Yahoo Finance Presents: Director Eric Goode - "Tiger King"

On this episode of Yahoo Finance Presents, Eric Goode, director of the hit Netflix series "Tiger King," joins Andy Serwer to discuss the shows fame as well as the show's main character Joe Exotic.

Video Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

ANDY SERWER: I'm here with Eric Goode who's the producer and director of the smash hit "Tiger King," and Eric's done all kinds of other things in his life, too. He's an impresario, entrepreneur, artist. But right now, it's all about "Tiger King," Eric. And man, did you ever expect it was going to take the country by storm the way it has?

ANDY SERWER: No, but of course, I did think it would be successful. You know, I think we were very fortunate to stumble upon such an unbelievable story, but of course not. You know, we have this crazy moment in time that's stranger than fiction, frankly, as is the series.

ANDY SERWER: Yeah, so I mean, what is it-- first of all, I guess the question is, do you think it would have done as well if it wasn't for the coronavirus? I mean, how are these things, like, connected?

ERIC GOODE: Well, of course I don't think it would have done as well. We're at a moment in time where we have this captive audience. You know, we're not-- there are no sports programs on. People are dying to have a reprieve from this-- you know, this surreal moment that we're in. So obviously, we have a captive audience watching captive cats. You know, so we've never been in a situation like this.

ANDY SERWER: Yeah, I mean, I never really thought about that captive audience and captive cats thing. That's truly amazing. But still, I mean, I think it would have done well regardless. And what is it you think that resonates with so many people about this show?

ERIC GOODE: You know, I mean-- you know, when I set out-- when we set out to make this series, Rebecca and I, we were fascinated with this sort of best-in-show grizzly man aspect of people that keep exotic animals, more the pathology behind, you know, why, you know, people are so attracted to keeping tigers or-- and chimps and primates and reptiles. And we looked at the whole-- we cast-- we casted a wide net initially and then honed in on big cat world, due to certain circumstances.

So I would say first and foremost, the characters, and then, of course, we stumbled upon this incredible story, unbeknownst to us, that Joe allegedly wanted to kill Carole Baskin and tried to kill Carole. And so you know-- and it was bizarre because it was contemporaneous with the film I get the story.

ANDY SERWER: Yeah, I mean, the characters are really amazing. I mean, you know, is Joe Exotic for real? I mean, that's really him?

ERIC GOODE: I think you can see parallels between Joe and our current president. They both ran for president. Imagine if Joe had become president. No, you can't-- you know, you can't make these people up. You know, I mean, how can you-- you know, I think if we had pitched this as a scripted series or scripted feature, people would have thrown this back in our face because it just is unbelievable. How can you have characters like this? I think some of us-- it's not possible. But truly, reality is stranger than fiction.

ANDY SERWER: Are all these people, the characters, good and evil, or any of them purely good or purely evil? Have you considered that?

ERIC GOODE: I mean, look, I don't think anybody is purely evil. I think there's always shades of gray. In Joe's case, you know, there was-- you know, and I still have a lot of empathy for Joe, and there were so many wonderful aspects to Joe. You know, you gotta love an openly gay, mullet-wearing, you know, flamboyant, country-singing man in red state Oklahoma.

But on the flip side, Joe, you know, along with a lot of these other characters, created their own little universe, their own little world, and ultimately, they played by their own rules. And as much as I love people that are obsessed with things and live outside of mainstream society, in this case, it was almost cultish, if not cultish. And Joe ultimately played by his own rules and really was his own worst enemy in the end. I don't know if that answers your question, but--

ANDY SERWER: Yeah, yeah. So Joe's in jail, in prison. He's got like a 20-year sentence or something like that, and I read that you thought that was maybe a little too long.

ERIC GOODE: You know, look, you've got a 22-year sentence, and he's 57 years old. So effectively, he'd be 80 when he gets out. He doesn't have good health. Joe did horrible things to both animals and I think to people. And should Joe be punished? I think absolutely, Joe should be punished. Although, I think our criminal justice system is sometimes only about punitive-- being punitive and not being reformative. And so I would wish that Joe wouldn't spend the rest of his life in prison, but it's not really for me to decide, sadly.

ANDY SERWER: And what does Netflix have to say to you, Eric? I mean, they must be pretty damn happy, right?

ERIC GOODE: I think they're happy.

ANDY SERWER: So are you-- have they asked you to do another one or-- I mean, you know, what's next for Eric Goode?

ERIC GOODE: I don't know. I will say this, my-- you know, my current business, hotels and restaurants, is not the business to be in, obviously, at the moment. So maybe this will set me in a new direction making documentaries.

ANDY SERWER: I think a lot of Americans hope so. And finally, have you, like the rest of us, just thought about or actually sang "I Saw a Tiger," and can you maybe do one with me?

ERIC GOODE: Can I sing that, did you say?

ANDY SERWER: Yeah, yeah. I saw a tiger.

ERIC GOODE: I'm the worst singer. I'm not going to do that for you. I'll do a lot of things for you, but I won't do that.

ANDY SERWER: All right, I don't think people want to hear me singing either, but go ahead.

ERIC GOODE: I'm not going to sing that, but-- what was I going to say? No, I think I can sing "Cat Scratch Fever" better.

ANDY SERWER: All right, we're going to have to probably do that another time, Eric. We'll leave it at that. Eric Goode, producer and director of "Tiger King." So great to see you and congratulations on an awesome show.

ERIC GOODE: OK, thank you very much.