“…these big streaming shows, these big broadcast shows -- writers’ room, if you look at some of the writers, they’re not represented. And then it’s just one person. It's like, “Oh I got my token.”

ROB
Yeah, it’s always one. Yes.

THEO
Yeah.

ROB
And we might graduate with this movement to two black people. It’s like, “All right, now we move to the point where we could have two in a room.” -- Rob Richardson and Theo Dumont

----------------------

ROB RICHARDSON
Welcome to Disruption Now. I'm your host and moderator, Rob Richardson. With us is Theo Dumont who is a man about many talents in Hollywood. He's invested in a whole lot of film festivals -- the Oscar-Qualifying Holly Shorts Film Festival, the Hollywood Comedy Festival. He’s the co-founder of the Mammoth Film Festival. He's also the CEO of Alta Global Media. -- Did I say that right?

THEO DUMONT
“Managing partner.” I have another one.

ROB
“Managing partner.” And he just spearhead media relations for a lot of big clients. I’m sure most of them you know -- Spike Lee. He helped do the BlacKkKlansman and then the released for that. He helped do the Da 5 Bloods that I just watched. It was a great movie as well. So he's been in Hollywood for a long time. He's made a way for himself and honored to really have him on the show. -- Theo, how are you doing?

THEO
I’m doing great. Thanks so much for having me. It’s an honor to be with you. I appreciate it, Rob.

ROB
Yeah. No problem, man. You have a very interesting background. Where are you from?

THEO
Born in Haiti -- Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
ROB
Wow.

THEO
Yeah. Moved to the U.S. when I was six years old -- moved to New York, Queens Boulevard -- and then grew up in Florida -- Orlando and then Miami, Florida, so 305. Went to school in Miami, Florida National University, FIU.

ROB
How in the world did you end up in Hollywood from that path -- I mean from New York to Miami? You literally went east coast, south, all the way across the country -- west. So how did you do that zigzag puzzle? How does one get to there?

THEO
It’s crazy, Rob. My father was involved in politics and banking so we fled Haiti.

ROB
Oh wow. Tell me about that. He was involved in politics and so he had to flee Haiti.

THEO
Yeah.

ROB
That sounds like an interesting story. Tell me about that. I just want to know. I didn’t expect the--

THEO
He ran a bank. It was like one of the… Not a bank but like a currency exchange business.

ROB
Okay.

THEO
They’re a politicized bank, right? So he ran a currency exchange and then my mother had a business. She had a really nice… It’s just a store. And were public figures and you know, they got caught up in politics. It was a regime… the Duvalier’s. There was a big revolt at that time so we had to get out of there…

ROB
Wow.

THEO
…and move to United States. That was it. I was a kid. I was six years old so I didn’t know what was going on.
ROB
Have you been back to Haiti since?

THEO
Yeah. Yeah, I’ve been a few times. I have friends in Hollywood that are actually musicians and artists and actors and they do a lot for the country. I’m actually trying to plan a trip to go back with friends now. My mom passed but when she was living, she didn’t want me to go back because… You know, there’s a thing, right -- diaspora. Like when you leave, your parents… It’s their country and they would prefer… I don’t know. She felt like she had some… She didn’t think I can do my thing on my own there.

ROB
She worried about… Look, Haiti is a rough place and there’s a lot of things that’s happened to it as I’m sure you know. I respect the fact that they were among the few, if not the only ones, that fought back all for freedom. But there was a price for their freedom. Colonialism made it very hard for them. What do you see is the challenge… I mean you’ve been back, right?

THEO
Yeah.

ROB
How were you received when you go back to Haiti? I’m just so curious about--

THEO
Well I was still young when I went back a few times. At that time, it was… You know, it’s like [an] outsider. Like I’m a tourist.

ROB
Yeah because you’re an American now, [not] Haitian anymore. Like, “You’re not one of us.”

THEO
Yeah, no doubt. No doubt. But it is a great place. There's a lot of really good people and there's a community. The whole Caribbean is a community. There’s togetherness. Who knows? Maybe now, when I go back, it will be a different vibe. But at that time, I was a kid so I didn’t really understand.

ROB
Right.

THEO
I’m still kind of [finding myself - 05:09].

ROB
What do you think you understand now? Looking back, looking at your father’s experience and your mother’s experience, that had to have some influence on your entrepreneurial journey. What lessons did you take from them watching their journey?

THEO
It did. No doubt it did. No doubt it did. They split up when they got to the United States. My dad moved to LA and then we moved to Florida and so that played a part of it where I would visit LA a few times and I'm like, “Oh this is crazy,” right?

And then in Miami… Listen, right away, when I was a kid, me and my friends, we started promoting nightclubs at a very early age -- maybe 15, 16 years old -- before--

ROB
Wow. You were promoting nightclubs at 15 you could even get into.

THEO
Yeah. Yeah, a big one, too.

ROB
You were a hustler.

THEO
No doubt, from the beginning. And Miami was coming off kind of… I’d like to say it was Cocaine Cowboys ‘80s. And then to the ‘90s era, there were these massive nightclubs. Prince had a club called “Glam Slam.” There was a club called “Liquid” and that was… Ingrid Casares and Madonna, they had a night club on South Beach. So it was the South Beach era and I was right in the middle of that.

As a kid, let me be honest with you, we would throw our own events, our own parties. You create the flyers. You do the event. I felt that was from the DNA of the parents’ entrepreneurship. I didn’t even know what I was doing at that time. It was just something fun to do. So we’d do big events and big parties.

ROB
How do you get into that at 15? Where in the world… Like how does somebody else, “Let’s go promote parties”? How the hell does that happen? I know it’s Miami. By the way, I’ve been to Miami. Miami didn’t [indiscernible - 06:42]. [Laughter]

THEO
The big thing, man, it’s just kind of like… I mean I would think some people in their neighborhoods, they get into… It’s like a group thing. That’s what kids do. We played sports. We played basketball. We’re athletes. And then you just fall into it. “What are we doing this weekend?” “Let’s throw a party. Let’s organize it.” And then you start promoting it. And then it became… There’s a culture. There was a car club culture. There was this strange Miami… Orlando is very different than Miami, you know.

ROB
Orlando is very different, yeah.

THEO
And then there was a Caribbean culture. There’s Jamaicans. There’s Cubans. It was an interesting vibe and I just kind of fell into it.

ROB
So what was the Haitian culture there that you were able to link onto to help--

THEO
Oh no question. No question.

ROB
So that did help. But I want to talk about that cultural kind of root and the community there. You think that was a big part of your success?

THEO
No doubt. There was a Haiti community in South Miami as well -- in Kendall. Even in school, there were kids like myself that I can relate to. In Orlando, that didn’t exist.

ROB
So let me ask a question. Continue that thought but… This will be a challenging question. “What do you think Haitians may understand a little differently than African-Americans?” You’re African-American because you’ve been here but there is a difference, I think, in the cultural legacy and approach. What do you think that difference is that may have been informative for helping you organize and be an entrepreneur in America in terms of how you go about it? -- Does my question make sense?

THEO
It does. I’ll tell you… Yes, I’ll tell you like it is, Rob. I don’t know. Maybe it’s a revolution thing, believe it or not.

ROB
Right.

THEO
It was in the DNA. You always remember… You’re like, “Wow, we were slaves” and then [indiscernible - 08:33]… You know, they did it. I don’t know. Maybe that’s a part of it. That’s definitely in the back of the mind of Haitians, maybe. I don’t know. I don’t know. [Inaudible - 08:42] good people. They’re good people… Both good people. I did have to understand--

Oh this is important. In Haiti… Yeah, there’s discrimination in Haiti, right? But in Haiti, you don’t even know--

I met a director recently -- a Haitian director. She made a beautiful film called “Ayiti Mon Amour” and she made me realize this, too. I only realized that I was black when I moved to the United States. In Haiti, we’re all--

ROB
Well you’re all black.

THEO
We’re all… It’s here where they’re like, “Oh you’re black.”

ROB
Right.

THEO
It’s hard to explain that.

ROB
Look, you made some good points. But I do think the cultural roots of understanding of coming from a country where you work together and you come here and you work together for survival, for a lot of reasons--

You know, African-Americans have that some but not at the same level of cultural, I think, specificity than those in the Caribbean do. And I don’t think we should be… I’m not one of these people that divide between African-Americans who were at the Caribbean and African-Americans that are African descent. I think it’s a different experience but at the same time--

Look, if you get pulled over by an officer, he’s not going to ask you, “Wait. Did you come from the Caribbean? Never mind. Keep moving.” [Laughter]

THEO
Absolutely.

ROB
So we have a shared experience here.

THEO
And the parents didn’t really understand that much. I mean I don’t know. They had different experiences. I think that second generation, now the third generation of Haitians that are in the United States, they’re completely different, right? You know, it took a learning. And even back then, there was a thing. It wasn’t cool to be Haitian back then.
ROB
Right.

THEO
You know, we dress funny. You got this. You have that accent. And then in Miami, to be honest with you… I heard someone else say this. In Miami, there was a cultural shift. They got involved in gangs. They got involved in sticking up for themselves. And that changed things--

ROB
Let me give my philosophy on gangs and everything. I think every culture in America, one way or another, had gangs. Italians had gangs. The Irish had gangs. They all had gangs because they had to figure out how to organize and help each other.

Now, obviously, I’m not supporting violence. But I’m a realist in understanding survival. People got together, figured how to organize their communities. And now, they’re figuring out ways to create businesses just like the Irish did, just like the Italians did.

I don’t think that makes our culture any different from any other culture in terms of figuring out how to survive and how to move forward as a community. You do what you have to do to survive. If you can’t survive, nothing else matters to you.

THEO
No doubt. We just lost a very prominent Haitian… a gentleman of Haitian descent -- Shad Gaspard. He was a WWE wrestler. He passed away in Venice Beach. And we had just started to bond. I met him during the Oscars. My business partner was meeting with him. We just met with him. That really hit close to home because he saved his little one… his young one and he… He sadly drowned recently. And he had big plans. He had big plans on the entertainment side. And that gentleman, he said a few things to me when we met. He was 6’8”, 270 lbs.

ROB
He’s a big boy.

THEO
A big guy. He was a very, very talented writer. He would go in these rooms in Hollywood and people would be like, “There’s no way you wrote this screenplay” and that really hurt him.

ROB
Right, because there’s no way a 280-lbs black man can have the talent to write a screenplay.

THEO
That’s what they were saying.
ROB
But Black people are some of the most creative people there are. We have to be.

THEO
Yes. So he was trying to transition out of getting his head hit and being the wrestler into this thing and so it’s unfortunate. I hope there’s a way that we can still kind of put his project.

ROB
Yeah, that’s awesome. There is this way that people want to stereotype you or put you in a box…

THEO
Always.

ROB
…be it color, be it your background. So I want to talk a little bit about your process because you are still a bit of an anomaly. I wish that wasn’t true. But being a successful PR… I would way say PR in terms of production, managing talents. That’s what you do, correct?

THEO
Yes, sir.

ROB
There’s not many firms that are Black-owned that are doing that, unfortunately. There should be more but there’s not. So you’ve come across some formula of success but I’m sure the process wasn’t linear. You started off acting, right, I think…

THEO
Or something.

ROB
…and you kind of pivoted. Well tell me about… Well let me go this way. Think about a time when you were going through the process. It can be the process for your business right now that you’ve now grown to be successful. But I’m sure there was time when the process didn’t seem as promising as it is right now. Walk me through a time when you just were questioning the process and how you were able to move forward through that moment. -- That question make sense?

THEO
Yes. I’m going to give you a couple of examples.

ROB
Please.
THEO
So I visited LA a few times then moved out to LA. But I still got my… Even in the early grind, in school -- I think it was the second year -- I already knew I wanted to figure it out -- my second of college. So I just called a bunch of advertising firms, got some strange internship and it was not… Advertising was not for me.

And then somehow I fell into the PR thing. I met an amazing professor. He was incredible. He was like, “I’m going to put you on to this firm,” and it was the second largest female-owned firm in South Florida. I had a couple of recommendations for it. Didn’t like it. Too boring. Very corporate.

And then somehow they turned me on to the Miami International Boat Show and I was like, “This is it. If I could do like the PR thing with this entertainment thing, maybe that’s it.” And then I remember my Hollywood dream. I was like, “Maybe we can match those things up.”

So [I] did a cross-country trip from Miami to Los Angeles, stopped everywhere along the way with one of my childhood friends. He was a basketball player. We played ball together. His brother was an actor. And I had seen his brother’s acting and I was like, “This is what it is.” And then we went out with him and it was the Hollywood. It was Hollywood. He was on the rise. And I was like, “Maybe I can combine the PR thing with this and then maybe be a studio publicist or something and maybe that could be the dream.”

So then moved out with nothing. Had a degree though. I had a backup plan just in case. And also dabbled into the acting thing just to see what that was like and it drove me crazy, to be honest with you. For myself, it’s just not for me -- you know, being in the set all day and then hoping you’d get a part or something. For me, personally, that could not work. I’m a person that likes to control the destiny as much as possible.

ROB
Right.

THEO
You know, you plan as much as you can. Control is… It wasn’t for me.

We started doing actor showcases at a theater that my best friend’s bother owned. I know that sounds crazy. It was like, “Can we create a place where people come together?” And we helped these actors get discovered. That was the purpose. He owned the theater so that was a great spot to do it at.

So we started working. And then at the same time, I started… I need to put food on the table. I worked odd jobs and then I got an internship. I had my degree already but I had to take an internship job. And it was at a Hollywood firm but they focused on television -- before the Golden Age of TV at that time. So they had National Geographic, SBS Broadcasting, a bunch of big firms that are called “Prior & Associates” at that time.

I’m in the job. Not a lot of money but I got my degree so I got that. I’m helping out with the showcases on the side. And then next thing you know with that job, the firm, they sent me to the South of France to represent 10 clients as almost like a coordinator. I got promoted in two months there.

So now I’m a coordinator. I’m in the South of France. I’m from Haiti but I’ve never been to France before, I don’t think, at that time and I’m representing these clients. I don’t have an American passport yet. I have my green card still. My mom hadn’t process the… She got her citizenship but she didn’t process mine.

So we [inaudible - 17:22] across the border. I think I went to Germany and South of France. And I’m repping these clients. I’m making mistakes left and right but the experience is everything. It’s a cultural… Amazing. I’m seeing all these different people. I’m repping people and I’m learning, right?

ROB
Yeah.

THEO
Everything I would learn representing these clients overseas, I would try to bring it into my little business and expand that business. So that was the turning point.

So we created a festival, Holly Shorts, with that theater that my best friend’s brother owned. It was just like a tiny hole in the wall thing -- 23 people. But the idea was simple: You unite people. Bring them together, hope they get discovered. And then every time I rep these clients and they put on these big conferences, I’ll bring those skills to this small thing and hopefully it blows up, and that’s what it did.

ROB
Wow.

THEO
Year three in Holly Shorts, we had celebrities, big names, the dude from Entourage -- all that. And then Year five, the stars aligned. We did the Egyptian, the American Cinematheque. We had everybody. Jessica Biel, Josh Brolin, David Lynch participated -- all these Hollywood luminaries. And we're just kids.

I had two kind of careers happening at the same time. One, the firm and two, the festival which is mine. And then eventually, that first job I had, the guy… One of the clients sold his company called “SBS” for $5 billion. He ended up being hired by MGM private equity--

ROB
You said for $5 billion?

THEO
$5 billion in Europe, yeah.

ROB
Jeez, that’s a good four and a half.

THEO
That company was the second biggest media company behind RTL in Germany. So the MGM private equity people, Texas Pacific Group Providence Equity Partners, they hired him to be the CEO and he just happened to be an old client. So my old boss was like, “You want to come? You’re the corporate communications at MGM.” And I'm like, “Well…” I was at another firm at that time but I'm like, “That's the kind of the dream that I had was to work in a studio. I'm not going to tell anyone but yeah, I'm kind of feeling this idea” -- so went in. But like you said, not many of us. I could count them by hand. -- I can count them by hand.

And at that time, I thought I made it. I got my name on the door. I'm on the executive floor. I’m next to the general counsel. I'm like, “You’re the general counsel?” He's got 30 lawyers underneath him. I'm like, “This is it.” It was an amazing ride -- you know, MGM, the Bond films, Stargate, learning all that channels. They hired Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner. We did all those announcements. So corporate communications and marketing… And at the same time, I have my festival. It was popping and it's almost kind of this little side thing. So I'm being careful--

ROB
You were still doing your side festival with all that. Wow.

THEO
No question. No question. You know, that became an operation. So eventually, that became a full-time thing -- the festival. That was it. I guess it's a combination of those things -- being at the early ground, seeing the world like that and then just grinding.

ROB
But was there a time when you were doing… I guess what I'm try to get to is like, [have] you ever had a little bit of doubt where you were like, “Okay…” It took Year three, I guess, to get to where you wanted to. Go back in your mind and think of when it was hard because that sounds like an easy transition. I know it wasn’t.

THEO
Yeah, no doubt.

ROB
This is the question I want you to answer.

THEO
Yeah, no doubt.

ROB
What advice would you give your younger self knowing what you know now at one of those moments and then what advice would you ignore?

THEO
That’s a great question. I think I had to go through that. I had to follow my, you know, what--

ROB
How did you follow… You know what? Tell me about that.

THEO
I was at the first firm and it was great. It was a nice experience. The drive was far. I was driving like 40 miles-50 miles a day to work. It was tough.

ROB
Damn.

THEO
It wasn't that great in money. In Los Angeles, even then -- it's expensive now -- the cost of living was really difficult. I couldn't really find a way to do it so I had to quit. And I had to take a small job at that time until I could find my footing. But that was painful. Imagine, you have your degree. You've got your career off the ground. You've been to Europe a few times. The thing is I never lost that relationship with my first boss because he's the one that hired me for MGM. I mean how can I do a different--

ROB
Let us know, how would you do it different? What advice would you give yourself, period.

THEO
Yeah man, just knowing… Well there was no role model. There's no father figure. There's none of that, right? So it's almost kind of… You know, you're kind of figuring it out on your own, you know.

ROB
Right.

THEO
Advice would have been, “Just stay with it. It's going to happen.” -- Stay with it. It's going to happen. -- There is a bright side. Stay with it. Stay with it because... It was tough. It was maybe like four months of just toughness, just being at a lower level. That was one. That's one moment.

ROB
Okay.

THEO
Then I had another moment like that. I had another moment like that. Bro, this was… Man, it took a while to recover. I’m at MGM, living the life. I'm like, “What? This is it.” I mean I'm looking for maybe a profile at my university thing. I'm feeling amazing -- name on the door, all that, Bond films, all that. And then guess what? Man, they hit a credit crunch. So the company couldn't raise any more money. They tried to get like a big loan. It didn't happen. It cost that company a million dollars a day to just open the studio.

ROB
Damn.

THEO
Hollywood is like, if you missed a couple of movies, it's a wrap. You got to hit a threshold. So basically, the CEO was like, “I'm out.” Mob’s boss is like… He has another company. He invited me one day. -- He'll laugh at this. -- He invited me to lunch one day. He’s like, “Listen man, I'm out. I have my other company. You can do whatever you want to do but I'm out. You can ask them for a job if you want. We're cool but I got to go.”

ROB
Damn.

THEO
First of all, I knew it was crazy because I'm like, “You never ask me to lunch.”

ROB
So that's the way to tell you like, “Basically, you're not fired but you no longer have any position here.”

THEO
HR was crazy. HR was like--

ROB
Yeah. “You’re not fired but I’m just telling you--“

THEO
“Don't freak out.”

ROB
Yeah.

THEO
Oh man, I asked him for the job, too. I was kind of like… Already, I wanted to leave too because he's out so I'm like, “What am I doing here?”

And the new marketing guy, not cool. They weren't cool people, to be honest. You know, I had to try to prove myself real quick to be like, “Hey, I wanted this job. Here's all I can do.” And the dude was basically like… the new guy, the new marketing guy, “You know what? I don't need you. I got someone that does what you do.” So I kind of got a ride out. And I was like, “Oh man! That was business class.”

ROB
Damn.

THEO
This was a wrap. But even then, man, I had energy. I was like, “Let me call up all my contacts. Tell them what's up. See what's going to happen.” I couldn't just like have a severance and quit. I needed to have my next thing. So I did kind of set up my next thing while I'm fired.

So I'm working already on my next job while I'm at my fired job because I have a week left. I kind of felt that pride in my stomach. I'm like, “This is kind of dope” because I should probably take some time off to let this recover but I'm ready. I'm going to go to a firm--

The second company I was at, that lady was an amazing British executive. She was running this company for this guy and she had just started another startup. My man was like, “You should call her because she's starting this new company, see what's up.” So I called her. Did the deal.

So she's hired me already and I'm already kind of hinting working over there. I'm out of the studio. Now I'm at her company -- fast forward, like two weeks later. Imagine having an executive floor, a big tower in a beautiful neighborhood, now I’m at this little office--

ROB
So this is another company you left after leaving this other company where they peaced you out.

THEO
Yeah, being laid off and fired. Now I'm in this little box and we're sharing an office. I'm splitting an office with another lady and I'm like, “This is the biggest depression of my life.”

ROB
Yeah.

THEO
[Inaudible - 25:37] and being relegated to like a [zealey - 25:41]. You know I'm saying? That's what it felt like.

ROB
Yeah, I hear you.

THEO
And this is the moment where I had to really check myself in, I guess, same as the first story, just having that poise.

ROB
Yeah.

THEO
[Crosstalk - 25:59].

ROB
So how do you think that set you up for success, going from… You felt like on top of the world--

THEO
[Inaudible - 26:02]? I know what the bottom is. -- I know what the bottom is. -- So even when we're working now and I hit problems, it's okay because you have to continue pushing the ball and pushing it a thousand percent because that bottom is poverty.

ROB
Yeah, that's the bottom nobody wants to go to.

THEO
No, sir.

ROB
No. It’s not a bottom that anybody wants to be at.

THEO
Whatever it takes.

ROB
Yeah, whatever it takes.

THEO
[Laughter] That’s it. You know what’s crazy, man, is I felt I had done a lot, been through a lot, seen a lot. I mean I think it's like 20 years almost, right?

ROB
Right.

THEO
[Inaudible - 26:39]. And then everything changed when I met Steven Adams.

ROB
What's changed then? What was the--

THEO
The master's class because then it's almost like a maturity of doing the publicity, doing the marketing. Obviously, I still do that. But also he has a producer/manager hat. And he has… you know, having someone that has your back. You know what I mean?

ROB
Yeah.

THEO
I tell everybody, all the filmmakers [crosstalk - 27:04]--

ROB
Is he a mentor of yours?

THEO
Yeah -- mentor, colleague, business partner. But nobody have my back like that? [Inaudible - 27:10].

ROB
Yeah.

THEO
Like, this is… you know, got your back, man. So that's critical. I mean my mother business partner that… Actually, that's not true.

I have several amazing people in my life that have my back like my Holly Shorts team Daniel [crosstalk - 27:24]…

ROB
Sure.

THEO
…Nicole Castro. They have your back like crazy. But I always thought of like the marketing, publicity job and now I’m producing as the day-to-day. That's not cool. Even Steven was like, “You have this amazing festival.” It's the body of the work altogether. You just turn the lights on a little bit better. You know, this is an executive who produced with Roger Converse Smith. Roger has 13 films with Spike more than any other actor. Mr. Adams is the reason why I was introduced to Spike.

ROB
Yeah, I was going to ask you about how the Spike Lee connection made--

THEO
Masterclass. Masterclass, sir.

ROB
Yeah, that all came through Steve.

THEO
Yeah.

ROB
So what was your first interaction with Spike Lee like? What was he like? Was he totally laid back? Did he asked you any tough questions? How was he?

THEO
Of course. I mean he's changed my life. Listen, I had done this before -- you know, working with amazing creators. I mean I also worked with Adi Hasak. He’s the creator of Shades of Blue. He’s an amazing showrunner. We do all of his marketing, all his publicity. We've got Yes Studios which is a powerhouse Israeli company that created the show “Fauda.” So we've done it before. You know what I'm saying?

ROB
Right.

THEO
We’ve worked with amazing people. But this gentleman is incredible because he practices what he preaches. You understand? From the beginning of his career, he never looked back.

Our chance to work together was Rodney King -- a Rodney King piece -- Roger Smith Bessie award-winning one-man show. Spike directed the one-man play. Steven Adams produced it. We were representing Roger at that time. And this was a collaboration. It was around the 30th anniversary of Rodney King.

ROB
Yep.

THEO
Right? And we were dropping this on Netflix as a Netflix Original. And we had one window to do some promotion and Mr. Lee had heard about the noise that we were making about the project. I’m already blowing it up. If I’m involved in something, we're going all the way. So we took it all the way and it was making noise.

And I think his students -- he's a tenured professor at NYU -- told him, “Maybe you should do some press on this.” Long story short, we had a window and we did the press. And I already know... Listen, we work with major executive filmmakers so I know you have one shot.

ROB
Yep.

THEO
We did the job and then we ended up going to the South of France at the Cannes Film Festival to promote Rodney King, and we did. We did a big event. I mean black faces, black voices and we turned it up. We [had been - 29:59] popping that year, right? And people were like, “We need this here.”

So he tapped us to help him with “She's Gotta Have It” on Netflix to bring that back, Season 1. We did Season 1, Season 2 and then jumped to BlacKkKlansman. This is a gentleman who--

ROB
By the way, BlacKkKlansman, as I told you, is my… I think between BlacKkKlansman and Malcolm X, BlacKkKlansman was… It was funny because… I didn’t even think about this till I just said it but Malcolm X is Denzel Washington and BlacKkKlansman is his son. I didn't put the connection till I just said it.

THEO
[Inaudible - 30:31].

ROB
They both just did such a good job. And you know what's interesting about Spike Lee's movie… Let’s take BlacKkKlansman which was made a couple of years ago. That movie could be written right now today and applying on what's going on right now at this current time. That's how you know it's good art. It applies… Almost at any time, you can find the message in it. Do you have a favorite Spike Lee movie? I'm sure it's what you worked on.
THEO
My favorite? Listen, there are so many, man -- Do the Right Thing, Crooklyn… I mean there's just love… It doesn't have to be the favorite. That's the thing, right?

ROB
Okay, give me some of your preferred… Of course, we just reached Da 5 Bloods. We got to talk about that. I think the Klansman was… The message was pretty easy to get to. The message was like, you know, we got a resolve this hate or it’s going to destroy America. Like I said that movie was based on, what, the ‘70s?

THEO
Yeah. That was exceptional.

ROB
Yeah, exactly. That applied, obviously, right when it was written in a time when we had the present occupant at the White House.

THEO
Yeah.

ROB
Now looking at what's going on with George Floyd and the police brutality, it's--

THEO
And he didn't know. He didn't know there was--

ROB
He didn’t know. That’s the artist. He's got that third eye.

THEO
They shot that after the Oscars. The day after that, they went to Thailand, shot that for three months and then there you go -- the rest is history.

ROB
Yeah. And we want people--

THEO
It has been amazing, man -- amazing blessing. And it gives me a lot of… It's an emotional connection as well. I mean I lost my mother like… I think right after the Cannes Film Festival. Actually, after dropping BlacKkKlansman.

ROB
Oh wow. Sorry.

THEO
We were just launching it at that time. It's amazing… I'm so grateful and thankful to work with him and Netflix and people like that. It's amazing. Listen, you think you've done everything and then you meet some people and they change your perspective of everything. This is a team that really… Him and his team, they practice… They do it. -- They do it, right?

ROB
Yeah.

THEO
If I see somebody doing that, I have to… I adapt some of the DNA. I have no choice.

ROB
Right.

THEO
You understand? This is someone who will be working with talent and… I mean if there's no people that look like us, he will demand that change, right? He demands [crosstalk - 33:01].

ROB
Yeah. And that’s because he practices what he preaches which is what I respect, too.

THEO
Are you kidding me? It’s amazing. It's amazing. I mean it's contagious.

ROB
Yeah.

THEO
[Inaudible - 33:12] contagious.

ROB
I'm thinking about Spike Lee's movies and if I had to summarize what they stand for as a whole is that they tried to make America see the reflection of herself and make sure that it's living up to what she thinks she will see in the mirror and the two don't usually connect. I see that with Da 5 Bloods.

I remember the ones… Spoiler alert if you guys will see it. I think one of the central messages there was about the fact that America has Black men fighting all these wars, telling people we're fighting for freedom. We come back here and we don't even enjoy the same level of freedom that we say that America is about. We're telling black and brown men to go over there and fight for our country because this is what we believe. But we don't follow through with what we believe. America doesn't like that look in the mirror.

I think part of why the George Floyd prot… It’s not just George Floyd but I would say he was the spark of the collective grievance of all the issues with police brutality, with the criminal justice system. And the response, the sparks, the protest, the demonstrations is something, even outright just riots, was a response to wanting that freedom.

And I think what really got America's attention was that this was everywhere. And all across the world, people were protesting for America to be American. And I just think Spike Lee's content is so important. It's why art is so important to us. -- Sorry. I had to say that.

THEO
No doubt. Full circle. I mean they're making people think that we don't care about the flag. Are you out of your mind?

ROB
No. We want the flag to be substance. We believe in the flag. We want the flag to follow through.

THEO
It's painful, man.

ROB
Yeah. I mean protests is the most American thing you can do.

THEO
Absolutely.

ROB
So what do you see as an opportunity to this environment? We talked about… This is currently a, I think, unique environment. At least I'm going to say, I’ve been through Rodney King. I’ve been through protests. I’ve been through riots in my city. I’ve seen this happen several times over. I don't remember a moment, at least within my lifetime, where it seemed as if the world stopped collectively to acknowledge the inequities that Black people are going through in this country.

And you've seen it all across the board. You've seen tech companies come out and talk about it. You've seen people that you would never have thought say “Black lives matter.”

I saw Mitt Romney and approached… He has to say “Black lives matter.” If you would have told me that four years ago that Mitt Romney was going to participate in the Black Lives Matter protest and say “Black lives matter,” I would have said you're smoking something. But the fact is this I feel is different.
THEO
It’s different.

ROB
What do you feel about this moment? And then in particular, what do you think Hollywood needs to do? That's one question. And then what do you see is the opportunity for Black entrepreneurs in this environment? Two kind of questions that are kind of loaded.

THEO
I agree with you -- it's different. Why is it different? Look at the faces that are protesting. That's changed. That helps. I’ll take anything. -- I’ll take anything. -- I'm sorry to say but we've seen it, right? You've seen things that happen like flavor of the month. You hope it sustains.

ROB
Yeah.

THEO
What can Hollywood do -- more of us.

ROB
Well I agree.

THEO
Right? More of us. More.

ROB
More equity.

THEO
[Inaudible - 36:47] people. More equity. More people. More opportunity.

ROB
And it's good business. I tell folks, “You don't have to do this for…” It is the right thing to do. But from a business economic point of view, it's the profitable thing to do.

THEO
No question. No question. And then on the executive side, think about it. That's all nice. We're going to change. We're going to take black face out. That's cool. What about the executives?

ROB
Yeah. That's like the minimum. Like, “We're going to say we're going to stop insulting you.” “How about you give some equity?” Yes, I'm glad you said “Black lives matter.” That's like the bottom of the floor, the minimum of what we can expect. We should expect that but we need equity. It needs to be real.

THEO
Yeah. Now there was a story of the day about… Scary, man. Even these writers’ rooms of these big shows -- these big streaming shows, these big broadcast shows -- writers’ room, if you look at some of the writers, they’re not represented. And then it's just one person. It’s like, “Oh I got my token.”

ROB
Yeah. It’s always one. Yes.

THEO
Yeah.

ROB
And we might graduate with this movement to two Black people. It’s like, “All right, now we've moved to the point where we could have two in a room.” All right.

THEO
Insane. So CEOs, executives, that's got to change. And then the funds, we need some investment.

ROB
I agree. I agree.

THEO
Some serious funds. Serious capital.

ROB
And remind me, I'm going to talk to you about some stuff I'm doing on that, too.

Let’s go to our lightning round. “You have an important truth that few people agree with you on.” That’s a tough question on purpose.

THEO
Mm, man. Ooh, that’s a tough one.

ROB
Yeah.

THEO
Truth that… Oh man, wow. I can’t even [laughter]… Truth to myself?

ROB
Whatever your truth is. And some people might think, “Man, that's friggin’ crazy.”

THEO
No, man. No. “There’s no middle round,” man.

ROB
Al right. All right. How about this--

THEO
It’s everything. There’s no middle. That’s all.

ROB
All right. There’s no middle. That’s all.

THEO
There’s no middle. We want the whole thing. We play for championships. This is how I approach everything. We want awards. We want the money. We want it all. There's no consolation prize.

ROB
Hey, I agree with that. All right, if you have a committee of three -- they can be living, they could be dead -- to advise you on business or life, tell me who those three individuals would be and why.

THEO
Business and life. Committee of three.

ROB
Or life -- and/or. You can choose one for life, one for business, one for--

THEO
I always looked up to this guy, man -- that first guy that sold that $5-billion company. I always looked up to him -- Harry Sloan. I don't know why. He remind me of my father, believe it or not. So he'd be one, for sure. Who else? Living or dead.

ROB
Yeah.

THEO
Definitely Bob Marley, for sure. And why?

ROB
Yeah. Why?

THEO
So for Bob, the music can uplift people. Peaceful music can make people… I can relate very closely to his music. And then my kid -- my youngest kid.

ROB
Your youngest, okay.

THEO
Yeah. That sounds crazy but it was… Just recently, she's been dropping gems on me that don't make any sense for a six-year-old to say and I feel like it’s from the worldly and from a different presence.

ROB
That makes sense, yeah.

THEO
It's crazy, man. Like the other day, I was having a tough time. Man, I was just thinking about the past and family, getting older. She told me this. She's like, “Don't dwell in the past.”

ROB
How old is she?

THEO
Six years old. “This is the present.”

ROB
She’s like Yoda.

THEO
“You need to think about the present and the future.” She told me that. And I'm like, “Are you serious right now?” So yeah, it’s probably [Harry - 41:00]. That's a crazy combination though. Yeah, those three. Yeah, she's got me through this COVID, too, man. [Laughter]

ROB
That’s awesome.

All right, final question: You have a Google ad or a billboard that symbolizes your belief. It can be a saying. What would that say and why?

THEO
Man, “God's plan.” God's plan, seriously. I'm sorry to say. It sounds cliché but--

ROB
No. If it’s your saying, it's not cliché.

THEO
The things that I’ve seen and the people I’ve been around and to think… You know, what if we never moved out of Haiti? How that life would have been like? You know what I mean? Who knows? I mean you follow the plan. You can't go against it. Sometimes I try to go against the wave and then when you just slow down… You know, it could be rough waters but eventually, things get better and so I just follow God's plan. That's it.

ROB
Yeah. Sometimes, life only makes sense looking backwards. -- Theo Dumont, I appreciate having you on the show. It will be great to have you on the Disruption Now Summit. We’ll talk more, brother.

[END OF TRANSCRIPT]