The Eric Metaxas Show - Katie Miller (Encore)

Episode Date: December 5, 2022

Katie Miller from Sight & Sound Theater is in the studio sharing details about that production company's first venture in the world of film with "I Heard the Bells." (Encore Presentation)

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 p.m. Investments.com. Eric Metaxis show with your host, Eric Mettaxas. A final segment, folks, with Mark Judge, the author of a brand new book, a chilling story, The Devil's Triangle. Mark, tell my audience again, because you, you referred to it a moment ago. When you say the devil's triangle, what are the three elements of the devil's triangle that you describe in the book? For me, it's the media, oppo researchers,

and leftist politicians, and they all work together. And they have an A game that puts to shame anything conservative, Scott, because they will oppo somebody for weeks or not months. They will leak the stuff to the media, and then they will work with the leftist politicians. And you know the guy who's known as the grandfather of opo research is named ace smith his nickname is also dr death because when he walks into a room and a politician sees him the politician starts quivering and babbling because ace smith is a sign of the opo apocalypse and um who was this guy an advisor to Hillary Clinton who did he work with Hillary Clinton who did I find a picture of him with in 2016, Kamala Harris.

Who did Ryan Grim from the Intercept, say, was working with more Alpha researchers than anyone he'd ever seen? Kamala Harris. So these people are very good at what they do, and they will blindside you and hit you when you're not expecting it. And I was lucky that I kind of knew what was going on. But for someone who doesn't, it's bad. It's bad.

It's an undercurrent. It's an evil undercurrent. that a lot of people don't really put together. Well, just you said it very quickly. So the three elements of the devil's triangle, that's the title of your book, are, say it again. Opposition researchers, the politicians, and the media. Now, I don't understand what's the difference between,

when you say opposition researchers, number one, number two, politicians, number three, the media. Who are these oppo researchers? Because I'm not really clear on that. these are people that make a living digging up dirt. Do they only work for political figures? Who are these people? Right. They can be friends of the person. They can be professionals. I mentioned this guy, Keith Cogler, who's in this New York Times book. He said he was researching me the entire summer of 2018. Now, I can't prove this, but I think it's a pretty good hunch that he's talking to reporters. Those reporters are talking to politicians. as Ryan Grimm says in his book, when they went to Capitol Hill, when Blasieport's letter still went there, he said, I had no proof that anything happened. I had no proof that these two kids even knew each other.

However, he said, reporters act like mosquitoes carrying the virus. And when I went up to Kamala Harris and said, hey, have you heard about this letter? She said, well, I'm going to talk to Diane Feinstein about it. He said, now I have my story. I don't have proof these two ever met. but the fact that she's talking to Diane Feinstein is a story. So they get it into the bloodstream. And quickly, there was also a term the devil's triangle in our high school yearbook,

which became famous during this whole thing. They were going through our high school yearbook talking about our slang. And the devil's triangle is a slang term apparently for sex with two men and a woman. Now, in high school, I had no idea what this meant. And a couple of guys who wrote an official letter to the chairman of grader. He said, well, the devil's triangle to us was a drinking game. It was three glasses. It was a drinking game.

It had no sexual connotation. But the APA researchers were using it as if it had a sexual connotation. So they were going through our yearbook, looking through this stuff. Let me just quickly say this very quickly. When the Christine Blasey Ford story broke on September 16th in the Washington Post, Eric, within two hours, there was a guy on local TV, a local TV station, going through our yearbook with an anchor talking about the sexual slang in it, exaggerating it, making stuff up, talking about the drinking and stuff like that. How do you suppose this guy knew within two hours

to go on TV of this story breaking? There had to have been some coordination there. These people work together. It's not paranoid to say they work together. You know, it's fascinating to me. I'm just, I was just rereading a famous speech given by Abraham Lincoln. He was a very young man, 28 years old at the, I think was the Springfield Lyceum. So he was 28 years old, but he gave a speech talking about a number of things. And if anybody wants to know how brilliant he was, the idea that he could write a speech like this at age 28. But in it, he talks about mob rule. There was a problem at that particular time in the United States where mobs, you know, was vigilante justice. And he was saying even if they actually get the right person and even if a court would have convicted

that person and would have put that person to death, when a mob does it, you are destroying the fabric of society. And what you're talking about in this book, The Devil's Triangle, is precisely the same thing. It's the same principle. It's when people say, we're going to go outside the system to get somebody because we know that person is guilty. there are people thinking it's the classic rush to judgment. It's the classic, you know, guilty until proven innocent. Everything that is, it's the acid to destroy America. It's the acid to destroy civil society, rule of law. And that is what we're seeing, ladies and gentlemen, and that is what was in play. It's in play in many cases. But in your case, Mark Judge, as you tell in the book, The Devil's Triangle, that's exactly what was going on. They thought, we're just going to get you. We're going to create the hysteria.

You're going down. Kavanaugh's going down. And Rovi Wade will never be overturned. Yes. And I want to recommend a great film to you and your audience. It's called Panique. It's a French film from the 1940s. And I wrote a piece about it for First Things magazine.

And the title of the piece is the ecstasy of the mob. And the film is about exactly what you're talking about. It's about how people become wolves in an atmosphere of suspicion where we're going to accuse this. person without any proof, but in the case of Panique, it was a Jewish person. So we're just going to scapegoat and blame this person. And the entire town becomes absolutely madly feverish to destroy this person when he's totally innocent. And that movie was re-released in the Criterion collection in 2018, right after all this happened. And there's a piece called The Ecstasy of the Mob

I wrote in First Things. And it's what you put your finger on, Eric. It's what Kafka talked about. You know, do civilizations and people really evolve and become more perfect and more intelligent? Or do they not? Is there still the werewolf inside of people that let stuff like this happen? And it's awful that it does, and it is a threat to democracy, because if we don't have due process, you know, we're, again, it's East Germany. It's where your mom grew up. If we could do away with due process, I mean, Eric, imagine if they had gotten away with this. imagine if Brett Kavanaugh's life had been destroyed over this.

Imagine that precedent. Every single person up for a Senate seat or a judgeship, oh, he sexually assaulted me when we were 14 years old. I don't have any proof, but let's create this maelstrom and destroy this person. That would have been the precedent. Well, you do the right thing. Mark, we've just got 25 seconds left. Is there any particular place people can find you?

Is there, I mean, online? Is there a place people can look? Yeah, I'm on social media. I'm on Twitter and a bunch of other places. I did take a bit of a financial head over this whole thing. So if they buy my book, that would be awesome. They'll be getting a good story and return and God bless him. And thank you.

Quick thing. We always complain about Hollywood and being too liberal. Somebody needs to make a movie out of this book. That's how we fight back. So thank you. Amen. As hard as it may be for us to comprehend here in America, there are people in other parts of the world whose very lives are being threatened

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888-253-3522. Christian Solidarity, providing lifesaving resources for persecuted Christians for almost 40 years. 888-253-3522 or Metaxistalk.com and click on the Christian Solidarity banner. give someone the gift of their freedom for Christmas. Thank you. In case you haven't been paying attention, the Biden administration 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

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welcome back, Katie Miller. Hello. It's good to see you. Some people will remember you. You are the, what, you're the head of sight and sound theaters. What is your official title now? I'm the director of marketing and communications. You're the head of marketing and communications, close enough.

You're the grand, but you're the grand. child of the folks who founded sight and sound. Now, people who are just tuning in who don't know what this is, give us the synopsis of what is sight and sound. Sure. So site and sound is based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and we are coming up on celebrating in just a couple of years, 50 years of what we call bringing the Bible to life on stage. So we have two theaters, one in Lancaster, one in Branson, Missouri. They are large theaters, and we are known for bringing Bible stories to life on stage. Now, when you say they're large theaters, that's the thing. That's the thing. classic Christian understatement, like the humble Christian, they're large theaters. They're huge.

They're gigantic. They are really huge. Come on. Let's be honest. Yeah, they're two thousand seats. We have a 300 foot wraparound stage. So these stories, you know, we want to do these stories justice. So they come to life. A 300 foot wraparound state. The audience is really in the middle of the story that's happening. Okay. So the big news is for the first time ever, you guys, are coming out with a movie. Yes. Okay. And that's a Christmas movie called I heard the bells.

It is. And we are so beyond excited about it. And we can't believe it's finally here. Now before we talk about that, which is the big news, the headline, I heard the bells, the film. You are also airing on TBN. Yes. Joseph. Yeah, we are.

And when is that airing? That's the 25th of November. That's like coming up here. It's coming up very soon. November 25th on TBN at 8 and 10 p.m. Eastern Time. TBN is airing Joseph. So before we get into, I heard the Bell's this big Christmas movie. Tell us a little bit about Joseph because obviously this is in a few days. Yeah. So Joseph hasn't been live on one of our stages for quite some time, but it is one of my favorite shows that we produced and one of my favorite stories. You know, if you're familiar with the story, you know what happens. But watching Joseph be. kind of torn apart from his family, the life that he leads, and then the power of forgiveness and reuniting with his family, forgiving his brothers, seeing his father again. It is just an incredibly moving story and one of my most favorites. So we're super excited to be partnering with

TBN again. Okay. And so that is on November 25th, 8 and 10 p.m. Eastern Time, the story of Joseph. You don't want to miss that, folks. You can't believe. You really can't do it justice in describing it. Last time you were here, you were telling us about like, you know, 400,000 sheep or something. I mean, it was just like, it's the exact number is so huge. But my favorite part was that the animals have understudies. They do because they're just like people and they have bad days and sick days and doctor's appointments just like we do. And the understudies are praying for a break. Like if I could just get in there, show them what I could do. People think I'm a regular sheep. I'm not. If I could just get up there on that stage and wow the audience. And I'm going to go to

the top. So typical sheep. Yeah, they do. They steal the spotlight. That's just the way they are. So, okay, so that's November 25th, 8 and 10 p.m. And that's Joseph of the Technicolor Dreamcoat fame. But, okay, so the film, how is it that you all decided to make a film, a Christmas film? This one is called I heard the bells. Yeah. So we, you know, from the very beginning, film has been a part of our story. My grandparents founded sight and sound in many ways by accident. but through using multimedia. It was a multimedia slide show back in the 60s that kind of helped us get our,

or find our footing, if you will. And ever since then, media has been a part of what we do. So whether we are filming stage shows for things like broadcasting on TVN or, you know, media in the actual shows themselves, projection, giant LED screens, all these different elements that help to bring these stories to life.

Media has been a part of what we've done. And as we felt the Lord several years ago calling us to expand. We weren't sure at first truthfully. Is it like, is it another location? Like, what does this mean? What does this look like? And we really started to feel this call towards telling stories beyond the stage and beyond the Bible. Like there are so many historical, true stories that are powerful, that are waiting to be told. And so this launch into sight and sound films, this new branch that we have launched this past year. And our debut film, I heard the Bells, is our first step towards that, what we feel like the Lord is calling us towards in the future.

Not that theaters is going anywhere. That will remain exactly what it has been. So the theaters are in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Branson, Missouri. Yeah. Okay. But if people want to find you all online, where do they go? Site-dashound.com or... Dash-hyphen. And you prefer.

You remember that, yes. Yeah. Listen, typography and all this stuff is very important. site hyphen sound or it's a small dash. Yeah. But people often say dash, but in fact, it's a hyphen. But it's so site hyphen sound or site dash sound dot com. Dot com.

Yep. And they can find all this stuff. And okay, so you guys are in Lancaster. You're in Branson and you have these gigantic theaters. But you've branched out into film. The first film is going to be in theaters also very soon. When is it, when is this? December.

first. And right now it's slated to be the full first week of December, and we are hoping for an extension beyond that. Okay. It's called I Heard the Bells. Why is it called I Heard the Bells? What is it about? Yeah. So I Heard the Bells is the true story of the life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and the famous Christmas Carol that we all know and could probably recite, but how that came to be, which is both a very sad story, but a really powerful and inspirational one too. Now, I'm particularly interested in this because I read a biography a few years ago on the life of Longfellow. I think it was called The Cross of Snow. Beautiful book. I had the author on the program, but I forget things. I have to have everything refreshed. The reason I came to love Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

is when my daughter and I, she was about eight and I was a little older, we memorized his poem, Paul Revere's Ride, which is one of the most beautiful patriotic poems. But I'm speaking as an author, you know, speaking as a writer, Yale English major, who appreciates literature. It is magnificent. It's a magnificent poem. And Longfellow is a magnificent poet. Yeah.

But I didn't know the backstory that he was a Christian. Talk about that. So he wrote the lyrics. I mean, he wrote a poem. called I heard the bells on Christmas Day, which of course we know as a Christmas Carol, but he wrote it initially as a poem. Yeah. And so tell us a little bit what you can about that.

Yeah. So, you know, one of the things I think that, unfortunately, we have lost sometimes is that the recognition of how powerful some of these voices were in society. So at the time, he was the most famous person in America. That's how he was known. Not the most famous poet. Like he was a celebrity himself. And he was a believer.

but he very much kind of held his, what he would have called his religion at arm's length until he faced some really significant tragedy and then entirely lost his way. And it was through that season and through, I don't want to give away like, I mean, it's a true story, but I don't want to entirely give away. Oh, I think you need to give it away.

Because people, I know, this is like, look, this is a matter of historical record. Yeah, right. And it's just beautiful. I mean, I know, I remember the story that he lost, was it his wife, his daughter, I'm trying to remember. He lost his wife.

Yeah, and his son, so he was right at the beginning of the Civil War, and he was a powerful voice against slavery. Like, he was such a strong voice for justice, but he wanted that to come through peace. And he, I mean, he says this, and we actually quoted in the film, like he said, I want my pen to raise unity, not swords. Like, he was trying to pull the country together. And so through the course of all of these tragedies that happen, he loses his wife, his son runs away to war, his life just falls apart.

he loses his faith in the process of that season as well. And then it is through the voice of Christmas morning, the voice of the bells that he hears that really inspires him to come back to faith. And he wrote that poem, and it's become one of the most famous carols in all of the world. It is. One of the things I love about doing radio and TV is that I learn things, and then I get so excited about it that I want to tell everyone because it's so beautiful.

I mean, I heard the bells on Christmas Day. most of us are familiar with it, but almost no one knows that it was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and the backstory. And a lot of our favorite hymns have extraordinary backstories. This is a classic one.

So it adds to it when you hear it and then when you know the lyrics and you realize what was going on behind this, you know, you get choked up, you realize, oh my goodness, this is not just some happy song. This is beautiful. This is powerful. And I didn't know about his faith.

I don't remember if I once learned about it. But, okay, so before we go to the break, I want to hear more about this. But we want to be really clear, I heard the bells. It's going to be in theaters. It's a fathom event in theaters December 1st, 3rd, and 4th. So three days. First, December 1st, 3rd, and 4th. You want to catch it.

You want to check it out. Can people see a preview at sight and sound or clip or a trailer? On the website, you can go to site dash sound.com. The information is there. And we actually, you're literally the first to know we just got word this morning that they're already extending it through the whole first week of December. Say what? No.

We're super thrilled and excited. We'll be right back. We're talking with site-hyphen sound.com. We're talking with Katie Miller. Don't go ahead. Befrown. Rainy days and Mondays always get me down. Tell me, Eric, why is Relief Factor so successful at lowering or eliminating pain? I'm often asked that question.

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these captives free. There are hundreds of thousands persecuted and enslaved in the Middle East. together we can literally buy their freedom and save the lives of some precious brothers and sisters this Christmas giving them the joy and hope that we celebrate freely. For only $250, you can provide life-saving aid this Christmas. You can buy a believer's freedom and provide them with much needed food, a goat, and other goods necessary for their very survival. These are brothers and sisters who are enslaved and fearing for their lives. Just $250.

Maybe you can give more. Maybe a portion. Every gift helps. Imagine buying a fellow believer's freedom call. 888-253-3522. 888-253-35-22. Christian Solidarity, providing life-saving resources for persecuted Christians for almost 40 years. 888-253-3522 or Metaxistalk.com and click on the Christian Solidarity banner.

Give someone the gift of their freedom for Christmas. Thank you. Folks, welcome back. We're talking with Katie Miller, not her real name. And it is, actually, that is your real name. It is my real name. But it's just so American. I'm thinking it's just made it's a stage name.

You are part of the family of sight and sound. We've been talking about it. You have theaters in Lancaster and Branson. And for the first time ever, you've expanded into the world of film and have made a Christmas film, which we can see. It's a fathom event, December 1st, 3rd, and 4th with possible dates, but we don't know yet. So December 1st, 3rd, and 4th, whatever. Okay, so the story is about someone who means a lot to me. Henry Wazerith Longfellow, one of the greatest poets in the English language,

certainly one of the greatest American poets ever. And his hymn, or rather his poem, I heard the bells on Christmas Day, which we know most of us as a hymn, has a backstory. And this film tells that story. So I have shared on this program many, many times. Albin and I, we had a contest for people to memorize Longfellow's poem, Paul Revere's Ride, which is so beautiful, in which he wrote at the beginning of the Civil War, basically to call the nation to stand and to hear the cry of liberty. And it's just so beautiful and so patriotic in the very best way.

And this, of course, is different. So what year did he write? Because I know that Paul Revere's ride was about 1860, just as the Civil War is coming. And he's trying to rally the nation through this gorgeous poem. But when did he lose his wife and that precipitated the events that caused him to write? It was in that exact same time frame. So he wrote Paul Revere's ride just shortly before his wife actually passed away. And so I think it was only a thing.

And you say passed away, it was like a tragic fire, was it not? It was, yes. Tragic fire. You didn't want to reveal that on the air? No. It's so, it's horrifying. I mean, you hear these old stories. I mean, these kinds of things used to happen, obviously, much more often.

And it's so, it's horrifying. And you could see how it would challenge a man's faith. Yeah, and not only that, but their relationship was just, it was a really special one. He actually called her his poetry. That's what he called her. And so we referenced that in the film. You see him calling her, you know, good morning, my poetry. That's what he.

he would say to her. And they had an incredible life together, five kids together. And when she passed away, you know, he found himself with a country divided falling apart, trying to raise five children by himself in, in the midst of just such incredible uncertainty. And through that, loses his faith, walks away from faith, really faces so many things that, like, truthfully, like, I, we, you know, chose this story before anything unfolded the last several years. And now watching what so many people have experienced in loss, in emotional health, in struggling with what the season has been, so much loss of loved ones and family, you know, it really, we couldn't have lined this story up to, I think, connect with people and connect with people's hearts and faith and hopefully inspire them to new hope, which is what

the church is where he hears the bells ringing. And it's a really central part of the story. Well, it's an amazing thing that, you know, when we talk about faith, I mean, a lot of people have very hidebound ideas about what faith is. And it's complicated because it involves your whole person. So some people, it's a very cerebral thing. Like, I believe this and this and this and this. And, you know, to those people, I often want to say baloney, because I see your life. And if you believe those things, you wouldn't be living that way. And so faith is a complex thing.

And the Lord looks on our hearts. Right. And when you experience the kind of tragedy that he did, It's hard to understand what really happens. Like we say he lost his faith, but sometimes it's almost like you're just reeling away from the faith, trying to process it. It's not like you have very consciously rejected it.

It's complicated. But so this was obviously not a particularly long period in his life, that it was a short period afterward that on Christmas morning he heard the bells. Yeah. And he struggles for several years, but it is in his whole lifespan and it still is a short period of time. But I think what you said there is actually really what unfolds and what we get to watch is we watch him have a very cerebral faith.

He knows all the things. He knows all of the steps. But he even says like in some of his writings that it was his wife's faith that was really inspiring to him. He was relying on his wife's faith. And when she passed away, he felt like his faith did too. And then you watch him go through this journey of actually, I believe, true faith of it going from his head.

to really in his heart, his soul, and his life. And that's what we watch unfold in this film. So if people want to view the trailer, and I have to tell you, I do, you go to I heard the bellsmovie.com. I heard the bellsmovie.com. If you can't spell that, you're on your own. I can't spell everything for you. I heard the bells movie.com.

So again, when you all at sight and sound, you've been doing these like magnificently large, dramatic stage things, pieces. To shift to film, how does that happen? Where did you film most of this movie? Yeah, so we were incredibly blessed. We were able to purchase a plot of land that's actually attached to where our theater is right now, and we have a backlot there that we have been developing over the last several years. And in addition to that, we're in the heart of Pennsylvania, which is like so rich in

historical culture. So we shot some scenes at Gettysburg. We were right near Strasbourg Railroad, so we shot a scene there. There's a place also in Lancaster called Landis Valley, which is a historical site. So we were able to tap into all of these historical sites. We actually found a house in Lancaster County. This is incredible. That has the exact same blueprint of Henry Wadsworth-Longfellow's actual house. So you can still go visit his house and his original home. But we want to be clear, he never lived in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He lived in Massachusetts. Right. He lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We'll be right back with Katie Miller. Don't go away. With the overturn of Roe v. Wade, lots of companies are coming out saying they'll pay for employee abortion travel and expenses. Most of you've heard

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today. Go to inspireadvisors.com slash Eric. That's inspireadvisors.com. That's inspire, advisors.com slash Eric. Advisory services are offered through Inspire Advisors, LLC, a registered investment advisor with the SEC. Hey, folks, you've all helped build My Pillow into the incredible company it is today. Now, Mike Lindell, Inventry and CEO of My Pillow wants to give back to you, my listeners. So right now, my Pillow is offering exclusive offers on their bed sheets, their six-piece towel set, and even offering an extended 60-day money-back guarantee. Orders placed now through December 25th, we'll have an extended money-back guarantee through March 1st.

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1-800-3057. Use promo code Eric or go to MyPillow.com. Click on the Radio Listener Square. promo code Eric. These offers will not last long. They're known to sell quickly. So order now with promo code Eric at mypillow.com. Mypillow.com. Promocode Eric. We used to laugh, to cry. Folks, welcome back. We're talking to Katie Miller, not her real name. And you, of course, it's your real name. You're part of the Miller family that created

sight and sound, which is in Lancaster and now in Branson. And you have a film out called I heard the bells. We've been talking about it. It's very moving because I think the, you know, the worst thing or some of the bad things that can be said about Christians is that we have this kind of Pollyanna faith and that a lot of Christian art is like, you know, Thomas Kincade, Painter of Light. Like, it's not really, it doesn't show the dark side because unless you understand the pain and the suffering, you think, what do we need redemption from? You know, Christianity is about being nice. No, no, it's about dealing with grief and difficulty and whatever. And so this story, I heard the Bells, this film, deals with this moment in the life of the great poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, where he really suffered tremendously.

And most people, if you live long enough, you suffer, you know. And so it's beautiful. Now, the poem that he wrote was just turned into this Christmas Carol. I wanted some of the lyrics. It's pretty long. Usually these things are long, and the Christmas Carol version is shortened. But in case you're not remembering this, or in case you're a young person that you've never heard this before, the lyrics are, I heard the bells on Christmas Day, their old familiar carols play, and mild and sweet their songs repeat of peace on earth goodwill to men. So that's kind of like, that's the happy part, right?

But if it's Christmas and everybody's like, joy, joy, and you're going through some tragedy, your response might not be, you know, know, a positive one. So the next lyric is, and in despair, I bowed my head. There is no peace on earth, I said, for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth goodwill to men. So this is in a minor chord, right? This is him dealing with the fact that they're in the middle of the civil war. Human beings are dying. It's horrifying. He's just experiencing. He's just experiencing. the loss of his incredibly beloved wife. And then it goes on, then rang the bells more loud and deep.

God is not dead, nor doth he sleep. The wrong shall fail. The right prevail with peace on earth, goodwill to men. You know, when you go through tragedy, the love and the joy of God is a thousand times sweeter than if you've never experienced suffering. And so I'm just so glad that you all chose to tell this story.

Now, how did you come to pick? I mean, of all the films you could have done, having never done one before, what caused you to home in on this particular story? Yeah, well, our chief story officer and the director of the film, Joshua Hank, as he started really kind of diving into what stories we want to tell. There were several that rose to the top, some were hoping to do in the future. But for our first foot forward, honestly, this film actually started as a short film.

We kind of said, let's do a short film. It'll be 30 minutes. We'll see what comes of it. We'll learn from it. And he was like, okay, you know, if we're going to do that, like let's do something at Christmas. We'll do a little, we'll call it a Christmas special. It'll be fun. It'll be great.

And I think I have the right story. Like, I've always been intrigued by this story. And so we literally set out to do a short film. We got a couple of scenes in in production, and we started seeing footage. And every single one of us that were a part of the process were like, this is astounding. This is beautiful. And Josh said, I think that this could be a feature film. Like, as I'm digging in more and more and reading about his life and unpacking these characters, like, I think we have a feature film on our hands. And so we changed trajectories very quickly and ended up writing additional script and adding additional production days and ended up with this just, I know I'm biased, but truly, like, it is stunning. Like, it's a beautiful time period. We were in these amazing locations that have such historical context. and history in and of themselves. And the teams just did a really great job of capturing the, not just the emotion,

but the time and the feel. And we've always said this about our stage shows. I love how Josh actually says this a lot. But our theater is designed like a panoramic lens of a camera. There is a cinematic feel to the theaters. And in that same way, we brought some of the theatricalities in the lighting and the special effects to the film production itself. And it just kind of has resulted in this beautiful, stunning piece of art, truly.

This is what's so extraordinary is that you all have been at this for a long time. And craft, folks, you don't just say, like, Lord call me to write a book and boom, you know, like it's basically you learn the craft. And you all have been in this for decades, knowing how to tell stories so effectively that scores of thousands of people travel to see them. You're that good at what you all do. So it's very exciting to me that you're moving into film. Because, you know, a lot of people say, well, there's a Christian film. And you watch it and you go, well, it wasn't really good film. You know, there was no cursing.

But other than that, to be able to tell a powerful story in a powerful way, in a way that uses the medium beautifully, you know, I just, I rejoice that you all are doing this kind of thing. because I'm believing God for reformation in the culture, not just revival, but reformation, that people through things like art will be drawn closer to God. And even people who are Christians, their faith will be deepened because they'll see things like this. So I'm really, I'm absolutely thrilled.

I want to say again, if you want to find it, you can go to I heard thebellsmovie.com. I heard the bellsmovie.com. is going to be in fathom. It's a fathom event in theaters December 1st, third and fourth, and maybe more. Do you all have any ideas for future films? We do. I'll bet you do.

But none that we're ready to tell quite yet. But I will say this. Like the thing that we're passionate about, we continue to say, is to tell stories, true stories, of historical figures who changed the world because Christ first changed them. Like, that's the passion. That's the heart. That's the driver. I'm sure you can.

And I think that's a few examples. I've only written three biographies that fit that description because it's true. It is true, though, when I started writing them. I wasn't quite thinking, then you start realizing that those stories are so inspiring. We need to be inspired. And whether we realize it or not, many of them are still influencing life today. You know, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, we all say things. Two ships passing in the night.

You know, a boy's will is the wind's will. He has so many phrases that we're saying all the time that you don't even attribute to him, you don't realize. and seeing some of those things come to life in the film is really fun because you're like, oh, that's where that came from. Are you kidding me? Two ships passing in the night was coined by Longfellow. It's in one of his poems. I forget which one now, but it is one of his. It's kind of interesting because we forget all these phrases. They come from somewhere. I've always been interested in that kind of thing, not just an etymology, but in that kind of thing. And it's just wonderful.

Okay, final short segment coming up talking to Katie Miller, site and sound, you can go to site-hyphen sound.com. We'll be right back. Hey, folks, we're talking to Katie Miller of Site and Sound theaters, Lancaster, Ranssen, and now, like everywhere. We want to repeat that TVN is playing on November 25th, the Joseph story, okay? And the new film is coming out, the first, December 1st,

It's called I Heard the Bells about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Now, you guys are really into stagecraft and costumes, and you've been doing this forever, which is why I'm so excited to see this film, because you're not new at this. You're not like, well, let's see what this looks like. You've been involved in this world. And I'm reading here, it says, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was well known for his signature hair and beard. I, too, was once well known for my signature hair and beard. but the beard is now in a cedar box.

Even Suzanne doesn't know where the box is. But you guys, it says, I just love this. Sight and Sounds dedicated team of wig technicians and makeup artists spend countless hours with the leading actor to carefully recreate Henry's iconic features. Whig technicians, Alvin. Do you understand what they could do with you? Because, you know, a wig technician,

that's really, that's theater stuff. When you're talking about a wig technician. We will absolutely send you a side by side. but we have an image. It's one of the most iconic images of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and then an image of our lead actor, Steve Atherholt, as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

And when you put them side by side, truthfully, you can't really tell the difference. So if you knew Henry Wadsworth, it might freak you out. It is a little bit astounding. There are very few people who knew him. How old is the lead actor? Because I know Henry Wadsworth was much older than this actor. Yeah, he would be in his mid-40s.

I don't know his exact age, but he's in his mid-40s. And that's about the time where this would have unfolded in Henry's life. But we do show him as an older man at the end of his life, kind of, you know, in a more peaceful state experiencing the song. And so you do get to see him a little bit as an older gentleman. And so that side by side is amazing. So you actually know wig technicians. Several of them, actually. I just love the idea.

I'm fascinated by the idea of wig technician. In the building, if you're having a bad hair day, it's where you stop by because they have anything. They can help you out. That's right. And sometimes you just feel like, you know, today I want to look like Marie Antoinette. What can you do? Can you help me out here? No, it's just amazing to me that because you're in the theater world, you know how this stuff is done.

I want to remind people again, I heard the bells movie.com. I'm very excited about this. What's the running length of the film? It's just about two hours. Okay, so normal. Standard. Standard movie length. And there's no, it's not a musical.

There's no singing. No. We do have an original version of I heard the bells that we're releasing that plays at the very end of the film. And is that a musical? Is that casting crowns? It is not. It is our own. It's your own.

The lead actress actually sings it. So she plays Fannie and then we have her. And what is her name? Her name is Rachel Day Hughes. And she plays Fanny, Henry's wife, who dies. And she has an amazing, beautiful voice. And so she recorded an original version for us, which is awesome. Wow.

And how can people find that? It'll be released in the next few weeks. We don't have an example. date yet, but on anywhere you listen to music, Apple Music, Spotify, any of those places. I heard the bells. Yep. This is, if I haven't made it clear, I find all this really exciting and encouraging. I'm grateful that you'd be willing to travel all the way to New York City to tell us about this.

And I just, I look forward to this very much. So again, we want to say November 25th, TBN folks can see Joseph. and then the film, the first film of I Hope Many, December 1st, 3rd, and 4th, and dates after that. We're hoping for I heardthebells.com. I heard the bells.com. Katie Miller, congratulations to you. Thank you. And your team.

Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.