It's Where I Am with Zandra Polard

Kevin Krall 0:00
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Unknown Speaker 0:40
Good morning Las Vegas Zondra Polare with, it's where I am. today. My guest is stunt coordinator, director, writer, Ben Hernandez. Bray. Ben, welcome to the show. Thank you for being here. I'm glad you're here. Even in your car. You're here.

Unknown Speaker 1:03
I can't disappoint you, Andrew. I gotta do this. I gotta do I know. I was just telling my wife was saying the same thing really gonna do it the car. It's like, it's just, you know, it's good to be busy. It's a blessing. So it was just, I was just coming out of a production meeting and I wasn't gonna make it home. So

Unknown Speaker 1:20
Well, thank you so much. Hello

Unknown Speaker 1:22
over. No, thank you for having me.

Unknown Speaker 1:24
So you're working on Okay, so you did el Chicano. That was the first Latin superhero movie. And it had George Lopez as one of the actors and involved. And so it was a great movie. Are you going to continue with that? El Chicon? Are we going to see a number two are?

Unknown Speaker 1:47
You will, you will right now. I'm in the works of of writing another revised version of our continued story about Chicano part two. We're also I'm also working with Joe Carnahan, who was my co writer and executive producer on the first, the first film, a series called the ship. That right now we're pitching over at Netflix. So we're excited about that. And there's a lot happening with El Chicano, but yes, there is going to be a part two, part two, and we hope somewhere at the end of next year, nine will be in prep. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 2:28
but right now you're working on big sky,

Unknown Speaker 2:31
Big Sky, which is been a blast. Okay.

Unknown Speaker 2:36
And Big Sky is about human trafficking. Is that correct? That's correct.

Unknown Speaker 2:40
Yeah. It's really nice to see, you know, Kylie's part of this show is to female detectives. In this rural town in Montana, it is about, you know, set the human trafficking. There's also human story about the relationship they have together and just kind of coping with everyday life also. And just on top of the fact you're investigating, I can't say too much, because I get in trouble about what's happening with the storyline. But it's a great show. It's a great show with great actors. And, you know, again, get a great cast. Great crew. You know, it's it's been a lot of fun. And we, you know, we're shooting we actually shoot in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the show, for the supposed to take place in Montana.

Unknown Speaker 3:27
And so you've done a couple of episodes for big sky. And yes, it's, it's about a trucker who is kidnapping, or who was kidnapped? A couple of girls driving on a on a trip somewhere. Is that right? Yes,

Unknown Speaker 3:44
that's correct. It has the story now has progressed into the second season. And it's kind of, as I, you know, to, to use a word of kind of screened out to other stories, which are really great. I think the audience and the fans are gonna love it. Again, I can't say too much as each episode progresses, but the original, the original storyline from the first season was that and now it's kind of it's, it's, it's opened up to like, literally four different stories within within an episode, which is really exciting.

Unknown Speaker 4:18
Wow. And so isn't it something that storyline right, we're going to have a guest on later on, should turn to Nelson, who's going to be talking about human trafficking, and she works on the federal level with human trafficking. Yes. And so we're going to speak to her and find out, you know, what's going on what she's working on and, and such but for now, I was really excited to have you on one because of the El Chicano film, too, because you're working on big sky that's dealing with a real life situation. But I also wanted to talk to you about how you got into directing. So I was reading about you and that you know, The trauma of you know, you lost your brother to gang violence. And then you started boxing. And you became a stunt coordinator. Correct. And you've won some awards. Yeah. So so that's a lot I just put out there. So I think it's very interesting that you know, it's great that we have more representation. And I love that you are putting your flavor on Big Sky. So how did you take this journey? What was that like for you?

Unknown Speaker 5:35
Got it. If you would have told me when I was 20 years old, what this journey was going to be I wouldn't believe you. It's. It's been it's been a wild ride and a blessing of a ride. It literally, you know, I grew up, I had family in San Fernando Tacoma Sylmar, all in the San Fernando Valley. We were raised in I was born in Panorama City raised the van is I have, I have family in East Los Angeles. So you know, I, I'm half American, half Mexican. My father was never around. So as my mother my grandmother raised me, they're both from Durango, Mexico, I grew up in a typical Latino Catholic family, family of six. And, and we struggled, you know, we we got by with with, you know, government funding, we were on welfare, we had a very hard upbringing. It was it was tough for my mom, you know, everything you hear about, you know, the lower class, which I'm very proud of, because it made me who I am today, but you know, we lived off, you know, the government cheese, the free milk, food stamps, welfare, anything that we could to get by as my mom struggled to make ends meet. And we grew up with it, what people say the ghetto, the hood, we call it the barrio, you know, and that's where I grew up. And, you know, we struggled with gang violence and exposed to drugs and all those temptations. And my mom was tough, she kept us clean. And, and as I went through high school, I was, I was trying to try to figure out what I wanted to do. And I had a couple of jobs. And I was I was an English major at a junior college. I was I was I was also boxing. Not that not till competitively, you know, just more like sparring and working out. My brother was on the US Olympic team with Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley, he was one of the best in the world. So, actually, it was a real blessing, because I was okay. But then you see my younger brother, who is at the elite level, it's like, I realized, okay, this is this is I love fighting. It's my first love. Boxing is always going to be my first love. And so it got me into business. But I knew I had to, I had to figure something else out to do as a living. I knew like what I saw my brother doing, there was no way I was going to be at that level, didn't know what it was. But I just kept training and figuring it out. And I was at a boxing gym and ice actually the jet center, Benny akitas gym, and a director and a stunt coordinator walked in saw me hitting the back and asked me to audition for this part. And I said, okay, cool. Yeah, sure. Got in the ring with my younger brother. And we we just put a fight together as we did when we were kids in the in the living room at home. And I got a call the next day and I thought it was a director named Nigel dick, who, who's a British director. And, and the reason why they were looking instead of a stuntman. They wanted a real fighter, someone that knew how to box and move around. Because the one of the lead actors was very stretch who actually was the junior welterweight champion in England. So they wanted someone to match, you know, the mobility and movement and make it look real. Yeah. So when that happened, I just met all the stuntman. A lot of Mexican stunt men Brown, we call each other brown guys, and had no idea that this, I knew the job existed, but had no idea how I was going to fall into that. So I met these wonderful guys who took me under their wing and taught me the business. I was like, wow, I just I got the bug. And then I learned how to fly cars to do High Falls and fire burns and wirework. And it started my career. And I learned as I went, I learned by watching and doing, that was my school. And then from there, I had some wonderful people in my life. One Rothstein, who was the president of Stetson limited at the time, he really treated me as his son, it was like he was like my second dad, and this other gentleman by the name of who's called Big buck, Steve Buckingham. He was he was from Compton, big African American guy. He actually used to train me as a fighter, but he was also a stunt man. So there are these two dynamics. These two guys have really took me under their wing, and taught me the best and when I was taught very early on is to be a stuntman is like being an athlete. You can only do this for so long. So learn camera, learn what to do behind camera, because eventually you're going to hang up the stud pads and the next January She's coming just like a ballplayer football, baseball, basketball the same deal. And I really wanted to stay in the business. So once I paid my dues as a stuntman, I transitioned into becoming a stunt coordinator. And to make that a long story short, had a very successful career. I, this is where I met my second set of mentors, which were David O. Russell, and Joe Carnahan. David, I met on three kings. And I should also say Dan Bradley was another another stunt coordinator who really gave me some great opportunities, and actually got me my sag card. Dan brought me in on on three kings, and I met David O Russell, and we just hit it off. There's a big boxy fan. He's a big Muhammad Ali fan. And he knew about my brother. So all of a sudden, you know, he put me in this part with George Clooney and three kings. And we kept in touch, we started training together after the movie ended while he was editing here in Hollywood at Warner Brothers Hollywood. And we just built this bond. And he just asked me what I want to do. And I said, I want to eventually coordinate. I want to direct second unit, and I don't know how I'm gonna do but I want to eventually tell stories and direct. So he was my kind of guiding light. And through him, I met Joe Carnahan. And next thing, you know, I'm directing second unit for all of David's film, so I did the fighter, directly second unit for the fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, Joy. I for Joe Carnahan, I did the A team, the grey smokin aces. And

Unknown Speaker 11:27
you won an award for right?

Unknown Speaker 11:30
Yeah, yes, yeah. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 11:33
But with all of that, like, when when did you lose your brother, your friend? When When did that happen?

Unknown Speaker 11:41
I lost him. It's been now. It's been 15 years, 15 and a half years. I lost him when we're in the middle of filming smokin aces he had, you know, it's just, my mom was tough man. You know, she she did the best. I think he was my baby brother. And, and, you know, God bless her. You know, it's like, we're only we're human. So it's really tough. He was a younger so there was there's five other ones she had to go through. Keep them in line. Sure. And by the time she got to my brother, she was tired. Yeah. Really tired. Yes. Yeah. It's exhausting. And she did. She fought the good fight did the best he can. But my off my brother also had the personality that he loved that life. He loved hanging out with the homeboys. And being out in the streets. We all talked him we had, you know, we had there was me and my brother, John and Frank, we did our best always talk to him and try to stream in the right area.

Unknown Speaker 12:36
Sure. Do you think that that helped you with your writing process? You know, absent father, loss of your brother?

Unknown Speaker 12:45
Oh, yeah. Yeah, most Yeah, most definitely.

Unknown Speaker 12:50
El Chicano deals with two brothers. Right? Yeah, yeah.

Unknown Speaker 12:56
And that's where the story came from. Okay. Yeah. So

Unknown Speaker 13:01
check out el Chicano on Netflix, because I know, that's where I saw it a few years ago. Is it still there?

Unknown Speaker 13:09
It's still in Netflix. It's on Disney plus, I think it's on Hulu now. And also iTunes, it's on iTunes. Okay, for Apple. So yeah, it's been really cool. But yeah, it was, you know, losing my brother was, you know, it's always tragic. You always think that your brother and sister is going to be around forever. And it's just heartbreaking. And what happened was, is I started, I kind of started writing a memoir of how I was dealing with his death, how my brothers and sisters were dealing with his death and most importantly, my mother having to bury a child. And it was it was tough. And that's kind of what formed el Chicano the theme of it. The El Chicano, the character itself, self was created for the fact that I always felt like, maybe if my brother Craig would have had my father or father figure, yeah, those would still be alive. And so it was, I was right. Writing that character was kind of a theme of like, a metaphor of not having a dad, what if we had this kind of character that we could look up to in the neighborhood? That way, you know, you know, to fight the bad and get back to the good, you know, and, and that's how easy was created, you know, off of, unfortunately, my brother's tragedy that kind of formed this whole big story and, and, unfortunately, having somebody like Joe Carnahan, who helped me, you know, get me where I needed to get to get the movie done. No, so it's, yeah, one question.

Unknown Speaker 14:38
I know, I'll be looking forward to part two, the continuation of No. Is there Hey, this is what La Raza. Did I say, right?

Unknown Speaker 14:47
That's right. That's right. Yeah, you did. You did.

Unknown Speaker 14:51
Is there anything else you want our listeners to know?

Unknown Speaker 14:55
You know what, I think I'm Mexican American, you know? I grew up in the hood in the ghetto of audio, you know, everyone. And I want people to identify that, where we come from, especially for me, I'm talking about the people that didn't have any color in any race that, you know, that had financial struggles, and wanting to be in this business that you can do this, you can think outside the box. You don't have to necessarily go to school. You don't have to, you know, everybody always asked me, oh, what film school did you go to, you know, you know, what workshops like I didn't none of that. I said, I got myself into business when I was 20 years old. And I learned and watched on set that was that was my school, and I trusted my instincts, and you know, and you fight the good fight. And it's tough for people, minorities, people of color, it's still in fact, when I was on set on Big Sky, you know, you have some Chicanos and McDonald's that are working that from Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and they're always shocked to go, man, so good to see you. I'm like, so good to see them. Like, I'm sorry, do I know you? And it's like, my bad. You know, I meet so many people. And it's like, no, you you as as a minority as a Mexican American. We don't see any of you. And it's true. Even when I was an actor at one time and a stunt actor, I might have met one. Redskin director. I think I worked with what at that time for me in the early 90s. One female director, one African American director, I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's still it's better saying very limited, right? Yes, right. We're getting we, we got to push, we got to push, we have stories, we have the talent and the ability to tell stories, that, especially television shows, there'll be created by by somebody else, and we can put our flavor on that as well. So I think that's what I wanted to say, I feel like, I'm proud to say that every time I sit, I step onto a set directly now. I feel like I'm making history for the next generation. I'm chipping away to the diversity. And, and I'm letting people know that yeah, you can do this, if you would have saw me 30 years ago, where I was at living in the hood. And now I'm yelling action and actors, and it's a massive blessing, man. It's Thank you, God, you know, and anybody can do it. Anybody can do it. I'm next. Friday.

Unknown Speaker 17:31
Wait, so when can we get blues? Excuse me? When can we catch big sky?

Unknown Speaker 17:37
Big skies? I think now it's I think, is it? Is it Thursdays at eight o'clock? No Thursdays at 10pm. on ABC. Keep watching that. It is a great season with some great directors and producers that Jeff Thomas, our producer, director that's on there.

Unknown Speaker 17:58
And from the creator of Big Little Lies, correct?

Unknown Speaker 18:02
Yes. Yeah. Yes. Oh, elige. Amazing. You know, the producers like Julian just there's just a great group of individuals that are just extremely talented, and are also getting opportunities, which which I'm a huge fan of the show, not only the show, and then for minorities, they're just they're out there. You know, we have Darren grant, who's African American who's off to him. I think billionaires right now in New York is doing two episodes. This season. We have some wonderful female directors that are coming in. Lisi Leone who just did one. She's amazing. It's like, these are the kinds of people that we need a Bacchus, you know, Elwood Reed is giving opportunities to people of color in and so yeah, man, you can even do this, you could tell the stories, and we're happy to have you. So it's been great. It's been fantastic.

Unknown Speaker 18:57
Thank you. Thank you again for being here, Ben. And you're more than welcome to come back and keep us updated on what's going on.

Unknown Speaker 19:06
I got to come back. I gotta come back. Yes, I want the background to be my office with the El Chicano poster. And my wife is not happy that I'm in the car. And neither am I. I know. I know. I'm sorry. But until next time, guys, to your fans.

Unknown Speaker 19:22
Until next time, okay, next time. Thank you, Ben.

Unknown Speaker 19:27
Thank you so much.

Unknown Speaker 19:37
Okay, should Tona thank you for being here.

Unknown Speaker 19:41
Thank you for having me.

Unknown Speaker 19:42
So it's so interesting. I thank you so much for being here because I called you at the last minute because my last guest was the director of Big Sky. And they the show is about human trafficking. And you were a guest I think it was last year. year or earlier in the year. And you were telling us your personal story, and that now you are working on the federal level with human trafficking. Tell us more about that refresh our memories. How are you involved? Give it to us.

Unknown Speaker 20:20
Okay, so when it comes to trafficking is so complicated, because there are different types of trafficking, although I only know about sex trafficking for the most part, correct. So for me, I have a background that was very violent where I was right. And I can always identify with victims. So that will begin be starting with the local precincts, who would call me if they would have a victim, that will be hard to talk to about rape. Most victims don't really like to talk to people who haven't experienced what they experienced, they don't like to be judged. I would at some point, meet a person who was not just sexually assaulted, but we will find out the person whom she thought she was married to, was trafficking her. She didn't even know what it was. Okay. That would, I would start working with the police department on that. And that will lead to me work in one at the state level, they will call me for different cases. And then at some point, it will become federal people, I would just get to know them federal agents, whether that was national boards, like Polaris is one. Or rather, it was just FBI agents who were just in territories who, you know, they like to have people who know what they're doing, talk to specific people and things of that sort. So that is still my involvement to this day. I do a lot here in the Houston area to help with trafficking, not just sexual trafficking, I do a lot to help identify victims, to speak to victims, to get them to speak to police officers, that effect then they pursue cases.

Unknown Speaker 21:57
So when you say human trafficking, what does that all encompass?

Unknown Speaker 22:03
Human trafficking is a really broad thing. But it's a really new thing. So ever evolving, right? Human trafficking looks all kinds of ways it looks like getting immigrants to work. You take them who are very new, who don't necessarily speak languages, they will tell them, hey, I'm gonna pay you for special opportunities. So you can pay us to do special opportunities. And that turns out to set a slavery type situation, you, you also have trafficking that comes from internet, the dark web, where there are lurkers who look at the dark web, and usually high school students, girls that say, Oh, I'm going to be a model because I talk to this guy and live that promise me a modeling career. But in fact, he's actually trafficking her, then you have a really broad branch where they actually take women take children take people from where they are, and they ship them somewhere else to be sold, usually for six purposes or working purposes. So trafficking is really really broad.

Unknown Speaker 23:07
Okay. And also, I think I was reading about organs and stuff are involved to like people taking

Unknown Speaker 23:13
organ harvesting. That's right, they will do that, too. In most cases, when you think about trafficking, is they sell these people or they they take people somewhere, and you never, you never see them again. And a lot of cases they're alive for for decades working. But in some cases, they do absolutely kill them. In other cases, they only traffic people just for their body parts.

Unknown Speaker 23:37
Oh, wow. That's deep. Um, so how can we protect ourselves?

Unknown Speaker 23:44
Knowledge? People ask me that all the time. They say, Well, it sounds scary. You're telling me someone can marry a man who she thinks her husband. And then he's just passed a car through friends and I was tracking? Like, yeah, you're telling me my kids can be on the internet selling pictures. And technically that can be counted as a sense of trafficking or lead to trafficking? Yes. But if you don't know what trafficking is, you cannot combat it. The very first thing that I tell everyone in anyone is trafficking should be something we talk about to the masses, because education teaches you a lot. So you know what the signs look like as an immigrant, as a child as a parent, right? Anybody who's suffered abuse they need to know because anyone in a marginalized community are more likely to be tracking. So African American community, LG, me and QA class See, they're more likely to be so you need to know that. So number one is education. When you get education on it, then you know there are groups all over the United States. Federal level, right there in your backyard. Organizations that look out for you could start reporting people when you See people with suspicious activity or saying things they shouldn't say, a lot of traffickers are teachers, they found that they infiltrate the school systems and they Wow. Or entertainment industry. So you want to get educated on it. And you want to just be aware of what's happening. And you want to report that to your local offices. And if you're like me, and you just really, really want to get involved, then you find organizations and groups that you can connect to, to volunteer, or just to understand what's happening. And my last one, always the biggest one, I tell people, this all the time surveillance of your kids and of your home, it's hard to have alarm systems, it's fine to have trackers on your kids phones, even if it's just where's my iPhone, and husbands and wives Family Sharing locations with each other? That's something we should all constantly do. Someone should always know where you are.

Unknown Speaker 25:53
Wow. Wow. Well, thank you so much. That's a lot to take in. So what what are some of these places you said that we can get involved? Polaris was one. What are the others because I want to have something posted on my website. So you tell me

Unknown Speaker 26:15
so what this is the best way to do so trafficking isn't one of the things that you google and you don't find real resources. Okay? It's such an array of resources, literally typing a trafficking organizations will give you so many different lists and organizations and generally specific to where you are okay, right. So if you're in Vegas, you definitely want to be putting up things about Vegas. If you're in Houston, you want to be you want to put it up about Houston. But there is a trafficking national database. But for me, what makes the most sense is to be aware of your area. I live in Houston. I know Houston is one of the most was one of the biggest cities in the nation, which obviously trafficking will be huge here, Atlanta, hot ticket spots. You need to know where you live and where you rent.

Unknown Speaker 27:02
And I sure Las Vegas Hello.

Unknown Speaker 27:05
I think yeah, you're in the top five Vegas, Atlanta, New York, Houston. Definitely like top five. That's right.

Unknown Speaker 27:14
All right. Well, I'll have something on the website. It's where I am.com We'll post something, you know, so that you can get involved so that you can gain that knowledge? Is there anything else you want our listeners to know? shaitana Before I let you go,

Unknown Speaker 27:29
I just want anyone who's maybe watching it, who was scared, who needs any kind of help or who is suspicious, trust your gut and never be afraid to get help. It's better to get help and take that chance then to be taken or something to happen to you. And you'd never stand a chance. And that's what I try to tell people more than anything else. Good Hill.

Unknown Speaker 27:52
Thank you so much. Now, you know, before I do let you go. You told me you were working on a project. You're doing a documentary.

Unknown Speaker 28:01
I'm actually the transplant advocate. Yeah. So right now I am putting together a docu series. It is pretty much based on trafficking in the education of trafficking. It is a project that kind of fell into my lap. I was doing so many things with trafficking. And then at some point, one of the lady said, you know, she kind of it's like we have a duty. She's She's a victim. And she survived it. And she was like, let's do something with it. And I was already in the TV room and I just kind of throw it throw it out to some different networks and production companies and most of them jumped on it. I took the better offer. And I'm actually working on that right now.

Unknown Speaker 28:44
Beautiful. Thank you so much for all that you do. She Tona thank you for being here. Thank you. Thank you

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