The Dale Jr. Download - Ron Howard On Apollo 13, Dale Earnhardt & Why True Stories Matter

Episode Date: June 4, 2025

Dale Earnhardt Jr. sits down with legendary director and film producer Ron Howard to learn more about his involvement in the Amazon Prime series Earnhardt, as well as a deep dive into Ron's storied career. After finding stardom as a child actor on the Andy Griffith Show and becoming an icon as part of the famed Happy Days series, Ron made the decision to move behind the camera and began a sterling career as a director and producer. Dale Jr. was curious about Ron’s process of picking a project to work on, which Ron explains can be different every time but relies a lot on his gut feeling. Ron says that the Earnhardt story checked many boxes of great storytelling as it was relatable and had larger-than-life characters that faced challenges.Ron recalls moving into projects that dealt with real-life events, which began when he took on Apollo 13. Although he originally felt that historical subjects might limit creativity, he found telling the stories in a film setting to be liberating, and it helped him step into the documentary world. The guys also chat about the films that surprised Ron with how they were received, and what he feels his greatest accomplishments in his career have been so far. Ron talks about the process of getting nominated for Best Director and how technology has evolved filmmaking and the art of storytelling on screen. Dale also inquires about Ron’s decision to leave acting and move into the world of directing, likening it to a race driver’s decision to retire from behind the wheel. Dirty Mo Media is launching a new e-commerce merch line! They’ve got some awesome Dale Jr. Download merch on the site. Visit shop.dirtymomedia.com to check out all the new stuff.And for more content check out our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia Must be 21+ and present in select states (for Kansas, in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino) or 18+ and present in D.C. First online real money wager only. $5 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets which expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat in Connecticut, or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call [phone] for 24/7 support in Massachusetts, or call 1-877-8HOPE-NY or text HOPENY in New York. Check out Dirty Mo Media on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The test scores came back just great. You know, people fill out a questionnaire, a sheet, and those kinds of things. Only one person, out of 350 people, rated it poor. So, of course, that was the first card I had to dig out and find. And finally on the back, he, you know, he gained to offer an actual opinion. And I said, the question was, please rate and comment on the ending. And he said, terrible, with an exclamation mark. more Hollywood bull's

two exclamation mark but never survive three exclamation marks and I said well he didn't know it was a true story the following is a production of Dirtmoe Media

Hey everybody's Dale Jr. back again for another episode of the Dale Jr. download and it's Wednesday and it's the guest edition and this is a special one we've got Ron Howard as a guest today

pretty incredible to have this opportunity to speak to Ron and with everything he's done from acting to creating movies, directing, producing. Obviously, he's a co-founder of Imagine Entertainment, who were the people behind the Earnhardt documentary, and that's how they created this opportunity for us to talk to Ron. I've got a few questions here that I'm excited to ask him.

Just going to be curious about, you know, what I'd like to learn about his life and what he, you know, what his experience was like, I suppose, on the documentary, but much more than that. So we'll get right into it. This is going to be a lot of fun. He's going to give us about 45 minutes. So let's get after it. On a great episode of the Dale Jr. download our guest segment today with Ron Howard.

Ron, first off, thank you for giving us some opportunity to talk today. I'm really excited to ask you some questions. I'm going to, I compiled a list here of things that I wanted to ask you. But I just want to say thanks for giving us some time today. Well, thank you. And let me jump in and just say that, you know, our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our, our work that we've worked on with your support. And it was, uh, it's something we're so proud of at imagine. It's just, it's, it's, it's really, it's one of the best stories we've ever, whether it's documentary or scripted that we've ever had a chance to, uh, work on. And, uh, um, your, um, your, your cooperation and your honesty is just, uh, really pay, uh, really pay. paved the way for, you know, for some really great filmmaking. And Josh Altman, I wish I could say I directed it, but he did, it's brilliant. It's just a great film. It's a great series. And, you know, it just, I've been just so, where it's all so proud of it, speaking for Brian Grazer,

Justin Wilkes, everybody had imagined. It's, we're, we're, and people are really loving it. Yeah. Prime doesn't give out numbers, but we know they're huge. That's good. And, uh, So it's just been great, just great. Yeah, I will tell you, I was on a, I was on a drive to a vacation home that we have with my family, and I got a phone call from Stone Cold Steve Austin in the middle of that drive to tell me about how much he loved the film. And I haven't talked to Steve in three or four years, but to my point being that I've heard from people that I hadn't heard from in many years, if not ever, about this. And I guess I'm thankful that not only imagine was the team to take it on because your group had imagined, they're incredibly talented.

And we'll get into that in a minute. But the scope and reach that Amazon has to be able to really get that out to the masses is something I wasn't sure how to anticipate. But I've really enjoyed the feedback and the reaction to it. I was absolutely real apprehensive about doing it. But when we knew your team was behind it, it gave us some comfort. And as we started doing the interviews, when we got to really know the individuals that were putting this together, we all kind of got along really well.

There was a lot of trust. And as we saw the piece being edited together, that trust began to build. Had you ever been to a NASCAR race before? I have, the brickyard. And it's quite, you know, it's a great event. And I also went to an indie 500 a couple times. And then, of course, I made a movie about F1 called Rush. But I'm not really a motorsports guy, but I love sports for the drama.

And what I've come to appreciate, and of course, you know, our series that we've worked on, Earnhardt, is it's so, You know, it just, it's a great opportunity to delve into the human side of something so challenging and so intense. And NASCAR is intense. I mean, I have a lot. I love what I learned about Formula One and the people who do it, and it's a very particular thing. But the battle royale that is NASCAR is just undeniable. And, you know, and it's, you know, it's a, you know, it's a. The first movie I ever directed, by the way, which was called Grand Theft Auto in 1777, featured a destruction derby scene at the end.

It was the big climax of the whole thing. Different skill set. Somewhat. Some of the old NASCAR drivers from back in the 40s and 50s were figure 8 racers as well, which was pretty pretty. much chaos and destruction. Yes. So you talked about your impressions and enjoyment of being involved in the Earnhardt series and having your team produce it.

And I have to imagine that so many ideas come across the table. I don't even know how you can. Do you, I mean, how do you pick? What is the process, I suppose, to committing to a project such as this? Well, it's different every time, as you can imagine. Because, well, that's the one thing about what we do is that literally every project is like a startup. You know, I mean, it's sure we have experience and relationships and things like that. But it's, you know, it's never anything you can count on.

You've got to go by your gut a lot. But, you know, when the idea came to us, it was absolute nothing but enthusiasm for. for it because it combines some things that we really look for. That is, it transforms an audience to, and by the way, you know, documentaries and scripted movies are very different, as you can imagine, but they also share some qualities. And one of the things that we really look for, when I say we, it goes all the way back now almost 40 years to Brian Grazer and I in our partnership at Imagine. In fact, the partnership goes back further, but we formed imagine a little over, a little less than 40 years ago.

And, but we want to be able to transport audiences. So you want people who already think they know something about a world, if it's true, to be still surprised and feel like you got it right. Or feel like that they're really getting something that rings true for them in an exciting way. And if it's, by the way, if it's a scripted thing and it's fantasy, like The Grinch and Whoville or science fiction, like, you know, solo or something like that, you also, you want people who love that genre to feel like, oh, this is a great version of that. I get that. And then you just want something else.

And something else almost always comes down to characters, because that's where you get your surprises and your emotional twists and turns and your humor and your emotion. And again, with a documentary, it's really hard to get that in a family story if the family isn't really willing to be honest and truthful and really share archival footage and stories and be interviewed and all of those things. But when we began to understand not only would there be this amazing drama on the track, but this fantastic opportunity for an epic family, epic American family story. that would be, even though it's about superstars, it's also super relatable. Because that's who you all are. And that's who most people are, by the way. But even though in NASCAR, you know, you're just geniuses

and among the very elite, it's still the relationships and, you know, the challenges that each generation had to overcome and deal with and cope with, are, they're rich, they're relatable, and they mean a lot. So it just, it's a long answer to your question, but it just so ticked all those boxes of really potentially great storytelling. And, and people who don't know anything about NASCAR, or much about it, never thought too much about it, are going to be drawn into it and understand it in a lot more visceral, emotional way. And, and so for that,

them, it's going to be a real surprise. So, you know, it's a long answer. But if you go into it looking, because you love the sport, we wanted to deliver on that. If you go into it because it's a famous name and you hear it's good and it seems to be about a family, then we want to deliver on that as well. And this series certainly does. But you also then want to say, wow, you didn't, you had no idea what NASCAR was about, did you?

Wow. Well, look here, you know. You touched on it just a little bit about the challenges of doing documentary or real-life events such as Apollo 13. Discuss that a little bit, and I think I read somewhere where you were a bit apprehensive or a little, you know, challenged because there's some limitation to creativity because these are real events. You have to abide by the guideline of actually what happened. So can you describe? You know, I started off acting. I would once in a while act in a story based on real events,

but everything that I, mostly what I did was comedy and growing up, whether that's the Andy Griffith Show or Happy Days. And when I started directing, it was comedies like Splash and Night Shift and Parenthood. But I loved history. I love documentaries. And I like movies based on real events, but I always thought they might limit my creativity. And then I got into Apollo 13.

And it was a story that Brian and I both were, really interested in. Somebody who worked at Imagine's dad had been a mission controller and really knew a lot of the intricacies about that story. So we had a real inside track, got to know Jim Lovell very well, and recognize the human drama and that potential. But still, I wondered what it would be like to try to do this story. Tom Hanks loves space. Once he was our star, he became like a key collaborator because he just believed in the facts. You know, all we have to do is show it and the drama will be there. And I followed that mantra and went into it.

And still wondering how audiences would respond, we had our first test screening and this was a blind test where all people knew was that it was a PG-13 movie. They had no idea. They knew nothing else about it. Who was in it, nothing. So it was just a

cold, blind test. It was very early on in the process. We even had drawn storyboards for like the for the launch and the reentry and the explosion in space and things like that. So it's pretty hard for people to watch in some ways, but man, did they love it? The test scores came back just great. You know, people fill out a questionnaire, a sheet, those kinds of things,

and they rate the movie, excellent, very good, good, fair, and poor. Would you definitely recommend it? Probably recommend it or not recommend it. And then you collect these statistics and you have a sense of, you know how people responded to the movie. Well, the test scores were just great. And people have a chance to comment as well. There was only one poor.

Only one person out of 350 people rated it poor. So, of course, that was the first card I had to dig out and find. And so I looked at it, I'll never forget. Caucasian, male, 23 years old, wouldn't recommend it. dead poor, didn't put in any comments, didn't add anything, you know, just kept just these bold pencil strokes, you know. And finally on the back, he, you know,

he deigned to offer an actual opinion. And I said the question was, please rate and comment on the ending. And he said, terrible with an exclamation mark. More Hollywood bullsh-sh-should two exclamation mark. They will never survive. Three exclamation marks. And I said, well, he didn't know it was a true story.

And I realized then and there that, in fact, these stories are liberating because you choose stories that are out of the ordinary. You choose events where human beings have, you know, together or separately somehow achieved something remarkable or experienced something in a really intense way. And, you know, and you want to expand people's understanding. of the human experience, whether that's a scripted drama. And then eventually I had the guts to actually step into the documentary world, which is something I was respected but was intimidated by.

And as a director, I've loved it. And as a company, Brian Grazer's always loved it. Justin Wilkes and Sarah Bernstein have just grown our documentary group. And, man, I love the creative energy that comes out of the full-time documentarians. They are so cool. you've been exposed to them now through this. They're curious about the world. They're smart people.

They want to really understand. And here's the other big thing that happens, Dale. And this is a big, big difference for a director. You have to go into it with a point of view, an idea about what you think the story is, whether it's about a life that's already been lived or events. unfolding either way. But you have to be ready to be wrong. You have to be ready to be surprised and embrace that.

And many of the films that we've already worked on, I've recognized that, you know, more than halfway through that there's a whole other aspect to this story that no one thought about that's revealed itself that you want to really share with audiences. Yeah, absolutely. I think we experienced that through the making of Earnhardt, and I had always said that there's been a lot of different projects that celebrated dad's accomplishments and the driver and the championships, the wins, the stats, the statistics, and the admiration fans had for him and the persona. but this one really dug into the human being better than I'd seen anything do in the past. I wanted to know if you had any emotion or anticipation, not just with the Earnhardt project, but over any project you've ever worked on in terms of public response. I was super anxiety-ridden over how people were going to receive this, right?

And I can't, and I do that about every project I work on. And so I'm kind of curious, I'm sure over time you get a little less sensitive to it. But in your early days, your first several projects, big projects you worked on and created, are you nervous until the public has them in their hands? Dale, I wish I could say that I was over it. Yeah. It's still there. And again, it gets back to this idea that, you know, each and every one,

of these, sure, you carry your reputation with you, but each one is its own challenge. You've got investors. You've got your own time that you've put into it. You've got the people who rallied around you to help be a part of this thing, whether they're the subject of the story or the people who work on it. And you don't want to let any of them down. And again, we're not in a business where it works out all the time. We have a good batting average, you know, and we've been at it a long time, but it, you know, it ain't perfect. Years ago, I worked with a producer who was late 70s, very many Oscars, David Brown was his name, brilliant, brilliant Hollywood fixture, you know, and I was, I worked with him when I was only about 29 or 30, you know, and I learned

a lot from him. And just a couple of years later, my, and we had just started, um, imagine. And we had just started Imagine Entertainment. So my wife and I were also, you know, invested in this new company and this new venture beyond just being hired to be a director or an actor. And we're having dinner with these folks.

And, you know, again, they're about 80 years old. And one of them talks about the last movie that came out. The director, I mean, the producer, David, and his wife's right there. And she's been with him all these years. And he's talking about it, and he said, we just couldn't get that one to click.

It just didn't quite come together. And here's this guy with all these Oscars, very wealthy man, highly respect. And his head just drooped. And his wife of 60 years had to reach over and hold his hand and just console him for a minute because he did get that at this day, that his last movie didn't quite come together, you know, and wasn't a hit. And Cheryl just looked at me like, what am I in for? Yeah. Fortunately, she stayed in.

We're about to have our 50th wedding anniversary next week. Congratulations. Thank you. Hey, it's Dale Jr. Did you know that we've got brand new merch from our Star, Stripes, and Bears Collection available now? We've got tanks, teas, beach towels, and more just in time for summer. Check it all out at shop.dirtymodea.com.

Is there a project that you remember that it kind of floored you on the positive response? that you had? Well, a lot of them have floored me commercially. Like, I didn't expect Apollo to be that commercial because other space projects had been good, but nothing had taken off with the public the way Apollo did.

It's meant a lot to me the way The Grinch, which was the number one movie the year it came out, but the critics were sort of 50-50 on it. And it, you know, it did super well, and Jim Carrey was great. But the way that has turned into a Christmas evergreen, a movie that people see every year. I can't tell you how moved I am by that

because it was a really hard movie to do. And even though we did well commercially with it, it wasn't like embraced by the critics at the time. And so the fact that it wasn't fully embraced, they didn't slam it, but it was just mixed, you know. And so that's, you know, that's one of them. You know, sometimes you have movies that come out and the audience rates it very high,

but the critics don't. And, you know, I've had that happen a few times, and that's a little frustrating. I've had... What is the... What do you think creates that situation? It, you know, sometimes there's a... Certainly with comedies,

that sometimes happens because it's just what the audience wants. It's full, it's just full throttle entertainment. It's just playful. And, you know, and critics might look at it and say, well, it's kind of simple and dumb. but they're missing the point. Sometimes, you know, to get to that place of comedy

where you really just, as an audience, just lose yourself and let yourself go, it needs to just be simple and straightforward. And that's okay. And so sometimes there's a, you know, a disconnect there. But let's see, I'm trying to think of like huge, well, when Splash was, it became a big hit. That came out of nowhere. And it became a top 10 movie that year.

I remember that. It's interesting to hear you say it come out of nowhere because I remember it just being insanely good and everybody thought it was awesome. Well, thank you. But you had very, your expectations were modest? Yeah, because, you know, Tom Hanks was not a star. He was just fresh off of a TV series, Bozum Buddies. So we didn't have big names in it. And at that point, Disney had not had a hit in a long, long time.

This is not the Walt Disney company that we think of today. There was a period where, you know, it was like their movies were things like Gus the field goal kicking mule and stuff. I mean, they just were not having a lot of success. They were way down on the totem pole in terms of prestige or even commercial impact. And we were also their first PG movie. and they created the brand touchstone so that they could release Splash because they were terrified

that it was a PG movie and so there were a lot of you know so that was a tremendous overachiever in terms of what anyone would have guessed I was proud of the movie and it had enough test screenings to know it played well but it doesn't always fancy

I've had movies that tested super high, like almost perfect. And those movies didn't turn out to be as commercial as other movies because of the timing of the release or something. Like Cinderella Man is an example of a movie that very high, right up there with Apollo or 13 Lives or any of my highest testing movie, Splash or any of them. And yet it came out and did okay,

but it just didn't quite, you know, turn that corner and be that big hit that year. You never really know. Yeah, I guess timing is everything, too. What's going on? Yeah. My oldest daughter would be disappointed if I didn't tell you. She, Splash, much like the Grinch, is still very popular because my oldest daughter loves mermaids.

And so we've been watching that one here lately. So in NASCAR or in racing, you know, if you're an inspiring driver, you want to win. the Daytona 500 trophies, checker flags, certain racetracks are things that you look out in the future and you want to attain. What are the victories for you? And I guess more so, not so much in the acting part of your life, but in where you are today, what are the victories? I know that maybe the individual awards are tough because it's such a large group of people that developed this project. But what are some of the more, you know, what are some of the awards that you've won where you're like, man, I never dreamed. I would have this opportunity. Well, I mean,

my problem was that I did dream of it. And even after I became a successful director commercially in Hollywood, and even among critics, you know, that I still wasn't nominated for an Academy Award. and in the movie world that is it if you can get into that that tiny little circle hit that little bullseye and I had

an experience where Apollo 13 was very well regarded and was nominated for Best Picture but I personally wasn't nominated for Best Director which is a rare fluke that happens a little bit more now because they now have 10 movies that can be nominated

and only five directors So it happens to a few people every year now. At that time, it was like a real fluke. It happened to Spielberg once. It happened to Francis Coppola once, strangely enough, on the godfather of all things, where the movie was nominated, but he wasn't nominated as a director. I think it might have happened to Stephen on E.T. Or something like that, Jaws maybe.

I don't remember, but some major movie where the movie was nominated and he wasn't. Well, that happened. to me. And it happened at a weird time. That year, the movie Braveheart and Apollo 13 were the two sort of big front runners for Best Picture. And I happened to be directing Mel Gibson, who directed Braveheart and starred in Braveheart, at that same time. And Gary Sinise was an actor in my movie, Apollo 13, but he was also co-starring with Mel in Ransom, with what we're making.

So the day that the nominations came out, it came down the line and finally the assistant director who I'd worked with for many years came over and said, well, Mel got nominated, but I'm afraid that you didn't. And everybody on the set knew this. And I really, I'd come close a couple of times, but I'd never been nominated. And I was nominated for the director's guilt,

which I ultimately won that year. and Golden Globes. And so I just felt like I was kind of a shoe in, you know, that I was at least nominated even if I didn't win. And I didn't get nominated. And I didn't really know what to say or do. But Mel came over and we were getting along great. And he's a great guy to work with.

I know he could be a wild man in the outside world. But as a filmmaker, you know, he's just a great team member and a great movie mind. and he said, oh, I can't believe it, man, that's just ridiculous. And, you know, and, but no one knew really what to say. So now we had to rehearse the next scene, which was this confrontation between Gary Seneas and Mel Gibson. And so Mel's supposed to be over here in the hallway, and I say, okay, well, let's rehearse. And then Gary is supposed to make this entrance and come up, and he does.

And the crew's watching, because we're going to figure out where to put the cameras and line up this shot and so forth. And he says, stops. and he says, loud enough for the crew to hear. He says, hey, Ron, hey, listen, I'm a little confused here. When I come walking in, and I don't know what the first thing, and then he turns and he says, what the hell am I talking to you for? Hey, Mel, what do you think I should do?

It got a huge laugh. It broke the ice that it got through. Now, some years later, what was it? Four years later. Now, beautiful mind. is very popular. It's a frontrunner, and to my relief, I am nominated.

And so that felt great. And now, a couple of days before the awards, I bump into Mel at a party. And there's always these pre-award parties, this circuit of parties. And he says, hey, he said, I'm going to give you an Oscar here in a couple of nights. And I said, what do you mean?

He says, I'm giving the best director award. And I said, well, how do you know it's going to be me? And he says, oh, believe me, buddy, I know. Mel is crazy enough to say whatever he wants to say on stage, no matter what it says on the card. So when that time came and he did say my name, I went up there, I gave my speech, and I turned around and said,

you better show me that card, buddy, right away. And it had my name on it. Thank God. So that was a big event. Otherwise, you know, it's been the long-running success of the company and our, you know, and our partnership. And, you know, it just never gets old when something, and I'm not just buttering you up, like Earnhardt comes along and it just breaks through and you just feel like, wow,

every so often things just click. And it's thrilling to be around the creative. creative process and it's thrilling to recognize the audience and we get that you know often enough that it really keeps us going you mentioned the creative process I was lucky enough to kind of meet most of the team with the Earnhardt project but there's a you know imagines a very large company and correct me if I'm wrong but you're working on multiple projects at once and I have to imagine that your direct involvement has changed over the years, but give us an idea of, I guess, how critical you are of the projects as they're happening. Is there moments when maybe you make suggestions

on the direction of certain projects? How plugged in are you? It depends on what the projects need and kind of what I'm in the middle of. So as Earnhardt was happening, I was directing a movie called Eden, which is coming out in August here in the U.S. And that was in Australia. And I was also finishing up a documentary that I was making about Jim Henson and just starting another documentary

that I'm working on now that it hasn't come out yet. So I was in, pardon the pun, in the driver's seat on a couple of projects that were underway and taking my attention. When that happens, you know, I see a cut. I saw, you know, the first three quarters of a couple of episodes of Earnhardt and they were great. And I didn't need my help and they didn't have any for me. Sometimes I can be really useful and they'll ask me to look at something because they're searching for an answer.

Or if it's a project that I had a lot to do with getting made, then, you know, then I take a little more responsibility because the company that's financing the project is really, you know, expecting my direct involvement. So it really varies year by year and project by project. We're going to take a little turn here toward your acting career. I wanted to, you know, when I look inside of a race car, for example, and I look back at a car that's racing the 60s, 70s and on up through the decades and see the evolution of safety. You know, that's, there's, it's insane for me to look at a car that I drove 20 years ago. And, and I thought that was the safest thing possible, but now we have so much more new technology.

Take me back to the set, maybe on Happy Days or the Andy Griffith show. And, and explain to me, I guess, how the technology, maybe as simple as it might have been then, to what it is today. You've been a witness to this massive evolution. Yeah, going back to when I was really young, and they were still doing dramas as live TV. And earliest memories are of that pressure. And I think the fact that I got cast

and was able to come through a few times, this was before the Andy Griffith show, I think is what led the CBS casting directors eventually to put me up for the Andy Griffith show. Because even as a kid I was reliable, which had a lot to do with my dad's ability to coach and teach. He was an actor as well, Rance Howard. But, you know, here's the funny thing.

Yeah, tech has changed things, and for the most part made it easier. Guidelines have gotten stricter. I mean, Henry Winkler once fired up his motorcycle and which she didn't really know how to ride and drove off camera and ran into a ladder that had a guy sitting on top of it

and he fell about 18 feet to the ground and here's another thing that's a little different back then than today he was night shooting and he was already well into his cups and so I think that saved him on the fall

today he wouldn't be drinking and Roland would let Henry crank up and drive off unless he'd been certified. And there were a lot of things that, you know. What the tech does now more than anything is it allows the director to get on screen more of what's in his or her mind's eye than ever before. And there were all these barriers before, expense, just practical logistics.

We can't build that set. We can't go to that place. All of these kinds of things. that are now made possible for audiences. Of course, audiences immediately take him for granted. A friend of mine, Bob Zemeckis, who did Forrest Gump and, you know, castaway. So many great, great movies, Roger Rabbit, Who Frame Roger Rabbit, Back to the Future, he's brilliant, and always pushes technology to the edge. But in an article not long ago, he said, well, now that audiences know that anything is possible,

You can put anything on screen. It all comes back to story. How much do you care about the story? And that's the thing that hasn't changed. I'll tell you. Tones change. You know, what's in vogue, the way people talk. But the idea that what's most entertaining

is what you're seeing some characters go through, whether that's in deep space or fantasy character in an animated movie, a documentary like the fan. family of you and your story and your family, or something scripted like Beautiful Mind or, you know, or the upcoming Eden movie. You know, it's really about how interesting are those characters and what does it make me think and feel to be a long time to see what they're up to? You know, you decided to move from in front of the camera to behind the camera around 1980. You did a couple

more cameos on Happy Days before you finally wrapped up your acting career. What was that process like for you? I love to typically we do a lot of interviews with race drivers on this show. And a lot of times it's retired guys. And I love to have that conversation about how you make that choice and that decision, that commitment to make that change in your life. I wonder what that was like for you. Because, I mean, you had become this very iconic figure for a lot of people in the roles that you had as an actor. And I'm sure that there was many years where everyone you ran into, every fan

were like, hey, when are you going to get back in front of the camera? Yep. You know, I still get it in some ways. But it goes way back. So all the directors on the Andy Griffiths show had been actors. Oh.

And I saw that. You know? And when I was about 10, one of them. In fact, it's a guy named Howard Morris who played Ernest T. Bass.

Yes. And he was great. You know how many episodes was Ernest T. Bass in in the 249 episodes maybe 10 or 12? But he was so smart and famously funny.

He used to be a big star in television a decade before in the Sid Caesar variety show, which was kind of like the Saturday Night Live of its time.

And so a very funny, very sophisticated guy. and he directed a lot of our episodes and in fact won an Emmy or two for directing Andy Griffith show episodes but we had a lot of actors but he was the one that came up to me at one point and said Ronnie you know you're I was 10

he said I see the way you're watching everything and you like to look through the camera and you're interested in the writers and what they're doing and all of it even when you're not in the scene I bet you're going to wind up being a director he was the first one to articulate it and but you know Andy and

producer, they gave me an 8mm camera around that time. And there was kind of like this quiet encouragement within the, even though actors didn't become directors that often. Somehow, I felt like, I felt like it was a natural sort of progression for me. And when I really began to be a good fan of movies and stopped just watching TV or whatever was on TV, but started going to the movies when I was 12, 13, I really fell in love with the idea of movies because then I understood that was a medium that wasn't about the writers and producers in the network. It wasn't a teen game as much. It really was about what the leadership of a single individual and what that really meant. And that idea appealed to me because I got into acting very young.

I loved it. Happened to love it. I was good at it. I was successful at it. But I don't have a performer's personality really. And there was something about the leadership role that I saw that the directors filled that by the time I was 15, it's really all I could think about. Except I still thought maybe I had a shot at the big leagues. But, you know, right around then,

the breaking stuff that those guys started throwing were just, I was scaring the hell out of me. I was flying out of the batters box. I couldn't keep my head in. and then I broke my jaw plan. Dang. One thing after another and I sort of said, you know, I think that directing, I'm going to pick up that Super 8 camera that Andy gave me.

You mentioned going to movies. So my next question kind of involves the changing or the constant evolution of how we consume the projects that you guys create. Me and you both have been around for the drive-in movies. And then the going. to the theater with your family or friends and now the, you know, streaming platforms and options we all have. How do you stay ahead of the, or capitalize, I suppose, on the changing landscape? Well, capitalize is the better word because, you know, we tell stories, and we're not,

we're not, we're pretty agnostic about, about where and how people see them, as long as we get to tell the stories we care about, and that we're excited about. And, um, There was a time when you couldn't have made a documentary as long as the Earnhardt series is, because no one would run it. It would be a movie or a TV special. They wouldn't have a documentary series. We wouldn't go in depth like that. So that's an example of being able to take advantage of a change in the distribution system and the platforms. And technology plays a big role in that, you know.

But in, I love movies. And movies aren't going away. They're, you know, it's not going to be the predominant way that people see cinema, but it's going to be an important way. Yeah. Like, when I was a kid, a lot of old-timers would say, oh, I miss vaudeville. I miss, I miss the radio shows. Yeah. They used to do radio dramas and comedy.

Well, those all became just television shows or sitcoms, basically, you know, and they stopped doing them on the radio, except now they're doing dramas for podcasts. And podcasting is kind of this evolution of radio. And that's far more expansive than it ever was. Vodville, that was people going on the road and singing and dancing and telling jokes and doing juggling acts and magic and stuff like that. But now that's Vegas. That's Cirque du Soleil, that's stand-up comedy. That's Taylor Swift on the road. You know, instead of, she would have been a vaudeville star in those days.

Now she's her own act. And so the talent involved in entertaining people in various ways, which I'm in the entertainment business. You know, it's not, it's storytelling, but it's also engagement through the ways human beings can kind of, you know, convey a feeling and entertain you. It just, it changes and you just have to be ready to take advantage of it, whether it's short form or epic. And so as a company, we try to be sort of able to recognize the best platform for an idea and try to find the right financial partner and distributor to make that come

together in the right way. All right. Well, we're coming to the close of the interview here, but I got a couple of quick hitters for you. Okay. The project, that you're very passionate about that you have not yet created. Oh, well, I'm, I've got, oh my God, Dale. You know, I'm 71 years old, and I'm not sure I'm going to get to make them all. I, I, I'm, by the way, Clint Eastwood just announced at age 95, he's starting another movie. So God plus Clint, you know, Ridley Scott, 85 and doing killer work. Same with Marty's Presese.

So if I can keep my health, I've got some movies left in me. I've got, oh, there are, there's a project I'm getting ready to work on right now, I hope. I don't want to say too much about it. It's about a medal of honor winner. I'm really thrilled by this story, and we don't know yet that we have all the financing together. And so that right on my, in my radar right now is something that I'm incredibly passionate about that I really hope to make. But I've got several stories and subjects, you know, that I'm, that I'm done. to get it. I'm sorry, that wasn't a quick answer, but you're talking

quick answers. Sorry, Pat. Who is an actor or an actress that you would love to work with? It could be someone current or someone from your past or the history of the sport early film. I still haven't directed Merrill Streep and that would be a dream. Really? Yeah, she's really awesome.

I worked with Tom Holland when he was young, 17 years old, but I could just see how much charisma he had and how much intelligence. I'd love to work with him again. But, you know, Zendaya seems great. I just worked with Sidney. I sure would like to work with her again. There are just a lot of talented people. And I tell you, actors are getting smarter and, and they're running deeper than ever before. And I think it has to do with the fact that there's so much out there to see. There's so much work going on. And they can see what. And so I think very young, they're becoming.

very, very sophisticated. Yeah. Who's an actor or actress that blew you away or surprised you by their performance or effort? Russell Crowe, in a beautiful mind, blew my mind, for sure. Jim Carrey and the Grinch blew my mind. These are both like high wire acts of performances. For Russell, it was the psychological, emotional intensity and what he put himself through, not in some fake actor's studio, pretentious way.

But just to try to convey, you know, what that sort of mental illness might be like in a really emotional way. And he put himself through a lot. And he, and he, I was often shaking my head. Jim Carrey, it was kind of like watching, you know, Michael Jordan on a good night. Yeah. You know, the physical comedy that Jim could create could just improvise and find was pretty jaw-dry. And so, you know, those are two people. The last one, the evolution of Tom Hanks.

I worked with him on Splash when he was a young guy off of a sitcom. By the time I worked with him again, 11 years later in Apollo 13, and we started rolling the cameras and I was really watching him, I thought, man, the growth in him as an artist, what he's been able to understand about the story, his role and what he can bring to a moment without even a line of dialogue, had just grown exponentially, and I realized then, well, he was already a big star, but I just realized why. I realized that evolution.

Well, man, I'm telling you, I can't thank you enough for giving us some time today. This is to work with your team on the Earnhardt Project and to allow that to create an opportunity for us to talk today. This has all been just incredible, a great experience for me. Thank you for the conversation. It was really insightful. I really enjoyed it. Got all my questions in, and we just want to say thank you. Beautiful.

Very mutual. Thanks. Thank you again. And I'm going to plug the Earnhardt series. You got, folks, you've got to see it. It is good. It's really. Pretty unbelievable.

So thank you, Ron Howard. It's not just him saying it. I'm saying it. All right. Okay, take care. Ron Howard on the Dale Jr. Download. All right, everybody. That was a great conversation with Ron Howard, and maybe you could tell, but I was a little

bit nervous. Talking to anybody outside of that sort of comfort zone of racing is always a bit challenging for me. And Ron is just a guy so decorated, just done so much in his career. But seems to be so down to earth and easy to talk to. I literally, forgive me, Andrew, you compiled a really nice, a bit of notes for me to use for this interview as you as you often do and some of that stuff that you put in there might have made it into my questions but that little all the things that I asked was off of a note on my phone and you know you just curious if you just if

you just be curious right it seems like that he really really had a good time on the show so I'm thankful for that but just a awesome chance to talk to him. Had never considered really having him as a guest, obviously didn't think that that was even a possibility, but to be able to ask him about the decision to get out of acting, I mean, I kind of wanted to lean into that a little more because, you know, how, I didn't know how to really ask him about, like, where you, was it a, you know, could he even admit that it might have been tough to give up the fame aspect or something?

or the celebrity. Maybe back then he wasn't even affected by that. It didn't seem like the kind of person that would be. But he seemed to be so oblivious to maybe his standing as an actor. I mean, Happy Days was a big deal. The Andy Griffith show was a huge deal. He was a household name, right? And he went behind the camera without,

hesitation, apparently because of his, his curiosity and passion for storytelling and creating, you know, creating a project like a movie or anything, right, that he's ever worked on. So I guess he just really wanted to go tackle that challenge and do something great. And he ended up exceeding all expectations, probably maybe in his own. But pretty awesome conversation. Just, and I'm thankful for all the great things he said about Earnhardt. I mean, listen, he's such a busy guy. We talked about that a little bit about how many projects they're working on.

And he talked about how he would see pieces and bits and pieces of the Earnhardt project. And it looked great. So he was like, I don't need to get involved there. They're on there. They're going down the right road. And, but it's, you know, it's just nice to hear him. be appreciative that they did it right. He said that they got a great baton average

on all their projects that they work on and some exceed expectation and feels like that they're very proud of the Earnhardt project. But that was fun. What did you think? Oh, I loved it. Yeah, I mean, he's such a good storyteller. I mean, I know it's like the obvious spoiler alert,

but obviously in the films and documentaries and TV shows he does, but just the way he told some of those stories about Tom Hanks and Mel Gibson like that, that was entertaining to listen to. Yeah, I agree. He gave us some nice little, you know, kind of interesting things that were, you know, that happened between him and some of those folks. And could you imagine running in those circles? Just, just.

just and he does it he's you know he's the big deal not the not the not the not the star of the movie like he like if you walk into a set i don't care who's on it who the male and female lead are if you saw ron howard you'd be like holy moly this is a big deal you know it's interesting pretty fascinating but but he's still he's still able to to do it you know like you have so much success, but he still can craft a story in so many different ways and outlets, which is, I think, what makes him a really unique special talent. 100%, man. We could talk in circles about it, but thankful to get the opportunity to interview him here

today. Hopefully, you do a good job editing this episode and make me look really good because I was pretty nervous. All right, it's time for the white flag. As it is, every week, the tear down was live on Twitter. YouTube after the race from Nashville. And a lot of great insight from Jordan and Jeff about the race weekend and Blaney's dominant win.

And another driver who had a good run in that race, Denny Hamlin, actions detrimental came out Monday where Danny gives us his feedback on not only his third place finish, but Carson Hosevar and all types of things that are new developing storylines in the sport. Denny's always great to share a lot of information with us. on his show and I think people really appreciate having the opportunity to learn. An episode of Doorbopper Clear came out Monday as well with Jeff Dickerson, who is the co-owner at Spire, and he talked in length about Carson Hosevar as his driver and all types of things. Always good to hear from Dickerson because he has so much great insight.

And he too is really honest and open about his race team. team and his approach to the sport. So pretty cool to have those three episodes or three shows right out of the gate to kick off your week. Yesterday, we had an episode of Dale Jr. Downlow where we talked about, you know, our experiences at Nashville as well, our opinions on some of the things that happened there. And we teed up a little bit about this upcoming race at Michigan in our fan duel, Dirty Mo Doe segment.

But a great show. and then also coming out today is an episode of Herman Schrader and another episode of Speed Street with Connor Daley and then tomorrow bless your heart with me and my wife Amy so enjoying that every single week we have a great episode for you again one last thing as we wrap this entire show up becoming Earnhardt is returning we did the 1979 season a couple of years ago.

And I worked on that quite a bit. And I'm telling you, that was very rewarding for me. And I'm thankful to hear anybody, if anybody ever comes up to me and says, man, I love that Becoming Earnhardt series. That's a great feeling because I enjoyed working on it.

I got to tell you, you know, we worked on this Earnhardt documentary. We worked on Becoming Earnhardt. the experience between, even though this Earnhardt dock is this massive thing on Prime, I learned the same, I learned and enjoyed the learning experience from becoming Earnhardt just the same. I know my dad very well. And my most recent memory of him is going to be the one that dominates my mind when I think about him, right?

The Dale Earnhardt that, you know, the Dale Earnhardt that we know had multiple chapters. And in those chapters, he was a different individual and he changed and evolved and grew and matured. The Earnhardt from the 70s, the early 80s, I really don't know that well. I was a kid. I don't know what the, you know, I wasn't privy to a lot of the adult conversations going on in the room. And so the more I can dive into that part of dad's life and learn more about him and that helped me understand him, the better. And so I've really loved it. I've really loved it.

So we did this 1979 becoming Earnhardt. It's been out for a couple years on our dirty moe media platforms. And it really, I did a lot of work, dove right into the stories and found some really cool stories. And so finally we have finished working on the 1980 season of Becoming Earnhardt. That's coming out, I believe, on June 15th. And I can't wait for people to hear it. I hope everybody enjoys it. This one's a lot neater.

And by neater, I mean the episodes are a little better packaged, easier to consume. the becoming Earnhardt, 1979 season was far too thorough and I was way in the weeds with a lot of stuff that I just wanted you to know everything. I wanted to tell you everything that I'd learned. But we've created a new second season here for 1980 that's a lot easier to consume and so I'm very proud of it.

So that'll be available, some new content. Yeah, from Dirty Mo Media coming out on June 15th. Thanks for listening, everybody. you Ron Howard. Thank you Imagine Entertainment. And thank you, Dirty Mo Media, and that whole our whole staff. Great time today. And see you tomorrow. Bless your heart. Check out Dirty Mow Media on Instagram, Facebook, X, and TikTok.