Latest / Bulletproof Screenwriting™ Podcast / BPS 364: Producing Terrance Malik & Build a Mammoth Empire with Tanner Beard

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BPS 364: Producing Terrance Malik & Build a Mammoth Empire with Tanner Beard · Bulletproof Screenwriting™ Podcast

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You are listening to the IFH podcast Network. For more amazing filmmaking and screenwriting
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podcasts, just go to ifahpodcastnetwork dot com. Welcome to the Bulletproof Screenwriting Podcast,
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Episode number three sixty four. The struggle you're in today is developing the
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strength that you need for tomorrow. Don't give up Robert Toay broadcasting from a
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dark, windowless room in Hollywood when we really should be working on that next
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draft. It's the Bulletproof Screenwriting Podcast, showing you the craft and business of
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screenwriting while teaching you how to make your screenplay bulletproof. And here's your host,
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Alex Ferrari. Welcome, Welcome to another episode of the Bulletproof Screenwriting Podcast.
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I am your humble host Alex Ferrari. Now, today's show is sponsored
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by Bulletproof script Coverage. Now. Unlike other script coverage services, Bulletproof Script
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Coverage actually focuses on the kind of project you are in the goal of the
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project you are, so we actually break it down by three categories, micro
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Brothers, The Blacklist, and many many more. So if you need your
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screenplay or TV script covered by professional readers, head on over to covermiscreenplay dot
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com. Now today on the show, we have renaissance filmmaker, producer,
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director, and actor Tanner Beard. Now. I had the pleasure of meeting
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Tanner at the Mammoth Film Festival this year, where he is one of the
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co founders of that festival, and he is just a wealth of information.
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He's produced a ton of movies as well as directed and also acted in some
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big things as well. And I truly loved learning how he was able to
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become a producer on a few Terrence Malick films and what was like to be
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on a Terrence Malick film and talk to the man. And he has a
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great Terrence Malick story. If you guys don't know who Terrence Malick is,
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please google him. But I was really excited to talk to him about that
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his vision for the Mammoth Film Festival as well, and what it takes to
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be a producer, director, actor, renaissance filmmaker in Hollywood today. He
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dropped some great, great knowledge bombs in this interview. So without any further
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ado, please enjoy my conversation with tannered Beard. I'd like to welcome to
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the show, tannered Beard brother, thank you so much for taking out the
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time. Man absolutely, man, thanks for having me. I appreciate it
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for everyone watching this and not listening to it only you have like the coolest
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backdrop ever on the show, because it's like you're literally in a beautiful dollars
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backdrop we did. It's all blue screen. I'm actually hanging. I'm actually
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suspended on some wires right now, right and that's not even your face.
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It's all like James Camber doubt right now. This is I'm in Wisconsin.
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This is a body double here, I think a studio of Pasadena exactly.
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So we had the pleasure of meeting for the first time at the Mammoth Film
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Festival, where you are one of the co founders of and right I cannot
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We're going to talk more about second one, by the way, So yes,
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I had somebody like any film hustle out there, So thank you and
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I appreciate it, brother, And it was you know, it's We're going
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to talk a bunch more about the Mammo Film Festival later in the interview,
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but I just want to tell you how much I loved, love, love
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the festival, even though I was trapped for two days by the mountain of
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Kubrick style snow. From the shining. We figured we could sell more merchandise
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if we had everybody snowed in. It's very true because we sell a lot
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of gloves and scarves and things of this nature. So it was really just
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deployed by the film festival to make more money and it and it works or
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I don't know how you got all that a hell of a blizzard, man,
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Yeah, I will say, like for us on the on the mechanical
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side of it, obviously, it's like, man, just please let it
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stop snowing for two more seconds so we can try to get more people to
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the theater, or get the people from the theater back over to like an
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interactive panel discussion, or get him to Mammoth Con or something. But for
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everybody it's like we're internally, we're like thinking like, oh man, they're
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not gonna have a good time. You're not gonna have a good ton.
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Uh. For for us, it was like everybody was like smiling and being
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like, dude, this blizzard's crazy, right, I'm like, you're happy.
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This is I've never crazy. Yeah. And a few a few episodes
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ago, we had Darius brit On from US Deeper Darius and I met him
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at the Mammoth Film Festival and both of us have never experienced actually being trapped
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in a location. We've We've you know, like the flight has been canceled
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because of weather and you are in the town where the weather's happening. I've
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had it canceled from flying two sure, but never been locked landlocked. That
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was not a home. They closed the roads and everything too, So what's
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air travel? It was like physical travel of any kind. But I will
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say it and kind of hats off to the town of Mammoth Lakes. You
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know they did they moved heaven and earth. They knew there was a festival
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in town, so the bulldozers and stuff like, you know, they did
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it. They worked as fast as they could, So hats off to the
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town of Mammoth Lakes. Were like making it possible for us to not have
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to We didn't have to cancel one thing. No, no, no,
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no, that's true. Those those, those and those bulldozers were no joke,
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man, And the tires on them are like, I'm like looking up
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at the tire. So it's pretty awesome. It was a pretty insane,
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all right. So let's get so, let's get into it. So first,
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how did you get into the business in the first place. I started
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off as an actor. I moved out to Los Angeles in two thousand and
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three. I used to be a if I was if I didn't get into
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the motion picture business, it's going to be a pro golfer. It's what
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I was really into growing up in Snyder, Texas. Shout out to Snyder
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Texas, Patrick Malone, Very tub Powers, Booth, Kevin Olejandro. So
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I moved, Uh, I got a I did this film contest when I
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was in high school, and I was really into like Guy Ritchie films at
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the time, sure as everybody was. When that's when the high track from
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like lock Stock and Snack and I shot, I think about what I did
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when I was in high school. I shot this town like we're running around
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with guns and like the town square, but it's Snyder, Texas, so
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like nobody nobody really cared. But there's also like, I mean a given
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Sunday you'll see like two turkey walking down the street in like our town square.
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That's how I kind of West Texas. This place is. So it's
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like it's just kids with guns in the town square. Not a big deal.
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They're kids, you know what I mean. So but I'm thinking and
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we're dressed up like mafia guys. Anyway, I think about it now and
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it's just so crazy what we used to do. And maybe that's why I
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won this film contest because they were like, well, these kids must have
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gotten permits and they're they're really taking care of they're really on top of it.
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We were just like crazy enough to do it. But I made this
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little guy Ritchie esque type of movie, and uh, you know, for
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that reason, just getting to use the town as my asset. Got a
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scholarship to Auburn University back towards Auburn, but I just didn't want to go
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study film in Alabama. Right, But but I think at that time I
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kind of got like my parents were like, oh, well, maybe these
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crazy videos he's been making maybe they actually maybe we'll get somewhere one day.
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So with that said, I went to the New York Film Academy at Universal
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Studios there in Los Angeles, right there in Universal Studios, no like I
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get it. Like I remember as a kid, like Spielberg's Alban offices right
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there, and I remember one day, of course we used to smoke cigarettes
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back in the day, it was so much cooler, but I remember that
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everybody, everybody in the film business had to take their cigarette break and they
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were all like there was this one grouping area. But what was cool is
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you could see into Spielberg's office there and I remember seeing him and Tom Hanks
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and they're going over some storyboards for I believe it was terminal at the time,
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and I just remember thinking, like, I feel like I'm in the
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right place, you know what I mean. It's like it was such a
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reward to be like, if I'm here learning film and Steven Spielberg's over there
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doing film, it felt like a really good place. So I've always kind
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of had a love for New York Film Academy just for that. And then
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you get to film on the back line of Universal Studios and this is like
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such a commercial for them right now. It's a big deal in my life
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as an eighteen year old kid coming from you know, Tumbleweeds and pump jacks
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out to seeing Tom Hanks and Steven Spilberg do a storyboard together. So that
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got me out to Los Angeles and I really was just trying to do the
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acting thing for a long time. I still do. I mean, I
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still love to act. As long as I can do like one or two
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projects that I don't make a year, I still feel like I'm in the
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acting game, you know. So I've gotten to do some pretty great projects,
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but my real I think passion is just filmmaking in general. You know.
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I like to I like to be a part of great teams, great
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people, great projects. And luckily, over the span of fifteen years,
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I've been able to work with some amazing people. And it's funny. I've
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gotten to do some really big movies, but like the smaller movies that you
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have far more you know, you're hand dipped in, are the ones I'm
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like more proud of. Like I got to do a movie with like Christian
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Bale, But anybody, somebody were talking to us, like tell us what
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it was worth you know, what was it like to be a part of
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Night of Cups? And I'm like, yeah, it was great. So
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we did this movie in Spain for like eighty thousand dollars called six Bullets to
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Hell, and I just sold it. They're like, yeah, that's great.
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So you know, it's just like a for it of like who cares?
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Yeah, yeah, they just wanted to see the big star stuff,
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all the big stars and stuff. Yeah, cause you actually kind of made
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your bones coming up doing kind of do U I Y kind of filmmaking.
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We'll be right back after a word from our spawn, sir, and now
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back to the show. Yeah. Man, I have a production company called
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silver Sell Entertainment, which I just found this old at this house. I
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just found this old like coffee thing and I'm like fantastic. I've been looking
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for these, But silver Sell Entertainment We've gotten to do some really great films.
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We did Hellyin with Aaron Paul that went to sun Dance that was actually
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speaking of being snowed in at places. So my first Sundance experience, I
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was also snowed in, but up in a house. A bunch of us
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had rented a house what ye what year? That would have been two thousand
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and ten, Okay, and it was a horrible snow year, but like
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we all thought it would be great butt this. There was like fifteen people
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staying at this thing, a bunch of just different organizations, a Metris like
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where I met Shane West who became a good friend of mine. But if
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you were up in that house at the time you were there, you missed
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three days of the festival because there was no way they could like get you
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out of this house. So it was like this really weird scenario. Speaking
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of the Shining Man. You know, it's like this giant somebody's like giant
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mansion and we were just there. But it's where I got to meet you
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know, uh, Stephen Garcia, who I do business with today, Jeff
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Caligary, producer of Waterstone Entertainment. Meet these people today, a couple of
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the producers I stay in touch with. And I was like, how fatuitous.
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You know that kind of relationship where you said you got snowed in with
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with Darius, you guys got to connect. It was cool that when I
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got snowed in at Sundance. I still talk to these people to this day
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and business with them. So it's kind of weird how the Snowy Mountain film
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festivals can sometimes really bring people together. Oh absolutely, man, there it's
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a new slogan for Mammoth that's going to be snowed in. That's the best.
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That's the best networking you could do. That's networking to do. But
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you can't go anywhere. No, it's absolutely true. Like you've got no
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internets down, you can't do anything all this kind of stuff. You're like,
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what are you going to? Well, I guess I'll talk to these
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guys. Yeah, exactly. Well it's great. Hey, you know what,
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it's old fashioned. You just talk to another human these things I know,
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right exactly. So you so you kind of tipped a little bit about
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kind of the project you worked on. I mean, you've done a lot
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of indie work as well as a producer. You also direct as well,
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uh and do some directing as well. But you also produced with this this
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young upstart what's his name, Malick, Terry Terry Malick. Yeah, this
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kid, he's gonna be something. Uh. Speaking in New York Film Academy,
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there was a class. Uh. I used to study Terrence Malick in
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film school. Sure, because he is after getting the luxury of medium.
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And I haven't had that many conversations with him directly, and when I have
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minimum all ears, that's for sure sure. And he's such I mean,
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he's you can ask anybody in the business. He is the kind of he's
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he doesn't even make movies, he makes something beyond them, you know.
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That's I've always kind of felt. When I got to know him a little
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bit better, I always thought of him as life. I was like,
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man, you're like the Albert Einstein of filmmaking, because you're just you just
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see them in a different light, in a different and a different He's on
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a different wavelength in the rest of us. There's no question about it.
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Is artistic nature is probably the most true to form because he doesn't care who
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you are. If it doesn't work, you're just if you're just not a
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part of the story, like you're just you're gone, you know what I
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mean. He's like Edward Scissorhands and editing. Yeah, and he doesn't care
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who it is. No, no, he doesn't. But but not in
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an attacky way, in just like like visionary way, you know what I
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mean. He doesn't play into like if you know and on the day when
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you got to shoot them, it's it's it's like it's I feel like it's
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more for him. I can't speak for him, but I feel like it's
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more for him where it's like you gets to see the whole story himself.
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So he'll show you the story that he wants to put together. And if
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you're a part of that. I think a lot of people are like,
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I made the cut. It's like being you know, it's like an audition.
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While because I remember, I mean, and for everyone, for whoever's
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listening, who doesn't know who Terrence Malick is, please google Terrence Malick.
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He is a legend up there with Kubrick in many ways. When Kubrick is
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the eyes wide shut. Terrence had come out that same year, and I
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think I forgot them. I think it was bost War or The New World.
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He was doing that that same year. If I'm not mistake, I
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might be mistaken. But and there were like two recluses have been released.
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Because he hadn't made a movie in like twenty five years or something like that.
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Yeah, yeah, now he's I don't think he had made a movie
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since The Thin Red Line, right, which was one of my favorites.
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It is one of the most beautiful pieces of art. It's incredible, it's
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amazing, it's amazing. So that's that's who Terrence Malick is. And you've
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been able. You were able to produce four three or four of us projects.
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It turned out to be four because one of them was extended. So
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I met Sarah Green, like, I can't mention mister Malick without mentioning Sarah
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Green, because I wouldn't know, you know, have had the luxury of
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being a part of those films had it not been for her. But when
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silver Sell Entertainment did Hellion, Sarah Green took that through the Sundance Institute the
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Sundance Lab and had been working with them. So we got partnered up with
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her and Jeff Nichols, who's also just the best. And I was like,
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wow, man, these are just two incredible people in their fields.
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And I was so, you know, I've been working with Susanna Winert for
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so long. It's nice to get to meet Sarah Green through her. So
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when that happened, it just allowed me to you know, it's kind of
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like putting yourself out there right place, right time. You just never know
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more opportunity is going to open up for you. But if you're never out
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there, you're never going to be able to be in that situation, you
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know. So I can't really describe how it happened. It was just a
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lovely time in my life. I guess, you know what I mean.
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Butt in the back of my mind, I'm like, well, I've been
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grinding for eleven and a half years with not getting to that place where I
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feel like I'm getting to do something substantial. You know, it's a lot
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of indie films. Hell, I'd done twenty five movies up until that point,
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and nobody, you know, people ask you like, so you've been
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in anything that I've seen. I'm like, I don't know, have you
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seen like an indie film that came out like two years ago? And nap?
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You know what I mean. It's just like no. But then you
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say these names like, oh, have you seen Christian Bales Night of Cups?
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Exactly my names on that one somewhere, even though I had zero to
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do with it creatively. But but but in turn, you know where I
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got to come in is in helping the team get that movie to the finish
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line. Uh. You know those films like literally had practically already been shot.
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There was just you know, so many, so much going on with
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all of them. Mister Malick had shot so much and was trying to get
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them out individually that you know, they still needed to kind of bring on
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team members to come and help assemble, and so that was like a big
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deal. But it was The Night of Cups with Christian Beale, Natalie Portman,
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Kate Blanchett. Just the list goes on, and then uh, there
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was another film called Song to Song that was Ryan Gosling, Michael Fastbender,
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Ate a lot of the same teammates and that, and then again the list
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goes on and on with that. But one that I was that's really special.
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I got to I mean, Brad Pitt was a producer on it and
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he also did the narration. But it was a film called Voyage of Time,
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which was a forty five minute documentary that mister Malick had been making for
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and I kid you not forty plus years. He has been working on this
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documentary for forty plus years. And there's a much larger version of it too
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that Kate Blanchett narrates. And that's the one that we premiered at Venice Film
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Festival, and like I've never been you know, my redneck Texas West,
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you know West Texas ass had never been part of something like that. Like
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I'm at the Venice Film Festival standing next to Sophocles who did a little a
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little thing called Planet Earth Sure, and you know, like a couple other
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gentlemen, like one of the gentlemen that produced Titanic. I'm just like sitting
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there like this is like so surreal. And then after it's over, you
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have to you have to sit through like a ten minute standing of which is
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very stomary. And you know the in the Venice Film Festival and even Berlin
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and stuff. So that for me was just like it wasn't like a rite
18:07
of passage. It was kind of like I felt like a uh, like
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a like a final Wish foundation or something make a Way, make a wish
18:18
wish or something, Yeah, make a waye foundation. Yeah. But I
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will say, you know, sometimes you do have to take a step back
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and and really be grateful and also feel gratified for for the work that you
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do put in. You know what I mean, if you don't have if
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you don't take those minutes and say like you know, if you don't kind
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of reward yourself with saying like, well, you know what, man,
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maybe I do deserve to be here a little bit because of the work that
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I have put in for all the years, and hell, just being honest
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and doing business in an honest form. I feel like got me here faster
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than trying to you know, snake my way through uh this industry where it's
18:52
just like you know what, man, just keep putting in the time and
18:55
the work honestly and it will reward you, you know. So and boy,
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and it did heavy from twenty fourteen to sixteen. Really those were some
19:06
big years, big years of my life. So I think I went to
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like twelve fifteen festivals during that year because not only did they have my own
19:11
projects, but we had all these you know, Malick films and stuff coming
19:15
out. And then one thing that was really cool. I went to the
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Toronto International Film Festival and Brad pitt version of Voyage of Time was the first
19:25
Imax movie that Tiff had ever done. So I was like, oh,
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man, like now when they're doing Imax movies like sixteen Years down the Road
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or whatever, I'll be like, I got to do the you know,
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I got to be part of the first one there, which was kind of
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cool. But yeah, it was just absolutely educational and you know, breathtaking
19:44
to even get to have conversations with with mister Malick. And these films are
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you know, they were well received, more so in Europe, I think
19:52
than America, just the storytelling and what people are used to. But we'll
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be right back after a word from our sponsor, and now back to the
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show. The I mean, there's some of the most beautiful, you know,
20:08
some of the most Oh my god, I'm forgetting a huge piece of
20:11
it. Chibo, I was I was about to say Chievo Chibo did the
20:17
cinematography for these pictures. By the way, for everyone listening, Chievo is
20:21
arguably one of the greatest cinematographers of all time, and he won three Oscars
20:23
in a row. Yeah, I don't think anyone's ever done that before.
20:27
And honestly, man, like if he shot these movies before he went and
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made those, that's how long these were in post, you know what I
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mean. So like this was his you know, this was like his like
20:37
starter. But he sees incredible. Man. So to have my name anywhere
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close to Sarah Green mister Malik Chivo and all of those amazing actors. He
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still feels like, I'm not doing anything in the world that's that's insane.
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So all right, so you you haven't earned my my, my recognition there.
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So now you've done a couple you had a couple of conversations with mister
20:56
Malick. What is the best Uh, First of all, what is the
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best story you've heard or like the best experience that you can share the interaction
21:04
with him? And then also what is the wisest thing or the biggest lesson
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you took away from working with them? These are both great questions and they're
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just really cool stories if you're a fan of his at all. So one
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thing I kind of heard was on set that like, you know, he'll
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kind of do some takes in the act there's no scripts, you know,
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really like he's had conversations with the actors. They kind of find their way
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as they're making these films, which I think is why a lot of these
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actors get excited about the challenge of coming on and doing something so completely and
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utterly different and then knowing that they have, you know, the safe hands
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of mister Malick holding them as they as they perform, and he would never
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let them fail. But I did hear that. You know, he would
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occasionally just write something down and just slip it to them, you know,
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like, for instance, I think it was Kim, or if it was
21:56
Ryan or Michael or excuse me, mister or mister Fassbender, who might call
22:00
them by their first names. But I remember there was a scene where they
22:06
were shooting and then I think he had wrote something like jump on his back
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or something just out of nowhere, just to see how they would react to
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it. And also that actor has to go and make that circumstance of real
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of why he would go jump on his back. He in his mind had
22:21
to go figure that out too. So that's the lovely challenge from the actor's
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perspective of like, okay, well why would this character jump on his back?
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Let's figure this out. So I think that is such a lovely thing.
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But you know, a couple takes went by and he slip them the
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note. The next thing you know, that actor is having to pull it
22:36
off and this actor's having to react to it. And I think that's what
22:38
Chibo is there to. Can't capture so well and for you know, them
22:44
to all kind of you know, it's like mister Malick's the left hand and
22:47
she was the right hand, and for them to capture that and work in
22:49
tandem is just I think, what makes his movie so special. So that
22:55
was one instance where I thought, like, what an interesting way to go
22:57
about directing your picture. And then then another one is when we were at
23:03
the Berlin Film Festival. Excuse me now I'm just talking so much, but
23:08
I said. We were at the Berlin Film Festival, and this was even
23:12
my first time meeting like Christian Bale, which was obviously like really exciting to
23:17
me. Just trying to like maintain composure, I was really excited to chat
23:22
with mister Malick there because I was I was kind of surprised he came all
23:26
the way to Berlin. He's not he's not known for typically showing up at
23:30
you know, film festivals. He didn't go to the actual film festival.
23:32
But I got to talk to him at the after party and stuff afterwards,
23:36
and we were sitting there and we kind of had this great conversation which I
23:41
wish I could say I really remembered, but it was just so like I
23:42
was just hanging on every word he said, and really we were talking about
23:47
everything but the film. We were talking about sushi spots in Austin, and
23:49
you know, this is like I got to have like a like a buddy
23:52
buddy conversation with you know, mister Malick, which was so much cooler.
23:56
We were talking about like why this Whole Foods is better to go to than
23:59
that, like more cool because I'd spent so much time in Austin at this
24:03
time, so i'd come back a little a little while later and maybe the
24:07
you know, the single cocktail that I had gave me a little bit more
24:11
courage. But I was like, you know what, man, I would
24:15
just I'd be, I'd be. I'm gonna regret it if I don't go
24:18
up and say, like, you know, I would love to have this
24:21
picture with mister Malick, Like that would be like a real special wallhanger.
24:26
And since we've been able to work together, maybe it wouldn't be that big
24:29
a deal. So I walked up to him and he was like speaking with
24:33
Ken cal and Christian Bale, and I just my big dumb six or four
24:38
ass just walked over to him, was just like, hey, mister Malkin,
24:41
you got a second and He's like, oh, wait, Tenner,
24:42
are you And I was like, came like, I'm on my way out,
24:47
but before I went and just want to say thank you for everything,
24:48
and it's going to see do you care if I get a photo with you?
24:52
He's no, it was It wasn't like a bad movie. I was
24:55
gonna say he never takes mixers. Oh no, he doesn't, but that's
24:57
what he said. And like me, you know, I'm twenty eight,
25:00
twenty nine years old at this time. I don't care. I'm gonna go
25:03
ask anybody for anything. I saw Jordan, I'd be like, hey man,
25:06
I'm on my way out, but do you care if I get a
25:07
photo? And he'd be like, yeah, hurry up, you know what
25:10
I mean. So it's just it's just what I did. But what was
25:11
so cool about it is he was like, oh, Tinor I actually have
25:18
this horrible phobia of cameras and pictures. He's like, but I would love
25:25
to take a picture of you. And I'm like, that's the thing I've
25:29
ever heard. So he grabs my phone and like he like direct directs the
25:36
picture. Let's me up against this doorway, and I'm just like, this
25:40
is the coolest moment in my life. Meanwhile, my audience is Christian Bale
25:44
and Ken Cow who's kin Cow is one of the biggest producers in the world.
25:47
And Christian Bell's like sitting there like, fuck is this kid doing?
25:49
You know? In my mind anyway, I'm sure he was like not caring,
25:52
but mister Mallett kind of put me aside and he just kind of like
25:56
got down and he took a picture and they handed it to me, and
26:00
I was like, this is a thousand times cooler than me being I'm like,
26:06
you know, with him in a picture. And so I have the
26:07
picture here. I don't know if the camera could see it or not,
26:10
but this is the picture that mister Malick took of me. Wow. And
26:14
I was just like, I'm keeping that forever and you know, in a
26:18
frame, but it would just be like, why is this picture of you
26:19
in your bathroom? I like took that picture of me? That is,
26:25
you know, as a as a as a young filmmaker, as a person
26:27
who never wants to stop learning, and somebody who doesn't take for granted who
26:30
they get to work with sometimes. That was a really special moment because it
26:34
was so endearing from him and he took the time with me and and just
26:40
it was just a really cool thing that makes you want to kind of pay
26:41
it forward if you ever get to that point. You know, that's a
26:45
great Except my very long winded ence, Now, what is what is the
26:52
biggest lesson you learned from him? Well, I mean, he just has
26:56
this overwhelming fan base of people that work for him. There's not one person
27:03
that I've ever heard of working with mister Malick that is like this asshole shoots
27:08
forever or you know, It's like everybody's kind of like they're like being a
27:12
part of his picture. You know. It's like he's he's got the canvas
27:18
and you're either the easel, you know, the brush or the paint,
27:22
you know what I mean, if you're working on his set, and I
27:25
think everybody really appreciates even being the easel, you know, or or what
27:32
have you. So, I don't know, I would say the way he
27:33
treats people is a long way. You treat everybody nice, and then all
27:40
and then people want to work with you next time, even if even if
27:41
the situation is great, even if a blizzard comes in and wrecks your film
27:47
festival. I've found it very endearing from my team that they were like,
27:52
you know what, man, we're gonna We're gonna take Savogy this next year,
27:56
you know. So. I think the way you treat people's is probably
27:59
the biggest thing I picked up working for Chance Mallett for sure. And one
28:02
last question in regards to mister Malick, there isn't anybody alive that I can
28:08
think of that has his kind of clout or power to make the kind of
28:15
films he wants to on his in the way, in the fashion he wants
28:19
to do it with the kind of cast. I mean, you're talking about
28:22
the biggest movie stars in the world coming in I'm assuming not working for twenty
28:27
million dollars? Is that's not these budgets of these films. They're they're basically
28:30
like, I just want to work with you. What do we need to
28:33
do to make this happen. The only person I can think that did that
28:37
prior to me too was Woody Allen, right, and then also Kubrick,
28:41
and other than those three, there was really never like a car blotch like
28:47
Spielberg of course has that, and Scorsese has that, but they play in
28:49
different sandboxes. Sandboxes are much more expensive yeah. Yeah, yeah, so
28:55
like just to come out for like the mere fact of working part of it.
28:57
Yeah. Yeah, there's not that many guys alive doing it. A
29:00
lot of people show up for Rodriguez. But you're right, that's a different
29:03
sandbox. That's also another different sandbox as well. You know, So what
29:08
do you think it is about Terrence? Is it just the myth I mean
29:12
the mythos of him because he's to make its Uh it is because obviously he
29:18
didn't know him and you like, there's people that don't know him that you
29:21
know, I have actor friends and they were like, dude, you got
29:22
to give me on the next Maleck picture. I'm like, I don't have
29:26
that capability you're talking about. You're barking at the wrong tree, pal,
29:30
Yes, you know, but it's I think it's the people that he surrounds
29:36
himself with, his production team, you know, Nicholas Ganda, can Cal
29:40
Sarah Green. I think a lot of those people have a big thing to
29:42
do with it because they're all Jeff Nichols, I mean, you know,
29:47
her and Sarah Green, Him and Sarah Green. Excuse me, uh,
29:49
you know they make incredible films too, with incredible cast we'll be right back
29:56
after a word from our sponsor, and now back to the show. But
30:04
I think it is just the fact that he offers such a different kind of
30:10
theme park that it's these actors want to come and ride those rides because they've
30:14
never ridden any they've never seen a theme park like this before. And I
30:18
think the freedom and also the challenge. I think he's the only person who
30:22
has the mental finish line in his head that that allows them, again,
30:29
such a safety net to come and fail, be courageous, make mistakes,
30:33
and be brilliant. And I think mister Malix provides such a platform for that
30:38
that that's the allure of anybody. I mean, to show up on set
30:44
and have a little inkling of your character but still not knowing what you're doing,
30:48
but knowing that you're working with Natalie Portman across from you. Like,
30:52
that's that's fun, man, That's that's about it. It's terrifying, but
30:56
yet fun. And Teren's fine. It's terrance that joke one six are coming
31:03
out, so stay tuned. I appreciate that. So when you're producing,
31:08
man, how do you pick your projects? I mean, I'm assuming you
31:11
get bombarded, especially after your track record that you get bombarded with people going,
31:15
hey, can I make a movie? I want you to produce my
31:18
movie. What's in a story or in a project that makes you go that's
31:22
it? Yeah, man, I'm the worst producer on the planet for the
31:26
simple reason that I have my own projects, Like we have our own slate
31:30
of films. I'm still trying to like I'm trying to get this Christmas movie
31:33
off the ground that I intend to direct, and I've been trying to do
31:37
it for so long, but all these other things keep coming in where it's
31:40
like, when it's your project, You're like, I can get to that
31:41
anytime. Let me go run off and do this or whatever. I've been
31:45
very fortunate and just you know, I don't have any representation. I don't
31:49
have people working for me or you know, I get a lot of emails
31:52
of people wanting stuff for me because they assume I can do something for them.
31:56
But I'm so out just trying to make my way in the world today
32:00
that I don't fund movies, you know. The little bit of funny.
32:04
I just did a bone, Thugs and Harmony documentary with my director Tim Newfing,
32:07
but that was the only in house project we've really done since Hellyan,
32:10
which was the twenty thirteen So it's hard to say, man, But I'd
32:17
love to talk about producing and help producing. But I think these movies just
32:21
kind of fell into my lap due to the circumstances of what I was working
32:25
for. So it assumes like I'm out there just producing a lot of stuff.
32:29
I'm really out there, man, I'm writing, I'm grinding, I'm
32:31
acting, I'm trying to get my own stuff off the ground. We have
32:35
a great slate of coming out, and really I was so busy making these
32:39
films up until about the end of twenty sixteen, and I'd always had this
32:45
dream to do a festival in Mammoth, and funny enough, there used to
32:52
be the Mammoth Film Festival in two thousand and eight, and that was the
32:57
first film festival I ever went to. And you know, cut to ten
33:01
years later. I've competed in everything from Sundance to Berlin to Venice to tiff
33:07
I've competed in probably the top eight of the ten film festivals in the world,
33:12
but my very first one ever was Mammoth Film Festival, which they stopped
33:15
doing about twenty ten, and then I think it kind of was going on
33:20
during eleven and twelve, but they weren't really having a film festival, so
33:22
I'd always just kept my eye on and I tried to take it over in
33:24
twenty ten. But at that time I was like did you couldn't even there
33:28
wasn't even airport and Mammoth you could be like fly into commercial. So much
33:31
has changed, Mammoth has grown to where I'm glad I got to go off
33:36
and build my career up a little bit where I could come in and have
33:38
a little bit more knowledge and like we bring in great panel discussion people because
33:43
I've met them in film festivals from all over the world. So the festival
33:45
world's been my life, you know. Even I remember the one of the
33:50
coolest film festivals ever had was south By Southwest, I believe in twenty seventeen,
33:53
where we had the opening night movie with Gosling's Song to Song. And
34:00
then I had a movie that I produced in Baltimore called Silvio, and then
34:04
I had acted in a film that we shot there in Austin, and I
34:09
was just like, dude, I've got a movie that produced, got a
34:14
movie that I've produced and acted in, And then I got a movie that
34:16
I just acted in All here at South by All premiering. This is probably
34:20
like the highlight of my life. So I took that standpoint and said,
34:22
you know what, this is pretty cool. Things are going well, I
34:25
think it's time to go and try to build Mammoth Film Festival because I just
34:30
acquired the name in twenty sixteen. So I grabbed Theo Dumont, who's a
34:35
friend of ours. Yes, by the way, THEO also is Spike Lee's
34:40
publicist. Yes, goodnight a couple of years ago or a couple of years
34:44
ago, jeez, a couple of days ago. There's recording. Did you
34:45
see the picture of him holding the oscar? Yeah, it's awesome, awesome.
34:50
So, Holly Schwortz is, you know, probably arguably the largest short
34:53
film festival in the nation. They do like ten days of shorts. Incredible,
34:58
But that's all Theo Dumont, who's a co found of Mammoth Film Festival.
35:00
So I grabbed Theo and I was like, hey, man, I
35:04
really want to make this festival in Mammoth. I kind of have the name
35:07
Mammoth Film Festival, nobody else can use it. Let's take a trip down
35:09
there in January twenty seventeen and go check it out, see if we could
35:14
do something down there. And we grabbed Tomic Minsuri, who is oh I
35:19
was also doing a film with called Riptide. They got pushed and I think
35:22
that was another thing. We were doing this movie with Beal Kilmer called Riptide,
35:25
and he had some medical issues that held the movie up, and so
35:30
we decided, well, let's not let's stay proactive, let's go do this
35:34
film festival thing. This is a sheer sign of like it's time to take
35:36
a step back before you could take a leap forward. So we went out
35:40
to Mammoth and literally by the time we got out here in January twenty seventeen,
35:45
we left a couple days later. You know, can we do a
35:49
film festival out here to We need to pick a date. That's kind of
35:52
how excited some of the people that we were talking to were about it.
35:55
And with you know, THEO having his experience, you know, me being
36:00
kind of a film festival rat, and then Tomic with his you know work
36:06
at events and coordination and overall design, it was kind of a dream team.
36:12
And then we brought on other people like Alexandra Chando, who's a great
36:15
actress who's you know, has had her own television shows and everything else.
36:20
Excuse me. Dylan Efron, who's one of my best friends, Zach's brother,
36:24
came on board. Nicole Castro so kind of started to develop this dream
36:30
team. But it really was like filmmaker, like a filmmaker festival by filmmakers.
36:36
Everybody has like ties into the industry, which was really exciting. So
36:42
it's kind of stopped producing, stopped making movies, and really started to concentrate
36:46
on Mammoth, which was hard for me because twenty seventeen was the first year
36:51
I never acted in a film. I had acted up into in something every
36:55
single year from the year I moved out to lay seventeen, so I was
37:00
like, damn man, like this is the first year I can't call myself
37:05
an actor, which is like what my overall passion led me to do.
37:07
Like I hate the acting industry, not not being able to have control of
37:12
your career. So I think that's why I started, you know, making
37:15
films and doing other stuff, but then those became far more lucrative where it
37:17
just kind of like left my love and the dust, you know. But
37:21
for me mentally, I don't have to say I'm an actor. I don't
37:23
need to go out and tell people that. I just know that that's what
37:27
drives me, you know what I mean. Sure, that was the first
37:30
year i'd never acted anything, because we were building, you know, this
37:32
festival. We're kind of building like a six lane street and like a town
37:37
of shacks at the moment, you know what I mean. It's kind of
37:39
how I feel with this festival. But if we don't build this six lane
37:43
street in ten years, you know, won't be able to facilitate. So
37:46
we started off big and ambitious and everything else. But with a name like
37:50
Mammoth, you're not gonna do anything small, right, So I hope to
37:53
get back into some movies. Like I said, we have a Christmas movie
37:55
we're trying to do. But I think if I take even like another year
38:00
off and just really concentrate on building this solid foundation, there's no telling how
38:04
high this building could be, you know, No, Oh, without question,
38:07
I think the again my experience with Mammoth, I mean, this is
38:12
the second year, and I remember I remember THEO and them telling me about
38:15
the first year, and it was an insane launch, like it was the
38:20
biggest first year ever for a film festival. You showed up, You showed
38:23
up. Who Yeah, you showed up big. I mean you guys came
38:28
with the guns of blaring. And then this year too, when I was
38:30
there, I was like, this is a second year. I mean I've
38:32
been to hundreds of festivals in my life, and I'm like, this is
38:36
a second year festival. Like this is insane, Like you know, yeah,
38:40
I know, You've got amazing talent, you had amazing stars around,
38:44
you had great films, you know, and the only thing you could equate
38:47
it to is like a mini Sundance, Like it's the only thing you could
38:52
equate it to. If anyone who's been to Sundance and been to Park City,
38:54
you're like, oh, I can smell that same thing happening here,
38:58
and I can see ten years down the line or even faster, this turning
39:02
into a really serious, you know, one of those big, top tier
39:07
festivals, without question. It's got the potential to do it without without question.
39:12
Also, I think during the timing that it's in, it's you know,
39:15
it's right after Sundance. So some people are like, I just went
39:17
to the cold. I don't need to go back to the cold. But
39:20
also you know, Sundance is getting up there in age, and I would
39:24
never disrespect Sundance in any form or fashion. But I think a lot of
39:30
people have been to Sundance, you know what I mean. I think a
39:31
lot of people have been, like, ohyah, I've been like three or
39:34
four times. Yeah, but not a lot of people. You know.
39:37
It's kind of like we're just offering kind of another alternative. And right now,
39:40
there's so many fantastic movies that don't make it into Sundance and sometimes won't
39:45
make it into south By because everybody kind of banks on that Sundance check,
39:50
you know what I mean. We'll be right back after a word from our
39:53
sponsor and now back to the show. So what's been kind of great?
40:02
And I think the reason we've had so many world premieres is it's very difficult
40:07
to pull off a festival in February because you have to start planning damn near
40:09
in September, because you got to go through Halloween break, you got to
40:14
go through Thanksgiving break. You like, it's all through the holidays. You
40:16
got to like it's like your gears are turning. Then just the machine shuts
40:20
off and it takes like several minutes for that machine to get cranking again and
40:24
then move it shuts off because it's Thanksgiving. So you know, it's it's
40:29
taxing to do the festival in February, but at the same time, when
40:32
February rolls around, it's a great timing for people to like have a little
40:37
bit of time to go and stuff like that. I know, there's a
40:38
little bit of pilot season and award season and stuff like that. This year
40:43
was kind of interesting because Sunday It's went a week late, Lynn went a
40:47
week early, and then the Grammys magically showed up during our festival. Were
40:53
last year. The only thing that impeded our festival was the Olympics, which
40:57
we had Olympic parties and we watched them here in Mammoth. Hell have town,
41:00
you know, practice here. The Olympic team practice here in Mammoth.
41:04
So it was kind of like we embraced it, you know, as part
41:07
of our festival last year. But there was no you know, Sundance was
41:09
still back in January where it's supposed to be. They weren't coming into February.
41:15
But we do, you know, we are We do like this time
41:16
of the year. We do like this event, and I think, like
41:20
I said, it's hopefully going to be if you didn't get into Sundance,
41:23
maybe you got into too Mammoth because we are offering like a marketplace here with
41:28
so many great companies, which I'm sure you got to you know, meet
41:30
a lot of but you know, Scott, so many people. Paper Chased
41:35
Films was here looking at movies. Spotlight Pictures was here looking at movies.
41:38
Lionsgate was here looking at films. So the fact that you can now hopefully
41:42
by year twenty twenty, come here to know if your movie got accepted as
41:46
a world premiere, or even not a world premiere, just a movie without
41:51
distribution you can get bought and sold at Mammoth Film Festival. That's going to
41:54
be the game changer for us because as me as a filmmaker, I know
41:58
that would make a huge difference. If I can go and you know dunk
42:02
Au, Indiana, that's fantastic. But if nobody's going to play my or
42:07
buy my film, it's just just some people watching it, and that's cool,
42:09
it's great, and so what this industry needs to continue to have.
42:13
But like also it's a business. You know, I want to get my
42:15
stuff bought and sol. I want everybody to see it, not just you
42:19
know, eighty people in a film festival. Are you are you going to
42:22
start doing? Are you going to try to do kind of a like Tiff
42:23
does with like a little mini market. We started it this year. It
42:28
was more of like kind of the they had the outside looking in. There's
42:31
not like a physical room that we're we're establishing yet, but I think already
42:36
going into next year, a lot of the people that speak on our panels
42:40
will also be there, you know, having meetings, you know, like
42:45
trying to work, you know, kind of like Cans does, where everybody
42:47
just goes and sits on the beach and talks movies and you know, next
42:50
team. So that's why I want to create here. But also can goes
42:54
on for several days and there's so many things going on. There's so many
42:58
people there, you don't feel like you're missing out. Mammoth is so tight
43:01
knit and small that like, if we schedule something at two o'clock, I
43:06
don't want people to go miss the world premiere of a film that we're having
43:08
to show at two o'clock that maybe should be shown at seven, so everybody
43:13
could see it. So I don't want to south by southwestest and just spread
43:16
us out and just other chaos. But I do want to have it like
43:22
controlled areas where like everybody films like they can go and catch at least ninety
43:25
percent of everything at our festival. So keep me old and condensed. I
43:30
don't want to get too big for our bridges too fast. But I wish
43:34
i'd have said that year one, because we kind of heard it. We
43:37
started off way too big, you know, like never change it, you
43:40
know, that's that's awesome. Man. Now, I wanted to ask you,
43:44
just from your point of view, what do you think the future is
43:46
for independent media moving forward, independent films and dependent series and dependent things,
43:51
because the landscape is changing so much, and i'd love to hear your perspective
43:55
on it. It's going to struggle, you know, But I don't mean
44:05
that in like a way that it's like we should be fearful of it.
44:07
Let me see, let me take that back. It's going to have to
44:09
pivot a little bit and be it's kind of I think it'll tear off where
44:14
it's like you have indie film and it'll have its own world, and that
44:17
world will eventually have its own walls around it because right now, so many
44:23
people don't really go to the movie theater, which means everything you're watching is
44:29
on your television or on your devices. And I'm very guilty of that too.
44:34
I have such a fast paced life. I try to catch stuff when
44:36
I can, But when I do go to the theater, I'm like,
44:37
oh yeah, I love going to the movie theater six times a year for
44:43
me, you know what I mean. Here, I wish it was twelve.
44:45
I wish it was thirty, you know, but just at the end
44:46
of the day, the older you get, that's harder to get to the
44:50
theater. But I think that's why film festivals, why there's so many of
44:54
them, but why they're also so important, is because it is that,
45:00
uh you know, it's to say it's a it's a rock concert. Man.
45:02
It's like I can listen to Led Zeppelin all the time, but when
45:06
I hear they're having a real life performance, I'm gonna do whatever I can
45:09
to go, you know. So kind of the same thing with film festivals.
45:13
It's like, oh, yeah, I can watch this on my TV,
45:15
but I can go watch it in the theater with the people that made
45:19
it, and the actors that are gonna be there, you know what I
45:21
mean, I could talk to them afterwards. I can't talk to, you
45:24
know, Josh Damal after watching his you know movie Buddy Games on Netflix or
45:29
whatever. It's not like I can call him up and be like, hey
45:30
man, that third scene, like where'd you shoot that? Exactly? There's
45:37
there's there's definitely something very unique about the film festival experience. And that was
45:40
the other thing real quick, that the access that you get to all of
45:45
these celebrities and producers is unprecedented. Like it's Sundance, these people are ushered
45:52
in and ushered out and the riff raff will never be able to contact them.
45:55
But at mammoth Man, you just you have hang out at the same
46:00
party, the same everything, and there's no at least at this point in
46:04
the game, it's still very open to access to them. I'm sitting there
46:08
talking to producers and talking to actors and things that would never happen at Sundance,
46:14
like you would have to sneak into a specific kind of party. Sure,
46:16
well, we want to grow obviously, but we also I appreciate you
46:20
seeing that because that's something that we're definitely striving to do is if you're at
46:23
this festival, if you're at the Mammoth Film Festival, we want you to
46:28
know that you're standing shoulder to shoulder with everybody else as equals when you're there,
46:32
you know what I mean, Like that's that's a really cool philosophy,
46:37
you know. And if you do come to just see the stars or just
46:39
see you know, a certain movie, or just try to come and get
46:43
an autograph, that's okay too. It doesn't mean like you know, you're
46:45
not you can't be a part of this person. But that's why we think
46:49
we try to do a little bit of both. We have these kind of
46:52
they're not networking events, they're just simple festival parties, like we did the
46:54
Tipsy Elves eighty Ski Lodge party. Yes, that's something due to the nature
46:59
of our location, would be very fun but also like a good time to
47:01
be Like, man, I went to a party with you know, Logan
47:06
Paul, or I went to a party with you know so, and so
47:07
it doesn't matter because the next day you'll probably see you know, Jessica Alba
47:12
like on your ski lift, you know, going up there, and then
47:15
you'll see her at the world premiere of whatever, showing at seven o'clock that
47:19
night. So, but that was kind of my experience my first time going
47:22
to sun Dance is is I got to you know, I got to like
47:25
literally see Jessica Alba like snowboard pass me my first time. I'm trying to
47:29
like learn how to snowboard and stuff and like that was several years ago now,
47:31
but ten years ago, I was like, that was a really cool
47:35
moment. I'm like, I want to bring that to Mammoth, you know,
47:37
I want to bring this kind of accessibility. But at the same time,
47:39
you're right, we do have to kind of be a little somewhat cautious
47:43
and try to get people in and out. And also they're they're here to
47:46
to see their movies and do specific press and you got to get them there
47:51
and you can't can't be an autograph session or something like that. But but
47:53
I will see it. By the way, I didn't see any of that
47:55
was I mean, it was all very respectful and nobody like, you know,
48:00
for you to like have to fly up set up shop in Mammoth for
48:04
an autograph, You've got a lot, you got you need some more things
48:07
in your life. Did you right. I mean if I'm like flying up
48:12
like that, I mean I saw the way that the mall got maulled and
48:15
Jennifer Morrison. People love Lamar and Morris, who was out here. A
48:19
lot of people were like, should I go take a picture, And I'm
48:21
like, I'm not the picture police. If you want, he's right there,
48:24
we'll talk to them. I don't know what to do exactly. It
48:28
was pretty we I don't know if you get to go to The Mammoth Media
48:32
Institute is kind of like our our five oh one C three. It's what
48:36
kind of houses the film festival and our Film Summit, which is our film
48:39
education program, our interactive panel discussion. But as a five oh one C
48:45
three, we try to like do fundraisers and whatnot so we can do things
48:47
like the Mammoth Film Festival. But we have a really cool bowling tournament.
48:53
I don't know if you get tell oh I came to it. It's the
48:55
Celebrity Charity Bowling Tournament. And last year was our first one and it was
49:00
a blast. But what we did learn is like we just allowed too many
49:02
cameras everywhere because we wanted everybody to capture it was our first one. This
49:07
year, we really tried to structure it more so like more of a contest,
49:10
you know, like last year it was more kind of a freefra all
49:13
like who won, I don't know, it doesn't matter, We'll having fun.
49:15
This year was like no Team one versus Team too, you know.
49:19
It was like kind of a big deal. But it got really heated inside
49:22
of the octagon, if you will. Yeah, and we had you know,
49:25
stadium seating on the seats and just found got a lot more involved in
49:30
that. But that's another thing. If you did happen to go to a
49:32
panel and you might have missed seeing somebody that you wanted to see on the
49:37
red carpet or seeing their film or something like that. At least with the
49:39
with the bowling opportunity, if you come to that, you know, you
49:44
get a chance to kind of see everybody condensed, you know, where you're
49:46
not bowling with them. It's a it's a tournament for the you know,
49:50
for the charity. We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor and
49:59
now back to the show. But it's really cool to say, oh man,
50:04
I miss getting to see so and so on the red carpet. But
50:06
it's really cool. I get to see him. I'm three feet away from
50:07
them now and they're bowling. How much more fun is this? So that's
50:10
something that isn't film related, but it is film related with the people.
50:15
We try to cherry pick the players from people who have movies, you know,
50:17
in the festival and stuff like that. So it's it's become a lot
50:21
of fun. But I think even next year the bowling tournament is going to
50:24
be really intense and with some heavy hitters. I think we're doing a golf
50:30
tournament fund raiser this year. So I don't know how you're going to golf
50:34
in Mammoth this time of year at least, no, not this time of
50:37
year. This will be in June. But Mammoth Lakes does have a beautiful,
50:39
god too beautiful golf courses here, and so we're gonna have some fun
50:43
nice doing that and stuff. So let me ask you a question, and
50:47
in regards to your what you wish it would have happened when you were younger,
50:52
what do you wish someone would have told you at the beginning of your
50:55
career. I think people did tell me that. I think people told me
51:00
to be patient, you know, like it's I'm not a race. It
51:04
sounds so stupid, but I'm actually I don't know what would have been any
51:09
better than what I'm getting to do right now. I mean, I'm so
51:14
fortunate too. I mean, I don't forget where I came from. I'm
51:15
a small town kid from West Texas, man, you know, I mean
51:20
idolizing people like Powers Booth and Barry Tubb and Patrick Malone, Kevin Alejandra that
51:24
left Snyder and became like kind of you know, bigger name actors and stuff.
51:29
And I was like, that's cool. They showed me just simply getting
51:32
out of something that isn't How do I put this gracefully? Something that doesn't
51:38
you know, that isn't necessarily like your dream or your ambition of your location
51:43
like going and do that. I feel like I'm really getting to do that
51:46
and what's tough. But something I wouldn't change is I kind of get to
51:51
do it on my own terms. Not to say that I don't wish I
51:52
had like a badass agent at CAAA that was like getting me Marvel auditions or
51:58
something like that. Like, of course, like I'm not that stupid,
52:00
But at the same time, there's a there's a huge gratitude that comes from
52:05
doing it yourself, which I think you're one to speak on that. I
52:08
think Darius Is want to speak on that. And when you do it yourself
52:12
long enough, like eventually people just assume that you didn't do it yourself and
52:16
they want to come. They want you to come play on you know,
52:19
on their playground too. And I think I've had a lot of that.
52:22
So just man, just all the next thing. You know, like ten
52:27
years went by, but you feel like you haven't accomplished much. And then
52:30
you look at some of your accolades and you're like, damn, Actually,
52:34
if you'd have told me at twelve, I'd have gotten to do this.
52:37
Or like I have an office inside of a movie theater right now with some
52:40
great guys like Brian Hammer's and Oak Boundary and Flashboxic. We're all in there
52:45
together and we all do the film festival together. And I'm like, guys,
52:47
do you realize that we have a in office a top of movie theater.
52:52
Like if you'd told me this when I was like fifteen, I would
52:55
have been like life is going to be just dandy. But also, man,
53:00
you know, I've been out in LA for fifteen years. I would
53:02
hope that I have a smile on my face at this point, you know,
53:05
because some people don't. And so I'm just really grateful. But I'm
53:08
damn sure not done. And we were damn sure ain't plugging away and trying
53:12
to you know, take over the world. Right But it's cool right now?
53:15
Now? What is next up? What's up next up? For you?
53:19
Well, we are we have a movie called Just Be Clause, and
53:23
I think we were gonna there's so much snow on the ground that we're kind
53:28
of teetering of like do we actually try to go ahead and take this into
53:30
pre production, Like can we shoot this somewhere in May to look like early
53:37
early December, or do we just wait until next Oh? Yeah, because
53:40
there's so much there's so much stuff going on otherwise. I mean there's I
53:45
have like eleven projects and the works and stuff. Awesome, dude, all
53:49
of them are just like waiting for the like the green light to go.
53:52
You know. We have a comic book that we just did, a graphic
53:57
novel called in the Name of the Gun that we're trying to turn into a
54:00
series, but we just wanted to own both ips and it's really fun,
54:04
man. We want to go out and shoot it in Spain. I'd love
54:06
for like the l Ray Network to pick it up or something like that.
54:08
So we'd love to you know, I'm going to talk to ASA about talking
54:12
to Robert about that. You have the Chris movie. We have a video
54:16
game that we're pitching. There's I mean of stuff. There's all sorts of
54:22
stuff, man, But it's the things that are doing right now. Actually,
54:24
I mean, if I could plug anything, there's a great film.
54:28
I don't know if you got to meet Kyle Tequila who was yes, yes
54:31
I did uh and Jared Einsten. Both those guys are now board members of
54:37
the Mammoth Film Festival. But they did a movie this year together with their
54:40
I think it's the first collaboration with their company, Common Enemy, that starred
54:45
Alexander Dario, Johnny Knoxville and some just some great actors. Kean Johnson.
54:51
That was just it's in Alita right now. And your old pal Tanner Beard
54:55
got to finally like like not play a bad guy in something. But but
55:00
again, you know, great connections of Mammoth Film Festival going off and spurring
55:05
other things. This movie called We Summon the Darkness I think was a big
55:08
contribution, you know, to some some collaborations that happened at Mammoth Film Festival.
55:13
But that should be out either later this year or early twenty twenty.
55:16
But really awesome film and I'm very excited about that. We shout it up
55:21
in Canada. Cool was a really cool deal. But Kyle and those guys
55:23
are just the best and they're killing it so well. I want to ask
55:27
you a few questions to ask all my guests. Yeah, what advice would
55:30
you give a filmmaker wanting to break into the business today, Find a good
55:34
core group of people that are like minded and just start working with them.
55:38
Some may get weeded out as you go along, but if you have five,
55:43
you know, men or women that you want to work with, just
55:45
go off and start shooting little shorts, little things. Hell, you can
55:47
do so much on your iPhone these days. That's you have an outlet on
55:52
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, even if you can get one of these,
55:55
that's what that's what it's all about. But find that core group of people
55:59
because you will probably wind up working with them for the rest of your life.
56:02
Can you tell me what book had the biggest impact on your life or
56:06
career, the Bible. Yeah, I knew, you know, I knew
56:14
you were going to be trouble. Knew you were going to be you know.
56:17
I will say, as a product of being a stubborn cowboy in West
56:22
Texas, I didn't read a lot of books. What I will say,
56:24
the biggest impact of my life was another stubborn cowboy who didn't read a lot
56:29
of books played Wolfman in Top Gun. A gentleman named Barry Tubb. He
56:34
did a movie when in my hometown in Snyder, Texas, when I was
56:37
sixteen years old, and allowed me to come and be on that film set,
56:42
which housed Julia Roberts, Bruce Willis, Natalie Mains from the Dixie Chicks,
56:47
Joey, Lauren Adams, Emma Roberts. What movie was this? It
56:51
was called Grand Champion. Oh yeah, I remember that movie. Yeah,
56:54
yeah, yeah, it's Grand Champion. Essentially was like Free Willie, but
56:58
a boy and his cow in West Texas. But for me it was my
57:01
film school and I got to have it at sixteen. And the fact that
57:05
this gentleman very tub allowed me to come and be, you know, not
57:10
only on his set as a kind of a you know, a gopher.
57:15
But eventually, like he would, you know, I was just there for
57:17
access and I just got my driver's license. So he's like, Tanner,
57:21
take Julia over to the coliseum. You know. It was like okay,
57:25
so you're driving around Julia Roberts like Miss Daisy style and you're like, soh
57:30
howse things? And I'm like sixteen. But to get that engagement, like
57:34
you just that's when he caught the bug. And to get to sit and
57:37
watch thirty five you know, thirty five millimeter being and like my job became
57:42
a cable ranglinger, like when they're doing the Dolly. I had the cord,
57:45
you know, to the monitors, so like I learned how to wrangle
57:47
chord, and like I took it so serious, man, because like I
57:51
didn't want to get fired, you know. Fied that was to say that
57:52
was in like a little like five thousand dollars independent movie. You were on
57:55
the se some big players three five million dollar movie or something like that.
58:00
And then just the people that would come by. I remember, like they'd
58:02
be like ten or you need to go escort George straight from you know,
58:06
this room to that room because there was just nobody there and I'm like the
58:08
stuff that I got to do so young and like trusted in made you kind
58:13
of grow up in the business. And also Danny Motor who's Julia Roberts husband
58:16
now, he really kind of took me under his wing and showed me a
58:20
lot of stuff about cameras and learned a lot. Yeah, he was the
58:22
assistant camera cameraman. He was he was the DPH. He had just come
58:27
off of the Mexican with Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts. I think that's where
58:30
they met, and then he was recommended to be the DP on this movie.
58:35
I think it was his first DP job actually, But like just getting
58:38
to learn about panavision and seeing film even though we don't use it today,
58:43
it was like I feel very grateful for getting to see that. Where if
58:46
I was ten years younger right now, nobody would have the luxury of getting
58:50
to hear the checking just money, just money, money going a dollar dollar
58:57
a flash or But for me, that was kind of my film school,
59:00
you know, I saw people just doing it and like just it's kind of
59:06
like when you go to an NBA game for the first time you see them
59:07
on TV. Then you're like, this is just people playing basketball, like
59:12
it's just at a very high level. You know, yeah, it's yeah.
59:15
But at the end they were like, these are just huge dudes playing
59:20
basketball. Well, like wow, this is you know, it's like just
59:22
the realization of you can do it too. You know, I think,
59:25
is what what that? What that kind of man was? So now,
59:29
what is the lesson that took you the longest to learn, whether in the
59:30
film business or in life. Patience, man, because you know you want
59:36
it now right now. You know, back when I was just doing acting,
59:39
it's like if you didn't get an audition, you know, it was
59:43
like the end of the world. When you're twenty two and you walk DSi,
59:46
New York and you're like, god, man, that guy only said
59:50
four fing lines and I didn't get it. I'm not good enough for the
59:55
four lines. We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor, and
1:00:05
now back to the show. Like who you got to Hard Weinstein in this
1:00:09
business? Wow, he's become an adjective. Jeezus, all right, rise,
1:00:15
he's becoming adjutive. Man. It was like it just was everything was
1:00:20
like so life or death, especially like when you're out there, you know,
1:00:23
you know you're trying to find a job. Hell, man, I
1:00:25
had a new job every week just because I didn't want to have a job,
1:00:29
because I wanted my job to be acting full time. But it was
1:00:31
awesome. I'm like, Okay, well now I'm a taste tester for Burger
1:00:35
King for twenty bucks so I can put gas in my car to go to
1:00:37
the next thing, you know what I mean. And then luckily, as
1:00:39
time went by, you were able to start garnering more money. And I
1:00:42
feel very grateful and stuff for everything I have now. But you know,
1:00:46
it's just the grind at the time. Like I guess, just if you
1:00:50
can just know that, like you're in this business for a long long time,
1:00:53
and I see friends of mine that have been like been in huge franchises
1:00:57
and then like you know, four or five years years later go by,
1:00:59
like they're back to auditioning and stuff like that. So you know, it's
1:01:01
it's we all. We have this great team of people. Again. The
1:01:05
best of the place I could give is grab yourself a great group of people
1:01:07
and allow them to be like minded, you know, friends of yours,
1:01:10
and because you're gonna help each other throughout the years. I mean absolutely,
1:01:15
man, my friends Uh, you know, they support me and everything I
1:01:17
do. I try to support them and everything they do. We we exchange
1:01:21
stories, we exchange triumphs, you know, we exchange victories and sadness.
1:01:24
And it's a it's a family that you have to build because it's such an
1:01:29
independent and very lonely industry if you allow it to be. But it can
1:01:32
also be the opposite, if you find a family. You know. Very
1:01:36
cool. Now, the toughest question of all three of your favorite films of
1:01:38
all time? Tombstone great movie. God, it is my favorite movie of
1:01:44
all time. I love Tombstone. Man, Val Kilmer, Why didn't he
1:01:47
get into an oscar for that? It's just bad time. It came out
1:01:51
in like December. Yeah, it's just bad timing. Yeah, but absolutely
1:01:57
the one of the best performances ever put on film, and everybody says that
1:02:00
to this day. Oh no, Jack was at the film festival, his
1:02:06
son. I always want to go up and say something to him about Tombstone,
1:02:08
but I got to keep it cool. But that one was definitely my
1:02:15
favorite movie. Brave Heart is another one of my favorite films. And you
1:02:20
know, man, it used to be Gladiators number three. But when I
1:02:22
really break it down. No Country for Old Men, wallless film. It's
1:02:30
perfection, such a you know, there's not a there's there's no music in
1:02:34
that entire movie except there's a little bit of a little bit of ominous tone
1:02:38
when we first see Javier Bordim's character get like get out of the car.
1:02:43
There's a little bit of ominous tone and not one stitch of music for the
1:02:46
rest of that movie. Can you believe that it's so well flawless film?
1:02:51
It is? It is the is the Cohen's at there at the height,
1:02:53
I mean, I mean they're just and Josh Brolin was all of them,
1:03:00
I mean just And they shot it in kind of my old stomping grounds in
1:03:04
West Texas out there. I'm about four hours from Marfa, but that's where
1:03:06
they kind of shot that stuff. Awesome. Now, where can people find
1:03:08
you and and the work you're doing? Yes, I'm at brad Pitt So
1:03:16
yeah, well, you know, I got I would rather plug. I'm
1:03:21
terrible on social media, but I do have Instagram. It's at Tanner Beard.
1:03:23
Everybody gets mad because I don't follow them, because I only followed Mammoth
1:03:27
Film Festival and Silver Sell Entertainment and everybody's look, dude, kid follow me?
1:03:30
Do I follow you? I'm like, I look, did stuff?
1:03:32
I got things to do, man, I don't got time to follow.
1:03:36
It's not even that. I'm I'm more on Twitter if anything. So at
1:03:39
Tanner Beard on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and the whole nine. But really
1:03:45
it's it's at Mammoth Film Festival on Instagram, at MAMMOTHFF on Twitter, and
1:03:52
I believe it's at Mammoth theftf on Facebook. So and then Silver Silver Sell
1:03:58
Entertainment's another plug. So man, Tanner, it has been a pleasure talking
1:04:01
to you, brother, It really has been congratulation all your success and I
1:04:05
look forward to h to hanging out it Mammoth many many years to come.
1:04:10
Absolutely well, Alex, thanks for letting me talk your ear off because I
1:04:12
get really excited and I just ram belong from story to story. So I
1:04:15
appreciate you listening to me. Thank you, brother, I appreciate it all
1:04:18
right, man, have a good one. I like to thank Tanner again
1:04:21
for coming on the show and sharing his knowledge bombs with the tribe today.
1:04:26
Thank you so so much, Tanner, And if you guys want to check
1:04:29
out anything we talked about, in this episode, Please head over to Bulletproof
1:04:32
Screenwriting dot TV forward slash three to sixty four. Thank you so much for
1:04:36
listening to guys. As always, keep on writing no matter what. I'll
1:04:40
talk to you soon. Thanks for listening to the Bulletproof Screenwriting podcast at bulletproof
1:04:45
Screenwriting dot tv.