The Eric Metaxas Show - Allen Wolf

Episode Date: April 29, 2022

Filmmaker Allen Wolf has a new movie premiering across the country this week, "The Sound of Violet," which has a quirky, romantic, and imaginative plot with a powerful message.

Folks, welcome to the Eric Mattaxas show, sponsored by Legacy Precious Metals. There's never been a better time to invest in precious metals. Visit legacy p.m. Investments.com. That's legacy pm. Investments.com. Taxis show with your host, Eric Mettaxas. Hey there, folks. I'm sounding like a broken record, but I have a big announcement. I have a couple of big announcements, some really good news. Yeah. Some really good news. Before I get to the good news, let me say today in hour one, which is coming up in a few minutes, we're talking to a very, very dear friend of mine, an amazing friend, Alan Wolfe, he's a filmmaker.

We're talking about a film that's coming out. I guess it's like any day now, he'll get the details, but it's called The Sound of Violet. He is a dear friend. I'm so excited. So we're going to talk to Alan in a moment. I will start. with the big news.

Yesterday, we got confirmation from Apollo astronaut, Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke, the man that I interviewed on this program a little bit over a week ago to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his walking on the moon. Charlie Duke, age 86, will be my guest at a Socrates in the city event in New York, city on May 31st. I want to tell people we haven't put up the registration page yet. It may go up today, maybe tomorrow, but I want to tell you the opportunity to meet a man who walked on the moon to hear my conversation with him. We haven't had a Socrates in the city event in over two years since the insanity of COVID. I've been writing all these books. I want to tell you, folks,

this is a big deal, that we are rebooting Socrates in the city. It will. It was. will be May 36th, 31st, May 36th. May 31st, which is a Tuesday in New York City at the Union League Club. It is going to sell out. I'm telling you, we have never had a man who walked on the moon as our guest at Socrates in the city. If you want to meet him, if you want to get a photo with him, you will have to sign up for the VIP reception. Those tickets are limited. we will have a photographer and photographs with Charlie Duke. He and his wife are the next day celebrating their 59th wedding anniversary. So this is a big weekend for them.

I am just so excited. There will be tickets available for the dinner. Those are for patrons only. It's obviously a very exclusive dinner. But I want to just tell you, folks, I can't get over the fact that we're doing a Socrates in the city event. It is May 31st, which is in about a month, a little bit over a month. The reason I want to say that it's so soon is because we wanted to be around the time of the 50th anniversary. So obviously we want to do it fairly soon. But the Union League Club, where we do

these events, I'm a member, they're doing all these renovations this summer. So the best date we could get is May 31st. So I know there people listen to this program. I want to tell you, come to New York, make a few days out of it. This is going to be an historic event, the 50th anniversary of his walking on the moon. I am over the moon about it. We will send out details via my newsletter. If you're on the Socrates and the city newsletter,

you can go to Socrateson the city.com and sign up just to get the Socrates newsletter. But this is going to be an exclusive event, an historic event, a big deal, May 31st in New York City. I still cannot believe that Charlie Duke is willing to do this to come to New York. I'm just looking forward to it. So I had to get that out.

That's really big news. And as soon as we get the registration page up, I'm warning you, folks, these things are going to sell out. We have got limited VIP reception, limited dinner, limited whatever. So if you're interested, jump on it. And we always do an early bird price. So the price goes up by, I don't know, 40 or 50 percent to what I think of as a regular price, but just encourage people to sign up soon. So that's the first news. The second news is I'm traveling like crazy. I am in a hotel room in Minneapolis right now. Speaking tonight,

tonight, Thursday, April 28th, is it tonight? Yeah. It's tonight. Yes, it's tonight in a few hours. Speaking at an event in Plymouth, Minnesota, you can go to my website, Eric Mataxis.com. come and check it out. But that's tonight. It's a Salem radio event. Tomorrow I fly to San Francisco and go to San Jose where I'm going to be at a freedom rally on Sunday. This is through Calvary San Jose. Calvary San Jose, the pastor is Mike McClure. He's been on this program. He is a hero of heroes. I'm preaching in his church on Sunday. So a lot going on. And then I fly to Florida where we're going to have the Mara Lago premiere of 2000 Mules. You know that I'm in the film,

and I got to tell you, folks, it's going to change history. When Americans see the film, it is going to change history. I want to tell everybody, you've got to see the film. Don't even think about not seeing it. It's a wonderful film.

That's right. Eric's in the film. I'm in the film. I'm the back end of Mule number 32. So you got to see it. I mean, actually, I mean, people think we're joking. I actually am in the film on the film poster.

My name's on the film poster. I've never had my name on a film poster before, but I am in the film. We've got Sebastian Gork is in the film, Charlie Kirk's in the film. Obviously, Dinesh is all over the film. He made the film. Dennis Prager is in the film.

Larry Elders in the film. It's very exciting. So I want to tell people about that. So the premiere at Mar-a-Lago, and I may get to interview President Trump. We're working on that. I'm not kidding. At Moralago.

Then I'm going to fly to Las Vegas because there's a virtual premiere of the film on May 7th. So I will be in Las Vegas for the virtual premiere of the film, which is May 7th. And then I fly to Philadelphia and I'm speaking at a Republican Committee convention, Republican committee event on May 9th, which is a Monday night. And, I mean, it's just unbelievable. But then I get to go home. But then I got to leave again because I'm going to Columbia, South Carolina. and then I'm going to Erskine College in South Carolina.

Then I come home. Then I go to Colorado Springs. It is an absolutely jam-packed month. And then at the end of the month, Socrates in the city with Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke. Folks, I cannot tell you how exciting. I see this whole. I'll tell you, if you were an international spy like James Bond,

you could shoot a few bad guys in all those cities on the way. Am I right? It's unbelievable. Okay, so we had to mention all that. We also should mention our sponsor, Nutrametics, has said this month only. That's April, folks. We've got like two days left in April, three days. Yeah.

This month only 30% off. If you use the code, Eric, 30% off. I take their magnesium, their zinc, their vitamin C, their vitamin D, and a number of things that I'm not allowed to share on this program. but I want to tell you, they give half of their profits to third world missions organizations. If you are interested in your health and you buy things for your immune system, which you should every day, vitamin D, vitamin C, all the things I mentioned zinc, all these different things, melatonin, stevia, a raft of things. But can you imagine that they give 50% of their profits to missions organizations? They're heroes. And I want to tell you, go to nutrometics.com, use the code Eric.

You always get 20% off of used code Eric. But in the next three days, you get 30% off. Please take advantage of that, please. Albin, we've got so much going on. I'm trying to think. Is there anything else I should mention? Well, I'm looking forward to the interview you're going to do with Alan, Alan Wolf on the sound of Violet. I'm enjoying the sound of coffee right now.

And it's, I love it. Doesn't it sound wonderful? Actually, you know, the, here's one thing I want to mention. I want to embarrass my friend Keith Junta. Keith Junta, if you go to winepatch.org, winepatch.org, he writes these brilliant essays, winepatch.org. Yesterday, I was having dinner with people I'd never met them before. Wonderful, wonderful people here in Minneapolis.

And they said, oh, we got to tell you about. something called wine press and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I said, what, what? You mean wine patch? No, no. Oh, yeah, yeah, wine patch. And they're raving and raving about wine patch. And I said, excuse me, that's my friend Keith Junta. And I think the reason you even know about that is because of me, because I think he's so amazing that I've been sharing his stuff like crazy, wine patch.org. If you sign up to my newsletter, Ericmetaxis.com, we link today to his article, or was it yesterday. Anyway, we're out of time. We'll be back with Alan Wolfe. Tell me, Eric, why is relief factor so successful at lowering

or eliminating pain? I'm often asked that question. The owners of Relief Factor tell me they believe our bodies were designed to heal. That's right, designed to heal, and I agree with them. So the doctors who formulated Relief Factor for them selected the four best ingredients, yes, 100% drug-free ingredients, each helps your body deal with inflammation. Each of the four ingredients deals with inflammation from a different metabolic pathway. And that right there, approaching from four different angles, may be why so many people find such wonderful relief. So if you've got back pain, shoulder, neck, hip, knee, or foot pain from exercise

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They didn't think we would catch them, but we did. Find out what they did and how they did it in the new documentary film called 2000 Mules, directed and narrated by renowned filmmaker Dinesh DeSuzza, an executive produced by Salem Media Group. With research from tru-the-vote.org, 2000 Mules tells us a story of the ones who tried to hijack a presidential election. You'll see the actual video surveillance tapes. You'll see how we tracked their cell phones to box after box as they got paid to carry out this illegal scheme.

Watch the movie and decide for yourself. Attend a limited release premiere of 2000 Mules in advance on May 2nd or May 4th. To see the movie in the theater, you must buy tickets in advance at 2000 Mules.com. Tickets are not available at local theaters. You can also attend a virtual premiere on May 7th, including a Q&A with Dinesh D'Souza. to buy tickets for the virtual premiere at 2000mules.com. That's the number 2000mules.com. Folks, welcome.

There are very few people that crack me up instantly. And I hate it because I have no control over myself. I just get like a goofy idiot. Alan Wolf, who is my friend, is one of those people. He's a filmmaker. He's got a film coming out this week. Alan Wolf, welcome to the program. Thanks for having me.

Great to be here. I'm going to try to have a substantive conversation. with you and not just get really stupid and jockey because that's what happens. I've known you for like 25 years. Yes. Yes. More than the age of my kids, my marriage, a long time. Way before that.

Way, way before that. I think I knew you before I was married. Yeah, that's true. So for a quarter of a century. And you're a filmmaker and you have a film coming out this Friday. This Friday, my friend. It's days away. I can't believe it.

I want everyone to get all these facts. So my friend Alan Wolf tell us the film is the sound of Violet. What is this film? This film is a romantic comedy about a man who thinks he found his perfect soulmate, but his autism keeps him from realizing that she's actually a prostitute. Okay, that sounds like something you would make up as a joke. That's right now. But it's actually true.

Yeah, that is a true. That's the truth. He doesn't realize that she's looking for a ticket out of her trap life, but the movie has an anti-trafficking message as part of it as well. It's been called a more serious take on pretty woman. But, yeah, it's a film, you'll laugh, you'll cry. Okay, so it's called The Sound of Violet. And no joke, folks.

This is the premise of it is that the protagonist. What is his name in The Sound of Violet? Sean. Okay, Sean is what we say on the spectrum, but it's not just Asperger's. He actually has functional autism. Yes, that's correct. Asperger's usually means they're at the high functioning part of the spectrum. And not him. He's high functioning. Okay. So this protagonist, because he doesn't pick up, like a lot of people, if they have autism or Asperger's, they don't pick up social clues. So he does not pick up that this, woman, this young woman, actually is a prostitute. And he does not, so he, so what makes it funny, because I saw a very early version of this,

like, I don't know, way over a year ago. But what I remember, it really is a brilliant concept because he, it's like when people are talking past each other, she doesn't understand what he's not getting. He doesn't understand what he's not getting. So the name of the prostitute is Violet? That's correct, yes. And why is the film called the sound of Violet? Well, he also has something called synesthesia, which means he can hear sounds in colors.

So he explains that to her early on. When he looks at colors long enough, he starts to hear sounds. And so he will even look at people and try to figure out something about them by looking at the colors that they're wearing. And so when he realizes that her name is a color that makes him especially interested in her. Okay. So it's a serious film, but it's a comedy as well. But it's serious because you're dealing with the actual issue of somebody who has this kind of inability to pick up social clues. But in a sense, it makes him an innocent.

There's something really beautiful about it. He sees her differently because of this kind of innocence. That's right, yes. And he's, I mean, this is not true of all autistic people. This is true of him specifically. I mean, every autistic person is different in the way that they are able to pick up social cues, etc. But for him, he also has a very trusting nature. He's also been very sheltered by his grandma who takes care of him.

And then he actually asks her what she does for living. And she says she's an actress. So he believes her because he's a trusting person and he doesn't pick up all this other cues. and so he starts going with her on her quote unquote auditions thinking that yeah she's just a nice woman and then she sees that there's something different about him that she's never experienced before so she wants to keep getting to know him but wants to keep what she's really doing as a secret and that is what the conflict and a dilemma so now you you and I are obviously Christians and so I know it's a certain kind of of a film. It's not loaded with F-bombs like Father Stu. But you, but it's not, in other words, it's not an officially Christian film. It has Christian sensibilities, but it's just kind of like a mainstream film, a rom-com. It's a mainstream film, but definitely from a Christian world view.

So the character, the main character, Sean, is someone who loves Jesus, who goes to church. And he also, at one point, invites her to go to church with them. And so that, that's, That's very much part of his story. You see his faith journey. You see her grappling with what it means to have a faith journey. So that's definitely part of the plot as well. I just have to ask because I don't remember if there's an answer to this. But in scripture, is it Josea the prophet who marries a prostitute?

Like God kind of tells him to do this? That's right. Yes. And that is that served as inspiration for the film. So just the idea of this person, this is from the Bible and the book of Hosea, and he's told to marry a prostitute and realizes all kinds of things because of that relationship. And so that definitely was part of the seed of this idea. You take someone who is a person based in faith, who loves God, and then you bring him into a relationship with someone who is very opposite of where he's coming from. And I just thought that could really set up some interesting dynamics, some interesting conflicts.

It is a romantic comedy, so you get that vibe, you know, as part of the story as well. But because of the trafficking aspect, it does have some serious undertones as well. When I first approached this story, I approached Violet's character very similarly to how you typically see that kind of character in a Hollywood movie, the empowered prostitute, you know, the woman who's like, she's doing it on her own terms. But then when I did more research into trafficking, I discovered that this is one of the most, the highest criminal enterprises of today is trafficking and that these women are being trafficked and that this is not something coming out of their choice. So the idea that they're empowered is a lie from the pit of hell designed to harm women and anybody else who gets near this kind of thing. So look, this is, you're dealing with two really serious issues. obviously human trafficking, which is at the heart of the story, but also Asperger's and that. So you have really two serious issues baked into a romantic comedy, not easy to do.

Now, Alan, you wrote this film. I did. And you directed the film. I did. And your producer on the film. The novel that I wrote. Did you know that? I forgot about that.

Okay. Now, couldn't you get somebody respectable to direct it, like maybe Mel Gibson's living girlfriend? because I know that she's now, I can't joke, I can't joke about this. You know that Father Stu was directed by Mel. It's just so strange. And it's loaded with F-bombs, but it's kind of a good, other than that,

it's a really nice film. But you directed this. What is it like, you know, to go through this? It's a huge process. I've known you for so many years to put a film out there. It's such a big deal. It takes years. It's just huge.

It is. And it's, there's something very magic. about seeing the words that you created on screen. I mean, just seeing these words, these characters that you just kind of create in the darkness of, you know, your office or wherever you're writing, and then suddenly they're coming alive on screen. It's really, it's been a really wonderful experience. This last weekend, I actually, speaking of Father Stu, they've been showing the trailer before Father Stu. And I went into the theater to watch the trailer.

It was the first time I saw the trailer on the big screen. And it was just amazing, just seeing the audience react to it and laughing at certain lines. And just knowing, okay, in a week, this is going to be coming out in the theaters, that people are going to be in the audiences all over the U.S. Okay, this week, April 29th, Friday. April 29th, yes. If you go to the sound ofviolet.com, you can see where it's playing at a theater near you. If it's not playing near you, you can sign up so that we can let you know when it's going to be playing near you.

The Sound of Violet. Yes.com. Yes. Now, I'm trying to remember. Was that the title of the novel? I don't remember. No, the original title of the novel was hooked. Oh, that's right.

I want to say, the sound of violet, speaking as a writer, it's a beautiful title. Really beautiful. And I'm glad you switched it. I forgot. But now that you mentioned it, the sound of violet,

it really is just, it's beautiful. I mean, the sound of any color, it's a beautiful concept, but violet is such a beautiful word, such a beautiful color. The Sound of Violet.com. So folks who want to know where they can see it this Friday, they go to the sound of violet.

com. You said that it's going to, it'll list there where they can go. And there are all kinds of special events we're doing in Los Angeles, New York, Seattle. We're having red carpet events there in Dayton. And Brandon Heath, who wrote a song for the movie. He's a five-time Grammy nominee. he's actually going to be performing a song live in Nashville on April 28th for the evening screenings.

Get out of town. Yes. Now, the only thing, this I have against you, Alan Wolfe, I'm not in the film. You're dead to me. We're never going to talk again. Folks, go to the Sound of Violet.com. Actually, I'm in the film. I play the Bert Reynolds rogue figure briefly in the film's second half.

The Sound of Violet.com will be right back with Alan Wolfe. In case you haven't been paying attention, the Biden, has caused a financial crisis and they have no clue how to fix it. Oil prices have skyrocketed, and when oil prices go up, the cost of transportation and shipping spikes leading the prices of goods to rise. And when we're already seeing record inflation, that's the last thing we need. Our economy is in trouble and you need to take steps to protect yourself. If all your money is tied up in stocks, bonds, and traditional markets, you are vulnerable. Gold is one of the best ways to protect your retirement. No matter what happens.

happens you own your gold. It is real, it is physical, it's always been valuable since the dawn of time. Legacy precious metals is the company I trust for investing in gold. They can help you roll your retirement account into a gold-backed IRA where you still own the physical gold. They can also ship gold and precious metals safely and securely to your house. Call Legacy at 866-528-1903 or visit them online at LegacyPMinvestments.com. Folks, I'm talking to the filmmaker Alan Wolf. Alan Wolf is also my friend, and the film is the sound of Violet. Okay, for folks just tuning in, Alan, you're the director, the producer you wrote this.

It's been a long journey. Give people, you know, the 22nd pitch. What is this film about? This film is a romantic comedy about a man who thinks he found his perfect soulmate, but his autism keeps him from realizing that she's actually a prostitute. And she's looking for a ticket out of her trapped life. No, seriously. We're on the air, please.

Honestly, because I know you, I've known you for so long, and because of your sense of humor, it sounds like the kind of thing that you would say as a joke. But obviously, this is really, but it's an amazing thing that you were able to pull this off. and you want to bring people into this idea that trafficking is a real thing. Autism obviously is a real thing. So these are really serious issues, but they're in a romantic comedy.

Did you always want to do this kind of thing? Well, I think it does reflect something about my personality, which is that I do like to laugh and I do like comedy, but I also like substance. So, and I personally, when I go see a romantic comedy, is it something that moves me emotionally, then I'm there. Like I want a film that doesn't, isn't just super light and fluffy,

but something where I come away from it, just really thinking about the story, something that really moves me. And so those are kinds of films and stories that I like to tell. And it is a faith film. Obviously, you're very serious about your Christian faith, unlike yours truly.

I just kind of wear it as a label. But you put that in the film, the sound of violet. How does faith come into the film? Well, the main character is a person of faith. His name is Sean. And I really wanted the film to come from that worldview. So you see that perspective.

You see the world through his eyes. So when he doesn't really understand who Violet really is, what she's really doing, the audience is right there with him. So that as he discovers what's really going on with him, with her, the audience discovers that as well. So it's for him, his faith is what gives him the ability to love her and appreciate her and see her in a way that others don't. Others see her and immediately judge her, immediately think, oh, you know, because she's dressed that way or she's doing that thing, that must mean this about her. But he looks past that into who she really is, into her our heart.

And that's what really helps to transform her. So obviously, to some extent, it's a story of redemption. Oh, yes, very much so. Yeah, and the power of love to change people's hearts and minds, and then you see how his faith is interwoven in that as well. When you were growing up, who are the filmmakers that influenced you, or what are some of the films that got you to say, I want to give my life to filmmaking?

Well, early on, Star Wars was very much an influence for me. I love the 80 filmmakers, George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg. Later, Francis Ford Coppola, I went to film school at NYU. So Spike Lee was an inspiration. But I tend to like films that really open up and engage with your imagination and get you to explore new worlds, new people, new storylines that you typically don't see. Well, it is interesting, too, that, you know, what we call the faith film, that there is, that there's a market for that out there.

But at the same time, the goal is to reach beyond, you know, just those folks who'd want to go to see a faith film. And that's kind of what you've always wanted to do. And that's what you do in this film. My hope is that people will see this film and they'll have conversations about it, that if they are exploring faith or interested in faith, that maybe there's something about the story or the characters that want to, that make people want to just explore that further. I mean, I think there's something really compelling about the main character and his faith journey and that element of the story. So hopefully that's attractive, not just to just to people who consider themselves, people of faith, but also people who are exploring it are interested in it as well.

Well, and again, these are two really serious issues, human trafficking and autism. I have two really dear friends that have very seriously autistic teenage kids. And I've just seen, you know, how tough that is. Obviously, in this story, the character, Sean, he's very, very functioning. In other words, a lot of people wouldn't even know that he's autistic. Right. Yes. I think they do figure it out.

I mean, you see kind of early on how he has a lot of struggles when he's dating women that he says maybe the wrong thing. And it's rare that he gets to a second date. But I wanted his portrayal to be as authentic. it's possible. We had someone who was part of our, a key member of our crew, who is autistic, who regularly worked with our lead after. And then I consulted with people in the story developing process as well, because I wanted it to be really honoring of someone who is autistic. And in that process, I realized that no, two autistic people are the same. So it's not meant to

represent everyone who's autistic more for this particular character in what's true of his life. And how did you come to think about autism as something that you'd want to put in a film? Is that just kind of a random thing or was that somehow part of your life at some point? You know, the film was inspired by my own struggles with dating as a single person. I think I not only struggled, but also had some naivete as well in the relationship that I had. And then as I developed that further, I realized that some of those characteristics are also true of people who, are autistic. And then I realized, oh, gosh, I think this character is actually autistic. And that really opened up that character. That's amazing. All right. We're going to, we're going to keep you

for the final segment. Folks, don't go away talking to Alan Wolf again. The film, The Sound of Violet. It's opening this Friday, the sound ofviolet.com to see where it's playing the sound of violet.com. We'll be right back. Hey, folks. If you listen to this program, of course, you've heard me talk at infinitum about my pillow and my friend Mike Lindell. Well, Mike, Mike, has just announced that you will receive one of his books, and the book is next level insane. It is called What Are the Odds from Crack Addict to CEO? It's his story. You will receive it absolutely free with any purchase using the promo code Eric. Did you hear that? It would be a great time,

by the way, to buy his warm and wonderful my slippers. For a limited time, he's offering 50% off my slippers. We all wear them in my extended family, my slippers. Check it out. 50% off. Go to mypillar.com. Click on the radio listener's square and use promo code Eric. You'll also get deep discounts on all my pillow products, including some overstock products, such as individual towels, blankets, comforters, and much more. Or call 800, 978, 3097. That's 800, 978. 3057. To use the promo code, Eric. It comes tomorrow. That's when I have to choose. Folks, welcome back. We're talking. We're talking to the filmmaker behind a film that's opening this Friday, the Sound of Violet.

Alan, again, congratulations on bringing this labor of love of so many years to the screen. I cannot believe this Friday it's opening in theaters across the country. Congrats. Amazing. Oh, thank you so much. It really is a dream come true. So many people worked on this film, helped this dream come true. So it's going to be incredible just experiencing it with people in movie theaters when it opens this week.

Now, you were just mentioning earlier how you, because I knew you when you were single and you were talking about kind of how difficult the dating thing is and whatever. And that was your inspiration. And then eventually you decide, and this is often what happens with comedy, right? You exaggerate something to make the point clearer. And so you exaggerate these misunderstandings by saying that we're going to have a character actually who's on the Asperger's autism spectrum to kind of make this just more. more clear. Yeah, I think, you know, you're a writer yourself, and so you know that as you're developing characters and stories,

that sometimes in just that process and that creative process, those characters almost seem to reveal something about themselves as you're really diving into the creativity about it. And so I felt like that was really true of Sean's character as I developed it, that I realized, oh gosh, you know, the person, this character I've been creating is actually an autistic person. And once I kind of stepped back and looked at it, I realized, oh, okay, yeah, those are his characteristics.

I also have friends who are autistic and relative who is autistic as well. So that was part of my experience that helped inform who that character is. When I was developing the character of Bonhofer, one of the things he revealed to me is that he's an historical character, and I have no right to develop him whatsoever. It was really ironic. Not so much with Luther. Luther kind of let me take some liberties.

And I gave him a mustache and some early drafts, but then eventually decided to shave it off for the book. I just want to be very clear. No mustache on Luther in my book. I just want to be very clear. No, it's kind of funny, Alan, because when you talk about developing characters, obviously, I haven't had the fun of doing that. It's a completely different thing. But you're quite right. When you're working on a story, things kind of reveal themselves to you as you're,

It's as you are creating the story, as you're writing. I mean, I have had that happen to me when you're writing, things come up that you weren't anticipating. So it's, you know, it's what they call the creative process. But for a film, it just seems to me that it would be that much more complicated because you've got to have a script. You've got to shoot it. Did you have the experience? And again, folks are talking about the film. It's called The Sound of Violet.

You can check it out, The Sound of Violet.com. But when you were filming this, was a, Are there any point where you said, oh, I want to change something kind of on the fly, I'm the director, so I'm going to change this line or that line, you know, you're working with a script, but how did that process go? Absolutely. I mean, when you're on set and you're working with actual people and actual actors delivering the lines, sometimes you realize, you know what, that moment doesn't work or that moment needs

to be stretched out more or, you know, I, you know, I want to accentuate this and it's not really happening. So in the moment, definitely, and also when you're in the editing process as well, they say that you're, you kind of remake your film another time when you're editing it as well. So sometimes the editing process, you add in lines or you do things that also help to shape it. They say that, you know, art is never finished. It's just abandoned. And I think that's true of, you know, making movies as well. At some point, you have to say, okay, enough. But during that process, you really are constantly tweaking, showing it to test audiences, it's figuring out, okay, how can this be the best that it can be, the clearest, it can be the most impactful.

And in that process, you're always tweaking things, changing things, and just doing everything you can to make it better. I forgot about that line, but that act, that that art is not ever finished. It's just abandoned. If you are in the creative world or writer, that is so true because you never get it just right. Right. You never get it to where you can't change it.

At least I never have. And so at some point, I think you just collapse from sheer exhaustion by the side of the road and you hand it over to your publisher and you let them go with it. And you're like, well, I'm just going to have to live with it because I know it's not what I hoped. I wanted to put this in. I wanted to put that in. But at some point, you just kind of have to let you have to let it go.

It's really, it's a strange process. I mean, it's a strange thing, how true that is. Yeah, and that's what art is. I mean, it's, I think of when you're, for people who are making sculptures, you know, just all that process of taking away this piece, that piece, having it reveal itself. I think of Michelangelo when he says that, you know, the sculpture reveals itself in the marble that he's, you know, working on. And I think for artists, the same thing.

Like, you're working on it until it fully reveals itself. And then at some point, you just have to say, okay, that's it. You just let it go, let the world see it. Well, it's amazing. But the world gets to see it. it now this weekend Friday April 29th. It's in theaters across the country, the sound ofviolet.com. It's a faith film. It's a romantic comedy. Do you know how many theaters it will open in initially, which is to say this Friday?

It's in 15 cities. Say it again? It's in 15 cities across the U.S. Wow. I can't even imagine. That's like a whole other level of, you know, you make a film. now you have to figure out how do we open the film. So congratulations on that too. That's kind of a big deal. So you said that it's in theaters like now, which is to say this Friday is the opening night, but they're going to be premieres?

There are, yeah, and there's some sneak previews in theaters on the evening of April 28th, but we're having red carpet events in Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Dayton, Ohio, in Nashville. Brandon Heath's five-time Grammy nominee is performing his song live

during the, after the April 28th showtimes. And then we have additional Q&A's actually in Minneapolis and Cincinnati as well. So if you go on our website to the special events tab, you can see everything that's happening and be part of it. And you can also get all the theater showtimes and to get information there as well. The Sound ofviolet.com.

I just want people to understand that folks, if you want to find out about it, and is there a trailer there as well? There is, yes. The trailer is there. There are many other trailers, so you can see all about it at the website. Okay, so the sound of violent.com, and I just want to be clear to my audience, folks, I'm not in the film. You may or may not be in the film. We should keep that. I'm sorry. I tried. Alan's a friend. I leaned on him. And at the end of the day, he says, no, Eric, no, you're not in the film. You're my friend, but no. I cannot wait to talk to you another time.

But for now, we'll leave it there. My dear friend Alan Wolf, the film is The Sound of Violet. Folks, throw at the sound of violet.com. Alan, congratulations. Thank you so much, Eric. Great to be here. Hey there, folks. In hour two, we have Ask Mataxis coming up,

and it's a pretty kooky version of Ask Mataxis. That's coming up in a couple of minutes. Albin, do you want to wish somebody happy birthday? Oh, yeah, my friend Jack, in Pittsburgh, I just want to say, happy birthday, Jack. I hope you get another like 60 more. Thank you. Well, I want to say, I don't want to forget to mention this again in case people are just

tuning in. I am over the moon. I use that term advisedly. I'm over the moon about the fact that on May 31st in about a month, we're doing a Socrates in the city event in New York City. Folks, if you can get to New York City, this is the event. It is going to be with Apollo 16. astronaut Charlie Duke. He's a man of Christian faith. He's the 10th man to walk on the moon.

You'll have a chance to meet him, to get a picture with him. I just can't tell you. We found out yesterday that he and his wife, Dorothy, they're celebrating their 59th wedding anniversary that weekend, that weekend, and they wanted to come to New York City or not that weekend that week. So this is a Tuesday night. We don't have the registration page up yet. yet it is going to sell out. I'm just warning you because a lot of people want to meet a man who walked on the moon. And I'm one of those people. So I am just telling you right now, it's going to be up at Socrates and the city.com.

Maybe today, maybe tomorrow. But when it gets up, if you get your tickets, I think within a week, you get like an early bird price, which is significant. And then it goes up to the normal price. But I'm going to tell you, I just can't get over the fact that we have this opportunity. This is like a dream of a lifetime for me to get to meet this man, to have a conversation with him at a Socrates and City event. We haven't done Socrates in the city in, you know, over two years since COVID. I think Peter Thiel was the last one we did.

And then the lunacy happened. So we want to mention Socratesandcity.com. If you go to my website, Eric Mataxis.com, and if you sign up for the newsletter, you'll get all this information. But I'm warning you, it's going to sell out. This is truly an opportunity of a lifetime, folks. to meet this man. It's 50th anniversary of his walking surface of the moon. I'm hoping he brings his suit and he lets you climb into it. That would be so... He'll bring a couple of moon rocks and it'll pass him out to the kids.

Yeah. So we wanted to, we want to say that. Soxie said, this is, I'm telling you, change your plans if you got other plans. This is, you want to come to New York for this. This is so exciting. May 31st, Tuesday night, Charlie Duke. General Charlie Duke, he is going to be my guest. And I just can't get over it. It's amazing. It's going to be at the Union League Club. Anyway, all right. So we should mention a couple of films that you might want to see. You go to SalemNow.com. Whose children are they? That's must seeing. Wait till you see it. There's a film that I'm in called 2000 Mules. It is going to change history. It's one of these things that it's. going to change history. People are going to be forced to deal with the fact that something happened in America that's never happened before. This is criminal activity on a level that should make us weep for our country. Dinesh D'Souza's made a film about it. Obviously, I mentioned I'm in the film, but I don't have much to do in the film except comment along with my radio host of colleagues Sebastian Gorka and Dennis Prager and Charlie Kirk and others.

about what took place and the evidence. The evidence is just, it's incontrovertible. So people are going to have some problems. You can stay tuned. People can have some problems, but you want to see the film. Alvin, what else are we forgetting? I do, well, it's today's Thursday, yeah.

So I don't think. Well, we've got a lot. I'm traveling a lot. Tonight with that, yeah. I'm speaking in Plymouth, Minnesota tonight. Then I go to San Jose, California, Calvary Church. A lot of stuff. coming up. Go to my website,

Ericmetaxis.com. You can check it out. Don't forget, Nutrametics. This month only. We got three days left. It's 30% off if you use the code, Eric. Neutrametics. Don't forget, Mike Lindell.

Mike, don't forget Mike Lindell.com. Mystore.com. Use the code, Eric. And we're out.