00:02Oh, my God. Thanks for coming today. I can't really believe I'm standing here.
00:09Thank you, Focus Features, Peter Gugakowski. Peter, I've learned to pronounce the name,
00:14I think, right. Kiska Heggs, Stephanie Phillips, Jason Cassidy. Thanks for arranging all of this
00:22and being such great partners and so wonderful to work with and make movies with. Thanks,
00:27Kate, for your kind words. Your friendship and your brilliant performance in Song Song
00:32Blue were so overwhelmingly exciting to me. You're fearless and hardworking and you so
00:45deserve your Oscar nomination. Oh, and those songs and that voice, you know, I would sit
00:55at the playback booth and I'd listen to them again and again and again when we were on
01:01the set and they'd bring me such great joy. Craig kept saying to me, let the guy do his
01:05work. Move. Sam, thank you for your introduction. You're a member of this family. You're beloved,
01:15sorry, by all of us. Jordan and my children and, of course, by the rest of the world. I've
01:23had such great times watching movies with you and Latie and we even made a movie together
01:27and we didn't compromise our friendship. You're going to like this, Kate. We just went out to
01:34dinner every night after shooting and we ate a ton of food. It was so much fun. When I was
01:42a kid
01:42growing up in Denver, Colorado, Hollywood seemed so glamorous and special. Movies just were so
01:50enthralling to me. My dad owned the Twin Theater at the University Hills Shopping Center and I got
01:56to sell popcorn and see so many great movies. I learned so much about storytelling from those
02:01movies. When I first became a producer, I would sit with my girlfriend, now wife, and I'd say,
02:09I just want to make one movie. You think I can make one movie? Then later I would say,
02:14I just want to make one good movie. You think I can make one good movie? Well, today, 110 movies
02:24and
02:2413 TV series later, I still sit with Jordan and I ask, do you think I can get another movie
02:34made?
02:36Such is the life of a producer. You know, but it's been a great life and a great business with
02:42all of
02:42it's changing uncertainty and difficulties because it's a community, a community of people I've come
02:49to love, a community of people who often support each other, a community of people that often root
02:54for each other. Each movie is a new family for me. I call it my 12-week family. I have
03:0140 years of
03:02relationships in this business. My friends have gone from assistants and story editors and directors
03:08of development and working actors to major accomplished writers, directors, movie stars,
03:14and even studio chiefs. I've been grateful to have shared so much and I've learned so much from them.
03:21And maybe I taught them a thing or two. I can promise you I made them laugh on occasion.
03:2830 years and seven movies later, I can still make Eddie Murphy laugh. Where is Sharice? You know that's true.
03:36When I first got into business, I got lucky enough to meet Frank Capra and I got to go fishing
03:42for him
03:42with him for a day in Bailey, California. And he said to me, as a storyteller, you have an obligation
03:49to elevate the human condition, to tell stories about ordinary people accomplishing extraordinary
03:55things, to help us all to aspire to be the best we can be. I've tried to do that. I
04:02have a great wife,
04:03three extraordinary children, and I'm proud that they are all storytellers in different ways.
04:08And maybe their children will be also.
04:17In my 40 years in the business, I've seen crazy and tremendous change. From pay TV, to VHS, to DVD,
04:26to streaming, from strikes and pandemics, and to consolidation, and sadly, to lost studios.
04:34That said, I'm optimistic about the future. Because movies and TV bring us joy, understanding,
04:40and fun. It's the best part of our day. We'll always need that, and I'm thrilled to be part of
04:47that.
04:47Thanks to you all who came here today. I'm grateful to this business for giving me a great life,
04:52and so much joy, and so much happiness. Thank you.
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