WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.840 Real Life presents the Jack Hibbs podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim 2 00:00:05.840 --> 00:00:11.240 truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. Hey everybody, we are in store for a 3 00:00:11.240 --> 00:00:15.680 great treat. I'm so excited about this. You're going to be excited about it. We 4 00:00:15.680 --> 00:00:20.280 are going to take you behind the scenes to an amazing, I'm going to call it a 5 00:00:20.280 --> 00:00:27.560 technology parable that is worthy of that title and so so articulate regarding 6 00:00:27.560 --> 00:00:34.120 the gospel. Let's find out what we're talking about. You can get the outlines of 7 00:00:34.120 --> 00:00:41.400 this podcast by going to jackhibbs.com slash podcast. Today, if this podcast lifts 8 00:00:41.400 --> 00:00:45.600 you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled life in Christ, then make 9 00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:50.840 sure you leave us one of those five star ratings. To us, that's like saying amen 10 00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:56.120 or yes, then that rating will encourage others to listen. Now open your hearts 11 00:00:56.120 --> 00:01:02.200 to what God's word has to say to you. Here is Jack Hibbs. Well hey everybody, we 12 00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:05.960 are super excited. I got to tell you, you're going to be excited. I am super 13 00:01:05.960 --> 00:01:12.160 excited. I think that the 68-year-old guy, since I saw this short film, became a 14 00:01:12.160 --> 00:01:16.880 nine-year-old all over again. We're going to be speaking to Jeremy Spears and 15 00:01:16.880 --> 00:01:23.640 Nathan Engelhart regarding the remarkable creation of something that I've 16 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:29.400 never seen before. I mean, this is in the realm of illustration and communication. 17 00:01:29.400 --> 00:01:35.720 This is my opinion. It just transcends so many things that you have seen. But these 18 00:01:35.720 --> 00:01:41.840 two men, for example, Nathan, he's an animation supervisor who has worked on 19 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:50.320 films such as Reckett Ralph, Big Hero 6. My grandkids love that. Zootopia, frozen 20 00:01:50.320 --> 00:01:57.760 two in canto, Rio, and so much more. He has been, that his Nathan has been, he has 21 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:03.200 written and directed, the Oscar nominated animated short film Forever Green, which 22 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:08.800 is what we're going to be talking about today, which is his directorial debut, 23 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:15.960 quite frankly. And then also Jeremy Spears is an award-winning story artist. And 24 00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:20.880 you're going to see why in a moment. And he has helped create beloved characters and 25 00:02:20.880 --> 00:02:29.360 stories for such films as Zootopia 2 in canto, Reckett Ralph, Moana, Frozen. And in 26 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:33.720 his free time, he creates unique wooden sculptures, which I hope you'll show us 27 00:02:33.720 --> 00:02:41.400 something like that today. And in his woodland workshop, his latest passion in 28 00:02:41.400 --> 00:02:47.760 project is directing the Oscar nominated animated short film Forever Green as well. 29 00:02:47.760 --> 00:02:52.000 Gentlemen, welcome to our quick podcast together. I know that you guys are up against a hard 30 00:02:52.000 --> 00:03:00.200 stop as I am, but welcome to our show. And just for those who are not familiar, when I saw 31 00:03:00.200 --> 00:03:06.960 your short film, I was captivated. I don't even remember how I found it, how it came 32 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:12.160 to me. Maybe you guys sent it to me. I don't know. I sent it out to everybody that I knew, 33 00:03:12.160 --> 00:03:19.560 not knowing if I was to do that or not. I just did it. I just did it. And then the next 34 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:25.920 day at church, before service began, I just said, play it. I want everybody to see this. 35 00:03:25.920 --> 00:03:31.040 And I'd say we got flooded with comments from people across the United States. What 36 00:03:31.040 --> 00:03:39.440 work this is, can you guys tell us, take us back into the creativity of it, how you guys 37 00:03:39.440 --> 00:03:45.600 came about doing this? Because what a gospel presentation. And here's what's awesome 38 00:03:45.600 --> 00:03:53.760 to about it. It's not a gospel presentation. It's actually a word of discipleship to believers 39 00:03:53.760 --> 00:03:58.800 who think they have just fallen too far away and God cannot bring them back. So can you 40 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:03.200 guys just go off on this? Because I just want to hear from you. Our audience wants to hear 41 00:04:03.200 --> 00:04:08.560 from you. What a great work this is. Thank you. Well, first of all, thank you for having us on. 42 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:13.680 It's such an honor to be on this with you, Pastor. And gosh, it's been a quite a journey for both 43 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:19.680 Jeremy and I. We started this journey about six years ago. And I think of around September 2019 44 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:26.160 right before COVID. So this sort of our COVID project while we were all in lockdown that we worked 45 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:36.800 a lot on. And so we, Jeremy and I, we had a desire to use our gifts for the Lord and had an 46 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:44.000 opportunity to do that with this film to tell a story about unmerited grace and a kind of love 47 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:52.000 that is, you know, forever, a forever kind of love. And so we desired to, you know, 48 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:58.400 set off on that journey. And we, this film was actually made by 200 volunteers. 49 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:04.960 Everyone in their free time. And so no one got paid. We did this in our nights, our weekends, 50 00:05:06.080 --> 00:05:12.160 holidays. And after six years, you know, that's a long time to do that, to make a 12-minute short 51 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:17.840 film. But so finally, being at this point now, we're able to unveil it and share it with the world. 52 00:05:17.840 --> 00:05:23.120 We're just, we couldn't be more excited. So wow, amazing. Yeah, we're, I just wanted to say 53 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:28.880 at the same, it's an honor to get to speak with you today. And thanks for having us on. I'm Jeremy, 54 00:05:28.880 --> 00:05:31.760 by the way, I don't know if our names are going to be at the bottoms, but just let you know. 55 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:39.040 And so yeah, it's just, it's such a treat to get to start sharing about this film. Nathan and I, 56 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:44.560 when we started on it, I think it was, it was that slow reveal that God would kind of go, 57 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:48.400 hey guys, by the way, you could do this with this short. Oh, and you could do this with this, 58 00:05:48.400 --> 00:05:54.720 and you could do it. And it was just this continual, just sort of standing back in awe at what 59 00:05:54.720 --> 00:06:00.640 the Lord was doing in our lives personally. And then also just along the way on the making of this 60 00:06:00.640 --> 00:06:05.840 film. And I just wanted to say just kind of how briefly how we got started. Nathan and I, 61 00:06:05.840 --> 00:06:12.240 we've been pals for years. We've worked together on many projects, as you've heard. And so we, 62 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:20.240 we kind of had this one lunch one day where I had just had my, my fourth child, our little guy, 63 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:27.920 Rhett, who's now six, lo and behold, six years. And, and Nathan was like, he's been working on a 64 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:35.600 tree, a tree idea based on the three trees storybook, if you've heard of that picture. Great. And he, 65 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:40.640 he basically said, Jeremy, what if, what if you helped me direct this film? What if we worked on 66 00:06:40.640 --> 00:06:46.000 it together and do your thing? I'm a story guy. He's an animator. Between the two of us, 67 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:52.400 we could probably make something. And so, so I went off for a couple of weeks and kind of did the 68 00:06:52.400 --> 00:06:57.600 thing that I'm used to doing, which is you take an idea and you, you pull it apart and you, 69 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:01.920 it's like a, it's like a car. You know, you pull the pieces apart and then you look at everything 70 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:05.440 and you kind of know how to put it back together. But you just want to see is, is there things that 71 00:07:05.440 --> 00:07:10.480 maybe we don't need or maybe we need to add to get this car really, really moving. So, 72 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:16.960 anyways, that's what I did. In that process, I, I came across this image of a, in spoiler alert, 73 00:07:16.960 --> 00:07:21.840 if you haven't seen the film, the, there's a tree that had fallen across the divide and it was a 74 00:07:21.840 --> 00:07:30.400 big giant redwood tree and there's a waterfall behind it. And I saw that image and a little bit 75 00:07:30.400 --> 00:07:36.960 of background is I had for years been encouraged to be more outspoken with my faith to share it in 76 00:07:36.960 --> 00:07:42.560 a visual way as always the, the goal that we do in story. We always try to tell a story visually. 77 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:47.280 And I saw that image and it was like a lightning bolt moment where it was like, okay, that's the 78 00:07:47.280 --> 00:07:52.800 story. I saw, I had been, so just to show you a little wood carving, this is, let me get it 79 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:59.840 and adjust it in the, the frame. This is this bear that I had been carving back in 2018, 2019. 80 00:07:59.840 --> 00:08:06.800 I, I made a bunch of these, reproduce them and sold them. And so I was deep in bear, bear country 81 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:12.160 at the time. And, and I, I thought, okay, if there's a tree that fell across the divide, that could 82 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:16.800 represent, you know, at what Christ did for us. That he, that's, it's kind of the classic Bible 83 00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:22.480 tract image of God on one side man on the other of a divide. And there's a cross in between that, 84 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:27.280 that is the bridge to safety. And I thought, okay, well, what would the character be that, that, 85 00:08:27.280 --> 00:08:32.000 you know, they could be running across this, this, this fallen tree. And I was like, oh, what about a 86 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:39.280 bear? So I, so I, I came back to Nathan. And I pitched him a sort of a fixed up version of, 87 00:08:39.280 --> 00:08:44.160 of the story that he'd been working on. And he's like, oh, that's, that's nice. You know, I said, 88 00:08:44.160 --> 00:08:48.640 but I have one more thing that I got it. I just want to show you this. No hard feelings. I just 89 00:08:48.640 --> 00:08:55.120 want to, you know, and so I, I showed him the second idea. And we got to, I got to that image. 90 00:08:55.760 --> 00:09:02.080 And Nathan goes, stop. He's like, just hold on a second. This was crazy. Nathan, you want to take 91 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:10.640 over? Well, what was funny was that I had just drawn that same image. And so this was sort of a, 92 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:16.320 because there was, I had a coworker and was just sharing the gospel with them. And they had asked 93 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:22.080 why the cross. And so I was like, well, let me draw it. Why? And you know, here's the god man, 94 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:26.160 the, the sin that divides us. And then that bridge that crosses. And you, you see that it reveals 95 00:09:26.160 --> 00:09:31.280 the cross. And he was like, oh, whoa, okay. You know, and I had a great conversation like, oh, 96 00:09:31.280 --> 00:09:35.200 yeah, hang on to that because, you know, the enemy will try to snatch that away and tone the 97 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:41.440 parable the four soils. And, and so, you know, and gave him a Bible. And, and so it was just, 98 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:47.520 it was a cool moment. But what Jeremy didn't mention was during that time when I had invited him in 99 00:09:47.520 --> 00:09:53.200 on that, I had, you know, it started as an adaptation, but then it had evolved to one tree. And 100 00:09:53.920 --> 00:10:00.160 it was kind of inverse where the tree had something to learn as opposed to a bear. And, and so, 101 00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:05.920 and there was, there was elements, spiritual elements. And, and I was wrestling through a couple 102 00:10:05.920 --> 00:10:13.120 things. And it may sound silly to some, but, um, you know, should we have verses on fantasy? 103 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:18.240 Should we show Christ? You know, things like that that are maybe for some people not, they're not 104 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:22.640 convicted or by, but for me, I just, I hadn't thought about that or the responsibility of that before. 105 00:10:22.640 --> 00:10:28.000 And so I was really going through that. And just I didn't want to bring any disrepute upon 106 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:33.520 the name of our Lord or, you know, the scripture or whatever. And so I, I mean, I was really 107 00:10:33.520 --> 00:10:38.240 distraught about this. And it was right around the time I was inviting Jeremy. And I had prayed, 108 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:44.240 I said, Lord, even if you give Jeremy a completely different idea, just make that plain to me, make 109 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:52.400 like, I don't have to be the guy. I don't have to have that spark of the idea. And, um, and so Jeremy 110 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:57.440 went off to the his thing, but that's what I was praying while he was going away. And then in 111 00:10:57.440 --> 00:11:02.320 that same little two week period, I had that witnessing opportunity where I drew that thing. So now 112 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:08.080 let's fast forward to that moment. Jeremy pitches this thing. I see that drawing. I'm like, I just 113 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:14.320 drew that thing. And it was sitting on my desk. And, and he goes, I know about it. I was like, wait, 114 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:19.280 what? I guess I was like, come on. Let's, let's come in. I want to show you the drawing. And he 115 00:11:19.280 --> 00:11:23.840 goes, I saw it. And he goes, what do you mean you saw it? And so if you want to take over again. 116 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:28.000 No, no, I just, I want to make sure it's like, yeah, I had to go down the day before to just 117 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:32.240 talk to you about something, you know, I don't know. And I was like, or maybe like, hey, I'm going 118 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:36.720 to pitch you the stuff tomorrow or whatever. And, um, and I saw that on his desk. And I just, 119 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:40.880 I was like, this is crazy. And one of his, one of his friends was in the office there with, 120 00:11:40.880 --> 00:11:46.000 and I was like, I was like, Ryan, and this is crazy. I, I just drew this drawing. And it's, 121 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:50.480 it's now it's here in front of me. And so it was in that moment that, you know, as I show him in, 122 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:54.720 as I started telling her, I waited for my moments, like, I was like, okay, I think I think 123 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:59.520 that got him. I think I can, I think I can show him this drawing. Maybe he'll react. It's 124 00:11:59.520 --> 00:12:06.080 sure enough. It was, it was God really, honestly, like, it was, it was the clarification that we both 125 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:12.880 needed to go, okay, go, go do this crazy thing. And it kind of, it was, there was no turning back 126 00:12:12.880 --> 00:12:17.280 at that point because it, like, I think when, when God asks you to do something, I truly believe 127 00:12:17.280 --> 00:12:22.480 that he said it on our hearts to do this. No doubt. Um, that, uh, yeah. So that's the story. 128 00:12:23.680 --> 00:12:27.520 Yeah, it was a huge answer to the prayer for me too. You know, it was, it felt like there was 129 00:12:27.520 --> 00:12:33.280 permission to go and do this thing and felt like the Lord's hand was behind it. And I mean, we, 130 00:12:33.280 --> 00:12:37.440 we always call him, we don't have an executive producer title on there because we always give 131 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:42.000 credit to the Lord. He's our executive producer. And as always, been leading the project and 132 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:47.520 providing for the project. And, you know, we, we were very prayerful over the project. And so it 133 00:12:47.520 --> 00:12:53.840 was just so amazing to have that be the beginning of the project. And we just set sail off that 134 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:58.480 and both Jeremy and I then started to build off of the, you know, the foundation that Jeremy had 135 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:03.360 given and brought in other components, the prodigal son thing. And, uh, yeah, and then got to where 136 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:09.040 we are today here. It's so amazing. And you know, it's great. One of you mentioned earlier, uh, 137 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:16.160 spoiler alert. Uh, we don't have to worry about spoiler alerts with this because I've watched it 138 00:13:16.160 --> 00:13:24.000 five or six times and every single time it has drawn me deeper into some of the things that you 139 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:31.680 guys have tucked away, knowingly or unknowingly as treasures for the believer. This is something that 140 00:13:31.680 --> 00:13:37.680 it's not like, and I'm not putting down any other, uh, illustration, but, um, you know, 141 00:13:37.680 --> 00:13:44.320 I remember way, way back before you guys were probably born. I think Pixar started out with, uh, 142 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:51.200 an old man playing chess in the park. And that was, you know, that was pretty, it was awesome. 143 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:54.960 We all loved it. But it was pretty simple. There was no, you know, there wasn't anything where I 144 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:59.920 needed to watch it again and again and again. Other than it was cute. This what you've done. 145 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:07.440 This is not only beautiful, but there's that mystique of the animation that you use. It's 146 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:14.880 almost kind of, um, oh, I'm not, I'm not an artist, but it's almost kind of like, uh, paper cuttings 147 00:14:14.880 --> 00:14:22.880 or, or like you said, the wood carvings. Um, but there is, I mean, I noticed that, uh, 148 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:29.280 when the crows showed up, uh, oh, my, my heart went, oh, birds, not good. Something's going to go 149 00:14:29.280 --> 00:14:35.360 wrong. And so I got, I got anxious. And then you see the little guy, the bear being, uh, 150 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:42.400 lured away. And then he comes to his, uh, the, the prodigal son, you know, a pot of gold, so to speak, 151 00:14:42.400 --> 00:14:48.320 an abandoned campsite with a bunch of trash. And he thinks he's just inherited, you know, the 152 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:56.960 lottery. And, um, it was, it's just so deep. And so, um, my question to you guys is, uh, for those 153 00:14:56.960 --> 00:15:01.280 who are now going to watch it, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're seeing this broadcast. 154 00:15:01.280 --> 00:15:07.760 They're going to go watch it. Um, take us behind the scenes. Uh, who is this little bear? Um, and, 155 00:15:07.760 --> 00:15:15.600 and what about, uh, the tree, uh, expressions? Please talk to me about, uh, the expressions, the 156 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:22.560 eyes, the, the emotions. Talk to me about that. Take me behind into your heart as to what these 157 00:15:22.560 --> 00:15:28.800 little things represent. Sure. Yeah. Jeremy, want me to take that? Yeah. Go for it. 158 00:15:29.520 --> 00:15:37.520 Cool. Um, so Jeremy is an incredible wood carver. You've seen his stuff. And so, um, early on, 159 00:15:37.520 --> 00:15:43.600 you know, we, I mean, there was already trees in wood, of course, and he's a wood carver. And so 160 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:48.000 that seemed like a pretty easy putting it together, but you don't want to just do a cool aesthetic 161 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:54.880 style for no narrative reason, right? You want the, the visual style of any film, uh, to kind of 162 00:15:54.880 --> 00:16:01.840 grow out of the narrative and the storytelling. So, um, it's one thing to have a cool idea, but 163 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:07.360 you really want it to, to resonate also with on the character level. Uh, and that's what we tried 164 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:12.880 to do with Forever Green. So, um, you know, we wanted it to make it feel like in this sort of 165 00:16:12.880 --> 00:16:18.960 Genesis one kind of way where, you know, God, uh, making man in his own image, we wanted to have, 166 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:24.480 it looked like the tree, the bear could have been carved from the tree so that when they're together 167 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:32.000 in frame, they just, they go together. Um, and that whole side is sort of, uh, that they're on as 168 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:39.600 sort of this hang, handcrafted world and, uh, very stylized, but, you know, when the bear then 169 00:16:39.680 --> 00:16:46.800 goes prodigal and is sitting in the materials that is vacuum-formed plastics and, um, you know, 170 00:16:46.800 --> 00:16:54.080 steel wool and all these other man-made materials. Um, he, uh, it will look, there'll be a juxtaposition 171 00:16:54.720 --> 00:17:00.560 and with that antithetical material that, uh, it will feel subliminally wrong. Like, you don't want 172 00:17:00.560 --> 00:17:04.960 the bear to be sitting in that pile of trash. You want to be sitting in the wooden loving arms of 173 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:10.560 that benevolent tree. And so I think that was very intentional and, and we even did a little 174 00:17:11.120 --> 00:17:16.560 stop-motion nod. So that's sort of the animation technique that both Jeremy and I, we love stop-motion 175 00:17:16.560 --> 00:17:23.280 animation, uh, studios like Ardman or Rankin Bass, those old Rudolph the Red Nose reindeer, uh, 176 00:17:23.280 --> 00:17:28.480 special Christmas specials that you remember. Um, they had kind of a nostalgic, um, 177 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:36.400 looked to them and, uh, we were very much inspired by that and, and so, but in CG, since this wasn't 178 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:42.480 stop-motion, um, you know, really what we wanted to do is if we had all the time in the world, 179 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:46.800 was to have Jeremy carve a unique wood carving for every frame of animation, but that would have 180 00:17:46.800 --> 00:17:53.600 taken forever. It would have taken, yeah, a hundred years. So, yeah. So we used the power of technology 181 00:17:53.600 --> 00:17:59.520 in the computers and we had an incredible team that helped us build a stop-motion-like 182 00:17:59.520 --> 00:18:06.720 texture system that helped it make it look like it was stop-motion. And really, what's cool about 183 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:13.040 that is that it was, they're the only characters that oscillate like that and, and have, uh, 184 00:18:13.040 --> 00:18:17.200 that look like it's a unique wood carving for every frame of animation. And it almost serves as a 185 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:23.200 heartbeat, uh, for those characters. Uh, and it serves many purposes, but they're the only two 186 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:30.080 characters that do that. Um, and when the tree is in the area that we call Death Valley, uh, after 187 00:18:30.080 --> 00:18:38.000 sacrificing himself, um, you, you really feel that, that, that, that the tree after kind of being 188 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:43.520 trained the whole short up until that point that that is kind of the life heartbeat of the 189 00:18:43.520 --> 00:18:50.480 character. And then it being completely still next to this very slow oscillating texture of the 190 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:55.760 bear. Hopefully that will hit harder visually. And so we're always as filmmakers looking for those 191 00:18:55.760 --> 00:19:03.520 opportunities to say something specific with our animation, with our lighting, with our effects. 192 00:19:03.520 --> 00:19:10.960 And the sound design, every part of the film, um, it, you know, the, those 200 volunteers who can't, 193 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:17.680 you know, highlight them enough that they brought their masterful craft to the table to, to, to, to, 194 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:22.880 to like a beautiful mosaic. Everyone putting their piece of the tile to create kind of the, 195 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:29.520 the big frame of the, the film. Yeah. And I, I want to jump into and, and you had mentioned this 196 00:19:29.520 --> 00:19:34.720 specifically. And I'm so glad you noticed all those details because I, for all of us that worked 197 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:39.840 on it so hard. And again, each one of those 200 people, some of them would work on just the crow, 198 00:19:39.840 --> 00:19:44.960 or they'd work on just the texture of the crow or the animation of the crow. So knowing that it 199 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:51.200 communicated and that it was, it was the effects of the crow, they had some dust particles. And so 200 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:56.640 I wanted to talk about this for a second because I think this is, we geek out about this, um, as, as 201 00:19:56.640 --> 00:20:04.160 animators. But, uh, with those crows, um, there's a fun little story of, again, just how, uh, you, you, 202 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:09.760 you get stuck on an idea and you just, like, what, what is that solution going to be? And it was a 203 00:20:09.760 --> 00:20:13.600 prayerful moment. I literally was like, Lord, just give, give us the answer. What should these 204 00:20:13.600 --> 00:20:19.680 crows be made of? And, um, we, we knew they were going to be the tempers. They were going to be this, 205 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:24.960 this, uh, a luring figure, you know, that, that, that lets the audience know that that's where he's 206 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:28.640 heading. They can actually fly over to the other side. A good friend of mine, Don Doherty is actually 207 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:33.280 the one who, um, came up with, he's like, you should have it be crows. And so there's just like all 208 00:20:33.280 --> 00:20:38.560 these people adding these little things in and we just go, oh my goodness, that's it. Well, uh, 209 00:20:38.560 --> 00:20:43.600 I'm sitting around a campfire. We had gone on a, a family road trip to Yellowstone and I'm looking at 210 00:20:43.600 --> 00:20:48.240 all these rocks and different things around. I'm like, okay, maybe this black rock or, you know, 211 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:53.600 this, this could be the texture of this crow. It could be an organic thing, you know, and, and then, uh, 212 00:20:53.600 --> 00:20:59.280 I, I go down to the campfire the next morning after just really thinking about this a lot. And 213 00:20:59.280 --> 00:21:05.360 I look in the fire and there's a burnt piece of wood and I pick it up and I just kind of rotate 214 00:21:05.360 --> 00:21:11.040 it in the glistening, you know, the glisten from the sun. And it has that sort of multi-color 215 00:21:11.040 --> 00:21:18.080 even that, that, uh, oily wing of a, of a crow has. And I just, I flipped out. I, I sent Nathan a 216 00:21:18.080 --> 00:21:23.680 quick video of it. And I'm like, dude, we got the crow. And so, and it, and it works thematically that 217 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:28.560 it's this, it's this character that has been over there. It's been messing around and stuff that 218 00:21:28.560 --> 00:21:34.640 shouldn't be. And that trash is not where they're supposed to be. And, uh, and that they're sort 219 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:40.160 of a representation of what you could, you could become if you let yourself get burned by the fire. 220 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:45.280 And so it just, it was this, just a piphany moment, you know, again, like, I, it felt like, 221 00:21:45.280 --> 00:21:50.240 oh, that's a gift. Thank you. Thank you, Lauren. I love them. Yeah, really cool. I love it. 222 00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:55.760 You guys, one of the scenes, I don't know if people picked up on it, but it just grabbed my heart, 223 00:21:55.760 --> 00:22:03.360 which is why I do believe this, this one scene I'm going to bring up in, in the short time of the, 224 00:22:03.360 --> 00:22:09.520 of the film that was shown to our church. So we showed it at all three services. Um, and so you're 225 00:22:09.520 --> 00:22:16.480 looking at, you know, roughly 2500 to 3000 people per service. As soon, as soon as it came on, 226 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:26.480 there was silence. And how an animation can put smiles. We heard, we saw smiles. We heard laughter. 227 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:36.560 We, we, we heard a gasp. It was remarkable what it was doing to, you know, at least like a beta test, 228 00:22:36.560 --> 00:22:43.200 you know, you're talking about thousands of people in a matter of, of a few hours seen this thing. 229 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:49.600 And I almost wish we could have had like a, you know, a response by the audience type of pool. 230 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:56.320 It was off the charts amazing. And so, but this is, this is one of the things that the first 231 00:22:57.040 --> 00:23:03.760 cited, the first time I saw it, grabbed me and it moved me to emotion. And it was this. 232 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:17.600 The tenderness, the tenderness and yet the, the sovereignty of God, where the bear is enjoying creation, 233 00:23:18.800 --> 00:23:27.600 the tree is looking down at him, kind of parenting him and the porcupine goes by. 234 00:23:28.560 --> 00:23:36.080 And the bear is curious about the porcupine. And you would think that the tree would intervene before 235 00:23:36.080 --> 00:23:45.040 he ever got near the porcupine, but the tree willingly turns instead of rescuing him from this, 236 00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:53.200 this pain, you could see the tree say, I'm going to go through this pain with you. I'm not going to 237 00:23:53.280 --> 00:23:59.200 stop you because you've got to learn from it. And, and as soon as you get that needle in your nose, 238 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:06.560 I'm going to be here to comfort you. But man, that minister to me about the heart of our God, 239 00:24:06.560 --> 00:24:12.480 sometimes we're, we've got our minds set on things that we're not going to let, we're not going 240 00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:17.440 to let it go. And, and the Lord will, we'll say, all right, if that's what you want to do. 241 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:23.280 Let's see how this turns out. You're going to learn from this. And he, of course, he's crying. 242 00:24:23.280 --> 00:24:28.960 He's got that one needle sticking out of his nose. And there's the compassion of God who pulls 243 00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:35.120 it out of his nose. And it was just so moving for me about the character of God that just blew my 244 00:24:35.120 --> 00:24:41.360 mind. Um, yeah, those kinds of things are this, this, this, I don't know how you guy. In fact, 245 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:48.560 I told our staff. I said, I don't know how these guys packed so much biblical truth in such 246 00:24:49.120 --> 00:24:54.800 an attractive way that no one, I don't care who you are. I don't care what your worldview is. 247 00:24:54.800 --> 00:25:01.200 I don't care if you're an atheist. You cannot see this film without relating to it because 248 00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:09.440 everybody's the bear. Well, can I, I want to jump on that because so the that is tremendous. I, 249 00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:15.520 I love that you, you pointed to that moment because that's one of our, we just enjoyed that so much 250 00:25:15.520 --> 00:25:21.680 making that that moment and everyone involved. But we have actually had multiple people. 251 00:25:23.280 --> 00:25:27.600 And these are, you know, these are, these are people that have completely different ways of 252 00:25:27.600 --> 00:25:31.200 probably thinking about things. We don't know. We don't know where everyone's heart's at. But we, 253 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:37.280 they actually come to us and say, Hey, I want you to know that we need more of this kind of content 254 00:25:37.360 --> 00:25:44.000 that I that I love this. But I'm an atheist. And like, you know, it's, you can tell that there's 255 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:51.920 this kind of moment of like, they have to explain that to us to say, I love what you are all doing. 256 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:58.640 This is, this is, this needs to exist. And what a confirming thing that that has been and it's 257 00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:04.720 been multiple times Nathan that that we have had, you know, that people have been speaking into it 258 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:11.920 that way. And I also just wanted to say that it first and foremost, because, you know, when you, 259 00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:17.280 when you spend so much time on something, it needs to be, it needs to be worth it. It needs that, 260 00:26:17.280 --> 00:26:23.360 you know, for you to invest your, your personal time like this and to sacrifice your time. But 261 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:32.000 we, we knew that that our, our walk with God, what, what Jesus did for us, taking our place and 262 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:38.080 paying our fine the way that he did that there's each of each of us had a personal story of that 263 00:26:38.080 --> 00:26:45.600 journey where we, we were that knucklehead bear. And we went away. We, we disregarded in even for 264 00:26:45.600 --> 00:26:50.480 the smallest of things, even for a bag of chips, like everyone can know what a bag of chips is. 265 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:54.480 And that's why it was just like, it was such an enjoyable thing when you found these, 266 00:26:54.480 --> 00:27:00.000 these sort of this imagery that could kind of be a code something to bring people together and go, 267 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.000 oh, I know exactly what that is. I have that because what you're saying is exactly right. We are 268 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:11.360 all that bear. And, and, and, you know, Nathan and I, it was, it was our personal journey to walk 269 00:27:11.360 --> 00:27:18.320 people through a beat by beat version of when you fall away and you, you know, and you, you 270 00:27:18.320 --> 00:27:22.880 realize that you get to the end of yourself and you say there's nothing else that I can do. 271 00:27:23.600 --> 00:27:28.800 And so here's this bear on the edge of that cliff. And he's still hold non. He's still hold non 272 00:27:28.800 --> 00:27:35.520 of his precious, you know, things. And he looks across the way. And now he's desperate, right? 273 00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:41.360 And he goes, all right, I'm going to make the choice. And I'm going to, I, and, but it's only because 274 00:27:41.360 --> 00:27:48.480 of, it's only because of the trees generosity falling across, blowing the smoke away so that he can 275 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:57.040 take a breath. He looks up. And only because the flame gets on the tree, the flame, he took upon 276 00:27:57.040 --> 00:28:02.320 himself the flame. And so now it not only has you brewed himself, there's no way back, but he's 277 00:28:02.320 --> 00:28:10.160 taken on the flame. And it's in that moment that the animator of this, this wonderful, wonderful guy, 278 00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:16.480 Brendan Gottlieb, animated this shot, which it's, it's him looking up and sort of having this moment 279 00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:23.760 of like, oh my goodness, this is what I've done. And he looks out and he tosses it, he tosses it 280 00:28:23.760 --> 00:28:30.720 away. And, and that is that, that is the beat by beat version of how you truly get saved. You, 281 00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:35.600 you, you don't save yourself. There's nothing we can do that it's, it is God reaching to us. 282 00:28:35.600 --> 00:28:39.440 And we have to let go of our sin, reach up and be saved. 283 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:46.960 Jeremy, yeah, just have what I just want to stick in there at this moment with what you, 284 00:28:46.960 --> 00:28:50.560 I'm, because I'll for it, I'll forget. Jeremy, what you just, what you just said, 285 00:28:51.520 --> 00:28:59.200 another captivating moment for me is I was looking at the face of the tree when all of this 286 00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:04.720 processing was going on with a little bear. And when, when the bear gets on the trees, uh, 287 00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:13.120 let's say belly, right? On, on his belly. And the cost where the scripture says that 288 00:29:14.080 --> 00:29:20.160 Jesus for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising it, shame, offering 289 00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:28.720 himself, sacrificing himself, that the face on the tree has got, um, I don't know how to say, 290 00:29:28.720 --> 00:29:38.240 I, I lacked the English. I, the eyes are full of compassion and yet, uh, sacrifice. And there 291 00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:46.960 is a, a, a, a type of a smile on that part of the bark of its, of its mouth where it is saying, 292 00:29:46.960 --> 00:29:55.360 clearly it is saying, um, because this has happened, this is what I'm doing for you. It's 293 00:29:55.360 --> 00:30:04.320 costing my life, but I'm so happy to do that so that you can carry on your life. Uh, and basically, 294 00:30:04.320 --> 00:30:11.280 I, but the thought was do this in remembrance of me, because at the end, I see the bear living 295 00:30:11.360 --> 00:30:17.520 his life in the offspring of the tree, doing this in remembrance of the sacrifice. 296 00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:24.960 And it was just so, you know what, I, I'm not a prophet, but I gotta tell you, I've spent years 297 00:30:24.960 --> 00:30:32.800 in Russia, witnessing evangelism in Europe. And we used to do, of course, skits that were 298 00:30:32.800 --> 00:30:40.800 beyond language. So we would act out things to communicate the gospel. And, uh, I just believe 299 00:30:40.800 --> 00:30:52.320 that this film is going to go so international for ministries to use because you guys so perfectly 300 00:30:52.320 --> 00:31:02.240 articulated beyond the gospel, the gospel, restoration, uh, commitment, discipleship, love, sacrifice, 301 00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:09.440 sovereignty, choice matters. Um, there's an evil world that's on fire, but there's a way to live 302 00:31:09.440 --> 00:31:14.480 again. I just believe, I mean, I'm telling you right now, if we were heading out right now to 303 00:31:14.480 --> 00:31:19.920 anywhere in the world with a mission team, I, I would be asking you guys, can we take the film 304 00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:25.520 and show it to the streets of Paris or Moscow because I'm telling you, it is going to be a spiritual 305 00:31:25.520 --> 00:31:32.880 home run, even if somebody's death, they don't even have to be able to hear to get the gospel. 306 00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:38.800 It is truly remarkable. I want everybody, listen, team, everybody, I, you've got to watch this time 307 00:31:38.800 --> 00:31:45.440 and time again and get it out into the, to the eyes and the ears of everybody you know. So, um, 308 00:31:46.240 --> 00:31:52.160 tell me, I'm curious. Uh, what's behind the porcupines? Is there any, is there anything I've missed 309 00:31:52.160 --> 00:32:00.480 about the porcupines? I mean, that's just incredibly adorable. Look, look, I did want to circle back 310 00:32:00.480 --> 00:32:05.440 to something you said, Pastor, there is that it was so, um, very much intentional. Jeremy and I, 311 00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:13.040 I mean, we really fought long and hard about what the, again, this isn't the gospel, but it is a 312 00:32:13.040 --> 00:32:19.680 picture of that, that unmerited grace, right? Of what Christ did for us. So, there's a Christ 313 00:32:19.680 --> 00:32:26.400 likeness. And so, but we, even though even that, that being the case, we did think about the 314 00:32:26.400 --> 00:32:33.200 theological ramifications of what a visual would convey, right? If the bear climbed up, you know, 315 00:32:33.200 --> 00:32:37.920 the tree on his own, it could be construed as works righteousness, for example, right? And so, 316 00:32:37.920 --> 00:32:43.600 if you, and if the tree didn't push him, you know, like the running across, you know, it's, 317 00:32:43.600 --> 00:32:48.720 there's a sanctification kind of piece of that, you know, that's like, it's not all of us, right? 318 00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:54.400 It's us and the Lord working together after you are saved and justified. And so, there's an 319 00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:59.680 element of, you even see the tree that gives him a shove, like, it's not, like, it's even at the 320 00:32:59.680 --> 00:33:03.520 very end, right? Before he makes a jump, he's not going to make it. And you can sort of see the 321 00:33:03.520 --> 00:33:09.200 animator added a little flick to the, the trunk that actually helped him get up there. So, 322 00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:15.760 all these things are very much intentional where we could say, this act was all the tree, 323 00:33:15.760 --> 00:33:22.480 not the bear. And that's to parallel, you know, the allegory of it's all the Lord that does the work. 324 00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:28.640 And it's not us. So, anyways, just, I mean, I think you're, you're right. And I'm, we're so happy 325 00:33:28.640 --> 00:33:33.520 that you picked up on all that because it was things that were very much intentional and trying to 326 00:33:33.520 --> 00:33:38.320 make sure, or because when you, when you have a visual, there's a lot of responsibility in making 327 00:33:38.320 --> 00:33:43.200 sure you're seeing the correct thing that you want to say. And then to be able to layer in all the 328 00:33:43.200 --> 00:33:49.360 other, you know, things like discipleship and everything else, hopefully follow suit as well. But, 329 00:33:49.360 --> 00:33:54.480 so we're just, so I just want to make a quick comment on that and just how happy I am to hear that. 330 00:33:55.120 --> 00:34:01.040 So, one little quick, one little quick thing that that we've experienced just now that the film 331 00:34:01.040 --> 00:34:06.480 is out there and getting seen. So, we're getting lots of wonderful comments and, and they're coming from 332 00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:11.200 all different angles. But one of the ones that that I particularly, Nathan and I particularly 333 00:34:11.200 --> 00:34:17.600 enjoying seeing is ones where, where people are watching it. They're sticking through all the way 334 00:34:18.560 --> 00:34:25.920 and then they write their review and they say, they say that bear did not deserve that. That bear does 335 00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:33.120 not deserve that. That bear does, and they keep, it's like the same comment. And, and I, it's just like, 336 00:34:33.120 --> 00:34:39.920 it's so encouraging because that is why we made the film was to, if there's any perfect tea up to a 337 00:34:39.920 --> 00:34:46.640 conversation, it's that. It's saying, yep, you're right. You are right. We don't deserve that. 338 00:34:48.080 --> 00:34:52.880 And let me, let's talk about that. You know, I know I don't deserve that. Like, I'm a, I'm the chief 339 00:34:52.880 --> 00:34:58.240 of sinners, you know, and let me tell you about my experience. And then it's just like, to me, 340 00:34:58.800 --> 00:35:02.720 if, if this short could help, as you're talking about getting, getting out into the world, 341 00:35:02.720 --> 00:35:07.680 it's going to, if it could just help Christians in general, just be more open with their faith 342 00:35:07.760 --> 00:35:12.720 and sharing their faith. That would be amazing. But we also know that it can also communicate and 343 00:35:12.720 --> 00:35:19.600 baffle people that watch it, that they don't understand, like, how that does, that's undeserved. 344 00:35:19.600 --> 00:35:24.640 And then again, maybe someone will be able to come alongside them and say, yeah, well, let's talk 345 00:35:24.640 --> 00:35:30.000 about that. You know, so this is really encouraging. So, yeah. To all that, I would say this, 346 00:35:31.440 --> 00:35:36.320 what you guys have done is truly anointed and inspired by the Lord. And the, one of the, 347 00:35:36.320 --> 00:35:48.000 there's many evidences to this, but one of them is that you see a presentation of truth 348 00:35:49.920 --> 00:36:00.480 delivered for a child, profound enough to cause a crowd of thousands to break a tear or laugh or 349 00:36:00.480 --> 00:36:09.680 gasp. And you guys know that in the making of movies or anything like that, you're going to target 350 00:36:09.680 --> 00:36:14.960 an audience. We're going to target this audience. This transcends that. And only the Lord can do 351 00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:22.240 that because you've got an old man and you've got a little kid getting it that is just absolutely 352 00:36:22.240 --> 00:36:30.560 so powerful. And one of the things that, and I think you alluded to this earlier, but I just want 353 00:36:30.560 --> 00:36:39.040 to make sure you talked about that it's not of works. He made the sacrifice. Did I read this right 354 00:36:39.040 --> 00:36:48.080 that at the part where the tree decides, I'm going to lay down my life. Am I reading it right when 355 00:36:48.080 --> 00:36:54.080 you see him kind of like, I got to get myself out of this earth. Is that true? Is that what was going 356 00:36:54.080 --> 00:36:59.840 Yeah, it's trying to uproot himself. Yeah, uproot himself. Yeah, just so powerful. 357 00:36:59.840 --> 00:37:06.400 Yeah, well, let me just respond quickly to the thing he just said, which was, I mean, this is 358 00:37:06.400 --> 00:37:12.880 loosely based off the prodigal son story, as we mentioned before, but you know, the whole, 359 00:37:12.880 --> 00:37:20.400 this resonates with everyone thing. I mean, everyone is either a parent or as a child of a parent. 360 00:37:20.960 --> 00:37:29.120 Right. And so everyone. And so there was a universality in Jesus. He was is the master storyteller. 361 00:37:29.120 --> 00:37:35.840 And so I mean, he knew what he was doing. And so it's, you know, in that culture, you know, what 362 00:37:35.840 --> 00:37:42.160 what that meant to ask for an early inheritance and and to then go and squander that. I mean, 363 00:37:42.720 --> 00:37:47.680 people haven't changed since, you know, 2000 years ago. I mean, they're still selfishness. 364 00:37:47.680 --> 00:37:53.840 They're still evil in the world. They're still people who hate one another. And so I think 365 00:37:53.840 --> 00:37:58.800 everyone can resonate or take something away from it because if there's a universal, as you said, 366 00:37:58.800 --> 00:38:03.520 there's universal truths that are just embedded in life that God has given us, 367 00:38:04.320 --> 00:38:11.360 whether it's familial or spiritual or environmental or whatever, there are so many different layers. 368 00:38:11.360 --> 00:38:17.440 I think to this that our desire was always from the beginning to have this be a feast that everyone 369 00:38:17.440 --> 00:38:23.600 can enjoy that it could resonate with everyone, but then can also have great deep conversations 370 00:38:23.600 --> 00:38:29.680 afterwards as Jeremy said. So yeah, I just wanted to point at, you know, Jesus, the master storyteller. 371 00:38:29.680 --> 00:38:34.880 And I think that's a good part in why this resonates across the board, you know. 372 00:38:35.520 --> 00:38:41.680 Well, and I have to, I want to jump on that real quick. And it was so, it was just encouraging to us, 373 00:38:42.640 --> 00:38:49.520 again, to go to all of these, these friends that we've worked with for years at Disney and even 374 00:38:49.520 --> 00:38:55.040 there was folks outside of Disney that worked on this with us. And it was, it was just this thing of 375 00:38:55.040 --> 00:39:00.240 like, you know, we had a chance to share, but say we understand that we all don't have the same, 376 00:39:01.040 --> 00:39:05.840 you know, we don't come from the same places, you know, in our in our in our spiritual walks or in our 377 00:39:05.840 --> 00:39:11.440 whatever. But it was just really cool to see everyone coming together and saying we all agree 378 00:39:12.160 --> 00:39:17.760 on this is an important thing to say and that we're willing to put our put our free time into 379 00:39:17.760 --> 00:39:23.680 this thing, which was just again, it was we just we can't love up on our crew enough and thank them 380 00:39:24.560 --> 00:39:29.760 for all that they they gave to help bring this thing to life. So it really it's it's all in them. 381 00:39:30.560 --> 00:39:38.400 So good. You know, I think the word disarming would be a good word that this this 382 00:39:39.280 --> 00:39:47.440 delivery of truth, you cannot find fault with it. Think about it. What would somebody possibly have 383 00:39:47.760 --> 00:39:57.200 angst with this presentation? And then disarming. It's almost as though you could show it. Somebody 384 00:39:57.200 --> 00:40:04.880 one of you guys mentioned how hateful the world is. It's almost like, gosh, can I show you this before 385 00:40:04.880 --> 00:40:11.200 you go off and do your hatred? Watch this. It's so disarming. I mean, who's going to walk away from 386 00:40:11.200 --> 00:40:17.280 this beautifully presented? You know, just call it an animated cartoon for the most basic way. 387 00:40:17.280 --> 00:40:22.000 It's what do I want to watch that for? Just just give it 15 or 12 minutes, whatever the length of it. 388 00:40:22.000 --> 00:40:29.760 Just watch this. It's so disarming. It's like, who can find fault with this? It's just oh, 389 00:40:29.760 --> 00:40:35.360 it's it's just so good. And I think yeah, I think that's the power of storytelling though, right? I 390 00:40:35.360 --> 00:40:43.120 think stories have a way of conveying deep survival information as Brian McDonald would say. I 391 00:40:43.120 --> 00:40:51.440 think that's a it's a really neat thing just to be able to tell a story to have someone get sucked 392 00:40:51.440 --> 00:40:56.240 in. And then again, without feeling too preachy or anything like that, but you're able to 393 00:40:57.680 --> 00:41:03.600 entertain, but then also have a POV. And I mean, again, that's exactly what the Prophet Nathan 394 00:41:03.600 --> 00:41:11.200 did to David, right? Which was, you know, he's confronting him with Bashiba. And he's telling him 395 00:41:11.200 --> 00:41:17.040 a little story about, you know, this guy stole this little lamb. And you know, David's like, he's 396 00:41:17.040 --> 00:41:22.720 into the story. And he's like, that man must pay. And he's like, that man is you, right? There's 397 00:41:22.720 --> 00:41:29.120 something about story that it's so disarming, especially when you're invested in it. And that 398 00:41:29.200 --> 00:41:39.120 layer, that veneer of storytelling sometimes can help you to see like David was able to see the 399 00:41:39.120 --> 00:41:47.280 truth about yourself. And I think that's always I think what any filmmaker would try to convey is 400 00:41:47.280 --> 00:41:53.520 that message that's underneath. But again, done in an artful, artful, non preachy sort of 401 00:41:53.520 --> 00:41:59.360 entertaining way that. And when you do that, it will always come across as truthful and sincere. 402 00:41:59.360 --> 00:42:04.960 And I think people can pick up on that. And there's one last thing off to that is the pine cone. 403 00:42:05.760 --> 00:42:11.280 That you know, there's just truth in our in nature and our work, you know, as we understand 404 00:42:11.280 --> 00:42:18.960 everything around us. So a pine cone for those giants, Koya Redwoods, it needs fire. It needs heat 405 00:42:18.960 --> 00:42:26.080 for it to break open for the seals to get undone and for it to replant. And there was just 406 00:42:26.080 --> 00:42:30.480 something that again, it was like all those little things, those little details. There's one last 407 00:42:30.480 --> 00:42:35.520 thing I was going to share is Joe Sutton, who's this amazing illustrator, a friend of ours, 408 00:42:35.520 --> 00:42:41.840 that worked on the film. He he watched a very first pass of this and we used to not have the tree. 409 00:42:42.800 --> 00:42:48.560 The tree regrouped, but it was the bear planting the tree. And you know, basically just saying, 410 00:42:48.560 --> 00:42:54.320 oh, I'm going to plant many trees. And the tree never really had, it was just a tree. And 411 00:42:54.800 --> 00:43:00.080 what was so cool is, is Joe goes and the bear used to look over the edge and the tree was just gone. 412 00:43:00.080 --> 00:43:06.160 He fell away and he never got a moment. And Joe goes, guys, I think I think Christ would be 413 00:43:06.160 --> 00:43:11.440 smiling back at us. I think that he would be happy. He would be happy to take this upon himself. 414 00:43:11.440 --> 00:43:18.240 Yes. And you pointed this at this earlier faster. But it was just like this, this great again, 415 00:43:18.240 --> 00:43:24.000 everyone adding these little, these little details to help you feel all the, all the right things 416 00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:30.080 that Nathan was, you know, you're just talking about there. It's all that stuff that adds up, you know. 417 00:43:30.240 --> 00:43:38.880 So good. You guys have produced, if I might be so bold, you guys have produced, 418 00:43:39.440 --> 00:43:46.640 created a modern day parable, the word parabolic. Jesus obviously spoke in parables. What a lot of 419 00:43:46.640 --> 00:43:53.440 people don't realize is that the Jewish scholars will tell you that the Hebrew form of 420 00:43:53.920 --> 00:44:02.960 bringing a message that was taught by a rabbi would be that message or that doctrine given. 421 00:44:02.960 --> 00:44:09.840 It could have been an hour or two hour long message. But it's always ended with a parable, 422 00:44:09.840 --> 00:44:17.040 which causes all of the truth and the doctrine that was preceding the moment of the parable, 423 00:44:17.120 --> 00:44:25.360 which is the bow on top to make it, to make it technicolor. So notice when it says Jesus sat down 424 00:44:25.360 --> 00:44:32.400 and taught them saying, notice most of Jesus's teaching is wrapped up in a parable. And that parable 425 00:44:32.400 --> 00:44:39.360 is the, is the postmark of a tremendous message. So what, what you guys have done, you've taken 426 00:44:39.360 --> 00:44:45.920 the reality of a tremendous message and you in the modern day technology to modern day eyes, 427 00:44:46.000 --> 00:44:54.000 you have so perfectly honored the very nature of Jesus's teachings of parabolic delivery to 428 00:44:54.000 --> 00:45:00.720 param, param means to be alongside and balic is to cast to cast alongside truth and let the 429 00:45:00.720 --> 00:45:06.640 receiver decide on what to do. That's why when a parable is given some receive and some don't, 430 00:45:06.640 --> 00:45:14.800 the parable actually judges the listener. God doesn't even judge the listener. They choose to accept 431 00:45:14.800 --> 00:45:20.000 his very, very graphic truth or reject it. And it's a remarkable thing because 432 00:45:20.640 --> 00:45:27.360 God invented parabolic teaching and you and I first hear about that in Genesis 1, 1, where in the 433 00:45:27.360 --> 00:45:34.160 beginning God created. And so you guys have honored the Lord, you've honored biblical doctrine, 434 00:45:34.160 --> 00:45:41.920 your creativity is so Christlike and like you said, but not preachy. And I don't think Jesus 435 00:45:42.080 --> 00:45:47.760 is preachy. It's just beautiful. You guys, I can't with a few seconds I have left. What, 436 00:45:47.760 --> 00:45:52.240 what can you tell us? What's next? I'm sure everybody's, I'm dying to find out, hey, 437 00:45:52.240 --> 00:45:56.880 what are you going to do in the next six years? This is amazing. We have to have more. 438 00:45:58.160 --> 00:46:04.400 Well, I'll just jump in. You know, again, as we walk by faith, as we, as we take those steps, 439 00:46:05.280 --> 00:46:09.760 we're just asking the Lord to keep directing our steps. We've met so many wonderful people, 440 00:46:09.760 --> 00:46:15.120 including yourself throughout all this process. And it really feels like I think God has said 441 00:46:15.120 --> 00:46:22.720 it on our hearts that it'd be great to make more content like this. That just tells things 442 00:46:22.720 --> 00:46:28.960 that are true that people can come around and enjoy together. Whatever walk a life you're from, 443 00:46:28.960 --> 00:46:32.800 those are the things that I think are on Nathan and I, you know, that's on our hearts. We've 444 00:46:32.800 --> 00:46:36.960 through these six years, we've had a lot of conversations about what could be next? What could be 445 00:46:37.040 --> 00:46:42.080 next? And we're just really enjoying this moment right now. I would keep saying like it's like 446 00:46:42.080 --> 00:46:48.080 pop in the popcorn, sitting back and just enjoying watching the Lord work this out. And I think 447 00:46:48.080 --> 00:46:53.760 that he'll bring the right people along. Yeah. Again, you know, just see what he has, what he has 448 00:46:53.760 --> 00:47:01.120 for us is really exciting. So yeah, I will say the Bible is a big book and there's a lot of amazing 449 00:47:01.120 --> 00:47:07.920 truth. And this is just one story of many, you know, and so I think that that excites us. And, 450 00:47:07.920 --> 00:47:14.720 you know, Lord willing, there'll be other opportunities. So yeah, so good. Jeremy Spears and Nathaniel, 451 00:47:14.720 --> 00:47:21.200 Engelhart, you guys have just opened my eyes and, and you know, Jesus said in Matthew 11, for us to 452 00:47:21.200 --> 00:47:25.760 enter the kingdom of heaven, we have to become like children. And that's exactly what he met. Not 453 00:47:26.240 --> 00:47:32.480 not childish childlike. And you guys have taken us there in this remarkable work. I'm encouraging 454 00:47:32.480 --> 00:47:38.960 everybody to click on or to tap on what you see provided for you to watch it for yourself. 455 00:47:40.480 --> 00:47:45.680 But it's been an incredible joy. Look forward to seeing what's coming forth from you guys. And 456 00:47:45.680 --> 00:47:51.200 very, very proud of you and anything that we can do to help you along the way. I don't think 457 00:47:51.200 --> 00:47:55.280 you need our help. But if you want somebody to just jump up and down and shout about how great it 458 00:47:55.280 --> 00:48:02.640 is, here I am, you know, send me. But well, we do. We need prayer. We need prayer. We said that 459 00:48:03.360 --> 00:48:08.000 this film has been powered by prayer. And we would like that to continue. So anyone watching it 460 00:48:08.000 --> 00:48:12.640 can pray for the project and that the Lord's will would be done. And then I would get out there 461 00:48:12.640 --> 00:48:18.080 and it would spark many great conversations. And that is the prayer. And I would say, my hope, 462 00:48:18.080 --> 00:48:23.040 too, and I know Nathan is like, we would hope that people would hear again, the things we've 463 00:48:23.040 --> 00:48:30.240 talked about on this hour together. Hopefully you hear the story of how this film, how it was 464 00:48:30.240 --> 00:48:37.680 orchestrated, not by us, you know, we're just tools here. But it's just, I hope you're inspired 465 00:48:37.680 --> 00:48:43.440 and I hope you go, hey, there's something that, whatever you do for a living that you'll go, 466 00:48:43.440 --> 00:48:49.600 there's something more that I could do for the Lord. And so I really hope that it just sparks 467 00:48:49.600 --> 00:48:56.000 good conversation. Please help us again, yes, by prayer, but share the film, share the story, 468 00:48:56.000 --> 00:49:00.240 how that you've heard it, you know, share it out there. And just hopefully you're encouraged 469 00:49:00.240 --> 00:49:05.760 as we are just to see the reactions that everyone's having. So thank you so much. 470 00:49:06.400 --> 00:49:10.720 Amazing. Jeremy and Nathan, thank you so much. God bless you guys. Thanks for taking the time. 471 00:49:11.600 --> 00:49:14.160 Thank you for having us again. You bet. Thank you. 472 00:49:14.560 --> 00:49:24.800 This Jack Hibbs podcast as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities are listener supported. 473 00:49:24.800 --> 00:49:32.000 Will you consider partnering with us through a special gift? Go to jackhibbs.com to learn more 474 00:49:32.000 --> 00:49:34.080 and stay connected.