Episode 109
Testimony Series - Divine Moments and Conversations
Episode 109 - Testimony Series - Divine Moments and Conversations
This episode is a part of our December Testimony series. A series of short testimonies of times that God showed up upon set or in ways related to the film-industry.
In this episode, Tara Massey, producer and lead actress of 'Do Not Grow Weary,' shares her personal story of overcoming anxiety and depression during the pre-production phase of the film. She describes a transformative moment inspired by the Bible verse 1 Peter 5:7, which led her to place her trust in God's provision. Tara recounts how unexpected miracles and timely assistance helped complete the film and highlights a pivotal experience at the film's premiere where she realized the broader, non-believing audience her work reached. Additionally, Tara shares an inspiring discussion from her time on a Netflix set, illustrating divine moments and open conversations about faith with non-believers.
Do Not Grow Weary https://www.dngwmovie.com/
Dove Light Studios: https://www.dovelightphotography.com/
Tara on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=taraelizabethmassey
Tara on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taraelizabethmassey/
● Writers Retreat - Mexico: https://www.faffassociation.com/writers-retreat
● Jaclyn's Book - In the Beginning, Middle and End: A Screenwriter’s Observations of LIfe, Character, and God https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9R7XS9V
● VIP Producers Mentorship Program https://www.faffassociation.com/vip-producers-mentorship
The Faith & Family Filmmakers podcast helps filmmakers who share a Christian worldview stay in touch, informed, and inspired. Releasing new episodes every week, we interview experts from varying fields of filmmaking; from screenwriters, actors, directors, and producers, to film scorers, talent agents, and distributors.
It is produced and hosted by Geoffrey Whitt and Jaclyn Whitt , and is brought to you by the Faith & Family Filmmakers Association
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Transcript
I'm Tara Massey and I was the producer and lead actress in the movie Do Not Grow Weary.
Tara Massey:It takes a miracle to make a movie and we certainly got our miracle.
Tara Massey:When we were in pre production and I was having a really hard time just in life in general going through some anxiety and depression and we had a lot of pressures from the world and it was excruciating to be honest and there was a moment where I had Just a breaking point and I was like, I don't know what to do anymore.
Tara Massey:I just have no idea what to do.
Tara Massey:And a song popped in my head and it was, I cast all my cares upon you.
Tara Massey:I lay all of my burdens.
Tara Massey:Down at your feet, and any time I don't know what to do, I will cast all my cares upon you.
Tara Massey:And it was that moment that I realized it was 1 Peter 5, 7.
Tara Massey:God's promised us that we can cast all our cares upon him for he cares for you.
Tara Massey:And at that moment I realized I had a lot of things I cared about and then I realized that my anxiety and depression was due to all these fears that I had that I didn't even realize I had fears.
Tara Massey:I thought I was just like just trying to do life here, you know?
Tara Massey:And I realized that I thought that I was in control and that if I didn't do these things right and in the right time, that everything would fall apart.
Tara Massey:But that wasn't true.
Tara Massey:God had it all along.
Tara Massey:And that's the piece that I needed to know before making this movie.
Tara Massey:When we made Do Not Grow Weary, I was able to lay out all of the things before the Lord as it was.
Tara Massey:a to do list and said, okay, God, here are all of my cares, the cast I care about.
Tara Massey:I just need to make sure that we have everything in the right place at the right time and the locations and the food or sponsorships.
Tara Massey:And I was juggling all of the details and God started to fill those needs with, all kinds of people that came into our circle at last minute even.
Tara Massey:We saw, um, the most random people come at the most random times to fill in a huge gap for our production and it was really incredible.
Tara Massey:That was a miracle.
Tara Massey:We also saw the Lord just provide in the most perfect ways and in the most perfect timing.
Tara Massey:At times it would seem like it was last minute, but it really was and it was perfect, but then Biggest unexpected miracle that I saw was at our premiere.
Tara Massey:I was really excited to proclaim about what God had done through this whole production and how he used our act of obedience just to bless our hearts.
Tara Massey:And it was just really exciting to be able to want to share that with people, but the Lord led in a different way.
Tara Massey:And as I was getting up to speak at our premiere and tell a little bit about the behind the scenes.
Tara Massey:God led me in a whole different direction and I shared details that I wasn't planning on sharing.
Tara Massey:And it was in that moment that God revealed to me that most of my audience were not believers.
Tara Massey:And it was in that moment that I realized my audience was not the church.
Tara Massey:And our so called faith based film, um, you know, we had started Making this film, but honestly, we didn't have clarity on who our audience was and who this would appeal to.
Tara Massey:I know that sounds weird, but we didn't.
Tara Massey:And I'm so grateful that God made that clear to me, but he also made that clear to me on another film set.
Tara Massey:When I was a stand in on a Netflix set and uh, there's a group of stand ins, probably about five of us, um, we had to stand there for about 30 minutes and while we were clustered together just standing there, we were able to get into a really good mood.
Tara Massey:amazing conversation and it started with somebody mentioning something about a divine moment in their life but they were a non believer and um, then it was really cool to be able to share other stories of people who had these divine moments like where clearly there was a higher, being involved and um, I was able to share not only my testimony but some stories of other people including other Hollywood actors.
Tara Massey:So we just had some really cool conversations.
Tara Massey:We were able to talk openly about God and I'm really excited to see what the Lord does with those seeds that were planted.
