 Today, we're excited to welcome two people who know how to tell a story. John J. Bedayan and Kedrick Salotti join us to discuss Rockaway, the passion behind the film, and making their mark on the big screen. This is School of Hustle, the show where we find advice and inspiration from people who are making their own way. I'm Shannon, the VP of Social here at GoDaddy, and I live and breathe at the Hustle of Business. Today, we're filming from the hustle of it all at the WeWork Times Square in New York City. Everybody, let's give John and Kedrick a big, warm welcome. Woo! Thank you for being here. Thank you. I'm excited because today we don't just have one guest. We have two. You are an award-winning director and writer. Most recently, you have a movie, Rockaway. Kedrick, you are on television. You're starring in this movie. I have to say congratulations. What was it like to make Rockaway? You know, it began as a passion project, and then I had a history of commercial directing and visual effects and post-production for over 20 years, and it was always in my goals and passions to make a feature film, so the first thing that I wrote, they would say, is about yourself. And these were the friends I grew up with and the bonds we formed, and they're the characters in the film that my brother and I grew up with on Long Island, and I didn't even change their names, so making such a personal project is also the reason it happened. And you are in the movie playing your brother. What was it like to work together? Well, honestly, I've worked with tons of directors, and John is by far top two. Really? Yeah, top two. He's never said that. Top two. What makes John one of the top two? Unlike most directors who are open, but John let us work with what we knew and what we wanted to do. So he would watch how us, like the cast, interacted with each other, which, granted, was lucky enough to be similar to his friends. But he let us just roll with what we wanted to do most of the time, and it gave us the freedom to really be ourselves while still being John's childhood friends. And how was the cast mix? You know, it was an interesting process casting, but everyone, they've experienced young, talented actors coming from hit TV shows and Oscar nominated films. And the biggest thing with coming-of-age stories is you have to believe them. And this film, Rockaway, they carry the entire project. I mean, they're 85 pages of the film as six young, talented boys. So what I did was I put them in a hotel, which I didn't need to do, but I wanted them to bond and get into trouble. Do all the things we did before cell phones and everything. And they did. Yeah, we almost got kicked out a few times. And I think it came through on the lens of they were actually bonding and are still very close to this day. Are you? Yeah, we still talk every night, pretty much. Really? Yeah, at least every other. And we just spent two and a half weeks together, they spent filming together, and then now they're lifelong friends. So that was really rewarding as well. How long does it take you to prepare? I'm thinking there's a lot of lines in the movie and you filmed for two and a half weeks, and that was it. Yeah. Well, you guys, you were three weeks. The whole production was four or five weeks. Yeah, yeah. But for the actor side of preparation, for me, I memorized my lines pretty fast. I memorized my lines within 10 minutes, no matter how long the scene is, pretty much. I loved your movie. And I encourage everybody to buy your movie and watch your movie. The New Yorker watched your movie. I was doing a bunch of reading to prepare for this, and a headline I saw from the New Yorker said, What to Stream This Weekend? Rockaway, a boy's stark and moving tale of surviving domestic violence. Unpack the movie and your inspiration. Well, you know, I wanted to tell a story that is inspired by true events. Some things are embellished because at the end of the day, you want to entertain an audience. You know, I was lucky to have a support system of these great friends that believed in me and trusted in me from, you know, the second they met me in fourth grade. But I wanted to definitely tell a story with the juxtaposition of dark times with the fun and light and games of everything. And what was it about the movie, Kedrick, that inspired you to take the leading role? I read the script at home, and then on my way, actually to one of the callbacks, I think, like my first or second class, I was reading it again. And I noticed something that I didn't notice before, and it was one of the lines closer to the end where the little kid came up to older John and said, it's my birthday. Oh, hi, what's your name, Anthony. That made me like break down in the subway. So that was honestly the one line that like really got me like hooked on it. And I, the second I read that line, I wanted to get the job like without any like question. So I have to go here. You are by far one of the most amazing but youngest guests that I've had in school at Fussell. Right, and I'm interested in how you are balancing what you're doing. You're memorizing lines. It only takes you 10 minutes, but nevertheless, like you're on set. But what about your friends? You have friends, you have school. How do you balance doing what you do and being you? It's really hard. When I come to like my friends, they all know, so they all understand. So when I don't show up to school or whatever, and I don't like go and hang out with them every day after school, like they understand, they get it. So that's been really easy. When it comes to school, I actually recently started like online school with my high school because it was getting to the point where it was very hard to keep up with school and work and personal matters all at the same time. Film has to be one of the most competitive industries to write a film, to get a claim and attention, let alone act in a film and get recognition for that and get on the map for it is so competitive and difficult. How do you do what you do and stay positive in this competitive space? You're the first. Well, you know, I think a lot of it is just trusting in yourself and also the stick-to-itiveness to just stay with something. You know, so many people give up, so many people talk about, oh, I have this idea, but then it never becomes anything. They never put the work in. Nobody comes out of thin air in this industry, but we only hear about those successes. So, you know, behind all those successes are a ton of failures. You need to go through those failures. You need to get all those nodes. I mean, when I told someone I wanted to direct, they said, oh, well, it's very competitive. I said, well, that's not very helpful. That's obvious, but you just have to go out and do it. And anything in life that is worthwhile should be hard? Absolutely. Right? And with Rockaway, we had the long journey to get distribution and get it out there, but we have worldwide distribution now and we basically had to do everything we could to push and push and push and not take no, and now it's out there. As you're making your mark, you're opening up the door to a ton of public criticism, good and bad. Absolutely. Right? You're gonna hear both. How do you use the positive and the negative to keep fueling what you do? For me, the positive is just like saying, hey, you're doing a good job, keep it up. So obviously it makes you feel good, so you wanna keep it up. Now for the negative, that's where it gets a little bit more interesting. Negative, depending on how good or bad it could be, I get a little heated. I get a little angry, like, well, why? But because I ask myself why, then I think, oh, this is why, this is what I could have done better. And so I just try to push myself to be better. I think there's a lot of people out there that go into, say, a viewing of a film or something that somebody's created, and they're so anxious to be critical. Instead of just, did you enjoy yourself? Yeah, yeah. Did you enjoy it? And we've seen all over the country. I mean, we did seven film festivals all over the United States, and strangers packing out theaters and laughing, crying, and standing and cheering for our film. So we know we've got something that people are enjoying and reacting to. I have to ask you, John, what is your favorite movie and what has it taught you about writing and directing? Oh, I've got to go and stand by me. I think it's an obvious answer. What have you learned from it? That nostalgia is very powerful. It's very, very powerful. And I think, you know, you can do a ton of things in your life, in your childhood, your teens, your adult life, but the first time you did those things, stay with you so long. I think that's why we're connecting with people of so many ages. And similarly, Kedric, who is your favorite actor or actress and how have they inspired your work? Honestly, like Tom Hanks is one of them because he's just, you could put him anywhere and he'll get it right. And that's inspired me to try to be the same way where you could put me into any role and I'm gonna try to get it right. Now it's time to give it our all and get competitive. I'm also get to know you a bit. We're going to play Hustle Time, a game where we set a clock for 60 seconds and we see as many cards as possible that you can get through. And I think now we've never really, we don't typically have two guests so I would recommend one of you volunteer to go first and you guys alternate. Dream dinner guest. Me. Best place you've traveled? Budapest. Favorite New York City tourist attraction? Rock and Roll. What's the first app you open in the morning? Instagram. Which would you rather give up for life, pizza or sandwiches? Sandwiches, whoa. Would you rather never be able to teach or mentor or never be able to learn? I'm sorry, I was thinking pizza. Would you rather never be able to teach or mentor or never be able to learn? I'd learn? How would your mother describe you? Horrible. Number one guilty pleasure? Bagels. One word you wish you could take away from the English language? Oh, I don't know. Favorite workout? Arms, legs, or abs? I think that's obvious. Busy brunch or morning workout? Oh, morning workout. You're too young. What is your favorite word? Satan, I don't know. Willy Wonka, Gene Wilder or Johnny Depp? Oh, Gene Wilder. Biggest splurge? What? Biggest splurge. An arcade game that I bought. Sour candy or sweet candy? Sour. Karaoke, is it about talent or commitment? Hey. We're going to count, we're going to count it. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, I got to Busy Brunch. I was like horrified. I was like, oh my gosh, I can't answer that. 14, 15, 16. Is that good? Is that good or bad? That's good. Nice job. Now, this next set of questions, we're going to move as well. We have a list of entrepreneurial questions that we ask everybody who's on the show. And it's fun to see how different people answer the same exact question. Well, the first question is favorite part of your day. I'll go first. OK, favorite part of your day? I think the morning. Just getting the day started and making sure I have a list of things I want to get done and accomplish. Yeah, opposite of that one. Best piece of advice you've ever gotten? Stay strong and keep on going. Worst piece of advice? Direct things competitive. You should do something else. Yeah. How do you use your career to inspire others? By doing a lot of things that most people wouldn't think to do so that other people feel like they can do the same. Ever felt like walking away? Sometimes. But then again, with the support system around you and just again, trusting in yourself, you stick with it. One thing you still need to learn? Everything. What do you want people to learn from you? That perseverance and dreaming big can pay off. What's next for you? Auditions in school. Who inspires you? My brother, Anthony. Who challenges you? My mother. Well, we also let everybody in social know you're coming. And I have two questions from the tribe. How do you keep going forward to make your dreams come true in a tough business? It's really tough because it's one of those things where, like, yes, there are a lot of people who do it, but unfortunately, there's a lot of people who didn't make it. So for me, the thing that I try to remember is that if I stop, there's no chance. But if I keep going, there's at least the chance that what I'm doing will continue to happen, and I will continue to make people happy by doing it. Do you want to answer that one, too? I think, you know, I mean, especially with actors, you're always one degree of separation from your big break. And it's the same thing with anyone in the creative field. You're always right there from getting something out there. What's dumbest talent? No, you first. My dumbest talent, I'm really good with numbers, but I guess that's applicable, especially dumb. Yeah, I don't know. My friends don't think that. I mean, for me, it's one of two things. It's either I'm really good at video games for no good reason, and I could also bend my thumb behind my hand. That's it. That's a dumb talent. I don't have anything to do with that. I can bend my thumb behind my hand. That's a lot more interesting than my numbers. Yeah, I love that. My last question, and this comes from one of my favorite members of our tribe named Noodle, our resident Puget Go Daddy. Oh! You got him? Yes! Watch out for your back. So Noodle has caught the acting bug. Noodle loves the success and the attention he is finding at school puzzle. He feels he's ready to go to the next level. What is your advice for somebody who wants to break into show business? You already got the looks, man. I don't know. I don't know. I guess no matter how many knows you get, there will always eventually be a yes. I'll add to that. A great piece of advice I got was from Tim Van Patten, who's a director for the HBO series. And he said that at the end of the day, everyone has a camera in their pocket. But if you can tell a story now, you can separate yourself. So if I was trying to be an actor, which this face does not want to be an actor, I would say just create your own content to show people what you can do. And just have a Vimeo channel, have a YouTube channel, have a website, have an Instagram handle. Those things will help get actors out there. You hear that, Noodle? I think you're well on your way to becoming a star and getting that star on Hollywood Boulevard. I can see it now. That was fun. Thank you, YouTube, for coming today. Thanks for having us. Thank you so much for being here. I had a lot of fun talking to you, and I love your movie. Thank you. Remind everybody how they can watch your movie. Amazon Prime, iTunes, Voodoo, rockawaythefilm.com will lead you to all the ways to find it. Rockaway, watch Rockaway, and keep watching School of Hustle. We're bringing School of Hustle with fabulous entrepreneurs and talent, just like these guys, every Wednesday at one o'clock, Eastern Time on YouTube, Instagram TV. We have teasers on Instagram Stories, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn. Just follow GoDaddy across the board to see more conversations and more Noodle, just like this. Yeah, seriously. Thanks again, guys. Thank you. Bye.