00:00I would like to know, what inspired you to make Holikas?
00:04Was there a particular event or personal experience?
00:08Yes, I was flat broke and I needed to make some money
00:12and I abused the friendship of my friends, who are famous and wealthy.
00:16So I begged them and I said, please, look at this.
00:19And it really is, I wish that was a joke, but it's true.
00:24And it just happened, you know.
00:27Things came together, they were available, I wasn't doing nothing.
00:31It took two years and by the grace of God
00:35and the lack of good movies out there, here we are.
00:39Jay, how much fun has been making this film?
00:43Every day was fun. Every day I got to come to work and be with one of my comedy idols
00:47and guys I respect in comedy and we just had a really fun time.
00:53There was no actors getting into character.
00:56We just played make-believe like when we were kids.
00:59He's one of those directors where he lets you be yourself and bring out the real humor in you.
01:04Sometimes you read something and go, this ain't me. I ain't gonna read this shit.
01:08But this time, everything was written in your character.
01:11How can you mess up something that's written for you?
01:14My character finally sees the light at the end.
01:17He's just in it for the money with his best buddy.
01:20He's just out there trying to make a quick buck and not go to jail.
01:23But at the end he realizes that there is a God.
01:26And he's Latino and he's Luis Guzman.
01:29What can the audience expect?
01:31They can expect to laugh. There's no movies anymore where you just go and laugh.
01:34It's always some multiverse.
01:37Everything's like somebody's getting their head cut off or it's a multiverse superhero.
01:41What happened to the movies with a bunch of idiots standing around making each other laugh?
01:45How did you balance the comedy and the dramatic aspects?
01:50I think that was intentional. I think the audience will make that decision.
01:53I'm sure there will be some people that won't like it or think it's not a good movie.
01:58But I don't worry about that. I'm gonna go for the numbers.
02:01I'm gonna go for the people that...
02:04This movie doesn't try to change you or teach you anything other than
02:07I hope that for the hour and a half that you're there, you forget whatever your troubles are.
02:10That's why we go to entertainment, isn't it?
02:13We go there to lay those thoughts away from our head.
02:16Just be entertained. I hope we do that.
02:19There's 100 years of comedy sitting here. If you don't like this movie, it's you.
02:23There's something wrong with you.
02:25We all think it's funny. Come on.
02:28Unfortunately, there's a sucker born every minute.
02:31And religion has always been used to entice those suckers.
02:36But I also believe that...
02:41Some people are so over the top.
02:45If God owns the world, why does he need your money?
02:48You should think about that.
02:50Like in the movie, it says that anyone that needs...
02:53That God needs your money is not really a God guy.
02:56He's in the other team.
02:58That's what I love in the Bible. Jesus kicks over those tables with money.
03:01There you go. It is.
03:03The book of Matthews.
03:05But enough about Jimmy Swagger.
03:08I think to answer your question, people need something.
03:11And when you come in on the religious...
03:15I have something.
03:17And if you're just desperate enough, you just...
03:20One of the bylines says that heaven has never been more affordable.
03:23And I think that's what they try to tell you.
03:26If you give money, God's paying attention.
03:29Like God's an accountant out there.
03:32You're going to the second tier.
03:35But I think for older people who are close to their end...
03:39They may have been assholes in their life.
03:42Some guy on TV tells them that they can go to heaven.
03:45They'll give you the money.
03:48Do you remember when you were growing up, little kids?
03:51You always wanted to tell stories, to be...
03:54Personally, I never considered show business.
03:57But yeah, there was a lot of humor in my house.
04:00My father was very, very funny.
04:03And that annoyed my mom. My mom was more of a serious woman.
04:06And the more serious she got, the funnier my dad got.
04:10He always appreciated the laughter.
04:13I remember my father would not allow his kids to be sad at the table.
04:16I remember one time he hit me with a bean in the head.
04:19He goes, hey, wait till you get married to be miserable.
04:24And my mother said, what?
04:27Not us. Not us. Other people's marriage.
04:30But my father was like that. I miss him.
04:33When I was a kid, if you showed me me sitting here with these guys talking to you...
04:37I'd be like, oh wow, I must have really made it.
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