July 29, 2025 • 43 mins
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What happens when a successful Hollywood scriptwriter encounters Jesus Christ? For Tim Maschler, who wrote for iconic shows like Hawaii Five-0, Starsky and Hutch, and Magnum PI, it meant walking away from mainstream entertainment to pioneer something more meaningful.
We discuss:
• How Tim experienced a dramatic conversion to Christ while writing for mainstream TV
• How Tim and his wife, Melissa, began creating explicitly faith-based content after leaving Hollywood
• The Maschlers' current project "Me and Johnny Cash" is about a teen using Johnny Cash's Christian message to influence his school
• The importance of parents being "eternal gatekeepers" of their children's media, even content from faith-based studios requires parental evaluation
• Tim's collaboration with John Paul the Great Catholic University
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to the Families of Character show.
Friends, I'm your host, jordanLangdon, and today we're
tackling a topic that's reallymore important than ever what
our kids are watching, readingand taking into their sweet
little, innocent hearts.
Joining me is someone who hasseen both sides of the
(00:23):
entertainment world producer,publisher and former Hollywood
script writer, tim Mashler.
Early in his career, tim wrotefor hit TV shows you've probably
heard of or even watched I knowI have.
Do you remember Hawaii Five-0,starsky and Hutch?
(00:44):
Do you remember Hawaii Five-0,starsky and Hutch?
Magnum PI man I love that showand Fantasy Island those are
just a few of the shows thathe's contributed to.
But after a powerful encounterwith Jesus Christ, tim realized
the direction of mainstreamcontent and how it was spiraling
(01:05):
downward, and he decided tostep away from this glitz and
glamour of Hollywood to createand really champion media that
uplifts, inspires and honorstruth, which we're all about
here at the Families ofCharacter show.
So today Tim is here to sharehis fascinating journey from the
(01:28):
bright lights of Hollywood tohomesteading in good old
Nebraska.
He has started producingfaith-filled stories that truly
form character in the nextgeneration.
So, parents, if you've everfelt just overwhelmed trying to
find good media, good movies, tvshows and books for your kids.
(01:52):
You are not alone.
I think Tim's story is reallygoing to inspire you and empower
you to be intentionalgatekeepers for your family, and
he'll give us some practicaladvice on how to seek out and
support content that actuallystrengthens your kids' hearts,
(02:12):
minds and faith.
So stick around, you won't wantto miss this inside.
Look at how you can be a gamechanger in your child's media
world.
So welcome to the Families ofCharacter show Tim.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Thank you very much and thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Yeah, Tim, you spent years writing for some of the
biggest television shows andthen had this conversion to
Christ and made this major shiftin your life.
So tell us a little bit, justto get started, what lit the
fire in you to really step awayfrom Hollywood and that
mainstream entertainment andstart creating and writing books
(02:54):
and movies that arefaith-filled, that families can
enjoy.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Well, you know, it didn't happen overnight, jordan,
when I was writing all thoseshows, I was having a good time,
the people that I that's thetime that I came to Christ.
I won't go into how thathappened, but it happened
(03:30):
dramatically.
And the first thing thathappened was there were four
producers on that show andmyself and we pretty much ran
the show and we would be innonstop meetings, you know,
figuring out stories andfiguring out what we were going
to do, and, of course, there wasa lot of language that came
back and forth in those meetingsthat I was used to.
(03:52):
You know, all of a sudden, Icouldn't say those words anymore
, you know, it was just, I meanliterally physically, could not
do that.
Well, that confused them, butthey put up with me, you know.
So that was really the firstthing.
Finally, when that show left, Itried for, oh, I'd say, several
years, trying to kind of injectChrist into whatever shows that
(04:17):
I was trying to either write oryeah, write or help produce.
One of them was a gospel story,good News.
It was a TV pilot for CBS andit had a strong Christian
message.
It was a black show with blackactors and they were.
(04:37):
This is back in the day.
Now.
They were hoping that it wouldbe a counter to the Cosby show,
which was a huge black show backin the day.
Anyway it didn't fly.
So I kept, I kept trying to dothat and finally my agent got
really frustrated because therewere things I was turning down
that I used to do, you know, allthe time, even though they were
(05:00):
not bad.
Shows, quote, unquote, when ifthey didn't have some kind of a
good message for it, I wouldturn it down.
So my message, my, my agent, asI said, you know she was happy
to stick with me if I could.
You know if I kind ofcompromise, but I wasn't willing
to do that.
So anyway, I moved away fromthat, took a job, I dusted off
(05:22):
my MBA, took a job in central LAgiving consulting to minorities
in business, and while I wasdoing that, melissa, my bride,
as you call her, my wife,started writing.
Actually, she had been writingfor years but she was writing,
and so while I was still workingat a day job, I would try to
(05:42):
get those works out there, andthey were all very much
Christ-centered works.
For example, learning by theBook, which is one of Melissa's
books, takes all of the academicsubjects and shows what happens
when, if you take God out oflanguage arts, let's say, or
(06:03):
creative arts, what happens?
It leaves a void and somethinghas to replace that void, and we
know, just by what's happenedin education, what has been
replacing it, whether it bepublic school, private school,
wherever.
If it isn't really God-centered, it's man-centered, and so
(06:24):
that's what this book was allabout.
We self-published that book.
Melissa kept writing.
She had a really strongpro-life script called Sign of
Jonah, which had a very strongspiritual element to it not a
preachy element, but a spiritualelement and we almost got that
(06:44):
produced.
In those days I had a lot ofgood contacts coming out of my
producing and writing career.
Even though I wasn't writingthe same shows anymore, I still
had the contacts.
So I tried to get that produced, talked to probably all the
major pro-life ministries in theUnited States, went back to DC
(07:06):
to march for life several times.
Again, though, it was kind ofhard to get over the hurdle of
people saying, well, yes, welike it, but gee, it's awfully
strong, so we weren't able toproduce that.
We're still out there trying toproduce it.
The environment has improved alot, honestly, jordan, from
(07:29):
those days to this day.
There's a lot more out thereand a lot more that parents
really have to be careful about.
You know, just because I meanthere's some really good studios
that are out there nowproducing good content.
But just because, let let's say, angel Studios, which is a
great studio, they're doing goodstuff for the Kendrick brothers
(07:49):
or some other people, justbecause they are, they're the
producers, parents can, can't,cannot, sit back and say, oh,
I'll just let my children watchanything that's from Angel
Studios, I just picked them.
You know, it could be any studiothat is doing not necessarily
(08:09):
Christ-centered work, becausewell, of course that's what
we're hoping for, but if it'snot that it at least has a good,
strong family message to it.
Yeah, that's, I don't know.
You asked me about the story.
Then we also, after we producedthat book, learning by the Book
, melissa was writingNebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
(08:33):
which is one of her novelswhich is about one of the
greatest kings in biblicalhistory, kind of historical
fiction.
Melissa woke up one day.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
We were in Crawford, your old hometown, and she said
you know, I think you know.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I think I have to finish this book in Ireland.
She has Irish roots.
Now the book doesn't haveanything to do with Ireland or
roots, but anyway I said well,okay, you know, let's take a
look at that.
Probably going to take a whileto just sell the ranch.
You know, we had a 400 acreranch, probably five miles south
of where your parents cabin isright now, and so we put it on
the market and it sold in twoweeks, and in two months we were
(09:18):
in Ireland.
I'd never been there before.
So anyway, I mentioned thatthough because she finished her
book, we published it,self-published it, put it up on
Amazon.
But while we were there, jordan,living abroad was a great
experience.
When you're here in the UnitedStates, you kind of have one
view of the United States, butwhen you're in Ireland or you're
(09:41):
anywhere abroad, you get mediafrom elsewhere.
And so Melissa, as a result ofthat experience, started her
novel Nowhere to Run, nowhere toHide.
Behold, I'm Coming Soon Again,another Christ-centered novel.
So anyway, for various reasons,my son's wife died.
(10:02):
We had to come back and helpwith his children.
We did that for a while, butthen, when my son kind of got
himself together, we returned toCrawford.
We've been back to Crawford nowfor five years and Melissa has
continued writing, and one ofthe scripts that she's written
(10:22):
is Me and Johnny Cash, which isour current script that we're
now in the fundraising mode for.
But again you're asking about,you know, I think your focus
here is what should parents do?
And I think a lot of it isbeing engaged with what the
options are out there, lookingat them first and then asking
(10:46):
yourself what is the message?
You know everything that wewatch, regardless of what it is,
every video we see, everypodcast we watch, whatever has a
message you know, and so, in away, you're teaching yourself
how do I watch television or howdo I watch a podcast, what is
the message?
So if you can kind of have thatkind of foundation, then that
(11:14):
foundation enables you toevaluate what the options are
for their children.
You know there are companiesout there now that are producing
animation which is a whole lotbetter than a lot of the junk
that's out there now.
Uh, that are produced.
I just talked to somebodyyesterday um, sycamore Studios
that are.
They're, they've just gotten in, they've just launched their
(11:35):
studio, and so I'm talking tothem about possibly doing
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,our, our book as an animated.
Animated film, because it's very, very.
It isn't Christ-centered, it'san Old Testament project, but
it's God-centered, you know, andit's what happens when you turn
from God and what happens whenyou turn back to God.
(11:57):
So anyway, getting back to thepoint is parents.
I guess our firstresponsibility is to not only
stay engaged but stay engagedfrom the very beginning, so you
know what the options are.
And then when you sit down withyour children and watch
something together, then you cantalk about it.
You can talk about how itrelates to God, how it relates
(12:19):
to the church you're going to,how it relates to what's going
on at school, everything, and soyou give your children that
kind of foundation.
Then they carry that into theirown ecosystem, their own world
and hopefully, as they mature,that stays with them and they
can teach their children andtheir children's children.
(12:41):
So that's.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Yes, I have to jump in and tell you a story.
So just recently last weekendactually my kids and I were
looking for a good quality showto watch and we pulled up a
particular new movie that wasjust released on Netflix and I'm
not even going to repeat thename because it's not worth
(13:04):
watching because it was so badand so wrong.
It's not worth watching becauseit was so bad and so wrong, but
my kids and I were reallyengaged.
We're thinking this is thetruth, this is yes, this is what
our church teaches.
Yep, this is good, this isgreat acting.
And then, all of a sudden,there was this huge plot twist
and you could tell right there,that's where kind of evil had
entered the screenplay andtwisted it, got it totally wrong
(13:28):
, had entered the screenplay andtwisted it, got it totally
wrong.
But if you continued watchingit, you might really believe
this line in the movie thatdistorted the truth.
And so once I realized that, asI was watching it with the kids
and the kids were even likethey looked at me they're 10 and
13, and they look at me like isthat right?
That's not what we believe, andI said this is not right, this
(13:51):
is way off and we're going tostop watching right now.
So then it drummed up aconversation with their dad.
Later too, he said what wereyou watching and tell me about
it?
And the kids started talkingabout it, and it was beautiful
to see how they recognize,because of their foundation of
faith, that Hollywood got thisone wrong, you know, and it was.
(14:11):
It was, um, it was kind ofdisturbing to them at the same
time, because they they want tobelieve what they see, you know,
and and so to go, whoa,somebody could get that so wrong
.
Yet everyone else who's watchingit, who may not be of the same
faith, would believe that andthen make judgments upon our
(14:35):
church like that.
That really blew their mind.
So I love your advice about howyou know, parents, we are to be
the gatekeepers of media thatour kids consume and that if we
can't, you know, preview ittotally before our kids watch it
or read it, it's reallyimportant that we at least sit
(14:57):
with them, do a read aloud ifit's a book, or watch it with
them, so that we can catch thesethings and we can stop and have
conversations with them.
Definitely.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Well, you know, and it even extends to schools that
they may be in, whether they'reCatholic schools or Christian
schools or public schools.
Public schools is pretty easy,because they're godless, you
know they don't have basicallypublic schools, don't have God
anymore, and so they're on thewrong, totally wrong, foundation
.
But Melissa's movie, forexample.
(15:28):
She stayed.
Melissa stays a good part ofthe year now in California
taking care of our grandkids and, you know, maybe half the year
she's there and so she has areally good feel of what's going
on.
There are two of them.
One of them is in Catholicschool and two of them are in a
(15:48):
Christian school and, um, theyall sound really good.
You know, when you see on theinternet what they're doing,
they're, they're strong schools,but when you're really close to
the kids you really find outwhat's going on in those schools
and sometimes it's not godlyand it's not Christ-centered,
even though it has the Christianpatina to it.
(16:08):
And so ironically becausethat's true of the Christian
school that the two girls are in17 and 15, that gave rise to
Melissa writing Me and JohnnyCash.
Because Me and Johnny Cash is astory of a 17 year old in school
(16:29):
, very unhappy.
He grew up as a homeschool kidand he knows that there's
something wrong in that school,and so his dad challenges him.
He said well, you know, can youjust stand for Jesus Christ in
all of your, all of yourdealings with your teachers?
And he's a.
He's a Johnny Cash.
He loves Johnny Cash's music.
(16:51):
The boy does, and so his dadgives him a CD of Johnny Cash
reading the old Testament,reading the new Testament,
rather, and the boy uses thatand Johnny Cash's music to start
having an impact on his school.
He does some, he writes up,puts up a poster of Johnny Cash
(17:11):
with some of Johnny Cash'ssayings on it, puts them up, or
asks his teacher for teachersfor permission to put them up.
And some teachers say, yeah, goahead, and they have, they love
Johnny Cash.
And then you have teachers thatdon't want any part of that.
They don't want any part.
Well, johnny Cash is a drugaddict, you know.
(17:35):
And the boy says, well, yeah,but he visited prisons.
He has a strong Christianmessage.
He brought many people toChrist, anyway.
So that causes a real kind of aproblem at the school because
you've got some teachers thatdon't want any part of this,
other teachers that areendorsing it, and the thing goes
on and builds until the pointwhere it turns out that the
management of the school whichis not true of the one, the true
(17:57):
school that Melissa is at butyou find out that there's
corruption at the top, and sothat's our story.
My point of even mentioning allthat is parents have got to be
no matter what school you're in.
You've got to really be payingattention to what do they read,
(18:17):
even if you're homeschooling.
That was ironic years ago,because we homeschool our
children and we have a lot offriends that started
homeschooling and Melissa wouldoffer materials and so forth for
them, and sometimes she foundthat even homeschoolers were
introducing material that wasn'tnecessarily godly.
(18:40):
So again, vigilance, eternalvigilance, is really the thing.
You have to be active and it'snot an easy thing, but it's
important because you know we'relaunching these children into
life and hopefully they're goingto be launched on the right
foundation.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Yes, man, as you were talking about me and Johnny
Cash, that movie and just thescript.
It's like you're a greatstoryteller and I can understand
why the books do well and thefilms do well, because I'm like
wait, but I want to know therest of the story.
I'm just hanging over here onpins and needles like oh, what
(19:20):
happens to this boy?
And putting posters up ofJohnny Cash and him having an
impact on the conversion orreversion of faith for his
teachers, you know, and it justinspires me because I think, as
parents, we have to influenceour children in ways that
inspire them to evangelizeothers in a very natural way.
(19:44):
And so when you're talkingabout me and Johnny Cash, a boy
who goes whoa, there's somewoke-ism and some strangeness
going on here in my Christianschool and I could be really mad
about it and, just, you know,refuse to go here, skip school,
whatever, but instead he finds areally clever way to connect
(20:07):
with these people that is ontheir terms.
Right, they have an interest inJohnny Cash, they like this
music, and so then he uses thatto help evangelize them and to
really speak to them in theirlanguage.
And I think, as parents you know, so important for us to model
(20:27):
that for our children thatwherever we go to the grocery
store, out shopping at Costco orjust out and about in our
community speaking to ourneighbors, that our kids hear us
speaking to people in thepeople's language.
Right, the people's languageright, Because you never bring
(20:50):
people to Christ by beating themover the head with the Bible or
by telling them this is whatyou should do, or this is what
you ought to do, or you're anidiot if you don't believe, but
instead it's just meeting peoplewhere they aren't.
So I think that's.
I don't know the whole script.
You know for me and Johnny Cash, but that's the idea that I'm
getting.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
No, that's good.
I'm glad you got that, becausethat's exactly right.
Well, and what happens in thestory, of course, is you know,
johnny Cash's persona.
He was the man in black and heone of his when he wrote one of
the songs.
Actually, that's in the movieis man in Black and he tells the
(21:27):
story that I wear black for allthose who have never heard or
read the words Jesus said, andthat's the poster that the boy
puts up.
And, as this kind of mini wargoes on at this school, there
are some of the kids also arekind of against it because their
(21:48):
parents have been pressuringthem to do well, and so you want
to play ball.
You want to play ball witheverything that's happening at
school, whereas some of the kidsget it right away, and you have
kids starting.
More and more kids startwearing black over the period of
this, and so that's the way youdramatize.
My point, though, is and it'sreally good of what you said a
(22:10):
minute ago, is that, um, in thisparticular situation with
johnny cash, it's johnny cashgiving the message.
It's johnny cash, and hismessage is really solid christ
centered.
So it's not us, the movie, thefilmmakers beating any beating
people over the head, you know,with scripture, and yet, coming
(22:32):
from Johnny Cash, everyone lovesJohnny Cash, you know, and so,
except for those teachers thatwe have, it's any way that you
can present it that makes senseto a 15-year-old or a
10-year-old or a 17-year-old.
We try to do that so that it'sentertaining, okay, but still it
(22:57):
has that solid message yes, yes, so is the full script written
already?
Yes, oh yes, as a matter of fact, we're in collaboration.
The script has been written.
Melissa was just home.
For matter of fact, we're incollaboration.
The script has been written.
Melissa was just home for acouple weeks ago and she did
another rewrite and I workedwith her to get it right and
(23:17):
it's right now.
We think we're very happy withit.
We're working in collaborationwith John Paul, the Great
Catholic University in San Diego, which is basically a film
school.
They do their own in-housefilms I call them student films
(23:38):
but now they've been around forI think 12, 13 years and they're
interested in getting outsideprojects.
We would be the first outsideproject that they would help
produce.
And the advantage for us, ofcourse, is that in going out to
fundraise, which is the phasewe're in right now, if people
(24:00):
want to donate money or investin the film, they can actually
donate it to John Paul Catholicand get a tax write-off because
it's a nonprofit.
So for particularly Catholicinvestors, that's an advantage
for us and also for theuniversity.
It's an advantage to, you know,getting out in the in the real
(24:21):
world, not just the student,student film world, but also so
they increases their increases,their profile and what we're
doing and we hope to do,depending on how things work out
, is that the students that areactually in the program right
now.
There's many of them that arevery talented, that have solid
(24:44):
skills, whether they be, youknow, working on a production
crew, even acting, you know.
They have acting classes, sowe're hoping to utilize them.
That would be a really awin-win because we would get
some real new interesting phasesinvolved with the movie and we
(25:05):
can also we can use theirfacilities, their editing
facilities, so it has a realgood partnership to it.
Now, always the problem withthese situations is actually
getting the money, because onceyou have the money like I'm,
going out now and trying toenhance the project early on by
(25:25):
getting known actors.
For example, you may know theactor Dennis Quaid.
We're trying to pursue Dennisfor one of the roles, the dad in
the thing you probably don'tknow, pat Boone.
Do you know Pat Boone?
Speaker 1 (25:39):
I don't, I'm really dating myself now.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Pat Boone was a very, very big star in the 50s and
the 60s and the 70s.
Strong Christian guy Was asinger.
He was, I mean, if you go backin those days, I mean he had all
the big hits.
But he was also an actor and Iknew Pat back in the day when I
(26:03):
was in actually it was when Ileft show business business, but
I was still trying to getthings out.
I went to Pat because I knewhim and because I was trying to
get Mel Gibson to read ourpro-life script and Pat said, oh
yeah, well, I've got his cellphone right here and he dials
him up and and talks to him andhe pitched it to him.
(26:25):
Actually we didn't get it goingwith him, anyway.
So we're trying, I'm trying tonow.
Pat is 90 now and he is stillpitching out there.
I mean, the guy is anentrepreneur.
He's still anything that I cando to promote Jesus Christ,
that's his in my last days,that's what I'm going to do.
So I'm trying to get to him.
Unfortunately I kind of losttrack of him, not contact with
(26:47):
him over the years, but I've gota friend who's a friend who
knows you know.
So I'm trying to get back toPat.
So if I get Pat attached to it,that would help, you know,
getting an investor.
When I say okay, particularlyinvestors, say, in my generation
, that does know Pat, pat Booneand his profile, you know it's
(27:08):
just an enhancement.
So that's the process we're inright now trying to get well,
like.
The partnership with JPCatholic is great because that's
the first thing.
Johnny Cash is another realplus.
Now, if I can get a couple ofactors to not necessarily commit
but commit when we get themoney, then we'll be off and
(27:28):
running.
So that's where we are.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
I just really appreciate what you're doing for
us, for parents, forgrandparents, for kids coming up
Just to dedicate this last halfof your life you and Melissa,
your wife, to creating contentthat is faith-filled but also
(27:51):
reachable to people who areliving in the world but are of a
faith background, and theefforts it takes.
It just floors me.
It's fundraising, it's contacts, it's networking, it's being on
podcasts, it's constantly beingin email communication with
(28:13):
people, it's touching back toyour Hollywood roots in some
senses to try to find people tohelp support these films.
And so thank you for whatyou're doing.
I mean, I would also ask you tohelp us understand better, just
kind of the timeline or howthis starts and then, when it
(28:33):
hits the, the movie screen, youknow what are all the phases,
that that something has to gothrough.
I think if parents arelistening and they say, oh man,
my kids are interested in acting, or I would love to inspire my
children to use their talentsfor the good and, instead of
running to Hollywood or to NewYork City, but to, you know,
(28:55):
couple up with John Paul, thegreat Catholic University, or
other great film studios who areproducing, you know, christian
stuff, what is kind of theprocess.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Yeah, well, it's just speaking first to what you were
saying about parents, becausethere are parents out there that
have really talented childrenand you know the glitz and the
glam of Hollywood is out there.
You want to connect themhopefully to well, like John
(29:27):
Paul the Great would be anexample, but there's other, you
know, universities and so forth,but a lot of it, you know,
because this question comes upnow with Christian filmmakers
quite a bit, and really whatmany are saying is to not only
be careful about where your, youknow your children might go as
(29:49):
far as a university or a filmschool or whatever, to make sure
their foundation is right.
But just, you know the processis so difficult, as you say.
You know you start out I'lltalk about that in a minute,
I'll come back to that point isyou start out and you have a
(30:10):
script.
The most important thing ishaving a script and you have a
script.
The most important thing ishaving a script, and so what
many of the filmmakers now aresaying to people is look for a
really good script that you'rereally, really you know is right
.
So that's and if you can be acontent creator, that's even
better.
You know, let's say you have ayoung boy or girl who wants to
(30:33):
be an actor, and yet they havesome writing abilities, have
them write a script that theyknow is right.
You know.
So it's the content, becausecontent is king.
It's all about what the contentis.
It isn't who makes it, it isn'twho's in it, it isn't anything
like that.
It's what is the message.
So if you can encourage childrento be aspiring actors or
(30:59):
aspiring directors or aspiringproducers, to be a content
creator, that's a good way to go.
Now, as far as the process isconcerned, getting a good script
is the absolute first thingyou've got to have, but it's
(31:21):
only the first step.
A good producer friend of minesays you know all the trouble
and all the hardship and theheartache that you go through
writing a script.
That's the easy part and it'shard to even believe that
because it's really hard to geta really good script.
Melissa can tell you, I cantell you, but anyway, so you got
the really good script.
Then you have to find partnersthat, like we, found JP Catholic
(31:41):
, because our project isn't aCatholic project and many of JP
Catholic's work doesn'tnecessarily have a Catholic
stamp to it.
Are you still with me, jordan?
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Okay, Everything changed on my screen, so I don't
know what happened there,anyway, so I'll just keep going.
Yeah, sure.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
So, yeah, so you've got a good script.
Then you try to enhance thatscript with talent, people that
will be interested in maybemaking it, and then it's just
beating the bushes.
It's getting out there talkingto people Like right now I'm
trying to find high net worthindividuals, people that could
invest in a film.
Uh, and you know, if it wentbelly up, uh, you know it
(32:33):
wouldn't matter.
You know what I mean.
I certainly don't wantinvestors that are putting all
their hopes and, you know,dreams in the film and it goes
down and they go down.
That isn't the idea.
Trying to find people that that, uh, resonate with the message,
uh, but that also can see thatit's, it's, uh, you know, a good
possible moneymaker.
We think this is because,mainly because of Johnny Cash,
(33:01):
you know Johnny Cash's music,johnny Cash's persona.
There's so many people thatlove him that we're hoping that
they'll see that.
I mean, it's a worldwide, he'sa worldwide phenomenon, you know
he really is.
So we're that's so.
So that's the fundraising phaseand you get the money.
Once you get the money, it's alot easier to attract a director
, attract good talent.
You do that and then you knowyou're off and running.
(33:26):
So you know it's pre-production, it's getting everything ready
to go, your crews, and startingto promote, even promote ahead
of when you're doing it, whatyou're doing, particularly now
in social media and elsewhere.
You know you get the word outthere and then you go into
production and do the film andthen after that, while you're
(33:48):
doing all that, there's a bigchallenge of getting
distribution, because if youmake a film it's got to be
distributed out there.
So that's another big challenge.
So I'll be going assuming weget the funds and we get going,
we'll all be going out to themajor film markets where sales
agents and distributors go to.
(34:08):
I'll be out there pitching forthem.
So that's the long process.
Then once you get, you know, adistribution deal, you've got
your, you've done yourproduction, then it goes out and
do a lot of praying and then doa lot of promotion and
hopefully it's a success.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Praying and promotion .
I love it.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
You got to do the two together right.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Wow, what, what an arduous process.
I mean it's just not easy.
And it sounds like you andMelissa are kind of going at
this on your own in some waysand gathering people as you can
to help support the mission andthe vision of this film.
And just to, no one would dothis unless they just had a
(34:51):
great passion for changingmainstream media and having a
greater impact on children andfamilies when it comes to media.
So whew, that is.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
We're hoping for the first time because we, as far as
our films are concerned, we'vecome close.
Like I mentioned, sign of Jonah, the pro-life film it's still.
I mean it's still.
It's still there, I mean we'restill out there.
So when I'm out pitching me andJohnny Cash, I've always got my
(35:28):
ears up to hear about if peopleare interested in possibly
supporting our pro-life film andI'll go and talk to them about
that.
Yesterday I was talking to thisnew studio, sycamore Studios,
and it was a friend of mybrother-in-law connected me with
him, a fellow that's a creativedirector of the new studios,
(35:50):
and it was just going to be kindof like a fundraising call, not
necessarily to get fundraisingbut to hear his story of how
they put together the studio andhow they raise funds.
But as we were talking itflashed into my mind.
I said, oh wow, nebuchadnezzarcould be Nebuchadnezzar, king of
Babylon.
Melissa's book could be afantastic animated show.
(36:11):
So I pitched it to him.
So now I'm I'm writing up a onepager for him and, you know,
hopefully we'll see that in ananimated feature sometime.
So you just got to be out thereevery possible way you can.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Yes, yes, and you're tuning in from Crawford,
nebraska, folks.
This is my hometown of 1200.
He's out in the country, in themiddle of the country, you know
, right in the middle of smackdab in the middle of the country
, you know, right in the middleof smack dab in the middle of
the United States, writing,connecting with people.
He and his wife, tim andMelissa, and all for our good.
(36:45):
So thank you for all thiseffort that you're doing.
If there are people that arelistening that are like, wait,
what pro-life movie?
Yes, I want to support that.
Or, you know, nebuchadnezzar,king of Babylon, I want to see
that as an animated film.
Or I want to support this meand Johnny Cash thing.
I'm a Johnny Cash fan.
How would someone get a hold ofyou, tim?
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Me at tjmashler at gmailcom.
Also, I would encourage peopleto go to our website, not for me
and Johnny Cash, but ourwebsite is Riordan Classics
R-I-O-R-D-A-N Classics.
It's a company my wife launchedhere about three, four years ago
(37:28):
and I'm kind of the you know,the promoter and the producer
with her company and on thewebsite it has a little bit
about the movie, but it has alittle bit about all of our
projects, all the ones I'vementioned, and so people get it.
It goes with all the thingsthat we've been talking about
(37:52):
today, because the idea behindReardon Classics is, you know,
people hear about, oh, you know,the Greek classics and all the
quote classics, but what webelieve is the true classics are
the ones that where you see,god is at the root of all the
projects, whether they'rescreenplays, whether they're
(38:13):
videos, whether they're novels,whatever they are, and that's
the foundation that we're tryingto promote.
So if anybody can come to thewebsite my email is on there Be
happy to talk to anybody.
Even talk to anybody about whatwe've been talking about,
(38:34):
whether it's nothing aboutfundraising, necessarily, but
about their children or some ofthe books we've done, or
whatever.
Be happy to speak to them.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Wonderful.
Okay, parents, if you'relistening to, take a note here
it's riordanclassicscom.
That's R-I-O-R-D-A-Nclassicscom.
That's where you can find Timand Melissa and all their
projects, and if you'reinterested in helping, fund
these so that we could see thisin a movie theater someday.
(39:04):
Wow, wouldn't that be cool tosay.
You were a part of that,producing that and making that
dream come true, so that ourkids could consume some good
media and take their friends tothe theaters for a good and true
script.
I think so.
So thanks for joining us, tim,do you have any last words that
you wanted to share with us?
Speaker 2 (39:25):
Be engaged.
Don't be discouraged, becausethere's a lot of things that are
going on out there that are not, you know, have nothing to do
with the kind of foundation wewant to instill in our children.
But stay engaged and it canhave nothing but a great effect,
not only on your kids, but intheir children and beyond.
(39:49):
So very important.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
Yes, we always say here at Families of Character
the top priority is our ownrelationship with God, our
relationship with our spouse,and then our relationship with
our kids, and then everythingelse comes after that.
So I think that's what youagree with here.
You've got your hat on underGod.
We, the people, and so I thinkwe're on the same mission and
(40:13):
have the same vision for familylives and building really kids
of good character through allkinds of different avenues, and
media being one of those.
So thanks for joining us, tim,and I hope that we can see this
film in the movie theaterssomeday soon Me too.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
Thank you very much for having me.
It's a real pleasure.
Speaker 1 (40:41):
Yes, parents, stay tuned for more episodes with
great guests like Tim.
We're going to continue tobring you experts in their field
and content that reallyresonates with you and topics
that are relevant for whatyou're going through in the
trenches of raising faith-filledkids in this kind of
counter-cultural world thatwe're living in.
So stay tuned and we'll catchyou on another episode of our
(41:03):
show real soon, god bless.
Welcome back to the Families of Character show.
Friends, I'm your host, jordanLangdon, and today we're
tackling a topic that's reallymore important than ever what
our kids are watching, readingand taking into their sweet
little, innocent hearts.
Joining me is someone who hasseen both sides of the
(00:23):
entertainment world producer,publisher and former Hollywood
script writer, tim Mashler.
Early in his career, tim wrotefor hit TV shows you've probably
heard of or even watched I knowI have.
Do you remember Hawaii Five-0,starsky and Hutch?
(00:44):
Do you remember Hawaii Five-0,starsky and Hutch?
Magnum PI man I love that showand Fantasy Island those are
just a few of the shows thathe's contributed to.
But after a powerful encounterwith Jesus Christ, tim realized
the direction of mainstreamcontent and how it was spiraling
(01:05):
downward, and he decided tostep away from this glitz and
glamour of Hollywood to createand really champion media that
uplifts, inspires and honorstruth, which we're all about
here at the Families ofCharacter show.
So today Tim is here to sharehis fascinating journey from the
(01:28):
bright lights of Hollywood tohomesteading in good old
Nebraska.
He has started producingfaith-filled stories that truly
form character in the nextgeneration.
So, parents, if you've everfelt just overwhelmed trying to
find good media, good movies, tvshows and books for your kids.
(01:52):
You are not alone.
I think Tim's story is reallygoing to inspire you and empower
you to be intentionalgatekeepers for your family, and
he'll give us some practicaladvice on how to seek out and
support content that actuallystrengthens your kids' hearts,
(02:12):
minds and faith.
So stick around, you won't wantto miss this inside.
Look at how you can be a gamechanger in your child's media
world.
So welcome to the Families ofCharacter show Tim.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Thank you very much and thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Yeah, Tim, you spent years writing for some of the
biggest television shows andthen had this conversion to
Christ and made this major shiftin your life.
So tell us a little bit, justto get started, what lit the
fire in you to really step awayfrom Hollywood and that
mainstream entertainment andstart creating and writing books
(02:54):
and movies that arefaith-filled, that families can
enjoy.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Well, you know, it didn't happen overnight, jordan,
when I was writing all thoseshows, I was having a good time,
the people that I that's thetime that I came to Christ.
I won't go into how thathappened, but it happened
(03:30):
dramatically.
And the first thing thathappened was there were four
producers on that show andmyself and we pretty much ran
the show and we would be innonstop meetings, you know,
figuring out stories andfiguring out what we were going
to do, and, of course, there wasa lot of language that came
back and forth in those meetingsthat I was used to.
(03:52):
You know, all of a sudden, Icouldn't say those words anymore
, you know, it was just, I meanliterally physically, could not
do that.
Well, that confused them, butthey put up with me, you know.
So that was really the firstthing.
Finally, when that show left, Itried for, oh, I'd say, several
years, trying to kind of injectChrist into whatever shows that
(04:17):
I was trying to either write oryeah, write or help produce.
One of them was a gospel story,good News.
It was a TV pilot for CBS andit had a strong Christian
message.
It was a black show with blackactors and they were.
(04:37):
This is back in the day.
Now.
They were hoping that it wouldbe a counter to the Cosby show,
which was a huge black show backin the day.
Anyway it didn't fly.
So I kept, I kept trying to dothat and finally my agent got
really frustrated because therewere things I was turning down
that I used to do, you know, allthe time, even though they were
(05:00):
not bad.
Shows, quote, unquote, when ifthey didn't have some kind of a
good message for it, I wouldturn it down.
So my message, my, my agent, asI said, you know she was happy
to stick with me if I could.
You know if I kind ofcompromise, but I wasn't willing
to do that.
So anyway, I moved away fromthat, took a job, I dusted off
(05:22):
my MBA, took a job in central LAgiving consulting to minorities
in business, and while I wasdoing that, melissa, my bride,
as you call her, my wife,started writing.
Actually, she had been writingfor years but she was writing,
and so while I was still workingat a day job, I would try to
(05:42):
get those works out there, andthey were all very much
Christ-centered works.
For example, learning by theBook, which is one of Melissa's
books, takes all of the academicsubjects and shows what happens
when, if you take God out oflanguage arts, let's say, or
(06:03):
creative arts, what happens?
It leaves a void and somethinghas to replace that void, and we
know, just by what's happenedin education, what has been
replacing it, whether it bepublic school, private school,
wherever.
If it isn't really God-centered, it's man-centered, and so
(06:24):
that's what this book was allabout.
We self-published that book.
Melissa kept writing.
She had a really strongpro-life script called Sign of
Jonah, which had a very strongspiritual element to it not a
preachy element, but a spiritualelement and we almost got that
(06:44):
produced.
In those days I had a lot ofgood contacts coming out of my
producing and writing career.
Even though I wasn't writingthe same shows anymore, I still
had the contacts.
So I tried to get that produced, talked to probably all the
major pro-life ministries in theUnited States, went back to DC
(07:06):
to march for life several times.
Again, though, it was kind ofhard to get over the hurdle of
people saying, well, yes, welike it, but gee, it's awfully
strong, so we weren't able toproduce that.
We're still out there trying toproduce it.
The environment has improved alot, honestly, jordan, from
(07:29):
those days to this day.
There's a lot more out thereand a lot more that parents
really have to be careful about.
You know, just because I meanthere's some really good studios
that are out there nowproducing good content.
But just because, let let's say, angel Studios, which is a
great studio, they're doing goodstuff for the Kendrick brothers
(07:49):
or some other people, justbecause they are, they're the
producers, parents can, can't,cannot, sit back and say, oh,
I'll just let my children watchanything that's from Angel
Studios, I just picked them.
You know, it could be any studiothat is doing not necessarily
(08:09):
Christ-centered work, becausewell, of course that's what
we're hoping for, but if it'snot that it at least has a good,
strong family message to it.
Yeah, that's, I don't know.
You asked me about the story.
Then we also, after we producedthat book, learning by the Book
, melissa was writingNebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
(08:33):
which is one of her novelswhich is about one of the
greatest kings in biblicalhistory, kind of historical
fiction.
Melissa woke up one day.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
We were in Crawford, your old hometown, and she said
you know, I think you know.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I think I have to finish this book in Ireland.
She has Irish roots.
Now the book doesn't haveanything to do with Ireland or
roots, but anyway I said well,okay, you know, let's take a
look at that.
Probably going to take a whileto just sell the ranch.
You know, we had a 400 acreranch, probably five miles south
of where your parents cabin isright now, and so we put it on
the market and it sold in twoweeks, and in two months we were
(09:18):
in Ireland.
I'd never been there before.
So anyway, I mentioned thatthough because she finished her
book, we published it,self-published it, put it up on
Amazon.
But while we were there, jordan,living abroad was a great
experience.
When you're here in the UnitedStates, you kind of have one
view of the United States, butwhen you're in Ireland or you're
(09:41):
anywhere abroad, you get mediafrom elsewhere.
And so Melissa, as a result ofthat experience, started her
novel Nowhere to Run, nowhere toHide.
Behold, I'm Coming Soon Again,another Christ-centered novel.
So anyway, for various reasons,my son's wife died.
(10:02):
We had to come back and helpwith his children.
We did that for a while, butthen, when my son kind of got
himself together, we returned toCrawford.
We've been back to Crawford nowfor five years and Melissa has
continued writing, and one ofthe scripts that she's written
(10:22):
is Me and Johnny Cash, which isour current script that we're
now in the fundraising mode for.
But again you're asking about,you know, I think your focus
here is what should parents do?
And I think a lot of it isbeing engaged with what the
options are out there, lookingat them first and then asking
(10:46):
yourself what is the message?
You know everything that wewatch, regardless of what it is,
every video we see, everypodcast we watch, whatever has a
message you know, and so, in away, you're teaching yourself
how do I watch television or howdo I watch a podcast, what is
the message?
So if you can kind of have thatkind of foundation, then that
(11:14):
foundation enables you toevaluate what the options are
for their children.
You know there are companiesout there now that are producing
animation which is a whole lotbetter than a lot of the junk
that's out there now.
Uh, that are produced.
I just talked to somebodyyesterday um, sycamore Studios
that are.
They're, they've just gotten in, they've just launched their
(11:35):
studio, and so I'm talking tothem about possibly doing
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,our, our book as an animated.
Animated film, because it's very, very.
It isn't Christ-centered, it'san Old Testament project, but
it's God-centered, you know, andit's what happens when you turn
from God and what happens whenyou turn back to God.
(11:57):
So anyway, getting back to thepoint is parents.
I guess our firstresponsibility is to not only
stay engaged but stay engagedfrom the very beginning, so you
know what the options are.
And then when you sit down withyour children and watch
something together, then you cantalk about it.
You can talk about how itrelates to God, how it relates
(12:19):
to the church you're going to,how it relates to what's going
on at school, everything, and soyou give your children that
kind of foundation.
Then they carry that into theirown ecosystem, their own world
and hopefully, as they mature,that stays with them and they
can teach their children andtheir children's children.
(12:41):
So that's.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Yes, I have to jump in and tell you a story.
So just recently last weekendactually my kids and I were
looking for a good quality showto watch and we pulled up a
particular new movie that wasjust released on Netflix and I'm
not even going to repeat thename because it's not worth
(13:04):
watching because it was so badand so wrong.
It's not worth watching becauseit was so bad and so wrong, but
my kids and I were reallyengaged.
We're thinking this is thetruth, this is yes, this is what
our church teaches.
Yep, this is good, this isgreat acting.
And then, all of a sudden,there was this huge plot twist
and you could tell right there,that's where kind of evil had
entered the screenplay andtwisted it, got it totally wrong
(13:28):
, had entered the screenplay andtwisted it, got it totally
wrong.
But if you continued watchingit, you might really believe
this line in the movie thatdistorted the truth.
And so once I realized that, asI was watching it with the kids
and the kids were even likethey looked at me they're 10 and
13, and they look at me like isthat right?
That's not what we believe, andI said this is not right, this
(13:51):
is way off and we're going tostop watching right now.
So then it drummed up aconversation with their dad.
Later too, he said what wereyou watching and tell me about
it?
And the kids started talkingabout it, and it was beautiful
to see how they recognize,because of their foundation of
faith, that Hollywood got thisone wrong, you know, and it was.
(14:11):
It was, um, it was kind ofdisturbing to them at the same
time, because they they want tobelieve what they see, you know,
and and so to go, whoa,somebody could get that so wrong
.
Yet everyone else who's watchingit, who may not be of the same
faith, would believe that andthen make judgments upon our
(14:35):
church like that.
That really blew their mind.
So I love your advice about howyou know, parents, we are to be
the gatekeepers of media thatour kids consume and that if we
can't, you know, preview ittotally before our kids watch it
or read it, it's reallyimportant that we at least sit
(14:57):
with them, do a read aloud ifit's a book, or watch it with
them, so that we can catch thesethings and we can stop and have
conversations with them.
Definitely.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Well, you know, and it even extends to schools that
they may be in, whether they'reCatholic schools or Christian
schools or public schools.
Public schools is pretty easy,because they're godless, you
know they don't have basicallypublic schools, don't have God
anymore, and so they're on thewrong, totally wrong, foundation
.
But Melissa's movie, forexample.
(15:28):
She stayed.
Melissa stays a good part ofthe year now in California
taking care of our grandkids and, you know, maybe half the year
she's there and so she has areally good feel of what's going
on.
There are two of them.
One of them is in Catholicschool and two of them are in a
(15:48):
Christian school and, um, theyall sound really good.
You know, when you see on theinternet what they're doing,
they're, they're strong schools,but when you're really close to
the kids you really find outwhat's going on in those schools
and sometimes it's not godlyand it's not Christ-centered,
even though it has the Christianpatina to it.
(16:08):
And so ironically becausethat's true of the Christian
school that the two girls are in17 and 15, that gave rise to
Melissa writing Me and JohnnyCash.
Because Me and Johnny Cash is astory of a 17 year old in school
(16:29):
, very unhappy.
He grew up as a homeschool kidand he knows that there's
something wrong in that school,and so his dad challenges him.
He said well, you know, can youjust stand for Jesus Christ in
all of your, all of yourdealings with your teachers?
And he's a.
He's a Johnny Cash.
He loves Johnny Cash's music.
(16:51):
The boy does, and so his dadgives him a CD of Johnny Cash
reading the old Testament,reading the new Testament,
rather, and the boy uses thatand Johnny Cash's music to start
having an impact on his school.
He does some, he writes up,puts up a poster of Johnny Cash
(17:11):
with some of Johnny Cash'ssayings on it, puts them up, or
asks his teacher for teachersfor permission to put them up.
And some teachers say, yeah, goahead, and they have, they love
Johnny Cash.
And then you have teachers thatdon't want any part of that.
They don't want any part.
Well, johnny Cash is a drugaddict, you know.
(17:35):
And the boy says, well, yeah,but he visited prisons.
He has a strong Christianmessage.
He brought many people toChrist, anyway.
So that causes a real kind of aproblem at the school because
you've got some teachers thatdon't want any part of this,
other teachers that areendorsing it, and the thing goes
on and builds until the pointwhere it turns out that the
management of the school whichis not true of the one, the true
(17:57):
school that Melissa is at butyou find out that there's
corruption at the top, and sothat's our story.
My point of even mentioning allthat is parents have got to be
no matter what school you're in.
You've got to really be payingattention to what do they read,
(18:17):
even if you're homeschooling.
That was ironic years ago,because we homeschool our
children and we have a lot offriends that started
homeschooling and Melissa wouldoffer materials and so forth for
them, and sometimes she foundthat even homeschoolers were
introducing material that wasn'tnecessarily godly.
(18:40):
So again, vigilance, eternalvigilance, is really the thing.
You have to be active and it'snot an easy thing, but it's
important because you know we'relaunching these children into
life and hopefully they're goingto be launched on the right
foundation.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Yes, man, as you were talking about me and Johnny
Cash, that movie and just thescript.
It's like you're a greatstoryteller and I can understand
why the books do well and thefilms do well, because I'm like
wait, but I want to know therest of the story.
I'm just hanging over here onpins and needles like oh, what
(19:20):
happens to this boy?
And putting posters up ofJohnny Cash and him having an
impact on the conversion orreversion of faith for his
teachers, you know, and it justinspires me because I think, as
parents, we have to influenceour children in ways that
inspire them to evangelizeothers in a very natural way.
(19:44):
And so when you're talkingabout me and Johnny Cash, a boy
who goes whoa, there's somewoke-ism and some strangeness
going on here in my Christianschool and I could be really mad
about it and, just, you know,refuse to go here, skip school,
whatever, but instead he finds areally clever way to connect
(20:07):
with these people that is ontheir terms.
Right, they have an interest inJohnny Cash, they like this
music, and so then he uses thatto help evangelize them and to
really speak to them in theirlanguage.
And I think, as parents you know, so important for us to model
(20:27):
that for our children thatwherever we go to the grocery
store, out shopping at Costco orjust out and about in our
community speaking to ourneighbors, that our kids hear us
speaking to people in thepeople's language.
Right, the people's languageright, Because you never bring
(20:50):
people to Christ by beating themover the head with the Bible or
by telling them this is whatyou should do, or this is what
you ought to do, or you're anidiot if you don't believe, but
instead it's just meeting peoplewhere they aren't.
So I think that's.
I don't know the whole script.
You know for me and Johnny Cash, but that's the idea that I'm
getting.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
No, that's good.
I'm glad you got that, becausethat's exactly right.
Well, and what happens in thestory, of course, is you know,
johnny Cash's persona.
He was the man in black and heone of his when he wrote one of
the songs.
Actually, that's in the movieis man in Black and he tells the
(21:27):
story that I wear black for allthose who have never heard or
read the words Jesus said, andthat's the poster that the boy
puts up.
And, as this kind of mini wargoes on at this school, there
are some of the kids also arekind of against it because their
(21:48):
parents have been pressuringthem to do well, and so you want
to play ball.
You want to play ball witheverything that's happening at
school, whereas some of the kidsget it right away, and you have
kids starting.
More and more kids startwearing black over the period of
this, and so that's the way youdramatize.
My point, though, is and it'sreally good of what you said a
(22:10):
minute ago, is that, um, in thisparticular situation with
johnny cash, it's johnny cashgiving the message.
It's johnny cash, and hismessage is really solid christ
centered.
So it's not us, the movie, thefilmmakers beating any beating
people over the head, you know,with scripture, and yet, coming
(22:32):
from Johnny Cash, everyone lovesJohnny Cash, you know, and so,
except for those teachers thatwe have, it's any way that you
can present it that makes senseto a 15-year-old or a
10-year-old or a 17-year-old.
We try to do that so that it'sentertaining, okay, but still it
(22:57):
has that solid message yes, yes, so is the full script written
already?
Yes, oh yes, as a matter of fact, we're in collaboration.
The script has been written.
Melissa was just home.
For matter of fact, we're incollaboration.
The script has been written.
Melissa was just home for acouple weeks ago and she did
another rewrite and I workedwith her to get it right and
(23:17):
it's right now.
We think we're very happy withit.
We're working in collaborationwith John Paul, the Great
Catholic University in San Diego, which is basically a film
school.
They do their own in-housefilms I call them student films
(23:38):
but now they've been around forI think 12, 13 years and they're
interested in getting outsideprojects.
We would be the first outsideproject that they would help
produce.
And the advantage for us, ofcourse, is that in going out to
fundraise, which is the phasewe're in right now, if people
(24:00):
want to donate money or investin the film, they can actually
donate it to John Paul Catholicand get a tax write-off because
it's a nonprofit.
So for particularly Catholicinvestors, that's an advantage
for us and also for theuniversity.
It's an advantage to, you know,getting out in the in the real
(24:21):
world, not just the student,student film world, but also so
they increases their increases,their profile and what we're
doing and we hope to do,depending on how things work out
, is that the students that areactually in the program right
now.
There's many of them that arevery talented, that have solid
(24:44):
skills, whether they be, youknow, working on a production
crew, even acting, you know.
They have acting classes, sowe're hoping to utilize them.
That would be a really awin-win because we would get
some real new interesting phasesinvolved with the movie and we
(25:05):
can also we can use theirfacilities, their editing
facilities, so it has a realgood partnership to it.
Now, always the problem withthese situations is actually
getting the money, because onceyou have the money like I'm,
going out now and trying toenhance the project early on by
(25:25):
getting known actors.
For example, you may know theactor Dennis Quaid.
We're trying to pursue Dennisfor one of the roles, the dad in
the thing you probably don'tknow, pat Boone.
Do you know Pat Boone?
Speaker 1 (25:39):
I don't, I'm really dating myself now.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Pat Boone was a very, very big star in the 50s and
the 60s and the 70s.
Strong Christian guy Was asinger.
He was, I mean, if you go backin those days, I mean he had all
the big hits.
But he was also an actor and Iknew Pat back in the day when I
(26:03):
was in actually it was when Ileft show business business, but
I was still trying to getthings out.
I went to Pat because I knewhim and because I was trying to
get Mel Gibson to read ourpro-life script and Pat said, oh
yeah, well, I've got his cellphone right here and he dials
him up and and talks to him andhe pitched it to him.
(26:25):
Actually we didn't get it goingwith him, anyway.
So we're trying, I'm trying tonow.
Pat is 90 now and he is stillpitching out there.
I mean, the guy is anentrepreneur.
He's still anything that I cando to promote Jesus Christ,
that's his in my last days,that's what I'm going to do.
So I'm trying to get to him.
Unfortunately I kind of losttrack of him, not contact with
(26:47):
him over the years, but I've gota friend who's a friend who
knows you know.
So I'm trying to get back toPat.
So if I get Pat attached to it,that would help, you know,
getting an investor.
When I say okay, particularlyinvestors, say, in my generation
, that does know Pat, pat Booneand his profile, you know it's
(27:08):
just an enhancement.
So that's the process we're inright now trying to get well,
like.
The partnership with JPCatholic is great because that's
the first thing.
Johnny Cash is another realplus.
Now, if I can get a couple ofactors to not necessarily commit
but commit when we get themoney, then we'll be off and
(27:28):
running.
So that's where we are.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
I just really appreciate what you're doing for
us, for parents, forgrandparents, for kids coming up
Just to dedicate this last halfof your life you and Melissa,
your wife, to creating contentthat is faith-filled but also
(27:51):
reachable to people who areliving in the world but are of a
faith background, and theefforts it takes.
It just floors me.
It's fundraising, it's contacts, it's networking, it's being on
podcasts, it's constantly beingin email communication with
(28:13):
people, it's touching back toyour Hollywood roots in some
senses to try to find people tohelp support these films.
And so thank you for whatyou're doing.
I mean, I would also ask you tohelp us understand better, just
kind of the timeline or howthis starts and then, when it
(28:33):
hits the, the movie screen, youknow what are all the phases,
that that something has to gothrough.
I think if parents arelistening and they say, oh man,
my kids are interested in acting, or I would love to inspire my
children to use their talentsfor the good and, instead of
running to Hollywood or to NewYork City, but to, you know,
(28:55):
couple up with John Paul, thegreat Catholic University, or
other great film studios who areproducing, you know, christian
stuff, what is kind of theprocess.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Yeah, well, it's just speaking first to what you were
saying about parents, becausethere are parents out there that
have really talented childrenand you know the glitz and the
glam of Hollywood is out there.
You want to connect themhopefully to well, like John
(29:27):
Paul the Great would be anexample, but there's other, you
know, universities and so forth,but a lot of it, you know,
because this question comes upnow with Christian filmmakers
quite a bit, and really whatmany are saying is to not only
be careful about where your, youknow your children might go as
(29:49):
far as a university or a filmschool or whatever, to make sure
their foundation is right.
But just, you know the processis so difficult, as you say.
You know you start out I'lltalk about that in a minute,
I'll come back to that point isyou start out and you have a
(30:10):
script.
The most important thing ishaving a script and you have a
script.
The most important thing ishaving a script, and so what
many of the filmmakers now aresaying to people is look for a
really good script that you'rereally, really you know is right
.
So that's and if you can be acontent creator, that's even
better.
You know, let's say you have ayoung boy or girl who wants to
(30:33):
be an actor, and yet they havesome writing abilities, have
them write a script that theyknow is right.
You know.
So it's the content, becausecontent is king.
It's all about what the contentis.
It isn't who makes it, it isn'twho's in it, it isn't anything
like that.
It's what is the message.
So if you can encourage childrento be aspiring actors or
(30:59):
aspiring directors or aspiringproducers, to be a content
creator, that's a good way to go.
Now, as far as the process isconcerned, getting a good script
is the absolute first thingyou've got to have, but it's
(31:21):
only the first step.
A good producer friend of minesays you know all the trouble
and all the hardship and theheartache that you go through
writing a script.
That's the easy part and it'shard to even believe that
because it's really hard to geta really good script.
Melissa can tell you, I cantell you, but anyway, so you got
the really good script.
Then you have to find partnersthat, like we, found JP Catholic
(31:41):
, because our project isn't aCatholic project and many of JP
Catholic's work doesn'tnecessarily have a Catholic
stamp to it.
Are you still with me, jordan?
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Okay, Everything changed on my screen, so I don't
know what happened there,anyway, so I'll just keep going.
Yeah, sure.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
So, yeah, so you've got a good script.
Then you try to enhance thatscript with talent, people that
will be interested in maybemaking it, and then it's just
beating the bushes.
It's getting out there talkingto people Like right now I'm
trying to find high net worthindividuals, people that could
invest in a film.
Uh, and you know, if it wentbelly up, uh, you know it
(32:33):
wouldn't matter.
You know what I mean.
I certainly don't wantinvestors that are putting all
their hopes and, you know,dreams in the film and it goes
down and they go down.
That isn't the idea.
Trying to find people that that, uh, resonate with the message,
uh, but that also can see thatit's, it's, uh, you know, a good
possible moneymaker.
We think this is because,mainly because of Johnny Cash,
(33:01):
you know Johnny Cash's music,johnny Cash's persona.
There's so many people thatlove him that we're hoping that
they'll see that.
I mean, it's a worldwide, he'sa worldwide phenomenon, you know
he really is.
So we're that's so.
So that's the fundraising phaseand you get the money.
Once you get the money, it's alot easier to attract a director
, attract good talent.
You do that and then you knowyou're off and running.
(33:26):
So you know it's pre-production, it's getting everything ready
to go, your crews, and startingto promote, even promote ahead
of when you're doing it, whatyou're doing, particularly now
in social media and elsewhere.
You know you get the word outthere and then you go into
production and do the film andthen after that, while you're
(33:48):
doing all that, there's a bigchallenge of getting
distribution, because if youmake a film it's got to be
distributed out there.
So that's another big challenge.
So I'll be going assuming weget the funds and we get going,
we'll all be going out to themajor film markets where sales
agents and distributors go to.
(34:08):
I'll be out there pitching forthem.
So that's the long process.
Then once you get, you know, adistribution deal, you've got
your, you've done yourproduction, then it goes out and
do a lot of praying and then doa lot of promotion and
hopefully it's a success.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Praying and promotion .
I love it.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
You got to do the two together right.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Wow, what, what an arduous process.
I mean it's just not easy.
And it sounds like you andMelissa are kind of going at
this on your own in some waysand gathering people as you can
to help support the mission andthe vision of this film.
And just to, no one would dothis unless they just had a
(34:51):
great passion for changingmainstream media and having a
greater impact on children andfamilies when it comes to media.
So whew, that is.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
We're hoping for the first time because we, as far as
our films are concerned, we'vecome close.
Like I mentioned, sign of Jonah, the pro-life film it's still.
I mean it's still.
It's still there, I mean we'restill out there.
So when I'm out pitching me andJohnny Cash, I've always got my
(35:28):
ears up to hear about if peopleare interested in possibly
supporting our pro-life film andI'll go and talk to them about
that.
Yesterday I was talking to thisnew studio, sycamore Studios,
and it was a friend of mybrother-in-law connected me with
him, a fellow that's a creativedirector of the new studios,
(35:50):
and it was just going to be kindof like a fundraising call, not
necessarily to get fundraisingbut to hear his story of how
they put together the studio andhow they raise funds.
But as we were talking itflashed into my mind.
I said, oh wow, nebuchadnezzarcould be Nebuchadnezzar, king of
Babylon.
Melissa's book could be afantastic animated show.
(36:11):
So I pitched it to him.
So now I'm I'm writing up a onepager for him and, you know,
hopefully we'll see that in ananimated feature sometime.
So you just got to be out thereevery possible way you can.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Yes, yes, and you're tuning in from Crawford,
nebraska, folks.
This is my hometown of 1200.
He's out in the country, in themiddle of the country, you know
, right in the middle of smackdab in the middle of the country
, you know, right in the middleof smack dab in the middle of
the United States, writing,connecting with people.
He and his wife, tim andMelissa, and all for our good.
(36:45):
So thank you for all thiseffort that you're doing.
If there are people that arelistening that are like, wait,
what pro-life movie?
Yes, I want to support that.
Or, you know, nebuchadnezzar,king of Babylon, I want to see
that as an animated film.
Or I want to support this meand Johnny Cash thing.
I'm a Johnny Cash fan.
How would someone get a hold ofyou, tim?
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Me at tjmashler at gmailcom.
Also, I would encourage peopleto go to our website, not for me
and Johnny Cash, but ourwebsite is Riordan Classics
R-I-O-R-D-A-N Classics.
It's a company my wife launchedhere about three, four years ago
(37:28):
and I'm kind of the you know,the promoter and the producer
with her company and on thewebsite it has a little bit
about the movie, but it has alittle bit about all of our
projects, all the ones I'vementioned, and so people get it.
It goes with all the thingsthat we've been talking about
(37:52):
today, because the idea behindReardon Classics is, you know,
people hear about, oh, you know,the Greek classics and all the
quote classics, but what webelieve is the true classics are
the ones that where you see,god is at the root of all the
projects, whether they'rescreenplays, whether they're
(38:13):
videos, whether they're novels,whatever they are, and that's
the foundation that we're tryingto promote.
So if anybody can come to thewebsite my email is on there Be
happy to talk to anybody.
Even talk to anybody about whatwe've been talking about,
(38:34):
whether it's nothing aboutfundraising, necessarily, but
about their children or some ofthe books we've done, or
whatever.
Be happy to speak to them.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Wonderful.
Okay, parents, if you'relistening to, take a note here
it's riordanclassicscom.
That's R-I-O-R-D-A-Nclassicscom.
That's where you can find Timand Melissa and all their
projects, and if you'reinterested in helping, fund
these so that we could see thisin a movie theater someday.
(39:04):
Wow, wouldn't that be cool tosay.
You were a part of that,producing that and making that
dream come true, so that ourkids could consume some good
media and take their friends tothe theaters for a good and true
script.
I think so.
So thanks for joining us, tim,do you have any last words that
you wanted to share with us?
Speaker 2 (39:25):
Be engaged.
Don't be discouraged, becausethere's a lot of things that are
going on out there that are not, you know, have nothing to do
with the kind of foundation wewant to instill in our children.
But stay engaged and it canhave nothing but a great effect,
not only on your kids, but intheir children and beyond.
(39:49):
So very important.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
Yes, we always say here at Families of Character
the top priority is our ownrelationship with God, our
relationship with our spouse,and then our relationship with
our kids, and then everythingelse comes after that.
So I think that's what youagree with here.
You've got your hat on underGod.
We, the people, and so I thinkwe're on the same mission and
(40:13):
have the same vision for familylives and building really kids
of good character through allkinds of different avenues, and
media being one of those.
So thanks for joining us, tim,and I hope that we can see this
film in the movie theaterssomeday soon Me too.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
Thank you very much for having me.
It's a real pleasure.
Speaker 1 (40:41):
Yes, parents, stay tuned for more episodes with
great guests like Tim.
We're going to continue tobring you experts in their field
and content that reallyresonates with you and topics
that are relevant for whatyou're going through in the
trenches of raising faith-filledkids in this kind of
counter-cultural world thatwe're living in.
So stay tuned and we'll catchyou on another episode of our
(41:03):
show real soon, god bless.
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