Brian Roberts (Writer/Director of Veggies Tales)

Well…I’m finally getting around to posting again.  I got calls from people saying they were going through “withdrawls” without their Life of Kyle posts…haha.  That’s flattering and somehow creepy.  I’m glad all of you read this, makes me want to post more often and make things more juicy  Let me start from the beginning of the week.

Jun 30 – I work up early that morning, at about 6am or so.  I wanted to get on the road an hour early but I was up late packing my car.  My body was exhausted when I woke up.  I must’ve hit that pillow hard the previous night.  Anyways I got up and immediately got dressed, brushed my teeth, fixed my hair the best I could (wow was it a mess) and rolled up my blowup mattress to begin the long journey home.  Stop #1 was in Albuquerque to stay overnight with Eric Highland.  On the way there I was taking a more southern route so I hit the desert for a LONG time.  It was the most boring drive ever, but I made it.  At least there was some cool rock formations to look at.  The temperature was insane, hitting 108+ at one point.  I’ve never been in that kind of heat, thank goodness I was in a car.  I normally don’t use air conditioning but after an hour of that 100 degree heat I turned it on.  I kept thinking about Bugs Bunny talking about Albuquerque.  I have heard the name of that city for years and never looked up anything about it.  It was a pretty cool place, much bigger than I thought.  I stopped by at a coffee shop where Eric and Brittany (his assistant) were working.  Because of his 4 kids, he doesn’t get a thing done at home, so he works at the coffee shop using their free Wi-Fi.  I had to use the bathroom and had to wait a while.  On my way over a waitress backed up into me with her giant platter almost hitting me in the face.  I dodged it and she didn’t drop it, thank goodness.  I was already embarrassed to be there because of how terrible I looked.  I need a shower, a shave, etc. and looked like a yeti.  As I thought about it more, I decided not to stay the night.  I had far too much energy after eating at the coffee shop and I knew that TN was just far enough to cost me an extra nights stay so I pressed on.  I talked with Eric and Brittany for a little over an hour and went on my way figuring I would be able to go another 4 hours or so.  Well those 4 hours turned into like 7.5.  That put me in TX at a rest stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere at 4am.  That’s 20 hours or so of driving…insane I know.  Lets just say I didn’t have a problem falling asleep, regardless of how messed up my back was going to be in the morning.

Eric Wilson (NYT Bestseller & Writer of Fireproof (novelization))

July 1 – I got up at about 8am or so, only 4 hours after going to bed.  I got back on the road yet again, ready to make it to Sparta, TN by nightfall.  It was another boring drive and this time more than any other was I going a little batty.  I was bored, aggravated, tired, and I felt nasty (needed a shower, shave, etc.).  I passed Oklahoma City and Memphis and headed towards Nashville which I had to passthrough in order to reach Sparta.  They were cool looking cities.  I look forward to seeing Memphis a bit more if I end up there this fall (although driving all the way back down there doesn’t interest me…UGH!).  Nashville was very big, much bigger than I ever would’ve thought and of course I hit traffic.  For some idiotic reason they put the downtown highways into 1 lane and it took forever to get out of there.  That easily added an hour or more onto my drive time.  I think I had grounds to start losing my head since I had been driving for so long.  Other annoyed people were probably trying to drive a few miles and got stuck…shut up you bunch of sissies.  That last hour to Sparta was LONG…but I was glad to get there.  Torry lives in a little hick town (forgive the term but it’s the truth) who’s claim to fame is being the hometown of Lester Flat (the guy who wrote the Beverly Hill Billy’s theme).  His house was tucked away on this little back road and surrounded by greenery.  I have heard great things about Torry’s house so I was excited to see it.  When I got inside I saw why, there is stuff everywhere!  Not junk piled mind you, I mean all sorts of neat little nicknacks and odd pictures, statues, etc. that decorate the place.  I hadn’t seen anything yet.  I saw my room downstairs which was really nice with a huge bed and all this log cabin themed furniture.  What an amazing task to pull together all this stuff over the years.  I loved the bathroom I had to use although I think a simple hose and toilet would’ve been alright with me.  I was so ready for a shower you can’t even understand.  Yet again the house surprised me when I turned on the shower and found it to be like a fire hose.  The shower head was awesome and felt good after all that driving.  I talked with Torry and his friend Rob for a while and then went to sleep.  I slept so good I can’t even tell you.

July 2 – When I woke up I had a little bit of time to get ready.  We were going to Nashville to meet up with two men that Torry knew.  There was supposed to be more but they couldn’t make it.  On our way there we talked in the truck about all sorts of things.  Me and Torry are as he called it “kindred spirits” because we’re so similar.  I think on the way there we talked about him a lot more than we did myself, I just butted in every once in a while.  It was cool to learn a lot about his past, how he came to be a Christian, and al the awesome things that have happened to him since.  He really has an AMAZING story to tell about how he found his house.  Either way we made it to Nashville and found where we were going to eat…the Cracker Barrel.  I think I have only been to one of these once but can’t remember where/when.  If I haven’t mentioned this yet, Torry might surprise a few folks when they see him.  He describes himself as a big red-haired hippy from Alaska, and he isn’t selling himself short with that statement.  I can see why some people might give him a weird look when they see him as he is 6ft 5 or so and a bit heavy…but he doesn’t care and neither did I!  When people look at someone like that, I immediately notice something on them that I could turn a head to.  ”Hey!  Your Fat!” my response…”Hey! ….YOUR OLD!”  Either way people are mean nowadays, they need to shut their trap.  The lunch went amazing.  I got to meet Brian Roberts (Writer/Director of Veggie Tales for the last 10 years), and Eric Wilson (NYT Best Seller & Writer of Fireproof (novelization)).  They were great guys and we hit it off very easily.  We talked about Christian filmmaking (although we talked about the label put on “Christian” anything and how that might affect it), writing, the status of film in todays world and what kind of projects we want to work on.  We were all in agreement about a lot of key points.  I loved talking to these guys.  This is exactly what I craved in LA and didn’t even get it there.  Although I’m happy to be going home, I’m still creatively sheltered as I don’t have anyone around me who is really interested or can talk to me about my hobbies/interests.  It’s been that way for a while and this meeting was welcomed with open arms.  It was a bit odd for this 21 year old kid from nowhere talking to these two VERY successful men and having fun and chatting it up like I was on their level (which I am NOT…lol don’t think I’m saying that).  They were excellent contacts to make of course, but being able to sit and have lunch really makes it more than that.  It felt less business related and more just fun “lets meet and greet” related.  When we left Torry had to get some Amazon boxes from both guys for this shoot he had coming up at his home.

Me and Torry

We headed to Brian’s house to get the boxes and made sure we got a picture.  Is it just me or does a beard make my face look like an oval?  My chin is NOT that big, haha.  Anyways when we left we almost got lost but my iPhone saved us with it’s GPS.  Thank goodness because Torry started to freak out when we got lost.  He’s like me in that way but in this case he was going to be late for his audition which would really suck for him.  It was for a roll on Larry the Cable Guy’s Holiday Special.  When we got there he had to go in and I had to wait outside so I just sat waiting for Eric to show up with his boxes.  It turns out the best conversation I had was then with Eric.  I got to share much more in depth what kind of story I was trying to tell with Standing Firm and was getting confirmations from Eric that I was on the right track.  He seemed interested as a lot of our conversation revolved around changing the way we tell stories and getting away from the things that plague bad movies.  He seemed delighted to know that I had been determined to change as much as I could from the conventional film (in the Christian market especially).  Eric was an awesome guy I hope to work with in the future.  When you hit it off that well you know that working together would be a breeze.  On the way home the conversation between me and Torry shifted to me this time.  I told him my testimony, what I used to be like as a teenager and the more I spoke the wider his eyes got and the lower his jaw fell.  He just couldn’t believe this kid sitting next to him telling him all this stuff.  It was funny to me as I don’t look at it as anything special, haha.  I guess it’s good to know that I’m so different than I was in my past.  Even I know that but I’m not looking at me from the outside so who knows what people see.  He kept saying how floored he was I was 21 and how “intelligent” I was.  I take that kind of stuff with a grain of salt and if you know me, I NEVER take those kind of comments well.  One of my biggest weaknesses is excepting compliments.  I used to be a big egotistical butt-hole who wanted nothing more to be better than everyone, lol.  How am I supposed to respond?…”O yes I am intelligent, thanks so much…you ain’t seen nothing yet.”  I also told him just how moving to LA changed me.  I think some people back home might notice a slight difference in me when I show up on Sunday morning.  Regardless of what happened in LA, the money it cost to move, etc. I really went through a change out there.  Just the action to moving was a big step for me.  I told him no way a year ago (or even a few months ago) would I ever move a few thousands miles to a place I don’t know to work at a place I never visited to check out, or live in an apartment with someone I never met besides through email, etc.  I went way outside my comfort zone and learned a lot.  Just driving across the country was a stretch for me.  I told him driving from LA back home and stopping in TN to meet a guy I’ve never met face to face, let alone stay at his house said a lot about how different I was.  Mom and Dad, I know your reading this and can confirm that statement, it’s just not something I would’ve done in the past.  I’m a bit more outgoing and ready for something new, a lacking trait of mine.  The odd becomes normal and the comfort becomes less important, although I am happy to go home.  Either way I laughed at him and just kept going and eventually I told him the entire story of our film.  The more I told him the more he loved the story.  Just explaining it to him got him going I think as I pealed each layer of the story away I tried to put into the film.  My biggest fear was never that I didn’t have great moments in my film or things that work well, it was do they all work TOGETHER as one piece.  So many movies have great moments, but few have all those great moments hold together as a flowing river of story.  Either way as I explained it he understood all of it, and I even went out of order with the subplots jumping around and he still was effected by it.  That made me feel really good because when you look at one thing for so long, each moment you make becomes less and less exciting to you.  I really hope that the first viewing of this film for someone really gets them how it got me when we came up with it.  Now as I watch it very few things get me going because I’ve seen it hundreds of times over.  Torry assured me I didn’t have to worry but I do  We had to stop and get some food on our way so we could have dinner that night.  We continued to talk even as we shopped, haha.  As we got back to his house we unloaded everything and got inside.  Soon after I was able to show him a few parts of the film I had described earlier and since he had all the context in his head nice and fresh he was able to see the moments and how they fit in.  He really liked what he saw which got me excited.  I’m still not convinced that the film works, only when someone sees the whole thing from beginning to end will I know.  Even me seeing it I think won’t do the trick, because of the reasons I stated earlier.  That’s why studios do test screenings, to find out what works in the film and what doesn’t so they can know how better to either adjust things, or market the film.  Who laughed?  Who didn’t?  Who cried?  and….Who walked out?  lol.  Either way the rest of the day was just talking, eating, and relaxing.  I haven’t mentioned Torry’s office yet, one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.  It has been on TV before because it’s so detailed.  Torry loves Batman, Superman, and has a few Spiderman items.  This office is really amazing, full of figures, comics, all sorts of cool little items you’ve never seen before.  There’s even a 6ft Spiderman statue that he got as a gift!

But wait…who the heck is TORRY MARTIN? - Torry is an award winning Writer and Actor, talented Comedian who has shared the stage with many well known actors/comedians from MadTV and SNL.  He has won many times at the GMA awards for writing comedy and drama, and shared the stage with musicians like Michael W. Smith (among many others), currently has his own character on Adventures in Odyssey (and writes for the show), has recently done voices for Veggie Tales, and so much more.  Here is a list of some of Torry’s accomplishments:

Books Torry Has Contributed To
Living it Down by Laughing it Up, Martha Bolton, Vine Books 2001
Single Servings by Lee Warren, Revell Publishing 2005.
Scriptwriting by Martha Bolton and Kim Messer, Lillenas Drama
Don’t Stop Laughing Now! by Ann Spangler and Shari MacDonald, Zondervan

Humor Columnist for the following Monthly Periodicals
On Course Magazine Enrichment Magazine
CBN Online

Awards
Best Actor- 48 Hour Film Project-Nashville 2008
Audience Favorite- 48 Hour Film Project- Nashville 2008
Best Actor- 48 Hour Film Project-Nashville 2007
Audience Favorite- 48 Hour Film Project- Nashville 2007
Grand Prize- Life Lesson Commercial- The Learning Channel (TLC) 2007
3rd Place- Drama, GMA 1998
Grand Prize- Sketch writing, GMA 1997
1st Place- Sketch writing, GMA 1997
2nd Place- Sketch writing, GMA 1997
3rd Place- Sketch writing, GMA 1997
Grand Prize- Dramatic Monologue, GMA 1996
1st Place- Dramatic Monologue, GMA 1996
3rd Place- Sketchwriting, GMA 1996

So yea, the guy knows what he’s doing  Anyways don’t forget to look at the pictures of that office…it’s insane.  We were up for quite a long time talking, and I didn’t get to bed until 3am.  I had the opportunity for stay for a few more days but I really just wanted to get home.  I was just ready to see my house again, sleep in my bed, sit on my own toilet (yes…that does matter), and all the rest.

July 3 – I woke up at like 11am and got ready quickly.  I packed my stuff back in my car (laptop, suitcase, etc.) and got on my way.  Torry wasn’t happy to see me go, but I think I’ll be back  I woke up with a really stiff neck and that wasn’t going to make the ride fun.  I had about 13 hours of driving to do to make it home.  Of course on the way home that neck problem turned into a splitting headache.  It was the worst one I have had in maybe a year.  I could barely stand it, with my eyes pulsating, I wasn’t really driving so well.  Eventually I realized I just had to deal with it and I had many hours to go before I could get some relief.  That’s a crappy feeling being far away from relief without anything you can do about it.  I’m totally shut down when I have a headache.  I probably look like I’m on drugs because my jaw just hangs open and I moan like a moron.  I headed north taking a lot of back-roads like my GPS told me to.  I’m glad it did however because I would’ve gone through Knoxville, TN where traffic would be awful.  I went through a lot of small little towns and hit all sorts of big hills and stuff.  Kentucky wasn’t too far away and I was on back-roads almost exclusively through that entire state.  Only once I got near Lexington did I end up on a highway (a real highway I mean).  I ended up in Versailles as well, which I guess is the horse capital of the world.  All those big horse races, you know….Seabiscuit and all that.  Once I got into Ohio I was back on the highways still trying to get rid of my headache.  I just needed to keep my head still, not turn it quickly and be calm.  That’s how my headaches go away, I’m normally in a room all day with a pillow wrapped around my head keeping as still as possible.  Any surge of blood flow makes it hurt more.  Having a headache is like being angry, your angry and you slowly calm down but the smallest little annoyance brings the anger back up again and worse most of the time.  That’s how headaches work so I just needed a long enough stretch of time to keep my brain and body still.  It didn’t start to subside until it got dark and my eyes could relax.  I was a few hours away from home when it started to dissipate, thank goodness.  I was going to pull over and sleep if it kept going because that many hours with a pounding headache really messes you up.  When I got into Buffalo I felt so good.  I could turn off my GPS and just drive home knowing where I was, what was around me, where to go to get home, etc.  Cops were all over the place too, but Ohio had it the worst.  I saw so many people pulled over.  Ohio is insane when it comes to cops.  I got back into Ransomville and it felt like I never left.  I turned the corner at the stoplight like I had just done it a day ago.  My car pulled up the driveway and I got out looking at my backdoor, I was finally home.  One last thing remained, to unpack my car.  It was about 2:30am at that point and with a headache just barely gone carrying tons of heavy boxes wasn’t the first thing on my list but I knew getting up and doing it was the last thing I wanted so I just got it done.  What a crap load of stuff I had, my goodness.  So many boxes of equipment and such, and only like 10% of it being clothes and essential living items.  It takes a lot to keep my “business” going, what a pain.  I walked upstairs and went into my room.  It had been situated differently as my mom didn’t expect me to be in it for sometime, imagine that.  Anyways I knew I was going to need to remove a lot of stuff in the morning so I just got into bed and checked out for the night.

This week has been a busy one that’s for sure.  I drove 40 something hours from LA all the way to NY, about 10 hours more than on the way there because I took the route to TN.  But it was way worth it and I met some people I think will become good friends.  Torry kept telling me “I’m telling you, your a writer…you’re a filmmaker and a storyteller, I see it in you.”  That was great to hear as I feel that’s my calling.  I now have some time to finish my film at home and get it into some worthy hands.  I’ll have to keep a close eye on my finances, because I’m not sure I have enough to sustain me for the next two months, and that’s assuming the job in Memphis goes through and I actually leave.  Beyond that, I’m unemployed.  Just think of it as an extended vacation.  I know something will come along, but I don’t think it’ll be a permanent stay.  I keep thinking for some reason that this will be the way I make money for the rest of my life.  Writing for this, creating for that, making some money off freelance, selling a film every few years (hopefully), etc.  I know I can do a lot of things, but as I said earlier and talked to Torry about…turning it all into a career and making a living at it is the trick.  I think I’ll get there, but at the moment I’m not 100% how…and I don’t think I ever will be.  It’s one of those things that just happens.  That right opportunity comes around and BAM, success in whatever capacity God has for me.  I must make films for the rest of my life.  That’s where my passion is, my heart is, my interests are, and all things in-between.  There are far too many who like films, like to make films, but don’t really deeply passionately have a caring heart to make films.  They “like” the story not “love” the story.  I have a deep rooted fireball mindset towards storytelling and creating those great moments that effected my life so much.  I’m not an expert, and I don’t pretend to know everything…but I will continue to learn and persue excellence in all things to eventually become that expert.  Not a thing in the world will stop me because I believe it’s God’s Will for me. (not that I become an expert necessarily but that I do what I’m describing with my life)  Here’s hoping for a great future in the Lord and a successful career impacting lives for His Glory…this is only the beginning.

How’s that for a post?  Did you get your fix?  I hope so because I’m starving and need to go grocery shopping and begin the slow but sure process of emptying my bank account.  Adios.