The Power of Legacy and influence: Will Packer, Fight Night and Cultivating Young Black Creators

Introduction [Applause] all right all right all right uh ladies and gentlemen without without further Ado we're going to bring our our moderator Miss Danielle Cadet please give her a round of [Applause] applause and also bring out the man of the hour the Florida R himself Mr will parer give him a round of applause guys I'm in the vineyard baby stop playing what's happening no energy energy energy I love it they not like us right at all of Summer it's a song of the summer W let me tell you something how I knew they weren like us the film festival audience started singing along the rock with you at the beginning they don't do that at Sundance let going tell you right now never seen that at Toronto International Film Festival you know you're with black folks when we're singing Michael Jackson that's why I'm here I love my people you've been to Circuit a have I been a I went there for First Time on the Vineyard the first time last night tell me about it what was your experience uh I was trying to get out of there because I was there me and my wife I thought we had got lost I thought we were in Atlanta I said okay I said baby let's get in and get out cuz you know they going to shut this down this is not going to last but let me tell you what's beautiful about Oak Bluffs they not going to shut it down am I right that's what I know they're not going to shut it down no no circuit AB is us that's all us how many people uh first time in the vineyard like me first time let's see oh a couple of us how many people been coming for a while some OG's let me get some OG's OG's been coming here for years and years and years five years or more at the vineyard five years or more let's go what about a decade 10 years or more oh there we go oh okay what about the O OG's I need 20 years yeah oh that's family families here look at the real Rich we go we got the little ones right here those are people that summer in the vineyard that's what that is right there listen my parents would let me play with y'all when I was growing up cuz they felt like y I'm y' I'm with y'all list this little um freak Nick for Rich folks I'm telling everybody y'all y'all done had the secret long enough I'm telling I'm telling come on let's let's do this not freak Nick for Rich folks you know you're not right have you been on uh circuit I I listen l i I live off circuit AB so I know I so you know I know oh I list is what I love how I know black people have made it cuz y'all go and drop y'all kids off of circuit AB leave leave and don't give a damn whose kids are at the arcade right now listen whose kids are at the arcade right now they don't check on their kids they don't call them and the kids better not call them not at all that's how I know we made it who was that Island house last night anybody at Island House Island House what is it 11 circuit now is what they call it 11 circuit sorry sorry old school Island some people ain't seen their kids in 2 three days that was that was Martin's dream that's what he was hoping for you're not right you're not right what time for the couch we can't just come out here okay yeah anybody know what we came anybody know about this The Gold Couch gold couch so so this was the actual couch that when Rick James got high went to Charlie Murphy's house and he sat on the couch and said f did you know that yeah I did know that did I did cuz I just made that up so that's definitely that was a complete a complete lie so it's interesting that you do it I knew that I knew that I was just talking to Lenny about the couch we were just he just told me to no let's talk about let's out this this actually is um it's the couch from hillbilly elery JD Vance actually no okay all right so you know you know you know now you know you got to stop now you know you got to stop was a safe space now we oh now y'all woke that's what come on it's rich people freak Mick you got to be careful okay this is actually I'm honored to actually be sitting on his couch because a cultural icon himself Lenny s he is somebody that has been y'all know Lenny L phographer come on come on I know you're out there somewhere and he is um he's with Rock Nation right and so this couch sat in offices of Rock Nation and he was there with Jay-Z and all the the fancy Rock Nation folks and he started taking celebrity pictures on this couch and now this couch travels actually around the country and soon to be around the world and so people all kinds of interesting people have sat in that conversation on this I love it and and in all seriousness I love it because this is the kind of like cultural thing that's for us that we get that you can do at a Martha's Vineyard Film Festival that you don't do the couch is here the couch is here y'all yeah so appreciate you Lenny yeah yeah shout out to Lenny for letting us have that Here and Now and you sitting on the couch along with Rick James you know let's get into it we have so much to talk about and y'all know this this panel obviously is not like any other panel we came out to not like us so we about to really it's Saturday right on the V they know what they came for yeah right we're going to close out beautifully so we're talking Legacy Legacy Legacy right we are talking about your prolific career I'm so excited to be having this conversation ahead of the screening for fight night and we we'll get to fight night in a second but I want to talk about the moment that you knew this was your career path that you wanted to produce and and make films what was that moment that you really knew this is what you wanted to do you know I stumbled into it so I was um I was a sophomore at How He Got in Filmmaking at FAMU Florida University there we go all right R's in the house uh any other HBCU in the house I love that look at that love they couldn't get in the fam but we love them anyway we love uhuh no don't you I love my Howard my Hampton my morous Spellman I love my folks they couldn't get in so um you're not right not right I was at I was at FAMU and um it was actually a dream of my longtime partner still best friend and my fraternity brother um Rob Hardy mhm right and he wanted to be a filmmaker and I helped him to make our first movie which was called Chocolate City and we shot it there on the campus of Florida andm University and what was interesting the reason that I realized and fell in love with this medium and with this craft is that we created the film shot It produced it didn't have a budget didn't have experience got it done and we were in an auditorium just like this and we had our Premiere we were very audacious even back then and we had our Black Tie premiere for Chocolate City this little film that starts students and we didn't know much about what we were doing but it was our movie and we were proud of it and we had our black TI Premiere we made these students put on tuxes and gowns to cut you know broke college student I mean f listen they had money at Howard family we was broke I'm going tell you that right now nobody we rent in txas but that's the only way you could get in and I'll never forget I stood is Auditorium just like this Lee Hall Auditorium student Auditorium right and I stood on that stage to introduce our little movie Chaka City and this entire front row down here was empty nobody was in those rows because I had invited all the executives from Hollywood if you were with a major Studio I invited the chairman of Sony and Paramount and Universal Warner Brothers I invited them all mind you nobody RSVP nobody had the respect to at least decline the invitation however I said to myself I said self what if a bunch of private jets show up at Tallahassee Regional Airport the morning of the premiere I need to be prepared right so I saved this front row none of those people came nobody I even invited Oprah I I let me tell you I had invited all those people at my mama cuz you know black mama baby you need to invite Oprah I said Ma I don't know Oprah she said you don't know none of those other people either I invited Oprah and gave her a plus one listen St orale covered didn't matter gracious of you that's gracious I'm up here front row is empty but every other seat was packed just like right now just like you guys are out here every other seat was packed and it was standing room only and in that moment and they watched it and they loved it they enjoyed themselves cuz they saw themselves on film because it was a movie about black college Life As We Knew It and I realized right then that that I wasn't making these movies for that front row I was making them for everybody else in the audience and I fell in love with the power of film making and storytelling and seeing the reaction that it got from audiences that's powerful that's let's give another round of applause for that cuz that's for real you know what you know what I you know what that I learned from that story it's just like an alpha man to make everybody come to Something in okay come on now that's like an alpha man say what fraternity I was in but I mean you know being the leader that I am Alphas in the building any Alphas in come on okay all right are my Soros in the building any any any Alp Five ski Soros here we go what about Del cuz we ain't going to get me beat up in the parking lot there we go there we go let's get our divide n love in here we got right let's stop right there cuz if you name the cues they going to tear this place up so don't don't see don't uhuh uh uh we we trying to get our deposit back on this riddle so don't you get to step in uh-uh don't call out the accuses don't do that I want I want to talk about something you just said which is which is so powerful and you know black folks say you know it's it's one thing to know who you are it's another thing to know who you are right and you just said something so important in that it was important to you to tell stories to Black black people that reflect black life that reflect black experience and you've had such an incredible career in Hollywood and how do you think what do you think the impact of your films that have portrayed black life in a very organic authentic way what impact do you feel like that's had on an industry that quite frankly doesn't often value those stories yeah The Impact of His Films um two things two things very clearly one is is the fact that my films have been successful commercially and you can't Overlook that because at the end of the day the film industry is like every other industry it operates under an economic imperative okay it is um great to think that it's an industry made of artist who are making their best art and hoping that their art can be received and shown to the masses that's not the case it is definitely driven by artists but it is controlled by capitalists and by people who count the numbers and the X's and O's and finance folks right and so the fact that I have had films that happen to Center people that look like you and look like me and look like y'all and that they have been financially successful that is what Hollywood has to pay attention to it's not like they necessarily want or care to push an inclusive Progressive agenda Hollywood gets a a wrap because you know you have some of the most um well-meaning Progressive liberal folks that'll cut a check in a minute right to a strong cause but you look at the boardrooms you look at the decision makers you look at the folks at the highest rungs of power it's not Equitable they don't look like me I'm still very much in many rooms I go into the only black person in the room but when you make money when you speak the language that they have to speak right they have to pay attention to their bottom line and when I have folks that look like this room and they all come out and show up for girls trip or Think Like a Man or straight out of comp like whatever when they come out then they go oh oh we need we need more of those right and that means that other filmmakers have an opportunity to come in because they can say yeah I have a film that you know is in that bang doesn't mean that that's the only films that we can get made but you got to understand the industry you got to understand how it works so certainly that this thing I would say is just um showing a A diversity of us on screen and showing us in in realistic full rounded depictions of life right even here you you you walk around the vineyard you're going to see all kind of folks and it's a beautiful thing and it feels like a a very inclusive safe space for us our movies or television shows especially if you go back you see more of it now but you go back even 10 years right they didn't necessarily look like that I definitely feel the impact of showing us again not just perfect and not just bad not like the real I remember when I made girls trip there was a concern about uh from the studio about this depiction of black women who were Behaving Badly they were really nervous about that y'all and uh Malcolm Lee shout out to my brother and I we said listen as long as we do it in an authentic way right as long as we're showing these as real well-rounded sisters then we will have the license to do to take these sisters the way these characters would actually go another example is a movie I made um called Stomp the Yard I made Stomp the Yard right and Stomp the Yard thank you stom the yes yes very very proud of that that was my first number one movie I was a data F Theta Sweetheart hello hello you know what I still have the power of that for me that I'm most proud of is that I still have people that come up to me to this day and that will say that their son daughter niece nephew or even sometimes I will have people say I went to college because of what I saw in that movie right and I remember growing up watching like a different world right in school days and saying and Shout out cuz some of y'all saw the different world cast was here earlier today and or earlier this week it's amazing to see them they all still look great oh come on Glenn tman you better stop it I didn't know Glenn Kerman was in the building you better stand up come on now come on oh my God that's my man GT in the building looking good you better not put that hat down though that's a clean that's a clean brim G so for example right that is how we pay it for it and start a positivity cycle because I saw that and I said oh wow that looks cool that looks like something I want to be a part of and with Stomp The Y we try to do the same thing and I hear people that will say yo my kid got interested in going to college cuz he wanted to go and pledge that fictional fraternity he wanted to go to truth College which is the college that we made up um shot on the campus of Morris Brown because it looked cool on screen and as we know that is the power of this medium the power is that people uh especially young people right they want to achieve what they see they believe in what they see and so if they can't see it if they don't see examples of things like that then they don't you know it doesn't speak to them in the same way that it would if it was just in a textbook or just at a lecture that's right absolutely yeah absolutely so you said you're very humble you said that you've had commercial success but let's let's talk numbers right let's talk money right your films have grossed 1 billion Commercial Success dollar y'all heard y'all heard let me let me just I didn't I didn't say million I said billion dollars Big B not the little right and to your I mean to your point about commercial success and and and what that means and how hard that is to achieve what's your reaction when you hear that number that you've been able that you've gone from the empty row fmu yeah to a billion dollars in in in Revenue in Gross in gross sales well first of all it's a lot of cues in here so I might get robbed in the parking lot let's start there let's start do I have security before I answer this I'm just setting the toone I hope y'all have y'all ready have a good time tonight y'all ready come on now let me tell you something I'm me just skip ahead y'all are the first audience to see our pilot episode of Fight Night the first audience anywhere and I can't think of a better audience to do it so I'm I'm I'm excited so that's the energy that you get love love to my brothers of Omega SciFi um so you know billion Wow first of all that's a staggering number right right and um it's still you know I I I'm blessed I'm very very blessed but I realize from once that came first of all the Lord God like he allowed me to use skills that he gave me amen and I am make no bones about I'm not shy at all that I am a person of Faith the other thing is that it came from y'all this is the power that we don't always recognize that we have I will have conversations with people sometimes and they will talk about like a a movie they don't like right or a project they don't like or or or what have filmmaker whatever and I will say well if it's getting made and especially if it's getting made repeatedly somebody's watching it somebody likes it right Hollywood is just not in the business of saying oh this is who we're going to ordain as a Star Force upon you somebody is watching it audiences have the power so audiences have have come in and and showed out and supported my projects and I'm I'm so blessed the other thing is that you don't and this applies to all of us no matter what field of Industry you're in you don't really like I didn't set out to say you know I'm on my way to a billion I wasn't every movie counting off like how close I am right but when you gr right and I know there are a lot of successful people in this room that know this to be true when when I remember when I was running track a lot of us watching the Olympics right now you watch those track stars when they first start off they're not looking at the Finish Line I remember my track coach coach Jackson he used to say Packer don't look at that Finish Line you keep looking at that ain't gonna have nothing to do with you because you're never going to make it right Focus right here on what's in front of you right watch that when you watch those runners in Paris they looking down and then once they get going get their momentum they look up to where they're going put your head down and grind that's what I tell people so how did I get to a billion because I worked and I bust my ass and every single project I was worried about that project and working on that thing and when I looked up I had had an amazing amount of success that I'm so blessed to have that's amazing that's fantastic let's talk HBCU right um so we got our HBCU grads in the building right right and again going back to you know that moment when you knew this is what you wanted to do and you have since had incredible success and throughout your career you've really you have you have supported HBCU and supported creativity this that students you know receive those resources and and support that they need in order to have a career like yours tell me why that's important to you why is it important to really cultivate young black creator at that stage in their career yeah well because they don't have the same infrastructure and feeder system and Cultivating Young Black Creators network especially in Industries like entertainment that other schools do and so I came from an HBCU I knew nobody in Hollywood I didn't know I couldn't find it on the map I did not have I didn't have the right last name I didn't have money I didn't have anything and I made a little movie at that HBCU those students cared I then went on a tour with with that little movie and I showed it at the Au and showed it at Hampton and showed it at Howard and showed it at these places and got love and got support and so I would be remiss if I was not paying that back so I'm a big proponent of HBCU because I understand that they are so much of the foundation of black success in our society there is there's a misconception that HBCU are monolithic right everybody black so all y'all you know must be the same and think the same and the biggest challenge that I had academically socially um succeeding in extracurricular events was at an HBCU because I somebody in this room may be able to relate when I was growing up I grew up in St P Florida and I was typically one of very few if not the only one black kid in the honors class and AP classes right I was that one I stood out they knew me right and and often times I would get underestimated by either the white students or even sometimes the teachers you know what I mean what is will you okay little William you need to I know more than anybody in this class but I that's cool let keep underestimating me right I took advantage of that because I stood out I stood out and I was you know Mr St Pete high school student body president all the things I went to fam you them people care nothing about me they said hey man you look just like the rest of us I made straight A like you made straight a right you know I was back then was National chief achievement schols National marriage schol they like we National married you National married and I was like oh [ __ ] smart black people I got to change my game I got I it's not going to work but what's interesting is that you have so many different ideologies so many different orientations so many different backgrounds and so it is actually very diverse and I learned so much at an HBCU about how to conquer the challenges of Hollywood because it was nothing like when we raised the money for our first movie Chocolate City some of that money came from the panell organization right so I had to walk in to pan hell and convince the cappers and the q's and the sigmas and the Deltas that they should get the money to us and not somebody else that's one of the hardest pitches I ever had to do to this day I say Sony Universal y'all don't have nothing on what I had to do at FAMU right but I had to walk in front of the FAMU student Senate and and they were throwing Robert rul of order at me and I'm like I'm like Dave we was drunk at the club last night Dave you go you got you're out of order sir what what but y'all know how we are we take our stuff very seriously it's these are bastions of Excellence so everything I need to know I learned at an HBC I love that love that love that love that that is amazing let's talk about I want to talk about fight night it is going to be streaming on peacock right who you you've had a a 10-year creative relationship with which is incredible 10 years is a long time y'all let's give it up for peacock with with NBC Universal Universal yes talk before we get into fight night talk to me a little bit about that relationship with NBC Universal and and and for that to last 10 years what does that mean to you how's that how has that creative relationship really grown and uh fed your career listen it's it's huge obviously it is a it's a two-way street this is an industry where you need Relationship with NBCUniversal people that are going to advocate for you you need people that are going to have your back and if you can have uh people empowered media companies to have your back then you're a step ahead and I give a lot of props and love to the chairwoman of NBC Universal and her name is Donna Langley and she is one of and we can definitely clap for her cuz she's one of very few women in that position when we when they had the um the strike last year in our industry and the writers and actors went on strike the only female at that negotiating table was Donna Langley and she's somebody that has Rose through the ranks of the industry and realizes the value in a relationship like mine now it's a two-way street this is a business so it's not like I have not been giving them hits and not been knocking out of the park right but I feel like they value the relationship because they know because everything I do is not going to be number one and not going to be huge but they real realiz well we want to have relationships with the important types of filmmakers that are telling the types of stories that we need to put out there because ultimately if we're telling stories that look like the world that are diverse and Progressive the money is going to come people will come because audiences want to see themselves so I have definitely felt supported you know I think about all the projects that I've done uh over at Universal and I couldn't I could not have done it without people at the highest levels saying we're going to support that one of the things the last thing I say about that is that you know when you see a project sometimes you know a project comes out and maybe you didn't hear about it people are talking about it's like oh that came out already what what happened to that like you know and they didn't have the marketing they didn't have the support they didn't have the pr often times and that is the filmmakers often times especially if you're not somebody that's at a particular level you can't control that you are just doing the best you can you make your project and you're handing it off to somebody that's Distributing it and they do decide what projects they're going to get behind in a major way and the ones that they don't here's how we level the playing field though if there is something that you see that you heard about that that you know is important that that you would like to see more of man listen to me I need you to yell it from the highest of the hills we have that power the one thing that Hollywood cannot control is the audiences Hollywood is always chasing the audiences and trying to figure out what audiences like what they want to see what they don't want to see if there is something out there a filmmaker an actor tell everybody support them not only by going to see it go to see it and then tell everybody you know tweet about it post about it all that stuff that we you know how we do we don't like something right right right you know what I'm saying black folks gonna tell you when we don't like everybody know right that CVS on Third Avenue is racist everybody know right how they did you when you when you brought that long long receipt back and wanted your money you knew you weren't going to use that stuff why did you buy it but the point is you have to use that same power because one thing about our audiences we are loud and we are persuasive we really are people pay attention to it you want to you know you look at the trending topics right now I don't even have to look I know there's something on there that's very specific culturally specific to us that's how we are so my point is just that every filmmaker may not have a big huge budget like you know well Packer projects typically have but that's go out and support and tell everybody because that's how they will get there that's how I got there by people very early supporting my first early movie after I graduated from family was called twah anybody ever heard the movie [Music] twah that's the freaky section over there because I'mma tell you later what twah was about but um I haven't seen TW hav't it was not a church movie but but it wasn't praise this it was not praise this but the point is people talked about it right and people encourage other people to see it and that's how I got to where I am now so the audiences have the power I do not want you all you guys have the power really quickly I we're about to they're about to folks are about to see Fight Night quickly tell us about the Genesis of this series and the podcast that you produce so let let the folks know what they're about to get into so you all about to see uh Fight Night fight night 101 is what we call it episode 101 a pilot episode this started 10 years ago um nine eight nine years ago and that's the other thing a lot of these projects that you see they got long gestation processes it does not happen overnight first it was it was brought to me it was pitched to me by uh an amazing brother in Atlanta named Kenny Burns and another guy named Jeff keading and y'all know KB absolutely and so brought it to me and we wanted it to be a movie we actually tried to make uh fight night into a feature film and went out wrote a script sold it it did not work project was dead but this is how Hollywood works and this is how life works if you believe in something you can't give up right doesn't matter what anybody else says if you believe in it you fight for it and so years later we turned it into a podcast and that podcast told the story and allowed us to show how we would do the storytelling that you all are about to see now there we go that podcast is what we then sold as a limited series I called my good friend Kevin Hart he had been working on uh a project called Uptown Saturday night you all remember that he was looking to do a remake of that and Uptown Saturday night the central um uh setpiece is based on what happens here because if you remember porier and Cosby they get robbed at a underground casino night and there was a lottery ticket well here this is the true story of an off thee books Muhammad Ali fight he refused to fight in Vietnam it was very polarizing some folk brought him down to Georgia to do an unsanctioned boxing match that attracted a lot of people from all over the country to come because it was exciting to see Ali fight it it especially attracted a lot of high-profile African-Americans and some high-profile gangsters and these gangsters came from all over the country and there was this underground casino that this young Hustler was doing at the time and some folks came in and robbed everybody and that is just the entry point of how we go into this story from there is where it really gets interesting so y'all going to want to check this out y'all going to want to see this pilot episode will power Packer thank you ladies and gentlemen thank you thank you so let's give a warm welcome and I want yall to you know give a really really warm welcome for our moderator Miss Tiffany cross and let we're going to also bring out to the stage uh executive prod producer and the fam you grad Mr will Packer give him a round of applause guys we're to bring out our showrunner and executive producer and Creator Shay auan come on out Shay and please please give the Howard graduate Mr rajie P hson a round of applause y'all hey [Laughter] ch all right last but not not least Mr Don Cheeto y'all come on Don and please show her some love Miss Chloe Bailey all right all right do your thing hi everybody um I'm so excited about this series that was that not the dopest closing scene where y'all clutching like what is about to happen when they [ __ ] the gun I I'm so excited so I have to tell you I saw episode one and two I won't tell you what happens in two but we do meet Miss Khloe Bailey in episode number two so stay tuned all right I got a lot of questions but first I want to ask the audience a question is Atlanta in the house anywhere oh yeah a town down baby maretta where is better decada where greater out there anybody all right PE point I love I love I love that this is a series um centered my hometown number one so we thank you for that um before I get to the cast well I do I know the audience got to hear a lot about your career earlier but I do have to ask you there does seem to be a shift from like film you know uh people are now doing these limited series where people might complain a show is you know a film is 2 and a half hours as long but we'll binge watch on the couch A8 hour Limited series and feel accomplished afterwards like yes I got through um what do you think about that shift and what made you do this as a limited series and not as a film as a producer I love it I love it because you have so much more room license and breath to tell the stories to get into these characters right I told you guys earlier that the the the heist and the Muhammad Ali fight is just our entry point you see that now you see where we end in the pilot it goes there it goes into a very complex way of characters and narratives that we could not have done in a movie I I spoke earlier about how initially we tried to make this as a movie I'm so glad how many of y'all know sometimes God know way better than us right all the time because all the time I thought that I wanted to do it that way but this was the way to do it because now I've got so much room to incorporate these amazing actors and these Incredible characters that Shay created and so I could not have done that without it being a limited series and that's also the medium now where the best actors are working so when I put in those calls and had those conversations with a a cast at this level they didn't Sher at saying a limited series it was like let's talk about it what's it about let's get into it used to be that you know a miniseries that it used to be called was look down upon right not anymore some of the best people working in television are doing work like this yeah it's amazing how things shift uh in entertainment I got to ask Miss teraji definitely earned it Henson who y already shout out you I I have to tell you I told uh will this when I was watching when I watched it I didn't see Shug Avery I did not see teraji Henson I only saw Vivien I really felt like I was eavesdropping on this scene that speaks to your talent you become the characters you play talk to us about what it was like playing bringing Vivan to life and what parts of your own personal experience did you bring to this character um Vivian um oh God okay so whenever I get these these ballsy women these characters I know why I'm being tapped I mean I know you tapped me for all the reasons why you did but sometimes I get tapped because of the cookie sensation so for me it's about um I gotta fall way away from who she is and I know people are in love with her or whatever but been there did it done that so I'm always I when that when I spoke to Craig I was like we got to make sure it's not we can't do any cookie isms you know um the difference between her and so always get into the differences like what makes her very different from a woman like that who has sort of kind of the same um strength qualities you know unapologetically themselves um she has she's more grounded she was way more grounded um she was chicken man's backbone his foundation she was the the business the business sense um so that's how I try to keep the characters from bleeding and and feeling like the same is always finding what makes this character very different from any other character that I've ever portrayed if the character seems like it's too leaning too close to something that already done then it's somebody else's blessing yeah I love that and I you know what I love just the Blackness of this show you know it it's not ni to see characters where we have depths you don't Smack us across the head with the storyline we're allowed to breathe and have a background and understand and there's a character um in the the film that does not have a single line and that is of course the city of Atlanta Shay your hometown as well um Shay from the swats y'all so a town down um talk to us did first of all did you even know about this Heist had no idea me either I had no clue so yeah I'm not embarrassed about that either I feel like a lot of people well the funny thing is I didn't know a lot about it but let me let me make sure let me get your question out you want to ask question no go ahead um but yeah like a lot of like I didn't know about it but the generation above me Aunts Uncles everybody like knew about it and that was like again it's it's a testament I think to a lot of these like localized African-American stories like they're told orally you know what I mean you don't see them in a book you don't you know see them in a movie until we get the power to do it and so for me it was an opportunity to tell like I was first of all wasn't surprised you know to hear the story of like this one fight and what happened because it's the most Atlanta thing ever like we have like a party and then somebody you know gets robbed um so it was like oh yeah this is great and so for me it was just an opportunity to like to tell that story from like a very kind of humanistic perspective well you did a a great job uh at it uh we get to meet Miss Khloe Bailey in episode two so September 5th you we'll see Chloe Bailey's character Chloe talk to us about your experience it was wonderful to see you bring the the waitress character which you all will meet to life um and there was Nuance to her character as well talk to us what it was like for you joining this cast of of heavy weights and bringing your own tapped Talent yes well I have always loved and admired working with Will and to have this opportunity come to fruition was really really cool I'm an Atlanta native and I had never heard of this high story and then to hear that I get to work alongside taji and Don and Samuel and you know the most incredible actors in the game it meant so much to me I am still learning so much so to be able to share the screen with you and there was such beautiful advice that you told me and I don't even think you remember how much it impacted me you were like don't let anyone block your light so I will never forget that not only within the acting world but also figuratively so it was truly such a blessing I was happy to bring Lena to the screen and I can't wait for you all to meet her she does a great job incredible job facts facts Don your character I first of all you know I love you yeah I I got to give you your flowers Don just because we're at this moment in American history and I just have to say while we're in front of this audience um we love you not only for the talent you bring to the screen but for the conviction and your beliefs that you fight for and have fought for when it wasn't popular to do you continue to do it and you you wear that Crown beautifully so we thank you for your advocacy work and also as an actor as an actor playing a police officer there I understood this character um and some of the the undertones of resentment towards Muhammad Ali and that's a very nuanced thing to bring to the screen how did you navigate that uh well with Shay and and will really um and Craig uh that was something that we talked about every day and always carefully tracked like you know because he is a pariah in some ways in the neighborhood but to other people in the neighborhood he's a hero you know what I mean it's something that you know our future president talks about is that you know to say that black people don't want law enforcement too you know it it's kind of a myth that we don't also want Safety and Security for our families and you know we don't want law enforcement that's you know uh injust and is you know working at odds with our community but we want we want to be protected and safe in our streets too so I think JD is trying to walk a line and he's trying to you know in some ways do the impossible which is deal with this racist you know Police Department that he's dealing with and then go into the community and try to actually figure out a way to be both a servant but also someone who has to sometimes put his foot down and I think he was really in a thankless position but I think the character is written very well and and something that like I said Shay and will and um and Craig and I talked about a lot like who is this guy what makes him tick what's the line what can get away with when don't we like him when do we like him when do we cheer for him when do we like think he's a sellout you know I think all of that it was it's it's all there in the character and I think that's a testament to the writing for sure a testament to the writing and a testament to the acting go ahead no question uh it was elevated based on what was on the page and that's something that that um I will say Don Cheeto took so seriously to make sure that this character had the Nuance the levels that you were able to come in and see this as some somebody who was perceived at that time as being part of a system that was not working for us but you needed he needed to be an entry point Don spent a lot of time and I want to just say this because you know he he he won't but I'll tell you shay can vouch for this he spent a lot of time working on that character and there's things that you will see throughout the course of the season to make sure that he's an entry point like that was black men a lot of people that were working within a system that was designed against them but if we didn't have a detective JD Hudson we'd have nobody in that system right we would have nobody that would be there to advocate for whatever happens in this series we needed him inside that we needed him you know on that wall so to speak so that's something that Don took a lot of time and pride in making sure that he had in that character and he andaj have referenced uh Craig and just to be clear they're talking about Craig Brewer and Craig Brewer was our P he directed several episodes he directed this pilot you all know know him from Hustle and Flow and Dolomite Memphis Tennessee zone so he was uh an important part of this as well speaking on Craig real quick like what he brought to this was like he's a southerner you know just like I am and it was very important to us there's a there's a pride with that obviously there's complication with that but for us it was very important and it was important for me if I could to try to have somebody involved creatively from a directing standpoint that understand his story from a southern perspective because we are telling an American story but we're also telling like also there's there's elements of it that are very much Southern and we wanted to like for me was important like being from Atlanta is like I got to be able my family's got to be able to walk to Atlanta after this you know what I mean if I'm like not treating Atlanta right if I'm speaking on Atlanta wrongly like we still like we you know I that's not something I want to do so it was very important to me that we hit like check off all those boxes yeah even the exterior shots like the houses a quintessential uh Atlanta house um well I want to come back to you because you mentioned several um films like Hustle and Flow I think think uh is another amazing film um that start of course our lovely teraji henssen I I think yes please please that's where we learned she was not only an amazing actress but a songstress as well so shout out to teraji but will I think it's something beautiful that happens and I'm going just keep it a buck because we amongst family but when white people get out the way and let black people create don't try to tell me what a black character should sound like don't try to tell me what black neighborhood should look like we we know us and that happens in every capacity from Consultants who don't look like you coming to tell you what people who do look like you like you are quintessential true your success uh in your career has been centered on that of black folks talk to us about the creative process and the diversity of the crew and the other people who made this happen and why it was so important for to maintain the authenticity that there was people who were from the neighborhood people who look like us who were a part of this yeah I mean listen the important thing and this is not something exclusive to Hollywood no matter what industry you're in what you're doing if you want to have an authentic perspective you want to have authentic processes you need to have authentic voices you need to make sure that you have got a diversity of voices in whatever room it is that's appropriate in this it's the writer's room it is the director's room it is the you know along with my producers Like This Crew I'm so proud I've been you know making movies for a long time you walk on a will Packer Packer set you're going to know you're on a will Packer set I'm very very proud of that you see the diversity this set even for me I mean this look like circuit AB at the vineyard you know what I'm saying like I'mma just let me just tell y'all I'm talking about my DPS I'm talking about my line producers I'm talking about you know my Glam squads I'm talking about production designers I mean this top to bottom top to bottom I was very very proud of the team that we put together and that does it that that that makes me smart for making sure that I'm putting the right people so I didn't go out and get subpar people to do it right and some people have you believe that you know if you're doing Dei then you must be um you know missing something you must be lowering the bar in order to do it I'm going no you know what not only am I not lowering the bar but I'm going to beat you who are does not have a diversity or perspective around you cuz you got a monel happening over there I have people from all walks of life I was very proud of doing that with this and it was just good to walk on set and see I mean it it looked like us it looked like this room I was very I had the best in the business too I love that I I have to give you um your flowers as well to Raji because I know you spoke a lot about black women in Hollywood but my sister you know that can transfer to black women everywhere feeling unvalued undervalued unappreciated so you spoke for all of us and all of us in this audience we might not know you but we know you so when we heard you speak we appreciated it talk to me about what it was like specifically as a Creator like when you go on set and somebody's don't know how to do your hair or makeup it's hard to bring a character to life so in all the projects you've worked on what was it like to go to a set and feel like home well I've worked my ass off to be able to call whoever I need for what I need on set so whenever I I'm being hired I'm bringing my team because in order for me to to step into this character I don't need to be worried about you and my hair and my makeup and my wardrobe I need like will say you get the people in the positions who are good at what they do and that way I can just walk right into this character and I don't have to worry about all the other things um that's heavy on an actor and it gets in the way of our work if we're not if I don't if I get in that makeup chair and I have to be watching the makeup artists and remve and ah what are you doing you spraying wet stuff on my roots girl they going to swell you know which has happened before um went in there with straight head came out with an afro um but you know so all of that is important and sometimes you know as black women in the industry for so long we would get labeled difficult for trying to speak up for ourselves um but it's not difficult I just need what I need to do the job that you paid me to do so give me what I need um and just years and years of just standing up for myself it's just this is where we are and I I don't you can't hire me unless I have my people because I'm not going to be uncomfortable because if I'm uncomfortable I'm not servicing the role because I'm in my head I'm in the way yeah so it it it all has a meaning it all is is purposeful yeah well you were a part of normalizing a lot of black women getting what we need um Don I'm going to depend on you to give us some BTS uhoh what was BTS is behind the scenes yes so she wants me to Spill the tea go ahead give us some tea like what was going on on set give us have no te on me we had no scen together clean my name out your mouth see now everybody scared everybody got scared everybody got scared Don don't tell that story um give us a story they I want you as hell what was going on behind no I mean look what was great about the show is that everybody was really about showing up and and and protecting and I Ed that word in in in the right way protecting their characters protecting the story it was important for everyone to to to show up for each other and to to try to try to do this the right way we're like we have something special and you know it's it's ours to mess up so you want to make that you don't mess it up and I like I said I'm very fortunate to have worked with teraji before I've worked with Kevin before Terrence before Sam before Chloe I just met but it's it was great to see everybody again and to you know look across the the room and go we have a history uh we have an a working relationship we have an understanding and everybody else too I mean all the other cast members were everybody knew that we had something important to do and and I don't mean like it's important like medicine but it was important that we got the story right so the Shay could walk around Atlanta and not get jumped so we still W get jumped we we we we really showed up and I think you know it's it's it was a very hard show I think it was very difficult it was very tedious a lot of long hours and there's no way that you can get through that and do that unless you have you know a team around you that's willing to to roll up their sleeves and and and and get in the dirt with you and we we definitely had that so there was no rap party at Magic City in the lemon pepper wings at 3: in the morning nothing like that I heard some throat clearing where's where's my wife what Magic City I yeah what's a Magic City they do you know when the whole couch got quiet Tiffany touched the ner Tiffany these The Vineyard folks these people this the half hacker movie you work on in Atlanta you will end up eating chicken wings at a place that's magical in the city magical place in the city [Applause] listen I have to take care of my actors okay I have actors actresses everybody is uh to make sure they have everybody goes there it's it's no thing in Atlant I just want to say for me I I'm going back to business for me it was very for me what I found refreshing is that I've done a lot of movies in Atlanta where Atlanta was used for another city so it was it was so refreshing to not have to be like hide that building don't show that building cuz they're not supposed to be in Atlanta so it just felt really authentic for once in my career to actually be in Atlanta and use Atlanta as a character that was pretty refreshing for me and something that terate touched on it was she's absolutely right that was so intentional but what was tricky like Don talked about it being a tough shoot period pieces are hard right and audiences today are so particular right you got to be authentic cuz y'all catch everything right y'all know y'all like uhuh that is not the coffee cup they had back in the day no that is not how Grandma refrigerator look no uhuh give me the set top with the little TV on top of it you better make it authentic we had to make sure and what was interesting was that we were shooting and we found a lot of locations that actually still had a similar look and Sam Jackson commented on this because he of course is from Atlanta he was there during this time he knew the story and we found neighborhoods that were almost like trapped in time that still had that same texture and feel for what we were going for as a period piece that's one of the biggest challenges on a product like this yeah I noticed that with the wood panel in the house the sofa we all have grew up in homes with plastic cover on the sofa oh yes I walked to so many houses where I was like this my aunt Hazel's house yeah you know what I mean yeah exactly I I think it's so important uh a lot you know you make these projects and it really depends on audiences like this to watch it share it talk about it because it allows you the opportunity will to keep making these amazing films and all the amazing art that you've given us uh so many cult classics lines that we will say because you gave them to us what does it mean for an audience like this what is our ask of the audience like this to not just watch it but how can we help because you've been so supportive to so many of us I I have a testimony a lot of people have a testimony about will what can we do Beyond just tuning in on September 5th what is the ask of this audience well I had a little chat with my homies this is my folks right here this is my crowd so before y'all came out we had a little chat and we talked about the power that audiences have and we don't realize our power often right and this ties in you know Don alluded to our upcoming election we got the power y'all literally we got the power we will decide the future of this country and the future of democracy I'm going to go off tangent another time real quick the person who put the spotlight on the fact that there was a full conservative agenda named project 2025 was Mr rajie P Henson at that BET award nobody was talking about that nationally on a national platform that's how you use your power [Applause] yes yes that's Glenn Turman with that badass hat on to rajie right there just so you know that's Colonel Taylor in the audience but so we have the power right and so of course we want you guys to see it and we hope that you enjoyed it and we hope that you will uh watch the remainder of the series but you got the power right it is up to you Hollywood responds to you they will continue to make the things that you show up and show out for and talk about and you know how we are when we get revved up about something and how important persuasive we are how loud we we are and so yes with all my projects the only reason I sit on this stage is because I have had people that have come out and also another thing I'm unashamed about it has been black women no doubt who have absolutely no question have been the core supporters of my projects from day one and when y'all stand up and say this what we doing and when y'all do it as a unit it is powerful and it cannot be ignored so listen this is this is a project it's it's a piece of content not nearly as important as some of the other stuff that's happening out there in the world but we hope that it is entertaining and we hope that you do hear the message about what it was like in Atlanta to be black to have a dream to hustle right we hope that you learn about a story that maybe you you never heard of we were talking backstage that if this was a story that people with about people that didn't look like us you might already heard this one of the biggest Heights that happened in American history the biggest in the state of Georgia I had never heard of it but a lot of times when you have folks that look like us those things are marginalized so uh one other thing real quick there's another um actress that's in the room who is uh supporting actress who's in a later episode Nam is Dominique Madison Dominique are you here stand up just so we can give you your love right there see y'all right there y'all hey D yes yes another talented talented fighting actress so good to see you lady I I just want to piggyback on what you was saying um that's what we really need to understand is the power of our dollar because that's really what this is about how black people migrating and moving down to you know chasing their dreams changed the economical course in Atlanta we did that so imagine what we would really do if we really pulled together that's what I hope you get get out of this the power that we have in togetherness um no you got you finish no no NOP you got to say it now I was just going to talk about teraji shoes but you should finish it dude you see these shoes do y'all see these shoes I am so glad I a wear M don't you say nothing smart cuz they they're beautiful that's my Ste toe I don't want no problems we know you kick up [ __ ] don't nobody want no problem with taji well I just I want to tell you all it is a very serious time in the country uh we all know that we have survived 400 years in this place and a part of the reason we survive is because black Joy is Defiance and you have given us black Joy all of you all on screen um on film uh on records and so we thank you all and we it is our pleasure our honor and our responsibility to uplift the work that you do Fight Night peacock uh September 5th is when it premieres post about it write about it share it tell your friends drop it in your group chat make Tiffany cross ladies and gentlemen thank you Tiffany thank you will if you like it spread the word if you enjoyed it tell somebody and if you didn't like the movie keep it to your damn self thank you everybody [Applause]