THE ED MYLETT SHOW - Turn Dreams Into $3 Billion - w/ Beau Flynn

Episode Date: July 7, 2020

How do you MAXOUT at the highest level? #MAXOUT is a MOVEMENT! It is a LIFESTYLE, a WORK ETHIC, a MORAL CODE that can be found at the core of some of the most successful people in the world. Today’s guest on The Ed Mylett Show is the epitome of what it means to MAXOUT. I have one of the TOP MOVIE PRODUCERS in the world here to share his story. This man is behind some of the most epic movies of our time including, Skyscraper, Rampage, San Andreas, Hercules, and Journey 2! He has produced over 32 films, grossing more than $3 BILLION at the box office. On top of that, he’s a critically acclaimed producer of multiple independent films, a world-class entrepreneur, AND produced the very first 3D movie. It is my honor to bring you, BEAU Flynn! It doesn’t matter where you came from or what difficult circumstance is in your way, we ALL have the ability to MAXOUT. Having to fend for himself and take care of his sister starting at a young age, Beau was able to use his PAIN as a motivator for success and WIN! You’ll learn what it takes to thrive in arguably the MOST COMPETITIVE industry in the world. You’ll learn how to balance humility with ambition and drive so that you can stay at the top of your game and outlast the one-hit wonders. Beau even shares the inspiring story behind how he began working with The Rock and how their relationship produced 8 movies with one more on the way and a booming partnership. This interview is all about overcoming rejection, conquering fears, sustaining momentum, taking risks, resilience after failure, and what it truly looks like to MAXOUT at the highest level. This is a MUST WATCH!

This is the Edmmerlidge Show. Welcome back to Max out everybody. I've been looking forward to this interview for a while, because this man has maxed out many areas of life, but today we're probably going to focus most on the movie industry because he's one of the top movie producers in the world right now, but he's also maxed out of great families and entrepreneur, he's an incredible communicator, and he's becoming a good friend of mine. And so I'm very excited. You've seen movies like Skystraper, Hercules, Rampage, San Andreas, the list could go on

it on, but I actually kind of like some of the indie stuff. So Choke, Tiger Land, he's really, really a very unique man and been incredibly successful and maxed out the industry that's his ease in. So both Lynn, thank you for being here today, brother. Oh, man, thank you so much. I'd appreciate it. What a great introduction and love that you know those movies, both the studio commercial films and the indie ones,

which are really close to my heart. I'm really honored to be here. I'm a huge fan of yours, and I think it'll be fun today. It's gonna be fun, and the list is much longer than that. You guys, you're quick Google's worth the least. You will be blown away. I sometimes don't even really believe it when I look at the list. It's crazy, really.

I want to start there. It's amazing. You said that because I was reading about you and we're talking about all of our mutual friends and you and I have been communicating for a while now. Did you expect this to happen in your life? Like, are you living your dream or were there some left and right turns and you weren't even always sure you wanted to be a producer in the movie business? It's a great question and I can answer all of that. I am living my dream 100%. But it took a long time to formulate and to find.

A lot of people you hear, a lot of filmmakers, people are like, when I was five years old, I had a video camera in my hand and I was making movies, like that's not my story at all. But I really do pinch myself often. I think that's a, that's a healthy feeling, but it doesn't take away from my ambitions. You know what I mean? I think there, it's a healthy feeling to feel like you're going to have the rug pulled out underneath you. While at the same time, you can kind of pat yourself on the back of your achievements, but never really kind of settle a rest on them for too long. You know, because I feel like I have so much to do and I've been extremely, truly blessed by, I made my first movie when I was 25 years old.

So I have, I have made over 31 movies and yet I still I feel like I have so much to give and I have so much left. And fortunately, it's a career that allows you to kind of stay in for as long as you want or as long as they'll have you. I always have a theme in every movie, one theme and it's my theme, it's my personal theme. It's usually father, son related. It's usually about family even look at San Andreas. It's about it's a yeah, it's a disaster. We got an earthquake. It's actually, it's about a father looking at St. Andreas. It's about, yeah, it's a disaster.

We got an earthquake. It's actually, it's about a father trying to rescue his family. Like, it's like, that's like, that's what the theme of that movie and the drive for me was about. How did your relationship with your father shape who you are now? I'm curious. It shaped me in a massive way and not the way that you know you would expect. You know, it was my father, you know, and everyone deals with divorce and leaving, but it was tricky because my mom raised, you know, my dad left when I was when I was three, my sister was one. And you know, he was someone that I really liked looked up to, but he just he

wasn't, he wasn't around. And you know, really kind of, I think is what drove me to go to school, because my mom was also really never around at the time. This is Miami 70s and 80s. You have to think about that. That was a crazy wild time and my mom was out every night. My dad was never around and I became the head of the household very quickly and was raising my sister and was raising my mom to be really honest. And you know, that's something I never really talk about. My mom was married six times. My dad was married three times,

and it was constantly moving. I moved, I think I moved 12 times before I graduated high school. So I was constantly kind of having to figure out how to kind of like adapt and where we move from Miami to California to San Diego to back. I was in numerous different schools all the time and it's very, very challenging at that age to have to really figure out who you are and who your identity is and how you can find a kind of a group

of people that accept you and you feel safe with. You think you didn't have a child? What is a result? No, I didn't. I really, my life, I don't feel like really began from me until college. I feel like that's really when I identified with who I was and found inner peace and myself and in belief in myself, I was, I really didn't because I was and found inner peace and myself and belief in myself. I really did it because I was too busy trying

to support my mom and get out of bed in the morning and make sure my sister was fed. It was a very tricky time. And I still look back on it to this day. I don't understand what caused me. No one ever asked what your grades were to see my report card or anything And I was so motivated to do well in school and I I don't know what drove that because it wasn't any parenting whatsoever And I still try and figure that out We're trying to figure that out what that was so times

It's one of the few places in our life that we're getting any significance or recognition. It could even be at school when we got the aid and if we didn't bring it home. I know that I found for me in our environment when I achieved, it was only time I felt significant or recognized. And even if it wasn't even my own house, it could be at school, it could be by a coach.

Right. But in your case, as a 50 year old man, that upbringing, your childhood affects literally the messages in some of the top grossing movies of all time. Yeah, that's all directly in that experience. All directly in there. And it's also why I really like, I just, I want so badly to be a good father, to, to Western Ruby to my daughters, you know, want to be there for them and really give them

a stable upbringing and a huge part of my inspiration and give back. And that way too. So I want to get there for them and really give them a stable upbringing and a huge part of my inspiration and give back. And that way too. So I want to get back to them. I want to get back in terms of the movies. And then to your point Ed is like, I do really, I happen to really generate love people. And I want to give back to them in any capacity that I can. And I just feel like starting to get to that place in my life where I feel like I'm ready for it. And also where I can, you know, have that platform too. You know, wonderful girl. It's funny, because it's a movie that drove me to go to NYU.

I grew up very kind of nerdy, and I was a computer hacker, and I just was in my bedroom all the time, and I was either on my computer, or I was watching a movie. And I watched every movie I could as a kid just because it was my escape I grew up in Miami, Florida with a single mother social worker There was never even a moment that I connected the idea of myself Making films. There was no connection at whatsoever. I didn't know anyone in the business

Hollywood was its own isolated bubble that was you know 60,000 feet And there was a movie called Wall Street that I really, really loved and I was a huge Oliver Stone fan, you know, from Scarface and into Platoon and then Wall Street. And Bud Fox, who is the Charlie Sheen character went to NYU. And he went to work on Wall Street. He's the first half of the movie. He started out very kind of ambitious and very well intended. We know that he made a deal with Gordon Gecko and the devil and you know in a hard way. But I really want... So I went to NYU. I worked on Wall Street when I was 18 years old. I worked for an IPO firm and I went to Stern School of Business, but I had a real crisis.

during school business, but I had a real crisis. I was in at 18, I was my series seven, and I had a real crisis in life because by the end of freshman year, I was very unhappy. I was extremely unhappy and I was not doing, I was not getting any satisfaction, but it was, it was an issue because that was my dream. That's what I had set up to achieve. And it happened very quickly. Now, when I say like, I also had, you know, at that time in that age, I was very driven by the dollar sign. I wanted to be worth, you know, $100 million by 25

and all of those things that a lot of us share. But it was all for the wrong reasons and wrong intentions. And once I transferred out of Stern School of Business and I went to the School of Arts and Sciences and I just started taking random classes. That's when my life changed. Wow. So the movie affected you and the standpoint

that you wanted to go get rich with the same type of effect that you wanted to make movies at the same time, right? That's exactly right. But again, I had no connection or relationships whatsoever to it. And when I transferred arts and sciences, that's when I started taking film.

I just started taking classes on Central Park. I took classes on acting. I took classes on filmmaking, took classes on philosophy. Things that were never offered in the business school. And from that, I started making all these relationships and people that were filmmakers and also just saw New York City in a complete

and different light. It's amazing. Everybody listen to this when you're hearing Botalk, because you may have a dream you're going down one road and there's these terms you can make. So this is the main reason, three billion plus and gross on his movies, guys.

I mean, you're talking about, to express the level of success this man's had in this industry, and it's amazing. It's almost like both, because I feel like, I think you'd be both like, there's a connection you and I. And it's almost like you're in my questions because one of the things I've observed about you and mutual friends have told me about you

is the bug fox thing didn't happen to you. And I think that's one of the reasons you're successful. You've heard me say this before, but people can kind of get intoxicated by their own success. Yes. Their will to win can be bought, not just with failure, but the best of the best success doesn't buy their will to win. You know exactly what I mean.

There's a lot of one hit wonders. There's guys that had a good three or four year run in your industry. Maybe they start believing the paths on the back or they enjoy the accolades or the access or the money a little too much too soon. Yes. It seems to me it's not affected you, your ambition or drive. And I want you to talk about this. It's not any of the things we discussed prior.

You have what I see in all max out achievers, which is an element of obviously a skill set that you need. You're excellent at what you do. But from a mindset standpoint, high degree of self-confidence combined with an incredible amount of humility. Meaning, you know what you do, you do well, but there's so much humility that you want to grow. Maybe there's even a level of insecurity about that that I think is healthy. Sure, but talk about that. Don't be humble for a minute. You are unique, especially in your industry, brother. Your level of humility and ambition and drive

to still go where you are. True or false? It's very true. I really can't believe I just kind of just really drilled down on all that. I mean, that's a really incredible assessment and I'll be really honest with you. It's really accurate.

I do feel like, and always have, I've always felt like I definitely had a bigger calling. I definitely have enormous drive and will to win. But I do have moments of insecurities and really feel like, even when you just said $3 billion in box office, it's even hearing that sometimes is really sometimes hard to process.

But meanwhile, I feel like there's so much more to come. But I think that's what also is allowed me to stay relevant and stay in this business for as long as I've had, which is 25 years already. It just turned 50 years old. And that's been a big moment for me and it happened during the pandemic. But it really do believe that humility is very sincere.

It's not a show, but it's also I feel like it's really served me really well because it's kept me honest. And it really has allowed me to really continually do the work. I'm a big believer in no shortcuts because anytime I've taken a shortcut, it's usually failed miserably.

And I also have never found myself really lucky, never wanting a bingo game. I've never kind of just like the first movie turned out to do, you know, a billion dollars in the box office. Like, it's all been a natural progression of hard work. And while I've seen peers and other people just arrive in Hollywood and their first or second film

is this massive runaway hit, in the moment it was very confusing. Because I'm like, I've been doing this for a really long time. Why am I not at that place where they are? But then in retrospect, when I look back over the duration of my career, you can't take any of that hard work away. That's all belongs to me. And it gives me this incredible confidence

that I know what I'm doing. It can continue it, where other people that have kind of been a flash in the pan or like you said, a one-hit wonder or focus on the money. Now looking back over a career of 25 years, they're not around. You have another unique thing that I want to, I think, all max out achievers have, which is you've also stepped forward in big moments. I think in everyone's life, there's a handful of moments that can define them. And you step into that moment when it presents itself because you're prepared.

And one of those moments for you is where you show vision and you take a chance, great leaders see something and people, other people don't see. And so, brain phrasier doesn't come back to journey the center of the earth. You you call this shot where you have this meeting with this guy. And that meeting was one of those handful of moments that you were already doing very well, but it altered the direction of an industry. It altered the direction.

It took your life to a new level, and it certainly altered the direction of this man's life. And a lot of things happen there. You met your moment where your preparation gave you insight. You took a chance, right? Yes. And you had the vision to see something in this person that not everybody was seeing at that given time.

So I know who that guy is. Well, why don't you take us through that meeting, what happened, how the conversation went, and how you came to make that decision, which altered the course of history in the movie industry? Well, first of all, Ed, I gotta tell you, this is A, what makes you great.

The fact that you are in this insightful and can identify that moment, right? Because it's not easy. Like, I can tell you what my career-defining moments are, you know, pretty readily. It's amazing how you can really quickly identify it on your own and through your research and through your conversations with our peers. Because that's the moment. I mean, in terms of, had a lot of great opportunities and breaks, conversations with our peers, because that's the moment. I mean, in terms of, had a lot of great opportunities and breaks,

but that certainly is the game changer. For me, and I think, you know, for the person that you're talking about, and I'll tell you, I made a movie called Journey to the Center of the Earth, and you talk about industry changing, and not a lot of people know this, and I'm not as you can tell, or as you were mentioned, not a big braggart, but we were the first

3D movie in the entire industry and the history of the movie business was Journey to the Center of the Earth. James Cameron's avatar was released after ours. We used his cameras and we used the fusion system and James came to set to see how it was working with us. his cameras and we used the fusion system and James came to set to see how it was working with us and he used it as like a as a beta testing movie. But we were the first 3D movie ever and the entire industry and that was a huge deal for the movie business because A you can only achieve it in the theaters, B you'd allow them to upcharge their tickets

and C it became huge all over the world particularly in China which is a massive, massive market and we were a massive hit in China. One of world, particularly in China, which is a massive, massive market. And we were a massive hit in China, one of the biggest hits in China, which during the center of the earth. And it also caused all the theaters to have to shift their movies over to the 3D projection system in order to play it.

So that was that. So that movie had a huge impact in general, to me, into the industry. And the movie did $250 million globally and that was really that was my biggest hit at the time. And it's a quarter of a billion dollars and just in theatrical box office that doesn't include in silvery revenues, it doesn't include DVDs, TV cycles, etc. So that was a big moment for us. Sequel was an easy green light for New Line at the time, for Toby Amark and Richard Brenner.

They supported that movie. It wasn't, during the center of the earth, was not an easy green light at the time. Brenner Fraser was kind of like, you know, kind of like definitely still kind of had his things and the movie wasn't, you know, a slam dunk by any stretch. But the sequel, after $250 million, you green light them. We then had some creative disagreements with Brendan

over the director and the direction of the film. I really respect New Line for supporting me and taking a strong position because we're making that sequel. You know, it's like I would have loved it, Brennan would have done it. But he didn't, and it wasn't, and New Line stayed the course that sequel. You know, it's like if I would have loved to Brennan would have done it. But he didn't and he wasn't and New Line stayed the course and they stayed with making the sequel, the movie, and supported myself and the team, the creative team. There was a lot of discussions about who could step in for that role, how A, how do you achieve it, creatively, how do you make that work? Because Josh Hutcherson, who was in the first one,

and was in the second one onto Hunger Games, he was an important element to us. And he was 12 years old, and he did the first one, and he was 15 when he did the second. And I kept the way my name kept coming up to you, and the way your name kept me, the name Dwayne Johnson was just flying into my life in all kinds of ways. Carlugou Gino's a very close friend of mine

and fabulous actress. She had worked with them a few times. He talked about him. You need to know Dwayne Johnson on a personal level. He's from Miami, materialist of Miami. He's the greatest guy. He is so driven and ambitious. You know, it's like you guys would be a match made in heaven. I heard that from another good friend of mine. Matt Gerald, who would just work with him, who's an actor and and was visiting me in Budapest when I was making a film because I was really like,

I was at a loss for who and I feel casting is one of my strengths and producing. I feel like I really can identify who's right for the role and how to do it, and I've had a lot of success with big breakout actors, where it was their first movie and then they went on to be huge stars. And I had a hard time replacing this role. And eventually I just, I said he's the guy. Dwayne Johnson is the guy. He's the one who's going to be able to replace this. He is a movie star. He

has the energy. He is the comedy though he hasn't had a chance to really show it. He was just coming off of of fairy, which had just been released. And that was a movie that Dwayne talks a lot about in terms of the challenges authenticity, which is such an important part of our business and all business in general. And we went on a rogue trip, myself and the director, we went on a rogue trip to Atlanta to meet with Dwayne.

We bought the plane tickets ourselves. We flew down there, we sent them the script. He agreed to a meeting. He was shooting a movie down there. Flew down, I'll never forget it, ever, ever, ever, this moment. Knocked on the door and he answered the door. Just huge, hulking, incredible burst of energy

opens the door and he goes, go Flynn and I go, yeah, that's me and he goes, come here brother and he gave me the biggest hug. Biggest hug. I've never met, I've never met her in my life. I mean, it was just this incredible moment of just connectivity, energy, you know, whether you want to believe in the universe, in God, in fate, we were determined to come together. We sat down, we spent the day together, we talked about the movie, we talked about how we do, we showed them the pre-vis, we put together

an incredible presentation, and in the room, he said, I'm in, let's go. And, you know, look, those are our hard decisions to make in your career, to in the room say like you're going to do, the movies, a family movie, he flies on bumblebees, there's some real risky things that have to be done. But we went ahead, we made that movie, he was awesome in it, there's such a trust for him around the world from the audience and for families to trust him. That movie did $350 million worldwide. And we kind of really never look back,

but I will tell you, and I'll let you jump in. And a second, when we were shooting that movie, there was a really incredible moment that we had together. And we were in this trailer, we were just talking, we would always, every day, we would kind of chop it up, recap the day, talk about the movie, talk about our futures. And I said to him, every day, we would kind of chop it up, recap the day, talk about the movie, talk about our futures. And I said to him, I said, Dwayne, I said, who do you want to be?

Like, who's your career? What do you want to be in your career now? Is like, you know, in terms of the way you're feeling and he goes, he goes, he goes, brother. I want to be the biggest movie star that I've ever lived. Because I want to be Will Smith Smith who was giant at the time, and had incredible respect, obviously, and Independence Day, and you know, bad boys and all those movies, I want to be Will Smith and more. This was over 10 years ago that he

said that to me, and he looked me right down the eyes and said it. I had chills when he said it, and I told him, and I said, and I said, and I said, and I said, and I said, and I said, and I said, and I said, and I said, and I said, and I said,

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and some other stuff, too. So I think what's powerful about that story is two things. One is his ambition and his vision. Yes. You're not giving yourself enough credit for calling the shot to get him, by the way, which at the time was not conventional wisdom that you should do it. So again, there's the humility thing. So if you go really read the story about this, it was both you wanting to get him, but it was also you taking a little bit of a risk

in doing it at the time. And then the other powerful thing, guys, and partnerships, and I just wanted to break apart some of the elements here. It's bow asking, Dwayne, what do you want? part some of the elements here. It's bow asking, Dwayne, what do you want? How can I help you get it? Like those are the elements of great partnerships where you're talking about these things. How can I help you get what you want, right? And I think that's what great leaders do, great partners do.

A couple of other things you say that, that take me back, because I think there's such a wisdom in them. And I think maybe there's a common ally with you and Dwayne on this too, which is I don't think you can stick your toe and something and be successful. I think you have to be all in. You phrase it a little bit differently about plans and A's and B's and all that stuff, but I don't know anyone at the max out level. You can do okay like I tried out, worked up, but to get to the top of an industry, in a particular year industry, as fickle, as competitive, as consistent as you

have to be in your industry, you might have, in your business, you might get, you might be allowed after a while one failure, but you don't get two or three. And so, talk about that, not having a plan be element for you and how you think that contributes to success. This is huge, guys. I love that, Ed. And you're totally right. And you're speaking a really strong part of my philosophy

and what I try and give back to people starting in the business particularly in Hollywood, but I think it's relevant to all businesses, which is there's no B-plant. You have to kind of plant your flag and you have to be all in. It's the only way. I mean, there is no more competitive business than Hollywood and the industry of making films

and television. You are competing and it's the best of the best. Billions of people dream about doing it and are all coming to Los Angeles to compete for a handful of slots. Right, I mean, it really is. It's a handful of people that are getting it done. If you break down, I guarantee you,

it's probably on the feature film side. It's probably 20 people that are making 80% of the movies in Hollywood. Wow. So it's very, very small. So therefore, how can you come in to Hollywood? And I hear it all the time. People tell me like, oh, I'm going to come out, give it a year, see how it goes. I mean, it's, you know what I mean, actor, writer, director, producer, whatever it may be.

Either it's like, you're going to give it a year. You're going to give this a year. It's like, but then give it a be. Either it's like, you're gonna give it a year, you're gonna give this a year. It's like, but then give it a day and go home. Why are you even bothering? Why are you coming here? It's like, this has to be your life's mission. You have to a drive with a vision and you're gonna back it up and you're gonna be there

because you're gonna get your ass handed to you, day in and day out. A lot of things that come up in your podcast and your discussions are the concept of rejection and the word no. Now look, all businesses we experience it, but I don't know, I would easily argue that in Hollywood you are getting rejected all the time.

And the one thing that I was surprised by, even as I started to achieve success and was making movies that did hundreds of millions of dollars, still encountering rejection at a very deep level. And hard-nosed, not just soft-nosed, you know what I mean? That I would be like, wow, after all that I've achieved, now here I am, and now being told, no, it's like, all right, well, let's go ahead and run out the wagon and let's figure it out, because we're going to get it done. And that kind of energy is like, if you don't have that energy in the beginning,

then it's never going to last and kind of maintain later through your career when the stakes get higher, when you start to play it safer. You know, you talked about conventional wisdom, that's a real trap in our business, because the audience is always ahead of us. They consume so much content, they're watching so many shows, so many movies,

and our turnaround time is very long. Like a lot of content people can make in a week and a month and have it out there and be relevant. For the film side, three years, four years, sometimes seven years. And when that movie comes out, it has to be topical, relevant, fresh, so you have to be way ahead of the curve creatively. You know, it's like, and everything has to go right in order for that to really land with the world. I never thought of it that way. You're watching a movie.

You're not really, this was three, four, five, sometimes six years ago. I had not thought about that. And by the way, I think conventional wisdom in almost all businesses equal, you will be out of business. Right. I don't think conventional wisdom really, there's principles that sustain themselves throughout life, right? But conventional wisdom, in fact, if you're working with people that use those kind of

terms or think that way, you're toast. But ask Blockbuster video about conventional wisdom when it came to Netflix, right? Ask Barnes and Noble bookstores about conventional wisdom and Amazon comes along. You know, ask IBM about Microsoft. I mean, we could go on and on and on, right? I mean, there's conventional wisdom could be death. But one thing about the movie business, and I look at, I don't know a lot about it, obviously. I have friends in it. But it's such a vast enterprise to make a movie.

It seems to me like all of these moving parts, I mean everything, I mean like the casting, the cinematographers, the editing, the script, the, I mean every element is crazy, right? There's all these elements of it. And then when you're the producer, it's sort of all yours to some extent, right? Yes. And I think a lot of people is entrepreneurs. They're afraid of it. Like, they're afraid of the mess. And I think you have to be tolerant of some messes in your life to be successful.

And you talk so eloquently about the idea of, I mean, I finally accepted this later in my life. I can't control everything. Yes. But that lack of control, I think, causes most people to never step into the space. I finally later in my career in braces, there's going to be a mess, and I can't, I have to just start and to take action on things. And in your case, there's everything's yours.

You're the producer. You own all of it at some point. The butt stops with you. But you talk so eloquently. It's one of my favorite things you talk about of you're not going to control it. And what is your approach about that? I mean, imagine everybody, the scope of conceiving

of a movie all the way through production and distribution. How do you handle that? What are your thoughts about control? Well, first of all, it's a super insightful question. I've never been asked it before. I'm really excited to speak to it. So thank you, and I'm just continuing impressed, Ed, by the research that you do.

And you say you don't know, it's not about the movie business. I would beg to differ because your knowledge is on a very high level. So it's exciting to be having this conversation. But first, I want to answer in two parts. First of all, on the producing side in terms of all those elements, you're totally right.

I mean, you're the CEO. A lot of times people ask me, what is the producer? And I'm always like, I have two answers for it. I always say, on the first one on, on the last one on. That's really, that's the bottom line. When I start, it's just me or maybe one or two other people in an idea. When I scale up, it's up to two, three, four thousand people. When you start doing visual effects and have thousand visual effects shots, maybe another thousand, two thousand people. And then when I scale down, it's just me

in that one or two people that I started with. And here we are just like on that Friday night, you know, just hoping that we did everything right when that movie opens up the actually, you know, so it's like, so you are, you are basically, and it runs the same course as a start of business, right? You're like, you need to have an idea. You need to go ahead and exercise that vision. You need to put a team together. You need to scale the project up.

You take it to market, and then you go ahead and sell it. It's exactly what you do in a startup business, but that's every movie. So I've had 31 startup businesses, some very successful, some not so much, but that's part of it. Each time I've started up a business

or started a movie, I've learned something I've gotten better, I've gotten stronger, and I've learned lessons that have put me more in control of that, but yet to your point, to the second point of, it still powers you to know the more you do it, the still so much is out of your control, even if you become a master of the craft. And there was one point, the career changing moment for me was that one you discussed about about Dwayne Johnson and him doing during the journey to mysterious islands sequel.

Another change in what was an internal change career changing moment. And it was when I used to get urgent phone calls from an agent or from an actor or from a director, you know, it was urgent. There's a crisis. And I used to really kind of like be like, shit, I'll call back. I'll deal with that later. Do you know what I mean?

Like, okay, what's happening? What's going on? It's like, but then I had a realization, which is like, wait a second, I'm the producer, I'm the CEO, I'm the boss. Who's gonna solve that? Who's better equipped to solve it? Me, I'm the one that's made X-Men movies, I'm the one equipped to solve it? Me. I'm the one that's

made X-Men movies. I'm the one that's been on the ground. I'm the one that's been set for two thousand days. So once that change, it really justified my job. And once I changed the whole way of thinking of it, I was like, now it comes in. There's a crisis. There's a fire. There's a thing. I'm like, great. Where is it? Let me put it out. And that was a huge game changer for me. And I think that's such an important element for people to think about because it's scary when you have something going down, something falling apart. You know what I mean? Something that's like where it's like, but that's our job. And that's the job I signed up for. That's a job you sign up for. When there's a problem at your

company, when there's an issue, you want to be the one to solve it and bring it on. But that took years and years to get there. It took years and years of confidence and want to be the one to solve it and bring it on. But that took you years and years to get there. It took you years and years of confidence and repetition to have the faith that you're like, all right, I can fix this. No problem. No issue. At all, most of the time, it's not even a real issue. You know what I mean? It's like, but it takes you and your vision to see that. And then just to close the loop on this thought is when you do finally have a movie, and it's going out to the world, and it's going out being released on 20,000 screens around the world. And on that Friday, you just hunker down,

you isolate into your house, you surround yourself with your family and your friends. And all you can say to yourself is, did I do the best job possible? Did I do everything in my power to make the best project, the best movie? Did I do everything best job possible. Did I do everything in my power to make the best project, the best movie? Did I do everything I can?

Because if you can answer yes to that, then you could be really zen and okay with whatever the results are that we can't, you know? That's right, you don't know. You're a million percent on it. I'm so glad we're doing this, Bo. I just, I know how much this is helping people. And in my own case, I've had failures and a couple of those failures, I didn't answer that question the way I wanted to.

I could have done more, I could have prepared better. I've also made the mistake and no one's brought this up to me before in the history of the show. So, and it, and what meaning you have a finite amount of energy in your life. And where you point that energy matters. And if I go back to the failures I've had, and I don't really think they're fills, they're just setbacks. I'm going to say, I learned a lot. Like, that was a game for me.

But I spread myself in way too many places. In other words, I wasn't strategic with where I invested my work, my energy, and my focus. It wasn't for me, and I doubt for most people here, a lack of desire, a lack of work ethic, not at the level listening to this show, not at this level, or a lack of focus. It was a diversion of it almost for me. And you really eloquent about that topic. So what is eloquent about that topic. So what is your advice about that exact thing? As a producer and entrepreneur,

you have to have a lot of play spinning. You just have to. Projects are falling apart all the time. A friend of mine and a producer, Nina Jacobson, she said something that I love, which is movies want to be two things. They want to fall apart and they want to be bad, right? It's like so.

And I feel like the same thing, all businesses, like that's our job to keep things together and to keep things great. You know, it's like so, but with that, I found myself, I had all this really diverse slate, all these ideas, all these things moving, I had movies, I had TV shows, I had business ideas, but nothing was leaving the launch pad. And all these things percolating, but nothing was happening. And so a lot of people relate to that.

Yeah, and I was starting to think about it. I was like, okay, well, let me kind of shift here and let me invest more and less is the way I started to frame it. And the same thing was happening my personal life. I've been living in Los Angeles for 25 years. I had made a lot of friends from Miami to New York, to Los Angeles, to around the world, a lot of relationships, business relationships, but I wasn't getting anything in return from

them either. I wasn't satisfied on a friendship level and on a business level, they were just surfaced. So I kind of replicated that same philosophy in terms of like, there's 10 people that I really love working with. You know, really smart, I trust them. You know what I mean? It's like, let's invest in them. You know what I mean? It's like, and then I was starting

to invest in them. They were investing more back in me. Then I picked five projects instead of 50. Let's focus on these five. And let's invest all my energy into that. To your point, if a finite amount of energy, it's a zero sum game at the end of the day. So once I did that, everything changed for me. I started having more movies come together. The momentum was going. We were going to eat week by week by

weekends. We're happening. And all five of those movies that I focused on all got made. Those relationships that I talked about that I invested more in. The connection was stronger. They trusted me more. I trusted Demmore, we created more business together. So it was actually really interesting. It was happening for me holistically both in my business and personal life. And it's one of the greatest kind of, you know, pivots that I've made or that's happened to me in my entire life. Truly. Real advice from somebody who's achieving at a high level, you guys, and I can all I

could do is just, I can't say a better than that. He's a hundred percent right, some steak I've made and a hundred percent great advice. Like what's awesome about this interview is every single segment could be its own teaching unit. Like it's a master class on achievement and on actually execution too. I'm curious. I want to go back to Dwayne just for a minute because I'm curious. Yeah. If I asked you why he's successful, because I've asked you why you're successful, if I asked you why he's successful, or the answer is slightly different, like what comes to mind? I mean, let's look, the last 10 years on the spinning earth, he's become of a handful of the most well-known and successful people on the planet. And it seems as if he's crushing it and his family.

He's certainly crushing it physically. He seems to have good relationships like what he has with you. I don't think it's been a bad financial decade for the man. Notariety, impact, influence. You know, I know not everything's perfect. In anybody's life, people think that mine too and it's not. But it certainly seems like this guy's maxing out pretty well. It's multiple areas and you've been up close to observe that and you've contributed to it.

What would you say about that at your observations and you would really know? Well, it's, it's really smart because, you know, as an actor now as, as a, you know, kind of CEO of many businesses, it's still, he's, it's a different, slightly different career in terms of producer and actor. So there are things that he does differently than me and that are not typical of movie stars to do. And I'll talk about that.

And then there are some areas that we intersect and I believe that I've shown him some ways in terms of how I run my business and some ways that he's running his business that have, you know, kind of that I've Kind of taken from him, but one as as we'll start as an actor and as a movie star That he does that's very different and I'll give real give a real specific anecdote There's no one that works harder He really, you know, it's like all of his mantras, he actually backs up, he practiced what he preached. He goes as sleeves up, does the work, hardest worker in the room.

He never rests on his laurels. He's very loyal, which is also very rare in our business. He also is not afraid to pick up the phone and do things directly. That's extremely rare. People are surrounded with agents, manage lawyers, all their people and those people go ahead. But the minute that they start talking on your behalf, and I understand the importance of them, they're important and they're needed.

But the minute that they're talking, it's the telephone game. It's never going to be the same the way it is from Ed Mylett to the other person on the other end of the phone or the meeting or from Bo Flynn to other Dwayne Johnson. So he will go ahead and you know go ahead and he will pick up the phone if necessary and call you and lay it out even if it's bad news. Something too that I've really that I think we both taken from each other is the team. He's a huge believer in the team and he has surrounded himself with incredible people. Danny Garcia has been his long-term partner and manager for a very long time.

She is incredible and brilliant as Vision, and he relies on her. Hiro and Garcia, who he grew as his assistant all the way up to now, president of seven box productions, is relationship with me. 10 years, and here we are about to go and jump into our ninth picture. That loyalty is very rare, and I feel that that's really paid off for him in a huge, huge way.

But, you know, Duane is a force of nature. He doesn't accept no. That comes up obviously a lot in your conversations. And really, there's always another way. You know what I mean? And it's like, he gets kind of turned on when he's told no, or we can't do this, or why? Because that's the way we've done it in the past.

Well, let's change it to the way we do it in the future. And then lastly, too, is like, he's not afraid. And when I say he's not afraid, you have to really think about that for a second. Because it's not just, you have to really think about that for a second, because it's not just a draw-based statement. What I'm saying is, is like, not afraid means when you make a choice in your career as an actor and movie star.

Your whole career could be gone with one bad decision. So when Dwayne Johnson went ahead and said he's going to do an HBO show called Ballers. Now now we're looking at, oh yeah, it's great. I love that show. But not at the moment. No one at his level of stardom was doing television or cable. You know what I mean? It's like, so that could have gone wildly wrong.

That was a real, trailblazing moment, meaning he wasn't afraid. You know what I mean? When Dwayne Johnson creates a network TV show called The Titan Games and is the face of it. Yeah. I haven't seen anyone do that at his level.

You know, he means like that could have gone and now it's a big hit and now everyone's like, oh, yeah, of course, that's the path. That was never the path. When you look back on movie stars in the past on Clint Eastwood and Brad Pitt and Tom Cruz, that was never the path. You're right. He had to create that and it was because he wasn't afraid and he took risks.

And those are real specific examples of what I mean. Because we forget, right? A lot of times we forget of like what were real risks because they worked out. So they're not sexy. There are another win. You're still right. I energy the undertaker today.

It'll be out. It was out prior to this. And I asked him, he's 30 years in WWE, longest wrestler ever. And we're talking about leadership. And he said one of the key elements was loyalty. It's one of the things not talked about. We're talking about loyalty and success in life

and leadership, the element of loyalty and you have it too, you're being humble. Loyalty is a huge factor in long-term success. The other one, like why watch football? My least favorite thing is watching a team get ahead and then play the Prevent Defense, right? And a lot of people get to a certain level of success and you could have done this too, but they start kind of

playing the Prevent Defense of life. Less risks, they stay in this lane. And I admire you for not always doing that. Like there's a story around San Andreas, if we have time, like you've taken some risks, they stay in this lane and I admire you for not always doing that. Like there's a story around San Andreas if we have time, like you've taken some risks, right? And in Dwayne's case, I'm glad that you revealed that. It's not something I would have thought of, but you're right because the tequila thing you guys have done's working out pretty well because the TV show worked out pretty well

because ballers worked out, but those were all significant risks. And speaking of loyalty, I'd make a mistake if I didn't say this, but Marley is a big part of your success, right? Yeah. Huge. Huge. And she's successful actress in her own right. Yes.

And when you have a husband, conquer in the world and do what you're doing and she's successful. She's she made some decisions in terms of supporting your family. I think I'm right about this. You're very right about that. It helped you rise up in your career as well. I think to do justice to your story we should at least talk about her for a minute. So because I think every most people listen to this probably have a boyfriend a girlfriend or a spouse or a will someday. Yeah. So how's that factored into your achievements in your life? I mean it's really grateful that you brought that up. She's made some incredible sacrifices in her career in order for us to build and grow a family.

You know success is is vapor in Hollywood. It's fleeting at all times. And it's probably an incredible, incredible career for herself. And she would then get to a point where like, who'd be super hot and on the cover of Vanity Fair. And then, you know, she has pregnant and we have a daughter and that takes you off the market for, you know, two years at least. And then you have to build it back up and you have to start to kind of build your career.

And it's almost like, yes, you have the skills and you have the foundation, but you have to then rebuild it with the public. You know what I mean? Not a side out of mind a lot of times. You know, you have to really stay out there, remind people, remind the town, remind the casting directors that you're there and ready to go. You've got it, you've got that star power to give, and then she built it back up again, and then we had a second daughter.

Then you have to go. It's very unique in terms of Hollywood that way. It's a big sacrifice. It's a big sacrifice to have a child. Because again, it's hard to be on camera when you're in the middle of a child. Because again, you just, you can't be on, it's hard to be on camera. You know, when you're in the middle of, you know, kind of having a baby over the course of it, and that has provided me with such an incredible blessing in terms of two incredible daughters, a family that loves me. And once I had my daughters, I really also changed my entire career drive.

It was my drive. A lot of times was, you know, in terms of ambitions and how do I achieve more and how can I have this and more of that. And once I had my daughters, it really just became really easy. It just everything was for them. It's really simple now. So for me, that's the drive. That's a wonderful man. And that was all given to me by Marley. So you guys, that's an element of success. It's having a great relationship. People ask me all the time,

but what if I don't have that support? You don't get something you gotta really work on. It's difficult when you don't have it. In your industry, momentum is one of the most important things to have, and when you have children, you lose that momentum. Yeah. And so that's a huge success sacrifice.

And speaking of your industry, it's not, guys, we're really talking about content creation here. So everyone listening to this is sort of in your business, in a sense that I love what you said earlier, if it's 31 startups. That's right. But also, you're in the business of creating content, and the way it's consumed, like, I know you've got a movie right now that you were going to release in one sort of platform and now you're going to do it differently. But also there's people here that create social media content.

So just I'm just curious to your thoughts on content creation in general, distribution of messages. What do you see coming in the future? And again conventional wisdom is not something that would serve anybody in this space. I know that's an open-ended question, but what are your thoughts on content creation, on the future of your business, and any advice you'd give to somebody right now

who's creating content every single day? Right, well, it's really astute, and it's an important point. And you and I could really talk about this for a long time, and it's an important, important conversation because what's happening is there were barriers. There were barriers of filmmakers, TV makers, short form, social media.

It's now all converged into one. You're right. We are all content creators. And the other day, I had to fill out, I don't know, some registration form or something and I put, you know, kind of career I put content creator and it was one of the first times that I've done it because I've always been a film producer Right, but that's kind of like it's a dated title. It's not really accurate

I create content create content for the world on platform Agnostic and I've shifted the entire company of my company to be that way. We are storytellers. We create content. However, it's however, it's delivered to the audience. I'm okay with it. If it's through a movie theater experience, if it's through iMacs, if it's through streaming through your television, your iPad, your phone, I'm all in. I want to, you know, connect with the most eyeballs around the world possible. And I feel that's what everyone is doing, right? And any former platform through, you know, Instagram, through Snapchat, through Facebook, whatever it may be, it's all the same. Where is your story tellers? What stories need to be told? And now we have access to everyone

now. It's actually really exciting. And the power has shifted to content creators. It's shifted to you. It's shifted to me because distribution now is there for us. Before distribution held all the cards. They held it all. They got to be the cipher and they got to decide what went through and what didn't. Not anymore. Now it's up to you and I and all the people listening to this.

It's like, what story do you want to tell? What message do you want to put out, what's your brand, what's your message, and go ahead and just pick the platform. It all deserves to be made. It's just not necessarily, maybe it doesn't warrant being the actual release, but that's okay. Then it could just go straight directly through, you know, through Instagram, to the world,

and that's okay too. You know what I mean? It's all the same. There's no bias or judgment in terms of how you can some content anymore, and that's really exciting. A couple hundred shows, that's one of my favorite answers ever, and it opened my mind up a little bit. Like we're all content creators, and more specifically guys, we're all storytellers.

Some people don't know it. Your content should be telling a story. So Ed, my let's got a team of 10 or 20 people and he creates content that's podcast, YouTube, Instagram, etc. Bose got a platform. We'll have 2,000 people helping tell his story. Maybe you're gonna have you tell yours with your iPhone. Right. And to the extent that you have a team is probably to the extent of the type of distribution you're going to have. And the lead character for most of you in that content is you, is your consumer, is the difference you want to make, is your mission, is your cause.

Man, that's like another day. I'm so sick when I do these shows. Now I'm listening for like Instagram clips, you know. And that's what I hear when you talk. I'm going to go back for a minute and just ask you a couple things, because this is too good to go a little longer. I'm going to keep you. Sorry. And I know that you don't mind that. And not at all.

But you said not everything's been a success, right? And is there an element of the ones that weren't as successful as you assumed they were going to be that's consistent? In other words, you know, is there something you go back were going to be that's consistent. In other words, you know, is there something you go back and there was a lesson from the couple times you weren't as successful as you wanted to be? What was what was your take away then? Yeah. There is a movie and Dwayne and I have a whole runner about it, but it is relevant and it's relevant to this conversation. And I was just starting to make studio pictures.

I had a dream, which, by the way, that's again, another area we can talk about, like, not dreams in terms of career dreams, like dream in terms of sleeping dreams, I think are really, really important. I mean, Einstein had the theory of relativity in his dream, about a dream, about a farmer in cows. And I had a dream one night that I was in a bubble. And I was running away from my house.

And I had arms and legs, and I was sprinting. And trying to get away from my family. Probably there's some real deep truths there. And I woke up and I wrote it down. And I met with some writers that I like who now are huge writers and write all the illumination movies, all the despicable movies, but I called them and I pitched in this idea about a kid in a mobile bubble

and sold it to Disney as a pitch very quickly and made this movie called Bubble Boy, which Jake Gyllenhaal is one of Jake Gyllenhaal's first movies. And every day on set with the director, I would say, can you believe that Disney's letting us make this movie? It was like, it was egregious. It was pushing the limits, and it wasn't just a straight-ed family comedy.

It's like, this is great. They're really supporting our vision, doing everything. And they were great. And then all supporting our vision, doing everything. And they were great. And then all of a sudden, the movie comes out and once it comes to distribution and marketing, they're like, what is this movie? This is not a Disney movie. This is not a Disney film.

And then the movie got boycott it because they thought we were making fun of, of the disease of being stuck, where you have no immunities and campy out, which was of course not the case, cause the movie, the kid wasn't even, Jakes wasn't even sick at the end, whatever. But my point is, is like, if something doesn't feel right,

it's usually not right. And we weren't in the lane of Disney, we weren't making a movie for that brand. And in the moment I was young and I was like, oh, this is great. We're radical. We're pushing limits. We're doing things.

But that you have to know who your audience is. And eventually in terms of how you're going to get your movie through. So the movie ended being released on like 1,800 or 1,000 screens, which is the death male. If you're released on that amount of screens as a producer, you just know your movies over. The movie opened into a very small amount,

and it was rough. It was rough. You take these things very personally, and you wear it. You know what I mean? And so I just, I feel like it was something where I was really proud of how that all came about. The movie really wasn't intended for Disney to be distributed. And I've learned that now. And that kind of speaks to this concept of like identifying your

lane, know who your audience is, know who your distributor is, know who you're trying to get to, stay in it. If it's like people like a lot of like no where the meat and no where the potatoes are, like it's not, can't be mashed together. That's not what people want. You need to be identified, especially in a world right now, where it's like we're being bombarded with things and shows and video games and, you know, and publications that you can consume so much, so quickly in a vertical world. But it's like you have to cut through. So you have to know what you are,

and that movie really taught me that. Man, that's so good. There's another little secret lesson in there you guys those got all these things in there so Little thing he said and even though it was the wrong lane It wasn't that the idea was bad. He said that when he had this dream I want to talk of this dream thing for a minute. I'll stay on them with you Yeah, he had this dream that he woke up and wrote it down Do you have many people have unbelievable divine ideas in their sleep and think, yeah,

I'm going to go back to bed and I'll write it down in the morning. Did they ever have that happen, people? Little thing? Then you can't remember what it was. It's not the same spirit, the same inspiration. Tell you a really quick story about this. I want to encourage everybody that when you have a dream, you should have a notepad next year bed every single one of you here.

Or something on your phone, you can type in. When you get woken up with that dream, wake up and write it down. Wayne Dyer, you remember the great Wayne Dyer. I met Wayne Dyer running on a beach one day and he was writing a book called The Power of Intention. He ended up being a great book. And we ended up visiting and he told me, he says, I believe that's like the divine waking you up with inspiration. Don't go back to sleep. Get up and write when these ideas wake you up all people another little secret most of you wouldn't know Most people I know that are at the very top level what they do they have that very habit They wake up from dreams and write things down and a lot of the things in their life

Is that not true Bob? It's very very true I completely agree and I do it all the time I still do it I have a notebook right next to my bed and I write wake up. As uncomfortable it can be, you're tired. You have to write it down. It's there. It's rare. Most people don't do it, yet almost all of you dream.

And there's a lot being lost by you, by not paying attention to those dreams. You are so on. That's not any personal involvement handbook anywhere, but it's a truth. It's an absolute truth. And it's not always right there either. It's like you have to write it down because then when you wake up you have to look at it and you have to put a little thought into it and drill down on that

because there is usually something there that you can apply in your business life and your creative life. I had a dream about that I was inside a building during a massive earthquake. And I wrote it down and I woke up, I had already done the first 3D movie ever and then I woke up at the dream and then I was like, what if we made the first disaster movie ever in 3D? And that's what spawned San Andreas.

And I called my very close friends at New Line, Toby American Richard Brenner and Carolyn Blackwood. And I said, this is a one line idea for a movie and they're like, let's do it. Let's go. And that, well, so then, was we did that, you know, I mean, off the back of the relationship with Dwayne, immediately called Dwayne. He said, let's go, brother, I'm in. And that movie was really a huge breakout film for Dwayne and for myself, and for the studio. It was the biggest movie of Warner Brothers. Not just New Liders, the biggest movie of Warner Brothers a new line of 2015.

Master class, you guys. Are you feeling all these elements coming together? The risk with Dwayne building the relationship, what do you want, the dream, the execution, the writing it down, the taking the risk, all of this stuff comes together and bam, you have a boat. That's how these things work, everyone. Okay?

What advice would you give? You could go back. Yeah. A lot of young people watching this. And by the way, I don't mean to be like chronologically. There's early startup entrepreneurs, early people with a dream they're chasing. There's people that listen to this.

There's a lot of athletes, a lot of people wanting to get an entertainment business that follow me as well. If you could go back to that, there's a lot of athletes, a lot of people want to get an entertainment business to follow me as well. If you could go back to that, maybe it wouldn't change anything, but you go back to that guy in New York who's switching majors and you could whisper some advice from the 50-year-old bow, isn't that weird to say? 50-year-old bow could talk to the 18 year old bow. What would you tell them now?

What advice would you give them? It's a great question and it's funny. Just one word popped in in my head really quickly because there's a lot of things right that we wish we could share when we were younger. But the word that popped into my head immediately at is authenticity. And that's something that I really, really struggle with, to be honest with you. Authenticity is nothing to do with honesty or loyalty.

It's about a representation of who you are and who you are to others. And when I moved to Los Angeles, I felt there was a version of Bo that people wanted. There was a version of me as a human being, as a friend, as a producer. And it never, no one knew this, except for me. You're the only one that knows that later is not actually fully authentic to who you are. It was presentational. I was getting things done, I was moving things forward,

and it wasn't feeling fully satisfied and my career wasn't where it should have been. And once I just said, you know what, the real me, I don't care what the repercussions are, I'm letting the real me come through. That's when everything really shifted for me in a huge, huge way. And that is, now look, I had to go through that lesson. So maybe if the 50 year old boat came back and whispered that to NYU Bo, you know, I mean, maybe who knows what would have happened, but it took me a while to figure it out.

And it was just an incredible cleansing and a life and soul changing experience. And maybe it's also so happy. Maybe so happy as a human being to just be in the skin that I want to be in and not trying to be someone else that I think other people want. Wow. Yeah, and I like you a lot. So I'm glad you did that. I mean, what a profound message. You know, I have an element of that. There's even a, it's probably even a little element of that that still exists in me from time to time in certain settings. Yeah. Yeah.

In certain settings, you know, perhaps I could be more authentic. Uh, you make a me think right there. People want Ed Mylett, right? What they know from, you know, from you and on your success from your shows, from your Instagram, they want that. And so you want to deliver that. But but I don't know, you know, is that exactly 100% exactly who you are inside and how you're feeling at that exact moment, you know, it's like it's... Well, that's the thing. Well, I'll answer that. That's a great question for both of us, too. I'm a really multi-faceted person. So there are moments that I think the true me is this, but I have down moments and weak moments and angry moments and fearful moments

too. And perhaps it would be better for me in certain environments to share those more often. Because to your point earlier, too, I did make the decision. I've gotten older, my circle of friends has gotten smaller and deeper. And I put a much more, my energy into a more concentrated place. I totally agree with the points that you've made, too. Like, it's, I like, you said earlier that you enjoy listening to my content when we're off camera because it's validated things that you already do. And the reason that today is so powerful for me is it validates things I already do. And it validates things that I teach and you're like a manifestation of so many of these things. A couple more things really quickly.

I want to talk about pivoting. Right now, between COVID, the economy has changed, lots changed, and is going to continue to change. And during the time that we're recording this, there's a great conversation happening in this country about justice and inequality, and that needs to be had, as painful as it is to have, as necessary to have, and I'm grateful that it's happening. I'd like to see these injustices stop and these murders stop, but same time the conversations needed to be had.

And you, though, even in business, have had to pivot. You had a movie, talk about that. There was supposed to do one thing this summer. I mean, you made a huge decision there. Talk about, in life, entrepreneurship, as a husband, as a father, as a business person, the idea of being willing to have vision in pivot and not to stay down a road that you know is leading to a place that's not going to be successful. Yeah, wow.

That's first, thank you for your honesty about authenticity. First of all, I think that's really important and I appreciate you being honest about that because I think it's important, I think it's important for people to really who are listening to really think about that. And I wish I could have gotten there even sooner and that was a cool for you to acknowledge that.

In terms of, secondly, in terms of where the world is at, I mean, and what's happening and what we've been through in the last three months, it's the entire world is going through. And that's the first time that you could really point to something, at least in our generation, the world, 7 billion people is having a shared experience right now. So we're all going through it. We're all feeling it on a deep kind of intimate personal level, on a family level, how that impacts us. And then as you spread it out amongst us, your friends and social group

level and that into business and how we're going to kind of interact and work together, you know, in the upcoming future, it's an extraordinary, you know, process that we're going to have to kind of figure out to get through it. And it really is going to take a lot of adaptability, a lot of patience, a lot of empathy. I really think empathy is such an important word right now that applies to both what's going on in terms of what we experienced with the coronavirus and what's going on in terms of what we experienced and with the coronavirus and what's going on with the conversations about race and the criminal system and how we are all living together in equality. So we have to start to make these adjustments

in major ways. And I think it's something that I actually feel rather comfortable doing because from a business level, it's what I have to do all the time. Constantly, kind of having to adapt something happens on a production. Can't do this, okay great, let's quickly shift and go here. It's like the day costs on our movies are $400,000 a day.

There's no time to let me think about this. Let me take the night and let you get back to you tomorrow. It's like, we have to make that decision. We have to make it now, because we have responsibility to our investors and studios. And we have to be, you know, fiscally smart and responsible. So in a way, I have that in my DNA. I'd always have had it, but now it's really,

it's a muscle that's been worked out. And so we wanna discuss it in terms of, on a business level, we got hit really hard in terms of two movies that were in production and two of the biggest movies of my career and Dwayne's career as well. One is Jungle Cruise, which is a movie that we were one week

away from finishing. We had the final mix that we were about to the movie was shot. It was edited. 2000 visual effects were about to be complete. We're about to be, you know, kind of finished. And we just were doing the final mix. And then we're going to release it the summer in July. We still have that one week left.

We'll have to figure out how to do that, but now we're starting to open up, we'll get back there and we'll do a socially distant mix with the director and the producers and Dwayne will be there and his team. And we'll finish that movie, but we really took a strong position to move the movie an entire year to July 2021.

I think I was really important. A lot of movies were shifting three months and six months. We really wanted to wait a year. The movie is so important to us. It's Dwayne and Emily Blunt. Jack Whitehall, the movie is an event. It's an experience. We were tasked with responsibility by the Walt Disney Company to adapt the first ride ever at Disneyland in 1955. Now, I was the first ride ever open in the opening of Disneyland, but it also was designed and created by Walt Disney himself.

He created Jungle Cruise. He designed that ride. He was the first skipper. So we were shoulder with this incredible responsibility, which we were excited about. And I think we achieved it in the movie, but we could not have anything, it could not sleep with myself you know and kind of if the movie opened in a few months from now and people were like hey man sorry about what's going on with the world that people didn't go see your movie.

That was something you like while we talked about things that are out of our control this is something that while yes the what's going on in the world and the pandemic, and everything else is like, you couldn't predict and we can't fully manage, but what we can manage is we can go ahead and take the position that, hey, let's move this for a year. Let's get the world back on its feet. Let's get the theme parks back open.

Let's get the cruise ships going. And let's go in a global tour. And let's go ahead and make sure that we can have Dwayne and Emily go everywhere around the country to make sure that they're bringing people in to see that film. So that that's one pivot that I wanted to you know discuss with you and answer your question on. It's a huge pivot you guys. You're talking about a huge pivot. So I'm gonna shot with all the money invested in a movie like that to call a year wait is a major move and so you

may need to make tough calls like that too, guys, in your businesses, in your life, and in your family right now. Some of you been at message me, what should I do with my, should I sell my house? Hey, maybe I'm not seeing, I don't know your personal financial situation, but if there's a major move you need to make,

you gotta have the vision and the risk to take it. Okay, last question. Yeah. Last thing. I first off, I wanna say one thing. I know why you won, and it's obviously you're great at what you do, but you prove at the highest levels in life, good people can win.

Yeah. And let me say some bow. You're right in the middle. And it comes through. There's your spirit is infectious. Your goodness is contagious. And I'm really glad. No, I'm really nemmy at that.

I'm glad you're winning. You know this, your industry and industries I'm involved with. Sometimes you're disappointed when you meet someone that you look up to and you admire, it's been successful. And in your case, you're an even better man. And that's just wonderful to know. So I ask you the advice you give you. I mean, I'd ask you the advice you'd give the young 18 year old

you. And then the last thing is everyone's got to sit in a conversation today with one of the most successful people in the world and his chosen industry, you. And you know, if they could sit down at Starbucks for five minutes with you, and say Mr. Flint, I'm sorry to bother you, but I've got a dream. and say, Mr. Flint, I'm sorry to bother you, but I've got a dream, like you had a dream. And it's X, Y, or Z. And I'm not exactly sure whether I can do it. I'm not exactly sure where to begin. What would your advice be to somebody who says, I've got a big dream, and I want to make it happen?

What would you say to them? I've got a few things to say to that. One is I think those long horizon dreams are critical and it's really important to have those, to have the vision of what you're going to do. But in terms of achieving them, I really think it's so important to go ahead and set short-term, digestible and achievable goals. Again, I had to learn that lesson the hard way and I set these crazy lofty goals and it wasn't achieving them

and I was feeling like a failure. Like I was feeling like really, like I wanted to just quit and move back to Miami and be a waiter and just kind of be a beach bum. And that was it, like really. But once I started to change to short goals and I moved out to Los Angeles and I got a great opportunity to work

for the biggest producer in the world, producer by the name of Scott Rudin, who's won every Oscar, Tony, brilliant, brilliant man in Crudeland to be his assistant, to be his sixth assistant in the Totem Bowl, worked my way up to be his first. And when I was his first, I set a goal.

I set a goal to stay for six months. Stay for six months. Because he was very tough, very demanding. You're working 18 hours a day, and it was, there was no, no, accepted from him. Just get it done. Period. Achieve the first six months.

Set another six months. Set another six months said another six months I say that for 18 months when it was long as 10 year to assistance to this day But I didn't say like I wanted to be run his company. Yeah, I didn't say that because I would have failed We're not a cheetah. I want to be his assistant for six months I think that's really important and then when I left there I said okay, I'm ready I want to make an indie feature and I want to make it within 12 months. That was in January of 95. I started shooting a movie, my first movie in May of 95,

within six months. So I had achieved again, which are these, and then I wanted to get into a film festival and then I wanted to, and that was my number one goal after we achieved it. We get another six months later, we world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, the biggest film festival in the world with Cam.

That was 12 months in terms of making a movie and then have it world premiere at Sundance. What? Which is crazy, and that was all 25 years old. But the point being to this conversation in Starbucks is I didn't say I'd wanna be running, you know, what universal studios,, I didn't say I wanted to be running, you know, what universal studios. And I didn't say that I want to make $3 billion in the box office.

I would have said that at 20 years old. I said, I want to be an assistant for six months and I want to be the best one he's ever had. I said, I want to make an independent feature film. And I wanted to world premiere at a film festival. And all of those things happen. And to, you know, what happens then is like, you build this momentum, you get this wind at your back, you start to get some downhill speed.

And I mean, another indeed, another indeed, another indeed, five movies in a row, it's Sundance Film Festival. You know, it's like, and then the six one went to Cannes Film Festival. And then, then I want to make bigger movies and then I want to make studio films, and I want to make blackpusters, it's like, though, it took all those steps to get there

in 25 years and, you know, fortunately, I'm still doing it and I love what I do and I'm so happy and I'm so blessed to be able to have this career. But like, it took those small steps, those small measures and that's, that's would be the story I would tell. Very, very good. Guys, this is like a massive,

this is one of these you don't listen to watch. You go all the way back and you listen or watch this again. You owe me tequila, by the way, last thing. Yeah. So the last thing, by the way, I, I, I, I, I, I, for me, this was, this was one of those ones where like, I don't, I do a lot of shows. I'm writing notes down as we're, as we're going through this. These are things for me as well. But tell them lastly, because we're going to get the promo in because we want to do it. All right. You and Dwayne and some others have Tequila right now that I'm about to sample. What's the name of the Tequila? Where do they go? You're about to get a shipment for me. It's called Teiramaana, which is, you know, it comes from Mauna, which is Dwayne's kind of always always his mantra about mono, your spirit, your energy

and terror is the earth. So it's energy of the earth. It's 100% organic dwein and is part of Denny Garcia. They partnered with Ken Austin. They created this incredible tequila that dwein went down to Mexico. They created this incredible operation. They are making something really extraordinary. If you were to te kill a fan, I promise you, you will love this. Quality is so important. It's really like also Dwayne as the people's champ wanted to make the people's to kill us.

So like, it's priced really reasonably unfair. I'm very fortunate to have a small part of it, but I'm having a blast with it. Dwayne is having a great time. And what it has allowed us is, is I'm a huge believer, and I'll close with this, is I'm a big believer in the concept of toast. I love making toast, whether it's with your family,

whether it's your friends, or whether it's at a kickoff event. I really believe that you need someone to stand up and raise a glass. And say why we're all here, what we're trying to achieve remind people how lucky we are to be in this room or be together or have our health. And it's something that it really gets over like and I love it and all my friends and Dwayne and everyone that I work with makes fun of me because they know if they're a dinner with me I'm going to stand up and I'm going to raise a glass

and make a toast. It's now a termana but it could be with anything but think about that concept. You know you're sharing something altogether. You're drinking something. You know, it's uniting you, bringing together, getting ready to go into the mission, whatever that is, or as a family, you're saying, like, let's be grateful for the day and let's celebrate our love. And the fact we can be together and have food on the table. It really connects to all those levels.

And so to be part of something like this, I know it's a little bit out there, and a little spiritual, but the term on a part of it is really cool, because that's something that I've always wanted to be part of, and it's an honor to be part of the team with the term on us. So I can't wait for you to taste it and let me know. And I know you're going to be honest with me, Ed, and tell me what you think. I will.

I'll tell you, you know that. Hey, I wish you continued success. Thank you. And I enjoyed today so much. I took these notes here today, and I'm going to tell you something what I'm going continued success. Thank you. And I enjoyed the day so much. I took these notes here today, and I'm going to tell you something what I'm going to do. I have a break between calls. I want to review some of the stuff with my son upstairs.

My son's going to get ready to go off to college. I think there are just lessons fresh that you've just given that I'm going to be sharing immediately. And everybody else out there, I hope you share this show. This is one of those you want to share with people you love that you believe in. And to get access to somebody like Bo is not easy to do every day for you guys. So I'm grateful you all get to meet Bo, experience him, and thank you brother. I enjoyed it tremendously.

Oh man, what a blast. What an honor to be here and privilege. And I cannot believe the level of research and your questions are so right on the target man, right on the money and it cannot wait to be with you in person. And we're going to raise a glass of tarmana and we're going to hang out and you're going to toast. And you're going to toast. I will get ready for it. All right, everybody, hey, remind you every day, I kind of do a toast every day.

We call it the max out two minute drill. We gather every day 730 Pacific 1030 Eastern on Instagram, turning notifications on. When I make a post, engage in the dialogue, make a comment, reply to other people's comments. Comment every day, if you do that, I pick winners every Sunday, they get trips with me, they get ride on my plane sometimes, they come see me speak, they meet my guests, they get max out, Garrett's just a wonderful way to connect with you. It's my version of Bose toast every single day on Instagram. So I'll see you guys there. God bless you and max out This is the end you