tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. seeking to reinvent the variety show format for the digital generation, joseph gordon- levittt, and then, gloria gaynor power of song. chronicling what it takes to overcome adversity. we are glad you could join us for those conversations coming up right now.

>> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. xlis: joseph gordon-levittt is on so many creative fronts as an actor, writer, director, singer. i hate this guy. he is now a variety show host with an eight part series on television which has just debuted on the network give it.

the series makes good on showing short films, animation, and true interaction with its audience. here is a clip. i spent a day reading the instructions over and over again, waiting for night to fall. and then finally, the sun went down. yard light,ff our and we went outside. i put on the goggles and looked up into the sky. it was stretching above me like as far as i could see. there were stars, some of them clusters, all tightly together to make swirling patterns of white against the darkness. i stared. so that clip gives a

sense of what this is, but i think this is one of the most innovative and creative concepts or how television can be used in the future and how you collaborate all of these various mediums, social and beyond, to make this work, so that is my sense of it, but tell us what you have done. how does this work? >> that is a good example. every episode has a theme, so our first theme is the number one, so i put out a request. i made a video and put it on the seat -- site. writers, come up with something around the theme of one. it could be unity, solitude, whatever the number one means to you, and we got from nebraska a woman who contributed a story. this was a true story about how she grew up with an eye notition where she could

see the stars, and then when she was 16, her father bought her a pair of night vision goggles from a russian company, and so when she was 16, for the first time, she's saw the stars, though we decided to make a short film out of it, and all sorts of other artist got involved in making a film for it. the beauty of this is if i had hired a team of professional screenwriters and said to write me a film based on the theme of number one, they never would have him up with that idea of a girl who has never seen the stars and her father who bought her some night vision goggles, with her seeing them for the first time when she was 16, so when you open the door with that kind of collaboration, you can open the door. tavis: basically what you are saying, i have six or eight producers -- >> yes, i have got 800,000. tavis: you could literally have

400 people, 500 people in a separate episode. >> in the first episode, there is 426 people whose work is featured. in that first short film, there were about 1300 contributions that we would all down to, i forget the exact number, 60 or something. score, theplayed the voiceover artists, the actress, contributing the animation that went into the animation. all sorts of it. so the beauty -- let me back up. i think the beauty of the internet is that it democratizes this social media space. everybody has a chance to have his or her say. that is good as long as they agree with me. when they disagree, i do not know. but what does this kind of production mean for the future of television?

i do not think i am overstating that, because reality tv, whether one likes it or hates it, it changed the whole business model. years, 15 out 10 years, tell me where you think this is headed or what it might mean for tv as we know it. >> first of all, since you brought up the business, i want to mention that we do pay the artists that contribute. tavis: that is good of you. there are a lot of people though, you watch them, and i do not want to call them by name, but you look at these morning shows, they pull stuff off of the internet, and they use it as programming, and they get ratings off of that and make money off of that, but the people who load up the stuff on the internet, they do not get anything. >> you are 100% right, and we have been doing this for years. as a production company in 2010, and i was doing

it more as an informal hobby with my brother for five years before that, so we have had lots of experience and lots of iterations to figure out what is the best way to do it, and i think we have come up with a way that is fair where we pay artists out of the budget for each episode. there is $50,000 earmark for each episode, so, for example, those 426 artist whose work is finished will all split the $50,000. tavis: i would not go here for the fact that you did, so if i am going to owe far, let me know. you mentioned your brother. can i go there? >> yes. tavis: i know your brother was lost to you at a young age, but he started this concept with you. how much of this did he get to see? >> he died in 2010, and we had been doing it together since 2005 before that, so he saw it

begin to change from a hobby into something grander and more professional than that, and then he died kind of just as we were taking off that way, but his spirit is very much a part of what goes on on hit record, and the biggest thing for him was always getting people to try something new, encouraging people to step out of their comfort zone, even if they did not see themselves as i am not a writer, i am not an artist, i cannot draw, or maybe i can draw, but i do not show my work to anybody. his biggest thing was to give it a try, and that is a lot about what hit record is about. the people are not those who contribute professionally. some do, but many have not been paid for their art, but they are talented nonetheless, and giving them the first chance to contribute to something like this is a really heartwarming

experience, and that is what he was about, even more than the final product for him. getting people to get up and give it a go. tavis: i assume he would be very happy with this pivot project. >> yes, very happy. this notion to his point that everyone has something artistic, something creative to contribute at different levels, or all of us have something to offer, or we would not be here, what are you seeing vis-à-vis the creativity of everyday ?eople >> that is interesting, because our culture says to leave singing and dancing and storytelling to the professionals. don't try this at home. you just sit and watch and pay us to entertain you. i do not think that is the natural way of things. back before the movie

industry or the recording industry or the publishing industry, just go back to early human civilization, people were telling stories, gathering around at the local tavern or around the fire, whatever, and all participating in that social activity of communicating and entertaining each other and singing each other songs and telling each other stories. i think that is the natural way it is supposed to go, and i think it is cool that the internet is bringing us back with that, because in the 20th century with broadcast technology, we were all told to sit on the couch and be passive spectators, but i think we are all more naturally inclined to participate. tavis: you can imagine a caveman saying, "did you hear the one about?" and you have had your directorial debut. tell us what you made and whether you want to do more of it.

>> yes, i wrote and directed it and acted in it, and i love the experience, and i am proud of the movie and how it turned out. it is very different from hit record on tv. dawn john is about the influence on how people often objectify each other and treat each other more like things than human beings, and i play a guy who is sort of a modern-day don one -- don juan who treats people like objects, and it satirizes him, and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. i the end of the story, he begins to take his first steps towards connecting with people as opposed to consuming people. tavis: i have got it on dvd. it is in my collection. is different, not

a conventional directing job, but i loved it. normalwant to do another acting job. i never want to stop doing that, and hopefully i will have the opportunity, and what can i say? i have eclectic tastes, and i like doing all different kinds of things, it eating all different kinds of foods, and the variety is what keeps it interesting for me, so i do not want to do only one thing. if i have the opportunity, i will try something new. done that with acting and directing and producing. did i read somewhere that your grandfather was a director? >> my grandfather. neither my mom nor my dad were in show business. he corrected himself on television. his english teacher would be proud. either, or, neither, nor.

>> yes, he was a director. he was one of the blacklisted directors who back in the mccarthy era in the 1950's was prohibited from working by the government because he had some communist leanings, and yes, sort of a dark day, a dark era in the history, just for talking, just for going to meetings. tavis: i have often wondered what america lost because of your grandfather and all of the giants who got blacklisted because of -- it is in same, and to think it happened in america just completely upends me. >> it was not that long ago. tavis: because that does not happen anymore in america anymore, i hope, i think, you get a chance to do this on pivot. good to have you on the program.

>> rate to be here. tavis: coming up, a conversation with gloria gaynor. stay with us. grammy winner gloria gaynor got international fame with the whicht "i will survive," has become an anthem for those going through tough times. she has now "we will survive," true stories of encouragement, but first, a clip of glorious singing the song "i will sur vive" at a mandella celebration. though i tried hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart and i spent so many nights crying for myself and i used to cry, but now i hold my head up high

still in love with you i am saving all my love and for someone who is loving me ♪ tavis: do you know how many countries you have performed that song in? >> 79. amazing to me, maybe not to you, this song has its self survived but has thrived all of these years. what do you make of it? >> just that people are always going through situations in their lives that they think are insurmountable and they hope they will survive. tavis: for those who have never heard the story, and i have heard it but want to hear it again, how this song came to be and the condition when you

recorded the song. take me back. >> well, i did a show in new york at the beacon theater and fell on stage and woke up the next morning paralyzed from the waist down, went in the hospital the next day for surgery on my spine. while i was there -- actually, just before that had happened, i had been told by the record company that my contract was coming to an end, and they were not going to renew, so now, here i am in hospital with this surgery on my spine, and i am saying, ok, what do you mean by this? what am i going to do? where am i going? and when it for me? was released from the hospital, i was kind of sure that god was going to do something but did not know what, i received a phone call from the record companies saying they had gotten a new president and they wanted me to record a song very aptly ubstitute," and someone

had made a deal with a record company to write a song for the asking about was that, and they wanted to know for me what kind of songs i like to sing, what kinds of emotions i wanted to emit, and they said they felt i was the one they had been waiting for to record this song they had written a couple of years prior, so now i read the lyrics to the song, and i am thinking, what are you, nuts? you are going to put this on the while i am reading it, i am thinking that i am in a back brace, that my mother had recently passed away, that the record company had said they were not going to renew my contract, and i am thinking this is the answer to my prayer. this is it. this is the answer, and this song is not only something that i can relate to but a song that

others can relate to. it is a timeless lyrica, so i really thought this was god's answer to my prayer and that it would be something that would go on for as long as people would play it. tavis: i always love hearing that story because it is instructive, it is informative, it is inspiring to know that you're on the eve of being dropped by your record company, and you basically record the song in a brace on a wheelchair, and they put the song out on the b side, a throwaway basically, at on the a side, and it is blockbuster all of these years later. let me move now to the book. give me some sense of how you started to collect these stories from persons around the globe who, in fact, have used the song to help them survive their own wealth spots in life. >> i first thought of the

stories in my head, because people were telling them to me ever since i first recorded the song. people have been telling them to me, and the stories have been uplifting and encouraging to me. to shareght i needed this encouragement, this inspiration with the world, and the idea for the book, and when we decided to do the book, then my manager, stephanie, who is full of great ideas decided that the best way to collect these stories would be to go to the , the electronic media, social media, and two different support groups, parents with andased children, madd, given organizations like that. they were very happy to submit their stories and tell how the

song had encouraged and inspired them. to colordo not want the question. let me rephrase that. how taken were you by the range of stories, and buy range, there are people in this book of people who talk about surviving all kinds of things? >> exactly. through the years, i have been amazed at the different areas of trauma and predicament and deaths,ty illnesses and parents of deceased children, and just all kinds of stories where people have been inspired by this song, and it has been amazing. it really has been, and i feel so honored and so blessed to have a song that impacts people's lives so positively for so many years. i suspect, and i want to

be delicate in framing this, but i suspect, if i were an artist, and i love to sing, as all of my friends know, i wish i had been blessed with that gift, but if there were a song that i would want to be known for, this is not a bad went to be known for. if you have to be known by a song, this is not a bad song to be known for. >> my sentiments exactly. side ofut then the b that is you become known for that song, and it boxes you in, and it categorizes you, and people know that for one year, the academy awards had a disco , andon, -- the grammys this song had won the disco grammy. but talk about the flip side of song, aown by this

song, one song. about me am thinking and my desires and my hopes and dreams and aspirations and what i would like to do and all of that, it becomes a hindrance. of a thorn in my side, sort to speak, that people do not know i have done these other songs, and they do not know i have been able to do this, that, and the other. i maturede learned as is that this framed my purpose. it has framed my purpose, and therefore it is bigger, much more important than my ego. yes. tavis: i take that. i just got checked. i accept it. i am just asking questions around here. isaking of your music, there a companion cd.

there is a book that i mentioned and a companion cd. tell us about the cd. >> the cd is a collection of seven songs that complement the stories in the book. the stories in the book are about how the song "i will survive" inspired people, inspiring them to want to survive, and the songs on this cd are about the things that helped them to survive. >> and the song titles say it all. i am grateful, he gave me life, and on it goes. to your point, it mirrors the stories in the text. this is an unfair question. was there, is there, and i will not say favorite, and give me one story of survival in this book that really resonated with you when you read it. >> that might be the story of a young boy who was sexually

,bused by his father's friend two of his father's friends, on many occasions by each one of them, and when he told his father and his mother about it, expecting that his father would championed his cause and go to bat for him, it was all about we do not want to stir up any trouble, we do not want people to look at us like something is wrong with our family, all of these kinds of things, and he was left feeling there was no one to protect him, no one in his corner, and i am sure that is something that has happened to millions of them, men and , and it happened to me. no one came to my defense because i did not tell anybody, but this young man told his family, and they did not come to

his defense, so that was really a heart wrenching story for me. powerful song, a poignant song, a moving song, and uplifting song, all of the survive,"r, "i will and there is now a book out from the grammy winner, gloria gaynor , and a cd along with it called "we will survive." it will get you going when you are reading or when you finish reading the text. gloria gaynor, congratulations all of these years later, and thanks for being on the program. >> thank you. tavis: thanks for watching, and as always, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for a conversation with perlman.rtuoso itzhak

that is next time. we will see you then. ♪ >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ >> be more. pbs.

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