WEBVTT - Mark Duplass, radical optimist? 0:00:01.880 --> 0:00:05.240 It was this discovery of me that those who are 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:08.640 interested in you in this business, by and large are 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:11.960 interested in taking advantage of the level that you are 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:15.160 at when you don't need them, as opposed to offering 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:17.480 you a new step up to the next level. 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:23.880 Welcome to Off the Cuff, my personal anti anxiety antidote. 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:27.120 One of the best parts of this podcast for me 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:32.000 is getting to interview really creative people. I admire people 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:35.040 who can create their own opportunities and carve out their 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:39.920 own spaces, people who make genuinely new stuff, not the 0:00:39.960 --> 0:00:42.479 stuff they're told to make to climb the ladder of success. 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:46.280 And it's especially nice when those people are rewarded for 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:49.440 that creativity, when that works, when that creativity and ingenuity 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:50.000 and sense. 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:51.280 Of self pays off. 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:55.720 Today's guest is Mark Duplas, whose career has modeled this 0:00:56.440 --> 0:01:01.680 creative arc in a way that's super impressive and frankly, 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:06.640 I'm jealous. He's a filmmaker, actor, writer, musician, writer, director, 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:09.640 star of The Puffy Chair, co writer and star of 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:13.000 the Creep Horror series, Star of the League, Emmy winning 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:17.320 producer of the incredible documentary Wild Wild Country, and Emmy 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:19.800 nominated actor of the Morning Show. 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:20.839 Welcome Mark to Plus. 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:26.840 Well, thank you, and you just made my mother so 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:32.880 happy with that introduction. Send this to her and good boy, 0:01:33.040 --> 0:01:33.840 that's my baby. 0:01:33.880 --> 0:01:34.160 Boy. 0:01:34.760 --> 0:01:38.200 Well, I really do admire your career arc and we 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:41.360 want to get into it. But to start a lot 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:43.120 of guests that I've had on here, I've known a 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:44.680 little bit or maybe even a lot. 0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:45.680 We don't know each other. 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:48.160 We don't know each other, but I did consult on 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:50.120 The Morning Show before you came on it. 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:50.600 Oh. 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:54.640 I was brought in by Apple early. 0:01:55.920 --> 0:01:58.000 When the show was first being conceived and it was 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:00.840 meant to be a comedy, and so I was brought 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:02.880 out to La to join the writer's room and helping 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:05.360 to like round out Reese's character because she was like 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:08.840 a center right, you know, that's right like me, and 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:13.120 Hollywood doesn't know how to write conservative and so I 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:14.960 mostly told like scenario stories. 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:17.080 They'd be like, what would happen in this scenario? 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:21.800 And I had consulted for Aaron Sorkins the newsroom as well, 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:27.280 so helping with verisimilitude in the media landscape was really fun. 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:29.959 But of course then the Morning Show morphed into a 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:35.480 drama mostly, but you were you were apprehensive about taking 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:36.760 this role, were you not? 0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:41.519 Yeah, for a number of reasons. I think the first 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:44.959 was more of a pragmatic consideration of you know, I 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:48.000 run my own company and I have to be available 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:49.520 for them. And when you take a job like there's 0:02:49.560 --> 0:02:52.040 a big job like this, particularly with Apple, you know, 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:55.120 it introduces a new overlord in my life, and so 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:58.320 that when they say jump, I have to say how high, 0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:00.520 and particularly I have to say when. So I had 0:03:00.520 --> 0:03:03.040 sort of promised myself and a bunch of people, like, 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:06.880 you know what, my days of doing long term acting 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:10.799 TV gigs where I'm not the boss, I think those 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:13.280 are numbered, you know. But what I had an accounted 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:18.160 for is the size of my own ego because when 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:21.760 when a big job, when Aiston calls and Witherspoon calls 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:27.919 and Steve Carrell's riding shotgun, you know, I'm a human 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:30.520 I'm a human being, and I'm like, I get to 0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:34.080 hang out with all my favorite stars that I've you know, 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:37.040 all the men and women I've been crushing on, you know, 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:41.960 for years. So I had to say yes. But you know, 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:45.920 I think there were other considerations I had about the show, 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:50.760 because you know, it's such really anathema to everything I 0:03:50.840 --> 0:03:53.920 believe in terms of the creative process and what I do. 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:57.880 I'm like, keep it cheap, keep it small, and keep 0:03:57.920 --> 0:03:59.760 it on the air, you know. And this thing was 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:04.240 just this bloated monson had to be so massively successful 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:07.480 for it to work, and go figure it. It does work. 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:10.680 And I'm so glad that I took the gig and 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:14.600 didn't allow my preconceptions or fears to stop me, because 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:16.800 there have been so many wonderful things that have happened. 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:19.799 Not only you know, just the accolades, all that stuff 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:23.320 has been great, But honestly, I've learned so much watching 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:27.599 that machine operate together. Yeah, yeah, and can apply to 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:31.760 my own life. And and it's just it's just a 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:35.200 wonderful job. Everybody is so nice. And I know you're 0:04:35.240 --> 0:04:38.960 supposed to come on podcasts and say how nice everybody is, 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:41.920 but I really really mean it, Yeah, and I mean 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:48.119 it in a surprised way of you know, big international 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:53.240 celebrities everywhere you turn. It should it should be honestly 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:58.400 a shit show of personality disorders. It should be awful, 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:03.720 you know, And and it's really friendly and lovely and 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:07.240 basically it's the greatest day job anybody like make it 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:10.159 ask for because I you know, it makes my face 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:13.919 more popular on an international flaught, it provides seed capital 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:17.160 for my own company. Right, It's just it's great. 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:18.200 It's great, great all around. 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:26.080 The relationship between producer and anchor is very special, sometimes 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:29.559 very fraught. It's honestly very hard to capture in fiction 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:34.880 or a scripted material because it's it's both so codependent, yes, 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:38.560 and sometimes very unhealthy. But also if it works, it's 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:42.600 the best relationship you have, like better than any personal 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:48.120 or professional relationship, because this person knows you so well 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:52.520 that it's not just a work relationship. It becomes, like 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:55.320 I said, one of your most important relationships. How did 0:05:55.360 --> 0:06:00.720 you go about trying to capture this complicated relationship. 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:03.160 I mean, I would love to say that I have 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:05.560 some sort of formula and we followed it and worked. 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:07.479 I think there's a lot of luck and Jen and 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:09.919 I having to really really like each other. And I 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:12.880 think that's the most important thing of this is that, 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:16.680 you know, the scenes are full of us just being 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:20.040 horrific to each other, mostly horrific to me. Let's fix it. 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:23.920 But what's beneath all of that is how much Jen 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:27.160 and I actually love each other. So that little formula 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:29.479 is pretty simple, and I don't want to be reductive 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:31.599 about it, but that's a big, big part of it. 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:36.159 And then I think that I do have some experience 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:40.760 with a type of relationship like this because of how 0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:43.720 long I have worked in lockstep with my brother as 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:49.240 my best friend, my brother, my creative partner. The ugly sides, yes, Jay, 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:52.080 the ugly sides of ourselves that we've shown each other, 0:06:52.520 --> 0:06:56.000 and then you keep returning back and you feel that 0:06:56.040 --> 0:07:00.400 despite what you showed, you are still loved provide. It's 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:05.839 the kind of incredible safety that you need to survive 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:09.960 and sort of a Machiavelian environment like yeah, independent film 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:12.160 in my life or in this case, you know, live 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:16.000 news television, you know. Yeah, So that that really resonated 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:19.440 with me. When you've been horrific and somebody shows up 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:22.600 and they're still there for you, Yeah, that's that. That 0:07:22.720 --> 0:07:25.280 to me is a secret ingredient in the recipe of 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:29.240 you know, that that strange codependence that keeps on It 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:31.280 takes a licking and keeps on ticking. 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:31.440 You know. 0:07:31.560 --> 0:07:32.640 Yeah, it really is. 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:35.280 And I've I've had some terrible producers but I've mostly 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:36.880 had some wonderful producers. 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:39.840 Some of them are like my family, basically family. 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:45.600 Yeah, but those relationships can get so tricky because as 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:48.120 an anchor or host, you don't want to feel undermined, 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:51.280 and you can get very paranoid about what this person 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:55.440 who controls your fate is really trying to do. I mean, 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:58.040 it can really play mind games with you. And I 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:00.520 think you guys do a really good job of, thank you, 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:01.680 of capturing that. 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:04.200 It's fun. It's a fun one. 0:08:04.400 --> 0:08:08.400 So through the lens of the morning show, what has 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:09.880 it made you think about the news? 0:08:10.720 --> 0:08:14.960 That was a great question, you know. The first the 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:17.160 first thing that really occurred to me when I started 0:08:17.160 --> 0:08:21.240 playing this role and getting immersed in this world, which 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:23.440 you know, of course is just a mere fact simile 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:27.560 of what you guys do. Was just shocked at how 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:29.840 high the stress levels must be because of the live 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:33.200 element of it. You know, I really told myself, like, 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:35.760 I'm a producer, I'm a producer of independent films. Yeah, 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:39.080 I know what it's like to play Kate, difficult personalities, 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:42.080 to try and bring the whole three ring circus, you know, 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:45.600 in clack Quadjet and all those kinds of things. And 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:47.800 then immediately I was like, oh, but I have. 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:51.559 Take two yeah, and those live audience of people watching 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:52.800 in real time. 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:57.600 You don't have take two yes, And that just really 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:01.800 shocked me. Seem like an obvious thing, you know. So 0:09:01.840 --> 0:09:03.560 that was like the first thing that I sort of 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:07.800 walked away with, you know. And then you know, the 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:10.160 second thing that I really loved, And this is something 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:12.920 I can identify with a lot, is that it's very 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:17.120 very easy when you're in the middle of a flawed ecosystem, politics, 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:20.840 the news, Hollywood, to convince yourself that you are the 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:23.440 last bastion of integrity, because all you do is you 0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:26.559 see the flaws, and so the way that you operate 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:28.040 is like, well, I'm going to be either the one 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:30.040 that saves it or it's up to me in order 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:33.240 to do this right. And so it's the easiest way. 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:35.800 It's well, it just it feels very obvious, you know, 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:40.000 And so you get on your high horse very very quickly, right, 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:44.079 And I think that some blinders kind of show up, 0:09:44.720 --> 0:09:47.400 at least in my opinion, of like, you know, well, 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:50.520 I'm doing the great work and it must be the 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:52.800 right thing to do because everything next to me is 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:55.520 so the wrong thing to do, and so you get 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:58.319 blinded as to the own cracks in your own morality. 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:00.240 And I think that's what's so fun about my character there. 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:03.280 He is, he really is in some ways, you know, 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:07.600 in a show of morally questionable people and behavior, a 0:10:07.640 --> 0:10:11.040 little bit of the moral center. But he's not clean, right, well, 0:10:11.080 --> 0:10:14.680 no one is, No one is, you know. So that's 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:18.160 that's the part that's so fun for me to play. 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:20.839 And like, yes, what is it like when awareness starts 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:23.160 to creep in on you that, like you really do 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:26.800 imagine yourself, you know, the Clinicewood riding in on a 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:31.559 horse to save the broken town of News and you realize, yes, man. 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:32.360 I'm part of the problem. 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:33.560 I'm part of the problem. 0:10:33.720 --> 0:10:36.280 Am I the problem? Yeah? 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:37.760 I love it. I love that. 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:40.760 Oh, I mean that's so brilliant too, because maybe it's 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:43.560 obvious to you, but I feel like inside the business, 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:44.640 this is not obvious. 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:46.160 And you're right about the blinders. 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:49.680 And it takes maybe an election, or it takes maybe 0:10:50.000 --> 0:10:53.440 some kind of day six Macina event, or or just 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:56.960 some you know, some introspection or ratings crashes, whatever it 0:10:57.040 --> 0:10:59.040 takes for you to say, oh maybe I am not 0:10:59.840 --> 0:11:03.280 as morally superior as I think I am. And maybe 0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:06.360 I'm doing this in a way that isn't actually great. 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:09.320 I think that that that to me, you know, and 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:12.840 this really is where my reflection takes hold, is that 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:16.160 to me makes really compelling television, you know. And so 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:18.840 I'm only going to be able to understand the news, uh, 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:21.120 you know, so far as the fact sim lady of 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:24.360 a TV show allows me. But but it keeps coming back. Wow, 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:27.000 what a fun character to play, What a fun world 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:30.600 to play in, and changing and moving so quickly, just 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:34.160 when you think you've got a handle on what might 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:38.000 be working, all of a sudden, you know, oh no, no, 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:41.280 Now we're moving into the streaming service and plus and 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:43.360 this and everything, and then and then these two people 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:46.239 that I trusted are fired now, and it's like, yes, were. 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:49.560 The show I had is gone jettison because we're doing 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:50.319 something else now. 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:52.439 But I was doing fine? What happened? 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:55.360 Yeah, Yeah, that's a bitch. That's the bitch of I 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:55.600 have a. 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:59.400 Lot of I have a lot of empathy. Yeah, yeah 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:03.040 we could. I'll take it. 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:07.599 Two Emmy nominations. We're going to get into your independent 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:10.839 film career. But did you think you'd get here, nominated 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:14.000 for Emmy's in a big role in a big budget 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:18.520 streaming series with a list movie stars, Apple backing like, 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:20.640 this is not where you envisioned being. 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:23.800 No, it's not where I envisioned being You're absolutely right, 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:26.079 But it's a little bit of a securitist journey. And 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:27.839 I won't suck up too much time saying this, but 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:29.680 I just want to be a little honest about it 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:32.560 because I don't like false humility. So, you know, I 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:35.920 came up in the independent sphere and it was definitely 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:38.440 this sense of, Oh my god, I was making three 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:42.280 dollars movies in the kitchen with my brother. You know, 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:44.959 I'm just so grateful to be here, right. That's like 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:47.760 the first phase, you know. But then I'm around for 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:50.720 a little while, you know. Yeah, And if I'm being honest, 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:52.320 there was a part of me, you know, in my 0:12:52.400 --> 0:12:56.160 mid thirties doing shows like Togetherness for HBO. Yeah, where 0:12:56.200 --> 0:13:00.120 I was kind of like, bro, where's my fucking Emmy? 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:02.760 I killed this. 0:13:03.440 --> 0:13:05.440 I killed this and it kind of snuck up on 0:13:05.559 --> 0:13:09.959 me and mister Ego got tapped again, you know. So 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:13.000 there was that phase for me and I felt like, 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:16.440 oh God, I guess they just don't see the value 0:13:16.480 --> 0:13:19.880 of me. Oh well, you know, so that happened for 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:21.720 a couple of years, and then what happened is I 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:24.360 was just like, you know what, this is stupid. Award 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:29.080 shows are just ridiculous. It's ego bullshit. Just let it 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:31.640 go and it doesn't matter at all. So by the 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:34.280 time it did come around for the Morning show, I 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:39.559 was a surprised and then be perfectly willing to throw 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:43.080 out my philosophy that awards show were bullshit to embrace 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:45.600 them as the greatest thing that ever happened, because you 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:50.160 gotta be fluid, you gotta adapt, you got to adapt. Yeah, 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:52.400 so that's kind of what happened to me there. So 0:13:52.640 --> 0:13:54.559 I came, I came full circle on it, and it 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:56.360 was a surprise and I loved it. 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:59.600 It was great. Right, well, let's go back. I always 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:02.520 like to ask what kind of kid were you I was? 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:06.400 I think people would be a little surprised, knowing me 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:11.319 now how I was as a kid. I was very, 0:14:11.679 --> 0:14:16.400 very brash. It was extremely confident walking into any room 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:23.760 and almost borderline like a bully, just southern male like 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:29.320 temper driven kid, and there was no limitter on the behavior, 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:33.760 you know. And and I hadn't learned yet that well, 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:37.320 that kid might not win so much in the world. 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:39.720 That's not kid's not going to win in every room. 0:14:40.360 --> 0:14:44.200 And it wasn't until I sort of realized, Okay, I'm 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:46.280 going to try to become an artists. I have no 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:50.760 connections to this industry. If I am going to do this, 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:54.920 I can't really walk into a room like wreck at Ralph. 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:56.880 I'm going to need to learn how to read rooms. 0:14:57.200 --> 0:14:59.000 I'm going to need to learn how to shape shift 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:01.600 a little bit and people please and do all these things, 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:05.680 which is a dangerous, slippery slope, but it's probably something 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:07.600 you can identify with as a woman coming up in 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:10.360 a male dominated industry. Yes, you kind of you kind 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:12.640 of feel like, if I'm going to make my way 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:15.080 here as someone who's not connected, I'm gonna have to 0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:18.160 shape shift a little bit, you know. So I learned 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:21.400 that and that that can be a little dangerous to 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:24.880 the soul. So I wouldn't say that that was a, 0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:28.000 you know, a particularly clean way to do it. But 0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:31.920 I did those things, and so I think it helped me. 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:33.720 But yeah, I think you'd be if you went and 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:37.040 saw a video footage, you'd be like, whoa Mark duplus 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:40.840 was a little insensitive and braddy and had a real 0:15:40.920 --> 0:15:42.040 rock and temper. 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:48.280 Like, well, I don't have any I didn't find any videos, 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:49.840 but I did find. 0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:55.200 Oh look at that man, you yeah, that's senior high school. 0:15:55.440 --> 0:16:00.520 Mm hm, I found out what a hunk. I mean, 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:01.400 you look good to me. 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:03.720 All right, I'll take it this. 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:06.200 Was you were on the newspaper. 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:10.320 Yeah, baby, I'm holding up pictures of from Mark's yearbook 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:11.520 for I'm a newsman. 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:16.720 Tell I looked around. I mean you did. I looked 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:18.640 through your entire yearbook. 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:22.240 And you did a lot of stuff, but you weren't 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:24.800 like front and center, and you. 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:26.240 Look at my yearbook and you're not going to be 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:28.680 like this guy is going to go out in the world. 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:31.840 My high school is not a microcosm of the domination 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:38.280 to come. Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. By the time I 0:16:38.320 --> 0:16:41.440 was eighteen, I went to an all boys Catholic school 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:47.480 in New Orleans, very conservative, very rigid with academics. Very 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:51.600 good for me, like because I was really really creative 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:53.640 and I and I had that to fight against and 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:55.680 it was nice to have that little you know, I 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:57.560 don't want to do my Latin five homework, I want 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:00.760 to write this song. And Yeah, but the rigid of 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:04.080 my and the discipline that I received from that school 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:07.480 and taking that rigor and applying it to the artistic 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:11.840 process is probably besides my parents loving me the way 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:13.520 they did and supporting me the way they did, and 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:16.080 my brother being such a good big brother, that's like 0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:19.240 probably in the top three things that helped make me 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:22.800 who I am. Yeah, it was really helpful. 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:27.159 I couldn't tell from year book, but were you? It 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:29.480 didn't seem like correct me if I'm wrong. Didn't seem 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:32.480 like you were in Chicago or a funny thing happened 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:33.280 on the way to the forum. 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:34.359 I wasn't. 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:35.399 You didn't do drums. 0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:37.919 I didn't do any of that stuff. No, I was, 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:42.320 you know, primarily a musician in the first phase of 0:17:42.359 --> 0:17:44.920 my life. I loved music. It was my first love. 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:49.760 And while I did go to film school and study 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:51.720 those things, when I went to I went to University 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:54.840 of Texas in Austin, Yeah, and got an education in it, 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:56.879 and I loved it and it was really good for 0:17:56.920 --> 0:17:58.800 me and my brother and I used to work a 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:02.280 lot as editors, and I used to edit. I used 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:05.879 to edit a church television show in Austin. From I 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:08.840 took the night shift from like nine pm till seven 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:12.080 am on a Monday and a Tuesday, And over the 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:14.440 course of those twenty hours, I would make enough to 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:16.160 pay my rent and then the rest of the time 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:18.960 I would spend as a musician. So really until my 0:18:19.040 --> 0:18:23.200 mid twenties, you know, I was a touring singer songwriter. 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:24.840 I was in indie rock bands, you know. 0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:26.720 Yeah, tell me talk about small hands. 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:28.880 Yeah, so that was a I made a record when 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:31.359 I was like twenty one years old. This pretty much 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:33.400 sums it up. My friends called me the Indigo Boy. 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:37.560 It was a singer city, it was a it was 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:41.119 a it was a very earnest singer songwriter record, you know. 0:18:41.160 --> 0:18:44.360 And I loved Sean Colvin and the Indigo Girls, and 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:46.440 you know, it's just that's that's what I was doing. 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:48.560 Well, you could have been the Indigo Boys. Did your 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:49.639 brother no part of this? 0:18:49.880 --> 0:18:51.280 He didn't want to. Yeah, he was done with that 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:54.080 at this point. Yeah. This was like nineteen ninety eight, 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:55.960 you know, Lil a Fair tours were out there. This 0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:58.240 is what we were doing. Yeah, And but it was 0:18:58.359 --> 0:19:00.760 it was also it's part and Arsel with the way 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:03.680 that I ended up building my film career, which was there. 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:07.480 I've had an inherent impatience in me my whole life, 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:12.600 which has been helpful to also dovetail with this sense 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:17.120 of independency and just doing things my own way. Because yes, 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:19.680 there was no one giving me a record deal at 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:22.960 the time. So I was like, well, the technology is 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:25.439 here now, Like, I can buy a tape machine record 0:19:25.480 --> 0:19:28.320 this record. I can press a thousand CDs. It'll cost 0:19:28.440 --> 0:19:31.639 me like two grand I will book my own tour. 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:33.920 I like traded in my car and got an old 0:19:33.960 --> 0:19:36.680 conversion van and I just lived in my van for 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:39.800 four months and traveled around the country and made my 0:19:39.840 --> 0:19:43.159 own version of being on tour. And that was critical 0:19:43.200 --> 0:19:46.280 for me, being like can I do this? I dropped 0:19:46.280 --> 0:19:48.760 out of college for a semester and I did it. 0:19:49.280 --> 0:19:52.399 And that taught me like, oh wow, if I just 0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:55.600 put my head down and keep banging on these doors, 0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:58.679 I will be able to get through, you know. And 0:19:58.760 --> 0:20:01.600 it was a wild time. I talked to my daughters 0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:03.280 about it all the time. I daught I was sixteen 0:20:03.320 --> 0:20:05.959 and twelve, and you know, they're having their figuring out 0:20:06.000 --> 0:20:08.679 their relationships to technology. Right now. And you know, I 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:11.320 had no smartphone out there. I can only find these 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:13.720 venues by a Rand McNally map that I had. 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:15.440 Yeah, and I. 0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:17.920 Would, you know, sleep in my van and I would 0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:21.080 sometimes go three to four days without speaking to anyone. 0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:24.840 And I've had all of this reflective time with myself 0:20:24.880 --> 0:20:26.760 because I didn't have this device that I could just 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:29.359 pick up and distract myself. I just had to be 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:33.399 with myself and I think it really helped develop me 0:20:33.440 --> 0:20:34.080 as a person. 0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:39.720 But how do you get the courage to just go 0:20:39.840 --> 0:20:41.240 out and say, I'm just going to go do it. 0:20:41.280 --> 0:20:42.600 I'm going to go do it. I'm going to go 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:43.440 make it myself. 0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:46.280 Part of it is that brash, cocky kid that I 0:20:46.320 --> 0:20:49.280 am in my DNA, but a huge part of it 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:52.080 is the way that I was raised, which you know, 0:20:52.119 --> 0:20:54.959