American Thought Leaders - Hard Truths of the Foster Care Crisis: Neal Harmon and Demetrius Grosse on New Film ‘Sound of Hope’

Episode Date: July 1, 2024

In 1997, in a small town in East Texas, Bishop W.C. Martin and his wife Donna felt moved to adopt two children from the foster care system.They went on to inspire other families in their church to do the same. In total, 22 families in the community adopted 77 children.This moving true story is depicted in the new Angel Studios film “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot.”In this episode, I sit down with award-winning actor Demetrius Grosse, who depicts Bishop Martin in the film, and Angel Studios CEO and co-founder, Neal Harmon.In America today, there are more than 400,000 children in the foster care system.One study found that about 70 percent of those who age out of the system are arrested at least once by the time they’re 26. Seven out of 10 girls who grow up in the system will become pregnant by the time they turn 21.The film “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot,” will be released in theaters on July 4, with some early screenings on July 3.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and guests, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

There are 400,000 children in the foster care system, and 100,000 of them are available for adoption. 90% of child trafficking cases have touched this system. Abuse, neglect, crime rates. So then on the back end are policymakers, law enforcement. They have to get involved. It's what's happening. In this episode, I sit down with award-winning actor Demetrius Gross

and Angel Studios CEO and co-founder Neil Harman to discuss the new film, Sound of Hope, the story of possum trot. This movie is about getting to the root of the issue. It's not an agenda film, but it's a film absolutely with a cause and a resounding message behind it. We can all do something. This is American Thought Leaders and I'm Jan Jekielek. Demetrius Gross, Neil Harmon, such a pleasure to have you on American Thought Leaders.

Thank you for having us, Jan. Well, Demetrius, you play Bishop Martin, this man who is obviously central to the film. And it's just actually an unbelievable story, what happened in Possum Trot. Why don't you give me a picture of what it's all about? What are we going to see here? We're going to see a creatively made film, a masterfully shot movie by Josh Weigel. Are you sure these people want us?

I know they do. You can call me mama. It's hard to feel like I'm the only one who sees these things. 70% of the kids in the system are there because of neglect. The other 30% are put through hell. We need your help. Can you imagine our kids on their own? We can't just look away.

The state ain't no family. Are you sure these people want us? I know they do. You can call me mama. Oh, Lord. No, no, no, no! If we can't wrap our arms around the most vulnerable, then what do we have? Noise!

And the children can't take the noise anymore. This is something that we must do. 22 families want to adopt. The whole town wants kids now. I'm just kidding. That's about right. What's happening with Possum Trot could mean a huge change for the system.

We want the ones that nobody else wants. Who hurt you, baby? I'm not giving up on you. You can't give up on me either. What are we going to do? Everybody's falling apart. I'm doing the best I can. A real world hits hard.

I don't want to be here! I can't give him back. We gotta work on this together. We your people now. And love never gives up. It is a true story about a small community in East Texas known as Possum Trot, where Bishop W.C. Martin and First Lady Donna Martin, they banded together 22 families, galvanized their community to adopt 77 children. Very modest people, humble people, not exorbitantly wealthy.

And just hold the presses here for a sec, okay? You just said 77 children. If I recall, it's 22 families, 77 children adopting this. Right. How? How does that math work? Well, this community was literally greater than the sum of their parts. They were a faith-based community, obviously

Bennett Chapel is the church that they they belong to and they galvanized a small movement that is not so small anymore and that it's a provocation of these kinds of conversations about what we can do, what any of us can do, regardless of our limited or exorbitant resources, that's almost insignificant to what you can do to help eradicate this orphan crisis in our country. Absolutely. So Neil, you and I had the same reaction to the film. You had just watched the film the day before as we were doing our prep call for this. I was in the midst of watching the film in this kind of pivotal scene. And I thought to myself, my goodness, all my problems, all my trials and travails at the moment,

they really are pretty insignificant in the face of what, one, these people faced, and two, what they overcame. Tell me about that. As we finished the film, both Trish and I paid it forward. We were so moved. We wanted others to be able to watch this film. And then we drove home, and we sat in the car for a long time, just talking. And I remember saying, I don't want to live my life in a way that my heart becomes hard.

And this movie just is soul-stretching. It made me realize, and I was saying to her, I was complaining about some of the trials that we were going through, and after I watched this film, they just seemed so insignificant. And instead of saying, woe is me, it's what more can I do? What more is my heart capable of? What more is my soul capable of? And when these people lost themselves in service, they found themselves in a way that you only can understand if you go and see their story or if you experience it for yourself.

So I still see you right now as I'm looking at you as Bishop Martin, as a pastor. It's hard for me to shake that because you're incredibly convincing in the role. But what did it take to be a pastor and a leader of a community through the lens of a church. I got to research his life, spend a little bit of time with him, but even more so than that was the reality that this was a man and his wife, First Lady Donna Martin, that this was a married couple. So while he is an ordained minister, he grapples with some of the challenges that we all face in raising our families, the everyday issues of being a parent. We don't shy away from that. We don't shy away from it being challenging to

adopt these children. One of their children is a special needs case. His name is Princeton, the heart of their family. And so while there's that that they're dealing with, they're also dealing with other people in their community that are like, okay, are we really doing this? The sister in the film, played by Jillian, her car is breaking down, but she's a single mother. And so for me, it was looking beyond the lens of him being a pastor and actually a bishop and seeing the man, seeing the human inside, not the robes, but the soul of the man. That was helpful in portraying him not as an archetype or as a caricature of the Southern Baptist preacher,

Bible thumping and speaking in rhythm. There is that, but hopefully I feel like this performance imbues an authenticity where the audience feels like they can connect with this couple, you know, this husband and wife, ordinary people who do this extraordinary thing. And so as an actor, I'm trying to get to the core of that, like who is the guy beyond the priest collar, right? And so then that way I can invite the audience into to see themselves and see what they can do once they self-identify with these these

extraordinary people so you know of course you play opposite Nika King yeah and I mean both of you are deeply convincing deeply deeply human, you know, deeply troubled at times, but finding finding so much value in the relationship. It's almost, you know, I'm moved just thinking about it right now. I mean, genuinely. And maybe, you know, tell me a little bit about what it was like working with her, because the chemistry was, you know, fantastic, and it was like working with her because the chemistry was you know fantastic and it was and it was a deeply spiritual relationship absolutely and it started that way yeah it started as a as a spiritual relationship our chemistry on screen is the fruit of you know weeks of

of getting to know not only our characters, but getting to know each other. She's also a comedian. She is a very spiritually centered woman. And I am a pretty spiritually centered guy. So when we first get to set, we get the opportunity to meet with First Lady Donna Martin and Bishop W.C. Martin. And they cover us, anoint us, if you will, with prayer.

And from there, we were off to the races. It felt like this invisible hand was guiding us to get through the vicissitudes of shooting a feature film in 25 days, which is like a sprint, right? And so Nika was just a delight on set. She's really funny. Keeping the days moving, keeping the lightheartedness on the set, that was her lane. Our chemistry, I think, is the result of the covering by the Martins. They gave us the nod or their blessing, if you will.

And then from there, we had this kind of deus ex machina energy where there was just this positive force pushing us through, guiding us through the vicissitudes of making a film of this magnitude uh with these kind of time constraints well it it it comes through in spades you know some things that just i'm reminded of neil uh you know there's many things we learn about in this film and i've been thinking about the realities of foster care but now as as we're sitting here, I'm thinking about just family, you know, because that is an amazing family. And then it's a community of families that all actually obviously, you know, deeply support each other

through all sorts of difficult moments. And I'm wondering if you've thought about that a bit. I feel like this film, there's this moment where I think the First Lady, she says, I think she was one of 18 children, if I recall. And she says that mom was great at helping us not notice that we didn't have much. You know, that the child, it's not that you can have that if the love and the caring and the real family connection is there. That was certainly our experience in the Harmon household. We grew up in rural Idaho, no carpet on the front floor or the front room floor. It was just boards

and we ate a lot of squash and potatoes during the winter and we were grateful if we had butter and and toast or cheese and it would disappear quickly but we had no idea that we were poor we just didn't even know it. We played out in the trees. We built tree houses. We had adventures together. And the real reason that we didn't feel that way is because we had ample doses of love from our parents. And that's just so critical. And whether you're raising your own family or you're raising foster children, children just need love. In fact, I called a neighbor who just began fostering a two-year-old and a four-year-old and And she said she was inspired by a longtime foster family in Utah. And she sent me a note that I just want to read.

She said, if there is one thing I wanted people to know about doing foster care, it is that you will get attached and your heart will probably get broken. But our hearts are big enough to hold the pain of the world and love is never wasted. Getting the chance to bond and attach to these kids is a blessing and if your heart breaks for the loss of this child that means you're doing it right so become a foster parent even if you're scared I promise the chance to help another is worth it because love is never wasted thank you and well and so this, though, the film does not shy away from a heck of a lot of

really tough realities. And one of them is the reality of foster care. There's some of the families that are involved in foster care are not the best. You know, we have the woman who's doing the placements, both the placements in foster care and seeking families that will adopt. It would actually be good to kind of understand how that all works, but in many cases she's trying to pull the kids out of not the best situations in foster care to put them in with families that will work in the long term. So, you know, it's a it's just it's a system that's that's fraught with difficulties. Right. I noticed that she stretched a few rules. She did. In order to pull it off. Yeah. Like and

Nika King or the first lady, she one of her the best lines is she said, The state ain't no family. Religious guilt can't fix a broken child's heart. Love can. Real, determined love. I have to pick up the pieces. When all the lovey-dovey is gone, the real world hits hard. It don't matter. The state ain't no family.

These kids need a family, and so Susan Ramsey was an authority in the foster, in the child services system, and she had the authority to remove a child or to place a child, and she had superiors that she answered to, but she had a vision for what Bennett Chapel could do, and even though Bennett Chapel didn't meet like what society would think would be the ideal circumstances for these children she could see beyond that and she figured out how to make that happen and I think that's a really good metaphor for all of us is that don't allow red tape to get in the way of love.

And people who are committed to what they've been called to do. Yes. The community in Bennett Chapel, they were committed and convicted in their faith and their belief and in their community. They believed in their community to pull this off. They didn't allow the lack of financial resource to stop them. There is also a pivotal scene where Bishop W.C. Martin goes to one of his fellow pastors, Pastor Mark,

of the mega church, And he has to humble himself and ask for some financial help from this Mega Church to help one of the women who's a parishioner to pay to fix the sewage system, fix her washer and dryer, and her roof is leaking. Well, I don't wanna bother you with too much, but we've come into some needs, Pastor. Okay, well, what's going on? Kids keep coming, and that's put a strain on people, something fierce, and the house is getting work now.

I got one mother, she's a single mother. She needs a new sewer line, and I just ain't got it right now. Reverend, you know we've been doing the best we can. Mark, I appreciate everything you've done thus far. It's just that we're in a situation here now where... Isn't the county sending you all support still? Now, these are working families.

And it goes fast. There's lots of needs. Okay. Hey, look. You took on a heavy burden, WC. So why can't you? Lord, if we could just come together on this. It's too much. I'm not going to turn everybody's life upside down. We can't come at it like that. a huge conversation about the faith-based community and how and when do we cross those trivial lines

that separate us and he does it. And it's not easy for him to do that. And hopefully we, but it's necessary. It's a very, very keen scene. I think it's about two thirdsthirds of the way through the movie. But I'm glad we kept that one in the movie. Me too. For me, I just thought, you know what?

I see him. He's a good megachurch pastor. He's studying the scriptures. He's helping the children in primary. And he doesn't see the need around him and this neighbor that i was telling you that adopted this four-year-old and two-year-old she said that they're in utah valley which we live in a community that's very loving very safe you you've been to visit it's a very nice place it's like provost is actually really nice. I hadn't been.

I shot a movie there, but I was in and out. And then when I went to visit Angel Studios, I got a real affinity towards Provo. So she said she put herself into the foster care system right there in Utah. And she said, I almost, I had this huge temptation to just stick my head back in the sand. I had no idea the level of hardship that is happening right under our noses right there in Utah. And so I felt like that scene captures that dynamic. What is the distinction between, is foster care, is that like a half, kind of a half a system where the kids are placed because otherwise they'd be in government care, they get

placed temporarily in homes, and then there's the search for the full-time parents, and in some cases the foster parents become parents. Can you just explain to me how that dynamic works just very basically. So I'm not an expert in this, but the foster care system is that. It's children moving from home to home because they don't have adoptive parents, because their parents are either gone or their parents have been abusive and they are no longer fit to take care of their children.

And so this is a temporary solution. That's one of the reasons people are so scared of it, is because they say, if I love a child, bring them into my home, it'll be too hard to say goodbye. And which is why I got that note, that it's okay. It's okay to hold these children's pain and to love them. It doesn't take away from us to love them. So it's a temporary solution. And a lot of these kids are older, and the older the children get, the harder it is to teach them and to mold them. And so what's worse are the stats on the foster care system that you'll have of girls end up having children out of wedlock.

The number of these foster kids who end up in prison within two years of when they leave the system is astronomically high. So it's just a system that's fraught with problems. And we learned that like, because we released the film Sound of Freedom last year, that 90% of instances of child trafficking in the United States are somehow connected to this, the child protective services. They've gone through that system. And so this is the hardest, ugliest part of society that we don't want to see. We want to turn our eyes away from it. And in terms of numbers, there are 400,000 children in the foster care system, and 100,000 of them are available for adoption. And just the number of churches in the United States is 400,000. So what we leave the theater with when you watch this movie is an approach to a solution. to how everyone, anyone can affect this issue

in a positive way. It's not an agenda film, but it's a film absolutely with a cause and a resounding message behind it that says that communities can help to end the orphan crisis. And families are really at the bedrock of our society, strong families. However the tapestry of those families look, as long as there's love and a commitment to raising the children, that's at the bedrock of what makes society work when people come from loving homes.

And so that's the superlative message. Here's the thing, right? The film is powerful, gripping, moving beyond anything I expected. At the same time, I learned a ton. I learned that there's a lot of people in the system. I learned that some of those foster placements, just because of reality, aren't the system. I learned that some of those foster placements, just because of reality, aren't the best. And we see some of those, right?

So the value of someone coming in and playing that role, that is loving, it's so valuable. And then furthermore, there's so many people in the system itself, which isn't, as you said, sort of a dark reality around it, that if they can get adopted into families that really want them, right, that can completely change the trajectory of their lives. It's just such a whole world, you know, that we're not really aware of that I think exists in every community.

It's one of those underbelly things of our society, like mass incarceration, what that does and how that trickles down into a society. The foster care crisis, what that does and how that trickles into society. And all these little things affect abuse neglect crime rates and then so then on the back end our policymakers you know law enforcement they have to get involved and this is getting to the root this movie is about getting to the root of the issue if I can comment it is so much and you know because these kids also have

suffered incredibly in many cases. They're hurt. They've had, you know, unbelievable trauma that you don't even want to imagine. So it's incredibly difficult for a family to make the choice to say, yes, I'm going to have a kid that I'm going to have problems with because they're coming with a lot of baggage. But to have the love and the conviction to do that and transform a life, it's just, like I said, I don't know what to say. I think many of us come away from the film not knowing what to say, Jan,

but most all who watch this film will come out of the film with an unction of wanting to do something. We may not know what to say, we may be overcome, overwrought with emotion, but unanimously, even myself being in the film, I came out of the film like, I got to do something, you know. There's something, there's somewhere that I can pitch in to be a part of this in a real way. Is there some part of this process that was particularly, I guess, difficult for you to kind of put yourself into?

Sure, I mean probably the most challenging part was ultimately the most rewarding part and that was playing an ordained bishop, like a minister in W.C. Martin. Oftentimes the Southern Pentecostal Baptist preacher is characterized as this sort of flamboyant caricature. And it's done in comedy a lot. There was no room for that kind of comment on this man and this story. So while he had some of the epithets and some of the nuances of that classical Southern Baptist preacher, he was so unique

and so methodic in his rhythm. And to embody that, I had to sort of divorce myself from all of that programming that we see in comedic representations and really just tap into who he was, the soul of the man. And he himself said he did not want to be imitated, but portrayed. And so it was about holding space for his energy to come through and to really, as I say, fall in love with the character that I'm playing and root for him.

How did you, Neil, how did Angel come to this project in the first place? So Josh and Rebecca came to us after seeing the success of sound of freedom they could see the connection they realized because they had approached this story written a script and didn't feel that the script actually did justice to the story so they moved into possum trot and they lived there. And that helped them reach an authenticity level with the script that shows their understanding that this is a fight for children. This is not easy.

It is about love, but it is a fight. And they want a call to fight for kids. And that's what Sound of Freedom was. It was a call to fight for the protection of children. And now Sound of Hope, the story of Possum Trot, is an actionable call for all of us to fight. This is something we can all participate in. We can all do something that they came to us. And we shared Sound of Hope with the Angel Guild, which is a group of over 330,000 people over 155 countries who they are the green lighting power at Angel. Like you don't go to

Angel until you get through the Angel Guild. And they rated this story so high that we knew we wanted to take it to theaters. And we decided to take it to theaters under this Sound of anthology on July 4th. So you also crowdsource the topics, not just the, you know, the fund finances in many cases. So that's fascinating. Yes. Yeah. Wow. And it's an honor to be a part of now this, this legacy, right? This is a, this is a film company that has a reputation for bringing stories that show and share light, positive stories. Not necessarily blue sky, easily digestible ones, but ones that are provocations for the positive kind of change that we all want to see.

So when I knew that our film was going to go this far and partner with you. To me, I was just on a personal, I was really touched and felt like I was in the right place, doing the right thing at the right time, you know, with the right people. Absolutely. You know, you mentioned this connection between foster care and human trafficking, that there's a much higher incidence of this trafficking and so you know like just tell me a little bit more about how or why that might be the case I would have to admit that I'm not close enough to it to actually give you all the stats hey I don't need that. But when people don't have parents, when they are forgotten, overlooked, there are so many ill-intentioned people who want to take advantage of children who can't necessarily cry out for help. And so it's not a surprise that the incarceration rates, the child trafficking rates, the abuse rates are all highest in this world. It's just not a surprise. So I

don't know what causes what, how much is correlated versus how much is causal. But 90% of child trafficking cases have touched this system. And it's what's happening. And so if we heal the foster care system in the way that Bennett Chapel and that community healed that system in one community, within 100 miles, they solved the problem entirely. They laid the blueprint. Yes. That's an amazing moment in the film by the way again just so well done where he calls where you call and you say hey I'm ready for we're actually we're ready for more kids guys All the kids in the region have been adopted. Astonishing. Absolutely astonishing.

Is this something you think could be possible in an urban setting? Is there something about it being rural? I'm glad you asked that, Jan. There is something to it being in a rural setting in our film. There's a great scene where one of the kids, Nino, and I think Josh, they, who are based off of real people who have grown up and have families of their own now, Josh and Nino both do, they're walking a mule. And growing up here in greater Northwest in an urban environment, I remember what it was like to go out to rural Maryland and to see my cousins and to be on the farm.

And in our film, you see the benefit of that for Josh and Nino. You see them being able to smell the fresh air, to be with the animals. But it is a call for urban communities as well, because there is a silver lining to growing up in an urban community. The sophistication, the pace of life in the inner city,

the cosmopolitan elements of the inner city. Openness to all kinds of ideas. Yeah, and just the pulse of the inner city is very edifying in its own way. And I want audiences to not be alienated from this film. Even though Possum Trot, Texas, is a rural area. I do want to see people in the Latino community, the black community, the white community, people who may not have sprawling acres of land involve themselves in this because the core of the movie and it's mentioned by uh by first lady donna's character uh is that what it takes is just is love it takes committed unconditional determined love to do this it doesn't take a big mansion on a prairie. It could be a one-bedroom, two-bedroom apartment.

You know, as long as the person is committed to helping this child, success can happen in raising that child. You know, and they don't shy away from this. There's this moment where, you know, the girls are Terry. I want to talk a little bit about Terry, this unbelievable character in the film. So she's the child that was adopted, I think the third one, into the Martin family. And then there's the actual daughter and they're fighting and at one moment, Donna Donna goes and says you know don't don't fight my daughter or something like this sort of you know of course she

didn't mean it but it came out and and she has to now she has to deal with that right that this is this is not all roses this is this is people get emotional people get angry and and ultimately you know I can't help but think, like, that faith plays a central role in this. I mean, this is something we haven't talked about yet, really. And that's the real joy of watching this movie, is the range of natural human emotions that all of these characters go through, And that people identify with it. People see the film, unanimously are moved. Online people are joking that, you know, bring a box of tissues

because you will cry tears of conviction, but you will also laugh and you'll cry tears of joy. And people come from the film feeling like cleansed. I've heard people say, I felt cleansed from the inside out. Like these were good tears that gave me hope and made me feel like I could affect the change that's necessary. Maybe not like that, maybe not verbatim,

but people have been very, very outspoken about the vicissitudes of emotions that they feel, but ultimately coming out feeling a provocation to do something and to affect the change. I'll echo that a little bit because my own experience, and I suggested this a little bit earlier, is I felt cosmically this film came to me at a time where I'm having some of my own difficulties. And number one, as we were speaking earlier, I thought to myself, my goodness,

this is some of these things that seem so big or don't seem so big once I kind of understand this reality. But the other side of it was, wow, there's so much power and getting through there's a way to get through uh the dark night of the soul right so to speak it's there's there's there's a way to get through the other side it's actually incredibly valuable and transformative you see these people this is this amazing thing you see these people, this is this amazing thing, you see these people change themselves, grow, become the best versions of themselves through these incredibly difficult trials and tribulations. It's the butterfly effect, right? You said

the dark night of the soul. Like, pain may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. You see that journey played out in this film. Absolutely. You see that it's not easy for First Lady Donna Martin and Bishop Martin to even keep the water on at some point when they're raising all these children that they've adopted. And they're trying to keep a church going, and they're trying to keep their lights on,

and they're trying to keep a church going and they're trying to keep their lights on and they're trying to make ends meet. It puts a strain on the union, so to speak. But you see the resilience of not only their love and their marriage, but how that radiates and reverberates through their community and inspires others. And hopefully it can inspire us all. Absolutely. Tell me a little bit about how we're going to be able to see this film. I know there was a showing on Juneteenth, I think you told me it was 717 screens across America. Seventeen hundred and seventeen.

Seventeen hundred and seventeen. Yes. Okay. Well. It'll be on more screens on July 4th. And there's some early screenings on July 3rd, if your July 4th is packed. Now, I would say after hearing all of this, people might be concerned that if they walk into this film, that they are going to leave having to do something.

And I'm going to tell you, the answer is yes, you are. You are. You will be changed. But you need to go. Like that cleansing that he's talking about, our souls need this. And that's what happened to me. In order for our hearts not to be. That's what happened to me.

Like literally, I don't cry in movies but i i cried a little bit but it was like a good cry you ever had a good cry young it's like more than once yeah we have a good cry it was like it feels like you like you were bathed somehow through crying it's a weird thing uh you don't know how much you need it until after you're after you're done especially when that's they're not sorrowful tears, but they're hopeful tears. You're like, oh my God, this is so beautiful. Because, you know, without giving too much away, there is a significant element of happy ending to this story. Hugely.

And one thing I wanted to mention, this is something you managed to do in Sound of Freedom as well. These are incredibly difficult topics that are touched upon but you were able to do it in a way an incredibly tasteful way still conveying the difficulty of it so you know i think anybody could go to see the film actually like i i didn't see any i didn't see anything in there that that you you know it's not in our film. Even the romance scene has a bible in it. Oh really? That's so interesting. There's a scene where First Lady and Bishop,

they're at home, all the kids are in bed. He's trying to have a moment with his wife and he starts to like, I can't give the movie away. No you can't. But it's very taste tastefully done the movie is very tastefully done it's a pg-13 rating so critical for a film that can have this kind of impact to have that kind of rating from and the credit for sound of freedom goes to Alejandro Monteverde and Eduardo Verastegui and to Sound of Hope to the Weigels for Josh and Rebecca and that team. So we're just very grateful to help it reach as many people as possible. What about Hollywood?

Right so it doesn't seem like you're doing this the conventional way. This is actually what Angel is known for. I'm definitely going to get you to tell me what this pay it forward thing is and how it works and how it can be utilized here. But how does Hollywood fit into what you're doing? Or does it at all? Of course it does. I mean, Demetrius is an incredible actor and he learned his craft by bumping up against and learning from Hollywood I mean Hollywood is the greatest storytelling community that's ever existed we feel at angel we just feel like all they lost their way is on how the stories are picked right they did their gatekeepers they have very few

powerful gatekeepers who are deciding what stories get told and how they get told. And we just said, you know what? Everything about Hollywood is incredible. But if we just replace the gatekeepers with the people, then we essentially give audiences what they need the most. The stories that they need the most. The that they need the most the stories that resonate with them the most and that's that's been true to form like we thought maybe we'd just be getting independent filmmakers from random walks of life or faith filmmakers but no those aren't the filmmakers that are coming to angel the filmmakers that are coming to angel are just ones who are tired of the gatekeepers telling them to tell stories and use their craft and

their artistic abilities to focus on dark or focus on the depraved or focus on the cynical of society. They want to, they don't want, no one wants to shy away from reality, but the beautiful thing about Sound of Hope is that even though it's super authentic, super raw, very gritty, you leave cleansed. You leave feeling hope. And that's what we call light at Angel. And the audience, the Angel Guild, gets to decide what amplifies light. And we hope that this groundswell of people who are fighting for these kids and coming to this show and sharing this with friends, that we can send a message to the whole world on how we can fight for the downtrodden, the abused, the children in society who they need us. And so July 4th. And so what does this pay it forward? And how do you find out if your cinema's having it?

You can go to angel.com slash hope, and you can find out the closest theater near you. We're adding theaters daily. So check back if it's not there. And there's also a button where you can request a specific theater that isn't carrying it yet. You can call your local theater and let them know. We grew up in rural Idaho. I can remember two times that I went to the theater when I was young, and it was the Dollar Theater.

And it was such a transformational experience for me. But I couldn't go because it was too expensive. And Pay It Forward allows people like us to go and experience the cinema, to have this healing experience around Sound of Hope. allows people like us to go and experience the cinema, to have this healing experience around Sound of Hope. They wouldn't otherwise see it. So when Tricia and I paid it forward, that creates a fund,

and anyone who wants to go to angel.com slash hope, and there's a button there for claiming the already available free tickets. And then those of you who watched it, if you feel inspired to pay it forward, there's a QR code at the end of the film. And please share the film with someone else. I absolutely love this system that you guys have devised at Angel, right? Where you just facilitate the opportunity for others.

It's wonderful. There were 1,800,000 and some odd thousand people who watched Sound of Freedom without having to pay for their own ticket. We have no idea what kind of impact that will have on future generations on the world. Who are the people, like there have been laws passed. There's the Sound of Freedom Act. We just heard about the Sound of Hope Act that is being passed in Texas. We don't know the, like the ripples, what those ripples will do over time. And so that's a lot of impact in this world. And, and, and we believe we sense the sound of hope it's

happening again. And art is about what we heal. And so to be a part of this film that is approaching the least and most vulnerable amongst us, right? Orphan kids. It feels good, and it feels like we're doing the right thing for the right reason. So we're excited for the world to be able to see it, and for money not to be able to stop people from sharing in the film. So we're thankful for the Angel Guild and for the Pay It Forward formula that's happening and allowing people to do just that. Well, Demetrius Gross, Neil Harmon, it's such a pleasure to have had you on the show. Thank you for having us, Jan. Thank you, Jan. Thank you all

for joining Demetrius Gross, Neil Harmon, and me on this episode of American Thought Leaders. I'm your host, Jan Jekielek.