Bad Boys For Life Directors ON: The Journey From Film School To Big Hollywood Success & Giving Back Along The Way

Bad Boys For Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah sat down to talk with Jay Shetty about what it was like to not only work with their childhood heroes, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, but also direct one of the year’s biggest movies. Today you'll hear the inspirational story of how these talented Moroccan directors got their big break and catch their vision for the powerful future of film. Bonus: They’ll be directing Beverly Hills Cop 4 as well! Text Jay Shetty 310-997-4177 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Jay Shetty?

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• 0:44Jay Shetty?

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• 1:30Jay Shetty?

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• 2:16Jay Shetty?

  And when everything around you is changing, it helps to have a few things you can rely on. AG1 Next Gen is one of those easy habits to keep. It's the clinically backed, comprehensive daily health drink that supports your gut health, energy production, and foundational nutrition all in one scoop. AG1's ingredients are sourced from quality partners for absorption, potency, and nutrient density to deliver the foundational nutrition your body needs. And alongside a proper diet, AG1 Next Gen meets 94% of nutrient requirements and is clinically shown to enrich the gut microbiome. For a limited time, save 20% on your first subscription order of AG1 Next Gen or AG1

• 2:59Jay Shetty?

  Pro at drinkag1.com/onpurpose. That's drinkag1.com/onpurpose.

• 3:09Speaker 01

  We did this movie, it came out in 2015, and it blew up in Toronto Film Festival. It won a prize there and that's how the doors of Hollywood opened right away. And the first producer to see the movie was, by chance of God, Jared Bruckheimer. And when we thought, it worked.

• 3:33Jay Shetty?

  Hey, everyone, welcome back to On Purpose, the number one health podcast in the world, where we get to dissect stories of people who are living with purpose, people who are living with meaning, people who are living an incredible life based on their passion and transforming lives and the world through it. Now, today's guests, if you haven't heard about them, I am so excited for you to learn about them. Not only are they listeners of the podcast, they're dear friends of mine and they've made an effort to be here in between their crazy schedule of what they've been up to. So I want to tell you a bit about our two incredible guests today, and here I go. So Adil El-Arbi and Bilal Fala are the newest set of big budget studio directors you will want to keep tabs on.

• 4:16Jay Shetty?

  Moroccans by way of Belgium, they partnered in film school and are known for writing and directing the feature films Image 2014, Black 2015, and Patsa 2018. And they are the directors of the Smash hit Bad Boys for Life. If you've not seen it, make sure you go check it out. I saw it twice in the week that it dropped, starring, of course, the one and only Will Smith and the awesome Martin Lawrence. LRB says, "Our movies are for a generation who doesn't have dreams. We want to give them a voice." I can't wait to hear their voices today. Welcome to the show, Adele and Bilal. It's so good to have you here, man.

• 4:56Speaker 01

  Yo, bro.

• 4:57Speaker 02

  Love Jay.

• 4:57Speaker 01

  How you doing?

• 4:58Jay Shetty?

  I was so excited for your guys' energy to come to the podcast because I remember the first time we went out for dinner.

• 5:03Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:03Jay Shetty?

  And then when we hung out together and then back at the premiere as well. I mean, you guys just, you literally ooze authenticity.

• 5:11Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 5:11Jay Shetty?

  Like, you just have that energy and vibe. Like, whenever I'm with you, I feel like you're being totally yourself. You're just super down to earth, you're super grounded. And despite all your amazing success that you're having, you're just good human beings, man, so.

• 5:23Speaker 01

  Thanks, man. It means a lot that it comes from you, so.

• 5:26Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I mean it, I mean it.

• 5:27Speaker 02

  It's such a big honor to be here.

• 5:28Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:29Speaker 02

  And a privilege.

• 5:30Jay Shetty?

  Well, no, I'm excited to dive into your stories today. You've got a phenomenal story and I think anyone who's listening and watching today, this is one of those stories that's gonna make you dream again. It's one of those stories that helps you realize the value of hard work and the value of what it takes to really chase your dreams. And I think both of you embody that. So, so let's dive straight into it. And I want you to talk about, the first thing is, I want you to tell me about a funny memory that you two shared at film school when you met in St. Lucas.

• 5:56Speaker 01

  Well, you know, St. Lucas in Brussels was a very artistic school and it was actually full of white people and we're, we're Moroccans and, and.

• 6:03Jay Shetty?

  Really?

• 6:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, a hundred percent.

• 6:07Speaker 01

  And, and you know, I was very shy and not really sociable and I didn't talk a lot. And I also didn't know how to dress well and so I was like in my corner. And then came somebody that was really loud.

• 6:19Speaker 02

  I wasn't, I wasn't that loud, but.

• 6:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, but it was, it was, it was like the Fresh Prince came in, you know, the Fresh Prince of Brussels. Bill Fala, who was talking to everybody. Uh, and, and I was like, who, who's this loud guy?

• 6:32Speaker 02

  Yeah, and, but, but I was like, I only saw like white people. I was like, what, what, what, what's, what's going on? And in the corner, I saw Adele and I'm like, is that a Moroccan? Zed and Morocco, so I went to him and said, yo, you Moroccan?

• 6:47Speaker 01

  I said, yeah.

• 6:49Speaker 02

  And then we became brothers.

• 6:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, brothers. We formed a gang right away then, yeah.

• 6:54Jay Shetty?

  That's amazing, man. How old were you guys then?

• 6:56Speaker 01

  I was eighteen then, yeah.

• 6:57Jay Shetty?

  Wow, so it's been like fourteen years, roughly, of being friends?

• 7:00Speaker 01

  Exactly, yeah.

• 7:01Jay Shetty?

  That's a real friendship, man. It's amazing, it's amazing that, did you ever imagine then? When you guys were eighteen, you were at film school, you both see each other, two Moroccan, like, did you ever imagine that you would make movies together one day?

• 7:15Speaker 01

  Well, yeah, I always, I always thought I was going to be a lonely filmmaker.

• 7:19Speaker 02

  Yeah, and I was, I thought I was gonna be like a dictator. My, my first movies, I was like handling the on-camera, my, I did everything myself because I couldn't like give it to somebody else, so, yeah.

• 7:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, you have your like your own vision like that, you know? But, but when we became friends, we were helping each other out with movies and step by step, we realized that we had the same ideas, the same vision. Also, when we would read like a script or, or a story, we, in our heads, I would explain to him how I see it visually and how cut together with what kind of music, and he said, I got the same thing.

• 7:52Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was like super free.

• 7:53Speaker 01

  Really?

• 7:54Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was, I, I, it's, it's really phenomenal to have a feeling like that, like see, somebody seeing the same thing.

• 8:01Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 8:01Speaker 02

  That's, that's, that's like, uh.

• 8:04Speaker 01

  It's scary at first.

• 8:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, scary, and I, first of all, I was thinking, what the, you know, like, I gotta, I gotta beat this guy.

• 8:11Jay Shetty?

  In, in the beginning, you're thinking, oh, is this person just agreeing with everything I say? Like, that's amazing, that's, that's very rare. By the way, I just wanted to say, and I'm saying this for everyone watching, this is the first time that we've ever done a double guest.

• 8:24Speaker 01

  Making history.

• 8:25Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, yeah, literally, this is historic for the podcast. And you've already raised the bar, the chemistry here right now. Now, next time we have double guests, it's gonna be hard work to beat you guys. But how did you, what did you learn about yourselves and each other in, in developing that collaboration? Because I feel like when you're eighteen, we have this childlike collaboration of like, oh, we'd love to work together, it would be cool. But now that you're actually doing it as adults and you've made multiple movies together, it's like, what have you learned about collaboration and working together in the process?

• 8:55Speaker 02

  Well, collaborating because I was like a dictator and I wanted my shit and nobody can touch it. I learned to like listen to all the ideas and be open and absorb everything. So, but I was like a perfectionist and he learned me mostly of you have to let it go sometimes. Let it loose, as I'll be working forever on one thing.

• 9:19Speaker 01

  And for me, I was the contrary. I was at that time really happy too fast, like, eh, it's good enough.

• 9:25Speaker 01

  Not to put too much effort, nobody's gonna see all the mistakes, it's good. And he was like, no man, you gotta like pay attention to the details. So his crazy perfectionism and my lazy nonchalance, just let it happen. That combination made it work like a very good balance.

• 9:44Jay Shetty?

  You know, it's so good hearing that because I think there's so many people who are listening and watching right now. And they're either trying to do everything on their own. Or I know a lot of people who just say to me, Jay, I need to be in a team. Like I need to work with people around me and energy. And it's fun to see how both of you actually thought you were independent.

• 9:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 9:59Jay Shetty?

  But you found your complementary skills and that's really good to hear, man. I love hearing that.

• 10:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, teamwork is like central in everything we do. It's actually the most important thing. If we start a project, then it's just like a family, like a team.

• 10:13Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 10:13Speaker 02

  And bring the best out of everyone to bring the best project.

• 10:16Speaker 01

  Because when we're making movies, it is like you're in a football team, basically. You gotta have all your awesome players, you know, like the Red Devils.

• 10:25Jay Shetty?

  You're Manchester United fans?

• 10:26Speaker 01

  Well, I'm more a Tottenham fan because, yeah, I know you.

• 10:30Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I'm Manchester United.

• 10:31Speaker 01

  But Tottenham because, you know, Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld, they're my buddies.

• 10:35Jay Shetty?

  Well, we used to have Fellaini.

• 10:37Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 10:38Speaker 02

  Manchester City, man.

• 10:39Jay Shetty?

  We had Lukaku at one point.

• 10:40Speaker 01

  Well, the Premier League is practically the Belgian league.

• 10:43Jay Shetty?

  It is, exactly, exactly. Oh yeah, I got to interview Hazard last year. Yeah, you got an amazing team. But okay, move away from football. We'll get back to more serious stuff. But it's interesting, I don't know if you read Bob Iger's book. So in Bob Iger's book, he talks about how like at one point Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino, George Lucas, they would all get together.

• 11:07Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 11:08Jay Shetty?

  And watch each other's movies.

• 11:09Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 11:10Jay Shetty?

  And give each other feedback.

• 11:11Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 11:12Jay Shetty?

  Like, it's amazing to hear that. Like, I mean, do you feel that now that you're in L.A. and you're spending more time here? Like, who do you guys go to for mentorship and feedback? And who are you learning from?

• 11:21Speaker 01

  Well, you know, obviously, working with Will and, you know, that's, that's like, for us, that's like a mentor. You know, you grew up with him as an actor, but also a great filmmaker with so many ideas. And being with Jerry Bruckheimer, you know, the iconic producer, one of the most famous producers in the world. So those people that we work with, that was already like our first circle. But now that we're here, there's so many directors that we'd love to meet that, that, that, you know, we are big fans of Scorsese. If we could meet him one day, or Tarantino, or, you know.

• 11:52Jay Shetty?

  Spielberg.

• 11:53Speaker 01

  Spielberg, also newer generations, you know.

• 11:55Jay Shetty?

  Damien Chazelle.

• 11:55Speaker 01

  If Damien Chazelle hears us, or Barry Jenkins, we'd love to be your boys, you know, so. So these, we did that in Belgium, where there's also a new generation of filmmakers that are starting to break out also internationally in television. And, and we're all friends, and we all watch his other stuff. And it's great to see that we're basically all coming together in Hollywood now. So on the Belgian front, you all, we already have that.

• 12:17Jay Shetty?

  Yeah. Okay, this is awesome. Before, before we dive into the main part of what I want to talk about today, I want to hear the one thing that annoys you the most about the other person.

• 12:25Speaker 01

  That one.

• 12:26Jay Shetty?

  And, and the one thing that you love about the other person. We'll start with the annoying.

• 12:31Speaker 01

  The annoying, but there's a lot of things, yeah.

• 12:33Jay Shetty?

  A lot of things?

• 12:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, I know, it's difficult to choose one, but, you know, I mean, there's like a small thing. It is, you know, it's, for some reason, he always like, like slurps, I mean, like, you know, sucks on his food.

• 12:44Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 12:45Speaker 01

  Even when it's not a soup.

• 12:46Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, and he, he always like, like, when he eats, he did with his mouth open, and, and that sound is so annoying. It is like, it's like there's only one sound and there's a So that makes me nervous.

• 12:59Speaker 01

  That's really, sorry to say that.

• 13:00Jay Shetty?

  So you can't eat dinner together?

• 13:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, no, it's difficult. I mean, you don't just, you're in your zone, we do a headset and we don't talk to each other, you know. So that's.

• 13:08Jay Shetty?

  And what about love? What do you guys love about each other?

• 13:10Speaker 01

  Well, one of the things that, that could annoy me, but actually is awesome, is the fact that he's, besides the movie, you know, where his perfection is, he's really like, let live and let live. Really like, you know, um. He's a good guy. He's really chill. Sometimes, you know, I get worked out. I talk about the small thing. I talk to him and I'll say, "Yo, I'm so angry." And he's like, "Come on, man. Just take it easy. Be grateful, be chill. I mean, don't worry about it." And I'm like, "I wish I was like you." But it calms me down, you know? And the fact that he's really very calm and chill and serene.

• 13:45Speaker 02

  Well, the funny thing is I like when, actually, when you're mad. Because then you, then he has his driving force that takes me, gives me a lot of power to go. And that mad, or when you're mad, you put it always in work.

• 14:01Speaker 01

  Positive, yeah. Canalize it in some positive thing, in positive energy, you know? So that's, that's why it's good that we have this dynamic thing. Because, you know, when I'm too stressed out.

• 14:11Speaker 02

  Opposites all the time.

• 14:12Speaker 01

  Yeah. He's like the zen master, you know? And I'm the energy booster.

• 14:20Jay Shetty?

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• 15:48Jay Shetty?

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• 16:33Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, well, no, it's good. You can tell that you guys are great friends, man. And, and, and I want to dive into it now. We want to talk about serious filmmaking stuff because you guys are incredible filmmakers. You're innovative. You know, when I, when I saw Bad Boys for Life, and I remember you sent me your Belgium movies too, which I'd seen. So when I, when I watched them, I was blown away by whenever you see sequels being made now of movies, it's always quite, it gets harder and harder and harder.

• 16:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 17:00Jay Shetty?

  And usually the quality of the movie goes lower and lower and lower and lower.

• 17:03Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 17:03Jay Shetty?

  And obviously I knew you guys before I watched the movie. And so my hope was that you were going to bring something amazing to it and you did. Like, I think everyone who watched it genuinely believed that the storytelling was incredible. The videography was awesome, like it was fresh, it was new, but it still kept the same like roots and grounding of what we all grew up watching Bad Boys. But let's, let's tell me that journey and we'll do the Bad Boys journey. Then we'll go backwards on everything you did in Belgium. Tell me the journey of you two being at film school together, watching things like Fresh Prince growing up and Martin after school. And then you get this call that changes your life, that brings you into this world. Like, tell us about that journey.

• 17:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, for us, when you're in art school, mostly they train you to make a very auteur cinema, which is good, it's a good thing, but it's mostly like art house movies, movies that you go to, film festivals and stuff like that. So Hollywood is not really a good word there. Hollywood is like, nah, you're not in the right school.

• 18:01Jay Shetty?

  Hollywood's not cool.

• 18:02Speaker 01

  No, it's not, not cool at all. You know, and we, as you know, we would secretly say, you like, you like action movies? And it's like, yeah, yeah. Hey, do you like J. Cole movies? Yeah, yeah. You like Bad Boys? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, if one day, if they don't make, when are they gonna make a third Bad Boys movie? That was what we were starting to say.

• 18:21Speaker 02

  At film school, yeah.

• 18:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, and year after year, we say, if they don't make a Bad Boys movie, we're gonna make that. Because back then, we were 100% sure, we're gonna do film school, and then we go, we make one movie in Belgium, and right away, we're in Hollywood, and we make Bad Boys 3. So that was all the time, the thing that we would talk about is Bad Boys 3.

• 18:38Speaker 02

  We were even saying that we were like the bad boys of cinema back then. Like, we related so much to Mike and Marcus, so.

• 18:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, we were always.

• 18:45Jay Shetty?

  Who's who?

• 18:46Speaker 02

  Well. I have a little bit of Mike in me, but also Marcus.

• 18:49Speaker 01

  Yeah, it depends, you know, sometimes.

• 18:51Speaker 02

  Sometimes I'm Mike.

• 18:52Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm mostly Marcus, but sometimes everyone wanna be badass. I'm not a Mike.

• 18:57Speaker 02

  But everybody wants to be like Mike.

• 18:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, but everybody's mostly Marcus. Funny and sweet and warm and a good guy.

• 19:05Jay Shetty?

  But tell us about that process then. So you've had this dream, you're talking about it, you're thinking about it, which, when you first told me that, that blew my mind. Because I was just like, it's so cool when you've talked about something. And it's not like, it's not like, it's quite a rare thing to pull off, right? It's like, first of all, they gotta be ready to make another movie. Second of all, you gotta be the guys who get picked. Tell us about the process of being picked, chosen, selected, getting the, getting the job. How did it work?

• 19:32Speaker 02

  I just wanted to tell another little story. So when, when I was 12 years old, I grew up, I was like small, and then I grew really tall, and I became really skinny. And at school, I was like a nerd, and everybody laughed with me. So I was like a big nerd. And after school, I always saw The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. And The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, I started to think like, I have to be like that guy, you know? I have to be like open and, and just like. So because of Fresh Prince, I started to think like. I can be a movie maker. I can do this. I can be cool.

• 20:04Speaker 01

  Be cool.

• 20:05Speaker 02

  And.

• 20:06Speaker 01

  And yeah, basically, because he was silly Billy, like silly Willie.

• 20:09Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 20:09Speaker 01

  And Will Smith saved his life, basically.

• 20:11Speaker 02

  Yeah, basically, because of him, I started to open my mind to whatever. I can be whatever I want to.

• 20:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 20:17Speaker 02

  And to have, to make a movie, first Hollywood movie with Will Smith, it's just like, yeah, bigger than life.

• 20:23Speaker 01

  Yeah. And it basically, it all started when we met each other. There was a book, which was called Black, which was about gangs in Brussels. And it was a Romeo and Juliet story between a Congolese girl, fifteen year old girl, that falls in love with a Moroccan guy from a rival gang. And it was a very hard, very shocking story, based on true events. And when we read that book, right away, we knew, okay, this is gonna be our Do the Right Thing, our La Anne, our, you know, Mean Streets. This is, this movie, this movie is gonna be our ticket to Hollywood, no matter what. But we were in the first year of film school, and we had flunked that first year when we read the book. So it was like four years ago as a student. So we were like, okay, we need to make this movie by any means necessary. Because this is gonna be the one that's gonna bring us to Hollywood. And then once in Hollywood,

• 21:08Speaker 01

  we're gonna ask for Bad Boys Three. So that was like the ticket.

• 21:10Speaker 02

  That was the plan.

• 21:11Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was really like that. And, and they were going, they were already planning to make a movie out of that. So we were thinking it's.

• 21:17Speaker 02

  In Belgium.

• 21:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, in Belgium. Game over. We were still students. So we, year after year, we started to make better short movies. And every short movie was basically a sort of adaptation of that book. Up until we started to win a lot of prizes with a movie that was called Brothers. And then we got the opportunity, out of nowhere, to direct the adaptation of that book, Black. And that's what we did. Then we did, we did this movie. It came out in 2015, and it blew up in Toronto Film Festival. It won a prize there. And that's how the doors of Hollywood opened right away. And the first producer to see the movie was. By chance of God, Jerry Bruckheimer. And when we thought, "Oh, it worked."

• 21:56Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 21:57Speaker 01

  This movie has been seen by him, his eyes. And then they said, "Will Smith also watch your movies." Like, the eyeballs of Will Smith is on our stuff. And that's where we got a meeting to meet Jerry Bruckheimer.

• 22:08Speaker 02

  Like, one of the first meetings in Hollywood was at Jerry Bruckheimer's office.

• 22:12Speaker 01

  Yeah. It was 2015, and then they said, "What do you want to do, guys? Bad Boys 3." And I said, "No, it's not available."

• 22:20Speaker 02

  There's already a director.

• 22:21Speaker 01

  Another director. Which is the same situation as with Black, but we were like, "Okay, well, we're gonna steal that project somehow." And year after year, you know, we were always like, you know, chasing it. And eventually, the director, great guy, Joe Carnahan, he dropped out of the project. And then Bad Boys, all of a sudden, in the mailbox, the script of Bad Boys. And like, "Oh, it's real." And the fact that, you know, when we were like 19, it was, we really wanted it, but it was a dream, and we never thought it was really going to happen. Because when you say, "Yeah, we're gonna adapt that book, and then that book's gonna go to Hollywood, and then Will is gonna see the movie, and then he's gonna give us Bad Boys 3," we say that as 19-year-olds. It's just...

• 23:02Speaker 02

  Yeah, we say a lot of stuff.

• 23:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, we say a lot of stuff. But when it really happens, you're like, "Oh."

• 23:07Speaker 02

  So, at the point when we got Bad Boys for Life, the script in our mailbox, we were preparing a Belgian movie, "Battre", or the international title is "Gangster", and we were like two weeks or three weeks from the shoot. So Jerry said, "Are you available to make Bad Boys?"

• 23:22Speaker 01

  And then we said, "No." And we turned it down.

• 23:26Speaker 02

  We turned it down. It was the most difficult no ever, because you were already signed up for it. Yeah, and like, the whole crew was ready, all the actors, and it was a bash. Yeah, and I could never imagine I could say no to that dream.

• 23:42Speaker 01

  Yeah, like, I can't believe we're going to say no to Bad Boys for Life, to Will Smith, to Jerry Bruckheimer, to Martin Lawrence. And we did that, and it was just, that's just life, man. It's just, if it was not written for us, it was not written for us. And eventually, in 2018, he came back, like, "Hey, we're gonna do it again." And then we said, "Yeah, yeah, now we're available." That's how it all happens.

• 24:04Speaker 02

  It's amazing, man.

• 24:04Speaker 01

  It was meant to be.

• 24:09Speaker 03

  Mr. President, my company foreme of the explosion on our rig on October 2nd. Causing massive water displacement and triggering a tsunami. They all heap the blame on me.

• 24:18Speaker 04

  Tom Cruise is.

• 24:20Speaker 03

  Digger got us into this mess. And Digger's gonna dig us up.

• 24:23Speaker 04

  From the director of Birdman and The Revenant.

• 24:26Speaker 05

  What would happen if I stopped drilling? You stop, you freeze in there, that's what.

• 24:30Speaker 04

  With great power comes great deniability.

• 24:33Speaker 05

  I'm not the first then.

• 24:34Speaker 04

  Digger. See the trailer online. Only in theaters October 2nd. Rated R. Under 17. Not a minute without parent.

• 24:40Jay Shetty?

  That's incredible. Tell me about what it was when you read the book Black and you thought this needs to be a movie. Like, what was it about the story? What was it that connected with both of you? That you felt so confident that that was gonna be your ticket?

• 24:54Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 24:54Jay Shetty?

  Into the directing world?

• 24:56Speaker 01

  Well, for us, because we're from Moroccan origin, Moroccans in Belgium, it's sometimes tough, you know? There's, there is racism, there is poverty among the Moroccan community. There's a lot of, also, there is crime, there is, you know, there's a stigma. So, so there were no really public figure of, or filmmakers or actors that were, that looked like us. You know, everybody was white, basically. And also the movie world as well, and the TV world. So, that's why in film school, we're the only twos. And you read that book and you just know, okay, there's never been a story told like that in Belgium. These stories aren't told.

• 25:29Jay Shetty?

  Tell us a bit about the story.

• 25:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, the story, it was, you know, it was about this, this, this African and Arab community in those poor neighborhoods that we really know because it's close to us, it's close to our friends, to our families.

• 25:42Jay Shetty?

  Even, even like at school when we made short movies, it was like in that world.

• 25:46Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 25:46Jay Shetty?

  So, it was, we were making all these little stories in that world and this book is telling.

• 25:52Speaker 01

  And actually, you heard about the real story of, of this girl that, that basically, when a girl is in a gang like that in Belgium, she's just an object, you know? She, she's forced to have sex with everybody of that gang. And it's a very harsh, hard reality that nobody really talked about and nobody wanted to see is that because all the victims are gang members, even though they're just 15, 16 years old. And we felt compelled to really. We tell this story because it's a reality and and and they they they are these are victims. They are also their stories are worth being told to the world.

• 26:27Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's and those stories were like it wasn't the newspaper, just one line. Nobody talked about all that violence that was happening in that world. So um it it is and because all these victims are from that world and it's not like.

• 26:40Speaker 01

  They don't care.

• 26:41Speaker 02

  They don't care. So having this story and telling this story from a black girl's perspective was just a we felt like this story has to be told.

• 26:50Speaker 01

  And at the same time, the casting, there was all the actors never played in a movie before because in in in acting schools or in the casting agencies, you didn't have the diversity. And and we needed to find them on the streets and and and there were some singers, some rappers that eventually got the part. And for the first time, they, you know, people could go to the cinema and watch um the diversity on the screen reflected.

• 27:13Speaker 02

  Yeah, I'm just gonna explain more about that casting process. While I was at school, I saw this movie City of God.

• 27:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, that was a great movie.

• 27:21Speaker 02

  And I saw like everything about the movie, the making of, and all these actors were from the favela. So it it I I had just this personal connection with that movie because it was like uh you don't see the Moroccans or blacks on on on on the on the TV screen. So we were forced to, yeah, to find actors that or people that never acted. And this project, this movie was exactly like City of God. We had to like search on the streets and we knew there is such a big pool of talent that nobody saw.

• 27:52Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 27:52Speaker 02

  So we did like three, four months of, six months of intensive casting on the street. We went everywhere. I came for every actor, I can tell you an amazing story.

• 28:00Speaker 01

  And and also, nobody believed like, really, we're gonna play in a movie? Because it's it's it's it seems something so inaccessible to them.

• 28:07Speaker 02

  Totally, yeah.

• 28:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, and and yeah, then we professionalized them. They played in a movie.

• 28:11Speaker 02

  But the thing is, like, for each role, there were like so many good options.

• 28:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 28:15Speaker 02

  There was like over too much talent. So it was really difficult to find the best of the best. So what we did at that point, because after we had all the actors, there was so much other talent. We said we have to. Start this, our own casting agency and put them, uh, you know, giving them the opportunity to, to do other.

• 28:35Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 28:35Speaker 02

  Uh, you know.

• 28:36Speaker 01

  Give the chance because, you know, the thing is that, that these actors that never thought they would play in a movie before. Well, Will Smith saw their performance and people like Jennifer Lawrence saw their performance and Margot Robbie. And they're big fans of them and who can say that, you know, that the biggest stars in the world were in awe of their performance. People that were just on the streets, never thinking that it would be part of, of the movie industry. And that, that caused like the new generation of, of, of dreamers, basically. Now, now you have these guys, uh, g- girls and guys in those neighborhoods of different origins that believe that, okay, you can be an actor or even a director or even a screenwriter. And that was very important to us.

• 29:15Speaker 02

  Another filmmaker that was like a big inspiration, that was Spike Lee. Uh, and he was like one of the first big black, uh, directors. And, and he, all these actors like Denzel Washington and, and Morgan, I, uh.

• 29:29Speaker 01

  Wesley Snipes.

• 29:30Speaker 02

  Wesley Snipes and even, even, um, Martin Lawrence, he brought them to the big screen.

• 29:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 29:35Speaker 02

  And the, when I was young, I saw, saw, you know, Spike Lee was such an inspiration. I was thinking like, one day.

• 29:41Speaker 01

  Spike Lee go to Belgium. That's how we basically started.

• 29:44Speaker 02

  And then with black, we, we had the opportunity to do that.

• 29:48Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, there's so many beautiful messages in your, in your lives, whether you guys see them or not, like, there, there's so many beautiful ones, like first of all, just having a vision, a dream, a plan. Like it wasn't just like, oh, we want to do this. It's like you had a plan. You're like, we're gonna do this and this is gonna happen and this. You know, it's like you had a plan and you'd envisioned it and you'd seen it.

• 30:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 30:06Jay Shetty?

  Become true, whether you believed it or not at the time, it was there. And then the fact that you're both so purposeful, when I hear you talk about this, it's not like a strategy or a technique or like trend. It's like you guys really care about telling these stories, like.

• 30:19Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 30:20Jay Shetty?

  You really believe in the fact that there are these people with no voices, there are these people that are marginalized and, you know, not really understood and, and you genuinely believe that they deserve a voice.

• 30:31Speaker 02

  Exactly.

• 30:31Jay Shetty?

  And to, to hear you both do that so purposefully is amazing. Tell me about, you said there's loads. Tell me about just one of the stories or one of the actors that just blows your mind or one of the actresses that you worked with that you're just like. This person can't believe it, because I know what you're saying, that if someone came up to you on the street, especially in those streets, and said, "Oh, do you want to act in my movie?", you just laugh at them, right?

• 30:51Speaker 02

  Yeah, exactly.

• 30:52Jay Shetty?

  And so tell us about some of those fascinating, just one or a couple of them.

• 30:55Speaker 02

  Well, one of the stories, like, the leader of the black gang, um, his character is X. And when I, I had a face in my head, you know, every time I read something, I see a face. And I was just, you know, outside of the, the place where we're doing the casting, I was just smoking my cigarette outside, and, and I saw a guy pass with that face. And I was like, "This is not true." And he stopped, and he looked at the paper, casting black, he looked at it, and he wanted to move on. And I said, "Wait, stop." I said, "Come over here, you can do a casting right now." He said, "No, no, I have to go to my work, I have to like go in five minutes." I said, "No, no, just come inside, just five minutes, and then you can..." "But I'm gonna be too late." I said, "Come on."

• 31:39Speaker 02

  So he went inside, and he got one of the biggest roles of the movie.

• 31:43Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, eventually, that's how it happened.

• 31:44Speaker 02

  Yeah, and we were like searching for months, and every time I saw the actors playing this character, they were always like yelling, it's a violent character, yelling. And he was the only one that like was super quiet when he talked, and it was so dangerous.

• 32:01Speaker 01

  And the thing is that the character in the movie is like an ex-child soldier, because a lot of leaders in those gangs are ex-child soldiers. And, and our actor, he was not a child soldier, but he lived the civil war in Burundi, so, so the scenes that we shot with him, where he's looking at, at, you know, civil war footage on the TV screen, he felt that, he, he understood completely the character, he was very close to the real character, you know?

• 32:26Jay Shetty?

  So what a coincidence.

• 32:27Speaker 01

  Yes, it was like a sign.

• 32:29Speaker 02

  Another story, I was just, you know, just in the center of Brussels, eating my, my, my bread, and, and there were, and there is this character, he's like a white guy, but he wants to be like a Moroccan, you know, street, he wants to be like, he wants to be the most Moroccan of the gang, you know? But he's a white guy. And I was just eating my, my bread, and we were searching also months for, for that character, and there was this guy next to me with, with his two friends, and he was like talking, he was like, like the character. And I said to him, and he was talking about this girl on the other side of the, the street, and I said to him, Tried to get his, uh, her number. I said, "No problem, man. I'm gonna get her number." He went there, tried to get his nu- uh, tried to get her number. He came back and I said, "You got her number?" He said, "No."

• 33:14Speaker 02

  He said, "But next time, another girl." I said, "Okay, you must be an actor."

• 33:17Speaker 01

  Yeah, and he got the part. So it was, it was crazy to see these characters, you know, alive here and they eventually played in the movie.

• 33:24Speaker 02

  And, and also, uh, uh, yeah, the story is about this black girl and, and we were, the, the, the, the character that plays the, the main black girl, she, uh, was the only one from the whole casting that found her only way, her way to us.

• 33:38Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 33:38Speaker 02

  We didn't search her. She came to us.

• 33:40Speaker 01

  And she was a fan of the book, a huge fan of the book. And, and it's because of that that she eventually went to the casting because she was such a, you know, she loved the character ever since, you know, she, she was a young girl, read it. And, and always thought that one day there should be a movie about that book. And that's how she became the main actress of the movie. And now she's, you know, she's, she's playing in, in other movies and... I can tell you a story about each character.

• 34:05Jay Shetty?

  Man, your, your guys' stories literally sound like magic.

• 34:09Jay Shetty?

  Like literally, because when you're like, "Oh, this girl, she loved this book and she wanted," you know, it, it just, it's so beautiful to hear it, like it, it really is. Like it sounds like you're listening to music speaking to you guys talk about it because it's, it's like, it is just the imagination of what happens when you dream. But tell me, tell all of us about the days when it didn't feel like magic.

• 34:29Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah, well...

• 34:30Jay Shetty?

  Tell us about the days when like you were starting out and, and you weren't, the magic like this, this magic wasn't there, like there was time when money was low or when the production budgets were too low. And you're sitting there, I mean, we've talked about this, you're sitting there editing for hours and you're stressing out.

• 34:44Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 34:45Jay Shetty?

  Tell us about like what kept you committed to your dreams.

• 34:48Speaker 01

  Well, it's...

• 34:49Jay Shetty?

  When, when, yeah, when there wasn't a feeling of magic.

• 34:52Speaker 01

  Yeah, the thing is that it's, it's, um, eh, you got a lot of fear, you know, you got a lot of, eh, because there's no guarantee. The dreams, your dreams so big and it's so unbelievable. It's like, now you, why would we be with Will Smith making a movie and with Martin Lawrence? I mean, that's, that's for special people. It's for big stars, you know, especially with... You don't have an example of people like us from Belgium at this young age. So there was no precedent to it. And we had no money and our family were really poor and.

• 35:22Speaker 02

  But my family was okay, but you know, when you start to study, yeah, you live on your own, no money.

• 35:27Speaker 01

  No money and my, my family was really poor and they didn't have any money. And, and, and movies is basically a, a job for either the super rich, because you got mom and dad giving, you know, it's like funding your hobby. Or for the super poor, because you ain't gonna get any money for years. And, and it's not something that you, you, you cannot do that on the sides. You gotta do all the way, go all the way for movies. If that's really your passion, your dream. Yeah, you gotta spend all your time in it, which means that you don't spend your time earning money. And, and, and you know, it would, that was, that, but it was also the thing that would make us survive. It's like when you say it was our purpose, you know, it was really the, the thing, okay. We're in a difficult situation. It sucks where I'm, I'm sleeping in, at his place,

• 36:12Speaker 01

  which is the place of his parents on somewhere, you know.

• 36:15Speaker 02

  In the attic.

• 36:15Speaker 01

  In the attic, you know, and a mattress on the ground. But at least we are filmmakers, you know? And you know that one day we're gonna laugh about this. Like 10 years, we're gonna laugh about this. Now it's a struggle and, and it's the dream and that passion and, and that, that makes you feel alive, that keeps you going, no matter how hard the struggle is. And when we speak to young people, to students, when they ask us, yeah, what's your advice? Our advice is always, or we, we say, you're gonna, you're gonna fall flat on your face and ground. It's gonna hurt, but you gotta get up and continue. Just, just don't be surprised when it's gonna hurt and it's gonna hurt a lot. But all of that's gonna make you stronger.

• 36:55Speaker 01

  And, and through all the struggles, through all the, you know, the, the heartbreaks and the pain and all of that. That's why when people say, hey, how does it feel now that you made Bad Boys and it's a success? We always say, we're relieved. You can say you're happy, of course you're happy. And you say, but we're like, we went, it was a hell of a ride. It was dangerous, like an action movie. You thought you were going to die. And eventually you survived that ride. And, and yeah, you know, making Bad Boys was the hardest year of our lives. It was maybe the worst year of my life.

• 37:29Speaker 02

  Everybody's like, oh, it was such a fun movie. It was probably also really fun to make it.

• 37:35Speaker 01

  I went deep, man. I went really deep in darkness, in sadness. And I would ask Will, hey, Will, you know, it's like our dreams that come true. I didn't feel, I didn't know it was going to be a nightmare sometimes. And he said, it's always like that. Big change, big achievements. And it's gonna hurt. It's gonna hurt. And, and you know, it's, Will said that it's like, you know, you're on a mountain really now fast and high, and you cannot breathe because, you know, there's not a lot of oxygen. And you're like, panicking. And the thing is, you want to go down quickly. But he said, no, stay there. You stay on that level and get used to it and starts to breathe, no panic. And then after a while, you get used to it and the pain and the heartbreak and the doubts, they go away.

• 38:19Speaker 01

  Because like, oh yeah, okay, I'm getting used to it. And people around you, some people around you will be on the same level and also learn to adapt with you. But some others will like, no, no, go down and pull you down. And they said, no, stay on that level. That's, that's what Will said to me when I was really drained. I was crying for an hour up on set and said, whatever's going through your head, it's gonna be all right.

• 38:43Speaker 02

  It helps having him motivate you.

• 38:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was like a Godsend. You know, there was be a sign, something from the universe or God that from all the stars you could work with, it's him, it's motivational speaker Will helping. Because he was, sometimes you would have lunch meetings and I'll talk about the movie, but he would talk about life and how, you know, how to heal yourself. And, and as around that period that, that I got to know you, you know, a person very dear to me, talked about you. And, and she said, you know, you should listen to Jay Shetty. And, and I was like, who's that guy? And, and like, you know, you just gotta do your own stuff. Don't listen to all that, that's things. And, and then I started to listen to you and it was like, like medicine. It was like. Wow, what is that?

• 39:27Speaker 01

  It's like, it's as if, where were you all my life, Jay? I needed you all my life. And it's opened up a whole world to me of the healing and growing and on the spiritual level, you know? Because I always thought, when I achieve something, and same for you, you achieve something, and then you're gonna be happy, and then you're gonna be good. Like, oh yeah, okay, we're struggling, we have no money, but one day we're gonna make our first movie, and then we're gonna be fulfilled. And then it doesn't happen. We make our movie, but you're not fulfilled. Then, oh yeah, we're gonna make a better movie. And then, oh, we're gonna go to Hollywood, and then we're gonna make Bad Boys. And when you make Bad Boys for Life with those two stars, and you're on the top of the game, and still you're not happy, you crash, and then you know you gotta find something else, you're gonna find something deeper.

• 40:13Speaker 01

  And listening to you...

• 40:14Speaker 02

  It was so funny that Adil is like, before you, before Bad Boys, he was like, totally not motivational. He didn't like all the quotes, he didn't like all those...

• 40:26Speaker 01

  All the deep meanings.

• 40:28Speaker 02

  He was like trash.

• 40:31Speaker 02

  Every time I saw, because I was like into it on Instagram, and I started to like getting to the podcast, and I was like, and all of a sudden I see Adil, like, listening to you, and I'm like, you're listening to Jay Shetty?

• 40:42Speaker 01

  Well, for me, it was like, when I started listening to you, it kept to the secrets. So when we met, I didn't tell him, because I was like, yeah, he's gonna say I'm some crazy, you know? And then when he saw the picture that you and I took on Instagram, he said, "You know Jay Shetty? You're a fan too?"

• 40:58Speaker 02

  You kept it secret, and I was not telling him, because I was going to my project.

• 41:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, and it's like, it's crazy that we talk about everything, but you were our secret.

• 41:07Speaker 02

  That is the best story about me I've ever heard. That is amazing. I love that.

• 41:11Speaker 01

  That's hilarious. Thanks for sharing that, man.

• 41:14Speaker 02

  My spirituality, because we're Muslims, it's also been a strong force throughout our, throughout the pain. And every time when you don't make it, you just accept the fact that God has a plan for you. And that's something that I always hold on to, like... You want to achieve the dream, but imagine I did everything I can. That's the most important thing. At the end of my life, I have to know, I have to talk to myself and say, you did everything for your dreams. And if it didn't work out.

• 41:41Speaker 01

  It didn't work out.

• 41:41Speaker 02

  Is this, is this the way?

• 41:42Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 41:43Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 41:43Speaker 02

  And if you believe in that, you accept everything. You start to accept everything.

• 41:47Speaker 01

  It's in God's hands or in the universe's hands.

• 41:49Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 41:50Speaker 02

  Yeah, whatever spirituality you have, it's, I think it's important to, to have.

• 41:55Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, that's beautiful.

• 41:55Speaker 02

  In the journey to your dreams.

• 41:56Jay Shetty?

  And you see that in so many incredible people's lives, their faith and belief in God or the universe was such an important thing for them. Look at the people that made the biggest changes in the world.

• 42:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly.

• 42:08Jay Shetty?

  They all had that.

• 42:09Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 42:10Jay Shetty?

  And, and so you can see how important it is for all of us.

• 42:13Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 42:14Jay Shetty?

  In the way, because you both are change makers, like you're filmmakers, but you're change makers. Because you're trying to make films that change people's lives. You're not just trying to make films.

• 42:22Speaker 01

  No, yeah.

• 42:23Jay Shetty?

  Like, messages are so important. Tell us about, so you talked about the advice that Will was giving you, which is beautiful to hear, because I know the same, like Will's, Will's so philosophical. We had that conversation that we were together at, like, it was brilliant. But it's like, tell us about the advice that you had to give Will and Martin. Tell us about that process of when you're sitting with like, you know, like you respect these guys. I had to make that trailer with them, right? And like, for me, you weren't there that day. I needed your help. Like, I was, when I got the call to be on that trailer, so it was, it was the production company that Sony was working, whatever. And they're like, we want you to be in this trailer and we want you to come in and we want you to be a life coach or a therapist for, for Will and Martin. And it's kind of like couples therapy. And they were very respectful.

• 43:07Jay Shetty?

  They were like, you know, like, we don't want to make coaching look bad or like, are you? And I was like, no, this is great. It's fun. And, and you know, I was like holding the phone going, this is amazing. I was so excited and, and so I was.

• 43:17Speaker 02

  I want to put that, I want to put that scene in a movie.

• 43:19Jay Shetty?

  I know. I'm like, why was it not, no? And I was literally, I was so nervous because, you know, I'm like, and I've spent time with Will before, but I was like, I was so nervous to like be in an acting setting with him. I was like, what do I know, man? And so I went to acting class for four days in a row.

• 43:34Speaker 01

  For real?

• 43:35Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, two hours.

• 43:36Speaker 01

  You did it really well, by the way.

• 43:37Jay Shetty?

  Thank you, man, thank you. But I went every day to acting class because I was like, I can't go in there and not feel comfortable and confident.

• 43:43Speaker 01

  Yes, exactly.

• 43:44Jay Shetty?

  And it's just like, I went in there and I was like, wow, like this is gonna, you know, it's, it's, when you've looked up, the same with me, I grew up on Fresh Prince, my favorite show of all time. I'd watch a million times every episode, so I feel everything you guys are saying. How hard is it to then go in there and then have to give advice, give feedback, give direction?

• 44:00Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 44:01Jay Shetty?

  As directors, tell us about that.

• 44:02Speaker 01

  Well, it's, you know, I was seven years old when the first Bad Boys was made. And now you got to twenty five years later, you're there and you have Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. We play these characters who know everything, who know the industry thirty years in the biz. And thirty years, that's our age. And, and then. Just two rats from Belgium. Yeah, you don't know, and then, and then you're gonna have to say to Will and Martin, "Look, you could do this better." And they could easily say, "I've been doing this for thirty years," you know? And, and they never did that, they never said that, because. Unbelievable how humble they are. Yeah, they would ask us, Will and Martin, "So how do you think, is it good?" And we in the beginning were like, "You're Will and Martin, of course it's good."

• 44:47Speaker 01

  We're not gonna, you know, say anything, but, but the thing is that they chose us. They chose us to be their directors, so they want you, they want you to direct them. And yeah, sometimes Will, you know, in the first week, Will tested us. He tested us. It was, it was something he didn't wanna do, he didn't wanna wear the badge, you know, the cop badge on the chain. For some reason, he didn't, and every time he had a. And for us, it was super cool to have the Miami badge, you know, like. Because of the second movie, you know, they have that. And then, you know, every time he had a good argument, a filmmaker's argument, like a scene, he said, "No, we're at the bar, we're not on an intervention, so no reason to do it." "Okay." Another scene, he said, "Yeah, we're just walking here, we're not in an intervention, no reason to do it." "All right." And then always, there was only one scene left. If you don't have that, it's never in the movie. And it was an intervention scene.

• 45:31Speaker 01

  So we go to Will, and it was the first week of shoots, so, "Will, where's your badge, shoe on the chain?" And we'll say, "Oh, no, no, we're not gonna do that, because, because, because, because what? It's an intervention scene." And then he said, in front of the whole crew, everybody, he said, "This is so unnatural, this is so wrong on so many levels." And we're like. And then, you know, heartbeat goes past, you know, he's like, "Will is, is talking, you know, he's like, agreeing with you, pretty angry." And then, "This is wrong, this is wrong." And then, and then, but Martin. Can't wear it, Martin, I would wear the badge. Well, he can't wear it.

• 46:06Speaker 01

  Both or nobody. Forty-five minutes. And after forty-five minutes, you gotta wear the badge. Well, and it's a, okay, I will do it for you, only for you, but know that it's wrong. It's so wrong.

• 46:18Speaker 02

  The whole crew was looking at us. And I felt so bad. I was like, maybe he doesn't have to wear it.

• 46:24Speaker 01

  And no, no, no, we won't, we won't, we won't. Let's keep the badge. And we never knew why, but I, I think he did that to test us. Like, really, are you guys, we are fanboys, but are you also gonna be directors?

• 46:35Speaker 02

  Yeah. And that process was the whole time, even with the script, if we had an idea, he went like, why? And, and like asking so many questions, we had to, like, normally we think till a certain point, but he pushes us to go all the way.

• 46:49Speaker 01

  Like, why, as a filmmaker's creative standpoint, do you wanna do that? And if you really, as a creative, you wanna do that, he fights for you. He falls on the sword for your ideas. So that was really great.

• 46:58Jay Shetty?

  Wow, that's awesome, man. That's great to hear. And this is, this is what I love about this conversation that we're having, is that people see like, getting the movie seems like an achievement, but actually the challenge starts there.

• 47:08Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 47:09Jay Shetty?

  Because you're now in the big league, you're now working with people that you admire. And on top of all of that, you've got to realize the fact that now you're being judged for real directing and real filmmaking on a, on a high level, which is, seems like a high challenge. How did you guys prepare yourself to, to learn how to be open to recognizing that now the challenge starts? And still allow your creativity, like, you know, when you were doing Black, you had a lot of guerrilla filmmaking, you were trying a lot of, taking a lot of risks. You're like, how did you let that energy stay, or did you actually have to change energy?

• 47:42Speaker 02

  Well, we had our cameraman, Robrecht Havard, great guy who did all our student short movies and all our, it's like,

• 47:49Jay Shetty?

  You still work with him?

• 47:50Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 47:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 47:53Speaker 02

  That's also a story.

• 47:53Speaker 01

  It's like, it looks, yeah, we, we basically, we said to Sony, um, okay, we only have one requirement. Our, our D O P, director of photography, our cameraman, it's, it's Rob, it's a guy who did all the Belgian movies. Without him, we don't do the movie. And we were prepared to turn the movie down if we didn't let it happen.

• 48:09Speaker 02

  We said, we, we ain't gonna do the movie without Rob.

• 48:11Speaker 01

  And all of a sudden, This fifteen year old looking guy who never made a big Hollywood movie makes a hundred million dollar movie with with with these great stars and that was.

• 48:20Jay Shetty?

  So you have to imagine as a studio and Jerry Bookheimer and you have two young guys who never made a like a big Hollywood movie. Our biggest budget is like three million and this is like one hundred million and then the cameraman is also somebody who never did that's like the.

• 48:34Speaker 01

  Who's in charge for all the image. The same guy like us and and but having having us three basically helped us in in eventually thinking it's the same as making a movie in Belgium. Because yeah, the first couple of weeks you don't breathe, you don't sleep, you're like.

• 48:49Jay Shetty?

  It's like dead or alive.

• 48:50Speaker 01

  It's like it's also weird because it's like a dream. You don't it's weird to be on set of a big Hollywood movie with like two hundred fifty people and.

• 48:58Jay Shetty?

  Being in a movie yourself.

• 48:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, like this iconic. We always thought this is like an episode of Punk'd. Michael Bay is gonna come and say, yeah, you're just a joke.

• 49:08Speaker 01

  It's for a TV show, actually, guys. I mean, because it's like you don't fit, you don't belong there, you know, it's like you entered the making of or something. And the and but the thing is the eyes of the world on this movie, whereas when you do a Belgian movie, it's only the eyes of some Belgians, you know. If you're if you're tank, nobody's gonna know. But there, if you crash, you crash hard.

• 49:27Jay Shetty?

  And there's there are so many fans in the world that grew up with that. You don't wanna.

• 49:32Speaker 01

  And the thing is that it's like as if you're okay, you're in the war or you you gotta jump in the water and either you're gonna like like sink. Or you gotta swim, even you think I cannot swim all that ocean, you're gonna have to learn and do that. And it's and and before, you know, when you do that that switch, um not thinking too much, actually, not thinking, not overthinking, basically, not overthinking.

• 49:53Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, but you guys broke through imposter syndrome because that's what so many people struggle with that when you finally made it.

• 49:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 50:00Jay Shetty?

  Into what you always wanted and now you're like, well, maybe I'm not actually meant to be at this table, like maybe we don't deserve to be here, like. What makes us deserve to be here? What made you trust the process? Like, what made you feel like you were like, no, actually, we've worked for this and we're gonna deliver something? Because when you watch the movie, I mean, there are so many great parts in the movie where I'm like, like, I love the part where you think it's a funeral, but it's the wedding.

• 50:22Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 50:22Jay Shetty?

  Right? Like, I love in the beginning where you think it's a car chase, but it ends up being that they're running to the hospital.

• 50:27Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 50:27Jay Shetty?

  Like, to me, like, all those moments are genius and they're brilliant and they're shot so well that you completely are in and you think it's something and I'm like. You definitely owned it.

• 50:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 50:37Jay Shetty?

  Like you owned it, like there was no part of me, if I didn't know you guys, let's say I didn't know you guys. And I went and watched the movie, I would not have known that someone who'd never made a hundred million dollar budget movie made it. I would just never have known, like you wouldn't even think of it.

• 50:51Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 50:51Jay Shetty?

  Right? But that's why I'm happy I know you guys.

• 50:54Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 50:55Jay Shetty?

  Because it just makes me believe even more that imposter syndrome is just a belief set.

• 51:01Speaker 01

  Exactly. It's a thing, you know, I mean, the imposter syndrome would be just once in a while, like we would look at each other and look at the DP and you say, it's weird that we're here, right?

• 51:12Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 51:12Speaker 01

  You look at the monitor, you have Will and Martin and Jerry is like, whoa, that's some freaky dick. And then it goes away right away because you gotta work. And the thing is that you gotta power through that, but also it's the crew and the casters around you, the trust that you get from people that become family. And when you feel like you're between friends and between family, that is what really helped us the most going through that imposter syndrome. Feeling safe and feeling the trust and the love of everybody around you. And that's the same thing with you, you know, we were scared of coming to the podcast because we listen, we're big fans, huge fans of your podcast. We listen to that and we're like, whoa, how deep everybody's speaking, how smart and we're like intellectual lightweights.

• 51:56Speaker 01

  But talking now with you is like, we feel like you are, bro.

• 51:59Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, we're family.

• 52:00Speaker 01

  Yeah, we're family. And that's what helps us going, that trust and that love and that caring and respect. It helps us, you know, just, you know, go with the flow, basically.

• 52:07Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 52:09Speaker 02

  How many days I had doubts, doubts, doubts, like I was thinking, I am totally not good so many times. But it's the people that surround you is like a super important aspect in this process.

• 52:24Jay Shetty?

  And you guys are natural storytellers, like even when you're telling me the story of the actors, people behind the scenes, like you guys are brilliant. Like that is, you know, it's, I felt your energy when we met and when I wanted you on the podcast is because I wanted people to feel that just, and I love how genuinely. Vulnerable you are about being excited about what you're excited about.

• 52:43Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 52:44Jay Shetty?

  Because I think what happens sometimes is sometimes people make it or go somewhere. And then they act like all cool about it.

• 52:49Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 52:50Jay Shetty?

  You know, like, oh, yeah, it's just, you know, it's just meant to be.

• 52:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's just.

• 52:53Jay Shetty?

  I remember, like, for me, it was things that, first time I went on, when I went on Ellen.

• 52:57Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 52:58Jay Shetty?

  Like that, for me, was just like, oh, flipping Ellen, like, watch my interview and want me to come on the show. Like, that's so cool, like, and it's like, it's so fun to celebrate stuff.

• 53:06Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 53:07Jay Shetty?

  Because I feel like sometimes we get scared of celebrating because we think it makes us look less.

• 53:12Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 53:13Jay Shetty?

  But actually, it's just, you're right, we're just kids who just.

• 53:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 53:16Jay Shetty?

  I, I live in these incredible lives and I love feeling like that.

• 53:19Speaker 01

  And, you know, I listened to the podcast with Jada and it was like, oh, my God, he's interviewing Jada. And I'm like, oh, wait, we know Jada.

• 53:25Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 53:27Speaker 01

  So it's, that's the vibe that we have.

• 53:28Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, but it's a good, it's, I, I, I like seeing it with you guys.

• 53:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 53:31Jay Shetty?

  And I want people to experience that too, that you don't ever have to pretend to be someone you're not. Or you never have to lose that excitement and that, you know.

• 53:40Speaker 01

  Authenticity has always been something very important to us and we, we did everything to keep the same authenticity in a Hollywood movie. Because we could have done maybe any action movie, but the thing about Bad Boys is that these two characters, it's us. It's a, we told with this movie, a very personal story, what it means to be like the right to get a diet together. What it means sometimes when, you know, you're almost on the verge of a breakup, you know, you don't want to do the same thing. You have another vision. Sometimes there were periods where we didn't want to make movies together. Like, this is over, man, I got another vision. And, and in the end, it comes together and by reading that script of those two characters, we felt like this is us.

• 54:15Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 54:17Jay Shetty?

  I think every, every human being in the world searches that same connection with somebody, that friendship that, you know, that, you know, if times go up, that, that you have somebody.

• 54:27Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 54:27Jay Shetty?

  Having your back and, and that friendship that Mike and Marcus has is, is so universal and so beautiful and so personal at the same time. It's, it's a, it's just a, it's just.

• 54:39Speaker 01

  It was a very personal story. This is a hundred million dollar action movie.

• 54:44Jay Shetty?

  What were the other messages? I think it's important because you've already done, you focused on making movies that have messages before this.

• 54:49Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 54:49Jay Shetty?

  I felt when I was watching, there were a ton of messages, like the one you just shared. What were other messages that you were trying to, that you know, maybe we, and if we need to watch it again and notice that? And what were some of the messages that were big for both of you?

• 55:00Speaker 01

  Well, it was, you know, working with Will is like the grow or die message, basically. Even though, I mean, when you make all movies as a certain, have a certain message and you don't wanna like message, you know?

• 55:12Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 55:12Speaker 01

  It becomes cheesy, but you know, it's like the underlying theme and it's, you wanna have an arc where people evolve. And this Mike Lowry character, he has like, he's at the start of the movie a certain way. He wants to remain strong and young and wants to remain the image of Mike Lowry.

• 55:29Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 55:29Speaker 01

  And forgets how to become just himself.

• 55:32Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 55:33Speaker 01

  The normal Mike Lowry and- Except the fact that he's growing. He's growing and it can be weakness. Weakness is not just, is not actually really a weakness. Being able to show a weakness, a vulnerability is a strength. And that is something that he learns. And that is something that we too, when we were, you know, starring, because when you're Moroccan, you're very like macho culture. Yeah. You're mad. You know, after, if you keep this like in a kind of cocoon or- You cling on that thing and you don't let it go. Basically, you break yourself, you crash. And that is something that we learned, you know, during the making of this movie where we all crashed eventually. It's like, you know, you gotta, you gotta let it go and you gotta find,

• 56:15Speaker 01

  you gotta find ways to grow and to heal yourself and allow yourself to be vulnerable and to be open and- And you really, you really changed. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He wasn't like that before. Before Bad Boys, Bad Boys really changed him. Yeah, this experience. As a person, his soul really changed during the- Yeah.

• 56:34Jay Shetty?

  You guys really disrupted, I feel like, you know, just what you're just saying right now, like, that's what I noticed in the movie when I was watching it that- You were able to show the weakness of the character we all grew up admiring or wanting to be like.

• 56:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 56:47Jay Shetty?

  And and showing that it was actually better for him to

• 56:50Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 56:50Jay Shetty?

  be vulnerable to that.

• 56:51Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 56:52Jay Shetty?

  Rather than just continue to pretend. And I I thought that was really, it was bold as well. It was a bold move.

• 56:57Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 56:57Jay Shetty?

  But it was also very culturally relevant right now.

• 56:59Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 57:00Jay Shetty?

  To show that in a man and being more vulnerable.

• 57:02Speaker 01

  Yeah. It's very relatable, you know.

• 57:04Jay Shetty?

  Very relatable for all of us. And and I really feel you guys have disrupted the industry because even when I hear you say stuff like, oh, we're not gonna do this if it's not our D P.

• 57:12Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 57:12Jay Shetty?

  Right? Like, if you're not bringing your crew with you.

• 57:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 57:15Jay Shetty?

  And and I'm excited to see, and and I I don't think you guys are ever gonna change because you're just who you are. Like, I'm excited to see how you continue to represent diversity, how you continue to tell stories of people that are not told enough. What kind of stories are exciting you right now in general? Not just the ones you can make your movies on, but have you heard any stories recently or read any books or anything like that that you're like, oh, I'm fascinated by this right now?

• 57:36Speaker 01

  But there's a lot of, there's a lot of stories that are, you know, obviously now in this time in culture, it's it's a great opportunity to to to tell stories of people of different ethnicities, different backgrounds, the stories that you you didn't usually see that much, you know, on on the big screen. And for us, because it's important, we're we're Muslims, we're Arabs, we're Moroccans, we're Africans, you know, things like that are very important to us. Just just as fans, seeing that there are more and more female filmmakers, you know, this year, it was a lot of of of women filmmakers, and it's gonna be more and more in every kind of genre. Just seeing that evolution is so exciting and interesting.

• 58:13Jay Shetty?

  To be a part of that.

• 58:13Speaker 01

  Yeah, to be, to be a part of this new generation of of filmmakers that's so diverse and and.

• 58:20Jay Shetty?

  See Parasite in a total, not in English language, that's

• 58:23Speaker 01

  Win the Oscars?

• 58:24Jay Shetty?

  That's history, that's a, a, a milestone for cinema. It's

• 58:27Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 58:28Jay Shetty?

  It's just us, we don't wanna make movies only in English. We wanna tell stories. If it's in China, we wanna keep it in.

• 58:34Speaker 01

  Chinese language or in Germany, it has to be in German. The fact that, yeah, it's very diverse and very exciting. These kind of stories, that's what we're looking for now. And, yeah, I mean, we would love to make movies back in Belgium as well, you know, about our community and alternate that's with American movies. And in a very naive way, we believe that movies can save the world. Yeah, I'm with you. Yeah, exactly. For us, there are two reasons. One reason is just as filmmakers, when you are, when we did Bad Boys, you have 250 people on the crew. And nowadays, we all say there's people don't agree anymore. People are polarized and all that. But we gotta say that when you make a movie, you got 250 very different people with different backgrounds,

• 59:17Speaker 01

  different ethnicity, different history, different political views, their religion. They're all super different. On the paper, they would say they never will get along. Yeah, they're like totally opposite. Yeah, it would be war. And on our movie, they're all together like a family, working for the same goal, working for one vision. And we're all friends. And then you see that everybody's so different, but everybody's working together. And it's not what you hear sometimes, you know, that it's like, you know, everybody's like on their own. No, a movie set proves that we are all able to go in the same direction for the same goal. And it's maybe very naive, but I just see it as a proof. It happens. And in theory, they would be enemies. But on our crew, they are all allies and friends and family, and they care about each other.

• 1:00:02Speaker 01

  And on the other hand, movies is something very empathetic. You cannot make a movie or watch a movie if you don't have empathy. And empathy is something that you talk a lot about. And it's just crazy that everybody in the world, no matter where you are, what you are, you have empathy for this character that you don't know. It's a character you don't know. It may be also a fictitious character, a character from another planet, from another era, and you feel for that character. You fall in love maybe for that character. You hope that a character is gonna make it. You're gonna cry if that character dies. And that's crazy that that proves that movies. Make people human and that empathy exists through movies. So that's why in this very childish way, we think movies save the world.

• 1:00:46Jay Shetty?

  No, it's not childish, man. You guys, I feel the same way. The reason why I started doing podcasts or media or videos and all of that was because I felt that media changes our vocabulary around an issue, around a theme. Like when you were able to show a man's vulnerability. Like now it's like, oh, wait a minute, I think I'm my glory, but he's growing when he's doing that. Oh, maybe I should do that, right? It's like we mirror what we see in media all the time. And I feel like media is always going to lead the way because more people are going to watch movies than read books. More people are going to watch movies than come to a course or a workshop or a seminar. It's always going to be the same way. And therefore, I'm so happy that people like you are making movies.

• 1:01:27Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 1:01:28Jay Shetty?

  Because I feel like our faith is in good place. You know, we need storytellers who want to tell those stories, who want to have deeper messages, but in a smart and entertaining way. And I think you guys do it beautifully. So we're going to do what we always do on the podcast, as you know it, because you listen.

• 1:01:44Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:01:44Jay Shetty?

  We've added another segment recently, which I don't think you would have heard yet because it's in the new episode. It's called Fill in the Blanks.

• 1:01:50Speaker 01

  Oh, Fill in the Blanks.

• 1:01:51Jay Shetty?

  So I read a sentence and you both have to fill in the rest of the sentence. So we'll go both of you. Whoever goes first, I don't mind. You decide who goes first. Okay, being a director is similar to?

• 1:02:03Speaker 01

  Being a captain of a boat.

• 1:02:05Jay Shetty?

  Exactly.

• 1:02:06Speaker 01

  Sometimes it can be the Titanic.

• 1:02:09Jay Shetty?

  Okay, good.

• 1:02:10Speaker 01

  Oh, exactly.

• 1:02:11Jay Shetty?

  No, you can't say that. No, you can't say.

• 1:02:13Speaker 01

  Being a director is similar to? Is pretending you know it.

• 1:02:20Jay Shetty?

  Okay, good, good answer. A great movie starts with?

• 1:02:27Speaker 01

  A great title.

• 1:02:28Jay Shetty?

  Okay.

• 1:02:30Speaker 01

  I would say, I would say a killer opening scene.

• 1:02:33Jay Shetty?

  Okay, good, all right. The best way to manage actors is?

• 1:02:38Speaker 01

  Being a psychiatrist, a lawyer, a politician. Diplomats. A diplomat.

• 1:02:44Speaker 02

  All the skills.

• 1:02:45Jay Shetty?

  It's going to be everything, all right. There is no film without?

• 1:02:50Speaker 01

  Empathy.

• 1:02:51Jay Shetty?

  Ah, nice.

• 1:02:52Speaker 02

  Camera.

• 1:02:54Jay Shetty?

  Alright, good. Alright, working with a partner is?

• 1:02:58Speaker 02

  Love.

• 1:03:00Speaker 01

  Riding together, dying together.

• 1:03:02Jay Shetty?

  Nice, I like it guys. Alright, the one film I wish I made is?

• 1:03:08Speaker 02

  Star Wars.

• 1:03:11Speaker 01

  Well, there's a lot, but I would say...

• 1:03:13Speaker 02

  But you know, Star Wars is such a, such a big universe.

• 1:03:17Speaker 01

  Just between us, Star Wars is like, the Greeks had their mythology, we have Star Wars. New Greek mythology, just between, it became a religion even though.

• 1:03:25Jay Shetty?

  I did, yeah.

• 1:03:26Speaker 02

  It came out of one mind.

• 1:03:28Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:03:29Speaker 02

  And the whole universe it's created is unbelievable. It's infinite.

• 1:03:34Jay Shetty?

  I would say Jurassic Park.

• 1:03:35Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 1:03:37Jay Shetty?

  Good movie. Jurassic Park's a good movie. Alright. Martin Lawrence and Will Smith are both?

• 1:03:44Speaker 02

  Brothers for life.

• 1:03:45Speaker 01

  For life.

• 1:03:46Jay Shetty?

  Nice. When I first started directing, I wish I knew?

• 1:03:51Speaker 01

  That no matter how big the movie is gonna be, that movie's not necessarily gonna make you happy or bring you happiness. It's gonna be something else.

• 1:03:58Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:59Speaker 02

  And, and no matter how big the budget is, there is never enough money, never enough time.

• 1:04:05Jay Shetty?

  Nice, that's a good answer. These are great, these are great. My proudest moment has to be?

• 1:04:12Speaker 01

  There are lots, but I think, I think being able to, to show the movie to my dad, basically, you know? To have him in, he was sitting in the theater next to you.

• 1:04:21Jay Shetty?

  I know, it's so nice to meet him.

• 1:04:23Speaker 01

  Yeah, and he knew also, his wife is a big fan of you, so you know, you're a secret fan, you're a secret fan of you, but being able, he's there, you see the movie, and it's the first, maybe also the first time he met Will Smith, because the very first single I got was Miami by Will Smith, and he met him for the first time in Miami.

• 1:04:41Jay Shetty?

  Oh, wow.

• 1:04:42Speaker 02

  My proudest moment?

• 1:04:45Speaker 02

  Is that I always kept going.

• 1:04:50Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:51Speaker 02

  Kept going.

• 1:04:52Jay Shetty?

  That's right.

• 1:04:53Speaker 02

  That it's the movie is made is just my proudest thing.

• 1:04:59Jay Shetty?

  I love it, man. Alright, these are your final five, your fast five, which you guys know about. So the first question I'm gonna ask you is, if someone gave you a three hundred million dollars in funding, what movie would you make and who would you cast?

• 1:05:11Speaker 01

  Oh. A new Star Wars. A new universe. Something that's not based on any books, it's just like George Lucas, you come up with something new and then you have nerds doing fanfiction and making war with each other on Twitter.

• 1:05:25Speaker 02

  Clothes and toys.

• 1:05:25Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:05:26Speaker 02

  And it goes on generation to generation.

• 1:05:29Speaker 01

  It just created like a monster, like George Lucas, he created Frankenstein, basically, you know, in the movie world, so that.

• 1:05:35Jay Shetty?

  I love it. That's a good answer. Okay, uh, let's do this question. What advice would you give to young filmmakers out there?

• 1:05:45Speaker 01

  You gotta stay true to yourself and do something with your heart. Because if you make something just for the, for your, for the sake of it, so just for the money, you, okay, you may earn a lot of money, but you're gonna lose a year of mindfulness, of your soul and all that. So it's gotta be something true to your soul, something that feels the soul.

• 1:06:05Speaker 02

  And be, be prepared to have a lot of pain, just you're gonna fall a lot. And be prepared to, don't be scared to make mistakes, don't, yeah, because making mistakes, that's when you learn.

• 1:06:17Jay Shetty?

  I love it. It's good answers. Alright, um, question number three, your favorite movie and why?

• 1:06:23Speaker 01

  My favorite is JFK by Oliver Stone.

• 1:06:26Jay Shetty?

  Ah.

• 1:06:26Speaker 01

  Because it's, um, yeah, I was very young, I was nine years old when I saw that. And it's a historical movie about something that really happened, about conspiracy theories, and it makes you think. And it's a movie that has an impact, um, also in real life, because, you know, in ninety-two, the Congress had to release, like, check out, you know, we didn't kill JFK, okay, but if you can make a movie that has an impact in society in real life, that is really, you know, that's, that's what we wanna do, so JFK.

• 1:06:53Speaker 02

  Yeah, for me, it's, um, French movie called La Henne. Um, and it's about, uh, yeah, the, the banlieues, the ghetto in, in, in France, uh, in Paris. And, um, for me, because I grew up with Hollywood movies and this was the first time I saw a movie with, uh, you know, um, Moroccan or a black guy from like the same world as me. And I, and it was shot in a way, it was like cinema, it was like, uh, in a Hollywood way it was shot. And then I understood that maybe I can do that too. Maybe that made me, made me believe that I could do a movie. And I think that's the most beautiful thing you can do as a filmmaker or any artist is if you can inspire somebody to do it. That's, that's what Lion did for me.

• 1:07:36Jay Shetty?

  Awesome. Question number four out of five. What's happening with Beverly Hills Cop four and Adam Sandler? What's happening? I saw the story.

• 1:07:46Speaker 01

  So when Bad Boys, when we didn't get Bad Boys, we got Beverly Hills Cop four. So we thought this is gonna be the movie we're gonna make in 2016. Didn't happen, then Bad Boys came and because Bad Boys worked out, now we got Beverly Hills Cop four. And we're working on it. Eddie Murphy, so the way we look at Will Smith, Will Smith looks the same way at Eddie Murphy. For him, it's like, it's the Tom, you know, and making, making a movie with a legend like that, that would be next level. And Adam Sandler, he, he's just the coolest guy ever, sweetest guy ever. And he said, hey, if we find something to work together, let's do it, you know?

• 1:08:22Speaker 02

  What he did in Uncle Jim's was so unbelievable.

• 1:08:25Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:08:25Speaker 02

  And, and, you know, he has so much to, to offer.

• 1:08:29Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I love it. All right. Fifth and final question.

• 1:08:32Speaker 01

  All right.

• 1:08:33Jay Shetty?

  So we can stop being in this sauna right now.

• 1:08:35Speaker 01

  Yes, I love sauna.

• 1:08:38Jay Shetty?

  The Dr. Daniel Amen, who was on before, he told me that this is good for our brains.

• 1:08:41Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:08:42Jay Shetty?

  So, so, yeah, he said, yeah, so that's what I'm using. No, no, no, I'm just getting an excuse for why I'm putting you through the same, me and you were like, okay. Fifth and final question. What is the biggest lesson you've learned in the last 12 months? For you, doesn't have to be professional or whatever.

• 1:08:58Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah. One.

• 1:09:01Speaker 01

  When I'm in a meeting or have, uh, some, I have a good idea, somebody says something good or bad, or I think it's good or bad, I gotta say, let me think about it.

• 1:09:12Speaker 01

  Because I didn't do that enough. And when you're in Belgium with a small movie, your reaction or your decisions don't have that much consequence as a hundred million dollar movie. And whether I was enthusiastic for something or I hated something, I should have just said first, "Let me think about it." Before I say, "Yeah, oh, no." So that's what I learned the most. "Let me think about it."

• 1:09:35Speaker 02

  For me, it's, um, let me say it. It's sometimes I'm in a, or in a meeting and I'm thinking something and I'm like, I'm, I, I think I have to say this, but I'm not gonna say it. And, and that makes a big difference because sometimes it's too late. And then you say, "I had to say it." So don't regret, say it, don't be afraid. So I'm starting to learn that. Don't be afraid of saying what you think.

• 1:09:59Speaker 01

  And you know, the worst meetings that we had is because he didn't say it and I didn't say, "Let me think about it."

• 1:10:06Speaker 01

  Then we crashed.

• 1:10:07Jay Shetty?

  I love it, man. I love it. You guys are the best. Honestly, this is the most fun. But like, this is so good. Like, I could sit and talk to you guys for hours. I'm excited, I'm genuinely so excited to see the movies you guys are gonna create. Uh, I wanna serve and support in any way that I can. I'm here for you guys if you ever need me.

• 1:10:25Speaker 01

  Can't wait to read your book, man.

• 1:10:27Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, yeah, thank you. I'll definitely get you guys copies. But yeah, don't, um, literally, you guys can message, call me anytime. I can help either of you with anything and just, yeah, so, so proud of seeing what you guys are doing. And I know that there are so many people out there who are listening and watching that can be inspired by you guys. And, and I can only hope that you continue to be the same way because you guys are great just the way you are, man.

• 1:10:48Speaker 02

  Thank you, bro. Give me a hug. Big love, big love.

• 1:10:51Speaker 01

  I just wanted to say, Jay, thank you for being in our lives.

• 1:10:56Jay Shetty?

  You guys are the best. Thank you so much. Everyone who's been listening and watching, go and follow these guys on Instagram. Go and find them. We will tag them into all the posts. Go and follow their work. Go and support everything they do. They've got so many more amazing stories to tell. They're just getting started. Please, please go and give them all your love and all your support and anything that they said. Because they, they're so humble that they don't know it. They dropped so many lessons today. They dropped so many messages today. They dropped so many beautiful... Beautiful insights today. I want you to share those insights. I want you to tag all three of us so we can see it, mainly so that they can see it, because I want them to realize how many beautiful lessons they're sharing with the world. So, thank you for watching on purpose. Thank you, Adil and Barak for being here. Thank you, Jay. And we'll see you again soon, guys. Take care.

• 1:11:48Speaker 06

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• 1:12:17Speaker 03

  Mr. President, my company formed me of the explosion on our rig on October 2nd, causing massive water displacement and triggering a tsunami. They all heap the blame on me.

• 1:12:26Speaker 04

  Tom Cruise is. Digger got us into this mess, and Digger's gonna dig us up. From the director of Birdman and The Revenant.

• 1:12:33Speaker 05

  What would happen if I stopped drilling? You're stalled, you're freezing there, that's what.

• 1:12:38Speaker 04

  With great power comes great deniability.

• 1:12:41Speaker 05

  I'm not the first then.

• 1:12:42Speaker 04

  Digger. See the trailer online. Only in theaters October 2nd. Rated R. Under 17 and under 17 without parent.