Growing Up in the Spotlight - with Nathan Gamble

Matt: 00:00:00

All right.

Matt: 00:00:01

Hey everybody.

Matt: 00:00:01

Welcome to another edition of the Faith and Family Filmmakers podcast.

Matt: 00:00:05

My name is Matt Chastain.

Matt: 00:00:07

Uh, happy to be with you guys.

Matt: 00:00:09

Um, really interested in today's guest, Nathan Gamble.

Matt: 00:00:13

Uh, Nathan, uh, before I read your bio, Nathan, I just want you to thank you for, for being with us today because I feel like you've got a really amazing story to share and, and we just can't wait to dive into it with you.

Matt: 00:00:25

So thanks so much for joining us.

Nathan: 00:00:27

Dude, I'm happy to be here.

Nathan: 00:00:28

My favorite subject is me, so this is perfect.

Nathan: 00:00:30

I'm just kidding.

Matt: 00:00:31

There you go.

Nathan: 00:00:31

I'm just kidding

Matt: 00:00:32

you.

Matt: 00:00:32

And film those together.

Matt: 00:00:34

We'll talk about the Bible a little bit, man.

Matt: 00:00:36

It's a trifecta.

Nathan: 00:00:37

There we go.

Matt: 00:00:38

So your bio is a, it's, it's, it's extensive, but I want, I wanna go through the whole bio.

Matt: 00:00:43

'cause I think this is where the, it's a fascinating start to the story.

Matt: 00:00:46

So Nathan, he's an actor, best known for his role as Sawyer Sawyer Nelson in the dolphin tail film series.

Matt: 00:00:52

As kids, we all saw dolphin tail, right?

Matt: 00:00:54

Uh, born and way.

Matt: 00:00:56

Way back in 1998.

Matt: 00:00:58

I think I was a sophomore in college at that point.

Matt: 00:01:00

Uh, he began his acting career as he at a young age.

Matt: 00:01:03

He makes, made his feature film debut in, uh, Babel back in oh six, which earned him critical acclaim.

Matt: 00:01:09

He goes on to appear in numerous films and TV shows, including a little kind of an, uh, indie film that most people haven't heard of called The Dark Knight.

Matt: 00:01:19

Marley and me and the mist, uh, showcasing obviously versatile talent.

Matt: 00:01:23

Um, in addition acting, he served a spokesperson for the Clearwater Marine Aquarium using this platform to advocate for marine wildlife conservation, which I find very cool.

Matt: 00:01:33

And helping with nonprofits like the Wounded Warrior Foundation, which I find even cooler.

Matt: 00:01:37

And make a Wish.

Matt: 00:01:38

Uh, you earned a degree, a degree in theology.

Matt: 00:01:40

Went to Bible College, which we're gonna talk about later, and has worked, uh, thoughtfully to balance his Christian faith.

Matt: 00:01:46

With a career in film, which is a tough balance as we've, many of our guests have, have talked about.

Matt: 00:01:52

I mean, you're married, currently reside in Texas.

Matt: 00:01:55

God bless, Texas, God.

Matt: 00:01:57

Um, and let's just, uh, so let's dive right in, man.

Matt: 00:02:00

You've, you've, I've never had someone who was kind of a child star who kind of got out of the industry and now is kind of working his way back in.

Matt: 00:02:08

So let's just start from the beginning.

Matt: 00:02:10

I wanted to hear about your childhood and how you got into acting in the first place.

Nathan: 00:02:14

Of course.

Nathan: 00:02:15

Well first of all, um, lemme just say one, I'm super grateful to be on this podcast and to talk you, Matt.

Nathan: 00:02:23

I was listening to you read the bio and I was like, that is a bio that I pulled from IMDB.

Nathan: 00:02:28

Uh, so if it sounds like pretentious, like showing off his versatile range, like just, that was, that's for like casting stuff.

Nathan: 00:02:34

So I'm like, oh, well you

Matt: 00:02:35

could, you could have acted like, that was my words.

Matt: 00:02:37

I was saying what a versatile range.

Matt: 00:02:40

I've, I've watched every one of his films in preparation for the podcast.

Matt: 00:02:44

It's not quite a versatile range

Nathan: 00:02:47

Exactly.

Nathan: 00:02:48

But um, yeah.

Nathan: 00:02:48

So super grateful to be on here.

Nathan: 00:02:50

Yeah.

Nathan: 00:02:50

So I. Man, my, my passion for acting, I'd like to say started before I was even born.

Nathan: 00:03:00

Now let me explain.

Nathan: 00:03:02

My mom and dad, my dad was a playwright.

Nathan: 00:03:04

My mom was an actress in, uh, theater in Seattle, and she was eight months pregnant with me when she played Mrs. Raett in a Christmas Carol, and she had like dance.

Nathan: 00:03:17

Moves that I would kick during the dance moves, so maybe in some kind of way in Euro, like I felt like I was performing.

Nathan: 00:03:26

Even though there was a wall in, of a womb wall in front of me, but I still felt the, the, uh, attention from the audience.

Nathan: 00:03:34

So I wanted to give 'em my best.

Nathan: 00:03:35

So yeah, I've like to say I've been acting before I was born, but yeah, I've always, I've always had a pension for storytelling.

Nathan: 00:03:41

Um, and I mean storytelling as in lying when I was a kid, I lied all the time and I was really good at it.

Nathan: 00:03:49

Um, I would create these nonsense stories and convince my parents that they actually happened, and my parents were like.

Nathan: 00:03:56

Why is he like this?

Nathan: 00:03:57

Why does he just pretend like these things actually happened?

Nathan: 00:04:01

And then my parents were like, well.

Nathan: 00:04:04

It seems like he's an actor and that's basically what acting is, is just lying with props in your hand.

Nathan: 00:04:09

Um, and uh, so we got an agent in Bellevue, Washington when I was seven, and I did like, um, local commercials.

Nathan: 00:04:17

I was young Bill Gates in a Microsoft, Microsoft commercial.

Nathan: 00:04:20

And then I, my real claim to fame was I was the.

Nathan: 00:04:24

Kid dying of asthma in an anti-smoking commercial, uh, that was going around, uh, the nation.

Nathan: 00:04:30

So that was my claim to fame.

Nathan: 00:04:32

And then later it just sort of snowballed where my local agent, I got the job of babble and then I met my manager who was based in LA And then that kind of opened up a whole new world of opportunities.

Nathan: 00:04:44

And my parents, best parents in the industry, they kind of just said.

Nathan: 00:04:48

We will go as long as this wave takes us.

Nathan: 00:04:51

And if you don't wanna do it, if it stops being fun, then stop doing it.

Nathan: 00:04:55

But for the time being, let's see where this takes us.

Nathan: 00:04:58

And now, 20 years later, here I am.

Matt: 00:05:01

Here you are.

Matt: 00:05:02

Well, let's, let's, let's, let's not fast forward too fast 'cause let's, I want to hear about, you know, you, you've been in some pretty big projects with the Dolphin Tails, dark Knight, or I wanna hear about your experience in, in those, you know, those of us who are kind of into independent film.

Matt: 00:05:16

We don't get a chance to, to play around in that world.

Matt: 00:05:19

Kick around in the, the, the, the world of the, the A-listers, which you have.

Matt: 00:05:23

So I want to hear about those experiences.

Nathan: 00:05:25

Yeah, so it was really interesting because I. My, my story, my path is sort of like the reverse actor's story is usually you're like.

Nathan: 00:05:36

A waiter or a waitress for 10 years and doing auditions, auditions, editions.

Nathan: 00:05:39

Then you your big break and then you, you feast like the famine then, then feast and, and my, my and I don't wanna come across as like braggadocious, but my story's very different where like the feast happened right at the beginning and then I had to experience like kind of a, a rebirth of like a Famin season to get to where I am now.

Nathan: 00:05:59

But yeah, I was on a film set at age seven.

Nathan: 00:06:02

And Babel was nominated for Best Picture- yeah, I think he was nominated for Seven Academy Awards.

Nathan: 00:06:08

Um, and then my next film was a Frank Darabont movie called The Mist.

Nathan: 00:06:15

And you know, he, he ha has directed some of my favorite movies like Shawshank and Green Mile.

Matt: 00:06:20

The mist was also an adaptation of a Stephen King short story, right?

Nathan: 00:06:23

Yeah.

Nathan: 00:06:24

Yeah.

Matt: 00:06:24

Were you one of the kids in the grocery store with mom?

Nathan: 00:06:26

Yeah, I was the, I was the son of the main character.

Matt: 00:06:30

Okay.

Nathan: 00:06:31

Um, so yeah, we, we make it to the very end.

Nathan: 00:06:33

Um, and, uh, yeah, so then after that I was in a, you know, the Marley and Me movie with Jennifer Anderson, Owen Wilson.

Nathan: 00:06:40

I'm a child.

Nathan: 00:06:42

I'm a 9-year-old, 10-year-old kid.

Nathan: 00:06:44

So in my world, you know, when you're, when you're a child, your brain, it feels like it turns on around like four or five or like memories start to actually like sink in.

Nathan: 00:06:53

You're, you start realizing your sentient- ness, if that makes sense.

Nathan: 00:06:57

Um, and that was just my world.

Nathan: 00:06:59

That's what I was acclimated to.

Nathan: 00:07:00

So I didn't really feel the weight of certain projects that I was on until, honestly, in my twenties where I was like, I can't believe I was a part of it.

Nathan: 00:07:10

My all time favorite superhero, my all time favorite comic book, everything is Batman.

Nathan: 00:07:16

Yeah.

Nathan: 00:07:16

And I forget that I'm in the dark night because I love that movie so much.

Nathan: 00:07:21

And whenever I meet somebody who said they haven't watched it, I always like, okay, we have to stop whatever we're doing and watch that movie right now.

Nathan: 00:07:28

And then when it gets to my.

Nathan: 00:07:29

10 minutes of screen time if that, they're like, oh, that's why you wanted me to watch it.

Nathan: 00:07:33

And I go, I promise you.

Nathan: 00:07:34

I promise you it's not, I just love this movie and I'm I'm when I was on set.

Nathan: 00:07:40

Set.

Nathan: 00:07:40

So

Matt: 00:07:40

describe that.

Matt: 00:07:41

What, at what point in Dark Night do you come in?

Nathan: 00:07:44

Yeah, so I played Commissioner Gordon's son in that movie, and we had a couple scenes in the middle.

Nathan: 00:07:50

I'm just this bright-eyed blonde kid who reacts to his dad.

Nathan: 00:07:54

At first is dead.

Nathan: 00:07:57

And then turns out he wasn't.

Nathan: 00:07:58

He was in hiding.

Nathan: 00:07:58

And I have a couple lines with uh, uh, Gary Oman, who was incredible.

Nathan: 00:08:02

And then towards the end, Two-Face kidnapped Gordon's family and holds them hostage.

Nathan: 00:08:07

And like Two-Face is putting a gun in my temple and I'm crying and it's just like a super intense scene.

Nathan: 00:08:12

And then Batman saves me and.

Nathan: 00:08:15

It was wild.

Nathan: 00:08:16

We're in London.

Nathan: 00:08:17

Christopher Nolan at this time, his notoriety isn't at all though, to the extent that it is now, but you can tell even as an 8-year-old, this guy is going to be huge.

Matt: 00:08:29

He's an alpha.

Nathan: 00:08:30

He's an alpha.

Nathan: 00:08:31

He runs the set really well.

Nathan: 00:08:33

He wears a suit to set every single day, which is totally new to me.

Nathan: 00:08:36

Mm. Obviously he's got the gravitas of like a of a Brit with also like this super fun.

Nathan: 00:08:43

Intimate way of directing.

Nathan: 00:08:44

And again, this is all incredible stuff that if it wasn't for a movie, I have worst memory ever.

Nathan: 00:08:52

My, my wife is always reminding me of things that I did like two weeks ago.

Nathan: 00:08:54

I'm like, oh, I don't, I don't, I'm glad you remember it.

Nathan: 00:08:57

I have no idea.

Nathan: 00:08:57

But if we didn't have the dark night being filmed, I don't think I would remember it.

Nathan: 00:09:01

Like it really is, like, it's the only proof that I have that I was in that movie because I just, I wanted to remember, but too.

Nathan: 00:09:08

I was young.

Nathan: 00:09:09

It was a long 20 years ago when we filmed it,

Matt: 00:09:12

the, I forget the kid's name who played Malcolm in the middle.

Matt: 00:09:14

I've heard that he has no, yeah, he's got no memory of record of, of shooting any of it.

Nathan: 00:09:19

Yeah.

Nathan: 00:09:20

Yeah.

Nathan: 00:09:21

No,

Matt: 00:09:21

I mean, maybe it's because as a child, you children play pretend better than adults do, right.

Matt: 00:09:27

One, they know how to play, pretend, and so when you're in that world, it's almost like.

Matt: 00:09:32

As a good actor should, you're hypnotized.

Matt: 00:09:35

You're not in your own body at that point, you're hypnotizing somewhere else.

Matt: 00:09:38

So the memories are probably more like a dream because you're in a dream state as you're acting, and we forget our dreams.

Matt: 00:09:44

So I can see why you would kind

Nathan: 00:09:46

of forget.

Nathan: 00:09:46

That's deep.

Nathan: 00:09:47

That's, that's, no, that's, that's a super good point because I, I accrued all these memories and I'm super grateful for 'em.

Nathan: 00:09:54

And there's a part of me on this side of, of me full.

Nathan: 00:09:58

'cause I was not saved during this time.

Nathan: 00:10:00

Mm-hmm.

Nathan: 00:10:00

Uh, my parents were, my parents obviously prayed for me.

Nathan: 00:10:03

I, you know, attended the Lutheran church and, and, and believed in proxy with my parents, but not like, it didn't sink into my heart at all.

Nathan: 00:10:11

Like I. It just wasn't a part of my daily life until later on.

Matt: 00:10:16

Yeah, you had to give up lying kid.

Nathan: 00:10:19

Exactly.

Nathan: 00:10:19

100%. So I had to ever since give my life to the Lord and now kind of rejuvenating my career.

Nathan: 00:10:26

I'm jumping ahead, but it, it is kind of unique where.

Nathan: 00:10:30

I, because I was a kid, I don't think I was even aware of how rare it is to work as frequently as I did.

Nathan: 00:10:38

Um,

Matt: 00:10:39

and

Nathan: 00:10:39

with

Matt: 00:10:39

directors like Frank  Darabont and Christopher Nolan.

Nathan: 00:10:43

100%.

Nathan: 00:10:44

Yeah.

Nathan: 00:10:44

And honestly, if I, now looking back on it, I think I would've, I would've, I, I think, I'm glad it happened that way because I'm sure those people.

Nathan: 00:10:54

I have a lot of actors who are always trying to get something out of, or blah, blah, blah, blah, and I just enjoyed acting.

Nathan: 00:11:00

Mm-hmm.

Nathan: 00:11:01

I just enjoyed acting, so I didn't see them as these figureheads, I just saw them as people.

Nathan: 00:11:05

So ultimately I think it did help.

Nathan: 00:11:07

In that sense, but now I'm like, man, I would pay a lot of money to work on those sets.

Nathan: 00:11:12

It was so much fun.

Matt: 00:11:13

But you were so young at the time.

Matt: 00:11:15

It, it's not like when, when, when you kind of went away from acting, did it, did it feel like you'd lost something or was it just, Hey, I'm doing this next thing now?

Matt: 00:11:24

'Cause a lot of kids, these child actors, they get their teens and they feel like, oh my gosh, I peaked at 13 and now life's over and they go off the cliff.

Matt: 00:11:32

And so,

Nathan: 00:11:32

So... great question.

Nathan: 00:11:34

I. My personal insider baseball knowledge of that stuff is the teenage actor or the actors who experience that kind of success at a young age and then get into their teenage years.

Nathan: 00:11:47

And not all, I'm not saying at all, but what I've noticed a pattern is that their parents don't have a firm grasp on the levity of the situation.

Nathan: 00:11:58

My parents did.

Nathan: 00:12:00

My parents never made the situation bigger than it needed to be.

Nathan: 00:12:04

Um, and they also worked, you know, they kept me humble.

Nathan: 00:12:08

My parents, my dad, he would come to set.

Nathan: 00:12:11

Very nice man, but he would come to set not caring.

Nathan: 00:12:14

If the director said, oh, Nathan was so good in this scene, he would be talking to everyone else on set saying, does Nathan know your name?

Nathan: 00:12:21

Does Nathan talk to you?

Nathan: 00:12:22

Like that's what he cared about, and that's what I like to this day, when I go on set, I still think about every single.

Nathan: 00:12:31

The lesson, the top three lessons were, learn your lines, show up early and learn everyone's names.

Nathan: 00:12:36

And I still apply that and not at all besmirching other child actors who experience some hardship because obviously this industry has some rotten eggs in it for sure.

Nathan: 00:12:46

That, that, uh, um, make their time.

Nathan: 00:12:50

Uh.

Nathan: 00:12:51

That season really tough, but I am saying my parents weigh, they were just on me like white on rice.

Nathan: 00:12:57

Like they just made sure that this situation wasn't bigger than it needed to be and that I had a childhood and that I was hanging out with friends and I wasn't hanging out with like execs.

Nathan: 00:13:07

And again, my dad instilled at a young age when it stops being fun, we have to stop.

Nathan: 00:13:12

We have to stop because you're 10 years old.

Matt: 00:13:15

Yeah,

Nathan: 00:13:15

and I was working like nine and a half hours every day.

Matt: 00:13:18

His focus was you and doing his job to raise a godly man instead of the focus being those kids.

Matt: 00:13:24

A little cash cow.

Matt: 00:13:25

Let's keep this thing going.

Nathan: 00:13:27

And, and unfortunately that is what happens, but not even the cash cow

Nathan: 00:13:32

It's like the notoriety that an Yeah.

Nathan: 00:13:33

Inevitably like access squared.

Nathan: 00:13:36

Yeah.

Nathan: 00:13:36

So I remember at a super young age, I was in a, I think it was like 11.

Nathan: 00:13:39

I was in a audition and there's a kid who is going right before me into the room and Rick still brings it.

Nathan: 00:13:47

I still have such a hard time telling the story.

Nathan: 00:13:49

'cause it's, it's, it's pretty brutal.

Nathan: 00:13:51

Right before this kid went into the room, his like, mom pulled him back and like grabbed him and like, looked right in his eyes and said, Hey, don't disappoint me.

Nathan: 00:13:59

Like, last time.

Nathan: 00:14:00

Okay.

Nathan: 00:14:01

And then he like went off into the, the audition room.

Nathan: 00:14:05

And even at 11, right?

Nathan: 00:14:06

Like my heart was ripped into pieces because my, if my mom ever did that, it would, I would feel like, who, who's this?

Nathan: 00:14:13

Who's this woman?

Nathan: 00:14:14

Like my mom would never, ever do that.

Nathan: 00:14:16

My mom, uh, was just along for the ride.

Nathan: 00:14:20

Like she was not a classic.

Nathan: 00:14:23

Um, actor's, parent, like she could care less in who she was meeting.

Nathan: 00:14:27

She was always just in the trailer, uh, watching Gilligan's Island and drawing.

Nathan: 00:14:31

Those were two favorite things.

Nathan: 00:14:32

So that's, that's, that was, she loved it.

Nathan: 00:14:35

She's like, oh my gosh, I'm getting like paid to just drive my kid to work and I could just.

Nathan: 00:14:40

That is incredible.

Nathan: 00:14:41

While other people are like, I have to get into this door and I have to talk to this person because it'll lead to this job, which will lead to this amount of success, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Nathan: 00:14:51

And that's a perfect allegory of sin, right?

Nathan: 00:14:54

Right.

Nathan: 00:14:54

Where like you are, you, it always takes you farther than you are, uh, willing to go and it never is satisfied.

Nathan: 00:15:01

And a lot of those people have a perpetual unsatisfaction of the current standings of where they are.

Nathan: 00:15:09

And that is, that is a huge, I love actors, but they're the last people on set that I normally like to talk to just because that, it tends to be the type of conversation I just filmed, uh, this movie.

Nathan: 00:15:20

Oh, well, I, I filmed this movie and I, I really worked with that guy.

Nathan: 00:15:24

I, I worked with him like 10 years ago.

Nathan: 00:15:25

Like, it doesn't matter.

Nathan: 00:15:27

It doesn't matter.

Nathan: 00:15:28

You have to somehow find a way to top and it's dizzying and, uh, it's brutal.

Matt: 00:15:34

Yeah, that's miserable.

Matt: 00:15:34

I mean, that's, that's just like power seeking versus truth seeking behavior.

Matt: 00:15:38

When

Nathan: 00:15:39

you're 100%

Matt: 00:15:40

trying to climb the power ladder, it just makes hundred percent you gross.

Matt: 00:15:44

So good for, good for you and your mom and your dad for not going down that route.

Matt: 00:15:48

Okay.

Matt: 00:15:48

I'm gonna fast forward ahead to.

Matt: 00:15:50

To the present, and then I'm want you to tell me the story up to the present.

Matt: 00:15:54

So Nice.

Matt: 00:15:54

Uh, Jaclyn told me that she was working with a producer and they had a great idea that they wanted to flesh out about, um, a series that, that it's, it's set in a bible college.

Matt: 00:16:06

Mm-hmm.

Matt: 00:16:06

Meanwhile, you had actually been working on such a thing for years.

Matt: 00:16:11

So kind of tell us about your experience there and then how that kind of converged with, with, uh, Jaclyn and, and the producer that she was working with.

Nathan: 00:16:20

So I loved writing as a kid.

Nathan: 00:16:22

My dad wrote a lot.

Nathan: 00:16:24

He was a playwright.

Nathan: 00:16:24

He did like college plays and stuff.

Nathan: 00:16:26

Super funny guy.

Nathan: 00:16:27

And I loved the idea of writing.

Nathan: 00:16:28

And then I got saved at 19.

Nathan: 00:16:31

And you know, classic story, when you get saved, you become incredibly zealous and you're like.

Nathan: 00:16:38

Hollywood is Sodom and Gomorrah.

Nathan: 00:16:39

I'll never turn back and turn into a pillar of salt, like I'm never doing that again.

Nathan: 00:16:43

Like I'm, I'm washing my hands clean of it.

Nathan: 00:16:45

I'll move on and do something else.

Nathan: 00:16:46

I mean,

Matt: 00:16:47

you ain't totally wrong

Nathan: 00:16:48

there.

Nathan: 00:16:48

I mean, yeah, 100% you could.

Nathan: 00:16:49

It could be both and for sure.

Nathan: 00:16:51

But also as I matured in my faith, I was like, man, I love storytelling and my heart aches for this industry, but my heart aches for the people in it who are.

Nathan: 00:17:03

Like we were just talking about constantly trying constantly mission field, right?

Nathan: 00:17:07

Yeah, 100%.

Nathan: 00:17:08

So now a mission field is being, is being kind of cultivated in my head where I go, okay, I wanna go back into it.

Nathan: 00:17:13

How?

Nathan: 00:17:13

How do I do it?

Nathan: 00:17:14

And I had just graduated bible college and I was in a writing mood and I was away for a weekend and just wrote this, wrote Bible college and.

Nathan: 00:17:25

It was kind of just on a whim.

Nathan: 00:17:27

I wrote it and I go, this is fun.

Nathan: 00:17:28

I read it with some of my other, uh, Bible college graduates and we had a good time.

Nathan: 00:17:32

And then I just stored it away, put it in the, it wasn't even on the back burner, it was like in the pantry, like getting forgotten.

Nathan: 00:17:41

Did you write it as a

Matt: 00:17:41

series pilot or a feature?

Nathan: 00:17:43

Mm-hmm.

Nathan: 00:17:43

Yeah.

Nathan: 00:17:44

Series pilot.

Nathan: 00:17:44

Hmm.

Nathan: 00:17:45

And it just sort of, yeah.

Nathan: 00:17:49

Existed and then randomly.

Nathan: 00:17:51

Randomly, Hmm.

Nathan: 00:17:52

Uh.

Nathan: 00:17:54

I MC'd with a buddy of mine at Jason, M's.

Nathan: 00:17:57

Daughter's wedding.

Nathan: 00:18:00

And because of that, back in 2021, uh, we just stayed connected.

Nathan: 00:18:06

We had done a couple small things with each other.

Nathan: 00:18:08

It was really fun.

Nathan: 00:18:09

And he's a great guy.

Nathan: 00:18:10

And he approached me.

Nathan: 00:18:11

He is like, Hey, I wanna do a, because all of his kids were in Bible college.

Nathan: 00:18:14

I wanna do a Bible college show.

Nathan: 00:18:15

I feel like, uh, that that's kind of what we need right now.

Nathan: 00:18:18

And I go, huh.

Nathan: 00:18:20

That's funny that you say that.

Nathan: 00:18:21

I actually wrote some, like four years ago, brushed all the dust off of it and said, here you go.

Nathan: 00:18:26

And then he was already working with Jaclyn on something and then that kind of morphed into what we, um, as of last night.

Nathan: 00:18:33

He is basically picture locked with, uh, the, the edit of, of Bible college and yeah, now pilot is shot and ready to sell it to.

Nathan: 00:18:42

Whoever wants it, like it, it really is.

Nathan: 00:18:44

I'm super proud of it.

Nathan: 00:18:45

Jaclyn is an incredible writer and she added so much to it that I didn't originally have with the story and Jason's direction.

Nathan: 00:18:53

Nailed it.

Nathan: 00:18:54

And it, it's, it's such, it's so funny how I really was trying so hard to get other writing projects off the ground and, and I wanna do this and I wanna do that, and I was striving and blah, blah, blah, blah.

Nathan: 00:19:06

Which, you know, grit and determination of hard work is awesome, but there really is nothing comparable to the favor of God.

Nathan: 00:19:14

Yep.

Nathan: 00:19:14

And like the, the timeliness of God.

Nathan: 00:19:16

So something that I worked on a whim now is something that I've always wanted.

Nathan: 00:19:21

Um, and it wasn't my original goal or whatever.

Nathan: 00:19:24

And now here we are and it's, it's a huge mega blessing.

Matt: 00:19:29

Absolutely.

Matt: 00:19:30

I'm, I'm excited that, so I, I had not even heard of the whole project and Jaclyn hadn't told me about it.

Matt: 00:19:35

Um, I now I really wanna see the pilot.

Matt: 00:19:38

Uh, did, now, did you, so obviously you're a writer in it.

Matt: 00:19:40

I think that's, that's great that you're able to collaborate, um, with, with Jaclyn and now.

Matt: 00:19:45

So how, how was that experience?

Matt: 00:19:47

Let's, let's, uh,

Nathan: 00:19:48

yeah.

Nathan: 00:19:49

Um, I honestly, I. I envy the type of writers who can write by themselves because it, it doesn't seem like that's how my brain works because I have so many ideas and.

Nathan: 00:20:02

You just throw, spit 'em all up, you vomit all these ideas, and you like, sort of like, okay, wait a minute.

Nathan: 00:20:06

Hold on.

Nathan: 00:20:07

There's gotta be something here.

Nathan: 00:20:08

And and same with Jaclyn.

Nathan: 00:20:09

I know she, she writes by herself sometimes too, but it just adds another dimension, another layer to it where you have an immediate sounding board where you could write something late at night at 3:00 AM like, oh my gosh, this is great.

Nathan: 00:20:22

And then you wake up and show it to someone, they're like, this is awful.

Nathan: 00:20:26

Uhhuh.

Nathan: 00:20:26

When you have that immediate response with someone, it just, it works so well where you're able to.

Nathan: 00:20:31

Cultivate and just iron sharpen iron in the flesh where it's like, man, this thing is really becoming tight and strong.

Matt: 00:20:38

Yeah.

Matt: 00:20:39

She knows.

Matt: 00:20:39

She's so great at collaboration and anything.

Matt: 00:20:42

Yeah, she does.

Matt: 00:20:42

She knows how to collaborate and this is, does a collaborative art, but it's very difficult because your writing is like your little baby and you have to have your writing partner tell you that that little piece of the baby is kind of ugly.

Matt: 00:20:54

It can, it can be difficult, but if you can get, get.

Matt: 00:20:56

Past that, that ego part of you.

Matt: 00:20:59

Um, and know that your writing collaboration partner is just trying to make everything better as you are.

Matt: 00:21:04

Yeah.

Matt: 00:21:04

And you can end up with something great.

Nathan: 00:21:07

Yeah.

Nathan: 00:21:07

I fully anticipate the, uh, Jaclyn Whitt to be, uh, a, a name that, that people knows.

Nathan: 00:21:13

Uh, I mean she already has established herself, uh, in this kind of Christian sphere, but I think as time goes on, she is so dang talented that it just is inevitable.

Nathan: 00:21:24

I know that's not even her goal, right?

Nathan: 00:21:25

Her goal is not to to, you know, be super well known or like notoriety or whatever, but my goodness, it will be a, a normal byproduct of the work.

Nathan: 00:21:34

She's

Matt: 00:21:34

a force of nature, is the best way to describe her.

Nathan: 00:21:37

Bingo.

Matt: 00:21:39

She definitely is well enough.

Matt: 00:21:40

Uh, sucking up to the boss.

Matt: 00:21:42

Let's get back to the,

Matt: 00:21:43

obviously you were a writer.

Matt: 00:21:44

Um, are you the showrunner?

Matt: 00:21:45

Is she the showrunner?

Matt: 00:21:46

Who did, are y'all the co show runner?

Nathan: 00:21:48

It is a trifold chord, uh, between Jason, Jaclyn and I.

Nathan: 00:21:52

Okay.

Nathan: 00:21:52

So we all, all, we all had different, uh.

Nathan: 00:21:55

Functionalities.

Nathan: 00:21:56

Just like the Trinity.

Nathan: 00:21:57

Yeah.

Nathan: 00:21:57

Yeah.

Nathan: 00:21:57

Um, and, uh, she writes a lot and then I kind of give notes and, and, and prunes to certain things.

Nathan: 00:22:03

And then Jason, obviously, I think he, he's a good director.

Nathan: 00:22:06

I think he's actually a great director.

Nathan: 00:22:08

I think he's an exceptional producer, really.

Nathan: 00:22:10

I think that's where he excels in.

Nathan: 00:22:12

So eventually I would love to direct as well.

Nathan: 00:22:15

And then Jaclyn writes, but we all can kind of fill in.

Nathan: 00:22:18

Whenever one, as you do

Matt: 00:22:19

on series like that, you'll see the producer directing and the writer

Nathan: 00:22:23

acting.

Nathan: 00:22:23

Oh, you have to what

Matt: 00:22:24

series?

Matt: 00:22:25

That's

Nathan: 00:22:25

how they do it.

Nathan: 00:22:25

You have to, yeah.

Nathan: 00:22:26

Yeah, exactly.

Nathan: 00:22:26

And then honestly, showrunner is kind of an archaic, um, uh, title now when it comes to like streaming services.

Nathan: 00:22:34

Like it is, it is, it's, it's kind of, it's the wild West right now when it comes to shows.

Nathan: 00:22:39

Like there is, there, there used to be a certain template with like NBC, Fox, A, B, C, C, B, S, and now things are changing where it, it, it kind of is wherever.

Nathan: 00:22:48

What the project demands and what the capabilities of the, um, kind of top Brass are.

Matt: 00:22:53

No doubt.

Matt: 00:22:54

Now, did you act in it as well?

Matt: 00:22:55

I mean, you, you have those

Nathan: 00:22:57

talents

Matt: 00:22:57

and you're of the age.

Nathan: 00:22:59

I, yeah.

Nathan: 00:22:59

It's so funny.

Nathan: 00:23:00

I, I, I, a lot of people ask me that, and this is one of those rare times where I go, I, I'm okay with not being in this, and again, this is a show.

Nathan: 00:23:08

God willing to be 4, 5, 6 seasons.

Nathan: 00:23:10

So I probably would eventually be a part of it in, in some capacity, but I just am so loving, so loving, being just a writer and, and wearing the headset behind Video Village and, and, you know, giving notes to Jason, and Jason gives notes to the actor.

Nathan: 00:23:27

Yeah.

Nathan: 00:23:27

And like that, that to me, I, I, I've been really, really enjoying.

Nathan: 00:23:32

So.

Matt: 00:23:33

Gives you the freedom to, to, to focus your mind on, on the creative process rather than the character process.

Matt: 00:23:40

Yes.

Matt: 00:23:40

I don't understand how the crew from, it's always sunny how they do it, because they are everything in that show.

Matt: 00:23:46

I mean, they're writing, they're producing, they are the show.

Matt: 00:23:49

So I don't, I don't understand how people can kind of do both sometimes.

Nathan: 00:23:54

You know what?

Nathan: 00:23:54

I think one, all those people on that show are incredibly talented.

Nathan: 00:23:59

I'm not saying that I'm not, or I'm not, I'm not saying I'm not incredibly talented, but I think they also have had 20 plus years of being in the industry and have it, it blow up in their face and then being a success.

Nathan: 00:24:13

And they just have AC accrued so much.

Nathan: 00:24:17

It's really all about failing, right?

Nathan: 00:24:18

Yeah.

Nathan: 00:24:18

Failing and learning.

Nathan: 00:24:20

Um, your, your wins and your learns, and I think.

Nathan: 00:24:24

When you have a show as successful as that show, you have to experience a lot of learns.

Matt: 00:24:29

Yeah, absolutely.

Nathan: 00:24:29

A lot of learns.

Matt: 00:24:30

They

Nathan: 00:24:30

started

Matt: 00:24:30

young and they're all like a year older than me, so they're really old.

Nathan: 00:24:34

Yeah.

Matt: 00:24:35

So, and then maybe you will be too, man.

Matt: 00:24:38

It sounds like your career, you're still young man and you're kind of relaunching your career.

Matt: 00:24:41

So, you know, I guess where, where were you?

Matt: 00:24:45

Where do you want to go?

Matt: 00:24:46

What?

Matt: 00:24:46

What are your aspirations?

Matt: 00:24:47

Where do you think God is leading you?

Matt: 00:24:49

That's

Nathan: 00:24:49

a really good question.

Nathan: 00:24:51

Um, I think.

Nathan: 00:24:52

When I got married to my beautiful wife, Hannah, uh, three months ago, I, I had told her months before we got married, like, Hey, I, my trajectory of life has been incredibly unorthodox.

Nathan: 00:25:06

Like it's already been very different and unique.

Nathan: 00:25:09

Um, and my overall goal is not to be the best actor, the best writer, the best director, whatever.

Nathan: 00:25:15

While that would be awesome, my ultimate goal is that every set that I'm on.

Nathan: 00:25:21

I have left a lasting impact on everyone.

Nathan: 00:25:24

From the director to the catering guy.

Nathan: 00:25:27

Yeah.

Nathan: 00:25:27

To craft service like that is my goal.

Nathan: 00:25:30

So every time that I'm on set, I'm learning names, I'm fellowshipping with people, I am loving God by loving his kids.

Nathan: 00:25:38

And that ultimately, if, if I'm given opportunities to do that from now all the way up until I'm 120, then.

Nathan: 00:25:46

I would've fulfilled what I believe I'm supposed to do here on, on Earth.

Nathan: 00:25:50

So yeah, writing and directing and acting.

Nathan: 00:25:54

Awesome.

Nathan: 00:25:54

So cool.

Nathan: 00:25:55

But I would love to also know, hey, I remember the, the sound guy for this movie we did a couple years ago.

Nathan: 00:26:01

He's great.

Nathan: 00:26:01

He's got an awesome family.

Nathan: 00:26:02

Let's include him on this project that we're doing and, and just yeah.

Nathan: 00:26:07

Create, 'cause this, this industry, uh, is really kind of.

Nathan: 00:26:13

Brutal.

Matt: 00:26:14

Yeah.

Nathan: 00:26:14

Nihilistic.

Matt: 00:26:15

Yeah.

Nathan: 00:26:16

And uh, uh, cutthroat and.

Nathan: 00:26:19

We are called to be a light and the salt of the earth.

Nathan: 00:26:21

So if we are to actually live that out, we should, we should actually reflect differently what, what is like mainstream.

Nathan: 00:26:28

So that, that is my goal.

Matt: 00:26:30

Well, you just answered my last question because I always ask people, you know, what, what are, what are some advice you would give to people, you know, on the outskirts of the industry trying to get in?

Matt: 00:26:41

And I, I just, I can't imagine better advice than that.

Matt: 00:26:44

You just described servant leadership.

Matt: 00:26:46

You just described, you know what it's like to really participate in the mission field.

Matt: 00:26:51

F for real is, is that when you get a chance to go on set, no matter what your role is.

Matt: 00:26:57

Like you say, show the work ethic.

Matt: 00:27:00

Be there on time.

Matt: 00:27:00

Know your job.

Matt: 00:27:01

But more than that, just be a light in what can be a dark place?

Matt: 00:27:06

Be a blessing to others, and in doing so, you are fulfilling your mission.

Nathan: 00:27:13

Yeah.

Nathan: 00:27:13

And, and, and being on set is a, is a really ripe opportunity for that.

Nathan: 00:27:18

And what I mean by that is when you creating, making a, a movie or TV show is all about problem solving because there will be problems, there will be stuff that happens often, problems.

Matt: 00:27:28

The, the movie tries to fall apart every single day.

Nathan: 00:27:31

Every single day.

Nathan: 00:27:33

And how the world reacts is classic.

Nathan: 00:27:36

Upset, anger, frustration, vocalizing in, in, out of ego, out of pride, out of whatever.

Nathan: 00:27:43

And then you tear down someone to look like you're being brought up and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Nathan: 00:27:48

But we as believers are called to live, uh, separately from, from how the world operates.

Nathan: 00:27:55

And there's so many great opportunities to react a certain way on set with that kind of perspective, where it would be immediately different where immediately someone would go.

Nathan: 00:28:06

Why aren't you yelling at me, right?

Nathan: 00:28:08

Like, why aren't you berating me?

Nathan: 00:28:10

Uh, that was something I, I filmed the movie earlier this year called Bad Counselors.

Nathan: 00:28:13

Uh, hopefully it's coming out next year.

Nathan: 00:28:15

Um, and the director, Chris Dowling, really great guy, super cool Christian dude.

Nathan: 00:28:22

Every, after, every day he would go to all of the production groups, whether it be hair and makeup, sound props, and he would thank them and wish them a good night.

Nathan: 00:28:33

And I would see him kind of hit everything and I was getting my makeup taken off.

Nathan: 00:28:38

At the end of the day, I've enter a really hard week and he sticks his head in and he says everyone's name and says, have a great weekend.

Nathan: 00:28:45

And I go, whoa, I've never seen that.

Nathan: 00:28:48

I've been on other, like, Christian productions too.

Nathan: 00:28:50

And that's a, that's a tall order to ask for, to even expect.

Nathan: 00:28:53

I don't think you should expect that.

Nathan: 00:28:55

But he going above and beyond and being that servant leader.

Nathan: 00:28:59

All things were revealed to Jesus.

Nathan: 00:29:01

And how did he first respond?

Nathan: 00:29:02

By washing people 's feet.,

Matt: 00:29:03

Washing their feet.

Nathan: 00:29:04

Yes.

Nathan: 00:29:04

So it, it, it really is like he's top dog everything, all roads lead to the director and yet he out of, out of the understanding of, of his title and his position was a servant for all these people.

Nathan: 00:29:17

And my heart exploded.

Nathan: 00:29:19

Like it was just, that is how it should be.

Nathan: 00:29:22

That is how the, you are creating the template right now.

Matt: 00:29:26

Well, he, he, he was bearing fruit.

Matt: 00:29:29

In the spirit, and yes.

Matt: 00:29:30

So your goal is to bear those same fruits of the spirit.

Matt: 00:29:33

What do those fruits lead to?

Matt: 00:29:35

They lead to other people wanting those same fruits.

Matt: 00:29:38

Totally.

Matt: 00:29:38

And you got the answer to how to get there.

Nathan: 00:29:40

Exactly 100%.

Matt: 00:29:42

Awesome.

Matt: 00:29:43

Well that is about all the time we have Nathan Gamble.

Matt: 00:29:46

Thank you so much for joining us today on the Faith and Family Filmmakers Podcast.

Matt: 00:29:50

This has been a whole lot of fun.

Matt: 00:29:52

Uh, we gotta have you back sometime.

Matt: 00:29:54

Yeah.

Matt: 00:29:54

Heck yeah.

Matt: 00:29:54

The shows out and it's, it's a ma smashing success and you barely have time for, I love the sound of that to bring you back in.

Nathan: 00:30:02

Thanks, Matt.

Nathan: 00:30:02

Super appreciate it.

Nathan: 00:30:03

God blessed dude.

Matt: 00:30:04

Thanks so much.

Matt: 00:30:04

You too, brother.