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Hello everyone, my name is Matt, and I am back with the Script Award Los Angeles for a new podcast episode.
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And this one is gonna be pretty unique because uh first Marcus is one of its kind, but second, the script itself is gonna be something very special that we're gonna talk about uh in a moment.
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But Marcus, as I told you before, this is your time to shine, and you are our guest today.
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So let me uh know a little bit who are you?
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Where do you come from?
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Uh are you in LA right now?
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And uh give me kind of a sweet, short overview of your background as an artist.
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Hi Matt, first and foremost, let me just say thank you for the opportunity to have this uh this uh podcast interview and uh to make it short and sweet.
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I am currently residing in Los Angeles, um, but I'm originally from Maryland.
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And uh I grew up born and raised in uh Prince George's County, Maryland.
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Went to University of Maryland College Park, and uh my start out uh in my acting career was actually on uh my first official role was on HBO's The Wire, season five.
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Yeah, that's a good way to start.
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That's a really good way to start.
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So what um what brought you into filmmaking and uh the movie, the movie scene?
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You know, it's it's been a uh just increasing uh growth for me.
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Um I before I got into acting, I was a primarily a professional wrestler, um, which I began in 1999.
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Uh funny enough, I became a professional wrestler in response to a car accident that I was in that uh kept me from uh getting involved in collegiate sports while I was in school.
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Uh I was a wrestler in high school.
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And since I was not able to uh participate in collegiate sports during my college career, uh being a fan of wrestling since I was a kid, uh decided, you know, that I didn't I didn't at the time I was not aware that you could even just sign up to train to be a wrestler.
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I thought she had to be like scouted and all these other things.
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But yeah, 1999 when wrestling was kind of at its peak and these wrestling schools were popping up everywhere, and the one that I attended is called Bone Breakers Academy.
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Uh sweet.
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They were they were one of the real deals.
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You know, they actually had wrestlers who had seen on TV.
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Um, and I was involved in matches with some of my legendary heroes like King Kong Bundy.
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I trained with Ricky the Dragon Steamboat, and I trained under uh father Rocky Johnson, and I got my very first TV opportunity in 2000, um, part of a hip-hop themed wrestling show called Urban Wrestling Alliance.
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That's amazing.
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Met Rocky Johnson, and funny enough, what turned me over to producing was that show uh lasted about a year.
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We'd have one full season, 10 episodes, and things fell through, you know, and it happens often in in the industry.
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Show didn't get uh get to the next level, and I learned a lot from the inside about why that was.
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It had a lot to do with just mismanagement and you know, some bad decisions and things like that.
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And I was I was uh eager to see that concept continue.
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So I actually started as a producer of what I called urban empire wrestling in 2003, and I produced a uh pilot episode at the Legendary Blue Horizon in Philadelphia, which is the same location that Rocky V was filmed partially in.
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Uh, and that and I was able to actually get that in front of uh BET.
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And they actually called me when I was backstage at a WWE event to tell me that they were interested in my project.
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And uh we met over it.
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And unfortunately, they decided uh due to budgetary constraints that they had to go with another more advanced project that had been submitted to them.
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Um, but that didn't stop my aspirations, and I did kind of uh retrain myself to focus for more on acting after taking some acting courses in college at the University of Maryland.
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I had an acting key teacher that put me in a steam from Chicago, and we had little small classes, and then on Fridays we had like the big class with all the students, and they enjoyed the performance so much that they wanted it to be done in front of the entire, like larger class.
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And my teacher pulled me in the back and basically said, You're not a wrestler, you're an actor.
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So it sounds like every time you get an opportunity to be in front of people, a crowd, or a director or a casting director, uh, it seems like you shine pretty easily uh in front of everyone.
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So, how would you, because I'm hearing uh acting, I'm hearing wrestling, I know you've been directing and co-directing projects, I know you write because this is a script um podcast.
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Uh what would be the first um how would you define yourself first?
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Do you define yourself like I'm an actor and on the side I'm writing scripts, or do you define yourself like I don't know, a performer or a filmmaker?
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What would be if you had one badge, what would you write on it?
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No, I I've actually recently had a conversation about this, and and and I I think I would have to just refer to myself as a Renaissance man.
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I I refuse to place myself in one single place, you know, and I feel and I feel like we live in this society where they kind of expect for you to you know label yourself one thing or another, you know, and I I feel like I'm I'm kind of the evolution of the entertainment industry.
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I don't think it's possible feasible.
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I won't say possible, I don't think it's feasible to be just an actor, just a director, you know, especially as an independent filmmaker.
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And I agree.
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Uh we uh once you learn all those skills, you know, usually you you have you you deserve to call yourself all of those things.
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You learn the skills, you wear many different hats, and depending on the project you're working on, maybe you're gonna be this, maybe you're gonna be that, but you do have the skills to be versatile and to be creative uh in different aspects and perspectives.
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Um, your first, you said it before, your first apparition on screen was on HBO the wire.
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You've never done anything before that.
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Not as an actor, no.
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That was literally my first opportunity.
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First on-screen appearance.
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Did you go through, I guess, casting the usual?
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Did you have lines?
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Tell me about a bit about this experience because people usually started very small, small projects.
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And your first one for you was boom, the wire.
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Let's go.
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So uh I didn't have lines.
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It was a feature appearance, though.
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It wasn't a background uh role.
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Um, what made the wire so intriguing, especially season five, was the fact that uh the writers really wanted to let the world know that this story may be ending, but this world is still going to exist beyond the series.
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So when season five came around, I received a uh casting notice.
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And funny enough, Baltimore didn't have a whole lot going on when it came to films and television.
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So if you were an actor in Baltimore or Maryland or any part of you know DMV, you were probably going to get an opportunity in some way, shape, or form to be on that show over this fast the five season.
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I was wrestling, I didn't even honestly know about the show until maybe a year prior to getting cast on it.
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Uh so I had to play a lot of catch up, but also because I had never been on the show, that was one of the key things that the casting notice mentioned is that you could not have been on the show before.
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And I sent my photos and you know, submitted, and I got a call.
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And I wasn't clearly aware of how big a role this was, but uh basically Marlo Stanfield, who had been elusive from season one on, this was an opportunity.
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This was a role for uh the task force that was put together by Dominic West, uh McNulti, you know, McNulty's character, after he basically you know lied about this serial killer that was killing homeless people, which allowed for his department to get the funding.
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So once he got the funding, he was able to recruit uh a group of officers that that he redirects instead of going after the serial killer to actually help him take down Marlowe.
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So I was involved in all of the buildup to that.
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Um you see me in various scenes, um, including the one where we actually do capture him, and you see me prominently in that in that scene.
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Uh, you see me in the scenes when we're going after Snoop and the whole crew.
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Uh that's amazing.
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It was, it was, it was amazing.
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And a lot of people that have been working on the show would come up to me during filming and tell me that you know you've already gotten more screen time than I have, and I've been on this show since you know.
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So definitely, yeah, the camera likes you.
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And uh I'm I'm I'm trying, I'm kind of guessing talking to you.
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Uh, you seem to be easygoing.
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So it's it's the kind of you you're kind of kind of people on set, you just want to hang out with, and yeah, we're gonna give you opportunities because you're just a good hack.
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So it's uh it's important in making movies in this industry to be just a good lad and to have a good um mindset.
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You mentioned you mentioned your production company, urban renaissance, uh renaissance.
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Um when did you um create that company and how long has it been uh on the thing?
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And after that, we're gonna talk about the triggered um adventure and saga.
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But first, I want to lay out the foundations about why did you create the company and when and uh what did you have in mind in doing so?
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Yeah, so originally Urban Renaissance actually began back when I did Urban Empire Wrestling.
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That was the name I came up with for the production company then.
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Um I didn't do it officially though.
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I didn't uh actually like form an LLC back then.
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Uh but I did uh use that moniker, and I actually had what was called Project Urban Renaissance because the the bigger picture for myself when I came up with the uh the name Urban Renaissance, it was derived from the Harlem Renaissance era, and it was the idea that I wanted to kind of reinvigorate the notion, uh not just the black community, but of the of the urban community, um to look at no limits when it comes to creativity, when it comes to life in general, you know, and Project Renaissance, the whole concept was that we wanted to attach ourselves to schools across the country and give people an opportunity to learn the skills that can prepare them for the things that they maybe didn't think was possible.
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Okay, so kind of an education uh education um um objective goal to kind of use movie making and team spirit and creativity to also help others and and uh students.
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Yep, and that and the idea back then was that in order for me to do something like that, I had to become famous first.
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And 20 years later, I'm still working on becoming that level of famous, you know.
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There's you there's a lot of things you can still do, and um this is one uh this is one platform, uh, and I think it's very smart of you to use it uh for the script aspect.
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But I I have also seen you on the red carpet on different festivals on your website and uh Instagram pages and social pages.
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So you're definitely doing the right thing to be useful, be noticed, and use the platforms that are available to all of us.
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And a lot of a lot of times you just need to say, Yeah, I'm gonna show up, and that's gonna make a big difference already.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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So let's move on to the um the triggered saga.
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So uh you first uh made the first film uh triggered, and then there was uh triggered 2.0 and then triggered 3.0 the final cut, if my memory serves me.
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So tell me about it's a uh and we see the posters uh behind you.
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So it's a whole saga of a super kind of fan film, superhero movies, correct?
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Yep.
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Correct.
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So explain to me, explain to the listeners and the viewers what's a fan film.
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So a fan film is basically a movie that this is this is kind of a loophole for filmmakers.
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Fan film is a movie that utilizes uh copyrighted characters, but does so in a manner that um that often is overlooked based on your ability to I guess set aside the monetary uh uh allowance from making it.
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So basically, if you make a fan film, and in my case, this is a Marvel themed fan film, superheroes like Wolverine and Blade.
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Um, I can't focus on distribution, I can't attempt to monetize it.
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Um but I learned from some of the very best people on how and why making a fan film makes sense as a filmmaker, especially if you're working on getting your name out there.
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Part of it, part of it for me uh had to do with uh person my personal opinion as a filmmaker is if I have a movie that is potentially going to be the next you know Marvel blockbuster, but not Marvel, I'm not gonna make that on an independent budget.
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Um so if I'm interested in making movies and I want to showcase what I can do, you know, why not when I'm at this level, you know, working on shoestring budget, utilize characters that people recognize and showcase my abilities through you know stories that I write very originally, but contains content that people can say, oh, they'll recognize this character.
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Yeah, it's kind of a shortcut also because you don't have to give them the backstory, you don't have to explain to them who's uh who's Mystique, who's Magneto uh they know.
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So you're just offering an alternative universe, an alternative creative take on all of that.
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I guess it's been successful enough because after the first one, you uh made two sequels.
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So explain to me a little bit further the level of success you reached with the fan films and the recognition that comes with it, and maybe the very specific, unique appreciation of the fans going to the fan films on top of the original Marvel movies.
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Yeah, so uh this was a unique story situation.
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Um, starting with Trigger 1.0.
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Uh, when I created the first trigger, I part two is actually part one.
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Part one was written afterwards, and there was a special reason for that because uh this this story revolves around a gentleman by the name of Stephen James Tingis, who uh had a very rare form of muscular dystrophy.
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Uh he was an actor I met in 2017.
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Uh he was used to be a doctor, he used to work for the White House.
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Uh, and he came to LA because all he truly wanted in his life was to become an actor.
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And he fought for disability inclusion.
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Uh, he was constantly kind of paraded around by celebrities and, you know, talk given the talk that, and these are his words, you know, but but rarely would someone give him an opportunity to actually be on screen.
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And I made a promise to him that I would give him that opportunity.
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He wanted to play the villain in this movie, and I created a character called the director.
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And I know that's a little confusing because director, director, but his character's name was the director.
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And we gave him a really cool backstory.
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He said, I don't want to be just evil, you know.
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I want to have, I want to have like a reason.
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The reason why.
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We gave him a great reason.
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And uh he was on his very final days, and we knew that.
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He knew that.
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So we wrote a script that could be all filmed in one day, and we shot it, and we got through it, and he made it all the way to seeing himself on the big screen at the TCL Chinese Theater for Indy Night Film Festival, and that very night he left this world with a smile on his face.
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Yeah.
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I got a call the next morning from his sister letting me know he didn't make it home that night.
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And many, many believe, including her, that that he would have been done long before that.
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If he had to be able to do it.
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Yeah, he gave him something to to um to wait for, something to expect.
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And once it was done, maybe it was it was maybe it was meant to be.
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Maybe it was one of these things, you know.
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Um yeah.
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It's it's yeah, it's emotional.
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It is.
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And uh, and and we we were dedicated to keep the story going.
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His family at his funeral, I was invited.
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I spoke and I met with them afterwards, and we all watched the first one in the in their basement together.
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And after it was over, they asked me, what's when is part two coming out?
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I said, wait.
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I was like, and at that time I just had a thought in my head, but I would have never said it out loud because I just didn't know how they would feel about it.
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But I said, yeah, his character was meant to evolve.
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You know, he was a doctor in real life and he won, he was actually working on curing himself.
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So so magically I decided, you know, I I introduced the idea that I had and they loved it and said, please, please move forward.
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Yeah, so I did.
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And uh Joshua Longfellow Wright, uh great actor and now director as well.
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He came on board and took over the role, where you know, it's clearly implied that Stephen had had cured himself and now was the six foot four version of himself, you know, walking in and still wearing a mask, you know, we still wanted to connect him to the original version of the character.
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Yeah, and that character now wants to finish what he started, you know.
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And uh this was all of this is basically a Wolverine story, but the way I wrote this, you could follow almost any character in this, and and then they all have their own individual stories, but but essentially it is about Wolverine because it goes back to the 1940s.
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We brought in Eric Roberts, who plays Dr.
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Uh Abraham Cordelius, which is a character from the X-Men lore, and basically he was uh experimenting on the mother of Stephen's character, and we have a very interesting way that both of them can be questionably considered the villains, or were they really the victims who now see a way to extract their own event revenge?
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Yeah, we could be talking about that all day long, but I want to talk about uh White Rabbit, which is the script you submitted to uh this competition and that got you into the podcast.
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So um it's not a superhero, this one.
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Right.
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It's still kind of inspired by uh the wire, we've talked about it, but also kind of a crossover with breaking bad.
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Correct.
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Can you again can you explain to me for the listeners what's a crossover when two different universes meet?
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We're bringing two of the most highly acclaimed, and it's in many people's opinions, greatest TV series to exist into the same universe.
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Um as having been a part of the wire.
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You know, I think I fantasized when I moved to LA that maybe one day there would be a wire movie, and that I would get an opportunity to reprise my role in it.
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And many years later I came to the conclusion that's probably not gonna happen.
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Yeah.
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Uh never say never, but you know, at the at there came a point where I started to kind of just get the notion of what would that look like, what would a movie of that look like?
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And uh I was just as big a fan of Breaking Bad as I was.
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As a matter of fact, I literally just finished binging it for like the millionth time.
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Just finished watching the finale last night and watching it again today.
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And um I think it's still I think it's still the number one uh best TV show um for the New York Times.
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Or uh yeah, I think it's in the New York Times.
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They did a list of the best TV shows of all time, and I think breaking that has been number one the last three, four, five times, and they did the list.
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Rightfully so.
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I mean, I I watch it very critically over and over again, and I'm always looking for something to say, did I miss that?
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Or, you know, was that a bad was that a plot hole?
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Or is that no?
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They did they they literally wrote a movie into a five season television series.
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And I've always argued from the when I first watched it from the to the very end, I I said they they deserve an Oscar, not an Emmy.
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Yeah, I I I agree with that.
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Um, so what is it about, White Rabbit?
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What's the pitch?
00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:19.839
So White Rabbit, you take my character from season five that I mentioned, was involved with the the the arrest of Marlo, who we know the series ended with Marlowe getting out.
00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:34.480
And the last we saw, he was standing on the street corner reclaiming his throne by taking out a couple of young modern hustlers, and which clearly indicated that he had no intention on ever giving up the business.
00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:46.960
In White Rabbit, you find out 20 years later that detective Marcus Davis has been stymieing his own career so that he can find Marlowe.
00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:50.079
And it's kept him from moving for moving on.
00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:51.200
He doesn't sleep.
00:22:59.279 --> 00:22:59.920
Oh, go ahead.
00:23:01.039 --> 00:23:02.160
Go ahead, finish.
00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:21.680
He gets a call from a colleague who received an anonymous tip that links wire to breaking bad using the vacuum store that's famously known Breaking Bad to help people get away when they need to change their lives.
00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:22.799
Yeah.
00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:29.519
Breaking bad ends also.
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:30.240
Yeah.
00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:35.440
But as we know, Gus in real life, the actor who plays him that passed away.
00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:45.279
So in the story, it's not Gus who answers the phone, but a mysterious woman named Judy, who states that she's the sister of Gus.
00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:53.039
And she basically turns out to be the one to have called for me to come out.
00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:56.799
And she did so because she wants me to take out Marlo.
00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:00.240
And she knows where he is because he utilized their service.
00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:12.640
And there's a lot of mystery surrounding why that would be and why she called me specifically, and how Jesse Pinkman becomes uh a central factor in this story.
00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:20.640
I was gonna ask, I understood there was a connection to Jesse Pinkman, and I wanted you to give me a little bit more explanation about that.
00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:22.160
Can you expand a bit?
00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:43.839
So if you you didn't just get the opportunity to see El Camino, which was uh produced by Aaron Paul as a as a breaking bad story that continues his story, his story ends with him going to uh going to uh Alaska, and that's exactly where you will also find where Marlowe is.
00:24:44.079 --> 00:25:08.400
Uh turns out that the reason why Marlowe is in Alaska is because he learned that Jesse Pinkman was there and he wants to uh take advantage of his knowledge about making crystal blue because he believes that this was the key to his ability to return to the uh criminal underworld in Baltimore.
00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:09.920
Got you.
00:25:10.640 --> 00:25:17.200
So this script, White Rabbit, uh it's not a short one, it's an 84 pages script.
00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:17.920
Correct.
00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:21.359
Yeah, are you envisioning to produce it?
00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:24.880
And if so, how are you gonna finance it?
00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:31.200
Because you explained that fan films and in that realm, you cannot make any money out of it.
00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:44.480
It's gonna promote the characters in the universe, it's gonna go further than that, but you cannot sell it or distribute it.
00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:49.920
So, how is this coming together uh as a producer?
00:25:50.559 --> 00:26:11.519
So the the loophole that that I learned from the people who I consider the masters of fan films, which is uh the company called Bat in the Sun Productions, um, they've been making fan films for well over a decade, and they just recently released their first feature film that was not connected to fan films, and it was very successful.
00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:19.759
Um, but what while they were making fan films over these years, the way that they monetized it was through uh crowdfunding.
00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:25.920
Um, obviously, this is a project that I think would appeal to many audiences.
00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:34.480
Um, and the key element to this is that I actually want Aaron Paul and Jamie Hector to reprise their roles for this fan film.
00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:45.119
And uh I'm actually going to Los Angeles uh Comic Con in a couple weeks, yeah, uh potentially just as Walter White.
00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:46.240
Okay.
00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:54.400
Aaron Paul is gonna be there, and I plan on meeting him, and I have met him once before back when he was actually filming.
00:26:54.480 --> 00:27:07.119
Uh funny enough, I work security at a hotel in Hollywood, and I was in the middle of binging the show, and I've always was very professional as in that security room.
00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:11.759
When I saw him, I was like, I've I've seen no one but you in the last like three days.
00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:17.039
Like I was literally spent the whole weekend watching season three, and you're standing in front of me.
00:27:17.119 --> 00:27:19.599
We took pictures together and had a great time.
00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:31.599
Um, but now you know, I I really would like just to get a semblance of confirmation if this would even be realistic for him to be a part of if we were able to make it possible.
00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:36.640
Like a real, like a real role or just a uh cameo or a role?
00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:39.119
No, I would want him to play Jesse Pinkman.
00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:39.839
Okay.
00:27:40.319 --> 00:27:52.880
And the reason I believe it's possible, and uh there was there's a fan film that uh is about the punisher that uh Thomas Shane actually was was able to reprise his role for.
00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:55.680
Um so it's it's possible, you know.
00:27:56.720 --> 00:28:00.240
And and here's the other thing, because there's things that are out of my control.
00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:06.640
You know, the universe decides certain things, and there's a possibility that this could not this could become not a fan.
00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:11.599
You know, I'm putting I'm putting a very you know unique idea out.
00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:20.319
It's possible that the idea could could become uh actual production that could lead to reinvigoration of both series.
00:28:20.400 --> 00:28:20.960
You just don't know.
00:28:21.119 --> 00:28:34.240
Because if you have the real, if you have Aaron Paul actually reprising his role as just a pinkman, and a breaking bad slash the wire crossover, I mean crossovers exist.
00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:42.799
You had the super girl and flash, you had you have many of that type of crossovers over the years and the world history of TV and movies, it exists.
00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:48.880
Um, like um Jason Staten, the transporter, uh, is in the Tom Cruise movie Collateral.
00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:51.359
It's just they just bump into each other.
00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:56.559
Yeah but it's been confirmed by the director that it was the real transporter in the film.
00:28:56.799 --> 00:28:57.519
So it is possible.
00:28:57.599 --> 00:29:08.880
So you if you blur the line enough, if you push the envelope enough, I guess it could maybe become something that would be kind of a UFO of a movie still.
00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:11.519
Um but why not?
00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:12.319
Why not?
00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:14.240
When you think about it, why not?
00:29:14.559 --> 00:29:21.599
I mean, you think about some of the biggest complaints in Hollywood is that everything is just recycled and things like that.
00:29:21.920 --> 00:29:29.519
And there's also another problem because when people do release brand new concepts, they're very hit or miss.
00:29:30.079 --> 00:29:44.079
So to say, well, instead of us regurgitating and instead of us creating something totally new, we're going to take something and we're going to take two things and basically combine them together.
00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:46.960
You know, so that that gives it its own uniqueness.
00:29:47.119 --> 00:30:10.480
And then I didn't include it in the ending of this script, but there is there is a new script or a new ending that I have already uh reformatted that leads us to how this story can carry into both worlds, um, continuing the characters from breaking bad, but still interlinking them with the Baltimore drug trade.
00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:13.119
I I really wish you the best with all of that.
00:30:13.279 --> 00:30:17.440
I think it's it's really unique and interesting and unexpected.
00:30:17.599 --> 00:30:22.559
And I think you're trying to push it further than most uh have ever done before.
00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:25.680
So that's something that I really support you with that.
00:30:25.920 --> 00:30:31.440
Um we are getting to the end of the time allowed to us, but there's one question I want to ask anyway.
00:30:31.519 --> 00:30:41.279
Um, because you're doing fan film, Steven on the Warrior, you've done uh you are living into the movie industry and in the city of Angels.
00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:45.440
Um, what are the themes as a filmmaker?
00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:50.960
What are the themes that are that are important to you to talk about?
00:30:51.200 --> 00:31:02.319
Because when you look at superhero movies, when you look at uh Again The Warrior, Breaking Bad, there and you talked about backstories of the characters.
00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:18.000
Yeah, all of that to me as a writer, a filmmaker, a creative artist, it's like okay, I know it can all converged, converge into common themes.
00:31:18.319 --> 00:31:22.160
So, what are the themes that you're sensible, sensitive to?
00:31:22.640 --> 00:31:25.039
I'm sensitive to psychology.
00:31:25.279 --> 00:31:40.960
Um, I I I I really love to tell stories where you can have characters that aren't just black and white, who are questionably uh maybe not the antagonists.
00:31:41.039 --> 00:31:44.559
You know, there's a blurred line between protagonists and antagonists.
00:31:44.799 --> 00:31:53.839
I I want audiences to use the medium of film and television as a therapeutic way of understanding people.
00:31:54.319 --> 00:32:01.119
And we live in a world filled with complex people, yeah, and it's never just about good or bad.
00:32:01.279 --> 00:32:17.200
Uh, so I my personal uh interest when I write is to make sure that all the characters can be understood, even if you don't agree with their decisions, you can see clearly what brings them to this place in their minds.
00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:20.319
Um, my character in this is very much myself.
00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:21.759
I don't sleep very much.
00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:24.880
I'm obsessive about writing and producing.
00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:35.119
Um, so I just convert that into this character's obsession with Marl, you know, and and they um they did that pretty well with uh Thanos in The Avengers.
00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:35.680
Exactly.
00:32:38.799 --> 00:32:50.079
But they gave the villain multiple opportunities and scenes, uh, especially one with Doctor Strange, to explain where it's coming from.
00:32:50.400 --> 00:32:50.799
Exactly.
00:32:51.200 --> 00:32:55.440
When you listen to it, like I I don't necessarily agree.
00:32:55.599 --> 00:33:05.119
It's it I wouldn't want to kill half half of the living species on the planet, but there's a logic to it.
00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:10.319
And suddenly these people, if you're capable of logic, you're capable of reasoning.
00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:20.000
So having a dialogue with someone, explaining yourself, and go, it's and suddenly okay, it's it's it makes every character more interesting.
00:33:20.319 --> 00:33:23.680
So yeah, yeah, I like that very much.
00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:25.759
I think um I think you're smart.
00:33:25.920 --> 00:33:29.200
I think you you're putting that intelligence into the script.
00:33:29.359 --> 00:33:38.319
I think you're putting using the script to make movies that are gonna push you to that fame um that you are trying to get to.
00:33:38.480 --> 00:33:47.440
And uh, I'm pretty sure that uh if and when you're gonna get that uh to the level you expect, I I'm pretty sure you would do great things with it.
00:33:47.680 --> 00:33:49.920
So uh thank you for your time.
00:33:50.079 --> 00:33:52.799
I'm really glad we we got to meet.
00:33:52.960 --> 00:34:05.920
I'm in a very unique position to just um be assigned to interview people, and uh most of the time I'm just like, oh, this I didn't expect to spend more than half an hour with someone that interesting.
00:34:06.079 --> 00:34:07.599
So thank you for that.
00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:15.280
Uh I appreciate it, and uh, I'm looking forward for the moment uh that people are gonna listen to that conversation uh online.
00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:19.519
Marcus, thank you very much, and uh keep going.
00:34:19.840 --> 00:34:22.159
I will do, I really appreciate it.
00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:09.919
Hello everyone, my name is Matt, and I am back with the Script Award Los Angeles for a new podcast episode.
00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:21.760
And this one is gonna be pretty unique because uh first Marcus is one of its kind, but second, the script itself is gonna be something very special that we're gonna talk about uh in a moment.
00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:28.480
But Marcus, as I told you before, this is your time to shine, and you are our guest today.
00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:32.479
So let me uh know a little bit who are you?
00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:33.759
Where do you come from?
00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:35.759
Uh are you in LA right now?
00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:42.399
And uh give me kind of a sweet, short overview of your background as an artist.
00:00:42.799 --> 00:00:53.679
Hi Matt, first and foremost, let me just say thank you for the opportunity to have this uh this uh podcast interview and uh to make it short and sweet.
00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:58.799
I am currently residing in Los Angeles, um, but I'm originally from Maryland.
00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:03.600
And uh I grew up born and raised in uh Prince George's County, Maryland.
00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:17.280
Went to University of Maryland College Park, and uh my start out uh in my acting career was actually on uh my first official role was on HBO's The Wire, season five.
00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:19.359
Yeah, that's a good way to start.
00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:21.200
That's a really good way to start.
00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:29.519
So what um what brought you into filmmaking and uh the movie, the movie scene?
00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:36.560
You know, it's it's been a uh just increasing uh growth for me.
00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:45.040
Um I before I got into acting, I was a primarily a professional wrestler, um, which I began in 1999.
00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:57.680
Uh funny enough, I became a professional wrestler in response to a car accident that I was in that uh kept me from uh getting involved in collegiate sports while I was in school.
00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:00.159
Uh I was a wrestler in high school.
00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:17.439
And since I was not able to uh participate in collegiate sports during my college career, uh being a fan of wrestling since I was a kid, uh decided, you know, that I didn't I didn't at the time I was not aware that you could even just sign up to train to be a wrestler.
00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:20.960
I thought she had to be like scouted and all these other things.
00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:30.879
But yeah, 1999 when wrestling was kind of at its peak and these wrestling schools were popping up everywhere, and the one that I attended is called Bone Breakers Academy.
00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:32.319
Uh sweet.
00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:34.159
They were they were one of the real deals.
00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:37.120
You know, they actually had wrestlers who had seen on TV.
00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:44.319
Um, and I was involved in matches with some of my legendary heroes like King Kong Bundy.
00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:57.840
I trained with Ricky the Dragon Steamboat, and I trained under uh father Rocky Johnson, and I got my very first TV opportunity in 2000, um, part of a hip-hop themed wrestling show called Urban Wrestling Alliance.
00:02:58.080 --> 00:02:59.039
That's amazing.
00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:08.560
Met Rocky Johnson, and funny enough, what turned me over to producing was that show uh lasted about a year.
00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:16.159
We'd have one full season, 10 episodes, and things fell through, you know, and it happens often in in the industry.
00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:22.800
Show didn't get uh get to the next level, and I learned a lot from the inside about why that was.
00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:27.919
It had a lot to do with just mismanagement and you know, some bad decisions and things like that.
00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:32.479
And I was I was uh eager to see that concept continue.
00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:50.080
So I actually started as a producer of what I called urban empire wrestling in 2003, and I produced a uh pilot episode at the Legendary Blue Horizon in Philadelphia, which is the same location that Rocky V was filmed partially in.
00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:55.360
Uh, and that and I was able to actually get that in front of uh BET.
00:03:55.919 --> 00:04:02.639
And they actually called me when I was backstage at a WWE event to tell me that they were interested in my project.
00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:04.479
And uh we met over it.
00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:13.680
And unfortunately, they decided uh due to budgetary constraints that they had to go with another more advanced project that had been submitted to them.
00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:27.759
Um, but that didn't stop my aspirations, and I did kind of uh retrain myself to focus for more on acting after taking some acting courses in college at the University of Maryland.
00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:44.720
I had an acting key teacher that put me in a steam from Chicago, and we had little small classes, and then on Fridays we had like the big class with all the students, and they enjoyed the performance so much that they wanted it to be done in front of the entire, like larger class.
00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:49.519
And my teacher pulled me in the back and basically said, You're not a wrestler, you're an actor.
00:04:49.920 --> 00:05:01.759
So it sounds like every time you get an opportunity to be in front of people, a crowd, or a director or a casting director, uh, it seems like you shine pretty easily uh in front of everyone.
00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:13.519
So, how would you, because I'm hearing uh acting, I'm hearing wrestling, I know you've been directing and co-directing projects, I know you write because this is a script um podcast.
00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:20.000
Uh what would be the first um how would you define yourself first?
00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:30.000
Do you define yourself like I'm an actor and on the side I'm writing scripts, or do you define yourself like I don't know, a performer or a filmmaker?
00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:34.720
What would be if you had one badge, what would you write on it?
00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:43.600
No, I I've actually recently had a conversation about this, and and and I I think I would have to just refer to myself as a Renaissance man.
00:05:44.480 --> 00:06:00.639
I I refuse to place myself in one single place, you know, and I feel and I feel like we live in this society where they kind of expect for you to you know label yourself one thing or another, you know, and I I feel like I'm I'm kind of the evolution of the entertainment industry.
00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:02.480
I don't think it's possible feasible.
00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:09.839
I won't say possible, I don't think it's feasible to be just an actor, just a director, you know, especially as an independent filmmaker.
00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:11.360
And I agree.
00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:19.519
Uh we uh once you learn all those skills, you know, usually you you have you you deserve to call yourself all of those things.
00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:35.120
You learn the skills, you wear many different hats, and depending on the project you're working on, maybe you're gonna be this, maybe you're gonna be that, but you do have the skills to be versatile and to be creative uh in different aspects and perspectives.
00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:41.920
Um, your first, you said it before, your first apparition on screen was on HBO the wire.
00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:44.240
You've never done anything before that.
00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:45.839
Not as an actor, no.
00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:48.319
That was literally my first opportunity.
00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:50.079
First on-screen appearance.
00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:52.560
Did you go through, I guess, casting the usual?
00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:54.000
Did you have lines?
00:06:54.240 --> 00:07:00.240
Tell me about a bit about this experience because people usually started very small, small projects.
00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:03.279
And your first one for you was boom, the wire.
00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:03.920
Let's go.
00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:06.480
So uh I didn't have lines.
00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:08.160
It was a feature appearance, though.
00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:10.560
It wasn't a background uh role.
00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:25.839
Um, what made the wire so intriguing, especially season five, was the fact that uh the writers really wanted to let the world know that this story may be ending, but this world is still going to exist beyond the series.
00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:31.759
So when season five came around, I received a uh casting notice.
00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:37.120
And funny enough, Baltimore didn't have a whole lot going on when it came to films and television.
00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:48.480
So if you were an actor in Baltimore or Maryland or any part of you know DMV, you were probably going to get an opportunity in some way, shape, or form to be on that show over this fast the five season.
00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:55.680
I was wrestling, I didn't even honestly know about the show until maybe a year prior to getting cast on it.
00:07:55.759 --> 00:08:06.000
Uh so I had to play a lot of catch up, but also because I had never been on the show, that was one of the key things that the casting notice mentioned is that you could not have been on the show before.
00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:11.040
And I sent my photos and you know, submitted, and I got a call.
00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:24.160
And I wasn't clearly aware of how big a role this was, but uh basically Marlo Stanfield, who had been elusive from season one on, this was an opportunity.
00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:41.919
This was a role for uh the task force that was put together by Dominic West, uh McNulti, you know, McNulty's character, after he basically you know lied about this serial killer that was killing homeless people, which allowed for his department to get the funding.
00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:55.039
So once he got the funding, he was able to recruit uh a group of officers that that he redirects instead of going after the serial killer to actually help him take down Marlowe.
00:08:55.200 --> 00:08:58.240
So I was involved in all of the buildup to that.
00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:06.960
Um you see me in various scenes, um, including the one where we actually do capture him, and you see me prominently in that in that scene.
00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:11.759
Uh, you see me in the scenes when we're going after Snoop and the whole crew.
00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:13.200
Uh that's amazing.
00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:15.039
It was, it was, it was amazing.
00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:25.360
And a lot of people that have been working on the show would come up to me during filming and tell me that you know you've already gotten more screen time than I have, and I've been on this show since you know.
00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:29.919
So definitely, yeah, the camera likes you.
00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:34.080
And uh I'm I'm I'm trying, I'm kind of guessing talking to you.
00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:35.919
Uh, you seem to be easygoing.
00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:43.840
So it's it's the kind of you you're kind of kind of people on set, you just want to hang out with, and yeah, we're gonna give you opportunities because you're just a good hack.
00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:50.799
So it's uh it's important in making movies in this industry to be just a good lad and to have a good um mindset.
00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:57.200
You mentioned you mentioned your production company, urban renaissance, uh renaissance.
00:09:57.519 --> 00:10:04.399
Um when did you um create that company and how long has it been uh on the thing?
00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:08.320
And after that, we're gonna talk about the triggered um adventure and saga.
00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:16.639
But first, I want to lay out the foundations about why did you create the company and when and uh what did you have in mind in doing so?
00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:22.240
Yeah, so originally Urban Renaissance actually began back when I did Urban Empire Wrestling.
00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:25.759
That was the name I came up with for the production company then.
00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:27.600
Um I didn't do it officially though.
00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:30.720
I didn't uh actually like form an LLC back then.
00:10:31.200 --> 00:11:22.799
Uh but I did uh use that moniker, and I actually had what was called Project Urban Renaissance because the the bigger picture for myself when I came up with the uh the name Urban Renaissance, it was derived from the Harlem Renaissance era, and it was the idea that I wanted to kind of reinvigorate the notion, uh not just the black community, but of the of the urban community, um to look at no limits when it comes to creativity, when it comes to life in general, you know, and Project Renaissance, the whole concept was that we wanted to attach ourselves to schools across the country and give people an opportunity to learn the skills that can prepare them for the things that they maybe didn't think was possible.
00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:35.840
Okay, so kind of an education uh education um um objective goal to kind of use movie making and team spirit and creativity to also help others and and uh students.
00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:42.240
Yep, and that and the idea back then was that in order for me to do something like that, I had to become famous first.
00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:50.720
And 20 years later, I'm still working on becoming that level of famous, you know.
00:11:51.200 --> 00:12:03.200
There's you there's a lot of things you can still do, and um this is one uh this is one platform, uh, and I think it's very smart of you to use it uh for the script aspect.
00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:10.639
But I I have also seen you on the red carpet on different festivals on your website and uh Instagram pages and social pages.
00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:20.000
So you're definitely doing the right thing to be useful, be noticed, and use the platforms that are available to all of us.
00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:26.000
And a lot of a lot of times you just need to say, Yeah, I'm gonna show up, and that's gonna make a big difference already.
00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:26.879
Yeah, absolutely.
00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:30.399
So let's move on to the um the triggered saga.
00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:42.639
So uh you first uh made the first film uh triggered, and then there was uh triggered 2.0 and then triggered 3.0 the final cut, if my memory serves me.
00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:46.960
So tell me about it's a uh and we see the posters uh behind you.
00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:53.039
So it's a whole saga of a super kind of fan film, superhero movies, correct?
00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:53.440
Yep.
00:12:53.600 --> 00:12:53.919
Correct.
00:12:54.159 --> 00:13:00.960
So explain to me, explain to the listeners and the viewers what's a fan film.
00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:09.200
So a fan film is basically a movie that this is this is kind of a loophole for filmmakers.
00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:30.559
Fan film is a movie that utilizes uh copyrighted characters, but does so in a manner that um that often is overlooked based on your ability to I guess set aside the monetary uh uh allowance from making it.
00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:37.919
So basically, if you make a fan film, and in my case, this is a Marvel themed fan film, superheroes like Wolverine and Blade.
00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:45.679
Um, I can't focus on distribution, I can't attempt to monetize it.
00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:57.840
Um but I learned from some of the very best people on how and why making a fan film makes sense as a filmmaker, especially if you're working on getting your name out there.
00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:16.399
Part of it, part of it for me uh had to do with uh person my personal opinion as a filmmaker is if I have a movie that is potentially going to be the next you know Marvel blockbuster, but not Marvel, I'm not gonna make that on an independent budget.
00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:44.799
Um so if I'm interested in making movies and I want to showcase what I can do, you know, why not when I'm at this level, you know, working on shoestring budget, utilize characters that people recognize and showcase my abilities through you know stories that I write very originally, but contains content that people can say, oh, they'll recognize this character.
00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:54.480
Yeah, it's kind of a shortcut also because you don't have to give them the backstory, you don't have to explain to them who's uh who's Mystique, who's Magneto uh they know.
00:14:54.559 --> 00:15:01.039
So you're just offering an alternative universe, an alternative creative take on all of that.
00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:07.519
I guess it's been successful enough because after the first one, you uh made two sequels.
00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:24.720
So explain to me a little bit further the level of success you reached with the fan films and the recognition that comes with it, and maybe the very specific, unique appreciation of the fans going to the fan films on top of the original Marvel movies.
00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:29.039
Yeah, so uh this was a unique story situation.
00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:31.600
Um, starting with Trigger 1.0.
00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:37.039
Uh, when I created the first trigger, I part two is actually part one.
00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:49.440
Part one was written afterwards, and there was a special reason for that because uh this this story revolves around a gentleman by the name of Stephen James Tingis, who uh had a very rare form of muscular dystrophy.
00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:52.240
Uh he was an actor I met in 2017.
00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:57.919
Uh he was used to be a doctor, he used to work for the White House.
00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:03.039
Uh, and he came to LA because all he truly wanted in his life was to become an actor.
00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:05.679
And he fought for disability inclusion.
00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:19.279
Uh, he was constantly kind of paraded around by celebrities and, you know, talk given the talk that, and these are his words, you know, but but rarely would someone give him an opportunity to actually be on screen.
00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:23.039
And I made a promise to him that I would give him that opportunity.
00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:28.879
He wanted to play the villain in this movie, and I created a character called the director.
00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:34.399
And I know that's a little confusing because director, director, but his character's name was the director.
00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:37.600
And we gave him a really cool backstory.
00:16:37.759 --> 00:16:40.000
He said, I don't want to be just evil, you know.
00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:42.639
I want to have, I want to have like a reason.
00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:43.679
The reason why.
00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:45.679
We gave him a great reason.
00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:52.399
And uh he was on his very final days, and we knew that.
00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:53.200
He knew that.
00:16:53.440 --> 00:17:13.039
So we wrote a script that could be all filmed in one day, and we shot it, and we got through it, and he made it all the way to seeing himself on the big screen at the TCL Chinese Theater for Indy Night Film Festival, and that very night he left this world with a smile on his face.
00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:13.680
Yeah.
00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:18.720
I got a call the next morning from his sister letting me know he didn't make it home that night.
00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:25.359
And many, many believe, including her, that that he would have been done long before that.
00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:26.240
If he had to be able to do it.
00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:31.920
Yeah, he gave him something to to um to wait for, something to expect.
00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:35.759
And once it was done, maybe it was it was maybe it was meant to be.
00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:38.640
Maybe it was one of these things, you know.
00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:40.240
Um yeah.
00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:43.359
It's it's yeah, it's emotional.
00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:44.160
It is.
00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:48.720
And uh, and and we we were dedicated to keep the story going.
00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:51.759
His family at his funeral, I was invited.
00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:58.240
I spoke and I met with them afterwards, and we all watched the first one in the in their basement together.
00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:02.400
And after it was over, they asked me, what's when is part two coming out?
00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:04.400
I said, wait.
00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:11.039
I was like, and at that time I just had a thought in my head, but I would have never said it out loud because I just didn't know how they would feel about it.
00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:14.160
But I said, yeah, his character was meant to evolve.
00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:18.720
You know, he was a doctor in real life and he won, he was actually working on curing himself.
00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:26.880
So so magically I decided, you know, I I introduced the idea that I had and they loved it and said, please, please move forward.
00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:29.440
Yeah, so I did.
00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:35.119
And uh Joshua Longfellow Wright, uh great actor and now director as well.
00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:55.440
He came on board and took over the role, where you know, it's clearly implied that Stephen had had cured himself and now was the six foot four version of himself, you know, walking in and still wearing a mask, you know, we still wanted to connect him to the original version of the character.
00:18:55.680 --> 00:19:00.799
Yeah, and that character now wants to finish what he started, you know.
00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:18.799
And uh this was all of this is basically a Wolverine story, but the way I wrote this, you could follow almost any character in this, and and then they all have their own individual stories, but but essentially it is about Wolverine because it goes back to the 1940s.
00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:22.799
We brought in Eric Roberts, who plays Dr.
00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:49.279
Uh Abraham Cordelius, which is a character from the X-Men lore, and basically he was uh experimenting on the mother of Stephen's character, and we have a very interesting way that both of them can be questionably considered the villains, or were they really the victims who now see a way to extract their own event revenge?
00:19:49.519 --> 00:20:00.559
Yeah, we could be talking about that all day long, but I want to talk about uh White Rabbit, which is the script you submitted to uh this competition and that got you into the podcast.
00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:04.480
So um it's not a superhero, this one.
00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:04.799
Right.
00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:16.079
It's still kind of inspired by uh the wire, we've talked about it, but also kind of a crossover with breaking bad.
00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:16.720
Correct.
00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:25.200
Can you again can you explain to me for the listeners what's a crossover when two different universes meet?
00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:36.000
We're bringing two of the most highly acclaimed, and it's in many people's opinions, greatest TV series to exist into the same universe.
00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:39.119
Um as having been a part of the wire.
00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:48.400
You know, I think I fantasized when I moved to LA that maybe one day there would be a wire movie, and that I would get an opportunity to reprise my role in it.
00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:52.720
And many years later I came to the conclusion that's probably not gonna happen.
00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:53.359
Yeah.
00:20:53.519 --> 00:21:03.599
Uh never say never, but you know, at the at there came a point where I started to kind of just get the notion of what would that look like, what would a movie of that look like?
00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:07.599
And uh I was just as big a fan of Breaking Bad as I was.
00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:11.680
As a matter of fact, I literally just finished binging it for like the millionth time.
00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:15.440
Just finished watching the finale last night and watching it again today.
00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:25.920
And um I think it's still I think it's still the number one uh best TV show um for the New York Times.
00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:28.000
Or uh yeah, I think it's in the New York Times.
00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:35.119
They did a list of the best TV shows of all time, and I think breaking that has been number one the last three, four, five times, and they did the list.
00:21:35.599 --> 00:21:36.319
Rightfully so.
00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:44.079
I mean, I I watch it very critically over and over again, and I'm always looking for something to say, did I miss that?
00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:46.720
Or, you know, was that a bad was that a plot hole?
00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:47.599
Or is that no?
00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:52.960
They did they they literally wrote a movie into a five season television series.
00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:59.440
And I've always argued from the when I first watched it from the to the very end, I I said they they deserve an Oscar, not an Emmy.
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:02.160
Yeah, I I I agree with that.
00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:07.119
Um, so what is it about, White Rabbit?
00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:08.319
What's the pitch?
00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:19.839
So White Rabbit, you take my character from season five that I mentioned, was involved with the the the arrest of Marlo, who we know the series ended with Marlowe getting out.
00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:34.480
And the last we saw, he was standing on the street corner reclaiming his throne by taking out a couple of young modern hustlers, and which clearly indicated that he had no intention on ever giving up the business.
00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:46.960
In White Rabbit, you find out 20 years later that detective Marcus Davis has been stymieing his own career so that he can find Marlowe.
00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:50.079
And it's kept him from moving for moving on.
00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:51.200
He doesn't sleep.
00:22:59.279 --> 00:22:59.920
Oh, go ahead.
00:23:01.039 --> 00:23:02.160
Go ahead, finish.
00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:21.680
He gets a call from a colleague who received an anonymous tip that links wire to breaking bad using the vacuum store that's famously known Breaking Bad to help people get away when they need to change their lives.
00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:22.799
Yeah.
00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:29.519
Breaking bad ends also.
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:30.240
Yeah.
00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:35.440
But as we know, Gus in real life, the actor who plays him that passed away.
00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:45.279
So in the story, it's not Gus who answers the phone, but a mysterious woman named Judy, who states that she's the sister of Gus.
00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:53.039
And she basically turns out to be the one to have called for me to come out.
00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:56.799
And she did so because she wants me to take out Marlo.
00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:00.240
And she knows where he is because he utilized their service.
00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:12.640
And there's a lot of mystery surrounding why that would be and why she called me specifically, and how Jesse Pinkman becomes uh a central factor in this story.
00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:20.640
I was gonna ask, I understood there was a connection to Jesse Pinkman, and I wanted you to give me a little bit more explanation about that.
00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:22.160
Can you expand a bit?
00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:43.839
So if you you didn't just get the opportunity to see El Camino, which was uh produced by Aaron Paul as a as a breaking bad story that continues his story, his story ends with him going to uh going to uh Alaska, and that's exactly where you will also find where Marlowe is.
00:24:44.079 --> 00:25:08.400
Uh turns out that the reason why Marlowe is in Alaska is because he learned that Jesse Pinkman was there and he wants to uh take advantage of his knowledge about making crystal blue because he believes that this was the key to his ability to return to the uh criminal underworld in Baltimore.
00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:09.920
Got you.
00:25:10.640 --> 00:25:17.200
So this script, White Rabbit, uh it's not a short one, it's an 84 pages script.
00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:17.920
Correct.
00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:21.359
Yeah, are you envisioning to produce it?
00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:24.880
And if so, how are you gonna finance it?
00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:31.200
Because you explained that fan films and in that realm, you cannot make any money out of it.
00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:44.480
It's gonna promote the characters in the universe, it's gonna go further than that, but you cannot sell it or distribute it.
00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:49.920
So, how is this coming together uh as a producer?
00:25:50.559 --> 00:26:11.519
So the the loophole that that I learned from the people who I consider the masters of fan films, which is uh the company called Bat in the Sun Productions, um, they've been making fan films for well over a decade, and they just recently released their first feature film that was not connected to fan films, and it was very successful.
00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:19.759
Um, but what while they were making fan films over these years, the way that they monetized it was through uh crowdfunding.
00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:25.920
Um, obviously, this is a project that I think would appeal to many audiences.
00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:34.480
Um, and the key element to this is that I actually want Aaron Paul and Jamie Hector to reprise their roles for this fan film.
00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:45.119
And uh I'm actually going to Los Angeles uh Comic Con in a couple weeks, yeah, uh potentially just as Walter White.
00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:46.240
Okay.
00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:54.400
Aaron Paul is gonna be there, and I plan on meeting him, and I have met him once before back when he was actually filming.
00:26:54.480 --> 00:27:07.119
Uh funny enough, I work security at a hotel in Hollywood, and I was in the middle of binging the show, and I've always was very professional as in that security room.
00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:11.759
When I saw him, I was like, I've I've seen no one but you in the last like three days.
00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:17.039
Like I was literally spent the whole weekend watching season three, and you're standing in front of me.
00:27:17.119 --> 00:27:19.599
We took pictures together and had a great time.
00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:31.599
Um, but now you know, I I really would like just to get a semblance of confirmation if this would even be realistic for him to be a part of if we were able to make it possible.
00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:36.640
Like a real, like a real role or just a uh cameo or a role?
00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:39.119
No, I would want him to play Jesse Pinkman.
00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:39.839
Okay.
00:27:40.319 --> 00:27:52.880
And the reason I believe it's possible, and uh there was there's a fan film that uh is about the punisher that uh Thomas Shane actually was was able to reprise his role for.
00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:55.680
Um so it's it's possible, you know.
00:27:56.720 --> 00:28:00.240
And and here's the other thing, because there's things that are out of my control.
00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:06.640
You know, the universe decides certain things, and there's a possibility that this could not this could become not a fan.
00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:11.599
You know, I'm putting I'm putting a very you know unique idea out.
00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:20.319
It's possible that the idea could could become uh actual production that could lead to reinvigoration of both series.
00:28:20.400 --> 00:28:20.960
You just don't know.
00:28:21.119 --> 00:28:34.240
Because if you have the real, if you have Aaron Paul actually reprising his role as just a pinkman, and a breaking bad slash the wire crossover, I mean crossovers exist.
00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:42.799
You had the super girl and flash, you had you have many of that type of crossovers over the years and the world history of TV and movies, it exists.
00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:48.880
Um, like um Jason Staten, the transporter, uh, is in the Tom Cruise movie Collateral.
00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:51.359
It's just they just bump into each other.
00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:56.559
Yeah but it's been confirmed by the director that it was the real transporter in the film.
00:28:56.799 --> 00:28:57.519
So it is possible.
00:28:57.599 --> 00:29:08.880
So you if you blur the line enough, if you push the envelope enough, I guess it could maybe become something that would be kind of a UFO of a movie still.
00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:11.519
Um but why not?
00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:12.319
Why not?
00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:14.240
When you think about it, why not?
00:29:14.559 --> 00:29:21.599
I mean, you think about some of the biggest complaints in Hollywood is that everything is just recycled and things like that.
00:29:21.920 --> 00:29:29.519
And there's also another problem because when people do release brand new concepts, they're very hit or miss.
00:29:30.079 --> 00:29:44.079
So to say, well, instead of us regurgitating and instead of us creating something totally new, we're going to take something and we're going to take two things and basically combine them together.
00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:46.960
You know, so that that gives it its own uniqueness.
00:29:47.119 --> 00:30:10.480
And then I didn't include it in the ending of this script, but there is there is a new script or a new ending that I have already uh reformatted that leads us to how this story can carry into both worlds, um, continuing the characters from breaking bad, but still interlinking them with the Baltimore drug trade.
00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:13.119
I I really wish you the best with all of that.
00:30:13.279 --> 00:30:17.440
I think it's it's really unique and interesting and unexpected.
00:30:17.599 --> 00:30:22.559
And I think you're trying to push it further than most uh have ever done before.
00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:25.680
So that's something that I really support you with that.
00:30:25.920 --> 00:30:31.440
Um we are getting to the end of the time allowed to us, but there's one question I want to ask anyway.
00:30:31.519 --> 00:30:41.279
Um, because you're doing fan film, Steven on the Warrior, you've done uh you are living into the movie industry and in the city of Angels.
00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:45.440
Um, what are the themes as a filmmaker?
00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:50.960
What are the themes that are that are important to you to talk about?
00:30:51.200 --> 00:31:02.319
Because when you look at superhero movies, when you look at uh Again The Warrior, Breaking Bad, there and you talked about backstories of the characters.
00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:18.000
Yeah, all of that to me as a writer, a filmmaker, a creative artist, it's like okay, I know it can all converged, converge into common themes.
00:31:18.319 --> 00:31:22.160
So, what are the themes that you're sensible, sensitive to?
00:31:22.640 --> 00:31:25.039
I'm sensitive to psychology.
00:31:25.279 --> 00:31:40.960
Um, I I I I really love to tell stories where you can have characters that aren't just black and white, who are questionably uh maybe not the antagonists.
00:31:41.039 --> 00:31:44.559
You know, there's a blurred line between protagonists and antagonists.
00:31:44.799 --> 00:31:53.839
I I want audiences to use the medium of film and television as a therapeutic way of understanding people.
00:31:54.319 --> 00:32:01.119
And we live in a world filled with complex people, yeah, and it's never just about good or bad.
00:32:01.279 --> 00:32:17.200
Uh, so I my personal uh interest when I write is to make sure that all the characters can be understood, even if you don't agree with their decisions, you can see clearly what brings them to this place in their minds.
00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:20.319
Um, my character in this is very much myself.
00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:21.759
I don't sleep very much.
00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:24.880
I'm obsessive about writing and producing.
00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:35.119
Um, so I just convert that into this character's obsession with Marl, you know, and and they um they did that pretty well with uh Thanos in The Avengers.
00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:35.680
Exactly.
00:32:38.799 --> 00:32:50.079
But they gave the villain multiple opportunities and scenes, uh, especially one with Doctor Strange, to explain where it's coming from.
00:32:50.400 --> 00:32:50.799
Exactly.
00:32:51.200 --> 00:32:55.440
When you listen to it, like I I don't necessarily agree.
00:32:55.599 --> 00:33:05.119
It's it I wouldn't want to kill half half of the living species on the planet, but there's a logic to it.
00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:10.319
And suddenly these people, if you're capable of logic, you're capable of reasoning.
00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:20.000
So having a dialogue with someone, explaining yourself, and go, it's and suddenly okay, it's it's it makes every character more interesting.
00:33:20.319 --> 00:33:23.680
So yeah, yeah, I like that very much.
00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:25.759
I think um I think you're smart.
00:33:25.920 --> 00:33:29.200
I think you you're putting that intelligence into the script.
00:33:29.359 --> 00:33:38.319
I think you're putting using the script to make movies that are gonna push you to that fame um that you are trying to get to.
00:33:38.480 --> 00:33:47.440
And uh, I'm pretty sure that uh if and when you're gonna get that uh to the level you expect, I I'm pretty sure you would do great things with it.
00:33:47.680 --> 00:33:49.920
So uh thank you for your time.
00:33:50.079 --> 00:33:52.799
I'm really glad we we got to meet.
00:33:52.960 --> 00:34:05.920
I'm in a very unique position to just um be assigned to interview people, and uh most of the time I'm just like, oh, this I didn't expect to spend more than half an hour with someone that interesting.
00:34:06.079 --> 00:34:07.599
So thank you for that.
00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:15.280
Uh I appreciate it, and uh, I'm looking forward for the moment uh that people are gonna listen to that conversation uh online.
00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:19.519
Marcus, thank you very much, and uh keep going.
00:34:19.840 --> 00:34:22.159
I will do, I really appreciate it.
