Writer/Director Andrew Hyatt

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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.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_04 (00:02):
It's amazing to be able to make something authentic
that truly translates intosomebody's personal life who's
watching your film and they'reable to go back into their life
and and make a change or behealed or be encouraged or
inspired.
I mean, that's that's a very uhhuge responsibility, number one,
uh, but also a gift.

James Duke (00:34):
It's the Act One podcast.
I'm your host, James Duke.
Thanks for listening.
Please don't forget to subscribeto the podcast and leave us a
good review.
My guest today iswriter-director Andrew Hyde.
Andrew is the award-winningwriter-director of the new film
Site, starring Terry Chen andGreg Kmir, which is a true story

(00:54):
based on the life of Dr.
Ming Wong, a Chinese Americanwho defies all odds to become a
world-renowned iceberg.
Andrew also directed thehistorical drama Paul Apostle of
Christ, which was released byStony Pictures and Affirm Films
in 2018 starring Jim Cavizel andJames Faulkner.
He also co-wrote and directedThe Blind, the true story of the

(01:15):
Robertson family long beforetheir Duck Dynasty thing.
Andrew is a talented guy, and wehad a great conversation about
his new film and some of hisother work.
I hope you enjoy.
Andrew Hyatt, welcome to the ActOne Podcast.
It's good to see you.

SPEAKER_04 (01:30):
Hey, good to see you.
Thank you for having me.

James Duke (01:32):
I'm excited to spend some time talking with you.
Um I'm I've been a fan of yourwork for a while, and you've got
this new film that's um comingout.
Um I don't know when people aregoing to hear this, but
hopefully they'll.
May 24th, it's going to be intheaters all over the country.
Uh, it's called Site.
Uh, it's your latest film, andyou're a writer-director.

(01:55):
Uh, can you just let's juststart right there with Site
right off the right off the bat.
Can you tell people a little bitabout this film?

SPEAKER_04 (02:02):
Yeah, absolutely.
So Site is the um incredibletrue story of Dr.
Ming Wang, who uh grew up incommunist China uh and uh was
able to through many trials andtribulations uh get out of China
and make it to America.
And it's uh kind of a very got avery classic kind of American

(02:26):
dream success story.
You know, he arrives with 50bucks in his pocket and uh
through hard work, perseverance,and and truly, you know, using
the gifts given to him, hebecomes one of the world's most
renowned eye surgeons, which Iknow doesn't seem very exciting,
but it's the journey to thatpoint that um that is incredible

(02:50):
and and and truly just uhrelevant and poignant, I think,
as far as um these sort ofreally inspirational true
stories go.

James Duke (02:58):
Yeah, and it's and it is it's it's dramatic and uh
very cinematic.
I I had the pleasure of seeingthe film um just a couple of
days ago and and really enjoyedit, brought my kids, they really
enjoyed it.
Um he is a fascinating guy.
The real Dr.
Wong, am I saying the nameright?
Wong?
That's right.
Yep, he he was there at thescreening that night, and boy is

(03:18):
he, boy, is he something.
I mean, he is the he is so youcan see why a lot of people were
drawn to tell his story just byjust briefly interacting with
him.
What so to that point, whatbrought you to the project?
How did you get involved?

SPEAKER_04 (03:34):
Yeah, yeah.
Uh, as you know, you know, everyfilm is different and kind of
how these things work out or ordevelop and all these things.
But um, this one in particularuh 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'sa good friend of ours too.
I love it, yeah.

(03:54):
No, he he um uh had been on theproject for a little bit.
Uh David Fisher, the theproducer of the film, uh the
other producer of the film, anduh Dr.
Wong himself had had beendeveloping this project for a
good number of years.
Um, I want to say close to 10years, they had been working
with various writers and onvarious scripts and trying to

(04:17):
get this story right.
And you know, when Darrencalled, they they had sent they
sent me a draft that they hadbeen working on, and a a lot of
the draft um was was sort of afabrication of the present-day
struggles that Ming had,particularly with his family in

(04:38):
America, um, which which wasjust I didn't find very
compelling at all.
Um because they were just verygeneric sort of faith, you know,
you know, issues, you know, uhuh not issues, faith film kind
of the the typical plot linethat you just say, man, I just

(04:58):
did this is really feelinggeneric to me.

SPEAKER_01 (05:00):
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (05:02):
Um but they had also sent Ming had a book, uh, an
autobiography that uh they sentalong with the script.
And so I was flipping throughthe 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 wasincredible.
Like, how did he how did hesurvive?

(05:24):
Like, oh like you know, so manythings start coming into your to
your mind, and so um I went backto David and Ming and suggested
maybe re-looking at the script,was which was a very I didn't
realize probably how bold andand maybe potentially dangerous
that was after 10 years of themworking on this project to

(05:45):
suggest to go back to squareone.
Uh, I'm sure came with uh aquite a sticker shock of like,
what is this guy talking about?
Um, but I think you know, uh aweek or so later I got a call
and they had some follow-upquestions and just said, I mean,
do you really think we can pullthis off?
You know, it's not a huge budgetfilm, um, you know, we're sub-10

(06:06):
million dollars, and to go backinto a period piece set in China
for you know 40-50 percent ofthe film, it was just a lot of
questions they had.
Um, but I think once we sort ofrealized that if you get into
sort of these kind of themes andand this plot and kind of really
bring out the the past, there'sjust these beautiful things that

(06:28):
start happening with the storyand with the film that that are
really powerful.
And so sorry, that was along-winded way to say, you
know, Darren reached out, we wekind of had some back and forth,
and then um anecdotally, uh, Iknow you know your audience
can't see me right now, butmaybe they can make an educated
guess.
Uh but uh surprisingly, mygrandmother was born in

(06:51):
Shanghai, uh and there.
And so yeah, you're right.

James Duke (06:55):
By looking at you, I would not you're you're whiter
than me.

SPEAKER_04 (06:59):
Yeah, yeah.
Had I said Dublin, you wouldhave been like, of course you
do.
But we um, you know, so sogrowing up, and she's got an
incredible story as well.
You know, they were Iraqi Jewsthat immigrated into to Shanghai
and then and then had to fleeduring the Japanese occupation.
Anyway, uh a separate storylinethere, but but a lot of a lot of

(07:22):
drama growing up.
I remember the stories andhearing different things.
So I'd always had kind of hadthis thing on my heart that I
really wanted to tell, whetherit was her story or a story that
sort of surrounded thisparticular culture or place.
Um, but again, not to not tomake light of it, but you know,
no pun intended, but I I'm noton those lists at all, uh, as

(07:43):
you can imagine, to to to be apart of those.
So truly, when you know, itreally was kind of providential
when Darren reached out and thensaid, I've got this project
called Sight, you should take alook.
And then to kind of realize, ohwow, this is this is the story
that I that I've kind of felt onmy heart.
I know, I know it's not mygrandmother's, but Ming's story

(08:04):
is very similar, um, uh in a lotof ways.
And so it just really I I feltreally compelled, which doesn't
happen often, but I it was likeuh I have to kind of make this
movie, I gotta be a part of thisfilm.

James Duke (08:18):
It's very cool.
And by the way, what you weresaying earlier, I think those
were probably my favoritemoments in the film when you
were describing uh wanting to goback and deal with his life in
China.
Um, some great moments in thefilm.
Um and some of the actors youcast are fantastic, and um, so I
think that was really goodinstincts on your part to really

(08:39):
uh make the audience aware ofthat struggle.
Uh funny note with that is I hadbrought my kids to the screening
and they had just been studyingabout 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 touchedon the fact that you know, you

(09:01):
you're not you you wouldn'tnecessarily be considered right
away for this kind of project.
Um, and yet uh you did anexcellent job of handling it.
Uh what what were some of thechallenges, maybe, uh maybe some
of the cultural challenges thatyou felt like you had to really
make sure you pay attention to?
And and and did you lean intohaving Ming there, um, the the

(09:24):
the the source of the subjectmatter?
Um, did you lean on him a lot totry to get the authenticity of
uh because there's a lot forthose who haven't seen the film
yet, and I hope you do, it comesout on May 24th in theaters
everywhere.
Um, it's uh being released byAngel Studios, by the way.
Um it it uh uh there's a lot ofkind of beautiful, interesting

(09:48):
family interactions that yousee.
So it's not, I don't want peopleto think that it, you know, it's
it's it's all political, um, butuh there's some really authentic
moments.
And I'm just curious, uh, didyou do a lot of research on
that?
Was it speaking to him a lot?
Was it based a lot on hiswritings in his book?
How did you go about uh theprocess of of um of uh making

(10:09):
sure you nail the authenticityif you want?

SPEAKER_04 (10:11):
Yeah, no, it's a great question.
And you're you're absolutelyspot on.
I I probably would have feltuncomfortable taking on this
particular film and storywithout Ming's blessing, uh,
truly, over that, and the factthat he was on set every day, he
he was a massive part of thedevelopment process, just as you

(10:32):
say, from a oh, you know, that'sin the book, or I forgot, you
know, actually, this is how itwent down, and I remember saying
this or doing this, and so therewas a ton of that.
Um, and and that was like, youknow, invaluable as you can
imagine, just having him.
I mean, you you started with thechallenges, and and absolutely,

(10:53):
I mean, the challenges, I I I Ican understand maybe uh uh a
half of a percent now, but at uhwhen we went on this journey,
you know, 40 percent of thisfilm or so is a Mandarin, um, in
the in the flashbacks.
And and so without knowing howto speak Mandarin uh or

(11:14):
understand it, there there was avery unique process of having
you know the the performancehappen, looking to the
translator to get a thumbs up orthumbs down, and then looking
over to Ming to get a thumbs upand thumbs down.
And so there was a little,there's just a lot more going on
than normal.
Um, but I love what you saybecause I actually am really

(11:35):
proud of those scenes, uh,because I do kind of believe
they hold up the emotional coreof the film and the story.
Um, you know, that stuff withhis family in China and
especially the father-sonrelationship.
Uh, you know, I just I lovethose scenes and kind of the way
uh Donald Hang and and Ben Wanguh took on those roles.

(11:57):
Um, so that that was probablythe biggest challenge.
And then yeah, as far as onauthenticity, 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'sbest eye surgeon, extremely
meticulous, extremelydetail-oriented.
And so uh, you know, he had acomment about everything, and
I'm I'm sure it drove peoplenuts at times, the production

(12:20):
design team, the costume team,you know, everybody.
But at the end of the day, Imean, how special to to have
every detail right and correctand and down to the down to the
buttons used on the shirts, youknow, where it's like he'd say,
we didn't have that.
We we we didn't have buttonslike that.
That didn't exist in China, oror or no, that that that would

(12:43):
have never been the material forfor the for the couch or the
wall or the this because wedidn't have it, you know, all
these beautiful things that thenthen I I think when you kind of
take that step back, right, andyou watch the film, those those
scenes in particular feel veryorganic and and and true to the
time and the place.
And so that's all a gift.

(13:03):
You know, I I haven't worked ona film in that capacity where
you've got the the the man wholived this incredible journey
with you all the time to kind ofweigh in, uh, but also be
extremely respectful to theprocess, to the to the writing
process, to the filmmakingprocess, you know, never never
stepping in and saying, Oh, Ithink I think the actor should

(13:26):
have done this and not this.
You know, he was never he wasalways just there for support,
which was which was incredible.

James Duke (13:32):
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 setwith you.
Um all the actors are speakingin Mandarin to one another in
the scenes, um, for like yousaid, about 30, 40 percent of
the film.
And as as you know, the directoris like the you know, I often

(13:56):
say it's like the pardon mylanguage here, the the I'll edit
myself, the the the bull crapdetector, 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 seesomething that doesn't fit, it

(14:17):
doesn't seem right, whether it'sa 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 whenthey're speaking a different
language?
What uh can you just what whatare you looking for?
Because if you can't reallyunderstand in the moment on the
line reads, right, what were youlooking at?

SPEAKER_04 (14:38):
Yeah, I that's a great question.
Um you know, in a in a in abizarre way, I almost feel like
putting the language and thedialogue aside a little bit
allowed me to probably focus alot more on on the emotional uh

(15:00):
uh reaction, you know, thereactions and the and the
performance in a way that I I'mnot sure that I would have ever
done.
Um having having because it'skind of two sides of your brain,
right?
You know, like uh as I'm sure alot of young filmmakers are
listening and and and doingthings and trying things out,
it's you you have half yourbrain kind of making sure, you

(15:22):
know, which is just part of thethe process.
Like, did we get it all?
Right?
Do we get it, did we get thelines?
Right.
It's just a very simple,practical thing.
Did did the did the delivery getthe lines?
Or if they missed a line, doesit matter?
You know, all these things goingthrough your head, but then
you've got on your other side ofyour brain, you you you're like,
do I care?

(15:43):
You know, do I care?
Am I emotionally engaged in whatthis person's doing?
And so I do wonder if maybe kindof not having to worry so much
about the dialogue portionallowed me just to ref just to
completely zone in on theemotional arcs of these
characters and how they weredoing it.
And I always think back too, itwas a great lesson.

(16:04):
And I I think it was, I'm almostpositive it was Steven Spielberg
that said you should be able toturn off the sound of a film and
watch it and understand itcompletely.

SPEAKER_01 (16:15):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (16:16):
And so it's a little bit of that too, as well.
Like kind of like, okay, if youif I were to just mute this
right now, do I still kind ofunderstand what these people are
talking to each other about andtheir emotional back and forth
and and and where is it going?
And even though I may notunderstand, like, okay, are they
talking about school or life oror or being a doctor or this?

(16:36):
You totally get the dynamic,right?
You say, Well, I get I get it'sa father talking to a son and
he's upset and he's reacting,and then okay.
And so um, yeah, it was achallenge, but in a way, uh we
by the way, uh that uh cast wasjust phenomenal.

James Duke (16:52):
Um yeah, they did a great job, really.
They did.

SPEAKER_04 (16:55):
Yeah, they they they really kneeled, and and
especially to do it in a foreignforeign language.
And while most of them arefluent, you know, it's not it's
not particularly anymore theirtheir primary language, um, but
but to kind of come in and notonly deliver that, but to
perform and and and emotionallyengage with the audience and
each other, just fantastic.

(17:15):
Um, but yeah, that that was kindof I I would say a bizarre
benefit to this was being ableto to really focus in on that.

James Duke (17:24):
I uh the entire cast is uh great, but I want to point
out and uh sorry, I'm trying tofind his name.
The actor who played um Ming asa like a high school college
age.

SPEAKER_04 (17:37):
Yeah, Ben, Ben Wang, yeah, yeah.

James Duke (17:39):
Um wonderful performance by him.
And you you were talking aboutyou know, directing those
Mandarin scenes, the father-sonstuff is great, but as you know,
so much of performance is in theeyes, and um just so much
wonderful subtlety in hisperformance.
I I particularly found uhbecause he's going through a

(18:01):
like a uh for those who aregonna see the film, seeing I
don't want to get anything away,but he he goes through quite an
arc from from literally onecountry to the next, and there's
unique challenges that he faces.
Um, and to see he grows, andthat's what's really neat is he
actually grows not only inyears, um, the same actor kind

(18:23):
of playing those that age gap ornot age age difference, I should
say, but um, but butemotionally, what's going on?
Um, can you talk a little bitabout that?
Like the cat just the castingprocess of him and of course
Terry and uh and of course GregKaneer and all the others.

SPEAKER_04 (18:39):
Yeah, yeah.
No, I I I love that that younotice that about Ben.
I think he's I think he'sfantastic, and and we're so it
was awesome, you know, touncover him.
We because of the thecircumstances of the casting,
you know, the the the the poolwas very narrow as far as you
know, you know, can speakMandarin.

(19:00):
Um, obviously there's a certainlook, uh you know, on and on and
on, age, age.
Um, and so to kind of uncoverBen, you know, he's a kid out of
any any New York and and theages, but to be clear, he's
cover he plays Ming from whatage to what age.

James Duke (19:17):
Tell everybody.
He's so it's like you gotta findan actor who can play both
young, right?

SPEAKER_04 (19:22):
Right, probably 14 to 20, something, you know,
probably, yeah.

James Duke (19:28):
Yeah, so he's so he starts very young and then all
of a sudden he gets older, andyou're just like, wow, well
done.

SPEAKER_04 (19:33):
Yeah, yeah.
And we had phenomenal castingdirectors, Kelly Roy, Morgan
Robbins, Andy McCarthy.
So I would just put I woulddefinitely mention them because
they did an incredible job kindof finding these hidden gems out
there.
Um, but Ben's great.
Ben, by the way, Ben, and I cansay because the news is out, but
Ben is the next karate kid.
Um, he's filming with JackieChan right now.

(19:54):
Oh, that's fantastic.
That's awesome.
So he's doing awesome.
And um, but But I uh to go backto your point, you know, that is
something that I I'm veryconscientious of in the casting
process of can these actors canthey can they communicate with
subtlety?
Can they can they not sayanything and be able to to

(20:19):
emotionally connect with theaudience and and even even take
you through a little journey?
Like you said, there's anemotional 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 himtalking about any of that,
right?
But it is something on his face,something he brings to the

(20:42):
character and to the way he kindof just his his whole being, you
know, he he totally gets wherehe was at as a kid and where he
is at, you know, after you knowthe government steps in and ends
all this stuff.
Um, you know, he's seen a lot ofthings, a lot of terrible
things, and and been through alot.
Um, but I so yeah, but I I'm ahuge fan of that kind of

(21:04):
filmmaking.
I I think if there's if there'sa way you can communicate
something without dialogue, Imean, go for it because
emotionally I just I love thosesubtleties, like you said, it's
with the eyes or just a little alittle change in the face that
you can get across so much uh onscreen.

James Duke (21:22):
Yeah.
You're uh a lot of your filmsyou're credited as both writer
and director.
So you obviously get to spend alot of time with the script
before you're on set shooting.
Um with sight, what were maybesome of the challenges or kind
of interesting things youdiscovered um when you started

(21:43):
when you got a hold of thescript and started working on
it?
That maybe did you end upleaving well by the time you got
to set and were filming, youwere like, you know what?
I loved this scene in thewriting process, but it's out.
Either I don't have time for itor I don't need it anymore, or I
can collapse it into one moment.
Can you can you walk us througha little bit of the creative uh

(22:04):
side of being a writer-directorand and and both the pros and
cons of it?

SPEAKER_04 (22:10):
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 thepros, pros of being able to
write and direct, and why Ireally enjoy it, is I think it
just gives you it just gives youthat added benefit of while
writing, you're already thinkingof how am I going to to to pull

(22:33):
this off, uh, right?
Um and and sort of what we justsaid, you know, there there's
moments where you're where youknow in in the back of your head
how you're gonna shootsomething, and it does inform
the writing, you know, whetherthat's to trim and say,
actually, I don't need all thisbecause I'm gonna shoot it this
way, and and I'll be able to getthis across and and and on and

(22:55):
on and on.
So there's certainly a pro tothat.
I also think producers, um, mostproducers do do enjoy having
somebody that is taking theproject from start to finish
rather than okay, we get awriter, but then we get a
director in, and nine times outof ten, when that director comes
in, they're gonna have notes onthe script because they're gonna
want to change it to fit theirvision, and on and on.

(23:18):
So that that's the pro.
I would say, you know, the thedifficulties always are like you
said, it's it's always in a andI don't care what film you're
on.
I mean, I'm I mean, maybe if youhave 250 million dollars or
something, but even then, I feellike this is the same process.
You it it truly is just time andmoney.

(23:39):
Um, and so naturally, especiallywhen you're dealing with
something like this that is abiopic, that is a that is a um
period piece, uh, that is tryingto kind of squeeze a lot into
under two hours, inevitably,yeah, you just you just have to
start kind of prioritizingthings.

(24:00):
Um the nice thing about thatprocess is I do find a lot that
if you force yourself into thatsituation where you just say, we
we just don't have time, youknow, we've got these three
scenes here, and we just we onlyhave time for one of them, it it
does force you into a a creativespace and often a collaboration

(24:23):
in a way that's reallybeneficial with with your team,
with the production design orcostume or or producers or your
DP cinematographer, where whereyou're just having to say, okay,
how do we communicate what we'vetried 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

(24:44):
that come up in thatcollaboration, even sometimes
with the actors themselves, thatsay, Well, well, instead of what
if instead of saying all this, Ijust do this, and you say, Oh my
goodness, that's genius.
That's genius.
You just solve you saved us aday of shooting.

SPEAKER_01 (24:56):
That's unbelievable.

SPEAKER_04 (24:58):
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 inthis film in particular, there
were a lot of of um, I would sayexpensive scenes that just had
to kind of be pared down orrefocused in other ways.

(25:19):
Um, but I don't feel likeanything we left, you know, if I
think about it, and and it won'tmake sense to anyone that hasn't
seen the film yet, but we didhave probably three or four more
uh Lele moments, um uhparticularly in the present day
stuff, um, that we just feltlike I think the audience gets

(25:40):
it by now.
We've done this, we've you we'veused this trope three times now,
and you get it.
You don't need to see three moreof those.
Um, and so just things like thatthrough the process.
But I the great thing was, youknow, because of Ming's, you
know, book and him beinginvolved, David's hard, hard

(26:01):
work over the over the decade.
Um, I didn't feel like we wereever struggling with the story
itself, you know, whichsometimes happens when you just
you get into production andcertain things happen and you
start getting really worriedthat I hope I hope we can
connect A to Z in the in theedit or in the film because I'm

(26:22):
not I'm not sure we've got it.
I'm not, you know, what youknow, because as you know,
things happen, weather happens,uh, budget stuff happens.
Uh, this was shot during COVID.
COVID things can happen and shutyou 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 withsight was because of all that

(26:45):
work, that that sort ofpre-development work and
production work that went intoit for so long.
It always felt easy to kind ofpull a thread and not have to
feel like we're in big trouble.
It was sort of like, can we pullthis thread?
Yes, because Ming's got adiagram over there, color-coded
diagram of the film and eachtheme and how it plays out.

(27:06):
No joke, he he had that, uh, hismeticulous mind.
And how you know every moment ofthe movie fits into this theme
or that theme or this.
Anyway, it it's uh, but that wasthe that was always the the
challenge was just how do we weshot this in Vancouver?
How do we pull off China in thein the 60s, 70s on on a budget?

James Duke (27:29):
Yeah, I I think you did a great job.
It's it's a very enjoyable film.
I hope more people watch it umwhen it comes out and they go to
the theater and see it.
That's I love going to themovies myself.
I love watching movies in thetheater.
Uh, speaking of which, yourprevious film actually got
released in theaters.
Um, how did you get connectedwith the uh Phil Robertson

(27:50):
story, the film The Blind?

SPEAKER_04 (27:51):
Yeah, yeah.
Um uh producer friend again, uhBrittany Yost uh reached out uh
a little earlier in the process.
They they did have a script umthat uh I would say was it uh it
was a bit more anecdotal, youknow.
For those that have seen thefilm, um this will make sense.

(28:13):
You know, it was a bit more duckdynasty focused, uh anecdotal,
very much about kind of thejourney post salvation to the
success of of the brand and theand the duck calls and all of
this.
Um, and again, I just didn'tfeel like I was the right um,

(28:34):
you know, as you've seen myfilms, I I just feel like I I
probably have a little bit of adarker sensibility, and I mean
that in like I'm I'm moreinterested in I think the
exploring sort of darkness andgood and evil and the human
condition, but in a way thatfeels really authentic and raw
and gritty.
And and I I totally understandthat that's not for everyone,

(28:56):
and that's you know, there's alot of faith films that are
great that don't go down thatpath at all.
Um, and there's a lot that do,and and they're great.
So um I had passed, and then I II was it was a weird one I was I
was laying in bed that nightafter calling Britney and and
kind of saying, I don't thinkthis is the right fit.

(29:17):
Um I I couldn't stop thinkingabout Phil.
Truly, I couldn't stop thinkingabout Phil.
And I hadn't seen the DuckDynasty show in probably eight
years or something.
So this wasn't like I don'tthink about Phil a lot.
It's not like a weird thing thatI do at night.
I mean, now I do, but not at thetime.
Um and so I just got up and I IGoogled, I just didn't know

(29:41):
where what was the family doing,or I, you know, I didn't know
anything.
And the first thing that poppedup was Phil giving his testimony
in front of this massive, youknow, church somewhere of you
know, thousands of people.
And he went into all of thesegritty details of his life about
being an alcoholic and anabusive husband, uh, being uh a

(30:02):
philanderer, being uh kickinghis family out of the house, you
know, beating Miss, I mean,really difficult stuff.
And then kind of sharing, youknow, look, without Christ in my
life, I mean, the Duck Dynastything, I'm I don't even have a
family, you know, none of thishappens.
And I just was like, okay, Ididn't know any of this stuff.

(30:23):
How why is this not the film?
Um, why why are you not makingthis film?
And so I called Britney the nextday and just said, you know, why
have they have they talked aboutthis?
And yeah, it was I think it wasa little bit of that as looking
back, you know, that's adifficult thing for the family
to write to to suggest why don'tyou air all your dirty laundry

(30:46):
to the world?
And and by the way, it's notjust you giving a talk, we're
gonna see it, we're gonna see itplay out.
Um, that's a difficult thing,but I remember that first
conversation with Phil and kindof trying to explain.
I think I I think going a bitinto this could be, you know,
and and truly his his onlyresponse was, do you think it

(31:08):
will help people?
Do you think it will helppeople?
I said, I think a lot of peopleare dealing with this right now,
especially right after COVID.
I mean, they've always beendealing with this, but uh, I
said, I bet even even here ininside the church, there's
there's addiction, there'sthere's abuse, there's there's
these things happening.
There's there's divorce, there'sall these things that I think

(31:29):
you coming out and sharing whatreally 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 along way to get to how we opened
the script back up and reallykind of re uh uh redid it in a
in that format, as you as ifyou've seen the film, you know,

(31:52):
now it's a it's a period pieceand goes back into the 70s and
the deep south.
And um, and I think it has, ithas helped a ton of people.
We've gotten so many commentsand letters, and and and it's
just really powerful.
And I know your audience, thisis the kind of stuff they want
to do, where it's it's it'samazing to be able to make

(32:12):
something authentic that trulytranslates into somebody's
personal life who's watchingyour film or your story, and
they're able to to go back intotheir life and and make a change
or or or be healed or beencouraged or inspired.
I mean, that's that's a that's avery uh uh huge responsibility,

(32:35):
number one, uh, but also a giftthat we're uh able to do this
and allowed to do this.
What a gift from God that He'sallowed us to tell stories in a
way that He can then speak, youknow, the Holy Spirit can then
speak to somebody watching a bigscreen, you know, which you'd
think, nah, I don't know if thathappens.
But it to walk out of a theaterand say, I think I I think I

(32:57):
have to change.
Whoa, that's that's powerfulstuff.

James Duke (33:01):
What are the challenges for you as a
dramatist, as a storyteller, intelling a true story, especially
someone that you can interact.
Like you're kind of unique inthat a lot of some people tell
biopics of people who've maybealready passed on or whatever.
Both sight and the blind are twoexamples where you have the man
sitting next to you.

SPEAKER_02 (33:21):
Right.

James Duke (33:22):
Right.
And so uh I think I thinkprobably everyone who's
listening to this has probablyheard um the term, you know,
when filmmakers and storytellerstake dramatic license.
Um, there are times when we wantto tell the truth, but we want
to do it in a cinematic way ormaybe a quote unquote more

(33:44):
interesting way than becausereal life is sometimes very
boring.
Um so what is your process totelling a true one, telling a
true story when the subjectmatter is right there?
Is it intimidating?
Do you do you see that as veryhelpful or um um or problematic?
And then two, um, when you'retrying to communicate the truth,

(34:06):
but it's like, well, um, I knowthat person was important in
your life, you know, 15 yearsago, but we need to collapse.
We need it doesn't need tohappen 15 years ago.
Our movie takes place now, so weneed to move that.
Like, let's have you and youknow, like things like that,
where you're kind of movingpieces of the story around in
order for it to fit.
Totally.
Kind of what's your view on thatcreatively and how what's your

(34:28):
process?

SPEAKER_04 (34:28):
Yeah, yeah.
No, I think I think in answer toyour first question, um it it is
it there, there is a heavierresponsibility, I I would
suggest, yes, um, to to knowthat that the the family members
or or Ming or you know areliterally watching their life

(34:50):
play out.
Um, and I know I've talked to toall the actors in both films,
and and they they all felt thesame.
You know, there's a bit of a anadded weight and responsibility
to getting it right.
Uh, because you do want to dothem honor and and and you know,
you you do want to to dosomething that they feel very
proud of, even though that mightnot be the right word when you

(35:13):
watch, you know, the blind,because you're like, oh, Phil's
proud of this, but you want todo it justice so that when when
people start to to respond, theysay, 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 thesense that there was a a decent

(35:38):
amount of source material onthese individuals, right?
Uh, meaning there is the duckdynasty show.
Ming did have an autobiography,the family was all around, and
we we essentially the first stepwas we interviewed everybody,
you know, from from Alan, theoldest son, down to Willie, the

(35:58):
youngest son, and and Jace andand and Uncle Cy and and and
Phil and Miss K.
We did it, we did a ton ofinterviews where we just asked
them to just kind of talk andjust you know, what do you
remember?
Especially for for some of theboys, right?
It's like it's like Williedidn't remember much because he
was three years old when allthis went down, four years old,

(36:19):
you know.
Uh he he more remembers Philafter he was saved and remembers
the struggles, of course, ofbeing poor and dad trying to
make the duck calls work, but hedoesn't remember so much of
that.
But Alan, who was you knoweight, eight, nine, ten at the
time, remembers it all.
He he uh and and remembers a lotof moments uh that were
particular to him.
Same with Uncle Cy, same withand then of course Miss K was an

(36:42):
unbelievable resource, but sheactually, you know, Phil, you
know, not trying to be funnyhere here, but Phil Phil didn't
remember much from those fromthose years, right?
He was he he was in a differentstate of mind, we'll say.
Uh, but Miss K rememberedeverything because she lived it.
Um, so that's sort of the firstpart of the process, and then
you know, like we we werediscussing earlier, and this is

(37:05):
this is just a challenge for anywriter out there, is is um how
do you take the all of thematerial and slim it down to to
two hours, maybe two and a halfif 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?

(37:27):
Very hard.
It's very hard.
And it and it forces you to justmake decisions that you know,
you just say, okay, would thatbe interesting to see?
Yes, but is it the mostinteresting?
No.
Okay, well, then that goes away.
And so what I always try to dois I I I you know, this is maybe
getting a little bit into thefilmmaking weeds here, but uh
that's okay.

(37:47):
We we like the weeds here.
What I'll what I'll do first isum is I'll I'll kind of you know
take a fresh wall in my officeand I'll I'll just start putting
up three by five cards orpost-it notes where I just start
at the top I'll put a characteror a time period, and then I'll

(38:08):
just start taking notes oneverything that happened, you
know, with that person, youknow, 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'tthink about the script yet,
because that's where I get forme personally, I start to get a
little confused with, you know,if I just start writing and then

(38:30):
I say, oh, wait, you know, thatthat happened over here.
So now I got to think aboutthat.
It's much better for me to kindof lay everything out, which you
know, it's it's a little bit ofa pain and and a process and
takes time.
But what's great is once youhave 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, maybein the book that's interesting,

(38:54):
or maybe for a documentary, butfor our film, that's not.
That's not uh okay, maybe I'llput that in the maybe pile here,
and then you know, if I needsomething here, here, here.
And then what you're kind ofleft with is you start to see a
pattern of okay, I'm getting thetone of the film now, right?
Because you know, if you thinkDuck Dynasty, there it you know,

(39:14):
there is a version of thatthat's that's much more
lighthearted in a comedy, yeah.
Yeah, but when I've got on mywall, 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, andthen and then you just kind of
start to think, okay, if I'veonly got 90 minutes, two hours,

(39:38):
uh, where do I want to start?
You know, how do I want to dothis?
I found obviously, if you'veseen my films, uh in effective
way, I'm not, you know, could bea crutch.
I'm I'm happy to take you knowcritical feedback on these, but
you know, flashbacks and jumpingaround time time periods is I
just find it really helpfulbecause.

(40:00):
It allows you that flexibilityto to you know, you can jump
back to young Phil.
And then it basically you kindof have carte blanche where when
I bring the audience back to thepresent, I can I can skip
things, and the audience doesn'tget bumped, right?
They just say, okay, we're backto the present, and and this is

(40:20):
happening now.
Okay.
Um, rather than trying to, oh mygoodness, how do we go from A to
Z in a person's life?
You know, and we did the same onPaul Apostle of Christ, we did
the same on um, you know, site,and and I find that a very good
tool, you know, for peopletackling biopics.
Um, you know, I I don't knowthat I've written one yet that

(40:42):
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 ona certain moment of somebody's
life and then allowing yourselfthat flexibility to to jump
without confusing the audience,you know, jump to different
periods of their life in thepast or you know, uh and it's

(41:02):
helpful.

James Duke (41:04):
Are you an emotional person?
I'm curious when you're workingon a project.
So let's say whether you're inthe writing phase or even you're
on set directing, no, and you'rewatching a scene, you know, play
out on the monitor.
Um, do you get emotional?
Do you do you get moved to theand is that what you're looking

(41:25):
for?
Uh are you looking to be movedemotionally?
And um uh is that something thatis very common when you're
working or or is does it does ithappen rarely?
And so you're like, oh, that'sthe thing I'm searching for.
That's the thing I'm chasingfor, chasing after.

SPEAKER_04 (41:42):
Yeah, I that's I love that question.
Uh I am I am probably tooemotional.
Yes, I I cry at the drop of ahat and get, you know, don't
keep me up late and put on, youknow, certain songs and music,
I'll I'll be lost in the, youknow.
But um, yes, uh I would say forme personally, it's a litmus

(42:02):
test of I feel like if I'm notgetting emotional on set
watching through the monitor orwatching the performance, then I
I'm not sure how I expect theaudience to.
Um, but and you're right, itdoesn't it doesn't happen every
time.
And so sometimes I I startthinking in the back of my mind

(42:22):
of like, okay, how are we gonnacut this in an interesting way?
Or how are we okay, maybe musiccan make the, you know, music
can come in and and sweep thisand and make it great.
Um, but yeah, I do that is sortof a great litmus test.
When I am sitting back there,yeah, and it it does, it doesn't
happen every time, but it Iwould I would say a a fair bit

(42:45):
amount where it just gives youthat feeling like we got we got
it, you know, we we nailed it.
And and and truly, if if um ifwe put it out there and the and
it is the audience doesn'trespond and aren't emotional,
it's it is a little bit likewell, I'm I'm not quite sure
what else I could have done,right?

(43:06):
You know, it moved me.
I hope it moves you, that kindof thing.
And and it's that gut feelingyou just kind of go with of
like, wow, I I'm tearing upwhile this this is happening,
and and I think the audiencewill too.
So yeah, for me it's a litmustest, and and I've been I've
been really blessed.
I mean, I've worked with someincredible, incredible talent um

(43:26):
on all of these films, and so Iyou know, sometimes I just sit
there in awe that they can dothat, um, you know, without all
the bells and whistles.
You know, it's not like we'rewe're playing music over the
scene already, and and James isgiving James Faulkner is giving
some speech, and you're like, Ohyeah, this is epic.
Like, I love it.
Like, you're just watching thisguy with you know, dozens upon

(43:49):
dozens of people standing aroundhim, 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 (44:03):
Speak, let's I wanna uh uh segue into you.
So you've done uh what uhthey'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, butum, but they're not uh
necessarily drawn from specificbiblical stories.

(44:24):
Uh and I also know that um onewas like a real kind of micro
budget, and then one was alittle bit of a larger budget.
I'm talking about Full of Graceand uh Paul Apostle of Christ.
Um, both both in their ownright, really wonderful films,
by the way.
Um can you talk a little bitabout the challenge of well,

(44:45):
one, uh tell people a little bitabout both films, but um uh full
of grace, you know, very smallbudget.
It was like just a crew offilmmakers going, Justin Bell,
you know, long time act winnerteach.
Um so so that say, and then allof a sudden you get the call for
Paul the Apostle Christ, youknow, bigger, a little bit

(45:05):
bigger budget or whatever.
What's some of the um challengesyou faced on one versus the
other?
Um, you know, a lot of timesmore money just means more
problems.
Um, but um uh what can you givesome advice on people who are
making maybe, you know, can youstill make a film?
Can you still make a featurefilm for a hundred thousand

(45:27):
dollars?
Right.
For instance, you know, is thatsomething 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 youtransitioned into making bigger
films, what what are some newmaybe challenges you discovered?

SPEAKER_04 (45:41):
Sure, sure.
Yeah, I mean, Full of Grace wasan amazing experience because it
it it it was kind of like you'resaying, it was that kind of raw,
unfiltered filmmaking.
It felt like being back in filmschool kind of stuff, you know,
where you know, I yeah, I Ithink we made that film, you
know, and and for those thathaven't seen it yet, you know,
essentially it's about the lastfew weeks of Mary, um uh Mary of

(46:05):
Nazareth, you know, uh Jesus'mother's life, and just sort of
what was happening, you know, Ijust 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 ofthe, you know, before he dies
and says, you know, this is yourmother, take her, take her as
your own, you know, kind ofthing.

(46:25):
But then we never hear, we neverhear from this woman for the
rest of scripture.
And I felt like, oh, I just Ican't imagine that was true,
that she disappeared up into thecaves and was never seen again.
She would have she would haveabsolutely been influential for
these men who were trying to dothese, you know, unprecedented
things, you know, Peter and andSimon and and uh John and and so

(46:49):
I uh I I wanted to, you know, weshot that in 10 days in LA, uh
up in like Malibu Canyon andGriffith Park, you know, we just
that's hard by the way, just forpeople who have never shot a
film to shoot in 10 days.

James Duke (47:07):
So you're shooting what are you shooting, 20 pages
a day?

SPEAKER_04 (47:10):
Like we were just jamming, yeah.
We were jamming.
I I I do feel like the scriptwas only about 60 some pages,
and then we kind of we we knewthat a large element, and again,
sorry for those who haven't seenit yet, but we knew a large
element of it was gonna be morein that Terrence Malik kind of
uh, you know, a lot of visuals,a lot of kind of mood and tone.

(47:30):
Yes, that's a great way to putit.
Yeah, um, but but it waspossible, and I think it
absolutely is possible.
And I think what was great aboutthe budget starting with full of
grace before Paul and theseothers is you know, for me
personally, somebody who iswrestling with their faith at
the time, um trying tounderstand, you know, I grew up

(47:55):
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 Imake films, but growing up in
that and looking up thesebeautiful statues and and these
beautiful stained glass things,and always having this feeling
of like, well, these saints, Ithey're amazing, and I wouldn't,

(48:18):
I could never be like them.
I mean, they're incredible, holypeople, and I would never, ever,
ever um be able to achieve that.
So it's you know, and sort ofjust being like, Well, I guess
I'll just live my life the way Ilive my life.
Um, instead of, you know, as asany good Catholic finally opens
their Bible at some point intheir journey for the first

(48:40):
time, maybe, and and andreading, reading, like, wait a
minute what's all this stuffabout Peter?
Peter seems like a total mess.
Or or hold on a second, what isPaul doing murdering Christian?
Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa, what'sgoing on?
In fact, these people areexactly like me, exactly like

(49:00):
me.
And so when we dove into full ofgrace, I sort of took that
wrestling of never feeling likeI knew these people or
understood these people.
So I think the way we were ableto make it through for the
budget and and the time and allthat is it we were so much more
interested in sort of the thecharacter, the the the internal
character of who are thesepeople?

(49:22):
What was going on in their headand in their conversations, and
especially it, you know, in thistime of the church that was was
having a bit of a you knowfallout, not fallout, but there
was some really conflictingideas of this.
This was when you go back tokind of uh are we starting a new
religion?
Are we Jews?
Are we what are we?

(49:43):
And some believe one way, it'sPeter's, and then Peter stuck in
the middle.
Like, I don't know, I'm notsure.
I gotta, I gotta pray about thisand I I'm lost for for what to
do.
So it was more about what if wetook this Mary, you know, Mary,
and again, no, it's notscripture, but can we take the
character of who we believe thisperson to be?

(50:05):
This wise person who's you knowhas 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 howis she involved?
And it just allowed us to, Ithink, make a film that felt
like is it a lot of people insmall rooms talking?

(50:27):
Yes, but it's fascinatingbecause it's getting to the
heart of who exactly are thesecharacters.
So obviously, long way to getto, yes, challenges on a 10-day
shoot, challenges with no money,but I I found that there were
just a lot of people that lovedthe project, and there were a
lot of actors that we that KellyRoy, again, um, our our casting

(50:51):
director, we allowed her to justsay 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 freedomto really again uncover these
gems rather than say we needthese 10 actors to get this
movie financed, which happensall the time.
Um and then when we bounced toPaul, you're right, it was

(51:12):
interesting because though itwas a bigger budget, not not too
big of a big of a budget, it wasabout five million, five million
dollars.
Um again, because of thatrestriction and unable to do a
big A to Z epic you know Biblefilm, um again, it was like,

(51:33):
okay, well, where where shouldwe focus our story and why?
And again, it was sort of likethe same approach to the to the
storytelling, which is okay, Iwant to leave this film knowing
who Paul is.
And I don't mean like theevents, I want to know who this
man was, and I want to knowemotionally who he was, and like

(51:55):
like internally who he was, andso that's why we started to look
at okay, I actually think theend of his life, him in Rome, is
a beautiful place to start thisstory.
I think we're gonna know whothis man is by by who was he at
the end, right?
And so, and then and then we cankind of explore some other
areas, but again, though, thatallows you to kind of frame a

(52:18):
story that doesn't feel small toan audience, but is what but is
a wise approach because you canmake it for the budget, you can
make it for the time, 24 days, Ithink, for that one, which is
still pretty light.
Um and and it allows you tofocus on the just the characters
in a way that I don't think theaudience we've never we've never
got a maybe, maybe one time outof the thousands and thousands

(52:41):
of responses we heard like Ifelt cheated because you didn't
do the shipwreck and you didn'tdo the this and you didn't do
this.
But the rest, it's like, oh mygoodness, I I know Paul better
than I ever thought I would.
And actually, it makes me wantto go back to my Bible and read
all about Acts and Paul andthese things, and and read his
letters differently withsomething else, and you know,

(53:02):
deeper, not not read them like,oh, I I'm gonna reinterpret
these and but more like, oh, I Ican hear Paul now.
I I I'm reading my the lettersfrom Paul deeper and
understanding more.
So, yeah, sorry, a long way toget to always the same
challenges, which is hilariousto me, no matter what the budget

(53:23):
is, it's always the samechallenge, it's always the we
don't have enough money, wedon't have enough time.
Uh, which any filmmaker, yeah.
And but like we said earlier, itit forces you into making
decisions and coming up withcreative solutions.
Uh, even on a 10-day,$100,000movie, you can do it.
Um, and then I think you know,what I prefer, what I kind of

(53:45):
love, is at the budgets we'reat, we're uh we're allowed to
take risks that I'm not sureuntil you get to a Christopher
Nolan level or you get to uh umDennis Villaneuve level.
Um it allows you to take risksthat I just don't think the
studio or the financiers wouldlet you, whether that's in

(54:06):
casting, you know, whetherthat's looking at who's actually
right for this role, not who whodo 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 overit.
Um, but I think of even Paul,you know, on a 20-30 million
dollar budget, do they let mecast James Faulkner and Joanne

(54:28):
Whaley and John Lynch, who areincredible in the film?
I I don't think so.
I think there's a list somewhereand you stick to it.
Um, but the I don't think themovie would have been remotely
as interesting and and andfantastic 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

(54:49):
Wang and um even Terry Chen, youknow, does that happen on a$30
million movie?
I don't think so.
So I guess all this is to saythat the challenges as a
filmmaker, I think the more youdig into them become actually
kind of your secret weapon, andthey become something that if
you if you don't getdiscouraged, but allow yourself

(55:11):
to really explore creatively.
I actually do believe what comesout of those, you'll have a
better project, you'll have abetter film, you'll have a
better script.
Um, rather than just being giveneverything and anything you want
at all times.
So um, yeah, that that's kind ofmy long-winded way that is
hopefully helpful in that.

James Duke (55:32):
I think so.
And it's really a lot of reallygood stuff in there.
And and to quote the ApostlePaul back to you, the guy who
made the Apostle Paul movie,right?
He says, I can do all thingsthrough Christ, which
strengthens me, which is one ofthe most misquoted scriptures,
you know, it's up in likeChristian school gymnasiums,
like it means I can hit the freethrow.

(55:54):
That's not what it means, right?
What he's talking about there iscontentment, yeah, right.
And I think what you're sayingis, as a filmmaker, um, can you
use what you're given, becontent with what you have to be
creative and make it work?
That's right.
Um, and and that is thechallenge.
That is the art of film, that'sthe artistic craft part of the

(56:16):
filmmaking is I'm gonna takewhat I was given, and I wasn't
given this thing, I was giventhis 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 (56:29):
I agree.
Uh, I would I would add onething too, and I I would only
say it probably to this audienceor or or or sparsely in in
certain circles, but I I justwant to encourage that the power
of prayer and really sittingwith these stories and with
these ideas that you might have,and and um especially if you're

(56:52):
doing something that does have adeep sort of faith component or
or or any story that has a humancomponent to it.
I I have found that that isagain, you talk about kind of
secret weapons or or or or whenthe magic really happens, is not
getting overly burdened, as yousay, kind of being feeling
feeling content and feelinglight, and not getting overly

(57:14):
burdened with the responsibilityof how am I gonna tell this
story?
How are we gonna shoot this?
How are we gonna do this?
It's just taking those momentsand saying, All right, Lord God,
what what do you want to do withthis?
Because as you know, we makethese, we make these films and
they don't come out for at leasta year, maybe often longer,

(57:35):
right?
Yep.
And so when I'm sitting down andI'm tackling a story, there's
no, you know, I can say what'sgoing on in the world today, as
I'm sitting here writing, youknow, what what's sort of the
zeitgeist of right now, and Ican certainly write that.
But the truth is, two years fromnow, three years from now, it
it's probably not gonna be thesame, you know.

(57:56):
Obviously, there's some themesand stuff that are that are
eternal and and always evergreenand all that, but truly, like, I
don't know where the world'sgonna be in three years, but
I'll tell you who does.
God absolutely does.
And so being able to say, Allright, I'm diving into a script,
I'm diving into a story, I'mdiving into this film.
Lord, I don't know what's gonnabe going on in the world two,

(58:17):
three years from now, but youdo.
And so give me, give me thatwisdom.
What am I supposed to be talkingabout or writing about, or
what's this dialogue here thatI'm stuck on?
You know, and it's amazing, youknow, and and it's as simple as
I'm stuck on a on a bit ofdialogue or I'm stuck on a
scene, and I just say, you knowwhat, I gotta do, I just gotta
go for a walk and I gotta pray.

(58:38):
And then it's amazing.
Nine times out of ten, I'll comeback and say, Oh, oh, that's
yeah, there, that's it.

James Duke (58:43):
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 tothink, just to process.
And yeah, that's really good.

(59:05):
Um, uh, this has been a greatconversation.
Let me get you out of, let meget you out of here with this.
Um, you know, a lot of a lot ofyoung, aspiring uh filmmakers,
emerging filmmakers arelistening to this podcast.
What's your advice to them?
They're they're thinking, I wantto be a director, I want to be a
writer.
Um what should they what shouldthey be doing right now?

(59:27):
What should they be focusing onright now that will prepare them
to eventually have a career as awriter or director in the
industry?

SPEAKER_04 (59:37):
Uh I I think there's some just practice, you know,
there's there's obviouslypractical things that I'm sure
everybody says of if you want tobe a writer, write, you know, if
you want to direct, direct, youknow, even if that's getting,
you know, on your iPhone and acouple actor buddies together
and just starting to experiencewhat the the dynamics and the
process is like, and and andeven if you even enjoy it as

(59:59):
much.
As you thought you would enjoy.
Being a writer is very tough.
I mean, it's a lot of hours byyourself in a room, you know, uh
uh without support.
You know, that's that's verydifferent.
You know, and then directingcomes with a ton of other
responsibilities and and and andkind of not burdens, that's the

(01:00:20):
wrong word, butresponsibilities, you know,
we're uh pressure, that's what Iwas gonna say.
You know, we're we're there's alot of people looking at you to
make decisions all day long, allday long.
So so even just getting used tothat, you know, um is is great.
That's kind of the practicalside.
On on more of a deeper sort oftheory side or whatever you want

(01:00:42):
to call it, of just like askingthe why.
Like, what why do I want to tellstories?
You know, what what is what isit in me that I need to share
with the world, right?
Whether whether you're writingit or directing it, it's like
what why?
Why why have you why do you feelcalled to this?
Because it's a it's a verydifficult, very long journey um

(01:01:06):
in this industry to do anything.
And so you really have to commitin a way that is is total
commitment, where you just feellike I don't think I could do
anything else.
I think I have to be astoryteller.
And I think once you've donethat, the you know what I tell,
especially film students and anduh uh and screenwriting students

(01:01:26):
is my best work has come out ofpersonal experiences.
Um full of grace and Paul cameout of wrestling with my faith
on a deep, deep level.
And I think that a lot ofyounger filmmakers have not yet
gone and experienced things inthe world.

(01:01:47):
And I'm not saying go to a puband 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 theworld, you should listen in
unique places to other people'sconversations, not in a creepy
way, but in a like training yourear to be like, whoa, I just

(01:02:10):
like I just heard how a realfight goes between two people.
I just learned, I think thatperson 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'sit's you know, maybe there's the
rare writer that's never hadexperiences themselves and just

(01:02:32):
is an unbelievable can mimicthat and can do that.
That's probably out there, but Ithink for most, you know, you
you need to have experiences inthe world that then inform how
you talk about it and how yougive wisdom and how you do this,
because ultimately that's whatyou are, you know, as a
storyteller, you'reentertaining, you're giving

(01:02:53):
wisdom or advice, or you'reshowing people something about
the world that they don't know.
If they already know it, it'snot very interesting.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:00):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (01:03:00):
Um, so that's what I would say is is truly like go
travel, go go to another countryfor a bit, and and and or go
learn something new, go take aclass on something you didn't
you didn't think you'd ever takea class on, or just just get
those experiences, right?
Um that that's to me, you know,the the if there were if there

(01:03:22):
were again sort of a I wishevery screenwriting student, uh
uh every writer, aspiringwriter, you know, go work on a
farm for six months.
I don't care, you know, go dosomething outside of your
comfort zone, where then yousay, Wow, I have a lot more
things to write about.

James Duke (01:03:41):
That is such good advice.
I I couldn't agree more.
We talk about that a lot at ActOne.
You've got to live life.
What you're describing is, andand people shouldn't be offended
when they hear this.
They should, as a writer, as astoryteller, you just need to
hear this and go, okay, thankyou for the but but uh if your

(01:04:03):
life is empty, your screenplayswill be empty.
And what you end up writing isnot authentic truth and real
it's caricature.
You end up just writingcaricature, right?
It's just your view of like Iremember what my perspective was
to be a father and and andbefore I had kids.

(01:04:24):
That that's that was acaricature of what now I know.
Now that I have children, what Inow know to be married, and that
now I know, and I can write at amuch deeper level about those
things.
So don't be offended if you sitdown and you realize, oh, my
life, my script feels emptybecause maybe my life that's

(01:04:44):
what we're telling you.
Go fill your life, go fill itup.
Like that, don't be offended byit.
Take it as a challenge to golive life.
Uh, go go go listen to what howpeople talk to each other,
interact with each other at themall or at a bar or at a club or
or at church or wherever, justwalking down the street.
Uh, travel, see other cultures,hear how they people interact

(01:05:05):
with each other, live life, gainthese experiences, and it your
life is richer, and then yourwork becomes richer and it
becomes less like a caricatureand more authentic.
I I couldn't agree with youmore.
It's really good advice.
Um, well, I'm I'm grateful toyou for this time, Andrew.
This has been fantastic.
And thank you.

SPEAKER_04 (01:05:24):
Thanks.

James Duke (01:05:24):
Um, I'm I really hope people check out site and
um of course all your otherfilms, I'm streaming, I'm sure
they can find them all over theplace.
But uh Andrew Hyatt, it's been apleasure talking to you.
I always like to pray for ourguests to wrap up our
conversation.
Would you allow me to do that?

SPEAKER_04 (01:05:39):
Yeah, please.
Thank you, James.

James Duke (01:05:42):
Heavenly Father, we just uh I want to stop and thank
you for Andrew.
Thank you for uh just uh whatyou're doing in his life, what
you continue to do in his lifeand what you do um uh through
his work.
And God, we just pray a blessingupon um the film site that the
people that you want to see itseize it.
And God, we thank you for all ofAndrew's hard work on the

(01:06:03):
project on all the films he'sdone.
God, we pray a blessing uponhim, his work, blessing upon his
family, his um, hisrelationships.
Uh God, we pray that you'd gobefore him, protect him, watch
over him and his family, and umGod, give him more and more
opportunities to still to tellstories uh that um that uh

(01:06:24):
create those moments, thoseemotional um moments that he was
talking about.
And and um and God that theywould resonate deeply with his
audience.
And uh, we thank you for thistime and um we pray these
blessings in Jesus' name and onyour promises we stand.
Amen.
Thank you for listening to theAct One podcast, celebrating

(01:06:45):
over 20 years as the premiertraining program for Christians
in Hollywood.
Act One is a Christian communityof entertainment industry
professionals who train andequip storytellers to create
works of truth, goodness, andbeauty.
The Act One program is adivision of Master Media
International.
To financially support themission of Act One or to learn
more about our programs, visitus online at Act OneProgram.com.

(01:07:08):
And to learn more about the workof Master Media, go to
MasterMedia.com.