The Intersection of Film and Ministry

Geoff: 00:00:00

Welcome to the Faith and Family Filmmakers Podcast.

Geoff: 00:00:03

My name is Geoff, And I'm excited to be with you today with our guest, Ulysses Larramendi.

Geoff: 00:00:08

Born in Cuba in 1963, Ulysses moved to the U.

Geoff: 00:00:11

S.

Geoff: 00:00:11

in 1977, where he settled in Houston and has considered Texas home ever since.

Geoff: 00:00:17

In 2006, Ulysses created his own restaurant concept called Eden Cafe.

Geoff: 00:00:23

But while he carries hospitality in his veins and loves what he does, he also has another passion for telling stories and acting.

Geoff: 00:00:31

Ulysses has been blessed to work in faith-based films and TV series, glorifying God with his gifts.

Geoff: 00:00:37

Ulysses lives in Texas with his wife and children.

Geoff: 00:00:41

Welcome Ulysses.

Ulises: 00:00:42

great to be here.

Ulises: 00:00:43

Thanks for having me, Geoff.

Geoff: 00:00:44

Yeah, yeah, well it's a pleasure.

Geoff: 00:00:46

good to see you again.

Geoff: 00:00:47

we've met a few times.

Geoff: 00:00:49

And, uh, I guess always at content or more specifically at Copernum Studios.

Ulises: 00:00:55

yeah, it's one or the other or on set or doing something.

Ulises: 00:00:59

Yeah, it's uh, it's great.

Ulises: 00:01:01

I've enjoyed meeting you and Jacqueline and, uh, getting to know you guys.

Ulises: 00:01:04

So it's, it's kind of fun to come around full circle and be on your podcast.

Ulises: 00:01:08

Yeah.

Geoff: 00:01:08

and I know it's going to be a good interview because You know, be a little vulnerable here and tell everybody.

Geoff: 00:01:14

I've actually tried to do this at least twice before.

Ulises: 00:01:18

Yeah.

Geoff: 00:01:18

When we did some bonus episodes Content this past year, I interviewed Ulysses.

Geoff: 00:01:25

Not once, twice, I'm not sure if we tried it a third time, uh, did the interview, and when I went to go do the editing, my microphone had been glitching, and the audio quality wasn't good enough, so, um, we had to kind of just say, Ulysses, we're just going to do this later, but at least we'll get a full interview in.

Ulises: 00:01:45

Well, the one that we did in your car, uh, with, uh, the engine completely shut off and it was pretty hot outside.

Ulises: 00:01:53

That one was memorable, man.

Ulises: 00:01:54

It was, it was an oven, but I thought for sure we had that one because it was pretty quiet

Geoff: 00:01:58

Yeah, I, need to upgrade my, uh, my portable microphone for that type of thing.

Geoff: 00:02:04

So

Ulises: 00:02:05

it's all good.

Ulises: 00:02:05

We're here.

Geoff: 00:02:07

yeah, so I'm going to go back for a moment to the first time we met, which I think was 2018.

Geoff: 00:02:12

If I'm not mistaken, that was the year you guys were debuting.

Geoff: 00:02:15

We are stronger at

Geoff: 00:02:17

content.

Geoff: 00:02:18

Yeah, and uh, I met Carla, I met you, um, we are stronger.

Geoff: 00:02:23

Tell us, was that your beginning as an actor?

Geoff: 00:02:28

I don't think so, but that's the first I know of you, so tell us that all fits in with your career.

Ulises: 00:02:32

yeah, um, it's really the beginning of, of, the meaningful part of my acting.

Ulises: 00:02:37

But, going back to, even as a child, my mother's a musician.

Ulises: 00:02:43

Uh, piano, played a piano all her life.

Ulises: 00:02:46

My dad's an engineer, but a great storyteller So I've gotten those gifts from them and to this day I regret not learning how to play the piano, which she offered.

Ulises: 00:02:59

But you know, me being a jock and, not thinking that I needed to know that skill, I passed up on that opportunity.

Ulises: 00:03:05

And to this day, man, I wish I had learned it.

Ulises: 00:03:08

But, um, you know, she was always involved in church and choir and all these things.

Ulises: 00:03:14

And, you know, growing up in church, I grew up in a Christian home in Cuba.

Ulises: 00:03:18

But, uh, growing up in church, I was always involved in some sort of production.

Ulises: 00:03:22

Uh, because I loved, uh, I loved being on stage.

Ulises: 00:03:25

I loved playing around with other kids and telling stories and being part of a play.

Ulises: 00:03:30

So, that led into my college career in mostly stage.

Ulises: 00:03:35

Actually, not mostly.

Ulises: 00:03:36

A hundred percent stage.

Ulises: 00:03:37

All theater.

Ulises: 00:03:38

Which was also a story of, you know, I, I was an engineer student because I thought I was going to be a, somebody like my dad and, I needed an art class and I had, I had no intention of going into theater or acting once I got to college.

Ulises: 00:03:53

I thought that was just a teenage thing.

Ulises: 00:03:57

And, um, I'm, you know, trying to get my arts credit out of the way, and there's only one class left, that's not filled, and it's acting one, and I said, yeah, I'll try it.

Ulises: 00:04:06

Why not?

Ulises: 00:04:06

I mean, you know, it can't be that bad, and it's an easy A.

Ulises: 00:04:10

Well, our professor, Dr.

Ulises: 00:04:12

Tom Little, uh, rest in peace.

Ulises: 00:04:15

He, uh, he talked me into auditioning for the semester's play.

Ulises: 00:04:19

the Mad Women of Chaillot, it was a comedy, a French comedy, and he needed a villain.

Ulises: 00:04:24

And I said, yeah, no, doc, I'm not doing that.

Ulises: 00:04:26

He goes, yes, you are.

Ulises: 00:04:28

You are doing that.

Ulises: 00:04:29

I guess he saw something in me because of all the, uh, how easy I was on stage from all those years of, playing different characters as a kid.

Ulises: 00:04:36

I don't know.

Ulises: 00:04:37

He said, yes, you are.

Ulises: 00:04:38

I said, oh, come on.

Ulises: 00:04:39

So he made me audition and he cast me as the lead villain and I never looked back.

Ulises: 00:04:45

I got the buck then for stage.

Ulises: 00:04:47

And I was on, I mean, I auditioned for every production after that, got a bunch of roles, got some crew roles later on, uh, production, you know, uh, in the bag, building stages.

Ulises: 00:04:58

And

Ulises: 00:04:59

man, I, it turned me around because I even, gave up engineering and not that I wanted to get

Ulises: 00:05:04

a

Ulises: 00:05:04

degree theater or anything, but it really derailed my, my engineering student

Ulises: 00:05:11

plans.

Ulises: 00:05:12

And so I got a general business administration degree just cause I needed to get out of school for reasons explain it a little bit, but, but yeah, that stayed with me, did stage throughout all of college.

Ulises: 00:05:23

A ton of, ton of time that I spent, uh, in front of live audiences, which to me was amazing.

Ulises: 00:05:31

It was a great skill to have, I firmly believe, and not to take anything away from guys who haven't done it this way, but for me, It's a huge advantage to, uh, to

Ulises: 00:05:41

start with

Ulises: 00:05:41

theater first and then move on to film.

Ulises: 00:05:44

just being more prepared.

Ulises: 00:05:46

You know, you read the whole thing when you're in theater, you memorize the whole play.

Ulises: 00:05:49

you learn how to improvise.

Ulises: 00:05:51

If your actor on stage, you know, drops his lines and you got to get him back on.

Ulises: 00:05:56

And there's so many things about theater and you know, you learn to project and you learn to, to, to whisper in a way that the lady in the back row can hear you.

Ulises: 00:06:06

Uh, it was a great training.

Ulises: 00:06:08

but then I put it down.

Ulises: 00:06:09

I put it down for many years because I was, in the restaurant business while I was going to school.

Ulises: 00:06:15

And, uh, at the end of my degree, I was offered an opportunity to, work for them full time for this one particular company where I was at, uh, the Pappas Brothers here in Texas.

Ulises: 00:06:26

And, they offered me to, you know, continue to grow and open restaurants for them and learn that craft.

Ulises: 00:06:32

While at the same time.

Ulises: 00:06:34

I have my bachelor's, uh, I've auditioned for a master's program at SUNY Purchase or, you know, a continuing education program SUNY, at State University of New York.

Ulises: 00:06:45

And, you know, I went to Dallas, I auditioned in front of a bunch of schools and SUNY offered me, a spot in their program, you know, for a fine arts, degree.

Ulises: 00:06:57

And they only

Ulises: 00:06:58

take

Ulises: 00:06:59

10 males and 10 females every year.

Geoff: 00:07:02

10

Ulises: 00:07:02

And I was offered a spot.

Ulises: 00:07:03

I still

Ulises: 00:07:03

got my

Ulises: 00:07:04

letter somewhere.

Geoff: 00:07:05

It's one

Ulises: 00:07:06

And it was a fork in the road, Geoff.

Ulises: 00:07:07

It was, uh, decide whether to continue with my performing and, pursue that and move to New York or take up these, career offer from the Pappas Brothers to learn the restaurant business.

Ulises: 00:07:19

And as you know, I chose the other career path and learned, uh, incredible training from them and many other restauranteurs that have crossed my path along the way, all the way up to opening up my own, uh, which I own today.

Ulises: 00:07:34

Uh, to this day, 18 years now, we've owned our restaurant, but, yeah, so I put it down for a while, and then when I got back into it with Carla and her ministry in 2012 or so, that's when I got into film instead.

Ulises: 00:07:47

haven't done any stage theater since then.

Ulises: 00:07:50

been mostly film.

Geoff: 00:07:52

down for a while, and then when I got back, Also, you know, you mentioned earlier that you ended up getting a business degree, and I'm sure that has really been an asset to your life and to your career, probably both of them, but we're going to have Jaclyn talk with you about that in the next, portion of our interview in part two.

Geoff: 00:08:21

Uh, yeah, let's talk about Carla Carla McDougal.

Geoff: 00:08:25

And her ministry, and what that's all about, of all, and then get into We Are Stronger, and, where that led.

Ulises: 00:08:32

Yeah, Reflective Life Ministries is the organization that she founded and it started as a place for her to meet with women and have women Bible studies and, seminars, weekend retreats, and I believe at some point, she paired one of her books that she had written with a short film.

Ulises: 00:08:55

And, uh, the short film was hugely successful and very well received by her audience.

Ulises: 00:09:02

And she decided to continue that path and create more visual work to go along with her ministry.

Ulises: 00:09:11

And, you know, we ended up doing a film, early on called First Love.

Ulises: 00:09:16

And she knew me from church, she has seen me in a lot of the, because again, you know, in church you always, you know, go back, you're pulled in by Christmas productions or Easter productions and, I easily just said yes to stuff like that, because I missed being on stage.

Ulises: 00:09:30

And,

Geoff: 00:09:30

course.

Ulises: 00:09:31

uh, she saw me acting and, you know, for Easter or Christmas or whatever.

Ulises: 00:09:36

And she, approached me about the lead role in First Love.

Ulises: 00:09:40

it was a modern day tale, uh, about Peter and the Apostles.

Ulises: 00:09:44

it was a story of a law firm with 12 lawyers.

Ulises: 00:09:49

And, uh, the lead lawyer, moves on to be a judge and he gets murdered.

Ulises: 00:09:54

And, uh, my character, Joe, which is supposed to be Peter.

Ulises: 00:09:58

gets promoted to the head of the firm.

Ulises: 00:10:01

so you can see the correlation there.

Ulises: 00:10:04

Yeah, the parallel, exactly.

Ulises: 00:10:05

And, uh, First Love, again, was, received really well.

Ulises: 00:10:09

And, she just kept being encouraged to continue doing film work.

Ulises: 00:10:13

So that led to We Are Stronger.

Ulises: 00:10:15

her and Jake Allen are, Director of Photography.

Ulises: 00:10:19

Uh, Jake wears many hats, lights, sound, everything.

Ulises: 00:10:23

But the two of them, uh, who have always worked together, they came up with this.

Ulises: 00:10:27

This idea from God that, um, that they needed to do a story about post traumatic stress.

Ulises: 00:10:33

and, uh, we are stronger was birth and, uh, you know, she approached me again, cause we had worked together on that previous project and, we had no idea what we were getting into.

Ulises: 00:10:43

We didn't know anything about the, uh, the world of trauma for our veterans.

Ulises: 00:10:49

And, uh, Robin Murray, who's our, who's a writer who's been alongside her this whole time, said, yeah, well, let's, let's tackle this and let's learn.

Ulises: 00:10:58

Well, the learning was, uh, that was, a movie in itself.

Ulises: 00:11:03

I mean, and, and God opened doors and he equips the unequipped and he brought people to our doorstep.

Ulises: 00:11:09

were perfect for us to learn what that world's about.

Ulises: 00:11:12

The very dark world, a very depressing world that, you know, Robin said, I have to write this story with some instances of humor in it, because Otherwise, it's an hour and a half that's going to be

Ulises: 00:11:23

depressing for the

Ulises: 00:11:24

audience.

Ulises: 00:11:26

Because those guys are, those guys go through a lot, you know, they, they've seen a lot.

Ulises: 00:11:29

They've seen things that you and I, Geoff, are not wired to see or experience.

Ulises: 00:11:33

Uh, and our men and women in the military and, you know, paramedics and nurses and first responders, I mean, they do too.

Ulises: 00:11:40

So, um, so we enter that world.

Ulises: 00:11:43

He provided retreats and, people with experience we could meet and learn.

Ulises: 00:11:47

very much.

Ulises: 00:11:48

Um, the gentleman that founded the Mighty Oaks, Chad Robichaux, he offered for me to, uh, spend a week in Paso Robles, California at a veteran's retreat.

Ulises: 00:11:59

They call it

Ulises: 00:12:00

advanced.

Ulises: 00:12:01

They don't call it retreats.

Ulises: 00:12:02

Marines never retreat.

Ulises: 00:12:04

And, uh, uh, I spent a week up there with, 28 guys that that were all, a lot of them were, know, in, in active duty.

Ulises: 00:12:11

And, uh, uh, I spent a week 28 guys that But their, you know, commanding officer has said, you need to go to this retreat because you're, struggling.

Ulises: 00:12:18

So I'm, I'm there sleeping and, you know, eating grub and, you know, spending time with 28 guys that have post traumatic stress.

Ulises: 00:12:26

And that was an incredible experience that really developed my character and allowed me to really understand what I was getting into.

Ulises: 00:12:33

To the point where I came back to Houston and met with the team.

Ulises: 00:12:36

I said,

Ulises: 00:12:37

guys,

Ulises: 00:12:37

We

Ulises: 00:12:38

have a

Ulises: 00:12:38

lot of things

Ulises: 00:12:39

wrong on the script that we've already written,

Ulises: 00:12:42

uh, because you can't, you can't wake up a veteran that's

Ulises: 00:12:45

going

Ulises: 00:12:45

through a nightmare like you wake up a normal person, because that, that guy might grab you and choke you to death because he's having a dream about being in combat.

Ulises: 00:12:55

So, we changed a lot of stuff and it helped tremendously and God blessed us with, well, the film now has, eight and a half million views, uh, this weekend, actually, it's been, or last weekend, it was shown in, Uganda and, we heard from the ministry there that, uh, hundreds of people have called in from all over the country.

Ulises: 00:13:15

receiving Jesus as their savior, uh, it's been amazing to watch how God has used that product, even after five or six years that it's been out there, there's still people watching it and hearing the gospel through it.

Ulises: 00:13:29

And, we are stronger led to a TV series that is now,

Ulises: 00:13:32

it's actually on YouTube.

Ulises: 00:13:34

we're about to release season

Geoff: 00:13:35

Oh, wow, I didn't know

Geoff: 00:13:37

that.

Ulises: 00:13:37

Uh, it's called Breaking Strongholds,

Geoff: 00:13:39

Yes, I've seen the first season, although I admit it was a while ago, I could probably, I know I would enjoy watching it again.

Geoff: 00:13:46

but I did not realize that there was another season coming.

Ulises: 00:13:49

yeah, Season 2 is about to be released.

Ulises: 00:13:52

Jake's got a couple of episodes already, uh, done with production, and, uh, we're about to release those.

Ulises: 00:13:57

You know, it's, it's interesting.

Ulises: 00:13:59

God has used that product all over the world,

Ulises: 00:14:03

but the thing that's happening now, currently.

Ulises: 00:14:07

It's the prison system in America.

Ulises: 00:14:10

It's, using it.

Ulises: 00:14:11

we're in a 31 state, I believe, tons of units are offering both.

Ulises: 00:14:17

We are stronger and breaking strongholds to the inmates.

Ulises: 00:14:22

there's been all kinds of profession of faith inside the prisons from guys that are watching.

Ulises: 00:14:27

I mean, you know, suicide is a, big thing

Ulises: 00:14:29

inside the prisons.

Ulises: 00:14:30

You know, and a lot of these guys are veterans.

Ulises: 00:14:33

Um, and even the ones who are not relating to the content that we're putting out there.

Ulises: 00:14:39

Breaking Strongholds started more about being a teen suicide, story.

Ulises: 00:14:44

a young man named Ryan who, tried to, take his life, but he failed.

Ulises: 00:14:49

and Vic, my character from the movie, you know, survived his, story, did not succeed in taking his life, and, and now he's using his experience to help others, which is what we're trying to communicate.

Ulises: 00:15:02

the purpose, you know, a purpose driven life.

Ulises: 00:15:05

It's what we want these guys to understand, you know.

Ulises: 00:15:08

And, um, make us now a chaplain.

Ulises: 00:15:10

So in, Breaking Strongholds, uh, my character's still there, but now as a counselor, as a chaplain.

Ulises: 00:15:16

and so it carries through four episodes of season one, and, uh, another four episodes of season two, which you're gonna see soon.

Ulises: 00:15:24

and, that is also in Uganda on TV and in the prisons.

Ulises: 00:15:28

And we just, we're just in awe of what God is doing with, everything we've put together through his glory.

Ulises: 00:15:35

It's crazy.

Ulises: 00:15:36

It's crazy how he's using it.

Ulises: 00:15:37

character, which is what we're trying to do.

Ulises: 00:15:38

Right.

Ulises: 00:15:38

Jaclyn.

Ulises: 00:15:39

Uh episodes of season one.

Ulises: 00:15:39

That is also in Uganda.

Geoff: 00:15:40

Cool, cool, cool.

Geoff: 00:15:40

And I'm guessing when you, well, when you started Are Stronger, you weren't already planning the how did that kind of transition?

Geoff: 00:15:43

Decided to do the book.

Geoff: 00:15:43

Much hard work.

Geoff: 00:15:44

Yeah.

Geoff: 00:15:44

Yeah.

Ulises: 00:15:47

you finish one film, you start praying, if you've learned how to listen to God and the opportunities he puts in front of you, you walk through that door, I Breaking Strongholds was just a, the follow up, and, you know, Jake and Carla felt the need to just continue the story, and now go into more of an episodic thing.

Ulises: 00:16:06

When, when we decided to do Breaking Strongholds, um, doing episodic work, was becoming really popular.

Ulises: 00:16:14

We thought it would be easier to shoot episodes edit those and get those out faster than a full movie.

Ulises: 00:16:22

Which is probably not true.

Ulises: 00:16:24

takes just as much hard work to do an episodic project as it does a movie.

Ulises: 00:16:30

Sometimes probably more so.

Ulises: 00:16:32

Yeah, it was just listening.

Ulises: 00:16:33

It was just listening to God and him leading us to, take on, to take on a subject that was, that's happening here in an area, uh, Montgomery County, where we live as one of the highest rates of teen suicide in the country.

Ulises: 00:16:47

And, uh, you know, there's a lack of God in the family, um, kids that are in You know, guided, they don't have a spiritual direction.

Ulises: 00:16:58

they're confused.

Ulises: 00:16:59

Maybe they have too much money or they have little money and, you know, drugs, alcohol, even at an early age in high school.

Ulises: 00:17:06

So all that, leads to emptiness and then, you know, the suicide and, you know, We have a lot of that in our area, so it became obvious that, hey, we've already tackled a dark subject, let's go after this other one that needs some attention.

Ulises: 00:17:22

we have a couple of families in the area, very affluent, very, well known families.

Ulises: 00:17:28

That again, God

Ulises: 00:17:29

provided,

Ulises: 00:17:29

right?

Ulises: 00:17:30

God, equipped us.

Ulises: 00:17:31

he brought families to our ministry that sadly, you know, have lost, daughters and grandkids and, sons.

Ulises: 00:17:39

And these people came forth and said, we want to help you.

Ulises: 00:17:43

want to help you understand our journey and, uh, put this series together so we can use it.

Ulises: 00:17:50

One of them actually has a charitable foundation and they go.

Ulises: 00:17:53

They go to the schools and talk to the kids about their experience losing their daughter, who was a cheerleader.

Ulises: 00:17:59

beautiful, beautiful, smart, popular girl, Geoff.

Ulises: 00:18:03

you know, not the typical teen that you would think, Oh yeah, she was bullied online and she took her life.

Ulises: 00:18:09

completely opposite.

Ulises: 00:18:10

You know, when Satan decides

Ulises: 00:18:13

to disrupt your life and attack you, uh, you know, it doesn't matter what you, where you come from and how you live.

Ulises: 00:18:20

but these people have helped us also come up with the story and, it's been great for the community and like I said, internationally, uh, this, weekend in Uganda, all these phone calls over that show, and then the inmates in the prison system, it's been, awesome to

Ulises: 00:18:34

yeah.

Ulises: 00:18:34

yeah.

Ulises: 00:18:35

It's really cool to see the intersect between film and ministry, um, and this is a very good example of it.

Ulises: 00:18:43

happening, through various filmmakers and various ministries that are, Combining the two.

Ulises: 00:18:48

But this is a really strong example of this ministry focused filmmaking.

Ulises: 00:18:53

And, uh, it's clear that, you know, with the people who come alongside and get involved and support it, and the opportunities for it to impact people, it's really good.

Ulises: 00:19:05

I'm really glad that we got to talk about this, because it's a great example of, ministry and film working together.

Ulises: 00:19:11

think, you know, faith based films have come a long ways, and we have a long way to go still, but product that's out there coming out now is much better than it was 10, 15 years ago, and we've we need to continue to, you know, to up our game and get better and get better at the talent and our production value.

Ulises: 00:19:29

Everything needs to get better so that we can attract more audiences.

Ulises: 00:19:33

and Carla and Jake and our ministry, we decided to go after some dark subjects that maybe, Uh, some of those themes, uh, people don't want to touch, you know, cause they're a little dark, but you gotta shed light on the darkness, right?

Ulises: 00:19:46

you gotta put that light bright on the stuff that's really, uh, happening.

Ulises: 00:19:51

and it can't just be all, good endings and, you

Ulises: 00:19:53

know,

Ulises: 00:19:54

so, but, you know, and I know a lot of filmmakers who are, hesitant to make films where there's too much God in it.

Ulises: 00:20:01

In fact.

Ulises: 00:20:02

You know, one of the organizations we approached for We Are Stronger that helps veterans here, they said, yeah, no, we would rather stay away.

Ulises: 00:20:09

We'll give you all the resources you need, but we don't want to be part of the film because it's too, too much God in.

Ulises: 00:20:16

And we felt that that was the main theme.

Ulises: 00:20:19

We wanted, we wanted to show the importance of having God in the story.

Ulises: 00:20:24

So, I love the direction

Ulises: 00:20:25

that our stories are going and what we're trying to do with, art

Geoff: 00:20:30

Yeah.

Geoff: 00:20:31

Speaking of where we're going, let's talk about where you're going.

Geoff: 00:20:34

and, uh, tell us what have you been doing recently?

Geoff: 00:20:38

and then going forward, what's upcoming for

Ulises: 00:20:40

Well, uh, had a lot of projects this year that, uh, You and I actually run into each other on the set of Empty Nets, uh, and that was an awesome, awesome.

Ulises: 00:20:52

It's first century comedy that, Leland Clawson and Nathan Blair, put together.

Ulises: 00:20:57

Uh, think that's still in post production, but that was a lot of fun.

Ulises: 00:21:01

That was a lot of fun.

Ulises: 00:21:02

First century, Christ is a character in the story, but we don't see Jesus.

Ulises: 00:21:06

Uh, we only talk about him.

Ulises: 00:21:09

And I play, I'm probably the least comedic character in that story, because I play, uh, like a spiritual mentor to the lead, which is Leland.

Ulises: 00:21:17

we did that early summer.

Ulises: 00:21:19

Um, I was cast as, Paul in a TV series that we shot a pilot for a year or so ago, and that's still in the funding process and production process.

Ulises: 00:21:30

Uh, We'd love to get that going.

Ulises: 00:21:32

getting that role has, meant a lot to me because I dove into the character of Paul and I've read every, not every book, but most books that I could find on his life,

Ulises: 00:21:44

his Jewish heritage, His transformation, learn more about the man so I could play him

Ulises: 00:21:50

properly.

Ulises: 00:21:51

And I mean, what a huge responsibility, right?

Ulises: 00:21:53

To be cast as Paul,

Ulises: 00:21:55

uh a man that shaped our Christian walk and written most of the New Testament.

Ulises: 00:21:59

I mean, uh, be careful what you pray for.

Ulises: 00:22:02

I had asked God to give me a role, as meaningful and as impactful as Vic in We Are Stronger.

Ulises: 00:22:08

and he brought Paul to my lap, and that was life changing and humbling.

Ulises: 00:22:13

so yeah, I've done that.

Ulises: 00:22:14

Um, also was cast in a production here locally, with a group called Studio 220 Films.

Ulises: 00:22:21

Uh, you met Jerry Lunkin.

Geoff: 00:22:23

Yes, yep.

Ulises: 00:22:24

Studios, too.

Geoff: 00:22:25

Jerry's, and his wife are in our, uh, VIP producers program.

Geoff: 00:22:30

Of course, Jerry's, Jerry's got lots of experience with producing, but he wanted his wife to, uh, to kind of get some of that information firsthand.

Geoff: 00:22:38

so

Ulises: 00:22:39

Yeah.

Geoff: 00:22:39

joined

Ulises: 00:22:40

They're great.

Ulises: 00:22:41

They're great.

Ulises: 00:22:41

They cast me as a retired SWAT commander who travels around the country helping, uh, law enforcement officers deal with trauma.

Ulises: 00:22:50

And the story's about a cop, a female cop, who shoots a 14 year old outside a gas station and she's dealing with the trauma of killing a kid her husband, who's a pastor, asked me to come in and help her deal with that.

Ulises: 00:23:03

So again, another post traumatic stress project, which I really enjoy because, uh, my experience with playing Vic was so, so amazing.

Ulises: 00:23:12

So we have that.

Ulises: 00:23:13

I think he's sending that to Angel Studios to see if they'll get behind it.

Ulises: 00:23:17

Uh, and then he's also looking for, uh, funding to do the rest of the film.

Ulises: 00:23:21

Cause we have, uh, proof of concept.

Ulises: 00:23:23

It's about 30, 40 minutes.

Ulises: 00:23:25

So we did that, um,

Ulises: 00:23:26

I got the chance of a lifetime to be, uh, featured extra in The Chosen.

Ulises: 00:23:30

this last summer, oh man, I played a Pharisee, uh, that's coming out in March in season five.

Ulises: 00:23:38

And that was incredible.

Ulises: 00:23:40

watching Dallas Jenkins, uh, work with the principals, I mean, as close as, two feet away from me because I was sitting next to a couple of principals, which I can't talk about who they were, not to ruin it for the, uh, for the fans.

Ulises: 00:23:54

But, that was an amazing experience.

Ulises: 00:23:57

Three days and, you know, season five, we're sitting there, we're in the synagogue, about 80 guys, you know, all Pharisees and Sadducees and elders.

Ulises: 00:24:05

And we're, talking about how we're going to get rid of this guy

Ulises: 00:24:08

who's, uh, Who's causing all this havoc, you know, and, threatening our way

Ulises: 00:24:11

of life

Ulises: 00:24:13

. And, you know, we're Pharisees and some of us are saying, yeah, but we're supposed to protect

Ulises: 00:24:17

life.

Ulises: 00:24:18

And the other ones are saying, no, but this guy is changing our way of life.

Ulises: 00:24:21

And Caiaphas is in the middle, you know, hushing everybody.

Ulises: 00:24:25

And we're all arguing and screaming and shouting.

Ulises: 00:24:28

And at the end of the day, we're all the lobby of the hotel,

Ulises: 00:24:32

feeling pretty

Ulises: 00:24:34

It's pretty surreal, Geoff, because, you know, that's probably how it went down.

Ulises: 00:24:38

And here we are, in

Ulises: 00:24:39

full, you know, full wardrobe, playing Pharisees.

Ulises: 00:24:44

And we're like, God, please forgive us because we're just actors right now, you

Ulises: 00:24:48

know.

Ulises: 00:24:48

The discussion in the synagogue is about murdering Jesus, you know.

Ulises: 00:24:53

Uh, so that was an amazing experience, and I can't wait to see, when it comes out in March.

Ulises: 00:24:58

I hope I didn't end up on the cutting floor.

Ulises: 00:25:00

Um, so yeah, I got a couple of things in the oven there, working.

Ulises: 00:25:06

But, you know, you also got to take care of your restaurant and your business and your bread and butter.

Geoff: 00:25:11

Yeah.

Ulises: 00:25:12

think everybody that I know that's in this business has another form of, income.

Ulises: 00:25:16

And, uh, feeding people is mine, so.

Geoff: 00:25:20

Well, a lot of people do that's for sure.

Geoff: 00:25:21

And as I mentioned earlier, Jaclyn's going to get into some of that with you in our next episode, um, talking about where business meets filmmaking, and how business combines with filmmaking, um, what that dual role is like for you and more.

Geoff: 00:25:38

So we'll look forward to that.

Geoff: 00:25:40

And uh, I've really enjoyed talking with you.

Geoff: 00:25:42

It's great to hear some of that, ministry aspect of, We are stronger and breaking strongholds and what it's doing around the world and how it's touching people.

Geoff: 00:25:52

So, it's really cool to hear all of that story.

Geoff: 00:25:55

Thank you so much for sharing with us.

Ulises: 00:25:57

Absolutely.

Ulises: 00:25:57

Thanks for having me.

Geoff: 00:25:58

Yeah, and I'll look forward to hearing myself when I get to do the editing on the next interview, hearing what you've got to say in part two.

Ulises: 00:26:06

God bless you and Jaclyn.

Ulises: 00:26:07

Love you

Ulises: 00:26:07

guys.

Geoff: 00:26:08

And you.

Geoff: 00:26:08

Bye