Christians in Cinema

Writers/Producers/Directors -  The World Is Waiting

Of all the films listed on ChristianCinema.com, we guarantee you won’t find another one like The World Is Waiting. Brothers Reece and Lance Tedford created a goofy physical comedy that was an experiment in what could be accomplished with minimal financing, cast and crew. There were no stunt doubles used, nor were any animals harmed in the making of this film.

Reece (27) and Lance (21) live in Bolivar, Missouri. They grew up on a farm outside of Goodland, Kansas, making little fun movies. They have a whole library of films they did when they were kids.

We played to our strength, which is really ad libbing.

When they got into high school, they realized there was a market for Christian films, and thought maybe there was a future in filmmaking. Reece went to Southwest Baptist University on an athletic scholarship. He set school records for cross-country and track and received a degree in sports management (which he has not used other than for the stunts in his latest film). He met his wife (Sarah) in sports, and then coached for a couple of years after college.

If you’ve seen their videos on YouTube or ShoutLife, you’ll be familiar with their style, and probably curious to know if Lance ever says more than 5 or 6 words at a time.

Angela: When did you turn from sports to filmmaking?

Reece: My brothers and sisters were getting to college age and I was getting more career-oriented. They didn’t really need full-time jobs, and it was easier using college kids. So that’s when we really started making movies. 2005 was the first year we got serious about it, so it hasn’t been that long.

Angela: Was Squad 77 your first serious try?

Reece: No, we did another movie called “God Help Me” that really struggled and felt like a disaster, even though a few people still say that it’s their favorite film of ours, it was a big learning experience. But without producer Dan Olds we might not have ever done any feature films. Then we had a week between that and Squad 77. which came out a lot better quality even though the circumstances were worse.

We got to Seattle and our place to stay fell through, so we were sleeping in the bottom of a tiny boat with our equipment for most of the movie shoot. We spent the little we had left on a memberships at a Gold’s Gym so we could shower and get fresh water during that time. We had a budget of less than $5000 for Squad 77 .

Angela: How is The World is Waiting different than your first 2 films?

Reece: This is the first film we’ve controlled ourselves. We wanted to do another movie after learning from all of our previous mistakes. We wanted it to be risky and different.

Angela: How did y’all come up with the concept for The World Is Waiting, and who wrote the script?

Lance: (Who does not sound like he does in the film or on YouTube) We didn’t really have a script per se. We had some ideas of some lines to use, but came up with a lot of it on the go.

Reece: We basically had an outline of the story, but we didn’t script any dialogue. We had to play to our strengths, which were really in the area of ad lib. Some of the stuff we did, we didn’t even practice. Once or twice we practiced this stunt and I started to tense up and it looked fake. So I said, “We’ve just got to do it.” We knew it would hurt, but it would look real at least. It was a pretty unscripted project.

Angela: Where did the title of this film come from?

Reece: It’s kind of a play on words, because I felt like there were people in the Christian industry who were waiting to see what we’d do next. After Squad 77 I had conversations with some Christian characters who basically told me to make more films, but make them “more Christian” next time. I prefer trying films that are outreach oriented and that anyone can enjoy watching-not just Christians.

Angela: How long did it take you to complete the project?

Reece: Four months of filming. It should have been quicker, but we kept getting hurt-which was not anticipated. The first delay was that Lance had to go to Kansas because he tore some ligaments. I had a few problems, too, so it dragged on way too long.

Angela: How were you able to edit so quickly? Did you film in Hi-def?

Reece: We filmed with a Canon XL 2; that’s usually considered a documentary camera. But we edited every night after filming, so we were able to keep steady progress going.

Angela: How large was your crew?

Reece: You should watch the special features; we talk about the behind-the-scenes work. It was just the two of us and one cameraman. We tell people we were holding our own boom mics, but we didn’t do that – we’re just messing with you. We propped the mics up around the locations.

Angela: What lessons would you say you learned from this film?

Big risk can go either way, good or bad.

Reece: We were reminded that big risk can go either way, good or bad. I think we showed people you can make a movie with fairly decent production value with no money. If people didn’t know, I don’t think they’d realize it was done by just 3 people.

Down here we don’t really have many actors. The first film we did, 9 people showed up to audition for 6 parts. They just don’t really care. We went to Seattle for Squad 77 and hundreds showed up for unpaid parts. We decided if we were going to do something here, we’d have to do it ourselves.

Angela: If there’s really no source of actors and crew in Bolivar, will y’all stay there much longer?

Reece: I went to school here, and my siblings followed me here, so we’re kind of locked in here right now. But we’re at a crossroads because I’m not going to stay in Bolivar more than about 9 months unless God tells me I need to stay. But the rest of the crew is still here, so we really don’t know what the future holds. It’s hard to say.

Angela: What are other options you’re considering?

Reece: We are considering moving into music and online content. It’s a lot cheaper and lends itself to our talents. We’d like to assist as many independent artists as we can with video marketing. We are also taking our brand of comedy on the road to some festivals.

We still hope to make features, but despite occasional underground successes like Squad 77 we’re a little disillusioned with the Christian industry and feel that unless we get into retail there is no place to move forward or grow. So it may be time do something a little different that doesn’t require brick and mortar distribution.

This movie will tell us a lot. Some people will love it and some will hate it. It might only take one distributor to see the value in it. If it flies, we could continue doing features. A lot of what we do creatively and marketing-wise is new and unproven. Not too many people try to compete at the level we do with no money. We’ll see. I think at some point, as someone who will release our 4th film in two years this fall, to continue in feature films you have get to a point where you have a production budget. There is a limited amount of time you can do that without getting paid. You have to put your whole soul, time, and effort into feature films. When you have families to support that’s basically impossible if it’s not your job.

Angela: The World Is Waiting is unique in the Christian marketplace. Where did the idea come from?

Reece: We started experimenting on YouTube and developing characters. We flopped on a lot of stuff. People were laughing at the crazy stuff we did, where we’d get hurt. We accidentally became entertainers, and I have invitations to around eight different venues to speak or do stand-up comedy as a direct result of online video clips alone. That’s something unexpected that came out of it.

You have to put your whole soul, time, and effort into feature films.

Angela: Lance, are you finished with college?

Lance: I have about 2 years left in graphic design. I definitely want to stay in film if we can continue to make a profit. That would be my first choice. We’ll have to see how successful this is.

Angela: How many siblings do y’all have, and what are the benefits of being brothers working together?

Lance: There are four of us total: 2 sisters and 2 brothers. We have fun working together, and if we have problems we work them out. We work really well together.

Angela: Lance, what do you think are Reece’s greatest strengths?

Lance: First would probably be his ability to get a story across. He’s always got good ideas and is constantly coming up with good stuff.

Angela: What do you bring to the table?

Lance: I’m willing to do the things that others don’t really want to. Like the editing – you have to spend a lot of time at the computer, and sometimes it’s not the funnest job, but somebody’s got to do it.

Angela: Reece, what would you say are Lance’s greatest strengths?

Reece: Technically, he’s the best visual mind we have. He pretty much directs what we shoot, because he’s edited 4 feature films and has a good eye. He knows what’s going to look good and isn’t. It takes a lot of time to learn editing, and he’s put a couple of years into those programs, so on the technical side he’s great.

Angela: What do your parents and the rest of your family think about what y’all are doing?

Reece: They’ve been really supportive of us.

Angela: Do you have day jobs that pay the bills and your college tuition?

Reece: We do. Lance has a scholarship to get through college and I have a pretty flexible job. Sarah is one year away from getting a doctorate degree, so we’re all trying to help her get through school.

Angela: If you were to talk with others who might be considering filmmaking as a career, what would you tell them?

Even though we’re a constant failure, we’re still a thousand steps ahead of other people. Just do it.

Reece: I’d say if you want to do it the way we did it, don’t. Just kidding, just do it. Even though we’re a constant failure, we’re still a thousand steps ahead of other people. Get your hands on a camera and start shooting, start editing – just do it.

If you can find some mentors and team with experience, it would really help. We never had that, and it’s something we could have benefited from. You’re never at a point where you’re above getting better and learning.

Angela: If budget were no object for you, what kind of film would you like to make?

Reece: I would like to do the Brook Berringer story. He’s a hometown hero from Goodland, Kansas. He was the back-up quarterback for Nebraska when the Heisman-trophy winner got hurt, so Brook replaced him and lead them to a national championship. He got saved and then died in a plane crash a few days before the NFL draft. It was a huge sports story back in the ‘90s; I was in high school when it happened.

My parents are friends of the family, so it would be really cool to be able to do it one day. It was a really tragic event, but his faith has impacted thousands for Christ and I feel in the form of a movie would even expand that reach.

Angela: You’ve had some success on some online social networking sites like YouTube and ShoutLife. Tell us about that, please?

Reece: I don’t know if success is the right word. We were one of 63 people on YouTube that got nominated as non-stars (people considered to have great content but not many subscribers). We recently went to ShoutLife, and it was a lot easier to really network. Shoutlife is just more user friendly and easier to build a large fan base-which we did.

Angela: What lessons have you learned from this latest venture?

We’re not afraid to take risks. Even failures can spin into your greatest successes.

Reece: I’ve learned how to constantly adapt and change marketing strategies. The same things that worked for our last film just weren’t going to work for this one. We’re not afraid of failure and not afraid to take risks, and have learned that even failures can spin into your greatest successes.

Lance: On the technical side, I’ve learned a lot. When I started, I had a lot of ideas visually, but I wasn’t very good at executing. I learned from my mistakes, and that’s what you have to do to get better visually.

Reece: I’ve got a question for you: Who’s the best actor from the movie?

Angela: I’m going to have to say you are, Reece, because Lance isn’t saying enough to convince me that he doesn’t talk in monosyllables like he does in the film. And your voice and verbal mannerisms in person are different than they are in the film. So you win the award!