Drew and Nate Garcia, collectively known as the Garcia Brothers, are well known, up and coming directors in Hollywood, currently repped by APA in Los Angeles, they most recently won “Best Film” at the San Diego International Film festival and also host a popular Hollywood Podcast called “The Garcia Brothers” interviewing some of Hollywood’s top players.
The Brothers recently invited Mogul Productions Film Head James Pratt onto the Podcast. James Pratt (Malibu Crush, On Halloween) a successful actor, director, in the industry with some serious credits under his belt.
During the interview, Pratt and the Garcia Brothers shared some exciting breakthroughs happening within the film industry, talked about current projects filming and how Covid is changing entertainment around the world in 2020.
Watch the full interview right here.
Fresh Off Finishing the Anticipated Feature Film Malibu Crush
James, just finished directing the anticipated comedy feature film Malibu Crush featuring Demitra Sealy ( Fast and Furious ), Scott Miller, ( (Once Upon a Time ) and Daniel Musial ( On Halloween ) and Billy White. The Garcia Brothers were impressed with the fact that Pratt, who was also a producer, was able to still deliver on a feature film in 2020 despite facing an uphill battle of obstacles. Pratt lost a lot of his budget and had to work with a core team that relied on favors to push the film through during covid.
“The Dream plan was to go Australia, shoot “Malibu Crush” in April, then be back in LA by this summer. However it was mid-March. COVID hit. Tom Hanks gets COVID shooting Elvis in Australia and everything changes. We come 12 hours away from shooting Malibu Crush, then the government in Australia said, everyone is going into lockdown. And it was like at that point I said, ‘my hands are tied.’ I can’t even go back to the states and try to shoot it there,” Pratt said.
“We lost our finance, our budget…lots of the wheels fell off. With very little budget, we’re like, ‘let’s shoot this film.’ Call in favors,” Pratt said. “We wrapped two weeks ago.” But it was about finishing a great project no matter what gets in the way.
The Garcia brothers echoed the importance of being committed to the film process and applauded Pratt’s reputation as a person who will get something done in Hollywood no matter what the obstacles.
How to Be Better in the Industry
Pratt touched on his admiration for the filmmaking process and highlighted his love of learning.
“I think the main thing for me is I just love filmmaking and the process behind it, you know constantly learning is something that’s really important to me… constantly learning what’s going on in the film industry… I think that constantly learning is something that sort of helps with the behind the scenes thing,” he said. “It’s about balancing the time and quality filmmaking… [that] is the overall goal at the end of it,” Pratt said.
Other key highlights from the interview included Why The Farrelly Brothers and Jet Wilkinson are special directors, and where the direction of Hollywood is heading for streaming services and distribution.
“I’m a huge Bobby and Peter Farrelly fan… they come from a writing background and their style of comedy is so good. I have a tremendous amount of respect for them ” Pratt said. “There’s an Australian director as well… Her name is Jett Wilkinson, she does quite a bit of producing now in the states and TV shows…she was a really good director when I worked with her because… she gave the actor a sense from the very beginning like ‘I’m on your side… if you got a problem I’m here.’ ”
Mogul is Opening Up Hollywood Investing Opportunities & Creating a Film Community Around High-Quality Production
- Give people a fairer way to contribute in films in Hollywood, but also give people access to top tier quality films being made.
- Develop a community around quality filmmaking
Investing in Hollywood-grade films is an exclusive pursuit that requires insider access to get the best deals. However, Pratt believes that Mogul has the potential to improve the process system and deliver another option for those wanting to invest in films. At the same time, Pratt noted that Mogul will deliver access to top films, not just those projects, that are only available because everyone else has passed on them in Hollywood.
“The critical part of it is for the investor. If I said to you guys, hey let’s go and invest in Mission Impossible 8. It’s going to be a hard track for the average investor to actually get in there. Between the contracts that are already signed up, the roadmap that’s there… you have to know people inside to actually get a deal. For the person who wants to invest in Hollywood [they ask] how do I get in, how do I actually be a part of this?”
Go to our website to learn more about how Mogul is disrupting film and blockchain.
Quality Filmmaking is a Key Goal for Mogul
One way that Mogul is differentiating itself is that it’s focused on quality filmmaking. Unlike some other crowdfunding platforms, Mogul is focused on working with top tier talent. Their team currently includes Emmy-Winners, Oscar Nominees, and recipients of other top awards in the industry.
“You can go on crowdfunding sites right now, and you can invest in productions,” Pratt said. “But they are probably not going to be productions that are going to get a strong theatrical release. They aren’t always productions that are going to get top-tier talent. Mogul’s aim is basically to give those people an opportunity to invest, but also to give people access to it [top-level performance and talent] as well,” Pratt said. “The goal is to make films that people want to see.”
“One of the things Mogul is really passionate about is the power of the crowd…what do people want to see made,” Pratt said. Fans need a voice.
Mogul is at the Forefront of Change in Hollywood
The Garcia Brothers spoke about how Mogul is at the forefront of the wave of changes that are happening in Hollywood. They talked about how production budgets will be transformed and how Mogul seems to be right on the target with that transformation.
“Margins are already so thin for a lot of theaters during normal times, but during COVID it’s been really, really tough. Some things are going to change… the way movies are made is probably going to have to change quite a bit. That’s going to have to change. You guys seem to be right on target with this with Mogul,” Drew Garcia said.
“Movies are going to have to be made for cheaper,” Drew Garcia said. “There’s so much content, so many options for people. I think the productions are going to have to be scaled down, but not the stories. There are a lot of innovations in the industry that are allowing this to happen,” he said.
Watch the full interview right here.
In Conclusion
James Pratt and the Garcia Brothers teamed up to have a content-rich conversation about everything from film production to blockchain, and how Mogul is transforming the film industry. At the end of the day, what makes these players elite is that they consistently strive to create the best work they can create. Striving for excellence in filmmaking is at the heart of Mogul’s platform as well, which will differentiate it as a crowd-based platform.
As Hollywood continues to transform in the post-COVID era, Mogul is positioned to be at the forefront of a new era of filmmaking.
Read this article to learn more about the Mogul Smart Wallet.
About the Garcia Brothers
Drew and Nate Garcia are brothers from Idaho who have emerged onto the scene as some of the hottest up and coming directors in Hollywood. Together, they have a number of titles under their belt, including “Hero” which won several awards including “Best Short Comedy Film” at the San Diego International Film Festival and “Best Short Film” at the Marina del Rey Film festival. They are currently repped at APA.
About James Pratt
(From IMDB) “James Pratt is an award-winning actor, director, and celebrity favorite within luxury auctioneering internationally. With a strong background in acting, James first started his career studying acting at the prestigious acting school, NIDA in Sydney Australia, before landing a guest role on the hit TV show Home & Away. Since then James has gone on to work alongside some of the best in Hollywood including Q’orianka Kilcher, Sam Worthington, and Erica Christensen.”
About Mogul
Established in 2019, Mogul Productions is a blockchain-based film finance and production company with a presence in Canada, the United States of America, and Europe. Mogul’s platform connects contributors, film industry professionals, and fans through technology that allows all users to engage and participate with each project throughout its entire life cycle.
