🎬 “Hickory Roots, Fake Plants & Academy Award Schemes” 🎬

[00:00:02] What you want, when you want it, where you want it. This is The MESH. A.I.: Absolute Ignorance with Jon Reep. That's me, Jon Reep, and I'm not alone. I'm with my man, the Alan Jackson. How are you? Hey, Jon. I'm good. I'm good. Doing all right. Awesome. Doing okay. Good.

[00:00:32] I'll be honest, before we get into anything... Yeah, go ahead. Last week was a little more emotional discussion that we had. It was. It got deep, and I've had some people reaching out to me and wanting to make sure I'm okay. I'm fine. I appreciate the concern. Oh, really? You know, people have been referring me to a therapist. I'm like, no, no, I'm good. I'm really fine. Don't...it's okay. I just...I had a vulnerable moment. Just wanted to kind of throw that out there.

[00:00:59] That...I gotta say, I was flattered and honored that you would even open up to me at all in such a manner. So, I take it as a compliment. This recording environment that we're in, this podcast, it's a very intimate environment. So, you know, I just felt...I felt vulnerable. I felt open. I was happy to share with you and our millions of listeners. So, I just want to say for the record, I'm good. I'm fine. Everything's cool. He's good, everybody.

[00:01:29] I'm good. Thank you for asking that. Good. How are you? I'm good. I'm good. Trying to think of...yeah, I've just been working around the house doing the same...I've enjoyed this time off. I was gonna say, you've got...you've had like a little...like a little spring break. You know, from your tour. I have. From your tour. Like a little mini spring break. It's been productive. You feel like you've been getting some stuff done. Battling carpenter bees. Oh, yeah. But that's...that's...you know, I don't want to go down that rabbit hole again, but I did...I

[00:01:58] will let a...a neat little gardening tidbit secret. Okay, yeah, sure. Hashtag life hack thingy. Mm-hmm. So, no one thinks...I don't know if everyone thinks of this. Okay. So, one of the reasons why I don't want a lot of blooming flowers around my pool is because of bees. Right. They attract bees. Yeah. So, you don't want that. Right. I do enjoy the beauty of flowers. Sure. I don't like the bees that come with it.

[00:02:28] Okay. And so, since we're gonna be spending time out there, I said, let's just do green stuff. Hostas, spider-like monkey grass. So, green stuff doesn't attract... Things that don't bloom. Okay. Things that don't need pollen. Yeah. Gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah. I don't really know flowers. Well, it's like a lagoon. The big, fat, leafy things that are just leaves. Bees don't come to those. I imagine some sort of insect flying thing. Maybe by accident they come in and they're like, oh, look, oh no, it's not blooming. Yeah.

[00:02:56] Not like they do flowers that need pollen. I don't think those things need pollen. So, pollen's kind of the attractor thing. Yeah. I have a pollen-free back. Pollen-free pool. Pollen-free pool. There we go. Yeah. So, okay. So, are you accomplishing this? I am. And one of the areas that's just kind of plain, what I've decided to do is put fake plants. Fake plants. Mm-hmm. Fake outdoor plants. That's what I was going to suggest. That's what I would totally do.

[00:03:24] But does it, has this occurred to other people? Am I the only one who's just all this fake outdoor plant? I mean, why not? You have an outdoors. Yes. You're supposed to grow things because you're outdoors. It's not in your house. You don't have to worry about watering it all the time. It's sort of let Mother Nature take its course. Thank you, John. Thank you. I've been saying this for years. Okay. I don't understand why we don't. Like, I'm not a, I don't have a green thumb. I don't know planting. My wife's very good at it, but she spends a lot of time on it. Yes.

[00:03:51] It's a lot of time to manage a garden with plants and, but, but yet on the inside we have fake plants. Right. Right. Why can't they be outside? Why can't we just do everything fake plant outside? I mean, nobody can tell from a distance. Yeah. So what does it matter? I would even argue that it's, it's better to have real plants indoors and fake plants outdoors. Okay. Because indoors you need the oxygen that that plant is giving you inside of your cooped up home.

[00:04:19] Whereas outdoors, it's just, you know, there's plenty of other plants that, that, that you don't need. You're basically making oxygen for your house for squirrels. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. People outside. Yeah. Yeah. No, I don't, I don't look, I'm all, I like natural stuff and I like, I like to think that things are real, but if, if the whole reason you have plants is for appearance to make things look good. Right. But real plants could maybe not look good.

[00:04:48] Don't take care of them and yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All this other stuff, then why not just go fake on everything? Yeah. I've got ever, ever greens. Yes. I mean, people will be commenting like driving by, like in the dead of winter and like your outdoor yard is like blooming with like, how does he do that? It's like, you're amazing. You know, there are evergreens. I have four evergreens. Four evergreens. Yeah. I don't, I don't see any problem with it. Yeah. I'm sure they're purists out there that will tell us there's a reason. A hundred percent. There's a reason you shouldn't do it. Yeah.

[00:05:17] I'll tell you one of them is like just erosion. Like you need something growing in certain parts of your yard. If you're on an incline, especially just for when it rains, it doesn't wash everything away. So, so, so, so roots and grass and things that grow roots and bind with the soil can help in that aspect. Oh, okay. Well, I mean, I guess I get that. So I've been doing that. I got in the pool finally too. It was warm enough. All right. So the pool is open. On Easter is actually warm and we got in it. All right. And I'm coming over.

[00:05:47] When have you already decided when that's open up invitation, open door invitation to the Allen Jackson. Cool. Give me like a text before you come like 10 minutes set up. You can do five. Give me five, five minutes. Cause I think I can walk to your house. You could walk. It will take about 15 minutes to walk. I'm going to drive and I'm like, all right, if I'm walking at this kind of pace, yeah, maybe 15 minutes. It's a walk.

[00:06:16] You could do 10 or 15. I think you can do 10. Now driving. I can be there like 90 minutes. Yeah. Like a minute. So, all right. That's good. My wife is very excited. See, we, we wanted, she's always wanted a house with a pool, but our next best solution was to get a house next to somebody with a pool. Yeah. Okay. Our back neighbor behind us has a pool. That's right. And we got so excited when we found the house. We're like, all right, we're going to move into this house. We're going to become best friends with them.

[00:06:46] Their pool is right there adjoined our backyard. It's perfect. Perfect. I'll even pay for like a little gate, a little gate to go between our yards that we can just like pass through and like go. Brilliant. We'll even offer to like take care of the pool some if we get used to it. Right. Turns out this pool's never been opened. Wow. Like in years. It's been covered. And I think it's in bad shape. So, we kind of lost out. But now that you're just a few minutes away, we kind of. I'll be, I'll be your guy. Thank you. It's a good tactic there to make friends with that neighbor.

[00:07:16] How much work would it take to, to revive that one? I think it would take a lot. Yeah. I think I heard that there was like a root of a tree kind of growing through the bottom of the pool. Oh, yeah. And it's, obviously it's been covered for years. So, there's no telling what it's like under there. Right. I don't know if it's worth it. But yeah. We tried. That was our tip. You got me, buddy. Thanks. Come on over anytime. Thanks. And we will talk about anything under the stars. Cool. You know, more than just artificial intelligence. We can talk about all kinds of stuff. We could.

[00:07:46] You can see my plants, my, my lack of plants. I want to come over to admire your plants. Like, Ooh, look, look what John planted over here. Oh, wow. Look at this. So, so I got those in the mail and just hung out and it was, it was a good time, but let's, let's get to the subject matter that the people are dying to hear. This is called absolute ignorance. Yeah. Yeah. You know, we, we, we like to talk about artificial intelligence and a lot. There's a lot going on in the, in the AI world. There is.

[00:08:15] And especially in an area that I'm personally very invested in. So I'm, I'm a big, big movie guy. I mean, you know this about me. I love movies. I'm kind of making one right now. Uh, yeah. Show films. I got to run a film festival. So I'm all in the movie business here in Hickory. Right. Best I can be. Flip candle films. Shout out. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's our, that's our thing. And, uh, I was kind of interested to see in the news that there is a, I'm trying to bring

[00:08:44] it up on my, on my list here. There's a, it was in the news this morning, the Academy Awards, which is, you know, the Oscars. Right. Um, I'm a, I, I love the Academy Awards. I love the award show. Yeah. They're a little pretentious. Yeah. They're whatever. I still love it. I think it's great. And, but they announced that they're going to be cool with films using AI to help make the films.

[00:09:11] In other words, those films could still be eligible for awards. Okay. Because it's all came up. I'll give you a little background. Then I want to hear your take on this, John. Okay. They, they, there was a film last year called the brutalist. Yeah. I haven't seen this yet. All right. You'll, you'll hate it. I hate it. I mean, well, you will not enjoy it. I know you. I know you. Damn it. I know you. And I'm going to say, it's three and a half hours long. I wanted to give it a shot. I don't, I don't think I can make three, three and a half. Well, actually three hours and 40 minutes.

[00:09:41] Oh my. It's actually has an intermission in the middle of it. For that reason alone, they should not be nominated for anything. Okay. See, this is why I knew you. Okay. Wow. All right. So, so that, all right. Is that the, my, my main hurdle? Um, that is your number one hurdle. Yeah. Number two, there is, uh, some sub, uh, subtitling involved. Foreign language. And I know you don't like the, the reading. No. On screen as much. It takes me out of the, the visual enjoyment.

[00:10:09] It's not a hundred percent subtitled, but I'd say about a quarter of it is. Yeah. And that's where the problem runs into with AI is that supposedly this film last year, Adrian Brody. Yeah. I've heard about it. I've heard it's like, it was my good. It was my favorite film last year, but I'm saying, I just don't think you're gonna like it. I've heard there's some, I've heard it's kind of pornographic. There are some moments. Yeah. Yeah. There are some moments. Um, for that, I mean, look, just, I'll tell you the time markers in the film where you

[00:10:37] need to skip to, and you can just go to those parts. That's okay. Yeah, no, that's fine. It's a long haul. It's a long haul. Okay. But all that to say, Adrian Brody, um, there was a little bit of a controversy last year. It was nominated for a bunch of awards, you know, but it came, it was found out that they used AI to replicate his voice in a few scenes because he had to speak. Um, I think it's Hungarian. Okay.

[00:11:06] Like he's from Hungary. Yeah. And you know, half the film he's speaking Hungarian and it's subtitled. The other half he's speaking English. Okay. And they said they used AI to kind of fix his Hungarian voice at times because maybe they recorded him not saying something the right way or he didn't pronounce something quite right. So they used AI to clone his voice and they used it to create his voice in a few places that you're hearing in the film. You're hearing him talk. I got no problem with that. See, I don't either. I don't know.

[00:11:35] I thought that was a big pile of nothing. I'm like, that is a pile of nothing. Yeah. Okay. So that's just an actor who's saying, well, I've already done this movie. Okay. I've not done a lot of films, but I've done what I did into the storm. Yeah. They were, I had to go do what's called ADR. Uh, something dialogue replacement or reenactment or something. Yeah.

[00:11:57] So you film all the stuff, they edit it, they put the movie up, they go like, Oh man, that didn't quite make sense. We need to call these actors back in here. And literally I was in a sound, a sound studio room with a gigantic screen and a mic like this and a guy behind a booth and a glass on this side. And I was watching me act saying certain words along with my mouth. So you were watching, you were watching yourself.

[00:12:27] Yeah. Stuff they'd already filmed. Right. Saying lines and you're supposed to replicate those lines. And not only that, but I did a TV clean version where I, instead of saying certain cuss words, I would say something else. Right. So, but, but, but they had to pay me to do that. They had to fly me somewhere. Uh, you know, it was a lot of stuff. Well, I mean, it was technically it was their fault. They screwed up. Right. Like directing you in the first place. They need you to say something different. Right. Or they need you to say something a different way.

[00:12:57] They didn't tell you that on set. So now they got to fly you back in, pay you for more time to do this. I'd gladly take the money, but had they said, well, can, do you mind if we just, we have your voice pattern? Can we just, I go, yes. Save me some time. It saves time. It's not worth the hassle. It wasn't like a huge paycheck. It was just. Yeah. They're basically just paying you for your inconvenience of having to come back in. So if they'd used AI for that, you would have been cool with that. Yes. A hundred percent. Okay. And had they done it, I never knew it.

[00:13:26] I probably wouldn't have found that out either. Yeah. You know? Cause I don't know. I don't remember what I said. Right. You're watching the movie. It's not like a, there's one word that you're just like, ah, I don't remember saying that. Right. So in the whole shoot. So, uh, that to me, I agree with you. Nothing burger. All right. So that was kind of the whole thing that got this whole new started now, but it does open up a question. Yeah. If the Academy Awards now saying, okay, look, we don't care if you use AI.

[00:13:54] Uh, they say the words they're using is that, uh, using AI in your film to help enhance your film is not going to hurt its chances winning awards. In other words, they're saying, yeah, it's cool. Whatever. Okay. So that's to me kind of open up the floodgates of like, all right, cool. So we can use AI to make movies. Slippery slope. Right. I mean, well, can I talk about the cons that might come with that? I'd love to hear the cons. Yeah. What, what do you think is the problems here? All right. Well, how much are we using AI?

[00:14:23] So it does gotta be like only reshoots or only this can be, can be, you can only use AI and dubbing search circumstances. Okay. Like you can't use AI to create an entire scene, um, or, or, or create an entire actor. And so do you can do it, but you can't win an award for it because that actor doesn't exist. So imagine this, you make a movie, right?

[00:14:51] Using AI and one of your AI generated things is as an actor and that actor, even if it's a voice or real person. Yeah. It's a, it's a tough call. It's a tough call because here's the thing is that if you use AI to create a character in your movie, like it digitally creates a character in your movie.

[00:15:21] Correct. Then yes, whoever is the controller of the AI, the person who's typing in and creating all the prompts and things to get it to happen ought to be the one that wins the award. If that character wins an award. Wow. Now, if it's a real person, it's like a real actor and you want to like replicate his voice or whatever, then the actor still ought to be the one getting the award because it's still based on him or her. So, um, okay.

[00:15:48] When a film wins awards, a film can win many types of awards. Yes. Correct. Yes. So like, um, the, what's that movie called? You just said the pro, the, uh, the, uh, the brutalist, the brutalist, brutalist, let's say the brutalist one best actor award. Yes. But that actor is Adrian Brody. Yes. So if they, if it wasn't Adrian Brody and it was an AI thing, the award would just go to the film.

[00:16:19] Um, or, you know, I'm in favor of, okay, let me, let me give a different example. Maybe this will, yeah. Uh, like the, uh, planet of the apes movies. Yeah. Where it's like a digital ape. Okay. Yeah. But there's somebody back in the studio who created, created that. There's a big controversy or not contrary. There's a big question mark about, okay, well, if can that performance be nominated? Yeah. Can that guy, Andy circus? I've said, I know what you're talking about.

[00:16:46] Could Andy circus be nominated for best actor for a digital character, like an ape in the movie? Yeah. But it's based on him. He's doing all the motion. That digital eight and doing all the facial expressions and making it map. To him who gets the award. So then you go to AI, same kind of question. Is it the people creating using the AI to create stuff or is it the person doing that?

[00:17:16] That the performance is based on like, you know, they decide in that they didn't decide anything. I don't think they haven't had it. They haven't had to deal with it because nobody's been nominated for anything in that. I say you can't give a best actor award to AI. You can give it to. No, I'm not down with that. Okay. All right.

[00:17:39] Because the award is acting, creating is all human emotion and us and the power of our abilities. Not it's the ward needs to go to a human beings. They can hold it in their hand and take it home. Okay. And if you're using AI, there's many arguments for who should get that award. Okay. I can see that. And do you just make millions of this award and hand it out to everybody who had. I see.

[00:18:09] So the idea that you're thinking in your right, that AI is using a whole lot of people's input to eventually make this thing we're seeing. Yeah. Now, you know, right now, I just tried on my chat GPT right before we started recording. I asked this and look, are you able to make a movie like right now? If I told you, if I described a movie to you, could you make it and said, well, chat GPT in particular is not getting, hasn't gotten released to do video yet. They can't make video or moving images.

[00:18:40] So you don't have to worry about quite yet chat GPT making a movie. Okay. But I think it can write a movie. Yeah. Oh yeah. Text scripts. So then what about writing? What if AI is used to write your movie? And if your, your movie gets best writing for a film? No, it shouldn't win it. No, but the, I would say the production, the film, like that's the argument I was trying to make is like with the brutalist. Yeah.

[00:19:09] Clean sweep at the Oscars. It won every award. When you frame it like that, it can win an award because it is a production of a lot of people coming together. It's a yes. The film as a whole. Yeah. Which that's the best picture award is kind of recognizing that's the complete picture. Yeah. Regardless of how many people are involved in roles. Yeah. So maybe it can win best picture, but it cannot win an award for writing or acting.

[00:19:39] If it's what's doing those. Yeah. Sound. I don't care about that. Sound editing, whatever. But if, if I mean, we're watching stuff. Okay. Okay. Again, I don't care how or why, if it's not going to win anything like Milly Vanilli. Okay. Yes. Before they, they would never have gotten caught had they not have won the, uh, the Grammy Grammy.

[00:20:03] So you're saying if they didn't win the Grammys, then it would not have been as huge of a deal. They would have gotten caught. Someone would have said something, but people would have not been up in arms about it. So you think, you think Milly Vanilli's downfall was them winning the Grammy. Yeah. If they hadn't won the Grammy, could they, they could have been kept performing for a good while. Yeah. I mean, uh, I think they still would have gotten busted because when they got busted was not at the Grammys.

[00:20:27] It was more about winning the Grammys is what caused the industry to have a huge hate for them. They never really cared about them. It was kind of a goofy little joke and they were, I've been, I got to love Milly Vanilli. I'm going to be honest with you. It's a great documentary. They're fun, goofy, dumb songs. You can dance around to and have an old house party. I know they're three songs. Yeah. I think it's three hits. Blame it on the rain. Blame it on the rain. Girl, you know, it's true. I'm going to ask the big one. I'm in love with you, girl, girl, girl. But what was the soft one? The slow song.

[00:20:58] Blame it on the rain. Cause you know every pop. Girl, you know it's true. Well that's, that was the big song. That was the one that was like their first big hit. And then they did Blame it on the rain. You're leaving. In the nivis and the faint of love. Yeah, that's it. I just don't know what I can do. Something like that. Girl, it's a tragedy for me to say the dream is over. Is it the dream is over? Is that that song? Girl, I'm going to miss you. Girl, I'm going to miss you. Thank you. That's it.

[00:21:28] I had to do all of that to get there. I get it. You got to go through the paces. You got to get to it. Now that performance I just gave you. Yes. If I were to win an Academy Award for that. Okay. That I would take that. Because you did it. That I did it. You would get best vocal performance. Had AI did a version of that. And someone goes, someone's going to give that award. I would be very mad if you give that to AI.

[00:21:52] No, but I'm just trying to say, Milli Vanilli really got the heat because they won the Grammys. So if we're saying if you win an Academy Award using AI, I think what will happen is people won't admit to it. They won't admit to using it. Right. Because it's, I mean, I think it's a little hard to detect it. Like, it's not like you can like look at a film and be like, oh yeah, that little piece right there, that's AI. Or that voice was. The idea is that it's so good you can't tell. Right.

[00:22:22] I don't think it's like, I don't think it's anybody was watching the brutalists and be like, wait a minute. What Adrian Brody just said right there in Hungarian. Yeah. That little phrase. I don't think he really said that. I don't think that happened. I think somebody just in the crew or whatever, just happened to say it off handed to somebody. Be like, oh, by the way, we used AI to do this. Oh, really? And that's what got him out. By the way, Milli Vanilli actually had four big songs off of their debut album. I completely forgot about, um, um, baby. Don't forget my number. Oh yeah. Yeah.

[00:22:51] That was actually my favorite. That was my favorite song. That's good. That was good. See, it's fun. It is, but I have no, I have no problem with Milli Vanilli. I don't know. I mean, look, it was a music industry thing. It's like, Hey, look, we, we got some good vocalists, but they really don't show. And Halas or something. So let's, let's get some guys who do. Oh, that was the whole story. No, I don't. I'm guessing backstory. Okay. Yes. Yeah. But the guy who produced them, he's like from the Netherlands or something. Right.

[00:23:21] And he had another hit using the same formula. Okay. From the sixties. And it was a band that was from overseas. I'm at a loss for what the, the, the song was, but if you heard it, you'd be like, Oh, I totally know that. But the guy that you saw on TV performing, it was not the singer.

[00:23:43] Ah, so he has already had a success of doing this before Milli Vanilli, Milli Vanilli crumbled when, uh, it all crumbled when, when, when the thing skipped on stage. Yeah. I remember that. That was like played on the behind the music documentary over and over again on MTV on VH1. It's like, yeah, you see them on stage and it's like, they're, they're, they're performing.

[00:24:09] And all of a sudden the actual track, their lip syncing to you, you can't, you can't get away from that. I mean, you're, you're sunk at that point. So there's nothing. I forgot which happened first. Was it the skipping or the Grammys that happened once they won the Grammys and there were already these red flags, all eyes on them at that point, all eyes on people going like, wait a minute. Yeah. Did they actually, cause there are a lot of red flags before it. So should they have won the Grammy in your mind? No, no. Then you're saying they didn't sing. They should.

[00:24:38] Now, if the Grammy was for the writing of the song, I think song of the year is like an award that goes to the producers and the writers of the song, I think. Okay. And then like, there's like a performance of the year or a, that's something that's for the artist. Yeah. So they should not have won an artist award, meaning like they themselves, these two guys, Rob and whatever the other guys fab fab. Yeah. That's it.

[00:25:05] But I mean, but if the song won for best production, like it was a best producer has nothing to do. Correct. That the producer should still have won that award. Agreed. Okay. All right. I think the problem was them holding the trophy and accepting it and having a speech. Your thing is who gets the glory and who gets to hold the trophy. Somebody's got to get the credit. Somebody's going to take it. So if in our back in our movie situation here, I'm sorry, if somebody, if AI is slated to

[00:25:33] win an award, you're not in favor of that because AI can't physically hold a trophy and pose for pictures and get the glory. Otherwise, why have an award? That's kind of true. What's that's what the awards are all for. It's all vanity thing. Yeah. I mean, you can have a show and talk about it, but you could say like you could do people's choice. Okay. So could they win people's choice award? If as long as the people know people know they know, hey, we're voting for AI.

[00:26:03] We're voting for a fictitious. Yeah. Unreal person to win this. But it still, it can't be a performance. Okay. I didn't say I can't be the writing if you didn't write it. Oh, the writing was a slippery slope though for me. Okay. Well, as you can use it to help you through like mundane. Yeah. Like for example, let's just say I got a great story in me about my life. Yes. Which I feel like I do.

[00:26:32] I think you do too. And I go, well, I don't know where to begin. I don't know how to start this thing. It is me. It is true to me. It is my story. But what's scene one? What's the first word out of my mouth? What's that first thing? I don't know where to begin. How do I do this? Now, if I take my story and I tell it, a I to craft what is known as, you know, a screenplay script and it puts it in that same format that the industry uses currently.

[00:27:01] I don't think that's cheating. It's more about the whole secretary job at that point, just putting it together. You know what I mean? Well, funny. You should say that. This is what I'm getting to. Okay. I, uh, I've always wanted to make a movie. All right. I'm working on a documentary so I can at least do documentaries. I feel like I've got a handle on that. But when it comes to an acted movie with actors and a script and all that, I, I've, I've no idea.

[00:27:31] I don't know what to do. I'm not a writer. I can't write an idea for a film. I'm not good with actors. So there's a lot of reasons why it's gonna be a problem for me. So it's a little bit of a dream of mine that I don't think I'll ever be able to realize. Mm hmm. I'm wondering with chat GPT with AI in general, if we can use it to get us as far along in the, in the, the film production process as possible. So let's say we have an idea for a film based on your life. All right. Okay.

[00:27:58] We want to do a, the John reed story as a film. Okay. So if I told chat GPT, which I'm doing right now, can you help us create a pitch for a new movie? Oh, a pitch based on, yeah. I don't want to do a whole script yet. Okay. I don't know how long it's going to take. Yeah. We don't, we're not going to read the script on the show, but a pitch, I'm not going to hear a pitch based on the life. I never thought of it that way of actor comedian, John reed. And I'm going to prompt this in here and let's see. That's all you're going to say. Yep.

[00:28:27] I want to see a, what, what does it think your life, what elements of your life is worthy of a, of a, of a movie? Right. Um, and where it goes with this. I'm just kind of curious as a starting point. Now we can add to this. Yeah. Yeah. Kind of a yes. And with AI as we go. So let's get a first pitch and then let's, let's see how we can craft it from typing it or talking it. Oh yeah. I guess I could. I'm just curious. I'm a, there's no difference. We're going to, we're going to, we're going to talk it. Well, since it's an audio podcast, that's true.

[00:28:57] That actually does. But I like where your head's at. Um, also I'm going to be in Cherokee. No, I've already, wait, this comes out Friday. So I'm in Huntsville, Texas right now. Oh, you are? Yeah. It's okay. Yeah. It's warmer than I thought it was going to be. Oh yeah. I heard it. I figured that might be the case. All right. So let's, let's talk. I'm going to talk to Mac here. I got, I got a new voice for Mac. Okay. I'm happy with.

[00:29:27] Hey Mac, how are you doing? Uh oh. We get a phone. Mac, are you there? Yep. I'm here. What's up? Okay. So Mac, I am interested in developing a movie and I need help in creating a pitch for this movie. The movie is going to be based on the life of actor and comedian John Reap and all about

[00:29:54] his, uh, living and growing up in Hickory, North Carolina, moving to California, to LA, to be a, uh, actor for the stage and screen and comedian. But then he come has to come back to Hickory, uh, upon the pandemic to tend to his father and mother and all the situations that arise from that. That is what the movie is going to be.

[00:30:22] Can you help us create a pitch for that movie? That's both entertaining and probably going to win an Academy Award, right? I mean, yeah. Right. A comedy. Oh, you want to be a comedy too. Okay. Comedy. It needs to be a comedy, but I'd like for it to also win awards. So can you create a pitch for that? That would do that please. Absolutely. Let's craft a winning pitch. Okay. Here we go. Absolutely. Let's craft a winning pitch.

[00:30:52] Hickory Roots. Genre, comedy drama. When a quirky comedian who made it big in Hollywood returns to his small hometown of Hickory, North Carolina to care for his aging parents during the pandemic, he discovers that the funniest and most heartfelt moments happen right at home. Hickory Roots is a comedic, heartwarming tale of family fame and finding your roots, proving you can take the comedian out of Hickory, but you can't take the Hickory out of the comedian.

[00:31:20] Hickory Roots follows John, a standup comic and actor who left his humble beginnings for the glitz of LA. Just as his career hits its stride, the world shuts down and he's called back to Hickory to help his stubborn, lovable parents. As he navigates small town life, reconnects with old friends and faces hilarious moments

[00:32:02] of the humor. No worries. I agree. I agree.

[00:32:32] I agree. I agree. I agree. I agree. So, you know, peanut butter Falcon. And what was the other movie? The Kaminsky method. I'm not familiar with that second one.

[00:33:01] What was the second film you were comparing this to? You said peanut butter Falcon and something else. What was that other one? Uh, connection failed to have to retry up. So he's done. He's like tapped out. He said, I gave it all. I got to take a, well, but he remembers the conversation. Hey Mac in that pitch. You said you mentioned the peanut butter Falcon as a reference. And you also mentioned a second film.

[00:33:31] What was that second film you mentioned? I mentioned the Kaminsky method as the second reference. It's got that great blend of humor and heartfelt moments, which would fit perfectly with the tone you're aiming for. Who starred in the Kaminsky method? Are Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin. Michael Douglas plays Sandy Kaminsky, an aging acting coach in Hollywood.

[00:33:58] And Alan Arkin plays his longtime agent and friend, Norman Newlander. Their chemistry and the show's mix of comedy and heartfelt moments really made it stand out. Okay. Got it. Thank you. All right. I knew that word. I forgot that was an acting method. The Kaminsky method is a method of acting method of asking. Yeah. It's where it's, it's not acting. It's being. Okay. So John, here's where I am right now. I, I heard the pitch. Yes, that is exactly the pitch.

[00:34:25] I think we would all talk about as a film about your life. Okay. My parents aren't stubborn. No, your parents are. I think that was added in there just to give a little spice. Yeah. You know, it's like, I gotta have something. Oh, you gotta make them. You gotta have, you gotta make the parents kinda. Right. A little ornery, a little, a little funny. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, other than that, I mean, that may be a little bit, there may be a little elaborate. There may be a bit of exaggeration. Yeah. Yeah. Creative licensing. Right. I'm taking with that.

[00:34:52] But overall, I think at a core level, it's pretty good. I don't mind the title either. You made a face when you heard Hickory Roots. I don't like Hickory Roots. I'll tell you why. Cause the Hickory is a Hickory tree and it has roots and family roots. Yeah. So I get, I get why it made that. It, it, it, it is not very pleasing to the ear though. No, it's not. It's just, it's not cause roots makes you think of roots. The mini series does. I don't think we need. And then Hickory.

[00:35:20] I don't think we need to be comparing yourself to that. The implication of tree with roots. That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. Good. So let's get rid of roots. So here's what I think we should do. I think we need to give chat GPT some elements that are going to be in the story. Yeah. So I, and I think we ought to go kind of creative with this. I mean, let's think about what could be some elements in your movie story and see if chat GPT can then weave it in. Yeah.

[00:35:47] Because ultimately I want this guy to write us a script. How about this? Okay. Yeah. Tell us to do this. I hate the talking over. No, I think he is confused. I'll be the spokesperson. You'll be my agent. You can speak on my behalf. All right. Tell the producer over there that one way to weave in scenes and scenarios and storylines is to look up all of my standup comedy.

[00:36:15] That's already been, that's already out there using some of John's standup comedy. Okay. So we want him to use your standup comedy as readily available online. Ginger Beard Man. He just has to do a little homework. He's going to throw. Yeah. He's going to have to dig, which is what he's supposed to do. Very good. So we're going to ask him now to like say, okay, tell you what? Yeah. Go watch some of his standup and like watch it right now. Yeah.

[00:36:40] And then weave in some specific stories and moments into this, this movie idea. Yeah. All right. See what it does. Let's try it. Here we go. Hey Mac. So the next thing we'd like to do on this film project is we want to incorporate as many stories and elements into the film from John Reap's professional standup career.

[00:37:05] So John Reap has a lot of standup specials and comedy material online, namely his show, his, his performance, Ginger Beard Man. And there was also another one that was Metro Metro Metro Metro Jethro was also the second one. Can you use his content, his standup comedy that's already online and mind that for some elements and stories that we can weave into this movie, please?

[00:37:37] I can't directly access or mine content from his standup specials, but I can help you brainstorm how to integrate elements from his known comedic style signature jokes or themes into the storyline. Okay. If there are specific bits or themes from Ginger Beard Man or Metro Jethro that you want to highlight, we can definitely weave those into the plot and character arcs. Let me know what aspects you'd like to incorporate and we can build from there. Okay. Let's get more specific. So yeah, it's a, the, the deal is, let me translate. Okay.

[00:38:06] He can't, chat GPT is not positioned to go in, watch your material and then report. Now we could get a transcript of all your standup and feed him the transcript and he could work from that. Or like you said, we just tell them a few examples and say, Hey, how would you weave this in and give him like the short synopsis of some of your bits and see where it goes with. That's one idea. I mean, I wonder, could you upload to chat GPT?

[00:38:35] Can you, you can upload images. Yes. About videos. Uh, no, I can't read videos. I've tried that. So, well, if it could do that, then it could translate, scribe it, I think, and make it interesting. Yeah, I think so. How about let's just try one. So, uh, give me an example. Just give me a bit that you think would translate. I'll do the one that people talk about the most. Um, how about you want me to say it? Um, yeah. Why don't you tell. All right.

[00:39:06] Hey Mac. Mac. So I'm going to hand you over to John Reap, who is here with me. And he is going to tell you an example of a story or a bit that he feels like would be really important for a movie and see how you can weave it in. Here's John Reap. Listen to John now at this point. Hello Mac. Here's a great story.

[00:39:24] It's a story about the time my dad almost drowned while trying to fix a hole at the bottom of our swimming pool by breathing through a garden hose while wearing a backpack filled with rocks. That is the story from John. So can you weave that into a element of our new film? Absolutely. That's a fantastic story to include.

[00:39:53] We can weave it into the film as a pivotal comedian. This is the quirky, lovable relationship between John and his dad. Picture this scene. John is back in Hickory trying to help his dad with some household projects. When they discover a leak in the old backyard pool, John's dad insists on fixing it his own way by strapping on a. Oh, this is it's it's hiccuping. It's I'm trying to be really quiet. So I am too.

[00:40:23] But he's he's very sensitive today. He doesn't like crosstalk. He does not. So we've been trying to be very quiet. Mac. Are you there? Hmm. Was it Mac? Are you still there? I think I've been failed. I don't know what's going on with our connection here. Mac. You still there? Well, dang. Hello, Mac. You were on a roll. You were doing you were doing fine. Where are you?

[00:40:55] I'm right here. Sorry about that memorable scene. Picture this. A hilarious flashback or a mid movie sequence where John's character tries to fix the pool in the most absurdly over the top way. It would highlight his dad's eccentric personality and a ton of physical comedy and show the family's unique lovable dynamic.

[00:41:19] It could also serve as a great bonding moment or a callback that ties into a later part of the movie like John helping his dad in a more meaningful way down the line. Okay. All right. That's good. I'd like to throw a little curveball at us though, because I think the film right now it's sounding very pretty straightforward, pretty simple. And I think the film maybe needs something a little bit more unique.

[00:41:44] John in recent weeks on this podcast, we talked about was it the little people of Hickory Nut Gorge? Yes. How can the little people of Hickory Nut Gorge be incorporated into this movie? Because I think that may add a little unique element and make something a little more entertaining. Mac, do you have any thoughts on that? Absolutely.

[00:42:11] Adding the legend of the little people of Hickory Nut Gorge could bring a whimsical, almost magical realism element to the film. You could weave in local folklore that John grew up hearing from his parents or neighbors. Maybe these mysterious little people become a recurring motif, symbolizing the magic and mystery of his hometown that he's rediscovering. Imagine scenes where John and his dad are out in the woods or the gorge, and his dad swears he's seen the little people helping fix something or leading him to a solution.

[00:42:40] It could add a fun, quirky subplot and give the movie an extra layer of charm and mystique. Plus, it's a great way to showcase some of the local culture and folklore of Hickory. Yeah. See? Okay. This is where I think we have to go is we have to like throw all these elements at him and say, like, weave this in, weave that in and make this. This guy could, he could write our movie. I think he could. I wish I could. I would.

[00:43:08] I think it'd be better if I could actually give it straight the stand up. Well, there's gotta be a chat, a bot that can look at video. I mean, I can send it files. Yeah. I've tried sending it video and he won't watch video. Well, isn't there a chat bot that can transcribe my. Oh, I can do that. I could actually transcribe a transcript of your stand up. I mean, that's easy to do. Yeah.

[00:43:35] So then we send them the transcript, say, this is John stand up. Now, let's read his transcript, his stand up. He could do it in like a second. Right. And like, and from that create scenes of this movie. Okay. I mean, look, I'm. And then what do we do? I don't know at that point, but I mean, I, I love the idea of like, let's, let's have him write a movie. Yeah. For us. I mean, I've tried to write, I've got, you know, many ideas and it's basically on this premise of fish out of water.

[00:44:05] Yes. John Reap growing up in Hickory, blah, blah, blah. You've heard all about that. Moves to LA fish out of water there. Has to move back home. Cause dad has a stroke. Yep. Pandemic happens. I'm a fish out of water again, because now I've been Hollywoodized. Yes. And I'm back in Hickory and I have changed, but not so much the people I grew up with haven't, have not changed. Correct.

[00:44:32] And so now I'm Johnny Hollywood and I, and then eventually, you know, um, help dad and mom through the stroke and blah, blah, blah. Settle down, meet a girl, fall in love, get married and, uh, and then stay in Hickory. Okay. Now I don't know. Let me, let me just try some. This is a longer term project. We're not gonna be able to get this done the next 10 minutes here, but I just want to try one thing. I am curious.

[00:45:01] Can, can our chat bot friend write something funny? Oh, here we go. Okay. That's what I'm concerned about. A very first thing we ever tried. No, it's a kind of conversation coming full circle. Yeah. Can I, I be funny? So here, let, I want to try this. Okay. I'm going to give him a specific scenario and say, write a scene, a single scene. Yes. That's funny. It needs to be rip roaring. Lee funny. Okay. Based on this. Yeah. Let's just see what it does.

[00:45:30] Can you give me an, give me an idea of a scene that I could pitch to him and have them write the dialogue or write something. Well, the one you want to do the pool. I mean, that's the famous one. We could do the one of the, uh, dad, Mona bees nest. I mean, I'm just telling you the ones that people have already heard. Yeah. I'm sure I think that something I could pitch to him and have him write a very funny scene of dialogue for. Okay. I think the pool, maybe do the pool one. All right. Here we go.

[00:46:01] Hey Mac, can you take that story that John just shared with you about the pool and his father trying to fix it by tying a bag of rocks to his back and sinking to the bottom of the pool to try to fix it. But then there being a problem where he's unable to breathe through the hose because the hose doesn't work that way. And it collapses the air for him. And then he's struggling to get back out while his two sons are watching, uh, him do this.

[00:46:28] Can you write us a scene with dialogue that needs to be extremely funny? We want this to be very, very funny scene, but you need to write the dialogue and the stage instructions for this scene for us, please. Can you do that? Absolutely. Let's set the scene. Int backyard day, a bright summer afternoon. The family swimming pool is half drained.

[00:46:56] John and his brother, Alex 12 stand poolside wide-eyed watching their dad mid forties. He's wearing a swim mask, a backpack filled with rocks and holding a garden hose above the water. John, is this really going to work? Dad says it's foolproof like a scuba tank, but you know, with garden supplies. Dad gives them a thumbs up, puts the hose in his mouth and jumps into the shallow end. He sinks to the bottom, looking determined. So far, so good.

[00:47:26] Suddenly the hose kinks and dad's eyes go wide. He tugs on it, but it collapses, cutting off his air supply. He starts flailing underwater, trying to untangle the hose. Alex, John, I think dad's in trouble. John, half panicking, half laughing. Should we pull him out or let him figure it out? Dad finally drops the hose and tries to stand, but the backpack of rocks keeps him down. He flails and the boys scramble to the pool's edge. Quick, grab his arm!

[00:47:54] They both reach in and pull dad up. He emerges gasping for air, his mask askew. Breathless, but trying to save face. Well boys, that's how you learn what not to do. Dad, next time maybe we just call a pool guy. Grinning, where's the fun in that? Now who's ready for round two? The boys exchange a look, then burst out laughing as the camera pans up to the sunny sky. How's that for a funny scene? Not bad.

[00:48:23] Can you change the name to Jason and give the reason that the pool, it's the deep end, not the shallow end. Oh, he's going in the deep end. The pool's not half empty. It's full. And also your dad, the bag was duct taped to him, right? Yeah, I mean these are random details that people brought up to me many times.

[00:48:44] The reason why there was duct tape was because he had the mask checked and he put the hose on the snorkel. Ah, so that was to kind of connect the snorkel to the hose. To the hose and then he duct taped that area. Right. But then he's like, well I've already got this duct tape out. Might as well. So then he, because the backpack that he was actually using was not made for an adult. It was one of our, like a child's backpack. Okay.

[00:49:14] And it was stretched to the limits. Ah. And it was kind of like not really that secure. And he just had a half, a little bit of tape left and he just, I'm already rolling stuff. So he wrapped it around his chest and his, and the straps. Yeah. That's the duct tape. See here. In case you're curious. I mean people have asked me this question many times. Like why was he ripping duct tape off of his chest hair? I'm like, that's true.

[00:49:41] I did not explain it well enough, but I've never had to cause no one ever pulled me inside and go, I need more information. Well, if we're going to turn this into a movie, we really have to like explore all the details. Right. Now my only thing with this scene, I think it's impressive. He did write it out on a having written version. Oh, okay. I was dialogue with like instructions for the scene. Everything is good. Yeah. It's not terribly funny. No, it's not. It's actually, I mean, kind of boring. It's generic. It's like a Tyler Perry movie. Yes. Exactly.

[00:50:11] So that's going to be the problem here is I still don't think in the tone of a, what's the best comedy out there? Uh, what's the funniest thing right now? I mean, um, what is it? I want to say a Jim Carrey movie. What's a really funny movie. What's the most of, um, in the tone, uh, that'd be dirty though. Righteous Jim stones or I'm not wearing their shirt. Um, the rough house productions, the guys that do, uh, Kenny powers, right. Eastbound and down.

[00:50:41] Um, but then might not be a brand enough. They probably are by now. Let's try it. Say, say, write it in the style of the production. How would you say? I'm just going to say in the style of, uh, the people behind the right and right. Right. Right. Let me look up. Is it rough house? No, I, I think we can get this. Okay. Go ahead. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:51:09] Hey Mac, that scene was pretty good, but we'd like to punch it up on the comedy side a bit more. I'm sorry, but I'm having trouble responding right now. Please wait a bit. Okay. Well, he did say sorry. I mean, I appreciate that. That was nice. Okay. Well, I mean, yeah, I think we need to get him to punch it up a little bit. Cause I just, I feel like we're just making a, you know, a Disney, a Disney channel movie,

[00:51:37] you know, version of your life and we got to make it funnier. It's going to be, it's, I like, I liked the peanut butter Falcon thing that he said. I think that's a good movie. It's a good movie. Quirk, quirkiness. It's got, but sadly the part that's funny might not be his PC today. Yeah. But it's heartwarming. Right. It is. It's like a Shane Gillis bit. Yeah. It's good. Um, that was a pretty good.

[00:52:06] I'm glad he threw that one out as an example. Yes. Cause there again, I'm picturing John for your movie. I think you can make something really, really funny. Yeah. While also heartfelt and endearing. Right. And that's the way you win the awards. Yes. That's all I care about. Right. You're right. Comedy doesn't win awards. Yeah. So maybe you take off comedy and just say, um, let's, let's, let's make it.

[00:52:34] Let's make it the most dramatic. You want to make it a drama? Let's make it super dramatic. Thriller? Like, oh yeah. We could totally make your life a thriller. Uh, my life is a thriller. It is a thriller. I mean, I'm sure it could help us write that. Okay. Um, or we can go sci-fi. No, sci-fis don't win. Sci-fi doesn't win awards. What wins awards? Romantic? No, not really romantic. It's all drama. It's looked at up. That's insane. Why? Is it the only thing that wins awards? All right.

[00:53:05] I don't look things up anymore. I asked questions. I'm going to ask question here. Here we go. Mac, are you there now? You think of the scene? All right. We'll get back to the scene in a minute. I have a more important question right now. When you look back at the history of films that have won best picture in the Academy Awards since the awards began,

[00:53:27] give me a synopsis on what genre or what type of film is most likely to win best picture more often. Historically, best picture winners often lean towards certain types of films. Dramas are by far the most common, especially those with strong character-driven stories, complex themes, and emotional depth. Historical epics, biographical films, and socially relevant dramas also frequently take home the top prize.

[00:53:57] Occasionally, more uplifting or unique films break through, but serious, well-crafted dramas remain the most consistent winners. All right. Thank you. All right. So it's got to be a drama. It's got to be a drama. Like Fargo. Fargo was about, it wasn't just about Fargo. In fact, it was- Yeah. Fargo had comedic moments. It did. Had comedic characters. Mm-hmm. But it was ultimately a drama. Yeah.

[00:54:22] And I think, yeah, we gotta, yours has gotta be a dramatic story, which I think there's, there's elements of drama. We can certainly weave in. My dad is pretty dramatic. I think that's the whole key. Yeah. I think that's the key is that that's the drama part. Mm-hmm. We can make it funny. Mm-hmm. Outside of that, but the core story has gotta be the drama. Yeah.

[00:54:42] Now, can we tie in anything political, socioeconomic, high-minded, anything cutting from the news to place into your story? Yes. Even if we have to fabricate some stuff. No, no, no. To try to win awards. We can. All I care about, John, is I want this film to be- You should win the award. I get it. Well, not even winning. Winning can be tough. Nominated. Yeah. Okay, that's all I'm looking for. All right. Yes. So how do we do that?

[00:55:11] Well, let's not forget that the pandemic and COVID has been turned into a political thing. We can, we gotta hone in on the whole pandemic. We can weave that in there. Cause remember, my dad was in a skilled nursing facility and we could not get in there. Oh, we can tackle healthcare a little bit too. Healthcare, the pandemic, the vaccine. Oh yeah. Did I take it? Now we're talking, John. Did he take it? This is the ticket. Um, we can do what else is political right now? You know?

[00:55:39] Well, there's the whole idea of, you know, the idea is LA is definitely one way on the political spectrum and then you come back to Hickory and it's on the other side. Oh, there's a hundred percent that's in there. We gotta weave that in a little bit. I mean, again, we gotta give it some spice. We gotta give it something, you know, to kind of elevate the drama. Yeah. And I think that, I mean, you look at the winners of these awards, they typically have something to do with, do you want it politics or they got something to do with history and they got something to do with economic and the strife of people.

[00:56:09] I don't know, whatever crap. As a close, we got five minutes left basically as a closing bit. Yeah. Would you like to make it a drama? Say, Hey, make this a drama now and incorporate these issues. Okay. Yeah, that's good. All right. Hey Mac, can you redo that pitch for us? And instead we're going to go in the direction of more drama and we need to weave in the following

[00:56:39] topics to try to do this. The story in the film need to touch on COVID and the pandemic. It needs to touch on vaccines. It needs to touch on healthcare with his father's health situation.

[00:56:54] He has a stroke after the pandemic that causes John to stay in town longer, but also weave in the fact that LA where John spends time is very left leaning and the whole woke minded agenda competing with the right, uh, right side of America. I hear North Carolina, although that needs to weave in. We're trying to get this film nominated for an Academy Award and we need your help to do that with these elements, please.

[00:57:23] All right. Let's give it that dramatic spin. Here we go. Hickory roads. Hickory roads. Genre drama. When a successful comedian returns home to Hickory, North Carolina to care for his ailing father during the pandemic, he finds himself caught between the contrasting worlds of Hollywood's progressive ideals and his hometown's traditional values. Yeah.

[00:57:50] As he navigates family health crises, cultural divides and his own identity, he discovers that the road to healing and understanding runs right through the heart of home. Synopsis Hickory roads follows John, a comedian thriving in the fast paced liberal world of Los Angeles. When COVID-19 strikes, he returns to Hickory to care for his parents. As his father suffers a stroke post pandemic, John finds himself staying longer than planned.

[00:58:16] He grapples with the stark differences between the progressive vaccine driven mindset of LA and the more conservative atmosphere of his hometown, where opinions on the pandemic and health care sharply differ. The film explores the tension between these two worlds, the emotional toll of caregiving and the universal quest for connection and compassion. As John confronts his father's vulnerability and the community's evolving identity, he embarks on a journey of self discovery, reconciliation and growth.

[00:58:46] A heartfelt drama with moments of levity in the vein of the descendants and Manchester by the Sea. Hickory roads tackles the complex themes of family, cultural clash and personal transformation with depth and authenticity. Why it will win awards with its nuanced exploration of timely issues, powerful performances and a deeply personal narrative. Hickory roads is poised to resonate with audiences and critics alike, making it a strong contender for top accolades.

[00:59:15] How does that sound for your dramatic pitch? Ah, that sounds pretty damn good, Mac. So thank you. We'll be back in touch. Glad you liked it. Okay. I think we just discovered something. Yes, we did. You don't write comedies. Yeah. You make comedies out of the situations. Okay. So, you know what I mean? Like, so you're, are you saying we need to use AI to write a truly dramatic film? Right.

[00:59:44] Script dialogue, everything, write it out. Right. Exactly like you described. Yeah. I'll tell you that, that pitch right there. That is as good as pitch I've ever heard in my life. That pitch can win awards. I mean, I'm just telling you that film will win awards. So, but you're saying the comedy is something we'll have to write or you'll have to write because I can't write comedy. Well, we can weave it into whatever it writes and I could go, all right, well, in this scenario, yes, this is a dramatic scene. My dad is in this, he's strapped this thing.

[01:00:14] They're about to come in and change his catheter. Uh, and I was told, you know, I might want to leave the room. And then he makes this weird comment. Right. Oh yeah. See, that's perfect. So, and that plays right into this drama. Yeah. But we're weaving in some comedy in the midst of it. John, I mean, I think we, I think we just discovered a hack in terms of how to write a great comedy is you don't write a comedy.

[01:00:42] You write a drama, you write a drama and make it a comedy. And that's the way. Yeah. That's what far the way you win. Yeah. Okay. I can see that. And plus to me, it's the situations that are funny. Plus my thing is if Martin Scorsese, if we can get him be involved in this. Right. Okay. Cause that's where kind of my head is right now. I heard that pitch and I'm like, dude, right. We could pretty much write our own ticket with this pitch idea of a film. Have chat GPT, write the pitch. Yeah.

[01:01:11] Have it really like sell it. Get it really fleshed out. It's got to touch on all those hot button topics. But then, you know, you, then we give you the script and John, you go in and you add the comedy, you add the punch up to it. Make it funny. Whatever it is. I, I think you need to go and start writing. I mean, I'm maybe being a little premature on this, but go and start writing some ideas for a acceptance award because, because I think there's something there.

[01:01:37] Next episode, we'll start the episode with my acceptance speech written by either me or a, I'm not going to tell you. Write AI and then you punch it up. We are learning AI is not, it's still not funny. Right now. Um, yeah. Well, which proves something. Yes. Comedy is hard. Comedy is hard. Uh, comedians will persist even despite a, yeah. Yeah. But if I were a drama film writer, I'd be pretty nervous right now.

[01:02:07] Your job gone, buddy. We got that formula. We know what it is. Cue the crazy music, you know, the, the heartfelt music, uh, but, but, but Disney's been doing that for a long time. Yeah. They got the formula. They do have a formula. And so that's it. Now the funny part, and again, you know, and it just said comedies don't win anything. Yeah. So we're so underrated and unappreciated. See what we do is we're creating, it's like a sneak attack.

[01:02:34] We're creating, we're doing a film that we know can get award recognition, but we're able to sneak it in with the comedy in there. It's just the pitch on it has to be this drama. Well, that's what they say about it. Yeah. Comedy is just drama plus time tragedy plus time. That's so good. John, you didn't come up with that. Did you? No, no, no. No. I'm saying they say it. Oh, it's been said that comedy is tragedy plus time. Yeah. Like in the moment when you still, I think you should try to adopt.

[01:03:02] I think you should try to make people believe you came up with that. That's, that's, that's out there. No, I'm surprised you haven't heard that one. I had not heard it. Oh yeah. So I'm just, I've been battling really impressed. I would have been like, God, that was deep. That's, oh my God. John is a much, much deeper individual than I've ever given him credit for. So yeah, I can't lie to you though, but let's read some comments from last episode. I'm real quick. And we'll wrap this one up.

[01:03:27] Shout out to, of course, our guy, Shane Flint, Zach Simrock and rich royalty, Rob, reckless records. Oh, the, the, the multiple ours is back. Yeah. He's dead set on making this podcast, a video podcast. He really wants a video. That's what he wants. Now he was funny. We got one complaint about the thumbnail. Remember how some guy complained about our thumbnail, which I think your thumbnails. I love the thumbnail.

[01:03:54] This guy's now saying, I'm just staring at the image that you have on the screen. And it's not as fun as watching you guys. Like how we get to watch you guys on the Carolina. Oh, no. So he wasn't, he's not complaining about the thumbnail. No. He's just saying he'd rather see us. But he mentioned staring at the image and that's two people now. There's a lot of people. Look, that image really. I like it. Brings out your finer details. Yeah. My eyes, my beard is perfect. My hair looks great. I'll admit when we ran that, I think I was with you when you prompted that image and

[01:04:22] said create a really nice image of John Reap. I mean, it came back. It was, it's. It looks great. My eyes, especially Shane Flint. Excellent episode. Love the idea of bringing back a loved one from the past through an AI chat bot. We did talk about that. Not sure if you discuss the second and third order effects of such a bold, but risky experiment on the human psyche. Will it affect how we go through the stages of mourning?

[01:04:48] Also, what are the limitations of said virtual humans of the past? How do we keep it relevant? In the social lab. This is something I may have my researchers, engineers start to ponder. Again, excellent episode. Shane's got a research lab. According to this, yeah. I just thought he liked the outdoors and he was military. I know that. He was Air Force. No, it's fascinating.

[01:05:18] I love, I love Shane. Shane, we love you. That is, that goes a lot deeper than I think we were prepared to go last week. Yeah. We already went pretty deep as it was. Um, that's interesting. Okay. Yeah. We could, we could, we could explore that more. I would venture to say that once you're the stages of grief, yeah. What is it? Five stages of grief, acceptance, denial, blah, blah, blah, you know, anger. But once you're through the five stages, then you can have this experience.

[01:05:47] Then you can have a chat. Okay. If you're saying it just needs to be delayed, don't, don't roll out a chat bot based on your, your dead loved one. Right. Until you've gone through all five stages. Yeah. I think that kind of need to check all five boxes. Like I'm good. Then it just, this more of a fun comfort is the last one. Like, was it, is it like acceptance or something? Yeah. Acceptance is the last one. So once you get through acceptance and it's like, now I can resurrect my dead friend as a chat bot. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

[01:06:14] Cause you don't want to, I think we have these stages for a reason, right? So in other words, if you introduced a chat bot of your dead loved one in the middle of stages two and three, it could really screw you up. First one is denial. Okay. You deny that this is happening. This did not happen. I want to break up with you. No, you don't. No, you don't. I'm not, you don't. That's not happening. Right. Anger. You, how dare you after all we've been through together bargaining.

[01:06:44] Okay. Now hear me out. You say you want to break up, right? But let's just, let's work this out. We got time. Depression. Okay. So you just drink yourself. Drink yourself. Silly. Uh, just zone out on watching a reality TV shows for a marathon. Yeah. And the last one is acceptance. Okay. Yeah. So trying to introduce an AI chat, but if you're dead loved one, any of the stages one through four could be problematic. You get through five though, you're home free. Yeah.

[01:07:14] You're in a good spot. Let's do it. Can you imagine if you're, if you're, if you're in the bargaining stage and this chat thing appears, what, what, what, what that would be like bargaining, like not just a breakup. Grief is a loss. Yeah. And you're bargaining with like, how could this be? And now the guy's like, no, I'm right here. Yeah. What are you talking about? I'm not dead. I'm right here in your computer. There's no need for you to bargain. I'm here.

[01:07:43] Why are you in phase three bargaining? I saw your, yeah, yeah. Well, it's, they can make anything. Fake news. Fake news. Oh my God. That Shane, you have a good point, buddy. Yeah, that's true. Oh, bargaining with a AI version of your dead love. Oh yeah. That could be a real quandary. That is deep. That is deep. Zach said, LOL. Good morning or rather good early morning. My first workout starts in 10 minutes and another one at three. No, at 10 AM. Then at three.

[01:08:12] Nap, work and rinse and repeat those two exercises this afternoon. Hope you're doing great. And y'all killed this weekend. So his whole point of this comment was to say, Hey, by the way, I work out twice a day. Check me out. Yeah. I'm working out twice a day. Zach. I know you're a big karate guy. We know you're good looking. We know you're, we get it. Get it. Come on. Nerd out with us for once. Thanks. I wonder if he listens to this whole thing. If he just likes to hop in the comment section and see who else would like him.

[01:08:41] Well, I mean, he's, he probably don't have time. He's working out. That's the thing. He's got too much. Even on the Carolina Reaper. He's like, he'll pop in and go like, Hey, I can only stay for five minutes. Got to go do my karate. Got to work out. Got to, got to get to my gym. Got to, you know, they're expecting me. Yeah. I'm there every day. If I don't show up, people are going to worry. Zach, we get it. You're a big deal. And we love you, buddy. We do love you for that. So thanks for the comment. If anything, we're just commenting on our own security. Wondering why we aren't more like Zach. We're in the anger stage with you. Zach.

[01:09:12] We're done bargaining. We're not, no, we're not bargaining yet. No, we may be bargaining next episode. Yeah. Right now we're just angry. Right. Okay. Well, I am not angry with you or this episode. This was great. As always the Ellen Jackson. Thank you. I'm accepting the fact that this episode is over. So yeah, there'll be another one. All right. Come back in one week. And I hope that you guys will rate review, subscribe and share this podcast.

[01:09:38] However, you want to do it and help us keep the lights on here. And for Moose and for the Ellen Jackson, my name is John Reap. Goodbye. You demand John Reap. You've been listening to The Mesh, an online media network of shows and programs ranging from business to arts, sports to entertainment, music to community.

[01:10:09] All programs are available on the website as well as through iTunes and YouTube. Check us out online at themesh.tv. Discover other network shows and give us feedback on what you just heard. You said you don't have a great point to yourize, but I'm not toovagant. Call me whenever you're listening. Welcome to Yowansh.