Capernaum Studios, Filmmaking, and Transformative Entertainment - With Tammy Lane

Geoff: 00:00:00

Hey there.

Geoff: 00:00:00

Welcome to the Faith & Family Filmmakers podcast.

Geoff: 00:00:03

My name is Geoffrey Whitt, and, um, I'm happy to be back with you today

Geoff: 00:00:07

and to have our guest, Tammy Lane.

Geoff: 00:00:09

Tammy is the producer and director of Washington's Armor and the founder and

Geoff: 00:00:14

president of Capernaum Studios, a unique film location near Weatherford, Texas.

Geoff: 00:00:20

Capernaum has hosted numerous productions, including seasons one and two of the

Geoff: 00:00:25

hit series "The Chosen." Tammy developed Washington's Armor, inspired by David

Geoff: 00:00:31

Barton's book, "The Bulletproof George Washington," and is currently in

Geoff: 00:00:35

pre-production on its sequel, Bulletproof.

Geoff: 00:00:39

She has also written and directed six large-scale evangelistic outdoor

Geoff: 00:00:43

productions at Capernaum since 2008.

Geoff: 00:00:46

Driven by her calling, Tammy is dedicated to creating transformative

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entertainment through redemptive films, immersive live experiences, and inspiring

Geoff: 00:00:56

studio backlot tours, all to proclaim the truth of the Bible and history.

Geoff: 00:01:02

Welcome, Tammy.

Tammy: 00:01:04

Thank you.

Tammy: 00:01:04

Thank you for having

Geoff: 00:01:05

I'm so glad we finally get to do this.

Geoff: 00:01:07

We tried to make this work last year, and the timing just didn't work out.

Geoff: 00:01:12

and, you know, on, on personal level, I've crossed your path.

Geoff: 00:01:17

Of course, we've crossed paths multiple times, at content, uh, and there on, on

Geoff: 00:01:22

your set, but, uh, never really gotten to chat or get to know a whole lot about

Geoff: 00:01:26

you, so I'm glad we get to do that today.

Tammy: 00:01:28

Yeah, me too.

Tammy: 00:01:29

It'd be fun

Geoff: 00:01:30

I'd like to, to go way back first of all.

Geoff: 00:01:33

Um, Capernaum, when I read in your bio since 2008, I was actually unaware

Geoff: 00:01:39

of, uh, how far Capernaum went back.

Geoff: 00:01:41

The first time I was there was 2018, I believe, at a content, um, festival.

Geoff: 00:01:47

But, you know, as you go back to tell us about how you got started, you know,

Geoff: 00:01:53

maybe for you, film and your interest in film goes even beyond, I'm guessing,

Geoff: 00:01:58

the, the beginning of Capernaum.

Geoff: 00:02:00

So why don't you give us some background and fill us in?

Tammy: 00:02:03

Sure.

Tammy: 00:02:04

Well,

Tammy: 00:02:08

um, around 2006, five or six, um, the Lord started placing on my heart to

Tammy: 00:02:12

do these seven biblical short films.

Tammy: 00:02:15

And I didn't have any film background or, you know, I've not gone to

Tammy: 00:02:19

film school or anything like that.

Tammy: 00:02:21

I just really sought the Lord and fasted and prayed and just wanted

Tammy: 00:02:27

whatever His will was and what His will for my life, because I was, like,

Tammy: 00:02:32

floundering, didn't know what I was gonna do and what the Lord wanted me to do.

Tammy: 00:02:37

And so after that time of fasting and prayer, He gave me that desire

Tammy: 00:02:42

to do the seven biblical short films on the life of Christ.

Tammy: 00:02:47

And so I had no idea what to do.

Tammy: 00:02:50

Um, and I knew one producer, who was my cousin, and called him and said, "Hey, can

Tammy: 00:02:58

you come teach me how to do this? I need to do these seven biblical short films."

Tammy: 00:03:02

And he said, "Sure." So he came, to Texas and, um, taught me everything

Tammy: 00:03:10

from, you know, script and casting and, um, directing and producing and how

Tammy: 00:03:16

to do camera, all, just everything.

Tammy: 00:03:19

And we got those done, and one of them, um, we rented a soundstage

Tammy: 00:03:25

and built out a biblical village, like a marketplace type set.

Tammy: 00:03:29

And, um, inside the soundstage, it took about two weeks to build it, and then

Tammy: 00:03:35

about a day or two to tear it down.

Tammy: 00:03:37

And in that process, the Lord dropped into my spirit to build

Tammy: 00:03:41

a… permanent set, biblical set.

Tammy: 00:03:45

And so, um, I kinda commenced to do that.

Tammy: 00:03:50

I just really just, you know, talked to my husband about it, and we had a, um,

Tammy: 00:03:56

happened to be partners with my family in a 2,200 acre horse and cattle ranch.

Tammy: 00:04:03

And so that seemed like, the perfect location.

Tammy: 00:04:06

And so talking to my family, my husband thought I'd lost

Tammy: 00:04:10

my ever-loving mind, you know?

Tammy: 00:04:12

You can imagine going

Geoff: 00:04:13

undertaking

Tammy: 00:04:15

Yeah, uh, you wanna build a biblical village.

Tammy: 00:04:18

But, anyway, as you see, uh, you know, it came to pass, and then the Lord

Tammy: 00:04:23

spoke to me that, you know, we could do films there, but other people, other

Tammy: 00:04:28

filmmakers would come and film there.

Tammy: 00:04:30

Well, it took 12 years for the first filmmakers to come.

Tammy: 00:04:35

So we built the village, and it was there, but 12 years

Tammy: 00:04:38

later is when the films started

Tammy: 00:04:39

coming.

Tammy: 00:04:40

But, um, in that process, then we developed all of our live

Tammy: 00:04:45

productions and walked through immersion experiences there.

Tammy: 00:04:50

So, you know, we didn't just lie there dormant.

Tammy: 00:04:53

We, did some things that, got a lot of people saved

Geoff: 00:04:56

Yeah.

Geoff: 00:04:57

That's really cool.

Geoff: 00:04:58

Um, tell us about those live experiences.

Geoff: 00:05:01

Uh, again, your bio said you've produced, I believe, six large-scale evangelistic

Geoff: 00:05:06

outdoor productions, but that must be six different productions because

Geoff: 00:05:10

you've done them each year and perhaps more than one many of those years.

Geoff: 00:05:15

So as far as the number of times they've been produced,

Geoff: 00:05:18

it goes many times beyond that.

Tammy: 00:05:21

Yes.

Tammy: 00:05:22

We, opened it in 2000 and, I think, seven was our first year.

Tammy: 00:05:27

We did the Passover experience, um, and taught people from beginning to end

Tammy: 00:05:34

what the Passover meant, from the Exodus all the way to, um, the Last Supper.

Tammy: 00:05:40

And that was our first one.

Tammy: 00:05:42

And, uh, we have actors and really good actor.

Tammy: 00:05:46

We have a great, pool of, of actors now, so it's wonderful.

Tammy: 00:05:51

But, um, but we did that, then we did the Star of Bethlehem, a Christmas one,

Tammy: 00:05:56

and, um, you know, several after that.

Tammy: 00:06:00

We've done just, you know, many.

Tammy: 00:06:02

In fact, we're doing some new ones for Easter this year.

Tammy: 00:06:07

Should be, should be fun.

Tammy: 00:06:09

We're doing one for spring break and just developed one about Lazarus, and

Tammy: 00:06:13

we'll be showing that this weekend.

Geoff: 00:06:15

Cool

Tammy: 00:06:16

Um, yeah, so We've just, we've done a whole bunch of these, and they've

Tammy: 00:06:20

just, they've just been wonderful, and it's just really what the Lord,

Tammy: 00:06:24

um, you know, had for us to do, so.

Geoff: 00:06:27

So knowing where you are, you're not exactly right in the

Geoff: 00:06:31

middle of a metropolitan area.

Geoff: 00:06:33

You must have people travel from quite a distance.

Geoff: 00:06:37

Tell us about the numbers that you get and where people come

Geoff: 00:06:39

from to see your productions.

Tammy: 00:06:41

Well, we, you know, if we open for a weekend, we'll get 1,000 or so people.

Tammy: 00:06:47

Um, and they've come from Australia.

Tammy: 00:06:50

Then we've had South Africa, we've had England, um, many places,

Tammy: 00:06:56

just really all over the world.

Tammy: 00:06:58

And of course in America we've had, you know, just about everywhere people come.

Tammy: 00:07:03

and we have a big pool in Dallas-Fort Worth too that, that come, and some of

Tammy: 00:07:07

them will come to every single one that we do, so I'm thankful for that too

Geoff: 00:07:11

Hmm.

Geoff: 00:07:12

Okay.

Geoff: 00:07:13

So, uh, along with the studio, of course, you are a filmmaker, writer, director.

Geoff: 00:07:18

Tell us about, well, "Washington's Armor" would be one film, but

Geoff: 00:07:22

you started with short films.

Geoff: 00:07:24

Uh, sounded like you learned a lot with those.

Geoff: 00:07:28

Um, if he taught you all of those different aspects to get started on

Geoff: 00:07:33

your first short film, that's, uh, that's a lot of learning at once.

Tammy: 00:07:37

Yeah, I think that, um, most people, uh, Christian filmmakers, indie

Tammy: 00:07:43

filmmakers are, have to start with doing everything themselves, you know?

Tammy: 00:07:50

So I even did grip.

Tammy: 00:07:52

I did, I did all of it, editing.

Tammy: 00:07:55

Um, but when you do all that, then you really realize where your giftings

Tammy: 00:08:00

lie, and then eventually w- I was able to hire people you know, 'cause

Tammy: 00:08:07

you don't have any money at first.

Tammy: 00:08:08

You, when you start out, you're just kinda like just getting

Tammy: 00:08:11

done what you can get done.

Tammy: 00:08:13

I'm sure everybody can relate to this.

Tammy: 00:08:15

It's … So, um, but then, you know, once you do it, and then you continue to do it,

Tammy: 00:08:24

you just get better and better, and you're able to hire people that are in, that

Tammy: 00:08:28

are experts in that area, which I love.

Tammy: 00:08:31

I love to hire people that are, um, experts in, in their field.

Tammy: 00:08:36

And it's, um, it makes it so much easier just to focus on,

Tammy: 00:08:41

you know, what you're good at.

Tammy: 00:08:43

But yeah, I learned a lot from doing the short films.

Tammy: 00:08:45

I've done many short films, and we use, in our live productions, we also

Tammy: 00:08:49

use short films and multimedia stuff.

Tammy: 00:08:53

So We just created a new one.

Tammy: 00:08:55

so we usually create that for each of our productions, and

Tammy: 00:09:00

I really enjoy doing that.

Tammy: 00:09:01

I think that's a lot of fun.

Tammy: 00:09:02

But yeah, for Washington's Armor, that, story was amazing to me because, of

Tammy: 00:09:10

the sacrifices that George Washington, encountered as he endeavored to,

Tammy: 00:09:16

you know, bring us a free nation.

Tammy: 00:09:19

And, the first story of Washington's Armor is about his

Tammy: 00:09:22

travels across the snowy tundra, his first military assignment.

Tammy: 00:09:28

And, um, even that, is so amazing that he survived that because there were so many

Tammy: 00:09:36

times that he could have, been killed, but the Lord spared him for purpose.

Tammy: 00:09:42

And, so I love the story.

Tammy: 00:09:44

I mean, not in this story, but he was also sick a lot.

Tammy: 00:09:49

He had a lot of illnesses.

Tammy: 00:09:50

He had malaria two or three times.

Tammy: 00:09:53

He had, um, like some major illnesses and survived all

Tammy: 00:09:58

those when many people didn't.

Tammy: 00:10:00

And so he's just … It, it's an amazing

Tammy: 00:10:02

story,

Geoff: 00:10:03

So you were able to film that on your own set.

Geoff: 00:10:07

Um, and we didn't me- talk about this yet, but in case people are unaware, your

Geoff: 00:10:11

sets do, go beyond your biblical village.

Geoff: 00:10:14

Do you want to tell us a little more about that?

Tammy: 00:10:16

Yes, and we're expanding them too.

Tammy: 00:10:18

So, uh, we have our Biblical Village and, um, then we also have

Tammy: 00:10:23

our early American sets, and we're expanding the early American sets,

Tammy: 00:10:27

so they are looking really good now.

Tammy: 00:10:31

We're also building a new set called Judea.

Tammy: 00:10:34

This will be something when you come out that's gonna be brand new.

Tammy: 00:10:37

Um, and it is … looks like another biblical, you know, a little bit

Tammy: 00:10:43

different, but it's a biblical setting, and I'm excited to use that.

Tammy: 00:10:48

It's gonna be, it's gonna be awesome.

Tammy: 00:10:50

Uh, we're also expanding.

Tammy: 00:10:52

We have some, like a Main Street USA, and then we're, and then we also have

Tammy: 00:10:58

like a disaster town that is, um, going to have a new warehouse section to it.

Tammy: 00:11:05

So that, that's also gonna be new.

Tammy: 00:11:08

So we're doing some, some cool expansions, so I can't wait for

Tammy: 00:11:10

everybody to come and see it.

Geoff: 00:11:12

Cool.

Geoff: 00:11:12

I was actually going to ask you, at some point in this interview what was upcoming.

Geoff: 00:11:16

I knew that there was some construction and stuff going

Geoff: 00:11:18

on, but I wasn't personally familiar with what exactly it was.

Geoff: 00:11:22

And you've got, uh, lots of acreage as well, um, that is used for a

Geoff: 00:11:26

number of things with filming.

Tammy: 00:11:28

Yeah, we have the land, um, you know, woods and, and ravines and

Tammy: 00:11:33

whatnot, and then we also have a, a large sound stage and a smaller

Tammy: 00:11:38

sound stage and, and so there's, there's lots of, lots of places

Geoff: 00:11:43

Including an LED wall

Tammy: 00:11:45

Mm-hmm.

Tammy: 00:11:46

We have an LED wall, and there's been several people that have,

Tammy: 00:11:49

um, used it, and we've used it.

Tammy: 00:11:53

We use it in our, uh, live experiences as well.

Tammy: 00:11:56

So it, it brings people into kinda that setting, so it's pretty cool

Geoff: 00:12:01

uh, and along with that, of course, which is i-important for people

Geoff: 00:12:04

to know, you've got the, um, you'll know the correct terminology, the, the

Geoff: 00:12:08

technicians to, to create the content for that wall and to operate it.

Geoff: 00:12:14

Uh, I, I wasn't really aware until I saw a bit of a, a tour when I was there

Geoff: 00:12:18

how that actually works with antennas and a transmitter from the camera, so

Geoff: 00:12:23

when the camera moves, the perspective of what's on that screen changes.

Geoff: 00:12:29

Uh, that was, it kind of was like a little light bulb for me, like, okay,

Geoff: 00:12:34

well, that's something I wasn't aware of.

Geoff: 00:12:36

It's really cool.

Tammy: 00:12:37

Yeah, it, it makes it look completely real, like the background.

Tammy: 00:12:41

So if you, you know, are doing, you know, an office setting, it could

Tammy: 00:12:47

be an, a restaurant, it could be, um, we… Like Roman, we have a, a

Tammy: 00:12:53

good Roman looking set thing for it.

Tammy: 00:12:57

It's really cool.

Tammy: 00:12:59

And then you just put a few, uh, practical props in front of it, in

Tammy: 00:13:04

front of the screen, and then it blends

Geoff: 00:13:07

Yeah.

Tammy: 00:13:08

so

Geoff: 00:13:08

Yeah, and then when that perspective changes because those

Geoff: 00:13:11

things are 3D, then you're-- it, it actually looks real instead

Geoff: 00:13:15

of just being a flat picture,

Geoff: 00:13:17

which is pretty cool.

Geoff: 00:13:19

Pretty cool.

Geoff: 00:13:20

and so you have a whole crew, of course, of people who operate that, I, I assume

Geoff: 00:13:25

create the content that's on there?

Tammy: 00:13:27

Mm-hmm.

Tammy: 00:13:28

Yes, we have, uh, content creators.

Tammy: 00:13:30

We also have people that, that know how to film on it, on the wall, because it's

Tammy: 00:13:36

different, you know, than, um, filming on the practical sets, and, and I'm still

Tammy: 00:13:42

learning that as well, so… but we have people that have done it many times and

Tammy: 00:13:48

know how to create something beautiful, you know, for, for other people as well

Geoff: 00:13:55

So back to your film, Washington's Armor.

Geoff: 00:13:57

When was that filmed?

Tammy: 00:14:00

That was in 2018, and, um, it's on Prime, Amazon Prime.

Tammy: 00:14:06

It's been on there for a while now.

Tammy: 00:14:08

And, uh, there's a sequel called Bulletproof, and we did

Tammy: 00:14:14

a proof of concept for that.

Tammy: 00:14:15

So we have a 20-minute proof of concept, and we are, you know, kind of pitching

Tammy: 00:14:21

that and trying to get it funded.

Tammy: 00:14:24

So that's where we are on that

Geoff: 00:14:26

Just like everybody else, right?

Tammy: 00:14:29

No, I know

Geoff: 00:14:29

It, it seems like no matter how, uh, at least with independent

Geoff: 00:14:33

filmmakers, um, you know, we know people with eight titles, like successful

Geoff: 00:14:38

titles behind them, and they're still out there, beating the pavement

Geoff: 00:14:42

to raise funds for their next one.

Geoff: 00:14:44

Doesn't, uh, doesn't instantly start coming easily.

Tammy: 00:14:48

That's the hardest part, in my opinion, is that and distribution.

Tammy: 00:14:53

But, you know, the fun part's doing the film.

Geoff: 00:14:55

Yeah, of course

Tammy: 00:14:57

But getting it out there and getting it funded is just really

Tammy: 00:15:01

difficult and, you know, just takes a lot of prayer and, um, and like you

Tammy: 00:15:05

said, a lot of pounding the pavement.

Geoff: 00:15:08

Yeah, I, um, I did actually get to be a part of the set on

Geoff: 00:15:12

Capernaum Studios', uh, "Empty Nets"

Tammy: 00:15:15

Oh,

Geoff: 00:15:15

with, uh, with Nathan Blair and Leland Klassen,

Tammy: 00:15:18

Mm-hmm

Geoff: 00:15:18

and I believe… that it recently just won best… If-- I actually didn't

Geoff: 00:15:22

see the awards, but I believe Best Feature Film at Christian Worldview Film Festival.

Geoff: 00:15:28

So,

Tammy: 00:15:28

Oh, that's

Geoff: 00:15:29

it is cool.

Geoff: 00:15:30

It is cool.

Geoff: 00:15:31

And I believe Capernaum is a, producing partner of some kind on that film.

Tammy: 00:15:36

Mm-hmm.

Tammy: 00:15:37

Yes, we are.

Tammy: 00:15:38

And it's really funny.

Tammy: 00:15:40

Uh, I love it, and I'm hoping and praying that it gets

Tammy: 00:15:45

distributed and, you know, gets

Geoff: 00:15:47

Yeah, it is really good.

Geoff: 00:15:48

I was, uh, was happy to be there for the premiere in September,

Tammy: 00:15:53

Yeah.

Geoff: 00:15:53

at Content or at the end of Content, I guess.

Geoff: 00:15:55

It lined up but, uh, wasn't actually part of Content.

Geoff: 00:15:58

It was fun.

Geoff: 00:15:59

Let's talk about it from a filmmaker's perspective now.

Geoff: 00:16:02

if a, filmmaker, I'm sure we're talking to filmmakers who may be looking

Geoff: 00:16:06

for sets or certainly will be in the future, uh, what do you have to offer?

Geoff: 00:16:11

Uh, you've got your sets, but you've got a lot more.

Tammy: 00:16:13

Yes.

Tammy: 00:16:14

We have a large warehouse of props and wardrobe.

Tammy: 00:16:19

And we have biblical wardrobe, a very extensive biblical wardrobe,

Tammy: 00:16:24

um, as well as, early American.

Tammy: 00:16:27

So we have mostly colonial.

Tammy: 00:16:30

Really good, costumes there.

Tammy: 00:16:32

And then we have some, 'cause we're expanding into different early

Tammy: 00:16:38

American eras, like Victorians.

Tammy: 00:16:40

We we're starting to, you know, get a few of those as well.

Tammy: 00:16:45

Um, we also have props that you can set dress that whole village or the

Tammy: 00:16:52

whole colonial sets, the whole… You know, we keep everything set dressed

Tammy: 00:16:55

because, um, especially in our, our early American, because we do tours

Tammy: 00:17:01

a lot and, um, we don't have storage, so we need to keep it in there anyway.

Tammy: 00:17:07

And it's, it's protected in there because we have indoor

Tammy: 00:17:11

environments in the early American.

Tammy: 00:17:13

the biblical is more outdoorsy, so you can't… Y- I mean, you can keep some

Tammy: 00:17:18

stuff out there, but, uh, so we have, just a ton of stuff, a ton of, of stuff

Tammy: 00:17:23

for people to set dress and, wardrobe.

Tammy: 00:17:26

And we also have, you know, everything you need.

Tammy: 00:17:30

Catering, we have people that we recommend for catering, for, you know,

Tammy: 00:17:37

if you need people to film it, editors.

Tammy: 00:17:41

If you need, um, actors, we have a, a great group, like I said, of actors,

Tammy: 00:17:47

and they can be background actors.

Tammy: 00:17:49

But we have also, you know, some main cast that are very

Tammy: 00:17:54

talented, very talented actors.

Tammy: 00:17:57

Um, we have volunteers as well that love to come out to Capernaum and, and help.

Tammy: 00:18:03

And, um, we love our volunteers.

Tammy: 00:18:07

we also have lodging for, people to stay out there, and we have production

Tammy: 00:18:13

space, offices, and what not.

Geoff: 00:18:15

Yeah.

Geoff: 00:18:15

All very significant.

Geoff: 00:18:16

And buildings for, you mentioned catering, but buildings for eating and, think

Geoff: 00:18:21

once you're there, I think you potentially can provide anything that's needed.

Tammy: 00:18:26

Mm-hmm.

Tammy: 00:18:27

That's right.

Geoff: 00:18:27

cool.

Geoff: 00:18:28

Um, I mentioned this earlier, but most of my visits to Capernaum

Geoff: 00:18:33

have been to, take part in Content Christian Media Conference.

Geoff: 00:18:37

Um, and so that's kind of been a, part of what's happened at

Geoff: 00:18:41

Capernaum as well over the years.

Geoff: 00:18:43

And I think you've worked pretty closely with Tim, Tim Shields.

Tammy: 00:18:46

That's been a great relationship.

Tammy: 00:18:49

The Lord spoke to me when I was, at a content conference in a hotel,

Tammy: 00:18:56

or some kinda conference center.

Tammy: 00:18:58

And I really didn't know Tim at all, hardly.

Tammy: 00:19:01

I mean, I'd met him at one of the smaller, you know, when he

Tammy: 00:19:04

used to have the small group

Geoff: 00:19:06

Get-togethers type of thing

Tammy: 00:19:08

yeah.

Tammy: 00:19:08

Well, I forgot what they're called.

Tammy: 00:19:09

But, um, and we were worshiping the Lord, and I felt like the Lord said

Tammy: 00:19:15

I needed to partner with Tim Shields.

Tammy: 00:19:17

I'm like, "Oh, uh, did I just hear that?" Uh, so I went, I went and

Tammy: 00:19:21

talked to Tim, and it just worked out.

Tammy: 00:19:25

Um, it was the Lord, and it ended up that now he's on staff.

Tammy: 00:19:30

He's our pastor as well as our HR director.

Tammy: 00:19:34

Um, and then we partner on content, and what he does out there and brings all

Tammy: 00:19:40

the filmmakers, I just, um, I love it.

Tammy: 00:19:42

We all, all of our staff gets excited about content and, you know, when

Tammy: 00:19:48

it's gonna be there, and what we're gonna do, and having everybody out.

Tammy: 00:19:51

It's just a wonderful time, and it's been a wonderful, um,

Tammy: 00:19:56

working relationship with him, so.

Geoff: 00:19:59

Yeah, it is really a cool location for the conference.

Geoff: 00:20:01

we really enjoy it when we come.

Tammy: 00:20:03

I

Tammy: 00:20:03

wish we had a hotel out there.

Tammy: 00:20:05

That would be great.

Tammy: 00:20:07

That would be so nice for everybody to, to be able just to stay right there.

Tammy: 00:20:11

That would be a dream, a future dream, a hotel and conference center at Capernaum.

Geoff: 00:20:16

Yes, that would be cool.

Geoff: 00:20:18

But a big undertaking again, as, uh… And you, and you have a lot of those.

Geoff: 00:20:23

I understand

Geoff: 00:20:24

you can't do

Geoff: 00:20:24

everything.

Geoff: 00:20:25

it's interesting that, um, other than accommodations, it's pretty much the

Geoff: 00:20:28

only thing that, a person would need when going, for example, to content.

Geoff: 00:20:34

because once you're on the grounds, everything can be provided that's

Geoff: 00:20:38

needed from, from food to all of the, the different buildings for

Geoff: 00:20:41

the, whether workshops or sessions.

Geoff: 00:20:45

and I guess largely the same for filming.

Geoff: 00:20:48

Um, it is a little out of the city, um, what, 25 minutes or something from

Geoff: 00:20:53

Weatherford, if I remember correctly, which has all of the accommodations

Geoff: 00:20:57

and everything you could need.

Geoff: 00:20:59

But

Geoff: 00:20:59

once

Tammy: 00:21:00

has all the

Geoff: 00:21:00

once you're on, on site at Capernaum, um, pretty much everything else

Geoff: 00:21:05

that you'd need can be provided there.

Tammy: 00:21:07

Yeah, everything is, is there.

Tammy: 00:21:10

And we've got, you know, some really nice hotels in Weatherford, so

Geoff: 00:21:15

Yes.

Tammy: 00:21:16

can stay there.

Tammy: 00:21:17

And Mineral Wells.

Tammy: 00:21:18

Mineral Wells is pretty close too.

Geoff: 00:21:20

Okay.

Geoff: 00:21:20

I'm not familiar with Mineral Wells.

Geoff: 00:21:21

I guess I've always gone into Weatherford

Tammy: 00:21:23

W- Weatherford.

Tammy: 00:21:25

Yeah.

Tammy: 00:21:25

Yeah, it's pretty close too.

Tammy: 00:21:27

So, and it, Mineral Wells has got some cool, uh, touristy things there.

Tammy: 00:21:33

It's got the Crazy Water Hotel

Tammy: 00:21:36

and got some neat shops there, and they're, they're rebuilding

Tammy: 00:21:42

that Baker Hotel that's huge, that's a historic, a landmark.

Tammy: 00:21:47

So it's kinda cool.

Geoff: 00:21:48

Interesting.

Geoff: 00:21:49

I'm unfamiliar with any of that

Tammy: 00:21:52

Yeah, so you'll have to visit it.

Geoff: 00:21:56

you've had quite a number of productions that have been filmed there

Geoff: 00:22:00

at Capernaum, including "The Chosen," which of course is frequently mentioned,

Geoff: 00:22:05

a little bit of a claim to fame.

Geoff: 00:22:06

Now, I don't know if you look at it that way, but, probably always if I'm

Geoff: 00:22:10

mentioning Capernaum to somebody, that's one of the ways of, uh, identifying it.

Geoff: 00:22:15

Yeah, yeah.

Geoff: 00:22:16

Uh, so tell us a little bit about that, how that came to be, and

Geoff: 00:22:19

perhaps more of the productions just, uh, just in a nutshell.

Tammy: 00:22:23

yeah.

Tammy: 00:22:24

So, Dallas called me and wanted to look at the sets.

Tammy: 00:22:29

Somebody, I guess, had told him about it, and he came out and visited and we

Tammy: 00:22:34

showed him, you know, the sets and all.

Tammy: 00:22:37

He, he just wanted to see the biblical sets and, kind of,

Tammy: 00:22:41

you know, the land and stuff.

Tammy: 00:22:44

And they took quite a bit of time, looked at it, took pictures, and

Tammy: 00:22:48

then next thing I know they're there.

Tammy: 00:22:50

Um, and that was before, you know, anybody knew what it was gonna be.

Geoff: 00:22:54

Of course

Tammy: 00:22:55

Um, but, but yeah, it… They were there probably six weeks

Tammy: 00:23:00

for a couple, two or three times.

Tammy: 00:23:02

Um, and so It, it was, it was great.

Tammy: 00:23:05

It was a great experience.

Tammy: 00:23:06

And they were the third film that we had out there, because I told you,

Tammy: 00:23:11

you know, they didn't come till 2018.

Tammy: 00:23:14

Um, and we had two other films before them, and then they came.

Tammy: 00:23:20

So we were still learning how to host people as well.

Tammy: 00:23:25

And then that's, you know, in itself is, it is a learning

Geoff: 00:23:29

Of course

Tammy: 00:23:30

is, is learning, you know, how to best host them.

Tammy: 00:23:34

Because you're basically all living together, you know, on the same premises

Tammy: 00:23:39

and you're there together and, uh, trying to figure out where we're gonna work

Tammy: 00:23:43

and they're gonna work and, you know,

Tammy: 00:23:44

so.

Tammy: 00:23:45

but it was a great… It… Actually, the first three films were just great

Tammy: 00:23:49

experiences for, for I think everybody involved.

Tammy: 00:23:53

one of them was Penitent Thief.

Tammy: 00:23:55

That was the second film.

Tammy: 00:23:56

The first film was Assassin 33 A.D. And, um, I remember pulling into

Tammy: 00:24:04

the parking lot, and the parking lot was f- full and there was security

Tammy: 00:24:08

there, and I was like, "Finally.

Tammy: 00:24:12

Thank you, Lord.

Tammy: 00:24:13

It's finally happened." And they stopped me and wanted to know who I was and

Tammy: 00:24:20

so it's… That was, uh, memorable.

Tammy: 00:24:23

Very memorable time.

Tammy: 00:24:24

It was like, "Yeah, this is great." so yeah.

Tammy: 00:24:27

It's been really great, um, experience and, we've had probably

Tammy: 00:24:32

250 films since then out there,

Tammy: 00:24:36

since 2018

Geoff: 00:24:37

so about eight years

Tammy: 00:24:38

mm-hmm, and we've had just, you know, churches, filmmakers,

Tammy: 00:24:44

um, just all kinds of different people coming out there and filming,

Geoff: 00:24:49

so that would be, when you said churches, that would be perhaps

Geoff: 00:24:52

churches making videos for their own congregation for special times

Geoff: 00:24:57

during the year, that type of thing?

Tammy: 00:24:58

Yep.

Tammy: 00:24:58

In fact, we just had, I think, three come out and do an Easter thing,

Geoff: 00:25:04

Okay.

Geoff: 00:25:04

Bet you get a lot of

Geoff: 00:25:05

that.

Tammy: 00:25:05

yeah.

Tammy: 00:25:06

Mm-hmm.

Tammy: 00:25:07

Yeah.

Tammy: 00:25:07

And they'll do Christmas or, you know, whatever, so, so we get a

Tammy: 00:25:11

lot of, a great people though, so it's been, it's been a fun

Tammy: 00:25:15

ride.

Tammy: 00:25:16

I am excited about what the Lord is gonna do next because we have a new venture.

Tammy: 00:25:23

Have you heard about our new venture?

Geoff: 00:25:24

I'm guessing not.

Geoff: 00:25:26

I mean, you told me about some of the new sets you're building, but

Geoff: 00:25:28

it must be something other than that

Tammy: 00:25:29

yes.

Tammy: 00:25:30

Do you wanna hear about it?

Geoff: 00:25:30

I do.

Geoff: 00:25:31

I do very much so

Tammy: 00:25:34

so you know how Disney has a theme park as well as they do films?

Tammy: 00:25:42

Same thing with Universal Studios.

Tammy: 00:25:45

So I feel like the Lord is directing us in that path.

Tammy: 00:25:49

Um, so we are developing a faith based entertainment destination, um, that

Tammy: 00:25:56

will have themed immersion experiences,

Geoff: 00:26:00

Okay

Tammy: 00:26:00

and will be open, you know, during probably like when

Tammy: 00:26:05

Six Flags is open or whatever.

Tammy: 00:26:07

but then on the other times we still have all the filmmakers come and everything.

Tammy: 00:26:11

So, I really feel like the Lord wanted us to go in that direction.

Tammy: 00:26:17

And so now we are developing several of these attractions and, Some of

Tammy: 00:26:24

them will be actual rides that you, ride through, and they all teach you

Tammy: 00:26:28

a story about the Bible, about Jesus.

Tammy: 00:26:31

They're all designed to bring you closer to Christ.

Tammy: 00:26:36

Um, so we're real excited about it, and it has been since June is

Tammy: 00:26:42

when the Lord, um, revealed to me that that's what we were gonna do.

Tammy: 00:26:47

And immediately I got a, scenic team out there, and they've been doing

Tammy: 00:26:54

some scenic, building out there with some of the attractions and amazing

Tammy: 00:27:01

work that looks like a theme park

Geoff: 00:27:04

Okay, so you mean it's physically being built, not

Geoff: 00:27:06

just on paper at this point?

Tammy: 00:27:07

It's being

Tammy: 00:27:08

built.

Tammy: 00:27:09

So in October, we are planning, Lord willing, uh, we're planning

Tammy: 00:27:16

to open five attractions.

Tammy: 00:27:19

And, um, I think they're gonna be really awesome.

Tammy: 00:27:23

So like, some of them are like a, a show, immersion experience.

Tammy: 00:27:27

They're all immersive, very immersive.

Tammy: 00:27:30

Uh, and then some of them have ride aspects.

Tammy: 00:27:35

Um, one of them, we have a 4D motion ride, and that one is the one I'm like,

Tammy: 00:27:40

"I don't know if it's gonna be done by October, but I hope so." We're about

Tammy: 00:27:43

to, to start building the building.

Tammy: 00:27:45

but that one has to have a whole, video created that, you

Tammy: 00:27:50

know, for the motion simulator, and it's a really big undertaking.

Tammy: 00:27:56

I really didn't realize at first

Geoff: 00:27:58

Uh-huh.

Geoff: 00:27:59

It sounds like a big under- a big undertaking to be t- aiming for October,

Tammy: 00:28:04

Some of 'em are already almost done.

Tammy: 00:28:08

So I think that we can at least have four attractions open by October.

Tammy: 00:28:13

I'm just, I'm really hoping and praying for five,

Tammy: 00:28:16

five different ones.

Tammy: 00:28:16

So people can, you know, go do this one and this one, and they're each about,

Tammy: 00:28:22

you know, 20 minutes or so long.

Tammy: 00:28:25

And so you just kinda go to each one and, you know, 15 or 20 minutes, and

Tammy: 00:28:30

then, so like, kinda like a theme park.

Tammy: 00:28:32

So it's a great place to, to bring family and, learn about the Lord

Tammy: 00:28:37

and just, uh, experience it, so.

Geoff: 00:28:40

Very cool.

Geoff: 00:28:41

you have in the past, I'm not sure if you've still been doing this in

Geoff: 00:28:44

recent years, you've been doing a live, immersive experience in October anyway.

Geoff: 00:28:48

Is that correct?

Geoff: 00:28:50

is that something you've still been doing, and will this kind

Geoff: 00:28:53

of, uh, coincide with that?

Geoff: 00:28:54

Or is that,

Geoff: 00:28:55

um, replacing it?

Geoff: 00:28:57

Or what's

Tammy: 00:28:57

that's a great question.

Tammy: 00:28:58

Um, so yes, we were doing one called The Apocalypse Experience.

Tammy: 00:29:04

Um, we did that for, I think, four years.

Tammy: 00:29:08

And then we stopped doing that one, and then last year we did

Tammy: 00:29:13

a new one called Unveiled about the parable of the 10 virgins.

Tammy: 00:29:17

Um, it's, really, really cool.

Tammy: 00:29:19

Really cool.

Tammy: 00:29:20

Everybody loved it.

Tammy: 00:29:22

so we'll do that one.

Tammy: 00:29:23

And plus we will do Apocalypse 2.0, so we have a new version of the Apocalypse

Tammy: 00:29:30

Experience,

Geoff: 00:29:32

At the same time?

Tammy: 00:29:33

be fun.

Tammy: 00:29:34

Mm-hmm.

Geoff: 00:29:35

Oh, wow.

Geoff: 00:29:36

Plus your new rides,

Tammy: 00:29:38

So the one that's the 4D motion ride is called Trib

Tammy: 00:29:43

Train, Tribulation Train,

Tammy: 00:29:44

based on the tribulation.

Tammy: 00:29:46

I guess you could

Tammy: 00:29:46

guess

Geoff: 00:29:47

yeah.

Geoff: 00:29:49

Interesting

Tammy: 00:29:50

uh-huh, and then on our early American set last year we did Washington

Tammy: 00:29:54

Spies, and so we took people through, uh, because Washington did have spies,

Tammy: 00:30:00

and that is what helped win the war.

Tammy: 00:30:04

and so we take people through an immersive experience on the early

Tammy: 00:30:07

American set through that, and, um, people also really loved that.

Tammy: 00:30:12

So we'll do those, and then we're gonna also add one in

Tammy: 00:30:16

about the Feast of Tabernacles.

Tammy: 00:30:19

So that one will be in our new set, Judea.

Geoff: 00:30:21

Okay.

Geoff: 00:30:23

Very cool.

Geoff: 00:30:24

I believe when you were first talking about the new attractions, you

Geoff: 00:30:28

said it in a way that sounds like those things won't be happening at

Geoff: 00:30:31

the same seasons as, as filming.

Geoff: 00:30:34

so film sets will be available at, specific times.

Geoff: 00:30:38

Is that correct?

Tammy: 00:30:38

Yes.

Tammy: 00:30:39

yeah, usually the films film during the week, and we're not

Tammy: 00:30:42

really open during the week.

Tammy: 00:30:44

We're, we would be open on the weekends.

Tammy: 00:30:46

Um, and we won't be open every weekend either, so it would just be at times

Tammy: 00:30:52

like, the fall experience is, you know, kind of like a Halloween alternative

Tammy: 00:30:58

because, you know, people go to those haunted houses and stuff,

Tammy: 00:31:01

but this is a place you can go.

Tammy: 00:31:03

It's kinda scary, but it's truth, and it's, um, healthy.

Tammy: 00:31:09

Um, and so we would be open, I don't know how many weekends we'd be open, but

Tammy: 00:31:14

it would just be weekends in the fall.

Tammy: 00:31:16

And then, we're open, um, the weekend before Easter and the weekend

Tammy: 00:31:21

of Easter, except not on Easter.

Tammy: 00:31:24

We're open, um, before Christmas, between Thanksgiving and Christmas so people

Tammy: 00:31:29

can come out, but that's just weekends.

Tammy: 00:31:31

So there's plenty of, other times.

Tammy: 00:31:33

You know, We've had a really mild winter too.

Tammy: 00:31:36

There's a great opportunity to film here in the winter.

Tammy: 00:31:39

I mean, occasionally, like, we've had a couple of, uh, bad spells, but

Tammy: 00:31:45

not really anything major at all, so.

Tammy: 00:31:48

there's plenty of, opportunity to film.

Tammy: 00:31:51

We're not really open during the summer, um, right now.

Tammy: 00:31:54

We, uh, will probably open some weekends in the

Tammy: 00:31:57

summer

Geoff: 00:31:58

mean for your live experiences.

Geoff: 00:31:59

Obviously you're open for filming.

Tammy: 00:32:01

Yes.

Tammy: 00:32:02

Correct.

Tammy: 00:32:03

We're always open for filming,

Geoff: 00:32:06

Well, I wanna encourage filmmakers, to check out Capernaum.

Geoff: 00:32:10

I know you do tours.

Geoff: 00:32:12

if people wanted to actually, like, come out there, they'd get a personal tour.

Geoff: 00:32:16

I also know that during content specifically, you

Geoff: 00:32:20

do studio tours for, uh…

Geoff: 00:32:22

It's a great time.

Geoff: 00:32:22

You have so many filmmakers there.

Geoff: 00:32:24

So, uh, if you wanna check out Capernaum, that is one great opportunity

Geoff: 00:32:28

to go to a festival, a conference, and, check out all of the, the

Geoff: 00:32:32

studios that they have there as well.

Geoff: 00:32:35

Um, anything else you would like to add before we finish?

Geoff: 00:32:38

Uh, anything else you'd like to say to the filmmakers?

Geoff: 00:32:41

That's who we're, we're talking to today.

Geoff: 00:32:43

last words

Tammy: 00:32:44

um, I just would encourage you to continue on in your filmmaking endeavors

Tammy: 00:32:51

because the world needs the word of God through film, and there's so many

Tammy: 00:32:57

opportunities for people to… Like, I'm hoping and praying that people end

Tammy: 00:33:02

up getting off Netflix and all that and get onto all these faith-based channels,

Tammy: 00:33:08

watching, the good stuff, you know?

Tammy: 00:33:10

And that we can make quality, quality stuff that people really wanna watch.

Tammy: 00:33:15

So that's what I have to say.

Tammy: 00:33:17

And come out and see the sets, and come to Content and see the new

Tammy: 00:33:22

Judea set for, for filming as well.

Tammy: 00:33:25

And if you haven't seen all the colonial and stuff, you're in for a treat

Geoff: 00:33:29

Yeah, for sure.

Geoff: 00:33:30

For sure.

Geoff: 00:33:32

Well, thank you, Tammy.

Geoff: 00:33:33

It's been great to get caught up on all of the stuff that's happening there,

Geoff: 00:33:36

and it's been a pleasure talking to you.

Geoff: 00:33:38

I'm really glad you joined us

Tammy: 00:33:40

You too.

Tammy: 00:33:41

I'm glad it worked out this time.

Geoff: 00:33:43

Take care.

Geoff: 00:33:43

Hope to see you soon.

Tammy: 00:33:45

Okay.

Tammy: 00:33:45

God bless.