Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: What's going on, y'all? Corpse Christi Originals back at it again. Coming to you live from the Produce Sound Studios downtown Corpus Christi, Texas. We have Cris Olvera with us. What's going on, Cris?
[00:00:10] Speaker B: You doing, man? How you doing?
[00:00:11] Speaker A: Yeah. All right, man. Glad you could make it, bro. Got to make it official. Yeah, gotta make it official.
[00:00:17] Speaker B: I just wanted to make sure it didn't look awkward.
[00:00:19] Speaker A: Nah, it's all good, dude.
[00:00:20] Speaker B: Maya, did it look awkward.
[00:00:24] Speaker A: On purpose?
[00:00:25] Speaker B: That's on brand. It's awkward. It's completely fine.
[00:00:28] Speaker A: That's cool, man. So a lot of us know you from your YIKES series on YouTube.
[00:00:32] Speaker B: That would be cool. If a lot of y'all knew me from there, that'd be really cool.
[00:00:36] Speaker A: It was dope. I had seen it for the first time. I saw the whole thing. Oh, you did the whole thing, bro. Cool. So. And it's. It's. It's amazing to me how, like, it's spread out from different years. You know what I mean? So when you started. When you started, like, the first video, did you know you're gonna get to number ten or.
[00:00:53] Speaker B: I really. Well, you know, it's funny. The shows actually was slated for eight. Eight episodes. We did the first episode and we were saying, like, let's see if people want it. And then co creators Ryan Monroe and Ricky Martinez, because those guys really just wanted to make something. I don't think they really cared what they were making. They just wanted to make something in a video format online. And then I'm the one that really blew it up into becoming a whole narrative episodic series. I was like, well, we have. All this time. We're like, it's COVID. We're all doing nothing. Let's do something. Let's figure something out. I kind of took the ball and kept running. And, yeah, after, like, the, like, 2nd, 1st or second episode, I was like, I have an eight episode idea. And they were all like, cool, let's do it. And I was like, let's do it. And they were all fully supportive. And Ryan, like, helped with edits and everything. And he really. Mostly the actor, but he started editing towards the end. But, yeah, the reason it's ten episodes, because the 8th episode was always planned to be, like, pretty long. We didn't know how long, but whenever it was written out, it was an hour and a half in the script.
[00:02:02] Speaker A: Whoa.
[00:02:02] Speaker B: Which is a feature film.
[00:02:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:04] Speaker B: And we were like, whoa. And we shot as a feature film. We screened it as a feature film. But then when we realized that episode seven, which was an hour long, did not have a lot of good play on YouTube. Like, it took forever for it to.
[00:02:17] Speaker A: Get to a thousand of my favorite. That's, like, one of my favorite episodes.
[00:02:20] Speaker B: Thank you. I appreciate it.
[00:02:21] Speaker A: Yeah, no kidding.
[00:02:22] Speaker B: But, like, it just took forever people to watch it. So we were like, let's break it up into three parts for the last episode. And so that's how it. It became ten.
But what's funny is that, like, those last three episodes have, like, the worst views out of all of our episodes. So it's like, did it even matter? Like, I don't even know.
[00:02:38] Speaker A: Views. Whatever.
[00:02:39] Speaker B: Yeah, we didn't really care about views. It just looks pretty, you know? Oh, cool. You have over. Blah, blah blah xyz. Yeah.
[00:02:46] Speaker A: It's amazing to me, man, like, how you can create from beginning to end. It takes so long to do it. Takes a lot of work, you know, obviously. And then I liked how you would show the credits at the end of the first one. You look at that one compared to the one at the end.
[00:03:01] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:01] Speaker A: Tons of people. Like, it's so crazy. How did you feel when people started getting into your. Getting into the project?
[00:03:08] Speaker B: It was awesome. It's literally the best feeling because I feel like what our show was, it was an experiment. It was really like, everybody has their own project, but it legitimately felt like a science project at school because we were like, let's try to do these things and try to combine these genres together. These characters, the comedy, the drama, the romance, you know, all these different emotions. And whenever you have people that are your friends or, you know, featured creators that are like, we love what you're doing. We want to help out. We want to buy you a boom. We want to sponsor your lunch. We want to do these things. We're like, whoa, this is awesome, because this is exactly what a project should be. This is, like, us. This is our network now, and we're all willing to help each other. So that was the best part, was really just meeting all these people, getting all their support.
[00:03:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:03:59] Speaker B: That was really the main goal of the show to begin with.
[00:04:01] Speaker A: Yeah, though, man, I can't stop looking at your beard, bro. You got, like, the diamond shape right here.
[00:04:05] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:04:06] Speaker A: Hell, yeah. Looking good, man.
[00:04:08] Speaker B: Dude, I just got it. I just got it cut today. I just got it trimmed a little bit.
[00:04:12] Speaker A: Hell, yeah. Yeah. No, I was due for the mustache. I had to get that out of it. I can't stand it, you know? Yeah, yeah.
[00:04:18] Speaker B: My barber does amazing.
[00:04:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:20] Speaker B: Works that he. He has he's at the supercuts on Saratoga.
[00:04:23] Speaker A: There you go.
[00:04:24] Speaker B: I know you're saying super cuts. It's not a mom and pop. No. This guy's amazing. I don't. This guy's incredible. Roger is the best. He keeps telling me to go to outback. I don't know why, but in any ways, it's not important at all. He's great.
[00:04:36] Speaker A: So, speaking of outback, man, I wanted you to invite you for dinner, man, on Saturday. You do anything on Saturday?
[00:04:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm graduating.
[00:04:44] Speaker A: No. Come on, bro.
[00:04:46] Speaker B: Was that your. Was that you're leaning to that?
[00:04:48] Speaker A: It was.
[00:04:49] Speaker B: Good job. Good job.
[00:04:50] Speaker A: Appreciate it. Now. Yeah. So you're graduating from a and m?
[00:04:54] Speaker B: Yeah. Right? Yeah.
[00:04:55] Speaker A: And islanders.
[00:04:56] Speaker B: Islanders. Yeah.
[00:04:58] Speaker A: Yeah. Shock is up, bro. I got my bachelor of music from there.
[00:05:03] Speaker B: Oh, awesome.
[00:05:04] Speaker A: We're islanders, bro.
[00:05:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:06] Speaker A: That's awesome, man. And you were telling me before that you freeze.
[00:05:10] Speaker B: You.
[00:05:11] Speaker A: You did. You went at it, pay for it on your way.
[00:05:15] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:16] Speaker A: That was amazing. That's amazing, dude.
[00:05:17] Speaker B: Thank you. I went through Del Mar first, and then I graduated from there, and I got my associates, so it could be cheaper before I went to the full position into, you know, Islander, getting the bachelors.
But, yeah, when I went to the island, I was like, oh, this is too much money. I got to do a financial aid. I got to do all these things and do all these grants. There was a point going to the island where I was struggling. Like, I was literally living paycheck to paycheck because of how hard it was to just pay for tuition. And then actually, my friend Johnny Hotcakes. John Garcia, the lawyer, he's the one that gave me advice on how to get grants, and then, wow. After that, it's been, like, incredible. Like, amazing how many, you know, grants are out there for students. It's just free money, and a lot of people think they can't afford school, but, like, there's so many different avenues to help you with that.
[00:06:06] Speaker A: Yeah. So did you, like, you were so. Okay. Why did you stray away from debt? I always talk about come to the money subject for some reason, because I think it's important for our society, and I just wanted to maybe touch on that a little bit more. So is. Is there a reason why you decided to avoid the loans? Because we were saying, like, go ahead and get student loans. You know what I mean? Just. Is there a reason? Why have you always.
[00:06:29] Speaker B: Because people treat it like it's nothing and it's everything. Like, I mean, if you're gonna, like, it's it's such a weird conversation, but, like, I know that my family dealt with debt, you know, over the years, and it's always something that, like, this resentful piece of information that felt like, you know, they. They kind of avoided and. Or at least, like, at least the conversation of it, but I would just hear about situations happening with family members having problems with paying back money and doing these type of things. So whenever I talked to my family about going to school, not to say that they were completely hands off, because I know my dad was definitely like, I'll help you out if you. If you need it. But there was, like, other people in the family that were definitely, like, we don't really want to pay for school anymore, you know? And I kind of realized, like, you know, I think I should just pay for this myself, because I'd rather not make everybody. What if I don't finish school? What if I don't like school at all? And they had to throw away so much money. So I was like, I'm just gonna put my money where my mouth is, and I'm gonna pay for it myself. And.
And it was hard because I definitely, like, just going to Del Mar, my first job out of high school, which I think is a lot of people's, is, like, working at whataburger. It's like the Texas rite of passage to work at whataburger, at least at one point.
And the money sucks. I was like, well, money's like, really, everything sucks, huh? And everybody's like, yeah, like, there's no better jobs in the city. Like, this is what you got for your age. And I was like, all right. And luckily, my friend Trent Schaefer, his dad, um, his dad was amazing. His dad was great. And, um, he was really supportive, and he. He knew about my college situation, and he offered to pay for my first, uh, year of school.
[00:08:10] Speaker A: Your. Your dad or.
[00:08:11] Speaker B: No, my friend's dad.
[00:08:13] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:08:14] Speaker B: My friend's dad, like, wow. Really liked just how we talked our conversations, and he was like, I'll help you pay for it.
[00:08:19] Speaker A: Like, no way.
[00:08:20] Speaker B: And he wrote the first two semesters checks, and I was like, thank you so much. And it really helped me get my. Get my foot off the ground to at least start saving money for the rest of the semesters. And, yeah, I really would not have been able to go to school if it wasn't for him.
[00:08:36] Speaker A: Amazing. Yeah. And now we were talking earlier, like, how can you give something to somebody where they can't give back to you at that point in time? And that right there is. It's a blessing, bro, because you couldn't. You couldn't have gave him that kind of money at that point in time, and.
[00:08:52] Speaker B: No, and he was really supportive. Like, he even. He helped with film once that I made. Like, he actually let me use one of his old trucks for. For this period piece film. And then I got the truck stranded on harbor Bridge. They had to close down traffic. Yeah. Cuz, like, I was like. Like, knowing I was just going crazy on the gas or something. I didn't know it was that sensitive. And it just, like, stalled out on the harbor bridge. They had to have cops, like, barricade both sides of the bridge so there'd be no car crashes.
[00:09:19] Speaker A: Oh, shit.
[00:09:20] Speaker B: And it was just, like, insane. And I was like, I'm so sorry.
[00:09:23] Speaker A: Oh, my God. It was so embarrassing.
[00:09:25] Speaker B: It was so embarrassing. I was like, I love you and everything you've done for me. I thank you so much. And he was like, it's okay. I don't know if that truck's okay.
He was so nice in ways that people have never really been that nice to me, at least, like, you know, financially. Yeah, but, yeah, like. And I always ask him, like, how can I pay you back? Like, I'll pay you back whenever he's like, no, don't pay me back.
[00:09:47] Speaker A: Just like, wow.
[00:09:48] Speaker B: Just focus on school and stuff and.
[00:09:51] Speaker A: Yeah, it's amazing. We got the pink plantain on YouTube chat.
[00:09:55] Speaker B: Wow. What are they saying? They're saying, Chris, I don't know who I am anymore.
Chris.
I'm so drunk. I'm so drunk. Drake.
[00:10:09] Speaker A: Yeah. I found. I found out because I was joking with Dusty. I was telling him that I was the pink plantain, but I just recently watched Dusty crates and I found out who it actually was, and I was like, oh, cool.
So I thought that was cool.
[00:10:23] Speaker B: It was pretty good build up.
[00:10:24] Speaker A: Yeah. That's interesting, man.
[00:10:26] Speaker B: You mean glad to see her return?
[00:10:27] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:28] Speaker B: Let's also see your return.
Yeah. The pink plantain.
[00:10:33] Speaker A: Oh, it's a brand new channel. Or she changed it.
[00:10:35] Speaker B: It's like she should put a trademark logo at the end of it.
[00:10:38] Speaker A: Right on. Yeah. You mentioned Grant's, man. So you. You have a grant, right? Did I see something on that?
[00:10:44] Speaker B: Yeah, I created a grant. Actually, I was talking about that with Maya earlier. We created a grant for people between the age of 16 and 22, which I found to be one of the most difficult ages to, like, get support for filmmaking, at least in the city, you know. And I wanted to give really small like, hundred dollar grants for people to at least have food on set.
[00:11:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:06] Speaker B: Just for young filmmakers. That's what I wanted to really focus on. Weirdly enough, no one has submitted to it, which I was. I was really hoping it would have.
[00:11:14] Speaker A: I don't think a lot of people know about it.
[00:11:15] Speaker B: I don't think enough people know about it. I'm trying to find a way where we can plug it a little bit more.
[00:11:19] Speaker A: I mean, people. People don't know about the grants, like, for college or nothing like that. Like, how did you find out about it? You know what I mean?
[00:11:24] Speaker B: Yeah, I had to have my friend tell me about it directly, and he had to. He told me, like, who to talk to and how to get it done and. Yeah, yeah, it. That was weird. I was like, I didn't know that all this existed for so long. Like, my life probably would have been a hundred times easier had this many grants.
[00:11:39] Speaker A: Yeah. And then you hosted, you helped produce one of the shows a while back, and you were saying that you can, like, like, scare them into paying you or what?
[00:11:46] Speaker B: Bully them. Bully them, yeah, I mean, you can just go over there and, like, tell them your story. Like, tell if it's really that hard for you, which was. It was pretty hard for me at the time. You can just let them know and kind of breathe down their necks. Like, actually, this last grant that I received for school, like, it was, like a pretty good sum. It was gonna be over like 1500, and it was like two months before now, and I had to pay that. And I was like, dude, like, I don't have that, like, what to do? So I went to go talk to somebody over the phone, and they were like, yeah, there's no grants available. It's too late in the semester. And then I went in and I talked to somebody and it was like, yeah, it's too late this semester. Like, what? They asked me, like, why haven't you taken out loans or done anything like that? And I was like, I just, like, I'm not.
[00:12:27] Speaker A: I'm weird to do that. I don't like to borrow money.
[00:12:29] Speaker B: I just. Well, usually I just tell them, like, I'm not at the financial place to do that right now. I don't feel comfortable doing that.
[00:12:35] Speaker A: Crazy.
[00:12:36] Speaker B: And I'm just straightforward with them, and usually they're pretty okay with it, but they're like, no, you should, like, take the loans. Like, just take the loans. And they're like, we can't give you more money until you take the loans.
[00:12:43] Speaker A: And I'm like, oh, crazy.
[00:12:44] Speaker B: Okay, well, no, I'm okay. And then I think it was like a week after that I got Dean's list and I got the director's list for like communications majors. I got like both of those and they told me to go pick it up from an office and I went to go pick it up on campus and I went directly to a different financial advisor and I was like, I have this. Does this change anything?
[00:13:06] Speaker A: Oh, damn.
[00:13:08] Speaker B: And they were like, well, let's see. And they looked. And like almost immediately she was like, there's a grant that can help you out. I was like, thank you so much. Like, wow, I really can't afford to do all these, you know, to be in debt or to pay for school. So this grant's really gonna help me.
[00:13:20] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:21] Speaker B: And you know, I know I'm probably gonna have to be dipping and probably getting some loans for grad school if I decide to go. I really just don't know yet. But grad school, that's gonna be crazy. That's so expensive.
[00:13:31] Speaker A: So especially in a different, like if you go to a different state, that probably charges extra just cuz.
[00:13:38] Speaker B: Yeah, out of state tuition is insane.
[00:13:40] Speaker A: It's crazy.
[00:13:41] Speaker B: There's not a lot of industry. I mean, there's some industry and in Texas for film for sure, like in Austin, Dallas or something. But I. I prefer to kind of get my feet wet.
[00:13:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:52] Speaker B: Somewhere else or, you know.
[00:13:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:54] Speaker B: La or Georgia, even New York.
[00:13:56] Speaker A: Yeah. Do you watch, I think it's HBO Max. At all? Yeah, they had this, this one tv show. Did you watch it about film or something?
[00:14:05] Speaker B: Like, is it project green light?
[00:14:07] Speaker A: No, it's. It's. They're actually talking about film. Like what. What makes a movie? Whatever, you know what I mean? It goes to comedy. He goes through love, he goes through hate. You know, all kinds of. It's very interesting. Huh.
[00:14:19] Speaker B: I wonder what it is.
[00:14:19] Speaker A: Yeah, it's about film. Like, it's about the. The making of film and stuff like that. I thought it was interesting. Like, like for instance, like Romeo and Juliet, like a famous love story or whatever. And the guys, like, one of them ends up dying at the end, you know what I mean? And that's what makes it a good love story or memorable because one of them. Yeah, that one.
[00:14:41] Speaker B: The power. Yeah. I've never heard of it.
[00:14:43] Speaker A: Yeah, it was pretty cool. And I watched it too because I knew we were having an interview. I was like, let me watch this, maybe try.
[00:14:48] Speaker B: Is there like real directors on there?
[00:14:50] Speaker A: There's a guy, he's a he's a professor for, like, years from a California university or something like that, but he's been a professor for so many years, and he's basically teaching what he teaches there. Howard Subar? Yeah.
[00:15:04] Speaker B: What did you say? Howard Subaru. Good name. No, never heard of it, but I'll look into it for sure.
[00:15:09] Speaker A: Yeah, no, it was cool. So, man, so, dude, how do you get into doing this? Like, doing film or how do you, how did you originally start, you know, what piqued your interest or.
[00:15:21] Speaker B: It was actually my friend Jacob. My friend Jacob Salazar. Because we got really, we're really into SNL in high school. We, like, loved SNL. We would, like, do bits and do impressions and do all these things in high school.
And we talked about doing skits and then we talked about making films. So we made, like, one short film together. And it was about like a dog for Uil. It didn't really get far, but, I mean, it was, it was fun to make and it made me want to do it more and.
Yeah, ever since then, I always just wanted to keep making stuff like him. And I talked about making a tv series back then where it was called Chris and Jacob versus the block party or something, and that was supposed to be hunger games, but with teenagers and rich kids, and it was going to be this really gory thing. And it would have been really fun to make in high school to see, you know what I mean? That'd be so fun to watch what we done then. Cause we would have had to make so many things, make blood and, like, it was really dumb.
[00:16:21] Speaker A: It's like, it's like you have a. It's like, for me, as a musician, you have a band and you play, like, in front of, you know, your school. Like, it's. I understand where you're coming from. Kind of understand where you're coming from with that. And then, like, even on the. Yikes, like the first film, bro, then they start, I think was the first one where they do the. The Star wars.
[00:16:37] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:38] Speaker A: And I was, and I started laughing again. I was like, oh, my God, I'm actually laughing. What's going on here?
[00:16:43] Speaker B: You're enjoying it?
[00:16:44] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:16:44] Speaker B: I mean, it's exactly, it's handmade. I mean, and you see the passion in it. Like, no matter what, from our thing to a high schooler to an elementary school kid making claymations, it's cool.
[00:16:54] Speaker A: Yeah. And to be honest, man, I don't know if it's because I'm a Corpus Christi person.
When I approached it at first, I was like, it's just a corpus filmmaker. What do they know? You know what I mean? They're from Corpus. That's honestly how. But then I was like, you know what? Let me give it a shot, because I'm trying not to be that way. You know what I mean? I'm trying to give it a chance.
[00:17:14] Speaker B: We all live in our own bubble.
[00:17:16] Speaker A: Yeah. So. But, no, I actually got into. I was like, oh, this is cool. And then I started looking at the. The actors. You guys are all hispanic or mexican or whatever you call it, you know what I mean? And there's not a lot of that in mainstream stuff that I usually see. So it was kind of relatable in that sense, you know? Is that something that you shoot for?
[00:17:36] Speaker B: I mean, that's her demographic. I mean, usually is. Like, that's who we're surrounded by. So many, you know, or a giant pot of chatto beans over here, a bunch of Mexicans. You know, there's some white folk around, for sure, and definitely some black folk and everything, and a lot of different races around in the melting pot, which is corpus, but at least around us more directly, where a lot of our hispanic friends and a lot of the heritage and traditions here in town, so. Yeah, and, you know, it's even funny because we, like, dip into a few things of, like, other aspects of, like, culture inside the show, but a majority of it really just is confined to having hispanic actors and having that as well, because you're right, it's just not everywhere. Like, you don't see that a lot.
I actually had, like, this friend of mine recently said, like, you know, they were. That they were producing a film and they were like, yeah, it's really cool because it's about Mexicans and they're not, like, gangbangers or whatever.
You know, they're actually real people. And I was like, you know, I mean, I understand that, but there's.
There is films where there were not gangbangers. There is stories where we're not. Yeah, you know, these people, you just haven't seen them. I think that's also the truth. Like, I don't think, like, we're reinventing the wheel by casting all hispanic people. There's so many stories out of Mexico City, out of Spain, out of, like, Colombia, out of so many different latin countries that show Hispanics in different lights that are not mainstream here, you know, but they exist. And it's like, it's a shame that they're. They are also under seen.
[00:19:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:05] Speaker B: In a way, you know, so to kind of add to that is fun. I mean, it's cool to have more representation, 100%. But, like, I hope people know, like, these films exist. Like, they're not what the american media has for us. You know, there's so much more out there. So.
[00:19:19] Speaker A: So that. So do you imagine that being a challenge to, I guess, get your. Your name out there or your film out there?
[00:19:26] Speaker B: I mean, quite possibly.
I know there's, like, a professor of mine that he tried to, like, sell a lot of, like, hispanic stories to paramount or other studios, and I know he didn't have a great time working on that. So, I mean, I can imagine it being pretty hard, but there's still pockets, you know, like, we're still a pretty big makeup of the american public. So, I mean, you know, the want, the needs there. Bad Bunny's going crazy. You know what I mean? Like, there's so many different people in entertainment that are hispanic or latin that there's no reason for us to not have our own, you know?
[00:20:01] Speaker A: Yeah. And I don't.
I don't want to necessarily say that we purposefully make it like that. It just is like that for us.
[00:20:11] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. It's definitely not done on purpose. Like.
[00:20:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:14] Speaker B: Whatsoever.
Yeah.
[00:20:17] Speaker A: Yeah. It's just like, it's the culture that we live in and with this is just what we are, what we know. This is how we're doing it. You know what I mean? And some people may see it as, like, oh, look at those Mexicans over there trying to be like this or whatever, you know what I mean? Get into that argument.
[00:20:31] Speaker B: I mean, also that, like, there's not a lot of Spanish speaking in our show at all.
[00:20:34] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly.
[00:20:34] Speaker B: There isn't, like, a lot. There's a lot of. I mean, we might use some verbiage or some. You know, we have a whole episode that's really about, like, nacho libre to some extent.
[00:20:42] Speaker A: Yeah, that was.
[00:20:43] Speaker B: And that episode is funny because it's us kind of embracing, like, how radical the view of Mexicans are, you know? But it's kind of subtle. Like, we're not trying to, like, put in people's faces. There's, like, one reference of someone being like, isn't that movie racist? And it's like, dude, shut up. Like, this is awesome. You know what I mean? It's like, this is. It's. Is it problematic? Sure. But it's also, like, this is also one of the coolest interpretations of, like, the mexican experience. Like, such a funny, dumb little movie. And, I mean, we welcome that. I think we're also pretty easy on that humor.
[00:21:17] Speaker A: I love the music that you use, too, like, through the series, a lot of it is, like, pop. I don't know if it's pop music, but it's just good. It's just cool stuff.
[00:21:26] Speaker B: Copyrighted music?
[00:21:27] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. No, yeah. And then even the producer back there, he's got it. He's got some stuff in there.
[00:21:32] Speaker B: Maya has the first song in the show.
[00:21:37] Speaker A: Seriously?
[00:21:37] Speaker B: Yeah, he does.
[00:21:38] Speaker A: No way.
[00:21:39] Speaker B: Yeah. The crib. So whenever we do that, cribs rip off in the first episode.
[00:21:43] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:21:43] Speaker B: And they're walking through and giving a tour of their apartment. Maya did the song. I asked Maya. I was like, can you make, like, a fast boot for us?
[00:21:49] Speaker A: You made it on the fly, bro. Did he?
[00:21:52] Speaker B: I made, like, five. Yeah, we listened to all of them, and I was like, I'll do this one.
[00:21:57] Speaker A: Oh, no way. That's awesome, bro.
[00:22:00] Speaker B: Maya's a very early contributor, and every single episode that came out and Maya wasn't living in town, Maya was always, like, the first person to call me.
[00:22:07] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:22:07] Speaker B: To be, like, that episode was great. Like, he had, like, something to say about the episode, like, always gave feedback, and it was crazy.
[00:22:14] Speaker A: So isn't that cool to have that kind of, like, support, like, from your.
[00:22:18] Speaker B: Yeah, 100%. I I mean, I've known Maya since Del Mar. That's how we met. I was having a class together, and, you know, he'd work on our sets, and I've gotten him a couple jobs.
I always bring them to, like, every workplace.
[00:22:37] Speaker A: What do you tell, man? My. You look here. Let me help you out, bro.
[00:22:41] Speaker B: I was just like, do you want to work here? Because I want to hang out with you more.
Take him there. And then he kept on popping up here, and then we got him a job in the shop, and it was just.
[00:22:50] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shout out to my ex band mate, singer slash drummer. One of my first jobs was with him. Dude, we didn't get nothing.
[00:23:00] Speaker B: I mean, half of Maya and I working here. Well, luckily, the job inside the bodega is so easy.
[00:23:05] Speaker A: Yeah, right.
[00:23:05] Speaker B: But it's like, we're just talking, and. Yeah, that's all we do.
[00:23:08] Speaker A: Yeah, dude. Hell, yeah, dude.
[00:23:10] Speaker B: Like, I can't wait to be an old man, just being a barber shop.
Both be getting our, what is it, Gen X haircuts or something.
[00:23:19] Speaker A: Yeah, right.
How's it going, Francesca? Mama, thank you for joining the show. Appreciate you. My daughter, she's always. She always makes sure she's on there, and then I say, hi.
Wow. That's awesome, man. So. So you got. So you started working here at produce, right? I mean, you've been here for a while.
[00:23:34] Speaker B: I remember we were 2021.
[00:23:37] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:23:38] Speaker B: I believe. Yeah. Because of. Yikes.
[00:23:41] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I noticed that. That dusty and a lot of the produce was. Was getting involved in the film. Dude, that was awesome.
[00:23:47] Speaker B: Yeah. It's always been great to have them. Have their support and stuff.
Yeah. Because we. Carlos Variel, who owns produce, Barco and Gallery, he was our producer from day one, and he was friends with Ryan, the main actor and our main editor producer.
He was good friends with him. He started letting us use equipment. We had him as, like, a producer credit, and he was a big champion for the show. He was like, do the full show. Like, make the full series.
[00:24:12] Speaker A: Like the. They got the owner for produce or Roko Barco.
[00:24:15] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. He was the one that was big on that. And then whenever we did episode five and we ended up using the space inside there before it was a bodega, before it was even, like, we used that as the anime shop.
[00:24:26] Speaker A: No.
[00:24:27] Speaker B: Anime shop.
[00:24:27] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:24:28] Speaker B: Yeah. And they weren't even open yet.
Just built it, I believe. And then he let us. They. He talked to Dusty. They let us use that.
[00:24:36] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:37] Speaker B: And then next thing you know, Dusty saw the episode. He really liked it. And it was really funny because it was a really weird point in my life. Whenever, like, Dusty and I started being friends and started working together because we had one meeting to talk about a show, which never has never been released, that we shot, but it was about him, like, talking to producers and listening to their.
Their sample pics from albums and him remixing it into a whole mix or something. It was a cool concept for a show. We just never got to finish it. And whenever we talked to.
Whenever I met him and we, like, set up that meeting, my mom passed away. Oh, yeah. So I told him, like, hey, let's reschedule this to, like, two weeks or something.
[00:25:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:19] Speaker B: And I came back and I was like, definitely not in the best mental state, but I was like, let's have this meeting. Let's talk about this. You know, we talked about. And I told him about my mom. And he was like, my mom died the same way, like, sclerosis of the liver. And, like, I was like, whoa. I'm like, we had a lot. We connected a lot, you know what I mean? And, like, it was cool because, I mean, I kind of needed that at that time, you know? So ever since then, I've always been with Dusty and working with them. And he's been a great person to work under. Yeah, that's a role model.
[00:25:47] Speaker A: Yeah, that's what's up. I can't remember which episode, but. But your character in there, like, it kind of goes over his story and then you posted on.
[00:25:54] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, that was with my mom. Yeah. And because all of us kind of have a personal antidote that's inside the show that's kind of real.
[00:26:01] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:26:02] Speaker B: Like, Ryan's whole story arc is extremely real of, like, his breakup and everything.
[00:26:07] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:26:07] Speaker B: You know, and Ricky, as well, told me something he'd like to cover in the show. I was like, cool, I'll fold it into the series. And crazy. And then we folded his whole sequence and his whole thing with his love interest, and I didn't really want a love interest. I don't want to carry any of those. And, I mean, a lot of my relationships that I've had in the past, like, was already within the show. But through those characters, like, different moments that I've had were through those characters. Wow.
[00:26:31] Speaker A: Amazing.
[00:26:32] Speaker B: And. But I just blended it with their stories so I can kind of, in some way, I was hiding behind their stories.
[00:26:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:26:37] Speaker B: Say what I wanted to say.
[00:26:38] Speaker A: Oh, wow. See?
[00:26:39] Speaker B: And then when it came to my thing, you know, I wanted to have some kind of central thing for my character, and. But I never really got there yet in the writing process. I was like, man, I really want to figure something out. And I did want to talk about my mom because my mom and I always had a very conflicting relationship, and she passed away. I was like, shit, I don't know if I should do that anymore. But then I realized that was kind of the only way I'd be able to, like, talk about her or talk about the subject.
[00:27:04] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:27:05] Speaker B: So I did it, and then that was, like, really, like, one of the last things I was able to do to kind of be and my mom actually does. Like, she did love the show. She really liked the show. She really hated all the other things I made. She really liked. Yikes. Like, strangely enough.
[00:27:20] Speaker A: So y'all's relationship was kind of weird.
[00:27:21] Speaker B: It was weird. Yeah, it was. It was a strange relationship. You know, she, her and my dad divorced, and whenever I was, like, in middle school, like, fifth or 6th grade, and they were. They weren't very healthy. They were very unhealthy crazy. Like, all the kids were, like, ecstatic. They were divorcing. We were like, this is awesome. This is great. Like, life's gonna be so much easier. It really wasn't. But I mean, it was good. They weren't gonna hurt each other anymore or do anything. And whenever that got to be separated, you know, my mom would just drink on and off, and it was a hard life for her.
I don't think she got everything she wanted, and it was just. It was a tough blow for her with a divorce.
[00:28:08] Speaker A: Do you have brothers and sisters from the same mom and dad?
[00:28:12] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, I have two brothers. Um, one older, one younger. The older one is in Houston now. He just. He's a lawyer for the DA.
[00:28:21] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:28:22] Speaker B: And then my sister just had her third baby.
She's doing great.
My younger brother's living with my dad. Mm hmm. Yeah, they're great. They're also. I felt bad cause I didn't include them inside the show, but I also knew that if I included them, it would have been, like, so long of an episode. Include all my family members and all these people. And, like, so I was like, I'm just gonna really focus it on my mom and dad. Like, focus on that relationship, you know? So whenever I made that episode of the animation, I really wanted to be animated. I didn't want it to feel real. Like, it was, like me. I wanted to feel like we were seeing, like, just an animated version of me and the world around it was. Was real, because that's kind of how I think the character feels. So I think my character feels that way inside the show. He's always doing stupid shit, like, all the fucking time. So I wanted to make sure the character felt, like, kind of out of the reality of the situation. But at the end, we kind of, like, sew it back together. But. But, yeah, like, the actors, like Alex. Alex Chapo played my mom. She was great. She actually said that she related to a good part of that storyline, which I think made it easier. And the guy who played my dad, Martin, Marty McPy, is his first film role.
[00:29:37] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:29:38] Speaker B: Have you had him on here?
[00:29:39] Speaker A: No.
[00:29:40] Speaker B: He'd be great to have on.
[00:29:41] Speaker A: All right.
[00:29:41] Speaker B: He's great. He's great at talking, but, yeah, he played my dad, and he's never really done that before, but he was great. He was awesome. But they really helped make that experience very easy.
[00:29:53] Speaker A: Yeah, man. Yeah. I didn't know that I needed that animation until I watched it in that. I was like, oh, wow, this is pretty cool to know this about that character, his background, which I don't know if it is, but it seemed like that to me. And at the same time, too, it seemed like a lot of people can relate to that.
[00:30:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:30:14] Speaker A: You know, like, in our society. I mean, my parents were divorced. You know what I mean? My mom left my dad a very young age. I was maybe two or three years old or something like that. But, but, yeah, that was, it was, it needed to be, it seemed for me, I was like, oh, that was, that was pretty cool that they put that in there about his character. So that was awesome, man. And I'm pretty sure maybe more, more of your story will be in your future films. Do you have any future endeavors?
[00:30:39] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, it's funny. Um, well, at least about, I really appreciate what you said about the animated sequence because it meant a lot to me. It was, like, a lot to put out and, yeah, it was supposed to be completely related to that character. Like, to have, I really wanted him to have some kind of, like, darker backstory besides all the relationship stuff, kind of to ground the story to be like, we have all these, like, stupid romantics inside the story and we have one person that's, like, kind of dealing with.
[00:31:03] Speaker A: Oh, no.
[00:31:04] Speaker B: You know, and I mean, and I definitely, like, put it up to eleven on, like, all this, all the grief and stuff he was dealing with.
[00:31:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:10] Speaker B: Inside the show. So it was fun to see that become, like, materialized.
[00:31:16] Speaker A: No, it was cool. Like, it was like, it was like, it was placed in a good spot for me because, like, I didn't know, like I said, I didn't know that I needed that about that character up until that point.
[00:31:27] Speaker B: Yeah. And I was like, dude, Ryan should. I remember, like, thinking about, I was like, Ryan should, like, yell at him. And then the audience is like, that wasn't nice. And then we see his entire tragic, oh, shoot. So they're all like, oh, he definitely shouldn't have yelled.
[00:31:42] Speaker A: It would be more epic, I think.
[00:31:45] Speaker B: Just explaining it to my girlfriend Andrea. And she, like, cried. She was like, why? Why would you do this? I was like, it's just so, it's kind of funny.
[00:31:55] Speaker A: And the story behind the animating, too, is crazy.
[00:31:59] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Animating. It was terrible. There's a small documentary that my friend Levi made about that episode and how, like, the night before our first premiere, all the animation was set and I somehow deleted all the animation.
[00:32:13] Speaker A: Oh, no.
[00:32:14] Speaker B: So I had to delete it for the first. So there was, that ending did not exist for the first screening. And it wasn't until our second screening at Alamo where we put on the animated ending. So it just kind of ended with the door closing and him telling him, shut the fuck up. And then it just ended.
[00:32:28] Speaker A: No.
[00:32:28] Speaker B: And, uh, crazy. Oh, sorry. So no question about future projects. Are you saying about.
[00:32:34] Speaker A: Hold on, we got a pink plantain. Can't believe he yelled at you in his bathrobe.
[00:32:39] Speaker B: Thank you. I appreciate that. The audience definitely was like that. They were just like, I can't do that. Seriously?
[00:32:49] Speaker A: Yeah, man. It's awesome. Yeah. No future endeavors. I was thinking about the adam o drafthouse, man. That's pretty cool to have your film.
[00:32:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
Bettas and his wife Mari, I believe.
Yeah, they're great. That's a great couple. And their film festival. Awesome stuff is fantastic.
[00:33:07] Speaker A: So they have one here in town or.
[00:33:08] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a film festival they do yearly called the South Texas Underground Film Festival.
[00:33:12] Speaker A: Wow, dude.
[00:33:13] Speaker B: And a lot of eccentric characters are there, and they always have some pretty interesting, cool films to show them. And, like, Heidi Hobda, too, with CC 70, which is, like, the seven day film competition.
[00:33:25] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:33:26] Speaker B: There is a lot of film popping up and around. I know you had Chris.
[00:33:32] Speaker A: Yeah, Chris.
[00:33:32] Speaker B: Chris here. Chris is great.
And he had films there, too.
[00:33:36] Speaker A: Yeah. Even just posting and then inviting you as a collaborator on the post on my instagram, saying that we're gonna interview you.
Several other people that have production companies, too, were liking the video. I was like, dang, look at all these people doing production in the city. It's amazing to me to see that that's going on. And I know Maya back there was into it a lot, too, so that's cool, man. Wow. We're talking about gear earlier future endeavors. So you got a. Are you planning on something after yikes, or what are your final thoughts on Yikes.
[00:34:15] Speaker B: Final thoughts on Yikes is that it was a great project to, like, bring together with the community. It definitely was a community project.
I can't stress that enough that we made it with and for the community. There's so many jokes in there that are only for Corpus Christi. There's so many references in there that are only made for people that live in certain areas of town. There's so many little bits, and we're really happy that people gave us the freedom and the work to do it. Like, we had so much free labor. You know what I mean? We didn't get paid. They didn't get paid. People were just there to, like, be passionate to work on it. What's good about that is that it creates a network. So whenever we have more projects in the future, hopefully we can get a budget and we can start paying these people that have been putting their time in.
[00:34:57] Speaker A: Wow. Amazing.
[00:34:58] Speaker B: What's good about yikes. Now we have ten episodes to show people that we can make things, and they're not gonna look almost terrible. And we've learned from mistakes, and we know what we're doing, and hopefully, with that portfolio, it's gonna help push us into, like, bigger projects.
[00:35:13] Speaker A: Yeah. Amazing. I was thinking that. So thinking that you have a portfolio to show, because obviously, you're passionate about this, you got a degree in it, and you obviously want to continue on. Yeah. So that's amazing.
Yeah. So you mentioned networking. How do you find yourself? I was watching. What was I watching?
People's places, things. You had, like, one episode?
[00:35:33] Speaker B: One episode. Ricky and I. Andrea. Yeah.
[00:35:37] Speaker A: Okay. I mentioned something on that, but what I was gonna say. Oh, you were talk to one of the guys at the China. China market. China food market or something like that. But you were networking with him, right. Or whatever. And something like. But that brought up the topic of networking.
[00:35:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:54] Speaker A: I mean, how important is that to you?
[00:35:56] Speaker B: Huge part.
[00:35:58] Speaker A: How did you learn that? Like, the Internet. Okay.
[00:36:03] Speaker B: The Internet. I think I was before. Before I realized I want. I feel like I was, like, training myself to do film before I even decided I wanted to make.
[00:36:11] Speaker A: Wow. Interesting.
[00:36:11] Speaker B: Because I would like. I would have my friends, like, torrent so many movies for me. I wanted to watch all these movies that were important.
[00:36:19] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:36:19] Speaker B: And I wanted to understand why they were popular. I was like, I like them. But what's the science of making a popular movie like, this budget? I was like, oh, it's the actors. It's the effects. It's this, it's that.
And I was just realizing how they got this done and how this director that made a really small movie made a really big movie after. How does that make sense?
[00:36:38] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:36:39] Speaker B: And it's the network that they were using, the spider web of conversation they kept on having with people that put them into making a small movie called, like, for example, like, safety not guaranteed with Jake Johnson. I think God replaced or whatever that guy's next movie, jurassic world, big, big reboot, continuation of an important franchise. Like, how do you do that? And it's the network. It's who, you know, those people that are seeing, who's watching you. You know what I mean?
[00:37:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:11] Speaker B: That kind of network is important. And I think whenever I go to, like, film festivals now, like, that's my main thing is, like, I need to talk to people.
[00:37:17] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:37:17] Speaker B: Get to know them. I want to be friends with them.
[00:37:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:21] Speaker B: And genuinely, it's not like, because I want to get something out of you. It really comes to the point where it's like, what do you. I want to know things. I want to be. I want to understand how, you know, we're more than likely in the same area. How are we gonna be able to help each other? And I just want to understand your craft. Yeah, genuinely, like, I don't need you to help me get a six, seven figure deal for a movie. I just. I just want to know how you do your thing. And, yeah, there's a lot of festivals I've gone to just to talk to people and meet them, and I don't even care if I watch their movies. I just want to know who they are. And it's amazing how they did it, because that's all it is, just an education, just learning.
[00:38:00] Speaker A: Yeah, it's amazing how you learned that at a young age, too. Cause, like, I was older. Like, a lot of. I'm late to a lot of stuff, bro. I think it's just how my brain is. But it's amazing how a younger person can. Can figure that out at a young age. And we had a conversation a while back, too. Like, how. Cause you're millennial. Are you a millennial or Gene?
[00:38:20] Speaker B: What am I?
[00:38:22] Speaker A: Gen Z. Gen Z, yeah, millennial. Gen Z, whatever. But how you guys get a bad rap, you know what I mean? Like, oh, they're this or they're that. But no, you're obviously a hard worker, and you're a young dude that knows stuff and you're trying to make it and get somewhere. You know what I mean? It kind of trumps that idea. Like, oh, they're good for nothing, or whatever the opinions are. What do you think about that?
[00:38:44] Speaker B: I mean, I think I definitely understand how people can get caught up with that and how we're kind of lazy. But this is the good thing. Whenever a new generation shows up, we don't matter anymore.
[00:38:57] Speaker A: Hmm.
[00:38:58] Speaker B: So everybody's saying that about, is it Gen X after us?
[00:39:00] Speaker A: I know they're Gen Z. I don't know, YZ, whatever it is, I don't know. I'm a millennial, so I really don't know.
[00:39:06] Speaker B: But now everybody's saying that about the generation after us, and it's gonna keep going. So, overall, I mean, like, I don't think there's anything wrong with our generation. There's a lot of hard workers, a lot of people trying to get stuff done. I think people are just a little too connected to the news and what they perceive as the outside force of workers and workmanship and.
[00:39:26] Speaker A: Yeah, right on. We've got tick tock we got Instagram. We got all kinds of social media or whatever out there. Awesome. Yeah. Oh, dude, real quick. So I was mentioning peaceful people, people, places, things because of your. Your out. Your it.
One of your comments.
I'm not gonna take my kids to McDonald's play place anymore.
[00:39:46] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:39:47] Speaker A: That was so crazy. Your story.
[00:39:50] Speaker B: I will say this. It builds character.
If anything, it builds character.
[00:39:57] Speaker A: Oh, my God.
[00:39:58] Speaker B: Necessary evil.
[00:40:02] Speaker A: Well, that was a cool episode because Maya kept on changing the. It was a cool concept for you.
[00:40:07] Speaker B: Change. Yeah. Maya and I came up with that kind of fast.
I know Maya probably still wants to do another episode sometime soon, right?
Okay. I can probably get Ricky. We'll probably do it and ask Andre to come back. And we should get Roell in there, too. I don't know if Roell would be good at improv.
[00:40:25] Speaker A: Nice. I think he would be cool, man. Wow. So, yeah, you're awesome, dude. Man. Just hoping for the best for you, man. So you. So.
So what are some. Let me see. I had something.
Favorite directors.
Any favorite directors or favorite films? Filmmakers. Anything along that line?
[00:40:49] Speaker B: Um. I love Spike Lee.
[00:40:51] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:40:51] Speaker B: I love Spike Lee. Like, Malcolm X and.
[00:40:54] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:40:54] Speaker B: I just saw summer of Sam for the first time. Have you heard of that movie?
[00:40:58] Speaker A: No.
[00:40:58] Speaker B: It's about the son of Sam, serial killer from, wow, Brooklyn. And he was killing people. And, like, he said that, like, Satan was asking him to kill people and that it was, like, possessing dogs and telling him to do that. But what's cool about the movie is that it's fully in the perspective of all the people living in the city. Not really the killer.
[00:41:18] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:41:19] Speaker B: It's all about them reacting to it and how they're starting to not trust each other because of the situation. But it's in this turning point of american culture where punk is becoming a big deal. The conservative values are slowly fading away, and you're just seeing people not being able to be ready for this change, as well as not being able to trust each other more. So the movie's like 2 hours and a half sort of long movie, but I watched it, and it was awesome.
Sorry. Anytime I have an opportunity to talk about that movie.
[00:41:50] Speaker A: Nah, go ahead, bro. Yeah, no, that's fine.
[00:41:52] Speaker B: That movie was so good.
[00:41:53] Speaker A: Was Spike Lee in it? Was. He was.
[00:41:54] Speaker B: He was in it.
[00:41:55] Speaker A: He was young.
[00:41:56] Speaker B: He was not super young, like. Cause it was like 99. He made it, I believe 96 or 99, something like that.
Lot of comparisons to boogie nights.
[00:42:08] Speaker A: I don't know.
[00:42:09] Speaker B: Boogie nights once.
[00:42:10] Speaker A: I seen it, like once, maybe twice a while. When it actually came out.
[00:42:13] Speaker B: Yeah, it's kind of a crazy movie.
[00:42:14] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a weird movie.
[00:42:15] Speaker B: Watch casually. I watch it quite casually.
I just have to make sure. I know. I think I watched it casually here once.
[00:42:22] Speaker A: Are you serious?
[00:42:23] Speaker B: Dusty came in, he was like, dude, there's, like, families coming in today. Like, I'm so sorry. Like, didn't mean to show porn. I just want to see Philip Seymour Hoffman cry near Philip Z, bro.
Yeah. It's one of my favorite actors. Also. Paul Thomas Anderson. I love Paul Thomas Anderson.
[00:42:40] Speaker A: Which one's who? He's from the. From the nineties era.
[00:42:42] Speaker B: Yeah. So he made boogie nights and then he made, like, punch drunk love.
[00:42:46] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:42:47] Speaker B: There will be blood, licorice pizza more recently. I really like that movie, but.
[00:42:52] Speaker A: Bro.
[00:42:53] Speaker B: Yeah. And I really like Brian de Palma, who made Scarface.
[00:42:56] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:42:56] Speaker B: And he made Phantom of the paradise dressed to kill. Blowout. Blowouts. One of my favorite movies.
[00:43:03] Speaker A: Whoa.
[00:43:04] Speaker B: And a Cronenberg. David Cronenberg. He does a lot of body gore.
[00:43:08] Speaker A: Body Gore.
[00:43:09] Speaker B: He, like, creates crazy, gory, bloody things. Like, he's known for doing, like, the best, like, head explosion in the movie. Like, they actually got a fake head on the dummy and they like a twelve gauge shotgun and, like, shot it in the back just so you can see it explode. It's just crazy. Like, all the effects and stuff. Like.
But it's funny because I feel like none of these things really sound too much like. Like what you probably saw in. Yikes. But it's my favorite stuff. It's crazy.
[00:43:34] Speaker A: That's cool though, man. It's cool to hear about your inspirations, man. A lot. All that stuff you mention. I don't know, none of that stuff. Yeah, yeah, that's. And I don't. I don't say that like, the average movie person does. Like, it's. You have to be, like, in it.
[00:43:46] Speaker B: Yes. Locked in. Yeah.
Maybe in an unhealthy amount. Okay. And I have friends that support this horrible habit.
[00:43:55] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:43:56] Speaker B: Yeah. Because I go to the movie theaters, like, it's church. You know what I mean? Like, I have to.
[00:43:59] Speaker A: Oh, no kidding, bro.
[00:44:00] Speaker B: Like, it's important.
[00:44:02] Speaker A: So. So it doesn't matter who's in or what. Just. Just watch it. Just watch it. I mean.
[00:44:06] Speaker B: I mean, usually it's important to know who's in it, but I'd be in a theater, you know, I mean, especially if they're reshowing something, like, you know, big Lebowski or something.
You know? I try to think of a movie I saw in theaters. Oh, bringing out the dead. That's a Martin Scorsese film.
[00:44:21] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:44:22] Speaker B: Did not critically, wasn't taken very well. No one really talks about it either. But, like, they showed it in theaters a couple weeks ago, and I was like, I have to go see that.
[00:44:30] Speaker A: Wow. So crazy, man.
[00:44:32] Speaker B: Great use of Johnny Thunders in the soundtrack. Great soundtrack.
[00:44:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:44:36] Speaker B: So.
[00:44:36] Speaker A: So when you. When you first watch a film, do you watch it? Like, to watch it, or do you, like, critique? Because I know. Imagine you learned a lot of stuff in your schooling or whatever.
[00:44:44] Speaker B: No.
[00:44:45] Speaker A: No, not really. Okay.
[00:44:46] Speaker B: I don't think school, like me.
[00:44:48] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, I got you. No offense.
[00:44:49] Speaker B: Not to say, like, I'm better than.
But there wasn't a lot of school that made me go, huh. Like, a lot of it was me being like, can't wait to finish this.
[00:45:00] Speaker A: Like, did you take, like, film, like, film classes or.
[00:45:02] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I took production classes, and then I took, like, one movie criticism class.
[00:45:07] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, theory.
[00:45:08] Speaker B: Like, theory, yeah, theory, film criticism, and stuff like that. I think the one at Del Mar was way better than the one on the island. I'm not gonna lie. That one. I just got a lot more out of the film criticism on the island was really cool. But I think the only reason I say that is because I didn't know as much when I was at Del Mar, and Del Mar, like, opened up my mind. So I felt like by the time I got to the island, I was like, oh, I've seen a majority of these.
But the professor was cool, and I think all their stuff was. They brought in some really cool details about the history. That stuff I was talking about the networking and films and understand, like, I love. I'm a nerd for understanding, like, yeah. To know that, you know, maybe this film bankrupted Hollywood and it made us fully, like, there used to be a lot of original movies in, like, the seventies and eighties that were coming out. And the reason why is because they kept on making really huge gambles of spending way too much money on movies and ended up, like, killing studios completely.
[00:46:09] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:46:09] Speaker B: So by doing that, these other studios are like, we have to figure out what to do now. So they were like, let's spend less money and make more movies and see what audience is.
[00:46:19] Speaker A: Like, wow.
[00:46:20] Speaker B: And we're almost getting to the turning point currently where that might happen again.
[00:46:24] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:46:24] Speaker B: Because they're spending way too much money on way too many movies.
[00:46:28] Speaker A: They're doing that now?
[00:46:29] Speaker B: Currently, yeah. Like, there's no reason to be spending, like, $200 million on films that don't feature an explosion.
[00:46:35] Speaker A: So they weren't doing that, but not redoing it again.
[00:46:38] Speaker B: It's almost like history is repeating itself at the moment. Like, there's a movie I love that just came out called challenges. Loved it. It costs $50 million. No reason to spend that much money on that movie. I love that movie. I adored it. I'm happy it was 50 million. But genuinely, I would think, from a business standpoint, I don't think there should be. I don't know why it would be that much money. And because of projects, not exactly, like, challenges, but more of, like, the big marvel films, you know, that are making.
[00:47:06] Speaker A: Because what they have, like, was it CGI?
[00:47:09] Speaker B: Yeah, CGI. But actors are really expensive.
[00:47:12] Speaker A: Okay. Okay.
[00:47:13] Speaker B: That's really the main thing is, like, they're spending so much money on actors. Like, I can't even imagine what some of those salaries are. But I feel like they're just giving so much money to certain people that it's kind of bringing so much down on the production. There's. They're spending way too much.
[00:47:28] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:47:28] Speaker B: So they're gonna have to get smaller soon, or they're gonna bankrupt themselves. So unless they get lucky and get another Barbie, you know, not every movie is Barbie, so.
[00:47:39] Speaker A: So it's not necessarily. The more you pay, the better the film is gonna be.
[00:47:44] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, usually that's how it should work, but as of currently, it's just, you know, that's so weird. Robert Downey juniors in this movie. Boom. That's like 20 million already. Outers. I don't know how much he's getting paid, but he's getting paid a lot. Probably not 20 million, but. Yeah, but stuff like that I learned from, like, the island, and I was like, this is awesome.
[00:48:03] Speaker A: Nice.
[00:48:04] Speaker B: Okay. This is epic. Yeah, it was just, like, all these things that I kind of learned through the island or learned through Del Mar. Like, it was cool because it feels like it helps the current strategy of how to make a movie.
[00:48:14] Speaker A: Oh, right out. Right out. Wow. So speaking of making a movie. So how important is. We're talking about gear earlier. How important is that for, I guess, for, I guess, what you're doing?
[00:48:24] Speaker B: I mean, I used to not find it very important. I was like, make a movie on anything. But now that I'm.
We're past the ikes and stuff, it's like, it's everything. Like, you have to shoot on a certain camera, shoot on a certain, like, use certain types of lighting. That's popular right now, but luckily, we have a lot of friends that have supported us over the years, and they have a lot of that equipment. Like, I shot more recently with a red. And that's a pretty big, state of the art camera that they use for, like, films on Netflix and stuff like that.
[00:48:57] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:48:57] Speaker B: That was my first time working with one of those.
[00:48:59] Speaker A: Amazing.
[00:48:59] Speaker B: It was a pretty big rig. Like, pretty. It was, like, a big setup, because.
[00:49:03] Speaker A: So how was. How different was it from. From your previous? Like, is it. Is that.
[00:49:07] Speaker B: Very different.
[00:49:08] Speaker A: Very different.
[00:49:08] Speaker B: Because, I mean, so with. Yikes. Like, I'll. I even have my camera, like, here in the room. Like, it was like an X t four, and that one, it's like, I can shine a light up to the ceiling and, like, raise it up. The intensity. I can let that light bounce back off from the ceiling and hit you. It's gonna look natural. You're gonna be like, wow, this is crazy. You know, but bringing a red. Bring an re cam. Like, re flex anything.
[00:49:31] Speaker A: Mm hmm.
[00:49:32] Speaker B: We need a scrim. We need a 650 rebol. We're gonna need these really big cameras. We need, like, negatives. We need all these different. The more expensive the camera, the longer it's gonna take for you to set up.
And. And that's the most. And right now, that's just people want. That's what they want to see. I mean, it's like I was telling you, the. Every frame is a painting.
[00:49:51] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:49:51] Speaker B: You know what I mean? Like, that's how important it has to be, like, to get all the lighting and stuff. So put. It's a huge deal right now.
[00:49:56] Speaker A: Wow. So. So I guess. So it. I guess as a. Filmmaking evolves and the people that watch it, that's what they want to see. Is that why you continue to up your. Your gear? Because of what the end. The end users gonna see?
[00:50:11] Speaker B: Yeah. And also just talking to friends and stuff like that, seeing what they're doing and seeing. Seeing how maybe ahead, they can be in their fields, and it's like, seeing what they're like. Oh, that's standard. Yeah, that's standard. That's the network that helps you with that to know. It's, like, as a standard thing, you have to kind of rise to the occasion because it can be as good as you want it to be. They might not buy it on your x t four, Fuji on your cannon. I need to get a red or something.
Black magics aren't bad. This camera. It's a black magic. That's a pretty good camera. It's not Netflix approved, but. Netflix, there's a whole.
[00:50:47] Speaker A: Are you serious?
[00:50:48] Speaker B: Has a chart of the cameras. They approve that they will accept.
[00:50:52] Speaker A: What do you mean? So, what do you mean accept? Like, you can submit your.
[00:50:55] Speaker B: Yeah, you can submit your films, I believe, or you can, like, pitch it to them or whenever they go to a festival. Like, I like your movie. What is a shot on?
[00:51:00] Speaker A: It's like, no way.
[00:51:02] Speaker B: This. And they'll be like, I don't know if you have enough of a full frame lens that will be able to be streamed and not lose its quality.
[00:51:11] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:51:12] Speaker B: That's also a bigger thing. Like, how many megapixels are able to be in your digital camera? We're not talking even film right now. Like, we're not even talking the film strips, because everyone's doing digital.
[00:51:20] Speaker A: Nobody's doing film anymore.
[00:51:21] Speaker B: Not really. I mean, I'd love to shoot on film. I think it'd be fantastic. But that's not what people are usually doing anymore.
[00:51:29] Speaker A: Well, I mean, you have to edit and splice and all that other stuff, too.
[00:51:32] Speaker B: Yeah. Um, I want to try this out someday, but have you. You know that movie Dune? Those films?
[00:51:39] Speaker A: Yeah. I saw the first one, the newer one I hadn't seen the old one heard.
[00:51:43] Speaker B: Yeah. So the new one, great. They shot that on digital. They shot that completely on digital cameras, and then when they were done with the edit, they rescanned it onto film, and then they rescan that back into digital.
[00:51:55] Speaker A: What?
[00:51:55] Speaker B: Cause people want that digital feel. They love how digital looks.
[00:51:59] Speaker A: So what I don't understand. Why would they would put it on film first and. Or put on film and then go back?
[00:52:04] Speaker B: Because they put it on digital, then they put it on film, and then they put it back on.
[00:52:08] Speaker A: Why they put it on film in the first place. So they can go back.
[00:52:10] Speaker B: Because the look of film is very different. Like, the way light projects through a film cell is different rather than your digital camera capturing it.
[00:52:19] Speaker A: Whoa.
[00:52:20] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's a. I mean, the difference, some people find it very stark. Some people don't find there to be a difference at all. Well, I like how it looks just. It feels physical. It feels tangible. It's kind of like how people don't want DVD's anymore, but they want vinyl records. Like, doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
But, like, you want a vinyl record because it's physical. Like, holding it, you feel like you own it.
[00:52:43] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:52:44] Speaker B: And that's how people want to feel about a film. So whenever they're watching a movie and it's, like, done on film, like, it feels real, it feels like you're there with it. And sometimes a digital camera can't, like, break through that for certain filmmakers, but. Yeah, but shooting on digital is so much cheaper than shooting on film.
[00:53:01] Speaker A: So Dune. So Dune did that. They went film. They did record digitally, went to film, and then went back to digital. And you're saying that. I mean, that's an interesting. Okay, so it's a modern concept.
[00:53:13] Speaker B: It's a mod. It's an extremely new concept.
I don't really think it's been done before. Well, like, that's how much people want to be involved or, like, you know, tech in general. Like, how many people are trying to cut corners to get to what they need. So tech is everything.
[00:53:29] Speaker A: Wow. Crazy. That's awesome, man. With 53 minutes.
[00:53:33] Speaker B: I know. I felt fast.
[00:53:34] Speaker A: What's going on here?
Awesome. I'm gonna see if I touched on everything I had.
You got. You have anything you want to share?
[00:53:44] Speaker B: Um, not really. I mean, I have a film coming up pretty soon that we're going to be shooting. I'm still working on the script right now. Um, but I have, uh, my producers are already in with it, and I already have some crew members signed on as well. Just got, uh, signed on. Like, they have contracts, but, um, that are on board.
[00:54:02] Speaker A: Hey, you gotta use the terminology, bro.
[00:54:04] Speaker B: They're on board to make it with me. But we need to start fighting cast. But that one's fun. It's gonna be a short film. It's like, I think, 1415 pages long.
[00:54:13] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:54:13] Speaker B: It's for, uh, festivals.
Um, and it's about a few friends that, um, their friend gets assaulted by a police officer and they have to figure out what to do with the video.
[00:54:26] Speaker A: Oh, shoot.
[00:54:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
Not very fun.
[00:54:30] Speaker A: Well, something crazy that's happened on the set before.
[00:54:33] Speaker B: Something crazy.
[00:54:33] Speaker A: It's something crazy or something that's like. Like, what was it?
[00:54:37] Speaker B: Feels like a.
[00:54:38] Speaker A: The worst things or one of the best things.
[00:54:40] Speaker B: Like, one of the worst. Okay. One of the best slash worst things that happened was in episode seven when Ricky and Ryan are yelling at each other. It was a scene where they just finished yelling and they told me to get the fuck out. And I was like, okay. I just try to help. And I go out the doorway. The camera's following me. Police officers.
Police officers are waiting for me outside.
[00:54:59] Speaker A: Are you serious?
[00:55:00] Speaker B: And they were like, we got a noise complaint.
[00:55:01] Speaker A: Oh, shoot.
[00:55:05] Speaker B: And I was like, this is awesome.
[00:55:09] Speaker A: This is the pin.
[00:55:11] Speaker B: I don't even think. I think I was going to the door and I heard, like, a cop knock, and I was like, and they were like, hi. We've been hearing complaints. I was like, this is so hilarious. Let's cut the cameras. So sorry.
We're filming something right now. Like, I had to, like, get us out of there, but, like, that.
[00:55:29] Speaker A: That one guy who's fixing his car, and the parrots inside, like, pretending, and then the cops show up, and they heard, like. Like, the parrot, like, saying, like. Like, something to where, like, somebody's getting murdered or something like that.
[00:55:42] Speaker B: Like, that's how it felt. People thought they were like, we're killing each other. So, like, yelling at each other, and. Which is crazy, because, I mean, Maya lived at that apartment complex, too. There was way worse things happening in that complex constantly. So for them to come for us, we were like, really? Like, this is. Cops are weird. That was so weird. Oh, my God.
[00:56:03] Speaker A: You're here picking on us when there's a whole world out there, literally.
[00:56:07] Speaker B: Yeah, I see, like, horrible things happen every day, like, on the streets, and then they're just like. It was going, these two bros can't handle each other. We got to call the cops. So we got to get there immediately.
[00:56:18] Speaker A: Wow. Was it. Was the eviction pile a real thing?
[00:56:22] Speaker B: Eviction pile was a real thing.
[00:56:23] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:56:24] Speaker B: That's. That was the immediate thing that I was interested in. Whenever I went to that apartment complex, I saw the eviction pile, and I was like, that's so messed up. I want to make a story about that. And I was like. And, I mean, I think also, that person that was evicted, they, like, left town. They, like, jumped down or something. So, like, that was kind of, like, whatever was there was kind of already there. And I think that person was, like, on the run, or. I really don't know.
Maybe one day they'll watch the ikes and be like, my couch.
[00:56:53] Speaker A: Were the lightsabers really in there?
[00:56:55] Speaker B: No, no, that was. I always wanted. That was just a Star wars connection. And those are my niece and nephews, by the way. Yeah, okay. That's my niece and nephew. And then they come back in episode five.
[00:57:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:57:05] Speaker B: And then I get to have my storyline with them, which is insane. You know, it's funny, actually, my. Just a little bit. Just a little story.
[00:57:12] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:57:13] Speaker B: My brother introduced me to, like, a new girlfriend of his a while back, and, you know, I was like, hi. Nice to meet you, Chris. Like, and she's like, yeah, well, just give me her name, whatever. She's like. I was like, how are you doing? She's like, good. This is Christmas Day, by the way. And she's like, I'm just curious. Why'd you film, like, a sex scene in front of your niece and nephew for your show? Yikes. And I was like, whoa, I just met you.
[00:57:40] Speaker A: And I was like, crazy.
[00:57:41] Speaker B: Well, first off, those things were shot on separate days, and it wasn't a sex scene. Like, that didn't happen. Like, nothing happened yet. I had to break down to her, like, crazy. Filmmaking doesn't, like, all happen in the same place. It's like, you can film that on separate days. Like, they're never in the same, like, camera. And she was like, okay, interesting. I was like, interesting. It's Christmas. I just met you.
You've already judged me so much already. Not.
[00:58:12] Speaker A: No. Happy holidays.
[00:58:15] Speaker B: I heard a lot about you. She's like, I've been judging you from afar, and I can't wait to finally talk to you and call you a weird ass.
[00:58:25] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:58:26] Speaker B: Oh, wow. See, pink plantain was talking about marketing costs, too, about movies.
[00:58:30] Speaker A: Madam Webb was made for 80 million also, Mark.
[00:58:34] Speaker B: So she's saying marketing a movie, if it's 80 million, for example, marketing is usually the same amount of the budget of the film.
[00:58:41] Speaker A: Are you serious?
[00:58:42] Speaker B: So it's 160 double.
[00:58:44] Speaker A: Damn.
[00:58:45] Speaker B: There's movies being made now for half a million.
Half a billion.
[00:58:49] Speaker A: So.
[00:58:50] Speaker B: So it's actually just a billion.
[00:58:53] Speaker A: And so they don't even. So some of most of them, I guess, are not making that money back now. I mean, it's so crazy, bro.
[00:59:00] Speaker B: Yeah. A good majority of them do not make their money back.
[00:59:03] Speaker A: Oh, man.
[00:59:04] Speaker B: What's that movie just came out. Fall guy.
Yeah. Damn.
[00:59:09] Speaker A: Wow. So you do pop ups at studio B. What's the deal there? What's the motivation behind that?
[00:59:14] Speaker B: I just like making food, keep it low key. Or I try to keep it low key, but I also post about it, so I guess I don't keep it low key.
[00:59:23] Speaker A: Yeah, you do.
[00:59:25] Speaker B: I'm pretty bad at keeping it low key. I just like making food. I used to make it with my dad, so. But I'm flipping burgers. I just made some banh mis. Yeah, the other day. I mean, I brought some to the studio today, and people like them drilling that up next time. And I'll be doing it for Maya's base haven show.
[00:59:41] Speaker A: Oh, nice. And that's gonna be at Studio B. What is that?
[00:59:45] Speaker B: Studio B? I don't know the date.
[00:59:48] Speaker A: So it used. It was formerly the NASA, right? Was it the NASA and then it turned into studio b? Yeah, I saw an article in Del Mar or something like that. Cool. So basic cable Productions is the name of your production company. Okay, what's. What's story behind that?
[01:00:04] Speaker B: Basic cable productions was inspired by Conan O'Brien's show on TBS. Whenever he moved over to TBS, he called his new band the basic cable band.
[01:00:16] Speaker A: Oh.
[01:00:17] Speaker B: And I did not know what to call my production company, so I called it the basic basic cable productions.
[01:00:21] Speaker A: Nice.
[01:00:22] Speaker B: And I never changed it.
[01:00:23] Speaker A: Never changed.
[01:00:23] Speaker B: People always like it, and I've kind of grown out of the name already, but people really like it, so I keep it.
[01:00:28] Speaker A: Are you gonna change? Are you gonna change it? You keep it?
[01:00:29] Speaker B: Like, I'd like to. I wanted to at some point. I'm too into it now. I'm too. I made it.
[01:00:36] Speaker A: Can't go back.
[01:00:36] Speaker B: I can't go back now.
[01:00:38] Speaker A: I know, bro. That's awesome, man. Thanks for coming on the show.
[01:00:41] Speaker B: Thanks for having me on. Yeah, I told you I was gonna flip it and ask you questions.
[01:00:45] Speaker A: Yeah. I was, like, waiting. I was like, what?
[01:00:47] Speaker B: I talked, so. I'm so sorry. We're talking so much. It was a good conversation. I know.
[01:00:52] Speaker A: How'd you feel? How'd you feel about where the podcast went? The episode went today? Yeah.
[01:00:57] Speaker B: Just got deeper at times. I didn't expect it to, so that was cool. I think this is great. Um, fell goes in therapy to some extent. Not gonna lie. Just talked about a lot of stuff that was on my mind.
[01:01:10] Speaker A: Do you think it's helpful or not helpful or helpful? Yeah, helpful.
[01:01:13] Speaker B: That's calm. Yeah. You did a great job.
[01:01:17] Speaker A: Y'all appreciate it, man. I always like to get feedback from people cuz people tell me like, oh, I like what you're doing as far as it goes. I'm like, what am I doing? Yeah, help me out here. Give me some. Some feedback.
[01:01:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:01:27] Speaker A: So that's cool to hear that, man. That's awesome. And then obviously, I asked a few people what to ask you.
[01:01:33] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:01:33] Speaker A: Which I hope they don't mind me asking you that stuff. So. Pink plantains. I was holding it down in twitch. Appreciate.
[01:01:40] Speaker B: Probably just pink plantain. Probably just ask pink plantain.
[01:01:43] Speaker A: Yeah, no, it's all good, Oliver.
[01:01:44] Speaker B: She probably gave you a lot of good.
Nothing too deep.
[01:01:48] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. So. And I was like, okay, there's. She probably gonna tell him that I asked or whatever.
[01:01:55] Speaker B: She asked a me immediately.
[01:01:56] Speaker A: Okay, he's good.
[01:01:57] Speaker B: What do you want me to. What should I tell him? Almost like, I don't think he wants you to know that he's. That I don't think he wants me to know that you're asking that he's asking you.
[01:02:06] Speaker A: But it rarely. It doesn't. It doesn't. Yeah, it happens. Like, you could, like, I tell my wife, like, everything, and somebody tells me, oh, no. Telling your wife. Yeah, right. You serious?
[01:02:18] Speaker B: But peeing Plantain is the best.
[01:02:20] Speaker A: Yeah, it's awesome. Dare I say I love her pink plantain. What. What's is this story behind that name? Plantain?
[01:02:28] Speaker B: She loves plantains.
For fan. For people that don't know, this pink plantain is my girlfriend, Andrea Puyo. Fantastic filmmaker. Yeah, she loves plantains.
On our first date, I bought a bunch of plantains. I made a bouquet of plantains.
[01:02:44] Speaker A: Oh, cool.
[01:02:44] Speaker B: I brought it to her. Yeah, ours.
[01:02:47] Speaker A: Dope, bro.
[01:02:50] Speaker B: So they're the little bananas or bigger bananas, and. Yeah.
[01:02:56] Speaker A: They're not Heb. Not Heb.
[01:02:59] Speaker B: Should have them usually.
[01:03:00] Speaker A: Okay.
[01:03:00] Speaker B: Because we're so, you know, south Texas, there's so much Mexicans and so many different Latinos from different areas, so. Yeah. Colombia, El Salvador, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Cuba. Like, there's a lot of people.
[01:03:15] Speaker A: Costa Rica. Yeah. It's awesome, bro. Yeah. Well, there's nothing else. Is there anything else you like to share? Keep asking you.
[01:03:21] Speaker B: No, you're good? I'm good. I think this was fantastic. Great, man.
[01:03:25] Speaker A: Awesome, man. Well, thanks for coming on. Thanks for the show. How do we find you? Basic cable productions.
[01:03:30] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Base cable productions.
Base cable productions. On Instagram or you can follow me. Chris Internet snow h cris inte art n e t s Chris Internetz. I wish you had a ding sound so I can, like, get that right. Oh, Chris Internet's on Instagram. Just find me on Instagram. I'm much better. I'm much easier to talk to you on Instagram. Even though I don't have my notifications on. I'll still find a way to talk to you.
[01:03:52] Speaker A: Yeah, right on. What's up, Chris and Facebook? Appreciate you joining, man. Another projection company out there. Yeah. And then I'll check out yikes on the series. Yikes series on YouTube. If you have not check it out, you don't want to miss it. It's pretty cool. It's a lot of south Texas culture in there. If you can get past the corpus itis of, like, oh, this is the corp. Whatever. Just get past that and watch it. It's good. So, yeah. Appreciate you guys. Stay tuned for the next few shows.
I got some people lined up. My schedule is full up until July, so one at one a week. We got some more people coming on here, but, yeah. Appreciate you guys for joining. Stay tuned for the next episodes. Y'all have a good one. Bye.
