Ep28 Ali Afshar

All right, welcome back to another episode.

I'm so King and I'm Amelia Hartford.

And today we have a very special guest that Amelia knows really well.

Yeah. Ali was the first producer to really give me

an opportunity in one of his films. But he doesn't

just come from the film background. He's actually a racing

driver and he managed a team where he piloted what was and I think still is today the world's fastest.

Subaru, world's fastest.

It's funny. By the time this podcast comes out, I'm

actually taking over and I'll be piloting that car in various races this year.

Wow, so you will be driving the fastest Suparu.

Yeah, in the world.

For those who can't experience going a million miles per hour in a SUPERU, you can watch some of Ellie's movies.

Yeah, for instance, what movie were you in?

I was in California Christmas, the sequel to the first.

I was in Hollywood Christmas. That's a more. And Hollywood Christmas.

Wait, California Christmas, Hollywood Christmas.

California Christmas, the sequel Hollywood Christmas, And that's a more.

What about Los Angeles Christmas?

That's next. We'll pitch that one to him. I think,

you know, this is another beautiful story of coming to America having nothing and really building a successful career for yourself.

This year, he joined the board of Warner Brothers Diversity Program.

He's spearheading a push for broader inclusivity and filmmaking at Warner Brothers. He's a very successful producer. I believe twenty

four films now. He started as an actor, start as

an actor, went to racing cars, and then went back to producing.

With no further ado. Ali Afshar, So you guys met

each other on the film.

So we met through an old manager of mine. Was like,

I know of a producer who does He's like a car guy, but he also does these cool movies, like let me make an introduction. I was like, okay, Rad

I had seen a history about Sue brus and at the time I was building Sue Brews too, and we got connected through him and Ali and I hit it off and we've kind of been friends. He's been a

mentor to me and we've been He's put me in a couple of his films. When we were talking last

actually I told you, after nine years of being in LA I got my first role, and it was in one of Ali's films.

Which film is that?

That was that some More was the first one, but California Christmas ended up coming out first.

California Christmas.

Yeah, okay, you do it. Seems like Ali, you're doing

several Christmas theme movies.

Huh yeah, yeah recently since twenty twenty. We took a

risk and we did our first. Warner Brothers had asked

us to do a Christmas movie, so we did one in COVID. I think were the first movie to shoot

in California during COVID. It was May of twenty twenty,

and they licensed it to Netflix and it went bonkers.

It became the number one movie in the world for two weeks straight. It's called The California Christmas and Emilia.

We did this that met Amelia yet, so when we did the sequel, California Christmas City Lights, we got Amelia to do it, and it's just turned into like they ordered a handful, then HBO Max ordered a handful. And

even though we come from a race car action sports kind of underdog diversity background movies for our first like twenty movies last six or seven and including the when we start this week, Oh Christmas, going from an Iranian kid that isn't even Christian, didn't even celebrate Christmas.

So people underestimate these Christmas films because they're very big deal it almost they have like a following like horror fans almost, right, Yeah.

And arsh are pretty cool because like they're elevated. They're

not like the Hallmark Lifetime. They're HBO Max there. You know,

there's a little bit of nudity, a little bit of sexuality, a little bit of language, a little bit of you know, it's not just a cookie cutter what you see on the cheesy stuff. It's like a little more Nicholas Sparksy

if you know who that is a little more notebook then a little Christmas. But it's yeah, I mean like

our guys, we have a star that's been in a bunch of Josh Swicker, like he takes his shirt off and every middle aged woman and you know, Iowa was like, you know, everybody that dreams of that life where they didn't have yet it works. So we're a little more

we're PG. Thirteen R than straight G. And they're not

really like faith based or anything. They're just like happened

to be around Christmas.

But they're still good like feel good movies.

Totally. Yeah, all our movies are feel good. Yeah, even

our action ones. Our motto was like shedd a tear,

but lead with a smile. Even the Ride, the one

that Chris was in, Luntris was in, or American Wrestler, the one about My Life. They're all like heartfelt underdog

kind of diversity happened by storytelling our first five movies that female leads too, Middle Eastern leads, two black leads in the following four. And it was well before it

was like a box to check like it is now, you know, La two three years it's been like you have to shoot diversity, you have to be inclusive. It's

like we just did it because it was a better underdog story and it just happened to be. Whether it

was I don't know. I mean, female still falls under that,

you know, underrepresented, but it's kind of just a cool thing that we are kind of like ahead of the curve by happenstance. How did you get into the producing

side of things? For me, I acted quite a bit.

I loved acting, and I had to take a break when I went racing for Super of America for seven years.

We were traveling and touring and doing like sixty events a year or so. I didn't have a chance to act,

but I missed it. So when I said, you know what,

I want to go back, and when I went back to acting, funny enough, my first audition back was a Warner Brothers movie that I booked a little part in it.

But for a minute, we worked with Aston Martin and we built these supercharger intercooler systems for Aston Martin's. We

called them the ESX Supervantages. And a guy bought one

and he said, Hey, I didn't know you're an actor.

If you ever want to make a movie, you know.

I'm like, you're a banker, Like I don't need a fucking home loan. He's like, no, you're more on him

a film financier. I was like what. Three months later

we made our first movie called Born to Race, which is what Emilia loved and used to quote it when we first met.

Ironically, before actually meeting Ali, in my YouTube videos, I had been quoting this movie and go figure it as one of his. And I was in such shock when

when we put two and two together that I was pulling up old videos and be like ce see and I was I was, Oh, I don't recognize the car from from the rear and he walks around the front.

Now I know this car because it's always in the review mirror.

That's cool. Yes, that was our first movie and we

just kind of like was like, oh, this is easy.

So because I owned the race team, so I was able to like know how to put together pieces and people and materials from all over the world to make the cars faster. And we did a tour and it

was entertainment. It wasn't just racing, you know. We had

rigs and you know, like logistics and visuals and just the whole nine yards. So I kind of learned how

to produce something by owning the race team for you know, years and running that, so I knew how to put people together. Yeah, the Super of America race Team. Can

you give me the origin story of how you ended up owning a race team? Well? Yeah, sure, I mean

I was that boring you guys. I loved street racing,

always was street racing. Had My first car was a

sixty seven Camaro. It went thirteen ninety and I thought

that was fucking fast. I was like, oh, hey, Hey, hey,

not that long ago, but yeah, I wasn't born yet. Yeah,

so that that car got me in a lot of trouble.

I used to street race. I got arrested a whole

bunch with that car. And then I got into like

turbo BUI Grand Nationals and started learning a little bit about fueling, like fuel injection was new. Then you're like, oh,

no more carburetors, fuel injected turbos. Fucking what the fuck

the turbo It's weird shit. But we started going really fast.

We started building like ten second cars with the Buicks.

And then when the WX came out, the Super Divres came out in America as a two thousand and two model, but it was a two thousand and two thousand and one.

I bought one, actually bought an automatic wagon. I don't

know if you know that My first two was an automatic wagon. Couldn't get it to work right. I used

to have like a little aquarium valve controller for the boost.

We tied it into the Illinois to control the boosts, like, you know, just to control the air to the waistgate.

But then I got a stick, and with that stick, I started running really really fast. I got like guys

in Australia. I bought a mode from them and I

had these European tuners come in and because nobody had done supers at that time and it was still kind of new, but it was in the whole vibe. It

was literally you guys helping us because it was right in that whole fast and furious wave. So when I

got that opportunity that I talked to you off a minute ago, where like they asked me to bring the car to a show and the people were driving it at the local Suber dealer here, and one of them that was driving it really slowly and mellow, and I was kind of making fun of him, ended up being Tom Dall, the CEO of Super of America, and had it invited us to lunch in New Jersey A few weeks later. We go out there and and you were

in LA. Then I moved to LA from early California.

I feel like you're glossing over the fact that you had the world's fastest Super.

Yeah, I think we still don't.

I think so I haven't heard of a faster time.

I never heard of Super was going even ten seconds.

I didn't even though they were part of the lot of.

People don't spend the money on those motors.

Yeah, well why Supero like you there were all these other cars. You went from g body to a super Aro.

Well I went, I went. It was just because, like

you know it turbo charge, intercoled, and they were all wheel drive and they were fun. And my company ESX

used to stand for Easy Street Motorsports and I used to like building street cars cars you could actually drive.

So having that symmetrical all wheel drive, low boxer engine, flat motor, low weight, I was like, Oh, this is gonna be a killer street car. It'll launch really good.

So that's how we got into it. But for drag

racing you want to be rear, real drive ultimately, but we were building nine seconds, Like I have a nine second STI I could drive here, you know. So like

it was, I built it in O five, it's still the same car, hasn't changed. So we were running nines

back We actually ran an eight ninety in it back then in two thousand and six, I think, So that was what started it. Plus all the other people that

were already done. There was like Christian Rado was racing

for Totis Scion. You had costume forget the name is

Mazda was the Bergenholtz brothers. There was another kid for

Chevrolet that did the Cobalt. So all the brands were

kind of taken, and I just became the Subaru guy.

You know, we just became suber really, you know, Tom Doll and the executives over there really took us under their wing, and we made our own line of cars.

We built. We still build them, like we build like

thirty or forty batches of Y SXSTI, the little Alley After signature series four dealers, you know, like kind of like a like a saline Mustang or like a roush Mustagers.

And people listening might recognize those cars because they were red with white stripes.

Yeah, because I'm like Iranian in America drag racing a Japanese rally car. It's the fucking most Smorgasborg Benetton thing

you've ever heard. Yeah, So I took classic. I love

American styling, so I'm like, what's more American than a red car with two white stripes? And they didn't even

come red. We took them. We completely painted it. This

is before wrapping. We painted them, laid two white stripes

on them, and they're the most expensive subrews ever sold off a super showroom. Still we just built a batch

like two years ago. How much? How much with eighty grand?

Seventy five grand for a super sicker price for one of those cars before the forty two, right, thirty eight to forty.

Two for which stand to you? Don't I don't know

anymore to be so, yeah about that.

Ballpark, Yeah, in the high thirties, low forties, maybe creeping in the mid forties, for get one with like sunroof and every bell and whistle. Maybe mid forties. Yeah, well, yeah,

is there a big car culture in Iran? I don't know.

I don't. I think so, but I don't haven't. And

when we left, we can't go back, you know. I've

never been back. Like, if I go back, I'll go

straight to jail. I put my foot on the ground.

It's not a good thing for me. So I've never

been back. Yeah, I don't think I'll ever go back,

not under this regime. It's a little touchy, right, Yeah,

I played like gay roles. I mean, I'm not gay,

but I played gay roles. My American rest of movies

speaks really badly of that regime.

Well, right, so the fact that you played a gay role here, Yeah, you'll go to jail.

Yeah, they'll kill you hereon if they tell you if you go out and Iran say you're gay, they'd kill you. Wow. Yeah,

And I'm not even gay, but I'm just saying, you know, to of terrorist movies. I've acted in a dozen terrorist movies,

and you made some Christmas movies and now I make Christmas movies exactly. Yeah.

Well, so how did you go so then from world spouse to subrew selling all these SX cars at the dealers, to then financing your first film.

Well, it was that. It was that my buddy Jared,

the film financier that we got, that bought one of our ESX Superchargers things Aston Martin's, and he said, you want to make a movie, introduced me to a couple of producers, and that was I made Born a Race, and then we did a sequel to it, which isn't They're good? We did Borner Race Fast Track. It was

about road racing, weird Tita and then and that kind of like I got the bug. And then from then

I just knew like I had met a gentleman, you know, Lucas Oil. So Forrest Lucas of Lucas Oil actually saw

the first one, liked it, got involved in the second one is a product integration. The finale of the second

movie is the Lucas Oil Cup. It's like this race

thing we did. And then he wanted to get into

the business. So we created a hybrid ESX entertainment slash

Forest Films for him and we made a dozen films with him, and one of them was American Wrestler. They

got attention of Warner Brothers and got us to the lot and that was the first movie they distributed from us back in twenty seventeen. So since then, in twenty nineteen,

you know, then we started doing our own movies directly with Warner with Netflix, with HBO Max, So it's kind of evolved and a lot of movies in like, you know, seven eight years.

Yeah, but I want to hear because you started he started as an actor. So from college? What did you

major in college? Did you drama?

Major? Irani in biology? Biology? So medical was the original road.

And then how did so you were in Northridge, then you're already in La So how did you decide to go into acting? So my brother did, did a stunt,

started doing stunts in movies and do a little bit of acting. And he got me. He said, hey, come

do this meeting with me. And we went and we

met this little agent like C minus agent, but the guy like me. I was young, you know, like young

kids are easier to get roles. And he put me

out there and it was my first job. As my

second audition, I booked a roll on Saved by the Belt, the New One, the New Class, and I was like, this is great because I wasn't like a drama nerd.

I was in some like kid in school doing plays and shit. I used to make fun of those others.

I was a racer. It was a wrestler racer. I

was more on the jock side, you know. But I

was like, this is fun. And I got bit by

that bug and I just started acting. And I did like,

you know, two three dozen TV shows and movies, a lot of guest stars and top A show. It never

got a recurring I never got to that level, but I did, like you know, sorry, I never got a regular, but I did like six seven episodes of Jag, and I did a couple of leads in movies like Chuck Norris is like the bad guy, and it was fun.

But then right when I was ready to kind of make that next step, the racing thing hit so big, so I kind of said, oh, man, you know made millions of dollars racing, so I couldn't have turned it down, So you know, I do. I did miss it, but

you know, went from racing and acting and racing and then now added you know, producing to it because kind of all fit together, you know what I mean. But

it wasn't never by design, Like I never went to school to be like, oh, I'm gonna do this, or my parents, I mean, they didn't even know my mom had termin cancer my whole life. Like when I was three,

they said she had six months to live, and she made it till I was fifteen, so she made it for twelve years. But like they didn't know what class

I was. It, they didn't know at school, so it

wasn't like study this. It was more more out of

like necessity, you know. And then when when she died,

my dad went to Iran. He got stuck in Iran.

They wouldn't let him out, so we actually lost our house.

We were homeless for a minute. We were like stealing

food from the Vaughns in Woodland Hills, literally, you know.

So it was just, oh, you can go to a junk yard. You can go to pickI Parts in sun

Lindon and grab some parts and take this buick and fix it up and then sell it and make five grand, make three grand. And on the side you could race

the you know, the gypsies, the or the B and D racing guys, and you know, and win another five hundred or lose five hundred, you know what I mean.

We probably lost more than we didca. Nobody told me

about traction. They just burned out. Everywhere had this big block.

We had sixty nine olds four four two. It was

a big four to fifty five, a big block. Oh dude,

just burned out. Nobody told us. Put it on slakes.

You would run like high levens with like bad tires and it would run like ten fifties on slakes. Well,

finally we did it. We're like, that's why we're because

you know, you're like nineteen twenty. You don't know yet,

you know, So anyway, say I'm going off on a tangent.

So that's kind of how it. That's kind of how

It came from like just necessity and then the racing. Oh,

people are going to be paying me to build their cars because we used to have a shop and we had a dynam and we'd build up superrews. Then we

built those our own line of suber Rus and the racing became really big with subru and just kind of you know, I still own like twenty thirty cars now and just have fun with wide range of cars and I'm excited to go back out. You know, I tried

my race suit on. Its fit, but man, is it

tight this covid weight. Like you know, I was like,

because I'm going to be like inhaling the whole time, you know, because I don't want to get a two piece.

I don't want to have the say, a dad suit.

I don't want a two piece. I still have like

a one piece. Like I'm cool.

And you know.

Your first movie, Born to Race was our obviously car centric.

Well what's that film about.

That film's about a young kid. It's basically a super

commercial super commercial. So it's a young kid that gets

in trouble street racing and loses his sponsorship and gets sent to live with his dad in this small town that's all domestic driven. So the bad guy has a

brand you at that time as a brand you O five Mustang, you know, with a five site with a five zero Mustang. So it was import versus domestic, big

city kid, small town and you know, kind of like it's stick your fun typical love store love story intertwined, but it's about you know, David versus Goliath. And the

kid ends up going to a real NHR e race because we got Nharry to sponsor the movie, which was another task by itself. So he gets trouble street racing

even with the dad, but then the dad's a mechanics so he helps him and they go to a real the NHR High School Drags, which I actually won in ninety one when I because there is such thing as an NHI High School Drag. So he goes there, does

it legitimately and safely, and ends up winning in the and if you I'm ruined it for people that haven't seen it. But there's a big crash at the end

and the kid gets out of his car and pulls the bad kid out of the Mustang and saves his life and it explodes, so he kind of like it's kind of a cool ending about these two guys coming together.

You know, how do I why do I not know this movie?

No?

No.

Twelve, ten twelve something.

Like that around that time. Yeah.

Yeah, it was our first one. It's called Born Race.

It became kind of a cult hit. It was number

one movie on Netflix for on the action adventure series, is number one on for for car action and for car films, and that then car culture. This movie. So

it's quarter mile, it's about quarter miles. It's about street racing,

but it's high school. Yeah, so yeah, it's June. I mean, listen, Amelia,

I watched it, that movie right, Yeah, but the whole movie we did for like eight hunder Grand, No, eight under Grand. Yeah, and I got pet Boys, Subaru, Grant

steering wheels for Rea Holly. Everybody sponsored it. What did

you do money before eight Undergrad? I didn't know any better.

It's like, not tell story.

Where you got people to show up to the race.

Yes, I'm not drinking the Hollywood kool aid, just doing it your own way. We posted on it was Facebook.

There was no Instagram, man at that time. We actually

posted on Facebook, and I think my Space was dead by then. But like we went online and just posted say, hey, guys,

come out, bring your car to the street races and the main races at California Speedway when they still had the drag strip, and we'll give you food. Be in

the movie. And that was it. Like four hundred cars

showed up.

Did you have a fear at any point at that time that you weren't going to make them back the money your first film, taking out such a mass.

Was like the second producer that one. I wasn't the

first producer, so it was really wasn't on my back, and I did it for free. Actually cost me thirty

grands because we used my buddy sixty nine Chavelle, tanked his motor and training. I had the rebuils monor in

training for I got him a new one because they were doing the burnout in the water box in reverse dead in reverse, so almost smoking. I'm like, what are

you doing with the fucks? So we brew up his

motor and training. He's a nice guy. So it actually

cost me money. And I didn't get paid for that

one because it's more like a learning experience for me.

So I'll do for free, and I brought money to the movie. I brought free money, couple hundred thousand free

money to the movie. So for me, that was like

my acting school. That was like my producing school. So

I wasn't worried about it because it wasn't.

A strier than college tuition. Thirty five.

Yeah, it was a good little movie.

As you know, if you were to give a young version of your self advice, right, I wanted to come to town and be.

That's how the manager sold. She goes, you know your dad,

your mom passed away fifteen, her dad passed away fifteen.

You love acting, you love cars. She's like the twenty

year younger version of you're trying to do you. Yeah,

that's how I meant her. That's how I was like, oh,

get fine. Yeah, and then she's coolest.

I was like, yeah, because talent's important and it'll keep you there. But you know, that's not the only thing

that is important to become successful in talent. I mean

you started acting without even knowing that you wanted to be an actor. What traits do you think you possessed

that allowed you to get to where you are today?

As you would know, wrestling, getting your ass kicked in life physically, and you know, like when you're an immigrant, a bad immigrant. In the American's eyes, you're getting bullied

the fuck out of it because they're your country's holding hostages.

At the time you moved here. It's like the worst

thing you are is be fucking your onion with and then all the terrorists in the nine elevens and shit, they've always happened since having your mom die at a young age, knowing how short life is, living in high school with different friends, being homeless, I think it's the hardships that immigrant and paired with hardships just gives you a different fight. And then, like my wrestling coach said,

like he said, listen, if you can wrestle and you put your heart in it, win or lose, this will be the best thing for your life because you can go through anything. Because wrestling, as you know, is so

fucking hard. It's not fun. Nobody has fun wrestling. It's

like you just getting your asking the whole time. Even

when you win, you're bleeding and tired, you know what I mean. So it was just like, tough circumstances give

you a different kind of fight and a different kind of awareness that I think Unfortunately a lot of my American friends, they take it for granted. They take like

the kind of bash America and bash the left or bash the right. I'm like, are you kidding? I can

walk down the street and say hello to her and give her hugging a kiss and I'm not gonna get put in jail. She's not gonna get killed like the.

Kiss you guys.

Just so, I think it's that. I think it's just

like having those fucked up circumstances and then surviving it and learning how to be you know, getting through it more specifically with I think that does it just open your eyes to be aware of your surroundings, as Forrest taught me, as Tom Dahl taught me. The all gave

me different lessons. All these big CEOs and multi you know,

self made billionaire guys like I learned from them. So

I soak it in. I'm like, how did you do it?

I literally asked them, how did you do it? You know?

And it's like, be kind, be honest, work hard, which is kind of cheesy, but then just be aware of what other people want, not not just selflessly in a way that could help everybody, you know, super wanted to get into this fast and furious world. We literally called

it the fast and furious world to such a big genre and lifestyle, and you know the Ride movie with Chris it's the bike life. Life is getting big, you know,

so like that was a whole bike life thing. So

like trying to just like kind of being aware of what your surroundings are, what people want, what brands want, what high net worth people want, what the business wants, and putting it all together, you know what I mean.

I don't know if that's helpful for ating kids.

There are people think correct, Yeah, no, I think that's super helpful, and I will second to losing a parent at a young age. I feel like it does give

you kind of a drive in a way because at a young age, at least for me, I realized that I was on my own and I would have to create my own future because it wasn't something that was going to be handed to me. So I do think

that there's in a lot of stories where I meet people who are highly driven, and in a way I would say that you know, you lost your dacause you didn't have a relationship with them too. That that, you know,

is a common trait that I see in people who are highly motivated work very hard and also care about self help and bettering their future and helping others at the same time.

Yeah, and also I mean when you don't have parents, you gotta survive.

Yeah.

A lot of it is like you got to you got to hustle, like you know, fight or flight. Yeah.

When you say you know, be you know, be aware of your surroundings and be aware of the people around you and what they like, it's like part of that is like a survival instinct. Yeah, because you know you're alone,

like you don't have somebody to go home to that you know, there's no insurance, like, it's just you.

Plan being Yeah, well that's why. And you go like,

wait a minute, I can make ten dollars by selling this.

I used to go to drug yards and buy cars, fix them up and sell them. That was great. But

then you're like, wait a minute, you can make a little bit more by fixing hot rods, or oh now you can go actually race and make more money. And

then oh wait, you can out make make movies. And

it's not just about the money. It's ay, I love

doing that stuff as well, but but it was it was a way of like valuing the money and the opportunities where I hate to say it, but a lot of the you know, like a lot of my American friends don't they take it for granted. It's just they're

born with it. I don't want to say it's like that,

you know whatever. I'm not woke like that, so I

don't use the right terminologies, but it's like it's you know, they just like they don't put in that extra effort.

You know. They always yell at me like, oh, you're

rushing or you're doing things too fat am I? You

know what I mean, Like, let's put it solid ten hours in today and see what happens. Let's not put

six in and just wait. You know, just because it's

Sunday doesn't mean we can't do something, you know what I mean, Like why who made these rules? You know?

And it gets you to be aware of like you know, stay up through the night, you know, and also racing when you're racing. We were up many nights through the

night getting the car ready for the race. The next

morning it was raining in English Town, New Jersey, and the rain they're replacing motors because our tarp thing broke.

Is like when you do that, it's kind of same with wrestling, like that last ten seconds of the third round when you can't even breathe anymore, you feel like you're gonna throw up, and you still throw that duck under or the fireman's carry or whatever. You guys are

big guys. You didn't throw those Those are two heavy

but double leg, you know what I mean, or some kind of throw.

It's also cool to see like what you're capable as a human being of doing. So Like in the moment

you may be like, oh, it's my hands are bleeding from you know, turning wrenches trying to get this car ready for tomorrow. And in the moment you're like, oh,

I can't, Why am I doing this? And the next

day you're like, I'm so glad I did this. That

was so cool. Now I know I can do it,

and just constantly pushing yourself.

Totally totally yeah. And in the moment it's actually afterwards

the words winner lose. It's like you feel good that

you did it.

You know, you think building cars has helped you be a good producer, help your producing.

It's a good question. I mean, it's kind of funny

because people always ask me, like, how did you get into building cars? And I'm a big remote control car fan,

so I grew up put building the RC cars, you know, like those old t MEA kids, those Japanese kids. You

can't you have put them together. So I have like

hundreds of them still, I have them from the eighties.

I have a whole collection, and like those help me build the car. And then the car. It does help

you put pieces together because it's all mechanical. You put

the engine together, you put the rings in the right way, you put the bear, and you put the crank, and you tighten it to this amount, and you add you had the fuel, you had gas, you had air. It's

gonna work, you know what I mean, Like whatever you use nitrous fuel, air, Yeah, you put it fire to it and it's going to work. And the movie is

kind of movie business is actually easier than cars. There's

a lot of shipping cars because you're not there trying to make the camera roll quicker than ever, you know, And our movies aren't like crazy stunt driven like your guys are VFX stuff. So we're not like Jim Cameron

trying to reinvent a way to see blue people floating in water. We're just doing We do a lot of

practical action. You know, when we're racing, we're actually racing

flipping cars. We're really flipping and we'll throw some VFX in,

like you know, fires and explosions and stuff. But so

for me, the building the cars and running the race team and the personalities. Talk about producing, it's all about

the personalities that MIPI fuck. It's like you got eighty people.

They all are different people, different walks of life, and that's the tough one. Is like to get every from

the star to the craft service guy to not hurt themselves, be safe, get along. And my biggest thing to this

set is like the stickers, like no drama whenever old ages used to do that is we're just fucking making a movie. Guys. No one's crying ass cancer. It's like

you probably heard me say that. It's like relax, just

making a movie. It should be fun. Everybody takes it

a little too seriously, Like no, dude, it's like you know when your parents die at fifteen, or you know, challenges you've had, those are challenges. This is no challenge

at all, you know what I mean? Like, this is

so what we'll lose an hour? You're the fuck I

think that that also helped, you know, but knowing how things work is always good too, like knowing what it is, like knowing how this microphone records to that hard drive and how it's gonna get edited. Like if you know,

then whoever you hire to do it, you know what to tell. You're not just some suit coming in saying

do this when you actually don't know how it works, you know what I mean. The guy's like, well, the

data stream isn't that quick. I can't upload it that

fast thing, you know what I mean. So mechanics definitely

help with that stuff. Plus for me, it's the adrenaline

of racing, Like I love going fast, Like I've never been drunk in my life, don't do drugs, kind of like a nerd in that aspect, you know. I've got

in trouble with the police, but it's always street racing.

So that for me is my high, you know. And

I have I mean the car I have now is lucky.

When I drove here, I'm lucky if it has seven horsepower, you know, But then I have cars I have two thousand horse power. So like cars, the freedom they represent,

the fresh air, the speed, the adrenaline just being able to, you know, go out and do it. And I also

love the aesthetics of like old cars, to have a big classic car. Fan of the looks of that stuff.

Me too. Yeah, what's your favorite? The sixty eight fastback

Mustang is my favorite? Sixty eight. I love the sixty six.

You like the lights's going in in the back. I

like the lights coming out a little bit.

I like it because it's it was in the bullet Yeah.

I like that forest green color.

That's a bad color. Yeah, but I'll never buy it

because I like to dream. Oh you don't. You don't

want to have it? Yeah.

I like to go on Facebook marketplace and offer up.

And when Craigslist was the thing, yeah, I would go and search for these cars and then I would actually go visit the owners and you know and yeah, kick the tires. And you didn't want to buy it, though,

are you? Because then it's over?

That's true.

You know, it's like because you can. They're not that

ex I mean, they're expensive, but you can. I mean

at one time I was I was saying something and when the economy wasn't that great, they were like fully rebuilt restored. One was like forty forty five grand you

could daily drive that. I thought about it, and I

was like, you know, I really like the pursuit.

Of the hunt.

And I love going out and meeting these owners that put their heart into it and hearing the origin story of why they have this car and then like like to go home and then do it again.

Over.

It's weird, you know.

It's like you have the cars, you know, I own to any cars, same thing. You're like, oh, what you

get it is? It does put the fire out? Don't

enough time to drive them all? Yeah?

I mean, and as I get older, like I love like restoring these cars, like I have this Hachiroku, this Toyota Corolla yea. And for about four months it was

this like night and day obsession, right, and then meeting people in the community that helped me find these like rare parts and then you know, they come over and they'd like to help me create a wire harness for the park lights and stuff. And and I love this

interaction and that that whole process of bringing this car back to life. And as soon as it was done,

I've never driven it again.

You know what I thought of It's interesting that you say that is lately and I haven't shared this with you yet because I have so many cars now, you know, I'm like, I think I want to give them away.

I want to be like you've always loved these bucks, this buicks for you, like my good friends, my family, just like give them to people because giving feels nice.

Well, I mean, Amelia and I we could We'll always stick a car, never know. Yeah, yeah, you have her

numbers all exactly.

How many cars trucks included do you have now?

Thirty?

I remember? Was it even a year ago that you

sold your entire fleet and was like, I've doumb a car as I'm not buying anymore.

And a year later, years two years ago? Right was it?

It was just before filming Hollywood Christmas.

You're right? Yeah. I had a buddy of the mine

actually had a dealership here. It's a very cool dealership.

It's called Motor Cars LA. It's right by off Librea

and like Santa Monica area. Okay, he needed inventory. He's

a good friend of mine. He used to work at

Aston martin the factory, and he bought I had eighteen at that time. He bought eighteen cars in one shot,

and I was gonna see, Okay, what a cool life experiment.

I must see how long I can go without a car.

And a year litterious.

I made it three weeks. I made it three weeks.

I was like, like ubering places because I've never not had a car since I've been sixteen that the cars are like a big part of my life. So I

was like, how long can I go? No cars? No motorcycles?

He bought them all, So I was like, Okay, let me see how what what do you buy them all for?

For his inventory to sell? Oh, Fay had this place

called motor Cars La. Making a commercial on your site

right now for him? He should pay your Yeah, it's

right there off Libria. It's really cool. He's got cool cars, classics,

new cars, old cars, million dollar, multimillion dollar, Ford whatever leads you called GT forty and Yeah. So he bought

them all, but it's just is it interesting for me?

It was like, huh, let's clear your house. I mean

at Aston Martin fifty five Chevy smoking the bandit trans am An XJR one hundred Jaguar. I just bought another

one I found in Florida. I bought one back that

only made five hundred of those in two thousand and two.

I always liked one the ugliest fuck. I don't know

I like it. But my sue brew brat my race cars.

He bought everything.

Do you think your your experience as a actor. I

don't know what kind of parts you were going at for, you know, but as a you know, Iranian immigrants, right, did you have challenges in terms of the type of roles that you were initially offered.

I mean the first it was all first First it was young, you could do anything. But then after a

few years, when you're hitting your twenties, it was like you're literally Middle Eastern. No, I'm doing Sanji of the

Indian food delivery guy in a couple episodes of King of Queens. I was doing you know, the JAG and

NCIS episodes, Old Terrorists, Bad Guys, the lead in the Chuck Norris movie Bad Guy. It's some Spanish roles because

back then it was like you just look at it wasn't so specific. Now it's like you better be fucking

this part of Afghanistan and speaking or doing that's it like, it's not Middle Eastern anymore. It's very specific because it's

so touchy now. But so those were like kind of

a lot of roles. But I did play a lot

of like I mean, Harris and Three Kings, this and that.

But I also did like, you know, he's just got that into a big rom com. I played my first

gay role. It was very memorable scenes. It's funny, but

you know, for me, when nine to eleven hit, I was kind of like Supero's golden child and I was like, oh shit, like I can't be seen like in movies and also have Super given us you know, big contracts, and I'm there like fastest super in the world, racing on a televised you know, those series were televised, like the NHR series was televised, So I stopped doing those. Actually, Argo,

I booked a role in Argo. I met with Ben

Affleck and all of them and booked a role, good role, but not the main bad guy, but the second bad guy.

Then I read the script because I didn't give me a script yet, and we went through all the chem tests and everything. They hired me, and then I read

the script like, oh no, like this is like horrible, and my dad's an Iran and my buddy at CIA that was kind of a side pocket wrapping me. He's

like not worth it. His last movie. Ben's last movie

was a Jilly or Gilly. It was like at a tank,

so don't worry about it. It goes to windf and

it goes and wins in Oscar. Yeah, and they didn't.

Funny story with that is sat the procting company didn't tell SAG that I turned it down because I went through a lot of the rounds like I'd filled out my paperwork because I didn't have the script yet, So they didn't tell SAG that I dropped out. So I

got a screen Actor's Guild Award for Best Cast, and I got a plack and like le thing because they still thought I was part of the ensemble, so for best Cast, because it won movie the Best Cast a couple of awards. Yeah. So after that, the racing hit

and I was like, I'm not doing any more terror st roles. And I really haven't done any since since

nine to eleven. I don't need to anymore.

I think.

I was like, maybe, kid, I'd still do it. But

I get to make these cool movies and I've been like Bennett's War, I was like the third lead. It's

a motorcycle racing movie. Really cool. Netflix American wrestler second lead.

I've never been the lead. They that I never been

number one in one of our own movies. I did

one called Damn Foreigners for I got cast to that as the number one position. But I've done a lot of,

like you know, in the top fives for our movies, maybe half of our movies. I think California Christmas, I'm

the butler. You're agreeing that, Yeah, yeah, California Christmas, I'm

their butler. Like it's funny.

Do you think your experience as an actor and the type of roles you were casting gives you a certain perspective as a producer on what you create in terms of story and diverse casting?

Yeah, I mean totally. Yeah. I mean having so many

hours on set on that side of the camera, knowing I can I definitely help with casting. Actually work used

to working casting. I used to intern for Nan Dutton

that did like Nash Bridges and stuff. We used to

work for her for free just to learn about casting.

So totally knowing the actors, knowing who's good who's bad.

They can just tell like that, they just look. You

can see in two seconds, like who's got it, who doesn't have it? Whether they're off book or on book

or missing the mark, you still know they're good. You know,

they just made the bad decision. So those are good

making people comfortable on set, you know what I mean.

Even our mutual friend Chris. It was great to work

with him, you know what I mean, because he's a good actor and we would like it was cool to work with artists, like whether it's like John Voyd or you know, or crossovers, not crossovers because like Trace Atkins is an actor, now, Chris is an actor. Now these

guys are been acting for But what makes a good actor to you? I mean, I don't know what makes it.

I just know what it is. Well what is it?

I mean just the truth? For me, like just just

being like not acting. Believability, yeah, I mean for me

is like you know, when you're watching that person, you know in two seconds, if they're believable, if they're honest, if they're true, if they're actually going there, they're just not phoning it in, you know. So I just think like,

you know, being real, being genuine, being there, present, reacting, not acting, listening what you do between the lines. A

lot of people new actors are just all waiting for their line to come, like you know the joke everybody hears Will Smith or everybody sees Will Smith and like Fresh Prince where he's like mouthing the other person's life.

Yeah, I read his book and he talks about doing that.

Yeah, it's so funny. But so, you know, but when

it's cool when you see new ones, and it's really cool when you see new people, like we have a friend that we met. There was a new actress that

we gave her a chance, and I think that Riley's her first lead was with us, right, Riley, I think so, And she's amazing. She's worth like three four movies now

for other people as well. It's really cool to find

new talent, like even George from American Wrestler, the kid that played me, and we auditioned like two hundred people and we ended up hiring a Greek kid because we couldn't find any Iranian kid to play me ally an American wrestler. So this guy was like he's a little

bit taller and better looking than me. So I was like, well, fine,

we'll hire it. But it was like, you know, you

just like that raw energy and they're just not acting for the Graham, you know what I mean. They're not

trying to just book a job to say I booked the job. They're like just real, genuinely enjoy it, like

wearing that other skin. But you know, that skin, in

my opinion, can't be unless you're daniel Lewis or some badass.

That skin can't be too far from your skin, you know what I mean. It's got to kind of be

your it's your skin in a different light, you know what I mean, unless you're some real method you're calling Farreller's, you know, or calling further any calling, just pick it, calling him, you know. But yeah, so that's that's what

I think, you know, and also doing it so long you just can just tell, you know, you just watch people's taps or watching them in person, and it's all zooms now. So it's all like watching and you know,

it's the lean in factor, Like if you're ever watching something and like an audition or something and you're like lean in slowly, Okay, that person works. And I actually

do that with our own producers and directors. I watch

them and see how they're reacting, you know, expose them.

They're like that's the difference, you know, it's kind of weird.

But yeah, it's no real formula in my opinion. But again,

I probably don't even do it right. We just do

what we do. Literally, we do what we do. We're

like the odd ball. We came up with an idea,

wrote the script, made the movie with Riley, our friends starring in it in like three weeks.

Shout out Riley, Yeah, shout out Riley.

Danish the star. Yeah, just I don't know, I kind

of We don't do the traditional find the filmmaker, get descripted, find the talent, kiss ass, kiss ass, this agent then like that live's too short. You want to be in

a movie, you got the money, you have the idea is good? Do we think it's good? Fix it, shoot it?

And so we also do like three or four movies a year, five movies a year sometimes, but they're small, you know, they're not like they're not fast and furious heavy though. Were they like around five five mil? Under fives? Yeah,

threty five? How many? How many days of production are

you in them for a film? Any we're up from

like the light side if there's not a lot of stuff sixteen seventeen on the high side twenty two to twenty five four weeks pretty fast, yeah, very fast.

Yeah, So you need a pretty good director, like a person that can kind of lead the team. So what

do you look for in because you say that you work with like two three directors and you're really too.

Yeah, they're my friend. We used to street race together earlier. Yeah.

His first job with me was doing a public service announcement because I got arrested for the fifth time and they judge said you need to make a public service announcement.

It was like part of my punishment. So I was like,

I'm alifshar don't street race. That was the first thing

we did because he made his first movie called The Last Race. It was a little short at like glen Oaks.

That's a place that used the street race here kind of by where my shop was. So we met that way,

became friends and he and his friend his name is Alex Ornardovello. He's directed a bunch of our movies. Movies

you've been in, right, Yeah. I think being talented and

being good at what you do is good. I don't

know who I heard it from, was it DeNiro or somebody, But also being a good person equally it counts for me because you can teach people what to do. So

we're not like, director, do your thing. We're like, let's

do our thing. So our producers, our writers, our directors,

we all could contribute where nobody has ego, like I'm probably the biggest asshole there is and I'm not even an asshole. But we'll all put our heads together. So

let's say you don't understand this acting thing, I'll step in, or Christino step in, or we need a little more stunt thing, We'll bring like a stunt guy will help us with how this car action works and stuff. So

so for us, a loyalty, a friendship, a work ethic really works. Obviously, you need to know what lens to

use and how to get coverage and put a good You know, our editor works hand in hand like day one, the editors looking at the footage making sure we're not missing stuff. We've really had one editor for all o movies,

one composer all our movies. It's like almost like a

TV show. We just go to movie to movie. It's

the same. Eighty percent of the crew is the same

crew from sound to DPR Rubin Steinberg or DP is direct DPEAT. I think every movie except the two or

three Sean ones, right, Brad Rushing did those two. So yeah,

just like kind of like, I don't know, I'm probably not doing it the best way because I think when you talk to the big boys, they like, you know, this guy's talented and this type of storytelling. And I'm

kind of like, I think we can do anything. I'm

going to do our first four movie now, even on the big ones.

Like I think that style of like the a tour director, like having yielding all power and every decision, I don't necessarily think that happens anymore because I haven't worked with type of structure in a.

Long long time.

Yeah, I mean it doesn't work like that anymore, especially because of the budgets or so the studios are coming in.

Yet it's very in many ways, it's just a bigger version of your system, you know.

But we use the same people. That's the thing where

I get, like the studios kind of come to me and be like, well, who are you going to get to do this? You can't have your same people, And

I'm like why not? Yeah, you know, they want the

new Hottest Sun Dance winner, the short film, and I'm like I kind of owe it to these guys that have been busting us for me for the last ten years.

Like we're going to do it our way. It's a

little more Tyler Perry method than big Hollywood method. Right.

Well, it's yeah, you're on your twenty fourth movie now, so and serious and something.

The series goes good, hopefully we'll you know, make a whole budget'll put you in series. I mean, you've worked

with Ali and his directors, right, so what makes a good director?

You know, when you and I first sat down and talked, you were asking me if I'd ever had a bad experience with the director, and I couldn't say I ever had, because you know, my experience has been working with his team, so which I'm so incredibly thankful for because everyone is just so great. It's very family oriented and even Neil

on GT he was such a joy to work with.

So I feel very fortunate in that space that I haven't had a bad directing experience to compare to. But

I would say what has made it great is having people directors wanting to hear what you're bringing to the table.

It's more collaborative, They're open to trying new things. It's

you know, a room of patients and a room where it's a safe space. So if you want to try something,

you know, no one's going to get mad at you or say you're you're ruining something or braiding you. Everyone's

kind of like, you know, everyone's see everyone else succeed and it's a really good safe space with positive energy.

And that's why I feel, I mean, I feel very lucky.

So my again, my experiences with directors thus far has been really good.

And we're lucky to have her too, because, like she said, it's irreflective, you know, it's a mirror because she comes with a certain confidence in the desire and she's only been acting for like a year, you know, already booked like three, four or five movies already two or three with us, you know, and the GT and all these other ones. So like when you have somebody so eager

willing to put the work in, you know, because there's other people that like say stuff and you're like, okay, try that take for you, go ahead, but it's not going to work. But then you get other friends they're like, hey,

can you do this? Can you do that? And people

like Emelia just make it like I like that Discovery you know, like you like looking at the cars and like not getting them. I like finding new talent, Like

I find I've found people and like literally on the street that have been in our movies, waiters that have been like come to be in this movie. Like we

I like doing that. So, you know, having another a

girl that's kind of on my trajectory, you know, like car racing wants to get into movies, you know, cars and that. You know, I'm kind of shoeing her a

little bit back more to the car sided a little bit for the for the racing stuff, you know, but because you know, back when I was a kid, like there was no social media. We had to win to

get on the magazine cover, to get on the TV show.

It wasn't you know. I wish. I almost wish I

could trade places where now I could do these crazy car and just do fun you know, like like everything like Rob and His Ridiculousness show and like the you know, Travis went off and did his Nitro Circus stuff and with Ken Block, Arrest the Soul and like and you know, like all this cool stuff. It wasn't about winning. I'm

just always about winning because that's what at my time you had to race the win. It wasn't like it

wasn't about followers or views or subscribers. So I kind

of missed that boat. I kind of feel like, oh man,

I wish it was like twenty years ago. How would

I do it now? You know what I mean? It'd

be cool, you know, but hopefully with you, you know, we'll combine the two, you know, we'll win. That's the front. Yeah.

I feel like we'd also be doing a disservice to not mention everything you're doing with Warner Brothers on the diversity side of things. So yeah, yeah, yeah, congratulations to that.

Thanks you were doing. Want me to say about.

It, sure, if you want to talk about it.

It's one hundred anniversary for Warner Brothers this year, and they're doing this cool diversity initiative where they're given six underrepresented communities and they're gonna be making remakes of iconic Warner movies but a short form like twenty minutes. They're

going to be making short films. They're gonna get a

little bit of a budget, but they're going to make these cool like the Old School Rebel Was Out of Causes and those kind of movies. But it's through their lens.

When you see the films that are coming out, shows that are coming out, do you feel like inclusion and diversity has gotten better since you started as an actor.

I think it's gotten better, but I think it's a little too checklisting now, you know what I mean, Like you have to, like, I think the worst thing to do right now, it'd be like a good looking American person, like you're never gonna work, you know what I mean.

I think it's I think the pendulum has swung pretty good in the right direction, but I think it's like I guess it's needed. So I take that back, so

I don't want to get every real flared up, but like, I think it's definitely going in the right direction. You

can now you see more real people on TV. You

see a lot more different colors and stuff. You know,

we have a gentleman. I think we hired in this one.

We're working out the deal with the stagent today. The

movie we're doing now that's in a wheel it's gonna be our first actor in a wheelchair. And it was

just like it kind of just makes sense, like hey, this, why not you know, this is a cool opportunity to do it. But it wasn't like, oh, we need to

have somebody wheelchair write a role for it. You know,

the diversity I think could follow the story. But if

you can get you know, diverse stories coming out from those people writing, whoever's writing and creating these stories can be you know, we have a couple of Iranian projects in the in the pipeline. Talked about one of them

this morning. It's really nice called American Wings, even though

it's about an Iranian wrestler again kind of like ours.

But you know, if more and more people are exposed to it, because I mean the Hollywood started with like you know, all the big studios were like white Jewish American men opened the Wall of Disney, Warner Brothers, They're all you know, they all did that. So that's who

started it. So for all of us other ethnicities to

get and it's going to take time, it's going to take this push. It's going to take you know, us

telling better stories, just like in the real world, blending into the population. You know, what do you think Amelia

as a white yeah, white American woman, do you agree with Ellie? Like, how do you see it?

I don't think there's enough diversity. I you know, even

as simple as just being a you know, woman in a male dominated space. I felt like there's times where

I needed to see that representation in order to know I could do something. And I feel like with film

and television, you're telling these stories that you know children are looking up to, and you know, they may not know that this is possible for them to do if they're constantly just seeing the same race leading these films.

So I feel like it's very important to have that representation. Yeah,

I mean, if you think about films twenty years ago to what you see on TV today, I think it's awesome the direction that things are going.

That's cool. I feel like we covered so much.

I'd ask about advice, but you kind of asked that, asking him as he was younger, what would he tell himself today? Yeah, or vice versa.

Nothing matters.

Everything matters matters.

So you're gonna be a flash. Just take the risk, good,

do your best, and you just do it, dude, Like not everything that you think is gonna matter not gonna matter, you know what I mean. Don't be a dick and

don't you know, keep your morals and ethics clean. But

it really doesn't matter shit to bother at you ten years ago that broke your heart. Then you don't even

think about now, you know what I mean. It's like

you might think about the girl because I was a positive you know. Just have good experiences, be kind and

like just do it like no if time is limited, any minute, anything can happen.

Yeah. People remember the way you made them feel, not

what was said.

To them or what was given to them or yeah, what you look like. Yeah, it's just how you made

it feel. How old are you forty nine, forty nine? Yeah,

same age, you're forty nine, fifty. I'm a little older

than When did you turn fifty? April? Oh so you're

you're born in seventy two. I'm seventy three. Yeah, I

turned fifty this year. Yeah, April? What April eighth? In areas,

of course, you're a good guy. Gemini Aris, we get

in law. You believe in that stuff? Kind of yeah,

do you yeah?

Do you no?

Yeah? I get along with a lot of It's kind

of funny, like a lot of my girlfriends have been aries.

You're Geminis. A lot of my friends, My boss is,

my mom, my favorite cousins all Aris, they're all aries.

But it's funny with the horoscope stuff is that it's so it leans towards positive like affirmation stuff, but no one would ever go back to it. It's like, hey,

you're a aries, Like, oh it says you're an asshole.

You're like you're a piece of shit?

Mind? Does that's just that twins? No, it's a twins.

You're like, oh, you're a Gemini. You're like dual personality.

I'm like, yeah, mine is good and better, so like instead of good and bad, but Gemini gets to bad scorpios.

My oldest brother literally textbook out there, fight mohawk tattoo is crazy, you know what I mean.

Like, but then I can bring a I can show you, I can line up twenty aries.

Thats exact same.

I'm not big on it, but I do feel like there's personality traits. I don't know a lot of all

the signs, but I'm a Leo. When I meet another Leo,

I'm like, oh, I could kind of see it.

I think it's just so fun too. It's just like,

what's a Leo? What's the trade of Leo?

I got strong, go get her, maybe a little stubborn.

But that's yeah, that's every single like.

A fire or an air sign.

I don't. I don't have no idea I would. My

wife would call me fire. Yeah, okay, nice stubborn.

Leo's are firesides too, so stubborn, like she would say, stubborn, really stubborn, hard to get.

Along way right, It seems so when I read the other side areas like gentle, like collaborative, that's me creative exactly.

But then you can go like aries lazy, selfish, that's me too. Depends on the day you catch me, you

know what I mean. Like if I'm hungry, like that's.

That's funny, if anyone's hungry that yeah, yeah, how do you feel about it? But how do you feel about

like Jackie Chan's roll, remember well, yeah, well I was a kid when chill is all black, can't see out.

It's all like trying to get so so racist, like you can't do that now we were talking about trying to do Canniball run again. Yeah you know, remember like

it was meant to be sure or super or something, right, I think it was black. You couldn't see out the window,

and it was old like like just lights and flashing funds because they're trying to say, like the Japanese were so you know, technology driven. It was like you know,

and like Jamie Farr that was on mash you know, he's the Arab guy with oil erab. You like, this

is so fucking like staneodtypical. You can't get away.

I've gone back to watch some commercials I grew up on, and that's crazy the stuff that they used to say.

They do that anymore.

Yeah, Melbrooks movies. It's interesting that you even bring up

Jackie Chan. I was talking to somebody about what Jackie

Chan represents for Asian Americans and to me growing up with Jackie Channer knowing Jackie Chan, he represents somebody that is an icon from the action foo genre, right, and what he represents right in his homeland, right, But in America he's almost the N word for us, because yeah, you can't call me a chink or goog or you know, or some slope now.

But you can call me Jackie Chan.

And so it's interesting the racist or these people that want to put someone like me down, they yeah, and I go, what do you think that's funny?

You think that's okay for you to do that? As

I look at.

Them, and I'm like, what, why would you take something so positive? But then they they don't laugh with Jackie Chan.

They laugh at him, and I'm going, why why are you laughing at him? What is it funny that about him? Yeah,

but that's that's where the seed, like you actually bring that up. It's like I always wondered, like, why do

people think Jackie Chan is a joke?

Because that's what he accept He did that. Yeah, it's true, right, Well,

I only he had experience. He wanted to come to

America like Bruce Lena. Nobody goes Bruce Lena jokey way

because it was the first of you. But I think

it's I think if Bruce Lee was alive, maybe they would. Yeah,

you're right, Yeah, it's interesting. Right So anyway, Okay, you're good.

All right, we're good. Thanks for coming on, Sally,

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