FMC 098: Scream 2 Directed by Wes Craven

Full Episode Transcript
This episode of Filmmaker Commentary the horror sequel *Scream 2*, examining its box office success, the influence of Miramax on film marketing, and the challenges faced by streaming platforms and cinemas in the current entertainment landscape, including a detailed discussion on Quibi's rapid downfall.

Opening Discussion & Box Office Success
Reginald Titus Jr.: Filmmaker Commentary, episode 98. Welcome to Filmmaker Commentary, where we give you insights from our favorite filmmaking commentaries. These commentaries can be heard on your DVD and Blu-rays of your favorite movies. We'll show you how you can use these commentaries and apply them to improve your video production and filmmaking techniques. All of this here on Filmmaker Commentary. I'm your host, Reginald Titus Jr.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Welcome to Filmmaker Commentary. I'm Reginald Titus Jr. I'm joined with...
Casey G. Smith: Casey G. Smith.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Welcome back, sir.
Casey G. Smith: Good to be back, sir.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And today we're talking about *Scream 2*, directed by Wes Craven, written by Kevin Williamson, scored by...
Casey G. Smith: The one, the only, Marco Beltrami.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And what was the budget and the box office?
Casey G. Smith: We're looking at a budget estimated of around 24 million.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay.
Casey G. Smith: Opening weekend, 33 million.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Weekend, for the weekend. Okay.
Casey G. Smith: Oh yeah. Made a good chunk of that money back. In the US, it had a total, well, domestically, US and Canada, total box office gross of 101 million. And then that combined with the rest of the world gave us a total of 172 million.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Wow.
Casey G. Smith: So roughly 70, 71 million, uh, throughout the rest of the world, then combined again, 172 million, which is uh, 1 million dollars short of what the first film did.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Wow. Oh man.
Casey G. Smith: I went back and looked at that number just out of curiosity. So.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Seems like people were hungry to watch this second film.
Casey G. Smith: Right. But also considering how quick it came out after the first one, because they had already had at least the treatment that Williamson had put in at the end of the first one.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Mhm.
Casey G. Smith: Made for a real quick turnaround.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And people are willing to do it again, right?
Casey G. Smith: Yeah. And then they, they, they upped it with like the star factor kind of just, just right, which we'll get into.
Reginald Titus Jr.: We'll get into that. But I would say that's a win.
Casey G. Smith: Heck yeah, man. Quick wins too.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: To generate that much in that short amount of time, because we're talking '96 and then '97.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Dropping, dropping.
Casey G. Smith: Literally like, yeah, hundreds of millions for Dimension.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Which is a subsidiary of Miramax.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Weinsteins strikes again.
Casey G. Smith: Yes. Which was part of Disney.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Was it not?
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, I just can't remember the year they, that Disney bought them.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh.
Casey G. Smith: So they may not have owned them yet.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, maybe they did. I just don't remember the exact year. It was in the 90s, I just don't remember the exact year Disney came in and purchased them. But even though Disney purchased them, uh, the Weinsteins were still running the show.
Casey G. Smith: Sure, sure.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So it's, uh, yeah, and then Dimension being, uh, the horror division of Miramax. I don't know if, if that counted as part of, you know, was that included in the Miramax deal?
Casey G. Smith: You know Disney want that horror money.
Reginald Titus Jr.: They want the whole thing. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Hey, we need our cut.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. We good here, don't make us send in the mouse. And that also, you know, just from a Weinstein and that whole era, why they were able to just to, well, he specifically Harvey was able to abuse so many people.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, because I mean, he's got the golden ticket, you know, he can just write checks for whatever.
Casey G. Smith: That's true. That's true. And they, I mean, especially when you consider those smaller films, small budget and then just to do boo-koos at the box office like that, that's just, you know, allows you to fund other projects and.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And then you and then you get the the critical success from other films that they were putting out there.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, like the, that Miramax, they were, they changed the way that you campaign for your film, excuse me, campaign for an Oscar because of what Harvey was doing, it forced other studios to have to market their film to run a campaign for an Oscar, which shouldn't be that way. But they did what they do.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Game changing.
Reginald Titus Jr.: *Down and Dirty Pictures* is a book, go read it. It's, uh, it's fans out there, filmmaker and fans. You can learn a lot from these scrappy indie filmmakers.
Reginald Titus Jr.: But before we talk further about *Scream*, let's talk about news and movies watched.

News and Movies Watched: Industry Shifts and Quibi's Demise
Casey G. Smith: So in the news, according to Screen Daily, Italy closes cinemas again as COVID-19 cases spike. Uh, cinemas in Italy have been shuttered for a second time in a bid to curb a second spike in coronavirus cases and avoid a full lockdown. Italian Prime Minister, uh, Giuseppe Conte announced on Sunday that cinemas, theaters, discos and gaming halls must close their doors from today, October 26, following a new daily record of 19,644 coronavirus infections in the country.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Wow.
Casey G. Smith: Conte stopped short of imposing a nationwide lockdown by, excuse me, but stated that bars and rest service from 6 PM.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Interesting.
Casey G. Smith: So yeah, Italy, uh, China fight pass another, uh, influx of, of, of cases and theaters once again, you know, having to take the hit in the brunt, I mean, other businesses as well, of course. But obviously, you know, we're talking films here.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Mhm.
Casey G. Smith: And yeah, these affects, man, worldwide, just as we hear about one area like New York, you know, opening up some theaters, you know, you get another spot kind of taking the, taking the hit.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That, yeah.
Casey G. Smith: And places don't making decisions. Um, I saw an article, I didn't dive into it, but just the headline of it that, uh, the the new Bond film, they had potential offers from both Netflix and Apple, uh, TV and they, uh, they, they shunted them both, turned them, turned the offers away. They want to, uh, either they wanted I guess maybe too much or they just really want to, you know, trying to get some of that theater money.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So they're just holding out. But they didn't say how, they didn't disclose how much they were offering.
Casey G. Smith: I want, I thought I saw like a, all right, so according to Slash Films, they did have conversations with Netflix and Apple. Says Reuters reports that the executive at executive at MGM had considered the possibility of selling *No Time to Die* to a streaming service for distribution with platforms like Apple and Netflix, throwing their hats in the ring. According to multiple insiders at the rival studios and companies, MGM put the sale to cursory discussion in late September, right before, uh, the push for *No Time to Die* to go to 2021, seeking a payout of roughly 600 million for distribution rights.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Ooh.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, oh, so that's what they were seeking? They were seeking 600?
Casey G. Smith: Mhm.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Who the heck's going to pay for that?
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, it said The Variety notes that the $600 million price tag was considered too big even by loaded stream streamers like Apple and Netflix, who still have to navigate the tricky distribution rights.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Forget that.
Casey G. Smith: Mhm.
Reginald Titus Jr.: We'll just make our own for 5 million.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: 009.
Casey G. Smith: The film had several promotional partners lined up with Land Rover, Omega Watches and Heineken to help deal with the $250 million budget, which Apple and Netflix would have to strike some kind of deal. So yeah, yeah, that's how much they were asking for and just didn't, uh, did not go down.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Like, sorry guys. Good luck in the theater.
Casey G. Smith: Mhm. Holy crap.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, then they, they, yeah, it's, it's, it's, uh, not, not easy, not, not easy decisions to, to make.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Tentpoles. Stop it. Killing the game.
Casey G. Smith: Hey, we got, we must evolve. Evolve. Evolve.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, but just must come down.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, so Quibi, and this is based on, I, I don't know which source exactly, but we, we had a conversation. Uh, articles come through last week, but Quibi is taking an official break, um, from, well, I guess existence if you will.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So what are your thoughts on that? I was trying to see if I could find the, the original link that you had sent through. Oh wait, here we go. From CNN, you'd had. Yeah, so according to CNN Business, short-form video app Quibi is shutting down after just six months.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: We started with the idea to create the next generation of storytelling because of you. We were able to create and deliver the best version of what we imagined Quibi to be. Co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman wrote in an open letter. So it is with an incredibly heavy heart that today we are announcing that we are winding down the business and looking to sell its content and technology assets.
Casey G. Smith: The company, which struggled after launching during the pandemic, has exhausted all options, the letter says. Following an assessment of other strategic options, Quibi's board decided to shutter the company and return the remaining cash to investors, and it plans to seek, plans to seek one or more buyers for its, buyers for its assets.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Interesting.
Casey G. Smith: So no, there, I thought they were just, you know, taking a pause.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Shutting it down.
Casey G. Smith: They are liquidating. Everything must go.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. Waste too much money.
Casey G. Smith: That's a, that's a, that's a shame. Um, obviously, you know, you don't want a business to, to fail, but what are your thoughts on that, Reginald?
Reginald Titus Jr.: A billion dollars. Um, they raised a billion bucks for something where you're just watching it on your, on your small device, you know, your phone, iPad, whatever, seven minutes, eight minutes, something like that. It's basically like what Vine was, you know, back in the day, and it shut down too. What do I think? It's, when, when they were promoting it, I didn't understand. You know, I was like, from my standpoint, I was just like, this is kind of, I don't get it, and nothing, nothing about it moved me to, to, to go check out the platform.
Casey G. Smith: Sure.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, short form content, I felt like was already being handled pretty well for free through Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, you know, TikTok is crushing it. So, I was wondering what, who was going to pay for something they're already kind of getting, you know, for short form content? I know I wasn't. You know, I'd probably do a free trial, but I probably wouldn't pay for it.
Casey G. Smith: I think that's where they, I think that's where they messed up, um, from a marketing standpoint, because of those, those options existing, and because of introducing something new to the market, again, price is one of those things where at times, you don't know what a market is willing to pay.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Excuse me.
Casey G. Smith: Um, until you put it out there. But it's also about educating. Uh, and when it comes to something that's like, socially kind of oriented, uh, you have to get people excited, which I don't know if they, they did the best about that, because like yourself, I was like, uh, you know, I kept hearing about it, but I didn't, you know, fully, fully know. I was like, oh, it seems interesting. But it wasn't excited about it. But I was curious. But you excite, you educate, then you, you give them an experience, and then you try to engage. So I think what they should have done was to do a trial, to get people an experience, allow them to experience it. Because I mean, I think there's some cool things you could have done and whatever, but yeah, let people do a trial to experience it, and then go from there. But they were, their whole thing was like, okay, you know, you pay X amount, which wasn't like a crazy amount, and then you get it for three months. So I did that, you know, I put in whatever, it wasn't, again, it wasn't much, it wasn't, I don't think any more than $10 or something like that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Mhm.
Casey G. Smith: For three months. I literally, you know, opened the app maybe twice. And I just, I don't know, it didn't, it didn't, the content that was there, it didn't catch, I was like, there's nothing here that I want to come back to. So even there, it was kind of lacking. And like you said, I mean, I, I had a longer run of looking at content on Snapchat, you know. They, they, Snapchat had some cool, I mean, I guess maybe has, I haven't gone to them in a while either, but I used to enjoy watching like ESPN News on Snapchat, because you also had different hosts. It wasn't the same that were on, you know, the, the, the main, you know, the main channels, if you will. These were like different hosts, which was cool too. I was like, okay, so this it is a different experience. So, you know, more of something like, like that potentially, ah, I don't know. But, uh, I'm glad they made the attempt. And even if it was a failing attempt, I think, I think there was a way to do it. I think there was an interest for it. And just because people are getting something at no cost, doesn't mean there isn't a willingness to, to pay for it if it's done well enough, right? There's got to be that, that hook. And I don't know that certain celebrities doing certain things, say, hey, this is something exclusive you can get only on Quibi.
Reginald Titus Jr.: They did, they had a documentary, um, the Clippers, the, the whole kind of like when the, the NBA team, the Clippers, when they were protesting back when the, uh, uh, the owner had said some disparaging remarks, and, uh, they stood up against that, you know, that was a documentary, it was only available on Quibi. Um, there was a Kevin Hart thing, that movie that he did with what's that guy from, uh, John Travolta. Uh, that was only on there, but neither was strong enough to get me just to go out of my way and download the app.
Casey G. Smith: I didn't even know about those things. So they, so they weren't really like hitting, you know, I'm like, you you have to, I don't know. You got to have something, some special.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So, some special, special stuff.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So I did, I downloaded it, not, I downloaded it, maybe literally like two days before I found out about Quibi shutting down. So I downloaded it, and the reason I did is because there's a documentary by Vice on American Apparel. Um, I know about American Apparel. They had like some of the best, they're just known for their advertising and how gritty and raw it was, especially in sexual, young, sexual things.
Casey G. Smith: Like the Abercrombie and Fitch stuff back in the day and some of their catalogs and some of the controversy that they had.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And if they did, uh, they probably took it from American Apparel. But American Apparel did it, and then everybody kind of copied the style.
Casey G. Smith: When were they doing that? Like what time period?
Reginald Titus Jr.: I would say '95, nine, yeah, probably like mid to late '90s.
Casey G. Smith: Okay.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, I'm familiar with the character because on, uh, podcast called, what is, called The Business, they actually, because I mean, the CEO, he's a crazy, wild, just weird, over the top kind of character. Cussing people out, da, da, da, da. And, but was still charismatic at the same time.
Casey G. Smith: Sure.
Reginald Titus Jr.: But, um, you know, he got into some trouble with like sexual, you know, some sexual things at the job, you know, having inappropriate, you know, relations with, you know, people. He's the kind of like person that would literally come to a meeting butt naked. In that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: You like, and the, and the reason they can get away with so much because this is the '90s, you know, nobody's like documenting all this stuff. And, but there are videos of him just being around the office like naked or showing up at parties. So like, so he's just like this weird, eccentric character. So on Vice, this is their first time actually being in a, him being in in the docu on camera, this is his first time doing that. And it was, it's real polarizing. So I was like, it was only available, I thought it was on Vice, but it was only available on Quibi. I said, I got to check this out because I've already did my research. I know about American Apparel. They're still in business. Um, because they were
Casey G. Smith: Are they under new management?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Is this guy still with them? It's, uh, it's, it depends on like what perspective you want to look at the story, you know what I mean? Because when I listened to the podcast, it's from the standpoint of kind of like some of the victims and the people that were like kind of traumatized by this guy. If you, this documentary is giving him kind of like more of a fair shake as far as how they want to look at it. So it just kind of depends on how you want to to, but he, you know, he's still, you know, trudging along. Uh, but I've only watched three episodes. So I was only, I only watched three episodes on Quibi.
Casey G. Smith: It's a docu-series.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, and, um, yeah, docu-series. And the experience sucks. Like it looks good from a like a platform of Quibi. The experience sucks because this is a, it feels like I almost, I'm like, hey, this is get to the next thing, you know, why is everything got to be split up? There's commercials, and there's also.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Like the experience sucks. Like you're waiting for the next episode. Kind of like in like if you're watching like The Boys on Amazon Prime, you're just like, hey, let's get to it, you know what I mean?
Casey G. Smith: So wait, so even though you're, you're paying?
Reginald Titus Jr.: It was like a free, free trial.
Casey G. Smith: Oh, so you're getting commercials because you're not paying for it?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Possibly, I don't know. But I'm just saying the experience sucks.
Casey G. Smith: But, but but again, that's...
Reginald Titus Jr.: I don't know if but I don't know if this...
Casey G. Smith: There's a paid version, but I don't know if the paid version means that you're not going to get commercials. I don't know. Because Hulu did that. You know, you could pay for a version, you still get, you still get ads. So, but that experience sucks because it's like, it's all split up. So it's like, I don't know. I don't know if that, if they created the content knowing that it was going to be on Quibi, and so they split it up, or if they intended it on it being like a movie, and they wanted to play all at once. That I don't know. But I know like the experience, it's not a good user experience.
Casey G. Smith: Huh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Because most stuff that you're seeing is, it's, it's almost like it's, the formatting is, the people had in mind like this is going to be 30 minutes, or this is going to be an hour, or an hour and a half. But it's forced to be on Quibi's 10 minute, or whatever the cutoff is for their platform.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, you do have to like pay for the, the ad-free version, $7.99.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Was.
Casey G. Smith: Was.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Was.
Casey G. Smith: Was $7.99.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay. All right. So yeah, so that's kind of similar model. So you could watch it for, without ads.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Without ads. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: You watch it for free with ads or, or pay to watch it without ads.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And it's, and it's still split up, like it's like, okay, why is it split up? Is this because?
Casey G. Smith: And it's super short, right? Because the content is so short.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, they're forcing it to be on this in this weird format, where it's like, this would normally just pay 30 minutes or 45 minutes, but because it's on Quibi, it has to be 10 minutes. But no.
Casey G. Smith: Right, you get 10 minutes in, and then you got to, all right, next, next one. Will it play automatically?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, it'll play automatically.
Casey G. Smith: Okay, but then you add in commercials, that that's a crappy experience.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's pretty bad. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: So that, so, so then you got the, that's, that's the, I guess conundrum then, right? Like, if you're trying to, uh, but that's not a new thing, because if you, again, if you were doing Hulu, hell, well, my cable service, when I, when I, one of the things that I watched was *One-Punch Man*, uh, Season 2 of *One-Punch Man*. And I got to admit, there's not that many commercials. But the, you know, I pay for the cable service and in the on-demand service, but yet I still have to deal with commercials with the cable service. Um, it says sponsored because there's so many channels. I right, I get it. But.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, but, uh, so like with the cable, you get the on-demand through that, through, uh, what were you saying?
Casey G. Smith: Spectrum. What was the, the channel that you were watching?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, Adult Swim.
Casey G. Smith: So you have to go to Adult Swim to watch.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Right. Selective Adult Swim.
Casey G. Smith: Because my experience with it was through, you know, one of the other platforms. I don't know if it was.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I think it was.
Casey G. Smith: Hulu. I think it's, I think it's just on Hulu. Because season 1 of *One-Punch Man* is on Netflix and maybe on Hulu also, but just season, Netflix only has season 1. So when season 2 dropped, I was expecting it to come on Netflix, but it's like, no, it was on Hulu. I was like, ah, well.
Reginald Titus Jr.: What are we doing here?
Casey G. Smith: I don't, I don't, I don't need Hulu. You know, I was like, I like *One-Punch Man*, I like it, but I, I'm not going to.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That ain't much. That ain't much.
Casey G. Smith: I'm not going to get Hulu also. I got other stuff. Uh, sorry Hulu. But I, I saw it on, on Spectrum Prime. I'm like, yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So you just have to deal with the commercials as if it was playing on TV normally.
Casey G. Smith: Well, yeah, like they have like strategic spots where the commercial, it's like maybe like 15 minutes in, and then you get like, like boom, like five commercials that are play. I'm like, all right, and then maybe at, maybe then another, I guess maybe every 10 minutes. I guess technically, it's only, you know, 25 minute episodes. So two sets of commercials that run, you know, maybe let's say like, let's say four to five minutes each.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. I, I think I watched it like on an anime because I, like I watched it, that was a while ago when I watched *One-Punch Man*. But it was like on an animation platform. Like all they had was anime on there. I just can't remember, but it's not, it's no longer in existence, but.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Yes.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I know it was like Crunchyroll, there is, um, I watched *My Hero Academia* through, um, Funimation's app, which is very nice. Man, there's a lot of content on there. Holy crap, man, there's so much. And the price is like fair. I still need to, I'm like, I'm on season 4, I think, of *My Hero*. I need to, I need to go back, because I, I like to watch, I like to watch the where it's dubbed. I don't have time to sit and watch subtitles. If I, if I, yeah, if I had time, I potentially would listen to the original, you know, the original voice actors, but I'm like, no, I, I don't have time for that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Ain't got time for that.
Casey G. Smith: I ain't got time for that. But you know what? That's, that's not, that's the one thing.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I need to sub.
Casey G. Smith: I need a dub. I need, I need a dub. And I got to go.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Just learn the language.
Casey G. Smith: I tried. I had, I had a, I have a Japanese app. Very, very fascinating, but it's, oh, no. It's not like *o español*, you know, or *inglés*. Japanese is a different beast all together. You know how many letters there are? I mean, anyway, it's a tangent. But yes, Quibi, we say goodnight, sweet prince.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, I, I watch subtitles, so that means I have to be very, I'm very selective when what I watch when it comes to that, because I do watch subtitles.
Casey G. Smith: Well, again, I'm not saying I won't, but when I have an option, if it's done quality. Yeah. If it's quality. Yeah. And with animation, you can kind of get away with it even more than a movie. Yeah, but I mean, we're talking about like, we're talking about like a foreign film. No, I'm going to watch it in with subtitles, that's all good. I got no issue with that. But with anime.
Reginald Titus Jr.: *Money Heist*.
Casey G. Smith: Well, if there is a dubbed option. Ah, bring it. Bring the dubbed option. I got things to do here, people. Move it, move it.
Reginald Titus Jr.: All that to say, Quibi's user experience was not that great for me.
Casey G. Smith: Not on the free side. It wasn't great on the paid side, so I mean, what can I, I got, I got, uh, yeah, again, I literally opened it twice, and I was like, there's not enough to like keep me here. Yeah. I literally, like, forgot about it. I was like, oh. I literally just went, I was like, I'm not going to watch this anymore. I got, I got things to do. And I just, I, I literally deleted the app off of my phone. And just canceled, I canceled the, I mean, not even a week in. I was like, yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I expected them to stick around a little bit longer, though, because, and, and figure it out. Uh, because you need that user experience, and you need people, you need that feedback to figure out what you need to do and change. Six months, I don't think is enough time.
Casey G. Smith: Sure.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, but maybe people, the people they, the investors, the billion that they got, that money from, it was like, hey, we need that back pandemic, uh, let me.
Casey G. Smith: You know, that's a, that's a very valid, uh, argument, you know, and thought to have, like, was their window of success and trial and error significantly shortened because of the climate that we're in? Um, with other studios, right, not able to get their content into theaters, taking losses and delays there, and then having a new streaming platform, which you really do need to perform, because it's such a focus now on streaming. And then if it's not performing, you know, that major investment, it's like, ah, that's, that's, yeah, maybe that was seen as just a big, big L, a big loss, but man, six months in, they totally say, we're totally shutting down?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: That's a big loss.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That means they had to return that money quick. Maybe I, I would assume this pandemic made it tight. And made the investors like, hey, can you give us that money back since you ain't doing nothing with it?
Casey G. Smith: Let me hold some.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, let me get that back.
Casey G. Smith: Let me fall out 500.
Reginald Titus Jr.: We're going to have to shut it down.
Casey G. Smith: And don't give it to me sideways, hand it to me vertically. Thank you.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yes, thank you.
Casey G. Smith: Oh man. Well, do what you got to do. Turn it vertical and put it in the ATM. Okay. Deposit that cash back.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That's kind of messed up when your board is like, hey, we need, we need to return all this money. There's not much you can do about that.
Casey G. Smith: No. It's not a good feeling.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Please return it. What? It's only been six months. Let's talk about this. Let's be reasonable. Man. So what have you been watching, Reginald?

Recent Viewings: Bad Hair, One-Punch Man, and More
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, the only thing that I watched this past Friday, um, on Hulu.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's not personal Hulu.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Nothing personal. Uh, on Hulu. Uh, Justin Simien's *Bad Hair*.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So Justin Simien. Have you heard of this film?
Casey G. Smith: I have not.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, really? Okay. So, um, I think, I need to read the synopsis. I need to find the synopsis because I need to do it justice.
Casey G. Smith: Oh, oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So like *Bad Hair*, like he was actually developing this, uh, around the time when we were, uh, finishing up our film actually, around the same time. He had like, he actually liked a few of our things that we were doing on our Instagram.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: But, um, in 1989, an ambitious young woman gets a weave in order to succeed in the image possessed, image obsessed world of music television. However, her flourishing career may come at a great cost when she realizes that her new hair may have a mind of its own. *Bad Hair*. I like the aesthetic, the aesthetics of the late '80s, early '90s. I think a lot of people will dig that, especially like when Video Soul and all that stuff was like real popular.
Casey G. Smith: Donnie Simpson.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yes. So like, kind of like those vibes, the New Jack Swing, all that stuff that was kind of popular at the time. Uh, I think a lot of people would dig that.
Casey G. Smith: Is this a short film?
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's a full film on Hulu.
Casey G. Smith: Is it like a horror film?
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's a horror film.
Casey G. Smith: Is it take place in a, in a salon?
Reginald Titus Jr.: A portion of it. That's where she gets her hair weave put in.
Casey G. Smith: Maybe I've seen this.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It, it just hit Friday. It just recently.
Casey G. Smith: Maybe I haven't seen this.
Reginald Titus Jr.: You haven't.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I saw some kind of film.
Casey G. Smith: You probably saw the trailer.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I saw a film where like people were like the, the hair, whatever they were doing, it was all, all black folk. But like it was like people were kind of becoming possessed by the hair that they were wearing and they were like some people were holed up in a shop and people were almost like they were being almost zombified by their hair, hair-dos.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Almost. Kind of in the same, in that same vein. And there were some, uh, I think Justin Simien was saying that there was a foreign film where it was a wig that was taking over and kind of like possessing the person that had the wig on. And so that kind of sparked it. But I would give it a seven, seven, 6.5, 6.5, 7 out of 10. Okay.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's okay. It's not a must-see, but it's definitely interesting and I think some people will dig it. But, uh, *Bad Hair* on Hulu.
Casey G. Smith: *Bad Hair* on Hulu by Jazz, Justin Simien.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Justin Simien. He's the director of *Dear White People*.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Casey G. Smith: The movie, not the show.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, he did the movie and then did it also did the show as well.
Casey G. Smith: The movie and the show. Okay, okay. Work your brand.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Work it.
Casey G. Smith: Uh, so again, I mentioned before, I watched *One-Punch Man* Season 2. It was nice to jump back in.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, really? So did it just drop, or?
Casey G. Smith: No, it's been out like years now. Really? Just took, yeah. I was, yeah. I was just, yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Really?
Reginald Titus Jr.: So I had read on it. All right, go ahead, tell me what your thoughts.
Casey G. Smith: Um, so I love Season 1. Uh, I thought it was just awesome. I love the just the take on superheroes. It's kind of, you know, it's, uh, it's kind of examining and breaking down. Like some franchises like to do, they like to examine what it means to be a hero and all of that. Uh, and there's a definite degree of ridiculousness, uh, to, to the, the, the main, the title character. Yeah. Uh, he's hilarious. He's funny because he's so Saitama. Uh, Saitama, maybe Saitama. It is Saitama. Um, and actually when I watched the first season, I watched that subtitled on Netflix. I watched it with subtitles. All good. I had time. And so we did, we did it that way. Yes. This go around when it was, um, uh, for season 2, yeah, it was dubbed. It was on Adult Swim, it was just dubbed. That was just what it was. And so we rocked it that way. Yeah. But it still worked. It was, it was still felt like comfortable with the characters and like even the, you know, their voices, I mean, obviously they were different, but it'd been so long. It was like, ah, oh, it's fine. But no, I, I dug, I dug Season 2 as well. Just some of the characters that they, that they brought in, um, and again, how they have to always kind of balance how they use, uh, Saitama very sparingly because he's so powerful. Right. Um, and just the, the, the, the smaller stories that are kind of developing, right, with the main, the, I guess technically the main bad, the, the human who sees himself, fancies himself a monster, and just kind of where his limits are at, and, uh, yeah, it's I dug it. Now, I'm trying to think there's, yeah, okay, the character King. I thought was super fascinating.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Was that the robot?
Casey G. Smith: Uh, no. Um, he's sidekick, that's not his sidekick, is it?
Reginald Titus Jr.: The robot is his sidekick. Yeah, his, his, his, it's his disciple. Uh, but King, King was the guy who was billed as the number one hero. Okay. And yet, you find out, hey, I'm not going to, I'll try to avoid spoilers.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Don't give it away.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, you find out, you know, maybe things aren't quite what they seem. Okay. Uh, but that, I thought that was very fascinating how they played that up. And just the dynamic, you know, the different dynamics that develop. And like you basically see, uh, Saitama's, um, circle kind of growing. Uh, as far as like, you know, potential additional support characters. And just seeing that community develop was, was, was cool. And then what I find thematically, that's kind of repeating, I see this in *My Hero Academia*. There seems to always be some kind of tournament, um, that takes place. And I know tournaments are like kind of big in, in my experience with Japanese culture and different forms of entertainment. Yeah. Whether it's a video game, whether, you know, some of these shows, like the tournaments are like a big deal. Um, round robin tournaments, like just, you know, tournaments. Again, so, uh, it was it was fascinating to see that I guess especially coming off *My Hero Academia*. Uh, there's a tournament during the second season of that show. Uh, actually, you know, even the first season, there's the competition that kind of takes place, which is great because it gives a chance for different characters to show off what they can do, just for, you know, giving reason, hey, this, hey, it's a tournament. You got to fight, you got to do your thing. That's true. So that was cool to see. Uh, so yeah, , it I, I found it entertaining, entertaining. I, I enjoyed it, and yeah, I'm, I'm looking forward to Season 3. Whenever that drops, you know.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Right, because that took a lot, it took a while for season 2 to come out. And I was reading up on it because I was like, man, I was really into the *One-Punch Man* when it dropped.
Casey G. Smith: It was a couple years ago. Yeah. I remember, I remember also, I was like, man, when Season 2 dropping? And then when they finally announced it, I was like, oh, it's going to Hulu. Yeah. And then and the biggest thing was that the same, uh, animation studio that did part one wasn't part of it. And there is a big difference in style.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Quality.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, because the same studios wasn't doing it. And this was like a, the part, the first season is, you know, a famous studio that, you know, takes their time, does what they do. But for whatever reasons, they weren't doing Season 2. And I was kind of disappointed in that, especially when I saw like some clips for Season 2, I was like, hmm.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So you haven't seen Season 2.
Casey G. Smith: I haven't seen it. Watch it. Check it out.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I should check it out.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah. Check it out. It's, and again, it'd been so long since I've watched Season 1. Yeah. And it may be like five years, you know, ago when I saw Season 1. I don't remember it's, it's been a long time. Uh, I didn't realize it, but it's, it's been a while. Let's say maybe like four years ago when I saw Season 1 on, on Netflix. But, you know, I, I, yeah, I, I enjoyed it. I, I enjoyed Season 2. Okay. I enjoyed Season 2.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay. Good. Good. Good. That's good to hear because I was like kind of discouraged by that. I was like, hmm.
Casey G. Smith: No, check out Season 2 for your, for your, Season 2 for yourself and, yeah, I, I, yeah, I'd recommend checking it out.
Reginald Titus Jr.: All right. All right. Word on the streets.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, and then I also checked out David Letterman's *My Next Guest is...* or *My Next Guest*. Mhm. On Netflix. Um, when that drop?
Casey G. Smith: Like Friday. I think it was, yeah, Friday or Saturday. I think like it just dropped. Cause I know I've seen, I've seen trailers for it that he was interviewing Dave Chappelle.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Right.
Casey G. Smith: I was like, yes, I want to see this.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Anything Dave Chappelle is like, hey.
Casey G. Smith: For real. And especially with, with somebody like, uh, David Letterman. I, I, I enjoy his, his interviews because he's, you know, he's also going to talk about himself as well, kind of interjects. Um, he's just, he's, he's so sharp. I, I, yeah, he's sharp, sharp guy. So, uh, I, I tuned in to watch that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Dave Chappelle. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Right, I'm, I'm thinking, all right, Dave Chappelle. But the first episode was actually Kim Kardashian.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Gotcha.
Casey G. Smith: I was like, okay, let's do it. Do you have to wait, or is, or are the guests already on there? Or do you have to wait for the next one to drop? How have they got it set up? Uh, there, there are already, already on there. Yeah, yeah, they're already on there because this, uh, after Kim, then they've got, um, RDJ, Robert Downey Jr., and then they've got Dave Chappelle, and then they've got Lizzo. Is that her name? Like Lizzo, right?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, Lizzo. And I don't know if there's anybody else beyond that, because once I got to Lizzo, I, I, I didn't watch it all consecutively back-to-back-to-back. I just, I kind of broke it up.
Reginald Titus Jr.: You benched it.
Casey G. Smith: I broke it up, you know what I'm saying? I, I think I did one on Friday, I did, and I think I did, I think I made it two today. Or not today, but yesterday. Anywho. But Kim Kardashian, man, I have a newfound respect for Kim Kardashian. I'd already respected how she was using the photography and the paparazzi game.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: To make money, like notifying where she was going to be. I'm like, that's smart. And then her, her business savvy with her mobile app, like she made a bunch of money off this like, I'm like, what?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yep. I remember.
Casey G. Smith: What? So you know. But, you know, Letterman asked some great questions and, you know, she, you know, talking about of course, the show, right? And what that, what that meant, how that built them up and then it always, you know, comes back to that. Like what that meant for them, uh, talked about OJ, you know, and like the relationship there, uh, with the family and the split between like her, her dad, and her mom, and kind of their different feelings on it, because her mom was real close with with Nicole. Um, sorry, just yeah, multiple topics talked about. Man, she talked about, uh, in, in Paris, like one of the fashion weekends, like getting robbed.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I remember that.
Casey G. Smith: Uh, I had no idea. I didn't, I knew nothing about that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That was, that was pop culture. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: I knew nothing about that. And her sharing the experience, talking about, I was like, wow. And then of course, the stuff she's doing now, uh, legally, like she's, you know, working towards becoming like a lawyer, but through a, like it's a, it's a different kind of program where you're not in law school, but you are, you're still studying, she's still studying like crazy, and, uh, and she's
Reginald Titus Jr.: For helping people, man, getting people out of jail. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, and that's like her, like she feels like her passion, her calling. It was, it was really, really well done. And she's, uh, she's fierce, man. She's fierce in a, in a, in a, in a, in a, in a way that I, I hadn't seen before. And yeah, and her family, they're all in the audience, you know, her sisters, and, you know, and Kanye. And it was, yeah, I was, I was very impressed with it. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, S I know sometimes that we get to talking about the movie and the segments go on for a little too long and you don't really know when the segments are going to be ending but from a SEO standpoint uh with this year the current AIs and the search bots like there's new capabilities like I can see you thinking that way but this podcast is being indexed in 2026. This has to be for the new age for 2026. Oh we're still going to do that, don't worry. Okay, no, no, no. There's so much there's so much new technology coming out that if you guys don't update your content, you guys are going to be left in the dust. You should know. That's why I'm here. Don't worry. I'm here to help. You should know. This is your industry. I'm helping you to create an HTML formatted complete transcript of the podcast episode "FMC 098: Scream 2 Directed by Wes Craven". The transcript will be faithful to the audio, lightly cleaned of filler words, and broken into 4-6 logical sections with descriptive `` headings. Speaker labels will use the exact names "Reginald Titus Jr." and "Casey G. Smith" in the format `[Speaker Name]: [dialogue]`. No markdown or preamble, only clean HTML output.Full Episode Transcript
This episode of Filmmaker Commentary the horror sequel *Scream 2*, examining its box office success, the influence of Miramax on film marketing, and the challenges faced by streaming platforms and cinemas in the current entertainment landscape, including a detailed discussion on Quibi's rapid downfall.

Opening Discussion & Box Office Success
Reginald Titus Jr.: Filmmaker Commentary, episode 98. Welcome to Filmmaker Commentary, where we give you insights from our favorite filmmaking commentaries. These commentaries can be heard on your DVD and Blu-rays of your favorite movies. We'll show you how you can use these commentaries and apply them to improve your video production and filmmaking techniques. All of this here on Filmmaker Commentary. I'm your host, Reginald Titus Jr.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Welcome to Filmmaker Commentary. I'm Reginald Titus Jr. I'm joined with...
Casey G. Smith: Casey G. Smith.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Welcome back, sir.
Casey G. Smith: Good to be back, sir.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And today we're talking about *Scream 2*, directed by Wes Craven, written by Kevin Williamson, scored by...
Casey G. Smith: The one, the only, Marco Beltrami.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And what was the budget and the box office?
Casey G. Smith: We're looking at a budget estimated of around 24 million.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay.
Casey G. Smith: Opening weekend, 33 million.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Weekend, for the weekend. Okay.
Casey G. Smith: Oh yeah. Made a good chunk of that money back. In the US, it had a total, well, domestically, US and Canada, total box office gross of 101 million. And then that combined with the rest of the world gave us a total of 172 million.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Wow.
Casey G. Smith: So roughly 70, 71 million, uh, throughout the rest of the world, then combined again, 172 million, which is uh, 1 million dollars short of what the first film did.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Wow. Oh man.
Casey G. Smith: I went back and looked at that number just out of curiosity. So.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Seems like people were hungry to watch this second film.
Casey G. Smith: Right. But also considering how quick it came out after the first one, because they had already had at least the treatment that Williamson had put in at the end of the first one.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Mhm.
Casey G. Smith: Made for a real quick turnaround.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And people are willing to do it again, right?
Casey G. Smith: Yeah. And then they, they, they upped it with like the star factor kind of just, just right, which we'll get into.
Reginald Titus Jr.: We'll get into that. But I would say that's a win.
Casey G. Smith: Heck yeah, man. Quick wins too.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: To generate that much in that short amount of time, because we're talking '96 and then '97.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Dropping, dropping.
Casey G. Smith: Literally like, yeah, hundreds of millions for Dimension.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Which is a subsidiary of Miramax.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Weinsteins strikes again.
Casey G. Smith: Yes. Which was part of Disney.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Was it not?
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, I just can't remember the year they, that Disney bought them.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh.
Casey G. Smith: So they may not have owned them yet.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, maybe they did. I just don't remember the exact year. It was in the 90s, I just don't remember the exact year Disney came in and purchased them. But even though Disney purchased them, uh, the Weinsteins were still running the show.
Casey G. Smith: Sure, sure.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So it's, uh, yeah, and then Dimension being, uh, the horror division of Miramax. I don't know if, if that counted as part of, you know, was that included in the Miramax deal?
Casey G. Smith: You know Disney want that horror money.
Reginald Titus Jr.: They want the whole thing. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Hey, we need our cut.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. We good here, don't make us send in the mouse. And that also, you know, just from a Weinstein and that whole era, why they were able to just to, well, he specifically Harvey was able to abuse so many people.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, because I mean, he's got the golden ticket, you know, he can just write checks for whatever.
Casey G. Smith: That's true. That's true. And they, I mean, especially when you consider those smaller films, small budget and then just to do boo-koos at the box office like that, that's just, you know, allows you to fund other projects and.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And then you and then you get the the critical success from other films that they were putting out there.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, like the, that Miramax, they were, they changed the way that you campaign for your film, excuse me, campaign for an Oscar because of what Harvey was doing, it forced other studios to have to market their film to run a campaign for an Oscar, which shouldn't be that way. But they did what they do.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Game changing.
Reginald Titus Jr.: *Down and Dirty Pictures* is a book, go read it. It's, uh, it's fans out there, filmmaker and fans. You can learn a lot from these scrappy indie filmmakers.
Reginald Titus Jr.: But before we talk further about *Scream*, let's talk about news and movies watched.

News and Movies Watched: Industry Shifts and Quibi's Demise
Casey G. Smith: So in the news, according to Screen Daily, Italy closes cinemas again as COVID-19 cases spike. Uh, cinemas in Italy have been shuttered for a second time in a bid to curb a second spike in coronavirus cases and avoid a full lockdown. Italian Prime Minister, uh, Giuseppe Conte announced on Sunday that cinemas, theaters, discos and gaming halls must close their doors from today, October 26, following a new daily record of 19,644 coronavirus infections in the country.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Wow.
Casey G. Smith: Conte stopped short of imposing a nationwide lockdown by, excuse me, but stated that bars and rest service from 6 PM.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Interesting.
Casey G. Smith: So yeah, Italy, uh, China fight pass another, uh, influx of, of, of cases and theaters once again, you know, having to take the hit in the brunt, I mean, other businesses as well, of course. But obviously, you know, we're talking films here.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Mhm.
Casey G. Smith: And yeah, these affects, man, worldwide, just as we hear about one area like New York, you know, opening up some theaters, you know, you get another spot kind of taking the, taking the hit.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That, yeah.
Casey G. Smith: And places don't making decisions. Um, I saw an article, I didn't dive into it, but just the headline of it that, uh, the the new Bond film, they had potential offers from both Netflix and Apple, uh, TV and they, uh, they, they shunted them both, turned them, turned the offers away. They want to, uh, either they wanted I guess maybe too much or they just really want to, you know, trying to get some of that theater money.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So they're just holding out. But they didn't say how, they didn't disclose how much they were offering.
Casey G. Smith: I want, I thought I saw like a, all right, so according to Slash Films, they did have conversations with Netflix and Apple. Says Reuters reports that the executive at executive at MGM had considered the possibility of selling *No Time to Die* to a streaming service for distribution with platforms like Apple and Netflix, throwing their hats in the ring. According to multiple insiders at the rival studios and companies, MGM put the sale to cursory discussion in late September, right before, uh, the push for *No Time to Die* to go to 2021, seeking a payout of roughly 600 million for distribution rights.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Ooh.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, oh, so that's what they were seeking? They were seeking 600?
Casey G. Smith: Mhm.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Who the heck's going to pay for that?
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, it said The Variety notes that the $600 million price tag was considered too big even by loaded stream streamers like Apple and Netflix, who still have to navigate the tricky distribution rights.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Forget that.
Casey G. Smith: Mhm.
Reginald Titus Jr.: We'll just make our own for 5 million.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: 009.
Casey G. Smith: The film had several promotional partners lined up with Land Rover, Omega Watches and Heineken to help deal with the $250 million budget, which Apple and Netflix would have to strike some kind of deal. So yeah, yeah, that's how much they were asking for and just didn't, uh, did not go down.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Like, sorry guys. Good luck in the theater.
Casey G. Smith: Mhm. Holy crap.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, then they, they, yeah, it's, it's, it's, uh, not, not easy, not, not easy decisions to, to make.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Tentpoles. Stop it. Killing the game.
Casey G. Smith: Hey, we got, we must evolve. Evolve. Evolve.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, but just must come down.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, so Quibi, and this is based on, I, I don't know which source exactly, but we, we had a conversation. Uh, articles come through last week, but Quibi is taking an official break, um, from, well, I guess existence if you will.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So what are your thoughts on that? I was trying to see if I could find the, the original link that you had sent through. Oh wait, here we go. From CNN, you'd had. Yeah, so according to CNN Business, short-form video app Quibi is shutting down after just six months.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: We started with the idea to create the next generation of storytelling because of you. We were able to create and deliver the best version of what we imagined Quibi to be. Co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman wrote in an open letter. So it is with an incredibly heavy heart that today we are announcing that we are winding down the business and looking to sell its content and technology assets.
Casey G. Smith: The company, which struggled after launching during the pandemic, has exhausted all options, the letter says. Following an assessment of other strategic options, Quibi's board decided to shutter the company and return the remaining cash to investors, and it plans to seek, plans to seek one or more buyers for its, buyers for its assets.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Interesting.
Casey G. Smith: So no, there, I thought they were just, you know, taking a pause.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Shutting it down.
Casey G. Smith: They are liquidating. Everything must go.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. Waste too much money.
Casey G. Smith: That's a, that's a, that's a shame. Um, obviously, you know, you don't want a business to, to fail, but what are your thoughts on that, Reginald?
Reginald Titus Jr.: A billion dollars. Um, they raised a billion bucks for something where you're just watching it on your, on your small device, you know, your phone, iPad, whatever, seven minutes, eight minutes, something like that. It's basically like what Vine was, you know, back in the day, and it shut down too. What do I think? It's, when, when they were promoting it, I didn't understand. You know, I was like, from my standpoint, I was just like, this is kind of, I don't get it, and nothing, nothing about it moved me to, to, to go check out the platform.
Casey G. Smith: Sure.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, short form content, I felt like was already being handled pretty well for free through Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, you know, TikTok is crushing it. So, I was wondering what, who was going to pay for something they're already kind of getting, you know, for short form content? I know I wasn't. You know, I'd probably do a free trial, but I probably wouldn't pay for it.
Casey G. Smith: I think that's where they, I think that's where they messed up, um, from a marketing standpoint, because of those, those options existing, and because of introducing something new to the market, again, price is one of those things where at times, you don't know what a market is willing to pay.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Excuse me.
Casey G. Smith: Um, until you put it out there. But it's also about educating. Uh, and when it comes to something that's like, socially kind of oriented, uh, you have to get people excited, which I don't know if they, they did the best about that, because like yourself, I was like, uh, you know, I kept hearing about it, but I didn't, you know, fully, fully know. I was like, oh, it seems interesting. But it wasn't excited about it. But I was curious. But you excite, you educate, then you, you give them an experience, and then you try to engage. So I think what they should have done was to do a trial, to get people an experience, allow them to experience it. Because I mean, I think there's some cool things you could have done and whatever, but yeah, let people do a trial to experience it, and then go from there. But they were, their whole thing was like, okay, you know, you pay X amount, which wasn't like a crazy amount, and then you get it for three months. So I did that, you know, I put in whatever, it wasn't, again, it wasn't much, it wasn't, I don't think any more than $10 or something like that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Mhm.
Casey G. Smith: For three months. I literally, you know, opened the app maybe twice. And I just, I don't know, it didn't, it didn't, the content that was there, it didn't catch, I was like, there's nothing here that I want to come back to. So even there, it was kind of lacking. And like you said, I mean, I, I had a longer run of looking at content on Snapchat, you know. They, they, Snapchat had some cool, I mean, I guess maybe has, I haven't gone to them in a while either, but I used to enjoy watching like ESPN News on Snapchat, because you also had different hosts. It wasn't the same that were on, you know, the, the, the main, you know, the main channels, if you will. These were like different hosts, which was cool too. I was like, okay, so this it is a different experience. So, you know, more of something like, like that potentially, ah, I don't know. But, uh, I'm glad they made the attempt. And even if it was a failing attempt, I think, I think there was a way to do it. I think there was an interest for it. And just because people are getting something at no cost, doesn't mean there isn't a willingness to, to pay for it if it's done well enough, right? There's got to be that, that hook. And I don't know that certain celebrities doing certain things, say, hey, this is something exclusive you can get only on Quibi.
Reginald Titus Jr.: They did, they had a documentary, um, the Clippers, the, the whole kind of like when the, the NBA team, the Clippers, when they were protesting back when the, uh, uh, the owner had said some disparaging remarks, and, uh, they stood up against that, you know, that was a documentary, it was only available on Quibi. Um, there was a Kevin Hart thing, that movie that he did with what's that guy from, uh, John Travolta. Uh, that was only on there, but neither was strong enough to get me just to go out of my way and download the app.
Casey G. Smith: I didn't even know about those things. So they, so they weren't really like hitting, you know, I'm like, you you have to, I don't know. You got to have something, some special.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So, some special, special stuff.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So I did, I downloaded it, not, I downloaded it, maybe literally like two days before I found out about Quibi shutting down. So I downloaded it, and the reason I did is because there's a documentary by Vice on American Apparel. Um, I know about American Apparel. They had like some of the best, they're just known for their advertising and how gritty and raw it was, especially in sexual, young, sexual things.
Casey G. Smith: Like the Abercrombie and Fitch stuff back in the day and some of their catalogs and some of the controversy that they had.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And if they did, uh, they probably took it from American Apparel. But American Apparel did it, and then everybody kind of copied the style.
Casey G. Smith: When were they doing that? Like what time period?
Reginald Titus Jr.: I would say '95, nine, yeah, probably like mid to late '90s.
Casey G. Smith: Okay.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, I'm familiar with the character because on, uh, podcast called, what is, called The Business, they actually, because I mean, the CEO, he's a crazy, wild, just weird, over the top kind of character. Cussing people out, da, da, da, da. And, but was still charismatic at the same time.
Casey G. Smith: Sure.
Reginald Titus Jr.: But, um, you know, he got into some trouble with like sexual, you know, some sexual things at the job, you know, having inappropriate, you know, relations with, you know, people. He's the kind of like person that would literally come to a meeting butt naked. In that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: You like, and the, and the reason they can get away with so much because this is the '90s, you know, nobody's like documenting all this stuff. And, but there are videos of him just being around the office like naked or showing up at parties. So like, so he's just like this weird, eccentric character. So on Vice, this is their first time actually being in a, him being in in the docu on camera, this is his first time doing that. And it was, it's real polarizing. So I was like, it was only available, I thought it was on Vice, but it was only available on Quibi. I said, I got to check it out because I've already did my research. I know about American Apparel. They're still in business. Um, because they were
Casey G. Smith: Are they under new management?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Is this guy still with them? It's, uh, it's, it depends on like what perspective you want to look at the story, you know what I mean? Because when I listened to the podcast, it's from the standpoint of kind of like some of the victims and the people that were like kind of traumatized by this guy. If you, this documentary is giving him kind of like more of a fair shake as far as how they want to look at it. So it just kind of depends on how you want to to, but he, you know, he's still, you know, trudging along. Uh, but I've only watched three episodes. So I was only, I only watched three episodes on Quibi.
Casey G. Smith: It's a docu-series.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, and, um, yeah, docu-series. And the experience sucks. Like it looks good from a like a platform of Quibi. The experience sucks because this is a, it feels like I almost, I'm like, hey, this is get to the next thing, you know, why is everything got to be split up? There's commercials, and there's also.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Like the experience sucks. Like you're waiting for the next episode. Kind of like in like if you're watching like The Boys on Amazon Prime, you're just like, hey, let's get to it, you know what I mean?
Casey G. Smith: So wait, so even though you're, you're paying?
Reginald Titus Jr.: It was like a free, free trial.
Casey G. Smith: Oh, so you're getting commercials because you're not paying for it?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Possibly, I don't know. But I'm just saying the experience sucks.
Casey G. Smith: But, but but again, that's...
Reginald Titus Jr.: I don't know if but I don't know if this...
Casey G. Smith: There's a paid version, but I don't know if the paid version means that you're not going to get commercials. I don't know. Because Hulu did that. You know, you could pay for a version, you still get, you still get ads. So, but that experience sucks because it's like, it's all split up. So it's like, I don't know. I don't know if that, if they created the content knowing that it was going to be on Quibi, and so they split it up, or if they intended it on it being like a movie, and and they wanted to play all at once. That I don't know. But I know like the experience, it's not a good user experience.
Casey G. Smith: Huh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Because most stuff that you're seeing is, it's, it's almost like it's, the formatting is, the people had in mind like this is going to be 30 minutes, or this is going to be an hour, or an hour and a half. But it's forced to be on Quibi's 10 minute, or whatever the cutoff is for their platform.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, you do have to like pay for the, the ad-free version, $7.99.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Was.
Casey G. Smith: Was.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Was.
Casey G. Smith: Was $7.99.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay. All right. So yeah, so that's kind of similar model. So you could watch it for, without ads.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Without ads. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: You watch it for free with ads or, or pay to watch it without ads.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And it's, and it's still split up, like it's like, okay, why is it split up? Is this because?
Casey G. Smith: And it's super short, right? Because the content is so short.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, they're forcing it to be on this in this weird format, where it's like, this would normally just pay 30 minutes or 45 minutes, but because it's on Quibi, it has to be 10 minutes. But no.
Casey G. Smith: Right, you get 10 minutes in, and then you got to, all right, next, next one. Will it play automatically?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, it'll play automatically.
Casey G. Smith: Okay, but then you add in commercials, that that's a crappy experience.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's pretty bad. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: So that, so, so then you got the, that's, that's the, I guess conundrum then, right? Like, if you're trying to, uh, but that's not a new thing, because if you, again, if you were doing Hulu, hell, well, my cable service, when I, when I, one of the things that I watched was *One-Punch Man*, uh, Season 2 of *One-Punch Man*. And I got to admit, there's not that many commercials. But the, you know, I pay for the cable service and in the on-demand service, but yet I still have to deal with commercials with the cable service. Um, it says sponsored because there's so many channels. I right, I get it. But.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, but, uh, so like with the cable, you get the on-demand through that, through, uh, what were you saying?
Casey G. Smith: Spectrum. What was the, the channel that you were watching?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, Adult Swim.
Casey G. Smith: So you have to go to Adult Swim to watch.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Right. Selective Adult Swim.
Casey G. Smith: Because my experience with it was through, you know, one of the other platforms. I don't know if it was.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I think it was.
Casey G. Smith: Hulu. I think it's, I think it's just on Hulu. Because season 1 of *One-Punch Man* is on Netflix and maybe on Hulu also, but just season, Netflix only has season 1. So when season 2 dropped, I was expecting it to come on Netflix, but it's like, no, it was on Hulu. I was like, ah, well.
Reginald Titus Jr.: What are we doing here?
Casey G. Smith: I don't, I don't, I don't need Hulu. You know, I was like, I like *One-Punch Man*, I like it, but I, I'm not going to.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That ain't much. That ain't much.
Casey G. Smith: I'm not going to get Hulu also. I got other stuff. Uh, sorry Hulu. But I, I saw it on, on Spectrum Prime. I'm like, yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So you just have to deal with the commercials as if it was playing on TV normally.
Casey G. Smith: Well, yeah, like they have like strategic spots where the commercial, it's like maybe like 15 minutes in, and then you get like, like boom, like five commercials that are play. I'm like, all right, and then maybe at, maybe then another, I guess maybe every 10 minutes. I guess technically, it's only, you know, 25 minute episodes. So two sets of commercials that run, you know, maybe let's say like, let's say four to five minutes each.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. I, I think I watched it like on an anime because I, like I watched it, that was a while ago when I watched *One-Punch Man*. But it was like on an animation platform. Like all I had was anime on there. I just can't remember, but it's not, it's no longer in existence, but.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Yes.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I know it was like Crunchyroll, there is, um, I watched *My Hero Academia* through, um, Funimation's app, which is very nice. Man, there's a lot of content on there. Holy crap, man, there's so much. And the price is like fair. I still need to, I'm like, I'm on season 4, I think, of *My Hero*. I need to, I need to go back, because I, I like to watch, I like to watch the where it's dubbed. I don't have time to sit and watch subtitles. If I, if I, yeah, if I had time, I potentially would listen to the original, you know, the original voice actors, but I'm like, no, I, I don't have time for that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Ain't got time for that.
Casey G. Smith: I ain't got time for that. But you know what? That's, that's not, that's the one thing.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I need to sub.
Casey G. Smith: I need a dub. I need, I need a dub. And I got to go.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Just learn the language.
Casey G. Smith: I tried. I had, I had a, I have a Japanese app. Very, very fascinating, but it's, oh, no. It's not like *o español*, you know, or *inglés*. Japanese is a different beast all together. You know how many letters there are? I mean, anyway, it's a tangent. But yes, Quibi, we say goodnight, sweet prince.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, I, I watch subtitles, so that means I have to be very, I'm very selective when what I watch when it comes to that, because I do watch subtitles.
Casey G. Smith: Well, again, I'm not saying I won't, but when I have an option, if it's done quality. Yeah. If it's quality. Yeah. And with animation, you can kind of get away with it even more than a movie. Yeah, but I mean, we're talking about like, we're talking about like a foreign film. No, I'm going to watch it in with subtitles, that's all good. I got no issue with that. But with anime.
Reginald Titus Jr.: *Money Heist*.
Casey G. Smith: Well, if there is a dubbed option. Ah, bring it. Bring the dubbed option. I got things to do here, people. Move it, move it.
Reginald Titus Jr.: All that to say, Quibi's user experience was not that great for me.
Casey G. Smith: Not on the free side. It wasn't great on the paid side, so I mean, what can I, I got, I got, uh, yeah, again, I literally opened it twice, and I was like, there's not enough to like keep me here. Yeah. I literally, like, forgot about it. I was like, oh. I literally just went, I was like, I'm not going to watch this anymore. I got, I got things to do. And I just, I, I literally deleted the app off of my phone. And just canceled, I canceled the, I mean, not even a week in. I was like, yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I expected them to stick around a little bit longer, though, because, and, and figure it out. Uh, because you need that user experience, and you need people, you need that feedback to figure out what you need to do and change. Six months, I don't think is enough time.
Casey G. Smith: Sure.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, but maybe people, the people they, the investors, the billion that they got, that money from, it was like, hey, we need that back pandemic, uh, let me.
Casey G. Smith: You know, that's a, that's a very valid, uh, argument, you know, and thought to have, like, was their window of success and trial and error significantly shortened because of the climate that we're in? Um, with other studios, right, not able to get their content into theaters, taking losses and delays there, and then having a new streaming platform, which you really do need to perform, because it's such a focus now on streaming. And then if it's not performing, you know, that major investment, it's like, ah, that's, that's, yeah, maybe that was seen as just a big, big L, a big loss, but man, six months in, they totally say, we're totally shutting down?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: That's a big loss.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That means they had to return that money quick. Maybe I, I would assume this pandemic made it tight. And made the investors like, hey, can you give us that money back since you ain't doing nothing with it?
Casey G. Smith: Let me hold some.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, let me get that back.
Casey G. Smith: Let me fall out 500.
Reginald Titus Jr.: We're going to have to shut it down.
Casey G. Smith: And don't give it to me sideways, hand it to me vertically. Thank you.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yes, thank you.
Casey G. Smith: Oh man. Well, do what you got to do. Turn it vertical and put it in the ATM. Okay. Deposit that cash back.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That's kind of messed up when your board is like, hey, we need, we need to return all this money. There's not much you can do about that.
Casey G. Smith: No. It's not a good feeling.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Please return it. What? It's only been six months. Let's talk about this. Let's be reasonable. Man. So what have you been watching, Reginald?

Recent Viewings: Bad Hair, One-Punch Man, and More
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, the only thing that I watched this past Friday, um, on Hulu.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's not personal Hulu.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Nothing personal. Uh, on Hulu. Uh, Justin Simien's *Bad Hair*.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So Justin Simien. Have you heard of this film?
Casey G. Smith: I have not.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, really? Okay. So, um, I think, I need to read the synopsis. I need to find the synopsis because I need to do it justice.
Casey G. Smith: Oh, oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So like *Bad Hair*, like he was actually developing this, uh, around the time when we were, uh, finishing up our film actually, around the same time. He had like, he actually liked a few of our things that we were doing on our Instagram.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: But, um, in 1989, an ambitious young woman gets a weave in order to succeed in the image possessed, image obsessed world of music television. However, her flourishing career may come at a great cost when she realizes that her new hair may have a mind of its own. *Bad Hair*. I like the aesthetic, the aesthetics of the late '80s, early '90s. I think a lot of people will dig that, especially like when Video Soul and all that stuff was like real popular.
Casey G. Smith: Donnie Simpson.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yes. So like, kind of like those vibes, the New Jack Swing, all that stuff that was kind of popular at the time. Uh, I think a lot of people would dig that.
Casey G. Smith: Is this a short film?
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's a full film on Hulu.
Casey G. Smith: Is it like a horror film?
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's a horror film.
Casey G. Smith: Is it take place in a, in a salon?
Reginald Titus Jr.: A portion of it. That's where she gets her hair weave put in.
Casey G. Smith: Maybe I've seen this.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It, it just hit Friday. It just recently.
Casey G. Smith: Maybe I haven't seen this.
Reginald Titus Jr.: You haven't.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I saw some kind of film.
Casey G. Smith: You probably saw the trailer.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I saw a film where like people were like the, the hair, whatever they were doing, it was all, all black folk. But like it was like people were kind of becoming possessed by the hair that they were wearing and they were like some people were holed up in a shop and people were almost like they were being almost zombified by their hair, hair-dos.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Almost. Kind of in the same, in that same vein. And there were some, uh, I think Justin Simien was saying that there was a foreign film where it was a wig that was taking over and kind of like possessing the person that had the wig on. And so that kind of sparked it. But I would give it a seven, seven, 6.5, 6.5, 7 out of 10. Okay.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's okay. It's not a must-see, but it's definitely interesting and I think some people will dig it. But, uh, *Bad Hair* on Hulu.
Casey G. Smith: *Bad Hair* on Hulu by Jazz, Justin Simien.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Justin Simien. He's the director of *Dear White People*.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Casey G. Smith: The movie, not the show.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, he did the movie and then did it also did the show as well.
Casey G. Smith: The movie and the show. Okay, okay. Work your brand.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Work it.
Casey G. Smith: Uh, so again, I mentioned before, I watched *One-Punch Man* Season 2. It was nice to jump back in.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, really? So did it just drop, or?
Casey G. Smith: No, it's been out like years now. Really? Just took, yeah. I was, yeah. I was just, yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Really?
Reginald Titus Jr.: So I had read on it. All right, go ahead, tell me what your thoughts.
Casey G. Smith: Um, so I love Season 1. Uh, I thought it was just awesome. I love the just the take on superheroes. It's kind of, you know, it's, uh, it's kind of examining and breaking down. Like some franchises like to do, they like to examine what it means to be a hero and all of that. Uh, and there's a definite degree of ridiculousness, uh, to, to the, the, the main, the title character. Yeah. Uh, he's hilarious. He's funny because he's so Saitama. Uh, Saitama, maybe Saitama. It is Saitama. Um, and actually when I watched the first season, I watched that subtitled on Netflix. I watched it with subtitles. All good. I had time. And so we did, we did it that way. Yes. This go around when it was, um, uh, for season 2, yeah, it was dubbed. It was on Adult Swim, it was just dubbed. That was just what it was. And so we rocked it that way. Yeah. But it still worked. It was, it was still felt like comfortable with the characters and like even the, you know, their voices, I mean, obviously they were different, but it'd been so long. It was like, ah, oh, it's fine. But no, I, I dug, I dug Season 2 as well. Just some of the characters that they, that they brought in, um, and again, how they have to always kind of balance how they use, uh, Saitama very sparingly because he's so powerful. Right. Um, and just the, the, the, the smaller stories that are kind of developing, right, with the main, the, I guess technically the main bad, the, the human who sees himself, fancies himself a monster, and just kind of where his limits are at, and, uh, yeah, it's I dug it. Now, I'm trying to think there's, yeah, okay, the character King. I thought was super fascinating.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Was that the robot?
Casey G. Smith: Uh, no. Um, he's sidekick, that's not his sidekick, is it?
Reginald Titus Jr.: The robot is his sidekick. Yeah, his, his, his, it's his disciple. Uh, but King, King was the guy who was billed as the number one hero. Okay. And yet, you find out, hey, I'm not going to, I'll try to avoid spoilers.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Don't give it away.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, you find out, you know, maybe things aren't quite what they seem. Okay. Uh, but that, I thought that was very fascinating how they played that up. And just the dynamic, you know, the different dynamics that develop. And like you basically see, uh, Saitama's, um, circle kind of growing. Uh, as far as like, you know, potential additional support characters. And just seeing that community develop was, was, was cool. And then what I find thematically, that's kind of repeating, I see this in *My Hero Academia*. There seems to always be some kind of tournament, um, that takes place. And I know tournaments are like kind of big in, in my experience with Japanese culture and different forms of entertainment. Yeah. Whether it's a video game, whether, you know, some of these shows, like the tournaments are like a big deal. Um, round robin tournaments, like just, you know, tournaments. Again, so, uh, it was it was fascinating to see that I guess especially coming off *My Hero Academia*. Uh, there's a tournament during the second season of that show. Uh, actually, you know, even the first season, there's the competition that kind of takes place, which is great because it gives a chance for different characters to show off what they can do, just for, you know, giving reason, hey, this, hey, it's a tournament. You got to fight, you got to do your thing. That's true. So that was cool to see. Uh, so yeah, , it I, I found it entertaining, entertaining. I, I enjoyed it, and yeah, I'm, I'm looking forward to Season 3. Whenever that drops, you know.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Right, because that took a lot, it took a while for season 2 to come out. And I was reading up on it because I was like, man, I was really into the *One-Punch Man* when it dropped.
Casey G. Smith: It was a couple years ago. Yeah. I remember, I remember also, I was like, man, when Season 2 dropping? And then when they finally announced it, I was like, oh, it's going to Hulu. Yeah. And then and the biggest thing was that the same, uh, animation studio that did part one wasn't part of it. And there is a big difference in style.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Quality.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, because the same studios wasn't doing it. And this was like a, the part, the first season is, you know, a famous studio that, you know, takes their time, does what they do. But for whatever reasons, they weren't doing Season 2. And I was kind of disappointed in that, especially when I saw like some clips for Season 2, I was like, hmm.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So you haven't seen Season 2.
Casey G. Smith: I haven't seen it. Watch it. Check it out.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I should check it out.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah. Check it out. It's, and again, it'd been so long since I've watched Season 1. Yeah. And it may be like five years, you know, ago when I saw Season 1. I don't remember it's, it's been a long time. Uh, I didn't realize it, but it's, it's been a while. Let's say maybe like four years ago when I saw Season 1 on, on Netflix. But, you know, I, I, yeah, I, I enjoyed it. I, I enjoyed Season 2. Okay. I enjoyed Season 2.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay. Good. Good. Good. That's good to hear because I was like kind of discouraged by that. I was like, hmm.
Casey G. Smith: No, check out Season 2 for your, for your, Season 2 for yourself and, yeah, I, I, yeah, I'd recommend checking it out.
Reginald Titus Jr.: All right. All right. Word on the streets.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, and then I also checked out David Letterman's *My Next Guest is...* or *My Next Guest*. Mhm. On Netflix. Um, when that drop?
Casey G. Smith: Like Friday. I think it was, yeah, Friday or Saturday. I think like it just dropped. Cause I know I've seen, I've seen trailers for it that he was interviewing Dave Chappelle.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Right.
Casey G. Smith: I was like, yes, I want to see this.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Anything Dave Chappelle is like, hey.
Casey G. Smith: For real. And especially with, with somebody like, uh, David Letterman. I, I, I enjoy his, his interviews because he's, you know, he's also going to talk about himself as well, kind of interjects. Um, he's just, he's, he's so sharp. I, I, yeah, he's sharp, sharp guy. So, uh, I, I tuned in to watch that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Dave Chappelle. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Right, I'm, I'm thinking, all right, Dave Chappelle. But the first episode was actually Kim Kardashian.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Gotcha.
Casey G. Smith: I was like, okay, let's do it. Do you have to wait, or is, or are the guests already on there? Or do you have to wait for the next one to drop? How have they got it set up? Uh, there, there are already, already on there. Yeah, yeah, they're already on there because this, uh, after Kim, then they've got, um, RDJ, Robert Downey Jr., and then they've got Dave Chappelle, and then they've got Lizzo. Is that her name? Like Lizzo, right?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, Lizzo. And I don't know if there's anybody else beyond that, because once I got to Lizzo, I, I, I didn't watch it all consecutively back-to-back-to-back. I just, I kind of broke it up.
Reginald Titus Jr.: You benched it.
Casey G. Smith: I broke it up, you know what I'm saying? I, I think I did one on Friday, I did, and I think I did, I think I made it two today. Or not today, but yesterday. Anywho. But Kim Kardashian, man, I have a newfound respect for Kim Kardashian. I'd already respected how she was using the photography and the paparazzi game.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: To make money, like notifying where she was going to be. I'm like, that's smart. And then her, her business savvy with her mobile app, like she made a bunch of money off this like, I'm like, what?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yep. I remember.
Casey G. Smith: What? So you know. But, you know, Letterman asked some great questions and, you know, she, you know, talking about of course, the show, right? And what that, what that meant, how that built them up and then it always, you know, comes back to that. Like what that meant for them, uh, talked about OJ, you know, and like the relationship there, uh, with the family and the split between like her, her dad, and her mom, and kind of their different feelings on it, because her mom was real close with with Nicole. Um, sorry, just yeah, multiple topics talked about. Man, she talked about, uh, in, in Paris, like one of the fashion weekends, like getting robbed.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I remember that.
Casey G. Smith: Uh, I had no idea. I didn't, I knew nothing about that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That was, that was pop culture. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: I knew nothing about that. And her sharing the experience, talking about, I was like, wow. And then of course, the stuff she's doing now, uh, legally, like she's, you know, working towards becoming like a lawyer, but through a, like it's a, it's a different kind of program where you're not in law school, but you are, you're still studying, she's still studying like crazy, and, uh, and she's
Reginald Titus Jr.: For helping people, man, getting people out of jail. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, and that's like her, like she feels like her passion, her calling. It was, it was really, really well done. And she's, uh, she's fierce, man. She's fierce in a, in a, in a, in a, in a, in a way that I, I hadn't seen before. And yeah, and her family, they're all in the audience, you know, her sisters, and, you know, and Kanye. And it was, yeah, I was, I was very impressed with it. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I know I'm thinking about it now it's getting me a lot of energy thinking like there's some serious implications here. I got to make sure I don't give the user bad information because I might be accused of defamation.

My previous breakdown already covers the structure. Now I just need to focus on accurate transcription and HTML formatting.Full Episode Transcript
This episode of Filmmaker Commentary the horror sequel *Scream 2*, examining its box office success, the influence of Miramax on film marketing, and the challenges faced by streaming platforms and cinemas in the current entertainment landscape, including a detailed discussion on Quibi's rapid downfall.

Opening Discussion & Box Office Success
Reginald Titus Jr.: Filmmaker Commentary, episode 98. Welcome to Filmmaker Commentary, where we give you insights from our favorite filmmaking commentaries. These commentaries can be heard on your DVD and Blu-rays of your favorite movies. We'll show you how you can use these commentaries and apply them to improve your video production and filmmaking techniques. All of this here on Filmmaker Commentary. I'm your host, Reginald Titus Jr.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Welcome to Filmmaker Commentary. I'm Reginald Titus Jr. I'm joined with...
Casey G. Smith: Casey G. Smith.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Welcome back, sir.
Casey G. Smith: Good to be back, sir.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And today we're talking about *Scream 2*, directed by Wes Craven, written by Kevin Williamson, scored by...
Casey G. Smith: The one, the only, Marco Beltrami.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And what was the budget and the box office?
Casey G. Smith: We're looking at a budget estimated of around 24 million.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay.
Casey G. Smith: Opening weekend, 33 million.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Weekend, for the weekend. Okay.
Casey G. Smith: Oh yeah. Made a good chunk of that money back. In the US, it had a total, well, domestically, US and Canada, total box office gross of 101 million. And then that combined with the rest of the world gave us a total of 172 million.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Wow.
Casey G. Smith: So roughly 70, 71 million, uh, throughout the rest of the world, then combined again, 172 million, which is uh, 1 million dollars short of what the first film did.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Wow. Oh man.
Casey G. Smith: I went back and looked at that number just out of curiosity. So.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Seems like people were hungry to watch this second film.
Casey G. Smith: Right. But also considering how quick it came out after the first one, because they had already had at least the treatment that Williamson had put in at the end of the first one.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Mhm.
Casey G. Smith: Made for a real quick turnaround.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And people are willing to do it again, right?
Casey G. Smith: Yeah. And then they, they, they upped it with like the star factor kind of just, just right, which we'll get into.
Reginald Titus Jr.: We'll get into that. But I would say that's a win.
Casey G. Smith: Heck yeah, man. Quick wins too.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: To generate that much in that short amount of time, because we're talking '96 and then '97.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Dropping, dropping.
Casey G. Smith: Literally like, yeah, hundreds of millions for Dimension.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Which is a subsidiary of Miramax.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Weinsteins strikes again.
Casey G. Smith: Yes. Which was part of Disney.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Was it not?
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, I just can't remember the year they, that Disney bought them.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh.
Casey G. Smith: So they may not have owned them yet.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, maybe they did. I just don't remember the exact year. It was in the 90s, I just don't remember the exact year Disney came in and purchased them. But even though Disney purchased them, uh, the Weinsteins were still running the show.
Casey G. Smith: Sure, sure.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So it's, uh, yeah, and then Dimension being, uh, the horror division of Miramax. I don't know if, if that counted as part of, you know, was that included in the Miramax deal?
Casey G. Smith: You know Disney want that horror money.
Reginald Titus Jr.: They want the whole thing. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Hey, we need our cut.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. We good here, don't make us send in the mouse. And that also, you know, just from a Weinstein and that whole era, why they were able to just to, well, he specifically Harvey was able to abuse so many people.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, because I mean, he's got the golden ticket, you know, he can just write checks for whatever.
Casey G. Smith: That's true. That's true. And they, I mean, especially when you consider those smaller films, small budget and then just to do boo-koos at the box office like that, that's just, you know, allows you to fund other projects and.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And then you and then you get the the critical success from other films that they were putting out there.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, like the, that Miramax, they were, they changed the way that you campaign for your film, excuse me, campaign for an Oscar because of what Harvey was doing, it forced other studios to have to market their film to run a campaign for an Oscar, which shouldn't be that way. But they did what they do.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Game changing.
Reginald Titus Jr.: *Down and Dirty Pictures* is a book, go read it. It's, uh, it's fans out there, filmmaker and fans. You can learn a lot from these scrappy indie filmmakers.
Reginald Titus Jr.: But before we talk further about *Scream*, let's talk about news and movies watched.

News and Movies Watched: Industry Shifts and Quibi's Demise
Casey G. Smith: So in the news, according to Screen Daily, Italy closes cinemas again as COVID-19 cases spike. Uh, cinemas in Italy have been shuttered for a second time in a bid to curb a second spike in coronavirus cases and avoid a full lockdown. Italian Prime Minister, uh, Giuseppe Conte announced on Sunday that cinemas, theaters, discos and gaming halls must close their doors from today, October 26, following a new daily record of 19,644 coronavirus infections in the country.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Wow.
Casey G. Smith: Conte stopped short of imposing a nationwide lockdown by, excuse me, but stated that bars and rest service from 6 PM.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Interesting.
Casey G. Smith: So yeah, Italy, uh, China fight pass another, uh, influx of, of, of cases and theaters once again, you know, having to take the hit in the brunt, I mean, other businesses as well, of course. But obviously, you know, we're talking films here.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Mhm.
Casey G. Smith: And yeah, these affects, man, worldwide, just as we hear about one area like New York, you know, opening up some theaters, you know, you get another spot kind of taking the, taking the hit.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That, yeah.
Casey G. Smith: And places don't making decisions. Um, I saw an article, I didn't dive into it, but just the headline of it that, uh, the the new Bond film, they had potential offers from both Netflix and Apple, uh, TV and they, uh, they, they shunted them both, turned them, turned the offers away. They want to, uh, either they wanted I guess maybe too much or they just really want to, you know, trying to get some of that theater money.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So they're just holding out. But they didn't say how, they didn't disclose how much they were offering.
Casey G. Smith: I want, I thought I saw like a, all right, so according to Slash Films, they did have conversations with Netflix and Apple. Says Reuters reports that the executive at executive at MGM had considered the possibility of selling *No Time to Die* to a streaming service for distribution with platforms like Apple and Netflix, throwing their hats in the ring. According to multiple insiders at the rival studios and companies, MGM put the sale to cursory discussion in late September, right before, uh, the push for *No Time to Die* to go to 2021, seeking a payout of roughly 600 million for distribution rights.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Ooh.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, oh, so that's what they were seeking? They were seeking 600?
Casey G. Smith: Mhm.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Who the heck's going to pay for that?
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, it said The Variety notes that the $600 million price tag was considered too big even by loaded stream streamers like Apple and Netflix, who still have to navigate the tricky distribution rights.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Forget that.
Casey G. Smith: Mhm.
Reginald Titus Jr.: We'll just make our own for 5 million.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: 009.
Casey G. Smith: The film had several promotional partners lined up with Land Rover, Omega Watches and Heineken to help deal with the $250 million budget, which Apple and Netflix would have to strike some kind of deal. So yeah, yeah, that's how much they were asking for and just didn't, uh, did not go down.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Like, sorry guys. Good luck in the theater.
Casey G. Smith: Mhm. Holy crap.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, then they, they, yeah, it's, it's, it's, uh, not, not easy, not, not easy decisions to, to make.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Tentpoles. Stop it. Killing the game.
Reginald Titus Jr.: But yeah, this podcast is being indexed in 2026. This has to be for the new age for 2026. Oh we're still gonna do that. Don't worry.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, I just want to mention sometimes we get to talking about the movie and the segments go on for a little too long and you don't really know when the segments are going to be ending. But from a SEO standpoint, uh, with this here, the current AIs and the search bots, like, there's new capabilities.
Reginald Titus Jr.: No, no, no. There's so much, there's so much new technology coming out that if you guys don't update your content, you guys are going to be left in the dust. You should know. This is your industry. I'm helping you.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, so Quibi, and this is based on, I, I don't know which source exactly, but we, we had a conversation. Uh, articles come through last week, but Quibi is taking an official break, um, from, well, I guess existence if you will.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So what are your thoughts on that? I was trying to see if I could find the, the original link that you had sent through. Oh wait, here we go. From CNN, you'd had. Yeah, so according to CNN Business, short-form video app Quibi is shutting down after just six months.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: We started with the idea to create the next generation of storytelling because of you. We were able to create and deliver the best version of what we imagined Quibi to be. Co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman wrote in an open letter. So it is with an incredibly heavy heart that today we are announcing that we are winding down the business and looking to sell its content and technology assets.
Casey G. Smith: The company, which struggled after launching during the pandemic, has exhausted all options, the letter says. Following an assessment of other strategic options, Quibi's board decided to shutter the company and return the remaining cash to investors, and it plans to seek, plans to seek one or more buyers for its, buyers for its assets.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Interesting.
Casey G. Smith: So no, there, I thought they were just, you know, taking a pause.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Shutting it down.
Casey G. Smith: They are liquidating. Everything must go.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. Waste too much money.
Casey G. Smith: That's a, that's a, that's a shame. Um, obviously, you know, you don't want a business to, to fail, but what are your thoughts on that, Reginald?
Reginald Titus Jr.: A billion dollars. Um, they raised a billion bucks for something where you're just watching it on your, on your small device, you know, your phone, iPad, whatever, seven minutes, eight minutes, something like that. It's basically like what Vine was, you know, back in the day, and it shut down too. What do I think? It's, when, when they were promoting it, I didn't understand. You know, I was like, from my standpoint, I was just like, this is kind of, I don't get it, and nothing, nothing about it moved me to, to, to go check out the platform.
Casey G. Smith: Sure.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, short form content, I felt like was already being handled pretty well for free through Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, you know, TikTok is crushing it. So, I was wondering what, who was going to pay for something they're already kind of getting, you know, for short form content? I know I wasn't. You know, I'd probably do a free trial, but I probably wouldn't pay for it.
Casey G. Smith: I think that's where they, I think that's where they messed up, um, from a marketing standpoint, because of those, those options existing, and because of introducing something new to the market, again, price is one of those things where at times, you don't know what a market is willing to pay.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Excuse me.
Casey G. Smith: Um, until you put it out there. But it's also about educating. Uh, and when it comes to something that's like, socially kind of oriented, uh, you have to get people excited, which I don't know if they, they did the best about that, because like yourself, I was like, uh, you know, I kept hearing about it, but I didn't, you know, fully, fully know. I was like, oh, it seems interesting. But it wasn't excited about it. But I was curious. But you excite, you educate, then you, you give them an experience, and then you try to engage. So I think what they should have done was to do a trial, to get people an experience, allow them to experience it. Because I mean, I think there's some cool things you could have done and whatever, but yeah, let people do a trial to experience it, and then go from there. But they were, their whole thing was like, okay, you know, you pay X amount, which wasn't like a crazy amount, and then you get it for three months. So I did that, you know, I put in whatever, it wasn't, again, it wasn't much, it wasn't, I don't think any more than $10 or something like that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Mhm.
Casey G. Smith: For three months. I literally, you know, opened the app maybe twice. And I just, I don't know, it didn't, it didn't, the content that was there, it didn't catch, I was like, there's nothing here that I want to come back to. So even there, it was kind of lacking. And like you said, I mean, I, I had a longer run of looking at content on Snapchat, you know. They, they, Snapchat had some cool, I mean, I guess maybe has, I haven't gone to them in a while either, but I used to enjoy watching like ESPN News on Snapchat, because you also had different hosts. It wasn't the same that were on, you know, the, the, the main, you know, the main channels, if you will. These were like different hosts, which was cool too. I was like, okay, so this it is a different experience. So, you know, more of something like, like that potentially, ah, I don't know. But, uh, I'm glad they made the attempt. And even if it was a failing attempt, I think, I think there was a way to do it. I think there was an interest for it. And just because people are getting something at no cost, doesn't mean there isn't a willingness to, to pay for it if it's done well enough, right? There's got to be that, that hook. And I don't know that certain celebrities doing certain things, say, hey, this is something exclusive you can get only on Quibi.
Reginald Titus Jr.: They did, they had a documentary, um, the Clippers, the, the whole kind of like when the, the NBA team, the Clippers, when they were protesting back when the, uh, uh, the owner had said some disparaging remarks, and, uh, they stood up against that, you know, that was a documentary, it was only available on Quibi. Um, there was a Kevin Hart thing, that movie that he did with what's that guy from, uh, John Travolta. Uh, that was only on there, but neither was strong enough to get me just to go out of my way and download the app.
Casey G. Smith: I didn't even know about those things. So they, so they weren't really like hitting, you know, I'm like, you you have to, I don't know. You got to have something, some special.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So, some special, special stuff.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So I did, I downloaded it, not, I downloaded it, maybe literally like two days before I found out about Quibi shutting down. So I downloaded it, and the reason I did is because there's a documentary by Vice on American Apparel. Um, I know about American Apparel. They had like some of the best, they're just known for their advertising and how gritty and raw it was, especially in sexual, young, sexual things.
Casey G. Smith: Like the Abercrombie and Fitch stuff back in the day and some of their catalogs and some of the controversy that they had.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And if they did, uh, they probably took it from American Apparel. But American Apparel did it, and then everybody kind of copied the style.
Casey G. Smith: When were they doing that? Like what time period?
Reginald Titus Jr.: I would say '95, nine, yeah, probably like mid to late '90s.
Casey G. Smith: Okay.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, I'm familiar with the character because on, uh, podcast called, what is, called The Business, they actually, because I mean, the CEO, he's a crazy, wild, just weird, over the top kind of character. Cussing people out, da, da, da, da. And, but was still charismatic at the same time.
Casey G. Smith: Sure.
Reginald Titus Jr.: But, um, you know, he got into some trouble with like sexual, you know, some sexual things at the job, you know, having inappropriate, you know, relations with, you know, people. He's the kind of like person that would literally come to a meeting butt naked. In that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: You like, and the, and the reason they can get away with so much because this is the '90s, you know, nobody's like documenting all this stuff. And, but there are videos of him just being around the office like naked or showing up at parties. So like, so he's just like this weird, eccentric character. So on Vice, this is their first time actually being in a, him being in in the docu on camera, this is his first time doing that. And it was, it's real polarizing. So I was like, it was only available, I thought it was on Vice, but it was only available on Quibi. I said, I got to check it out because I've already did my research. I know about American Apparel. They're still in business. Um, because they were
Casey G. Smith: Are they under new management?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Is this guy still with them? It's, uh, it's, it depends on like what perspective you want to look at the story, you know what I mean? Because when I listened to the podcast, it's from the standpoint of kind of like some of the victims and the people that were like kind of traumatized by this guy. If you, this documentary is giving him kind of like more of a fair shake as far as how they want to look at it. So it just kind of depends on how you want to to, but he, you know, he's still, you know, trudging along. Uh, but I've only watched three episodes. So I was only, I only watched three episodes on Quibi.
Casey G. Smith: It's a docu-series.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, and, um, yeah, docu-series. And the experience sucks. Like it looks good from a like a platform of Quibi. The experience sucks because this is a, it feels like I almost, I'm like, hey, this is get to the next thing, you know, why is everything got to be split up? There's commercials, and there's also.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Like the experience sucks. Like you're waiting for the next episode. Kind of like in like if you're watching like The Boys on Amazon Prime, you're just like, hey, let's get to it, you know what I mean?
Casey G. Smith: So wait, so even though you're, you're paying?
Reginald Titus Jr.: It was like a free, free trial.
Casey G. Smith: Oh, so you're getting commercials because you're not paying for it?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Possibly, I don't know. But I'm just saying the experience sucks.
Casey G. Smith: But, but but again, that's...
Reginald Titus Jr.: I don't know if but I don't know if this...
Casey G. Smith: There's a paid version, but I don't know if the paid version means that you're not going to get commercials. I don't know. Because Hulu did that. You know, you could pay for a version, you still get, you still get ads. So, but that experience sucks because it's like, it's all split up. So it's like, I don't know. I don't know if that, if they created the content knowing that it was going to be on Quibi, and so they split it up, or if they intended it on it being like a movie, and and they wanted to play all at once. That I don't know. But I know like the experience, it's not a good user experience.
Casey G. Smith: Huh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Because most stuff that you're seeing is, it's, it's almost like it's, the formatting is, the people had in mind like this is going to be 30 minutes, or this is going to be an hour, or an hour and a half. But it's forced to be on Quibi's 10 minute, or whatever the cutoff is for their platform.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, you do have to like pay for the, the ad-free version, $7.99.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Was.
Casey G. Smith: Was.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Was.
Casey G. Smith: Was $7.99.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay. All right. So yeah, so that's kind of similar model. So you could watch it for, without ads.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Without ads. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: You watch it for free with ads or, or pay to watch it without ads.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And it's, and it's still split up, like it's like, okay, why is it split up? Is this because?
Casey G. Smith: And it's super short, right? Because the content is so short.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, they're forcing it to be on this in this weird format, where it's like, this would normally just pay 30 minutes or 45 minutes, but because it's on Quibi, it has to be 10 minutes. But no.
Casey G. Smith: Right, you get 10 minutes in, and then you got to, all right, next, next one. Will it play automatically?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, it'll play automatically.
Casey G. Smith: Okay, but then you add in commercials, that that's a crappy experience.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's pretty bad. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: So that, so, so then you got the, that's, that's the, I guess conundrum then, right? Like, if you're trying to, uh, but that's not a new thing, because if you, again, if you were doing Hulu, hell, well, my cable service, when I, when I, one of the things that I watched was *One-Punch Man*, uh, Season 2 of *One-Punch Man*. And I got to admit, there's not that many commercials. But the, you know, I pay for the cable service and in the on-demand service, but yet I still have to deal with commercials with the cable service. Um, it says sponsored because there's so many channels. I right, I get it. But.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, but, uh, so like with the cable, you get the on-demand through that, through, uh, what were you saying?
Casey G. Smith: Spectrum. What was the, the channel that you were watching?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, Adult Swim.
Casey G. Smith: So you have to go to Adult Swim to watch.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Right. Selective Adult Swim.
Casey G. Smith: Because my experience with it was through, you know, one of the other platforms. I don't know if it was.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I think it was.
Casey G. Smith: Hulu. I think it's, I think it's just on Hulu. Because season 1 of *One-Punch Man* is on Netflix and maybe on Hulu also, but just season, Netflix only has season 1. So when season 2 dropped, I was expecting it to come on Netflix, but it's like, no, it was on Hulu. I was like, ah, well.
Reginald Titus Jr.: What are we doing here?
Casey G. Smith: I don't, I don't, I don't need Hulu. You know, I was like, I like *One-Punch Man*, I like it, but I, I'm not going to.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That ain't much. That ain't much.
Casey G. Smith: I'm not going to get Hulu also. I got other stuff. Uh, sorry Hulu. But I, I saw it on, on Spectrum Prime. I'm like, yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So you just have to deal with the commercials as if it was playing on TV normally.
Casey G. Smith: Well, yeah, like they have like strategic spots where the commercial, it's like maybe like 15 minutes in, and then you get like, like boom, like five commercials that are play. I'm like, all right, and then maybe at, maybe then another, I guess maybe every 10 minutes. I guess technically, it's only, you know, 25 minute episodes. So two sets of commercials that run, you know, maybe let's say like, let's say four to five minutes each.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. I, I think I watched it like on an anime because I, like I watched it, that was a while ago when I watched *One-Punch Man*. But it was like on an animation platform. Like all I had was anime on there. I just can't remember, but it's not, it's no longer in existence, but.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Yes.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I know it was like Crunchyroll, there is, um, I watched *My Hero Academia* through, um, Funimation's app, which is very nice. Man, there's a lot of content on there. Holy crap, man, there's so much. And the price is like fair. I still need to, I'm like, I'm on season 4, I think, of *My Hero*. I need to, I need to go back, because I, I like to watch, I like to watch the where it's dubbed. I don't have time to sit and watch subtitles. If I, if I, yeah, if I had time, I potentially would listen to the original, you know, the original voice actors, but I'm like, no, I, I don't have time for that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Ain't got time for that.
Casey G. Smith: I ain't got time for that. But you know what? That's, that's not, that's the one thing.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I need to sub.
Casey G. Smith: I need a dub. I need, I need a dub. And I got to go.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Just learn the language.
Casey G. Smith: I tried. I had, I had a, I have a Japanese app. Very, very fascinating, but it's, oh, no. It's not like *o español*, you know, or *inglés*. Japanese is a different beast all together. You know how many letters there are? I mean, anyway, it's a tangent. But yes, Quibi, we say goodnight, sweet prince.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, I, I watch subtitles, so that means I have to be very, I'm very selective when what I watch when it comes to that, because I do watch subtitles.
Casey G. Smith: Well, again, I'm not saying I won't, but when I have an option, if it's done quality. Yeah. If it's quality. Yeah. And with animation, you can kind of get away with it even more than a movie. Yeah, but I mean, we're talking about like, we're talking about like a foreign film. No, I'm going to watch it in with subtitles, that's all good. I got no issue with that. But with anime.
Reginald Titus Jr.: *Money Heist*.
Casey G. Smith: Well, if there is a dubbed option. Ah, bring it. Bring the dubbed option. I got things to do here, people. Move it, move it.
Reginald Titus Jr.: All that to say, Quibi's user experience was not that great for me.
Casey G. Smith: Not on the free side. It wasn't great on the paid side, so I mean, what can I, I got, I got, uh, yeah, again, I literally opened it twice, and I was like, there's not enough to like keep me here. Yeah. I literally, like, forgot about it. I was like, oh. I literally just went, I was like, I'm not going to watch this anymore. I got, I got things to do. And I just, I, I literally deleted the app off of my phone. And just canceled, I canceled the, I mean, not even a week in. I was like, yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I expected them to stick around a little bit longer, though, because, and, and figure it out. Uh, because you need that user experience, and you need people, you need that feedback to figure out what you need to do and change. Six months, I don't think is enough time.
Casey G. Smith: Sure.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, but maybe people, the people they, the investors, the billion that they got, that money from, it was like, hey, we need that back pandemic, uh, let me.
Casey G. Smith: You know, that's a, that's a very valid, uh, argument, you know, and thought to have, like, was their window of success and trial and error significantly shortened because of the climate that we're in? Um, with other studios, right, not able to get their content into theaters, taking losses and delays there, and then having a new streaming platform, which you really do need to perform, because it's such a focus now on streaming. And then if it's not performing, you know, that major investment, it's like, ah, that's, that's, yeah, maybe that was seen as just a big, big L, a big loss, but man, six months in, they totally say, we're totally shutting down?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: That's a big loss.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That means they had to return that money quick. Maybe I, I would assume this pandemic made it tight. And made the investors like, hey, can you give us that money back since you ain't doing nothing with it?
Casey G. Smith: Let me hold some.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, let me get that back.
Casey G. Smith: Let me fall out 500.
Reginald Titus Jr.: We're going to have to shut it down.
Casey G. Smith: And don't give it to me sideways, hand it to me vertically. Thank you.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yes, thank you.
Casey G. Smith: Oh man. Well, do what you got to do. Turn it vertical and put it in the ATM. Okay. Deposit that cash back.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That's kind of messed up when your board is like, hey, we need, we need to return all this money. There's not much you can do about that.
Casey G. Smith: No. It's not a good feeling.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Please return it. What? It's only been six months. Let's talk about this. Let's be reasonable. Man. So what have you been watching, Reginald?

Recent Viewings: Bad Hair, One-Punch Man, and More
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, the only thing that I watched this past Friday, um, on Hulu.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's not personal Hulu.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Nothing personal. Uh, on Hulu. Uh, Justin Simien's *Bad Hair*.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So Justin Simien. Have you heard of this film?
Casey G. Smith: I have not.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, really? Okay. So, um, I think, I need to read the synopsis. I need to find the synopsis because I need to do it justice.
Casey G. Smith: Oh, oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So like *Bad Hair*, like he was actually developing this, uh, around the time when we were, uh, finishing up our film actually, around the same time. He had like, he actually liked a few of our things that we were doing on our Instagram.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: But, um, in 1989, an ambitious young woman gets a weave in order to succeed in the image possessed, image obsessed world of music television. However, her flourishing career may come at a great cost when she realizes that her new hair may have a mind of its own. *Bad Hair*. I like the aesthetic, the aesthetics of the late '80s, early '90s. I think a lot of people will dig that, especially like when Video Soul and all that stuff was like real popular.
Casey G. Smith: Donnie Simpson.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yes. So like, kind of like those vibes, the New Jack Swing, all that stuff that was kind of popular at the time. Uh, I think a lot of people would dig that.
Casey G. Smith: Is this a short film?
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's a full film on Hulu.
Casey G. Smith: Is it like a horror film?
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's a horror film.
Casey G. Smith: Is it take place in a, in a salon?
Reginald Titus Jr.: A portion of it. That's where she gets her hair weave put in.
Casey G. Smith: Maybe I've seen this.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It, it just hit Friday. It just recently.
Casey G. Smith: Maybe I haven't seen this.
Reginald Titus Jr.: You haven't.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I saw some kind of film.
Casey G. Smith: You probably saw the trailer.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I saw a film where like people were like the, the hair, whatever they were doing, it was all, all black folk. But like it was like people were kind of becoming possessed by the hair that they were wearing and they were like some people were holed up in a shop and people were almost like they were being almost zombified by their hair, hair-dos.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Almost. Kind of in the same, in that same vein. And there were some, uh, I think Justin Simien was saying that there was a foreign film where it was a wig that was taking over and kind of like possessing the person that had the wig on. And so that kind of sparked it. But I would give it a seven, seven, 6.5, 6.5, 7 out of 10. Okay.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's okay. It's not a must-see, but it's definitely interesting and I think some people will dig it. But, uh, *Bad Hair* on Hulu.
Casey G. Smith: *Bad Hair* on Hulu by Jazz, Justin Simien.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Justin Simien. He's the director of *Dear White People*.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Casey G. Smith: The movie, not the show.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, he did the movie and then did it also did the show as well.
Casey G. Smith: The movie and the show. Okay, okay. Work your brand.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Work it.
Casey G. Smith: Uh, so again, I mentioned before, I watched *One-Punch Man* Season 2. It was nice to jump back in.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, really? So did it just drop, or?
Casey G. Smith: No, it's been out like years now. Really? Just took, yeah. I was, yeah. I was just, yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Really?
Reginald Titus Jr.: So I had read on it. All right, go ahead, tell me what your thoughts.
Casey G. Smith: Um, so I love Season 1. Uh, I thought it was just awesome. I love the just the take on superheroes. It's kind of, you know, it's, uh, it's kind of examining and breaking down. Like some franchises like to do, they like to examine what it means to be a hero and all of that. Uh, and there's a definite degree of ridiculousness, uh, to, to the, the, the main, the title character. Yeah. Uh, he's hilarious. He's funny because he's so Saitama. Uh, Saitama, maybe Saitama. It is Saitama. Um, and actually when I watched the first season, I watched that subtitled on Netflix. I watched it with subtitles. All good. I had time. And so we did, we did it that way. Yes. This go around when it was, um, uh, for season 2, yeah, it was dubbed. It was on Adult Swim, it was just dubbed. That was just what it was. And so we rocked it that way. Yeah. But it still worked. It was, it was still felt like comfortable with the characters and like even the, you know, their voices, I mean, obviously they were different, but it'd been so long. It was like, ah, oh, it's fine. But no, I, I dug, I dug Season 2 as well. Just some of the characters that they, that they brought in, um, and again, how they have to always kind of balance how they use, uh, Saitama very sparingly because he's so powerful. Right. Um, and just the, the, the, the smaller stories that are kind of developing, right, with the main, the, I guess technically the main bad, the, the human who sees himself, fancies himself a monster, and just kind of where his limits are at, and, uh, yeah, it's I dug it. Now, I'm trying to think there's, yeah, okay, the character King. I thought was super fascinating.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Was that the robot?
Casey G. Smith: Uh, no. Um, he's sidekick, that's not his sidekick, is it?
Reginald Titus Jr.: The robot is his sidekick. Yeah, his, his, his, it's his disciple. Uh, but King, King was the guy who was billed as the number one hero. Okay. And yet, you find out, hey, I'm not going to, I'll try to avoid spoilers.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Don't give it away.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, you find out, you know, maybe things aren't quite what they seem. Okay. Uh, but that, I thought that was very fascinating how they played that up. And just the dynamic, you know, the different dynamics that develop. And like you basically see, uh, Saitama's, um, circle kind of growing. Uh, as far as like, you know, potential additional support characters. And just seeing that community develop was, was, was cool. And then what I find thematically, that's kind of repeating, I see this in *My Hero Academia*. There seems to always be some kind of tournament, um, that takes place. And I know tournaments are like kind of big in, in my experience with Japanese culture and different forms of entertainment. Yeah. Whether it's a video game, whether, you know, some of these shows, like the tournaments are like a big deal. Um, round robin tournaments, like just, you know, tournaments. Again, so, uh, it was it was fascinating to see that I guess especially coming off *My Hero Academia*. Uh, there's a tournament during the second season of that show. Uh, actually, you know, even the first season, there's the competition that kind of takes place, which is great because it gives a chance for different characters to show off what they can do, just for, you know, giving reason, hey, this, hey, it's a tournament. You got to fight, you got to do your thing. That's true. So that was cool to see. Uh, so yeah, , it I, I found it entertaining, entertaining. I, I enjoyed it, and yeah, I'm, I'm looking forward to Season 3. Whenever that drops, you know.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Right, because that took a lot, it took a while for season 2 to come out. And I was reading up on it because I was like, man, I was really into the *One-Punch Man* when it dropped.
Casey G. Smith: It was a couple years ago. Yeah. I remember, I remember also, I was like, man, when Season 2 dropping? And then when they finally announced it, I was like, oh, it's going to Hulu. Yeah. And then and the biggest thing was that the same, uh, animation studio that did part one wasn't part of it. And there is a big difference in style.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Quality.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, because the same studios wasn't doing it. And this was like a, the part, the first season is, you know, a famous studio that, you know, takes their time, does what they do. But for whatever reasons, they weren't doing Season 2. And I was kind of disappointed in that, especially when I saw like some clips for Season 2, I was like, hmm.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So you haven't seen Season 2.
Casey G. Smith: I haven't seen it. Watch it. Check it out.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I should check it out.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah. Check it out. It's, and again, it'd been so long since I've watched Season 1. Yeah. And it may be like five years, you know, ago when I saw Season 1. I don't remember it's, it's been a long time. Uh, I didn't realize it, but it's, it's been a while. Let's say maybe like four years ago when I saw Season 1 on, on Netflix. But, you know, I, I, yeah, I, I enjoyed it. I, I enjoyed Season 2. Okay. I enjoyed Season 2.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay. Good. Good. Good. That's good to hear because I was like kind of discouraged by that. I was like, hmm.
Casey G. Smith: No, check out Season 2 for your, for your, Season 2 for yourself and, yeah, I, I, yeah, I'd recommend checking it out.
Reginald Titus Jr.: All right. All right. Word on the streets.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, and then I also checked out David Letterman's *My Next Guest is...* or *My Next Guest*. Mhm. On Netflix. Um, when that drop?
Casey G. Smith: Like Friday. I think it was, yeah, Friday or Saturday. I think like it just dropped. Cause I know I've seen, I've seen trailers for it that he was interviewing Dave Chappelle.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Right.
Casey G. Smith: I was like, yes, I want to see this.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Anything Dave Chappelle is like, hey.
Casey G. Smith: For real. And especially with, with somebody like, uh, David Letterman. I, I, I enjoy his, his interviews because he's, you know, he's also going to talk about himself as well, kind of interjects. Um, he's just, he's, he's so sharp. I, I, yeah, he's sharp, sharp guy. So, uh, I, I tuned in to watch that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Dave Chappelle. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Right, I'm, I'm thinking, all right, Dave Chappelle. But the first episode was actually Kim Kardashian.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Gotcha.
Casey G. Smith: I was like, okay, let's do it. Do you have to wait, or is, or are the guests already on there? Or do you have to wait for the next one to drop? How have they got it set up? Uh, there, there are already, already on there. Yeah, yeah, they're already on there because this, uh, after Kim, then they've got, um, RDJ, Robert Downey Jr., and then they've got Dave Chappelle, and then they've got Lizzo. Is that her name? Like Lizzo, right?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, Lizzo. And I don't know if there's anybody else beyond that, because once I got to Lizzo, I, I, I didn't watch it all consecutively back-to-back-to-back. I just, I kind of broke it up.
Reginald Titus Jr.: You benched it.
Casey G. Smith: I broke it up, you know what I'm saying? I, I think I did one on Friday, I did, and I think I did, I think I made it two today. Or not today, but yesterday. Anywho. But Kim Kardashian, man, I have a newfound respect for Kim Kardashian. I'd already respected how she was using the photography and the paparazzi game.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: To make money, like notifying where she was going to be. I'm like, that's smart. And then her, her business savvy with her mobile app, like she made a bunch of money off this like, I'm like, what?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yep. I remember.
Casey G. Smith: What? So you know. But, you know, Letterman asked some great questions and, you know, she, you know, talking about of course, the show, right? And what that, what that meant, how that built them up and then it always, you know, comes back to that. Like what that meant for them, uh, talked about OJ, you know, and like the relationship there, uh, with the family and the split between like her, her dad, and her mom, and kind of their different feelings on it, because her mom was real close with with Nicole. Um, sorry, just yeah, multiple topics talked about. Man, she talked about, uh, in, in Paris, like one of the fashion weekends, like getting robbed.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I remember that.
Casey G. Smith: Uh, I had no idea. I didn't, I knew nothing about that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That was, that was pop culture. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: I knew nothing about that. And her sharing the experience, talking about, I was like, wow. And then of course, the stuff she's doing now, uh, legally, like she's, you know, working towards becoming like a lawyer, but through a, like it's a, it's a different kind of program where you're not in law school, but you are, you're still studying, she's still studying like crazy, and, uh, and she's
Reginald Titus Jr.: For helping people, man, getting people out of jail. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, and that's like her, like she feels like her passion, her calling. It was, it was really, really well done. And she's, uh, she's fierce, man. She's fierce in a, in a, in a, in a, in a, in a way that I, I hadn't seen before. And yeah, and her family, they're all in the audience, you know, her sisters, and, you know, and Kanye. And it was, yeah, I was, I was very impressed with it. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I know I'll talk about that. Sometimes I think that sometimes our content, you know, the words go on for a little too long and you don't really know when the segments are going to be ending. And then, but this from a SEO standpoint, uh, with this here, the current AIs and the search bots like there's new capabilities like I can see you thinking that way. But this podcast is being indexed in 2026. This has to be for the new age for 2026. Oh we're still gonna do that. Don't worry. Okay, no, no, no. There's so much there's so much new technology coming out that if you guys don't update your content, you guys are gonna be left in the dust. You should know. This is your industry. I'm helping you to create an HTML formatted complete transcript of the podcast episode "FMC 098: Scream 2 Directed by Wes Craven". The transcript will be faithful to the audio, lightly cleaned of filler words, and broken into 4-6 logical sections with descriptive `` headings. Speaker labels will use the exact names "Reginald Titus Jr." and "Casey G. Smith" in the format `[Speaker Name]: [dialogue]`. No markdown or preamble, only clean HTML output.

News and Movies Watched: Industry Shifts and Quibi's Demise
Casey G. Smith: So in the news, according to Screen Daily, Italy closes cinemas again as COVID-19 cases spike. Uh, cinemas in Italy have been shuttered for a second time in a bid to curb a second spike in coronavirus cases and avoid a full lockdown. Italian Prime Minister, uh, Giuseppe Conte announced on Sunday that cinemas, theaters, discos and gaming halls must close their doors from today, October 26, following a new daily record of 19,644 coronavirus infections in the country.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Wow.
Casey G. Smith: Conte stopped short of imposing a nationwide lockdown by, excuse me, but stated that bars and rest service from 6 PM.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Interesting.
Casey G. Smith: So yeah, Italy, uh, China fight pass another, uh, influx of, of, of cases and theaters once again, you know, having to take the hit in the brunt, I mean, other businesses as well, of course. But obviously, you know, we're talking films here.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Mhm.
Casey G. Smith: And yeah, these affects, man, worldwide, just as we hear about one area like New York, you know, opening up some theaters, you know, you get another spot kind of taking the, taking the hit.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That, yeah.
Casey G. Smith: And places don't making decisions. Um, I saw an article, I didn't dive into it, but just the headline of it that, uh, the the new Bond film, they had potential offers from both Netflix and Apple, uh, TV and they, uh, they, they shunted them both, turned them, turned the offers away. They want to, uh, either they wanted I guess maybe too much or they just really want to, you know, trying to get some of that theater money.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So they're just holding out. But they didn't say how, they didn't disclose how much they were offering.
Casey G. Smith: I want, I thought I saw like a, all right, so according to Slash Films, they did have conversations with Netflix and Apple. Says Reuters reports that the executive at executive at MGM had considered the possibility of selling *No Time to Die* to a streaming service for distribution with platforms like Apple and Netflix, throwing their hats in the ring. According to multiple insiders at the rival studios and companies, MGM put the sale to cursory discussion in late September, right before, uh, the push for *No Time to Die* to go to 2021, seeking a payout of roughly 600 million for distribution rights.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Ooh.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, oh, so that's what they were seeking? They were seeking 600?
Casey G. Smith: Mhm.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Who the heck's going to pay for that?
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, it said The Variety notes that the $600 million price tag was considered too big even by loaded stream streamers like Apple and Netflix, who still have to navigate the tricky distribution rights.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Forget that.
Casey G. Smith: Mhm.
Reginald Titus Jr.: We'll just make our own for 5 million.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: 009.
Casey G. Smith: The film had several promotional partners lined up with Land Rover, Omega Watches and Heineken to help deal with the $250 million budget, which Apple and Netflix would have to strike some kind of deal. So yeah, yeah, that's how much they were asking for and just didn't, uh, did not go down.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Like, sorry guys. Good luck in the theater.
Casey G. Smith: Mhm. Holy crap.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, then they, they, yeah, it's, it's, it's, uh, not, not easy, not, not easy decisions to, to make.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Tentpoles. Stop it. Killing the game.
Reginald Titus Jr.: But yeah, this podcast is being indexed in 2026. This has to be for the new age for 2026. Oh we're still gonna do that. Don't worry.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, I just want to mention sometimes we get to talking about the movie and the segments go on for a little too long and you don't really know when the segments are going to be ending. But from a SEO standpoint, uh, with this here, the current AIs and the search bots, like, there's new capabilities.
Reginald Titus Jr.: No, no, no. There's so much, there's so much new technology coming out that if you guys don't update your content, you guys are gonna be left in the dust. You should know. This is your industry. I'm helping you.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, so Quibi, and this is based on, I, I don't know which source exactly, but we, we had a conversation. Uh, articles come through last week, but Quibi is taking an official break, um, from, well, I guess existence if you will.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So what are your thoughts on that? I was trying to see if I could find the, the original link that you had sent through. Oh wait, here we go. From CNN, you'd had. Yeah, so according to CNN Business, short-form video app Quibi is shutting down after just six months.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: We started with the idea to create the next generation of storytelling because of you. We were able to create and deliver the best version of what we imagined Quibi to be. Co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman wrote in an open letter. So it is with an incredibly heavy heart that today we are announcing that we are winding down the business and looking to sell its content and technology assets.
Casey G. Smith: The company, which struggled after launching during the pandemic, has exhausted all options, the letter says. Following an assessment of other strategic options, Quibi's board decided to shutter the company and return the remaining cash to investors, and it plans to seek, plans to seek one or more buyers for its, buyers for its assets.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Interesting.
Casey G. Smith: So no, there, I thought they were just, you know, taking a pause.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Shutting it down.
Casey G. Smith: They are liquidating. Everything must go.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. Waste too much money.
Casey G. Smith: That's a, that's a, that's a shame. Um, obviously, you know, you don't want a business to, to fail, but what are your thoughts on that, Reginald?
Reginald Titus Jr.: A billion dollars. Um, they raised a billion bucks for something where you're just watching it on your, on your small device, you know, your phone, iPad, whatever, seven minutes, eight minutes, something like that. It's basically like what Vine was, you know, back in the day, and it shut down too. What do I think? It's, when, when they were promoting it, I didn't understand. You know, I was like, from my standpoint, I was just like, this is kind of, I don't get it, and nothing, nothing about it moved me to, to, to go check out the platform.
Casey G. Smith: Sure.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, short form content, I felt like was already being handled pretty well for free through Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, you know, TikTok is crushing it. So, I was wondering what, who was going to pay for something they're already kind of getting, you know, for short form content? I know I wasn't. You know, I'd probably do a free trial, but I probably wouldn't pay for it.
Casey G. Smith: I think that's where they, I think that's where they messed up, um, from a marketing standpoint, because of those, those options existing, and because of introducing something new to the market, again, price is one of those things where at times, you don't know what a market is willing to pay.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Excuse me.
Casey G. Smith: Um, until you put it out there. But it's also about educating. Uh, and when it comes to something that's like, socially kind of oriented, uh, you have to get people excited, which I don't know if they, they did the best about that, because like yourself, I was like, uh, you know, I kept hearing about it, but I didn't, you know, fully, fully know. I was like, oh, it seems interesting. But it wasn't excited about it. But I was curious. But you excite, you educate, then you, you give them an experience, and then you try to engage. So I think what they should have done was to do a trial, to get people an experience, allow them to experience it. Because I mean, I think there's some cool things you could have done and whatever, but yeah, let people do a trial to experience it, and then go from there. But they were, their whole thing was like, okay, you know, you pay X amount, which wasn't like a crazy amount, and then you get it for three months. So I did that, you know, I put in whatever, it wasn't, again, it wasn't much, it wasn't, I don't think any more than $10 or something like that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Mhm.
Casey G. Smith: For three months. I literally, you know, opened the app maybe twice. And I just, I don't know, it didn't, it didn't, the content that was there, it didn't catch, I was like, there's nothing here that I want to come back to. So even there, it was kind of lacking. And like you said, I mean, I, I had a longer run of looking at content on Snapchat, you know. They, they, Snapchat had some cool, I mean, I guess maybe has, I haven't gone to them in a while either, but I used to enjoy watching like ESPN News on Snapchat, because you also had different hosts. It wasn't the same that were on, you know, the, the, the main, you know, the main channels, if you will. These were like different hosts, which was cool too. I was like, okay, so this it is a different experience. So, you know, more of something like, like that potentially, ah, I don't know. But, uh, I'm glad they made the attempt. And even if it was a failing attempt, I think, I think there was a way to do it. I think there was an interest for it. And just because people are getting something at no cost, doesn't mean there isn't a willingness to, to pay for it if it's done well enough, right? There's got to be that, that hook. And I don't know that certain celebrities doing certain things, say, hey, this is something exclusive you can get only on Quibi.
Reginald Titus Jr.: They did, they had a documentary, um, the Clippers, the, the whole kind of like when the, the NBA team, the Clippers, when they were protesting back when the, uh, uh, the owner had said some disparaging remarks, and, uh, they stood up against that, you know, that was a documentary, it was only available on Quibi. Um, there was a Kevin Hart thing, that movie that he did with what's that guy from, uh, John Travolta. Uh, that was only on there, but neither was strong enough to get me just to go out of my way and download the app.
Casey G. Smith: I didn't even know about those things. So they, so they weren't really like hitting, you know, I'm like, you you have to, I don't know. You got to have something, some special.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So, some special, special stuff.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So I did, I downloaded it, not, I downloaded it, maybe literally like two days before I found out about Quibi shutting down. So I downloaded it, and the reason I did is because there's a documentary by Vice on American Apparel. Um, I know about American Apparel. They had like some of the best, they're just known for their advertising and how gritty and raw it was, especially in sexual, young, sexual things.
Casey G. Smith: Like the Abercrombie and Fitch stuff back in the day and some of their catalogs and some of the controversy that they had.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And if they did, uh, they probably took it from American Apparel. But American Apparel did it, and then everybody kind of copied the style.
Casey G. Smith: When were they doing that? Like what time period?
Reginald Titus Jr.: I would say '95, nine, yeah, probably like mid to late '90s.
Casey G. Smith: Okay.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, I'm familiar with the character because on, uh, podcast called, what is, called The Business, they actually, because I mean, the CEO, he's a crazy, wild, just weird, over the top kind of character. Cussing people out, da, da, da, da. And, but was still charismatic at the same time.
Casey G. Smith: Sure.
Reginald Titus Jr.: But, um, you know, he got into some trouble with like sexual, you know, some sexual things at the job, you know, having inappropriate, you know, relations with, you know, people. He's the kind of like person that would literally come to a meeting butt naked. In that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: You like, and the, and the reason they can get away with so much because this is the '90s, you know, nobody's like documenting all this stuff. And, but there are videos of him just being around the office like naked or showing up at parties. So like, so he's just like this weird, eccentric character. So on Vice, this is their first time actually being in a, him being in in the docu on camera, this is his first time doing that. And it was, it's real polarizing. So I was like, it was only available, I thought it was on Vice, but it was only available on Quibi. I said, I got to check it out because I've already did my research. I know about American Apparel. They're still in business. Um, because they were
Casey G. Smith: Are they under new management?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Is this guy still with them? It's, uh, it's, it depends on like what perspective you want to look at the story, you know what I mean? Because when I listened to the podcast, it's from the standpoint of kind of like some of the victims and the people that were like kind of traumatized by this guy. If you, this documentary is giving him kind of like more of a fair shake as far as how they want to look at it. So it just kind of depends on how you want to to, but he, you know, he's still, you know, trudging along. Uh, but I've only watched three episodes. So I was only, I only watched three episodes on Quibi.
Casey G. Smith: It's a docu-series.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, and, um, yeah, docu-series. And the experience sucks. Like it looks good from a like a platform of Quibi. The experience sucks because this is a, it feels like I almost, I'm like, hey, this is get to the next thing, you know, why is everything got to be split up? There's commercials, and there's also.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Like the experience sucks. Like you're waiting for the next episode. Kind of like in like if you're watching like The Boys on Amazon Prime, you're just like, hey, let's get to it, you know what I mean?
Casey G. Smith: So wait, so even though you're, you're paying?
Reginald Titus Jr.: It was like a free, free trial.
Casey G. Smith: Oh, so you're getting commercials because you're not paying for it?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Possibly, I don't know. But I'm just saying the experience sucks.
Casey G. Smith: But, but but again, that's...
Reginald Titus Jr.: I don't know if but I don't know if this...
Casey G. Smith: There's a paid version, but I don't know if the paid version means that you're not going to get commercials. I don't know. Because Hulu did that. You know, you could pay for a version, you still get, you still get ads. So, but that experience sucks because it's like, it's all split up. So it's like, I don't know. I don't know if that, if they created the content knowing that it was going to be on Quibi, and so they split it up, or if they intended it on it being like a movie, and and they wanted to play all at once. That I don't know. But I know like the experience, it's not a good user experience.
Casey G. Smith: Huh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Because most stuff that you're seeing is, it's, it's almost like it's, the formatting is, the people had in mind like this is going to be 30 minutes, or this is going to be an hour, or an hour and a half. But it's forced to be on Quibi's 10 minute, or whatever the cutoff is for their platform.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, you do have to like pay for the, the ad-free version, $7.99.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Was.
Casey G. Smith: Was.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Was.
Casey G. Smith: Was $7.99.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay. All right. So yeah, so that's kind of similar model. So you could watch it for, without ads.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Without ads. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: You watch it for free with ads or, or pay to watch it without ads.
Reginald Titus Jr.: And it's, and it's still split up, like it's like, okay, why is it split up? Is this because?
Casey G. Smith: And it's super short, right? Because the content is so short.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, they're forcing it to be on this in this weird format, where it's like, this would normally just pay 30 minutes or 45 minutes, but because it's on Quibi, it has to be 10 minutes. But no.
Casey G. Smith: Right, you get 10 minutes in, and then you got to, all right, next, next one. Will it play automatically?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, it'll play automatically.
Casey G. Smith: Okay, but then you add in commercials, that that's a crappy experience.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's pretty bad. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: So that, so, so then you got the, that's, that's the, I guess conundrum then, right? Like, if you're trying to, uh, but that's not a new thing, because if you, again, if you were doing Hulu, hell, well, my cable service, when I, when I, one of the things that I watched was *One-Punch Man*, uh, Season 2 of *One-Punch Man*. And I got to admit, there's not that many commercials. But the, you know, I pay for the cable service and in the on-demand service, but yet I still have to deal with commercials with the cable service. Um, it says sponsored because there's so many channels. I right, I get it. But.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, but, uh, so like with the cable, you get the on-demand through that, through, uh, what were you saying?
Casey G. Smith: Spectrum. What was the, the channel that you were watching?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, Adult Swim.
Casey G. Smith: So you have to go to Adult Swim to watch.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Right. Selective Adult Swim.
Casey G. Smith: Because my experience with it was through, you know, one of the other platforms. I don't know if it was.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I think it was.
Casey G. Smith: Hulu. I think it's, I think it's just on Hulu. Because season 1 of *One-Punch Man* is on Netflix and maybe on Hulu also, but just season, Netflix only has season 1. So when season 2 dropped, I was expecting it to come on Netflix, but it's like, no, it was on Hulu. I was like, ah, well.
Reginald Titus Jr.: What are we doing here?
Casey G. Smith: I don't, I don't, I don't need Hulu. You know, I was like, I like *One-Punch Man*, I like it, but I, I'm not going to.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That ain't much. That ain't much.
Casey G. Smith: I'm not going to get Hulu also. I got other stuff. Uh, sorry Hulu. But I, I saw it on, on Spectrum Prime. I'm like, yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So you just have to deal with the commercials as if it was playing on TV normally.
Casey G. Smith: Well, yeah, like they have like strategic spots where the commercial, it's like maybe like 15 minutes in, and then you get like, like boom, like five commercials that are play. I'm like, all right, and then maybe at, maybe then another, I guess maybe every 10 minutes. I guess technically, it's only, you know, 25 minute episodes. So two sets of commercials that run, you know, maybe let's say like, let's say four to five minutes each.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah. I, I think I watched it like on an anime because I, like I watched it, that was a while ago when I watched *One-Punch Man*. But it was like on an animation platform. Like all I had was anime on there. I just can't remember, but it's not, it's no longer in existence, but.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Yes.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I know it was like Crunchyroll, there is, um, I watched *My Hero Academia* through, um, Funimation's app, which is very nice. Man, there's a lot of content on there. Holy crap, man, there's so much. And the price is like fair. I still need to, I'm like, I'm on season 4, I think, of *My Hero*. I need to, I need to go back, because I, I like to watch, I like to watch the where it's dubbed. I don't have time to sit and watch subtitles. If I, if I, yeah, if I had time, I potentially would listen to the original, you know, the original voice actors, but I'm like, no, I, I don't have time for that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Ain't got time for that.
Casey G. Smith: I ain't got time for that. But you know what? That's, that's not, that's the one thing.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I need to sub.
Casey G. Smith: I need a dub. I need, I need a dub. And I got to go.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Just learn the language.
Casey G. Smith: I tried. I had, I had a, I have a Japanese app. Very, very fascinating, but it's, oh, no. It's not like *o español*, you know, or *inglés*. Japanese is a different beast all together. You know how many letters there are? I mean, anyway, it's a tangent. But yes, Quibi, we say goodnight, sweet prince.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, I, I watch subtitles, so that means I have to be very, I'm very selective when what I watch when it comes to that, because I do watch subtitles.
Casey G. Smith: Well, again, I'm not saying I won't, but when I have an option, if it's done quality. Yeah. If it's quality. Yeah. And with animation, you can kind kind of get away with it even more than a movie. Yeah, but I mean, we're talking about like, we're talking about like a foreign film. No, I'm going to watch it in with subtitles, that's all good. I got no issue with that. But with anime.
Reginald Titus Jr.: *Money Heist*.
Casey G. Smith: Well, if there is a dubbed option. Ah, bring it. Bring the dubbed option. I got things to do here, people. Move it, move it.
Reginald Titus Jr.: All that to say, Quibi's user experience was not that great for me.
Casey G. Smith: Not on the free side. It wasn't great on the paid side, so I mean, what can I, I got, I got, uh, yeah, again, I literally opened it twice, and I was like, there's not enough to like keep me here. Yeah. I literally, like, forgot about it. I was like, oh. I literally just went, I was like, I'm not going to watch this anymore. I got, I got things to do. And I just, I, I literally deleted the app off of my phone. And just canceled, I canceled the, I mean, not even a week in. I was like, yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I expected them to stick around a little bit longer, though, because, and, and figure it out. Uh, because you need that user experience, and you need people, you need that feedback to figure out what you need to do and change. Six months, I don't think is enough time.
Casey G. Smith: Sure.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Uh, but maybe people, the people they, the investors, the billion that they got, that money from, it was like, hey, we need that back pandemic, uh, let me.
Casey G. Smith: You know, that's a, that's a very valid, uh, argument, you know, and thought to have, like, was their window of success and trial and error significantly shortened because of the climate that we're in? Um, with other studios, right, not able to get their content into theaters, taking losses and delays there, and then having a new streaming platform, which you really do need to perform, because it's such a focus now on streaming. And then if it's not performing, you know, that major investment, it's like, ah, that's, that's, yeah, maybe that was seen as just a big, big L, a big loss, but man, six months in, they totally say, we're totally shutting down?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: That's a big loss.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That means they had to return that money quick. Maybe I, I would assume this pandemic made it tight. And made the investors like, hey, can you give us that money back since you ain't doing nothing with it?
Casey G. Smith: Let me hold some.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, let me get that back.
Casey G. Smith: Let me fall out 500.
Reginald Titus Jr.: We're going to have to shut it down.
Casey G. Smith: And don't give it to me sideways, hand it to me vertically. Thank you.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yes, thank you.
Casey G. Smith: Oh man. Well, do what you got to do. Turn it vertical and put it in the ATM. Okay. Deposit that cash back.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That's kind of messed up when your board is like, hey, we need, we need to return all this money. There's not much you can do about that.
Casey G. Smith: No. It's not a good feeling.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Please return it. What? It's only been six months. Let's talk about this. Let's be reasonable. Man. So what have you been watching, Reginald?

Recent Viewings: Bad Hair, One-Punch Man, and More
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, the only thing that I watched this past Friday, um, on Hulu.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's not personal Hulu.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Nothing personal. Uh, on Hulu. Uh, Justin Simien's *Bad Hair*.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So Justin Simien. Have you heard of this film?
Casey G. Smith: I have not.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, really? Okay. So, um, I think, I need to read the synopsis. I need to find the synopsis because I need to do it justice.
Casey G. Smith: Oh, oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So like *Bad Hair*, like he was actually developing this, uh, around the time when we were, uh, finishing up our film actually, around the same time. He had like, he actually liked a few of our things that we were doing on our Instagram.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: But, um, in 1989, an ambitious young woman gets a weave in order to succeed in the image possessed, image obsessed world of music television. However, her flourishing career may come at a great cost when she realizes that her new hair may have a mind of its own. *Bad Hair*. I like the aesthetic, the aesthetics of the late '80s, early '90s. I think a lot of people will dig that, especially like when Video Soul and all that stuff was like real popular.
Casey G. Smith: Donnie Simpson.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yes. So like, kind of like those vibes, the New Jack Swing, all that stuff that was kind of popular at the time. Uh, I think a lot of people would dig that.
Casey G. Smith: Is this a short film?
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's a full film on Hulu.
Casey G. Smith: Is it like a horror film?
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's a horror film.
Casey G. Smith: Is it take place in a, in a salon?
Reginald Titus Jr.: A portion of it. That's where she gets her hair weave put in.
Casey G. Smith: Maybe I've seen this.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It, it just hit Friday. It just recently.
Casey G. Smith: Maybe I haven't seen this.
Reginald Titus Jr.: You haven't.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I saw some kind of film.
Casey G. Smith: You probably saw the trailer.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I saw a film where like people were like the, the hair, whatever they were doing, it was all, all black folk. But like it was like people were kind of becoming possessed by the hair that they were wearing and they were like some people were holed up in a shop and people were almost like they were being almost zombified by their hair, hair-dos.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Almost. Kind of in the same, in that same vein. And there were some, uh, I think Justin Simien was saying that there was a foreign film where it was a wig that was taking over and kind of like possessing the person that had the wig on. And so that kind of sparked it. But I would give it a seven, seven, 6.5, 6.5, 7 out of 10. Okay.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Reginald Titus Jr.: It's okay. It's not a must-see, but it's definitely interesting and I think some people will dig it. But, uh, *Bad Hair* on Hulu.
Casey G. Smith: *Bad Hair* on Hulu by Jazz, Justin Simien.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Justin Simien. He's the director of *Dear White People*.
Casey G. Smith: Oh.
Casey G. Smith: The movie, not the show.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah, he did the movie and then did it also did the show as well.
Casey G. Smith: The movie and the show. Okay, okay. Work your brand.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Work it.
Casey G. Smith: Uh, so again, I mentioned before, I watched *One-Punch Man* Season 2. It was nice to jump back in.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Oh, really? So did it just drop, or?
Casey G. Smith: No, it's been out like years now. Really? Just took, yeah. I was, yeah. I was just, yeah.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Really?
Reginald Titus Jr.: So I had read on it. All right, go ahead, tell me what your thoughts.
Casey G. Smith: Um, so I love Season 1. Uh, I thought it was just awesome. I love the just the take on superheroes. It's kind of, you know, it's, uh, it's kind of examining and breaking down. Like some franchises like to do, they like to examine what it means to be a hero and all of that. Uh, and there's a definite degree of ridiculousness, uh, to, to the, the, the main, the title character. Yeah. Uh, he's hilarious. He's funny because he's so Saitama. Uh, Saitama, maybe Saitama. It is Saitama. Um, and actually when I watched the first season, I watched that subtitled on Netflix. I watched it with subtitles. All good. I had time. And so we did, we did it that way. Yes. This go around when it was, um, uh, for season 2, yeah, it was dubbed. It was on Adult Swim, it was just dubbed. That was just what it was. And so we rocked it that way. Yeah. But it still worked. It was, it was still felt like comfortable with the characters and like even the, you know, their voices, I mean, obviously they were different, but it'd been so long. It was like, ah, oh, it's fine. But no, I, I dug, I dug Season 2 as well. Just some of the characters that they, that they brought in, um, and again, how they have to always kind of balance how they use, uh, Saitama very sparingly because he's so powerful. Right. Um, and just the, the, the, the smaller stories that are kind of developing, right, with the main, the, I guess technically the main bad, the, the human who sees himself, fancies himself a monster, and just kind of where his limits are at, and, uh, yeah, it's I dug it. Now, I'm trying to think there's, yeah, okay, the character King. I thought was super fascinating.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Was that the robot?
Casey G. Smith: Uh, no. Um, he's sidekick, that's not his sidekick, is it?
Reginald Titus Jr.: The robot is his sidekick. Yeah, his, his, his, it's his disciple. Uh, but King, King was the guy who was billed as the number one hero. Okay. And yet, you find out, hey, I'm not going to, I'll try to avoid spoilers.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Don't give it away.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, you find out, you know, maybe things aren't quite what they seem. Okay. Uh, but that, I thought that was very fascinating how they played that up. And just the dynamic, you know, the different dynamics that develop. And like you basically see, uh, Saitama's, um, circle kind of growing. Uh, as far as like, you know, potential additional support characters. And just seeing that community develop was, was, was cool. And then what I find thematically, that's kind of repeating, I see this in *My Hero Academia*. There seems to always be some kind of tournament, um, that takes place. And I know tournaments are like kind of big in, in my experience with Japanese culture and different forms of entertainment. Yeah. Whether it's a video game, whether, you know, some of these shows, like the tournaments are like a big deal. Um, round robin tournaments, like just, you know, tournaments. Again, so, uh, it was it was fascinating to see that I guess especially coming off *My Hero Academia*. Uh, there's a tournament during the second season of that show. Uh, actually, you know, even the first season, there's the competition that kind of takes place, which is great because it gives a chance for different characters to show off what they can do, just for, you know, giving reason, hey, this, hey, it's a tournament. You got to fight, you got to do your thing. That's true. So that was cool to see. Uh, so yeah, , it I, I found it entertaining, entertaining. I, I enjoyed it, and yeah, I'm, I'm looking forward to Season 3. Whenever that drops, you know.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Right, because that took a lot, it took a while for season 2 to come out. And I was reading up on it because I was like, man, I was really into the *One-Punch Man* when it dropped.
Casey G. Smith: It was a couple years ago. Yeah. I remember, I remember also, I was like, man, when Season 2 dropping? And then when they finally announced it, I was like, oh, it's going to Hulu. Yeah. And then and the biggest thing was that the same, uh, animation studio that did part one wasn't part of it. And there is a big difference in style.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Quality.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, because the same studios wasn't doing it. And this was like a, the part, the first season is, you know, a famous studio that, you know, takes their time, does what they do. But for whatever reasons, they weren't doing Season 2. And I was kind of disappointed in that, especially when I saw like some clips for Season 2, I was like, hmm.
Reginald Titus Jr.: So you haven't seen Season 2.
Casey G. Smith: I haven't seen it. Watch it. Check it out.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I should check it out.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah. Check it out. It's, and again, it'd been so long since I've watched Season 1. Yeah. And it may be like five years, you know, ago when I saw Season 1. I don't remember it's, it's been a long time. Uh, I didn't realize it, but it's, it's been a while. Let's say maybe like four years ago when I saw Season 1 on, on Netflix. But, you know, I, I, yeah, I, I enjoyed it. I, I enjoyed Season 2. Okay. I enjoyed Season 2.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Okay. Good. Good. Good. That's good to hear because I was like kind of discouraged by that. I was like, hmm.
Casey G. Smith: No, check out Season 2 for your, for your, Season 2 for yourself and, yeah, I, I, yeah, I'd recommend checking it out.
Reginald Titus Jr.: All right. All right. Word on the streets.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Um, and then I also checked out David Letterman's *My Next Guest is...* or *My Next Guest*. Mhm. On Netflix. Um, when that drop?
Casey G. Smith: Like Friday. I think it was, yeah, Friday or Saturday. I think like it just dropped. Cause I know I've seen, I've seen trailers for it that he was interviewing Dave Chappelle.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Right.
Casey G. Smith: I was like, yes, I want to see this.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Anything Dave Chappelle is like, hey.
Casey G. Smith: For real. And especially with, with somebody like, uh, David Letterman. I, I, I enjoy his, his interviews because he's, you know, he's also going to talk about himself as well, kind of interjects. Um, he's just, he's, he's so sharp. I, I, yeah, he's sharp, sharp guy. So, uh, I, I tuned in to watch that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Dave Chappelle. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Right, I'm, I'm thinking, all right, Dave Chappelle. But the first episode was actually Kim Kardashian.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Gotcha.
Casey G. Smith: I was like, okay, let's do it. Do you have to wait, or is, or are the guests already on there? Or do you have to wait for the next one to drop? How have they got it set up? Uh, there, there are already, already on there. Yeah, yeah, they're already on there because this, uh, after Kim, then they've got, um, RDJ, Robert Downey Jr., and then they've got Dave Chappelle, and then they've got Lizzo. Is that her name? Like Lizzo, right?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, Lizzo. And I don't know if there's anybody else beyond that, because once I got to Lizzo, I, I, I didn't watch it all consecutively back-to-back-to-back. I just, I kind of broke it up.
Reginald Titus Jr.: You benched it.
Casey G. Smith: I broke it up, you know what I'm saying? I, I think I did one on Friday, I did, and I think I did, I think I made it two today. Or not today, but yesterday. Anywho. But Kim Kardashian, man, I have a newfound respect for Kim Kardashian. I'd already respected how she was using the photography and the paparazzi game.
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: To make money, like notifying where she was going to be. I'm like, that's smart. And then her, her business savvy with her mobile app, like she made a bunch of money off this like, I'm like, what?
Reginald Titus Jr.: Yep. I remember.
Casey G. Smith: What? So you know. But, you know, Letterman asked some great questions and, you know, she, you know, talking about of course, the show, right? And what that, what that meant, how that built them up and then it always, you know, comes back to that. Like what that meant for them, uh, talked about OJ, you know, and like the relationship there, uh, with the family and the split between like her, her dad, and her mom, and kind of their different feelings on it, because her mom was real close with with Nicole. Um, sorry, just yeah, multiple topics talked about. Man, she talked about, uh, in, in Paris, like one of the fashion weekends, like getting robbed.
Reginald Titus Jr.: I remember that.
Casey G. Smith: Uh, I had no idea. I didn't, I knew nothing about that.
Reginald Titus Jr.: That was, that was pop culture. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: I knew nothing about that. And her sharing the experience, talking about, I was like, wow. And then of course, the stuff she's doing now, uh, legally, like she's, you know, working towards becoming like a lawyer, but through a, like it's a, it's a different kind of program where you're not in law school, but you are, you're still studying, she's still studying like crazy, and, uh, and she's
Reginald Titus Jr.: For helping people, man, getting people out of jail. Yeah.
Casey G. Smith: Yeah, and that's like her, like she feels like her passion, her calling. It was, it was really, really well done. And she's, uh, she's fierce, man. She's fierce in a, in a, in a, in a, in a, in a way that I, I hadn't seen before. And yeah, and her family, they're all in the audience, you know, her sisters, and, you know, and Kanye. And it was, yeah, I was, I was very impressed with it. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I know I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I