July 24, 2025 • 68 mins
Entertainment is discipling our children more effectively than church or even parents, creating an urgent need for parents to reclaim storytelling and media consumption in their homes. The real battle for kids' hearts and minds happens through the stories they absorb daily, not just in classrooms or on social media.
• Less than 15% of media worldwide is made for kids, with an even smaller percentage containing pro-God messages
• Today's children get 60% of their media from YouTube rather than traditional channels
• Tech companies design content specifically to capture children's attention through tactics like seven-second scene changes
• Parents can establish clear boundaries around device usage with designated charging stations and screen-free times
• Reframe technology as a tool for creation rather than consumption by starting family projects that use tech for good
• "Aria Appleton" film offers families entertainment that addresses relevant issues like adoption and bullying from a faith perspective
• Setting reasonable rules is more effective than creating overly strict boundaries that inspire rebellion
• Parents working long hours can be more intentional about discussing media with children during the time they do have together
• Consider periodic "tech detoxes" to reset family patterns and assess dependency levels
Check out "Aria Appleton" on Amazon Prime Video and find the Parent/Leader's Guide at givesendgo.com/ariaappleton to help facilitate meaningful family discussions about the film's themes.
DON'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT EMERGENCY, PLUS, SAVE 15%: https://www.twc.health/elsa
#ifounditonamazon https://a.co/ekT4dNO
TRY AUDIBLE PLUS: https://amzn.to/3vb6Rw3
Elsa's Books: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B01E1VFRFQ
Design Like A Pro: https://canva.7eqqol.net/xg6Nv...
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Well, hello my friends, welcome to the show.
Yes, I know you don't see Claysitting behind me or beside me
at least not virtually Today.
It's just me, but I havespecial guests on and I'm so
excited to talk to them.
This is a topic that's reallynear and dear to my heart, so
(00:30):
we're going to be diving into aconversation that's kind of part
urgent and most definitelyinspiring, and we're going to be
talking about the real battlefor our kids' hearts and their
minds, and it's one that's beingfought not just in the
classrooms or on social media,but in the stories that they're
soaking in every single day.
Entertainment is discipling ourchildren and more often, it's
(00:54):
more effective than the church,and that is a big problem and,
by the way, more so than eventheir parents, which is truly a
problem.
But what if we could reclaim itand not just avoid the bad but
create good?
Well, our guests are Nathan andDalitha I did it again, she's
(01:15):
going to correct me on here Twopowerhouse voices who aren't
just raising a family, they'reraising the alarm, offering a
way forward, and from their ownparenting journey to creating
pro-God media.
They're here to talk about tech, addiction, spiritual warfare
through storytelling and howfamilies can push back against a
culture that wants to erasetheir authority.
(01:37):
So buckle up.
This is going to be the kind ofconversation that could change
how you lead your home.
So, without further ado, let'sbring on our guests.
Hello guys, how are you?
Hi, we're great.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Hey, thanks for having us.
We're excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Thank you so much for coming on.
So, as we spoke a little bitbeforehand and as I just
mentioned, this is so near anddear to my heart because I have,
you know, of course, I've grownchildren, but I have little
tiny grandbabies now.
I'm deeply concerned about theenvironment that is going on in
the public school system andjust in our culture as a whole.
(02:31):
So I want to talk to you now.
They have a new movie out.
It's Aria Appleby.
Tell me again, Aria Appleby.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Aria Appleton, shine.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Appleton, I guess I'm hungry.
I'm thinking Appleby's.
I'll call you Appleton Shine.
Appleton, I guess I'm hungry.
I'm thinking Applebee's.
I'm sorry, but before we talkabout the movie, I would love if
you would start by telling us alittle bit about what you guys
mean about entertainment,discipling our kids rather than
us and the Bible and church, andwhat would it look like to
(03:06):
reclaim it for good?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Well, I think all of you will admit that your kids
spend a fair amount of time onscreens and in front of
televisions.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
That's been true since the inception of the
television, but it's just gottenmore and more, and there's now
a glut of things for them towatch, not only in training and
television, but now that you see, kids are getting about 60% of
what they look at.
(03:37):
They're not going to the cinema, they're watching YouTube,
they're watching on theirdevices, so we have all of this
material that's now easilyavailable for them and you know,
they pick up their phone andthere it is the same amount of
(03:58):
potential money in the other'shands, and so all of you know
that is definitely a factor,especially why, in Hollywood or
media in general, the fact thatobviously the time factor is
also something we talk aboutwith people, parents who work 8
(04:24):
to 10 hours a day, sometimes 40,50 hours a week.
They don't have a lot of timewith their kids and they're
trying to think over through apublic school system that in the
last few years, has proven tome that it does not have their,
it doesn't have your individualkids functioning from a
different things at this time.
(04:45):
Maybe at some point in historyit was okay.
I'm about to show you thepublic school system and I was
raised in Indiana.
Public school system was, atthe time, was always 48th or
49th in the nation.
Academically, I was a Texas draw, which is nice.
(05:06):
That's good.
In fact, when I moved to Texasfor the first time, I realized
Texas schools were the top ofthe list.
The top of the list wasgenerally second, I'm sorry, in
the very bottom, I think, lowestpercentile, in the very bottom,
in the very bottom, I think,the lowest percentile of the
(05:27):
African for public schools.
And so you know, I had a highkind of a higher quality maybe
who still?
Public school education,whereas kids in Texas are
probably doing something alittle more well than I am, and
so.
But we kind of turned them overto the state and the state is
perfectly happy with that.
In fact, you know all of thelegalities in both sides now
(05:52):
suggest that the state continuesto sell quality and staff as a
building, and if you're notaware of that, then look it up.
But that one spot is proof thatthis company turned over our
current authority in ecology toa different entity.
And if that entity isn't doinga good job and if that entity
(06:15):
isn't getting what they'relooking for in a product center,
then I'm sure that they canmake it into.
We can probably do somethingabout it.
So we have the state issue,that is, time and volume.
That's a very, verytime-consuming thing and we're
going to have to correct everythree years We've got to
actually.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
So those are three big issues that have to be
addressed before we can doanything about it.
Let me ask you something here.
I'm having a lot of backgroundnoise on your end.
It's very muffled.
There were a couple momentswhere it was super clear.
(06:56):
It looks like your microphonesare in a great spot.
Are they super close?
And are you hearing me?
Okay?
Are you hearing me nice andclear?
I do hear you.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
One sec Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
We're in a podcast studio where we broadcast from
on a regular basis.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Just double check the volume.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
Well, through this end, it's good.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Right, yeah, I can hear you perfectly when you just
did that Nice and sharpperfectly when you just did that
nice and sharp.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yeah, perhaps we're just getting a screen live or
maybe getting some.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Well, while he was talking, I heard this high pitch
noise all of a sudden, and it'sgone now, so maybe that was
just some weird interference.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
OK, you are clearer now.
It's still.
Yeah, I hear this.
It comes and goes.
It like this um comes and goes.
It's like a funny, almost likea whooshing sound, almost like
it's almost like when you cameover to whatever.
(08:02):
You came over to your computer,maybe you got super clear and
sharp, but from where you arenow it sounds very distant.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
I think we're probably running through
computer microphones and notnecessarily through the mic.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
I think that might be the case.
Okay, I think Nathan's going togo get our audio back, no
problem.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Are you going to edit this or is this how it's going
to be?
Speaker 1 (08:27):
no, you know what I mean.
How would you I don't know whatyour time constraints are I, I
almost would want to do thatpart over.
I know he just had such a greatthing and I'm hearing it and
I'm trying, I'm looking atadjustments on my end.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
She said that the computer audio is working, and
these aren't necessarily thatgreat.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Got it.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Alright he's getting them.
Yeah, no problem.
I think we have another hourand a half we can hang out with
you.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Okay, yeah, I just want you to be able to have the
best you know thing to put outthere at the computer she can
hear us so it's funny.
Oh yeah, I hear him like rightin my ear, so wherever the sound
is coming from it's it's wherehe is.
I just said that, sotechnically didn't I I.
(09:23):
It was so impressive.
All right, can?
Speaker 5 (09:24):
you hear me better.
Now Can you hear?
Speaker 1 (09:26):
me.
Speaker 5 (09:26):
Oh my God, perfect, okay, so that's all it is.
I was right, I know tech, yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
No worries.
Okay, how's that?
So they've kicked off the.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
AC and rerouted us, and now we're running through
the microphone Perfect, nice andsuper clear.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Perfect okay, nathan, I'm so sorry.
I don't know if you heard thatpart.
We were just talking.
I would prefer, if it's okaywith you, to kind of just do
that first question over.
You gave such a answer and Ihate to make you do it over um I
just I'm afraid that I don'thave enough skill to clean that
up in post-production to make itclearer.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
So and I'm all about it because you asked the
question and then my morningbrain was like I don't know what
she just asked.
So this is going to be great.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Perfect, I listen.
This is like my second cup ofcoffee.
I'm I'm still muddling throughhere, so bear with me as well.
Oh, okay, so, um.
So we're actually funny enough.
I didn't even hit the pausebutton on the recording, so
obviously I'll be cutting all ofthat out.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Nice yeah so for bloopers.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
We always could, but no, we don't need to.
All right, so I'm going tore-ask that question.
We'll take it right from thatpoint, and then I hope you
remember every single thing thatyou just said, nathan.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Yeah, I got it.
I think I got it.
We'll see what happens.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Perfect, okay, all right, so here we go.
So before I ask you about themovie and I want to hear all
about it I did get to see, I gotto see most of it and it looks
so good, it is so charming, andwe're going to talk all about
that.
But I want to talk a little bitabout if you could tell us what
you mean by when you say thatentertainment has been
(11:17):
discipling our kids.
And more importantly to me iswhat would it look like to
reclaim that?
Speaker 2 (11:24):
And, more importantly , to me is what would it look
like to reclaim that?
Yeah, you know in the OldTestament.
It talks about you know,sharing the law and the
teachings of Christ and of God.
When you walk with your kids,like you, just you know.
When you walk along the road,when you're at home, you know
you're sharing time with yourkids, and so time is a
(11:45):
particular factor.
Parents who work 60 hours aweek and turn their kids over to
a public school system, youknow, don't get nearly as much
time with their kids as theyprobably did in former
generations, where, when kidsactually worked with their
parents and maybe participatedin the in the actual jobs that
the parents had, and maybeparticipated in the actual jobs
that the parents had.
(12:05):
Delighth and I, though, areboth public school products.
I was part of the Indianapublic school system, which is
always first or second in thenation academically.
She was part of the Texasschool system, which is not
which is not.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
It's the opposite of that.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
It's the opposite.
It's down on the other end,probably just by virtue of being
a much larger state, and thestatistics are skewed, but Texas
is usually 48th in the nationacademically.
That's not good, and so we havethis wide variety of public
school potential for kids, andwe're both byproducts.
We're not enemies of the publicschool system, but we do think
(12:40):
that the public school systemneeds some serious reformation,
and I'm all about the Departmentof Education reorganizing to
give more control back to thestates, because I think that
will empower parents more sothan they have felt empowered in
past generation.
So the time that parents get tospend with their kids is
(13:03):
limited because of the lifestylethat Americans are currently
living, when some of thosefamilies, in order to just
survive, are working two andthree jobs and mom and dad are
both working and the kids are inthat school system that in many
cases, is now ideologicallyopposed to what they believe in
to a large degree.
And then they're surprised whentheir kids come home and
(13:24):
they're we're just talking aboutit this morning, about a good
friend who's got and sheactually teaches in a in a
school, and her child is cominghome with some positionalities
and ideas and things that areshocking to us.
We're going.
Speaker 5 (13:36):
Oh no, here we go, uh and more time at school than
she gets to spend with herparents, truly.
So who is influencing the childat that point?
It's all of her peers, thepeople who are in the same age
bracket as her.
There's not a lot of wisdomthere.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
And then, who are the peers being influenced by?
Well, they're being influencedby the glut of media that is
available to them.
Right now, kids are getting 60%of what they watch from YouTube
or more, and that that is acrazy statistic.
That's blowing the minds of ofDisney and Nickelodeon and
(14:12):
people like that who are goingoh wait, what's going on?
Everything's moved to YouTube.
That's weird.
The format's even changed, andso kids are getting their stuff
from YouTube.
They're getting it from eachother, they're getting it from
TikTok, and there's a majorshortage, too, of material in
(14:52):
that space for young people.
Less than 15% of what's producedworldwide in media is made for
kids and young people and wouldbe considered, maybe, family
friendly, and a far smallerpercentage than that is actually
something that might have aChrist watching, or they're very
likely to be watching somethingthat you don't want them
watching or you don't agree withon a weekly basis, and they've
(15:16):
turned over their parentalauthority to the state and to a
system that now is an enemy tothe family, and to a large
degree, and the state'sperfectly happy with that,
because, just from a legalstandpoint, based on the system
(15:39):
they designed, they considerthemselves the parent of your
children and you're just thesteward kind of stewarding them,
and if they don't like howyou're handling the way you
raise your kids, they'll takethem away from you, and so that
system needs some reformation,in my opinion.
And so we have a state problem,we have a timing problem, we
(16:02):
have a glut of media problemthat's right there in front of
kids, and now they have a devicein every hand.
So we really are in a kind of abad state.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
We really are and they're so smart, meeting these
tech companies, these contentproducers.
I've read that for thesepreschool shows, which is
probably the most alarming to me, that these people looked at
what's happening, looked atthese statistics and these
numbers and and have studied thethe brain, you know, of
(16:37):
children and their behaviors,and actually did things where
they would have babies ortoddlers, you know, watch a
program that they want to putout and track how long each
scene kept their attention.
And they're designing theseshows, you know, like that Cocoa
Melon is probably one of thetop ones that comes to mind that
(16:58):
they are.
So the scene changes like everyI think it's like seven seconds
or so.
So they're actually startingfrom infants and toddlers and
working their way up to what youall are seeing and, of course,
what I'm seeing as well with ourschool age children in the
public school system.
It is just this massmanipulation and taking over of
(17:24):
their brains, of their minds,and, you know, any parent that
isn't realizing how terrifyingthis actually is needs to look
at some of these studies and seesome of this research, because
it's frightening and themagnitude and the effect of it
and, as you said, the type ofprogramming um is not really
(17:47):
encouraging and fostering um,family minded, moral minded uh,
values that we're all, or we'veall, been trying to teach our
kids and, obviously, in my case,grandkids now Um, so it's, it's
really scary and and I lovethat you guys have really
(18:07):
tackled this head on and and theissues are are just so, so many
that we need to tackle, butit's it's kind of wild how sort
of simple the solution is right,just to make that shift, cause
we're we're looking at, you know, tech addiction with kids.
Can you talk a little bit about,um, what you're observing?
(18:29):
You know, I know you touched onsome of there, but what kinds
of things are you seeing in thefamilies today?
Is there, is there a growingdivide between parents and their
children?
I probably most particularlylike the teenage children.
Speaker 5 (18:44):
Yeah, I mean.
So I have a three-year-old andI have a 12-year-old and the
three-year-old we had to addresswhat you were just talking
about, about you know those,those kids, little preschool
shows and going okay, well, thisis clearly just brainwashing
you and training your brain tobe the ADHD generation, like
it's not helping anything.
(19:06):
And so we have been battlinghim because we're guilty too.
When we need to work, we workat home.
Sometimes they hand the iPadover and if I'm not paying
attention he knows how to workthat thing and get to the things
he's not supposed to watch, andso for us it's hard because we
know we know better.
And so we do try to tellourselves just take him outside,
(19:28):
just jump on the trampoline,just go on a walk, because all
he needs is a minute with us.
I mean he doesn't need likehalf of just play, right, but we
do have to make a sacrifice andprioritize in the moment.
So it's down there at three.
Our 12 year old's pretty goodnow.
But I have been hearing horrorstories from my friends with
teenagers and adult childrenwith the addiction factor and I
(19:52):
mean but if you hand over adevice to a teen and you don't
have clear boundaries and clearconsequences for what happens if
they break those boundaries.
Well, you're setting yourself upfor failure.
You know you might as well justhand your child over and be
like well, I tried my best, I'msorry, because they're not ready
(20:15):
.
Even the adult children arehaving issues.
I mean, we have a friend whothe son had a major addiction to
what he was seeing on thescreen when he was 16, and now
he's 24.
And it's only gotten worsebecause it wasn't really
addressed and it wasn'tcorrected.
(20:35):
And sometimes you have to makereally bold choices and just
take it away, be like I'm sorry.
I gave you that phone when youwere 14.
I thought you were ready.
Clearly you're not Now you're16.
You don't get it again untilyou actually graduate, you know.
And it's hard if you're sendingyour kids to public school or
private school where everyonehas a phone because they all do.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
It's easier as a home , you know go ahead.
Speaker 5 (21:01):
Well, it's just easier as a homeschool mom
because you know, as ahomeschool mom I'm I'm going
okay.
Well, the kids you are hangingout with their parents have the
same sort of standards that wedo.
You know, I'm getting to kindof pick and choose and curate.
What my child is is who she'sreally interacting with, so it's
(21:22):
easier.
On the homeschool front there'sstill some struggles, but not
as much as if you're actuallysending your kids to school.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Yeah, and you touched on a little earlier that you
know some of the solution orcounter to that, in particular
for families who aren't, for youknow, whatever their reasons
are, they're not able tohomeschool, that they need, or
they just simply prefer thepublic school environment.
(21:51):
You know no judgment whatsoeveron what anyone chooses to do,
but they're still seeing, moreso than anyone else, probably,
those struggles that you werejust talking about, and you guys
have some you know greatalternatives for for combating
that, that overload.
So you advocate for creatingmedia that's pro-God, not just
(22:15):
clean.
So what differences does thatperspective bring to the content
that you create?
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Well, I think that pro-God to us just represents
that the people who make thatmedia keep God in mind.
They're not sanitizing it,they're just.
I believe in the idea thatsanctified people, people who
are seeking God, people who areattempting to live in a moral
(22:46):
space, if that same person setsout to make media or to do
anything at all, well,everything they do is going to
be affected by that concept,that positionality.
Obviously, people can sit andwrite and I write occasionally
and I'm surprised what I write.
If you're just being reallyorganic and honest, it just
(23:06):
comes out.
But even still, you might beable to write something that
might be less savory for kids.
You put it on paper and you go,oh, okay.
But if you're looking at itfrom a, you put it on paper and
you go, oh, okay.
But if you're looking at itfrom a logical view and a
Christian worldview and a moralposition, you could look at it
and go, well, I don't think kidsare ready for that, I don't
(23:27):
think they're going tounderstand that.
So I'm not going to you know,we won't make that and put that
out there in the space for them.
So I do believe that who we areas a people and who we are in
our hearts.
As a man thinks in his heart,so he is, and as a direct
byproduct of that, that personis going to create probably a
(23:49):
more savory product for familiesand kids and things like that.
Obviously, it will be affectedby the belief system, and so
that's first things first.
The other factor that youbrought up is also and Delitha
said this too people need tomake a bold choice about how
they interact.
Some families do probably haveenough going on in their
(24:10):
circumstance and they could, ifthey would make a major change
and homeschool or move.
Sometimes just moving from oneschool to another, if they're in
public or private, could makethe difference because of the
culture of that particularschool or something might make a
difference.
Some parents need to downsize,maybe in their own lifestyle, in
(24:34):
order to create time with theirkids where they go.
You know what?
We don't need this ginormoushouse, or we don't need three
cars, or we don't need some ofthe things that we may be
hanging on to from a lifestylestandpoint and I'm working three
jobs to try to afford all ofthis stuff and so some families
may need to do some of thatdownsizing in order to create
(24:55):
the time, and parents who dohave kids in public school, I
think, need to be just asintentional probably more
intentional than homeschoolparents.
Homeschool parents spend a fairamount of time kind of
programming the day and whatwe're going to do and who's
going to be doing what and whatmaterial we're working through,
and then you know when we'reworking through and then you
(25:18):
know when we're playing versuswhen we're studying, and so we
have the ability to affect thatmore.
Parents who have kids in publicschool need to look at that,
get involved in the school boardand the PTA and make sure
they're having an influence onwhat's being taught in those
(25:39):
spaces and what's being sharedin those spaces, because that's
your right.
It's a public space, it's apublic school.
You have a right to get inthere and make an impact on and
have a voice in that space.
So I think parents ought to dothat and then be very
intentional about those fewhours in an evening and a
weekend that you do get to spendwith your kids, where you do
(26:01):
sit and talk to them aboutwhat's going on in the world and
what we believe, and gettingmore involved in talking to them
, asking questions and then,particularly regarding media,
talking about what you'rewatching, because we're in this
position too.
We've literally gone, like allof you gone to the movie before
with your kids, and then you'rehoping, you look at it in the
(26:23):
trailer and all this, you'relike, oh, this looks pretty good
, this is rated for families orwhatever.
And then you watch it and yougo, oh great, now I have to talk
to my nine-year-old about thisparticular subject that they
really shouldn't be talkingabout until they're, you know,
quite a bit older.
Speaker 5 (26:44):
And, uh, we were getting tired of doing that.
We were tired of going okay,I've looked it up online, I've
done all the reviews, I've seenit, this is going to be great.
And if it's a TV show, often itwould be like it'd be fine.
And then in episode six, bam,something would get in there
where you're like no, no, Ididn't see this thing.
Or you know, a movie will goand then they'll put it in the
credit crawl.
You're like we made it throughthe whole movie and you did this
(27:07):
to me.
You know, I got tired, I got fedup, and so you know, we've done
something that is proactive andwe've created a movie where we
are giving parents theopportunity to still have a
discussion with your kids, butabout things you want to talk
about, like, oh, adoption, let'stalk about adoption, that's a
(27:27):
beautiful thing.
Or let's talk about dying toself, let's talk about that,
please.
And so we've created a littlemovie that has lovely themes
throughout it that are relevant.
We have anti-bullying and cyberbullying in the movie, and
we've created a parent andleader's guide that accompanies
(27:48):
the film so that parents canhave good conversations about
topics that really matter andthat are relevant.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Yeah, because some parents don't feel comfortable
right now.
For instance, I went toseminary.
I'm a preacher's kid, I studiedBible.
I've worked for the church alittle bit over the years.
I feel more prepared if my kidsits down and says I've got some
questions, or you discover yourkids be an emo and you want to
intervene, and I feel a littlemore prepared probably than some
(28:19):
parents just because of myupbringing and my education, and
so we knew that just throughtalking to our own friends.
It's like not everyone feelsthat prepared.
They don't know what scriptureto refer to.
They don't know how to talk totheir kids, in some cases about
a biblical idea contrastingwhat's going on in the world,
(28:41):
and so the Leader's Guide is forthat, just as a tool to try to
help support parents, becauseit's going to happen anyway.
I mean, you're going to bewatching something that's in the
mainstream on a streamer andyou're going to end up in these
conversations anyway, so why notput something in the playlist
(29:02):
that everybody's going to enjoy?
What we did is kind of cottoncandy meets nutrition, because
it's in a package that's alittle unfamiliar to people,
because most people making faithand family friendly content
don't put these types of storiesinto a comedy and particularly
(29:23):
into a satire, which is what wedid and and so it's a little
unfamiliar to people, but it'swhat is going on out there and
it's one reason that that we wesee so much of this glut being
so impactful on the kids,because the quality and the
content that they're getting isoften fun, musical comedy, it's
(29:48):
things that kids want to watch.
It's that kind of thing.
When we start looking into thefaith-based and family market,
there's very little of that.
It's high drama and it's verystoic and serious and the kids
are not going to just sit therewith you and watch most of these
things.
I didn't want to watch some ofit when I was in my twenties
(30:09):
because my parents were puttingon movies that were made by some
very well-known people in thefaith-based space.
No offense to them, but they'retrying to show this stuff at
church and they're asking methey're like hey, what'd you
think about that movie that weshowed at church?
And I'm going, eh, and as as aguy interested in film and the
arts, I was like I don't thinkit's that good, like it's not a
(30:31):
good quality product and it'sgot bad acting and the script is
clunky.
Um, god has chosen the foolishthings to the world to shame the
wise and the simple things, toshame those that are.
So I was.
I was giving God credit becausehe's using that stuff and I
know he does, but he's but it'snot affecting kids and young
people because they're notwatching that, they're not
paying attention, and and so wewere very, uh, interested in the
(30:56):
the kid and young adult space,because we're just kind of goofy
kids ourselves and have alwaysloved kids movies, and so we're
hopeful that what we're doingwill help inspire some out of
the box thinking on the part ofpeople who are making that type
of material for families andthat it'll help families have
(31:19):
that conversation.
And and, um, my dad was greatat that.
My dad was pretty incrediblerockstar public, um, pulpit
minister, who you know.
If you got to watch a clip fromBraveheart at church, you know
we were all like we're watchinga movie.
Hollywood has come to churchthis morning and that was always
(31:41):
fun.
And my dad was good at takingthe heart out of a mainstream
movie and then pull the themeout and give it to us and make a
biblical connection or a godlyconnection to that theme.
(32:13):
He was very good at that, andso we are hoping that we'll
inspire other filmmakers andother people and continue
ourselves to be inspired.
To take a little piece offiction, but it's true.
You could say that some ofthose things are fairy tales.
Are they true, though?
Yes, does it have a truth in it?
Yes, it's intended to teach yousomething, and film can be used
(32:34):
that way.
Film can be used that way.
It is happening broadly, like wewere talking about preschool
programming.
It's been happening that way inHollywood and from people in
high places for a long time.
It's just that the church hasnot been involved.
They've just turned over theirauthority and their sovereignty
(32:55):
to these organizations to alarge degree.
I was reading the other day thata couple of our very well-known
billionaires who are investingheavily in kids' cartoons and
they're doing this because Idon't think it's because they
nefariously want to influencethe kids towards a particular
(33:19):
ideology, necessarily, but theydo want to influence those kids
to buy their products for thenext 40 years, and so they are
doing that, and so I don't knowthat all of it's particularly
nefarious, but some of it is,and you know it when you see it
and you look at it and go, oh,wait a minute, it is, and you
(33:39):
know it when you see it and andyou look at it and go oh wait a
minute, that that's pure evilright there.
I don't this, you know there's.
There's a little difference, sowe're getting a little of both.
We need to be uh, we need to bevigilant, we need to be awake,
we need to wake up and and payattention to what's going on.
So we're hoping what we'redoing will at least stimulate
that and and help people.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Well, I especially love what you're doing.
Comedy and satire is really myhome.
That's my lane.
When I'm not doing podcaststuff, I'm doing, uh, comedy
skits and and all of thosethings, and it's usually, you
know, culture and also politicsuh related.
But you know, I felt the samething that you guys did.
Like, you know, you're gettingall of this information.
(34:23):
Everybody is telling the news,everybody is a podcaster now,
everybody is an independentmedia person now, and everybody
is delivering the same news, thesame headlines, the same
stories, the same everything,everything, high drama, uh, you
know, tension, everybody's angryand, uh, you know, I love to
laugh.
Comedy is just my whole life.
(34:45):
That's always been my happyplace.
You know, literally andfiguratively, I guess.
Um, so what and I agree withyou fully what what you're doing
is, is you're bringing this toum children in the way that they
relate best to.
They're not watching, theydon't care about soap opera
style, you know anything.
They make them laugh, keep thementertained and give them that
(35:08):
wholesome messaging that we'reall craving.
And I would say, the only thingdifferent as of late and I as
of late, I mean by the past, Idon't know, maybe 10 years, I
may be exaggerating, I may beunderestimating is that we'll
say, at least the last few years, that they are less sneaky
about it.
(35:28):
They are so open now and Iweirdly thank them for doing
that because you can't miss itnow and I and I weirdly thank
them for for doing that becauseyou can't miss it now.
You know there's there's stillsome stuff that they sneak in
there and that you're you know,you don't realize it until
you're watching.
You're like something doesn'tfeel right with this program,
like what is it?
But now they're so blatant withtheir, you know, messaging and
(35:49):
and their culture, um, ideas andall of those things.
So that, thankfully, is in itsweird way, a good thing, because
you can spot it and boot it andget it out of your kids' lives
as best as possible.
You gave some great suggestionsfor parents who are like just
waking up to all of this what'shappening in media and what our
(36:12):
children are watching and thelack of control that they have.
Um, before we talk a little morefully about the movie, like I
promised guys, I promised wewould be talking about this
movie Um, I just want to ask youquickly if you could like, if
you could give like a few Idon't know, practical first
steps for parents who are justrealizing what's going on, like
(36:34):
how they can engage proactively.
And I'm going to offer thefirst one watch their movies.
Start there.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 5 (36:44):
Yeah.
So for me it just depends onwhere your kids are.
So with my three-year-old, youknow, he has discovered YouTube
and fortunately there is YouTubekids and you can go in and you
can control the exact videosthat he will watch.
And so I went in and I was likewhat are the VBS songs?
What are the?
You know?
Because there are VBS programsout there, like with puppets and
(37:05):
stuff, and so we put that onthere.
But he also likes race cars andhe also likes motorcycles.
So I got to select all of thosethings, which is great for the
littles.
The older ones are harder,because you might be able to
control a little bit about whatthey see, but the commercials
come on and the commercials haveno filter, right, and so you're
like, oh what, ok, they justpresented that to my child.
(37:27):
Thanks, thanks everybody.
And so for the olders I would Imean for me, I am just, I draw
hard lines, and so you know wedon't do like my daughter.
She's 12.
She does not have a phone, shedoes have a tablet and she has
Wi-Fi.
But guess what, I control theWi-Fi.
So if she does something trulynaughty, which she doesn't, I
(37:48):
can turn that Wi-Fi off, I canchange the password and so
that's easy for her there andfor your teens.
So I just say be thecounterculture.
And so just because they thinkthey need a phone doesn't mean
they need the phone.
Oh, I need to go jump off thatcliff right now, mom.
No, you actually don't, sorry,your brain's not fully formed.
(38:08):
I'm going to be your mom.
You just have to draw hardlines and say no to this, no to
this, no to this, or know yourchild and know kind of where
they are.
But you have to also presentsomething positive.
Right, that's a lot of negative.
No, no, no.
So what's a positive?
So I like a lot of the showsthat are on Angel Studios.
There's Wing, feather Saga andthere's Studio C.
(38:31):
I love Studio C.
It's clean, saturday night live, sort of skits, and so that's
fun.
Find other things, like thelittles.
I like Bluey.
I mean God is not presented inBluey, but at least it's
positive and fun.
So find things that the kidswill enjoy, that you approve of,
(38:51):
and maybe start right there,and that's a lot to filter
through all of these things.
I think that's a lot.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
We also have some hard rules around time of day
when it's okay to be on a device.
You're not allowed to just havea device and just be on it all
day long.
That's not how that works.
It shouldn't be that way in anyhome.
And if parents are doing that,and parents are just willy nilly
on their phone all day long oron their device all day long,
justifying that, well, I need itfor work and and half the time
(39:21):
you're just sitting there doomscrolling, you probably ought to
check yourself and come upfirst.
Establish some household rulesfor mom and dad about their
devices, like we don't dodevices at the dinner table.
We have, you know, we have afew, just nominal rules.
Everybody kind of understands,but put some, put some things
into play like that for theparents and then and obviously
(39:42):
parents who do use devices andthings like that for work, you
can have a different rule foryourself than you have for your
kids, and the kids have toaccept that and go.
Well, mom and dad have to work.
I need to be at my computer todo my job or to do what I'm
doing for this amount of time aday, but um, and then have some
(40:04):
rules around the kids.
I made up an arbitrary rule ayear ago for Maxwell.
He's three and you know, and hewas like, well, I want to get
on your phone and uh, and itjust came out of my mouth one
day.
I was like it's after 630.
And he doesn't even know whatthat means.
But in our house during a day,if he asks to get on my phone, I
might let him do that to watchYouTube, kids or something, for
(40:24):
a few minutes during a day, butnot all day long.
He might have 15 or 20 minutesof that type of interaction with
my device, but then I have thisarbitrary it's after 6.30.
That sounded good to me and Ithink that you know you have to
come up with what kind of seemssensible to you and your house
(40:45):
and then hold that line and nowyou know that's just how it goes
.
He doesn't know what it meansreally, but he accepts it and he
just goes oh okay, it's after6.30 and we go play with blocks
or we can do something else.
And as a dad I have to beintentional, like Delilah said
earlier.
You know I've got to if he'stapped me on the shoulder twice
in a day and said, hey, I wantto do this or would you do this
(41:07):
with me?
I just stop what I'm doing,whatever, no matter how
important that is to me.
I just generally go.
You know this can wait and I'llgo jump on the trampoline for
three minutes and then come backand get back to work and that's
sufficient for him.
But but yeah, we have some kindof hard lines for ourselves,
(41:28):
we've drawn some hard lines forthem, and if you haven't done
the research on the potentialEMF dangers for kids from
radiation to Bluetooth to all ofthis you should go check that
out.
You should look into that.
It's going to give you pauseand make you go.
Oh well, maybe we should putsome more strict rules in place
(41:51):
around how much time we spend onthese things.
Speaker 5 (41:54):
Rules in place around how much time we spend on these
things.
The final thing I would say iscreate a box or an area where
all the devices go.
So when it's like, oh, it's 830and this is our cutoff time,
everybody, all the devices gothere.
That's where they charge, thatsort of thing, and then they
know when they are allowed toget back on it.
So if you're a homeschool mom,you're like, okay, well, once
(42:16):
school's over tomorrow andyou've had a good attitude, then
you can get it back.
But make it a privilege to getthat device back out of that
area.
Some people need a box thatthey can lock up, because I have
had students in the past whohave confessed to me yeah, my
mom tells me I'm not supposed toget on the iPad after eight,
but as soon as she goes to sleepI just get on it.
(42:38):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
Well, you're the naughty one.
Speaker 3 (42:41):
You need a lot of boundaries, so you need to know
your kids.
Speaker 2 (42:48):
Yeah, we also recommend to people that if some
families might want to considera detox from devices for a
minute to gauge your ownaddiction and so parents
sometimes need to do that theymay need to go.
You know what.
Let's do two weeks off andlet's just everybody shuts down
for two weeks.
We go device free for two weeksand see who's the most addicted
and see who has the biggestproblem.
(43:11):
Those types of two week or 30day detoxes could be really
helpful.
But they can have a reciprocalproblematic reaction where
people start to feel ashamedabout device usage.
Parents feel guilty sittingdown to check their email to us
(43:31):
or have a kind of a contractionexpansion problem around shame
and we don't want that.
You don't want to create theessence of like a bulimia versus
anorexia problem for yourselfregarding your device usage.
You don't want to do that andso we don't shame people, we
(43:52):
don't shame ourselves about this.
We just go hey, let's just havesome practical ways to handle
this.
And then some parents who maywant to do the detox, but for a
minute to gauge where they areas a family.
Some families may not need todo that.
They may have some reasonablerules in place.
The theme of our movie is makegood.
(44:12):
That's it.
Let's make good, let's makegood movies.
That was our dream.
Let's make a good movie.
It doesn't have to be perfect,but let's make a good one and
let's make sure that it has thegoodness of God in it.
Let's put that in there.
Then, from a family standpoint,let's look at our device usage
(44:36):
and instead of going cold turkeyto be like, oh no, we have all
these really strict rules thatkids might be tempted to rebel
against, right, because that'sthe essence of the law.
Paul said that about the lawthat as soon as the law came, it
inspired in me every desire tobreak the rules, and we see that
in kids all the time.
So why would we then create allthese really super strict rules
(45:00):
around it and not be reasonable?
It also begs a question aboutwell, I assume that this tech is
all evil, it's all bad, and Ithink that is short-sighted
where we as the people of Godought to look at that and go, no
, we could redeem this.
We can actually take thistechnology and use it for good.
(45:24):
And so some families need to dothat.
They need to look at it and go,hey, what's maybe a 30-day
project we could do as a familyto repurpose our Facebook pages
or set up a give send go onbehalf of a friend or a
missionary or somebody we knowthat's sick, or can we start
some sort of family project thatsupports widows and orphans
(45:45):
Anything that we could do as afamily.
And then that is what you dofor your tech time.
It's like, well, we're notgoing to sit and just surf
YouTube today, but we are goingto get online and we're going to
shoot a video.
We're going to start a familypodcast or a vlog.
We're going to put somethingtogether that actually blesses
people, blesses the world, takestechnology and puts it into
(46:06):
play for good.
And so that's our otherrecommendation to people is
that's the proactive part.
You know, what we sit and dwellupon and what we think about is
what we create in our lives.
And if we sit and just think,oh, I shouldn't be doing that, I
shouldn't be doing that, oh,shame on you for getting on your
phone, we're going to justcreate more of that for our kids
(46:29):
and ourselves.
We don't want that.
So let's be proactive and flipthe script and just go no, what
can we do?
That's useful.
What can we do?
That's good?
Whatever is good, lovely,useful, excellent, praiseworthy.
Think on those things and applyPhilippians, chapter four, to
your use of technology in yourhouse.
Speaker 1 (46:48):
I love all of that so much.
You hit on both of you hit onevery factual, actual thing that
I think we all I shouldn'tgeneralize, but I'm going to
generalize that we're allexperiencing, including the
shame factor, the, you know, ifyou're on your phone, you're
(47:08):
feeling like you're being judged, so you're feeling guilty.
You feel like you know, and Iknow that's an aspect for me and
I don't even have smallchildren in the house, but I,
you know, doing all of thethings that I do, it's all media
based, it's all tech based.
That phone, you know, I'msurprised my hand isn't, you
know, permanently in the clawshape from holding the phone.
It's crazy and I'm aware of itand it does.
(47:38):
It instills that sense of guiltthat you know and I love that
perspective shift and, and Ithink you know, if you're
feeling that shame and thatguilt, for you know, being on
your phone when your kids are,you know, playing on the floor
in front of you or you're onyour phone while your kids are
on their tablet, and all ofthose things, that little bit of
a perspective shift on it I Ithink really will mobilize, uh,
parents and just whether youhave little kids or big kids, um
(48:00):
, it kind of motivates you and Ilove the suggestions and ideas
Absolutely brilliant and and Ithink that just that just shifts
everything.
That was wonderful.
Um, now, officially, I want totalk about this movie.
Um, your, your lead actressthere.
She is absolutely adorable andtalented, so I want you just to
(48:21):
walk me through the, the process, the, the idea of the movie,
the, the creation, everything.
I'm giving you a wide berthhere of a question, but I know
you got this, yeah so.
Speaker 5 (48:35):
So I think Nathan should probably start the story,
because I do, but I'll start itanyway, okay.
Speaker 2 (48:41):
So, I'll interject.
Speaker 5 (48:43):
Okay, great, I was an actress.
That is how I made my living inmy early twenties, in late
twenties and early thirties.
And then I had a child.
I had my first child, aurora,and when I had her I went back
to the theater, cause that'swhat I knew to do.
And that first show back, Ifelt so guilty, being of guilt,
(49:05):
but I did.
I felt guilt, being away fromher for hours during the day and
, um, I just did not have a goodtime and I decided that that
was the last show I was going todo for a while and I was going
to be a mom and that was mypriority.
And so I made that decision and, kind of simultaneously, nathan
(49:25):
had a moment.
Speaker 2 (49:27):
Yeah, about the same time I had been in the media
arts and in the film industryspace.
We had done a bunch of things.
At that point we designedCapernaum Studios and Gardens
where they shot the chosenseasons one through three.
I had produced three featureswith friends, I'd done a bunch
of short films, I'd worked as anart director, I'd worked as an
(49:49):
actor and I had just had thisvariety of artistic experiences
for over a decade.
And then, right about that point, when she made that shift, the
Lord grabbed me by the scruff ofthe neck sort of, and I was
like what, and I was feelingrather cynical about some of
what I'd been involved in.
I had just come off of afeature that really was just a
(50:10):
mainstream feature, I wasworking as a producer and it
just beat me up psychologicallyand spiritually.
I came off of it and I was justkind a producer and it just
beat me up psychologically andspiritually.
Like I came off of it and I wasjust kind of tired and fatigued
and um, and I want my life touh serve God in, in in the way
that it can through what I do.
Uh, but I really wasn't feelinggratified.
And when I and when I got tothe core of like why do I not
(50:32):
feel gratified?
It was like, well, what we justmade is pretty much worthless
and has no redeeming quality, noredeeming value.
And one of the things that'simportant to me is mission and
helps drive me not motivated bymuch except mission and purpose
(50:52):
and I kind of got grabbed by thescruff of the neck.
It's like, hey, you need tostraighten yourself out.
And when I got really seriousbefore the Lord, I was just like
what, what do you want?
And those of you who pray andor have had this type of
experience will understand whatI'm talking about.
But it became very clear to mein a conversation with the Lord
(51:15):
that I needed to sell my house,I needed to sell a truck.
And that was terrifying to mebecause it put me on my heels
and as a preacher's kid, I waslike, oh God, please don't put
me in a pulpit.
I don't want to, please don'tmake me do what my dad was doing
.
I got into that headspace andwe started talking and she,
(51:36):
being who she is, just saidlet's go, what are we doing?
And I was like I don't know,but we're selling the house,
we're selling the truck.
We just had a baby, so veryweird time to do that.
It felt very strange and out ofplace sort of.
But on the flip side of that,after kind of praying and
thinking about what to do, whereto go from here do I need to
(51:58):
get out of the arts and out ofthe film space?
What do I need to do?
Do I need to just go get anormal job?
But we were clearly sent back,irrespective of one another.
I came to her, said hey, I'vebeen thinking about this.
She said stop, I know we'regoing to make a movie and um,
and so we kind of got sent backinto the space, but with more of
(52:20):
a mission, and that was let'sgo back into the space, let's
make something, but let's keepGod in mind, let's make sure
that what we're doing has aheart and a mission and that's
not just flippant or willy nillyor it's not ambitiously
motivated, it's motivated for akingdom purpose.
And uh, and that was what wecame back to, and so that's
(52:41):
that's how we got in.
But the the getting to yourquestion, which is sarah, sarah
grace prajan, our lead actor.
She's a byproduct of delitha'svoice studio and the life ended
up just one afternoon sittingdown at the laptop and started
cranking out what became thisscript.
And as we discussed how and who, and all of that, sarah Grace
(53:08):
became the answer to our castingquestion.
Speaker 5 (53:11):
And so she and along with the, the actor Steven
Newton, who plays Ty they wereboth in the last show I did, um,
and so we had this great kidcast.
I did a lot of children'stheater and they were these
talented actors and I taughtthem both voice lessons, um,
through that theater.
And I just, you know, as I was,I hadn't, I didn't have them in
(53:33):
mind when I was writing it.
I didn't have anyone in mind.
I had one person in mind that Ithought would play the lead,
and then when I saw her after itwas written, she had aged up.
She looked like a teenager eventhough she was like 12.
And so we just opened up thecasting call to kids that I knew
that were professional actorsin the area, and they came in
(53:54):
and those kids were just theperfect answer to the casting.
Sarah has such a great voice,she's such a tremendous talent
and she's just got that snarkyattitude that we were kind of
looking for and she's so perfectfor it.
Speaker 2 (54:09):
She was, interestingly, as it should be,
the last kid to actuallyaudition.
We'd had a long audition day,uh, after several rounds of
auditions, looking who's goingto play aria, because it has to
be very specific kind of snarkand a very specific kind of uh
attitude who can show both theshadow side of that character.
(54:30):
And we also believe, uh, thenarration of that story and the
end of that story, that she'sgone through a transformation.
We believe that, oh, she'sturned over a new leaf and so
she had to be able to do both.
That's a tricky thing for a10-year-old and it's funny
because she does truly, I think,have a soft, gooey center.
(54:51):
But she does have a rathersharp edge on her at 10 years
old and is super smart.
And when she came in andauditioned, I looked her in the
eyes and I saw that snarky oldsoul down in there who was
looking back and who had sungher heart out for us.
I looked at Delilah.
I was like that's her.
(55:11):
I was like that is her.
Speaker 1 (55:14):
I love that.
I love that.
You just, you just knew likethey always say that, right,
when you know, you know, and youguys knew, you knew that was
your girl right there.
I love that.
That is terrific.
Um so how long, how long did ittake from like a conception to
having it in front of us?
It's on, uh, Amazon prime,correct?
Speaker 5 (55:34):
Yes, it's on Prime Video, absolutely Prime Video,
thank you.
You can buy or rent it, andthen we also have a soundtrack,
because it is a musical, and soyou can find the soundtrack on
Amazon Music, itunes, itunesMusic right now.
Speaker 2 (55:48):
Yeah, and it took a lot longer than we thought it
was going to take.
It was kind of cool, though.
From inception to distributionat this point it has taken
almost 10 years.
We won the ICVM Gold CrownAward last year for Best Feature
(56:09):
Comedy and we were alsonominated for Best Picture at
ICVM, next to Jesus, revolutionand Sound of Freedom.
And one of our actors, julie KRhodes, opened the program when
we were at ICVM and she saidcheck it out, you guys were
nominated for Best Picture.
And she said, next to Sound offreedom.
(56:30):
And I looked at her and I saidwell, that's ironic.
It took sound of freedom 10years to get made and that's
approximately what it took us toget out to.
So we felt like that was kindof a God wink for us, like, uh,
you know, it was like hey, it'sokay, they had a lot of money
and some big stars and youdidn't have that.
You had five loaves and twofish and and what and and and
(56:54):
original idea, and and you'reboth here at the same time, and
and.
So we that that was helpful forus.
But it took about 60 days toshoot the movie with a bunch of
kids who were non-union kids,across evenings, weekends,
christmas break, spring break,stuff like that it took.
It took from Christmas to springbreak to get everything in the
(57:16):
can and then we had about a yearof initial post-production.
We went to festival, probablytoo early because I wasn't
really done with it, but we hada reasonable festival cut of the
movie.
We went to several faith andfamily festivals.
We got rejected by some kind ofmainstream kid festivals.
(57:38):
We got a nasty letter from amainstream kid festival who said
how dare you try to influencepoint?
And then in 2019,.
We did our last festival of thatcycle at Content Media in Texas
and I'd had some offers fordistribution at that point, but
(58:09):
I couldn't turn loose of it, andwhen I got honest with myself
about why, why?
As a filmmaker, I just saidyou're not finished, you're not
done with it.
So you, you have something elseyou want to do.
I did have a list about ahundred things I wanted to fix.
Just little things that would,that were little sacred cows for
me that were going to help mesleep better at night, and so I
(58:31):
set out on a mission to do that.
That was October 2019.
It took until February 2020 tokind of get organized for that
second post and we put it backin post and I had it open on a
timeline to start fixing it.
March 21st of 2020, when thepandemic like, like everybody
(58:55):
locked down and I went what Iwas like no, and instead of
using that season to hunker downand be at home and edit, we
kind of had our legs knocked outfrom under us financially and
so we had to pivot and it tookanother two years to get through
(59:16):
post.
So I printed the master inSeptember 22 and we went back to
festival and that's when we butat that point we had a better
product.
Uh, I was happy I had finallyabandoned it the way you're
supposed to.
They say films are neverfinished, they're only abandoned
, and that is true.
You just get to a point where,like, okay, I can sleep at night
(59:38):
, I think I'm done.
And so we moved on and went tocontent media again.
They thankfully brought us backthrough for another cycle.
We ended up at ChristianWorldview, nominated for Best
Picture and several otherfestivals no-transcript criminal
(01:00:18):
, you know and and we just wegot to a point where, like, I
don't think we can go thisdirection.
And I nearly got, nearly signeda distribution contract about
seven or eight months ago andgot my hand slapped and and I
was like, okay, lord, not that.
Then what, then what?
And so as soon as we decided toself-distribute through Prime
(01:00:41):
Video, we picked up somemomentum again and the
opportunity to take it out, somemoney for marketing.
It was like the ship began tosail again.
At that point we went okay,this is intended to, we're soft,
releasing this through.
Speaker 5 (01:00:59):
We're homeschooling her.
Speaker 2 (01:01:00):
We're homeschooling the movie.
That's what we're doing thereyou go.
Speaker 1 (01:01:03):
I love that.
I especially love your, and Ienvy your patience and, of
course, your perseverance withthis and your faith in what you
guys had created, because thatis a long journey and, by the
way, not terribly different fromwriting books and that whole
process.
As an author, I can tell youthat it's all of that.
(01:01:27):
I never do any conventions andthings like that, or festivals,
which would be, I guess, theequivalent of of the film
festivals and all of that.
Um, but so much respect andadmiration for for the process
that you guys went through and,of course, dealing with
everything that you're dealingwith, uh, at home, you know.
So you have this work life thatyou're you're working through
(01:01:49):
and and, in the meanwhile, homelife, which, of course, talks
finances and crosses over intothat work life big time, you
know.
So huge kudos to both of you forfor sticking with this and
putting out something that'sreally very special and and I I
so look forward to seeing whatelse you guys are going to be
putting out in the future.
I have a feeling it's going tobe just more great things.
(01:02:13):
I'm putting in a personalrequest for, uh, listen, I've
been asking somebody to do a, ajust a really good quality
sitcom.
I was pushing for my own sitcom, listen.
Speaker 5 (01:02:25):
I don't think that's going to happen you, I have one.
Thank you.
Yeah, I have a part for you too, if you want it like it's, of
course I do.
Yeah, it's a comedy.
Speaker 1 (01:02:35):
Yes, that's my dream.
So, yes, and so there we go.
Yeah, I see we put it out thereand now we have to make it
happen.
We do, oh, I can't thank youboth enough for coming on.
Your inspiration, yourmotivation and your information
has been just, I think, soinvaluable to parents.
(01:02:56):
And, of course, the movie.
I'm so excited to be sharinginfo about that for people to
show your kids get to watchsomething that you're not going
to be cringing about.
How exciting is that forparents in this day and age?
Right, if you could telleverybody where to find you guys
, what you have coming up next.
Tell them, of course, one moretime where to find you guys what
you have coming up next.
Tell them, of course, one moretime, where to find the movie,
(01:03:17):
where they can rent it, downloadit, buy it, all of the good
things and the soundtrack.
So give them all that info onelast time.
Speaker 5 (01:03:25):
So if you can only remember one thing, remember
ariaappletoncom, a-r-i-a apple,like you eat it, and then ton
T-O-N.
Ariaappletoncom, becausethat'll get you everywhere you
need to go.
But if you can remember more,or if it's in the show notes,
then also go to Prime Video andlook up Aria Appleton.
That's all you have to type forit to come up.
You can buy it or rent it.
(01:03:45):
If you're there on the Amazonportal, wherever you are, then
the soundtrack will come up aswell and you can purchase or you
can go to iTunes or Apple Musicfor that.
We also have a parent andleaders guide that I briefly
mentioned and this is a tool foryou, for parents, for youth
leaders.
It's great conversationstarters and there's worksheets
(01:04:07):
for the little so that they cando little dot to dots and that
sort of thing while they'relistening to the conversations
with you and the bigs, and sothat you can find at give, send
gocom, backslash Aria Appleton,and you can give a penny or give
more.
Whatever you give, you'll getthe leaders and youth the parent
(01:04:27):
and leaders guide.
Speaker 2 (01:04:29):
We're also adding to that a some suggestions about
instead of.
You know you might need to do a30-day detox from tech, but
we're also suggesting a makegood challenge that we're going
to provide along with that.
If you go to GiveSingo and dothat, that gives you some ideas
about some things you can do athome and some challenges and how
(01:04:50):
to utilize that, how to taketech and use it for good, like
we were talking about earlier.
Speaker 5 (01:04:55):
And then we would love to connect with everyone on
social media.
So aria appleton has her ownpage.
It's the film on instagram andfacebook tiktok, um.
And then we also have a youtubepage, which is uh, the youtube
page is grafted studios, whichis our production company, but
if you type in aria appleton orAria Appleton shines, things
(01:05:16):
will pop up and we would lovefor people to like our YouTube
page, um, and then just connectwith us.
Speaker 2 (01:05:22):
Yeah, and in terms of what's next, uh, we have, like
you said, it's funny.
One of our next projects thatwe're working on is um, another
kind of satirical, um episodicshow.
Um, that's more adult friendly.
It's obviously still within thebounds of what we're writing,
but it's not specifically forkids.
(01:05:42):
But we also have another kidseries that's completely written
.
That is more like high concept,high intelligence kids
television that we've seen inthe last decade, from Malcolm in
the Middle to Gordimer Gibbonsand some shows of that style.
So we have one that does havemore of a biblical, ideological
(01:06:07):
backdrop and so that one's readyto go.
We really like to do that.
So those are kind of in theworks, in the pipeline.
This summer we're off for thispodcast tour that we're
participating in now and August2nd through the 9th, I am
directing Film Camp with theChosen at Camp Hoblitzel, which
(01:06:27):
is where the sets are, if you'refollowing the TV series, the
Chosen, and so if you've gotkids between the age of 13 and
23, and they're interested infilm, musical theater or acting
for camera, they can go throughthat camp and it is a fantastic
camp.
Kirk B Waller, who plays Gaiuson the Chosen, is our acting for
(01:06:49):
camera instructor along with meand Delitha.
I'm directing the film unit onthe whole.
Delitha's directing music forthe musical theater side of camp
and BJ Foreman, who's the artdepartment coordinator for the
Chosen, is directing a musicaltheater camp within that campus.
So really cool teens and youngadults it's fun there's
(01:07:11):
horseback riding and ziplining.
Speaker 5 (01:07:13):
It's just like a true summer camp.
Speaker 2 (01:07:14):
Camp Hobbitzall is an epic 1500 acre summer camp,
Super cool place.
Plus they get to meet cast andcrew of the chosen and that's.
That's a nifty experience foreverybody.
Speaker 1 (01:07:25):
So absolutely yeah, wow, I, you know, I I don't.
In my whole adult life I don'tthink I've ever said, gee, I
wish I could be a kid again.
Until now, because that soundsso amazing, as a first and only
time ever that I'll say, gosh, Iwould love to be a kid again
(01:07:46):
because I would be there so fast.
That sounds absolutely amazing,oh, my goodness.
Well, thank you both again somuch for coming on the show and
sharing all of this.
Your next project listen, youguys have an open invite, come
back anytime, share whatever youhave going on.
I would love that so much andit's been so great talking with
you both.
Thank, you.
Speaker 2 (01:08:07):
Thank you Likewise.
We've loved it and weappreciate being here with you
today.
Speaker 1 (01:08:12):
Thank you.
Absolutely All right guys.
Well, you got so muchinformation out of that.
I got so much information outof that.
I'm going to try and sneak intothat camp.
Do you think anybody willnotice?
I've lost some weight.
I'm kind of short, I might fitin there.
Speaker 2 (01:08:29):
Let's go, let's go, come on down.
Speaker 1 (01:08:31):
I love it.
Oh my goodness.
Thank you guys so much forwatching.
All of that information will bein the show notes, so you'll be
able to find everything withjust a couple of clicks of your
mouse.
We'll take care and we'll seeyou next time.
Bye-bye.
Well, hello my friends, welcome to the show.
Yes, I know you don't see Claysitting behind me or beside me
at least not virtually Today.
It's just me, but I havespecial guests on and I'm so
excited to talk to them.
This is a topic that's reallynear and dear to my heart, so
(00:30):
we're going to be diving into aconversation that's kind of part
urgent and most definitelyinspiring, and we're going to be
talking about the real battlefor our kids' hearts and their
minds, and it's one that's beingfought not just in the
classrooms or on social media,but in the stories that they're
soaking in every single day.
Entertainment is discipling ourchildren and more often, it's
(00:54):
more effective than the church,and that is a big problem and,
by the way, more so than eventheir parents, which is truly a
problem.
But what if we could reclaim itand not just avoid the bad but
create good?
Well, our guests are Nathan andDalitha I did it again, she's
(01:15):
going to correct me on here Twopowerhouse voices who aren't
just raising a family, they'reraising the alarm, offering a
way forward, and from their ownparenting journey to creating
pro-God media.
They're here to talk about tech, addiction, spiritual warfare
through storytelling and howfamilies can push back against a
culture that wants to erasetheir authority.
(01:37):
So buckle up.
This is going to be the kind ofconversation that could change
how you lead your home.
So, without further ado, let'sbring on our guests.
Hello guys, how are you?
Hi, we're great.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Hey, thanks for having us.
We're excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Thank you so much for coming on.
So, as we spoke a little bitbeforehand and as I just
mentioned, this is so near anddear to my heart because I have,
you know, of course, I've grownchildren, but I have little
tiny grandbabies now.
I'm deeply concerned about theenvironment that is going on in
the public school system andjust in our culture as a whole.
(02:31):
So I want to talk to you now.
They have a new movie out.
It's Aria Appleby.
Tell me again, Aria Appleby.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Aria Appleton, shine.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Appleton, I guess I'm hungry.
I'm thinking Appleby's.
I'll call you Appleton Shine.
Appleton, I guess I'm hungry.
I'm thinking Applebee's.
I'm sorry, but before we talkabout the movie, I would love if
you would start by telling us alittle bit about what you guys
mean about entertainment,discipling our kids rather than
us and the Bible and church, andwhat would it look like to
(03:06):
reclaim it for good?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Well, I think all of you will admit that your kids
spend a fair amount of time onscreens and in front of
televisions.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
That's been true since the inception of the
television, but it's just gottenmore and more, and there's now
a glut of things for them towatch, not only in training and
television, but now that you see, kids are getting about 60% of
what they look at.
(03:37):
They're not going to the cinema, they're watching YouTube,
they're watching on theirdevices, so we have all of this
material that's now easilyavailable for them and you know,
they pick up their phone andthere it is the same amount of
(03:58):
potential money in the other'shands, and so all of you know
that is definitely a factor,especially why, in Hollywood or
media in general, the fact thatobviously the time factor is
also something we talk aboutwith people, parents who work 8
(04:24):
to 10 hours a day, sometimes 40,50 hours a week.
They don't have a lot of timewith their kids and they're
trying to think over through apublic school system that in the
last few years, has proven tome that it does not have their,
it doesn't have your individualkids functioning from a
different things at this time.
(04:45):
Maybe at some point in historyit was okay.
I'm about to show you thepublic school system and I was
raised in Indiana.
Public school system was, atthe time, was always 48th or
49th in the nation.
Academically, I was a Texas draw, which is nice.
(05:06):
That's good.
In fact, when I moved to Texasfor the first time, I realized
Texas schools were the top ofthe list.
The top of the list wasgenerally second, I'm sorry, in
the very bottom, I think, lowestpercentile, in the very bottom,
in the very bottom, I think,the lowest percentile of the
(05:27):
African for public schools.
And so you know, I had a highkind of a higher quality maybe
who still?
Public school education,whereas kids in Texas are
probably doing something alittle more well than I am, and
so.
But we kind of turned them overto the state and the state is
perfectly happy with that.
In fact, you know all of thelegalities in both sides now
(05:52):
suggest that the state continuesto sell quality and staff as a
building, and if you're notaware of that, then look it up.
But that one spot is proof thatthis company turned over our
current authority in ecology toa different entity.
And if that entity isn't doinga good job and if that entity
(06:15):
isn't getting what they'relooking for in a product center,
then I'm sure that they canmake it into.
We can probably do somethingabout it.
So we have the state issue,that is, time and volume.
That's a very, verytime-consuming thing and we're
going to have to correct everythree years We've got to
actually.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
So those are three big issues that have to be
addressed before we can doanything about it.
Let me ask you something here.
I'm having a lot of backgroundnoise on your end.
It's very muffled.
There were a couple momentswhere it was super clear.
(06:56):
It looks like your microphonesare in a great spot.
Are they super close?
And are you hearing me?
Okay?
Are you hearing me nice andclear?
I do hear you.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
One sec Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
We're in a podcast studio where we broadcast from
on a regular basis.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Just double check the volume.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
Well, through this end, it's good.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Right, yeah, I can hear you perfectly when you just
did that Nice and sharpperfectly when you just did that
nice and sharp.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yeah, perhaps we're just getting a screen live or
maybe getting some.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Well, while he was talking, I heard this high pitch
noise all of a sudden, and it'sgone now, so maybe that was
just some weird interference.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
OK, you are clearer now.
It's still.
Yeah, I hear this.
It comes and goes.
It like this um comes and goes.
It's like a funny, almost likea whooshing sound, almost like
it's almost like when you cameover to whatever.
(08:02):
You came over to your computer,maybe you got super clear and
sharp, but from where you arenow it sounds very distant.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
I think we're probably running through
computer microphones and notnecessarily through the mic.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
I think that might be the case.
Okay, I think Nathan's going togo get our audio back, no
problem.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Are you going to edit this or is this how it's going
to be?
Speaker 1 (08:27):
no, you know what I mean.
How would you I don't know whatyour time constraints are I, I
almost would want to do thatpart over.
I know he just had such a greatthing and I'm hearing it and
I'm trying, I'm looking atadjustments on my end.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
She said that the computer audio is working, and
these aren't necessarily thatgreat.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Got it.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Alright he's getting them.
Yeah, no problem.
I think we have another hourand a half we can hang out with
you.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Okay, yeah, I just want you to be able to have the
best you know thing to put outthere at the computer she can
hear us so it's funny.
Oh yeah, I hear him like rightin my ear, so wherever the sound
is coming from it's it's wherehe is.
I just said that, sotechnically didn't I I.
(09:23):
It was so impressive.
All right, can?
Speaker 5 (09:24):
you hear me better.
Now Can you hear?
Speaker 1 (09:26):
me.
Speaker 5 (09:26):
Oh my God, perfect, okay, so that's all it is.
I was right, I know tech, yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
No worries.
Okay, how's that?
So they've kicked off the.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
AC and rerouted us, and now we're running through
the microphone Perfect, nice andsuper clear.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Perfect okay, nathan, I'm so sorry.
I don't know if you heard thatpart.
We were just talking.
I would prefer, if it's okaywith you, to kind of just do
that first question over.
You gave such a answer and Ihate to make you do it over um I
just I'm afraid that I don'thave enough skill to clean that
up in post-production to make itclearer.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
So and I'm all about it because you asked the
question and then my morningbrain was like I don't know what
she just asked.
So this is going to be great.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Perfect, I listen.
This is like my second cup ofcoffee.
I'm I'm still muddling throughhere, so bear with me as well.
Oh, okay, so, um.
So we're actually funny enough.
I didn't even hit the pausebutton on the recording, so
obviously I'll be cutting all ofthat out.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Nice yeah so for bloopers.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
We always could, but no, we don't need to.
All right, so I'm going tore-ask that question.
We'll take it right from thatpoint, and then I hope you
remember every single thing thatyou just said, nathan.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Yeah, I got it.
I think I got it.
We'll see what happens.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Perfect, okay, all right, so here we go.
So before I ask you about themovie and I want to hear all
about it I did get to see, I gotto see most of it and it looks
so good, it is so charming, andwe're going to talk all about
that.
But I want to talk a little bitabout if you could tell us what
you mean by when you say thatentertainment has been
(11:17):
discipling our kids.
And more importantly to me iswhat would it look like to
reclaim that?
Speaker 2 (11:24):
And, more importantly , to me is what would it look
like to reclaim that?
Yeah, you know in the OldTestament.
It talks about you know,sharing the law and the
teachings of Christ and of God.
When you walk with your kids,like you, just you know.
When you walk along the road,when you're at home, you know
you're sharing time with yourkids, and so time is a
(11:45):
particular factor.
Parents who work 60 hours aweek and turn their kids over to
a public school system, youknow, don't get nearly as much
time with their kids as theyprobably did in former
generations, where, when kidsactually worked with their
parents and maybe participatedin the in the actual jobs that
the parents had, and maybeparticipated in the actual jobs
that the parents had.
(12:05):
Delighth and I, though, areboth public school products.
I was part of the Indianapublic school system, which is
always first or second in thenation academically.
She was part of the Texasschool system, which is not
which is not.
Speaker 5 (12:17):
It's the opposite of that.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
It's the opposite.
It's down on the other end,probably just by virtue of being
a much larger state, and thestatistics are skewed, but Texas
is usually 48th in the nationacademically.
That's not good, and so we havethis wide variety of public
school potential for kids, andwe're both byproducts.
We're not enemies of the publicschool system, but we do think
(12:40):
that the public school systemneeds some serious reformation,
and I'm all about the Departmentof Education reorganizing to
give more control back to thestates, because I think that
will empower parents more sothan they have felt empowered in
past generation.
So the time that parents get tospend with their kids is
(13:03):
limited because of the lifestylethat Americans are currently
living, when some of thosefamilies, in order to just
survive, are working two andthree jobs and mom and dad are
both working and the kids are inthat school system that in many
cases, is now ideologicallyopposed to what they believe in
to a large degree.
And then they're surprised whentheir kids come home and
(13:24):
they're we're just talking aboutit this morning, about a good
friend who's got and sheactually teaches in a in a
school, and her child is cominghome with some positionalities
and ideas and things that areshocking to us.
We're going.
Speaker 5 (13:36):
Oh no, here we go, uh and more time at school than
she gets to spend with herparents, truly.
So who is influencing the childat that point?
It's all of her peers, thepeople who are in the same age
bracket as her.
There's not a lot of wisdomthere.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
And then, who are the peers being influenced by?
Well, they're being influencedby the glut of media that is
available to them.
Right now, kids are getting 60%of what they watch from YouTube
or more, and that that is acrazy statistic.
That's blowing the minds of ofDisney and Nickelodeon and
(14:12):
people like that who are goingoh wait, what's going on?
Everything's moved to YouTube.
That's weird.
The format's even changed, andso kids are getting their stuff
from YouTube.
They're getting it from eachother, they're getting it from
TikTok, and there's a majorshortage, too, of material in
(14:52):
that space for young people.
Less than 15% of what's producedworldwide in media is made for
kids and young people and wouldbe considered, maybe, family
friendly, and a far smallerpercentage than that is actually
something that might have aChrist watching, or they're very
likely to be watching somethingthat you don't want them
watching or you don't agree withon a weekly basis, and they've
(15:16):
turned over their parentalauthority to the state and to a
system that now is an enemy tothe family, and to a large
degree, and the state'sperfectly happy with that,
because, just from a legalstandpoint, based on the system
(15:39):
they designed, they considerthemselves the parent of your
children and you're just thesteward kind of stewarding them,
and if they don't like howyou're handling the way you
raise your kids, they'll takethem away from you, and so that
system needs some reformation,in my opinion.
And so we have a state problem,we have a timing problem, we
(16:02):
have a glut of media problemthat's right there in front of
kids, and now they have a devicein every hand.
So we really are in a kind of abad state.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
We really are and they're so smart, meeting these
tech companies, these contentproducers.
I've read that for thesepreschool shows, which is
probably the most alarming to me, that these people looked at
what's happening, looked atthese statistics and these
numbers and and have studied thethe brain, you know, of
(16:37):
children and their behaviors,and actually did things where
they would have babies ortoddlers, you know, watch a
program that they want to putout and track how long each
scene kept their attention.
And they're designing theseshows, you know, like that Cocoa
Melon is probably one of thetop ones that comes to mind that
(16:58):
they are.
So the scene changes like everyI think it's like seven seconds
or so.
So they're actually startingfrom infants and toddlers and
working their way up to what youall are seeing and, of course,
what I'm seeing as well with ourschool age children in the
public school system.
It is just this massmanipulation and taking over of
(17:24):
their brains, of their minds,and, you know, any parent that
isn't realizing how terrifyingthis actually is needs to look
at some of these studies and seesome of this research, because
it's frightening and themagnitude and the effect of it
and, as you said, the type ofprogramming um is not really
(17:47):
encouraging and fostering um,family minded, moral minded uh,
values that we're all, or we'veall, been trying to teach our
kids and, obviously, in my case,grandkids now Um, so it's, it's
really scary and and I lovethat you guys have really
(18:07):
tackled this head on and and theissues are are just so, so many
that we need to tackle, butit's it's kind of wild how sort
of simple the solution is right,just to make that shift, cause
we're we're looking at, you know, tech addiction with kids.
Can you talk a little bit about,um, what you're observing?
(18:29):
You know, I know you touched onsome of there, but what kinds
of things are you seeing in thefamilies today?
Is there, is there a growingdivide between parents and their
children?
I probably most particularlylike the teenage children.
Speaker 5 (18:44):
Yeah, I mean.
So I have a three-year-old andI have a 12-year-old and the
three-year-old we had to addresswhat you were just talking
about, about you know those,those kids, little preschool
shows and going okay, well, thisis clearly just brainwashing
you and training your brain tobe the ADHD generation, like
it's not helping anything.
(19:06):
And so we have been battlinghim because we're guilty too.
When we need to work, we workat home.
Sometimes they hand the iPadover and if I'm not paying
attention he knows how to workthat thing and get to the things
he's not supposed to watch, andso for us it's hard because we
know we know better.
And so we do try to tellourselves just take him outside,
(19:28):
just jump on the trampoline,just go on a walk, because all
he needs is a minute with us.
I mean he doesn't need likehalf of just play, right, but we
do have to make a sacrifice andprioritize in the moment.
So it's down there at three.
Our 12 year old's pretty goodnow.
But I have been hearing horrorstories from my friends with
teenagers and adult childrenwith the addiction factor and I
(19:52):
mean but if you hand over adevice to a teen and you don't
have clear boundaries and clearconsequences for what happens if
they break those boundaries.
Well, you're setting yourself upfor failure.
You know you might as well justhand your child over and be
like well, I tried my best, I'msorry, because they're not ready
(20:15):
.
Even the adult children arehaving issues.
I mean, we have a friend whothe son had a major addiction to
what he was seeing on thescreen when he was 16, and now
he's 24.
And it's only gotten worsebecause it wasn't really
addressed and it wasn'tcorrected.
(20:35):
And sometimes you have to makereally bold choices and just
take it away, be like I'm sorry.
I gave you that phone when youwere 14.
I thought you were ready.
Clearly you're not Now you're16.
You don't get it again untilyou actually graduate, you know.
And it's hard if you're sendingyour kids to public school or
private school where everyonehas a phone because they all do.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
It's easier as a home , you know go ahead.
Speaker 5 (21:01):
Well, it's just easier as a homeschool mom
because you know, as ahomeschool mom I'm I'm going
okay.
Well, the kids you are hangingout with their parents have the
same sort of standards that wedo.
You know, I'm getting to kindof pick and choose and curate.
What my child is is who she'sreally interacting with, so it's
(21:22):
easier.
On the homeschool front there'sstill some struggles, but not
as much as if you're actuallysending your kids to school.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Yeah, and you touched on a little earlier that you
know some of the solution orcounter to that, in particular
for families who aren't, for youknow, whatever their reasons
are, they're not able tohomeschool, that they need, or
they just simply prefer thepublic school environment.
(21:51):
You know no judgment whatsoeveron what anyone chooses to do,
but they're still seeing, moreso than anyone else, probably,
those struggles that you werejust talking about, and you guys
have some you know greatalternatives for for combating
that, that overload.
So you advocate for creatingmedia that's pro-God, not just
(22:15):
clean.
So what differences does thatperspective bring to the content
that you create?
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Well, I think that pro-God to us just represents
that the people who make thatmedia keep God in mind.
They're not sanitizing it,they're just.
I believe in the idea thatsanctified people, people who
are seeking God, people who areattempting to live in a moral
(22:46):
space, if that same person setsout to make media or to do
anything at all, well,everything they do is going to
be affected by that concept,that positionality.
Obviously, people can sit andwrite and I write occasionally
and I'm surprised what I write.
If you're just being reallyorganic and honest, it just
(23:06):
comes out.
But even still, you might beable to write something that
might be less savory for kids.
You put it on paper and you go,oh, okay.
But if you're looking at itfrom a, you put it on paper and
you go, oh, okay.
But if you're looking at itfrom a logical view and a
Christian worldview and a moralposition, you could look at it
and go, well, I don't think kidsare ready for that, I don't
(23:27):
think they're going tounderstand that.
So I'm not going to you know,we won't make that and put that
out there in the space for them.
So I do believe that who we areas a people and who we are in
our hearts.
As a man thinks in his heart,so he is, and as a direct
byproduct of that, that personis going to create probably a
(23:49):
more savory product for familiesand kids and things like that.
Obviously, it will be affectedby the belief system, and so
that's first things first.
The other factor that youbrought up is also and Delitha
said this too people need tomake a bold choice about how
they interact.
Some families do probably haveenough going on in their
(24:10):
circumstance and they could, ifthey would make a major change
and homeschool or move.
Sometimes just moving from oneschool to another, if they're in
public or private, could makethe difference because of the
culture of that particularschool or something might make a
difference.
Some parents need to downsize,maybe in their own lifestyle, in
(24:34):
order to create time with theirkids where they go.
You know what?
We don't need this ginormoushouse, or we don't need three
cars, or we don't need some ofthe things that we may be
hanging on to from a lifestylestandpoint and I'm working three
jobs to try to afford all ofthis stuff and so some families
may need to do some of thatdownsizing in order to create
(24:55):
the time, and parents who dohave kids in public school, I
think, need to be just asintentional probably more
intentional than homeschoolparents.
Homeschool parents spend a fairamount of time kind of
programming the day and whatwe're going to do and who's
going to be doing what and whatmaterial we're working through,
and then you know when we'reworking through and then you
(25:18):
know when we're playing versuswhen we're studying, and so we
have the ability to affect thatmore.
Parents who have kids in publicschool need to look at that,
get involved in the school boardand the PTA and make sure
they're having an influence onwhat's being taught in those
(25:39):
spaces and what's being sharedin those spaces, because that's
your right.
It's a public space, it's apublic school.
You have a right to get inthere and make an impact on and
have a voice in that space.
So I think parents ought to dothat and then be very
intentional about those fewhours in an evening and a
weekend that you do get to spendwith your kids, where you do
(26:01):
sit and talk to them aboutwhat's going on in the world and
what we believe, and gettingmore involved in talking to them
, asking questions and then,particularly regarding media,
talking about what you'rewatching, because we're in this
position too.
We've literally gone, like allof you gone to the movie before
with your kids, and then you'rehoping, you look at it in the
(26:23):
trailer and all this, you'relike, oh, this looks pretty good
, this is rated for families orwhatever.
And then you watch it and yougo, oh great, now I have to talk
to my nine-year-old about thisparticular subject that they
really shouldn't be talkingabout until they're, you know,
quite a bit older.
Speaker 5 (26:44):
And, uh, we were getting tired of doing that.
We were tired of going okay,I've looked it up online, I've
done all the reviews, I've seenit, this is going to be great.
And if it's a TV show, often itwould be like it'd be fine.
And then in episode six, bam,something would get in there
where you're like no, no, Ididn't see this thing.
Or you know, a movie will goand then they'll put it in the
credit crawl.
You're like we made it throughthe whole movie and you did this
(27:07):
to me.
You know, I got tired, I got fedup, and so you know, we've done
something that is proactive andwe've created a movie where we
are giving parents theopportunity to still have a
discussion with your kids, butabout things you want to talk
about, like, oh, adoption, let'stalk about adoption, that's a
(27:27):
beautiful thing.
Or let's talk about dying toself, let's talk about that,
please.
And so we've created a littlemovie that has lovely themes
throughout it that are relevant.
We have anti-bullying and cyberbullying in the movie, and
we've created a parent andleader's guide that accompanies
(27:48):
the film so that parents canhave good conversations about
topics that really matter andthat are relevant.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Yeah, because some parents don't feel comfortable
right now.
For instance, I went toseminary.
I'm a preacher's kid, I studiedBible.
I've worked for the church alittle bit over the years.
I feel more prepared if my kidsits down and says I've got some
questions, or you discover yourkids be an emo and you want to
intervene, and I feel a littlemore prepared probably than some
(28:19):
parents just because of myupbringing and my education, and
so we knew that just throughtalking to our own friends.
It's like not everyone feelsthat prepared.
They don't know what scriptureto refer to.
They don't know how to talk totheir kids, in some cases about
a biblical idea contrastingwhat's going on in the world,
(28:41):
and so the Leader's Guide is forthat, just as a tool to try to
help support parents, becauseit's going to happen anyway.
I mean, you're going to bewatching something that's in the
mainstream on a streamer andyou're going to end up in these
conversations anyway, so why notput something in the playlist
(29:02):
that everybody's going to enjoy?
What we did is kind of cottoncandy meets nutrition, because
it's in a package that's alittle unfamiliar to people,
because most people making faithand family friendly content
don't put these types of storiesinto a comedy and particularly
(29:23):
into a satire, which is what wedid and and so it's a little
unfamiliar to people, but it'swhat is going on out there and
it's one reason that that we wesee so much of this glut being
so impactful on the kids,because the quality and the
content that they're getting isoften fun, musical comedy, it's
(29:48):
things that kids want to watch.
It's that kind of thing.
When we start looking into thefaith-based and family market,
there's very little of that.
It's high drama and it's verystoic and serious and the kids
are not going to just sit therewith you and watch most of these
things.
I didn't want to watch some ofit when I was in my twenties
(30:09):
because my parents were puttingon movies that were made by some
very well-known people in thefaith-based space.
No offense to them, but they'retrying to show this stuff at
church and they're asking methey're like hey, what'd you
think about that movie that weshowed at church?
And I'm going, eh, and as as aguy interested in film and the
arts, I was like I don't thinkit's that good, like it's not a
(30:31):
good quality product and it'sgot bad acting and the script is
clunky.
Um, god has chosen the foolishthings to the world to shame the
wise and the simple things, toshame those that are.
So I was.
I was giving God credit becausehe's using that stuff and I
know he does, but he's but it'snot affecting kids and young
people because they're notwatching that, they're not
paying attention, and and so wewere very, uh, interested in the
(30:56):
the kid and young adult space,because we're just kind of goofy
kids ourselves and have alwaysloved kids movies, and so we're
hopeful that what we're doingwill help inspire some out of
the box thinking on the part ofpeople who are making that type
of material for families andthat it'll help families have
(31:19):
that conversation.
And and, um, my dad was greatat that.
My dad was pretty incrediblerockstar public, um, pulpit
minister, who you know.
If you got to watch a clip fromBraveheart at church, you know
we were all like we're watchinga movie.
Hollywood has come to churchthis morning and that was always
(31:41):
fun.
And my dad was good at takingthe heart out of a mainstream
movie and then pull the themeout and give it to us and make a
biblical connection or a godlyconnection to that theme.
(32:13):
He was very good at that, andso we are hoping that we'll
inspire other filmmakers andother people and continue
ourselves to be inspired.
To take a little piece offiction, but it's true.
You could say that some ofthose things are fairy tales.
Are they true, though?
Yes, does it have a truth in it?
Yes, it's intended to teach yousomething, and film can be used
(32:34):
that way.
Film can be used that way.
It is happening broadly, like wewere talking about preschool
programming.
It's been happening that way inHollywood and from people in
high places for a long time.
It's just that the church hasnot been involved.
They've just turned over theirauthority and their sovereignty
(32:55):
to these organizations to alarge degree.
I was reading the other day thata couple of our very well-known
billionaires who are investingheavily in kids' cartoons and
they're doing this because Idon't think it's because they
nefariously want to influencethe kids towards a particular
(33:19):
ideology, necessarily, but theydo want to influence those kids
to buy their products for thenext 40 years, and so they are
doing that, and so I don't knowthat all of it's particularly
nefarious, but some of it is,and you know it when you see it
and you look at it and go, oh,wait a minute, it is, and you
(33:39):
know it when you see it and andyou look at it and go oh wait a
minute, that that's pure evilright there.
I don't this, you know there's.
There's a little difference, sowe're getting a little of both.
We need to be uh, we need to bevigilant, we need to be awake,
we need to wake up and and payattention to what's going on.
So we're hoping what we'redoing will at least stimulate
that and and help people.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Well, I especially love what you're doing.
Comedy and satire is really myhome.
That's my lane.
When I'm not doing podcaststuff, I'm doing, uh, comedy
skits and and all of thosethings, and it's usually, you
know, culture and also politicsuh related.
But you know, I felt the samething that you guys did.
Like, you know, you're gettingall of this information.
(34:23):
Everybody is telling the news,everybody is a podcaster now,
everybody is an independentmedia person now, and everybody
is delivering the same news, thesame headlines, the same
stories, the same everything,everything, high drama, uh, you
know, tension, everybody's angryand, uh, you know, I love to
laugh.
Comedy is just my whole life.
(34:45):
That's always been my happyplace.
You know, literally andfiguratively, I guess.
Um, so what and I agree withyou fully what what you're doing
is, is you're bringing this toum children in the way that they
relate best to.
They're not watching, theydon't care about soap opera
style, you know anything.
They make them laugh, keep thementertained and give them that
(35:08):
wholesome messaging that we'reall craving.
And I would say, the only thingdifferent as of late and I as
of late, I mean by the past, Idon't know, maybe 10 years, I
may be exaggerating, I may beunderestimating is that we'll
say, at least the last few years, that they are less sneaky
about it.
(35:28):
They are so open now and Iweirdly thank them for doing
that because you can't miss itnow and I and I weirdly thank
them for for doing that becauseyou can't miss it now.
You know there's there's stillsome stuff that they sneak in
there and that you're you know,you don't realize it until
you're watching.
You're like something doesn'tfeel right with this program,
like what is it?
But now they're so blatant withtheir, you know, messaging and
(35:49):
and their culture, um, ideas andall of those things.
So that, thankfully, is in itsweird way, a good thing, because
you can spot it and boot it andget it out of your kids' lives
as best as possible.
You gave some great suggestionsfor parents who are like just
waking up to all of this what'shappening in media and what our
(36:12):
children are watching and thelack of control that they have.
Um, before we talk a little morefully about the movie, like I
promised guys, I promised wewould be talking about this
movie Um, I just want to ask youquickly if you could like, if
you could give like a few Idon't know, practical first
steps for parents who are justrealizing what's going on, like
(36:34):
how they can engage proactively.
And I'm going to offer thefirst one watch their movies.
Start there.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 5 (36:44):
Yeah.
So for me it just depends onwhere your kids are.
So with my three-year-old, youknow, he has discovered YouTube
and fortunately there is YouTubekids and you can go in and you
can control the exact videosthat he will watch.
And so I went in and I was likewhat are the VBS songs?
What are the?
You know?
Because there are VBS programsout there, like with puppets and
(37:05):
stuff, and so we put that onthere.
But he also likes race cars andhe also likes motorcycles.
So I got to select all of thosethings, which is great for the
littles.
The older ones are harder,because you might be able to
control a little bit about whatthey see, but the commercials
come on and the commercials haveno filter, right, and so you're
like, oh what, ok, they justpresented that to my child.
(37:27):
Thanks, thanks everybody.
And so for the olders I would Imean for me, I am just, I draw
hard lines, and so you know wedon't do like my daughter.
She's 12.
She does not have a phone, shedoes have a tablet and she has
Wi-Fi.
But guess what, I control theWi-Fi.
So if she does something trulynaughty, which she doesn't, I
(37:48):
can turn that Wi-Fi off, I canchange the password and so
that's easy for her there andfor your teens.
So I just say be thecounterculture.
And so just because they thinkthey need a phone doesn't mean
they need the phone.
Oh, I need to go jump off thatcliff right now, mom.
No, you actually don't, sorry,your brain's not fully formed.
(38:08):
I'm going to be your mom.
You just have to draw hardlines and say no to this, no to
this, no to this, or know yourchild and know kind of where
they are.
But you have to also presentsomething positive.
Right, that's a lot of negative.
No, no, no.
So what's a positive?
So I like a lot of the showsthat are on Angel Studios.
There's Wing, feather Saga andthere's Studio C.
(38:31):
I love Studio C.
It's clean, saturday night live, sort of skits, and so that's
fun.
Find other things, like thelittles.
I like Bluey.
I mean God is not presented inBluey, but at least it's
positive and fun.
So find things that the kidswill enjoy, that you approve of,
(38:51):
and maybe start right there,and that's a lot to filter
through all of these things.
I think that's a lot.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
We also have some hard rules around time of day
when it's okay to be on a device.
You're not allowed to just havea device and just be on it all
day long.
That's not how that works.
It shouldn't be that way in anyhome.
And if parents are doing that,and parents are just willy nilly
on their phone all day long oron their device all day long,
justifying that, well, I need itfor work and and half the time
(39:21):
you're just sitting there doomscrolling, you probably ought to
check yourself and come upfirst.
Establish some household rulesfor mom and dad about their
devices, like we don't dodevices at the dinner table.
We have, you know, we have afew, just nominal rules.
Everybody kind of understands,but put some, put some things
into play like that for theparents and then and obviously
(39:42):
parents who do use devices andthings like that for work, you
can have a different rule foryourself than you have for your
kids, and the kids have toaccept that and go.
Well, mom and dad have to work.
I need to be at my computer todo my job or to do what I'm
doing for this amount of time aday, but um, and then have some
(40:04):
rules around the kids.
I made up an arbitrary rule ayear ago for Maxwell.
He's three and you know, and hewas like, well, I want to get
on your phone and uh, and itjust came out of my mouth one
day.
I was like it's after 630.
And he doesn't even know whatthat means.
But in our house during a day,if he asks to get on my phone, I
might let him do that to watchYouTube, kids or something, for
(40:24):
a few minutes during a day, butnot all day long.
He might have 15 or 20 minutesof that type of interaction with
my device, but then I have thisarbitrary it's after 6.30.
That sounded good to me and Ithink that you know you have to
come up with what kind of seemssensible to you and your house
(40:45):
and then hold that line and nowyou know that's just how it goes
.
He doesn't know what it meansreally, but he accepts it and he
just goes oh okay, it's after6.30 and we go play with blocks
or we can do something else.
And as a dad I have to beintentional, like Delilah said
earlier.
You know I've got to if he'stapped me on the shoulder twice
in a day and said, hey, I wantto do this or would you do this
(41:07):
with me?
I just stop what I'm doing,whatever, no matter how
important that is to me.
I just generally go.
You know this can wait and I'llgo jump on the trampoline for
three minutes and then come backand get back to work and that's
sufficient for him.
But but yeah, we have some kindof hard lines for ourselves,
(41:28):
we've drawn some hard lines forthem, and if you haven't done
the research on the potentialEMF dangers for kids from
radiation to Bluetooth to all ofthis you should go check that
out.
You should look into that.
It's going to give you pauseand make you go.
Oh well, maybe we should putsome more strict rules in place
(41:51):
around how much time we spend onthese things.
Speaker 5 (41:54):
Rules in place around how much time we spend on these
things.
The final thing I would say iscreate a box or an area where
all the devices go.
So when it's like, oh, it's 830and this is our cutoff time,
everybody, all the devices gothere.
That's where they charge, thatsort of thing, and then they
know when they are allowed toget back on it.
So if you're a homeschool mom,you're like, okay, well, once
(42:16):
school's over tomorrow andyou've had a good attitude, then
you can get it back.
But make it a privilege to getthat device back out of that
area.
Some people need a box thatthey can lock up, because I have
had students in the past whohave confessed to me yeah, my
mom tells me I'm not supposed toget on the iPad after eight,
but as soon as she goes to sleepI just get on it.
(42:38):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
Well, you're the naughty one.
Speaker 3 (42:41):
You need a lot of boundaries, so you need to know
your kids.
Speaker 2 (42:48):
Yeah, we also recommend to people that if some
families might want to considera detox from devices for a
minute to gauge your ownaddiction and so parents
sometimes need to do that theymay need to go.
You know what.
Let's do two weeks off andlet's just everybody shuts down
for two weeks.
We go device free for two weeksand see who's the most addicted
and see who has the biggestproblem.
(43:11):
Those types of two week or 30day detoxes could be really
helpful.
But they can have a reciprocalproblematic reaction where
people start to feel ashamedabout device usage.
Parents feel guilty sittingdown to check their email to us
(43:31):
or have a kind of a contractionexpansion problem around shame
and we don't want that.
You don't want to create theessence of like a bulimia versus
anorexia problem for yourselfregarding your device usage.
You don't want to do that andso we don't shame people, we
(43:52):
don't shame ourselves about this.
We just go hey, let's just havesome practical ways to handle
this.
And then some parents who maywant to do the detox, but for a
minute to gauge where they areas a family.
Some families may not need todo that.
They may have some reasonablerules in place.
The theme of our movie is makegood.
(44:12):
That's it.
Let's make good, let's makegood movies.
That was our dream.
Let's make a good movie.
It doesn't have to be perfect,but let's make a good one and
let's make sure that it has thegoodness of God in it.
Let's put that in there.
Then, from a family standpoint,let's look at our device usage
(44:36):
and instead of going cold turkeyto be like, oh no, we have all
these really strict rules thatkids might be tempted to rebel
against, right, because that'sthe essence of the law.
Paul said that about the lawthat as soon as the law came, it
inspired in me every desire tobreak the rules, and we see that
in kids all the time.
So why would we then create allthese really super strict rules
(45:00):
around it and not be reasonable?
It also begs a question aboutwell, I assume that this tech is
all evil, it's all bad, and Ithink that is short-sighted
where we as the people of Godought to look at that and go, no
, we could redeem this.
We can actually take thistechnology and use it for good.
(45:24):
And so some families need to dothat.
They need to look at it and go,hey, what's maybe a 30-day
project we could do as a familyto repurpose our Facebook pages
or set up a give send go onbehalf of a friend or a
missionary or somebody we knowthat's sick, or can we start
some sort of family project thatsupports widows and orphans
(45:45):
Anything that we could do as afamily.
And then that is what you dofor your tech time.
It's like, well, we're notgoing to sit and just surf
YouTube today, but we are goingto get online and we're going to
shoot a video.
We're going to start a familypodcast or a vlog.
We're going to put somethingtogether that actually blesses
people, blesses the world, takestechnology and puts it into
(46:06):
play for good.
And so that's our otherrecommendation to people is
that's the proactive part.
You know, what we sit and dwellupon and what we think about is
what we create in our lives.
And if we sit and just think,oh, I shouldn't be doing that, I
shouldn't be doing that, oh,shame on you for getting on your
phone, we're going to justcreate more of that for our kids
(46:29):
and ourselves.
We don't want that.
So let's be proactive and flipthe script and just go no, what
can we do?
That's useful.
What can we do?
That's good?
Whatever is good, lovely,useful, excellent, praiseworthy.
Think on those things and applyPhilippians, chapter four, to
your use of technology in yourhouse.
Speaker 1 (46:48):
I love all of that so much.
You hit on both of you hit onevery factual, actual thing that
I think we all I shouldn'tgeneralize, but I'm going to
generalize that we're allexperiencing, including the
shame factor, the, you know, ifyou're on your phone, you're
(47:08):
feeling like you're being judged, so you're feeling guilty.
You feel like you know, and Iknow that's an aspect for me and
I don't even have smallchildren in the house, but I,
you know, doing all of thethings that I do, it's all media
based, it's all tech based.
That phone, you know, I'msurprised my hand isn't, you
know, permanently in the clawshape from holding the phone.
It's crazy and I'm aware of itand it does.
(47:38):
It instills that sense of guiltthat you know and I love that
perspective shift and, and Ithink you know, if you're
feeling that shame and thatguilt, for you know, being on
your phone when your kids are,you know, playing on the floor
in front of you or you're onyour phone while your kids are
on their tablet, and all ofthose things, that little bit of
a perspective shift on it I Ithink really will mobilize, uh,
parents and just whether youhave little kids or big kids, um
(48:00):
, it kind of motivates you and Ilove the suggestions and ideas
Absolutely brilliant and and Ithink that just that just shifts
everything.
That was wonderful.
Um, now, officially, I want totalk about this movie.
Um, your, your lead actressthere.
She is absolutely adorable andtalented, so I want you just to
(48:21):
walk me through the, the process, the, the idea of the movie,
the, the creation, everything.
I'm giving you a wide berthhere of a question, but I know
you got this, yeah so.
Speaker 5 (48:35):
So I think Nathan should probably start the story,
because I do, but I'll start itanyway, okay.
Speaker 2 (48:41):
So, I'll interject.
Speaker 5 (48:43):
Okay, great, I was an actress.
That is how I made my living inmy early twenties, in late
twenties and early thirties.
And then I had a child.
I had my first child, aurora,and when I had her I went back
to the theater, cause that'swhat I knew to do.
And that first show back, Ifelt so guilty, being of guilt,
(49:05):
but I did.
I felt guilt, being away fromher for hours during the day and
, um, I just did not have a goodtime and I decided that that
was the last show I was going todo for a while and I was going
to be a mom and that was mypriority.
And so I made that decision and, kind of simultaneously, nathan
(49:25):
had a moment.
Speaker 2 (49:27):
Yeah, about the same time I had been in the media
arts and in the film industryspace.
We had done a bunch of things.
At that point we designedCapernaum Studios and Gardens
where they shot the chosenseasons one through three.
I had produced three featureswith friends, I'd done a bunch
of short films, I'd worked as anart director, I'd worked as an
(49:49):
actor and I had just had thisvariety of artistic experiences
for over a decade.
And then, right about that point, when she made that shift, the
Lord grabbed me by the scruff ofthe neck sort of, and I was
like what, and I was feelingrather cynical about some of
what I'd been involved in.
I had just come off of afeature that really was just a
(50:10):
mainstream feature, I wasworking as a producer and it
just beat me up psychologicallyand spiritually.
I came off of it and I was justkind a producer and it just
beat me up psychologically andspiritually.
Like I came off of it and I wasjust kind of tired and fatigued
and um, and I want my life touh serve God in, in in the way
that it can through what I do.
Uh, but I really wasn't feelinggratified.
And when I and when I got tothe core of like why do I not
(50:32):
feel gratified?
It was like, well, what we justmade is pretty much worthless
and has no redeeming quality, noredeeming value.
And one of the things that'simportant to me is mission and
helps drive me not motivated bymuch except mission and purpose
(50:52):
and I kind of got grabbed by thescruff of the neck.
It's like, hey, you need tostraighten yourself out.
And when I got really seriousbefore the Lord, I was just like
what, what do you want?
And those of you who pray andor have had this type of
experience will understand whatI'm talking about.
But it became very clear to mein a conversation with the Lord
(51:15):
that I needed to sell my house,I needed to sell a truck.
And that was terrifying to mebecause it put me on my heels
and as a preacher's kid, I waslike, oh God, please don't put
me in a pulpit.
I don't want to, please don'tmake me do what my dad was doing
.
I got into that headspace andwe started talking and she,
(51:36):
being who she is, just saidlet's go, what are we doing?
And I was like I don't know,but we're selling the house,
we're selling the truck.
We just had a baby, so veryweird time to do that.
It felt very strange and out ofplace sort of.
But on the flip side of that,after kind of praying and
thinking about what to do, whereto go from here do I need to
(51:58):
get out of the arts and out ofthe film space?
What do I need to do?
Do I need to just go get anormal job?
But we were clearly sent back,irrespective of one another.
I came to her, said hey, I'vebeen thinking about this.
She said stop, I know we'regoing to make a movie and um,
and so we kind of got sent backinto the space, but with more of
(52:20):
a mission, and that was let'sgo back into the space, let's
make something, but let's keepGod in mind, let's make sure
that what we're doing has aheart and a mission and that's
not just flippant or willy nillyor it's not ambitiously
motivated, it's motivated for akingdom purpose.
And uh, and that was what wecame back to, and so that's
(52:41):
that's how we got in.
But the the getting to yourquestion, which is sarah, sarah
grace prajan, our lead actor.
She's a byproduct of delitha'svoice studio and the life ended
up just one afternoon sittingdown at the laptop and started
cranking out what became thisscript.
And as we discussed how and who, and all of that, sarah Grace
(53:08):
became the answer to our castingquestion.
Speaker 5 (53:11):
And so she and along with the, the actor Steven
Newton, who plays Ty they wereboth in the last show I did, um,
and so we had this great kidcast.
I did a lot of children'stheater and they were these
talented actors and I taughtthem both voice lessons, um,
through that theater.
And I just, you know, as I was,I hadn't, I didn't have them in
(53:33):
mind when I was writing it.
I didn't have anyone in mind.
I had one person in mind that Ithought would play the lead,
and then when I saw her after itwas written, she had aged up.
She looked like a teenager eventhough she was like 12.
And so we just opened up thecasting call to kids that I knew
that were professional actorsin the area, and they came in
(53:54):
and those kids were just theperfect answer to the casting.
Sarah has such a great voice,she's such a tremendous talent
and she's just got that snarkyattitude that we were kind of
looking for and she's so perfectfor it.
Speaker 2 (54:09):
She was, interestingly, as it should be,
the last kid to actuallyaudition.
We'd had a long audition day,uh, after several rounds of
auditions, looking who's goingto play aria, because it has to
be very specific kind of snarkand a very specific kind of uh
attitude who can show both theshadow side of that character.
(54:30):
And we also believe, uh, thenarration of that story and the
end of that story, that she'sgone through a transformation.
We believe that, oh, she'sturned over a new leaf and so
she had to be able to do both.
That's a tricky thing for a10-year-old and it's funny
because she does truly, I think,have a soft, gooey center.
(54:51):
But she does have a rathersharp edge on her at 10 years
old and is super smart.
And when she came in andauditioned, I looked her in the
eyes and I saw that snarky oldsoul down in there who was
looking back and who had sungher heart out for us.
I looked at Delilah.
I was like that's her.
(55:11):
I was like that is her.
Speaker 1 (55:14):
I love that.
I love that.
You just, you just knew likethey always say that, right,
when you know, you know, and youguys knew, you knew that was
your girl right there.
I love that.
That is terrific.
Um so how long, how long did ittake from like a conception to
having it in front of us?
It's on, uh, Amazon prime,correct?
Speaker 5 (55:34):
Yes, it's on Prime Video, absolutely Prime Video,
thank you.
You can buy or rent it, andthen we also have a soundtrack,
because it is a musical, and soyou can find the soundtrack on
Amazon Music, itunes, itunesMusic right now.
Speaker 2 (55:48):
Yeah, and it took a lot longer than we thought it
was going to take.
It was kind of cool, though.
From inception to distributionat this point it has taken
almost 10 years.
We won the ICVM Gold CrownAward last year for Best Feature
(56:09):
Comedy and we were alsonominated for Best Picture at
ICVM, next to Jesus, revolutionand Sound of Freedom.
And one of our actors, julie KRhodes, opened the program when
we were at ICVM and she saidcheck it out, you guys were
nominated for Best Picture.
And she said, next to Sound offreedom.
(56:30):
And I looked at her and I saidwell, that's ironic.
It took sound of freedom 10years to get made and that's
approximately what it took us toget out to.
So we felt like that was kindof a God wink for us, like, uh,
you know, it was like hey, it'sokay, they had a lot of money
and some big stars and youdidn't have that.
You had five loaves and twofish and and what and and and
(56:54):
original idea, and and you'reboth here at the same time, and
and.
So we that that was helpful forus.
But it took about 60 days toshoot the movie with a bunch of
kids who were non-union kids,across evenings, weekends,
christmas break, spring break,stuff like that it took.
It took from Christmas to springbreak to get everything in the
(57:16):
can and then we had about a yearof initial post-production.
We went to festival, probablytoo early because I wasn't
really done with it, but we hada reasonable festival cut of the
movie.
We went to several faith andfamily festivals.
We got rejected by some kind ofmainstream kid festivals.
(57:38):
We got a nasty letter from amainstream kid festival who said
how dare you try to influencepoint?
And then in 2019,.
We did our last festival of thatcycle at Content Media in Texas
and I'd had some offers fordistribution at that point, but
(58:09):
I couldn't turn loose of it, andwhen I got honest with myself
about why, why?
As a filmmaker, I just saidyou're not finished, you're not
done with it.
So you, you have something elseyou want to do.
I did have a list about ahundred things I wanted to fix.
Just little things that would,that were little sacred cows for
me that were going to help mesleep better at night, and so I
(58:31):
set out on a mission to do that.
That was October 2019.
It took until February 2020 tokind of get organized for that
second post and we put it backin post and I had it open on a
timeline to start fixing it.
March 21st of 2020, when thepandemic like, like everybody
(58:55):
locked down and I went what Iwas like no, and instead of
using that season to hunker downand be at home and edit, we
kind of had our legs knocked outfrom under us financially and
so we had to pivot and it tookanother two years to get through
(59:16):
post.
So I printed the master inSeptember 22 and we went back to
festival and that's when we butat that point we had a better
product.
Uh, I was happy I had finallyabandoned it the way you're
supposed to.
They say films are neverfinished, they're only abandoned
, and that is true.
You just get to a point where,like, okay, I can sleep at night
(59:38):
, I think I'm done.
And so we moved on and went tocontent media again.
They thankfully brought us backthrough for another cycle.
We ended up at ChristianWorldview, nominated for Best
Picture and several otherfestivals no-transcript criminal
(01:00:18):
, you know and and we just wegot to a point where, like, I
don't think we can go thisdirection.
And I nearly got, nearly signeda distribution contract about
seven or eight months ago andgot my hand slapped and and I
was like, okay, lord, not that.
Then what, then what?
And so as soon as we decided toself-distribute through Prime
(01:00:41):
Video, we picked up somemomentum again and the
opportunity to take it out, somemoney for marketing.
It was like the ship began tosail again.
At that point we went okay,this is intended to, we're soft,
releasing this through.
Speaker 5 (01:00:59):
We're homeschooling her.
Speaker 2 (01:01:00):
We're homeschooling the movie.
That's what we're doing thereyou go.
Speaker 1 (01:01:03):
I love that.
I especially love your, and Ienvy your patience and, of
course, your perseverance withthis and your faith in what you
guys had created, because thatis a long journey and, by the
way, not terribly different fromwriting books and that whole
process.
As an author, I can tell youthat it's all of that.
(01:01:27):
I never do any conventions andthings like that, or festivals,
which would be, I guess, theequivalent of of the film
festivals and all of that.
Um, but so much respect andadmiration for for the process
that you guys went through and,of course, dealing with
everything that you're dealingwith, uh, at home, you know.
So you have this work life thatyou're you're working through
(01:01:49):
and and, in the meanwhile, homelife, which, of course, talks
finances and crosses over intothat work life big time, you
know.
So huge kudos to both of you forfor sticking with this and
putting out something that'sreally very special and and I I
so look forward to seeing whatelse you guys are going to be
putting out in the future.
I have a feeling it's going tobe just more great things.
(01:02:13):
I'm putting in a personalrequest for, uh, listen, I've
been asking somebody to do a, ajust a really good quality
sitcom.
I was pushing for my own sitcom, listen.
Speaker 5 (01:02:25):
I don't think that's going to happen you, I have one.
Thank you.
Yeah, I have a part for you too, if you want it like it's, of
course I do.
Yeah, it's a comedy.
Speaker 1 (01:02:35):
Yes, that's my dream.
So, yes, and so there we go.
Yeah, I see we put it out thereand now we have to make it
happen.
We do, oh, I can't thank youboth enough for coming on.
Your inspiration, yourmotivation and your information
has been just, I think, soinvaluable to parents.
(01:02:56):
And, of course, the movie.
I'm so excited to be sharinginfo about that for people to
show your kids get to watchsomething that you're not going
to be cringing about.
How exciting is that forparents in this day and age?
Right, if you could telleverybody where to find you guys
, what you have coming up next.
Tell them, of course, one moretime where to find you guys what
you have coming up next.
Tell them, of course, one moretime, where to find the movie,
(01:03:17):
where they can rent it, downloadit, buy it, all of the good
things and the soundtrack.
So give them all that info onelast time.
Speaker 5 (01:03:25):
So if you can only remember one thing, remember
ariaappletoncom, a-r-i-a apple,like you eat it, and then ton
T-O-N.
Ariaappletoncom, becausethat'll get you everywhere you
need to go.
But if you can remember more,or if it's in the show notes,
then also go to Prime Video andlook up Aria Appleton.
That's all you have to type forit to come up.
You can buy it or rent it.
(01:03:45):
If you're there on the Amazonportal, wherever you are, then
the soundtrack will come up aswell and you can purchase or you
can go to iTunes or Apple Musicfor that.
We also have a parent andleaders guide that I briefly
mentioned and this is a tool foryou, for parents, for youth
leaders.
It's great conversationstarters and there's worksheets
(01:04:07):
for the little so that they cando little dot to dots and that
sort of thing while they'relistening to the conversations
with you and the bigs, and sothat you can find at give, send
gocom, backslash Aria Appleton,and you can give a penny or give
more.
Whatever you give, you'll getthe leaders and youth the parent
(01:04:27):
and leaders guide.
Speaker 2 (01:04:29):
We're also adding to that a some suggestions about
instead of.
You know you might need to do a30-day detox from tech, but
we're also suggesting a makegood challenge that we're going
to provide along with that.
If you go to GiveSingo and dothat, that gives you some ideas
about some things you can do athome and some challenges and how
(01:04:50):
to utilize that, how to taketech and use it for good, like
we were talking about earlier.
Speaker 5 (01:04:55):
And then we would love to connect with everyone on
social media.
So aria appleton has her ownpage.
It's the film on instagram andfacebook tiktok, um.
And then we also have a youtubepage, which is uh, the youtube
page is grafted studios, whichis our production company, but
if you type in aria appleton orAria Appleton shines, things
(01:05:16):
will pop up and we would lovefor people to like our YouTube
page, um, and then just connectwith us.
Speaker 2 (01:05:22):
Yeah, and in terms of what's next, uh, we have, like
you said, it's funny.
One of our next projects thatwe're working on is um, another
kind of satirical, um episodicshow.
Um, that's more adult friendly.
It's obviously still within thebounds of what we're writing,
but it's not specifically forkids.
(01:05:42):
But we also have another kidseries that's completely written
.
That is more like high concept,high intelligence kids
television that we've seen inthe last decade, from Malcolm in
the Middle to Gordimer Gibbonsand some shows of that style.
So we have one that does havemore of a biblical, ideological
(01:06:07):
backdrop and so that one's readyto go.
We really like to do that.
So those are kind of in theworks, in the pipeline.
This summer we're off for thispodcast tour that we're
participating in now and August2nd through the 9th, I am
directing Film Camp with theChosen at Camp Hoblitzel, which
(01:06:27):
is where the sets are, if you'refollowing the TV series, the
Chosen, and so if you've gotkids between the age of 13 and
23, and they're interested infilm, musical theater or acting
for camera, they can go throughthat camp and it is a fantastic
camp.
Kirk B Waller, who plays Gaiuson the Chosen, is our acting for
(01:06:49):
camera instructor along with meand Delitha.
I'm directing the film unit onthe whole.
Delitha's directing music forthe musical theater side of camp
and BJ Foreman, who's the artdepartment coordinator for the
Chosen, is directing a musicaltheater camp within that campus.
So really cool teens and youngadults it's fun there's
(01:07:11):
horseback riding and ziplining.
Speaker 5 (01:07:13):
It's just like a true summer camp.
Speaker 2 (01:07:14):
Camp Hobbitzall is an epic 1500 acre summer camp,
Super cool place.
Plus they get to meet cast andcrew of the chosen and that's.
That's a nifty experience foreverybody.
Speaker 1 (01:07:25):
So absolutely yeah, wow, I, you know, I I don't.
In my whole adult life I don'tthink I've ever said, gee, I
wish I could be a kid again.
Until now, because that soundsso amazing, as a first and only
time ever that I'll say, gosh, Iwould love to be a kid again
(01:07:46):
because I would be there so fast.
That sounds absolutely amazing,oh, my goodness.
Well, thank you both again somuch for coming on the show and
sharing all of this.
Your next project listen, youguys have an open invite, come
back anytime, share whatever youhave going on.
I would love that so much andit's been so great talking with
you both.
Thank, you.
Speaker 2 (01:08:07):
Thank you Likewise.
We've loved it and weappreciate being here with you
today.
Speaker 1 (01:08:12):
Thank you.
Absolutely All right guys.
Well, you got so muchinformation out of that.
I got so much information outof that.
I'm going to try and sneak intothat camp.
Do you think anybody willnotice?
I've lost some weight.
I'm kind of short, I might fitin there.
Speaker 2 (01:08:29):
Let's go, let's go, come on down.
Speaker 1 (01:08:31):
I love it.
Oh my goodness.
Thank you guys so much forwatching.
All of that information will bein the show notes, so you'll be
able to find everything withjust a couple of clicks of your
mouse.
We'll take care and we'll seeyou next time.
Bye-bye.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.