In today’s episode, host Rachel Maines chats with Brittany Yost about her remarkable path in filmmaking. Brittany details her unique journey that intertwined with divine guidance, from her beginnings at Youth With A Mission to her experiences with major projects like ‘Redeeming Love’ and the upcoming ‘Out of Darkness’. Discover the story of perseverance and faith behind the scenes, the intricate process of crafting authentic narratives, and the exciting investment opportunities available for supporting meaningful film projects. If you’re passionate about stories that matter, this episode is a must-listen.
And welcome to Corner Cafe. I’m your host, Rachel Maines. Well, today I have the honor of talking with Brittany Yost. She’s an award-winning director and PGA producer. Her career spans, wow, a long time here. And you started when you were 19. Welcome, Brittany Yost. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Wow, you know, so many people that I talk to, they think it’s so exciting to be in film. And a lot of people say, how do you get involved in film? You started at 19. So kind of share how you got your foot in the door there.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, so I was actually on a track to become this golfer. I thought I was even going to pursue professional golf. Was seeking and being asked about different schools, USC, UCLA, Wheaton, I mean, just big schools that had great scholarships for golf. And I thought that was my career, my path. And I was watching Chronicles of Narnia, ironically, in the theaters. I’m dating myself now. And just felt and watched the Lord’s Holy Spirit just move on the crowd. And I was just blown away. of the power of prophecy and the power of speaking truth in a unique, a parable way, the way Jesus has always taught. And watching this incredible story speak such profound truth. And suddenly in my heart, I just knew like, this is, I think I need to look into this more. And it led to draining literally my entire body of the passion for golf and the competitiveness and the things I really loved about it. Yeah, I just, it left my body and I just became just, I just knew that I knew that I knew that the Lord was calling me toward making movies. And so I didn’t have the grades for college and I gave up my scholarship. So there’s a lot of all of a sudden no interest in me going to different colleges. And I went into YWAM Youth with a Mission and Hawaii they had a three month film program and just said okay this is what I’m going to do and at the time again another God thing my mom met Russell Wolf who was one of the founders of pure flicks and this is back way back in the day and they were just starting and Russell offered me a internship there so I I did my program and jumped on to the Pure Flix world, and they just shepherded me into the filmmakers that I am today. There’s a lot of failing forward and a lot of working on things, having no idea what I was doing, but they just kept trusting me with things and just kept helping me grow, and I was privileged to grow with them. Yeah, and learned boots on the ground how to make a movie from the very beginning to the end. Everything from distribution, raising the funds, development to production. So, yeah, I’m so thankful for those guys.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, and that’s the best way. That’s the best way to learn. And also just knowing, because you have obviously confirmation that God wants you in this industry because of all the open doors and how he miraculously did that. I do have a question, though. Being in beautiful Hawaii, did you go to some of those golf courses?
SPEAKER 03 :
I didn’t. I mean, I was a student and truly in every form. So I didn’t have a car, didn’t have really any way to get around. So we would, I mean, back then too, and I think it’s still this way, but we would hitchhike. But usually we would just hitchhike to the closest local beach and just hang out there when we had our off days, which weren’t very often. I mean, we were very, it was a very intensive program, very hands-on and really cool. how they did it. But yeah, on the few off days that we had, we definitely couldn’t afford to go to the resort. So we were finding the free options of everything.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, and thankfully in beautiful Hawaii, you know, there’s a lot of free, great things to do there just to sit and to be tranquil just with the beauty. You worked on some films that we all know. Any highlights with some films and some projects that you’ve worked on in the past?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there’s so many. Every film is obviously… made me learn so much, but, um, redeeming love is quite a story. I read the book when I was in high school and begged God to please, please, please let me make this into a movie one day. And when I started at pure flicks, I asked the guys, can we chase the rights to this project? And they first are like, yeah, we can, you know, consider it. It was obviously a high concept, uh, expensive film because it’s period. And it’s, it’s an intellectual property, which tends to be more expensive because of obviously the branding of the IP and, And so it was tied up at the time. And I was like, all right, Laura, this is not meant to be. And then fast forward to like, I think when I say eight years later, and every time I was kind of checking in to see where the rights were always tied up, always like, oh, it’s about to be made. It’s getting funded right now. I’m like, okay, that’s, I’m excited because I’m such a fan of this book by Francine Rivers. And that book led me to making a couple documentaries on sex trafficking. I ended up living in a shelter for six months and then in living in Mexico for city on and off for four years, using the book to work with survivors and teaching them about Christ’s love and healing and understanding abuse and understanding trauma and what that does and how that leads some of these girls to a path of falling into sex trafficking. And the cases that I was working on, most of them were being taken out of their cities, falling in love with these pimps. these traffickers because of their own brokenness, their own wounds. These guys could see that from a mile away and then take advantage of that. So, but we were using the book and we’re talking about Christ’s love. And, you know, this book was just such a part of every ounce of me. And then, you know, I go back to Pure Flix and my, my boss at the time, Michael Scott pulls me into his office. He’s like, you won’t believe this. The rights are available. and Cindy Bond had them, and she was getting ready to ramp up the team around the project, and she was flying into Arizona for us to basically picture on why we would be a good fit. I was living in Baton Rouge at the time, going back and forth from Arizona to there, and I was late because Dallas-Fort Worth is always weather issues and causes delays. I walk into this meeting late. Cindy’s there with her team, and the entire PureFlix, like, leads, heads of departments were sitting there, you know, trying to pitch us on our company. I’m the last person in there. I sit down, I look at Cindy, and I’ve never had a chance to talk to her before this, and I just said, hey, this book is super personal to me. I begged God to make it when I was 15. I’ve worked with survivors hands-on. The story’s about a survivor, those who don’t know the story, and it’s personal. Like, this angel in Redeeming Love is representing all of the girls, all of the survivors that I’m still in touch with today. And so it’s beyond personal to make sure we do this project right. Not only that, but to honor Francine Rivers’ incredible story. Right. And she started crying in the mid-conversation, and she’s like, this is the home for a project. And so the rest is history. We ended up, it took some time, but we ended up making it in South Africa. And yeah, by far one of my most memorable experiences of, again, just watching God do what, He sets things in our hearts that just are convictions. And, you know, it took a long time, but it came around eventually. And I was privileged enough to make the movie with Cindy and with Pure Flakes.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. Yeah. Wow. I just love hearing your story and just how God has opened up all those doors. And now, you know, your path has led you to this new film, Out of Darkness. So how did you get connected to this project? Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, another God thing. Pure Flix was working on the script at the time, and it was a direction that I was not expecting. I think at the time we were actually ramping up Redeeming Love and kind of waiting for the final funding to come in. And my boss, Michael Scott, said, hey, while we’re waiting, can you read Power of a Praying Wife? This book that we just optioned, of course, I knew about the book. My whole family has the book of Stormy’s, and I, of course, had them myself. And can you read it and just give us some feedback on how we can continue to improve it? So I read it, and to be honest, it was just so – it wasn’t good. It wasn’t good, and I called my boss back and just had to tell him, which happens often. I mean, writing is such a process of finding the story. Um, and so I asked Michael Scott, could I call Stormy and see what she, that she was involved in the script and I hadn’t had a chance to talk to her. And I wanted to see what she liked about it and what she didn’t like, and then just help kind of make creative decisions to respect and honor her. And so I called her up and, and basically said, look, I, you know, here’s my thoughts on the script. Um, and yeah. this is what we can do. What do you like? What do you don’t, what do you not like? And she kind of started hinting at being very, very professional and very kind saying, look, I just, there’s a lot that I think we need to change. And then I was just like, okay, sorry, I got to tell you the truth. I actually don’t like it at all. I don’t like it at all. And I think we need to start over. And she’s like, oh my gosh, this is an answer prayer. Like this, this is, I just, I didn’t want to be rude. Like there’s been so much love and attention to this project. And Anyway, long story short, I revisited it with PureFlix and said, you know, I felt the Lord’s calling to make her story and make it based on the true story. And at the time it wasn’t. It was totally fictionalized. And they really didn’t have the resources to kind of start from scratch. I mean, these things, of course, cost money and time and stuff. So they were like, look, we just can’t do it right now. And so then Stormy’s option was coming up, and she’s like, look, I really don’t want to inconvenience anybody here, but we have to, I think, put a pause on this. This isn’t quite right yet. And sure enough, Caleb came around and said that they wanted to make it, and then they called me and said, well, Stormy doesn’t want to do it without you. And I was like, what? What? Um, okay. Well, of course, like, of course, because we bonded, you know, we became fast friends, um, as we started really boiling down the heart of the story. Um, and then fast forward to a couple of years later and through many, many versions of the drafts, um, we finally have gotten to a point of, all right, we know the story, we know what we want to tell. And, uh, yeah, here we are. Stormy and I’ve been honestly on this journey together now for seven years, um, to finally, um, to finally tap the story and get it done and get it right.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. Well, I love that you’re just being so transparent with the whole process because a lot of us who are in film, we don’t know the struggles. We just see, you know, the end product and we think, oh, how exciting. But there’s a lot of boots on the ground to get something going and a lot of elements to a film. Right now you’re offering the opportunity for people to invest in the film.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes. And because her story is so multifaceted and her story is so powerful for those who know her story prior to even becoming a Christian and all that God did to even have her be alive right now. I mean, she was suicidal. She was depressed. She was in 1960s and 70s becoming a famous actress in Hollywood. She’s on the Today shows of Dean Martin and Dating Steve Martin and on the Glen Campbell shows. And I mean, she was very talented, multifaceted, always wanting to be a writer, but found joy in acting and honestly found a way to get out of her house faster by acting because of the abusive environment that she grew up in. And, yeah, it took her down a really challenging journey of overcoming her trauma and finding God and forgiveness towards her abusers and putting boundaries around abusers and ending up in bad relationships. But, yes, all to say that all had to be protected and be driven by, I believe, like, Stormy’s convictions, I think even her convictions to work with me. And so because of that, it’s been an uphill battle to… find financiers that would come in and just really buy into our story. And so we’ve opened it up to her fan base to say, Hey, we would love to have you be a part of this because we know, we know that we know that they want to protect her story too. Um, so we’re, we are looking for investors. Um, we’ve been fortunate to so far get most of our financing. We’re still seeking about $3 million and, um, We’re seeking it through a crowdfund. Angel Studios has been an incredible partner for this project and has given us the opportunity to try crowdfunding for the remaining financing. And, yeah, so if we can find 30,000 of her passionate fans to just invest $100, and it is an investment, it’s not a donation, I think we can see this movie hit the screens next year.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, I want to highlight that. It is an investment, not a donation. So that means that they’ll get their money back? How does that work?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, exactly. They get 100% of their back once the film is released. And of course, with all disclosures, films are risky. They’re very challenging to be financially successful. We obviously feel really passionate that her fan base is so strong and people are really excited to go see this film in theaters. But yes, if the film performs really well, you’ll get $100. If you invest $100, you get $100 back plus 15% interest.
SPEAKER 02 :
Nice.
SPEAKER 03 :
And then you actually are purchasing it ownership of the project as well. So if you invest $100, you actually receive $100 worth of shares of the project, kind of like stock of a public company. And so if the film makes hundreds of millions of dollars over the next, 15 years, the investors receive residual checks of that ownership percentage for
SPEAKER 02 :
basically forever wow what a great opportunity and what a great way for those of us who aren’t in film to be involved in a project and also you know I gotta say just love hearing your conviction and her conviction of course you guys are quite the pair but just I was thinking as you were explaining the process of the film and having to say hey the script I don’t like it you know you have to have a lot of conviction and bravery to do that in the work environment you know I love your spontaneity and your gumption to do that
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, thanks. I mean, it’s, again, I think it’s a God thing of why Stormy felt called to work even with me. I mean, I really am like a small, small, small cog in this very large film industry world. And her film could have been made years ago with people that have way more resources than me. But I think there is something to be said to the fact that We really did bond. It was a God thing that we bonded over the important parts and the things that need to be emphasized in the story, which is healing and boundaries and understanding abuse within our communities and understanding what it means to function from your brokenness and what happens if you do and the marriages and relationships you can get stuck in or the situations you can end up in because of your brokenness. Right. And that’s, yeah, she felt… we just instantly connected on that level about the hunger for people to heal and for people to start walking on the path of what God ultimately has intended for you. And a lot of times that gets blinded with the brokenness that we might be functioning from that maybe we don’t even know we’re doing it.
SPEAKER 01 :
Right.
SPEAKER 03 :
So the point of this, yeah, it’s just, I think it’s, it’s a, Our country needs to heal right now. The body of Christ needs to continue to heal. We have just this kind of wound that I think God is just, his heart is breaking. I know my heart’s breaking for what’s happening and just the hunger for healing and the need for bringing attention to this and giving women specifically space to say, okay, I’ve had abuse in my life. Here’s some steps of how I can set healthy boundaries around abusers. here’s how I can start healing. And here’s how I can start walking into what God ultimately has called me to do.
SPEAKER 02 :
Right. And in order to do that, you can’t gloss over these things. You really have to show the good, bad, and the ugly of the story. You can’t protect the viewers, if you will, from something that’s really hard, in my opinion. You’ve got to show it in order to then move forward in healing. Would you agree with that?
SPEAKER 03 :
Absolutely. And honestly, to show that There’s a world where God can miraculously, if you pray miraculously, heal things, change things, that happens. But for the rest of us, the 98% of the time, He wants us to go through the journey of healing because of what we learn through that journey. And that’s ultimately what we show. I mean, she doesn’t, the whole, anyone who knows her story before she became a Christian is, She was deeply wounded by the church. She was married prior to Michael. She was living a very different life, and she was hurting, and she was functioning from her hurt and from her brokenness. And we have to show just to what level of that. Obviously, we don’t exploit anything. We do not sensationalize anything, but we have to be honest. We have to be raw about that. life because it is relevant to anyone today. Right. And here’s the other cool thing. Stormy was talking about her past, her story in a time in the 70s where nobody was doing this. Nobody. And so everyone had these horrific things happen to them. But the default was just, you know, put on a facade, show up on your days of even church and just pretend like everything’s OK. Just fake it till you make it.
SPEAKER 01 :
Right.
SPEAKER 03 :
And she was one of the first to say, no, no, no, no, no. I have to bring, I have to bring the darkness out to the light to just, because I can show what God has done.
SPEAKER 01 :
Right.
SPEAKER 03 :
And I was living in darkness and now I’m not. And I’ve had to go through quite a journey to get there. And also God wanted me to walk out the journey. He didn’t miraculously heal me in this one prayer. He, I prayed and things got worse. And then I had to heal and walk through that journey and become the person I’m meant to be. So, Yeah, her story is a testament that, yes, miracles can happen. However, most of the time, God wants us to walk through the journey.
SPEAKER 02 :
Right. Yeah. I mean, who wouldn’t want a miracle, right? But I think someone who the Lord has walked through the journey, as you’ve put it, there’s so much that can be learned in that situation. And then on the other end, we can go help other individuals because we’ve been through the process. We went through the hard work. The Lord allowed us to walk through the pain and come out on the other end. And that way we can be of more benefit to those who are going through the same thing.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, exactly. I mean, I’ve seen it in sex traffic survivors that I’ve worked with in the past, domestic violence survivors, my own journey. You know, it’s of course, we all want the miracle. We all just want to be like instantly healed. And I’ve seen him, I’ve seen God do that too. But it’s become evidently clear to me that, yes, to your point, the journey, what you learn through that, like the amount of wisdom and understanding and really like seeing God’s love in ways that we could never even fathom by walking it out with him is, you know, and sometimes, um, just as beneficial as a miracle.
SPEAKER 02 :
Right. Yeah. And that is a miracle to watching our hearts be changed through a process, which only he can do. So, yeah, we’ll take both. Right. Well, we’ll take the miracle instantly, but then also the miracle of the journey and how we see our heart be transformed is beautiful, too, and just as valuable for our listeners. I want to give right now. How can they invest in this film?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, so we have a link, a URL link that’s live right now. You can go to invest.angel.com slash prayer. And, yeah, just help us reach our $3 million goal.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, absolutely. I just think it’s a great opportunity to invest in something you believe in and see this film prosper. It’s a great story. And like you said, we know this will be successful. How do you see your career going, Brittany? When this film’s out there, where do you want to see yourself going in five years in terms of the films you’re going to be taking on, in terms of your growth as a director?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. I know God’s calling in my life is to shine light on the most difficult subjects, but in a way that doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. I mean, nobody wants to go into a movie on the weekend or pop a film in or watch a film with their significant others or their families on a Friday, and it’d be really intense and really overbearing with just the message. Again, Jesus is our greatest storyteller and has spoken in parables forever. And I also think there’s a level of trust of how he has spoken stories, of telling a beautiful story and having elements of him within it. And so my passion is, yeah, like, continuously making films, of course, around sex trafficking, bringing light to that social injustice. I have a couple projects in the works there about that. And… just really highlighting women, I think, throughout history, especially around either loosely around Christianity or not. I mean, there’s just, I want to shine light on powerful women’s stories. Being a woman is what I’m most passionate about. But yeah, to just continue to find clever, unique ways to talk about important topics like understanding abuse within our communities. So yeah. Yeah, I’m excited. There’s quite a slate of cool projects after this. All women-driven, all have some form of shining light on social injustice in some form. And, yeah, just continuing to empower the body of Christ to be inspired and… to heal and to make the world a better place.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. Yeah. And there’s an art to that, really. I mean, there’s a lot of thought that goes into that. I like how you said, you know, no one wants to go on a Friday night with their family and leave depressed. You know, you want to share the story in such a way that someone will be inspired for change. Correct?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER 02 :
And there’s an art to that. So is there any tips that you can give us of how you’ve been able to do that through the storytelling in film?
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, man. I mean, here’s the thing. The film, the faith genre, the Christian genre of film, honestly, I think has had a bad rap because, you know, people have looked at them over the years, being involved in it now for, what, 15 plus years. We’ve had lower budgets. We’ve just had different resources than maybe the mainstream Hollywood films. Um, but also I do think we’ve, we have sometimes, and sometimes these films are really necessary and I’ve been a part of them, right? The God’s not dead of the world, the case for Christ, which I, you know, was such a wonderful experience and least troubles the best. And, you know, so it’s great to be on the nose about that. But I do think that we are, we are heading into a season where the budgets are getting bigger now. Thank God the quality of film is getting bigger and better, um, with Christian film. But also, I think us as a Christian audience has matured and has grown in a way to appreciate good storytelling, to your point, and the craft of it has improved in the sense of, oh, we can be more nuanced with our message. We can be more nuanced and not heavy-handed with what we’re trying to preach, or if we are trying to preach anything. And I think that’s key for us Christians, like I think the tip is let’s continue to push ourselves as creatives, just creatives, to become better storytellers so we don’t have to be super preachy of our stories and no longer have a genre of just faith, just the faith label. But instead it’s like, oh, it’s a really good drama and this happens to have faith elements in it.
SPEAKER 01 :
Right.
SPEAKER 03 :
So the tips are, we can learn from the best of Hollywood, right? We can learn from, you know, any of us can pull up some great movies that are wholesome, wholehearted, you know, message heavy, but also nuanced. And I think we just need to keep pushing ourselves to learn more. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. to learn the craft of truly telling a good story and take the time to learn it. It’ll just continue to improve faith films in general.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, wholeheartedly agree for sure. So listeners, this is your call to action. You can invest in this film and you can get back what you invest in so much more through the telling of the story, but also just financially as well. So you can go to invest.angel.com forward slash prayer. That’s invest.angel.com forward slash prayer. So, you know, Brittany, thank you so much for all you’re doing in the film industry and in the Christian film industry. and sharing these stories. We’ll be praying for you, and we really are honored that you would come on and talk to us about this film. Once again, the film is called Out of Darkness. Please go to invest.angel.com forward slash prayer. Thank you so much, Brittany.
