How did a regular guy from the Bronx land the director from Rocky, Burt Young & Sly Stallone?

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Kind: captions
Language: en
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I was working really close with Bert
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Young and uh Bert was fantastic. Bert
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became like family for us and you know I
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was always looking for a feel-good
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underdog story like Rocky was a huge
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influence on my life as you know many of
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us and I had asked Bert I said you know
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we had grown so close to each other and
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he and he g grew an affinity for me and
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my work. [clears throat] I asked him to
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read the screenplay and I said, "Do you
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think we can get this to John Abton?"
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And I thought he was gonna say, "Come
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on." He right away said, "Here's his
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number. Call him." Here I am calling
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John Abton, Academy Award-winning
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director [laughter]
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of Rocky. So, Mr. Abson, I got your
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number from Bert Young. I wrote the
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screenplay and you know, it's getting
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some traction. And he's probably saying
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to himself, "Yeah, sure. You know,
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everybody's a friend of somebody and
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they got a screenplay or whatever."
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After some talking and convincing, he
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said, "Okay, fine. Send it over to him."
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About two days later, I get a phone call
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from him. Robert John Albertson calling.
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I read the screenplay. I love it. I want
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to do it. I was floored. My knees
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literally buckled.
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>> Vinnie from South Philly.
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>> Hey, I'm here with my man Vinnie from
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South Philly.
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>> I absolutely love Vinnie from South
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Philly.
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>> Well, I thank you and uh thank the
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Philadelphia audience.
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>> You're watching Vinnie from South
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Philly. You can't do no better.
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>> Matson and uh you're watching Vinnie
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Presents.
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[music]
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All right, welcome back my friends.
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Today in studio, well, remotely anyway,
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we have a great man. He's from the
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Boogie Down Bronx. I love my people up
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there. A lot of them say gravy just like
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I do. That's why I loved him. But he's
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another pyison. He's a tremendous
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writer, director, and producer. And he's
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someone that I want to introduce you all
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to. Welcome to the show, Robert Bruo.
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Robert, welcome to the show.
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>> Ah, thank you, man. Thank you for having
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me. I appreciate it. May disappoint you
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just a little bit right now, though. I'm
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team sauce.
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>> You know, you're one of them, aren't
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you? I knew it. [laughter]
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>> You know, I I I know it's it's silly
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because I I use booth, you know. I say
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like, you know, you want tomato sauce?
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Oh, I have to go buy tomato sauce. or
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you know so I use I use it you know uh
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inadvertently I don't really sit there
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and think about it too much some people
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get really upset though I noticed you
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know I know I mean
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>> I I'm first generation Italian and I
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seem to find like a lot of first
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generation Italians and and we still
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make our own sauce like every year
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>> so that's what we call it we make our
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sauce you know and I know people will
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argue and say if you put the meat in it
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then it becomes we always refer to it as
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sauce so [laughter]
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>> it's it's fun though it's a lot of fun
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to make the uh the the back and forth
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argument. That argument will probably
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outlive us all. You know, it'll never
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end. So,
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>> Oh, no. Never. [laughter]
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>> But yeah, I'm I share the same
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background. I'm first generation uh
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Italian American. My parents came from
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Calabri in the 60s. So, I I share the
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the understanding and the traditions how
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important it is to keep the you know,
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and I do it too. You know, that the
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homemade tomato sauce or gravy. See, I
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did it. I did it.
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>> Or or the uh you know, homemade wine.
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You know, my dad used to make the
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cracked olives, the uh pickled
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eggplants.
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You know, there's something, you know,
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the little cantina down in the basement.
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So, we all we all share those those
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those really good tradition. Got to keep
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them alive.
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>> Oh, you do. You do. And, uh, yeah, I'm
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Calibres as well.
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>> Nice.
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>> Um, so yeah, we try to maintain the
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traditions as best as possible. One of
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the things I love doing is we have uh
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still Sunday dinner at around 1:00. And
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one of the things I tell my daughters
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when I go and dip the bread in the
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sauce, [laughter]
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I say, you know, this is one of the
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great things about being Italian,
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especially on a Sunday. [laughter]
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>> You dip in the bread. You got to dip in
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the bread.
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>> Oh yeah.
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>> And you know, and then you get if you
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use the the semolina and then the seeds
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go in there and then, you know, people
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start hollering at you and you know,
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>> oh yeah, I get y my wife. [laughter]
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>> And that's you know, it's any culture. I
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say about any culture, not just the uh
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the Italian culture, but it's important.
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No matter what culture you're from, it's
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really good to preserve those traditions
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and let your kids enjoy them. And you
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know, and and unfortunately as you get
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older, you get some people that are
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missing from those tables. You got to
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really cherish the times and memories
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while they're here.
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>> Yeah. 100%.
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>> So growing up in the Bronx, tell us what
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what that was like. And I'm sure it was
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a lot like South Philly. We all have
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kind of the same similar backgrounds,
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but of course unique in their own ways,
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but how was it growing up in the Bronx?
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It was great. I mean, I wouldn't trade
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my childhood for anything. Um, and
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sometimes I'll reflect back with some of
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my friends growing up in the Bronx and
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there were some tough times. There were
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times where things could have gotten
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kind of scary. And would I want my kids
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to go through that stuff? No. But in
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retrospect,
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it was fun, you know, [laughter] and and
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it made us who we are. Um, I grew up,
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you know, I originally when I was born,
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I lived on the Arthur Avenue side of the
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Bronx. I was right on 187 Street. Um,
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and as you know, a lot of people know
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from that neighborhood. It was
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predominantly Italian, Italian-American.
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Um, then we moved to a section called
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Pelum Parkway. We had a few trees on the
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block, so I thought I was in the
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suburbs.
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Um, we had a a little backyard with a
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small patch of grass. I really thought I
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was in the country at that point.
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Um, but yeah, no, it was great. I
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growing up in the Bronx was and like you
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know, South Philly, I'm sure you have
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all the stories hanging out with your
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friends and uh similar
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family stories and familiar familiar
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street stories.
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>> Yeah. And I've been to the Bronx. I
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really enjoyed We went up I think it was
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two years ago for Ferostto for Ferostto.
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That was a good time, man. It was really
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Yeah, I can see the similarities, man.
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It was really cool.
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um South to its own little enclave
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there, but you know the old cheese shops
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and the canoli place and you had you
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know Rialletto and these beautiful
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restaurants and so much good food, man.
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I I just I really did enjoy it very much
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when I was there.
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>> Well, what's great is that when I was a
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kid, young very in the 70s and then up
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until even into the 80s, um all those
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shops that were there, they were there
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for the people that lived there. It
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wasn't a destination place. Um, so you
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know, on a Friday, my my dad would get
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his check or whatever, and we'd go into
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the market and go food shopping and and
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go buy the cheese and go buy uh, you
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know, any type of the cold cuts or
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whatever. Um, and
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but later I I I saw the progression as a
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lot of people started to kind of move
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out. Thank God for those shops, you
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know, they they they stayed there and
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and they still maintain um the the the
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culture of what it was. Just now it's
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really become a destination place. It's
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not, you know, uh the way it was when I
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was growing up. You know, I was only a
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few years, maybe like 10
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10 to 15 years later than after like
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when a Bronx Tale took place. That was
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in the 60s. So it still had that kind of
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flavor in the 70s.
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>> Yeah. And look, the 70s, 80s, 90s, tough
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tough times to grow up. I don't think
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people really understand. I know we talk
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about and we hear about all the violence
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going on and all the different things
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that are going on in the city, but I
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mean, I look around Philly and I'm like,
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it's way safer than it used to be
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growing up. I mean, we had literally
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dividing lines. Like, you didn't cross
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11 street cuz it was bait over there and
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then they didn't come cross here. And
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yeah, it's it was it was really bad. I
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mean, they had to change the hours of
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when school let out because it was
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conflict between public and the
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parochial schools. It was crazy, man. I
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think it was a lot more wild back then.
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>> Yeah, it was. But, interestingly enough,
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in that neighborhood in the in the 80s,
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I remember reading it was one of the
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safest neighborhoods in in the country,
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it was voted that way. I mean, even when
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there was the 1977
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blackout, um I don't know if you guys
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were affected in Philly, but um you
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know, there was looting going around in
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all the surrounding neighborhoods.
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Our neighborhood was protected.
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[laughter]
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Our neighborhood was safe. Um, but to
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your point, if you did have those
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boundaries and and it did get kind of
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scary, you know, if you started anybody
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started crossing those boundaries and
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the Bronx was a crazy place in the 70s.
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I mean, it was literally burning. You
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know, there was that book called the
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Bronx is burning. It was literally
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burning. There were sections of the
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South Bronx that were on fire and the
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whole city, all of New York City was
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really, really rough in the 70s.
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I I mean I've seen a lot about the Bronx
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and all the fires and I didn't really
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get the whole idea. It sounded like a
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lot of stuff was arson or maybe most of
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if not all of it but and it had
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something to do I guess with rent
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control. What was the whole deal with
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that?
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>> I I think that was exactly it. you know,
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the the city was going bankrupt and a
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lot of these properties, I guess, the
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the landlords kind of figured it was
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worth it more to to burn them and and
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collect on the insurance. And then you
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had people that were living there, you
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know, you had a a group of minority
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people that were being displaced and or
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they had to live in these areas with uh
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half their block burnt down, which is
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terrible.
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>> Must have smelled You must have smelled
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night and day. I mean, that smells not
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good.
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Like where we were, we didn't smell it.
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I mean, we were far enough away. Our our
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neighborhoods were were okay. But I
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remember my dad had a construction
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company and we used to have to drive
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through the South Bronx to get to
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Manhattan where most of his clients
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were. And driving through some of those
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streets, it look like, you know, Europe
00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:55.829
in World War II with buildings in half
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and rubble all over the place. It was
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kind of scary driving through. We had no
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choice. We had to go that route because
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we had commercial plates. we couldn't
00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:04.949
take, you know, that was the only way we
00:10:04.959 --> 00:10:07.110
could get into Manhattan.
00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:09.110
>> You know, Philly didn't burn like that,
00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:11.350
but it did go through a period of just
00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:13.269
um
00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:15.190
like quiet collapse, I would say, in a
00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:17.110
lot of these neighborhoods. So, you
00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:19.430
know, back up until about the 50s,
00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:23.269
pretty pretty, you know, pretty strong
00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:25.750
uh areas that were bluecollar, whether
00:10:25.760 --> 00:10:29.269
it was Irish, Polish, Italian, German,
00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:31.509
and [clears throat] a lot of factories.
00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:32.790
You know, at one time Philadelphia was
00:10:32.800 --> 00:10:34.069
called the workshop of the world. They
00:10:34.079 --> 00:10:35.509
made everything. I mean, literally,
00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:36.630
there was a building that just made
00:10:36.640 --> 00:10:38.630
rope. I mean, that's just crazy to
00:10:38.640 --> 00:10:39.829
think, but
00:10:39.839 --> 00:10:41.670
>> you know, it was amazing what was was
00:10:41.680 --> 00:10:43.430
was being done in there was that
00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:45.110
eventual like everything was got, you
00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:47.829
know, the factories left and people got
00:10:47.839 --> 00:10:51.750
poor and drugs came in and but there
00:10:51.760 --> 00:10:53.269
were a lot of mansions like mini
00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:55.430
mansions along sections of the city
00:10:55.440 --> 00:10:57.269
which are, you know, then became very
00:10:57.279 --> 00:10:59.350
violent. So it's weird because it was a
00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:01.670
very affluent area like North Philly.
00:11:01.680 --> 00:11:03.030
Anybody knows about Philly says, "Wow,
00:11:03.040 --> 00:11:04.150
North Philly." But you know, it was a
00:11:04.160 --> 00:11:06.069
very affluent area with a lot of wealthy
00:11:06.079 --> 00:11:09.110
people, old money, locomotive money,
00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:12.870
like crazy. And uh just like that, man
00:11:12.880 --> 00:11:14.949
in an amount of like maybe 20 years, it
00:11:14.959 --> 00:11:16.550
just everybody left. And these mini
00:11:16.560 --> 00:11:17.990
mansions were taken over either by the
00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:21.269
city, squatters, looted, destroyed, and
00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:23.829
you know, a lot of them are gone. But it
00:11:23.839 --> 00:11:25.269
it it's a shame, you know, the ones that
00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:26.470
are there, it's like you're looking
00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:27.750
like, "Wow, holy crap." You know, this
00:11:27.760 --> 00:11:30.389
this was an amazing area one time. But
00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:31.829
there's starting to be a revival of it,
00:11:31.839 --> 00:11:33.030
too, though. I mean, I think people
00:11:33.040 --> 00:11:35.110
really, no matter who you are, you want
00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:37.269
to see you have that nostalgia about the
00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:38.389
past.
00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:40.870
>> Oh, without a doubt. You definitely do.
00:11:40.880 --> 00:11:43.590
And and and I remember, you know, the
00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:46.389
Bronx always having a bad rap. I I'd go
00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:48.389
to Italy and I'd have relatives and
00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:49.910
family, all you know, they'd heard about
00:11:49.920 --> 00:11:53.110
the Bronx and all they thought of was
00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:54.949
buildings burning and and it wasn't all
00:11:54.959 --> 00:11:58.310
that. I mean, it was a great place. Um,
00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:01.910
even here, I I uh when I went to
00:12:01.920 --> 00:12:03.910
college, people would ask me, "Oh, wow.
00:12:03.920 --> 00:12:05.910
You grew up in the Bronx?" I'm like,
00:12:05.920 --> 00:12:08.069
"Yeah, you lived in a house in the
00:12:08.079 --> 00:12:10.710
Bronx?" "No, I lived in a cave." "Yes, I
00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:11.670
lived in a [laughter] house in the
00:12:11.680 --> 00:12:13.509
Bronx."
00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:17.750
you know, it a bad rap. Um, and now I
00:12:17.760 --> 00:12:19.509
carry it as a badge of honor. You know,
00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:21.670
I'm proud of being from the Bronx. Loved
00:12:21.680 --> 00:12:23.030
it.
00:12:23.040 --> 00:12:25.030
>> I always I always felt like the Bronx
00:12:25.040 --> 00:12:27.590
was like again almost like a sister city
00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:29.350
or brother city to Philly. A lot of a
00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:31.269
lot of commonalities there. All right.
00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:32.389
So, you know, you grew up in that
00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:34.230
environment. Then what sparked your
00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:36.230
interest in in the film industry and
00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:38.550
that creative side of you?
00:12:38.560 --> 00:12:40.870
I guess it started when I was a kid
00:12:40.880 --> 00:12:42.470
because you know there were movies that
00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:45.038
came out that really I think in the
00:12:45.048 --> 00:12:47.030
[laughter] in the in the like late 70s
00:12:47.040 --> 00:12:50.949
early 80s it had to be like the best
00:12:50.959 --> 00:12:53.509
time of movies and I know it's almost
00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:55.518
like a cliche now and especially
00:12:55.528 --> 00:12:57.430
[clears throat] Gen Xers that's you know
00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:00.710
what we're called um we brag about how
00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:02.629
we had the best movies in the 80s well
00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:05.670
we brag because we did you know starting
00:13:05.680 --> 00:13:07.590
with movies like with Jaws and then you
00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:09.829
Rocky and then you had Star Wars and
00:13:09.839 --> 00:13:11.509
then you had Raiders of the Lost Arc and
00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:13.430
then you had you all all the fun movies
00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:14.629
from the 80s.
00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:16.470
>> Wise guys, the purple village. I mean,
00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:17.190
come on.
00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:18.629
>> Pop Granch Village, right? Let's not
00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:20.470
forget you had Raging Bull, Pop Granch
00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:22.550
Village. I mean, and then like I really
00:13:22.560 --> 00:13:24.150
didn't start appreciating movies like
00:13:24.160 --> 00:13:26.470
Mean Streets until I really got into
00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:29.030
movies. But as a kid, the movies that my
00:13:29.040 --> 00:13:31.430
parents would take me to see, I remember
00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:32.949
just coming out of the theater feeling
00:13:32.959 --> 00:13:37.110
so energized. So, and and and I felt I I
00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:38.550
want to be a part of that. I just want
00:13:38.560 --> 00:13:41.190
to be able to create that or do that.
00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:43.750
You know, it when Rocky first came out,
00:13:43.760 --> 00:13:46.790
it's 50 years ago. Unbelievable. I I was
00:13:46.800 --> 00:13:49.110
seven years old. But at as a
00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:50.470
seven-year-old, I remember running out
00:13:50.480 --> 00:13:52.949
of the movie theater looking for steps
00:13:52.959 --> 00:13:55.590
to run up or or or or to do push-ups and
00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:57.030
and then then, you know, Rocky 2 came
00:13:57.040 --> 00:13:59.990
out and then Rocky 3 came out and it was
00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:01.670
one after the other and you just got so
00:14:01.680 --> 00:14:04.710
excited by by by those movies. Um, and
00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:06.949
then when I was in high school, I I I
00:14:06.959 --> 00:14:09.910
gave it a go at being in in the plays
00:14:09.920 --> 00:14:11.430
and
00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:13.189
I think that's where I caught the bug
00:14:13.199 --> 00:14:15.750
because I'd be on stage and do theater
00:14:15.760 --> 00:14:17.590
and then took drama classes and then I
00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:19.670
was in the musicals and just hearing the
00:14:19.680 --> 00:14:22.310
the laughter and the applause,
00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:25.189
it really became
00:14:25.199 --> 00:14:28.870
a powerful u draw for me to want to be a
00:14:28.880 --> 00:14:31.750
part of. Um, interestingly enough, when
00:14:31.760 --> 00:14:33.990
I was in high school, uh, a teacher
00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:36.629
brought an agent to school and the
00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:39.110
agent, uh, told him that he had wanted
00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:41.829
to sign me and my dad talked me into
00:14:41.839 --> 00:14:43.030
going into college and getting my
00:14:43.040 --> 00:14:44.949
business degree, which I think was a
00:14:44.959 --> 00:14:47.910
smart thing to do. Um, so I just forgot
00:14:47.920 --> 00:14:49.509
all about that agent and I went to
00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:51.670
college, got my business degree, but I
00:14:51.680 --> 00:14:53.670
still always gravitated towards the arts
00:14:53.680 --> 00:14:54.790
and I said, you know what, I want to
00:14:54.800 --> 00:14:57.269
give it a shot. Let me just try and and
00:14:57.279 --> 00:15:02.150
and make it into into as an actor, um, a
00:15:02.160 --> 00:15:04.710
writer, something. Um, so I started
00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:06.949
working on soap operas. I started
00:15:06.959 --> 00:15:09.110
working on independent movies like that
00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:13.189
was the the mid 90s when indie movies
00:15:13.199 --> 00:15:15.509
were were like people wanted to be like
00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:20.310
Robert Rodriguez uh or or Ken Ms and uh
00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:23.350
uh he did brothers McMullen. We did a
00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:26.389
movie called Mr. Vincent. Uh my my
00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:29.030
director and friend Bob Celestino made
00:15:29.040 --> 00:15:30.949
that for like
00:15:30.959 --> 00:15:34.389
under $100,000 and it went to Sundance.
00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:34.790
>> Wow.
00:15:34.800 --> 00:15:36.310
>> And that that that was it. It was like
00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:39.670
we went to Berlin. It just propelled and
00:15:39.680 --> 00:15:42.550
I saw that I kind of, you know, had an
00:15:42.560 --> 00:15:45.110
affinity for it and a knack for it. I I
00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:49.030
was doing okay. Um but I was really then
00:15:49.040 --> 00:15:51.670
at that point inspired to write. You
00:15:51.680 --> 00:15:53.350
know, I I watched uh you know, we all
00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:56.150
know the story of Sly where he said he
00:15:56.160 --> 00:15:58.470
wrote his own script. He wrote Rocky,
00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:00.389
wrote it in three days. Then I watched
00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:02.470
an interview with Chaz Palieri, who's
00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:04.629
also from, you know, the Bronx. And he
00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:06.230
said he did the same thing. He just went
00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:08.389
got bunch of paper and started writing.
00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:10.949
And I wrote my first screenplay.
00:16:10.959 --> 00:16:12.949
And I showed it to a producer and she
00:16:12.959 --> 00:16:15.110
thought it was terrific. And she put
00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:17.749
some money into it to to to make like a
00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:20.550
short film out of it. Then I wound up
00:16:20.560 --> 00:16:21.990
partnering with somebody. We opened the
00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:23.430
production company. Then I started
00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:25.350
writing more and I noticed that my
00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:28.230
writing was getting more and more
00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:31.749
um accolades than anything else. So I
00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:34.550
kind of realized that I really do have a
00:16:34.560 --> 00:16:37.269
knack for writing and that developed up
00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:39.749
to the point where you know I made a
00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:42.550
movie that I wrote in the Bronx starring
00:16:42.560 --> 00:16:45.030
Joe Maganelloo and Sophia Vagara called
00:16:45.040 --> 00:16:46.470
Bottom of the Ninth and we filmed it on
00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:49.269
Arthur Avenue. So that's how like the
00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:51.189
whole writing thing happened. But I I I
00:16:51.199 --> 00:16:53.189
maintained acting throughout. I even
00:16:53.199 --> 00:16:55.509
directed I directed four music videos
00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:58.790
for Twisted Sister. Um
00:16:58.800 --> 00:17:01.670
>> legendary heavy metal band. I mean, so
00:17:01.680 --> 00:17:05.110
yeah, it's it's been a fun fun ride so
00:17:05.120 --> 00:17:06.150
far.
00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:07.909
>> Let me ask you about D. Snider because I
00:17:07.919 --> 00:17:09.590
always been a fan. I always I really I
00:17:09.600 --> 00:17:11.429
always liked him. There was but I his
00:17:11.439 --> 00:17:13.029
personality comes through as someone
00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:14.870
who's like seems like a really nice guy.
00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:17.750
Am I Am I far off by saying that? very
00:17:17.760 --> 00:17:22.390
nice guy and a guy who is very smart um
00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:24.069
knows
00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:25.990
what works
00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:28.150
and is very professional when he's on
00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:30.950
set. Um
00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:32.950
you know we were able to joke we had a
00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:36.390
lot of uh jokes that we kind of created
00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:39.029
together and became inside joke type of
00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:43.190
stuff but really really cool uh cool
00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:46.710
guy. Yeah. Best I could say. What? What?
00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:48.630
And what about Sophia Vgara? How was how
00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:50.070
was working with her? How was her
00:17:50.080 --> 00:17:53.270
personality? Professionalism.
00:17:53.280 --> 00:17:57.270
>> Professionalism. Top-notch. Personality.
00:17:57.280 --> 00:17:59.510
Sweet as anything. I mean, really,
00:17:59.520 --> 00:18:02.789
really sweet. Charming. Um, down to
00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:04.549
earth. You'll get a kick out of this
00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:08.390
story. So, about the night before we
00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:10.710
started filming, for the first day of
00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:14.630
filming, um, our director on the movie,
00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:16.630
Raymond Defilita, did you meet Raymond?
00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:18.789
I think he he was he was No, he came
00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:20.230
Saturday. You weren't there.
00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:21.590
>> I know the name though. I'm not sure if
00:18:21.600 --> 00:18:23.430
I ever met him
00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:24.950
>> before that, but I know the name.
00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:27.430
>> Well, Raymond directed a movie called
00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:30.150
City Island with Andy Garcia. He did
00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:31.830
another movie called Rob the Mob. He did
00:18:31.840 --> 00:18:34.230
Maid Off with Richard Drifus. And he
00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:35.430
directed
00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:37.909
uh bottom of the ninth and you know we
00:18:37.919 --> 00:18:39.990
were talking about
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:42.470
oldw world
00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:47.190
uh food old you know uh old food uh u
00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:49.750
cuisine and he mentioned tripe he goes
00:18:49.760 --> 00:18:50.950
do you eat tripe
00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:52.549
>> love tripe
00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:54.710
>> so do I and a lot of people don't you
00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:56.950
know if people realize what it is I
00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:00.070
think it's the stomach of the uh of the
00:19:00.080 --> 00:19:01.110
pig [laughter]
00:19:01.120 --> 00:19:03.510
with mixed with potatoes and and a nice
00:19:03.520 --> 00:19:06.070
sauce [laughter]
00:19:06.080 --> 00:19:08.710
or gravy or gravy or gravy. Could be
00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:09.430
gravy.
00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:12.630
>> All right. Could be gravy. [laughter]
00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:14.549
So, so we just started talking about I
00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:16.789
said, "You know, my sister and her
00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:19.110
boyfriend, they make an awesome tripe."
00:19:19.120 --> 00:19:20.470
And he goes, "You think we could like
00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:22.950
have a set up a kind of a dinner?" And
00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:25.270
while we're talking, Joe Maganelloo
00:19:25.280 --> 00:19:26.390
comes over and goes, "Hey, what are you
00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:27.510
guys talking about?" We said, "Yeah,
00:19:27.520 --> 00:19:29.750
we're talking about having a nice uh
00:19:29.760 --> 00:19:32.789
oldw world Italian dinner, having a
00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:34.549
tripe." He goes, "Wow, that sounds
00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:35.830
pretty good." We said, "Well, you want
00:19:35.840 --> 00:19:38.789
to come?" He goes, "Yeah. Um, is it okay
00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:41.270
if Sophia comes?" I was like, "Yeah,
00:19:41.280 --> 00:19:43.830
sure. Of course." I call my sister up.
00:19:43.840 --> 00:19:45.750
I'm like, "Um,
00:19:45.760 --> 00:19:48.549
guess who's coming to dinner tomorrow?"
00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:51.590
And guess [laughter] what you're making?
00:19:51.600 --> 00:19:52.870
You're making drip.
00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:54.549
>> And her answer was, "It's going to stick
00:19:54.559 --> 00:19:57.430
up the house." Oh man. She's like, "Are
00:19:57.440 --> 00:19:58.710
you kidding me?" It's like, "We got to
00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:00.470
go get it now because that's not like an
00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:02.150
easy thing to find either, right? It's
00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:06.150
like something you gotta So, um,
00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:07.990
we wind up having the dinner." And and
00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:09.830
Sophia comes over
00:20:09.840 --> 00:20:11.830
>> and and I asked her, I said, "Sophia,
00:20:11.840 --> 00:20:13.590
are you cool with, you know, eating
00:20:13.600 --> 00:20:14.789
this? You don't have to eat if you don't
00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:17.110
want. We have ton of other food." And
00:20:17.120 --> 00:20:19.270
she said, "Are you kidding me? You have
00:20:19.280 --> 00:20:21.669
no idea what we used to eat in Colombia
00:20:21.679 --> 00:20:24.390
growing up. This is fantastic. I love
00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:27.830
this. And we had like in my my sister
00:20:27.840 --> 00:20:29.750
then had a smaller house in the Bronx.
00:20:29.760 --> 00:20:31.990
It was just this charming night in this,
00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:34.470
you know, dining room in the Bronx with
00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:36.950
like one of the top highest paid
00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:39.270
actresses in Hollywood, you know, and
00:20:39.280 --> 00:20:41.110
and it was just a wonderful uh wonderful
00:20:41.120 --> 00:20:42.710
night. And then the whole shoot was
00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:44.470
fantastic.
00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:46.149
>> That's incredible, man. I can't believe
00:20:46.159 --> 00:20:49.510
So you you had dinner in the Bronx with
00:20:49.520 --> 00:20:50.870
Sophia and she ate trip. That's that's
00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:52.364
that's killer, man. I love it.
00:20:52.374 --> 00:20:53.430
[laughter]
00:20:53.440 --> 00:20:54.950
Yeah, it was cool. It was cool.
00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:56.870
>> Where What's the What's the uh Did you
00:20:56.880 --> 00:20:58.230
go to like a local butcher shop over
00:20:58.240 --> 00:20:59.669
there? Because it is hard to find. I
00:20:59.679 --> 00:21:01.110
mean, I I know some spots, but it is
00:21:01.120 --> 00:21:02.070
kind of hard. It's getting harder to
00:21:02.080 --> 00:21:03.350
find that stuff.
00:21:03.360 --> 00:21:05.350
>> Our favorite spot, you know, my dad
00:21:05.360 --> 00:21:07.830
favors and and I and I'm f it's hard for
00:21:07.840 --> 00:21:09.270
me to say my favorite, and I won't say
00:21:09.280 --> 00:21:09.990
my favorite.
00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:10.870
>> Yeah, that's all right.
00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:13.669
>> But um because I'm friends with with
00:21:13.679 --> 00:21:15.430
everyone there, but my dad likes
00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:17.510
Vincent's Meat Market that's right next
00:21:17.520 --> 00:21:18.870
to Tidal Brothers.
00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:20.630
>> Yeah, Tidle Brothers. Yeah.
00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:22.630
>> Yeah. Um, but I'm also friends with the
00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:24.310
guys in the market, Pete and Mike at
00:21:24.320 --> 00:21:26.710
Pete's uh meat market. They're next to
00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:32.230
David uh KCO Mike's Deli. Um,
00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:33.590
yeah. Then you got uh you have
00:21:33.600 --> 00:21:36.789
Vincent's. Uh there's Biancardi. They're
00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:38.870
really good, too. So, I mean, I think
00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:40.310
all three of those butcher shops are
00:21:40.320 --> 00:21:40.789
good.
00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:42.230
>> Yeah, you guys got some great spots in
00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:43.510
the Italian market. We still got some
00:21:43.520 --> 00:21:46.470
some serious butchers. There's Espazito,
00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:47.270
but then there's a place called
00:21:47.280 --> 00:21:48.950
Capuchio's.
00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:51.029
If you ever make a pit stop in Philly, I
00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:52.549
got to bring you there. But Kapucha has
00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:54.470
been there like over 100 years ago. It's
00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:57.750
so It actually goes back. My great uncle
00:21:57.760 --> 00:22:00.549
um worked there and helped get his his
00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:03.830
citizenship by being there. Um and it's
00:22:03.840 --> 00:22:05.190
just a cool It's like you're stepping
00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:06.310
back in time, dude. Everything is
00:22:06.320 --> 00:22:07.909
original from like the 20s. It's crazy.
00:22:07.919 --> 00:22:08.630
I love it.
00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:10.149
>> Oh, that's awesome.
00:22:10.159 --> 00:22:11.510
>> Yeah. So,
00:22:11.520 --> 00:22:13.669
>> yeah. You gotta love that.
00:22:13.679 --> 00:22:14.870
>> Yeah. And you know, I don't know, man.
00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:17.430
And I think as we get older maybe we
00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:19.110
start to get more that stuff starts to
00:22:19.120 --> 00:22:21.270
mean more to us for some reason like cuz
00:22:21.280 --> 00:22:23.190
I feel it you know I feel it like my you
00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:24.710
know my unfortunately my dad passed away
00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:26.950
my my mom they moved back to Calabria
00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:28.710
back in 2000 so I would go back and
00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:30.310
forth all the time you know near retro
00:22:30.320 --> 00:22:33.350
calabri and and you know you start to
00:22:33.360 --> 00:22:35.270
remember like going to the the market
00:22:35.280 --> 00:22:37.350
and hanging out and and the foods you
00:22:37.360 --> 00:22:39.510
know everybody says it a lot of uh
00:22:39.520 --> 00:22:41.029
nonItalians
00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:43.990
always bring up our affinity for for
00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:46.470
food and I and then I said to myself,
00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:48.630
you know, does that make us weird? You
00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:50.630
know, but it's like no, there's there's
00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:53.029
sentiment attached to the food. That's
00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:54.070
really what it is. And and our
00:22:54.080 --> 00:22:56.789
sentimentality towards family being so,
00:22:56.799 --> 00:22:59.029
you know, so important, I guess.
00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:00.390
>> Yeah, I think that's what it is because
00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:03.510
we do associate it with our family, you
00:23:03.520 --> 00:23:06.470
know, and and it's important to us. It's
00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:08.870
just part of our culture and who we are,
00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:10.149
you know. But I think that same that
00:23:10.159 --> 00:23:11.830
same sentimentality, that same
00:23:11.840 --> 00:23:13.909
sensitivity for, you know, lack of a
00:23:13.919 --> 00:23:17.029
better word, I think adds to being a
00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:18.470
good creator, whether you're an artist,
00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:20.230
whether you're, you know, a musician,
00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:22.390
whether you're a writer, like those
00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:24.149
things are, I think, enhance your
00:23:24.159 --> 00:23:25.909
ability to do those things.
00:23:25.919 --> 00:23:27.830
>> Oh, yeah. Without a doubt. I always say
00:23:27.840 --> 00:23:31.430
cooking like really fine chefs or or
00:23:31.440 --> 00:23:34.630
cooks. Um the good ones, the great ones,
00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:39.669
artists, you know, uh my mother-in-law
00:23:39.679 --> 00:23:40.789
she's one she can look in the
00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:43.270
refrigerator and whatever's in there,
00:23:43.280 --> 00:23:45.270
she'll concoct something that's awesome,
00:23:45.280 --> 00:23:47.029
you know, and you ask, "Well, what did
00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:48.390
you do?" Well, I don't know. I don't I
00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:49.990
don't remember. I put a little this, I
00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:51.110
put a little of that, I put a little
00:23:51.120 --> 00:23:53.350
that. And it came out great. You know,
00:23:53.360 --> 00:23:56.470
she she uses uh feeling.
00:23:56.480 --> 00:23:57.909
Yeah, there's some people there are
00:23:57.919 --> 00:23:59.590
certain people that that do it out of
00:23:59.600 --> 00:24:02.549
like um sort of duty like they have to
00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:05.270
cook and it's never the same. But the
00:24:05.280 --> 00:24:07.110
people that love to cook and and really
00:24:07.120 --> 00:24:09.350
appreciate good good food and good
00:24:09.360 --> 00:24:10.470
things and
00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:11.350
>> Oh yeah,
00:24:11.360 --> 00:24:12.950
>> it it there's something magical about
00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:15.110
it. It really is. I mean I I there's
00:24:15.120 --> 00:24:17.830
stuff that I've eaten in Italy here,
00:24:17.840 --> 00:24:19.510
stuff my mom made other people and I
00:24:19.520 --> 00:24:21.269
just can't recreate and I'm I'd like to
00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:23.029
say I'm a pretty good cook. I just can't
00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:24.789
recreate everything, you know, like like
00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:26.149
the tripe.
00:24:26.159 --> 00:24:28.070
>> I remember like my aunt used to make a
00:24:28.080 --> 00:24:31.830
killer tripe, you know, in a in a sauté
00:24:31.840 --> 00:24:34.390
pan with, you know, with with the
00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:37.190
crushed tomatoes and the hot pepper and
00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:38.789
it was just crazy, man. We would get a
00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:41.750
nice fresh roll and make sandwiches. It
00:24:41.760 --> 00:24:43.582
was crazy.
00:24:43.592 --> 00:24:43.909
[laughter]
00:24:43.919 --> 00:24:46.310
>> It's so good. And look, look at our face
00:24:46.320 --> 00:24:47.750
like we're talking about it. All of a
00:24:47.760 --> 00:24:48.630
sudden, it's like
00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:49.750
>> I'm salivating. [laughter]
00:24:49.760 --> 00:24:52.549
>> You start salivating.
00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:54.710
You know, I was just talking to a friend
00:24:54.720 --> 00:24:56.310
the other night and we were talking
00:24:56.320 --> 00:24:58.149
about this car ride that we had from
00:24:58.159 --> 00:24:59.590
Manhattan. I live about an hour north
00:24:59.600 --> 00:25:01.909
from Manhattan now. And the whole ride
00:25:01.919 --> 00:25:04.070
home, he's also Italian, you know, we're
00:25:04.080 --> 00:25:05.269
talking about food and we're talking
00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:07.750
about and every time we would bring up
00:25:07.760 --> 00:25:09.269
like a different food like, oh, you
00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:11.990
know, when you have the Brooklyn ops
00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:13.990
soaked in the bread, every time we would
00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:16.332
mention it, we'd always end with a
00:25:16.342 --> 00:25:17.430
[laughter]
00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:19.990
Oh, that was so good. There goes and and
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:21.669
here goes another great movie from back
00:25:21.679 --> 00:25:22.549
in the day. I don't know if it was the
00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:24.789
late 70s or early 80s. I forget now, but
00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:27.909
Fatso with Don Deloise. [laughter]
00:25:27.919 --> 00:25:29.750
>> Talk about the donuts.
00:25:29.760 --> 00:25:31.110
>> Well, when you suck the you know, you
00:25:31.120 --> 00:25:33.350
suck the How about when you suck the the
00:25:33.360 --> 00:25:35.990
the filling out and you you put
00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:37.350
chocolate. I forget what he says, but
00:25:37.360 --> 00:25:38.549
it's something like that.
00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:40.470
>> It just keeps building and building.
00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:42.230
>> Yeah. You suck the jelly out and you add
00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:43.510
chocolate and they're like then they
00:25:43.520 --> 00:25:46.710
start tearing down the the cabinets.
00:25:46.720 --> 00:25:48.310
They only wanted tea and then it went
00:25:48.320 --> 00:25:50.789
from tea with lemon then get the honey.
00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:54.310
Get the honey. [laughter]
00:25:54.320 --> 00:25:56.710
>> Get out of my way.
00:25:56.720 --> 00:25:58.230
Stop. Dude, I love those movies. Yeah,
00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:02.549
that that just I don't know. I think now
00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:05.510
I think you [clears throat] know people
00:26:05.520 --> 00:26:08.950
now probably don't get us. But yeah, I
00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:09.909
think you had to be there. You had to
00:26:09.919 --> 00:26:11.909
grow up around that time period and and
00:26:11.919 --> 00:26:13.430
not having all the all the things that
00:26:13.440 --> 00:26:15.909
we have now and all the luxuries and
00:26:15.919 --> 00:26:17.590
>> it was more an interpersonal thing and
00:26:17.600 --> 00:26:20.230
there was certain level of you know
00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:25.430
naive about life in general you know and
00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:28.070
>> you know and thank god we survived.
00:26:28.080 --> 00:26:30.230
>> Yeah. But but you know what? But like
00:26:30.240 --> 00:26:31.830
what you were just saying, things were a
00:26:31.840 --> 00:26:33.909
lot more special back then. Like you
00:26:33.919 --> 00:26:35.909
waited for a movie to come out. Like
00:26:35.919 --> 00:26:37.750
when when after you watched The Empire
00:26:37.760 --> 00:26:40.470
Strikes Back and you heard Luke I am
00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:42.950
your father. We had to wait three years
00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:44.789
to find out if that was true or not. You
00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:48.230
know what I mean? So So it was just so
00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:50.149
special when when when you did go to the
00:26:50.159 --> 00:26:52.070
movies to go see, you know, Return of
00:26:52.080 --> 00:26:55.029
the Jedi, you know.
00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:58.390
um the Wizard of Oz would come on TV. It
00:26:58.400 --> 00:27:00.470
would came on once a year and if you
00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:02.630
missed it, that's it. You missed it. You
00:27:02.640 --> 00:27:04.149
had to wait till the next year. So, you
00:27:04.159 --> 00:27:05.830
really appreciated everything a lot
00:27:05.840 --> 00:27:09.269
more. And u all those and even the
00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:11.830
cartoons like I I really I remember when
00:27:11.840 --> 00:27:14.390
like the new age kind of cartoons
00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:17.269
started that were like
00:27:17.279 --> 00:27:19.110
uh a different sort of animation, you
00:27:19.120 --> 00:27:20.310
know, and I was kind of used to, you
00:27:20.320 --> 00:27:22.230
know, Scooby-Doo and and all that stuff.
00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:23.990
And I enjoyed those type of cartoons.
00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:25.269
And I seen this kind of new wave of
00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:27.269
cartoons start and you know I got older
00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:29.190
I stopped watching that stuff but you
00:27:29.200 --> 00:27:31.110
know I don't know things got too modern
00:27:31.120 --> 00:27:32.950
even comic books like I loved comic
00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:35.350
books and I still do but growing up like
00:27:35.360 --> 00:27:36.630
I would look at comic books from like
00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:38.950
the 50s and the 60s and and then
00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:40.470
something happened they became all dark
00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:42.789
and weird and I don't know like
00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:44.789
>> yeah that's exactly it that that level
00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:47.029
of optimism kind of started
00:27:47.039 --> 00:27:50.070
disappearing. Um
00:27:50.080 --> 00:27:53.510
yeah, you know, I guess it was it
00:27:53.520 --> 00:27:55.190
definitely was a special time.
00:27:55.200 --> 00:27:58.950
>> Yeah. So now bottom of the ninth again,
00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:00.789
tell us about that. How I mean, how was
00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:02.710
that process? Because you know, like,
00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:05.190
you know, of course I've I've done some
00:28:05.200 --> 00:28:06.789
short films, so like I understand the
00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:09.029
process, but for those out there that
00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:10.950
are that are kind of new to the game,
00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:12.230
tell us about how you know how that
00:28:12.240 --> 00:28:14.310
whole thing come together. How long from
00:28:14.320 --> 00:28:17.510
post to you or from pre-production to
00:28:17.520 --> 00:28:19.350
post and how you know some bumps along
00:28:19.360 --> 00:28:20.870
the way? Any challenges?
00:28:20.880 --> 00:28:23.750
>> Oh yeah. I mean it was challenges from
00:28:23.760 --> 00:28:25.350
when I first wrote it. I mean the the
00:28:25.360 --> 00:28:27.909
the story of how it all came together is
00:28:27.919 --> 00:28:31.430
is is is quite a amazing and as you know
00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:33.430
you know getting a movie made is a
00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:35.990
miracle. It really is. It takes there's
00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:38.789
so many moving parts. So many moving
00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:41.190
parts. Um and and and it's like a house
00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:42.870
of cards. you you could reach a certain
00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:45.190
level and then all of a sudden one thing
00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:46.630
one card gets pulled out and the whole
00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:48.789
thing falls apart which you know we had
00:28:48.799 --> 00:28:51.430
a lot of those uh fall starts happening
00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:54.789
but when I wrote the screenplay um I was
00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:56.870
working really close with Bert Young
00:28:56.880 --> 00:28:59.830
>> and uh I love him Bert was fantastic
00:28:59.840 --> 00:29:01.590
Bert became like family
00:29:01.600 --> 00:29:06.070
>> for uh for us and um
00:29:06.080 --> 00:29:09.269
you know I I was always looking for a
00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:11.990
feel-good underdog story like Rocky
00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:14.870
Rocky was a huge influence uh on my life
00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:18.789
as you know many of us and uh I had
00:29:18.799 --> 00:29:21.029
asked Bert I said you know we had grown
00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:22.630
so close to each other and he and he
00:29:22.640 --> 00:29:25.110
grew grew an affinity from for me and my
00:29:25.120 --> 00:29:27.750
work I asked him to read the screenplay
00:29:27.760 --> 00:29:30.470
and I said do you think we can get this
00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:32.950
to John Albertson and I thought he was
00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:35.510
gonna say oh come on he right away said
00:29:35.520 --> 00:29:38.549
here's his number call him
00:29:38.559 --> 00:29:42.549
wow Johnson Okay. So, sure enough, here
00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:44.470
I am calling John Aton, Academy
00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:46.149
Award-winning director [laughter] of
00:29:46.159 --> 00:29:49.350
Rocky. Um, so, Mr. Avalon, I got your
00:29:49.360 --> 00:29:53.510
number from uh Bert Young. Um,
00:29:53.520 --> 00:29:55.909
I wrote the screenplay and and uh you
00:29:55.919 --> 00:29:57.110
know, it's getting some traction. And
00:29:57.120 --> 00:29:58.870
he's probably saying to himself, "Yeah,
00:29:58.880 --> 00:30:00.389
sure. You know, everybody's a friend of
00:30:00.399 --> 00:30:02.070
somebody and they got a screenplay or
00:30:02.080 --> 00:30:04.149
whatever." But I started also telling
00:30:04.159 --> 00:30:06.230
him that and this was true. There was an
00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:08.549
agent at CIA who liked it and of course
00:30:08.559 --> 00:30:10.870
I had to throw that in. After some
00:30:10.880 --> 00:30:12.310
talking and convincing, he said, "Okay,
00:30:12.320 --> 00:30:14.549
fine. Send it over.
00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:16.230
Send it over to him." About two days
00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:19.350
later, I get a phone call from him.
00:30:19.360 --> 00:30:21.269
Robert John Albertson calling. I read
00:30:21.279 --> 00:30:22.950
the screenplay. I love it. I want to do
00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:25.990
it. He wanted to direct the movie. I was
00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:28.870
floored. My knees literally buckled.
00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:31.029
So, you know, I mean, what do you say
00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:32.870
when the Academy Award-winning director
00:30:32.880 --> 00:30:36.549
from Rocky loves your underdog baseball
00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:40.230
story? Um, well, that was the beginning
00:30:40.240 --> 00:30:41.669
of it because then from there, and
00:30:41.679 --> 00:30:44.630
thankfully from because of him,
00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:46.230
um, actually, no, after he came on
00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:47.750
board, and it wasn't just because of
00:30:47.760 --> 00:30:50.870
him, I was and I was invited to the set
00:30:50.880 --> 00:30:52.789
of Rocky Balboa. This is how far back
00:30:52.799 --> 00:30:54.149
I'm going. When I first wrote the
00:30:54.159 --> 00:30:58.070
screenplay, this was 2006. And
00:30:58.080 --> 00:30:59.350
>> let me stop you there, Robert. I was in
00:30:59.360 --> 00:31:00.710
it as an extra, but go ahead.
00:31:00.720 --> 00:31:03.990
>> Oh, were you? Oh, okay. Um, so Bert
00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:07.430
invites me to the set and I went there
00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:09.909
with the intention, I want to meet one
00:31:09.919 --> 00:31:12.389
of the producers and tell them that I
00:31:12.399 --> 00:31:15.830
have John Ason and um I have this
00:31:15.840 --> 00:31:17.590
underdog story, but of course being a
00:31:17.600 --> 00:31:19.350
professional, I'm not going to bring it
00:31:19.360 --> 00:31:22.310
up on set. Just not going to do that.
00:31:22.320 --> 00:31:24.149
So, uh, I I was there, if you remember
00:31:24.159 --> 00:31:26.950
in Rocky Balboa, the scene where, uh,
00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:28.549
Rocky is telling Paulie they're supposed
00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:30.789
to be on the demolished ice rink and
00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:31.909
he's saying, "Oh, you know, this is
00:31:31.919 --> 00:31:33.350
where I went with your sister on the
00:31:33.360 --> 00:31:35.909
first date." And I was even running
00:31:35.919 --> 00:31:38.070
lines with Bert in his trailer before he
00:31:38.080 --> 00:31:40.789
did the uh before he did the scene.
00:31:40.799 --> 00:31:42.470
And he introduced uh, you know, before
00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:44.950
he did the scene, he he walks me over to
00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:47.190
Sly. And that was the first time I
00:31:47.200 --> 00:31:49.190
actually met him and got to talk to him.
00:31:49.200 --> 00:31:50.870
And he introduces me to Sly. He goes,
00:31:50.880 --> 00:31:52.630
"You know, this is my good friend,
00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:55.509
Robert Britzio." And Sly looks me up and
00:31:55.519 --> 00:31:57.590
down and he goes, "It's good to have
00:31:57.600 --> 00:31:59.430
friends." [laughter]
00:31:59.440 --> 00:32:00.950
In other words, that's the only reason
00:32:00.960 --> 00:32:04.149
why you're standing here.
00:32:04.159 --> 00:32:07.269
Um, but I got to watch Sly work like as
00:32:07.279 --> 00:32:10.230
a director, as an actor, as a producer.
00:32:10.240 --> 00:32:13.269
He was like hands-on. His work ethic was
00:32:13.279 --> 00:32:15.669
sick. I mean, it was crazy. He had to be
00:32:15.679 --> 00:32:18.630
like 60 years old back then. He was
00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:21.430
outworking guys in their 20s and 30s. He
00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:24.230
was just it was just amazing to watch.
00:32:24.240 --> 00:32:26.149
But on that set, I also met Bill
00:32:26.159 --> 00:32:29.110
Chardoff. Uh Bill was a producer. His
00:32:29.120 --> 00:32:31.110
dad was Robert Chardoff, who together
00:32:31.120 --> 00:32:33.430
with Irwin Winkler produced the Rocky
00:32:33.440 --> 00:32:36.870
movies. Met him, was polite. About
00:32:36.880 --> 00:32:39.509
several months after they wrapped, I got
00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:41.909
in contact with Bill, reminded him that
00:32:41.919 --> 00:32:46.470
I met him and uh
00:32:46.480 --> 00:32:48.070
told him that I had this screenplay,
00:32:48.080 --> 00:32:52.389
John Alson, sent it to him, he reads it,
00:32:52.399 --> 00:32:55.269
he wants to do it. So now we have sort
00:32:55.279 --> 00:32:57.590
of the team that made Rocky interested
00:32:57.600 --> 00:33:00.230
in making that movie.
00:33:00.240 --> 00:33:01.909
Because of that pedigree, we were able
00:33:01.919 --> 00:33:06.070
to attract talent like Joe Meanelloo.
00:33:06.080 --> 00:33:10.230
Um, he started dating Sophia.
00:33:10.240 --> 00:33:12.149
She read the script, she fell in love
00:33:12.159 --> 00:33:14.789
with it, she wanted to do it. I mean,
00:33:14.799 --> 00:33:17.509
there was a lot of uphill battles before
00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:21.830
we put that all together. But um yeah,
00:33:21.840 --> 00:33:23.350
once they came on board then the
00:33:23.360 --> 00:33:25.830
financing happened and and you know the
00:33:25.840 --> 00:33:27.750
whole you know the process of making a
00:33:27.760 --> 00:33:32.389
movie it it's never boring until it's
00:33:32.399 --> 00:33:34.630
actually finished and even when it's
00:33:34.640 --> 00:33:36.070
finished you don't [clears throat] know
00:33:36.080 --> 00:33:37.830
what's what. you know, your your heart
00:33:37.840 --> 00:33:41.350
is in your throat. Up until
00:33:41.360 --> 00:33:42.789
at least here, we you know, we were
00:33:42.799 --> 00:33:44.630
fortunate to have a buyer and and the
00:33:44.640 --> 00:33:46.389
film got distributed and it got a
00:33:46.399 --> 00:33:47.990
theatrical distribution and it was on
00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:50.389
all the video platforms, but up until it
00:33:50.399 --> 00:33:53.669
was released, you're a nervous.
00:33:53.679 --> 00:33:54.470
>> Yeah.
00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:56.230
>> The whole time.
00:33:56.240 --> 00:33:57.669
>> It's a lot of stress. It's a lot. It's a
00:33:57.679 --> 00:33:58.789
It is. You're right. It's a miracle to
00:33:58.799 --> 00:34:00.389
make a film. It really is nothing short
00:34:00.399 --> 00:34:01.990
of a miracle because so many ways it
00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:03.669
could go wrong and sometimes does go
00:34:03.679 --> 00:34:06.389
wrong. And cool story. Yeah. I remember
00:34:06.399 --> 00:34:08.149
man it feel that feels like yesterday. I
00:34:08.159 --> 00:34:11.030
mean almost 20 years ago but Rocky Babo
00:34:11.040 --> 00:34:12.790
I was on my way to work. I live in the
00:34:12.800 --> 00:34:14.230
Italian live you know in the Italian
00:34:14.240 --> 00:34:15.589
market area right there. I grew up there
00:34:15.599 --> 00:34:18.310
and I knew they were shooting uh they
00:34:18.320 --> 00:34:20.389
were filming Rocky. I said let me stop
00:34:20.399 --> 00:34:23.030
by take a glimpse see if Sly's there.
00:34:23.040 --> 00:34:24.710
Somebody pulled me into they wanted they
00:34:24.720 --> 00:34:25.750
were looking for an extra I guess they
00:34:25.760 --> 00:34:27.430
pulled me into the movie. I did two
00:34:27.440 --> 00:34:29.990
scenes with Sly and I was all excited
00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:31.190
telling everybody oh I'm in the movie
00:34:31.200 --> 00:34:32.550
I'm in the movie and then you know comes
00:34:32.560 --> 00:34:34.230
out I'm nowhere to be found. So I wound
00:34:34.240 --> 00:34:35.909
up getting cut out of it, but it was
00:34:35.919 --> 00:34:37.669
cool. That's where I I met him and he
00:34:37.679 --> 00:34:39.430
was I gave me an autograph. It was nice
00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:41.270
to you know was really again he's a
00:34:41.280 --> 00:34:43.190
hero. He's a hero especially to to
00:34:43.200 --> 00:34:46.470
Philly people and uh you know met his
00:34:46.480 --> 00:34:47.909
brother Frank at that point. It it was
00:34:47.919 --> 00:34:49.589
cool and I did meet Bert Young and I
00:34:49.599 --> 00:34:51.349
remember I actually was working for the
00:34:51.359 --> 00:34:53.510
Four Seasons in Philly where they stayed
00:34:53.520 --> 00:34:56.310
and Bert Young was in sitting by himself
00:34:56.320 --> 00:34:58.230
and I was a waiter. I brought him I
00:34:58.240 --> 00:34:59.910
think I brought him like a glass of soda
00:34:59.920 --> 00:35:01.750
or something and he gave me like a $50
00:35:01.760 --> 00:35:02.870
tip. I thought that was like wow. I was
00:35:02.880 --> 00:35:03.990
like, "That's so nice." And I appreciate
00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:05.990
that. Was really nice of, you know, so I
00:35:06.000 --> 00:35:07.349
could tell he was like really just a
00:35:07.359 --> 00:35:09.109
really nice big-hearted kind of guy. And
00:35:09.119 --> 00:35:10.870
everybody I've talked to that know that
00:35:10.880 --> 00:35:13.030
knew him, I should say. Uh, says the
00:35:13.040 --> 00:35:16.470
same thing. He's just a great guy.
00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:19.589
>> Oh, great. I mean, big heart, generous,
00:35:19.599 --> 00:35:21.589
funny. I mean, I have a lot of Bert
00:35:21.599 --> 00:35:23.670
stories. We did a short film together
00:35:23.680 --> 00:35:25.990
called Alternate Reality. Um, we were
00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:28.230
literally in in the snow in the trenches
00:35:28.240 --> 00:35:30.390
and I got to act with him. Um, you know,
00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:31.910
it's like acting with a master. you
00:35:31.920 --> 00:35:32.790
know, he studied under the Lee
00:35:32.800 --> 00:35:34.390
Strasburg. He was a member of the actor
00:35:34.400 --> 00:35:36.390
studio. People don't realize that he was
00:35:36.400 --> 00:35:39.990
a very well-trained, studied actor. Um,
00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:42.310
and uh, yeah, know Bert was terrific.
00:35:42.320 --> 00:35:43.510
And it's funny you mentioned the Four
00:35:43.520 --> 00:35:45.430
Seasons. So, when he invited me down
00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:47.759
there, I slept on his couch in his room
00:35:47.769 --> 00:35:49.589
[laughter] at the Four Seasons.
00:35:49.599 --> 00:35:51.510
>> Well, I probably seen you there. Who? I
00:35:51.520 --> 00:35:52.950
probably passed right by you and didn't
00:35:52.960 --> 00:35:53.750
even realize, you know.
00:35:53.760 --> 00:35:55.109
>> Yeah. Isn't that funny? Like, if you
00:35:55.119 --> 00:35:57.030
could like go back and say, "Hey, I
00:35:57.040 --> 00:35:58.390
wonder if like we could find a moment."
00:35:58.400 --> 00:35:59.589
And, you know, we were in the same room
00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:00.470
together, you know?
00:36:00.480 --> 00:36:02.069
>> Yeah. Yeah. That's that's that's crazy,
00:36:02.079 --> 00:36:05.430
man. But uh yeah, I just again and oh
00:36:05.440 --> 00:36:07.990
man, Stallone guy like that only comes
00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:09.270
around once every hundred years. It's
00:36:09.280 --> 00:36:11.430
amazing what he was able to accomplish.
00:36:11.440 --> 00:36:13.349
But look, your story is is similar in
00:36:13.359 --> 00:36:15.349
the into in the sense that you know
00:36:15.359 --> 00:36:18.790
under under you know underdog story just
00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:22.069
by sheer consequence and by you you know
00:36:22.079 --> 00:36:24.870
you you know you see an opportunity and
00:36:24.880 --> 00:36:26.870
you take it and you make sure you you
00:36:26.880 --> 00:36:28.630
know you deliver. You know, it's it's
00:36:28.640 --> 00:36:30.310
not anybody can get hooked up with
00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:31.510
anybody, but you have to have something
00:36:31.520 --> 00:36:33.190
that you're that you're able to deliver
00:36:33.200 --> 00:36:35.270
and so you and you did.
00:36:35.280 --> 00:36:38.310
>> Yeah. You know, I mean, thankfully I I
00:36:38.320 --> 00:36:40.390
had a screenplay that a lot of people
00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:44.310
resonated with, you know, um
00:36:44.320 --> 00:36:45.910
it took me a second to step back and
00:36:45.920 --> 00:36:47.190
say, "Look, this is the Academy
00:36:47.200 --> 00:36:50.710
Award-winning director of Rocky who
00:36:50.720 --> 00:36:53.190
likes my work." Like, you know, thinks
00:36:53.200 --> 00:36:54.790
this is good enough for him to work on.
00:36:54.800 --> 00:36:56.870
And then you know all these other actors
00:36:56.880 --> 00:36:59.190
that we were talking to uh before Joe,
00:36:59.200 --> 00:37:03.030
they all wanted to do the role. Um so
00:37:03.040 --> 00:37:05.349
that's what really kept us going. We
00:37:05.359 --> 00:37:06.950
felt like we really did have something
00:37:06.960 --> 00:37:11.270
here. Um you know sadly then um so John
00:37:11.280 --> 00:37:12.790
Albertson
00:37:12.800 --> 00:37:15.829
um passed away uh right before we were
00:37:15.839 --> 00:37:20.230
able to shoot. But uh you know he he he
00:37:20.240 --> 00:37:22.390
was kind of like
00:37:22.400 --> 00:37:24.310
at odds a little bit. you know, there
00:37:24.320 --> 00:37:27.750
was a little bit of turmoil and uh the
00:37:27.760 --> 00:37:29.510
directing position was offered to
00:37:29.520 --> 00:37:31.990
Raymond Defelita and Raymond did a
00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:36.069
terrific job. He did fantastic. Um so
00:37:36.079 --> 00:37:37.910
again, you know, here's Raymond who also
00:37:37.920 --> 00:37:39.670
was nominated for an Academy Award for a
00:37:39.680 --> 00:37:43.030
short film he did. Um so yeah, man, you
00:37:43.040 --> 00:37:46.230
know, just people
00:37:46.240 --> 00:37:49.109
like you said, you you you you
00:37:49.119 --> 00:37:52.390
could have connections. Great. Two
00:37:52.400 --> 00:37:53.829
things you definitely need to have is
00:37:53.839 --> 00:37:57.910
one a good product to start off with. Um
00:37:57.920 --> 00:37:59.430
so work really hard at making that
00:37:59.440 --> 00:38:03.030
product as best as you can and then two
00:38:03.040 --> 00:38:04.550
perseverance.
00:38:04.560 --> 00:38:07.829
You know I I earned that card for me to
00:38:07.839 --> 00:38:10.230
ask bird for for you know if I could get
00:38:10.240 --> 00:38:12.390
it to John Hamilton. I saw the
00:38:12.400 --> 00:38:14.950
opportunity. I drove from where I live
00:38:14.960 --> 00:38:18.710
to Philly just to be on that set so I
00:38:18.720 --> 00:38:20.950
can meet, you know, I already had a
00:38:20.960 --> 00:38:22.630
vision in my head of what I wanted to
00:38:22.640 --> 00:38:27.030
do. And uh yeah, you know, and a lot of
00:38:27.040 --> 00:38:28.630
times people would try and fall from the
00:38:28.640 --> 00:38:30.630
wayside when things weren't looking like
00:38:30.640 --> 00:38:32.550
this movie was going to happen. And I
00:38:32.560 --> 00:38:34.950
had to keep
00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:36.470
stirring up the excitement, trying to
00:38:36.480 --> 00:38:38.230
keep it all together, you know. So
00:38:38.240 --> 00:38:40.630
perseverance is is is a big key, too. I
00:38:40.640 --> 00:38:43.990
can't uh stress that enough.
00:38:44.000 --> 00:38:45.910
>> 100%. I couldn't agree more myself, my
00:38:45.920 --> 00:38:47.589
friend. So, and that's what it is. Hard
00:38:47.599 --> 00:38:49.910
work, perseverance, and faith.
00:38:49.920 --> 00:38:51.990
>> Faith in God. 100%.
00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:54.150
>> Amen. That's the number one thing in my
00:38:54.160 --> 00:38:56.470
opinion. But, well, Robert, you've been
00:38:56.480 --> 00:38:58.790
a tremendous guest. Not only because we
00:38:58.800 --> 00:39:01.589
share our love for Tripe and for Rocky,
00:39:01.599 --> 00:39:04.230
but because you're a good guy and you're
00:39:04.240 --> 00:39:06.150
doing the right thing. and you you're
00:39:06.160 --> 00:39:08.150
another example why we need more people
00:39:08.160 --> 00:39:10.630
like you in the business to to show what
00:39:10.640 --> 00:39:12.069
is possible if you just put your heart
00:39:12.079 --> 00:39:13.750
and your mind to something. So I want I
00:39:13.760 --> 00:39:15.670
want to thank you for being with us and
00:39:15.680 --> 00:39:17.510
I look forward to uh maintaining the
00:39:17.520 --> 00:39:19.270
friendship and maybe we'll bring you on
00:39:19.280 --> 00:39:21.349
back and we tell some more stories.
00:39:21.359 --> 00:39:23.510
>> Absolutely. I'd love to come back and
00:39:23.520 --> 00:39:26.230
and share I mean I could I just tease a
00:39:26.240 --> 00:39:26.950
little bit of
00:39:26.960 --> 00:39:31.430
>> Sure. Speaking of Sly, um my partner and
00:39:31.440 --> 00:39:33.109
I John Rivlly. I don't know if you met
00:39:33.119 --> 00:39:33.829
John Rivy.
00:39:33.839 --> 00:39:35.030
>> Sure. John, great guy. Yeah. great
00:39:35.040 --> 00:39:35.750
artist.
00:39:35.760 --> 00:39:38.630
>> Great artist. He slies official artist.
00:39:38.640 --> 00:39:41.030
Um we've been working together on a
00:39:41.040 --> 00:39:45.109
screenplay. Um but aside that involves
00:39:45.119 --> 00:39:48.550
the Rocky world, but aside from that, we
00:39:48.560 --> 00:39:50.470
just uh signed a deal with BOA
00:39:50.480 --> 00:39:51.510
Productions and we're doing a
00:39:51.520 --> 00:39:54.790
documentary, me, John, and and with Sly
00:39:54.800 --> 00:39:58.390
and Balboa Productions. Um really really
00:39:58.400 --> 00:40:02.630
great uh look at Rocky from a totally
00:40:02.640 --> 00:40:04.310
different lens. So, I just want to tease
00:40:04.320 --> 00:40:05.990
a little bit about that. And I'm, you
00:40:06.000 --> 00:40:09.030
know, grateful uh for the blessing to to
00:40:09.040 --> 00:40:11.190
have, you know, to be able to reach that
00:40:11.200 --> 00:40:13.030
point, but I wanted hopefully the next
00:40:13.040 --> 00:40:15.589
time we talk, I can talk more about it.
00:40:15.599 --> 00:40:17.829
I love it. I'm already I'm in. Count me
00:40:17.839 --> 00:40:19.430
in. Where do I have to go? What do I
00:40:19.440 --> 00:40:21.589
have to sign? Count me in, baby. I want
00:40:21.599 --> 00:40:22.790
to be on set. All right. I want to be
00:40:22.800 --> 00:40:24.150
like I want to jump in here. I'll drive
00:40:24.160 --> 00:40:26.630
wherever I [laughter]
00:40:26.640 --> 00:40:28.150
That's great, man. I wish you guys
00:40:28.160 --> 00:40:31.430
tremendous luck. And it's it it's crazy
00:40:31.440 --> 00:40:33.510
even 50 years later and we just can't
00:40:33.520 --> 00:40:35.510
get enough of the Rocky franchise and
00:40:35.520 --> 00:40:37.670
it's encouraged like I've said this to
00:40:37.680 --> 00:40:39.990
his brother. It's encouraged probably
00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:42.390
hundreds of millions of people
00:40:42.400 --> 00:40:44.310
throughout the years all over the world.
00:40:44.320 --> 00:40:45.430
It's I don't think they could ever
00:40:45.440 --> 00:40:47.670
really measure how what an impact you
00:40:47.680 --> 00:40:49.829
know Stallone has made to and his
00:40:49.839 --> 00:40:51.990
character to to to the world. It's
00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:54.790
crazy. It's it's a really amazing thing.
00:40:54.800 --> 00:40:57.030
>> I think there was a divine gift there.
00:40:57.040 --> 00:40:59.750
>> Absolutely. from God for sure. For sure.
00:40:59.760 --> 00:41:01.349
And and that's the thing, man. Once God
00:41:01.359 --> 00:41:02.390
puts his head to something, you're not
00:41:02.400 --> 00:41:04.870
going to change it. [laughter]
00:41:04.880 --> 00:41:06.470
>> So, and we need we needed a guy like
00:41:06.480 --> 00:41:07.910
that to lift up our spirits and our
00:41:07.920 --> 00:41:09.349
faith. So, all right. Well, listen,
00:41:09.359 --> 00:41:11.190
Robert, you've been wonderful. I want to
00:41:11.200 --> 00:41:13.670
thank you so much for joining us, and I
00:41:13.680 --> 00:41:15.109
look forward again to catching up soon.
00:41:15.119 --> 00:41:16.550
Any any last words for the people out
00:41:16.560 --> 00:41:19.109
there that that want to be a possibly a
00:41:19.119 --> 00:41:22.150
writer, a filmmaker? Any good advice?
00:41:22.160 --> 00:41:25.349
>> Keep going. As Sly says, keep punching.
00:41:25.359 --> 00:41:27.510
Definitely keep going. Perseverance.
00:41:27.520 --> 00:41:28.950
Don't stop.
00:41:28.960 --> 00:41:31.270
>> Amen. Amen. [snorts] Thanks again. Our
00:41:31.280 --> 00:41:33.109
guest has been the amazing Robert
00:41:33.119 --> 00:41:36.550
Brussio from the Bronx, baby. We love
00:41:36.560 --> 00:41:38.069
you. We'll see you again soon and thanks
00:41:38.079 --> 00:41:39.430
for tuning in. Make sure you please
00:41:39.440 --> 00:41:41.829
follow Robert on all his social media.
00:41:41.839 --> 00:41:43.910
Any websites we want to mention, Robert?
00:41:43.920 --> 00:41:46.790
>> Uh my website, robert brusio.com.
00:41:46.800 --> 00:41:47.910
>> Okay, great. And
00:41:47.920 --> 00:41:49.670
>> see what I'm working on? Yeah,
00:41:49.680 --> 00:41:51.190
>> absolutely. Please check him out. Follow
00:41:51.200 --> 00:41:52.950
his Instagram. His all social media
00:41:52.960 --> 00:41:54.790
handles in the description box. you'll
00:41:54.800 --> 00:41:57.030
find links and please subscribe to me.
00:41:57.040 --> 00:41:59.109
And until next time, you're watching
00:41:59.119 --> 00:42:00.470
Vinnie and Robert. We'll see you next
00:42:00.480 --> 00:42:03.920
time. Awesome.