Latest / Cultural Wars | America Out Loud News / The evolution of the soap opera, with special guest Anthony Anderson

Transcript

The evolution of the soap opera, with special guest Anthony Anderson · Cultural Wars | America Out Loud News

• 0:12
  Hey everybody, it's Martha Byrne.
• 0:14
  I'm here, and I'm so excited to have a very special guest with me today.
• 0:21
  His name is Anthony Anderson.
• 0:23
  I cannot believe that I have known Anthony, and I was trying to think back how long we've known each other now.
• 0:29
  And it's a very long time.
• 0:30
  And I, you know, throughout my life and my career, there have been people that have just been, I say like staples in the best way, you know, like when you get together and you just hit it off, and you just, you know, your peers in in life and in joy and creativity.
• 0:48
  And I I when I met Anthony, I instantly fell in love with him.
• 0:52
  I loved his personality.
• 0:53
  I said, this guy is incredible.
• 0:56
  And you know, so I thought today we could do a little background about how we met and where we may be going together, possibly in the future.
• 1:06
  But I just thought, you know, we need a little more entertainment, a little more fun in the world, and and there's nobody more fun than my friend Anthony.
• 1:14
  Thanks for joining me today, Anthony.
• 1:16
  Thank you, Martha.
• 1:16
  Thank you so much for all those kind words.
• 1:18
  Thank you so much.
• 1:19
  I feel the same way about you.
• 1:20
  I really do.
• 1:21
  Oh, thank you.
• 1:22
  So I so tell everybody more about who you first let's get to know who you are, Anthony, and give us a little bit of your background and like how you got into soaps.
• 1:32
  Let's call them soaps, our drama, uh, and and how you got there.
• 1:36
  I think it's a really great story.
• 1:39
  Um, well, um, I'm originally from Washington, DC, the area of Anacostia, which we'll get into later.
• 1:46
  It's like Anacostia is a very real place.
• 1:49
  It's a very real place in Washington, DC, east of the river, east of the Anacostia River.
• 1:55
  Um, and um, I I think I got my start.
• 2:01
  Uh, I think my teachers, they just identified something.
• 2:05
  I think looking back now, they just identified something different.
• 2:08
  Um, I was very um, I was kind of like the class clown and joked a lot, and I think some teachers decided instead of putting up with it that they would put me into a program, which turned out to be the gifted and talented program, um, which opened me up to so many things and like actually channeled that phonetic energy.
• 2:27
  Isn't that nice though?
• 2:28
  Isn't that so nice to hear it's so great to hear that, Anthony, because creative children so often they're you know they get ignored or like, oh, they're a bother.
• 2:40
  It's like, no, find their voice, give them their voice, give them a chance.
• 2:45
  I love hearing that.
• 2:45
  That's wonderful.
• 2:46
  I'm glad God bless your teachers.
• 2:48
  But go on.
• 2:48
  Absolutely.
• 2:49
  And there was this one teacher named Yvonne Lewis, I remember her to this day.
• 2:52
  Um, she put me into a gifted and talented program, took me to see my first Alvin Ailey dance troupe um at the Kennedy Center, um, took me to different plays, and that like really opened me up.
• 3:05
  But but prior to that, getting into soap opera, um, I was I was a kid at home, sick, and um my mom stayed home from work, and she was watching what she called her stories.
• 3:19
  And one of her favorite stories was General Hospital.
• 3:23
  Like this was back when the ambulance came up the hill.
• 3:26
  Yeah, I remember.
• 3:27
  I loved it.
• 3:27
  I was watching then too.
• 3:28
  I couldn't miss it.
• 3:29
  Loved it.
• 3:30
  Yeah, this is back when the ambulance came up the hill.
• 3:32
  And and and I never forget the storyline was Heather Weber um uh um was against a woman named Diana Taylor.
• 3:40
  Yes.
• 3:41
  And um, and Heather was in a psychological place, and she broke out and dressed as a nurse and went to kill Diana Taylor because Diana Taylor was sleeping with her man.
• 3:54
  And uh, and she framed a nurse named Annie.
• 3:59
  Um, and I was so engrossed by the story that I felt better the next day, but I pretended to be sick because I wanted to know what was gonna happen.
• 4:08
  And that's how I I got sucked into uh General Hospital and One Light to Live and All My Children and Days of Our Lives and Asworld Turns and God and Light and all of those young and restless, everything else, and it just um school in DC let out at three o'clock, and the last soap opera started at three.
• 4:27
  And so it was a 25-minute run from the bell to home to catch at least the last 25 minutes, which was then general hospital, which was then to catch the last 25 minutes of general hospital.
• 4:42
  And and that was until we had enough money to buy um VHS recorder.
• 4:51
  It's probably 700 back then, right?
• 4:54
  And back then, and back then you had to read the instructions on how to make it uh re how how like how to make it record at a certain time.
• 5:02
  Yeah.
• 5:03
  And so that's how I would catch up with a lot of these like um soap operas, and it just became like um natural things.
• 5:11
  So I think when I got a little older, got it got into high school and started doing plays and uh being put into um drama troops and stuff like that.
• 5:22
  I just never forgot it.
• 5:23
  And when I started writing um back in 2009, um this was Anacosti was supposed to have been a short uh a short film.
• 5:36
  And uh the person I was working with at the time, Cynthia James said, have I seen um Ted Ted Lang from The Love Boat had did a web series.
• 5:48
  I forgot the name of it.
• 5:50
  It I can't believe it escapes me right now, but he did a web series and she was telling me about that.
• 5:54
  And um, and I looked at it and I said, This is what this is gonna be.
• 6:00
  And uh that's how Anacosti was born.
• 6:04
  Wow.
• 6:04
  Wow, I I I always wondered, I always said that you were the original, you know, you were the original back then, you know, doing a web series was they thought you were crazy.
• 6:14
  Like, how are you gonna make money and nobody's gonna watch that?
• 6:16
  And way ahead of your time, right?
• 6:19
  We oh, please.
• 6:20
  I mean, really, we're and you know when when we were doing web series as soap opera actors and you know, starting our own shows and such, we had a budget.
• 6:29
  Like we would have, I mean, I think when I did Gotham, I think the budget was 35,000.
• 6:34
  I mean, yeah, because I had it.
• 6:37
  So it was like, and that was cheap for what we did, you know, and considering in in our world, right?
• 6:43
  And our in our television world that was dirt cheap, right?
• 6:48
  So here you are, you have no budget.
• 6:50
  You guys are your friends are getting together, you're writing it, you're producing it, you're getting it out there, you know, and it was so admirable.
• 6:59
  And and look, again, ahead of your time.
• 7:00
  Look again, ahead of your time.
• 7:01
  And so that's how we met.
• 7:01
  And so that's how we met.
• 7:02
  So we tell tell everybody how we we met.
• 7:02
  So we tell tell everybody how we we met.
• 7:07
  That that actually that actually was a great story.
• 7:08
  That actually was a great story.
• 7:09
  I will never forget it.
• 7:09
  I will never forget it.
• 7:10
  It it was in New York City, second year of the well, now it's called the Indy Series Awards, but back then it was called the Indy Soap Awards.
• 7:10
  It was in New York City, second year of the well, now it's called the Indie Series Awards, but back then it was called the Indie Soap Awards.
• 7:19
  And it was their second their second award show, first one live.
• 7:19
  And it was their second, their second award show, first one live.
• 7:24
  It was the first one live.
• 7:24
  It was the first one live, and everyone was so excited.
• 7:25
  And everyone was so excited.
• 7:26
  It was the first time that everyone in the web series Spear was being recognized.
• 7:26
  It was the first time that everyone in the web series.
• 7:32
  And that particular night, it was in New York City, uh President's Day weekend.
• 7:37
  Um I'll never forget it, President's Day weekend.
• 7:40
  And it snowed like it sure did.
• 7:44
  It's sure.
• 7:46
  And I remember my homeboy Rodney let us stay at his house in Brooklyn.
• 7:50
  And I was nervous because I said, Oh, they're gonna cancel this.
• 7:55
  And Rodney said, baby, you're in New York.
• 7:58
  They don't cancel anything.
• 7:59
  We are we we all know about snow up here.
• 8:02
  That's right.
• 8:03
  And lo and behold, they still had it.
• 8:05
  And so we went to, I think it was uh I I forgot the name of the studio, but we went to a studio, was it the album A, was it an Alvin Ailey studio?
• 8:13
  I think it was.
• 8:14
  It was like on 57 6th Street, you know, and I think that's where they filmed.
• 8:19
  It was in a building though, so he had like a really nice atrium area, and they had put out this you know, this seats and we had a you had we had they had a great turnout.
• 8:28
  I mean, they had hundreds of people.
• 8:30
  I mean, a couple hundred amazing turnout, and I think I was nervous.
• 8:34
  Um I honestly, I wasn't even worried about the nominations.
• 8:38
  I was worried about because prior to to coming, they put out the list of names of of who were going to be there.
• 8:46
  And when you when you're reading that list, it's like the who's who of my fever dream from soap opera, right?
• 8:55
  It's like it's you, it's Kim Zimmer, it's Hillary Smith, uh Jordan Clark, uh uh so it's so it's so so many other so many other people.
• 9:05
  And I said, there's no way possible that I'm gonna meet all these people that I've seen on television.
• 9:10
  And as soon as the elevator opens, I looked across the room, and there you were.
• 9:16
  And I said, Oh my god, that's that's Lily.
• 9:21
  That's I said, That's Lily, that's Lily.
• 9:24
  And then Kim Zimmer was I was that's Riva Shane.
• 9:27
  And and and and it was just and it was just I would never forget going down during the interviews and just being completely distracted.
• 9:35
  And I think if anyone looks finds those interviews from the red carpet, you could tell that I like watch my eyes.
• 9:41
  You can actually see my eyes in the middle of the interview.
• 9:44
  Dart darting around.
• 9:46
  Darting looking at other people, and it just so happened that you you were the host that year, the first ever host, and um I I really couldn't concentrate just because I'm sitting, I believe I'm sitting across from Jordan Clark.
• 10:01
  I'm sitting across from Jordan Clark, and um and what an actor.
• 10:05
  Oh, yeah, and I'm sitting up there, and it's the first time that we're in in front of our peers, and I think we're nominated for nine, and we won uh breakthrough for Pasha Diallo, and then towards the end of the night of all things happening, I win uh best actor.
• 10:25
  Yes, you did, yeah.
• 10:27
  And it was completely unexpected.
• 10:30
  It was the first thing that I've ever won.
• 10:32
  And um it just blew it just blew, it just blew me away.
• 10:36
  And there was another creator there named Steve Silverman, and uh he talked to me afterwards, and he said, Hey, I love your energy, I love you.
• 10:45
  I want you to come and do my show, um, called Pretty, um, out in LA.
• 10:52
  And I said, Oh, I've never been to LA, so say less.
• 10:56
  No, I'm on my way, right.
• 10:59
  And I think a week later, he said, guess who else is gonna be there?
• 11:03
  And I said, Who?
• 11:03
  He said Martha Byrne is gonna be there.
• 11:05
  And I said, What?
• 11:06
  He said, Yeah, Martha Byrne is gonna do the show too.
• 11:09
  And I said, Oh, great.
• 11:11
  This is just like perfect, and so much fun.
• 11:14
  That show is so much fun.
• 11:15
  It was so much fun.
• 11:16
  And I think when I got there, uh, I think you and I met at the church.
• 11:21
  Yes, yes.
• 11:22
  So you and I met at the church, we were doing scenes at the church, and I remember we had a break, and I was talking to you, and I said, I would love, I said, Listen, I know you would never want to do my show, but I would love it if you would do something, and I would never forget you said, take my number down.
• 11:41
  Yep, take my take my number down, and when we get back on the east coast, call me and tell me what you got.
• 11:47
  Yeah, and as soon as I got back to the east coast, I just started pounding out some things, and I sent you, I think, three three ideas, and and I said, I'm gonna just send the pimp one, like the madam one.
• 12:04
  She'll never go for it, but like I'll just send it anyway.
• 12:07
  And lo and behold, you called and said, Oh, all right, I'm interested in this lady boss, this pimp one.
• 12:14
  Yeah, and so that started, and so that started it all, and you came in, and I and I remember the first day you shot.
• 12:24
  Um, this cast never like they never come to set unless they're filming.
• 12:29
  And I and I remember the first day you shot, everyone came to set and they did.
• 12:34
  They did on the floor.
• 12:36
  They were watching you work.
• 12:38
  I remember that.
• 12:39
  I remember that.
• 12:39
  That was really nice.
• 12:41
  That was I felt very honored to have that.
• 12:43
  The audience, and so you were our first, like ever like big big big star.
• 12:49
  I was like, like you were our first ever big star, and then everyone and everyone no one believed that you were coming.
• 12:56
  So everyone was like, no way, she's not coming to do our show.
• 13:00
  Uh and I told everybody, everybody be on your best behavior.
• 13:03
  And you did.
• 13:04
  You were everybody well, I mean, it was it was a great experience.
• 13:07
  The writing was excellent, you know.
• 13:09
  We had fun, you know.
• 13:12
  It's the the beauty of doing it in Indie show this way is that you you can write what you want, and you can portray the characters the way you want.
• 13:21
  You have no but no boss, you are the boss, you know, you are a very project, and we had we had a really good time, and then we I came back, and when we I was in the hospital scenes that that got the Emmy that I got my Emmy for your show.
• 13:39
  Uh, and you're you had how many nominations did how many nominations have you had total for Anacostia since you started total?
• 13:47
  We've had we've had seven.
• 13:48
  Wow.
• 13:48
  So we've had six in daytime and one in prime time.
• 13:51
  And tell us what the one in prime time is, sir.
• 13:54
  Ah, the one prime time was uh 2022 outstanding lead actor in a comedy or drama short form series in prime time.
• 14:00
  Comedy or drama short form series.
• 14:03
  In prime time.
• 14:04
  I mean, that I was so excited when I heard that.
• 14:04
  I mean, that I was so excited when I heard that.
• 14:07
  I was so it made me so happy that thank you.
• 14:07
  I was so it made me so happy that thank you.
• 14:11
  Yeah, it's just you know, I I always tell people you can limit yourself only.
• 14:11
  Yeah, it's just, you know, I I always tell people you can limit yourself only.
• 14:17
  Like if you want to, you can do anything you want, you just gotta try.
• 14:17
  Like if you want to, you can do anything you want, you just gotta try.
• 14:21
  And it doesn't guarantee it, but if you don't try, uh, you'll never know.
• 14:21
  And it doesn't guarantee it, but if you don't try, uh, you'll never know.
• 14:25
  And I was so thrilled that you got that acknowledged.
• 14:25
  And I was so thrilled that you got that nomination well deserved and were be able to be a part of that experience.
• 14:34
  You dedicated so much, you know, did so much hard work.
• 14:37
  Um, and then when Elizabeth came up, we have to talk about so Elizabeth Hubbard.
• 14:46
  So the backstory on the Elizabeth Hubbard on my end was now if you knew Elizabeth Hubbard who played Lucinda.
• 14:53
  This whole idea of web series was she had no idea, nor did she really want to know uh much about it because there was there was no unions, there was no pay, there was no like what how does this all work?
• 15:07
  Uh but I had seen her really I wouldn't I don't want to say not depressed, but I'd say very hurt that the show was ending, as a world turns was ending, it was over, and she couldn't be an actor anymore, and it hurt her.
• 15:26
  It was it was devastating to her that nobody was hiring her, and she'd audition and she had an agent.
• 15:33
  She was so funny.
• 15:33
  I mean, she was in her 80s, and she'd say, Oh, my agent never calls me.
• 15:37
  Uh, you know, it's funny, it's like she she was the actor to the end, you know, to the end.
• 15:42
  That's who she was.
• 15:43
  So it really hurt me that to hear her say nobody cares, really, nobody cares about me anymore.
• 15:48
  And I thought, hmm.
• 15:50
  And I think I don't know.
• 15:51
  Did I did I call you and say, what if I can get her, or did she okay?
• 15:56
  Yeah.
• 15:56
  Yeah.
• 15:57
  Okay.
• 15:57
  Yep, yep.
• 15:58
  You and I had a conversation, and you said, I have a crazy idea.
• 16:02
  And I said, What is it?
• 16:03
  And you said, What if we can get Liz Hubbard to do anacos?
• 16:08
  I said, Hey, if we can get it, if we can get her, we can get her.
• 16:13
  Like, like, let's do it.
• 16:14
  And I would never forget you called and said, All right, she's in.
• 16:18
  So, so we need to like write this.
• 16:20
  And I I think what we wrote was great.
• 16:23
  I think great for her.
• 16:24
  It is it got her, it got her an Emmy nomination.
• 16:28
  It did.
• 16:28
  Um, and let me tell you something.
• 16:30
  I'm gonna give you a really big compliment.
• 16:35
  When I worked with her on Azurel turns, she changed pretty much every single line on the page.
• 16:40
  You know, like she, but she that's how she worked.
• 16:42
  Like she just she would be her her pen and she'd rewrite and she did this and cut and blah.
• 16:48
  I I don't think she changed one line.
• 16:52
  No.
• 16:53
  Of the script that that we gave her for this project.
• 16:56
  No.
• 16:56
  And when people who know her hear this, they're gonna be like, that's not possible.
• 17:00
  I said, no, she didn't.
• 17:02
  She she really took it as this was a job to do that role.
• 17:09
  She was not it, it wasn't Lucinda, it wasn't her, you know, we were we were all on the same page.
• 17:14
  Yeah, and we filmed at her house.
• 17:16
  I know.
• 17:17
  So what I want people, because she was such a private person, Anthony.
• 17:24
  So to have her open her home to us is I mean, but I'm telling you, do you mean people have and the cast have been to her home, maybe two, okay?
• 17:33
  Myself and maybe Don Hastings, maybe, I don't know.
• 17:37
  That was her sanctuary, that was her piece, and she opened her doors to all of us.
• 17:44
  And please tell me, because but the fans who love her would want to know your point of view.
• 17:51
  Oh wow that experience for yourself, the whole, I mean, all of it, you know.
• 17:57
  Oh, wow.
• 17:57
  Well, really, because it's so personal, and she let you into her into her world.
• 18:02
  Oh, yeah.
• 18:03
  I'm gonna try to tell, like, I'm gonna try to tell this about getting like super emotional.
• 18:07
  Um I think having you was one thing, and then you and I uh having conversations outside of anacasia and really getting to know each other and building and building a friendship was one thing.
• 18:20
  But then having her, she I mean, she is she she was the blueprint.
• 18:25
  I mean, she is she is the first.
• 18:28
  Yes.
• 18:28
  Um, and having her be on the show was already uh uh nervous experience, like uh we like we cannot fail, like we cannot fail this.
• 18:40
  And I remember leaving the hotel that morning and driving over to her home, and we pulled into the driveway, and when we pulled into the driveway, I looked out the window and she was already outside rehearsing.
• 18:54
  Yes, she was already outside rehearsing and and and and and doing her movements and blocking, and and I remember getting out of the car.
• 19:05
  I don't know if you remembered it, but I remember getting out the car, and I think I took four steps and I just stopped because I was just watching her and I was in awe to like be there with her, and she sang the words that were written, and I'm just in a minute.
• 19:23
  I I think it took like six minutes for any introductions to be done.
• 19:28
  And we started shooting, and she just was I mean, she just was on it.
• 19:34
  You could tell that she had a love for it, which means which which amped me up, which amped everyone else up, and that there were several points in that day because it was a long because it was a long day.
• 19:46
  Yeah, and she's not a young woman.
• 19:47
  And it's like we knew we could only knew we only had one day.
• 19:50
  Yeah, we had one day with her.
• 19:52
  We only had one day to get everything in, and it was a fairly long, and it was a fairly long day.
• 20:00
  And um, I just remember several points of that day just sitting in her home and just looking around at the history.
• 20:11
  And I want people to understand, I remember doing a scene, and you were on the ground with the boom, you know, the the st with the audio, you know, trying to get the the sound, you know, and it was so I mean everybody was so respectful, yeah.
• 20:28
  And I think we all knew we were in the in the presence of greatness, and we hired this really good looking guy, yes, because I knew she'd like that.
• 20:38
  Um, and they I mean she was flirting with him, so we kind of gave her not just some storyline, but gave her a nice guy to who was who was thrilled to be working with her, obviously, and and and was and listen going toe-to-toe with her is not a joke.
• 20:52
  Right, no, no, oh no, no, no.
• 20:54
  And he really held his own, and I knew he could.
• 20:56
  I knew that he'd be able to do it.
• 20:58
  And so we gotta you have to understand like that gift to her was tenfold.
• 21:00
  You have to understand, like that gift to her was tenfold.
• 21:08
  It it it it really was.
• 21:08
  It it it really was.
• 21:10
  She would never say that to me because that's just not who she was.
• 21:10
  She would never say that to me because that's just not who she was.
• 21:15
  But when she got nominated for the Emmy, she's like, Oh, what is what do I do?
• 21:15
  But when she got nominated for the Emmy, she's like, oh, what is what do I do?
• 21:20
  She says, What am I gonna fly out there and lose?
• 21:20
  She says, What am I gonna fly out there and lose?
• 21:23
  Or I said, listen.
• 21:23
  Or I said, Listen, I said, you don't have to go.
• 21:25
  I said, you don't have to go.
• 21:26
  Like, you know, it it's okay.
• 21:26
  Like, you know, it it's okay because we we also knew it was gonna be a long day.
• 21:28
  Because we we also knew it was gonna be a long day.
• 21:30
  We these those Emmys are, you know, 17, 17 hours long, whatever.
• 21:35
  And she was really perplexed about like how did I get a nomination for an Emmy for that role?
• 21:43
  You know, and I I said, listen, you people not only respect you, but your work is above and beyond, you know, it always has been, and that will never change.
• 21:52
  Right.
• 21:52
  Um, but it was like a nice, nice icing on the cake for her.
• 21:57
  Uh, you know, she never won an Emmy for playing Lucinda.
• 22:00
  Yeah, which is a travesty.
• 22:02
  Right.
• 22:02
  Uh but you know, it gave her, I hope, I hope it listen, she wouldn't have done it if she wasn't craving it.
• 22:10
  She would have said no.
• 22:11
  Uh, you know, when I wanted her to work on Gotham, she was the original voiceover uh in the first episode that ended up um that Anna Stewart ended up playing that character.
• 22:21
  She just didn't get it.
• 22:22
  She didn't understand it.
• 22:23
  She didn't want to do it.
• 22:24
  She was still working on Ezra World Turns, I think at the time.
• 22:27
  And it just was foreign to her.
• 22:30
  And I think as she left, she understood why I was continuing to write and direct and be creative and like and I think she saw something in that of of evolution, you know, and right.
• 22:44
  So she's like, Oh, I get this.
• 22:46
  And I think her son Jeremy, you know, and that's he's you know, Jeremy, but Jeremy was like, do it.
• 22:51
  Like, this is great.
• 22:52
  This is this is what this is the future, you know.
• 22:54
  And she listened to anything he said, like she would say if he had said no, it would have been a hard no.
• 22:59
  Um, because he was, you know, his mother, he wants to make sure she's she's protected and etc.
• 23:05
  But she went there with us, and we are so blessed.
• 23:10
  I'm blessed a million times over for her.
• 23:14
  I I'm so I and I'm so thankful for you giving us that opportunity because I believe it was one of the last things that she did.
• 23:21
  That was it.
• 23:22
  That was it.
• 23:22
  That was that was the last that she did.
• 23:25
  And I remember um I remember at the end of the night, of course, excuse going into the next morning, because it was like I think like one 115 and 11, 130 in the morning, and we were all packing up, and we were sitting in her living room, and she was telling, and even in that moment, she was telling us stories.
• 23:45
  Yes.
• 23:46
  Like she was uh, see, see, I'm trying not to get emotional, right?
• 23:49
  But she was telling us stories about her history and and this time that she was on this set, and this is what happens, and like and and all and and I couldn't help but to kind of like sit there and in an unbelievable state because this legend is sitting there telling you things from her life, and that she's done in her house is 1 30 in the morning.
• 24:16
  She could be really she she could have been super honored and was like, all right, everyone get the hell out because we've been.
• 24:22
  Oh, and she would have done it.
• 24:23
  Trust me.
• 24:24
  She's not she's uh she she'd have no problem doing that, believe me.
• 24:27
  Uh so she didn't want you to leave.
• 24:29
  You notice that?
• 24:30
  See, she didn't want you to leave.
• 24:31
  Yes.
• 24:31
  And and that was the feeling was that she was still very much amped up and she was just talking and she was just talking.
• 24:38
  And I remember the the saddest thing to me is that I remember she said she said, Well, I have a she said, Well, I have an idea, and I think that my character needs to be on the streets of DC.
• 24:52
  Yes.
• 24:53
  See that and I'm sitting there thinking, wait a minute, she wants to come now.
• 24:58
  She wants to come to DC and be on the streets of DC and film.
• 25:02
  Like we have to do, I said we have to do that, but unfortunately, we did not have an opportunity to do that.
• 25:09
  And uh, and um, I wish that we could have, but just the thought of her because it is a long because it is a long day.
• 25:18
  People don't a lot of people don't know what a web series is.
• 25:20
  Yeah, um, and she could have just sat there and said, Okay, great, I did it.
• 25:25
  Thank you all for coming, get out.
• 25:27
  But she's thinking, hey, the next time, hey, the next time we filmed this, um, I actually want to come to DC and I want to be on the streets of DC because I have some ideas.
• 25:38
  And and you remember she said, I can also call our she said I can also call Armanda Sante.
• 25:46
  I said, I said, now you better stop talking.
• 25:48
  Oh, you're kidding.
• 25:50
  Oh, she oh my god, of course she would have done and what she would have called him.
• 25:54
  I mean, I'm I I have no doubt that she would have, but the fact that she was thinking about it.
• 25:59
  Yes, you know, she it was such a good experience, and it tapped something inside of her that hadn't been, you know, uh worked her work, her work is where it was her life, you know, her son, her son, but her lower work.
• 26:12
  It was so exciting to me, just the aspect, just the prospect of having Martha Byrne, Elizabeth Hubbard, and Amon Asante on Anacostia that that night we did not go back to the hotel as planned.
• 26:25
  We got in the car 130 in the morning and drove back to Maryland from Connecticut.
• 26:29
  Oh boy.
• 26:30
  Well, that's called commitment.
• 26:31
  I mean, you first of all, and and you know, I have to thank you because you gave me, and I'm gonna get emotional.
• 26:40
  You gave me another chance to work with her again.
• 26:45
  And I didn't get that at when Azural Turns ended, they didn't want me back.
• 26:49
  And I couldn't I had no closure with her.
• 26:52
  So thank you for that.
• 26:53
  And I I'm so grateful.
• 26:55
  And now we're gonna take a minute and break, and then we're gonna come back and I want to hear what's next for you.
• 27:00
  Okay, and Anakastia will be right back.
• 27:02
  Virus protection and immune boosting just got easier.
• 27:04
  Enter the daily V stack using cellular absorption technology.
• 27:08
  We put vitamins A, C, D, zinc, and Quircetin together with a multi-mineral complex for complete protection.
• 27:17
  The Daily V stack is basically an oral IV of six products all in one at an affordable price.
• 27:23
  Go to chemicalfree body.com forward slash out loud, get the daily V stack, protect yourself, boost your immune system, and save 20% on your first order.
• 27:34
  One in three people will face cancer, and most never see it coming.
• 27:37
  I'm Dr.
• 27:37
  Kelly Victory with the wellness company, and I know this personally.
• 27:41
  I exercised daily, avoided processed foods, and had no symptoms when a routine mammogram resulted in a cancer diagnosis.
• 27:48
  And modern medicine is often reactive instead of preventative.
• 27:52
  That's why I formulated SHIELD, a two-part system designed to support immune health and antioxidant defense, a chemical-free cocoa mix and soft gels.
• 28:00
  free cocoa mix and soft gels prevention is power visit twc.health slash out loud and use code out loud for an exclusive discount you wouldn't go a day without brushing your teeth or washing your hands what about washing your nose I mean your nose does filter the air you breathe air loaded with bacteria viruses and irritants make nasal hygiene part of your routine with clear no messy bottles to fill no drowning sensation clear is a natural drug free saline with the added benefit of xylitol which blocks bacterial and viral adhesion available in stores and online at clear.com that is xl e ar.com have you been looking for a healthy snack for on the go?
• 28:02
  Prevention is power.
• 28:03
  Visit TWC.
• 28:09
  You wouldn't go a day without brushing your teeth or washing your hands.
• 28:13
  What about washing your nose?
• 28:15
  I mean, your nose does filter the air you breathe, air loaded with bacteria, viruses, and irritants.
• 28:20
  Make nasal hygiene part of your routine with clear.
• 28:24
  No messy bottles to fill, no drowning sensation.
• 28:27
  Clear is a natural drug-free saline with the added.
• 28:43
  Well not all energy bars are soft and sugary bear bars are a crunchy savory bar made from just six simple natural ingredients bear bars are plant based organic gluten free contain six grams of protein and are low temperature dried for unique crunch most energy bars are based on chocolate or fruit and are held together with syrups or sweeteners to learn more just visit bearbar.com slash out loud and I quote you and I have a rendezvous with destiny we will preserve for our children this the last best hope of man on earth or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness those are the words of number 40 Ronald Drake shine bright as America approaches 250 years America out loud doc news is that place to awaken your heart soul and mind to the all about truth okay we're back Anthony Anderson what a great walk down memory lane thank you for that but what's come well first of all well well let's talk about anacostia where are we what's happening uh where what I everybody's wants to know are there more episodes I want to hear about that and your other and your all the other shows that you're working on yeah so um yeah so see so so we believe it or not we are going into season seven of Anacostia we're going to season seven of anacosia for so for those who don't know the ending of season six had this massive cliffhanger to where everyone was trapped in a fire at a uh ball and um very very classic knots landing Falcon Crest ish um um uh season finales um and and so we're gonna be and so we're gonna be picking up there there's uh storylines that we have to uh pick up back with you and Dominique and there's some brand and there's some brand and there's some brand new characters that we're gonna be uh introducing and I and I think that this season I I think this season is going to be probably I think to me a lot of fans felt like season five was like the pinnacle of our show until they saw season six and and then they're like how is this show how does this show continue to uh tap my own shoulder uh raise the bar when it comes to the story and it is because of I listen to people like you I have great examples every day from uh my inspirations that are on television um from General Hospital from young and the restless and the bold and the beautiful um uh uh beyond the gates um I'm getting in like like like I'm getting into it I just it takes time it takes time it's it takes time it takes time to get into it um I think it's taking me time to get into it it's it's because being from that area of the DMV Merlin DC and Virginia um there's a lot of like we have a personality here so we have our own lingo we have our own little looks yes yes yes as especially the black females especially black feet especially black female characters authentic authentic yeah yeah right that that's who that what it really what's really going on yeah right and so I wonder if anyone if anyone came to kind of drive around PG County um because they drove around PG County that they would see that hey we can update some things but yeah but um definitely get definitely getting into that so season seven is on deck um so uh so I've been working on this reality show called City Boys that we have had several meetings with um executives with and that that's what they've been some great some great meetings but you know this business is all about hurry up and wait and wait for us and wait for us to call you but immediate my new baby is something that I've been working on for quite some time um it is my own network um it is a streaming platform by the name of prestige um it is much in the uh wheelhouse of a netflix amazon tubi um uh Hulu uh type streaming platform to where we're gonna have scripted series films documentaries uh unscripted shows um so right now we are cultivating the library for it's excellent and we're getting in some and we're getting some great shows and one of the great things that I am proud of is that um something that you and I talked about a couple years ago about being a good person is about it costs you nothing to be a good person and being a good person pays in its own way later on down the line especially with something like prestige when you can reach out and call your colleagues and say hey I'm doing a network I'm doing a streaming platform and I would love to have your show on the platform.
• 34:12
  Yeah and and it's not much of an um wrangling type of situation with them everyone's like oh yeah uh tell us where and we trust you tell us where you want me to send it and so I and and so I've been getting a lot of that so like we're looking at a June sometime in June release date so it's gonna be on it's gonna be through Roku it's gonna be through iOS and and and in the Android apps um app stores uh and then we're gonna start branching out into fire fire tv apple TV so it's like but for but but for right now we're gonna stick with Roku and until we like really build up the reputation so I'm incredibly um I'm incredibly happy about that and just still writing I um I did a funding campaign for a short film that we're gonna film this summer um it's it it's a gripping short film that I think my I I think what I write is the road less traveled and the and stories that stories that don't really get voices put together
• 35:00
  I did a funding campaign for a short film that we're going to film this summer.
• 35:04
  Um it's it's a gripping short film that I think my I think what I write is the road less traveled.
• 35:18
  And the and stories that stories that don't really get voices put to them.
• 35:30
  And there's something, and that was something that when I wrote your that when I created your care, when I created your character, um, and getting back to when you won the Emmy, that second that second go round, I remember you and I talking, and I said this these episodes, I want to explore why she hates men.
• 35:56
  And she hates men because she was in uh she was in um she was in an abusive relationship with a man who had an alcohol problem and who had mommy issues, and and because of that, she said all men are pigs, yeah.
• 36:12
  And that and that she had to protect her child from growing up to be exactly like this man.
• 36:20
  So for her, it was I need to get away from him, start a whole new life, and hide my child from him.
• 36:27
  And so what I like writing is I like writing stories that are going to be that are going to evoke thought, yes, whether that's positive or negative.
• 36:39
  Um, but that's what that's what good storytelling is.
• 36:42
  Is that you know, we don't you know evil characters on soaps is you know, if we don't know why they are the way they are, they're just they're they're one-dimensional, right?
• 36:55
  You know, and they can do all these bad things, but then we have to we have to understand the the subtext of of the why.
• 37:02
  And you've always been able to do that, I think with your characters, you know, and and you don't have to tell them right the audience right away.
• 37:09
  That's the fun part is like uh uh it's the onion, you're peeling the onion back of the characters, and that's why it takes some time to to uh evolve and get the audience to care, and even if you're a bad character or uh, and because you have an independent platform, you can tell those stories that most people won't won't tell because of a fear, uh, you know, they're they have to you know stay within the box of what they think people want, and the and and sadly, you know, the the unfortunate thing, and you know, when we were in DC together a few weeks ago, and you meet you met all these wonderful producers and wonderful creative, creative people who fight to do those kind of stories, and we need more of that, and it's it's a it's a it's a diminishing, it's it's just going away.
• 37:57
  It's like it's it's not getting any better.
• 38:00
  And so we need people like you to have a platform where all these independent projects are gonna be able to be seen so that who knows which one could take off, who knows which one's gonna get the buzz, right?
• 38:13
  And the next thing's like, oh, he's this Anthony, he knows what he's doing.
• 38:16
  Can you tell people?
• 38:17
  I think one of the things I always get asked is, you know, again, we had a budget, right?
• 38:22
  We had that financial backing.
• 38:24
  How do you because you're the quality of this show, your show is second to not?
• 38:31
  I mean, it it could go on right on prime time.
• 38:33
  There's there's no indication that it's it's an uh an independent project.
• 38:37
  Uh you've definitely obviously we all evolve, and you've really, I mean, I watched a scene where you were running through the the woods, and I thought, man, that is really well done.
• 38:47
  I mean, I mean, everything is, but how are you able to get these shows made without you know, with a minimal budget?
• 38:57
  I mean, listen, when people do their first couple of episodes or their first season, people are like, they're all they're all in, everybody's friends, and then like I need you again, and I need you again and again and again and again.
• 39:07
  How do you manage first of all get the crew to get the I know you're your cast, obviously, but uh how do you how do you manage and you've had other actors, other celebrities come on, but how do you get how do you how do you manage to do a full season of a of a show uh with a minimal budget like that?
• 39:27
  Um the best thing, and I don't want to scare anyone that hears this because everyone has their own beliefs, but this is mine.
• 39:35
  Um it's what God had planned planned for me.
• 39:40
  Yes.
• 39:41
  It's it's what God had and and I think a good friend of mine, um, Katrina would say, Well, but what God has planned for you, no man can take away.
• 39:49
  That's true.
• 39:50
  And I and I think I've asked myself several times, we don't have a huge budget, but for some reason, some way, shape, or form, we get this show done.
• 39:59
  It looks great.
• 40:00
  Um, I I've been able to bring in top-tier camera people, top tier sound people.
• 40:08
  Um, and I think that it all starts with number one, it starts with me.
• 40:13
  It starts with the belief that we have a great show.
• 40:17
  That's true, that we have a great show, and then it trickles down to everyone else that you you have to get everyone else to buy in.
• 40:26
  Yes.
• 40:27
  And you can't be shaky about your project.
• 40:31
  You have got to be the top salesman of this project.
• 40:35
  And you have to be honestly, you have to be upfront and honest with people, and you have to let them know there's not that much money.
• 40:43
  So, but what I but what I'm coming to you with is I believe that this show has a place.
• 40:51
  I believe this show has a voice.
• 40:53
  I believe that this show has a message that the fans and the supporters have watched consistently since 2009.
• 41:02
  Right.
• 41:03
  2009, we're in 2026 now, uh, since 2009.
• 41:07
  And I think that when people I I think when I think when people come around me, and it's not to glaze myself, but I think when people come around when people come around me, they sense the authenticity of me.
• 41:20
  That's true.
• 41:21
  I mean, there's you who you are is who you are.
• 41:23
  There's there is no, there's no other Anthony.
• 41:27
  That is you are you.
• 41:28
  Like what you see, and I tell I tell people all the time, what you see is what you get.
• 41:32
  That's right.
• 41:32
  And it's like, I think that people recognize that.
• 41:35
  I think people respect that because I'm up front and I tell people everything up front.
• 41:40
  Hey, this is what's going on.
• 41:42
  It's gonna be it's it might be some long days, but then it might be some great, but it's gonna be a great experience.
• 41:48
  And yeah, and and at the end of it, we don't know what's gonna happen.
• 41:53
  And I think that I've been able to build a family over here.
• 41:57
  Yes.
• 41:58
  And I think that when you came in, I think you emit, I think you immediately felt that sense of family.
• 42:00
  Came in, I think you emit, I think you immediately felt that sense of family.
• 42:04
  Definitely.
• 42:04
  Definitely.
• 42:05
  I think when Lauren B.
• 42:05
  I think when Lauren B.
• 42:06
  Martin came in, I think she immediately felt that sense of family.
• 42:06
  Martin came in, I think she immediately felt that sense of family.
• 42:10
  Uh the great D Freeman who we recently lost.
• 42:10
  Uh the great D Freeman who we recently lost.
• 42:13
  What a loss.
• 42:13
  What a loss.
• 42:14
  Oh, what a loss.
• 42:14
  Oh, what a loss.
• 42:15
  What a loss.
• 42:15
  What a loss.
• 42:16
  Huge loss.
• 42:16
  Huge loss.
• 42:17
  Um, but I think when she came in, even before she came in, when she met us at the award show, she kept saying, How the hell am I gonna get on anacosia?
• 42:17
  Um, but I think when she came in, even before she came in, when she met us at the award show, she kept saying, How the hell am I gonna get on anacosia?
• 42:26
  Yeah, how the hell am I gonna get on anacasia?
• 42:26
  Yeah, how the hell am I gonna get on anacasia?
• 42:28
  And that's another flattering thing.
• 42:28
  And that's another flattering thing that you have like I have these A-list actors and actresses that will see me at these events and come up and say, I want to do your so-I'm trying not to get emotional when I say this, but they say, 'I want to do your show.' That is the most flattering, the most awe-inspiring, the most intimidating thing that anyone can say to a creator that people that you have watched and you have respected and you love their craft, saw your saw what you're doing, and said, I feel like I want to take my talent and put it over there.
• 43:15
  Yeah, that's great.
• 43:16
  But it's true.
• 43:18
  I mean, wow.
• 43:19
  That we can't get any that to me can't get any better.
• 43:22
  And I think I just work with great people who understand the mission, who understand what's good for one is good for all.
• 43:32
  And I would have loved for the entire show to got nominated for a prime time Emmy, but it just didn't happen that way.
• 43:39
  And sometimes, as the leader, you kind of it's it's like a um, it's like a guilt to where um, all right.
• 43:48
  Well, this light has been put on me, and but the show is more than me, is it's it's about the collective.
• 43:56
  It is and even when I got nominated, I was joyful, but there was a sense of damn, I would love to have experience this with like everyone.
• 44:07
  But that's okay, you can take your moment, you know what?
• 44:09
  You gotta you also have to take your moment.
• 44:11
  I'll tell you why, because when you succeed, everybody succeeds, right?
• 44:19
  You know, and if you're if you're if your light gets brighter and more people see your light, it brings more people towards you.
• 44:29
  100%, and let me tell you, when we were out there, Pasha Diallo was my date.
• 44:35
  So so we went to dinner um at this place called Bodega downtown LA, and we were leaving, and my phone started going off.
• 44:44
  It and it was the night before the Emmys, and my phone started going off, and it was Cash App, and everyone in the cast was sending money.
• 44:56
  Oh, and they sent a letter and they sent the note saying we can't be there with you, but we wanted to know, we wanted you to know that we love you, and take and take this money and go and spend it on something for and take this money, go spend it for yourself.
• 45:11
  And that made and that made me feel so it made me feel so special and so loved because at the end of the at the very end of the day, we are a family over here.
• 45:21
  Yes, like we've uh child, we've seen murder.
• 45:24
  Oh, yeah, you've had it all, yeah.
• 45:26
  You've had it all.
• 45:28
  Being born, yeah.
• 45:32
  Um, we have been there for I mean, we have been there.
• 45:35
  I've had people sleep on my couch.
• 45:37
  Uh it's it's it's it's like um we are at the end of the day, when people see us all together, they they get that feeling of like they are really like a family, and I'm so unit, yeah.
• 45:49
  That everything I do, they are the first ones, and you as well are the first ones to encourage it and and say you can and say you can do it.
• 45:59
  That like you honestly have got me into the realm of the way you championed me, see okay, the way you've championed me, right?
• 46:13
  You did not have to do that.
• 46:16
  You you you just didn't.
• 46:18
  You you did not have to identify something in me, and put me in a position to make it greater.
• 46:30
  Oh and from where I'm from, it's a rarity that someone on the outside will come in and do that for you.
• 46:44
  And so what I've started doing in my own personal life is paying it forward.
• 46:49
  Yes, you you are.
• 46:51
  You are you you are you're so wonderful.
• 46:53
  I mean, you do yeah, and and identifying talent and saying, like I don't have a lot of money to give you, but what I can give you is encouragement.
• 47:05
  What I can give you is know-how.
• 47:06
  What I but what I can give you is um an avenue to where maybe you haven't been thinking about taking your career this way or that way.
• 47:17
  I'm I'm working with a I'm I'm kind of like I don't want to say a mentor, but I'm kind of like a mentor to a content creator who who has millions of views on their videos, and it's just like trying to push them into their greatness, and it reminds me of me being afraid to walk through that door because when you walk through that door, it becomes real.
• 47:39
  Yeah, okay.
• 47:42
  It's it's it's fine and good to be playing on the outside of that door, but then when you get pushed on the other side of that door, you have to now you're now in the room, and now you have to show your shit of why you belong in it.
• 47:55
  That's right.
• 47:56
  And and you you you you know, you gotta be confident, and if you're not, just pretend you are because it's my dogs here.
• 48:05
  Um because but you know, the one thing that holds people back the most in this life is fear, yes.
• 48:12
  And you cannot be, you have to be fearless and be able to fall down and and and learn from there.
• 48:19
  Are no mistakes and Liz Hubbard would say that all the time.
• 48:22
  It's like you do one take, and she we do another take, and she said, Well, that one was different.
• 48:28
  That one, but that that worked because the woman had no, she had no net, there was no net, she just jumped through and out there, and because she was fearless, you know, we only get this life once, right?
• 48:44
  This is not a dress rehearsal.
• 48:45
  This is it, and no regrets, right?
• 48:49
  You go, all right.
• 48:50
  Well, that didn't work, but I tried, at least I put it out there, and with creativity, you don't there is no limit.
• 48:56
  It's like you can you'll always Liz Hubbard said it too she's like if you think you know everything, you need to quit the business.
• 49:00
  You think you know everything, you need to quit the business.
• 49:04
  This is an eighty nine-year-old woman, you know, who who still was learning with you at her home in her yard with her hose and her scene, right?
• 49:04
  This is an 89-year-old woman, you know, who who still was learning with you at her home in her yard with her hose and her scene, right?
• 49:15
  She's still learning.
• 49:15
  She's still learning, and if we can't recognize that and strive for that to have if we have that kind of joy, and we make it to 89 years.
• 49:17
  And if we can't recognize that and strive for that to have if we have that kind of joy, and we make it to 89 years old, yes, and still at 1:30 in the morning, go, you know what?
• 49:34
  The next time would be a great idea.
• 49:36
  And then she goes to get a bottle of wine.
• 49:37
  That was the best.
• 49:38
  She gets the wine out.
• 49:39
  I'm like, I gotta go.
• 49:44
  But that's what I love about her.
• 49:45
  See, she and I we had we would walk the streets of the Netherlands together, Holland.
• 49:51
  We were walking around, and she was she had no limit.
• 49:56
  It was beautiful, you know.
• 49:58
  I mean, we're taking this kind of full circle, which I love.
• 50:01
  It's like because creative people are so necessary for this world that is so broken, and people need to fill that void of it's almost like a warm feeling in their heart of just feeling through other people's creative minds, and you do that.
• 50:26
  I mean, that's why your fan base is so strong.
• 50:29
  And the fact that you're bringing somebody what you're you're gonna teach this person now who's got these millions of views, you know.
• 50:35
  You're gonna teach this person some depth, some layering of the process, maybe uh that you've learned.
• 50:44
  Uh and you know, the one thing I always was I'm always so grateful for our friendship, obviously.
• 50:50
  But you know, throughout my career and life, there are very few people that actually just listened to what I said and took that advice and and did it, you know.
• 51:00
  Um, there's a difference between having conversation about a scene that's that you know, back and forth.
• 51:05
  But if I gave you advice, you took it, and that meant the world to me because like Elizabeth, we want to give, we want to, we want to Liz was an amazing teacher to me.
• 51:18
  She was the best.
• 51:20
  She would never call herself that, but she gave me the the ability to fail.
• 51:29
  I say fail, fall, and she would pick me up and and say, let's try that again.
• 51:35
  And so I'm grateful for that.
• 51:37
  It fulfilled something inside of me that you were you were so open to hearing and and listening.
• 51:45
  And then, like, if I do all this for my whole life and and I can't give it over to someone else and share it, it it dies with me.
• 51:52
  I don't want that, I don't want that.
• 51:54
  I want to be able to give it to other people and say, look what I I was so blessed.
• 51:58
  I got to work with these amazing people, and I learned so much, and I know what works and what doesn't work.
• 52:03
  Okay, and then maybe it won't work for you, but at least try it, right?
• 52:07
  Absolutely, absolutely.
• 52:09
  And I and I think that that was the greatest lesson.
• 52:12
  Be, I think that that was the greatest lesson.
• 52:15
  Because sometimes people can be so closed off, and they're like, Well, this is my project exactly.
• 52:20
  We've seen that, oh yeah.
• 52:23
  And I think that um what I have been able to foster has been a someone has an hey, someone has an idea.
• 52:34
  The same with the editing, like I said in the editing, like I say in my editor's uh room, like when he is showing me certain episodes, and the first thing he says is, okay, it's written this way, but I know you want it like this, but let me show you how I edited it this way, and then you can and then you could see sort of what I'm thinking.
• 52:55
  And oftentimes when he showed me what he was thinking, I was like, Oh, that's perfect.
• 52:59
  I like I have absolutely no problem with that.
• 53:01
  And I think when when creatives get together, it I think to me at least, it has to be uh opening.
• 53:09
  It's collaborative, it's being collaborative.
• 53:12
  Yes, that's the best.
• 53:14
  The most successful people that I've worked with in my career were always collaborative because they understood that it was not about them.
• 53:23
  The ones that was all about them, the actors that was all about them, them, them.
• 53:27
  This is me, me, me.
• 53:28
  It was like, okay, uh, you know, you're living in your your bubble, but it's so much more fun to play in the together.
• 53:35
  And and and you not micromanaging your your crew and letting them do their job, which is what they that's their love.
• 53:44
  That's what they love to do, right?
• 53:46
  I'm not an editor.
• 53:47
  What I can do is sit there and say, okay, so what about this?
• 53:51
  And they say, well, the reason why, and and it's a lot of things, like it's it's like certain rules.
• 53:57
  I forgot what the rule was, but it's certain rules that you can't cross this, you can't cross that.
• 54:01
  They know that.
• 54:02
  Oh, well, I didn't know that.
• 54:03
  Right.
• 54:03
  And so it's like sometimes you have to listen to the people that you've hired and trusted, just like they trusted you to not take advantage of their time, energy, and talent, you have to let them do the job that they are there to do.
• 54:18
  And and and if they have and if they have a suggestion, I am all for like, hey, let me know what it is, because if it's gonna make us look better, and that's been my whole thing.
• 54:29
  If it's gonna make us look great, if it's gonna make us look better, if it's gonna give us that look that I am searching for, I'm all for it.
• 54:39
  Because I'm telling you now, Martha, I'm telling you now, the only thing that is stopping me from getting out there to the masses on the bigger scale, is opportunity and the right budget.
• 54:58
  Yep.
• 54:59
  If I can marry those two with what I already have, and with some of these with some of these projects that I have sitting over here, some of these like amazing projects that I have set on because something in me said, You can get this shot if you wanted to right now.
• 55:20
  You can pull in your people and shoot it.
• 55:23
  You're not supposed to do it that way.
• 55:26
  This project is supposed to be on a bigger scale.
• 55:29
  So, what we what do we do?
• 55:31
  We put it in put it in pre-production, we'll call it.
• 55:36
  How about that?
• 55:36
  Right.
• 55:37
  And I think I think just to tease, just to tease, because we're about to wrap up.
• 55:41
  I wanted to say, please let everybody know, you know, find you on social media, obviously, follow Anthony.
• 55:47
  Yeah, but I think we had a great meeting in DC, and maybe we'll be doing some more things together.
• 55:53
  I hope so.
• 55:54
  So I would love that.
• 55:57
  Oh, I know so.
• 55:58
  I we have to, we have to.
• 55:59
  There's so much more, there's more chapters to this people to this novella.
• 56:00
  There's so much more.
• 56:00
  There's more chapters to this table.
• 56:02
  And thank you for this novella.
• 56:04
  Oh, oh, yeah, I knew it.
• 56:04
  Oh.
• 56:05
  Oh, yeah.
• 56:05
  I knew it.
• 56:06
  I'm like, I'm the connector.
• 56:06
  I'm like, I'm I'm the connector.
• 56:08
  I bring people together.
• 56:08
  I bring people together, and I would never put you in that room if I didn't think you could hold your own.
• 56:09
  And I would never put you in that room if I didn't think you could hold your own.
• 56:11
  Don't worry about that.
• 56:11
  Don't worry about that.
• 56:13
  So all good.
• 56:13
  So it's all good.
• 56:14
  Everybody, everybody's, everybody's got the same heart and spirit, right?
• 56:14
  Everybody, everybody's everybody's got the same heart and spirit, right?
• 56:19
  In that in that room.
• 56:19
  In that in that room, we're all it's all good.
• 56:20
  It's all good.
• 56:22
  I was driving home up the beltway, feeling like a rocket had been strapped in my back.
• 56:22
  I was driving home up the beltway, feeling like a rocket had been strapped in my back.
• 56:28
  All right, I love it.
• 56:28
  All right.
• 56:28
  I love it.
• 56:29
  So that so that's
• 56:29
  So that so that's our tease for this time.
• 56:32
  But uh thank you for joining me, Anthony.
• 56:34
  I love you dearly.
• 56:35
  I love you more.
• 56:36
  And I'll see you.
• 56:37
  Uh I'll see you down in the uh down at Anacostia, down in DC somewhere soon.
• 56:43
  All right.
• 56:43
  Somewhere soon.
• 56:44
  All right.
• 56:44
  God bless you.
• 56:45
  I love you too.
• 56:46
  Take care.
• 56:47
  Bye-bye.