Intro/Outro (00:04): It takes a bit of a blend of art and science to get baking just right and having extra eyes, ears, and hands can make a big difference along the way. That's where Ab Maori, north America comes into play. We are the team behind industrial and artisan bakers that help optimize success. We'll discuss more on this episode of the Oven Light. So let's get going. Flip the switch.

Rick (00:32): Who is ready for the oven light? We got a great program today. Our guest today, I will affectionately call him a mover and a shaker. He's a television producer. The owner, his name is actually on the marquee, James Thomas Productions, and he's actually a former insurance agent. I didn't even know that I had to search this up. He's affectionately known as the movie man right here in the St. Louis region. Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome. I mean, I already said his name, but James Thomas to the Oven Light. Thank

James Thomas (01:02): You. I appreciate it. Rick, thank you so much. I enjoyed being here. I like talking to you.

Rick (01:08): So we didn't officially say it, but hey, the switch is on. Let's go. We've got a great show for a jt. Here we go. We're going to lighten the mood. Really, we're going to make it simple on you just so people get a chance to know you a little bit. We call 'em hot pan questions. Hot pan. We're going to put you on the hot pan. Could be a baking pan, could be a cookie, pan, whatever. Favorite movie all time and why

James Thomas (01:30): Independence Day.

Rick (01:31): And why is that?

James Thomas (01:33): It is just the whole idea of an invasion from outer space. It brings the entire world together versus fighting each other and we defeat these guys and hopefully we've learned to live together.

Rick (01:47): Are you saying this just because we've had like Northern Lights in the Midwest recently, two broods of cicadas coming out of the ground. 13 and 17 years apart. What the deuce,

James Thomas (01:58): Well, don't forget, let's not forget about the tornadoes and the wind and the thunderstorms. Let's not forget about that either too.

Rick (02:06): Yeah, I guess saying some aliens wouldn't be a two foreign at all. Okay, here's the kicker. Here's the one that's, I mean, this sets people apart. Popcorn, butter or no butter.

James Thomas (02:18): Butter.

Rick (02:19): Okay.

James Thomas (02:20): Got fun of me. Got it, got it.

Rick (02:23): It's like in our family, I typically don't put butter on, so I let my wife and son eat the top of the popcorn and then I come in towards the bottom. Alright, favorite thing you love about your hometown of St. Louis?

James Thomas (02:33): The loop. The loop. The loop man. Yes.

Rick (02:38): Why is that?

James Thomas (02:39): As I told Joe Edwards one time, especially in the summer months, spring and summer months and fall months, the daytime reminds me of la. The nighttime reminds me of New York. So I feel like I'm getting the best of both Coast and the Midwest.

Rick (02:55): I've never heard anybody say that. James, that's pretty cool. And if you don't know Joe Edwards, he created this whole area, the Delmar Loop with music venues, the pageant, and Delmar Hall. It tried multiple times to get the trolley going, but great restaurants, nightlife, all that sort of stuff. So man, that's a good answer. I appreciate you sharing that. Alright, jt, we're going to talk some shop Now. You've got a magazine style TV show if people are not familiar with, it's called the Morning Blend, where you try to help tell these great stories. You're definitely a storyteller. I could see you talking around the campfire, maybe a fire pit, wherever there's fire. But you really try to highlight the best and the coolest things going on in the region. So how did this whole thing happen? What was your inspiration? A former insurance agent. Now you're telling stories for a living and talking to people.

James Thomas (03:50): Well, if you want to go all the way back, let's go back to 1988. My last year of selling life insurance, my dad passed away 1989. I wasn't selling. I was pretty depressed. And I loved on Saturdays to watch Soul Train in American bands team. And my older brother used to come over and try to cheer me up to get me out of my depressed mood. And something happened with Soul Train that I didn't care for. And my brother, being the smart person that he is, I give him all the credit for it. He goes, you think you can do a better job? Yes you did. And I said, get out of here. And he goes, I dare you. And I said, really? I said, yeah, I dare you. And I said, okay. So I went to the public access station. Luckily I told her my idea and her eyes lit up. They had a multi-camera truck sitting on the lot for two years with no use. And here I come talking about doing a damn show where you need multi cameras. She said, if you find a facility and you get the dancers, we'll come and shoot it for free. Panama, Jackson, Collinsville, Illinois is what the space was. We had over a hundred plus dancers. They came and brought the truck. That's how I got started in television.

Rick (05:07): I wasn't expecting to do this, but I'm going to do it. I remember as a kid watching the show, I'd flip around and Soul Train on Be The Soul Train, right? Isn't it? Something like that.

James Thomas (05:19): Yeah, yeah.

Rick (05:20): That was outstanding, man. That's cool. I had no idea. Hey, all comes back to Dancing Man. Alright, let's

James Thomas (05:28): Started in 1990 and here we're in 20, 24,

Rick (05:31): Multiple decades away. All right, well, let's talk a little bit about some programming. You have what's called The Blend, right? And I think you're doing satellite interviews, web interviews with various celebrities. I was looking back at maybe some of your folks that you've talked to, Mark Harmon, Helen Miran, I mean all outstanding in their own fields and plenty of others. Are you kidding me? Did you imagine going from this local Collinsville dance program that's competing with Soul Train on a local level, all of a sudden you're talking to a-list celebrities.

James Thomas (06:05): You know what? It was interesting. If you want to go all the way back again, 1990 before YouTube and all this other stuff, by the

Rick (06:13): Way, there are people listening to this thing that weren't even born in 1990. So jt All right, you got to help them out.

James Thomas (06:20): Yeah. So what it was, its public access is a access station on local television for anybody who wants to put a show on, kind of like YouTube is now. And that's how everything got started. And I did this dance show, and you're talking about way, way back, we had Gang star. Our biggest artist was, his very first television appearance was Ice Baby. No Way Ice. Yeah. Are you kidding me? Vanilla Ice ICE's very first television appearance Anywhere was our dance show. We've had Brian McKnight on the show. I've had Anita Baker going back to r and b. Dave Chappelle has been on the show because back then I was only person doing what I was doing in this market. So of course to reach the people in this market, they would bring these people in on the show, A tribe called Quest, they brought them in.

James Thomas (07:20): It was just crazy Again, it was just nuts. And then we went from dance show, and then I went to, we started doing trailers for movies. Somebody sent us a trailer and we got more and more, and somebody asked us to go on a junket, and I'm like, what is a junket? It's where they fly you out to free to New York and la you get to see the movie and do interviews. So we did a couple of those. And from a dance show to music, video show to a movie show, it just kept transforming, just kept changing the whole time. And that's how the whole thing got started. And Morning Blend, I stopped doing television 2010 and started doing the Black Film Festival. I thought it was needed here in St. Louis along with the classic Black Film Festival. And I did that all the way up to 20 15, 16.

James Thomas (08:16): And I kept getting all these emails from these Hollywood, la, New York, bring your show back, bring your show back. So I started doing the show, but what inspired me to do the show was I used to go to these business meetings, put on my Commerce bank, and then I went to one in Clayton and somebody said Venture Cafe. And I'm like, what is Venture Cafe? I was introduced to the startup and innovative community at the Cortex, and I was like a kid in a candy store, didn't know what to do, what to grab first. But then I realized, wait a minute, this is a very small community. And I kept looking around the room and I said, I need to do this show about this start up and innovation. And that's where Morning Blend came back and I started doing interviews at Venture Cafe. I interviewed the NGA as they were getting ready to move to their new location. I met the CEO of EverReady Battery. I interviewed managing Partnerly, Jim Waddle before he left with Edward Jones. Didn't know that the Rear Admiral for our Atlantic fleet graduated from Clayton High School. And untold

Rick (09:39): Stories, man, you're part archeologist, aren't you? Unearthing some cool stuff.

James Thomas (09:47): Well, that's where I met you.

Rick (09:49): Yeah, I know, I know. Alright, so you talked a little bit about it, and you know what, I'm going to jump ahead. I want to talk about the Black Film Festival, the classic black film festival, things that you've been a part of, you organized, coordinated, and headed up. And I think that was one of the first times we had talked. I had just come from Anheuser-Busch and Stellaris, where we sponsored the American Black Film Festival, which was the year that I went and attended. I remember meeting Tracy Ellis. Ross was honored, which was great. This was maybe 20 13, 20 12, somewhere around there. I mean, I was just amazed at the culture at the people. So welcoming, inviting. And then when you told me about the local effort here, what has that been for you as a stepping stone?

James Thomas (10:33): It's exactly what it was, because I knew about A BFF and American Black Film Festival, and I knew about the Urban Black Film Festival and I was like, you know what? We used to do a lot of screenings at the Temple League, and the marketing director there kept telling me, people kept trying to do a black film festival, but they never came out with the money when it was time for the deposit. So it never happened. And she told me it had been 22 years since the last one, and this is how the Black Film Festival got started. This is a true story. She told me that story and says, you know what James? You know how to sell, how to get sponsors. I challenge you to do a black film festival.

Rick (11:14): So if you want action, you challenge James Thomas, you can challenge him. We could thumb wrestle, pencil, fight, whatever you make things happen it sounds like.

James Thomas (11:23): Well, that's what happened. She said, she challenged me and I said, okay. And I did the first one at first two at the tle, and then we moved down to the mx. I did one down at Bonnie's and I did one at the pair. I did one there. Yeah. And like I said, it lasted I think 2016, but that's when they kept pressuring me to get the show back on the air. And that's what happened there. But yeah, and then the classic Black Film Festival, I did that in February. I said, I'll never do it again in February. I'll wait until it gets a little bit warmer because we did it and we actually get a tribute to Sidney Poitier at the Galleria. We did that for the entire month of February, I think it was 20 14, 20, yeah, 2014, somewhere in there. And it was great. It was well attended.

Rick (12:16): Was he in Guess who's coming to dinner,

James Thomas (12:18): Is that right? Yes, of course. Yeah.

Rick (12:20): He's outstanding. I mean, wonderful actor.

James Thomas (12:24): Guess who's coming to dinner and of course in the heat of the night.

Rick (12:28): That's right. That's right. Wow. There was actually, if I recall, he didn't always play the Good Guy. Sometimes he could play really the tough guy. I saw him in a film or two that he was on the other side, but the excellent actor. Alright, so speaking of icons like Sidney Poitier, have you ever been starstruck and if so, what's the situation? It could be at one of your film festivals or maybe one of your satellite movie junkets that you're talking about

James Thomas (13:00): At least four times in my

Rick (13:02): Oh, we got, alright, we got four. We got four prongs. Let's go.

James Thomas (13:06): Okay. So the first one was actually meeting my idol and helped me create the dance show when he came to St. Louis, celebrating 25 years of Soul Train was Don Cornelius. Wow. And then people are not going to remember Northwest Plaza, but the American Bandstand restaurant, Dick Clark came to St. Louis.

Rick (13:31): Really? And you met DC you met Dick Clark, Mr. New Year's Eve.

James Thomas (13:37): Yeah, new Year's Eve. Then I did a jacket for a movie called 16 Blocks with Bruce Willis and David Morris. And most deaf,

Rick (13:47): Don't forget, most deaf man Jack. Jack people can change. Jack. Jack, that's my one. I'll throw one impersonation right there, but I love you, Jack. People can change Jack. It's okay, Jack. I love the movie. It's one of my hidden favorites. So, okay, tell us about that one.

James Thomas (14:06): The interview with Bruce Willis, the other critic talking about how much he was in a bad mood, didn't want to be there and everything. So walking into the room, I'm shaking and I'm nervous and I thank God God's giving me a brain of the talent. And I just started comparing him to Rol Flynn and some of the other action actors from the thirties, forties. And he kind was leaning back and he kind leaned forward, he goes, oh yeah. And we got into a great conversation, great conversation. The fourth person, Christine Reese, Christina Reese was in a movie called Black Snake Mold with Sam Jackson in that movie. When I saw it, she was a blonde. I walked in the room and there's this beautiful brunette Italian actress, and I sit down and I'm just sitting there wring my hands and stuff. She was so cool. So as they say, R James, you can get started. It took me about five or six seconds. Christina Reese said, it's kind of hot in here, isn't it? She broke the ice. She saw that I was flustered and she broke the ice and goes, it's kind of hot in here, isn't it? And we both started laughing and we just got into a great conversation.

Rick (15:28): That's fantastic. Okay, so I'm going to take you back to 16 blocks. I didn't know we were going to go down this path and we've already walked about 12 blocks, but we're going to go to the full 16 because in the movie, right, he's kind of a protected witness and actually the cops are trying to take him out. And Bruce Willis is his last day on the force and he's retiring and he's trying to harbor this guy. And in the end, most def, and this is where Baking's going to come in, becomes a baker. He wanted to bake birthday cakes, if I recall correctly. So there is your segue. That gets us back to baking. Alright. Alright, how about that? That's a long way. So here's our next hot pan. Questions baked good. Do you go for something sweet like a birthday cake or do you go for something savory?

James Thomas (16:16): Savory.

Rick (16:18): And if so, what is that savory item?

James Thomas (16:21): Man, it's When you say savory, this is simple to me. It really is a blueberry bagel with the honey cream cheese.

Rick (16:34): Nice.

James Thomas (16:36): And a cup of coffee. That's perfect for me. You're

Rick (16:39): Getting a little sweet and savory in that one. I call a combo. Alright. Do you have a favorite baking memory? Right? You're talking about Dick Clark, you're talking about American Bandstand Soul train. Come on. There's got to be a memory out there. Baking maybe even with your grandmother or even something during the pandemic. What was the pandemic where people were baking?

James Thomas (17:01): We're saying baking. And if you want to say baking, it was my ninth birthday. My mom baked me a cake. Surprised the hell out of me. It was a chocolate cake. Beautiful. You talking about savory and tasted good because my mom made it just for Jimmy, her son. But if you want to get into cooking, I cook my own breakfast every morning and every morning when I cook breakfast, it reminds me of both my grandmother's on my dad's side and my mom's side. They loved to cook. We would go to Arkansas, they would cook the breakfast, go to Detroit, they would cook the breakfast. And it reminds me of my grandparents, my grandmothers and my mom every morning.

Rick (17:49): Well, you're talking about cooking breakfast, so what are you talking about? Throwing a poptart in the toaster?

James Thomas (17:53): Yeah, we're talking about a couple of slices of bacon, some sausage, easy over eggs, wheat toast with strawberry jam and every now and then blueberry pancakes.

Rick (18:09): All right, well I was setting you up anyways. I was setting you up because of the movie Unfrosted on Netflix, which I really enjoyed. I watched with my son, did you see it? And so I've not

James Thomas (18:21): Seen that yet. Everybody says,

Rick (18:22): Oh my goodness, it's such, it's such a spoof when you see the Quaker Oats guy giving a eulogy, you got Snap, crack and pop. I mean, it's such a farce that it is really kindhearted. It's fun. I think Jerry Seinfeld did an excellent job with it. So take a look at that. So, alright, we'll keep on this breakfast theme. So if you can meet one actor or actress for breakfast, maybe you're cooking breakfast. It's not just coffee and a Danish. You got the eggs and bacon and all that. Who is that? Who would you like to cook breakfast for and have a chat

James Thomas (18:58): If he was still alive today? Sidney Poitier.

Rick (19:00): Really? Okay.

James Thomas (19:02): Yeah.

Rick (19:02): How about a current actor or actress? Anybody out there

James Thomas (19:06): Currently? I tell you somebody I really had a great conversation with when I was on the junket and he had to go, but he wanted to continue to talk, but he, Ian Goof old who played Mr. Fantastic and Fantastic Four, but he and I got into a conversation about a movie where he played Wilberforce and there is a historic black college that's named after Wilberforce, and Wilberforce is the one that got slavery abolished in England.

Rick (19:41): I didn't know that. That's pretty cool.

James Thomas (19:43): Yeah, so Ian Gofo, he and I had a great conversation. I still remember that conversation.

Rick (19:48): That's fantastic. Let's dive back into the movie, since we're talking a little bit on that. Give us an example of maybe a movie or one that you reviewed recently that you're like, man, that was powerful or unexpected, maybe a surprise or just an incredible performance. You're like, wow, I wasn't expecting that. That was pretty cool.

James Thomas (20:10): Paul Guy.

Rick (20:12): Okay, good. I'm glad we're talking about it.

James Thomas (20:14): Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt. That was perfect. It was a great surprise. It should have done better in the theaters. I mean, it was a homage to stunt people everywhere. It really was. It was a great movie. It was so much fun to watch, to see how they did things. And these guys really are good at what they do. They really

Rick (20:37): Are. It's crazy. We just saw, went with the family this weekend and I probably gave it a low eight out of 10, but it was, I mean, Ryan incredible, the stunt. You see it all really how it's supposed to be. I mean, Emily Blunt, that lineup is incredible. Their chemistry was so good. And then I don't know if I can tease it, but you got to have a little bit of a Lee Majors moment, don't you? I mean that was,

James Thomas (21:07): Yeah, you do have to have a Lee Majors moment. But here's another interesting thing about that particular movie. One of the things we talked about was, wow, all these stunt people are doing all their stunts. What is Tom Cruise on when he does his stunts? That's all I got say.

Rick (21:24): Absolutely. Yeah. So if you're not familiar, yeah, Tom Cruise, top Gun, all that kind of stuff. He does his own stunts and he's incredible. Whether it's flying a helicopter, jumping out of planes, riding motorcycles

James Thomas (21:37): Off the cliff.

Rick (21:38): Yeah, yeah. I mean, he is remarkable. They don't make 'em like that anymore. Flynn,

James Thomas (21:44): That reminds you of Earl Flynn.

Rick (21:46): There you go. Right.

James Thomas (21:48): Okay. Yeah. And Harold Lloyd,

Rick (21:49): Why don't you give us a little quick little backgrounder. So we're educating people. Earl Flynn, Harold Lloyd.

James Thomas (21:55): Harold Lloyd was a great comedian, visual comedian when there was talkies and he did his own stunts sometimes in real places, high above buildings and on the street. Buster Keaton was great at doing his own stunts and setting the thing up. Earl Flynn was one of the first original Robin Hoods and Captain Blood Pirate, captain Blood

Rick (22:24): And not like funny haha. Men and tights kind of, well,

James Thomas (22:27): Not funny at all. Just very rare, serious. Did his own stunts. Another person I keep forgetting about, he was one of my favorite actors since you want to talk about that. Burt Lancaster. He did a lot of his own stunts.

Rick (22:40): I didn't know that, but a lot of us know bur from Field of Dreams, right? He was a Moonlight doc, Moonlight brand, I mean outstanding. I think that might've been his last film, but iconic role. He had that little twinkle in his eye, charming

James Thomas (22:56): Crimson Pirate. He did his own stunts. If you ever want to see a movie, Burt Lancaster, Crimson Pirate. Yeah. All

Rick (23:05): Right. We got to check that out. Okay. Alright, so we talked a little bit about innovation earlier, and you talked about the Cortex Innovation community, which is where AB Ma and our baking hub or located here in St. Louis, but you actually house yourself, your business out of another one of those innovation hotbeds called T-Rex down in St. Louis. What's that been like? Why does this spirit of innovation seem to sit well with you, new thinking, all that?

James Thomas (23:33): I would say it's the synergy, the intelligent conversations, the freely exchange of ideas and giving suggestions, not holding back. And unfortunately, we lost one of our greatest innovators here in St. Louis, CEO of T-Rex Patty Hagan, who just passed away about a week or so ago. But that is the whole thing behind T-Rex, I wanted to be where the synergy was. And T-Rex, was it the kids down there, the startups down there, the small companies, the NGA coming through, Purina coming through with their marketing team, Schnucks coming through with their marketing team, Toyota of Midwest coming through and having meetings with Peter Bato.

Rick (24:25): Oh, wow.

James Thomas (24:27): Yeah,

Rick (24:28): If you're not sure of what Bato is, and you're listening in and you live in Portland, but yeah, it's a big automotive giant dealer here

James Thomas (24:36): In the west. Yeah, it was really interesting too. I'm on way to lunch and headed to a meeting as I'm going down the lobby, she's got two military men on either side. She steps out of this military car. She is a two star admiral in our United States Navy, and I got a chance to actually talk to her for like five or 10 minutes. That was T-Rex, that's the startup and innovative community where you got to meet the Tom Wado of the CEO of EverReady Battery. People don't remember, but Facebook.

Rick (25:20): Oh, mark

James Thomas (25:20): Zuckerberg. Mark Zuckerberg was actually at the Cortex. Do you remember that? Yeah, I do. At the Cortex and Cortex T-Rex 39 North. It is just, it's an amazing community. It still needs to be a little bit more diverse and inclusive. They need to spread out a little bit for the St. Louis community. I think that if they did that, St. Louis has always wanted to be a smart city globally. That is one way to do it. Here's a guy, insurance, sold insurance, doing a TV show, just a business person running around and you're introduced to all this great information, how to do a business, how to do pitches. It was just amazing financial plans, financial strategy, succession, spreading out. Never thought about syndication until, let's start up community. I'm stuck in St. Louis now I'm thinking syndication. I need to get out there. That was the whole thing behind it. It was intellectually stimulating being a part of that.

Rick (26:46): So jt, what happened? How did you get out of your shell? I mean, no, you can talk to anybody anywhere, anytime over any kind of beverage, alcohol or not. And was this something that was part of your makeup or did you have to adjust your, did you transform,

James Thomas (27:06): Let's put it this way, remember, my soul life shows me you got to go out and talk to people every day. But I would have to say this transformation happened. I'm not going to say my age. When I was a senior in high school at summer camp, I was always a quiet kid, always never said anything, and something happened and I made a comment and I couldn't believe the room burst out in laughter I, that's when I came out of that shell.

Rick (27:40): That's great. Alright, here's my quiz for you. I don't think we've ever had a quiz on this show, but this is an impromptu, and let's see if you can name the movie and it's a quote from an insurance agent in this movie. Watch out for that first step. It's a doozy

James Thomas (27:57): Groundhog Day.

Rick (27:57): There you go. Alright, I'm glad you got that

James Thomas (28:03): Hard. But yeah, Groundhog Day, man,

Rick (28:06): That's

James Thomas (28:06): A one.

Rick (28:08): So jt, most people go to movies, socialize all that when they get some downtime. What do you do when you get downtime? Because this is like, it's your job, it's your vocation. It sounds like it's your life as well.

James Thomas (28:20): It's interesting when you bring that up because pre pandemic, we averaged a little over 200 plus movies a year, and then post pandemic, of course, it slowed down to maybe 30, 40. Now we're slowly starting to build up again, especially this last Oscar season. But I've always had a love for movies. If you want to talk about, you remember that quiet kid, remember him well, he would always escape in the movies as a kid. I'm serious. Santa Claus versus the Martians, tell 'em my age. Little Red Riding Hood. Tell 'em my age. All those little movies, the Three Stooges of Flash Gordon at the movies, the Sound of Music, Dr. Sheva. I've always had a love for movies and now it is work.

Rick (29:16): Yeah, but you're living your dream though.

James Thomas (29:19): And that's why I love what I do. And everybody talks about when are you going to retire? Why? What are you talking about? I'm having a great time. Yeah.

Rick (29:30): One final question for you. Any kind of, is there a motivational statement or a book or a clever line or something that you, a mantra that maybe you live that maybe you've heard and you're like, boy, this is my last piece of wisdom I want to pass along to the listeners of the Oven Light?

James Thomas (29:50): Yes, there is.

Rick (29:52): Oh boy, here we go

James Thomas (29:54): From one of the most interesting people out there. And if you don't know this line, I feel sorry for you. You ready?

Rick (30:02): Yeah.

James Thomas (30:03): There is no tribe. There's only two.

Rick (30:06): Oh, come on. Really? You're going Star Wars on us. You're going Yoda. Star

James Thomas (30:10): Wars, man. Yoda man,

Rick (30:12): I dig it. But you know what? There's a lot of truth to that. So I appreciate you in our light today. You are our spiritual Yoda. So thanks JT for making that happen.

James Thomas (30:24): Thank you for inviting me to this. This was a lot of

Rick (30:27): Fun. James. I appreciate you coming on the program. And for our listeners out there, if you've got a question for James or you want to interact after this, we do have an email. It's the oven light@abmurray.com. In case you got a question or you want to know something about a movie, here's your guy. Also just recently hot off the press. We haven't talked about it yet, this just happened the last week. But the Oven Light has just recently got a new award from the Communicator Awards 2024 Communicator Awards for one of the outstanding B2B podcast. So we're excited about that. Thank you. I appreciate that, buddy. We got some more hardware for the office, but hey, but for now, that's it. James Thomas, thanks for being on the show and for now, the switch is off the oven, light is off. Thanks for joining and we will see you again real soon.

Intro/Outro (31:12): We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the Oven Light. Until next time, when we discuss more about the wonderful world of baking technology trends and more, the switch is officially off. Goodbye for now. See you next time.