Latest / INSPIRE STORY / How to Believe in Your Own Potential

Transcript

How to Believe in Your Own Potential · INSPIRE STORY

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Being able to show a weakness of vulnerability is a
• 0:02
  strength and that is something that he learns and that
• 0:05
  is something that we too when we were, you know, starring,
• 0:08
  Because when you're Morocca, you're very like much your culture.
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: You're man. You know. After if you keep this.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Like in the kind of cocoon or on that thing
• 0:18
  and you don't let it go, basically you break yourself.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: You crash.
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: Hey everyone, welcome back to On Purpose, the number one
• 0:30
  health podcast in the world. Well, we get to dissect
• 0:34
  stories of people who are living with purpose, people who
• 0:37
  are living with meaning, people who are living an incredible
• 0:40
  life based on their passion and transforming lives and the
• 0:44
  world through it. Now, today's guests, if you haven't heard
• 0:47
  about them, I am so excited for you to learn
• 0:50
  about them. Not only are they listeners of the podcast,
• 0:53
  they're dear friends of mine and they've made an effort
• 0:55
  to be here in between their crazy schedule of what
• 0:59
  they've been up to. So I want to tell you
• 1:00
  a bit about our two incredible guests today and here
• 1:03
  I go. So Adil l Arbi and Bilalfalla are the
• 1:06
  newest set of Big Budgets studio directors. You will want
• 1:09
  to keep tabs on Moroccans by way of Belgium. They
• 1:13
  partnered in film school and are known for writing and
• 1:16
  directing the feature films Image twenty fourteen, Black twenty fifteen
• 1:21
  and Patsa twenty eighteen. And they are the directors of
• 1:25
  the smash hit Bad Boys for Life. If you've not
• 1:28
  seen it, make sure you go check it out. I
• 1:30
  saw it twice in the week that had dropped, starring,
• 1:32
  of course, the one and only Will Smith and the
• 1:35
  awesome Martin Lawrence l Arbi says, our movies are for
• 1:39
  a generation who doesn't have dreams. We want to give
• 1:43
  them a voice. I can't wait to hear their voices today.
• 1:47
  Welcome to the show, Adel and Belal.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: It's so good at you, Ballo.
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: I was so excited for your guys' energy to come
• 1:55
  to the podcast because I remember the first time we
• 1:56
  went out for dinner, and then when we hung out
• 1:59
  together and then back at the premiere as well. I mean,
• 2:02
  you guys just you literally oose authenticity, like you just
• 2:06
  have that energy and vibe like whenever I'm with you,
• 2:08
  I feel like you're being totally yourself. You're just super
• 2:11
  down to earth, You're super grounded and despite all your
• 2:14
  amazing success that you're having, you're just good human beings.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: Man.
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  Speaker 2: So thanks man it there's a lot that it comes
• 2:19
  from you. Yeah, I mean, I mean it's such a
• 2:22
  big one up to be Yeah, and a privilege.
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  Speaker 3: Well, no, I'm excited to dive into your stories today.
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  You've got a phenomenal story and I think anyone who's
• 2:30
  listening and watching today this is one of those stories
• 2:32
  that's going to make you dream again.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: It's one of those stories that helps.
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  Speaker 3: You realize the value of hard work and the value
• 2:38
  of what it takes to really chase your dreams. And
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  I think both of you embody that. So let's dive
• 2:42
  straight into it, and I want you to talk about
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  the first thing is I want you to tell me
• 2:45
  about funny memory that you two shared at film school
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  when you met in Saint Lucas.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: Well.
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  Speaker 1: You know, Saint Lucas and Brussels was a very artistic
• 2:53
  school and it was actually full of white people and
• 2:55
  we're Moroccos and really yeah, and you know, I was
• 3:03
  very shy and not really sociable, and I didn't talk
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  a lot, and I also didn't know how to dress well,
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  so I was like in my corner, and then came
• 3:11
  somebody that was really loud.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: I wasn't I wasn't that loud, but yeah, but it was.
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  It was.
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  Speaker 1: It was like the fresh Prince came in, Fresh Prince
• 3:19
  of Brussels, Bill Fall, who was talking to everybody.
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  Speaker 2: Uh, And I was like, who's this loud guy?
• 3:26
  Speaker 4: Yeah?
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  Speaker 5: And but I was like, I only saw like white people.
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  I was like, what what what? What's what's going on?
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  And in the corner I saw a deal and I'm like,
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  is that a Morocco?
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  Speaker 2: Is that a Morocco? So I went to him and said, yo,
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  you Morocco.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: That was a yeah. And then we became brothers. Yo,
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  we formed a gang right away. Then.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's amazing. How old are you guys? Then?
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  Speaker 3: I was eighteen then, so it's been like fourteen years. Yeah,
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  roughly being friends exactly. That's a real friendship.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: Man, it's amazing. It's amazing that.
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  Speaker 3: Did you ever imagine then when you guys were eighteen,
• 4:02
  you're at film school you both see each other two moroccerts, like,
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  did you ever imagine that you would make movies together?
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  Speaker 2: One day? Well? Yeah, I was always thought I was
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  going to be a lonely filmmaker. Yeah, and I was.
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  Speaker 5: I thought I was gonna be like a dictator my
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  first movies, I was like handling the own camera. My
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  I did everything myself because I couldn't like give it
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  to somebody else.
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  Speaker 2: So, yeah, you have feel like your own vision like that,
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  you know.
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  Speaker 1: But but when we became friends, we were helping each
• 4:30
  other out with movies, and step by stead we realized
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  that we had the same ideas, the same vision. Also,
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  when we would read like a script or a story,
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  we in our heads. I would explain to him how
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  I see it visually and how got together with what
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  kind of music, and instead I.
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  Speaker 2: Got the same thing. Yeah, it was like super free.
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  Yeah it was.
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  Speaker 5: I It's it's really phenomenal to have a feeling like that,
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  like see somebody seeing the same thing.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that's that's like it's scary at first, Yah, scary.
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  Speaker 5: And first of all, I was thinking what the fuck,
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  you know, like I gotta up beat this guy.
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  Speaker 2: In the beginning, you're thinking, like, is this person just
• 5:08
  agreeing with everything? That's amazing. That's that's very rare.
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  Speaker 3: By the way, I just wanted to say, and I'm
• 5:13
  saying this to everyone watching, this is the first time
• 5:15
  that we've ever done a double guest and you history. Yeah,
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  this is historic for the podcast and you've already raised
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  the bar the chemistry here right now. Now next time
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  we have double guests, it's gonna be hard work to
• 5:28
  beat you guys. But how did you what did you
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  learn about yourselves and each other in developing that collaboration,
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  Because I feel like when you're eighteen, we have this
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  childlike collaboration of like, oh, we'd love to work together,
• 5:39
  it'll be cool. But now that you're actually doing it
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  as adults and you've made multiple movies together, it'said what
• 5:45
  have you learned about collaboration and working together in the process.
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  Speaker 5: Well being collaborating Because I was like a dictorate theater
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  and I wanted then nobody can touch it. I learned
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  to like listen to all the ideas and be open
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  and absorb everything. So but I was I was like
• 6:04
  everything yeah, perfectionists, and and he learned me mostly of
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  you have to let it go sometimes, let it lose els.
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  I would be working for everyone on one thing.
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  Speaker 2: And for me, I was the country.
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  Speaker 1: I was at that time really happy too fast, like
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  that's good enough, not to put too much effort.
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  Speaker 2: It is good.
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  Speaker 1: Nobody's going to see all the mistakes, is good. And
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  he was like, no, man, you got to pay attention
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  to the details. So his crazy perfectionism and my lazy
• 6:31
  nonchalance just let it happen. That that combination made it
• 6:36
  work like a very good balance.
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  Speaker 2: You know.
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  Speaker 3: It's so good hearing that because I think there's so
• 6:40
  many people who are listening and watching right now and
• 6:42
  they're either trying to do everything on their own or
• 6:45
  I know a lot of people who just say to me, jy,
• 6:46
  I need to be in a team, like I need
• 6:48
  to work with people around me in energy. And it's
• 6:50
  fun to see how both of you actually thought you
• 6:52
  were independent, but you found your complimentary skills. And that's
• 6:56
  really good to hear. Man, I love hearing.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, team work is like central in everything we do.
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  It's it's actually the most important thing. If we start
• 7:04
  a project, then it's just like a family, like a team,
• 7:07
  and yeah, and bring the best out of everyone to
• 7:09
  bring the best project.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: Because we're making movies, it is like you're in a
• 7:13
  in a football team.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Basically, you gotta you gotta have your all your awesome players.
• 7:17
  You know, like the Red Devils fans.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: Well, I'm we're a Tottenham fan because yeah, I know
• 7:23
  you're yeah Tottenham, because you know.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: My buddies.
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: Well we we used to Laney, Yeahchester.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: City man, we had to look after at one point. Well,
• 7:35
  the Premier League is practically the Belgian League. It is exactly, exactly. Yeah,
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  I got the interviews.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, you've got an amazing team.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: But okay, move away from football. We'll get back to
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  more serious stuff. But it's interesting.
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  Speaker 3: I don't know if you read Bobbie's book, So in
• 7:53
  Bubbay his book, he talks about how like at one point,
• 7:57
  Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, George Lucas they would all get
• 8:01
  together and watch each other's movies and give each other feedback.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Like it's amazing to hear that. Like, I mean,
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  do you feel that.
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  Speaker 3: Now that you're in LA and you're spending more time here,
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  Like who do you guys go to for mentorship and
• 8:14
  feedback and who are you learning from?
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  Speaker 1: Well, you know obviously working with Will and you know
• 8:19
  that's that's like for us, that's like a mentor. You know,
• 8:21
  you grew up with him as an actor, but also
• 8:24
  a great filmmaker with so many ideas and being with
• 8:27
  Jerry Bruckheimer, you know, the iconic producer, one of the
• 8:31
  most famous producers in the world. So that those people
• 8:33
  that we work with that was already like our first circle.
• 8:37
  But now that we're here, there's so many directors that
• 8:39
  would love to meet that that that we we are
• 8:41
  big fans of Scarcese if we could meet him one day,
• 8:45
  or Tarantino or you know film but also newer generations.
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  You know if even results hears us or Barry Jenkins
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  would love to be your boys.
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  Speaker 2: So this we did that.
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  Speaker 1: In Belgium, but there's also a new generation of filmmakers
• 8:58
  that are starting to break out, also international in television
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  and and we're all friends and we all watch this
• 9:04
  other stuff and it's great to see that we're basically
• 9:06
  all coming together in Hollywood now.
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  Speaker 2: So on the Belgium front, you'll we already have that. Yeah, okay,
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  this is awesome.
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  Speaker 3: Before before we dive into the main part of what
• 9:14
  I want to talk about today, I want to hear
• 9:16
  the one thing that annoys you the most about the
• 9:19
  other person one and and the one thing that you.
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  Speaker 2: Love about the other person. We start with the annoying, annoying.
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  Speaker 1: But there's a lot of things. Yeah, there's a lot
• 9:28
  of things. Yeah, yeah, I know it's difficult to choose one.
• 9:30
  But you know, I mean there's like a small thing
• 9:33
  is you know, it's for some reason you always like
• 9:36
  like slurps, I mean like you know, sucks on his food,
• 9:39
  even when it's not a soup.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, and he always like like when he eats with
• 9:44
  his mouth open and and that sound is so annoying.
• 9:47
  It is like it's like there's only one sound and
• 9:49
  there's a So that makes me nervous.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: That's really sorry that you can't eat together. No, it's difficult.
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  I mean you don't just you're in your zone. We
• 9:59
  do a headset and don't talk to each other. You know.
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  So that's what about love? What do you guys love
• 10:03
  about each other?
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: Well, one of the things that that could annoy me
• 10:06
  but actually is awesome is the fact that he's besides
• 10:09
  the movie or where his perfection is, is really like
• 10:12
  let live and let live really like, you know, he's
• 10:17
  a good guy.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: He's really chill.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: He's really sometimes you know, I get worked out and
• 10:22
  talk about the small thing. I talk to him and say,
• 10:24
  you know, I'm so angry, and he's like, come on, man,
• 10:27
  just take it easy, be grateful, big chill, don't worry
• 10:31
  about it.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: And I'm like, I wish I was like you, but
• 10:33
  it calms me down, you know.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: And the fact that he's really very calm and and
• 10:38
  chill and serene.
• 10:39
  Speaker 5: Well, the funny thing is I like when actually when
• 10:42
  you're mad, because then you then then he has his
• 10:45
  driving force that that takes me gives me a lot
• 10:48
  of power to to to go and and that mad
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  or when you're mad, you put it always in in.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: Work, positive chanalyze it in some positive thing, in positive energy,
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  you know. So so that's that's why it's good that
• 11:01
  we have this dynamic thing because it's you know, he's
• 11:04
  when I'm.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: Too mistressed out. Yeah, he's like the thin master you know,
• 11:08
  and the energy booster.
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: Well, no, it's good.
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: You can tell that you guys are great friends man,
• 11:13
  and and I want to dive into it now. We
• 11:15
  want to talk about serious filmmaking stuff because you guys
• 11:18
  are incredible filmmakers, your innovative. You know, when I when
• 11:21
  I saw Bad Boys for Life, and I remember you
• 11:23
  sent me your Beldroom movies too, which i'd seen, so
• 11:26
  when I when I watched them, I was blown away
• 11:29
  by Whenever you see sequels being made now of movies,
• 11:33
  it's always quite. It gets harder and harder and harder. Yeah,
• 11:36
  and usually the quality of the movie goes lower and
• 11:39
  lower and lower and lower.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: And obviously I knew you guys before I watched the movie,
• 11:43
  and so my hope was that you were going to
• 11:45
  bring something amazing to it, and you did, Like I
• 11:48
  think everyone who watched it genuinely believed that the storytelling
• 11:51
  was incredible, The videography was awesome, like it was fresh,
• 11:55
  it was new, but it's still kept the same like
• 11:58
  roots and grounding of what we all grew up watching
• 12:00
  Bad Boys. But let's let's tell me that journey, and
• 12:02
  we do the bad word journey. Then we'll go backwards
• 12:04
  on everything you did in Belgium. Tell me the journey
• 12:07
  of YouTube, being at film school together watching things like
• 12:10
  Fresh Prints growing up and Martin after school, and then
• 12:15
  you get this call that changes your life, that brings
• 12:17
  you into this world. Like, tell us about that journey.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah for us.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: When you're in an art school, mostly they train you
• 12:24
  to make a very outur cinema, which is good, it's
• 12:27
  a good things, but it's mostly like art house movies
• 12:29
  and movies that you go to film festivals and stuff
• 12:32
  like that. So Hollywood is not really a good word there.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: The Hollywood is like, now you're not in the right school,
• 12:37
  you know. Hollywood's not cool. No, it's not not cool
• 12:40
  at all, you know.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: And we as you know, we would secretly say like
• 12:46
  like actual movies.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: It's like yeah, yeah, yeah, you're like Jay Brooky movies.
• 12:49
  Yeah yeah, you're like Bad Boys yeah yeah yeah.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: If one day, if they don't make it, when when
• 12:54
  are they going to make a third Bad Boys movie?
• 12:56
  That was what we were starting to say. And at
• 12:58
  film school, Yeah, year after year we say, they don't
• 13:01
  make a Bad Boys movie, We're gonna make that, because
• 13:04
  back then we were one hundred percent show we're gonna
• 13:05
  do film school. And then we go we make one
• 13:08
  Movee in Belgium right away in Hollywood and we make
• 13:10
  Bad Boys three. So that was all the time. The
• 13:12
  thing that we would talk about is Bad Boys three.
• 13:15
  Specif we were.
• 13:16
  Speaker 5: Even saying that we were like the bad boys of
• 13:17
  cinema back then, Like we related so much to Mike
• 13:21
  and Marcus.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: So we were always here.
• 13:23
  Speaker 5: Wow, have a little bit of mikey me, but also Marcus.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: It depends, you know, sometimes sometimes I'm Mike, I'm mostly Marcus.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: But everyone want to be bad, but everybody wants to
• 13:35
  be like Mike. Yeah, everybody's mostly Marcus. Yeah, funny and
• 13:39
  sweet and warm. And tell us about that process.
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: Then, So you've had this dream, you're talking about it,
• 13:46
  you're thinking about which which. When you first told me that,
• 13:49
  that blew my mind because I was just like, it's
• 13:51
  so cool when you've talked about something and it's not
• 13:55
  like it's not like it's it's quite a rare thing
• 13:57
  to pull off. It's like, first of all, they're going
• 13:59
  to be ready to make another movie. Second, well you've
• 14:01
  got to be the guys who get picked. Tell us
• 14:03
  about the process of being picked, chosen, selected, getting the
• 14:07
  getting the job.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: How did it work?
• 14:09
  Speaker 5: I just wanted to tell another little story. So when
• 14:13
  I was twelve years old, I grew up. I was
• 14:16
  like small, and then I grew really tall and I
• 14:18
  became really skinny, and at school I was like a
• 14:21
  nerd and everybody left with me.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: So I was like a.
• 14:24
  Speaker 5: Big nerd and after school I always saw the fresh
• 14:27
  Prince of bel Air and the fresh Prince of bel Air.
• 14:29
  I started to think, like, I have to be like
• 14:30
  that guy, you know, I have to be like open
• 14:32
  and and just like so because of fresh Prince, I started.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: To think like I can be of movie maker. I
• 14:39
  can't do this, I can be cool.
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: Be cool and Yeah, basically because he was silly billy
• 14:45
  like sill Reilly.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and Will Smith saved his life.
• 14:48
  Speaker 5: Yeah, Basically because of him, I started to open my
• 14:50
  mind to whatever I can't be, whatever I want to
• 14:54
  and to have to make a movie, first Hollywood movie
• 14:57
  with Will Smith.
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: It's just like, yeah, bigger than life and it basically
• 15:01
  it all started when we met each other.
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: There was a book which was called Black, which was
• 15:05
  about gangs in Brussels, and it was a Romeo and
• 15:08
  Juliet story between a Congolese girl, fifteen year old girl
• 15:10
  that falls in love with the Moroccan guy from a
• 15:12
  rival gang. And it was a very hard, very shocking
• 15:16
  story based on true events. And when we read that
• 15:19
  book right away we knew, Okay, this is going to
• 15:22
  be our do the right thing, our Latin our you
• 15:26
  know mean streets. This is this movie, this movie is
• 15:28
  gonna be our ticket to Hollywood no matter what. But
• 15:30
  we were in the first year of film school and
• 15:32
  we had flunked that first year we read the book,
• 15:34
  so it was like four years ago as a students,
• 15:37
  so we were like, Okay, we need to make this movie,
• 15:39
  but any means necessary, because this is going to be
• 15:42
  the one that's going to bring us to Hollywood.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: And then once in Hollywood, we're going to ask for
• 15:45
  Bad Boys Trees. That was like, yeah, the ticket that
• 15:47
  was planning. Yeah, it was really like that, and they
• 15:50
  were going they were already planning.
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: To make a movie out of that, so we will think, well, yeah,
• 15:55
  in Beltium, game over. And we were still students, so
• 15:57
  we're year after the year we started to make better
• 16:00
  oat movies and every short movie was basically a sort
• 16:02
  of adaptation of that book up until we start to
• 16:05
  win a lot of prizes with a movie that's what's
• 16:07
  called Brothers, and then we got the opportunity out of
• 16:10
  nowhere to direct the adaptation of that book Black and
• 16:15
  that's what we did, and we did.
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: We did this movie.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: It came out in twenty fifteen and he blew up
• 16:19
  in Toronto Film Festival. It won a prize there and
• 16:23
  that's our doors of Hollywood opened right away. And the
• 16:25
  first producer to see the movie was, by a chance
• 16:29
  of god, Jerry Brookheimer. And where we thought it worked,
• 16:34
  this movie has been seen by him his eyes. And
• 16:36
  then they said, Will Smith also watched you movies like
• 16:39
  the eyeballs of Will mid Is on our stuff. And
• 16:43
  that's where we got a meeting to meet Jerry brookhim.
• 16:45
  Speaker 5: Like one of the first meetings in Hollywood was at
• 16:48
  Jerry Brookhems.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: It was twenty fifteen. And then and then they said,
• 16:52
  what do you want to do guys?
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: Bad Boys three? And no it's not available direct.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: Another direct, which is the same situation as with Black
• 17:00
  But we were like, oh, you're gonna fill that project
• 17:03
  somehow and uh and year after year, you know, we
• 17:07
  were always like, you know, chasing it, and eventually the director,
• 17:10
  great guy, Joe Carnahan, he dropped out of the project
• 17:14
  and then Bad Boys all of a sudden in the mail.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: Box the script of Bad Boys, and like it's.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: Real and the fact that you know, when we were
• 17:23
  like nineteen, it was we really wanted it, but he
• 17:26
  was a dream and.
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: We never thought it was really going to happen.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: Because when you say, yeah, we're gonna adapt that book
• 17:32
  and then that's gonna go to Hollywood and then we'll
• 17:34
  was gonna see the movie and then he's gonna give
• 17:35
  us Bad Boys.
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: Three we say that as nineteen year olds. It's just yeah.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: We said a lot of stuff, a lot of stuff,
• 17:41
  and when it really happens, Like so at.
• 17:44
  Speaker 5: The point when we got Bad Boys for Live the
• 17:46
  script in our in our mailbox, we were preparing a
• 17:49
  Belgian movie or the international titles Gangster, and we were like.
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: Two weeks or three weeks from the shoots. So Jerry said,
• 17:57
  are you available to make Bad Boys? And then it no,
• 18:02
  and we turned it down and he turned it down.
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: Know that it was most difficult though, ever, because you
• 18:07
  were already signed up.
• 18:09
  Speaker 5: Yeah, Like the whole crew was all the actors, and
• 18:12
  it wasn't that yeah.
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: And I could never imagine I could say no to Yeah.
• 18:17
  I never believed that.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: We read yeah, like I can't believe we're going to
• 18:20
  say no to Bad Boss for Life, to Will Smith,
• 18:24
  to Jair broke Out, to Martin Lawrence. And we did
• 18:26
  that and it was just that's just life, man, It's
• 18:29
  just if it was not written for us.
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: It was not written for us.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: And eventually in twenty eighteen he came back like, hey,
• 18:35
  we're gonna do it again.
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: And then then we said.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, now we're available, and that's that's how it
• 18:40
  all happens.
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: It's amazing, it was, it was meant to be. That's incredible.
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: Tell me about what it was when you read the
• 18:46
  book Black and you thought this needs to be a movie, Like.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: What was it about the story?
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: What was it that connected with both of you that
• 18:53
  you felt so confident that that was going to be
• 18:56
  your ticket. Yeah, into the directing world.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: Well, for us.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: Because we were from Moroccan origin, Moroccans in Belgium, it's
• 19:03
  sometimes toff.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: You know, there's there is racism, there is poverty.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: Among the Moroccan community, there's a lot of also, there's crime,
• 19:10
  there is you know, there's a stigma.
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: So so there were no really public.
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: Figure or filmmakers or actors that were that looked like us.
• 19:17
  You know, everybody was white basically, and also the movie
• 19:20
  world as well in the TV world. So that's why
• 19:22
  film school will the only twos And you read that
• 19:25
  book and you just know, okay, there's never been a
• 19:28
  story told like that. In Belgium, these stories aren't told
• 19:32
  and tell us about the story. Yeah, the story it was,
• 19:35
  you know, it was about this this this African and
• 19:38
  Arab community in those poor neighborhoods that we really know
• 19:41
  because it's close to us. It's close to our friends,
• 19:44
  to our families, and even like at school when we made.
• 19:46
  Speaker 5: Short movies, it was like in that world. Yea, So
• 19:49
  it was we were making all these little stories in
• 19:51
  that world, and this book is telling.
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: And actually you heard about the real story of this
• 19:57
  girl that that basically, when a girl is in a
• 19:59
  gain like that in Belgium, she's just an object.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: You know, She's.
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: Forced to have sex with everybody of that gang. And
• 20:06
  it's a very harsh, hard reality that nobody really talked about,
• 20:10
  and nobody wanted to see that because all the victims
• 20:13
  are gang members, even though they're just fifteen, sixteen years old,
• 20:17
  And we felt compelled to really tell the story because
• 20:21
  it's a reality and these are victims. They are also
• 20:26
  their stories are worth being told to the world.
• 20:29
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and those stories were, like it was in the newspapers,
• 20:33
  just one line. Nobody talked about all that violence that
• 20:36
  was happening in that world, so it is and because
• 20:41
  all these victims are from that world and it's not
• 20:43
  like they don't care.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: They don't care.
• 20:44
  Speaker 5: So having this story and telling this story from a
• 20:47
  black girl's perspective was just we felt like this story
• 20:51
  has to be told.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: And at the same time, the casting there was all
• 20:55
  the actors never played in a movie before because in
• 20:58
  acting schools or in the casting agencies you.
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: Didn't have the diversity.
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: And and we needed to find them on the streets
• 21:05
  and and and there were some singers, some rappers that
• 21:07
  eventually got the part and for the first time they
• 21:10
  you know, people could go to the cinema and watch
• 21:13
  the diversity on the screen reflected.
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: I'm just gonna explain more about that a process.
• 21:20
  Speaker 5: While I was at school, I saw this movie City
• 21:22
  of God and You and I saw like everything about
• 21:26
  them the making off and all these actors were from
• 21:28
  the favelas. So I had just this personal connection with
• 21:33
  that movie because it was like, uh, you don't see
• 21:37
  the Moroccans or black on on on the on the
• 21:39
  TV screen.
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: So we were forced to.
• 21:42
  Speaker 5: Yeah, to find actors that or people that never acted.
• 21:46
  And this project, this movie was exactly like the City
• 21:48
  of God, we had to like search on the streets,
• 21:51
  and we knew there is such a big pool of
• 21:53
  talent that nobody saw. So we did like three four
• 21:57
  months of six months of intensive casting on the street.
• 21:59
  We went everywhere I came for every actor. I can
• 22:02
  tell you an amazing story. And also nobody believe like
• 22:04
  really we're gonna play in a movie because it seems
• 22:07
  something so inaccessible to them.
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and and yeah, then we professionalize them they played
• 22:13
  in the movie.
• 22:14
  Speaker 5: But the thing is like for each role, there were
• 22:16
  like so many good options. Yeah, there was like a
• 22:19
  over too much talent, so it was really difficult to
• 22:22
  find the best of the best. So what we did
• 22:25
  at that point, because after we had all the actors,
• 22:28
  there was so much other talent, we said, we have
• 22:30
  to start this our own casting agency and put them
• 22:34
  you know, giving them the opportunity to do other Yeah, uh,
• 22:38
  you know.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: Give the chance because you know the thing is that
• 22:42
  these actors that never thought that would play in a
• 22:43
  movie before, Well, Will Smith saw their performance, and people
• 22:48
  at Jennifer Lawrence saw their performance, and Margot Rocky and they're.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: Big fans of them.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: And who can say that, you know that the biggest
• 22:54
  stars in the world were in awe of their performance,
• 22:57
  people that were just on the streets, never thinking it
• 23:00
  would be part of the movie industry. And that that
• 23:03
  caused like that new generation of of dreamers. Basically, now
• 23:07
  now you have these guys, girls and guys in those
• 23:10
  neighborhoods of different origins that believe that, okay, you can
• 23:13
  be an actor or even a director or even a screenwriter.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: And that was very important to us.
• 23:17
  Speaker 5: Another filmmaker that was like a big inspiration I was
• 23:20
  Spike Lee. Uh And he was like one of the
• 23:23
  first big black directors, and and he all these actors
• 23:28
  like Denzel Washington and and Morgan uh was Snipes and
• 23:34
  even even Martin Lawrence. He brought them to the big screen.
• 23:38
  And when I was young, I saw saw you know,
• 23:41
  Spike Lee was such an inspiration.
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: I was thinking, like.
• 23:43
  Speaker 5: One day that's how we basically and then with Black
• 23:48
  we we had the opportunity to do that.
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: There's so many beautiful messages in your in your lives,
• 23:54
  whether you guys see them or not, Like there's so
• 23:57
  many beautiful ones. Like first we're just having a vision,
• 24:00
  a dream, a plan, Like it wasn't just like, oh,
• 24:03
  we want to do this. It's like you had a plan.
• 24:04
  You're like, we're gonna do this, and this is gonna happen,
• 24:06
  and this, you know, it's like you had a plan
• 24:07
  and you do envisioned it and you'd seen it become true,
• 24:10
  whether you believed it or not at the time it
• 24:11
  was there. And then the fact that you're both so purposeful.
• 24:14
  When I hear you talk about this, it's not like
• 24:17
  a strategy or a technique or like trend. It's like,
• 24:20
  you guys really care about telling these stories, Like you
• 24:23
  really believe in the fact that there are these people
• 24:26
  with no voices, there are these people that are marginalized
• 24:29
  and you know, not really understood, and you genuinely believe
• 24:32
  that they deserve a voice exactly. And to hear you
• 24:35
  both do that so purposefully is amazing. Tell me about
• 24:37
  you said there's loads. Tell me about just one of
• 24:39
  the stories one of the actors that just blows your mind,
• 24:42
  or one of the actresses that you worked with that
• 24:44
  you're just like, this person can't believe it because.
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: I know what you're saying.
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: That if someone came up to you on the street,
• 24:49
  especially in those streets, and said, oh, do you want
• 24:52
  to act in my movie. You just laugh at them,
• 24:54
  right exactly, And so tell us about some of those
• 24:56
  fast just one, Yeah, a couple of couple.
• 24:58
  Speaker 5: Well, one of the stories, like the Leader of the
• 25:00
  Black Gang, his character's X and when I had a
• 25:05
  phase in my head, you know, every time I read something,
• 25:08
  I see a face and I was just, you know,
• 25:11
  outside of the place where we're doing the casting, I
• 25:14
  was just smoking my cigarette outside and I saw a
• 25:17
  guy pass with that face, and I was like.
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: This is not true.
• 25:23
  Speaker 5: And he stopped and he looked at the paper casting black.
• 25:27
  He looked at it and he wanted to move on, and.
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: I said, wait, stop. I said, come over here.
• 25:32
  Speaker 5: You can do a casting right now. He said, no, no,
• 25:34
  I have to go to my work. I have to
• 25:36
  like go in five minutes. I said, no, no, just
• 25:38
  come inside just five minutes and then you can.
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: But I'm going to be too late. I said, come on.
• 25:42
  Speaker 5: So he went inside and he got one of the
• 25:44
  biggest roles of the movie.
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, we were.
• 25:48
  Speaker 5: Like searching for months, and every time I saw the
• 25:51
  actors playing this character, they were always like yelling, yelling.
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: It's a violent character, yelling.
• 25:56
  Speaker 5: And he was the only one that like was super
• 26:00
  quiet when he told and it was so dangerous.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: The thing is that the character in the movie is
• 26:06
  like an ex child soldiers, because a lot of leaders
• 26:09
  in those gangs are excelled soldiers, and our actor he
• 26:12
  was not a child soldier, but he lived the civil
• 26:15
  war in Burundi, Sow. So the scenes that we shot
• 26:18
  with him where he's looking at at you.
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: Know, civil Wars footage.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: On the TV screen, he felt that he understood completely character.
• 26:27
  He was very close to the real character, you know.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: So what a coincidence. It was like a sign and
• 26:32
  another story.
• 26:32
  Speaker 5: I was just you know, just in the center of Brussels,
• 26:35
  even my bread, and there were and this there is
• 26:39
  this character is like a white guy, but he wants
• 26:41
  to be like a Moroccan, you know, street he wants
• 26:43
  to be like he wants to be the most Moroccan of.
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: The gang, but he's a white guy.
• 26:47
  Speaker 5: And I was just either my my bread and we
• 26:49
  were searching also a months for that character, and there
• 26:52
  was this guy next to me with his two friends,
• 26:54
  and he was like talking, he was like like the character,
• 26:58
  and I said to him and he was talking about
• 27:00
  this girl on the other side of the street, and
• 27:03
  I said to him, tried to get his her number.
• 27:06
  He said, no problem, man, I'm going to get a number.
• 27:09
  He went there, tried to get his number, tried to
• 27:11
  get her number. He came back and I said, you
• 27:13
  got a number. He said no, he said, but next
• 27:17
  time another girl. I said, okay, you must be an actor.
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and he got the part.
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: So it was crazy to see these characters, you know,
• 27:24
  alive here and they eventually played in the movie.
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: And also.
• 27:29
  Speaker 5: The stories about this black girl, and we were the
• 27:33
  character that plays the main black girl. She was the
• 27:37
  only one from the whole casting that found her. Only
• 27:40
  her way to us. Yeah, we didn't search as she
• 27:42
  came to us. She was a fan of the book,
• 27:45
  huge fan of the book.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: And then it is because of that that she eventually
• 27:49
  went to the casting because she was such a you know,
• 27:51
  she loved the character ever since. You know, she she
• 27:53
  was as a young girl read it and and always
• 27:56
  thought that one day the should be a movie about
• 27:58
  that book. And that's how she became the main actress
• 28:00
  of the movie. And now she's you know, she's she's
• 28:02
  playing in other movies. And I can tell you a
• 28:05
  story about each character.
• 28:08
  Speaker 3: Your guys, stories literally sound like magic when you're literally
• 28:13
  because when you're like, oh, this girl, she loved this
• 28:15
  book and she wanted to you know it just it's
• 28:18
  so beautiful to hear it, like it really is, like
• 28:20
  it sounds like you listen to music speaking to you guys,
• 28:22
  talk about it because it's it's like it is just
• 28:25
  the imagination of what happens when you dream. But tell me,
• 28:28
  tell all of us about the days when it didn't
• 28:31
  feel like magic.
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, Well tell us.
• 28:33
  Speaker 3: About the days when like you were starting out and
• 28:36
  and you want the magic like this, this magic wasn't there,
• 28:39
  like there was time and money was low, or when
• 28:42
  the production budgets were too low and you're sitting there,
• 28:44
  I mean we've talked about it. You're sitting in there
• 28:45
  editing for hours and you're stressing out. Tell us about,
• 28:48
  like what kept you committed to your dreams? Well, it's
• 28:52
  when when, yeah, when there wasn't a feeling of magic.
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah. The thing is that it's it's you got a
• 28:57
  lot of fear.
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: You know, you got a lot of because there's no
• 29:01
  guarantee the dreams you dream so big and it's so unbelievable.
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: It's like, now you why would.
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: We be with Will Smith making a movie and Montin Lawrence.
• 29:10
  I mean, that's for special people, it's for big stars,
• 29:13
  you know, especially that you don't have an example of
• 29:16
  people like us from Belgium at at a young age,
• 29:18
  so there was no precedent to it.
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: And we had no money and our family are really poor.
• 29:24
  Speaker 5: And my family was okay, but you know when you
• 29:26
  start to study, yeah, you live on your own, no money.
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: No money, and my family was really poor and they
• 29:32
  didn't have any money. And movies is basically a job
• 29:36
  for either the super rich because you got mom and
• 29:38
  dad giving you know, it's funding your hobby, or for
• 29:41
  the super poor because you ain't gonna get any money
• 29:43
  for years. And it's not something that you cannot do
• 29:47
  that on the side, you gotta do all the way,
• 29:49
  go all the way for movies. If that's really your passion,
• 29:52
  your dream, Yeah, you got to spend all your time
• 29:55
  in it, which means that you don't spend your time
• 29:57
  earning money. And and you know it would that was that,
• 30:01
  but it was also the thing that would make us survive.
• 30:03
  It's like when you say it was our purpose, you
• 30:06
  know it was really the thing.
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: Okay, we're in a difficult situation. It sucks.
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: I'm sleeping at his place, which is the place of
• 30:15
  his parents, almost somewhere in the attic, you know, on
• 30:19
  a mattress on the ground. But at least we are filmmakers,
• 30:23
  you know, and you know that one day.
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: We're gonna laugh about this. We're gonna laugh about this.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: Now is a struggle, and and it's that dream and
• 30:32
  that passion and and that that makes you feel alive,
• 30:35
  that keeps you going no matter how hard the struggle is.
• 30:38
  And when we speak to young people, to students, when
• 30:40
  they ask us, you know, what's your advice? Our advice
• 30:42
  always or we say, you're gonna you're gonna fall flat
• 30:46
  on your face and ground.
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: It's gonna hurt, but you gotta get up and continue.
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: Just just don't be surprised when it's gonna hurt, and
• 30:54
  it's gonna hurt a lot, but all of that's gonna
• 30:56
  make you stronger. And and through all the struggles, through
• 31:00
  all the you know, the heartbreaks and the pain and
• 31:03
  all that. That's why when people say, hey, how does
• 31:06
  it feel now that you made Bad Boys and it's
• 31:07
  a success, we always say we're relieved.
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: Me you can sink. You're happy. Of course you're happy.
• 31:13
  And we were like, we went, we went. It was
• 31:16
  a hell of a ride. It was dangerous, like an
• 31:18
  action movie.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: You thought you were going to die, and eventually you
• 31:22
  survived that ride. And and yeah, you know, making Bad
• 31:26
  Boys was the hardest year of our lives. It was
• 31:29
  maybe the worst year of my life. You know.
• 31:31
  Speaker 5: Everybody's like, oh, it was such a fun movie. It
• 31:34
  was probably also really fun to make it.
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: I think I went deep, man, I went really deep
• 31:40
  in darkness, in sadness. And I would ask, well, well,
• 31:45
  you know, it's like our dreams that come true. I
• 31:46
  didn't feel, you know, it was going to be a nightmare,
• 31:49
  so that and he said, it's always like that, a.
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: Big change, big achievements, and it's gone with a lot
• 31:55
  of pain.
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: It's gonna hurt, and and you know it's well said that.
• 31:59
  It's like, you know, on a mountain really now, fast
• 32:01
  and high and you cannot breathe because you know there's
• 32:04
  not a lot of oxygen and you're like panicking, and
• 32:08
  the thing is you want to go down quickly. But
• 32:10
  he said, no, stay there, you stay on that level
• 32:13
  and get used to it, and starts to breathe, no panic,
• 32:17
  And after a while you get used to it and
• 32:19
  the pain and the heartbreak and that dows.
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: They go away because like, oh yeah, okay, I'm getting
• 32:23
  used to it. And people around you.
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: Some people around you will be on the same level
• 32:27
  and also learn to adapt with you. But some other
• 32:31
  will like no, no, go down and pull you down.
• 32:33
  And they said, no, stay on that level. That's that's
• 32:36
  what Will said to me when I was really drained
• 32:38
  and I've been crying for an hour of on set,
• 32:41
  and said, whatever's going through your head, it's gonna be
• 32:43
  all right.
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: So they helps having him motivate you. And yeah, it
• 32:48
  was like a godsend.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: You know, there must be a sign something from the
• 32:51
  universe of God that from all the stars.
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: You could work with. It's him.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: It's motivational speaker, Will helping because he was some times
• 33:00
  you would have lunch meetings and I'll talk about the movie,
• 33:02
  but he would talk about life and how you know
• 33:04
  and how to heal yourself and and and as around
• 33:07
  that period that that I got to know you. You know,
• 33:09
  a person very dear to me talked about you and
• 33:14
  and she said, you know, you should listen to Jay
• 33:15
  shitty and and I was like that guy, and and like,
• 33:20
  you know, you just got to do your own stuff.
• 33:22
  Don't listen to all that that's things. And and then
• 33:24
  I'll start to listen to you. And it was like
• 33:26
  a like medicine. It was like whoa, what is that?
• 33:30
  It's like it's as if where were you all my life? Jay?
• 33:34
  I needed you all my life and it opened up
• 33:37
  a whole world to me of the the healing and
• 33:40
  and and and growing and and then on the spiritual level,
• 33:44
  you know, because I always thought when I when I.
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: Achieved something, and same for you. You achieve something and.
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: Then you're going to be happy, and then you'll be
• 33:50
  going to be good, like oh yeah, okay, we're struggling,
• 33:53
  we have no money, but one day we're going to
• 33:54
  make our first movie and then we're going to be fulfilled.
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: And then it doesn't happen. We make our movie, but
• 33:59
  you're not.
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: Fulfilled, and oh yeah, we're gonna make a better movie.
• 34:01
  And then all we're gonna go to Hollywood and then
• 34:03
  we're gonna make Bad Boys.
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: And when you make.
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: Bad Boys for life with those two stars and you're
• 34:07
  on the top of the game and still you're not happy.
• 34:11
  You crash and then you know you gotta find something else.
• 34:14
  You're gonna find something deeper, and listening to you.
• 34:17
  Speaker 5: It was it was so funny that a deal is
• 34:20
  like before you, before bad Boys, he was like totally
• 34:25
  not motivational. He didn't like all the quotes, he didn't
• 34:28
  like all those.
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: Meaning.
• 34:31
  Speaker 5: He was like, you got it every time I saw
• 34:35
  because I was like into it on Instagram and I
• 34:37
  started to like get into the podcast and I was
• 34:39
  like and all of a sudden, I see a deal
• 34:42
  like listening.
• 34:43
  Speaker 6: To you, to you, and I'm like listening to j. Well,
• 34:45
  for me, it was like I started listening to you.
• 34:47
  It kept the secrets. So when we met, I didn't
• 34:50
  tell her because some crazy you know.
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: And then when he saw the picture that that you
• 34:55
  and I took on Instagram, he said, you.
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: Know, Jay City, you're a fan too. It's you.
• 35:01
  Speaker 7: I was not telling him because I was going to
• 35:03
  my Yeah, and it's like, it's crazy that we talk
• 35:06
  about everything, but you were our secret.
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: That's Hilary, thanks for sharing that.
• 35:16
  Speaker 5: My spirituality because we're Muslims, it's also been a strong
• 35:21
  force throughout our uh, throughout the pain, and every time
• 35:24
  when you when you don't make it, you just accept
• 35:28
  the fact that God has a has a plan for you.
• 35:30
  And and that's something that I always hold on to, Like,
• 35:33
  you want to achieve the dream, but imagine I did
• 35:36
  everything I can.
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: That's the most important thing. At the end of my life.
• 35:38
  I have to know.
• 35:39
  Speaker 5: I have to talk to myself and say, you did
• 35:41
  everything for your dreams and if it didn't work out.
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: It's just is just the way. Yeah, and it's in
• 35:46
  And if you believe in that, you accept everything. You
• 35:49
  start to accept everything in God's hands or in the
• 35:52
  universe hands.
• 35:53
  Speaker 5: Yeah, whatever spirituality you have, it's I think it's important
• 35:56
  to to have in the journey to your dream.
• 35:59
  Speaker 3: And you that in so many incredible people's lives, their
• 36:02
  faith and belief in God or the universe was such
• 36:06
  a important thing for them. Look at the people that
• 36:09
  made the biggest changes in the world, they all had that.
• 36:12
  And so you can see how important it is for
• 36:15
  all of us in the way because you both the
• 36:18
  change makers, like your filmmakers, be your change makers, because
• 36:21
  you're trying to make films that change people's lives. You're
• 36:23
  not just trying to make films like a messages are
• 36:26
  so important. Tell us about so you talked about the
• 36:29
  advice that Will was giving you, which is beautiful to
• 36:31
  hear because I know the same like Will's world so philosophical.
• 36:34
  We had that conversation that we were together at like.
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: It was brilliant.
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: But it's like, tell us about the advice that you
• 36:42
  had to give Will and Martin. Tell us about that
• 36:44
  process of when you're sitting with like you know, like
• 36:48
  you respect these guys. I had to make that trailer
• 36:50
  with them, right like for me, you weren't there that day.
• 36:53
  I needed your help like I was when I got
• 36:55
  the call to be on that trailer. So it was
• 36:58
  it was the production company that Sony was working whatever,
• 37:00
  and they're like, we want you to be in this
• 37:01
  trailer and we want you to come in and we
• 37:03
  want you to be a life coach or a therapist
• 37:05
  for Will and Martin and it's kind of like couples therapy.
• 37:08
  And they were very respectful. They were like, you know,
• 37:11
  like we don't want to make coaching look bad or
• 37:13
  like are you And I was like no, this is great,
• 37:14
  it's fun. And you know, I was like holding the funking,
• 37:16
  this is amazing. I was so excited and and so
• 37:20
  I want to put that. I want to put that
• 37:21
  in the movie.
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: I know why.
• 37:24
  Speaker 3: And I was literally I was so nervous because you know,
• 37:27
  I'm like and I've spent time with Will before, but
• 37:29
  I was like, I was so nervous to like being
• 37:31
  an acting saying with him.
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: I was like, what do I know? Man? And so
• 37:34
  I went to acting class for four days in a row. Yeah,
• 37:38
  two did it really well, by the.
• 37:40
  Speaker 3: Way, I went every day into acting class because I
• 37:43
  was like, I can't go in there and not feel
• 37:45
  comfortable and confidence. And it's just like I went in
• 37:48
  there and I was like, Wow, this is gonna you know.
• 37:50
  It's it's when you've looked up the same with me.
• 37:52
  I grew up on Fresh Prints, my favorite show of
• 37:54
  all time. I'd watched a million times every episode, so
• 37:57
  I feel everything you guys are saying.
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: How hard is it to then go in there and have.
• 38:00
  Speaker 3: To give advice, give feedback, give direction as directors tell
• 38:04
  us about that.
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: Well, it's you know, I was seven years old when
• 38:07
  the first Bad Boys was made, and now you got
• 38:11
  to twenty five years later, you're there and you have
• 38:13
  Will Smith and Martin Lawrence play these characters who know everything,
• 38:17
  who know the industry, thirty years in the bis and
• 38:20
  thirty years that's our age.
• 38:22
  Speaker 2: And then we just do raps from Belgium. We don't know.
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: And then and then you're gonna have to say to
• 38:27
  Will and Martin, look, you could do this better. And
• 38:31
  they could easily say I've been doing this for thirty years,
• 38:34
  you know.
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: And and they never did that. They never said that
• 38:38
  because unbelievable, how humble they are.
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they would ask us, well and Martin, so how
• 38:44
  do you think is it good? And in the beginning
• 38:46
  like you, Will and Martin good, because we're not gonna
• 38:51
  say anything. But the thing is that they chose us.
• 38:54
  They chose us to be their directors. So they want you,
• 38:58
  they want you to direct them. And yeah, sometimes Will,
• 39:01
  you know, the first week Will tested.
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: Us, he tested us.
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: It was it was something he didn't want to do.
• 39:06
  He didn't want to wear the badge, you know, the
• 39:07
  cup badge on the chain. For some reason he didn't.
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: And every time he had it was super cool to
• 39:12
  have the Miami badge, you know.
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: Because of the second movie, you know they have that,
• 39:15
  and then you know, every time he had a good
• 39:17
  argument a filmmaker's argument like a scene said, no, we're
• 39:19
  at the bar, we're not on an intervention, so no
• 39:21
  reason to do It's okay.
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: Another scene he said, oh, we're just walking here.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: We're not in an intervention, no reason to do it,
• 39:27
  all right, And then always there was only one scene left.
• 39:30
  If we don't have that, it's never in the movie.
• 39:33
  And it was an intervention scene. So we go to
• 39:35
  well and it was the first week of shoot, said well,
• 39:37
  your badge want the chain and was like, oh no, no,
• 39:40
  we're not going to do that because because it was
• 39:42
  because because what it's an intervention scene. And then he
• 39:45
  said in front of the whole crew everybody, this is
• 39:49
  so natural, this is so wrong on so many levels.
• 39:53
  He were like and then you know, heartbeat goes fast.
• 39:56
  You know, he's like, well he's talking here and being
• 40:00
  with you pretty angry, and this is wrong. This is wrong.
• 40:03
  And then Martin can't wear it. Martin I would wear
• 40:06
  the badge, Well, he can't wear it. Then both o
• 40:09
  nobody forty five minutes and after forty five minutes, you
• 40:13
  got to wear the badge.
• 40:14
  Speaker 2: Well and as.
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: Okay, I will do it for you, only for you,
• 40:18
  but know that it's wrong.
• 40:20
  Speaker 2: It's so wronghole who was looking at us and I
• 40:23
  felt so bad.
• 40:24
  Speaker 5: I was like, maybe he doesn't have to wear it.
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: We want we want let's keep the badge. And we
• 40:30
  never knew why, but I think it did that to
• 40:33
  test us, like really, are you guys? We're fanboys, but
• 40:36
  are you also going to be directors?
• 40:38
  Speaker 5: Yeah, And that process was the whole time, even with
• 40:41
  the script. If we had an idea, he went like
• 40:43
  why and like asking so many questions we had to like,
• 40:47
  normally we think to a certain point, but he pushes us.
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: To go all the way, like why as a filmmaker's
• 40:53
  creative standpoint, do you want to do that? And if
• 40:55
  you really, as a creative you want to do that,
• 40:57
  he fights for you. It falls on the sword for
• 40:59
  your idea.
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: So that was really great.
• 41:01
  Speaker 3: Wow, that's awesome, man, that's great to hear. And this
• 41:03
  is this is what I love about this conversation that
• 41:05
  we're having, is that people see, like getting the movie
• 41:08
  seems like an achievement, but actually the challenge starts there. Yeah,
• 41:11
  because you're now in the big league, you're now working
• 41:15
  with people that you admire, and on top of all
• 41:18
  of that, you've got to realize the fact that now
• 41:20
  you're being judged for real directly and real filmmaking on
• 41:24
  a high level, which seems like, how did you guys
• 41:27
  prepare yourself to learn how to be open to recognizing
• 41:32
  that now the challenge starts and still allow your creativity. Like,
• 41:35
  you know, when you're doing Black you had a lot
• 41:37
  of gorilla filmmaking. You're trying a lot of taking a
• 41:39
  lot of risks. You're like, how did you let that
• 41:42
  energy stay or did you actually have to change energy?
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: Well, we had camera man, have a great guy who
• 41:50
  did all our students short movies and all our.
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: Work with him.
• 41:53
  Speaker 5: Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it looks, it
• 41:57
  looks yeah.
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: We basically we said to to Sony, okay, we only
• 42:01
  have one requirement our DP director, photography, our camera man.
• 42:04
  It's Rob is a guy who did all the Belgian movies.
• 42:07
  Without him, we don't do the movie. And we were
• 42:09
  prepared to turn the movie down if we didn't.
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: Let say, we ain't gonna do the movie without right
• 42:14
  And all.
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: Of a sudden, this fifteen year old looking guy who
• 42:17
  never made a big Hollywood movie makes a hundred million
• 42:20
  Hollo movie with with with these great stars, and that
• 42:22
  was you have.
• 42:23
  Speaker 5: To imagine as a studio and Jerry brook Aimer and
• 42:26
  you have two young guys who never made a like
• 42:28
  a big Hollywood movie. Our biggest budget is like three million,
• 42:32
  and this is like one under million. And then the
• 42:34
  camera man is also somebody who never did that's like
• 42:37
  the who's in charge.
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: For all the image the same guy.
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: Like us and and but having having us three basically
• 42:43
  helped us in eventually thinking it's the same as making
• 42:47
  a movie in Belgium, because yeah, the first couple of weeks,
• 42:50
  you don't breathe, you don't sleep, you know, it's like
• 42:52
  that or a life.
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: It's like, it's also weird because it's like a dream.
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: You don't it's weird to be on sets of a
• 42:58
  big Hollywood movie with like two and there fifty people.
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: And being in a movie yourself. Yeah, like this icon'tic.
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: We always thought this is like an episode of Punks.
• 43:06
  Michael Bay is gonna come.
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: And say, yeah, just you know, it's a pret TV issue, actually, guys,
• 43:12
  I mean, because it's like, we don't you don't fit,
• 43:14
  you don't belong there. You know, it's like you enter the.
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: Making off or something and and but the thing is
• 43:20
  the eyes of the world on this movie, whereas when
• 43:23
  you do a Belgian movie, it's only the eyes of
• 43:25
  some Belgians. You know, if you if you're tank, nobody's
• 43:27
  gonna over there. If you crash, you crash hard.
• 43:30
  Speaker 5: And there are so many fans in the world that
• 43:32
  grew up with that you don't want to.
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: And the thing is that it's like as if you're okay,
• 43:37
  you're in the war, or you you gotta jump in
• 43:39
  the water and either you're gonna like sink or you
• 43:42
  gotta swim. Even you think I cannot swim all that ocean,
• 43:45
  you're gonna have to learn and do that.
• 43:47
  Speaker 2: And it's and and.
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: Before you know, when you do that, that switch not
• 43:52
  thinking too much, actually not thinking, not overthinking, basically not overthink.
• 43:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, but you guys broke through imposter syndrome, because that's
• 43:59
  what so many people struggle with. That when you finally
• 44:01
  made it into what you always wanted, and now you're like, oh,
• 44:05
  maybe I'm not actually meant to be at this table,
• 44:07
  Like maybe we don't deserve to be here, Like what
• 44:09
  makes us deserve to be here?
• 44:11
  Speaker 2: What made you trust the process?
• 44:12
  Speaker 3: Like what made you feel like you were like, no, actually,
• 44:14
  we've worked for this and we're going to deliver something.
• 44:16
  Because when you watch the movie, I mean, there are
• 44:18
  so many great parts in the movie where I'm like, like,
• 44:21
  I love the part where you think it's a funeral
• 44:24
  but it's the wedding.
• 44:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah right.
• 44:25
  Speaker 3: I love in the beginning where you think it's a
• 44:27
  car chase but it ends up being that they're running
• 44:29
  into the hospital. Like to me, like, all those moments
• 44:32
  are genius and they're brilliant and they're shot so well
• 44:35
  that you completely are in and you think it's something,
• 44:37
  and I'm like, you definitely owned it. Yeah, I owned it,
• 44:41
  like there was no part of me. If I didn't
• 44:43
  know you guys. Let's say I didn't know you guys
• 44:44
  and I went and watched the movie, I would not
• 44:47
  have known that someone who'd never made one hundred million
• 44:49
  dollar budget movie made it. I just never have known
• 44:52
  you wodn't even think of it, right, But That's why
• 44:55
  I'm happy I know you guys, because it just makes
• 44:58
  me believe even more that imposter syndrome is just a
• 45:03
  belief set exactly.
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: It's it's a thing, you know, I mean, the imposter
• 45:07
  syndrome would be just once in a while, like we
• 45:09
  would look at each other and look at the DP
• 45:12
  and you said, it's weird that we're here right yes,
• 45:15
  and you look at the monitor you have Will and
• 45:17
  Martin and Jerry is like, whoa, that's some freaky And
• 45:20
  then it goes away right away because you gotta work.
• 45:22
  And the thing is that that you got to power
• 45:24
  through that. But also it's it's the crew and the
• 45:26
  cast is around you. The trust that you get from
• 45:29
  people that become family and when you feel like you're
• 45:32
  you're between friends and between family, that is what really
• 45:36
  helps us the most going through that imposter syndrome. Feels
• 45:39
  feeling safe and feeling the trust and the love of
• 45:42
  everybody around you, and and and that's and that's the
• 45:45
  same thing with you. You know, we we were scared of
• 45:48
  coming to the podcast because we listen. We have big fans,
• 45:50
  huge fans of your podcast. We listen to that and
• 45:53
  we're like, whoa, how deep everybody is speaking, how smart,
• 45:56
  and we're like intellectual lightweights.
• 45:59
  Speaker 2: But walking out with you is like, we feel like
• 46:01
  you are Bromi family.
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: And that's what helps us going That trust and love
• 46:06
  and that caring and respect that helps us you know.
• 46:08
  Speaker 2: Just you know, go with the flow. Basically, Yeah, how many.
• 46:13
  Speaker 4: Days I had doubts, thouts, stouts, Like I was thinking,
• 46:17
  I am totally not good so many times. But it's
• 46:21
  the people that surround you is like a super important
• 46:25
  aspect in this process.
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: And you guys are natural storytellers.
• 46:28
  Speaker 3: Like even when you're telling me the story of the
• 46:30
  actors and people behind it mes like, you guys are
• 46:32
  brilliant Like that is you know, it's I felt your
• 46:35
  energy when we met, and when I wanted you on
• 46:37
  the podcast is because I wanted people to feel that
• 46:39
  just and I love how genuinely vulnerable you are about
• 46:43
  being excited about what you're excited about, because I think
• 46:47
  what happens sometimes is sometimes people make it or go
• 46:49
  somewhere and then they act like all cool about it,
• 46:52
  you know, like oh yeah, it's just you know.
• 46:54
  Speaker 2: It's just just meant to be.
• 46:56
  Speaker 3: I remember, like for me, it was things that first
• 46:58
  time I went on when I went on Ellen, like that,
• 47:00
  for me, it was just like Ellen, like watch my
• 47:03
  interview and what did it come on the show? That's
• 47:06
  so cool, like and it's like it's so fun to
• 47:08
  celebrate stuff. Yeah, yeah, because I feel like sometimes we
• 47:12
  get scared of celebrating because we think it makes us
• 47:14
  look less, but actually it's just you're right, We're.
• 47:17
  Speaker 2: Just kids who just Yeah. I live in these incredible.
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: Lives and I love feeling like, you know, I listened
• 47:23
  to the podcast with Jada and it was like, oh
• 47:25
  my god, he's interviewing Jada, and I like, we know, Jada, Yeah,
• 47:30
  that's the vibe that we have.
• 47:31
  Speaker 2: It's good. It's I like seeing it with you guys.
• 47:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, And I want people to experience that too, that
• 47:36
  you don't ever have to pretend to be someone you're not,
• 47:39
  or you never have to lose that excitement and that.
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: You know, authenticity has always been something very important to us,
• 47:45
  and we did everything to keep the same authenticity in
• 47:48
  a Hollywood movie, because we could have done maybe any
• 47:50
  action movie. But the thing about Bad Boys is that
• 47:52
  these two characters, it's us. It's were told with this
• 47:56
  movie a very personal story what it means to be
• 47:59
  like the right to get a die together. What I
• 48:01
  mean sometimes when you know you're almost on the verge
• 48:03
  of a breakup, you know you don't want to do
• 48:05
  the same thing you have another vision. Sometimes there were
• 48:08
  periods where we didn't want to make movies together, like
• 48:10
  this is over man, I got another vision.
• 48:12
  Speaker 2: And and in the end it comes together.
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: And by reading that script of those two characters, we
• 48:16
  felt like this is us. Yeah.
• 48:19
  Speaker 5: But I think every every human being in the world
• 48:22
  searches that same connection with somebody, that friendship that you
• 48:25
  know that you know if times go up, that that
• 48:28
  you have somebody having your back, and and that friendship
• 48:33
  that Mike and Marcus has is so universal and so
• 48:36
  beautiful and so personal at the same time.
• 48:38
  Speaker 2: It's it's it's just, it's just.
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: It was a very personal story. There's a hundred million dollars. Actually,
• 48:46
  what were the other messages?
• 48:47
  Speaker 3: I think that's important because you've already done you focused
• 48:50
  on making movies that have messages before this. I felt
• 48:52
  when I was watching there were a ton of messages
• 48:54
  like the one you just shared. What were other messages
• 48:56
  that you were trying to that you know, maybe we
• 48:59
  even need to watch it again and notice that. And
• 49:01
  what were some of the messages that were big for
• 49:02
  both of you?
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: Well, it was you know, working with Will is like
• 49:05
  the grow, grow, or die message basically, even though I
• 49:09
  mean when you make all movies as a certain have
• 49:12
  a certain message, and you don't want to like message.
• 49:14
  Speaker 2: You know, it becomes cheesy, but you know it's like the.
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: Underlying theme and it's it's you want to have an
• 49:19
  arc where people evolve. And is Mike Laurie character he has,
• 49:22
  like he's at the start of the movie, a certain way.
• 49:25
  He wants to remain strong and young and and and
• 49:29
  wants to remain the image of Mike Laurie and forgets
• 49:33
  how to become just himself, the normal Mike Laurie.
• 49:37
  Speaker 2: And in fact that he's growing.
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: He's growing and the film older and andy, and it
• 49:42
  can be a weakness. Weakness is not just it is
• 49:45
  not actually really a weakness. Being able to show a
• 49:48
  weakness of vulnerability is a strength. And that is something
• 49:51
  that he learns and that's something that we too when
• 49:54
  we were.
• 49:54
  Speaker 2: You know, starting, because when you're Morocca.
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: You're very like mutual culture. You know, after if you
• 50:01
  keep this like in the kind of cocoon or ling
• 50:03
  on that thing and you don't let it go, basically
• 50:06
  you break yourself.
• 50:07
  Speaker 2: You crash.
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: And that is something that we learned, you know, during
• 50:11
  the making of this movie where we all crashed. So
• 50:14
  it's like, you know, you gotta you gotta let it go,
• 50:17
  and you gotta find you gotta find ways to grow
• 50:19
  and to heal yourself and allow yourself to be vulnerable
• 50:22
  and to be open.
• 50:24
  Speaker 2: And you really you really changed Yeah.
• 50:26
  Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, it wasn't like that before, but Bad Boys.
• 50:30
  Speaker 2: Really changed him.
• 50:31
  Speaker 5: Yeah, this experience as as a as a person, it's
• 50:34
  so really during the Yeah.
• 50:37
  Speaker 3: You guys really disrupted I feel like you know just
• 50:40
  what you're just saying right now, Like that's what I
• 50:42
  know is in the movie when I was watching it,
• 50:43
  that you were able to show the weakness of the
• 50:46
  character we all grew up admiring and wanted to be
• 50:48
  like yeah, yeah, and showing that it was actually better
• 50:51
  for him to be vulnerable to that rather than just
• 50:55
  continue to pretend. And I thought that was really it
• 50:58
  was bold as well. It was a bold move, but
• 51:00
  it was also very culturally relevant right now, to show
• 51:03
  that in a man and being more vulnerable very relatable.
• 51:06
  Speaker 2: You know, it's very reliable for all of us.
• 51:08
  Speaker 3: And I really feel you guys have disrupted the industry
• 51:10
  because even when I hear you say stuff like oh,
• 51:12
  we're not going to do this if it's not our DP, right, like,
• 51:15
  if you're not bringing your crew with you, and I'm
• 51:18
  excited to see And I don't think you guys are
• 51:20
  ever going to change because you're just who you are. Like,
• 51:23
  I'm excited to see how you continue to represent diversity,
• 51:27
  how you continue to tell stories of people that are
• 51:29
  not told enough. What kind of stories are exciting you
• 51:32
  right now in general, not just the ones you're making
• 51:34
  movies on, but have you heard any stories recently, read
• 51:36
  any books or anything like that that.
• 51:37
  Speaker 2: You're like, I'm fascinated by this right now.
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of there's a lot of stories that
• 51:41
  are you know, obviously now in this time in culture,
• 51:43
  it's the great opportunity to tell stories of people of
• 51:47
  different ethnicities, different backgrounds, and stories that you didn't usually
• 51:51
  see that much, you know, on the big screen for us,
• 51:54
  because it's important. We're Muslims, were Arabs, were Moroccans, we're Africans,
• 51:59
  you know, things like that.
• 52:00
  Speaker 2: Ads are very important.
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: To us, just just as fans seeing that they're more
• 52:04
  and more female filmmakers. You know, this year there was
• 52:07
  a lot of women filmmakers, and it's going to be
• 52:10
  more and more in every kind of genre. Just seeing
• 52:13
  that evolution is so exciting and interesting. Part of that, Yeah,
• 52:16
  to be just to be a part of this new.
• 52:18
  Speaker 2: Generation of filmmakers that's so diverse and.
• 52:23
  Speaker 5: See parasite in a total not in English language history,
• 52:27
  that's a milestone for cinemas.
• 52:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just us.
• 52:32
  Speaker 5: We don't want to make movies only in English. We
• 52:34
  want to tell stories. If it's in China, want to
• 52:35
  keep it in Chinese language or in Germany, it has
• 52:38
  to be in Germany.
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: So the fact that, yeah, it's very diverse and very exciting,
• 52:42
  these kind of stories, that's that's what we're looking for now.
• 52:45
  And yeah, I mean we we'd love to make movies
• 52:48
  back in Belgium as well, you know about our community,
• 52:50
  and and alternate that with with American movies.
• 52:53
  Speaker 2: And and in.
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: A very naive way, we believe that movies can save
• 52:58
  the world.
• 52:59
  Speaker 2: And I'm with you, yeah exactly. For us, there are
• 53:02
  two reasons.
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: One reason is just as filmmakers when you are when
• 53:06
  we did Bad Boys, you have two hundred and fifty
• 53:08
  people on the crew. And nowadays we all say that
• 53:10
  people don't agree anymore, people are polarizing and all that.
• 53:14
  But we got to say that when you make a movie,
• 53:16
  you got two hundred and fifty very different people for
• 53:19
  different backgrounds, different ethnicity, different history, different political views, the religion.
• 53:24
  They're all super different. On the paper, they would say
• 53:27
  they never will get along. They're like, yeah, there would
• 53:29
  be war, and on our movie all together like a
• 53:33
  family working for the same goal, working for one vision,
• 53:37
  and we all friends. And then you see that everybody
• 53:41
  is so different, but everybody's working together, and it's not
• 53:45
  what you hear.
• 53:46
  Speaker 2: Sometimes you know that it's like, you know, everybody's like
• 53:48
  an on their own.
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: No, a movie set proves that we are all able
• 53:52
  to go in the same direction for the same goal.
• 53:54
  And it's maybe very naive, but I just see it
• 53:57
  as a proof it happens. And read there would be enemies,
• 54:01
  but on our crew their allies and friends and family
• 54:03
  and they care about each other. And on the other hand,
• 54:06
  movies is something very empathetic. You cannot make a movie
• 54:11
  or watch a movie if you don't have empathy. And
• 54:13
  empathy is something that you talk a lot about. And
• 54:15
  it's just crazy that everybody in the world, no matter
• 54:19
  where you are, what you are, you have empathy for
• 54:21
  this character that you don't know. It's a character you
• 54:23
  don't know not it may be also a fictitious character,
• 54:27
  a character from another planet, from another era, and you
• 54:30
  feel for that character, you fall in love maybe for
• 54:32
  that character. You you hope that the character is gonna
• 54:35
  make it. You're gonna cry that character dies, and that's
• 54:38
  crazy that that proves that movies make people human and
• 54:42
  that empathy exists through movies. So that's why, in this
• 54:45
  very childish way, we think movies save the world.
• 54:49
  Speaker 2: No, it's not childish, man, you guys. I feel the
• 54:51
  same way.
• 54:51
  Speaker 3: The reason why I started in podcasts or media or
• 54:54
  videos and all of that was because I felt that
• 54:57
  media changes our vocabulary around an issue, around a theme,
• 55:02
  Like when you were able to show a man's vulnerability.
• 55:05
  Now it's like, oh wait a minute, I think I'm
• 55:07
  my glory, but he's growing when he's doing that, or
• 55:09
  maybe I should do that right.
• 55:10
  Speaker 2: It's like we mirror what we see.
• 55:12
  Speaker 3: In media all the time, and I feel like media
• 55:17
  is always going to lead the way because more people
• 55:19
  are going to watch movies than read books.
• 55:21
  Speaker 2: More people are going to watch movies.
• 55:22
  Speaker 3: Then come to a course or a workshop or a semini.
• 55:26
  Speaker 2: It's always going to be the same way.
• 55:27
  Speaker 3: And therefore, I'm so happy that people like you are
• 55:29
  making movies because I feel like our faith is in
• 55:32
  good place. You know, we need storytellers who want to
• 55:35
  tell those stories, who want to have deeper messages, but
• 55:38
  in a smart and entertaining way, and I think you
• 55:40
  guys do it beautifully. So we're going to do what
• 55:43
  we always do on the podcast as you know It,
• 55:45
  because you listen. We've added another segment recently which I
• 55:49
  don't think you would have heard yet because it's in
• 55:51
  the new episode. It's called fill in the blanks. So
• 55:54
  I read a sentence and you both have to fill
• 55:56
  in the rest of the sentence.
• 55:57
  Speaker 2: So we'll go both of you.
• 55:58
  Speaker 3: Whoever goes first, mine you decide who goes first.
• 56:01
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 56:02
  Speaker 3: Being a director is similar to being a captain of
• 56:07
  a boat. Exactly.
• 56:09
  Speaker 2: Sometimes it can be the Titanic. Okay, yeah, exactly.
• 56:14
  Speaker 3: You can't say the director is similar to is.
• 56:20
  Speaker 2: Pretending you know it? Okay? Good? Good answer. A great
• 56:25
  movie starts with.
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: Great title, Okay, I would say, I would say a
• 56:34
  killer opening scene.
• 56:36
  Speaker 2: Okay, good, all right. The best way to manage actors
• 56:40
  is being.
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: A psychiatrist, A lawyer, a politician, diplomat, all the skills.
• 56:48
  Speaker 2: All right. There is no film without empathy. Oh, nice, camera,
• 56:57
  all right, good, all right.
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: Working with a partner is love, writing together, dying together.
• 57:04
  Speaker 2: Nice. I like you guys, all right.
• 57:06
  Speaker 3: The one film I wish I made is Star Wars.
• 57:14
  Speaker 2: Well, there's a lot, but I would say, but you know,
• 57:16
  Star Wars is such a such.
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: A universe between us. Star Wars is like the Greeks
• 57:21
  had their mythology. We have Star Wars mythology just between
• 57:26
  It became a religion, even though so I did.
• 57:28
  Speaker 2: It came out of one mind.
• 57:31
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and the whole universe it's created. It's unbelieving, it's infinite.
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: I would say, Jurassic Park.
• 57:40
  Speaker 2: It's a good movie.
• 57:41
  Speaker 3: Jurassic it's a good movie, all right. Martin Lawrence and
• 57:44
  Will Smith are.
• 57:45
  Speaker 2: Both brothers for life, for life. Nice.
• 57:49
  Speaker 3: When I first started directing, I wish I knew.
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: That no matter how big the movie is going to be,
• 57:56
  that movie is not necessarily going to make you happy
• 57:59
  or bring you happiness. It's gonna be something else.
• 58:02
  Speaker 5: And no matter how big the budget is, there's never
• 58:05
  enough money, never enough time.
• 58:08
  Speaker 2: No, that's good answer. This is a great. My proudest
• 58:11
  moment has to be lots of that. I think. I
• 58:16
  think being able to to show.
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: The movie to my dad basically, you know, to have
• 58:21
  him and he was sitting in the theater next no,
• 58:24
  I know it's notice to me.
• 58:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and he knew.
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: Also, his wife is a big fan of you, so
• 58:28
  you know you're secret fanr secret fans of you. But
• 58:31
  being able to he's there, you see the movie and
• 58:33
  it's the first Maybe also the first time he met
• 58:36
  Will Smith because the very first single I got was
• 58:40
  Miami by Will Smith's and he met him for the
• 58:42
  first time in Miami.
• 58:45
  Speaker 2: My proudest moment is that I always kept going and
• 58:53
  kept going good that that it's the movie is made.
• 59:00
  So my protesting I love it.
• 59:02
  Speaker 3: Man. All right, these are your final five, your fast
• 59:04
  five would you guys know about? So the first question
• 59:07
  I'm gonna ask you is if someone gave you a
• 59:09
  three hundred million dollars in funding, what movie would you
• 59:12
  make and who would you cost?
• 59:14
  Speaker 2: Oh, and New.
• 59:16
  Speaker 1: Star Wars Universe not based on any books. It's just
• 59:21
  like George Lucas. You come up with something new and
• 59:23
  then you have nerves doing fan fiction and making toys.
• 59:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and it goes on generation to generation.
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: Just created like a mask, like just because you created
• 59:34
  Frankage time basically you know, in the movie world.
• 59:36
  Speaker 2: So that's I love it.
• 59:38
  Speaker 3: That's a good answer. Okay, uh, let's do this question.
• 59:42
  What advice would you give to young filmmakers out there.
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: You gotta stay true to yourself and do something with
• 59:50
  your heart because if you make something just for the
• 59:54
  for you, for the sake of it, so just for
• 59:56
  the money, you Okay, you may earn a lot of money,
• 59:59
  but you going to lose a year of mindfulness of
• 1:00:03
  your soul and all that. So it's got to be
• 1:00:05
  something true to your soul, something that feels the soul.
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 5: And be prepared to have a lot of pain, just
• 1:00:11
  you're going to fall a lot, and be prepared to.
• 1:00:15
  Don't be scared to make mistakes. Don't yet, because making
• 1:00:18
  mistakes that's when you learn.
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 2: I love it. It's good answers, all right. Question number three.
• 1:00:24
  Your favorite movie and why?
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: My favorite is JFK by Oliver Stone because it's yeah,
• 1:00:30
  I was very young. I was nine years old when
• 1:00:32
  I saw that, and it's a historical movie about something
• 1:00:34
  that really happened about conspiracy theories.
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 2: And it makes you think.
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 1: And it's a movie that has an impact also in
• 1:00:42
  real life because you know, in ninety two to Congress
• 1:00:45
  had to release like check out.
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 2: You know, we didn't kill JFK.
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: Okay, if you kind of make a movie that has
• 1:00:50
  an impact in society and real life, that is really
• 1:00:53
  you know, that's that's what we want to do.
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 2: So JFK. Yeah.
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 5: For me, it's a French movie called Latin and it's
• 1:01:00
  about you know, the bonus, the ghetto in France, in Paris.
• 1:01:04
  And for me, because I grew up with Hollywood movies
• 1:01:08
  and this was the first time I saw a movie
• 1:01:09
  with uh, you know, Morocco or black guy from like
• 1:01:14
  the same world as me and I and it was
• 1:01:17
  shot in a way it was like cinema. It was
• 1:01:20
  like in a Hollywood way it was shot. And then
• 1:01:23
  I understood that maybe I can do that too. Maybe
• 1:01:26
  that made me made me believe that I could do
• 1:01:29
  a movie. And I think that's the most beautiful thing
• 1:01:32
  you can do as a filmmaker, any artist, is if
• 1:01:35
  you can inspire somebody to do it.
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 2: That's that's what Lion did for me.
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 3: That's question of beer four out five. What's happening with
• 1:01:43
  Beverly Hills?
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 2: Cut four? Adam Sunder, what's happened? I told the story.
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: So when Bad Boys, when we didn't get Bad Boys,
• 1:01:51
  we got Beverly was called four. So we thought it
• 1:01:53
  was going to be the movie you're gonna make in
• 1:01:54
  twenty sixteen.
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 2: Didn't happen.
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: Then Bad Boys came and because Bad Boys worked out,
• 1:02:00
  got Beverly.
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 2: Hills four, and we're working at it.
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Eddie Murphy, so the way we look at Will Smith,
• 1:02:08
  Will Smith looks the same way at Eddie Murphy, was like,
• 1:02:11
  it's the tom making making a movie with a legend
• 1:02:15
  like that at the next level. And Adam Saddler, he's
• 1:02:18
  just the coolest guy ever, sweetest guy ever, And he said, hey,
• 1:02:22
  if we find something to work together, let's do it.
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 4: He did it.
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 5: Jim's was so unbelievable. Yeah, and he has so much
• 1:02:30
  to offer.
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 3: Yeaeah, I love it all right and final question, all right,
• 1:02:35
  so we can stop being in this sauna?
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 2: Right? I love sauna.
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 3: But doctor Daniel Layman, who was on before, he told
• 1:02:42
  me that this is good for our brains. Okay, so yeah,
• 1:02:45
  he said, yeah, that's why I'm abusing. No, no, no,
• 1:02:48
  I just getting an excuse. Yeah, thank you me and
• 1:02:51
  you were like okay. Fifth and final question, what is
• 1:02:54
  the biggest lesson you've learned in the last twelve months?
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 2: For you, it doesn't have to be professional Oh yeah, who.
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 1: When I'm in a meeting or of some have a
• 1:03:06
  good idea, somebody says something good or bad, or I
• 1:03:09
  think it's good or bad, I gotta say, let me
• 1:03:12
  think about it, because I didn't do that enough. And
• 1:03:17
  when you're in Belgium with a small movie, your reaction
• 1:03:20
  or your decisions don't have that much consequence as a
• 1:03:23
  one hundred million dollar movie.
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 2: And whether I was enthusiastic.
• 1:03:26
  Speaker 1: For something or I hated something, I should have just
• 1:03:29
  said first.
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 2: Let me think about.
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 1: It before I say yeah.
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 2: Oh no.
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 1: So that's what I learned the most, let me think
• 1:03:37
  about it. For me, it's let me say it.
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 5: It's sometimes I'm in a or in a meeting and
• 1:03:44
  I'm thinking something and I'm like, I think I have
• 1:03:48
  to say this, but I'm not gonna say it, and
• 1:03:51
  and that makes a big difference because sometimes it's too
• 1:03:53
  late and then you say, I have to say it,
• 1:03:55
  So don't regret say it, don't be afraid. So I'm
• 1:03:59
  starting to learn that don't be afraid of saying what
• 1:04:01
  you think.
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 1: And the worst meetings that we had is because he
• 1:04:04
  didn't say it and I didn't say let me think
• 1:04:05
  about it.
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 2: I love it.
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 3: You guys are the best. Honestly, this is the most fun.
• 1:04:14
  This is so good, Like I can talk to you
• 1:04:16
  guys for hours. I'm I'm genuinely so excited to see
• 1:04:20
  the movies you guys are going to create. I want
• 1:04:23
  to serve and support in any way that I can.
• 1:04:25
  I'm here for you guys if you ever need me.
• 1:04:27
  I can't wait to read that book.
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 1: Man.
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, thank you.
• 1:04:30
  Speaker 3: I'll definitely get you guys copies, but yeah, don't literally.
• 1:04:34
  You guys can message call me anytime. I can help
• 1:04:36
  either of you with anything. And just yeah, so so
• 1:04:39
  proud of seeing what you guys are doing. And I
• 1:04:42
  know that there are so many people out there who
• 1:04:43
  listening and watching that can be inspired by you guys,
• 1:04:46
  and I can only hope that you continue to be
• 1:04:48
  the same way, because you guys are great just the
• 1:04:49
  way you.
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 2: Are, man, big love. I just wanted to say.
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 1: Jay, thank you for being in our lives.
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 2: And follow these guys on Instagram. Go and find them.
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 3: We will tag them into all the posts. Go and
• 1:05:07
  follow their work, Go and support everything they do. They've
• 1:05:09
  got so many more amazing stories to tell. They're just
• 1:05:12
  getting started. Please please go and give them all your
• 1:05:14
  love and all your support and anything that they said, because.
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 2: They're so humble that they don't know it.
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 3: They dropped so many lessons today, They've dropped so many
• 1:05:22
  messages today, they drop so many beautiful insights today.
• 1:05:25
  Speaker 2: I want you to share those insights.
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 3: I want you to taggle three of us so we
• 1:05:28
  can see it, mainly so that they can see it,
• 1:05:30
  because I want them to realize how many beautiful lessons
• 1:05:32
  they're sharing with the world. So thank you for watching
• 1:05:34
  on purpose. Thank you Adilan Barap for being here, and
• 1:05:38
  we'll see.
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 2: You again soon. Guys, take care.
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 3: If you want even more videos just like this one,
• 1:05:42
  make sure you subscribe and click on the boxes over here.
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 2: I'm also excited to let you know that you can.
• 1:05:48
  Speaker 3: Now get my book Think Like a Monk from Thinklike
• 1:05:51
  a monkbook dot Com.
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 2: Check below in the description to make sure you order today.