January 1, 2025 • 34 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're about to present to you an interview I conducted
with Peter Berg last Thursday after the morning show, when
we finished at eleven am. Now, I want to make
one note that's important. You may be frustrated, as I was,
at points throughout the interview that Peter Berg, the director
(00:23):
of Deepwater Horizon, his voice is going to trail off
and it's going to sound kind of sketchy, kind of
odd to understand digitized. At certain points, we stopped the
interview in the middle and restarted it, and he drove
up the way he lives. He splits his time between
New York and LA and he was in LA and
(00:45):
he was driving to a meeting when we did the interview,
and he was in a canyon, and he said, it
was the only time that we could make the timing work.
And he said, look, I'm doing the best I can.
I'm not moving around, but I understand you're getting me
fading in and out, so you're going to hear that throughout.
I apologize in advance. We're going to try and post
production to make this as loud as it can be
(01:08):
in the segments where it goes down, but there was
nothing we could do, and I didn't want to reschedule
the interview because I wanted to get this out there.
So my apologies in advance. This is not as good
a this is not as good of audio quality as
I would like to present this. If you've not seen
Deep Water Horizon, hopefully this interview will peak your interest
(01:33):
and some of these things will stick in your mind
as you watch the film and after the fact, maybe
these were some of the questions you would have had
naturally if you have seen it, then I guess this
interview will will make a lot more sense. But make
sure you see it, because I think it's it's as
interesting a movie as I've seen. It's storytelling. As I've
(01:54):
often said, songs and movies and radio talk shows and
TV shows and sales presentations and sermons, they're all storytelling.
And I can appreciate whatever the medium, I can appreciate
a good storyteller. And for my money, Peter Berg, who
(02:15):
made Loan Survivor, who's made other films, who's told other
stories across different platforms, across different fact patterns and walks
of life, I think he's as good a storyteller as
there is in America today. He just happens to have
chosen films as his palette for telling a story. So
(02:36):
our interview from last week with Peter Berg, and if
someone's not listening that you would like to hear this interview.
It is posted on our website at michael berry dot com.
That's Michael berry dot com. Go to the podcast for
today for this hour and you'll find it and you
can share it with anyone else, and I hope you will.
(02:57):
Our interview with Peter Berg. Peter, I gotta tell you,
first of all, it's the best movie I've seen in
a long time, and I was blown away how you
I am a fan of storytelling and a movie is
just storytelling. My wife and I for two hours after
the movie last night, we went through how you managed
(03:20):
to take a story of an industrial blowout, you know, oilfield,
offshore oil field blowout and make it some of the
most compelling storytelling I've ever seen.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Wow, thank you and thank your wife for going and see.
I really appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
It was a packed house and there was a when
the movie was over, everyone was stunned, and then someone
started applauding, and everyone applauded because you told a story.
I mean, look, it doesn't have a good ending, but
you told a story that needed to be told.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, I mean, I think what interested in me in
the in the story of the Deep Watter Horizon event
was it started with a sixty minutes piece I saw
that focused on Mike Williams, who's the character that Wahlbert
plays in the film, and the story was told from
his perspective, and he was just a non electronics technician.
(04:15):
I saw a low ranking guy on the rim who
told the story that was so different than the story
that we've been being told, especially in the media, which
was a story about environmental disaster and oil spill and
and you know that obviously was it was a horrible thing.
But Mike Williams told this human story, and he told
(04:36):
a kind of almost a scientific thriller in many ways
about how complex the regular well who it is, and
how dangers it is to you know, find this oil
and drill down to it and then once you find it,
how I heard it is to stabilize it. And I
also thought it was a fascinating story that had nothing
to do with it oil spill. And then when I
(04:57):
found out that he died and and hit those men
had died actually trying to prevent a spell. And at
these were eleven men who had nothing to do with
that that still, and they could have gotten off the
lad that could have gotten in the lifebooks, but they
chose to stay in their workstations and try to fight it,
and that cost them their lives. Well, when I heard that,
(05:18):
you know, it started feeling like I was getting into
my friend Marcus Fakell territory. And that's the kind of
story I like to tell.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Peter, let's start with you said that you kind of
gave a little bit of what interested you about this story.
But you know, you have a new movie, Patriots Day,
that will open at the next spring, and I want
to talk about that later, but let's talk about what
about this story attracted your attention.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Yeah. I mean, for me, there's there's never one thing.
And I've I've been fortunate to make movies for a
while now, and I'm keenly aware of how much work
and how little glamour there actually is in the actual
process of making films. So you need you need many
reason instat inspired to make a film. And I think
that the movie worked for me and the story interested me.
(06:08):
A is just a scientific thriller. I was very interested
in the silence of it all and how complex, uh,
this kind of work is. How smart the men and
women on that rig, where these are all engineers, most
of them. I thought that was very interesting just how
they actually do it. It felt like almost like a
space program. I was interested in the relationship between the
(06:31):
BP executives and the and the men that actually worked
on the rig. And I was interested in the necessarily
vilifying BP, although I do think they made some big mistakes,
but I think it was pretty interesting to see how
that political dynamic work when you've got these DP executives
who've got to bring the oil in on time and
(06:54):
on budget, and you've got a bunch of guys trying
to trying to make them happy. And in the case
of the BP, they were you know, forty odd days
over scheduled, which was about eighty million over budget. So
everyone was feeling this pressure, which which I think is understateable.
You know, any obviously company for profit that's behind schedule.
(07:14):
You know, if I'm behind schedule my job, I feel
the pressure. Well, this was an interesting look at how money,
you know, can put pressure on people, and in the
case of this oil rate. That's real dangerous pressure because
the workers are doing Because I thought that was interesting,
But I think really what sold it for me was
when I met with these families of the guys who
(07:36):
were killed. I met with their parents and their widows
and some of their children, and you know, much like
loans of ival, it was deeply emotional for me to
meet these families and hear these stories. But the one
thing that really got me was when I realized that
these families were suffering the grief of having lost a
loved one, but they were also sufferings that added grief
(08:00):
of having people when they found out that, oh, you know,
their husband died. When they found out when they worked
in that oil way, the attitude was almost, well, yeah,
well they caused the oil spill, so DIDN'TY kind of
deserve it? Didn't get what they deserved, And I, uh,
you know, when I realized that there was this shame
or embarrassment that these families were experiencing when in reality
(08:21):
their loved ones. They did it, but DIDN'TY could just
stop that? Well, they really were heroes. That's what kind
of got me locked in. I wanted to make the
fell and that was probab the bites.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
We will continue our conversation with Peter Berg of Deepwater Horizon,
the director of that movie. Now Michael Berry's show. Peter
Burg is our guest. He is the director of deep
Water Horizon and a fantastic storyteller, and I'm curious to
(08:51):
hear the story behind the story of the making of
this movie. Let's talk about casting. It's very interesting cast.
You keep putting Marky Mark in movie. You got him
coming up in Patriots Date. What is what is the
thing with Mark Wahlberg?
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Well, I mean I think you know the stories that
I like to tell you that you know, obviously kind
of American themed, their working class theme. These these are
the stories that interest me. Monk has that you know,
he came up from the streets of Dorchester. He you know,
very easily could be in prison right now or dead.
(09:25):
He turned his life around remarkable, but has maintained his
connection to that community where he came from, his family,
of his his church. He's just a guy that's you know,
he's very successful, but he's not drifted from that kind
of core character that he started out as and that
(09:49):
that makes him very right for the kind of movies
I do and then we just get along. You know,
we were like brothers and we have very similar taste
in similar sensors as humor, and uh, we just we
just get along really well. So it's there's a trust
level there. And it's been fun to make these three
movies and doing this journey with me.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Uh, In doing Peter Berg as our guest, he's the
director of Deepwater Horizon. In doing my research on Mark Wahlberg,
this is I guess the sixth film where he's played
a real life character and almost always in everyman. I mean,
Marcus Detrell is not an every man, but he was
at that time, and it seems like that's something that's
(10:32):
important to him. I read that he stayed in character
throughout the shoot when he was on the rig. It
sounds to me and I think the portrayal proves that
it was important for him to be who Mike Williams was,
which was not a superstar, just just a smart guy
doing his job that wanted to go home to his
wife and daughter.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Yeah. I think it was very important to Mark to
capture that, you know, March marks the uh, the challenge
of having to play two pretty intense guys. Now now
Marcus Attrel obviously UH is next level, but Mike Williams
uh is not to be underestimated. A very very bright
(11:15):
man from UH from East Texas, uh uh, you know,
very very smart and west just innate intelligence and very
very determined to make sure that not only did Walburg
play him correctly, but that we got that we got
it right, just like Marcus Ottrel was determined to make
(11:37):
sure we got it right. You know, this culture of
my solil doing was very proud and may they have
a specific place of doing things. And then launceavlvor Walburg
has a trail pretty much two foot away from him
through ninety the summing and on deep leave, Walbot and
Mike Williams out two feet away from him, just kind
(11:57):
of making sure father, you know. And and but it's great.
It's a great resource to have that, but it also
puts pressure on on someone. And I think it did
make Wallberg stand sort of made him focus, not not
that he wouldn't normally focus hard, but maybe just focus
(12:17):
a little bit harder having those two Texas boys standing.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Yeah, I think I think that would be pressure day right, right.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I would not want that.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Peterberg is the director of Deep Water Horizon. Let's talk
about your other casting. I don't know if it was
your choice or not, but John Malkovich is sort of
the bad guy, the dream and the BP guy that
that's pushing and really doesn't seem to understand the risk
in your portrayal of what could go wrong. And then
sort of the shame is on him because he's the
(12:57):
one that was more worried about a deadline. And you know,
I'm sure some people won't appreciate that portrayal, But why
John Malkovich there?
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Well, he's just you know, I was fortunate to have
John Nkovich and Kurt Russell, who I mean, these guys
are just legitimate pros, you know, and they're very very
good actors, and they know what they're doing. And sometimes
I think, especially the living in today with uh social
media and instinct fame and all kinds of young actors
(13:29):
coming up and becoming very popular, but they really haven't
earned it, you know, they haven't put the time in
and the technical aspects and the craft isn't what we've developed.
You look at guys like Malkovitch and Kurt Russell, these
guys have done it over and over and over and
they're the ship and they remind you, or reminded me of,
(13:50):
you know what what it really means to be a
heavyweight actor, and these guys bring it. And so for
me they were my first places, and that not to
just kind of wonderful energy together and the conflict and
you know, mark of its is able to bring, you know,
a somewhat of an unsympathetic quality to that character that's felt.
(14:13):
In the case of Don Bedreen just sort of understood
where he was coming from and he was getting squeezed,
he needed to move on. There were hemorrhas and money,
and that I think Alcams puts Actually, as much as
you may not like that character, he sort of understood
and could empathize with where he was coming from. And
(14:33):
that's you know that that just makes it more dimensional.
He's not just a bad guy. Right.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Well, yeah, realistically, let's let's talk about running any kind
of business. You got to keep projects on budget, you
have to push people beyond their comfort zone, you have
to squeeze pennies. That's that's what shareholders expected. There is
that constant balance, and I think that's you always want
to create this theatrical moment of the real dilemma of
(15:01):
the hamlet moment, and I thought you did a great
job with that. There was a guy I don't know
the actor's name. He was wearing a yellow shirt throughout,
but he was in Friday Night Lights and I thought
he was fantastic, white hair.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
What's his name? He's buddy from from UH on Saturday
Night Lights. His name is Brad Leland.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
He is fantastic.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Yep, he's great. Another Texas boys from Austin.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Yeah, the h You mentioned Kurt Russell, but I wanted
to dig a little deeper because everybody has known that
guy on the work site that is really well respected
and wise in Urban Cowboy. He was the guy who
played John Travolta's kind of uncle or his uncle figure,
and he dies on on the platform. I thought Kurt
(15:46):
Kurt Russell really rose to that role. How did you
choose him for that?
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Well, he's I mean, if that character, he's an iconic
boss who is hard, not necessarily perfect, but leads, leads
by example, really does have the respect of UH and
men and women that work for him, and I think
mainly because they know he's got UH their interests in mind,
(16:14):
as much as the corporate interests and the money and
if you meet to you know Church, another one like
Wahlberg who you know, he's just leads a very full
and rich life. You know, he's got a ranch in Colorado,
lives claims, he he ranches, he makes his own line.
He is just a you know, a full, full and
rich human being that I think is able to naturally
(16:37):
tap into the kind of grit and soul and character.
That's someone that you know, is running an oil rig
would need to have to be able to you know,
control that environment like any good coach or military leader
that that can be the boss, but can also do
(16:57):
that in a way that you know, if you generate
forgitimout respects from the men and women that work for them.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
More of our conversation with Peter Berg, the director of
Deepwater Horizon coming up again. My apologies for the audio quality.
He was pulled over to the side of a road
in the middle of a canyon outside of la and
we're aware that the audio cuts in and out. We
did the best we could do, but I know at
times it's a little frustrating. It was frustrating for me,
(17:26):
but we're just working with what we have, so stay
tuned for more of our interview with Peter Berg, director
of Deepwater Horizon, and our interview is posted at our
website Michael Berry dot.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Com, Southern Pride, Southern Pride, The Michael Berry Show.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Peter Berg is our guest. The movie is Deepwater Horizon.
Let's talk about the technical aspects. To start. I read
that you spend one hundred and fifty six million dollars
on this movie, one hundred and ten million of it
in Louisiana, which I'm sure they love. Let me ask you, uh,
I read that a rig was built for this actual movie.
(18:13):
How did that come about?
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Well, you know, it's a coolnagen. VP wasn't jumping up
and down with enthusiasm over the fact that we're making
this film. And and you know, I understand that, like
as I said accent, we do more for BP in
terms of pr at least in selling how this happened,
in presenting a reasonable scenario, in terms of you know,
(18:39):
what we were talking about earlier. Just there they were
Baham schedule and they yeah, they made some bad choices,
but I think we understand a lot. It was clearly
never the intent of VP to you know, kill eleven people.
Or to blow out that got a little. It happened,
but that being so vpated, I want this movie being
made and the effective disruptors to us. While we were
(19:01):
trying to make the film in Louisiana, which is you know,
an environment and an area of our content that is,
you know, literally fueled by fuel and that economy is
fueled by fuel. And so they provided us to do
things like getting access to working deep deep water rigs.
Several times we tried to go to Mexico and couldn't
(19:22):
get it. We tried to use the deep water Horizon
sister ship of Rick called the Nautilus. We couldn't get it.
So finally we kind of looked at each other, let's
just build our own, you know, And that was that
was an ambitious goal. We had an incredible production designer,
a guy named Chris Eager. They said, I said he
(19:43):
could do it, very sweet talented young Englishman. He's like, yeah,
I could do it good, and we're like, okay, buddy,
let's do it. And let's say I know, we had
three hundred welders and I don't know how many hundreds
of thousands of tons of steel in an abandoned six
(20:05):
flags amusement park and outside of New Orleans, and we
built it and it was an incredible asset for musicalemaker.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Well, I don't know if you've ever been to Marti Gras,
but year round they're building the most amazing sets by
way of floats that are sets that move that I
think those guys could build just about anything. Peter Berg
is our guest. He's the director of deep Water Horizon.
One of the things that struck me about this film
(20:36):
and my wife, earlier in her legal career, did a
lot of work for offshore platforms and for pipeline companies
and spent a lot of time out on the platforms,
and she was blown away by how you educated the
viewer as they went along, very naturally in a way
that you were teaching us about the offshore platform What
(21:00):
kind of technical technical advice were you getting as to
not just blowout preventers, but what these gadgets meant because
it's a higher technical enterprise.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Yes it is. I mean that was probably the biggest
challenge of the film was we went to I and
all the key members of my crew went to what
we end up just calling Boil School, where we brought in, uh,
you know, probably twenty twenty five different experts, people who've
worked on rigs from the bottom from the sub seed
to the very top of the derek. So whether it
(21:32):
was negative and pressure test tests that were done in
the drill shack, or it was so the rod guys
that didn't maintain the DP the blowout preventter. We we learned.
We learned enough to realize that we were never going
to understand really in that in one or two months
(21:53):
the complexities of what went on. So I finally had
you know, it's very very scientific, and you know, these,
like I said, for these are engineers and physicists and
very very bright men and women who were doing some
very complex science out there. So basically, after two months,
I looked at these guys, I said, all right, you
got I'm never going to get this at this level.
(22:14):
You know, they were talking to me as if I
was one of their own. I said, you got to
break this down for me, Give it to me like
I'm a twelve year old. So I've literally explained it
to me like I'm a twelve year old. And when
they did that, I was able to get a base
understanding of it, and then I was able to kind
of figure out, well, Okay, if a twelve year old
levels where I'm comfortable, you know, how am I going
(22:34):
to make the audience in a way that they don't
just coot out because the sans case so dense. They
also don't sort of instinctively feel like we're dumbing it
down to the point where they're insulted. And we spent
a lot of time and you know, came up with
different tactics for getting the information out to the audience.
(22:56):
Figure they'll understand maybe seventy percent of it, but that
what they don't understand, they'll at least get the idea
of what's being said. You might not know exactly what
Kurt Russell and John malcomit you're arguing about. You might
not understand the deep nuances of it, but you will
understand that the consequences are very serious. I think one
of them's right and one of them is wrong, and
(23:18):
which everyone's wrong, There's going to be a real problem,
and I thought that was important.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Peter Berg is our guest. He's the director of Deepwater
Horizon in theaters now, critics have applauded you and commended
you for not to use their term talking down to
the audience, particularly when the discussions are about cement bonding
and that and how that played into all this and
(23:43):
how blowout preventters work. Was that a concern of yours
that if you if you were technical enough to explain it,
that you would no pun intended bore people.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Yes, for some that's that was that was the challenge.
And I want to talk down to people, you know,
and you know, maybe analogy at one point did like
if you could imagine, God forbid, you had a child
that was very sick, and you had two doctors offering
completely different opinions over the best course of treatment, and
(24:16):
they were standing over you and your child, and they
were debating it, and they were actually arguing about it.
You might not understand exactly what they were saying, but
you would certainly feel the emotion and understand that, you know,
this is serious stuff. And I felt that that was,
you know, somewhat accurate for how we should approach handling
(24:38):
the science and the language of our movie. I didn't
want to dumb it down. I didn't want to talk
down to the audience, but I did want them to
understand that the stakes were very high and that you
know that to get a basic understanding of how some
of this equipment worked. You might not understand what a
kill line test is exactly, but you do understand that
(24:59):
if that test usn't come to write, there might be
a problem.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
More of our conversation with Peter Berg, the director of
Deepwater Horizon. Coming up again. My apologies for the audio quality.
He was pulled over to the side of a road
in the middle of a canyon outside of LA and
we're aware that the audio cuts in and out. We
did the best we could do, but I know at
times it's a little frustrating. It was frustrating for me,
(25:25):
but we're just working with what we have, So stay
tuned for more of our interview with Peter Berg, director
of Deepwater Horizon, and our interview is posted at our website,
Michael berry dot com The Michael Berry Show. Peter Berg
is our guest. He is the director of Deepwater Horizon
(25:48):
and a fantastic storyteller, and I'm curious to hear the
story behind the story of the making of this movie.
One of your challenges in telling this story was making
us care who these people are because we watched people
die on TV and in movies every day. So you
had to have the love interest, you had to have
(26:10):
the family man Mike Williams, who Mark Wahlberg, who has
to come home to Kate Hudson and his daughter, and
you had to create that. How did you choose who
that character was that we were most going to identify with?
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Well, I mean that that just came from reality. I
saw the sixty minutes piece on Mike Williams, which you
can pull up online. It's an incredible interview Williams. It
was very clear about, you know, he was going to
get off that rig and live. He was he was
gonna do two things. He was going to do everything
he could to help his you know, workers, the men
(26:46):
and women that he worked with, to make sure he
did everything he could to get everyone off alive. And
that's just who he was as a man. But the
other thing, and he tears up on sixteen minutes talking
about this, he was not going to die that night.
He was going to get home to his daughter and
his wife, and and that was not negotiable for him.
And it was the way he expressed it was just
(27:09):
so simple and pure and undeniably emotional. I mean, like
you'd have to, you know, to not to not get
emotional watching him just very simply star in the camera
and say I was not going to die that night.
I was going to see my daughter, my wife. It
was not going to be my time. That that kind
of you know created you know, a as a filmmaker, storyteller,
(27:31):
you're you're hungry for something, you know that clear uhh.
That's that simple and directing and emotional. And Williams provided
it for us. And we just you know, laid that
right into the movie and let it play and and
and we didn't have to do much to that.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
I guess. Her name is Gina Rodriguez who played Yeah,
I thought she. I thought she for so of a
bit character in all of this. I thought she added
a lot of texture to all of that.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Yeah, and she was. Gina plays a young lady named
Andrea Flitis who was twenty three years old and had
a very serious and you know, heavy responsibility job that
she had to run the direct positioning, which basically mean
she had to steer the reggae make sure it maintained
it the position directly over the pipe. And the only
(28:28):
things that got me was that, you know, this was
one of the only girls on the rig you know,
she was young, she had a tremendous amount of responsibility,
and and she she performed, I think very admirably. And
to think about, you know, someone that young in a
very male dominated industry, particularly kind of a big ego
(28:48):
male industry, that this girl was able to you know,
perform and hold her own and and as that was thought,
she was very interesting.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Peter Burg is the director. Peter Berg is the director
of Deepwater Horizon.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Man, I've got I've got to go, though, I could
make one more because they're out there, they're calling for me. Now.
I made it. Nothing.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Do your thing?
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
One last question, Trice Adkins, how did you choose to
cast him?
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Uh? So I got a call from TRACE's manager saying
that Trace was knew some people on the rig and
was very connected emotionally to the men that were killed,
and he had actually written a song and he wanted
to do anything he could to be involved. I wasn't
aware of I knew his name, but I didn't really
know him. I didn't notize how big he is, was giant.
(29:42):
He I got on the phone, and you know, he
has that great voice, and I said, hey, what's you
know going on? And he said, I'm not going to
try to imitate him because I can't, but really felt
a connection to those men that were killed and that
kid tried to keep their memory alive and if there's anything,
you know, he could do, and I so, why don't
you come down? And I had this idea of a
(30:04):
character for him, and true guy who when Mike Williams
finally got back to this hotel, he was sort of
physically attacked by a very emotional father trying to find
out whether his son's alive. I thought Trace could play
that role. He showed up in Texas. I mean, he's
got to be six' ten and Now mark is not
(30:25):
not the tallest guy in the, world BUT i had
to Have trace kind of beating up On. Mark And
tray's such a nice. Guy he didn't want to get
too physical With. Mark and Finally mark AND i were
both On trace to you, know get, physical and when he,
did it was like terrified wallburn Because, traces, like you,
(30:45):
know without much, effort pretty much Launch mark.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Across oh he, did and you can tell that's. Real
he slams him into that, wall and even me as the,
VIEWER i COULD i could tell that was. REAL i
know you've got to, Go. Peter thanks for being our.
Guest great. MOVIE i look forward to Seeing Patriot's.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
Day And i'll have to see you and soon and
give your wife my. Best thank you very.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
Much you got, It, peter take care there you have.
IT i commend the movie most. Highly it Is Deep Water.
Horizon it is in theaters. Now prepared yourself because it
is an action film in the sense that there is
a lot of, action but there it. Is it takes
(31:26):
an emotional. Toll AND i don't know IF i feel
that way because growing up In, orange living In, houston
knowing so many people who work on these, platforms knowing
so many people that are in the industry part of the.
INDUSTRY i don't, know or if it was simply compelling for.
(31:49):
Everyone i'd be interested to hear your, perspective particularly for
those of you who are not from The Gulf coast
and for whom this industry is not one of your native.
Industries but it. Is it's as a. Craft Peter berg
is good at his. Craft he tells an interesting, story
and this story is a compelling story on so many.
(32:12):
Levels you.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
Have bp.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
The company at the, top who's funding this whole. Operation
you've got transition the guys who they've hired to do their.
Job and, Look i'm not going to DEFEND bp under any.
CIRCUMSTANCES i think they've borne their responsibility and written their
checks for the mistakes they. Made but every, company even
(32:39):
our radio, program you have a lot of pressures that
are that you put on yourself and that your investors
put on you day in and day. Out and even
when lives are not at, stake we have pressures on
our radio show of things we have to do and
things we have to, accomplish and those sorts of, things
and so you really struggle with the dilemma of staying on.
(33:03):
Budget this particular project was forty three days, over was
forty three days beyond, deadline and millions and millions of dollars.
Beyond and companies have to make, budget they have to set,
goals and they have to achieve. Profitability and that's not
an awful, thing that's not a horrible, thing it's not
(33:24):
something to be ashamed. Of but you also have to.
Calculate as part of all, that you have to assess
risk and you have to make good decisions in assessing
risks and assessing the likelihood of what would otherwise be
called an. Accident you have to assess risk and mitigate
(33:46):
those risks within the calculations of, profitability and you're going
to see all of that play out in a very human.
Way
We're about to present to you an interview I conducted
with Peter Berg last Thursday after the morning show, when
we finished at eleven am. Now, I want to make
one note that's important. You may be frustrated, as I was,
at points throughout the interview that Peter Berg, the director
(00:23):
of Deepwater Horizon, his voice is going to trail off
and it's going to sound kind of sketchy, kind of
odd to understand digitized. At certain points, we stopped the
interview in the middle and restarted it, and he drove
up the way he lives. He splits his time between
New York and LA and he was in LA and
(00:45):
he was driving to a meeting when we did the interview,
and he was in a canyon, and he said, it
was the only time that we could make the timing work.
And he said, look, I'm doing the best I can.
I'm not moving around, but I understand you're getting me
fading in and out, so you're going to hear that throughout.
I apologize in advance. We're going to try and post
production to make this as loud as it can be
(01:08):
in the segments where it goes down, but there was
nothing we could do, and I didn't want to reschedule
the interview because I wanted to get this out there.
So my apologies in advance. This is not as good
a this is not as good of audio quality as
I would like to present this. If you've not seen
Deep Water Horizon, hopefully this interview will peak your interest
(01:33):
and some of these things will stick in your mind
as you watch the film and after the fact, maybe
these were some of the questions you would have had
naturally if you have seen it, then I guess this
interview will will make a lot more sense. But make
sure you see it, because I think it's it's as
interesting a movie as I've seen. It's storytelling. As I've
(01:54):
often said, songs and movies and radio talk shows and
TV shows and sales presentations and sermons, they're all storytelling.
And I can appreciate whatever the medium, I can appreciate
a good storyteller. And for my money, Peter Berg, who
(02:15):
made Loan Survivor, who's made other films, who's told other
stories across different platforms, across different fact patterns and walks
of life, I think he's as good a storyteller as
there is in America today. He just happens to have
chosen films as his palette for telling a story. So
(02:36):
our interview from last week with Peter Berg, and if
someone's not listening that you would like to hear this interview.
It is posted on our website at michael berry dot com.
That's Michael berry dot com. Go to the podcast for
today for this hour and you'll find it and you
can share it with anyone else, and I hope you will.
(02:57):
Our interview with Peter Berg. Peter, I gotta tell you,
first of all, it's the best movie I've seen in
a long time, and I was blown away how you
I am a fan of storytelling and a movie is
just storytelling. My wife and I for two hours after
the movie last night, we went through how you managed
(03:20):
to take a story of an industrial blowout, you know, oilfield,
offshore oil field blowout and make it some of the
most compelling storytelling I've ever seen.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Wow, thank you and thank your wife for going and see.
I really appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
It was a packed house and there was a when
the movie was over, everyone was stunned, and then someone
started applauding, and everyone applauded because you told a story.
I mean, look, it doesn't have a good ending, but
you told a story that needed to be told.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, I mean, I think what interested in me in
the in the story of the Deep Watter Horizon event
was it started with a sixty minutes piece I saw
that focused on Mike Williams, who's the character that Wahlbert
plays in the film, and the story was told from
his perspective, and he was just a non electronics technician.
(04:15):
I saw a low ranking guy on the rim who
told the story that was so different than the story
that we've been being told, especially in the media, which
was a story about environmental disaster and oil spill and
and you know that obviously was it was a horrible thing.
But Mike Williams told this human story, and he told
(04:36):
a kind of almost a scientific thriller in many ways
about how complex the regular well who it is, and
how dangers it is to you know, find this oil
and drill down to it and then once you find it,
how I heard it is to stabilize it. And I
also thought it was a fascinating story that had nothing
to do with it oil spill. And then when I
(04:57):
found out that he died and and hit those men
had died actually trying to prevent a spell. And at
these were eleven men who had nothing to do with
that that still, and they could have gotten off the
lad that could have gotten in the lifebooks, but they
chose to stay in their workstations and try to fight it,
and that cost them their lives. Well, when I heard that,
(05:18):
you know, it started feeling like I was getting into
my friend Marcus Fakell territory. And that's the kind of
story I like to tell.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Peter, let's start with you said that you kind of
gave a little bit of what interested you about this story.
But you know, you have a new movie, Patriots Day,
that will open at the next spring, and I want
to talk about that later, but let's talk about what
about this story attracted your attention.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Yeah. I mean, for me, there's there's never one thing.
And I've I've been fortunate to make movies for a
while now, and I'm keenly aware of how much work
and how little glamour there actually is in the actual
process of making films. So you need you need many
reason instat inspired to make a film. And I think
that the movie worked for me and the story interested me.
(06:08):
A is just a scientific thriller. I was very interested
in the silence of it all and how complex, uh,
this kind of work is. How smart the men and
women on that rig, where these are all engineers, most
of them. I thought that was very interesting just how
they actually do it. It felt like almost like a
space program. I was interested in the relationship between the
(06:31):
BP executives and the and the men that actually worked
on the rig. And I was interested in the necessarily
vilifying BP, although I do think they made some big mistakes,
but I think it was pretty interesting to see how
that political dynamic work when you've got these DP executives
who've got to bring the oil in on time and
(06:54):
on budget, and you've got a bunch of guys trying
to trying to make them happy. And in the case
of the BP, they were you know, forty odd days
over scheduled, which was about eighty million over budget. So
everyone was feeling this pressure, which which I think is understateable.
You know, any obviously company for profit that's behind schedule.
(07:14):
You know, if I'm behind schedule my job, I feel
the pressure. Well, this was an interesting look at how money,
you know, can put pressure on people, and in the
case of this oil rate. That's real dangerous pressure because
the workers are doing Because I thought that was interesting,
But I think really what sold it for me was
when I met with these families of the guys who
(07:36):
were killed. I met with their parents and their widows
and some of their children, and you know, much like
loans of ival, it was deeply emotional for me to
meet these families and hear these stories. But the one
thing that really got me was when I realized that
these families were suffering the grief of having lost a
loved one, but they were also sufferings that added grief
(08:00):
of having people when they found out that, oh, you know,
their husband died. When they found out when they worked
in that oil way, the attitude was almost, well, yeah,
well they caused the oil spill, so DIDN'TY kind of
deserve it? Didn't get what they deserved, And I, uh,
you know, when I realized that there was this shame
or embarrassment that these families were experiencing when in reality
(08:21):
their loved ones. They did it, but DIDN'TY could just
stop that? Well, they really were heroes. That's what kind
of got me locked in. I wanted to make the
fell and that was probab the bites.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
We will continue our conversation with Peter Berg of Deepwater Horizon,
the director of that movie. Now Michael Berry's show. Peter
Burg is our guest. He is the director of deep
Water Horizon and a fantastic storyteller, and I'm curious to
(08:51):
hear the story behind the story of the making of
this movie. Let's talk about casting. It's very interesting cast.
You keep putting Marky Mark in movie. You got him
coming up in Patriots Date. What is what is the
thing with Mark Wahlberg?
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Well, I mean I think you know the stories that
I like to tell you that you know, obviously kind
of American themed, their working class theme. These these are
the stories that interest me. Monk has that you know,
he came up from the streets of Dorchester. He you know,
very easily could be in prison right now or dead.
(09:25):
He turned his life around remarkable, but has maintained his
connection to that community where he came from, his family,
of his his church. He's just a guy that's you know,
he's very successful, but he's not drifted from that kind
of core character that he started out as and that
(09:49):
that makes him very right for the kind of movies
I do and then we just get along. You know,
we were like brothers and we have very similar taste
in similar sensors as humor, and uh, we just we
just get along really well. So it's there's a trust
level there. And it's been fun to make these three
movies and doing this journey with me.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Uh, In doing Peter Berg as our guest, he's the
director of Deepwater Horizon. In doing my research on Mark Wahlberg,
this is I guess the sixth film where he's played
a real life character and almost always in everyman. I mean,
Marcus Detrell is not an every man, but he was
at that time, and it seems like that's something that's
(10:32):
important to him. I read that he stayed in character
throughout the shoot when he was on the rig. It
sounds to me and I think the portrayal proves that
it was important for him to be who Mike Williams was,
which was not a superstar, just just a smart guy
doing his job that wanted to go home to his
wife and daughter.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Yeah. I think it was very important to Mark to
capture that, you know, March marks the uh, the challenge
of having to play two pretty intense guys. Now now
Marcus Attrel obviously UH is next level, but Mike Williams
uh is not to be underestimated. A very very bright
(11:15):
man from UH from East Texas, uh uh, you know,
very very smart and west just innate intelligence and very
very determined to make sure that not only did Walburg
play him correctly, but that we got that we got
it right, just like Marcus Ottrel was determined to make
(11:37):
sure we got it right. You know, this culture of
my solil doing was very proud and may they have
a specific place of doing things. And then launceavlvor Walburg
has a trail pretty much two foot away from him
through ninety the summing and on deep leave, Walbot and
Mike Williams out two feet away from him, just kind
(11:57):
of making sure father, you know. And and but it's great.
It's a great resource to have that, but it also
puts pressure on on someone. And I think it did
make Wallberg stand sort of made him focus, not not
that he wouldn't normally focus hard, but maybe just focus
(12:17):
a little bit harder having those two Texas boys standing.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Yeah, I think I think that would be pressure day right, right.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I would not want that.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Peterberg is the director of Deep Water Horizon. Let's talk
about your other casting. I don't know if it was
your choice or not, but John Malkovich is sort of
the bad guy, the dream and the BP guy that
that's pushing and really doesn't seem to understand the risk
in your portrayal of what could go wrong. And then
sort of the shame is on him because he's the
(12:57):
one that was more worried about a deadline. And you know,
I'm sure some people won't appreciate that portrayal, But why
John Malkovich there?
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Well, he's just you know, I was fortunate to have
John Nkovich and Kurt Russell, who I mean, these guys
are just legitimate pros, you know, and they're very very
good actors, and they know what they're doing. And sometimes
I think, especially the living in today with uh social
media and instinct fame and all kinds of young actors
(13:29):
coming up and becoming very popular, but they really haven't
earned it, you know, they haven't put the time in
and the technical aspects and the craft isn't what we've developed.
You look at guys like Malkovitch and Kurt Russell, these
guys have done it over and over and over and
they're the ship and they remind you, or reminded me of,
(13:50):
you know what what it really means to be a
heavyweight actor, and these guys bring it. And so for
me they were my first places, and that not to
just kind of wonderful energy together and the conflict and
you know, mark of its is able to bring, you know,
a somewhat of an unsympathetic quality to that character that's felt.
(14:13):
In the case of Don Bedreen just sort of understood
where he was coming from and he was getting squeezed,
he needed to move on. There were hemorrhas and money,
and that I think Alcams puts Actually, as much as
you may not like that character, he sort of understood
and could empathize with where he was coming from. And
(14:33):
that's you know that that just makes it more dimensional.
He's not just a bad guy. Right.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Well, yeah, realistically, let's let's talk about running any kind
of business. You got to keep projects on budget, you
have to push people beyond their comfort zone, you have
to squeeze pennies. That's that's what shareholders expected. There is
that constant balance, and I think that's you always want
to create this theatrical moment of the real dilemma of
(15:01):
the hamlet moment, and I thought you did a great
job with that. There was a guy I don't know
the actor's name. He was wearing a yellow shirt throughout,
but he was in Friday Night Lights and I thought
he was fantastic, white hair.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
What's his name? He's buddy from from UH on Saturday
Night Lights. His name is Brad Leland.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
He is fantastic.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Yep, he's great. Another Texas boys from Austin.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Yeah, the h You mentioned Kurt Russell, but I wanted
to dig a little deeper because everybody has known that
guy on the work site that is really well respected
and wise in Urban Cowboy. He was the guy who
played John Travolta's kind of uncle or his uncle figure,
and he dies on on the platform. I thought Kurt
(15:46):
Kurt Russell really rose to that role. How did you
choose him for that?
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Well, he's I mean, if that character, he's an iconic
boss who is hard, not necessarily perfect, but leads, leads
by example, really does have the respect of UH and
men and women that work for him, and I think
mainly because they know he's got UH their interests in mind,
(16:14):
as much as the corporate interests and the money and
if you meet to you know Church, another one like
Wahlberg who you know, he's just leads a very full
and rich life. You know, he's got a ranch in Colorado,
lives claims, he he ranches, he makes his own line.
He is just a you know, a full, full and
rich human being that I think is able to naturally
(16:37):
tap into the kind of grit and soul and character.
That's someone that you know, is running an oil rig
would need to have to be able to you know,
control that environment like any good coach or military leader
that that can be the boss, but can also do
(16:57):
that in a way that you know, if you generate
forgitimout respects from the men and women that work for them.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
More of our conversation with Peter Berg, the director of
Deepwater Horizon coming up again. My apologies for the audio quality.
He was pulled over to the side of a road
in the middle of a canyon outside of la and
we're aware that the audio cuts in and out. We
did the best we could do, but I know at
times it's a little frustrating. It was frustrating for me,
(17:26):
but we're just working with what we have, so stay
tuned for more of our interview with Peter Berg, director
of Deepwater Horizon, and our interview is posted at our
website Michael Berry dot.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Com, Southern Pride, Southern Pride, The Michael Berry Show.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Peter Berg is our guest. The movie is Deepwater Horizon.
Let's talk about the technical aspects. To start. I read
that you spend one hundred and fifty six million dollars
on this movie, one hundred and ten million of it
in Louisiana, which I'm sure they love. Let me ask you, uh,
I read that a rig was built for this actual movie.
(18:13):
How did that come about?
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Well, you know, it's a coolnagen. VP wasn't jumping up
and down with enthusiasm over the fact that we're making
this film. And and you know, I understand that, like
as I said accent, we do more for BP in
terms of pr at least in selling how this happened,
in presenting a reasonable scenario, in terms of you know,
(18:39):
what we were talking about earlier. Just there they were
Baham schedule and they yeah, they made some bad choices,
but I think we understand a lot. It was clearly
never the intent of VP to you know, kill eleven people.
Or to blow out that got a little. It happened,
but that being so vpated, I want this movie being
made and the effective disruptors to us. While we were
(19:01):
trying to make the film in Louisiana, which is you know,
an environment and an area of our content that is,
you know, literally fueled by fuel and that economy is
fueled by fuel. And so they provided us to do
things like getting access to working deep deep water rigs.
Several times we tried to go to Mexico and couldn't
(19:22):
get it. We tried to use the deep water Horizon
sister ship of Rick called the Nautilus. We couldn't get it.
So finally we kind of looked at each other, let's
just build our own, you know, And that was that
was an ambitious goal. We had an incredible production designer,
a guy named Chris Eager. They said, I said he
(19:43):
could do it, very sweet talented young Englishman. He's like, yeah,
I could do it good, and we're like, okay, buddy,
let's do it. And let's say I know, we had
three hundred welders and I don't know how many hundreds
of thousands of tons of steel in an abandoned six
(20:05):
flags amusement park and outside of New Orleans, and we
built it and it was an incredible asset for musicalemaker.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Well, I don't know if you've ever been to Marti Gras,
but year round they're building the most amazing sets by
way of floats that are sets that move that I
think those guys could build just about anything. Peter Berg
is our guest. He's the director of deep Water Horizon.
One of the things that struck me about this film
(20:36):
and my wife, earlier in her legal career, did a
lot of work for offshore platforms and for pipeline companies
and spent a lot of time out on the platforms,
and she was blown away by how you educated the
viewer as they went along, very naturally in a way
that you were teaching us about the offshore platform What
(21:00):
kind of technical technical advice were you getting as to
not just blowout preventers, but what these gadgets meant because
it's a higher technical enterprise.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Yes it is. I mean that was probably the biggest
challenge of the film was we went to I and
all the key members of my crew went to what
we end up just calling Boil School, where we brought in, uh,
you know, probably twenty twenty five different experts, people who've
worked on rigs from the bottom from the sub seed
to the very top of the derek. So whether it
(21:32):
was negative and pressure test tests that were done in
the drill shack, or it was so the rod guys
that didn't maintain the DP the blowout preventter. We we learned.
We learned enough to realize that we were never going
to understand really in that in one or two months
(21:53):
the complexities of what went on. So I finally had
you know, it's very very scientific, and you know, these,
like I said, for these are engineers and physicists and
very very bright men and women who were doing some
very complex science out there. So basically, after two months,
I looked at these guys, I said, all right, you
got I'm never going to get this at this level.
(22:14):
You know, they were talking to me as if I
was one of their own. I said, you got to
break this down for me, Give it to me like
I'm a twelve year old. So I've literally explained it
to me like I'm a twelve year old. And when
they did that, I was able to get a base
understanding of it, and then I was able to kind
of figure out, well, Okay, if a twelve year old
levels where I'm comfortable, you know, how am I going
(22:34):
to make the audience in a way that they don't
just coot out because the sans case so dense. They
also don't sort of instinctively feel like we're dumbing it
down to the point where they're insulted. And we spent
a lot of time and you know, came up with
different tactics for getting the information out to the audience.
(22:56):
Figure they'll understand maybe seventy percent of it, but that
what they don't understand, they'll at least get the idea
of what's being said. You might not know exactly what
Kurt Russell and John malcomit you're arguing about. You might
not understand the deep nuances of it, but you will
understand that the consequences are very serious. I think one
of them's right and one of them is wrong, and
(23:18):
which everyone's wrong, There's going to be a real problem,
and I thought that was important.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Peter Berg is our guest. He's the director of Deepwater
Horizon in theaters now, critics have applauded you and commended
you for not to use their term talking down to
the audience, particularly when the discussions are about cement bonding
and that and how that played into all this and
(23:43):
how blowout preventters work. Was that a concern of yours
that if you if you were technical enough to explain it,
that you would no pun intended bore people.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Yes, for some that's that was that was the challenge.
And I want to talk down to people, you know,
and you know, maybe analogy at one point did like
if you could imagine, God forbid, you had a child
that was very sick, and you had two doctors offering
completely different opinions over the best course of treatment, and
(24:16):
they were standing over you and your child, and they
were debating it, and they were actually arguing about it.
You might not understand exactly what they were saying, but
you would certainly feel the emotion and understand that, you know,
this is serious stuff. And I felt that that was,
you know, somewhat accurate for how we should approach handling
(24:38):
the science and the language of our movie. I didn't
want to dumb it down. I didn't want to talk
down to the audience, but I did want them to
understand that the stakes were very high and that you
know that to get a basic understanding of how some
of this equipment worked. You might not understand what a
kill line test is exactly, but you do understand that
(24:59):
if that test usn't come to write, there might be
a problem.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
More of our conversation with Peter Berg, the director of
Deepwater Horizon. Coming up again. My apologies for the audio quality.
He was pulled over to the side of a road
in the middle of a canyon outside of LA and
we're aware that the audio cuts in and out. We
did the best we could do, but I know at
times it's a little frustrating. It was frustrating for me,
(25:25):
but we're just working with what we have, So stay
tuned for more of our interview with Peter Berg, director
of Deepwater Horizon, and our interview is posted at our website,
Michael berry dot com The Michael Berry Show. Peter Berg
is our guest. He is the director of Deepwater Horizon
(25:48):
and a fantastic storyteller, and I'm curious to hear the
story behind the story of the making of this movie.
One of your challenges in telling this story was making
us care who these people are because we watched people
die on TV and in movies every day. So you
had to have the love interest, you had to have
(26:10):
the family man Mike Williams, who Mark Wahlberg, who has
to come home to Kate Hudson and his daughter, and
you had to create that. How did you choose who
that character was that we were most going to identify with?
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Well, I mean that that just came from reality. I
saw the sixty minutes piece on Mike Williams, which you
can pull up online. It's an incredible interview Williams. It
was very clear about, you know, he was going to
get off that rig and live. He was he was
gonna do two things. He was going to do everything
he could to help his you know, workers, the men
(26:46):
and women that he worked with, to make sure he
did everything he could to get everyone off alive. And
that's just who he was as a man. But the
other thing, and he tears up on sixteen minutes talking
about this, he was not going to die that night.
He was going to get home to his daughter and
his wife, and and that was not negotiable for him.
And it was the way he expressed it was just
(27:09):
so simple and pure and undeniably emotional. I mean, like
you'd have to, you know, to not to not get
emotional watching him just very simply star in the camera
and say I was not going to die that night.
I was going to see my daughter, my wife. It
was not going to be my time. That that kind
of you know created you know, a as a filmmaker, storyteller,
(27:31):
you're you're hungry for something, you know that clear uhh.
That's that simple and directing and emotional. And Williams provided
it for us. And we just you know, laid that
right into the movie and let it play and and
and we didn't have to do much to that.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
I guess. Her name is Gina Rodriguez who played Yeah,
I thought she. I thought she for so of a
bit character in all of this. I thought she added
a lot of texture to all of that.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Yeah, and she was. Gina plays a young lady named
Andrea Flitis who was twenty three years old and had
a very serious and you know, heavy responsibility job that
she had to run the direct positioning, which basically mean
she had to steer the reggae make sure it maintained
it the position directly over the pipe. And the only
(28:28):
things that got me was that, you know, this was
one of the only girls on the rig you know,
she was young, she had a tremendous amount of responsibility,
and and she she performed, I think very admirably. And
to think about, you know, someone that young in a
very male dominated industry, particularly kind of a big ego
(28:48):
male industry, that this girl was able to you know,
perform and hold her own and and as that was thought,
she was very interesting.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Peter Burg is the director. Peter Berg is the director
of Deepwater Horizon.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Man, I've got I've got to go, though, I could
make one more because they're out there, they're calling for me. Now.
I made it. Nothing.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Do your thing?
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
One last question, Trice Adkins, how did you choose to
cast him?
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Uh? So I got a call from TRACE's manager saying
that Trace was knew some people on the rig and
was very connected emotionally to the men that were killed,
and he had actually written a song and he wanted
to do anything he could to be involved. I wasn't
aware of I knew his name, but I didn't really
know him. I didn't notize how big he is, was giant.
(29:42):
He I got on the phone, and you know, he
has that great voice, and I said, hey, what's you
know going on? And he said, I'm not going to
try to imitate him because I can't, but really felt
a connection to those men that were killed and that
kid tried to keep their memory alive and if there's anything,
you know, he could do, and I so, why don't
you come down? And I had this idea of a
(30:04):
character for him, and true guy who when Mike Williams
finally got back to this hotel, he was sort of
physically attacked by a very emotional father trying to find
out whether his son's alive. I thought Trace could play
that role. He showed up in Texas. I mean, he's
got to be six' ten and Now mark is not
(30:25):
not the tallest guy in the, world BUT i had
to Have trace kind of beating up On. Mark And
tray's such a nice. Guy he didn't want to get
too physical With. Mark and Finally mark AND i were
both On trace to you, know get, physical and when he,
did it was like terrified wallburn Because, traces, like you,
(30:45):
know without much, effort pretty much Launch mark.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Across oh he, did and you can tell that's. Real
he slams him into that, wall and even me as the,
VIEWER i COULD i could tell that was. REAL i
know you've got to, Go. Peter thanks for being our.
Guest great. MOVIE i look forward to Seeing Patriot's.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
Day And i'll have to see you and soon and
give your wife my. Best thank you very.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
Much you got, It, peter take care there you have.
IT i commend the movie most. Highly it Is Deep Water.
Horizon it is in theaters. Now prepared yourself because it
is an action film in the sense that there is
a lot of, action but there it. Is it takes
(31:26):
an emotional. Toll AND i don't know IF i feel
that way because growing up In, orange living In, houston
knowing so many people who work on these, platforms knowing
so many people that are in the industry part of the.
INDUSTRY i don't, know or if it was simply compelling for.
(31:49):
Everyone i'd be interested to hear your, perspective particularly for
those of you who are not from The Gulf coast
and for whom this industry is not one of your native.
Industries but it. Is it's as a. Craft Peter berg
is good at his. Craft he tells an interesting, story
and this story is a compelling story on so many.
(32:12):
Levels you.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
Have bp.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
The company at the, top who's funding this whole. Operation
you've got transition the guys who they've hired to do their.
Job and, Look i'm not going to DEFEND bp under any.
CIRCUMSTANCES i think they've borne their responsibility and written their
checks for the mistakes they. Made but every, company even
(32:39):
our radio, program you have a lot of pressures that
are that you put on yourself and that your investors
put on you day in and day. Out and even
when lives are not at, stake we have pressures on
our radio show of things we have to do and
things we have to, accomplish and those sorts of, things
and so you really struggle with the dilemma of staying on.
(33:03):
Budget this particular project was forty three days, over was
forty three days beyond, deadline and millions and millions of dollars.
Beyond and companies have to make, budget they have to set,
goals and they have to achieve. Profitability and that's not
an awful, thing that's not a horrible, thing it's not
(33:24):
something to be ashamed. Of but you also have to.
Calculate as part of all, that you have to assess
risk and you have to make good decisions in assessing
risks and assessing the likelihood of what would otherwise be
called an. Accident you have to assess risk and mitigate
(33:46):
those risks within the calculations of, profitability and you're going
to see all of that play out in a very human.
Way
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