781 – Storyteller Film Maker Entrepreneur: Tom interviews Ali The Professor

Episode 781 – Ali The Professor
[00:00:08] Welcome to Screw the Commute. The entrepreneurial podcast dedicated to getting you out of the car and into the money, with your host, lifelong entrepreneur and multimillionaire, Tom Antion.

[00:00:24] Hey everybody, it's Tom here with episode 781. Screw the Commute podcast. I'm here with Ali The Professor, and we'll have to ask him where the professor part came from when we bring him on. We're going to cover a lot of things about podcasting and mental health, which I'm kind of afraid of asking a mental health expert about my mental health. So we'll get into storytelling and a lot of interesting stuff. I hope you didn't miss Episode 777. You got to go back and listen to that one because that's my introduction to threads, which, you know, it's just another pain in the neck social media you got to deal with. So you might as well know what you're doing. So that was episode 777. And to get to the back episode, you go to screwthecommute.com, slash, then the episode number. Make sure you pick up a copy of our automation book. It's screwthecommute.com/automatefree. You will thank me for it because we actually estimated it Just one of the tips in this book which we charged 27 bucks for but it's yours free for listening to the show.

[00:01:27] Well, just one of the tips, as we estimated saved me 8 million keystrokes. I want you spending time with your customers and developing products and services and your prospects and and making the stuff that makes money, not fighting with your computer. All right. Follow me at tiktok.com/@digitalmultimillionaire on TikTok. And our podcast app is now in the App Store. Now it's iOS only right now, but the Android's coming pretty soon, so check that out at screwthecommute.com/app.

[00:01:58] All right, let's bring on the main event. Ali The Professor, he's a seasoned filmmaker and behavior analyst. He's from Beirut, Lebanon, and he's now based in Los Angeles. And he runs a successful A2 or A Squared podcast. The show he'll give you the exact name of it. I was on it. We just had a blast not too long ago. And he's concurrently thriving in independent movie production, and he skillfully blends storytelling and time management and mental health insights in his unique entrepreneurial journey. Ali, are you ready to screw? The commute?

[00:02:36] Yeah.

[00:02:36] Let's go around the commute. All right, let's screw around, man. So, Beirut, Lebanon, to Los Angeles. I mean, I remember hearing about the war zones in Beirut. I think part of Los Angeles looks like that, doesn't it?

[00:02:50] Yeah, it's getting a lot closer. It feels like home.

[00:02:54] So how long have you been in the States?

[00:02:56] Um, well, I was born in Baltimore, and so I had. Oh, okay.

[00:02:59] Well, that's another war zone there, so.

[00:03:01] Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. And I went to school in Boston and then, yeah, I moved out to LA like six years ago and I've been here. Well, how.

[00:03:10] How do you say you're from Beirut if you were born in Baltimore?

[00:03:15] Yeah, it's where I my family's Lebanese. We. I grew up in Lebanon. Um, I spent part of my life in the United States, but most of my upbringing was in Lebanon and. Oh, okay. Yeah, exactly.

[00:03:29] Yeah, they, they had you in Baltimore and they said, Holy shit, this is worse than Beirut. Let's go, Let's go back.

[00:03:36] Let's go back.

[00:03:37] Let's go worse than the bombings. So, okay, that's, that's cool. But so how do you like Los? How long have you lived in Los Angeles?

[00:03:46] Well, like five, six years now.

[00:03:48] So how do you like it?

[00:03:50] Um, I love the weather.

[00:03:51] Pros and the cons.

[00:03:51] Let's talk about the pros. The weather's beautiful. Um, I love being around. All these bright people who are super creative. And I love comedy. Stand up comedy. And this is the hub for stand up comedy. I love going to see all the shows. I love filmmaking and it's really cool that. All these creative filmmakers are here in one spot. Um, yeah, yeah. But, you know.

[00:04:20] They're spreading out quite a bit and a lot of different places in the country are really doing a lot of filmmaking, like Las Vegas and even North Carolina, Oklahoma. I guess it's cheaper maybe to to bolt out of there and do them in some of these other places.

[00:04:35] Yeah, totally. And the Hollywood is kind of dying right now. As you know, there's all these strikes happening in the current moment. Hollywood's kind of shut down. All my friends in the film industry aren't working right now. So it's definitely an interesting time.

[00:04:49] So I know about the writers strike, but is there an actor's strike coming or what?

[00:04:53] So a few days ago there. Was a vote by the Screen Actors Guild, and they decided to also take part in a SAG strike. And so what's happening is they're protesting because guess what? Netflix is screwing him over. Uh huh. Yeah. All these major studios, they found a way to screw over the writers. The writers. And then they told the writers, Oh, you can't. We're not going to give you we're not going to give in to your demands. And so now the actors are also striking. And a lot of it has to do with artificial intelligence, too, because what they're telling actors is, oh, we're going to do a scan of your face and then just use that over and over again. And so. They're really replacing actors and writers with AI and robots. So it's an interesting time because we're in between the creatives and the machines, you know, and Netflix is siding with the machines right now. But I'm all for the creatives and the people out there.

[00:05:56] Yeah, yeah I'm actually Sag-aftra have been since the 70s but but not really active much so I don't really know what's going on. Yeah. I used to do TV commercials and stuff back in the day until they had to start using a wide angle lens on me. So then they kicked me out. So. So tell us about your podcast. You know, I was on it and I couldn't I personally can't put a finger on how you would describe it. Perfect.

[00:06:28] So so a to the show. A squared the show, the A Squared podcast. It's me, my friend Saeed, and we have a crew of our friends who came from Lebanon.

[00:06:41] And it used to be it was a two because it was started by you and another Ali guy.

[00:06:47] Right? Yeah, me and my childhood friend Ali. We started this podcast. We actually started in the middle of in the beginning of Covid. And yeah, it just we did it day after day after day and then it just kept on growing. We kept on having different guests and it kept on expanding and wow, I was like, you know, I couldn't just let it go. And so this is what's really keeping me going at it, is that we have well, when.

[00:07:13] Is when is the cage match?

[00:07:15] When's the cage match. So I'm training really hard for that match. Yeah, exactly. And because I want to put on a good show.

[00:07:22] Yeah. With the other Ali guy who has left the show, right?

[00:07:26] Yes, exactly. A little fun rivalry.

[00:07:30] All right. So have you boiled it down? What the heck is it about?

[00:07:34] Perfect. So. We like to explore pretty much different ways of. Thinking and being in the mind. You know, whenever I hear someone, I have lots of friends out here who suffer from like anxiety or depression. And every time I hear them, that's just.

[00:07:54] People that go to the gas station.

[00:07:56] Yeah, exactly right. Well, just, you know, it seems like it's more and more common nowadays and this kind of like victimhood mentality. And so I like to have people who are the opposite like that, like people who build something for themselves, have a strong mind and can teach you how to. Be free of all your negative thoughts and to build and create something beautiful. So that's pretty much how I'd like to describe it a bit of mental health. But also we're. We're young guys. We're really into comedy and, you know, gaming well.

[00:08:30] Mental mental health can be funny. Yes, exactly. That's your your professional background, right?

[00:08:36] Yeah, exactly. You know, I've been working in the mental health field for the past 5 to 6 years. I'm a behavioral. Would you be called a therapist? Yeah, exactly. I'm a behavioral therapist.

[00:08:46] Okay. Because the old joke is I never met a therapist that didn't need one. You know.

[00:08:52] That's not. That's not totally wrong. A lot of people know. Yeah. In the field, there are great therapists. There are weak therapists. You know, in my opinion, if you're a therapist, you need to, for the most part, have your shit together, you know, especially if you're trying to help other people.

[00:09:09] Do you do one on session, one on one sessions with people? Yeah. All right. So. All right. So tell the truth here. Did you ever fall asleep in one?

[00:09:21] And no, I haven't. I'm you know, I love my job. I love what I get to do. And.

[00:09:25] Yeah, but I'll bet you fought it a few times.

[00:09:29] You know, it's how can I fall asleep, you know, And it's it's a good thing to do, you know, And it's very it's fulfilling to me. I really do love doing it.

[00:09:38] Now in some of it had to do with autism, right? Yeah.

[00:09:42] I'm actually an autism specialist, so I know a lot about the autism field.

[00:09:49] Yeah, and a lot of it through the entertainment business has been brought to light on autism through like America's Got Talent. Oh, yeah. You know, there's been autistic people on there that just blew the, you know, the roof off the place. And yeah, that was, you know, because and some of them even said, we're out here because we want people to know that we're not just, you know, laying around on the couch and impossible to deal with. They're very creative people.

[00:10:19] I agree. I mean, it's so beautiful that I think of them as. It's just different. You know, I don't see it as like. As like a. You know, like a curse in a way. Think of it as a gift. And then it's really amazing that people with autism have their own lens on the world and they get to do things that are really cool. And what I try what I love trying to do is take away that kind of victimhood aspect of it and make it kind of like an empowering, like a superhero with a superpower. Right, Right. Yeah.

[00:10:54] Yeah. Now, I did not know this about your background when I did your show, you know, so I acted like I normally act. And so I'm interested in your professional opinion on whether I should lock myself up or not.

[00:11:12] Yeah. I don't think you should lock yourself up, Tom.

[00:11:18] Somebody else should do it for me.

[00:11:20] Yeah, exactly. I will do it for you. Yeah, exactly.

[00:11:23] Thank you. Yeah. Yeah, right.

[00:11:25] Yeah. You know, if you. If you're. If you're happy in the way you. You know, you live your life, who cares if you're different? Who cares if you're different than everyone else? Everyone's different. You know, I'm definitely different. I mean, yeah, I.

[00:11:38] Know the neighbors think I'm eccentric, but. But I'd be interested to hear. What? When I left the call, what you guys said. Oh, man, that guy is something. I'll tell you. You know, I hope you get some help.

[00:11:50] We definitely laughed a lot. And that's, I think comedy and laughing is definitely the cure to a lot of this kind of the sadness in the world, you know? So you definitely have that going. You know, it's good to have.

[00:12:04] My two favorite comedians. The number one of all is Brian Regan. Okay. And then I think second would be John Caparulo. You know him?

[00:12:14] No, actually don't know him.

[00:12:16] Oh, yeah. So look up him on YouTube.

[00:12:19] Why are they your favorites?

[00:12:21] Uh, they just make me laugh out loud. Just tremendously. And Regan is totally clean. You could put him anywhere. It's just hysterical. Just look up. Just look up. Brian Regan Refrigerators. All right? He just does a skit about refrigerators. That's just hysterical. And it's just in front of its everyday life. It's almost like kind of Seinfeld just making fun of nothing. And it's hysterical. Yeah. Um, so in your. Movie production. The movies are basically storytelling. So what kind of emphasis do you put on storytelling and what lessons do you have about storytelling that could help in entrepreneurial endeavors?

[00:13:09] Yeah, so I'm a huge cinephile. I love movies I watch, but also I'm not one of those snobby ones that doesn't love pop culture. I do love pop culture, but I also love the more, um, specific international all kinds of from independent to big Hollywood movies. Okay. And so there's a lot you can learn from. Filmmaking that applies to the rest of the world in terms of story. It's really important. To get someone's attention. You know what I love about films that I don't necessarily love about TV? I think films are so they're so well crafted. It's all about the details. You have a short amount of time to convey a message. And they do it perfectly versus they're sometimes dead zones or whatnot, but they.

[00:14:04] Have to move a lot faster on TV, right, to produce it.

[00:14:08] Yeah, exactly. But in terms of in terms of the output. I think. With films every single second has to capture your attention if it's a good movie. Every single second. And that's what you have to be like in general, like on a podcast. Every single second. I can't have a dead zone on a podcast. In a in any kind of interaction I have, whether in my behavior analysis work, I always think, okay, how can I keep it engaging? How can I keep it moving? Um. Because boredom kills the vibe. And so that's definitely a huge one, which is from the beginning to the end, always. Um, trying to stay fun and engaging and then also attention to detail to, you know, I think a lot of people. Don't give their. Attention to to the details of what they're doing. And so the only do things in a half assed way. Um, and I'm a believer of, like most.

[00:15:17] Podcast guests.

[00:15:19] Like most podcast guests, you know, like.

[00:15:21] Like you heard on episode 211, right?

[00:15:24] Yes, exactly. You know, and, um, I see I listen to that episode and then I realized that, oh, a lot of people aren't doing the basic things that are common sense things. Why is it that people don't do the common sense things? Is it because they don't care?

[00:15:42] Well, in some cases it's because they don't know. They don't know. They don't realize. In some cases they don't care. It's just they want to grab from you and not give back. Right. So it's a combination of things, but a lot of times it's they don't know any better because everybody's telling you, you you should be a podcast guest. And they say, okay, okay. And then they get on there and they don't realize all the other things that you saw in episode 211 because nobody ever taught them well.

[00:16:08] Yeah, the difference is, instead of being just a podcast guest, how can you be the best podcast guest of all time and you can be just a podcast guest, or are you trying to be excellent in what you're doing? And that's what I'm trying to do more and try to embody more of, okay, if I'm going to do something, I'm going to give it my 100%.

[00:16:26] Now, is there anything out of 211 that you could episode I'm talking about two Episode 211, folks. The title is How to Be a Great podcast guest. And Ali took the time to watch it and do the things that it said. Right? A lot of people just don't don't do that. So is there anything out of that episode you're going to encourage your guests or kind of nicely put the word out for for your guests?

[00:16:53] Yeah, definitely. After listening to it, I want to make sure that people are kind of more familiar with who we are as individuals and as the podcast. I want to make sure that there is some, um. If I can share them maybe more specific episodes that they can. Watch and understand the vibe of the podcast, right? Yeah, I think that's something I definitely want to integrate more into the podcast.

[00:17:22] Yeah, because folks, yeah. So I give some advice to podcast guests to listen to shows. And here's just one little sliver of the hundreds of things you should be doing. But you see, how much does the guest or allowed to talk, how much does the host talk? If the host is just having you there as an ornament because to make themselves look better? Well, you can't go on on a four minute story and then piss the host off. So if the host is happy to sit back and let you roll, then you need to be ready with longer stories and anecdotes and everything. Or it could be something in the middle where it's a nice back and forth. So you just need to know that before you go in. And that's just one little sliver of my how to be a great podcast guest kind of stuff.

[00:18:06] So perfect. Yeah. And I'm also learning Tom that the more specific you are, kind of, the more universal you are. Like the more I get to share my story and get to share the things that I've been through. By niching down a bit. It actually makes more people relate to me because they understand my headspace and they can jump into my. You know the way I think. Um, and it helps deepen the connection and makes people want to listen more.

[00:18:38] Yeah. And a lot of people just get sucked in by the Joe Rogan thing. And Joe, he's a spectacular, you know, superstar. But that's not the average thing. He's he's created something mixing all his or his celebrity status in these other places and making it the greatest podcast ever. But and it's all over the board. It's everywhere. Right. But most podcasts, the more they can niche, the more successful they'll be faster because people know what to expect. You know, you can't compare yourself to Tony Robbins and Joe Rogan and all these people. So totally. With the with regard to the storytelling, what tips do you have for people that want to incorporate some of that into their into their business life, maybe in their sales process or something?

[00:19:30] Yeah, definitely be short and sweet. 100% every time. Um, you know, we used to have, like, really detailed intros before the podcast started, right?

[00:19:42] Used to myself. Yeah.

[00:19:43] Yeah, exactly. And then I realized that it's just. This could be summed up in an email. And so, yeah, exactly. So, um, definitely. Getting straight to the point. Leaving on a high note. You know, a lot of people what I used to do before was it would. Not necessarily end on a high note. You know, like it might fizzle out, but now I have it more intentional to end with a bang. Begin with a bang, you know, and keep it engaging as it goes along. Making sure there's a balance of, oh, it's serious at some points, but also we can laugh and break it out with some comedy. Um, you need to you need to keep it going. You need to keep it engaging because. It just there's too much content out there. There's too much stuff that's way better. And everyone has ADHD nowadays. Everyone is so right looking left and right. They're looking for the next thing. It's hard for them to pay attention to anything, so you really have to be so sharp, you know? Um, I do. You asked me how I got the professor name and. Right, right. I so I do martial arts. I do taekwondo. And so my. Um. Master. Master Yuri. He called me the professor. And so that's how it started. And then I started using it in my taekwondo tournaments. And then since then I thought, Oh, I like having this alias. And so I go by Ali the professor, and yeah, it just makes it a bit fun and yeah, unique.

[00:21:19] Yeah. Because your last name is, I couldn't figure out how to pronounce it. Yeah. So and then.

[00:21:26] So another lesson from martial arts is that you always you can't fall asleep in the middle of a fight, can you?

[00:21:33] Can you be put to sleep? You can be put to sleep.

[00:21:37] You can't. You always have to be on your toes. You always have to be like moving in, pushing, you know, you always want to, um. Like stay on your toes. You know, you can like you can't let your guard down for a single second. And I try to really embody that in the podcasts that I do and in the films that I do. That's a big lesson that I've I've learned in every aspect. You know, you always have to be on your guard, never let your guard down. And that's why I'm the professor.

[00:22:07] Yeah, I came up with a very specific thing when I. When I teach martial arts. You know, I don't have any particular system. Mine is called brutal self-defense. And it's, you know, because I've had many different arts combined. But no, it's not art anymore when it's real life, you know, self-defense. But I tell them, I teach them how to protect their head. Because if you my my quote is, if you get knocked unconscious, unconscionable things are going to happen to you. Exactly.

[00:22:42] That's the last thing you want to happen.

[00:22:44] Yeah, for sure. And yeah, so that's in my brutal self-defense. But back to the keeping things moving. That's the whole basis of my wake him up speaking system. There's 11 attention gaining devices and nobody knows what hit him because I'm going back and forth between them. And I always get the longest sessions at engage speaking engagements and always make the most money because they can't believe it's over. It just goes so fast and so and people are afraid to go to the bathroom because of what I might say next. So. So yeah, you got to keep things short, sweet, and just hit him, hit him, hit him. We actually, when we teach speaking, the younger the audience, the more attention gaining devices you need to do per minute, you know? Right. Older audiences, you can go a little bit longer between them, but the younger you just better keep hitting them or they're totally gone for sure. So tell us about some of the films you've been involved in.

[00:23:42] Haha.

[00:23:43] Yeah. Perfect. So. I, uh. I've been making films for the past, let's say six, seven years now. I started off with doing some shorts, actually wrapped up on my feature film, Toluca Lake, um, which is a comedy about the small town of Toluca Lake, which is in this big city here in Los Angeles. And. Yeah, I've, uh. I love to. Um, push the boundaries a little bit in filmmaking. You know, when I first moved out to LA, I started to work in on different film sets, and I saw the way things are done here in the very like. Professional, traditional Hollywood way. But I have a love of international cinema and I have a love for experimental films. And, um. And films are supposed to push boundaries. Films aren't supposed to be, you know, the same thing over and over again. You know, that's how it's always been. Like filmmakers have always pushed boundaries for the past. You know, decade after decade after decade. But I do feel like there's a stale right now where no one's doing anything original. No one's doing anything new.

[00:24:55] They're afraid. A lot of times you say one wrong thing and you're you lost $1 million budget on your on your or multi million dollar film. They just can you.

[00:25:05] And now Hollywood's in big trouble because they don't have any original ideas and we're Hollywood's going to suffer because of this because you have the Koreans they're making great shows and India they're making great shows, you know, and movies all around the world. There's all kinds of different markets that are still pumping out content. So if Hollywood thinks that, you know, they're the only thing out there, they're going to suffer a lot. Um. And so yeah, that in terms of my. Filmmaking. I'm really lucky that I get to work in the mental health field and separate a bit from the industry because I get to have my own specific point of view on filmmaking and making things more creative and new. I'm really excited about. All the new advancements in technology that have been happening with, um, you know, artificial intelligence and this new form of video editing.

[00:26:02] And aren't you afraid that artificial intelligence is going to cop your your hairdo?

[00:26:10] Um, yeah.

[00:26:12] You got to look this guy up online, folks, or. No. We'll have his picture in the show notes.

[00:26:17] You know, artificial intelligence doesn't have an original thought, right? It copies. Yeah, copies, everything it's seen. And I'm not afraid of it. You know, I'm not afraid of getting written out. Um, I understand how a lot of people in the industry are, so I don't want to undermine, like, writers who, um, do all kinds of jobs and actors who do all kinds of jobs, too. Um, but for me, no, I'm super excited about the new opportunities and integrating these kinds of technologies, like deep faking, like motion graphics and. Um, audio editing, video editing. It's definitely the future. And I'm not afraid of the future. I want to embrace it and use it to do something that. You know, make create a film that no one has seen like, well, as long.

[00:27:10] As long as it's used for good because it could easily be used for bad, too. You know, so it's just like copywriting or anything, right? So, so how, how do they find the podcast?

[00:27:25] How they find the podcast. Who? Yeah.

[00:27:27] How do they. How do they get to your podcast?

[00:27:29] Oh. Uh, well, check out A2theshow.com.

[00:27:35] And we're on to the YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter. We're everywhere.

[00:27:51] Did my show run yet? I don't think Right.

[00:27:53] Uh, yours is coming out next weekend so hopefully that's something to look forward to.

[00:27:58] Yeah, they want to have it on a weekend with the least listenership because they want to be embarrassed. We pump it out.

[00:28:03] On Friday when people are ready for a party.

[00:28:08] Well, thanks for coming on, man.

[00:28:10] Thanks for having me, Tom. Thanks, everyone.

[00:28:12] So this is Ali The Professor with the A2theshow.com. And also I think he's doing you can see him on a corner in Los Angeles doing free mental health surveys maybe I don't know.

[00:28:29] I'd be happy to.

[00:28:30] Yeah. All right, man. We'll catch you.

[00:28:33] Later. Catch you later.

[00:28:34] All right, everybody. We'll catch you on the next episode. See you later.