Young King was one of the most powerful films to be featured at the 31st Austin Film Festival this year. For it is that rare feature that takes an honest look at the struggles that veterans face returning home, and we had the distinct honor of sitting down with the creative team from this film at the AFF, Writer/Director Bryant T. Griff, Composer Karam Salem, and Producer Selena Leoni, to discuss how this feature came together.
 
John Betancourt: Bryant, what inspired you to write and direct this feature?
 
Bryant T. Griffin:  So, I just a little bit of background on me. I'm from visual effects. So again, I really again, I'm a nerd. I worked at Lucasfilm for about 12 years. So, I worked at Industrial Light and Magic. My first screen credit is Revenge of the Sith. Worked on the Potter films, Transformers, but I've always wanted to direct, and so I knew I had to make that transition. And UCLA was one of the schools that would allow you to make a feature for a thesis. And so, I knew going in I wanted to make a feature, but I didn't know about what. I knew I wanted it to center around African American life, middle class. Nobody is a drug dealer, and nobody is addicted to drugs, middle class, working families. And what happened is that, unfortunately, I have a friend who served in the second Iraq War. Another story that's not really told is African Americans who serve, you know, and serve this country for generations. And so, I wanted to cover that, and unfortunately, he came back from the second Iraq War, suffered from PTSD and was denied his benefits, and ended up something tragic happened, which is in the film. And the more research I started to do, the more I realized I didn't know about PTSD, mental health, because around 2008 is when it was becoming, you know, more mainstream to discuss it. Before the second Iraq war, we didn't really talk about PTSD, think about it. So, so around 2007, 2008 we started to talk about it, started to get soldiers help. And again, I felt that this was important story to tell African American community dealing with mental health issues, which is something that's also frowned upon. And so, it became this story about, you know, again, a slice of life, family of color, middle class, but also deals with important issues.
 
John Betancourt: Selena, as a producer, what inspired you want to get behind this film and get it out?
 
Selena Leoni: So, one of the thing that first attracted me is when Bryant was telling me the story about his friend, and then I'm not from the US originally, then you mentioned something about other than honorable discharge. So, I was like, what is that? So, I'm the type of person that when I don't know something, I'm drawn to story that I don't know anything about. I'm curious about it. And so, what is that, and why does that cause him to lose his benefit, or, like, not being able to get benefit? Yeah, so I was very curious about, like, why, like, there's a system that is supposed to help them, but it's not, just because the way they were discharged and the way they were discharged might be related to something that happened over there, too. And then the other thing that's really important to me is mental health, that it's not really talked about often in a lot of culture, like, where I'm from, like, I don't think anyone is, like, going to therapy. Like, even nowadays, like, when you talk about therapy, I'm like, I'm from Italy and China, both my culture, I feel like people just don't really talk about it, and they treat it as something like, “Oh, you're going to therapy. Is something wrong with you?” instead of, like, everyone kind of needs it, yeah. So that's really that. I think there's that even though it's a very specific story to the African American community in North Carolina, it's also very universal.
 
John Betancourt: Karam, what attracted you to want to be the composer of this.
 
Karam Salem: So, I believe I'm related to the film in so many ways, but I first got to know about it because I met Bryant in Los Angeles when we almost both started our careers, a while, 10 years ago. So, when Bryant wanted to make this film, I was on a very early time to get to know about it and absorb it. But what is even more interesting? So, I'm originally from Iraq. I was born and raised there for the first 18 years of my life, in Baghdad. Okay, so the things you saw on TV was like 15 minutes away from my home, and the event of the story, of the film, happened during the time when I was in my early years in high school. We didn't plan this too, yeah, like this was not planned. It's just the universe wanted us to meet in a way, and here we are today, so to a certain degree at fault, I was telling my own story too, through Diondre’s tragedy and where he came from, and also like what happens afterwards, when they come back? Because I feel like that's a part that no one talks about, you know, that's a part that no one -- it's almost like when the war starts and that's it, it stays there, you know, like there's what happens afterwards? What happens to the to the people who come back? What happens to the people who stayed there, you know? And how does life change? What happens to the people who left, like me and to be part of these kind of projects? So, like, that's kind of how it started. I don't know how to answer it, rather than just the universe wanted us to do. That happens so much.
 
John Betancourt: Now Bryant, this movie holds nothing back in exploring PTSD, and I a various curious how did you assemble such detail regarding that?
 
Bryant T. Griffin: Basically, again when I remember where I was, when I heard the news of what happened in the story, and I had grown up with this individual, went to church with him, and this was something that I knew him before, and when he came back from service, and he was a completely different person. And again, in hearing what happened, I started to research. And what happened is that his family gave me access to his medical records and then later on his court documents. And so, I was able to, there's a whole sequel to this. But again, I focused on what, you know, the personal story, the intimate story that I could tell with the resources that we had. And so, I focused on family, but there's a whole story of what happened afterwards, and I had access to those court documents, and as I mentioned, his medical records. And so, the stuff was there, the information was there, and it just led me down this, this rabbit hole of, wait a second, this stuff is real. And one of the things that happened is that as I completed my first script, the script was a finalist for the Sloan award.
 
And the Sloan award is a science-based award. And as you apply for these awards and fundings, they pair you with a specialist in the field. And so, they actually paired me with someone who studies neurochemistry, and PTSD. And so, when I met with the scientist, he basically said, neurochemistry is a real thing, and your emotions are chemically -- they can be chemically controlled. And what he the way he explained PTSD, is that basically there's something that fires in your brain, and when you're at in a situation that causes fight or flight, causes adrenaline, and it doesn't shut off for soldiers, because they're in these tense situations for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for months at a time. And what happens is that the chemicals are rewiring your brain and so that you have this over stimulated, you know, they're over stimulated, and you have this, this hyper response to normal things. And so when I started to see that there's actual science behind them, like, “Oh, it's not just guys that come back and go to the bottle as a way to kind of cope with things, it's like, there's science behind it.’ And so, that's what, again, every layer I pull peel back, there was more there to dig into. And again, the family being, you know, really open and honest, and trusting me to tell this story and providing me with this information is that's how I was able to get that detail.
 
John Betancourt: So, this is a question for both Bryant and Selena. Because… there is a powerful sense of realism here, almost no fourth wall exists in this film, and I’m curious what motivated the decision to create a film that blurs the line? And as a producer Selena, how you supported that and nurtured it.
 
Bryant T. Griffin: So, this goes back to my geek, inner geek, because you can relate, because we were raised at a time when fantasy was total fantasy, and what's happened through the advent of the technology, we've seen things that we probably didn't think we were gonna see, like an Avengers film, a lot of stuff. We didn't think -- that's why I fell in love with Alex Ross, for example, because his paintings were photo real. And I was like, “Okay, this is the closest we're gonna get to a realistic superhero whether it's Kingdom Come, whether it's like, you know, his X-Men book.” But the thing is, I want to, eventually, in my career, I want to take the fantastical and ground it like, really make it almost like, you think it's like a, you know, the way Gareth Edwards does for monsters, for example, Godzilla. He makes it really grounded. And so, I like that. And at the same time, you know, Chloe Zhao, who did Nomadland?
 
I was really inspired by, you know, bringing in real elements like vérité. Again. There's a garage scene that is almost totally unscripted. There's some of it that is scripted, but there's some of it that's totally unscripted. And for me, that vérité, the grounded nature of it, was super important, I think, and it lends to the authenticity. And the other thing is that, be honest, it was a micro budget film, and I wasn't going to try to create something polished when I knew I didn't have the resources to execute that. So, I embraced the limitations of what we had. It's like we have no budget. I'm not going to try to make it look fancy. You know, this is a raw film. Let's, let's embrace that all the way through. And that's something that I spoke with the cinematographer about, Vito Campaner, who was really on board with it, Karam as well.
 
Selena Leoni: Like, just to chime in, I think it's really important, because part of the film is we are a fly on the wall. So, the way that Vito and Bryant, they decided to shoot it, it's like we are literally with him, because we don't --- literally she, she did all the like, we didn't have like, a camera operator. She was the one holding the camera. I had picture of her, like, holding, like, this giant camera, like handheld. And, like, I remember there was a scene where he was in the bathroom. Vito was literally, like, this close to him. So, like, the camera is literally like him in a way, that's where, like, kind of like, you say, blur the line. But also, there's another line where we don't really, we're… as a film, we're not saying who is right and wrong, we're just telling the story which is kind of real life. There's no, really, like, black and white. Everything is more like gray and blurred together. It's really hard to say, like, who's wrong and who is right? Because it's a lot of things are leading up to this.
 
John Betancourt: So. There is obviously, a big moment in this movie. One that made me audibly gasp and definitely went places that stories like this normally don’t go. But it’s important and I’m curious what went into the decision to take this story into such difficult and powerful territory.
 
Bryant T. Griffin: I'm glad you're discussing that and thank you for being delicate about how you're discussing it. To me, I think that was the entire reason to tell it, because I do think a lot of times, we don't do anyone a service when we sugar coat things, and I think a lot of times we do that, and I think that that may hurt what the film can do, because it's not a feel-good film. It is a film about love, and it's not a feel-good film. But I think that that, to be honest, that was the reason why I wanted to tell the story is that in order to honor the person which this happened to, and it's a cautionary tale, and I think sometimes you do need to shock people to pay attention. And we tried to do it in a tasteful way. We didn't want to exploit it. It's like, “Hey, this is an important issue. We're not trying to exploit it,” which is why it plays out the way it does. You know, it's almost for shock. You know, you could imagine a million different ways to shoot it, to drag out the tension, or whatever. But again, it's to kind of, again, to shock people. And this is a cautionary tale. Again, our conflicts, our wars overseas, don't end when the soldiers get on a plane and come back home. They bring that stuff with us. They're trained to do a certain thing and nothing else, and it's hard to deprogram them. And there are a lot of them. They're in all these communities, and they put themselves on the line. And I think the least we can do is to honor our part of the commitment and take care of them when they get back, because it affects everyone when we don't anything bad.
 
Selena Leoni: Yeah. I mean, I, yeah. I think, like, what Bryant said, like, basically, Sign me up. But like, yeah. Like, I completely agree. Like, when they come back, it's not just them, it's everyone around them that's affected. Like, in this story, it's really sad. But like, even in like, people who might not have done something this dramatic, there's always like, stuff that they bring back that other people in their family can feel, or they might become a different person. That's why we need to take care of them, because we're also taking care of ourselves if we take care of them.
 
John Betancourt: Now this is a movie that has so much messaging and so many ideas and takeaways, which I appreciate so much. But I am curious as to what you hope audiences will take away from this film.
 
Bryant T. Griffin: What's been incredible about the response so far is that people are reminding me of what I actually initially wanted to take away from everything. It's because… I did write it a long time ago, and sometimes you look at these things so many times you forget, like, what you plant, the seeds that you planted early on. So, so a lot of it is to take care of our veterans, but a lot of it is, you know, it is about the love of a family who's trying to get help for their son. The other thing is, is the systemic, the system problems. My whole thing in this is that technically, when you look at it, everyone did what they were supposed to do, and this was the outcome, yeah, is that he signed up to serve his country, something happened to where he was discharged other than honorable. When he's denied benefits at this point in time in history, he's not supposed to get benefits because he's discharged other than honorable. And so technically, people are doing their jobs.
 
They're doing what they're supposed to do, and this was the outcome of that. And so, for me, it's about, let's look at our systems and make sure that let's, let's adjust what we're doing. Let's adjust, you know, these discharges, you know, it's like, just because something is the way it's supposed to be doesn't mean that something is right again, like to me, again, these veterans, they do things that I don't, I wouldn't do, to be completely honest. And I do think that we enjoy the freedoms that we enjoy because they put themselves on the line. And I think the least we can do is give them health care. And so again, my thing is this discharge during the time was pushed on soldiers because they wanted to save money, basically, is what it comes down to, and this is the cost of that choice. And so, let's take a look at our systems that create these situations.
 
Selena Leoni: Yeah, the other thing, it's also like that I was saying that I didn't know anything about this. So, I think I want people to like, embrace the thing that they don't know. Because I think that's the thing. I come from a multicultural background. Karam is also not originally from the US. A lot of time, people make assumption based on what they think. And I think, like, I always say that, like, it's more important to learn if you don't know something, you learn about it, instead of, like, run away from it, which is kind of this film. Like, I think, like, when we played the film, the audience would, like, never heard of it. They didn't know about it, and they learned something for it. That's kind of what I want people to take away as well, like, even if they don't know anything about this before learning about it, and not like, running away from it, because if you run away, it's still there, the issue.
 
Karam Salem: I feel for me, the important part of it that I would like the audience to receive is the true existence of such a thing, that happened once in the film, but also it happened all the time that we don't even know about. It's just for me, because I looked through so many wars, and I'm not, I don't think I'm that all to say, like, I survived three wars, right? But it's just like, you don't know what happens after, when everybody goes home. So, if we can reach that, the ending is not when everybody is home, because that is the beginning of so many other things. And I feel if we could reach that to the audience, that this happens, and it could be very close to us, and it's true, basically more of the awareness of the issue. You know, it's not just like four letters together and that's it. There's so much goes into it. Especially, I think that's especially the second Iraq war, both Iraq wars, really, we don't talk about those things so and then even, even beyond that, for other wars too.
 
John Betancourt: What does it mean to all of you now to have this on screens at this festival and at others and be seen by audiences.
 
Bryant T. Griffin: I'm thrilled. I'm nervous. Uh, my anxiety is through the roof right now. I'm extremely grateful to Austin Film Festival, yourself, and other outlets that are sitting here with us, because it is a labor of love. I believe in the work and the people that we were fortunate enough to have on the project. And so, I’m excited that people will, get to see Vincent (Washington) act and see Tarra Riggs, act and see the cinematography of Vito, and listen to the music of Karam. So, I'm thrilled. I'm eager for the discussions. You know. I'm just hoping people come out, come out, sit and enjoy and let the conversations begin. Yeah, super excited.
 
Karam Salem: I think is, is the experience, just to go through it, you know, for me, was very personal, and also, like, because I was involved in it so early on, there's a lot of things also didn't make it in the film, but probably made it in the score, you know, because it was, I was just like, absorbing all the stories. You know, we talked so much about so many things. You know, yeah, I'm truly grateful for the experience to be part of it, and I'm so excited for Sunday to experience this with people, he hasn't watched it with other people that didn't actually work on the film. So, I'm so excited to see the reactions. I'm probably going to be looking at people more than the movie, that's okay, and I want to sit in the back, in the middle of everybody.
 
Selena Leoni: Yeah, that's literally, like I was going to say when you ask that question, like my favorite thing is to, like, see the reaction, because I've seen it with, I think, like, two, two audiences. One is, like, an early cut, and then, like, when we were at the ABFF Festival, and, yeah, and then, like, the other thing that I just wanted to add on, it's not related to this question, but Karam mentioned that there was something that, there's stuff that didn't make it into the film. And then early on, you asked about, like, the details that you can see through the movie. And then Bryant mentioned, like, all the research that he did, also the script was originally like, different, talks about different stuff as well, even those, those things, I think that's part of the reason why you can feel the detail. Because even though the thing was not included in the movie. The research was there, yeah, so it was shown in the movie. So, I yeah, I was really surprised and shocked to see the reaction that people had. I remember, like, the first time we did the screening after we went up for the Q and A and I was like, taking picture of the audience, and they were like… teah. They were like, covering their face. You know, they were, like, very emotional.
 
John Betancourt: We do need to talk about the score as well, because Karam, it’s beautiful and powerful, and I’m curious how you nailed it so perfectly.
 
Karam Salem: I knew that we have to approach it from a very personal, intimate way. But I also, from the very beginning, I did want it to sound very big and cinematic. So that was the challenge from the very, very beginning. Is like, how can I make things sounds larger than life, like just with one instrument, you know? And then that's where we started, you know. And we kept experimenting, experimenting, and I feel the first theme I wrote was Diondre’s theme, and it happened over a Zoom, like, literally over a Zoom. It was just so random. Because, like, we were just talking, and I was like, Bryant, let me try something. And I played like three, four chords, and then I opened another track, and I played the cello line, and I tried so hard to do better than what I did over Zoom, it just never worked. And we kept going back to that, that sound that we created in that very moment. I don't know what happened? He probably said something, and it triggered something in me, and that what came out. And we stuck in that, and we tried to avoid it, but we always came back to it. And that's, that was the beginning of how it all started. And then we wanted to have, we wanted to have Fatima’s thme, to be also part of Diondre’s theme, so we can play them together. So that was also another challenge, but yet also we want to minimize. So, it was always, I feel like the same thing is like, how, how were you able to choose the plots that you wanted to tell in the stories? It's the same thing that we had to go through musically too, like, what is too much and what is too little? And that fine line was we were always trying to balance and check we check each other. Is it too much? Is it too little? Where are we in that, you know, orchestration wise, you know. And we always settle down on… it's we start bigger, and then we take things away or we start too simple, and we need something more to add, you know. And that's kind of was the entire process.
 
And again, I was so lucky because I was so early on into it. And then Bryant came to my studio for the entire month. We were just there. He came multiple times. He gives me notes and things and feedback. He leaves “I love” in these notes, and then he comes back, and then we --- that's kind of how the process was. So, it was a very intimate, personal experience, and we did want to approach it from Diondre’s, like mental space, like I wanted the music to sound from -- coming from his within his body, rather than outside of him. I think we… I'm proud of it. I think we achieved it. It took some time, but it's okay. Experience. It worked. I know there's a lot that.
 
Also, Bryant doesn't, doesn't, doesn't want to take the credit for it. But on that big thing that we talked that we didn't say, I remember I played him the first time to watch that scene. And I remember Bryant walking. I heard his steps coming. He was like, “Can you mute this? Can you mute that? Can we leave this one? Can we leave that one?” And then he sat back, and then I went back, and we played that scene again. And something happened in that very, very moment that I tell him, you scored that cue. He tells him, you know, I scored this cue, and it goes back, but like his, he always knew what that scene needed, and we wanted to do it for Fatima, for her character, and we wanted to honor her. And I remember when we were dubling the score to everything else, like, and we got to that moment, and I remember like we asked the dub mixer to, like we want the sound to feel like everybody in the theater is being hugged in that moment, to be part of it. And he like…  he did it like magic. So that's the moment. I can't wait to hear.
 
John Betancourt: The last question I have for everyone today, what do you think we need to do in our communities to properly support our veterans when they come home.
 
Bryant T. Griffin: So good question, and it's always an uphill battle. The funny thing is, is that there have been changes that have been occurring within policies. I think as recent as 2018 there's like a new policy to kind of have a look at the other than honorable discharges. But at the same time, the veterans are still having a difficult time, like in my in my mind space, right, as soon as you sign the papers, health care, rest of your life, period. Because I am a universal healthcare kind of guy again, regardless, our veterans should get it. I think you know that that would be the change. The other thing too is, especially within the African American community, to try to remove the stigma attached to mental health issues. As Selena mentioned, like even now, when I talk to some members of my family and say, “Hey, you know, I think I need to talk to the therapist, or I have some family members that regularly go to therapists,” but if I talk about it, you know, you do see the smiles and you see the laughter and you like and it's different depending on where you are, you know, like, yeah, big city center, is this a little bit more acceptable than the other spaces and so again, anything that we can do to kind of help, you know, people to accept that it's okay to talk about trauma and to deal with trauma, and to try to get help for trauma and remove that stigma, I think that's something that I would love people to kind of take away and try to change.
 
Karam Salem: Talk about your feelings, yeah, it's okay, yeah. I think because we come from different cultures, it's not okay, you know, it's like. So that opened that sort of conversation, like, it's okay to share your feelings, to your father, to your mother, to your brother, to your wife, you know, to your children, to your children too. And I think that's what I felt, that's what it is for me, is just to be comfortable to talk about your feelings, you know, because it could lead to things that -- it could save lives too, you know, I know, just like, yeah, that's the basic line.
 
Selena Leoni: Right, yeah, like that. And also like, yeah, I think, like, filmmakers are so, like, especially writers, directors, because they are the person that are sometimes telling their own personal story, not to the therapy, but to the whole war, and I personally cannot do that, but it's important for people who don't want to tell their story to the whole world to know that it's okay to talk to someone about it. So that's, like, really important. And the other thing, like, going back to what I was saying before, to like, I think, to learn about stuff instead of, like, running away. Because sometimes I think everyone does that when they just to a certain degree where there's something difficult, you're afraid to, like, go learn about it, or like, solve it. You just try to hide it and hope it will go away. But that doesn't really happen. So sometimes you really just have to learn it and like challenge it and go through it.
 
Karam Salem: To relate. I feel to relate, because, like, if you're not involved, if you don't come from families who have soldiers and stuff like that, like the idea of relate to this, because we're not far away from it. We always think we're far away from it. And I think because of that, we don't put ourself to understand, you know, because it's not we're far away from it, right? So that's, that's the thing is just to be involved and relate to what is happening and be open to understand and learn.
 
Bryant T. Griffin: Before we go, I just want to say, So, super grateful for Karam and Selena and then also my cinematographer, Vito, because we were gonna shoot before the pandemic. The pandemic happened, and that actually gave us time to go through the script, like almost like a full year. So, we knew we had options upon options, and then also, the work is beautiful. And then also, my lead actor, Vincent Washington. He's actually a veteran. He served in the Afghanistan war. And what he brought to the production in terms of professionalism, and as sure, you see in his performance is just incredible. And of course, the rest of the cast, Tarra Riggs, is just amazing. Kirby (Griffin), who plays Fatima, Vaughn (Wilkinson), as Isaiah. So just again, super grateful, because it really is a labor of love. It's total micro budget. You know, everyone did it for the love. And these guys have hung around like, again, for Karam, it’s almost nine years, but, yeah, everyone's given everything to this. And so, it's a real labor of love.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity

Billie Mintz is a highly accomplished filmmaker that has worked on fiction and nonfiction stories. His most recent project, Making Manson, is available to stream on Peacock now, and we had the distinct honor of sitting down with Billie to discuss this epic and ambitious docuseries.
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John Betancourt: First off, thank you so much for putting this together. This is, this was quite the impressive docuseries, so much to pour over and so much to think upon. But I'm very curious, first and foremost, what it was that got you involved with this story overall?
 
Billie Mintz: Well, that's interesting, because when you say putting it together, it was a lot of people that put this together, especially right now, over at Renowned Films in the UK, who actually put this together. And they, you know, gave me the honor of being able to work with them and their team, and they found, miraculously, found the 20-year archive of never heard before tapes with Charles Manson, a relationship that nobody had privy to. There was, there's no record of a relationship like this with Manson in, you know, the entire comprehensive Manson that exists in the world. So, yeah, I was tasked with the responsibility to work with an amazing team to help tell the story.
 
John Betancourt: You're right. A lot of work went into this. And all involved deserve credit for showcasing a side of the Manson story we don’t really know about. What was it about that, that compelled you to want to get in the director's chair and really tell this tale?
 
Billie Mintz: You know, my interest always is these stories that we've been told that is part of the cultural psyche that really has shaped who we are. I mean, Charles Manson and these terrible murders and what happened to these people has had such an impact on us as a society. It's like, it was like, sort of our first, you know, media trauma, that every time it's told over and over again, we really retraumatize ourselves, the family members of the victims retraumatize ourselves. And so, I think that this idea that maybe that this story that we've been told is not necessarily the true story. I think that's incredibly important for so many reasons. For us to relook at these narratives, the Charles Manson narrative and other narratives that have shaped us and cause suffering that that we relook at, and having 20 years of archive from Manson, of him, talking candidly about this stuff, is a great gateway into this story that we've never had before.
 
John Betancourt: You bring up a good point that I kind of want to expand upon further. With you being now so close to this case and seeing the angles that you've seen. Why do you think maybe outside of the traumatic portion of it, the Manson case just continues to resonate with us so many years later?
 
Billie Mintz: Well, because he's our first cult leader. And you know, like, I'm not saying he's the first cult leader in the world. I'm sure there were many more beforehand, but he really was the, the first one that presented the idea to us where our consciousness became, “Wow, there's cult leaders. There are cults.” And also, you know, it was a time in life with the counterculture and the hippie movement that we're trying to break out and question life. And here came something along that really just sort of, you know, gets the credit for destroying the hippie movement. I mean, we think of Manson. It's like, it’s no longer is about free love. It's about, you know, murder. And so, I think that, like that really had an impact on us, that we have not gotten over.
 
John Betancourt: Now you had all that material, you had all these tapes, you helped put it together. What kind of challenges as a director went into putting something together that was just so large in scope.
 
Billie Mintz: Well, first of all, context is everything, right? I didn't know anything about the Manson story. I somewhat knew about Helter Skelter and the (Vincent) Bugliosi story, the prosecutor who ended up writing a book and selling billions on this story that not only won the convictions, but that created this, our collective understanding. So it was, how do you tell 20 years of a relationship in these tapes? How do you -- what do you choose? But then also, what do you assume people know, even though, even though this story has been told over and over again, you have to, you have to tell people what happened, even though they've heard it before, but some might not have, and you've got the story that takes place not over just two years of time leading up to the murders, but then 50 years after, at least the trial of like, three or four years afterwards.
 
So how do you do all this in in three episodes? And that that was, that was the most challenging, which we just went back and forth in circles. But what, you know, we landed in a really amazing place, because we had such an amazing team. And also, the executives at Peacock were so involved in in the story as well, and helping guide us with what we were allowed to do and what we were not allowed to do, which was also, you know, there's a lot governing there. Because you're dealing with victims of a crime, and also, you're dealing with the words of somebody who is being known as a serial killer, who was convicted as a killer of Aal these people. So, there was a lot to balance, but I think we found the special sauce.
 
John Betancourt: I agree. At no point did it ever feel like it was leaning away or the other. And that actually is a great time to talk about what went into the decision to offer such an objective and impartial look at a case that people really go on one side or the other.
 
Billie Mintz: Well, I think what's missing in our polarized world right now is the is the art of discourse. We've just, we've completely lost that. We have. You know, we're so split as a society and in our ideology, in our bias that we come into things, and we villainize other people for thinking other, the way we are, and we don't really come to any, you know, solutions as a society, which is what we need. We need to innovate as a society. We need to move forward. So, I think like this… Manson is interesting that like Manson becomes -- and also with documentaries too, like we don't do much documentary-ism in documentaries anymore. We're just sort of telling these stories. The press is the same way.
 
So, I think this was a really great experiment where we take posthumously Manson's words, bring them into a room, bring all the people into the room that have been telling the story for so long, and who have been affected by this. Even you know, one of our subjects is the one of the victims, Steven Parent, his brother, Greg Parent, who grew up with this terrible thing that happened to his family, to his brother, this terrible story that he'd been told. And we bring them all into a room to engage, engage with Manson, and engage with this story, and engage with me, because, you know, I'm asking the questions, and I think it just shows that, you know, we do not need to spoon feed people. We are all grown-ups. We're all conscious beings, and it's really important that people will walk away with different understandings. And I think that's what makes a successful story, not telling you this is what the way I want you to think.
 
John Betancourt: What do you hope people do take away from this story?
 
Billie Mintz: I think we just need to keep looking back at our stories that we're telling, the stories that continue to harm us. This is a story that harms us about a cult leader, who brainwashes people and is able to control people's minds and I don't think that does us any service, trying to understand why these people lost their lives. And I think when you stay in some sort of fantastical story, you're not healing. You're not finding closure. And what I would love people to walk away with is some closure around such a terrible part of our history. And I would like the family members, the surviving family members of the people who had lost their loved ones. To watch this and learn a little more that maybe they didn't know about in in this gruesome retelling of the story that's always been told.
 
John Betancourt: I think one of the advantages of where you sit in the director's chair, is that you know, you get to take away some unique perspective for yourself. What surprised you the most about this story as it unfolded and came together?
 
Billie Mintz: You know, the one thing that always comes to my mind is just like… this iconography around Manson. And when we think about Manson, we think about this bearded guy, this bearded cult, hippie cult leader. And, you know, one of the things he said that is just so, sort of like, it seems so trivial, but this man never had a beard, up until the moment we saw him with a beard. Like we think about this guy with a beard who, like, led this cult. And you know, that's our image of Charles Manson, but he never had a beard. He's from, like, the 1950s he's not he was much older, and he was like, in his 30s in the hippie generation. Most hippies were like teenagers and early 20s. And this guy was a guy who never had a beard. And the reason why he had a beard was because they didn't give him a razor when he was in jail. And so, he when he comes out, and we first, we don't have any documentation of Manson before the murders, before he was caught after the murders.
 
And so, our impression of Manson is this, like bearded hippie cult leader. And when you learn that he never had a beard, I think that opens up, you know, it's an epiphany, and it opens up a whole new understanding of not just what actually happened, but what we were told then happened, and how we ourselves are not just -- we're not just necessarily manipulated by Manson but manipulated by the media. And I think, like that's the biggest thing, is the way the media manipulates us. And I think that's where documentary filmmaking has a great responsibility and continues to have, especially with Peacock, because we did the same thing with Selena and Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them, the other documentary that we made, is that us to really try to understand, in all things going on, in all things that have happened, how have we ourselves been manipulated?
 
John Betancourt: You know, that's a really, really good point, because my introduction to Manson was that exact photo that you displayed in the documentary, where it's just the crazy eyes and the hair and everything, and I do appreciate, obviously, they know that you don't humanize him necessarily, but that you do just present a complete picture.
 
Billie Mintz: Yeah, I don't want, I'm not trying to get sympathy for Manson, and I don't think humanizing Manson necessarily leads to sympathy. It's just like it's a better understanding of what happened, who Manson was, and why this happened, that that will serve us so much more than this cartoon, cardboard character that we've created. You know, humanizing is important because, you know, regardless of what people have done or what has happened, like we need to understand the humanity behind it.
 
John Betancourt: I think what I appreciated the most, was the fact that you gave us, you gave us a perspective into his childhood, which I don't think anybody's ever really covered before. I didn't know about it. So that was very educational for me to know that A led to B, led to C, and this is probably the most comprehensive look at the Manson case and Charles Manson period, which is a wonderful thing. What are you hoping the legacy of this is going to be?
 
Billie Mintz: Makes me think of what Tyson just talked about regarding legacy. Did you see that video that's going viral of Tyson talking about legacy?
 
John Betancourt: I did. I know exactly what you’re talking about.
 
Billie Mintz: Now I'm afraid to talk about legacy, because Tyson, you know, he has, he has that way about him. The question is, is what I just think that we will… after we watch this show, I want us to go back and watch other interviews with Manson, other shows with Manson. Watch everything. Watch the comprehensive Manson of the mythological Manson, the collective Manson that we've gone to learn, and now with this sort of further insight, go back and watch, rewatch everything. And I think there'll be more of a discernment into what is the ridiculous, what could be true and what could not be true, and what actually like just watching the interviews Manson gives, these cryptic interviews throughout the ages that like you just think he's talking crazy talk, which he is. But now, knowing what we know now, from watching Making Manson, he was dropping a lot of bombs that went over our heads, definitely went over the interviewers’ heads. And I think that if anything this series could do, is be a sort of a decoder to not just Manson but the Manson story.
 
John Betancourt: The last question I have for you today, what did you ultimately take away from what you learned about Charles Manson?
 
Billie Mintz: You know, I feel I'm being a little repetitive, but that that everybody, I don't, I don't want to use the word deserves, but everybody should have an opportunity for people making any judgment, like anything that says about it, to have their own -- make sure they have all of the information, or at least know that they're missing some of the information before being stuck in their ideology of what is truth, really like, we need to decipher what have we been told and what could be untrue about what we've been told.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

It is definitely safe to say that Julia Duffy is nothing short of an acting legend. For she has graced so many iconic franchises over the years with her incredible skill set, and currently, she’s been dropping by Night Court on NBC to play Jake’s mother, Susan, and it just so happens that we had the distinct honor of sitting down with Julia to discuss her career and her work on the new-boot of Night Court.  
 
John Betancourt: I would love to start by getting to know what got you into acting in the first place.
 
Julia Duffy: Oh, my goodness. Oh, that's a really long time ago. Well, what I recall is sitting just a few inches away from the TV and those days, there weren't so many young people on TV or children as there are now, but very often there would be little girls like in a shampoo commercial. And I would think, “I could do that, if I could just get my hair not to flip up at the end like that.” I could do that as if that was acting. But I was so sure I could do it, and I was so jealous of the little girls’ shampoo commercials. So anyway, half a dozen shampoo commercials later, I was a pretty serious actress, but I did do a lot of commercials when I lived in New York, and a friend of mine, I always forget this little story, lived just a few doors down, and I went to see if she could come out and play one day, and her mother came to the door and her name, the girl's name was Cathy, and she said, “Listen, I've signed Cathy up to take drama lessons downtown, but I don't want her going downtown alone. Do you want to take drama lessons with her?”
 
And I thought, “do I ever” and I had been agitating for dance lessons from my mom, but they were expensive, so suddenly I had to make a choice. So, I am now an out of work dancer today. I'm a working actor because I made that choice, and Cathy dropped out quickly and didn't like it. Her mother wanted her to take them because she was so shy. She was really not shy. If her mother ever played with her like I did, she would have found that out. So, because of the girl who was supposedly shy and forced to take drama lessons, I took drama lessons, which actually led me to my first professional job some years later, in a theater production in a summer stock theater in my hometown of Minneapolis, because the drama teacher was asked if she had somebody who could play a teenager. And I really hadn't been taking that class for a while, but she gave them my name.
 
John Betancourt: I have to ask as a follow up to that. I mean, obviously your career is just amazing, and I would love to know what it is about acting that still just ignites a passion in you.
 
Julia Duffy: Well, it's always the role. It's always the writing that ignites the passion. And then, of course, if you haven't worked for a long time, which at my age, there are gaps, you're just passionate to work again, because it's what you do, regardless of the script. But usually you can kind of find some kind of hook to make you excited about the script, even if it's a bit bland, or the kind of thing you've done a million times before, you know the kind of type that you've done a lot?
 
John Betancourt: Now, moving forward to Night Court, how did you become involved in discussions to join up to Susan?
 
Julia Duffy: Well, all right, so when I did the scene in the cliffhanger as Susan in season two, it was just offered to me. It was like a… I don't know… how many lines did I have? I had like, five lines or something, but it was this bombshell that she drops. She comes in as Jake's mom and drops a bombshell that terrifies both Jake (Ryan Hansen) and Melissa (Rauch). So, I thought, “Well, that will be fun to do a cliffhanger. I mean, probably they'd have me back the next year because of the bombshell that I drop.” So, I did it, and it turned out that Melissa and I bonded like crazy. Immediately. She is an incredible human being, which anybody who's met her would know, and we just really had a lot of in common. And she's a generation younger than me, and she had been watching me as she was growing up, and it was… I don't know it was like it was meant to be, to meet her and to work with her. So of course, they had me back, because of the cliffhanger, and wrote for us the one of the funniest scenes I've ever done in my life. It's so funny, the premise is so incredible, that you c could not know anything about the cliffhanger from season two, basically, and you could watch that scene and still find it very funny.
 
John Betancourt: One thing that I've always loved about Night Court and this particular iteration of it, is everybody feels so real and so fleshed out. There's such depth to all the characters. And I think that's a testament to all of you as actors, and I'm curious how you've created such depth for Susan.
 
Julia Duffy: Well, of course, in the scene that we're talking about, she's completely altered by drugs from having had surgery. So, I guess it's not the real her. You would like to think it's not the real her, and that it's the drugs, but then you think, well, maybe this kind of is the real her, where she has these passionate feelings and Mercurial mood changes that the drugs cause, because when I did the little scene at the end of season two, all you knew about her was that she'd been a bit wild back in the 80s, which is why she doesn't really know who is Jake’s father, and that was a fun thing to know. And I guess I was thinking about that and how that kind of came out in the scene where she's completely altered by drugs.
 
John Betancourt: Now since you mentioned it was a treat to play an amazing scene to begin with. What have you enjoyed the most about being able to work on Night Court and play Susan in such a great playground?
 
Juila Duffy: Well, working with Melissa is absolutely what I've enjoyed the most, because we have such a connection. I mean, that's, you know, you always hope to have a connection. But this one was extraordinary. And I think what I love about it is that the way they write the characters, these characters, they're always very much themselves, and they spout nonsense, but it's so real, and each character is so different, even though they're all so silly in their own way. And so, you get surprises all the time, because their behavior is so driven by their ID and not being a certain way, you know, for each other, they just kind of let it fly all the time. They absolutely crack me up. I mean, Lacretta’s character, she's so funny, and, of course, John Larroquette, but having that mix of people who are so distinct and so wacky in their own way, and yet so real. I feel, I feel like there's no other show like that where you can get this kind of wild comedy that makes perfect sense, because the characters don't make sense.
 
John Betancourt: Now, in looking at that vibrancy you mentioned, what does that kind of chemistry and that kind of comedic chemistry do for you as an actor, and your performance?
 
Julia Duffy: Well, first of all, you're around people who are very comfortable with what they're doing and relaxed about it. They know what they're doing, and it just makes you somehow instantly feel like you're a part of it because they're so welcoming, and they've been doing it for a long time. And I've also done sitcoms, three camera sitcoms, in front of a live audience for a long time. So, there's, there's no period of being awkward. You're just immediately in it, because they're so in it, and they're so relaxed about it. It's really a wonderful feeling. And it's a bit like doing theater, in that you have rehearsal, and everybody is trying to make it work. Everybody is trying to make the piece work. Because it takes everybody to make it work. Which is a wonderful feeling when you're doing theater, and you don't get that so much with a single camera shoot, because people are doing their scenes separately. You've never seen them, and it's always a huge surprise when you see it, when it's done, but sitcoms, three camera sitcoms, where you rehearse all week and you're rewriting, it's a whole other feeling. And I love doing theater, and it has a lot of that same feeling
 
John Betancourt: That leads me right to my next question as well, because something I've heard often in talking to the Night Court cast, is that when there's a live audience in that arena with you, there's something very special, energy wise, that it seems to do for the actor, performance wise, what does having that live audience present do for you?
 
Julia Duffy: I'll tell you what it did for the scene that we're talking about in the premiere episode, was kind of change what we were doing, and up it. Because in between, you know, you do it a few times in front of the audience, and then you think, “Oh, you know, the warmup guy is begging them to laugh the second time,” even though they've heard the jokes. And that part's hard and challenging. And Melissa and I were talking after doing the first take, and we said, “We gotta give this audience more. They're so into it,” and that's why we came up with, well, you'll have to watch and see… something that wasn't quite in the script. And it was, the reaction was overwhelming. It was so funny to begin with. And then there was this feeling amongst everybody, the writers and Melissa and I, that it had to go up a notch. You just felt it in the room. And wow, I haven't had that feeling in a long time.
 
John Betancourt: I have to ask as a follow up to that, was there much more improv to be found in that scene?
 
Julia Duffy: Oh no, it was the script, but the improv was more a physical moment in the script that just, you know, ratcheted it up a notch, because when you have an audience like that, then you want to give them what they're into. You want to give them more of it.
 
John Betancourt:  I'm also curious too, why you think, because this is a show that just continues to endure, people love it. Why do you think Night Court resonates so well with audiences?
 
Julia Duffy: I just don't think they get it anywhere else. There aren't as many sitcoms anymore, but there's such a place for them in your TV watching. You know, you just want a sitcom occasionally or with some regularity. You want that, and you don't get these wild moments of comedy anywhere else. And the audience drives that because it is a live audience, and the structure of it drives it, I would say, because each 30-minute episode is building in some way through the episode. That's how it's written. Yeah, and at Night Court, they really, they've got it down. They've really got it down. They know what the audience likes. You almost can't go too far, because it really works with the people watching it, and it's so gratifying.
 
John Betancourt: The last question that I have for you today is a bit of a two-parter. I'm just curious what it means to be a part of this particular iconic franchise, and just as an actor, be a part of so many iconic franchises, because your name is just so well known.
 
Julia Duffy: Oh, well, I don't… I guess I never really think of them as franchises, because it's, you know, one script at a time that you're working on and trying to make it the best it can be. I mean, I've just been very, very lucky. You know, it's lucky. You have to, for some reason, fit the image that the writers and the producers have when they're casting the role, and in that moment in time, someone else could fit it better. And they're taking a leap of faith. It's not like they really, really know what they're doing when they're casting something they're taking a leap of faith on the future. So, it kind of turns it out to mostly be luck. They make this decision at this time, and it includes you. They don't make the right decisions sometimes, but, you know, sometimes the stars align. That's all. You just have to wait for that, you can't control that.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Spence Moore II and Alex MacNicoll are two talented actors that are consistently popping up on the silver and small screen. Currently, they star as Dr. Jacob Nash and Dr. Van Markus on the hit NBC series, Brilliant Minds, and we had the honor of sitting down with both of them to discuss their work on this phenomenal new series.
 
John Betancourt: I Would like to start by getting to know what attracted you to this project as actors 
 
Spence Moore II: Work! (Laughter) An opportunity to work. Feed my family. 
 
Alex MacNicoll: Yeah, that. And then for me, it was like, I've auditioned for a lot of Michael Grassi’s projects in the past, and just for whatever reason, never, never booked it. So that was something like, “Cool, he's the showrunner. I really admire him.” And then, like, that was very, you know, enticing to be like, “Oh, cool. Like, here's an opportunity to work with Michael.” And fortunately, it worked out. So, very exciting.
 
Spence Moore: Yeah, yeah, for me like, I was definitely attracted to the show and to this role based on the vast lineage of doctors who’ve graced our screens. I mean, you have the Clooneys, you have Denzel Washingtons, and being so inspired by just some of those people, and knowing the… not weight that's on your shoulders, but just knowing who you're coming behind, it's like, it's inspiring, and it makes you want to do like, like, really, really, really good work. But, I mean, it was a no brainer to do this role. I mean, Greg Berlanti, Michael Grassi, Alex MacNicoll, Lee Tolan Krieger, Alex MacNicoll. (Laughter from all) No, but no, seriously, it was, uh, it was an honor to get that call that, uh, that I would be portraying Jacob Nash, and I didn't have to think twice about it.
 
John Betancourt: I’m a big fan of how the characters that you helped to create are so realistic and so enriching. And I'm curious, because I always like to ask actors about the process, how you manage to create such depth and such reality to your characters.
 
Alex MacNicoll: They really, you know, they really created a really great world for us, I think, in a lot of ways. And then, and then, I think we've talked about this before, but I think we all also have a lot of similarities as our characters in real life. So yeah, so that was something that was really, really cool and fun to bring to the table. But obviously the medical background for me, and then for Spence, I mean, we're far from doctors, so a lot of research involved and just imagination.
 
Spence Moore II: We're like, we're like, rented doctors, but we're, we're professionals, because we have all the right guidance around this, but the similarities. I mean, gosh, like, I played football. And, of course, to Alex's point, our writers are incredible. I mean, we have a full team of writers that are awesome. And also, yeah, like, for me, Jacob, I played football. That wasn't like hard to understand, I guess, some of the complexities, or some of the traits or disciplines that comes with football, and how you kind of take everything that you learn for football and incorporate it into everything that you do, like in life. So yeah, for me, I think finding that passion for Jacob and just knowing that that he's coming in as someone who's not a expert in this field, but as someone who is going to have to be humbled and be okay with being humble and learning everything that comes with this, with this new venture. 
 
John Betancourt: I also love how there’s so much depth, and beauty here, and so much to take away from the show. So, I'm very curious what each of you hope audiences take away from an underlying message from season one of the show.
 
Spence Moore II: I would say, like the biggest takeaway that I would love for people to hold on to is just the fact that with the right support system around you, anything is possible, even if things seem helpless, With the right support system around you, anything is possible, and you can persevere, and you can surprise yourself. You surprise yourself at times by just staying resilient and yeah, just, I'm just going to keep on saying that that support system is key, making sure you have the right doctor, making sure you have the right person in your corner to speak on your behalf. And yeah, I think that's essential.
 
Alex MacNicoll: And for me, being more aware of that, not everything that we see or my limited perspective is what it is, or is how it is. Like, you know, life's very complex, and there's a lot of people that suffer in a lot of ways, but you would never know. And so just trying to, I think the great thing to take away from the show that they really do a great job with is really exploring that. And, you know, being like, you know, don't judge a book by its cover. You know, somebody might look like they're okay, but they might not be okay. And just having that level of compassion and support, like Spence is saying, because it's true, like, when we support each other and love each other, you know, it's there's nothing we all can't do as a species.
 
John Betancourt: That’s so true, and that's so special, because it's just not enough of that kind of positive message on TV right now. And that leads me to my next question as well, what it means to you as both actors and people be part of such a positive and refreshing project?
 
Alex MacNicoll: Yeah, it’s great. It didn't feel like work. The vocabulary and the medical stuff felt like work and a challenge, but like, as far as the environment that was on set, we had everybody from the crew to the cast… it was such a loving environment and supportive environment, and just the place that everybody wanted to be, you know, I look forward to coming to work and, you know, was not bummed to leave. But also, like, you know, was excited for the next day, you know, so really, really beautiful, positive environment. 
 
Spence Moore II: Yeah, coming to work was so easy. It's so easy when you're surrounded by creatives who just are here for each other and just want to see everybody win, and just want to make a great product like I think everybody kind of understood that, you know, even just going into this one, it was going to be impactful in a very healing type of way, and invigorating, inspiring kind of way. And I think everyone just wanted to put their best foot forward, but also just the camaraderie that we built and the relationships that we built outside of our characters alone. I mean, it's a very familial, like family type of feel when you go to the Brilliant Minds set, it's incredible. And, yeah, it doesn't surprise me that it comes across because it's so authentic and it's so real, and we've been locked in since day one. So yeah, going to work and listening to Dr Wolf… it's, it's so easy and so rewarding.
 
Alex MacNicoll: We want to create that hopeful, feel good show but at the same time, with the reality of illnesses and things that are going on in the world and, yeah, but that. But overall, I think there is this, like, inspiring aspect of the show, which is great.
 
John Betancourt: Obviously it has just taken off, and audiences have responded to it. Everybody's raving about it, talking about it. What has it meant to you as well? Um, just the reception and what people are saying about the show right now.
 
Alex MacNicoll: Feels good. Yeah. 
 
Spence Moore II: It feels great!
 
Alex MacNicoll: When you have, you know, it's like, obviously my mom would love everything that I do, no matter what, even if it was garbage. (Laughter from all) And the fact that, like, I love getting texts from friends or messages from people that watch the show, and them just being like, “Man, like I, you know, I thought it'd be good. But like, this is really good,” you know? And like they really enjoy it, and they look forward to it and, and that's, it feels really great. It feels great to create something that people are responding to.
 
Spence Moore II: It feels so, so dope to create something that people resonate with, like, seriously, and my village that I speak to every single week. It also contains my mom and, you know, like my Mimi and my dad. So, it's people who, you know, who support me through, through anything but the fact that it is an exceptional project, and that is really sparking change and new thought, and really just showing people that you can overcome and that you can persevere on a weekly basis, is awesome. Like it feels like, for me, like we're doing the good work. Like this is the work that, that, that people were talking about, you know, healing people one episode at a time, you know. So, it's, it's awesome, and the reception has been good all around like, every single week, genuinely. So that's also really cool to say.
 
John Betancourt: The last question I have for you today. Obviously, we've got kind of the back half of season one coming up here. What are you most excited, without spoilers, for everybody to experience in this back half? 
 
Alex MacNicoll: A couple big plot, plot things for sure that that, obviously you know not to spoil, but yeah, there's some really, really cool things that happen. I know it's so vague, speaking like this, but there's some really, really, really exciting things. I'm also, now that you mentioned, you know, we're in the back half, so we have these reveals that have already happened about our characters and about certain characters involved, and the dynamics within that. So, like, you know, the relationship dynamics between each of the people that work together… and so, yeah, so there's, it's like, a bit of a roller coaster coming up. And, yeah, so things happen. And, you know, again, being so vague, things happen.
 
Spence Moore II: A lot of, a lot of things happen. A lot of things happen. It's like, it's like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get with each episode. But it's, yeah, we have a lot more… even more hearts,even more passion, even more chaos and high octane, fast paced, cold blues and cold reds.
 
Alex MacNicoll: And real cases. A lot of these cases are inspired by real cases. So, they're these crazy, crazy phenomenon that have happened that are actually, genuinely rooted in reality and history. So that's pretty cool, too. 
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. 

Isaiah Mustafa is an accomplished actor that has appeared in some iconic franchises, such as the IT reboot and he just joined another. For currently, he stars as John Sampson in the new Prime Video series, Cross, and to celebrate its release, we sat down with Isaiah to discuss his work on the show.
John Betancourt: I would love to start by getting to know what attracted you to the role of John.
 
Isaiah Mustafa: Let's see. I've never played a character like this before, just a guy who is devoted to not only his job but upholding his friendship with his partner and best friend. Yeah, I've never had a character who was so closely intertwined with another character.
 
John Betancourt: That’s something I definitely want to talk about today, because that bond that you share with Aldis as Alex, on screen, feels very, very real. And I'm very curious how you managed as an actor to achieve that.
 
Isaiah Mustafa: Honestly, we just, you know, from our chemistry read, we right away, we had a mutual respect for each other. You know, I was a fan of his (Aldis Hodge) work. And if you watch him in other things, if you go back and look at his work, I mean, he's solid, like, you're getting a very solid performance each time, and what he brings to it, you can tell that he has a high level of expectation for himself. So, I was looking forward to working with somebody like that, because than you have no option other than to be as good as you can be when you work with somebody like that. So, I was hoping to raise my level as well.
 
And you know, just once we got together off screen and had a we had a great conversation with a couple producers, our show runner, Ben Watkins, and we just sat around and talked about life and you know, what it was to be a father in this day and age, what it was to be, you know, sons, you know, just men living in this age, you know, we left the characters and the show completely out of it. We didn't talk about any of that. We just talked about life. And I think when you can do that, you know, it creates a bond and that, that kind of, it's not superficial anymore, you know, you get into, you start talking about things with people. You get into people's lives. It becomes more real. And I think that is what you're seeing on screen.
 
John Betancourt: Now, you've obviously been a part of some iconic franchises to begin with, and I'm also curious if there's any pressure in portraying such an iconic character?
 
Isaiah Mustafa: You know, I think there's always pressure, you know, playing an iconic character, you just want to make sure people… you do, do right by the fans. You know, because fans have somewhat of an expectation of what they want to see, and it's tough because you don't always know what that is. I think what you have to do is you have to be truthful to the material. And I was trying to be as truthful to the character that James Patterson created, but also the character that Ben Watkins molded into this television character. And I think I was able to do that with the help of some amazing writers on his staff.
 
John Betancourt: I also love the fact that this show has updated Alex Cross' world to better fit our world as it is right now. And I'm curious what you hope that audience’s kind of take away from this first season from a depth standpoint, since it has so much of it,
 
Isaiah Mustafa: This first season does have a lot of depth. I mean, you're dealing with a serial killer who kills in such a specific way that I think we haven't seen before. It is almost a nod to that genre, in a way. So, I think what the audience can expect from this season, at least, I think what they can take away from it is that you're going to get a version of a serial killer you haven't seen before, but you're also going to get to know that serial killer from like, inside and out, you're going to get a 360 degree version of this guy. You know. You're going to know what he does outside of being a serial killer. You're going to know how he is, almost like his origin story.
 
There's… there's parts in the series where you get, you get to realize how he became so, so dark. And then you get, you get Alex, who, who's trying to, you know, figure this guy out. And there's a scene with a banquet for someone's birthday, and Alex and this character, they go head-to-head. And the whole episode is like this cat and mouse, and they're just kind of feeling each other out. And to me, that is, that is like one of those, you know, Batman and Joker moments, where you're watching these two, you know, diametrically opposed figures, you know, kind of suss each other out. It's amazing.
 
John Betancourt: Of course, since this franchise is iconic and this show is so highly anticipated, what are you excited for audiences to experience in general, without any spoilers of course.
 
Isaiah Mustafa: Um, I just want to, I hope we can take them on a ride that at the end of it, they're left wanting more and going, “I really love the stories and everything, but I'm here for these characters. I want to see these characters do more” so that they're looking forward to a season two.
 
John Betancourt: I'm curious what it means to you as an actor, just as a person, to be part of Alex Cross' world now.
 
Isaiah Mustafa: Oh, it's great. I think it's just great to be a part of a crew with Ben and Aldis, you know, just to be part of these guys that really, you know, have each other's back, just the way that Alex and John have each other's back. I just feel like that, safety, amongst the guys that I'm working with. It's… there's nothing like that. It's like being on a championship sports team.
 
John Betancourt: What are you most proud of when it comes to your work in season one?
 
Isaiah Mustafa: Episode Eight. Yeah, I don't want, I can't give you any spoilers, but I think that's, I think that's the culmination of a really, really good season of television. And I think that people are really gonna like that episode. You know it. It shows you the man that the series is named after. You get to know him and his world 100% it sets you up for the next season, like it lets you go, “Okay, now, I know these people. Let me see them do some more.”
 
John Betancourt: The last question that I have for today, since we're getting close to our time, if you had to describe this series in a singular word, what would that word be
 
Isaiah Mustafa: Undeniable.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

David Victori is a talented writer, director, producer that has worked a bevy of shows and features. Currently, he serves as the co-creator, writer and executive producer of the new Apple TV+ series, You Would Do It Too (Tú También lo Harías), and we had the honor of sitting down with David to discuss the construction of this bold new series.
 
John Betancourt: I would like to start by getting to know what inspired the creation of this ambitious project, because it really is amazing.
 
David Victori: Thank you very much. So, some friend of mine explained to me a story that's similar to the seat of the show. And I remember that I was like, for a few days, like just thinking, like, over, over again about what can happen in something similar like this. And suddenly I had this, like two ideas, that's changed completely, not exactly what my friend explained it to me, more like the moral conception of what could happen there. So, then I realized that, oh my god, I think I have a really good two twist of a story that every twist makes the story more complex, and that's what I love. And after that, I was just like, “Okay, I'm jumping into that project like with all of my soul.”
 
John Betancourt: I'm also curious, what kind of challenges went into putting together such crisp and smart scripts.
 
David Victori: We was like working with Jordi (Vallejo), who is the co-writer with me, and we are working together for a long time. When we started to write the script. He was finishing a TV show that he did, a really complex thriller, psychological thriller. And I was also finishing another TV show that I did with a guy from the Money Heist, the creators of Money Heist, and I learned so much with them, and he learned so much about his show. So, we put together, like everything that we learned. And we was like, “Okay, let's do something like short episodes, really complex, really mixing times, really mixing timelines.” And we did, like, a huge building of different timelines and progressions and everything. So, one of the challenges was how we shoot that now, because the timelines are so mixed, that we took so much time with my assistants, putting the timeline of the story, how we can shoot that together now, you know, so that was one of the big challenges and but it was fun. It was really fun.
 
John Betancourt: Actually, I want to expand on that a little further too, because that's what I was really impressed with, was how much stuff was happening in every episode. And I'm curious then, and to dive in further into how you assembled it, what kind of challenges went into assembling all of that?
 
David Victori: I mean, what I really like is like, shoot together, like big pieces of the story. I don't, I'm not a big fan of like shooting like takes of one minute or two minutes, or really, like short takes. So, what I do is like, almost like, shoot as a one take shot like, for example, one day we did something really crazy. We shoot in one of the timelines, the timeline of the of the bus, the main timeline, right? We shoot, the first episode, until the seven episodes, all together. So, like shooting that for three hours and a half, like moving into the city with the bus, with the police cars, everything together, shooting the actors, acting and that, I think that that was really good, because that brings some energy into the story that was really special. And this is something that I really like, because I like that the actors are really visceral, are not like thinking or putting the technique in front. I prefer that they are really like going into the experience in a really rational way.
 
John Betancourt: What I also appreciate about this too, is that it is not a traditional crime drama in the slightest. There's no black and white here. It’s all about the grey, and I'm curious what motivated the decision to go that route with the story.
 
David Victori: That's something that is going with me forever. That's my main… I love a story about with different kind of storytelling is always the same. It's like a character who goes into places where you never expected that someone like him or like her can go, I think that for me, cinema or storytelling is interesting because we talk about life. And for me, life is always in the gray area. Never is like -- in fiction, in fiction usually is like black or white, no good or bad, the good people, the bad people. And I think that in real life is not that simple. You know, everybody has good things, everybody has bad things. So, and you know, the tagline of Tú También lo Harías that Apple found is brilliant, because good people do bad things. And I think that that's really, really brilliant, because I really love this kind of characters and story.
 
John Betancourt: It’s not only the structure of the show that’s great but the messaging is great too. And I'm curious if there's one particular message that you hope the audience takes away from it when they've had a chance to digest this incredible piece, what do you hope that message will be?
 
David Victori: I think that for me, the message is so clear. I mean, not the message, let's not say message, because everybody can interpret it, whatever they can take for them. But I think that you make mistakes when you take a position too early. You know? You are wrong when you think that you simplify things. You know, when you have an opinion too early, maybe it's not good always, you know, I think that sometimes you have to be careful and sometimes you can wait to have an opinion about something, you know, because the story at the beginning of our show is super clear, and everybody have a position. Everybody know who is the good guys, who is the hero, who are the villains, but, you know, then the story started to move. Stories start to have, you know, a lot of twists, and then everything change. And you as a audience, I think that you get so messed up and confused about your position between you and the characters.
 
John Betancourt: The last question I have for you, since this is so complex and so broad and so wonderful, if you had to describe this series in one word. What would that word be?
 
David Victori: Addictive.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Palina Rojinski is an accomplished actor that has appeared on both the silver and small screen. Currently, she stars as Karatina Vinson on the new Apple TV+ series, Where’s Wanda?, and we here at NTG had the honor of sitting down with Palina to discuss her work on the show.
​
John Betancourt: I'm very curious to start off by getting to know what attracted you to this project as an actor.
 
Palina Rojinski: It was, it was a pretty special thing because it's the first German production, it's the first Apple TV German production, yes. And so, everybody was super excited. And, you know, the talk of town was already, was already around like, “Oh, Apple is planning a German TV series, really, but the production should be also German.” And then everybody was super excited. So, under the actors, it was pretty, pretty special to be part of the project. And yeah, so when I was invited to the casting, I was very happy. And also, I know our female CEO in Germany, Francisca, and Francisca and me were talking about, “Yeah, let's do some cool stuff where we can do a little bit women empowerment stuff” and things like that. And so yeah. And now here we are.
 
John Betancourt: Yes, here we are, and I think one reason this show has been so wonderful to watch is that you and the entire cast do such an amazing job just selling this world of grief and loss and all this thoughtfulness. And I'm very curious how you as an actor, created that depth and created that realism.
 
Palina Rojinski: For Katarina…. Katarina is… she's like, on the surface, she's perfect. She looks at every time of the day, she looks perfect. Like, I think, that she has a private makeup and hair master who's doing her makeup and hair in the morning, and also, like her private cosmetics in the evening. So, for her, it's super important that everybody has a good opinion about her, and for me, but also, her family is also so perfect. So, for her, it's important her husband, who's this dance master and has his dancing school, and the children they have, they have like these perfect looking children, and everybody is just like superheroes, almost, (Laughter) like not human and through the series, she gets a turn, so you don't know what to expect about her. I think everybody knows in their neighborhood, a person like Katarina, who is like, “Oh, look at her. What!? At that time, she looks like that already?”
 
By the way, I don't… don't look like that when I wake up in the morning, yeah? (Laughter) So when we were in the makeup for the for the series, for the shooting, I needed two hours. Let's be honest, to look like Katarina, and for me, it was very interesting and inspiring to play the role of a character which is so strategic and so un-emotional, in kind of way. So, she is emotional, but you don't, you never know, is it real, or isn't it? So, the role is very curious but on the same time, she like she doesn't want to let anybody come too close to her. And so that's the tension. That's the tension that the that the audience wants to know, what is it about Katarina?
 
John Betancourt: What have you enjoyed the most about playing her so far?
 
Palina Rojinski: For me, it was interesting to play her with… to try to play it without any emotions, or with, like, fake emotions, like, because she doesn't, you know, in Germany, we say she doesn't like that somebody's looking into her cards. Zeigt ihre karten, she doesn't show her cards, so you never know what to expect about her. So, when she is meeting Dedo and Carlotta, she's like, “Oh, I'm suffering with you, and how are you?” But at the same time, it's like this, there's something lying underneath, and you never know. How does she mean it? Is it like, really her, or does she have a deep secret, and to play her, always with this in the background, to have a big secret, that was super interesting for me.

John Betancourt: Obviously this show has a lot of messages in this story, which I really appreciated the depth of it. And I'm curious, what if there's one particular message you hope the audience takes away from this, what would that be?
 
Palina Rojinski: Don’t rush your prejudices. You have to find out what’s beneath the surface.
 
John Betancourt: The last question that I have for you today, what are you most proud of when it comes to what you've accomplished in season one as an actor?
 
Palina Rojinski: I think the big scene where she's standing on the big stage, and she's having her big speech at the Wandafest, and she's having the speech about the neighborhood and that she announces she is going to run for Mayor. And it was, it was very cold on that day when we were filming. It was already autumn. But in Germany, we have also this golden autumn, where it's pretty warm and beautiful outside and sunny. But exactly on this shooting, filming day, it was super cold and rainy, and we were like, “Oh no, we have to play the summer fast.” But our company and our organization, they were very fast. So, they organized everything. It was warm, we had tea, we had umbrellas and everything, and so to play this day at the Wandafest… but that's why it's a show, and I think we did it pretty well and had a very good time.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Mariana Gómez is a rising star in film and television and currently she stars as Cris in the Apple TV+ series, Midnight Family, and with season one of the show winding down, we had the distinct honor of sitting down with Mariana to discuss her work on the show.
​
John Betancourt: I would love to start by getting to know what attracted you to this project as an actor.
 
Mariana Gómez: First of all, thank you for having me. Well, for me as an actress, like in so many ways, it attracted me because I've been working my whole life here in Colombia. I'm from Colombia. I'm not from Mexico, and it's my first international project so far. So, for me, it's, it was like a dream come true, working with a platform like Apple, you know, like, it's a dream, working with a cast as big and talented and people that I've been growing up seeing and admiring, Like Joaquín Cosio, like Yalitza (Aparicio), like Diego (Calva), like for me, it was a dream come true. And also, and not less important, the story. You know, the story. The story drove me instantly.
 
John Betancourt: I also love the story; I find it's just full of good meaning and great lessons. What do you hope the audience takes away from season one of the show?
 
Mariana Gómez: Well, I think for me, I mean, I think in the eyes of the international people, we have a lot of conflicts in Latin America that has been putting out all the time, like drugs and prostitution and war, you know. But I think public health, for example, is something they, I mean, in all over the world, they didn't know about it at all, like it's, it's putting the eye of the people outside on a major, major, major problem, and doing it in this fancy way, in this creative way. It's like an achievement that it wasn't easy, but I'm proud of it.
 
John Betancourt: Speaking of that pride. What are you most proud of when it comes to what you've done in this show, in season one?
 
Mariana Gómez: Hmm, I think, I think I'm really proud of the of the work I could do, first of all, because I had a little chance to show a little bit of Colombia in a story that is about Mexico City, and although we don't know that much of the background of Cris, I think I could show how much pain she has inside as an immigrant, as a woman living as an immigrant in another city that has a problem with health. I don't want to spoil anything, but her major problem has to do with health and with politics and with decisions and I think that's something I could show through Cris in a good way.
 
Also, I feel really proud of the music, because I have music background. I've been singing my whole life, and I've been writing songs since I was 12 years old. And when I got the script and I read Cris’ scenes, and I called the director, Natalia (Beristain), and I told her, you know, I want to try to write Cris’ lyrics for her songs, for her raps, because, she raps, you know, she does freestyle. And she told me, like, “Let me see what you can do, and we'll see.” And I wrote the lyrics of one of the songs. And she was like, “Okay, do them. Do them all.” So, I wrote my own lyrics for my own character’s songs. So that's something that was like a really nice challenge and gift for me in this series.
 
John Betancourt: Oh, that is really, really amazing. How cool is that? That adds a new layer to the show. I'm also curious too, and this may lead into that… every character just feels so real,
so authentic. And I'm curious how you as an actor, make Chris seem so real.
 
Mariana Gómez: Well, I think, I think that the language of the series from the beginning like that, was the direction that Natalia told us to go through. Like. We come from a documentary. Midnight Family was a documentary first, and now we are doing the fiction, but we want to tell the story from the truth, because it's a true story. You know, true conflict, true problems, through people.
 
So, I think that when I read everything and that was the direction that they wanted us to have, I think I focused on hearing the surroundings, like hearing, like being very, very aware and present of the conflict of the people of the city, of the sounds, of the noises of my colleagues, you know, like hearing and being super present and aware, and also carrying the feelings that Cris has inside of her, because we are not talking about them, but I want the people to see them. And I think that's one thing I try to do.
 
John Betancourt: The last question I have for you today, what does it mean to be part of such a refreshing and original show?
 
Mariana Gómez: It feels… it feels amazing. I'm telling you, as a Colombian actress, to be part of this major project with Apple, with the quality that they have, with the respect that they have for our job, for the industry, the quality of everything, the talent of the people I'm surrounded by, it's like it's a gift for any actress, and for me, being the only Colombian in the show, it's like winning a big, big prize, like they chose me, you know? And I'm super grateful and proud, and I hope… I hope I can do more like that, you know?
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Lea Drinda is a rising star in Hollywood right now, and currently she stars as Wanda Klatt in the Apple TV+ series, Where’s Wanda? And ahead of the season one finale of the show, we sat down with Lea to dive deeper into her role on the show. 
​
John Betancourt: I would love to start by getting to know, now that we know that out in the open, that Wanda is okay, when did you find out what Wanda's fate was going to be?
 
Lea Drinda: Oh, quite late. Like I, at first, I only read like three episodes, and so I didn't really know much what was going to happen with her. Because, you know, in the first three episodes, obviously you find out that she's gone missing and that her family is very worried about her and all that. But like at episode six, you sort of start to, you know, understand what's happened and what's going on. And I obviously knew while we were shooting, but the end was sort of open while we were shooting. It wasn't quite like, sure how we were going to, like, round everything off, because they were really trying to polish it the best they could, to make it really sum everything up. And, yeah, you know, it was, I was very relieved to know that I wasn't gonna play have a dead end. You know, I was, she was, she's supposed to live on, and she still has a long way to go, which is good. 
 
John Betancourt: Yes, it is, I think it was a relief for the audience too, because we all wanted her to be okay. I'm curious, though, did learning about her fate later on, change your approach at all as an actor, as to how you built her character?
 
Lea Drinda: Um, I guess, yeah, sort of in a way, because, um, I knew she was not supposed to be a victim. You know she was supposed to be strong; she was supposed to get through stuff. She was supposed to be witty and funny and sort of annoying to the guy holding her captive, you know, she was, she was sort of supposed to be a feisty teenager, you know. And that made me able to like, be louder, be more comfortable, like around everybody else, and be more confident and so it really pushed me towards this sort of more aggressive, feisty sort of character, instead of being like, I guess, scared and whiny, in a way, she was really quite the strong lady to deal with. 
 
John Betancourt: I always love talking to actors, and I always learning about their process. And I'm curious, because you have such -- I mean, obviously everybody has a has a good arc and a good journey in this show, but yours is perhaps the most severe, because she goes from innocent teenager to, like you said, feisty and spicy and having to do all these bold things. How did you as an actor, tap into all of that? 
 
Lea Drinda: I mean, I guess it's sort of… everything's inside of me, in a way, you know, like you have so many, so many things that you're able to, like… I guess, air out when you're an actor, and you can just, like, grab everything that's like, boiling up inside of you and just push it out in that sort of way. I guess I've never had such a traumatic experience as her, but things do boil up inside of me as well. You know, we, it's just the way it is. We as a folk, as the movie, people are strange characters, and there's always something going on inside of us and she was a great way to let all of that out and let it go as well. I think that's one of the reasons I really love doing my job, because I'm able to experience and express and live through so much and let go of so many things. And I guess that's sort of the place where it all comes from, in a way.
 
John Betancourt: I have to ask a follow up question to that, how much of yourself would you say you injected into Wanda.
 
Lea Drinda: Ooh, to be honest, not so… not that much. Because I was never really a feisty teenager. You know, I was quite shy and calm, and maybe I actually was able to live out that sort of thing that I missed out on when I was a teenager, because I was always trying to be so nice that now I could finally sort of be the mean sort of, I don't, I don't want to say bitchy, but sometimes a bit painful to have around, sort of daughter, you know. And I guess that was sort of a compensation for me to be able to finally do all that. That I had never been able to do myself. 
 
John Betancourt: That leads me to my next question as well, what you've enjoyed the most about playing Wanda in this first season?
 
Lea Drinda: I love that she was so confident. I think I've never been so outspoken myself. I've always sort of kept my cool or been sort of, yeah, just calmer and she went from zero to 100 all the time, you know, she was so up and down and I really liked that she expressed everything she felt like instantly and aggressively, also towards Chris, you know, and the, in the basement and all that she never like, let those things take her. She was always the one taking the situation and trying to take control of it, and sort of being the more dominant person in the situation. And that I really liked about her.
 
John Betancourt: Now we don't want to spoil anything, but I do want to know what you're excited for audiences to enjoy as we wrap up the season.
 
Lea Drinda: Um, well, you know now that we know she's okay and we know that she's getting out, I guess there's still a long way to go, because there's a whole mystery to solve. You know, who's King? What's going on? Why was she even there in the first place? And all those things are still to come, and I do not think it will be boring at all.
 
John Betancourt: So, the response has been great to the show. What has the response, and the journey meant to you? 
 
Lea Drinda: Oh, I mean, it's just it's been so great to be part of such a great, like, teamwork. You know, even while shooting, it was just such a nice experience. I haven't, I've rarely been in at a set that was so harmonic, in that sort of way, and that was just such a nice time for me to have. And now that it's out, I mean, it's so crazy as a like a German actress, to be able to be a part of such a like international production and see it now being streamed in so many countries, talking to you, you know, you're like, halfway around the world, and I'm sitting here in Berlin talking to you, and that's like, just, that's like mind blowing for me, you know? So, it's been a journey from start to end, and there's still more to come, and who knows what happens after that.
 
John Betancourt: The last question I have for you today, what are you most proud of when it comes to the work you've put into Season One? Into season one?
 
Lea Drinda: I guess, just like, really pulling through, like being like, I guess… it's very hard for me to be proud of things, but I'm proud of this one. You know, I really tried my very best. It was new for me. It was hard, it was complicated scenes, long shooting days, and we managed, we did it, and now it's out there and I guess that's sort of what I take away from it. I'm proud. 
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. 

Itzan Escamilla is a talented and rising star in the movie and television industry. Currently he stars as Bernardo in the Apple TV+ series, Midnight Family, and we had the honor of sitting down with Itzan to discuss his work on the show. 
 
John Betancourt: I'm very curious what it means to you to be a part of such a refreshing and original project.
 
Itzan Escamilla: I'm very proud, because it was my first job outside Spain, so it was an experience to be there for a long time, to work with a crew that works pretty, well, not pretty different, but it's different to what I've worked with in Spain. So well, I learned a lot of things with them, and it was a really great experience.
 
John Betancourt: Now realism is something that this story thrives within, especially with the characters, and I’m curious how you created such realism with Bernardo? 
 
Itzan Escamilla: Like, I learned the scripts, I read it, I worked a lot with, with Natalia Beristain, who is one of the directors of the series and showrunner of the whole series, and I think it was like, working with her and with the rest of the cast… I usually like, write lots of things about the character, like, kind of a diary, and also with the script, I work the lines, and I try to, like, search for other meanings that I'm not reading the first time. So, I'm gonna read again, again, so I can, like, I can search for different things in order to construct the character, like, bigger, metaphorically. And, well, it was like deep creative work with the director, with the cast, yeah, that's it.
 
John Betancourt: There are a lot of beautiful messages in the story. And I'm curious if there is one message you want the audience to take away from season one, what would that message be?
 
Itzan Escamilla: A concrete message? I don't know, but I think I would expect people to learn something new about a new country. I think it's a very, very unknown thing, this illegal ambulance circumstance. So, what I have learned from Mexico is that, like, not every country works the same way. And I think it's very interesting to know, like, the different underground things that happens, because I think that in some way can explain how the country works. I think it's a beautiful project talking about the family and the relationships between the members of a family. Because I think that this, this chaotic thing, this, like, very fast and illegal thing, underground thing, I think reflects, in some way, aspects of the family and how you like resolve conflict in the family.
 
John Betancourt: The last question that I have for you today, what are you most proud of when it comes to your work in season one of this show?
 
Itzan Escamilla: I think to work with Renata (Vaca), Diego (Calva), Joaquín (Cosio), like every cast member, they're great. Actors and also the directors. It was, like, a very it was an important thing for me in order to accept the project, to be able to work with those cinema directors in Mexico, because I've, like, I've watched lots of movies from them, and it was like an amazing opportunity to work in a very cinematic environment.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.