- We are here with the team from Concrete Cowboy.
Director Ricky Staub, Producer and Star Idris Elba,
Star Caleb McLaughlin and Mil Pratis,
also in the film from the Fletcher Street Stables.
Welcome to all of you.
Thanks so much for doing this.
(all speaking over each other)
I wanna begin by asking who here got to learn,
to ride a horse?
- Yeah.
(laughing)
- Alright.
So Ricky, you knew of course Mil,
you were part of the Fletcher Street Stables
so you would have been a, an extra for a long time.
For Caleb and for Idris, what was that like?
Just the basics,
because you have to look comfortable.
Idris especially you cause (indistinct)
grown up in this world.
- Yeah.
It was, the process was, you know,
they made it painless.
You know, we had riding lessons
not too far from where we were staying in Philly.
And, you know, we just, you know,
they eased us in gently, you know.
We have a lot of film when you see horse riding,
a lot of the times it's stuntman, you know,
people that have been doing it for a long time.
And Ricky was, you know,
he really wanted us to be on the horses as much as possible
in real time as part of the fabric of the film
and just his process and our process too.
So, you know, once you understood how much
you were gonna be riding, riding and acting
and being on camera at the same time,
we sorta just really, you know, practice for that.
I'm definitely no expert.
If I was to jump on a horse right now,
I still might be a bit shaky, but, just because,
you know, as soon as we said action,
we try to make it look as real as possible.
(laughing)
- I had a month of riding before I went out to Philly.
And like Idris said, it was painless.
Ricky wanted us to get on there
and make sure we were comfortable on the horse.
I was communicating with Ricky
and sending him videos of me riding.
Yeah, it was a lot of fun.
I felt like if I got back on a horse,
I feel like I would be cool,
but I think I would be a little bit nervous as well.
(laughing)
- All right.
So I wanna hear a piece about
how this story came to the screen.
It's a pretty incredible culture of horse trainers
and riders that exist in Philadelphia
and some other big cities in the States as well,
New York and L.A.
But not everybody knows the history
and knows the culture that's, that's shown in the film.
Can you talk a little bit about,
maybe we'll start with you Mil
in terms of where these horse trainers and riders come from,
how long they've been in a city like Philly.
And I wanna hear from all of you,
just about how you discovered this world.
- The riders, it was right before meeting in (indistinct).
It was like (indistinct).
I love to teach people or just show somebody
how to sit in the saddle.
You just know.
And they both know.
I just, sit up a little bit.
Don't...
Although they torture.
They might torture a little bit,
but they need to sit in the saddle a little bit better.
They got the concept real quick.
There's riders from all over, like,
they just come out of nowhere.
And it's like, I've been riding horses for 30, 50 years.
You're like, what?
- Yes, so I everybody understand that this goes back to
when horses were a big part of cities,
when they were still pulling carriages.
So this is going like, a hundred years.
- The horses was the fire trucks,
the food markets, they was riding through.
They was used for everything.
- Ricky and Idris, you're also Producer on the film.
How did you discover this story?
Why was this a story you wanted to tell?
- Ricky, I ain't take that.
- So, I was living in Philly at the time.
My office in Philly is less than a mile
from Fletcher Street.
So, I was with these guys and then...
I speak every year at a courtroom for our company.
We hire adults returning home from incarceration.
And that's where I met one of the riders,
one of the cowboys, Eric Miller, who introduced me to Mil.
And we had a group of them over to our office.
This is a few years ago,
talking about making this movie together.
I had made a short film that they had all seen.
And yeah, Mil and Eric were the two that stood by me for..
Stood by the dream when it was just the four of us dreaming.
But I always thought it was just a fascinating culture.
As an outsider, I'd see these horses
coming through the hood.
It's an incredible visual and to learn about,
more about the community from Mil and Eric, and about...
Well, like an opportunity to make something
that could hopefully draw some attention
to what they're doing.
- Yeah, Idris?
- You know, like, Ricky...
Well, I saw his short film.
He and I have the same representation and, you know,
they were like, you guys should meet.
And I think, you know, we spoke about his film and such.
We just planted a seed.
And then, you know, when this movie and this story came,
he called me, we talked about it.
And I was immediately sort of like just intrigued.
I've been to Philly a few times as well, seen the riders.
But didn't really understand or know the story
or even appreciate the sort of heritage behind it.
And so when Ricky told me how he wanted to,
to tell the story, I was, I was immediately in.
And, you know, as a producer, you know, Ricky trusted my,
my team Green Door to, you know,
sort of help him pull out some of the story
and nurture some of the beats and some of the characters.
And, you know, it was super collaborative.
You know, he really, really did,
let us sort of jump into his vision
and just flesh some stuff out and, you know,
just look at ways of amplifying the story.
And I sorta, without a doubt, you know,
I was so proud to sort of work with
Ricky and Dan and their team because, you know,
they had stuck to this for a long time.
This was not one of these things,
all green lit and shooting.
They were there for two years, if not more.
And obviously have a connection to Philly.
So, you know, to allow us to come in,
and help nurture that, was like a privilege.
And I think that the film's incredible.
It does exactly what we all imagined it could do
from a storytelling point of view, you know?
- Yeah.
You know, the stables and that whole world,
are the setting for the film.
But this very powerful family story,
father-son story at the heart of it.
And I imagine that that's really what is going to
hit people emotionally as well.
So it did me.
And I love that you were able to
discover the world of the stables through your character,
Caleb, through Cole.
But also just discover what it's like to have your father
back in your life after years of him not being in your life.
I wonder if you could all talk a little bit
about how that part of the story,
that father-son conflict
and getting to know each other was developed.
Cause it's very strong in the film.
- I'm trying to figure out how much I can say right now.
But I feel that, you know,
this story was totally different from my life
and coming onto the set,
talking with Ricky and just about my character,
I was just understanding his relationship
and his emotions behind the relationship with his dad.
And I think when you get there,
when you watch the film,
his, there's this very powerful moment in the scene,
it's a pivotal moment in the storyline
that Harp and Cole has.
It's a truly powerful and intense moment.
And I think people will really be,
will really love that moment in the scene.
I mean, in the movie, not the scene.
- The story of,
of Philly was definitely a draw,
but the central storyline between father and son,
which was already on the page,
and very well told was,
was really appealing to me as an actor.
I'm a father, you know what I mean.
I lost my dad probably five years ago and, you know,
there's a real, I could really resonate
with that whole story.
I think it was also a very, you know, it was,
it was a very innovative way to come into this story.
To bring the eyes of Cole and his perspective
of a Philly and the stables, but then who his dad is.
And as that, telling that story just literally
spins the audience 360, to sort of see the world.
You know what I mean?
Because, you get your guy from, from Oakland or wherever,
and your dad from the stables.
And, you know, there's so much air between them,
so many years.
And this is where they come together.
It's, it was really, really touching to read.
And, you know, I think Ricky allowed us to,
just throw our hearts into it.
- One thing we can say is that,
and this is not a spoiler, I don't think,
when Cole first goes into Harps house
there's a surprise there.
There's a horse inside the house.
Which I love, but then I thought, is that real?
Does that happen, Mil?
Do people actually keep horses in their homes?
Yeah?
(laughing)
- I had horses come in the house, following behind me.
My horse personally.
I kept horses in my yard, at one point.
I used to do (indistinct) going home,
I mean going back to the stables,
so I just keep them moving.
(laughing)
No really.
- (indistinct) animals to take care of.
- Yeah, well you know.
And then the neighbors, they was pretty cool.
I just got to keep them in their all the time.
(laughing)
I actually had a, it was a horse, Dusty,
went in the house behind me.
And my mom was like, do not...
She keeps saying my name, but I was upstairs by then.
And when I came downstairs,
he was just standing at the top of the steps like...
(laughing)
How'd you get in here?
She be like, I was trying to tell you, he was following you.
(laughing)
- This is, I found it just a very powerful moving story.
I'm a father myself.
I also lost my own dad just two years ago.
And just so I know, I know what it means to kind of
just rethink about your own relationship to your child
and to your father.
But this film is gonna be released
in an environment of just so much conflict, division,
just horrific shootings of black men.
Still, it feels like more of the world,
more of America certainly is waking up to
just what black men are experiencing,
black communities are experiencing.
And I wonder, what role you think this film can play
in the environment it's gonna be released in later this year
or next year and the years to come.
- So, you know.
The art of storytelling is like one of the oldest,
oldest forms of communicating.
And when you take a story like this,
which was made in a different environment in terms of
it wasn't this climate, this current climate.
This film was made last year, right?
Last year?
- Yeah.
And you know, to some degree,
the world was in a slightly more harmonious world.
Even though we know that, you know, racism and,
what the world is coming to light now was fully in effect
back then, we tell, we've made that story.
And Ricky had been pulling that story together
for four years, three years.
So here we are now at this junction,
and this film comes out.
What I'm hoping it communicates is that, you know,
we're all humans, right?
You know, we have to tell each other stories
to help us have a wider perspective.
You know, everyone is gonna watch this film differently.
People are gonna think about gentrification in communities,
people are gonna think about father (indistinct),
people are gonna think about black men and young black men.
And they're gonna think about a whole spectrum of it.
But this story isn't designed to, to highlight any of that,
apart from what it's really about, which is, you know,
the human spirit, it's about the human spirit.
It's in a community, it's specific to Philly.
But essentially everyone might sit and watch this movie
and take away a little bit of that spirit,
which it was. A, made with,
and B, you know, comes from.
We're talking about, you know,
Philadelphia that has a high rate of crime.
And when you really check the history
about the rate of crime
and how the stables have helped young men,
young kids, black kids,
how just having that little community bubble
deviated some young men, kids away from trouble.
You know what I'm saying?
That's what I hope people get.
That it's important to have community.
You get me?
It's important for us to think about that.
And protect them.
You know what I'm saying?
Not just the fact that the stables might get taken
away from us, but you know,
you've got law enforcement chasing black boys all day.
Who's getting protected?
Alright.
So this, if the film does anything
and the audience sit there.
And the end of it, like me, I was crying and going, damn.
You know what I mean?
If they get a little piece of that,
that's important to our culture,
to community, to reminding us who we are,
then for me that would be a win.
You know what I mean?
- Thank you.
I think that's a beautiful way to end.
I wanna thank you all for this film
and for taking the time today.
Mil Pratis from Fletcher Street Stables,
Caleb McLaughlin, Director-
- Otherwise, wait, wait.
Mil's is otherwise known as Mils Washington.
- Oh.
- I just gotta put that out there-
(laughing)
He never acted before and killed it.
- All right.
My baby. (clapping)
(laughing)
- And Producer and Star, Idris Elba.
Thank you all so much.
- Thank you.