WEBVTT - The Billy Preston Documentary

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back to the bob Lefsets Podcast. My

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<v Speaker 1>guests today are the team behind the documentary Billy Preston.

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<v Speaker 1>That's the way God planned it. We have three people

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<v Speaker 1>on the podcast, so I'm going to have everybody introduced

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<v Speaker 1>themselves individually. Let's start is the order they are on

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<v Speaker 1>my screen. Paris Barklay, tell me about yourself and how

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<v Speaker 1>you got involved in this movie.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I'm Paris Barclay. I'm a director, producer, a writer,

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<v Speaker 2>and generally a very busy guy. And I got involved

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<v Speaker 2>in this when Stephanie Elaine gave me a call and said,

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<v Speaker 2>wouldn't you love to do a documentary? And I said what?

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<v Speaker 2>And she said, no, it's about Billy Preston. I'm making

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<v Speaker 2>up this converse. There wasn't quite as much fun as that,

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<v Speaker 2>but nevertheless I was enthralled. I know Billy Preston just

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<v Speaker 2>like we do a a certain generation, but I didn't

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<v Speaker 2>know a full story. And the deeper I got into it,

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<v Speaker 2>the more I read about it, the more I said,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, I meant this guy is a parallel person

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<v Speaker 2>to me, and I identify with him in so many

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<v Speaker 2>different ways. I got to do this documentary.

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<v Speaker 1>How long ago was that conversation?

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<v Speaker 2>About four years ago? Now, right, ladies, I think it

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<v Speaker 2>was about four years ago, is just before COVID. If

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<v Speaker 2>you can remember those days before COVID where we actually

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<v Speaker 2>met live and we didn't do zoom and all that stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>It was in that time. I have to ask you, say,

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<v Speaker 1>you see parallels you identify can you expand on that?

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, Billy Preston, I had the records, I knew the

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<v Speaker 2>hit songs, but since I didn't know about his life.

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<v Speaker 2>It took Daniel Shaw, who was a writer and a

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<v Speaker 2>great friend of the entire enterprise, who had written a

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<v Speaker 2>book proposal that really laid out some of the stories

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<v Speaker 2>of his life and how he developed and part of

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<v Speaker 2>his genius that we didn't all see. And as I

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<v Speaker 2>got into it, I realized, Wow, I grew up in

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<v Speaker 2>the church, Catholic church versus Baptist. I was a piano

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<v Speaker 2>player and an organist, not anything like Billy Preston, but

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<v Speaker 2>you know I did have those skills. I do have

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<v Speaker 2>those skills actually to this day, and I had a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of parallels in my life. My brother died at

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<v Speaker 2>a young age around the same time as Billy Preston's

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<v Speaker 2>brother died, and I think that was a seminole thing

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<v Speaker 2>in his life. I had some abusive situations in my

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<v Speaker 2>life that I have always remembered, and I have always left

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<v Speaker 2>a little bit of a dent in my personality which

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<v Speaker 2>I've been dealing with. And I was an alcoholic and

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<v Speaker 2>a recovering drug add just like Billy. So just like

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<v Speaker 2>time and time again, as we went into the instance

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<v Speaker 2>of his personal story, I felt a parallel. I felt

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<v Speaker 2>a kinship, and it made it easier for me to

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<v Speaker 2>be empathetic person and can tell me my audience a

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<v Speaker 2>little of your history in the movie.

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<v Speaker 1>Business, my history in the movie business, Well, I was

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<v Speaker 1>in advertising before I did this whole thing.

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<v Speaker 2>I spent ten years working in advertising in New York,

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<v Speaker 2>which has really stood me in good stead in the

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<v Speaker 2>movie business. And I left advertising my job as a

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<v Speaker 2>creative supervisor to help a new struggling music video company

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<v Speaker 2>called Black and White Television. I was the black and

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<v Speaker 2>my partner Joe was the white, and we created a

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<v Speaker 2>company that was primarily about getting minorities behind scenes and

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<v Speaker 2>music videos because there were none for very very few,

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<v Speaker 2>and all these great hip hop videos in the early

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<v Speaker 2>nineties were being directed by white men, which we thought

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<v Speaker 2>was okay, but I think we could do better, and

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<v Speaker 2>eventually I got all Kool Jay as a client and

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<v Speaker 2>did ten videos with him, including Mamison Knock You Out,

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<v Speaker 2>which threw the attention of the people on the West coast.

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<v Speaker 2>They said, this guy's a storyteller. He's not just doing

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<v Speaker 2>a video, He's telling a story, which led to my

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<v Speaker 2>first job in television, and from there I pretty much

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<v Speaker 2>have stayed in television other than a couple of departures.

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<v Speaker 2>I did a feature film called Don't Be a Menace

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<v Speaker 2>to South Central Audrickeye or Juice in the Hood, which

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<v Speaker 2>is a cult favorite. And you know, I've done some

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<v Speaker 2>television movies, but primarily I've done series now one hundred

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<v Speaker 2>and ninety two of them, most recently The Night Agent,

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<v Speaker 2>which is on now Brilliant Binds. I did The Menenda

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<v Speaker 2>Story and Domer Monster, lots of shows, and from there

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<v Speaker 2>I've learned that there's a story and then there's a story,

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<v Speaker 2>which is part of the reason why Billy Press was

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<v Speaker 2>both a challenge for me and of the light.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, where are you from?

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<v Speaker 2>Originally Chicago, Illinois, which is a great place to be

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<v Speaker 2>from Okay to Chicago. There's the South Side and there's

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<v Speaker 2>the suburbs.

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<v Speaker 1>Where did you grow up?

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<v Speaker 2>I was in the South Suburbs, which was, you know, nice,

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<v Speaker 2>but a little ghetto. It started out, as I grew

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<v Speaker 2>up as a very nice suburban suburb. By the time

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<v Speaker 2>I left, it was drugs and coke and everything and criminality.

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<v Speaker 2>And now the town that I grew up in is

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<v Speaker 2>the murder capital of the South Suburbs, which is something

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<v Speaker 2>that they hold a great deal of private.

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<v Speaker 1>Stephanie, it looks to me like, wow, that's a title. Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>and this is gonna sound very general, But to what

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<v Speaker 1>degree have you experienced racism in your life and career

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<v Speaker 1>and has that affected you or held you back? That's

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<v Speaker 1>a deep question. I have experienced some racism, but not

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<v Speaker 1>as much as some friends of mine, to be honest.

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<v Speaker 1>Part of the reason why I had success fairly early.

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<v Speaker 1>And once you're successful, color seems to sort of fade away.

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<v Speaker 1>But when you're struggling, it's a very important thing. This

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<v Speaker 1>is a black director. I don't know if we need

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<v Speaker 1>you know, it becomes a thing. It becomes a thing

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<v Speaker 1>that makes people decide to work with you or not.

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<v Speaker 1>I dealt with much more homophobia.

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<v Speaker 2>Than I dealt with actual racism in my career, and

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<v Speaker 2>that has been a struggle. It led me to coming

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<v Speaker 2>out quite early, unlike Billy Preston, to be openly gay

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<v Speaker 2>seem to be the best solution to me. So I

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<v Speaker 2>would say homophobia top racism when it comes to obst Okay,

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<v Speaker 2>did you go to.

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<v Speaker 1>College after being in South Chicago? Yes, I did. I

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<v Speaker 1>went to a little known college called Harvard, which is

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<v Speaker 1>in Boston area, which took me five years to graduate

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<v Speaker 1>from because A I did go to class, and B

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<v Speaker 1>I was much more interested in music and theater than

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<v Speaker 1>I was in the many great professors that I had.

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<v Speaker 1>And if I had it to do all over again,

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<v Speaker 1>I would certainly go to class. And so if you're

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<v Speaker 1>at Harvard, now go to class, because you'll wish you

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<v Speaker 1>did when you're my age. Yeah, I went there, and

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<v Speaker 1>then then I went to New York. And how did

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<v Speaker 1>you end up in advertising? I just thought it.

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<v Speaker 2>Would be easy. Also, I love Bewitched, and Bewitched was

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<v Speaker 2>filled with Darren Stevens, and you know, they always had martinis.

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<v Speaker 2>Samantha was making him a martini as he came home

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<v Speaker 2>and it just made advertising look so delightful and as

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<v Speaker 2>you can tell him fairly talk to it him pretty glib.

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<v Speaker 2>And so it became a good job for me. And

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<v Speaker 2>also I could do my musical you to work at

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<v Speaker 2>night because the job was relatively easy, and I could

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<v Speaker 2>then work on musical theater and shows in New York,

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<v Speaker 2>which is really what I wanted to do.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, And how do you know, when did you meet Stephanie? Wow?

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<v Speaker 1>When did I first meet Stephanie? A very long time.

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<v Speaker 2>I think we were children back in the day. She's

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<v Speaker 2>a producer. I've always admired She produced a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>things that I thought were essential viewing for people, especially

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<v Speaker 2>for black people, but for everyone. Her work with John

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<v Speaker 2>Singleton and bringing him to the four was a very

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<v Speaker 2>big deal. So she was a sort of celebrity.

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<v Speaker 1>In my world.

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<v Speaker 2>And her husband, Stephen Bray, is a friend of mine,

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<v Speaker 2>and we've met socially and so we never we hadn't

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<v Speaker 2>worked on anything together before. We just knew each other

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<v Speaker 2>and had a mutual admiration society.

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<v Speaker 1>So, Stephanie, where are you from?

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<v Speaker 3>I am from New Orleans.

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<v Speaker 1>New Orleans, Okay. What was growing up in New Orleans.

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<v Speaker 4>Like well, I spent a couple of years in New Orleans,

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<v Speaker 4>but my father, who was in school, drove us to

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<v Speaker 4>California in nineteen sixty five, so I pretty much grew

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<v Speaker 4>up in LA. I spent the summers in New Orleans

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<v Speaker 4>with my grandma, and.

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<v Speaker 1>We're in La Miracle Mile, Miracle Miles. So what was

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<v Speaker 1>it like growing up there? And this was before or

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<v Speaker 1>after the watch riots that you give this.

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<v Speaker 4>We came the summer of the riots, so I think

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<v Speaker 4>it was in July or Yeah, it was pretty it

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<v Speaker 4>was a big deal, I remember.

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<v Speaker 3>But you know, we grew up in Wiltshire area.

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<v Speaker 4>You know, I went to Catholic school, like I don't

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<v Speaker 4>know if Paris went to Catholic school when you were young.

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<v Speaker 1>I did, of course, so in my high school too.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, and I went to all girl Catholic High school

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<v Speaker 4>in Inglewood Saint Mary's And uh yeah. My father is

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<v Speaker 4>a was a biochemist. My mother's an educ cater. But

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<v Speaker 4>I just fell in love with books. I fell in

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<v Speaker 4>love with reading, and I fell in love with movies

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<v Speaker 4>at a very very young age. So and I didn't

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<v Speaker 4>even know there was a movie business, to be honest,

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<v Speaker 4>I didn't know what a direct. I didn't know anything

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<v Speaker 4>except for when I read The Godfather and then saw

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<v Speaker 4>it on the screen, or when I read The Exorcist

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<v Speaker 4>and saw it on the screen. I just there was

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<v Speaker 4>a connection there. So I went to USC, I dropped out,

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<v Speaker 4>moved to Hawaii.

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<v Speaker 1>I waited a couple of questions. One what's better Godfather

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<v Speaker 1>one or two?

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<v Speaker 4>I don't know.

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<v Speaker 5>One is so classic, but two is even better.

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<v Speaker 1>I agree. Okay, when you went to USC, I mean

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<v Speaker 1>USC is legendary on the West Coast for film studies.

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<v Speaker 1>Were you in that division?

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<v Speaker 4>No, I was pre law I was I was in

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<v Speaker 4>I was yeah. I was taking and ethics and political

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<v Speaker 4>science and things that I had no idea.

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<v Speaker 5>I was very unhappy.

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<v Speaker 4>I went to see the counselor and he said, well

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<v Speaker 4>quit and I said really, he said yeah.

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<v Speaker 5>So I dropped out and I moved to Hawaio.

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<v Speaker 1>How long did you go before you dropped out? And

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<v Speaker 1>what did your parents say?

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<v Speaker 4>I was I went for a year and a half.

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<v Speaker 4>My mother cried. My father I can't remember what he said,

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<v Speaker 4>but I just I was so unhappy. So I moved

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<v Speaker 4>to Hawaii, which created a lifelong connection with Hawaii. It's

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<v Speaker 4>still my happy place, and I realized that I actually

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<v Speaker 4>could be in the arts. Because my parents like a

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<v Speaker 4>lot of folks law, medicine, smart things, you know, things,

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<v Speaker 4>professional things. There were no artists in my family. So

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<v Speaker 4>then I realized I was transferring. I transferred to UCEE

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<v Speaker 4>Santa Cruz, which was very hippie dippy. I got a

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<v Speaker 4>degree in poetry, which was even more hippie dippy.

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<v Speaker 5>And then I followed that by going to Cowarts for dance.

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<v Speaker 6>Okay, ground producer might when you're finished with Cowlarts for dance,

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<v Speaker 6>what year are we in nineteen eighty three and you

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<v Speaker 6>graduate from cal Arts?

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<v Speaker 1>Do you pursue a career in dance?

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<v Speaker 5>I did for a second, but then I got pregnant,

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<v Speaker 5>and so.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, hold on a second, wait a second, assuming that

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<v Speaker 1>baby was born, who is the father of that child?

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<v Speaker 4>The father of the child was a fellow UC Santa

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<v Speaker 4>Cruzian who I ended up marrying and have two kids with,

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<v Speaker 4>and then divorced and then married Stephen Bray, who, by

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<v Speaker 4>the way, thanks you for your colonoscopee piece.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, before we got to Stephen Bray, how long were

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<v Speaker 1>you married to the first husband? Ten years? Ten years?

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<v Speaker 1>And what was he up to? Who is he?

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<v Speaker 3>He's a director, He's a writer director.

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<v Speaker 4>He has a movie now on streaming called I Don't

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<v Speaker 4>Love You Anymore. And he's a writer director. He's a

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<v Speaker 4>fabulous guy. He's my best friend. He got married at

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<v Speaker 4>my house, at me and Stephen's house at our house.

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<v Speaker 4>He lives walking distance from me, and we just made

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<v Speaker 4>a pact when we got divorced that we were always

0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:32.319
<v Speaker 4>going to be friends, and we've stayed friends.

0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:33.960
<v Speaker 1>Then what are your two kids up to?

0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:39.400
<v Speaker 4>My youngest son is Emmy nominated editor for sixteen nineteen.

0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:42.560
<v Speaker 4>He lives in Brooklyn. He's going to Hunter College to

0:12:42.600 --> 0:12:46.600
<v Speaker 4>get a master's in experimental filmmaking.

0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:47.160
<v Speaker 5>I don't know.

0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:53.160
<v Speaker 4>And my oldest son is a writer, director, actor from

0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:56.200
<v Speaker 4>He was on Insecure for six years as an actor.

0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:59.000
<v Speaker 4>But he just directed the remake of Don't Tell Mom

0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:03.920
<v Speaker 4>The Babysitters Day. He's also a TV writer and he

0:13:04.240 --> 0:13:07.679
<v Speaker 4>has my two delicious granddaughters.

0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:11.720
<v Speaker 1>Okay, and how do you meet Stephen Bray?

0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:14.240
<v Speaker 5>This was my only blind date?

0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:18.240
<v Speaker 1>Who set you up?

0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:22.160
<v Speaker 4>We got set up by three different people who didn't

0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:24.679
<v Speaker 4>know each other, but who knew us and said you

0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:28.600
<v Speaker 4>guys would be perfect. We met in the middle of

0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:31.520
<v Speaker 4>one of my movies because he was making the color

0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:35.959
<v Speaker 4>Purple on Broadway, and Donald Byrd, who's a very famous

0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:39.720
<v Speaker 4>choreographer who was doing the choreography, said, and who I

0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:42.960
<v Speaker 4>dance with, said, you guys have to meet. We met,

0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:45.760
<v Speaker 4>we had dinner, and we've been together twenty years.

0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:50.360
<v Speaker 1>Okay, so you have this parapatetic lifestyle. How do you

0:13:50.520 --> 0:13:52.280
<v Speaker 1>end up in the entertainment business.

0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:55.640
<v Speaker 4>Well, when I was pregnant with my first son, Wade,

0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:58.240
<v Speaker 4>the only thing I knew how to do was read.

0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:00.960
<v Speaker 4>And then I heard there was a job called reader,

0:14:01.760 --> 0:14:04.280
<v Speaker 4>and I thought, perfect, I'm a reader.

0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:04.959
<v Speaker 3>I can read.

0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:08.960
<v Speaker 4>And my first job was at CIA in the story department.

0:14:09.240 --> 0:14:12.400
<v Speaker 4>So I read books and then wrote up.

0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:14.760
<v Speaker 1>Robert, Let's start a little erway. How'd you get the

0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:15.760
<v Speaker 1>job at CIA?

0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:20.680
<v Speaker 4>I knew one person in the movie business, my first

0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:25.560
<v Speaker 4>husband's father's friend, Mike Glick, who was a line producer,

0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:28.320
<v Speaker 4>and I don't know. He said, well, there is a

0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:32.760
<v Speaker 4>story department. He called. I had to call every other

0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:34.840
<v Speaker 4>week for three or four months to get that job,

0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:37.280
<v Speaker 4>until finally they were like, okay, stop calling.

0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:41.080
<v Speaker 3>Take the job. It was the best job ever because.

0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:46.920
<v Speaker 4>I learned how the written word gets looked at by

0:14:46.960 --> 0:14:50.000
<v Speaker 4>a reader, which is what I was, and broken down

0:14:50.040 --> 0:14:53.080
<v Speaker 4>into the possibilities of being a film So and this

0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:55.480
<v Speaker 4>is when there were no computers, there were typewriters. So

0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:57.720
<v Speaker 4>I'd read a book, I'd go into the writing room

0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:01.480
<v Speaker 4>and just bang out the synopsis in the comments and

0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:04.560
<v Speaker 4>then walk it upstairs to Mike Ovitz or you know,

0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:09.160
<v Speaker 4>Rick Mesita or whoever was you know, requesting my coverage.

0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:10.320
<v Speaker 5>And I was quite good at it.

0:15:11.360 --> 0:15:14.960
<v Speaker 4>So the next step, the next step is I went

0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:20.120
<v Speaker 4>from that job to being a professional story analyst at

0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:25.160
<v Speaker 4>twentieth Century Fox. And my mentor person who I credit

0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:29.040
<v Speaker 4>with really opening the doors was Amy Pascal, and Amy

0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:31.520
<v Speaker 4>Pascal hired me when she went to work for Dawn

0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:35.560
<v Speaker 4>at Warner Brothers. Was Warner Brothers, Yeah, And I went

0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:38.000
<v Speaker 4>along as a reader. And then when I read for

0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:41.280
<v Speaker 4>a year, they promoted Dawn promoted me to a creative executive,

0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:45.280
<v Speaker 4>and five months later I was reading to replace myself

0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:48.000
<v Speaker 4>in the story department with a young guy named John

0:15:48.040 --> 0:15:51.440
<v Speaker 4>Singleton who really didn't want the job. He really just

0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:54.360
<v Speaker 4>wanted to talk about this script he'd written, Boys in

0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:54.840
<v Speaker 4>the Hood.

0:15:56.800 --> 0:15:59.560
<v Speaker 1>Okay, just to be clear from my audience, What does

0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:00.760
<v Speaker 1>the story analysts do?

0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:04.000
<v Speaker 4>A story analyst is basically a reader, a reader of books,

0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:07.080
<v Speaker 4>of articles, of screenplays, and then once you read it,

0:16:07.160 --> 0:16:08.560
<v Speaker 4>you condense it down.

0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:10.280
<v Speaker 3>To a two or three page book report.

0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:14.040
<v Speaker 4>Basically it's a synopsis and then a page of comments

0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:18.880
<v Speaker 4>how well will this translate into a movie or television show?

0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:23.880
<v Speaker 1>So how does John Singleton walk in the door?

0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:28.520
<v Speaker 4>John Singleton is a senior at USC and he already

0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:30.880
<v Speaker 4>had an agent, believe it or not, a CAA agent,

0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:35.880
<v Speaker 4>Brad Smith. And because he had won the Nicholson screenwriting

0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:39.320
<v Speaker 4>competition two years in a row, and the one that

0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:41.240
<v Speaker 4>he had just won for was Boys in the Hood,

0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:45.040
<v Speaker 4>So he was you know, USC is a school in town.

0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:48.160
<v Speaker 4>They matriculate folks and really try to place them and

0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:51.600
<v Speaker 4>find jobs. He'd heard that, you know, we were looking

0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:54.680
<v Speaker 4>for a reader position through some friend of his, and

0:16:54.840 --> 0:16:57.640
<v Speaker 4>showed up in my office because I was tasked with

0:16:57.920 --> 0:17:00.000
<v Speaker 4>replacing myself in the story department.

0:17:01.440 --> 0:17:05.240
<v Speaker 1>So how did Boys in the Hood get made? Boys?

0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:05.880
<v Speaker 5>And the hook got made?

0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:08.720
<v Speaker 4>Because once I read it, I flipped out and I

0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:12.199
<v Speaker 4>had the big Oprah Winfrey aha moment and it was like,

0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:15.560
<v Speaker 4>this is why I am here. It was just very

0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:17.720
<v Speaker 4>clear to me that I had to get this movie made.

0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:21.440
<v Speaker 4>So I went to every single executive at the time.

0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:27.879
<v Speaker 4>It was like Michael Nathanson and Lorenzo Debana Ventura. It

0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:30.800
<v Speaker 4>was all in dawn, and I said, we have to

0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:35.120
<v Speaker 4>make this movie. And then one week later the company

0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:37.280
<v Speaker 4>was sold down, was fired.

0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:39.000
<v Speaker 5>John and Peter came in.

0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:42.280
<v Speaker 4>We moved all the way from Warner Brothers, where we

0:17:42.280 --> 0:17:46.400
<v Speaker 4>were sharing the lot with Warner Brothers, to Culver City and.

0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:47.880
<v Speaker 5>Frank Price was in charge.

0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:51.439
<v Speaker 4>This all happened within like a month, and so I

0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:54.399
<v Speaker 4>finally waited until everybody had read it. I put it

0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:57.960
<v Speaker 4>on Weekend Read and the next day I came into

0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:01.480
<v Speaker 4>that room where everybody promised they were going to be supportive,

0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:05.240
<v Speaker 4>and they all trashed it except for Amy and Frank.

0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:07.400
<v Speaker 4>And Frank said, we're going to make it, and we

0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:10.000
<v Speaker 4>any did and I said, oh, but by the way,

0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:13.920
<v Speaker 4>John's going to direct it. And John had never really

0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:17.320
<v Speaker 4>directed anything except for a terrible music video, which I'm

0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:21.040
<v Speaker 4>sure Paris would have borne apart. I said, we're not

0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:25.240
<v Speaker 4>showing this to anybody, We're just saying you're directing.

0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:30.320
<v Speaker 1>Okay. There are many steps between a good idea and

0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:35.320
<v Speaker 1>a good story and a good screenplay to a good movie.

0:18:35.560 --> 0:18:41.960
<v Speaker 1>So that movie came out lauded everywhere, successful commercially. Was

0:18:42.000 --> 0:18:45.840
<v Speaker 1>it like your first time and this looked easy or exactly?

0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:49.040
<v Speaker 3>Bob, I was like, this shit is easy. I'm just

0:18:49.080 --> 0:18:51.640
<v Speaker 3>going to do this again. I've never had.

0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:54.159
<v Speaker 4>That level of success in a movie that I've I

0:18:54.160 --> 0:18:57.280
<v Speaker 4>mean I've had I've had successes, but never that.

0:18:57.680 --> 0:18:59.520
<v Speaker 5>And that was nineteen ninety one.

0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:01.080
<v Speaker 3>So there you go.

0:19:01.720 --> 0:19:04.280
<v Speaker 1>Okay, the thirty five years that have ensued, give us

0:19:04.320 --> 0:19:07.320
<v Speaker 1>your greatest hits, greatest.

0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:10.760
<v Speaker 3>Hits, hustle and flow. Dear White People.

0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:17.520
<v Speaker 4>I produced the Oscars twenty twenty Oscars, which was pretty fabulous.

0:19:19.119 --> 0:19:22.600
<v Speaker 4>I also did the TV show for Dear White People.

0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:25.919
<v Speaker 4>My last movie I love. My last movie is this movie,

0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:29.560
<v Speaker 4>which I love, love, love Billy Preston. But right before that,

0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:33.000
<v Speaker 4>I did a beautiful movie called Exhibiting Forgiveness. So I

0:19:33.080 --> 0:19:37.040
<v Speaker 4>produced twenty thirty I don't know movies and a little

0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:40.480
<v Speaker 4>bit of television and really spent at least a quarter

0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:45.840
<v Speaker 4>of my time working on inclusion and belonging and diversity

0:19:45.920 --> 0:19:48.760
<v Speaker 4>within the industry. Right now, I'm the president of the

0:19:48.800 --> 0:19:52.760
<v Speaker 4>producer's guilt. I've been president for four years. I've been

0:19:52.760 --> 0:19:55.720
<v Speaker 4>on the boards of Women in Film, Film, Independent, Cast

0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:57.480
<v Speaker 4>and Crew. Right now I sit on the board of

0:19:57.480 --> 0:20:00.720
<v Speaker 4>American Cinema Tech. Our mission is to save theaters that

0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:06.200
<v Speaker 4>save that movie experience. So I'm a grandmother mother.

0:20:06.720 --> 0:20:10.520
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, my mother, she was still alive. She heard all that.

0:20:11.160 --> 0:20:13.560
<v Speaker 1>She would say, well, what else have you done?

0:20:14.720 --> 0:20:20.320
<v Speaker 3>And I'll tell you. I read a children I do

0:20:20.440 --> 0:20:20.840
<v Speaker 3>want to say.

0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:24.280
<v Speaker 4>I wrote a children's book for my granddaughter called Who's

0:20:24.320 --> 0:20:28.160
<v Speaker 4>in Charge About Body Autonomy? And it's it's It's Penguin

0:20:28.240 --> 0:20:29.840
<v Speaker 4>published it. It's doing very well.

0:20:38.040 --> 0:20:40.960
<v Speaker 1>Okay, just so I don't mangle it. How do you

0:20:41.000 --> 0:20:42.200
<v Speaker 1>pronounce your last name?

0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:43.280
<v Speaker 5>Helene?

0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:46.000
<v Speaker 1>That's what I would have said. I'm not good with French,

0:20:46.040 --> 0:20:51.120
<v Speaker 1>but okay, Gene, Am I correct in saying your name

0:20:51.200 --> 0:20:53.200
<v Speaker 1>is Jeene Elphon Festa.

0:20:54.400 --> 0:20:56.800
<v Speaker 5>Yes, yeah, you're fine. You could call me Jane or Gene.

0:20:56.840 --> 0:20:58.840
<v Speaker 1>Okay, wait, wait, why three names?

0:21:00.520 --> 0:21:03.920
<v Speaker 5>Because my my my name is Elfon. I was born

0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:05.480
<v Speaker 5>with Elfon, I married a Festa.

0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:08.120
<v Speaker 1>Okay, so it's not a middle name or something.

0:21:08.640 --> 0:21:10.400
<v Speaker 5>So my middle name is Royce.

0:21:10.520 --> 0:21:14.240
<v Speaker 1>So how some people use you know, both names other

0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:16.320
<v Speaker 1>people don't. How did you decide to use it?

0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:20.919
<v Speaker 5>Because my parents were so influential in my life in

0:21:20.960 --> 0:21:23.840
<v Speaker 5>a very very positive way, you know, even this film,

0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:26.640
<v Speaker 5>how this film came about. They were both very, very

0:21:27.320 --> 0:21:31.840
<v Speaker 5>big into music and had a massive record collection. They

0:21:31.960 --> 0:21:37.600
<v Speaker 5>are they, you know, really from relatively meager beginnings, from

0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:40.760
<v Speaker 5>both from Brooklyn, uh in a very My mom lived

0:21:40.760 --> 0:21:44.600
<v Speaker 5>in a tenement building and my dad lived in forty

0:21:44.640 --> 0:21:47.080
<v Speaker 5>second forty second in Utrecht. I hope I had that

0:21:47.200 --> 0:21:52.680
<v Speaker 5>correct my Brooklyn nights. And they dreamed big and they

0:21:54.000 --> 0:21:57.600
<v Speaker 5>pushed me out. I was I was a stutter growing up.

0:21:58.720 --> 0:22:03.959
<v Speaker 5>They pushed me out into just living what I wanted

0:22:03.960 --> 0:22:07.119
<v Speaker 5>to live, and it was very I was very lucky.

0:22:07.200 --> 0:22:10.399
<v Speaker 5>I'm the youngest of three kids, and I was very lucky.

0:22:10.440 --> 0:22:13.840
<v Speaker 1>Okay, you say they came from humble beginnings. What did

0:22:13.840 --> 0:22:15.399
<v Speaker 1>they end up doing for money?

0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:20.960
<v Speaker 5>My dad wanted to be a saxophone flair, but he

0:22:21.119 --> 0:22:23.280
<v Speaker 5>ended up going to med school and became a p

0:22:23.400 --> 0:22:27.720
<v Speaker 5>diatrist and a quite well known one in Pacific Palisades

0:22:27.760 --> 0:22:32.520
<v Speaker 5>when Pacific Palisades was like Mayberry RFD. And they bought

0:22:32.520 --> 0:22:37.480
<v Speaker 5>a fourteen hundred square foot house and actually They started

0:22:37.520 --> 0:22:40.520
<v Speaker 5>in apartments and then eventually bought a fourteen hundred square

0:22:40.560 --> 0:22:42.919
<v Speaker 5>foot house where it would have still be standing had

0:22:42.960 --> 0:22:45.920
<v Speaker 5>the fire not burned the whole town down. But yeah,

0:22:45.960 --> 0:22:48.399
<v Speaker 5>they were, and my mom sold real estate. My mom

0:22:48.520 --> 0:22:51.400
<v Speaker 5>sold real estate before that, she did books. She did that,

0:22:51.480 --> 0:22:53.920
<v Speaker 5>you know, taxes and things like that.

0:22:54.080 --> 0:22:58.520
<v Speaker 1>Okay, So were you born in the Palisades or living

0:22:58.560 --> 0:22:59.119
<v Speaker 1>in that area?

0:22:59.280 --> 0:23:02.680
<v Speaker 5>Born in born and raised in Santa Monica. But yes,

0:23:02.760 --> 0:23:04.960
<v Speaker 5>Pacific policies. I am a native Californian.

0:23:05.320 --> 0:23:08.760
<v Speaker 1>Okay. So you go to school, and then where do

0:23:08.880 --> 0:23:10.880
<v Speaker 1>you go to college?

0:23:11.520 --> 0:23:14.320
<v Speaker 5>I went to Wright, went to Pali High. I went

0:23:14.359 --> 0:23:18.280
<v Speaker 5>to the Fashion Institute of Design Merchandising, where I learned

0:23:19.160 --> 0:23:24.760
<v Speaker 5>marketing and factoring and selling friends lines. I wrapped a

0:23:24.920 --> 0:23:28.880
<v Speaker 5>children's clothing line for years called step by Step, which

0:23:28.960 --> 0:23:33.440
<v Speaker 5>was in direct competition with with a Spree. I don't

0:23:33.440 --> 0:23:35.520
<v Speaker 5>know if anyone remembers children's.

0:23:35.440 --> 0:23:40.119
<v Speaker 1>But we took over Slippers roller Disco at Losiena against Sannic.

0:23:41.040 --> 0:23:43.600
<v Speaker 5>Yes they did. I know, it was sad. I remember

0:23:43.600 --> 0:23:45.760
<v Speaker 5>when that happened. And they also took over place here

0:23:45.760 --> 0:23:48.680
<v Speaker 5>in Hollywood that I remember. Yeah, Well, I didn't wrap

0:23:48.760 --> 0:23:53.080
<v Speaker 5>a spray I reapped side by side so and and

0:23:53.160 --> 0:23:55.479
<v Speaker 5>it was it was a really fun time in my

0:23:55.520 --> 0:24:00.119
<v Speaker 5>life creating. And I too got married very young and

0:24:00.160 --> 0:24:03.600
<v Speaker 5>I'm still married. He'll be married forty years this September

0:24:03.920 --> 0:24:07.760
<v Speaker 5>and have two kids. And yeah, so that was that

0:24:07.920 --> 0:24:09.800
<v Speaker 5>part of my life. And then I had another part

0:24:09.840 --> 0:24:10.280
<v Speaker 5>of my life.

0:24:10.359 --> 0:24:12.160
<v Speaker 1>Okay, what does your husband do for a living?

0:24:13.320 --> 0:24:14.840
<v Speaker 5>He's an insurance agent.

0:24:16.160 --> 0:24:17.560
<v Speaker 1>And how did you meet him? Yep?

0:24:17.840 --> 0:24:22.240
<v Speaker 5>Really, my mom fixed us up on a date when

0:24:22.240 --> 0:24:24.359
<v Speaker 5>I was seventeen, in eleventh grade.

0:24:24.840 --> 0:24:26.480
<v Speaker 1>And it's lasting all this time.

0:24:27.560 --> 0:24:28.359
<v Speaker 5>It's last.

0:24:28.400 --> 0:24:31.000
<v Speaker 1>So what's the keto of forty year relationship?

0:24:33.640 --> 0:24:38.280
<v Speaker 5>You know, forgiveness for sure, and allowing the person to grow,

0:24:38.840 --> 0:24:41.760
<v Speaker 5>just allowing it and know that there be know who

0:24:41.840 --> 0:24:44.160
<v Speaker 5>you are so that you're comfortable.

0:24:44.600 --> 0:24:45.240
<v Speaker 3>That is key.

0:24:45.800 --> 0:24:48.320
<v Speaker 5>And knowing that that person needs to do what they

0:24:48.359 --> 0:24:51.720
<v Speaker 5>need to do and they allow it. And that is

0:24:51.760 --> 0:24:53.040
<v Speaker 5>what we have always done.

0:24:53.359 --> 0:24:57.360
<v Speaker 1>Okay, so you started fit.

0:24:57.840 --> 0:24:59.200
<v Speaker 5>Fit them fashions?

0:25:00.240 --> 0:25:02.360
<v Speaker 1>How does that lead to Billy Preston?

0:25:05.720 --> 0:25:08.480
<v Speaker 5>Well, it was another life. I mean, certainly, factoring is

0:25:08.560 --> 0:25:12.800
<v Speaker 5>very similar to doing do factoring in a movie. You know,

0:25:12.840 --> 0:25:15.520
<v Speaker 5>you're looking at trends, you're looking at what is the

0:25:15.560 --> 0:25:19.720
<v Speaker 5>fact factoring is it's very similar to what we do

0:25:19.800 --> 0:25:23.280
<v Speaker 5>when we're looking at you know, you're like thinking about

0:25:23.920 --> 0:25:27.040
<v Speaker 5>pre selling your film. Maybe not so much as it

0:25:27.119 --> 0:25:29.960
<v Speaker 5>is with jocks, although at the very beginning we did

0:25:29.960 --> 0:25:33.920
<v Speaker 5>want to always test the marketplace to see whether or

0:25:33.960 --> 0:25:38.040
<v Speaker 5>not something would sell. So, Uh, at the beginning when

0:25:38.080 --> 0:25:41.440
<v Speaker 5>of this business, that I learned from Nigel Sinclair Whitehorse Pictures.

0:25:41.440 --> 0:25:45.480
<v Speaker 5>Prior to that he was doing this company, his documentary

0:25:45.480 --> 0:25:49.439
<v Speaker 5>division was Spidfire Pictures that did Bob Dylan, No Direction

0:25:49.520 --> 0:25:54.879
<v Speaker 5>Home and George arsenaling Material World. Uh, that I had learned,

0:25:54.960 --> 0:25:58.240
<v Speaker 5>I took the tools that I learned at the Fashion Institute,

0:25:58.240 --> 0:26:03.400
<v Speaker 5>a design merchandising with me to filmmaking by knowing how

0:26:03.440 --> 0:26:08.560
<v Speaker 5>to market something, knowing what people pullp I guess pulling

0:26:08.600 --> 0:26:13.520
<v Speaker 5>on your heartstrings, and really becoming committed into a project.

0:26:14.000 --> 0:26:17.440
<v Speaker 5>And when I mean committed, it's it's it's a passion.

0:26:17.800 --> 0:26:21.879
<v Speaker 5>And if you don't have have that passion for a project,

0:26:22.600 --> 0:26:27.160
<v Speaker 5>you cannot bring people to it. How else to describe that?

0:26:27.280 --> 0:26:31.399
<v Speaker 1>Okay, just to close this loop is in factory Basically,

0:26:31.600 --> 0:26:34.280
<v Speaker 1>you know, in the fashion business it takes so long

0:26:34.359 --> 0:26:36.800
<v Speaker 1>to get paid if there's a company that will buy

0:26:36.840 --> 0:26:37.840
<v Speaker 1>your receipts at a.

0:26:37.800 --> 0:26:42.040
<v Speaker 5>Discuss exactly exactly. Now, that's not exactly the same thing

0:26:42.080 --> 0:26:45.040
<v Speaker 5>as a business that we're that with film business, but

0:26:45.119 --> 0:26:48.520
<v Speaker 5>you certainly are going to factor in what it is

0:26:48.560 --> 0:26:50.639
<v Speaker 5>that you think that you could sell something for and

0:26:50.800 --> 0:26:52.320
<v Speaker 5>what do you think you could make it. Oh okay,

0:26:52.400 --> 0:26:53.640
<v Speaker 5>so it's still similar.

0:26:54.240 --> 0:26:58.959
<v Speaker 1>How do you get from the clothing business to work

0:26:59.280 --> 0:27:03.119
<v Speaker 1>in the film business.

0:27:03.560 --> 0:27:06.720
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, I had a lot of life in between. I

0:27:06.760 --> 0:27:13.240
<v Speaker 5>had a family, I had kids, I had uh life

0:27:13.240 --> 0:27:16.040
<v Speaker 5>and death. It has a happy ending, but it didn't.

0:27:16.200 --> 0:27:18.480
<v Speaker 5>You know, my my husband was very ill for quite

0:27:18.560 --> 0:27:22.800
<v Speaker 5>some time. When the world became chaotic, I went and

0:27:23.119 --> 0:27:26.880
<v Speaker 5>felt I needed to control things. And I went and thought, well,

0:27:27.119 --> 0:27:28.840
<v Speaker 5>you know what, what's going to help me. I'm going

0:27:28.920 --> 0:27:31.159
<v Speaker 5>to go into stand up comedy. And I went to

0:27:31.240 --> 0:27:36.240
<v Speaker 5>stand up comedy just to give myself a release. I

0:27:36.359 --> 0:27:40.840
<v Speaker 5>ended up meeting a lot of people who actors, started

0:27:40.840 --> 0:27:44.560
<v Speaker 5>taking acting classes, did a couple of commercials, obviously nothing major,

0:27:45.160 --> 0:27:50.560
<v Speaker 5>and and I went to UH to. I actually was

0:27:50.680 --> 0:27:53.800
<v Speaker 5>much better at selling my friends uh you know one

0:27:53.960 --> 0:27:57.600
<v Speaker 5>act shows than I was at anything else. I had

0:27:58.320 --> 0:28:01.640
<v Speaker 5>met a group of players who had a who were

0:28:01.640 --> 0:28:04.159
<v Speaker 5>trying to put on a play. And I produced this

0:28:04.200 --> 0:28:07.240
<v Speaker 5>play for years and tried to get it onto Broadway.

0:28:07.760 --> 0:28:07.960
<v Speaker 2>You know.

0:28:08.080 --> 0:28:10.439
<v Speaker 5>It was that is really how I came to be.

0:28:11.280 --> 0:28:14.919
<v Speaker 1>Okay, so you're selling this play. What's the step after that?

0:28:16.160 --> 0:28:19.200
<v Speaker 5>The step after that was the people that I literally

0:28:19.200 --> 0:28:22.560
<v Speaker 5>brought intooth and nail. One of my friends and neighbors

0:28:23.359 --> 0:28:27.159
<v Speaker 5>was Missus Nigel Sinclair, Pat Sinclair, and they came to

0:28:27.240 --> 0:28:31.680
<v Speaker 5>this play. And in the meantime, I was also doing commercials,

0:28:31.880 --> 0:28:35.440
<v Speaker 5>so I was I was also meeting directors. I brought

0:28:35.480 --> 0:28:39.080
<v Speaker 5>them to the play and I was trying to pitch

0:28:39.120 --> 0:28:44.120
<v Speaker 5>a story about this man, George Moses Horton, who was

0:28:44.160 --> 0:28:47.840
<v Speaker 5>the first African American male whoever was published in the

0:28:47.920 --> 0:28:50.400
<v Speaker 5>United States of America. And I could not get the

0:28:50.440 --> 0:28:54.880
<v Speaker 5>script off the ground. That brought me into a lot

0:28:54.880 --> 0:28:59.600
<v Speaker 5>of rooms, and that is I hopefully can make that

0:29:00.040 --> 0:29:04.400
<v Speaker 5>movie one day. And that is what I have a

0:29:04.440 --> 0:29:06.600
<v Speaker 5>lot of KTA and I pick up phones and just

0:29:06.680 --> 0:29:11.320
<v Speaker 5>call people. And I literally got people like Jimmy Iven

0:29:11.360 --> 0:29:15.080
<v Speaker 5>to show up to this play, and I got, you know,

0:29:15.280 --> 0:29:17.440
<v Speaker 5>a Christiemonian to show up to this play. A lot

0:29:17.440 --> 0:29:21.560
<v Speaker 5>of you know, people at C a. It was quite remarkable.

0:29:21.560 --> 0:29:22.800
<v Speaker 5>I was very proud of myself.

0:29:23.840 --> 0:29:29.120
<v Speaker 1>Okay, that play fizzles, ultimately, it does, So what's your

0:29:29.200 --> 0:29:30.000
<v Speaker 1>next job?

0:29:31.240 --> 0:29:38.360
<v Speaker 5>My next job was putting this action into the into film.

0:29:38.680 --> 0:29:43.400
<v Speaker 5>My Nigel was talking to the Weekend, you know, just

0:29:43.480 --> 0:29:46.360
<v Speaker 5>on the street. I don't remember how it actually came

0:29:46.400 --> 0:29:48.840
<v Speaker 5>to be. I think it was, Oh, I know what

0:29:48.920 --> 0:29:51.480
<v Speaker 5>it was. I was here, I was at the offices

0:29:51.720 --> 0:29:55.720
<v Speaker 5>and and you know it was I was pushing George

0:29:55.720 --> 0:30:00.320
<v Speaker 5>Moses Horton and he had said that Dave Grohl had

0:30:00.360 --> 0:30:04.080
<v Speaker 5>called the office to have them do a documentary about

0:30:04.120 --> 0:30:07.040
<v Speaker 5>the making of the Foo Fighters, and I chimed in

0:30:07.120 --> 0:30:10.720
<v Speaker 5>and literally pushed my way into that project, quite literally,

0:30:11.240 --> 0:30:16.080
<v Speaker 5>and I felt that was that was definitely my my

0:30:16.440 --> 0:30:18.400
<v Speaker 5>shove into the room, and I was brought in on

0:30:18.440 --> 0:30:18.840
<v Speaker 5>that team.

0:30:19.000 --> 0:30:22.680
<v Speaker 1>Okay, approximately three decades ago. Bring us up to today.

0:30:24.480 --> 0:30:29.840
<v Speaker 5>Let's see, after the Food Fighters we rolled into I

0:30:29.840 --> 0:30:31.960
<v Speaker 5>had forgot. I did get a first look deal at

0:30:32.040 --> 0:30:36.560
<v Speaker 5>Exclusive Media. A lot of failed things and a lot

0:30:36.640 --> 0:30:40.840
<v Speaker 5>of great things we did. The Beg's had them mend

0:30:40.840 --> 0:30:42.840
<v Speaker 5>a broken heart. I'm trying to go in order here.

0:30:42.880 --> 0:30:44.880
<v Speaker 5>We did the Beatles eight days a week. I was

0:30:44.920 --> 0:30:49.479
<v Speaker 5>part of that team Pavarotti with Ron Howard directly.

0:30:49.480 --> 0:30:52.920
<v Speaker 1>Okay, okay, you do all those things. What's your special sauce,

0:30:52.960 --> 0:30:56.040
<v Speaker 1>what do you bring to these projects?

0:30:56.680 --> 0:30:59.920
<v Speaker 5>I think I'm really good at team building at the

0:31:01.280 --> 0:31:06.800
<v Speaker 5>great with client relations, developing trust, that is I think

0:31:06.840 --> 0:31:10.600
<v Speaker 5>a key thing in this world and in this business.

0:31:11.680 --> 0:31:19.800
<v Speaker 5>I organize the the the basic research and and if

0:31:19.840 --> 0:31:21.960
<v Speaker 5>you're able to go on a deep dive, I'm very

0:31:22.080 --> 0:31:25.640
<v Speaker 5>because I'm dyslexic. I think I do these research documents

0:31:25.640 --> 0:31:28.640
<v Speaker 5>that are very easy, easy to deep dive in it,

0:31:28.880 --> 0:31:31.200
<v Speaker 5>you know, with lengths and things, so you can kind

0:31:31.200 --> 0:31:34.320
<v Speaker 5>of go in and out of this of somebody's life

0:31:34.400 --> 0:31:38.480
<v Speaker 5>and not get bored. So I think that's my expertise.

0:31:38.560 --> 0:31:41.360
<v Speaker 5>And of course because that helps engage director.

0:31:41.960 --> 0:31:45.440
<v Speaker 1>Okay, let's get back to the Billy Preston movie. Where

0:31:45.480 --> 0:31:50.360
<v Speaker 1>does it start? Now? Everybody's involved, everybody get participate. Where

0:31:50.360 --> 0:31:51.160
<v Speaker 1>does it start?

0:31:51.800 --> 0:31:58.400
<v Speaker 5>Starts with Jeanie. So yeah, it started the first time.

0:31:58.440 --> 0:32:00.959
<v Speaker 5>I mean that I can't It started the first time

0:32:01.000 --> 0:32:02.600
<v Speaker 5>sitting down in the living room when I was a

0:32:02.640 --> 0:32:05.600
<v Speaker 5>young kid and listening to my parents' record collection and

0:32:05.760 --> 0:32:09.080
<v Speaker 5>my dad loved Sam Cook and anything Sam Cook loved

0:32:09.120 --> 0:32:12.240
<v Speaker 5>my dad loved he had Billy Preston's sixteen year old soul.

0:32:13.440 --> 0:32:17.440
<v Speaker 1>And where I grew up in the East Coast, that

0:32:17.520 --> 0:32:20.160
<v Speaker 1>was meaningless on the East Coast. Your father was a

0:32:20.240 --> 0:32:23.120
<v Speaker 1>white guy in Pacific Palisades. How does he even know

0:32:23.280 --> 0:32:24.280
<v Speaker 1>about that record?

0:32:25.920 --> 0:32:29.120
<v Speaker 5>Well, he was a he loved Heartlem and he loved

0:32:30.000 --> 0:32:33.400
<v Speaker 5>you know. When I lost my dad when I was

0:32:33.440 --> 0:32:36.440
<v Speaker 5>like twenty six years old. He was a massive influence

0:32:36.480 --> 0:32:38.280
<v Speaker 5>on my life. And he used to recall me was

0:32:38.680 --> 0:32:41.920
<v Speaker 5>regale us. It was very legendary with stories about him

0:32:41.960 --> 0:32:45.880
<v Speaker 5>taking his saxophone and waiting for musicians to come out

0:32:45.880 --> 0:32:49.600
<v Speaker 5>of the Apollo Theater so he could play with anyone,

0:32:50.200 --> 0:32:55.280
<v Speaker 5>and sometimes he would and sometimes he couldn't. But he

0:32:55.400 --> 0:32:58.800
<v Speaker 5>ended up going to pu Dietary School and doing his

0:32:58.840 --> 0:33:03.440
<v Speaker 5>residency in Heartlem and absolutely loved Harlem. They fell into

0:33:03.680 --> 0:33:07.720
<v Speaker 5>Pacific Palisades. You know, that is a murky story, what

0:33:08.200 --> 0:33:12.240
<v Speaker 5>Pacific Palisades. They were also, you know, very involved in

0:33:12.480 --> 0:33:15.800
<v Speaker 5>theater in their own in their own Jewish group. So

0:33:17.080 --> 0:33:20.320
<v Speaker 5>one of their friends was Virginia Munchin, who was an

0:33:20.360 --> 0:33:23.920
<v Speaker 5>actress and her father, her parents. I'm named after her,

0:33:24.000 --> 0:33:26.520
<v Speaker 5>So that's why I know her name. Her father was

0:33:26.680 --> 0:33:29.000
<v Speaker 5>Royce of Royce Hall. That is my real mental name,

0:33:29.160 --> 0:33:33.480
<v Speaker 5>Geene Royce. She had found this little town called Pacific Palsades,

0:33:33.760 --> 0:33:36.400
<v Speaker 5>rented a tiny apartment for them. They left the same

0:33:36.480 --> 0:33:40.920
<v Speaker 5>year that the Brooklyn Dodgers left four Pacific Palisades. But

0:33:41.120 --> 0:33:45.280
<v Speaker 5>that's how you know fifty I think it was earlier

0:33:45.320 --> 0:33:45.960
<v Speaker 5>than fifty eight.

0:33:46.120 --> 0:33:52.200
<v Speaker 7>Continue whatever, But anyway, anyway, and and you know, then sadly,

0:33:52.280 --> 0:33:54.400
<v Speaker 7>my dad was in the City of Hope because he

0:33:54.440 --> 0:33:57.880
<v Speaker 7>had he had he came down with tuberculosis, so what we.

0:33:57.840 --> 0:33:59.360
<v Speaker 5>Didn't know whether or I was going to live or die.

0:33:59.480 --> 0:34:03.000
<v Speaker 5>But his love for music was incredibly deep. And my

0:34:03.120 --> 0:34:11.239
<v Speaker 5>parents were very, very liberal, very well. Ready you didn't

0:34:11.280 --> 0:34:14.480
<v Speaker 5>know they came from Brooklyn. They really took that accent out.

0:34:14.719 --> 0:34:18.359
<v Speaker 5>They sounded like they were from the Upper West Side.

0:34:18.040 --> 0:34:23.080
<v Speaker 5>They just were you know, my mom looked like June Cleaver,

0:34:23.280 --> 0:34:28.600
<v Speaker 5>but her her politics were incredibly left, very very good.

0:34:28.760 --> 0:34:31.480
<v Speaker 1>Just for one stay second. Do you have any siblings?

0:34:32.560 --> 0:34:32.919
<v Speaker 5>I do?

0:34:32.960 --> 0:34:33.399
<v Speaker 1>How many?

0:34:33.520 --> 0:34:35.200
<v Speaker 5>I have an older sister and older brother. I'm the

0:34:35.239 --> 0:34:35.839
<v Speaker 5>youngest of them.

0:34:35.920 --> 0:34:37.520
<v Speaker 1>You're the youngest, So what are they up to?

0:34:39.320 --> 0:34:43.120
<v Speaker 5>My brother and sister went to Ucla, my sisters in marketing,

0:34:43.160 --> 0:34:44.200
<v Speaker 5>and my brother's a lawyer.

0:34:44.719 --> 0:34:47.719
<v Speaker 1>Okay, so you grew up with all this music in

0:34:47.760 --> 0:34:51.120
<v Speaker 1>the background. How does that bring us to wanting to

0:34:51.160 --> 0:34:53.000
<v Speaker 1>make a movie about Billie Preston.

0:34:54.719 --> 0:34:58.400
<v Speaker 5>Well, I always loved music, and I've always loved storytelling,

0:34:58.480 --> 0:35:02.759
<v Speaker 5>and I've always loved the movies. And uh, when you know,

0:35:04.280 --> 0:35:07.360
<v Speaker 5>you know, you could ask my business partner here, Nigel Sinclair.

0:35:08.400 --> 0:35:12.200
<v Speaker 5>I loved Billy. I love Billy Preston. His story is

0:35:12.360 --> 0:35:16.320
<v Speaker 5>sad and sweet. And he was an LA native or

0:35:16.440 --> 0:35:18.960
<v Speaker 5>not from when I before I did all the research,

0:35:19.000 --> 0:35:21.480
<v Speaker 5>I thought he was born and born in in in

0:35:22.200 --> 0:35:24.600
<v Speaker 5>LA but he was actually born in Texas. But his

0:35:24.920 --> 0:35:28.279
<v Speaker 5>formative years were here in Los Angeles. So we knew

0:35:28.320 --> 0:35:30.680
<v Speaker 5>about the good stuff and we knew about the not

0:35:30.840 --> 0:35:35.359
<v Speaker 5>so good stuff, the complexities of his life. We uh,

0:35:35.480 --> 0:35:37.879
<v Speaker 5>this was he was always on this list that I've

0:35:37.880 --> 0:35:40.080
<v Speaker 5>got in my head of the artists that I've always

0:35:40.120 --> 0:35:44.920
<v Speaker 5>wanted to tell their story because it's a because it's heartbreaking,

0:35:45.080 --> 0:35:48.399
<v Speaker 5>but it's also beautiful because he did he touched upon

0:35:48.480 --> 0:35:50.320
<v Speaker 5>so many genres in music.

0:35:51.000 --> 0:35:53.880
<v Speaker 1>Is this your job such a that you're always looking

0:35:53.920 --> 0:35:57.600
<v Speaker 1>for material or did you have a special identification with

0:35:57.800 --> 0:36:00.880
<v Speaker 1>Billy Preston from his heyday in the seventies.

0:36:02.360 --> 0:36:07.919
<v Speaker 5>I had a special connection to him because I heard him,

0:36:08.120 --> 0:36:13.120
<v Speaker 5>because it was because of his seeing him on that

0:36:13.360 --> 0:36:16.880
<v Speaker 5>I remember. I remember sitting on the floor watching that

0:36:16.960 --> 0:36:20.120
<v Speaker 5>first SNL and I remember my dad humming nothing from

0:36:20.160 --> 0:36:23.400
<v Speaker 5>nothing means nothing. I just it was ingrained in me

0:36:23.480 --> 0:36:24.319
<v Speaker 5>in a beautiful way.

0:36:24.800 --> 0:36:30.480
<v Speaker 1>Okay, this movie actually got made. The nature of the movie.

0:36:30.520 --> 0:36:36.360
<v Speaker 1>Business people are juggling projects. So what was the next step?

0:36:36.400 --> 0:36:38.279
<v Speaker 1>You had this idea, it was on your list. How'd

0:36:38.320 --> 0:36:39.080
<v Speaker 1>you gain traction?

0:36:40.360 --> 0:36:42.919
<v Speaker 5>Here's what happened. I'm driving home after a really long

0:36:43.000 --> 0:36:45.640
<v Speaker 5>day and I get a phone call from my partner

0:36:47.600 --> 0:36:51.520
<v Speaker 5>coming back from the mclark tunner going through pch And

0:36:52.040 --> 0:36:55.120
<v Speaker 5>and he said, I you won't believe. I just got

0:36:55.120 --> 0:36:57.120
<v Speaker 5>off the phone with our friend Gilly, who got off

0:36:57.120 --> 0:36:59.640
<v Speaker 5>the phone with his friend Daniel Shaw, who wrote this

0:37:00.040 --> 0:37:03.400
<v Speaker 5>book Proposal about Billy Preston. And he reads me the

0:37:03.440 --> 0:37:06.239
<v Speaker 5>first page, which is amazing first page, and I wish

0:37:06.239 --> 0:37:07.600
<v Speaker 5>ahead in front of me, I would have read it

0:37:07.640 --> 0:37:11.200
<v Speaker 5>to you. But it reads like, uh, you know, like

0:37:11.280 --> 0:37:14.680
<v Speaker 5>a Zelig type of character who has been in a

0:37:14.920 --> 0:37:18.200
<v Speaker 5>weaven woven inside all of these woven through all of

0:37:18.239 --> 0:37:21.760
<v Speaker 5>these incredible people, and and uh and I said, okay, great,

0:37:21.800 --> 0:37:24.440
<v Speaker 5>so it's a great book proposal, but I don't have it.

0:37:24.640 --> 0:37:26.440
<v Speaker 5>How are we going to get to the powers that

0:37:26.560 --> 0:37:28.719
<v Speaker 5>be who are running his you know, who are in

0:37:28.800 --> 0:37:32.960
<v Speaker 5>charge of his leg you know his the share that

0:37:33.000 --> 0:37:35.759
<v Speaker 5>people were running his life right And we knew he

0:37:35.800 --> 0:37:38.400
<v Speaker 5>had passed away already. So I didn't know his manager,

0:37:38.719 --> 0:37:42.160
<v Speaker 5>but Daniel did. Daniel wrote this, which I did not

0:37:42.280 --> 0:37:44.759
<v Speaker 5>listen because it takes me three times to hear hear

0:37:44.920 --> 0:37:49.000
<v Speaker 5>something before I, you know, comprehend it. I did not

0:37:49.160 --> 0:37:52.520
<v Speaker 5>hear that Daniel Shaw and Joyce Moore, who is his

0:37:52.680 --> 0:37:57.320
<v Speaker 5>Billy's manager, had written this, this, this book proposal together.

0:37:57.520 --> 0:37:59.520
<v Speaker 1>Just to be clear for those weapons in the movie.

0:38:00.000 --> 0:38:02.680
<v Speaker 1>He is the wife of Sam Moore, of Sam and Day.

0:38:02.920 --> 0:38:03.400
<v Speaker 5>Correct.

0:38:03.680 --> 0:38:07.480
<v Speaker 1>Okay, so now you know there's the manager. What happens then?

0:38:08.680 --> 0:38:14.080
<v Speaker 5>So I we I mean literally the next day we

0:38:14.120 --> 0:38:17.000
<v Speaker 5>spoke to Daniels, We had a phone call with Joyce

0:38:17.239 --> 0:38:20.920
<v Speaker 5>Brett per cursed cursory phone call with Joyce, and then

0:38:21.040 --> 0:38:23.480
<v Speaker 5>I want to build my team. All I'm thinking was

0:38:23.840 --> 0:38:27.840
<v Speaker 5>there's a person that I no shit, this isn't dribble.

0:38:28.360 --> 0:38:30.439
<v Speaker 5>There's a person that I always wanted to work with,

0:38:30.680 --> 0:38:33.840
<v Speaker 5>and when you're building a team, you want to build.

0:38:34.960 --> 0:38:37.200
<v Speaker 5>I just thought this person would be an amazing person.

0:38:37.600 --> 0:38:41.600
<v Speaker 5>And her name was Stephanie Elaine. And we cold called

0:38:41.640 --> 0:38:45.960
<v Speaker 5>Stephanie Elaine with this idea to see what she thought

0:38:45.960 --> 0:38:50.640
<v Speaker 5>of it, and then the connection was just amazing.

0:38:50.840 --> 0:38:53.479
<v Speaker 1>Okay, it's twenty twenty six.

0:38:53.760 --> 0:38:58.719
<v Speaker 5>When was that conversation twenty end of twenty twenty.

0:38:58.480 --> 0:39:03.239
<v Speaker 1>Relatively recently under the circumstances. So you call Stephanie and

0:39:03.520 --> 0:39:04.880
<v Speaker 1>how does a conversation go?

0:39:06.760 --> 0:39:10.480
<v Speaker 5>It went amazing? It was like it was, it was great.

0:39:10.600 --> 0:39:13.040
<v Speaker 5>I mean, Steph, do you I mean, I just remember

0:39:13.560 --> 0:39:15.960
<v Speaker 5>feeling the first time I spoke to you, feeling like

0:39:18.040 --> 0:39:20.920
<v Speaker 5>you hear me. It was almost like what I can

0:39:21.000 --> 0:39:25.360
<v Speaker 5>get emotional. It was almost like the way Olivia said,

0:39:26.360 --> 0:39:28.200
<v Speaker 5>I'm gonna cry. I never thought of it. That's a

0:39:28.239 --> 0:39:30.960
<v Speaker 5>good question. It was almost the way Olivia said that

0:39:31.760 --> 0:39:38.200
<v Speaker 5>George said of George and Billy, Yeah you saw me,

0:39:38.360 --> 0:39:54.040
<v Speaker 5>Stephanie saw me, and yeah.

0:39:48.160 --> 0:39:51.840
<v Speaker 1>Okay, Stephanie, we'd established you don't have much of a

0:39:51.920 --> 0:39:56.040
<v Speaker 1>resume and no one calls you, so you know, people

0:39:56.040 --> 0:39:59.959
<v Speaker 1>are working for you morning the night. What about this problem?

0:40:00.160 --> 0:40:03.360
<v Speaker 1>Jack said that you wanted to give it your attention.

0:40:05.000 --> 0:40:08.120
<v Speaker 4>That's really funny. Nobody calls me. Is this is the

0:40:08.239 --> 0:40:10.560
<v Speaker 4>life I live. Nobody calls me, And the.

0:40:10.680 --> 0:40:13.600
<v Speaker 1>Wait, is it because they email you or they don't

0:40:13.640 --> 0:40:14.680
<v Speaker 1>contact you.

0:40:14.719 --> 0:40:17.320
<v Speaker 4>No, it's because I generate a lot of my own stuff,

0:40:17.640 --> 0:40:19.840
<v Speaker 4>you know what I mean. It's and also, like you

0:40:19.840 --> 0:40:24.440
<v Speaker 4>were asking Paris, do you experience you know, racism and

0:40:24.480 --> 0:40:29.840
<v Speaker 4>you said homophobia. Well, sexism is very real in Hollywood, okay,

0:40:29.960 --> 0:40:34.680
<v Speaker 4>And so as a black woman, I am pretty much

0:40:34.719 --> 0:40:38.160
<v Speaker 4>on my own, to be honest. And so I got

0:40:38.200 --> 0:40:40.560
<v Speaker 4>this call from Jeanie and I had met with them before,

0:40:40.600 --> 0:40:42.839
<v Speaker 4>maybe a year before that, because they were trying to

0:40:42.880 --> 0:40:46.239
<v Speaker 4>do something with Billy Holliday, who's also like my all

0:40:46.280 --> 0:40:49.200
<v Speaker 4>time favorite. So when she called me about Billy, first

0:40:49.200 --> 0:40:51.680
<v Speaker 4>of all, I knew their reputation. I knew that White

0:40:51.760 --> 0:40:55.719
<v Speaker 4>Horse was the shous nizzle when it comes to music docs, right,

0:40:55.960 --> 0:40:58.520
<v Speaker 4>And I had never made a doc. I didn't know

0:40:58.560 --> 0:41:02.200
<v Speaker 4>anything about making documentaries. And then you know, Jeanie and

0:41:02.239 --> 0:41:05.239
<v Speaker 4>I have girl crush, so we we just we just

0:41:05.320 --> 0:41:07.759
<v Speaker 4>hit it off. And I was like, and also I

0:41:07.800 --> 0:41:10.279
<v Speaker 4>grew up the same I'm saying Age's Paris. You know,

0:41:10.320 --> 0:41:14.000
<v Speaker 4>I grew up in la in the seventies, dancing in

0:41:14.040 --> 0:41:18.239
<v Speaker 4>the Baldwin Hills basements to his music, right and so,

0:41:19.280 --> 0:41:20.720
<v Speaker 4>but I didn't know his story.

0:41:20.840 --> 0:41:21.960
<v Speaker 5>I don't even think I knew he.

0:41:21.960 --> 0:41:25.880
<v Speaker 4>Was the fifth Beatle until I read Daniel's proposal and

0:41:25.960 --> 0:41:30.759
<v Speaker 4>I saw, wow, there's a lot here, and so you know,

0:41:30.840 --> 0:41:33.080
<v Speaker 4>I said, okay, I'm in. What's the first thing we need?

0:41:33.160 --> 0:41:35.640
<v Speaker 4>And Nije and Jeanie said a director.

0:41:36.360 --> 0:41:39.600
<v Speaker 3>So I was like, okay, wait when he isn't the

0:41:39.640 --> 0:41:40.160
<v Speaker 3>first thing?

0:41:40.239 --> 0:41:41.240
<v Speaker 1>You need money?

0:41:42.239 --> 0:41:44.880
<v Speaker 4>Actually, no, you need the director and the concept to

0:41:44.920 --> 0:41:49.440
<v Speaker 4>go get the money. So we needed a director to sery.

0:41:49.239 --> 0:41:51.319
<v Speaker 1>Okay before we tut time out, before we get to

0:41:51.360 --> 0:41:56.560
<v Speaker 1>the director. Genie, when you contacted Stephanie, what were you

0:41:56.680 --> 0:41:58.040
<v Speaker 1>exactly looking for?

0:41:58.880 --> 0:42:01.280
<v Speaker 5>What was your team mate? Team leader?

0:42:01.520 --> 0:42:02.320
<v Speaker 1>Really? A goal?

0:42:02.480 --> 0:42:05.960
<v Speaker 5>My goal is I everyone you know we've got We did.

0:42:06.040 --> 0:42:08.399
<v Speaker 5>I can't believe I forgot to mention the Apollo Theater.

0:42:08.880 --> 0:42:09.279
<v Speaker 1>We did.

0:42:10.040 --> 0:42:14.200
<v Speaker 5>My partner and I, Cassidy Hartman. We here at white Horse.

0:42:14.239 --> 0:42:17.160
<v Speaker 5>We shepherd this project about the Apollo Theater. The most

0:42:17.200 --> 0:42:21.719
<v Speaker 5>important thing about a subject especially documentaries. Is you need

0:42:21.760 --> 0:42:25.839
<v Speaker 5>to have the right storytellers for the right subject. So

0:42:25.880 --> 0:42:29.080
<v Speaker 5>you can't have bluntly two white girls telling the story

0:42:29.080 --> 0:42:32.680
<v Speaker 5>about the Apollo Theater in Harlem and and and be

0:42:33.640 --> 0:42:37.319
<v Speaker 5>and have it be authentic. You could try it, but

0:42:37.400 --> 0:42:39.600
<v Speaker 5>it's not gonna it's not going to go over well.

0:42:40.120 --> 0:42:41.960
<v Speaker 5>And and I just was a.

0:42:41.920 --> 0:42:45.640
<v Speaker 3>Diversity for sure. Yeah, I know.

0:42:46.360 --> 0:42:51.439
<v Speaker 5>But it's a matter of it's a matter of of

0:42:51.719 --> 0:42:55.320
<v Speaker 5>not it's it's a matter of building the right team.

0:42:56.080 --> 0:43:01.319
<v Speaker 5>And there's no question that you are a team leader, Stephanie.

0:43:01.360 --> 0:43:03.880
<v Speaker 5>You're a team leader. You look at things in they

0:43:04.360 --> 0:43:08.000
<v Speaker 5>in they, You're always looking at positives before anything, and

0:43:08.040 --> 0:43:10.759
<v Speaker 5>you're always pushing people out. You're making your other team

0:43:10.800 --> 0:43:13.960
<v Speaker 5>members better than they than they think they are. And

0:43:14.239 --> 0:43:17.920
<v Speaker 5>that's a unique gift that you have. That's a unique gift.

0:43:18.960 --> 0:43:22.239
<v Speaker 1>Okay, that's why you contact Stephanie. Stephanie established. The next

0:43:22.280 --> 0:43:26.560
<v Speaker 1>step is a director. So, ay, how fast does this

0:43:26.600 --> 0:43:29.320
<v Speaker 1>project moving be? How do you get a director?

0:43:30.800 --> 0:43:34.359
<v Speaker 4>So typically make a list, right, make a list of directors.

0:43:35.400 --> 0:43:38.400
<v Speaker 4>To be honest, Paris was at the top of that list.

0:43:38.640 --> 0:43:41.359
<v Speaker 1>And how wait, wait wait, talking about how did you

0:43:41.440 --> 0:43:42.320
<v Speaker 1>know of Paris?

0:43:42.520 --> 0:43:45.760
<v Speaker 4>I knew Paris because obviously everybody in Hollywood knows Paris.

0:43:45.760 --> 0:43:48.280
<v Speaker 4>He was the you know, he's the most celebrated TV

0:43:48.360 --> 0:43:52.000
<v Speaker 4>director ever. He was the head of the DGA, you know,

0:43:52.080 --> 0:43:54.320
<v Speaker 4>as the head of a guild. You know, you respect.

0:43:54.400 --> 0:43:56.879
<v Speaker 4>That's a big job, you get. You know what that

0:43:56.920 --> 0:44:00.399
<v Speaker 4>means that person is at attention that big job. Yeah,

0:44:00.400 --> 0:44:02.960
<v Speaker 4>it's a big job. And it's and you do it

0:44:03.000 --> 0:44:07.000
<v Speaker 4>for free, by the way, so you know, it speaks

0:44:07.000 --> 0:44:12.799
<v Speaker 4>to integrity, It speaks to commitment to the whole, you know,

0:44:13.200 --> 0:44:15.560
<v Speaker 4>and in his case, the whole of directors, in my case,

0:44:15.560 --> 0:44:18.319
<v Speaker 4>the whole producers. But and also he'd been hanging out

0:44:18.320 --> 0:44:21.239
<v Speaker 4>with Steven because they were talking about doing some kind

0:44:21.239 --> 0:44:24.040
<v Speaker 4>of Studio fifty four musical at one point, and he

0:44:24.120 --> 0:44:29.640
<v Speaker 4>was already in the studio. I was like, yeah, And

0:44:29.680 --> 0:44:32.040
<v Speaker 4>I knew that he knew music, and I knew that

0:44:32.040 --> 0:44:34.080
<v Speaker 4>he was gay, and I knew that he was smart.

0:44:34.440 --> 0:44:37.480
<v Speaker 4>And so I was like, what about Paris? Since they

0:44:37.480 --> 0:44:39.560
<v Speaker 4>said can you get him? Can you get to him?

0:44:39.960 --> 0:44:44.440
<v Speaker 4>I was like, yeah, I think so. So I cold

0:44:44.520 --> 0:44:48.040
<v Speaker 4>called Paris, and you know, typically what happens is you

0:44:48.120 --> 0:44:49.960
<v Speaker 4>meet I said, would you like to meet? He said yes,

0:44:50.040 --> 0:44:52.399
<v Speaker 4>So we sent him some material and then we've set

0:44:52.400 --> 0:44:57.799
<v Speaker 4>this meeting. And typically when you're meeting, you're interviewing, right,

0:44:58.040 --> 0:45:02.200
<v Speaker 4>you're interviewing somebody. And and so we get on the

0:45:02.200 --> 0:45:05.080
<v Speaker 4>phone on the zoom with Paris because now it is

0:45:05.200 --> 0:45:08.920
<v Speaker 4>COVID and we're on the zoom, and he just starts

0:45:09.000 --> 0:45:13.239
<v Speaker 4>talking to us about all the parallels and his connection

0:45:13.440 --> 0:45:17.440
<v Speaker 4>and emotional connection and pretty we're like on the verge

0:45:17.440 --> 0:45:19.600
<v Speaker 4>of tears. And then at the end he goes, Okay,

0:45:19.600 --> 0:45:22.880
<v Speaker 4>I'm in and we're like, what wait, what happened just now?

0:45:23.400 --> 0:45:24.800
<v Speaker 5>Did we just get a director?

0:45:26.360 --> 0:45:28.879
<v Speaker 4>Because typically you well like that was great, we'll get

0:45:28.880 --> 0:45:31.960
<v Speaker 4>back to you whatever whatever, But it was so much exactly.

0:45:32.320 --> 0:45:35.720
<v Speaker 4>But it was that kind of meeting that just felt kiss.

0:45:35.880 --> 0:45:38.640
<v Speaker 4>It just felt right, you know. And so we hung

0:45:38.719 --> 0:45:40.440
<v Speaker 4>up and we're like, I think we have a director.

0:45:41.000 --> 0:45:44.160
<v Speaker 4>And that proved to be really auspicious because when we

0:45:44.239 --> 0:45:47.360
<v Speaker 4>then put our package together to go out to raise

0:45:47.480 --> 0:45:50.320
<v Speaker 4>the money, Paris is who they want to hear from.

0:45:50.840 --> 0:45:54.560
<v Speaker 4>And so Paris literally had investors in Tears.

0:45:55.640 --> 0:45:57.120
<v Speaker 5>Oh don't forget chance.

0:45:57.320 --> 0:45:58.000
<v Speaker 3>Oh and Chao.

0:45:58.080 --> 0:46:00.520
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, we brought chaaw in who had also worked with

0:46:01.040 --> 0:46:03.640
<v Speaker 4>but it was really Paris who sold this thing.

0:46:03.719 --> 0:46:03.920
<v Speaker 1>You know.

0:46:04.040 --> 0:46:07.279
<v Speaker 4>He he was so honest and so connected to the

0:46:07.320 --> 0:46:11.600
<v Speaker 4>material that literally on the phone, investors were like, I'm in.

0:46:12.040 --> 0:46:14.000
<v Speaker 4>You know what I mean, like you Typically they'll say, yeah,

0:46:14.000 --> 0:46:15.719
<v Speaker 4>we'll think about it, we'll talk to our people, but

0:46:15.800 --> 0:46:17.360
<v Speaker 4>we had to say I'm in.

0:46:17.880 --> 0:46:20.040
<v Speaker 1>Okay, how much money were you looking for?

0:46:21.680 --> 0:46:23.880
<v Speaker 4>I think it's typically like a couple of million dollars,

0:46:24.040 --> 0:46:26.960
<v Speaker 4>you know, that's like, yeah, the which are like, okay, a.

0:46:26.960 --> 0:46:31.640
<v Speaker 1>Couple million dollars. Where did you find your list of investors?

0:46:32.000 --> 0:46:34.759
<v Speaker 1>How many were there? How many said yes? Or how

0:46:34.760 --> 0:46:35.520
<v Speaker 1>many said why?

0:46:35.560 --> 0:46:35.960
<v Speaker 5>I love this?

0:46:36.120 --> 0:46:40.680
<v Speaker 4>Because white Horse Pictures knows everybody. So basically like white

0:46:40.719 --> 0:46:43.160
<v Speaker 4>Horse has a list of people that have invested and

0:46:43.239 --> 0:46:46.759
<v Speaker 4>been paid back, you know, like what a notion. So

0:46:47.400 --> 0:46:50.960
<v Speaker 4>they trust white Horse as the as the purveyors of

0:46:51.160 --> 0:46:55.680
<v Speaker 4>excellence in documentaries, especially in music docs, and so we

0:46:55.840 --> 0:46:56.880
<v Speaker 4>just went to their list.

0:46:57.160 --> 0:46:59.160
<v Speaker 5>And by the end of going to the list, we

0:46:59.200 --> 0:47:00.000
<v Speaker 5>had the money.

0:47:00.920 --> 0:47:01.400
<v Speaker 2>And we have it.

0:47:01.480 --> 0:47:04.040
<v Speaker 5>We have usual film funds that we funders that we've

0:47:04.040 --> 0:47:06.480
<v Speaker 5>gone to in the past, and the film funds so

0:47:06.600 --> 0:47:09.080
<v Speaker 5>be roade, and we've got these other film funders. Chicago

0:47:09.080 --> 0:47:15.839
<v Speaker 5>Media Group and uh, Jenny Raskin of don't tell everybody,

0:47:15.920 --> 0:47:16.800
<v Speaker 5>don't tell everybody.

0:47:16.920 --> 0:47:17.440
<v Speaker 3>That's that's right.

0:47:17.480 --> 0:47:20.880
<v Speaker 5>Okay, okay, so yeah, that's that's true. You're right, Eric.

0:47:20.960 --> 0:47:23.399
<v Speaker 1>How many of these were individuals and how many were

0:47:23.719 --> 0:47:25.000
<v Speaker 1>consortiums funds?

0:47:25.080 --> 0:47:26.879
<v Speaker 3>It was a mix, right, it was a mix.

0:47:26.960 --> 0:47:30.000
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, it's a mix. It's a mix, definitely mix, lovely mix,

0:47:30.120 --> 0:47:30.959
<v Speaker 5>really nice mix.

0:47:32.040 --> 0:47:34.080
<v Speaker 1>How much did you get from each since this is

0:47:34.120 --> 0:47:36.720
<v Speaker 1>in the past, Well, like your biggest.

0:47:36.320 --> 0:47:40.200
<v Speaker 4>Adventurer, some people can put in we know a million

0:47:40.280 --> 0:47:41.840
<v Speaker 4>to fifty thousand.

0:47:42.160 --> 0:47:43.120
<v Speaker 5>That was a big mix.

0:47:43.560 --> 0:47:47.480
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, okay, it is the film business, I know.

0:47:47.840 --> 0:47:50.280
<v Speaker 5>But it's a documentary film business.

0:47:50.120 --> 0:47:54.320
<v Speaker 1>The right, the type of people who you know were sophisticated.

0:47:54.440 --> 0:47:57.360
<v Speaker 1>No that it's not easy to get your money back.

0:47:58.360 --> 0:47:58.759
<v Speaker 5>It's not.

0:47:59.560 --> 0:48:02.319
<v Speaker 4>This is what it's so crazy, which is and I

0:48:02.440 --> 0:48:05.279
<v Speaker 4>asked Genie this when we're on our stump and you know,

0:48:05.400 --> 0:48:08.040
<v Speaker 4>doing our panels like Bill, why did we think we

0:48:08.080 --> 0:48:09.839
<v Speaker 4>could get the money for Billy when if you say

0:48:09.880 --> 0:48:12.319
<v Speaker 4>Billy Preston, only people of a certain age really know

0:48:12.360 --> 0:48:14.880
<v Speaker 4>who he is. Oh, you know, nobody's like, oh Billy

0:48:14.880 --> 0:48:17.239
<v Speaker 4>presdent eleve him. You've heard Billy Preston so many times

0:48:17.280 --> 0:48:19.279
<v Speaker 4>you don't even know it because you don't know what

0:48:19.280 --> 0:48:22.640
<v Speaker 4>his contribution is. And so we thought we were selling

0:48:22.680 --> 0:48:26.920
<v Speaker 4>it as like the Zeleig of the seventies music scene

0:48:27.000 --> 0:48:30.799
<v Speaker 4>across all genres, you know what I mean, or or

0:48:30.920 --> 0:48:35.280
<v Speaker 4>you know and and that, And it was hard because

0:48:35.360 --> 0:48:37.120
<v Speaker 4>people don't know who he is.

0:48:37.239 --> 0:48:38.640
<v Speaker 3>But it's by association.

0:48:38.680 --> 0:48:41.480
<v Speaker 4>It's almost like Billy's life, you know, it's by association

0:48:41.719 --> 0:48:47.840
<v Speaker 4>that we I think we're able to persevere, you know,

0:48:48.800 --> 0:48:50.200
<v Speaker 4>m Yeah, and.

0:48:50.200 --> 0:48:52.640
<v Speaker 5>You know, of course we got you know this before

0:48:52.680 --> 0:48:54.640
<v Speaker 5>you even do well, before I even would have called

0:48:54.640 --> 0:48:58.360
<v Speaker 5>Stephan your called parasift to make sure that there's enough archive,

0:48:58.800 --> 0:49:03.120
<v Speaker 5>that there's enough tools to tell the story. So you know,

0:49:03.560 --> 0:49:07.480
<v Speaker 5>that is it. That's a that's a you know, discovery.

0:49:08.120 --> 0:49:12.080
<v Speaker 1>Okay, since you've made a number of films, what percentage

0:49:12.719 --> 0:49:14.400
<v Speaker 1>do the people get their money back?

0:49:16.200 --> 0:49:18.440
<v Speaker 5>We are people get their money back in all of

0:49:18.480 --> 0:49:19.359
<v Speaker 5>our films?

0:49:19.840 --> 0:49:24.520
<v Speaker 1>Wow for us? Wow was right? So the money participation,

0:49:25.080 --> 0:49:28.120
<v Speaker 1>what percent of the one hundred percent does the money.

0:49:27.880 --> 0:49:32.719
<v Speaker 5>Get I really don't I don't know. I don't know

0:49:32.800 --> 0:49:35.520
<v Speaker 5>that answer, but they they every what's the percentage of

0:49:35.560 --> 0:49:37.640
<v Speaker 5>the people who get say, that asked me the question

0:49:37.680 --> 0:49:38.120
<v Speaker 5>one we're taking.

0:49:38.160 --> 0:49:41.600
<v Speaker 1>Okay, let's say the film cost a million dollars. Let's

0:49:41.600 --> 0:49:45.120
<v Speaker 1>say it made the money back. There are other profit

0:49:45.280 --> 0:49:52.280
<v Speaker 1>participants besides the money. Okay, well what you recoup? How's

0:49:52.320 --> 0:49:53.200
<v Speaker 1>the money split?

0:49:55.680 --> 0:49:59.319
<v Speaker 5>Water It's very trans Yeah, it's a waterfall. It's very transparent.

0:49:59.400 --> 0:50:01.520
<v Speaker 5>It's like a you know, it goes into an ascraal account.

0:50:01.560 --> 0:50:05.120
<v Speaker 5>Everybody sees everything. It's very you know, camera. So it's

0:50:05.280 --> 0:50:06.680
<v Speaker 5>very very transparent.

0:50:06.800 --> 0:50:08.920
<v Speaker 1>Let me put it this way. I put five dollars

0:50:08.960 --> 0:50:12.360
<v Speaker 1>into your movie. The movie is recouped. I got my

0:50:12.480 --> 0:50:18.680
<v Speaker 1>five dollars back, okay, and I'm looking for profit participation. Well,

0:50:18.719 --> 0:50:22.000
<v Speaker 1>there's a director, there's this that the other they're all

0:50:22.000 --> 0:50:23.080
<v Speaker 1>gett ignored slice.

0:50:23.200 --> 0:50:27.480
<v Speaker 4>Typically investors own fifty percent and filmmaker's own fifty percent.

0:50:27.680 --> 0:50:31.480
<v Speaker 1>Okay, that goes there. Okay, so now you got your money.

0:50:31.560 --> 0:50:32.560
<v Speaker 1>What's the next step.

0:50:32.800 --> 0:50:33.759
<v Speaker 5>We got to make our list?

0:50:33.840 --> 0:50:35.000
<v Speaker 1>Well, we got to make the movie.

0:50:35.560 --> 0:50:39.440
<v Speaker 4>Yes, we got to make out this between research and

0:50:39.520 --> 0:50:42.480
<v Speaker 4>actually making that list of people that we feel will

0:50:42.520 --> 0:50:46.080
<v Speaker 4>deliver the story, we'll tell the story. And what's crazy

0:50:46.120 --> 0:50:48.320
<v Speaker 4>is you don't even know what the story is until

0:50:48.320 --> 0:50:50.680
<v Speaker 4>you start doing the research and talking to people, and.

0:50:50.800 --> 0:50:53.279
<v Speaker 1>Okay, there was a lot revealed in the movie that

0:50:53.400 --> 0:50:55.680
<v Speaker 1>I didn't know all They had lines if you live

0:50:55.719 --> 0:50:59.040
<v Speaker 1>through that in your fan your no, Yeah, when you

0:50:59.239 --> 0:51:03.120
<v Speaker 1>started the movie with this Daniel shaw a book, what

0:51:03.280 --> 0:51:05.880
<v Speaker 1>percentage of the information was in that book?

0:51:07.040 --> 0:51:11.200
<v Speaker 2>Honestly, I went back to the original sort of treatment

0:51:11.239 --> 0:51:13.000
<v Speaker 2>we did really just based in the book, and I'd

0:51:13.000 --> 0:51:16.880
<v Speaker 2>say seventy five percent of the story was there. Would't

0:51:16.880 --> 0:51:19.360
<v Speaker 2>you guys agree about seventy five percent? But it's the

0:51:19.440 --> 0:51:22.600
<v Speaker 2>twenty five percent that came out of the interviews that

0:51:22.760 --> 0:51:26.239
<v Speaker 2>surprised us. That David Flesh and the bones that made

0:51:26.280 --> 0:51:26.719
<v Speaker 2>it real.

0:51:27.680 --> 0:51:30.040
<v Speaker 4>We thought, or I thought, at one point we were

0:51:30.080 --> 0:51:32.680
<v Speaker 4>telling the story of a closeted gay man who when

0:51:32.719 --> 0:51:36.000
<v Speaker 4>he got to be a certain age, came into his

0:51:36.280 --> 0:51:39.680
<v Speaker 4>identity and authenticity. But then we went back and everybody's like,

0:51:39.719 --> 0:51:42.640
<v Speaker 4>oh no, he was gay, like everybody knew it. So

0:51:42.719 --> 0:51:47.560
<v Speaker 4>he wasn't really closeted in his personal life. He was

0:51:47.560 --> 0:51:50.600
<v Speaker 4>more closeted in his professional life. And that was that

0:51:50.719 --> 0:51:53.960
<v Speaker 4>was very interesting that there were so many people that

0:51:54.800 --> 0:51:57.120
<v Speaker 4>loved him, knew him, knew he was gay, and didn't

0:51:57.120 --> 0:52:01.000
<v Speaker 4>have like Olivia says, wasn't a big nobody.

0:52:01.200 --> 0:52:04.799
<v Speaker 6>Nobody thought about it, Okay, but the film says that

0:52:04.880 --> 0:52:06.120
<v Speaker 6>he was tortured about it.

0:52:06.160 --> 0:52:09.839
<v Speaker 1>But before we go that far, you have seventy five

0:52:09.880 --> 0:52:14.040
<v Speaker 1>percent of the information you have the money. Tell me

0:52:14.080 --> 0:52:17.480
<v Speaker 1>about the process of gaining the additional information and how

0:52:17.480 --> 0:52:22.640
<v Speaker 1>you're going to tell the story. Well, first we oh, sorry.

0:52:23.800 --> 0:52:26.359
<v Speaker 5>The first first thing that we do so so that

0:52:26.680 --> 0:52:30.040
<v Speaker 5>our directors prepared and our writers prepared, is we do

0:52:30.760 --> 0:52:34.160
<v Speaker 5>a little interviews on a zoom and we just talked

0:52:34.200 --> 0:52:37.799
<v Speaker 5>to people and just just say. It's almost like it

0:52:37.960 --> 0:52:41.040
<v Speaker 5>puts a pre interview before we put them on camera.

0:52:41.200 --> 0:52:43.440
<v Speaker 5>And you interview a lot more people than you end

0:52:43.520 --> 0:52:47.200
<v Speaker 5>up using in your in your movie. I mean, Pavaratti,

0:52:47.280 --> 0:52:50.280
<v Speaker 5>it was like, you know, sixty five people we interviewed,

0:52:50.320 --> 0:52:53.560
<v Speaker 5>we had twenty if we had fifteen maybe, And with

0:52:53.760 --> 0:52:56.960
<v Speaker 5>same with Billy Preston, you know we had we interviewed

0:52:56.960 --> 0:52:58.760
<v Speaker 5>fifty some odd people and we had.

0:53:00.080 --> 0:53:03.160
<v Speaker 1>Okay, where did the list of fifty people come from?

0:53:03.600 --> 0:53:04.319
<v Speaker 1>We made it up?

0:53:06.040 --> 0:53:07.440
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, I know the research.

0:53:08.280 --> 0:53:12.120
<v Speaker 1>Okay, Billying Preston's been gone for twenty odd years, but

0:53:12.360 --> 0:53:16.000
<v Speaker 1>everybody involved is not young. How hard was it to

0:53:16.120 --> 0:53:20.000
<v Speaker 1>track these people down and were they reluctant or not

0:53:20.480 --> 0:53:23.040
<v Speaker 1>to go on camera and tell their story.

0:53:24.000 --> 0:53:26.960
<v Speaker 2>Most everybody was not reluctant. Most everybody wanted to do

0:53:27.040 --> 0:53:30.319
<v Speaker 2>it because there's just so much luck. So it's not

0:53:30.360 --> 0:53:32.640
<v Speaker 2>a struggle to get Soundra Crouch to talk about Billy

0:53:32.680 --> 0:53:35.200
<v Speaker 2>Preston and she becomes a key witness in the whole thing.

0:53:35.640 --> 0:53:38.120
<v Speaker 2>You know, Bobby Watson and Manny Kellogg that he played

0:53:38.160 --> 0:53:41.200
<v Speaker 2>with back in the day, they're there. It was a

0:53:41.239 --> 0:53:43.160
<v Speaker 2>lot of work to get Eric Clapton, and we were

0:53:43.239 --> 0:53:46.239
<v Speaker 2>lucky that it because Eric doesn't give a ton of interviews.

0:53:46.239 --> 0:53:46.400
<v Speaker 1>You know.

0:53:46.640 --> 0:53:48.520
<v Speaker 2>I basically had to beg him with the letter, and

0:53:48.560 --> 0:53:51.320
<v Speaker 2>then Jonathan Clyde, our producer in the head of Apple,

0:53:51.760 --> 0:53:53.640
<v Speaker 2>got to interview him. And they knew each other for

0:53:53.680 --> 0:53:56.080
<v Speaker 2>a long time, and so that interview was done by

0:53:56.120 --> 0:54:00.160
<v Speaker 2>Jonathan Clyde beautifully and becomes a pivotal, you know, a

0:54:00.200 --> 0:54:01.440
<v Speaker 2>pivotal interview.

0:54:01.040 --> 0:54:01.840
<v Speaker 1>In the whole movie.

0:54:02.680 --> 0:54:04.719
<v Speaker 2>So you just you work it and you work it

0:54:05.000 --> 0:54:10.040
<v Speaker 2>like you know, a drag queen on the runway until

0:54:10.080 --> 0:54:11.360
<v Speaker 2>all your sequence fall up.

0:54:12.000 --> 0:54:14.759
<v Speaker 1>Okay, so you got these fifty people, you get the

0:54:15.000 --> 0:54:20.239
<v Speaker 1>interviews as Stephanie said, you know, you think you have

0:54:20.360 --> 0:54:22.759
<v Speaker 1>one thing, but as you get deeper into the information,

0:54:22.880 --> 0:54:27.640
<v Speaker 1>you finally have something else. So just just to reestablish,

0:54:28.239 --> 0:54:36.080
<v Speaker 1>from the time that Genee contacts Stephanie, how long until

0:54:36.280 --> 0:54:37.520
<v Speaker 1>the money is locked up?

0:54:38.560 --> 0:54:39.280
<v Speaker 4>A few months?

0:54:39.360 --> 0:54:43.719
<v Speaker 1>I think very quickly. Yeah, okay, well.

0:54:43.480 --> 0:54:46.359
<v Speaker 5>To quickly doesn't always happen.

0:54:46.600 --> 0:54:50.040
<v Speaker 1>When you have the money. Do you have a target

0:54:50.280 --> 0:54:53.640
<v Speaker 1>date to start? Yeah?

0:54:53.719 --> 0:54:57.000
<v Speaker 4>I mean, as I remember, once we got the money,

0:54:57.120 --> 0:54:59.080
<v Speaker 4>then you can actually make the plan. Then you can

0:54:59.120 --> 0:55:02.000
<v Speaker 4>build the team out. Then you can hire your cinematographer.

0:55:02.080 --> 0:55:04.400
<v Speaker 4>Then you can decide which cities you're going to shoot in,

0:55:04.480 --> 0:55:06.400
<v Speaker 4>what how much money do you have, Where are your

0:55:06.680 --> 0:55:11.440
<v Speaker 4>key witnesses going to be? You know, so it becomes

0:55:11.480 --> 0:55:15.520
<v Speaker 4>like a beautiful The first is like a detective work

0:55:15.600 --> 0:55:17.719
<v Speaker 4>to figure out who to talk to and how to

0:55:17.760 --> 0:55:19.680
<v Speaker 4>find them, you know, which.

0:55:19.520 --> 0:55:22.640
<v Speaker 3>Is super fun, you know. And then it's like then.

0:55:22.520 --> 0:55:24.080
<v Speaker 4>We talk to them and go, okay, they're going to

0:55:24.120 --> 0:55:26.520
<v Speaker 4>be a good witness, and so you you know, you

0:55:26.640 --> 0:55:29.719
<v Speaker 4>try to guide those questions back to the park that

0:55:29.800 --> 0:55:32.839
<v Speaker 4>you liked that they said before, you know what I mean.

0:55:32.920 --> 0:55:36.200
<v Speaker 4>And it was just it's such a different way of

0:55:36.280 --> 0:55:39.640
<v Speaker 4>working from having a script and just trying to realize

0:55:39.719 --> 0:55:42.759
<v Speaker 4>that script on the screen. You know, because it's very amorphous,

0:55:42.800 --> 0:55:46.840
<v Speaker 4>you're just pulling things together, and also because our team

0:55:47.040 --> 0:55:52.840
<v Speaker 4>is experiencing all of this information together but also separately,

0:55:52.920 --> 0:55:54.560
<v Speaker 4>you know, so we all have to get on the

0:55:54.600 --> 0:55:57.319
<v Speaker 4>same page. It's a lot.

0:55:58.040 --> 0:56:01.160
<v Speaker 5>It's like Jess, you know, you got we're playing off

0:56:01.160 --> 0:56:03.840
<v Speaker 5>of each other, and you know that is It's a

0:56:03.920 --> 0:56:04.919
<v Speaker 5>lot like a jazz song.

0:56:05.920 --> 0:56:11.560
<v Speaker 1>So ultimately, is this in segments? Is it compartmentalize or

0:56:11.760 --> 0:56:14.680
<v Speaker 1>are you still researching when you're assembling the movie.

0:56:15.360 --> 0:56:18.000
<v Speaker 2>We're still researching. I mean we're still finding out more

0:56:18.080 --> 0:56:20.879
<v Speaker 2>people are leading us to other people that we want

0:56:20.920 --> 0:56:25.040
<v Speaker 2>to talk to. You know, it just continues to expand

0:56:25.239 --> 0:56:28.439
<v Speaker 2>and rarely contracts. And then when we end up ready

0:56:28.480 --> 0:56:30.359
<v Speaker 2>to go in the editing room, we just have too much,

0:56:30.960 --> 0:56:33.520
<v Speaker 2>which is a blessing. I mean, you really do want

0:56:33.560 --> 0:56:36.520
<v Speaker 2>to have too much. And then we just started trimming

0:56:36.560 --> 0:56:38.920
<v Speaker 2>it down. We just started saying what can we do without?

0:56:39.000 --> 0:56:41.400
<v Speaker 2>Who can tell the story better? And you know, it

0:56:41.440 --> 0:56:43.759
<v Speaker 2>all starts to sort of go through the sieve that

0:56:43.920 --> 0:56:45.200
<v Speaker 2>is the editorial process.

0:56:46.000 --> 0:56:49.640
<v Speaker 4>And as you're thinking and as you're hearing certain witnesses

0:56:49.840 --> 0:56:56.120
<v Speaker 4>testify you're also thinking about well, I was thinking about

0:56:56.440 --> 0:56:58.640
<v Speaker 4>a three act structure like you have in a regular

0:56:58.719 --> 0:57:02.160
<v Speaker 4>narrative movie, like how how do you how do you

0:57:02.320 --> 0:57:05.080
<v Speaker 4>lay this out so it has the same effect that

0:57:05.200 --> 0:57:09.640
<v Speaker 4>watching you know, a narrative does, which is an emotional

0:57:10.400 --> 0:57:14.480
<v Speaker 4>heart string tale that has, you know, a beginning, a

0:57:14.520 --> 0:57:17.800
<v Speaker 4>big middle, and a and a and a in an

0:57:18.040 --> 0:57:21.000
<v Speaker 4>ending of the second act that feels very dark, and

0:57:21.040 --> 0:57:23.880
<v Speaker 4>then a redemption. And thinking of it in that way

0:57:24.040 --> 0:57:27.680
<v Speaker 4>was very helpful to me because it it just reminded

0:57:27.720 --> 0:57:30.320
<v Speaker 4>me that we're still watching a too, you know, one

0:57:30.360 --> 0:57:32.960
<v Speaker 4>and a half to two hour movie, and and these

0:57:33.000 --> 0:57:33.720
<v Speaker 4>things apply.

0:57:34.000 --> 0:57:35.040
<v Speaker 3>They have always applied.

0:57:35.080 --> 0:57:39.439
<v Speaker 4>I used to teach Cassidy at USC and I talked

0:57:39.440 --> 0:57:42.360
<v Speaker 4>about Aristotle, I talked about Poetics, which is the very

0:57:42.480 --> 0:57:46.360
<v Speaker 4>first compilation of what does a two hour entertainment look like,

0:57:46.480 --> 0:57:48.880
<v Speaker 4>feel like? And what does it need to be successful?

0:57:49.480 --> 0:57:51.080
<v Speaker 4>And those things have never changed.

0:57:51.920 --> 0:57:54.440
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, I remember saying it has to we have to

0:57:54.440 --> 0:57:56.640
<v Speaker 5>have a MacGuffin at the end of that second mid

0:57:56.880 --> 0:57:59.640
<v Speaker 5>second act because and there always is in our in

0:57:59.720 --> 0:58:02.360
<v Speaker 5>one life, you know, there is something and Billie's was

0:58:02.440 --> 0:58:05.320
<v Speaker 5>they you know, the rests and what was going to happen.

0:58:06.080 --> 0:58:10.880
<v Speaker 1>Okay, Parish, you're the director, Ultimately you're in control. How

0:58:10.920 --> 0:58:15.919
<v Speaker 1>did your vision of what you wanted it to be evolve? Well,

0:58:16.000 --> 0:58:16.320
<v Speaker 1>it was.

0:58:16.440 --> 0:58:19.400
<v Speaker 2>It was helped because each of my partners here brings

0:58:19.440 --> 0:58:21.600
<v Speaker 2>a different point of view and a different skill set

0:58:21.640 --> 0:58:23.640
<v Speaker 2>to it, which adds to the whole thing, which is

0:58:23.640 --> 0:58:25.640
<v Speaker 2>why I was so glad I worked in advertising, because

0:58:26.000 --> 0:58:29.920
<v Speaker 2>advertising was very much about building the collaboration and getting

0:58:29.920 --> 0:58:33.919
<v Speaker 2>the best from everyone. So Jeanie's there, and she's she's

0:58:34.000 --> 0:58:36.240
<v Speaker 2>a lot. She's great with the details and everything else,

0:58:36.280 --> 0:58:39.160
<v Speaker 2>but she's also all hard and she's also a lot

0:58:39.200 --> 0:58:42.120
<v Speaker 2>of emotion, as you've seen in this interview, and that's

0:58:42.120 --> 0:58:45.280
<v Speaker 2>a wonderful thing. She's a great test of material and

0:58:45.360 --> 0:58:48.080
<v Speaker 2>what really moves her we know. And Stephanie's got that

0:58:48.200 --> 0:58:51.080
<v Speaker 2>story background that she just talked about, which is not

0:58:51.480 --> 0:58:53.360
<v Speaker 2>necessarily the way I look at it because I've never

0:58:53.400 --> 0:58:56.040
<v Speaker 2>been a story reader. I'm more into the ride and

0:58:56.080 --> 0:58:58.880
<v Speaker 2>what's the ride like? But then that helps you shape

0:58:58.920 --> 0:59:01.600
<v Speaker 2>the project. And my point of view is basically what

0:59:01.720 --> 0:59:05.640
<v Speaker 2>I learned back in college from my playwriting and screenwriting teacher,

0:59:05.680 --> 0:59:08.920
<v Speaker 2>William Alfred, who said I think. On the very first day, said,

0:59:08.960 --> 0:59:10.640
<v Speaker 2>if you're going to ask for two hours out of

0:59:10.680 --> 0:59:12.880
<v Speaker 2>someone's life, you have to think about what you're going

0:59:12.960 --> 0:59:16.680
<v Speaker 2>to give. What is the gift of the project you're making.

0:59:16.720 --> 0:59:18.840
<v Speaker 2>It can't just take away time for their family or

0:59:18.880 --> 0:59:21.120
<v Speaker 2>their kids or things they want to do. It's two

0:59:21.160 --> 0:59:25.120
<v Speaker 2>hours of their life, So what is the gift? And

0:59:25.200 --> 0:59:27.680
<v Speaker 2>I've always been driven by that. I don't want to

0:59:27.720 --> 0:59:30.400
<v Speaker 2>waste people's time. I want to make sure that there's

0:59:30.440 --> 0:59:33.160
<v Speaker 2>something that they can take away from this that is valuable.

0:59:33.560 --> 0:59:36.400
<v Speaker 2>And with Billy Preston's story and with the witnesses, we

0:59:36.520 --> 0:59:40.840
<v Speaker 2>found that. With the witnesses testimony, we found a gift

0:59:40.840 --> 0:59:42.920
<v Speaker 2>to the audience, a gift that sort of points them

0:59:42.920 --> 0:59:45.520
<v Speaker 2>in a new direction, which I think is really wonderful.

0:59:45.560 --> 0:59:48.320
<v Speaker 2>That's what makes it all worthwhile to me. And that's

0:59:48.320 --> 0:59:50.800
<v Speaker 2>what I didn't really quite expect. I didn't know what

0:59:50.840 --> 0:59:53.440
<v Speaker 2>the gift would be. I didn't know what would be

0:59:53.520 --> 0:59:55.600
<v Speaker 2>in the end of this movie. The feeling that made

0:59:55.680 --> 0:59:58.560
<v Speaker 2>people a little bit different from when the story began.

1:00:06.360 --> 1:00:09.400
<v Speaker 1>Okay, if you're a fan of music from that era,

1:00:09.560 --> 1:00:13.320
<v Speaker 1>you know Billy Preston's story, you may not remember that

1:00:13.400 --> 1:00:15.960
<v Speaker 1>he was a band leader on a TV show for

1:00:16.040 --> 1:00:20.400
<v Speaker 1>a while, but you know that. Yeah, he played on

1:00:20.480 --> 1:00:23.840
<v Speaker 1>Abbey Road and he worked with the Beatles and then

1:00:23.840 --> 1:00:26.320
<v Speaker 1>he was a concert for Bangladesh and he you know,

1:00:26.360 --> 1:00:30.760
<v Speaker 1>he had hit records in the seventies. But the Genesis

1:00:31.280 --> 1:00:33.480
<v Speaker 1>you didn't know that. You didn't know that he went

1:00:33.520 --> 1:00:37.120
<v Speaker 1>on the road as a teenager. Where did you find

1:00:37.480 --> 1:00:40.560
<v Speaker 1>all about footage? And how did you get that information?

1:00:41.160 --> 1:00:43.920
<v Speaker 1>It was shocking because you know, I think people sent

1:00:44.000 --> 1:00:46.640
<v Speaker 1>me these documentaries all the time, and a lot of

1:00:46.640 --> 1:00:49.760
<v Speaker 1>these people, you know, I don't want to diss some documentaries,

1:00:49.760 --> 1:00:52.400
<v Speaker 1>but like in the Nicky Hopkins, they don't have any footage,

1:00:53.000 --> 1:00:54.520
<v Speaker 1>and in this movie there's so much.

1:00:54.560 --> 1:00:56.920
<v Speaker 2>But in his mind blow you should speak to that

1:00:57.040 --> 1:01:00.520
<v Speaker 2>because you've got the research department of the Angel there.

1:01:00.720 --> 1:01:03.880
<v Speaker 5>So yeah, we do we have. I mean, Patrick Ryan

1:01:04.000 --> 1:01:07.640
<v Speaker 5>is our archival producer and he is he is a gift.

1:01:07.760 --> 1:01:12.240
<v Speaker 5>He is a gift and he is incredibly uh you know,

1:01:12.320 --> 1:01:15.600
<v Speaker 5>he just knows where where everything is. I don't know

1:01:15.640 --> 1:01:18.720
<v Speaker 5>how he does it. You know, we work with Global

1:01:18.760 --> 1:01:24.280
<v Speaker 5>Images g I W. Chris Robertson, Jessica Berman, Bogden. Uh,

1:01:24.320 --> 1:01:26.840
<v Speaker 5>you know that team out of New York. We work

1:01:26.880 --> 1:01:30.800
<v Speaker 5>with a team called Archival Ninja. We work with that.

1:01:31.040 --> 1:01:34.960
<v Speaker 5>Our long standing relationship is with Reeland in the Years,

1:01:35.520 --> 1:01:38.280
<v Speaker 5>David Pax Reelan in the years. He's a co producer

1:01:38.280 --> 1:01:44.040
<v Speaker 5>of this film. He is archival Library is absolutely uncanny,

1:01:44.080 --> 1:01:48.560
<v Speaker 5>and he's like a He's like an oracle. I always

1:01:48.560 --> 1:01:51.000
<v Speaker 5>called I was whenever I'm thinking about doing a doc

1:01:51.040 --> 1:01:53.080
<v Speaker 5>and we usually call him up obi Wan. I ask

1:01:53.200 --> 1:01:55.560
<v Speaker 5>him for like what he have? What what we have?

1:01:55.680 --> 1:01:59.400
<v Speaker 5>Enough archive? So there's certain tests and litmus tests that

1:01:59.440 --> 1:02:03.919
<v Speaker 5>you go through before you before you then go dip

1:02:03.960 --> 1:02:08.520
<v Speaker 5>into your your very loyal you know, investors. So you

1:02:08.640 --> 1:02:11.240
<v Speaker 5>have to have the tools and the colors on the

1:02:11.280 --> 1:02:12.840
<v Speaker 5>palette of which to paint with.

1:02:13.680 --> 1:02:18.400
<v Speaker 4>And we also had Olivia Harrison. Oh yeah, Olivia Harrison

1:02:18.960 --> 1:02:25.560
<v Speaker 4>was a fountain of information, photographs of.

1:02:24.800 --> 1:02:27.720
<v Speaker 3>Music that he had boarded. Yeah, it was.

1:02:27.760 --> 1:02:28.040
<v Speaker 1>It was.

1:02:28.520 --> 1:02:31.560
<v Speaker 2>She helped us get to Peter Jackson and helped us,

1:02:31.600 --> 1:02:34.760
<v Speaker 2>you know, basically get footage, not just the footage that

1:02:34.880 --> 1:02:37.600
<v Speaker 2>was in Get Back, but some outtakes and Peter Jackson

1:02:37.720 --> 1:02:40.360
<v Speaker 2>was generous enough to share those with us, which allowed

1:02:40.440 --> 1:02:43.560
<v Speaker 2>us to tell that story from Billy's perspective which people

1:02:43.640 --> 1:02:46.120
<v Speaker 2>have seen get back really kind of enjoy that because

1:02:46.360 --> 1:02:49.160
<v Speaker 2>it's buried in the eight hours and it's only fragmentary.

1:02:49.200 --> 1:02:52.240
<v Speaker 2>But when we just put it together in front of them,

1:02:52.240 --> 1:02:55.720
<v Speaker 2>focused on Billy, it's very very effective for our purposes.

1:02:56.000 --> 1:02:58.040
<v Speaker 2>So we couldn't have done that without Peter Jackson and

1:02:58.080 --> 1:03:00.040
<v Speaker 2>Apple Ringo.

1:03:00.040 --> 1:03:02.960
<v Speaker 4>Who I got to interview because Paris and Jail were

1:03:02.960 --> 1:03:05.520
<v Speaker 4>gone that day we were shooting.

1:03:05.720 --> 1:03:11.720
<v Speaker 1>I have a busy career. Yeah, Okay, is this anomaloust

1:03:11.840 --> 1:03:15.960
<v Speaker 1>that there's so much footage about Billy or if you

1:03:16.160 --> 1:03:19.320
<v Speaker 1>have the means in the connections, does there tend to

1:03:19.360 --> 1:03:21.640
<v Speaker 1>be all this footage of people from that era.

1:03:22.760 --> 1:03:25.320
<v Speaker 2>I think it's different with Billy. I think Billy was

1:03:25.360 --> 1:03:28.840
<v Speaker 2>so all over. I mean, Billy is on Shindig. You know,

1:03:28.880 --> 1:03:31.040
<v Speaker 2>Billy is in a movie when he's you know, ten

1:03:31.120 --> 1:03:34.000
<v Speaker 2>years old. You know that not every artist is on

1:03:34.080 --> 1:03:36.400
<v Speaker 2>the Netkin Cole ship the.

1:03:36.280 --> 1:03:39.680
<v Speaker 4>Zones are recording their concerts.

1:03:39.720 --> 1:03:42.200
<v Speaker 3>He is the Zelig like where we you Go?

1:03:42.320 --> 1:03:45.160
<v Speaker 2>So I think he's somewhat unusual. I don't think if

1:03:45.160 --> 1:03:47.240
<v Speaker 2>you picked anyone out of the hat, you know that

1:03:47.320 --> 1:03:49.560
<v Speaker 2>you could find this kind of material because he had

1:03:49.640 --> 1:03:53.120
<v Speaker 2>so much hair, so many different hairs processed, afro your

1:03:53.240 --> 1:03:55.800
<v Speaker 2>short and they are all these different time periods, and

1:03:55.840 --> 1:03:58.800
<v Speaker 2>we had footage, but there are limitations to that. For instance,

1:03:58.800 --> 1:04:01.800
<v Speaker 2>we wanted to say more about Waretha Franklin. There's Harry's

1:04:01.800 --> 1:04:04.960
<v Speaker 2>little footage of Billy with Franklin and that's a thirty

1:04:05.040 --> 1:04:07.680
<v Speaker 2>year relationship that some people noted that it is not

1:04:08.280 --> 1:04:10.400
<v Speaker 2>paid a great attention to in the film. But because

1:04:10.440 --> 1:04:12.800
<v Speaker 2>we didn't have the movie, we didn't have anything to

1:04:12.840 --> 1:04:14.840
<v Speaker 2>show you. We could only play the music and maybe

1:04:14.840 --> 1:04:17.200
<v Speaker 2>show some stills of Beretha Franklin. That wasn't how we

1:04:17.200 --> 1:04:20.160
<v Speaker 2>were crumpeted, you know, that wasn't how this thing was gone.

1:04:21.080 --> 1:04:24.000
<v Speaker 1>So it's unfortunate there were some holes there.

1:04:23.760 --> 1:04:25.760
<v Speaker 2>In Billy's life that we couldn't get to just because

1:04:25.760 --> 1:04:27.800
<v Speaker 2>we didn't have the stuff to show you.

1:04:28.480 --> 1:04:30.240
<v Speaker 5>Very true and we have those, you know, we did

1:04:30.240 --> 1:04:34.400
<v Speaker 5>have his his actual you know, book of memories. He

1:04:34.480 --> 1:04:37.120
<v Speaker 5>had his whole, that whole and we.

1:04:37.040 --> 1:04:40.560
<v Speaker 2>Start with Billy's actual scrap book. Billy in his scrap

1:04:40.560 --> 1:04:45.240
<v Speaker 2>book even kept articles about his assault, his in his

1:04:45.280 --> 1:04:47.280
<v Speaker 2>scrap books. So when you're seeing those in the movie,

1:04:47.280 --> 1:04:49.920
<v Speaker 2>those are coming out of Billy's scrap book, which I

1:04:49.920 --> 1:04:51.720
<v Speaker 2>thought was fascint.

1:04:52.160 --> 1:04:56.080
<v Speaker 5>You know, you're we're lucky when you find things like that.

1:04:56.280 --> 1:05:00.560
<v Speaker 5>Part of my part of that's, you know, when when

1:05:00.680 --> 1:05:03.040
<v Speaker 5>when we were when I was doing research for Lucy

1:05:03.120 --> 1:05:06.360
<v Speaker 5>and DESI and I went to Luciernez's house for example.

1:05:07.120 --> 1:05:10.480
<v Speaker 5>You know, people can say, oh, I put everything here,

1:05:10.640 --> 1:05:12.640
<v Speaker 5>this is where I put everything in these two rooms

1:05:12.720 --> 1:05:16.400
<v Speaker 5>or something, and you're you and this happened at Lucy

1:05:16.480 --> 1:05:19.360
<v Speaker 5>Ernez's home. I literally was stretching my back and I

1:05:19.400 --> 1:05:22.120
<v Speaker 5>looked up. I was literally bending my back like that,

1:05:22.200 --> 1:05:24.440
<v Speaker 5>and I said, Hey, there's a something that looks like

1:05:24.480 --> 1:05:26.919
<v Speaker 5>a lock box that's up on this top shelf. Does

1:05:26.960 --> 1:05:28.840
<v Speaker 5>you think that's anything? And she said, oh my god,

1:05:29.240 --> 1:05:31.400
<v Speaker 5>I think you're going to really love this. I forgot

1:05:31.440 --> 1:05:33.439
<v Speaker 5>I put that up there, and we pulled it down

1:05:33.480 --> 1:05:35.120
<v Speaker 5>and this is the lock box at the very very

1:05:35.160 --> 1:05:38.680
<v Speaker 5>beginning of the movie that has recordings that no one

1:05:38.680 --> 1:05:42.720
<v Speaker 5>has ever heard. You know, it's so these are it

1:05:42.760 --> 1:05:45.120
<v Speaker 5>was it was a gift, like all these recordings that

1:05:45.400 --> 1:05:47.200
<v Speaker 5>and what was so great and what we could what

1:05:47.240 --> 1:05:49.080
<v Speaker 5>we do for a lot of what we've did, we

1:05:49.360 --> 1:05:53.160
<v Speaker 5>helped Olivia organize, help her organize her, you know, with

1:05:53.160 --> 1:05:56.240
<v Speaker 5>with with that George Harrison Mature World, and and you

1:05:56.600 --> 1:05:59.960
<v Speaker 5>could help people wantit. What you don't use in your film,

1:06:00.080 --> 1:06:04.040
<v Speaker 5>you can monetize for them later, you know. So Lucy Arnez,

1:06:04.080 --> 1:06:07.000
<v Speaker 5>for example, came out with this book about the love

1:06:07.120 --> 1:06:11.560
<v Speaker 5>letters because she took out this giant I couldn't believe

1:06:11.600 --> 1:06:14.480
<v Speaker 5>it and started opening up these love letters from Desi Arnez.

1:06:14.480 --> 1:06:16.040
<v Speaker 5>And she was like, don't you want to open them up?

1:06:16.080 --> 1:06:17.320
<v Speaker 5>And I said, I do, but I don't want to

1:06:17.320 --> 1:06:19.760
<v Speaker 5>touch them. I don't want to break them. So let's

1:06:19.840 --> 1:06:23.040
<v Speaker 5>go to a professional and have somebody, you know, photograph

1:06:23.120 --> 1:06:26.760
<v Speaker 5>these properly, which she did, and that movie could have

1:06:26.760 --> 1:06:28.480
<v Speaker 5>been like, you know, two parts as well, Les, this

1:06:28.560 --> 1:06:33.000
<v Speaker 5>could have so, yeah, those are the yummy and delicious

1:06:33.000 --> 1:06:35.520
<v Speaker 5>things you find when you're going through an archive.

1:06:36.280 --> 1:06:40.440
<v Speaker 1>Okay, Billy goes on the road to England at a

1:06:40.480 --> 1:06:44.720
<v Speaker 1>young age. To what degree do you think that change

1:06:45.480 --> 1:06:50.080
<v Speaker 1>his identity personality as opposed to someone who had just

1:06:50.520 --> 1:06:53.080
<v Speaker 1>been living in their neighborhood going to high school.

1:06:55.480 --> 1:06:59.160
<v Speaker 2>Well, he was fifteen when he originally started traveling with

1:06:59.240 --> 1:07:02.320
<v Speaker 2>Little Richard and as Tony Jones says in the movie,

1:07:02.360 --> 1:07:04.919
<v Speaker 2>there's a lot of things going on there that maybe

1:07:04.920 --> 1:07:07.600
<v Speaker 2>a fifteen year old isn't ready to see. And even

1:07:07.640 --> 1:07:09.720
<v Speaker 2>though he's with the band, he's with the band that's

1:07:09.800 --> 1:07:12.960
<v Speaker 2>you know, guys a bit older and they're quite probably active.

1:07:13.400 --> 1:07:16.240
<v Speaker 2>And so if Billy Preshm were my son at the time,

1:07:16.320 --> 1:07:18.840
<v Speaker 2>you know, I would probably say no. But his mother

1:07:18.920 --> 1:07:21.720
<v Speaker 2>said yes. It was a great opportunity for him, and

1:07:21.920 --> 1:07:24.120
<v Speaker 2>sure enough it opened his horizons. And he says the

1:07:24.160 --> 1:07:27.080
<v Speaker 2>first time he played rock and roll, but also probably

1:07:27.280 --> 1:07:29.760
<v Speaker 2>it was a lot more than a young person should

1:07:29.800 --> 1:07:31.760
<v Speaker 2>have to handle at that point. And I think that

1:07:31.920 --> 1:07:33.440
<v Speaker 2>is certainly somebody that affected.

1:07:34.240 --> 1:07:36.000
<v Speaker 4>And I also think any you know, I remember the

1:07:36.040 --> 1:07:38.560
<v Speaker 4>first time I went to Europe. I was nineteen or something.

1:07:38.680 --> 1:07:40.640
<v Speaker 4>It's it's mind opening.

1:07:40.320 --> 1:07:40.560
<v Speaker 1>You know.

1:07:40.800 --> 1:07:46.320
<v Speaker 4>I think that beyond whatever was happening or whatever, you're

1:07:46.320 --> 1:07:49.640
<v Speaker 4>in a different country, you're out of your neighborhood, you're

1:07:49.760 --> 1:07:51.240
<v Speaker 4>in a different world.

1:07:51.440 --> 1:07:53.560
<v Speaker 3>It's got to affect you, you know.

1:07:53.600 --> 1:07:58.720
<v Speaker 1>Okay, being on the road and rock and roll. It

1:07:58.880 --> 1:08:02.280
<v Speaker 1>is sex drug in rock and roll. Yes, in the

1:08:02.320 --> 1:08:05.960
<v Speaker 1>era of that really applies if you're a gay guy.

1:08:06.120 --> 1:08:08.560
<v Speaker 1>I mean, we're doing that in some in sports. Another

1:08:08.680 --> 1:08:11.800
<v Speaker 1>occasional sports guy comes out and says, yes, I'm gay.

1:08:11.840 --> 1:08:15.280
<v Speaker 1>Most of them retired, but when we go back to

1:08:15.320 --> 1:08:19.559
<v Speaker 1>this era, no one's going to come out. It must

1:08:19.640 --> 1:08:21.479
<v Speaker 1>have been really hard for Billy.

1:08:22.400 --> 1:08:24.920
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's just not possible. And you know, as we've

1:08:25.000 --> 1:08:27.000
<v Speaker 2>talked about it, because we love Billy Press so much,

1:08:27.040 --> 1:08:29.960
<v Speaker 2>we understand, you know, I get it. I get that

1:08:30.000 --> 1:08:32.040
<v Speaker 2>he wasn't able to do what I was able to do.

1:08:32.120 --> 1:08:35.320
<v Speaker 2>It is I mean, you know, pretty much out in

1:08:35.360 --> 1:08:37.800
<v Speaker 2>my adult life and certainly out in the industry at

1:08:37.800 --> 1:08:40.479
<v Speaker 2>a very early age, you couldn't do that. Then, I mean,

1:08:40.560 --> 1:08:44.080
<v Speaker 2>it's it's not he wanted to have a career. You know, Yes,

1:08:44.120 --> 1:08:47.240
<v Speaker 2>the Beatles probably, you know, we certainly knew that he

1:08:47.360 --> 1:08:50.040
<v Speaker 2>was gay, but they didn't have to make it an issue.

1:08:50.080 --> 1:08:52.200
<v Speaker 2>But not every band is going to be there, and

1:08:52.240 --> 1:08:54.160
<v Speaker 2>not every musician is going to want to play with you,

1:08:54.439 --> 1:08:56.240
<v Speaker 2>and not every record company is going to want to

1:08:56.280 --> 1:08:59.400
<v Speaker 2>have you on their lad And so it's sadly the

1:08:59.439 --> 1:09:02.599
<v Speaker 2>shrewdest thing that Billy Preston could have done is by

1:09:02.640 --> 1:09:05.400
<v Speaker 2>just staying in the closet. But there's a cost, you know,

1:09:05.479 --> 1:09:07.519
<v Speaker 2>the closet has a cost, and you can be open

1:09:07.520 --> 1:09:10.240
<v Speaker 2>with your friends, but when you're not authentic and it's

1:09:10.280 --> 1:09:13.280
<v Speaker 2>all hidden in your songs, like he writes songs about

1:09:13.360 --> 1:09:15.640
<v Speaker 2>keep it to yourself and don't let anybody get on

1:09:15.680 --> 1:09:18.559
<v Speaker 2>the inside story of your love affair. But he doesn't

1:09:18.680 --> 1:09:21.519
<v Speaker 2>actually be able. He isn't able to be his authentic self.

1:09:21.880 --> 1:09:24.519
<v Speaker 2>There is a price, and that's a price that I

1:09:24.560 --> 1:09:26.519
<v Speaker 2>think at the end was, you know, part of his

1:09:26.640 --> 1:09:28.719
<v Speaker 2>unduel the mother.

1:09:30.240 --> 1:09:32.880
<v Speaker 1>It's established and it's well known there might not have

1:09:32.960 --> 1:09:37.960
<v Speaker 1>been many opportunities for black people in those circumstances. But

1:09:38.479 --> 1:09:41.680
<v Speaker 1>do you think the mother acted appropriately or.

1:09:41.720 --> 1:09:46.599
<v Speaker 2>She was out of touch? Ladies, what do you think?

1:09:46.800 --> 1:09:49.760
<v Speaker 2>That's a tough question. I think she was taking that

1:09:49.960 --> 1:09:53.080
<v Speaker 2>Billy was a star. She knew Billy was a star.

1:09:53.200 --> 1:09:55.599
<v Speaker 2>He was on TV when he was five or six

1:09:55.720 --> 1:09:59.680
<v Speaker 2>conducting the choir. You know, he had so many opportunities.

1:10:00.520 --> 1:10:02.920
<v Speaker 2>She thought, this is what's best for Billy. You know,

1:10:03.040 --> 1:10:05.920
<v Speaker 2>let's let this star blossom and grow. And you know,

1:10:06.000 --> 1:10:08.280
<v Speaker 2>as one of the coaches, I forget who says, we

1:10:08.280 --> 1:10:10.599
<v Speaker 2>were so proud to see that Billy came out first,

1:10:10.600 --> 1:10:14.720
<v Speaker 2>that Billy was the ship before any of us. And

1:10:14.800 --> 1:10:17.240
<v Speaker 2>so there was a certain. I think for her, from

1:10:17.240 --> 1:10:20.240
<v Speaker 2>her perspective, she was just helping her son. She was

1:10:20.400 --> 1:10:22.400
<v Speaker 2>helping her son get to where he dreamed.

1:10:22.080 --> 1:10:23.599
<v Speaker 1>He could be. Yeah.

1:10:23.720 --> 1:10:26.040
<v Speaker 5>I mean you look at Judy Garland, you know, and

1:10:26.080 --> 1:10:28.040
<v Speaker 5>you could look at any and you know what I'm saying.

1:10:28.040 --> 1:10:30.679
<v Speaker 5>You could look at any child star and their parents

1:10:30.800 --> 1:10:33.320
<v Speaker 5>did something where you're like, you know, why would you

1:10:33.320 --> 1:10:35.920
<v Speaker 5>give them? You know speed? You know, you know what

1:10:35.920 --> 1:10:37.800
<v Speaker 5>I'm saying. So why you know what I mean? So

1:10:37.880 --> 1:10:41.000
<v Speaker 5>why it didn't and you know, you had this tragic

1:10:41.120 --> 1:10:43.720
<v Speaker 5>ending of Judy Garland. I mean so, and you know

1:10:44.080 --> 1:10:47.240
<v Speaker 5>with with Billy, he's you know you.

1:10:49.000 --> 1:10:49.920
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I do.

1:10:49.960 --> 1:10:56.080
<v Speaker 5>I it's it's disappointing that his mom wasn't you know,

1:10:56.280 --> 1:11:00.840
<v Speaker 5>but you know, weird, we weren't there. We weren't there.

1:11:00.920 --> 1:11:03.799
<v Speaker 5>You can't if you're not there present at every moment

1:11:03.880 --> 1:11:07.400
<v Speaker 5>you don't know, we weren't there. I can't judge anybody

1:11:07.520 --> 1:11:08.519
<v Speaker 5>because they just don't know.

1:11:09.439 --> 1:11:13.120
<v Speaker 1>Okay, you talk about his relationship connection with the Wreath

1:11:13.160 --> 1:11:16.040
<v Speaker 1>of Franklin. You know, people who were not in this

1:11:16.200 --> 1:11:23.040
<v Speaker 1>world think that everybody knows everybody, which is untrue. Okay, Now,

1:11:23.200 --> 1:11:27.200
<v Speaker 1>one thing that is well established in the movie because

1:11:27.720 --> 1:11:32.400
<v Speaker 1>if you lived through Let It Be and Abbey Road

1:11:32.439 --> 1:11:35.920
<v Speaker 1>and all that in nineteen seventy, he looked like an opportunist.

1:11:36.880 --> 1:11:40.519
<v Speaker 1>But it's well established in the movie. They knew him

1:11:40.520 --> 1:11:45.360
<v Speaker 1>from Hamburg whatever. He was just dropping by the studio. Okay,

1:11:46.040 --> 1:11:49.840
<v Speaker 1>So but you talk about all these other people, were

1:11:49.880 --> 1:11:54.439
<v Speaker 1>they tracking him down or because generally speaking, and I

1:11:54.479 --> 1:11:57.240
<v Speaker 1>know a lot of them, the people behind the scenes,

1:11:57.280 --> 1:12:00.960
<v Speaker 1>studio musicians, they're the best networker the ball talk because

1:12:00.960 --> 1:12:04.760
<v Speaker 1>they got to work well. I think it was just

1:12:04.840 --> 1:12:06.040
<v Speaker 1>juggling opportunities.

1:12:06.080 --> 1:12:08.320
<v Speaker 2>I think they were coming at him, you know, it's

1:12:08.400 --> 1:12:11.240
<v Speaker 2>it's just they were looking for that sound, as you know,

1:12:11.320 --> 1:12:13.880
<v Speaker 2>as Eric Clapton says later, when you wanted someone to

1:12:13.960 --> 1:12:16.800
<v Speaker 2>play the B three, you went to Billy Preston. And

1:12:16.800 --> 1:12:19.240
<v Speaker 2>I think people just once they heard him and his

1:12:19.400 --> 1:12:21.720
<v Speaker 2>distinctive sound is something that I think we break down

1:12:21.760 --> 1:12:24.120
<v Speaker 2>pretty well in the film, and people now will hear

1:12:24.200 --> 1:12:27.920
<v Speaker 2>records differently. I hope because of the film, you realize

1:12:27.960 --> 1:12:30.880
<v Speaker 2>that's such a desirable commodity and not everyone has it.

1:12:31.280 --> 1:12:33.360
<v Speaker 2>So they wanted that sauce, they wanted that funk ca

1:12:33.479 --> 1:12:36.960
<v Speaker 2>dethic sound that Billy was providing, and they also knew man.

1:12:37.240 --> 1:12:39.960
<v Speaker 2>He don't need no sheet music. He just shows up

1:12:40.000 --> 1:12:43.599
<v Speaker 2>and kills you know, he does the rich Hot Chili Peppers.

1:12:43.600 --> 1:12:45.400
<v Speaker 2>I think he was in Arizona them. They send him

1:12:45.400 --> 1:12:47.280
<v Speaker 2>the tape and he plays over and he sends it back.

1:12:47.720 --> 1:12:50.599
<v Speaker 2>You know, Billy is just that way. He was such

1:12:50.600 --> 1:12:53.200
<v Speaker 2>a genius that I think when people said we could

1:12:53.200 --> 1:12:55.600
<v Speaker 2>get Billy Preston, let's get Billy Preston. He played on

1:12:55.640 --> 1:12:58.759
<v Speaker 2>the Monkeys first out. You know, everyone knows the Monkeys

1:12:58.760 --> 1:13:01.160
<v Speaker 2>were studio musicians. Did it with Billy Preston.

1:13:01.800 --> 1:13:06.479
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, back there, the early synthesizer stuff like you know what.

1:13:06.800 --> 1:13:09.200
<v Speaker 5>You know what we talked about in the film. Billy

1:13:09.320 --> 1:13:11.360
<v Speaker 5>was able to do that with his organ, playing with

1:13:11.520 --> 1:13:14.479
<v Speaker 5>his the B three that before anyone else can do it.

1:13:15.800 --> 1:13:19.880
<v Speaker 1>We talked about the sex. Let's talk sex drugs, rock

1:13:19.920 --> 1:13:24.280
<v Speaker 1>and roll drugs. Time for the drugs. He gets heavily

1:13:24.320 --> 1:13:29.759
<v Speaker 1>involved in substances. Now that is not uncommon in this world.

1:13:30.000 --> 1:13:31.880
<v Speaker 1>A lot of it has to do with a lifestyle,

1:13:32.000 --> 1:13:34.720
<v Speaker 1>especially if you go on the road. You played a

1:13:34.840 --> 1:13:37.400
<v Speaker 1>ten thousand people, then you're with the same idiots you've

1:13:37.439 --> 1:13:39.920
<v Speaker 1>known for twenty years, and you got to get up

1:13:39.960 --> 1:13:42.720
<v Speaker 1>you don't get enough sleep, and that leads to drugs.

1:13:43.479 --> 1:13:48.360
<v Speaker 1>Why it was Billy who was a church kid, Why

1:13:48.400 --> 1:13:51.639
<v Speaker 1>did he end up falling off the edge with substances.

1:13:51.920 --> 1:13:57.160
<v Speaker 2>Well, I'm the alcoholic expert here, so my theory is

1:13:58.160 --> 1:14:01.000
<v Speaker 2>not everyone becomes an alcoholic or drug because they use

1:14:01.040 --> 1:14:03.720
<v Speaker 2>alcohol and drugs, and not everyone who used it a

1:14:03.760 --> 1:14:07.400
<v Speaker 2>lot necessarily becomes alcoholic or drug act. Billy was probably

1:14:07.439 --> 1:14:10.240
<v Speaker 2>born an alcoholic. His father was an alcoholic. I think

1:14:10.240 --> 1:14:13.360
<v Speaker 2>he had that alcoholic gene and I also have, which

1:14:13.439 --> 1:14:15.720
<v Speaker 2>just excites you. When you get a drink, it does

1:14:15.760 --> 1:14:18.519
<v Speaker 2>something different to your body, and that's part of the

1:14:18.560 --> 1:14:20.760
<v Speaker 2>reason why you start to crave it. And when you

1:14:20.800 --> 1:14:23.040
<v Speaker 2>start to crave it, and when it's then around you

1:14:23.280 --> 1:14:25.920
<v Speaker 2>the way it is, then the addiction becomes a growth

1:14:25.920 --> 1:14:28.400
<v Speaker 2>of that. It also didn't help that he had a

1:14:28.439 --> 1:14:30.960
<v Speaker 2>lot of secrets and part of the reason why you know,

1:14:30.960 --> 1:14:33.320
<v Speaker 2>they always thought about drowning your sorrows. But part of

1:14:33.320 --> 1:14:35.920
<v Speaker 2>the reason why we love drugs and we love alcoholics.

1:14:35.960 --> 1:14:39.240
<v Speaker 2>It lets you forget for that time being. It releases

1:14:39.320 --> 1:14:42.639
<v Speaker 2>you from whatever agony is going on in your mind,

1:14:43.080 --> 1:14:45.400
<v Speaker 2>and if you're not really dealing with that agony, like,

1:14:45.439 --> 1:14:48.240
<v Speaker 2>Billy is not going to therapy, he's not really talking

1:14:48.240 --> 1:14:50.559
<v Speaker 2>to anybody or sharing with his friends what he's going on.

1:14:50.720 --> 1:14:53.599
<v Speaker 2>What he's doing is masking it, and then the masking

1:14:53.760 --> 1:14:55.800
<v Speaker 2>on top of the addiction becomes something that gets out

1:14:55.840 --> 1:14:58.559
<v Speaker 2>of control. Now, he did recognize it later in life,

1:14:58.600 --> 1:15:00.439
<v Speaker 2>and you see in the movie he got over at

1:15:00.520 --> 1:15:03.840
<v Speaker 2>different periods and try to pull himself together. He recognized

1:15:03.840 --> 1:15:06.120
<v Speaker 2>that this was damaging to him, but he wasn't able

1:15:06.160 --> 1:15:06.800
<v Speaker 2>to pull the deep.

1:15:08.280 --> 1:15:11.320
<v Speaker 1>Okay, this is another thing you touched on just now,

1:15:11.840 --> 1:15:17.200
<v Speaker 1>that no one really knew this guy. Okay, being gay

1:15:17.320 --> 1:15:20.479
<v Speaker 1>is one thing, but there were and that's a lot

1:15:20.520 --> 1:15:24.080
<v Speaker 1>of stuff, but this guy was not a lot coming. Okay,

1:15:24.479 --> 1:15:27.040
<v Speaker 1>why do you think he was so internalized?

1:15:31.080 --> 1:15:34.880
<v Speaker 2>Well, his friends really talk about Billy not wanting to

1:15:34.920 --> 1:15:38.280
<v Speaker 2>go there, and Billy didn't want to go there, and

1:15:38.439 --> 1:15:41.160
<v Speaker 2>he just in interviews, we went through all of his interviews,

1:15:41.200 --> 1:15:45.080
<v Speaker 2>he rarely said anything of any personal nature at all,

1:15:45.400 --> 1:15:47.200
<v Speaker 2>other than to say how much he loved his mother

1:15:47.320 --> 1:15:49.599
<v Speaker 2>and how gratefully he was to God for his talent.

1:15:50.200 --> 1:15:52.920
<v Speaker 2>And it seems like he's someone who's reticent to share that.

1:15:52.960 --> 1:15:55.479
<v Speaker 2>And I think it's because he doesn't want to be vulnerable,

1:15:55.479 --> 1:15:57.920
<v Speaker 2>and he doesn't want to be judged, you know, and

1:15:58.000 --> 1:15:59.880
<v Speaker 2>therefore he is not going to put it out there.

1:16:00.200 --> 1:16:03.719
<v Speaker 2>He didn't recognize that the releasing of it, by releasing

1:16:03.760 --> 1:16:07.439
<v Speaker 2>the secret is empowered, and that message never got to him,

1:16:07.479 --> 1:16:09.599
<v Speaker 2>and so the secrets were safer with him if they

1:16:09.600 --> 1:16:12.040
<v Speaker 2>were hell. And I feel bad for him because I

1:16:12.080 --> 1:16:15.120
<v Speaker 2>think that's something that you know, alcoholics can recover learn,

1:16:15.600 --> 1:16:17.040
<v Speaker 2>you know, when we say you're only as sick as

1:16:17.040 --> 1:16:20.240
<v Speaker 2>your secrets. Billy didn't get that message, and so he

1:16:20.400 --> 1:16:24.240
<v Speaker 2>just kept going. And I think he's naturally reticent, and

1:16:24.280 --> 1:16:27.080
<v Speaker 2>he's naturally but every once in a while he slips.

1:16:27.680 --> 1:16:29.800
<v Speaker 2>Every once in a while, like in that Beatles film

1:16:29.960 --> 1:16:32.400
<v Speaker 2>when in Justic's Hey, there's a piano over there, and

1:16:32.439 --> 1:16:34.559
<v Speaker 2>if you want to sit in, there's one shot at

1:16:34.560 --> 1:16:40.920
<v Speaker 2>billion he does this, guess this great lab of genuine excitement.

1:16:40.960 --> 1:16:44.439
<v Speaker 2>The Beatles have just asked him to play on their album,

1:16:44.520 --> 1:16:48.439
<v Speaker 2>The Biggest Band in the World, and his giggle is

1:16:48.439 --> 1:16:50.760
<v Speaker 2>is as close as he gets to saying, this is

1:16:50.800 --> 1:16:54.000
<v Speaker 2>the most joyful offer I've ever had in my life.

1:16:54.560 --> 1:16:56.640
<v Speaker 2>And that does make him a difficult subject. But if

1:16:56.680 --> 1:16:59.320
<v Speaker 2>you talk to enough people he's talked to, you can

1:16:59.360 --> 1:17:01.000
<v Speaker 2>get a picture it, which is where I think we're

1:17:01.000 --> 1:17:03.360
<v Speaker 2>able to accomplish. We unveiled a bit of the mystery,

1:17:03.479 --> 1:17:05.639
<v Speaker 2>not the total man. We weren't inside of his head,

1:17:05.840 --> 1:17:07.439
<v Speaker 2>but we got as close as we could get with

1:17:08.240 --> 1:17:09.880
<v Speaker 2>the friends and the family that we talked to.

1:17:10.960 --> 1:17:15.840
<v Speaker 1>Okay, the arc of his career once hems successful is

1:17:15.920 --> 1:17:20.519
<v Speaker 1>not uncommon. It's very rare that someone has hits beyond

1:17:20.600 --> 1:17:23.639
<v Speaker 1>their little period. So what makes you know he has

1:17:23.720 --> 1:17:28.240
<v Speaker 1>these gigantic kits in the seventies and then they dry up?

1:17:28.360 --> 1:17:33.080
<v Speaker 1>They try up for everybody? Okay, what makes the aftermath

1:17:33.160 --> 1:17:38.960
<v Speaker 1>of his story different from everybody else's. That's interesting, I.

1:17:38.920 --> 1:17:42.960
<v Speaker 4>Think because I think because and I credit Nigel with

1:17:43.080 --> 1:17:49.840
<v Speaker 4>getting the judge to speak on Billy's behalf, because we're

1:17:49.880 --> 1:17:50.639
<v Speaker 4>always you.

1:17:50.520 --> 1:17:52.880
<v Speaker 3>Know, he he.

1:17:52.880 --> 1:17:57.000
<v Speaker 4>Did something, some not great things, you know, and what

1:17:57.479 --> 1:18:01.880
<v Speaker 4>And I think during the film we hear our director ask,

1:18:02.000 --> 1:18:03.800
<v Speaker 4>how do you square it? You know? How do you

1:18:03.840 --> 1:18:06.000
<v Speaker 4>square all the things that he's done with like how

1:18:06.080 --> 1:18:10.280
<v Speaker 4>much people love him? And I think the ultimate love

1:18:10.920 --> 1:18:14.360
<v Speaker 4>was the guy who sent him to the penitentiary even

1:18:14.439 --> 1:18:18.960
<v Speaker 4>felt something for this man. It was part of the

1:18:19.000 --> 1:18:21.400
<v Speaker 4>thing we heard over and over again from all these

1:18:21.439 --> 1:18:27.400
<v Speaker 4>interviews that he brought joy, and he brought love into

1:18:27.439 --> 1:18:33.240
<v Speaker 4>the room. His love for music was infectious. And I

1:18:33.280 --> 1:18:35.799
<v Speaker 4>forgot the question, but well.

1:18:35.880 --> 1:18:38.240
<v Speaker 1>I do remember. I think it's really interesting.

1:18:38.240 --> 1:18:39.920
<v Speaker 2>You know a lot about the record business and the

1:18:39.960 --> 1:18:41.479
<v Speaker 2>way that it does work is you do have that

1:18:41.560 --> 1:18:45.240
<v Speaker 2>hot streak. You have those records that come out. They're

1:18:45.320 --> 1:18:47.800
<v Speaker 2>co written with him, with Bruce Fisher, and that was

1:18:47.840 --> 1:18:50.439
<v Speaker 2>a partnership that was working for a time. But then

1:18:50.479 --> 1:18:52.800
<v Speaker 2>when he goes to A and M, he sure leaves

1:18:52.840 --> 1:18:56.160
<v Speaker 2>Bruce behind and he's generating his own material, some of

1:18:56.200 --> 1:18:59.240
<v Speaker 2>which is working and some which isn't, and then he's

1:18:59.439 --> 1:19:02.639
<v Speaker 2>kind of dry. Then he's told the stories he could tell. Now,

1:19:02.720 --> 1:19:07.040
<v Speaker 2>a modern recording artist gets new producers, they find different songwriters,

1:19:07.160 --> 1:19:08.880
<v Speaker 2>and they say this is where I want to be,

1:19:09.320 --> 1:19:11.679
<v Speaker 2>and suddenly they make a change and they can keep

1:19:11.680 --> 1:19:14.679
<v Speaker 2>the same sound, but now they've got another contemporary groove

1:19:14.760 --> 1:19:17.559
<v Speaker 2>going on. They stay fresh. That didn't happen with Billie,

1:19:17.960 --> 1:19:21.559
<v Speaker 2>But they didn't find even at Motown. Well, the example

1:19:21.600 --> 1:19:23.479
<v Speaker 2>is with you on Board again. That's not a song

1:19:23.520 --> 1:19:25.719
<v Speaker 2>he wrote, you know, that's a song that was given

1:19:25.760 --> 1:19:28.320
<v Speaker 2>to him. That was A and R to him by

1:19:28.320 --> 1:19:31.639
<v Speaker 2>Suzanne de pass and it's a hit. He really needed

1:19:31.680 --> 1:19:33.840
<v Speaker 2>at this point to have someone who is really doing

1:19:33.880 --> 1:19:36.000
<v Speaker 2>the A and R work to get him the songs

1:19:36.040 --> 1:19:38.760
<v Speaker 2>that he could kill with that, and then he would

1:19:38.800 --> 1:19:40.799
<v Speaker 2>have extended his career. And he could have still continued

1:19:40.840 --> 1:19:43.240
<v Speaker 2>to write stuff, but that would extended his career.

1:19:43.600 --> 1:19:46.679
<v Speaker 4>I remember what I was going to say, I'll forget again.

1:19:46.760 --> 1:19:51.920
<v Speaker 4>So which is he says, and this is his testimony

1:19:52.200 --> 1:19:54.880
<v Speaker 4>that the best toy you ever had was with Eric

1:19:54.920 --> 1:19:59.920
<v Speaker 4>Clapton after jail. And so the story's different, our stories

1:20:00.080 --> 1:20:05.200
<v Speaker 4>different because he did spiral down, but he came back

1:20:05.320 --> 1:20:08.240
<v Speaker 4>and I think that does not happen that often. And

1:20:08.760 --> 1:20:14.439
<v Speaker 4>from talking with Joyce at length and Sam, those final

1:20:14.560 --> 1:20:18.120
<v Speaker 4>years of his life were really great until you know

1:20:18.400 --> 1:20:21.320
<v Speaker 4>that last moment when he when he apparently went off

1:20:21.360 --> 1:20:21.839
<v Speaker 4>the wagon.

1:20:21.960 --> 1:20:23.360
<v Speaker 3>But but he was.

1:20:23.320 --> 1:20:26.360
<v Speaker 4>Able to redeem himself, I think, And that's what we

1:20:26.560 --> 1:20:28.720
<v Speaker 4>tried to leave the audience with.

1:20:29.520 --> 1:20:33.440
<v Speaker 5>Okay, I was saying for forgiveness.

1:20:33.560 --> 1:20:33.840
<v Speaker 1>You know.

1:20:35.280 --> 1:20:39.000
<v Speaker 5>A lot of people, a lot of artists, you know,

1:20:39.120 --> 1:20:42.519
<v Speaker 5>they need somebody. It was said in our film actually

1:20:42.760 --> 1:20:47.240
<v Speaker 5>by Sondra Crouch that an artist needs somebody to love

1:20:47.280 --> 1:20:50.880
<v Speaker 5>them and come home to and and and just let

1:20:50.920 --> 1:20:54.240
<v Speaker 5>their hair figuratively, let their hair down. That's what an

1:20:54.320 --> 1:20:59.360
<v Speaker 5>artist needs, and we all do essentially. And I think

1:20:59.439 --> 1:21:01.920
<v Speaker 5>that a lot of this had to do with his

1:21:02.000 --> 1:21:05.960
<v Speaker 5>lack of trust and his lack of ability to let

1:21:05.960 --> 1:21:09.559
<v Speaker 5>his hair down. And I'm saying this figuratively of course,

1:21:09.600 --> 1:21:13.479
<v Speaker 5>and then and the lack of and you know, the

1:21:13.600 --> 1:21:17.000
<v Speaker 5>lack of a good drug prof that you know, AA,

1:21:17.080 --> 1:21:21.080
<v Speaker 5>we didn't have AA alcohol synonymous, and you know, it

1:21:21.160 --> 1:21:24.200
<v Speaker 5>wasn't it wasn't so prevalent, so a lot of people

1:21:24.240 --> 1:21:28.679
<v Speaker 5>didn't know how to help. And you know, Robert marger

1:21:28.760 --> 1:21:30.840
<v Speaker 5>Leaf says that they, you know, we watched a lot

1:21:30.840 --> 1:21:32.920
<v Speaker 5>of people spiral out of control that we didn't know

1:21:32.920 --> 1:21:35.559
<v Speaker 5>how to help. And that had a lot to do

1:21:35.600 --> 1:21:36.360
<v Speaker 5>with that as well.

1:21:44.000 --> 1:21:47.400
<v Speaker 1>Okay, so after his hit period and he starts to

1:21:47.439 --> 1:21:51.400
<v Speaker 1>fall off the edge, he burned a lot of people. Okay,

1:21:51.600 --> 1:21:55.439
<v Speaker 1>we experienced this maybe times five or ten with Kanye

1:21:55.560 --> 1:22:01.240
<v Speaker 1>right now, once he's trying to come back, is everybody

1:22:01.280 --> 1:22:03.960
<v Speaker 1>warming fuzzy or are they saying they have to stay

1:22:03.960 --> 1:22:06.120
<v Speaker 1>away from this guy?

1:22:06.160 --> 1:22:09.679
<v Speaker 4>According to Bill Maxwell, Yeah, according to Bill Maxwell, people

1:22:09.760 --> 1:22:13.640
<v Speaker 4>he came and played great, and people people wanted him, wanted.

1:22:13.600 --> 1:22:16.000
<v Speaker 2>And he kept playing with Ringo's All Star Band. He

1:22:16.080 --> 1:22:19.280
<v Speaker 2>kept recording with John Lennon. He kept recording until his

1:22:19.400 --> 1:22:22.200
<v Speaker 2>death with George Harrison. He toured with them and so

1:22:22.280 --> 1:22:23.120
<v Speaker 2>people came back.

1:22:23.320 --> 1:22:26.360
<v Speaker 4>Many people said he was high and he played amazing,

1:22:26.720 --> 1:22:27.400
<v Speaker 4>you know what I mean.

1:22:27.560 --> 1:22:30.080
<v Speaker 3>So it was his gift.

1:22:30.120 --> 1:22:33.000
<v Speaker 5>Will never missed a show. Yeah, well, Olivia says that.

1:22:32.920 --> 1:22:35.960
<v Speaker 2>He fell his last recording of Here we Go Again

1:22:36.080 --> 1:22:37.880
<v Speaker 2>with Ray Charles. It's the last time he played with

1:22:37.960 --> 1:22:40.720
<v Speaker 2>Ray Charles. That becomes record of the year. You know,

1:22:40.800 --> 1:22:44.080
<v Speaker 2>he's still there. He's still doing the do and he's

1:22:44.080 --> 1:22:46.719
<v Speaker 2>still getting it done, but it's you know, it's less

1:22:46.720 --> 1:22:49.360
<v Speaker 2>frequent and it's not you know, the kind of glory

1:22:49.439 --> 1:22:51.840
<v Speaker 2>hits that he had. Behind the scenes, he's playing Alton

1:22:51.920 --> 1:22:55.160
<v Speaker 2>John's album and he's doing you know, Barbara Streiss and

1:22:55.240 --> 1:22:58.280
<v Speaker 2>Johnny Cash. So he's still doing his thing. It's just

1:22:58.320 --> 1:23:01.280
<v Speaker 2>not as prominently out and solo as it was.

1:23:02.280 --> 1:23:04.720
<v Speaker 1>Okay, film is done. Did you get it?

1:23:07.320 --> 1:23:07.880
<v Speaker 5>What do you mean?

1:23:08.800 --> 1:23:11.559
<v Speaker 1>You know what I mean? You got a thing, you

1:23:11.640 --> 1:23:15.680
<v Speaker 1>go in and then when it's done, you say, you know,

1:23:15.840 --> 1:23:18.040
<v Speaker 1>I wish I had a little of this, or I

1:23:18.080 --> 1:23:19.920
<v Speaker 1>wish we could have done that, but you can't.

1:23:20.800 --> 1:23:21.000
<v Speaker 2>Yet.

1:23:21.120 --> 1:23:22.720
<v Speaker 5>We got it. And I'll tell you how I know

1:23:22.760 --> 1:23:25.840
<v Speaker 5>we got it. We got it because to sit to

1:23:26.160 --> 1:23:29.320
<v Speaker 5>watch this film over and over again when you feel, God,

1:23:29.360 --> 1:23:31.200
<v Speaker 5>I wish I had that, you can't watch it again

1:23:31.240 --> 1:23:35.760
<v Speaker 5>and again again. So we and our executives would say

1:23:35.760 --> 1:23:38.280
<v Speaker 5>that that this is a film that we got.

1:23:39.000 --> 1:23:41.680
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, this is the best condensation of everything that was

1:23:41.720 --> 1:23:44.760
<v Speaker 1>given to us. Yeah. And sure, I mean there's never

1:23:44.800 --> 1:23:47.240
<v Speaker 1>been a thing that I've worked on that I haven't felt, Oh,

1:23:47.280 --> 1:23:48.800
<v Speaker 1>I wish I'd done this, I wish I cut the

1:23:48.840 --> 1:23:49.839
<v Speaker 1>air and blah blah blah.

1:23:49.880 --> 1:23:53.040
<v Speaker 2>You're always gonna knit it. But emotionally, we were in Philadelphia,

1:23:53.120 --> 1:23:56.200
<v Speaker 2>who was it yesterday? The days fly by yesterday, days ago,

1:23:56.920 --> 1:24:00.559
<v Speaker 2>with the sold out crowd, you know, in tears, clapping

1:24:00.600 --> 1:24:02.640
<v Speaker 2>at the pay of the bell moment that you know

1:24:02.720 --> 1:24:06.920
<v Speaker 2>always brings them down, uh, and just loving the film,

1:24:07.280 --> 1:24:09.799
<v Speaker 2>and we realize what we've made is connected with people.

1:24:09.880 --> 1:24:12.120
<v Speaker 2>It's connected with people so much so that it's still

1:24:12.200 --> 1:24:14.200
<v Speaker 2>the film for him. It was there for three days,

1:24:14.400 --> 1:24:18.880
<v Speaker 2>it's going into his fifth week week that never happened. Yeah,

1:24:18.920 --> 1:24:21.360
<v Speaker 2>So it's awesome that it's actually touching people. So I

1:24:21.479 --> 1:24:23.720
<v Speaker 2>just I have to believe we got something that's a

1:24:23.840 --> 1:24:27.240
<v Speaker 2>value and that people are My inbox is still with

1:24:27.280 --> 1:24:29.360
<v Speaker 2>people we can film with different parts of the world

1:24:29.439 --> 1:24:32.800
<v Speaker 2>is saying this movie is amazing and has taken them

1:24:32.800 --> 1:24:33.599
<v Speaker 2>to a different place.

1:24:33.880 --> 1:24:36.600
<v Speaker 4>That does not happen that often. No, it does, I

1:24:36.600 --> 1:24:38.519
<v Speaker 4>can I can count on one hand.

1:24:38.600 --> 1:24:43.480
<v Speaker 2>Well, definitely, it's happened every single time I've directed a documentary.

1:24:43.880 --> 1:24:48.120
<v Speaker 1>Which is one exactly one hundred percent of the time

1:24:48.280 --> 1:24:52.960
<v Speaker 1>that I've directed to This is great about about it.

1:24:54.000 --> 1:24:56.439
<v Speaker 5>You know what's great about all these q and a's

1:24:56.479 --> 1:24:59.800
<v Speaker 5>that we have is that how many people just have,

1:25:00.320 --> 1:25:04.760
<v Speaker 5>Like Paris said, there it sparks hope, It sparks dialogue,

1:25:04.760 --> 1:25:11.920
<v Speaker 5>It sparks you know, discussing uncomfortable subjects. It sparks you know,

1:25:12.439 --> 1:25:17.760
<v Speaker 5>to the you know, the the bridges that bind us,

1:25:17.840 --> 1:25:20.519
<v Speaker 5>everything that binds us, that brings us together. That's what

1:25:20.600 --> 1:25:24.280
<v Speaker 5>this movie can spark. And it reminds us that we

1:25:24.360 --> 1:25:27.280
<v Speaker 5>have way more in common than we do not, and

1:25:27.479 --> 1:25:30.200
<v Speaker 5>that's very important in these times that we're living in

1:25:30.280 --> 1:25:30.719
<v Speaker 5>right now.

1:25:31.720 --> 1:25:34.280
<v Speaker 1>Paris, you mentioned knew how to plethora of the material

1:25:34.560 --> 1:25:37.439
<v Speaker 1>had a Winnow down, what are two things you had

1:25:37.439 --> 1:25:40.759
<v Speaker 1>to leave out because they didn't fit the film?

1:25:41.600 --> 1:25:43.559
<v Speaker 2>Well, one thing that comes to mind, I was listening

1:25:43.560 --> 1:25:45.880
<v Speaker 2>to this morning in my car. There's a song Billy

1:25:45.880 --> 1:25:49.719
<v Speaker 2>wrote in two thousand and one called Father Forgive Them Yeah,

1:25:49.800 --> 1:25:51.599
<v Speaker 2>and I wrote down the lyrics here. When you look

1:25:51.640 --> 1:25:54.240
<v Speaker 2>at the church, does it hurt you too, how the

1:25:54.280 --> 1:25:58.240
<v Speaker 2>people of God are representing you? I mean, it's on

1:25:58.360 --> 1:26:00.559
<v Speaker 2>the notes and we just had no place for it.

1:26:00.439 --> 1:26:03.559
<v Speaker 2>It was it was so overtly. I mean, it would

1:26:03.600 --> 1:26:05.800
<v Speaker 2>have been great, but we had no film. And it's

1:26:05.840 --> 1:26:09.400
<v Speaker 2>just sometimes things just don't belong in there, even though

1:26:09.439 --> 1:26:12.360
<v Speaker 2>they are saying somebody that's really interesting. It has to

1:26:12.400 --> 1:26:14.759
<v Speaker 2>be part of the woven texture of what we're doing.

1:26:15.320 --> 1:26:17.479
<v Speaker 2>And I you know, we just stefaniely I especially, I've

1:26:17.520 --> 1:26:19.320
<v Speaker 2>talked about this. We really wish there was a way

1:26:19.360 --> 1:26:21.400
<v Speaker 2>to have this movie be just as long, but even

1:26:21.439 --> 1:26:25.200
<v Speaker 2>more music, because we love hearing Billy Preston play and

1:26:25.240 --> 1:26:28.439
<v Speaker 2>there's so much joy and the seeing the styles change

1:26:28.439 --> 1:26:30.920
<v Speaker 2>and the fact that he can do anything. I would

1:26:31.000 --> 1:26:33.639
<v Speaker 2>love to have had film with him with the Retha playing,

1:26:33.800 --> 1:26:36.599
<v Speaker 2>film with him with Johnny Cash. I'd love to see

1:26:36.680 --> 1:26:40.600
<v Speaker 2>him live with these performers at the time, So it

1:26:40.640 --> 1:26:42.559
<v Speaker 2>could be there could be a whole second, you know,

1:26:42.720 --> 1:26:46.719
<v Speaker 2>second album of just musical performances by Billy Preston, which

1:26:46.800 --> 1:26:47.800
<v Speaker 2>I would certainly watch.

1:26:49.240 --> 1:26:55.160
<v Speaker 1>Okay, people in Hollywood, the unsophisticated sake. Content is king.

1:26:55.680 --> 1:27:00.000
<v Speaker 1>Content is not king. Distribution is king. If people can't

1:27:00.080 --> 1:27:03.800
<v Speaker 1>and see it, doesn't matter how good it is. When

1:27:03.840 --> 1:27:08.599
<v Speaker 1>you get the documentaries, when you get the inny type things.

1:27:09.880 --> 1:27:14.280
<v Speaker 1>You know, there's the endless film festival circuit, then the

1:27:14.479 --> 1:27:17.000
<v Speaker 1>rs you know, the sun Dance which the studios are

1:27:17.040 --> 1:27:22.840
<v Speaker 1>buying less from. The film is done, you're happy with it.

1:27:23.760 --> 1:27:28.760
<v Speaker 1>What is the distribution plan and how do you maximize

1:27:28.800 --> 1:27:32.599
<v Speaker 1>the film such as those who are interested have access

1:27:32.640 --> 1:27:33.320
<v Speaker 1>and can see it.

1:27:33.960 --> 1:27:36.720
<v Speaker 4>That's one word, and that's a brama rama. I mean

1:27:36.960 --> 1:27:42.080
<v Speaker 4>this distribution company led by Carole and I can't pronounce

1:27:42.120 --> 1:27:45.760
<v Speaker 4>his last name, but is I have been so impressed

1:27:45.880 --> 1:27:50.120
<v Speaker 4>with how passionate this team is, how knowledgeable this team is.

1:27:50.560 --> 1:27:53.360
<v Speaker 4>We are in theaters through the end of June. This

1:27:53.439 --> 1:27:56.720
<v Speaker 4>is a this is a black music doc that is

1:27:56.800 --> 1:28:00.800
<v Speaker 4>playing sold out across the country. So many things have

1:28:00.880 --> 1:28:04.840
<v Speaker 4>sold out. We're having to repeat requests like it's coming

1:28:04.960 --> 1:28:08.559
<v Speaker 4>back to LA to the Lenley Theaters because people still

1:28:08.560 --> 1:28:10.080
<v Speaker 4>want to see it, Like you said, this is our

1:28:10.120 --> 1:28:11.439
<v Speaker 4>fifth week in Film Forum.

1:28:11.600 --> 1:28:14.360
<v Speaker 3>It's sold out in Austin. It's going back to Austin.

1:28:14.520 --> 1:28:18.920
<v Speaker 4>So the way that we're unfolding the film gives people

1:28:18.920 --> 1:28:20.800
<v Speaker 4>a chance to see it as they should in a

1:28:20.880 --> 1:28:25.120
<v Speaker 4>theater with other people, Like he was saying, people clap

1:28:25.200 --> 1:28:28.759
<v Speaker 4>after the performances, like you're actually in a live music joint,

1:28:28.920 --> 1:28:31.360
<v Speaker 4>you know, And that's when we know we got them.

1:28:31.400 --> 1:28:33.720
<v Speaker 4>And I think Paris, on the last pass of the

1:28:33.880 --> 1:28:36.200
<v Speaker 4>edit really said, let's let's extend.

1:28:36.320 --> 1:28:37.360
<v Speaker 3>Let's shout out.

1:28:37.200 --> 1:28:42.840
<v Speaker 4>Our amazing editor, sah D Hansen, who elongated the music

1:28:42.960 --> 1:28:45.559
<v Speaker 4>scenes so that you really felt like you were in

1:28:45.600 --> 1:28:49.120
<v Speaker 4>a Billy Preston concert. And I think that's super satisfying

1:28:49.840 --> 1:28:50.360
<v Speaker 4>for people.

1:28:50.479 --> 1:28:54.160
<v Speaker 1>So yeah, there's a way, I mean, people stiff around it,

1:28:54.200 --> 1:28:56.040
<v Speaker 1>but it's I think it's so.

1:28:55.880 --> 1:28:58.479
<v Speaker 2>Sparred for us. And this wasn't a decision that I made,

1:28:58.560 --> 1:29:01.040
<v Speaker 2>but this came with our producers to just stay in

1:29:01.120 --> 1:29:03.240
<v Speaker 2>theaters and be in theaters as long as we can

1:29:03.280 --> 1:29:05.680
<v Speaker 2>be in theaters and not just jump to you know,

1:29:05.920 --> 1:29:09.000
<v Speaker 2>the distribution on you know, the netflixes and whatnot, and

1:29:09.000 --> 1:29:11.360
<v Speaker 2>then we'll get there at some point. But right now,

1:29:11.439 --> 1:29:14.439
<v Speaker 2>the experience in the theater is so good and I

1:29:14.520 --> 1:29:17.120
<v Speaker 2>just I just encourage everybody to jump out when it

1:29:17.160 --> 1:29:18.760
<v Speaker 2>comes to your town. And I guess you can find

1:29:18.800 --> 1:29:21.160
<v Speaker 2>it on Billy prestonfilm dot com, he said, doing the

1:29:21.200 --> 1:29:23.840
<v Speaker 2>plug you can find out the dates and it keeps changing.

1:29:23.840 --> 1:29:26.040
<v Speaker 2>I'm looking every day, and so now we're in Louisville

1:29:26.160 --> 1:29:28.120
<v Speaker 2>and how we're normal, Yes.

1:29:28.439 --> 1:29:31.639
<v Speaker 1>Assess and Detroit. You know, it's just so much fun.

1:29:32.040 --> 1:29:35.280
<v Speaker 1>You know obvious. We have studio releases in thousands of

1:29:35.360 --> 1:29:37.960
<v Speaker 1>theaters and it's everywhere. They last for ten minutes and

1:29:37.960 --> 1:29:41.719
<v Speaker 1>they're gone. I wrote about the movie and people say, hey,

1:29:43.240 --> 1:29:45.880
<v Speaker 1>I can't see it. I can't find it. No, I

1:29:45.880 --> 1:29:48.360
<v Speaker 1>don't want to talk about internet stuff people connecting with

1:29:48.400 --> 1:29:53.320
<v Speaker 1>the information. But what is the plan in terms of distribution,

1:29:54.120 --> 1:29:56.360
<v Speaker 1>I mean, what's the strategy there.

1:29:57.560 --> 1:30:02.599
<v Speaker 4>The strategy is to build an audience for the film.

1:30:03.479 --> 1:30:05.800
<v Speaker 4>People these a lot of people come back more than once,

1:30:06.120 --> 1:30:08.920
<v Speaker 4>by the way, because they and the experience of seeing

1:30:08.960 --> 1:30:11.439
<v Speaker 4>in the second time is different because you know where

1:30:11.439 --> 1:30:13.519
<v Speaker 4>you're going. You can relax into the show, you can

1:30:13.560 --> 1:30:16.960
<v Speaker 4>relax into the music. We will sell this, we will

1:30:16.960 --> 1:30:19.720
<v Speaker 4>license this to a streamer, and people will have a

1:30:19.720 --> 1:30:23.280
<v Speaker 4>lot of access. But once that happens, you cut short

1:30:23.280 --> 1:30:25.840
<v Speaker 4>your theatrical run. Because if people know they can just

1:30:25.880 --> 1:30:27.840
<v Speaker 4>go to Netflix, or know they can go to Apple

1:30:27.960 --> 1:30:30.439
<v Speaker 4>or HBO Max, that's what they will do.

1:30:30.520 --> 1:30:32.000
<v Speaker 3>That's the world we're living in.

1:30:32.120 --> 1:30:36.639
<v Speaker 4>So I think the strategy is quite brilliant because it's

1:30:36.760 --> 1:30:39.120
<v Speaker 4>building up the cachet for the film.

1:30:39.280 --> 1:30:40.920
<v Speaker 3>It's building up like the.

1:30:40.800 --> 1:30:43.439
<v Speaker 4>Reviews to I mean, I don't think we've gotten a

1:30:43.479 --> 1:30:46.160
<v Speaker 4>bad review. This is a film that you can't get

1:30:46.160 --> 1:30:48.439
<v Speaker 4>a review in the New York Times. We got three

1:30:48.760 --> 1:30:51.519
<v Speaker 4>articles in the New York Times about this movie. So

1:30:51.960 --> 1:30:53.800
<v Speaker 4>I think it takes to build it up as a

1:30:53.840 --> 1:30:57.000
<v Speaker 4>prestige pick that you should see in theaters and hopefully

1:30:57.040 --> 1:30:59.880
<v Speaker 4>when award season rolls back around, will be in the mix.

1:31:01.120 --> 1:31:05.800
<v Speaker 1>Okay, how many towns or theaters is it playing in simultaneously.

1:31:07.240 --> 1:31:10.360
<v Speaker 2>I think it's about thirty now, yeah, thirty different theaters?

1:31:10.760 --> 1:31:11.880
<v Speaker 5>Yea, yeah, I think it's more.

1:31:12.080 --> 1:31:14.439
<v Speaker 3>I think it's forty yeah.

1:31:14.479 --> 1:31:14.639
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

1:31:14.680 --> 1:31:16.320
<v Speaker 4>And like I said, maybe they would be a one

1:31:16.400 --> 1:31:18.400
<v Speaker 4>day stand, but that would sell out so they come

1:31:18.439 --> 1:31:20.640
<v Speaker 4>back and make it three days or four days like

1:31:20.680 --> 1:31:23.280
<v Speaker 4>That's what's happening is that people are telling their friends.

1:31:23.280 --> 1:31:26.519
<v Speaker 4>The word of mouth on this movie is spectacular, amazing.

1:31:26.640 --> 1:31:31.320
<v Speaker 1>Okay, film is done. It's playing theatrically. Ultimately you'll be

1:31:31.400 --> 1:31:34.519
<v Speaker 1>on a streamer where it will live forever. All those

1:31:34.560 --> 1:31:40.479
<v Speaker 1>always licensing issues things disappear. What do you want people

1:31:40.520 --> 1:31:44.519
<v Speaker 1>to take from the film and to what degree do

1:31:44.560 --> 1:31:47.200
<v Speaker 1>you think about the legacy of the film.

1:31:48.479 --> 1:31:48.879
<v Speaker 4>Paris?

1:31:48.960 --> 1:31:53.360
<v Speaker 2>I start, well, you know William Alford and my playgrinding

1:31:53.400 --> 1:31:56.200
<v Speaker 2>Teacher says what's the gift? And what I really want

1:31:56.240 --> 1:31:58.920
<v Speaker 2>people to take from the film is, yes, it's an

1:31:58.920 --> 1:32:04.000
<v Speaker 2>expiration of fame, of faith, of you know, family. But

1:32:04.240 --> 1:32:07.280
<v Speaker 2>what I hope you'll take is summarized kind of in

1:32:07.360 --> 1:32:09.679
<v Speaker 2>that very last line in the movie where she says,

1:32:10.280 --> 1:32:12.080
<v Speaker 2>how do we let this boy get away from this?

1:32:13.040 --> 1:32:15.880
<v Speaker 2>And I hope it'll make people think about there are

1:32:15.920 --> 1:32:18.040
<v Speaker 2>other troubled people in your life, and they may not

1:32:18.120 --> 1:32:21.000
<v Speaker 2>be geniuses like Billy Preston, but they're they're having their

1:32:21.040 --> 1:32:24.599
<v Speaker 2>difficulties and ask themselves have they done everything they could?

1:32:25.080 --> 1:32:26.960
<v Speaker 2>You know, so many of the witnesses say I wish

1:32:26.960 --> 1:32:28.519
<v Speaker 2>I could have done this. I wish I would have

1:32:28.560 --> 1:32:30.479
<v Speaker 2>shared this. I wish you would have shared this with me.

1:32:31.160 --> 1:32:33.479
<v Speaker 2>And you know, now Billy's no longer with us, but

1:32:33.520 --> 1:32:36.120
<v Speaker 2>there are a lot of people living and struggling with alcoholism,

1:32:36.200 --> 1:32:39.040
<v Speaker 2>and living and struggling with drug addiction, living and struggling

1:32:39.080 --> 1:32:42.360
<v Speaker 2>with secrets of their past life that they can't they

1:32:42.360 --> 1:32:43.280
<v Speaker 2>can't get passed.

1:32:43.800 --> 1:32:45.719
<v Speaker 1>So now we have no excuse.

1:32:46.240 --> 1:32:48.320
<v Speaker 2>You know, after you see this movie, I've said, boy,

1:32:48.320 --> 1:32:50.439
<v Speaker 2>I would have dealt with Corey Monteeth on Glee a

1:32:50.520 --> 1:32:53.439
<v Speaker 2>lot differently after I made this movie, because I was

1:32:53.520 --> 1:32:56.120
<v Speaker 2>very shy about approaching him, even though you know, he

1:32:56.280 --> 1:32:58.760
<v Speaker 2>was struggling to get to said and everyone knew that

1:32:58.800 --> 1:33:02.200
<v Speaker 2>he had a problem, and I just didn't really step up.

1:33:02.640 --> 1:33:05.120
<v Speaker 2>And I would not do that today. Today I would

1:33:05.120 --> 1:33:07.479
<v Speaker 2>step up. And today this film has sort of inspired

1:33:07.520 --> 1:33:09.760
<v Speaker 2>me to take that chance. As Sandra Krout says in

1:33:09.800 --> 1:33:12.439
<v Speaker 2>the film, you may lose a friend, but save a life.

1:33:12.920 --> 1:33:15.120
<v Speaker 2>And I think that's what I'm hoping people take away,

1:33:15.160 --> 1:33:17.240
<v Speaker 2>not just the joy in the glory that is Billy

1:33:17.280 --> 1:33:20.240
<v Speaker 2>Preston and the music, and get excited about it and

1:33:20.320 --> 1:33:22.680
<v Speaker 2>build your on playlist and do all those things. I

1:33:22.680 --> 1:33:25.080
<v Speaker 2>also think you'll think more about how I can be

1:33:25.240 --> 1:33:28.160
<v Speaker 2>useful and can I be more useful to people that

1:33:28.280 --> 1:33:31.439
<v Speaker 2>I love, and if so, can I extend their the

1:33:31.520 --> 1:33:33.759
<v Speaker 2>joy that they bring to me or to other people

1:33:33.800 --> 1:33:37.360
<v Speaker 2>in the world on earth by just being the key

1:33:37.400 --> 1:33:40.160
<v Speaker 2>that gets them to wellness. So I mean, that's my

1:33:40.520 --> 1:33:42.400
<v Speaker 2>big hope for the film. It's not just that I'll

1:33:42.439 --> 1:33:45.360
<v Speaker 2>be an entertainment, but it also will you help here

1:33:45.360 --> 1:33:46.400
<v Speaker 2>in their save a life?

1:33:47.040 --> 1:33:50.040
<v Speaker 4>And I think now we feel like we got to

1:33:50.120 --> 1:33:53.240
<v Speaker 4>know Billy a little bit, and I am very proud

1:33:53.280 --> 1:33:56.160
<v Speaker 4>of the fact that we are reintroducing Billy to a

1:33:56.240 --> 1:34:01.040
<v Speaker 4>whole new generation of music lovers who also old music

1:34:01.160 --> 1:34:03.880
<v Speaker 4>lovers who didn't even know they were listening to Billy.

1:34:04.240 --> 1:34:06.679
<v Speaker 4>Now they will now you can now when you hear

1:34:06.840 --> 1:34:10.679
<v Speaker 4>that that organ, you go, that's Billy. That's Billy in there,

1:34:10.840 --> 1:34:13.479
<v Speaker 4>you know. And so I think about the legacy of

1:34:13.560 --> 1:34:22.519
<v Speaker 4>Billy and how his very sometimes difficult life has you know,

1:34:24.040 --> 1:34:26.960
<v Speaker 4>transcended in a way, and that his joy and his

1:34:27.080 --> 1:34:28.120
<v Speaker 4>music will live forever.

1:34:28.479 --> 1:34:29.680
<v Speaker 5>So I'm very proud of that.

1:34:30.720 --> 1:34:35.680
<v Speaker 1>Amen. Okay, I think what Paris say is the main takeaway.

1:34:36.200 --> 1:34:40.960
<v Speaker 1>But going to Billy himself. Geenie, you've made a number

1:34:41.040 --> 1:34:45.759
<v Speaker 1>of these movies. A to what degree do you find

1:34:46.560 --> 1:34:51.679
<v Speaker 1>that the subject penetrates the culture at large? Like you said,

1:34:51.720 --> 1:34:54.160
<v Speaker 1>to involve no direction home, I could tell you exactly

1:34:54.160 --> 1:34:56.559
<v Speaker 1>where I saw it. I could tell a different name of.

1:34:56.720 --> 1:34:59.920
<v Speaker 5>It wasn't involved. That's the company that Nigel that was.

1:35:00.280 --> 1:35:01.280
<v Speaker 1>Okay, we'll leave it.

1:35:01.600 --> 1:35:02.719
<v Speaker 5>I can't take credit.

1:35:02.960 --> 1:35:05.599
<v Speaker 1>I'm going to give you the credit anyway. Okay, White

1:35:05.640 --> 1:35:13.160
<v Speaker 1>Oors Pictures. I mean there was Score's whatever had impact

1:35:13.640 --> 1:35:18.519
<v Speaker 1>when you make these films. To what degree is it

1:35:18.640 --> 1:35:23.240
<v Speaker 1>palpable that it changed the national consciousness or the international

1:35:23.280 --> 1:35:24.800
<v Speaker 1>conscious on the subject.

1:35:26.880 --> 1:35:31.240
<v Speaker 5>Look, I think that I think that it's what in

1:35:31.240 --> 1:35:33.920
<v Speaker 5>the mirror, what what Paris just said, and what I

1:35:33.920 --> 1:35:37.640
<v Speaker 5>said a few mill mimuentes ago that when you confront

1:35:37.840 --> 1:35:44.160
<v Speaker 5>uncomfortable truth in a subject matter, that it reminds us

1:35:44.560 --> 1:35:48.160
<v Speaker 5>that we need we need to reconnect as the human beings.

1:35:48.960 --> 1:35:52.400
<v Speaker 5>We need to reconnect. And I said this earlier. Forgive

1:35:52.400 --> 1:35:55.559
<v Speaker 5>me for pitting myself, but I really, really really believe this.

1:35:55.960 --> 1:35:59.600
<v Speaker 5>It will help build these bridges back that have been faltering.

1:35:59.800 --> 1:36:03.839
<v Speaker 5>And the weird news cycle, I hope it's a cycle

1:36:04.320 --> 1:36:06.960
<v Speaker 5>that we are going through right now, and we need

1:36:07.000 --> 1:36:09.800
<v Speaker 5>to reconnect with each other on a deeper level and

1:36:09.840 --> 1:36:13.680
<v Speaker 5>forgive and love more. Love has got to override it

1:36:13.920 --> 1:36:14.439
<v Speaker 5>and forget it.

1:36:14.479 --> 1:36:17.519
<v Speaker 2>And men and Bob, just to use a Genie example

1:36:17.600 --> 1:36:19.680
<v Speaker 2>that they did work on that changed. You know, I

1:36:19.720 --> 1:36:22.280
<v Speaker 2>know a lot of peoples the Begs documentary how do

1:36:22.320 --> 1:36:24.639
<v Speaker 2>You Help? Can You Mend a Broken Heart? I thought

1:36:24.640 --> 1:36:26.479
<v Speaker 2>I was going to see a story about you know,

1:36:26.560 --> 1:36:30.000
<v Speaker 2>the Saturday Night by you know Fever soundtrack and blah

1:36:30.000 --> 1:36:32.519
<v Speaker 2>blah blah. But what you saw was really a family

1:36:32.640 --> 1:36:35.880
<v Speaker 2>drama and a family that was broken and trying to

1:36:35.920 --> 1:36:39.559
<v Speaker 2>find its way back to love, which transcended the story

1:36:39.600 --> 1:36:41.280
<v Speaker 2>of the music. So the music was there and it

1:36:41.360 --> 1:36:43.960
<v Speaker 2>got you in, but the family made you look at

1:36:43.960 --> 1:36:46.280
<v Speaker 2>your own family and say, oh my god, should I.

1:36:46.320 --> 1:36:46.960
<v Speaker 1>Call my brother?

1:36:47.040 --> 1:36:48.599
<v Speaker 2>I mean, I have a lot of brothers to call,

1:36:48.640 --> 1:36:50.599
<v Speaker 2>but should I reach out to them now? I mean,

1:36:50.640 --> 1:36:53.280
<v Speaker 2>we're they're still here and some of the pain of

1:36:53.360 --> 1:36:56.719
<v Speaker 2>that are not being there, And the Begs is something

1:36:56.760 --> 1:36:59.160
<v Speaker 2>you can take. So I'm hoping that there's a little

1:36:59.200 --> 1:37:01.320
<v Speaker 2>bit of that too. The Fellow challenge people when they

1:37:01.360 --> 1:37:03.840
<v Speaker 2>look at the story and say, how can I write

1:37:03.920 --> 1:37:06.840
<v Speaker 2>my story better, you know, where can I take a

1:37:07.160 --> 1:37:09.879
<v Speaker 2>take a new path? And that's that's really beautiful.

1:37:10.360 --> 1:37:14.080
<v Speaker 5>Yes, yes, yes, man, You've lived through this.

1:37:14.160 --> 1:37:18.120
<v Speaker 1>Five or six year project. As Stephanie said, it's not

1:37:18.240 --> 1:37:22.759
<v Speaker 1>like a traditional film everybody goes assuming you're out of town.

1:37:22.840 --> 1:37:26.120
<v Speaker 1>It's like summer camp, long hours and you may never

1:37:26.160 --> 1:37:30.960
<v Speaker 1>see each other again. So you've made this one very

1:37:31.000 --> 1:37:33.920
<v Speaker 1>successful movie. Is the nature of the business that you

1:37:34.040 --> 1:37:36.800
<v Speaker 1>did it or the three of you think, well, this

1:37:36.960 --> 1:37:41.679
<v Speaker 1>was so successful, maybe there's another idea we can work on. Absolutely, yeah,

1:37:41.680 --> 1:37:42.920
<v Speaker 1>there's always another idea.

1:37:43.200 --> 1:37:44.840
<v Speaker 5>There's just another idea. Absolutely, really.

1:37:45.960 --> 1:37:50.360
<v Speaker 4>I mean, we had had a difficult time, we had

1:37:50.360 --> 1:37:52.519
<v Speaker 4>a lovely time, we had a fun time. We had

1:37:52.680 --> 1:37:57.000
<v Speaker 4>COVID time where we're all in masks. You know, when

1:37:57.040 --> 1:37:59.880
<v Speaker 4>you make a movie, you are a family, and you

1:38:00.200 --> 1:38:05.120
<v Speaker 4>do go through familial you know, joys and struggles and

1:38:05.600 --> 1:38:08.439
<v Speaker 4>you come out of it. And I think ultimately the

1:38:08.880 --> 1:38:12.120
<v Speaker 4>plays the thing. The movie's the thing, and we all

1:38:12.160 --> 1:38:14.439
<v Speaker 4>love the movie and we all put our heart into

1:38:14.479 --> 1:38:16.960
<v Speaker 4>this movie and the fact that it's connecting with people

1:38:17.560 --> 1:38:20.519
<v Speaker 4>is a reflection of that connection that we have.

1:38:20.720 --> 1:38:21.320
<v Speaker 5>Absolutely.

1:38:21.600 --> 1:38:21.840
<v Speaker 4>Yeah.

1:38:21.880 --> 1:38:24.639
<v Speaker 2>And during this time we were all doing different things.

1:38:24.680 --> 1:38:26.720
<v Speaker 2>I mean, during the making of this movie, I did

1:38:26.800 --> 1:38:30.040
<v Speaker 2>Dahmer and the Menendez and the Watcher and Doctor Odyssey

1:38:30.080 --> 1:38:33.200
<v Speaker 2>and the Night Agent. I mean, we do other jobs

1:38:33.200 --> 1:38:35.200
<v Speaker 2>at the same time, and then we pop back in

1:38:35.640 --> 1:38:37.519
<v Speaker 2>and so part of the reason these take a while

1:38:37.640 --> 1:38:39.840
<v Speaker 2>is because a lot of us are very busy and

1:38:39.960 --> 1:38:43.200
<v Speaker 2>have a lot of other lives to lead. So I

1:38:43.200 --> 1:38:45.360
<v Speaker 2>think it's all to its benefit too. We weren't sort

1:38:45.360 --> 1:38:47.360
<v Speaker 2>of in a hothouse for very long, you know, two

1:38:47.400 --> 1:38:50.880
<v Speaker 2>weeks here, shooting, two weeks here, editorial or just groups

1:38:50.920 --> 1:38:53.559
<v Speaker 2>of times. But mostly we were out in the world

1:38:53.640 --> 1:38:56.840
<v Speaker 2>trying to pull everything together, to keep food on our

1:38:56.840 --> 1:38:59.800
<v Speaker 2>respective tables and keep by boys in college, which is

1:39:00.320 --> 1:39:05.639
<v Speaker 2>Benson very expensive one hundred grand, yeah, one hundred grand

1:39:05.760 --> 1:39:07.440
<v Speaker 2>and no like woof.

1:39:08.520 --> 1:39:13.040
<v Speaker 1>So Paris, I have to ask you, how did you

1:39:13.120 --> 1:39:17.080
<v Speaker 1>end up with the name Paris. Yes, it's a very

1:39:17.080 --> 1:39:20.760
<v Speaker 1>simple story. Uh, it's my mother. She was inspired to

1:39:20.840 --> 1:39:24.120
<v Speaker 1>name me after Paris of Helena Troy than you know,

1:39:24.640 --> 1:39:27.080
<v Speaker 1>so I'm basically named not after the city, which she

1:39:27.120 --> 1:39:29.000
<v Speaker 1>had never been to until I took her to it,

1:39:29.360 --> 1:39:31.840
<v Speaker 1>you know, later in life. But she thought that was

1:39:31.840 --> 1:39:34.120
<v Speaker 1>a really cool name and all my other brothers and

1:39:34.160 --> 1:39:39.000
<v Speaker 1>sisters have nice normal names, William, Robin, Brian, Mark, Monica.

1:39:39.400 --> 1:39:42.439
<v Speaker 1>And in the middle there there's Paris. So I was

1:39:42.479 --> 1:39:45.280
<v Speaker 1>destined for something different. Who whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa whoa.

1:39:45.920 --> 1:39:49.240
<v Speaker 1>You're the middle child. Well, I'm close to the middle

1:39:49.280 --> 1:39:53.559
<v Speaker 1>I was actually the third of seven. Okay, I'll leave

1:39:53.600 --> 1:39:56.960
<v Speaker 1>it at that. So as we go forward in the

1:39:57.000 --> 1:39:58.960
<v Speaker 1>immediate future, what's keeping you busy?

1:39:59.040 --> 1:40:04.040
<v Speaker 2>Paris in the immediate future, Oh my gosh, I am

1:40:04.160 --> 1:40:06.040
<v Speaker 2>doing a lot of work with Dan Fogelman, who's the

1:40:06.080 --> 1:40:09.360
<v Speaker 2>producer in the creator of This Is Us and Paradise.

1:40:09.960 --> 1:40:12.040
<v Speaker 2>I just did a new show for him called The Land,

1:40:12.520 --> 1:40:14.880
<v Speaker 2>which won't be out until next year, which is fantastic

1:40:14.920 --> 1:40:18.360
<v Speaker 2>as succession in a football team, the Cleveland Browns. It's

1:40:18.400 --> 1:40:21.840
<v Speaker 2>got Bill Macy edit who is unbelievable, Mandy Moore, and

1:40:21.920 --> 1:40:24.040
<v Speaker 2>Chris Maloney. And then I'm gonna go and do the

1:40:24.160 --> 1:40:26.760
<v Speaker 2>end of Paradise, the final season, a lot of the

1:40:26.880 --> 1:40:29.720
<v Speaker 2>two episodes of that. Yeah, it's been announced that this

1:40:29.800 --> 1:40:32.559
<v Speaker 2>third season will be the last season, so we'll find

1:40:32.640 --> 1:40:35.400
<v Speaker 2>out what Sterling K. Brown can do to save the

1:40:35.439 --> 1:40:36.919
<v Speaker 2>world or even its possible.

1:40:38.400 --> 1:40:41.400
<v Speaker 1>So those are the things that I'm in the middle of.

1:40:41.840 --> 1:40:43.759
<v Speaker 1>And Stephanie, what's keeping you busy?

1:40:44.760 --> 1:40:48.479
<v Speaker 4>I have a movie called Otis and Zelma, which is

1:40:48.520 --> 1:40:53.600
<v Speaker 4>about Otis Redding and his wife Zelma, and it's a

1:40:53.640 --> 1:40:54.280
<v Speaker 4>ghost story.

1:40:54.320 --> 1:40:55.360
<v Speaker 3>It's a love story.

1:40:56.080 --> 1:41:00.080
<v Speaker 4>Otis died at twenty six, she was twenty three, and

1:41:00.120 --> 1:41:02.640
<v Speaker 4>it's really how love kept him alive and keeps him

1:41:02.680 --> 1:41:07.240
<v Speaker 4>alive today. She's an amazing woman. It's Daniel Deadweiler and

1:41:08.720 --> 1:41:13.360
<v Speaker 4>our our Otis is John Boyega. And that'll be my

1:41:13.439 --> 1:41:20.320
<v Speaker 4>next movie. It's a narrative. And and I'm raising my granddaughters,

1:41:21.240 --> 1:41:25.200
<v Speaker 4>which is a new thing because my my grand my

1:41:25.960 --> 1:41:29.799
<v Speaker 4>daughter in law, had a massive stroke and she is covering. Yeah,

1:41:29.880 --> 1:41:31.559
<v Speaker 4>And so I've got a little three and five year

1:41:31.600 --> 1:41:35.320
<v Speaker 4>old that I'm helping raise with my son and the

1:41:35.400 --> 1:41:42.320
<v Speaker 4>village that is the family. It's been quite a life lesson.

1:41:42.600 --> 1:41:46.519
<v Speaker 1>Really, I'm so fortunate to have you guys.

1:41:47.280 --> 1:41:49.519
<v Speaker 5>So I'm fortunate to have them, Are you kidding?

1:41:49.640 --> 1:41:51.040
<v Speaker 3>They're like the joy?

1:41:51.320 --> 1:41:52.120
<v Speaker 5>They are the joy?

1:41:52.680 --> 1:41:55.000
<v Speaker 2>And you didn't mention that Stephen bray Is. I think

1:41:55.040 --> 1:41:56.519
<v Speaker 2>you alluded to the fact that he's one of the

1:41:56.560 --> 1:41:58.760
<v Speaker 2>composers of the color purple, but he also wrote those

1:41:58.800 --> 1:42:01.479
<v Speaker 2>great hits for Madonna back in the day, so he's

1:42:01.520 --> 1:42:04.719
<v Speaker 2>known in the music world, and I'm sure he's busy

1:42:04.760 --> 1:42:06.240
<v Speaker 2>doing something awesome.

1:42:05.960 --> 1:42:06.200
<v Speaker 1>Same.

1:42:06.360 --> 1:42:14.000
<v Speaker 3>Yes, we're actually writing a musical together, a musical, that's right.

1:42:14.320 --> 1:42:15.920
<v Speaker 1>So that I got to ask you if you could

1:42:15.960 --> 1:42:17.959
<v Speaker 1>tell us what's the subject of the musical.

1:42:18.160 --> 1:42:20.960
<v Speaker 4>It's called Vintage, and it's a story of a diva

1:42:21.160 --> 1:42:24.559
<v Speaker 4>who was like a Millie Jackson in her day, and

1:42:24.640 --> 1:42:27.400
<v Speaker 4>she's got a little bit of revived fame because her

1:42:27.640 --> 1:42:31.360
<v Speaker 4>signature song is in an ed commercial and.

1:42:31.439 --> 1:42:34.439
<v Speaker 3>She just wants to come back, but she doesn't have

1:42:34.600 --> 1:42:37.519
<v Speaker 3>much wherewithal so she ends.

1:42:37.439 --> 1:42:40.080
<v Speaker 4>Up going to an old folks home for musicians and

1:42:40.200 --> 1:42:44.000
<v Speaker 4>she she turns the place inside out, so.

1:42:43.960 --> 1:42:47.559
<v Speaker 1>It's like a sister act. Is this legitimate theater or

1:42:47.680 --> 1:42:48.519
<v Speaker 1>is this a movie?

1:42:49.160 --> 1:42:50.320
<v Speaker 5>It's legitimate theater.

1:42:50.360 --> 1:42:51.040
<v Speaker 3>It's a musical.

1:42:51.240 --> 1:42:52.240
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, it's a musical.

1:42:52.400 --> 1:42:55.600
<v Speaker 1>That's a tough road. Good luck up man. But but

1:42:55.840 --> 1:42:56.719
<v Speaker 1>they're all tough.

1:42:57.439 --> 1:42:58.599
<v Speaker 5>They're all they're all tough.

1:42:58.880 --> 1:42:59.479
<v Speaker 1>Yeah they are.

1:43:00.160 --> 1:43:01.479
<v Speaker 5>Our narrative is tough.

1:43:01.479 --> 1:43:05.639
<v Speaker 1>But musicals are really tough. And Jeanie, what's up with you?

1:43:06.680 --> 1:43:09.679
<v Speaker 5>Well, we've got film that's out right now that we're

1:43:09.720 --> 1:43:12.479
<v Speaker 5>promoting is Lil a fair building on a mystery directed

1:43:12.520 --> 1:43:17.360
<v Speaker 5>by Ali panc And uh, we've got Fleetwood Mac. That's

1:43:17.479 --> 1:43:21.080
<v Speaker 5>U that's gonna that also is coming out probably by

1:43:21.080 --> 1:43:25.400
<v Speaker 5>the end of the year and on Apple. And we

1:43:25.600 --> 1:43:28.000
<v Speaker 5>have got a lot of very very very cool things

1:43:28.000 --> 1:43:31.599
<v Speaker 5>that are that are cooking that aren't announced. And uh,

1:43:32.320 --> 1:43:34.840
<v Speaker 5>and there's a lot of very cool things coming a

1:43:34.840 --> 1:43:36.040
<v Speaker 5>lot of very fun things.

1:43:36.439 --> 1:43:40.599
<v Speaker 1>Little Fear has already played. Weetwood Mac is not out yet.

1:43:40.640 --> 1:43:42.559
<v Speaker 1>That's a little bit my world. I know a little

1:43:42.560 --> 1:43:48.240
<v Speaker 1>bit about it. With an act that universal, that had

1:43:48.280 --> 1:43:50.560
<v Speaker 1>an album that's so old twenty million copies, or in

1:43:50.600 --> 1:43:54.639
<v Speaker 1>the neighborhood thereof what do you do to promote that

1:43:55.479 --> 1:43:58.160
<v Speaker 1>it is a subject. It's unlike Billy Preston, We Are,

1:43:58.400 --> 1:44:00.559
<v Speaker 1>you know, taking the lid off in your looking at

1:44:00.600 --> 1:44:03.400
<v Speaker 1>things that most people don't know. People know a lot

1:44:03.439 --> 1:44:08.240
<v Speaker 1>about Fleetwood Mac. How do you make this into an event.

1:44:08.560 --> 1:44:11.160
<v Speaker 5>Into a one one movie. It's not a two parter.

1:44:11.320 --> 1:44:14.360
<v Speaker 5>That's very difficult to do. That's how very difficult it is.

1:44:14.640 --> 1:44:19.080
<v Speaker 5>We're doing this with Kennedy Marshall. Frank Marshall's directing We Are.

1:44:19.600 --> 1:44:22.280
<v Speaker 5>It's the it is the only film that has been

1:44:22.360 --> 1:44:26.840
<v Speaker 5>authorized by all five members. So we had everybody, you know,

1:44:27.000 --> 1:44:30.040
<v Speaker 5>we had that not pitch this, We had it all

1:44:30.439 --> 1:44:34.240
<v Speaker 5>sign sealed and delivered right before we lost Christine. You know,

1:44:34.320 --> 1:44:36.160
<v Speaker 5>we thought she just had a cold or the flu,

1:44:36.360 --> 1:44:39.160
<v Speaker 5>and sadly she passed away in twenty twenty two, so

1:44:39.840 --> 1:44:44.759
<v Speaker 5>that was a shock and surprise. So it is difficult.

1:44:44.920 --> 1:44:48.160
<v Speaker 5>The answer to your question, It is difficult, just like

1:44:48.240 --> 1:44:52.479
<v Speaker 5>it's difficult to you know, Bob Dylan, No Direction, Home

1:44:52.600 --> 1:44:57.559
<v Speaker 5>and and the Beatles eight days a week. It is

1:44:57.640 --> 1:45:01.880
<v Speaker 5>a difficult subject. Somebody will and even Paul Rotti, you know,

1:45:02.000 --> 1:45:05.479
<v Speaker 5>somebody will say, undoubtedly will say why didn't you cover

1:45:05.600 --> 1:45:08.040
<v Speaker 5>this part? And didn't you know the story? And well,

1:45:08.240 --> 1:45:11.519
<v Speaker 5>we just couldn't fit it into one, uh, you know,

1:45:11.920 --> 1:45:15.000
<v Speaker 5>under two hours. So it's it's difficult, is what it is.

1:45:15.840 --> 1:45:20.280
<v Speaker 5>It is. It is a beautiful piece and well and

1:45:20.320 --> 1:45:24.160
<v Speaker 5>it's not even done yet. So where it's I think

1:45:24.200 --> 1:45:25.120
<v Speaker 5>you're gonna enjoy it?

1:45:25.640 --> 1:45:25.960
<v Speaker 1>I do.

1:45:26.200 --> 1:45:27.160
<v Speaker 5>I hope you're gonna enjoy it.

1:45:27.160 --> 1:45:30.240
<v Speaker 1>Okay, don't you talk about lessons you got from your professor.

1:45:30.640 --> 1:45:34.320
<v Speaker 1>I can't even remember I got this lesson. Sometimes you

1:45:34.320 --> 1:45:37.559
<v Speaker 1>have to leave the best stuff out that it doesn't

1:45:37.640 --> 1:45:38.639
<v Speaker 1>serve the story.

1:45:39.560 --> 1:45:40.960
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, high breaking.

1:45:42.760 --> 1:45:46.559
<v Speaker 1>Okay, ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you so

1:45:46.760 --> 1:45:51.200
<v Speaker 1>much for this intellectual conversation about a truly phenomenal movie.

1:45:51.640 --> 1:45:54.200
<v Speaker 1>Hopefully this will spread the word. As I say, it

1:45:54.280 --> 1:45:57.519
<v Speaker 1>is the story of Billy Preston, but as Paris certainly

1:45:57.640 --> 1:46:02.400
<v Speaker 1>went into depth about, it is a story worry about humanity, loss,

1:46:03.200 --> 1:46:06.400
<v Speaker 1>how you should treat people. Even if you know nothing

1:46:06.439 --> 1:46:09.559
<v Speaker 1>about Billy, nothing from nothing, Even if you know nothing

1:46:09.600 --> 1:46:12.800
<v Speaker 1>about Billy Preston, you will enjoy it and you will

1:46:12.840 --> 1:46:14.960
<v Speaker 1>come out of fan. You know a lot of people

1:46:15.680 --> 1:46:20.040
<v Speaker 1>you have to their music is not that accessible. But

1:46:20.160 --> 1:46:24.200
<v Speaker 1>in Billy's case, it was one accessible performance after another.

1:46:24.920 --> 1:46:27.920
<v Speaker 1>And these performances by the three of you have been

1:46:28.040 --> 1:46:30.439
<v Speaker 1>very accessible. And I want to thank you for taking

1:46:30.479 --> 1:46:31.679
<v Speaker 1>the time with my audience.

1:46:31.960 --> 1:46:32.600
<v Speaker 5>Oh thank you.

1:46:33.400 --> 1:46:36.080
<v Speaker 4>Everybody reads you so we're so excited to get on

1:46:36.120 --> 1:46:36.519
<v Speaker 4>your show.

1:46:36.960 --> 1:46:38.400
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, thank you.

1:46:38.400 --> 1:46:40.200
<v Speaker 2>You know how to do this interview? I think, Bob,

1:46:40.240 --> 1:46:42.320
<v Speaker 2>you might want to think about doing it for a living.

1:46:42.320 --> 1:46:47.120
<v Speaker 2>You guys, Yeah, you know, I'm.

1:46:46.040 --> 1:46:48.920
<v Speaker 1>Just going to start. I'm and I answer that because

1:46:48.960 --> 1:46:53.080
<v Speaker 1>it's something and I talk about with my shrink I

1:46:53.280 --> 1:46:57.080
<v Speaker 1>find it relatively fruitless to pursue things, even though I

1:46:57.200 --> 1:47:00.160
<v Speaker 1>know that's the movie business. You got to go out,

1:47:00.200 --> 1:47:05.000
<v Speaker 1>can you hear no more than yes? So I usually

1:47:05.120 --> 1:47:08.320
<v Speaker 1>wait until someone's looking for me, because if they're looking

1:47:08.360 --> 1:47:11.240
<v Speaker 1>for me, they know what the act is. They want me,

1:47:11.680 --> 1:47:14.040
<v Speaker 1>whereas if they're trying to sell it, it's like, oh,

1:47:14.080 --> 1:47:17.599
<v Speaker 1>come on, but enough of me, thanks again for doing

1:47:17.720 --> 1:47:22.040
<v Speaker 1>this until next time. This is bombing websites.