Feb. 6, 2010 - The Political Cesspool - James Edwards
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Welcome to the Political Cesspool, known worldwide as the South's foremost populous radio program.
And here to guide you through the murky waters of the Political Cesspool is your host, James Edwards.
Welcome back to the radio program, my friends.
I'm your host, James Edwards.
You're in the political cesspool, listening to the voice of the American right.
It is Saturday evening, February 6th, and we are moving full steam ahead into the rest of the program.
Another great appearance made by Political Cesspool co-host Keith Alexander during the first hour where we covered the Hutton-Gibson-Perez-Hilton controversy that stemmed from Mr. Gibson's appearance on this radio program and the stand he took with us after the attacks from the Hollywood gossip pages.
We went on to talk about Black History Month and that very interesting U.S. congressional race shaping up here in Memphis during tonight's third hour coming up a little bit later on in the program.
We'll be joined by Political Cesspool co-host Eddie the Bombardier Miller as Bill Rowland and Winston Smith have the night off.
Eddie Miller will be helping me interview Officer Jack McLamb, the most highly decorated police officer in the history of the city of Phoenix, Arizona.
But before that, this hour, we're going to be joined by film director Merlin Miller, going to be reviewing Mel Gibson's new movie, Edge of Darkness, from a director's perspective.
Very excited about the program thus far this evening.
Very excited about the show as a whole in 2010.
As I was mentioning with Keith in the last hour, we've already had a lot of luminaries on the show this year.
Of course, a little injection of publicity stemming from the Hutton Gibson interview, which was also very solid.
I just don't think that there's anybody else out there that has been capable of doing the job that we've done.
You got a handful of volunteers here in Memphis who've created a radio show from scratch, got it syndicated to the point it becomes the communicative nexus of a movement, become so acclaimed that you get national headlines over the course of six years and still have never once brought embarrassment to yourselves or the cause.
That's a miracle that makes the parting of the Red Sea look like a routine chore.
And that miracle has been made possible by you, ladies and gentlemen.
And I am not immodest here.
I am not being falsely humble.
You, the men and women who have stood with us since our inception in 2004, you and you alone are the reason that we have been able to climb the ladder and become such a prominent and revered voice in the paleoconservative and America First movement.
You have made the political access pool what it is, and all of the accolades and acclaim that we garner is a result of your support.
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Now, I told you Merlin Miller is coming up in just a couple of minutes, actually, to give us a review of The Edge of Darkness.
Merlin Miller recently wrote an article for The Occidental Observer about The Edge of Darkness.
So, I'm going to read that for you in order to set the stage for what Merlin and I will be talking about.
Again, I'm reading Merlin Miller's review of The Edge of Darkness, which he calls an important and timely political thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Originally produced as a British miniseries, the story has been modernized and set in Boston.
Director Martin Campbell, who held the original, as well as several recent hit films, including Casino Royal, brilliantly executes with a cast and crew tailor-made for their roles.
The story is about a veteran homicide detective, Thomas Craven, who must solve the murder of his own daughter, Emma, who dies in his arms, by the way, and the conspiracy that led to it.
As Craven, Mel Gibson is back with a performance that reminds us why he is one of the all-time greats.
He hasn't been in front of a camera since 2002's signs, but what a return this is.
His powerful performance, Merlin Wrights, grabs and doesn't let go.
Even though his intense blue eyes have been intentionally muted with wardrobe and lighting to create a disheveled and distraught character appearance, he still captivates.
As a widower who has now lost his only child, Mel Gibson, his character Craven, has but one goal left, and that is to find and exact revenge on her killers.
Initially believed to be the target himself, things don't stack up for Craven as he discovers that his daughter led a life that he knew nothing about.
Throughout the film, use of memory flashbacks of Emma as a little girl and apparitions of her lost spirit provide love connections which are beautifully and hauntingly effective.
As a nuclear physicist intern, Emma worked for an energy and research firm that held government contracts.
She became aware of sinister efforts by her corporate employer to provide nuclear weapons that could be used and then blamed on jihadists.
This future false flag operation had the secret support of elements of the American government.
Emma's efforts to do right and protect our true national interests were betrayed by those she thought she could trust, including a U.S. senator.
So now you're beginning to know why this film resonates a lot with people like myself here in the political cesspool.
And as Mel Gibson's character investigates with increasing despair, he uncovers key parts of the conspiracy with the enigmatic assistance of a government cleanup agent and assassin played by Ray Winston.
Although his delivery, Merlin writes, was difficult to understand at times.
Winston's understated performance is central to the story, and his scenes with Gibson are riveting.
At one point, the government, I guess you would call him a spook here, philosophically states to an inquiring Craven, you just can never connect A to B because I'm usually the guy that stops you from connecting A to B when talking about government conspiracy theories.
But this character who is working for the government is terminal and takes, and this terminal illness takes him through a soul-searching process in the film where he ultimately is tested to either do his assigned job or do the right thing.
This is a decision that many of our government servants may be asking themselves today.
So, as Merlin concludes this review for the Occidental Observer, he writes that the themes of honoring family and protecting our freedoms are tightly woven into this movie's tapestry.
A memorable and repeated line, everything's illegal in Massachusetts, speaks tellingly to the current and historic patriots.
And Craven's threat to the senator, quote, you'd better decide whether you're hanging on the cross or banging in the nails, speaks to our unfortunate loss of faith and increasing corruption.
The production credits for this revenge thriller are first rate.
The camera flows smoothly with visual intensity.
And the editing and scoring keep us on an emotional roller coaster.
With such a compelling script and top-notch performances, this film has broad commercial appeal, but also works on other important levels.
With its truth-seeking attitude and a yearning for traditional values, Edge of Darkness is an uncertain journey through evil and darkness.
And we're left wondering if we as a people and a nation can rediscover what is important and return to a world of light.
That is the review that was written for the Occidental Observer by our guest, Merlin Miller, who will be appearing with us in just a couple of moments' time.
If you want to read that review for yourself, I encourage you to go to our website, the official internet quarters of the Political Cesspool Radio Program, www.thepoliticalcesspool.org.
Thepolitical Cesspool.org there at the top of our blog, which I just plugged a couple of moments ago.
It is our most recent entry.
It's the review there prepared by Merlin Miller.
So we're going to be talking a little more with Merlin about the Edge of Darkness movie starring Mel Gibson, what political themes there kind of reinforce our own thinking here as paleo-conservative constitutionalists, if you will.
And more importantly than just talking more about the one good movie, the one wholesome movie that reinforces traditional values that has come out of Hollywood in recent years, we're going to be talking to Merlin about his own production company, Americana Pictures, and where he intends to take that as Merlin Miller himself is building an alternative to Hollywood, and he hopes to produce and direct more films like Edge of Darkness.
We're going to talk about that, all of that, and more.
When the Political Cesspool rolls on Saturday evening, February 6th, on the Liberty News Radio Network, I'm James Edwards.
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And here's the host of the Political Cesspool, James Edwards.
Welcome back to the show, everyone.
And now, joining us Merlin Miller.
Merlin Miller, a good friend of ours and a frequent guest on this program, is a graduate of both West Point and the USC Film School.
He is, as I mentioned, a motion picture producer and director and founder of Americana Pictures, an organization with which he is building a qualitative, a quality alternative to Hollywood.
Merlin, welcome back to the show, buddy.
Well, hi, James.
Thank you for having me back on.
Always a privilege and a pleasure.
And it's always great to have you on because as I told you in discussing this appearance with you a couple of days ago over the telephone, we always get a lot of correspondence.
But when we have a guy on to talk about movies, we get a little bit more because our people, people who believe in America, people who believe in the Constitution, aren't so different than others on one thing.
They like to be entertained.
And I like to be entertained, Merlin.
You know, there's a lot of people out there, and I'm not going to say that they're necessarily right or wrong, but I was having a conversation about this very subject with a good friend of mine in Arkansas a couple of weeks ago.
And there's just some people who are paleoconservatives, and they don't watch movies.
They don't listen to music.
They don't do anything.
And, you know, just speaking for myself, I love movies.
I'm a big film buff.
And I guess I've just got a filter in my brain that can kind of wash out the kind of corrosive things that are transmitted through film.
And I can take out of it what I want.
But I like movies.
I like the Indiana Jones movies.
I like, you know, the James Cameron movie, Aliens About the Marines that go in and fight those beasts.
I like movies, Merlin, and I liked The Edge of Darkness, and I know you did too.
Yes, I love movies, always have.
And unfortunately, I do think a lot of the audience has turned away from movies, and largely because there aren't really many good ones anymore.
Well, that goes without that.
Yeah, there's no way that you can argue that.
There is not a lot of good movies out there.
But at the same time, movies, especially movies in this day and age with the way that we learn, for better or for worse, movies have an incredible power to impact our people, either for good or for bad.
And of course, coming out of Hollywood, most of the stuff there is bad when you're talking about the political themes that are pervasive in these films.
Like I said, I've got a filter and I can take out some of that stuff and enjoy a good action movie for what it is, for its entertainment value.
But it would be nice if we had entertaining movies that also reinforced traditional values.
And Merlin, I don't know if you were listening to the program before you came on just a couple of seconds ago, but I read your entire review, your excellently written review for The Occidental Observer.
Edge of Darkness is one of those movies that is both well-acted and reinforces values that resonate certainly within people like me and you.
Right, I found it to be, you know, it says something.
It does entertain first, and I think that's always the initial barometer for a movie is it's got to entertain.
It's got to find a market.
But beyond that, you're absolutely right.
It should hopefully say something to us and not only take us on a journey and make us laugh and cry and care about the characters, but hopefully walk away from the film thinking about it and thinking about the themes and hopefully being inspired and possibly taking actions that are positive for us and positive for our communities.
Now, Mel Gibson didn't direct this film, but he had to have his fingerprints all over the production of it because it speaks so closely to the message that was delivered in films like The Patriot and Braveheart and some of those other movies that he did, Conspiracy Theory especially.
What would you reckon that he had a hand in the subplot of this film?
Well, there's no doubt, you know, star of Mel Gibson's stature is going to have a voice in anything he does.
And being the star of this one, he brought a compelling performance, and he must have cared very dearly about the project before being involved in it.
And it was a very successful miniseries in England years ago.
And the director, Martin Campbell, actually had directed that original miniseries.
And so I'm sure they were on the same sheet of music when it comes to the themes that the film represented and what it could be.
And no doubt Mel had a great impact in how the film was tailored.
Well, we're going to talk more about specifics in that film that, as I say, would resonate within the hearts and minds of the people who listen to this program.
But I'm going to ask you a question now, Merlin.
It would be entirely speculative on your part, but I'm just wondering, and your guess is probably a little better than mine.
Why do you think Gibson took the seven-year absence from movies and came back with this particular film, or eight years it was, since Signs in 2002, with this particular film with its February 2010 release date?
What do you think was going on there?
Well, I suspect it's just he had a passion for doing some of his own things.
And as a director, he directed The Passion and then Apocalypto.
And so much energy, so much time has to go into directing a feature film that my guess is he might have been a little bit burnt out on acting several years ago and took this detour because he had a passion to do it.
And probably finally got to the stage where he found some material he was passionate about as an actor again and re-entered the stage for this one.
And I think it's a great one for him to come back with.
And I'm sure he's got other films that he's in production with and looking to do as an actor and hopefully again as a director.
Well, you can't say enough about those two films.
I didn't even mention those when trying to compare some of the political values of some of his most recent films in which he acted.
But yeah, I mean, Passion of the Christ and Apocalypto, two phenomenal films, to say the least.
If you haven't seen those, go to the video store as quickly as you can and rent both of them.
Passion of the Christ, obviously a little more focused on religion, the Christian faith, and Apocalypto.
You know, I was always, for whatever reason, just sort of fascinated with those subcultures, the Mayans and the Aztecs.
It was just a great film.
It really kind of shattered the myth of the noble savage, and he did a great job preparing that.
I guess it was a love story overall.
But nevertheless, two great films there.
Now, I was excited to see, Merlin, that this had a pretty strong financial take-in in its first weekend of release.
Wasn't it $17 million for Edge of Darkness?
And this goes, you know, after eight years of him being off the radar as an actor, and of course, all of the attacks he had to endure from Hollywood and from the media for that alleged outburst he had when he was arrested didn't really seem to phase his marketability, did it, Merlin?
No, it's a very good opening.
You know, $17 million for an opening of a film this time of year especially is incredible.
And it was number two at the box office's opening weekend and only behind Avatar.
And Avatar, I'm not sure how much they spend, but it probably has a half a billion dollars.
But of course, it was a lot of technical wizardry in that film.
But in terms of story, Edge of Darkness is a far superior film, in my opinion.
Well, it was just good for me to see, I guess the point I'm reaching for here was that after a near half decade smear campaign to discredit Mel Gibson as an actor and as a human, that he was able to come back and really didn't affect his standing with the people at all.
And kind of, I think, shows a chink in the armor of the establishment's smear machine, Merlin.
Well, I think what will be a real test on this one is I'm sure a lot of loyal fans of Mel Gibson would come out for the opening of this, but I think it's going to have legs.
I think it's the kind of film that the word of mouth will spread, that this is a really good film.
And get out and see it.
And hopefully, you know, this time of year, it's tough to get people to go to theaters, but I think they will.
I think this is going to be a big film.
Well, Valentine's Day weekend's coming up.
That's not necessarily a romantic movie, but if you do want to go see a movie on Valentine's Day, why don't you support a guy whose family obviously stands with us?
We talked about Hutton Gibson earlier in the first hour, and of course, that's been well documented.
We're not going to revisit that.
But yeah, support a guy who's making films that we can appreciate.
And we're going to talk more about The Edge of Darkness with film director-producer Merlin Miller after this commercial break that we're about to hit.
And even more importantly, a little later on in the interview, we're going to talk with Merlin about his own operation, Americana Pictures, and where he intends to take that.
You are really going to want to pay attention when he gets into that.
It's exciting, and it's something that we should all be a part of and be very supportive of.
I'm James Edwards, and we'll be back in the Political Cesspool right after these messages from our sponsors.
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Welcome back to the Political Cesspool.
James Edwards here with you and our featured guest for the evening, Merlin Miller of Americana Pictures.
He is here to provide a review of the Mel Gibson thriller Edge of Darkness from a director's perspective.
And we shared with you earlier his review of The Edge of Darkness, which appears on the Occidental Observer website.
You can also read it for yourself at our website, thepoliticalcesspool.org.
Merlin, to get down to the nuts and bolts of this film, and by the way, ladies and gentlemen, if you haven't figured it out yet, we are obviously endorsing this film.
So you're marching orders this week.
If you want to do your part for the cause, go support the Mel Gibson movie.
Go see it.
You'll like it.
And Merlin's going to give you a little more information why.
Merlin, when you watched this film, as you were watching it, what were some of the scenes that really just jumped off the canvas and screamed at you?
And you said, wow, I can't believe I just saw a Hollywood movie that would accentuate a point like that.
Well, I think the relationships, first of all, I was always looking at, you know, being captivated by particular scenes.
And the scenes with Mel and his daughter, you know, the Craven character and his daughter Emma, and the scenes also with the assassin, you know, the Jetbird character, I thought were just very, you know, well done.
You know, there was just a lot of chemistry between the actors there.
But as far as the messages, what the scenes told me, it basically was a discovery of truths.
And I love to see movies that tackle things from the perspective of, hey, let's get down to what's really going on here.
And this was a political thriller and had a lot of action and intrigue, but it really was about seeking truth and seeking justice and more than just a revenge story.
It was about getting down to what's really going on.
And had some powerful themes.
You know, it was nice for me to see religion posed in a favorable way.
And it didn't hit us over the head, but I saw a couple of crucifixes in this story, and they weren't psychos.
They weren't killers.
They weren't demented people.
And that was a very positive thing for me to see religion treated with respect.
And I think our Christian community has been treated with so much disrespect by the Hollywood filmmaking community that it's appalling.
But a family.
I saw family values in this story.
And Craven and Jedberg both, you know, they had their moments when family meant so much to them.
And of course, the film really dealt a lot with political corruption and how through media control and special interest influence over politicians, our people really aren't represented anymore.
And I think more and more our general public is seeing that.
And whether the issue is immigration or anything else, when 80% of the people favor something or don't favor something and the politicians go the opposite direction, we know something's not right.
And of course, the last issue that really hit home with me was the issue of false flags and things not being as they appear to be.
And I think that's what's going on in the world today.
And global elites blame God and pitting groups against each other.
And conspiracies are very real.
It's not just theories.
And they're all around us today.
And people are starting to wake up to that fact because things just aren't right.
And all those messages resonated with me.
And this film was just very tight.
And the pieces of the puzzle all fit.
And, you know, there are a lot of people out there that unless they see it on a mainstream Hollywood movie, unless they see certain themes being reinforced on television, they can't believe it to be true.
So I think that when people go and see a major Hollywood movie with a guy like Mel Gibson, and they see some of these things, they might be thinking to themselves, well, you know, maybe there is more to some of these things than meets the eye.
When I was watching it, Merlin, and I want to try to be careful not to give away the whole film and not say so much that we tell the whole movie so people don't need to go out and see it for themselves.
But Mel Gibson was a blue-collar guy in that movie.
He was a police officer.
He lived in a very modest home, drove a very modest car, and was forced with the situation that he had to deal with.
And he went out and dealt with it as a man and in a very honorable way.
And obviously, in terms of other themes that you see there, a great scene for me was when it kind of became known that this organization, this corporation that his daughter was working for, was in fact sinister and what they were doing there was making nuclear bombs that they would detonate with the assistance of the American government.
The American government would take these bombs and then detonate them somewhere.
But the bombs were being made to look like Muslims, jihadists, whatever.
And that sort of resonates with a lot of the questions that people have with 9-11.
One of the lines there that you mentioned in your review that's repeated, everything's illegal in Massachusetts.
That's a little comic relief, but it's true.
You know, we live almost in a totalitarian police state.
And there's just some other things there.
The United States Senator being complicit in this whole conspiracy and not being someone that you can count on to protect and safeguard the interests of his constituents.
And there's a lot more that I'm forgetting, but it's just, just every 10 minutes you see something that I think reinforces our very traditional and paleoconservative political values, Merlin.
True, and it was unusual for me to see a film like this come out of Hollywood.
And of course, it got major distribution with Warner Brothers.
But I suspect the origins of the film were all independent.
It came from this British mini-series, and Graham King Productions was the production company behind it.
So I suspect the distribution happened just because they had a package with great casting and a great story, well executed, and they saw the potential to make a lot of money.
But I don't think this is a story that would typically be developed through the Hollywood studio system.
And then, you know, I almost forgot, and you also mentioned this in your review, What I thought was the biggest line of the film where Mel Gibson's character says you'd better decide in talking to the senator, the United States Senator, you'd better decide whether you're hanging on the cross or banging in the nails.
A little reference, perhaps, the Passion of the Christ, but also, you know, whose side are these so-called elected officials on.
And unfortunately, today, they're almost all on the side of multinational corporations, certainly not the American people.
Right.
And even Jedburg, toward the end of the film, when he was getting ready to deal with the senator, you know, he made the comment and the senator said, hey, I'm a U.S. Senator.
And Jedburgh's response, by whose standards.
Yes, yes.
Thank you, Merlin, for bringing that up.
If that wasn't the line of the movie, it was perhaps the most powerful, especially in the context in which it was delivered.
And people have to see the movie to know what happens after that.
That was the cherry on top of the icing for that film, I thought.
Yeah, he touted that he is a United States Senator.
And then, of course, the other character says, by whose standard.
And, you know, well, it goes without saying that that's something that we can all relate to because now these people are just glorified celebrities, I guess.
I mean, they certainly don't represent the people or stand up and fulfill their constitutional oaths of office.
And they get pensions that we couldn't even wrap our mind around.
I mean, they are not public servants, and they are not, you know, citizens.
They're not citizen politicians.
They are just absolutely, almost without exception, inherently corrupt.
Yeah, I agree totally.
Well, Merlin, you know, one movie like this is good, but when was the last time we had a movie like this?
I mean, you might not get one a year that speaks to our people on this level.
There might be some movies that are less obnoxious or less polluted than others, but I think in just naming the Mel Gibson movies that we have over the course of the last 10 years, I mean, that could truly be all the movies.
I mean, what movies would you say in the last decade, Merlin, other than a Mel Gibson movie that has come out that really speaking our language?
Not preachy, not preachy, good, entertaining movie that kind of reinforces subtly some of the things we would believe.
Other than Mel Gibson, what do we got?
Anything?
Not many, but I'm a romantic, and occasionally a film will come out that speaks to me.
And one that did was Gladiator, and it did because it was also about resisting tyranny, and it was about empire and how a republic can be corrupted and become an empire.
And that's happening to our country today.
And that's very troubling to me that we've gotten away from our constitutional republic.
And as you said earlier, we're becoming a police state.
And, you know, that's a lot of parallel to what happened to Rome.
Well, and that's what I'm talking about.
So, I mean, we're here.
I'm, I guess, a novice film guy.
I love watching a lot of movies, and I watch as many movies as I can.
I have a lot of wasted brain space there.
But, you know, we can't live, eat, breathe, and sleep this movement.
If you do that, you burn out.
I love this movement.
I fight for it as hard as I can.
But I enjoy taking in a concert.
I enjoy watching movies, listening to music, doing normal things, going bowling, playing basketball, spending time with my wife, even going shopping from time to time.
So you can't just be completely immersed in this movement and nothing else.
You've got to go out there and be a part of the world too.
You've got to be normal, okay?
But here we are.
I watch a lot of movies.
Your life is movies, Merlin.
This is what you do.
And you do it quite well.
And we're going to talk more about your role in this in the next segment.
But here we are, a couple of guys that are fairly familiar with films.
And we can't think of more than a handful in the past decade that we really like.
Other than Gladiator and the Gibson movie.
Any others, Merlin, out of the top of your head?
A few.
You know, Sea Biscuit, I think, said some nice things.
There are occasionally a few films that come out and that really touch you, that have sentimentality.
I am a romantic, you know, so I like those things that have positive messages about family and faith and basically the spirit of Americana, you know, what our founding fathers stood for.
With that being said, not to interrupt, we've got to take a break.
That is going to give me a perfect platform to segue into what we're going to talk about next: Merlin Miller's Americana Pictures.
Sit tight, everybody.
We'll be right back.
We got to get out of this place.
Welcome back to get on the political cesspool.
Call us on James's Dime, toll-free, at 1-866-986-6397.
And here's the host of the Political Cesspool, James Edwards.
All right, ladies and gentlemen, we've got one more segment here with our featured guest for the evening, Merlin Miller.
For the past several minutes, we've been talking about the Mel Gibson movie Edge of Darkness.
Don't forget to go buy your tickets and see that movie.
It's a new release, came out about a week ago, so it should be in theaters for a little while longer.
Go see it on Valentine's Day weekend if you can.
But, Merlin, even more importantly than that is the fact that we just can't wait for Hollywood to see the light, so to speak, and begin to make films that possess the spirit of Americana, to use your word.
You know, if I continued to wait for a radio show that spoke about these issues and didn't create this show back in 2004, I'd still be waiting.
So, at some point, someone has to stand up and take matters into their own hands and do the job that everyone else has refused to do.
That, Merlin, is exactly what you are doing with the film industry.
And I think, obviously, you've had a lot of success already.
You have the potential to be even more successful and instrumental with bringing forth quality motion pictures.
Tell the people a little bit about your work with Americana Pictures.
Obviously, you've already been in Hollywood.
You are a Hollywood guy in terms of you've worked with some big stars, Wilford Brimley, Arlie Ermy.
I'm just going off the top of my head here.
Tell some of the people you've worked with and tell them about a couple of your films, A Place to Grow and Jericho.
Sure.
Well, A Place to Grow was really a farm story.
It dealt with the agribusiness and the small farmers trying to survive amidst the encroachment of the big agri business.
And about a country music singer who goes home to the farm and love story, murder mystery to it, but a very small, simple story.
Of course, Jericho was the Mystery Western that we did.
And the star of that, Mark Valley, has actually got a hit series right now in Fox that just launched a few weeks ago called Human Target.
So Mark is doing real well with that.
And of course, he was Jericho in our film.
And it was fun working with him.
He's a really fun guy.
But as far as Americana Pictures, and I'm just a small independent filmmaker.
I don't have the kind of success, a track record that I would love to have.
And maybe someday we can change that.
But my whole attitude is that anybody can make a difference if they just stand up and try.
And that's what we're trying to do here with Americana Pictures.
And being a small company, we of course don't have the funds to compete on a level with Hollywood.
But you don't need a lot of money.
You can make quality feature films for anywhere from $500,000 to $5 million and do a broad range of stories and genres and do them with high production value.
You don't have to spend $50 to $100 million as Hollywood does.
And our goal is, of course, to get to the stage where we're doing two, three, maybe four feature films a year.
And when we get to that stage, then I believe we will have an impact because it's all about changing attitudes and beliefs.
And as we talked about a minute ago, you know, one good film coming along every now and then is not going to have the kind of impact that we need to really be able to change people's beliefs and attitudes.
But if we can get other independent filmmakers standing up and doing what they can to change things, and I know several that are wanting to do this, and we put on a screenwriting workshop last year, and we're getting ready to do that again this year.
And the importance of putting on something like a screenwriting workshop is to get quality scripts.
And that's the heart of the movie, is the screenplay.
It's the blueprint.
And if we can do that so that two, three, four years down the road, we've got a steady stream of quality projects coming at us, and we're able to produce two, three, or four films a year, then we'll make a difference.
And that's what Americana Pictures is all about, is standing up and being an alternative to the garbage we're getting out of Hollywood and hopefully creating quality entertainment that informs with truths but inspires us to do positive things.
And we know we have to move the emotions.
It's first and foremost we've got to entertain.
But we want to go beyond that.
Got to get involved in the culture war.
And like you said, Merlin, at some point, you know, some of us just get tired of waiting around for someone else to implement our idea.
And you take matters into your own hands and do it yourself.
That's what you're doing with film.
This isn't a theory.
You're putting it to practice.
Not only have you worked with some very big names in Hollywood, you've already produced and directed a couple of movies, but you have created and founded Americana Pictures.
And by the way, give the website real quick, and then we'll give it again at the end.
Sure, it's Americana-Pictures.com.
It's Americana with hyphenpictures.com.
Americana-Pictures.com.
And there, ladies and gentlemen, you'll find more about this operation that we're talking about that Merlin Miller is obviously anchoring.
But got to get involved in the culture war, Merlin.
And movies obviously have not only the ability, they do play such a very real role in shaping our culture.
So there's got to be more movies out there that are counterbalancing all of the filth and garbage that are coming out of Hollywood.
And that's what you're working on.
And again, you're not just theorizing this.
You've got a couple of projects already on the table that are racing towards production and actual filming.
Am I right?
Yes.
And our goal, of course, is to be in production this fall with our first feature for the company.
And then hopefully follow that up with another one next year.
But this first one we're looking at is called The Liberator.
And it's basically a brave heart type of a story that's set 2,000 years ago in Germania about a man, Arminius, who united the Germanic tribes to resist the tyranny and oppression of the Roman Empire.
And it really changed the course of history.
And powerful love story, but a very true story.
And he's really ancient Germania's George Washington.
And Germany needs heroes now.
And they shouldn't be denied it.
And this is the kind of story that I think will speak to the German-American community, but really to everybody who's freedom lovers.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, if you're like me and you like movies and you want to play a role in guaranteeing that there will be more movies out there that are wholesome, there'll be more Mel Gibson type movies out there.
There's just no one in the movement today that has a better resume, that has more credentials, that is doing more to get it done than our guest right now, Merlin Miller.
This is a man who has proven he has the talent to direct and produce.
And now, as he just mentioned, he's got some projects forthcoming that you can be a part of.
Am I right, Merlin?
I mean, the people out there can play a role in making sure that this gets off the drawing board and onto the big screen.
What can they do to help you make these movies possible?
Well, there's three things really.
And one, of course, is our funding.
We're always looking for funds to be able to pull our projects together.
And that's our biggest barrier initially.
Other than that, it's teams.
We need to build teams.
We need young talent, and we want to, whether they're an actor, a crewman, a writer, we want to develop talent that truly does not have a chance if they try working with the Hollywood entities.
They're going to be exploited out there.
So that's the second thing.
And the third thing, I guess, is building a field force.
We need to have an army of people that believe in what we're trying to do.
So when we get our films ready and we're ready to distribute them and market them to the public, that the Hollywood barriers aren't going to stop us, that we have alternative means to reach the public, sell our films, and make money.
Because if we can't make money with our films, we won't have much of a future.
So we have to be a pro, you know, a profitable entity.
And we think we can do that.
I think the demand is going to be incredible for the kind of films that we're planning to make.
We just have to get started and get rolling.
So out there in radio land in the listening audience, let's say we have the next Mel Gibson listening to the show tonight, or we have someone with the talent to play a role on the crew, something, you know, people that work behind the scenes to make movies possible, and they want to help you make these movies a reality.
How do they get in touch with you in order to make available their services?
Well, the website is the easiest way.
We've got our address, phone number on there.
And of course, we'll be posting updates as we get closer, for example, to our screenwriting workshop.
And in two or three weeks, we'll post the date we're going to have that.
And it'll probably be sometime in mid-April.
Same thing with our productions.
As we get closer to the pre-production phase where we're looking to do castings of crew and actors, we'll post information to that effect.
And even looking back at A Place to Grow in Jericho, three-fourths of the crew and three-fourths of the cast were local hires for those productions that we did not bring in.
And those people did not even have experience working on films.
We were able to work with them and have enough key people involved that knew what they were doing.
And we succeeded.
We filmed these on schedule, on budget.
They were award-winning films.
You don't have to play the Hollywood game.
We can reach out and give opportunities to people that I truly think need opportunities and certainly aren't getting them today.
Well, there you have it, folks.
We spent almost an entire hour here talking about movies, talking about Edge of Darkness, which is out now, and talking about how we can make more movies like that.
Merlin Miller's the guy.
I know a lot of people, and I don't know anyone better suited for this niche in the movement than what Merlin's doing.
He has got a great head on his shoulder.
He has been very instrumental in the support of this radio program itself, but that's not why we're supporting him.
We're supporting him for his work and his work alone.
And we want you to support him too.
Again, that website for more information.
If you think having good movies is an important step in getting our foot back in the door in the culture war, Merlin, give them that website.
Yes, it's www.americana-pictures.com.
Americana-Pictures.com.
We'll make sure.
Actually, it's linked up on our website too.
If you just can't remember to put that dash in there, go to our website.
You should have that bookmarked if it's not your homepage.
They're featured prominently under the guest for tonight.
We have Merlin's link.
So if you can't remember, Americana-Pictures.com, just go to thepolitical session.org and you can link right over.
Whatever you do, make plans to visit that website soon, read more about the mission of Americana Pictures, get the contact information, find out how you can play a role on a team that I think is going to be very important for our movement.
Merlin, thank you so much for all you've done for us here in Memphis.
And hopefully we can return the favor and continue to support your good work.
Well, thank you, James.
It's been fun.
And keep up your great work.
We will, and you too, and we'll meet you a little on down the trail, buddy.
Take care.
Merlin Miller, everybody, calling in tonight from the opposite end of the state.
He's over in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, the resort area.
I envy him that.
Over there in the Smoky Mountains, Merlin Miller, Americana Pictures.