WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:08.300 I genuinely think, bro, I'm gonna be one of the most talented filmmakers of my time Your most popular TikTok video has forty-eight point five million views. 2 00:00:08.420 --> 00:00:13.940 The video came together over the course of about two months, the script. It was four nights of filming and a weekend of editing. I was blown away. 3 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:24.000 I was like, damn, this guy is like distilling the algorithmic short-form video. Like, this is that form perfected. There's absolutely zero alternative for me. I'm so all in on this. 4 00:00:24.200 --> 00:00:33.980 You really frame yourself as an artist pretty explicitly. I'm committing my life to, like, perfecting this craft, period. What's the worst video you've ever made? That's a really good question, man. Um... 5 00:00:36.400 --> 00:00:41.600 Welcome back to the Creator Spotlight podcast. My name is Francis Serra, and today we're speaking with Grant Beene. 6 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:47.320 If you've scrolled TikTok or Instagram Reels in the past few years, you have almost certainly seen his work. 7 00:00:47.360 --> 00:00:57.940 These days he only publishes once every couple months, but his videos routinely get dozens of millions of views. Really good, basically a perfection of the short-form algorithmic video. 8 00:00:57.980 --> 00:01:04.640 We're gonna play one, and then as soon as the episode starts, he and I are gonna talk about it and how he made it. Enjoy. 9 00:01:06.119 --> 00:01:23.400 [laughs] What? [suspenseful music] Who are you? I'll be your waiter this evening. What can I get y'all started with? 10 00:01:23.560 --> 00:01:31.620 I'll do the soup. And for you, sir? Uh, I'll have what he's having. I'll be right back with those soups. You okay? We were just in your room. What? How did we get here? Oh, I don't know. 11 00:01:31.700 --> 00:01:49.480 I made a reservation four months ago. Without talking to me. Can you go five seconds without complaining? I could go ten. You happy now? It was the best ten seconds of my li- [gentle music] Just drop it. 12 00:01:49.920 --> 00:02:04.360 And here's that soup. Thanks. Yeah, thanks. Is that DJ Khaled, Ronaldo, Millie Bobby Brown, Druski, and Mr. Beast in a cheer pyramid? Where? You're acting like a child. I am not. Can we get this guy a kids menu? 13 00:02:04.380 --> 00:02:17.040 Are you joking? Do I look like someone who's joking? Dude, sit down and eat your soup. Wait. What? [groans] Jericho, I'm sorry. No, no, no. I'm so cold. 14 00:02:19.380 --> 00:02:31.920 [gentle music] How's that? Oh. [laughs] I thought I lost you for a second. Can't get rid of me that easy. 15 00:02:33.340 --> 00:02:48.480 [upbeat music] Your most popular TikTok video has forty-eight point five million views. It was posted March 2025, and it starts with you putting shaving cream in your friend Jericho's hand while he sleeps. 16 00:02:48.520 --> 00:02:51.520 Then it goes to-- through this sidewalk dining scene, then back to the bedroom. 17 00:02:51.560 --> 00:03:03.220 The whole thing is one minute twenty-nine seconds long, and by my rough count, there were fifty-three cuts, three different settings, four actors, including a small child. You're acting like a child. I am not. 18 00:03:03.420 --> 00:03:13.300 Uh, there's a lot going on. This is kind of your work. There's always a lot going on. I wanna start by walking through the production process for this one, which kind of represents your style these days. 19 00:03:14.220 --> 00:03:28.080 How did-- Like, from concept, writing, filming, posting, how did that video come to be? Yeah, dude. Let me think. So they all initially begin with 20 00:03:30.020 --> 00:03:37.700 me getting an idea that I-- like is just too good, and I know that if it's not gonna be in the next video, it's gonna be in a video eventually. Mm-hmm. 21 00:03:37.860 --> 00:03:48.080 And, um, so, like, sometimes I'll have an idea, and I'll start trying to write around it, and it's just obvious it's not time yet. And so I'll, I'll com- Mm. I'll put it aside, and then I'll start something else. 22 00:03:48.760 --> 00:03:56.049 Um, 'cause you never wanna force it, you know what I mean? Yeah. And, yeah. The-- my worst videos are the ones that I, I force, you know what I mean? And so anyways, I, 23 00:03:57.420 --> 00:04:10.040 I had been sitting on this idea for s- a long time, dude, where it's like I love the, uh, um, t- the YouTube screen recording with the ten seconds. Mm. And I just knew, like, uh, that joke 24 00:04:11.020 --> 00:04:14.100 was so good, dog, and I was-- and I had been sitting on that for a long time. 25 00:04:14.260 --> 00:04:24.539 And I remember whenever I sat down to, like, write my next video, I opened my notes, and I saw that, that YouTube joke idea with the screen recording and, like, the home screen and all that- Yeah... for a transition. 26 00:04:24.550 --> 00:04:39.820 I- Which, wait, let me, let me just say quick for the listener, if you, if you're watching on YouTube, you'll have seen it in the intro here, but if you're not watching, it's when you, you know, the video goes from, like, the normal frame, it's being filmed, to then, you know, you, you scroll down on your phone, you're looking at the home screen, and it's, it's recording the home screen. 27 00:04:39.860 --> 00:04:51.080 You're looking at YouTube. So it's this sort of like meta medium commentary before- Yeah... it then goes back into the shot. In the dialogue, the setup for the joke is like, "Can you go five seconds without complaining?" 28 00:04:51.100 --> 00:05:01.300 And then it's like, "I could go ten." Can you go five seconds without complaining? I could go ten. You happy now? It was the best ten seconds of my li- [gentle music] Yeah, dude. 29 00:05:01.420 --> 00:05:10.200 Um, and so it started with that, and then it was kind of from there, it's like, okay, like, well, okay, two characters need to be in an argument if we're gonna be doing that. 30 00:05:10.940 --> 00:05:18.080 And then I remember, like, it's like, okay, like, I don't know where we're gonna argue and blah, blah, blah. But then I remember the next idea that really, like, catalyzed it. 31 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:25.490 I was like, ooh, that would be really good is I love that that was a trend going around the beginning with the shaving cream. Mm. Um- Like a trend... and, yeah, yeah. 32 00:05:25.550 --> 00:05:32.540 And I love starting my videos off with something that feels like such just native internet scrolling content. Mm-hmm. 33 00:05:32.600 --> 00:05:41.680 Because if you're scrolling and it's like brain rot, brain rot, brain rot, and then you see, like, a really, like, high-produced sketch, it can kind of be like, eh, like, I just want something a little lower commitment to watch. 34 00:05:42.060 --> 00:05:49.039 And so I really try to start my videos with, like, a Snapchat or something so, like, oh, this is low commitment, dog. You know what I mean? Like, I'm just gonna scroll in, like, five seconds. 35 00:05:49.540 --> 00:05:56.280 So I love starting with a very-- where the brain doesn't get scared away by, like, this is too intentional. Mm. It's like, oh, this feels like some nice internet brain rot. 36 00:05:56.640 --> 00:06:03.848 So I was like, that's, that's, that's candy, bro. And, like, that can even start-Some tension between us, like if I'm doing a prank on him in bed. You know what I mean? 37 00:06:03.888 --> 00:06:12.568 So anyways, um, and then from there, dude, just over, over the course of two months just wrote, wrote, wrote. And, like, the way my process works, dude, is it does take a while. 38 00:06:13.228 --> 00:06:19.248 Um, but it's kinda just because I love to live life, dude. Mm. And as long as I'm patient, the inspiration hits me, dude. 39 00:06:19.308 --> 00:06:26.008 And I can't even take credit, um, for a lot of the process 'cause it's all I do, dude, is I just, I don't get in a hurry. 40 00:06:26.388 --> 00:06:33.008 I try to be as humble as possible as I walk throughout the world, and whatever is obvious to me, what just jumps out to me, it is the most miraculous thing, dude. 41 00:06:33.048 --> 00:06:40.948 But it, it all ends up falling into place into a timeline. It's insane. Mm. And then once the script's put together, uh, we can make the video. 42 00:06:41.398 --> 00:06:46.078 And so yeah, the video came together over the course of about, uh, two months, the script. 43 00:06:47.008 --> 00:06:58.248 The script came together over the course of about two months, and then, um, it was four nights of filming and a weekend of editing, and that was that, dude. Damn. 44 00:06:58.508 --> 00:07:06.868 Uh, so one thing I like, the way you're saying, you know, you, you, you, you let it cook, you let it simmer, you wait till it comes together. It reminds me of something I once read. 45 00:07:07.068 --> 00:07:23.548 I forget who this was, some poet, but it's like a poem about writing poetry, and it's about how, you know, you may be, like, working in the field or, or, like, sitting in your house and, like, the, the poem will be, like, flying by in the sky, and you have to go out and grab it, and like, you, you have to go grab it then or else it might pass you by. 46 00:07:23.608 --> 00:07:36.118 But I-- you really frame yourself as an artist pretty explicitly, which we'll, we'll get a little more into that later. Um, you film... All your videos sort of take place at night. Yeah. 47 00:07:36.168 --> 00:07:47.468 And I've seen people in the comments saying, "Oh, fever dream." And I know in another interview you've said y- you kinda cringe at that. But sometimes they're explicitly dreams. Often the characters are sleeping. 48 00:07:47.688 --> 00:07:57.788 But you film at night I think as a practical reason, right? Because there's, there's no natural light inconsistencies to worry about if you're shooting over four days. Totally, dude. Yeah, the... 49 00:07:57.848 --> 00:08:01.408 It, yeah, it started strictly practical. It was fighting the sun is so annoying. 50 00:08:01.418 --> 00:08:09.627 [laughs] And the way we shoot our videos is just, I don't know if this is the, like, proper term, but like shot for shot where it's literally- Mm... we don't do coverage. 51 00:08:09.668 --> 00:08:12.608 We don't have multiple cameras filming all at once, like one scene. 52 00:08:13.068 --> 00:08:22.417 Every line of dialogue, every beat is us taking our iPhone, hitting record, and then once that's been said, then we gotta cut to the B-roll, and we gotta, like, record that separately. 53 00:08:22.488 --> 00:08:32.788 And so everything is being recorded separately. It's not all at the same time, so it takes so long. And dude, I mean, if we tried to record during the day, it would look like a time lapse, the sun in the background. 54 00:08:32.848 --> 00:08:34.748 You know what I mean? Yeah. 'Cause it's just, it's very time-consuming. 55 00:08:35.348 --> 00:08:42.168 And so it started off practical, but then it was kinda like, that's what's so cool, dog, is like it's so cool when the practical marries with, like, the art. 56 00:08:42.208 --> 00:08:48.378 And it's literally like, oh, but dude, like, we would, I wouldn't wanna do it any other way. Like, it being shot at night, we've kinda created this world a little bit- Mm-hmm... 57 00:08:48.388 --> 00:08:54.808 where every time you're watching one of our stories, it's just this is a world that these two dudes live in where, like, everything takes place at night. You know what I mean? 58 00:08:55.048 --> 00:08:59.388 And then- Li- yeah, the limitation shapes the, the form of the art, yeah. Totally, dude. 59 00:08:59.468 --> 00:09:11.768 And, and then what's been a really interesting conversation is as m- more people have gotten to know our stuff, and we can kinda have more resources and stuff, and, like, more people are willing to be in our videos, initially out of practicality, our videos were pretty stripped back. 60 00:09:11.808 --> 00:09:18.408 It was, like, me and Jericho talking 'cause it's like- Mm... our friends have jobs, and they can't, like, help us film every time. And, like, um, we can't... 61 00:09:18.448 --> 00:09:24.808 We had no money at the beginning, so we can't pay for extras and all this stuff. So the, the world would almost seem a little stripped back as well. 62 00:09:24.828 --> 00:09:34.368 But dude, that even, as we kind of gained the freedom to be able to, with time, actually be able to afford to have, like, extras and all that, we kind of found that, like, we... 63 00:09:34.408 --> 00:09:40.388 The world even feels surreal being stripped back. It's like we're these two dudes who live in this city, and you very rarely even see anybody else. 64 00:09:40.428 --> 00:09:43.728 It's like, oh, is this whole city just our city, and we have, like- Yeah... three friends that live in it? 65 00:09:43.768 --> 00:09:58.148 So anyways, yeah, dude, there's all these little things where, um, as long as you're having fun and taking your time and not getting in a hurry, not striving, dude, you kinda can have the eyes and the clarity to s- just see, "Oh, that's cool," as opposed to like, "Okay, how do we make it as big as possible, and how do I get as many videos out as I can?" 66 00:09:58.188 --> 00:10:05.948 It's just, it's... Something can really naturally unfold, and this has really been the course of, like, three, four years now of just letting it slowly become what it is and incubate, you know? 67 00:10:05.968 --> 00:10:15.588 Well, uh, so to that point, you know, slowly letting it incubate, I looked at your TikTok archive. You've got 130 videos as we record dating back to 2019. 68 00:10:15.808 --> 00:10:33.518 In 2019, you published 36, 57 in 2020, and then a major drop in 2021 to six. Mm. It's 10 in 2022, nine in 2023, six in 2024, and finally six again in 2025. We're recording this in early 2026. 69 00:10:33.748 --> 00:10:47.348 And in 2025, your, your mature style as is has developed, uh, over the six. It's kind of one every two months. The view counts range from 4.1 to 48.5 million across these six. 70 00:10:48.108 --> 00:10:56.748 Going back to the very beginning though, you know, in 2019, it's more you in your garage. There's some friends as well sometimes. But it's like, I mean, it's early TikTok stuff, right? 71 00:10:56.788 --> 00:11:07.808 It's, like, you doing a 12-second skit where you basically, a lot of those very first ones, you make some joke, and then it cuts to, like, you fully in the frame, and you do a weird little dance. 72 00:11:07.988 --> 00:11:15.928 You know, early TikTok stuff. When a criminal steals your car from you but you don't have the Uber app unlocked yet. Dude, you can't just go around stealing people's cars. I can't call an Uber. 73 00:11:16.108 --> 00:11:27.668 I don't have a way to get home. Oh, no way. Hop in the backseat. I'll give you a ride home. Whoa, dude. Thanks for being a bro. No problem. By the way, I'm not a bro. I'm a female. And that's how I met your mother. 74 00:11:27.728 --> 00:11:38.888 The first few, the first four videos are all in the 400,000 range. The fifth hits 600K. The sixth has 1.4 million views. Did those... Are those view counts from then? 75 00:11:38.968 --> 00:11:51.028 Like, did this hit from the start for you, or is this more like later people saw them? Yeah, dude, it did hit from the start. So the way the story goes, dude, is I, I was doing TikTok. 76 00:11:51.128 --> 00:11:59.828 I downloaded TikTok literally just as... I just s- you know the duet feature early on? Mm-hmm. Like, that was so, like, cutting edge. In 2019- Yeah... it was like, no way, dude. You'd like... 77 00:12:00.288 --> 00:12:06.740 If you download this TikTok app, bro, they have this thing where you can just put two videos beside each other, and I just downloaded TikTok, dog, to... 78 00:12:06.860 --> 00:12:15.250 s- to make a duet video, and then save it to my camera roll and post it on my Finsta. And so I just downloaded TikTok- Jokes for your friends. Jokes for my friends, right. Mm-hmm. 79 00:12:15.580 --> 00:12:22.240 And it was just like, I just downloaded TikTok, dude, as a, it was just the app that could make me make the video I wanted to make. 80 00:12:22.700 --> 00:12:33.560 And then over the course of, like, a month, I wasn't creating, but I was just kind of started scrolling on there, and I realized, dude, people were using TikTok like the new Vine, where, like, you could just record yourself talking. 81 00:12:33.660 --> 00:12:44.250 It didn't have to be s- you dancing to a sound. And so I thought that was kinda cool, and I even did Vine for a little while, and I got to, like, 30,000 followers on there or something. But I, uh, so I had, like, a... 82 00:12:44.540 --> 00:12:52.440 I knew I liked to do that. I knew I liked to, like, have these kinda two characters played by the same person, which is me, having a comedic conversation. 83 00:12:52.460 --> 00:13:01.490 And so I realized, dude, I could kinda start this up again on TikTok, dog. And so I remember I tried my hand at TikTok for, like, a month, and it went nowhere. Like, nothing was happening. 84 00:13:01.920 --> 00:13:08.860 And I kinda got discouraged, and I was like, you know, every day I would post something, and then I wouldn't check the app all day. And then at the end of the day, I'd be like, "What did it do?" 85 00:13:08.880 --> 00:13:13.920 And it would be like zero views. And [laughs] I, I was just like, you know, this is kinda like controlling my peace. 86 00:13:13.940 --> 00:13:19.180 I remember at the end of the day, I'd just kinda be, like, bummed out, and I was like, "I don't like that, dude." Yeah. So I was like, "I'm just gonna delete this app. I don't think it's good for me." 87 00:13:19.820 --> 00:13:27.680 And I was like, "I'm just gonna do my thing." I was pursuing, uh, like, I was doing e-com with my dad at the time. Hmm. And so anyways, that was kinda my, my future plan, and I was like, "This is just an extra thing. 88 00:13:27.720 --> 00:13:38.020 I'm gonna let it go." And so I let it go, dude, and I remember the night I deleted it, I drove to Taco Bell, dog, and I was eating, like, four tostadas, bro, with a Baja Blast Freeze. Like, that was my meal at the time. 89 00:13:38.640 --> 00:13:48.270 And, uh, I was watching a PewDiePie video. I was watching PewDiePie a lot at the time. And I remember he said something, dude, and it just, it inspired something in me, and I was like, "Oh, that..." 90 00:13:48.460 --> 00:13:52.120 A whole video came to my head, and I was like, "Oh, it's too good not to make." 91 00:13:52.220 --> 00:14:02.840 So I drove home and redownloaded the app the same day, and I, like, made this video real quick in my garage, and then I remember I hopped in the shower. And dude, I had never had a video go over 100 likes. 92 00:14:02.940 --> 00:14:06.000 And when I got out of the shower, it had like 150 likes. Wow. And I was like, "Whoa." 93 00:14:06.390 --> 00:14:10.970 And then I remember as I went to bed that night, I watched it go to, like, 1,000, and then I, like, woke up the next day, and it was, like, at 5,000. 94 00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:21.140 And then that video ended up hitting, like, 50K or something, uh, likes, and that was kinda the start. And then, dude, from there, that video, I was kinda this persona, this Young Metronome persona. 95 00:14:21.380 --> 00:14:23.780 [laughs] Uh, and I noticed people liked that. 96 00:14:23.960 --> 00:14:34.560 And so over that summer of 2019, I just kept cooking with that persona and coming up with concepts and things I could get that character into that would be entertaining to watch, and that's how I built my initial following. 97 00:14:34.600 --> 00:14:43.720 And it was pretty crazy from the get. Like- Yeah... after that first video took off, everything really hit moving forward that summer. Um, and that's how I got my initial following. 98 00:14:44.180 --> 00:14:51.500 So yeah, you ran this momentum up for a while. There's this website, Social Blade, where you can see social analytics on any given account back a few years. 99 00:14:51.960 --> 00:15:00.060 Uh, I went on there and looked at your TikTok account, and I could see as far back as May 31st, 2020, and by that point, you'd been posting on there for at least a year. 100 00:15:00.160 --> 00:15:12.950 Uh, and you'd published around 50 videos, and you had 1.2 million followers. By August 2020, you hit 1.4 million, and then if Social Blade is right, you were flat for two years. You were at- Hmm... 101 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:17.680 about 1.4 million followers for two years. That's correct? Yeah. Okay, yeah. 102 00:15:17.720 --> 00:15:28.580 So you finally start to grow again in the summer of 2022, and you suddenly add 500,000 subscribers, bringing you from 1.4 to 1.9 million between the end of May and the end of August 2022. 103 00:15:28.660 --> 00:15:38.360 And I, I think I know why, looking at the videos. I wanna hear what you say about this. So you switch from solo skits with this DJ Young Metronome character, uh, and maybe some other characters. I don't know. 104 00:15:38.380 --> 00:15:47.920 But you switch from solo skits to group skits, and the writing goes from these very straightforward single concepts, you know, maybe there's cuts, but it's not really conceptual cuts, just camera cuts. 105 00:15:48.340 --> 00:15:57.780 Uh, the writing goes from really straightforward to this twisting, turning, more absurd style that you have developed and are known for today. There's one video specifically that marks the shift. 106 00:15:58.360 --> 00:16:08.810 Again, Jericho, he's playing a cop. He pulls you over. Oh, look who's pulling up. Hey, what's good, my G? [laughs] How you been, bro? Hey, turn the car off. What? Turn the car off, sir. Wait, what? 107 00:16:09.140 --> 00:16:21.900 [car locks] Oh, what's good, Officer? You seen this guy around? Dude's wanted for stealing, like, 40 pounds of oats. Wait, what? [whooshing] Wait a minute. [knocks] Do you know why I pulled you over today, sir? 108 00:16:21.980 --> 00:16:32.300 What's going on? Who are you? Uh, a cop, idiot. Yeah, he kinda got here first, so... Yeah, I'm probably gonna arrest this dude. Wait, what? [knocks] You know why I pulled you over today, sir? You're too late, dude. 109 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:42.060 He beat us to it. Yeah, dude. Back off. Yeah, this guy's probably going to prison. What? Dude. Step out of the vehicle, sir. [door clicks] [suspenseful music] Oh, what do we have here? 110 00:16:44.060 --> 00:16:54.680 [camera clicks] Too bad I can't use this photo as evidence in court. It's too grainy. 'Cause, like, oats are, like, a grain? [laughs] Your views immediately increase. 111 00:16:54.750 --> 00:17:05.160 The six videos preceding that one have an average of 1.6 million, or 1.06 million views, and then the six videos starting with that video have an average of 6.7 million views. 112 00:17:05.250 --> 00:17:16.590 So instantly, you start working with other people, and you, you implement this crazy style that you're known for today, and your view count sextuples over- overnight, right? Tell me what happened there. Yeah. 113 00:17:16.600 --> 00:17:28.040 Like, what about your creative process changed? Yeah, dude. Um, I remember towards the end of 2020, I had actually, middle of 2020, moved to Utah with some- Hmm... 114 00:17:28.050 --> 00:17:37.850 of my friends, and we were trying to do a house thing and, like, figure out if we could be a group, and it- Like, hype house style. Yeah, l- 'cause houses were so big at the time, dude. Yeah. 115 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:48.200 And we were doing that in Utah. There's a lot of politics and stuff to get into, but we were trying to make it work. It was kinda weird with management, and I was just learning so much at that time about, 116 00:17:49.820 --> 00:17:56.560 as an artist, like, don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. Mm. I kind of thought, "I'm new to the internet thing. I have no authority. I can't say where my career's gonna go. 117 00:17:56.600 --> 00:18:02.380 There's these business people who know what's up with, like, how to make money and how to do stuff on the internet, so I'll just do whatever they say." 118 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:09.590 But then I kinda realized that when I started doing whatever the suits said, I was, I was, uh, burning out, and I didn't love what I was doing. 119 00:18:09.660 --> 00:18:17.342 For the s- for the summer of 2020, that was the first time I ever put stuff out I wasn't proud of. Mm. Because I was-I was trying to force stuff. 120 00:18:17.472 --> 00:18:33.332 And so I remember kinda going towards the end of 2020, I just came to this point where, you know, I had really built an online career with that Young Metronome persona, and I was kind of associated with some different other internet comedians and stuff, and that was great. 121 00:18:33.652 --> 00:18:41.712 But I just felt so in my being that whatever I was doing at the time wasn't right exactly. 122 00:18:41.792 --> 00:18:51.132 And I'm just so after purity, dude, and I'm so after, like, I genuinely believe that a luxury we all get to enjoy is really being about what we're doing with our lives. 123 00:18:51.192 --> 00:18:59.522 You don't have to just suffer and stumble forward every day. You can go through periods of time where you're figuring it out. But I just stopped everything. I was like, "I'm not gonna strive. I'm not gonna force this." 124 00:18:59.832 --> 00:19:07.392 And so I really came into a time in my life where I was so comfortable with potentially giving up the entire internet, 'cause it just- Mm... 125 00:19:07.402 --> 00:19:16.332 didn't feel right anymore, um, or stopping for a moment and allowing myself to evolve into something else. Those were kinda the two options a little bit. 126 00:19:16.352 --> 00:19:25.202 So, and I just never wanted to white-knuckle it, and I felt that happening. It was really hard to take a step away in, like, 2021, but I was like, "I don't want this to ever have power over me." You know what I mean? 127 00:19:25.352 --> 00:19:34.072 And I so came into it like, "This is just a little extra thing I'm doing." You know, I had the e-com thing with my dad and stuff. And then it very quickly, I, you know, I had a conversation with my dad early 2020. 128 00:19:34.112 --> 00:19:37.032 I'm like, "I'm gonna really try the internet thing, and I'm, like, gonna go all in with it." And he's like, "All right." 129 00:19:37.072 --> 00:19:45.202 So I leave that, and then it starts to be where I feel more dependency on the internet, and it really needs to work out. And it started getting to be this weird controlling thing where I just- Mm... 130 00:19:45.242 --> 00:19:57.272 like, felt like I wasn't making decisions that were pure anymore. I was just going out of strict practicality. So all that to say, going into late 2020, into 2021, it was a total of 16 months before I ended up in LA. 131 00:19:57.892 --> 00:20:02.832 All my friends moved out to LA, and I just said, "I'm not gonna do it. I need to find myself. I wanna be pure, man. 132 00:20:03.152 --> 00:20:10.492 [smacks lips] I don't know what I'm doing right now, and I just want to get rid of this feeling before I start trying to make big moves and move to LA and all that." And so I do. 133 00:20:10.612 --> 00:20:21.822 I just really sat with myself in Texas out... Everyone moved from Utah to LA. I moved from Utah to Texas. And dude, I'm just sitting out there, dude, for 16 months. I found myself. And 134 00:20:23.052 --> 00:20:33.332 it was really cool, too, dude, because in that time I kinda grew up in a way. Mm. And- How old were you? At least, uh, I would've been 22 and 23- Mm-hmm... um, during that time. 135 00:20:33.872 --> 00:20:44.172 And I remember that my, what inspired me and what was sticking out to me in the world changed. Because you can s- you can tell earlier on in my stuff, it's way different. Like, it's way lighter. 136 00:20:44.452 --> 00:20:52.552 A lot of it, it's a lot of Vine inspiration. You know what I mean? Yeah. I was watching a lot of Vine, um, co- It's more immediately internet reactive. You're not really developing and baking these ideas. 137 00:20:52.592 --> 00:20:59.712 It's, it's- Totally... more just, like he- like, he-- "We're gonna do it, post it, move on to the next one." 100%. The tone, yeah, the tone's way different. 138 00:20:59.812 --> 00:21:07.512 And I just remember that as I was in, um, Texas, dude, yeah, just what was sticking out to me and what was inspiring me started to change a little bit. 139 00:21:07.682 --> 00:21:16.122 And I started to, as a result of that, what I was intaking, the inspiration was different. So the desire of what I wanted to output began to change. Mm. 140 00:21:16.152 --> 00:21:27.252 And I remember having a feeling kind of late into being in Texas where I just, I had such a desire to begin to output again, and that output was different 'cause a shift had happened, and I knew, oh, that's what needed to happen. 141 00:21:27.312 --> 00:21:33.832 It was a one or two paths. I either just take a step away from the internet, or I need to evolve into something new on the internet. 'Cause I don't wanna keep doing Young Metronome. 142 00:21:33.872 --> 00:21:43.282 I was so burnt out on the old character. Yeah. And then it kinda became obvious to me, whoa, this feels so right. Finally, life feels right again. 'Cause for a long time I was like, "Dude, what am I doing?" 143 00:21:43.332 --> 00:21:52.932 You know what I mean? Yeah. But life felt right again, and it was, like, undeniable. The next move was I'm gonna move to LA, and I'm going to begin to make a comeback to the internet. 144 00:21:54.592 --> 00:22:05.412 [upbeat music] You spent three hours recording a video. Now, you want it to sound better, look better, and reach more people in Spanish, French, and Japanese. Do you re-record everything? Juggle half a dozen tools? 145 00:22:05.712 --> 00:22:16.892 Blow the budget on studios and contractors? ElevenLabs is the all-in-one AI voice platform that brings content to life. You can generate, edit, and localize studio-quality audio and video in minutes, all from one place. 146 00:22:16.932 --> 00:22:22.812 Expressive character voices, multilingual dubbing, even immersive video content without a studio or a massive budget. 147 00:22:22.852 --> 00:22:29.652 It's why companies like Disney, Meta, and Duolingo use it, and why creators use it to scale their content globally without burning more time or money. 148 00:22:30.052 --> 00:22:44.272 Best part, you can see how powerful ElevenLabs platform is with 10,000 free monthly credits when you visit elevenlabs.io. That's elevenlabs.io. So your earlier videos, too, they're almost more commodity content, right? 149 00:22:44.292 --> 00:22:51.772 Whereas the newer ones really are art. I remember when I first saw your videos in the wild, like, uh, a year or two ago, I, I was blown away. 150 00:22:51.792 --> 00:22:59.272 I was like, "Damn, this guy is, like, distilling the algorithmic short-form video, like, as... Like, this is that form perfected," right? 151 00:22:59.552 --> 00:23:07.992 Uh, there was a comment o- on one of your recent videos, just one of you and your friends start baking and selling cakes, to sum it up, that really summed up that feeling for me. 152 00:23:08.012 --> 00:23:12.382 It just says, "I feel like I watched five reels without having to scroll." [chuckles] Yeah. And I thought that's, that's so right. 153 00:23:12.432 --> 00:23:21.112 It's what you were just saying about, like, you start with that sort of brain rot intro that people recognize, draws them in, and then you immediately... It's like I said, that w- earlier video had, like, 53 cuts. 154 00:23:21.152 --> 00:23:32.292 That's almost, like, one every second. I can't do math, but, [chuckles] but it's, like, hit after hit of novelty in this really condensed package, right? I don't scroll away because, like, the video is scrolling for me. 155 00:23:32.492 --> 00:23:33.302 You know what I mean? Mm. 156 00:23:33.372 --> 00:23:49.192 Um, and it, it, it makes sense that, like, you kinda went away for a little while, and [chuckles] it's like you shed this, this skin of the more commodity content and decided, like, "I'm going to, like, push this short-form algorithmic video form to its extreme- Mm... 157 00:23:49.202 --> 00:23:50.332 and really make it an art form." 158 00:23:51.212 --> 00:23:59.582 And what's, uh, what else is really cool, dude, about short-form, this is something I've just r- This is a recent thought, but, like, all the money is on YouTube right now if you wanna make money. Yeah, yeah. 159 00:23:59.592 --> 00:24:08.492 You know what I mean? And short-form, ironically enough, there's not a ton of money in short-form in comparison to where else you can go on the internet, but there's all the attention there. 160 00:24:08.532 --> 00:24:16.892 And so it is really interesting. So many pe- talented people are like, "How do I make money, though?" And so it's like, "I'm gonna put all my attention into YouTube." But it is kinda cool, dude. 161 00:24:17.052 --> 00:24:26.504 The short-form right now is such aEasy place to dominate if you'll put all your creative attention into it, because people kind of think of short-form as an afterthought since it's not really where the money's at. 162 00:24:26.544 --> 00:24:30.904 Like- Mm... let's stream, and then we'll cut up the clips and throw them on short-form and just see what happens. You know what I mean? 163 00:24:30.964 --> 00:24:40.344 But if you're a dude who puts all your time and att- especially for me, dog, it's not like I'm posting, like, I put all my time and attention into one video- Whenever the money... for, yeah, for, like, two months, dog. 164 00:24:40.644 --> 00:24:48.584 And it's a neat thing, dog, in that it's just I'm having so much fun, dude. You know what I mean? Yeah. There is no desired outcome. I love what you, that quote you said, dog, like, about... 165 00:24:49.224 --> 00:24:56.494 Can you say it again, about outcome and what was it? Oh, like, uh, y- y- you're, you're, you are output-focused, not- Yeah... outcome-focused. You're focused on the- Yeah, dog... 166 00:24:56.494 --> 00:25:07.584 craft of the media rather than, like, what you, what the media can bring you. Totally, dude, and, like, 100% agree with that, dude. And through really, like I said in Texas, and even since I've been in LA, like, 167 00:25:09.204 --> 00:25:17.944 I really know, I really have a belief about, like, what I'm on this earth to do and what I'm going, and I wanna... That's to be a writer-director. And so- Yeah... I really, that's the outcome. 168 00:25:18.084 --> 00:25:22.254 But how I get there, I'm not attached to it, dog. You know what I mean? And I'm not gonna strive to get there. 169 00:25:22.364 --> 00:25:29.674 I just, I really feel that's for me, and in this lifetime that's gonna happen, and I'm just doing what's obvious. Like, every step should feel like peace. You know what I mean? Yeah. 170 00:25:29.684 --> 00:25:37.884 It's that idea I keep talking about, but I'm just doing what's obvious, dude, and it's been such a cool... I feel like my journey on the internet, it- it's quite unique, dog. You know what I mean? 171 00:25:38.224 --> 00:25:44.014 Um, and I don't know- Dope... how many people envy it or would want it, but it's definitely me. You know what I mean? Well, yeah, I mean- Like, I put my head on the pillow at night knowing that... 172 00:25:44.044 --> 00:25:50.744 you were saying that it's like, you know, a- anyb- if anybody really focused on short-form, they could, they could find the sort of success which may be true. 173 00:25:50.804 --> 00:25:59.704 But you also, you know, I don't know how long you were spending on Vine, and then- Mm... you were doing your TikToks for, like, about three years until you really hit this form. 174 00:25:59.764 --> 00:26:10.284 So that's, like, I don't know, I'm, I'm assuming five or so years of making video after video after video to really perfect and understand the craft and sort of, like, get frustrated with the norms of the craft- Yeah... 175 00:26:10.324 --> 00:26:18.034 to then have to, like, y- it's the, it's the classic, uh, you have to, you have to know the rules to break the rules, right? You knew them too well- Mm... and only then were you really able to break it. 176 00:26:18.464 --> 00:26:27.703 Uh, uh, the writer-director bit, I wanna get there in a little bit. But first, how... So you've done six sponsored videos from what I can tell, but how do you make your living right now? 177 00:26:27.784 --> 00:26:39.484 Is it primarily through content work broadly? Do you, do you have a, a day job? [laughs] Like, w- how do you make your living? Yeah, dude, there's absolutely zero alternative for me. 178 00:26:39.574 --> 00:26:46.364 [laughs] It's like I'm so all in on this. And, like, I know it's not practical, dude, but for me, it's like, that's just how much I believe in myself. 179 00:26:46.564 --> 00:26:54.773 And, and it's like, bro, one of the wisest things anyone ever told me was, I, this was, this was when I was going through that weird time in 2020. Mm. 180 00:26:54.804 --> 00:27:03.773 And I literally had just moved back home to Texas, and I remember I was at a friend's photo shoot, and I was talking to this dude, and I was just like, "Yeah, dude, I don't know. What's the make of the internet anymore? 181 00:27:03.824 --> 00:27:16.804 I might walk away. I don't know." And I floated this idea to this dude, and I said, "Um, I might, I might just sell out. I might do, like, three sponsored videos just cashing on the internet and, uh, and then be done." 182 00:27:17.034 --> 00:27:26.824 And then he told me, "Dude, like, I really think you have something. I really believe in you, dude. And ultimately, something I live by is honor the craft and the money will come." Mm. 183 00:27:26.904 --> 00:27:38.394 And so, dude, I, and when he said that, dude, that kinda burned off that day any compromise that was in me th- at that point. Like, it was just like, yeah, dude, what the heck? Why would I ever compromise? 184 00:27:38.424 --> 00:27:40.164 Why would I ever sell myself short? You know what I mean? 185 00:27:40.784 --> 00:27:52.724 And, and then especially on the south side of spending 16 months in Texas, dude, coming to LA, dude, I just came out here with this, like, fiery, like, I know who I am, I know what I wanna do, and I'm gonna act like it. 186 00:27:52.764 --> 00:28:03.194 You know what I mean? Yeah. I have one life, and, like, I genuinely think, bro, I'm gonna be one of the most talented filmmakers of my time. And so I'm not go- for me to have these backup plans and stuff, 187 00:28:04.244 --> 00:28:09.304 it's, it's to not believe in myself in a way- Yeah... to me, you know what I mean? And that goes back to everyone's gonna be different. 188 00:28:09.324 --> 00:28:13.204 But for me, dog, it's like I came out, dude, uh, nothing I've done is practical, dog. 189 00:28:13.304 --> 00:28:30.064 I moved out here, I moved to, like, the most expensive, one of the most expensive cities you can move to with, like, savings and no job lined up and to pursue the internet when I hadn't posted in eight months and just trusted that I was moving in peace, so it was gonna be okay, dog. 190 00:28:30.074 --> 00:28:36.564 Mm. And it was okay. And dude, I've never lacked out here. I've always had enough, and I've always had what I needed. I have a fire apartment, dog. You know what I mean? 191 00:28:36.583 --> 00:28:46.413 And it's like I don't, I don't need a bunch of crap. I don't need the cars. Yeah. I don't... It's like I have all I need, dog. And it's been... Like, life's too easy, dog. It's just like I'm moving forward in peace. 192 00:28:47.284 --> 00:28:51.834 I'm not getting an unrealistic idea of, like, I need to have all this property and all this stuff. It's just like I have- Yeah... 193 00:28:51.913 --> 00:28:58.664 all I need, and I'm doing what I love every day when I wake up, and I genuinely believe life's that simple. The rest will come. And so- Yeah. Yeah. 194 00:28:58.724 --> 00:29:05.744 So okay, well, in, in, in practical terms, let's talk about these brand deals that you have done. So I counted six, and I, I think- Right... 195 00:29:05.754 --> 00:29:14.664 the first time, the first time I remember seeing your work was this Totino's sponsored video where you and Jericho are in a train station. Hey, watch where you're going. 196 00:29:14.764 --> 00:29:27.604 Hey, touch me one more time, you're gonna find out who I really am. My name is Grant Bean. I am 25 years old, and I think I have what it takes to be the next big thing. Go ahead. I'm not afraid. Stop. It's a yes for me. 197 00:29:28.064 --> 00:29:38.704 You're going to Hollywood. This has been my dream ever since I was a kid. [slaps] Wake up. [slaps] Dude, wake up. We're late. What time is it? It's time to go. I made you breakfast in bed. Oh, hell no. 198 00:29:40.644 --> 00:29:56.044 Are those the new breakfast bites? You freaking know it. [dramatic music] This guy's an animal before his morning coffee. [laughs] And it, it's, and I watched it, and I'm blown away. 199 00:29:56.084 --> 00:30:04.244 I'm like, "This is so good that this is sponsored. It blends in so well. It doesn't compromise the integrity, the creative integrity here. Like, this is amazing. This is funny," right? 200 00:30:04.724 --> 00:30:15.704 Um, obviously, a huge success for Totino's as well. You got 10.2 million plays on TikTok and 61.3 million on Instagram, which is more views than any of your individual TikToks have gotten also. 201 00:30:15.784 --> 00:30:26.700 Um, you have one more video with Totino's. You have one with Axe that got 36.2 million views on TikTok and 10.4 million on Instagram.One with DoorDash and two with Spin Master Games. 202 00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:37.259 The first one was with Spin Master Games, and it, it was in 2022, and it's sort of a earlier version of your now more mature style that's much more complex. Mm-hmm. Did that one... 203 00:30:37.340 --> 00:30:47.280 Was that them reaching out to you, or were you like, "I need to make some money by, uh, monetizing"? One of those? How did that one come about, that first one? Spin Master? Yeah. Yeah, dude. 204 00:30:47.480 --> 00:30:56.740 I remember I had been in LA for, like, nine or 10 months, and I hadn't gotten a brand deal yet, and bro, those savings were dwindling, dog. [laughs] And, um- They were not saved any longer. 205 00:30:56.900 --> 00:31:05.340 [laughs] Yeah, they weren't saved, bro. And, um, I just... I remember, dude, I still felt in my being, it's like, "But this is where I'm supposed to be, and I know everything's gonna be okay." 206 00:31:05.360 --> 00:31:12.070 And then I remember literally that deal came in, like, right as I was like, "I'm gonna have to find a job, dude." You know what I mean? 207 00:31:12.160 --> 00:31:21.130 And, uh, and yeah, dude, that saved me, and that also gave me, like, the financial stability to get my own apartment out here. I was living in, like, a, a four-bed with 10 guys at the time- Jesus... 208 00:31:21.160 --> 00:31:30.040 doing whatever it took. Like, dude, five guys in my bedroom alone. You were pushing the savings. I was, dog. Five guys in my bedroom alone. [laughs] Five guys in one bedroom alone with no door, dog. 209 00:31:30.100 --> 00:31:39.000 [laughs] I mean, it was, like, whatever it takes. So I kinda... I think I do talk, like, kinda lofty and, like, unpractical, and people are like, "Yeah, but this dude's, like, never had a hard day of his life." 210 00:31:39.040 --> 00:31:46.920 Dude, no, like, it's like whatever it takes, dog. You know what I mean? Like- Yeah... um, but that came in, and they reached out to me. 211 00:31:47.220 --> 00:31:54.380 Um, ironically enough, like, without going too into details, if Utah never happened, that deal wouldn't have happened. Mm-hmm. Which is very interesting. 212 00:31:54.420 --> 00:32:02.740 But some connections from Utah brought that to me, and I was like, "Fire." We made it happen. I did two videos for them. That gave me the financial stability I needed for, like, the next year. 213 00:32:02.760 --> 00:32:12.610 I got my own apartment and stuff, and, um, and then we kept cooking, dude. Yeah. And then, what's, what's the process like for these? Like, because, I mean, I've been- Yeah... 214 00:32:12.700 --> 00:32:22.740 on the brand side, like, looking for- Mm-hmm... a creator to work with. And for me, it was like, I am going to find somebody who I just believe in their work. I'm going to write a one-page brief. 215 00:32:22.760 --> 00:32:29.960 It should be really short, and- Mm-hmm... I will nail in, like, the must-haves or, like, "Here are the lines you can't cross," and otherwise, it's kind of up to you. 216 00:32:30.320 --> 00:32:38.020 Last time I did this, I think we did maybe one round of feedback, and that was something I'd written into the brief. I only wanna do one round of feedback just to make sure we're on the right path. 217 00:32:38.060 --> 00:32:46.230 But, like, I'm picking you because I like your work. Is, is that in your experience? You've, you've been working... These are some big brands, right? Like Axe, Totino's, DoorDash, huge brands. 218 00:32:46.940 --> 00:32:53.750 W- did you have to compromise much? 'Cause it doesn't seem like- Mm... you did in the final product. Yeah, dude, I kind of... 219 00:32:53.920 --> 00:33:00.049 I just recently got a digital guy that's, like, representing me now, but for all those videos I was kinda representing myself. 220 00:33:00.080 --> 00:33:06.329 And when brands reached out, I just had this copy-paste thing I would send them, which is basically like, "If you wanna work with me, you gotta put up with this crap," and I would just- [laughs]... 221 00:33:06.350 --> 00:33:16.600 send them the bullet points. And also, dude, uh, brands reach out often, and I'm so comfortable. Like, if you won't match my rate 'cause you don't see the value of what I provide, it's so chill, dog. 222 00:33:16.640 --> 00:33:28.040 Like, I only need to get, like, two, three brand deals a year for my rate and I'm fine. Um, and so yeah, dude, I... Brands say no to me all day because- Yeah... it's like, "We're, we're not gonna pay you this much 223 00:33:29.020 --> 00:33:36.650 f- for us to not even have any say in what you do." I'm very big about, like, I need my creative freedom, dog. Like- Yeah... you're reaching out to me because you saw this video. Precisely. You know what I mean? 224 00:33:36.980 --> 00:33:41.990 And so that was because that brand gave me the creative liberty, and it's like, I totally wanna, like, promote you, and I want... 225 00:33:42.060 --> 00:33:52.190 And I am gonna bake you in for sure, but, like, I'm doing a thing here and I can't compromise. Because, dude, like, I'm a big fan of, like, I don't even want, wanna 1% compromise. Like- Yeah... 226 00:33:52.240 --> 00:34:01.280 it goes back to that idea of I believe in myself, dog, and, like, if I believe in 100% of myself, I'm gonna 100% not compromise. You know what I mean? 227 00:34:01.329 --> 00:34:06.920 'Cause I believe I, I need to bring all of myself to the table all the time. And that can be annoying to put up with for a brand. Yeah. But that's okay, dog. 228 00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:15.640 Like, there, there's enough brands out there that are like, "No, we believe in you. We want you to 100% do you." And that's how I'm able to secure these brand deals that I can have so much creative liberty with. 229 00:34:15.700 --> 00:34:24.600 You know what I mean? Yeah. Uh, I mean, it's- And it, and it keeps me hungry too, dog. Yeah. Like, if I was just taking every brand that came my way, like, I just... I don't know. I might lose my, like, my scrappy drive. 230 00:34:24.640 --> 00:34:34.250 You know what I mean? Yeah. No, you, you [laughs] you, you seem to have very strong principles in how you approach this work, and I- Mm... I admire that. A lot of people don't. 231 00:34:34.480 --> 00:34:45.610 My, my principles certainly are not as ironclad as yours. Um, I have lived in a two-bedroom apartment with four guys, but, you know, that wasn't as bad as yours. Um- [laughs]... 232 00:34:45.660 --> 00:34:54.340 I wanna talk about the collaborative aspect of your work, right? So Jericho seems to be your most consistent collaborator going back years even. Mm. Your best videos tend to be collaborators. 233 00:34:54.400 --> 00:35:01.560 That one, uh, we talked about at the start, it was you, Jericho, uh, one other person, and then a child. I don't know if that was other people behind the scenes. 234 00:35:02.020 --> 00:35:16.100 Um, that cake one we mentioned, Dax Flame, um, you know, a, a, a classic character of, of the internet. I... Him and a couple other people in there. Tell me about your current group, if, if that term is even right. Hm. 235 00:35:17.200 --> 00:35:25.880 Yeah, dude, um, it's so funny 'cause people kind of bring up, like, your group, dude, and, like, I, I, I'm so curious how people perceive my stuff. 236 00:35:25.940 --> 00:35:32.530 Because obviously on the backend, like, I have a very certain view of what everything is. Yeah. But I do wonder what that translates to just on the front end when you're just watching it slightly differently. 237 00:35:32.530 --> 00:35:43.050 Well, you, you can ask me if you want b- before you explain it. Like, I'm happy to- Tell me, bro. What... How do you perceive my, my, my vibe and my, uh, community- [laughs] Your community... through my videos? 238 00:35:43.460 --> 00:35:49.400 Well, okay, like I said, I... The first one I remember seeing is that train Totino's one, and so I see it- Mm... and I'm like, "Oh, here's these two guys." 239 00:35:49.560 --> 00:35:59.450 And I go to your page, I'm, like, scrolling, like, "Wow, this is awesome. It's these two guys." Right? So for me it's you and Jericho. But I notice that this is all on your page, so I think- Mm... 240 00:35:59.520 --> 00:36:08.600 this guy seems to be the main sort of creative flame here. Like, I'm guessing that he's the writer. There's clearly collaboration though. 241 00:36:08.640 --> 00:36:20.780 They, they collaborate so often that this, the, like, there seem, this seems to be a duo, um, but they're on this guy Grant's account. So this is, that's basically the limit of how I saw it. Right. 242 00:36:21.720 --> 00:36:30.104 Yeah, that makes sense, dude. I, um-And then I see that there's tertiary characters that come in. Yeah. Even now prepping, I was like, "I feel like I remember there being more guys." And I was, and I was scrolling. 243 00:36:30.144 --> 00:36:42.484 I was like, "Oh, no, it's, it's not... There's not as many consistent people." There, there was maybe a year ago who were in a few videos at a time, but the one consistent thread is Jericho. Right. 244 00:36:43.004 --> 00:36:53.044 Yeah, dude, and with... So, so I have my own page, and Jericho has his own page. Mm-hmm. And at, at any given point, we're always writing two scripts, and one's for him and one's for me. Mm. 245 00:36:53.204 --> 00:37:00.804 Um, and so the way a writing session will work is we'll write for me for like an hour and a half and him for an hour and a half, and we'll oscillate. And, and the change is 246 00:37:01.784 --> 00:37:11.574 we, number one, only begin to write together when the person who is going to be directing the video has, like, an idea like, "I wanna do this." 247 00:37:11.604 --> 00:37:18.114 Like, we don't just come together, and it's like, "I've got nothing," and, "I've got nothing either. Let's just..." Nothing ever happens. Yeah. You need something to kinda kick off of. Yeah. 248 00:37:18.124 --> 00:37:26.574 And I think that keeps the seed, like, true to, like... If you look at Jericho's videos and you look at my videos, the tone is a tad different. Mm. Like, even though it's the same format, it... 249 00:37:26.804 --> 00:37:31.284 I don't know how many people can see that, but like I... when I watch them, I can tell a Jericho video from a me video. 250 00:37:31.304 --> 00:37:41.304 But anyways, um, and so- You're, you guys are kinda like the, uh, the short form Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. [laughs] Just- Dude, I, I, I can't get that reference, honestly. [laughs] But, um- That's okay... 251 00:37:42.084 --> 00:37:53.824 but yeah, dude, we, uh, we-- once we have an idea, we bring it to the table, and then we start writing together. Yeah. And what's cool is when it's your v- So when it's my video and we're writing, like, it's... 252 00:37:53.904 --> 00:38:02.364 You're gonna be directing it, so you are the end all be all of every idea. Mm. So, like, if you get in a fight over like, "I think it should go this way." "No, I think it should go this way." 253 00:38:02.464 --> 00:38:09.324 If it's your video, you always win. Now, you can give the other person- But you, but you need to have the fight too, right? You need to have a fight- 100%... and argue about it to make it better. You still do that. 100%. 254 00:38:09.364 --> 00:38:16.424 Yeah. Right. But you have that edge. You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. And it is, like, at the end of the day, it's like you want their vision to happen. You know what I mean? Yeah. But you totally... 255 00:38:16.464 --> 00:38:22.584 I mean, a lot of the time, it's like, "Oh, I didn't see that. That's a really good point. Let's do that." Yeah. You know what I mean? Sometimes- Iron sharpens iron kinda thing. Yeah. Yeah, dude. 256 00:38:22.624 --> 00:38:29.364 Sometimes we even continue down the path of going their way, and then you realize, "Oh, dude, wait, if we wanted to do this at the end though, this path's way better." You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. 257 00:38:29.564 --> 00:38:37.804 So yeah, it's just, it's a fun thing. And dude, over time, me and Jericho have just gotten such a... We have a magic, dude, in the writing room. It's so fun, dude. We've learned each other so well. 258 00:38:38.724 --> 00:38:49.593 Yeah, dude, so as far as the group, yeah, me and Jericho write all our stuff together. Um, the- It's not a group. It's a duo more so. So yeah, it is a duo. And it, or... And it's more so 259 00:38:51.044 --> 00:39:00.084 recently really turned into, like, we each have our certain career paths we'd like to take. Mm. Jer's kind of interested in commercial work. He'd love to direct commercials. I'm much more so, like, film. 260 00:39:00.144 --> 00:39:08.253 I'd love to go into movies. But, like, it's just social media is such a big stage. It's the biggest stage right now. You know what I mean? 261 00:39:08.384 --> 00:39:14.384 And you can just throw something up there, and you don't know who's gonna see it, dog. But it's just, it, it breeds opportunity. 262 00:39:14.944 --> 00:39:25.033 And so why would we not, living in the same city, work together to help the other, like, create the most beautiful production you can- Yeah... so you can scream it from the mountaintops, "This is what I can do. 263 00:39:25.704 --> 00:39:30.624 Who's gonna give me a shot?" You know what I mean? And it's been so cool some of the opportunities that have come in from us working together. But, 264 00:39:31.604 --> 00:39:41.384 um, yeah, so we write everything together, dude, and then once the script's written, the other guy, the dude whose video it is, you put the shot list together. You, you get the props. You know, you're... 265 00:39:41.424 --> 00:39:48.824 we're our own producers. You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. We, we get everything ready to go and then set up all the meetings, like, if people are gonna come and, uh, help us out. 266 00:39:48.884 --> 00:39:56.524 Like, if we need other characters, we'll cast that, and then it's like you direct your own video. Um, and that's where the different tone can really come in. So that's the vibe, dude. Yeah. 267 00:39:56.704 --> 00:40:05.424 And, and then just with, like, other characters, it's literally just we have, like, three friends out here that are so... They love to be in the videos, and they love our vision. 268 00:40:05.544 --> 00:40:14.284 And it, it's just a pleasure to work with them. And so just whatever part's better for them, what's like, "We want you to do this, we want you to do that," and we just make a world come to life, bro. 269 00:40:14.944 --> 00:40:27.014 Uh, it's, it's a beautiful world. [upbeat music] You spent three hours recording a video. Now you want it to sound better, look better, and reach more people in Spanish, French, and Japanese. Do you re-record everything? 270 00:40:27.304 --> 00:40:34.924 Juggle half a dozen tools? Blow the budget on studios and contractors? ElevenLabs is the all-in-one AI voice platform that brings content to life. 271 00:40:35.144 --> 00:40:45.863 You can generate, edit, and localize studio-quality audio and video in minutes, all from one place. Expressive character voices, multilingual dubbing, even immersive video content without a studio or a massive budget. 272 00:40:45.924 --> 00:40:52.684 It's why companies like Disney, Meta, and Duolingo use it, and why creators use it to scale their content globally without burning more time or money. 273 00:40:53.104 --> 00:41:02.064 Best part, you can see how powerful ElevenLabs' platform is with 10,000 free monthly credits when you visit elevenlabs.io. That's elevenlabs.io. 274 00:41:04.124 --> 00:41:12.284 So another one of your saved Instagram stories from late 2025, I'm gonna read the thing in full. "I know I don't post a ton, but I'm always working on something beautiful for y'all. 275 00:41:12.324 --> 00:41:22.664 I've barely scratched the surface of what's possible in short form. Just wait. Three-part episodic reels with cliffhangers, five-minute videos, crazy new vision, genuinely want to just keep getting better." 276 00:41:22.884 --> 00:41:29.844 So I bring this up. You're talking about how you wanna become a, a writer-director on a, on a larger scale in film, television perhaps. 277 00:41:30.404 --> 00:41:45.684 Uh, this is you taking a step from this, like, perfected short-form concept style that you have into a longer format. Tell me about this. Dude, I could talk about this forever. I'm so excited. Um- Spill. 278 00:41:46.144 --> 00:41:56.954 I mean, here we are, bro. Let's go. Yeah. [laughs] Um, yeah, dude, I... Well, right now, dude, I probably next week I'm gonna get this out, but I'm about to put out my f- my first three-minute video- Yeah... 279 00:41:56.984 --> 00:42:08.344 which I'm very excited about. My last video was my longest video to date, which was, I think it was, like, two and a half. And, um, and this one's gonna be three. And I, I have this idea, dude, which is 280 00:42:09.584 --> 00:42:20.924 I mentioned earlier when you're scrolling, y- the mind is in ROT mode. Yeah. And it needs to see things that are native to ROT. And so if you scr- dude, like, this is a great example. You see ROT, ROT. 281 00:42:20.984 --> 00:42:30.524 If you scroll and see something shot on DSLR, bro, that's, like, genuinely beautiful, like a field, you're kinda like, "Eh," and you keep going. You're not in the mood for, like, genuine beauty when you're scrolling. 282 00:42:30.534 --> 00:42:42.012 Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? But I wanna express genuine beauty online.And so what I've realized is I need to trick people into consuming beauty, and I think the way to do that be- is... 283 00:42:42.952 --> 00:42:49.771 A guy put it to me this way, dude. You know how passionate I am, and I'm talking about like- [laughs]... oh, dude, like purity and beauty. And this guy in a- You wear it on your sleeve. Mm-hmm. Yeah, dude. 284 00:42:49.972 --> 00:42:53.382 This guy in a party was like, "Dude..." I was talking to a producer. 285 00:42:53.412 --> 00:43:02.102 He's like, "Dude, it's great that you, like, care about beauty and everything, but, uh, at the end of the day, what entertainment is creating is, like, a bunch of addicts, dopamine addicts- Mm-hmm... 286 00:43:02.332 --> 00:43:12.852 where they want their fix. It doesn't matter how much the human soul needs beauty. It doesn't matter how much chasing dopamine is demoralizing the soul. People don't care, and they just want their fix." 287 00:43:13.152 --> 00:43:22.132 He said it, and he, he said this, and I was like, "Dang, this is a great picture." He said, "It's like having a heroin addict on the side of the road and offering them the needle and this, and a sandwich. 288 00:43:22.432 --> 00:43:29.172 And they're literally- Mm... starving, and they're gonna take the needle all day even though they need the sandwich 'cause they're an addict." And I really thought about that, dude. 289 00:43:29.212 --> 00:43:31.912 I was like, "Dude, that's pr- that's, uh... He's not wrong." You know what I mean? 290 00:43:32.852 --> 00:43:38.672 But what I realized this format has been, and this is why I'm just so glad I've just always followed the peace because if you follow the peace, 291 00:43:40.032 --> 00:43:48.572 you're tapping into a strength outside yourself, and things unfold as they should. And then I realized, dude, this format that I've been incubating over the past few years almost feels like 292 00:43:50.272 --> 00:43:57.882 the solution to that in that it starts off brain rot, where it's like Snapchat. You know what I mean? Uh, it's... 293 00:43:58.222 --> 00:44:06.192 I, I strategically am starting every video rot, and then it goes from Snapchat into kind of a produced iPhone sketch, right? Mm-hmm. 294 00:44:06.572 --> 00:44:16.112 And then with the last video, I even went into Cake Boss, which is shot on a DSLR, right? Could you, uh, repeat that again? Two butter pecan. Rule number one: never let the customer see weakness. It's bad for morale. 295 00:44:16.672 --> 00:44:26.142 If you don't have the customer's confidence, what do you have? But it's almost like by the time the, the narrative's started, you're kind of in it. And also, dude, we keep it quick. You know what I mean? Yeah. 296 00:44:26.152 --> 00:44:34.722 We keep you stimulated, and what we are tr- what I'm trying to get people to do is, through the bits, through, like, h- giving you your dopamine fixes, it's like the, it's like, "Here's the needle. 297 00:44:34.852 --> 00:44:40.312 Oh, but it's a sandwich" by the end. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, I'm trying to trick people into 298 00:44:41.412 --> 00:44:47.712 faul- getting enchanted and literally, like, falling in love with my video- This is what that commenter was saying about, like, "It's like I scrolled five reels at one in this one video." 299 00:44:47.752 --> 00:44:48.502 It's like, the way I was- Right... 300 00:44:48.502 --> 00:44:57.372 thinking about it too is it's like, it's like you're scrolling in the feed and then suddenly, like, you stop, but it starts scrolling, like, I don't know, into the phone or horizontally [laughs] instead of vertically. 301 00:44:57.381 --> 00:45:05.592 Yes. It, it also reminds me, are, are you familiar with Conor O'Malley? Yes. He's- Yeah... incredible. Like, he is the only other person who I've seen do this in a similar way. 302 00:45:05.672 --> 00:45:12.472 I don't know if you know his video Pipe Rock Theory where it like- Mm... starts as, like, these crazy podcast bros, and then it turns- Yeah, dude... into this amazing five-minute short film. 303 00:45:12.862 --> 00:45:21.342 And, and I, [laughs] I, I think about that when I watch your videos. Yeah. Totally, dude. In finishing this bar off, dude, like- Mm-hmm... I'm... 304 00:45:21.372 --> 00:45:31.892 So with what you said about, like, dude, I'm trying to go to five minutes, and I'm trying to do, like, multiple part series. Like, episodic stuff, dude, I, I think that the deeper... 305 00:45:32.812 --> 00:45:40.032 I- it's a skill, and I can't just- Mm-hmm... do this, like, loosely. And dude, it's been crazy how it's expanding the timeline of my videos. 306 00:45:40.092 --> 00:45:51.172 Basically, my belief is that if I can learn to tell five minutes, there's different rules for each minute. So- Mm... one in, minute one and two have to be, like, borderline brain rot. Quick, quick, quick, quick, quick. 307 00:45:51.192 --> 00:46:01.381 [laughs] But even with my last video, dude, as I got into that 2:30 zone, as I got into those last 30 minutes, I really slowed the video down as an experiment to see if I could keep people watching. They're invested now. 308 00:46:01.392 --> 00:46:08.012 They're inve- exactly. And, and you've won. Y- you're, they're giving you their attention, and you wanna steward it well. 309 00:46:08.072 --> 00:46:16.842 Like, you, i- in that first two minutes, dude, like, they're giving it to me, and I'm saying, "See how I can entertain you? See how I know what I'm doing?" And then if I slow it down, it's like, "Okay, I trust him." 310 00:46:17.052 --> 00:46:22.342 You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. Like, "Okay, let me, let me give him more of my attention." And I slowed it down. And so my belief, dog, is if I... 311 00:46:22.452 --> 00:46:27.812 And so I'm learning the, uh, with this last video I had to learn the, the rules of three minutes. Like, what can I do at three minutes? You know what I mean? 312 00:46:27.872 --> 00:46:37.352 And I'm realizing, bro, by the time I get to five minutes I want to completely, in minute five, be switched into DSLR where I finally got you there. You know what I mean? And it's genuinely beautiful stuff. 313 00:46:37.381 --> 00:46:46.032 Like, genuinely beaut- like, I wanna begin to hire gaffers, dude. I wanna be the first dude who has a full crew just to make shorts. You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. Like, a short-form video. 314 00:46:46.132 --> 00:46:49.911 Um, and I wanna make the most beautiful stuff you've ever seen, dog. 315 00:46:50.012 --> 00:47:00.212 Um, but it's gonna take time to get there, and I'm being patient, and I'm just gonna let it continue to incubate, but that really is the next frontier for me is, like, I'm trying to expand the minutes out, you know what I mean? 316 00:47:00.232 --> 00:47:05.222 Yeah. And this next one's three minutes. The next one after that could be four, you know, and then after that five. And I'm just learning the rules. 317 00:47:05.292 --> 00:47:13.952 But as I, you get deeper into the timeline, I gain more luxuries about what I can do in front of your eyes. I love this. This actually can be film, you know what I mean? Mm. Um, 318 00:47:14.872 --> 00:47:25.052 and like I said earlier, this is where all the attention is short form. And so it can just get that beauty in front of a huge audience, dog. And, like, my whole passion for life is... 319 00:47:25.652 --> 00:47:36.372 Dude, I wanna, like, re-enchant the Western spirit, dog. I think we've become so disenchanted out here, dog. And beauty enchants the soul, dog. Mm. It, like, makes hope and wonder and, like, dreaming worthwhile again. 320 00:47:36.612 --> 00:47:44.232 You know what I mean? Um- You wanna, you wanna flip the short-form video, which is this thing that drains the soul, that, you know, the, the slop, brain rot, like, lifestyle. 321 00:47:44.242 --> 00:47:53.522 You wanna try to, like, judo flip that into something beautiful. Exactly, dog. Mm-hmm. And good wins in the end, dog, and I think that's a good pursuit. And so- Mm... 322 00:47:53.652 --> 00:48:07.192 I think I'm playing for the right team, dog, and I'm just gonna keep doing this, dude. [laughs] And I'm just gonna do ev- my, like, commit my entire existence to, like, um, elevating, like, the human soul, dog. 323 00:48:07.332 --> 00:48:11.491 You know what I mean? Yeah. I just, I, I, I think people need it so bad, especially in the West. Just, wait, okay. 324 00:48:11.692 --> 00:48:25.292 As ki- as kind of an aside, you, like, the only other interview I could find of yours is you, Jericho, and another of your friends, uh, t- uh, 2023, Rolling Stone, and the angle is, like, these three Christian TikTokers. 325 00:48:25.662 --> 00:48:34.942 And a- a- it, it kind of blew my mind. The, the only other interview I could find is really just about, like, your faith. And I'm ass- uh, the way, the way you're talking now is why I bring this up. You're talking- Mm... 326 00:48:35.082 --> 00:48:41.292 in this very sort of, like, faith-based way. I'm not personally, uh, a religious person, but I admire... Like, I, I watch soccer, right? 327 00:48:41.362 --> 00:48:51.332 And a lot of the best soccer players that I watch are very religious guys, and, like, they'll score a goal, and they like, you know, point to the heavens, and like- [laughs] I, I'm a, I'm an Arsenal fan. 328 00:48:51.352 --> 00:48:54.972 There's a lot of, like, uh, very Christian players on the team. 329 00:48:55.052 --> 00:49:07.068 And I-I, I see that, like, you know, there's clearly some connection between, like, religious faith and, like, faith in oneself and what, and what a person is doing, and I'm seeing that in the way that you describe what, what you do. 330 00:49:07.468 --> 00:49:12.168 Um, and it, it's... Yeah, I'd read that interview. I wasn't sure if, if it was gonna come up, but, like, I feel like I have to bring it up. 331 00:49:12.228 --> 00:49:25.468 Like, is that an important part of the way you work and the sort of monastic approach you have to your art? Dude, absolutely. It's literally everything, dog. Like, back then, I didn't qui- It's funny, I... 332 00:49:25.508 --> 00:49:34.368 We brought up faith, like, in one question, and I think they saw the angle they could play- This is gonna be great... and they made the whole interview about that. Yeah. And it really pissed me off. Like, I, I... 333 00:49:34.628 --> 00:49:44.488 Yeah, I said, "I hate that, that inter-" It makes us look, like, such out of touch, like, [laughs] dudes- [laughs]... um, that don't know reality and how the world works. And so I've just kinda learned, like, a lot. 334 00:49:44.848 --> 00:49:55.428 I'm still... I, I'll be honest, dude. I'm still even learning how to talk about God to this day because- Mm-hmm... people don't talk about it much. And so kinda if you bring God up, people wanna run with it. 335 00:49:55.498 --> 00:50:02.748 And dude, I did this other podcast that, uh, I don't think anybody's seen. I don't even know if it got posted, but I brought up God in the- I didn't find it. The only one I could find- Okay, yeah... 336 00:50:02.768 --> 00:50:14.448 was the Rolling Stone one. I don't think I've been able to find it, so I don't think it ever made it out. But I brought up God in the first question, and then the whole thing became abo- about God, and I just, um... 337 00:50:14.468 --> 00:50:23.488 It's not that I'm not interested in talking about God. I just think that, um, it is my whole life, and there is such a sophistication to talking about it, and I never wanna- Yeah... be talking about something... 338 00:50:23.748 --> 00:50:30.778 I feel like if I explain one thing, then I gotta explain these other things in regards- Yeah... to the faith and blah, blah, blah, and it's just not an interesting discussion. No. 339 00:50:30.788 --> 00:50:37.888 And so I try to kinda just make it, like... You know, I, I use the verbiage, "You know, it just was obvious to me. I wasn't ready to move to the city." 340 00:50:38.008 --> 00:50:44.108 But, I mean, the true translation when you get to the core is, "Dude, the Lord told me, 'I don't want you moving to LA yet.'" You know what I mean? Yeah. "You're not ready for it." 341 00:50:44.188 --> 00:50:52.988 Um, and so if people wanna dig and be like, "Well, what do you mean by that? Like, how are you led with this wisdom and this discernment?" It's all God, and I can't take the credit, but I'm learning how to talk about it. 342 00:50:53.028 --> 00:51:05.068 You know what I mean? Yeah. But to answer your question, dude, it's everything, dog. Yeah. It's like... It's... I've humbled myself enough to give up any pursuit I had. Uh, because for me, it... Beginning at, like... 343 00:51:05.097 --> 00:51:15.468 When I was in my little era in 2020 in Texas figuring myself out, my whole, like, craziest possible dream was, "I wanna be a comedian." Yeah. And the Lord has turned that into, like, 344 00:51:17.108 --> 00:51:25.098 "You, I want you to be a writer-director, and you do it through comedy right now. But don't misinterpret that, dude. You're, you're called... You just, that's just the format you operate in right now." Yeah. 345 00:51:25.098 --> 00:51:34.108 "But I want you to be a writer-director." And yeah, dude, I think He goes before me, dog, and if that's what He wants me to do, then I'm just gonna keep acting like it. I've fallen so in love with writing and directing. 346 00:51:34.228 --> 00:51:43.348 Comedy still has my heart, but dude, writing and directing is, like, everything, dog. And so this is my being, bro. This is like the fabric of me was knit together to write and direct, and I feel that crap, dog. Yeah. 347 00:51:43.468 --> 00:51:50.308 What- And so I'm gonna keep acting like it. I, and I, I love the discipline, and that's the only reason I wanted to bring it up. 'Cause I was wondering, too, with the Rolling Stone thing. 348 00:51:50.328 --> 00:51:54.468 It's like, did this, did the journalist go into this with this intention, or did this just become the angle? 349 00:51:54.488 --> 00:52:02.948 But the reason I wanted to bring it up is 'cause I, I really admire your discipline and devotion to your work, and, and it, I just... That it's clearly that pattern. 350 00:52:03.368 --> 00:52:14.938 Um- Dude, yeah, and funny enough, I, I'm only thinking about this now. I just think I wouldn't be able to even tap into that level of devotion and care about the whole thing if God wasn't a part of it, I guess. 351 00:52:14.988 --> 00:52:25.888 'Cause I just, I... You know. Mm-hmm. You know. He's everything to me. And so, like, I think that's really where that drive is, is, like, bro, like, to do what you were created to do with the Lord is worship. 352 00:52:25.968 --> 00:52:34.268 It's the highest form- Yeah... of worship. Over, over, like, singing a song in church. It's like, to do what He created you to do with Him, include Him in that crap, dude, He loves that crap. You know what I mean? Yeah. 353 00:52:34.308 --> 00:52:41.138 So that's why in my doing, in my writing and directing, it's, like, so reverent for me, dog. It's like, bro, I'm gonna take this to the moon, and I'm not compromising it. 354 00:52:41.168 --> 00:52:50.458 So much of the history of art is a history of spirituality, you know? Yeah, dog. That's the vibe. Yeah. Inspiration. Um, well, okay, so bringing it back to, to the art and to the craft. The... 355 00:52:50.508 --> 00:52:56.318 As you're starting to make these longer videos, I'm curious if that changes anything about your writing process, where it's like- Mm... 356 00:52:56.348 --> 00:53:01.638 you're talking about how, you know, minute one versus minute two versus minute three and so on. I... I- is it... 357 00:53:01.848 --> 00:53:09.998 Like, you know, when I write, it's, my writing is best when I write whatever shitty first draft today, and then tomorrow I come back, and I revamp it, and the day after. And, you know, there's... 358 00:53:10.028 --> 00:53:16.667 Don't need to do it every, every, every, every day, but if I can do it for, like, four or five days in a row, and these layers, it gets better, and I'm, like, figure... 359 00:53:16.708 --> 00:53:26.678 Like, this is in place of this foundation, so now I can add this. I'm just curious how going from, like, you know, one-minute, 30-second videos to four-minute videos- Mm... 360 00:53:26.678 --> 00:53:34.538 how that has changed, warped, or adapted your creative process. Yeah, dude. I'm gonna, I'm gonna stumble through this question 'cause I have thoughts- That's okay... 361 00:53:34.548 --> 00:53:49.628 and I don't know how they're gonna connect, but I'm figuring it out still, is the short answer. [laughs] But one thing is, like, me and Jericho, we s- we did write a pilot episode for a, for a show, and that was kinda... 362 00:53:49.648 --> 00:53:59.867 We were just figuring stuff out, seeing what felt right, and we did that. And dude, like, com- converting our format to 20 minutes is... I mean, you see how long it takes us to write a minute, dog. 363 00:53:59.928 --> 00:54:12.148 [laughs] Like, it took us a year to write this thing, you know, to have this show. And, um, it's... What I'm learning is, bro, this format, man, it is incredibly time-consuming writing. Mm. 364 00:54:12.328 --> 00:54:23.338 Because it can't just be random to be random. It needs to really be, like, organized chaos, and then also it's gotta be sharp. You know? Like, we, we never wanna do, like, low-hanging fruit jo- jokes. 365 00:54:23.408 --> 00:54:36.258 At least, you know, in our opinion, we don't think we do low-hanging fruit. And so there's just... I'm realizing that, like, the rules are going to change, um, to get longer. Um, a- and that's what I kinda said earlier. 366 00:54:36.408 --> 00:54:46.408 Each minute the rules are gonna change a little bit and tweak a little bit. Um, this three-minute video I'm making right now, I literally feel like as I'm making it, I'm learning new things and learning new rules. 367 00:54:46.508 --> 00:54:57.808 Um, and the literal rules for the entire format are changing. This is something I was talking to Jericho about the other day. Um, when I made my video Golf, you know that video- Mm... with the time loop? 368 00:54:59.868 --> 00:55:15.132 [glass shattering] [car honking] [upbeat music] Where'd it go? Just wait.Dude, no way. Bro, you're such an athlete. You... Ah. I'm starving. Check the fridge. The mini fridge. Oh, yeah. What we got? Uh, we got lettuce. 369 00:55:15.252 --> 00:55:31.902 Uh, let's just do takeout. Dude, I'm so down. [bell dings] [jazz music] No way. Dude, pizza rolls. [vacuum cleaner running] I need more. We need more. 370 00:55:31.912 --> 00:55:42.962 [bag rustling] Why you holding the bag like that? I just wanna make sure you guys can see the logo. All right, dude. Can't get enough pizza rolls? No. I was doing an ad read with my own light. 371 00:55:42.992 --> 00:56:00.492 130 cal pack of Totino's pizza rolls. All right, let's eat. Jericho. [gentle music] [glass shatters] [alarm blaring] Where'd it go? 372 00:56:00.652 --> 00:56:13.632 Just wait. I finished editing that video, and I remember feeling like this is such a set apart video from anything I've made before, as far as you laugh, but it's also... it's a very low joke count video. Mm. 373 00:56:13.812 --> 00:56:21.492 And it almost can make you feel a little bit more than a laugh. You know what I mean? It's like, "Whoa" at the end. And I remember thinking, "Whoa, I, like, tapped into something here." 374 00:56:21.512 --> 00:56:29.112 And then shortly after that video was when I really felt the Lord reveal to me, "Dude, I want you to be a writer-director," and I was like, "That makes a little bit of sense." But anyways, um, I, I... 375 00:56:29.732 --> 00:56:37.292 Golf Forward has been what I call V2- Mm-hmm... which is V2 of the videos. Before that, everything I made was V1. 376 00:56:37.392 --> 00:56:47.812 Um, and dude, this next video genuinely, I was just talking to Jericho about this, feels like the first V3, where the rules are changing again, and it's going to be a different tone than anything I've ever made. 377 00:56:47.832 --> 00:56:54.632 It's gonna be bigger than anything I've ever made. It's, it's more expansive universe. And for example, here's a great example of rules changing. 378 00:56:55.072 --> 00:57:10.882 So with V2 and V1, I had this specific emphasis on the props we use and, and the way we produce these videos have got to look like you could do this with your friends at a sleepover. Mm. 379 00:57:10.972 --> 00:57:20.732 I don't want this big overproduced looking video because I feel like it almost kills the relatability, uh, of the video. I want people to watch this and kind of be like, "Dude, we could make this at a sleepover." 380 00:57:21.152 --> 00:57:27.962 You know what I mean? Yeah. I feel like it makes it more fun, and we just film it in our apartment. We're not at this big set or anything. Yeah, I mean- But dude-... this again goes back... Sorry to interrupt. 381 00:57:27.992 --> 00:57:34.852 This again goes back to, like, your, your creative style being rooted in starting with Vine and, like, the, the, the modes of Vine- Mm. Yes... 382 00:57:34.862 --> 00:57:39.972 and then going to early TikTok, which is so just, like, kids messing about, dance videos, duets, et cetera. 383 00:57:40.072 --> 00:57:51.561 Like, like, e-even though your storytelling and editing and production has gotten so much more advanced, you're still rooted in this very, like, like, relatable, like, anybody on TikTok style- Mm... 384 00:57:51.572 --> 00:58:02.892 that's just been taken to the extreme. Yes. Totally, dude. And, and now to go into V2, as I've been... This video's taken me a while to write, dog, and it's because- To go into V3. Sorry, going into V3. Thank you. 385 00:58:03.352 --> 00:58:11.302 This video's taken me a, a while to write, dude, because the rules were changing as I was writing, and I was just doing my best to be aware of what was changing. Mm. 386 00:58:11.312 --> 00:58:21.312 I was trying to write a V2 video when I made this script, and dude, there's this, this thing I've been saying, dude. When I... It's getting to the point, dude, when I make a video, it feels like I'm not making it up, 387 00:58:22.212 --> 00:58:26.172 uh, as I write it. It literally feels like I'm discovering something that's always existed. Yes. 388 00:58:26.272 --> 00:58:37.262 And I, I, as I was writing this video, I was trying to discover this video that al-already exists, and I was trying to discover it with the tools I use to discover a V2 video. You know what I mean? 389 00:58:37.332 --> 00:58:47.092 But it was like they weren't the adequate tools to find it, literally, and I just was like, for a month, like, "Dog, why can't I figure out these sections of this video?" Like, my traditional f- like, uh, 390 00:58:48.612 --> 00:59:00.632 way of working isn't making it happen. And then I had to just stop, dog, and, like, really sit with myself, and then I got it, dog. And I, I won't go into the, the moment it happened- Yeah... but it was just like, "Ah." 391 00:59:00.692 --> 00:59:10.252 And then I was like, "Oh, it's V3, dog. Oh, this is exciting." [laughs] You know what I mean? And so then it fell together. Um, I hon- I don't even remember the question. What were we saying? No, no, it's okay. 392 00:59:10.292 --> 00:59:20.822 Well, the, the... This actually, this reminds me of something recently. So one of my favorite authors, this Norwegian guy, Karl Ove Knausgård, um, he's super famous. He's been doing it for, like, 20-plus years now. 393 00:59:21.321 --> 00:59:28.972 Uh, the fourth book in the series he's working on just came out a few weeks ago, and I went to, um, like, a book release event interview here in New York. 394 00:59:29.432 --> 00:59:49.172 And h-he was talking about the creative process in a way that's reminding me of what you're talking about, and he talks about when he was, like, in his 20s and he was trying to write a novel and trying to write a novel, and he couldn't figure it out, and then he read, like, this amazing novel, uh, by Proust, and then the next summer he, like, could finally write a novel, and, like, only later did he clock, like, "Oh, it's because I read that and I digested it." 395 00:59:49.212 --> 00:59:57.092 But more close to what you're saying and what I thought about is the book that I was going to the event for the release of, right? 396 00:59:57.352 --> 01:00:12.672 He's talking about how, like, he starts with this character and he's, you know, he's just kind of writing the character and discovering what happens, and this pivotal moment happens when the character is biking through London and he stops to have a cigarette because Knausgård's like, "Well, I- that's what I would do if I was biking. 397 01:00:12.712 --> 01:00:22.532 I would stop here and I would have a cigarette." Mm. And then because he stops there, the most pivotal event in the book happens, and he's talking- Mm... about how, like, "I discovered that happening. Like, that... 398 01:00:22.652 --> 01:00:30.302 I discovered that because I, I thought I would stop for a cigarette there, so the character did, and then this happened, and then that unlocked the rest of the book." Mm. 399 01:00:30.312 --> 01:00:45.412 And that is, like, exactly what I'm hearing from you of, like, you are, like, you are entering a stage in your creative career and your creative process where, like, that kind of thing is happening for you, and that's how you are enter- Like, that's how you're discovering how to make these longer narratives. 400 01:00:46.152 --> 01:00:55.942 Yes, exactly, dude. Like, it's, it's all there. I just have to humble myself enough to see it, you know? Yes. Yeah. And, um, and yeah, dude, I remember I was talking about... 401 01:00:55.962 --> 01:01:04.052 So with V3, dog, like, just finishing this bar, um, the way the rules have changed is, like, I have an ice cream truck in this video, and I would have never... 402 01:01:04.092 --> 01:01:11.421 The way I would've done an ice cream truck in the past would have been, in V2, would have been let's get a U-Haul-... truck and let's, like, print ice cream- Yeah... 403 01:01:11.432 --> 01:01:20.032 pictures off of it and make the menu, and it'll look very, like, oh, we could just have done this- So lo-fi... edit. Right. But now I'm realizing the tone is changing. 404 01:01:20.182 --> 01:01:30.912 And the tone, I want you to fall into these worlds I'm creating for, like, the minutes that they, that you're watching my videos, and it needs to be immersive and it needs... I- you can't... 405 01:01:30.922 --> 01:01:41.071 N- if for the tone to match the production and the props, I can't bring the tone up here and then the props are still down here. Like, oh- Mm-hmm... just like, it, it would take you out of the moment. 406 01:01:41.292 --> 01:01:50.852 Everything has to be in agreement. The music's getting so much more fire and cinematic too, dude, but everything's elevating. And so we had to get a legit ice cream truck for this video. You know what I mean? Um- Yeah... 407 01:01:50.892 --> 01:02:01.242 and that's sin if you're in V2, dawg. It's like you don't, you don't do that, dawg. It, it's too try hard. It won't... But it works with the tone that's becoming elevated, so it's fire. Mm-hmm. 408 01:02:01.392 --> 01:02:09.212 But to answer your question, dude, how do I do this? I don't know, dude. [laughs] If I did, it wouldn't be, it wouldn't require humility. So I'm just gonna- Yeah... 409 01:02:09.312 --> 01:02:18.902 keep submitting and, and making the best stuff I can b- one video at a time. And, you know, give me 20 years, I'll make the best movie you've ever seen. What's the worst video you've ever made? Good question, dawg. 410 01:02:18.902 --> 01:02:36.852 [laughs] Um- The least true to yourself. Hmm. I would, I would probably say, um, this video called Red-Handed. Um, and it's not up anymore. Oh. Uh, but it's, uh- Which do you... 411 01:02:37.072 --> 01:02:46.442 Have you often deleted videos? Um, I think over the past, like, four years, I've maybe taken down three. The, like, there, there's just... I don't really do it anymore because- 'Cause you don't-... 412 01:02:46.442 --> 01:02:57.112 I learned the hard way. Yeah But- You make good videos. You don't make them anymore. [laughs] Um, but, like, I, I just used to sometimes rush it, dawg, and I've just learned don't rush it. 413 01:02:57.172 --> 01:03:07.092 I mean, I keep talking about that and bringing that up. I've learned that the hard way. 'Cause it, it sucks to put as much time as I do in these videos and then them not be everything they could be. 414 01:03:07.112 --> 01:03:11.612 I mean, you're already gonna put a month into it, dude. Might as well put in two more weeks and make it good as opposed to crap, you know? 415 01:03:12.192 --> 01:03:23.202 And one thing, dude, I've really learned, man, is it does not matter how sharp your script is and how good it is or how much you love the ideas, if the execution upon shooting isn't so thought about- Mm-hmm... 416 01:03:23.202 --> 01:03:27.452 with a shot list, w- at least with the format I cook in, you don't do the idea justice. 417 01:03:27.572 --> 01:03:36.292 And I literally, like, feel a relationship now build up between me and the bits I write, where, like, over time I'm writing this script and I'm so into this bit. 418 01:03:36.372 --> 01:03:41.292 I literally told you earlier how, like, I literally just have to know, okay, it doesn't fit in this video. It'll be in a future video. Let me write it in this note. 419 01:03:41.672 --> 01:03:51.472 But, like, there are these bits where I have a relationship with them, and for me to, like, be a good friend to these bits, I want to put them on display in front of the world in the best way possible where people get it, you know what I mean? 420 01:03:52.032 --> 01:04:04.132 Yeah. And, and so yeah, dude, it's, uh, it's all about taking your time. So Red-Handed was so rushed. Um, great bits in there, but just was forcing it, dawg. Mm. And then also, dude, oh my gosh, one... 421 01:04:04.172 --> 01:04:11.992 like, literally the hardest shoot ever. We filmed it in a movie theater bathroom, and literally, like, before we even get shot one off, we get... we... 422 01:04:12.192 --> 01:04:22.272 dude, we sneak all this candy into this theater, all our props we literally snuck under our hoodies. And we're in the theater, bro, and we have this can of WD-40 which was for a bit we were doing in the video. 423 01:04:22.352 --> 01:04:30.812 This guy walks in who works there, and he's like, "You can't have that in here." [laughs] And we're like, "Oh, okay." Uh, and he's like, "You gotta get out of here. That's a fire hazard." 424 01:04:30.902 --> 01:04:35.512 And we were like- You were, you were caught red-handed. [laughs] Literally caught red-handed, dawg. [laughs] It's, like, too poetic, bro. 425 01:04:36.112 --> 01:04:48.072 And, and so then we literally, bro, got kicked out of that theater, and then we had to walk with all our props to the n- like, the, this mall. Mm-hmm. Which was, like, maybe a quarter mile away. We walk to the mall. 426 01:04:48.152 --> 01:04:57.442 We f- we begin to film in that bathroom. Anytime someone came in the bathroom to use it, we had to stop filming. So we filmed in there for, like, eight hours. [laughs] And, um, I mean, dude, we're fried. 427 01:04:57.592 --> 01:05:07.281 Like I said, the script already was rushed and sucks, and we're filming it. I'm like, "What are we even doing, dawg?" And then we, uh, had some other shots we had to film in an actual theater. 428 01:05:07.372 --> 01:05:14.692 So then we had to walk to a different theater to film, 'cause we got kicked out of the other one, so we can't film in there. [laughs] We had to walk to a different theater, film in there. 429 01:05:14.972 --> 01:05:19.212 Those shots we filmed that day, on shoot day, didn't even, weren't even usable. They sucked so bad. 430 01:05:19.762 --> 01:05:25.872 And then, and then I remember we came back to the mall bathroom, dawg, to film some shots, and the mall cop kicked us out. 431 01:05:26.051 --> 01:05:35.812 [laughs] And so then we had to sneak back in the, the m- mall bathroom, like, when he was on, like, far away doing his rounds around the mall, and we filmed as quick as we could, and then we got out of there. 432 01:05:35.872 --> 01:05:44.412 And dude, I'm stitching it all together in, on my Premiere timeline. I was like, "Oh my gosh, this is the worst video I've ever made." And I should've just had the discipline to just not post it, but I did. Mm. 433 01:05:44.462 --> 01:05:53.392 And it was silly, dawg, but I love it. Well, so one thing about this is I can't recall you having many, you know, stolen locations, I think is the term for that in, in filming. Mm. I can't recall you having many. 434 01:05:53.432 --> 01:06:01.992 Like, I can think of... It's usually, you know, your, you and your friends' apartments or just on the sidewalk. I can think of one where you're in a McDonald's drive-through. It's, like, this time machine video. Mm-hmm. 435 01:06:02.032 --> 01:06:09.592 But I... Is that part of it? Like, I can't think of any others, maybe I haven't watched them all, where you're stealing locations like that. Is that part of what? 436 01:06:10.272 --> 01:06:18.182 Like, um, like, is that part of why that one was a failure is because you were, you, you were having to shoot in these locations that had so much, like, risk involved where- Right... 437 01:06:18.182 --> 01:06:28.492 you're in public basically, and so, like, there's so many people that could come in and out, and, like, just, you, you can't get in your flow and you're being disrupted, and, like, there's literally, like, people who can tell you to, to get the hell out of there, right? 438 01:06:28.532 --> 01:06:37.612 Like, is that part of it? Right. Um, oh, for sure, dawg. I mean, we... It's so funny though. Sometimes there's just favor over the shoot and nothing happens, dawg. It's fire. Yeah. Like, we filmed in the subway. 439 01:06:37.992 --> 01:06:50.052 We filmed at a gas station one time. Oh, yeah, that's that, the Totino's video, yeah. Yeah. Like, in, in the... We, we had to shoot five separate days in that subway, um, 'cause we did kick, get kicked out twice. 440 01:06:50.232 --> 01:06:58.672 But, um, you just gotta flow with it, dawg, and whatever it takes to... And dude, I also, like, my fav- I haven't said this yet. My favorite genre is sci-fi. Like, my magnum- Mm... 441 01:06:58.702 --> 01:07:10.072 opus work, dawg, is gonna be, like, s- a sci-fi trilogy, bro. And I just loved that subway, bro. It had such a sci-fi look to it, like, with these huge pillars. It almost looks like Gattaca or something, bro. 442 01:07:10.332 --> 01:07:16.772 Yeah, one of my favorite movies. And I was like, "We have to get the shots in there, bro." Mm-hmm. Um, so anyways, but, um, yeah, dude, it's... We really try to film in the apartment. 443 01:07:17.092 --> 01:07:27.136 Um, it's just so much easier, and we're not getting licenses or anything, dude. Um, so it's, it is a very run-and-gun situation. But yeah, that was just one of the worst... times ever, dog. 444 01:07:27.166 --> 01:07:37.086 Like, kicked out of two different places, bro, but yeah. Yeah. On the, on the sci-fi topic, I, I have been wanting to ask, like, what are some, right now, some of your, like, creative inspirations? 445 01:07:37.216 --> 01:07:46.936 What recently in the past few months has been really inspiring for you? Yeah, dude. I mean, Dune II is my number one favorite movie of all time. It- That's amazing... and that was... 446 01:07:47.596 --> 01:07:57.256 I saw it five times in theaters, bro, and the second time I saw it, when I walked out of the theater, that was the night I decided, like, "I'm gonna commit my life to being a writer-director." Like- Yeah... 447 01:07:57.266 --> 01:08:04.546 the, what that was able... I, I have such a heart for making people feel alive and making people, the, making the human soul feel beauty. 448 01:08:04.976 --> 01:08:14.456 And then I got to see what Denis and his ability to direct did to me and my soul, and how excited I was about life, and j- I just felt charged, dog. 449 01:08:14.496 --> 01:08:24.236 And like, I was like, "I'm committing my life to, like, perfecting this craft," period. Um- I love that. But, uh, so yeah, dude, Dune II, so fire. I realized recently how good Dune I is. 450 01:08:24.316 --> 01:08:33.786 I always thought, "Oh, it's like the afterthought," but it's like Dune I is really good too. On the sci-fi front, bro, love Prometheus, Alien: Prometheus, dude. Mm. Yes. Um, that was... 451 01:08:33.836 --> 01:08:42.016 I remember after I watched that movie, that was the first time I ever floated the idea... I, I talked to my dad after we watched the movie. I said, "Dude, it'd be so, so cool to be a, a, a director one day." 452 01:08:42.046 --> 01:08:48.296 [laughs] And I just remember thinking that's... I was like 17 when I said that. Yeah. And it was, like, just so daunting and I was like, "No way I could do it," but like, that's just... I don't know. It's fun. 453 01:08:48.316 --> 01:08:57.656 Wouldn't that be sick? [laughs] Yeah, it'd be sick. Um, other than that, bro, um, dude, I don't know why my brain's kinda blanking right now. No, I mean, that's okay. 454 01:08:58.376 --> 01:09:06.616 I'm not- I, I, I, like, my impression, I, I ask this not really thinking you would give much of an answer. My impression is that you, like, are more... Like, you're not necessarily... 455 01:09:06.656 --> 01:09:10.046 That's not really where you put your energy. Mm. You don't necessarily- Right... need to do that. 456 01:09:10.156 --> 01:09:20.656 You have enough kind of within you already that i- that you can react to and build on, that you don't need to go out and like, "Ah, I'm feeling dry. Let me go watch 10 movies," you know? Right. Right, dude. I... 457 01:09:21.516 --> 01:09:33.896 What's interesting is until, like, middle of 2025, uh, me and Jericho, something we shared in common is we both don't... We've watched, like, no movies. You know what I mean? [laughs] And, like, we've seen some- Yeah... 458 01:09:33.906 --> 01:09:39.156 and there's some that mean something to us, but, like, for the most part, we had our movies that kinda meant something to us, but we didn't... 459 01:09:39.196 --> 01:09:46.745 And I think that's what gave us such an original approach to how we pursued our style. Mm-hmm. And then what was really... We didn't get bogged down in technical shit. 460 01:09:46.756 --> 01:09:51.386 Like, people are calling you guys Lynchian, and you're like, "Who's that?" Yeah, "Who?" Or what? [laughs] Yeah. Yeah. 461 01:09:51.476 --> 01:09:59.396 Um, but I did feel recently that, or in tw- in the middle of 2025, I have started to watch a ton of movies. Yeah. Because I kinda feel like something... 462 01:09:59.456 --> 01:10:04.436 A danger of film school is sometimes you can get out and you're so technical, you can't just genuinely express who you are. 463 01:10:04.866 --> 01:10:13.876 And it kinda feels like I, I found somewhat what my fingerprints are with my projects and how I'm gonna express myself, and now I really wanna ground it in maturity- Yes... and, like, really- Yes... study the craft. 464 01:10:14.576 --> 01:10:23.906 Um- Yeah... dude, oh my gosh, I just watched Fight Club, dog. [laughs] And that is so good, dog. For the first time. [laughs] It's insane. I, I watched it when I was, like, 15, and I don't remember it. 465 01:10:24.056 --> 01:10:32.576 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. [laughs] Huge movie also for me, dude, Speed Racer. Mm. So good, dog. That, I watched that in theaters when I was eight, and that movie- Yeah... has really stuck with me. Really cool movie. 466 01:10:32.636 --> 01:10:41.116 The Matrix, top movie for me. Um, so ahead of its time, bro. Like, really predicted some vibes. Okay, I asked you what your worst video was. 467 01:10:41.176 --> 01:10:52.536 So in that Instagram story, that saved Instagram story that I mentioned earlier, you wrote, "Good art resembles its creator." Which of your videos most resembles you? That's a really good question, man. I think, 468 01:10:54.136 --> 01:11:04.826 I think I've gotten a little bit better since then, but, like, if it's just about what represents me, I would say, uh, Living the Dream. Mm. The video in the subway. Yeah. 469 01:11:04.896 --> 01:11:15.836 Um, I think so much of my, uh, artistic inspiration, um, I'm not able to express in all of my work. Like, just with how much I love sci-fi. 470 01:11:16.416 --> 01:11:22.676 Um, I do have the trippy sound design which I love with, like, synth and stuff, and like, all of that I just love, and it's very sci-fi rooted. 471 01:11:23.236 --> 01:11:35.656 Um, but I think I was able to sorta get my sci-fi bar- bars off with that video, just with, like, the s- the scene of the subway. I think it's so cool. It literally looks like a space, like, airport or something. Yeah. 472 01:11:35.736 --> 01:11:50.916 And there's also a song called Aura, iro- ironically enough, that I used, um, in that video that is so my vibe, so my taste in sound design. Um, and I... And, and then also, yeah, dude, it's that, that video is... 473 01:11:51.176 --> 01:12:01.056 The whole video is a punchline pun of living your dream, and of course, that's kinda just like I really think everyone should believe enough, enough in themselves to really live their dream, no matter what it looks like, dog. 474 01:12:01.076 --> 01:12:07.736 It doesn't have to look any certain way. So yeah, dude, I think I would say that video. Um, but it's funny, I look at it now and I'm like, "I could make something better." 475 01:12:07.826 --> 01:12:10.496 I would love to make that video now, and I know it could be more polished and better. 476 01:12:10.676 --> 01:12:18.706 But I would say that, d- Oh, and dude, even the, me opening my mouth and my mouth being a UFO and sucking up the pizza rollers, just all sci-fi- That's so good... 477 01:12:18.736 --> 01:12:28.656 little undertones where I could, like, let it get through the cracks a little bit. But yeah. Well, I can't wait to see what you do with a, a bigger budget someday. Yeah, dude. Me too. Tell me, I mean, the, to end this, 478 01:12:29.996 --> 01:12:35.516 I don't know if you have a path laid out. I don't get the impression that you're like, "I have to do this to then do that to then do this to then do that." 479 01:12:35.556 --> 01:12:41.546 You, you know, you make the work, and the work will lead you to, to the next work, right? Mm. That's kind of the impression I'm getting here. Um, 480 01:12:42.576 --> 01:12:53.236 but I think there's probably some contrast you see in if you wanna be more writer-director making films, and then you're working with Jericho who wants to be more on the commercial side and is seeing that. 481 01:12:53.316 --> 01:13:06.416 Like, it sounds like you are seeing some of the stepping stones of this path start to appear in front of you, and I would love to hear how you see, whatever the time span is that makes sense for you. 482 01:13:06.476 --> 01:13:17.796 Like, in two years, are you making a feature fi- Whatever, right? Tell me a little bit- Mm-hmm... about how you are envisioning your future on this path towards being a larger scale writer and director. 483 01:13:18.556 --> 01:13:31.760 Well, you're, you're right to some extent in that I'm trying to just approach the whole thing with humility and not get set on any certain outcome. Um, butAnd then also, dude, you know, man plans, God laughs, bruh. 484 01:13:31.769 --> 01:13:38.140 [laughs] You know? So I, I really think I, I, I know the end goal, and I know where I wanna end, you know what I mean? 485 01:13:38.160 --> 01:13:44.640 And I don't even think that's hardly my desire as much as something the Lord's put on my heart, you know? Mm-hmm. Uh, which is to be a writer-director. 486 01:13:44.680 --> 01:13:55.710 But I think with how I get there, it's up in the air, but I have an idea. And I think... Like I said, uh, last year me and Jerica spent the whole year writing a pilot. Yeah. 487 01:13:56.340 --> 01:14:05.560 And we were really planning on taking a very traditional approach into the industry. We got film management, and they were shopping our pilot around the town, yada, yada. 488 01:14:05.820 --> 01:14:17.320 And it just, as I started to integrate into the world in that way, when I say the world, I mean Hollywood. Yeah. I just recognized, to some extent it's dying right now, and there's an evolution happening, I believe. 489 01:14:18.440 --> 01:14:20.840 And also, there's so much red tape, dog. 490 01:14:21.400 --> 01:14:31.990 And with my heart and where I'm at with wanting to enchant the West, dude, and, like, elevate human consciousness, I just, just don't think Hollywood's really in the game for any of that. Mm. 491 01:14:32.060 --> 01:14:46.840 And I think that the way I see it is the internet, it's not... People have kinda been floating the idea that the internet is, um, the next Hollywood. I think that it's more so the bridge to the next Hollywood. 492 01:14:46.980 --> 01:14:54.220 I think that it's really giving freedom to the people again. It's insane what you can do. I mean, the internet's just a canvas, bro. Mm-hmm. It can legit be whatever you want. 493 01:14:54.280 --> 01:15:01.910 I think we get caught up in kinda seeing trends and what people are doing, and there's, like, this general creator economy, so we all do this now and stuff. Yeah. 494 01:15:01.920 --> 01:15:07.120 But at the end of the day, it is actually whatever you want it to be, and that's how I'm trying to treat it. 495 01:15:07.180 --> 01:15:15.450 And so I just think that you're able to ge- generate a ton of capital and a ton of attention with the internet, depending on how you play it. And I think that 496 01:15:17.760 --> 01:15:30.560 people who play that right can provide something that Hollywood's not providing anymore as time goes on. And I think that that's gonna usher in a new time where Hollywood's gonna l- l- lose its grip on entertainment. Mm. 497 01:15:30.660 --> 01:15:32.380 Um, kinda the choke hold it has on it. 498 01:15:32.500 --> 01:15:43.500 And I think the future is, in 10 or 20 years, privately owned studios being made and producing their own films because of all the capital and attention certain individuals have from the internet. Um- Yeah... 499 01:15:44.549 --> 01:15:52.160 and so something like that, dude. And I have vision to make my own creative s- my own, like, film studio called Runner Studios. Mm. Everybody's gonna talk about it. Don't even worry about it. 500 01:15:52.660 --> 01:16:00.480 Um, and yeah, dude, that's, that's crazy vision on my heart, too. And, dude, my vision with Runner Studios, bro, I just gotta get this bar off, is leg... Have you seen The Truman Show? Uh, of course, yeah. 501 01:16:01.300 --> 01:16:08.490 Another banger, dog. Mm-hmm. But- That's a classic... dude, my vision with Runner Studios is, you know the dome that- Mm-hmm... that he lives in? 502 01:16:09.040 --> 01:16:18.480 Dude, it, it, it doesn't have to be a dome, but I just picture this huge building, dog, where inside Runner Studios, like, every department needed to make a film exists, independent of Hollywood. 503 01:16:19.080 --> 01:16:27.470 And we have a makeup department. We have our editors. Mm. You know, we have, we have it all. And, um, we can make films in the dome in Runner Studios, you know what I mean? 504 01:16:27.580 --> 01:16:38.530 And everybody who works there, bro, it has this, this, uh... There's this tone and this, this attitude of, like, early Apple, dude, like Pixar. Mm. Like, "I work at Runner," "I work at Apple," dog. Yeah. 505 01:16:38.540 --> 01:16:46.580 Where there's almost, like, this we only hire people that are genuinely into committing their lives to making beauty, you know what I mean? And I think that a certain product's gonna be produced by that. 506 01:16:47.020 --> 01:16:53.180 And I think we talk like that now, and we're kind of at the peak of this era where the... I really think a bubble's about to pop, where it's like, bro, like, integrity doesn't win anymore. 507 01:16:53.240 --> 01:16:58.540 Like, that's, that's a great idea. But dude, I'm telling you, I really think the future's bright, and I think that there's gonna be a shift. 508 01:16:58.590 --> 01:17:06.310 And I do think that's a reality in the future where the winning studios are people that are talking like that, who are like- Yeah... "Why are we trying to turn this into a business? 509 01:17:06.360 --> 01:17:15.180 Let's make the most beautiful thing possible, and the money will come." Like, that's my whole life business motto, dude, or, like- Yeah... not even business motto, but just, you know, that's my motto, dog. 510 01:17:15.700 --> 01:17:26.060 Well, I think we'll end it there. Grant, where should the people go to find you? Um, bro, TikTok and Instagram. Uh, can you just put the crap on the screen? We'll put it on the screen. All right. 511 01:17:26.080 --> 01:17:40.400 Uh, I think, well, for, for the listeners not watching too, let me read it off. What's... On Instagram, it's, uh, @grantbeans, correct? That's correct. And on TikTok, it's @tik_tok_bhadi, B-H-A-D-I. [laughs] Yeah, bro. 512 01:17:40.660 --> 01:17:47.080 [laughs] Kind of a mouthful. That's good. Well, thank you for coming on. This was awesome. Yeah, man. Thank you for having me. Listener, we'll see you next week. 513 01:17:48.700 --> 01:17:59.910 [outro music]