If you need to move to a different house
you might call City of Angels,
an up-and-coming moving company
that serves the L.A. area.
But lately, owner David Sassounian
has been finding it hard to stay profitable
with the rising cost of labor in his industry.
- For us, our most expensive cost is our employees, for sure.
- But after spending some time watching David's movers,
I realized there might be a simple solution
to all of his problems.
So I paid him a visit to see if I could help.
Your movers are very in shape.
- Our guys are in shape, yeah.
- I mean, lifting all those boxes and furniture.
That's a great way to get fit.
- Yeah, the guys are getting a great workout.
They're always getting a great workout.
- And that's the idea.
You see, the average gym member in America
spends over $700 a year to perform physical labor
that's very similar to the work
that David's employees do.
So if we can make a convincing argument
that moving boxes and furniture
is a better workout that going to the gym,
David could tap into an endless supply of labor
that would actually pay him
for the opportunity to move stuff.
- People don't usually pay to work...
for somebody else.
- I think you'll get a lot more people
if they just think it's a workout,
and we don't tell them
that they're actually doing free labor.
I mean, that's just my opinion
as someone who knows a lot about marketing.
- I don't know.
I don't know if I can convince people
to do that.
- David was skeptical
but agreed to give me a chance
to prove that this would work.
Launching a fitness craze, however,
would be no easy task.
I didn't know much about this stuff,
but it seemed like every popular workout
was based on a charismatic figure
who's a living example of what the workout can do.
I know I'm charismatic,
and since the workout was my idea anyways,
I thought it would be easiest if I just did it.
But after reviewing the promotional images I took,
I realized I just didn't have the body
to be a convincing fitness authority.
So I sent my producers to a local fitness convention,
and they found a professional bodybuilder
who seemed interested in being a spokesperson.
So later that week, I brought him to my office
to see if he could impress me enough to get the job.
- I'm older, but watch me.
Look at me.
I can outperform you.
I can--you know, I look just as good as you do.
I see this as an opportunity really for me to teach.
- Jack said all the right things,
but what I really cared about was his body.
- Yeah, you've got--
seems like you've got a good bod.
- Thank you. -
Jack got the job.
And because his role as spokesman would be so crucial,
I prepared an extensive contract for him to sign.
In the event of your death,
we have the rights to your name, likeness.
- Sure, sure.
- DNA as well. -
- Is that-- are you comfortable with that?
- Yeah, yeah. - Okay.
- That's fine.
- With Jack on board,
I walked him through my concept
for a new workout called The Movement
that would consist entirely of moving boxes and furniture
from one location to another.
My plan was to position Jack
as the guru behind this workout
in the hopes I could convince people
he got his amazing physique
solely from lifting household items.
Let's see some attitude.
Beautiful.
And to really sell this idea,
I hired an obese look-alike
to pose as Jack before he lost the weight.
Now that The Movement had its figurehead,
I wanted to legitimize Jack with his own book.
So to get the job done quickly,
I contacted a ghostwriter who advertised his services
on Craigslist and invited him to my office
to see if he was right for the task.
- What I'm looking for is someone who knows
a lot about fitness.
- Okay. -
- Yes.
- You know, for my own due diligence,
I need to know you're a good writer
before hiring you, obviously.
- Yeah.
- So can you come up with an original sentence right now
and tell it to me?
- Um...
Okay.
Um, the candles flickered, the sheets were still,
but all the energy in the room surrounded Roman and Kenzie.
Kenzie stepped forth and...
gently touched Roman's arm.
He suddenly felt weak in his legs and trembled and fell
as if his Achilles heel had been struck by a blade,
but all it was was simply a woman's touch.
- Wow.
That was a good sentence.
- Thank you.
- Obviously this book would be more fitness, but--
- Yeah.
- Austin seemed like a pretty good fit for the project,
so I gave him as much information as I could
about the workout and its founder, Jack.
- What did he do when he was younger?
- As a child? - Yeah.
- Some things I don't know,
and you're just gonna have to fill in the blanks yourself.
- Okay. -
- All right then.
-
I had a cover designed, highlighting the fact
that Jack got his body
only from moving boxes and furniture
and that he'd never been to a gym in his life.
The problem was, in reality,
Jack goes to the gym religiously.
- I'm in the gym six to seven days a week.
- With The Movement about to go public,
I couldn't risk Jack being seen at a gym,
or else we'd be exposed as a fraud.
So I set up a private workout space
so he could maintain his body in secret.
So you think this will work to maintain those muscles?
- If this is, you know, what I have to do,
uh, I can-- I'll make it work.
- All right, well, you gonna have a workout or--
- Sure.
- All right, uh...
Have fun.
I felt confident moving forward
now that our secret was safe,
and I was thankful that Jack was so committed
to The Movement.
And a couple days later,
Austin returned with the completed book.
Steve Jobs?
- Yeah.
I was one of his childhood friends.
- Oh, okay.
Austin had taken a few liberties
with Jack's life story,
but for my purposes it would work.
So I rushed published a bunch of copies
and mailed them to media outlets throughout the state
in the hopes I'd get some interest.
And as luck would have it,
we soon got the big break we needed.
-
- One of the most popular morning news shows in the state
wants you to talk about The Movement
live on air tomorrow morning.
- Oh. Okay.
Wow.
-
- I felt, uh--
I felt like a-- I felt a rush go right by me.
I mean, that is phenomenal.
- Just so you know too.
I gave them this book... -
- That I had ghostwritten about your life.
- Mm-kay.
- Obviously the author didn't know anything about you.
- Right.
- So he kinda made some stuff up.
- Okay.
- It seems like a big part of it
is how you were childhood friends with Steve Jobs.
So...do you know Steve Jobs?
- Steve Jobs, yes.
Uh, he--he's the Microsoft--
- Apple. - Apple, right.
-
- So anyways, yeah, you might want to read it over
to get a sense of what your life is like before tomorrow.
- Okay, okay.
-
you spend a lot of time volunteering
with jungle children.
I don't know what that is, but you might want to bring it up,
because audiences love someone
who gives back and is charitable.
- Okay, I'll be able to--
I'll tell them, you know, what they wanna hear.
male announcer: You're watching
San Diego 6 News In the Morning.
- Welcome back.
We are in spring, but we're always looking ahead to summer.
And if you're looking to lose a couple of pounds,
we have a free way to do it
with things that are already in your home,
and we have proof that it works.
- We're gonna introduce you to someone.
Come in here and look at this before picture.
This is Jack Garbarino before--
This was Jack about a hundred pounds ago.
Now let's have you the grand reveal.
-
- This is Jack now. - Hello.
- How great do you look now, Jack?
- I look great, I feel great.
I feel a renewed person.
I'm lean and mean, and I'm a fighting machine.
Nathan: The news appearance couldn't have gone better.
And over the next couple weeks,
Jack made appearances on morning shows
throughout the region.
- Our next guest lost more than one hundred pounds
and never stepped foot in a gym.
- Can you lose a hundred pounds
just by moving boxes and furniture?
One guy says it's possible.
- Look at this man, he lost over a hundred pounds,
and now he's sharing his fitness tips with all of us.
- Jack-- - Good to be here.
- You're a story of inspiration.
- Yes, um-- Yeah, that was me.
I mean, you can see that I was a fat tub of lard.
- [laughs] - And, uh--
- 'Cause you can say it. I can't.
- And you also came across Steve Jobs.
- Yes. - How did you meet him?
- Well, I grew up with him as a child.
- No kidding.
- He was my best friend as a child.
- Were you able to keep that friendship with Steve Jobs
so he could see what you were motivated to eventually become?
- You know, he never saw me really at this fit.
We kept in touch, but--
That's it, simple as this.
I do work, charity work...
- Okay.
- With jungle children.
- Jungle child is what?
Yeah, jungle children are children
that live in the jungle.
A while ago I was working with a jungle child.
His name was Dendy.
He was a great inspiration for me.
And unfortunately, tragically he died
when baboons kidnapped and ate him.
It was actually one of the worst days
of my life.
- Where is this?
Nathan: Jack turned out to be
an extremely compelling spokesman,
and he was really hitting our message home.
- In my opinion, gym stands for "giving your money away."
Never been to a gym in my life.
Never stepped foot in the gym in my entire life.
I got this body by simply just moving boxes and furniture.
If I could do it, anybody else could do it.
Sign up and you can see what we're doing
to help people around the country.
- Good work. You look amazing.
- Thank you very much. - Yeah.