WEBVTT - Brian White Full Interview 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.560 My Next Yes is a Boston native and son of 0:00:02.600 --> 0:00:06.800 a licensed financial consultant mother and the and the son 0:00:06.840 --> 0:00:11.799 of the legendary Boston Celtics player Joe Joe White. He 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:14.400 was still with the importance of both sports and education 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:19.240 throughout his childhood. He studied political science, psychology, and theater 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:24.120 at Dartmouth College. He's currently starting in ambitions, a new 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:27.440 night time drama from producing my man. Will Packard did 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:30.520 two movies with him and Oprah Winfrey on their own networks. 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:33.159 It's premier in this June. He's surrounded by the all 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:36.120 star casts and includes My Girl. Robin Gibbons did uh 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:39.680 couple of sitcoms with her on ABC, s An Atkins, 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:42.360 That's m Girl from w B and UPM. The series 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:45.280 tells the tells the tale of two high powered African 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:49.320 American families that class and connect professionally and romantically in 0:00:49.400 --> 0:00:52.600 the hot Atlanta. Please welcome to Money Making Conversations, my 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:57.520 man Brian White, Hey brother, how are you? Thank you 0:00:57.560 --> 0:01:00.000 for having me on? Well, first of all, thank you man. Listen, 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:02.080 let's let's let's talk about the wee yet right now? 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:05.319 You're you you you just tend at the house. You're 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:08.880 acting on some set. What's going on man yet? Yeah? 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:10.560 Right now I'm at the house. We were getting some 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:13.920 work done. Um, get ready to head out on the 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:16.320 road and promote ambitions. We're getting ready to go to 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:18.800 Miami and breaking my family with me, my wife's family. 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:22.760 She's from Argentina. Some of her family lives in Miami, 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:25.039 soort of bringing my daughter so they can meet them, 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:29.840 and uh, you know, just celebrate the life being good. Well, 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:33.640 you know, that's that's that's that's a lot of good 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:38.520 eating meat, meat, meat, men. Yeah, a lot of seafood, 0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:41.160 a lot of seafood down there. Absolutely. So when you 0:01:41.240 --> 0:01:43.560 when you start looking at your career, all right, I'll 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:46.119 go through your resume and I put your father's name, 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:49.760 Jojo White, and being a sports fan, being a person 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:55.600 of African American descent, Roshan mcgaunt. Let's meet Jojo White, 0:01:56.840 --> 0:01:59.920 watching him succeed in the climate of Boston, watching him 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:04.200 succeed on a basketball, uh team like the Boston Celtics. 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:06.800 What was that like? Because for me, it was important 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:10.720 because he was a successful African American succeeding against the 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:14.200 odds and the succeeding in the environment that that that 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:18.200 that that made me feel that I can make it too. Yeah. 0:02:18.240 --> 0:02:22.120 It Uh, I mean it was very educational. Uh. It 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:24.880 was also very challenging because my parents were divorced when 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:27.480 I was four. Um, I was close with my dad, 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:29.919 but I lived and was raised by my mom, and 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:33.600 so you know, I when I wasn't with my father, 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:37.360 I was a witness, you know, like a fan watching 0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:39.880 on TV the light that was happening. But I was 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:43.800 very aware of it because he was not living in Boston. Uh, 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:45.960 in my in my teen years, but he was always 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:48.720 in the Boston papers. Uh in my you know, when 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:51.920 I was eighteen. Still he's still playing and uh, you know, 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:53.920 I'm aware of everything he's doing, but I just can't 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:56.560 see him as much. Um. You know, we didn't have 0:02:57.080 --> 0:02:59.240 Uh we were texting all day the way we are now. 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:01.400 The word work was the video so you know, if 0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:03.520 there was a window, you know, half hour a day 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:05.320 when Dad was free on the phone, when I was 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:07.960 free on a hardline phone and we could talk, but 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:12.720 that wasn't often. So, UM, I learned how this kind 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:15.480 of lifestyle that I'm in now works and how it 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:19.800 can work better. Uh when with the knowledge that I 0:03:19.919 --> 0:03:22.320 have of what you know, can potentially be done using 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:25.720 technology to make sure that my daughter has an even 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:28.520 better experience than maybe my siblings and I did with 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:33.040 the with the challenges of distance. And by the same token, 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:37.480 I learned all the great ways my dad uh maneuvered 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:41.400 through space. I learned through his his lessons. He was 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:43.560 in the sixty eight panem Games and in the sixty 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:47.800 night Olympics and that that's the black Govel Olympics movie. 0:03:47.800 --> 0:03:50.440 Glory Road is about that. And you know, one of 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:53.880 the things I learned from my god's father read our back, Um, 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:56.600 you know, telling my dad did not get on that podium. 0:03:57.160 --> 0:04:01.120 Don't uh let your fans know at your politics and 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:05.080 your opinions before you've won them some trophies. Uh, they 0:04:05.080 --> 0:04:08.400 don't care. That very clear to his number one draft 0:04:08.440 --> 0:04:12.119 pick in in the nineteen sixty nine that that that's 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:14.280 something that he should not do. So you'll notice my 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:18.680 father is absent from the glove being raised celebration and 0:04:18.680 --> 0:04:21.920 instead of celebrating with his teammates the moment and not 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:25.600 making it more than that. Um. And you know, recognizing 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:29.279 his place and his position and and always being happy 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:32.360 to be a part of something positive is an asset 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:35.240 that my father definitely demonstrated and passed on to me 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:39.160 is as something that's very valuable. Congratulations because I guess 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:41.480 what what I thank you, you know, because I guess 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:45.560 what what individuals do when you have so few role models, 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:47.160 and you know, back then, you know you have a 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:50.000 lot of role model because of social media, because of media, 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:54.120 because of the way the system works nowadays, that relationships 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:56.880 can be expanded on and back then you limited on 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:59.120 who you can talk to, on how you can talk 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:01.200 to him, and what you can And because of the 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:03.920 fact that he was featured in a market and Boston 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:05.479 had a lot of success with a lot of African 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:08.800 American talent, but he was definitely in a market that 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:11.920 was perceived to be not favorable to the African Americans 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:15.400 and he exceeded and stuff so very much. So and 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:17.880 what he what I think that the lesson at the 0:05:18.160 --> 0:05:20.000 you know, when I look at the when I reflect 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:23.720 from now in hindsight, what Dad didn't do is he 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:25.799 he didn't talk a lot. He walks off and carried 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:28.440 a big stick. And so in the beginning of his career, 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:31.920 he came in hungry to prove himself as worthy of 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:35.520 the number one draft pick, and as soon as you know, 0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:38.839 they got a ring um she started the Jojo White 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:42.120 Growth League and his foundations and started the speaking tours 0:05:42.480 --> 0:05:45.480 and started doing the things with red support at that 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:47.840 point that we're quote unquote appropriate. And just what it 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:50.560 taught me was a lot with the social media era, 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:54.120 where everybody leads with how great they are, when you 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:57.120 know they haven't really accomplished anything, and instead, instead of 0:05:57.160 --> 0:06:00.640 being great, they're worried about being famous or being recognized 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:03.800 for that greatness. And and that's the opposite of the 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:07.479 approach that I was shown and demonstrated by my father, 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:10.440 and and the approach that I tried to apply to 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:14.279 my craft currently, which seems to be the opposite of 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:19.120 you know, the motto or the credo. Not really, not really, 0:06:19.160 --> 0:06:21.960 because every role you play I watch, your credit or 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:26.799 your career is your is dignity is strength. Uh you know, articulate, 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:29.800 you're a good looking guy. Uh, and you always come 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:33.960 across as a strong, a strong, independent person and no 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:37.320 matter how extreme your characters are. And uh, I just wanted, 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:39.080 I just wanted to talk about your father, and we're 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:40.520 gonna move on, but I want to just bring up 0:06:40.560 --> 0:06:44.040 the fact that was referencing his dad, the legendary Boston 0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:47.760 Celtic star Jojo White, and how the impact he played 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:50.359 on the community as a player and also on in 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:52.800 his personal life. But more importantly, when I look at 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:55.640 your characters that you play now, it explains a little 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:58.719 bit about you, know, your your physicality. It also explains 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:01.080 your daring nous. You know. Is one of the favorite 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:03.960 characters that you that I recently saw you play was 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:10.640 on Ray Donovan and uh, and how do you prepare 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:15.160 for a crazy character like that? I'll let you in 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:18.440 on a couple of secrets. David Hollander, Uh, the creator 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:22.080 of Ray Donovan, gave me the opportunity in season one 0:07:22.120 --> 0:07:26.120 to to join the show. And Uh. As season one 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:27.600 went on, we had a lot of fun and he 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:29.880 came to me and he said, hey, you really seem 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:33.520 to get the black comedy that is Ray dount of it. 0:07:33.560 --> 0:07:35.280 And I said, that's how I saw it, you know, 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:37.720 when I made my audition tape. You know it's it's 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:43.040 it's very dark, but there's an underbelly of humor um 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:45.040 in a lot that they do. As dark as they get, 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:48.560 you have to laugh at it. And he goes all right, exactly. 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:51.000 So I have some things in mind for season two 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:54.480 and you know, just so, are you open to play 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:56.440 and to go with me if I get pretty crazy? 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:59.800 And absolutely, man, I'll be Huckleberry. And uh, you know, 0:07:59.840 --> 0:08:02.240 he back to me over the summer and said, we 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:04.480 don't have a lot of He actually said this, he said, 0:08:04.480 --> 0:08:06.560 we don't have a lot of writers of color on 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:09.240 the staff and they don't have any. And he said, 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:13.960 we'd like to you know, I would never uh be 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:16.600 so outlandish, has to try to create the dialogue for 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:19.360 you in this type of arc, and I'd like your input. 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:22.200 I'd like you to help us. And so we did 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:25.320 a table read with all six with six scripts at 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:27.280 the time you usually do one, and I got a 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:30.520 chance to read them and submit some some feedback, some 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:34.199 basic feedback, some thoughts to them that they then incorporated, 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:37.080 uh to help shape some of my dialogue. And it 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:40.600 was really an honor and a privilege that's you know, 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:44.280 uncommon to be involved at all. And it helped me 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:47.040 prepare for and be aware of what was to come 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:49.679 and try to help ground it a little bit more 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:52.680 because it was it was outlandish. But you know, Pooch 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:55.800 and I and Donald phase on coming out of season one, 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:58.440 wanted to try to take this and run with it 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:01.679 and make it as entertaining and as stought provoking and 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:06.120 as conversational, like a conversation inspiring as possible, So hopefully 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:08.400 you know it was it was taken with with all 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:11.920 that laughed with and and thought about and uh, you know, 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:14.880 feel a lot of conversations about a lot of what 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:19.400 johns Waite was saying. Why how life is for people 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:22.559 of color like Pooch in not only a black world, 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:24.880 but the black man inside that family. It's a microcosm 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:27.800 of the world. How to be not equal footing when 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:30.800 his father feels like that. You know, that's that's the 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:33.280 kind of stuff that we wanted to that We sat 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:35.400 at dinner and lunch and talked about trying to make 0:09:35.440 --> 0:09:38.960 people think about um as they laughed at some of 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:42.040 the things that that, uh, that my character and his 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:44.040 character were talking about saying to each other, and it 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:46.440 was saying a lot and I think I enjoyed the 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:49.200 most goods Pooch his character. We talked about the show 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:52.640 one of the shows you started in uh showtimes Ray 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:56.959 Donovan Um and the character was this this high profile 0:09:57.040 --> 0:10:01.640 actor and he uh him and play this role and 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:06.880 they did something very Uh. They saved him because he 0:10:06.880 --> 0:10:08.720 he kind of his character kind of lost his mind 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:13.640 one day and they because it was a samurai sword 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:16.560 and uh, they come in the house. He cried, he cried, 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:20.280 you know, and they and they cover for him. And 0:10:20.320 --> 0:10:21.959 so I don't want to give with you. So even 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:24.400 they should go back and see it. But his character 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:26.800 is one of the dynamic characters they play. And the 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:28.280 thing about this is that when I looked at your 0:10:28.280 --> 0:10:31.000 resume and and I kept going, I see them on this. 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:32.520 I see them on this, and I've seen on this. 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:34.280 Now they surely we want to talk about coming up 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:37.520 on on own premier in this model, specifically on June eighteenth. 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:39.920 It's called Ambitions. I know, I got a shot window 0:10:39.960 --> 0:10:41.719 by the minute left in this break, and got ten 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:43.599 minutes coming up in the next break. Just set it 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:45.160 up real quick and then we're gonna go in more 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:49.400 details when we come back, all right. Ambitions created by 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:52.920 our executive produced by Will Packer, cras by Jamie Gideon's 0:10:53.000 --> 0:10:55.920 brought to you by Oprah Winfrey on Own UH is 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:59.840 basically a modern day game of Thrones and about five 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:03.640 powerful families, all vying for the land. In this case, 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:07.040 land is Atlanta. You have the Parahoids, the billionaire white 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:12.040 pharmaceutical giant family. You have the Carlisles, which is my family, 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:15.280 blue collar black folks Atlanta. I've made my way up. 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:19.160 I'm now the mayor of Atlanta. I've married into blackwealth. 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:25.000 The three generational black billionaire family was wealthy and black 0:11:25.000 --> 0:11:28.120 Wall Street before it and after it, and kept their 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:30.360 wealth after the government show it. You can now have 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:33.640 even more. We're gonna bring the rest back on this 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:36.040 next break. We're right back with my man Brian White. 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:40.040 I just Rashan McDonald and you're listening to Money Making 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:42.280 Conversations on the phone for with me today on my 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:45.360 show money Making Conversations. It is a very very talented 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:49.720 actor Brian White. He's discussing the new show that's own. 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:54.319 It's produced by Will Packer. It's called Ambitions and it's 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:56.880 based in Atlanta, Georgia. Now, he was wrapping up some 0:11:57.280 --> 0:11:59.640 a little bit more tidbits about the show before we 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:01.720 had to go the break. It's gonna continue to do 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:05.120 your thing, my friend. Yeah, all I said is it's 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:08.000 like Game of Thrones, modern Day five families vying for 0:12:08.040 --> 0:12:10.520 the land. In this case Atlanta. You have the the 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:17.800 pure Boys billionaire white family, UM pharmaceutical dynasty, the Carlyles, 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:23.360 which is uh, Robin Gibbons family black billionaires were wealthy 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:26.640 before Wall Streets, still wealthy after the government took their money. 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:32.520 Meet my family, the Lancasters, middle class. I'm married into wealth. 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:35.760 I'm the governor, I'm an excuse me, the mayor of Atlanta, 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:40.520 so I'm ambitious. Um. The true Hillo's Mexican Americans striving 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:45.400 their blue collar family looking to elevate in one generation. 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:49.920 And then the Hughes. Uh, they are middle class lawyers, 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:53.880 um elevating up to white collar as they have taken 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:57.840 big jobs and moved to Atlanta. And hand Essence Atkins 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:00.239 is one of the Hughes, and she is the soroy 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:02.880 sister of Robin Gibbons, my wife, and they have a 0:13:02.960 --> 0:13:07.240 sordid history. So that's the uh, that's the playing field game. 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:10.520 It's Ron's tone is the backdrop. May sense some melrose play, 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:14.720 some Dallas and dynasty with a little empire and some 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:19.480 power for good measure. You threw out power. Now that's 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:21.640 that's some gangster stuff. About the canna be some killing 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:24.000 going on on this show? Now they kill on the 0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:28.560 killer not not everybody's gonna make it well nobody. Not 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:30.840 all made it on Game or Throngs either, my friend. 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:34.400 So when you know, when you walk into a show 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:37.760 like this and you see there's so many layers and 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:39.760 you playing a mayor, are you are you gonna say? 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:42.480 Are you looking at the character you already know? Are 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:44.800 you looking to develop that character for this particularly show 0:13:44.840 --> 0:13:48.079 we talked about ambitions that is on premiering on their 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:50.920 own network in June. Talk about that character the very 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:54.480 tier answer, three tier answer. I worked as a surrogate 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:57.080 for Barack Obama, worked as a surrogate for Eric gar said. 0:13:57.720 --> 0:14:02.360 I took notes, it's too how the process worked realistically. 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:06.600 Um Secondarily, I worked with Kevin R. Katie, our show runner, 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:10.000 and Sheila Duxworth, the head of television for Will Pecker TV, 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:12.760 on a show called Media two years ago for TV one, 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:14.920 where I played a character that was running for the 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:16.719 Mary of Atlanta. We did a lot of research. We 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:19.280 shot in Atlanta down there, had a lot of lunches 0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:22.680 with a lot of folks, and then Will and Sheila 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:26.720 came to me with this project with an offer. UM, 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:29.840 and about thirty minutes after I had fainted, I woke 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:32.000 up on the floor with them still on the phone line, 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:34.600 and UM asked them to send me the script so 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:36.480 I can actually read this this role. Because you never 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:39.840 get an offer on a job, you know, it's always 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:41.600 a thousand auditions been on this one. I was very 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:44.320 blessed to be asked to come to the party. I 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:47.440 was on the guest lift and uh, and we really 0:14:47.480 --> 0:14:50.040 started developing it further from what they you know, they 0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:52.280 gave me note someone we've done previously, what we had 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:55.040 talked about, and uh, you know started from there and built. 0:14:55.440 --> 0:14:57.520 And that's true, That's really true. Like as I've been 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:02.080 a writer, a producer, done some acting, stand up comic 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:04.600 and when they when they when they call and ask you, 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:07.280 this is always a different field because you're always in 0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:09.880 the hustle, you're always in the ground, you always going 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:12.120 to the room, competing against so many people. So when 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:14.760 that so you say, you know, the call came to you, 0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:17.400 the offer came to you. What was running through your 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:19.680 mind when they were offering you and you and after 0:15:19.720 --> 0:15:24.280 they pitched the bigness of the series, well, The first 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:26.160 thought was, I need to get a towel because all 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:30.040 these tears on my face, because you know, it's just 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:32.480 sometimes you can get really hard and discouraging, so to 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:37.960 get positive affirmations or encouragement from friends and and powerful 0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:40.960 industry folks like Will and Sheila, who are dear to 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:43.080 your dear friends who we worked together before, but they 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:45.440 cannot hire you for everything. You know, when they when 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:48.680 they can come to you with something great, it's it's uh, 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:52.400 it's it's liberating, it's empowering, it's validating, it's it's you know, 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:55.120 all those things that you shouldn't need, and you know, 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:59.440 we really affirmation, affirmation don't need. You know, it feels 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:02.240 good to get them, and so that particularly that I 0:16:02.280 --> 0:16:04.800 just remember it feeling really good, and uh, you know 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:07.760 really uh that I had to get to work and 0:16:07.800 --> 0:16:11.000 work harder on this because for some reason, I'm being 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:13.840 given a blessing which means you know, to who those 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:18.200 who much who much is given, much is required, and 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:21.320 so you know, I got to work. Now, how does 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:23.440 social media play player role in your life? You know 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:26.000 how just because we talked about it, you just said 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:28.320 your dad was around, there was no social media you 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:31.360 know the land lines. So now you are, you have 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:36.000 a family, you have a career. I see out you know, 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:39.320 if you follow me, what you do? You know? I 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:42.200 use social media to do two things. Celebrate my family 0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:45.200 and promote my jobs. You know. The producers tell me 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:47.880 what the show, you know, and what I can give 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:51.800 me the materials to talk about what what's what's coming up? 0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:54.880 And other than that, I really try to affect the 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:58.000 world positively and celebrate my family, so you know, show 0:16:58.360 --> 0:17:01.040 you know what we're doing, how we're doing it, and 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:04.560 then and you know, silently give examples and and and 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:07.800 you know, be a role model like my dad was. 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:11.160 He didn't talk a lot, but you know he gave 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:13.560 a grade example always of the time. And that's just 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:14.919 one of the things I think I can do with 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:18.159 social media and try to do. Just understand this, Brian, 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:22.400 He affected me, okay. And I always say that those 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:24.480 a little, those a little, those a little moments that 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:27.439 in your life you need encouragement, you need you need 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:30.480 the option to be aba. Yes I can. He did 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:33.119 that for me. And so I noticed you're doing that 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:36.200 with two charities. One is called helping hands. It's a 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:40.040 helping hand celebrity Weekend. It's in St. Thomas and Black Carpenter, 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:44.800 Please explain those to me, uh, well, Black Carpenter and 0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:48.280 helping hands or foundations that I've had over the years 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:51.639 that have evolved into our new UH pursuit, which is 0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:55.680 black just called black. It's a retooling or reimagining a 0:17:55.720 --> 0:18:00.280 Black Carpenter, which is a youth development platform. Black ends 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:06.359 for the acronym stands for be lucid about cultural knowledge UM. 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:09.480 And the idea is if you know where you came from, 0:18:09.680 --> 0:18:13.639 nobody can take that power away from you. And UH 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:15.720 in this day and age, as I watched the government 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:18.120 try to erase, you know, stuff Like I mentioned Black 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:20.159 Wall Street. One of the things that Will and I 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:24.840 talked about was, UM, the the Carlisle family in Ambitions 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:28.320 is so important because we have never seen any family 0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:31.280 like this on television and they exist in the world. 0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:33.879 And what I mean by that is this family was 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:37.560 rich before Black Wall Street. In our current textbooks and schools, 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:41.160 Black Wall Street isn't talked about, it doesn't exist. UM. 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:44.760 Black Wall Street in tuls Oklahoma is where a wall 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:48.120 street like the New York Stock Exchange existed, owned by 0:18:48.160 --> 0:18:51.920 black folks. Back in the thirties, the United States came 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:54.960 in and bombed and burned the town in a partnership 0:18:55.080 --> 0:18:58.280 the US government, in a partnership with the k k 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:00.520 K came into that town and burn and took all 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:03.040 the money. Some folks were able to keep their certificates 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:07.440 in their money and get out. This story directly translates 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:10.120 to one of those families now being rich down in Atlanta, 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:14.840 all being lawyers and controlling the state of Georgia and 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:18.280 the United States and playing politics on that you know, 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:23.480 Trumpian global you know sometimes dirty level that that we 0:19:23.640 --> 0:19:27.359 see ourselves as outsiders too. There there were plenty of 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:30.360 us inside the game. This is one of those stories, 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:32.280 and to my knowledge, the first one ever told on 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:37.280 national television by black producers and writers. So I'm excited. 0:19:37.520 --> 0:19:39.800 You know, not all characters to see things that way. 0:19:39.840 --> 0:19:43.480 My character is blue collar raised, being an independent. He's 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:46.080 the mayor of Atlanta. We don't say he's Republican, we 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:50.080 don't say he's an immocrat. You know, I'm saying he's independent, 0:19:50.280 --> 0:19:53.920 and he is very much like James Brown. People also 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:57.040 haven't seen a character like him outwardly speak about his 0:19:57.080 --> 0:19:59.840 politics behind those closed doors in public. He won't. He'll say, 0:19:59.840 --> 0:20:02.080 what ever, get them to votes behind the closed doors. 0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:06.240 In this show, you're gonna hear his real thoughts. Example, gentrification, 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:09.000 if it's done by black known companies, is a good thing. 0:20:10.320 --> 0:20:13.600 Now you brought up HBCUs we're sending kids to HBC 0:20:13.720 --> 0:20:16.159 used to be more educated than their parents, to make 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:18.399 more money than the generation that came behind them. So 0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:20.160 if they go off to school and some other state 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:22.040 and come back with more money and buy a house 0:20:22.440 --> 0:20:26.000 and elevate the property value, that's gentrification. That is a 0:20:26.080 --> 0:20:28.439 good thing. That's not how we currently think about it 0:20:28.480 --> 0:20:30.320 because we haven't, as people of color, been in the 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:33.880 positions to do that over the last few generations. It's 0:20:33.920 --> 0:20:35.520 always been white people that have gone out and made 0:20:35.520 --> 0:20:41.919 more money in us that you know. Sale, If Nas 0:20:41.960 --> 0:20:44.480 and jay Z decided to go back to Marcy Projects 0:20:44.480 --> 0:20:46.760 where they're both from and buy it and then let 0:20:46.800 --> 0:20:49.240 all the tenants in the building buy their units from 0:20:49.240 --> 0:20:51.439 them so they own them and no longer rent, that 0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:54.160 shifts in entire generation. Is that a bad thing, because 0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:57.440 that's gentrification, Just like Furious Styles talked about in The 0:20:57.480 --> 0:20:59.160 Boys in the Hood, And that's one of the things 0:20:59.240 --> 0:21:02.639 that Evan Lancaster wants to talk about through Own so 0:21:02.720 --> 0:21:04.960 that people start talking about it again and recognize people 0:21:04.960 --> 0:21:08.000 like Marshawn Lynch in Oakland and doing just that, the 0:21:08.040 --> 0:21:11.160 football player for the Raiders buying up homes and then 0:21:11.160 --> 0:21:13.760 reselling them so the black families can now be in 0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:16.359