Latest / Profitable Christian Business / Finding Faith: Storytelling, Redemption & Hollywood's Challenges with Lazreal Lison

Transcript

Finding Faith: Storytelling, Redemption & Hollywood's Challenges with Lazreal Lison · Profitable Christian Business

• 0:00
  Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the Prophet of Christian Business.
• 0:04
  I am so pleased to have my new friend, Lazreil Lison with me today.
• 0:12
  He's made a really cool movie recently.
• 0:14
  He's a director, he does a lot of inspirational movies.
• 0:17
  We're gonna dive into one of those movies specifically, it's called Finding Faith.
• 0:21
  And we're also going to dive into his own faith journey and a little bit behind the scenes about what he does and the way he's looking to impact lives.
• 0:28
  without further ado,
• 0:31
  Give us a brief introduction.
• 0:34
  My name is Los Reales-Sone.
• 0:36
  I'm originally from Arkansas.
• 0:41
  Been in LA for about 24 years and been doing film.
• 0:47
  It's been a journey.
• 0:49
  I'm so honored to be here today and just to get to know Doug and let the world get to know me more.
• 0:58
  Awesome, awesome.
• 1:00
  You started writing and directing plays way back in junior high school.
• 1:05
  What's the funniest or most memorable moment from those early days?
• 1:10
  Man, I think back then you could say you didn't know much, you know, you didn't know much, but you had that raw talent.
• 1:18
  You know, I had that raw talent and you did it because you loved it.
• 1:27
  And so, and you know, it's funny when you look back at it, it's like your mind have some way of like, when it remembers back, it was like, wow, that was just so.
• 1:38
  next level and this and that, you know, but I'm sure if I went back there.
• 1:45
  I can't remember, none of the immense details, but I remember doing some good ones, you know, least in my mind right now when I look back.
• 1:56
  oh
• 1:58
  about that.
• 1:58
  Can you is there anything like back then that kind of sparked you?
• 2:02
  Like was there a mentor that showed up or or a film or something that you said that made you say that's what I want to do?
• 2:10
  I've been writing, I've been writing since I'm like 10 years old.
• 2:13
  I don't know, it's just like, man, some people just have that thing that's in them.
• 2:20
  And I just had that passion that started from like poetry and writing raps and, you know, and just, and then just the whole thing of short stories.
• 2:33
  And I think I wrote every day for about 10 years, you know, from like probably 10.
• 2:40
  I don't know, I was just into that.
• 2:44
  And then of course I had mentors that came along, a second parents to me, a second father to me was Jim Strong, local native here out of Little Rock, Arkansas.
• 2:59
  And it just so happened when he came along in my life and I was 15, he also wrote poetry.
• 3:05
  So, know what I'm saying?
• 3:06
  So it was, so.
• 3:08
  So yeah, was like all of that.
• 3:10
  think that it was just something inherently in me that stuck with me to this day.
• 3:21
  Nice, nice.
• 3:22
  So you really just fell in love with storytelling.
• 3:26
  Fell in love with story telling.
• 3:27
  I remember being in sixth grade.
• 3:30
  I remember being in sixth grade, I remember there was an assignment in school that the teacher said, look at the newspaper and find somebody in there and write something about,
• 3:43
  you know?
• 3:44
  And I found this newspaper, this guy that was local.
• 3:48
  I knew him from this little town called Arkansas City, Arkansas.
• 3:52
  uh
• 3:54
  And I chose him.
• 3:56
  I made, honestly, I think I made up something on him, right?
• 4:00
  Made up something and he's gonna be, and God is calling him to a pastor, something, you know, when I look back.
• 4:09
  The teacher was crying.
• 4:10
  I'm like, wow.
• 4:13
  He was crying, you know, it was like the power of making people feel, you know?
• 4:22
  And
• 4:23
  just was in love with it even then at six years old I was trying to write my first book you know like you take all of the nursery kids stories and and you know and and all of
• 4:36
  that so yeah
• 4:39
  That's really cool.
• 4:40
  I know you spend your time behind the camera, but let's just flip it over if you would.
• 4:46
  If you could be on the other side of the camera and be any type of role, would it be a hero, a villain, comic relief?
• 4:52
  What would you pick?
• 4:54
  That's actually interesting because I think that I will pick two.
• 4:59
  The first one would be probably because it's the director in me.
• 5:04
  I'm gonna say the hero because the villain, if I was just a straight actor, I would probably say the villain because you can add all these dimensions.
• 5:13
  But the hero, I think it's the director in me because you have to rally the troops.
• 5:18
  You always gotta bring the best out of.
• 5:21
  It's just like a coach in football when you got all these egos and you gotta be the one that bring them together, but you're have chaos.
• 5:30
  And a villain, in the sense of being in front of camera, they bring chaos.
• 5:37
  oh So that's the direct in me thinking that way.
• 5:41
  And then I would say the comic relief, because the comic relief is also...
• 5:48
  You know, I think in life you can't take things so serious all the time.
• 5:52
  You know, gotta learn to laugh and you gotta like, like when I'm on set, people find it kind of funny.
• 6:01
  They like, the situation is so tense, but they said that when I see the director laughing, it makes everybody else feel good.
• 6:12
  They said, how is it possible?
• 6:13
  See, I'm able to laugh when I'm on set because I prepare so much in advance.
• 6:18
  I prepare so much in advance that by the time I get to the set itself, I know everything front to back.
• 6:27
  So it allows me to relax and it allows me to appreciate everything in the moment, you know?
• 6:34
  And so I would say the hero and the comic relief because I think that we have to learn to laugh and enjoy life because for you know it is, pass it by, you know?
• 6:48
  so true.
• 6:48
  things I want to pick out of that.
• 6:52
  One of those is the business lesson that you kind of gave there is preparation matters so much.
• 7:00
  things go so much easier based on how well you've prepared for them, whether it's going up and doing a public speaking engagement or it's giving a presentation or a sales, if you're
• 7:11
  doing a sales call, the preparation going into it is a key part of the success of that.
• 7:17
  I'm glad that you brought that up.
• 7:20
  The other the other piece was, uh yeah, life is short, man.
• 7:24
  We all got to realize that.
• 7:25
  Right.
• 7:25
  uh I just did a post yesterday.
• 7:28
  There was somebody that I had had conversations with about, I would say, four months ago.
• 7:33
  And when I went to his Facebook profile, he was no longer with us.
• 7:37
  And it was just kind of shocked me.
• 7:39
  I was like, we had so many great conversations around it was he never did become a client.
• 7:45
  But we
• 7:46
  The relationship was great because we had so many questions or uh talks about faith, about life, and we just connected on so many levels.
• 7:56
  it just the whole idea of even business went out the window because we just became good friends.
• 8:00
  And I just was just shocked to see that he had passed away.
• 8:05
  Yeah, that's, you know, it just, it just seemed like, honestly, I don't get on social media much, but it just seemed like maybe because everything is like a such a microscope
• 8:17
  now that it just seems like deaf is like, every other day is like, wow, wow, wow.
• 8:24
  You know, you know, makes you, it should make people love each other a little bit more, you know.
• 8:32
  right, that's right.
• 8:33
  a little bit more.
• 8:35
  Love each other a little bit more, you know?
• 8:38
  Yeah, that's one of the reasons I don't watch a lot of news.
• 8:41
  like to be informed, I don't like, there's a lot of, know, headlines tend to go towards fear, right?
• 8:50
  I always say this right here.
• 8:53
  I wish it was a mandatory requirement that everybody learn editing in school.
• 9:01
  That everybody learn editing because if you understood editing, you can make anything out to be what you want it to be.
• 9:10
  Anything.
• 9:11
  You put a little music, then you put a little music behind it, you can turn a comedy into a horror.
• 9:18
  And that's the reason why I kind of like don't watch news too because I basically, when I walk outside, it's a beautiful blue sky.
• 9:29
  It's a beautiful blue sky.
• 9:31
  perspective on how a lot of that might be done behind the scenes too.
• 9:35
  yeah, I definitely know because I can create because it's like when you look at a film, a film is basically taking anything, it can take a moment.
• 9:51
  You m can put a person in the corner right here and I can focus the camera strictly on that person.
• 9:58
  And basically when the audience sees it,
• 10:02
  They don't see that.
• 10:04
  They just see this person in the office over here.
• 10:06
  They don't see that on the other side of the room.
• 10:09
  It ain't no wall.
• 10:10
  You know what saying?
• 10:12
  If you look up, it ain't no ceiling.
• 10:15
  Because that's the whole point of storytelling and the whole point of making people feel emotionally what you want them to feel.
• 10:25
  You can create a positive, or can create a negative.
• 10:29
  And I think that...
• 10:32
  I think that now is, and I know I'm jumping ahead on some of the things that other questions are not asked, but I think that now is more than ever a time where the power of
• 10:45
  storytelling is so important because you want to point the positive, you want to point love, you want to bring people together, you know?
• 10:55
  And I know in my world, it's like, it's so diverse and so amazing with so
• 11:02
  much where I do volunteering at my kid's school and I just, it just, basically I just choose to focus on love and not the media because being in film you get an inside track on
• 11:19
  every day, you know?
• 11:21
  Focus, yeah, I love that.
• 11:23
  And I often tell people that watch to rewind certain sections to listen to something again.
• 11:30
  I think if you're watching or listening to this, rewind that just a little bit and contemplate.
• 11:37
  What if we all just focused on love, right?
• 11:40
  I think that's what what Jesus wants us to do is focus on love.
• 11:46
  We all have differing opinions and.
• 11:50
  And it's okay to disagree, you know, I've had people like, you don't have to agree to respect each other, you know?
• 11:59
  You don't have to like, but I mean, you can walk away and be like, hey, after you just talk for a little bit, hey, you still up for that golf game?
• 12:08
  You still up for that basketball game?
• 12:10
  because it's not that serious.
• 12:12
  You know, like one of the biggest things that confuse most people in California, right?
• 12:17
  And it was so strange because
• 12:19
  I think more people outside of California knew about the recent riot, you know, when they talking about that on the news with the shutdown of the city.
• 12:33
  Nobody knew about that there.
• 12:35
  Like when I was in Congress, I'm there and I'm like, seriously?
• 12:39
  That's going on?
• 12:41
  That's going on because again, this is what a power of.
• 12:46
  Film works because you can take one little area, one little area, which it was like about a block radius or something in downtown, and you take that and you focus the camera just
• 13:01
  on that area.
• 13:03
  And then you put it on the news and like, this is the whole city.
• 13:07
  And honestly, nobody I knew up there.
• 13:12
  And I was driving back and forth.
• 13:14
  You know, I was driving.
• 13:15
  That was on the 101, I went on the 405, but you didn't see no traffic pile up.
• 13:21
  didn't see nothing that really, you just didn't see anything.
• 13:27
  But that's what people hop to.
• 13:31
  We're at a time where you can't control that anymore, it's out of hand.
• 13:35
  But I just tell people like, you know.
• 13:39
  You know, don't bet no money on your viewpoint being 100 % correct, basically.
• 13:45
  You know, you can't change it, but I just say be open-minded, be open-minded.
• 13:54
  Oh, I want to go here just for a second because I think this is a very good topic to talk about because I think a lot of people, the term set in your ways, right?
• 14:02
  You get set in your ways and it's in it.
• 14:04
  I am a strong believer when you have a strong conviction, there are some things you should you should be able to stand on, right?
• 14:11
  Like Jesus is Lord.
• 14:12
  That's a conviction of mine.
• 14:14
  Right.
• 14:15
  But at the same time, we get so set in our ways, we're not even able to listen to the other side.
• 14:22
  Like get any
• 14:24
  uh new, we're not willing to take in any new information, right, that may oh help us make a better decision.
• 14:33
  Yeah, exactly.
• 14:35
  I think that the key is, like, man, like, I look at everything, everything, nothing is 100 % bad.
• 14:45
  Like, I tell people, like, when it comes down to politics, right, and I don't even like to into politics, I just say, you mean to tell me this president done done right?
• 14:55
  The last president done done right?
• 14:58
  This president, I'm like, come on, we don't have to.
• 15:01
  And this goes for all sides, you know what saying?
• 15:05
  Like, you can find something.
• 15:09
  They always say, even a drunk man, you listen to him long enough.
• 15:15
  He may say something that inspires you, you know?
• 15:19
  And I just think that we are so, because we are so watching, that's why I turned off the news, period, because if you can't...
• 15:31
  bring us together, you know what saying?
• 15:32
  Mm-hmm.
• 15:34
  people, you know, you just try to focus on this one group of people and that group of people.
• 15:40
  Like, because in my area where we stay at, and we stay in a place called Stevenson Ranch, California.
• 15:47
  And it's very family, family oriented place.
• 15:50
  We don't, I mean, half the time you don't know what political thing somebody, somebody into, but I guarantee you if they kids and it's like black, white, you got like.
• 16:03
  neighbors like Armenian, it's very people that has worked hard to to excel at a different place in life financially.
• 16:14
  I guarantee it.
• 16:15
  If I saw one of their kids running to the road, you just believe I'm gonna go out there and grab their kid before a car.
• 16:25
  Just like if they see my kids.
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  And you do that because it's about love.
• 16:32
  It ain't about
• 16:33
  what a person believe because you don't even know what that person political belief is.
• 16:39
  You know, you know, most people don't walk around with a, a Kamala hat or a Trump hat or this person had or that person had.
• 16:50
  So we only think about the people that walk around with like the hats on or something like that.
• 16:55
  But most people, most people don't do that, you know?
• 16:58
  And, and so, you know, the thing about it's like, it's just about
• 17:03
  love when you look beyond that you see the you see the human and the human is in the in the human is what God resides where Jesus resides you know you never know why a person
• 17:16
  believe what they believe everybody have their different convictions and and that's why I'd rather focus on the human you know and that's what and that's the great thing about
• 17:26
  film that film film allows you kind of like sports kind of like sports where
• 17:33
  Everybody is there or even, you know, let's make it even in business.
• 17:37
  It's business period that when you got people coming there, you don't care about what belief this person got.
• 17:45
  They just dare for the greater good to move things forward to like, so we have like on our family, you know, we got from any end to my DP is Asian, amazing DP.
• 18:00
  got
• 18:01
  this ethnicity, that ethnicity, everybody is there for one cause, to make an amazing film.
• 18:08
  You know?
• 18:11
  united uh for one purpose, to make a great film.
• 18:15
  Like you said, that's amazing.
• 18:17
  I have a fill in the blank question.
• 18:19
  We do this on every single episode.
• 18:20
  I already think I know what you're going to fill in the blank with, because I think we said it, but here's your fill in the blank question.
• 18:27
  A Christian creative working in the entertainment industry must always remember blank.
• 18:33
  I think to know yourself, know your limits, don't compromise that, be flexible, because you can't come in there and say, well, if this person ain't this, you can't get, I don't
• 18:49
  want, no, no, you gotta be flexible.
• 18:51
  I just think it comes about know yourself, know your limits, don't compromise that, but be flexible.
• 19:01
  But also remember like when you don't compromise, like don't compromise that because at the end of the day, you know, I know we've heard stories about Hollywood.
• 19:10
  We've heard stories about producers saying they can do this, but you do this for me and I do this for you.
• 19:18
  Oftentimes they ain't gonna do nothing for you.
• 19:20
  Cause at the end of the day, at the end of your life, don't do anything that you're gonna look back and be like, it wasn't worth it.
• 19:28
  You know what saying?
• 19:30
  So the key is to know yourself.
• 19:32
  Don't compromise that.
• 19:33
  ah But be flexible.
• 19:40
  Because oftentimes, your little town that you grew up in...
• 19:47
  They don't know, that ain't the end of the world.
• 19:51
  They don't know more than, than, uh what's the Hawkins guy, you know what I'm saying?
• 19:59
  don't know.
• 20:01
  Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
• 20:04
  So, know, just, oh, you know.
• 20:09
  Yeah, that's a very good point.
• 20:12
  Like some people never leave their town and they have, they, I don't even know what I'm, what the word I'm trying to say here, but they have limited knowledge and they, when they
• 20:24
  step outside and they experience other cultures, other things, and they widen their knowledge, their viewpoint of the whole world tends to change.
• 20:32
  Right.
• 20:33
  So very, very, very, true.
• 20:35
  Mm-hmm.
• 20:36
  And just to give these people encouragement, just because your viewpoint beginning to change, it actually expands a little bit more the knowledge and appreciate more of
• 20:50
  everything you've been taught.
• 20:52
  Because when I grew up, I grew up in a Christian family.
• 20:57
  And then I went to LA and then my knowledge expanded a lot.
• 21:02
  But as you get older, you still kind of go back to the foundation of what you grew up in.
• 21:08
  Because just because you grew up and go away and your knowledge expand and you learn more stuff, that don't mean that grandma was wrong.
• 21:16
  That don't mean that mama was wrong, you know?
• 21:19
  It just mean like, now you became bolder in what you believe and now you just learn, you just.
• 21:27
  you become more of a warrior, I think, know, and what you believe.
• 21:32
  So don't be afraid to be challenged a little bit, you know?
• 21:36
  And that's what people ask, if you can't be challenged and then without walking away like being converted to another religion yourself.
• 21:48
  Yeah.
• 21:50
  I think uh this makes me think of someone like Charlie Kirk.
• 21:54
  I don't know what your opinion of Charlie Kirk is, but no matter, he's well educated on, he knows what the other opinion is, right?
• 22:02
  So he's educated himself.
• 22:05
  He still stands on his convictions, but he's educated enough on what everyone, like the other side, if you will, right?
• 22:13
  And he's able to stand on those because he has that education.
• 22:19
  And I think that's very true.
• 22:21
  I'm familiar with him.
• 22:22
  mean, and honestly, when you, the key is that you just say it's being educated, being knowledgeable, being so aware because when you're dealing with people, people gonna have
• 22:34
  all the same opposing questions.
• 22:36
  You know what saying?
• 22:37
  They gonna have all the same.
• 22:38
  So for him, it's like, it's probably like, he ain't heard nothing new before.
• 22:44
  He ain't heard nothing because.
• 22:45
  Cause oftentimes people, have to like really the key is, be knowledgeable.
• 22:52
  Be knowledgeable cause everybody else gonna be just as passionate as you are.
• 22:57
  But they're young.
• 22:59
  These are young, but a lot of these people are young people.
• 23:04
  So they're willing to, you know, by the time they get 25, 30, they view probably change.
• 23:15
  Yeah.
• 23:16
  Because I think it is Charlie Kirk.
• 23:18
  He go to different colleges, right?
• 23:21
  Yeah, exactly.
• 23:22
  Yeah, I know you're talking about him.
• 23:24
  Yeah, we also ask a secret question.
• 23:27
  I want to kind of uh pivot to your film a little bit here with the secret question.
• 23:31
  So what is the secret to inspiring faith through film?
• 23:35
  And your new movie is called Finding Faith.
• 23:37
  So how appropriate is that?
• 23:39
  But what is the secret to inspiring faith through film?
• 23:43
  What the secret to finding faith Finding faith through film the secret of finding faith through film so go ahead
• 23:56
  I was gonna say maybe even how to, I think really the way I should ask that is the way to bring out inspiration, like to inspire through film.
• 24:06
  Okay, well, to me, I think that having the way to connect with people on a human level across all spectrums, not just in film, I mean, not just in the church, but outside the
• 24:23
  church, I just think having a realistic message of the human experience and the power of God.
• 24:36
  and letting people know that they can pick themselves back up when they fall down.
• 24:40
  And to me, that's how you can, that's how we were able to connect with so many people without necessarily, because allowing people to be able to see themselves in someone else
• 24:56
  without necessarily having a judgmental standpoint to it, but knowing that the power of God is for everybody.
• 25:06
  That's right.
• 25:07
  You meet people where they at.
• 25:09
  You meet people where they at, because it's funny, because I was telling people, because this film was traveling the nation, and we was doing a lot of oh individual screenings.
• 25:21
  And we were in Columbus, Ohio, at this uh IMAX theater.
• 25:27
  IMAX theater, was like about over 1,400 people there, right?
• 25:32
  Four different IMAX theaters sold out.
• 25:34
  And I was just telling people, you we did a Q and A and I was telling church people, said, now, when you have all these people, cause it was young, it was people as young as 17, all
• 25:45
  the way to 80 there, know, what walkers were coming in.
• 25:49
  And I was telling people, I said, when you have these people that ain't in the church, that they may see this move and be like, man, I want to go to church.
• 25:57
  I want to turn my life around to God.
• 26:01
  Just make sure when they come in, you don't push them out.
• 26:04
  Mmm.
• 26:05
  with your old ways of thinking, you know what I'm saying?
• 26:08
  And that's the tricky thing because people are constantly evolving, you know what I'm saying?
• 26:13
  People are constantly evolving themselves and when you see somebody come in with piercings all over their body or somebody come in with their pants hanging down to the floor, they
• 26:25
  not where you at, you know what I'm saying?
• 26:26
  Remember, they just turning their life around, you know?
• 26:30
  And so you have to like meet people where they at.
• 26:34
  and love them where they at.
• 26:36
  You love them so much that you let them see Christ in you.
• 26:41
  They gotta keep growing themselves because where they are right now ain't where they gonna be a year from now, or six months from
• 26:51
  Yeah, I love everything that you just said, man, because too often the church is treated like a country club.
• 26:59
  Like if you're not a certain way, why are you here?
• 27:02
  uh And we're all sinners.
• 27:07
  We just might be a little longer in the journey than some others, right?
• 27:11
  And it doesn't, I'm not saying as far as age, people come to God at different ages, right?
• 27:16
  They could come when they're real young and, you know.
• 27:21
  For instance, for me, I was eight years old when I got saved.
• 27:25
  But that doesn't mean that I did not turn away from God during some of my adolescent years, And not be not as beat in as I needed to be.
• 27:33
  So, but there were still people that came along me, alongside me during that, even those years that showed me the light of God, right?
• 27:41
  Like you're, and I would not be who I am today, right?
• 27:46
  And I, we're, let's go back to what you originally said, love, right?
• 27:49
  It's about love, you know?
• 27:52
  love people into the kingdom.
• 27:54
  Don't so many people have church hurt from people kind of pushing them away.
• 27:59
  How can we say we're Christians and push people away from God by saying, you know, we don't want to be around you because of your sin.
• 28:06
  Right.
• 28:06
  Mm-hmm.
• 28:10
  And that's what we, and you know, and I think that me personally, I've seen a lot of that, I experienced a lot of that.
• 28:19
  And it took me, as I get older, having kids, and then you just want to be...
• 28:27
  you want to teach them all the good aspects.
• 28:32
  It's like what part of your childhood or your parents that you want to give to your kids.
• 28:39
  I grew up with my, I didn't grow up with my father.
• 28:44
  I love my father, but I find that if I got older, I take away all the great attributes that I loved about my father.
• 28:54
  And those are what I show to my kids.
• 28:57
  You know, like just every, it make you appreciate every aspect of just everything from growing up.
• 29:06
  But you pass on all the great things that you remember because that's what you hang on to.
• 29:13
  You should anyway, at for me.
• 29:15
  You hang on to it and you pass those on to your kids, you know.
• 29:22
  Yeah, and I think just to reference your father and just us as people, like we all have something to give, right?
• 29:31
  We all have a way to make an impact.
• 29:33
  And oh there were some traits that you mentioned, that you picked up from your father that impacted your life.
• 29:39
  So you're now passing those on, right?
• 29:41
  And again, if we were perfect, we'd be Jesus, right?
• 29:45
  But we're not perfect.
• 29:46
  So uh we need to accept each other, everyone as.
• 29:49
  not being perfect and going through this journey and we're all getting a little bit better as we go along, right?
• 29:53
  uh So I love all that, man.
• 29:57
  Thanks for sharing that.
• 29:58
  uh I want to talk more about your movie, uh Finding Faith.
• 30:03
  Can you kind of give us a little bit of a synopsis of what the film's about?
• 30:08
  Finding Faith is a film about the lead character named Faith Mitchell.
• 30:14
  It's about, you know, the movie's called Finding Faith and the main character is Finding Faith, so it's two edges where, you know, she finds herself and she finds her faith.
• 30:26
  It's about a woman who, she has the perfect family, you know, perfect family.
• 30:34
  Her husband.
• 30:36
  lost his job, a hardworking person, lost his job, and he'd been struggling to find another one.
• 30:43
  he's a, he volunteer with the basketball team at the church.
• 30:49
  so, and tragedy happens, and she fall off course, you know, like the worst thing imaginable happens.
• 30:56
  She falls off course and she dies into the pit of despair from drinking to doing everything.
• 31:05
  And through all of that, know, she eventually through friends, family, she ended up finding her way, fighting her way back.
• 31:14
  And in the midst of fighting her way back, she ends up finding her faith again.
• 31:20
  So you go through this roller coaster ride of emotions and how you, can have it all.
• 31:27
  You lose it all.
• 31:28
  But the most important thing is you find your way back.
• 31:32
  And when she found her way back.
• 31:34
  It's almost like the book of Job.
• 31:35
  You have everything.
• 31:37
  You have everything and you lose it all because you lose yourself.
• 31:44
  You lose because there's so much blaming here, blaming there, all these different things and you lose yourself.
• 31:51
  But the most important thing is like finding your way back.
• 31:56
  And then when she find her way back, she end up coming back even better than she was before.
• 32:03
  there's so much good stuff.
• 32:05
  I can't wait to watch the whole thing.
• 32:07
  did watch a clip.
• 32:07
  My wife and I actually watched a clip and we're like, we can't wait to watch the rest of this movie because it...
• 32:13
  it's very much tug on the heartstrings and I think that, it's definitely doing more than what I ever anticipated, you know?
• 32:31
  Going into this film, I know this is another question you had, going to this film about prayer, like I remember before doing this film, you know, I was...
• 32:41
  I had faith, because like I said, I grew up with it.
• 32:47
  But being in Hollywood, you're kind of like, don't be as vocal about it.
• 32:51
  Don't be as vocal about it.
• 32:53
  So I had this guy that, this other preacher, he'll come and I wanted to kind of set the tone so I have him here come and pray before doing the shooting and all that.
• 33:06
  But it was some universal thing that happened during this film.
• 33:12
  for a lot of people after this film.
• 33:13
  I think after this film, it made a lot of people more vocal in their faith.
• 33:19
  Because even with me, it's just like, I think it helped me to reclaim my own faith.
• 33:27
  And I know with the lead actress, Paula Patt in the same way, it's just something that's powerful about it.
• 33:37
  And in Hollywood, it's just like you realize, it's something that was.
• 33:41
  people, a lot of people need, a lot of people want, because a lot of people are searching for something new because there's so many people.
• 33:51
  That's why a lot of people gravitating to the faith-based market like that, you know, because it's something more than just looking at a, you know, I grew up watching a lot of
• 34:05
  zombie movie, but it's something more that people want, know, basically.
• 34:10
  Yeah.
• 34:15
  You have more insight into this than I would, from the outside looking in, I always think of Hollywood, like there's a very good, uh it's easy to get into the idol worship in
• 34:28
  Hollywood, like you're chasing fortune and fame and you put all that above searching for God, right, or your relationship with God.
• 34:36
  And I think that kind of could get uh
• 34:41
  Help, what's the word I'm trying to say?
• 34:43
  That just could really keep people from finding their faith.
• 34:50
  until you get there and then you realize this is what I've been searching for the whole time.
• 34:57
  Cause it's not what you, it's not what you imagine.
• 35:03
  You imagine just like with rock stars, with everybody.
• 35:06
  mean, look at some of our greatest, man, some of our greatest actors that we've seen.
• 35:12
  mean, look at, you know, Philip Seymour Hoffman, right?
• 35:16
  Now, Philip Seymour Hoffman, my God.
• 35:19
  Amazing actor.
• 35:20
  How did he die?
• 35:22
  He died with a heroin needle in his arm.
• 35:25
  You you look at like, I mean, people from Ray Charles to all these greats, like that have it all, that have it all, you know, like Heath Ledger, Heath Ledger, on the verge of going
• 35:42
  to all type of superstardom.
• 35:45
  How did he die?
• 35:47
  Because it's not just, you go through so much doing the journey a lot of times, then when you get there, it ain't always what it seems, you And I found that, and I found that with
• 36:03
  me, the higher I'm going up, the more you wanna be around your family, the more you wanna be around your kids.
• 36:12
  You don't wanna be around all this other stuff because...
• 36:16
  It don't mean anything.
• 36:18
  It really don't mean anything.
• 36:20
  You know, yeah.
• 36:23
  Man, so well said.
• 36:24
  Like, you really start to realize what matters when you chase something and then when it turns out not to be all that you expected it to be, it really brings you back down to
• 36:35
  earth, I guess.
• 36:37
  Yeah, it gives you a greater, but that's life, that's the oldest thing in the book.
• 36:44
  like everybody's, you look, a lot of the people that we see that's in the limelight, a lot of them, I mean, don't have the greatest lives.
• 36:57
  You know, I remember coming to LA and people that we thought had it all, when you go to their house and hang out, they didn't want you to leave.
• 37:06
  Why is that?
• 37:07
  because they're afraid of being alone.
• 37:09
  That's the thing, it's just like, because sometimes people push so many people away, they don't have nobody.
• 37:18
  And if you don't have like, love and family and have people that you really, really care about, and you don't want yes people around you all the time.
• 37:29
  I don't like yes people.
• 37:30
  don't, my joke ain't that funny.
• 37:33
  That's why I always tell people, I'm like.
• 37:35
  Like my joke ain't that funny.
• 37:38
  you know, cause I know when I'm doing something and you got everybody laughing and all that stuff, like, it ain't that funny.
• 37:45
  But you you know why they laughing.
• 37:49
  But it's like, it's good to have people around you that.
• 37:56
  you love, you care about, that's gonna be honest with you.
• 37:59
  That's the key.
• 38:01
  But I know like even an amazing, I've had the privilege of working with him a couple of times, Tom Sizemore.
• 38:10
  Amazing talent, amazing talent.
• 38:15
  And he died of drugs, you know, he died of, oh from my understanding of drugs, the very thing he was trying to kick for many, years, many, many years.
• 38:27
  And oftentimes, from my understanding, from my understanding, when he first came into the business, he wouldn't touch a drug.
• 38:36
  Oh.
• 38:37
  You know, wouldn't touch it, you know.
• 38:39
  So a lot of times he was such an amazing, phenomenal, I mean, I enjoyed working with him on two different occasions.
• 38:47
  And in one movie that I did with him, he was actually a sponsor.
• 38:54
  He was actually speaking out, talking about his own addiction.
• 38:58
  And it just so happened like, you know, but along the journey of trying to make it in the business, everybody have different paths, but along the journey, making it a business,
• 39:10
  sometimes it's doing that journey of trying to get there, is when you start dabbling into the wrong things.
• 39:20
  So with that being said, I have a couple questions for you.
• 39:24
  uh What, because it seems like if he had uh gotten a community that would support him, I don't understand what all happened behind the scenes, but are there things that you do to
• 39:37
  kind of put a armor around you, right, to protect you uh spiritually while you're in Hollywood?
• 39:46
  Yes, I think that one is like one man.
• 39:49
  have I have some praying people for me You know I have some people I have some fighters around me, you know and and And also I keep people close to me that love me.
• 40:01
  You know that that's the key I keep people around me because I always say this the most important fans you should have in your life is the ones you come home to
• 40:14
  Mm-hmm.
• 40:15
  If you getting celebrated out into the real world and then you come home and ain't nobody happy to see you, that said a lot right there.
• 40:25
  so, the wrong thing.
• 40:28
  So to me, the most important thing is the people I come home to and I have some fighters with me, you know, and my business partner of the past 15 years, you know, I got is my
• 40:41
  wife, you know.
• 40:42
  So we got a company together and then I got another partner, know, who's my older brother, you know, in uh Arkansas.
• 40:51
  And basically with that, so I got honest people.
• 40:55
  I got honest people that have known you for a long, long time and they ain't gonna sugar coat anything for you.
• 41:03
  And to me, that's what holds me accountable.
• 41:08
  That's what keeps me grounded.
• 41:10
  uh
• 41:12
  And that's what keeps your eye on the prize, where you don't get distracted by.
• 41:19
  this stuff, you know, because I've seen people, men who are, they didn't have nothing.
• 41:25
  They became famous, everybody partying with them.
• 41:29
  Then when they fell off and strung out or didn't have nothing, were saying people walk by them and don't say nothing to them.
• 41:39
  And that's the reality of it.
• 41:41
  Yeah, that's so sad ah when that happens that you're chasing something and you think you have people in your corner and then when the fame dies out, they disappear.
• 41:54
  That's tragic.
• 41:56
  all the people that you, it was a lot of people in their corner, but you think about all the people that they pushed away, pushed away, you know?
• 42:08
  Cause you pushed the people away that's honest with you and you keep away, you keep that people that, don't care about you.
• 42:15
  They want to party with you and then they move on to somebody else.
• 42:19
  Yeah, or they're just looking to get something from you.
• 42:22
  Mm-hmm, yep.
• 42:24
  Um, man, so do you have any words of encouragement for any young filmmakers that might be out there that are looking to possibly make movies that are more faith or inspirational?
• 42:38
  Yeah, my advice would be to inspire filmmakers to always say to keep moving, keep evolving and never give up and know that in order to...
• 42:53
  to, cause I get this question a lot, in order to be successful, people, know people, people say they think like, okay, when you're going, cause the industry has changed a lot.
• 43:05
  And when you're going to achieve something, like say if you want to be a director, right?
• 43:10
  You want to be a director and it's okay to, cause the path ain't easy, the path ain't easy.
• 43:20
  So it's okay to.
• 43:21
  develop other skills along the way.
• 43:24
  Develop because the more skills that you develop, the more valuable you are.
• 43:32
  The more valuable you are because when I went through periods of struggling, I learned how to edit.
• 43:38
  I learned how to shoot.
• 43:40
  I learned so many different skills that it made me such a more well-rounded individual.
• 43:48
  And I always tell people, if you...
• 43:52
  trying to achieve something.
• 43:54
  You can be successful.
• 43:55
  You may not necessarily be successful at being an A-list actor, but you may become successful.
• 44:02
  I knew a girl that was going to be an actress.
• 44:07
  She didn't make it at acting the way she wanted to be, but she became a PR girl and won five or six Oscars right now.
• 44:17
  So that's what I'm saying.
• 44:18
  She didn't won five or six Oscars.
• 44:21
  but she had a path and then she was taken in a different direction.
• 44:28
  So the key is to never quit, never give up, never make going home an option.
• 44:39
  Because if you got going home as an option, you gotta burn all the boats behind you and you can't make giving up an option because if you make giving up an option, I remember
• 44:51
  when...
• 44:52
  early one of my career in LA my older brother told me when I told him about coming home he said what are you coming home to?
• 45:01
  are you coming home to?
• 45:02
  So if you have a reason to come home then you ain't gonna make it because you're gonna because it ain't gonna be easy for you.
• 45:11
  It ain't gonna be you know if you don't know anybody there if you know somebody that helps you know but if but if you don't know anybody there
• 45:20
  It's too many people.
• 45:21
  It's too many people trying to do the same thing.
• 45:23
  And the industry then changed even more now than it was when I first came here.
• 45:29
  Yeah, your drive and your passion has to be strong enough to get through the hard times, right?
• 45:35
  When I just released a reel this morning that talks about you have to get comfortable being uncomfortable, right?
• 45:42
  If you really wanna grow, you have to get comfortable being uncomfortable because if you can't stand being uncomfortable.
• 45:49
  Man, and that is so, that is the most, that is something that you only understand the older you get and the more seeping you get in business.
• 46:02
  It has nothing to do with like which profession you're in.
• 46:06
  It just like the more experience you get that you like, you wanna be uncomfortable.
• 46:13
  You like look forward to it like, because you gotta get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
• 46:19
  And you know, because every project you take on, everything you do is different.
• 46:25
  You know, it's different challenges.
• 46:27
  It's different challenges, but you welcome those challenges.
• 46:32
  Yeah, and most driven people you'll find will get into rooms where they're not the smartest person in the room most often, like, because they want to be around people that
• 46:41
  are further ahead because they want to be uncomfortable being the low man on the totem hole in order to get the knowledge that these other people have.
• 46:49
  Yeah.
• 46:50
  And honestly, that's why, you you hire people like, I mean, when I hire people, I hire people like, like, I don't have to know everything.
• 47:01
  I just need to know a little bit of, I know enough about certain things to know if you're trying to take advantage of me.
• 47:09
  You know, but when it comes down to directing and writing, very, that's my expertise, but I hire people.
• 47:18
  that's the masters of their craft.
• 47:21
  And whether they're the master of music or sound mixing or this or that, you hire them and when they talk, I sit back and I listen.
• 47:31
  You know, and because that's the key, you gotta be around, you gotta surround yourself with people that are the best at what they do.
• 47:40
  Not, and the worst people that, and this is my advice to young people too, don't be that person.
• 47:48
  that when somebody asks you, what do you do?
• 47:52
  Don't say 10 different things, seriously.
• 47:54
  Don't say, well, I do this, I do this, I do this, I do this, I do this, I do that.
• 48:00
  That really makes you look bad.
• 48:04
  Because when people say they do all of these different things,
• 48:13
  But what are you good at?
• 48:15
  But what do you want to do?
• 48:19
  Because, and then I knew a girl that was, say she was good at 10 different things, then she got a job and she wasn't good at the one thing they hired her for, that she said she
• 48:30
  was good at.
• 48:31
  So just, you know, don't say, know, maybe say cut it off at three or four, know, cut it off.
• 48:39
  Don't say like 10 different things, you know?
• 48:44
  Yeah, be the power focus, right?
• 48:46
  Be the best at oh one, be the best that's out there at that one thing and you'll never be hungry.
• 48:54
  Exactly, uh
• 48:58
  Yeah.
• 49:00
  Finding Faith is number one on a lifetime, number one lifetime film right now.
• 49:04
  How did it become the number one lifetime film?
• 49:08
  And it goes back to the same thing, man.
• 49:11
  It goes back to the same thing when we talked about earlier, having a realistic message on that people can relate to on a human level.
• 49:24
  And it just so happened, you know, because that's what Lifetime specialized in, but it just so happened we had something that was dealing more with the faith and things like
• 49:36
  that.
• 49:36
  It just...
• 49:37
  It just like, it was just something that really hit people on a personal level, dealing with the power of God and redemption.
• 49:47
  And in these times right now that we're living in, people want a little bit of hope without necessarily somebody just preaching to them, you know?
• 50:00
  And they can see themselves because within this character,
• 50:05
  people can see themselves, everybody can see, everybody go through something in life.
• 50:11
  Everybody, they always say if you live long enough, you're gonna go through something, you know what saying?
• 50:18
  You're gonna have that moment where you challenging everything.
• 50:23
  And I just think that with this film, it just show people that.
• 50:30
  through God, you can always come back.
• 50:33
  But it wasn't necessarily somebody telling them, it was somebody showing them.
• 50:38
  They could see themselves in this faith character and they can see themselves in a jail and her husband and what they went through and the pastor and all of that.
• 50:51
  resonates with a lot of people.
• 50:52
  It resonates with a lot of people on a human level, you know?
• 50:57
  Because I think behind every great, a great father, right?
• 51:03
  A great father to his family, they can always see themselves in Keith David.
• 51:12
  a great father that's been married for a long time, he learned to just be like the backbone of the family, you know?
• 51:22
  Let the mom have her way.
• 51:25
  Let the mom have her way.
• 51:28
  But he learned to be that stable backbone.
• 51:31
  Yeah.
• 51:32
  Well, I feel like God is on the move in the film industry.
• 51:36
  You look at things like The Chosen, how many people are coming to faith from things like that.
• 51:40
  oh Angel Studios is out there.
• 51:43
  oh They just released to like, my wife was showing this the other day, just released where you can invest in them, right?
• 51:51
  And I think the last time they opened up investment people 15 times their money.
• 51:56
  So God is on the move in helping these type of films grow.
• 52:00
  I just, well we were just speaking with them recently.
• 52:04
  Pretty amazing, pretty amazing company.
• 52:06
  mean people, because people want uh certain type of movies.
• 52:13
  People want to be able to control what they kids watch.
• 52:18
  What they kids, and I like Angel Studios too because they definitely go.
• 52:25
  again, inspirational.
• 52:26
  They do a lot of inspirational stuff that they're not necessarily just preaching to you all the time.
• 52:32
  But it just giving you some inspirational stuff that you want to pass on to your kids.
• 52:39
  And you don't want kids to be controlled by stuff to be spoon fed to them from regular TV without your approval, of course.
• 52:52
  yeah, yeah.
• 52:54
  Well, tell everyone where they can find uh Finding Faith and where they can find out more about you.
• 53:01
  Okay, where people can find more about Finding Faith, you can go to IG at Finding Faith Movie.
• 53:08
  ah Pretty much right now the movie is on Lifetime.
• 53:14
  They can watch it on the Lifetime app.
• 53:18
  know, can go pretty much, you can go through Amazon and just type in Finding Faith.
• 53:23
  You can go to, yeah, can go pretty much, you can go to Filo or...
• 53:30
  any of those apps type in finding faith just like that and then the movie will pop up.
• 53:35
  I'm sure you'll be blessed.
• 53:36
  You can find out about me at at Lazreal, that's L-A-Z as in zebra, R-E-E-L, underscore Lison, L-I-S-O-N.
• 53:46
  You can find me on IG.
• 53:48
  You can also find me on Facebook under the same name.
• 53:53
  Well, I'll put all those links below.
• 53:55
  um one thing I, of course, I want everyone to watch this movie.
• 54:00
  Like I said, I've seen a clip and I am anxious to watch it with my wife, myself.
• 54:05
  But also when you watch this movie, wherever you watch it at, leave a review for it.
• 54:10
  Leave your honest feedback on how it made you feel, right?
• 54:15
  Wherever you watch it, leave a review.
• 54:17
  I'm sure Lazreel would really appreciate any type of feedback that you give the movie, so.
• 54:23
  And if you guys are familiar with Rotten Tomatoes, you can go to their label review on Rotten Tomatoes.
• 54:29
  Yes, I mean, know, definitely be an honor.
• 54:35
  Awesome.
• 54:35
  Awesome.
• 54:36
  So I ask one last question of everyone that is on the show, Lazreel, and that is just to pass along any wisdom that maybe I didn't ask the question that maybe you wanted to
• 54:46
  answer, or you just have something on your heart that you want to share.
• 54:49
  So what would you like to share with the audience?
• 54:53
  Man, I just say like in these times right now, man, don't be, stay in courage.
• 54:59
  It ain't the end of the world.
• 55:01
  know, at the end of the day, God is in control and don't let society.
• 55:11
  dictate your emotions, you know, at end of the day, love, you know, love, I mean, and you know, keep empowering positive films that's wanna inspire and turn the news off, go
• 55:26
  outside, look at the beautiful blue sky and love.
• 55:32
  That's one thing that God has taught me, like, you know, like I go to school, I volunteer with my kids because...
• 55:41
  They grow up so fast that I don't want to miss out.
• 55:45
  And so I just say, you know, like just, just keep your faith, keep your eyes on the prize and, and, and just love, you know, turn that TV off.
• 55:57
  You know, if you're watching the news too much, turn it off.
• 56:01
  Yeah.
• 56:04
  I've always heard the term garbage in, garbage out, right?
• 56:07
  So if you're watching news and you're getting a lot of garbage, like if you're getting a lot of negative in, you're gonna put a lot of negative out.
• 56:13
  So find films like Finding Faith, watch those positive things in, positive things out.
• 56:19
  uh Thanks again, Ladsrell.
• 56:21
  uh This has been an honor and a pleasure.
• 56:24
  uh I hope we're gonna talk more than this.
• 56:26
  I hope we're now friends because I appreciate it.
• 56:29
  Just knowing a little bit about you now, I have a lot of respect for you and I feel like we could be good friends.
• 56:35
  So until next time, until next time, uh everyone watching, keep moving forward.
• 56:43
  Absolutely.
• 56:43
  Thank you.
• 56:44
  Thank you.
• 56:47
  All right.