Beyond Entertainment: Musicals, Films and Festivals with Scott Michael Branan

Speaker: 00:00:00

Intro Geoff - Scott Branan Pt1: Welcome to the Faith and Family Filmmakers Podcast.

Speaker: 00:00:02

Thank you for joining us today.

Speaker: 00:00:03

I'm Geoff,

Speaker: 00:00:04

Intro Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: And I'm Jaclyn.

Speaker: 00:00:06

Intro Geoff - Scott Branan Pt1: and today we're talking with writer, producer, festival director, Scott Brannon.

Speaker: 00:00:11

Intro Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: Scott Brannon has been screenwriting for over 20 years.

Speaker: 00:00:14

He enjoys many different genres of film, and has also written a full stage musical with his father and oldest daughter, complete with 14 original songs.

Speaker: 00:00:24

He owns Beyond Entertainment Studios in Southwest Florida, which creates family friendly projects as well as Beyond Audiovisual.

Speaker: 00:00:32

a complete audiovisual rental installation and live production company.

Speaker: 00:00:36

Beyond Audiovisual is the money making side of the business, which is used to bring Beyond Entertainment projects to life.

Speaker: 00:00:44

He's been married to Kathy Brannan for 29 years and he is got two daughters, Carissa and Mikayla.

Speaker: 00:00:50

Geoff - Scott Branan Pt1: welcome Scott.

Speaker: 00:00:51

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: Hello.

Speaker: 00:00:52

Thank you.

Speaker: 00:00:52

Thanks for having me.

Speaker: 00:00:53

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: So, okay, you are, like, producer, writer, festival coordinator and everything.

Speaker: 00:00:59

Like, where did this all start for you?

Speaker: 00:01:01

Where did your love for film and producing even begin?

Speaker: 00:01:05

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: Um, this is a strange, sad story, but this is the truth.

Speaker: 00:01:08

as a child, I think I was like, I'll say 12 or 13.

Speaker: 00:01:12

my family went to the drive in.

Speaker: 00:01:13

Yes, I'm that old.

Speaker: 00:01:15

Uh, the actual drive in and we saw a movie.

Speaker: 00:01:18

I won't tell you which one.

Speaker: 00:01:19

but it was a, it was a rom com and I remember seeing that film and it was just, I don't even know how to describe it.

Speaker: 00:01:28

It was just like, this is the coolest thing.

Speaker: 00:01:31

I looked around at this drive in, and I'm like, man, all of these people are here to watch this.

Speaker: 00:01:35

And they were all a captive audience, and I was like, dude, I want to do that.

Speaker: 00:01:40

You know, and that's, that's just kind of where it started, So thank you to Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli.

Speaker: 00:01:45

I won't mention which film that was.

Speaker: 00:01:47

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: Okay, sounds good.

Speaker: 00:01:48

Not dating you at all.

Speaker: 00:01:49

Not, no, no.

Speaker: 00:01:50

We don't, still don't know.

Speaker: 00:01:52

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: Yes, yeah.

Speaker: 00:01:53

It's, I won't say that it was the the early 80s.

Speaker: 00:01:56

I won't say

Speaker: 00:01:56

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: So what was your first step into actually pursuing it?

Speaker: 00:02:00

What did you start with?

Speaker: 00:02:02

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: Well, so I actually started in television, actually.

Speaker: 00:02:04

When I got out of college, I really wanted to go into Christian television, and I won't give you my long, sad story of that, but I quickly realized that it wasn't exactly what I thought that it was going to be, and in fact, to be honest with you, I was a little miffed at the way the system was kind of set up.

Speaker: 00:02:20

It was difficult, I think, to create a television show for Christian TV, to pay for that show.

Speaker: 00:02:25

So, instead of getting paid for that show, you had to pay to air that show, and you also had to pay to make that show, so, it's not that I, I don't want to do things if I don't get paid, it has nothing to do with that, it's that, in order to survive, um, you know, my, my kids, they like to eat, and, you know,

Speaker: 00:02:40

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: Yeah, like every day.

Speaker: 00:02:41

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: you know.

Speaker: 00:02:42

Right, exactly, every single day, three times a day,

Speaker: 00:02:44

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: the time.

Speaker: 00:02:45

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: so, so that was kind of the, you know, and I kind of looked at it as like, well, this isn't really a viable situation, and, and while I was in, college, I have a degree in broadcasting and film with an emphasis in television, and while I was in one of the classes, believe it or not, it was in a, I believe it was like some legal class, like legal TV class or something like that for, you know, legal stuff for TV, which is probably the most boring thing that was ever, known to mankind, but the guy said something that kind of stuck with me.

Speaker: 00:03:09

And, the professor, he gets up one day and he says, look, he says, and remember this is like in the, like, 90s or something, he's like, look, I don't know how, in the future we're gonna get, uh, I mean, is it going to be over the internet?

Speaker: 00:03:21

Is it going to be over, broadcast waves?

Speaker: 00:03:23

Is it going to be like some new technology that we don't even know about?

Speaker: 00:03:26

Which, you know, obviously Netflix, didn't exist then.

Speaker: 00:03:28

And so, you know, that's kind of where it's gone.

Speaker: 00:03:30

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: Even YouTube didn't exist at the time.

Speaker: 00:03:32

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: correct.

Speaker: 00:03:33

Yeah.

Speaker: 00:03:33

See, there was no way that we would have known.

Speaker: 00:03:35

He says, I don't know how people are going to get content in the future, but I do know that in the future there will need to be content.

Speaker: 00:03:43

And I went, ding, you know, oh, okay.

Speaker: 00:03:45

So that's where I need to be.

Speaker: 00:03:45

Because I don't, you know, I'm not out to Invent, the new, next platform of whatever.

Speaker: 00:03:50

I just, I want To find something that, is good for people.

Speaker: 00:03:52

my philosophy is, I feel like there's two types.

Speaker: 00:03:55

There's harvest type movies, and I feel like there's seed planting type movies.

Speaker: 00:04:01

And, when I realized that television maybe wasn't going to be where I was going to be, then movies was kind of where I went to.

Speaker: 00:04:07

And I, I kind of am more on the seed planting side of film.

Speaker: 00:04:10

and there is nothing wrong at all with Harvest type films.

Speaker: 00:04:13

I mean, I, there, there, I think there needs to be some films that beat people over the head with the Bible, because that's kind of where they are in their life maybe at that time, and that's what, that's what they need to be reached at that time.

Speaker: 00:04:22

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: different people need

Speaker: 00:04:23

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: I think the, Yeah, the overwhelming majority of people might need, several films to get them to that point or something.

Speaker: 00:04:29

So, it's, you know, how will they hear without a preacher?

Speaker: 00:04:31

And I feel like, movie is a sermon, and there might need to be several sermons that they need to hear.

Speaker: 00:04:38

So that's kind of where I fall.

Speaker: 00:04:39

more of a get your foot in the door maybe take a side approach or something.

Speaker: 00:04:43

But that's kind of where I come from.

Speaker: 00:04:45

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: I think part of the value with that too is that you are trusting that God is going to provide conversations and opportunities for that seed to be able to germinate.

Speaker: 00:04:57

putting it out there where maybe it's not the full length of the gospel or the message, but you are planting that seed that is moving in that direction.

Speaker: 00:05:05

And trust that there will be something inside that makes them question or wonder and they end up in conversations.

Speaker: 00:05:12

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: so that is.

Speaker: 00:05:14

A perfectly awesome segue to, one of the projects that I'm working on now is called Deep Within.

Speaker: 00:05:19

And it is coming from a side door that I don't think very many people are using as a side door to reach people with the Gospel.

Speaker: 00:05:28

and that is oil.

Speaker: 00:05:30

That is the oil industry.

Speaker: 00:05:31

You know, it's like, the science stuff and all that stuff.

Speaker: 00:05:33

So, um, our film, it's called Deep Within, and it is about, abiogenic oil.

Speaker: 00:05:37

there's a, a male and a female geologist, who, are in a relationship.

Speaker: 00:05:42

they actually met on carbon dating love.

Speaker: 00:05:45

And, so that is our kind of our catalyst.

Speaker: 00:05:48

He's a creationist.

Speaker: 00:05:49

She's an evolutionist.

Speaker: 00:05:51

And we get to discuss our religion.

Speaker: 00:05:54

We get to discuss some politics.

Speaker: 00:05:55

We get to discuss big oil.

Speaker: 00:05:56

We talk about big lithium, which is just as bad.

Speaker: 00:05:59

And, all the time, this is taking place when the world has ran out of oil and a lot of chaos is happening, but of course, God knew that there would be 8 billion people on the planet at some point in time, and surely he would have, made some provision, and so this movie is about the possibility of that.

Speaker: 00:06:14

It's a sci fi.

Speaker: 00:06:14

I don't know if this is the answer, but I think that we should be open to the answer and not just say, oh, because it's a religious thing that it can't be.

Speaker: 00:06:21

but the important thing is, in order to reach people with this type of thing, we're doing something totally different than what I think other people have maybe done in the past.

Speaker: 00:06:32

Which is great in a way, and then also is very difficult in a way, so.

Speaker: 00:06:36

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: Yeah.

Speaker: 00:06:36

Well, and it's a, it's a great what if, I mean, all stories are what if, but like, this is a great, What if of like, what if the world ran out of oil.

Speaker: 00:06:44

But it's a what if, question that allows for conversations for very hot topics, including the environment and politics and religion and creation versus evolution.

Speaker: 00:06:56

Like all of that.

Speaker: 00:06:57

It's, it creates an opportunity for very, um, like it authentically creates the opportunity for very real conversations, so that nothing feels forced because the situation itself calls for these conversations.

Speaker: 00:07:10

So yeah, I like that, that you've figured this out and, uh, it is a fun story.

Speaker: 00:07:15

I know a bit about it.

Speaker: 00:07:16

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: Well, you should.

Speaker: 00:07:17

I appreciate you helping, with the writing.

Speaker: 00:07:19

Well, you did some good.

Speaker: 00:07:20

You can't write a rom com and not have a female voice.

Speaker: 00:07:23

So, uh, I, I appreciate Jackie coming on and, and, uh, Jaclyn was kind of, awesome enough to be able to, lend, her voice.

Speaker: 00:07:29

And I don't know if you just did the female voice in that.

Speaker: 00:07:31

Maybe you did other voices, but whatever.

Speaker: 00:07:33

So that was great.

Speaker: 00:07:34

this is what I did was I looked at it and I was like, you know what, this is where I think people are, and over here is where I really want people to be, and because it's a sci fi, we went way further than that on purpose, because they're not gonna go way further than that.

Speaker: 00:07:47

They're like, they're gonna leave the movie theater going, okay, that's not possible, but maybe that is, and that is exactly where we wanted it to be in the first place.

Speaker: 00:07:55

So that was kind of, we're purposely going past the mark to get them back to the mark that we're trying to get to, which is just to have an open mind, and to say, look, God knows what he's doing, and I'm going to trust him.

Speaker: 00:08:04

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: right.

Speaker: 00:08:05

Geoff - Scott Branan Pt1: You've created a great proof of concept film for this and I know you've already shown it at some film festivals.

Speaker: 00:08:11

People have, seen it.

Speaker: 00:08:12

I've seen it.

Speaker: 00:08:13

you did a really good job.

Speaker: 00:08:14

we'll make sure people get a link where they can go find that

Speaker: 00:08:17

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: it's simple.

Speaker: 00:08:18

It's carbon dating dot love.

Speaker: 00:08:21

Geoff - Scott Branan Pt1: right out of the movie.

Speaker: 00:08:22

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: That's a really fun

Speaker: 00:08:24

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: CarbonDating.

Speaker: 00:08:24

love.

Speaker: 00:08:25

Might I, might I add not.

Speaker: 00:08:27

com.

Speaker: 00:08:28

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: Right.

Speaker: 00:08:29

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: Please go to CarbonDating.

Speaker: 00:08:30

love.

Speaker: 00:08:31

Actually, com doesn't exist.

Speaker: 00:08:32

It won't take anywhere.

Speaker: 00:08:32

But, it is CarbonDating.

Speaker: 00:08:33

love.

Speaker: 00:08:33

And, uh, you can scroll down and then, play the video.

Speaker: 00:08:35

So, it's, kind of cool.

Speaker: 00:08:36

It's about, like, 12 minutes long.

Speaker: 00:08:37

and I need to give a big shout out.

Speaker: 00:08:38

By the way, Debbie Gerber, who played, the, lead female in that, was nominated for Best Actress in a short film.

Speaker: 00:08:47

at ICFF, this year.

Speaker: 00:08:49

And, uh, man, man, uh, just the, just stellar performances.

Speaker: 00:08:53

You know, the hard dialogue.

Speaker: 00:08:54

one's a geophysicist and one's a geologist.

Speaker: 00:08:56

And it's just, it's tough stuff.

Speaker: 00:08:58

And, uh, but they, you know, both her and Ryan just, knocked it out of the, park.

Speaker: 00:09:02

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: on now?

Speaker: 00:09:03

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: actually, I just got out of the studio just a few seconds ago, before we started here, working on one of the songs for our musical.

Speaker: 00:09:09

It is called The Czar of Hollywood, or at least that's its title right now.

Speaker: 00:09:12

Who knows?

Speaker: 00:09:12

We'll see what happens.

Speaker: 00:09:13

It's something that we've been working on for, actually several years now.

Speaker: 00:09:16

And, my father and I and my daughter have been working on that.

Speaker: 00:09:19

So it's a three generation effort.

Speaker: 00:09:21

which has really paid off.

Speaker: 00:09:22

I originally wrote a screenplay, called The Czar of Hollywood.

Speaker: 00:09:26

it's about a girl who, has her school play cancelled.

Speaker: 00:09:29

in Rome, Georgia, and so she decides to just go to L.

Speaker: 00:09:31

A.

Speaker: 00:09:31

to try to find an agent that she's seen online, because, you know, everything you see online is real, right?

Speaker: 00:09:36

And, uh, so she, she heads out to L.

Speaker: 00:09:37

A.

Speaker: 00:09:38

and she gets there and, uh, on the way, she meets a brainless politician, a heartless rapper, and a preacher lacking courage, and then finds out, of course, the agent is a fraud.

Speaker: 00:09:45

He lives in his van out back, so, um, which actually might be the real case in reality, but, she then, of course, goes through this whole entire, thing and then realizes that You know, in the end, that there's no place like

Speaker: 00:09:56

Rome,

Speaker: 00:09:57

Georgia.

Speaker: 00:09:57

So that's the that's the catalyst for that one.

Speaker: 00:09:59

And, but listen, 15 original songs And a couple of them are good, uh, that's

Speaker: 00:10:05

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: They're actually very good.

Speaker: 00:10:06

They're very good.

Speaker: 00:10:07

I've heard some of them.

Speaker: 00:10:08

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: I appreciate that.

Speaker: 00:10:08

we actually had Jessica Vosk, who played Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway, actually came from New York and recorded here in our studio, recorded one of our songs for us.

Speaker: 00:10:16

she's the principal, Principal West, as in, the Wicked Witch of the West.

Speaker: 00:10:19

she recorded the song Shut It Down, because she's the one that comes in and shuts the school play down.

Speaker: 00:10:23

just some phenomenal stuff.

Speaker: 00:10:24

We also have, I don't know if you know this or not, you might not know this because, this is new, is Erica Henningsen, who, was in Mean Girls on Broadway.

Speaker: 00:10:31

she has agreed to record, one of the other songs, which happens to be the other song that the Principal sings, and it's called The Principle of the Thing.

Speaker: 00:10:37

And then we've had, Mark Sanders and, Grace Field and some other folks who, it's just been, it's been awesome.

Speaker: 00:10:43

I mean, it's just been really fun to, write a song and have people come in and just take it to the next level.

Speaker: 00:10:48

we were talking about that earlier before the podcast is it just seems like God has brought so many different people, um, to take my feeble efforts to the next level.

Speaker: 00:10:56

and I just, I really, I appreciate that.

Speaker: 00:10:58

And, the musical has been something that.

Speaker: 00:11:01

is near and dear to my heart.

Speaker: 00:11:02

I'm sure if there's writers out there and you're listening to this, writers, I'm sure there's those things that you would sell, if you could sell them, and then there's those things that you would not sell, no matter what, like, there's literally no amount of money that you would sell because it's just your baby, and the musical is, is my baby, and, uh, and I'm excited about it.

Speaker: 00:11:18

who knows, maybe someday we'll be able to make it into a, uh, a feature film, right now it's written as a live stage, performance, and, we're gonna see if we can get some, Uh, perform it here.

Speaker: 00:11:27

we actually have a few places around the country that are looking at it right now.

Speaker: 00:11:31

I, I don't know if anything will become of that, but, it's difficult to do a, a musical that, no one's ever heard of.

Speaker: 00:11:37

Because, you're trying to sell tickets and trying to get tickets.

Speaker: 00:11:39

People in your theater, and, hey, we're doing da da da da, and, oh, I've heard that, I want to go, and, or we're going, or we're doing the Wizard of Oz, uh, or we're doing, you know, the Czar of Hollywood, and I don't know that one, so, okay.

Speaker: 00:11:47

So there's, there's those things, but, yeah, excited about that, and, the music side of it, the story side of it, because, you know, ultimately, it was a vehicle that I got to talk about religion and politics and society, without being preachy, taking that side, you know, that side door again, and, uh, just kind of, you know.

Speaker: 00:12:02

Putting some stuff out there, and then letting people, kind of marinate on that, so.

Speaker: 00:12:07

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: yeah.

Speaker: 00:12:08

Awesome.

Speaker: 00:12:09

And so, you've actually been mentioned multiple times on our podcast.

Speaker: 00:12:15

Several of our

Speaker: 00:12:16

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: bad or good?

Speaker: 00:12:17

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: very good,

Speaker: 00:12:19

several of our guests know you and have mentioned you and your festival specifically, so tell us about how you got started with the festival.

Speaker: 00:12:27

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: Um, I actually, this is horrible.

Speaker: 00:12:29

I went to a couple of festivals, and I was like, well, this is cool.

Speaker: 00:12:32

but man, it's like, I feel like there's, there's some things missing.

Speaker: 00:12:37

Some of the festivals that I went to, Um, it was pretty much all about the finished product of the film, which is great and, you know, that's

Speaker: 00:12:45

important.

Speaker: 00:12:45

but, you know, as a writer, it would be nice to have some more things for writers.

Speaker: 00:12:49

So, that was kind of one of my focus.

Speaker: 00:12:51

And so we, we ended up doing, different tracks.

Speaker: 00:12:53

And we did a writer's track, a director's track, and an actor's track.

Speaker: 00:12:58

And, uh, one year we had a music track too, And so, That was just kind of something that, I felt like we could do and that we could do it well.

Speaker: 00:13:04

And, we're in southwest Florida, so we're kind of not anywhere and on the way to anywhere.

Speaker: 00:13:08

We're just kind of way down here.

Speaker: 00:13:09

You know, it's like it's closer to Cuba, I think, than it is to, uh, you know, to Atlanta.

Speaker: 00:13:13

But, we're way, way, way down here, so.

Speaker: 00:13:15

I just was like, you know what, I really think that we could pull this off and we're an AV production company.

Speaker: 00:13:19

So, we've had the technology and stuff to show all of the screenings and we have a small studio here and a small facility that we could, you know, do some stuff.

Speaker: 00:13:26

And so we've done that for three years and we've had amazing, we've had, I was going to like try to list some people that we had here because we've had a cool amount of people like

Speaker: 00:13:35

Josh Carpenter from Green Apple.

Speaker: 00:13:37

we've had Bob Sines.

Speaker: 00:13:39

amazing writer and a good friend of mine.

Speaker: 00:13:40

We've had, uh,

Speaker: 00:13:41

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: Sean Shaw, Gene

Speaker: 00:13:43

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: Christopher Sean Shaw is the, yeah, the director of Church People.

Speaker: 00:13:46

And I mean, just, there's, we've had some awesome people here.

Speaker: 00:13:50

And it has just been non stop coolness for three years.

Speaker: 00:13:53

But here's my dilemma.

Speaker: 00:13:54

I'm just, this is a good time I can, I can tell you this.

Speaker: 00:13:56

So what we've done and decided to do this year is we're going to pull back just a little bit.

Speaker: 00:14:00

we're gonna go down to one day for our festival this year, only because of finances, it's like we're at a point where I've got several ideas for programs for films that I'd like to do, and I'm gonna take some of the money that we would have used for the festivals, and I'm gonna put it towards, funding the things that, that I'm doing, you know?

Speaker: 00:14:16

Geoff - Scott Branan Pt1: Are you saying that you've been paying for the festivals?

Speaker: 00:14:18

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: Well, yeah, it's, uh, it's a

Speaker: 00:14:20

labor of love.

Speaker: 00:14:21

Like, you know,

Speaker: 00:14:22

Geoff - Scott Branan Pt1: most people don't

Speaker: 00:14:23

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: well, I, I think I, I've been to festivals that I've paid to get in, and honestly, they weren't worth paying to get in and you know, I've been to some Christian festivals and, and I will mention one that I do appreciate, I do appreciate ICFF, which is here in Orlando in Florida.

Speaker: 00:14:36

it's actually the largest one that's in the area.

Speaker: 00:14:38

we help sponsor some stuff with that one.

Speaker: 00:14:39

And, uh, and so, you know, I believe in that it's just.

Speaker: 00:14:42

Uh, there's some other festivals out there, throughout the country that especially some of the religious ones that I really kind of feel it's more of a money making, ordeal.

Speaker: 00:14:50

And, uh, I'm not sure that things are really getting done, but we have a really good awards ceremony and we've had a blast.

Speaker: 00:14:57

And you can still see our awards ceremonies.

Speaker: 00:14:58

You can go, uh, to, uh, beyondaudiovisual.

Speaker: 00:15:00

com, uh, and, or I'm sorry, it's beyondentertainmentfl.

Speaker: 00:15:04

Now, BeYondEntertainmentFlorida.

Speaker: 00:15:06

com.

Speaker: 00:15:06

and see those things.

Speaker: 00:15:07

They're on YouTube and stuff.

Speaker: 00:15:08

And it's amazing.

Speaker: 00:15:09

It's really fun.

Speaker: 00:15:10

We have a great time in fact, if I can, can I take a moment to?

Speaker: 00:15:13

So, uh, a couple years ago, I think it was two years ago, um, we had, Volz.

Speaker: 00:15:18

Uh, you might have heard of Greg X.

Speaker: 00:15:19

Volz, from Petra.

Speaker: 00:15:20

his daughter, Jonna, is a good friend of, mine and, and my wife's, and, we had her here, And, uh, her and Bob are just two peas in a pod.

Speaker: 00:15:28

They're just fun.

Speaker: 00:15:30

They just do fun stuff together.

Speaker: 00:15:31

so, uh, they're supposed to do a presentation at the awards ceremony where they're giving out one of the awards.

Speaker: 00:15:36

so I've written the script on the teleprompter for Bob, which is funny that I'm writing for Bob, which is just funny in the first place.

Speaker: 00:15:42

And so Jonna is late.

Speaker: 00:15:43

I don't know, she's distracted or something's going on.

Speaker: 00:15:45

She's not up there.

Speaker: 00:15:46

So Bob realizes that John is not there, and this is the funniest thing that I think I've seen in like years.

Speaker: 00:15:51

because I never saw Bob signs this way, because Bob's always very stoic.

Speaker: 00:15:54

unless you know Bob.

Speaker: 00:15:54

If you know Bob, you know that's not true.

Speaker: 00:15:55

But, so, so he gets up and he goes, well, I'm just gonna say both parts, and so he starts, doing the teleprompter for both her and him, and he's answering himself, and The place is just, it was so fun.

Speaker: 00:16:05

Like, we just have, we just put our hair down.

Speaker: 00:16:07

it's formally informal, if that makes sense.

Speaker: 00:16:09

You know, it's just a fun time.

Speaker: 00:16:10

And we are still doing our word ceremony this year.

Speaker: 00:16:12

We're gonna do that Saturday night, like we normally do.

Speaker: 00:16:14

So we'll have some sessions during the day, show some screenings in the afternoon, and then do the awards ceremony at night.

Speaker: 00:16:19

I I mean, it's open.

Speaker: 00:16:20

The festival is still open as far as the contest.

Speaker: 00:16:22

go to Film Freeway, look up BEYOND, um, let's see, it's BEYOND Entertainment Family Film Festival.

Speaker: 00:16:28

And, uh, you know, and you can submit stuff, I think it's still open for a little while here, but, that's kind of, that was the catalyst, was, we could do this, and we have done it.

Speaker: 00:16:36

and I'm happy to have done it, now, though I think we're kind of coming up on a different era, uh, for what we're doing here from, Beyond Entertainment, but, uh, it's, it's cool.

Speaker: 00:16:45

I'm excited about everything that's going on.

Speaker: 00:16:47

Geoff - Scott Branan Pt1: Well, Jaclyn mentioned, uh, close to the beginning that several of our previous guests have, mentioned you, quite frankly, most of them we probably met at your festival.

Speaker: 00:16:57

And they do have a very, very

Speaker: 00:16:59

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: I just slipped him a five,

Speaker: 00:17:02

Geoff - Scott Branan Pt1: They do have, very fond memories and feelings about your festival.

Speaker: 00:17:06

I know it's not the largest, but It is something that I think everybody who has gone there feels it's been a significant part of their year and their career and have left feeling like your family and perhaps everyone that they met at the festival was family and it does have that very close family atmosphere.

Speaker: 00:17:28

if anybody has not been to beyond, entertainment, family film festival, even though this year is one day, don't think there's any chance you'd be disappointed,

Speaker: 00:17:37

the people you meet

Speaker: 00:17:38

will make it worth it

Speaker: 00:17:38

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: I mean, we're still, we're gonna fit three days into one.

Speaker: 00:17:41

It's, you know,

Speaker: 00:17:41

it'll, it'll be, uh, all, all, as exciting, just a little shorter, yeah.

Speaker: 00:17:45

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: One of the cool things about a smaller festival is the fact that you get to have longer conversations with people.

Speaker: 00:17:52

You get to get more into, deeper conversations.

Speaker: 00:17:55

And so when you leave the festival, you haven't just gotten a whole bunch of people.

Speaker: 00:17:59

business cards, you've actually made real friends, real connections, and like that, that's what we got, from that festival, and I'm so glad we got to go.

Speaker: 00:18:08

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: Christopher Sean Shaw, and Josh, Carpenter were here.

Speaker: 00:18:12

one of those things that we were able to do is, you know, we went to, supper with everybody one night.

Speaker: 00:18:15

And, uh, we're at the barbecue place down the street here.

Speaker: 00:18:19

I don't remember exactly what we were talking about or what we said, I do remember that night, my, my body physically hurting from laughing so hard and so long, it was just, and I honestly, I don't know how they did not throw us out of the restaurant, they probably should have, except I think we were pretty much I think we were pretty much finished.

Speaker: 00:18:36

Taking up the entire restaurant, so that's probably why, but, uh, we just had a great time because we had time to sit and talk.

Speaker: 00:18:42

That's also, you know, I had met Bob Saenz before our festival.

Speaker: 00:18:45

I had met him at ICFF, but, Bob was always the, you know, kind of afraid of him.

Speaker: 00:18:50

He's, you know, he'll just tell you how it is, you know.

Speaker: 00:18:52

Oh, you want to be a writer, do you?

Speaker: 00:18:53

Maybe you should think twice about that, you know, kind of, you know.

Speaker: 00:18:55

So, he's the kind of guy that goes, You Oh, so you want to sing in the praise band, uh, have you considered the bus ministry?

Speaker: 00:19:00

You know, he's

Speaker: 00:19:01

like that

Speaker: 00:19:01

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: Yeah.

Speaker: 00:19:02

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: So,

Speaker: 00:19:02

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: he'll tell you all the bad news and then he'll say, well, if you still want in, you

Speaker: 00:19:06

can

Speaker: 00:19:06

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: if you still want to do it, yeah, then we can do it.

Speaker: 00:19:08

You betcha.

Speaker: 00:19:09

And so I, I met him and then we invited him here and I was like, man, I don't know.

Speaker: 00:19:13

I don't know what I have just done, but he came the first year and we had a blast.

Speaker: 00:19:19

I, I mean, I can't even describe it.

Speaker: 00:19:20

He was just so not what I, thought him and we've become fast friends.

Speaker: 00:19:25

I've actually stayed at his home.

Speaker: 00:19:26

My family stayed at his home several times now on our way to Kansas City because he lives halfway between here Florida and Missouri.

Speaker: 00:19:32

So it works out well for us.

Speaker: 00:19:33

so we go and see them, and they just, they treat my kids like they're their own grandkids, and, had little candies on the pillows for them when we got there, a few days before Christmas.

Speaker: 00:19:40

It was hysterical.

Speaker: 00:19:41

It was just, it's just this fun, this fun thing, and, and that's just all come from, the family type feeling at the family festival, which it should.

Speaker: 00:19:48

I mean, it is a family, festival, so, you know, not just the content that we're bringing in, but, the feeling that we're putting out should also have that same family friendly feeling, you know?

Speaker: 00:19:58

I've been to secular film festivals, I've been to Christian film festivals, and really like the concept.

Speaker: 00:20:03

I mean, it was really, it was like something that really got into it.

Speaker: 00:20:06

In fact, my dad started to come to ours down here from Missouri because he's like, Oh, there's a other world out here that, you

Speaker: 00:20:12

know, he wants to explore.

Speaker: 00:20:13

So,

Speaker: 00:20:13

also, I should say that the festival this year is October 5th, and that is a Saturday 9am to 9pm.

Speaker: 00:20:19

And, like I said, we'll be doing sessions in the morning, we'll have some screenings in the afternoon, and then our big awards ceremony the end, Something else that people have told me they like about our film festival is that we separate out all the different genres.

Speaker: 00:20:31

It's comedy, feature film, comedy, uh, short film, comedy screenplay,

Speaker: 00:20:36

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: Yeah.

Speaker: 00:20:36

So, my comedy's

Speaker: 00:20:37

not up against a drama.

Speaker: 00:20:39

Right.

Speaker: 00:20:39

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: Right, yeah, yeah.

Speaker: 00:20:41

now I will say, and this is something actually be good for you for, if you don't know this, if you submit stuff to film festivals, you There are, I can assure you, in every film festival, there are way more dramas than any other category, in fact, we have so many dramas that we've actually split our dramas into three different categories, for the films, and that is, faith based, secular, and Christmas, otherwise, I mean, they're just, just the sheer number of them was overwhelming.

Speaker: 00:21:04

If you have an action film or something, A lot less of those.

Speaker: 00:21:08

So I would, I would encourage you to send your action films action scripts in to places that have a specific category for action or a specific category for comedy.

Speaker: 00:21:18

so, find those different categories because, that's what I wanted to do when I, I was like, how come there's not a category for what I'm specifically doing?

Speaker: 00:21:25

it's easier for me to, win something if I'm not up against 9, 000 people.

Speaker: 00:21:29

if I'm up against only 900, that might be a little bit better.

Speaker: 00:21:31

So,

Speaker: 00:21:32

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: Right.

Speaker: 00:21:32

Right.

Speaker: 00:21:34

There you go.

Speaker: 00:21:35

Do you have any last thoughts for our listeners before we finish out this portion of the interview?

Speaker: 00:21:40

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: yeah, I want to go back a little bit to what we were talking about, earlier, and that is, God brings you people.

Speaker: 00:21:45

I believe I'm at that point in life, and I think if you're listening to this, might be at this point.

Speaker: 00:21:50

point to out there in podcast land, and that is, I know that I'm old enough now to know what I'm good at, but with that comes the understanding I know what I'm not good at, and I can be honest with myself about the things that I do well, and I can be brutally honest with myself now about what I know I do not do well.

Speaker: 00:22:13

And God has been amazingly faithful to bring people to Beyond Entertainment, and put in my pathway the types of people who are good at those things that I'm not, and maybe, was that to help me?

Speaker: 00:22:26

I don't know.

Speaker: 00:22:26

Maybe it was that I was to help them because they weren't good at what I'm good at or something, I don't know.

Speaker: 00:22:30

But however that works out, it's just, think that's really a key.

Speaker: 00:22:33

I think you can tell that God is doing things with your creativity, when he's bringing you people to help further that creativity.

Speaker: 00:22:42

And so that's, so, uh, pray for the people, now, I will, at the same time, it's a little messy, sometimes God brings you some weird people, and, uh, you know,

Speaker: 00:22:50

and, and we got them here, too, so, I wasn't going to mention any names, but,

Speaker: 00:22:54

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: I'm one of

Speaker: 00:22:54

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: uh, So, but, uh, yeah, we've mentioned all the names on here, I think we've, yeah, uh, everyone knows who they are now, but, but that's okay, you know, that's, uh, that's all part of the, the process, I think, is, you know, all of us doing life together and, being at a point where You know, I don't know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future, and I know that, ultimately God will be able to take something, if we're faithful, God will be able to take something that, we have created and take it to a level, and use it for His glory.

Speaker: 00:23:23

Not

Speaker: 00:23:24

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: Yeah.

Speaker: 00:23:24

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: that I think, oh, this is what I would do with it.

Speaker: 00:23:26

Jaclyn - Scott Branan Pt1: Yeah, no, he'll take it beyond.

Speaker: 00:23:28

Scott - Scott Branan Pt1: He'll take it totally farther than, anything that, we could have ever, come up with ourself.

Speaker: 00:23:32

And so, yeah, it's not just entertainment.

Speaker: 00:23:34

It's beyond.

Speaker: 00:23:35

I was gonna mention, if you'd like to see the, deep within proof of concept, that's at carbondating.

Speaker: 00:23:41

love.

Speaker: 00:23:41

If you'd like to see, any of the material for the musical, you know, for, like, folks who might want to do the musical, it's at beyondmusicals.

Speaker: 00:23:50

com.

Speaker: 00:23:50

It's beyondmusicals.

Speaker: 00:23:51

com.

Speaker: 00:23:51

Musicals.

Speaker: 00:23:52

com, just like it sounds, all one word.

Speaker: 00:23:54

And, uh, you can, you know, check that out.

Speaker: 00:23:55

it has little previews of the song and everything, so that's the, something that we've set up so that people can kind of see what we're doing.

Speaker: 00:24:00

Oh,