Antoine Allen is an award winning filmmaker and the Owner of Antoine Allen Films, an independent production company. He began his career in film production while successfully managing independent hip hop artists. He has since made four successful feature-length films, including Lola, a film about a female boxer, which premiered in 2020. With his upcoming second Lola film, Antoine will have helped create the first ever female boxing movie franchise.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- How Antoine Allen became a filmmaker and producer of a female boxing franchise
- Empowering people and using the plots of films to educate viewers
- Antoine’s advice on bootstrapping a business
- The importance of reprogramming the mindset for success
- Antoine talks about the production of the two Lola movies
- How to be prepared for new opportunities
- Where to learn more about Antoine
In this episode…
Talent is important in coming up with new ideas. However, it is not enough on its own. You not only need to have a vision but also find people that believe in you, your abilities, and what you can achieve.
Having grown up poor and in a toxic environment without anyone to empower him, Antoine Allen chose to give back by empowering and guiding other people to become the best versions of themselves. He uses his films to help others grow and advises them on reprogramming their minds for success.
In this episode of the Innovations and Breakthroughs Podcast, Rich Goldstein interviews Antoine Allen, the Owner of Antoine Allen Films, about empowering creativity. Antoine explains how he bootstrapped his filmmaking business, how he uses movies to educate people, and the importance of reprogramming the mind for success.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Goldstein Patent Law
- Rich Goldstein’s book: The ABA Consumer Guide to Obtaining a Patent
- Antoine Allen Films
- Antoine Allen on LinkedIn
- Antoine Allen on IMDb
- Monica Floyd on LinkedIn
- “Using Media to Empower and Inspire Others With Monica Floyd”
- Joe Polish on LinkedIn
- “Having an Idea Versus Executing Your Plan: Which Is More Important?”
- “Why Companies Should Have Strong and Defensible Patents With Roland Frasier of Digitalmarketer.com”
- Roland Frasier on LinkedIn
Sponsor for this episode…
This episode is brought to you by Goldstein Patent Law, a firm that helps protect inventors’ ideas and products. They have advised and obtained patents for thousands of companies over the past 25 years. So if you’re a company that has a software, product, or design you want protected, you can go to https://goldsteinpatentlaw.com/. They have amazing free resources for learning more about the patent process.
You can email their team at welcome@goldsteinpc.com to explore if it’s a match to work together. Rich Goldstein has also written a book for the American Bar Association that explains in plain English how patents work, which is called ‘The ABA Consumer Guide to Obtaining a Patent.’
Intro (00:09):
Welcome to innovations and breakthroughs with your host, Rich Goldstein, talking about the evolutionary, the revolutionary, the inspiration and the perspiration and those aha moments that change everything. And now here’s your host, Rich Goldstein,
Rich (00:33):
Rich Goldstein here, host of the innovations and breakthroughs podcast, where I featured top leaders in the path they took to create change past guests include Joe Polish, Roland, Fraser, and Monica Floyd. Um, this episode is brought to you by my company, Goldstein patent law, where we help you to protect your ideas and products. We’ve advised obtained patents for thousands of companies over the past 28 years. So if you’re a company that has software or product or a design, you want protected go to Goldstein patent law.com, where there are amazing free resources for learning about the patent process. And you could email my team@welcomeatgoldsteinpc.com to explore if it’s a match to work together. You could also check out the book I wrote for the American bar association that explains in plain English, how patents work it’s called the ABA consumer guide to obtaining a patent. I have with me here today and Juan Alan Antoine is an award-winning filmmaker, the owner of independent production company, Antoine Allen films.
Rich (01:29):
Antoine began his career in film production while he was successfully managing independent hip hop artists. He has since made four successful feature length films, including Lola, a film about a female boxer, which premiered in 2020 and with his second Lola film, which is about to be released. Antoine will have the first female boxing movie franchise. I was at a screening of the second Lola movie just a few days ago, and it was fantastic. Antoine is passionate about inspiring young, young entrepreneurs and artists to achieve bigger dreams than they currently have for themselves. I’m thrilled to welcome here today, my friend Anine Allen. Welcome Antoine.
Antoine (02:09):
How you doing, buddy? Thank you for having me.
Rich (02:11):
Yeah, my pleasure. And, um, so, you know, I, I wanna kind of, um, tell a little bit of your backstory here or, or talk about a little bit of your backstory here. It’s kind of like how you got into filmmaking. So if you want to give us the, um, kinda the, um, you know, the brief version of kind of how you, you got to be making films and kind of living your passion.
Antoine (02:38):
Yeah. Um, if someone told me a few years ago, I’ll be this whirlwind filmmaker. I would probably laugh in they face. Sometimes God got a great humor for you, I never wanted to be a filmmaker. I was in the music business. So I wanted to be like, like the, I run my own music production company. I used to manage artists. I used to direct music videos, but during that path, during that time, um, things was going as planned because when you’re manage a talent, especially for inner city, you’re not only a manager unit babysitter, you’re a counselor, you’re mother, you’re a father. Cause they go into their own trauma, especially coming from a tough environment. I came from south side, Jamaica, Queens. So I did that for a while and I realized that I wasn’t reaching my full potential things. Start not being fun. No more. I started being stressed out because the pre pre was working with, they was even getting locked up, getting in trouble, amazing talent.
Antoine (03:36):
But you know, when you kind of like fix yourself or work on yourself and you in a toxic alignment, sometimes that don’t match mm-hmm <affirmative>. It’s like someone that goes to counseling trying be better. Another person’s just trying to just figuring things out. So I decided I had two options in life. Cause I, I was at the point, I wasn’t happy. I decided either to quit as more people do quit or I decided reinvent myself. So I did a lot of music videos along my music videos with like movies. I decided to do my first short film. My first short film was split decision and it was the short film version of logo. Black people don’t know that below started with a short film. Once I did that, I won my first film festival. I want tons of awards. I fell in love. I was like, wow, I didn’t know.
Antoine (04:23):
Like I didn’t go to college for this. I didn’t have no mentors. I didn’t have no family. It was in the business. I just tried something and I fell in love with it. And I tell everybody you wanna find something that makes you happy, fall in love with something. Cause we know when we in love with somebody, we do anything and everything. And that’s how I got into this business. And I used to box when I was younger. So I didn’t know. All years later I used to box like amateur fights or upcoming fights at police and gym in Brooklyn. And I didn’t know, all years later I’ll be the owner of a female boxing franchise. Pretty awesome.
Rich (04:54):
Yeah. That’s pretty awesome. So, you know, I was curious about that too. It was like kind of like why, why boxing? Um, and so, I mean, you gave me part of the answer here, which is that you, you have been a boxer like you’ve, um, you’ve boxed before and uh, um, it was an activity that, that you enjoyed, but like I’m curious, like I think there’s, there’s something deeper there too, about the boxing that like part of the story you want to tell.
Antoine (05:21):
Yeah, actually it is really not. Um, Lola came about, well, Rocky, Rocky was a big film that I love and I was saying to myself, first film, Lola was my first was saying to myself, what movie I could do I could stand out? That when people look at my product: like, wow, this is different! And I chose a about to film. I didn’t show any box to film. I show a female box of film when I do any type of projects. I like to stand out. A lot of times we make the same story twice. I didn’t wanna do that. So I just, I just, I choose stories that it could stand out and it’s marketable and that’s how Lola it came about. Um, I, I didn’t really like boxing. I did it while I was younger to get the streets, not get in trouble, but, um, I just did Lola, the FEMA boxing just to stand out and just to be different in the conversation.
Rich (06:08):
Got it. And that’s actually something that came about that we did a, oh, you had a Q and a after your screening, um, this weekend and, uh, and, and people have asked about certain plot choices in it. And I think that’s really what you were, um, what you were talking about is that like a lot of the plot choices were this hasn’t been done before. Right?
Antoine (06:30):
Mm-hmm <affirmative> mm-hmm <affirmative> yep.
Rich (06:32):
So yeah,
Antoine (06:33):
I just, yeah. Yeah. I just wanted do stories that if it’s done before it’s not done on the main level or consistency, so I always try to do choices. That’s not done on a regular. Um, and that’s how I believe you should stand out, use your imagination. You always, you know, we’re not saying reinvent the will, but you could reinvent the will and add your to that you stand.
Rich (06:56):
Absolutely. And I just think that’s an interesting way to make creative choices is to, is to look for the kind of the road less traveled.
Antoine (07:04):
Yeah. Yep. Mm-hmm
Rich (07:05):
<affirmative> and, um, cool. And so, um, you know, like a big, a big thing, like, like a big theme of, of yours is empowering people. Um, I mean, I was reading, reading it about you and info about you, about how you, um, you like to, to, um, help people to live their dreams in a way that they didn’t even think possible. And it’s, it’s kind of funny. That’s like a way that I often describe myself in what I do is like, you know, I help people to protect their ideas, but a lot of times what I’m doing too is I’m, I’m counseling them to do something that they’ve never done before that they didn’t even imagine themselves doing. Like, um, yeah. So, and to me, like a big word for that is empowerment. Right. And, and so like, I’m passionate about empowering people. And when I read that, I, I, I loved it cuz it’s like, wow, that’s kind of a, a, a way in which we’re both similar is we’re, we’re both about empowering people. Um,
Antoine (08:03):
Yeah. Yeah. I, um, I grew homeless, poor environment, like I’m ation part of, of those solution. So since I had to be that stuff for myself, I wanna do for other people. Cause I know how it feels like you have to be inside of you. You wanna get out of it all, you need some guidance. You know, once I saw certain people in my life like a Tyler Perry or JayZ or the 50 cents, you know, they come from my state, my borough, um, steps, Perry, but I’ll for me, I only need to see one person do it. And that would gimme the fire and I was the underdog. Um, uh, I’m still the underdog and those people, I fight for the underdogs, the ones that have every reason to give up or find every reason to keep going.
Rich (08:59):
Yeah, absolutely. And, and so like, what are some things that, that you think are really useful for, for giving someone the ability to see a bigger vision for themselves? Like what, what are some things that you think help to empower someone who’s in a situation like that?
Antoine (09:14):
Yeah. I think the main thing, when it comes to me, I’ve shown ’em as possible. Um, I didn’t come from money. I didn’t come from a rich family. I didn’t come from none of that stuff. I came from the dirt, the ground and I turned my pain into purpose. So when you talk to people, when they see, wait a minute, you, you didn’t go to college first. No, I actually was a special ed student. You didn’t have the best family. No, I don’t. I’m I was, I left my house on at 20 years old. I’ve on my own since I was 20. So when they see someone that actually come for nothing and turn this into what we turn into now, that’s inspired people that show people it’s possible. When a person speak about, you need to go out and go out for your dreams that had everything. It doesn’t feel the same. Cause you didn’t go do nothing. But the person I went to that grit and that grit and actually turned, they paint to purpose, turned water into wine. The stories hit, hits a little different. It feels a little different cause they know that it’s possible.
Rich (10:07):
Yeah. So it sounds like by example, like that’s the way in which you really believe in. Yeah. Empowering people is by showing them like, Hey, you know, look at me. I I’m like you I’ve had background like you and, and look what I’ve done and where I am and you can do it too.
Antoine (10:23):
Yeah, yeah.
Rich (10:25):
Yeah.
Antoine (10:26):
Well, yeah. That, yeah. Yeah. That’s what helped me. When I look at 50 cent, 50 Curtis, 50 Jackson came from my neighborhood stop and see what he become now. It’s amazing. Jay-Z Sean Carter. See what they become now is amazing. Tyler Perry. See what they came from now is amazing. It shows that it’s possible. You just need to better yourself and realize that, you know, time not gonna wait for nobody, just not, but you could do something with that time. You know, if you wanna be, if you wanna have a better life, just try it. If it doesn’t work, just doesn’t work. But the worst thing about me is I don’t wanna be an old man for regret.
Rich (11:05):
Got it. So that, and that’s part of the example that you’re living too is, is really going for the thing that matters to you going for your dream, um, to not be an old man build with regret.
Antoine (11:17):
Yeah.
Rich (11:18):
Yeah. Um, and so, um, now, like in, in terms of like empowering people, um, you know, I’ve seen, um, like in your movies, you, you add elements that are really about showing people, um, that something is possible. Like that’s part of the, like the, the plot and part of the, the dialogue, um, in your films, it seems like you, you want to use your films as a way to also empower people. So tell me a little bit about that. Yeah.
Antoine (11:53):
Yeah. So a lot of my films, um, you gonna see a part of me in it, so it’s kinda like putting candy medicine. I’m gonna give you what you want, but you gonna learn something on the way, because if you gonna sit in the movie theater or take your time to spend and two hours, I wanna teach you something. I wanna teach you that this kid from south, not, not only you, but also showing you that I learn that’s most don’t that most films entertain. And that’s it it’s with that. But also the,
Rich (12:32):
Yeah, I mean, it sounds like you wanna share your growth path with other people and like what you were describing before and working with the hiphop artists is that like a lot of times you notice that you are not at the same plane as other people you’ve grown and they haven’t grown. And then like, it’s like a, a mismatch and it’s, it sounds like you, you want it to bring them along. It’s just, it’s kind of, it takes something, right. It takes something to get someone else to grow and move to the next level. So like you, you know, you seek to share your growth journey, like through, through your plot, through dialogue, through, through your movies.
Antoine (13:07):
Yeah. Like I said, you can’t take care of everybody with you now, everybody growing at the same pace, all you can do is give people the opportunity and up to them to go through that door. And sometimes we won’t go through that door and this is not for everybody. That’s another thing. This is not for everybody. You know, find what makes you happy, find what makes you comfortable? A lot of people working at jaws right now, they hate, they hate, they miserable and they can’t get out of it. I was that person before I was working at jaws. I hate it. But I had to find my way out. I got my way out of it. But, um, but yeah, just, um, you know, I’m just trying to show people that what growth look like, what success look like, what better yourself look like? This is really possible. I didn’t believe it before, but now over the 10 years I put it at work. I put myself first and you know, faith would work. Some beautiful things could happen.
Rich (13:57):
Yeah, no, absolutely. And then, you know, let’s talk about that work. So, so basically you have a bootstrap, your dream, meaning like you didn’t get you didn’t real, you didn’t have any like big backers to help you get into filmmaking. Like you, you know, you, you bootstrapped your own dream. You, you kind of, you, you made your own money through your nine to five and you used it to, to finance your, um, and you know, your, your filmmaking. So tell me bit about that.
Antoine (14:29):
Yeah. So I believe you need to have a job. Um, a lot of peoples, not where they at pick the music business. So the music business and the film business is two different business. The music business, when a regular label say, no, we make our own label. We sell our CDs out the truck. We want the music business is more building your own table. And the film business is hurry up and get good. And wait, I hate waiting. I don’t like it. So, um, I’m big on building own table. So I got in the film business. I’m like, why guys not doing anything? And I realized, that’s the culture. We work. We work with work. And we wait for someone to pick up. When I see people saying I put in work for TW w years, what I really hear, this is my coach. I really hear that you’ve been waiting for TW 30 years.
Antoine (15:17):
Um, we find money for vacation women, men, Cheerio. We gotta, we gotta, you know, certain money on ourself. And now you have no excuse all this technology and internet, like back in the day, I can understand more. But now you just have no excuse. You can make a film on your phone. You could make a short film for like a thousand, just no excuse now. So when things not happening the way you wanna happen, especially now you have to look at the mirror. And also with me too, I had to think about accountability. Cause at first I was never liked this before. I was a person that making excuses, why this blaming everybody. And I realized when I was in my thirties, I at Antoine, you need, you’re being lazy. You’re not doing anything. You’re expecting everything, but you’re not doing nothing. You’re even doing the bare minimum. So when I, when I switch and reprogram myself, that’s what it is. You gotta reprogram we program just to be pieces on the board. Not so once I reprogram myself like, wait a minute, I could do this. I could. And I now I’m attracting the people I want. I’m tracking no big back. Cause I’m attracting them. That’s cause I plan to see already. You can’t, you know, ask for a whole garden if you didn’t plant one seed.
Rich (16:23):
Yeah. So, so then what, what does that, that um, new program look like? Like if you had to, to narrow down to a set of phrases or, or yeah, a mantra is like the, the new program. What, what does it say?
Antoine (16:35):
The new program is one don’t ask for something that you not wanna do it for yourself. Don’t ask for a bigger investment. You’re not investing yourself. Do more for yourself. It’s no different than if you want. If you are a real estate agent and you find to sell your house or you trying to sell houses, you gotta put things together. You gotta do a website. You might wanna dress a little bit different. You might wanna look a little bit good, do more for yourself. You attract that. There’s no different. It’s like the honey and the bee. If you ain’t got nothing sweet, nothing coming to you, you gotta do more for yourself. A lot of times you think talent is enough. Talent is a bonus. Now you got, it’s like a beautiful with no engine, not going nowhere. So the reprogramming is do more for yourself.
Antoine (17:24):
Don’t just wait for someone to do it for you. More proactive. If you wanna be an actress, stop waiting for a cast or actor, stop waiting for a cast. Pick, maybe need to produce your own short film and put that out there. If you wanna be a director and say you waiting for people to give you money to direct direct your first film. So people see, oh, I could do that. Because the reality is when you stepped a room with anybody that got money or got influence and they asked you what had me done and you like, oh, you know, I did this and that. And then I come in the room, I’m getting the deal. Cause I invested 20 short films. I invested in two, three short feature films. I sold out movies and paid for the so I’m we that era now, now that you don’t have to wait. So the reprogramming is stop, stop moving. Like an employee move. Like you supervisor like you, the manager be more proactive for yourself.
Rich (18:21):
Yeah. The business owner. So it’s like choose yourself and create your own sandbox.
Antoine (18:27):
Yeah. And then also too two fear. And I’ve been there. So everything I’m saying, I went through all this fear is very, is hard because a lot of time we create all this stuff in our head and it’s all it is, is in our head. It’s not even real. It’s that doubt know that you enough know that at the end of the day you have two choices, you could try and fail. Or if you’re not trying and die, those are two options you have. There’s no, there’s no option.
Rich (18:54):
Right. And, and, you know, kind of declare yourself of what you wanna be like, like, Hey, you know, I could be a, I could be a doctor in a movie. <laugh> yeah,
Antoine (19:03):
Listen. Yeah. And then get the
Rich (19:04):
Right. Totally do that.
Antoine (19:06):
Yeah. It just, it just point yourself out there. You know, I look at 50 cents, a big influence for me, 50 cents from my neighborhood. This man got shot up multiple times was in jail, got black ball by the industry. And now he’s one of the top worldwide moguls got multiple shows on TV. If he could go through that and we are crying about whatever we trying about. Yeah. Our priorities are messed up.
Rich (19:34):
Yep. No, absolutely. Absolutely. Um, and, uh, um, so I mean that, that reprogramming has worked for you it’s it is worked for you to kind of keep you, um, on top of, of the direction you wanna go, you’ve got a vision and you, you nominate yourself to, to fulfill on that vision. Uh,
Antoine (19:55):
Yeah. It’s no different than it’s no different than having an iPhone. When the iPhones going as old, what do you do? You, you upgrade it. Mm-hmm, <affirmative> new information. A lot of people walking around with the, the same 1999 mindset, they’re not upgraded and not reprogramming those things you have to do.
Rich (20:14):
Yep, exactly. I mean, I like that. There’s an analogy I’ve heard before, like that it’s has, um, do with maps. It’s like, you know, like you’ve got a map that, um, you know, like as a child, you know, you create maps of the world. Like this is the way that people are. This is the way I need to act towards, um, adults or, um, you know, like people are a certain way. I am a certain way. The world is a certain way. You create a map of the world. Right. Mm-hmm <affirmative> but it’s, and it’s kind of like if you move to a different city and you’re still using the same old map.
Antoine (20:51):
Yep.
Rich (20:51):
So like, you’re still saying like, oh, I go down the block and I turn left to go to the coffee shop. No, that doesn’t apply here. And so we bring like the old map, we bring it to our new reality, which isn’t the same reality. And um, we need to, we need a new, a new map.
Antoine (21:08):
Yeah. There’s a new, like perfect example. Right? You are a lawyer in two feature films that I’m part of off a clubhouse app.
Rich (21:16):
Right.
Antoine (21:17):
It’s people that been doing the same method and can’t even get in one movie, you gotta, you gotta switch things around, man. You just gotta, you gotta be open and change.
Rich (21:27):
Yeah. No. And, and, and the, and the kind of the parallel there too, is just like, I, I, I kind of declared it. I said like, Hey, I could do that. Yeah. You know, and I believed it and Monica believed it and you believed it and there, and, and we did it and it was so much fun. <laugh>
Antoine (21:45):
Yeah, yeah. Stuff out
Rich (21:49):
There. And most of the people that are out there, um, kind of going to audition after audition or whatever, they, they wouldn’t believe that that’s possible that it could be that simple. Yeah.
Antoine (21:59):
Because the reprogramming, right. You gotta reprogram, you gotta find different things. Um, you know, talent, like I said, talent is a bonus, but a lot of my success, it’s not cause I’m the talented director. It’s because my business sense, the decisions I make it gonna be way directors, that’s way better than me. It gonna be right. Is way better than me, but they won’t do, they won’t hustle me because the hustle is so separate.
Rich (22:22):
Right.
Antoine (22:23):
And that you gotta realize. Yeah.
Rich (22:24):
And you create your own opportunities. Like you just create your own opportunities in the world. Yeah. That’s awesome. And, um, yeah, let’s talk about Lola. So, um, um, and, uh, so the, this, the second Lola movie, um, is, I mean, we, I, I attended the screening this, this past weekend. It was amazing. Uh, first of all, I couldn’t believe the production value you got out of, like, you didn’t have a huge studio budget, but the movie to me was basically indistinguishable from a, a large studio film. Mm-hmm <affirmative> like visually gorgeous. Um, the, um, the acting was like amazing. You had, you know, the amazing people that you’ve put together to, to be in this film. Um, so I, I was very impressed with that. Like, you, you got a lot out of, I know it wasn’t a huge budget, but you got a lot out of it. Um, so yeah. So tell me, tell me about the film and tell me about the, um, kinda like what’s happening next with the film.
Antoine (23:25):
So let’s tell you how got here. One, I did low love, short film a few years ago. Um, and then from there, at the time I wanted a series I didn’t, so I did was, was my first short film was wanted a name. So I did a whole bunch of other films. And then I finally saying why I wanna revisit Lowell again. So I did, I got my money together for my job, got some friends and family. We shot Lola one, Lola one did incredibly well independently for me. Um, it did really well. A lot of press, uh, it’s on two B TV right now did really well. Um, it was on Fox soul. It was on it really. Well. Then I said, I load two happened like. So I reaching out to people, me load two. Everybody said, no, got, but everybody said, no, the first, yes, I got from this amazing credible person called Monica Floyd.
Antoine (24:30):
I met Monica on the app called clubhouse. I keep telling people this clubhouse, if you have your stuff together and you’re ready for blessings, you can meet some amazing people. We gotta be ready for. So I met Monica on clubhouse, um, on this app, um, I, to the I, and she was really in, she, she loved the idea. I said, Hey, watch little one. She didn’t never watch it. She was, she’s the type of person that, that’s why we click for me. I’m more invested in people. You gonna have the best project in the world. But if I don’t like you and you’re not a good person, I rather bet on people. That’s the thing that we don’t bet on. We bet on if you know this person, if you know that politics that don’t last, I wanna bet on people. So Monica better me.
Antoine (25:13):
We got together, she funded the majority of the film and I was like, wow, off an app. And she really believe in me. And, um, I thank her to this day because we both have the same mindset. We get things done. We met in March. We saw filming in July that don’t happen at all. There’s people that have resources and money and all this stuff and never get nothing done. So me and Monica accomplished, it shows you that take the ego away, take the pride away, just do the work. And we got more partners coming, um, load the two where women would be released most likely the top of next year. Um, load the ones out now, go watch it on two BT. But um, me working with Monica really show me that once again, when you put yourself out there, when you betting yourself, you gonna get 101. No, but you only that one years and meeting Monica, I’m from New York, she’s from Baltimore. She living in California now to meet off app. That’s like that. If you don’t believe in magic and that’s what it was magic and cause that isn’t that’s that’s that’s. That was crazy.
Rich (26:24):
Yeah. No, absolutely. Um, and you know, I met Monica on the app too, and, uh, uh, you know, it’s, but it also ties into something that I really believe is that when you, um, when you express yourself, when you, when you, um, authentically express your vision and who you are and what you’re about and what, what you want accomplish, you’ll attract people that are, um, also aligned with that. People that have have a similar vision or believe in your vision and you don’t need, you don’t, you don’t need a whole lot of people. You just need a few people that, um, um, you know, that are aligned with you like that. And, but the only, but I think the, the, the, the secret to kind of what I’m saying is like, or the kernel of it is that, um, what’s necessary is your self expression. Like, if you’re not expressing, what’s true to you, you’ll never find the, the people that are, that are aligned with you about that. So you need to express, you know, and, and follow your vision.
Antoine (27:26):
Yeah. And once you express the other part, this is what happened. When you, for blessings, once you, for blessings, you gotta be for a lot of times, people blessings right now would just phone for something for his. It happened when he dropped the ball, he wasn’t ready. So you could ask who you want. You could ask, I want this, but you’re not mentally ready for blessings. You gonna, you drop the ball, but gave me this setup. I hit, you seen it. I, I, we went to Atlanta. I state, I never felt, I never felt in Atlanta before. And we shot during, she opened the door, gave me a, and I hit it out the park. So when you get those blessings legal opportunities, don’t just ask for it, be ready for it. A lot of times, I know for a fact, if any other filmmaker would’ve met Monica on and asked what they’ve dropped, the ball was not like I have before two, I done 15, 20 short films, two, three, uh, features on my own. And I got my own team. So another thing too, the reason why I little too look so amazing, not only the funded with Monica is all about who you get around a team. Cause I pick my own team to do this film. So it’s all about, you got more money in the world. It’s all about who’s behind the cameras, who behind is certain picking. That’s what that would cause I seen a lot of film that cause a lot of money look horrible. So it’s all about the team and who’s behind everything.
Rich (28:54):
Yeah. And I, I think that’s, that’s true across the board. It, it always is all about the team. Uh that’s what makes all the difference and in executing on your vision and getting the results you’re you are looking for. Um, yeah. And, um, just another note on that too. Um, you know, Monica is approached by, she’ll say like thousands of people approach her, but they’re not prepared. And so I guess the difference, like one big difference is that I guess you approached her and, and you were prepared, you were ready, like, and you were ready to have that collaboration.
Antoine (29:32):
Yeah. You gotta be ready for the blessings. Like a lot of people, like I said in love, but not I’m season already, I’m coming that, you know, you know, we shot Lola, I wanna say a total of 20 days and we shot Lola, another dance that you don’t know, Rich, most action films or boxing films, or most films that got a decent budget. They shoot with two cameras or three cameras. I shot that whole movie with one camera. Yeah. Lot people can’t. Yeah. Lot of people can’t do what I can do. So I know how special I am. I know God may be special. And that’s why me and Monica work two special people came together and knock out park.
Rich (30:14):
Yeah. I love that. Um, uh, awesome. Well, um, we I’m really looking forward to, to Lola getting out there into the world. Um, you know, not just because I, I play a little part in it, but it’s just, it’s awesome. It’s awesome. And, and you guys are awesome. I mean, I love you and Monica, you guys are just fantastic people that, um, that, um, not only follow your, your path and your, your vision, but you just empower other people, you stand for other people like you, you know, that what’s important in life is all the people and the way that you treat them. And, uh, I just really appreciate that about you and her and, uh, looking forward to its success.
Antoine (30:56):
Yeah. You did a great job in the film. You came prepared, you came ready, came to your line. You, and like I said, when you do your work, sometimes you get rewarded. Sometimes you don’t, but eventually you’ll get rewarded.
Rich (31:09):
So if people wanna learn more about you or get in touch with you, how they go, how do they go about doing so
Antoine (31:14):
They could go to an one Allen films do com that’s my official website. You go on the website, check out modern movie, check out logo one. And yeah. Look for, for over two, 2023.
Rich (31:29):
Awesome. Hi. Well, thanks Antoine. I really appreciate you taking the time to do this interview. This was awesome.
Antoine (31:36):
No problem. Thank you for, you know, putting yourself out there and being this amazing actor, lawyer, trademark, pat, live your dream buddy. Live your dream.
Rich (31:46):
Thank you.
Outro (31:51):
Thanks for listening to innovations and breakthroughs with your host. Rich Goldstein. Be sure to click, subscribe, check us out on the web at innovationsandbreakthroughs.com and we’ll see you next time.