Trusting God Through Cinematic Setbacks

Geoff: 00:00:00

Welcome to the Faith and Family Filmmakers Podcast.

Geoff: 00:00:02

It's great to have you today.

Geoff: 00:00:03

I'm

Jaclyn: 00:00:04

And I'm Jaclyn.

Geoff: 00:00:05

and our guest today is Ricky Borba.

Ricky: 00:00:07

Hello.

Ricky: 00:00:08

Hi guys.

Jaclyn: 00:00:08

Hey, Ricky Borba is a film director from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Jaclyn: 00:00:13

He has been involved with film and television for the last 30 years.

Jaclyn: 00:00:17

His two theatrically released films, My Brother's Crossing and Hope for the Holidays, have won multiple Best Picture awards at film festivals across the country, as well as acting awards for the cast.

Jaclyn: 00:00:30

My Brother's Crossing spent two weeks in the U. S. box office top 10 when it debuted in 2020.

Jaclyn: 00:00:37

In 2023, he directed two films, Christmas at Keystone and Wedding at Keystone.

Jaclyn: 00:00:43

Ricky now resides in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife, four daughters, and son.

Jaclyn: 00:00:47

He has a double major in pastoral ministries and theology, and all of his animals are named after Star Wars characters.

Jaclyn: 00:00:55

I have

Ricky: 00:00:57

percent of that is true, you guys, so that's good.

Jaclyn: 00:01:00

you are a Star Wars fan.

Geoff: 00:01:02

Welcome Ricky.

Ricky: 00:01:03

Thank you, guys.

Ricky: 00:01:04

Thank you very much.

Jaclyn: 00:01:05

So where did your journey in film begin?

Ricky: 00:01:09

It's my earliest memory as a human being.

Ricky: 00:01:12

My very first memory I have is being 3 ish years old and my mom plopped me in front of the TV and put Star Wars on while she made spaghetti.

Ricky: 00:01:20

And I was completely, uh, entranced, enthralled, EN words, with what I was seeing on the TV at my house.

Ricky: 00:01:28

And I just knew at that point, uh, that I wanted more of that.

Ricky: 00:01:32

And as I got older, I wanted to act, and to write, and to direct, and to be a storyteller and a filmmaker.

Ricky: 00:01:39

And, uh, that's never, ever, ever left me.

Ricky: 00:01:40

So I do say from my earliest memory, it is something that I think was ingrained in me.

Geoff: 00:01:45

So how did you move from that into actually participating and being involved in the industry?

Ricky: 00:01:50

Yeah, so my mom, uh, noticed, there was four of us, by the way, I was the oldest of four.

Ricky: 00:01:55

My mom was really good at quality time and she noticed this was a passion of mine.

Ricky: 00:01:59

And so she, um, one trip we took to Florida in 1989, um, we went to Universal Studios and she had somehow worked her way backstage and brought out one of the actors of the show they had there that day at Paramount.

Ricky: 00:02:15

Um, you know, the show you go watch for free.

Ricky: 00:02:17

It's like the Indiana Jones show, but she had one of the actors who was a Ghostbuster come out and talk to me.

Ricky: 00:02:22

And, um, he just told me, you know, I always remember him saying, if this is something you are going to do with your life, be prepared for a long road, a hard journey.

Ricky: 00:02:33

And I remember hearing that at 12, 13 years old in 1989 and knowing, okay, well, I'm up for it.

Ricky: 00:02:38

And so, um, my mom helped, um, obviously God along the way had to help because there were a lot of years where there was more month than money and, and all those things.

Ricky: 00:02:46

It's very difficult and, um, especially living in the Bay Area without any ties to LA or Hollywood.

Ricky: 00:02:52

You know, uh, was a difficult thing and, um, God brought me through it.

Ricky: 00:02:56

And so, um, you know, there's a lot of law.

Ricky: 00:02:58

We could spend an hour talking about all the various things, but you know, my mom was a huge catalyst and, and me, frankly, trusting God that God put these desires in my heart, uh, was the, was the other one.

Jaclyn: 00:03:08

So, did you start with pursuing acting?

Ricky: 00:03:11

Yes, I did.

Ricky: 00:03:12

So I love acting.

Ricky: 00:03:14

Um, I like being in front of the camera.

Ricky: 00:03:16

I'm a ham.

Ricky: 00:03:17

I remember being five, six years old and doing little plays at Thanksgiving and make my family laugh.

Ricky: 00:03:21

And as I got older, I realized what I really like is storytelling and you get more opportunity to do that as a writer, which I started doing for a little while then as a director, the director, you get the whole thing.

Ricky: 00:03:31

Like you can tell the actor where to go and how to say that.

Ricky: 00:03:34

And You can tell the writer, let's do this and that.

Ricky: 00:03:36

And so really directing, um, has been a lot of fun.

Ricky: 00:03:39

And all four of my films that I've done, I've been in front of the camera too.

Ricky: 00:03:41

You know, some films more than other, but I still love acting.

Ricky: 00:03:45

I just really actually love having, and I hate saying it like this.

Ricky: 00:03:47

I don't know how else to say it.

Ricky: 00:03:48

I love having more control of the story.

Jaclyn: 00:03:50

huh.

Jaclyn: 00:03:50

Well, I guess just, you know, when you're a visionary, you know, you're a visionary.

Jaclyn: 00:03:54

That's, that's what you want is you want to be able to create that vision and have that control.

Jaclyn: 00:03:58

That's awesome.

Ricky: 00:03:59

Absolutely, thanks.

Jaclyn: 00:04:00

so then would that be your favorite part?

Ricky: 00:04:02

Now, directing?

Ricky: 00:04:04

Yeah, I mean, I, I eat, drink, sleep, breathe wanting to direct.

Ricky: 00:04:08

Like, I'm always working on my next project.

Ricky: 00:04:12

And, uh, it's just what I want to do until I take my last breath.

Jaclyn: 00:04:15

Wow.

Jaclyn: 00:04:16

That's amazing.

Jaclyn: 00:04:17

Yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:04:17

So your biggest production at the time, I guess, was in 2020?

Ricky: 00:04:23

Yeah, it's still, uh, in terms of a budget, it still is the biggest production.

Ricky: 00:04:27

That was my first film.

Ricky: 00:04:29

Um, very long story short on that one, um,

Jaclyn: 00:04:32

video back there,

Ricky: 00:04:33

I was going to do this other film for, I think the budget was 220, 000, something like that.

Ricky: 00:04:38

And, uh, I was looking to get it funded and I was going to have a wrestler, a very well known wrestler and a very formerly well known actor be a part of it.

Ricky: 00:04:46

And I went to LA and met with this investor who was vetted from two people I knew that had worked with him before.

Ricky: 00:04:54

And very long story short, um, he ended up taking our money and went off to Australia.

Ricky: 00:05:00

And so I was left, uh, and, and that was one of the seasons of my life where there was way more money than money.

Ricky: 00:05:07

So I had robbed Peter to pay Paul, I'd asked friends and family for money and all this stuff and they gave me.

Ricky: 00:05:11

Uh, would end up being 30, 000 to give this investor because the way he financed his previous film was through a bridge loan.

Ricky: 00:05:17

So the budget was, you know, X amount and then he takes 10 percent of that from, from the filmmakers.

Ricky: 00:05:22

Takes that 10%, gets the rest of it, and, and that's what he had done for this other person.

Ricky: 00:05:27

And that is still true.

Ricky: 00:05:27

He still did that for this other person, but he kind of fell off the rails after that.

Ricky: 00:05:31

So anyways, he took our 30, 000.

Ricky: 00:05:33

And went to Australia, and I refused, because at that point in my life, I had learned to kind of respond well to things.

Ricky: 00:05:39

I refused to, uh, cuss this guy out on the phone when we had phone calls with him, and damn him to hell, and all those things.

Ricky: 00:05:45

I just was, you know, I, I responded relatively well, and the producer from Hollywood that was a part of this film noticed.

Ricky: 00:05:53

And I remember driving into Burger King on October 10th of 2000, I believe it was 17.

Ricky: 00:05:58

no, no, I'm sorry, 16, 2016.

Ricky: 00:06:00

October 10th, 2016.

Ricky: 00:06:01

I'm driving into Burger King and the producer calls me and he says, hey, my partner and I noticed that you handled that really well.

Ricky: 00:06:07

We don't understand how you handled that.

Ricky: 00:06:08

Like, if I were you, I'd want to fly to Australia and kill this guy.

Ricky: 00:06:11

So we've got this little faith based film that you can direct if you can find the funding for and I'll get you the talent and all that stuff.

Ricky: 00:06:16

And I'm like, in the middle of a Burger King parking lot crying.

Ricky: 00:06:19

And, uh, I remembered a conversation I had had at that point eight, nine years prior with a guy at a film festival that said, Hey, if you ever do a faith based film, hit me up.

Ricky: 00:06:28

I might be able to finance it.

Ricky: 00:06:29

So I called a nine year old warm contact, warm lead, and he did.

Ricky: 00:06:35

And he actually funded the entire three quarters of a million budget for that film.

Ricky: 00:06:40

And, um, the, the story of that film is it's about a mother in her 60s who gets cancer.

Ricky: 00:06:45

Her son, in his 40s, finds out, freaks out, robs a bank to pay for her medical bills, gets caught, and goes to prison.

Ricky: 00:06:52

Well, I got that script, and then three months later, my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic liver cancer and went from diagnosis to death in six

Jaclyn: 00:07:01

Oh my

Ricky: 00:07:01

So we found out she was sick on July 9th, and she was dead September 3rd.

Ricky: 00:07:05

And so I called the producer and the writer of that script and I said, Hey, can I rewrite major portions of this story to reflect the real life conversations that I'm having with my mom, um, about cancer and her journey and her faith?

Ricky: 00:07:18

And I want to start crying because it gets me emotional, but they said yes, and I was able to rewrite it.

Ricky: 00:07:24

I was able to take my real life interactions and conversations with my mom and have an oscar nominated actress play my mom and uh, It was the most cathartic incredibly beautiful wonderful gift from god, you know Genesis 50 20 with the devil intends for harm god will use for good and um, you know cancer took my mom And god said that's all right Your first movie's gonna be about that and the stuff that you're saying with your mom is gonna be seen and heard by You know, however many people watch the film so it's very very incredible experience

Geoff: 00:07:54

And what was the name of that one

Ricky: 00:07:55

That one is called Hope for the Holidays.

Ricky: 00:07:57

It's a Christmas film.

Ricky: 00:07:57

I don't know when this is coming out.

Ricky: 00:07:58

This is either coming out before Christmas or right after, so watch it.

Ricky: 00:08:02

Go watch Hope for the Holidays.

Ricky: 00:08:03

I promise you'll like it.

Jaclyn: 00:08:04

Yeah, wow.

Jaclyn: 00:08:05

That, yeah, that sounds amazing.

Jaclyn: 00:08:07

And to be able to bring in that authenticity,

Ricky: 00:08:11

Yeah,

Jaclyn: 00:08:11

as, as hard as it was during that time.

Jaclyn: 00:08:15

Yeah, that's amazing.

Jaclyn: 00:08:16

That's such a blessing.

Ricky: 00:08:18

thanks.

Ricky: 00:08:19

Yes, it was.

Ricky: 00:08:20

It was a huge blessing.

Geoff: 00:08:21

And tell us about some more of your projects.

Ricky: 00:08:24

So right after that, you know, you do your first film and then this is how I thought things worked because it happened.

Ricky: 00:08:29

Um, I got a call.

Ricky: 00:08:31

We wrapped in December.

Ricky: 00:08:32

I got a call in March from an actor who was on my film.

Ricky: 00:08:37

It was another film.

Ricky: 00:08:38

That film, the director had just fallen out.

Ricky: 00:08:40

And he said, Hey, I've got this film I'm doing in Virginia.

Ricky: 00:08:42

You should be the director.

Ricky: 00:08:43

I already told him about you.

Ricky: 00:08:44

I'm like, okay.

Ricky: 00:08:45

So they sent me that script.

Ricky: 00:08:47

That's My Brother's Crossing.

Ricky: 00:08:48

So I go from Hope for the Holidays to My Brother's Crossing.

Ricky: 00:08:50

We filmed that.

Ricky: 00:08:51

And then because the way things happened with the pandemic, both of those films got released in the same year of 2020.

Ricky: 00:08:57

And so I'm here, I am thinking in, you know, April of 19.

Ricky: 00:09:01

Wow.

Ricky: 00:09:01

I just did one film and now I'm doing another one four months later.

Ricky: 00:09:04

I'm going to just do a film every four or five months.

Ricky: 00:09:06

Well, that definitely was not the

Jaclyn: 00:09:07

Yeah.

Ricky: 00:09:08

Uh, the pandemic slowed that down, but also just the reality of the film business slowed that down.

Ricky: 00:09:12

Uh, we don't have enough time, but moved to Tennessee.

Ricky: 00:09:15

That's a huge story.

Ricky: 00:09:15

Moved to Tennessee from Sacramento.

Ricky: 00:09:17

And, uh, within nine months of moving here, I did another film and then that investor said, Hey, let's do one more.

Ricky: 00:09:24

And then six months later we did the sequel.

Ricky: 00:09:25

And so that's, that's my four films that I've done so far.

Jaclyn: 00:09:29

Oh man.

Jaclyn: 00:09:30

Yeah, that it does sound like it is just like boom, boom, boom, boom.

Jaclyn: 00:09:34

And I guess part of that, like, you know when they say that success is when preparation meets opportunity, and had you spent a lot of time like preparing for an opportunity when it came?

Ricky: 00:09:47

absolutely.

Ricky: 00:09:48

You know, I, I heard Ashton Kutcher say that, giving an award, he said, you know, luck looks a lot like whatever, and then he finished it with how you just said, um, opportunity meeting, hard work, and what people see is, oh, okay, you know, at the time, Ricky's 40, he's doing his first film, that must have happened overnight.

Ricky: 00:10:04

They don't know the 20 something year journey of that thing, so it was hard work, it was trusting God, it was putting people around me in my life that spoke into me.

Geoff: 00:10:12

You mentioned a moment ago that it's a longer story about your move to Tennessee.

Geoff: 00:10:17

Is it a story you'd like to tell,

Ricky: 00:10:18

Sure,

Geoff: 00:10:19

Because we certainly have some time.

Ricky: 00:10:21

Okay, yeah, 2015 16 ish, I was working as a contractor for K Love Radio, and they were doing a program through Air One, which is their kind of more hip, uh, version of K Love.

Ricky: 00:10:33

Uh, where, uh, former athletes would go into high schools and speak about, you know, following your dreams and putting the right people around you.

Ricky: 00:10:39

Stuff that I lived and breathed and I was kind of producing that.

Ricky: 00:10:42

So I'd hit the road for a week and we'd go to various cities and one of the times I needed to drive from, oh boy, I don't even remember, the state above Tennessee.

Ricky: 00:10:51

I'm horrible with geography.

Ricky: 00:10:51

I had to drive from Tennessee

Jaclyn: 00:10:53

I'm even worse.

Jaclyn: 00:10:54

I'm from Canada.

Jaclyn: 00:10:55

I don't, even if you tell me what it, what it is, I might not be able to picture it.

Ricky: 00:11:00

want to ask Siri right now.

Ricky: 00:11:01

What's the state above Tennessee?

Ricky: 00:11:03

I had to drive from that state to Atlanta.

Ricky: 00:11:04

I drove through Tennessee and stopped and saw my brother who had just moved out to Tennessee a few years prior.

Ricky: 00:11:09

And I felt in that moment in 2016, that God said, someday this will be home.

Ricky: 00:11:15

I was like, okay, so cool.

Ricky: 00:11:15

So I go back home from that particular trip and tell my wife and she's like, yeah, you know, maybe someday, sure.

Ricky: 00:11:21

Whatever, you know, I have a lot of things I say.

Ricky: 00:11:22

And she's like, yeah, you know, maybe sure.

Ricky: 00:11:25

Well, during the pandemic, not to get political, but this is, this is what happened and it has a little political slant.

Ricky: 00:11:29

So I'm taking my, at the time, 14 year old daughter to soccer practice.

Ricky: 00:11:34

This is right in the height of the pandemic.

Ricky: 00:11:37

Um, I'm walking up a hill to her practice to watch her, and I very, very audibly, in my spirit, hear God say, Tennessee in four.

Ricky: 00:11:46

And I'm like, oh, okay, four years, sweet.

Ricky: 00:11:48

Caelan Briel will be out of high school, Raelynn will be starting high school, and Caden and Isley will be starting junior high.

Ricky: 00:11:54

Perfect timing, four years, love that.

Ricky: 00:11:56

Went home and told my wife, she's like, okay, four years, I don't know, man, that sounds kind of fast.

Ricky: 00:12:00

The very next day, Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, tweets and goes on TV and says, if your children are in public school, they have to get the COVID vaccination.

Ricky: 00:12:11

And again, not to get political, but my wife and I are, she's a chiropractor, we don't vaccinate, period.

Ricky: 00:12:16

And we don't do, certainly didn't do the COVID vaccination, so I said, Lord, if you met Tennessee in four months, because he was saying by January they had to be vaccinated, this was September, I said, if you met four months, then three very specific things need to happen.

Ricky: 00:12:28

Number one, this TV show that I'm producing for the church that I'm going to with Sam Rodriguez, I can do this remotely, I need to be able to keep that income.

Ricky: 00:12:34

and that job.

Ricky: 00:12:35

Number two, my wife is a chiropractor.

Ricky: 00:12:37

We can't move to Tennessee and open a brand new practice.

Ricky: 00:12:40

She doesn't know anybody.

Ricky: 00:12:41

And then number three, we've never owned a home.

Ricky: 00:12:43

I'd like to own a home.

Ricky: 00:12:45

You know, we've rented, I'm 40 something years old.

Ricky: 00:12:47

I'd like to own a home.

Ricky: 00:12:48

So within one week, all three of those things were answered.

Ricky: 00:12:52

We were pre qualified for home for the first time ever.

Ricky: 00:12:55

My wife found a job out here at a chiropractic office in the city we ended up moving to.

Ricky: 00:13:00

And the church that I was working for, San Rodrigo's New Season Church of Sacramento, said absolutely, you can just zoom in and remotely direct and produce and edit this show, no problem.

Ricky: 00:13:09

So we flew on a plane, uh, a year ago yesterday, as of this recording, we flew on a plane, I'm sorry, three years ago as of yesterday, and looked at 15 homes.

Ricky: 00:13:18

This home that I'm in right now was our, God, please, can we have that home?

Ricky: 00:13:22

Like, please.

Ricky: 00:13:24

And, um, in California, you're not allowed to write a letter to the homeowner if they're selling the home because you could then, uh, sue them for discrimination if you don't get the home, but not true in Tennessee.

Ricky: 00:13:33

So I wrote a letter, we came to this house.

Ricky: 00:13:35

I handed the letter to the, to the homeowner, even though I was told by the real estate agent, not to.

Ricky: 00:13:39

I went back to the car.

Ricky: 00:13:40

And by the time I had walked back to the car, she reopened the door and invited my wife and I to come tour the home and she's like, look, today's Tuesday.

Ricky: 00:13:48

My home is supposed to hit the market Saturday.

Ricky: 00:13:50

I do not want hundreds if not a thousand people walking through this home while we're trying to pack.

Ricky: 00:13:55

She goes, don't be stupid.

Ricky: 00:13:56

make us a nice offer and we will sell you this house.

Ricky: 00:14:00

I will tell my agent to work with the Borbas.

Ricky: 00:14:02

So, we went back to our hotel, we had a max amount we could offer for a home, we prayed about it, came up with a number, submitted it, and within a few hours, she said yes, and we moved out to Tennessee, and it has been an incredible, uh, awakening of, of just so many things, I mean, again, not to bag or dunk on anything, or anybody in California, but there is a big difference between the state of California and how people are and the spiritual things.

Ricky: 00:14:28

And not to say again, there's not people that are doing great things, but when you leave that state and you come to the Bible Belt, there's a difference.

Ricky: 00:14:34

There really is.

Ricky: 00:14:35

And I felt it and I feel it every day and I'm so thankful for it.

Ricky: 00:14:39

And so living in Tennessee, three years now in January, it'll be three years.

Ricky: 00:14:42

It's just been incredible and the people I've met and the relationships I have.

Ricky: 00:14:45

Um, but again, yeah.

Ricky: 00:14:47

You know, my book is called Trusting God.

Ricky: 00:14:49

Uh, was just a huge step of trusting God.

Ricky: 00:14:51

I heard him say Tennessee in four.

Ricky: 00:14:53

I had no way of making that happen on my own.

Ricky: 00:14:56

Um, and I asked him, I threw a fleece out, which I understand is, you know, not the greatest way to do things with God.

Ricky: 00:15:02

I think in fact, he says, don't test me, but I tested him.

Ricky: 00:15:04

He knew that I needed that.

Ricky: 00:15:06

And so, um, here we are and

Ricky: 00:15:07

it's been incredible.

Jaclyn: 00:15:08

Well, I think when it comes to making big decisions and like, if your mindset is, God, I want to do what you want, but I need you to help me understand what that is, uh, I don't think it's testing him the same way as, well, you love me so I can make this bad decision and you're going to save me, right?

Jaclyn: 00:15:26

Yes.

Jaclyn: 00:15:26

So I, I think, I think God honors when.

Jaclyn: 00:15:29

when we are intending to serve him and we just need that confirmation so that we know that we're doing it the way that he's asking us to.

Jaclyn: 00:15:38

Yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:15:39

Tell us more about your book.

Ricky: 00:15:40

Yeah, I was going to say a perfect segue, Jaclyn, from what you just said.

Ricky: 00:15:44

There's a story in this book that I wrote.

Ricky: 00:15:46

So this, by the way, this book is an 11 year journey.

Ricky: 00:15:49

I started writing it in 2013 before I made a film.

Ricky: 00:15:53

I knew that God called me to be a filmmaker.

Ricky: 00:15:55

In fact, the opening words of the first chapter or something to the effect of I'm sitting in my home that I can barely pay the rent for with two 30 year old cars in the driveway.

Ricky: 00:16:03

I'm not writing for my hilltop mansion.

Ricky: 00:16:05

I just know that God's called me to be a filmmaker.

Ricky: 00:16:07

And then I finished the book last September and it came out this February.

Ricky: 00:16:11

So it's a, it's a, so one of the stories in this book to piggyback off what you just said, which was so beautifully said was with that same story about the film that I was going to do where the investor took our money and all that stuff.

Ricky: 00:16:22

Um, We then came up with the idea to kickstart funds for that film.

Ricky: 00:16:28

And we were going to use the 14 million social media followers of this particular wrestler.

Ricky: 00:16:34

And we were going to build a campaign to say, Hey, um, if, if you donate 20, this wrestler will, you know, leave a voicemail for you.

Ricky: 00:16:41

We had a whole bunch of perks.

Ricky: 00:16:42

This was six to seven years ago.

Ricky: 00:16:45

He agreed to do it.

Ricky: 00:16:46

We paid him a deposit, a hefty deposit to do it.

Ricky: 00:16:48

We went and filmed with him and all this stuff.

Ricky: 00:16:51

And on the day of the launch of the Kickstarter campaign, he calls me, he's in Florida, he calls me, he was supposed to go live at like 5pm California time.

Ricky: 00:17:02

So I'm sitting around, nothing, nothing, nothing.

Ricky: 00:17:05

I text him, I call him, I email him, I call his manager, no answer.

Ricky: 00:17:10

Finally at midnight California, 3am Florida time, he's drunk as a skunk and calls me.

Ricky: 00:17:16

And he's slurring his words and he goes, Hey, you know, I'm up for the lead role in Deadpool 2.

Ricky: 00:17:21

And he had already told us that story 20 times.

Ricky: 00:17:23

And I said, yeah, no, we're so excited for you.

Ricky: 00:17:25

Cause if you get that role, that's going to make our film even better.

Ricky: 00:17:30

And, uh, he goes, yeah, so with that, I'm not going to peddle your SH little film on my social media, uh, good luck with everything, basically kick rocks and he hung up on me.

Ricky: 00:17:42

And so I called the, the manager back and I said, Hey, uh, your, your guy just did this, you know, he's really leaving us high and dry here.

Ricky: 00:17:50

And he's like, good luck.

Ricky: 00:17:51

He's like, he goes, you can take him to small claims court.

Ricky: 00:17:55

Good luck with that.

Ricky: 00:17:56

Good luck.

Ricky: 00:17:56

You know, go ahead.

Ricky: 00:17:57

Start doing that.

Ricky: 00:17:58

Get your name in the press.

Ricky: 00:17:59

All the good luck.

Jaclyn: 00:18:00

So you lost your money again.

Ricky: 00:18:03

lost my money again.

Ricky: 00:18:03

So I am now pretty frustrated with my filmmaking journey.

Ricky: 00:18:07

Like God, you promised me that I was going to be a filmmaker.

Ricky: 00:18:10

At that point, I was very clear.

Ricky: 00:18:12

I had prophetic dreams.

Ricky: 00:18:13

I had words spoken over me.

Ricky: 00:18:14

I'm going to be a filmmaker.

Ricky: 00:18:15

I'm going to win, win awards.

Ricky: 00:18:16

That was what was spoken over me.

Ricky: 00:18:18

That was in my prophetic dreams.

Ricky: 00:18:21

This is the very next day after that thing with the wrestler happened, it's my daughter's birthday.

Ricky: 00:18:24

I had driven three hours from Sacramento to San Francisco to do some side work to earn some extra money.

Ricky: 00:18:30

I'm driving back.

Ricky: 00:18:32

I'm supposed to be at my daughter's birthday party at five o'clock.

Ricky: 00:18:36

I left in plenty of time, but if you know anything about the Bay Area, traffic gets really bad there if you're not out of there by like 2 or 3 p.

Ricky: 00:18:43

m.

Ricky: 00:18:43

It's really bad.

Ricky: 00:18:44

And at the time, if you did not have cash for the bridge toll, which was 7, they would send you an 80 ticket.

Ricky: 00:18:54

couldn't pay with your credit card.

Ricky: 00:18:56

That was it.

Ricky: 00:18:56

You needed to have cash, or you could have this thing stuck to your window, but I don't live in the Bay Area, so I'm not going to stick the

Jaclyn: 00:19:01

Uh huh.

Ricky: 00:19:03

thing to my window.

Ricky: 00:19:03

It just didn't make any sense.

Ricky: 00:19:05

So I'm driving towards the bridge toll, and I'm looking at my clock, and I'm realizing I don't have any cash.

Ricky: 00:19:09

And 80, A, I don't want that ticket, but 80 might have, might as well have been 8 million to us at that

Ricky: 00:19:15

point.

Ricky: 00:19:16

So I'm like, I need to go get 20 out of an ATM machine.

Ricky: 00:19:21

To pay for the stinking bridge toll.

Ricky: 00:19:22

And I'm looking at the clock and I'm looking where the, my phone is telling me the nearest ATM is, and I'm like, I'm going to be an hour and a half late.

Ricky: 00:19:29

If I pull off the freeway now, because by the time I get the money, get back on the freeway and traffic and get to Sacramento, done and over with.

Ricky: 00:19:36

We were having dinner at Spaghetti Factory.

Ricky: 00:19:38

So I'm like, I'm never going to make it to the Spaghetti Factory.

Ricky: 00:19:40

So I'm driving and I am having the most.

Ricky: 00:19:43

And again, I won't cuss here, but I had a pretty intense cussing prayer with God driving to the Bridgestone.

Ricky: 00:19:49

I'm like, I am pretty freaking tired of this feeling.

Ricky: 00:19:51

I'm tired of whining.

Ricky: 00:19:52

I'm tired of feeling like this, God.

Ricky: 00:19:54

I said, here's the deal.

Ricky: 00:19:56

I said, if you're still behind me as a, as you promises, you know, still ring true as me being a filmmaker, if this is still something that is true and I didn't mishear you and, and you're still behind this, then here's what I need right now.

Ricky: 00:20:11

I need the person ahead of me to pay for my bridge toll.

Ricky: 00:20:13

Not only because I don't have the money, but I just need to know you're with me, because I'm super frustrated right now.

Jaclyn: 00:20:18

You're not listening to

Ricky: 00:20:19

So I get to the bridge toll.

Ricky: 00:20:20

At the time, my car window didn't even roll down.

Ricky: 00:20:22

It was just a, you know, if this were 1923, I would have said jalopy.

Ricky: 00:20:26

This car was a

Jaclyn: 00:20:26

see the top.

Ricky: 00:20:27

And so I get to the bridge toll window, which is here.

Ricky: 00:20:30

So just imagine me, like if the window's here, I have to pull up and open my door and look back, right?

Ricky: 00:20:35

So I'm looking back at the guy talking to him.

Ricky: 00:20:38

So I opened my door.

Ricky: 00:20:40

And I go, hey man, I'm so sorry, I don't, I do not have the money for the, for the bridge toll.

Ricky: 00:20:44

He goes, don't worry about it.

Ricky: 00:20:46

The person ahead of you paid for your bridge

Geoff: 00:20:47

Wow.

Ricky: 00:20:50

Niagara Falls, like, I'm really holding back tears right now telling this story eight years later.

Ricky: 00:20:54

Niagara Falls.

Ricky: 00:20:55

Falls.

Ricky: 00:20:56

I shut my door, I slam on the gas, and then that car probably met 40 miles an hour, but I'm like going as fast as that car could.

Ricky: 00:21:03

I pull up to this just, they are probably in their 80s, they're a black couple, and I'm honking my horn at them, and I'm like, thank you, thank you, and the guy, the driver, looks at me, and he goes, it's no big deal, and I go, it's a huge deal, and I'm crying, and he's looking at his wife like, The guy we just paid for, he's psycho.

Ricky: 00:21:28

And so, um, I get to my daughter's birthday party.

Ricky: 00:21:32

I sit down, I tell my in laws and my mom and everybody the story.

Ricky: 00:21:36

Everybody's crying.

Ricky: 00:21:38

And it really was, for me, like The moment I needed, like different from moving to Tennessee, like, okay, God, if this is going to happen, you know, some things, this was, God, I'm, I'm ready to call it quits and go get my pastoral job.

Ricky: 00:21:50

And, you know, either go work on computers and just make the 70, 000 a year and be done with all this, or you got to, and he did.

Ricky: 00:21:57

And he's like, all right, he's like, if that's what you need,

Ricky: 00:22:00

okay.

Ricky: 00:22:01

And so in my book, I talk about, everybody can have their own bridge toll story.

Ricky: 00:22:06

Everyone can be in that moment of absolute despair.

Ricky: 00:22:11

And say, God, I need to hear from you in a way that's tangible to me.

Ricky: 00:22:14

Sometimes it's through music, sometimes you'll get a call from a friend or whatever, but God, this is what I need.

Jaclyn: 00:22:19

of how I haven't talked

Ricky: 00:22:20

And he loves us, he's a loving father, so of course he's gonna show up.

Ricky: 00:22:23

Not all the time, sometimes his answer is, I need you to go through this and experience this so you get closer to me.

Ricky: 00:22:30

But more times than not, he's going to answer that prayer with, okay,

Jaclyn: 00:22:34

Yeah,

Ricky: 00:22:34

how you know I, and it was just a beautiful moment for me.

Ricky: 00:22:37

And, uh, with my prophetic dream and then the Bridgetoll story, those two things were the catalyst to keep me moving forward in my film career, because even after that moment, there were so many times it would have been easier to do something else, but I'm like, nope, my prophetic dreams and that Bridgetoll story, I will never, ever quit on this again.

Jaclyn: 00:22:52

yeah, yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:22:53

I love when he gives us those moments that they're like anchor points

Jaclyn: 00:22:58

that, you know, whenever we feel like the winds of life have just blown us about, we're still connected because that moment was real.

Jaclyn: 00:23:06

It's undeniable.

Jaclyn: 00:23:07

And we know what it means.

Jaclyn: 00:23:09

And like, I've got my own too.

Jaclyn: 00:23:11

And so, yeah, it's, that's beautiful.

Ricky: 00:23:14

Thank you.

Ricky: 00:23:15

Yeah.

Geoff: 00:23:15

Yeah, when we come back, I want to talk, Ricky, I know you've been teaching and you've got some plans for courses related to filmmaking.

Geoff: 00:23:23

We certainly want to get into that, tell our listeners about it and perhaps have you share some of your wisdom and your expertise.

Ricky: 00:23:29

You bet.

Ricky: 00:23:29

Happy

Geoff: 00:23:30

we'll look forward to that in the second

Ricky: 00:23:32

Great.

Jaclyn: 00:23:32

Thank you so much for sharing.

Jaclyn: 00:23:34

I've really enjoyed this conversation and getting to know you, and I'm looking forward to hearing more in the next episode.