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Speaker 1: Hey, what's up everybody.

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Speaker 2: I'm Jamelle Hill and welcome to his politics and I

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Speaker 2: heard podcasts and unbothered production.

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Speaker 1: Time to get spolitical.

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Speaker 2: As I mentioned last week, I'm going to use Black

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Speaker 2: History mouff to highlight black stories and sports that don't

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Speaker 2: get the attention they deserve. And this week's story starts

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Speaker 2: and ends in Pittsburgh, specifically with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now,

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Speaker 2: the Steelers are one of the most revered and successful

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Speaker 2: franchises in NFL history. They are currently tied with the

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Speaker 2: New England Patriots for most Super Bowl wins, with both

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Speaker 2: franchises having won six Super Bowls. Now, for the Steelers,

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Speaker 2: six super bowls came in the nineteen seventies, when they

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Speaker 2: were considered a premier dynasty. Now, I'm sure you've heard

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Speaker 2: of the legendary coach Chuck Nole, who coached those teams

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Speaker 2: and was with the Steelers for twenty three years, and

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Speaker 2: of course the Rooney family, who is considered to be

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Speaker 2: the gold standard of pro football ownership. There was another

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Speaker 2: man who played a critical role in the Steelers becoming

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Speaker 2: an dynasty. The man who was primarily behind the Steelers

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Speaker 2: building their infamous Steel Curtain defense. That man would be

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Speaker 2: Bill Nunn, a former scout and assistant director of player

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Speaker 2: personnel for the Steelers. Now here's what it happened was

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Speaker 2: Bill Nunn was a newspaper guy, and as someone who

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Speaker 2: started their career in newspapers, I have a special place

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Speaker 2: in my heart for Bill Nunn's enormous legacy. Now, None

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Speaker 2: was a sportswriter and editor of the Pittsburgh Courier, a

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Speaker 2: distinguished national black newspaper. Starting in nineteen fifty, None selected

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Speaker 2: the paper's annual Black College All American football team, and

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Speaker 2: he hosted an annual banquet for the coaches and players. Now,

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Speaker 2: through his work and study of HBCUs, None developed an

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Speaker 2: extensive knowledge of the players from historically black colleges and universities. Now,

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Speaker 2: back in those days, all the premier black college football

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Speaker 2: talent they went to HBCUs because of segregation. So HBCUs

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Speaker 2: were the only place where they could really showcase what

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Speaker 2: they could do. The Black college football product was a

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Speaker 2: superior product, even though players, coaches, and the HBCU brand

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Speaker 2: of football were largely ignored by the NFL and disrespected

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Speaker 2: by the mainstream and by mainstream you know who I mean.

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Speaker 2: According to USA Today senior NFL writer Jared Bell, None

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Speaker 2: has such deep relationships with HBCU coaches and players than

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Speaker 2: when they went to visit Pittsburgh. They often stayed with None,

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Speaker 2: since a lot of the hotels were segregated.

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Speaker 1: As for how None wound up with the.

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Speaker 2: Steelers, well, it was a relationship that began rooted in criticism.

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Speaker 2: None ragged on the Steelers for their lack of talent

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Speaker 2: and success. Before the Steelers became a dominant team in

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Speaker 2: the nineteen seventies, Pittsburgh had only seven winning seasons since

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Speaker 2: the franchise began in nineteen thirty three. Aubrey Bruce, the

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Speaker 2: sports columnists for the New Pittsburgh Career, explains how None

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Speaker 2: and the Steelers became connected for life.

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Speaker 3: Initially, Bill and Nunn's relationship with the Steelers was a critic.

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Speaker 3: It was criticizing the team for not having black players,

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Speaker 3: and we cannot forget Dan Rooney ms ruinship. Was you

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Speaker 3: so much an expert? Come on over, let scout we

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Speaker 3: can get some plays now.

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Speaker 2: Bill Nunn's response was less or whatever. The nineteen sixties

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Speaker 2: version of that was. The Steelers hired None as a

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Speaker 2: part time scout in nineteen sixty seven, two years before

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Speaker 2: they hired Chuck no who coached the Steelers to their

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Speaker 2: first four Super Bowl victories. But it was None who

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Speaker 2: had the secret sauce.

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Speaker 4: From the stories that Bill told me, some of the

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Speaker 4: scouts weren't very comfortable of going into those schools of

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Speaker 4: the historically black colleges scouting players. They didn't always think

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Speaker 4: that they would have access to them.

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Speaker 2: That was me and Joe Green, one of the key

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Speaker 2: defensive forces that was part of the Steelers infamous Steel

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Speaker 2: Curtain defense. Much to the dismay of the Pittsburgh fans

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Speaker 2: at the time, the Steelers drafted Green fourth overall in

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Speaker 2: nineteen sixty nine. That same draft, None told the Steelers

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Speaker 2: to take el C. Greenwood, another major figure in the

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Speaker 2: Steel Curtain, in the tenth round out of Arkansas. But

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Speaker 2: that was just the beginning of a new era in

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Speaker 2: Steelers football.

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Speaker 5: From nineteen sixty nine to nineteen seventy five, the Steelers

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Speaker 5: drafted twenty four players from HBC years, the most in

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Speaker 5: the NFL. Five players from those schools, Mel Blunt, Elsie Greenwood,

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Speaker 5: Ernie Holmes, John Stalwart, and the undrafted Donnie Schell became

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Speaker 5: Pillars of four Super Bowl teams in the seventies.

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Speaker 2: In nineteen seventy four, the Steelers added five Hall of

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Speaker 2: famers to their roster, four of which were drafted. It's

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Speaker 2: considered to be one of the greatest NFL draft classes

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Speaker 2: in history. The Steelers drafted lyn Swan, Jack Lambert, John Stalworth,

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Speaker 2: and Mike Webster, and then they signed the undrafted rookie

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Speaker 2: Donnie Shale. None is credited for the entire reason the

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Speaker 2: Steelers took Stalworth and Shell with None in their ear

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Speaker 2: Three fourths of that famed steel Curtain defensive line came

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Speaker 2: from HBCUs. While None was known for his strong connection

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Speaker 2: to HBCU's that wasn't the only thing that None brought

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Speaker 2: to the table, said Kevin Colbert, who was the Steelers

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Speaker 2: general manager for over twenty years. Of course, he was

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Speaker 2: known for his work in the HBCUs and what he

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Speaker 2: did in breaking down barriers and so on and so forth.

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Speaker 1: But Bill scouted.

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Speaker 2: The first time I was with him on the road,

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Speaker 2: we spent a day at Boston College.

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Speaker 1: Even though his expertise was the hbcused, he was so

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Speaker 1: much more than that.

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Speaker 2: None retired from the Steelers in nineteen eighty seven as

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Speaker 2: assistant personnel director, he never got to be a general manager,

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Speaker 2: a position he was clearly qualified for. Even after he

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Speaker 2: officially retired, None still continued to work part time for

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Speaker 2: the Steelers. In twenty fourteen, he had a stroke in

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Speaker 2: the team's scouting room and died a few days later.

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Speaker 1: At eighty nine.

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Speaker 2: Years old and twenty twenty one, None was inducted into

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Speaker 2: the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is the first

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Speaker 2: black person in the Hall's history to be enshrined as

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Speaker 2: a contributor. The same year of his induction, the Pro

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Speaker 2: Football Writers of America renamed their award that honors distinguished

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Speaker 2: reporting in Pro Football after None. Unfortunately, these honors came

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Speaker 2: for None after his son, a famous actor I'm sure

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Speaker 2: you'll recognize, had already passed away. You might remember his

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Speaker 2: son from this role.

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Speaker 6: Turn out him off right, turn it up radio out here.

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Speaker 6: I can't him myself. Three you want you want to.

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Speaker 1: Now?

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Speaker 2: I don't know why that wouldn't ring a bell, But

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Speaker 2: just in case it didn't, here's another famous character played

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Speaker 2: by Bill Nunn's son.

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Speaker 6: Who wasn't making no money then?

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Speaker 2: Was we?

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Speaker 6: Now that we are?

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Speaker 7: You out here living your fucking Michael Jordan, fantasy shooting,

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Speaker 7: jumpers and whatnot.

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Speaker 6: Business must be pretty good. We will be brother beat.

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Speaker 6: This a man freebase. So what yo, man? You know

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Speaker 6: the rules us brothers don't be getting out. Shut the

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Speaker 6: fuck up.

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Speaker 7: Man, it just try to call you a non talking basket.

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Speaker 2: The actor Bill Nunn died in twenty sixteen, five years

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Speaker 2: before his father officially became a Hall of Famer, but

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Speaker 2: his father's legacy lives on as it is one that

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Speaker 2: was clearly built to last.

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Speaker 1: I'm Jamel Hill and I approved this message.

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Speaker 2: I am so excited about today's episode because my guest

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Speaker 2: is a billion dollar producer.

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Speaker 1: That's right, I said billion with a B.

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Speaker 2: He had ten films that have opened at number one

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Speaker 2: at the box office, and in twenty seventeen and twenty eighteen,

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Speaker 2: his two comedies that he produced for the highest grossing.

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Speaker 1: Comedies in those years.

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Speaker 2: His success is not limited to movies, as he has

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Speaker 2: produced quality, award winning content in the television space, including

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Speaker 2: and unscripted. He's a proud HBC you graduate, and most recently,

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Speaker 2: he became a minority owner with the Atlanta Falcons. He's

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Speaker 2: got one of the best success stories in Hollywood history.

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Speaker 2: Which you can read about in his new book Who

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Speaker 2: Better Than You The Art of Healthy Arrogance and Dreaming.

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Speaker 2: Coming up next on Politics, mega producer Will Packer.

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Speaker 6: So Will, I'm going.

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Speaker 2: To start the podcast by question I asked every guest

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Speaker 2: on politics and that is named a athlete or a

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Speaker 2: moment that made you love sports.

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Speaker 7: Ooh and okay, all right, I have to ask you

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Speaker 7: answer your question?

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Speaker 6: What a question? Sorry, but I'm an analytical type.

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Speaker 7: So does it have to be something that I experienced

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Speaker 7: myself or can it just be oh, Hank Aaron, Hank

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Speaker 7: Aaron and the home run record seven fifty five.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, that would be because because because.

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Speaker 7: Of what's possible, because of you know, I just remember

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Speaker 7: I played baseball as a young man growing up, and

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Speaker 7: to have somebody that looked like that in a sport

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Speaker 7: that you know, was not is not has not ever

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Speaker 7: been dominated by people of color, of black people, specifically.

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Speaker 7: You know, Hank Aaron's a home run king that always

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Speaker 7: said to me, like you could do it, you know

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Speaker 7: what I mean, Like the ceiling of what someone that

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Speaker 7: looks like me can accomplish is right. So anyway, I

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Speaker 7: learned a little bit about as a young person what

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Speaker 7: he went through. As I got older, I did, you know,

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Speaker 7: some of my own research and study it. But I

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Speaker 7: would say him, I think that the barriers that he

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Speaker 7: broke and achieving the ultimate, the highest heights of success

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Speaker 7: within that sport and not doing it on a curve,

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Speaker 7: not doing it with any caveats needed or necessary like

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Speaker 7: that would be that moment seven.

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Speaker 6: Moments Because I love sports as you do.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, do you're a big sports fan and you

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Speaker 1: know you not. You got to me.

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Speaker 2: You're experiencing something that every sports fan s dreams about,

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Speaker 2: and that is ownership. I mean you you have an

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Speaker 2: ownership stake in the Atlanta Falcons, and you know, just

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Speaker 2: from my viewpoint, that's the next frontier NFL ownership that

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Speaker 2: black folks, you know, really need to We need to

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Speaker 2: get one. We need to get one majority owner in

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Speaker 2: the NFL, and that has not yet happened. But you

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Speaker 2: having this ownership stake in the Falcons, Like, take me

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Speaker 2: through the process because this is a very exclusive club.

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Speaker 1: So what was the process like for you?

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Speaker 6: Yeah, it's it's huge. I mean it really is. It

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Speaker 6: is as cool as it sounds.

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Speaker 7: I'm not gonna lie to you, Jay, Like just being

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Speaker 7: a sports fan, being somebody with very deep ties to

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Speaker 7: Atlanta and to that market. Number One, it doesn't happen

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Speaker 7: without me having an advocate and somebody that has power.

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Speaker 7: That's something that I want to You can't kind of

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Speaker 7: overstate we talk about and understand the power dynamics and

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Speaker 7: a culture in a community. You talked about how exclusive

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Speaker 7: the club is, especially in the NFL. Right, NFL is

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Speaker 7: the biggest of all the sports leagues, and it is

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Speaker 7: a very very exclusive club of you know, billionaires, super

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Speaker 7: rich billionaires. You can't just have one billion right to

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Speaker 7: team and be a majority owner, and so you need

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Speaker 7: somebody that's going to advocate for you. And I am

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Speaker 7: somebody that's of the belief and it's been my experience

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Speaker 7: that the person that advocates for you doesn't have to

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Speaker 7: look like you, doesn't have to identify with you, but

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Speaker 7: they do have to see value in you. And I

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Speaker 7: think it's a two way street in terms of you

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Speaker 7: being somebody that presents yourself as someone of value and

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Speaker 7: someone that can add value to a relationship, and they

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Speaker 7: have to see the importance of having someone like you

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Speaker 7: in their world. For me, that person was Arthur Blain,

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Speaker 7: and he did not have to do this at all.

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Speaker 7: And he brought in last year four for African American

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Speaker 7: New African American owners as limited partners of the Atlanta Falcons,

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Speaker 7: and I was very, very proud to be one of them.

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Speaker 7: I got a call Jay, my right hand for a

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Speaker 7: very long time as Sheyla Cowan and Sala runs a

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Speaker 7: management division of my company.

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Speaker 6: She was my chief staff and she knew somebody.

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Speaker 7: This is how these things happen, right, She knew somebody

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Speaker 7: that worked in the Obama White House, and she knew

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Speaker 7: that person introduced me this person, like you know, years

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Speaker 7: ago when Obama's in office, and it was just kind

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Speaker 7: of a social relationship.

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Speaker 6: And so she.

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Speaker 7: Called me and was like you remember blah blah blah.

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Speaker 7: I was like, oh, yeah, yeah, what's see up to?

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Speaker 6: How's he do it?

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Speaker 7: He's like, well, he knows somebody that's got an investment opportunity. Now,

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Speaker 7: when you are in the position that I'm in, everybody's

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Speaker 7: got an investment opportunity.

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Speaker 6: Right.

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Speaker 7: If I had a dollar for every investment opportunity that

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Speaker 7: was brought to me, I would be running the doge

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Speaker 7: of the United States, you know what I'm.

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Speaker 6: Saying, Right, So.

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Speaker 7: I got this call, and it sounded crazy.

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Speaker 6: My eyes rolled first.

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Speaker 7: Because she said investment opportunity and then she said, listen,

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Speaker 7: I wouldn't bring it to you if it wasn't real.

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Speaker 7: But it's the NFL. And I was like, you're talking

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Speaker 7: about the National Foodsball League, like prick Fried Legion, Like

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Speaker 7: I know, you're not talking about the NFL, right, And

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Speaker 7: she was like, yeah, there is somebody who is putting

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Speaker 7: together a group to be considered by one of the owners.

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Speaker 6: It was all very very top secret.

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Speaker 7: I didn't know the team, I didn't know the owner,

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Speaker 7: but the question was would you want to be considered?

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Speaker 7: And the person putting it together and that name, I

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Speaker 7: will say, it's a brother named Derek Hagenes. And Derek

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Speaker 7: had worked with the NFL for years behind the scenes.

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Speaker 7: He's an attorney and he had consulted with the league

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Speaker 7: and he had been trying to advocate for NFL owners

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Speaker 7: to diversify their ownership ranks. This is not something they

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Speaker 7: have to do, This is not something that they get

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Speaker 7: any benefit for doing. This is something that they have

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Speaker 7: to see the value in doing and want to do

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Speaker 7: on their own. And he had been, you know, honestly

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Speaker 7: banging his head against the wall for a very long

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Speaker 7: time trying to put a group together. But he had

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Speaker 7: one owner that was open to the possibility who had

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Speaker 7: considered it before on his own and that owner happened

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Speaker 7: to be author black and so I once it was

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Speaker 7: explained to me, and I had to sign like seven

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Speaker 7: NDA's right even to just get on the list. And

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Speaker 7: I did that found out it was a falconus. I

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Speaker 7: was like, wow, how apropos is that right? Because I

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Speaker 7: got deep Atlanta ties, and you know I was. I

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Speaker 7: was one of the one of the brothers down in

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Speaker 7: the in the in the Patriots section of the twenty

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Speaker 7: eighty three Super Bowl. I was right there with my wife,

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Speaker 7: you know what I'm saying, cheering us home. And from

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Speaker 7: quarters one through three and a half, it was an

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Speaker 7: amazing I mean an amazing time. Boy, that last the

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Speaker 7: last half of that fourth quarter and overtime was rough

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Speaker 7: on a brother uh and her sister because my wife

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Speaker 7: was right there with me, and we couldn't hide because

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Speaker 7: it was the only black people with our section. We was

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Speaker 7: on the Patriots side. We had been giving it to

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Speaker 7: them fans all game twenty eight to three, and when

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Speaker 7: old Tom Terrific started doing what Tom Terrific does. We

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Speaker 7: tried to shrink inside our little Falcons gear and them

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Speaker 7: Boston folks was like, nah, I don't try to hide now,

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Speaker 7: you've been talking trash all game. So anyway, so it

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Speaker 7: was it's crazy that it was Atlanta foul because it

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Speaker 7: was off the blank. And so there was, as you

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Speaker 7: could imagine, a larger list, a larger group that was

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Speaker 7: vying to be considered.

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Speaker 6: And it was a process with all these various steps.

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Speaker 7: And here's one thing that I will tell you is

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Speaker 7: that the NFL, as we know, is very protective of

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Speaker 7: their brand. They don't play about that shield. And so

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Speaker 7: the process to be considered because ultimately you have to

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Speaker 7: be voted on. The individual owner has to decide to

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Speaker 7: accept you and then put you forth for consideration, and

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Speaker 7: then all the owners have to vote when you add

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Speaker 7: even a limited partner minority on.

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Speaker 6: So they go.

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Speaker 7: You have to go to a very rigorous vetting process,

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Speaker 7: like rigorous, like I was asked during this process about

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Speaker 7: you know, social media that I had engaged with ten

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Speaker 7: years ago, you know what I mean, and just you know,

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Speaker 7: not necessarily like I couldn't have freedom of speech, but

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Speaker 7: just asking about some of the things that had, you know,

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Speaker 7: been out there. I was asked about like a parking ticket,

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Speaker 7: like from fifteen years ago.

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Speaker 6: Was like, what who?

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Speaker 7: Like the NFL has got some x FBI agents on

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Speaker 7: the paywell, you know what I mean, and law enforcement

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Speaker 7: types and so they don't mess around. So anyway, each

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Speaker 7: stepping away, it got smaller and smaller and smaller in

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Speaker 7: terms of the group that was being considered. And ultimately

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Speaker 7: there were four of us, and you know I made

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Speaker 7: the cut. And it's not charity. I will tell you that, right,

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Speaker 7: like you gotta you know, you gotta step up the dollars.

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Speaker 7: Not we didn't have to invest black dollars. We had

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Speaker 7: to invest US American dollars, you know what I'm saying.

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Speaker 7: So it's funny because I grew up in Florida and

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Speaker 7: Saint Pete and you know, people was like, man, you're

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Speaker 7: a Bucks fan. You grew up a Bucks fan. I

326
00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:39,520
Speaker 7: was like, I did grow up a Bucks fan.

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Speaker 6: But when you.

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Speaker 7: Make a serious investment into a team, guess what ownership

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Speaker 7: hits different?

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Speaker 6: You know what I mean?

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Speaker 7: You start talking about like real resources, like significant portions

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Speaker 7: of your net worth.

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Speaker 6: I'm a falcons fan. So anyway, it was it was cool.

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Speaker 7: It's a blessing and I give I got a lot

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Speaker 7: of props Arthur Blank, because it especially in an environment

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Speaker 7: where you have people going, you know, why is diversity important.

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Speaker 6: It's not, you know, let's ignore it.

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Speaker 7: Let's not lift people up based on you know, you know,

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Speaker 7: the color their skin or their ethnicity or the fact

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Speaker 7: that they bring you know, something different, different perspectives to

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Speaker 7: the table.

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Speaker 6: I'm somebody in my career.

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Speaker 7: Has always benefited from the fact that I have people

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Speaker 7: that do have diverse skill sets, abilities, and backgrounds and

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Speaker 7: ethnicities and orientations. That is what has made me successful

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Speaker 7: throughout my career is that I'm not just hiring people

347
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Speaker 7: from the same club and the same pipeline. But if

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Speaker 7: you don't understand that value, then you may be somebody

349
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Speaker 7: that ignores that. But you do it at your own peril.

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Speaker 7: And so I give a lot of propers author Blank

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Speaker 7: for giving me that opportunity. And so, man, it's been

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Speaker 7: it's been cool. Jay, I'm not gonna lie to you,

353
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Speaker 7: Like the season didn't go to where we wanted for

354
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Speaker 7: the Falcons, but but my first year as an NFL

355
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Speaker 7: owner being able to see it behind the scenes. You

356
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Speaker 7: know what's interesting is that I got to see kind

357
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Speaker 7: of the humanity of.

358
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Speaker 6: Sport.

359
00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:10,000
Speaker 7: Right Like, as a fan, you sit on the outside.

360
00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:12,280
Speaker 7: You get mad when your team, you know, doesn't do

361
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Speaker 7: what you want, when the coach doesn't answer a question,

362
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Speaker 7: right when the you know, key player drops the ball.

363
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Speaker 7: When you get to be behind the scenes a little bit,

364
00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:23,760
Speaker 7: you realize that these are people, right Like I would

365
00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:26,520
Speaker 7: go to the press conferences and I would watch Raheem Morris,

366
00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:29,320
Speaker 7: coach of the Falcons, and I would see him like

367
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Speaker 7: after a very very tough loss, I mean like ten

368
00:18:32,359 --> 00:18:36,200
Speaker 7: minutes later, right, you're still sweating from being on the sideline,

369
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Speaker 7: and you got to stay in front of a room

370
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Speaker 7: of people who oftentimes are looking for a SoundBite, and

371
00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:44,040
Speaker 7: you get asked the same question five different ways because

372
00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:46,119
Speaker 7: they just want you to say something provocative that they

373
00:18:46,119 --> 00:18:48,320
Speaker 7: can go run with. And you got to sit there

374
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Speaker 7: and compose yourself and you're dealing with the emotions yourself,

375
00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:54,160
Speaker 7: but you got to be you know, professional and try

376
00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:56,040
Speaker 7: to get the right answer. Just seeing him in a

377
00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:59,040
Speaker 7: way navigated it. Just it opened my eyes to the

378
00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:01,360
Speaker 7: humanity behind this scenes. It ain't just you know, X's

379
00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:03,760
Speaker 7: and olds and fancy football and things people bet on.

380
00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:06,520
Speaker 6: It's human, it's lives, careers as families, all that stuff.

381
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Speaker 2: In fact, so so far, what has been the coolest

382
00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:12,600
Speaker 2: part about being an NFL owner?

383
00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:21,440
Speaker 7: Man, I mean, it's just being an owner, Like that's

384
00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:25,520
Speaker 7: you know, I'm I'm I'm the coolest cat at the

385
00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:27,399
Speaker 7: dinner party, Jamiel. I ain't gonna lie to you, you know

386
00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,240
Speaker 7: what I'm saying, Like I can walking everybody who doesn't

387
00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:32,400
Speaker 7: own a team sit over there, you know what I mean.

388
00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:37,919
Speaker 6: Like, it's just it's not a bad flex, right, you

389
00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:43,399
Speaker 6: know I think that it is. Yeah, football fan, you

390
00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:43,880
Speaker 6: know what I mean?

391
00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:46,200
Speaker 7: Being being able to go in the locker room and

392
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Speaker 7: especially after victory and see the energy and and you

393
00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:53,119
Speaker 7: know how everybody you know celebrates and and uh and

394
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Speaker 7: see this this this.

395
00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:55,560
Speaker 6: Bandon brothers all coming together.

396
00:19:56,359 --> 00:19:59,920
Speaker 7: That's cool, you know, being there and being able to

397
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Speaker 7: interact with the fans in a different way, you know

398
00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:05,240
Speaker 7: what I mean. You know, I've always been somebody that

399
00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:14,440
Speaker 7: has aspired to be.

400
00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:12,920
Speaker 6: A shining example of what's possible.

401
00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:18,359
Speaker 7: And so when I spoke to some kids at a

402
00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:22,680
Speaker 7: conference and they were introducing me, and they were talking

403
00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:25,160
Speaker 7: about and he produced this, he producing that, and you know,

404
00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:27,440
Speaker 7: and these were younger kids, and a lot of them

405
00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:30,679
Speaker 7: hadn't necessarily seen all the movies that I've made. But

406
00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:35,080
Speaker 7: then when they mentioned my ownership of the Atlanta Falcons,

407
00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:36,400
Speaker 7: like everybody knew that.

408
00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:39,680
Speaker 6: You know what I mean. And these were a group of.

409
00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:42,560
Speaker 7: Black and brown kids, and they looked up and like,

410
00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:44,480
Speaker 7: you know, you could tell it was the first time

411
00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:47,840
Speaker 7: that they saw somebody that looked like them that was

412
00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:51,800
Speaker 7: able to be in that position. That's the coolest thing

413
00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:54,560
Speaker 7: to show that, you know, we can excel on the grid.

414
00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:56,760
Speaker 7: Is we know that we can excel on the court,

415
00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:59,520
Speaker 7: on the hardwood, we know that we can do anything

416
00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:03,320
Speaker 7: out the athletic but also there are levels to success,

417
00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:06,440
Speaker 7: and so to be somebody that represents a different level

418
00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:08,120
Speaker 7: of success for that next generation.

419
00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:11,399
Speaker 6: Honestly, that's really was the driving.

420
00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:13,560
Speaker 7: Motivation for me to do it, because I wanted to

421
00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:16,879
Speaker 7: be a part of showing folks that look like me

422
00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:22,720
Speaker 7: that we can also excel in the boardroom, in ownership

423
00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,640
Speaker 7: groups and at ownership levels like that was important.

424
00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:28,160
Speaker 2: Before I move on and we talk about this wonderful

425
00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:31,639
Speaker 2: new book of yours that that's out, So do you

426
00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:35,240
Speaker 2: think you could have been a partner in a team

427
00:21:35,359 --> 00:21:38,159
Speaker 2: that you don't particularly like, Like if the picture is

428
00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:38,639
Speaker 2: like come.

429
00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:39,520
Speaker 1: On, will like we don't you?

430
00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:41,200
Speaker 6: Yeah? Yeah, yeah.

431
00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:47,000
Speaker 7: It's funny because when it came up and we didn't

432
00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:48,800
Speaker 7: know which team it was, my wife and I would

433
00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:52,560
Speaker 7: talk and we were like like, yo, like what if

434
00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:55,160
Speaker 7: it's like some random you know, and listen, it ain't

435
00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:57,439
Speaker 7: but thirty two teams and to get in any of

436
00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:01,560
Speaker 7: them is you know, you're part of points here zero

437
00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:04,199
Speaker 7: one percent. Most people will never had that opportunity. But

438
00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:08,119
Speaker 7: like I wasn't necessarily trying to be like part of

439
00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:10,919
Speaker 7: the Seattle Seahawks, you know what I'm saying, Like I

440
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:13,320
Speaker 7: live in the Southeast. I don't know a lot of

441
00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:16,239
Speaker 7: people up there, cold and rainey, you know what I mean. Like,

442
00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:19,560
Speaker 7: you know, I ain't nothing against the Buffalo Bills. They're

443
00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:23,240
Speaker 7: great franchise, but like it's cold man, it's a long way.

444
00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:27,640
Speaker 7: So we talked about that, and I remember thinking because

445
00:22:28,119 --> 00:22:31,320
Speaker 7: the Denver Broncos recently got sold that I remember, you know,

446
00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:34,280
Speaker 7: looking at that group and you had you know, Melody

447
00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:37,400
Speaker 7: Hopson and kind of he's a Rice Lewis Hamilton, right,

448
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:38,640
Speaker 7: and so I.

449
00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:41,120
Speaker 6: Remember thinking like, man, if we had a chance.

450
00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:43,120
Speaker 7: To be a part of Denver Broncos, we'll be flying

451
00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:45,760
Speaker 7: to the mile High every other week, you know.

452
00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:49,439
Speaker 6: So the answer to the question is, I don't know.

453
00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:52,000
Speaker 6: It is one of those things that.

454
00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:56,720
Speaker 7: It's kind of too awesome an opportunity to pass up

455
00:22:56,960 --> 00:22:59,920
Speaker 7: to be real witch, especially somebody like me who's very

456
00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:04,320
Speaker 7: bitious and thinks about legacy. So I'm just glad it

457
00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:06,359
Speaker 7: was a Falcons put it that way. I'm just glad

458
00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:08,439
Speaker 7: that it was. It was the home team, baby, you

459
00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:11,959
Speaker 7: know what I'm saying. I'm glad that it was who

460
00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:12,399
Speaker 7: it was.

461
00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:15,520
Speaker 2: All Right, let's talk about your new book, Who Better

462
00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:19,479
Speaker 2: Than You The Art of Healthy Arrogance and Dreaming Big?

463
00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:22,480
Speaker 1: Yes, what is healthy arrogance?

464
00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:26,160
Speaker 6: People told me not to put that on the tile

465
00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:26,640
Speaker 6: of my book.

466
00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:30,200
Speaker 7: They say, you gonna put that on the cover because

467
00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:33,800
Speaker 7: it is something that you know, scares people. You think

468
00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:36,280
Speaker 7: about arrogance, You just think about people that have like

469
00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:41,320
Speaker 7: unsubstantiated hubris. Right, And I'm a Hollywood producer. I have

470
00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:44,119
Speaker 7: worked you know, for the last three decades. I've worked

471
00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:48,400
Speaker 7: around some of the most famous, some of the most important,

472
00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:54,239
Speaker 7: powerful passionate also some of the most ego driven and

473
00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:57,639
Speaker 7: toxic people in the world. I have and what I

474
00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:00,399
Speaker 7: have learned, and this was really my motive invasion of

475
00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:04,480
Speaker 7: writing a book, is that those folks that have been very,

476
00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:07,919
Speaker 7: very successful in that industry have a skill set and

477
00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:09,920
Speaker 7: a mindset that's transferable no matter what.

478
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:11,080
Speaker 6: Industry you want to get into.

479
00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:13,959
Speaker 7: And so when I talk about healthy arrogance, it is

480
00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:15,240
Speaker 7: this confidence.

481
00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:17,960
Speaker 6: And it does not have to be externally loud.

482
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:19,679
Speaker 7: It's not about walking in the rooms and kicking over

483
00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:22,080
Speaker 7: tables and telling everybody I'm here, look at me right.

484
00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:25,320
Speaker 7: Typically people that are doing that ain't backing it up.

485
00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:29,080
Speaker 7: It is about a belief that I have seen the

486
00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:32,520
Speaker 7: most successful people that I have been around, that they

487
00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:35,040
Speaker 7: have not that they could be successful or that they

488
00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:36,399
Speaker 7: want to be successful.

489
00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:39,680
Speaker 6: It is that they are destined for success.

490
00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:43,560
Speaker 7: That is a mindset that if you're able to adopt,

491
00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:47,560
Speaker 7: it will manifest itself in ways that you don't even realize.

492
00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:51,240
Speaker 7: It changes the way that you walk into those rooms.

493
00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:55,240
Speaker 7: It makes you not think am I supposed to be here?

494
00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:58,840
Speaker 7: Not even think that I might be able to hang

495
00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:01,320
Speaker 7: in this room, But it makes you realize that the

496
00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:04,520
Speaker 7: room is better because you're in it now. To do that,

497
00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:06,679
Speaker 7: you got to have a foundation of a work ethic,

498
00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:08,040
Speaker 7: you gotta have a skill set, you got to be

499
00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:11,639
Speaker 7: bringing something to the table. But the most successful people

500
00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:18,040
Speaker 7: have this confidence, this supreme confidence that they are predestined

501
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:24,919
Speaker 7: to achieve not just good success, but outside great success.

502
00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:26,680
Speaker 6: You gotta be a little I.

503
00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:29,639
Speaker 7: Was talking to I saw them Will Smith actually, and

504
00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:32,600
Speaker 7: he was talking about something that Quincy Jones said to him.

505
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:35,399
Speaker 7: And Quincy Jones said, to really succeed in the game,

506
00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:38,520
Speaker 7: you gotta be a little mad, is what he said, right, And.

507
00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:39,520
Speaker 6: So is that wrong?

508
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:41,959
Speaker 7: You do gotta be a little Craig Craig, but in

509
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,359
Speaker 7: a good way. You got to be crazy about your

510
00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:47,600
Speaker 7: ability and your desire to reach the highest levels of success.

511
00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:49,240
Speaker 7: And even if you don't have it, if you're not

512
00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:52,760
Speaker 7: somebody that innately has that drive, you can get there.

513
00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:55,440
Speaker 7: There are things that you can do to train yourself

514
00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,400
Speaker 7: in your mindset to think a certain way, and success

515
00:25:58,560 --> 00:25:59,840
Speaker 7: then begets success.

516
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:02,320
Speaker 2: What I love about your book is just as we're

517
00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:04,280
Speaker 2: talking right now, that's how I feel when I read

518
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:07,560
Speaker 2: your book. It's like it's so powerfully written in your voice.

519
00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:11,720
Speaker 2: It's funny, it's smart, it's thoughtful all of those things,

520
00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:13,960
Speaker 2: and you tell great stories. You are a storyteller.

521
00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:14,680
Speaker 1: It's very true.

522
00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:17,120
Speaker 2: I mean, if people don't know from seeing your movies,

523
00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:21,200
Speaker 2: but that you know, all of that translates to your

524
00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:22,320
Speaker 2: book for you.

525
00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:24,840
Speaker 1: Why now? Why did you feel like it was important

526
00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:26,359
Speaker 1: for you to put this out now?

527
00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:26,960
Speaker 6: Yeah?

528
00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:30,600
Speaker 7: I think the why now is because we live in

529
00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:35,639
Speaker 7: a time where it is the divide in the gap

530
00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:42,640
Speaker 7: between the haves have not, the doers and the do nothings,

531
00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:46,560
Speaker 7: the folks that are achieving their dreams and goals and

532
00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:50,240
Speaker 7: the people that aren't. That gap and that divide is

533
00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:53,240
Speaker 7: bigger than ever. And part of the reason is the

534
00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:55,359
Speaker 7: environment that we live in. I have a lot of

535
00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:58,959
Speaker 7: conversations with our younger you know, brothers and sisters, gen

536
00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:01,919
Speaker 7: z and and you know, they grew up in a

537
00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:04,600
Speaker 7: time of immediate gratification. Right, you push a button, you

538
00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:06,320
Speaker 7: post something, you get a million likes, you get a

539
00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:08,280
Speaker 7: million dollars, you're an influencer, you're rich.

540
00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:10,600
Speaker 6: You can move on. But that's not real.

541
00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:14,439
Speaker 7: And so I realized because I had more people than

542
00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:17,760
Speaker 7: ever coming to me and asking me about mentorship, asking

543
00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:20,040
Speaker 7: me about doing a masterclass, And I said.

544
00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:21,440
Speaker 6: You know what, I have a story to tell.

545
00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:23,760
Speaker 7: I am a storyteller, and the book is a collection

546
00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:26,160
Speaker 7: of stories the things that I've learned from the front

547
00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:29,639
Speaker 7: lines of Hollywood. But it also is something that is

548
00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:34,040
Speaker 7: for people that are just starting out, people who've been

549
00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:36,720
Speaker 7: in the game but ready to pivot, people who have

550
00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:39,840
Speaker 7: been doing something a certain way and are not satisfied

551
00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:43,520
Speaker 7: with the level of success that they've had. And I

552
00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:47,520
Speaker 7: realized that people need to hear that now more than

553
00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:51,760
Speaker 7: ever because the world is more unpredictable than ever, because

554
00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,040
Speaker 7: we live in a time and in an environment where

555
00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:57,000
Speaker 7: you have to be able to make sure that your

556
00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:00,560
Speaker 7: network and your foundation is more solid than ever before

557
00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:03,520
Speaker 7: in order for you to achieve success, because you will

558
00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:08,040
Speaker 7: get swept up in a wave of folks that care

559
00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:10,480
Speaker 7: nothing about you, and so you got to make sure

560
00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:12,639
Speaker 7: that you are on the path to success, that you

561
00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:14,960
Speaker 7: were doing what's necessary to achieve everything.

562
00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:17,280
Speaker 6: I mean, the wildest dreams that you want to achieve.

563
00:28:18,119 --> 00:28:19,919
Speaker 2: You know, one of the things that you write a

564
00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:21,879
Speaker 2: lot about in this book, or one of the people

565
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:24,000
Speaker 2: I should say, is your relationship with Kevin Hart. I

566
00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:28,199
Speaker 2: love that you speak of great affection but also call

567
00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:30,320
Speaker 2: him this Fawn of Satan, which is pretty sad.

568
00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:34,000
Speaker 6: Yes, he is. Both can be true, both.

569
00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:35,120
Speaker 1: Can be true, two things can be true.

570
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:37,040
Speaker 2: It was and if that is the case, when you

571
00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:39,560
Speaker 2: and Kevin Hart and I just laughed all the way

572
00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:43,600
Speaker 2: through that story of when you all were shooting right along.

573
00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:46,240
Speaker 2: But yet he had this, you know, he had his

574
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:49,640
Speaker 2: comedy specialist. That's his corn garden. I don't know how

575
00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:51,160
Speaker 2: you kept your cool in.

576
00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:53,560
Speaker 6: The middle of the shoot, Jamel in the middle. It

577
00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:54,920
Speaker 6: was the biggest.

578
00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:59,760
Speaker 7: Movie of both careers. He came up to me, He's like, hey,

579
00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:02,880
Speaker 7: next Friday, I need to get off a little early.

580
00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:04,800
Speaker 7: You know, I'm busy almost Settim.

581
00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:05,000
Speaker 6: In his trailer.

582
00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:06,600
Speaker 7: Okay, all right, well let me check and see what

583
00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:08,440
Speaker 7: we shoot next Friday. I look, oh, Kevin, we shoot

584
00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:11,360
Speaker 7: Friday and Saturday. Remember Saturday? Is that really important day?

585
00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:14,320
Speaker 7: So no, we can't, Like, why what do you need

586
00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:17,800
Speaker 7: with you know what? I didn't realize we shot next Saturday.

587
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:19,920
Speaker 7: Something told me that he did, but I fell for.

588
00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:20,600
Speaker 6: It at the time.

589
00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,040
Speaker 7: I said, well, yeah, we shoot next Saturday. Let me

590
00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:24,480
Speaker 7: see if I get you off early. What what do

591
00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:24,880
Speaker 7: you gotta do?

592
00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:25,240
Speaker 6: You gotta do?

593
00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:26,760
Speaker 7: Host a party or something, He's like, I got a

594
00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:28,400
Speaker 7: comedy show I gotta do. I'm like, listen, brother, you

595
00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:30,240
Speaker 7: gonna have to cancel the comedy show because we got

596
00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:30,760
Speaker 7: a big shoot.

597
00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:31,240
Speaker 6: The next day.

598
00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:34,320
Speaker 7: It's like, yeah, but to send Madison Square Guard Madison

599
00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:39,400
Speaker 7: Square Garden. So you planned a huge comedy show, literally

600
00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:42,640
Speaker 7: your next comedy special, in the middle of our shoot.

601
00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:45,600
Speaker 7: And at that time, Kevin was coming off a Thing

602
00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:49,080
Speaker 7: Like a Man, which I produced right. This was right

603
00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:52,240
Speaker 7: along him ice Cube, the biggest budget and the biggest

604
00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:55,600
Speaker 7: opportunity in his movie career and the biggest budget and

605
00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:59,160
Speaker 7: biggest opportunity in my movie career. So I'm like, brother,

606
00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:03,320
Speaker 7: you couldn't have done this. After we wrapped production, he

607
00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:07,200
Speaker 7: convinced me Jamel to fly with him. He told me, listen,

608
00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:08,800
Speaker 7: I'm gonna go up, I'm gonna do the show. I'm

609
00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:14,000
Speaker 7: gonna come right back right he said, In fact, I

610
00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:15,160
Speaker 7: should have known.

611
00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:16,880
Speaker 1: What black people say.

612
00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:17,320
Speaker 6: Listen.

613
00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:20,080
Speaker 2: It's like when black people say, come rus some errors

614
00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:24,000
Speaker 2: with me real quick. Nine hours later we know yes.

615
00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:27,520
Speaker 7: First first, he hit me with the old black expression.

616
00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:29,120
Speaker 7: You know, I don't ask you for much. You know

617
00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:31,360
Speaker 7: when somebody say they don't ask you for much, they

618
00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:33,040
Speaker 7: asked you for shit all the time, you know that

619
00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:34,880
Speaker 7: they do. He hit me with you know, I don't

620
00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:37,080
Speaker 7: ask you for much. Then he hit me with the yeah,

621
00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:38,920
Speaker 7: come run this errand with me, come with me. That's

622
00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:42,080
Speaker 7: what he said. It was until we got there and

623
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:44,600
Speaker 7: I found myself in the middle of a New York

624
00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:47,320
Speaker 7: nightclub at an after party that he also didn't tell

625
00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:49,720
Speaker 7: me about, and I'm in there trying to knock bottles

626
00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:53,040
Speaker 7: out of people's hands with Carmelo Anthony running up in

627
00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:56,360
Speaker 7: the section with a bunch of waitresses behind him with

628
00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:59,840
Speaker 7: thirty bottles, like literally everybody in our section had two bottles.

629
00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:01,840
Speaker 7: I'm I'm like this too many bottles. No, thank you,

630
00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:03,840
Speaker 7: mister Anthony. No, we don't need this.

631
00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:05,680
Speaker 6: It's cool. I think that's too many bottles.

632
00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:07,960
Speaker 7: Put that down, Kevin, stop drinking, like I'm trying to

633
00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:10,600
Speaker 7: get out of there, to get back to the private

634
00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:12,480
Speaker 7: jets so we can get back to the shoot on time.

635
00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:15,000
Speaker 6: When I realized in that moment when.

636
00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,360
Speaker 7: Carmelo Anthony came in with all these bottles and the

637
00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:19,920
Speaker 7: music turned up, and I looked at Kevin and he goes,

638
00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:21,520
Speaker 7: well we tried.

639
00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:26,320
Speaker 6: When he said well, we tried, you know the scene in.

640
00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:30,200
Speaker 7: Usual Suspects where the detective realizes who kayz Sosee is.

641
00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:33,600
Speaker 6: It was in that moment that I realized this was

642
00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:34,360
Speaker 6: all his plan.

643
00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:38,600
Speaker 7: Because if he leaves set and flies to New York

644
00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:40,720
Speaker 7: do a comedy show and then doesn't get back in time,

645
00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:43,440
Speaker 7: the studio is gonna be pissed off at him, and

646
00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:44,960
Speaker 7: he's gonna have to pay for that. He's gonna be

647
00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:48,080
Speaker 7: in major trouble because he's put the whole shoot in Jeffards.

648
00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:53,240
Speaker 7: But if the producer is with him, and the producer

649
00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:55,720
Speaker 7: and the director, he flew.

650
00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:56,400
Speaker 6: Both of us up.

651
00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:59,640
Speaker 7: If we are there with it, we are completely complicit.

652
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:00,880
Speaker 6: It's on us.

653
00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:05,360
Speaker 7: I realized in that moment, I said, you evil, evil man.

654
00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:07,680
Speaker 6: You set this whole damn thing up.

655
00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:10,360
Speaker 7: It was all I could do to stop from choking

656
00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:12,440
Speaker 7: my star actor and my short little friend.

657
00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:16,280
Speaker 6: In that moment, it taught me Carmelo Anthony let us

658
00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:16,720
Speaker 6: off the hook.

659
00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:19,600
Speaker 7: I'll still owe Carmelo to this day, because it was

660
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:21,720
Speaker 7: set up where we wasn't getting out of that club.

661
00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:23,880
Speaker 6: If Mellow didn't say something, you were about to fail.

662
00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:25,160
Speaker 6: We were gonna fail.

663
00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:28,160
Speaker 7: Listen, Mellow was pouring shots, he was like, he was like,

664
00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:30,320
Speaker 7: we turn it up. We gonna die tonight. He literally

665
00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:32,360
Speaker 7: said those words. I was like, Oh God, we can't die,

666
00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:37,240
Speaker 7: not tonight. Let's not die, like, let's die after the movie. Shoot,

667
00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:39,920
Speaker 7: let's die during the playoffs when the kicks ain't gonna

668
00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:40,160
Speaker 7: be there.

669
00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:40,320
Speaker 2: You know.

670
00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:46,240
Speaker 7: He I realized that that moment two things. One, you

671
00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:50,520
Speaker 7: gotta expect the unexpected, right, you really do. You have

672
00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:54,000
Speaker 7: to whatever it is that you're doing. You can't always

673
00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:55,960
Speaker 7: think things are going to go according to plan. And

674
00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:58,680
Speaker 7: as a young producer, I have learned over and over

675
00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:02,080
Speaker 7: again that things will always go wrong. You can't control

676
00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:04,000
Speaker 7: what's going to go wrong, but you can control being

677
00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:06,760
Speaker 7: able to mitigate how much it affects you. The second thing,

678
00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:08,880
Speaker 7: and this is something that we talk about when it

679
00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:11,800
Speaker 7: comes to personal relationships. When somebody shows you who they are,

680
00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:15,040
Speaker 7: you gotta believe right. You've heard that statement before. It

681
00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:17,520
Speaker 7: applies in business as well. When you're in business with

682
00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:21,040
Speaker 7: somebody and you know somebody has a certain predilection, a

683
00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:25,680
Speaker 7: certain personality or perspective, you gotta you're able to kind

684
00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:28,959
Speaker 7: of predict their behavior. I knew Kevin Hart was that

685
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:31,040
Speaker 7: type of cat. I knew he was a type of

686
00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:33,680
Speaker 7: cat that would wait to the last minute to spring

687
00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:35,600
Speaker 7: on me that he had a big ass comedy show

688
00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:37,920
Speaker 7: with massive square guard. I didn't think about it. I

689
00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:40,120
Speaker 7: let him catch me off guard. He'll never do it again.

690
00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:42,400
Speaker 7: So those are two things that I learned from that

691
00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:45,080
Speaker 7: and I use that to this day. And I'm telling

692
00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:46,760
Speaker 7: people all the time, I don't care what your business,

693
00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:49,680
Speaker 7: you can have to donut shop, expect you unexpected, and

694
00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:51,560
Speaker 7: believe who people are when they show you.

695
00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:55,120
Speaker 2: Well, where I'm also going with this is that when

696
00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:58,400
Speaker 2: you look at a lot of the great directors and producers,

697
00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:01,200
Speaker 2: it's just an actor. They are able to develop a

698
00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:03,680
Speaker 2: certain chemistry with you know, Spike Leans and Sale.

699
00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:04,480
Speaker 1: You have Michael B.

700
00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:07,640
Speaker 2: Jordan and right Ryan Coopler. You and Kevin Hart seem

701
00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:10,600
Speaker 2: to have found that. I mean, Fight Night was exceptional

702
00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:12,120
Speaker 2: such a series.

703
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:13,520
Speaker 6: Appreciate that great.

704
00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:14,839
Speaker 1: Story, like I really loved it.

705
00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:17,920
Speaker 2: So what is it about your dynamic with Kevin that

706
00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:20,920
Speaker 2: allows you all to produce this high quality work that

707
00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:21,239
Speaker 2: you do.

708
00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:26,040
Speaker 7: Yeah, our work ethics, we have a lot of symmetry.

709
00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:29,640
Speaker 7: We have a symbiotic relationship because I know you know,

710
00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:32,920
Speaker 7: even in that story, the fault of Kevin was that

711
00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:34,520
Speaker 7: he was working too hard and trying to do too

712
00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:38,080
Speaker 7: much right, and so you want that. You don't want

713
00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:40,279
Speaker 7: the person who is lazy and is going to try

714
00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:43,000
Speaker 7: to get away with doing the least, doing the minimum,

715
00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:46,720
Speaker 7: no matter what the environment is. You want to put

716
00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:51,840
Speaker 7: people around you that are aligned with your goals. Kevin

717
00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:54,719
Speaker 7: and I are certainly aligned. He's super talented, right, I

718
00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:57,000
Speaker 7: would never take that away from him, but it is

719
00:34:57,040 --> 00:34:59,000
Speaker 7: his work ethic that sets him apart. A lot of

720
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:01,439
Speaker 7: people are funny, a lot of people have been able

721
00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:04,200
Speaker 7: to have success in movies. But you're not gonna outwork,

722
00:35:04,239 --> 00:35:06,880
Speaker 7: cav You're just not. That's that's and you're not gonna outwork.

723
00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:10,480
Speaker 7: We'll packer right. And so for me, that is why

724
00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:12,759
Speaker 7: our relationship works the way that it does because I

725
00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:13,919
Speaker 7: know I can depend on him.

726
00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:17,800
Speaker 6: I know he's gonna deliver, and I know whatever I need.

727
00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:19,080
Speaker 7: If I need to go to extra mile, I need

728
00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:21,440
Speaker 7: to work, you know, shoot for eighteen hours straight for

729
00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:24,080
Speaker 7: whatever reason. Like I know he's down, He's gonna give

730
00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:27,000
Speaker 7: me that he is going to work, and so you know,

731
00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:29,279
Speaker 7: I just I always think that you have to make

732
00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:32,200
Speaker 7: sure that the people around you, your team if you're

733
00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:35,240
Speaker 7: giving more energy to your team than they're giving to you,

734
00:35:35,239 --> 00:35:36,160
Speaker 7: you need a new team.

735
00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:39,680
Speaker 6: Right. If you're the most successful, most ambitious, hardest working

736
00:35:39,719 --> 00:35:42,400
Speaker 6: person in your circle, you need a new circle because

737
00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:44,759
Speaker 6: they're not pushing you, you're not getting any better. And

738
00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:47,280
Speaker 6: so we make each other better, Iron Shoppers.

739
00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:50,520
Speaker 7: Iron And with Fight Night, we became each other's most

740
00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:51,560
Speaker 7: frequent collaborators.

741
00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:53,440
Speaker 6: We've done more movies and TV with each other than

742
00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:54,520
Speaker 6: we have with anybody else.

743
00:35:56,040 --> 00:35:58,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, as I said, it's a dynamic that definitely shows

744
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:00,759
Speaker 2: up that we see on screar now.

745
00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:03,319
Speaker 1: As anybody knows from your work wheel, like.

746
00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:08,160
Speaker 2: You are terrific at doing universal stories that are black lid.

747
00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:12,040
Speaker 2: They're not necessarily black stories, or they're universal stories that

748
00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:14,880
Speaker 2: are black lid. And this time where there seems to

749
00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:18,839
Speaker 2: be an assault on all things black, all things black lid.

750
00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:23,040
Speaker 2: On top of that, how has that impacted at all

751
00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:25,799
Speaker 2: with how you navigate the types of stories that you

752
00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:28,440
Speaker 2: want to tell? And for more, I guess more importantly,

753
00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:30,359
Speaker 2: the type of stories that you could get done now

754
00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:33,479
Speaker 2: in this kind of tumultuous time.

755
00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:41,040
Speaker 7: Yeah, listen, here's what I think those types of stories

756
00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:47,760
Speaker 7: DEI efforts to be more inclusionary. Have always been under attack.

757
00:36:48,280 --> 00:36:52,320
Speaker 7: They've always been things that the power structure has fought

758
00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:57,120
Speaker 7: against because power seeds nothing without demand. And so it

759
00:36:57,160 --> 00:37:00,200
Speaker 7: doesn't change what I'm doing. The bar has always been

760
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:03,239
Speaker 7: the bar for me. If my movies, I don't care

761
00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:05,399
Speaker 7: who's in front of the camera, I don't care how

762
00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:08,879
Speaker 7: important the stories are. If they don't make money, I'm

763
00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:12,080
Speaker 7: not making another That's the reality. And so at the

764
00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:15,960
Speaker 7: end of the day, my job and our job as

765
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:19,360
Speaker 7: a community is to make sure that we are delivering

766
00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:24,080
Speaker 7: on whatever the quantitative metric is for success in your industry,

767
00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:25,920
Speaker 7: you got to make sure that you're hitting it and

768
00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:29,319
Speaker 7: that you're doing and so in my industry, it is

769
00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:33,920
Speaker 7: box office revenue that you can return how much more

770
00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:36,920
Speaker 7: can you make versus what you spend, And so I

771
00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:40,240
Speaker 7: have to make sure that my projects are hitting those metrics,

772
00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:42,359
Speaker 7: and so I don't change.

773
00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:42,720
Speaker 6: What I'm doing.

774
00:37:43,400 --> 00:37:46,879
Speaker 7: Of course, Hollywood is a reactive industry, and as the

775
00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:54,400
Speaker 7: pendulum of politics and public perception swings back and forth,

776
00:37:54,719 --> 00:37:57,520
Speaker 7: Hollywood reacts to that. Of course, but at the end

777
00:37:57,520 --> 00:38:00,239
Speaker 7: of the day, if I'm somebody that can deliver or

778
00:38:00,480 --> 00:38:04,320
Speaker 7: a bottom line is the economic imperative more than any

779
00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:09,400
Speaker 7: other social or political one that most industries operate under.

780
00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:12,080
Speaker 7: And so what we have to do is make sure

781
00:38:12,080 --> 00:38:13,400
Speaker 7: that we realize.

782
00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:14,759
Speaker 6: This is not new. There's nothing new.

783
00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:18,080
Speaker 7: It's got a different name, right, It's got different figures

784
00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:21,439
Speaker 7: that are touting why diversity is not a good thing.

785
00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:24,000
Speaker 7: But at the end of the day, these are the

786
00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:29,879
Speaker 7: same people that have never genuinely heralded diversity. So if

787
00:38:29,880 --> 00:38:32,920
Speaker 7: you're somebody that believes in diversity, you got to make

788
00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:35,440
Speaker 7: sure that there's a value to it that is undenial.

789
00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:38,200
Speaker 7: You got to make sure that the diversity that you

790
00:38:38,239 --> 00:38:40,560
Speaker 7: are bringing to the table, if it needs to make money,

791
00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:42,239
Speaker 7: is making money because it needs to win awards, is

792
00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:45,200
Speaker 7: winning awards, whatever it is. You cannot rely on somebody

793
00:38:45,239 --> 00:38:47,440
Speaker 7: doing it because it's the right thing to do. So

794
00:38:47,480 --> 00:38:49,400
Speaker 7: you have to position it in a way that it

795
00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:53,640
Speaker 7: is valuable to people so that they can't just easily

796
00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:56,080
Speaker 7: turn it off or turn away. That's what I've been

797
00:38:56,080 --> 00:38:57,080
Speaker 7: able to do in my career.

798
00:38:57,360 --> 00:39:00,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, aside from the political part of it,

799
00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:02,399
Speaker 2: and I know this just being in la is sort

800
00:39:02,400 --> 00:39:05,560
Speaker 2: of having some you know, connections within the industry with

801
00:39:05,640 --> 00:39:09,960
Speaker 2: even projects that I'm trying to do is the politics aside?

802
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:10,200
Speaker 3: Though?

803
00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:12,480
Speaker 2: I mean, I think a common play that I hear

804
00:39:12,520 --> 00:39:16,520
Speaker 2: among creators is that now that's sort of the hedge

805
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:20,080
Speaker 2: fund mentality has moved into movies. It's always been one

806
00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:23,480
Speaker 2: to some degree, but it feels like even now that

807
00:39:23,600 --> 00:39:26,480
Speaker 2: Hollywood is so much more risk averse than they used

808
00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:29,640
Speaker 2: to be. That's why you're getting the nostalgia plays and like,

809
00:39:30,239 --> 00:39:32,479
Speaker 2: you know, this is not to pick on this movie.

810
00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:36,879
Speaker 1: It's got to be I p like all of that.

811
00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:39,359
Speaker 6: So does that what movie where you going to say?

812
00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:42,520
Speaker 2: You say, you don't want to pick on like for example, right,

813
00:39:42,600 --> 00:39:45,239
Speaker 2: this is to sell some merch you could, like you

814
00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:47,319
Speaker 2: know what I'm saying. And I think I saw that

815
00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:50,520
Speaker 2: Margot Robbie is doing another board game type of show,

816
00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:54,440
Speaker 2: a type of movie as well. So the whole point

817
00:39:54,520 --> 00:39:58,759
Speaker 2: is that I'm wondering, as a creative, though, are you

818
00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:02,880
Speaker 2: feeling more constrain or is your formula enough.

819
00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:07,680
Speaker 1: To kind of weather this kind of time now in Hollywood?

820
00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:09,240
Speaker 1: Because people assumed it was going to be back.

821
00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:11,480
Speaker 2: After the strike, and I've told people it is not back,

822
00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:13,960
Speaker 2: not in the way that people were thinking it would be.

823
00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:14,960
Speaker 4: No.

824
00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:18,120
Speaker 7: I mean, you work very closely in the media industry

825
00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:21,000
Speaker 7: and so you understand your content creator.

826
00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:24,000
Speaker 6: It's we are definitely.

827
00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:26,839
Speaker 7: In an EBB in Hollywood right now. It's not a flow, right,

828
00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:32,600
Speaker 7: there is a constriction of content. The major media companies

829
00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:35,520
Speaker 7: are making less, right, I don't care what you look like,

830
00:40:35,560 --> 00:40:39,080
Speaker 7: who you are, there's less content being made. So coming

831
00:40:39,160 --> 00:40:44,360
Speaker 7: off of multiple strikes, which were coming off of the

832
00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:49,359
Speaker 7: global pandemic, our industry has been hammered, and that means

833
00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:52,520
Speaker 7: it's been very, very tough for everybody, myself included. I

834
00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:56,240
Speaker 7: don't care how successful you are, everybody's having to deal

835
00:40:56,440 --> 00:41:00,000
Speaker 7: with the challenges of the industry right now. You're absolutely right,

836
00:41:00,440 --> 00:41:03,960
Speaker 7: and so Hollywood's always been risk averse, even more so

837
00:41:04,200 --> 00:41:08,360
Speaker 7: now right the bar is even higher for a project

838
00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:10,560
Speaker 7: to get over the finish line to get a green light.

839
00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:13,720
Speaker 7: As we say, it is very very tough right now.

840
00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:15,880
Speaker 7: So what that means is that you got to have

841
00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:19,239
Speaker 7: a pondrance of elements. You got to have the stars

842
00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:24,959
Speaker 7: and the IP and the built in audience and the

843
00:41:25,040 --> 00:41:28,440
Speaker 7: marketing for consumer product goods, like all those things have

844
00:41:28,480 --> 00:41:31,120
Speaker 7: to line up. Now every project doesn't have that. But

845
00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:34,600
Speaker 7: to be successful and get a project made in this environment,

846
00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:37,200
Speaker 7: you got to have as many of those elements as possible.

847
00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:41,280
Speaker 7: That is true across the board, not just with diverse

848
00:41:41,320 --> 00:41:45,080
Speaker 7: projects or creators of color. Everybody is fighting against that

849
00:41:45,239 --> 00:41:49,239
Speaker 7: right now. It's a cycle, it's an ebb. It will

850
00:41:49,239 --> 00:41:51,960
Speaker 7: flow again, but right now, make no mistake, it's it's

851
00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:53,640
Speaker 7: a tough time in Hollywood. I have a lot of

852
00:41:53,719 --> 00:41:57,200
Speaker 7: peers that are challenged right now because it's so hard

853
00:41:57,440 --> 00:42:00,279
Speaker 7: to get things made. What that means is that if

854
00:42:00,280 --> 00:42:02,160
Speaker 7: you have a connection with an audience and this is

855
00:42:02,160 --> 00:42:06,759
Speaker 7: something else that's transferable beyond just Hollywood. If you have

856
00:42:06,840 --> 00:42:09,920
Speaker 7: a connection with an audience and you can build that,

857
00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:14,200
Speaker 7: that's something that Hollywood and traditional gatekeepers can't control. And

858
00:42:14,239 --> 00:42:16,160
Speaker 7: if you have a way to reach and talk directly

859
00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:18,920
Speaker 7: to your audience. I encourage that next generation of folks

860
00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:21,800
Speaker 7: coming up trying to be content creators. Build your brand,

861
00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:25,600
Speaker 7: build your audience, Build the folks within your network that

862
00:42:25,680 --> 00:42:27,799
Speaker 7: will say, oh, that's a Jamail Hill project. I'm in

863
00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:31,279
Speaker 7: Like whatever she's doing, I want to know about I

864
00:42:31,360 --> 00:42:34,640
Speaker 7: want to be a part of. Focus on that and

865
00:42:34,719 --> 00:42:38,040
Speaker 7: spend as much, if not more energy on building that

866
00:42:38,160 --> 00:42:41,200
Speaker 7: as you are chasing and trying to knock on doors

867
00:42:41,239 --> 00:42:44,160
Speaker 7: of folks that are not letting many people in, letting

868
00:42:44,239 --> 00:42:46,240
Speaker 7: less in than they ever have before.

869
00:42:46,520 --> 00:42:50,120
Speaker 6: So it's tough. It's tough, but you can navigate well.

870
00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:52,800
Speaker 2: I say, maybe as a Hollywood that you can explain

871
00:42:52,840 --> 00:42:56,480
Speaker 2: this to me is that there's more streaming that it

872
00:42:56,560 --> 00:42:59,560
Speaker 2: just doesn't seem like they have enough content, So why

873
00:42:59,600 --> 00:43:01,359
Speaker 2: the restriction is what I want to know is like

874
00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:04,200
Speaker 2: y'all don't have enough, you know, So I guess I

875
00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:07,600
Speaker 2: just don't get like the thought processes that we have

876
00:43:08,200 --> 00:43:12,400
Speaker 2: streamers on streaming, on streaming, like platforms being created, fast channels.

877
00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:15,879
Speaker 2: It's like we're inundated, and yet at the same time,

878
00:43:15,960 --> 00:43:18,240
Speaker 2: it just seems like they don't want to get anything made.

879
00:43:18,320 --> 00:43:19,520
Speaker 1: Like I don't I don't get it.

880
00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:23,440
Speaker 6: You just said it, though, Jay, you just hit on it. Okay.

881
00:43:23,680 --> 00:43:29,359
Speaker 7: You have all these various platforms that the studios invested in, right,

882
00:43:30,080 --> 00:43:31,960
Speaker 7: and they thought.

883
00:43:31,680 --> 00:43:34,240
Speaker 6: That streaming was going to be a profit center.

884
00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:37,000
Speaker 7: So they went out and spent billions with a B

885
00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:41,400
Speaker 7: on Netflix, Disney Plus.

886
00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:43,239
Speaker 6: Max, Peacock, Paramount plus you name it. Right.

887
00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:46,399
Speaker 7: Everybody need to have their own streaming service, and thus

888
00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:49,840
Speaker 7: you needed to feed those streaming services. So you go

889
00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:52,720
Speaker 7: back five years ago, there were a lot of deals

890
00:43:52,760 --> 00:43:56,279
Speaker 7: getting done, a lot of content getting made, and actually

891
00:43:56,960 --> 00:44:03,040
Speaker 7: it oversaturated the market. So when we had those strikes,

892
00:44:03,840 --> 00:44:06,239
Speaker 7: people outside the industry.

893
00:44:06,200 --> 00:44:09,399
Speaker 6: Didn't feel it. They didn't even really care.

894
00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:13,600
Speaker 7: You had two major strikes, the actors and the writers

895
00:44:13,760 --> 00:44:18,600
Speaker 7: not working, pins down, cameras off right, But people didn't

896
00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:23,560
Speaker 7: necessarily feel like, oh man, there's not a new episode

897
00:44:23,560 --> 00:44:26,680
Speaker 7: of Abbot Elementary. What am I gonna do on you know,

898
00:44:27,320 --> 00:44:30,080
Speaker 7: on this primetime weeknight. You know what they did, They

899
00:44:30,120 --> 00:44:31,880
Speaker 7: went to their streaming service and said, you know what,

900
00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:35,520
Speaker 7: I'm about to catch up on the old episodes.

901
00:44:34,960 --> 00:44:36,960
Speaker 6: Of House of Cards, whatever it was.

902
00:44:38,640 --> 00:44:44,719
Speaker 7: Regular people had so much opportunity to consume content, so

903
00:44:44,760 --> 00:44:48,880
Speaker 7: it's not really that they need more now. There actually

904
00:44:48,960 --> 00:44:51,360
Speaker 7: is a little bit of a thinning out process that

905
00:44:51,520 --> 00:44:55,279
Speaker 7: is happening because so much was made and consumers, who

906
00:44:55,360 --> 00:44:59,719
Speaker 7: ultimately consumers are the one that control what Hollywood and

907
00:44:59,760 --> 00:45:02,759
Speaker 7: every the other industry does. If consumers want it and

908
00:45:02,800 --> 00:45:06,200
Speaker 7: they want more, they will make more. But right now,

909
00:45:06,320 --> 00:45:08,920
Speaker 7: because there are so many options and so many streaming

910
00:45:08,960 --> 00:45:10,840
Speaker 7: service can whatever you're into, you can find it.

911
00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:13,279
Speaker 6: You can find I don't care how.

912
00:45:13,320 --> 00:45:18,400
Speaker 7: Niche or outside the normal or traditional stream it is,

913
00:45:18,480 --> 00:45:22,239
Speaker 7: you can find it somebody's making. Right, until we get

914
00:45:22,280 --> 00:45:26,000
Speaker 7: to a point where people are genuinely looking for new content,

915
00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:28,319
Speaker 7: and I don't mean just new episodes of your favorite show,

916
00:45:28,360 --> 00:45:33,280
Speaker 7: but I mean new original content. Until that appetite picks

917
00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:36,160
Speaker 7: back up, you're going to see the media companies pulling back.

918
00:45:36,239 --> 00:45:38,600
Speaker 7: Because here's the dirty secret that not a lot of

919
00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:42,240
Speaker 7: people like to talk about. During those strikes, while actors

920
00:45:42,239 --> 00:45:44,560
Speaker 7: were hurting and writers were hurting, and producers were hurting,

921
00:45:44,560 --> 00:45:47,279
Speaker 7: and directors were hurting, and grips and electrics and all

922
00:45:47,320 --> 00:45:50,560
Speaker 7: the craft services people who feel this industry were hurting,

923
00:45:51,800 --> 00:45:55,040
Speaker 7: the media companies actually had some of them some of

924
00:45:55,080 --> 00:46:00,439
Speaker 7: their best years ever because they weren't spending money on

925
00:46:00,560 --> 00:46:05,240
Speaker 7: new content, but their old content was still making money

926
00:46:05,440 --> 00:46:09,040
Speaker 7: because people didn't stop subscribing to their favorite streaming services.

927
00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:09,600
Speaker 6: Right.

928
00:46:10,160 --> 00:46:13,120
Speaker 7: And so that's the dynamic that you have to really

929
00:46:13,239 --> 00:46:15,720
Speaker 7: kind of drill into, is the economics of the business

930
00:46:15,800 --> 00:46:19,520
Speaker 7: right now are such that the media companies don't have

931
00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:22,000
Speaker 7: to go out and spend more. They're not making what

932
00:46:22,080 --> 00:46:24,400
Speaker 7: they thought they were going to make on streaming, and

933
00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:27,520
Speaker 7: so folks like you and I it's much tougher for

934
00:46:27,600 --> 00:46:29,120
Speaker 7: us to get our content. Mate, that's a little more

935
00:46:29,160 --> 00:46:31,319
Speaker 7: inside baseball maybe than we wanted to go.

936
00:46:31,400 --> 00:46:32,560
Speaker 1: But that makes a lot.

937
00:46:32,520 --> 00:46:36,840
Speaker 2: Of sense because when you have because during the pandemic,

938
00:46:37,200 --> 00:46:41,200
Speaker 2: me and Van Lathan we did rewatch podcasts of The Wire, right.

939
00:46:41,280 --> 00:46:45,120
Speaker 1: The Wire was one of the most watched series during.

940
00:46:44,880 --> 00:46:47,719
Speaker 2: The pandemic Because to your point, people are catching up

941
00:46:47,719 --> 00:46:48,280
Speaker 2: a whole stuff.

942
00:46:48,280 --> 00:46:49,640
Speaker 1: They're like, oh, I've never watched this.

943
00:46:49,960 --> 00:46:53,799
Speaker 2: It's why Suits just suddenly exploded all over again, like

944
00:46:53,840 --> 00:46:54,640
Speaker 2: it just came out.

945
00:46:54,680 --> 00:46:55,560
Speaker 1: And when that happens.

946
00:46:55,920 --> 00:46:59,080
Speaker 2: While I'm certainly happy that it does for those involved

947
00:46:59,080 --> 00:47:02,279
Speaker 2: with the projects, but that's not new material. So like,

948
00:47:02,360 --> 00:47:04,560
Speaker 2: that's right, what's the incentive the right new material if

949
00:47:04,560 --> 00:47:06,200
Speaker 2: I'm just gonna go back and watch something that they

950
00:47:06,200 --> 00:47:07,480
Speaker 2: did ten or fifteen years ago.

951
00:47:07,640 --> 00:47:10,400
Speaker 7: So you guys, the rights holder of suits is making

952
00:47:10,400 --> 00:47:12,439
Speaker 7: money and they don't have to go out and make

953
00:47:12,560 --> 00:47:16,360
Speaker 7: the new suits right because audiences are satiated, and so

954
00:47:17,000 --> 00:47:19,880
Speaker 7: that's that's that's the dynamic that folks like us have

955
00:47:19,960 --> 00:47:21,240
Speaker 7: to balance, all right.

956
00:47:21,160 --> 00:47:23,279
Speaker 2: So I know your time is short, and before I

957
00:47:23,360 --> 00:47:25,480
Speaker 2: get you out of here, I like that in the

958
00:47:25,520 --> 00:47:28,840
Speaker 2: podcast by asking every guest, what I call a messy question.

959
00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:30,759
Speaker 1: Let's get into some trouble that create.

960
00:47:32,040 --> 00:47:35,080
Speaker 6: We were doing good. I know, we were doing so good.

961
00:47:35,160 --> 00:47:36,759
Speaker 6: Here this is where it's gonna go bad.

962
00:47:37,040 --> 00:47:39,600
Speaker 7: We had an amazing conversation and this is the one

963
00:47:39,719 --> 00:47:40,799
Speaker 7: right here where I'm an mess up.

964
00:47:40,880 --> 00:47:42,839
Speaker 6: Let me tell you that this is where it goes bad.

965
00:47:43,040 --> 00:47:43,399
Speaker 6: All right.

966
00:47:43,840 --> 00:47:47,759
Speaker 2: So the messy question is this, What if you had

967
00:47:47,800 --> 00:47:49,960
Speaker 2: to pick one, You could only pick one of these,

968
00:47:50,080 --> 00:47:55,040
Speaker 2: all right? Would you rather have an Oscars win or

969
00:47:55,080 --> 00:47:57,080
Speaker 2: a Falcon's Super Bowl victory.

970
00:47:57,200 --> 00:47:59,799
Speaker 7: You gotta pick the super Bowl, Falcon super Bowl. I'm

971
00:47:59,840 --> 00:48:03,080
Speaker 7: like Lincoln, I'm taking super Bowl. Baby, I'm taking these

972
00:48:03,080 --> 00:48:04,959
Speaker 7: super Bowl, I'm taking super Bowl.

973
00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:05,799
Speaker 6: I'm taking it.

974
00:48:05,880 --> 00:48:07,920
Speaker 1: Listen, honey, how change the situation?

975
00:48:11,360 --> 00:48:12,920
Speaker 6: Listen, I'm an investor.

976
00:48:13,120 --> 00:48:15,160
Speaker 7: You know you know what that super Bowl win gonna

977
00:48:15,160 --> 00:48:18,759
Speaker 7: do to the value of the balcony. You know what

978
00:48:19,200 --> 00:48:22,279
Speaker 7: it is to see a city like Atlanta city that

979
00:48:22,360 --> 00:48:25,320
Speaker 7: I love, a super Bowl being brought to that city.

980
00:48:25,360 --> 00:48:28,600
Speaker 7: You see what it does, how it lifts the whole

981
00:48:28,680 --> 00:48:32,399
Speaker 7: community up in a way. A oscar is so much

982
00:48:32,440 --> 00:48:35,279
Speaker 7: more of an individual thing, and I would love it,

983
00:48:35,320 --> 00:48:36,720
Speaker 7: and I would, you know, love.

984
00:48:36,560 --> 00:48:37,720
Speaker 6: It for my own legacy.

985
00:48:37,800 --> 00:48:41,040
Speaker 7: But I've done okay at Hollywood, right, I still got

986
00:48:41,040 --> 00:48:42,239
Speaker 7: a little PTSD from them.

987
00:48:42,280 --> 00:48:43,879
Speaker 6: Damn Oscars if you want to know the truth.

988
00:48:43,960 --> 00:48:47,399
Speaker 7: Right, we didn't go there, But I would say that

989
00:48:47,520 --> 00:48:50,960
Speaker 7: super Bowl because that's something that everybody could enjoy. It's

990
00:48:51,000 --> 00:48:53,480
Speaker 7: a totally new area for me, and I just can't

991
00:48:53,520 --> 00:48:55,239
Speaker 7: a made the city of it like you think. Y'all

992
00:48:55,239 --> 00:48:57,840
Speaker 7: don't like them, damn cheeks. You think you kind of

993
00:48:58,480 --> 00:49:01,680
Speaker 7: Kansas City at old swag surface tailor swift. Let me

994
00:49:01,680 --> 00:49:04,560
Speaker 7: tell you, so you let these Falcons win a Super Bowl,

995
00:49:04,880 --> 00:49:07,799
Speaker 7: y'all are going hate I mean hate the eight Yeah,

996
00:49:07,840 --> 00:49:09,520
Speaker 7: because you know we show it all the way out.

997
00:49:10,880 --> 00:49:13,840
Speaker 2: I wouldn't expect anything less. Well, will thank you so

998
00:49:13,920 --> 00:49:16,960
Speaker 2: much for joining me. I really appreciate it. And everybody

999
00:49:17,000 --> 00:49:19,479
Speaker 2: out there, make sure that you buy Wheel's You book.

1000
00:49:19,520 --> 00:49:23,279
Speaker 2: It's really fun, thoughtful read. As I said, quick read

1001
00:49:23,320 --> 00:49:26,200
Speaker 2: to which you know that you definitely wrote to today's

1002
00:49:26,200 --> 00:49:30,719
Speaker 2: attention span generation right or lack of say. Book is

1003
00:49:30,760 --> 00:49:32,800
Speaker 2: called who Better Than You? The art a healthy arrogance

1004
00:49:32,840 --> 00:49:35,520
Speaker 2: and dreaming big. So make sure that you cop that

1005
00:49:35,640 --> 00:49:37,719
Speaker 2: and good luck will. Maybe one of these days we

1006
00:49:37,800 --> 00:49:39,120
Speaker 2: might see that Girl's Trip.

1007
00:49:40,480 --> 00:49:43,160
Speaker 6: I'm working on it. I'm working on it.

1008
00:49:45,200 --> 00:49:47,480
Speaker 7: I just said it's a tough content environment.

1009
00:49:47,480 --> 00:49:50,600
Speaker 6: Did you hear me say that it's hard. It's hard

1010
00:49:50,640 --> 00:49:51,360
Speaker 6: out here?

1011
00:49:51,360 --> 00:49:53,200
Speaker 1: Over one hundred million dollars.

1012
00:49:54,480 --> 00:49:58,600
Speaker 6: This is yes? Ever, Okay, you're right, You're right. I'm

1013
00:49:58,640 --> 00:50:01,160
Speaker 6: on it. That it is not on the studios. That

1014
00:50:01,239 --> 00:50:03,080
Speaker 6: one is on my team. We work, If we work,

1015
00:50:03,239 --> 00:50:04,719
Speaker 6: we try to make it happen. It's hard.

1016
00:50:05,880 --> 00:50:06,600
Speaker 1: You get them together.

1017
00:50:06,640 --> 00:50:09,480
Speaker 6: Man, Yes, I've wrought it. I wrote it. I got you.

1018
00:50:09,719 --> 00:50:11,759
Speaker 7: I appreciate you, Laddy, thanks for giving me some time.

1019
00:50:12,080 --> 00:50:15,560
Speaker 7: I appreciate Okay, all right, Sis, one.

1020
00:50:15,400 --> 00:50:17,840
Speaker 1: More segment to go, and you guys know what that means.

1021
00:50:17,880 --> 00:50:22,480
Speaker 2: I got questions to answer up next, your viewer slash

1022
00:50:22,640 --> 00:50:26,960
Speaker 2: listener questions, and I have plenty of answers coming up

1023
00:50:27,120 --> 00:50:38,280
Speaker 2: next on the final segment of Spola Dips. All right, everybody,

1024
00:50:38,280 --> 00:50:40,680
Speaker 2: before I wrap up another episode of Politics, time for

1025
00:50:40,719 --> 00:50:42,520
Speaker 2: me to answer a question from you.

1026
00:50:43,120 --> 00:50:45,120
Speaker 1: And this question comes from Instagram.

1027
00:50:45,280 --> 00:50:50,160
Speaker 2: Baraka Ali sixty sixty one asked given analysis of title nain. Okay,

1028
00:50:50,200 --> 00:50:52,080
Speaker 2: I'm going to assume this question is related to the

1029
00:50:52,080 --> 00:50:56,319
Speaker 2: Trump administration's recent announcement that it was reversing guidance from

1030
00:50:56,400 --> 00:50:58,759
Speaker 2: former President Joe Biden, who in the final days of

1031
00:50:58,840 --> 00:51:03,280
Speaker 2: his presidency, instructed schools to quote proportionally distribute name, image,

1032
00:51:03,280 --> 00:51:06,200
Speaker 2: and likeness payments between male and female athletes to comply

1033
00:51:06,280 --> 00:51:09,719
Speaker 2: with Title nine, the federal legislation adopted in nineteen seventy

1034
00:51:09,760 --> 00:51:12,880
Speaker 2: two that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex educational

1035
00:51:12,920 --> 00:51:15,719
Speaker 2: institutions that receive federal funds. Now, if you're wondering what

1036
00:51:15,760 --> 00:51:17,799
Speaker 2: has nil money got to do with Title nine, it's

1037
00:51:17,840 --> 00:51:20,800
Speaker 2: this This bring a federal judge is expected to finally

1038
00:51:20,800 --> 00:51:24,560
Speaker 2: approve a multi billion dollar class action settlement that will

1039
00:51:24,560 --> 00:51:28,560
Speaker 2: completely transform college sports. The House versus NCAA settlement will

1040
00:51:28,560 --> 00:51:31,200
Speaker 2: give college athletes who competed from twenty sixteen to twenty

1041
00:51:31,239 --> 00:51:34,360
Speaker 2: twenty one back pay since they were unable to financially

1042
00:51:34,400 --> 00:51:37,839
Speaker 2: capitalize on nil at the time. Colleges are deciding whether

1043
00:51:37,880 --> 00:51:40,640
Speaker 2: to opt into the settlement to directly share revenue with players,

1044
00:51:40,880 --> 00:51:44,000
Speaker 2: which is expected to amount to about twenty million per

1045
00:51:44,280 --> 00:51:47,520
Speaker 2: Power four or five schools. But some schools are choosing

1046
00:51:47,520 --> 00:51:49,759
Speaker 2: to opt out because they don't want to take part

1047
00:51:49,800 --> 00:51:51,680
Speaker 2: of a revenue sharing system with players.

1048
00:51:52,040 --> 00:51:53,720
Speaker 1: So what does this mean? For female athletes.

1049
00:51:53,960 --> 00:51:56,040
Speaker 2: Well a means schools can just funnel the majority of

1050
00:51:56,080 --> 00:51:59,359
Speaker 2: the money from the settlement to men's basketball and college football. Now,

1051
00:51:59,360 --> 00:52:01,000
Speaker 2: some of your proper thinking, well it should be that

1052
00:52:01,000 --> 00:52:03,240
Speaker 2: way anyways, it's those two make a lot of money.

1053
00:52:03,719 --> 00:52:05,280
Speaker 1: Well, here's some food for thought.

1054
00:52:05,560 --> 00:52:08,040
Speaker 2: Maybe the reason these two sports have become worth a

1055
00:52:08,080 --> 00:52:11,720
Speaker 2: billion dollars or more is because the NCAA has frankly

1056
00:52:11,760 --> 00:52:13,319
Speaker 2: spent decades pouring money and.

1057
00:52:13,280 --> 00:52:14,840
Speaker 1: Resources into these sports.

1058
00:52:15,080 --> 00:52:18,080
Speaker 2: Now, the Government Accountability Office did a Title nine study

1059
00:52:18,160 --> 00:52:20,600
Speaker 2: last year and found that the NCAA made a conscious,

1060
00:52:20,640 --> 00:52:24,640
Speaker 2: concerted effort to place their full support behind men's basketball

1061
00:52:24,640 --> 00:52:26,000
Speaker 2: and the men's basketball tournament.

1062
00:52:26,239 --> 00:52:27,719
Speaker 1: And this was long before.

1063
00:52:27,520 --> 00:52:30,560
Speaker 2: Men's basketball became a billion dollar business. Now, these new

1064
00:52:30,600 --> 00:52:34,000
Speaker 2: directives from the Trump administration could have a damning effect

1065
00:52:34,000 --> 00:52:36,200
Speaker 2: on women's sports. Now that schools have been told they

1066
00:52:36,200 --> 00:52:41,000
Speaker 2: don't have to worry about providing equal support women's basketball, softball, volleyball,

1067
00:52:41,040 --> 00:52:43,960
Speaker 2: those are exploding in popularity. But let's not also forget

1068
00:52:44,000 --> 00:52:47,120
Speaker 2: the Olympics, where if the American women who competed in

1069
00:52:47,160 --> 00:52:50,080
Speaker 2: the Olympics last summer in pairs were their own country,

1070
00:52:50,160 --> 00:52:53,240
Speaker 2: they would have finished third among all nations. When sports

1071
00:52:53,280 --> 00:52:56,600
Speaker 2: like swimming, gymnastics, soccer, and track and field start suffering at.

1072
00:52:56,440 --> 00:52:59,640
Speaker 1: The college level, that will show up in the Olympics.

1073
00:53:00,280 --> 00:53:00,880
Speaker 6: Take note.

1074
00:53:01,239 --> 00:53:03,319
Speaker 2: Thank you Baraka Ali six to six to one for

1075
00:53:03,400 --> 00:53:05,560
Speaker 2: your question. Now, if you have a question for me,

1076
00:53:05,600 --> 00:53:07,600
Speaker 2: you can hit me up on social media or email.

1077
00:53:07,680 --> 00:53:11,719
Speaker 2: I'm at Jamail Hill across all social media platforms Twitter, Instagram,

1078
00:53:11,719 --> 00:53:15,840
Speaker 2: blues Guide and Threads, also fan Base, which I recently joined.

1079
00:53:15,840 --> 00:53:18,600
Speaker 2: Please use the hashtags politics. You also have the option

1080
00:53:18,680 --> 00:53:21,400
Speaker 2: of emailing me as Politics twenty twenty four at gmail

1081
00:53:21,440 --> 00:53:24,200
Speaker 2: dot com. You can also send me a video of

1082
00:53:24,280 --> 00:53:27,440
Speaker 2: your question, but please make sure it's thirty seconds or less.

1083
00:53:27,680 --> 00:53:30,759
Speaker 2: Don't forget to follow and subscribe to Politics on iHeart

1084
00:53:31,080 --> 00:53:35,200
Speaker 2: and follow spolitics pod on Instagram and TikTok. Politics is

1085
00:53:35,239 --> 00:53:38,840
Speaker 2: spelled s PO L I t I c S. A

1086
00:53:38,920 --> 00:53:42,560
Speaker 2: new episode of Politics drops every Thursday on iHeart Podcasts

1087
00:53:42,920 --> 00:53:46,560
Speaker 2: or wherever you get your podcasts. This is politics where

1088
00:53:46,600 --> 00:53:52,279
Speaker 2: sports and politics don't just mix, they matter. Politics is

1089
00:53:52,280 --> 00:53:55,960
Speaker 2: the production of iHeart Podcasts and the Unbothered Network. I'm

1090
00:53:56,000 --> 00:54:00,760
Speaker 2: your host, Jamail Hill. Executive producer is Taylor Chakoin. Lucas

1091
00:54:00,800 --> 00:54:04,480
Speaker 2: Hyman is head of audio and executive producer. Original music

1092
00:54:04,480 --> 00:54:08,080
Speaker 2: First Politics provided by Kyle VISs from wiz FX