billion worldwide. you have just been asked to do a sequel. what do you do with your free time? if you are joss whedon, you direct a modern-day version of "much ado about nothing" in your backyard. you work with actresses you have worked with and you film it in 12 days. this is what you come up with. >> are you sure benedict loves the address so entirely? beatrice so entirely? >> so says the prince. >> did you tell them of it? >> they did not treat me to their acquaintance. i persuaded them that if they loved benedict, wrestle with the affection. >> why did you so? does not a gentleman deserve as full and fortunate to bed? >> i know he does deserve as much as must be yielded to a

man. [laughter] here notingsley was too long ago. whenever he comes through, it is impossible to go from beginning to end of a conversation without shakespeare making a cameo somewhere in the conversation. i will ask you, as i asked him, what is it about shakespeare? you know, it is the language. it is how personally i relate to it. i grew up around people doing it and watching it and reading it. even before i could understand it, because i was trying to look cool to my parents. it seeped in. i love the poetry, but the more i studied it, i go, this is about me. it really strikes me.

it is 400 years since he wrote it and it still resonates and the jokes work. tavis: what do you make of the fact that his writing is such that you can do a modern-day version of it? that you can do it in your house? people know the play, but you have cell phones and security cameras being seen here. how does shakespeare play in a contemporary setting? >> very often, people set it anywhere. hawaii, space, world war ii. for me, it was a question of making it contemporary because i wanted it to be relatable and also i could not afford costumes. it works because it is still stuff that we care about. it is love, passion, brutality, jealousy. what does it mean when we are in love? what are we expected to be? all the stuff that

we are asking each other and ourselves every day. it does not matter if someone is reading a letter or scrolling down. it is still a letter and still affect them emotionally.that is the stuff i want to get through. tavis: as a writer, that says what to you about shakespeare's work? >> that he is a talented writer. he is going to go places. [laughter] keep your eye on him. it is timeless, literally. tavis: when did the idea, how did the idea come to you did do this in your spare time in your backyard? how did this come to be? >> years before, i was running "buffy the vampire slayer" and starting to work on "firefly." i was talking to the actors and a lot of them did shakespeare in the past, part of their training. and they loved it. we thought, we all love it. why don't we just, for fun, meet

and have a few drinks and read a play, a bunch of writers and actors? tavis: so it was the drinks, other words? >> it was the drinks. i did not tell them i had a play. "i have booze!" no, there was a certain amount of drinking because there was nervousness. what if we are terrible or bored? as we went along, the drinks fell away and it was all about being together and experiencing the play. and we did. even though we are reading it aloud where nobody knew their parts by heart, we did have these emotional connections and beautiful stuff. the thing that surfaced the most was how casual and intimate it was and how natural it sounded.

a lot of people, if you are in school and you see some grand production, it is very stately and removed. you hear these words and they do not add up. when you see it done off-the-cuff, you hear it in their voice and you go, this is something that i would love for people to see, how lived in it is and how much fun. tavis: was this a production where you were cracking the whip? or were people -- was it just to get it on film or were you directing this with an eye towards this being a theatrical release? >> i w not sure it would make a theatrical release -- i was not going to put a reading on tape. tavis: it was not just for your backyard on a friday. >> absolutely. amy and alexis are great friends and great actors. when they laid beatrice and benedict, i said, i should film that. i did not understand it until i had a script for a movie that we

should actually do it. i wanted to capture a little of that urgency. my schedule dictated that i capture some urgency of the readings, the intimacy, like you are there, it is happening. it is not over thought, overblown, overdubbed. it is very much in the moment. at the same time, i had to make a piece of cinema. i had to crack the whip. everybody was working their hardest. it is not like anybody was lagging. they knew going in that it would be incredibly difficult. but we all had fun. tavis: does the fact that you can do it in 12 days say something about the immediacy of shakespeare's work? that you can get it and deliver it in a short amount of time? not like something like "the avengers."

>> if i could have done "the " in 12 days, i would have. a lot of america would have been angry with me. you want to understand your actors. the thing that made it possible was this group of actors, people who have been in my life for many years, people i knew i could trust to be there, be ready, lay it down. we were all on the same page about it. you cannot have any surprises in a situation like that. thes: you have been using phrase for many years, the not so many years you have been in this business. i was looking at your corpus of work the other night, preparing for our conversation. we all know that there is such -- there is no such thing as an overnight success in this business. there is a journey we are all on. you really have struck lightning in a bottle, struck gold, pick your metaphor. the point is, it happened for

you in this space of time. i am curious am at least from your perspective, what allows that? what makes that happen for a particular person? everybody out here wants to direct. everybody has a screenplay. everybody has something they are trying to get through. for certain individuals, there is a point in time at which it all starts cooking on all cylinders. that happened for you. >> if we are talking about the success of "the avengers" and all that -- tavis: it is tv and -- >> i have been a professional writer now for 24 years. a lot of those years, there were a lot of nights before the overnight. "much ado about nothing" happens "nd even "the avengers

happens because of the connections and years of work. on "the avengers," people ask me, how did you get this job? why did they pick you? to the point where i was like, quit it. i had years of proving myself as a writer and a director, on a smaller scale, building up to them and somebody would hand me the reins. in the same way, building this troupe of actors. my wife and i starting a micro- budget studio in order to make our own stuff and having success with "dr. horrible." it is the years and years extreme effort. i work very, very hard. i do not do anything else. i do not know how to do anything else. i am bad at everything, except this. when people say, how do you get started, i say, i do not know. just dart. start and do not stop. tavis: given where your parents

are, did you have a choice? did you say, this is all i do? i am trying to figure out if you had a choice given the lineage. >> sometimes i think i was formed in a lab. my mom was a teacher and my dad was a writer for television. . sort of combined those two that has been the goal of my life. the idea of getting a real job, i mean, this job is very hard and it is great. i was only prepared to do something artistic, which is not good, but that is a fact. i amnk that, i feel that exactly the product of what my mom and dad created. tavis: given what art means to our lives, what is wrong with being devoted to something artistic? >> there is an insecurity of

being in your own world. if things fall apart, you would be the first to go. we would eat you first on the boat because you can't build anything and you cannot make anything and you cannot do math of any kind. you are removed from the world in an artistic way. it is a great religion and i love my life and i am very grateful for it, but what happens if i remove those away? you get nervous about it. tavis: nobody has asked you on this side of "the avengers" why you got the job. >> they certainly did. reporter recently, that was the question i used to get before it opened. tavis: so who is the villain? thought. loki, i tavis: i have got to use it in.

that did not work. for those of you who missed it, everyone was trying to figure out who the villain was going to be for "the avengers 2." you just exhort me. -- ignored me. me wrong, i feel bad about it. tavis: the word is there is a new character, though. >> yes. quicksilver and the scarlet witch are mainstays of the universe. they have been foes and allies and they are very interesting to me. i grew up reading "the avengers ." when i was not trying to impress my parents, what i was reading. they have powers that are visually exciting and they are interesting characters, very different than what people have seen before. i am excited to knock them up against "the avengers" and see what shakes loose.

that: is there something happens in society or something you feel when you are an adult and you get a chance to direct something that is a part of -- marvel comics is iconic stuff. you are reading this stuff as a kid. now you are the guy that gets to direct it. that feels like what? .> that feels like great honestly, there is that special thing, you do not see it all the time, but you are translating it to a new medium, a new generation. you want to make sure you are not just being nostalgic and throwing that out in the film. it has got to be it's own thing. but then you are going, oh my god. i am telling thor what to do. i am mentally telling him like this. , iten, chris, but you know

am standing around and posing with spiderman. his is a really good life. and the residents from my childhood gives it that little extra kick. it is extraordinary. tavis: because the stuff that we watched is different than the stuff that kids watch today, because they are not into comic books the way that we were back when we were kids, when you approach it and you want to do justice by it, but you are exposing it to a new generation, what is the thought process for how you tinker with it to make it fit for this generation of kids? i give marvelhing a lot of credit for. it is just about understanding what was important, what is not negotiable, what really made it work. thor is going to have a hammer. we are not giving him a spatula. there are certain things you

know and certain things you have to let go of. i have seen a lot of comic book adaptations where it is frame by frame. that does not work. a are different mediums and it is a different question of knowing what you love and making sure that is in their but also that it goes back and it is a story that would work. a lot of people who saw the avengers did not read comic books and that was huge for me. a lot of people who saw "much ado about nothing" did not read shakespeare or did not like shakespeare movies. that is the best thing for any artist. you are reaching out to them yourself. tavis: assuming that on any project, there is a certain level of intimidation, something that we have not done before, what is more intimidating, trying to make shakespeare work in 12 days in black and white and a contemporary setting or

approaching a major blockbuster that you have got to get right like "the avengers?" >> i would say that they are kind of equal. every time you step in, you are stepping into the same arena. it is the same amount of problems, the same schedules and you are behind and the set is not ready. there was a moment at the beginning of avengers when i and my wifehe job turned to me and said, just tell the story. it was the last time i worried about it. there are expectations, but you have a lot altering you. with "much ado about nothing," there are no expectations, but i do not have a roadmap the side -- besides the script and my adaptation of it. i think the thing that made it possible for both of them to work for me is that these are

languages i speak. one of the things that worked about "the avengers," it never occurred to me that these guys would not hang out. thor, iron man, captain america. they have been partying together since i was a kid. that did not make sense to me -- that made sense to me. same thing with "much ado about nothing." i have been listening to that language and studying it and assimilating it. makes perfect sense for people to be walking around in suits speaking of elizabethan english. i had to make sure it made sense to everybody else. tavis: i suspect, as a child, in some shape or form, you wrestle with the value of what your mom does. she is teaching people. that is a noble vocation in our society. when did you come to appreciate your father as a writer? >> it took a while in the sense ,hat i admired him enormously

but it is true. captainiting jokes for kangaroo or cavett -- or dick cavett. he is out there changing the world and he is the funniest man i have ever met and these jokes are funny. it took me a long time to andrstand what art can do how art and teaching are so similar in their intent and structure and when they can come together without it seeming like you paid to go to a classroom. it is one of the best feelings. liked teaching and working as a teachers assistant in college. i favorite experience was a class of people to understand something because i

have shown them something that they did not know before. tavis: what subjects? >> for film. tavis: have you had the occasion , as you havest grown in your own stature, to ?ook back at your dad's writing >> sometimes, yeah. even my grandfathers. my grandfather wrote for radio before television. very interesting to see. the progression they both did all broadway musicals. tavis: what do you see when you look at their work in retrospect? >> they are extremely witty and there is a likeness. the best thing of my fathers, or me, was a special that got canceled before the first episode showed up. it was larry gilbert show. it was the first time they got

to write like people, when they were first trying to do half- hour, single camera. nobody was breaking the code. dramady, a terrible word. it was so real and funny and random. me, is a watershed tv show. it had a little bit of that flavor. tavis: the story about your father having done some of his best stuff that got canceled before it got out of the gate, you have not had as much of this to deal with. but was there a lesson in there for you about how tough this business can be vis-à-vis cancellations? >> my dad's whole career was a cautionary tale. it is the roller coaster, up and down, up and down. , save always been stingy

my first dollar. at some point, this business will turn around and say, we are done. you were great. seriously, you were wonderful. really, leave. will happen and it will be years. it is an absolutely unpredictable and sometimes untenable existence, particularly as a writer. ,avis: before i get out of here are you still interested in doing more tv stuff? >> i have "agents of s.h.i.e.l.d." coming out in the fall, which i created, cowrote and directed the pilot of that. i will be able to keep my hand in tv while i am doing the business. i really love all of it. i love every aspect of moviemaking and storytelling and i love television, the internet. i will wish i had time to do absolutely everything.

tavis: so you are starting when? >> probably around february. there is a lot to do before then. tavis: what are you doing between now and then? i am just curious. >> decides finishing the script and casting and all the prepping and set building and location scouting, you have to be ready on a level that it is not like, come to my house in two weeks and we will film some shakespeare. we have to know exactly what you're shooting because the fx guys have to build an entire world before we get a shot off. they have to build the hulk, which is a long process. tavis: i will let you go. you have a lot of stuff to do between now and february. joss whedon, great to have you on the program. the new project is "much ado about nothing." of course, "the avengers."

we have got to promote that. everyone is waiting for that. that is our show for tonight. until next time, keep the faith. ass.ight, you are an >> you are an ass. that much respect for my place? that much respect for my years? that she were here to write me down an ass. but masters, remember that i am an ass. yet forget not that i am an ass. >> 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 musician

stephen stills. that is next time. we will see you then. >> there is a saying that dr. king had that said there is always the right time too the right thing. i just try to live my life every day by doing the right thing. we know that we are only halfway to completely eliminate hunger, and we have a lot of work to do. walmart committed $2 billion to fighting hunger in the u.s. as we work together, we can stamp hunger out. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> be more. pbs.

>> and his band mates came to prominence in the 1980s as part of the band clases ikz classix nouveaux. synonymous with mtv. they topped the charts this and headlined for hins of thousands of fans throughout europe. still at the height of their success, their lead singer felt there was something missing from his life. search for answers led him on a pilgrimage, where his life and career changed forever. i'm ernie manouse, coming up on interviews, or conversation with musician and catholic youth leader, sal solo.

>> is there a different thrill for performing before thousands of people in a rock venue sfoapd a mission ing venue? >> well, there's not so much a question of the numbers, because the minute you set about the arena thing, i recalled, i used it one time huge man in italy, called rockets and everybody in italy knows and million and a half albums, but they had like most bands, they had their up period and down period, this was on the way down. we were doing two this week and we had a concert in particular, it was like a big tent type thing, and just before the show, the manager came back stage and said to me, there's only 70 people in there, so it --