hire local people because that makes more financial sense.

(26:28):
And some of the legislators didn't really understand that. They're like,
well, if you're going to make it zero residency, that means you're taking away jobs from locals.
I'm like, no, we're making more jobs for locals because we're not putting handcuffs
on the big companies that want to come and spend their money.
Here's one thing i will though i will say specifically as

(26:49):
a stuntman i've been on many projects that came
from hollywood and we were background we were
not the stars and it's not because there's a lack of
talent skill here but they flew in people
from out of state to do some of those jobs like battle angel alita so i'm not
gonna i'm not gonna project i can't say that happens on every project but i

(27:11):
can't say there's been some have been a part of where i've seen that So it's
not an unreasonable fear,
but the question is overall, like you're saying, is it a net gain or net loss to Texas players?
Actors, filmmakers in general. Well, my, my thought, our, our entire thought
process is that we need to get them here first.

(27:33):
Okay. They need to come here to see you, to see both of you,
to see the talent we have and they're not doing that. So we have to do something.
I mean, we, we, we're doing Hail Mary passes on all of these different things to bring them here.
Now, Taylor shared. When was, oh, sorry. Sorry. When was, wasn't Battle Angel,

(27:55):
like when was the last big project here?
2017. It's been a while. 16, 17.
Yeah. Battle Angel Alita is the only one I can think of that was really big
that was shot here recently. So I'm sorry I interrupted you.
Taylor Sheridan is the, you know, Paramount's golden boy. I mean,
he's doing Yellowstone and all this stuff. So Taylor Sheridan's up in Dallas.
He has the Four Sixes Ranch and he wants to produce a lot more in Texas.

(28:19):
So, you know, we also believe that that $200 million thing that,
you know, Dan Patrick gave us, we think that there was a something with Taylor
Sheridan involved with that too.
But Taylor, I gotta say, Taylor needs to step up because Taylor's flying in
his stunt crew and his, all his team from Montana.
And he's not hiring local Texas folks like he should be.

(28:40):
And I think that is exactly what I think the worry is, you know, is like, what did I hear?
Don't Hollywood my Texas. this you know
but it's like but at the same time you're right if there are no
projects here if people aren't willing to look
then how do you how do you build the
industry well the interesting part is that the

(29:02):
whole reason austin action one of the main reasons austin action fest got started
was because we saw that our people were leaving like our most talented stunt
guys were leaving the state because it was like you said there wasn't enough
work so when these projects did I do know there were some instances where our
top talent wasn't here. They were in LA.
They were in Georgia. Sure. So it's like a chicken egg deal.

(29:26):
Yeah. But I'm curious, when you talk to Dan Patrick and all these individuals,
because I've been so curious about this, because I talked to the Texas Film
Commission when I was at South by Southwest this last year. Yeah. And we've tried.
Hold on. Wait. I just got a question. What are their...

(29:47):
Pushbacks against matching the incentives some other places i understand it
like good question was it a financial thing like they don't think they're going
to make the money back or because it seems like the math is in the favor of
the incentives so good question so they,
first of all they're they currently have something called tmip which is their

(30:08):
it's a grant program and there's only three other states in the country that
do cash grants so when you do a cash grant you need to pull money from a bucket,
from a tax bucket, from some bucket that taxpayers are paying into.
So right now, the way they look at it is they get it from the hotel restaurant
tax, the rental car tax, tourism tax of sorts. That's where they're pulling the money out of.

(30:34):
But my program, the one that we introduced that they're doing the interim study
on, is very similar to Georgia and New Mexico, where it's tax incentives,
where where you spend $10 million,
and at the end of your production, they audit you.
Okay, great. You followed it. You get 20% back. So here's a shit.

(30:58):
Here's a Bed Bath & Beyond coupon for $2 million.
So you take your coupon, and you go to United Airlines Southwest.
Southwest, you go to whoever is a large industry player in the state and say,
listen, I have a $2 million tax rebate.
I'll sell it to you for 1.8. So now whoever you're selling it to is going to

(31:22):
save $200,000 in their tax.
Now, who wouldn't want to do that if you're spending that much money?
So this is the same program that many of the successful states use,
and that's what we're doing.
But with Dan Patrick and those guys, they didn't know how it worked.
Even though we met with the comptroller, Glenn Hager, Glenn looked at our bill.

(31:44):
He saw the tax buckets we were pulling out. It was like the insurance tax.
It was the fuel tax. There was taxes where...
It's not going to affect school programs. It's not going to affect healthcare or roads.
We were pulling it out of stuff that hasn't really been touched by the state.
So when Glenn Hager looked at our proposal, he was like, yeah, this works.

(32:06):
This is easy. We can do this. No problem. And I hired a tax expert.
I spent my own money, by the way, hiring a tax expert to tell us how to make this all work.
He helped write the bill. And that's kind of where we are. That is amazing.
I love it. And this is really what is required. And I love it.
What is it? Robert calls it retail politics.

(32:29):
To me, this is like retail politics. You know, the government doesn't know that
there is a problem until you tell it that there is a problem.
Like, oh, you made this law or you're doing this thing or we're trying to do
a thing and you're in the way or this would make it easier.
And so I love hearing stories like this where people are like,

(32:50):
oh, I'm just instead of sitting around bit complaining about something. thing.
I'm going to figure out a solution and I'm going to do something about it.
And that's what I love what you said there, Chris, because and this is why I
think I resonated so much with the things that you were sharing, because our goal with,

(33:11):
you know, for example, Generally Irritable, this channel exists to help facilitate
an engaged and informed electorate.
The Austin Action Fest exists and market exists to get creatives paid, right?
We're out here trying to help our brothers and sisters, the people that we work
with, our colleagues and our cohorts to make sure that they have opportunities.

(33:34):
And that is really the difference between somebody who is a producer or an entrepreneur
and somebody who is just an employee and just will show up.
And I don't mean to sound degrading, but that's that brain that you have,
Chris, that Benjamin has is like, how do I pull up everyone else behind me?

(33:56):
How do I, how do I raise the tide for all of the ships?
And I just, I love that. I just love that that's where your heart is for people.
And that's what you're trying to do. I think that is so cool.
So one of the things we started to talk about at the party last week was artificial intelligence.

(34:17):
And that has been the big, big big buzzword
in hollywood the last like nine months or so
you know with the with the writer's strike and the
actor's strike and you know then what was it
they they came back at the the producers or
somebody came back and said oh well in order for us to sign this deal we have

(34:37):
to take 3d scans of you and your face and all this other crazy crap and i was
like we've been doing that for years by the way they've been doing that for
more than 10 years 15 you mean more than just like like the motion capture stuff or like regular,
have you seen any movie that has visual effects in it?
I mean, here, here's, here's the, yeah, you know that. I mean,

(34:58):
the problem with this is that they've been doing that for a long time.
And now all of a sudden you're talking about it and you're pissed off about
it. Doesn't make sense to me.
So has this been kind of like,
has this been an undercurrent for a long time and and and somebody like me who's
a normie is just hearing about it has this conversation been happening for a

(35:21):
while not really i don't think so i i don't think until open i i came out with
chat gbt and showed exactly what it's about,
like you know when with any again
star wars or you know avatar the first
one or any of these movies they're they're wearing
the pink bong ball suits they scan the people anyway that's exactly

(35:42):
how we make movies that's how we make you know i did a
movie called dinosaur in 1999 and it
was a live action animation project it
was for disney where we took you know fake
dinosaurs and put them in real you know we shot real settings with
real people and we put the dinosaurs in the movie we were doing that then so

(36:06):
you know yeah i i mean but now because of chat gpt open ai now they're showing
exactly how it works now everyone's getting pissed i think it's also.
Because i i can admit that i i can understand for a minute when i saw why people were so upset,
like at south by stuff west they had ai that

(36:28):
would mimic rihanna's voice so if
you get to to the point where you can name with my voice my movements you've
already got a 3d scan of my face and my body i can understand the absolute fear
what comes yeah but that can't even be okay here's okay who created i'm gonna

(36:48):
tell you who can you know who came up with the best technology for that about 15 years ago porn.
Again they've been doing that too for
years i mean whenever you see a new technology come out
in our business most likely porn had something to do with it yeah because haven't
they haven't they been doing that thing where they like put a famous person

(37:12):
and they like fake a thing and it's the whole thing yeah it's terrible it's
horrible it's evil it shouldn't be done yeah OK, but here. OK, so here's my deal.
As a business owner and as a person who helps other businesses streamline,
become more efficient and all of that stuff, what I don't ever say to any of

(37:34):
my clients is you should fire everyone and replace them with a robot or a fake
image of a person. Listen, you know what I mean?
Like, no, listen, do you want to let's get to it? Let's get let's get to the point is.
All right. So AI in our industry needs to be seen as a tool.
OK, right. People should not be afraid of it.

(37:56):
If you're afraid of it, then then you're not going to find the ways to use it properly.
You're going to you're going to bring on more fear. You're going to bring on
other people, people that take advantage of others will use that fear against you.
And if you lean into it, and this is what I told IATSE and SAG,

(38:19):
DGA and WJ, I'm like, guys, don't fight.
What you need to do is come up with a solution.
You need to have on the board of OpenAI, there needs to be an actor,
there needs to be a writer, that needs to be a, you know, somebody from our industry,
some creator that needs to be on our industry, on the board of each one of these

(38:40):
AI companies to kind of help them develop it so it doesn't take away our jobs. And we can use it.
Like I see ChatGPT as an amazing research tool when you're writing.
So if you're writing a script about maybe an area you're not very familiar with,
If you go into ChatGPT and say, I want to know about Morocco,

(39:03):
you know, or you just Google it. I mean, Google is AI.
That's the other thing people don't understand.
Is that, you know, when you Google anything, that's an AI you're talking to.
And you've been doing that for 10 years and 15 years.
Well, and that's true. Even as an accountant, right? I have my accounting practice.
I literally was just doing a presentation yesterday about QuickBooks,

(39:24):
how it has AI. And the AI is trying to figure out how to help you. It's just terrible.
It's just absolutely horrible at its job.
But and that's why what you said is so important is because I have yet to read
a script or anything written by chat GBT that doesn't sound stupid or terrible

(39:44):
that doesn't need human intervention to make it normal.
Listen, to be honest, my answer is that you're not going to find anything that's
going to replace human creativity, at least not in this century, not in this time.
Maybe in 10 years, maybe in 20 years, you'll find that.

(40:06):
But right now, today, tomorrow, the next three, five, maybe even 10 years,
no one's going to replace that. I mean, even Battle Angel Leader.
I love Jim, and I worked for Cameron for those years.
It was kind of hard to watch. I mean, you know, Alita, you knew Alita's fake,
you know? Oh yeah. The uncanny valley.
Sure. But, but, you know, the, what I'm talking about is what Cameron did with Avatar.

(40:30):
They're all actors. They're actors voices. They're the real voices.
They're the real movements.
They're the real, all of that's your AI is not going to be able to mimic that
the way real people can do it.
So Jim's Jim doing the right way. He's sort of building it up and he's using
it as a tool in order to make the movies he wants to make.

(40:50):
And I think a lot of filmmakers can use AI as a tool.
And also, you know what's interesting? Bruce Willis. Do you know the story of Bruce Willis?
When you say the story, what do you mean? So Bruce Willis has dementia or Bruce
Willis has a deliberate.
He can't speak. He can't act anymore. But I heard through many articles,

(41:12):
I don't know how true it is, but they scanned him.
They scanned Bruce Willis's voices before everything went terrible for him.
Now you may see Bruce Willis in a couple of movies coming up,
even though he's not acting anymore because of what they did with him, they scanned him.
Now, there are some actors I hear that are doing that, and I think it's good

(41:34):
for historical purposes because I grew up with Bruce.
Bruce is an iconic actor to me, so I would like to know that he's being preserved.
Elvis, hell, they're doing movies with Elvis.
So this is, I think, how AI can be used in a way that can preserve historical

(41:54):
records of sorts. I think it's kind of like just technology in general, right?
So when we edit on nonlinear, so we have Final Cut, we have Adobe.
Well, there was somebody who was back in a film room cutting film. That's right.
Those jobs aren't there. The film developers, just for photography. Oh my gosh, yeah.

(42:17):
Think about how many industries have come and gone or been made highly efficient because of technology.
Technology isn't gonna stop
i think one of the things from an acting perspective or film and all that stuff
is being very aware of the contracts that you sign and understand and this is

(42:40):
what we try to talk to people at austin action fest all the time you are a business self-employed so you.
You can believe that the producers have your best interests at heart, and that's adorable.
But it's business. And if you can't do business, there is no show.
So you better know how to do the business side and make sure your contracts

(43:00):
are written in a way which doesn't allow Activision to have control of your
face and body for the next 15 years.
Because I don't know if they're going to call it duty. Yeah.
But if they do, then they better pay you for it. Think of it as a residual.
Correct but i think a lot of people i think one of the concerns i heard was like extras.

(43:26):
Well ted lasso he's doing that now
they're doing that they did it with all the stadiums i mean they
did virtual yeah by central casting see
ya watch ted lasso very carefully on
a 4k tv and you're going to see what the
backgrounds are digital and what the backgrounds are room
that's wild and here's the thing is there

(43:47):
you know we can sit here and talk a
bunch of smack all we want but the reality is
also that the movie industry is changing and that started long before covid
and it's so it's funny to me when i hear people talk sometimes and they're like
covid is the only thing that ruined everything and i'm like nah bro long before

(44:08):
that i was reading articles about how,
you know, viewership, basically Netflix and streaming really,
again,
talking about technology changing things, right?
We now have streaming. And so people were not going to the movies to see the
dramas, to see the comedies.

(44:28):
So unless it was a big budget action, you know, Marvel movie,
people weren't going to the theater in the same way that they were.
And so you were we're already hearing production companies talk about how do we keep a budget?
How do we make movies now if we're not doing these big theatrical releases and,

(44:48):
you know, and so, you know.
It's almost like this has been coming long before, you know,
the virus of unknown origins.
Well, Chris knows, you know, when the DVD market and the VHS market went away,
that was a big hit. That was guaranteed money.

(45:10):
Yeah. It could be in every blockbuster. And so people had to change their distribution
models and start to adjust.
Just and i think hollywood now is seeing that
our industry has been a bit bloated and we've
been able to get away with foreign money and we had these avenues that
were guaranteed you were just going to watch the movie and
you just mentioned watching on a 4k television i got a little home studio i

(45:34):
don't need to go to the movies to spend 70 dollars on tickets and pop white
it's an event it's events uh dune 2 i want to go see dune 2 and the only way
i'm going to see that is imax and,
you know as big as i can get yeah but if it's the new amy poehler movie.

(45:54):
I don't need to spend 18 on a movie
ticket for that i can stream it i would like you
to but i get it but and that's
now we're moviegoers right so we're benjamin and
i are going to go to the the movies when we want to see a rex fan and i'm
still yeah and what no but we're
you know we're the kind of people who are gonna go to the movies but the

(46:14):
majority like the average american who just
wants to be entertained and doesn't care you know
they're not thinking about the experience or the
creators and how to have the but you know
they just want to be entertained they don't care yep yeah
no i get so i'm actually now that i'm thinking
about this so you've actually had the had

(46:36):
the interesting experience that you've gotten to watch
all of these changes so why
okay now i'm even more so why is hollywood if i know this as kind of a lay person
right i'm into movies but i'm you know i haven't been producing movies for years
or doing any of that stuff why it almost seems like hollywood is reactionary

(46:57):
or reactive rather than proactive active,
like you see it's coming, you see the technology coming.
Why does it seem like they're kind of like late? Do you think it's just the fear?
I don't think they want to accept the reality of the changing business sometimes.

(47:18):
If it's not broken, don't fix it.
But the problem is as time goes by and new technologies get introduced,
then we start to realize there there are better ways to do it.
I mean, like you said, there were film there. We use 35 millimeter film and
they were editing film and cutting film. We don't need to do that anymore.

(47:38):
You know, there was a time when I was in a room with Jim Cameron and Jim's like,
I'm never using, I'm not going digital and we're using 35 millimeter.
And then when Jim realized how, how much better digital producing was and more,
he could do more with it than he could do with film.
He kind of leaned into and said okay you

(48:00):
know listen i i see the value of it and
and this is where you know hollywood needs to
see the value of it so when they see the value of it then we'll start figuring
out how to make it work for what we're doing but it takes time and unfortunately
there's a old regime that needs to come out and the younger you know more open-minded

(48:22):
people need need to take over and try to bring in the new technology.
And like I said, use it as a tool. What's the positive nature of using it?
There are negatives, obviously.
But again, we have to work through that as a society to figure out what's going to work for us.
I mean, listen, when the steam engine and cars were created,

(48:44):
people that had horse ranches were pissed off because they They thought,
you know, well, there's no better transportation than a horse, you know?
So we're in the same, you know, I mean, it's a very different time,
but you know, same idea, but it's the same thing.
Anytime you have a new tech technology, I mean, shoot, think about it.
Even a wheel, the wheel was technology at one point, even outside of the tech part.

(49:08):
Cause I'm now I'm thinking about what you're saying.
So a jump cut, right? right?
That's a mistake coming when you're talking about film editing,
you know, anybody who doesn't know film, like if you ever move the camera 30
degrees from the two cuts, it, it doesn't work right.
The problem is when you watch YouTubers online to cut out all that additional dead space.

(49:29):
The editing is done with jump cuts. So now it's a style choice.
And if you look at Hollywood going digital, for instance, now more people have
access to high-end cameras.
There's more competition. So if I'm Hollywood and I've got all these barriers
to entry, the price of film, cost, production crews, whatever, And I'm seeing an AI,

(49:54):
if it's used by people like me who are more independent, smaller budget side,
to make up some of those gaps,
I can understand some of the fear to utilizing these technologies and these
techniques because it makes that field a little more smaller, more manageable.
So I'm going to change gears a little bit and I want to talk about this documentary that I have.

(50:19):
It's about a young 25-year-old girl from Austin, Texas, who found herself in
Ukraine when the Russians invaded.
And she is of Ukrainian descent. She was just going back to find her roots.
The documentary is called Why We Went.
And she ended up staying in Ukraine, got embedded with a battalion.
She was photographing and interviewing all the soldiers as they were coming in, coming out.

(50:43):
They gave her a gun because they said, listen, when we're under fire,
you're going to be pointing and shooting, not your camera, that gun. done.
So, so she, you know, her name's Ashley Matowski and she's still there.
She's in Kiev right now. We're trying to get her home. I'm talking to a bunch
of organizations to for funding for the documentary.
I have two hard drives full of her material that I've been reviewing.

(51:05):
It's amazing footage. And I.
There are some interviews that she was doing with some
of the soldiers that were crackly they
were you know the audio may not be the best you know you can hear them but you
know it's staticky it's crackly there was one there was a gun fight going on

(51:26):
outside so you could hear the gun you know while she's doing interviews with
the soldiers so playing into the ai conversation conversation,
I'm talking to a posthouse that uses AI software to fix the audio problems.
Now, you were saying about, you know, we can create Rihanna's voice.

(51:48):
And hopefully they don't do that for, you know, for negative purposes,
or to try to steal something from her as an artist.
But for me, when I do these documentaries that are real life, in the grit, in the dirt.
I along as long as i have about 20 to 30 seconds
of the guy's voice then we can fix all

(52:09):
of the audio snaps and crackles and pops and
all the things that were going on by duplicating his
voice but you know it's the same words it's just making it better to hear and
better yeah we're going to do that same you know situation with the with the
video because we have video that's really shaky we have video that you know

(52:30):
there was one shot where she you know ashley's filming,
and then a bomb went off right you know in front of them and literally sent
her flying in the camera it was it was like a crane you could see the camera
flying through the air it's unbelievable.
But there's a lot of post things that i need to fix in this documentary to make

(52:51):
it you know for for the big screen and AI is going to help me do that.
And we're using it as a tool.
And that's, I think that's something, wow. I just got goosebumps.
That's interesting. I think that's so important that you brought that up, Chris, because, um,
It is so easy for us to get caught up in the fear, especially these days.

(53:12):
I feel like so much of the time, you know, the news media, it does not matter
who you're listening to, okay?
Both sides, I feel like they're trying to make us afraid. They're trying to
make us afraid of each other.
And there's so much of an environment of fear.
And so we're afraid of everything. everything and and
what i just heard you say is that this

(53:35):
thing that everyone is afraid of you're actually going
to be able to use it to tell a really important
story that needs to be told that you might not
be able to do otherwise without it yeah yeah and or at least because and and
you guys may think think i'm being dramatic but as filmmakers as people who

(53:55):
create create content and make film sound is the one of the most important aspects
of anything that you produce.
If it is crackly, if it is weird, if it sounds funky, people will tune out,
they'll turn it off and they won't listen.
Audio is actually one of it really is one of the most important pieces of of a project.

(54:17):
And so just the fact that you'll be able to take that footage and make something out of it meaningful.
And, and, and I think, why don't you tell folks a little bit more about the
project? You said, what was it called again?
Why we went, why we went. And so this is a really, you know,

(54:39):
this is an on the ground telling of what is going on there.
You know, when our, our media, when we know that the information we're getting
is filtered, you know, It's filtered through these media organizations,
probably filtered through the government even, what they want us to know.
Having a...

(55:01):
Essentially a journalist like a war correspondent on
the ground being able to tell the story that's so cool that is so important
so okay why we went so tell everybody like you said it's it's not out yet you
oh no we're we're we're fundraising it costs money to hire editors to pay the post.

(55:22):
House to do all of that we have two full hard drives also need to get ashley home she's in in Kiev.
She ran out of money. Her parents have given her everything that they can get her.
We're talking to the embassy about getting her a flight out so she can get out of there.
She's on the Russians' top 100 hit list right now to kill.
I mean, because now they know who she is and now they know what she's doing.

(55:46):
And she was able to sneak two hard drives out, get them to me, so I have.
And I'm talking to various news organizations, trying to work
with them on some type of partnership organs
that deal where you know we can make this documentary
happen so so
can she this is a stupid question i'm i
and i'm recognizing this is a really stupid question but i'm

(56:08):
going to ask it anyway she can't just get you can't just get on a plane home
like are there no flights going out of ukraine is that a real question there
are flights in and out but the problem this may sound a little funny but i mean
she has no money her credit cards are tapped out
And what we're trying to do is work with an organization that can basically

(56:30):
get her on a plane that, you know, have, have the embassy pick up the tab and
just pay for the ticket and get her out of Ukraine.
Especially if she's on a hit list. I'm like, that would be a reason why not
to get on a regular commercial airline.
Alexei Navalny learned that lesson. Well, it's all about politics too.
And, you know, and you, you have to go through certain channels for,

(56:52):
you know, working with the state department, working with the embassy.
I, she, I don't think she's in danger, but I'm not there. So I don't know.
I mean, I know she's staying with a couple of the soldier friends that she made
and they're, they're, they're just living life in Kyiv until she can work out
a plan to get out of the country, get what she gets out. Yeah. She'll come here.

(57:14):
Yeah. And y'all watching, you know, we know some folks, we have some viewers
and friends of the channel that have planes, have pilot licenses.
You guys know, it's not about it's. It's just about doing it through the proper chat.
Yeah. So, you know, I told her, she's still there filming.
We're actually, I'm talking to some Washington, D.C. folks about trying to get

(57:36):
her an interview with Zelensky.
Because I really, if I had an ask, it would be in the next week or,
you know, she wants to try to get out by next week if possible.
But if it's in the next week, I want her to have an interview with President
Zelensky. Because for the documentary, we have over 25 interviews with foreign

(57:56):
soldiers, Ukrainian soldiers.
Unfortunately, half of them have already died. They already got killed during the war.
But we have their interviews and we have their permission for this documentary.
And that's what we want to, you know, show people is like, listen, they're not Nazis.
They're, you know, you know, Putin is, you know, using propaganda for that part of it.

(58:19):
So they're real people. And some of them are like from the U.S.,
some of them from France, Canada, Germany, Poland.
I mean, the world is over there fighting for this. Yeah. Wow.
Okay. So this is super important, you guys. So where can they now?
Hold on. I'm going to share.
Let's see. We've got your website.

(58:39):
We've got Chris DeBeck's website. We've got civilizedentertainment.com.
Go to home for civilized entertainment.
Okay yeah there we go so when you
go to civilized entertainment you'll see these are the images i shot
you know with my camera from all the productions i've worked on over the last

(59:00):
you know 30 years cool i i was on an aircraft counter a carrier i did a whole
piece for good morning america uh rob marciano and i were on an aircraft carrier
i moved the space shuttle through the streets of los angeles i worked with the
crew that did that that's what's behind me Yeah.
I worked with a production company. This is a movie called the green night and those where can.

(59:26):
So where should people go if they want to help with why we went,
if they want to learn more, if they want to donate, they want to get involved.
What is the best way to contact you?
I have linked, I have a LinkedIn page, so it would just be my Christa Beck LinkedIn page is a good a place.
Civilized Entertainment, you can go to the website and send me an email through that.

(59:48):
Texas Media Coalition has a website. You can go through that.
I have multiple ways that you can reach me. Plus, if you look at IMDB,
I think it has my email address on IMDB.
Yes. So there is tons of stuff. Oh, I closed the other website.
Oh, and this and then you're on LinkedIn.
So you guys, you can find him everywhere. We got links Links to his websites

(01:00:12):
in the description and in the comments.
So definitely go check it out. I would love to see the Ukraine documentary.
I think that sounds really interesting.
You know, my thing is always...
You know, I think the way you said it was that AI can be used as a tool. It's a starting point.
And just like the news nowadays, it can be a starting point so that you can hear things.

(01:00:37):
But I would much rather go to a documentary, a book, somebody's firsthand experience
on any given situation or matter, because that's where you're more likely to
find, you know, the middle of the truth.
Do you know what I mean? you're more likely to find real
human beings sharing their story and so so

(01:00:58):
that's what we like to see chris thank you so
much for joining us today for sharing your experience and
your insights it's been super fun to talk to you i loved talking to you at the
south by southwest event you guys chris is just really cool i didn't tell you
all the crazy stuff we talked about at the sapien center but he's just a really
cool guy and so if you get an opportunity to work with him I highly recommend it.

(01:01:22):
This is a professional who really cares.
He cares about the industry, he cares about you, and he cares about the creative process.
Thank you, Steve. Stephen says, thank you.
Yeah, Jerry, I want to hear it from the horse's mouth. You are absolutely correct.
And so y'all, again, Generally Irritable,

(01:01:44):
we exist to help facilitate an engaged and informed electorate we don't care
what your politics are as long as you are involved so make sure you like share
and subscribe to this channel and help us fight the evil social media overlords.

(01:02:04):
And we just got back and all right y'all hang on with us just one second and
we'll see you next tuesday.
Music.