"It was a major loss because he touched so many people in the sport and not only touched them, but he helped so many people out through sponsorship, life and problems. Mask was the guy you could call when you were having a bad day and he would make you feel that much better about your situation. When he died, they had 7,000 people at his memorial and the reason why is because he was that loved," stated director Bobby Razak as he remembers TapouT founder Charles "Mask" Lewis and discusses the making of the short film Simply Believe and much more. Check it out!
PC: How are you doing my man?
BR: I'm doing good. Everything is going pretty good; can't complain!
PC: You directed the short film Simply Believe which was about TapouT owner Charles "Mask" Lewis. How much of a loss to the sport of MMA was Mask's death?
BR: It was a major loss because he touched so many people in the sport and not only touched them, but he helped so many people out through sponsorship, life and problems. Mask was the guy you could call when you were having a bad day and he would make you feel that much better about your situation. When he died, they had 7,000 people at his memorial and the reason why is because he was that loved.
PC: How tough was it for you as a close friend of his to make this film Simply Believe?
BR: You know what, you are a very intelligent man because I've done several interviews and no one has asked me that. It was very tough for me because I started shooting like the day after his death and at times, I didn't know if I could make it through it. It was very difficult on me. I could remember us being homeless together and him just being so positive and letting me know everything would be better. That was a very difficult thing for me to do and I said to myself that I would never do anything like that again.
PC: The title "Simply Believe," does that sum up Mask in a nutshell?
BR: That was Charles' way of living and his way of thinking; that was his motto. Charles came from nothing. He was homeless like me and he had come from a broken home. This is a guy that began selling shirts out of his trunk at small events and he turned it into a billion dollar company and it takes a special person to achieve that. He used to always tell me to just simply believe. Charles was the first person to really show me that you can achieve anything you want, but if you have a friend or a relative or anyone negative around you, they're like a cancer and you have to get rid of them. You can't let someone tell you that you can't and when Charles entered a room, you could just feel his positive energy. I don't care what was going on; I have never seen him let off negative vibes.
PC: I was getting text messages from fighters asking was it some kind of joke. I think you could sense the disbelief just from that. What was your initial reaction to the news of his death?
BR: I was devastated. My homeboy called me. Ironically, I was supposed to shoot him the next day for a Sketcher's commercial. So I'm calling him and texting him all night like, "Where are you? Do you have your costume ready?" I was like wondering where he was at. I remember Brian calling me and he asked was I sitting down and I was like, "Yeah man, why? What's up?" When he told me, I just broke down crying. It was an intense thing for me. We were going to be working together on some projects and we were going to shoot some commercials. We had this whole blueprint lined up and we were supposed to shoot the next day and suddenly, just like that, he's gone! Boom! It was just a shock to me and probably one of the hardest nights of my life. I never remember going to sleep the night Charles died! That and my father dying
it's actually harder to deal with then my father dying because my father was sick for three or four years and I was anticipating it. I knew any day it was going to happen. I had no preparation for this so in that sense, it was more of a shock.
PC: Do you see TapouT the brand still doing big things with the two surviving member Punkass and Skyskrape?
BR: Absolutely! Charles was the brand name of TapouT. People everywhere know the brand name. It's synonymous with the sport. The brand name and what Charles created will live forever. That will never go away and those guys will make sure of that.
PC: You talked about being homeless and having a tough upbringing and you bring stories like that to the light in your film Bloodline. At one point, it was sports like football and baseball getting kids off of the street. Do you think mixed martial arts is filling that void now?
BR: Absolutely! I did a boxing film about Gerald McClellan called Fallen Solider. He was the fighter that got severe brain damage during a fight with Nigel Benn. And that was also
you know, boxing back in the 50's, 60's and 70's was a prerequisite for troubled youth. You walk in a gym
similar situation with Muhammad Ali. Find a trainer who would be almost like a mentor that would guide you to the next level. Now it's MMA gyms all over the place and there are fewer boxing gyms. I think if you have a troubled child that has a lot of energy and is excessively aggressive, MMA could make them calm down and bring some peace in his life. It gives you direction and plus it makes you a man. When you walk into a cage or a ring, you're a man because that takes a real man because you're fighting another trained athlete. I think MMA is a great breeding ground for troubled youth today in America.
PC: Could you tell us about your film Bloodline?
BR: Bloodline was a commercial and I was doing the commercial for TapouT. I started shooting some extra footage and I was like, "Wow, I could make a short film of this and drive traffic from the commercial spot to TapouT and it will generate more hits to the website. If I could have people go from watching a commercial to a short movie, it would generate more traffic. So I started shooting footage on Nikko Medina and Aaron Wetherspoon and I started thinking, "This is some fascinating shit." Both of these guys were involved in gangs and got no breaks in life and used MMA to take it to the next level and get out of trouble. I was going to do a 30-second spot and leave it at that, but I wanted to introduce the public to who these two gentlemen were, so I decided to do some interviews and show their bio and who they are and what they've done and what they've overcame and it worked out well. The reason why I called it Bloodline is because I believe being a fighter is in your blood. Some things you are born with. You were born to be a great director; you were born to be a great writer and editor, musician or singer or song writer. To me, a fighter can be trained up until a certain point, but I think the instincts to become a champion are genetic. The difference between a 12-round champion and a contender
I mean, it can be in the conditioning and the skill, but it's really in the mind.
PC: I appreciate you sharing your story with us my man. I look to do more with you in the future. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
BR: Thank you Percy. You are a good man. You know what bro, I appreciate you bro because I speak to a lot of people and they are not educated. It's nice to get interviewed by someone who has an education for the sport and an education of people and an education on life and that's refreshing.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]