Hiram Garcia - Becoming The President of Production at Seven Bucks Productions

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Kasey Adams here. Welcome back to the Rise of the Young podcast. On today's episode, we have Hiram Garcia here with us. Hiram Garcia is the president of production at Seven Bucks Productions, a passionate photographer, and a film and television producer whose films have amassed over $4 billion in box office revenue. A trusted collaborator in the production process to Seven Bucks co founders Dwayne Johnson and Danny Garcia, Garcia oversees all production operations from development to release. Some of the films that we talk about in this podcast are Fast and Furious, Hobbs and Shaw, Jumanji, Rampage, Skyscraper, Jungle Cruise, and many, many more. And before we dive into the episode, please take a moment to check out Hiram's new book, the Rock through the Lens. His Life, His Movies, and his world. It is a collection of amazing pictures, pictures that Hyrum has documented throughout their journey. But with that being said, thank you so much for listening to today's podcast. Please share this episode with a friend and let's dive into the episode. Okay, what is going on, everyone? Casey Adams here. And welcome back to the Rise of the Young podcast. On today's episode, we have Hiram Garcia. Thanks so much for coming on Hyrum.

Thank you so much for having me, man. It's a pleasure to be here.

Absolutely. So you are the president of production at Seven Bucks Productions, a passionate photographer and a film and television producer whose films have amassed over 4 billion in box office revenue. And I'm a huge fan of all the films that you guys have been a part of. And I think my first question for you, man, is how did you get into the production space and where did that journey in your life begin?

You know, well, I was. So coming up, my goal was always. I was always a music person, right? I was a music major. I studied music, business and entertainment at the University of Miami. And I thought I was going to be in the record industry. You know, the one thing I knew in life is that I knew whatever I was going to do, I wanted it to be in a creative space. That's always been my power. Space is creativity. Once I graduated college, I didn't really like the music business. It just didn't resonate with me. I realized right away, unfortunately, I just spent all these years studying for it, but I knew right away it. It wasn't a fit. And, you know, that's a tough feeling coming straight out of college. You're like, well, what am I going to do? You know, not all of us are, as I was telling you, as dialed in as you are, buddy.

Thank you.

Kicking ass.

I appreciate it.

A lot of years floundering around, but, you know, look, creativity was always my space. And I had always worked with Dwayne doing stuff for wrestling, wrestling dialogue. It just came easy. And when he got the Scorpion King, I was in between, trying to figure out what I was doing. I had a job, but I wasn't really happy over there. And he's like, hey, man, listen. He's like, I'm going to go do this. I've never really done done this before. You want to come help me out? You can assist me. Let's see how it goes. And so never afraid to take a swing. I'm like, yeah, sure, man. I quit my job and just jumped and went to LA to go do Scorpion King at the time. And right away I'm like, that's what I want to do. I want to be a producer. I have no idea how I'm going to do it. I have no film background, but I know that's what I want to do. And I dedicated myself from that moment. I think I was about 25 at the time. From that moment on, I was like, okay, I need to redirect my life towards this. And the minute I came back from that movie, I took script writing classes just to learn how to write scripts, how to read it. I started watching everything, every piece of footage I could just to see what movies work and more importantly, what movies didn't work and why. Like, what was it that. Because at the sea, at the core of every movie, nobody wants to make a bad movie, right?

It's like, that's not the goal.

It's funny. It's like, no one's like, oh, I hope I make a sticker. You know, there's a great idea behind everything, and then it's the execution or, you know, lots of factors. So really, what was it? That wasn't. That didn't work. And, you know, I started P.A. the one thing I also realized was, is that if you wanted to be a producer, you needed to learn from the ground up. And so I went and I became a production assistant on commercials in Miami. And I did that for several years. And I second AD and I first ad, but really wanted to learn the business business from the bottom up, all while just working on the creative side, thinking of film ideas, watching movies, getting, you know, getting familiar with that language until I was felt confident in a place where I could circle back around with dj, who was now, you know, much further along in his business and feel like I had something I could really offer to him. And things went great from there.

Wow, I love that. I think an important thing you touched on was so he invited you out to LA for a film, you said, and prior to that you had no experience, is that right?

Yeah, yeah, no, I was just a fan of movies, but I didn't take any film writing classes or script classes or anything like that.

Yeah, so you went to the University of Miami, is that correct?

Yes.

And like when you were there, when it comes to film and production, like, I noticed this as, and I actually talked about this on a previous podcast about like having an opportunity where you could have said no. Right. But the fact that you said yes and you were open to it and you had an open mind created that opportunity. But I'm curious, how did you and DJ meet? Because obviously you said he invited you out to la. What did that, what does that relationship look like?

So I met DJ when I was 15. He's a couple of years older than me, but he was dating my sister at the time, so they were, you know, they were dating in college. So I had flown out to visit my sister like I usually did. We were very close. And I met her new boyfriend at the time. I'm like, Jesus, this dude is big dude. You know? But we bonded right over, right away. Over at the time, there was a console back in the day my friend called the Sega Genesis long ago, and we played NHL hockey on that. But we were just very similar, we had similar personalities. We're both Tauruses. And me, him and Danny have always just had a great relationship, friendship, camaraderie. We're both very similar minded in how we approach things. And even though they got married, they got divorced, they're close friends, she managed him, they opened a business together. We've just always had this trinity of the three of us. And so at that time, because he had always leaned on me for some assistance. When it came to wrestling dialogue, he was like, hey, well, let's go do this. I know he's a creative guy. I know he's a fan of movies and I don't know anyone in that business. It's gonna be weird to go out there and just be. For however many months to film that movie. It's tough to just go by yourself. So he's like, come along. And it's very much like you said, there is something to being open, right? Like when you know that maybe things in life aren't going good, you're not gonna get many opportunities. And it's kind of back to that movie, which I always kind of like. There is positivity in protecting yourself, right? Don't do something. But being open to possibilities, like break things up, like change is hard. To leave Florida for five months at a time, especially then, that's crazy, right? But it's like, I don't know what's going to come, but I'm going to go for it because I know what I'm doing right now. There's not a path, like I can. I don't feel energy, I don't feel synergy. I'm just dead in the water. I need to change it up. And look, if it fails, great, I'll come back, I'll find another job. But this might be to something. And it actually ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me.

That is so cool, man. And it's. It's something too. I relate to that so much because When I was 15, I was almost paralyzed playing football and I was in a neck brace for six weeks and I started my social media journey, started building a brand and it was saying yes to an event that my buddy was hosting in Los Angeles and I'm from a small town in Virginia, and I said yes. And it's that opportunity that opened up every door and then the domino effect started happening. But I'd love to talk about that. You know, you decide to go out to la, you say yes to this opportunity. What did the next year, two, three years look like from that point? Because I'm assuming you were out of college then, correct?

Sure, yeah, I was out of college. So it's bumpy, right? Because it's. You don't really know the path. And so. And that's one of the things I love about the entertainment business in general is that there's not a traditional pipeline. Right. You'd like to say, oh, you go to school and you study this and then you go, it's not like that. Like, there's a million points of entry into the entertainment business. And at the foundation of it is just grind, right? It's like grind and work ethic and willing to put yourself on the line. So I immediately came back and, you know, when you're not used to the business, it messes with your head because for that period of five months, you're in this unbelievable world of like film and entertainment and movie stars. And you're like, oh, my God. And then it just stops. The movie wraps. And now you're like, back to regular world. And it's an adjustment where it kind of messes with you psychologically. Because one of the things with the film business too is it's not just steady work. Like, you work for work, right? So it's like you have a job until the job is done, and then you're unemployed until you get another job. So it's very much. You have to build a reputation. So when I came back and I kind of realized that I'm like, well, what do I need to do to start giving myself a chance to a very difficult dream? And that was when I said, well, look, let me just at least start and let me enroll in some classes and just learn. How do you write a script? How do you read a script? Like, what do you do with script stuff? Then I went. DJ had gotten another movie. I worked with him on that movie. It was a movie called Walking Tall. And I realized that as much as it was nice to work with him in a system, at that point I wasn't learning anything because he was learning about the business and he was in a position where everything was just coming to him cooked. And I realized I need to break away from this and I need to get right into the bottom and I need to just start as a pa. My first job I offered, I worked for in my, like, listen, just give me a shot, you know, just give me a shot. I'll show you. I have a work ethic, but it gave me an ability to learn about the film business. Film language, culture, set etiquette, like all the things that you kind of. I wasn't experienced over there. And then you're, you know, in commercials, I had the opportunity to do a little bit of stuff I typically wouldn't do, I think in film as a pa, But I did that for several years and that really started to just give me production experience. And then from there I was start to parlay into something. But that whole Journey man is coming home to no power, sometimes no water, because you may not have a job. You know, there's a downtime in Florida, and there's a. There's a time for this commercial. So, I mean, my friends laugh. I remember coming home, and there'd be times where I'd come home, I'd be like, I'm on the phone, and I come in, there's no power in the house. And I'm like, well, it's like 7pm I'm gonna go to sleep because I got nothing else I can do. And I'll have to try and figure it out tomorrow if I can get the power turned back on.

Wow.

And those were the challenges of it. But. But it makes you appreciate where you are, you know, when you do start to achieve some success, because you've been on the other side, you know.

Absolutely. And speaking of success, you guys have made some really hit movies. Anything from Fast and Furious to Jumanji to Rampage to Skyscraper and all these films. One thing that I see they have in common is just massive success, right? Like, you hear. You can hear a good song, and then you hear a great song, and it's there for decades. And that's what I believe you guys create all the time.

And.

And with that being said, what do you think creates a blockbuster film that has longevity? Because there's dozens of movies, right, that come, they do great, then no one watches them, and they're not topics and conversations. But you guys have a great track record of having these big movies, and you guys are the best in the game at it. So what do you think creates a successful film?

Well, look, I think you want to start with just global storytelling, right? You want to start with stories that resonate globally, right? You know, I think there's. There's. And there's all kinds of storytelling you can do. But, you know, we really like to focus on storytelling that. That crosses borders, right? That. That is a universal kind of a story foundation, Whatever it is something that everyone can relate no matter what country you are in. And then I think, on top of it, we like to tell stories that make people feel good. I mean, I think, look, there's so many filmmakers out there, and there's some people who like to challenge audience's emotions that like to, you know, when you leave, maybe you feel conflicted, maybe you feel a little bit dark. I like that stuff. But that's not the kind of stories we want to tell. Ultimately, we hope that we understand that, you know, whatever's going on in Life more than ever now, right? Like, life is hard. And sometimes people look too theatrical. They look to stories for a bit of escapism, some wish fulfillment. You just want to feel good because whatever it is, you're probably going to have to go back to some challenges because life isn't easy. So for us, global stories and stories that ultimately are going to make people feel good at the end of the day, you know, we, you know, I remember, and I'll tell you a perfect example. I made a movie called Rampage a couple years ago, big, you know, monster movie based on the video games. And there was a really big debate where. And it's a little bit of an old school Hollywood thing, but at the end of the movie, the studio wanted the gorilla, George, the gorilla who was like the hero character in a movie, to die. And I remember getting the script and right away being like, there's no way that seven bucks can make a movie where George, this gorilla, dies because he's so beloved. Like, people are gonna love him. He's fun. He's no. 1. Like those. That stuff of King Kong back in the day, yeah, it's great. But who feels good at the end of the day when Kong is dead? Like, it breaks your heart. And as an animal lover, I just remember right away talking to DJ about it and then Danny being like, there's no version of us letting George look, we'll play with it and we can do something in a misdirect. And you think. And then we would. But the audience isn't going to leave happy with that. And we won. Obviously, if you saw the movie, spoiler alerts. But he doesn't. But I think that's one of those things where the audience leaves happy. And I think it's just keeping your audience in mind because they want to have fun. And who wants to leave feeling like this character they just fell in love with is gone? It's a simple thing, but I think it goes a long way because at least you know, if you're coming to see a seven bucks movie, if you're coming to see a Dwayne Johnson movie, you're going to have fun. It's going to be some craziness in it, but you're going to leave feeling good. And that's a very important thing for us to deliver on.

Yeah, absolutely. And I'd love to hear about even some of the. I know we talked briefly before we started this podcast is some of the films that you guys are working on now that you can talk about. But most importantly, what is your day to day when you guys are filming? Because everyone sees the finished product, right? And no one gets to see the in the weeds or gets to hear the stories. But, you know, I think that's an important topic to talk about because it's. I'm sure it's a completely different world than what people would expect.

Well, sure, you know. Well, so right now we're currently filming, we're finishing up a movie called Red Notice that we're shooting for Netflix. That really excited about a lot of fun. It's dj, it's Ryan Reynolds, it's Gal Gadot. Kind of a big international globetrotting, kind of, you know, cops and heists and so forth kind of vibe. Just a lot of fun that we're doing for Netflix. It's going great. And then coming up next, next year, sometime first quarter will jump into, you know, our baby, which is our Black Adam movie, which is our big foray into the superhero world. And we get to introduce the Justice Society of America to the world and really come and shake up the DC universe. So we have that. We have a TV show getting ready to film in Australia right now called Young Rock that's based on DJ's life as a child. And that's a big NBC show that'll air in January that is going to be awesome. And I think, you know, especially it's going to. I think all fans will like it, but I also think, you know, fanboys will like it because there's gonna be some cool elements from Days of Wrestling and so forth that I think people are gonna have a lot of fun with. So. And look, you know, a typical day, it's crazy because, you know, say, for example, if, you know, on Red Notice, so producing this movie, but while producing this movie, also running a production company and overseeing a TV show that's getting ready to launch in Australia and what other stuff that we may have going that we haven't announced yet. You know, it's. It's juggling a bunch of things and it's moving. You know, as a producer, just when you're wearing that hat. You know, part of being a producer is you have a million projects ready to go because obviously, you know, you're. You're working while you have a job, and then the minute that job's done, you're. You're looking for the next thing that you're working on. So you're kind of pushing several boulders up a very big hill, and every day you push one at a time just a little bit further. A little bit further and hopefully one picks up a little bit steam and you can push it further. But you know, you're doing that, you're overseeing the production, making things go well because there's a ton of moving parts when you have a crew of 300 people and you have actors and you're shooting on stages and scenes are adjusting and dialogue is changing and logistics and the cameras down and what's shooting next week. And you know, it's so much stuff. But, but that comes with, you know, a big part of that too is just having great people around you because it's, it's never a one man job. You have a great team, you have a great crew. You know, our company 7 bucks has a great team around them. That multiple brains always leads to something better, you know. And so it's a crazy day. The days go by fast. Sometimes you wake up and you're like, oh my God, this is gonna be an insane day. And sometimes you don't even see it coming. But at the end of the day, it's one of the things DJ love it. I do love to do is we do like to just take moments and just be like, man, we're very fortunate. We've grinded really hard. We're so fortunate we have it and we know that it can leave in a heartbeat. So I think that's kind of the reason why we worked so hard is because we do tend to work like there is no tomorrow. And I think that because we remember what it was like beforehand and what the grind was like. So I think that keeps you humbled and keeps you focused.

Yeah, I love that. And I know that's something DJ talks about all the time, is just leadership. And he always talks about that on his social media. And I want to touch on that because I believe you as well. You guys have done so well as at building brands, not only in a movie and capturing attention, there's but having some of the biggest social media presence and just culture and like you said, fanboys. And I want to talk about that because you guys have, like I said, done that so well. And what do you think creates that culture that you guys have created when it comes to the type of films you put out and the type of fans that you guys have? How have you guys been able to build such an incredible culture with inside your organization that also flows into the world as well?

You know, I think authenticity, you know, when no matter what the project is, no matter what we're doing, we've never taken, taken a job or taken a project that someone isn't truly vested in, someone just truly loves. And look, every swing isn't going to be perfect. Right? You know, it's like you try your best, you know, Baywatch, we wanted Baywatch to be something more than it was. It didn't work out the same way, but we believed in the project, you know, And I think all of our projects and I think it's why things resonate so well. DJ has never promoted or gotten behind things that he doesn't truly love, feel, have a connection with. You know, the reason why we did, you know, we were. He was ambassador with Ford was because he loves Ford trucks. You know, it's like he was drinking Voss water before he started working with Voss, he was using Under Armour. You know, it's not like, oh, hey, I'm gonna just start using this because they want me everything. He made teremana tequila because he loves tequila. Like, he's truly a tequila aficionado. And because of that knowled he was able to make a really special tequila. Like it's a tequila that is stands out among the rest. But that's because there's a true authenticity there. There's a real care there. And so we've always had that. There's a lot of times, well, you know, I'll find a project and I'll round up the team and the project may be on the line. And I'll just be very clear, is there someone here who will like is all about this project that loves it, because you got to have at least one person who's truly connected to it. Because otherwise you start to lose authenticity. Now you're just churning out material, but there's no emotional connection. And I think audiences may not articulate it, but you can feel when it's a project that's just. That's just a job, that's just maybe a quick hope that maybe there's a payday there. And I think that's something we've always stayed away from. We always want to maintain that authenticity. And I think that's why fans gravitate towards dj. I think that's why his social media is so good. Because again, he's doing. He's got 200 million followers on Instagram and he runs his Instagram. There's not a team who's running his Instagram. There's not like a. A digital person. Like he runs his Instagram and that's a lot. And I think that's the difference between, you know, him and maybe some other celebrities. There and why fans are really drawn to. Because you can tell, oh, this is the real deal. This is him doing it. And I think that level of authenticity will always cut through the noise.

I love that. I know that it says that you obviously love getting behind the camera as well, and you're an ambassador for Laika. I'd love to talk on that, because you're. Your photography and your photos have been seen worldwide, and they're just. They stand for something. And I'd love to talk about what got you into being so passionate about being behind the camera yourself and how that even blossomed to begin with.

Thank you. You know, I've always just loved photography. I've always found myself, you know, a powerful image would always just still be right, like if. For something about it would resonate with me. And I really admire the ability to take one shot and whatever that shot is, to just kind of. It almost knocks you out of your feet right there. Like, you just get lost in the moment. And it's something I always really liked. I wasn't able to pursue as much as I wanted to. And then the time came, actually, right at the. You know, right before Baywatch started, I made a conscious effort. I said, you know, I knew that year was going to be a crazy run we had. It was going to be our crazy. One of our craziest years we ever had where we were shooting Ballers. Then it was going to overlap into Baywatch, which was going to overlap into Fast and Furious 8, which was going to overlap into Jumanji, welcome to the Jungle, all in a row. I was like, look, this is going to be an insane year, but there's going to be some unbelievable stuff and unbelievable memories. I want to capture these because I'm going to be away from my family from a long time. I want to have something that I can share with them that I can keep for myself and that I can give with DJ so that we can hold on to these memories. And in that run of movies, the responses I was getting from my photography really started to shift my perception of it. And we were able to use it for the digital campaigns of these movies and made me love it even more. And look, when you do these projects, like I was talking about the dance is, It's. There's a ton of creative partners, right? There's a lot of ideas. You're making sure you're making the studio happy, the director, your producers, your actors. There's something nice and clean about photography where it's one of the outlets, where it's just me. Right? It's like my creative interpretation. It's just art. It's me seeing a scene and I'm going to capture an image and then portray how I saw it in my head. And I like that outlet. You know, as a creative person, you like to have a little bit of an outlet and be able to have a way to kind of showcase sometimes how you see life, how you see the world. So it's. It just is. I found it to be something really relaxing for my mind. It's good for my mind. And when you're on these crazy locations and you've actually had that one little moment where things are calm, like sets running smooth, the dialogue is dialed in, and now you're just watching, it's nice for you to be able to go and just capture some scenes and a little bit of behind the scenes, where it's a look that I'm privileged to get because as a producer of the movie, I have access to moments and relationships that a lot of people don't. And it's something I can always hold on to. And then I love to share it with actors and cast and then potentially for the movie to help shape our narrative.

I love that. And I think, speaking on that, too, your book, the Rock through the Lens. His life, his movies, his world. This is new. This is a new project that I know you recently put out. I'd love for you to give me some information on this and what it means to you.

Sure. Well, it was an incredible process, and I was still kind of shocked that I was able to put a book together. And, you know, it all started where I wanted to. So I had to give a gift to DJ and in case you couldn't imagine, giving a gift to the biggest movie star in the world is very hard.

Yeah. What's your thought process there?

You know, gift certificate to Arby's. Like, you know, what do you do? So I was. I said, you know what? Let me go pull one of these images maybe I've taken over the years and print them something. And as I was doing it, I hadn't. I hadn't really had a chance to just look through all these photographs. And in the process, I said, you know what? Let me just put together this whole big lookbook. And I just sat with him, and we just kind of had a blast, flipping through years and years of memories, and coming out of that, we were like, you know what? I think there's something here. I think there's a story here to share with the fans. They May like, there's a lot of crazy stories behind these images. There's a lot of images they've never seen. Feels like there could be something fun with it. And then I just ran with it. You know, I ran with it. I found a great partner in St. Martin's and was just really happy with how it came out. It was a really fun experience to go through the book, pull these images and just to take the journey through these images and remember a lot of those moments that haven't had a chance to reflect back on. I'm grateful for it and really happy with how the book came out.

I love that. Speaking on reflecting, as you look back along your career, like, what are some of the lessons that you've learned that you'd want to give to a young entrepreneur today about business and team culture and just not only success itself, but you've seen a lot of things and you guys are on top of the production game and there's things that you've experienced that everyone can learn from at a foundational level. So I'd love to ask you, what are the foundations of success in your opinion, and why?

Well, look, it's a good question. There's a couple things and I think depending on what it is. But first off, I think it all starts with just work, right? It's putting in the work. It's something that I really learned from DJ and from Danny, and it's just the power of doing the work. And things will come. I think when you put in the work, you'll start to achieve what you want. But also realizing it's never going to be an easy path. You are going to get knocked down, you are going to get set back, and you have to just be able to be resilient and push through it. It's like I found for me that it was when you thought everything was at its worst, when I pushed through, that was when I first started to see just a little glimmer of light through it. Because, look, I think when you're trying to achieve big success, behind big success is big dreams. And not everyone shares those kinds of ambitions. So not everyone is going to understand or be able to support that level of a dream and they're going to want to tap out soon. You may have experienced this. I know I did. There were times where, you know, I had, you know, friends or family being like, hey, man, I don't know if. I don't know if this producing dream is going to work out. Like, I think you may have to come back to Reality and get a regular job or whatever they would say. And you got to understand that. And this isn't on them. No one. No one will understand the dream like you will. No one will understand your drive like you will. So one of the biggest things I like to say is, no matter what your dream is, no matter if you want to be, you know, whatever kind of crazy ambition you have, no one can ever end your dream except for you. Like, it's fun. There's going to be a time where some people are like, you know what? Like, and look, I'll use Dwayne as an example. His dream was to be a football player. He was the one who had to decide, you know what? Football. That football dream isn't right for me. And then he pivoted, moved to wrestling, and look where he is now. There is the possibility that your dream you're pursuing is wrong. But at the end of the day, no one can stop you from your dream. It has to be you. You're the one who calls it when you do it. Because if you don't, if you let allow someone else to make that decision for you, you'll never be at peace. And then you won't be able to move on and do a new path. But ultimately, it's always going to be on you. Pursue the dream, do it as much as you want. Only you will understand. And then if you do reach that point where you're like, you know what? Maybe I'm going down the wrong path. Just make sure it's you who calls, makes that decision, no one else, because that's the best way. That then you'll pivot and you'll find yourself on the right path that'll lead to something else.

I love that. And I know you spoke about loving music, and that was your dream to begin with. When did you know that you had to make that pivot?

Oh, well, it's funny. I was fortunate. It was right away. That's a blessing I had come up. As you know, I was a musician my whole life. I was a trumpet player. And so as I got into. As I started to, you know, I graduated and I started to intern, and I realized that my tastes completely did not align with the public's taste. Like, what was number one on the Billboard? I was like, oh, my God, this is the worst. And I just realized I had to be real. I'm like, how am I gonna succeed when I don't know what the people like, right? Like. And I think that's a very big thing. And I Think that's attached to the film industry too. I tell a lot of people this, it's a basic thing, but. But if you find yourself not in sync, not saying that you have to feel it's the best, but if you don't truly get, like, why Avengers is the highest grossing movie of all time, if you're like, this movie's trash, well, it's not gonna be good for you because right now you're not in alignment with a public. Okay, you want to be in alignment. If you're in a business of, like, creating content for people and so forth, you want to be in alignment with them. And so for me, I knew right away I was not in alignment with the public. What the public liked, the majority liked for music that was. That was going to be a big success. I did not agree with it. And that's what, you know, right away I just knew this wasn't a good fit. But I did realize right away with film, what I thought was good and what I thought was should be a big success was a big success. And I realized, at least I had that foundation, if I understood I had a good finger on the pulse of the public. And I think that was a big foundation for me to start to grow on because I was always in alignment with them. And look, every now and then there's a movie where you're like, I don't understand why that's doing well. And it drives me crazy.

I'm like, why don't I understand and why?

And you really try and analyze it because, you know, they're the huge reason of our success. You know, we always say our number one boss is the fans, right?

Yeah, absolutely.

And the public. So you always want to be in align with them. You always want to listen to them, because we're able to do what we do because of them. We owe it all to them. So being in lockstep with them is key. And that's something I always take very serious and, and. And always want to make sure I maintain.

Yeah, I love that. Do you have any project in film that you guys have that you've worked on in particular, that stands out to you when it comes to, you know, I wouldn't say your favorite film, that's a hard question, but something that you are, I would say, the most fulfilled about a certain film? And most importantly, why? Because I think it's something like you talked about earlier, Right. Some people have that attachment and drive to a particular film, and I wanted to ask you if you have one.

In particular you know, it's a good question. We have, you know, there's a couple projects that really love, right. And very proud of. Look, the Hobbs and Shaw and the character of Hobbs is something always very special. You know, Hobbs, when we all circled back around together, that was. It's always marked the beginning of our journey because after kind of being away and doing production assisting, and when me and Dwayne started working together again that first summer, we created the character of Hobbs. So Hobbs will always be a very special character to me because even back then when we created him, we had ambitions to one day we like this guy so much, we want to hopefully spin him off. So to have come full circle and be able to have made that Hobbs and Shaw movie and see where Hobbs had grown to was really rewarding. Love the Jumanji movies, but we're in a place too where a lot of our long, long term babies that we've really been developing now are starting to coming to fruition. So the Black Adam movie has been something that's been in the works for years. And as just a big comic book nerd fan, like one of my biggest dreams always was to make a superhero movie. So really excited about that. There's a ton of love and heart that's been invested in that. We have a great team around it. But like you said, it's hard because they're all your babies. But at this time, I'd say probably the Hobbs and just being part of the Fast and Furious world, it really stands out. And then obviously Jumanji and then Jungle Cruise, which is coming out next year, was probably one of the greatest experiences of our life of working with DJ and Emily Blunt and Jack Whitehall. And to be able to make a movie for Disney based on a legendary ride was really rewarding.

Love that. I have two more quick questions before we wrap up, and one of them is when you look at the future landscape of film and movie theaters and how that's shifted, especially over the last eight to nine months with everything that's happened. What's your not only predictions, but where do you see the film and movie business long term with all these transitioning to streaming and how movie theaters, you know, it was, they were shut down for a while. And I'm sure you guys felt that just like, what are you guys anticipating and what should the fans and audiences members expect and look forward to in the future?

Yeah, look, I think the pandemic just fast tracked some things that were already happening. I mean, the theatrical business was already changing. The theatrical business isn't leaving, right? It's like it's evolving. And I think ultimately there's a love for theater. People like going to the theater. They love the communal experience. Going to the theater to watch a horror movie is a classic experience, right? Going to the theater to watch a big action tentpole movie. It is a fun, classic experience. I think what's been happening is I think just Theatrical has evolved in terms of what audiences ultimately feel is worth seeing in a theater, and it's always been changing that way. So as content makers, it's not a bad thing. It just means you pivot. Because it's not saying that people want to see stuff less. It just means that people. There's certain kinds of projects that people want to watch at home on streaming, and there's certain projects that people are like, no, but I want to see this in the theater. I want to see, you know, I want to see Black Adam on the big screen. Giant effects, sound effects. I want to enjoy that with fans. I want to see this horror movie with my friends, and everyone scream and laugh and have fun on Halloween. Like that stuff exists. So as content makers, you just want to start to prioritize and go, okay, this is theatrical worthy, right? This is the kind of project that we know fans feel will be worthy of them going to the theater, watching it. And then this is the kind of content that's going to be more appropriate for a stre streaming device or for P vod for people to want to watch at home. Ultimately, people still want content. They want content more than ever. I think, just as content makers, you just want to be able to pivot with the industry. But I don't think that theatrical is going away or anything like that. I just think it's evolving, and I think the model is evolving, too, in terms of how long it lives in theater and then how fast it goes to P vod at home or something like that. We just need to stay on our toes. But I think the key is just listen to the fans. And obviously, with everything going on with the pandemic, things are a little rocky right now, but things will return to normal at some point. People will want to go back out and be able to go to theaters. And there's a way to do it. It's just. You just have to pay attention, hear what they want. But there's going to be an outlet for all of it.

I love that, and I appreciate the insight as well. Last question before we wrap up, and that is just looking forward, what are you most excited about? When it comes to the films that you guys have. And what should the fans expect over the next year from you guys?

Well, look, I'm really excited to get into the DC Universe. Right? I think that is.

I'm excited for that, too, man.

That's been a big priority for us. We are going to shake shit up in the DC Universe.

Any hints we can get or what does that look like?

I'm just saying, when you inject a force of nature like Black Adam into the DC Universe, it completely readjusts the hierarchy of power in that world because he is powerful and he does not pull his punches. And then on top of it, we get to introduce the Justice Society, this entire new team with some legendary and beloved characters. So to be able to become a part of the DC universe, really shake it up. We're so excited about that. We've been working so hard on it, so we're really looking forward to that. We're really excited to release our Disney movie, Jungle Cruise, that's based on the Disney ride. The delays because of COVID and so forth have made us push it off a little bit, but it's just a big, fun four quad movie. They don't really make movies like that anymore. So we're really excited to introduce that to the world and let people see Dwayne and Emily together. And the one last thing I'll say is, I think next year in January, our NBC sitcom Young Rock comes out, which I think people are gonna really love, and especially if you're fans of DJ, it tracks DJ's life growing up, and it touches on some really cool places and aspects of his life that are gonna really appeal to, like, football fans, college football fans, wrestling fans. Like, there's little tastes of everything that I think people are going to get fired up about. And we're starting to film it now, and we have huge ambitions for that. So, yeah, I think there's a lot of great stuff coming, and we're just going to keep making it.

I appreciate it, man. Well, Hiram, thank you so much for coming on the show. Where is the best place for the fans and everyone listening to stay up to date with the films that are coming out and just more importantly, to stay in touch with you.

Sure. Well, thank you so much for having me on. And look, you can always, you know, follow me HHGarcia41 on Instagram and Twitter and also check out Seven Bucks Calm. But. And also, you know, if you follow the Rock, I think you're gonna have a good idea of what's going on. Totally, man. This was a lot of fun. And I really appreciate you having me on. And I'm really appreciate what you've been doing, man. You're impressive. And God, I wish I knew at my age I was as dialed in as you, buddy.

I appreciate it.

You're on top of it. And you're killing it, buddy. So thank you for this.

Thank you.

Monarch Legacy of Monsters An Apple Original Series the world is on fire. I decided to do something about it on November 17th. This place, it's not ours. Believe me. The most massive event of the year arrives. If you come with me, you'll know everything. I promise.

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Legacy of Monsters streaming November 17th only on Apple TV.