- 2 weeks ago
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00:00All right, one on five, one on Browns, Detroit.
00:01Still back to your Poppin' R&B, your boy Showtime, the czar.
00:04I have three special guests in studio with me today.
00:08Julia Allison, Marquise White, and Josh Gidley.
00:12Welcome to the show.
00:13Thank you for having me.
00:14Thank you for having me.
00:14It's a pleasure.
00:15I appreciate it.
00:16So, before we get into why you guys are here,
00:21Sugar Boys is the movie that you guys are promoting, correct?
00:23That's right.
00:24Yep.
00:24I just want everybody who is not familiar with your work,
00:27I want you guys to give them a little two-minute intro real quick
00:30about stuff that you've done and projects that you've done
00:33that they might be familiar with and didn't know that you guys were a part of.
00:36Actually, Julia, we'll start with you.
00:37Sure, sure.
00:38So, my name is Julia Allison.
00:40I am a local actress.
00:41I'm a local model, local producer, and voice actress.
00:45So, I've been on a plethora of independent film sets around the area
00:49and some shows and things like that.
00:52I've been really enjoying it.
00:53It's been wonderful.
00:54But mostly my bread and butter and my heartbeat is in Sugar Boys, this action film.
01:01And so, that's what we've been really diving into lately
01:04and just kind of taking this film community by storm.
01:08Dope, dope.
01:09Okay.
01:09Marquise, what about you?
01:10Yeah.
01:11So, I've been in films, I've been saying 22 years, but I think it's like 24 now.
01:16It's a lifetime.
01:17Yeah.
01:19I'm older than you think.
01:20No, I've been working in films for about 24 years.
01:25I think I started with 8 Mile when the incentive program was here in Michigan.
01:29Okay.
01:30But, yeah, just worked a ton when the incentives were here in almost every film that came out.
01:36Not every film, but as much as possible.
01:38And then I did an exploration around the world, consulted for a few agencies.
01:44And, yeah, I came back, decided to start my own company, Enigma Studios.
01:48And the purpose of that was to, you know, bring more control into our hands in terms of the destination for what we were trying to make.
01:58Okay.
01:59Nice.
01:59So, I don't like waiting for other people to make, you know, the kind of stuff that I want to make.
02:03Dope, dope.
02:04Josh?
02:05Well, how am I supposed to follow that?
02:06Well, yeah, I'm an actor local to Michigan.
02:10I started in 2021.
02:11My recent projects, I just had a premiere of a movie called The Bird Flies.
02:16I play Tommy.
02:17That will be on demand by the end of this month.
02:19Also, I just finished a project called Power Rangers Beast Hunters.
02:24The first episode out of four will be available this fall, so keep an eye out for that.
02:29Yeah.
02:29And then I also have a project you might have heard of.
02:32It's called Sugar Boys, where I play Damien Chadd, and keep an eye out for that because you're in for a real treat for that.
02:38Okay, so talk to us about Sugar Boys.
02:40What exactly is that movie about, and how did you guys get involved in the project?
02:45Go, Marquise.
02:46Well, all right.
02:46So, yeah, Sugar Boys started, so, you know, the past, I would say, ever since the strike started in Hollywood, you know, it was my endeavor.
02:56It was beforehand, obviously, but, like, you know, I wanted to make something where it was,
03:02like I said, 100% in my hands.
03:05So we started working on, I was working on a sci-fi project, and the people I was involved with, I'll just say it didn't work out.
03:11And so we wanted to kind of scale back.
03:13I wanted to get more of a grasp in terms of, like, the capabilities and, you know, the production, putting it together.
03:19So I was like, well, let me try an action film.
03:22So I came up with a story about, you know, two detectives that were on a, they thought they were on a drug bust.
03:31Turns out it's powdered sugar.
03:33Oh, wow.
03:34So they're humiliated.
03:37And, yeah, when they, you know, go back to the precinct, they're getting made fun of, and they're called the Sugar Boys, which is where the title comes from.
03:43Nice.
03:44Yeah.
03:44So, but in order to, you know, claim their reputation, they go on a wild goose chase of a kidnapping case.
03:53And so with that, they stumbled onto this crazy conspiracy.
03:58And what motivated me to create the story was, I think one, one of the biggest is that, you know, Detroit, in particular Detroit film, you often see the same sort of films.
04:10I would say there's like three categories of movies.
04:12You get like urban drama, crime drama.
04:14Right.
04:15You know, young man gets caught up in whatever, whatever, and the gangs are out to get him or something nonsense.
04:19And that's fine.
04:20There's a good place for it.
04:21But my favorite was like Boys in the Hood.
04:23So none of that really inspired me.
04:25You know what I mean?
04:26Okay.
04:26That you get a lot of Christmas movies.
04:28And that's good.
04:29I think if you can make a solid Christmas, I loved Home Alone.
04:31You know, you know what I'm saying?
04:32It's fantastic.
04:33Classic.
04:33Yeah, yeah, that's a good one.
04:34Yeah, yeah, that's a good one.
04:35Yeah, yeah.
04:36But I think there's a plague in the industry, in particular in places like Michigan.
04:42And I don't blame the people that make these films.
04:44But I think it's too easy to go after like low-hanging fruit.
04:48And my endeavor is to, is to really like, we're going to spend, we spend a lot of time on this.
04:53You know what I'm saying?
04:54You spend a lot of time putting a movie together.
04:57And if you're going to put your time into anything, do the best you can.
05:01Can I swear on this?
05:01Or is that all right?
05:03Yeah, don't go crazy, crazy.
05:05But yeah, you're good.
05:06Well, you know, I just, I get passionate about it.
05:08Yeah, yeah.
05:09So, but I want to do the best job I can, plain and simple.
05:13You know what I mean?
05:14And if that, but that also means pushing myself to do better from where I started from.
05:18And so that was just the core motivator.
05:20To showcase Detroit as something more than, you know what I'm saying?
05:24The run-of-the-mill, easy to find.
05:26Stuff that we've already seen.
05:27Yeah, stuff you've already seen.
05:28Or if I'm going to do something you've already seen, because it's not like Sugar Boys isn't groundbreaking.
05:32It's not like it's this massive Oscar winner with this, you know what I'm saying?
05:35French, you know, avant-garde storytelling.
05:38But it's a film that it is a dive into the human character.
05:43Nice.
05:43You know, two police officers that come from very different backgrounds that clash for very specific reasons.
05:49You know, one is a family man.
05:50And that was another thing.
05:51So Swifty McVeigh, who is a lead actor in our film, you know, often he gets typecast.
05:56He's a rap artist.
05:57He's a legend in Detroit.
05:59But for him, you know, it's about like he often gets cast as, you know what I'm saying?
06:05Like this gangbanger or, you know what I mean?
06:07And I'm like, that's not Swifty.
06:09No, not even a little bit.
06:10No, he is one of the nicest guys I've ever met.
06:13Ever.
06:13Oh, yeah.
06:14He's by nature, he's a hero.
06:16No, really.
06:17Well, and he's a family man to me.
06:18Yeah.
06:19I talked to that guy.
06:19You ever see him around his kids?
06:21That guy inspires you.
06:23So I'm like, that's the character I wanted him to embody.
06:26And so he plays a cop, a good cop, who's, you know, trying to do almost too much of the right thing.
06:32And so I wanted to highlight that.
06:33And I also thought as well, that's key for the black community.
06:37You get a lot of that in, you know, in everywhere.
06:39That's not just Michigan, but everywhere.
06:41You know, the stereotype persists in so many ways that black folks are only committed to, you know,
06:48by the reformed gangbanging in films, because typically that's what it is.
06:51You're reformed.
06:52I'm a reformed gangbanger.
06:54You know what I'm saying?
06:54Or something else.
06:55And I wanted Swifty to, you know, that's not even a thing in his role.
06:59He's a dude who does a good job.
07:03You know what I'm saying?
07:03He's a good family man.
07:05Has no issues there.
07:06And in fact, the other guy, Chris Reynolds, he's the owner of Detroit Life.
07:10You know what I'm saying?
07:10And Detroit Life is one of our highest sponsors on the film.
07:14They, you know, he's the guy that's got issues.
07:16And not that that's anything particular to a skin color.
07:19But what it's about is, you know, it's a deep dive into the character of someone.
07:24What happens when you're lonely?
07:26You know, you don't have a family to go to.
07:27And all you have is your reputation.
07:29And you're trying to rebuild that in order to, and sometimes you can take it too far.
07:33And so that's what the movie's about.
07:34It's about, it's a character study that people can relate to.
07:37You know what I'm saying?
07:38People, situations that everybody can go through.
07:41No matter your skin color, no matter your, you know, socioeconomic position in life.
07:46This is something that everyone can identify with at any level.
07:50I like that.
07:51And that was important for us.
07:52And to showcase Detroit as more than a city of crackheads.
07:56No offense, you know what I'm saying?
07:58Like, we see too much.
07:59You see the blight in Detroit.
08:01Detroit, Detroit's a beautiful city.
08:03And I think it deserves to be highlighted for the beauty that it has.
08:07Like, it's a lot of fun to go down.
08:09You know, we've got a lot going on in this city right now.
08:10And I really wanted to, I want people to see that.
08:13Dope, dope.
08:14Julia and Josh, I want you guys to talk a little bit about your characters real quick.
08:17What can people, without giving too much of the film away, talk about the character that you play.
08:21Well, you see, Detective Damien Chadd, he's a butt kicker.
08:27He's a force to be reckoned with.
08:29He's the most dominant one in the room.
08:31You can say ass, bro.
08:32Regardless of what I'm telling you.
08:34But he also has another side, you see.
08:36He's a poet.
08:36He's a musician.
08:37He's a deep thinker.
08:38In other words, he's bipolar.
08:40Ah, I got you.
08:41So, yeah, and it was a lot of fun bringing that character to life.
08:44Currently bringing that character to life because I'm still working.
08:48And, yeah, it's been a good time and I can't wait for everybody to see it.
08:51Was this a difficult character for you to play?
08:54Well, you know, each character, and I'm sure Julia knows this as well, each character comes to you in a different way.
09:00There have been characters where I found them just staring at myself in the mirror for over an hour, just looking outward.
09:07But there's other characters where I have looked inward and I've brought myself to that character.
09:12That's definitely one of these characters.
09:14A lot of experiences, a lot of his past events, which led him to be the person he is today.
09:20I brought that to myself.
09:22And that's why I think it was so fun and effective portraying that on camera.
09:26Nice.
09:26Yeah.
09:27Julia, you are the lead female in this film.
09:31Yes, I play the leading female role in it.
09:33Yes, that's correct.
09:34And my character's name is Wen.
09:36Okay.
09:36Um, she, she is a force.
09:39She's, she's bound.
09:40She's determined.
09:41She's, she's, uh, she's kind of an activist really is what she is.
09:46And she sort of stumbles upon things that she learns and knows are not correct.
09:52Um, she gets hints and clues without giving too much away that deeper issues are at play, that
09:57corruption's at play, that things need to be figured out.
10:00Things need to be investigated.
10:02And so she, being the force that she is, does her own deep dive, which sure enough leads her into deep trouble.
10:10Yeah.
10:10Yeah.
10:11And so with, with her, I find that her curiosity and persistence, because I'm a very ambitious woman, um, and I'm a very persistent person.
10:21If I am after something, like I can draw those connections with her.
10:25And so I can bring those parts of me into the character and blend the two.
10:30So, but I will say like, what's really beautiful is like the more, the more you walk in the shoes of your character and the more scenes you get to play, the more script analysis you do, the more consultation with the director and the writer and your, and your cast too.
10:46It's like the deeper you can dive into the story, the deeper you can dive into the character's skin and their, and their heart and their feelings.
10:54And then like, I'll tell you what's really beautiful.
10:57Um, and then I'll tell you what's challenging.
11:00What's great is when you're in a scene and you're feeling it so deeply and, and you're just, you're entrenched in the character, you're entrenched in the moment.
11:08You're listening to your, uh, your fellow co-actors.
11:10And when the scene's done and the director yells cut, you, you don't even know you're like, wait, what just happened?
11:17Like, you can't recall what you did because the moment was so true and so pure.
11:22So you can't necessarily like do it again exactly that way.
11:26So I love that.
11:27And I love that smoothness, that, that butter when you hit a scene and you hit a moment just right.
11:32Um, I'll tell you the obstacles that sometimes get in the way, what makes playing a character difficult.
11:37It's like, for example, we were shooting last night and it was super, super cold.
11:42And so like, you're trying to stay in the moment and your body's shivering.
11:46Right.
11:47But you gotta, you gotta take yourself out of that and force yourself into this, um, you know, false reality, but your character's reality to get to that, that truth in that moment and capture that scene.
11:58Right.
11:58So that's, what's challenging and that's, what's beautiful.
12:01And then just like what Josh said, you sort of, you can bring parts of yourself and who you are.
12:07And even if your character is opposite or different from you, there are always points of connection and you just got to draw those strings together.
12:15When, uh, when Marquis brought you guys the script for the movie, what were your initial thoughts?
12:19Well, my initial thoughts is, uh, you know, you have a good script in front of you when you can't put it down.
12:24It was one of the very few scripts.
12:26Most of the time, most projects I've been involved on, I'm going to go ahead and have a moment of honesty here.
12:31Most of them, I don't finish reading them the first day, but Marquis, when he sent me Sugar Boys, I read it in one day because it's almost like, and I think we agreed with this.
12:39It's almost like, it's almost like Rush Hour and, uh, Bad Boys got together and had a baby.
12:45I mean, it's almost like an M night Shyamalan film where you're not going to just want to watch this once.
12:53You're going to want to watch it a second time because there's going to be things that you didn't see the first time.
12:58So, I mean, that's why, you know, a lot of these films in Michigan that get made there, they're very rushed, very rushed.
13:04They just want to release a film for the sake of releasing a film.
13:07But Marquis has taken his time with this because it's all of our baby and, um, it's, it's, it's going to be absolutely amazing.
13:14It's going to stand out from the, from the rest because there's been so much love and care that's been put into this thing.
13:19So much, so much.
13:20It's quality, it's action, it's Michigan made, it's all local talent.
13:25And it's like, and I, and I think Josh and I can both attest to this because we've been on many different sets.
13:32But like, I have not seen on any other set that I've been in, in Michigan or elsewhere, the level of dedication to quality control and care coming out of a studio here in our home.
13:46And so I'm so excited for the, for the story that is going to be told out of our, and the chemistry is there too.
13:55That's important.
13:55Chemistry is so important because if you don't have the chemistry, then the performance is going to suffer.
14:00And not only you notice it, but the audience, they'll notice it and they'll call you out on it.
14:05So when you have chemistry, the trend, the, the, the whole process, it's, it's, it's just a smooth one.
14:09And, and I'll, I'll say this too, I think a key for that, like what you guys are talking about, you know, and it's, I'm passionate as hell, man.
14:17I, I dive deep inside, I will spend sleepless nights to, you know, if not perfect, but to do the best that I can.
14:24But a key that I find is, and sometimes I find that some people are shocked when they come on the set and they'll be like, am I saying too much?
14:32Am I going too far by suggesting something or, you know, they're, they're getting passionate about it and like, oh, I'm sorry.
14:37I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, you do that.
14:39Please.
14:40Because I think that, you know, like this guy here, you know what I mean?
14:43And Julia as well, like, you know, they come on set and they bring, I remember we were, what was it?
14:48The factory scene or whatever.
14:50And he's just, he's diving into it and I didn't expect it wasn't something that I wrote in there.
14:53And he's like, you know, and effing damn it on the phone.
14:57You know what I mean?
14:58And everyone's like, oh, but he's like, oh, I kind of came up with it.
15:02I'm like, no, no, no, no.
15:03That's great.
15:03Because what that is, is that's the artistry and the craft.
15:06If I, as the director and, you know, the writer have to like sit and, you know, coach every minutes of what everybody is doing, that's me doing every job.
15:17I don't want that.
15:18I want people who are confident to come on set.
15:20You know what I mean?
15:21I can't, can't tell you how many times Julia will point something out like, no, no, no, no, no, this doesn't make sense here and there and there.
15:27We have to do, I'm like, oh, wait, that's genius.
15:29You know what I mean?
15:29It's genius.
15:30And it's also because like, and she's, you know, co-writer on the project and a beautiful friend of mine, Victor Goychevik.
15:36Like it's, we have, I call it a brain trust in the writing process.
15:41I like to, you know, one person leads and the other people help to construct and that's something that we're doing with our other scripts as well.
15:47Someone else may lead and the others will help out to make the best possible.
15:51But the key to that in almost any position, whether it's writing, you know, our stunt choreographer yesterday was doing the same thing.
15:59It's that you want people who can take on, not just take the role and take lead on it, but add their variation of creativity into that role.
16:10Because especially as an actor, and that's something, that's a hard trait to find.
16:14That's what's such a blessing about working with these guys.
16:16You don't get many actors, and it's not just Michigan, you get this in California way more than you, than you think.
16:23You're dealing with people who frequently, they don't take on a role.
16:27They're just kind of happy to be there in these few lines, but that's not acting.
16:31Acting is you're embodying a character and you're letting you soak up into that and you're turning what I wrote into your version of it.
16:41And that's, that's what it is.
16:42And that, like I said, that goes for every position on the set.
16:45I've spoke to a couple other actors, and I want to ask you guys the same thing.
16:49And Marquis, you can chime in on this as well.
16:53Detroit leads in like Tubi films.
16:55Yes.
16:56But when you say Tubi movie, people are like, ah, you ain't trying to watch that, it's Tubi.
17:01And then they get labeled as Tubi actors.
17:03Yes.
17:04Does that term bother you guys?
17:06Yes.
17:07It does?
17:07It does me.
17:08Maybe not Josh.
17:09Well, it doesn't bother me because I think they're kind of disregarding the craft in itself.
17:16Like these are people who love what they do.
17:18They do this because they love it.
17:20It's not necessarily that they're doing this for the money.
17:23Gee, I hope this gets put on Netflix.
17:25Gee, I hope this gets put on Hulu.
17:28Regardless if people see it or not, at least they got to make a film.
17:31Right.
17:31And that's the reason why I got started is because I love this.
17:35This is one of the first communities where I started actually getting compliments, which
17:40was something that I had never heard in my life up until my first acting class.
17:47So you find a community and you do what you love.
17:50And regardless of if you make a dime or if you make a million dollars, that's irrelevant.
17:55Right.
17:55So if it's on a Tubi film, who cares?
17:58I don't care.
17:59I'm fine with that.
18:00Um, I would say that depends if you're saying, oh, well, those are just some Tubi actors.
18:08Like if it's in a derogatory manner, because a lot of times people, you know, there, there
18:14are amazing films on Tubi and there are also films on Tubi that are incredibly difficult
18:20to watch to the end.
18:21Like they are.
18:22And I'm saying this with respect to my creativity.
18:25A lot.
18:25It's a little rushed.
18:26We'll say that.
18:27They're unwatchable.
18:28They're unwatchable.
18:29So it, so if you refer to somebody as a Tubi actor with those movies in mind, then yeah,
18:36no, none of, none of our actors are quote unquote Tubi actors.
18:41Our film is not a quote unquote Tubi movie in that capacity.
18:44It is a good quality film coming out of Michigan, setting itself apart from everything that's
18:51been seen here before.
18:52That's why it's taking so, so much longer than your average Michigan film.
18:55Like I said, it's because there's actual care and passion and love going into it.
19:00We're not just trying to release this.
19:02If we wanted to do that, we could have released it two years ago.
19:05It would say 30 days.
19:07Exactly.
19:08But it's, it's quite the contrary and people will see that when they see the movie.
19:11And I've been on sets where they rush, they rush a film.
19:14It's done in one week.
19:15They don't care about lighting.
19:17They don't care about tonality.
19:19They don't care if they got the script or even the plot points.
19:21Right.
19:22You know, but like, that's the beautiful thing about the culture of our set is when you walk
19:27on our set, there is not one, there's not a weird hierarchy between background and principle.
19:32It goes like, it can get strange, the different places you go, but then two, like what we do
19:39with quality.
19:41That's right.
19:41Yeah.
19:41That's the most important thing to us.
19:43That's right.
19:43We don't just want a story you want to watch or see because you're proud that it came out
19:47of Michigan, which you should be proud that it came out of Michigan.
19:50Right.
19:50But we are creating a story that you want to watch again.
19:53And then you want to go tell your friend about it.
19:55Be like, yo, this came out of Michigan.
19:56This came out of Detroit.
19:57Yeah.
19:57Yeah.
19:57100%.
19:58What?
19:59You guys are proud with that.
20:00100%.
20:00Oh, absolutely.
20:01And the thing, so my aversion to the term Tubi movie or even Tubi actor, it's certainly
20:06not the actors because like Josh is talking about, you know, all these guys are aspiring to
20:11do something.
20:12I don't think anyone sets up.
20:13Some people may set out to, you know, be part of the whatever.
20:17And even Tubi as a platform, I don't want to down them because like,
20:20I was watching the usual suspects on two.
20:22Yeah, yeah.
20:22That's good.
20:23That's great.
20:23Yeah.
20:24That is great, man.
20:26My problem, it's the ethic of why that term is in place to begin with because what happens
20:34is, you know, it's the low-hanging fruit mentality.
20:37Right.
20:38And I think that's a cultural issue across the nation at the moment.
20:42I think that people, and look, I think it's just something that everyone, everyone's looking
20:45for an easy paycheck.
20:46Everyone's looking for a way to just kind of get it out.
20:48And in the creative world, in film in particular, finding a way to make money in film is a pain
20:55in the ass.
20:56It is a very difficult thing, but it does not mean, number one, the key to making like
21:04the success that you see and that you want, in particular in this age where Hollywood is
21:08sort of eroding what the standards, you know, it's gone.
21:11Like the old Hollywood system is down.
21:13There's something new coming.
21:14Entertainment's not going anywhere.
21:15But what that means is this is our opportunity to create a new standard.
21:20This is also, the field has been democratized.
21:23Anyone can pick up a camera and that's a good, a camera that can look good.
21:29Right.
21:29You know, that's a good thing and it's a problem because what can happen is you're
21:33dealing with people who, they don't educate themselves on the process.
21:36Like there's an actual skill to acting.
21:39There's an actual skill to producing, directing, writing people.
21:44Writing is a skill.
21:45You don't think it's not a skill to acting?
21:46That's the thing?
21:47I think that.
21:48You'd be surprised how rampant that movie is.
21:50It's, oh, oh, yeah.
21:52Okay.
21:52I thought that was kind of.
21:53A lot of people come on set and they just assume like, oh, I just thought I could just
21:58read this with a little bit of emotion.
21:59Oh, gotcha.
22:00They don't understand.
22:01One, people are not prepared for the amount of tediousness that's required in film.
22:05You have to do takes from every angle.
22:07Coverage is king.
22:09You know what I'm saying?
22:10Especially if you want it to look good.
22:11Like, you know, there's a solid rule when you're editing.
22:15You know what I'm saying?
22:16Like, you don't want shots to linger too long unless it's specific.
22:19And that's one of the key issues.
22:21But you see a lot of those in those, in quotations, to be films is that you get a lot of films that,
22:27you know, and some guys are just trying to hustle it out to make a paycheck.
22:30And I can respect that.
22:31Look, because some people have built, you know, solid foundations off of that.
22:34I don't doubt, you know, I don't, I don't diss that at all.
22:37I think that that's fine in terms of you personally.
22:39I think as a whole in the film community, it's not good.
22:42Because there's a reason why it's hard to raise funds in Michigan.
22:47Is that the first thing people ask about is, oh, this is just a Tubi movie.
22:50We've had that happen.
22:51Like, oh, I thought you guys were just making a Tubi movie.
22:53And they see what we do.
22:54And like, oh, wait, that's actually pretty good.
22:55Yeah, they're shocked.
22:56Yeah.
22:56Like, whoa.
22:57You don't really get that in L.A.
22:58You know what I mean?
22:59People, there's a, they take the craft far more serious.
23:03And that's something we are struggling to do in Michigan.
23:06And it's because, you know, there's not enough, not enough care and attention paid to the craft itself,
23:13which has led to that moniker.
23:15And yes, I am absolutely determined to shatter that.
23:18Nice.
23:18So, and I do not like that.
23:19Yeah, and just to kind of back up that point,
23:22and that's why I love seeing people's reactions to the content that we do have out
23:25for kind of teasing the film and stuff,
23:28is like even, I have a lot of like SAG actor friends in L.A.
23:31and things like that.
23:32And I'll show them the stuff.
23:34And they message me.
23:35And they're like, so are you guys coming to L.A. any time soon?
23:39Oh, I was going to say that.
23:39I was like, the way the trailer looked, it looked like it was shot in L.A.
23:42But then I'm like, I know that building.
23:44Like, so.
23:44Right.
23:45But that says something.
23:47If like the L.A. talent is wanting to come here to be a part of Enigma Studios.
23:53Right.
23:54That speaks.
23:54That speaks.
23:56We're bringing a core and a magnet to Michigan when it comes to setting apart a studio in Michigan.
24:03All right.
24:03Two more things.
24:04I'm going to let you guys get up out of here.
24:05Being an independent film company.
24:08Give me some pros and cons with that because I know there's a lot of things,
24:11especially since, you know.
24:13Scheduling.
24:15You have to juggle everybody's schedule.
24:17The more people in the production, the more possibilities of something going wrong.
24:21And things will go wrong.
24:22Yes.
24:23And we have over 200 people on our cast crew.
24:26Yeah.
24:27No, no.
24:27That's huge.
24:29I mean, scheduling is definitely key.
24:31Funding is a massive issue.
24:33You know what I mean?
24:33My company funded the majority of this movie.
24:36We've got other investors that have come in, but it's like convincing people to take just
24:41even a small chance on your movie.
24:43You know what I'm saying?
24:44Right.
24:44That's not an easy thing to do.
24:46And I think that overcoming those preconceived notions of what it means to make a movie by
24:52a studio in Michigan, that's a massive hurdle.
24:55It's a trickle-down effect because it goes from everything from the acting, because you
25:00have to find actors.
25:01You can't always choose the best of the best.
25:03You know what I mean?
25:03You might not always have access to the best of the best, even if the best of the best are
25:06willing to jump onto your project.
25:08So just finding the resources needed to accomplish.
25:11They're here.
25:12You know, Detroit is one of the most creative pools of talent, but typically they leave.
25:19They bounce.
25:25But yeah, that's, I think that's a huge.
25:27I would say that one of the pros of it, though, is whereas we have to fight for everything that
25:33we accomplish, come hell or high water, whereas like the larger studios that have access to
25:39millions of dollars for their stuff, and I'm not dogging on any of them, but like I think
25:46when you have ease of access to things, sometimes your care and quality goes down.
25:51The storytelling is not as passionate.
25:53You get lazy.
25:53You get lazy.
25:54And so that's the beautiful thing, that when you're an independent studio and you're fighting
25:59and you're going to make a mark and you're going to set a precedent and you're going to
26:01let the waters flow, you earn it all and you don't take it for granted.
26:07It's a blue ocean is what it is.
26:09It's a red ocean would be filled with blood and waters over the competition fighting
26:12to accomplish.
26:14The blue ocean is clean waters.
26:15You know what I'm saying?
26:16And that's kind of what this is.
26:17So she makes a very good point.
26:19When you, when you're not dealing, we're not dealing with universal, you know what I'm
26:25saying?
26:25We're, we have so much more control over here and people are far more eager to get
26:31something.
26:32Like you said, when people see a solid film that they actually want to watch, they're
26:35very eager to jump on board and to help.
26:37And that's a, that's been a huge, a huge help for us.
26:40Fire.
26:40All right.
26:41Last thing.
26:42If people aren't so quite just yet, why should they go see sugar boys?
26:47Josh, we'll start with you.
26:47I mean, if you're looking to see something that separates us from all the, uh, well,
26:53crap that's been made lately, uh, I would say, check this movie out because like I said,
26:57in the beginning of the interview, this is going to be one of those movies that you want
27:00to watch more than once this movie goes deep.
27:03There's a lot of Easter eggs in there.
27:05There's a lot of, uh, Hmm.
27:06I wonder what was going on in that, in that moment.
27:09Uh, you're going to find a lot of that.
27:10And, uh, yeah, there's going to be a lot of action.
27:13If you're a fan of that kind of thing, you're going to want to check it out.
27:15And, uh, yeah, everybody's in for a treat.
27:18Fire.
27:19Oh, Julie.
27:20Oh, I mean, I, I just think, uh, you know, Detroit, Michigan, they're, they're about to
27:26see kind of a bomb drop when it comes to talent and creativity and quality and, and filmmaking.
27:32And so if you don't want to miss that moment in history, like go watch the movie.
27:37Dope, man.
27:38No, this is your city.
27:40You know what I mean?
27:40If you're, if you're listening or watching to this, I mean, this is, this is your city
27:44and this is something that raises the bar.
27:47This is, if you've been waiting for something to take serious in terms of this arena, this
27:52is, this is the film.
27:53It's a bad-ass movie.
27:54You know, it's got the kind of stuff that you want to watch that you want to watch multiple
27:58times.
27:58Where can people go see the movie and when, when is it releasing?
28:02So we hope to be finished for our first screener around Christmas time.
28:06Okay.
28:06Editing.
28:07You know what I'm saying?
28:07There's a lot of visual effects in this film.
28:09There's a lot of, uh, just compositing and things that have to be done in the editing process.
28:14Um, in addition to just editing the damn movie period, but, uh, yeah.
28:18So there, it's not a guarantee that it'll be done by then.
28:21Um, and we do want to release it at a, at a time that's advantageous, right?
28:25So if it's not around Christmas time, we might push it back a few months to a good spring
28:29release or something like that.
28:30Um, but after that, we will then be taking it to festivals and markets and whatnot for a
28:35more, a global sale.
28:36So, so the exact release, I don't know, but for our community in Detroit and, you know,
28:41Michigan in particular, we hope within the next, uh, by the end of the year is our, is
28:46our target.
28:47Yeah.
28:47And we will let the community know that we have spoke with Imagine and they are supporting
28:52us as well.
28:53And so we will be releasing it to the local community first.
28:56Fire.
28:56Okay.
28:57I can't wait.
28:57I'm sold.
28:58I hope everybody watching this is going to be sold because, uh, I definitely want to see,
29:01I love the trailer that you sent me, so I can't wait to see it.
29:04Thank you guys for coming.
29:05I appreciate y'all.
29:06Don't be scared to come back.
29:07Cause I definitely want to talk to y'all again, especially when the movie drops.
29:10Okay.
29:10So we appreciate you having us.
29:12We don't find one to bounce.
29:13Peace.
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