Stories That Move
When we create videos for our clients, there's often an incredibly rich narrative that we can't include in the final cut. Being behind the scenes, we're fortunate to hear the depth and full context behind each story.
So in this podcast, we want to pull back the curtain and allow you to experience the extraordinary stories of extraordinary people we've been honored to connect with.
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Gain a new perspective.
Learn something new.
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Stories That Move
Corry Wiens | Directing Defy the Odds: A Bill Lester Story
In this engaging conversation, director Corry Wiens shares his journey from making goofy high school films to becoming a successful filmmaker in Los Angeles. He discusses the importance of leadership in film production, emphasizing empowerment and collaboration. Corry also reflects on his significant move from Chicago to LA, driven by a desire to pursue his dreams in the entertainment industry. The conversation highlights his award-winning short film 'Defy the Odds,' which tells the inspiring story of Bill Lester, a trailblazing NASCAR driver. Corry shares insights into the challenges and experiences of filming, showcasing the passion and dedication behind his work.
Keywords
filmmaking, leadership, Defy the Odds, Bill Lester, Los Angeles, short film, production, creativity, empowerment, storytelling, NASCAR, filmmaking, short films, feature films, perseverance, challenges, creative problem solving, Bill Lester, Defy the Odds, film industry
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I think that's one of the coolest part about working in film and being a director, specifically because, at the end of the day, like I don't really do anything, you know. I mean I mean kind of like you steer the boat and you have the vision for things, but it's really about bringing a team of people together to achieve a goal and a vision. Achieve a goal and a vision. People can flourish and do their best work when they, you know, feel empowered and when they are able to use their own creative energy to bring the best of their skills to the table.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to another episode of Stories that Move. I'm Mason Geiger and, as always, I'm here with my co-host, matt Duhl. Today we've got a really exciting conversation lined up with an incredible filmmaker whose work blends raw storytelling with a cinematic edge.
Speaker 3:Our guest today is Corey Wiens, an award-winning director and editor based in Los Angeles. Corey started his career as a commercial editor in Chicago before diving into documentary and nonprofit storytelling, where he mastered the art of creating high-quality films on tight budgets. His ability to balance story and grit has shaped his signature filmmaking style.
Speaker 2:And while we're introducing the show today, for the interview itself, Matt will be joined by our chief of staff, Alexis Grant. She's stepping in as a co-host for us while I'm on the road doing some traveling to support our clients, and I know it's going to be a great conversation.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Whether you're a filmmaker, a creative or just someone who loves a great story, there's a lot to take away from this episode, so let's jump in. Please welcome Corey Weins to Stories that Move. Hey everybody, welcome back to Stories that Move. I'm your host, matt Duhl, and with me again, alexis Grant. Hello, hello, here I am, alexis. Welcome back to the co-hosting. This is a second time for you.
Speaker 4:That it is.
Speaker 3:So the word has come in. People loved you on episode number one Apparently. Yeah, can't help it. Job well done. Thank you, yeah, we'll just keep bringing you back, and Mason may come back from all his travel and just be out of a job on this one. What do you think?
Speaker 4:I don't know about that. I don't know about that.
Speaker 3:Not ready to come back with you all. Thank you for joining us and, hey, if you are listening, just want to make sure that you know this is also a video podcast. You can tune in on YouTube or Spotify to just check out the set our beautiful faces, our guests as they dial in with us, and we could not be more excited about the guest that is joining us today. Alexis, this is a good friend of yours, so I'm going to let you take the reins on the introduction here.
Speaker 4:Sweet yeah. Today we have Corey Weins, who is a director based out of LA and a really great friend of over, I think, a decade now, so back to high school me, but I'm just super excited to have him here. Corey, I'd love for you to just introduce yourself to our audience.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Thanks, alexis. Yeah, so I, as Alexis said, I'm a director and editor. I'm based in the LA area. I've only been out here for like three years now. Prior to that, I lived in Chicago, which is where I met Alexis, and we both worked together at an agency in the Chicago area, and I was the head of production there for about six years before I left in 2020 to go freelance Awesome, I've kind of been doing that ever since.
Speaker 3:Awesome, awesome. So talk to us about just you know. How did you just originally get into that work? I mean, what, what was it for you? That kind of you know production became the thing for you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I I started making movies with my friends in high school, uh, which I think is how a lot of people, at least people my age I don't know what the kids are doing these days, but uh, a lot of people started by just goofing around and making films. And I think it started with like a high school project and my buddies and I were like, let's do a video for this, and we made it goofy and I'm sure it was terrible uh, and then that kind of led us to making more terrible and goofy films. We did like a star wars parody and, uh, we eventually even made like a uh 40 minute long heist movie, uh, which we like we were so proud of it at the time and we had like this big premiere and invited like all of our classmates to it and stuff. And uh, we were like we, it got into like some film festival too. That was. It was just like a local film festival in the chicago area.
Speaker 1:But I think from that point I you know everybody always talks about like you should try and make your dream a career, and if you can do the thing that you love you, you never have to work a day in your life, and so I kind of just started from there, you know, looking at colleges and being like what can I, can I do this like and get paid for it? Can I make a career out of uh, out of making movies and um, so yeah, so that's kind of where the the passion started from. Uh ended up going to school out, going to college out in the la area for a couple years, um, and then I did a summer internship at a church in the Chicago area, which is where I was from, and then at the end of that summer they wanted to hire me full time and I was like sweet, like I can get paid to do a job that I love without even finishing college so.
Speaker 1:I dropped out of college for a little bit. I did go back and finish my degree to, you know, make my parents happy but just finished with a degree in communications from school in the Chicago area. And then, yeah, so I started working at a church for a while, which I think was a great opportunity to just get more hands-on experience with the filmmaking process, and then from there, went to a post-production company in chicago for a little bit. And then uh was freelance for a little while, which is where I got connected with the agency that I worked with uh in the chicago area and ended up joining their team in 2014. And, yeah, I think I was the fourth staff member over there, uh, in 2014 and was kind of tasked with leading the, the film team okay and it ended up growing, helping to grow that agency.
Speaker 1:I think we had 17 or 18 people at one point in time, yeah, and then you know, when I left in 2020, I forget how many staff members there were, but yeah, so, yeah. So that's kind of my life in a little nutshell.
Speaker 4:So, speaking of goofy videos, the first time I saw Corey was through a student impact video of him, I believe, on a mega yacht with a helicopter flying above and his long hair just in the wind, and it was kind of like a parody video.
Speaker 4:Like an SNL on the boat sort of thing, but it was like, yeah, that definitely inspired it man, yeah, yeah, okay, yeah so that was the first time I saw who he was, but I didn't know who he was, and since then it's just been gold, yes, no I love that, no, and I love the just getting together with high school friends and making movies and that's that's absolutely.
Speaker 3:You know my beginnings as well. And for uh, so yeah, it was my brother Mike, our friend Brian, a couple other friends, and for us it was we were remaking the cops TV show, um, which again it was just so stupid and ridiculous and I think it just gave us an excuse to like just physically assault each other on film, right, like just chase each other down, tackle, throw somebody against the car. Yeah, it was fun, but yeah, out of those things like here we all are.
Speaker 4:Something was birthed yes, creativity. Yes, a career.
Speaker 3:That's so cool. That's so cool, that's so cool. Well, you have, you know, done a ton of things and, you know, worked through agency. And hey, by the way, I got to say, before we got on, Alexa said to me Corey, best boss I ever had, which?
Speaker 3:that's pretty amazing, so you know high praise going there, yeah, yeah. So talk to me about for you just that aspect of as you grew in your career, growing and working with teams and just taking on some of those leadership roles and, yeah, just what some of that meant to you and kind of looking at things from a different perspective.
Speaker 1:I think that's one of the coolest part about working in film and being a director, specifically, because, at the end of the day, like I don't really do anything, you know. I mean, I mean kind of like, sure, you, you steer the boat and you have the vision for things, but it's really about bringing a team of people together to achieve a goal and a vision. And so, whether it was, you know, leading the film, the film team at Fox Creative, or if it's directing a short film or whatever it is, you know, I think being a good leader is all about empowering the people that are under you. And, you know, specifically with film, you want to hire people that make you look better. You want to hire people that are, like, really talented at their job and then you want to, like, cut them loose to do their best work and to empower them to bring the best of what they have to the table.
Speaker 1:And so I've never really liked the micromanaging style of leading. I've always believed that people can flourish and do their best work when they of leading. I've always believed that people can flourish and do their best work when they, you know, feel empowered and when they, um, are able to use their own creative energy, uh, to to bring the best of their skills to the table. And it might not exactly be like what you had in mind to begin with, and I think that's another part of a uh joy of being a director is when people bring something to the table. That's not exactly what you had envisioned, but it's. You know, sometimes it's even better and it could be like a completely different, like like right turn, um, but it could make it like even more awesome than what you imagined.
Speaker 3:So that's good. That's good, yeah. So, alexis, I'll turn it on you.
Speaker 4:I mean, you've got to experience this firsthand like how have you seen that play out through Corey and the work that you're able to tie it into of like okay, yes, it is about empowering others to do good, to do better, to contribute to things that maybe they didn't think of before and shape that perspective. And so, as a director, I think that's just really neat that you get to rally yourself with those different creatives right, like we are better together, we are not better off alone.
Speaker 4:And I think that in itself is so powerful right To create a story that truly moves right, like it's on the sign, stories that move, like you get to do that not on your own, but as a collective. So that's just really cool. Um, and yeah, just from the bottom of my heart, thank you, uh, for being that person for me for the last couple years and continuing to do so. Um, but this is not about me and Corey this is about Corey and stories that move and all the things.
Speaker 3:Well, I love that. A lot of times we have guests and they can come on and say whatever they want and we have no way of fact-checking it. But right here we've got you guys who work together for a little bit.
Speaker 4:I approve of this message.
Speaker 3:Yeah, perfect, perfect, that's awesome. Well, thank you.
Speaker 1:Alexis.
Speaker 4:I'll get right on those edits though later on.
Speaker 1:Get to work Get to work.
Speaker 3:So, corey, you, you, you know the last few years made the decision to leave Chicago, the place you were kind of born and raised, spent a lot of time, and head out west. So talk to us about that, tell us that story. What led to that decision?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it kind of it started in 2019. And, to be completely truthful, I had like a crazy spiritual experience that I don't necessarily feel like I should get 100% into, because people might think I'm crazy, but what that led to was really asking the question of myself what would you do if you knew you couldn't fail? And it came back to those moments of my childhood where I loved making these films with my friends and I always had these dreams of like going to Hollywood and being a director and making big movies and like being in the entertainment industry. And I think, as life took off you know, got a full-time job, got married, had kids and a stable career doing film I was very thankful for any kind of career uh, doing anything remotely video related, and so I was very content, um, but then, yeah, started to that.
Speaker 1:That question was kind of nagging at me, like you know, what would you do if you knew you couldn't fail? And I, I want to be in entertainment, I want, want to make movies. That's like what I want to do. And you're not going to, you're not going to be able to achieve that if you don't take steps towards it. And so, if you kind of envision your life five or 10 years from now and picture yourself where you want to be. You kind of have to run the clock back then and figure out like, okay, what steps did I take to get to where I want to be?
Speaker 1:And so I knew that you know something. I had to start taking some big steps, and I didn't always know exactly what I was doing or what steps to take. But my wife and I felt like if, if we eventually were going to end up in the Los Angeles area, which obviously is the hub for where feature films are made, and that's that's just where everything's at we were like well, maybe we should make this move when our kids are young. At the time, we had a I think it was a five-year-old, three-year-old and, uh like one-year-old maybe two-year-old yeah, I don't know, maybe it was, maybe it was six, four and two.
Speaker 1:I don't, honestly there's three kids.
Speaker 1:They were young three young kids, yeah, and, and our oldest was in, uh, first grade at the time. So, and and this is, you know, I I I first left my job. Was what? What happened first? Uh, and so that was kind of the impetus for everything was like, okay, first I need to like leave my stable career and I need to start like taking steps towards this dream. And the first step was leaving the job. So I did that.
Speaker 1:I was freelance for a while, still in the Chicago area, and then, as we started to like work through some of that, we were like, okay, maybe we need to make the move out to los angeles and kind of be where the action is. And so that's when we started thinking through um, you know, let's, let's make this move while the kids are young, before we have to like fully uproot them and tear them away from friends and everything, because the uh, you know, people were like going through covid and everything at the time too, so they, they didn't really have like any close friends at the time because everybody was kind of socially distancing and um, school was in like a weird place of like being online and everything and uh, so, yeah, so anyway, so that's kind of what led to us then making that move at the end of we moved out here.
Speaker 1:It was like two days after Christmas we had the house packed up and left so we like kept the tree up, did Christmas with the kids and everything, but it was two days after Christmas 2021 was when we left, and then we spent a couple of days with my parents, uh, in Illinois and uh, from there we did like a long, like week long trip, road trip out to Los Angeles. So we didn't end up actually out here until, uh, january of 2022. Okay, and yeah, so been out here for about three years now, uh, but that, honestly, I still kind of pinch myself that we did that move, because that was crazy, especially with the three young kids.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, no kidding, it's like middle of COVID, three young kids, oh my gosh yeah.
Speaker 4:Let's do it, let's go.
Speaker 3:Perfect timing.
Speaker 1:I know yeah, what can you fail Right Totally.
Speaker 3:Not to mention just tying that to Christmas for your kids.
Speaker 4:Oh gosh, Santa took away our home.
Speaker 1:But there are still gifts under the tree, right?
Speaker 3:Yeah, we gave them gifts, and I was like, okay, now throw everything in the box, and we got to go. Well, let's dive into. You have a short film, an award-winning short film, called Defy the Odds. It's about Bill Lester and his journey in NASCAR and I got to watch it the other day as we were kind of talking about sitting down, talking to you and, oh, my goodness, just so, so good, excited to talk to you about that, talk to us a little bit about it, share a little bit of what it is and what drew you to that story.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm trying to think back to what started it all. So I'd been looking for some kind of like passion project to do after going freelance, and I wanted it to be something. You know, I feel like a lot of directors make spec ads and they spend a lot of time and money on these like fake commercials essentially, which you kind of need to. Unfortunately, a lot of time and money, money on these like fake commercials essentially, uh, which are I you kind of need to. Unfortunately, it's kind of the name of the game. But I, I really didn't want to like spend my time and money just making like a fake ad for a brand or a product that I'm not associated with. And so I tried to find something that I thought would have commercial appeal, like it's something that I could take footage from and, you know, show to agencies and be like, hey, I'm, I'm a director, look what I can do, yeah, to hire me for commercial stuff but also something that like tells a compelling story. And so I came across this book, uh, that Bill Lester had written. I actually have a copy right here. I'll wrap the book for you Winning in Reverse by Bill Lester. It's his memoir, yeah, and I read through it in like a weekend and this guy has such an incredible story. Basically, in a nutshell, he's one of the first black NASCAR drivers to make it to the Cup Series and he's one of the first black NASCAR drivers to actually win a NASCAR sanctioned race to get first place in it. So the even crazier part of the story to me is that he didn't actually get into NASCAR until he was 37 years old. Prior to that he worked at hewlett packard as a software, uh, developer and he was kind of climbing the corporate ladder. He did amateur racing on the side, uh. So he was in that world still. But he just one day decided like I, I want to go after my dream of being a nascar driver. And so he quit his comfortable corporate job and went after that head first. And so he kind of he had like a trifecta of odds against him yeah, uh, going into nascar because he was black. Uh, he was not from the south. Yeah, he was from northern california. And uh, he was. He was older than the typical nascar driver when he was going into it. Um, and so just so many odds stacked against him and for him to make it as far as he did was just an incredible testament to his determination and willpower and skill.
Speaker 1:Yeah, uh, behind the wheel and so, anyway, so I, I got the book, read through it, I was like, man, this is a story that I feel like really needs to be told, and I didn't want to do anything without his permission, uh, so I put together like a pitch deck and I was like you know, here's how I'm picturing this, this film getting made and this story being told. And then I had to find his email address, which proved to be a challenge, uh, but I eventually got a hold of him and was like, hey, I, I don't want anything in return, I'm not asking for money or anything, I just want to tell your story, um, and I want your blessing to tell your story. And so we hopped on a call. I shared the pitch deck with him and my vision for it. Um, he brought his uh, his agent into the conversation as well, just to make sure, like there's nothing fishy going on, you know to make sure that they could trust me with this story, I think.
Speaker 1:And so, yeah, so I ended up being in partnership with Bill Lester and telling the short film and there's so many crazy stories from this because it was very ambitious. You know, it's a NASCAR story and so I wanted to tell part of that. And getting on to like a big NASCAR track and doing all that was going to be that was that was an insurmountable obstacle, and so what we ended up doing was focusing more on his, his victory that he got, which was in the GT circuit, so it's more sport sports cars on like a winding road course versus like a big NASCAR oval. Yeah, and so we honed in on that race and, yeah, I'll give you the short version of the story and you can let me know if you want to go more into the gritty details of how it all came together. So I ended up partnering with this, this great production company that was in the Nashville area. They're called gear seven and they came alongside the film and they were generous enough to provide their team and their camera cars and equipment towards the project.
Speaker 1:And then our next challenge was finding a private racetrack that would let us film film there.
Speaker 1:And then the hardest part was actually finding the two cars for the film which I film there. And then the hardest part was actually finding the two cars for the film which I bill lester won his race in 2011 and he was driving a 2012 camaro and I it was important to me to find a car that looked the right part, you know. So I was trying to find like a 2012 camaro, uh, and so that was actually one of the craziest stories of how we we were able to actually find somebody who had these two cars and they were already, uh, decorated essentially to look like race cars, because they were actual race cars that he had, and so we didn't have to like, do much work on that front, um, but yeah, so there, there were just so many hurdles to getting this thing made and it and it's crazy to look back and reflect on it and, yeah, just just really thankful for everybody who came alongside that film and believed in it and made it happen.
Speaker 4:I'd love to hear, even just like the experience of filming, not just the how, but like yeah, how was it on set? You know you got all the locations or you got all the crew. You went down to Nashville, like, just tell me some fun stories. You know, like this is your passion project, like it's not just a job, you get to have fun and do it at your own pace, you're your own client. Like, tell me about that experience.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was. It was a lot of fun we did. We did one sheep day on the racetrack, which is about like an hour and a half outside of the Nashville area, and Bill Lesser, who is from Atlanta. He ended up driving I think it was like a four hour drive for him or something, but he ended up driving up to be with us on set when we were on the racetrack. So that was that was really cool to have him there to be part of it.
Speaker 1:I know some of the NASCAR fans that were on set with us were kind of geeking out having them there, um, but yeah, so that that day on on the track, I just remember it was a dream like it was so so much fun chasing this, these two race cars around, uh, the track and I I got to be in the camera car as we're pursuing them and, uh, there's obviously, like a lot of you know, there's a lot of control involved with it and very precise movements that have to be choreographed with the, the cars and the drivers. Um, but it was, it was just a blast, um, it definitely wasn't without its challenges. One of our two cars broke down, uh, of course, like halfway through the shoot, and they blew the clutch, so it was not something that could be easily fixed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and it was actually supposed to be the primary car. So we had a black car and a white car and I just I really loved the look of the black one. I thought it looked very like I don't know, just kind of like aggressive, like on the track. I'm like, yeah, let's like like, let's have that one be his car, uh, and that was the one that broke down, so like. So the first half of the day we did we shoot like these cat and mouse kind of sequences where they're like chasing each other, and then the primary car that I pictured being like our hero car broke down and so we had to pivot. Thankfully we had two cars and we were able to just switch and do the rest of the filming that day with the white car, um, and we made it work, uh. But that that was. That was stressful it's. It's a whole different experience when it's your own money on the line producing something and it's like oh my gosh, like, what are we gonna do?
Speaker 4:yeah, yeah um welcome to our world. Glory of producing, oh, it's so yeah, it's all the things you never dealt with, but we had to I love that.
Speaker 3:All right, so really quickly, you'll appreciate this. So I was working on a film with a friend and we had set up the scene and it was inside of a bank and there was a bank robbery thing and we had the car you know, the getaway car parked outside and of course we were working, you know, with the bank and local law enforcement and the whole thing and so for the bank robbery we literally closed all of the like, the shades, the blinds, so that you know people couldn't see in.
Speaker 3:And so then we transitioned to go outside for the runaway escape and I mean literally we're coming out the door with the steadicam, the actor and we kind of turn to go and the getaway car is gone, it's gotten away, it's just gone.
Speaker 3:Turns out a neighbor in the neighborhood came out, sees the car parked outside their house. It's a crappy looking car, you know by design. And so they're like who parked this crappy car? And so then they look at the plate and realize we got a fake plate for the movie, right, and they're just like this is a fake license plate, oh my gosh. So they call the sheriff's office and whoever was on call just hadn't gotten the memo of what we were doing and they towed the car.
Speaker 4:Oh my goodness, yeah so we got outside.
Speaker 3:So then it leads to me. I'm on the phone with the tow truck driver, literally trying to convince him this is real, and then negotiating with him to come back, because I guess their payment comes off of the fact that it goes in the impound right, and then they get paid for that. So I'm offering him just like handfuls of cash to come back. Like what is it going to cost to have you come back and bring the car?
Speaker 3:so anyway, I can really appreciate what it means to have a car break down and okay, what do we do? Now, oh my gosh so, yeah, and you're like we have to wrap that fine, yes, yes, exactly, we're losing sunlight, yeah, everything. Yes.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Yes, it's so stressful. Yes, yes, you got to think quickly.
Speaker 3:It's all about that creative problem solving right, yeah, yeah, so, okay. So what's the total?
Speaker 1:run time on your film Three minutes. Three minutes yeah, Short minutes yeah.
Speaker 3:Short, very short, and this is what I want to unpack with that, because I think people look at that and they're like, okay, three-minute film, like cool, you probably did that in like an afternoon and it's like absolutely not Like there was so much work and heart and soul that was poured into that three minutes. So unpack that for us, for our listeners, who, you know, maybe aren't, you know, up to speed with just some of what goes into that, like what goes into that three minutes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. Well, so we, we did the one day on the racetrack filming all the the car action scenes, uh, and then we did two days in the studio, uh, and we filmed a lot of it, uh, against a led volume, uh, and gear seven, they. They have an affiliated company under their umbrella called uh arc studios in nashville, and so we filmed at their studio. They had the led wall and everything, so that was really cool to be able to work on. So that was that was one day we did like all this unreal engine stuff.
Speaker 1:And then the second day in the studio, we had to build a set for our office scene. So there's like the cubicle scene, which was one thing, um. And then we also had our like our c-suite office scene, um, which we built like an l-shaped um set for with, you know, vertical blinds and the the desk in there, and so that one wasn't Unreal Engine, that one. We actually built the set and just put like a city skyline on the LED wall behind them. But yeah, there's a lot that goes into it. Three-day shoot for a three-minute short film.
Speaker 3:Yes, but even in a three-day shoot, I mean the amount of pre-production you did to lead up to those three days and then the amount of post-production on the back end, all in concept to completion what do you think you put into this? Just from a time standpoint, Time-wise?
Speaker 1:Yeah, time-wise, I don't know. Countless hours.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he hasn't slept since.
Speaker 1:Especially when it's like a labor of love. Yeah, I did not like track my own time on this and I'm glad that I did, because it would probably be a crazy amount of time, um. But yeah, I mean you mentioned post-production. You know we like that's a whole, whole process of discovery when you're in post um, my initial vision for the way that the film played out I don't think worked super well and so we had like this early version of the edit and um just wasn't really working for me and like I think like a month after we released it, I I recut like the whole thing and I feel much better about where it's at now, and that's the version that you can see online.
Speaker 1:But yeah, so it is. It's a, it's a whole process and even in post-production something can take shape in such a depending on the editor and who like has the vision for it. Like two different Ed bears can take the same footage and create two very different pieces.
Speaker 3:So yes.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:No, it's so cool and we will.
Speaker 3:We will link to the film so our listeners can check it out and see it, and I would encourage that because it's just, it's just so cool. And what's really cool to me now hearing you and hearing your story is here you are, you are someone who kind of hit this question of okay, if money wasn't the thing, like what would I go do? And you went and pursued that dream. You uprooted your life, your family, moved across the country and then you went and found a story of Bill Lester, someone who again is in corporate world and then made that that jump to NASCAR. So almost finding like that parallel track that you grabbed and made that story. And and I think my one of my favorite parts of of the film is just that tension that you create in that C-suite scene between him and the boss and just kind of that feeling of just you're feeling the tension of him making that decision to go all in and to do this and I just thought it was so, so cool. So, man, job well done, really really cool.
Speaker 3:So with that, I know you know I have friends who've worked in very similar spaces and projects and some of their vision, in kind of making the investments to do a project like this, is that there's a bigger vision to take it to the next level of. Maybe this is kind of something you're using as a concept to make a bigger piece. So, yeah, is that the case for you? Are you hoping to do more with this story, with this piece in particular?
Speaker 1:It is. It is 100%. So, yeah, after we made the film, it went on to I would say it was pretty successful. We submitted it to a bunch of different film festivals, had good success there. It didn't I mean, it wasn't like a part of any of the major like Oscar qualifying ones, so it wasn't that big.
Speaker 1:I guess you could say I'm still thinking but it won some cool awards, like it won best microfilm of 2022 for the NDX Film Festival. That was a really cool experience. We were part of the International Motor Film Festival in London, so me and our producer and a couple other people flew out to London to be a part of that and that was a lot of fun and just cool to celebrate with them. So yeah, so after the film kind of took off a little bit, you know, I've always thought that his story should be a feature film, and so I started conversations with Bill about potentially optioning his book, which is essentially buying the rights to tell the story as a feature film, the story, uh, as a feature film, and so fast forward through a lot of negotiations with his agent and lawyers and all that fun stuff and, uh, I, I actually do currently have the option on his book winning in reverse awesome, awesome and so I I got that.
Speaker 1:Uh, it was two novembers ago and so all last year, all 2024 pretty much, uh was just quiet hustling of trying to develop the materials, the treatment, the uh pitch deck, to sell this film to studios, to major studios, and to hopefully get it made as a feature film. So that's that's the process, that's what I've been working on and, uh, it's starting to get some exciting traction. Okay, um, which I I can't go into too many of the specifics on it, um, but uh, we are currently bringing it to some some a-list people in hollywood and I'm still waiting to hear back. So nothing's like guaranteed or anything um, yeah, but yeah, we're.
Speaker 1:We're in the process of shopping it around and we'll see what happens.
Speaker 3:Oh, that's awesome that's awesome there you go, cory yeah, no congratulations and again, I think it's just something that is probably just not widely understood of the work that it takes to bring something like this to life. And you know it's especially right now. I think in the era we're living in is studios have gotten very challenging in terms of they are all in on the $300, $500 million Marvel type movies and to make anything else is really challenging today.
Speaker 1:Right, very, very challenging. Yeah, yeah it's. It's a crazy world and, honestly, I'm still I'm learning. I'm learning so much as I go through this and I I found a producing partner to come alongside me and he's, uh, done this process several times before, and so he's been, he's been, a huge help and the guide for me as we navigate some of this stuff. Um, one of the one of the big things that was kind of kind of interesting, a little bit unfortunate, but is what it is. But I, I made the decision because I originally, like, I, I want to direct, that's what I, that's what I want to do, and so I had myself as director on the film and, um, I was having a hard time initially getting some traction with it, and I, I made the decision a few months ago to remove myself as director and to leave that position open, uh, and to just make myself a producer on the film, and that's actually when I started getting some traction.
Speaker 1:So yeah, so I it was the right call. It was a tough call, but I think at the end of the day, you know, I just want the story to be made, I want the story to be told, I want it to be done really well and I think that was the right call.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah, just kind of an open hand Right yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I haven't done a feature film yet. And so to ask for millions of dollars of the studio's trust in me, for because it's not going to be cheap, it's a film, yeah, I mean there are cheaper ways to go about it, which I think we can do. But, um, yeah, it's a it it's a significant uphill battle. Uh, to ask for that kind of trust, so yeah, so yeah, I won't be on board to direct it, at least, you know, not unless every single studio passes on it and we end up making like the indie film version of it, which I mean maybe that'll happen. Sure, there's always that, yeah, but yeah, yeah, we'll see. We've gotten in the door to have some of these big conversations now and I think that's incredibly exciting, yeah, and yeah, we'll see where it goes.
Speaker 3:Very cool, very cool, awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, I know that you know and again, I think this can apply to anybody, not just filmmakers but entrepreneurs and you know, people in their career path of what you are doing, what you're choosing to do right now and pursuing this story and taking the next steps. I mean it is. I mean it is about perseverance, it is about a certain grind and a certain mindset. How would you encourage our listeners and their endeavors of if there is that passion thing that's out there, that thing that you are aiming for? One, it's probably not going to be easy and two, it's not going to happen unless you are just committed, kind of all in. So how would you encourage our listeners in that?
Speaker 1:If it's like a film thing. Yeah, the film industry is so hard to make it in and it's an uphill battle for sure. So I don't, and I haven't, I haven't made it yet by any means. I'm still navigating this and trying to figure it out. Um, but my advice is, like, if this is what you want to do and this is the thing that keeps you up at night, like, just take steps towards it. Like, uh, like I mentioned earlier, you, you really need to picture yourself like, where do you want to be in five, ten years? What's your dream? What's the thing that you would do if you knew you couldn't fail? Picture that and then run the clock back, like what steps would you have taken to get it, to get yourself there and do those things they might not be easy things. They, they might be hard, but like that's what you have to do and you might fail, you might not make it.
Speaker 1:I don't know, I might fail, but at least then you know that you tried, at least then you know, like you know, you're not going to lay on your deathbed one day wondering like, oh man, if I would have done this differently, could I have pursued this dream or done this thing, this other thing that I wanted to do. So, yeah, so I think, just take steps towards it and, you know, don't be afraid to dream big, don't be afraid to take risks, but know that it comes with failure and that's okay.
Speaker 3:That's part of the process. Yeah, yeah, and I mean maybe unpack for us what happens, what happens inside of the failure, right, Like what it's again, it's not just a game over done, but in the failure there's there's learning, there's development, there's resilience. So how, in some of your attempts at things, I mean, how would you process that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I think you said it really well. Like it's, every failure is a growth opportunity. I think it's especially in our industry, where there's so much feedback and you hear so many thoughts and opinions on a video or thing that you made, it can be really tough to build up that kind of resilience. But I think it's always important to take the feedback or, in this case, the failure, and to learn from it and to acknowledge like, ok, like I don't have all the answers, yeah, I don't necessarily know the best way to go about this, so let me listen to what other people are saying and find out how do I pivot, how do I make changes, how do I do things better the next time? I mean, it happened with the short film with Defy the Odds.
Speaker 1:You know, the first edit after we shot this awesome thing felt so good about the footage. And then I'm the thing felt so good about the footage, and then I I'm the editor, so I'm the one to blame here. Yeah, I, I just wasn't happy with it. It just wasn't hitting the way that I wanted it to, and we had initially like released it and people were like, wow, this is so cool, this is awesome. But it just like it wasn't sitting right with me, yeah, and you know, talked with other people and got some feedback on it as well, and I think everybody was kind about it, but at the end of the day, it just wasn't doing what I wanted it to do, and so went back to the drawing board and reworked it and tried to learn from from what it wasn't necessarily like a failure but you know sure learn from what wasn't working and, yeah, fix it no, but I mean, that tells me so much about you.
Speaker 3:right of you could have absolutely, you know, been drinking your own kool-id to the point of like, we did it, I made it. But it's that desire to just say no, no, no, like this isn't it yet. And the humility it would take to just kind of admit that and say we're going to take another swipe at it. I mean, I think that's a really big deal.
Speaker 4:And listening to your gut, listening to your intuition. Well, and being receptive to feedback too. You know feedback is the hardest thing. Right, like that. I know that's something I've worked on for years and now I'm more comfortable with it. But, like truly those who are giving feedback, it's not, it's not personal, you know, like the only personal part about it is that they want to see you grow and get to that vision that you had in mind. But there are pivots that need to be made. There's a sense of humility that needs to come into that process. I love that you know that about yourself, where you're like, okay, this doesn't scratch the itch, it's like there's something more to it. I was made for more. I'm dreaming bigger.
Speaker 3:Really good. Well, corey, as we kind of wrap this thing up here, um, talk to us about what you are dreaming about, you know, for the future. Obviously you you still have some work to do and you're leaning in with defy the odds, but any other projects, any other things kind of on the horizon for you that you're getting excited about?
Speaker 1:Uh, you know, I feel like that's the big question for me right now. And I actually was just talking a couple weeks ago with my producing partner on this film and I'm just trying to learn a lot from him through this process and I asked him like, hey, what should I do to make sure that I'm setting myself up for success and that this isn't just like a one-time thing if this film ends up getting made and becomes like a big hit? And his advice to me was, like, always be thinking of what's next and always have something else on deck so that if somebody asks you like, hey, this is great, what else do you have? Yeah, you have something that you can share with them. Uh, and so I haven't like specifically identified that yet.
Speaker 1:I have some ideas, um, but uh, yeah, so I'm I'm still working through, like, what the next big idea is. Uh, that's, that's coming next and in the meantime, uh, you know, I, I direct commercial work and non-profit stuff and I edit and I've kind of just been doing that as as my day job, yeah, and uh, working on the other stuff on the side.
Speaker 3:Awesome. Well, like I said, we will link in our show notes to your film. But where can people connect with you, your work? What's the best place for them to head to to find out a little bit more?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can check out my website. It is coryweanscom. That's C-O-R-R-Y.
Speaker 4:It's spelled weird, so forgive me forgive my parents, I guess, for spelling it all weird, but it's c-o-r-r-y w-i-e-n-s dot com, love it.
Speaker 1:You just got to remember that I before e there you go, there you go.
Speaker 3:That's good, awesome for all our listeners. I definitely would absolutely recommend go check out Defy the Odds and man we yeah, we'll just be hoping to see the next iteration of that hopefully in the future, here, but excited for you, your journey, grateful for your story and the way that you are pursuing your passions. It's inspiring, so thank you for being willing to come on and share that with us. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Thanks, corey. Thanks, thanks so much for having me. Yeah, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3:And to all of our listeners and viewers. Thank you so much for joining us with Stories that Move. We look forward to seeing you next time. Thank you for joining us for this episode of Stories that Move. We look forward to seeing you next time. Thank you for joining us for this episode of Stories that Move, brought to you by Dream On Studios.
Speaker 2:Make sure to subscribe so that you don't miss the next episode. And remember, if you or your organization have a story you're eager to share with the world, Dream On Studios is here to bring that story to life.
Speaker 3:Don't hesitate to reach out. You can find us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook or visit our website at dreamonstudiosio. We understand how overwhelming it can be trying to bring your vision and story to life, but that's why we exist, and we've walked alongside hundreds of clients doing that very thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we believe every story has the potential to inspire, to move and to make a difference. Let's make yours heard.
Speaker 3:Until next time, keep moving forward and keep telling those stories that matter.
Speaker 2:Take care, everyone. We'll see you next time on Stories that Move.