Act One Podcast
Act One Podcast
Writer/Director Andrew Hyatt
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Act One Podcast - Episode 42 - Interview with Director and Screenwriter, Andrew Hyatt.
Andrew Hyatt is the director and co-writer of the new film, SIGHT, starring Greg Kinnear and Terry Chen, which follows the true story of Dr. Ming Wang, a Chinese American who defies all odds to become a world-renowned eye surgeon. Drawing upon the grit and determination he gained from a turbulent uprising in his youth, Dr. Wang sets out to restore the sight of a blind orphan. The film is being released in theaters by Angels Studios on May 24th.
Andrew is the award-winning writer/director of the historical drama, Paul, Apostle of Christ, which was released by Sony Pictures and Affirm Films in 2018, starring Jim Caviezel and James Faulkner. Made for a modest budget of $5MM, the film has grossed over $26.5MM in worldwide BO. Hyatt recently co-wrote/directed The Blind, the true story of the Robertson family long before their Duck Dynasty fame, which was released in 2023 by Fathom Events, marking its strongest theatrical release and grossed 17.3MM in worldwide BO. Hyatt has been credited with paving the way towards a new genre of films termed “sacred art house.” Hyatt was awarded a 'Lifetime Achievement Award' from the National Catholic Museum of Art in Washington, DC and the film was nominated for 'Most Inspirational Film' at the 2018 GMA Dove Awards and 'Most Inspiring Film' at the 2019 MovieGuide Awards. Hyatt also received a prestigious Christopher Award in the Feature Film category at the 70th Annual Christopher Awards in 2019. Hyatt's passion is in the creation of content that is deeply personal, seeking to tell stories that delve deeper into the drama of the human condition. Exploring good and evil, truth and beauty. Hyatt's film Full of Grace is the first film in history to focus on the final days of Mary of Nazareth. Released by Cinedigm in January of 2016, the film has been screened all around the world and praised for its unique insight into the humanity of often generically portrayed historical figures. It was the winner of 'Best Screenplay' at the 2015 John Paul II International Film Festival, and the winner of 'Best Film' at the 2016 Gabriel Awards. Hyatt is an alum of Loyola Marymount University. He is represented by Heroes and Villains Entertainment.
The Act One Podcast provides insight and inspiration on the business and craft of Hollywood from a Christian perspective.
It's amazing to be able to make something authentic that truly translates into somebody's personal life who's watching your film and they're able to go back into their life and and make a change or be healed or be encouraged or inspired. I mean, that's that's a very uh huge responsibility, number one, uh, but also a gift.
James Duke:It's the Act One podcast. I'm your host, James Duke. Thanks for listening. Please don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and leave us a good review. My guest today is writer-director Andrew Hyde. Andrew is the award-winning writer-director of the new film Site, starring Terry Chen and Greg Kmir, which is a true story based on the life of Dr. Ming Wong, a Chinese American who defies all odds to become a world-renowned iceberg. Andrew also directed the historical drama Paul Apostle of Christ, which was released by Stony Pictures and Affirm Films in 2018 starring Jim Cavizel and James Faulkner. He also co-wrote and directed The Blind, the true story of the Robertson family long before their Duck Dynasty thing. Andrew is a talented guy, and we had a great conversation about his new film and some of his other work. I hope you enjoy. Andrew Hyatt, welcome to the Act One Podcast. It's good to see you.
SPEAKER_04:Hey, good to see you. Thank you for having me.
James Duke:I'm excited to spend some time talking with you. Um I'm I've been a fan of your work for a while, and you've got this new film that's um coming out. Um I don't know when people are going to hear this, but hopefully they'll. May 24th, it's going to be in theaters all over the country. Uh, it's called Site. Uh, it's your latest film, and you're a writer-director. Uh, can you just let's just start right there with Site right off the right off the bat. Can you tell people a little bit about this film?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, absolutely. So Site is the um incredible true story of Dr. Ming Wang, who uh grew up in communist China uh and uh was able to through many trials and tribulations uh get out of China and make it to America. And it's uh kind of a very got a very classic kind of American dream success story. You know, he arrives with 50 bucks in his pocket and uh through hard work, perseverance, and and truly, you know, using the gifts given to him, he becomes one of the world's most renowned eye surgeons, which I know doesn't seem very exciting, but it's the journey to that point that um that is incredible and and and truly just uh relevant and poignant, I think, as far as um these sort of really inspirational true stories go.
James Duke:Yeah, and it's and it is it's it's dramatic and uh very cinematic. I I had the pleasure of seeing the film um just a couple of days ago and and really enjoyed it, brought my kids, they really enjoyed it. Um he is a fascinating guy. The real Dr. Wong, am I saying the name right? Wong? That's right. Yep, he he was there at the screening that night, and boy is he, boy, is he something. I mean, he is the he is so you can see why a lot of people were drawn to tell his story just by just briefly interacting with him. What so to that point, what brought you to the project? How did you get involved?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah. Uh, as you know, you know, every film is different and kind of how these things work out or or develop and all these things. But um, this one in particular uh was a friend, a producer friend of mine, Darren Mormon, who I have known for a few years now. Yep, he's a good friend of he's a good friend of ours too. I love it, yeah. No, he he um uh had been on the project for a little bit. Uh David Fisher, the the producer of the film, uh the other producer of the film, and uh Dr. Wong himself had had been developing this project for a good number of years. Um, I want to say close to 10 years, they had been working with various writers and on various scripts and trying to get this story right. And you know, when Darren called, they they had sent they sent me a draft that they had been working on, and a a lot of the draft um was was sort of a fabrication of the present-day struggles that Ming had, particularly with his family in America, um, which which was just I didn't find very compelling at all. Um because they were just very generic sort of faith, you know, you know, issues, you know, uh uh not issues, faith film kind of the the typical plot line that you just say, man, I just did this is really feeling generic to me.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Um but they had also sent Ming had a book, uh, an autobiography that uh they sent along with the script. And so I was flipping through the the book, and I'm sure like you felt watching the film, you're just reading, like, wait a minute, what what is going on? Like this guy's life was incredible. Like, how did he how did he survive? Like, oh like you know, so many things start coming into your to your mind, and so um I went back to David and Ming and suggested maybe re-looking at the script, was which was a very I didn't realize probably how bold and and maybe potentially dangerous that was after 10 years of them working on this project to suggest to go back to square one. Uh, I'm sure came with uh a quite a sticker shock of like, what is this guy talking about? Um, but I think you know, uh a week or so later I got a call and they had some follow-up questions and just said, I mean, do you really think we can pull this off? You know, it's not a huge budget film, um, you know, we're sub-10 million dollars, and to go back into a period piece set in China for you know 40-50 percent of the film, it was just a lot of questions they had. Um, but I think once we sort of realized that if you get into sort of these kind of themes and and this plot and kind of really bring out the the past, there's just these beautiful things that start happening with the story and with the film that that are really powerful. And so sorry, that was a long-winded way to say, you know, Darren reached out, we we kind of had some back and forth, and then um anecdotally, uh, I know you know your audience can't see me right now, but maybe they can make an educated guess. Uh but uh surprisingly, my grandmother was born in Shanghai, uh and there. And so yeah, you're right.
James Duke:By looking at you, I would not you're you're whiter than me.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah. Had I said Dublin, you would have been like, of course you do. But we um, you know, so so growing up, and she's got an incredible story as well. You know, they were Iraqi Jews that immigrated into to Shanghai and then and then had to flee during the Japanese occupation. Anyway, uh a separate storyline there, but but a lot of a lot of drama growing up. I remember the stories and hearing different things. So I'd always had kind of had this thing on my heart that I really wanted to tell, whether it was her story or a story that sort of surrounded this particular culture or place. Um, but again, not to not to make light of it, but you know, no pun intended, but I I'm not on those lists at all, uh, as you can imagine, to to to be a part of those. So truly, when you know, it really was kind of providential when Darren reached out and then said, I've got this project called Sight, you should take a look. And then to kind of realize, oh wow, this is this is the story that I that I've kind of felt on my heart. I know, I know it's not my grandmother's, but Ming's story is very similar, um, uh in a lot of ways. And so it just really I I felt really compelled, which doesn't happen often, but I it was like uh I have to kind of make this movie, I gotta be a part of this film.
James Duke:It's very cool. And by the way, what you were saying earlier, I think those were probably my favorite moments in the film when you were describing uh wanting to go back and deal with his life in China. Um, some great moments in the film. Um and some of the actors you cast are fantastic, and um, so I think that was really good instincts on your part to really uh make the audience aware of that struggle. Uh funny note with that is I had brought my kids to the screening and they had just been studying about the red guard and stuff like that. So so they're watching it, they're watching some of that stuff take place in the film, and it's really, really great. Yeah, yeah. Um, so so you know, you touched on the fact that you know, you you're not you you wouldn't necessarily be considered right away for this kind of project. Um, and yet uh you did an excellent job of handling it. Uh what what were some of the challenges, maybe, uh maybe some of the cultural challenges that you felt like you had to really make sure you pay attention to? And and and did you lean into having Ming there, um, the the the the source of the subject matter? Um, did you lean on him a lot to try to get the authenticity of uh because there's a lot for those who haven't seen the film yet, and I hope you do, it comes out on May 24th in theaters everywhere. Um, it's uh being released by Angel Studios, by the way. Um it it uh uh there's a lot of kind of beautiful, interesting family interactions that you see. So it's not, I don't want people to think that it, you know, it's it's it's all political, um, but uh there's some really authentic moments. And I'm just curious, uh, did you do a lot of research on that? Was it speaking to him a lot? Was it based a lot on his writings in his book? How did you go about uh the process of of um of uh making sure you nail the authenticity if you want?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, no, it's a great question. And you're you're absolutely spot on. I I probably would have felt uncomfortable taking on this particular film and story without Ming's blessing, uh, truly, over that, and the fact that he was on set every day, he he was a massive part of the development process, just as you say, from a oh, you know, that's in the book, or I forgot, you know, actually, this is how it went down, and I remember saying this or doing this, and so there was a ton of that. Um, and and that was like, you know, invaluable as you can imagine, just having him. I mean, you you started with the challenges, and and absolutely, I mean, the challenges, I I I I can understand maybe uh uh a half of a percent now, but at uh when we went on this journey, you know, 40 percent of this film or so is a Mandarin, um, in the in the flashbacks. And and so without knowing how to speak Mandarin uh or understand it, there there was a very unique process of having you know the the performance happen, looking to the translator to get a thumbs up or thumbs down, and then looking over to Ming to get a thumbs up and thumbs down. And so there was a little, there's just a lot more going on than normal. Um, but I love what you say because I actually am really proud of those scenes, uh, because I do kind of believe they hold up the emotional core of the film and the story. Um, you know, that stuff with his family in China and especially the father-son relationship. Uh, you know, I just I love those scenes and kind of the way uh Donald Hang and and Ben Wang uh took on those roles. Um, so that that was probably the biggest challenge. And then yeah, as far as on authenticity, I think it was the same. You know, Ming Ming is a very, as you can imagine, being an eye surgeon, one of the the world's best eye surgeon, extremely meticulous, extremely detail-oriented. And so uh, you know, he had a comment about everything, and I'm I'm sure it drove people nuts at times, the production design team, the costume team, you know, everybody. But at the end of the day, I mean, how special to to have every detail right and correct and and down to the down to the buttons used on the shirts, you know, where it's like he'd say, we didn't have that. We we we didn't have buttons like that. That didn't exist in China, or or or no, that that that would have never been the material for for the for the couch or the wall or the this because we didn't have it, you know, all these beautiful things that then then I I think when you kind of take that step back, right, and you watch the film, those those scenes in particular feel very organic and and and true to the time and the place. And so that's all a gift. You know, I I haven't worked on a film in that capacity where you've got the the the man who lived this incredible journey with you all the time to kind of weigh in, uh, but also be extremely respectful to the process, to the to the writing process, to the filmmaking process, you know, never never stepping in and saying, Oh, I think I think the actor should have done this and not this. You know, he was never he was always just there for support, which was which was incredible.
James Duke:I it's funny that you bring up the Mandarin. I I had that question, I and I, and I did want to ask you. So you had an interpreter on set with you. Um all the actors are speaking in Mandarin to one another in the scenes, um, for like you said, about 30, 40 percent of the film. And as as you know, the director is like the you know, I often say it's like the pardon my language here, the the I'll edit myself, the the the bull crap detector, right? The bull crap, right? You're you're you're there, you're on, you're watching the monitor or watching the actors, and you're making sure that it's the auth, it's as authentic, everything is flowing, and you've got to, if you see something that doesn't fit, it doesn't seem right, whether it's a line read or a particular type of blocking or whatever it is, you know, you're gonna want them to go again, right? And so what's that like when they're speaking a different language? What uh can you just what what are you looking for? Because if you can't really understand in the moment on the line reads, right, what were you looking at?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I that's a great question. Um you know, in a in a in a bizarre way, I almost feel like putting the language and the dialogue aside a little bit allowed me to probably focus a lot more on on the emotional uh uh reaction, you know, the reactions and the and the performance in a way that I I'm not sure that I would have ever done. Um having having because it's kind of two sides of your brain, right? You know, like uh as I'm sure a lot of young filmmakers are listening and and and doing things and trying things out, it's you you have half your brain kind of making sure, you know, which is just part of the the process. Like, did we get it all? Right? Do we get it, did we get the lines? Right. It's just a very simple, practical thing. Did did the did the delivery get the lines? Or if they missed a line, does it matter? You know, all these things going through your head, but then you've got on your other side of your brain, you you you're like, do I care? You know, do I care? Am I emotionally engaged in what this person's doing? And so I do wonder if maybe kind of not having to worry so much about the dialogue portion allowed me just to ref just to completely zone in on the emotional arcs of these characters and how they were doing it. And I always think back too, it was a great lesson. And I I think it was, I'm almost positive it was Steven Spielberg that said you should be able to turn off the sound of a film and watch it and understand it completely.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And so it's a little bit of that too, as well. Like kind of like, okay, if you if I were to just mute this right now, do I still kind of understand what these people are talking to each other about and their emotional back and forth and and and where is it going? And even though I may not understand, like, okay, are they talking about school or life or or or being a doctor or this? You totally get the dynamic, right? You say, Well, I get I get it's a father talking to a son and he's upset and he's reacting, and then okay. And so um, yeah, it was a challenge, but in a way, uh we by the way, uh that uh cast was just phenomenal.
James Duke:Um yeah, they did a great job, really. They did.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, they they they really kneeled, and and especially to do it in a foreign foreign language. And while most of them are fluent, you know, it's not it's not particularly anymore their their primary language, um, but but to kind of come in and not only deliver that, but to perform and and and emotionally engage with the audience and each other, just fantastic. Um, but yeah, that that was kind of I I would say a bizarre benefit to this was being able to to really focus in on that.
James Duke:I uh the entire cast is uh great, but I want to point out and uh sorry, I'm trying to find his name. The actor who played um Ming as a like a high school college age.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, Ben, Ben Wang, yeah, yeah.
James Duke:Um wonderful performance by him. And you you were talking about you know, directing those Mandarin scenes, the father-son stuff is great, but as you know, so much of performance is in the eyes, and um just so much wonderful subtlety in his performance. I I particularly found uh because he's going through a like a uh for those who are gonna see the film, seeing I don't want to get anything away, but he he goes through quite an arc from from literally one country to the next, and there's unique challenges that he faces. Um, and to see he grows, and that's what's really neat is he actually grows not only in years, um, the same actor kind of playing those that age gap or not age age difference, I should say, but um, but but emotionally, what's going on? Um, can you talk a little bit about that? Like the cat just the casting process of him and of course Terry and uh and of course Greg Kaneer and all the others.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah. No, I I I love that that you notice that about Ben. I think he's I think he's fantastic, and and we're so it was awesome, you know, to uncover him. We because of the the circumstances of the casting, you know, the the the the pool was very narrow as far as you know, you know, can speak Mandarin. Um, obviously there's a certain look, uh you know, on and on and on, age, age. Um, and so to kind of uncover Ben, you know, he's a kid out of any any New York and and the ages, but to be clear, he's cover he plays Ming from what age to what age.
James Duke:Tell everybody. He's so it's like you gotta find an actor who can play both young, right?
SPEAKER_04:Right, probably 14 to 20, something, you know, probably, yeah.
James Duke:Yeah, so he's so he starts very young and then all of a sudden he gets older, and you're just like, wow, well done.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah. And we had phenomenal casting directors, Kelly Roy, Morgan Robbins, Andy McCarthy. So I would just put I would definitely mention them because they did an incredible job kind of finding these hidden gems out there. Um, but Ben's great. Ben, by the way, Ben, and I can say because the news is out, but Ben is the next karate kid. Um, he's filming with Jackie Chan right now. Oh, that's fantastic. That's awesome. So he's doing awesome. And um, but But I uh to go back to your point, you know, that is something that I I'm very conscientious of in the casting process of can these actors can they can they communicate with subtlety? Can they can they not say anything and be able to to emotionally connect with the audience and and even even take you through a little journey? Like you said, there's an emotional maturity that happens with Ben throughout the film, obviously because of the circumstances, but but you know, very little is said to that. There's no dialogue about him talking about any of that, right? But it is something on his face, something he brings to the character and to the way he kind of just his his whole being, you know, he he totally gets where he was at as a kid and where he is at, you know, after you know the government steps in and ends all this stuff. Um, you know, he's seen a lot of things, a lot of terrible things, and and been through a lot. Um, but I so yeah, but I I'm a huge fan of that kind of filmmaking. I I think if there's if there's a way you can communicate something without dialogue, I mean, go for it because emotionally I just I love those subtleties, like you said, it's with the eyes or just a little a little change in the face that you can get across so much uh on screen.
James Duke:Yeah. You're uh a lot of your films you're credited as both writer and director. So you obviously get to spend a lot of time with the script before you're on set shooting. Um with sight, what were maybe some of the challenges or kind of interesting things you discovered um when you started when you got a hold of the script and started working on it? That maybe did you end up leaving well by the time you got to set and were filming, you were like, you know what? I loved this scene in the writing process, but it's out. Either I don't have time for it or I don't need it anymore, or I can collapse it into one moment. Can you can you walk us through a little bit of the creative uh side of being a writer-director and and and both the pros and cons of it?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah. Well, I'll start. I mean, these are great, especially for for filmmakers listening, younger filmmakers, emerging filmmakers. I I would say to start with the pros, pros of being able to write and direct, and why I really enjoy it, is I think it just gives you it just gives you that added benefit of while writing, you're already thinking of how am I going to to to pull this off, uh, right? Um and and sort of what we just said, you know, there there's moments where you're where you know in in the back of your head how you're gonna shoot something, and it does inform the writing, you know, whether that's to trim and say, actually, I don't need all this because I'm gonna shoot it this way, and and I'll be able to get this across and and and on and on and on. So there's certainly a pro to that. I also think producers, um, most producers do do enjoy having somebody that is taking the project from start to finish rather than okay, we get a writer, but then we get a director in, and nine times out of ten, when that director comes in, they're gonna have notes on the script because they're gonna want to change it to fit their vision, and on and on. So that that's the pro. I would say, you know, the the difficulties always are like you said, it's it's always in a and I don't care what film you're on. I mean, I'm I mean, maybe if you have 250 million dollars or something, but even then, I feel like this is the same process. You it it truly is just time and money. Um, and so naturally, especially when you're dealing with something like this that is a biopic, that is a that is a um period piece, uh, that is trying to kind of squeeze a lot into under two hours, inevitably, yeah, you just you just have to start kind of prioritizing things. Um the nice thing about that process is I do find a lot that if you force yourself into that situation where you just say, we we just don't have time, you know, we've got these three scenes here, and we just we only have time for one of them, it it does force you into a a creative space and often a collaboration in a way that's really beneficial with with your team, with the production design or costume or or producers or your DP cinematographer, where where you're just having to say, okay, how do we communicate what we've tried to do in three scenes, but now we only have one. What do we do? And it's amazing the idea, spontaneous ideas and things that come up in that collaboration, even sometimes with the actors themselves, that say, Well, well, instead of what if instead of saying all this, I just do this, and you say, Oh my goodness, that's genius. That's genius. You just solve you saved us a day of shooting.
SPEAKER_01:That's unbelievable.
SPEAKER_04:Uh, and no, we're not gonna pay you extra for that, but thank you, you know. But but um, yeah, I I I think in this film in particular, there were a lot of of um, I would say expensive scenes that just had to kind of be pared down or refocused in other ways. Um, but I don't feel like anything we left, you know, if I think about it, and and it won't make sense to anyone that hasn't seen the film yet, but we did have probably three or four more uh Lele moments, um uh particularly in the present day stuff, um, that we just felt like I think the audience gets it by now. We've done this, we've you we've used this trope three times now, and you get it. You don't need to see three more of those. Um, and so just things like that through the process. But I the great thing was, you know, because of Ming's, you know, book and him being involved, David's hard, hard work over the over the decade. Um, I didn't feel like we were ever struggling with the story itself, you know, which sometimes happens when you just you get into production and certain things happen and you start getting really worried that I hope I hope we can connect A to Z in the in the edit or in the film because I'm not I'm not sure we've got it. I'm not, you know, what you know, because as you know, things happen, weather happens, uh, budget stuff happens. Uh, this was shot during COVID. COVID things can happen and shut you down for a day or two. And so you're just like, uh oh, I don't think we're gonna get to that scene. Um, but the nice thing with sight was because of all that work, that that sort of pre-development work and production work that went into it for so long. It always felt easy to kind of pull a thread and not have to feel like we're in big trouble. It was sort of like, can we pull this thread? Yes, because Ming's got a diagram over there, color-coded diagram of the film and each theme and how it plays out. No joke, he he had that, uh, his meticulous mind. And how you know every moment of the movie fits into this theme or that theme or this. Anyway, it it's uh, but that was the that was always the the challenge was just how do we we shot this in Vancouver? How do we pull off China in the in the 60s, 70s on on a budget?
James Duke:Yeah, I I think you did a great job. It's it's a very enjoyable film. I hope more people watch it um when it comes out and they go to the theater and see it. That's I love going to the movies myself. I love watching movies in the theater. Uh, speaking of which, your previous film actually got released in theaters. Um, how did you get connected with the uh Phil Robertson story, the film The Blind?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah. Um uh producer friend again, uh Brittany Yost uh reached out uh a little earlier in the process. They they did have a script um that uh I would say was it uh it was a bit more anecdotal, you know. For those that have seen the film, um this will make sense. You know, it was a bit more duck dynasty focused, uh anecdotal, very much about kind of the journey post salvation to the success of of the brand and the and the duck calls and all of this. Um, and again, I just didn't feel like I was the right um, you know, as you've seen my films, I I just feel like I I probably have a little bit of a darker sensibility, and I mean that in like I'm I'm more interested in I think the exploring sort of darkness and good and evil and the human condition, but in a way that feels really authentic and raw and gritty. And and I I totally understand that that's not for everyone, and that's you know, there's a lot of faith films that are great that don't go down that path at all. Um, and there's a lot that do, and and they're great. So um I had passed, and then I I I was it was a weird one I was I was laying in bed that night after calling Britney and and kind of saying, I don't think this is the right fit. Um I I couldn't stop thinking about Phil. Truly, I couldn't stop thinking about Phil. And I hadn't seen the Duck Dynasty show in probably eight years or something. So this wasn't like I don't think about Phil a lot. It's not like a weird thing that I do at night. I mean, now I do, but not at the time. Um and so I just got up and I I Googled, I just didn't know where what was the family doing, or I, you know, I didn't know anything. And the first thing that popped up was Phil giving his testimony in front of this massive, you know, church somewhere of you know, thousands of people. And he went into all of these gritty details of his life about being an alcoholic and an abusive husband, uh, being uh a philanderer, being uh kicking his family out of the house, you know, beating Miss, I mean, really difficult stuff. And then kind of sharing, you know, look, without Christ in my life, I mean, the Duck Dynasty thing, I'm I don't even have a family, you know, none of this happens. And I just was like, okay, I didn't know any of this stuff. How why is this not the film? Um, why why are you not making this film? And so I called Britney the next day and just said, you know, why have they have they talked about this? And yeah, it was I think it was a little bit of that as looking back, you know, that's a difficult thing for the family to write to to suggest why don't you air all your dirty laundry to the world? And and by the way, it's not just you giving a talk, we're gonna see it, we're gonna see it play out. Um, that's a difficult thing, but I remember that first conversation with Phil and kind of trying to explain. I think I I think going a bit into this could be, you know, and and truly his his only response was, do you think it will help people? Do you think it will help people? I said, I think a lot of people are dealing with this right now, especially right after COVID. I mean, they've always been dealing with this, but uh, I said, I bet even even here in inside the church, there's there's addiction, there's there's abuse, there's there's these things happening. There's there's divorce, there's all these things that I think you coming out and sharing what really happened to you and your family could be really powerful, could really help people. Um, and he was in, he said, absolutely, then we we have to do that. And so, you know, that was a long way to get to how we opened the script back up and really kind of re uh uh redid it in a in that format, as you as if you've seen the film, you know, now it's a it's a period piece and goes back into the 70s and the deep south. And um, and I think it has, it has helped a ton of people. We've gotten so many comments and letters, and and and it's just really powerful. And I know your audience, this is the kind of stuff they want to do, where it's it's it's amazing to be able to make something authentic that truly translates into somebody's personal life who's watching your film or your story, and they're able to to go back into their life and and make a change or or or be healed or be encouraged or inspired. I mean, that's that's a that's a very uh uh huge responsibility, number one, uh, but also a gift that we're uh able to do this and allowed to do this. What a gift from God that He's allowed us to tell stories in a way that He can then speak, you know, the Holy Spirit can then speak to somebody watching a big screen, you know, which you'd think, nah, I don't know if that happens. But it to walk out of a theater and say, I think I I think I have to change. Whoa, that's that's powerful stuff.
James Duke:What are the challenges for you as a dramatist, as a storyteller, in telling a true story, especially someone that you can interact. Like you're kind of unique in that a lot of some people tell biopics of people who've maybe already passed on or whatever. Both sight and the blind are two examples where you have the man sitting next to you.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
James Duke:Right. And so uh I think I think probably everyone who's listening to this has probably heard um the term, you know, when filmmakers and storytellers take dramatic license. Um, there are times when we want to tell the truth, but we want to do it in a cinematic way or maybe a quote unquote more interesting way than because real life is sometimes very boring. Um so what is your process to telling a true one, telling a true story when the subject matter is right there? Is it intimidating? Do you do you see that as very helpful or um um or problematic? And then two, um, when you're trying to communicate the truth, but it's like, well, um, I know that person was important in your life, you know, 15 years ago, but we need to collapse. We need it doesn't need to happen 15 years ago. Our movie takes place now, so we need to move that. Like, let's have you and you know, like things like that, where you're kind of moving pieces of the story around in order for it to fit. Totally. Kind of what's your view on that creatively and how what's your process?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah. No, I think I think in answer to your first question, um it it is it there, there is a heavier responsibility, I I would suggest, yes, um, to to know that that the the family members or or Ming or you know are literally watching their life play out. Um, and I know I've talked to to all the actors in both films, and and they they all felt the same. You know, there's a bit of a an added weight and responsibility to getting it right. Uh, because you do want to do them honor and and and you know, you you do want to to do something that they feel very proud of, even though that might not be the right word when you watch, you know, the blind, because you're like, oh, Phil's proud of this, but you want to do it justice so that when when people start to to respond, they say, Whoa, okay, I guess, I guess this really was powerful. Um, and then and then sort of, you know, the process, that's a great question. I I've been very blessed in the sense that there was a a decent amount of source material on these individuals, right? Uh, meaning there is the duck dynasty show. Ming did have an autobiography, the family was all around, and we we essentially the first step was we interviewed everybody, you know, from from Alan, the oldest son, down to Willie, the youngest son, and and Jace and and and Uncle Cy and and and Phil and Miss K. We did it, we did a ton of interviews where we just asked them to just kind of talk and just you know, what do you remember? Especially for for some of the boys, right? It's like it's like Willie didn't remember much because he was three years old when all this went down, four years old, you know. Uh he he more remembers Phil after he was saved and remembers the struggles, of course, of being poor and dad trying to make the duck calls work, but he doesn't remember so much of that. But Alan, who was you know eight, eight, nine, ten at the time, remembers it all. He he uh and and remembers a lot of moments uh that were particular to him. Same with Uncle Cy, same with and then of course Miss K was an unbelievable resource, but she actually, you know, Phil, you know, not trying to be funny here here, but Phil Phil didn't remember much from those from those years, right? He was he he was in a different state of mind, we'll say. Uh, but Miss K remembered everything because she lived it. Um, so that's sort of the first part of the process, and then you know, like we we were discussing earlier, and this is this is just a challenge for any writer out there, is is um how do you take the all of the material and slim it down to to two hours, maybe two and a half if you're lucky, if you get a studio excited or something. But let's say two hours. Um how do you do it? How do you capture a life? Um, that's hard, right? Very hard. It's very hard. And it and it forces you to just make decisions that you know, you just say, okay, would that be interesting to see? Yes, but is it the most interesting? No. Okay, well, then that goes away. And so what I always try to do is I I I you know, this is maybe getting a little bit into the filmmaking weeds here, but uh that's okay. We we like the weeds here. What I'll what I'll do first is um is I'll I'll kind of you know take a fresh wall in my office and I'll I'll just start putting up three by five cards or post-it notes where I just start at the top I'll put a character or a time period, and then I'll just start taking notes on everything that happened, you know, with that person, you know, just broad notes, broad strokes, or in that time period, uh, or if it's a tonal thing or emotional thing. And then I kind of just don't think about the script yet, because that's where I get for me personally, I start to get a little confused with, you know, if I just start writing and then I say, oh, wait, you know, that that happened over here. So now I got to think about that. It's much better for me to kind of lay everything out, which you know, it's it's a little bit of a pain and and a process and takes time. But what's great is once you have that, it's it's amazing how when you can see the full story, you you do start to pull things off the wall and just say, maybe in the book that's interesting, or maybe for a documentary, but for our film, that's not. That's not uh okay, maybe I'll put that in the maybe pile here, and then you know, if I need something here, here, here. And then what you're kind of left with is you start to see a pattern of okay, I'm getting the tone of the film now, right? Because you know, if you think Duck Dynasty, there it you know, there is a version of that that's that's much more lighthearted in a comedy, yeah. Yeah, but when I've got on my wall, you know, okay, he you know, this happened to Miss K, Phil goes to jail, Phil gets arrested, Phil, you're like, okay, I'm getting the tone of of the film. This is a grittier film, and then and then you just kind of start to think, okay, if I've only got 90 minutes, two hours, uh, where do I want to start? You know, how do I want to do this? I found obviously, if you've seen my films, uh in effective way, I'm not, you know, could be a crutch. I'm I'm happy to take you know critical feedback on these, but you know, flashbacks and jumping around time time periods is I just find it really helpful because. It allows you that flexibility to to you know, you can jump back to young Phil. And then it basically you kind of have carte blanche where when I bring the audience back to the present, I can I can skip things, and the audience doesn't get bumped, right? They just say, okay, we're back to the present, and and this is happening now. Okay. Um, rather than trying to, oh my goodness, how do we go from A to Z in a person's life? You know, and we did the same on Paul Apostle of Christ, we did the same on um, you know, site, and and I find that a very good tool, you know, for people tackling biopics. Um, you know, I I don't know that I've written one yet that has an A to Z kind of storyline, you know, but I I could totally see how it's done. Um, but I found focusing more on a certain moment of somebody's life and then allowing yourself that flexibility to to jump without confusing the audience, you know, jump to different periods of their life in the past or you know, uh and it's helpful.
James Duke:Are you an emotional person? I'm curious when you're working on a project. So let's say whether you're in the writing phase or even you're on set directing, no, and you're watching a scene, you know, play out on the monitor. Um, do you get emotional? Do you do you get moved to the and is that what you're looking for? Uh are you looking to be moved emotionally? And um uh is that something that is very common when you're working or or is does it does it happen rarely? And so you're like, oh, that's the thing I'm searching for. That's the thing I'm chasing for, chasing after.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I that's I love that question. Uh I am I am probably too emotional. Yes, I I cry at the drop of a hat and get, you know, don't keep me up late and put on, you know, certain songs and music, I'll I'll be lost in the, you know. But um, yes, uh I would say for me personally, it's a litmus test of I feel like if I'm not getting emotional on set watching through the monitor or watching the performance, then I I'm not sure how I expect the audience to. Um, but and you're right, it doesn't it doesn't happen every time. And so sometimes I I start thinking in the back of my mind of like, okay, how are we gonna cut this in an interesting way? Or how are we okay, maybe music can make the, you know, music can come in and and sweep this and and make it great. Um, but yeah, I do that is sort of a great litmus test. When I am sitting back there, yeah, and it it does, it doesn't happen every time, but it I would I would say a a fair bit amount where it just gives you that feeling like we got we got it, you know, we we nailed it. And and and truly, if if um if we put it out there and the and it is the audience doesn't respond and aren't emotional, it's it is a little bit like well, I'm I'm not quite sure what else I could have done, right? You know, it moved me. I hope it moves you, that kind of thing. And and it's that gut feeling you just kind of go with of like, wow, I I'm tearing up while this this is happening, and and I think the audience will too. So yeah, for me it's a litmus test, and and I've been I've been really blessed. I mean, I've worked with some incredible, incredible talent um on all of these films, and so I you know, sometimes I just sit there in awe that they can do that, um, you know, without all the bells and whistles. You know, it's not like we're we're playing music over the scene already, and and James is giving James Faulkner is giving some speech, and you're like, Oh yeah, this is epic. Like, I love it. Like, you're just watching this guy with you know, dozens upon dozens of people standing around him, all silent, you know, holding things, doing things, staring at him, you know, and he's able to do that. And you're like, wow, okay, well, uh yeah, done. We got it.
James Duke:Speak, let's I wanna uh uh segue into you. So you've done uh what uh they're not sword and sandal films, uh biblical films. Um, so maybe minus the sword, sandal films, sandal pictures, but I don't I don't know, but um, but they're not uh necessarily drawn from specific biblical stories. Uh and I also know that um one was like a real kind of micro budget, and then one was a little bit of a larger budget. I'm talking about Full of Grace and uh Paul Apostle of Christ. Um, both both in their own right, really wonderful films, by the way. Um can you talk a little bit about the challenge of well, one, uh tell people a little bit about both films, but um uh full of grace, you know, very small budget. It was like just a crew of filmmakers going, Justin Bell, you know, long time act winner teach. Um so so that say, and then all of a sudden you get the call for Paul the Apostle Christ, you know, bigger, a little bit bigger budget or whatever. What's some of the um challenges you faced on one versus the other? Um, you know, a lot of times more money just means more problems. Um, but um uh what can you give some advice on people who are making maybe, you know, can you still make a film? Can you still make a feature film for a hundred thousand dollars? Right. For instance, you know, is that something that that somebody on this listening to this podcast, if they think they can do it, should they do it? And if so, how? And then um, and then when you transitioned into making bigger films, what what are some new maybe challenges you discovered?
SPEAKER_04:Sure, sure. Yeah, I mean, Full of Grace was an amazing experience because it it it it was kind of like you're saying, it was that kind of raw, unfiltered filmmaking. It felt like being back in film school kind of stuff, you know, where you know, I yeah, I I think we made that film, you know, and and for those that haven't seen it yet, you know, essentially it's about the last few weeks of Mary, um uh Mary of Nazareth, you know, uh Jesus' mother's life, and just sort of what was happening, you know, I just had never seen that before. I'd never she kind of, you know, uh uh Christ gives her to John at the end of the, at the end of the, you know, before he dies and says, you know, this is your mother, take her, take her as your own, you know, kind of thing. But then we never hear, we never hear from this woman for the rest of scripture. And I felt like, oh, I just I can't imagine that was true, that she disappeared up into the caves and was never seen again. She would have she would have absolutely been influential for these men who were trying to do these, you know, unprecedented things, you know, Peter and and Simon and and uh John and and so I uh I I wanted to, you know, we shot that in 10 days in LA, uh up in like Malibu Canyon and Griffith Park, you know, we just that's hard by the way, just for people who have never shot a film to shoot in 10 days.
James Duke:So you're shooting what are you shooting, 20 pages a day?
SPEAKER_04:Like we were just jamming, yeah. We were jamming. I I I do feel like the script was only about 60 some pages, and then we kind of we we knew that a large element, and again, sorry for those who haven't seen it yet, but we knew a large element of it was gonna be more in that Terrence Malik kind of uh, you know, a lot of visuals, a lot of kind of mood and tone. Yes, that's a great way to put it. Yeah, um, but but it was possible, and I think it absolutely is possible. And I think what was great about the budget starting with full of grace before Paul and these others is you know, for me personally, somebody who is wrestling with their faith at the time, um trying to understand, you know, I grew up Catholic and I just, you know, my my memory of these beautiful, by the way, beautiful churches, and I love sacred art, and that is a huge, huge reason why I make films, but growing up in that and looking up these beautiful statues and and these beautiful stained glass things, and always having this feeling of like, well, these saints, I they're amazing, and I wouldn't, I could never be like them. I mean, they're incredible, holy people, and I would never, ever, ever um be able to achieve that. So it's you know, and sort of just being like, Well, I guess I'll just live my life the way I live my life. Um, instead of, you know, as as any good Catholic finally opens their Bible at some point in their journey for the first time, maybe, and and and reading, reading, like, wait a minute what's all this stuff about Peter? Peter seems like a total mess. Or or hold on a second, what is Paul doing murdering Christian? Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa, what's going on? In fact, these people are exactly like me, exactly like me. And so when we dove into full of grace, I sort of took that wrestling of never feeling like I knew these people or understood these people. So I think the way we were able to make it through for the budget and and the time and all that is it we were so much more interested in sort of the the character, the the the internal character of who are these people? What was going on in their head and in their conversations, and especially it, you know, in this time of the church that was was having a bit of a you know fallout, not fallout, but there was some really conflicting ideas of this. This was when you go back to kind of uh are we starting a new religion? Are we Jews? Are we what are we? And some believe one way, it's Peter's, and then Peter stuck in the middle. Like, I don't know, I'm not sure. I gotta, I gotta pray about this and I I'm lost for for what to do. So it was more about what if we took this Mary, you know, Mary, and again, no, it's not scripture, but can we take the character of who we believe this person to be? This wise person who's you know has been around Christ for 33 years, um, and is now sort of, you know, like what kind of wisdom does this woman have? What kind of prayer life? What kind of you know, how how is she involved? And it just allowed us to, I think, make a film that felt like is it a lot of people in small rooms talking? Yes, but it's fascinating because it's getting to the heart of who exactly are these characters. So obviously, long way to get to, yes, challenges on a 10-day shoot, challenges with no money, but I I found that there were just a lot of people that loved the project, and there were a lot of actors that we that Kelly Roy, again, um, our our casting director, we allowed her to just say we we just said we we want Middle Eastern actors, the best, the best that are out there, and it kind of gave her the freedom to really again uncover these gems rather than say we need these 10 actors to get this movie financed, which happens all the time. Um and then when we bounced to Paul, you're right, it was interesting because though it was a bigger budget, not not too big of a big of a budget, it was about five million, five million dollars. Um again, because of that restriction and unable to do a big A to Z epic you know Bible film, um again, it was like, okay, well, where where should we focus our story and why? And again, it was sort of like the same approach to the to the storytelling, which is okay, I want to leave this film knowing who Paul is. And I don't mean like the events, I want to know who this man was, and I want to know emotionally who he was, and like like internally who he was, and so that's why we started to look at okay, I actually think the end of his life, him in Rome, is a beautiful place to start this story. I think we're gonna know who this man is by by who was he at the end, right? And so, and then and then we can kind of explore some other areas, but again, though, that allows you to kind of frame a story that doesn't feel small to an audience, but is what but is a wise approach because you can make it for the budget, you can make it for the time, 24 days, I think, for that one, which is still pretty light. Um and and it allows you to focus on the just the characters in a way that I don't think the audience we've never we've never got a maybe, maybe one time out of the thousands and thousands of responses we heard like I felt cheated because you didn't do the shipwreck and you didn't do the this and you didn't do this. But the rest, it's like, oh my goodness, I I know Paul better than I ever thought I would. And actually, it makes me want to go back to my Bible and read all about Acts and Paul and these things, and and read his letters differently with something else, and you know, deeper, not not read them like, oh, I I'm gonna reinterpret these and but more like, oh, I I can hear Paul now. I I I'm reading my the letters from Paul deeper and understanding more. So, yeah, sorry, a long way to get to always the same challenges, which is hilarious to me, no matter what the budget is, it's always the same challenge, it's always the we don't have enough money, we don't have enough time. Uh, which any filmmaker, yeah. And but like we said earlier, it it forces you into making decisions and coming up with creative solutions. Uh, even on a 10-day,$100,000 movie, you can do it. Um, and then I think you know, what I prefer, what I kind of love, is at the budgets we're at, we're uh we're allowed to take risks that I'm not sure until you get to a Christopher Nolan level or you get to uh um Dennis Villaneuve level. Um it allows you to take risks that I just don't think the studio or the financiers would let you, whether that's in casting, you know, whether that's looking at who's actually right for this role, not who who do we put in it so we can make our money, right? But who's actually right? And I'm I'm grateful, you know. Full of grace has it all over it. Um, but I think of even Paul, you know, on a 20-30 million dollar budget, do they let me cast James Faulkner and Joanne Whaley and John Lynch, who are incredible in the film? I I don't think so. I think there's a list somewhere and you stick to it. Um, but the I don't think the movie would have been remotely as interesting and and and fantastic without them. And same with sight, you know, to be able to look for these younger actors, like you say, you know, Don Hang and and Ben Wang and um even Terry Chen, you know, does that happen on a$30 million movie? I don't think so. So I guess all this is to say that the challenges as a filmmaker, I think the more you dig into them become actually kind of your secret weapon, and they become something that if you if you don't get discouraged, but allow yourself to really explore creatively. I actually do believe what comes out of those, you'll have a better project, you'll have a better film, you'll have a better script. Um, rather than just being given everything and anything you want at all times. So um, yeah, that that's kind of my long-winded way that is hopefully helpful in that.
James Duke:I think so. And it's really a lot of really good stuff in there. And and to quote the Apostle Paul back to you, the guy who made the Apostle Paul movie, right? He says, I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me, which is one of the most misquoted scriptures, you know, it's up in like Christian school gymnasiums, like it means I can hit the free throw. That's not what it means, right? What he's talking about there is contentment, yeah, right. And I think what you're saying is, as a filmmaker, um, can you use what you're given, be content with what you have to be creative and make it work? That's right. Um, and and that is the challenge. That is the art of film, that's the artistic craft part of the filmmaking is I'm gonna take what I was given, and I wasn't given this thing, I was given this other thing, and I'm going to make it work. And uh, and I think you do, whether it's you know, yeah, I love that.
SPEAKER_04:I agree. Uh, I would I would add one thing too, and I I would only say it probably to this audience or or or or sparsely in in certain circles, but I I just want to encourage that the power of prayer and really sitting with these stories and with these ideas that you might have, and and um especially if you're doing something that does have a deep sort of faith component or or or any story that has a human component to it. I I have found that that is again, you talk about kind of secret weapons or or or or when the magic really happens, is not getting overly burdened, as you say, kind of being feeling feeling content and feeling light, and not getting overly burdened with the responsibility of how am I gonna tell this story? How are we gonna shoot this? How are we gonna do this? It's just taking those moments and saying, All right, Lord God, what what do you want to do with this? Because as you know, we make these, we make these films and they don't come out for at least a year, maybe often longer, right? Yep. And so when I'm sitting down and I'm tackling a story, there's no, you know, I can say what's going on in the world today, as I'm sitting here writing, you know, what what's sort of the zeitgeist of right now, and I can certainly write that. But the truth is, two years from now, three years from now, it it's probably not gonna be the same, you know. Obviously, there's some themes and stuff that are that are eternal and and always evergreen and all that, but truly, like, I don't know where the world's gonna be in three years, but I'll tell you who does. God absolutely does. And so being able to say, All right, I'm diving into a script, I'm diving into a story, I'm diving into this film. Lord, I don't know what's gonna be going on in the world two, three years from now, but you do. And so give me, give me that wisdom. What am I supposed to be talking about or writing about, or what's this dialogue here that I'm stuck on? You know, and it's amazing, you know, and and it's as simple as I'm stuck on a on a bit of dialogue or I'm stuck on a scene, and I just say, you know what, I gotta do, I just gotta go for a walk and I gotta pray. And then it's amazing. Nine times out of ten, I'll come back and say, Oh, oh, that's yeah, there, that's it.
James Duke:Yeah, that's right. Get create that space, right? Create space. All all creatives need space, right? Space in your mind, mentally, space on a page to doodle, to you know, whatever. But I love that advice. Just create space, just to think, just to process. And yeah, that's really good. Um, uh, this has been a great conversation. Let me get you out of, let me get you out of here with this. Um, you know, a lot of a lot of young, aspiring uh filmmakers, emerging filmmakers are listening to this podcast. What's your advice to them? They're they're thinking, I want to be a director, I want to be a writer. Um what should they what should they be doing right now? What should they be focusing on right now that will prepare them to eventually have a career as a writer or director in the industry?
SPEAKER_04:Uh I I think there's some just practice, you know, there's there's obviously practical things that I'm sure everybody says of if you want to be a writer, write, you know, if you want to direct, direct, you know, even if that's getting, you know, on your iPhone and a couple actor buddies together and just starting to experience what the the dynamics and the process is like, and and and even if you even enjoy it as much. As you thought you would enjoy. Being a writer is very tough. I mean, it's a lot of hours by yourself in a room, you know, uh uh without support. You know, that's that's very different. You know, and then directing comes with a ton of other responsibilities and and and and kind of not burdens, that's the wrong word, but responsibilities, you know, we're uh pressure, that's what I was gonna say. You know, we're we're there's a lot of people looking at you to make decisions all day long, all day long. So so even just getting used to that, you know, um is is great. That's kind of the practical side. On on more of a deeper sort of theory side or whatever you want to call it, of just like asking the why. Like, what why do I want to tell stories? You know, what what is what is it in me that I need to share with the world, right? Whether whether you're writing it or directing it, it's like what why? Why why have you why do you feel called to this? Because it's a it's a very difficult, very long journey um in this industry to do anything. And so you really have to commit in a way that is is total commitment, where you just feel like I don't think I could do anything else. I think I have to be a storyteller. And I think once you've done that, the you know what I tell, especially film students and and uh uh and screenwriting students is my best work has come out of personal experiences. Um full of grace and Paul came out of wrestling with my faith on a deep, deep level. And I think that a lot of younger filmmakers have not yet gone and experienced things in the world. And I'm not saying go to a pub and get drunk so you can feel like that. No, absolutely not. But you you should travel, yes, you should go see other cultures, you should go see the world, you should listen in unique places to other people's conversations, not in a creepy way, but in a like training your ear to be like, whoa, I just like I just heard how a real fight goes between two people. I just learned, I think that person just proposed to his girlfriend, and she said, No, whoa, okay. And you're you know what I mean, and you just start to view the world in a certain way. But I really do believe it's it's you know, maybe there's the rare writer that's never had experiences themselves and just is an unbelievable can mimic that and can do that. That's probably out there, but I think for most, you know, you you need to have experiences in the world that then inform how you talk about it and how you give wisdom and how you do this, because ultimately that's what you are, you know, as a storyteller, you're entertaining, you're giving wisdom or advice, or you're showing people something about the world that they don't know. If they already know it, it's not very interesting.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Um, so that's what I would say is is truly like go travel, go go to another country for a bit, and and and or go learn something new, go take a class on something you didn't you didn't think you'd ever take a class on, or just just get those experiences, right? Um that that's to me, you know, the the if there were if there were again sort of a I wish every screenwriting student, uh uh every writer, aspiring writer, you know, go work on a farm for six months. I don't care, you know, go do something outside of your comfort zone, where then you say, Wow, I have a lot more things to write about.
James Duke:That is such good advice. I I couldn't agree more. We talk about that a lot at Act One. You've got to live life. What you're describing is, and and people shouldn't be offended when they hear this. They should, as a writer, as a storyteller, you just need to hear this and go, okay, thank you for the but but uh if your life is empty, your screenplays will be empty. And what you end up writing is not authentic truth and real it's caricature. You end up just writing caricature, right? It's just your view of like I remember what my perspective was to be a father and and and before I had kids. That that's that was a caricature of what now I know. Now that I have children, what I now know to be married, and that now I know, and I can write at a much deeper level about those things. So don't be offended if you sit down and you realize, oh, my life, my script feels empty because maybe my life that's what we're telling you. Go fill your life, go fill it up. Like that, don't be offended by it. Take it as a challenge to go live life. Uh, go go go listen to what how people talk to each other, interact with each other at the mall or at a bar or at a club or or at church or wherever, just walking down the street. Uh, travel, see other cultures, hear how they people interact with each other, live life, gain these experiences, and it your life is richer, and then your work becomes richer and it becomes less like a caricature and more authentic. I I couldn't agree with you more. It's really good advice. Um, well, I'm I'm grateful to you for this time, Andrew. This has been fantastic. And thank you.
SPEAKER_04:Thanks.
James Duke:Um, I'm I really hope people check out site and um of course all your other films, I'm streaming, I'm sure they can find them all over the place. But uh Andrew Hyatt, it's been a pleasure talking to you. I always like to pray for our guests to wrap up our conversation. Would you allow me to do that?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, please. Thank you, James.
James Duke:Heavenly Father, we just uh I want to stop and thank you for Andrew. Thank you for uh just uh what you're doing in his life, what you continue to do in his life and what you do um uh through his work. And God, we just pray a blessing upon um the film site that the people that you want to see it seize it. And God, we thank you for all of Andrew's hard work on the project on all the films he's done. God, we pray a blessing upon him, his work, blessing upon his family, his um, his relationships. Uh God, we pray that you'd go before him, protect him, watch over him and his family, and um God, give him more and more opportunities to still to tell stories uh that um that uh create those moments, those emotional um moments that he was talking about. And and um and God that they would resonate deeply with his audience. And uh, we thank you for this time and um we pray these blessings in Jesus' name and on your promises we stand. Amen. Thank you for listening to the Act One podcast, celebrating over 20 years as the premier training program for Christians in Hollywood. Act One is a Christian community of entertainment industry professionals who train and equip storytellers to create works of truth, goodness, and beauty. The Act One program is a division of Master Media International. To financially support the mission of Act One or to learn more about our programs, visit us online at Act OneProgram.com. And to learn more about the work of Master Media, go to MasterMedia.com.