The Eric Metaxas Show - Camille and Emmanuel Kampouris

Episode Date: December 4, 2024

Producers Camille and Emmanuel Kampouris discuss their new film: Bonhoeffer: Pastor.Spy.Assassin

Welcome to the Eric Metaxos show. Did you know that the mouth of the Statue of Liberty stretches a full three feet wide? And if that mouth could speak, it would say, I listen to the Eric Mataxis show each and every day. Well, it would. I dare you to prove me wrong. Now listen up. Here comes Eric Mattaxas. Happy Thanksgiving.

Welcome to the program. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the program. Are you thankful? Chris Heims, are you thankful? Yes, I am a veritable human cornucopia of thankfulness. You know, that's what they say. That's the word on the streets. I talk to Huggy Bear, and that's what he's saying,

and so I think it must be true. Okay, so listen, Thanksgiving. What are we thankful for? I'm thankful, for example, that today, in the next segment, in this hour, I get to talk to the two people, the principal people behind the Bonhofer film. This is a big deal, folks. These are producers.

These are the Hollywood producers. They're not Hollywood producers, I guess. This is an independent film. It was filmed in Belgium and Ireland. And the main producers behind the film, Emmanuel Camporus and Camille Camporus are going to be my guess. So we're going to get kind of the background, the lowdown on how they came to make the Bonhoeffer film. And I have to say, yeah, I was going to say they're New York-based producers, if you want to pin them.

They're New Yorkers, really. Well, they are, I mean, it's actually an interesting story, but I'll let them tell the story. but I, you know, I've been talking about the film a lot and I thought it would be kind of cool if, I don't know, producers don't normally, you know, do interviews or whatever. And so, but they have an amazing story. They read my Bonhofer book when it came out and they thought this needs to be a film. and it took all these years. And the fact that they did it, I mean, this is, you know, when we say,

what are we thankful for? I can't tell you how thankful I am that somebody decided to do the unbelievable, insane amount of work to make a major motion picture, a $29 million budget motion picture with like the best of the best. I mean, the screenwriter and the, the director has worked very closely over decades with Mel Gibson and Clint Eastwood. Like that's the guy who wrote the screenplay. That's who they got to write the screenplay is somebody that's worked closely on several films with Mel Gibson. He's a producer on

the Elf film with Bob Newhart and Will Ferrell. He's worked with Clint Eastwood and Mel Gibson. He was the main screenwriter for what was the one the, about the, with Sean Penn. But I mean, like major Hollywood people have been involved in this film. And in a minute, I'm going to talk to the producers who somehow managed to find these people, the editor of the film, which is a huge deal if you know, film, and the cinematographer, the DP, the director of photography. These are the best in the business, which is why the film, if you've seen it, you realize, oh, it doesn't look like one of those films. It looks like one of those films.

Yeah. Why? That's why. So I'm going to talk to them in this hour, folks. And the action point is this is a film that comes along once in a generation. No exaggeration there. So you've got to see the film this week. You got to see it now because it was already in the film's last weekend.

And a lot of people, even people I talked to was like, oh, I hadn't heard about it. Is it out yet? Oh, my gosh. If you don't see it in the next couple of days, it's going to go away. No exaggeration. That's true. So this is it. This is it. To vote for something extraordinary. This is it. So we're going to have the Camporuses as my guests for this hour. And I love to get the background on this kind of stuff and how this happened. It's crazy. I also want to remind you, our campaign with CSI is in full swing. We just started it this week, but it is a glorious opportunity to do something beautiful for God, to do something beautiful, to support something that, you know, you kind of think like, well, what can I do against evil in the world? world. You can see the Bonhofer film. You can support that. You can go and give something to CSI, which is, I mean, oh my goodness, it's so extraordinary. So I'm really, I'm very moved by the CSI story. As you know, we've talked to Todd Chapman on this program and we'll be talking to him again in the future. But it's a great opportunity. So you go to Ericmetaxis.com. and at Ericmetaxis.com, you'll see the banner. It's at the top of the page.

I don't know if I have the, I do have the phone number. Oh, look, I just so happen to have the phone number. It's 888-253-3522. 888-253-3522. And the bottom line is every $250 that you give goes to not just free a slave, who's actually enslaved, but who also will be set up in a life of freedom. So that's the CSI opportunity that we have on this program. We just do this once a year.

So I want to be very emphatic in asking everybody who listens to this program to participate. And again, it doesn't matter what level you participate at. I'm telling you that if you do this in the name of somebody, maybe you want to give a gift to somebody instead of giving them something that they don't need, you can say we have freed a slave in your name and this is real this is a real thing there's evil in the world and by the grace of god we have an opportunity to do something about that and we did that and that's our gift to you there are a lot of people you know like me as a dad who would appreciate that more than I'd appreciate giving something that I don't really need you know might not like

this is about as safe a gift as you can give so that's go to me metaxistoctalk.com. At the top of the page, you'll see the banner. When we come back, I'm going to be talking to the Campoores, who are the principal figures behind the Bonhofer film. So I want to remind you that that's in this hour. But on the break, maybe you can call the number and give to CSI. The phone number, it's easy just to go to metaxisotalkis talk.com. And when you see the link, it's at the top, right at the top of the page of Metaxistalk. And you can click through. Some people want to give monthly.

Give monthly. If you want to give monthly, it's easier to do that. I say get your kids involved. You let them pitch in to let them know. There's something we can do. We have an obligation to do good stuff. But here's the phone number in case you prefer to dial. It's 888-253-3522.

888-253-35-22. 888-253-35-25-12. $250, $250, free as a slave and sets them up in a life of freedom. That is amazing that we get to do that. I want to remind you as well of our friend, Kevin Roberts, has a book out that is called Dawn's Early Light. I want to mention that.

But the biggest news, actually, before we go to the Camp Horses, let me give you an update on the cruise. we have 200 people signed up, give or take. The details can be found at Ericmetaxis.com slash cruise. It's June 6th through 16th. If you want to join us in Athens for a couple of days, we're going to be doing a three-day thing. Socrates and the city tour in Athens.

I'm going to go to Mars Hill and all that stuff. That's before the cruise. But the cruise itself, the most important thing, you want to go to Ericmataxis. com slash cruise. This is a fun thing to do with family. It's a fun thing to do as a couple

or get to do it with another couple. And people who go on this, you're going to make friends for life. That's what's cool. Whenever I've done anything like this, you meet people, they become friends for life.

So that's all amazing. So metaxis talk.com at the top of the page is the CSI banner. Very important folks that everybody participate. And the Bonhofer film, we just have a few days.

to keep it in the theaters. So please get the word out and we'll be right back. Folks, I've got to be realistic about my diet in December. It's got to be the worst month of the year in terms of eating. No matter what you do, you're inevitably going to find yourself eating things, treats, meats, dishes, leaving very little room for the right stuff. But I will take balance of nature every single day. Balance of nature is made from whole fruit and veggie ingredients and I will not skip taking those daily supplements. It's the one thing I'll get right because feeling good is important to me, especially in December. Join me in pushing back against the dreaded December diet crash.

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That's N-U-T-R-A-M-E-D-I-X.com. Neutrametics.com. Use the code Eric for 15% off. and Neutrametics, N-U-T-R-A-M-E-D-I-X.com. Neutrametics.com, use the code Eric for 15% off. You've been hearing me shriek about the Bonhoeffer film. I cannot say how thrilled I am that somebody not just made a film about Bonhoeffer, but made a film about Bonhofer that is the real deal that tells the truth about Bonhofer,

that and that it's a mainstream film for everybody, not just for people who think the way I do. I've been flipped out crazy about this, and I've been bugging everybody who listens to this program to see it in theaters now, not in a week because it's going to leave the theaters. That's the way Hollywood goes, folks. So if you don't take this seriously,

you're part of the problem. I have no problem saying that. That you're part of the problem. When a film like this comes out, if you don't support it, you are to blame for why Hollywood creates crap and we get nothing else. So this film is, I have said it over and over. I'm astonished at how wonderful it is, how mainstream it is. And yet it points to God unavoidably, amazingly.

So I thought, let me get some of the main producers of the film on the program. So I have now Mono and Camille Camporus executive producers. I would say the main people behind making this film who've been on a journey 12 years long. Mono and Camille, welcome to the Eric Mattaxas show. Well, nice to be here. Actually, we're not executive producers. We found out that in television, that's a big deal, not in movies. It's not the highest.

We're actually the ones that have carried this for 12 years. We're the, as you said earlier, the main producers. Producers. Yeah. Well, nobody cares about these industry movie. Nobody cares. But we were going to take our names off. We didn't even want to have producer on there, but then we would have lost stewardship.

So we, because we're not building a career, as you probably have figured out. Well, look, what amazes me is I've been observing, you know, I've been an interested observer for all these years. So the idea that somebody's making a film about Bonhofer, to me, no matter what the film ends up being, I'm happy because it draws attention to one of the greatest heroes of the 20th century.

and if people want details, they can read my book. But what has this journey been like? Because I cannot imagine when, you know, 12 years to make a film. I mean, is that because you wanted it, you know, to be the kind of film that it ended up being? That's my guess, is that you said, in order for it to be the right kind of Bonhoeffer film, we need to make sure even if it takes time.

Absolutely. I mean, exactly. that we just want to make sure that the real story of Gigi Bonhoffer be told because he was really unknown until you wrote the book and it became more popular you popularized

Bonhofer so I think this is exactly right and we wanted to make a movie that reflects his journey, his character what he believed in and as you say he's a real he's a real hero and is a wonderful role model for young and old

today. And that is why we felt that we had to do something, a very good movie with great actors, great, great crew to make sure that it comes out as a great movie, which it has, I think. Yeah, I mean, so the journey, just to get a script was seven years. And that's because we decided to take that phrase in Philippians and make excellence our criteria every step in the way. You know, and we weren't building a career. So we were just trying to do, as Mano says, the best version of this that would inspire people. And so some of the early scripts made him like James Bond, too much a spy. That was just not true. Some of the later scripts were everything that came out of his mouth. He was preaching, you know, Christianity. It was too much on the nose all the

time. And I think what Todd did is he really married, you know, the kind of heart Dietrich had, the courage he had. He also, we really, you said mainstream, that was really a big criteria for us. You know, two of the earlier scripts were very art house, and they just would not have touched the kind of people we were trying to touch and reach. We're trying to reach everyone. You know, from 12 years up so that today we could introduce this wonderful role model. I was going to say, I know that you, Camille, that you, I mean, you have an entertainment, you're a woman of Christian faith, but you have a background in mainstream entertainment, and you've got to talk about this, because this is to me why the film is so great,

because you understand about speaking to the mainstream because you were in that world as a Muppeteer working closely with Jim Henson. That's like crazy to me that you have this background in comedy, in Hollywood, and then you come to faith, and then you say, I want to speak to mainstream audiences, to entertain them. But, I mean, tell the audience and me a little bit about your background in entertainment, because most people would just never know that you have that. that's kind of amazing.

Yes, I moved to New York to be an actress and a singer, but I was kind of a mediocre singer and an okay actors, but the competition was so fierce in New York. So I joined a comedic improv class in order to get my confidence back. I had suffered so much rejection. And in that, so that's within the first year of me moving to New York, 1980. And that rejection brought me to the Lord. And so after that, God just redirected me into comedic work.

I joined this improv class. I started developing characters and voices. I did improv in front of a live audience, which is daunting. And I eventually was signed by a voiceover agent. And so then I started doing things like a cartoon series, and eventually I had an audition with Muppets. Muppets actually doesn't take you if you just have voices. You actually have to be a puppeteer, so they drained me.

But I was a Christian when I auditioned for Muppets. And it was just, God, parting the Red Seas. I mean, I wasn't a puppeteer. I wasn't even interested in puppetry. I didn't like it as a child. So, God just, you know, I remember at my audition with Jim Henson, they put on the song, you know, the original song in the Muppet show. It's very famous.

And I had never watched the Muppet show. And so Jim was a little bit of sounding that I didn't know the lyrics, you know. And I didn't know how to puppeteer, so I just shook my puppet. So when you shake your puppet, you know, it's like the head is going all the other place. but anyway, he eventually liked my voices and trained me. Now, what I learned there to why you, I think, asked this question, Eric. Jim did everything in just an excellent way, every little detail. I mean, if a little Muppet was drinking, you know, from a teacup,

it had to be perfectly filmed, perfectly edited, so it actually looked like he was drinking, you know. We had all kinds of tricks that we would use. And I just learned how things can look when they're excellent. sets, the painting, the set design. And so we had a lot of, we had a high bar that we imposed on ourselves for this film.

Well, this, I mean, this is my thing. It's like, you're, so you come out of mainstream Hollywood TV, whatever. I know that you were, you were close friends with Jerry Seinfeld. Is this true? Well, Jerry was, yes.

I mean, Jerry was the one that originally, I was so dejected. Because we would go and hang out at the comedy club sometimes. and watch Jerry and Bill Maher was there and Larry David. We watched all of them. And we were all friends. He was the one that said, you know,

if you want to get your confidence up, take this improv class. So he actually was who God used to lead me to this class, which then led me into comedy. So we can say that Jerry Seinfeld in the making of the Bonhofer film. I mean, seriously, I mean, that's, that's only half joking, right? So you come out of a comedy background,

a Hollywood background, an entertainment background. You understand that stuff. Mono, you were a captain of industry. I almost can't believe it. You were the CEO of American Standard Company with 55,000 employees. So suddenly I'm realizing when we talk about show business, the business side needs somebody like you. If you don't mind my saying so, your match seems like a match in heaven.

because the idea of somebody who's into the creative and the script and whatever, and then somebody else who's interested in the bottom line and making sure that the investors know this is a safe investment. Did you ever dream, Mono, when you were, when you had 55,000 employees and Forbes magazine is writing a cover story about you, that you would become like a movie mogul making a $29 million film? Nothing further than my mind. I never dream I'd be in that position. I think we just, you know, as I said, the story when we started this journey of trying to get a script. And so I said, okay, even I tried to manage the finances ever since.

And as you know, and I tell you, film financing is quite complicated. And I learned a lot on the job. But at least my background helped me. And I was trying to do as, as discipline as possible. Although I was not very successful at times, however, I did try. And yes, so I never thought I'd be doing this, Eric, I have to say. It's a little crazy to me that, again, the two of you, one of you has this big deal, entertainment background, you know, working with Jerry Seinfeld and the Muppets and whatever.

And the other one is a captain of industry running a huge, a huge corporate. I mean, it's kind of unbelievable. Eric, I have to correct you. Sorry, I didn't work with Jerry ever. We just would hang out. Whatever. Whatever. We're going to a break.

This is my show. And I say you did. Okay. But, you know, it is a match made in heaven. We met in church. Eric, he, and it was a widower. I would have never been an industrialist. We'll be right back.

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That's promo code Eric, Mypillow.com, 800-978-3057. Folks, welcome back. In case I've never mentioned it, there's a Bonhofer film in theaters now. And if you don't see it, I can't put it. I can't punch you, but I would if I found out that you didn't see the film. You got to support the film. To quote a character from Seinfeld, got to support the team. You got to support this film.

When a film like this comes out, you got to support it. And I'm begging you, ladies and gentlemen, my radio audience, to support the film. It's playing in 1900 theaters. Can you imagine? So it's a mainstream film. talking to the principal producers behind the film, Mono Camporus and Camille Camporus. Mono and Camille, I just was saying that it sounds like your partnership,

not just as a married couple, but on this film, it's a match made in heaven. And Camille, you said at the end of the last segment that Mono was widowed and that you the two of you met in church. You actually met in church. Yes, we met 33 years ago in church. We've been married almost 32 years. Or 34 years ago, something like that. But anyway, we met in, I would have never met an industrialist, and he, for certain, would have never met a Muppeteer in our daily lives. So, yeah, so we never thought we would. I actually left the business. I was with Muppets about 14 years, and I left the business in the late 90s. So we never really thought that we would do anything in show business.

And it was really, it was really after we read your book in 2010, I've always obviously been a great fan of theater and movies and opera. I used to see everything in New York that I could. And I was always, they were so frustrated with films that Hollywood would make about men of faith because they would gut the faith. It was, I mean, Wilberforce is one of my great idols, and it wasn't as, you know, his faith was not as prominent as it should have been in that movie. So that's how this journey started.

We, we love, you know, your book is so readable. And I thought, what a great movie would make. It would make a mainstream movie. So that's why we thought, you know, how hard can it be to get a script together? And remember, I'm coming from TV and comedy where scripts are just popped out every week, you know, or every two weeks. And, you know, writers sit around and they just pop out a script. It's not a seven-year process. So those, that was a, we were naive.

We thought maybe we'll do this for about a year, two years, max, and then we will turn it over to filmmakers, you know, or to agents or something. We're not going to, you know. I just want to say my audience already knows, but I was going to say the film is not officially based on my book. And I've said, like, I don't care. In other words, what I care about is that there's a film for everybody

about Dietrich Bonhoeffer that tells the truth about his life. So you have been very generous in saying that my book inspired the film. But I don't want anybody out there to think like it, first of all, even when something is officially based on a book, it's nothing like the book. I mean, I've seen so many films based on the book and they're like, that's nothing like the book. But ironically, this film, which is not based on my book, really is accurate. Because people keep asking me, is that true?

Did that really happen? And I'm amazed as somebody who knows exactly what happened, how accurate the film manages to be. Because for a two-hour Hollywood film, usually they would take huge liberties. And I'm glad that the screenwriter Todd Komernicki, he didn't feel the need to do that. To me, that's kind of amazing, frankly.

So that's, you know, that's just good news. But when you were talking about the script, and you were saying like you didn't want it to be the kind of like a like a like a secular Hollywood version of Bonhoeffer but you also didn't want it to be like this Christian version that is only for the Christians. That's when I knew that this would be a great film because you, a lot of people, they go in one direction or the other and somehow you managed to do it. What I have been saying is that this film is like a.

once in a generation film. Because I was actually thinking, what's the last time? There was a mainstream film that points to God. Maybe chariots of fire, which is 40 years ago. Hollywood just doesn't do this. I made a film about Johnny Cash, his whole life hinged on accepting Jesus. They left that out of the film. So over and over again, Hollywood steers so far away from God that they end up lying.

and that this film managed to, you know, to thread the needle. I mean, to me, I just want to say to the two of you, that has a huge accomplishment. And it's why I'm raving at my audience that if you don't see the film this weekend, stuff like this doesn't come around every year or every three years. It's just, you know, it's magnificent. And so I'm just, I'm in awe of the fact that you pulled it off, frankly. Well, Eric, you're actually right. And in fact, we try to do a mainstream movie here.

And it's not about faith. It's about a man about a faith. That's the story. A man of faith. And as you know in the movie business, you have to show you don't tell. So we try to do as much a little visual stuff like the jazz, like the communion, like all that. So we try to show, not tell. And we believe that was the best way to convey this message.

Yes, it's very accurate. but there are things obviously that Todd made, like departures from the true story. So, for instance, the jazz scene. Did it happen? We don't know. Could it have? Yes, because he loved that music. He was almost a concert pianist. But, you know, there are things that you do in film

because you have to show. And that's really like a film metaphor, sort of that jazz scene. It shows that he starts one way. Harlem was another, but they meshed. You know, he and Harlem were forever. connected. And that's kind of what that... Well, that's, I mean, that's what we call poetic truth and artistic license.

But that's what I'm saying. Like, that's how a film can do stuff that a book can't do. You can do that in a biography, but in a film you can do that. When we come back, folks, I'm talking to the main producers behind the Bonhoeffer film. If you haven't seen it, for the love of Pete, go see it. A-S-A-P. It's going to be in theaters a few more days. This is it, folks. folks welcome back i'm talking to the main producers behind this blockbuster bonhofer film that i probably have never mentioned on this program um and i got to say a camille you just referred to something that

i rarely talk about i just uh taped an eight hour course for peterson academy on bonhoffer in and in the course of that course i mentioned what i hardly ever mentioned is that bonhofer was a musical virtuoso who instead of theology almost chose music as his career, and you put that in the film, which is, again, like, that's a brilliant choice. I'm not a screenwriter. I don't know, you know, how this stuff gets done. But talk about how the film has been received, you know, what our audience is saying. I mean, as producers, you have that information. Thank you, so.

Yeah, you're great. It's been overwhelming to us. If you read the comments that people post, you know, I cried, I wept, I stayed, I clapped at the, you know, I clapped at the, you know, just that the kinds of, in fact, you know, Rotten Tomatoes is a judge of all kinds of things, but one is they judge the audience reaction. And we are, I think, at 92 percent, which is huge. for a couple days. Yeah, and they call it the popcorn meter, which is different from the critics. And what has astounded us is that the critics,

even the secular critics, actually that's the sound of us mostly, the secular critics, who just focus on the film have given us very good reviews. I think where mixed reviews have come in is when they try to imply that we are shoehorning some sort of a...

Political agenda. Yeah, political agenda in the film or ideology. in the film. But if they're just judging the film, the cinematography, the acting, it's amazing how good the reviews are. So we were just really pleased with that. Yeah, with many, some of our friends that saw it, they were telling us that when the movie sort of finished, no one moved out of their seat. They would just stay there. It just, which is rarely happens. They stayed right to the end of the credits. And they just didn't move. It

was silent. Or we heard one clapping thing. or people clapping. So many reactions, but the whole audience sort of was affected. And this is very rare. I've never seen this before in any movie, quite frankly, area. And, you know, for us, we want people who are Christians to come away from this movie and be all in for the Lord, all in for Jesus as he was, you know. Jesus said, if you lose your life for my sake, you will find it.

And if you're not a Christian, which is touching a lot of secular people, obviously, and critics, we hope they'll start the job. journey. You know, we've lost the sense of transcendence in the West. We hope they will start the same journey, Dietrich did. Well, this is what, I mean, I don't know if I haven't said this much, but a lot of secular movie critics, I imagine that a lot of them would be made uncomfortable by a film that points to God. And so some of them have been, and it's kind of like when the Passion of the Christ came out, they were vicious against it. So this is why audiences, is folks, you get a vote.

You need to tell the market that this is the kind of film you want to see. Because a lot of these secular critics, this makes them rive uncomfortably. Some of them will be honest and will say, you know, this spoke to my heart. I didn't expect that. But a lot of them are just predisposed to hate this stuff and to find the nitpick was I've read some of those reviews. But the audiences, and this is again what's so amazing, 92% on the tomato meter, you know, for the popcorn. That is huge, absolutely huge.

And I did a thing I posted on X. I said, have you seen the film? What did you think? I couldn't get over it. I could not get it. I really wasn't expecting overwhelming, like 98% raves. And I thought, this is a word of mouth film, but it's not going to be in theaters past this weekend if this is not a big weekend.

So I don't know how emphatic I can be for. folks, but I mean it, if you care about American culture, and if you don't, shame on you. And if you do, you need to see the film. You need to post about it on social media. You need to tell your friends to see it now, because literally, after two weekends, this is the second weekend, it goes away. The market doesn't care that it's a great film. And I say that this is an opportunity like once in a generation to shift the culture. This is a culture. This is a culture. shifting movie. And Mono and Camille, honestly, I just want to say thank you on behalf of America, because Christians out there, many of whom I know, they're not making films like this. I do not

see people making films like this. This can pave the way for a shift. I think we've had a shift politically. This is the cultural shift. And so I want to say to people, this is your opportunity, folks. It's a huge, huge opportunity for the culture. and you get to vote, you get to go and you get to see it. But if you don't do it, ASAP, it goes away, and then you're going to get more wicked and more gladiator and more, you know, really bad films. So I just can't say it enough that Bonhofer's whole message is faith in action.

This is an example of putting your faith in action. You know, take your 12 bucks or whatever it is, see the film, bring friends, bring any teenager. I keep getting reports of teenagers weeping at the end of it. They're so moved by it. So here we are, Mano and Camille. You must be very gratified at this point. Very gratified, but would be even more gratified if people hear you and go to the movies

because, you know, Hollywood looks at dollars and that's how you vote, unfortunately. And we want everybody to go and vote for more movies like these, more family movies, more movies that are inspirational. And so it's so important that they hear your voice. and they go to the movies and times of the essence, absolutely go and vote by seeing the movie. That's our message. We're in a new day.

This is what I was saying. Like for a film like this to come out, I'm thinking, oh, why didn't it come out five years ago? Why didn't come out 10 years ago? Well, God chose now. But I just want to say, folks, if you care about what is being put out there, you've got to see this film.

You've got to get word out about this film. is an opportunity. I mean, it's a chilling thing to me. You don't get opportunities like this. This is it. There's not another film like this coming out. And you can say, oh, there's okay film. There's nothing like this that is totally mainstream. You can bring anyone to the film, anybody to the film. And it points to God in just the right way. That's kind of the theme here. It's got to be just right. Otherwise, it's just one of those Christian films. Or it's a film that bleaches out the faith content. So we're out of time, Mauna and Camille. I just want to thank you for coming on the program.

Thank you for making what ought to be a career, I'm sorry, a culture-shifting work of art. So God bless you. Thanks for coming on. Thank you, Eric, for what you do. It's so important. Thank you. You're excited about this, the kickoff. to CSI. This is honestly, I say it over and over. It's just one of the privileges that we get to be a part of this. So I want to encourage you to do it today. What would I need to do to do it today? Just to say, I'm going to do it. Let's do it today. The phone number, I'll give it again,

but the banner is at metaxis talk.com. The phone number is 888-253-3522. I really want to crush this. This is just exciting. It's just exciting. 888-253-3522. I want to encourage folks to do this as a way of giving a gift to somebody, a dad, a mom, a grandparent, to say that in your name, we've done this. That's a beautiful idea. And you know, you can do a monthly thing if that's easier for you.

The website is metaxis talk.com. But to free a slave, that's a baby. is so meaningful and so beautiful. So I just want to say that. I also want to remind you of our friends at the Herzog Foundation. The homeschooling thing, you know, if you listen to me, this is the way to go. This is the way to go. But how do you do it? Well, the Herzog Foundation, they're there to give you free resources to help you think it through. It's just, it's a wonderful thing. We just had Chris de Gaulle on the other day talking about it. Hertzog Foundation.com. I think it's dot com or We always get this confused.

I always have to like look it up. Herzog Foundation, Hertzog Foundation. But they're heroes and they're also at the forefront of Christ-centered K-12 education. Really, they're there to help. This is a foundation. So check out the Herzog Foundation. And before we go, I'm going to be doing a lot of media this week,

trying to get folks to see the Bonhofer film. it is such a beautiful film, such a meaningful film, because a lot of these other films always just entertaining. This is a great film, but it's also a powerful film about would you stand in the face of evil

and what does it mean to be a real Christian? What does it mean to be a good person in an evil world and what is required of you? So I don't know if they still have discount tickets, but it's in 1900. theaters across America. So wherever you are, you can go see it. I want to encourage you, if you don't see it now, it's going away. I've been saying that. If they don't do big numbers, they, they, they, they'll give the theater to, you know, for another showing of wicked or something

like that. So you have to go see it. So I want to encourage you to go see it. But the discount tickets, if they're still available, you can get them at angel.com slash Eric. That's angel.com slash Eric. And almost all of my books, you can get them at Socrates and the city.com or at Ericmetaxis.com. We've got some great deals at Ericmetaxis.com and at Socrates in the city.com. You can get autographed books for gifts. But before we go, there was one other thing.

I'm forgetting something. What was like what was like? Eric, I wanted to add that you in the past for CSI and the other campaigns have offered, someone can give a gift of $15,000 or more to have dinner with them. And so that's something. I have done that. And it becomes a greater and greater sacrifice because I have no time.

But it's something I put out there that if somebody can give a gift of $15,000, I will figure out a way, we'll get together, spend the evening together. just did that recently. It's always a joy when I get to do that. But the website, you can find the banner at metaxisotalkystalk.com. Thank you.