October 14, 2025 • 27 mins
In this powerful episode of The Hollywood in Toto Podcast, host Christian Toto chats with filmmaker Spencer Folmar, a bold voice in the world of faith-based cinema. Known for Generational Sins and Shooting Heroin, Folmar brings a raw, unfiltered approach to storytelling that reflects the messiness of real life — and the complex, imperfect nature of faith.
Folmar opens up about his personal journey into filmmaking, the inspiration behind his deeply emotional stories, and why he believes Christian films shouldn't shy away from life’s darker edges. At the heart of the conversation is the Hard Faith Film Festival, a groundbreaking event giving a platform to independent filmmakers of faith outside the Hollywood bubble.
If you're interested in faith and film, indie cinema, or how bold creatives are reshaping the Christian movie genre, this episode is a must-listen.
--------------------------
Hard Faith Film Festival: https://www.hardfaith.org
Subscribe to HiT's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@HollywoodinToto
Read Hollywood in Toto - https://www.hollywoodintoto.com
Lend a hand: Leave a tip! https://hollywood-in-toto.ck.page/products/hollywood-in-toto-tip-jar
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto
Read: "Virtue Bombs: How Hollywood Got Woke and Lost Its Soul" https://www.amazon.com/Virtue-Bombs-Hollywood-Woke-Lost/dp/1637580991
Folmar opens up about his personal journey into filmmaking, the inspiration behind his deeply emotional stories, and why he believes Christian films shouldn't shy away from life’s darker edges. At the heart of the conversation is the Hard Faith Film Festival, a groundbreaking event giving a platform to independent filmmakers of faith outside the Hollywood bubble.
If you're interested in faith and film, indie cinema, or how bold creatives are reshaping the Christian movie genre, this episode is a must-listen.
--------------------------
Hard Faith Film Festival: https://www.hardfaith.org
Subscribe to HiT's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@HollywoodinToto
Read Hollywood in Toto - https://www.hollywoodintoto.com
Lend a hand: Leave a tip! https://hollywood-in-toto.ck.page/products/hollywood-in-toto-tip-jar
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto
Read: "Virtue Bombs: How Hollywood Got Woke and Lost Its Soul" https://www.amazon.com/Virtue-Bombs-Hollywood-Woke-Lost/dp/1637580991
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You've come a long way. Faith based films. Now, the
genre has been around for decades, movies like Ben Hurd
The Ten Commandments, but the modern faith based movement really
kickstarted with the Passion of the Christ, the great Mel
Gibson film. That movie made all the money and showed
Hollywood and some storytellers that, hey, there's a huge market
for people who want spiritual stories and they're not getting
(00:21):
it from the usual suspects.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Are you ignoring me me?
Speaker 1 (00:25):
So filmmakers filled in that gap the very best way
they could by making movies. And some of these filmmakers
didn't have a lot of money. They didn't have a
list actors, they didn't have all the experience and all
the technology necessary to make movies like you see in
any theater. So some of the early films were a
bit raw, a bit rougher on the edges. The acting
(00:46):
was a bit suspect. The budgets just couldn't convey mainstream
theatrical presentations. The stories could be preachy, they could be predictable,
but you know what, they often made a lot of
money because audiences were starred for something spiritual, a movie
that spoke to their values, a movie that they could
rally behind, and they look past some of the flaws
(01:08):
and said, hey, you know what. I know it's imperfect
by many stretches of the imagination, but I like it.
I want to see more of it. This really means
something to me. And along the way, these films got better,
They got bigger, the budgets were improved. Sometimes you didn't
get a list actors, but recognizable names people we've watched
(01:30):
for decades. All of a sudden started gravitating towards these
faith based movies. Hallelujah. And along the way, the stories,
the topics, the conversations, well, that broadened as well. All
of a sudden, you have a movie like Nefarious, which
was a horror themed faith based movie, or something like
Believe Me, which poked some satirical fun at the christ community.
(01:54):
This whole genre has really matured in a very powerful
way in recent years. Box office has improved his will
at times, and not every movie has been a hit,
and not every movie has been good. But just to
watch this particular genre grow and evolve has been fascinating
for me and quite rewarding as well, not just for
people like me, but also for storytellers who want to
(02:16):
get more access to the Hollywood marketplace, which brings us
to Spencer Folmart. He's a filmmaker who has a different
take on faith based movies two degree. They are godly,
for sure, but he likes to look at the rougher
edges around life and bring that to the screen. In
his philosophy. Sometimes life has profanity, sometimes there is violence
(02:40):
that could be captured on screen. He's not making hard
R rated movies, but these are the kind of faith
based stories that show life as it is, not as
we always wish it would be. And that's the difference.
He's made movies like Generational Sins and Shooting Heroine. These
are raw stories that talk about hardships and redemption and
(03:03):
spirituality in a way you don't often see in mainstream
Hollywood films. He's brought that philosophy to a new ish
It's been around for a couple of years now film festival.
It's called the Hard Faith Film Festival, and it conveys
what he likes to bring to the screen. These are
movies about faith, about redemption, about uplift. But again, it
(03:24):
isn't cookie cutter, it isn't predictable, and sometimes it could
be a little upsetting. I guess again, life doesn't always
work out exactly as we plan. So this particular festival,
the next one's coming up in December in New York City,
looks at films like that, and he wants your film
to be a part of it. Now, the festival itself
is going to be in December, but we have until
(03:45):
October twentieth to submit our films for his festival and
he will check them out and he will see if
they're a good fit for the Hard Faith Film Festival.
So just go to Hardfaith dot org. You can find
out more about the festival, about Spencer, about the kind
of movies he's made over the years, and about past
festival results. It's all there. It's a great resource and
(04:06):
also just a chance to get to know Spencer and
what he's all about. And after you do check out
the website and kind of poke around a bit, you
can listen to this episode. We have a great conversation
about faith, about movies, about how he got into this
field in the first place. I always love those origin stories.
I mean, they're always kind of fascinating to me. Why
would you go into a field that's so darn competitive
(04:26):
and it's so hard to get the reward you need
or wander crave, but many filmmakers do. It's in their blood.
They can't help themselves, and Spencer is just quite like
that as well. So hope you enjoy my conversation with
Spencer fulmar He is a storyteller to watch, and he's
got a film festival. I think you don't want to
hear more about well S Bencher. Thanks for joining the show.
(04:47):
And I often start with a very basic question because
I think it's important. I want to just get a
quick origin story from you. You know, how you got
into film directing. I know that's your passion. I don't
We could talk for days about it. I'm sure you
could as well, but just maybe why you got into
this field and maybe a key point through two along
(05:09):
the way that told you you were on the right path.
I always find those moments fascinating. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Absolutely, Thank you so much for having me on the show.
Christian really enjoy reading your articles and reviews, and I've
been a big fan of yours over the years. I
grew up in very rural Pennsylvania and there wasn't a
lot to do. I grew up outside of state college
Pennsylvania to where Penn State University is, and I always
love movies, So I was blessed at a young age,
(05:35):
around seven years old. I knew that I want to
be a film director. I want to work in movies.
And you know, I grew up going to the local
drive in theater, the single screen historic cinema, and I
just always wanted to be in films, and I've really
been studying, working going towards that goal my whole life.
I went to NYU for my film pro degree. I
(05:59):
convert Christianity after college. And after I converted Christianity, I
realized that if I was going to make films about
my new faith, I want to make them accurately. And
so I went to seminary at Reform Theological Seminary and
get my Masters of Theology so I could combine both
hopefully great cinematic art and accurate theology. And it was
(06:23):
during seminary actually where we coined the term hard faith,
because I, like I said, didn't grow up in the church,
never heard of faith based films. After I converted Christianity
started watching faith based films. I didn't relate a lot
to what is mostly family friendly content, just because that
didn't relate to me or connect with where I was,
(06:45):
and so I thought, you know, the Bible is pretty
r rated. Why couldn't we have faith stories in the
real world. And so we coined the term hard faith
to encapsulate stories about real life scenario, those stories beyond
Sunday school, stories that have a faith message in them.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Yeah, you know, Andrew Claven is of a similar mindset,
and listen, there's nothing wrong with films that are G
or PG that have a certain point of view, and
I think this room for everything here, but he talks
about how, you know, life as hard as complicated, faith
can be complicated, and that kind of erasing some of
the harder edges maybe can be counterproductive. So I assume
(07:27):
that's sort of part of your belief system as well.
Were there films along the way that really captured that?
I mean, the hard faith that you're working on is
your own beasts and your own creation and obviously the
festival we'll get to that in a minute. But were
there films when you were growing up that you saw
that maybe captured part of that ethos?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
You know, my sister took me with her Bible study
to see passion of the Christ in theaters and I
was like in high school and it was obviously a
very R rated movie, and it was so moving. I mean,
like we stayed in the theater afterwards, no one said
a word, And I didn't think much of Christianity at
(08:06):
the time or even believe in it, and it was
just such an impactful, well executed film. And you know
since then too. I mean, like Calvary is a film
that I highly recommend with Brendan Gleeson, Irish film that
I just think is very hard faith and yet you know,
it's a subtle, strong faith message. Obviously, Hacksaw Ridge another great,
(08:30):
I let's say, hard faith film, and there's plenty more,
but these are some of the highlights I'd recommend.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Yeah, along your journey, you know, you learn as you go.
You watch films, you make films, you become a better filmmaker.
How do you think you've improved as a storyteller over
the years. I mean, you're still a pretty young man
and you got a lot more stories to tell. But
just I'm always curious as artists, you know, I think
the best artists are able to reflect on what they do,
(08:59):
except new information grow in ways maybe they didn't expect.
But just as a filmmaker today, as opposed when you
first entered the scene, how do you think you kind
of upped your game, worked on your craft, or just
so maybe you're just improved.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Well, I would say this, and I just recently shared
this thought with a friend, but I think whenever you
release a film, and especially a film that gets film critics,
you being a critic yourself Christian. I actually think that's
a tremendous blessing because no matter how the film like,
whoever you're making it, for whatever audience, you're getting critic
(09:35):
reviews from people who analyze films at the highest level
every day. And so even if I make a conservative
film or a Christian film, I'm still getting critic reviews
from people from all sides of the aisle, all different
walks of life. And so even like in generational sins,
I remember I had an absolutely scathing review from the
Hollywood Reporter, and I've had other ones, you know, other
(09:57):
terrible reviews, And I see it and I think, you
the easy kind of cop out answer would be like, oh, well,
they just hate it because it's Christian. But I look
and I break down every single line and though that
might be true to some regard, there are a lot
of feedback notes there that I have taken into account,
reflected upon, and I've tried to become a better filmmaker.
(10:19):
Even something that was a real I find like a
little success story for myself is that from Generational Sins
to shooting Heroin, you know, almost no major critics or
news outlets like Generational Sins and then shooting Heroin. You know,
Owen Geiberman had critic at Variety gave us a positive review.
LA Times gave us a positive review, Hollywood reporters still
(10:42):
hated it, but still little progress made. So yeah, I
think listening to the critics and not letting it weigh
you down because you have to keep moving forward, not
you know, you have to continue making films, but just
learning and listening to audiences.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
I think you can learn a lot from that. Yeah,
it's a great point, and it's a double edged sword
of because I do think that there are some critics who,
like you said, kind of have an ax to grind
before they moved even begins. But the better ones, even
if they come from that mindset, will still analyze the
film and maybe have some you know, constructive criticism which
we could all, you know, leuse or at least listen
(11:19):
to along the way. I was kind of curious your
thoughts on you know, I've been covering the faith based
film genre for a while now, and I know maybe
even people equival with the name, But just for argument's sake,
I've seen progress here. I've seen a variety of stories.
I've seen films that dip into areas you didn't expect,
like horror and comedy and satire. You know, it feels
(11:43):
like such an unique genre in it it's often outside
of the Hollywood ecosystem. But I'm kind of curious. This
is your bread and butter, and you know it so
well and you work within it and you push the
boundaries too. What's your take on where faith friendly films
for maybe that's a better way have gone to recent years.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
So whenever Generational Sins came out in theaters eight years ago,
it was mostly just shocking news because it was a
PG thirteen film that had adult language in it and
mostly got you know, a lot of hate from traditional
Christian markets, in Christian consumer review companies. But I think
(12:23):
that the faith industry as a whole has matured a
lot in all positive ways.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
In these eight years.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
You know, there's higher budgets, more better quality actors, more
well thought out, better written screenplays, and I think Hollywood
itself is making so much garbage that there's more artists
that are willing to be in a faith based world,
even if that's not like their greatest passion or like
(12:51):
they're not someone that's first only identifying as a Christian.
They're willing to work in these worlds because some of
the I would argue that some of the faith based
films that are coming out today are better than most
of what Hollywood is producing.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
So yeah, I think an actress wants to be attached
to a great script or a great story or a
great project, and they will, you know, good for them,
they'll look past whatever. Maybe they don't align specifically with
a certain film or theme, but great role is a
great role when you can't turn them down. And then
the competition so fierce. One of the things we talked
(13:27):
about just before the mics went on was I don't
know if you've worked with him or about to work
with him, but you've kind of intertwined with with Kevin Spacey,
And of course, as we all know what he's gone
through in recent years. But I just want to get
your thoughts on that, because I think a lot of
actors are flawed, and I think a lot of actors
have done bad things, and I think, you know, there's
(13:48):
obviously a spectrum there, for sure. I don't want to
dismiss things, but what your thoughts about the possibility of
working with Kevin And I don't know how far that's
gone along.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Yeah, So a year ago now, October of twenty four,
I was on set for about a week and a
half with Kevin Spacey. I was one of two producers
on a film called seventeen eighty. It's American revolutionary war
action film. Kevin is a supporting lead, and so I
was the producer kind of in charge of Kevin, handled
all of his accommodations and worked with him daily. And
(14:22):
so I had a lot of time with Kevin, and
he could not have been more professional and more lovely
to work with.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
You know.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
It was a large cast and I've had the pleasure
of working with a lot of different actors over the years,
some Academy nominated and he is Academy Award winning twice over.
But even before he got to set. You know, he
called our director and got the writer on the phone
and went through a multiple hour exchange trying to get
the context, the historicity, the character background, you know, just
(14:54):
doing so much homework for at the end of the
day was an independent film and so just a real
professional and some of the best acting I've ever had
the chance of witnessing in real life. So, you know,
the arts and the church should be a place for redemption,
you know, it should be a place for second chances.
(15:14):
I don't know where he's at in his redemption story,
you know, as far as the public approval or as
his own personal you know process, But at the end
of the day, he is a great artist, and I
don't think we should cancel anyone, especially if someone wants
to get better.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Yeah. Well, you know, it's ironic you mentioned redemption. I
mean that's part of what hard faith is all about.
Talk a little bit about that from me. I want
to get into the Hard Faith Festival, which is coming
in December. We'll get into a minute. But what that evokes,
because it isn't just faith leaning it. There's more to
it about that, and I think it's what it's sort
(15:53):
of some of the labels and the boundaries start to
fade away a little bit. But just in your own
words to a layman, even like an elevator pitch, how
would you describe hard faith, either the festival or the
ethos itself.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
So hard faith bridges the gap between traditional faith based
films and Hollywood cinematic entertainment. It bridges the gap in between.
It we hold up these truths that life is hard
and God exists. That's where we start with all of
our audiences. And so we want to have an approachable
story that deals with the reality of the real world.
(16:29):
We do not censor it, we do not stand off
the rough edges, and so a lot of our productions
are rated or PG. Thirteen. And we like to deal
with real human issues because most people don't convert to
Christianity or choose like a faith system because they want
to win the football game or trivial, trite issues that
(16:51):
most faith based films deal with. They convert or they
pray for the first time because they're in a life crisis,
because their life is falling apart, because they're dealing with
addiction or suicide or depression, or something meaningful and life changing.
And those are the topics that we want to address,
and I think that faith can address those uniquely. And sadly,
(17:13):
most faith films and even most churches do not address
these hard, dark topics and they stay away from them
just out of fear. And I don't think we should
be fearful. The number one commandment throughout Scripture is do
not be afraid, and too often we are afraid and
we don't deal with these subjects I think mostly out
of fear of man, because we just want to be
(17:34):
the cleanest, neatest, safest Christians we can be, and I
don't think that's that exciting, especially in art.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Yeah, so one of the reason why I wanted to
talk to you was that the festival is coming December,
but you're looking for submissions now. I believe October twentieth
is the cutoff date. So if I'm a filmmaker, I've
got a project things films that reflect that worldview, those
stories that redemption, that sort of sentiment is what you're
(18:02):
looking for. Any recent movies that were part of the
past festivals that really embody what you're looking for, maybe
that will give people a better idea of what kind
of film would be the sweet spot here.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
So we've done the Hard Faith Film Festival in Hollywood
for three years. This is our first ever regional Hard
Faith Film Festival event. It's one day. It's in New
York City on December sixth in Manhattan at the Producers Club,
just a block away from Times Square. Will be from
ten am to seven pm all day. We have seven
different categories. We have feature film, documentary, short film, student film,
(18:38):
experimental screenplay. So if you're just you know, if you're
a screenwriter, you can also submit your screenplay. And we
also have a pitch fest where you if you just
have an idea, you can pitch your fest in front
of live judges and audiences and get feedback. But one
of our recent films that won Best Feature Film just
at this past July Hollywood Film Festival was Triumph of
(18:59):
the Heart Art, which is a feature film about a
Catholic saint that died in the concentration camps in World
War Two. And it's a beautiful movie. It just had
its theatrical release and we're really glad that we were
able to premiere it at the Hard Faith Film Festival
in July, and that's very high art. You know, it's
(19:20):
a great independent film, and not all of our films
have to be explicit like faith reading from the Bible,
there's a pastor. It can also be metaphorical, it can
be faith inspired, it can be faith adjacent. We are
trying to reach people mostly outside of the church. We're
(19:41):
looking to bring the lost sheep home. And so you
don't have to check a lot of boxes. If you
feel like your film doesn't fit in other, especially faith festivals,
you'll probably fit in at hard faith.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
You know, I just get back from a festival in Pittsburgh,
the Pittsburgh Moving Picture Festival, and the the spirit and
the camaraderie and the sense of community, and it almost
sounds like a cliche. It was just palpable and it's
just a wonderful place. And I'm sure that your festival
also kind of has that sensibility. What does it mean
to a filmmaker. I mean, obviously, if you're in a festival,
(20:16):
it doesn't guarantee distribution, doesn't guarantee theatrical release, it doesn't
guarantee much. But there is something about that festival experience
and I just dipped a toe in it just a
few days ago. This is part of your bread and butter.
Talk about why festivals matter at this point in the culture.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
I think film festivals are so important, especially in today's
day and age. You know, going to the theaters used to
be a community event and that was so gratifying, just
the celebration of cinema. But we've reduced it to mostly watching,
you know, films on our cell phones are back at
our home, and the communal experience of celebrating cinema is magical.
(20:55):
And we all love films, we love stories, but also
celebrating these new independent film artists and getting to see
your film on the big screen with an audience of
people who love film, right, Like, it's not just like
an audience that are just going because they've read the
comic book, or an audience that is just going because
you know, their parents drag them. Everyone's there is committed
(21:16):
for cinema, and they're committed to supporting these independent filmmakers,
even if they're a first time filmmaker, and that can
be a life changing experience and the energy is palpable.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Yeah, and by the way, the ones I saw I
saw some films that were a little you know, dubious
in quality, but they were all original and they were
all fresh, and they all had a vibrancy to them
that I just caught tron ares and is visually spectacular,
but it didn't have a heart. And even the lesser
films that I saw of the weekend, they had a heart,
(21:47):
and I thought that was important. Before we let you go, Smits,
I want to talk a little bit Saint Niko Bethlehem,
which I believe is coming soon. Just give us a
little sneak peek about that one, because it sounds pretty
pretty seasonable, seasonable, a seasonable I'm sorry struggling that one anyway.
You tell me more, boy, before I stumble even further.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Saint Niko Bethlehem is a Christmas movie about a man
who lost his only son tragically and through his grieving process,
became a father figure and a Santa Claus figure to
the community. It's based on a real life individual whose
name is Alan Smith, a guy I grew up with
in Central Pennsylvania. It's a film that I've been working
on trying to get into production over ten years. It
(22:27):
is having a theatrical release in November, and then it'll
be available on home video in December on all platforms,
video on demand, some streaming channels, and we're really excited
to bring it out. It's is a film with a
heart message, you know, it's it's somewhat of a heavier
message for a Christmas movie, but it also has a
whole lot of you know, holiday cheer and redemption as well.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Yeah, in reading a little more about you, we've kind
of know each other a little bit for years, but
the word resilience kept coming up and up. But you know,
I know Mark Joseph is a really good producer. He
did Reagan, and he wrote a whole book about how
bleeping hard it was to make Reagan, but he did it.
(23:10):
And you know, you and I are talking here. You've
got a film festival, you've got films in the works,
you've made films already. Resilience just seems like the number
one characteristic you need as a filmmaker because it's just
so hard. Anything you can share about that, or even
sort of a inspirational message we can end this conversation with.
Because filmmaking is so.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
Hard, resilience is absolutely key. There's been and I just
looked this up recently, there's been about two hundred and
fifty thousand feature films, narrative, feature films not documentaries made
since nineteen forty nine, only thirty eight percent of film
directors make a second feature film, so almost you know,
like three quarters of them almost to cut out because
(23:51):
it's just so hard. Then only eight percent of all
film directors in these last you know, eighty years have
made more than five fat film. So I'm already in
this small eight percent of film directors just because it's
it's so difficult to continue making films. It's a very
difficult industry. There's a lot of sharks in the water.
(24:11):
It's hard to make a film. It's like a new
startup on every single movie. I know Mark Joseph's journey
just from the outside, and you know, he was a
producer on two of my films, and in him making
Reagan was a herculean effort, and I was just so
excited and proud of him for getting that film across
the line and making such a great movie, which was Reagan.
(24:33):
But it is resilience. You know, a quote from Charles
Spurgeon is, by resilience, the snail too made it to
the arc. So it's so difficult. But resilience, I think
is one of the best attributes that I could ever
give to someone.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Yeah, and I think that applies to many things in life,
but just for filmmaking, it is. It is the pushing
the boulder up the hill. But you've done it more
than there's got a few occasions. We appreciate the work
you do and I'm looking forward to seeing Saint Niko
Bethlehemmikon coming out this season. And also check out Hard Faith.
Just go to hardfaith dot org. You can find information
about Spencer's films, the film festival, submission information, all the
(25:14):
details are right there. Hardfaith dot org one stop shop
let people know what you are all about. Spencer, thanks
so much for joining the show, for sharing the information
and little pep talk too. I like that, you know.
I think I think for people who do quit, it's
not for them, and it's understandable, but I just have
all the admiration for filmmakers who just won't stop and
(25:37):
they get their films up. Doesn't mean that, Citizen Kane.
Sometimes it could be an average film, that could be
a below average film, but what an accomplishment, what a blessing,
and your films are far better than that. So I
appreciate all the good work you do and hopefully we
can talk again.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Thank you so much, Christian, I really appreciate the time.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Well that's it for this bonus episode. I've got a
few more interviews in the proverbial can, so we'll be
rolling them out as soon as possible, trying to get
more episodes on this YouTube channel and of course on iTunes.
Wherever you're listening to this podcast and in between shows,
do check out Hollywoodintoto dot com. Of course, it's my
website now eleven years old. It's kind of a long
time in web terms, right, and it is like this
(26:16):
show the right take in entertainment. It's got news, reviews, commentary,
everything going on in pop culture from a right of
center perspective. And the one thing we really focus on
is stories that don't get told enough in the mainstream press.
Just one example, lots of Jewish artists have been canceled
over the last few months based on the whole Palestine
(26:36):
Israel debacle. Do other sites cover that? Sometimes they do,
sometimes they don't, Sometimes they ignore it, Sometimes they don't
connect the dots that this isn't just a one off problem.
It's happening again and again. And that's where Hollywood and
Toto comes in and on the lighter side, it's October,
it's Halloween season, and we've been running a whole string
(26:56):
of classic horror movie reviews. It's a trip down memory
lane for me. It reminds me of films that I
want to watch again and again, and of course it
is the season for scary movies. So do check out
the great horror movie reviews at hollywoodintoto dot com by
our great guest contributor, Barry Worst. He's a film professor,
he's a movie critic. He just loves movies and he
(27:18):
shares it in the best of ways. And I'm so
proud to have his work on my side. It's an
honor and a privilege. So do check out hollywoodintoto dot
com for those kinds of reviews and so much more. Again,
thank you for listening, thank you for watching, and of course,
be good, be strong. Doctors orders
You've come a long way. Faith based films. Now, the
genre has been around for decades, movies like Ben Hurd
The Ten Commandments, but the modern faith based movement really
kickstarted with the Passion of the Christ, the great Mel
Gibson film. That movie made all the money and showed
Hollywood and some storytellers that, hey, there's a huge market
for people who want spiritual stories and they're not getting
(00:21):
it from the usual suspects.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Are you ignoring me me?
Speaker 1 (00:25):
So filmmakers filled in that gap the very best way
they could by making movies. And some of these filmmakers
didn't have a lot of money. They didn't have a
list actors, they didn't have all the experience and all
the technology necessary to make movies like you see in
any theater. So some of the early films were a
bit raw, a bit rougher on the edges. The acting
(00:46):
was a bit suspect. The budgets just couldn't convey mainstream
theatrical presentations. The stories could be preachy, they could be predictable,
but you know what, they often made a lot of
money because audiences were starred for something spiritual, a movie
that spoke to their values, a movie that they could
rally behind, and they look past some of the flaws
(01:08):
and said, hey, you know what. I know it's imperfect
by many stretches of the imagination, but I like it.
I want to see more of it. This really means
something to me. And along the way, these films got better,
They got bigger, the budgets were improved. Sometimes you didn't
get a list actors, but recognizable names people we've watched
(01:30):
for decades. All of a sudden started gravitating towards these
faith based movies. Hallelujah. And along the way, the stories,
the topics, the conversations, well, that broadened as well. All
of a sudden, you have a movie like Nefarious, which
was a horror themed faith based movie, or something like
Believe Me, which poked some satirical fun at the christ community.
(01:54):
This whole genre has really matured in a very powerful
way in recent years. Box office has improved his will
at times, and not every movie has been a hit,
and not every movie has been good. But just to
watch this particular genre grow and evolve has been fascinating
for me and quite rewarding as well, not just for
people like me, but also for storytellers who want to
(02:16):
get more access to the Hollywood marketplace, which brings us
to Spencer Folmart. He's a filmmaker who has a different
take on faith based movies two degree. They are godly,
for sure, but he likes to look at the rougher
edges around life and bring that to the screen. In
his philosophy. Sometimes life has profanity, sometimes there is violence
(02:40):
that could be captured on screen. He's not making hard
R rated movies, but these are the kind of faith
based stories that show life as it is, not as
we always wish it would be. And that's the difference.
He's made movies like Generational Sins and Shooting Heroine. These
are raw stories that talk about hardships and redemption and
(03:03):
spirituality in a way you don't often see in mainstream
Hollywood films. He's brought that philosophy to a new ish
It's been around for a couple of years now film festival.
It's called the Hard Faith Film Festival, and it conveys
what he likes to bring to the screen. These are
movies about faith, about redemption, about uplift. But again, it
(03:24):
isn't cookie cutter, it isn't predictable, and sometimes it could
be a little upsetting. I guess again, life doesn't always
work out exactly as we plan. So this particular festival,
the next one's coming up in December in New York City,
looks at films like that, and he wants your film
to be a part of it. Now, the festival itself
is going to be in December, but we have until
(03:45):
October twentieth to submit our films for his festival and
he will check them out and he will see if
they're a good fit for the Hard Faith Film Festival.
So just go to Hardfaith dot org. You can find
out more about the festival, about Spencer, about the kind
of movies he's made over the years, and about past
festival results. It's all there. It's a great resource and
(04:06):
also just a chance to get to know Spencer and
what he's all about. And after you do check out
the website and kind of poke around a bit, you
can listen to this episode. We have a great conversation
about faith, about movies, about how he got into this
field in the first place. I always love those origin stories.
I mean, they're always kind of fascinating to me. Why
would you go into a field that's so darn competitive
(04:26):
and it's so hard to get the reward you need
or wander crave, but many filmmakers do. It's in their blood.
They can't help themselves, and Spencer is just quite like
that as well. So hope you enjoy my conversation with
Spencer fulmar He is a storyteller to watch, and he's
got a film festival. I think you don't want to
hear more about well S Bencher. Thanks for joining the show.
(04:47):
And I often start with a very basic question because
I think it's important. I want to just get a
quick origin story from you. You know, how you got
into film directing. I know that's your passion. I don't
We could talk for days about it. I'm sure you
could as well, but just maybe why you got into
this field and maybe a key point through two along
(05:09):
the way that told you you were on the right path.
I always find those moments fascinating. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Absolutely, Thank you so much for having me on the show.
Christian really enjoy reading your articles and reviews, and I've
been a big fan of yours over the years. I
grew up in very rural Pennsylvania and there wasn't a
lot to do. I grew up outside of state college
Pennsylvania to where Penn State University is, and I always
love movies, So I was blessed at a young age,
(05:35):
around seven years old. I knew that I want to
be a film director. I want to work in movies.
And you know, I grew up going to the local
drive in theater, the single screen historic cinema, and I
just always wanted to be in films, and I've really
been studying, working going towards that goal my whole life.
I went to NYU for my film pro degree. I
(05:59):
convert Christianity after college. And after I converted Christianity, I
realized that if I was going to make films about
my new faith, I want to make them accurately. And
so I went to seminary at Reform Theological Seminary and
get my Masters of Theology so I could combine both
hopefully great cinematic art and accurate theology. And it was
(06:23):
during seminary actually where we coined the term hard faith,
because I, like I said, didn't grow up in the church,
never heard of faith based films. After I converted Christianity
started watching faith based films. I didn't relate a lot
to what is mostly family friendly content, just because that
didn't relate to me or connect with where I was,
(06:45):
and so I thought, you know, the Bible is pretty
r rated. Why couldn't we have faith stories in the
real world. And so we coined the term hard faith
to encapsulate stories about real life scenario, those stories beyond
Sunday school, stories that have a faith message in them.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Yeah, you know, Andrew Claven is of a similar mindset,
and listen, there's nothing wrong with films that are G
or PG that have a certain point of view, and
I think this room for everything here, but he talks
about how, you know, life as hard as complicated, faith
can be complicated, and that kind of erasing some of
the harder edges maybe can be counterproductive. So I assume
(07:27):
that's sort of part of your belief system as well.
Were there films along the way that really captured that?
I mean, the hard faith that you're working on is
your own beasts and your own creation and obviously the
festival we'll get to that in a minute. But were
there films when you were growing up that you saw
that maybe captured part of that ethos?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
You know, my sister took me with her Bible study
to see passion of the Christ in theaters and I
was like in high school and it was obviously a
very R rated movie, and it was so moving. I mean,
like we stayed in the theater afterwards, no one said
a word, And I didn't think much of Christianity at
(08:06):
the time or even believe in it, and it was
just such an impactful, well executed film. And you know
since then too. I mean, like Calvary is a film
that I highly recommend with Brendan Gleeson, Irish film that
I just think is very hard faith and yet you know,
it's a subtle, strong faith message. Obviously, Hacksaw Ridge another great,
(08:30):
I let's say, hard faith film, and there's plenty more,
but these are some of the highlights I'd recommend.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Yeah, along your journey, you know, you learn as you go.
You watch films, you make films, you become a better filmmaker.
How do you think you've improved as a storyteller over
the years. I mean, you're still a pretty young man
and you got a lot more stories to tell. But
just I'm always curious as artists, you know, I think
the best artists are able to reflect on what they do,
(08:59):
except new information grow in ways maybe they didn't expect.
But just as a filmmaker today, as opposed when you
first entered the scene, how do you think you kind
of upped your game, worked on your craft, or just
so maybe you're just improved.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Well, I would say this, and I just recently shared
this thought with a friend, but I think whenever you
release a film, and especially a film that gets film critics,
you being a critic yourself Christian. I actually think that's
a tremendous blessing because no matter how the film like,
whoever you're making it, for whatever audience, you're getting critic
(09:35):
reviews from people who analyze films at the highest level
every day. And so even if I make a conservative
film or a Christian film, I'm still getting critic reviews
from people from all sides of the aisle, all different
walks of life. And so even like in generational sins,
I remember I had an absolutely scathing review from the
Hollywood Reporter, and I've had other ones, you know, other
(09:57):
terrible reviews, And I see it and I think, you
the easy kind of cop out answer would be like, oh, well,
they just hate it because it's Christian. But I look
and I break down every single line and though that
might be true to some regard, there are a lot
of feedback notes there that I have taken into account,
reflected upon, and I've tried to become a better filmmaker.
(10:19):
Even something that was a real I find like a
little success story for myself is that from Generational Sins
to shooting Heroin, you know, almost no major critics or
news outlets like Generational Sins and then shooting Heroin. You know,
Owen Geiberman had critic at Variety gave us a positive review.
LA Times gave us a positive review, Hollywood reporters still
(10:42):
hated it, but still little progress made. So yeah, I
think listening to the critics and not letting it weigh
you down because you have to keep moving forward, not
you know, you have to continue making films, but just
learning and listening to audiences.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
I think you can learn a lot from that. Yeah,
it's a great point, and it's a double edged sword
of because I do think that there are some critics who,
like you said, kind of have an ax to grind
before they moved even begins. But the better ones, even
if they come from that mindset, will still analyze the
film and maybe have some you know, constructive criticism which
we could all, you know, leuse or at least listen
(11:19):
to along the way. I was kind of curious your
thoughts on you know, I've been covering the faith based
film genre for a while now, and I know maybe
even people equival with the name, But just for argument's sake,
I've seen progress here. I've seen a variety of stories.
I've seen films that dip into areas you didn't expect,
like horror and comedy and satire. You know, it feels
(11:43):
like such an unique genre in it it's often outside
of the Hollywood ecosystem. But I'm kind of curious. This
is your bread and butter, and you know it so
well and you work within it and you push the
boundaries too. What's your take on where faith friendly films
for maybe that's a better way have gone to recent years.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
So whenever Generational Sins came out in theaters eight years ago,
it was mostly just shocking news because it was a
PG thirteen film that had adult language in it and
mostly got you know, a lot of hate from traditional
Christian markets, in Christian consumer review companies. But I think
(12:23):
that the faith industry as a whole has matured a
lot in all positive ways.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
In these eight years.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
You know, there's higher budgets, more better quality actors, more
well thought out, better written screenplays, and I think Hollywood
itself is making so much garbage that there's more artists
that are willing to be in a faith based world,
even if that's not like their greatest passion or like
(12:51):
they're not someone that's first only identifying as a Christian.
They're willing to work in these worlds because some of
the I would argue that some of the faith based
films that are coming out today are better than most
of what Hollywood is producing.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
So yeah, I think an actress wants to be attached
to a great script or a great story or a
great project, and they will, you know, good for them,
they'll look past whatever. Maybe they don't align specifically with
a certain film or theme, but great role is a
great role when you can't turn them down. And then
the competition so fierce. One of the things we talked
(13:27):
about just before the mics went on was I don't
know if you've worked with him or about to work
with him, but you've kind of intertwined with with Kevin Spacey,
And of course, as we all know what he's gone
through in recent years. But I just want to get
your thoughts on that, because I think a lot of
actors are flawed, and I think a lot of actors
have done bad things, and I think, you know, there's
(13:48):
obviously a spectrum there, for sure. I don't want to
dismiss things, but what your thoughts about the possibility of
working with Kevin And I don't know how far that's
gone along.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Yeah, So a year ago now, October of twenty four,
I was on set for about a week and a
half with Kevin Spacey. I was one of two producers
on a film called seventeen eighty. It's American revolutionary war
action film. Kevin is a supporting lead, and so I
was the producer kind of in charge of Kevin, handled
all of his accommodations and worked with him daily. And
(14:22):
so I had a lot of time with Kevin, and
he could not have been more professional and more lovely
to work with.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
You know.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
It was a large cast and I've had the pleasure
of working with a lot of different actors over the years,
some Academy nominated and he is Academy Award winning twice over.
But even before he got to set. You know, he
called our director and got the writer on the phone
and went through a multiple hour exchange trying to get
the context, the historicity, the character background, you know, just
(14:54):
doing so much homework for at the end of the
day was an independent film and so just a real
professional and some of the best acting I've ever had
the chance of witnessing in real life. So, you know,
the arts and the church should be a place for redemption,
you know, it should be a place for second chances.
(15:14):
I don't know where he's at in his redemption story,
you know, as far as the public approval or as
his own personal you know process, But at the end
of the day, he is a great artist, and I
don't think we should cancel anyone, especially if someone wants
to get better.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Yeah. Well, you know, it's ironic you mentioned redemption. I
mean that's part of what hard faith is all about.
Talk a little bit about that from me. I want
to get into the Hard Faith Festival, which is coming
in December. We'll get into a minute. But what that evokes,
because it isn't just faith leaning it. There's more to
it about that, and I think it's what it's sort
(15:53):
of some of the labels and the boundaries start to
fade away a little bit. But just in your own
words to a layman, even like an elevator pitch, how
would you describe hard faith, either the festival or the
ethos itself.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
So hard faith bridges the gap between traditional faith based
films and Hollywood cinematic entertainment. It bridges the gap in between.
It we hold up these truths that life is hard
and God exists. That's where we start with all of
our audiences. And so we want to have an approachable
story that deals with the reality of the real world.
(16:29):
We do not censor it, we do not stand off
the rough edges, and so a lot of our productions
are rated or PG. Thirteen. And we like to deal
with real human issues because most people don't convert to
Christianity or choose like a faith system because they want
to win the football game or trivial, trite issues that
(16:51):
most faith based films deal with. They convert or they
pray for the first time because they're in a life crisis,
because their life is falling apart, because they're dealing with
addiction or suicide or depression, or something meaningful and life changing.
And those are the topics that we want to address,
and I think that faith can address those uniquely. And sadly,
(17:13):
most faith films and even most churches do not address
these hard, dark topics and they stay away from them
just out of fear. And I don't think we should
be fearful. The number one commandment throughout Scripture is do
not be afraid, and too often we are afraid and
we don't deal with these subjects I think mostly out
of fear of man, because we just want to be
(17:34):
the cleanest, neatest, safest Christians we can be, and I
don't think that's that exciting, especially in art.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Yeah, so one of the reason why I wanted to
talk to you was that the festival is coming December,
but you're looking for submissions now. I believe October twentieth
is the cutoff date. So if I'm a filmmaker, I've
got a project things films that reflect that worldview, those
stories that redemption, that sort of sentiment is what you're
(18:02):
looking for. Any recent movies that were part of the
past festivals that really embody what you're looking for, maybe
that will give people a better idea of what kind
of film would be the sweet spot here.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
So we've done the Hard Faith Film Festival in Hollywood
for three years. This is our first ever regional Hard
Faith Film Festival event. It's one day. It's in New
York City on December sixth in Manhattan at the Producers Club,
just a block away from Times Square. Will be from
ten am to seven pm all day. We have seven
different categories. We have feature film, documentary, short film, student film,
(18:38):
experimental screenplay. So if you're just you know, if you're
a screenwriter, you can also submit your screenplay. And we
also have a pitch fest where you if you just
have an idea, you can pitch your fest in front
of live judges and audiences and get feedback. But one
of our recent films that won Best Feature Film just
at this past July Hollywood Film Festival was Triumph of
(18:59):
the Heart Art, which is a feature film about a
Catholic saint that died in the concentration camps in World
War Two. And it's a beautiful movie. It just had
its theatrical release and we're really glad that we were
able to premiere it at the Hard Faith Film Festival
in July, and that's very high art. You know, it's
(19:20):
a great independent film, and not all of our films
have to be explicit like faith reading from the Bible,
there's a pastor. It can also be metaphorical, it can
be faith inspired, it can be faith adjacent. We are
trying to reach people mostly outside of the church. We're
(19:41):
looking to bring the lost sheep home. And so you
don't have to check a lot of boxes. If you
feel like your film doesn't fit in other, especially faith festivals,
you'll probably fit in at hard faith.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
You know, I just get back from a festival in Pittsburgh,
the Pittsburgh Moving Picture Festival, and the the spirit and
the camaraderie and the sense of community, and it almost
sounds like a cliche. It was just palpable and it's
just a wonderful place. And I'm sure that your festival
also kind of has that sensibility. What does it mean
to a filmmaker. I mean, obviously, if you're in a festival,
(20:16):
it doesn't guarantee distribution, doesn't guarantee theatrical release, it doesn't
guarantee much. But there is something about that festival experience
and I just dipped a toe in it just a
few days ago. This is part of your bread and butter.
Talk about why festivals matter at this point in the culture.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
I think film festivals are so important, especially in today's
day and age. You know, going to the theaters used to
be a community event and that was so gratifying, just
the celebration of cinema. But we've reduced it to mostly watching,
you know, films on our cell phones are back at
our home, and the communal experience of celebrating cinema is magical.
(20:55):
And we all love films, we love stories, but also
celebrating these new independent film artists and getting to see
your film on the big screen with an audience of
people who love film, right, Like, it's not just like
an audience that are just going because they've read the
comic book, or an audience that is just going because
you know, their parents drag them. Everyone's there is committed
(21:16):
for cinema, and they're committed to supporting these independent filmmakers,
even if they're a first time filmmaker, and that can
be a life changing experience and the energy is palpable.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Yeah, and by the way, the ones I saw I
saw some films that were a little you know, dubious
in quality, but they were all original and they were
all fresh, and they all had a vibrancy to them
that I just caught tron ares and is visually spectacular,
but it didn't have a heart. And even the lesser
films that I saw of the weekend, they had a heart,
(21:47):
and I thought that was important. Before we let you go, Smits,
I want to talk a little bit Saint Niko Bethlehem,
which I believe is coming soon. Just give us a
little sneak peek about that one, because it sounds pretty
pretty seasonable, seasonable, a seasonable I'm sorry struggling that one anyway.
You tell me more, boy, before I stumble even further.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Saint Niko Bethlehem is a Christmas movie about a man
who lost his only son tragically and through his grieving process,
became a father figure and a Santa Claus figure to
the community. It's based on a real life individual whose
name is Alan Smith, a guy I grew up with
in Central Pennsylvania. It's a film that I've been working
on trying to get into production over ten years. It
(22:27):
is having a theatrical release in November, and then it'll
be available on home video in December on all platforms,
video on demand, some streaming channels, and we're really excited
to bring it out. It's is a film with a
heart message, you know, it's it's somewhat of a heavier
message for a Christmas movie, but it also has a
whole lot of you know, holiday cheer and redemption as well.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Yeah, in reading a little more about you, we've kind
of know each other a little bit for years, but
the word resilience kept coming up and up. But you know,
I know Mark Joseph is a really good producer. He
did Reagan, and he wrote a whole book about how
bleeping hard it was to make Reagan, but he did it.
(23:10):
And you know, you and I are talking here. You've
got a film festival, you've got films in the works,
you've made films already. Resilience just seems like the number
one characteristic you need as a filmmaker because it's just
so hard. Anything you can share about that, or even
sort of a inspirational message we can end this conversation with.
Because filmmaking is so.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
Hard, resilience is absolutely key. There's been and I just
looked this up recently, there's been about two hundred and
fifty thousand feature films, narrative, feature films not documentaries made
since nineteen forty nine, only thirty eight percent of film
directors make a second feature film, so almost you know,
like three quarters of them almost to cut out because
(23:51):
it's just so hard. Then only eight percent of all
film directors in these last you know, eighty years have
made more than five fat film. So I'm already in
this small eight percent of film directors just because it's
it's so difficult to continue making films. It's a very
difficult industry. There's a lot of sharks in the water.
(24:11):
It's hard to make a film. It's like a new
startup on every single movie. I know Mark Joseph's journey
just from the outside, and you know, he was a
producer on two of my films, and in him making
Reagan was a herculean effort, and I was just so
excited and proud of him for getting that film across
the line and making such a great movie, which was Reagan.
(24:33):
But it is resilience. You know, a quote from Charles
Spurgeon is, by resilience, the snail too made it to
the arc. So it's so difficult. But resilience, I think
is one of the best attributes that I could ever
give to someone.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Yeah, and I think that applies to many things in life,
but just for filmmaking, it is. It is the pushing
the boulder up the hill. But you've done it more
than there's got a few occasions. We appreciate the work
you do and I'm looking forward to seeing Saint Niko
Bethlehemmikon coming out this season. And also check out Hard Faith.
Just go to hardfaith dot org. You can find information
about Spencer's films, the film festival, submission information, all the
(25:14):
details are right there. Hardfaith dot org one stop shop
let people know what you are all about. Spencer, thanks
so much for joining the show, for sharing the information
and little pep talk too. I like that, you know.
I think I think for people who do quit, it's
not for them, and it's understandable, but I just have
all the admiration for filmmakers who just won't stop and
(25:37):
they get their films up. Doesn't mean that, Citizen Kane.
Sometimes it could be an average film, that could be
a below average film, but what an accomplishment, what a blessing,
and your films are far better than that. So I
appreciate all the good work you do and hopefully we
can talk again.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Thank you so much, Christian, I really appreciate the time.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Well that's it for this bonus episode. I've got a
few more interviews in the proverbial can, so we'll be
rolling them out as soon as possible, trying to get
more episodes on this YouTube channel and of course on iTunes.
Wherever you're listening to this podcast and in between shows,
do check out Hollywoodintoto dot com. Of course, it's my
website now eleven years old. It's kind of a long
time in web terms, right, and it is like this
(26:16):
show the right take in entertainment. It's got news, reviews, commentary,
everything going on in pop culture from a right of
center perspective. And the one thing we really focus on
is stories that don't get told enough in the mainstream press.
Just one example, lots of Jewish artists have been canceled
over the last few months based on the whole Palestine
(26:36):
Israel debacle. Do other sites cover that? Sometimes they do,
sometimes they don't, Sometimes they ignore it, Sometimes they don't
connect the dots that this isn't just a one off problem.
It's happening again and again. And that's where Hollywood and
Toto comes in and on the lighter side, it's October,
it's Halloween season, and we've been running a whole string
(26:56):
of classic horror movie reviews. It's a trip down memory
lane for me. It reminds me of films that I
want to watch again and again, and of course it
is the season for scary movies. So do check out
the great horror movie reviews at hollywoodintoto dot com by
our great guest contributor, Barry Worst. He's a film professor,
he's a movie critic. He just loves movies and he
(27:18):
shares it in the best of ways. And I'm so
proud to have his work on my side. It's an
honor and a privilege. So do check out hollywoodintoto dot
com for those kinds of reviews and so much more. Again,
thank you for listening, thank you for watching, and of course,
be good, be strong. Doctors orders
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