Full Transcript for When AI Can Become an Actor, What Happens to Hollywood? with Writer, Actor & Producer Collin Pelton

podcast. 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:25.519 You're on a podcast, you're on it right now with us, live to everyone. 00:04:25.519 --> 00:04:26.560 I don't want to talk about us. 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:28.879 You're everything. 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:34.240 Everyone who's listening, if you don't know Colin, some he has just how do I even say this? 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:44.000 Just like a pretty unusual journey, like from being a theater kid to the Air Force to IT, film and screenwriting. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:50.480 He worked in post-production at Marvel, and now you're running your own production company. 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:52.560 So that's also a whole thing. 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:57.920 Tell us everything, just tell everyone who's listening who's just like now dreaming of food. 00:04:57.920 --> 00:04:59.279 How did you get here? 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:00.480 What are you doing? 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:01.680 Give us your background. 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:03.759 Yeah, how does this all work out? 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:04.240 Yeah. 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:05.600 Really good overview. 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:10.000 I guess I've always had like a background in technical and performance kind of at the same time. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:18.959 So, like first memories on a stage at three years old, but I also had like 46 uh computer at like seven or eight. 00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:25.120 So I was learning how to not code, but work in DOS before I was two digits. 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:28.160 But then I was also learning how to perform under that same time. 00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:31.519 So it's it had these like parallel tracks throughout my life. 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:41.199 So I go to Boston, I get my national commercials, I do my national print stuff, I'm in textbooks and auditioning for some of the biggest films like Rushmore and everything like that. 00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:48.639 But my like job job, my day job is like computer support, computer sales. 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:54.000 I'm the one that everyone goes to for the new tech to figure out how to problem solve it or something. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:55.920 And then 9-11 happens. 00:05:55.920 --> 00:06:05.040 I go from a pretty cushy help desk job, probably my my best salary to date or at the time, 9-11 happens. 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:08.240 So many people get laid off because of the economy and so forth. 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:16.720 And as I'm sort of navigating what the job market is like, I'm like staring at these conflicts and going, you know, I've always thought about joining the military. 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:18.399 Maybe like this is my time. 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:26.560 And not to sound cliche, but the the Kennedy speech kept going in my head, like, ask not what your country can do for you. 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:28.959 And I was like, well, this is what I can do for my country. 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:36.879 We are hurting, clearly, and I can have an IT career in the Air Force, bringing an IT career field. 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:40.160 And I auditioned, or auditioned, listen to me, sort of like an audition. 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:56.560 I interviewed with the Marines, I interviewed with the Navy, and most of my network who were either prior special forces, prior Marines, also a bunch of Air Force people just said, go, Air Force, you're technical, that's you're a little bit of a brain. 00:06:56.560 --> 00:07:02.560 So if you enlist, they're the only service that's gonna allow you to be who you are. 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:03.680 And they were right. 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:08.879 I mean, throughout my career, I had officers like getting out of their seats to let me sit down. 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:13.199 I got a top secret security clearance, so I was had access to a lot of things. 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:21.759 But the performance side of me just completely just pushed it away, probably until I got to Turkey and got into like honor guards. 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:25.759 So there's a little bit of performance within the military as well, you know, with the rifles and stuff. 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:34.959 While I was out out there in Turkey, my at the time wife asked for a divorce and asked me, like, hey, if you weren't beholden to me or anyone else, where would you be? 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:35.600 What would you be doing? 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:37.199 And I was like, I would I'd be acting. 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:41.680 I'd let go of the technical career and I'd pursue a film career. 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:52.160 I wrapped up my military career, learned how to play golf in Turkey of all places, met my future business partner, which I wouldn't know at the time, or I didn't know he was going to be a business partner. 00:07:52.160 --> 00:08:01.439 Went back to Boston, finished up like the IT career part of the military while also auditioning and working on projects. 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:11.040 I think that year in 2005, 2006, I had done like 27 productions as an actor. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:20.319 So we're like feature films, commercials, uh, independent films, student films, just anything and everything to work on my craft to get back into the swing of things. 00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:25.360 And then moved out to LA, did a cross-country trip, saw our beautiful country. 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:28.160 I've been to 47 states now. 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:34.799 So I can definitely say I've seen it all and met all the people, and everyone I believe is pretty wonderful. 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:38.080 And then that would be where the C Sun career started. 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:43.919 I got there in 06, and then Laura and I met like the next year in summer semester. 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:48.000 Most of that was focused on humanities and then switched to screenwriting. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:51.039 Screenwriting got opened up a lot of doors for me. 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:52.480 I was kind of good at it. 00:08:52.480 --> 00:09:04.080 But

where it hit the technical again was as I graduated, even with uh development at executive internships and so forth, I shifted over to social media. 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:08.559 So it's a little bit more technical than the average screenwriter would probably engage in. 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:12.000 Launched my own company, did that for like six years. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:16.960 And when COVID hit, I wasn't sure where my next direction was. 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:22.320 And and in social media, we had some pretty amazing things that happened to us. 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:34.799 I saved the expanse, not me personally, but I was sort of the intel general among the fans and among casts that help get it onto Jeff Bezos radar, which then saved the show. 00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:38.399 But I I donated so much time and energy into that campaign. 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:42.080 And it wasn't the first show I tried to save, it was just the most successful one. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:49.919 But after all of that, I was so burnt out, took a breath during COVID and was just like, okay, what do what do I want to do next? 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:51.679 And that's when Marvel came calling. 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:57.360 They offered me a job in post-production, not marketing, which I thought I was going to do. 00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:02.480 And that lasted for three years, probably 30 something plus credits. 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:14.159 So anything that released during COVID, from WandaVision to my first credit, Loki, all the way through like Captain America, Brave New Worlds, Deadpool and Wolverine. 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:16.159 She all came out a little bit before that. 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:17.360 But there was there's a lot of them. 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:21.919 So many I don't even have them all on my IMDB because we were just working on everything. 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:31.600 And it was sort of a blend of my film career, not screenwriting, but just production and acting and everything, and my IT, because it's a very technical job. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:52.320 A lot of troubleshooting, a lot of technical investigative work, understanding little elements of coding, but then also color science, which is a whole thing in and of itself, and being able to look at the quality control of a particular shot and uh figure out if it was going bad or something, and then getting it to the right people. 00:10:52.320 --> 00:11:07.120 Did that for three years, and after the SAG strike happened, my friend and a service member brother that I met in Turkey was like, hey, instead of working for the studio system, why don't we do it ourselves? 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:20.159 And this is a time of like independent film greatness, so now I'm taking all of my technical skills, all of the post-production and sort of structure that Disney and Marvel taught me, and I erected my own company. 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:28.960 Our clients have hit, uh let's see, our biggest one hit 2.5 billion views since we've worked with them in the last two years. 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:35.840 Uh hundreds of thousands of dollars on online revenue, sold out most of their their shows online, they're like a entertainer. 00:11:35.840 --> 00:11:38.720 And we realized I had another kind of superpower. 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:40.399 I have four companies now. 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:42.639 One of them is actually a development company. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:53.120 So we're about to launch a brand new uh web-based software that's sort of like if Reddit and Discord and Patreon kind of had a baby, gonna be us. 00:11:53.120 --> 00:12:02.399 And we're having we're making it accessible to people who wouldn't normally have the funds to invest and start their own social media career. 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:12.559 We're focused on like very new beginning, uh only not only companies, but individuals who want to figure out how to make money online and get their voice out there and stuff. 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:25.039 And so we're gonna launch a subscription service in January 1 to be able to take the kind of power that we've had for major celebrities and so forth and give it to the everyday person and allow them to empower themselves. 00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:27.120 And that's been a pretty amazing journey. 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:30.320 I was even up to like 11 o'clock last night working on the beta testing. 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:31.200 Wow. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:32.399 I mean, that's pretty amazing. 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:36.159 But obviously, from our perspective, you know, as a tech pod, we have to talk about AI. 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:39.759 We're entering a major technological shift now that we have generative AI. 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:46.879 From where you're sitting, how disruptive do you think AI is or is going to be on the film and television industries? 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:50.000 Oh, Kevin, this is a freaking great question. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:51.279 I'm so glad you asked it. 00:12:51.279 --> 00:13:02.960 But as a person who desires to be a little bit of a thought leader in the CEO space and sort of maternal company shift that I think most companies need to take. 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:12.799 And as a CEO, I believe that there's a lot of AI technology that does good work, like assisting a programmer in developing something. 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:21.519 We are currently doing that now, where I have a developer, but he's also working in tandem with other algorithm developers. 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:24.480 I think Claude is what he's using because it's the most ethical. 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:33.519 But he uses that system to help balance his programming output because he has a day job that is not me, because we're a startup and self-funded. 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:37.679 He's got shares in the company, and he's like a best friend of mine. 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:45.919 So we're working in this space and we're letting AI sort of bridge his gap so

that we can save a little bit of money as we stand this up. 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:53.519 But it has an end date on it because then we add the development team that we're also building with full salaries. 00:13:53.519 --> 00:14:00.240 We are basically using this to stand up a program that can generate income for our team's salaries. 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:02.240 So in one way it's helping that. 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:12.159 But when you talk about generative AI and entertainment, the stuff that would probably be classified as AI slop, we a hundred percent don't do that. 00:14:12.159 --> 00:14:15.759 And we support artists more than anything else. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:30.080 The only time we'll use anything generative is if we are personally trying to come up with a visual that we can then give the artist that we're paying to make something better. 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:40.159 So we kind of use it as a sketchpad to then pay someone else to do it, take it out of our head, put it on paper, and now pay the artist to do what the artist does. 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:47.519 And of course, they're giving us all the types of files that we need, and we can actually have a conversation with them instead of having a conversation with the bot. 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:57.679 And then when you come to like how does that impact the entertainment world, I've seen people use it so they can completely replace their backdrops. 00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:07.200 And I feel like, okay, that's cool, because that individual probably can't gain access to the Grand Canyon, but now the Grand Canyon is it is in his film. 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:10.639 Okay, and no one lost their jobs necessarily with that. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:12.080 So that's that's a thing. 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:17.360 But then when you're going in fully replacing VFX artists, I'm not okay with that. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:32.639 In fact, uh, one of my companies is to create residual income for VFX artists under one of our platforms using our viral media and monetization capability so that we can create residual income for VFX artists. 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:36.559 Our whole company is built on revenue share and profit sharing. 00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:45.039 Well, revenue sharing before we even get to profit, because we want to give back to the artists that help create our products, whether it's a series, a movie, any of that. 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:46.559 Well, can I ask a follow-up on that? 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:54.879 I mean, obviously, like throughout the age of technology, we've gone from introducing sound and then color and then CGI and then streaming. 00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:56.240 Why is AI different? 00:15:56.240 --> 00:16:01.919 Like, what is fundamentally different about generative AI in your mind when it comes to this age? 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:18.159 Generative AI is looking at the internet and all the things that's sort of posted digitally and creating and a half-assed art degree internally, and then being like, I'm an artist. 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:28.799 And it and you would never allow a person to like do it in the same way if they did nothing but copy everyone else and just put slightly different things there. 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:29.360 I'm an artist. 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:33.279 No, you're you're kind of a forger or you're a copy copy artist. 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:37.039 I'm not real, I don't you're on your path, but you're still in the education space. 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:40.559 No computer learning model that's doing art went to art school. 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:42.080 They didn't they didn't do it. 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:43.440 They're not emotional. 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:47.200 They they are not a part of what makes art great is the process. 00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:54.720 So, like some of these tools take out the monotony of of some of the technical aspects of artistic work. 00:16:54.720 --> 00:17:03.840 If it's sound, for instance, maybe they're using an AI thing to grab peaks so that they can identify it quickly as opposed to listening to the entire track. 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:07.200 And that makes their work-life balance probably a little bit better. 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:12.319 They don't have to spend 12 hours on a project, they can spend eight and then go hang out with their kids. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:19.119 And if it if it's used as a tool, okay, let's have a conversation about that. 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:32.960 If it's used to replace people who only want to be part of something, that that want to leave their mark on the world, that want to say they did something, that their time and energy and and presence is valuable, that's where I have a problem. 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:57.200 Don't take the humanity away from human expression, but give someone a fucking paintbrush, even if it's digital, and maybe a learning tool, so that they can invest the time and energy and and hurt when you get it wrong and learn from your mistakes and engage in the human fucking condition, not I pointed at that thing and I told it to do something. 00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:58.559 Cool, you're a child. 00:17:58.559 --> 00:17:59.839 Your child. 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:02.319 Mom, can you grab this apple for me? 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:04.079 Yeah, honey, no problem. 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:04.559 Cool. 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:05.920 So you don't want to develop. 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:06.640 That's fine. 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:13.039 You don't want to do the whole that's okay, but don't push it to the rest of the world as if you're something great. 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:19.440 Tell everyone you're a child in this particular process, look at my crayon drawing. 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:20.480 Because that's what it is. 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:21.839 Just a different type of crayon. 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:22.799 I love this. 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:25.039 I have a question about acting. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:28.319 So when we met, oh, what

a good time. 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:35.279 I think about how at that point you were very into acting and and going after this and doing the screenwriting. 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:42.400 And I think even before that time when we had the the actors that I think about like the movie Kids, right? 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:44.400 Which is such a crazy movie. 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:47.279 It if you haven't seen it, I recommend it and don't. 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:48.480 It depends on who you are. 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:50.480 You're gonna love it or be scarred. 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:51.279 It depends. 00:18:51.279 --> 00:19:04.799 But you think about like when that movie came out and that generation of actors, like these are people that were skateboarding probably through our college and living that kind of life and a lot of suicide, a lot of drugs, a lot of things. 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:10.799 Then you have this whole generation of actors that are fighting to get in, that are fighting to get an agent. 00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:12.000 Help me get in. 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:15.599 I'm amazing, but I don't have the right representation. 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:17.200 So how am I gonna get in? 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:19.359 Fast forward all the way to today. 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:31.440 Now you have the actors of today that you have to have the right agent, but, and when I say but, think about like if I today was like, you know what, I've never acted, but this is my moment, and that happens. 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:32.720 Think about John Hamm. 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:35.839 He was, you know, waiting tables trying to get his shot. 00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:37.279 He made it later in life. 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:38.559 A lot of times that happens. 00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:42.240 So, what if I or Kevin decide we want to be in acting? 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:47.599 We have no real experience, we have no agent, and now you also have AI. 00:19:47.599 --> 00:20:11.119 You also have the fact that I don't need to pay you because not only do so many people want to be in this industry, but we also can replace people with things like digital replicated actors, because some people are signing and saying, sure, like I'll do anything to be famous, even if I'm not getting paid or actually honing in on the craft. 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:16.000 But I want people to see my face, even if it's just a digitized version of me. 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:17.440 What are your thoughts on that? 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:22.640 Like, does anyone even have a chance to go into acting now if they're not like starting at age three? 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:29.119 So I'm gonna use my favorite example that's pretty trendy right now, Indy Navarro from Obsession. 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:30.000 No agent. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:30.880 No agent. 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:33.039 In fact, her career was dead for 18 months. 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:36.240 She took up streaming and dog walking and stuff like that because there was no work. 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:44.319 And I'll speak to why there's no work or why it's difficult for someone to start and and where they should start if they're in like Kevin or Laura's position. 00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:45.200 They're like, you know what? 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:47.200 I I also want to do acting. 00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:59.680 So the difference between whether or not you're successful and whether or not you're just trying is usually the project that highlights that you were always good to begin with. 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:05.839 So timing, the project, the people you're surrounded with, acting as a team sport. 00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:09.440 So first and foremost, you cannot do it alone, just immediately. 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:12.160 And it's also not going to be an agent that changes your life either. 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:18.000 Immediately, because right now, agents want to sign the indie Navarro's of the world. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:24.480 And because she's already proven that she is a box office goldmine. 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:30.160 And if you look at any of your her interviews, you're like, oh yeah, you were an A-list actor just waiting to happen. 00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:33.039 An agent told me that at one point. 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:44.079 They're like, I wasn't in the room at the time, told her best friend, and he told me, when I walked into the room, interacted with her for the first time, she was like, Oh my god, he's like an A lister that hasn't been discovered yet. 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:45.599 It's really cool to see. 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:53.440 And of course, I was 28 at the time and like, yeah, that's my goal, and completely naive about the industry that I was going into. 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:56.720 And little did I know that it had changed before I got there. 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:59.759 And all I was seeing was sort of like the dying stream. 00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:05.519 star's light of Hollywood, still thinking that there were, you know, it was the city of lights. 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:06.880 But it it had passed. 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:08.640 The writer strike had hit. 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:16.319 It had destroyed most progressions and residual income and anything that makes an artist able to survive in in Hollywood. 00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:31.119 But the real difference between whether or not you're going to work, whether or not you're going to be a John Hamm or I mean Melissa McCarthy has been doing it for a while too, but she's one of the highest paid actresses and she didn't start working till probably or didn't start really working until her 30s, right? 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:33.200 Which is unheard of in Hollywood. 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:37.119 And then you have Hannah Waddington right now, worked a whole bunch. 00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:41.839 Now she's fucking famous because of Ted Lasso and now she's got you know her own show and stuff. 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:43.279 Ride or Die was

amazing. 00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:47.359 So what it ultimately is is proving how valuable you are. 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:51.680 Colin I just gotta say she is like a very attractive older for her age. 00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:53.119 I was like she's killing it. 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:54.799 Oh she's she's smoking. 00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:55.920 Have you seen Ride or die? 00:22:56.319 --> 00:22:57.119 Oh it's hilarious. 00:22:57.119 --> 00:23:01.039 Yeah it's hilarious and she's so she makes it she makes the show. 00:23:01.039 --> 00:23:07.440 Yeah well I love Octavia Octavia's yes but yeah maybe both of them together but she makes it she's just incredible. 00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:27.440 She she's just amazing and I loved her character in Ted Lasso, but to my point in all this Indy and Hannah is you need a vehicle that allows you to be yourself because the audiences want authenticity. 00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:30.720 They want to believe you they want to trust you they want to go along for the ride. 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:34.079 And they're not going to do that if they don't believe you're that person. 00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:38.960 It's sort of why Matt Damon is like is he Odysseus? 00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:43.279 Because we're just sort of like no he's Matt Damon dressed as Odysseus. 00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:52.079 And that's sort of like he's obviously a movie star, but like his film was like Jason Bourne and Goodwill Hunting because those things were designed for him. 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:53.519 Odysseus was not. 00:23:53.519 --> 00:24:01.200 And there's an example of if that was his first thing he would disappear into nothing because it wasn't a breakout performance. 00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:02.640 It wasn't anything special. 00:24:02.640 --> 00:24:06.559 He was an old famous guy in an old famous story. 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:07.200 That's it. 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:15.119 And he happened to be surrounded with some really talented people and a and a pretty talented director I mean I've loved Chris Nolan since Memento and a bunch of other stuff. 00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:27.200 The Odyssey is not my favorite by any means but the performance kind of makes the actor and once you show the people how amazing you can do in a particular role they'll just keep bringing you back. 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:29.519 I never got that opportunity. 00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:32.720 I tried to create a bunch of them I tried to write my own material. 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:49.680 I had a feature that was in pre-production for like three or four years and we were going to shoot it with like a Navy SEAL and Michael Popajan from a bunch of different movies and we had Jim Hanks Tom Hanks's brother as the director who I had already worked with on on Coving Roses. 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:52.160 And there's a lot of like talented people behind it. 00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:56.160 I think we were even going to get Rosario Dawson and a couple other cool people in it. 00:24:56.160 --> 00:25:00.559

It's like a $10 million film and it just hit a wall one day. 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:24.079 And that thing's that kind of thing happens in Hollywood all the time and you can't plan for it but someone disagrees unlike normal industries where you just sort of push through if you don't like someone in the film and TV entertainment and all that they the relationships can blow up with an email and then it can tank entire projects because no one wants to walk away because we all want to do our art, right? 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:26.559 So ego is the killer out here. 00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:47.920 But if you can relieve your ego and especially as an actor like if Kevin or Laura wanted to get into it I would say team up with you and and a person who loves shooting on camera and stuff take care of your sound because you can't fix that very well in post learn a little lighting techniques and then just go out there and shoot. 00:25:47.920 --> 00:26:06.160 Make movies write stuff it can be terrible can be launched at 70% it'll be a learning experience and as you show people as you put it into film festivals as you get trashed and critiqued you'll grow just like most disciplines but it's anyone's game now and the best story will win. 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:27.440 Obsession kind of proved that I love this let's talk about the tech side of it a little bit if an actor's face or voice or what have you can be digitally replicated who owns the digital version of that actor and if that actor gives a studio the permission to use their likeness in one movie should that extend to the sequel, the video game, the promo where do you draw that line? 00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:39.759 I personally, because I have to write these contracts for my own projects as a producer, I do contracts for likeness for the perpetruity of that particular product, but it's attached to revenue share. 00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:48.559 So I'm not asking you to give me your likeness and your performance for the life of the the media without paying you for the life of the media. 00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:58.160 There are contracts out there that are just like I want everything and that's usually a greedy producer that sees a particular future and doesn't want to keep paying people for it. 00:26:58.160 --> 00:27:04.799 And that's one of the reasons why actors are in the position that they're in right now is because residual payments are gone. 00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:18.799 The mentality sort of shifted out of tech bro to I'm going to produce this product and make as much possible money on that product for the rest of the product's life and I'm going to contract everyone around it. 00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:22.240 I saw this at the highest possible level. 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:33.039 And what you should do which is one of the things that I've done is every actor should take out their own company and assign the likeness to that company. 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:35.920 So like for me it's like Collin Pelton LLC. 00:27:35.920 --> 00:27:46.160 So all the checks and everything go to Collin Pelton and I can secure my likeness and I can sue or take legal action against anyone who uses my likeness without my permission. 00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:51.039 Most actors aren't doing that because they are not trained in business. 00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:55.359 I own four companies you know I've been in business for 10 years. 00:27:55.359 --> 00:27:57.519 I've run my own company since I was a kid. 00:27:57.519 --> 00:28:12.079 So it was just sort of like putting all this stuff together when your entire brand and value is your ability to say the words they want you to say and look good on camera, you should be doing everything you can to protect that. 00:28:12.559 --> 00:28:13.359 Oh my God. 00:28:13.359 --> 00:28:15.519 I'm like can you m move here? 00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:21.519 I'm in um Charleston South Carolina and I need you to move here so that we can make some videos because you've inspired me. 00:28:21.519 --> 00:28:27.680 I've never wanted to be an actor but then I every time I talk to you I'm like I should be an actor. 00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:36.799 I should do this the fact that you're giving great face years later like you literally don't look any different means you probably should have started a while ago. 00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:43.680 But that's okay because our age is still consuming media. 00:28:43.680 --> 00:28:50.720 Younger than us which used to be the hot spot the 18 to 25 are not consuming media. 00:28:50.720 --> 00:28:52.480 They can't afford it. 00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:54.640 Movies are too fucking expensive. 00:28:54.640 --> 00:28:58.480 It costs 50 bucks to go out to the movies and we don't have $50 anymore or they don't. 00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:10.319 So your value is intrinsic because people guys my age want to look at you because we want something age appropriate. 00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:20.559 We don't want to look at these young girls half of them are only fans anyway and you're sort of like wait are you advertising as a sex worker or are you actually this funny? 00:29:20.559 --> 00:29:27.359 And the internet has become just marketing for everything finding authenticity finding an actual good story. 00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:45.359 And if you got into comedy oh man yeah we need good I'd be better at that I think horrible funnier than I would yeah yeah like new girls style just lean right into the fact that you're a tech dork and and that should be your show. 00:29:45.359 --> 00:30:31.519 And honestly the way internet is done now especially with monetization you can just have a page on Facebook or Instagram or YouTube and do your show whatever your show is the Laura show or whatever and it's in part parcel your authority on something whatever that is and then you're also performing so you do skits and you educate and okay you're gonna be my agent now yeah are you ready you're ready to be my agent hey one one road trip and I could be out South

Carolina yeah Charleston come on I offer free housing for you anytime is Wakefield College near that I have no idea but there is a college that has a W something and I always think it's Wake Forest but it's not because the line looks the same. 00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:37.440 It might be Wake Forest Wake Forest is North Carolina but it's driving distance from here helps. 00:30:37.680 --> 00:30:42.880 Well Charlotte looks cool I drove by that a couple times when I was hanging out during North Carolina. 00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:48.240 Yeah you could do a whole trip you could do Charlotte and then come here I think it's I think we're like three hours from there. 00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:57.200 So well I I always like a good road trip so maybe we'll find something open invite okay so what happens to Hollywood's economics? 00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:19.839 Like we're talking about how it's expensive just to even go to like a movie theater but if studios can create just sticking with this digital background actors and D-age performers or you know generate entire performances and ultimately the question I guess is will audiences care how much they're watching what was created by a human or what is AI? 00:31:19.839 --> 00:31:28.480 I mean think about that song that the Puerto Rico song that people were like obsessed with and it was like a three second AI generated song. 00:31:28.799 --> 00:31:32.319 Or the uh the country song that was really gay. 00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:41.440 Oh the really gay country song yeah yeah yeah like lyrics I can't even it was quote necessarily and you want to dance and you're like wait what did he do? 00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:42.480 Wait, what did he do? 00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:44.160 In the back of his what? 00:31:44.319 --> 00:31:51.759 Yeah so your your question is sort of about the like is is Hollywood gonna make less money are they going to make more money? 00:31:51.759 --> 00:32:05.680 Like how is that going to work if we're basically saying I can just do these things instead does that benefit Hollywood in some way because they're not having to pay the actors but then you're kind of what you're watching the so there's two parts. 00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:07.599 Is it affecting Hollywood financially? 00:32:07.599 --> 00:32:21.599 And then the other part would be from like the actor side of things or not the actors but the viewers do you think people are going to be like I God I really wish that that was Kevin out there or oh animated Kevin is hilarious. 00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:50.480 I think they will mostly reject the media I think they would get about a 30% viewership on maybe the same story if it was acted out with with actual talent and what you're speaking to is greed actually is the the producers and studios and basically like like the tech money since we're on a tech podcast the tech bro money and those investors destroyed Hollywood. 00:32:50.480 --> 00:33:04.160 The Netflix model destroyed Hollywood model destroyed Hollywood I I think Apple TV's model is still agreeable but when Netflix did House of cards it changed everything. 00:33:04.160 --> 00:33:47.039 Because that was the first time that we had a full series greenlit by Netflix shot to completion released and consumed as as one it was the first binge opportunity right the producers are in a position to make as much money as possible on their products which means they're trying to cut costs in every possible place including talent including residuals they've cut most of that out because regulations are the law favors the lawmakers and not the artists when you say like how does it affect Hollywood 18 people are richer 7,000 are poorer. 00:33:47.039 --> 00:34:05.920 So 7,000 people connected to one project one hundred million project no longer have the economic and uh the the economy spike that it once did so Noah Wiley just went in front of I think it was a California Congress to talk about the tax rebate system. 00:34:05.920 --> 00:34:10.239 They benefited a 30% tax rebate on a $100 million project. 00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:24.719 Because of that rebate system they brought $122 million to the area that they were shooting in and that didn't go to one person whereas an AI thing is just studio and the person who came up with it. 00:34:24.719 --> 00:34:43.039 But the $120 million is divided over the local economy it helps caterers it helps fabric shops it helps the like electricity bill like the most random stuff for an economy booster for a project that is $100 million. 00:34:43.039 --> 00:35:15.679 And just to like place one thing up against another San Diego Comic-Con, the ultimate pop culture convention is about $180 million for that week in San Diego for that week we're talking about $128 million $122 million Comic-Con like equivalent to other cities wherever they're shooting and when you take away the people when you take away the backgrounds when you take away the locations all of that money goes away and it just goes to one person. 00:35:15.679 --> 00:35:30.960 And we know beyond a shadow of a doubt when most money goes to one person, that one person cannot in their lifetime spend the same amount of money that 7,000 people are going to spend. 00:35:30.960 --> 00:35:46.400 And so the greed and selfishness that is taken over in Hollywood will ultimately decentralize it and it will spread all over the world and people will just be like I'm not dealing with you because you guys are gross. 00:35:46.400 --> 00:35:56.719 They've always kind of been gross you know there's a reason why no one really knows what a movie made because the accounting is the most corrupt stuff that you could possibly imagine. 00:35:56.719 --> 00:36:03.519 Because they're just trying to hide money because they don't want to pay profits to the people that it's it that's all it is. 00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:04.239 It's just greed. 00:36:04.320 --> 00:36:23.519 Greed destroyed Hollywood that's not to be the devil's advocate but can I ask a sort of a a

a question kind of twist a little bit like so you just released your directorial debut recession of a Hollywood princess and you used old footage from 2009 that was thought to be lost right you took something old you created it in a new way and you found a different way to present it. 00:36:23.519 --> 00:36:38.400 Does AI like democratize the creative process and give independent filmmakers a way to do some of those things that they didn't have before like can it be used as a positive or do you only see it as a negative because of these things you're saying? 00:36:38.639 --> 00:36:46.960 Yeah so recession is a great example of tools that have a little bit of AI in them that allowed me to overcome a hump. 00:36:46.960 --> 00:36:57.760 Now could I have used an editor paid them hundreds of dollars an hour or uh usually $150 an hour to do the same thing. 00:36:57.760 --> 00:37:08.639 Yeah probably but I'm in a cash poor scenario because I'm out here building four companies at a time and I wasn't expecting to find footage from 2009. 00:37:08.639 --> 00:37:29.280 So I used a program called CapCut which absolutely has AI tools in it of all kinds and the AI tools I use in there are usually caption generators because that saves probably 30 minutes to an hour for every clip that you do if you were to do it random, uh if you were to do it manually. 00:37:29.280 --> 00:37:34.480 So that may have taken someone's job away but definitely helped me push it out. 00:37:34.480 --> 00:37:42.880 That individual clip I had to add a filter on and I didn't have the training to add those kinds of filters. 00:37:42.880 --> 00:38:02.000 It probably would have taken me a 20 to 60 hours of finding the right person, getting them on board for a no pay contract there would have been a a lot more to it as opposed to my business partner going, hey if you just chop the end right there and then I think it's good. 00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:12.559 And I chopped the end off and I filtered it through a like retro filter to give it a little bit of like extra resolution to be perfectly honest and then printed it and posted it. 00:38:12.559 --> 00:38:17.440 I did get the blessing of Cigar Ross which was kind of amazing because it's a cigar song. 00:38:17.440 --> 00:38:29.599 Cigar Ross is one of my favorite concerts one of my favorite bands they were huge motivation in 2008 for most of my projects but I was able to reach out to their in contact and be like hey can I use your song and they they gave me a thumbs up. 00:38:29.599 --> 00:38:31.840 They wouldn't collaborate but it felt good. 00:38:32.159 --> 00:38:33.679 Still still pretty cool. 00:38:33.679 --> 00:38:36.480 You you have like a Tony Robbins vibe to me. 00:38:36.480 --> 00:38:44.559 Like every time I talk to you I'm like I can do anything I don't know what it is about you but you just give that energy off that like and and you should do that. 00:38:44.559 --> 00:39:06.159 You should do some sort of like motivational like go around

and like tell people because you have you just have that you have that thing where I'm like I believe everything that you're saying and I think you're a genuine person so it's not to say that oh you're lying and you're pulling off truth well no like you just have this energy about you that I'm like we can all do it. 00:39:06.159 --> 00:39:07.199 Let's go. 00:39:07.199 --> 00:39:14.000 He's right and I love that about you and I just feel like you needed to know that I wanted to tell you I I appreciate it. 00:39:14.079 --> 00:39:29.920 I do believe that inherently we could be a pretty amazing planet overall I think we've got a lot of evolution to do as a species we gotta get a handle on our anger we gotta get a handle on our rage and wrath. 00:39:29.920 --> 00:39:48.559 I think men in the world need to have a real hard look in the mirror and ask themselves about how they were reared and what they value and why and really start reading more and take other people's perspectives travel a little bit more and yeah just ego death. 00:39:48.559 --> 00:40:10.639 I think the as a as a nation we definitely need an ego death I think if we had an ego death as a nation and we just started really taking care of each other Manami style like doing what we know we should be doing with tax dollars and everything and and really looking into accountability make accountability great again I feel like I am a hopeful person. 00:40:10.639 --> 00:40:31.440 I believe in the the quote from Gandhi be the change that you want to see in the world and we really have a two options that we can go forth we can go forth in a this is really hard I can't do it somebody else can do it whichever kind of way just sort of negative and and self-deprecating or we can go yeah but what if it's me? 00:40:31.440 --> 00:40:50.719 What if I am that one that they talk about what if I am the 1% I just don't know it because I haven't hit my thing yet you know what if my dial in talent is my million dollar business and then I can fund the things that I actually want to do you know and and I think just about everybody has that unlock. 00:40:50.719 --> 00:41:17.519 And I believe that if AI and some of these innovations without like capitalistic I need to make money all the time endeavor if those things were kind of lifted and we just focused on how could we be the best possible country, happiest most opportunities and stuff like that, I I honestly believe we would influence anyone else not on that path. 00:41:17.519 --> 00:41:31.280 And if we could meet with the people who are doing stuff on a technological level that's better than us, South Korea's got a bunch of innovations we could take advantage of Thailand dentistry off the charts. 00:41:31.280 --> 00:41:38.480 South Australia and Adelaide is doing some incredible things with infrastructure and fiber optics and internet and all that other stuff. 00:41:38.480 --> 00:41:44.960 And then you've got like free electric Wi-Fi in places like Denmark we could be doing all of that. 00:41:44.960 --> 00:41:51.360 Electricity could be a thing in the past healthcare could be the thing of the past food could be the thing like we could do so much. 00:41:51.360 --> 00:41:59.119 And I often fantasize about mentally projecting and narrating a world where all of that exists. 00:41:59.119 --> 00:42:17.440 And I feel like it's only a couple years off if we all dedicated ourselves to taking care of one another not who's right or owning one person or just like it's one of the reasons why I'm an independent is because I don't want to be put in a category because I love you, I love you and I love you. 00:42:17.440 --> 00:42:24.800 And I want you all to be the best version of your fucking self, even if it's an amateur golfer or a fucking professional video game streamer. 00:42:24.960 --> 00:42:27.519 Oh my God, Colin is running for president right now. 00:42:27.519 --> 00:42:37.280 This is his announcement right here live on that tech pod vote for Colin he is running for president woo I'm sweating that was that was some good stuff right there. 00:42:37.519 --> 00:42:37.920 I love it. 00:42:37.920 --> 00:42:39.519 No this is awesome you were great. 00:42:39.760 --> 00:42:58.320 I'm actually working with a congressional candidate right now as well she's a Ryden Kathleen Mae Rogers she's in the 4th district of Missouri and a lot of this stuff is some what does Colin not do this is my agent Collin Pelton thank you so much for being on the show. 00:42:58.559 --> 00:43:18.800 Yeah absolutely it's totally my pleasure Kevin we just talked to Collin Pelton filmmaker actor technologist entrepreneur all the things that I mentioned at the beginning and that are still true today. 00:43:18.800 --> 00:43:37.039 I've known Colin for years and years and he's just one of those people that I mean you just gotta know him to know like what's he gonna do because he's always doing something and he's just he's just a great person in in my opinion he's he's a 10 out of 10 but you just met him so what were he what were your thoughts? 00:43:37.280 --> 00:43:38.400 I thought it was really interesting. 00:43:38.400 --> 00:43:43.760 Again this is like a world that I'm never really in so I love it when we bring somebody on who's totally different from us. 00:43:43.760 --> 00:44:00.880 But I also like the technology piece of it right I like that he was talking about how the technology is changing the way we make the movies but it's still very human right there's still a lot of people involved and you still need the great storytellers because they matter the creativity piece can't be automated or shouldn't be automated I think was really his take on it. 00:44:00.880 --> 00:44:02.719 And so I thought that piece of it was really interesting. 00:44:02.800 --> 00:44:47.760 And so I'm really glad we had him on I really liked it I thought I agree 10 out of 10 episode 10 out of 10 episode if you're interested in getting into film or film and technology or just want to talk to us about what's your favorite movie or anything in general we'd love to hear from you reach out to us at contact at thattechpod.com head over to our website www dottechpod.com enter your email to subscribe get some swag do something fun who knows just check us out or oh my god you want to be friends on social media awesome I'd love that go ahead and friend us on LinkedIn or really what we'd love is if you followed us on linkedin.com slash that tech pod and anywhere else we may or may not be on social media because if there's one thing we know to be true it is that we are not good at social media. 00:44:47.760 --> 00:44:50.000 Kevin, is there anything else our listeners can do? 00:44:50.239 --> 00:45:01.920 Yep go to AirVigurePods, Apple Podcasts Spotify iHeartMedia or what have you and leave us a review and leave us a rating let us know how we're doing all that stuff helps us with the algorithms and gets us out there more which is much appreciated. 00:45:02.079 --> 00:45:04.639 Thanks everybody thanks everyone