The Story Behind ‘Faith on Film’

Geoff: 00:00:00

Welcome to the Faith and Family Filmmakers Podcast.

Geoff: 00:00:02

I'm Geoff, and I'm really happy to have you with us today.

Geoff: 00:00:06

We have a guest, Isaac Hernandez.

Geoff: 00:00:08

Welcome Isaac.

Isaac: 00:00:09

Hey, it's great to be with you finally, Geoff.

Geoff: 00:00:12

Yeah.

Geoff: 00:00:12

Yeah.

Geoff: 00:00:13

We've been trying to do this for a while.

Isaac: 00:00:14

I know.

Geoff: 00:00:15

Isaac has a prolific portfolio with over four decades of experience in the Christian entertainment industry, which includes directing and producing hundreds of TV shows for the Trinity Broadcasting Network, including their live flagship show.

Geoff: 00:00:28

Praise the Lord.

Geoff: 00:00:30

He also served as a programming executive for the network before leaving to help launch the first faith-based subscription streaming movie platform, parables TV

Geoff: 00:00:40

in 2019, Isaac launched his own TV show, faith on Film an Interview Talk Program, which can be seen on over 19 various platforms and networks worldwide.

Geoff: 00:00:50

He's now joined by his co-host, Holly McClure.

Geoff: 00:00:54

Currently Isaac is consulting for several streaming companies, film distributors and producers, as well as producing and directing TV shows.

Geoff: 00:01:02

Great to have you, Isaac.

Isaac: 00:01:03

Thank you.

Isaac: 00:01:04

It's great to be here, by the way.

Isaac: 00:01:06

I, I just realized that I sent you a bio that had the numbers, uh, the platforms that faith on film.

Isaac: 00:01:12

Is on from, I don't know, maybe two years ago or so.

Isaac: 00:01:14

It is, it is now on 28.

Isaac: 00:01:17

Do you believe that?

Isaac: 00:01:17

28 different outlets?

Isaac: 00:01:19

couple of national networks.

Isaac: 00:01:21

Uh, I think like five or six TV stations, full power TV stations, and a bunch of streaming platforms.

Isaac: 00:01:26

So God has just taken it and really expanded it.

Geoff: 00:01:28

we're gonna talk more about it later, but for now, since we are already list some of those.

Isaac: 00:01:33

Oh my goodness.

Isaac: 00:01:34

Oh, I know.

Isaac: 00:01:34

We're on the W tv, we're on Miracle Channel.

Isaac: 00:01:37

We're on WATC TV in, in Atlanta, and oh my goodness, I don't know.

Isaac: 00:01:41

I, I wasn't ready to actually list them, but again, there's, there's a bunch

Geoff: 00:01:46

yeah, yeah.

Geoff: 00:01:46

yeah.

Geoff: 00:01:46

So there's, streaming platforms, but there's also, television networks.

Isaac: 00:01:51

television networks and independent TV stations where there's just one station in a city.

Isaac: 00:01:55

And by the way, five of those are in top markets like Atlanta, Nashville, Orlando, uh, El Paso.

Isaac: 00:02:01

I think so there, there's, it's really getting out there.

Geoff: 00:02:05

I think most of our listeners are probably quite familiar with it, and so we will delve into that a lot more later.

Geoff: 00:02:10

But,

Geoff: 00:02:10

you know, I wanna go back and, uh, like we usually do on our podcast and hear about, you, hear about what piqued your interest in television and production and where you actually got started in the industry.

Geoff: 00:02:22

So where did the desire or love come from in the beginning?

Isaac: 00:02:26

We're gonna go way back.

Geoff: 00:02:28

Yeah.

Isaac: 00:02:29

It really all started, I was like, I think 11 or 12 years old.

Isaac: 00:02:33

And, uh, we lived close to la.

Isaac: 00:02:35

We lived like, I dunno, an hour, uh, east of LA and we would go to, my dad would take us all to, Hollywood and all those areas to kind of just.

Isaac: 00:02:43

I don't know, have, have a nice time out.

Isaac: 00:02:45

And one day we were going through this TV station there and we saw a, a line of people going into one of their studios and my dad said, let's go see what that's about.

Isaac: 00:02:54

So we stopped.

Isaac: 00:02:55

We went in and I walked into this studio and I just felt like this is where I want to be.

Isaac: 00:03:03

There was something about it.

Isaac: 00:03:05

Years and years and years later, I realized that it was actually God putting that desire in my heart.

Isaac: 00:03:09

But back then I just thought it looked cool.

Isaac: 00:03:10

You know, all these people with their headphones and you know, their headsets and behind a camera and, and talking and, and getting ready to do a show.

Isaac: 00:03:17

And it just felt like the really coolest thing to do.

Isaac: 00:03:20

Uh, so from that moment on, again, I was only about 11 or 12 years old.

Isaac: 00:03:23

From that moment on, I kind of set myself to.

Isaac: 00:03:26

Pursuing that type of career, if you will.

Isaac: 00:03:29

And the, the nice thing is that the school that I was going to, the junior high school, actually, once I got the junior high, the junior high school actually had a TV course, a TV class.

Isaac: 00:03:38

And so I got involved in that.

Isaac: 00:03:39

Next thing you know, I had a friend, a family friend, my parents friend actually, and the gentleman there had a show on TBN.

Isaac: 00:03:47

And so I started going with him to TBN, which back then was just a small, I think it was back then, it was maybe just.

Isaac: 00:03:53

two stations and I started going and volunteering.

Isaac: 00:03:56

And then by the time I was 21, uh, I got hired there.

Isaac: 00:04:01

So that's kind of where it all started.

Isaac: 00:04:03

Now, I did start as an audio engineer.

Isaac: 00:04:06

I felt that was the easiest thing for me to actually, I. Get hired up because I used to do audio at church and I felt, you know, that I, I can handle that.

Isaac: 00:04:13

But eventually became one of the directors there and ended up, uh, directing Praise the Lord, the live show and a lot of other TV shows there going around the country directing some of their, their big crusades that they used to do back when they used to take cameras all over, all over the place to, to record live services, the telethons.

Isaac: 00:04:31

And it just kinda where, where it all started with me being involved in television now.

Isaac: 00:04:37

It was Christian television.

Isaac: 00:04:38

and so now that I see that, that was the, path, I mean, I could have gone and, and worked in Hollywood, but the path that God had chosen for me was to work in Christian television.

Isaac: 00:04:46

So that's kind of how my journey, into this started had nothing to do with film.

Isaac: 00:04:51

By the way.

Isaac: 00:04:52

It was all about television.

Isaac: 00:04:54

I didn't even know Christian films existed at the time because it wasn't like now where there's just all kinds of films being produced.

Isaac: 00:05:00

So for me it was television

Geoff: 00:05:02

Mm-hmm.

Geoff: 00:05:03

And no doubt.

Geoff: 00:05:03

Quite a difference between, uh, film and producing and directing for tv.

Geoff: 00:05:08

I'd actually like to talk about that in our, uh, second half of our interview.

Geoff: 00:05:12

We're gonna kinda get into some of the nitty gritty with regards to directing.

Geoff: 00:05:16

what, what happens, what does it look like?

Geoff: 00:05:18

What does, uh, producing a TV show like that look like in comparison, for example, to, producing film or, you know, narratives.

Isaac: 00:05:26

Yep.

Isaac: 00:05:27

Yep.

Geoff: 00:05:27

One thing you said there that stood out of course, uh, you said you started volunteering.

Geoff: 00:05:32

Uh, that's a very common story among people.

Geoff: 00:05:36

We've interviewed people very successful careers who started out volunteering and they get experience that way.

Geoff: 00:05:43

And they get an in sometimes.

Isaac: 00:05:45

absolutely.

Isaac: 00:05:46

Yeah.

Isaac: 00:05:46

You know, um, and, and I'm not sure.

Isaac: 00:05:50

kids nowadays are that willing to do that.

Isaac: 00:05:54

It, almost seems like they'd rather sit in at home on their phones and, and I don't know if they expect a career to just pop out or what, but volunteering is really what put me in, in that position because I was doing it.

Isaac: 00:06:06

'cause I loved it.

Isaac: 00:06:07

I wasn't doing it because I wanted to make a career out of it.

Isaac: 00:06:10

Or maybe I did, but I wasn't thinking of, okay, if I do something, I wanna get paid.

Isaac: 00:06:14

I wanted to, to be involved in that.

Isaac: 00:06:16

I wanted to be in the midst of that whole television culture.

Isaac: 00:06:20

Uh, and so yeah, I volunteered and I volunteered for a long time.

Isaac: 00:06:23

I used to drive almost a little over an hour actually.

Isaac: 00:06:25

to the studio was, I volunteered every Saturday.

Isaac: 00:06:27

So I would go on Saturday and I would, run camera, you know, sit with a director and they used to have Spanish shows.

Isaac: 00:06:34

And since I understand Spanish, I used to help the director who knew nothing of the language, and I would tell 'em what the host was saying, what he needed, what, when they were gonna go to music, you know, things like that.

Isaac: 00:06:45

But it did put me right in the midst of all that.

Isaac: 00:06:48

So it was.

Isaac: 00:06:49

Pretty easy when, they needed somebody and I was already there, and so they were able to hire me.

Isaac: 00:06:53

And again, for me, it's, it's definitely a journey because even where I'm at today, which is not even necessarily, uh, a hundred percent in the television industry anymore, but I can see that every step that I took from that moment on just kinda led me to where I'm at today, except for one, by the way, which If you're ready to talk about that, I could talk about that.

Isaac: 00:07:14

And that was when all of a sudden.

Isaac: 00:07:16

I was taken out of that and moved into being a pastor in a church.

Geoff: 00:07:22

Well, let me ask you, you were at TBN for how long?

Isaac: 00:07:26

Well, total was 25 years.

Isaac: 00:07:29

Um, but I believe it was around after I had done about 20 years that I made this side road trip, if you will.

Isaac: 00:07:37

But yeah, I had been in, in the TV industry for a long time, and in total I did 25 years.

Geoff: 00:07:41

Okay.

Geoff: 00:07:41

So we'll talk about that.

Geoff: 00:07:42

But, so in that 20 years before you had that, uh, side road trip, which we'll talk about in a second, there was a lot of growth at TBN.

Isaac: 00:07:51

Oh, no Absolutely, because again, when I went in, I, I didn't go to college to learn tv.

Isaac: 00:07:55

All right.

Isaac: 00:07:55

I, I literally just went from what I learned in high school, which were really some very important basics.

Isaac: 00:08:01

Okay.

Isaac: 00:08:02

And that did help a lot.

Isaac: 00:08:03

But I went into the air that was a, a newbie and.

Isaac: 00:08:07

The way it started is, of course, I started doing audio.

Isaac: 00:08:09

Now I had done audio at our church with a little tiny, you know, like an eight channel mixer.

Isaac: 00:08:13

It was a small church, so it wasn't like one of these big ones now where they have full blown 48 channels and bands and all that.

Isaac: 00:08:19

It was just a little small thing, but at least I kind of understood the process.

Isaac: 00:08:23

So I, I went, I was interviewed at TV N because they were looking for an audio assist and the guy takes me into this room.

Isaac: 00:08:30

That was one of the audio booths.

Isaac: 00:08:32

there was this humongous, massive audio board and he asked me, so can you operate one of these?

Isaac: 00:08:39

So unfortunately, I sort of kinda lied.

Isaac: 00:08:43

I said, yes.

Isaac: 00:08:46

I figured, how much different can it be?

Isaac: 00:08:48

You know, it's only more, more of those eight channels, just a bunch more.

Isaac: 00:08:52

Uh, and so I said yes.

Isaac: 00:08:53

So I came in as an audio assist doing a live show.

Isaac: 00:08:56

The audio engineer that they had hired to do the show.

Isaac: 00:09:00

For two weeks could not get it together.

Isaac: 00:09:03

And so we missed the live show, because he wasn't ready.

Isaac: 00:09:06

He just.

Isaac: 00:09:07

Was flailing.

Isaac: 00:09:08

So the third week I come in and they tell me, uh, Isaac, you are now the main audio guy for the show.

Geoff: 00:09:13

Okay, three.

Isaac: 00:09:15

And I'm like, whoa, wait a minute.

Isaac: 00:09:17

I, you know, like, I don't, I've never done this, you know, and I went and I did it and it went fine.

Isaac: 00:09:22

We got on the air, it went fine.

Isaac: 00:09:24

And that was it.

Isaac: 00:09:24

That was that beginning, if you will, of really, you know, not, just coming in and seeing what I could do.

Isaac: 00:09:30

I was now the audio engineer.

Isaac: 00:09:32

Um, but again, I'm never.

Isaac: 00:09:34

Just satisfied with what I'm doing.

Isaac: 00:09:36

I wanna see what else I can do.

Isaac: 00:09:37

And next to the audio board was of course the director's booth.

Isaac: 00:09:41

And so I, I used to look at the director and, and say, man, that seems kind of cool.

Isaac: 00:09:44

I, I, I like that, you know?

Isaac: 00:09:45

And then so when everybody would go to lunch, I would bring my sack lunch, and I'd go into the director's room and I would start kind of playing with the video mixing board.

Isaac: 00:09:55

I go, oh, that, that's how he does it.

Isaac: 00:09:56

That's how he brings in the names at the bottom.

Isaac: 00:09:58

Oh, that's how he does this.

Isaac: 00:10:00

And after I felt, after a few weeks that I felt like, okay, I think I'm comfortable enough with this.

Isaac: 00:10:05

I went to the guy that was in charge of production and I said, you know what, you have a problem.

Isaac: 00:10:09

And he says, well, what's the problem?

Isaac: 00:10:11

I said, you have a bunch of Spanish shows.

Isaac: 00:10:13

Back then they used to do, they had like six or seven Spanish shows on TV NI said, you've got all these Spanish shows, but you don't have a single Spanish director.

Isaac: 00:10:22

He says.

Isaac: 00:10:22

Wow.

Isaac: 00:10:23

He goes, well, do you know one?

Isaac: 00:10:24

I said, yeah, I'm me.

Isaac: 00:10:27

And he says, oh, wait a minute.

Isaac: 00:10:28

You're a director too.

Isaac: 00:10:29

I said, yes, of course I am.

Isaac: 00:10:31

Next thing you know, I start directing shows.

Isaac: 00:10:34

And so that was my next step.

Isaac: 00:10:35

Again, you say learning.

Isaac: 00:10:36

That was my next step in the journey of now becoming one of the directors there and, and eventually.

Isaac: 00:10:42

Not just doing the Spanish shows, but then as the years progressed, doing also the English shows and then the main, you know, praise the Lord Show, which was their main flagship show.

Isaac: 00:10:50

So it, it was quite a fun journey.

Geoff: 00:10:52

Yeah.

Geoff: 00:10:53

Uh, 20 years.

Geoff: 00:10:54

And what happened then?

Isaac: 00:10:56

Well then, to be honest with you, in those 20 years I left to like four or five times.

Isaac: 00:11:03

I, I would quit.

Isaac: 00:11:04

TVNI would go work freelance and then they would bring me back in and I'd leave again.

Isaac: 00:11:08

Not for any reason other than I just, I don't know, I, I just felt like I needed I always feel like I need to do more.

Isaac: 00:11:13

Like it's, this isn't enough, you know?

Isaac: 00:11:14

and so they would bring me back in.

Isaac: 00:11:16

But after those 20 years, and one of those times when I was gone, I had also started to help this gentleman.

Isaac: 00:11:21

'cause I'm, I'm also, a keyboardist and, and, uh, I didn't know I was a worship leader, but apparently I was.

Isaac: 00:11:27

Um, and he asked me to help him start this church.

Isaac: 00:11:29

To do worship, so I. Said, okay, I'll do it.

Isaac: 00:11:32

And so I was doing that.

Isaac: 00:11:34

I was helping this other studio, kind of manage their studio, and I was doing freelance work at TBN.

Isaac: 00:11:39

'cause even when I left, I wasn't totally gone.

Isaac: 00:11:41

I just wasn't a full-time employee.

Isaac: 00:11:43

So I, I'm doing this and after about, I don't know, a couple of years, the pastor says, Isaac, we've been growing a lot.

Isaac: 00:11:50

'cause the church grew very rapidly.

Isaac: 00:11:52

I mean, we literally started with 12 people in his house and within two years we were running like five, 600 people.

Isaac: 00:11:58

Uh, right now it's a big like 13,000 member megachurch.

Isaac: 00:12:02

So anyway, he said, I, I just, I need you full time.

Isaac: 00:12:05

I can't just have you come in on Sundays and leave worship and, and that's it.

Isaac: 00:12:09

So I was like, oh, man, I don't know.

Isaac: 00:12:11

I, you know, I really am liking how I'm doing things right now.

Isaac: 00:12:14

You know, the studio and TP and you and all that.

Isaac: 00:12:17

He says, well, I really need you to pray about it, because if you can't do it, I'm gonna have to find somebody.

Isaac: 00:12:22

So I said, all right, I'll pray about it, which I did.

Isaac: 00:12:25

All of a sudden within that week, I get a call from TBN, from the, guy that runs production at TBN, and he says, Jan says, you either come on full time or she don't want use you anymore.

Geoff: 00:12:36

So you had it coming from both

Isaac: 00:12:37

Yeah.

Isaac: 00:12:38

So I'm like, well, okay, well I don't think I'm ready to go full-time right now at TVN, so okay, I'll just stop.

Isaac: 00:12:44

And then the next day I go to the studio that I was helping manage, which is another small studio of another ministry, and he says, you know what?

Isaac: 00:12:51

we are not gonna need you anymore.

Isaac: 00:12:53

Uh, because we've have somebody that's gonna really come and be a part of the ministry, not just come and, and direct and manage our studio.

Isaac: 00:13:00

So I realized, okay, God, I get it.

Isaac: 00:13:04

I, I see what you're doing.

Isaac: 00:13:06

So I called the pastor and I said, okay, I'm gonna do it.

Isaac: 00:13:10

And so I ended up working full-time at a church and being ordained as a pastor, I'm gonna be honest with you.

Isaac: 00:13:16

I have never had a desire to be a pastor.

Isaac: 00:13:19

I don't consider myself pastor material.

Isaac: 00:13:22

I really had a hard time kind of understanding, but I did it out of obedience.

Isaac: 00:13:27

Okay.

Isaac: 00:13:27

I, I, if there's one thing that I am, is very obedient to whatever God wants me to do, even if I don't like it.

Isaac: 00:13:33

So I'm there and I remember one pastor's meeting we had, I, said, you know what?

Isaac: 00:13:38

I just.

Isaac: 00:13:38

Feel so outta place because all you pastors, by then, there was like 12 pastors in the church.

Isaac: 00:13:44

I said, all of you guys, you know, you just, you love to read all these different studies about the Bible and, and all this stuff.

Isaac: 00:13:49

I said, I like to read magazines about.

Isaac: 00:13:52

TV equipment, you know, so I'm feeling kind of like a square peg in a round hole.

Isaac: 00:13:58

Uh, and so I never understood, but when, uh, 10 years later when I left and went back to TBN because Mrs.

Isaac: 00:14:05

Crouch had them call me and say, would you please come back to work for us?

Isaac: 00:14:10

And this time it was a little different.

Isaac: 00:14:12

I said, well, can I go back, you know, freelance and just direct some of the shows?

Isaac: 00:14:16

They said, no, she wants you to come back and work directly with her in the programming department.

Isaac: 00:14:21

So all of a sudden I felt like, okay, God, what?

Isaac: 00:14:24

What are you doing here?

Isaac: 00:14:24

This is something a little different for me.

Isaac: 00:14:27

I did leave the church as the worship pastor by then.

Isaac: 00:14:30

You know, it was easy for us to get another worship pastor, but it was at that point that I understood why I had taken that little turn of something that was never in my mind or in my heart to do, which is be a pastor, and this is what it was.

Isaac: 00:14:46

I then picked up something I didn't have before, and that was the heart of a pastor.

Isaac: 00:14:52

Okay?

Isaac: 00:14:53

And so when I went back into media, I. I came back with a whole different perspective.

Isaac: 00:14:59

It was no longer a great career that I absolutely loved.

Isaac: 00:15:03

Now it was a ministry, something for me that was more of a ministry

Isaac: 00:15:08

everything that I did from there on was through that pastor's heart and, and mostly in the area.

Isaac: 00:15:15

Of encouragement and even protection.

Isaac: 00:15:18

A lot of filmmakers, because by the way, when I came back to TBN, it was more of getting involved in the film industry because Mrs. Crouch had realized that people loved watching Christian movies.

Isaac: 00:15:27

So she wanted me to find every Christian movie out there so that we could put her on TV n.

Isaac: 00:15:32

So as I began to meet with a lot of these people, I realize, man, I gotta be encouraging these people because the Christian movie business can be.

Isaac: 00:15:39

Very up and down.

Isaac: 00:15:40

You know, you're up in the, in the top of the mountain and then, uh, you know, the next month you're way down in the valley and then you come back up to the mountaintop and then you're down in the valley again.

Isaac: 00:15:47

So I wanted to be there for the times when these people were in the valley.

Isaac: 00:15:52

Uh, and that was because of the heart that I had acquired in those years as a pastor.

Geoff: 00:15:59

So coming on as programming executive really changed things for you, a lot changed the trajectory, not just of your work at TPN, but of your work following that.

Isaac: 00:16:09

It did, and, and again, I don't look at it as.

Isaac: 00:16:13

Now it's something different.

Isaac: 00:16:15

I look at it as the entire journey that God wanted me to take, and now it was time to go into that part of it, to that season.

Isaac: 00:16:23

Uh, yeah, because as I was there running programming, even more specifically, finding movies to put on the program schedule, uh, I began to develop a lot of relationships with movie producers and, uh, directors and distributors, which then really prepared me.

Isaac: 00:16:40

For the next step, which came like four and a half years later.

Geoff: 00:16:46

And tell us about that.

Geoff: 00:16:47

I'm guessing you're talking about parables tv or was there a transition in between though?

Isaac: 00:16:52

No, that was exactly it.

Isaac: 00:16:54

Now, there was a possible transition, which I realized after a prayer that it was more of a distraction.

Isaac: 00:17:01

It was more of almost like, yeah, I, I'll say it.

Isaac: 00:17:04

It was the devil saying, wait, wait, wait.

Isaac: 00:17:05

Go this way.

Isaac: 00:17:06

Go this way.

Isaac: 00:17:06

This is what you always wanted.

Isaac: 00:17:07

Go this way.

Isaac: 00:17:08

That would've taken me away from the actual journey that I was in.

Isaac: 00:17:13

And so what happened was.

Isaac: 00:17:15

Again, because of being at TV n now looking for movies and all that, and there was no other Christian network looking for movies.

Isaac: 00:17:22

So I became like, Hey, this Isaac is the guy you've gotta go after because he's our entrance into television, right?

Isaac: 00:17:28

And so I developed so many relationships since when the time came from, uh, when this, this gentleman that owns a media company in Florida and he had thought about launching basically the first Christian movie.

Isaac: 00:17:42

Platform.

Isaac: 00:17:43

Uh, the only thing out there at the time was Netflix and he thought, well, we, we should launch a Christian movie platform.

Isaac: 00:17:50

This is before Pure Flix even.

Isaac: 00:17:52

and so he contacted me and so I'm, I'm like, Hmm, now this sounds like fun, but again, I don't make decisions that quick.

Isaac: 00:18:00

It literally took a year of him talking to me and, and basically trying to get me to, you know, to come on to, to his organization and, and he offered a very good, good amount of money.

Isaac: 00:18:10

it would've been.

Isaac: 00:18:12

DBN was wonderful, but it wasn't financially great.

Isaac: 00:18:15

Okay.

Isaac: 00:18:16

So thi yeah, it was a ministry style.

Isaac: 00:18:18

So thi this would've been, quite an, uh, a change.

Isaac: 00:18:21

But, uh, again, I don't follow money, I follow purpose.

Isaac: 00:18:24

So after a year he sent, he sent this lady that worked at the company as well, and she was a Christian.

Isaac: 00:18:31

He probably figured if she talks to him, maybe he'll listen.

Isaac: 00:18:33

Right.

Isaac: 00:18:33

So we met, I had her meet with not only me but my wife 'cause I needed her.

Isaac: 00:18:39

In essence, see what it is that's happening here and on the way home.

Isaac: 00:18:44

I, I told my wife, I said, I don't know why, but I just feel in my heart.

Isaac: 00:18:49

This is what God's been preparing me for 40 years, because 40 years before that was when I set foot in that TV station that I told you about a few minutes ago, and so I, I told her this.

Isaac: 00:18:59

I don't know why I said it other than I just felt it in my heart to tell her this.

Isaac: 00:19:02

I just feel like what God's been preparing me for 40 years.

Isaac: 00:19:06

So anyway, that was on a Sunday.

Isaac: 00:19:08

Monday I get to work and I was working on the schedule for the month, so phone kept ringing and usually if I'm working on the schedule, I can't answer the phone because I have to get that schedule done.

Isaac: 00:19:17

And so I didn't answer the phone.

Isaac: 00:19:18

The next day, Tuesday I get in and the phone rings.

Isaac: 00:19:21

So I went ahead and picked it up, and at the other end was this gentleman from Ghana who said.

Isaac: 00:19:26

Uh, I tried to call you all day yesterday and I couldn't get through, so I just was gonna give up, but God told me, don't give up.

Isaac: 00:19:33

You gotta call him.

Isaac: 00:19:35

He says, and I want to call you because I have a word from the Lord for you.

Isaac: 00:19:39

So I thought, okay, well great.

Isaac: 00:19:42

Let me hear it.

Isaac: 00:19:43

And he says, God said he's about to move you into a new transition and that this has been what he's been preparing you for 40 years.

Isaac: 00:19:53

Okay.

Isaac: 00:19:53

When he said that, I just, cause I had the, you know, I wasn't answering the, handheld phone, I had the, uh, the ear thing.

Isaac: 00:19:59

So I jumped up out of my seat and started just pacing the office.

Isaac: 00:20:03

He said a lot more things, and to be honest with you, I didn't hear anymore because he had already said, I. What I had to hear.

Isaac: 00:20:10

Yeah.

Isaac: 00:20:10

It was like, that's it.

Isaac: 00:20:11

I don't need anymore.

Isaac: 00:20:12

But he still kept saying stuff.

Isaac: 00:20:13

I asked him later, I said, look, could you please write it all down and send it to me?

Isaac: 00:20:16

So I, so I guess, you know, basically I didn't tell him 'cause I haven't heard a word you said anymore.

Isaac: 00:20:21

But, uh, when he said that, I realized it was time to leave.

Isaac: 00:20:24

So I did turn in my resignation.

Isaac: 00:20:26

Mrs. Crouch sent me a beautiful letter just saying, you know, go spread your wings, come back anytime, all that stuff.

Isaac: 00:20:32

and so I went to work for this company that helped me launch the first.

Isaac: 00:20:37

Christian movie platform, which was parables.

Isaac: 00:20:39

Now, I wish it had been extremely successful, but it wasn't after.

Isaac: 00:20:44

Uh, and, and we tried very hard, but the company just didn't have the finances to make it happen.

Isaac: 00:20:49

But I realize now it wasn't about that.

Isaac: 00:20:52

It was about me.

Isaac: 00:20:53

It was about me moving on to the next set of my journey.

Isaac: 00:20:56

He was very kind to me.

Isaac: 00:20:57

I worked for him for 15 years.

Geoff: 00:20:59

Wow.

Geoff: 00:21:00

So what year was that when you started?

Isaac: 00:21:02

Oh my goodness.

Isaac: 00:21:03

Well, that would've been nearly 18 years ago, maybe 17 years ago, something like that.

Isaac: 00:21:08

So it's 18 years ago.

Isaac: 00:21:09

Yeah, something like that.

Isaac: 00:21:10

So yeah, it would've been in, what, 2004 or five or

Geoff: 00:21:14

I think I met you for the first time in 2018.

Geoff: 00:21:18

Pretty sure it was 18 at content, and you were representing parables at that time.

Geoff: 00:21:23

I believe 2018

Isaac: 00:21:25

that, that would've been, uh, because that was right before Covid probably right.

Geoff: 00:21:28

Covid would've been 2020, so

Isaac: 00:21:30

Yep.

Isaac: 00:21:31

Yep.

Isaac: 00:21:31

So 2020 basically when Covid started was when he just couldn't do it anymore because overall the company was a big media company.

Isaac: 00:21:40

We were just one little tiny, small part of the company, uh, which, which is why he was able to hold onto it for so many years, even though it was not being successful now, bringing any money and everything, but because all the other ones were, uh, but at that point, all of 'em kind of began to suffer during Covid, and he literally had to lay off.

Isaac: 00:21:57

35 people and and most of them were the, the top level, you know, vice presidents, which I was one of them.

Isaac: 00:22:05

And so a lot of those people just, that's it.

Isaac: 00:22:07

They, he, he had to let 'em all go.

Isaac: 00:22:09

But I remember when they called me, it was, uh, it was January four years ago, I guess it was five years ago, something like that.

Isaac: 00:22:17

I remember I got the call from the HR person and you would think when you get a call like that, you get all distraught and, oh, what am I gonna do?

Isaac: 00:22:24

Oh, no, my life is over.

Isaac: 00:22:27

I got excited.

Geoff: 00:22:28

Step, huh?

Isaac: 00:22:29

Yeah, that's exactly right.

Isaac: 00:22:31

I thought, wow, that means God has moved me to the next step.

Isaac: 00:22:35

So,

Isaac: 00:22:36

no problem.

Isaac: 00:22:37

I went and I told my wife, and interestingly enough, my son had just moved like four or five months before that to Texas.

Isaac: 00:22:43

Now we're living in California.

Isaac: 00:22:45

Okay.

Isaac: 00:22:45

He moved to Texas.

Isaac: 00:22:46

I brought his stuff over and I remember falling in love with, this place here in Texas, and I said.

Isaac: 00:22:53

I gotta move here 'cause it's by a lake.

Isaac: 00:22:54

And I love, I love lakes, I love the water, I love boating.

Isaac: 00:22:57

So I, I was like, we gotta move here.

Isaac: 00:22:59

And so I went home and I told my wife, of course, she was like, uh, you know, every time you visit somewhere you say you wanna move there?

Isaac: 00:23:07

I said, I don't know though.

Isaac: 00:23:07

I really wanna move here.

Isaac: 00:23:09

So then now I, again, five months later or so, I get laid off and my first thought was, this is the time, cause they gave me a, a really nice.

Isaac: 00:23:17

Severance package and I'm like, perfect.

Isaac: 00:23:19

This is the time to move.

Isaac: 00:23:20

So we did.

Isaac: 00:23:21

We put up our house for sale and it literally sold the day that we had the first open house.

Isaac: 00:23:28

, but then we, I realized, oh, whoa, wait a minute.

Isaac: 00:23:29

We don't, we have to move outta here in 30 days and we don't have a house to go to in Texas.

Isaac: 00:23:34

So we took a little trip to Texas to find a house and I remember being here and, uh, we were just gonna be here, I think three or four days.

Isaac: 00:23:42

And I prayed, I said, God.

Isaac: 00:23:43

Help me find a house tomorrow because the next day I wanna go boating on the lake.

Isaac: 00:23:47

I don't have time to look for a house.

Isaac: 00:23:49

And I was very specific about what I wanted in the house.

Isaac: 00:23:53

And we went to, look, we looked at five houses.

Isaac: 00:23:55

The second one was, this is the one.

Isaac: 00:23:59

This is the one.

Isaac: 00:23:59

And we knew it and so, so here we are.

Isaac: 00:24:01

I did decide that I wasn't sure if I wanted to try to get a job anymore.

Isaac: 00:24:05

I thought, you know what?

Isaac: 00:24:06

Maybe what I should do.

Isaac: 00:24:07

It's just retire.

Isaac: 00:24:08

I mean, I'm, I'm old enough to start collecting social security, not their, their max of, you know, you gotta wait till you're, what, like almost 70 or something.

Isaac: 00:24:15

I wasn't that but I said, you know what, I can start now and, and I can make up the difference with freelance work.

Isaac: 00:24:20

So that's what I've been doing and I realized I needed the time to really put an effort on faith on film.

Geoff: 00:24:27

So you must have started Faith on Film before you moved.

Isaac: 00:24:31

I did.

Isaac: 00:24:32

As a matter of fact, and see, this is so cool how God works.

Isaac: 00:24:35

He doesn't wait sometimes till, till something ends before you start next thing.

Isaac: 00:24:39

He starts you on it and then.

Isaac: 00:24:41

Says, okay, now I gotta take this away 'cause you've kind of already settled in.

Isaac: 00:24:44

I started Faith on film probably it was April of, of the previous year that I got laid off, so that would've been at least a good, what, eight, months of already having faith on film that I had started when I was still in California.

Isaac: 00:24:57

And actually the, the company that I worked for was very helpful in that they gave me some equipment to use and.

Isaac: 00:25:03

It was a, a lot of help.

Isaac: 00:25:04

Um, but when I moved here, that was one of the things by the way, that I asked God to make sure that this house had, and that was a place where I could set up my little studio for faith on film.

Isaac: 00:25:13

And as soon as we walked in there, it was, so that means I've been doing faith on film for like five years.

Geoff: 00:25:18

So tell us a little bit about it.

Geoff: 00:25:20

I think perhaps, as I mentioned earlier, a lot of people listening would be familiar with it, but probably there are some that aren't.

Geoff: 00:25:26

Tell us what it is.

Geoff: 00:25:27

I know you have a co-host that joined you somewhere since the beginning.

Geoff: 00:25:32

So let's, uh, tell us a little bit about the show.

Isaac: 00:25:34

Okay.

Isaac: 00:25:35

So it all started, and, and again, I grew up as a Christian.

Isaac: 00:25:38

I was born into the church, if you will, and I have become very keen in listening to God's voice.

Isaac: 00:25:44

and I don't mean a voice where he says, hello, this is God.

Isaac: 00:25:48

Just that still small voice in my heart.

Isaac: 00:25:50

And so one night at about two 30 in the morning, uh, middle of the night, I wake up.

Isaac: 00:25:56

And the first thought that came to my mind was, I want you to do a show in which you interview people in the Christian film industry.

Isaac: 00:26:04

That was it.

Isaac: 00:26:05

Nothing else.

Isaac: 00:26:06

No more direction, no nothing.

Isaac: 00:26:08

Just that.

Isaac: 00:26:09

And I thought, oh, okay.

Isaac: 00:26:11

And, and, uh, again, because I love filmmakers and that's, I think the ultimate thing for me is I just, I love Christian filmmakers, and so I thought, well, okay, I, I guess I can do that.

Isaac: 00:26:21

I know a lot of 'em, so I should have no problem finding people to talk to and interview.

Isaac: 00:26:26

Uh, but uh, what does this mean?

Isaac: 00:26:28

What can I do?

Isaac: 00:26:29

And so I thought, well, anybody can launch a YouTube channel.

Isaac: 00:26:31

I guess I'll launch a YouTube channel in.

Isaac: 00:26:34

Have this show and so I, I did something that I felt I really needed to do and that was.

Isaac: 00:26:40

To post something about it on Facebook.

Isaac: 00:26:43

Uh, at that point, I already had like 5,000 friends on Facebook again because of my involvement in, in the movie industry.

Isaac: 00:26:50

So I posted, okay, folks, I'm going to launch a show in which I interviewed Christian filmmakers and I will premiere it April 1st.

Isaac: 00:26:58

And then I realized, wait a minute, that's April Fool's Day.

Isaac: 00:27:01

People are gonna think I'm joking.

Isaac: 00:27:02

So I said, and this is not an April Fool's joke, I really am going to launch this show.

Isaac: 00:27:07

And so this is all on Facebook.

Isaac: 00:27:10

Like within hours I get a, a, a message on the comments line from somebody that had a streaming platform with, uh, like a million subscribers, a little over a million subscribers, and he says, Isaac, can I carry your show on my streaming platform?

Isaac: 00:27:24

So I said, well, just, you do know it's not really a big show.

Isaac: 00:27:27

It's gonna be more of a podcast kind of a thing.

Isaac: 00:27:30

It'll be me with one camera and my little facility here, and my guests I'll bring in through Zoom.

Isaac: 00:27:36

And he, and he said something, he says, Isaac, it's you.

Isaac: 00:27:40

And that's all that, uh, matters to me.

Isaac: 00:27:42

And I, I'm like, wow.

Isaac: 00:27:44

Okay.

Isaac: 00:27:44

The, yeah, you could have the show, and this is again on the comments, like for anybody to read.

Isaac: 00:27:49

All of a sudden, I get another comment coming in from Bob Higley, who at that time, I don't know if you folks don't know who Bob Higley is.

Isaac: 00:27:56

Bob Higley is another person that did 25 years at TBN.

Isaac: 00:28:00

So we've been colleagues for years and we also then worked together for this other company.

Isaac: 00:28:04

He was running a network called Uplift tv, which was on DirecTV.

Isaac: 00:28:09

DirecTV at that time had like 18 million subscribers.

Isaac: 00:28:13

I don't know what they have now.

Isaac: 00:28:14

I think it's a lot more, but they had like 18 million subscribers.

Isaac: 00:28:16

And he writes on the comments, Hey, wait a minute, you work for us.

Isaac: 00:28:19

'cause again, we were working for the same company.

Isaac: 00:28:21

He goes, you work for us.

Isaac: 00:28:21

How come we're not giving you a show?

Isaac: 00:28:23

And I said, well Bob, it's not, I mean, you're talking now a, a. Big network on, DirecTV.

Isaac: 00:28:28

Uh, this is a very simple show.

Isaac: 00:28:30

And he goes, well, you let me decide that.

Isaac: 00:28:31

I said, okay, no problem.

Isaac: 00:28:33

So when I did the first show, which I have something else to say about that one, when I did the first show, I sent it to him and he said, Hey man, this is actually better than half the shows we have on the network.

Isaac: 00:28:44

So, So, yes.

Isaac: 00:28:46

So I launched the first show.

Isaac: 00:28:48

I, I launched the show on.

Isaac: 00:28:50

a streaming platform with over a million subscribers and a network with over 18 million subscribers.

Isaac: 00:28:55

Now, how many people are watching that particular station?

Isaac: 00:28:57

I don't know.

Isaac: 00:28:58

That's not up to me.

Isaac: 00:28:59

But at least, I mean, what a way to, what a way to launch something, you know, and interestingly enough, I said about my first show, I get a call from Nancy Stafford.

Isaac: 00:29:06

Now, Nancy Stafford is a pretty well known actress in the, in the Christian community, although it's, she's really a Hollywood actress.

Isaac: 00:29:12

She's been in a lot of movies and, and.

Isaac: 00:29:14

TV shows and stuff, but her big one was of course, a show called Matlock that she was very famous for.

Isaac: 00:29:19

So, and I knew her from another show that I had directed at one time, uh, that she was the host of.

Isaac: 00:29:24

So she calls me and she says, Isaac, I want to be your first guest.

Isaac: 00:29:28

So, so here I am launching a show with a major Hollywood star.

Isaac: 00:29:32

I say Major, I, I consider her a major Hollywood star, of course, on a, a network that's on DirecTV and on in a streaming platform with oral million subscribers.

Isaac: 00:29:41

What a way to start, and that's how God does things, you know?

Isaac: 00:29:45

just how he does things.

Isaac: 00:29:46

And so that's kind of how Faith on Film started.

Isaac: 00:29:49

Now why, why did God want such a show?

Isaac: 00:29:52

I'll tell you why.

Isaac: 00:29:52

Christian filmmakers don't have the resources that Hollywood does.

Isaac: 00:29:57

They don't have the marketing resources,

Isaac: 00:29:59

okay?

Isaac: 00:30:00

They, they, Do everything they can to make their movie and, you know, some even to haw their own house, they, they take second mortgages, they do whatever to get this movie made.

Isaac: 00:30:08

They might get a few investors notes, but they don't have the money for marketing, which sometimes, actually oftentimes it's way more than the cost of actually making the movie.

Isaac: 00:30:18

If you wanna make it successful.

Isaac: 00:30:19

Okay.

Isaac: 00:30:20

And even the Christian TV stations and Christian networks aren't necessarily going to have them or their, their stars of their movie on, because they're not the big Hollywood stars that did a Christian movie.

Isaac: 00:30:31

So these big networks might have a, Kevin Sobo on, or they might have, you know, some of these bigger stars, but they won't have these smaller stars.

Isaac: 00:30:39

And so consequently they don't get the promotion and the marketing that they need.

Isaac: 00:30:43

Well, by having a show that.

Isaac: 00:30:45

Doesn't necessarily look for these big superstars, but I look for the guy that's doing this movie that he spent every dime he had to create this movie, and I need for people to know about this movie.

Isaac: 00:30:55

And so that's the reason for the show.

Isaac: 00:30:57

And that I believe is the reason why God has taken the show and put it on so many outlets, so many networks and stations and streaming platforms, because that's the conduit that gives these filmmakers a voice.

Geoff: 00:31:11

So, am I correct then that your target audience is really the potential movie goer, uh, consumer, uh, Just to clarify my question, I mean, our podcast is also filmmakers.

Geoff: 00:31:22

Uh, we interview filmmakers primarily, and primarily for the purpose of encouraging, uplifting training, informing, providing information to other filmmakers about filmmaking.

Geoff: 00:31:35

not so much to promote shows.

Geoff: 00:31:37

So from what I've seen of yours, yours is much more focused on helping promote, shows or films that have been made or are being made, and therefore your audience would hopefully be reaching a larger Christian audience, a potential consumer,

Isaac: 00:31:52

Uh, it's not a show to hand out resources to filmmakers.

Isaac: 00:31:57

It's a show to hand filmmakers To

Isaac: 00:32:00

the

Isaac: 00:32:00

viewing public, uh, to the world.

Isaac: 00:32:02

Yeah.

Isaac: 00:32:02

And so I. It's actually even that has taken not a, turn, but an addition.

Isaac: 00:32:08

originally that's what it was.

Isaac: 00:32:09

It was me telling people, Hey, check out this movie that my friend here made, and we talk about it and why he, I always wanted to give them an opportunity to say why they did the movie, uh, why they felt it was important to do this movie and, you know, how come they've chosen to do Christian movies versus secular movies.

Isaac: 00:32:27

That was kind of the original intent.

Isaac: 00:32:30

After a couple years when I, I did a show with Holly McClure, who back then, uh, was pretty well known for several things, including to, I dunno if I should say a show, but a, a little blurb that she would do called Holly and Hollywood, in which she would review Hollywood movies from a Christian perspective.

Isaac: 00:32:47

And her, her line was always Choose your movies wisely.

Isaac: 00:32:50

So she wouldn't tell people, don't go see this movie.

Isaac: 00:32:53

She would say, here's what you'll find in this movie.

Isaac: 00:32:56

Now you decide if it's a movie you want to go see.

Isaac: 00:32:59

And so we did a show together and talked about that.

Isaac: 00:33:02

And then we, I'm like, let's do a second show.

Isaac: 00:33:04

We did a second show and then I realized we really got something going here.

Isaac: 00:33:07

We really got something important here.

Isaac: 00:33:09

And so I brought her in and now we not only talk about the Christian content that is out there, but we sometimes will also deal with, Family movies maybe that, that may not be Christian, but you know what they're, they're a good movie for a Christian to go see, and then we'll talk about others and that will say, it's a well done movie, but here's what you will find.

Isaac: 00:33:28

You'll find a lot of cussing, or you will find a lot of violence, or you will find this or that.

Isaac: 00:33:33

Now you decide if it's, something you wanna go see.

Isaac: 00:33:36

Because to be honest with you, a lot of Christians will go see pretty much any movie anymore.

Isaac: 00:33:40

and sometimes they don't even know what's in it because Hollywood is making some family films that you would think, oh, good, a family film.

Isaac: 00:33:45

And then you go and you realize, whoa, not my family.

Geoff: 00:33:49

Not traditional family values.

Geoff: 00:33:50

That's not what they mean by family films anymore.

Geoff: 00:33:53

And, and the ratings sometimes

Geoff: 00:33:56

can't tell

Isaac: 00:33:56

no, no, no,

Geoff: 00:33:57

they.

Isaac: 00:33:57

anymore.

Geoff: 00:33:58

Can't tell you what's in it or not

Geoff: 00:34:00

in it.

Geoff: 00:34:01

We've, uh, probably run out of time for this portion of our interview and that's okay.

Geoff: 00:34:05

We've got lots more to talk about and I'm looking forward to that.

Geoff: 00:34:07

But first of all, I wanna recommend this resource to all of our listeners.

Geoff: 00:34:12

Of course, our also Film watchers and film goers.

Geoff: 00:34:15

So, this is a great resource for everyone who's listening.

Geoff: 00:34:18

Tell us where they can watch it or where they can find the list of places they can

Isaac: 00:34:21

Well, yeah, I mean, I can't name all the places because there's so many and I can't remember.

Isaac: 00:34:25

But the best thing we do have our own YouTube channel, so you, you know, you can get that from anywhere you're at.

Isaac: 00:34:31

Uh, so if you go to YouTube, just look up Faith on Film TV and it'll take you right to our channel.

Isaac: 00:34:38

Uh, at this point I think I just loaded up show number 240.

Isaac: 00:34:41

So there's 240 shows in there.

Isaac: 00:34:43

they can watch, but it'd be great if they also, follow our website.

Isaac: 00:34:47

They can go to our website, which is faith on film tv.com.

Isaac: 00:34:51

That's faith on film tv.com.

Isaac: 00:34:55

And you can always follow us, of course, on your, typical, you know, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or x whatever it's called now.

Isaac: 00:35:00

Uh, again, faith on Film tv.

Geoff: 00:35:02

We're gonna put those links in the show notes as well.

Geoff: 00:35:05

So if anybody wants to go find direct links, we'll put 'em there and, uh, we'll say goodbye for now.

Geoff: 00:35:10

Isaac, it's been actually very interesting listening to your journey, uh, in the second half.

Geoff: 00:35:14

Well, we have a few things we're gonna talk about.

Geoff: 00:35:16

One of the things is gonna be about directing.

Geoff: 00:35:19

Tv, uh, what it, what it looks like, the procedures, uh, the differences with regards to producing a show.

Geoff: 00:35:25

Directing a show, and how that no doubt is quite different from producing narratives and, and films.

Geoff: 00:35:31

So, um, we'll be interested in hearing all about that and some other things uh, you've mentioned to me that we'll wanna get into as well.

Geoff: 00:35:37

So I'm looking forward to that.

Geoff: 00:35:38

Thank you so much.