David Lawrence - Cancer, Cannes, and a Fake Australian Accent

David Lawrence — Cancer, Cannes, and a Fake Australian Accent

David Josh Lawrence (actor, writer, producer, acquisitions at Studio Dome / Bloodstream TV) pulls up a chair in the most eventful tracksuit session yet. What starts as a conversation about his self-produced passion project *Lincoln Must Die* quickly spirals into a deeply honest — and deeply funny — account of how he actually got here: surviving non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at 16, becoming a firefighter in San Bernardino, finding acting through exposure therapy, and learning to write scripts because the 2007 WGA strike shut everything else down.

Topics & highlights:

• Lincoln Must Die — how David pitched the story from nothing at Cannes, waited five years, and finally got it made in a month with indie collaborators Leanne Bauer, David Mitchell Park, and Mario Garcia Duenas
• Cancer at 16 — non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, the Make-A-Wish negotiation (Jackie Chan was busy, Jet Li was busy, Britney Spears was apparently doable), and why surviving it made everyone else's excuses hard to tolerate
• Firefighting & exposure therapy — how anxiety attacks on medical calls in San Bernardino led him to a therapist who told him he was actually just an actor
• The Australian accent arc — faking a full Aussie identity to book a role, accidentally getting signed by an agent, booking Bundaberg rum and Outback Steakhouse commercials, and the moment it all unraveled at a client mixer
• Breaking into distribution — filling in for a no-show at the American Film Market and getting offered an acquisitions job by the end of the day; working with mentor Tom Malloy
• Why you shouldn't put your indie film on IMDb too early — a genuinely useful breakdown of how festival dating kills your international sales window
• Complex Texas, I Have Proof, and the buddy-cop-with-a-monkey movie — the ongoing collaborations between David, James, and BJ
• Weed brownies, alien theories, and the case for just going out and making your movie already

Creators and Guests

Host

BJ Hendricks

Actor and producer with deep roots in the business. BJ brings an authentic, no-holds-barred perspective on the realities of making it and staying in Hollywood.

Host

James Cullen Bressack

Award-winning filmmaker with over 25 directing credits, and over 150+ producing credits. Known for his work across horror, action, and thriller genres, James brings decades of behind-the-camera experience and raw industry insight to every conversation.

Producer

James Rundquist

What is The Tracksuit Podcast?

The Tracksuit Podcast is media industry professionals sit down with fellow creatives, filmmakers, and experts for wide-ranging authentic, unfiltered conversations about the entertainment industry - covering everything from the business of entertainment to the unexplained. Hosted by BJ Hendricks and James Cullen Bressack.

Welcome to the Tracksuit podcast.

Hi, everyone.

Welcome to the Tracksuit podcast.

Today, we've got David Josh Lawrence, who
is an amazing salesperson, producer,

actor, so many different things.

But I'll let Mr. David Josh Lawrence talk
about himself for a second.

Hold on.

Before he does, just jumping in, you left
out Ryder, one of the main ways you've

been working with him, Ryder.

That was a lot of commas to worry about.

I thought I was like, comma, comma.

Multi hyphenate over here.

But yes, David's with Studio Dome,
formerly Glass House.

And David, take it away.

Give a little background on yourself
before we dive on in.

I

think I've got like a five minute
monologue, but I'll keep it to like 30 seconds.

No, I'm an actor, writer, producer.

I work in distribution for a company
called Studio Dome.

I used to be with a company called Glass
House Distribution.

I do acquisitions there.

We also own and operate the platform
Bloodstream TV, all headed up by Shaquette

Berenson.

And Bloodstream TV is kind of like a
shutter, but more fun.

So that's pretty much everything, but I
know you through writing, acting.

You were my co-writer on The Workout, and
you played Officer O'Brien, who also

happened to have a neck tattoo.

And Antonucci.

Yeah, I tried to have a neck

tattoo and everything.

Yes, yeah,

I had a neck tattoo.

And we co-wrote another script together
that is yet to be made, but it was fun.

It was the Tsunami one.

That's right.

That was Tsunami.

Yeah, and you've worked with BJ on a
couple projects for Bentris Productions as well

as a writer.

But I think one of the coolest things
about you, David, is how... Oh, do tell.

Oh, yeah.

Personally speaking, like, you know, I
think the fact that you put together this

movie, Lincoln Must Die, for yourself as a
lead, you wrote it, this was a passion

project for you, and you really just went
for it and put the whole thing, you know,

soup to nuts together on your own.

And, yeah, I mean, with...

The help of some of your friends, but I
was so proud of you and so in awe that you

went for it and you got it done and you
were just like, I'm gonna do this hell or

high water.

And I feel like that's what indie film
needs.

And you look absolutely phenomenal in it.

You know, it's funny that you say I look
phenomenal.

I feel like 90% of the work was done by a
mustache.

So it was funny.

Like you said, I had an idea for this
movie and I was in Cannes maybe five or six

years ago.

And there was an investor who I was
talking to and I was like, oh my gosh, this guy

has money.

And he goes, hey, do you have any movies
that you're working on?

And I did not.

And so I just, from my ass, I literally
pulled up the idea of Lincoln Must Die, at

the time it was called Runner, and I told
him this whole story, and it was kind of

based on me back in the day.

This

was something you've been trying to get
made for a while now,

though.

Well, I had it in my head, but I hadn't
written it.

And so I told him, he goes, when can I
read it?

And I'm like...

David is a pretty quick writer, by the
way, guys.

Yeah, pretty quick, but don't pay me by
the hour.

So I had that idea.

I went home.

As always happens, investors are like...

You know, hurry up and send it to me.

And then I write it and I send it to him.

And then a week goes by, two weeks go by.

I go, what did you think of the movie?

And he goes, I've been on vacation.

I'm going to be on vacation for another
month and a half.

And I'm like, I could have done it for a
month.

Disregard the last script.

I'm going to go work on it and come back.

Anyway, five years later, I write a couple
other scripts since then.

I let go of that movie.

I tried to make it a bunch of times.

And then out of nowhere, I met some
independent filmmakers that, not out of nowhere.

Leanne Bauer, right?

Yeah, Leanne Bauer and David Mitchell Park
and Mario Garcia Duenas.

And I was distributing a movie that they
had made for a very low budget.

And they said, hey, you got any scripts?

I sent them that script.

And they were like, great, we found some
money.

You want to make it?

And I was like, oh, my God.

I was like, how long do we got?

They're like, we're going to start in a
month.

Champagne problems.

You're like, yep, let's go.

I'm ready.

I know he was dedicated.

He was in the gym working out.

I mean, he could have looked a little
better, not physique-wise, but he could have

been wearing a tracksuit in the movie.

I definitely

think that should have been something his
character should have done.

So you did not hear back from that
investor, the big

one?

Never heard back from that

investor.

See them rich people like that.

They don't vacation.

They holiday.

Them motherfuckers holiday.

You know what

I mean?

That was a half a year holiday they took.

Where did you learn to write scripts?

You know, trial by fire.

I used to lie a lot as a child, so it all
started there.

You know, a little fibbing here and there.

And then what actually happened was I was
an actor in early 2000s, 2006, 2007, and I

was doing a lot of day player roles on
procedurals, playing a firefighter, because I

used to be a firefighter.

And when the first writer's strike
happens...

He just

kind of glosses over, oh, you used to be a
firefighter.

Let's not talk about that.

Let's not talk about that.

We are going to come back to that.

I want to dive back into that too, because
I was going to ask you about how that

affects you as an actor, but continue.

Yeah.

So basically the whole town for scripted
shut down.

And if you notice, that's when unscripted
became popular.

And me and my friends, we were like, well,
we got to write something.

So we wrote a pilot and telling stories
came pretty easily.

And so we wrote one pilot, sold it, wrote
another pilot.

Somebody optioned it.

And then I was like, oh my gosh.

I have so much more control as a writer
nobody has to give me permission to write

the way they sometimes have to give you
permission to act right or you got to pay to

act in the class which I still love to
this day but writing just gives you so much

freedom you can just go after it and
nobody's got to give you permission so I

started writing I consulted on a couple
like

Short films about cancer, because I used
to have cancer.

We'll get back to that.

But basically, I met a bunch of mentors
along the way that took me under their wing

and just gave me all these great tools.

I didn't go to school for it.

I failed English twice.

I've got dyslexia.

I'm the least likely person to be a
writer.

My dad always used to say one of the most
fun things about writing is it's pretty

much acting in every single character.

So you get to write the scene as one
character and then you get to act it out as the

other character reacting to that character
and so it's just different acting

performances almost improvisationally and
then you clean up the dialogue.

So you would say that it came from your
acting experience, reading all these

scripts, knowing how to

And the improv thing is absolutely
correct.

Like I did a lot of improv and I do have a
lot of voices in my head and I just play

those characters against

each

David also worked with both of us on
Complex Texas.

He was a producer on it, and he definitely
has a lot of voices in his head because

he also managed to find a way to put
himself in the movie repeatedly.

He was cast as one character, but he's
like, oh, you need a helicopter guy?

I'm gonna be the helicopter guy.

Oh, you need the guy who jumps out of the
helicopter?

I'm gonna be that guy.

I'm like, David, you can't be all these
people.

You're gonna be recognizable and be like,
no, I'll just cover my mouth.

Or I'll just wear sunglasses.

I'm like, dude, you look like David.

But no, he found his way into the movie in
four different roles, I think.

I would leave set.

I left set after my role, which we'll put
up a picture of all three of us in the

car, because for the first time ever, we

all three got to be in the same scene
together, which was awesome.

Yeah, well, because I don't really like
acting myself.

Even

though he's like fucking extraordinary.

He's at it.

He is really good because he's a director.

All I did was

laugh.

I literally didn't even have a line.

But your laugh was the laugh that I
thought was real.

I thought you were really laughing at me,
so I'd

look at him like, oh, wait, are you just

laughing because of what I said?

Because that's not in the scene at all.

He's laughing in

character.

But then I went home from set.

I flew home.

And I would just see David on Instagram
and he would just be in different roles.

It was like, how many things is David

in?

He was the body double for Brian Austin
Green.

That was his butt double.

That's

it.

No, he was not.

But yeah, he also somehow managed to have
a whole photo shoot with Kelly while in

police uniform, David did, and then they
made fake posters for a movie, a buddy cop

movie.

What do you mean fake?

No, we're

making that movie.

Good cop, bad cop, monkey cop.

Don't

give

away my movie to

people.

People are gonna make this now.

Nah, they can't.

We'll beat them to it.

That's amazing.

Yeah, it's like, well, I just thought
like, there's the interrogation scene.

You don't mess with me, you mess with the
monkey.

And like, you know, it's like, oh, you
know, you don't want to talk?

Okay.

And then the monkey comes in and like
interrogates him, slams her head, punches him

in the

face.

Bro, you're giving me so many ideas for
free.

I might have to thank you in the credits.

Oh, yeah.

Oh,

thanks.

Special thanks on IMDb.

So let's circle back to, you know, you've
lived a lot of lives.

Obviously, you know, as you mentioned, you
were a firefighter and also you're a

cancer survivor.

So I'd love to kind of start at the
beginning.

You know, let's talk about your cancer.

So if memory serves, around like 15, 16
years old, you were

diagnosed, right?

Yeah, I was diagnosed with non-autonomous
lymphoma when I was 16 years old.

I was playing football.

They found a lump in my neck.

They did a biopsy.

Turns out that it was cancerous.

It was not a great prognosis.

You know, I had, you know, X amount of
months before there was a bad situation.

And so went through all of that.

Eventually, you know, got better.

It took a long time.

And that kind of gave me a lot of,
basically gave me a lot of energy for life.

I mean you're being modest that you kind
of like it was you know they pretty much

gave you like a wish from the make a wish
thing.

Yeah

I did a make a wish which I felt bad
because I was a 16 year old you're doing like

you're in the pediatric ward right and
there was there was a couple moments where I

lost a lot of weight from cancer but I was
a football player but I was like a chunky

I was like a chuffy like buff and chubby
you know football player I've never seen my

abs.

And then after cancer, I lost all this
weight, but some of the muscle was still

there.

For the first time I had a six pack, I was
like,

oh shit.

I was like, cancer looks pretty good on

me.

It's not a great diet, but it will slim

you down faster than Ozempic.

So what happens is when you're in a
pediatric ward, there's a lot of kids around

you.

It's pretty sad.

But they, you know, the social worker come
around and ask if you wanted to, you

know, apply for, make a wish.

I applied and I got it.

And they make you, they give you three
wishes, you know, just in case one of them

doesn't work out.

My first wish I wanted to meet Jackie
Chan.

And he was busy.

And then I wanted to meet Jet Li, and he
was busy.

You wanted to meet both people stuck in
China.

Yeah, exactly.

And then the last one was I wanted to meet
Britney Spears.

This was

before Cameo, so I should just send a
Cameo.

Yeah, no, this is in like 2002.

So the last one was like, I want to meet
Britney Spears.

They're like, come on, you like Britney
Spears?

I was like, I like Britney Spears.

And they're like, her music?

I'm like...

I like Britney Spears.

And then, I mean, if it would have been
Aaliyah, it would have been Aaliyah if she

was still alive, but she was dead by then.

But they were like, Liz, come on.

Your last wish has to be something that we
could actually do and don't have to go

out to somebody or make it a shopping
spree.

I find it interesting that literally this
is a make a wish for a child that's dying,

essentially, and they're negotiating with
you about what your last wish is allowed

to be.

I feel like I

do something that's reasonable.

You find out later in life that Jackie
Chan and Jet Li were just hanging out

together the whole time.

They were

like, this kid, he's 90 years old.

Nah, he could die.

So is your goal now at this point to write
a movie starring Britney Spears and

Jackie Chan and Jet Li?

Yeah, 100%.

And then guilt them into doing it for

scale.

And then guilt

them and say,

you weren't there for me.

And basically, Britney Spears is a martial
artist with knives now anyway, so I think

she would probably fuck shit up.

But I

mean, you know, to get a diagnosis like
that so far into your childhood and so far

in a negative way that they would actually
give you a wish, how has that changed

your outlook on life?

Yeah, 100%.

You know, I mean, the craziest thing is
after that happens, nothing can be that bad.

And I actually had a hard time identifying
with my friends that were my age because

I had got to the end of life and back.

And so all of a sudden, everybody's
excuses didn't make sense.

I was like, what do you mean you can't do
this because of that?

You know what I mean?

What do you mean you feel sad because of
that?

And I actually had a hard time keeping
friends because I didn't want to be the guy

that was just like pulling the cancer
card, but I would have people complain about

minuscule things and just not understand
that it's all relative, right?

Like based on your perspective and your
screen that you're seeing the world through.

So my screen now was, okay, what do I
want?

I want to help people.

I'm become a firefighter.

I'm going to go to school.

I'm going to get everything I needed to
get done.

I'm going to do all those things.

And then boom, I get it.

And then I realized I'm not happy there.

You know what I mean?

Like I had a lot of medical calls in San
Bernardino.

And so that was medical calls in San
Bernardino.

They're pretty scary.

You know what I mean?

There's a lot of crackheads out there.

There's a lot of drug use.

There's a lot of mental health issues.

And so I'd arrive on these scenes and they
were pretty gruesome.

And I realized my heart was so empathetic
to what was happening.

I couldn't compartmentalize.

And I had to go to therapy for it because
I started getting anxiety attacks before

every medical call.

And so I ended up going to a therapy where
you get your emotions out through

reenacting what happened.

It's called exposure therapy.

And that's actually how I found the art.

Well, the art, basically.

That's how I found, you know, acting,
which was I'm basically doing a scene.

And after a couple weeks of doing these
scenes, you know, they're just improv

scenes.

And I'd have these breakthroughs.

I'd cry.

And in front of all these people, and
after a couple weeks, a couple months, the

therapist was like, hey, you're still
having breakthroughs every time.

She's like, I don't think you're not
getting better.

I think you're getting better.

She's like, but I think you're an actor.

You just have access to all this stuff,
all this life experience.

And so I think you should be an actor.

I didn't buy it.

I still didn't understand how an actor
would help people.

And then she said, if you tell stories
that change people's perspectives, they could

help a lot of people.

And so that was my way into acting and,
you know, kind of the rest is history.

But acting, you know, I could tell some
stories, but writing, actually, I could

really, you know, change people's
perspectives.

And the one thing that I always wanted to
share with people was...

You know, at the end of everybody's life,
and I saw a lot of people pass away when I

was in the hospital, nobody's screaming
for fame, fortune, or Ferraris.

They're screaming people's names.

So at the end of everybody's life, the
only thing that matters is the people that

you spent it with.

So I decided all my movies would have some
element of people over things, choosing

to save somebody over something
materialistic.

Was there that moment where they told you
you didn't have cancer anymore?

Yeah, so I was in the hospice and I had

actually started changing how I ate.

We actually started a diet plan.

Weed brownies?

All weed brownies.

Yeah, let's hear the weed brownie story.

Let's hear the weed

brownie story in a second.

Sorry, I was trying to look for a time to
bring that up.

I do have a weed brownie

story.

There was a time to bring it up.

Before I got really sick, I was...

You know, I was still going to school and
so I found out kind of late in my cancer

while I was at school that weed would
actually help.

This was, again, back before it was
medicinally, you know, legal.

So we were illegally... Now it's

widely accepted to be helpful for cancer.

Totally.

And even in children, I don't think they
really do the THC, even though they should,

but I don't know how it would affect their
brains, but for me, my brain was already

fucked.

So I was like, who cares?

He has bad grades, he's dyslexic, how much
worse can he be?

He's now suddenly Southern on the podcast?

You do not put me around Jamaican people.

I think that something is not going

to happen.

Why is he suddenly Southern?

I would say it started to drift in this
whole time.

Like you've suddenly

become Southern.

Whoever I'm with it'll start to sound like

Now

he sounds normal.

I'm working hard at it.

I did have a little bit of a twinge when I
was in high school because I was on the

football team.

It was a very diverse high school.

There wasn't a lot of white kids, at least
in the beginning, and so my affectation

was very much more hood than anything
else.

I digress.

So I would smoke weed in the morning.

My mom knew about it and she was all about
it.

She used to be a, I guess she would be a
hippie.

There's like beatniks and then there's
hippies.

I believe she was a hippie.

And so we'd get the weed from my buddy
Justin Flood.

Shouts out to Justin.

Hopefully they don't

go and arrest him now.

What year is this podcast?

It's like, shout out to Justin.

The FBI is at your door.

Sam Bernardino.

He's been

running this game for 25 years now.

You're giving weed to

16 year olds?

For 25 years.

And he was already smoking weed without
any cancer, so he was the perfect person to

bring weed.

Oh man, you are just

incriminating Justin.

Listen, the statute of

limitations is over.

I don't know this man.

I don't know Justin.

But he got us all the weed and my mom, so
I'd smoke weed in the morning and that

would last me up until about lunch.

My mom, bless her heart, would make these,
she called them Alice B. Toklas brownies.

Why Alice

B. Toklas?

I don't know.

It's an old head thing.

You gotta ask older people.

Alice B. Toklas was a thing for weed
brownies.

I don't know, it sounds like

some Kurt Vonnegut random name that's in
Slaughterhouse-5.

Google it.

It's like Tralfa

Midorian.

Travis

Midorian gummies.

Alice

B. Toklas.

So she'd make these brownies and there was
no measuring, bro.

These things were fucking strong.

But so like in the morning I'd be smoking
weed and then at lunchtime I couldn't like

walk away to go smoke weed, right?

So my mom had these brownies for me.

So I'd eat a brownie at lunch and that
would like, you know, cut the nausea until I

had football practice.

So I'm having brownies, and I must have
done so much weed that morning that the

brownie I had was enough, and there was an
extra brownie there.

And one of our, I won't say his name, but
one of our linemen saw the brownie and

goes, hey, Dave, are you going to eat that
brownie?

And I was like, nah, man, go ahead.

It's delicious.

So he eats it and then we go to class and
then all of a sudden we're in class and I

see him like at his desk just like playing
with his desk.

He's just like kind of petting it and I'm
like uh-oh.

He didn't know it was a weed brownie.

He did not know it was a weed brownie and
he's like he's like I think it was like I

forget the lady's name but he was like
miss so-and-so he's like I gotta go to go to

go to the go to the bathroom and so he
leaves and I'm like oh

He's been gone for like maybe five minutes
and then all of a sudden the bell rings.

It's been like 25 minutes, 30 minutes.

I was just sitting there stoned off my ass
in math, not understanding how letters

and numbers worked.

Algebra.

So I go outside and he's like staring at a
tree and I was like, dude, I was like, we

got to go to the next class.

And he's like, I'm going to go to the
nurse's office.

I was like, you can't go to the nurse's
office.

I'm going to the nurse.

I feel weird.

I was like, no, you're fine.

He's like, what'd you give me?

I was like, I didn't give you anything.

You're dreaming.

That was Justin, not me.

He got kicked out already.

It's his

fault.

Justin Flynn.

So then I go to my next class and then I
get called out by my counselor and I'm at

the counselor's office and he had called
my mom too.

My mom's there.

And he goes, so, you know, so-and-so is
feeling pretty sick.

He said you gave him a brownie.

He goes, and I know your situation.

I know what you're going through, and I'm
sorry you're going through all that.

He's like, but...

But you're gonna get detention, cancer
kid.

You can't be giving kids weed.

And my mom goes, my mom is like the
sweetest lady in the world.

Remember Kitty from That 70s Show?

That's my mom.

But literally, imagine that as a person
working at the school, you're chastising

this kid with cancer.

You're like, oh, you're going to get
detention.

We're

going to expel you.

You're not expelling the kid with cancer.

No.

Exactly.

It's in the news.

They're

like, kid with cancer gets expelled.

For giving

away brownies.

That's not happening.

For smoking weed for his nausea.

They're just like, don't.

Don't do that

again.

Also, like at my school, you weren't
allowed to wear hats, but since I had a bald

head, they let me wear a hat.

And I would purposely, just because I got
that Jewish guilt in me, we're like, we

like to make people feel guilty, which is
different than Catholic guilt.

Catholics feel guilty all the time.

Jews just like making people feel guilty.

So I'm walking around with my hat and a
teacher who I didn't recognize was like, you

can't wear a hat.

I'm like, yeah, I can.

And she's like, no, you can't.

Why can you?

And I'm like, because I have cancer.

The look on her face would be so
horrified.

She remembered there was a report about me
that this one kid could wear a hat.

I was like, yeah.

So I don't smoke weed anymore because it
gets me paranoid, but one time I ate, you

know, it was like when I was, I don't
know, 18, I had just gotten like a medical

marijuana card because at the time you had
to go see a doctor, get a prescription

and stuff, and I went and I got a

It's like a pound cake, like a little like
cake that was like this big.

And I was like, okay, like that's, you
know, and so like I got it and I ate it and

I'm reading the back of the wrapper and it
says like 10 servings.

And I was like, I was, I was supposed to
only take a bite of this.

I wasn't supposed to eat the whole thing.

Like who, who doesn't eat the whole, I'm a
fat kid at heart.

Who doesn't eat the whole, who doesn't eat
the whole dessert, you know?

And so anyways,

Ended up getting super paranoid, thought
that the zombie apocalypse was coming and

just was trying to look up the news on a
computer but forgot the word for news so

just kept typing in one face talking for
12 hours.

And that's what I

kept looking for.

So anyways, I don't smoke weed anymore.

Gets me paranoid.

That's my brownie story.

I'll give

you one, too.

I used to be responsible for, and you knew
who that was back in the day, like I used

to be responsible for this group who was
on the East Coast, and when they would come

out here, I had to get all their weed for
them because I had the weed card.

They did not have that.

So they would come over here, I would get
them all the weed.

I went to the weed store one day.

I said, okay, cool.

They give us like an ounce of weed.

They're gonna roll everything up to do
whatever they're gonna do.

I said, it's great.

And I had $10 left over out of the budget
that they had given me.

And I go, well, what can I get for the
$10?

And this dude who I knew who ran the weed
store, he goes, oh man, he reaches behind

this thing.

He's like, I'm gonna get this.

And the cookie was like this big, you
know, like maybe a little bit 50 cent piece

style thing.

And I was like, well, I never thought
anything of it.

I just went for it.

He was like, yeah.

We were going to, I forget what it used to
be called James.

You were supposed to eat one-tenth of that
small little cookie that big.

Yes, it's gonna come, but the fat kid
thing happens because

we

had to go for that horror movie back in
the day to sign autographs at, I forget what

the LA Convention Center was back then.

It wasn't like a Comic-Con, it was like a
Scare-Con of some

day.

It was Scream LA or something like that.

One of those.

I remember, yeah.

And so we had to go sign autographs there.

And before we went, we all smoked and
everything.

And I was like, oh, this is great.

We smoked in a hotel room.

We were all gonna leave together to go
over there and then that cookie was fucking

sitting there and by then I was fucking
hungry because I had the munchies off the

shit that I was already doing.

And I ate that whole cookie and I remember
going up the escalators to the LA

Convention Center and I was like, oh fuck,
like what has happened to me?

Is the building going down or mine going
up?

What's

happening?

At first, I panicked, so I went to the
bathroom and was like, gotta throw up, gotta

throw up, gotta throw up.

How are we gonna do this situation?

And it wouldn't work because I hadn't ate

enough, you know what I mean?

I hadn't ate enough.

And then finally, for eight hours, I was
permagrant at this thing signing

autographs.

I was like, blank face.

I went back to the weed store the next
time, and he goes, how was everything?

I was like, what the fuck was in that
cookie?

He goes, oh man, you ate the whole thing.

And I was like, I ate the fucking whole
thing.

It was the size of a 50 sippies.

What the fuck do you think I'm going to
do?

You don't have directions for any of these
things.

The weed shops now from like, I have
friends that do, again, I don't anymore, but

you can get like a thing of like goldfish,
like weed goldfish, you know, like the

goldfish crackers and you're supposed to
have one goldfish cracker.

They give you a whole bag.

Who eats one goldfish?

How do stoners do that?

You eat a whole bag of chips.

You know what I

mean?

First of all, who has the restraint to
have one goldfish?

You think stoners are going to have the
restraint?

Didn't Nabisco get into the weed game?

So we've talked about a lot of more
serious stuff.

We got into something a little more silly,
but

BJ likes to ask all of our guests, what is
your opinion

on aliens and UFOs?

Yeah, what do you think about the UFOs?

I 100%

believe in them.

I feel like I've had eerie moments where I
thought that there was something going

on.

I watched, was it with David Duchovny,
X-Files.

I watched

Way too much of that and I would have
nightmares thinking that like they're coming.

100% I believe they're coming.

And not only that, I literally think,
here's my- I

think they're already here.

I think we've already, I think aliens have
already touched base and they're just

slowly like letting us know that like, you
know, they think that you put a frog in

boiling water it'll jump out immediately
but if you let it slowly simmer it'll be

okay.

So I feel like they're slowly like
releasing files like oh yeah here's some UFOs

here's this but eventually they're gonna
be like yeah aliens have been here for

No, we're gonna elect one.

We're gonna elect one.

They're gonna be like, oh

yeah, fucking Blurp is on the fucking
ballot this year.

Blurp.

We had reports saying that there are
aliens.

Now we have one as the president.

Selfishly, I'm just like...

I'm just like let

us know already about the aliens because
like I'm hoping alien societies have great

movies and I'm like think about this you
could have 10,000 years of like films that

you have never even heard of or seen
you're like yo I want to see

Their Academy Award-worthy movie.

Blurp 1 and Blurp

2.

They're fascinated by chlorophyll and how
it works.

There's a whole movie about chlorophyll.

You're just watching grass grow.

This is amazing.

Why did

you get Southern again once you said grass
grow?

You're like, grass grow.

Oh yeah, grass grow.

Fucking just pushed all of it out on you.

We were watching the other day that Bill
Maher put out this whole thing where he was

like, fuck man, at this point, why don't
you just come?

What's going to happen to you?

At this point, if they wanted to kill us,
they would have already probably done it

at this point.

I think that

they're us from the future.

Here's what I think.

Me too.

I think that we had a civilization.

They found out that there was going to be
a worldwide, you know, like a world ending

event.

They built spaceships.

They left.

It hit, they're waiting for things to get
more normal, and then they'll come back

down for resources.

Well, this is not

the time to come if they're waiting for it
to get normal.

As the government just bought, what is it,
Aliens.gov or whatever?

Yeah, they just bought it.

I

don't like that.

I think that aliens were here during
ancient times.

If you look at Egyptians, like the
Egyptian pyramids and having that exact math, but

also the way they designed the crowns and
stuff, it kind of makes sense if you

really think about it.

You think they're all coneheads?

I think that's specific species, but if
you really think about it outside of...

You know, Earth, it would be statistically
impossible that there would not be

intelligent life somewhere in the vastness
of space.

But I

did watch something the other day that I
thought was just crazy.

Joe Rogan had a guy on who was very
educated in what he was talking about, and his

whole thing was like...

Us being them from another time, it's us,
but they're way on another timeline from

us way out there.

And now they've evolved to the point where
they cannot have babies.

And so they're coming back and that's why
people get abducted and stuff because

they're actually like trying to figure out
how their species can continue on.

Abducted by a dolphin?

They're stealing our sperm?

They're milking us?

Yes, they're milking us.

They're milking us.

David, why are you getting excited by the
prospect of the fact that they're milking

us?

Why do you think

my knee is up?

Have you ever seen Y Files on YouTube?

No, it's Y Files.

An amazing, amazing show.

I mean, that thing's got millions and
millions of followers.

He does really great documentary style
things with really great AI videos to go with

it so you're entertained as it goes along.

One of his latest episodes was a whole 30
minute to 45 minute documentary on

Whether or not from some old military
notes on whether or not they had figured out

that we were the prison so that that's the
reason we can't ever get anywhere outside

of our situation because they put us here
because we're the fucking like shittiest

of the shitty creatures.

Because

we're monkeys mixed with aliens.

And I was like,

it's such an interesting

thing.

Rick and Morty were just powering Rick's
battery.

Have you seen that episode of Rick and
Morty where they keep going into different

universes and it's just a smaller universe
where everything we're doing is actually

just powering a battery to drive
somebody's car or something somewhere else?

Actually, they have this art program where
you could draw, and then you could zoom

into a tiny little section, and then draw
a bigger thing.

It's kind of like that concept.

I love and hate those because I love them,
but then I'll look at them, and then

suddenly I've been looking at 20 of them
on Instagram, and it's like four hours

later, and I'm like, I just lost four
hours of my time just going, I wonder how much

further this guy can zoom in.

That's a real rabbit hole.

That brownie was so strong when I was 18,

it's still there.

I watched

a video from a dude.

He literally forgot that he'd drawn a
thing and he had- The little dude's hidden it.

Yes!

The little dude's hidden inside this
universe and he's just like I forgot that it's

like past this living room into a picture
and then in that picture is an island.

It's through that island and now that
island's a real place and it's through the-

And he couldn't find a few of them.

He knew he had hit a certain amount of
them and he was like, now it's been so long

I'd forgot where I hid them all at.

I watched that video.

Way too long.

I liked it.

You might have sent it to me, I don't even
know.

Me and you trade videos sometimes, I don't
know.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.

I feel like that's one of the
quintessential signs of friendship and what your

friendship is about, is what videos you
are sending each other on an Instagram.

Us as food.

Yeah, me and

David just send each other food over and
over.

Food in one piece.

Food in one piece.

We just send each other

food in one piece over and over again.

And a couple of cool filmmaking-y type
things.

Filmmaking things.

I sent you that thing from Exit 8, but
it's mostly

just food.

I sent you that thing about delusional
actors that are like, hey, I'm an actor.

Put me in your movie.

And then they're like, you're like, oh,
have you done any classics?

No.

They're like, oh, so like, I mean, are you
doing like monologues or practicing?

They're like, no.

They're like, have you watched any how-tos
on it?

No, but you should put me in it.

You sent me that one the other

day.

See, that's less delusional.

I get people with that kind of resume
going, I want to be the lead of your movie.

That is true.

Not put me in the movie.

I've never acted before.

I want to be the lead.

When am I going to be the lead of your
movie?

And

angry when you don't call them for a
project.

James has to put disclaimers up on the
internet where he's like, it has been cast.

I've been through enough demo reels at
this point.

You know, my favorite one is when I
actually did do that casting.

I got one message like a week later from a
guy on Instagram who said, fuck that guy

you cast.

Cast me instead.

Fire that

guy.

And they didn't even know who was cast.

But at the same time, I started laughing.

I actually responded.

I was like, that's so ballsy.

I want to know who the fuck would say
something like that.

That's hilarious.

That's not the rule though.

That worked one time.

He also

didn't get the job.

I'm also not your typical person.

I do things

very differently than most people because

I go instinctively.

I'm very instinct driven.

But

to go on something that we were just
talking about you sent me a video the other day

that was of I forget who the guy was but
it was impactful because I was like oh shit

and it was all about how people in LA want
to wait and wait and wait and wait and

wait to make their movie.

They just want to keep waiting and they
never end up making it because they just

won't make it.

Yeah, I mean if you wait for the perfect
timing and the perfect circumstances,

you'll never make anything.

I'm a firm believer of just go out there
and do it and build and grow.

I

had way less money on the movie that we
were talking about, Lincoln Must Die.

You won't be able to look it up by the
way.

I'm purposely not doing an IMDb until I'm
done with film festivals.

So it doesn't date your movie as being

for this year when it'll come out next
year.

That's a pure distribution tactic.

Actually, before you dive into that,
David, because a lot of listeners probably work

in film

Why would you do that?

What is the reason?

I want to know the advice for them.

So basically, if you're trying to get
distribution, first of all, go to markets more

often than you go to festivals.

Festivals are great for your ego.

And if you think it's good enough to
actually win some awards and you don't have a

lot of name actors, it can help you get
better distribution.

But if what happens is you go to festivals
for a year, that first festival you go

to...

They will put it on their IMDb.

So they'll take credit for the premiere of
that movie.

It's technically been distributed to a
public.

So now that date goes on your IMDb.

That never goes away.

Even if you change the name of your movie
and the problem is all the same actors are

there, it will link the two together.

IMDb will.

And so what happens is if you've gone a
whole year and then you start selling the

movie, right?

So if you went a whole year in 2026.

Then

distributors and platforms look at it as a
year old.

Yeah they look at it

as a year old but then it doesn't take it
sometimes it takes a while for you to get

distribution so it's like you spend all
2026 in the festivals 2027 you spend trying

to get a distribution company by the time
they let's say it takes you six months to

get a distribution deal

Now you're halfway through 2027.

By the time they release your movie,
minimum three months, and then plus whatever

else, you know, if you have to deliver the
delivery problems, you're looking at

potentially releasing two years after you
made your movie and people just don't look

at it as a fresh thing.

And they won't

call it a new release, they'll call it
2020, they date it on the platforms as a 2026

movie and it's coming out at the beginning
of 2028, but it's never actually been

available to the public in that

way.

And international buyers actually don't
purchase anything over two years old from

domestic filmmakers.

Well,

unless a big library.

So if you're at James' status where you're
making bigger movies, everything has a

flow to it, a workflow.

But if you're a smaller movie and you've
got to go through a lot more process, the

IMDb doesn't do anything for you.

Nobody's hiring you because they saw you
had a movie in production on IMDb.

For sure.

Oh,

and hey, I still make small films.

We're making a fucking VHS movie together
right now, the three of us.

We're making I Have Proof.

Yeah, but we have a...

I make bigger movies too, obviously.

We have a funnel, right?

I'm a distributor.

You know like 10 distributors that we can
just go straight to, so we don't have to

go through the whole rigmarole.

Well, that gets us to the point of

what we haven't talked about is how did
you get into the distribution side, sales

side of

everything?

Yeah, so I was working at an animation
studio as a writer in the development

department.

And I actually got a job, I actually got
pulled over to Bob Orsi's side where he was

doing live action.

So while I was doing that, Bob Orsi, who
co-wrote all the Star Trek movies, all the

reboots and Mission Impossible 3, he
became my mentor as a writer for a little bit.

He told me, he goes, hey, this company's
going under.

It's a Chinese animation and production
company.

And they were going under.

And he told me, he goes, hey, you should
ask for a raise.

And I was like, oh, how much?

And he goes,

I was like, 20%?

He was like, 50%?

He's like... And so he gave me a raise for
the next like

two months.

I thought you were gonna

say, and then I got fired.

So I needed a new job, and that's how I
got into distribution.

I got a funny story about skipping over
parts, but basically, you know, I got on

with it, and now I'm in distribution.

So, no.

I was like, okay.

I'll tell you a story about this British
guy that I met in Cannes.

But you got into

distribution.

You're very close with your partner in
that, Tom Malloy.

Yeah, so

Tom Malloy was like a partner.

Well, he had produced a bunch of things
and he had hired me as an actor and we were

friends.

And one day he goes, hey, he's like, I'm
doing the American film market.

Do you have anybody you recommend to be
like an assistant for free?

You know, just learn things.

And I said, yeah, I sent this girl.

It turns out she couldn't come the first
day.

And he goes, what happened?

I go, I don't know, man.

I'll come and I'll fill in for her.

I'll fill in for her.

And my job at a market is, as an
assistant, is we have buyers coming that have one

color badge.

And then you have filmmakers coming.

They all wear funny hats like us.

And they're always very funny dressed.

Because they're all bold.

Because they're all

artists.

They're

all balding

artists.

So the job of an assistant at a market is
to usher in the buyers and stop the

filmmakers and say, hey, who do you have a
meeting with?

What do you have going on?

If they have a meeting, pass them off to
the acquisitions person.

And so I did that.

And by the end of the day, I'd like...

I'd categorize like, okay, these movies
are all not worth getting back to.

These movies are actually pretty good.

So here, get back to these people, make a
meeting for these people.

And I'd send that all to my acquisitions
person.

And by the end of the day, Tom was like,
hey man, he's like, do you want a job?

Do you want to work in acquisitions?

I want

to put a pin in that real quick and say,
you know, it's very interesting because

When I started off in the business, it was
very much like that.

If you put in work with people and were
willing to put in work on page, show them

what you could do, that's how people broke
in.

That's how you and I met.

And that's how you got...

Well, no, nowadays it's a lot more frowned
upon.

People don't really do that.

But I really believe that putting in the
time, showing what you can do, where

there's not a high stake for the person
who is giving you the shot, is the way to

break it.

What are people doing now that's apropos
to that?

Did I use that word right?

Apropos.

I don't

know that word.

Speaking above my level.

It's more frowned upon.

Nowadays.

Yeah.

Because there's a very entitled generation
that doesn't want to put in the work.

They want to already be hired to do that.

They want the distribution job hired right
off the bat.

I want the

lead.

Yeah.

I

want the lead.

They don't

want to build up.

I think that's just so bullshit because,
you know, like I'm going to hire you just

based on vibes.

And the other thing is I find that in
distribution, there's a lot of people, weirdly

enough, like our friends actually went to
film school, but there's a lot of people

in distribution that are actually just
business people.

You know what I mean?

Just business people.

And so they don't really, the artistic
side isn't really, has never really been

there for a lot of the distro people.

Some of the better ones have some sort of
like film school or just are like insane

movie fans.

Yeah.

Jess went to film school.

Jess went to.

Yeah.

I know that.

That's why I went to film school as well.

Yeah, I didn't go to film school.

I didn't go to

film school.

I look at film school really interested
now because I look back at all those

teachers, and I don't mean any disrespect
by it, but all of them ended up being

teachers at this one school in North
Carolina because of the fact that they had

never been able to do anything real.

Or the business was so hard and they
couldn't make any money.

Exactly.

They have to be their family.

No disrespect for it.

No disrespect.

I went to sit in on an acting class at a
film school one time just to see.

You know because I feel every director
should no acting and not only that but like

continuously sharpen that because the more
you know that the more you can have

conversations with actors.

How to talk with them.

But it was very funny because after the
class you know because I was new the teacher

held me back to like say hey do you want
to sign up for class I was like hey no I

don't know if they told you but I'm
actually just a director I was sitting in just

to see how things were going and you know
watch that and they were like oh well I

have a script.

So it's like, oh yeah, it's like, oh okay,
I can't sell you the thing?

Well, let me see if I can get you a show.

And I think it's kind of funny because
those who can't really do teach, and some

people are born to teach, but I actually
think a lot of people, you go back to being

afraid for that perfect moment, that
perfect condition, the people that were afraid

to take the swing are a lot of the times
the people teaching you to take the swing.

Yeah.

And

I think that that's an interesting thing
because I think that with cameras so

accessible and with AI so prevalent, if
you are not going out and making something

right now, you're behind the curve

already.

I believe that literally any actor you
want to star in a movie, you want to be that

lead, put together your own movie then and
show us what you can do like David just

did with

With his movie.

But I will say, though, you know,

there was a progression, though, because I
had written several movies that I was in

with, you know, Tom Malloy and and he had
produced them.

Wait,

wait, sorry.

I don't know this part of your resume.

Which ones did you write for Tom?

So I wrote Trauma Therapy, Trauma Therapy,
Psychosis.

And then I wrote this movie that we're
working on trying to get going called Bullets

and Blades.

Okay, but you didn't write the rom-coms.

No, no, I didn't write the rom-com.

No, no, just

acted in that.

But the thing about the ones that I wrote
with Tom was I wrote myself as a smaller

character with a dope-ass monologue.

Australian

too.

By the way, I do want to touch on the
little Australian thing because we're running

out of time, sadly.

But I think that story about you, the
acting Australian, then please, because that's

one of the funniest stories that gets me
every time.

So

I got a small, I got a long and a short
version of it.

I'll give you a short

version.

We got like five minutes.

I'll give you the short version.

So my buddy Josh Tessier was making this
movie called... You don't want to see it.

Anyway, he's making this movie and the
director was kind of weird and he didn't want

any inauthentic actors.

So I believe it was Sean Patrick Flannery
had bailed on the movie and it was written

that it was a foreign drug dealer and he
was going to do it in an Irish accent.

So my buddy goes, hey, David, he goes...

Somebody dropped out.

Why don't you come in?

He's like, do you have any accents on
deck?

And I was like, yeah, I kind of been
working on an Australian accent.

He goes, perfect.

He goes, meet him as an Australian.

So he's not like looking for anything
wrong with it.

And the guy really wants like an
authentic, you know, foreign person.

And I go, okay.

So he goes, Hey, I'm going to go to drop
off some, like, you know, some, some, some

pads for stunts.

He goes, you meet him there.

I go, hey.

So I go there and he goes, oh, who's your
friend?

And I go, hey, nice to meet you.

My name's David Lawrence and I'm just a
stunt guy actor.

And they're like, oh, you're, you're,
where are you from?

Australia?

I go, yeah, yeah.

He goes, oh, he goes, what part of
Australia?

I go, right near the beach.

And he goes, yeah, but where?

I go, Brisbane.

I was just like making up lies as we were
going.

And he goes, wow, that must've been
beautiful.

He's like, you should audition for this
movie.

So I auditioned for the movie.

I get the movie.

I do the scene.

He loves it.

Then I'm like, all right, now it's time to
come clean.

And before I could come clean, he goes,
hey, David, he's like, I want you to be in

another movie.

And I was like, great.

And he goes, uh, and then he had said some
other stuff about, you know, Australians

and how he hates liars.

And I'm like, there's one thing you know
about Australians.

We, uh, not very criminal, so.

It's like a country of

criminals.

It was founded as a country of criminals
originally.

I mean, not

currently.

So fast forward, I'm waiting for this next
movie to happen.

And he goes, hey, he's like, I got this
agent you should meet.

And I'm like, great.

I'll meet this agent on my own and I'll
tell her the whole story.

She'll laugh.

And he goes, I'm actually at a bar down
the street from you.

He's like, come over and meet her.

I told her all about you.

I'm like...

Now I got to meet her as an Australian.

So I show up, I'm like, hey, nice to meet
you.

She's like, oh my god, he's adorable.

She's like, are you a citizen or do you
have your green card?

And I'm like, now I have to lie more.

So I'm like, oh, you know, well, I was
born here and then my mom took me to visit my

dad and then he kidnapped me.

And so I live there and then I moved back
and I've got dual citizenship.

So, you know, this fucking lie is just

growing and I'm like, oh my God.

So she signs me.

She starts sending me on just Australian
auditions and I'm booking.

I'm booking a Bundaberg rum commercial.

I'm booking an Outback Steakhouse
commercial.

And then I go to her, I go, hey, Michelle,
you know that I could do an American

accent, right?

And she goes, well, let's hear it.

I go, Michelle, I'll be an American for
the rest of the time you know me.

Michelle,

I've been lying this whole time.

I'm actually American.

She's like, I'm

actually American.

You

sound like a robot, David.

And this is at KSA and it used to be above
Samuel French.

And she goes, go downstairs, go to Samuel
French, get a standard American CD and

learn an American accent if you take your
career seriously.

And I'm like...

So I leave, she had these mixers for her
clients and I come to one of the client

mixers and I meet everybody ahead of time,
as me, as the American.

And I'm meeting a bunch of, you know,
pretty girls and all that.

And agent comes and she goes, one of the
girls goes up to her and she goes, hey,

she's like, where's the Australian you
said you're gonna introduce us to?

And she goes, he's right there.

And the girl looked at me like, he's not
Australian.

All disgusted that I'm some sort of gross
thing.

I went from being like the guy you were
gonna get introduced to to like, no, he's a

fucking American.

He's boring.

I looked at my agent and she was just
like, fine, I'll put you on American

auditions, but please stop that hideous
American accent now.

Oh my god.

That's

fucking awesome.

Really quickly, do you have any advice for
anybody that's starting in this career,

that's coming up in this career, that
wants to do anything that you've done over the

course of time?

Because you have a wide variety of
expertise.

Surround yourself with people that are as
ambitious as you are, that are trying to

do what you're doing.

Create that community so that you can help
each other make movies.

And then if you have the chance to help
out somebody who's ahead of you, who's above

you, offer your services as often as
possible because what happens is those

people...

They get to see your work ethic.

They get to see how much you're doing.

And some people say, oh, it's
opportunistic.

But no, you want to work with the people
that you look up to because you want to be

where they are sometimes.

And you like the same thing.

So you might as well help them do what
they're doing as well and get some free

advice along the way.

I did that with Tom Malloy.

I do that with James.

I do it with everybody that I meet,
honestly, because you can learn something from

everybody.

David's a pleasure on set.

He's great to work with and it's been
great collaborating with you.

It's been great having you on the podcast,

David.

Thank you so much, man.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

I'm looking forward to working with you so
much.

Oh, hey,

wait.

Sorry.

Before we end it, David, the most
important thing you forgot to plug, where can

people find you?

Find me on Instagram at David Josh
Lawrence.

Pretty easy.

Just my name.

And, you know, they could also find me on
IMDB at David Josh Lawrence.

With some

credits there, some credits not there.

And then I'm looking forward to it because
we've got some really cool LGBT projects

that we're working on all together as
well.

And that'll be something different and
unique.

But thank you so much for coming today.

I'm really excited.

Oh, and also, if you liked what I was
wearing today, you could find it on Amazon.

Link will be below.

Same

with me.

Mine is also an Amazon classic as well.

And same with me.

Mine is also an Amazon classic.

It's not my everyday getup, but I came
dressed for the occasion.

He, of course, wanted to dress the most
like Guy Ritchie's The Gentleman.

I just dressed like some type of couch.

So I'm turning his picture, right?

All right.

Love you, man.

See you guys next week.

See

you next week.