Speaker 1: Either of those emotions that we choose. We then have
Speaker 1: to believe that that emotion is serving.
Speaker 2: Us so fine, so really and you you thirty for
Speaker 2: thirty two. Right now we only about fifteen to twenty
Speaker 2: minutes in brother.
Speaker 3: They call it time out about ladies, gentlemen.
Speaker 2: Welcome Not My Best Moment podcast myself. I'm Kevin Stage,
Speaker 2: where I talk to artists, friends, athletes, entertainers about their failures.
Speaker 2: If you didn't know, I'm the author of the New
Speaker 2: York Times best selling book Successful Failure.
Speaker 3: Yes, thank you very much.
Speaker 2: This is an offshoot of that book, where we talk
Speaker 2: about your successful failures. Today, I have the only Devon Franklin.
Speaker 2: And I've never said this in front of Damon Franklin,
Speaker 2: but I will say this today. Your family will tell you, oh,
Speaker 2: you got to meet with Tyler, you got to go
Speaker 2: with Oprah.
Speaker 3: When you get to Hollywood, you got to go to Oprah.
Speaker 3: You got to go with Tyler.
Speaker 2: When you're actually in the industry, your agent will tell you,
Speaker 2: if you're faith based, you got to go to divn
Speaker 2: As soon as they know you love the Lord, oh
Speaker 2: you got to meet Divine Franklin. Divonne is the way
Speaker 2: the truth of the life. I said, I thought that
Speaker 2: was a lawyer.
Speaker 3: No, he is the Lord, but also Divine is Lord.
Speaker 2: Let me tell y'all if y'all don't know divn Ruth
Speaker 2: and Boaz, that's Devon Franklin produced that flaming hot breakthrough.
Speaker 2: The Star Male Goes from Heaven, the Karate Kid All
Speaker 2: that is the Von Franklin on.
Speaker 4: The producer's side.
Speaker 3: He also acts as well.
Speaker 2: He's on Divorce Sisters, and he's on Soul on Fire,
Speaker 2: which has a ninety eight percent Center score. Excuse me,
Speaker 2: ninety percent on Rotten Tomatoes, Ladies and Gentlemen. He's also
Speaker 2: the author of Produced by Faith. He been on stage
Speaker 2: in New York City off Broadway, Off Broadway with Audible.
Speaker 2: And we're not here to talk about any of that,
Speaker 2: none of his successes pitch posh. Today we're here to
Speaker 2: talk about. Please welcome Devon Franklin. Devon Franklin. Now we
Speaker 2: were just talking off camera. I kid, but I'm very serious.
Speaker 2: Every agent I've ever had, they don't know we know
Speaker 2: each other, right, They are like, you know who you need.
Speaker 3: To talk to? You love the Lord, you need to
Speaker 3: talk to Devon Franklin.
Speaker 2: I feel like you are a guiding star in the
Speaker 2: faith for me, and I'm gon give your flowers right
Speaker 2: here while you're alive and you can smell them in
Speaker 2: the faith based but not only church way. You are
Speaker 2: the goiding star for me because I grew up in
Speaker 2: a wall that I didn't want to just do church
Speaker 2: things only to me, you have never lost your north star.
Speaker 2: You have never done anything you shouldn't be proud of.
Speaker 2: But you also aren't just church movie, church movie, church movie.
Speaker 2: You are just responsible for good films. Relationship Goals is
Speaker 2: the most recent example. That's just a great film. Before
Speaker 2: we get to anything that you wrote down, I want
Speaker 2: to talk about what I wrote down. Yeah, as a
Speaker 2: guy who believes in the Lord, how do you even
Speaker 2: navigate Hollywood in a way that protects your faith but
Speaker 2: also protects your desire to chase the creative arts in
Speaker 2: a way that's not only church based film?
Speaker 4: Right? You know?
Speaker 1: So it's an interest. That's an interesting question, you know,
Speaker 1: and hopefully I have a concise answer.
Speaker 3: So because you got top yeah all day, Yeah you know.
Speaker 4: But but the answer is is this.
Speaker 1: It's like, you know, when I started in Hollywood, you know,
Speaker 1: I started at eighteen years old, really eighteen years old?
Speaker 3: What were you actually doing? At eighteen?
Speaker 1: I was interning at a company called Handprint Entertainment no
Speaker 1: longer exists, and the principles were Benny Medina and James
Speaker 1: Lasseter Jeff Pollock who passed away, Peter Golden, and they
Speaker 1: represented Will Smith and Jada and Maya Campbell and Babyface
Speaker 1: Michelle and Dego Cello.
Speaker 4: And so at eighteen years old, I was an intern.
Speaker 3: If you don't know Fresh Prince, he created.
Speaker 4: Fresh Prince and he also manages j Love, yes, you know.
Speaker 1: And so I was, you know, getting coffee, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: copying scripts, picking up the dry clean and getting the
Speaker 1: lunch orders.
Speaker 4: That's how I got started.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 1: And for me, you know, growing up in the church,
Speaker 1: you know, I was always focused on going to Hollywood,
Speaker 1: like that's where I was going, like just from a
Speaker 1: from a young age, I just felt like that's where
Speaker 1: I needed to be. And my faith was always important.
Speaker 1: It was it was never like it was never something
Speaker 1: I thought a lot about. It was just it was
Speaker 1: in me, yes, you know, I mean going to church
Speaker 1: every weekend. And my uncle was the pastor of the church,
Speaker 1: and so I was, you know, very very involved in
Speaker 1: the church usher and deaconing, you know, preaching, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: playing all the thing church you play.
Speaker 2: That's right, get on, get on that drum so we
Speaker 2: can service. You know, that's real church.
Speaker 4: You know. Yes, yes.
Speaker 1: So by the time I was eighteen years old and
Speaker 1: I got to Hollywood, you know, it was not even
Speaker 1: a thought about like, okay, can I honor my faith?
Speaker 4: I was just like, oh, this is just who I am.
Speaker 1: So at eighteen years old before in the internship interview,
Speaker 1: they asked me, Hey, is there anything else you want
Speaker 1: us to know? And I said, well, yeah, I said,
Speaker 1: I observe the Sabbath. So if taking this job, this internship,
Speaker 1: would require me to work on the Sabbath, I won't
Speaker 1: take it. It was just that it was just very
Speaker 1: clear from the jump from the jump, and they were like, oh, okay,
Speaker 1: well yeah, no problem. We anybody even know what Sabbath was?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: What no problem? Right?
Speaker 2: Cool? Cool?
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: I was like, hey, I don't work Friday night sundown
Speaker 1: a Saturday night soundown yeah, And they were like, no problem.
Speaker 4: And so that for me, the foundation was always just
Speaker 4: being authentic.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and being true yeah.
Speaker 1: And so as I started to continue to navigate the
Speaker 1: business and you know, move from being in an intern
Speaker 1: to an assistant, to a junior executive to more senior
Speaker 1: executive and now running my own company. It's always been
Speaker 1: just be true. And part of my truth is I
Speaker 1: love the Lord, you know, the follower of Christ. And
Speaker 1: so the other part of this is being in the business.
Speaker 1: The scripture, the scripture that says you have to study
Speaker 1: to show yourself approved. That's it's and a lot of
Speaker 1: times in life we want the approval, but we don't
Speaker 1: want to study.
Speaker 3: Okay, more there, that's good.
Speaker 1: So so so as it relates to entertainment, it's one
Speaker 1: thing to say, oh, I want to be successful, but
Speaker 1: it's another thing to understand the path to success is
Speaker 1: directly through the path of studying. I had to learn
Speaker 1: the business. I had to, I mean literally every day.
Speaker 1: My passion, you know, initially was like I want to
Speaker 1: produce films. That was what drove me. And so but
Speaker 1: every day as an intern, as an assistant, as a
Speaker 1: junior executive, as it seems I'm learning the business. How
Speaker 1: do you make movies? How do you make them better?
Speaker 1: How do you develop stories? How do you work with writers?
Speaker 1: How do you work with actors, How do you work
Speaker 1: with directors? Why do some movies work? Why don't they work?
Speaker 1: Like completely immersing myself in the business so that when
Speaker 1: we get to a place, when I got to a
Speaker 1: place where I could start making my own movies, you know,
Speaker 1: I could do it in a way with credibility and
Speaker 1: with experience and expertise. So the answer to the question
Speaker 1: was it was about being authentic and it was about
Speaker 1: committing to the process because I wanted to run my
Speaker 1: own production company when I was, you know, eighteen years old.
Speaker 1: I mean even when I graduated USC. My senior thesis
Speaker 1: was a business plan for my production company at twenty two. Really, yes,
Speaker 1: but nobody was going to give me no money to
Speaker 1: run a production company.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: It took me fourteen years, fourty fourteen years from that
Speaker 1: business plan to actually starting the company.
Speaker 3: Oh now that's good.
Speaker 2: Yes, Okay, So you went from twenty two thirty two,
Speaker 2: thirty four, thirty six, yes.
Speaker 3: Always having that in your mind. Yes, how did you
Speaker 3: stay humble? How did you stay focused to have this?
Speaker 2: Because a lot of times I feel like social media
Speaker 2: and the quickness of the Internet.
Speaker 3: It robs people of the like.
Speaker 2: What I'll call the nineties version eighties version right, We
Speaker 2: grew up in similar areas when we grew up. When
Speaker 2: you had an artist, they would take you in the
Speaker 2: garage for two years. No shows, no radio, rehearsal, training,
Speaker 2: all that stuff. New addition, shut up close that garage.
Speaker 2: We're going to get in here and learn how to
Speaker 2: be artists nowadays, no disrespect. A lot of times you
Speaker 2: have a hit song, your song's number one, you go
Speaker 2: straight to Coachella. But that's not the case for you.
Speaker 2: How did you stay focused on your dream and work
Speaker 2: your way up from literally picking up coffee and ironing?
Speaker 3: Like, how did you?
Speaker 2: How did you stay true to yourself, knowing what you
Speaker 2: wanted to do the whole time?
Speaker 1: Well, see, this is where you know, I think sometimes
Speaker 1: you know, being raised in the church, we think what
Speaker 1: we learned is on some level theological. But this is
Speaker 1: where it became very practical to me, just that concept
Speaker 1: of faith. You know, faith is a substance of things.
Speaker 1: We hope for the evidence of things we don't see.
Speaker 1: We walk by faith, not by sight. So you know,
Speaker 1: I was like, Okay, I have the faith to believe
Speaker 1: and keep seeing my company even though I don't see it.
Speaker 1: And so it was that mental picture that then allowed
Speaker 1: me to just focus and say, Okay, God, I believe
Speaker 1: you gave me this image, so I'm going to keep working.
Speaker 1: And then the other part of this is as I
Speaker 1: was working and learning the business, you know, my goal was, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm going to be of service. And I think when
Speaker 1: you talk about this generation, I think this is what's
Speaker 1: getting lost. It's like the people that I worked for,
Speaker 1: Benny Medeina, James Lasster, Will Smith, all of these amazing
Speaker 1: you know, culture changers and artists. And for me, how
Speaker 1: did I What did I want from that? I just
Speaker 1: wanted information how do I become successful? So then how
Speaker 1: did I get that information? I had to serve. I
Speaker 1: had to serve, and I had to say, hey, you know,
Speaker 1: let me let me because everybody wants to go put
Speaker 1: me on. They want to you know, but it's like, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: my work works as an intern and assistant is gonna
Speaker 1: be so excellent. You're gonna you're gonna say, yeah, we
Speaker 1: just gotta we gotta help this dude out right.
Speaker 4: And so the way of that I did it was
Speaker 4: just staying focused.
Speaker 1: And there's you know, it's in this other part of it,
Speaker 1: you know again, not trying to get churchy.
Speaker 2: You get churchy here, turn at them. No, we love
Speaker 2: the Lord here at not my best moment. You won't
Speaker 2: love him on the Mother podcast, on the iHeart of
Speaker 2: the Radio. But we love the Lord here are not
Speaker 2: my best moment because he's from a mighty long way.
Speaker 2: You could be churchytel. You can't be churching nowhere else.
Speaker 2: You could be churchy here right here.
Speaker 1: But you know, it's it's this idea of like staying
Speaker 1: committed to the process and feeling God along the way.
Speaker 1: And so what I mean by that was it was
Speaker 1: even though you know, at twenty five, twenty eight, twenty nine,
Speaker 1: twenty thirty, I didn't have the company, I could see
Speaker 1: God's hand guiding me, moving, opening up doors, opening up opportunities.
Speaker 1: So even though I didn't have exactly what I was
Speaker 1: praying for in the macro sense, I could feel that
Speaker 1: this is where I'm supposed to be, this is where
Speaker 1: I need to be. There's then clearly if I was
Speaker 1: ready for the company, I would have it. So I'm
Speaker 1: not ready.
Speaker 4: For it, so let me, you know, learn, let me shave.
Speaker 4: And so that's what it was.
Speaker 1: It was keeping that mental picture, having the faith to
Speaker 1: believe it, and feeling God's presence along the way. So
Speaker 1: from that twenty two to to thirty six, it was like, Okay.
Speaker 1: There were times I was frustrated, there were times I pried,
Speaker 1: there were times about.
Speaker 4: God, what are you doing?
Speaker 1: But then I would look around and say, Okay, I
Speaker 1: see momentum, I see movement, you know, I see progress,
Speaker 1: and sometimes that progress is incremental.
Speaker 4: It was just a step.
Speaker 1: You see it anyway, And it was it was that
Speaker 1: combination that allowed me to endure to the point when
Speaker 1: it was finally time for me to be able to
Speaker 1: start my own, you know, company and going on my own.
Speaker 2: I want to get to your comfort, but first I
Speaker 2: want to I want to I want to pause here,
Speaker 2: and I want to ask you this. In this industry,
Speaker 2: we both came from the same place. We were both
Speaker 2: at essence Black women in Hollywood, and I was talking
Speaker 2: to a friend of mine and she was like, you know,
Speaker 2: I feel like I'm in these rooms and like I'm
Speaker 2: near these people, but I'm not these people. So you
Speaker 2: start off at eighteen with Will Smith James Lasser, who
Speaker 2: you know, Will has been at this level for a
Speaker 2: long time time, right how did you And from when
Speaker 2: I've known you, You've always been a part of like
Speaker 2: big projects, big films, both you know, working for these
Speaker 2: companies and on your own. But at the same time
Speaker 2: them movies end. And what I've learned about this business,
Speaker 2: people work with you, they are very nice. That movie ends,
Speaker 2: They shake your hand, take your picture at the rat party.
Speaker 2: They go on to their next project, and you go
Speaker 2: on to yours. They might go to Calabasa's Wooden Hills,
Speaker 2: Hidden Hills. You go back where I live, Reseda in
Speaker 2: North Hollyoo would we go back over the valley?
Speaker 3: You open that apartment?
Speaker 2: You know, how do you stay focused when you're with
Speaker 2: people who have I don't want to say made it,
Speaker 2: but they're further along in your career. And then your
Speaker 2: friends and family are like, oh, brother, you was with X,
Speaker 2: Y and Z and you know, yeah, brother, I ain't
Speaker 2: got no rent. I'm in the eating Rahmen, no packing
Speaker 2: ceial number.
Speaker 4: I've been there.
Speaker 2: So how do you, like, how do you stay positive
Speaker 2: knowing that people thought you made it into yourself?
Speaker 3: You like, brother, I got a long way to go.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, you know, staying positive it's it's it's so
Speaker 1: funny It's like one of my first experiences interning was,
Speaker 1: you know, I used to drive Benny Medina around from
Speaker 1: meeting the meeting and stuff.
Speaker 3: And Davon, you really got it out the mud man.
Speaker 4: People don't know that.
Speaker 3: I didn't know that.
Speaker 4: I just think like, oh, you know, I've only known
Speaker 4: you as Franklin.
Speaker 2: Like there's a certain amount of humbleness to pick up
Speaker 2: launch and drive people around.
Speaker 5: It that way.
Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely, And and what I loved about it was
Speaker 1: I got a chance to listen to the phone calls.
Speaker 1: Oh no, So it was like it was like being
Speaker 1: in school, so I could hear, you know, how he
Speaker 1: was doing deals, how he was, you know, managing town.
Speaker 4: So that was that was study for me.
Speaker 1: That was like a masterclass, right and so and so
Speaker 1: for me, what was so funny is there was one
Speaker 1: time when I was intern for Benny and uh, he
Speaker 1: was managing this artist and this artist had rented this
Speaker 1: major house in Hollywood Hills and I'm eighteen years old
Speaker 1: and I you know, drive him and we go up
Speaker 1: to the to the It wasn't even an event.
Speaker 4: Everybody was just hanging out.
Speaker 1: So we were just hanging out on the terrace looking
Speaker 1: out over the city and I'll never forget. I ran
Speaker 1: the into the house and used one of the phones.
Speaker 1: That's when landlines was still a thing. Oh you've been
Speaker 1: in there for real, for real, and I called. I
Speaker 1: called my folks and I said, yoh, y'all not gonna
Speaker 1: believe where I'm at and when who I'm with, I said,
Speaker 1: this is amazing. And the reason why I shared that
Speaker 1: is there's one of two ways to look at things.
Speaker 1: So like, when you're in the presence of someone who
Speaker 1: is doing what you aspire to do, or may have
Speaker 1: a lifestyle that you would say, oh wow, I want
Speaker 1: that lifestyle and you don't have it. There's two ways
Speaker 1: to deal with that, jealousy or joy. Okay, So so
Speaker 1: so you can have You can be jealous and say,
Speaker 1: oh man, well why not me? And and I'm being
Speaker 1: exposed to this but I'm not it, and I'm jealous.
Speaker 1: How do I get to be it? Or if it's
Speaker 1: being shown to me, if I'm in the proximity of it,
Speaker 1: that must mean I'm close to it. So let me
Speaker 1: have joy that God is bringing people into my life
Speaker 1: and experience that will mirror who I am and who
Speaker 1: I'm becoming.
Speaker 2: Keep going divine. I don't want to be there. I
Speaker 2: don't want to mess you up, but you minister it
Speaker 2: to me personally. I hope y'all listen it because you
Speaker 2: in here and you to be good. Now. I love
Speaker 2: that because I think you're saying that is really important
Speaker 2: for people you're in a situation if either way, yeah,
Speaker 2: you you deciding how you're.
Speaker 3: Going to look at the situation is up to you,
Speaker 3: right right.
Speaker 2: You couldn't make yourself be Benny Medina that's right, eighteen
Speaker 2: or Will Smith at twenty or two two.
Speaker 3: You could be angry frustrated.
Speaker 2: You could be you know, oh my god, god on,
Speaker 2: I want to do this and at that like understandably so,
Speaker 2: but you also took the time to say, okay, this
Speaker 2: is you took value in the service when you could
Speaker 2: have been angry that it wasn't.
Speaker 1: You absolutely and listen every time, like you know, over
Speaker 1: the years. I mean, the beautiful thing about Will is
Speaker 1: like you know, not only working for him, but then
Speaker 1: you know he's like a mentor and a friend who's
Speaker 1: giving me advice and stuff.
Speaker 4: But every time I go up to the house, I'm like,
Speaker 4: thank you, Okay, Jesus, you showing me this.
Speaker 1: Ooh boy, my house about to be amazing because if
Speaker 1: you letting me see this, I'm not gonna be jealous,
Speaker 1: if I'm gonna.
Speaker 4: Be joyful, right because you let me know. Okay, yeah,
Speaker 4: how you do this? This is how you live on
Speaker 4: this level?
Speaker 1: You know, because I think it's important because because there's
Speaker 1: another quick idea, which is either of those emotions that
Speaker 1: we choose, we then have to believe that that emotion
Speaker 1: is serving us.
Speaker 2: So so fine, So you're thirty for thirty two right now.
Speaker 2: We only about fifteen to twenty minutes in. Brother, they
Speaker 2: call him time out, time out. You hitting so good.
Speaker 2: They're like, yo, get him. Don't want the Von Frankly.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry for interrupting, y'all. Y'all don't understand. I'm trying
Speaker 2: to be cool. Y'all, don't understand who Devin Franklin is
Speaker 2: to me. Now you don't understand. Go ahead, I'm talking.
Speaker 2: If you're going ahead and love it, I love it.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying that those feelings we have to believe
Speaker 1: service us. So so if I'm in the proximity of
Speaker 1: something that I want or some lifestyle that I love
Speaker 1: to live, and I choose jealousy. Right, then I have
Speaker 1: to I think say, hey, well, why if I'm choosing jealousy,
Speaker 1: why does jealousy serve me? And if it doesn't serve me,
Speaker 1: then I've got to put it back, like I can't
Speaker 1: pick up that emotion. And sometimes when we choose jealousy,
Speaker 1: what it does is it gives us the comfort of
Speaker 1: not actually going out and believing and living like it's
Speaker 1: going to happen. So it's like, oh, well, I'm jealous
Speaker 1: because oh that's just them and dah dah da da dah.
Speaker 1: So then that gives me an excuse to be able
Speaker 1: to say, well, you know what, I'm doing, my thing whatever,
Speaker 1: it'll be okay.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it won't be.
Speaker 1: Like then we kick back in a posture of defeat
Speaker 1: versus like when I choose joy, that emotion serves me.
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, it serves my soul, it serves my outlook.
Speaker 1: I can be in any room and I'm not jealous
Speaker 1: of them. I'm joyful because I'm in the room, or
Speaker 1: I get a chance to go to a meeting, or
Speaker 1: I get a chance to be in the proximity of.
Speaker 4: A phone call. That emotion services me.
Speaker 1: So what I've learned is that any emotion we choose,
Speaker 1: we have to really be careful because if we're choosing it,
Speaker 1: it's serving us in some way.
Speaker 2: I love that and I think that that's so good,
Speaker 2: right because say you chose jealousy.
Speaker 3: Every time.
Speaker 2: You you envelop everything that jealousy brings exactly and what
Speaker 2: does it serve you? Bitterness, resentment. Now you're angry at
Speaker 2: these people enved. Now what could have been valuable to you?
Speaker 2: Just the earshot? Okay, this is how he works this deal. Oh,
Speaker 2: this is how he negotiates. Now you're thinking this whole
Speaker 2: time should have been me, He should have done that.
Speaker 2: Now you're angry at your situation where another person is like, man,
Speaker 2: that was a really valuable cause. So now you've actually
Speaker 2: come to the game with experience from his level or
Speaker 2: these people's level, with the same positioning where somebody else
Speaker 2: gotta come up with nothing but anger, frustration, resentment.
Speaker 1: And why that was so helpful to me and my
Speaker 1: journey was that I approached everything from the place of
Speaker 1: where how do I say this? The vision of who
Speaker 1: I was become going to become right running my own company,
Speaker 1: being my own man. That person in the future is
Speaker 1: who I was in the present.
Speaker 2: When you came on my email and Kurt said, divine Franklin,
Speaker 2: I knew it was gonna be for me.
Speaker 3: And I'm sorry if you listen and you married at me.
Speaker 2: Too bad this time, because I don't often get to
Speaker 2: talk to the people that.
Speaker 3: I looked up to. Too bad. Say it again.
Speaker 2: The money keep going, And I'm sorry for y'all because
Speaker 2: that is so key.
Speaker 4: It really is.
Speaker 3: Oh man, you really gotta know who.
Speaker 1: You are to do so, so that identity of who
Speaker 1: I was going to be, I didn't just I didn't wait.
Speaker 1: So when I was interning, I came in like, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm a CEO, and training, when I was assisting.
Speaker 4: Oh I'm a I'm I'm a producer.
Speaker 1: And when I was an executive. Oh man, I'm being prepared.
Speaker 1: So because what happens is when we choose that joy,
Speaker 1: then it gives us an energy and a focus and
Speaker 1: a commitment to every moment that we're in. All things
Speaker 1: work together for the good of those that love Him
Speaker 1: and are called according to His you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: Like like, so it's like, okay, God, if you are
Speaker 1: giving me this access and you're giving me these experiences.
Speaker 1: Then allow the identity that you've shown me, let me
Speaker 1: just live in that, and then let me be patient
Speaker 1: with when it is time for the identity to manifest,
Speaker 1: so to speak.
Speaker 3: I want to shout, shout, you want to I want
Speaker 3: to take a quick break from the show to hear from.
Speaker 5: Our ad sponsors.
Speaker 2: Let me ask you this because I have a lot
Speaker 2: of friends in the industry, like myself, actors, producers. This
Speaker 2: industry is an unhealthy amount of rejection and abandonment. We've
Speaker 2: seen the stuff that you've made that has come to
Speaker 2: fruition the movies and acting or producing. What about the
Speaker 2: stuff that hasn't came that I know you were excited about.
Speaker 2: How do you keep your faith and your excitement when
Speaker 2: something you really wanted to do that was close to
Speaker 2: something fell apart and you just knew it was gonna
Speaker 2: be something.
Speaker 3: How do you not be kind of negative about like.
Speaker 2: Man, because that would have been great, the people would
Speaker 2: have liked that, I would have wanted to work on that,
Speaker 2: and you really kind of got to almost grieve that
Speaker 2: project and move on.
Speaker 3: To the next thing.
Speaker 2: Sometimes that stuff sometimes it comes back, sometimes it doesn't,
Speaker 2: it doesn't come back at all.
Speaker 3: How do you deal with.
Speaker 1: That where you just you just said a part of it,
Speaker 1: which is to feel it first, feel how you feel.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: So in situations where I've had projects, you know that
Speaker 1: didn't pan out and I put a lot of energy
Speaker 1: and effort and for whatever, and every movie has its
Speaker 1: own life, yeah, every script, you know, and so some
Speaker 1: scripts I can, you know, the story moves together very
Speaker 1: quickly and I can put it together. And then there
Speaker 1: are other scripts that take time, and then other scripts
Speaker 1: and other projects that just fall apart. And so part
Speaker 1: of it is just to acknowledge.
Speaker 4: Man, this hurts. This is really man, this I'm disappointed,
Speaker 4: you know, like like allow you talk about grief.
Speaker 1: That's like, hey, I gotta feel this, like like, you know,
Speaker 1: I can't believe I put all this energy and time
Speaker 1: and effort into this and it did not work. You
Speaker 1: gotta feel that, feel it all and say wow. The
Speaker 1: key though, is feel it without internalizing it.
Speaker 3: Oh okay, right, okay say that.
Speaker 1: So, so the project didn't work, That doesn't mean that
Speaker 1: I'm not working.
Speaker 2: See I mixed those two together, that the project didn't work, because.
Speaker 4: But no, it ain't got nothing to do with you.
Speaker 4: You You you created it.
Speaker 1: You did your part, you put it out there, and
Speaker 1: it was just about that particular project. And sometimes what
Speaker 1: happens because you know, we're going to creative business, right
Speaker 1: and it's you know, we're all sensitive on some level
Speaker 1: and all are insecure on some level, and so when
Speaker 1: we do something or we put our all into it
Speaker 1: it doesn't work out. There's a tendency to then internalize
Speaker 1: and say, well, I am a failure, you know, or
Speaker 1: where there's something wrong with me. It's like, well, no,
Speaker 1: there's nothing wrong with you. That project just wasn't the
Speaker 1: right project at the right time. What can you learn
Speaker 1: from it and what can you move on and do?
Speaker 1: And so for me, you know, when I've had those
Speaker 1: moments when I've done, you know, worked on projects that
Speaker 1: just fell apart, you know, I had to say, okay,
Speaker 1: well why did.
Speaker 4: It fall apart?
Speaker 1: And was any of it falling apart within my control?
Speaker 1: So it's almost like an analysis and assessment of Okay, well, no,
Speaker 1: I did everything I could possibly do and this is
Speaker 1: the result.
Speaker 4: So I have to just.
Speaker 1: Make peace with that, and then, because I'm not internalizing it,
Speaker 1: open myself up to what really wants to come through.
Speaker 2: Man, let me ask you this in our industry that
Speaker 2: everything you said is true and key. Sometimes you still
Speaker 2: got to go in them room and smile in people's faces.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, hode you know they one the reason why
Speaker 2: I didn't go. And they done told you one thing
Speaker 2: on the meeting on the phone call. I got to
Speaker 2: see you at the brunch on the red car and
Speaker 2: they gonna smile in your face and you know you
Speaker 2: killed my project? How do you deal with that with
Speaker 2: a smile? And you know internally now you know good
Speaker 2: and well.
Speaker 3: You know you don't.
Speaker 2: Hey, yeah, because I'm divide, I hold gruggs.
Speaker 3: I say, hey, how are you?
Speaker 4: I want to hug you?
Speaker 3: But how do you maintain your sense of composure? Focus?
Speaker 2: Because you run through these people? It's a long career list.
Speaker 2: You run through people all the time.
Speaker 1: Listen you you you have to learn how to play
Speaker 1: the game. Yeah, you gotta you gotta you just And
Speaker 1: also here's the thing. This this business, Uh, it's a
Speaker 1: business that certainly, you know, people can become successful quickly
Speaker 1: and all that, but by and large it's a business
Speaker 1: that you got to pay your dues.
Speaker 4: Yes, and when you've paid your dues, then.
Speaker 1: It's like, oh great, we know what you've been through
Speaker 1: and now we're gonna give you this.
Speaker 4: So now we're gonna give you that.
Speaker 1: And it's almost like those moments when things don't go
Speaker 1: the way we want and we know this person, like
Speaker 1: because I've been in those situations for sure, it's like,
Speaker 1: I know you the one that was killing this and
Speaker 1: now you want to be cool.
Speaker 4: But but again, playing.
Speaker 1: The game is like, okay, cool, you know what, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I am not going to give you the satisfaction of
Speaker 1: me getting out of the character and integrity that I
Speaker 1: want to operate in. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna I'm
Speaker 1: a smile, I'm gonna be cool. That doesn't mean we're
Speaker 1: gonna sit up here and be buddy buddy and go,
Speaker 1: you know, hang out. But but what I'm never gonna do.
Speaker 1: My aunt Donna taught me this, don't burn a bridge
Speaker 1: because you never know when you have to cross it again.
Speaker 4: And so that very.
Speaker 1: Person you know, and and that doesn't mean you don't
Speaker 1: you're not honest about how you feel. Right conversation that
Speaker 1: I had, you know, when a deal didn't work out
Speaker 1: the way I wanted, and I was honest, I was like, hey,
Speaker 1: I don't I don't like this. I don't like how
Speaker 1: you know, you guys are doing this. I don't like
Speaker 1: how this this feels. I don't think this is the
Speaker 1: right choice. But at the end of the day, I said,
Speaker 1: it's your choice, so I respect it. And anytime that
Speaker 1: I've seen them out, you know, hey, what's up, give
Speaker 1: them a hug, how you doing, and stay cordial.
Speaker 4: Why is that important?
Speaker 1: Because so often it's our attitude that can be the
Speaker 1: thing that disrupts our ability to move forward. It's the
Speaker 1: attitude like, Okay, you know what, this person didn't me wrong.
Speaker 4: So I'm gonna no, no, no, no, what do you want?
Speaker 1: You want a long career, you want you want success,
Speaker 1: you want generational success. So I'm not going to allow
Speaker 1: this person, this situation to make me so small that
Speaker 1: I have to get my get back or I have
Speaker 1: to be root.
Speaker 4: And no, I'm not gonna do that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm gonna say, you know what, if this happened,
Speaker 1: that means that means more coming and more deals, more projects,
Speaker 1: and so I'm not gonna even give this any more energy.
Speaker 1: I grieved it it didn't happen, but I'm gonna be cool.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna play the game. I'm not gonna let you
Speaker 1: see me sweat. It's all love. We good cool. I
Speaker 1: can't wait for the next one, you.
Speaker 3: Know what, because this is how I've been moving.
Speaker 2: Get in the car and yeah, it's gonna bed next one.
Speaker 3: I'm crying.
Speaker 2: But I think it's so important because it is in
Speaker 2: some ways it's I don't want to say it's unnatural,
Speaker 2: but it's unusual to like a traditional job. Yeah, Like
Speaker 2: in a traditional job, you work your way up, one
Speaker 2: on one. It's very easy. In this business. Somebody can
Speaker 2: literally decide no, yeah, and I don't even have no
Speaker 2: other reason than And the other thing is sometimes it
Speaker 2: can be like you said, actually a lot of times
Speaker 2: it's completely out of your control, but it feels like
Speaker 2: you can control it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: And that is the ah, that's the conundrum, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. It's it's like, yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: we have to put works behind our faith. You know,
Speaker 1: faith that that works is dead. However, you know, we
Speaker 1: we can only control what we can control.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know.
Speaker 1: And so to your point, it's like, okay, with the project,
Speaker 1: you do everything you can to get it where it
Speaker 1: needs to be.
Speaker 4: Then we have to also remember God is.
Speaker 1: The one that's really in control man, and it's his
Speaker 1: finger on the button and he's the one that pressed it.
Speaker 2: But it looked like you could say yes or no.
Speaker 2: I know God up there, but you can agree, like
Speaker 2: they said, you.
Speaker 4: Know you can. But my yes or no it's always no. Yeah,
Speaker 4: stop by here's yes or no.
Speaker 3: I love that.
Speaker 1: And there are things right then, projects I'm trying to
Speaker 1: sort out right now. Like I was leaning into one,
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, there doesn't feel like God's in that.
Speaker 1: And I feel all the time like, Okay, God, where's
Speaker 1: where are you? Where's the momentum here? And let me
Speaker 1: and let me, you know, follow that momentum. And the
Speaker 1: other thing for me, which was really helpful too, because
Speaker 1: what you're also articulating is that when you put so
Speaker 1: much into something and let's say that's the only project
Speaker 1: you got right at that time, you know, then there's
Speaker 1: a disappointment there and what else am I going to do?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: And so for me, you know, the things that kind
Speaker 1: of have helped me stay successful mentally and emotionally is
Speaker 1: when I first started in the business, you know, one
Speaker 1: of my outlets was preaching, you know, and just just
Speaker 1: always preaching. It was always somebody within on the side.
Speaker 1: Sixteen years old, I was preaching, you know, and have
Speaker 1: always done it over the years. And so what that
Speaker 1: did for me was from a creative standpoint, it said,
Speaker 1: oh it, let me know, Hollywood.
Speaker 4: Is not my entire life.
Speaker 1: That's so good, you know, and like like literally, like
Speaker 1: I would be in staff meetings and I'm like, hey,
Speaker 1: I'm not disparaging anybody else in the in you know,
Speaker 1: anybody any other executive in what their path is.
Speaker 4: I said, but there's more to life than just this, yeah,
Speaker 4: you know.
Speaker 1: And so being able to have a creative outlet, you know,
Speaker 1: of being able to go and preach and and and articulate,
Speaker 1: you know, the word and to help people. That gave
Speaker 1: me a perspective that helped me navigate and mitigate the
Speaker 1: different disappointments, because there have been a lot along the way.
Speaker 1: But the perspective of like, this is not all my life.
Speaker 1: And I think that's where a lot of people can
Speaker 1: go wrong, where it's like the job, whatever, industry.
Speaker 4: It becomes your life.
Speaker 1: It's like, man, you know, so then if it becomes
Speaker 1: my life, then whoever is in control of that project
Speaker 1: that job, then they become my God. If this is
Speaker 1: my life, If this job, this project is my life,
Speaker 1: then whoever is in control, that's my God. I got
Speaker 1: to make sure they're happy. If they're not happy, then
Speaker 1: what am I gonna do? And it's like, well, wait
Speaker 1: a minute. God is God. Your life is your life. Okay,
Speaker 1: this project is one part of it. That person is
Speaker 1: one part of it. If that person and what they
Speaker 1: want you to do aligns with what God wants you.
Speaker 4: To do, God bless perfect.
Speaker 1: But if you honor God and that gets you out
Speaker 1: of favor with that person, your boss.
Speaker 4: God's got you, He's got you.
Speaker 3: I'm so glad you don't understand. Von Franklin. It's well
Speaker 3: for me, brother, it's well for me. I appreciate y'all
Speaker 3: for listening.
Speaker 2: I want to before I go into your not best moments,
Speaker 2: I want to ask you, could you explain to a
Speaker 2: person who doesn't understand how this industry works, what exactly
Speaker 2: a producer is. Yes, I see a movie producer. I
Speaker 2: follow you on Instagram. I see you in Traders. But
Speaker 2: you don't actually go into like you just be like
Speaker 2: I'm out here, y'all post. You don't show what out
Speaker 2: here really is and that you're right, Yeah, you are
Speaker 2: so right.
Speaker 4: Now I'm actually changing that just so.
Speaker 1: You know, I really because I realized, like I got
Speaker 1: all this experience and I just needed I just want
Speaker 1: to be more service to people. Plean in the you know,
Speaker 1: anyone that's in the business or wanting to be in
Speaker 1: the business. Like, let me just start sharing showing like, hey,
Speaker 1: this is what this looks like.
Speaker 2: Yes, so please explain to a person like what does
Speaker 2: your job actually entail?
Speaker 4: Yes?
Speaker 1: Okay, So a producer is fundamentally the driving force behind
Speaker 1: a project. So let's take Ruth and bo As for
Speaker 1: a moment, the movie that I did for Netflix, and
Speaker 1: so that was an idea that I came up with,
Speaker 1: Let's do a modern version of this biblical love story.
Speaker 4: Okay, great.
Speaker 1: So then as the producer, my job is to put
Speaker 1: it all together, meaning I gotta find the writer, I
Speaker 1: gotta develop the take, and the take is basically, what's
Speaker 1: the movie story of this story?
Speaker 3: Got it?
Speaker 1: So I gotta find, you know, the work with the writer.
Speaker 1: I gotta develop the take, and then I have to
Speaker 1: go sell it to a studio. So I got to
Speaker 1: go and convince executives to say Hey, this movie is
Speaker 1: gonna work.
Speaker 3: Are you literally pitching? Yeah, we will be in the room.
Speaker 4: Yeah, of course, absolutely, absolutely, yeah, Hey, this is.
Speaker 1: This is what we want to do, this is why
Speaker 1: I want to do it, this is why it's gonna work,
Speaker 1: and this is what this movie is about. And then
Speaker 1: the writer will walk them through what the movie is,
Speaker 1: you know, the first, second, and third act and the
Speaker 1: characters and all the things. And then once we get
Speaker 1: the okay, then the writer has to write the script,
Speaker 1: and the producer's job is to help develop that script,
Speaker 1: you know, give notes to the writer, help the writer
Speaker 1: become the best version of themselves as it relates to
Speaker 1: that script, because that script is what's gonna get greenlit
Speaker 1: or not. And then once the script is there, then
Speaker 1: I got to go find the director. You know, I'll
Speaker 1: interview multiple directors and then I'll make the choice on
Speaker 1: who I feel is best to execute the vision. And
Speaker 1: then I'll bring on my casting director. And then we
Speaker 1: got to go oversee casting. And then we got to
Speaker 1: do the budget. You know, I bring on a line producer.
Speaker 1: So the producer is the is the It's like ground
Speaker 1: zero for create for the creative process, the business process
Speaker 1: for every single movie. And that's where you know, most
Speaker 1: people don't realize that the role of the producers. For sure,
Speaker 1: the producer is like the movies that I produce, that's
Speaker 1: that generates the jobs.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: It's like, you know, I'm getting a chance to hire
Speaker 1: the directors, hire the actors, you know, hire you.
Speaker 4: Know, the DP and create jobs for people you know.
Speaker 1: And so it's great when when I can make a
Speaker 1: project that has the opportunity to get great directors right
Speaker 1: and great actors, that really makes me feel really good.
Speaker 1: But that's the job of the producer, just to put
Speaker 1: it all together and then once it's made, you know,
Speaker 1: be there on set every day. And and a producer
Speaker 1: is also a problem solver. I mean, you are you are.
Speaker 1: I mean every movie that gets made, every television show
Speaker 1: is a miracle because there are so many problems. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's like, oh my goodness. Every day you're figuring out, Okay,
Speaker 1: what are we gonna do here? We had this plan
Speaker 1: that's not gonna work. We got to pivot. What you know,
Speaker 1: you're always thinking on your feet and you're always trying
Speaker 1: to I at least as me as a producer, I'm
Speaker 1: always trying to be the ambassador of like, we're gonna
Speaker 1: get through this, you know, like, hey, we're gonna get
Speaker 1: through it. I don't know what the answer is yet,
Speaker 1: but let's figure it out. What are the pros and
Speaker 1: cons all the things. So we do after we're done
Speaker 1: with production, then oversee post production with the director and everyone,
Speaker 1: and then once the movie is done, go out and
Speaker 1: promote it, you know, and go across the world and
Speaker 1: promote the film and all the things.
Speaker 4: So that's the role of the producer.
Speaker 1: Any film that you've ever seen that you loved it,
Speaker 1: nine times out of ten came from a producer who
Speaker 1: found a book, or found an idea, or or talked
Speaker 1: to this director, talk to this writer. There usually is
Speaker 1: a producer in the mix that if it was not
Speaker 1: for that person, that movie would have or that television
Speaker 1: show would have never happened.
Speaker 2: I love that. That was actually very concise. I think
Speaker 2: you could have took an hour. I appreciate you take
Speaker 2: a minute. That's why when Best Pictures announced, they invited
Speaker 2: producers on stage.
Speaker 3: Exactly right, director you directed, But when.
Speaker 4: The movie is the movie, it's the.
Speaker 2: They invite the producer on stage because you have low key,
Speaker 2: not even low key Hockey, the producer has lived with
Speaker 2: the film longer than anybody.
Speaker 4: Absolutely.
Speaker 2: Actors by and large do not follow a film in
Speaker 2: the post when they wrap the actor into the next done.
Speaker 2: And also the actors is not involved usually in development, No,
Speaker 2: not at all. The actor doesn't come in until the
Speaker 2: script is available to be casted.
Speaker 4: That's right.
Speaker 2: So I think that's really important to understand, Like that
Speaker 2: can be years absolutely of a project.
Speaker 4: Right. My Relationship Goals movie on Amazon Prime. I mean
Speaker 4: that took me five years to get me Wow.
Speaker 1: In my Flaming Hot film that I did for Disney
Speaker 1: Plus and Hulu, that took me seven years.
Speaker 2: Seven years, seven years. So what happened? You see Mike
Speaker 2: Todd's book and you're like, I see a movie there. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and you got to buy the rights?
Speaker 4: Yeah. I hit him up and said, hey man, you know,
Speaker 4: let's let's make a movie out of your book. He
Speaker 4: was like great.
Speaker 1: You know, option did get worked on the movie, pitch
Speaker 1: sold it to Amazon, developed the script. You know, first
Speaker 1: script needed some work, We did some more work, we
Speaker 1: switched out writers, we got you know, got the script
Speaker 1: finally where it needed to be, had to find the director.
Speaker 1: Then once we got the director. You know, then it
Speaker 1: was like we had do another pass on the script.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, it was just it was a process.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 1: But but but what I love, and it goes back
Speaker 1: to a little bit of what we talked about earlier
Speaker 1: is having other outlets.
Speaker 3: I was just gonna ask you, just do you stay focused.
Speaker 1: For five years ahead of the projects, right head of
Speaker 1: the projects and other things that I was doing, so
Speaker 1: that I can just say, Okay, well this project is
Speaker 1: gonna take a little longer, all right, let me. I'm
Speaker 1: glad that I have other things that I can focus
Speaker 1: on so that I'm not so focused on this that
Speaker 1: my emotional state is dictated by what happens or what
Speaker 1: doesn't happen.
Speaker 3: That is so good, low key.
Speaker 2: I'm really grateful to talk to you because I think
Speaker 2: i've I've like stumbled into what you're saying.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and now I realized it is a very helpful
Speaker 3: position to be.
Speaker 2: In, isn't it, Because if if everything doesn't rise and
Speaker 2: fall with this project, it allows you to live your life.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I got to take my son to school, I got
Speaker 2: my podcast, I got YouTube, I got all all the
Speaker 2: other things that I can control because these big projects.
Speaker 2: You can't control them fully enough, but they they have
Speaker 2: such an impact on your life.
Speaker 5: Yes, your mood.
Speaker 2: But it's like the thing that is the most important.
Speaker 2: You actually can't move along your own site. So so
Speaker 2: many other people have to actually say yes yes for
Speaker 2: this to actually happen exactly. So I think it's so
Speaker 2: key that you have those other things, because otherwise your
Speaker 2: whole personality is eving influwing with a project that you
Speaker 2: can and control.
Speaker 4: You're gonna go crazy. You're gonna go crazy, and.
Speaker 2: We're crazy, an I mean you gotta be yes, Yes,
Speaker 2: we're crazy.
Speaker 4: There's no doubt about it. You're gonna go crazy. Heart, Okay,
Speaker 4: I mean that's what's gonna happen.
Speaker 1: Like, Okay, you know, I gotta find some other things
Speaker 1: to focus on and to fill my life with.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 1: That gives me the ability to endure however long this
Speaker 1: project may take to get made.
Speaker 2: Hey, take on a quick break here, support the show
Speaker 2: by supporting the sponsors. Okay, Before I move on, I
Speaker 2: want to just say, what does it feel like when
Speaker 2: you've worked on something for five years or seven years
Speaker 2: and it is finally done? How do you like live
Speaker 2: with that? Is it only because you have something else working,
Speaker 2: because at some point you're like I'm done. But also
Speaker 2: this is like this has been your baby for literal
Speaker 2: years and then at some point it's done. It's on
Speaker 2: streaming or whatever. The final thing is, the last interview
Speaker 2: has happened. Do you ever struggle with like, dang, that's
Speaker 2: it for this project, Like it's had its life, it's
Speaker 2: on its second DVD release or whatever that is.
Speaker 3: Do you ever be like, dang, yeah, that's over.
Speaker 4: Absolutely. I mean, you know when you were doing the intro.
Speaker 1: One of the movies I worked on as a studio
Speaker 1: executive was the remake of The Karate Kid with Jaden
Speaker 1: and we did that film in Beijing, Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: and it was just it was such a phenomenal experience.
Speaker 1: I mean I think I went to Beijing like nine
Speaker 1: times and nine months during that period. Yeah, going back
Speaker 1: and forth to set and working on the movie, and
Speaker 1: then once it was done, we went out there to
Speaker 1: promote it, and that there was that that feeling like oh.
Speaker 4: Man, this was so good. Wow, oh man.
Speaker 1: When I produced Ruth and Boaz, you know, it was
Speaker 1: such a good experience. Relateship, so yeah, you know, yes,
Speaker 1: I there is a sense of like, wow.
Speaker 4: Does this have to end?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 4: Does it right end?
Speaker 1: You know, and you just and I just have to say, okay,
Speaker 1: well we did the best we could. We made it
Speaker 1: as well as we can and people hopefully will enjoy it.
Speaker 4: And you just have to, you know, make peace with
Speaker 4: moving on.
Speaker 2: Let me ask you this last thing. I'm so sorry.
Speaker 2: I've been almost an hour. This is my personal podcast.
Speaker 4: This I love it.
Speaker 3: One thing I've.
Speaker 2: Read when I was I was reading a book on
Speaker 2: screenwriting and they said, there's basically three movies you make,
Speaker 2: and you actually, as a producer, might even have more.
Speaker 3: It's the movie you write, the movie you.
Speaker 2: Shoot in, the movie you edit, and those are often
Speaker 2: not the same game movies because of whatever reason, the editing,
Speaker 2: the actor you wanted, the budget, How do you negotiate?
Speaker 2: Because I was just telling an employee of mine, a
Speaker 2: good producer isn't the person that plans perfectly, because regardless
Speaker 2: of how well you plan, like of course you have
Speaker 2: time for preproduction.
Speaker 3: A good producer is actually the person who solves the
Speaker 3: most problems without losing their mind.
Speaker 2: You go, how do you deal with something that you
Speaker 2: envision being one way and for whatever reason, it's not
Speaker 2: that way, and in short order you got to make
Speaker 2: it another way because you actually know what it could
Speaker 2: have been. Yes, with that director, that actor, that actress.
Speaker 2: The audience only knows what they see. Yes, but for
Speaker 2: relationship goals, you could have had say Denzeling, Violent Davis, whoever.
Speaker 2: But the audience is like, oh man, I love this movie. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but you know, man.
Speaker 3: We had this person right right right agreeing, and.
Speaker 2: They backed out, like how do you deal with knowing
Speaker 2: what could have been and still delivering what is?
Speaker 1: Yes, I'll answer that, but but there's it's four movies,
Speaker 1: oh four, because it's also the movie.
Speaker 4: You go sell the movie, you promote.
Speaker 3: Oh, so that the.
Speaker 1: Process of putting the trailer together, in the messaging, that's
Speaker 1: another form of the movie. And sometimes you know you're
Speaker 1: tweaking the messaging and you're tweaking the sale of the
Speaker 1: film because you got to find the sweet spot of
Speaker 1: what's going to get people to see it.
Speaker 3: That is good.
Speaker 4: So there, I think you make the movie for it.
Speaker 3: I love that.
Speaker 4: So so to answer.
Speaker 1: Your question, to answer your question, you know again, this
Speaker 1: is where my faith plays a major role in my career.
Speaker 1: I have to trust that everything is exactly how God
Speaker 1: needs it to be. Everything is so, so if those
Speaker 1: people fell out and this is who has has come in,
Speaker 1: then I have to trust and.
Speaker 4: Say, well, then this is what was meant to be right,
Speaker 4: and then.
Speaker 1: I have to divorce myself from my vision.
Speaker 4: And embrace the vision that God has for the project.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's like.
Speaker 1: Okay, God allowed these people to fall out and these
Speaker 1: people are in. So okay, let me not get so
Speaker 1: caught up on Oh it was this, No this, I'm not.
Speaker 4: Worried about what this is what it is?
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, great, this is good, so let me get
Speaker 1: excited about that. Let me make that the best version
Speaker 1: that it can be. It's different than how I originally
Speaker 1: imagined it, but different doesn't mean better or worse.
Speaker 4: It's just different.
Speaker 5: Devon you are.
Speaker 2: I've enjoyed every conversation I've ever had with you, but
Speaker 2: this one I'm gonna put is my pocket because it's
Speaker 2: really man, what's really helpful is just knowing you.
Speaker 3: Ain't alone and you ain't crazy.
Speaker 4: That's right, You're not you because you you.
Speaker 2: You know you're like, Man, I had it and now
Speaker 2: like every time it's this problem, that problem is just
Speaker 2: be Like I was telling producer of mine.
Speaker 3: He was like, well, I want production to go smooth,
Speaker 3: and I was like, brother, production.
Speaker 1: Is chaos by by definition, organized chaos you have and
Speaker 1: in your case you karate kid.
Speaker 3: For example, this is hundreds of people on this.
Speaker 2: There's no way it goes smoothly. All you can do
Speaker 2: is figure out how to make it work.
Speaker 4: Figure out how to make it work.
Speaker 3: You can't be nobody.
Speaker 2: It's never like everybody who did the thing is supposed
Speaker 2: to do the thing, and every camera worked and every
Speaker 2: location was perfect, and the budget was perfect.
Speaker 4: But that's but that's where creativity it really is.
Speaker 1: And then you gotta you gotta get you gotta get it,
Speaker 1: you know, have ingenuity, you gotta think creativity. Yeah, this
Speaker 1: is not working. Okay, how do we still get this?
Speaker 1: You know that light ain't working or the light is
Speaker 1: getting ready to lose to leave, and we got to
Speaker 1: get this shot. Yeah, okay, what can we do creatively?
Speaker 1: Maybe change even the story to make the setting work
Speaker 1: like that, To create the creative process is always a lie, yes,
Speaker 1: And I think sometimes you know, when we try to
Speaker 1: make it finite, then we become too rigid. So as
Speaker 1: problems arise in production, it's like, oh, Okay, it wasn't
Speaker 1: expecting that, all right, but let me pivot, Yes, let
Speaker 1: me pivot. And the pivot is gonna be great. And
Speaker 1: this is how we're gonna make it great. And this
Speaker 1: is how we're gonna make it work. And then if
Speaker 1: we got something and it didn't work out the way
Speaker 1: we wanted we shot, it's like, oh that looked didn't
Speaker 1: look good, Okay, then we gotta figure out how can
Speaker 1: we go get it again? Yes, you know, okay, what
Speaker 1: can we do? What can we lose?
Speaker 4: You know?
Speaker 1: So it's just it's it's a fluid process, right, and
Speaker 1: it's a flexible process. And I think that what I've
Speaker 1: learned is the more flexible you can be, the more
Speaker 1: fluid you can be, the more you can actually embrace
Speaker 1: whatever comes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that. I was just thinking about that.
Speaker 2: On Churchy Season one, the script will written to have
Speaker 2: Toby we Way come in and wrap for the youth.
Speaker 3: Right, he couldn't make it. His kid got sick.
Speaker 2: He's an actual father in real life, so and we
Speaker 2: found out two days before he's not gonna be able
Speaker 2: to make He's like my kids sick. I can't do it,
Speaker 2: And we rewrote the script I was like, Okay, we
Speaker 2: can't get him.
Speaker 3: What can we do?
Speaker 2: Okay, now in the script Toby can't come, Maybe we
Speaker 2: have a Toby impersonator. And it actually ended up being
Speaker 2: better and funnier for the character and the story that
Speaker 2: what they wanted to happen couldn't happen. It was actually
Speaker 2: better to not have Toby. But you have to look
Speaker 2: at it as like, well, what do we have? This
Speaker 2: door is closed? What do I have? What's available to me?
Speaker 2: And I think that's honestly true creativity. Okay, I don't
Speaker 2: want to lose you. I want to talk about some
Speaker 2: of your not best moments, even though you've been talking
Speaker 2: about them. You mentioned to us that you one of
Speaker 2: your tough moments was losing your paramount production deal. Tell
Speaker 2: us what happened and kind of how you dealt with that.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So, I So, when I was an executive, you know,
Speaker 1: for Sony Pictures for ten years, well about nine years
Speaker 1: from two thousand and five to twenty fourteen, I did
Speaker 1: a film as an executive called Heaven Is for Real,
Speaker 1: which came out in twenty fourteen. It was we made
Speaker 1: it for like fifteen fourteen, fifteen million dollars in opening weekend.
Speaker 1: It opened on Easter weekend. It made thirty million dollars
Speaker 1: in the first five days. Oh yeah, so it was
Speaker 1: a huge success. So two days after opening weekend, I'm
Speaker 1: in the chairman's office of Sony Pictures. Her name is
Speaker 1: Amy Pascal at the time, and I told her. She's like, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, we want to promote you, want to give
Speaker 1: you more money. You know this, this movie, Heaven Is
Speaker 1: for Real is going to be a you know, it's
Speaker 1: a big success. It's am I going to make a
Speaker 1: hundred million dollars. And I said, I'm quitting, you know,
Speaker 1: I said no, I said I'm quitting. I said, I said,
Speaker 1: I'm making too much money for y'all that I can't
Speaker 1: promit it. I said, but I said, I'm starting my
Speaker 1: company and I want you to fund it. I want
Speaker 1: you to give me a deal.
Speaker 3: She had no idea this was coming.
Speaker 4: She had no idea.
Speaker 3: Absolutely no, She's ready to promote you. You're like, let
Speaker 3: me hold hold on.
Speaker 4: That's right, promote this, promote this.
Speaker 3: My new company.
Speaker 4: I don't want y'all know exact I want me exactly.
Speaker 3: Okay, And I still want to make movies for y'all. Choice.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it was a bold choice. It was. It was
Speaker 4: a very bold choice.
Speaker 1: But but at that point in time, I knew that
Speaker 1: I had enough experience, enough expertise, and I also had success.
Speaker 1: Yeah track record, Yeah, I had this track record, and
Speaker 1: this movie was the basically the mission statement for the company.
Speaker 1: I want to make movies that are uplifting and inspirational.
Speaker 1: So she said, yes, we negotiated the deal. The first
Speaker 1: movie I made was Miracles from Heaven with Jennifer Garner.
Speaker 4: And Queen Latifa.
Speaker 1: And then there was a lot of turmoil at Sony
Speaker 1: at that time, and Amy ended up, you know, transitioning
Speaker 1: to be a producer, and so I moved my production
Speaker 1: deal to Fox. Got it, and I made a movie
Speaker 1: called Breakthrough with Chrissy Metz, and I also set up
Speaker 1: the movie Flaming Hunt that I eventually mad. While I
Speaker 1: was at Fox, the company he got sold to Disney.
Speaker 1: So once it was going to Disney, there was no space.
Speaker 1: They weren't they weren't going to take my deal. So basically,
Speaker 1: one other caveat, which is very important as a producer
Speaker 1: in Hollywood, a lot of times your viability is directly
Speaker 1: related to the deals that you have because when you
Speaker 1: have a deal with the studio.
Speaker 4: They pay your overhead, they allow you.
Speaker 1: You know, that means you can have money for staff
Speaker 1: and money to live on that's white while you're developing projects.
Speaker 1: So you know, having a deal as a producer is
Speaker 1: essential to credibility in my experience. Yes, so I moved
Speaker 1: my deal to Fox. Fox got sold to Sony and
Speaker 1: then right when that was happening, the Powers to be
Speaker 1: a Paramount. This was a twenty nineteen They called me
Speaker 1: and they're like, hey, you know, we really want to
Speaker 1: get into Faith.
Speaker 4: You know, we want to do a deal with you.
Speaker 1: Great, So we closed the deal like November of twenty nineteen,
Speaker 1: three year deal.
Speaker 4: What happened in March of twenty twenty.
Speaker 3: And people got sick. Everybody called the pandemic the whole world.
Speaker 4: Man, It's like, what's going on?
Speaker 1: So the pandemic basically took two years out of the
Speaker 1: deal where I couldn't do anything for.
Speaker 3: Paramoun because pandemic plus Ryder strike it was.
Speaker 4: Just it was man.
Speaker 1: So I went ahead and made Flame It Hot for
Speaker 1: Fox in twenty one. But when twenty two rolled around,
Speaker 1: I had not made a movie for Paramount, and even
Speaker 1: though I tried, I had development, I had projects there.
Speaker 1: None of the things went And then there were a
Speaker 1: lot of regime changes too. During the course of my deal.
Speaker 1: I think there were three different you know, presidents of
Speaker 1: production and one chairman was there, another chairman came in another,
Speaker 1: you know. It was just there was a lot of
Speaker 1: turnover during those period of time. But at the end
Speaker 1: of the of the deal, you know, I wanted to
Speaker 1: extend because I was like, look, I know I can
Speaker 1: make a movie for you guys. And they were like no,
Speaker 1: you know, They're like, no, we're gonna We're going in
Speaker 1: a different direction. Yeah, And I was like, wow, I said,
Speaker 1: you know, you don't really even you don't even have
Speaker 1: I said, to my knowledge, you don't have any producers
Speaker 1: you know, of color that you're working with, you know,
Speaker 1: and I even though I haven't made a movie for
Speaker 1: you yet, we're getting close on this or we can
Speaker 1: do that. And they were like no. So basically I
Speaker 1: was without a company, you know, I mean, not without
Speaker 1: a company, without a deal. Yeah, So what does that mean.
Speaker 1: That means I had to lay people off. Oh, it
Speaker 1: means I had to move out of my office space.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, bro, I'm telling you.
Speaker 4: Like it was like I had to start working with
Speaker 4: the kitchen table, yes.
Speaker 1: Sir, from your home, from the home, yes, oh my god.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 1: And if you had seen my office space, I had
Speaker 1: a beautiful office over on in Century City, you know,
Speaker 1: overlooking the whole city. And then I moved that office
Speaker 1: to West Hollywood, right across from Soho House, overlooking you know,
Speaker 1: the Beverly Hills, and it was beautiful. And then when
Speaker 1: the deal left, I had to go home literally home, home,
Speaker 1: literally home, Oh my god. And then I sit there
Speaker 1: and say, okay, wow, well what well, Okay, I have
Speaker 1: no deal, I have no company. I mean I have
Speaker 1: no you know, staff, Yeah, myself, the company.
Speaker 4: What am I going to do here? What am I
Speaker 4: going to do?
Speaker 1: And one of the things that we talked about earlier
Speaker 1: is what really served me well, which was operating in
Speaker 1: the identity of the producer even before I was HM.
Speaker 1: Why that was important in that moment is that I
Speaker 1: could have said, oh man, I didn't produce nothing for Paramount.
Speaker 1: I'm not a good producer. You know, maybe I got
Speaker 1: to go in a different direction. But I was like, no,
Speaker 1: I know, I know who I am, I know what
Speaker 1: I can do. And I just said, God, you gotta
Speaker 1: do it. You got to you gotta show me what
Speaker 1: you want me to do. And here's what was so crazy.
Speaker 1: After I lose my deal, I think right around that time,
Speaker 1: Flaming Hot came out, you know, in Disney Plus and Hulu,
Speaker 1: and it was about the creator of Flaming Hot Cheetos.
Speaker 1: And the movie, you know, did did very well. And
Speaker 1: my agent at the time, you know, sent me on
Speaker 1: meeting after meeting, and nobody wanted to do it. Nobody
Speaker 1: even after oested the movie, even have sess to the movie.
Speaker 1: So I'm sitting there thinking like, Lord, I know I'm
Speaker 1: a producer, but lord, you know, I got to have
Speaker 1: a deal in order to produce.
Speaker 4: So I was like, okay, God, what are we gonna
Speaker 4: do here?
Speaker 1: I made this movie. The movie's really good. It has
Speaker 1: great critical acclaim, it's a commercial success. It won the
Speaker 1: Audience Awarded south by Southwest that year. Like it's a success,
Speaker 1: but people didn't there was nobody wanted to do a deal.
Speaker 4: So I just said, Okay, well, I'm gonna keep believing.
Speaker 1: And then, you know, and then at that time, I'm
Speaker 1: still preaching and doing other things, so I'm like all right,
Speaker 1: let me just keep creating and trust it one that
Speaker 1: this is all going to get sorted out.
Speaker 4: So long story, short, true story.
Speaker 1: My agent sets a meeting of breakfast for me with
Speaker 1: Scott Stuber and at the time, you know, Scott Stuber
Speaker 1: is like a legendary Hollywood studio executive and now he's
Speaker 1: a producer, but at the time he ran Netflix film production.
Speaker 4: And so we have breakfast. The meeting goes.
Speaker 1: Great, and he's like, oh, yeah, you know, I really
Speaker 1: want to, you know, do this, do a deal something,
Speaker 1: you know, let's talk about it.
Speaker 4: And so I was like cool.
Speaker 1: So I was waiting, you know, he and my my agent,
Speaker 1: we're talking and anyway, nothing.
Speaker 4: I hadn't heard anything. Let me put it that way.
Speaker 5: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So I'm sitting at home like, okay, god, what are
Speaker 1: we gonna do? And my phone rings and it's Tyler
Speaker 1: Tyler Perry and he's like, hey, man, I hear you're
Speaker 1: doing a deal with Netflix.
Speaker 3: I'm like, no, I ain't no way, that's serious. That's serious,
Speaker 3: for real, for real. You don't know none of this.
Speaker 4: I don't know none of this.
Speaker 3: You're just watching this right right, who's doing the right me?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 1: So you talked to Scott. He's like, yeah, as he said,
Speaker 1: but why don't we do it together? And I'm like, absolutely,
Speaker 1: let's do it together. Let's do it together. And he
Speaker 1: and I you know, went to Netflix, closed the deal
Speaker 1: and the first movie was Get Back in the Office. No,
Speaker 1: here's what I learned. Here's what I learned. I learned
Speaker 1: that I don't need all of that to give me
Speaker 1: the security in my identity.
Speaker 3: That is good, Devon.
Speaker 4: I'm like, I don't need it. I don't need it.
Speaker 1: I'm more profitable being lean and because I'm the one
Speaker 1: that's you know, creating and producing and putting it all together.
Speaker 1: So it's like, no, I know, let me not just
Speaker 1: go back into all that. No, let me stay like
Speaker 1: this and let me let if that's what God wants,
Speaker 1: he will begin to rebuild it in that way. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but no, man, I literally still work from the home.
Speaker 2: You know, my God, this episode on me gotta come out.
Speaker 2: I could watch this myself. It's so that is so good.
Speaker 2: Because I had my sound stage that was tied to
Speaker 2: the app. We had a five year lease and in
Speaker 2: that time, people think I'm crazy because I was like,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna take down Netflix.
Speaker 3: I don't know if you know. Netflix is just as
Speaker 3: viable and out as it ever worked.
Speaker 2: But in my mind, I'm gonna take you down, or
Speaker 2: y'all gonna absorb me and give me a hundred million dollars.
Speaker 3: They didn't give me a dime.
Speaker 2: But I had to let that studio go because business
Speaker 2: wise it didn't make sense. It was cool, there was currency,
Speaker 2: there was credibility, but at the same time, there was
Speaker 2: a tremendous overhead and I had to lay people off
Speaker 2: and for me, lame people. And I know this is
Speaker 2: probably the same for you. Laying people off is not
Speaker 2: ever a good feeling.
Speaker 4: Ever.
Speaker 2: Taking somebody's livelihood away, even though you're not the reason
Speaker 2: they don't have it, you feel personally responsible. I don't
Speaker 2: enjoy firing people. I don't enjoy laying people off. I
Speaker 2: don't I've been fired and I've been laid off. I
Speaker 2: assume everybody's like me. We all got bills, kid, somebody
Speaker 2: depending on you, Like I don't take that lightly, but
Speaker 2: sometimes you still have to do it. Hey, guys, taking
Speaker 2: a quick commercial break, We'll be right back. This industry
Speaker 2: will also make you feel like.
Speaker 3: There's certain things you gotta do to make it.
Speaker 2: I love that you decided that something that hurts you
Speaker 2: at a moment you decided later on, I actually don't even.
Speaker 3: Need that to operate.
Speaker 2: Don't need it because it's it's better for me, it's
Speaker 2: better for business, and it doesn't define me, and.
Speaker 1: It doesn't define me, man, because at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, like and again, if God, you know, wants
Speaker 1: it to be that again, then you know, I'll embrace that.
Speaker 1: But at the time when I had you know, the
Speaker 1: great office and the staff and all the things. Man,
Speaker 1: it's it's a lot, and you know, it's a lot
Speaker 1: to manage. It's pressure to pressure, and it's so I
Speaker 1: just like the idea of like God was like, no,
Speaker 1: we're gonna We're gonna build, take it all the way down,
Speaker 1: you know, and and allow us to get back to
Speaker 1: what this is about with is making stories that can
Speaker 1: impact people in a positive way. And every when we
Speaker 1: talked about, you know, taking fourteen years to get the
Speaker 1: company and all the things that every day that I
Speaker 1: spent working on someone else's movie was actually preparation for
Speaker 1: me to be able to do my movies.
Speaker 6: God today so so so now like I know every
Speaker 6: aspect of everyone's job in the best way, you know,
Speaker 6: Like I know, like like I know, like, oh, okay,
Speaker 6: I know what this executive is thinking.
Speaker 1: I know how I need to give them comfort as
Speaker 1: it relates to this. I know I need to like
Speaker 1: pull back on this. I know how, like because I'm
Speaker 1: experienced and all the things helped me manage it.
Speaker 4: So now you know, I've made three movies in what
Speaker 4: year and a half.
Speaker 1: It's it took me. It took me ten years, ten
Speaker 1: years to make three live action movies. Wow, And I've
Speaker 1: made three in like the past eighteen months. And I
Speaker 1: got two more that we're working on. But that's also
Speaker 1: where we have to believe what we say we believe. Yeah,
Speaker 1: if we truly trust God, we have to submit all
Speaker 1: of it and let him do what only he can
Speaker 1: do when he's ready to do it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he's not, he's not subject to our timeline.
Speaker 3: He got the whole world.
Speaker 5: He's got it.
Speaker 4: He's got it.
Speaker 1: And and and one of the areas where I've you know,
Speaker 1: found my own self inflicted frustration is what I'm trying
Speaker 1: to tell him.
Speaker 3: Listen, God mean divine right, I kind of need it right.
Speaker 2: And it's always we always rushing, always we are never
Speaker 2: mare like God, take your take your time, hey brother,
Speaker 2: the bills coming on the.
Speaker 4: First ever prayed that prayer, God take your time.
Speaker 3: Never we only rushing God. They ain't never like God,
Speaker 3: develop me, develop.
Speaker 2: Me, Hey brother, you don't see the bills doing on
Speaker 2: the first they ask for the morgage a kid.
Speaker 3: I want to be clear real quick. I want to
Speaker 3: just clarify something.
Speaker 2: That three year period of that Paramount deal, did you
Speaker 2: get any movie done?
Speaker 1: The only movie that I made was for Fox during
Speaker 1: that period, so flame it.
Speaker 4: During that period.
Speaker 3: So nothing actually think for Paramount.
Speaker 1: And so mind you you know they're giving me all
Speaker 1: this money to run the company, but the way that
Speaker 1: they get that money back is.
Speaker 4: Through movies being made. Yeah, and so in essence, you know,
Speaker 4: they give me this money.
Speaker 2: And nothing ever came to fruition for them. Now, did
Speaker 2: you ever feel any sense of like guilty disappointment that
Speaker 2: this like you weren't able to deliver anything for them,
Speaker 2: or were you just like it is what it is.
Speaker 1: I didn't feel guilty. I felt disappointed, you know, because
Speaker 1: I always liked to deliver. I'm committed to that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: But I also was able to look at all of
Speaker 1: the factors that were out of my control.
Speaker 2: Right, pandemic youn Franklin, ain't starting no.
Speaker 3: COVID, you know strike you know, I mean, ain't.
Speaker 2: Nobody said it's divine while we ain't got no why
Speaker 2: the people.
Speaker 4: Wearing masks right right, it's my fall, it's my father, Yeah,
Speaker 4: you know.
Speaker 1: No, I mean so so I could, I could look
Speaker 1: at all of the circumstances and all the factors and say,
Speaker 1: you know, I did the best that I could. And
Speaker 1: I also understand, you know, their decision. I didn't like
Speaker 1: it at the time, but I understood it. But here's
Speaker 1: the other part that was it was a blessing.
Speaker 3: You really feel that way.
Speaker 1: Here's why it was a blessing because I needed to
Speaker 1: get out of all of that.
Speaker 4: I God, God was like.
Speaker 1: Look, you're you're building this this as as it's almost
Speaker 1: like an idol. You're building this idol, this company, this
Speaker 1: beautiful building, these people, and then you're starting to make
Speaker 1: decisions about how to maintain this instead of decisions of
Speaker 1: how you do what I called you to do. Right,
Speaker 1: So God almost like, look, I gotta rescue you. I
Speaker 1: gotta get you out of them.
Speaker 3: The rescue was shutting it shutting it down what you
Speaker 3: thought you wanted.
Speaker 4: That's right.
Speaker 1: God said, uh, uh, okay, you did that. You did
Speaker 1: it your way. Now we're gonna do it my way.
Speaker 1: Want any of that to be who I've called you
Speaker 1: to be. You're going to be more productive without any
Speaker 1: of it. From your kitchen, from my kitchen. When I'm
Speaker 1: not on set, I am at the house working.
Speaker 5: Wow.
Speaker 4: And so so it was a blessing. In the moment.
Speaker 4: I was upset, I was disappointed.
Speaker 1: I was wondering what I was going to do financially,
Speaker 1: you know, I was like, oh, my goodness, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm not going to have the right money. I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna be able to do all these things. So I
Speaker 1: felt I felt it. It wasn't like an easy thing
Speaker 1: at was. But when I look back, it was like
Speaker 1: God was saving me. He was like, no, we got
Speaker 1: to rebuild this. We gotta because you're because you know,
Speaker 1: we're we're driven, were and we and we care you know,
Speaker 1: and this, and it's like once we start getting success,
Speaker 1: then it's like, oh, I wanted this and I want that,
Speaker 1: and there's nothing wrong with all of that. But for
Speaker 1: me personally, what began to happen is that. You know,
Speaker 1: my decision making was in part about this maintenance and
Speaker 1: and well, how do I build this company and all
Speaker 1: this stuff? And it's like who cares when I go?
Speaker 1: The company is gone? Yeah, but what will stay? The stories?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 1: The movies shows what God put me, the stories God
Speaker 1: put within me to tell. Yeah, those are eterns of
Speaker 1: God's Like, look, let's get back to basics.
Speaker 4: That's what this is about.
Speaker 1: I'm put you in this business to tell stories that
Speaker 1: no one else can tell but you, because there are
Speaker 1: people in this earth, my children, that need what you do.
Speaker 3: I kind of want to cry.
Speaker 2: I'm not even choking. I have one more question, so
Speaker 2: I don't cry. I'm switching gears because I want you,
Speaker 2: the Lord speaking through you to me. I hope y'all
Speaker 2: get anything from this, but if you don't, sucks for you.
Speaker 3: It really does.
Speaker 2: I'm having a personal blast. I'm curious when you are
Speaker 2: just Devarn Franklin the actor, are you relieved to just
Speaker 2: be in your tailor?
Speaker 4: I sure, am? I am so really?
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, I ain't got to worry about no budget,
Speaker 1: I ain't got to worry about who's on time and
Speaker 1: who's late.
Speaker 4: What time you want me on set no problem trailer.
Speaker 4: Oh I love it. I love that. Listen.
Speaker 1: That is one of the greatest blessings that God has
Speaker 1: given me is the ability to act and the opportunity
Speaker 1: to act, because it just man, boy, it takes the
Speaker 1: stress off.
Speaker 4: I'm like, oh, this is good. Where do you want
Speaker 4: me staying right here? Okay? I got it, Okay, I
Speaker 4: learned my line. I'm ready to go.
Speaker 2: I know it because it's for me. I remember when
Speaker 2: the set of Church in the first season. I remember
Speaker 2: having to act, and I remember this one time the producer,
Speaker 2: the line producer I hired.
Speaker 3: Chose to save money. He chose to get turkey raps
Speaker 3: from Costco for lunch. He just had two big tubs
Speaker 3: like you would get for a and lunch. Lunch was late.
Speaker 2: First of all, it was late, and you know you're
Speaker 2: getting going to grace you got so we already got
Speaker 2: a meal penalty.
Speaker 3: So these people are.
Speaker 2: Like great people are happy about meal penalties. Count the heads.
Speaker 2: And then not only was it late, he chose cold
Speaker 2: turkey raps and I said, for the lunch for everybody
Speaker 2: on set.
Speaker 4: Fine lunch.
Speaker 2: I said, no, brother, you can't do that. These people
Speaker 2: have been here since six am. You can't feed nobody mayonnaise,
Speaker 2: no encrusted raps from cop That is a corporate that
Speaker 2: is an addition to whatever we have.
Speaker 3: That can't be the thing I ate.
Speaker 2: Today was cold, and I remember I just did a
Speaker 2: little movie, just a little day player role brother. They said,
Speaker 2: your call time is eleven thirty. I said, whatever, eleven thirty.
Speaker 2: I went at breakfast. They bring my clothes to me.
Speaker 2: I shot my little scene and went home. I seen
Speaker 2: the production office that was arguing. I said, have a
Speaker 2: great day. God see later.
Speaker 3: That ain't my problem, because often problem.
Speaker 2: I got to figure out these people are beefing, lunch
Speaker 2: is late, this actor is sick, but on that day,
Speaker 2: and I know y'all dealing with it, and God, bless y'all,
Speaker 2: bless it.
Speaker 3: I'm gone.
Speaker 4: I just was curious. I love it. Yes, it's wonderful.
Speaker 1: It's a great I love the opportunity to do both this.
Speaker 1: It helps me with my mental health. Okay, it is hard,
Speaker 1: for sure.
Speaker 2: All right, before we let you go tell people what
Speaker 2: they can watch that you've worked on, or what you're
Speaker 2: working on, or where they can follow you.
Speaker 3: All the things you said in the podcast.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, So you can watch my my latest films,
Speaker 1: Relationship Goals with Kelly Rowland method Man on Prime Video.
Speaker 3: Yep.
Speaker 1: You can also watch Ruth and Boaz on Netflix with
Speaker 1: Sorea and Tyler Lepley, who just won the NAA was
Speaker 1: their award.
Speaker 4: I was holding you know, that's of course, great job.
Speaker 4: You know that out there. I was like, okay, come on, man,
Speaker 4: Tom Brown.
Speaker 3: They didn't fit all the way. I couldn't close it.
Speaker 4: But it nothing good.
Speaker 3: You know, the ribbon was a lot.
Speaker 4: I took a risk, but that's like you gotta do it.
Speaker 3: You gotta do it.
Speaker 4: So Ruth de Boaz and that also starts Felisha Rashad.
Speaker 1: I have an audible book, a new audio book on
Speaker 1: Audible called Be True. It's the audio recording of my
Speaker 1: one man show that I did last year New York.
Speaker 4: And you know, I'm really really proud of that.
Speaker 3: What was that?
Speaker 1: Like, man, it was it was the most terrifying thing
Speaker 1: I've ever done. Really, it's just me on stage, that's it.
Speaker 4: And I'm not preaching. This is the performance.
Speaker 1: I you know, produce, it, directed all of the things,
Speaker 1: and so you know, it's one thing when you're acting
Speaker 1: and you have other people in the scene, or you know,
Speaker 1: the director can yell cut, let's do that again.
Speaker 4: When you get a show, you just gotta go.
Speaker 1: So you know, it was the craziest thing I've ever done,
Speaker 1: and it was also one of the most rewarding things
Speaker 1: that I've done.
Speaker 4: You know, I really really enjoyed that.
Speaker 1: And you know, and I'm working on a bunch of
Speaker 1: other stuff. I have a moved with Taraji coming out
Speaker 1: this year on Netflix. We're getting ready to announce that
Speaker 1: day pretty soon. It's another inspiration true story.
Speaker 4: Man. This movie, Oh.
Speaker 1: Man, this movie is going to it's gonna be. I
Speaker 1: think it's gonna be the inspirational movie the holiday season.
Speaker 1: I think, really, oh yeah, I think it's that good.
Speaker 4: I think it's that good.
Speaker 3: You already selling it. I am selling good, ladies, gentlemen.
Speaker 2: Davon Franklin personal mentor of mind. He not directly. And also,
Speaker 2: I want to say this, somebody got to personally mentor you.
Speaker 2: To be a mentor, you follow them, watch them, watch
Speaker 2: what they do, read their books, follow their history. You
Speaker 2: don't got to text them and call them for them
Speaker 2: to be a mentor. They can mentor you by the
Speaker 2: way they live their life. I want you to know that,
Speaker 2: so y'all can stop being me. Hey man, please watch
Speaker 2: his movies, read his book, enjoy his work, and check
Speaker 2: out his movies when they are coming. God bless you,
Speaker 2: Davon Franklin, y'all, my brother, thanks for having me. This
Speaker 2: has been a Unanimous Media original. Not My Best Mama
Speaker 2: was produced by iHeart Pop and Unanimous Media. It was
Speaker 2: hosted by me Kevin Fredericks. Executive produced by Stephen Curry,
Speaker 2: Eric Payden and Charlotte Sumter Vigette. Co executive producer Klena
Speaker 2: Maria Cutney. The executive producers of the iHeart Podcasts are
Speaker 2: Sean Titone and Jason English. This series was produced by
Speaker 2: Peter Calter and Jabari Davis. Co producer Kurt Redman. Special
Speaker 2: thanks to Stephen Curry and Will Pearson. Not My Best
Speaker 2: Moment as a production of Unanimous Media and iHeart Podcasts.
Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.