WEBVTT - Will Packer Interview 0:00:00.640 --> 0:00:07.840 I'm a real, real celebrity, joined the Breakfast Morning. Everybody 0:00:07.960 --> 0:00:10.959 is DJ Envy Angela Ye, Charlomane the guy. We are 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:14.000 the Breakfast Club. We have a special guest in the 0:00:14.000 --> 0:00:19.159 building this morning. That's right, mister Will Packer, Yo, a 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:23.760 lot of money looking like money. Okay, success generated about 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:27.080 a half a billy for Hollywood the past decade. He 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:31.320 has great teeth. Get me robbed outside, Gotta get back. 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:33.440 You know what I'm saying that that was a comfortable 0:00:33.600 --> 0:00:36.160 environ You know New York. You know what, I don't 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:37.680 have a lot of business in New York. First of all, 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:42.960 thank you for saying that about my teeth at twice 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:46.480 a day. Kids, Absolutely, thank you. Doctor King in Atlanta, 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:50.199 you know, uh, New York. I love New York man. 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:52.479 It's just, you know what in my side of the business. 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:54.720 You know, I'm producing film and TV, and I'm I'm 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:56.920 in Atlanta, I'm in the A and I'm in Hollywood. 0:00:57.000 --> 0:00:59.280 You know, I'm my office is in LA and I 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:01.160 live in Atlanta, and I go back and forth, and 0:01:01.400 --> 0:01:03.240 but I'm up here now because it's like the network 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:05.600 up fronts as this is where like all the shows, 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:06.920 you know how you're looking. You say, oh, why they 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:09.399 pick up that show? Why they cancel that show? This 0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:11.759 is where that's all determined and announced. All the big 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:14.679 networks are here and they're selling their shows to the advertise. 0:01:15.040 --> 0:01:16.520 So this is like a little behind the scenes of 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:18.720 how the business really works. So I'm up here because 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:21.120 I got two new shows, one on ABC, one on NBC. 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:23.600 Up front? Did you attend, sir? Both of them? ABC? 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:27.320 I go to I gotta see what everybody else is doing. 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:29.399 I went to Fox. I snuck in CBS. I gotta 0:01:29.440 --> 0:01:31.440 see what it is. You know, So you got two shows? 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:35.640 Come into show? Yeah, man, um, I see the one 0:01:36.000 --> 0:01:41.320 on NBC and ABC. Ye. People are talking by the way, 0:01:41.480 --> 0:01:44.319 that looks hilarious. Oh, it goes there, it goes there. 0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:46.800 It's it's a funny show. It's it's like it's this 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:50.200 white dude, just like like really neurotic jewish white dude. 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:53.440 His best friend is black. His wife is like mix, 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:56.120 you don't really know what she is. She's ethnically ambiguous. 0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:58.440 And the black dude does stand up and the white 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:00.120 dudes are as a professor and all they talk talk 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:03.560 about his race and sex and politics and stuff that 0:02:03.600 --> 0:02:06.480 like everybody else would consider awkward conversations like they go there, 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:08.560 you know what I mean. So it's crazy like in 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:11.480 the opening episode, like, uh, they're about to hire this babysitter, 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:13.080 but then the babysity it turns out to be hot, 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:14.680 so it's like, can we hire her? And then the 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:16.959 black dudees like I think I saw on huts porn 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:19.400 star Exactly what would you do if your babysitter was 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:21.519 a porn star, Because then it's weird, like Okay, she's hot, 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:25.519 but then you see her holding the baby that was 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:27.120 the thing, but they needed babysit. It's so bad and 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:29.080 wife was like, well she ain't doing it no more. 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:31.600 I mean it's really bad. And it was like debating it. 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:32.760 You know what I'm saying. It wanted to go. My 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:34.160 wife just asking that the other day. So about this 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:35.840 old pair, do you wanted to be young and old? 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:43.080 I said, old, old, nold temptation. You know, you know 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:45.440 we we disliked you, me and you disliked you for 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:49.120 a while. What happened Charlemagne came back and had a 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:51.760 big head after being in a movie. Yeah, yeah, right 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:56.320 along in a big movie. Bill. I don't know that 0:02:56.440 --> 0:03:00.440 we would say star. I don't know if that's exactly accurate, 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:03.680 but but we're going to keep going. Starting came back 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:06.280 and he's had a big head ever since. Okay, there's 0:03:06.280 --> 0:03:08.400 people are recognizing him when he goes out. Is a 0:03:08.440 --> 0:03:15.760 resume for the movie? I have an It was all method. 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:18.360 Actually was about the face to walk, you know, the 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:22.119 way I held the fold. If you if you love 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:23.880 his line and ride along, wait till you see his 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:29.560 line and ride along too. Wait I'm saying, and um, 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:32.200 you know every starting power. So you guys both ride 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:37.800 along too. That's my I was like, dain't got it? 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:42.760 Right along? He does? He does the same line, but 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:48.440 even better. Where do you get the inspiration for these movies? 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:50.680 You know why? It comes from everywhere? Like So, as 0:03:50.680 --> 0:03:52.160 a producer, a lot of people don't even know what 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:54.640 like a movie producer does. So my job is to 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:57.640 bring together all the people that actually make the movie. 0:03:57.680 --> 0:03:59.880 So I'm like the general man jo on the football team. Right. 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:02.120 I gotta bring in my director, got to bring in 0:04:02.200 --> 0:04:04.680 my actors. I gotta find a financing now, I gotta 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:06.320 find the writers who will go. So a lot of 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:08.240 times I'll have an idea for a movie, and then 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:10.160 I'll go get the right writer to go and actually 0:04:10.200 --> 0:04:12.800 execute it and put it together. It sound so simple. 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:14.560 I have an idea for a movie, let me get 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:16.880 someone to write it. Because we all have ideas. Everybody 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:19.440 thinks they can produce and direct a movie until you 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:22.520 know it's crazy though, you actually you can. And I 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:25.640 say that to people like these days, like there's nothing's time. 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:28.440 You can go take your smartphone and you could actually shoot, 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:30.960 and you can edit on your laptop or your or 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:33.400 your tablet, and you could actually make a movie. But 0:04:33.440 --> 0:04:36.280 people don't have to. People don't have to. That's right. 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:39.120 Your first one's gonna be garbage, that's what. And I 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:40.680 tell people who want to get in this game, I'm like, 0:04:40.720 --> 0:04:42.760 you know, just go out and start shooting stuff because 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:44.360 the first is gonna be hot garbage. The second we 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:46.440 will be a little less hot garbage. But then you know, 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:48.040 you get better and better east time. A lot of 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:49.839 people don't have the drive to really do that. That's 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:53.680 the truth. You have millions of dollars, you gotta make this, 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:55.560 you know, fifty million dollars, you know, ride a long 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:58.680 type move. I'm like na make a like ten thousand 0:04:58.800 --> 0:05:00.720 or make a hundred dollars movie. Just make a movie 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:02.760 for nothing, you know, and just see what if people 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:04.720 watch it, if it's good. A lot of people don't 0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:06.200 know you've been doing it since the nineties. I've been 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:08.080 in it, man, Yeah, I've been in it. Yeah. Man. 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:11.000 I went to family down to tylahas she graduated from there. 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:12.359 I made my first little movie there, and then I 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:14.440 made a movie called TWA That was the first one 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:17.599 that went in there. I actually saw that movie, remember 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:20.320 that yet that was the hustle. I made that little 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:23.080 movie and literally like it was like a three time 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:24.800 they had a couple had a three you know who 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:29.919 was in Gary Doordan. Yeah, I just saw him imagine 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:32.920 Palmer and Kenya More, Kenya More. That's right, that's when 0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:36.640 she was in. Yeah. Would you put her in anything now? Um, 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:39.680 if it was right role. You know, I don't work 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:42.880 with a lot of reality stars, um, just because there's 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:44.960 so many And that's nothing against him at all, but 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:47.480 there's so many like like actors that are out there 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:50.760 and like getting in the game, and like that's interesting 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:53.320 because La, You've worked with Lila and she came up 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:55.920 parents said she stopped doing her show because she feels 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:58.600 like there's a stigma attached to being a reality star, 0:05:58.880 --> 0:06:00.159 and it was hard for her to get wrong. A 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:02.800 lot of people in the industry view that as what 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:05.360 you do and your talent, and they say, you know what, 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:08.120 we'd rather have somebody that can separate themselves because as 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:10.560 reality you're known for like playing yourself as an actor. 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:13.279 You want people who can become other characters. It's not 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:15.159 to say they're not talented people out there, but like 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:18.320 Lie is talented, a Lie works hard. Like Lie is 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:21.360 somebody that's like taking acting classes and has a coach, 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:24.600 and she's very very serious about it. So it's not like, 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:26.480 you know, the reality thing was something she did. It's 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:28.360 not who she is. No, let me running the resume 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:30.960 down for people who may not know you produced Takers Did, 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:33.039 which was a big movie like a Man one and 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:36.200 two ride along about Last Night, No Good Deed, the 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:38.600 Wedding Ringer. Yeah, they see your executive producer spreared out 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:42.400 of content that man coming out August. Yeah. How did 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:44.960 you go from you know, just being the guy that 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:47.120 did twar in the nineties or early two thousands to 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:49.880 being the go to guy in Hollywood achieve grime? Man, 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:52.159 that grind just not stopping. You know. The first the 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:54.839 first like big movie was Stomped the Yard. That was 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:56.960 my first one. Yeah, and it was like, you know, 0:06:57.080 --> 0:06:58.880 I went to a black college. I was in a fraternity, 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:00.520 So I made a movie about something that we knew 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:04.680 college family, Florida and dam University. Uh. And you know what, 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:07.080 that was the first one that like made Hollywood take note. 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:09.520 But to even get to that point was because we 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:12.280 made that little movie TWI and we made money outside 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:15.680 of Hollywood, spake money without them. You see them be 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:20.040 absolutely Are they doing a Stump the Yard TV show 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:25.000 now or something not serious about that? I wonder what 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:26.960 makes you pick your talent? Because you put Terrence Jay 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:28.720 in Stump the Yard early, you put them in think 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:31.400 like a mane one in two. Yeah, Like what made 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:33.800 you see something in Terrence Jay? You know what? Terence 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:36.000 is a hustler? Man. I tell you true story with Terrace. 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:39.160 Terrace was on one oh six right, and I was 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:41.640 doing a table read that's where you get the whole 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:44.160 cast together for the movie. We had like basically most 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:46.360 of the cast out in LA and I said, yo, 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:48.640 t I have a couple roles that haven't been cash. 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:50.800 Yet I'm doing a table read in LA. I know 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:52.320 you're shooting in New York. If you can make it 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:55.240 and just read this role alongside the actors, you probably 0:07:55.280 --> 0:08:02.880 not gonna get the role. But the studio was that 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:05.200 there was littlely no chance team was gonna get this role, 0:08:05.320 --> 0:08:07.360 you know, because I mean, you know, I had Kevin Harder, 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:09.800 had Taji, I had Michael Eally, you know, and he 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:13.000 was so he came in just for the table read 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:15.840 and he took off work like Stephen Hill knows the 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:18.000 story now, but he liked lied and said he was sick, 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:20.560 flew to LA for this table read, got in the 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:22.880 room with the actors and killed it. Like while everybody 0:08:22.880 --> 0:08:24.679 else was just reading the lines. You know what I'm saying. 0:08:24.920 --> 0:08:28.480 Terrence had memorized that I was acting it out and 0:08:28.560 --> 0:08:30.360 he did so good, Like he had that little small 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:32.560 window of opportunity and he just ran with it. Yeah, 0:08:32.679 --> 0:08:36.240 and that's direct, Like, Yo, Who's who's that guy that 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:38.040 was reading the role of Michael? Who is he? I 0:08:38.080 --> 0:08:40.120 was like, you know what, we should consider him, and 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:43.480 he gave me the ammunition I needed. He got that wrong. Wow, 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:46.000 that's interesting. Kevin hard too, like it's like you two 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:48.640 have a chemistry like dream snoopad in the nineties. Yeah, 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:50.959 I got to keV become like I guess you're mused, 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:53.760 so to speak, dude, work ethic because keV keV like 0:08:54.000 --> 0:08:56.559 worked so hard and go so hard and like I'm 0:08:56.600 --> 0:08:58.800 the same way. So we just we just connect on 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:00.480 that level, you know what I mean, Like just like 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:03.920 on some real professional stuff, like we both are like, yo, 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:06.600 let's go get it. Like I'll never forget the day 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:09.920 Ride Along opened, we were everybody was like, yo, we 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:13.200 opened number one. We made like forty plus million dollars kicking, 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:15.680 and me and keV had to get up like six 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:19.200 am the next one to do promo shoots for about 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:21.520 last night with our next movie that was opening, and 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:23.679 we was like, yo, we'll celebrate later. We gotta get 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:26.480 it like we did one, Let's get two, Let's get three. 0:09:26.559 --> 0:09:29.720 Like he's he's always thinking four or five steps ahead. 0:09:29.880 --> 0:09:31.559 And with keV, people don't know it, but keV was 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:38.280 in the game for a minute and was losing. Was like, 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:40.240 that's the worst people we have ever made. Like people 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:43.240 wrote Kevin Hart off for dead like true story. I 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:46.040 went to Hollywood like would think like a man. I 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:47.920 was like, yo, Kevin Hart, I want to put him 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:50.000 in it. He would be great as this central role. 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:51.840 It was like it was like, we know Kevin Hart. 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:54.760 He's not a star, Like he's not a leading man. 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:57.280 We're not hiring Kevin Hart. Like literally they told me that. 0:09:57.600 --> 0:10:00.240 And now all those people call me like you think 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:05.840 you'll you think you dotely? Absolutely, did you know you 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:08.280 could be a superstar? I did. I did, because the 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:11.160 reality is that, and you guys noticed, like the streets 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:14.680 know it before Hollywood does. Hollywood doesn't have their finger 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:17.760 on any particular post. They're trying, you know, But my 0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:20.960 job is connect with real people, and real people were 0:10:21.040 --> 0:10:24.280 feeling keV way before Hollywood was taking notice. And that's 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:26.600 what I brought. And I said, Yo, I'm telling you, 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:29.640 this guy is building a fan base that is monstrous 0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:31.920 and will not stop. Now they're aware of it. But 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:33.960 he went out there and he made his own just 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:36.080 like we were talking about making a movie. He made 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:38.079 his own through his whole digital stuff and through a 0:10:38.160 --> 0:10:40.199 stand up and you know all the movies that was 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:42.079 on bootleg, Like I joke about it, but that got 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:43.680 him in like a bunch of living rooms. People was 0:10:43.679 --> 0:10:46.520 watching the stand up way before Hollywood to know they're 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:49.400 straight out of Compton. Yeah, man, I was filming that 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:50.839 movie because I mean, it seems like there would be 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:53.800 so much controversy about that movie and people wanting to 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:55.360 be in and wanting to put their parts in their 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:57.400 two cents in that movie, and then people being mad 0:10:57.440 --> 0:10:59.720 about what you say about them and how they portrayed 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:02.920 in that movie. Biopics are are challenging, I will tell 0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:04.760 you that because you know it's a it's a true 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:08.000 life story. But if there is an ever a biopic, 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:11.040 man that the timing was right and the story needed 0:11:11.080 --> 0:11:13.040 to be told, it was this one. And I gotta 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:15.760 give major props to f Gary Gray, the director, because 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:18.040 you know, he's from that world. He knows it like 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:20.560 that was his life. And this movie had been around 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:23.640 a long long time and a lot of challenges were 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:26.160 in the way of getting made, and it finally got made. 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:29.200 And it's funny because it's um you know, obviously Cube's 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:34.160 son plays him. And we were actually shooting right along too, 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:37.120 in like Miami and Atlanta, and they were at the 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:39.760 same time straight out of convers shooting in la and 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:43.319 so in between takes, like Cube would have the tablet 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:45.520 ie we got the technology now where we can actually 0:11:45.559 --> 0:11:48.240 watch what's going on on another set. Then between him 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:49.960 and acting right along too, he'd be trying to see 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:51.280 what the son was doing, you know what I mean. 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:53.240 I was like, Yo, how are you doing this? This 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:55.920 must be nerve racking, Like you got your you got 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:58.600 the movie about you. First of all, this is your movie, 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:01.360 your life, and then your son and it's playing you 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:02.880 in the movie. You want him to do good, you 0:12:02.920 --> 0:12:04.720 want the movie to be good. You're trying to act 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:06.760 in this other big action movie we're doing like, how 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:08.920 are you doing it? And it was just crazy trying 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:11.839 to balance all that, but it came together. Manum, it's 0:12:11.880 --> 0:12:14.000 it's good. I gotta give props to Gary and Dre 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:16.240 and Cube, And you know, I can't wait for y'all 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:17.439 to see that. You're working with a lot of old 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:19.400 g's lately. I see I see you and LeVar Burton. 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:24.800 They say, y'all remaking roots roots man actual And so 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:28.520 that's gonna play on like I read Lifetime ay and 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:31.040 in History Chat. Yeah, it's gonna be simulcast at the 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:33.240 same time, it's gonna be really really big. I gotta 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:35.760 tell y'all, like more than anything. I'm proud of everything 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:38.640 I'm doing, but this is special to me. It's special 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:41.160 because it's such an iconic film and there's a whole 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:44.000 generation out there. They don't know roots, right, you know, 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:46.440 like some people like our roots. It's like you're retelling 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:48.560 the story. And I'm like, when you say retelling, that 0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:51.160 implies that you told it. But there's a whole generation 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:53.240 that don't know it. They haven't seen it. Like all 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:58.040 they know I saw a django, you know, that's this 0:12:58.120 --> 0:13:01.800 is the ultimate or Virgin's story, Like this is it. 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:04.480 This is like coming from Africa, kings and queens and 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:08.040 warriors and how you end up from that into how 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:10.480 we all sit in the studio today, you know. So 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:12.959 it's it's uh, it's it's a hell of an undertake 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:15.000 and I'm proud. We got some dope directors that were 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:18.000 lining up that I'll be able to announce soon. And yeah, 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:20.520 LeVar Burton from the original, you know, he's down with it. 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:22.679 But yeah, that's something brought to them or they were 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:24.400 going to do it and they were trying to find somebody. 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:26.040 They brought it to me. Yeah, That's the thing, like 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:27.880 how Charlotmagne was saying, when you get to kind of 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:30.200 be in that position where Hollywood will come to you. 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:32.080 So I'm very blessed that I was in a position 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:33.880 they came to me. They were doing it, and they 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:35.800 came to me to help, you know, bring my flavor. Now. 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:37.440 You tweeted one time you said, how can we expect 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:39.920 you have to behave? Behave? If they were descended from kings, 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:43.240 queens and noble warriors, if they're unaware it's in their DNA. 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:45.880 So I always wonder, why does Hollywood keep showing us 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:48.600 the slave stories? Then why not show us when we 0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:51.600 were kings and queens and noble war Not a lot 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:53.880 of stories about that, not a lot of stories about that. 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:56.000 You're absolutely right. That's one of the reasons I want 0:13:56.000 --> 0:13:57.640 to do this. I mean, I'm gonna show the whole journey, 0:13:57.640 --> 0:13:59.640 and obviously slaver is an important part of it. But 0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:02.280 this is going to go where it begins. It's just 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:04.559 going to start, you know, like the original in Africa. 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:07.319 And here's the thing about Hollywood. Hollywood is a business. 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:09.040 So at the end of the day, if people want 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:10.760 to see that, and they'll pay to see that. You know, 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:12.840 that's what they'll make. You know, you think it's like 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:14.720 I don't think people will pay to see black people 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:19.120 will be great and not a lot of stories. I 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:22.000 think that a lot of the stories that are in 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:26.880 a historical context about the black journey, the African American 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:31.080 journey is um you know, based around slavery or civil rights, 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:33.080 and those are important stories. There are a ton of 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:35.160 those stories that haven't been told, but a lot of 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:38.440 them have. And so this is one that is going 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:42.240 to take it from a totally different direction. It's going 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:45.320 to the original. Like my kids like, they don't want 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:47.280 to see the original rules you know, it was made 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:49.760 a long time ago. It feels like it's an old movie. 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:51.880 It feels like it was made in the style of 0:14:52.080 --> 0:14:53.680 how movies were made and then they don't move as 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:56.040 fast and not as interesting and not as exciting. I 0:14:56.160 --> 0:14:58.560 want to do a retelling and this for this to 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:03.240 be that movie, like that definitive origin story. Like I say, 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:05.040 you know that people can go, you can watch it, 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:07.400 you know, watching in schools. Why and it's gonna be entertained. 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:09.200 It's not like a history lesson and the foot getting 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:13.800 cut off can look even more realistic. It's also remaking 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:16.160 the whiz. Is that true? That's me. They're doing it, 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:19.200 NBC is doing it. But everything, everybody wants to be 0:15:19.200 --> 0:15:24.120 in everything. What motivates you now, because obviously it's not 0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:28.080 bunny you know what it's it's um, it's the grime. Man. 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:30.880 Here's the thing when you and I tell people this 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:33.120 all the time, like if you if you hustle, you 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:34.520 want to work hard, you want to like get to 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:36.520 a certain level, you gotta start now, Like I don't 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:38.320 care if you listen to me right now you're watching 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:40.480 this on revote. Then you in a job that you hate, 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:42.600 do that to the best your ability, because it's not 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:45.000 like just when the opportunity pops all of a sudden, 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:46.280 you're gonna know how to be great, and you're gonna 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:47.760 know how to hustle. You're gonna know how to grind. 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:52.200 Like no, you start that wherever you are, whatever you're doing, like, 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:57.200 be the best, you know, janitor, be the best you know, consultant, telemarket, 0:15:57.280 --> 0:16:00.160 whatever it is like that grind and and to ask 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:01.760 your question, you don't just turn it off, you know. 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:04.560 So I'm driven because I want to make great stories. 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:06.920 Because I want to hire new actors, you know, because 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:09.240 I want to leave a legacy. You know, my kids 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:11.640 push me. I just for me. That's who I am. 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:13.600 You know, do you feel like more doors are open 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:15.720 for people of color? Now? They've been talking about network 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:19.760 television obviously, now you have two shows, you know, simultaneously, 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:23.560 and they say Empire was a big part of it. Man, Yeah, 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:26.200 Lee and Taragi and Terrence all the fam that was 0:16:26.240 --> 0:16:28.080 a big, big part of it. The reality is that 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:31.400 diversity is business now, it's real business. Like, if you're 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:34.080 a networking you're only I don't care what you are. 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:36.440 If you're only selling the white people, you're losing. That's 0:16:36.440 --> 0:16:38.680 what it is. You know. If you don't have Hispanic autist, 0:16:38.680 --> 0:16:39.960 if you don't have black artis, if you don't have 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:44.160 Asian audiences, then you're losing. Advertisers want everybody. So diversity 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:46.560 is winning. Did you try to go to network television previously? 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:48.360 But and it was a lot more difficult, And now 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:49.880 you went and they're like, come on, we need stuff. 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:52.000 You know what I didn't. This is my first year 0:16:52.040 --> 0:16:54.560 in television, so it's crazy because even in my first year, 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:57.000 I sold two shows. So that's like that's huge, Like 0:16:57.080 --> 0:17:00.240 my team is amazing. Okay, but no, but just ask 0:17:00.280 --> 0:17:03.280 your question. It was like that though. Definitely there are 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:05.600 people this is my first foray into television, but there 0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:07.199 are people that tell you they've been banging on that 0:17:07.280 --> 0:17:09.480 TV door for years with people of color that have 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:11.520 been trying to get a network TV. And the reality 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:13.320 is that there weren't not a lot of shows. You 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:16.240 had like an air in the eighties, um late eighties, 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:18.119 early nights where you had a lot of black shows 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:20.040 and you had CW and up and that at first 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:22.600 came out, but for a while it was a drought. 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:24.439 There a lot of studies and people complaining about it 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:27.520 because it was just so just white, just white, primarily 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:30.560 white men. And that's what you saw came along. Yeah, 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:34.399 it came in, and that's the day they the ratchetness 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:37.119 to get it. That's you know, that's part of it too. 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:39.200 We gotta show it off. Go back to the beginning. 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:42.119 How did you start in the game and getting into 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:43.560 everything that you do, because there's a lot of kids 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:46.199 out there that was going to college, going to community college, 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:48.200 going to whatever college, and how did they get their start? 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:50.160 How did you get your start? I was in college 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:53.560