[SPEAKER_00]: You can kind of just be kids, like me, the Jonas Brothers, Selena, Miley, at that time, like, I feel good about it, or do I?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, you do.
[SPEAKER_02]: Favorite Wizards of Waverely Place Spell?
[SPEAKER_00]: Edge Bottle Utosis.
[SPEAKER_02]: What's it like when you and Selena get back on camera together?
[SPEAKER_00]: I remember the first time we got back on camera.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're before we went into the scene, her and I looked at each other.
[SPEAKER_00]: Adam, his handler, and Kevin James are awesome guys.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've known Kevin for a very long time.
[SPEAKER_02]: What's it like for you to reopen the chapter of Justin Russo?
[SPEAKER_02]: All these years later.
[SPEAKER_02]: Did you think that he would ever continue to live on and have a story?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, you don't think that when you're doing it.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're just you're just doing it and you're enjoying it and it and it's it's You're you're loving every second of it, but when you're doing it you're never thinking man Is this gonna come around again one day?
[SPEAKER_00]: What's gonna happen?
[SPEAKER_00]: But then the show ends and years go by and you start hearing about reboots of other things and whatnot You get a little curious, but for me it was just more something that's lean and I would just joke around about from time to time
[SPEAKER_00]: We just get together, hang out at my house, hurt my wife, he came good friends, and we just be sitting chillin' and talking about what our characters would be up to present day, and that began to get serious.
[SPEAKER_00]: That started to snowball into, hey, like, this is like, we're talking about a real thing here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, this is actually really cool and intriguing what we're talking about.
[SPEAKER_00]: We should just do what we're doing now over dinner with Disney, and see what they think.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, I'm over-simplifying it.
[SPEAKER_00]: There was a lot more to it, but that was kind of what we did.
[SPEAKER_00]: got together, joked around about what our characters would be doing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that led to, you know, where we are today, you know, our second season coming up.
[SPEAKER_02]: Did this chatter begin in the past two, three years?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, we always talked about the show.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it was great memories for her and I per her.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was really formative.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was like her high schoolic or college experience, you know?
[SPEAKER_00]: For me too, we were both so young and that time in our life was so informational and so foundational for the rest of our careers that we just look back on it so fondly.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like if you get together with a college by to your high school budding and talk about the good old times, it was that for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a really good time.
[SPEAKER_00]: And like any family you have your ups, you have your downs, we went through every emotional experience you could go through while making that show.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we just have this bond and any time we get together, conversation would just find its way back to the show.
[SPEAKER_00]: So you know, it just all kind of came together organically nothing was forced.
[SPEAKER_00]: We never, when we were talking, thought we're going to make a show about this, we're just joking around and it just started to get good.
[SPEAKER_02]: When does the reality start to set in that, oh, this is a possibility, Disney's intrigued, we can make this happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, this is so cool.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like the more we get together, just started taking shape.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, and it became a thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know after a fifth or six or seven time of like dinners and hanging out and talking at the end of it, I was just like, Selena, like this is good.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is a show, like let's just go do this with Disney.
[SPEAKER_00]: This makes sense.
[SPEAKER_00]: We got a beginning, a middle, and we kind of, we knew what we wanted to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: We knew what our characters wanted to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: We had some unexpected twists and turns baked in there and I was like, I'm sure they would love to hear this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's just go talk to them.
[SPEAKER_00]: And she loved the idea, right away, she was like, yes, I think the world needs this.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I think sitcoms, we both understand the value, the inherent value of the sitcom.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, the sitcom is this thing that can pull you out of wherever you are, you know you're putting yourself, you're escaping into another reality, you're going to be goofy, you're going to laugh, you're going to have a good time, and it always has this uplifting ending.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's always like, problem in solution that
[SPEAKER_00]: It's this format that has always worked and her and I love it and we felt like you know I really feel like the world needs a good good old sitcom right now I know Selena's big foodie.
[SPEAKER_02]: I know you're a foodie I think the most important question is where are these conversations happening?
[SPEAKER_00]: steak 48 mac sure was I know I went to steak 48 literally last night the best bread Oh that that like the yeah the circular bread They get all the pull part bread is unbelievable the hanging bacon like
[SPEAKER_00]: Dude.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'm gonna go, um, let's go there after this.
[SPEAKER_02]: Please, it's one of the kind of experience here because those restaurants aren't really popping up at here anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know what's the master's family that, yeah, I didn't know that at first.
[SPEAKER_00]: I went there.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was like, this reminds me of master's like, that's because it is.
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, you just stumbled in there and realized that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Completely stumbled in there.
[SPEAKER_00]: I actually went to the one I think in South Carolina or North Carolina.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was like their first one.
[SPEAKER_02]: This day 48.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I was like, this place is unbelievable.
[SPEAKER_00]: What is this reminds me of master's?
[SPEAKER_00]: They're like, oh, yeah, it is the master's family.
[SPEAKER_02]: What?
[SPEAKER_02]: You grew up here, where are you going to masters when they own the mastros?
[SPEAKER_00]: Totally.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I was actually raised in as a young kid in Arizona.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's where master was started.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I went to the first mastros in Arizona.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, you know, stake 48 is after Arizona.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, I would go to the original master was back in the day with my family.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I've been a big fan.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then they opened the one in Beverly Hills here.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, so I've been going to those forever.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, you know, white chocolate girl.
[SPEAKER_00]: I haven't been there.
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, and Arizona.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no, I haven't been there.
[SPEAKER_00]: The dessert, sir.
[SPEAKER_00]: Wait, sounds good.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was like, wait, do you talk about food?
[SPEAKER_00]: You talk about a restaurant.
[SPEAKER_00]: White chocolate girl, I got to go.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a restaurant in Scottsdale.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_02]: Out of this world.
[SPEAKER_00]: Really?
[SPEAKER_02]: Yes, their bread pudding is... Oh.
[SPEAKER_00]: We should go right.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's where we're doing a double.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's go.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's tell Disney to call the jet.
[SPEAKER_02]: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
[SPEAKER_00]: you would be very surprised how actively involved she is.
[SPEAKER_00]: She really cares about every single aspect in element.
[SPEAKER_00]: She's on all the major calls.
[SPEAKER_00]: So like, when it's time for a big marketing publicity call, she's there listening.
[SPEAKER_00]: She brings a notebook.
[SPEAKER_02]: So that's the producers work to figure out how you guys are handling that.
[SPEAKER_00]: it's a collective environment so the marketing departments get on the producers get on sling and I get on as producers and for all the major calls, you know, we're all on on them, all of them, both from a story standpoint, the writing,
[SPEAKER_00]: the major decisions that were made by way of production design and just building the show.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, she was on all of them and she had strong opinions and very good opinions that helped craft everything that we have today.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, she was very involved.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm with her on all of those and then I'm more in the nitty gritty of like, okay, let's figure out how to practically apply this and figure this out and get it there.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the show very much I think encompasses her vision.
[SPEAKER_02]: for you switching from acting in front of the camera now doing behind the scenes as well, are is your brain constantly thinking about ideas and how you want the show to look and what you want it.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, totally.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, just like you as you were setting up in here, getting it going before the show, like yeah, I'm I'm.
[SPEAKER_00]: in all of it and looking at every element because I'm allowed based on myself as an executive producer to note all this stuff.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the cool part is man, like if you hire the right people, just let them do their job.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like hire the right person, let them be fulfilled in doing their job.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I'm all about anyone that we've hired.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm all about like the servant leadership model, which is like I want to hire you and I believe in you.
[SPEAKER_00]: and I want you to crush it, and let me know if I can help you crush it, and if there's something that I have an opinion on along the way, we're going to a conversation, but I'm hiring you because I believe in you, so go do your thing, like if you ask people, like how many times this David come in and like, done something to change something, not very much, you know, not very much, it's a, it's a really good team we heart, a really good team at every level.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm really proud of the people that we brought on board to make this show come to life.
[SPEAKER_02]: Are you recording out of soundstage?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: Same one that you guys did the original at?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, no, that, that, that, I don't know where that, what's going on with that soundstage now, but we recorded it one often Valencia and it was great.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was great.
[SPEAKER_00]: They built all the, you know, all the sets there with a nice audience.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was important for Selina and I was making sure that there was that audience presence.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we got the real raw feedback from the crowd.
[SPEAKER_00]: In that awakens in a performance in the actors that we wanted our kids to feel it's a sparkle You know when you got a big audience sitting in front of you and you hear their reactions to everything that you're doing or little things that you add It affirms you it builds you up and it gives you this like energy that's hard to explain that only sitcoms can capture it's the closest thing that you can get To to the stage, you know the sitcom.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's as close as you can get to the stage
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[SPEAKER_02]: Now back to the podcast.
[SPEAKER_02]: You've done both worlds of multi-cam and single-cam.
[SPEAKER_02]: What do you think makes multi-cam so special for a TV show?
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it really is that theater like environment that makes it very special.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're doing scenes top to bottom where if we're doing a single cam, I just might work on my one line, which just six times with just my angle and you're off camera.
[SPEAKER_00]: So you don't have to worry about your performance.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's, you know, it's a long day of like little moments, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's, that single cam with a sitcom, it really is this play like energy, this theater like environment where you get to do a scene top to bottom.
[SPEAKER_00]: You get this wonderful flow and this wonderful energy.
[SPEAKER_00]: that you can balance with all your in everyone's on, everyone is on, everyone's being recorded, you have four different cameras that's like this with two more covering every single angle and maybe even three more sometimes covering every single angle.
[SPEAKER_00]: So everyone is on, which I love.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just love that energy.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love that energy.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's exciting.
[SPEAKER_02]: What would you say is an expensive shot for a multi cam?
[SPEAKER_02]: What are you guys doing that everyone has to make sure they're on?
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it's any time you bring in the techno jib, which is like this big arm that extends and retracts they call it pick a lot of pickle in and it's a very expensive camera very expensive piece of machine and anytime you use that mixed with an effect at the same time it's like
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a very time-consuming and anytime you're on a set you're like on the clock you gotta get it when you got to get it and so anytime you have a big move with the gym mixed with an effect it just really takes a lot of swings you got to take a lot of swings at the plate and in it's expensive it's expensive.
[SPEAKER_02]: Have you dealt with any of that when you're directing the show?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, so this season was the first season that I got to direct TV.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've directed film before it's my first time directing TV and directing a sitcom, which is what I grew up with.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it was really this moment was like a big dream come true for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I got to direct the Christmas episode, which we never did a Christmas episode.
[SPEAKER_00]: The fans will correct me from a moment, 100% sure.
[SPEAKER_00]: We never did a Christmas episode.
[SPEAKER_00]: So this is like the first time Christmas has been introduced to the wizard world.
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's this one shot.
[SPEAKER_00]: that required the techno-jib that was really somewhat technical where we came off a character, we go up a Christmas tree and it cambered the arm of the jib extends out and goes up really quickly.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sounds easy just going like this and then that, but it took a lot of people to try to get this right and it's kind of a tough move to get right because we're also pairing it with an effect that it transitions into so that the move starts and goes up.
[SPEAKER_00]: and then it cuts and it transitions into an effect.
[SPEAKER_02]: Are you on camera tutoring this?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm off camera for this, thank God.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, I'm just directing here.
[SPEAKER_00]: But it was one of those very technical moves that took a lot of time and eight into our day, but we needed the shot.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it was one of those where the pressure's really on and you're trying to keep it calm on set and just get the shot and ended up working awesome in the cut.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't wait for people to see it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It really sold the intention that I was going for.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm so excited for that.
[SPEAKER_00]: I brought, you guys have only done like single camsuff as a director.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I brought a lot of those sensibilities
[SPEAKER_00]: and there's one shot that's always been my dream to do and I've never gotten to do in any show before.
[SPEAKER_00]: And or anything I've directed, I've never gotten to do this shot, but it's this Spielberg push pull, push pull.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's that shot that you're pushing the camera in and zooming out at the same time and it compresses the image and gives this cool effect.
[SPEAKER_00]: He did it in jaws.
[SPEAKER_00]: Did it first blow up in the shining was it?
[SPEAKER_00]: He got it from a bunch of other people and I'm not sure which director he who first used the push pull uh, but it's a it's a classic effect and I've always wanted to do it something and this was the perfect thing for me to do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's this moment where Janice has a big realization and she's like, what?
[SPEAKER_00]: And I was like, that's the moment for it.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we did this special where we did the push pull on her for her like, what camera comes in.
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you pairing it with any sound design?
[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, there was some effect we added into to heighten the reality, but it did exactly what I wanted to sell with the intention and I did some of that stuff.
[SPEAKER_00]: I brought some single cam sensibilities to the show and um, I'm excited to see what people think.
[SPEAKER_02]: When you're directing an episode, are you also editing it as well?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm with the editor, yeah, I'm with the editor, he's leading it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm commenting and giving notes along the way live in the same room.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, he turns in an editor's cut.
[SPEAKER_00]: I watch the cut on my own and then I spend like, I mean, many hours with him sitting in the edit suite going over every little thing, looking at the other takes, swapping, trying, experimenting.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then I turn in the director's cut to the network, then we do another round of notes.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then it turns into what, you know, you'll see the first Christmas episode.
[SPEAKER_00]: and then the mouse gives his opinion and then yes yes the mouse gives his opinion very kind of mouse very kind of mouse what the mouse which your favorite thing about directing especially on a show that you grew up doing I just done so many of them that like it was in my blood to just want to jump in there and do it and I so wanted to do it for so long even when I was younger I'd always had to stop myself I had to bite my lip because like
[SPEAKER_00]: you bring in new directors right every two three episodes you have a new director and I just done so many of them when I when I was younger did so many of them that I always wanted to get in there and say something or do something or I'd see a director doing something I'm like that's not going to work and so this is the first time I got to like say all the things that I would have the power now.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah and I got to drag so I got to say all the things that I wanted to say and do all the things I wanted to do and it really was very fulfilling.
[SPEAKER_02]: What's it like when you and Selena get back on camera together?
[SPEAKER_00]: is that a crazy feeling for you it is a crazy feeling and I remember the first time we got back on camera it was right before we went into the scene her and i looked at each other and we just like took a deep breath and we're like let's do this and the moment the doors opened was like we didn't miss a second like we didn't miss a second at all like zero we were right there the timing is there the chemistry that was there
[SPEAKER_00]: it was all right there.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this season has that too.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's what's really cool is in the original show and in the movie that we did.
[SPEAKER_00]: There was some really dramatic sweet meaningful moments that you might not expect from, you know, a family show.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we really go there this season.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like there's some stuff that we tried that was pushing the envelope.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think in a really healthy and positive way, I think people's jaws will be on the floor when you say a couple of the things that we did in
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think there were, I think there were worthy risks, you know, it's like what is a sitcom today?
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's different than it was 10, 15, 20 years ago.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we tried some things.
[SPEAKER_00]: We made it a little more serialized.
[SPEAKER_00]: We added in some drama.
[SPEAKER_00]: We took very seriously our characters arcs.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think you're almost going to get this.
[SPEAKER_00]: this this yes you'll get comedy you'll get big laughs you'll get heart but there's these dramatic touching elements that i think will stick with you by the end of this series you should be left with this feeling of like we need to explore this more there's there's there's more to this story um yeah yeah and hopefully you'll get the you'll get the heart felt in the big last but like yeah we go there sometimes where i think people can be like whoa like they they they they they they so long for the fences here i'm really excited
[SPEAKER_02]: The first season was a 21 episode order, which is unheard of.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: How many episodes are in the second season?
[SPEAKER_00]: So this is 10.
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're coming at you short and sweet.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to hit you.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to hit you a boom hard.
[SPEAKER_02]: Is it going to be released weekly?
[SPEAKER_00]: We're dropping them all on Disney Plus on the 8th of October.
[SPEAKER_00]: So they'll come in a batch of 10 then.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we want, you know, that we got all the data from the first season.
[SPEAKER_00]: And people go through them pretty quickly.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we wanted these 10 to just be short, sweet and
[SPEAKER_00]: this season.
[SPEAKER_00]: I called the first season like the prequel because the first season was introducing these new characters, getting to know this new family and it ended with the kids finding out that they have magical abilities and powers.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so that was the prequel and this is where the show really has begun because now there's a wizard competition.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now my kids are going to start competing.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's going to be that same competitive atmosphere.
[SPEAKER_00]: But in our own way,
[SPEAKER_00]: different way than the first show did.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm stoked to see the reaction to that.
[SPEAKER_00]: So like last season was the prequel, this the show has really begun and then next season God willing if that happens, it's gonna get crazy.
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, I'm sure it's gonna happen.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's gonna be crazy.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'd love to get your take on binge watching shows.
[SPEAKER_02]: Is that something you as an actor prefer?
[SPEAKER_02]: Do you like watching your shows and batches?
[SPEAKER_02]: Do you like separation?
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I personally, I can't I just can't I'm not built for binge watching like just me personally.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can do one or two and then after that, like I'm just fatigued and tired and like I got three kids, you know, like I can't sit down and burn through.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, seven episodes of the thing, my wife and I after like 10 minutes of any show are like falling asleep from the day.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I don't mind it at all, you know, it's just, it's the, it's the way it is today and we built this season knowing that people were going to burn through it.
[SPEAKER_00]: So there's a lot of connective tissue throughout the show that we tried more serialized, a more serialized approach and adding in some soapy elements too, which I think will be juicy for the, for the, the teens and tweens and
[SPEAKER_00]: kids.
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, I'm excited to be in this like sitcom and space today because you can try new things and that's what we did.
[SPEAKER_02]: Did you have to go back and rewatch in your old episodes to get in the character of your totally?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: We rewatch it in full.
[SPEAKER_00]: We didn't rewatch the entire thing to get started for this, but I've seen it all so many times that I knew it well.
[SPEAKER_00]: But Selena and I picked a couple episodes that we watched with the kids and we sat down and we all watched it together and the kids asked questions of like, oh, does your your characters instinct is this and yours is that and oh, that joke worked.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why talk to talk to me through how it worked there?
[SPEAKER_00]: And so yeah, we just sat down around a kitchen table and like, you know, watch the show together and it was, I think a very healthy Exercise to go through with all of them and the kids watch it all.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean the kids that they all got together and watch every single episode.
[SPEAKER_00]: So they knew every little call back when we get into it.
[SPEAKER_00]: The kids are a little pros.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean they're unbelievable.
[SPEAKER_02]: Unbelievable.
[SPEAKER_02]: for you as an actor, a producer, a director on a Disney show.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_02]: What makes a joke work for kids television?
[SPEAKER_02]: And what makes a joke not land?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a good question.
[SPEAKER_00]: As an actor.
[SPEAKER_00]: you perform the living daylights out of what you're given.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not your job to give an opinion on whether it's fun or not.
[SPEAKER_00]: You've got to trust the writers and the writers have to trust you.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to go for this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever this thing is, you do your absolute best to make this thing funny.
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's a faith there, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because sometimes you might read it and you're like, I don't know if this will be funny, but you've got to go for it because the writers want to see that and you've got to give it to them, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's a faith to just let it play out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let it play out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes the thing you didn't think was going to be funny gets a huge laugh and you're like, oh, I'm so glad I tried with that because I didn't think it was going to work and it freaking nails it and it was so good.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then sometimes things you think are going to kill, you might just miss a performance, you might not have the right rhythm or your performance is a little off.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's a balance of like the writing itself and then how you how you put a spin on the thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: I remember there was this one joke from the show where my character is like using a limp roller.
[SPEAKER_00]: And before we did it in rehearsals, the writers were like, we shouldn't have put that in there.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not, you don't have to worry about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not going to, it's terrible.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not going to work.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I go, no, let me try.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me try.
[SPEAKER_00]: And man, I freaking did it and it got a big laugh and they were like, you, you, you, we can't, like, we so thought we shouldn't put that in.
[SPEAKER_00]: We didn't think it was going to work.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it worked, you know, so it's this like fine balance of just trusting the process and letting it shake out how it's supposed to shake out.
[SPEAKER_02]: Do you like the writing process?
[SPEAKER_02]: Are you a writer yourself?
[SPEAKER_00]: I wrote for the original show I Don't consider myself a writer now.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've written before I've written movies and I've written shows But it's not my I'm more of a director like I think very visually and being in the weeds of like writing is not my Not not not not my skill set not not what I do I enjoy watching people do it and I enjoy the noting process like I like being involved in the creative process But I'm I'm not a writer now
[SPEAKER_02]: How does directing monsters summer come together?
[SPEAKER_02]: And how does Mel Gibson step into this project?
[SPEAKER_00]: Dude, it's a crazy story.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am, so it was my dream to direct a feature that was in the style of movies that I grew up watching.
[SPEAKER_00]: So like the Goonies or anything, Spielbergask, that was very much my aesthetic.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's how I think, like... Do you like hook?
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, dude, love hook.
[SPEAKER_00]: Such a great movie.
[SPEAKER_00]: So good.
[SPEAKER_00]: So good, Rufio.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Come on.
[SPEAKER_02]: I had it on the podcast a couple of weeks ago.
[SPEAKER_02]: No, the craziest thing.
[SPEAKER_02]: That is awesome Because he was like, he was the cooler older cousin I wanted when I was growing up.
[SPEAKER_00]: 100% dude Rufio was like, yeah, everyone's older cool.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would older cousin so cool Oh, I would have loved I'm gonna watch that podcast after this So so yeah like getting to do this goony's ass kind of thriller for kids type of movie Was a dream come true.
[SPEAKER_00]: I loved the script is exactly what I was looking for
[SPEAKER_02]: Did the script come to you?
[SPEAKER_00]: It did.
[SPEAKER_00]: A good friend of mine, a producer named Mark Fassano, basically called me up and said, hey man, I know you're looking for this like a Spielberg kind of thing and something that has like a fairytale angle to it that can be family family can watch, but still like deeper themes.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I read it and it was it's actually the guy's Neil and Brian that wrote the peanuts movies, so they'd written a lot of awesome animated the peanuts franchise.
[SPEAKER_00]: Legacy and yeah, they're they're writing those and they they kind of wanted a break from like that that world and so they wrote this like fun Fairy tale.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ask story.
[SPEAKER_02]: Was that their first live?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not sure, but I believe it was their first live action a project and it was a fun project man and I read it, I fell in love with it and I just couldn't help think of Mel Gibson for this like creepy neighbor who the town suspects is like up to bad things but actually has a whole other layer to him he's like an onion that you peel back and I just kept thinking of him for the role but I thought
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, how am I going to get to Mel Gibson's Mel Gibson, how am I going to find this guy?
[SPEAKER_00]: Sure enough, I had a buddy who was Instagram, I saw it was having lunch with Mel and I like hit up my buddy and I was like, dude.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wrote a director's letter for Mel.
[SPEAKER_00]: I sent it to him.
[SPEAKER_00]: I go read it to him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Please and he read it to him and he said send me all the script and so like on instagram my buddy is having lunch DM my buddy next thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know Mel reads my directors letter asked for the script and read the script liked it asked for a meeting.
[SPEAKER_00]: I go I have coffee with Mel Gibson and
[SPEAKER_02]: He got the script in hand and everything ready to go.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, because I knew he read it.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I just came myself and he wanted to have coffee with me just to talk about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, I was nervous.
[SPEAKER_00]: How do you direct an Oscar-winning director?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, who am I?
[SPEAKER_00]: He's, I think he's directed five or six movies.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's been nominated for like three or four Oscars out of those.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, sheesh.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I got coffee with him.
[SPEAKER_00]: And for two hours, we didn't talk about the movie at all.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just talked about, and before I went into the meeting, I was like,
[SPEAKER_00]: you know what do you do with nerves right everyone's got their own techniques and nerves are a tough thing right and so for me i got all nervous and i was like you know what let go don't be a respecter of persons but walk out of this meeting saying i trusted the process and i gave it my all
[SPEAKER_02]: What does respect to a person's means?
[SPEAKER_00]: In other words, don't put people on two, we're all people.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, like, a respect to a person's in a way, to me what that means is, don't put someone so high on a pedestal that they become anything other than a human being that is just like you and just like me.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we're all broken people.
[SPEAKER_00]: We all put our pants on the same way.
[SPEAKER_00]: We all have our issues that we're going through.
[SPEAKER_00]: No one is a God.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[SPEAKER_00]: In other words, like, almost like, don't put someone above God.
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't be a respect to a person.
[SPEAKER_00]: So to me, that said, okay, go in there and just talk to him like a normal guy.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's just a normal guy and I did, so I didn't even bring up the movie.
[SPEAKER_00]: We were just hanging out and that was the best that thank God.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was the best approach because like, we talked about our families.
[SPEAKER_00]: We talked about our children.
[SPEAKER_00]: We talked about life and then at the very end he goes, well, I suppose we should talk about the movie and we just chatted about the movie for like another 30 minutes.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he goes, all right, kid, yeah, you know what you're doing?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm in.
[SPEAKER_00]: Who's the first person you call my brother and my dad at the same time called them both because we're business partners I call them both at the same time and I said I think those in you said he likes it.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's it to it?
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's in
[SPEAKER_00]: And it was great, that little switch to that mental switch of going, let go of the nerves.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's just a normal person, like don't build anyone up on the too high of a pedestal.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's a normal person.
[SPEAKER_00]: That little breath I took there, that unlocked everything before I walked in.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I was stuck with nerves that before I was walking and I saw him in the place and think I had that little moment of grace because that helped me just go boom.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then it was just like I was sitting with my uncle.
[SPEAKER_02]: being director leader of the project.
[SPEAKER_02]: What kind of accommodations do you make for Mel Gibson that first day of set?
[SPEAKER_02]: What's his trailer like how do you make sure that he's comfortable and excited to be there?
[SPEAKER_00]: This shows you how cool this guy is, by the way, because we got him the most excellent trailer you've ever seen in your life.
[SPEAKER_00]: What does that look like?
[SPEAKER_00]: Dude, this thing was like a home.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, this must have been a multimillion dollar trailer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like this thing was unbelievable.
[SPEAKER_00]: things pop and out and expanding and grow.
[SPEAKER_00]: It had a six burner like Viking range grill inside of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't even know that was allowed.
[SPEAKER_02]: What if he was barbecue's meat?
[SPEAKER_00]: Dude, he could do it in like a gourmet way.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, this is unbelievable.
[SPEAKER_00]: He it had its own hair and makeup room.
[SPEAKER_00]: It had a king size bed.
[SPEAKER_00]: This thing was unbelievable.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's more gorgeous trailer ever seen.
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't stay in it one time.
[SPEAKER_00]: He sat on set and hung out the whole time.
[SPEAKER_02]: Wow.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've never heard of an actor doing this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Actors don't.
[SPEAKER_00]: Actors don't sit on said they go into their trailer and chill.
[SPEAKER_00]: He sat next to me and just hung out and would be like, oh David, try this, try that.
[SPEAKER_00]: What he taught me was always be telling the story, always be telling the story.
[SPEAKER_00]: When I thought I had everything figured out, I got the camera where I wanted, the actors doing what I want.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just going to sit back and let it record and get exactly what I want.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mel would always be leaning in going, how can I tell this story further?
[SPEAKER_00]: How can I advance the story a little more whether it's in the character's performance or going, you know, there's something not on the script, we need to add into this moment.
[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe it's a little bit of humor, try finding that, try finding a little bit of humor.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what he really taught me was like, because I very much am of the philosophy that like, the movie shot before it's made.
[SPEAKER_00]: In my head, it's all figured out before we go in there and I just gotta do that.
[SPEAKER_00]: he's constantly sculpting the clay.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he wasn't even directing, he was just an actor like sitting there hanging out in, of course, Oscar Winning director, I was like, let's do whatever Mel says, yes, his ideas are like batting a thousand.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that was a little thing I learned, was like, oh, he's be telling the story no matter what, always be locked in telling the story.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was really cool.
[SPEAKER_02]: Alongside your co-stars, like Mel Gibson Selena Gomez, for you as an actor, you picking up little nuances of what they're doing and how they approach it for your own style.
[SPEAKER_00]: completely.
[SPEAKER_00]: I learned from every single person that I've ever worked with.
[SPEAKER_00]: I make mental notes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Wow, this person did something interesting.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I really liked that.
[SPEAKER_00]: The way that they did that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, he was searching for his line But he did this thing that made it look like he wasn't searching for his line and that actually added to the performance And he was able to find the line and then come back with something really funny.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, this person found their mark in a really natural way to where they didn't have to just like look at the floor I'm always picking up on little things that that people do in trying to learn and
[SPEAKER_00]: And likewise, off camera, too, the things that surround the camera, if they did something interesting, I would try to hone in on what that technique was, or like, why is the camera here and not there?
[SPEAKER_00]: And why is that one here?
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just always ask questions.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those are just very curious.
[SPEAKER_02]: Could we talk about some of the other projects you've done?
[SPEAKER_00]: Sure.
[SPEAKER_02]: So Reagan, how I met your mother, Paul Blart.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: When you're on those kind of sets, does everything have its own vibe, and how are you finding your way into being part of it?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, every set has its own vibe, every set has its own culture.
[SPEAKER_02]: Does it start from the director down?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, the director in the actors, you know, it's like, the director will set the tone and hopefully everyone assimilates to that tone if it's a good director.
[SPEAKER_00]: If it's not a good director, then you're going to be walking on eggshells.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not going to be a very good atmosphere.
[SPEAKER_00]: Have you been on sets like that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, um,
[SPEAKER_00]: Call them out.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I'm going to.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: This isn't that podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, sadly, the majority of sets that I've been on are not the best atmospheres.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wouldn't say they're toxic or poisonous or, you know.
[SPEAKER_00]: it's not terrible, but it's not the best environment.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's very utilitarian.
[SPEAKER_00]: In other words, the dignity of people is often recognized.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, we're a bunch of worker bees and it's like, work your ass off, get the thing done, get out.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's very
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd say, yeah, it's utilitarian.
[SPEAKER_00]: It lacks a fundamental understanding of the human person that you're a human being.
[SPEAKER_00]: And like, yes, we all need to do what we need to do quickly and on time and well.
[SPEAKER_00]: But there's a way you treat people that makes them that I think they have an inherent understanding that you know that this is a real a person, that's worthy of love.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so anything that I've been in control of,
[SPEAKER_00]: I make a conscience effort to treat everyone like a person.
[SPEAKER_00]: And like, yes, we all need to be on time.
[SPEAKER_00]: We all need to work hard and we need to do excellent work.
[SPEAKER_00]: But there's a way of doing it where it's like, I know you're a human person.
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you please do this?
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's work on nailing that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's have a conversation.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's a fundamental lack in some of the sets that I've been on is, you don't treat people like people.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that creates a tough working environment.
[SPEAKER_02]: When you're working on a movie like Reagan, what's the difference between that and working on a TV set?
[SPEAKER_00]: Movies are a slow moving ship, because it's like one shot at a time, very manicured shot.
[SPEAKER_00]: All that goes into the one shot.
[SPEAKER_02]: Are they watching the Daily's Making sure it's perfect?
[SPEAKER_00]: they're watching the daily's, they're nitpicking every little thing a TV show, you shoot a lot more a lot quicker.
[SPEAKER_00]: So your, you know, it takes about a week or week and a half depending on what the show is.
[SPEAKER_00]: So you shoot a lot more a lot quicker.
[SPEAKER_00]: And movies are like, it's, it's this weird.
[SPEAKER_00]: it's this weird like juxtaposition of forces of like moving really slow but also faster at the same time like hurry up away yeah hurry up and wait as an actor is a lot of hurry up and wait but on the filmmaking side every single moment counts and you're trying to get every moment perfect because you can't redo it can't go back and redo it and everything just moves so slow but everyone's running at the same time so it's like this controlled chaos of an environment
[SPEAKER_00]: And TV is not like that a lot of times it's in one location so you're in one studio environment.
[SPEAKER_00]: So each has its pros and cons, but they're totally different environments.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know a lot of actors like doing TV because they can be at their home, drive to work, go home.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's normal say.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a normal see to it, which I love being a dad and husband, I love that.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you're doing a movie, you're flying to another location and you're working on that thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: even even in shows that should have brought it's a different environment I did this travel show in Italy at the beginning of the year and I'm doing the second season now in Spain oh wow it's called seeking beauty and we're doing Italy what city we went all over Italy so we went Rome Florence Venice Milan city aqua I was just in Milan last week oh really beautiful isn't it cool the shopping is insane oh you have the millenays the uh um a breaded chicken the the the the chicken
[SPEAKER_02]: No, we didn't have that.
[SPEAKER_02]: I had so much pizza in pasta though, but I've got we went to a island in Greece Paros nice and my wife got stung by they have these European hornets Oh, and they're like three inches long and the way that she described it was we're driving an ATV and It's really windy that day, so they're really getting disturbed and they're we're seeing them kind of flying around
[SPEAKER_02]: as we're going one hits her leg.
[SPEAKER_02]: And she said it was almost as if a hummingbird stuck its beak in her leg.
[SPEAKER_02]: And she's allergic.
[SPEAKER_02]: No.
[SPEAKER_02]: So we had to go to the ER.
[SPEAKER_02]: Happy pen and all that or she didn't have, she doesn't have that.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: Good.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: But we had to go to the ER and it did, we didn't see the doctor because it's not the best ERs there.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, so yeah, that is I had to go to the ER with my son in Milan really because he is the same one.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, slow is heck.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: We he he he he, um, I'm sorry.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not too far.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, my son ate a uh up this pasta.
[SPEAKER_00]: We told them no knots or no no anything no cross contamination anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, and they didn't realize that the rep the pasta that he had was made in
[SPEAKER_00]: And immediately as lips blew up.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I had to epipen him.
[SPEAKER_00]: You started going into anaphylactic shock.
[SPEAKER_00]: At the restaurant, at the restaurant.
[SPEAKER_00]: I had to epipen him.
[SPEAKER_00]: We went to the hospital.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, it was a normally thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: We ever in Italy, or anywhere abroad, make sure that your pasta is not cross-contaminated in water that's been with other stuff.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're very accommodating.
[SPEAKER_00]: So from then on, we said fresh water in any pasta that's made in every single restaurant was incredibly accommodating that they go no problem.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll boil fresh water for you.
[SPEAKER_02]: What's the aftermath of that?
[SPEAKER_02]: Is he okay once the Epipen goes in?
[SPEAKER_00]: You hope, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't work every time.
[SPEAKER_00]: You hope.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yet, thank God he was.
[SPEAKER_00]: It stopped it in its tracks.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's like a, you know, as a father, there's a very scary, like two-minute window where you're given the Epipen and you're looking in his eyes going, this could be the last time I'm looking at my son because they don't always work.
[SPEAKER_00]: Epipen's are 100% effective.
[SPEAKER_00]: But thank God, you know, those two minutes went by and his lips started to come down a little bit.
[SPEAKER_00]: The symptoms stopped.
[SPEAKER_00]: The one symptom after the lips was his tongue started to swallow and I heard it because he started lisping.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's going, shush, shush, shush, like this lisping thing and I went, oh, that's his tongue.
[SPEAKER_00]: I got to give him the happy pen and I, you know, pulled his pants down, hit him right in the side of the thigh.
[SPEAKER_02]: Do you do it at that hard?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, you got to go on the side of the thigh and you got to hold it for five seconds and It's a it's a horrifying thing to watch and especially as a father.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, it's the worst feeling, bro Yeah, I have like PTSD because of it any time any time we're eating now.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just I'm heightened.
[SPEAKER_02]: You're just waiting.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'm heightened because
[SPEAKER_00]: You never know.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's got to eat, you know, and you're in a place that half the time the the waiters like, oh, there's no nod to it's all good.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm like, you don't understand.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I need you to talk to the chef and I need you to come talk to me after you've talked to him and let me know that you talked to him and he said nothing will touch.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's got me covered in whatnot.
[SPEAKER_00]: I have to be that guy now and I hate being that guy, but I have to be that guy now because I've
[SPEAKER_00]: with my son and it's a terrible, terrible experience.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I'm glad he's okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank God.
[SPEAKER_02]: Back to the travel show.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_02]: And all these cities in Italy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, all over Milan and Italy.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's kind of like the Stanley 2G travel show, but more for culture.
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because like, I'm fascinated by Europe.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm fascinated that this old thing, this is a very old thing, still get so much happiness out of the common person, and why people still go there and visit.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why does...
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we, I think in America, you're trained to like, new, great, build, shiny, flip, rack, stack, sell, and it's not, that's not the mentality there, you know, and it still has a piece and a joy and a happiness and a beauty and an attractiveness, that's just really cool to me to go learn about that culture.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why did they build that way?
[SPEAKER_00]: And I keep coming back to this like fundamental thing about what the human person is.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, the Europeans in the ancient mind very much was,
[SPEAKER_00]: Enabling the human person going, how do we build cities based on what the human person is, which is like a body and a soul.
[SPEAKER_00]: How do we wrap a city around that understanding of what the human person is?
[SPEAKER_00]: So like everything is walkable.
[SPEAKER_00]: The places that you walk are strategically put to help human flourishing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you still see that to this day, these very old places, still have this wonderful foot traffic, and this just kind of joy to it.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, the Piazza's, the plazas were built for communal activity.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, they didn't have things like that before then.
[SPEAKER_00]: This was like very strategic things that people did to for human flourishing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I'm fascinated by that.
[SPEAKER_00]: And a lot of times people would don't need or build knowing that what they were building would be long after they were gone.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like that's a very cool old mentality that I love learning about.
[SPEAKER_02]: Where is that streaming in?
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's going to start.
[SPEAKER_00]: That comes out December 8th, December 8th on a new streaming platform called EWTN+.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: That'll be out by then.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, I'll send you the, I'll send you the trailer.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm really proud of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It turned out really good.
[SPEAKER_00]: The next one we're doing in Spain, so I'm going to be in Spain all of November.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you need a system.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, come on out.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll bring your wife.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, no bugs there.
[SPEAKER_00]: You'll be, you'll be good to go.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'm excited about that.
[SPEAKER_02]: Can we talk about your experience on grown-ups, too?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_02]: So you're alongside Taylor Launer in that scene where they're jumping off into the ocean?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_02]: Or the lake?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: What is that day looking like?
[SPEAKER_02]: Is that all done in one day?
[SPEAKER_00]: So Adam, Alexander and Kevin James are awesome guys.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've known Kevin for a very long time.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's like a mentor to me and like a friend.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I got my- How much can he equines?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's so funny.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a classic.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's so funny.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's such a good dude.
[SPEAKER_00]: I got a call from Kevin one day and was like,
[SPEAKER_00]: Adams wanted to have some cool guys come come be in this movie.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you want to come do the movie?
[SPEAKER_00]: It was like of course Adams fans were Adams children were fans of the original wizards.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I was like, heck yeah, I'd like to go.
[SPEAKER_00]: And man, I met the coolest people.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I'd known Taylor, Lotner a bit.
[SPEAKER_00]: and got to see him there and Patrick Schwarzenegger and Jimi Tato-Tro.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, yes, yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: We all had the freaking blast, like we still like any time me, Jimmy Patrick or Taylor, ever together, just reminiscing on that experience.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because it was a crazy fun experience for all of us, we're all young kids and we're just having a blast.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, that was the, and everyone's in that movie.
[SPEAKER_00]: Everybody's in that movie.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was nuts.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it was crazy.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's the sets like for an Adam Sandler movie?
[SPEAKER_00]: the most chill the most like I mean his friends are there he's got his team there he is a well-oiled machine that like is there and and it's a very happy set it's a very fun set you know he's got TV set up with like sports going over ours oh he big sports guy I remember I walked up and he had like a thing of cigars like right when I walked up he goes day then what's going on man grab a cigar like heck yeah dude this is like a big movie's bad
[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, yeah, the coolest set.
[SPEAKER_00]: Everything you'd hope for.
[SPEAKER_02]: What's the Paul Blart Mallcop 2 set like just as cool.
[SPEAKER_00]: Kevin's a great guy.
[SPEAKER_02]: He's all are recording that up.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we shot that in Vegas.
[SPEAKER_00]: We shot at the win hotel.
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it was like a lot at the win and then places, local places that were there in Vegas.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Kevin's the same way, man.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's so generous.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just like goes out of his way to get to take care of other people.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's another one that like cares about people.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so all the things he'd add are like,
[SPEAKER_00]: things that would, you know, I just don't have to do this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like we're hanging out and his assistant comes up and is like, hey, you know, what do you want Kevo?
[SPEAKER_00]: Can I get a shake?
[SPEAKER_00]: And David, you want one, you want one, you want one, you want one, like all the time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just, he's taken care of everybody at all times.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's a big pop-a-bar.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's so cool.
[SPEAKER_02]: When you're a kid and you're going on all these other shows like sweet life and Jonas.
[SPEAKER_02]: social media is not really around during that time.
[SPEAKER_01]: No.
[SPEAKER_02]: So how do you know, I guess I don't want to say everyone's vibe, but what are you thinking when you're going to these sets?
[SPEAKER_02]: Is it kind of just like a new day at school?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you know, it's a good question and that was a time before social media.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that was a fun time, you know, because you can kind of
[SPEAKER_00]: You're, you can kind of just be yourself, you know, and you don't have to feel like, oh, is someone going to ask me to do a poster.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, is someone going to try to like get a clip out of me or something.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can kind of just be kids like me, the Jonas brothers, Selena, my only at that time, like.
[SPEAKER_00]: You could just be yourself and have a real relationship with someone.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, yeah, getting to go on the Jonah show was fun.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd known those guys for a while then.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we just got to joke around and be ourselves and be goofy.
[SPEAKER_00]: And those are such great guys.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're such nice guys.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that was a very fun time.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we did the Disney Channel games and all that together.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that stuff was just absurd, absurdly fun.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we're all in this hotel together.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hang in now, going to the pool afterwards.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like,
[SPEAKER_00]: just having fun and it was so nice that it was before social media because we would 100% wouldn't have done that now.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's too much invasion of privacy now to go out and be kids together out in public.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, that was a really fun time.
[SPEAKER_02]: Do you have a favor behind the scenes moment with everybody?
[SPEAKER_02]: Are you guys playing Xbox in the trailer?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, you know, we had some fun.
[SPEAKER_00]: There were some fun pull days like during Disney Channel games or you'd go over when we get in the jacuzzi and hang out and talk and just be kids, you know, and those are some good memories.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those are some very fun memories for sure.
[SPEAKER_02]: What's your day-to-day life during those days?
[SPEAKER_02]: What are you doing on the weekends?
[SPEAKER_02]: Are you going to Disneyland?
[SPEAKER_02]: Are you hanging out at Universal?
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we would go to the Galleria right here in C movies, you know, big time what big time movie guy watch a lot of movies that the one on Ventura down near the four or five.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, uh, Henry Ziddy.
[SPEAKER_00]: The, the, um, Sherman Oaks, he used to be an arc light.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: He used to be a big arc light down in Sherman Oaks.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it just ventured down to the 405 there.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we'd always go there, bring a bunch of friends.
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, you know, and as you got older, you die people at your house.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I, I was a big, uh, halo guy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hello, too.
[SPEAKER_00]: Played a lot of halo, yes, the, the, the live one and reach.
[SPEAKER_02]: Do you remember when they reset the ranks?
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, yeah, that was the worst.
[SPEAKER_02]: What the heck.
[SPEAKER_02]: I got up to like level 40 and then all my hard work's gone, dude That was a hard breaker.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's the only thing you you did as a kid 100%.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just reset because of hackers freaking Freaking guys running everything for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I loved Halo though.
[SPEAKER_00]: I loved Halo.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is my favorite game.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah I'd headshot like crazy with the sniper Yeah, my brother was my thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: What other games do you play?
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, nothing now.
[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, I played games like that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it was Halo.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was, uh, Ghost Recon.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the World of Warcraft, it played a lot of World of Warcraft.
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of World of Warcraft.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was a night off Shadow Priest and I got it done.
[SPEAKER_02]: Did you see the movie?
[SPEAKER_00]: I did not see the movie now.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I should see the movie, shouldn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: How was it?
[SPEAKER_02]: I never saw it.
[SPEAKER_02]: I never got into that.
[SPEAKER_02]: I played Starcraft.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was in a world of work after when 60 was the cap on the level.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then they started expanding it to 70 and whatnot.
[SPEAKER_00]: And by that time I was ready to be done.
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, I played it a lot at a lot of fun.
[SPEAKER_02]: What else are your other hobbies as a kid, as an actor?
[SPEAKER_02]: Are you mostly spending time on your craft going to lessons?
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, there was definitely acting classes and whatnot, but really, I was a big hockey player, so I played a lot of hockey or just double AAA I played for the Junior Kings.
[SPEAKER_00]: So hockey was a big part of my life.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then I'm trying to think of what else.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that was pretty much, it was hockey, it was movies, it was video games, and making movies, I'd like to get together with my friends and we'd make little shorts, you know, I bought a camera and we'd make little movies together and that was my thing.
[SPEAKER_02]: Is there anyone on your list of who you want to direct or act with?
[SPEAKER_00]: Woof.
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, you know, I'm Italian.
[SPEAKER_00]: I grew up in an Italian household.
[SPEAKER_00]: So for me, you know, Pichino de Nero, a lot of these guys.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love Sebastian Manascalco, he's like one of my favorite comics.
[SPEAKER_00]: So working with any of the, uh, who you look up to as an Italian kid growing up in Italian household, you know, are those kinds of movies.
[SPEAKER_00]: So to work with any of them would be unbelievable.
[SPEAKER_00]: Unbelievable.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you have a favorite pizza spot here, Nella?
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I have the building in my head.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't remember the stinkin' name.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's on the other side of the hill, so it'll only be in every so often thing for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's on mulberry's great, right down the road mulberry's good.
[SPEAKER_02]: Mulberry's so good.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then, what's your favorite?
[SPEAKER_02]: I like mulberry.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think they're number one.
[SPEAKER_02]: Mulberry's great.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: I love mulberry.
[SPEAKER_02]: I haven't done it too much.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then Prince Streets really good for the thicker.
[SPEAKER_02]: Joe's piece is good, yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's it even this one place is going to come to me and I'm going to say it but I can't think of it right now Even to possibly invent us.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, that's a really good.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a good.
[SPEAKER_00]: So good.
[SPEAKER_00]: We got to check it out and then John Vinnie's obviously, but John and Vinnie's is great love John and Vinnie's who do a lightning round lightning round.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's go favorite wizards of where really play spell Edge Bottle Utusus because it's named after the band Edge Bottle YouTube one word to describe Justin Russo Prudent, what does that mean?
[SPEAKER_00]: knowing the means to attain the end, so he's always analyzing the situation and trying to find the right means to attain the end.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you could guess star on any other Disney show, Pastor present, what would it be?
[SPEAKER_00]: Hmm, even Stevens.
[SPEAKER_02]: Would you be Lewis's best friend?
[UNKNOWN]: 100%.
[SPEAKER_00]: 100% or little brother, whatever.
[SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever worked with either the, uh, no, never, I'd love to.
[SPEAKER_02]: Would you ever do any other reality shows like a special forces or dancing with stars?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, sure.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why not?
[SPEAKER_00]: I do reality show.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Special forces will be wild.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: That would be crazy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's go.
[SPEAKER_02]: Roll that you played that you think deserves more attention.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's a good question.
[SPEAKER_00]: I did a movie called Little Boy.
[SPEAKER_00]: which is on Amazon right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a really dramatic role for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like this World War II movie and I played this older brother that's got a big dramatic arc.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I really enjoyed that film.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a very meaningful film to me.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's got Tom Wolkinson and Emily Watson and Kevin Jameson as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's a drama and that was one that I really poured my heart into that I love people to see.
[SPEAKER_02]: Do you have a favorite director?
[SPEAKER_02]: Aside Steven Spielberg?
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, you know, the director of Little Boys, one of my favorite director's kind of Alejandro Monteverde, he went on to direct sound of freedom.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's got a movie coming out this year called Zero ID.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he, he was one of my favorite.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's a guy that is so passionate and cares so much about the craft that he inspires you to like want to give your best.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's so cool.
[SPEAKER_02]: What else do you have coming up now?
[SPEAKER_02]: How's your production company or you guys working on anything that you can speak about?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so I look at like my personal life mission is just to like entertain and elevate.
[SPEAKER_00]: And through anything that I'm producing or making or acting in, just to entertain and elevate, like use this moment to tell a story that can impact, that can give someone a good time and enjoyable experience.
[SPEAKER_00]: but have some elevating qualities to it, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And I look at Wizards as that too, because it's a wonderful family show, and you come out with good messages every single time.
[SPEAKER_00]: So for me with my company, that's kind of the mission is to make entertaining and elevating content, look for truth, beauty, and goodness, and everything that we do.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we have seeking beauty season two that we're starting in Spain that I'm really excited about.
[SPEAKER_00]: That'll come out next year.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we have a handful of shows and movies that I'm going to be announcing here very soon.
[SPEAKER_00]: That I'm really excited for people to see.
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, some very big ones, some smaller ones, but the whole, the company's called Novo Inspire and Novo means New and Latin.
[SPEAKER_00]: And um, we want to make old stories new again.
[SPEAKER_00]: So there's a few things we can't announce that I wish I could that I'm really excited about.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we'll be making movies and TV shows that'll be coming out next year in the subsequent years.
[SPEAKER_02]: What speaks to you for some that you want to green light and make happen?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: For me, it really is just about like,
[SPEAKER_00]: can it hit a few different boxes?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like we want best in class in front and behind the camera.
[SPEAKER_00]: So are there great casting opportunities to have familiar faces or great filmmakers behind it needs to be artistically excellent?
[SPEAKER_00]: And then the second thing and the most important thing is
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, what is this story about?
[SPEAKER_00]: What are we trying to say with this story?
[SPEAKER_00]: I love stories that have something to say.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we really look for the themes to make sure that there's something powerful at the core that there's a question that's being tackled, that's universal.
[SPEAKER_00]: And those are probably the two most important things.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, does it elevate culture?
[SPEAKER_00]: Does it elevate the viewer?
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's important to us, like not there's anything wrong with just kind of mindless content but that's not the stuff that we look for.
[SPEAKER_00]: We really see a missional component to what we do.
[SPEAKER_02]: Very cool.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.
[SPEAKER_02]: There's a Kings player who has the end of a legendary run.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, Kobe.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, is that sad for you to see?
[SPEAKER_00]: Unbelievable.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I was at both Stanley Cup games.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've been following him for a very long time.
[SPEAKER_00]: And what a great.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, what a story.
[SPEAKER_00]: What a story.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, this guy's unbelievable, unbelievable.
[SPEAKER_00]: Copotaur.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, yeah, I, uh,
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's great.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, he did it.
[SPEAKER_00]: He did it.
[SPEAKER_00]: He came beside Conqueror.
[SPEAKER_00]: He got rings.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, goals assists out the Wazoo, like, what a legend.
[SPEAKER_02]: What kind of fan are you?
[SPEAKER_02]: What kind of fan are you in the crowd?
[SPEAKER_02]: Are you going crazy?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd say I'm probably in the middle.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, yes, I go.
[SPEAKER_00]: I get excited.
[SPEAKER_00]: I root if the ref makes a bad call.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I'm the first one starting the nuts and bolts.
[SPEAKER_00]: We got screwed champs.
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, yeah, I can I can be passionate, but I'm not too.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not too nuts.
[SPEAKER_00]: My buddy who we're talking about Greg Sulkin this guy don't bring him to a sporting match ever he is Oh, like rabbit, you know, he's he's from London.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's a football fan and like it will be well he'll invite me over to like watch a soccer game at like six a.m.
[SPEAKER_00]: because that's like nighttime for them
[SPEAKER_00]: and he'll just be like screaming at the TV at the top of his lungs.
[SPEAKER_00]: This dude is intense.
[SPEAKER_00]: He, Greg, you should do a live stream of you watching a game because it's an experience.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's really funny.
[SPEAKER_00]: Experience.
[SPEAKER_00]: Cool.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, thank you so much for coming by.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, dude, thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: News, a new season coming out October 8th.
[SPEAKER_00]: October 8th is any plus check it out guys and I want to know what you think and there's some Easter eggs by the way, there's a couple Easter eggs in the bit there's a jaw dropping moment, which will know the second you see it and we planted an Easter egg in there a very purposeful one that needs multiple views to see and understand and I want to know if you know what it is.
[SPEAKER_00]: Are there any easter eggs in season one that you could talk about?
[SPEAKER_00]: There's things and references and imagery all over that are like knots to the original show which you'll see.
[SPEAKER_00]: But this easter egg in season two is a massive plot thing that gives you a really good idea of something we're going to explore in the third season.
[SPEAKER_00]: So just look for it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a little thing that is easy to miss.
[SPEAKER_02]: Guys, go watch it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Check it out.
[SPEAKER_02]: Awesome.
[SPEAKER_02]: Thank you so much.