Latest / Christian Mix 106 On Demand / Upright Christian Parenting - Treehouse Storytelle... - Ashley Elaine on Where the Wind Blows | Christian Motherhood, Faith & Film

Transcript

Upright Christian Parenting - Treehouse Storytelle... - Ashley Elaine on Where the Wind Blows | Christian Motherhood, Faith & Film · Christian Mix 106 On Demand

• 0:09
  Hey friends, welcome to the Upright Christian Parenting Podcast,
• 0:13
  season four, part of the Treehouse Storyteller family, and I'm your host, Hannah Peru.
• 0:18
  This is your place for upright parenting in today's sideways culture.
• 0:23
  We don't tiptoe around hard truths around here. We tackle cultural issues head
• 0:27
  on, build a bold biblical worldview, and equip you to lead your flock with courage.
• 0:33
  Our kids are being discipled by something, so let's make sure it's us.
• 0:36
  Grab your coffee, lace up your shoes, and let's raise kingdom arrows.
• 0:44
  Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Upright Christian Parenting. Today, I have Ashley Elaine.
• 0:51
  Guys, oh my word. She is an actress
• 0:54
  and producer, founder, and CEO of AE Productions. She's a mama bear.
• 1:01
  She loves the Lord. I am so excited. We just watched Where the Wind Blows last night.
• 1:07
  Um, I'm, I'm just thrilled to introduce you. So please join me in welcoming Ashley Lane.
• 1:13
  Hi, Hannah. Thank you so much for having me on your show. This is a thrill.
• 1:16
  Yes, absolutely. Oh my goodness. So first of all, I would love to just,
• 1:22
  um, thank you for the work that you're doing.
• 1:24
  Thank you for being just, you know, picking away for payment that is, um, uplifting and, uh.
• 1:34
  That mirrors the biblical worldview. And I just appreciate that so much.
• 1:39
  It's rare. And I feel like we're starting to maybe make a little bit of headwind,
• 1:45
  in that movement. And it's so encouraging to see.
• 1:49
  And a lot of my time, this is my fourth season. I've been podcasting for three or four years now.
• 1:56
  And a lot of my time, I have encouraged people, unplug, unplug,
• 2:00
  unplug, turn it off, don't watch it because it hasn't been worthy in a lot of
• 2:06
  instances. You look at Netflix and all of that.
• 2:10
  And it's a scary place to just send your kids off with a remote or on YouTube or whatever.
• 2:16
  But I am so encouraged to see that there are things with biblical values that are faith-driven.
• 2:23
  And I really appreciate the work that you do because I love entertainment.
• 2:27
  I love being able to watch something that is empowering and just uplifting in
• 2:33
  that way. So thank you very much.
• 2:36
  Oh, that's so sweet. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And.
• 2:41
  I would love to listen to you tell us a little bit about your personal journey,
• 2:48
  of how you became an actress and producer, because I think that's you know,
• 2:52
  kind of foundational there to hear that part of the story. Yes.
• 2:56
  Well, I have been in the entertainment industry a long time.
• 3:00
  I started out with producing for 15 years and then moved into acting for six. And then I,
• 3:05
  just felt like the next natural progression for me was combining the two worlds,
• 3:09
  just because I was so familiar with being in front of the camera and behind the camera.
• 3:14
  And I also wasn't seeing a lot of scripts available to me for the type of roles
• 3:20
  I wanted to play that lined up with my morals and values and more family content.
• 3:26
  And so I just figured if I wanted that opportunity, I'm going to have to create it myself.
• 3:31
  And so I started AE Productions And I did Mayberry Man, the TV series,
• 3:37
  season one. And then my second project has now been Where the Wind Blows.
• 3:41
  So very exciting. It's so awesome.
• 3:45
  Since you brought it up, why don't you quickly tell us a little bit about the
• 3:48
  premise of Where the Wind Blows?
• 3:51
  Where the Wind Blows is an 1880s romantic western based off the acclaimed novel by Caroline Fyfe.
• 3:58
  And it's just a lovely, sweet story about a young widow that really wants to
• 4:06
  have a family and adopt a little girl.
• 4:08
  And she needs help by a very attractive cowboy.
• 4:14
  And luckily, he decides to help her. And it's just a wonderful story of kind
• 4:20
  of a backwards way of how they became a family.
• 4:23
  And I just think everybody will really enjoy it.
• 4:27
  I think so, too. I highly recommend. We're very excited to watch it together. And it was great.
• 4:34
  Really appreciate it. I won't give anything away.
• 4:38
  I was talking to my 13-year-old and she was like, ooh, just don't say this.
• 4:44
  All the things that she was saying. I'm like, Oh, you're such a turkey. Okay.
• 4:48
  So, so really, you know, how has that journey changed?
• 4:54
  Um, clearly I hear you saying, you know, there wasn't any scripts out there for you.
• 4:59
  And I fully believe that wholeheartedly.
• 5:02
  I love that you just took matters into your own hands. Um, has that kind of
• 5:07
  changed, um, with motherhood?
• 5:10
  Well, I was a very young mom. And so I just learned quickly how much my daughter
• 5:16
  absorbed the environment that she was around.
• 5:19
  And I just made my own personal choices for my work within this industry to
• 5:26
  reflect more family-friendly values altogether.
• 5:29
  And so I knew that eventually if I wanted to be a part of content or create
• 5:33
  content, that she would be able to watch it with me.
• 5:36
  That was very important. You know, I never wanted to feel like,
• 5:40
  oh, my gosh, I have to fast forward this or I have to change the channel or whatever.
• 5:44
  And just for me, that was just very important. And then just what lined up for my morals and values.
• 5:50
  And so it definitely did change a lot once I saw how much everything that was
• 5:56
  around her was shaping who she was. And so I'm like, OK.
• 6:03
  I only want to expose her to a lot of things that would be uplifting and hopeful
• 6:08
  and have a great message, along with being very cinematic.
• 6:13
  And I know that that's the challenge in both worlds. And so that was just where my passion is.
• 6:18
  Yeah, well, you've proven it can be done. So that's good.
• 6:22
  That's good. Did it change as she got older? because I feel like when our kids
• 6:25
  are really little and they don't understand things or don't really know what's
• 6:29
  going on, it's easier to just kind of like, oh, it's fine, they're in the room, it's okay.
• 6:34
  But has that kind of gotten even tighter as she's aged?
• 6:39
  Yes. And she's, and she is older. She's in college now. And so she, Oh my goodness. Yes.
• 6:46
  You are. I'm not believing it.
• 6:49
  It's very true. And so she,
• 6:53
  she's now a young woman and so she's making choices, but you know,
• 6:57
  and, and what's lining up for her, she's making those choices for herself,
• 7:00
  but I'm seeing that it also does reflect the environment in which she was raised.
• 7:05
  And so, you know, I'm very proud of her and proud of her choices and the woman that she's become.
• 7:11
  Oh, that's so awesome. That's really awesome.
• 7:14
  Very good, very good. And it's a beautiful thing seeing.
• 7:20
  Hollywood or actors' children or people that have been in the limelight,
• 7:25
  that their children are thriving and doing amazing.
• 7:27
  And that is very much a tribute to what you were able to do for her as a mother.
• 7:34
  So I commend you for that.
• 7:36
  From your perspective, what's missing in today's landscape of family and faith-based
• 7:42
  films and television and how you're working to help fill that gap?
• 7:49
  I let me say this i i feel that there are a lot of wonderful family friendly
• 7:55
  and faith faith stories out there i want to be a part of that culture and that movement,
• 8:03
  and bring it to be very cinematic i feel like sometimes when we have one we don't have the other.
• 8:10
  And so I'm trying to bridge that gap,
• 8:14
  of just making it,
• 8:16
  more mainstream for everybody to watch in a way, if that makes sense. Yeah.
• 8:22
  Why do you think that is? Why do you think we have such a hard time piecing
• 8:26
  those two things together in the more conservative, faith-based thing?
• 8:32
  I think, honestly, it is somewhat lack of funding. It is harder to get those projects greenlit.
• 8:42
  We're an independent film, and so we had private equity come in and we had investors
• 8:47
  and I had to raise the money and put the deal together because we're not a studio.
• 8:51
  And so it is harder when these independent filmmakers that want this content
• 8:57
  out there aren't backed by studios.
• 9:00
  You know, it doesn't mean that it can't happen. It's just a little bit harder.
• 9:03
  And so sometimes the budget is smaller. And so maybe something is lacking more
• 9:07
  in that department because of that, which is nobody's fault.
• 9:10
  It's just what it is. Right.
• 9:12
  Right. It's uphill both ways. I mean, you've got to climb uphill to get it off
• 9:15
  the ground and then uphill to launch it and pull it all off. And so I think that.
• 9:23
  Is there anything my viewers can do to support that better so we can start to
• 9:28
  see that shift a little bit?
• 9:29
  Is there anything, you know, just is there anything from, you know,
• 9:34
  making sure you're clicking on the right things and supporting it with views that way?
• 9:40
  Or, I don't know, what outside of the box things, aside from being a giant investor,
• 9:48
  can we do to support that? And so we can see more of that content produced.
• 9:53
  Well, I wholeheartedly, and I'm sure you do, too, believe in the power of prayer.
• 9:57
  So first, pray for this, pray over this, that we can have more content like
• 10:02
  this and that more independent filmmakers can find the funding to do this.
• 10:06
  And second, yeah, I mean, support projects that you believe in.
• 10:10
  You know, Where the Wind Blows is on Apple TV, Amazon Prime.
• 10:13
  It's all over. It'll soon be streaming on Up Faith and Family.
• 10:17
  Oh, great. And so I think just if you want to see more content,
• 10:24
  definitely get behind it.
• 10:25
  The more popularity it has, the more success it'll have, which,
• 10:30
  you know, maybe you could take that funding from that success and do more projects.
• 10:34
  And so, yeah, just support your projects that you really want to continue to see.
• 10:58
  You know, when I thought about college, I knew that I wanted to do something
• 11:01
  that I was ambitious. CVO opened my eyes to the opportunities that were out there for me.
• 11:08
  Our model of providing a Christian liberal arts education to those facing economic
• 11:12
  hardship hasn't wavered since 1906.
• 11:16
  Our students graduate debt-free through our work education program.
• 11:20
  They learn how to live a life guided by their faith, and as they begin their career.
• 11:54
  I love the prayer piece, though, because that is really, you know,
• 11:57
  I think about the armor of God a lot and how putting the armor of God,
• 12:01
  the last piece of that is, but pray and pray always and don't stop and keep praying.
• 12:07
  And, you know, as we're faced with a culture and adversity with some of the
• 12:13
  content that we're pushing out, I myself have been shadow banned multiple times, super fun.
• 12:18
  Um, and you know, you get, you get to a point where you're just,
• 12:24
  you might be weary and oh my word, this is really just a battle.
• 12:28
  And we've got to remember to put that armor on and that prayer piece is,
• 12:32
  is right there with it. It's so crucial. So I love that reminder.
• 12:36
  Um, so clearly your daughter is full grown and thriving and amazing.
• 12:41
  Um, but what do you encourage other mamas and women who are maybe in a space
• 12:47
  similar to yours or maybe to mine where they're producing content and they're really trying to,
• 12:53
  you know, use their work to glorify God as we are called to do.
• 12:57
  What encouragement, you know, from the pressures that we have with media,
• 13:04
  you know, just cultural pressures, pressures to balance everything in life. What advice do you have?
• 13:14
  Give yourself grace. Good one.
• 13:17
  Truly, because it's so hard, all of it, right? And so just navigating everything
• 13:24
  and always feeling like you need to be in two places at once,
• 13:28
  a place with your work or a place with your family.
• 13:32
  And no one can do it all. So just give yourself grace. And I just want to encourage
• 13:36
  all the women out there that if this is your passion and this is the path that
• 13:40
  you feel called and led to be in, then don't give up.
• 13:44
  And, again, pray over it and find people within the network to be a good mentor,
• 13:52
  which is what I did. And I love to mentor people within this space as well to help encourage women.
• 14:01
  Mentorship is so important. It's so, so important. And we tend to isolate.
• 14:07
  I think I know men isolate for their own reasons.
• 14:12
  But I think women isolate out of shame or we don't want people to see our ugly
• 14:19
  side or our hurting side. And I think it's so important to have mentors and
• 14:24
  build those relationships and build community.
• 14:27
  And I love that you have found that within your space. That is incredible.
• 14:32
  It's probably very rare.
• 14:36
  And I love that you are willing to do that for others because that's really,
• 14:40
  you know, that Titus woman that, you know, raises or is raised by the older
• 14:46
  and raises up the younger.
• 14:47
  And being in that sandwich is such an incredible spiritual place to be in that,
• 14:53
  you know, really God created it so beautifully for us to love on each other
• 14:57
  and support each other and see the hard things. Yes. Yeah.
• 15:02
  Is there anything, and this is just Just completely rolling with it here.
• 15:06
  I'm going to put you on the spot.
• 15:08
  Is there anything that has come up that you have just had to be like,
• 15:12
  nope, that is a hard no, standing firm, not doing it?
• 15:17
  There are definite boundaries I have for, because I'm given a lot of scripts
• 15:21
  and what one person might think is family friendly might not be what I think is family friendly.
• 15:27
  And so if there's a scene within that or there's language or,
• 15:31
  you know, an intimate scene or something that I'm just not, uh,
• 15:35
  for my morals and values, not going to do, that's a hard no. Yeah. Yeah.
• 15:41
  Yeah. That's really good. That's good. Oh my goodness.
• 15:44
  Well, I'm just so thankful for what is just moving forward in the entertainment industry.
• 15:53
  And I think we've got some greats just fighting for the front lines for this.
• 15:59
  And hopefully it just becomes a safer and safer place for kids to sit in front
• 16:04
  of the screen in the future. And it's funny how we have to almost culturally go backwards.
• 16:11
  It's like we went too far. hold on, let's reel this back in.
• 16:17
  And is there anything else you see, you know, culturally driving entertainment,
• 16:23
  maybe a trend in kind of the mainstream side that you are really making an effort and taking,
• 16:31
  a strong pivot of going, okay, this is what's trending, but we're going to take
• 16:35
  a hard direction this way.
• 16:39
  Well, one thing, it's a little off topic, but one thing that's trending is creating
• 16:43
  content where people can scroll on their phone.
• 16:46
  Oh, yeah. And so literally big name studios are creating content where people could be on their phone
• 16:54
  and have such a simplistic plot to a story that they could do both.
• 17:00
  They could be on their phone and watch.
• 17:02
  And I'm just, I just don't want to be a part of that.
• 17:06
  I want to create content and art that really evokes emotion and is intentional
• 17:12
  and cinematic. And I want people's full attention. So that's just one thing
• 17:17
  I'm being very purposeful about.
• 17:20
  Yeah, it's really dumbing down the art behind the production.
• 17:26
  I mean, you want to be like, hold on, hold on, press pause.
• 17:31
  I have to run and get popcorn or I have to run and go to the bathroom.
• 17:33
  Like you want something that you're watching to be so captivating and you want
• 17:37
  your audience, I mean, creating that, like, that just feels icky to me.
• 17:42
  And I haven't, I kind of understand what you're saying. I feel like I've seen
• 17:45
  like a taste of that, but I haven't seen it full force.
• 17:49
  And that just, we're just dumbing ourselves down and just washing things over
• 17:57
  and just, I don't know. There's no substance there.
• 18:02
  Right. Yeah. If we're creating a culture that is thirsty for nothing and just entertained by it.
• 18:13
  Garbage, essentially, just like literally, what is it?
• 18:17
  I mean, it's, it's stuff that it's like my 13 year old is probably producing
• 18:23
  better things on her iPad than, uh, than some of those things.
• 18:27
  I mean, just, yeah, it's crazy.
• 18:30
  Um, I, I really think, you know, that scroll mentality is, is there to distract us.
• 18:39
  And we really have to be wise of what we watch. And what goes into our eyes,
• 18:46
  it enters into our heart and that becomes a part of us and what we hear and listen to.
• 18:51
  And those values are so important, at least to me and clearly to you.
• 18:57
  And it really does matter. I think it's kind of an immature mindset that what
• 19:03
  you're watching or what you're listening to doesn't matter.
• 19:05
  And I can, I feel like a lot of people can remember being the teenager and their
• 19:10
  parents saying like, turn that stuff off.
• 19:12
  And it's just noise or whatever and going, well, but the beat's really good.
• 19:16
  Like I'm not listening to the words, dad. Like I can totally remember saying
• 19:19
  this, like, I'm not listening to the words. It's just the beat. I really like it.
• 19:25
  And then fast forward and you're a parent and you're like, oh, I get it.
• 19:31
  This is not life-giving. This is not, you know, lining up with God's ideal for
• 19:38
  marriage, with God's ideal of my identity or any of those things.
• 19:44
  And so we really have to be very choosy, especially as parents.
• 19:48
  And you know beating that into our kids head is sometimes the hard piece because
• 19:53
  it does require some maturity in order to start to see it that way and you know
• 19:59
  guarding our hearts and minds and,
• 20:03
  Um, very awesome. All right. So you have, um, some big award ceremonies coming
• 20:10
  up. Would you like to share with us?
• 20:13
  Yes, I'm so honored. Uh, my whole team and I are, are nominated this year at
• 20:19
  the national religious broadcast conventions,
• 20:23
  the ICVM crown awards, and we're up for best film,
• 20:28
  best actress and best soundtrack so we just yay congratulations so those i am
• 20:37
  so excited to meet you in person at oh you're gonna be there absolutely.
• 20:45
  Great so this will be a wonderful time and we get to meet face to face so beautiful
• 20:51
  and yes i love it we'll be hit the ground running and for those of you listening
• 20:54
  that don't know what nrb is national religious broadcasters There's,
• 20:58
  It's really where all your amazing, crazy, Christian conservative media people
• 21:03
  get together and jam out for the highest speed week possible and do way too much things.
• 21:10
  And we just extend time and let God multiply our time while we're there and get a lot done.
• 21:15
  So it is little crazy worker bees running in circles around each other.
• 21:19
  And I love it so much. It's one of my favorite weeks of the whole year to be
• 21:25
  a part of. So very exciting.
• 21:29
  Well, Ashley, I will be praying for you and just,
• 21:33
  praying for the industry that you are in and pray that God will just open doors
• 21:40
  and pave ways while you are, you know, constantly up against,
• 21:45
  cultural issues and cultural fights and battles.
• 21:49
  And when the world is screaming one thing, you are just so graciously singing
• 21:56
  another praise. And so I just appreciate that. And it's been an honor to talk
• 22:01
  with you today. And I look forward to meeting you soon.
• 22:04
  Yes, you too. Thank you so much for having me. This was amazing. Yes, absolutely.
• 22:12
  If today's conversation stirred something in you, if you're craving a little
• 22:16
  more quiet, a little more presence, and a little more Jesus in the everyday,
• 22:19
  I want to invite you to grab the Wanderer's Field Guide.
• 22:22
  It's a four-week journey of seeking, gathering, harvesting, and abiding in His presence.
• 22:27
  Just one page a day, one prayer at a time. It's not about perfection.
• 22:31
  It's about coming home to him.
• 22:33
  You can order yours at thetreehousestoryteller.com.
• 22:40
  Wait, before you go, don't forget to hit that subscribe button and follow us
• 22:44
  on Facebook or Instagram at thetreehousestoryteller so we can stay connected.
• 22:49
  Head on over to thetreehousestoryteller.com for more products,
• 22:54
  artwork, photography, and encouragement. See you next time.