Larenz Tate on Black Hollywood, British Actors Taking Over Film, Finances, & Working with 50 Cent

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• 2:41Speaker 04

  What are some of the challenges that people face in black Hollywood as far as getting a movie produced? Or not getting the same budget for their white counterparts? Because I don't think people have an appreciation of that.

• 2:55Speaker 05

  Well, the very thing that those who are outside of the Hollywood industry, that are in our community, that see the challenges that we deal with every day as a people. You know, we work twice as hard to get, you know, twice as less as our counterparts, right? And that being said, it's the same way. We're not valued the way we, I believe, we're supposed to be valued.

• 3:23Speaker 06

  My graduates from my school being forced, backdrop.

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  A mic drop. Backdrop.

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  Backdrop.

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  Money, it comes with a lot of questions, and Fidelity can help you get answers. Visit fidelity.com/blackwealth to learn more.

• 3:52Speaker 04

  All right, guys, welcome back, EYL. We back home, back in New York. And this is a legendary episode because we got a legend with us.

• 4:01Speaker 03

  This is legendary.

• 4:01Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 4:02Speaker 03

  This is a generational talent.

• 4:04Speaker 04

  Yes. So Lorenz Tate, I think I first saw you in Menace to Society.

• 4:10Speaker 03

  We gotta go back further than that.

• 4:12Speaker 04

  What was further than that?

• 4:13Speaker 03

  South Central.

• 4:15Speaker 05

  Oh, wow.

• 4:16Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 4:16Speaker 05

  Oh, you know what? Okay, go ahead.

• 4:19Speaker 03

  Yo.

• 4:19Speaker 04

  South Central.

• 4:20Speaker 03

  I'm gonna tell you why.

• 4:21Speaker 04

  That's OG Bobby Johnson?

• 4:22Speaker 05

  No, no, no.

• 4:22Speaker 03

  No, no, the show, not the movie.

• 4:24Speaker 05

  But, okay, y'all both are right. So there was a movie called South Central.

• 4:29Speaker 03

  Well, OG Bobby Johnson.

• 4:30Speaker 05

  Played by Glenn.

• 4:31Speaker 04

  Legend.

• 4:32Speaker 03

  That was a legendary too.

• 4:33Speaker 05

  But Menace actually did come before.

• 4:36Speaker 04

  Before.

• 4:37Speaker 05

  The TV show. The TV show was after.

• 4:39Speaker 03

  You know why I remember the TV show?

• 4:40Speaker 05

  Tell me why.

• 4:41Speaker 03

  Maya Campbell.

• 4:42Speaker 05

  Ah, yeah.

• 4:43Speaker 03

  She was one of my favorites.

• 4:45Speaker 05

  She was.

• 4:47Speaker 03

  Shout to her.

• 4:48Speaker 04

  Yeah. So Lorenz Tate, man, is, what was that, 25 years ago? 20, 30 years?

• 4:55Speaker 03

  93. Yeah, we getting older, bro.

• 4:57Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 4:58Speaker 04

  And he still looks like he's 17.

• 5:00Speaker 03

  He is.

• 5:01Speaker 04

  So.

• 5:01Speaker 03

  30 years.

• 5:02Speaker 04

  An illustrious career, not only acting, but directing as well. And entrepreneur. We talked about investing, variety of your passion for financial literacy. I know you're a big advocate for your hometown, Chicago.

• 5:16Speaker 05

  Correct.

• 5:17Speaker 04

  And one of these people have just remained consistent. It's extremely hard to remain consistent in anything, but especially in Hollywood.

• 5:23Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 5:24Speaker 04

  We know that, you know, there's trials and tribulations and a lot of people you don't see anymore. So, you know, to see you even now, shout out to 50 and the whole Power franchise.

• 5:33Speaker 03

  Yeah, Councilman Tate has arrived.

• 5:35Speaker 04

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's dope. So we're gonna have a really dope conversation. But first and foremost, thank you for joining us. Appreciate it.

• 5:40Speaker 05

  And listen, I appreciate the warm welcome and having me here. I'm a huge fan of what y'all are doing. You know, we saw each other in LA at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Celebration and Award Show. I told y'all I was looking forward to coming to New York, spend some time with y'all. I've been watching y'all and truly loving what you all are doing, you know, for the community and for the culture. The way you all present what you present and what you represent is so relatable and it's palable, right? Because oftentimes when we think about, you know, financial literacy or things with finances, it just feels like, quite honestly, everything is sort of encrypted, right?

• 6:25Speaker 05

  It doesn't feel like we can always understand it. And what y'all have and what y'all do is just, it's really clear. You know what I mean? So it's a beautiful thing to see two brothers doing what y'all doing. Y'all been rocking together since y'all was, you know, youngins. It's just.

• 6:46Speaker 03

  Since Menace.

• 6:47Speaker 05

  Since Menace, since the days of Menace.

• 6:50Speaker 03

  We like, oh, dog.

• 6:51Speaker 05

  Oh, man, you already know. So I just want to give y'all brothers, y'all flowers and salute to what you both are doing for all of us and the culture. So thank you.

• 7:01Speaker 03

  Appreciate that, man, and likewise to you, especially when we talk about all the accomplishments of actors, but specifically black actors.

• 7:07Speaker 05

  Right.

• 7:08Speaker 03

  Right? The leading men, right? From, like you said, Menace, we can't forget Dead Presidents. Being in Crash and now, you know, being on TV with the Power series. Like, you've been consistently a representation for us. And there's never been any controversy with you. It's just been like, yo, this is the guy, right? For a long time, so we appreciate you.

• 7:25Speaker 05

  Well, thank you, man. And I've been really fortunate to have a career that has spanned it over the length of time. Y'all just mentioned Menace to Society, which was my first feature film back in 93. And I can't believe that it's 30 years. It's like, where did the time go, right? And along the way, I've had some amazing life experiences. There's been a lot of ups, there's been some downs, highs and lows. But for me, I just always wanted to do what I love to do. And I felt like it's a privilege. My mother and father always said to me, specifically, my father would tell my brothers and I, you know,

• 8:07Speaker 05

  y'all are in this business and whatever you do, you know, you find your calling, right? I understood what the assignment was, and run the marathon and not the sprint. And so I'm still in that marathon. And so now we rocking.

• 8:22Speaker 03

  This is crazy. I feel like you just got Darius Love joining.

• 8:25Speaker 05

  Oh, yo, yo, I got some, yeah, every now and again, I'll fall in and out of. I might, you, you, you might, you might get, you might get a little old dog in a minute. You might get a little Anthony Curtis from Dead Presidents. Life?

• 8:39Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 8:40Speaker 05

  You mean life, you know what I'm saying? So, so there's, you know what I'm saying? There might be some highs and lows in here.

• 8:47Speaker 03

  Love it, love it.

• 8:47Speaker 04

  Love it, love it, love it. So let's get into this. All right. Financial literacy mistakes. So we interviewed Steve Harvey.

• 8:55Speaker 05

  Mm-hmm.

• 8:55Speaker 04

  Legendary.

• 8:56Speaker 05

  I love that interview, by the way.

• 8:57Speaker 04

  Thank you.

• 8:57Speaker 03

  Appreciate it.

• 8:58Speaker 05

  That was like, that was a legendary, like, interview. It was so informative. It just was, it was amazing.

• 9:06Speaker 04

  Thank you, thank you. So one of the things that he said was that, you know, there's really no blueprint to follow in Hollywood. A lot of people making mistakes as far as, you know, having the manager, the agent, the CPA. It's a lot to, you know, keep track of. And, you know, you know where your money is going and you don't know what property to invest in. Then you might not have a role for a while. I hear that from a lot of actors, like, you know, that it's a very tough business because you might be hot for a year, then you might be cold for two years. So what was your experience? What has your experience been in Hollywood? What are some of the mistakes that you have probably made? And what are some of the lessons that you've learned as far as investing, business, financial literacy?

• 9:45Speaker 05

  Well, I'm glad you pointed that out. The truth of the matter is, there's a lot of, you know, highs and lows. There's gonna be dry seasons, you know? There's gonna be times where you're super, super hot, and there's times where you're cold. And when you're cold in Hollywood, especially as a black actor, it's real cold. You would sometimes be sitting on that glacier in Antarctica, you know what I mean?

• 10:10Speaker 04

  Glacier.

• 10:12Speaker 05

  It's cold, cold. And what happens is, you know, we get a lot of money upfront sometimes, depending on, you know, where you are in your career. So you get this money upfront. But your only good is your last project. So your value to the bottom line, when you're dealing with networks or studios, is like, how valuable are you? And sometimes if you're not that valuable anymore, you're not bringing in the money. But what happens is, there's a lot of money going out of the door, right? So you get this money, and if you hit a time in your career where the money is not, you know, sustainable, it's not really coming in, but everything is going out the door.

• 10:56Speaker 05

  So you, as you mentioned, you got agents, you got managers, you got financial people that you have to pay. You have lawyers you have to pay, right? You have, let's say, if you have a team, pardon me, for like publicity and all that stuff, and all the things that come with.

• 11:17Speaker 05

  Creating an entity or creating a commodity as a, as a artist. So it's a lot of money that's going out and let's not forget the government. The like, like the gangsters, you know what I'm saying?

• 11:31Speaker 03

  Silent partner.

• 11:31Speaker 05

  Yeah, man, a silent partner. If you don't do it, they, they, they stick you up, right?

• 11:35Speaker 03

  They come and look.

• 11:36Speaker 05

  They come, they come and knock at that door. And so in my experience, I just kinda started out, because I started out early. I kinda had a, something set up a little differently. When I was making money as a, you know, a minor, a portion of my money had to go into a savings account, right? So I couldn't get to the money until I was either eighteen or twenty-one. They automatically would put my money away. So I was working, my first gig was in nineteen eighty-five. There was a remake of the TV show, The Twilight Zone.

• 12:14Speaker 03

  I was just watching this.

• 12:15Speaker 05

  Right, right, right. So The Twilight Zone, but I was, that's one everybody, I'm not in the Twilight Zone from the fifties and the sixties. I'm not that old. They remade it and I was ten, right?

• 12:24Speaker 03

  Time traveler.

• 12:25Speaker 05

  Yeah, I was a time traveler, right? So I was about ten years old and it was my first professional paid gig. I wanna say maybe it was five hundred bucks. But because I'm a minor, the money had to go right into a savings account, basically a trust, if you will. And that-

• 12:42Speaker 03

  Set up by?

• 12:43Speaker 05

  Set up, uh, they just do that legally, you know, when you're a minor, right?

• 12:47Speaker 03

  We had the stories of like Gary Coleman where it was a little different.

• 12:50Speaker 05

  Well, because they have, they also, not all of the money.

• 12:52Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 12:53Speaker 05

  So a, a portion of it, let me, let me be clear about that. A portion of the money goes into a account of however you, you get paid because you're a minor. But then the more money you make, so let's say if you are child star. I wasn't a big child star. I was just working here and there. So I wasn't making a lot of money at that time. And so what happens often is when you make a lot of money in your career, you've never made a lot of money before. You have handlers. Sometimes the people in your family, sometimes it's people who are outside of your family. And they have access to that money. But if you're a minor, what do you know? You're not learning this in school, right? Because you're being paid like an, an adult. So it, it gets, you know, it can get a little funny.

• 13:37Speaker 05

  For me, my parents never touched my money. They just made sure that it was, you know, anytime I work on a little project, a guest star here, a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Make sure that that money go and, you know, I would have to pay taxes and all that stuff as a, as a kid because of. Anyway, by the time I got roles on like, you know, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, I did a guest star there, where the family matters. Still making a little, little bit of money.

• 14:07Speaker 05

  When I did my first film, which was Minister Society, didn't make a whole lot of money, but I was still a minor. I was seventeen when I played O-Dog, still a minor, right? So all of my money was still going. So by the time I was eighteen, there was a nice little money set aside for me. And for me, I just did not wanna spend my money on all the things I saw the people around me spending their money on. I was like, I would save this just because now I have access to it. I just didn't wanna, you know, trick it off. And the more I, you know, developed a career where I command a little bit more money. I kept that same mentality, made sure I paid the taxes and I just always just saved the money.

• 14:53Speaker 05

  I was not spending money on, you know, very expensive cars. I didn't spend money on jewelry. I, I, that wasn't for me and I felt like I didn't need it necessarily, right? I just need the basics, essentials. And the one thing I'm happy about is because when there were times where I hadn't been working, I wasn't doing a couple. You know, those movies, I wasn't doing a TV show like South Central at that time, I was about eighteen or nineteen. I had a way to be able to still take care of myself because I was out of the house. Under, from underneath my parents' roof when I was about sixteen or seventeen.

• 15:32Speaker 05

  My brothers and I got a place together. My brothers were making money. They were, you know, in the business, Lamar and Laurent acting and. You know, Laurent, who's our oldest brother, he started writing and started getting writing gigs and Lamar was working. So I was sixteen, seventeen, living with my brothers and my parents allowed them to be like my guardians.

• 15:52Speaker 03

  So you're not, this is in LA?

• 15:54Speaker 05

  This is in LA.

• 15:55Speaker 03

  Oh, you from Chicago, seventeen.

• 15:57Speaker 05

  Yeah, so I went to, yeah, I went to Chicago early. So when, I was not living in Chicago when I was back in eighty-five. We, at that point, we were in LA. My father was going to school to get his, another degree at USC. And so my mother felt like her three sons needed to be close to their dad because we were away from him for a couple of years. And, you know, the neighborhood started changing on the west side of Chicago and she wanted to make sure that we weren't a product of our environment. And an interesting story, how we even got into the Hollywood game or the, the industry is that. She wanted us to spend more time, so we decided to, to, they relocated us to LA, but we didn't feel like we really fit in.

• 16:38Speaker 05

  And we went from one sort of hood to, to the duck, to a next. But we thought like California was like palm trees and, you know, yeah, living, living nice. But listen, they, they, nothing sweet about them, you know, those neigh- neighborhoods.

• 16:53Speaker 03

  Where'd you move to in LA?

• 16:54Speaker 05

  Uh, we, right, um, where did we move? We moved right on, near west LA. You know what I'm saying? I was like on the cusp of, uh, west LA. Uh, where there were some pockets of the community that started changing. We thought it was nice and it was like, what is, what this big gangs over here? And they, they throwing up, they-

• 17:15Speaker 03

  It's toxic?

• 17:15Speaker 05

  Yeah, they, they, yeah, they thought, and, and, and it was crazy because we would, uh, when we came from Chicago, we didn't understand like colors was the thing. So if you wearing all that, red or you wearing all blue, it's like, wait a minute, we were so confused by it all, right? And so my father and my mother was like, y'all not gonna get caught up in this. So my father got us involved with a performing arts school called Inner City Cultural Center. And it kinda allowed us to kinda get away from that during the summer times or like weekends. And it was really nice because we were able to do theater, music, dance. It was like a real cultural thing, uh, black artists. And I'm happy that that happened.

• 17:56Speaker 05

  Along the way, they always made sure that we went back to Chicago. They was like, y'all gonna go home and spend time with your grandmother and your, and your, and your family, your cousins and, and, and uncles and aunts every summer. So we spent a lot of our summers, uh, in Chicago where I really started, you know, you know, your first girlfriend. You know, the, all those, those elements and the neighborhood was still changing, right? And I was able to see some real things happening. So going, bouncing back from LA to Chicago, I was able to see some real interesting things. By the time I got to do O-Dog, I was very clear of what the assignment was, you know what I'm saying? Without dry snitching, I was like, I, I know what this is.

• 18:41Speaker 03

  Yeah, I've seen this character before.

• 18:42Speaker 05

  I've seen this, say less, let me just give you, just give you the script, I got it, I'll, I'll flip it. But getting back to the money side of things, uh, again, I just always wanted to, you know, find ways to, to, to save. I got to a point, you know, where, um, after, you know, Dead Presidents and, and, and, you know, Love Jones and Why the Fools Fall in Love. I made some, some really good money.

• 19:06Speaker 03

  Are, are those the films where you start negotiating your own contract, finding out what you're worth in Hollywood?

• 19:10Speaker 05

  Absolutely.

• 19:11Speaker 03

  Right? Cause like there was, obviously Minister was great and, and I feel it was Dead Presidents. Was Inkwell in between?

• 19:17Speaker 05

  Yeah, so where it went, it was, uh, Minister Society, The Inkwell, Dead Presidents, uh, Love Jones. And then Why the Fools Fall in Love.

• 19:27Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 19:28Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 19:28Speaker 03

  And so like at that point, after they saw the success of it, which, which is the film that you're like, all right, now I know what I'm, my worth is. Here's what I am negotiating for this film.

• 19:38Speaker 05

  It's probably Love Jones.

• 19:39Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 19:40Speaker 05

  Uh, because at that time I had some success with the other films. And I knew that I could have some more negotiating power to be able to get the kind of money that I felt was necessary for me to have. And, um, you know, I, I remember talking to the president of, uh, New Line Cinema at the time, Mike DeLuca. He, I was telling him like, oh, I think I should get this amount of money. And he thought I was outpricing myself. He was like, listen, you know, you, I don't think you can, you, that's not what we're gonna do. And I was like, nah, I think I wanna, I think I deserve it, you know what I mean? I'm, I'm, I'm gonna come in, I'm gonna do the work and we'll, we'll, we'll be okay.

• 20:23Speaker 05

  And he was like, honestly, you know, I would love to give you that number, but we just don't, it's just, it's just not in the budget. Because that film was not a big budget movie. So this wasn't a huge studio film, but I knew how important it was. So I told him a number and we settled on that and my agents, you know, negotiated it at that point and, you know, we were cool. But I then understood by the time I had gone to other projects, you know, sometimes you would take either a pay cut. Because the project is significant enough for you to, you know, to be a part of it. You know, you wanna do things for the culture or whatever it is, or things that speaks to you from an artist's standpoint.

• 21:04Speaker 05

  Then, you know, by the time I got to, uh, negotiate Why the Fools Fall in Love to play Frankie Lymon. You know, I knew they had a little bit more money. So each film or each project you do, you would hope to have a bump. So you wanna get a little increase in pay and I was able to do so with that. And there's a, a million different ways to create, uh, contracts or, you know, negotiate things. And if you have value, it's really great. I've mentioned before, you're good as your last project. So studios and networks are like bottom line. They're really, uh, uh, it's about the business side of things.

• 21:42Speaker 05

  Which oftentimes we as black actors are not as valuable, or at least we're told we're not as valuable as our white counterparts. And that's been something historically that's, you know, we've been fighting against for so long, black men and particularly black women.

• 22:01Speaker 05

  We don't get what we deserve.

• 22:04Speaker 05

  And so I understood a few things along the way.

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• 26:02Speaker 05

  In negotiating, I oftentimes found myself saying, okay, I know about backend. I know about basically what would be royalties. So you want to have backend participation. So you negotiate a fee upfront. But when the movie goes to theaters, there's where the real participation, the ownership, comes in. And all the time, I would think about, like, what about international? Because I know some of these movies go overseas. And they would always say to me, my entire career, no overseas, only domestic.

• 26:42Speaker 05

  You have, there is, there are no deal points for international. And I would think, why not? And it was said that black people don't sell overseas, meaning it's only, at the time, they would say it's only like one person, Will Smith. Because I think he had done like Independence Day, right? Or Denzel Washington. No, excuse me, I take that back, Wesley Snipes. Because he would do all those action films that they would sell over there. So they were the only two people. Denzel's, you know, sort of later. But it was like Will Smith and Wesley Snipes that were the ones who really commanded

• 27:24Speaker 05

  that box office, domestic and international fee. You know what I mean? To get that, to get the bag here and over there, and get all the backend, right? And I would go to, you know, overseas. I would travel, and I would think, like, no one knew who I was because they said we weren't valuable over there. Like, our movies don't do well. They don't sell them there. But that was not the truth. When you start traveling, you start saying, wait a minute. I can't walk down the street and everybody knows the words to, you know, my dialogues of my films, but they don't even speak English, but they know how to say, you know, what'd you say about my mama? You know what I mean? They know, you know what I mean? They know this stuff. Right? And so I'm thinking to myself,

• 28:10Speaker 05

  something, something has to be off with that. And so I would discover that only certain people could get that international backend, you know, participation. And how, understood how important that was. Because I was saying, well, where's the backend participation going to? Where's the people getting all those royalties? It was the studios and the producers. That is one of the things that I learned. Oh, you don't want to give up half of that and share that with me, because that's generational wealth. You ain't gonna split that with me. You give me enough to make me happy upfront. But when I hit that coal or Antarctica, and I'm hitting that glacier,

• 28:56Speaker 05

  and I'm not getting those movies, and I'm not getting that deals, those residuals are important to me to sustain my lifestyle or to sustain the things I want to do. I want to send my children to college. I want to give, you know, some opportunities for them to start a business or whatever that is. I can't do that. But those producers and those networks and those studio heads, they got that locked down.

• 29:15Speaker 03

  So at the time, I'm trying to think, as you're coming up, nobody's putting you onto the game, right? Because there are black actors. Like, you mentioned, there's Denzel, there's Wesley. I'm thinking Omar Epps. You said Samuel L. Jackson. Spike Lee's directing at this time. Even Cuba Gooding.

• 29:33Speaker 05

  Sure.

• 29:34Speaker 03

  Like, is anybody aware of this? Or is this?

• 29:37Speaker 05

  I'm sure they are. But a lot of the information is not being passed around. Right? And if the information is being passed around, we don't know how to utilize it. And I think that was part of one of the things when you say the mistakes. Like, I didn't know, you know, how to, like, I didn't really understand, like, how could I negotiate that? But the argument would be, what did your last movie do?

• 30:05Speaker 05

  So now you're basing it off that. What did your last movie do? And some things, when it comes to films that are in the box office success, may have nothing to do with you at all. I might say, well, Love Jones didn't do the numbers that they wanted to do in the box office, you know, from a, from a financial standpoint, but it meant something to the culture.

• 30:25Speaker 03

  Cultural. So let me ask you this. As far as you've been in the game for 30 years, streaming, how has you? Because I feel like everything has changed. And I remember when going to the movies was a big deal.

• 30:36Speaker 05

  Sure.

• 30:36Speaker 03

  Nobody really goes to the movies like that. I mean, some movies still doing well in the box office, but now everything is on Netflix, straight to, you know, streaming services, even movies that have, you know, like Coming to America 2, where it's, it's direct on one streaming service, right?

• 30:52Speaker 04

  How has that transition been like just to observe it? How has that affected Hollywood as far as the actors going from big box office productions to movies that are tailor made for Netflix and Amazon Prime?

• 31:05Speaker 05

  I'm glad you asked that. It's a really good question. And it did affect us because when we would negotiate points, you know, we was really banking on the box office success. And once the switch happened, we didn't really understand, no one understood what that would look like and how these deals will be put together. And now that's sort of the sort of staple. Most people are watching things at their leisure on their phones or at home streaming. And so you negotiate points, you know, back in, you know, you get whatever you're gonna get upfront.

• 31:48Speaker 05

  And depending on what that streaming service is, it sort of deter, it can kind of vary of what your deal could look like.

• 31:55Speaker 04

  Do you think that it's hurt? Do you think that it has hurt the mystique of being in that? Cause growing up, like going to the movies was such a big thing and it was such, it was such a big deal. And now it feels like it's become less of that because there's so much content out. Like, you know, it's like music, right? Like going to buy the album used to mean a lot. And now there's so much music on Apple Music that Little Baby puts an album out, but then 21 puts an album out, and then Drake puts it, and it's just, it kind of gets lost.

• 32:23Speaker 05

  For me, I feel like, I agree, it is sensory overload. There's so much content out there. But, you know, I can't complain about it. It's just what it is. There's nothing that we can do to change it. So you have to adjust and pivot and find a way to be a part of it. So as opposed to standing on the sidelines, looking at the industry change and progress and evolve, jump in, you know, get involved with the streaming services, get involved with, you know, podcasts or digital, get involved with, you know, content that, you know, you could be a part of and still be able to make a living and do what you want to do and love to do.

• 33:05Speaker 05

  And in some cases, it's okay to go with a streaming service for a film or a concept because there's no pressure of the box office. So I started looking at it from that standpoint. There's a demand for the content and they are subscription driven. So if I could help, my movies that are on these platforms can help subscribers, you know, tune in, then great. For instance, you know, we mentioned Power and the whole, you know, Power Universe. Shout out to 50 and Courtney Kemp and everybody who's a part of that, Mark Canton, who are behind, you know, this incredible, huge, you know, show, right?

• 33:49Speaker 05

  That's, you know, on a premium network, being stars. Whereas like, you know, subscription is crazy. Like that, our, our show is a flagship show. It's, it's, it's driving a lot of subscriptions there, right? Which we want to continue. And so there's a lot of business to be done in, in that space. And creatively, I think sometimes some of the better stuff is actually on, on these streaming services, especially when it comes to TV and TV series. Because you now can sort of live with these characters, you can live with these stories, right? And you could really lean into it.

• 34:32Speaker 05

  You don't have to try to wrap everything up in a bow that you might do in a, in a movie. But I still think that the box office is still very viable, you know what I mean? And because they're, the, the studios and the networks are, are getting money from the subscriptions and they can put movies in the theaters. It's, the house never loses. The house is always gonna win. It's like Vegas. They'll find a way to win. So, um, you know, for me, I think it's, it's a, it's a great combination of, of both.

• 35:02Speaker 04

  So you talked about having a cold spell, this proverbial Siberia, where actors, plenty of them go through this at some point in their career. What are you doing in that all the time? Is this the time now when you're creating? Are you investing? Are you saying like, maybe I'll start writing? Like, what are the things that are happening during this time when it's a cold spell?

• 35:21Speaker 05

  Another very good question. For me, I'm not sitting tight, you know what I'm saying? I got a wife and four children, right? I got four sons, man, and I gotta, you know, and prior to me even being married and, and having children, I, my brothers and I would put our heads together. We would huddle up and figure out like, how are we gonna get this, this, this money, right? So we have to write, we have to produce, we have to be a part of telling our own stories and our narrative, right? And there need to be other outlets. So again, where we are today, we just have more opportunities. We have more outlets. So there's really no excuses. But there were times where it's like, man, how do we, how do we get this money? I'm gonna be very honest, a lot of those things is because you have value and your face card is, right? You can do appearances.

• 36:06Speaker 05

  You can sit and, you know, some people can show up and, and, you know, sign autographs. Other people can go and either write a book, book tours, or you can actually find ways in speaking engagements because your time is of, is of value. The fact that you have something to say, people will come. And so you find situations where people want you to come to their, you know, events. If there's a corporate situation where they feel like it would attract the eyes and the ears of the people that they're targeting, they certainly will, will bring you in. And you can find a way to hustle that way. For me, it was like, always get something. My, my father would always say oatmeal is better than no meal.

• 36:50Speaker 05

  Get it. You got to eat, you know what I'm saying?

• 36:52Speaker 04

  So let me ask you this, Black Hollywood, and we've been spending a lot of time in Black Hollywood. So, um, I'm hearing a lot of the same stories told, like, it's very tough, it's difficult, the budgets are not the same, and, you know, a lot of people were saying the same thing. For the outside people that's not in that cluster, and they don't understand, like, what are some of the challenges that people face in Black Hollywood as far as getting a movie produced or not getting the same budget for their white counterparts? Cause I don't think people have an appreciation of, of that.

• 37:26Speaker 05

  Well, the very thing that those who are outside of the Hollywood, Hollywood industry that are in our community that see the challenges that we deal with every day as a people. You know, we work twice as hard to get, you know, twice as less as, as our counterparts, right? And that being said, it's, it is the same way. We're not valued the way we, I believe we should supposedly be valued.

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• 38:30Speaker 05

  So those budgets are really important for us so that we can have the kind of quality that we can present to the consumer. And the smaller the budget, the more creative you have to get. And we don't have resources oftentimes as our white counterparts. The real deal is we don't own any platforms the way we should. There's a few black-owned platforms, but we don't have a lot of outlets. We don't have as many. So we're not sort of governing over these entities or these corporations

• 39:11Speaker 05

  to say, hey, you guys have a great story, y'all wanna tell it and there's money to be made, come here. It is not, it's not as many. So when we do find that, those places, everybody's trying to go through one keyhole. Everybody's trying to go through one tunnel. And even when you go to non-black-owned places, they'll tell you to go over there. Because, you know, they have to find value in what we do. And that's changing quite a bit as we're, you know, making it very clear and we're loud about it because we have to. That I always say, and I talk to execs in, in the industry in Hollywood

• 39:54Speaker 05

  that either look like us and particularly the ones who are not from the black community. I tell people all the time, we're not looking for handouts. We're not asking for any favors. Black folk have earned the right to have the things that we believe, right? From what we've contributed in front of the camera, what we've done behind the camera, the things that we have done and changed narratives and we've taken the reins. We've been able to do so much and we've made y'all a lot of money, 10 times, 100 times over in a real way.

• 40:32Speaker 05

  But also the consumers, black communities, black people support all movies, right? So we have earned that. We have earned the right to be at the table. We, we earned the right to have the, you know, decision-making power. And oftentimes in Hollywood, historically, black folks don't govern over anything. We're in front of the camera and it looks good. Give black folks enough, you know, to keep them quiet, but not enough to make them a real difference or have a real impact on the other side of things. And we want to change that, you know?

• 41:15Speaker 05

  We don't want to just have enough to keep us quiet, but really not make a difference. We're trying to really do something here and we, we, we've earned it on both sides. So now we have black entrepreneurs, and I don't mean to cut you off. Now we have black entrepreneurs or black, you know, companies that recognize that and they...

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• 45:29Speaker 05

  Hollywood has had to come together and be a part of sort of, you know, the movement. And because they understand we bring a lot of money. So you look at this, it's like, look at Black Panther.

• 45:41Speaker 03

  I was, that's exactly.

• 45:42Speaker 05

  About to go with that?

• 45:43Speaker 03

  That's where I was going. Because I was like, what you're saying is it takes for a Black Panther and a Ryan Coogler to do that. A billion dollar movie. Do it again, another billion dollar success on its way. And then you hear like, well, Disney has a division called Onyx. And now it's focusing on black creators. And so I wonder if, I mean, it seems like it's a timing thing, right? Because even now, like you said, there's a cold time, but now it's hot. It's a hot thing and it's a topic.

• 46:09Speaker 05

  It's a topic.

• 46:10Speaker 03

  Right? And so now it brings more creatives, but having just Onyx isn't enough, right? So I was going to, the next point was like, hey, Tate Men Entertainment.

• 46:18Speaker 05

  Yeah, exactly.

• 46:19Speaker 03

  This, now this develops and it's like you've been working on it for a long, but now the timing of it makes sense.

• 46:23Speaker 05

  Yeah, because now we have executives who are in these places now that are, you know, the heads of production. And they're heads of these companies and entertainment companies that when I walk into a room, they understand. And it's not something that I have to, you know, beat them over the head about. Like, okay, they get it. And I'm not going to bring anything that's mediocre. I'm really believe I bring something that's quality or I won't bring it at all, right? But you mentioned Tate Men Entertainment, which is a production company, entertainment company that my brothers, LaRon and Lamar and I decided to put together years ago. And we've had some cool deals, you know, they'll go and give you a housing deal, make sure that you're cool. Make me pay you some money, take care of you.

• 47:05Speaker 05

  But it's like, okay, it's great to be in there and it's great to get a little bit of that money. But we want to get the product out there. We want to be able to get the stories told. We want to be able to make sure that the voices of the voiceless can be heard. And if we are those, you know, the pathway, if we're the conduits to do that, then we really need to see those who are like minded and understand the bigger overall picture. And we want equity. It's more than just, you know, getting a project off the ground. We want some ownership. And as we do business with other, you know, black entities, quality, you know, we're looking for quality. We team up with the quality. We want equity because that's what it's about. It is a business.

• 47:50Speaker 05

  And so the fact that we recognize more of the business, we walk into the rooms and we are on, we, we, we, we, we know what we're doing.

• 48:01Speaker 03

  I thought old dogs don't come out, he's gonna say we on our shit.

• 48:04Speaker 05

  I was about to. We about to.

• 48:07Speaker 04

  It's been a pleasure, my brother. Anything that you want to make the public aware of, any new projects, of course, you know, your power, but anything you're working on?

• 48:17Speaker 05

  Yeah, I want to talk about obviously Power Ghost, season three that's out, that's covered out. It's going to be an incredible season.

• 48:24Speaker 03

  Councilman Rashad Tate.

• 48:25Speaker 05

  Yes, Councilman Rashad, I tell you, there's a connection. And, you know, can't give too much away, but I can say that we've elevated some things. We've definitely gonna, you know, see Councilman Tate up to his shenanigan. Gotta do that, it would be, you know, there's gonna be some.

• 48:42Speaker 05

  Yeah, it's some backdoor deals and some, you know, some nonsense going on. And no, I'm excited about it. It's a, it's a, it's a great.

• 48:51Speaker 03

  Somebody will be sacrificed.

• 48:53Speaker 05

  Absolutely. Mandatory. Has to happen. But I'm excited about this season and what the whole power universe is representing. What else we got? We, my brothers and I actually are working on a docu-series about social injustice. About the marginalization of specifically black people. And we filmed it in Chicago, right? We've been working on the west side and the south side of Chicago, really just showing, you know, why some of the things are happening, but beyond why are the things happening in terms of the marginalization of us and our community? What are the solutions? And we are trying to create something that allows the people who are going through what they're going through to come up with the solutions.

• 49:35Speaker 05

  Oftentimes it's people who are behind the scenes or off to the side, who is not even, who are not even from the community, deciding what is best for those who are dealing with the, but guess who knows? The people who have been able to survive, the people who have been able to overcome those hurdles and those pitfalls and those landmines. So we wanted to create something that allows the voices of those who are dealing with it to tell us what the solution is and let's figure that out. So we're also involved with some redevelopment, you know, we have to call it a redevelopment. But basically it's gentrification in the hood. And I'm like, yo, hold up. How can we be a part of that, you know, redevelopment because it's really important? And as you know, with gentrification, you know, it's valuable land, it's valuable, you know, communities.

• 50:20Speaker 05

  But they displace those who inhabit it. And it's particularly black folk, black and brown people, right? And so we're like, how can we find this social equity? How could we find opportunities to keep, you know, to redevelop it? Get all the amenities, housing, affordable housing, you know, businesses that the people who live there could take part. And they're not displaced, right? And we can create businesses and we can create, you know, schools and museums. And this is not like sort of a, like a pipe dream. It's like, it is attainable. It happens, it just doesn't happen with us often. So we're doing all the things that we can to be a part of that. We're dealing with developers and architects and lawyers and, you know, financial people that, you know, look like us

• 51:03Speaker 05

  that we could be a part of the narrative to redevelop and help buy back the block.

• 51:07Speaker 03

  You had, my last thing, you had a successful audio series.

• 51:10Speaker 05

  Yes, Bronzeville. So Bronzeville represents that.

• 51:13Speaker 03

  More of that?

• 51:14Speaker 05

  Yeah, so we got more of that, you know, Bronzeville is sort of a roadmap, if you will. The actual story is like, it's theater of the mind where you can like hear like this podcast, right? But we scripted it, there's characters in it and it takes place in the 1930s, 1940s on the south side of Chicago in a community called Bronzeville where black folks were self-sufficient. And the way that they came, became self-sufficient financially was running numbers. Other communities were, you know, bootlegging when doing liquor and all that stuff during prohibition. Black folks, we were running numbers. And what happened was as a result of creating this economic infrastructure, they began to invest in the, in the community.

• 51:59Speaker 05

  So these people who were called policy kings decided to invest into like the first black owned bank. The first department store in Chicago that was black owned, the grocery stores. And we had this metropolis of, of a community where we had our own police departments when we policed ourselves. And we had our own grocery stores and butcher shops where people would look out for each other. And I felt like we got away from that. And we want to tell the story of how we can get back to that because it is attainable for us as black folks to unite, thrive and have a true, a part of the, you know, piece of the American dream.

• 52:34Speaker 03

  Sound familiar, Shawty? Our people telling our story.

• 52:36Speaker 04

  There you have it. Legendary, appreciated, my brother. I'm sure we'll be crossing paths soon.

• 52:43Speaker 05

  Yeah, we got a bill. I'm here to, actually, I told you I was gonna listen, I was talking, I was running my mouth. But we're gonna, we're gonna, we're offline, we're gonna definitely sit and talk because I would love you all to be a part of the things that we're doing and building. I would like to learn more from you all and how we can, you know, join forces and get this money.

• 53:00Speaker 03

  Yeah, I mean, Hollywood is in the cards for us.

• 53:03Speaker 04

  Oh, we're headed to Hollywood.

• 53:04Speaker 03

  We're headed to Hollywood.

• 53:05Speaker 04

  We gotta talk about that too.

• 53:06Speaker 05

  I got y'all. I got, you know, I got entertainment company. Let's do something.

• 53:10Speaker 04

  Let's get the deals done.

• 53:11Speaker 05

  Yes, sir.

• 53:12Speaker 04

  All right, guys, thank you for rocking with us. We'll see you next week. Peace.

• 53:15Speaker 03

  Peace.

• 53:16Speaker 05

  Peace.

• 53:16Speaker 04

  There you have it.

• 53:17Speaker 05

  Yes, indeed.

• 53:18Speaker 03

  I didn't get a chance to thank you for being the leading man to some of these leading ladies.

• 53:22Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 53:24Speaker 03

  Halle Berry.

• 53:24Speaker 05

  Yes. This is off, this is. No, we can, we can still, you're just doing it as some, as some other stuff. This is some bonus stuff.

• 53:32Speaker 03

  I mean, we gotta start with Halle.

• 53:34Speaker 05

  Okay, let's talk.

• 53:35Speaker 03

  My favorite, of course, Neil Young.

• 53:37Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 53:38Speaker 03

  I ran into, I don't even know what to say. Jada.

• 53:41Speaker 05

  Yep.

• 53:42Speaker 03

  Multiple times.

• 53:44Speaker 03

  At the time, Vivica Fox.

• 53:45Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 53:47Speaker 03

  But, um, I mean, and I'm gonna count this because it was a video, but Ashanti.

• 53:54Speaker 05

  Ashanti, wow, yeah. I've been fortunate.

• 53:58Speaker 05

  I've been fortunate.

• 54:00Speaker 03

  Did I miss it?

• 54:00Speaker 04

  Ashanti's probably, she's probably the best one out of that group.

• 54:04Speaker 03

  I said Halle Berry, bro.

• 54:05Speaker 04

  Currently, currently.

• 54:07Speaker 03

  No, I said Nia Long, bro.

• 54:08Speaker 04

  Currently.

• 54:08Speaker 03

  No, no.

• 54:09Speaker 05

  I'm just, I'm gonna fly on a wall. I love to hit it.

• 54:12Speaker 03

  I said Nia Long, bro. After that, you can't.

• 54:14Speaker 04

  Currently.

• 54:16Speaker 03

  So the question, no, Ashanti's bad. She's 41. Nia's 50. It's a different level, bro.

• 54:24Speaker 03

  No, it's a different level. But the question.

• 54:25Speaker 05

  I love the conversation.

• 54:27Speaker 03

  The question was this. Is there, I got a couple of questions, but is there a leading lady that you haven't worked with, that you, you're inspired to work with?

• 54:37Speaker 05

  Oh, yeah. I would love to work with, uh, Sanaa Lathan. She's dope.

• 54:41Speaker 03

  She's not on that list.

• 54:42Speaker 05

  Yeah, I, I have not worked with, uh, Sanaa. And there's a, a few other ones that are, that are amazing, but just thinking about all the women we, we talked about, uh, that you mentioned, Halle, Vivica, Lila Rashawn.

• 54:59Speaker 03

  Lila Rashawn, yep, yep, yep.

• 55:01Speaker 05

  You know, Jada, uh, who else did you say? Nia Long, obviously, Queen Nia.

• 55:09Speaker 05

  But yeah, you know, Sanaa is someone, I was, I was able to work with Regina Hall. I would also love to work with Regina King, Regina King.

• 55:18Speaker 03

  But she was in Girl Trip, but you guys.

• 55:20Speaker 05

  Yeah, we was, we was a girl. It was kinda, you know, so.

• 55:22Speaker 03

  I didn't put, I knew that, but I see, it was like different.

• 55:25Speaker 05

  Yeah, so, yeah, but I would love to work with some of those sisters. They're incredible.

• 55:29Speaker 03

  The, the other part of it was, we saw the success of The Best Man becoming a series.

• 55:35Speaker 05

  Sure.

• 55:36Speaker 03

  And so I wondered, like, did the opportunity even be presented to have Love Jones in that format?

• 55:44Speaker 05

  Of course, it's happened many times. You know, just, you know, there's been so many conversations about how Nia Long and I should get back together.

• 55:54Speaker 03

  Y'all could play the same role, like, I look.

• 55:57Speaker 05

  It's been, yeah, it's been, the conversation has been had many, many times for many, many years.

• 56:01Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 56:01Speaker 05

  Because the movie is so iconic and it's been such a staple in the community about how black love means so much to us and how, you know, just the movie itself was very unique.

• 56:13Speaker 03

  I started writing poems.

• 56:14Speaker 05

  You start, Darius Loveall had you in there.

• 56:16Speaker 03

  I had a brown leather book that I was writing. I thought they was rhymes, but they turned into poems.

• 56:20Speaker 05

  They're poems, that you did. You wasn't able to record them.

• 56:23Speaker 03

  My brother actually was like doing spoken words, so he would go, and I would just be there watching him. I'm like, yo, this is, that's the impact of that movie.

• 56:31Speaker 05

  Yeah, there was, it was thing. So Nia Long and I were just, just trying to figure it out, but I think something has to happen. I'm not quite sure what that is, or I can say right now, but the conversation of Love Jones has happened and we just, here's the deal. If, if you can't do it that justice, like take it to the next level, you gotta leave it alone.

• 56:51Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 56:52Speaker 05

  Find something else. So, you know, we'll see what happens.

• 56:55Speaker 03

  This is the last thing. This is the last thing. Is this recording? This is not recording. It's recording?

• 56:59Speaker 05

  Yeah, we're gonna go.

• 56:59Speaker 03

  All right, um,

• 57:02Speaker 03

  the black, uh, actor, American actor.

• 57:08Speaker 03

  I feel like there's been a decline.

• 57:12Speaker 04

  The British invasion.

• 57:13Speaker 03

  The British invasion has taken over.

• 57:17Speaker 03

  The days of you guys, like you, like the guys I mentioned are far in between, like, but you guys are still doing it. But I don't see the next, like rendition of the blackmail actor because of the British invasion. What are your thoughts?

• 57:31Speaker 05

  Listen, I've, I don't look at the, it as a competition. I look at the collective. So, you know, there's brothers who are doing it, whether they're doing it here, in America, whether they're doing it, you know, over from the UK or even from the mother continent, Africa. It's, I'm, I'm cool with whatever it's gonna be. But I feel like Hollywood believes there's more value in British black actors than they do black actors. And I think a part of it goes into that, oh, they have an audience over there. So they translate internationally, going back to that,

• 58:13Speaker 05

  what I think is, you know, a hoax that we don't sell or we don't, we're not valuable. So I think they put that in the mix. And also I just think Hollywood is just in love with the UK and all things, you know, British. And so I feel like the, the black American actor is, you know, I see what that decline is, but you know, we, we're here.

• 58:37Speaker 03

  You're here, yeah. Y'all are here.

• 58:38Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 58:38Speaker 03

  Yeah, y'all are here.

• 58:39Speaker 05

  But I love the collective, so I'm, I'm not.

• 58:41Speaker 03

  They killing it. I mean, those guys are killing it.

• 58:42Speaker 05

  Yeah, they killing it. You know, you know, listen, my, my heart ain't pumping no Kool-Aid. I know what I stand on. You know what I mean? You know, there's blood running through these veins, you know what I'm saying? Cold as ice, bro. So we gonna be all right.

• 58:52Speaker 03

  Chat town's on.

• 58:53Speaker 05

  Already, you dig?

• 58:54Speaker 04

  Have it.

• 58:57Speaker 06

  My graduates from my school being forced, backdrop.

• 59:01Speaker 04

  Backdrop.

• 59:02Speaker 06

  A mic drop, backdrop.

• 59:04Speaker 04

  Backdrop.

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