0:00
How are you, man? >> I'm good. So, I met you.
Search this video
0:00
Do you remember where we met? >> Yes. Yeah. >> Yes.
0:06
We were having we were having burritos with our mutual friend David, and you happen to be sitting next to a director Todd who you'd worked with, and we had this funny back and forth. Mhm.
0:15
Here and there for a minute.
0:15
Yeah, we saw Todd Phillips at lunch.
0:16
He was eating lunch by himself, and we did a bit about do you want to continue eating lunch by yourself or do you want to join our table?
0:23
And I and I never met you, but I'm a I'm a huge fan of yours. Thanks, Jonah.
0:28
>> I think you're, you know, all you want from the people that do something is there's like a best in class of what in everything in the world there's a best in class who does that, and you're best in class of what you do. >> Thanks, Jonah.
0:42
That's very thoughtful and kind of you to say, man. I appreciate it.
0:44
And I know, you know, you've you've been kind to me to my face off the record, too.
0:48
So, I know you've been genuine, and I appreciate it. >> No, I mean it.
0:51
And I haven't done interviews in like many years, and so I was excited you were on top of my list.
0:57
So, thanks for saying yes. Of course.
0:59
I was like I want to do Zane Lowe, you know? Well, I'm a fan, too. You know that.
1:02
I've told that to you off the record, too.
1:03
And you know, I I I love the way that you bring your characters to life, but I also love that you draw inspiration from all kinds of things, and it's not just the role. You are a music fan.
1:12
You're a deep deep cinema nerd who's always wanted to make films, not just star in them.
1:16
So, it's a different mentality and a comedy nerd.
1:20
It's a different mentality for somebody, I think, who wants to be in front of the camera, and that's your single aspiration to someone who likes that, but it's a part of a much broader ambition, which is to be in cinema in every capacity. I feel like that's you.
1:34
I feel like you want to know it all.
1:36
It's all become one thing, you know?
1:39
And I think that's kind of what the past 10 years have been like for me, and more specifically the last 5 years where you haven't really seen me.
1:43
I was building a life and a um a company called Strong Baby to produce our own films, and now we get I have two films coming out that I directed 3 months apart.
1:55
First one being Outcome, which we're here to talk about today, but we produced Overcompensating, Benny Skinner show on Amazon, and getting to put other voices out there.
2:04
My best friend Matt, who's over there.
2:06
He Matt Don's, we started Strong Baby together with Ali Goodwin, and we've been friends since preschool.
2:11
Directing a lot of commercials, music videos, making my bones.
2:15
So, it's now been 7 years since my first film, and now my third and fourth film as a director are coming out this year. >> That's right.
2:23
So, it's now and in the last two we produced them.
2:25
They're big studio movies.
2:28
We produced them, I directed them, co-wrote them, and I act in them.
2:32
So, what I mean it's all become one thing, it's all it's not like hey, do you love People are like, what do you love more, acting or directing?
2:38
I'm like, now it's all one thing. It's just the movie.
2:40
What turns you want to get you excited about a project?
2:43
I mean, obviously you write or co-write a majority of what you do, and you conceptualize them.
2:46
So, it's not like you're in a position where people are pitching you exclusively at this point.
2:50
You're very involved in every aspect of it.
2:52
So, you know, what is the kind of moment when you realize, okay, yeah, I've got something here that I want to explore deeper, and it's not just an idea that I think I can flesh this out and make something cool out of this.
3:03
It's it's an amazing question because it's so a part of what I do.
3:07
Like, if you ask me what I do, if you shook me in the middle of the night and like, what do you do?
3:09
I'd be like, I'm a writer. Yeah. Right?
3:10
So, writing >> Get the OUT OF MY HOUSE.
3:12
I'D [laughter] BE LIKE, JESUS, sit down.
3:13
I'd be like, I'm a writer, you know? Like, that's what I do.
3:17
So, it all starts with do I want to fall in love with writing this thing?
3:21
Because when you start writing it, you start writing the screenplay, but you write till the movie comes out.
3:24
You're writing ADR jokes, you're writing new things, you're rewriting scores, part of the characters, you know?
3:30
Like, all the things is writing.
3:31
So, everything is writing.
3:33
So, what it is is is after Mid90s came out, I was so lucky like people liked it, and and really like kind of the people that the decision makers liked it.
3:41
So, I kind of got I wanted to be like, okay, should I direct like a Marvel movie?
3:46
Like, what am I going to do? You know?
3:48
Like, I got all these kind of cool opportunities, and ultimately I could not figure out what I was going to do next.
3:53
And I'll never be in that position again, which is locking a movie while not making another movie.
3:59
>> you think that to some degree going back to Mid90s, cuz I love that film.
4:00
I found it profoundly reflective and quite moving, whilst I was also loving the soundtrack and the whole culture of it, cuz I grew up in the '90s.
4:10
And so, the whole skating, the moment when particular hip hop and skating met each other, and just a whole vibe I was very familiar with, but it was a moving narrative.
4:18
Did you find that like the idea of not being prepared to do your next thing really into some degree, just to kind of put a bit of grace in the equation, is because that was kind of the closest thing to your life story up to that point.
4:27
So, you know, you're sort of at that point where it's like, well, I've got to kind of start again, cuz I just told a big part of my childhood on camera.
4:35
Like Mid90s was not my exact life, but it was very personal in the fact about it.
4:40
Like, a lot of my friends' lives and things I saw, and and really just about what it was like to be a grom at the skate shop and make your way up through the animal kingdom of like being the lowest on the totem pole to acceptance and all these things, and the guys you look up to being more flawed when you look back on it than they were at the time than you did at the time, etc.
4:58
But yeah, it's often what a band does.
5:01
What I a lot of my friends were musicians, and why I wanted to talk to you the most, cuz I love when you making a movie or directing movies like making an album. >> Yep.
5:08
You know, acting in movies in movies like kind of like having a guest song on album, you know?
5:12
Like, you're singing on someone's track, but like and you get to do a feature and it's really dope.
5:18
But when you make a movie, it's like, you know, sometimes 4 years, sometimes with the minimum 2 years.
5:22
So, it's really like your album and what you're about at that time.
5:25
And like a lot of first-time directors, a lot of first-time first album kind of vibe where I put everything into that first album, and then it's like, what's now? >> Yeah. You know, what's next?
5:34
So, a lot of bands have the sophomore slump.
5:37
>> ideas I have when I was 14, 16, 18.
5:37
I'm trying to get all these ideas out.
5:39
Every song I ever wanted to sing to music, you know?
5:42
Like, you like fantasizing the shower about it when you're driving.
5:45
You know, I'm like, and I got nothing left. I'm like, what do I do? >> Yeah.
5:49
So, and a lot of bands I know and musicians have that thing where it's like the sophomore slump. You're like, what now? Right?
5:54
So, I'll never leave myself in that position again, cuz what I learned is I love the process.
5:59
I love to be in the process of making a movie.
6:04
So, like, Outcome's coming out, but we have another movie coming out called Cut Off in July, 3 months later with Kristen Wiig and myself, and we're cutting it right now.
6:13
I'm 7 weeks into my director's cut.
6:14
We're screening it tonight.
6:16
And it's fun to show friends and family and get their notes, but you get to see what a movie's like as it's being put together.
6:20
So, I'm I love that Outcome's coming out, and I can talk about it, but I'm already in love with the next thing.
6:26
>> I love Outcome, and people going to love this film, and we're going to talk about why very soon.
6:28
But but equally, you know, you can't do anymore.
6:31
Like, on to the next thing.
6:34
I That's why when I talk to my friends who put an album out, the smart ones are already working on the next one or figuring out what the next step's going to be, cuz it's like that's for you now. Yeah.
6:41
I remember I saw Tyler, the Creator once when I was when I wasn't younger. I'm I'm I've been old.
6:48
I am old and was old then, probably.
6:50
>> [laughter] >> He had He had made a song with The Game.
6:52
That's how long ago it was. It was da da da da da. You know the one.
6:54
And and I saw him at his shop.
6:58
This is how long ago it was.
6:59
He was hanging out at his shop.
7:00
I can't imagine him hanging out on Fairfax now then, but but I saw him, and I was like, dude, I love that song with The Game.
7:06
He's like, He was almost angry.
7:08
He's like, I can't You got to see what I'm doing now.
7:09
Like, he was so on to the next thing that he couldn't even stomach me talking about what I had heard like last week.
7:15
And I never understood that.
7:18
I was like, man, why can't you just be like sick?
7:19
And now I understand like you got to be in love with the next thing.
7:22
And for musicians, that's easier because your medium, you can sit in a room and start making stuff.
7:28
I got to really So, let me go back to the how an idea permeates, and then I'll shut up.
7:32
But like, you know, like like it's all in my notes section.
7:36
So, shout out Apple where we both work.
7:38
Strong Baby is an Apple company.
7:40
We >> [laughter] >> Strong Baby and it works at Apple.
7:48
But the notes section, so what happens is I'll get some something, an idea, a character, something, and then I'll start writing my notes section.
7:54
Jokes, songs, colors, things that inspire me about this idea or whatever.
7:58
Like, Outcome, the original germ was like, who's the last person on Earth I want to see canceled? Keanu Reeves. We love Keanu Reeves.
8:06
We don't want to see Keanu Reeves canceled because we love Keanu Reeves.
8:09
And so, that was the initial idea, and then in my notes section I'm like, okay, there's a crazy lawyer that like, you know, gets a call for a video.
8:16
Blah blah blah, that's me. I'll play that part.
8:18
And then once it overwhelms your notes section and like the percentage is the highest that you're going into that section of your notes section to think about it, you know you're in love. Mhm.
8:28
And once you're in love and you can't stop thinking about anything else, that's the next movie. Then we take it.
8:34
We have a whole process with like our Strong Baby crew.
8:38
We have like a bunch of producers, Amanda Addelson, Ali Goodwin, Cat Aguilar who works here.
8:42
You know, we we then take it to the boards, and we start putting ideas up on boards, characters, things, and they start a story starts to take place.
8:51
And then we work rigorously on the plumbing of a story. >> Which is what?
8:56
Which is how a story works as a drama, even if it's the dumbest movie ever made.
9:00
Like, you got to In order to choose colors and get to choose tiles for your kitchen, the toilet's got to flush. >> Yeah.
9:09
So, it's architecture like >> invested in these characters beyond the one liner, beyond the punchline.
9:13
>> Yeah, and it's got to work as a drama, even if it's about someone, you know, uh you know, the dumbest movie you've ever seen in your life.
9:20
>> the things I really like about this film, and actually what you've already expressed as a director is a real subtlety for emotion.
9:26
You know, you have no problem parking, you know, a real a real quick like a real one liner right next to something that is actually, you know, an emotional counterpoint to that joke.
9:35
That's such a nice compliment, cuz some people don't like that. Mhm. A viewer.
9:40
Like, they may not like that how I love how life happens.
9:42
Something tragic happens next to something funny.
9:44
Well, also both are way more related than most people like to acknowledge.
9:49
No one really wants to think about how funny sadness and and bad things can be, and how bad humor can make light of. You know what I mean?
9:56
It's like they're so related in so many ways.
9:57
Stand-up comedy is in its very na- very nature kind of someone wins, someone's loses, and someone's in pain.
10:04
>> [snorts] >> 100% >> right? I mean, that's it.
10:06
And people call that a maybe a drastic tonal shift >> Mhm.
10:09
in in the wrong hands, but I view it as a um a feature not a bug. Mhm. >> You know?
10:15
It's a it's a it's a a stylistic characteristic of of now having made four movies my style, I guess. >> comedy.
10:24
It's really really great.
10:26
>> it happens in the '90s, it happens in Stutz, it happens in Outcome, it happens in Cut Off, so I I as much as I, you know, I'm not trying to, it's just a function of my storytelling.
10:34
I'm learning it's something I'm interested in because in life, I mean, some of the hardest I've ever laughed is at a funeral. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah.
10:42
>> Like you're hanging out with people that love this person and you're cracking jokes and, you know, like or you know, some of the saddest I've been I'll make it a movie where I got to get like a pie in the face. Yeah.
10:50
And something tragic tragic's happening in my life, you know? Yeah.
10:53
So it's not all one thing and I like to make films that kind of reflect that.
10:57
Keanu Reeves is the perfect um lead actor in a in a movie like this because um you know, he's made >> He's so amazing and and you know, he's he's a trickster.
11:05
He's a trickster on screen.
11:07
He tricks you into thinking he's doing one thing and then you realize that you're so invested in a different side of him and he and he reveals it, you know, at really key moments thanks to you and the and the team.
11:14
Um what's he like to direct? He's amazing. He's amazing, man.
11:19
I got to say that guy is so incredible.
11:23
Not just, you know, every interview you got to say you like fluff up the movie star or whatever, but I pitched him this idea in my backyard. He came over. I said, "I got an idea." I'd never met the dude. We got him to come over. He came over. I told him my idea.
11:32
I said, "You're uh you're like the most you're like Tom Cruise, the most beloved movie star and you get a call from your crazy lawyer that um there's a video and no one knows what's on the video.
11:46
And I'm going to have you apologize to everyone, but not to be a better person, but to find out who's extorting you. >> Yeah, totally.
11:52
And that was all I pitched him and he goes, "I'm in. Go write it."
11:55
And the dude never wavered.
11:58
He never left my side like the entire time.
12:00
He was the most prepared, the most down for the character I've ever I've ever experienced.
12:07
You know, he's so dedicated.
12:09
And I'm obsessed with like Keanu, all the Keanus, you know? Like >> Mhm.
12:13
But mostly, you know, like my nephews are like, "Oh, sick.
12:14
John Wick's in this movie?" Like, you know?
12:16
And I'm like you know, you know, I've seen him do My Own Private Idaho or really where I wanted to do this with him was like you know, a big influence on this movie is like Adaptation by friend and mentor Spike Jonze and one of the greatest dudes ever.
12:30
But um you know, Nick Cage's performance in Adaptation is a guy who's just so on hand.
12:36
He can't You can't get a gauge on him emotionally. >> That's right. Right?
12:39
And I wanted to see Keanu do that, but I had no you know, there's not a lot of proof that he could do that.
12:44
But that's what made it exciting to me.
12:45
But then I thought of Parenthood, which is one of the best movies ever, this Ron Howard film.
12:49
And there's a scene where he goes off on Martha Plimpton and he um he's so emotionally off and he's kind of yelling at them and I'm like, "I've never seen that Keanu."
13:00
I'm like, "Who's that guy?
13:02
Let's let's pull some of that guy out."
13:04
>> Yeah, I mean, he exists in a in a in a real middle ground for in terms of perception of him now between the the the movie star, the box office smasher, which you which you reflect in this in this character, but also this human being that um has fought really hard for a life.
13:21
Has worked really really hard to pump the brakes slow the train down.
13:24
And I feel like he was almost one of the first people to come out of that crazy '90s insanity who actually was like "I think I can do both. Mhm.
13:32
But it's going to be a real process."
13:34
That's what I always took from his experience.
13:36
Yeah, and I can't speak so deeply on his inner, you know, in in that capacity moment to moment, but what I can tell you is is that he's a real person and he's a real great person.
13:48
And a guy I like ride for no matter what.
13:53
>> Yeah, and well, I think we see it in the character a little bit and that's one of the things I I maybe he recognized in in away from the tape element of it was this idea of like >> [snorts] >> reform.
14:02
Trying to figure out who you are to yourself in the eyes of so many others.
14:06
And by the way, it's not just on his shoulders.
14:08
Everybody in the film is going through this for some to some capacity.
14:11
Yeah, and I want to say that it's funny because it's like, you know, I use the prism of a movie star, but the movie's about social media. >> Totally. Straight up.
14:19
It's just about how I noticed my nephews felt the same anxiety I felt as a famous person >> Yeah.
14:26
by [laughter] posting something and checking what people were saying about them.
14:29
And ultimately, it's about that because of social media we give a more about what people we don't know think about us than the three people who we actually spend time around. >> That's right.
14:40
And that's why I love the movie because I think it really works on that level. You know?
14:47
>> Yeah, it speaks to society and how we function or don't, as the case may be, with all of these tools at our disposal now and the distractions that we have.
14:54
But but there was also like at the heart of it there is a redemption story, a story about somebody who has to come to terms with um the decisions and that they made at the path that they that they were either set upon that ultimately took control over Mhm.
15:07
but not accountability for. Mhm.
15:10
And at the end, there's a beautiful moment, not to give too much away, where it finally >> give away the ending of this movie, I realize in interviews.
15:15
Yeah, but I mean, there is a beautiful accountability that comes to that comes to the surface here and I wonder what that was like to shoot, you know?
15:22
To get to a point where there was real real there was resolution. It was a great time. >> Yeah.
15:28
Matt and I were like, "Yo, we did it, dude."
15:30
We were like dreaming about making movies and now we're the producer of this movie and Keanu Reeves and Cameron Diaz are here and but then the emotions of the movie, it was meant to be more of a laugh-out-loud like slapstick comedy >> and it has that, but I can't help myself.
15:45
Like I just can't help myself.
15:45
I I guess I'm an emotional dude and I think the the emotion just it was important it became important to follow how emotional the movie was getting. Mhm. So that surprise you?
16:00
Did it surprise you as you were shooting?
16:02
>> It did surprise me, but we went to dinner, you know, we were lucky Martin Scorsese is in the movie >> to get to that.
16:07
>> He's incredible in the movie. >> So good. And heartbreaking.
16:08
And we went to dinner with him like kind of a week before we started um and he said, "Just listen to the movie.
16:17
Just make sure you listen to it.
16:17
Make sure you listen to what it's saying to you, you know?
16:20
Don't like wrestle it into like what you need it you think it needs to be. Be present.
16:24
Yeah, cuz I was like, "Damn, the movie's not funny enough.
16:27
The movie's not funny enough."
16:28
And I was like, and Apple was like, "We love it."
16:31
That's why I love Apple, man.
16:31
They love that it was going in an emotional direction.
16:33
They were like, "We're happier that it's moving on a human level than it is just joke for joke, right?"
16:39
That's why I love working with them.
16:40
They were superb partners on an artistic level like beyond what I've ever experienced.
16:44
And shout out Zach and Jamie and and Leyho and and Dana and all those guys and girls and Ann.
16:50
And um you know, like the movie did surprise me.
16:58
Uh you know, I I I tend I'm a comedian, so like I tend to write jokes and then have to deal with what those jokes mean.
17:07
>> [snorts] >> So I like to say things and have things be jokes, but then what I love as myself is it's now seeping its way into my movies and art is you go, "All right, we'll speak on it.
17:19
What did that actually mean?
17:19
Why did you make that joke?" >> Yeah.
17:21
And a lot of the movie is what is an apology mean and how performative can be. That's right.
17:27
And are apologies for the person apologizing?
17:29
Are they for the person getting apologized to?
17:31
I really think about why I'm apologizing to someone if I apologize to them.
17:34
And this movie really helped me with that cuz I didn't cuz I this line just came out of me where Marty goes, "Can I ask you something, Reeves?
17:41
What what are you sorry for?"
17:42
Yeah, that's a great line.
17:44
>> the whole movie because it it it was the first amends we shot and then so like you then go on and on throughout the movie and you go I go, "Wow, like why did I write that? What did that mean?"
17:54
>> Yeah, you are a songwriter.
17:54
That's what songwriters do.
17:56
I mean, they they they put things down.
17:57
They have an inner voice that's searching for an outer vehicle and you find it and you then you you learn something about yourself in the process and I want to talk a little bit about the learning of it, but just while we're talking about Martin Scorsese, uh you gave him some real lines, man.
18:09
I mean, there's a line in there, "I'm the guy you leave if I do my job right."
18:12
is one of the all-time great lines about the journey in life, the people you leave behind in order to fulfill your ambition. Thank you.
18:19
And it's it's a really beautiful Yeah, and thank you. I'm proud of it.
18:22
It's a really beautiful line and it and it also really kind of stops you in your tracks and makes you think about like, "Did I did I always give credit where it was due or was I too busy focusing on the next thing thinking everyone would be happy for me?"
18:31
It's a real accountability line at a moment when you probably should be just focused on winning. But at what cost?
18:38
Yeah, I think that's the social media thing.
18:40
Are you thinking about everybody ever? But you can't. That's the thing.
18:49
>> think in your twen- you know, for Reeves, you know, Keanu's character's perspective, Reeves um yeah, when you're a kid or a teenager in your 20s it.
18:58
>> "That's that's the carrot.
18:58
I'm running towards the carrot." You know? >> Yeah.
19:03
And then you look back and you go "Shit, I didn't appreciate that person."
19:07
But that seems really about though less from a career's perspective is yeah, it's sad from from Red's perspective, Marty's character, it's really sad because he has to know that if he does well, these people will leave him. Yeah. Right? Yeah.
19:20
But what he what he says is is just I wish you would just call and say hi.
19:27
And then he I don't know, but then he also says >> away the but but but the thing is that's about like calling my dad. Mhm.
19:30
That's about calling like Stutz or are these older OGs that I look up to that, you know, um aren't going to be around forever.
19:40
>> It is the it is the stinger in the tail as you if you're lucky enough to mature in life come out of your own fog of delusion and ambition and goals and and actually take a little stock.
19:52
I do think the stinger is the time that you didn't take to check in on the ones who supported you unconditionally.
20:00
That's definitely stung me.
20:00
I've had moments in my life where I really have had to like take a good long look at myself and gone like, you could have called a couple more times and given a given a Yeah. >> one. It is. >> a sacrifice.
20:13
It is and you got to like, you know, it's the corniest thing with that song like Cats in the Cradle.
20:16
I can't even listen to it now cuz I have you know, sons, but like, you know, like that like, you know, you're too busy, the dad's too busy working and then the kid's too busy to hang out with the dad.
20:26
>> as a parent, non-parents, I've got two kids.
20:28
It's important that we address those things and realize like, for us it's about time management, for them it's about right now.
20:33
Yeah, I'm really lucky, man, because I was older, you know, I was 39 when I had my first kid.
20:40
So, it uh I for some reason got the message. That's amazing.
20:47
>> You know, like >> Yeah.
20:48
you will never regret a second spent with this dude. Yeah. You know? >> Yeah.
20:52
And so, I'm blessed that we work so hard on these movies and we are allowed to just have that be our job. >> Yeah.
20:59
That's the goal of life that we get to make making these movies just that is just our job. Yeah. So, it's that and this. >> And that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Simple, man. It's okay.
21:09
A lot of every being cool, being whatever, [laughter] desirable. What's my puzzle?
21:15
You know, I am I have transitioned from Bart Simpson to Homer Simpson and I'm more than happy with it.
21:18
[laughter] You know, like comedically and otherwise, like I am a fat dad and it's rad.
21:24
>> Right down to Homer in the bush, literally like, I don't need to be in this game. >> Literally, dude.
21:27
And I think it's only opened up comedically, storytelling and but also just a joy, you know, because yo, like if you work in our lines of work, >> [clears throat] >> you have to be inherently kind of self- focused. You know, you are. It's impossible not to.
21:45
This really stripped that kind of away in a good way.
21:47
Where are your channels of of perspective?
21:49
If obviously a powerful one is being a parent. >> Mhm.
21:54
That is like remove yourself from this and focus on this.
22:00
I find therapy be really good for me.
22:00
I don't know if you're allowed on that as well, but I mean, you know, you're right.
22:04
In your particular role, um in in your job, even if you're acting, right?
22:09
When you're back in front of the camera, the directors require you to be the best Jonah Hill you can be for that role in that situation.
22:16
And yet, you're at a point like you've pointed out where it's like, I don't know if that's going to serve me in its entirety anymore.
22:22
Like, I need other ways of creating perspective, right? Of space and grace.
22:26
Like, are you still as consumptive as you were as a kid when it was all that mattered?
22:29
No, because you just corny and irresponsible if you don't put your family first. >> 100%.
22:35
Uh it's just like Yeah, yeah, yeah.
22:37
the you know, like uh there's nothing worth it.
22:39
And you know what I haven't done is I haven't acted for someone else, just been hired as an actor since Don't Look Up, the McKay movie. And I wasn't a parent.
22:48
So, I'm kind of excited to take an acting job like and see what that is like to not have as much responsibility now while um like committing to that part, but in a way where I can leave it there. >> Mhm. You know?
23:06
>> Take the learnings and apply. Yeah, like I'm excited.
23:08
That's a new thing I haven't felt yet. >> Mhm.
23:10
Um >> [snorts] >> so, I'm kind of excited for that, but also right now it's just like these are what's coming out of me, so that's what we're making. >> Strong baby. Strong baby, yeah. And it's the most fun.
23:19
I mean, everyone we work with is like such a beautiful person and you know, there's so many highs and lows in putting a movie together of like from trying to get it financed to 20 drafts of the script to a screening that goes sideways.
23:34
>> [laughter] >> I'm showing Kristen Wiig for the first time tonight. I'm like, oh you know.
23:38
And we're just as they're support system and and then I have that at home and I have that at work and I need that, you know?
23:44
So, if you ask me, it's really just love and support, you know, like I work with people I really appreciate and they're like family and I and then I have a family and then like, you know, I have a couple friends who I care about very deeply, but you know, they'll always be so important, but it it simplifies things.
24:06
I don't know and I love the work and I love the dadness.
24:09
And you do you find time to surf still? You still surf? >> Oh, yeah.
24:11
I learned not to talk about it. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
24:13
I got off social media cuz I was like I if I think about any post I ever posted on social media, I cringe to the point where I want to dig a hole and like bury myself in there. >> Yeah.
24:24
I've been off for like four or five years now or something like that.
24:28
And I made it just the ultimate mistake, which was just talking about surfing on social media. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
24:31
And yeah, I just quietly do my thing.
24:33
Yeah, no, that's beautiful.
24:36
So, you've reached a peaceful place for yourself and only for yourself.
24:38
That serves a community purpose as well, which is like by its very design it is like, man, if you can't find peace doing this on your own without broadcasting it, then why the are you I will say without saying a lot, it is definitely the third component.
24:50
Yeah, yeah, that's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
24:51
of like a um uh just joy for no one else, but you know, like when you have a moment with your son Mhm.
24:58
and it's beautiful where he laughs or something, that's for no one but you, him and God, right?
25:05
Like, that's just for that's not for show, right?
25:10
A moment in the water's like that.
25:10
You know, you're [snorts] just like, this is for nobody else.
25:15
I probably look like but to me I was Kelly Slater out there, you know, Mikey February.
25:19
>> [laughter] >> What's it like What's it like sort of developing a script and making a film that really throws a very bright spotlight on social media and the impact it can have on everybody from the day-to-day human being who's moving things around to the the person who even wants to see and talk about when you haven't actually been on social media for the last four years.
25:35
I mean, how did that kind of adjust your perspective as a writer sort of having some distance from it and not being in it? I don't see what's cool.
25:44
So, I create from a place of what's bringing me creative joy.
25:46
Clearly, cuz Marty called us two years before years ago.
25:50
And so, if you'd been on social media the last four years, you wouldn't be sitting here right now having a conversation with >> [laughter] >> I left off where you were the king.
25:56
>> I mean, if you started, I'd be like, Jonah, it's really I really appreciate you taking a shot on me. Oh, man, I love that.
26:01
>> years since anyone of anyone has No, I nothing crosses my desk.
26:04
So, if a big, you know, I read the news, but like, you know, I don't know about what's cool.
26:10
So, what I'm doing is I'm creating and I don't know about like, you know, keeping up with the Joneses.
26:14
I don't live my life in a like, should I be doing this? Should I be doing that?
26:19
>> What I'm obsessed with is what I need to be doing.
26:22
And so, I'm not like, is this what's popping right now? >> Mhm.
26:26
The truth in something being moving or funny is always popping.
26:28
You don't have to like chase it.
26:31
Um and that's where I want to create from.
26:34
I don't want to be influenced by fear of what everyone else is doing.
26:39
I want to just see what gets me going.
26:42
And I trust myself now as a 42-year-old having done work for 20, you know, four years to say, "Okay, this is my turn to create I'm now the guy I wanted to be."
26:54
I always was like at the test screenings as a grom being in the movies with Judd and Seth and them going like, "I can't wait till I'm like the guy making movies."
27:01
And it's like, right now is my turn. Be Why?
27:02
Not cuz I think I'm cool, but cuz they're allowing me to make it.
27:07
So, if you get to make it, it's your turn and I relish that.
27:08
I I really take a joy in that.
27:12
It must be great for someone like Marty as well and I can say that cuz I've interviewed him. I've spoken to Marty.
27:17
I spent some time It was great interview. Thanks, man.
27:19
We had dinner with him that night. Oh, yeah.
27:22
>> Yes, that night you interviewed him.
27:22
We had Okay, cool story that no one cares about.
27:26
>> No, no, I care [laughter] about it. Story for no one. I care about it. I care about it. >> Hi, story for no one.
27:30
I'm here for this A interview.
27:31
Yeah, well, this this the arc of my entire career.
27:35
No, I mean, what it what's what's must be really nice for Marty as well who's directed you, seen you like at I would say kind of peak like star power in Wolf of Wall Street.
27:46
I mean, you stole almost every scene you're in in a scene of scene stealers. It's pretty incredible.
27:53
And I I appreciate you acknowledging that because it is like an undeniable role that you played. He's seen you. He's directed you, dude. He's seen you do that.
28:03
You know, you carry on trying to chase those roles down, you can spiral off into space.
28:06
We've seen it happen before.
28:09
For you to take a step back and start to build something that he's built, when he saw you and caught up with you again and you went met with him and talked about this role, there must have been a moment without betraying trust where you could see in his eyes or perhaps he acknowledged that like, this is great.
28:21
Like, where you are landing with this with this production company, with making these films top to bottom, bringing me in, directing me.
28:26
I mean, that's what people like Martin Scorsese live for, isn't it? To see people get it?
28:30
He's just the most beautiful guy.
28:34
You know, he's just he's just the best.
28:36
He's just true to himself, never full of You know, obviously the goat.
28:42
You know, like you go back and forth if you're lucky enough to have a friendship with him, which I can say I do is you do go back and forth from becoming your him becoming your friend to going this is the guy who made Goodfellas, you know?
28:57
Like, you can't not and that's part of the friendship.
28:59
I have people like that in my life.
29:01
That's okay and it's okay that that's part of the friendship, you know, cuz he he he knows he should have that reverence from a young person who wants to do what he does.
29:09
But, I'll tell you I'll share a story that felt good, okay?
29:11
Which was So, I've been doing these interviews and the three interviews I'm doing for this movie are this and Rick Rubin and then Interview magazine and they said, "Who do you want to interview you for Interview magazine?"
29:23
And my publicist Liz said, "Let's ask ask Marty." And I was shocked.
29:28
I didn't want to put I don't like putting people in the position to have to say no to whatever.
29:34
I mean, we had shot the movie, he was in the movie.
29:36
He hadn't seen it yet, but he had per second hand, he really is unbelievable in the movie.
29:40
I'm not just saying he really is incredible in the movie. And moving.
29:43
And and >> I can say that without, you know, just truthfully, his work is beautiful.
29:49
And and he hadn't seen it yet and I didn't want to ask him and and uh you know, our me and him share a manager, Rick Yorn, Rick Red Yorn. Love Rick. Yeah, Rick's the man.
30:00
And we I we all love Rick.
30:02
We all work for Rick in some capacity.
30:05
Um Rick, of course, made it happen cuz he's Rick.
30:08
And I felt awkward because it's Interview magazine, it's it's him interviewing me.
30:13
He was seeing the movie like you saw it last night, like the night or two before we just finished it.
30:19
And I felt awkward because I was like, If he does He said yes.
30:23
If he doesn't like it, he's going to give these remarks about it that are so obvious where he's trying to be nice cuz he likes me, but he didn't like the movie, you know?
30:35
>> You're you're in your head on this.
30:37
Well, just you know, in certain circumstances you can't not be.
30:38
I won't beat myself up for that.
30:40
It's not like every interaction is like that.
30:42
I'm like >> It's your film. He's a director. He's a hero. He's a movie star. >> a lot.
30:46
Like it it's high stakes emotions.
30:48
And then so and right away he started talking about the movie and I'll just say in a broad blanket statement that he just seemed to love the movie.
30:56
And the compliments he gave and the things he said about the movie are exactly what I would pray he would notice and compliment.
31:02
And he kept saying he was proud of me.
31:07
And I was like, you know, it's one thing, you know, actors that become directors or, you know, it's a cliché, they suck.
31:16
>> [laughter] >> They have star power and they can convince their friends to do things and, you know, and he's seen all my movies into this point and he's like, what a crazy jump from mid '90s and stats to this, you know?
31:28
And he said he was genuinely proud of me multiple times and and I know Marty well enough to know that he A wouldn't have done the interview.
31:39
And I go, well, why did you do this interview if you hadn't seen it yet? What if you hated it?
31:41
I asked him that and he said, I read the script.
31:45
He's like, I knew what it was.
31:49
He's like, and then you did better than I thought, you know?
31:51
And so so yeah, of course to me that is the most, you know, making it and spending those days with him directing him is the thing.
32:02
The process is the reward, but that's a nice little reward, do you know?
32:07
And it's also an extra reward to have someone >> Of course.
32:11
you admire that much say that and and I could feel it, you know?
32:13
Those moments I I you know, I save them.
32:16
I save those kind of observations.
32:19
I I don't try to hide them with humility. I I love them.
32:23
When I'm having a tough day or I'm scared of doing something or whatever, I remember something something somebody said, or probably something you said today.
32:29
I'll be like, oh you know, but man, that time Jonah gave me that real genuine love.
32:33
You know, but you've already said it.
32:35
Now it feels like a trade.
32:36
I don't want to weird and I don't want it >> But you are.
32:38
No, but again, the more you say it now, I'm not believing it.
32:40
I felt like I believed it the first time. >> know I mean it. You're great.
32:45
And now you say I you know I mean it.
32:47
Who says that and doesn't I'm in my >> Who's the neurotic one now?
32:51
>> Oh, dude, >> [laughter] >> you don't have to tell me.
32:52
Oh my god, you kidding me? >> No, you're great.
32:55
You're the Scorsese of interviews, man.
32:57
You um you did some real on the nose here, which I thought was really interesting, you know, for for from for a film that's telling a story about how uh acerbic and and and fractious the internet can be and opinion and all this sort of stuff.
33:15
It's really like like Ira is a shitty person except when he's with his kid, where he's beautiful and amazing.
33:20
And it's such an interesting little like ray of light in an otherwise shitty situation.
33:26
Uh but, you know, there's some pictures on the walls, which are pretty like on the nose.
33:32
Uh you know, there's a moment >> say Ira Ira, the character I play, is uh like a 65-year-old like Crisis lawyer. >> crisis lawyer.
33:39
Like if you kill someone His job is >> like Tom Hanks, you call Ira.
33:42
Yeah, his job is to keep the money coming in, really.
33:46
It's not even to save your life or save your freedom.
33:47
It's just to keep the bucks coming in to some degree, right?
33:50
>> Yeah, his job is to play the best chess to keep you able to keep your stature in earning money as an entertainer, I would say.
33:58
You said something before just really interesting, which is the idea of like a comedians make jokes and then deal with the consequences later.
34:02
There are some of those in this film.
34:04
There are some moments like, you know, there's a there's a Kanye West joke in there. Yeah.
34:08
In my office there's a big framed picture of Ye.
34:10
Um and meaning that he was a client of mine.
34:16
And then it's a joke we did visually, which is Ira brings Reef in when there's this video and we don't know what's on the video.
34:23
And he brings him into his conference room.
34:26
He's like, I got the dream team in here. >> That's right.
34:29
>> got Laverne Cox, who plays She plays Virginia, who's like this uh you know, for women whose rights have been violated would be a lawyer that is a public face of that.
34:39
>> And there's the reverend.
34:39
And then there's the reverend um Leondris, >> That's right.
34:44
>> played by the great Roy Jones Jr. Roy Wood Jr. , who's incredible.
34:48
And then there's Atsuko, one of our favorite comedians, who works who started the hashtag stop imitating Asian people.
34:55
And uh they're all there as insurance in case the video portrays >> Cuz we don't know what's on it.
35:01
We don't know what's on the video.
35:02
So it's like a safety net.
35:03
Like and the whole time he's like, why is she here?
35:05
I didn't We're like, we know, we know, I know, we know, we know.
35:09
And I'm like, you going to want her here, you know?
35:11
And he's like, I He goes, and then Roy goes, I pray to God you didn't say the word on that video.
35:18
[laughter] And he's like, I would never.
35:19
And we're like, I know, I know, Bobby, I know.
35:21
I was like, but if you did, you're going to He goes, if you did, we're going to hold hands and walk through the fire together, my brother.
35:26
And Roy was just incredible.
35:28
And then there's a joke that goes I say, where is uh the guy from the anti-Semitism community? Why isn't he here?
35:35
And uh my my character my assistant character says, um oh, we did the we did the research and it turns out hating Jews doesn't hurt your career, it helps it.
35:47
And it cuts to a pic the picture of Kanye. Right?
35:48
And so the reason why I put that in there was not just to take a shot at Kanye.
35:53
I love the Kanye that I've met over the years. I love the artist.
36:01
I think there is no artist I probably love more across any genre ever.
36:04
I think he is probably the greatest artist to ever live. Even And he thinks that.
36:11
>> [laughter] >> Your interviews with him are are like things I've seen as much as I've seen in The Godfather, just quotes and Gaga, you know?
36:18
Like he's he's a genius and the stuff with the hate stuff sucks. It's brutal.
36:25
What are you going to say?
36:27
It sucks to It sucks no matter who you are to hear to hear that.
36:29
Now, do I know what's going on? No.
36:32
Am I going to punch someone while they're down? No, of course not.
36:35
But in the midst of all this Jew stuff, he did Instagram a picture of me in the 21 Jump Street poster cuz my phone blew up.
36:44
And and he said, you know, something along the lines of, I don't hate Jews anymore because I love Jonah Hill. Right?
36:51
So I felt that he did this bizarre public thing to kind of make up like it's all good cuz I love Jonah.
36:58
Uh just sat with me in a way that it's like all good.
37:02
Like I love him still and I hope whatever happens he can like heal or whatever and everyone can heal from all that stuff.
37:11
>> human position and I'm with you on that.
37:13
>> Yeah, I hope he I hope he can heal and and make it right with the people he needs to make it right to in the Jewish community, whatever. Me and him got no beef.
37:19
I just put that in there like, yo, you're going to put the 21 Jump Street poster up there and say you don't hate Jews anymore? That's pretty wild.
37:27
I'm going to put a picture of you saying that like hating Jews helps your career. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
37:32
Obviously, that's a joke on my part.
37:34
It doesn't help your career, but it's me just having fun with like, all right, I'm a comedian.
37:40
It it it's not horribly mean to Kanye that joke. No.
37:42
And also 21 where our society is kind of at, where does it get you more followers to go spout hateful That's part of my point about the internet.
37:52
What gets you clout or attention?
37:54
It's also, you know, you Not being nice.
37:55
You Well, there's no there's no such There's no such As I said to my friends, there's no such thing as a feel-good hit of the summer anymore.
38:03
You know, if you're going to have a hit, it's got to divide opinion.
38:05
It's got to be something that is just really like intense.
38:09
And I remember when I was growing up, you could have a feel-good hit of the summer.
38:12
That didn't really do anything but make you feel something good.
38:15
Oh, I think you could have a feel-good hit of the summer.
38:16
The new Bruno Mars song, I Just Might.
38:17
Like that's, you know, it's not summer yet, but like that's just a song that's just about having a good time.
38:23
That's why I love Bruno Mars. guy has a good time.
38:26
And like, you know, it's like he can he has hits that aren't like, you know, they're not trying to like opiate banger. Opiate is a banger.
38:33
I just I just I just wonder in this in this And I agree with you.
38:37
Cut off, the next movie I'm doing.
38:38
This movie is deeply emotional, deeply, you know, going to have people feeling some way in a good way, hopefully, and have conversations.
38:47
Cut off is pure stupidity.
38:47
It is pure The Jerks, Step Brothers.
38:50
Me and Kristen Wiig are two middle-age heirs that get cut off by our parents in their mid-40s.
38:57
You follow up these jokes, and they are jokes, but you follow it up with a really interesting statement, which is honk if you can separate the art from the artist.
39:04
I can't believe you got that, man.
39:05
That's like my favorite thing in the movie. >> love it, right?
39:07
Because because it is the great debatable conversation point amongst anybody who loves art, but also it likes people and wants people to like >> You got to set the context of how complicated it hits you in the movie because you've had this Ira's this guy you have such mixed feelings about.
39:23
He He protects artists that do terrible things.
39:27
Um you hate him, but then you see him with his son, who has special needs and you're and he's a beautiful father and you kind of feel mixed about him.
39:34
He then confronts Reef, Keanu's character, in a way that no one's ever confronted this person and shows that he deeply cares.
39:43
Keanu Reeves' character is a huge dick to him, and then you see him getting in his son's handicap van, and there's a bumper sticker that says, "Honk if you can separate the art from the artist." It's brilliant.
39:52
>> And it just is meant to get you thinking. Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> A ton.
39:54
What is he trying to say? >> Yeah.
39:56
It's not that I have some grand thing to say.
39:58
I'm trying to get you in that moment to think about all these emotions you're feeling mixed with are we allowed to care about somebody whose art we love, who we don't agree with their choices? >> Yes. >> I don't know. Yeah, it's complicated.
40:11
>> It's the question of our times.
40:11
If If you're in the culture, if you're in the music and film and all that, you can't not ask yourself that question right now. >> Yeah, no.
40:18
>> And then on side from that, I make bumper stickers as a hobby. You do?
40:21
>> Yeah, so that was one that I had just thought of as a joke, and then we ended up finding a way emotionally to write it into the movie in a great moment with John Bryan's score, which we won't talk music.
40:29
John Bryan is >> to get to him next.
40:31
He did the score for the movie, and um you know, it just hits you in a real emotional way, and a way to make you go, "Am I supposed to laugh right now?
40:39
Am I supposed to think right now?"
40:40
I mean, it made me really laugh because, like you point, you set it up brilliantly.
40:44
It was like this tipping point of like, "My god, I'm so confused as to who I'm rooting for here."
40:47
And at the end of the day, you just you just ask that question at the perfect timing.
40:52
>> a question on a bumper sticker.
40:53
>> Okay, no, on a bumper sticker.
40:54
Did you Are you going to manufacture bumper stickers with that on it?
40:57
>> I mean, Strong Baby, we want to start the Strong Baby Bumper Sticker Corporation, part of arm of our Do you make bumper stickers just because you come up with like that all the time? >> writing jokes.
41:05
So, it's basically writing a joke.
41:06
Basically, I saw this one Our costume designer had one that said, "Honk if you don't exist."
41:09
And I thought that was She's hysterical.
41:11
Uh Natasha, she's the costume designer on this movie, did brilliant work.
41:15
So, I saw that in a car and I started cracking up, and then I was like, "Oh, that's a great joke writing exercise." >> Yeah, yeah.
41:21
>> We had a great contest in the art department. The homie won.
41:23
I got to look at his name cuz he won the contest.
41:26
>> a contest on best bumper sticker at your >> Well, not best bumper sticker.
41:28
I wanted your mom spelled in the coexist font.
41:33
You know those coexist fonts that like art teachers have on and I wanted your mom, y o u r mom, in the coexist font, and it's dope. He won that contest.
41:40
I got it framed in my office like the original. Strong Baby, man.
41:43
You guys are like like that, and it's fun.
41:46
Like we will release them with the movies.
41:48
Like I bet for this one like we would release the honk if you could separate the art from the artist. >> yeah, do it.
41:53
We try and do fun stuff like that.
41:55
>> John Bryan, man, I love him.
41:55
I I last time I saw John, well, not maybe not saw John, but last time we spoke on the record was around Max's Posthumous album that he >> That was an incredible interview. I saw that. >> man.
42:05
That was a very emotional evening, and um he's just a beautiful soul. Music runs through him.
42:09
Um he has the most amazing ability to shapeshift into whatever you need if he feels it.
42:13
Um what was the experience like working with someone like John?
42:18
Yo, so I go to bed at 6:00. I have like babies. At night?
42:23
Yeah, I go to like 7:00, whatever my son goes to sleep, right?
42:25
So, I literally go to bed then and wake up like mad early with him. Uh-huh.
42:28
And watch We call it Blippi and Boba. Yeah.
42:31
So, we use a little Blippi and Boba. >> that.
42:33
How was your son, by the way?
42:33
I'll say straight up, I want I have beef with one human being on this planet, and it's Blippi. Okay.
42:37
Like you can catch hands if I see any of the Blippis.
42:40
There's been like three of them, but like you ruined my life the past couple years.
42:45
Any parents know what I'm talking about. Bluey, opposite. Big hugs.
42:49
>> As a As a parent As a parent, man, you do develop a rational distrust {slash} dislike for certain childlike characters that are developed and created to help develop them. >> toys.
43:01
Cuz he'll see and then on the YouTube like, you know, the commercial for the next thing, he'll see a toy, and then he asks me for that toy, whatever.
43:08
Side Side note, whatever.
43:08
And you know, like Bluey on the other hand is like masterful and like makes you feel good and is giving the right lessons to your kids.
43:16
>> Well, it it works, you know?
43:16
I mean, you It's like it's it's a metaphor for life.
43:19
Your kid is seeing the good and evil of society through these two characters, and you're you're right there.
43:22
So, I go to bed at like 7:00 p. m. John Bryan is nocturnal.
43:25
He starts work at like He started early for me at 9:00 p. m.
43:32
Dude, I don't I would be up all day working and then go to do He only works at night.
43:39
Uh I loved working with him.
43:39
The score in the movie is beautiful.
43:41
To have a John Bryan score for one of my favorites is like bucket list, you know?
43:44
If you've ever seen like Eternal Sunshine and Spotless Mind, it's like one of the greatest scores ever.
43:49
My first movie, I Heart Huckabees, he's just a goat.
43:51
And um you know, produced the first two Kanye al- or the second Kanye album with him, I think.
43:58
Uh Late Registration and then maybe Graduation, I think. Um just brilliant guy.
44:03
Did you ever hear the story about Jim Jarmusch when he was working on Ghost Dog, and he asked RZA to do the music on Ghost Dog?
44:08
And the the legend is is that um RZA would call him at 3:00 in the morning and be like, maybe he was in Bobby Digital mode, I don't know.
44:16
Maybe he'd be like >> [laughter] >> "Yo, Jim.
44:21
You got to meet me Meet me down at bong bong bong.
44:23
You got to meet me down on the corner of of 110 136th and and 5th in like 25 minutes."
44:27
And Jim Jarmusch is like, "It's 2:00 in the morning."
44:31
So, [snorts] he'd like go down there, and there'd be just one van on the corner of the street, and he'd be like, "Well, I guess this has got to be it."
44:38
So, he'd like knock on the door, and the doors would open, and RZA would be sitting in there making beats on the streets of New York.
44:44
And the whole Ghost Dog soundtrack was made nocturnally on different streets in New York, and that's why it sounds the way it does, and that movie flows the way it does.
44:53
See, I love that but in this part of my life, I'm like, "Can we work 9:00 to 5:00, my dude?"
44:57
Like I [laughter] I I'm so tired, you know?
44:59
Like like Cuz when I was young, I was all about I was like, "Fuck yeah, I'm an artist.
45:03
I'm going to be up all night with John Bryan.
45:05
We're just two artists like slaving away."
45:07
And it's like after my third year of filmmaking, I'm like, "Damn, I miss my bed.
45:10
I want to kiss my kid good night."
45:12
Like you know, a lot of my decisions now Um you got to find the great artist that can also work within your timeline.
45:18
Like I'd work with John I'd work That's a vibe.
45:21
Yeah, you want to take care of your health, you know?
45:23
If you want to get your sleep, you got to like, you know, certain is worth it.
45:25
Like John Bryan's worth it.
45:27
You got to put it in the worth it category, and staying up all night for John Bryan is worth it.
45:32
>> I am really happy uh for you and for your team at Strong Baby and what you and what you're building.
45:36
Um I'm a big proponent of um self-fulfilling artistic, you know, intention. >> Dude.
45:44
You know, I've I've been talking to artists a lot in my life like 30-plus years, and too many of my friends, you know, give the game away, and they struggle to get it back.
45:53
So, I think the sooner you realize that it's yours to run.
45:56
It's your playbook ultimately, and you got to make the decisions stand by and rise or fall.
46:00
I mean, I don't You didn't need like a soliloquy at the end, but it's been such a nice for me and >> That's such encouragement for me for us to hear that.
46:07
That's encouragement for us.
46:09
Like no one wants a movie to be made.
46:11
No one wants a company to Mm. be successful. >> Mm.
46:15
You have to have psychotic self-belief.
46:17
And Dimes and I, if we didn't have each other, we'd be in like one of us would be going cra- You know, it's like a marriage.
46:22
Like like you both can't be crazy at the same time. >> Yeah.
46:25
You know, that's like me and him.
46:27
And so, it's like you have to believe, and when one of us is down, the other person's like, "No, this.
46:30
We We're going to get it made."
46:32
>> What's amazing as well is that and not just for your own kids, but for anybody who's young in this business right now where it's it's becoming increasingly divided the the the the pathways to any sense of kind of fulfillment or achievement is so microscopically split now into It's like it's hard to to create a singular picture.
46:54
That's okay because these kids are strong.
46:56
They grew up in this world.
46:58
They understand this language.
46:58
They're not scared about it the way I am. Yeah. It doesn't terrify them.
47:02
>> terrify them the way it terrifies me, but I'm terrified for them. Mm.
47:03
And uh I think what you guys are doing is along with some of your contemporaries is showing that, you know, you can make independent decisions with support but smart decisions and go and make great art.
47:17
And I think that that's man, we need it. We need more of it.
47:20
We need more movies that make us laugh and make us cry and make us feel things at the same time.
47:24
And we need great musical decisions and Should I double down on my soliloquy?
47:30
You bring it out of me, John. >> man.
47:31
I can't tell you how If it's genuine, which it is, someone saying that, especially someone you respect that talks to such great artists like >> That that No, no, I'm saying that that means so much.
47:41
It's not lost cuz like most of the time it's you just pushing yourself Yeah.
47:45
to say, "Why am I even doing this?" you know?
47:48
And ultimately like you know, I'll be honest, when I was young, I didn't appreciate like what I what I had, you know?
47:56
And I really appreciate every day I get to do this job.
48:01
It is not >> It's not a given that you get to keep doing it.
48:05
>> What a gift to come to that realization at this point in your life.
48:08
>> Even you go like I used to say, "I have to do press today." Yeah. Right?
48:10
Like and everyone about press or you hear that kind of thing, and I'm like, "Man, that.
48:15
I get to go talk about our movie Outcome with Zane Lowe."
48:21
That is an a gift and not a chore, you know?
48:24
If you enjoy like any percentage of your job, you are so lucky and in the minority.
48:29
And I deal with a lot of stuff in this job that I that that is unfavorable, let's say, that for by any standard.
48:35
And I am so lucky to have a job that I uh I love such a high percentage of it.
48:42
You know, or any percentage of it. >> Yeah.
48:47
And the is is completely outweighed by the community the commu- achievement of a community of people working together.
48:59
Um all the people that keep coming back on the next movies. What a dream, dude.
49:04
I never I like I just I I I am so lucky to be in this position.
49:07
It's not lost on me, you know?
49:09
And then I can only do it because I have people that love me behind the scenes.
49:14
You know, when I was young, it was just me in a house by myself. You know? And so uh I don't know.
49:18
Knock on wood, as my mom would say, but I'm a very I am the most lucky.
49:23
So, I just don't take it for granted now, you know?