WEBVTT - Richard and Demi Weitz 0:00:06.640 --> 0:00:10.959 Welcome to Strictly Business Varieties weekly podcast featuring conversations with 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:14.920 industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. I'm 0:00:14.960 --> 0:00:19.720 Cynthia Littleton, business editor for Variety. When the coronavirus lockdown 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:23.000 began in March, w M E partner Richard Whites was 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:26.640 like any father looking for some way to celebrate his daughter, 0:00:26.760 --> 0:00:30.840 Demi's seventeenth birthday amid the pandemic, so he called a 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:34.800 piano player friend of his to serenade her via Zoom. 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:38.080 From that humble start, Richard and Demi Whites have built 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:42.919 the quarant Tunes franchise that has become a buzzy Hollywood invite, 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:47.839 featuring musical performances from an array of top stars. Along 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:51.199 the way, they've raised six point seven million dollars in 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:56.480 counting for coronavirus related relief efforts around the country. Here, 0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:59.480 the veteran agent and Demi discussed the spark for the 0:00:59.520 --> 0:01:03.760 fundraising effort, the hurdles they overcame, and how they recruited 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:07.520 partners such as Goldman Sachs and Alliance Bernstein to help 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:13.440 drive big dollar donations. Richard White's partner at w M 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:16.640 E and Demi Whites Thank you both so much for 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:22.160 joining us. Thank you. We're so excited. Richard, as I said, 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:24.760 as a partner at w ME, a very senior agent, 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:27.360 somebody who's one of these people that knows everybody in 0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:31.080 town and knows how this town works. Demi is Richard's 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:35.520 seventeen year old daughter. And you too, have really been 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:39.240 a kind of a godsend to the Hollywood community because 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:45.160 you have spent your quarantine time assembling these incredible what 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:49.800 you have come to call quarant tunes webcasts with a 0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:54.000 lineup of musical artists and special guests that would rival 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:57.600 any summer festival you know, were we able to have 0:01:57.720 --> 0:02:00.720 such things. And you you YouTube the way to put 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:06.120 to put some of that fun festival spirit and unexpectedness 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:11.079 into into Zoom webcasts with an I mean, the the 0:02:11.240 --> 0:02:16.120 array of talent, everybody from Randy Newman to Charlie Pooth 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:21.040 to Alan Mancon, Josh Groban, Michael Bolton, Billy Ray, Cyrus, 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:25.120 it and on and on. It does not get it 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:28.200 does not get more fun in the circumstances that we 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:30.840 are all living through right now than one of these 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:33.680 really fun foreign tunes. As a viewer, I can tell 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:35.600 you part of the fun is just going through the 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:38.640 all the Brady Bunch squares and figuring out who is 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:42.280 who is watching. And you've done all of this for 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:47.240 amazing causes and raised At this point, you've been doing 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:51.119 it for almost two months. You have raised more than 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:55.160 three million dollars for a range of causes. It's really 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:58.920 just it's a testament to people putting nose to the 0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:02.640 grindstone and really making it happen. I want to unpack 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:05.880 that a little bit. So first of all, tell us 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:08.160 I know that there's a kind of a sweet story 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:11.200 about what sparked this whole thing. Tell us about the 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:16.160 initial spark of the idea to do a music themed webcast. 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:19.400 So I turned seventeen at the very beginning of Quarantine. 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:23.160 It was the beginning of spring break. Zoom was very new. 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:26.960 Everyone was very strict about social distancing. My dad wanted 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:30.440 to do something special for me, and this piano player 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:33.400 from Chicago reached out to my dad asking him to 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:35.720 help and find work. So my dad set up a 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:39.240 surprise party seventeenth birthday for me, which I actually did 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:41.960 know about, but I gave him some of my friends 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:46.400 phone numbers and about forty of us went onto Zoom 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:50.520 that night, and this piano player, Dario, started serenading me 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:54.960 and my friends with Don't Stop Believing, some Billie Eilish 0:03:55.000 --> 0:03:59.400 songs and some other like new music. And I love Dario, 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:02.480 he's been amazing. This whole thing started with him, but 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:06.200 it wasn't really my friend's jam. It was very awkward 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:08.640 because Zoom was new. Like I said, it was just 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:10.640 someone singing to us and we didn't really know what 0:04:10.680 --> 0:04:14.120 to do. Everyone was staring at me. It was like, Dad, 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:16.760 I love you, I love this, but like this is 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:20.000 so uncomfortable. My friends keep texting me, can we can 0:04:20.080 --> 0:04:23.719 we turn this off? So my dad got together about 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:27.640 forty of his clients friends, high school friends and family 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:31.120 and Dario and they did another Zoom later and I 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:33.240 was still on because what else was I going to 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:36.800 be doing on my birthday in quarantine? So do you 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:40.120 want to take it from you? So for my good 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:44.039 friend Melvin Maher, he had signed up for Zoom, I 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:46.240 had no idea what it was. You know when I 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:48.520 did it was it was free for forty minutes and 0:04:48.560 --> 0:04:50.680 the match with a hundred people. So he paid for 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:53.159 it because he was doing conference calls and so we 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:55.960 had about I don't know, sixties seventy people, and I 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:58.279 called my friend Debbie Gibson, who I've been friends with 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:01.000 from twenty five years, to say, hey, come on, what 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:03.520 have the piano player? You love this right? You also 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:07.960 didn't know that you couldn't simultaneously sing with two other people. 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:11.560 So she's like, yeah, this is great, just sing something. 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:13.599 So she gets on her piano herself. So she starts 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:15.400 singing a bunch of the hints all in My Dreams 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:18.200 and Lost in your Eyes. And then who comes on 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:22.000 next is my friend and Melvin's best friend, John Mayer. 0:05:22.480 --> 0:05:25.719 And I'm over here and just being like what because 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:28.800 I'm also very very big John Marathan. So this was 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:32.240 like the coolest birthday ever. I had to say that. 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:34.840 Debbie Gibson and John Mayer were just going back and 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:37.359 forth with this piano player Dario, and we were just 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:41.280 all hanging out in our own houses, just like connecting, 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:44.520 and they were talking and playing music, and then they 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:47.599 sang Happy Birthday to me, and I was like, hey, John, 0:05:47.720 --> 0:05:51.359 can you sing New Light? So my dad's been this nickname, 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:53.240 the Sniper has been coined for my dad because he 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:56.960 always asked people to perform, but I'm the original Sniper 0:05:57.040 --> 0:06:00.000 because I asked John to sing New Light. And from 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:03.479 this experience, it was very, very positive and just a 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:06.600 way to kind of clear your mind with what was 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:08.839 going on in the world and just have fun and connect. 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:12.440 So people in their beds, on their sofas, have some wine. 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:14.680 I mean, come on the beginning of Quarantine, when you 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:17.400 there's nothing on TV, you can't do anything, You're like, 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:19.400 how long is this going to be? It was just 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:23.600 the social kind of platform. Well instead of FaceTime a 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:25.240 bunch of your friends, it was like, here you go, 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:27.479 here's a link, and everyone showed up, even ll cool 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:30.600 J showed up, my parents, my high school friends, a 0:06:30.640 --> 0:06:34.000 couple of clients, a couple of ex clients. UM. Just 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:37.800 really about community. And so the next day I was like, 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:41.080 this was great, Daria, let's do it again. And so 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:43.920 an hour before I'm like, what what made it so fun? 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:50.239 And um? And so it was really the Debbie Gibson 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:52.600 and John Mayern. Here's a couple of celebs. It wasn't 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:54.840 meant to do anything else. So I called up my 0:06:54.880 --> 0:06:59.040 friend p K. Kemsley, who manages Boy George, and said, 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:02.600 I don't We're boy George is um, He's like, he's 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:04.760 in London. It's gonna be four in the morning. Okay, 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:06.920 Well I was just thinking if he was here, why not? 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:10.520 And then I called Rick Springfield and his manager Wayne 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:13.640 Sharp and and Gil holding his agent but we represent 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:15.880 and I work with Rick, and we finally gone and goes, yeah, 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:19.320 I'll do it. So we get on on Saturday and like, 0:07:19.720 --> 0:07:22.640 within the first two minutes of people coming, there's georgeo 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:24.720 down and like, who was that? I couldn't see him. 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:27.560 It turned out that boy George actually was the first person. 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:29.000 I was like, are you kidding? And then all of 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:31.440 a sudden people started sending the links to other people 0:07:31.720 --> 0:07:34.680 and we maxed out at a hundred and so he 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:37.960 was trying to sing Karma Chamillion with the piano player, 0:07:38.080 --> 0:07:42.520 and that's when I realized, you can't, you know, assimulate them. 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:46.560 They don't think you jy. I were actually in fairness 0:07:46.560 --> 0:07:48.720 and we were really doing like a Tonight Show thing 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:51.880 where we were just like co host. But then what 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:54.480 happened was it started to become more than that. And 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:58.680 so what what really happened was the next two zooms, 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:01.800 which were casual, we had Josh Groban he did to 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:06.600 Um Simon garf Uncle songs Um I had Clive Davis on. 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:10.080 He started talking about how great that was, which was 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:14.120 America and Bridge over Trouble Water. Clive I asked, how 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:17.400 did you signed Somon and garfuncily gave some stories. Tina 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:19.960 Fey was putting her daughter in bed and was watching 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:22.440 or listening and then on the chat grobing, you're killing 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:25.840 me singing America, And so it just started to have 0:08:25.920 --> 0:08:31.240 a casual, very private vibe. It wasn't until I decided 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:34.280 to invest in Zoom and go to the five person 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:39.000 level that Friday night people started getting ahold of me, 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:42.439 saying we'd love to participate. And that was also the 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:46.560 night the day that that Bill Withers had died, and 0:08:46.600 --> 0:08:48.720 so I was like, well, I know Michael Bolton, Let's 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:51.120 get him to do lean on Me. And then Billy 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:54.080 ray Cyrus did five or six songs Alt and we 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:58.280 did I Am, I said, and and he did Old 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:01.200 Town Road and we started to go and it got 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:04.440 deeper in Blink one, eight twos, Mark Hoppiss and the 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:07.560 War in Treaty and it was like yeah, it was like, 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:10.720 oh my god, Madison Love. There were like singers and 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:15.320 songwriters too, that we're on go ahead. And then the 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:18.719 next day, which was Saturday, So that really was our 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:21.720 fifth zoom and what I considered to be the first 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:25.480 of what became quarantined. I just want to say that 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:29.880 the the r W Quarantunes was not named by myself 0:09:30.360 --> 0:09:34.280 for me. It came by Jeff ross Um, the comedian. 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:37.920 The comedian, he's been on there with us. But it 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:42.240 was that Saturday where this pivoted from h okay, let's 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:45.360 have fun, let's sing songs. This isn't that too, Let's 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:49.080 do good, let's make a change. We're raising money for charity. 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:52.440 So that morning, my dad does a sound check, or 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:55.040 my dad and I do our sound check now with 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:57.920 the artists. And I was sitting in the kitchen with 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:01.480 my dad and I was like, we have this platform. 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:03.840 There was some traction on this. We have a group 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:05.880 of people. It's gone a bigger and bigger and bigger. 0:10:06.880 --> 0:10:09.760 I understand my privilege. I am living in a dream. 0:10:09.840 --> 0:10:12.600 This is not normal. The people I'm speaking to, what 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:17.320 I am experiencing. I am so privileged and so humbled, 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:22.040 and I'm so grateful. That's what I meant. I'm so 0:10:22.120 --> 0:10:24.200 grateful and I'm so privileged. And I was like, you 0:10:24.240 --> 0:10:27.280 know what, like, we're gonna raise ten thousand dollars, We're 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:30.240 gonna do this. So I switched the narrative and I 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:32.600 was like, I made a go fund me. I sat down, 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:34.880 I was like, okay, Dad, like what should I write? Like? 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:37.600 How much information do I write? And we chose us 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:41.800 the Bond Community Clinic that was um party known as 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:46.440 the l A free clinic and my wonderful organization that 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:48.880 helps a lot of a lot of people. Indeed, I've 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:52.880 had journalist friends that between gigs, you know, but for 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:55.720 the Sabbat or that, but for the free Clinic, would 0:10:55.720 --> 0:10:58.839 have really had a hard time. It's a wonderful organization. Well, 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:01.280 I've been the president of it for for six years. 0:11:01.360 --> 0:11:06.199 And in fact, um we're having a r W Quarantine 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:11.200 Collaboration slash no gala on Sunday that is going to 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:13.800 be great. And we raised and we're gonna raise more 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:16.800 money for that. But DEMI wanted to raise ten thousand dollars, 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:20.200 and I said, DEMI put the goal at thirty thousand dollars. Okay, 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:23.720 let's just go for it, spoken like an agent. Well, also, 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:25.800 I just figured ten thousand. Okay, I mean, I don't 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:29.240 know if we're gonna get that far. And Demi and 0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:32.320 her charm started, you know, showing a sign we didn't 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:33.960 know how to do. In the chat, she figured it 0:11:34.000 --> 0:11:36.840 out and then tell what happened. I made also an 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:38.960 Instagram account. I was like, you know what, like, I'm 0:11:38.960 --> 0:11:41.400 gonna put the link there, We're gonna go for it. 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:44.800 We're gonna raise ten thousand dollars. And by the end 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:47.400 of the call, so three hours later, they're now like 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:50.320 four to five hours of the zooms. They're a bit lengthy, 0:11:50.520 --> 0:11:54.320 but um, we raised thirty three thou dollars. And then 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:58.000 the next day we had raised forty eight thousand dollars 0:11:58.040 --> 0:12:00.640 and someone called my dad and was like, hey, I 0:12:00.679 --> 0:12:04.079 want to be anonymous, but if you reach fifty k, 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:07.760 I will match it. So within I had to say this, 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:10.000 but it wasn't the next day. It was five hours 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:14.920 later that we had gotten That same day he had said, 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:18.440 if you reach fifty thousand, I'll give you, I'll match it. 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:22.240 So it was within six hours that we started that 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:28.480 we ultimately raised a hundred thousand dollars, so that that 0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:31.200 answers one of my questions, which was the you know, 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:35.439 sort of the spark of the desire to make it charitable. 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:39.920 You obviously have a have a long connection with the Saban, 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:43.679 the Saban Clinic, so that it sounds to me like 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:46.320 DEMI that you know Saban is something that you've been 0:12:46.360 --> 0:12:48.960 aware of and that you probably worked worked out. I 0:12:49.000 --> 0:12:50.480 know they have a lot of they have a lot 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:54.840 of events. Um so, but but again, you did the 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:56.960 go fund me. You didn't really talk about it with 0:12:57.000 --> 0:12:59.600 your dad. You just decided we're going to do that. 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:03.640 I the spark for that to to now several weeks, 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:05.839 you know, so many weeks later, to be at three 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:11.760 million dollars, that must feel, that must feel fantastic. It's 0:13:11.840 --> 0:13:18.199 been surreal and so eye opening. And we every every 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:21.119 year our family will buy they have this like adoptive 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:23.600 family thing, and we've been seeing the same family every 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:25.800 year where we hang out with them, we get them 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:29.120 basic necessities and fund presents for Christmas. So that's why 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:31.720 we chose the Subon Community Clinic because it's very near 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:34.120 and dear to my heart. My dad's are and my 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:37.959 mom and brother as well. So then the next weekend 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:42.679 we chose Cedar Sinai because um yeah, which we were 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:44.200 doing it for l A. We wanted to do it 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:47.280 for the front line workers and other employees, and we 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:50.360 kind of got this momentum to turn it into an 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:53.360 informative piece as well to know where the money is 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:56.200 going to. The first one was a learning curve and 0:13:57.040 --> 0:14:02.320 the next weekend I interviewed Artocho, who it's a very 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:05.280 high position at Cedar Sinai, and that was amazing, and 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:07.679 we had some nurses on with us, and it got 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:10.280 a little bit bigger and bigger. But never in a 0:14:10.320 --> 0:14:12.880 million years when I made the go fund me that day, 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:15.400 I just wanted to do something good and try and 0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:17.640 do a little part. I thought I was dreaming when 0:14:17.640 --> 0:14:20.760 I said ten thousand dollars, I didn't think that was possible. 0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:23.680 And now it's be at three million at a blink 0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:27.160 of an eye. It was like each week I was shocked, 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:30.760 like I couldn't even imagine how much money we were making. 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:34.400 It was so powerful and it's been so powerful. And 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:39.480 that second week when we had cedars, I had also 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:41.720 chaired the gala the last two years from them, so 0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:44.240 again it was it was an organization that I had 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:47.760 direct relationship with but also being one of the premier 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:51.040 hospitals in the world, especially in Los Angeles, and what 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:53.840 they were doing, and when you found out that the 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:57.680 employees and then nurses are putting themselves in danger. And 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:00.440 remember this is the beginning of it, where everyone was scared, 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:03.560 their intense happening, We couldn't go anywhere. Okay, this is 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:07.320 not where we are today, although it's still brutal, it's 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:09.560 been we people have figured out ways to to to 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:14.080 to minimize. Yeah, but this is remember where we were 0:15:14.120 --> 0:15:18.920 at um that that time that Demi interviewed m R 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:24.000 Chow right before ten minutes before marre Garcetti said I'll 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:28.479 come on, and he came on, and that really pivoted 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:34.000 us from a fun kind of family zoom with friends 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:39.960 to Wow, this is becoming legitimize a show. And so 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:43.040 we had that and then to be followed by Randy 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:46.440 Newman singh I Love l A. And then have James 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:50.040 Bay and then to start having all these unbelievable artists, 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:54.360 both modern or legacy. We had Liam Payne, We've had 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:59.000 Charlie Pooth, We've had Um Barry Manelu and Barry Gibb 0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:04.720 and n A day later, to rise up. We've we've 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:10.200 really programmed it to to be around the theme of 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:14.720 kind of what we're doing, and um, we're producing basically 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:17.400 a live aid a concert every week. We would do 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:23.720 to two concerts or productions every single weekend and a 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:26.960 kind of turned out to be a lot, and we're 0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:28.640 so happy to be doing it. So now we put 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:31.120 all of our energy to make one amazing show for 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:36.000 the weekend. Well well, well one, we're starting it that way. 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:38.960 But we've had such support. I wanted to say that 0:16:39.000 --> 0:16:42.480 the money that we've raised, and and and Demi her 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:50.479 enthusiasm and her questions and her passion by interviewing Mary Garcetti, 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:54.920 we've interviewed or Demi has Mayor Keisha Bottoms, who over 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:58.040 the last clearly quarantine and what's been happening in our 0:16:58.080 --> 0:17:00.720 life right now, has had such startup. She is such 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:04.960 a wonderful and giving and smart and articulate Mayor of Atlanta. 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:09.919 And we've had Mayor Cooper from Nashville. We've started to 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:14.320 have ye, Governor Newsome was on that's what it's that's 0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:17.080 really what cynthy when it really started to change. And 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:19.439 what I was going to say is the money that 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:24.520 people have given have been anywhere from five dollars to 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:28.840 some substantial money. This is not a gala that we're 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:32.440 used to where each each studio and network are giving 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:36.160 fifty dred thousand. In fact, I didn't even ask any 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:39.160 of them. This is individuals, brick by brick, dollar by 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:43.520 dollar giving and mostly people doing it every time UM 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:47.480 to participate. It is not elitist, It is not UM 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:50.720 supposed to be anything more than if you get on it, 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:53.119 We've invite you and if you've asked, We've done it. 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:56.120 Like I've had I've had different agents from agencies, I've 0:17:56.160 --> 0:17:59.920 had managers. It is we have not picked and show show. 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:05.160 We've not chosen or not chosen people due to where 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:07.679 they work. This is a community and this has really 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:11.520 been meant to help people's state of mind. You have 0:18:11.560 --> 0:18:14.360 to remember so many people have been isolated, so many 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:16.800 people have not gone out of their house. Okay, they 0:18:16.880 --> 0:18:19.600 do not have a favorite, as you know, and that 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:23.080 is what if you start to go week by week 0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:26.480 where it's been, it really built up and I think 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:31.560 it really became appointment television to be honest with you 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:34.920 for people and still is let me ask you how 0:18:35.280 --> 0:18:38.080 so especially early on before because you you know, as 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:41.000 this grew and you've got these amazing names, you know, 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:44.640 not surprisingly you had you had, you know, press coverage 0:18:45.080 --> 0:18:47.120 about it, so that so that the you know, there's 0:18:47.160 --> 0:18:50.840 social media coverage, there was traditional news coverage. But before 0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:53.480 that started, how how was it for you when you 0:18:53.520 --> 0:18:56.600 were calling people, when you were calling Josh Groban and people, 0:18:56.920 --> 0:19:02.240 you know, excuse me, how was it for you before 0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:04.680 you had kind of the the buzz and you were 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:07.080 just starting and you were calling people like? What was 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:09.520 that conversation? Josh? Can you come on and sing a 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:12.119 few songs on this thing called Zoom? Like? Did you 0:19:12.200 --> 0:19:15.040 have to explain what you were trying to do with people? 0:19:15.200 --> 0:19:18.040 Did they get it right away? Again? I want to 0:19:18.040 --> 0:19:21.800 go back to the beginning. First of all, as um 0:19:21.840 --> 0:19:25.280 as far as the press is concerned, the two or 0:19:25.280 --> 0:19:29.359 three people that started it off were invited to the 0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:33.359 birthday post birthday, just hang out right. I happened to 0:19:33.440 --> 0:19:36.240 know them. I didn't. I didn't ask to have pressed. 0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:39.439 I didn't ask for articles the e news thing. The 0:19:39.600 --> 0:19:41.640 two of people are are are good friends of mine 0:19:41.640 --> 0:19:43.359 that have we on it, Their kids loved it, and 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:45.960 I can we do something about it. So everything has 0:19:45.960 --> 0:19:49.320 been authentic. I didn't go out or DEMI has not 0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:52.080 gone out to do anything more than to raise awareness. 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:54.400 And because there was nothing else like this going on, 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:57.480 it just was something to write about to answer the question. 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:00.520 Josh Groban is a friend and client, and because he 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:03.440 has a piano, I just said, hey, just do it right, John, 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:06.919 there's a guitar. I didn't ask people to do it 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:09.720 to make it be a concert. That wasn't where it started. 0:20:09.760 --> 0:20:12.240 It was just dropped by We're still gonna have Dario 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:16.120 seeing you know, Billy Joel and Hall of notates and 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:18.840 don't stop believing and have people kind of have a 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:24.520 good time. It wasn't until it started to get past 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:27.600 Josh when people that I knew said, hey, you know 0:20:27.680 --> 0:20:29.879 my friends was so and so and friends with this person. 0:20:30.200 --> 0:20:32.840 And I will give credit to my partner at W 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:35.720 and ME, Kirk Summer, who really put me in touch 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:40.200 with some incredible artist like Tim Booth of James and 0:20:40.200 --> 0:20:43.119 and and and Hosier and and James Bay and some 0:20:43.320 --> 0:20:46.840 younger people. But before that, during the time when it 0:20:46.920 --> 0:20:49.920 was hard today to get people, I wasn't doing it 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:53.080 for anything more than a good time. And then when 0:20:53.080 --> 0:20:56.639 it started as a charity component and DEMI started to 0:20:57.240 --> 0:21:01.480 really show a clock countdown on how much we've done, 0:21:01.520 --> 0:21:06.560 like we started ten thousand, forty yeah, five hundred thousand, 0:21:07.119 --> 0:21:11.040 eight hundred thousand, one million, one million, like each week 0:21:11.160 --> 0:21:13.320 the number one up, and that was really really cool 0:21:13.320 --> 0:21:16.280 to see. Can I ask you are there any UM? 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:19.639 I'm assuming everybody does it? Does it for charity, for 0:21:19.760 --> 0:21:26.080 charitable all the artists, nobody is being compensated, and then 0:21:26.080 --> 0:21:27.639 have an asked. They just want to be part of it. 0:21:27.680 --> 0:21:32.560 They know. The narrative now is we've changed UM the 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:35.399 charity every week from the l A Food Bank, United 0:21:35.440 --> 0:21:39.600 Way locally for greater Los Angeles than nationally. The hospitals 0:21:40.040 --> 0:21:43.159 we didn't left the eleven public New York City hospitals 0:21:43.200 --> 0:21:46.679 that have no money, no development costs. These are this 0:21:46.760 --> 0:21:49.199 is the worst of the worst from Bellevue, which is 0:21:49.240 --> 0:21:52.440 the you know, one of the well known names UM 0:21:52.480 --> 0:21:55.280 to those in Queens and the Bronx UM We've had. 0:21:55.400 --> 0:21:58.200 We had these doctors and nurses. Come on, you should 0:21:58.200 --> 0:22:00.399 tell what we did a Mother's Day. We we wound 0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:09.080 up UM giving a rewarding six UM frontline workers because 0:22:09.080 --> 0:22:10.960 they weren't all all all. They were not all females, 0:22:11.000 --> 0:22:13.760 they weren't all nurses. We did too from New York. 0:22:13.960 --> 0:22:19.280 We did one from Sabond, we did three from Cedars 0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:23.040 and and we partnered with the Four Seasons Maui who 0:22:23.119 --> 0:22:26.320 was giving them five days to be able to have 0:22:26.400 --> 0:22:29.520 a vacation when this is over and and put them 0:22:29.600 --> 0:22:33.600 up and fly them. And one of the frontline workers 0:22:33.600 --> 0:22:37.360 started crying, saying, my husbands been passed away twenty years ago. 0:22:37.400 --> 0:22:39.359 I haven't been on a vacation in twenty eight years. 0:22:39.359 --> 0:22:40.760 You don't know what this means for me. I can 0:22:40.760 --> 0:22:44.119 never really afford it. And so for that to see 0:22:44.240 --> 0:22:47.760 that happen and to have community, and that came from 0:22:47.840 --> 0:22:49.880 inviting people to be on That was from my friend 0:22:49.960 --> 0:22:52.440 Julie Freeman said, we need to do something. I mean, Cynthia, 0:22:52.520 --> 0:22:55.760 you've been on these zooms as a friend, not even 0:22:55.800 --> 0:22:59.600