1 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:08,039 Speaker 1: Calls media. Ryan Coogler, in my book, has placed himself 2 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:12,160 Speaker 1: on the mount rushmore of on the nose bay Area 3 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: town talk right up there with two short e forty 4 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,919 Speaker 1: and Marshawn Lynch. No one sounds more like town biz 5 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:22,600 Speaker 1: than if you hear Ryan talk. Not only that, if 6 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:25,280 Speaker 1: you understand the culture of being raised in the Bay Area, 7 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:29,160 Speaker 1: not so much crips and blood gangbanging that we understand 8 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:33,560 Speaker 1: down here in southern California. Theirs is the game. Theirs 9 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 1: is hustling. Theres is figuring out the system, flipping it 10 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:41,159 Speaker 1: and making it work for you. Ryan is a picture 11 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 1: of playing the game and displaying black excellence. And I 12 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:49,240 Speaker 1: tell you what, it still not only surprises America, terrifies 13 00:00:49,280 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: it taping with so Ryan's new film Centers is not 14 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:08,680 Speaker 1: only a box office smash, but is a filmmaker's wet dream, 15 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: just nerded out, really doing for film what Kendrick Lamar 16 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: did for hip hop. 17 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:16,800 Speaker 2: And what I mean by that is Kendrick Lamar is 18 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 2: a rappidy rap, backpacker rapper. 19 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:22,559 Speaker 1: However, he's a hood dude that knows how to make hits. 20 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: For years we thought the two didn't work. You couldn't 21 00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:29,759 Speaker 1: be a real lyricist rapper, but at the same time 22 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:32,640 Speaker 1: get it popping in the club. Ryan has done that 23 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: in the box office. This man's catalog is insane. While 24 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:39,759 Speaker 1: still in film school, he created the film fruit Vale, 25 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 1: which dramatizes the murder of Oscar Grant. In twenty thirteen, 26 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: he took home two awards, the Grand Jury Prize and 27 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. Still in school. 28 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: And when you prove you got the chops, you get 29 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: the bread for the next project. And the next project 30 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:00,040 Speaker 1: was Creed. With a thirty five million dollar budget. We 31 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 1: made forty two point six million dollars in the opening weekend. 32 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: So if you come out the box on the opening 33 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: weekend making all the money back, bruh, you get to 34 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: do whatever the hell you want to do. But bre 35 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:13,880 Speaker 1: was just beginning to rumble because his next project was 36 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: the Black Panther film, which netted a one point three 37 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: billion dollars, the highest grossing black film maker ever and 38 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:24,920 Speaker 1: the youngest director to lead a billion dollar movie. And 39 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 1: I don't know if you notice. Black Panther is the 40 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:32,360 Speaker 1: only Marvel film nominated for Best Picture Black Excellence and 41 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: if you may or may not notice, each of those 42 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 1: movies all had Michael B. Jordan in it. You know why, 43 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:40,960 Speaker 1: town Biz Baby. We keep our day ones around us. 44 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: But all of this is bringing us to the absolute 45 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: nerdery level of this new film, Centers. Centers was shot 46 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: on film, literally so much so that there are so 47 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:56,239 Speaker 1: many different options for which you could watch this film. 48 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: And he does a video explaining the difference between eight 49 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:04,959 Speaker 1: millimeters sixteen millimeter, forty five millimeter Imax and widescreen shot 50 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:08,360 Speaker 1: showing the film and the holes on there, proving that 51 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: this is shot with the type of mastery and nerdery 52 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,800 Speaker 1: in the same way that us backpacker nerd wrap dissecting 53 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: type head ass dudes would go through lyric by lyric 54 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: explaining Kendrick Lamar's versus you may just be bouncing to 55 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 1: squabble up or mustard. I'm still saying black Pendleton ball 56 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: cap Wes West. We don't say the same synonym fall 57 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: back West West. I'm still looking at the Ryan patterns. 58 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: It's something for everybody. This film was not only for 59 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: the film school nerds. It came out bigger than expected 60 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: at forty eight million dollars on Easter weekend and fifteen 61 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: million dollars overseas. The only other film to come out 62 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:55,400 Speaker 1: that hard and earn a cinema score was James Cameron's 63 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: sequel to Aliens in nineteen eighty six. See there's a 64 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,839 Speaker 1: belief that black film don't travel, that they don't work overseas, 65 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: and what the hell is a black film anyway? The 66 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 1: very name of it is problematic. Ryan built different. But 67 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: when you built different, if you have that type of success, 68 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: you know what happens. You could start negotiating for yourself. 69 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 1: See these are the things that unless your parents had 70 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:24,239 Speaker 1: the financial margins to not just be always in crisis mode, 71 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:26,279 Speaker 1: then they really just don't have the bandwidth to teach 72 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 1: you these types of things that kids who come from wealth, 73 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:32,559 Speaker 1: from generational wealth learn there is a way to play 74 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 1: this corporate game. We don't learn negotiation skills. We won't 75 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:38,040 Speaker 1: know a four one ks are we learned that later. 76 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:40,599 Speaker 1: You may have heard us say things like this, Lord, 77 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: grant me the confidence of a mediocre white man, because 78 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:48,719 Speaker 1: that mediocre mid khaki C minus barely getting by white 79 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: man gets elevated at that career and lands him as salary. 80 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 1: I could never dream of that. He know for a 81 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:57,400 Speaker 1: fact he not worth, but you're worth what you can negotiate. 82 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: I didn't know that. We oftentimes feel we just lucky 83 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:04,320 Speaker 1: to be in the room. But that's not every black experience. 84 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:07,039 Speaker 1: Some of us were trained well, some of us came 85 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:10,599 Speaker 1: from good schools, some of us had supportive parents, and 86 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:13,040 Speaker 1: we took that opportunity in that network, and we worked 87 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 1: as hard as we possibly could to get to the 88 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,479 Speaker 1: place that we are. Ryan knew he wasn't gonna do 89 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,680 Speaker 1: this again. Ce See here's the crazy thing. Ryan let 90 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:23,040 Speaker 1: us know in a podcast while he was directing Creed 91 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,960 Speaker 1: he was two hundred thousand dollars in debt for film School. 92 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 1: You mean this man has made this studio billions of 93 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:32,280 Speaker 1: dollars and he's still in debt. 94 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 2: No more, baby. 95 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:35,760 Speaker 1: So when making the deal for this film with Warner Brothers, 96 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 1: he said this, this is what we're gonna do. I 97 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: want twenty percent of the gross. Now what that means is, 98 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:43,039 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna wait for y'all to make y'all's money back. 99 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:46,159 Speaker 1: I want money as y'all make money. I'll make money 100 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 1: if you want this film. I'm the guy that directed 101 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 1: Black Panthers, so you can't, you can't front on the skills. 102 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:53,640 Speaker 1: He went in there and demanded what he needed. He 103 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:57,599 Speaker 1: needs rights to residuals for the merchandising. And then lastly 104 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:00,640 Speaker 1: he said, which is the part that's blowing everybody. My 105 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: man said, after twenty five years, I want to own 106 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 1: this film. And boy did that break the internet. See, 107 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 1: anti blackness is tricky and can be insidious in a 108 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:13,680 Speaker 1: number of ways and very gaslightly. There's on one end 109 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: this belief that if one of us actually makes it, 110 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: that means racism is over. But then there's also this 111 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:21,920 Speaker 1: belief that you must also be the exception to the rule. 112 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: See this ain't a headline because he's the first person 113 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,359 Speaker 1: to ever negotiate this type of deal. It broke the 114 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:33,600 Speaker 1: internet because America really doesn't. 115 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:34,160 Speaker 2: Like black people. 116 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:38,760 Speaker 1: Of course, America is terrified of the radical, raging black man, 117 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: but black excellence that's even more scary. I remember one time, 118 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:46,040 Speaker 1: while I was still inside of my master's program getting 119 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:48,160 Speaker 1: ready to start teaching, I was at some sort of 120 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:51,000 Speaker 1: inner city something and I remember this sweet old white 121 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 1: lady asked me before I went to college, was I 122 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 1: a crip or a blood? Because in her mind, that 123 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 1: was the only option. That I came from poverty and 124 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: my parents are a parent home and I did not know 125 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: my daddy. See, America can deal with that type of 126 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:07,919 Speaker 1: black success. Oh, they like movies like The blind Side 127 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 1: because they get to pack themselves on the back and 128 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: say that they not like they ancestors that put us 129 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:16,560 Speaker 1: in chains. No, we're different. We give of our generational wealth. Oh, 130 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 1: this is my little tar baby that I have helped 131 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: to become successful. 132 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:22,440 Speaker 2: Because if that's the story, they still get to be 133 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 2: the main character. We needed them. 134 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: What's really scary is when we don't need them. Who 135 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:31,240 Speaker 1: doesn't like a rags to riches story. It also allows 136 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 1: them to ignore the concept of institutional racism because they 137 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 1: can say. 138 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 2: That, but look, you still succeeded. 139 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: I hate to invoke the greatest fall off of our time, 140 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: Kanye West. That's broke Nigga racism, the type of racism 141 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: that looks at Black people and say, y'all can't succeed 142 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 1: because y'all don't work hard. Y'all gonna always be broke, 143 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: y'all gonna always live in poverty because you don't know 144 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:53,680 Speaker 1: how to work hard. You don't appreciate the things that 145 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: are given to you. So let us be kind white 146 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:58,520 Speaker 1: people and give you stuff, and I need you to 147 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 1: be grateful and just it. Except the fact that you 148 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 1: are even at the table because of our mercy. The 149 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 1: other type of racism is different, rich Nigga racism. Damon 150 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 1: Wayan said on yet another fall off club Shaysha that 151 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:15,840 Speaker 1: he knows racism is real because the richer you get, 152 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:19,120 Speaker 1: the less black faces you see. The higher up you get, 153 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: the less black people are around. They even have your 154 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 1: team switch out look ause Serena Williams's parents Beyonce's daddy. 155 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: At some point you start making enough money to where 156 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: they say, you know, we got it from you. You 157 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: find yourself being the only black family in the neighborhood, 158 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 1: your children the only black kids at this private school. 159 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 1: The richer you get, the less you see us, unless 160 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:43,520 Speaker 1: it's Atlanta. The type of excellence that really bothers these people, 161 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: that really terrifies America is the big Baller brand is 162 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:50,080 Speaker 1: the ball brother. Oh. I'm not here to defend that 163 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:52,280 Speaker 1: old man, but I tell you what. They don't come 164 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: from poverty. They come from Chino Hills. And he bet 165 00:08:54,679 --> 00:08:57,520 Speaker 1: the house on his sons and built a brand off 166 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:00,440 Speaker 1: their own strength. Oh that's different. I know he might 167 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:03,360 Speaker 1: be a NEPO baby, but isn't Jeanie Buss. I'm talking 168 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 1: about the guy who come from a supportive family, who 169 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:10,079 Speaker 1: goes to college, proves his worth, and then walks in 170 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 1: and negotiates a deal that the rest of y'all was 171 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:18,960 Speaker 1: too scared to negotiate. Oh that got these production houses terrified. 172 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:23,520 Speaker 1: That got all kind of little bro headlines about what 173 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 1: Ryan has done. And Ryan stood on Democracy Now during 174 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:28,720 Speaker 1: an interview and said, I'm not the first person to 175 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:32,080 Speaker 1: ever negotiated. I don't know why it's such a big 176 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:34,560 Speaker 1: deal that I did it. Oh, And Terry Gross was like, 177 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:37,480 Speaker 1: why do you think Ryan, and his most town talk 178 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:40,160 Speaker 1: voice said, oh, you know, I'd rather not say, but 179 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:42,959 Speaker 1: I think we know. I think America is still terrified 180 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:46,400 Speaker 1: when we actually understand our worth, when we actually understand 181 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:49,080 Speaker 1: that we can negotiate, just like y'all can. I remember 182 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 1: my mother told me once when I was in high school, 183 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:54,120 Speaker 1: the reason why I got shipped out to that suburban 184 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:56,960 Speaker 1: high school from the neighborhood I lived in is because 185 00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 1: she said, whatever it in white kids is getting my son. 186 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:02,719 Speaker 2: This whole have to work twice as hard to go 187 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:03,400 Speaker 2: half as far. 188 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:07,040 Speaker 1: At some point we start realizing like, oh, that's because 189 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:09,840 Speaker 1: we don't negotiate. Oh, we're just thankful to be at 190 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 1: the table. But no, MO, you gonna see my worth. 191 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 1: We're gonna stay on your neck. We gonna pay me 192 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:17,319 Speaker 1: what you owe me. Y'all just gonna have to be scared. 193 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: Tap in with me, babies,