Army Soldier of The Year to Hollywood Producer and Crypto Founder with Daril Fannin

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We get back to his house and Lucy, his wife pops champagne for us. And we cheers and then Matt Damon facetimes my mom and dad to tell them that we sold the show. And my mom answers, and she doesn't know who Matt Damon is. She's never seen any of his movies.

Wow.

So my dad, my dad had just seen the Bourne Trilogy. And so all he could say was like, oh my god, it's Jason Bourne. And I watched his eyes like wide up. And I was like, That is an amazing, an amazing experience. And I will be forever grateful to Matt for that.

Warriors fall in, it's time for formation. Today we're joined with an eight year Army veteran who was inspired to further his education. After speaking with Sergeant Major of the Army, Kenneth O. Preston, which having such a conversation with such a high ranking NCO in the military is not a normal opportunity for any average NCO or soldier. So we'll get more into his story here in a minute. But our guest today is now a writer in Hollywood, who has also managed to break into the Tinseltown scene by selling one of his own shows to the likes of Matt Damon and Peter Berg. Since then, he's also created more shows with big names, and is now the founder of a startup tech company that helps protect artists from large corporations, and the questionable accounting practices that take place in Hollywood. Today, I'd like to welcome Mr. Daril Fannin to The Morning Formation podcast. Sir, take us back to your military time. Tell us more about why you joined and what were your overall experiences like being in the Army?

Yeah, so I grew up in very rural Tennessee, middle of nowhere. I actually I grew up into a hyper conservative sect of Christianity that a lot of people refer to as a cult. And so I, I lived kind of under a rock, under a rock where most of the people that I was around was in my own echo chamber, and we all believed the same things. And then at 17 years old, I was like, oh, no, this is a bit of a problem. I don't necessarily agree with everything. I was looking for an opportunity, because like, we grew up well below the poverty line, like, you know, my parents lived on a few $100 a month, we lived in the side of the church. So like, our I think my parents bedroom, living room, kitchen and dining room was all in one room. My little brother and I shared like, half of a Sunday school room was a bedroom. And I was coming from that. And I was like, oh, you know what, there's not a lot of opportunities in my small town of 7000 people. I need to figure out what I'm going to do with my life. And the military offered a lot of things. One, it offered a job that I felt like I could believe in, right, like it's something that I could do. I was a medic, I love the idea of helping people I had read Dust Off by Michael J. Novosel, which is an incredible book, if you haven't read it about medical evacuations. And I was like, Oh, this is it. I want to be a medic. So there was that there was the education opportunities. And also I just knew I needed to experience life. And of course, I didn't know what I was getting into. So I joined the army at 17 Having never even been cussed at. So this was an absolutely insane experience for me, where I went from like this church that like thought that going to the movies was a sin. We jokingly call the TV the hell of vision from that, and like never having been cussed at never cursing myself, to the US military where I was absolutely terrified. And also 17 I wasn't even like an adult. Yeah, which is insane.

That is absolutely insane. And don't feel bad because my old man was a 20 year Army veteran was a drill sergeant for five years. And when I went to Fort Leonard Wood for basic training, for some reason, I don't know why. I didn't know what a drill sergeant was until I went to like, I thought it was gonna be like camp. Like I literally, I don't know why I was so naive. And then yeah, that was that was an eye opener for sure, man. So I feel you on that as far as not knowing what it was like to jump into that deep end all of a sudden. But um, so talk to us about the Sergeant Major of the Army and how you had that conversation with him and how that even came about?

Well, I was I was in basic training. One of my drill sergeants drill sergeant Adams told me that like there was this thing called the soldier of the year if you're trying to get promoted, that's the track to be on, like be squared away. And so when I got back, I joined the National Guard, because I was trying to go You know, get that education. But I was like not going to get a bachelor's degree, I was just going to do an Associate's and that was my plan. And I executed, the army paid for three degrees, very grateful. But while I was doing that, I was like, Okay, I'm going to do the soldier of the year thing. And I knew it was going to be easy for me at the company level, because I was like, a very determined individual. And I was decently squared away since I was just back from basic training. And I was like, Okay, now I just have to sit down and like, memorize a bunch of military regulations. And so I won for the company, and then the battalion, and then the brigade, and then the state. And then the southeast region, the United States, which includes like Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. And I was like, Oh, shit, this is like, it's real. So they flew me to, they flew us to Fort Benning, Georgia, with the Ranger Training Brigade there to do the like final competition. And then after that, we flew up to Washington, DC. And we got like, an amazing tour of dc, we got to meet all the brass, like, I have so many stupid coins, bro, like, my pants look ridiculous if I had to try and carry them around. And it was absolutely amazing, because I got to meet some of the top minds in the military at the time. And I was a PFC, you know, I mean, like, I was nobody. And it was interesting, because I had to gain a lot of skill sets to that I didn't have like, I had never fought in my life. And then suddenly, I was like, Oh, I have to go to combative school and be willing to fight people who were like, way bigger than me. And I was just, like, I was too stupid to quit. So like, a lot of times, like I would either they would choke me out, or I would win. Like it was really the two options. And it became a lot of fun because I got to, I got to excel at something. And I was given a system, right. But the thing that I missed about the, the background that I had was it was like a series of rules. And I knew what my metrics of success were. And so when I got into the military, they gave me that same guideline, and I was like, Oh, I can just apply myself. And so I just made flashcards, I was like, that's all I did is I lived, eat and breathed the military shit. And I wasn't great at it. That's the other thing like, but I just believed enough. And in the moment, it was like, you know, I'll never forget going into the shoot house and like being the fastest time and shooting 40 out of 40 on a range when, like, that's, that's not me intrinsically. But I created a narrative that said, if I really apply myself, and I understand the basics, and the principles of what I'm doing, then I can, I can master it. And I think that a lot of people, in my experience, fuck up because they don't look at the minutiae, and they don't look at the foundation. And we are taught as, especially in our like, military mindset that like seeing a failure is a negative thing. And we associate that with negative instead of with learning. And as an idiot who grew up in like, a very small world, I had so much learning to do. And I think the military provided me a structure that allowed me to do that in the fastest way possible. That was a long answer. All of that did lead me though to the Office of SAR major Preston. And he was talking about like, obviously, like, it was funny, because when I would have dinners with like, the brass, and it was like one and two star generals. And they were always talking about college and becoming an officer, and you go back to the NCOs. And they're like, fuck that shit. You know, be an NCO. And an SAR major Preston was like fan, and it doesn't matter what track you actually choose...an education is going to help you get there faster. And I was like, That makes a lot of sense. So I decided to get a degree in something that wasn't at all with the military, because I was really satisfied. Like, my adrenaline was always pumped because I was doing something new and fun. And I was pushing myself physically and mentally, I wanted something that was completely different. And I had this like, creative urge to write. And then I had a terrible motorcycle accident, where I folded my foot in half. And, and I was had to sit on my ass for like six months while I healed. My three metatarsals. And while I did that, I started writing. And I was like, This is what I want to do. This is what I want to get my degree in. Because I wasn't allowed to go to the movies as a kid. So I was like, I want to go write movies. And in fact, I didn't go to the movies until I was 19 years old. In the Army already for two years before I went to the movies for the first time.

Wow, it sounds like the military was a way out.

It was.

And that's exactly what was and you made the most of it, man. And that's what I loved about the military was it puts you in front of folks who could inspire you who could actually have you thinking outside the box or outside of the boundaries or your county lines. And I can say this much man at 17 years old. You know 18 years old, joined the National Guard, it sounded like you were very mature at that time. I actually joined the National Guard as well, when I got out of high school and I don't feel like I was as mature as I should have been. I knew that what I wanted to do but you still, as they say, don't know your ass from a hole in the ground when you're that age, right. And so, the military kind of exposes you and puts you out there in front of a formation many times as a squad leader, right? When you're in basic training, that's your first your first leadership right and they give you that opportunity, you really don't get that you know, at that age, if you just go straight into college. And that's, that's what I loved about it the most man but yeah, your your maturity level at that age is being soldier of the year you were a PFC standing in front of the Sergeant Major of the Army. That's a big deal.

It is. But also like I wasn't. To be clear, by the time I got in front of the Sergeant Major of the Army, they promoted me, I think they realize they couldn't PFC up to be like in this competition. But I think that two points, I really want to hit on one, the diversity of individuals that I met in the military is something that I will be forever grateful for, like, I met people from all walks of life. And it's so interesting, because like, everyone was there for a different reason. But it didn't matter, like what your background was, or who you were, like, we came together, we had a single mission. And we work together to accomplish that. And like, that is something that I think is so valuable. And people don't understand the leadership opportunities that I got at 17, I was put in charge, I was the PG the platoon guide, like week two of basic training, and they told me they were gonna fire me every day, until last week. And you know, like it was, it was crazy. I was like, Okay, this is insane. And then when I got to Fort Saint Houston, they made me the students first sergeant. And it was like in that swell of, 05, 06, where we just needed bodies. So there was like, 500 people that were in that company. And I was in charge of like, accountability. And I fucked so much shit up. But I was just constantly learning from those mistakes. And I am so grateful, because it gave me a belief in myself that like, I had to figure this out. And I knew that if I applied enough time and discipline effort, I could do pretty much anything. And I'm just bullheaded enough to like, really apply that still today, you know, like, those things that I learned, they served me because I believe them. And I followed a system that I knew would lead to success. And I think, like, what was so difficult about getting out of the military, is that you you land here, and you're not sure what those metrics of success are. And you have to build those for yourself. And that is a very difficult thing to do. And we don't equip anyone, really. And that's from the military to like, changing careers. Like we don't equip people to deal with these, like big life changes. And it's something that I think we can do a better job of.

Yeah, no doubt, man, I actually did a real on Instagram the other day about failure leading to growth. And that's your right I'd, I screwed up a lot. Like when I was a leader, even when I was. So I went, I started out enlisted in the National Guard just like you and then I went active duty as a commissioned officer after I got my bachelor's degree. So exactly. I know, I went to the I went to the dark side, right. But even as a young lieutenant in combat, I made a lot of mistakes, man, a lot of mistakes. And it's a tall order when you're 24 years old, like in charge of a platoon, you know, in 2004 2005, at sort of the height of the Iraq War, there was a lot going on at that time. So

And you know, what's really insane, is that your frontal lobe isn't even fully developed at 24. So most of the time, we are making decisions that we are not even capable of fully understanding the second and third effects of those decisions. Like that's an insane thing to process. You know, like, there's a lot of people who join the military, and they, they all have different reasons. But like, when you get into the shit, and you realize, like, oh, there are consequences to this decision that I made, like life changing consequences. That's, that's a really tough thing to grapple with, which I think is really amazing. Because a lot of times, people feel like they can succeed in that military structure. And then when they get on the outside, it's like, hey, now I'm trying to deal with the things that I wasn't capable of dealing with at the time, because I wasn't even mentally, like, evolved enough to or developed enough to do that yet, on top of dealing with this, like whole new environment that operates in a different set of rules.

Yeah, yeah, it's, you know, and that's funny, because the intro to The Morning Formation Podcast is just that where, you know, in the military, you're given a uniform, you're told where to go, you're told what to do. But what happens when that cadence fades and you're no longer wearing that uniform? And it's time to pivot on your own. You know, it's time to make decisions on your own. And that's, you know, one of the many reasons why I started The Morning Formation Podcast. Daril, that's actually an absolutely fast and fascinating journey through your, through your military career having been thrown out there in front of the lions so fast. But it sounds like you tread water very, very well. And you came through to win soldier of the year. And at what point Daril, did you decide to move to Hollywood and pursue a career as a Hollywood writer? I know you mentioned when you're injured, you decided you wanted to be a writer. But what what I guess catapulted you to to make to actually take that next step?

Yeah. You know, I a couple of things. One, I think I, I'm always looking for a challenge. And one of the things that I was frustrated with in the military structure is that this whole idea of timing, grade time and rank, because I realized that I had a lot of untapped potential, and I was going to have to wait around for seven years to be able to get promoted. And that seems stupid. So like, the truth is that I think I became a little bit disgruntled with the system, like the I am a challenger by nature, and I probably, like don't naturally make the best enlisted soldier because I, I don't like following dumb rules. And it's something that it took me a while to learn, and I'm good at it. But when I don't understand it, or if I think it could be better, it eats at me. Fundamentally, I'm the kind of person who wants to try and change the world. And what I realized is that there was no changing the US military, which is fair. And I understand the size of that structure, even small changes have like drastic ripple effects. But it wasn't just like the environment that I was made for. And I also had this like ridiculous, artistic craving to tell stories, and like, and so even while I was in the military, I was like, always buying cameras. And like, while I was, you know, at that age, I had to go to an ada mic course so I was just like, filming shit all the time, I just absolutely loved it. I was working on figuring out angles. And basically, I wrote a couple of really bad scripts, like, absolutely terrible. Scripts, I would never let anyone read today. But I didn't know how bad they were at the time. And I said, there's something here, I can do better. And I knew I just needed a better education. And when I looked at what that meant, that really meant getting an MFA. And if I was going to make that commitment, I sought some outside counsel, I found a couple of really amazing groups for vets who are looking to transition from the military into entertainment. So VME veterans in media and entertainment. At the time, it was VFT. I'm dating myself a little bit, but it's a great resource for anyone who's looking to make that career jump. And you know, I think a lot of times we think of just the creative side, but there's a lot of technical skills from like, makeup and wardrobe to like paint, set painters and construction like grips, gaffers, like there's a lot of unique skills, and cool ways to be involved in the filmmaking process. And so VME does a great job of helping people transition from the military, and gives like, all kinds of opportunities, so I sought out some counsel through them. And the consistent answer that I got is that if you're going to be a writer, you got to be in LA, because that's where all the writers rooms are. And so I made the decision. It was a tough one. But I was like, I'm gonna leave this military career behind and focus on chasing something that is probably an impossibility. But like, I believe that I can do it. And yeah, so I set off in 2014. And I got very lucky I ended up on a set with another military vet, a Green Beret, Sean Vance, who's a very talented actor. And at the time, he was like thinking about writing. I was like, Dude, I'm a writer. Let me teach you how to write you can try and teach me how to be normal. I'm a way better teacher. But we started writing together and things kind of took off. And, like halfway through my MFA program, I ended up selling a show to Netflix, that with Matt Damon, he, like went into the room to pitch it with us was absolutely amazing. And then Matt introduced us and Pete Bergs came on, and it was a crazy experience.

Wow, it sounds just as fast and furious as your military career, went as far as jumping up as a PFC starting soldier of the year. Now, for folks out there listening that don't know what VME is. Would you mind talking about that?

Oh, yeah. Veterans in media and entertainment. It's an incredible nonprofit that really helps soldiers and sailors and airmen and anyone with military service and I think possibly firefighters and rescue as well. So check into that but they help you transition from your military service into the film and television careers. And there are so many. Obviously there are a lot of actors in that group. There are also like very, very talented people from all walks of life. And so there's mentorship opportunities, which is absolutely fantastic. They do Speaker Series, which like, I will never forget early on, it was so influential because I could come in and I could listen to like, either high level executives, or just writers who were in a room and giving you like practical advice about how to like, build a career. My good friends, Karen craft and Rebecca Murga, have spent a lot of time helping me, you know, navigate this whole system, I highly recommend that you check them out. If anyone's interested. I think it's vme connect.org. I'm gonna double check that right now.

I'm gonna make sure I put that. I'll make sure I put VMEs link in the show notes as well. That sounds like it's a great start for anyone currently in service right now or a veteran looking to transition their career. Absolutely horrid Hollywood, no doubt. No doubt. Yeah. So if you're interested in that, take a look at the show notes. If you're watching this on, on YouTube, scroll down to the description. You'll see it down there. So Darryl, so far, thus far, I should say in your career. Yeah. I don't know if I should even ask this question, but because you probably want to be a little impartial about this. But what's the most fascinating, interesting project that you've done to date?

Oh, that's a tough one. Okay. The most interesting project that I did, will never see air. Because the system is very interesting. But the Green Berets guide to surviving the apocalypse is a half hour action comedy that I did with Matt Damon and Peter Berg and Sean Vance. Sean was the lead in it. I also got to act on it. We wrote executive produced. It was an incredible experience. And we work with like some really hilarious people. Kristin Shaw was in an episode. She's absolutely amazing. Scotty Landis, who's a writer from workaholics, he did Ma, a super talented executive producer who like brought me under his wing, when we were just flailing and helped us figure out how to navigate the industry. Chris Romano, was on that show it s a bunch of fun people. And so as we were working on the show, the whole premise is that it's a series an apocalypse series. And the world ends in a different way in every episode. So there's nuclear attack, supervolcano, pandemic, asteroid, and the lead of the show, breaks the fourth wall and tells you how to actually survive. So you're getting real survival information in the middle of this like action movie that's about the end of the world. And it was so much fun. And it was absolutely crazy. Matt got super excited about it, because he's like, basically, Matt Damon had read a bunch of our scripts, and he was like, You guys are hilarious. But like anybody can write a comedy about a Hollywood gym. The title of the show was Glutes. It was a gym that was known for turning asses into stars. It was hilarious. But it's just too generic at like that 50,000 view. He was like, You got to do something that only you can write. Because otherwise they're going to take it from you. They're going to give it to another lead actor. They're going to give it to another showrunner. You got to have ownership. And so we came up with this idea. He was stoked, because he's like, this is real information and a narrative. I've never seen TV like this before. And so he brought us in, set us up with WME. We went with Peter Berg, because obviously Matt and Pete had never made anything together. These are like two dynamite names. And so yeah, we partnered up, and it was crazy. It was it was it was one of the most extremely difficult shows because we were, you know, we weren't a high budget show. So we were we were doing a lot with a little. But when we came back, we were getting such great feedback. And it was it was absolutely insane.

Yeah, so that can't be found anywhere.

It will if it is it's been leaked illegally, because it is not out in the ether. So if you found it and it's been leaked, that's a that's an issue that the production company you're sending

That's too, that's too bad and it sounds absolutely fascinating and the names that you named being part of that show, that'd be really interesting to check out but it's too bad.

it was wild Flula Borg was in it as well. I don't know if you know him from like Conan and stuff or Kurt Braunohler. Like these are like amazing comedians who are like down to clown they were they were in the craziest situations like Kristen Shaw. was Sean's therapist as he was like dealing with the post traumatic stress of surviving like a massive earthquake and a tsunami. And yeah, it was It was wild.

Yeah, it sounds like it, man. It sounds like that is definitely a very interesting project to be working on. And so you come in from Tennessee man, I, I grew up in State of Hawaii, grew up on the islands. And then I finished up high school in Ohio out of all places in the middle of the soybean fields. Right. So I understand like you, downgraded. You came from Tennessee to Hollywood. So what's one thing that you learned about Hollywood that many listeners may not already know? Did? Did you experience any eye openers? Or did you find things to be a little different than you had thought, prior to you making this career decision?

I mean, so much is different. First of all, like I never really transitioned into normalcy from my childhood. So like, I was carrying a lot of that and like, I didn't know who celebrities were right. So I had no idea that celebrity culture was a thing. So when I got to LA, I was like cutting out People Magazine. And literally making flashcards and like, this is Jen Aniston. I know who she is, I can move on, you know, like, I was trying to memorize these celebrity names. And I'll never forget. So Shawn ended up getting this job at this incredible gym in Hollywood, where he was like training the who's who of Hollywood. So you got Bradley Cooper ready for American Sniper, John Krasinski ready for 13 hours. He was he was blowing up. And so we would go in and work out together. And and while we were working out, we would be getting, like, great life advice from all of these amazing people like Topher Grace, for instance, was the first person to tell me that he was a fan of my work, he read the pilot of Green Berets guide, and he was like, This is insane. And I love it. And I'm very grateful. He just like gave us notes. But anyway, we were working in this environment. And I didn't realize the value of celebrity culture, because just like the power of someone's name, when they've been an established entity, an entity in an industry like this is like, infinite. And so, you know, like, when Matt put his weight behind me as a creator, I will never be so grateful, because he was like, giving me his validating stamp of approval. And now I am a representation of Matt. And I thought that was really, really amazing. And so there's so much about this world that I didn't think was, you know, the same. And one of the bigger things. You know, that kind of relates to what I'm doing today is there's this thing called Hollywood accounting. Have you heard of this before? We brought it up.

Yes, I have I when I read through some of your materials and your your reason I want to get into that in a second.

Okay. All right. I'm pumped and ready.

Yeah. Well, we'll definitely we'll definitely hit on that. Because I want to talk about your your tech startup, which I know has a lot to do with that specifically.

Yeah, it does. Okay, great.

So before we move on to that, I want to hit on this. And I want to ask you, if you have any pieces of advice for our military community, who might have an itch to become a writer, or to work in Hollywood, but feel like this career may be out of reach for them? You know, like I said, You came from Tennessee, which is far away from the city lights of LA and Hollywood. So maybe you can help others hurdle, that mental obstacle that they might feel might be in the way.

Yeah, there were more people in my apartment complex here in LA than my entire town, in Tennessee, so I, I feel that intimately. Yeah, look, I think a lot of things in life are built around our narratives. So like, we have this idea that like we can't do something because we've never done it before. And like I like if you want to be a writer, I believe that you can do it, you're gonna have to work harder than probably you've ever worked in your life at anything. It is incredibly difficult because we're talking about one of the most attractive industries in the world to egomaniacs like myself. No, it's a very competitive industry. And at that is it like it's a tip of the spear and in order to distinguish yourself, you have to be so good. So I think the thing is like, don't be afraid to spend your time making the mistakes. And the sooner that you admit that you're making those mistakes, the sooner you can like course correct. So I think spend a lot of time, master the craft. If you want to be a writer, write. If you want to be a gaffer learn about lighting and how that works. If you want to be a director like spend the time, direct the films, you're going to you're going to learn more from actually directing a short film than you were from you will from sitting in class for years and years and I absolutely loved film school. I'm very grateful to Loyola Marymount. My MFA was worth every penny. And the US government paid for all of it. So, you know, I'm very grateful to have a Yellow Ribbon Program. So they they covered a very expensive education. But like, take the time, learn to master your craft and then apply yourself and then don't let these other narratives like get in your way. People are going to tell you what you can't do. They have my whole life. I wasn't allowed to go to the movies. I did that anyway, I wasn't, there was no way I was going to be able to lead anybody at 17. And then the military put me in charge of 500 people. And it turns out, like, I fumbled my way through every step of it, but like, it is doable. And like when I got to LA, I didn't know any celebrities. And everybody was like, There's no way you're going to break into the industry before you've even finished film school. Like you can't have multiple jobs. I was like, No, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do an internship. I'm gonna give like two years of my life to this, I'm gonna work for free. I'm gonna learn everything that I can. And then all of that value that I have been, I've been stacking chips, and I've been learning and educating myself. And then I didn't let them stop me when they said that I couldn't. Like, that's the key. Like, don't let people tell you that you can't do something.

Oh, yeah. Same thing was started the podcast, man.

Yeah, exactly. And if you build it, they will come now there is some truth to taking feedback as well. So while you are saying, No, I'm gonna be a good writer, whatever, learning how to take a note and find the truth, and especially the ones that you react emotionally to. I mean, like, if you're like, fuck that, that's not me. That probably means it's you. And listen to your own words. Like we project our judgments onto the world. And it's the things that we hate about ourselves. So if you want to know what you need to change about yourself, listen to the way that you talk about the people that you don't like. Like, it's an amazing skill set. Because you immediately realize like, oh, you know, what, I'm judgmental, I'm, I'm, I'm all of these things that I'm judging other people for. And then you can take that in. And if you can become a better person, you will be happier. And that's what's important, like you will succeed in life, when you try and upgrade your moral compass, and who you are at your core. And I think a lot of times, we get in this habit of like looking to the outside, and I'm looking for that financial viability, I'm looking for that financial stamp of approval, or I'm looking for, you know, this C suite title, or whatever that is. And I think the reality is like being willing to be humble, and build that skill set and work. Like, you can do it.

Yeah, those are all the elements of success, man. And that's why you've been so successful, so early, so fast, and seems like just about everything that you put your hands on so far within your your career in the military, and in Hollywood as well, because that's no easy tour, to break in.

I think a lot of it can be crash and burn too, though. Like I made so many mistakes on my first show, of course, I would. I was literally put in charge. Like so Shawn and I were the two executive producers that were boots on the ground. So it was Shawn, myself and Shawn was in every frame of the show, and I was also acting in it, and then our line producer. And we were the only producers because they fired the showrunner. And like didn't replace him for weeks and weeks. And they brought in Scotty Landis. And I'm so grateful. Again, that dude's a badass. But we were left in charge. And so with no experience, I was running production meetings. I was going through props and wardrobe. And I had to figure out what a day out of days was. And I was like trying to go through the budget and figure all that out. And like it was absolute hell. It was....I don't want to repeat this. So if you're going to be offended as a veteran, plug your ears, but it was harder than anything I did in the military. It was one of the most difficult things that I had ever had to do. Because I had the stress and pressure of like, oh, this I left. It wasn't like I could blame the system for putting me there. Like in the military, no matter what situation you're in, you're always like, dammit, like we got deployed. This is the wrong time. Wrong place. I chose every bit of that. You know what I mean? And then when you deal with those consequences, that's a heavy thing.

Oh, yeah. Big time. And I love how you talked about failing and failing forward. I like to say because hey man. Now's a great time for me to queue up my first like YouTube videos are my first audio that I ever did for this podcast or for YouTube and they suck. They're horrible. And I got so much bad. I got so many bad reviews from people that I care so much about. I was like, Look, I'm gonna figure this out. I'm gonna figure this out. So yeah, I don't mean to portray that Daril, like, jumped right in and was successful the first time it took a lot of resilience, a lot of perseverance, a lot of picking himself up, you know, dusted himself up getting back at it again. Like you mentioned, the two scripts that you wrote early on and how much they are horrible. Now that you go back and look at a man. It would be fascinating. There was some time for you to share Are that because I, it's important to know like where you came from man and and, you know, the one of the reasons I do this podcast is because I don't like for people to count themselves out. You know whether you're a PFC or an E-4 you know, maybe you're from Tennessee, maybe you're from somewhere far away from the Hollywood lights, like, I want folks to see themselves like in Daril, like, I want folks out there who might be stationed overseas somewhere as an E-3 and E-44. And they haven't quite figured out yet. But they have dreams and they have goals. And it's guys like you that I like to put out front and say, look, here's an example of following your dreams and your goals and making the good decisions to get to where you need to go. So fascinating, fascinating journey for you so far. And just wanted to ask you and wanted to pivot to this tech startup that you started Kino.

Yeah. Oh, I'm excited. That's this is my new passion. Yeah.

So what what actually inspired you? And what's the overall mission and goal of the of this specific startup?

Great question. So basically, when I came into Hollywood, and I was running my own show, I found out about this thing called Hollywood accounting, which is really wild. And it's basically a corrupt accounting practices that these studios use to basically pay less taxes. I'm not saying it's tax evasion, but they make money disappear by creating these corporate entities, and then they charge themselves money. So for instance, a producer on a show might get charged in a random case, that may or may not be true $10,000 a month to park their car, at the location that they're working. So over a two year period, that's a quarter of a million dollars that had been paid for parking. And this is an entity that owns the parking structure. Does that make sense? And they do this at marketing and all these other levels. And so what ends up happening is they get to show like, hey, this movie lost money, even though it brought in billions of dollars, and that's great for the corporations because they get to write it off on their taxes. But for the artists, that means that there are billions of dollars in royalties that are being stolen annually. Okay, like that's a, that's a crazy number. So like, I love to use Peter Jackson as an example, because Peter Jackson from the Lord of the Rings, if they can do this to Peter Jackson, they can do it to anybody, but the Lord of the Rings trilogy was made for about $281 million. I think double check me, but it came in at about 6 billion in the box office in the global box office. They said that that movie lost millions of dollars. So is a $281 million, and it brought in $6 billion, and they said that it lost money. And that means that Peter Jackson didn't get any of the seven and a half percent that he was due. And if you think that's crazy, it's like Lord of the Rings that happened. Star Wars The Last Jedi. It happened on Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix. Bohemian Rhapsody most recently to Freddie Mercury biopic. Like, it is it is insane to me. And the way that we're compensating artists is completely unfair. So like, for instance, if you look at the Squid Games creator, that show brought a $911 million worth of value to Netflix, value that they desperately needed. And they did not compensate him on any of that profit, they pay you a tiny amount up front. And if you succeed, the narrative is you should be grateful for the fame, even though you you created about a billion dollars worth of value for them. And I'm like, This doesn't seem equitable. This isn't how we treat artists. This isn't how we treat fellow human beings. This is like not acceptable. And so what I did was I went out into the world of web three. And I found this guy, Austin Morell, who was my co founder. And he was working at a charity token at the time called Elongate, 500,000 holders, 500 million market cap at its peak, I believe. And I was like Austin, I want to raise for blockchain. And I want to make a movie. And then we started jamming. And we realized that the brilliant idea, instead of just making one movie where the creatives get to own it, we should build a platform where any talented creative can come and then watch their own film, and they will own equity in their own movie. And this isn't no longer the studio's coming in and buying them out up front. This is their opportunity to see real back end. And so we started talking about my years and years of problems and Austin's specialty. He's an L2 right now at USC Gould, and he's studying securities law. So he's able to help me figure out how to navigate this so that we're doing it in an appropriate, fair, like just way and we are building a brand new ecosystem that allows artists to like launch their own films using Blockchain. And what's really cool about that is that we can have reinvented the way that these movies are made and the way that the money comes in. And we've created a new structure where fans can invest in the movies if they want to, or if they're like, they're like, not into the financial investment that they're collectors. Like, imagine if you could buy Luke Skywalker his lightsaber before the movies made, right? Then after that movie is done, I ship you the lightsaber. And on the blockchain, you have proof that this is the original authentic lightsaber. And it's like an immediate validating actor,or factor. So you instead of having this like rinky dink certificate that said around, you have like a digital proof that this is the asset, or in that third layer, you can actually buy an experience and it's like a ticket. So you can come to the red carpet premiere, like walk the red carpet behind cast and crew, watch the movie go to a party afterwards. Like we're creating a new way for fans to like, own a piece and engage with the content that they already consumed.

Wow, that's absolutely fascinating. And it's revolutionary man. It's reminds me of everything else that's going on in the world, as far as you know, just changing like, I'm a big college football fan. And like ever since they started up the NIL deals, it's kind of opened up so many new things. And is this the same thing as what's going on with the musicians as far as getting paid? I know, you hear oftentimes that musicians go broke or bankrupt, but they're highly, highly successful.

This is exactly right. It's a very similar model, right, where they have to go to a record label, you know, we have to go to the studios. And because it's like a bunch of capital, it's very hard. This is a very, you know, it's a pyramid structure. Quite frankly, it's completely about power dynamics. And so So whoever has the most power gets to dictate the rules. And we have small like, you know, the Writers Guild and IATSE. They're always like, kind of complaining, like, IATSE, it's absolutely insane. To me, man, these people are working like 16,18 hour days as a normal thing. And they're, they're being treated terribly. They're not being appropriately compensated, like this is a broken system. And I'm not one of these people who's like mad at the system. I love Disney, and Netflix, and Amazon, and Apple and all of these great companies, they're just perpetuating a bad system, they were given out of a piece of economics, that just doesn't make sense, this structure isn't equitable for everyone. And I think we found a really cool way to improve it.

And this goes back to what you mentioned earlier, where you're the type of person that that steps in somewhere and you see a process and instead of just falling in, and saying, Okay, I'll just jump in this, you're looking at it and stepping back saying, Well, wait a second, this can be done better.

Yeah, exactly. And it was really crazy, because I was ranting about these ideas early on. And we went to our founding investor, Ben Taft, who he launched his own company, which is absolutely amazing, and the AR space. And I was just really ranting about like the problems and how blockchain technology could fix this. And he was like, Dude, you should start your own company. And I was like, Yeah, that's probably a good idea. And he came on board. He's a Sequoia scout. So he was first money in he came on top of that also with his own fund. And we've been raising ever since. Yeah, but we've been raising money. And it's been a dead sprint. And we've seen so much success. And the reason why we were in Barcelona and Paris is because we were speaking at the the Aetherium conferences in the metaverse conferences there.

Wow. Yeah, I followed on Instagram, and I saw you going all over the place. And I was like, What's going on with this guy? So that's, that's absolutely fascinating, man. And I'm, I'm definitely inspired to know that you're kind of challenging the system in a sense, because, I mean, at the end of the day, nothing. Nothing irritates me more than me walking into a situation and then people are just doing things and you ask why. And they say, Well, this is just how we do them. And it just doesn't make we have brains. We have rational, you know, rationale and logic and all this other stuff. Right. So, let's utilize it, but wow, absolutely fascinating. If anyone's interested in that I'll make sure I put everything down in the show notes. Or if you're watching us on YouTube, you can go down to the description and see that down there as well.

I mentioned the company's website probably at some point. It's kinoapp.xyz so that's k-i-n-o-a-p-p.xyz. We're KinoappXYZ on all our socials too, so Instagram, Twitter, all that stuff.

Yeah, yeah, of course. Yeah. Um, I usually do that at the very end is wrapping everything all up. But when you know when it all comes down to it, man, I think that you are a just a revolutionary type of guy, man. You came from very humble beginnings, but you've you sort of found yourself in Hollywood now. And you're doing big things. I mean, what does your family back in Tennessee think?

You know, they've since moved from Tennessee. to Alabama. And I, I think that they are very, very proud. And what's really amazing is like, you know, we challenged some very fundamental beliefs together. And they journeyed with me through a lot of phases of life. So like, as I kind of was like, Hey, I don't believe these things. We had really deep meaningful conversations where my whole family was like, hey, yeah, a bunch of these things don't make sense. We've, you know, when I was in the military, they loved and supported me, even though my parents were both conscientious objectors. And we're very much like, you know, not pro that, you know, because of their faith and stuff at the time, but they, they love me. And they supported me. And they supported my military decisions, and they supported my friends in the military, and the soldiers. And then like, now that I'm out in Hollywood, this, I think, they think this is just another weird phase of Daril's life. At this point. I will say, I've got a great story, if I can share. My parents. So obviously grew up in a sector of Christianity where we weren't, weren't allowed to go to the movies. And so when I sold this show to Netflix, I'll never forget, like, I was literally driving Matt Damon's Tesla back to his house. And he was giving us this speech about how we have to manage our expectations. I was driving his Tesla, because I had never driven on insane mode. And I kind of wanted to know what that was, like, because there's something that's really weird about, like, the lack of the shift, you know, you just expect it and so I was a big kid. And that was very kind. And so he's giving us this expectations, talk about how we, we it'll be months, you know, weeks to months before we finalize anything like, you know, it's it's normal, like don't, you know, just don't expect anything quickly. And then while we're, he's giving us the speech, the agent calls him on his phone and says, hey, they just stopped me in the parking lot and said, they're going to call in five minutes with an offer. You sold the show in the room. So Matt, like screams, he's slapping Shawn's chest. I'm like, trying not to cry, because I'm driving this dude's car. And I'm like, feeling a lot of emotions, but also the mask of masculinity and all that shit. I was like, Alright, come on. You got to stick. Keep it together, man. We get back to his house. And Lucy, his wife pop champagne for us. And we cheers. And then Matt Damon facetimes, my mom and dad to tell them that we sold the show. And my mom answers. And she doesn't know who Matt Damon is. She's never seen any of his movies.

Wow.

And so my dad, my dad had just seen the Bourne trilogy. And so all he could say was like, oh my god, it's Jason Bourne. And I watched his eyes like light up. And I was like, That is an amazing, an amazing experience. And I will be forever grateful to Matt for that.

Wow. Yeah, no doubt about it. Man. I think it's great that, that you have all the family support. And you know that you've you've, like I said, you've come such a long way. It's your story in itself. And me being having lived in the Midwest, I know. What it's like out there and, and having moved to such a, such a busy town, like like Hollywood and all the things that come with that. I mean, the transition in itself is amazing. And speaking of which, before we finish off the episode, do you have any advice, any career transition advice, or any advice for veterans or service members, military spouses, anyone in the military community? As far as life, career transition, anything in general that you'd like to share?

Listen, I can only speak to my experience, right. And so I'll give you advice. And if it doesn't sound right to you, fuck it. But in my experience, the thing that has always enabled me to live a better version than you know I was the year before, is looking for an opportunity that excites me. But also recognizing that I have to do the hard work to see the fulfillment of that. And I don't know what it is about transitions. But a lot of times we think, I think the narrative that we play is it shouldn't be this hard. And I think if you recognize like, some days, it's just going to be hard. Like some days you're going to miss the camaraderie and the simplicity, and all of those things, but it's worth it in the long run. If you're resolute in your decision, if you can come to 100% conviction, or 80% conviction, like that's more than enough to make a decision and charge and don't let the fear of what might happen if you fail get in the way. Take it into account like I'm not saying the reckless like I had a plan in place. I knew where my that my bills were going to be paid. But I also it was a big leap of faith because I had no idea what I was going to do in the in between and I think if you will take that leap of faith, and also like make sure that you're, you're creating a safe environment for yourself to grow. Like, the language that I use now that I'm out of the military is so much softer. And I really wish that we could normalize this. Because I think that there is a lot of value. We learned to compartmentalize things in our, you know, as a medic, in the military, it's like, you're going to take these things, and you're going to shove them away, and you're not going to deal with them. Because when you bring them out, it gets really messy. And a lot of the transition from the military, for me was unpacking things that I've been compartmentalizing since I was a child. And I think like getting the help that you need, like, this is not I go to the doctor regularly, because I want to be physically fit and a specimen of health. If you're not doing that same kind of checkup on your brain, what makes you think that you are like, Why do we have this need to be perfect in this area, like, no one is perfect. I think like getting the help that you need, like finding that assessment, figuring out where you need to grow as a human being like, like, if you have that growth mindset, if you're if you can move beyond like the world is bad to me, you will absolutely crush it and what breaks my heart is that I see a lot of veterans and individuals who get out and life isn't fair, life will hand you a shitty set of cards. Like, you know, I, I'm I feel like I've been very successful. But I also recognize that, you know, a few years ago, I was divorced and alone and broke living in a cockroach infested apartment in Van Nuys, and like you will hit rock bottom. And then you have to step back up and say, Okay, I know what made me successful before, I know that I can do it again. And you have to approach that with confidence. And like and like get the mental health that help that you need, like start every day by making your bed and smiling for 30 seconds. I know it sounds insane. But just like literally, if you get up with a smile on your face, you will feel better, and you will be more productive. And like learning to catch those negative habits, those loops, where we're telling ourselves like that we can't do something and that life is difficult, or there are only problems around us, like life is full of problems. And the cool thing is that you can actually fix them and make a lot of money doing it. So like if you if you're a person who likes to build and likes to solve problems, like the world is out here, and it is full of problems. And if you start focusing on those solutions, you'll find yourself in a more empowered state. And I think that's the thing that's holding most of us back is that we don't feel empowered to live autonomously. Because we can't be honest with ourselves about the problems that we have in the moment. And like, like getting help is the number one thing like, We've all lost too many friends to like, try and pretend like this isn't something that we should do. Like everyone should be getting help. Because it's it's making sure that you're attuned to be the best version of yourself. And you deserve that.

Yeah, that's very well said, man, it hits home for me, I can't even speak

The motions, bro.

Exactly. That's exactly what it is. When I got all the military man, I took all this crap up here and I just threw it in a box and half of it, I threw my my my dress blues away. Because I wanted to move on with myself and I got tired of the negative things that were, that were said. You know, and you mentioned earlier about you talked about, you know, take that leap of faith. And when I got out the military, I was a captain when I got out of the, I was a captain in the army I got out and I remember when I put it in my resignation, you know, to leave the military and I went back to my battalion where I was working as a battalion S3 at the time. And all the other officers like surrounded me like wow, like so what are you going to do? Like what are you going to do? And I'm like, going to be fine, is what's going to happen. And they were like, well, and I had a lieutenant colonel tell me where you're gonna be eating pizza and an empty apartment. Some you know, it's just like no, like, I'm, I'm gonna believe in myself and I'm gonna take this leap of faith and I'm not afraid to you know, go out and and I didn't, I didn't plan on doing 20 years like like my dad did. I just wanted to become an officer. Get out in four years do my time do my part and move on with my life and that's exactly what I did. But I love what you said man about you know waking up every morning making your bed, smiling. That's a great start to your day. And like I said, Man, we don't we didn't talk about a lot of the the low times that you had where you know you're divorced and a cockroach infested apartment in Van Nuys. But at the end of the day you got to drive on, you got to take care of this as well. You know your your mental health and there's nothing wrong with seeking counseling. I did it eventually. Took me a while.

Listen to I've been in therapy for years. And it's ongoing. Like, I've done EMDR, which is like eye movement desensitization, where you're following a dot or they have paddles. Like I, I've done all kinds of stuff. I love psilocybin therapy, if you like, like finding an experimental therapy and go, like, participate, like, check in on your brain, it's the most important organ that you have.

Yes, it is. That's there. That's great advice, man. And I'm really glad that I got you on the show today. Absolutely.

Dude so grateful. I have I have this show that I like. So we wrote Shawn and I, the Green Beret, we wrote this movie that I'm so excited about. And I'm hoping we can we can actually launch it soon. But it's, it's about a these a demon that gets loose on a combat outpost in Afghanistan. And so it's like part of the thing, part 13 hours, you know what I mean? Like, it's really cool. And the whole thing is really that the demon represents post traumatic stress. And throughout this thing, like if you're a brainiac, who's like, hidden into horror, because it's like, you know, there's motivation behind it, there is so much amazing subtext, and like, cool things to get excited about. But if you're just there for the spectacle of like, a popcorn, terrifying, horror, film, Action, Horror, then that's there, too. And like, it's interesting, because I think a lot of times, my goal is to tell interesting stories that are like, relevant to us, but framed in a way that doesn't feel like it's another depressing, like, you know, situation. My buddy Kyle Hausman Stokes, who's the founder of the VFT, that became VME. He's doing, he's got a great feature that he's doing, he did a short, Maret and Zoe. And it's, it's all about the same kind of thing. But he's taking like a more comedic relief approach. And I think it's very interesting, because I think we need to start telling relatable stories, but in a way that doesn't give us a negative narrative, or it doesn't paint the narrative as in, like, we, as individuals are disempowered. And I think, you know, I'm excited about storytelling, because I think that storytelling changes the world. And I think that if you're telling the narrative of the thing that you can do, you will do it. And so if there's anything that I learned as a writer, it is that like, the most exciting script I will ever get to write is that of my life, and I am trying to live up to like, you know, some really difficult values that I found instilled in me as an early child, and then again, reinforced in the military, but to have that integrity, and that like care for my brother. And like, There's something about having the sixth of every human being that exists, because they're humans. And if you can have their back, and they can have yours, you will do better, and you will thrive and grow. I'm excited, because I think this podcast gives a lot of hope to individuals who need it. And I want to just say like, it's a very interesting thing that you've done to come in and like, shine light on the successes. And I'm very, honestly, I'm honored to be a part of that. Because, to me, it's always it's, it's always an honor to have someone look at you and feel like you've done something, right. Because a lot of times, you know, they're not seeing all the fuck ups along the way that led you to this point. But it is like a bit of validation. And, and I hope that everyone can see themselves in this position on this podcast, because you have a success story. And you're writing that narrative now. And the difference between I am a better version of myself now, and I will be a better version of myself one day. That's the difference.

Exactly, man and I love finding I love. I love explaining and underlining and highlighting value that people truly offer I just had. I'm a board member for ACT NOW Education, which is a military nonprofit. And I've been I've been interviewing the board members for ACT NOW, pulling them out from their shells and saying look, like share your Share your inspiration, share your why. And I just had Micki story. on from... She's the Vice President of ACT NOW Education. And afterwards, she was like, thank you so much. I was like, Micki, you don't understand... the entire ACT NOW Education board doesn't understand your own value. Her video, YouTube video has gone crazy. Like as far as views because of her story. It's as simple as that. We all have a lot of value. And it's guys like you, Daril that I love to interview because you you definitely, during your talk tonight. He you definitely hit hit right here for me. And you were just talking about that movie that you wrote, did you see my body language? I was like this, like, like, I want to see that. You know? So I'm all in brother. I really appreciate you giving us the I understand both worlds like I know what it's like to live in time today and telling us about your your overall journey. To go back to what you mentioned earlier about the military you talked about The diversity of everyone, man, I tell you what, the middle of a soybean field to bale hay. And I also know what like even growing up growing up as a military brat, myself, grew up in Hawaii, born in Hawaii, I grew up in Hawaii, went to Ohio. it's like to grow up surfing. So it's it's unique man. And that's what I love about our community. And I love folks like you who come back and actually tell your story and your successes and help out, you know, the people coming up behind us. Because that's what it's all about man is making the next generation even better. So thank you, Daril, for, for telling us, just really quickly, man, I want to get this before I end the show. If folks out there want to reach out to you, what are the best social media platforms or if you want to share your email address or website?

Yeah, definitely. So you can follow me at Daril Fannin, D-A-R-I-L-F-A-N-N-I-N. That's my name. My company is kinoapp.XYZ. So that's the URL kinoapp.XYZ, or you can follow us Kinoapp XYZ on Instagram, Twitter. Feel free to reach out we're really busy. We're building. We're scaling quickly. We are also we're launching a founding member NFT. So if you're in the crypto community, and you understand what that is, amazing if you're not, basically it's a smart contract that lets you get some special rights. So we're going to be watching a bunch of movies so you can invest early. But the really cool thing to me is the community and we're building a community of filmmakers, film lovers, artists, writers, actors, directors, gaffers, like you name it. And people who just love film and television, and we're going to change the world. And we're going to protect artists rights, and we're going to make sure that things are more equitable, That seems pretty cool. I think I believe in that project. I'm because it needs to be and I love the idea that in the looking at it I can see there's like, a list of actors attached like I'd invest in that. Or, you know, I'll own that stupid future, we can invest in the type of content that we want to helmet. You know what I mean? Like, I don't know, people collect weird things, like whatever you're into, I want you see. So if we're like, hey, you know what a horror film that's to be able to, like, come in and participate. So thank you so much for this. This was amazing. Let's definitely connect soon. about post traumatic stress.

Yeah, man. Definitely. You're you're on all my platforms as well. And I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule. Darrell, thank you so much. And for everyone else out there listening the morning formation. I want to thank you for giving us your time today. I hope you enjoyed Daril's story, check the show notes. Check the description in YouTube, find all the links in there as well. As for everyone else. As always, I want you to stay tuned. Stay focused and stay motivated. Warriors fall out.