The Night Before…
It is the night before my third feature film. I doubt I will sleep any. This is the Christmas morning that I’ve been waiting five years for since my last feature film premiered. When I first started telling people I was making another movie, I said that this film was 3x the size and scope of my last feature, then it was 10x, now it seems 30x plus! Obviously, the director is just a thread in the tapestry of a production. I was in awe of Dax Spanogle’s first draft after we kicked around ideas about what kind of movie we wanted to make. This was in the first months of the new year while I was crashing in his apartment after having just moved to LA. I was inspired after becoming a co-writer in the screenplay and beginning to let my wandering mind explore thoughts that had been bouncing in my head for almost half a decade. Then out of nearly thin air, but surely by providence, an old friend from seminary reached out to me about a different side project, and Thurman Mason quickly became our Executive Producer. What an incredible blessing he and his wife, Cathy, have been to me during this pre-production period.
This film has come together in what seems like weeks, but in actuality was just 6 short months. The talent and expertise that has come together to create this film is so rare and advanced that I can hardly comprehend how this big group of artists came together. Connections from all over the world are meeting in the little town of Sanford, FL tomorrow morning for our first couple of scenes. After that, we are going to the town where I was born, Eustis, FL for the rest of the day’s shooting. What a rewarding opportunity to shoot in my two hometowns in Central Florida and Central Pennsylvania.
This story is very moving and emotional for me. The characters and the way my exceptional actors bring them to life is dumbfounding. Who are these brothers? Why would they go back home to the place they both have run away from for so long? What darkness Drew must have tasted throughout these years, and yet what yearning for light must be in his brave heart to want to face the greatest fears that keep him up at night. I love these characters and this story so much. This world that we created is going to be my reality for the next three weeks. It will oddly enough become the truest reality for me as the director, and that is a good thing. It is an essential and necessary part of my own journey as a spectator, and at times orchestrator, of this grand tapestry. It is the telling of a new parable that links back to truths before time. How incredible it is to be able to create like our Creator.
I’ve been doing this stuff for over ten years now. I love making movies. It’s a passion and a fulfilling desire. It rarely feels like a job. Somedays the stress gets to me, but it motivates me and makes me better. When I am making a movie I can truly say to myself and to anyone else that I am doing exactly what I always wanted to do. I couldn’t be more thankful. What a gift and an incredible opportunity to venture on this journey once again. What is man that God is mindful of him? What an extraordinary idea that Jesus actually cares and hears me while I’m off busy creating a fictional reality.
It really is all too overwhelming. There are fears, and there are tangential, and sometimes pivotal, concerns about how and if this will all come together: Will people be able to use the GPS on their phones correctly? What if the car breaks down, or our lead, Daniel MacPherson, becomes sick? What if Dax decides he would rather move to Ireland and adopt a dog as a sidekick? What if… ? Oh well. I really have enough to fret about, or rather too much to be thankful for to worry now. This day has enough to worry about without starting to worry about tomorrow.
Tomorrow we are making a movie together. It is a beautiful, stressful, rewarding, incredible experience. I hope to be present in every moment and to be gracious and honoring of all of the astoundingly talented artists who have come together to make this story a reality. I am incredibly thankful to all of you. See you all at 4 AM.
Sincerely,
Spencer T. Folmar
