Carl, you've been an advocate for social justice reform for some time. Why did you decide to partner with Publis Disapient in this project?
I just felt it was a perfect story and with the time being what it is and with technology, this was a great story to tell, not only for our generation, but for generations to come. Show how technology could be used for a force of good. I think so many times, especially for me being a professional athlete, you could see the nastiness that technology can show. But I think it's always good to have a story and to show that technology can be used for the right ways, the right reasons, and to show that it actually can instill change into our communities and to the world. And for Johnny, it definitely was the game changer.
What impact did this story, Johnny's story, what impact did it have on you?
The power that technology had in changing a person's life. Technology became the equalizer. It democratized access for all. In the state of California, this law had existed since 2020. So it's been in existence, but it was not being accessible for all, especially the people like Johnny that need it the most, because the lack of resources. As Noah says, paper is equal to time.
It left an impact on me because when we had our conversations during the filming and everything, it was so eye-opening to hear something like this and a law like that that hasn't been publicly really known and then wasn't really being utilized. So to have a story of something so game-changing, something like you said equalizes the playing field for people like Johnny, to not have it be known so well is something that's unacceptable and something just like voting. You got to always let people know. So I thought this film was a great way to raise awareness about obviously the wonders that technology could have for people, but also it shows how there's opportunities and avenues that you can travel down the lane, travel down that will not keep you locked into the system as something as a man of color, me and you are, know it's something that gets us caught up a lot.
Carl, this film highlights the challenges faced every day by underserved communities. What do you hope that people connect with when they see this story?
Well, you know, for me, just to be able to share knowledge with this film, I think that's going to be the most important thing, just to have an understanding of this law, that's something that people didn't realize was readily available for them. And like they say, the public defenders got a lot of work to do. And sometimes, as we all know, things fall through the cracks, but to be able to have their own knowledge to be able to walk into the situation ever presented and understand that these are your avenues, your options, I think the knowledge is something I'm hoping a lot of people take away from this. And secondly, I think one of the things that touched me the most about the film was from Noah actually, and it was the word grace. There's a lot of times that we do not want to look for grace because it's not going to always be the most popular opinion and option. But in grace, in him finding grace in this situation and him finding in Johnny, he found a way to forgive himself for his own doings.
Ultimately, this film is about forgiveness, the message. If you really listen, it's really about forgiveness. And what I learned from him is that forgiveness, as he says, it's a gift. But I think it's a gift that we give to ourselves. And forgiveness, like a lot of things in life, it's not just a question of if, it's a question of how. To grant forgiveness, you've got to have the tools. And what I learned from this story is that those tools, like you were just saying, most of the time they're not available. And when they are available, they're not equitable. That's the part that sort of motivates me to continue to tell these stories.
You know, they always say good people win in the long run. And he found himself winning after all this time.