Hope: Hello and welcome back to Biola Backstage. I'm your host,
Hope Li. And joining me today are three very important
people who worked on "A Lovely Ending," one of Biola's latest
student films, which premiered last Friday, September
20. I absolutely love this film,
especially after I talked to these VIPs for this episode.
So I'm excited for you to get to hear about their inspirations
and all the shenanigans that went on behind the scenes.
Jonny Harmon: She's the baker. She chefed it up, made it fully baked.
Emma Broyles: Po, I need help.
Emma Broyles: You're friends and you're the same height
Po Yin Sham: and you're roommates?
Jonny Harmon: Man's got rizz.
Jonny Harmon: We're makin' a musical!
Emma Broyles: We're makin' a movie!
Hope: I'm here with three guests today.
Um, we're all. All CMA majors.
Emma Broyles: Yeah, that's true.
Hope: Mm hmm.
Hope: Um, could you guys introduce yourselves? You can
silently choose, I guess, or verbally choose. Who wants to go
first? Not to point fingers, but
I did.
Jonny Harmon: Just point my finger.
Hope: So introduce your name and your
major, and I guess
year, if that's pertinent. Um, and then kind
of your role in, um, the
movie. In the film.
Emma Broyles: All right. Uh, my name is Emma Broyles. I am
a senior screenwriting major,
and I
wrote and co directed "A Lovely Ending."
Po Yin Sham: Cool, cool. I guess I'm going next.
Um, my name is Po Yin Sham.
Um, I'm also a senior screenwriting
major, also a production major. Um,
and I produced "A Lovely
Ending."
Jonny Harmon: My name is Jonny Harmon. I just graduated with
a, uh, CMA production emphasis
degree, and I was the co director
for "A Lovely Ending."
Hope: Cool. Also, I gotta say, Jonny, your voice is, like,
perfect for, like, radio or, like, audio.
Emma Broyles: He's got a voice for radio.
Jonny Harmon: We'll circle back to that.
Hope: Actually, I do remember seeing a promo with you.
So what is "A Lovely Ending?" Tell
me a little bit. Tell me the elevator pitch of, like,
what's this movie about? Um, setting, all that
stuff.
Jonny Harmon: I haven't had to give this pitch in, like, a year.
Hope: Okay, do it. Do it. Resurrect it.
Jonny Harmon: I'll try to remember. But, um,
basically, "A Lovely Ending" is a story of
two friends in 1959
suburbia that are faced with
the end of the world when an asteroid is hurtling towards
their town, and they kind of are forced to
reevaluate a lot of their friendships and
who they are to each other through those circumstances they have
to face.
Hope: Wow.
I, um, didn't know about the asteroid part, actually.
Jonny Harmon: It's a "catastroidphe,"
Jonny Harmon: one could say.
Emma Broyles: It is a "catastroidphe."
Hope: A what?
Emma Broyles: A "catastroidphe." It's like catastrophe but
asteroid is in the middle.
Jonny Harmon: First little trivia thing that was almost the title of
the film.
Hope: Wow.
Jonny Harmon: And I'm glad that we chose "A Lovely Ending" because of your reaction.
Emma Broyles: It looks better in print.
Jonny Harmon: It looks really good when it's written down.
Hope: Like "catastroidphe."
Jonny Harmon: Yeah, it's like asteroid, cat, stre, but.
Hope: Like, like the ship name of, like.
Emma Broyles: The ship name of asteroid and catastrophe.
Hope: Yeah, yeah. Who came up with a, "A Lovely Ending"
then?
Emma Broyles: Mister Jonny?
Po Yin Sham: I mean, no, it wasn't. So our
director of photography, Gunnar Goding
um, I think we were in a meeting. Yeah, that's with
them. And he was like, what about "A Lovely
Ending?" Because it's, you
know,
Jonny Harmon: It's the end of the world!
Po Yin Sham: "La La Land" also has, you know, like,
a lovely night, and then, you know, it's very, yeah,
so he came up with it.
Jonny Harmon: Yeah. Gunnar was in the meeting, and I'm
gonna say right now, Gunnar Goding is one of the most lovely
humans you'll ever meet. And he was in the meeting with his
iPad, and he so thoughtfully, as he had annotated
the whole script and the shot lists on the side of all
these very, very thoughtful annotations, he had
a whole list of title ideas, because we were struggling coming out with
a title, Emma and I. And he was just
like, so here's some of them. And they were all, like, really good options.
Emma Broyles: They were good options, yeah.
Jonny Harmon: And they're better than "catastroidphe"
Any of the things that we had come up with.
Hope: Wow. Um,
So then whose, like, main idea was this? Like,
who, who started this? Who started, who do we have to blame
for?
Jonny Harmon: I think that it was definitely a group effort, because
when we were in a pre production meeting for
a film we all made, uh, our sophomore year,
it was called "Fraudulent." I directed it. Po
um, was the producer, and Emma was
the first AD. And we
were all in a pre production meeting with Jonathan Kim and
Afton McNatt and Auburn Todd and a bunch of people,
and we all kind of slowly and surely realized, like,
wait, Emma, do you want to make a musical?
Emma Broyles: Yeah. I just remember it was really funny because we were in the library,
and we were just kind of, like, chatting before we were getting the meeting started.
We were like, wow, we all love musicals. Don't know how it happened. We were
like, we all love "La La Land," which, I mean, you
can, like, you're gonna, like, throw a rock and basically hit any one
CMA student who loves "La La Land." It's kind of like a prereq to,
like, be in the program almost. It seems like,
um, we were like, ha ha. Wouldn't that be so funny,
so fun. And then
cut to. We're, like, sitting on the floor
of Emerson after we wrapped "Fraudulent."
And I think it was Jonny, who goes, So how about that
musical?
Jonny Harmon: I was not gonna let it go. Cause I genuinely,
like, was in love with the idea. Jonathan Kim was in love with the
idea, and Po and Emma were super on board about it,
and, uh, we wanted to make a musical because we feel like
that's something that hadn't been done a ton at
Biola. I know that there has been musicals in the past at
Biola, but, um, as of recent, in the past, like, five
years, I'm pretty sure there hasn't been anything for sure, at least
this size done before. So we were
ambitious little sophomores. Like, let's do what hasn't been
done.
Po Yin Sham: Yeah. I don't know if this is jumping the gun too much
or if this actually answers your question more
directly, but, um, after
"Fraudulent" wrapped, I believe Jonny
and Jonathan sat down for a meeting
where they were talking about ideas, and they were like, oh,
like, could we actually make this work and could we
actually make a story and set it to
music and, you know, make a
musical? Um, and I
remember getting a random text from Jonny
that's like, hey, are you free, Jonathan and I would love
to, like, pitch something to you. And I was like,
yeah.
Po Yin Sham: And so
Jonny Harmon: I said, Are you free right now?
Po Yin Sham: Yeah, right now.
Po Yin Sham: And so I walked over to Commons where
they were sitting, and they were like, so hear us
out. The world is ending.
Jonny Harmon: So the idea of the film first came when
Jonathan and I both had, like, come up with an idea
when we were younger. I came up with my half of
the idea when I was in high school, and I think he was around the
same. Um, it was. I had something
written down in my notes that was like, a boy
needs to go confess his love to a girl within 20
minutes because they get a notification that the world's about to end.
And, like, that was, like, the thing I
have written down in my notes from when I was, like, a sophomore in high
school, and jonathan had something, like,
more old timey in his head, and
it was a lot more school and community involved.
And I, uh, was like, all right, let's. Let's make something work.
And as we kind of went along with
this development process, we realized that
the both of us weren't really fit to write
this.
Hope: So I, as in, like, you, like,
attempted.
Jonny Harmon: Well, we didn't attempt. I knew that I didn't want to
write it because from "Fraudulent" I wasn't, like, super
stoked with my writing from it. I wrote and directed
it, and I was like, yeah, it was fun, but I think the writing could have
been better. And for a project this big, I don't want to
mess it up and just, like, take all. I don't want
to do this myself. I need someone who's talented at this.
And I was in. Sorry, I was in screenwriting one
with Emma Broyles, and that was my
freshman year, and that's how I first met her. And
we were in a screenwriting group together. So we got
to give a lot of feedback to each other's scripts, got to know each other pretty
well, and that's how I asked her to be a first
ad on "Fraudulent" And so when we were thinking about writers, I was
like, Emma's gotta write it. So
we talked to her about it.
Hope: Wow. So it's been, like, kind of stewing in your head since, like, high
school? Half of it or some of it, yeah. That's
crazy.
Jonny Harmon: And then when we kind of were continuing the development
process, um, Jonathan Kim and I
were planning to co direct at one point, and then he was playing just
a DP, and then it kind of got to a point
where he was really passionate about going more into
the missions aspect of, uh,
cinematography, and he really helped out with the missions
conference biola, which he absolutely killed him.
And Afton McNatt were so talented at making all that
different stuff. He's also been leaning a lot more into documentary
work lately, which is so awesome. He's doing a soccer doc right now, which
is great. Um, so things just kind of, like, naturally
and organically split ways there. And we both,
all. Everyone in the crew still thought that it should be a
project that we have two directors for. And the way that
the story was shaping out was we have a pretty much,
like, two main characters, which is
Carson, a, uh, little
dreamy guy who always has his head in the clouds, huge
romantic. And, uh, we also have
Dibs. They were not named at this point, but, um,
Dibs was a very level headed. She
wants to help everyone, and she has the
hugest heart, but also doesn't always know when to acknowledge
her own heart. And when we didn't
have these characters fully developed yet. And, uh,
Emma was starting to write it out and starting to get this more detailed, and I was
like, well, who's gonna know the story the best to be able to direct this? And
is also a very talented director who had done a Torrey play
before she directed a Torrey play with David Fung,
and she's also got more experience co directing than I did.
So I was like, Emma. Well, we
were at. We were at the caf. All of us were meeting. I think Po brought it up
first. And Po is like, do you want.
Po Yin Sham: To say, oh, uh, do I say, like, what I said?
Well, I don't remember exactly what I said, but I remember the
reasoning behind it. Washington. Hey, you have someone who's very well
versed in, like, theater and performance and
what that takes. And, like, Emma, um,
knows that part of
acting and understands it very well. And then you have
Jonny, who's, like, very, like, visually minded,
and he can see shots, and he can, like, see
what he wants on screen, and I think them
together. I was like, that is a
very, like, that's just, like, such a good
pairing. And I was like, hey, so, you
know, crazy idea. What if Emma co
directed, like, she knows the story. She's writing it, so.
Jonny Harmon: And I very quickly was like, heck, yeah.
Hope: That was easy.
Emma Broyles: I remember, like, talking. I remember having that, like, oh,
like, it would be fun to, like, maybe co
direct, but I wasn't. I obviously wasn't gonna be like,
hey, you know, like, someone who should totally do that. And
so I was very, like, you know, thankful
that Po saw something in me and
advocated that I was able to co direct. And Jonny was on board with
that because it was. Yeah, it was so
fun.
Po Yin Sham: Yeah, I think it's funny because for the longest time,
I don't think neither Emma or
I knew that Jonny was this much on
board with, like, the idea,
because, like, it was just, like, I
suggested it, and then it, like, it was like,
yeah, cool. And then we just, like, never really had any other conversation
about it. And then, uh, I think we were, like, either in some
other meeting or we were talking about it, and he was like, yeah, Emma's co directing. And we were
like, oh, yeah, that's happening.
Hope: Yeah. Do you remember that?
Emma Broyles: Yeah.
Hope: I feel like now you have to tell us. I feel like now you have to tell us,
like, the experience that you
have under your belt. Like, because I know that you have or,
like, some of it. I mean, because, like, I know that you have the. The
directing experience. Um, because I'm in Torrey,
too, and I've seen you
do Torrey stuff, and you literally put makeup on
me for great makeup
artist. But, like, that's also another
question I had of, like, have you done, like, musicals before?
And, like, musical theater? Because musical theater is a
whole nother beast from just acting. Like, I,
like, I've. My only experience doing anything
is like, improv in high school and, like, theater here,
and even that is a lot of thinking on your feet
and memorizing and then dance is just a whole other beast
of your actual body is.
Emma Broyles: Like, yeah,
it's definitely a lot.
I think what was
really fun for me is that I
never got to do musical theater before. I mean,
I will sing Les Mis and
Mamma Mia pretty much any time of day.
Um, however, in
high school, like, my high school was very small. Um, and so we
didn't even have a theater program
until my sophomore year of high school. And I started
performing in theater,
did a lot of like, classic plays. And then
the summer before my senior year, I, like, did
drama camp for, like, little kids. And I wrote a
little, you know, a little, little
play. And that's kind of how I was like, oh, my gosh.
Seeing, writing
something on the page and then seeing it, like, come
to life, even with like, little kids and like, shaping them
and kind of directing them and like, spending a lot of time
was very exciting. And that's kind of
even how I found that I wanted to do
screenwriting is because I saw it as
something that was very magical. To kind
of see this
transformation from the page, which
has its own beauty, uh, to like a real, like, kind of
embodied, storied
experience.
Hope: That's cool. That's really cool.
So how long did it take you to finish the script?
Jonny Harmon: Until a few days before production started.
Emma Broyles: Well, even in production, we were like writing lines, like
in the car on the way back. Do you remember that?
Um, so the story of the
script.
Hope: Mhm. That's basically what I'm asking. Tell me
the story of the script.
Emma Broyles: So essentially,
Jonny and Jonathan Kim were like, okay, here are these ideas.
There were several different ideas that were kind of thrown around at the
beginning.
Jonny Harmon: A lot of half baked. She's the baker. She chefed it up, made
it fully baked.
Hope: Half baked.
Hope: Never heard that metaphor before. You know what? That works.
Emma Broyles: Um, and there was a lot
of different things. We knew there was going to be a sibling,
and we knew there was going to be a grandmother or a
grandfather and a
boy and a girl.
Hope: No way.
Emma Broyles: And, uh, we played along with so many variations of
that, like, you would not believe how many variations
we had.
Jonny Harmon: Like, every possible, like, dynamic you could
think of.
Emma Broyles: We were working on
trying to get it fleshed out and trying
to figure things out. In the initial, one
of the first versions of the script, it
was a boy who liked
this girl, and his best friend was urging him to ask this
girl out um,
and the world ends,
and they get the notification
that the world's gonna end.
He basically has to ask this girl out. But there wasn't, like, a lot
of, like, conflict, because
as soon as it's like, oh, the world's gonna end. You just ask
the girl out, and she says yes.
And so, like, problem solved. Yeah. So almost,
like, the world ending kind of solved the problem.
Um, and I think I really loved all the aspects
of, oh, we have, like, we
wanted to create a world where
the asteroid set the stage for
the story properly. Like, it had to
be a source of,
like, conflict, I
guess.
Hope: Hm, like it was necessary.
Emma Broyles: I don't know what I'm saying.
Jonny Harmon: I think sort of, like, along the lines of
what Emma is saying is, like, the. The asteroid
was not the sole motivation for, like, these
characters to go out and seek love. It was more so, like, these
characters did do that because of that. Now we're asking, like, is
that good?
Po Yin Sham: Yes.
Emma Broyles: And I think I. One thing that was
really exciting, kind of as we were writing
the script, so there was one of my favorite moments from
writing it was we had
the main character and his best friend named
Richie, who now is in the, uh, now
version. The final version is actually the younger brother.
We had this boy and his best friend, and he was talking to this
girl that he's asking an ask out, and
I just could not break the story. And I called
Po up, and I was, like, sitting on sycamore lawn, and I'm like, Po
I need help. Can we, like, talk
about this? Because Po just has a really good mind for
story and is a great listener and
is just also a great writer. And so I was like, okay, I need,
um. I need to, like, have two heads to, like, come together and,
like, think about this. And we're, like, sitting on. Sitting on
the lawn, and I'm basically like, what if
the best friend that the main character
is talking to this girl about
is his girl best friend who has been
in love with him this whole time.
Po Yin Sham: Yep.
Jonny Harmon: We love Jane Austen.
Emma Broyles: And it just so happened that I had been
reading, um, Les Mis that
semester, and there's this whole love triangle. And the
thing about musicals is that most musicals
either, like, have a love
triangle or are, like,
you know, most musicals have love triangles. We
have
Jonny Harmon: or just conflict for that
Jonny Harmon: love to not happen.
Emma Broyles: Yeah. Like, Les Mis has a love triangle. There's, like, a whole bunch of
love triangles that are happening into the woods. Hamilton has a
love triangle. Like, it's very common, but I
really wanted to play, uh, with the
idea of love triangles and kind of, like, you know,
turn it on its head a little bit.
Um, and so that was super fun.
And I was basically, like, I had a moment and
Po was with me, and I really appreciate her
companionship in that moment and actually, in every
moment, because truly, that's so sweet.
No, like, I think. I mean, this was, like,
a massive beast of a project,
and this wouldn't have happened without Po
truly. And. But
both on, like, uh, both on, like, a producer level. Like, yeah, she was the
one who, like, got all the stuff
done, but also, like, on, like, an
emotional level, just, like, being super present
and caring through it all.
Oh, we're roommates.
Po Yin Sham: Oh, uh, yeah.
Po Yin Sham: I think that's an important thing to
note. I guess. We're also
the same ish height.
Emma Broyles: We're also the same ish height. People have told us
many times, he's like, you're friends and you're the
same height.
Po Yin Sham: And your roommates and
Jonny Harmon: The glasses, too.
Jonny Harmon: Yeah. Yeah.
Po Yin Sham: So basically, we are the same
person.
Jonny Harmon: Yeah. And when you see them. When you see them, they look identical,
too.
Po Yin Sham: Yes.
Emma Broyles: Yes. People have mistaken for us for each
other many times.
Po Yin Sham: Oh, that is true. No, he just finds it
really funny that we're roommates and that
we, uh, are both in this classes and
we also are the same height, so, you know, he's
pointed that out.
Emma Broyles: Yeah.
Po Yin Sham: That's very sweet, though. Thank you.
Jonny Harmon: I will piggyback really quick. Um, Po Yin is kind of
like the, uh, very much
so, the glue that kind of held this production together. And
at the core of this production, like, not to sound,
like, selfish, it is, in a lot of ways, Emma and I.
So she held Emma and I together in our own, like,
individual and united, uh, ways.
So Po was definitely, like, the reason this movie
got completed and that we completed it with as
much sanity as we did. So.
Yeah. Shout out to Po
Hope: I can hear a lot of that sanity
in your laugh, Emma.
Emma Broyles: Thanks to Po there is some sanity
left.
Hope: Some.
Po Yin Sham: I think you guys are being too kind.
Um, let's move
on.
Emma Broyles: I guess we didn't finish talking about how long the script took. The script had
ten or eleven versions.
Po Yin Sham: Yeah.
Emma Broyles: Uh, twelve.
Hope: Wow.
Hope: I can't believe that you were counting.
Hope: That's crazy.
Po Yin Sham: We had a Google Drive folder that was just
scripts, and it just.
Emma Broyles: Yeah, the first, the way
I wrote this project
was, I think I, uh, write. And then I
keep writing until I write,
like, 36 pages.
Po Yin Sham: It's like the vomit draft. You just write everything.
Emma Broyles: It's like people are like, oh, is you're writing, like, an
additive or a subtractive process. Like, some people, like,
write overwrite, and they have to cut everything down. But
I, uh, write a little bit. It's like sculpting, and
then I. Well, I build it, like, I'm, like, building a house,
like, with bricks. And then.
Hope: Right. I've done that before.
Emma Broyles: Each draft is, like, a little bit more, and until we get to, like,
draft, like, six or seven, and then at that point, it's like,
okay, I have to, like, start sculpting this
down.
Po Yin Sham: Also, every page
of a script means that it's 1 minute of run
time, which means a, uh, 36 page
script would have been a half hour
long. Like, more than a half hour long film,
which is very, very ambitious for,
like, on the student scale.
Hope: And how long does. What's the runtime of the film like
now?
Jonny Harmon: 26. 26 minutes.
Emma Broyles: And. But I think the final script was, like, 22
or 23.
Jonny Harmon: Yeah. So because of the music, it was hard for
us to gauge how long the film would be, because
that doesn't translate directly with, like, the dancing
and everything from script to screen.
Po Yin Sham: I.
Jonny Harmon: So it was definitely a, uh. There was a lot of different
aspects where we were kind of in the dark with this
production, since it was a first for us making a musical. And that's
just one of them.
Hope: Yeah. Because I was gonna ask, like, which came first, the
script or the songs? And then the choreography,
like, has to come in there. Unless you're just improving it all.
Jonny Harmon: The answer is yes.
Po Yin Sham: Okay. There actually is an answer to this. I
mean, Emma wrote the script, and
while she was writing the script, she also wrote, like,
moments in the script where I was like, here's where we want a
song. We had all talked about this, too. Like, we were like,
okay, these are kind of the beats. We, like, laid them out, and then we
were like, okay, it would make sense to have a song here and here and here and
here. And so, um. Yes, the whiteboard.
We.
Emma Broyles: So many whiteboards.
Po Yin Sham: So many photos of whiteboards where it's just beat after
beat after beat. And this is what happens.
Jonny Harmon: Yeah.
Po Yin Sham: Just, like, as chaotic as you think it would be,
it was that and more, probably.
Um, but, yeah, so we had the
script. On the script, there would be, like, a
line or two where it was, like, song here.
Like, chaos song. We do have a chaos song. Chaos
song here. And then Emma would write,
like, mock lyrics almost to kind of
get to the page count of, like, oh, it'll be around, like, you know, a
minute and a half. So, like, we'll have around a minute and a
half's worth of dialogue or,
like, potential lyrics and, like, what's happening? Like, there
are a lot of rewrites where we'd go back and we
were like, oh, like, let's actually figure out, like,
what's happening while these songs are being sung and who's singing
them and, like, what is being
communicated. Um, because
the songs are kind of how we are,
um, either explaining something or explaining how the characters are
feeling. So through that, there
are a lot of rewrites because of that, too,
even before we locked down. Lyrics, songs,
any of that.
Jonny Harmon: Yeah, rewrites of the script a lot. And then I was
just. What you were saying that there's also a lot of rewrites of the songs
themselves. Yeah. Like, the lyrics were
a whole process where Emma and I were working with, uh, a few
lyricists, or maybe just two, Emma Hills
and Katherine padilla, who are amazingly
talented musicians, uh, and lyricists
and. Yeah, they were so gracious
for us to allow us to be like, hey,
let's change this and this and that and that.
Hope: Oh, wow. So then you guys were the ones who were also,
like, recording
demos and stuff, too.
Jonny Harmon: So actually, not only demos, Emma's voice is in
the final film.
Emma Broyles: But we did sound like me, which is crazy.
Jonny Harmon: Yeah. I mean, if you know that you have an
amazing voice, which you do, it does sound like you. But,
uh, we did record our voices
into the demo tracks quite often. Yes.
Emma Broyles: Which was super funny because it was
people who were in the crew that were recording demo.
And we would be on set and we'd
call for playback and we would hear playback and
it's like, oh, those are our voices being
played over and over as we do more and more
takes.
Jonny Harmon: My voice wasn't ever in the demo, so I just got to sit back
and laugh at all that.
Emma Broyles: Wow.
Hope: Uh, so then you guys were also a part of the process of
making the actual songs, too?
Jonny Harmon: Um, the making of the songs was
very, very wonderfully delegated by Jason
Rue and carried out and executed by both
him and Tyler Botka, Emma Hills, Kathryn
Padilla, Jason Liang, and, like,
twelve other people who have helped.
Emma Broyles: Yeah, their whole team.
Jonny Harmon: Yeah,
Hope: Hm that's cool.
Did that influence finding, um, the
actual actors, then, to find people who can not
only act, but also sing?
Po Yin Sham: Absolutely.
Hope: How did you, like, how'd you find them?
Po Yin Sham: Um, we had a casting director, Halle
Peralta. Um, she's great. She's
amazing. She knows so many people.
And she also,
um, she had talked to Emma and Jonny about what
they wanted and who they were looking for, and,
um, I think it was just right from the get go,
even, like, posting the casting
calls, it's like, hey, like, you should have, like, you
know, some proficiency in singing, some proficiency in
dancing, and that kind of
brought actors in
who auditioned for the parts.
Jonny Harmon: Yeah. And when it came to casting our leads,
um, the, our lead, Carson,
uh, this wonderful, wonderful gentleman who I've
now worked with multiple times. His name is Justin
Kem. He saw our posting online on
backstage, and he applied,
which is adorable to me because he definitely could just text
me. And,
uh, he, uh, he worked with me
on the janitor, which Po Yin also
produced for me alongside analy song, and Emma was the
casting director for that. And it was
a very fun action film. He acted in that. It was great. We've all
worked with him on previous projects because he's a Biola
film frequent, um, and so
getting to, like, see that he was applying, I was like,
oh, we definitely gotta give him audition. And, like, there is some
hesitations, like, can he sing? Like, can he dance? Like,
none of us knew, so it was kind of like, the thing of like,
yeah, sure. Uh, well, let him audition. I'm
like, I think he'd be great. I think he's charming. He's a great dude.
Let's, let's do it. I think he's super talented. And so
he got, he got into the auditioning process and he started
singing us, sending us these videos of him belting
out songs in his car because he
was, sorry, Justin He
was embarrassed to sing them inside his house because he had, like, a family
gathering happening. So he was, I think it was like
during Thanksgiving or Christmas when we were auditioning, uh,
and, uh, this was the Christmas of 20, uh,
three, uh, yeah, of 23.
And so he was very, very
kind, and he totally went outside of his comfort zone by
auditioning for this role since he had not ever done any
singing lessons, any dancing lessons or anything like that. He
had done dancing, uh, classes in the past,
but singing was like a totally new thing. And
he submitted his acting audition, uh,
and a singing audition because we had separate, uh, auditions for
the both of those. And it was kind of this process of
like, guys, I think he's kind of great. And
we talked about it more, and we started thinking about how
he would test, uh, with the chemistry with
our who. Emma will soon talk about being our
Dibs, and it ended up working great.
And Justin is some of, is literally one of most
hardworking actors I've ever had the pleasure to work with.
And he's been on three of the films that I've directed now, two of which I co
directed with Emma. Goodbye, Gnomie is a whole other story. Um,
and, uh, yeah, so Justin's
so talented. I love the man to death. Get
him on your movies. Give him great roles. He can do
it, and he will do anything that he sets his mind to because he is
that talented and dedicated to his heart.
Emma Broyles: Yeah, Justin is.
Po Yin Sham: Justin is great.
Emma Broyles: Yeah, Justin's super great. And it was funny
because when we were casting for
The Janitor as when he first saw him
audition, and I was like, aw, he's like,
so charming. So much like,
lovely energy.
Jonny Harmon: Man's got rizz.
Emma Broyles: Oh, okay.
Hope: Thanks for the translation.
Jonny Harmon: Casting rizz. He has a girlfriend. Sorry, guys.
Hope: Good clarification as well.
Emma Broyles: Um, but was really fun, was getting to cast for our
Dibs also a little bit of
context for the name. It's not even a real name. I
was.
Hope: I was gonna ask that. I was gonna ask why not?
Not to shame or, like, not derogatory, rock toy. I was just very curious.
Emma Broyles: Yeah, it was funny because I was back home,
um, in Thailand in December of 23,
um, and I was like, just one day,
naming things is really hard for me, which is why we
thankfully had Gunnar to help us name "A Lovely Ending" Um,
but naming characters, it's either like it comes to me or it
doesn't. Um, and I was just, one day, I
was, as writers, and hopefully everyone
else in the world, just brushing my teeth.
Po Yin Sham: Hopefully everyone else in the world too, for sure.
Emma Broyles: Um, and I was just
thinking of the characters. I've been doing some outlining, and I was
like, it's gonna be Carson and Dibs. And
I texted Jonny, and he was like, did I call
you?
Jonny Harmon: I swear you called me. With the time difference, I'm free. Uh,
maybe it was, I don't, maybe it wasn't nervous.
Emma Broyles: I think, actually, I think I was really nervous. Cause I was like, Dibs is not a real
name. I was like, hey, Jonny, I think I probably texted you and was like, I think I
have a name for the characters, but I don't want to tell you.
Emma Broyles: Over text.
Jonny Harmon: I remember taking this call, and I, like, I swear it was
freshly after you brushed your teeth. In my head, when
I think of this memory, I, like, I imagine it be like, okay, sure, John.
Emma Broyles: Did you.
Hope: Smell the mint toothpaste on the other end?
Jonny Harmon: All, like 50,000 miles away?
Po Yin Sham: That's how phone calls work. Yes.
Emma Broyles: Um, and it was like, I think you're like
Debs? And I was like, no, it's Dibs. And he's like, what does that
even mean? I'm like, I couldn't tell you.
The writing deity just spoke to me, and
that's what it has to be.
Jonny Harmon: She literally was like. I was like, why Dibs? She said, I
don't know. That's just what it is. And I was like, okay, well, let's do
it.
Emma Broyles: That's like, don't fight me on this time.
Jonny Harmon: That's a whole thing that we can talk about later. But co directing was a
whole process of understanding how to share
creative liberty in a way, and, uh, how
I had to surrender a lot of the liberty that I'm used to, since I normally
wrote my own scripts, and I'm not. Like, I trusted
Emma 100% with this story, so I just had to remind myself of
that really often. Like, hey, if she wants care to be Dibs, like,
it should be Dibs.
Hope: Or I guess, was it hard for you to. Or was it difficult
to, as in, like, you had another name? Or it was just kind of like, oh,
wow, like this. I don't have liberty over this.
Jonny Harmon: So I guess there's definitely, like, a lot of instances throughout the
whole, um, pre, during, and post production where
Emma and I are like, I want to do it this way. Okay, I want to do
it this way. And we kind of have to, like, talk through it. And
thankfully, we were civil for the most part. I think I.
There may have been, like, some gnarly, like, rock, paper scissor
moments or something like that, but,
uh, no, I do think that we were able to,
like, talk through a lot of things where it was, like, I,
um. We both had to get used to. Well, maybe she was more used
to it because of co directing in the past, but I definitely had to get used
to, like, understanding that, like, this is not only my story.
And it felt even more shared because of how much Po Yin had
contributed to the story development, because she,
like, she helped with so much of this, with, uh, the
narrative and everything that I felt that, like, this is not
only my story. Like, it's hard for me ever to say that this is my
film, because it's not my film. Like it
is, but it's like, it's our film, you know, the three of us.
Emma Broyles: Um, yeah, that's so true. I want to get back to talking
about Sarah Johnson
Jonny Harmon: Yeah, no, sorry. Sarah Johnson Oh, wow. Okay.
Hope: So, Dibs.
Emma Broyles: I had the pleasure called Dibs.
Thank you. See, I've never got a chance
to use that pun, the pun. And I was like, guys, I
think we should, like, write a Dibs pun into the
script. And they were like, no. And I was like, okay, you're probably right. That's for the
best.
Jonny Harmon: Um, I had a terrible story to tell about that later.
Do you remember the Christmas concert thing? So
me and Tyler Batka. Me and Tyler Botka, who was one of the
musicians.
Hope: Okay, you got it.
Emma Broyles: And then we'll talk about Sarah Johnson
Jonny Harmon: But this is before she got casted, so that's appropriate. Uh,
so me and Tyler Botka are sitting in the
Grace EV Free Christmas concert, which is always a
banger every year, and we're sitting next to each other. We've
been, like, going over, like, music, uh, development for
a while now. He knows the story super well.
And I lean over to him with, like, a bunch of people around us,
like, elderly people, parents, families, my friends
that don't know anything about the script. And there's
a third. Like, I didn't know it, but she was 13. I thought she was,
like, at least 16 or 18. But she was a younger
girl singing on stage, and she had, uh, a. She was from my church
community, and she had a wonderful voice. And I
looked over at Tyler, and I was all like, dude,
Dibs. And I point at her
saying Dibs, and I think then realized, like, oh,
God. Like, my face
went so red that I just said Dibs on what
was unknowing to me, a 13 year old girl.
And I. I'm getting read right
now thinking about it. So that's the
danger of calling a character Dibs and casting
for a younger person. So, yeah, just
beware what you say, how you
name your characters. All right. Sarah Johnson
Po Yin Sham: We love Sarah Johnson
Hope: Good segue Po
Emma Broyles: Thank you. Sarah Johnson is
one of the most lovely, charming people I've ever met in my entire
life. I had the privilege of meeting her in my
freshman year when we were
cast in the Torrey play emma together.
Um, she.
I saw from the beginning
her acting was so
strong, and she just embodied characters. And then
we went on to do, um, a midsummer night's
dream together for Torrey, like, acting together.
Um, and then when I had the
joy of co directing Pygmalion
with David Fung, um, she was
also in that, um, and
I think it was at the.
We were at Denny's
at a wrap party, as one is. As
one does, as theater kids are theater kids.
Hope: And this is, like, midnight.
Emma Broyles: Yeah, it's at midnight. It's like you know, it's super late. It wasn't
the wrap of Pygmalion. It was the wrap of much
ado.
Hope: Oh, yeah.
Po Yin Sham: Yeah.
Hope: I was there.
Emma Broyles: Yes. You were there. You were in it.
Hope: I was in it.
Emma Broyles: Yeah.
Hope: Yeah.
Jonny Harmon: Let's go, Hope.
Emma Broyles: And, uh, we're, like, we've been talking about starting
to do casting over Christmas break.
Um, and I knew Sarah could sing.
Like, she has
an incredible voice. Um. Cause, like,
you know, as, like, you're striking set. Everyone
is singing. We're seeing all the musicals just
because, like, theater. Love theater so much. Um,
and I knew that she has incredible
range. She's played really,
like, sweet, like, innocent characters, and then she's played,
like, very large,
creepy women characters,
and she is
amazing. And so I was like, hey, Sarah I don't
know if you're doing anything this next semester.
It's your senior year,
but I would be interested if
you might want to audition for a little musical that we're
doing. And she was like, yes. And
so she sent in her
audition, and, uh,
she sang one of my
favorite songs, um, one of my favorite musical theater
songs from waitress.
Jonny Harmon: The moment she sent it in, I was like, Emma's gonna love
this.
Emma Broyles: Yeah, she sang she used to be mine. Oh,
and it's
so good. And I was in
the car with my family as we were driving up the
coast, and I
was listening to it, and I was like, oh, my gosh, this is
so good. And
you had listened to it. You
both had listened to it. And I was like,
I know I was so biased for Sarah Johnson I was like, I love Sarah
so much, but I didn't want that to, like, influence me. But she's also
just, like, super talented as well as just
so incredibly kind and gracious and
lovely. And so I was like, I really want Sarah Johnson And
I was so glad that when Jonny had saw
the tape, like,
you had a, uh, response to
it.
Jonny Harmon: Uh, I remember just thinking, like, oh,
whoa. Like, the, the
iPhone recordings can get extremely distorted, which
was. It felt hard for when we were casting because
sometimes, like, oh, man, like, this, this actor isn't
getting, like, their vocal range, like, do
justice with their audition here. But even
despite, like, the distortion, like, you could tell the fidelity
of Sarah's voice was just so off the charts.
I was listening to the audition, um, just, like, with, like,
my phone to my ear. I was at the dinner table, it was
Christmas time, and I'm just, like, getting, like,
shivers down my back or something like that. And I, like,
go to my mom. I'm like, mom, listen to this.
Hope: So with that, with, like, a awesome
group of actors, or at least the two ones that we've talked
about, like, did you have any,
like, expectations for,
or, like, what were your expectations for, like, going into it, knowing,
like, because even scrolling the lovely
ending, um, Instagram feed,
we got some nominations on there.
Po Yin Sham: Um.
Hope: Did you think this is gonna win awards, or. It was
more like, wow, this project is going places.
We're actually doing this.
Jonny Harmon: There's a certain level of
confidence a director should have going into their
project, um, and a certain
level of lack of confidence a director will always have going
into a project. Um, and, uh,
sometimes it's like a fake it till you make it type of deal where
during the whole process, at least for myself,
like, I was thinking myself, like. Like, this is.
This is good. I know it's gonna be good, because the people involved in this
project. The people involved in this project are amazing.
Are amazing filmmakers, such talented
artists, and I know that they're going to, like, knock this
out of the park. And, uh, so that
I was confident in solely but, like, awards and all that,
I was like, yeah. I mean, like, I have high hopes, but it's honestly
not in our control. It's gonna be. If people like it, they like
it, and that's still where we're at right now.
Po Yin Sham: But, yeah, I
think thinking about, like, the motivation
behind making this, it was never to
be, like, oh, we're trying to, like,
I don't know, be the best musical. Uh, like, I
don't. I think we all came together because we all
loved musicals, and that was the thing that,
like, we all found a common,
like, a common interest for a common love and a common,
like, passion for, like, we were
all inspired in some way or another
by musicals. Like, watching
them, listening to them, all of
that. And so I think coming into the project, it was
more so, oh, my gosh, that is
such a cool thing to be a part of, and to be a part of it
with these people that I'm surrounded by who are
also equally as passionate about. It was a super
cool experience that, like, at least
to me, the thought of, like,
entering, like, festivals and
getting, I guess, like, recognition,
you could say, like, from it, is that I
didn't even think about that. I was like, oh, like, I just want
to make this thing so that we can,
like, we've all had so much fun doing it, and I
like being able to kind, um,
of just, like, experience something that
we've all been inspired by and
hopefully using that to inspire other people as well.
And, like, it's kind of
like the fulfillment of a little
secret lifelong dream that, like, I've
had for a long time. So, yeah, it's. It was really
cool to get to do that. And,
yeah, I guess the short version is,
didn't really think about awards, so it's cool
that it has resonated in some way with other
people.
Hope: Yeah, that is really cool.
Emma Broyles: I think I just went into this project with a
lot of trepidation,
honestly. Um, CMA is kind of
intimidating, and I think working
alongside people who are so talented,
um, I was
a little intimidated. I was super excited because
I knew they were going to make this such a
beautiful project. And I was
so. Yeah, it was
so big. I mean, at this point, like, as we were just,
like, growing up, it just felt so much bigger than, like, the three of
us, because there were so many people
who were giving their time,
um, and funds to this project that I was
just so humbled that people
would consider bringing the
story to life despite it kind of
living in a little bit of mystery, because we don't want
spoilers.
Um, and again,
like Po is saying, this is kind of a
lifelong secret dream, something you kind of
didn't even let yourself hope for. And then
it's like, oh, my gosh, we're making a musical.
And that's something that we would say to
each other on.
Jonny Harmon: We're making a music.
Emma Broyles: We're making a movie.
Jonny Harmon: You gotta bring out your transatlantic voice all the time.
Emma Broyles: Uh, so that's what I do with all the time. So Jonny and Gunnar would just
go back and forth, and it was great. Also, I
was not the only person to lend my voice to
the final picture.
Jonny Harmon: That's right. On the news today, you're gonna
be hearing a voice that will be announcing an asteroid hurtling
towards earth.
Emma Broyles: So true.
Hope: That's amazing.
Jonny Harmon: And I think, uh, almost everybody low
key, like, found their, found their way into the film and
to touch on the people that were in the project, because I would love to do that. One
point. Um, like Gunnar I
already said he's a wonderful man. He is in the film.
Get excited for that. Get pumped for that.
Um, and the other people that have
their fingerprints. Fingerprints all across this film is Elisha
Thlang, who also had this be her senior thesis
alongside me. And, uh, she was our
production designer. And, uh, one of the most
talented artists that I've gotten the pleasure to not only know,
but be, like, genuinely, uh, important friend
of mine who I feel like I've been able to glean a
lot from in my own personal life. And, uh, I
feel like I've gotten to see her grow, and she's gotten to see me grow.
And it was an honor that she trusted me to,
uh, direct what would be her thesis as well,
um, co direct with Emma. She trusted the both of us. I don't know
if she would trust me alone, but, no, it was so
sweet because I got to sit down with Elisha in the summer of
23. And by the way, to date, everything, the development
of this film started in November of 22. Um,
and it is now completed
and premiering in September of 24. So
that's cool.
Emma Broyles: It's been almost two years, which
is wild.
Hope: That's crazy.
Jonny Harmon: And, uh, back to that. Me and Elisha and Po
sat down after a Bible study, and I pitched her
the whole film, and I was like, hey, you don't have to
answer now. Let me know what you think. I think you would be
amazing to be a part of this. And she's, first off, like,
a really talented director. So it was
totally in her court to choose to make her thesis something that she
directs. Um, and I was very,
very, very blessed that she chose to invest her time
into this as a production designer, which she's
also very, very talented at. Uh, she's very
multifaceted in that way. But, yeah, if Emma, you have anything to say about
her?
Emma Broyles: I think what's so cool about Elisha is
she's so warm and
just. I didn't know her before we started. We just. I met her on,
like, a facetime that we had started,
um, over the summer, and I
was, like, good vibes. I like her.
Jonny Harmon: That's you meeting all the crew members.
Hope: So true.
Emma Broyles: And I think what was.
She's so talented. I think she had
the crazy task
of transforming
our locations into things that looked like
they were out of the fifties, um, which
is not easy, especially on,
like, a student budget.
Um, but it
was so magical getting onto set and seeing
what she had done. It was like
being on a movie set, because it
was. I'm.
Please get that.
Po Yin Sham: Elisha is
amazing. So
happy to say that. I've grown so much
closer to her, like, through this whole process.
I knew her before this, but through all
of this, I got to work so much more closer to her
and even just getting to know her as a
person. She cares so much for
people around her. She cares for the well being of other
people. She cares about the people on her team, she
cares about people that are not on her team.
And I think she just as, uh, a
production designer, like,
in general, like, production
designers have to understand the
world that the story is set in. They have to notice
every single little detail that the audience doesn't notice,
so that the audience doesn't notice that
something is off. Uh, like, it has to be so
detailed and so precisely. And
she, like, that isn't
just film, like, with her. Like, that's
how she notices the world too, I think. And, like,
hearing how she, like, interacts with
people and how she pays attention to people
is super cool. And that's something that I really
admire about her. And she brought that
to, um, our production and,
like, I don't know, she deserves the world and
we are so, so lucky to have her.
Jonny Harmon: And she is gaining proper recognition. A festival that we had submitted
to when they were given feedback on the film said that the
setting of 1959 is well created,
recreated, um, with meticulous attention to detail and the costume
sets and overall aesthetic. So thank you, Elisha, for that.
We also have so many, so many other people. We have about
130 people on our crew that made this film
come to life, which is definitely the biggest crew I've ever co
directed or directed, casting cricket included.
But yeah, Po will just very quickly name some big
names.
Po Yin Sham: Oh, gosh, this is a very big task.
Um, big, big names. Yes.
So in addition to the people that we've already mentioned,
um, again, Hallie, who's our casting director,
Jason, who did our score,
supervised music, all of that. Matt Yen, who edited
the film. Um, analy song, who
was our unit production manager. So she was on the
production team with me. Um, Abby Elliott, who was
our first ad assistant director.
Um, Kristen Dick as well. She stepped in
to also be an assistant director
for us. Um, and also
Connaly Akiyama, who was our production
coordinator. Henry Timm, who was our locations
manager. Um, Autumn Rankin, who was
our wonderfully amazing
choreographer. Um,
and so many more. I feel like I could
just keep listing more names. Josh
Vallesteros, who is our gaffer. Caleb Anderson.
Andrew Myers, who are our production sound
mixers. Victoria Gruen, who is our costume
designer. Santi Craft. Um,
and Hannah Milligan, who were both hair and
makeup. A, um, bunch of
just so many people. And
I. Tommy Martin.
Jonny Harmon: And Cole Deppe, too.
Po Yin Sham: Oh, yeah. Cole Deppe, who did
an amazing job on sound design. He absolutely
crushed it.
Jonny Harmon: Thomas Martin.
Po Yin Sham: Oh, and Thomas Martin, who did, uh, VFX
because we need VFX for a
musical. Um, yeah.
People are so talented. And I
think, like, when we were
finding crew, I just kept listing more and
more roles that needed to be fulfilled. And, like, all
of these people stepped up, and they
are so good at what they do. And all of
these people listed are not just good at what they do,
not just good at what they did on this project
specifically, but they do so many other things
outside of it, too. And all at
once. Yes. Everything everywhere, all at once. I
guess, um, they, like
directors outside of this, they do sound,
they, you know, compose, and they draw,
and they, like, produce, and they do all of
these, like, super cool things. And
they lent their time to this project, and that
made it all the more better. Wow.
Emma Broyles: Um, it was super fun getting to
have our kind of roundtable,
all production head kind of meetings, which was always,
like, a little bit of a stressful time because it
was usually like, well, here's the good news,
and here's all of the news
of stuff we still need to work on that we still have a lot of question
Emma Broyles: marks about, uh,
Hope: Good distinction.
Emma Broyles: But I think it was just so comforting to be like, oh, like, I
trust these people. These are just really kind, besides being
super talented, just very kind, very genuine
people. And I think one thing that I think
the most often about from those
meetings is
seeing Po Analei, and Connaly
who are our production team, just, like, sitting on one side of
the table, all, like, tapping furiously at their laptops.
And I was like, these are the three fates who are
deciding everything that is going to happen.
Jonny Harmon: Those keyboards were the most powerful keyboards in bubble.
Po Yin Sham: So true.
Emma Broyles: And also, they cooked for us, which was
also crazy.
Jonny Harmon: Literally, food.
Po Yin Sham: We're not just saying, like, not saying
no literally. Well, I can't take any of the credit because I
didn't cook. It was Connaly and Analei. They
dedicated so much of their time,
and honestly, like, they were
my support system through all of this, too.
Like, they made sure that I was okay, and
they kind of picked up wherever I
was. Like, guys, I literally, like, don't have time to do
this. They'd be like, yeah, I got you. I can do
this. They were
able to do so many, uh, things
that you don't even think about having to do,
like, feed people when you're watching
a film. You don't think, oh, wow, someone fed all of
those people.
They just did so many things and paid attention to
so many things that I totally
slipped through, like, my brain, and they
picked it up and they were able to.
Yeah, they're just, like, a huge help.
Jonny Harmon: Yeah. And outside of all the amazing, um, crew
and family and friends that supported us through all this,
we also, like, low key, had, like, God was very
clutch in coming through with a lot of different, uh, giving us
resources where we had none. Um, there was a lot
of times where it was just like, wow, thank you so much for answering
that prayer, because we had a people who cared a
lot about us in this project, like, and we ourselves
were all praying throughout the entirety of the pre production
and during production that, like, we would be able to pull it off and we would be able
to finish it, because
We went into our first weekend with
2000 out of the originally projected
$20,000 budget. So we were like,
well, we only have. What is that? Is that
10%? I'm not good at math. I think that's 10%. Yeah, we
only have 10% of the budget. How are we going to make a film?
And, uh, so we
had a lot of, uh, beautiful prayers answered, one of
which was worked, uh, through by BeReal real. So
shout out. BeReal
Hope: Did you end up getting to the 20 grand?
Jonny Harmon: No, we did not. But because of things like BeReal real. Emma, do
you want to explain that?
Emma Broyles: Yeah.
Hope: Yeah, please do.
Emma Broyles: So, locations. Locations. Locations.
Locations are very expensive.
Po Yin Sham: Yeah, they are.
Emma Broyles: Um, so when doing
the budget breakdown, Po was like, just to give me
20,000, and a lot of it was because of locations.
Um, and, like, getting, like, getting
permits for locations is very expensive, especially wanting
to get places that, you know, low key look like they could
pass for the 1950s. Um, and
that was going to be in places like orange, like Whittier, like Fullerton,
and, um, also in Pasadena.
And so I love Pasadena.
And so.
Po Yin Sham: There's a store that we passed on the way to a location called
dollar King. So shout out.
Emma Broyles: Jonny is very excited about that.
Po Yin Sham: Yeah, very, very excited.
Emma Broyles: And we were doing little location scout, trying
to see, likes in this area that's a little bit more of a historic
area. What's going on? We were with our
locations manager, Henry Timm,
our first director.
Po Yin Sham: Abby Elliott, first assistant director.
Emma Broyles: Yeah. Um, and we
were driving around Pasadena
taking pictures of a lot of houses. There's a lot of random
houses, pictures that are still on my phone.
Po Yin Sham: It was like, we saw so many cute
houses.
Emma Broyles: So many cute houses.
Po Yin Sham: Yeah. But is it okay if I pick up the
story? Um, but so
Abby, does her BeReal
And we're driving around this neighborhood.
The sun is setting.
Yeah. All these houses that we'd have to pay so much money
for. Um, and suddenly
she gets a text from a friend,
and he's like, oh, my gosh. You guys are, like, five
minutes away from my house.
Hope: And we were like, no way.
Po Yin Sham: Hey, so, you know, we
are, like, the reason why we're here, like, in
Pasadena, is like, we're doing a location scout for
a film. And, like, you know,
what are the odds that we can swing by and come
see your place and, like, what
it looks like and if it works? And he was
like, yeah, for sure. Like, here's the address. So we swung by.
It was five minutes away. So we just kind of looked
at it and we were like, oh, my gosh, there's a white picket
fence. It's like,
it's like the perfect location. Like,
it's like the perfect house. It was everything that we were looking
for. And we were like, oh, my gosh, this is
so magical. Like, and only be real could have
made it happen. So, you know,
um, long story short, I mean, we, like,
talk to the Otoshis They
are the kindest people. So
generous and so accommodating.
Um, and we got the
house.
Hope: Wow.
Jonny Harmon: Yeah. And the awesome part about all that is that, like, the
Otoshis um, that one of
their sons, Peter, he is one of my closest friends.
I lived right next door to him my freshman year. And so
it was this, like, really cool, full circle thing of, like, Joseph,
his brother, reached out to Abby, and now, like, we're
working at his parents house, Peter's house. And
I, uh, was, like, able to, it just felt so like
family, like, and the Otoshis were so,
so good at, I don't know, exemplifying, like,
hospitality and God's love to us and opening up their home
to us, which we were all so, so
grateful for. And, uh, that they,
they understood the circumstances that we were in
and the pressure and time that was running
out. Uh, and we didn't have
the resources to make what we needed to make. So they were very
accommodating and we are, we love them.
Emma Broyles: I think the really beautiful thing that kind of Jonny
was touching on is that one thing,
some of the themes that we have in "A Lovely Ending"
are about family and, like,
selflessness and hospitality. Uh,
and what's so cool is that
the actual house that the
film is set in is a house
that is full of, like, kind of family and, like, this,
like, selflessness that they portrayed to us
by opening their home up to them and hospitality and,
you know, Mrs. Otoshi was always like, can I get you some food or
some water?
Jonny Harmon: We're like, no. Can we get you food?
Emma Broyles: Um, we're like, we've literally turned your entire house upside down.
Like, um, so much
graciousness. I, uh, think it's so beautiful
that, you know,
they were so kind to us and that.
Yeah, it was just so cool.
Jonny Harmon: Yeah. And, um, a fun little
story of that is that the very end. When we had wrapped filming at that
house, our production designer Elisha had become pretty good buddies
with Mrs. Otoshi And she was
like, Mrs. Otoshi was like, oh, when you guys are like
resetting the house and everything, do you mind if I could you put the couch there
and the coffee table there? And she would ask
Elisha. She saw how good Elisha was at like,
designing the space that they were living in. So they were like,
she'd be like, Elisha, what do you think about this? And Elisha's like, oh, we could do this here,
that there. Elisha not only was the PD of "A Lovely Ending,"
but also now of the Otoshi home.
Po Yin Sham: A woman of many talents, truly
an interior designer.
Hope: Wow. Wow. I gotta say, from like a
third party point of view, like, it's really cool to hear
how working on this movie has like,
brought you guys and like the rest of the crew
together. And even like, the people who you're getting the house from,
like, just, just that kind of like hospitality, uh,
you're talking about and selflessness and love and like,
even how you were saying it was like that funny story
with Dibs, like, at Grace EV Free like, you're like, thinking about this
stuff. And also, like, after Bible studies and things,
like, like, just to be able, it's like
such a blessing to be able to do this in this
space now, you know, like, while we have it,
um, at Biola. Because that's something like, I don't know,
even for my major not to talk about myself, but
just thinking about,
Po Yin Sham: No please, talk about yourself.
Hope: Po is like, it's been too much.
Po Yin Sham: Yeah, your turn.
Hope: Um, but even for the journalism
major, thinking about the secular sphere and what
that's gonna look like and just kind of being prepared
for that, but also really not taking for
granted the sphere we have and
just the common faith that we have too, to
be able to work with people who aren't just there for the money or
who aren't just there for utilitarian reasons of like, oh, uh, I'm
just gonna send it to so and so. Wait until he gets back to me. But it's
like, I'm sending it to so and so. Wait until he gets back to me. I have
an actual friendship with this person. And like, we,
we talk, you know? And just like, your connection with the
Otoshis to Jonny, like, that was. That's
really cool to hear. And, like, something that you.
I don't think you would hear this, like, at Dodge,
or like, not to shame.
Jonny Harmon: No shame at Dodge.
Jonny Harmon: We love Ryan Jachetta.
Hope: but, like, just.
Hope: This kind of, like, common faith, you know, like, just the fellowship we can have,
too. And not only making some cool stuff, but, like.
Yeah, that's really cool.
Jonny Harmon: Absolutely.
Hope: Yeah.
Um, so not to talk about spoilers, but are
there any funny, um. Funny.
Funny Easter eggs or funny moments from
set, um, that I don't know if the audience will
understand, but any ones
that they would understand are, like, Easter eggs.
Po Yin Sham: I mean, Jonny and Emma are also in the
film.
Jonny Harmon: Like, not only our voices, not only.
Po Yin Sham: Their boy, like, literally, like, not only their voices, but they
make a little cameo.
So, yeah, it's. It would be
like, I I wouldn't. I would be
so impressed if you could.
Emma Broyles: I would bake you something for real. If
you can tell us where
we are. I don't know if I should
do this.
Jonny Harmon: Drop your. Drop your Instagram. Emma everywhere.
Um, DM her. Let her know, like, hey, this is where
you were at in the film.
Um, she will bake baked goods for you.
Emma Broyles: I will. That's one of my passions in life,
is baking.
Po Yin Sham: Yeah, she's really good at it, too.
Hope: Oh, uh, sorry. Earlier today, I was
eating someone's olive oil cake. It was pretty. It
was pretty good. It wasn't just olive oil. It
wasn't a cake of.
Hope: It was like,
Emma Broyles: I know what you're talking about. Olive oil makes a cake more moist
than butter does.
Po Yin Sham: So she's a baker.
Hope: Only real bakers will know this.
Hope: Jonny,
Jonny Harmon: I make a mean, pre made, like, Trader
Joe's lemon cake type deal where it's, like, comes with a
mix. Anyways.
Po Yin Sham: I believe it.
Hope: But, um, someone, like, gave me something that was really good, and then I was thinking,
like, who is the person? I was talking about wedding cakes
with? And then I was like, oh, yeah.
And then just when we talked about, I was like, oh, yes. But it was like. It was one of those
things where I was like, I have to remember, like, it's gonna be bugging me
for the rest of. Okay.
Emma Broyles: I was the one who said, man, I really
wish someone would,
like, ask me to make a wedding cake.
Such a fire challenge. For real.
Like, I, you know, directing musical, you know, that's fine. But, like, making
a wedding cake, you know where you do use three dozen eggs?
Jonny Harmon: Next level.
Emma Broyles: Yeah, next level.
Po Yin Sham: Yeah. She's been talking about this wedding cake so
well, like, no, like, making it.
It's a really good recipe.
Emma Broyles: Yeah. New York Times.
Hope: I've seen the recipe. Yeah.
Jonny Harmon: Back to the Easter eggs.
Another person to try to spot in the background is, as I
mentioned earlier, Gunnar try to spot him in the background. He's gonna
be a little bit hard to see, so just keep your eyes out for him.
Let us know if you can see him. Uh,
other Easter eggs.
Emma Broyles: You should count how many times that tea appears
in this film.
Jonny Harmon: We love tea. Emma especially loves tea.
At our first, uh, official audition or rehearsal, I
should say, with Justin Sarah
uh, Emma, uh, her wonderful, welcoming,
hospitable, self made tea for the four of
us. And we all got to enjoy some tea and get to know each
other some more at our first rehearsal.
Emma Broyles: And what's funny is I didn't even realize how much
tea is in the script until
I think it was Elisha who is
doing a prop breakdown. She's like,
you have so much tea. And I was like, she's like, how.
Jonny Harmon: Many teacups do I need to buy?
Emma Broyles: Oh, that's so right. That's the guess. It's just like,
m how it is, I guess.
Hope: You do love tea. I do remember that from.
Because we went to Cambridge together for Torrey and. Yeah, I.
You do love tea.
Jonny Harmon: Yeah. Another little fun fact to look out for is one
of our songs was recorded live on set.
Hope: Yeah.
Po Yin Sham: Um, am I allowed to give more context? Um,
we can well know how much.
Jonny Harmon: Context we want to give, but the actor.
Sure.
Emma Broyles: Can I say who it is? Yeah.
Po Yin Sham: Yeah. So this actor, we
love her. Sarah Johnson We've talked about
her. This is her very first
day on set ever. Like,
she. This is how talented she is.
Her first. Yeah. First ever film
was "A Lovely Ending" Um, first
day of said first film, we were like,
hey, wouldn't it be cool if you sang live for
us? And she did it all,
like, in one take. So she just did it. She
just did it. She just, like, I remember, like,
standing there and watching her just, like, belt her
heart out, and I was like, oh, uh,
my goodness. I think our
crew, like, I was looking at everyone and their jaws were, like,
dropped.
Emma Broyles: The only appropriate response in that moment. Honestly,
truly.
Jonny Harmon: Yeah. Ah. And I, like, from the beginning, our La La Land loving
hearts was like, we need our Emma Stone audition
song. You know, uh, when she sings that live on set,
and I was like, this could be the one. And we did it for this
one. And it was like Po was saying when the
crew, like, responded to it, it was one of the most, like,
affirming feelings for Emma and I because we had spent so
long keeping this music low key and
for the crew to be able to hear it for the first time on set, being
sung live by Sarah's amazing voice. Like, I think I
remember seeing, like, Abby and, like, Abby like, looked over after
a take was done. She's like, oh, this is, like, legit. Okay, cool.
Emma Broyles: It was so. I think
we take so much inspiration from
La La Land There's definitely a La La Land land moments that we're
kind of, like, referencing a little bit in some
of our songs.
Po Yin Sham: Yeah, awesome. Many La La Land moments offset,
too. I don't know. We just, like, you know, we
love La La Land, so, like, not like, the actual
events, but, like, we would just reference the movie a lot. We'd listen to
the music we, like. It was just a fun
time.
Jonny Harmon: And we also grew up on every other musical that
we could get our hands on. And, uh, like, for example,
even when Po and I one time were watching High School Musical
2 we were like, wow, there's at least, like, ten parallels
we could draw to level,
but, yeah, to
honestly touch on that, though, like, we. We made. We wanted to make a
musical because, like, that was something that is so
nostalgic for us. And we love how cinema can be such
a magical place. And, uh, like, not to
try to quote Nicole Kidman or anything, but,
uh, uh,
with, uh, with, like, growing up and everything, like, there was
such a joy that I had, like, sitting down
in my grandma's house with all of my cousins
and putting in a vhs, and we would watch these old, like,
fifties sixties musicals, and then we would watch
hairspray, and my sisters would choreograph whole little
dances for everyone to all me and my cousins to
lip sync, like hairspray and mamma mia
and all these different musicals. And it was. It
was such a joy. And then, like, one day, I got to see an
amazing video of po yem lip syncing when she was, like, two or
three years old and she was eating it up.
Po Yin Sham: Yeah.
Emma Broyles: Yeah.
Po Yin Sham: Mhm. I think that's all I have to say about that.
Hope: Lovely. Oh, no pun intended.
Emma Broyles: I wish we kept a tally of how many times people would
make lovely related comments. Uh,
slash puns or end of the world
puns.
Po Yin Sham: Off the charts, not the end of. Oh,
yeah.
Emma Broyles: M mm hmm. M wow.
Hope: Because I even, like, in the first half, I think we
said lovely at least, like, four times.
Po Yin Sham: Oh, yeah. I think it's, like, permanently etched into my
vocabulary. Like, I cannot not say it.
Yeah, I just, it's just in my brain a lot.
Hope: Wow.
Jonny Harmon: And you will see why this also, but every time I hear the word
just, you just like. And that's a. They stop at
you. I automatically will think of one of our songs.
Hope: Wow. There's so much to look forward to.
Now I
understand now why after I watched the trailer, I
thought, this is reminding me a lot of La
La Land Yeah.
Jonny Harmon: Yeah. I didn't realize that the song in the trailer is the one that
she sang live.
Emma Broyles: Yeah, it is the one she sang live.
Po Yin Sham: Yeah. So if you want to watch that right
now, I guess go watch that, go watch that.
Emma Broyles: Go pause.
Hope: Pause and come back, please.
Po Yin Sham: And you can hear Sarah live.
Jonny Harmon: Go to the YouTube channel. Jonny Harmon, 28.
Hope: Wow. Um, well, we'll probably be
wrapping up soon, but anything else that you would want
to, want to drop in here?
Jonny Harmon: I definitely would love to talk about post production at some point.
Emma Broyles: Yes.
Emma Broyles: I also would like to talk about,
um, sounds like so
cheesy, but I want to talk about my mom for a second.
Jonny Harmon: Absolutely.
Emma Broyles: Um, and
when I was writing this, something that was really
important to me was,
are women in this
film? Um, one of our main
characters, Dibs and then Carson's
mom. But as
they kind of get, like, hearing about
the world ending and kind of having to reshape
priorities, I wanted to give each of the
characters something that they wanted to do before the end of the world that
kind of reflected their personality.
And one thing that I
see in a lot of, uh, women, uh,
and also, like, you know, people like
women who become mothers, is kind of setting so much aside for
their children and, like, pouring
so much into them, even if it kind of means
that they have to let go of some of their own passions,
particularly some of their artistic passions.
Um, and you kind of see
Mrs. Carson go into
something that she loved when she finds out the world's ending, which
is playing music. Um,
and when
my mom was a double music, English major,
very talented, um, sings, plays the
piano, like, amazingly, and she
is now homeschooling and has five kids.
Um, I am one of those said kids, obviously.
Um, and I
think she has done so much
for me, and
I wanted to kind of
give a chance to see a woman and
particularly a mother,
um, be able
to express herself through art and kind of,
like, give herself
to that in a way that she's been giving
to others and to her children for, you know, the
past, however many years.
Um, and that's something that I was thinking a lot
about. And am very,
I guess, like, passionate about is, like,
women being able to pursue art. And I'm very
grateful that my mom has been able to do so much
too, that I'm able to be
here, um, studying
art and making movies and
they let us cook at their house when they were in, when we
were in Pasadena. Um, so,
yeah, super thankful for that.
Hope: Has she seen?
Emma Broyles: Yeah, she has.
Hope: How did she react?
Emma Broyles: I don't think I ever
specifically said because they left and went
back to Thailand right after, not right after, but, like, you
know, in the aftermath of that. Um, but I
think she liked
it.
Po Yin Sham: I do remember
watching, um, them watch it and I remember,
um, like, after the film had ended,
um, and, like, you know, it was like a little like family
screening and she, like, came up to me and
she, like, gave me a huge hug and she was like,
I'm so proud of you. And I
immediately burst into tears.
Um, yeah, I mean,
I love Emma's mom. Um, she's so
sweet. My family isn't here and so
they kind of, like, took me in and took care of
me too, all of the past year. And so I
remember, like, Emma's um, entire family,
like, they would always ask me, we, we would, like, go to
church together and I'd like sometimes sit with them and it was so
amazing. And they would always
ask, like, oh, like, how are you doing? Like, like,
I know, you know, producing is a lot. Like, how
are you doing? And they would check in on me and,
yeah, it was just so sweet to
have people that
I, like, never met, you know, like a year
ago. And, yeah,
they are so kind and
genuinely like Emma's mom.
Thank you. If you're listening to this,
um, yeah, you mean a lot to me.
Jonny Harmon: Yeah. Having the people in our lives that
are able to help lay that foundation for us when we enter
in to living life on our own and starting the
endeavors that we find passion
to set out to do. Um, it's really important to have those
people in our lives that we can look back on and be grateful
for, like, what they've done for us, to be able to be ready to take
those moments on and to fall back into the
arms of when it becomes too much because
this process definitely became too much. A
lot. I personally, like, I
called my sister and my brother in law and my mom at
different times just trying to get support because they all lived up
north. And, uh, one of the nights I had, like, a
really bad panic attack and this was during,
like, a break between weekends of filming. And I got to
call my high school friend, and he was able to be there for
me. And, uh, that's just, like, the
reality of taking on projects that are this size. Like,
I will be fully transparent. This is a student film.
This is not, ah, this is not La La Land
Um, this is, in many ways, a very cute little student
film, but in many ways, it's also one of the biggest things we've
done, and it means the world to us. Um,
and because of that, it impacted us emotionally
and mentally in so many different ways. So for
those who are listening and are thinking, man, I want to make
something better. Yeah, go out, make something better,
but remember to look after your mental health while you're doing
that. Um, I know that I can speak for myself. Like,
I went to therapy throughout a lot of the pre
production process of this because that was what I needed to
give myself a good tool set to understand how
to properly deal with the stress that was going to come my
way, and, uh, finding, like, good communities, people
that could be there for me. And that is something I love about
CMA because it is such a rich community of
people that you can fall back onto and
find amazing people that
love so, love God so much and love you so much.
And if you invest yourself, they're going to be investing back.
You invest yourself into them, they're gonna invest themselves back
into you. Not needing that. Not that that trade
of investment is necessitated or
necessary for this. It's just that is how loving people
are here. And it's very,
very inspiring to be able to, like, understand that.
We kind of, like, we got whooped and
put down on our butts and emotionally
wrecked by this project, but at the end of the day, it was
people who kept on picking us back up.
Emma Broyles: Yeah, stay in therapy, guys,
or start going to therapy.
Po Yin Sham: Yeah, I can second that. I
also did go to therapy and process through a lot of
this. So, yeah, it was a long,
long journey, but also, I think, like,
ultimately a very good learning curve for a lot of
us. And, like, I
definitely can say, like, I've changed as a person because
of this project in probably both good
ways and bad. But I think
it's so important, again, to, uh, echo what
Jonny said, just to lean on the
people that are
going to be that support system for you and who are going
to care about not just what you do,
but how you are and who you
are outside of what you do.
Yeah, I think I was able to
identify a lot of the people in my life who
were that for me through this process. And
that is a very special thing,
um, to be able to have and
to be able to, like, see
so tangibly in front of you. So,
yeah, I'd say, you know, keep
your friends and family
close, and even.
Jonny Harmon: If it feels like you yourself may not have that kind of
community right now, like, uh, I just encourage you
to try and reach out and build that community and
do your best to invest out, invest, invest into those people,
because you are not alone. Like, we
all go through very similar things. It's not the same
things, but very similar things. And there are people out there who
want to be there with you through it. So always know
that there is people out there that you can go to and can rely on.
Emma Broyles: Yeah, this was a massive undertaking, and I think I echo
everything that Po and Jonny have
already said that, like, yeah, this
project changed me, and
I, uh, am still figuring out how I feel about
that. I'm very
proud of how the film turned out. Like, I
think I didn't expect
to feel
like, a sense of, like, oh, like, I did
that and I feel happy about it. That's really hard for me to feel
about my work.
Um, but I think, yeah, I'm
so thankful for
the conversations I've been able to have with people about this,
with Po and with Jonny. Um, a lot
of debriefs during production, a lot
of walks, um,
after, like, a day of shooting with Jonny just being like, hey, how did
that go? Anything we need to, like, iron out between
us?
Jonny Harmon: Lots of brutal honesty to let that communication be
clear.
Emma Broyles: Yeah. And that's, I think one of the main things that I learned from this project
is how to express
what I'm thinking and feeling, um, without
worrying all the time what. How other people are going to take that
or hurting people's feelings, because I,
everyone is an eggshell to me that I'm afraid
to step on.
Um, and I think
I've learned that it's really important
to tell people how you feel and what
you think. Um, and I've been very
grateful for an environment that
encourages that through fire a little bit.
Um, and for people
who kind of call me out being like, oh, like,
actually, what do you think?
Um, and so many people on this
project have done that for me, both through this project and just
also as a friend. I think one of my
favorite moments from
filming is when we wrapped,
um, and
we wrapped, and it was also the day of the Oscars
and so we wrapped and
the Oscars were on, and
we're just sitting around with all these people who I
love so much. And are my dear friends.
And we got to watch. I'm Just Ken performed
by Ryan Gosling.
Jonny Harmon: Of that man, literally him.
Emma Broyles: And, um,
saw Emma Stone give her best
actress acceptance speech. There's yet to be an Oscar that I watched I
don't cry during the receiving
of, you know, best actress speech. I don't know what it
is. It just gets me, man.
Um, but I think just, like, sitting around being like, oh, my gosh,
we did this thing. What was
that? But, like, what the heck? Like, I'm, um,
with all these people that I love so
dearly, and it kind of doesn't really matter because at the
end of the day, like, we're just
students and I,
but also, like, we kind of got to
do something that was super fun, and
I'm just really grateful for that experience
and.
Hope: Yeah,
sounds like "A Lovely Ending"
Jonny Harmon: It was "A Lovely Ending" that went super fast through production
in a matter of a month and a half for a 26 minutes musical where
all the music was recorded, produced, and the
film was edited, colored. Uh, I sound mixed,
and I'm forgetting other parts of post production right
now. VFX all that. Everything was done in a matter
of a month and a half, and we premiered it, and it was,
uh, premiered flawlessly. And the day
after I graduated, and we are so grateful for that
being our lovely ending, thanks to our amazing post production team.
Hope: Wow. A month and a half is crazy.
Wow. Did you
have more to say about that post?
Po Yin Sham: I mean, again, so much credit to
all of the post production team. Matt,
Cole, Tommy, Jason,
Ethan, like, both Jason's. Both Jason's.
Yeah, there's so many people, again, like,
130 plus crewing cast.
Like, so, so many people worked on this,
and, like, they worked
tirelessly, and they,
like, there's. There's saying
where, like, in film, where, you know, like, a story gets
rewritten multiple times and, like, the post
production side, like, that's when the
story gets to be written kind of, like, one last time.
And, I don't know, like, everyone just,
like, again, people are so talented. Like, everyone
just did it so well and
just, you know, we gave them
an almost impossible task, and they
completed it not only with,
like, on time, but they also did
it so well in the process, amazingly
well. Like, so, so
talented. I will never shut up about that.
Emma Broyles: I think.
Jonny Harmon: Yeah. Um, just a single anecdote
is how Cole Deppe in the finals week before he
graduated, did the entire sound design.
Granted, he had three other sound editors, I believe that helped
him. But he assembled everything, did final touches
on everything in the matter of four days in which I
think he got like a combined 6 hours of
sleep over. And, uh, he graduated
like two days after he completed the sound mix. So
he was, he did finals. He
sound mixed every other hour that he wasn't taking a final or
eating or sleeping. And I mean,
elisha was. There are a couple goals, by the way.
Cole Deppe and Elisha Thlang love them. She was a great
support to him through that, as Cole was a support to her during
production.
Emma Broyles: Yeah, post production was crazy. Also, Matt Yen
whipped up like the fastest oh, yeah. Cuts
I've ever seen.
Po Yin Sham: He was editing, like, while we were shooting. That's like,
by like weekends too. So, uh.
Emma Broyles: Crazy. Super talented people. Super magical to see everything come
together. Like, seeing it on, like, going on set
and then, like, even like, you know, the
Monday after a weekend of shooting it, matt's like, we have
a cut. And I'm like, that's also crazy. And then
getting able to see everything come together with the
edit and then with the
music and with sound, and it's
like, whoa, there's so many layers and so many people that, that,
that were involved with this.
And also the VFX which, um. There's
an asteroid, guys. So.
Po Yin Sham: Yeah, gotta have VFX
Jonny Harmon: You gotta spot it, but it's there.
Hope: Um, I'm just thinking kind of to wrap up what
just real quick,
what makes this different than
other projects you worked on? Or I guess
something similar to that of like, what will you remember
the most? Or what do you hope people will remember the most
about? Or just after they've watched it?
Po Yin Sham: Um, I think,
yes, it's cool to
see all of this on a screen.
And I don't know, like, I think, I mean,
again, I'm just kind of reiterating what
Jonny said earlier. Like, this
is, like, probably the biggest thing we've
done, um, like, as a
project. And
I think that I hope
people see how much hard work was put
into it, how much love and how much care.
Um, and, like, how many tears were put into
it too. Like, it's so not easy. And
I think. I hope that they can see it
and it has its faults and it has
its little things that we were like, oh, like, I
guess, like, I wish that this could have been
better, um, but that they can
see, like, the community around it too,
and how much
support we were able
to get from it, how much love we were able
to receive through this. I hope they
feel that, and that's so cheesy,
but I hope they are able to see. Oh,
yeah, there was a lot of love poured into
this by so many different people outside
of us three. And it
really. It takes a village to
make something like this. And, yeah, just
remember to hug your friends, hug your family. You
know, that's kind of the point,
yeah. Of the whole film, like,
and, yeah, we couldn't have done it without
God. And prayer goes a
very long way.
Jonny Harmon: Touching on the theme of, you know, hug your family.
I was very passionate about the theme
of, um, like, love the
people that love you and make the most of the time
that you have with them, uh, and wondering if
you've done all your living, uh, because of, like,
personal experiences with me and my grandma and
how she passed at a time when I feel like I
hadn't made the most of my time with her. And that
happened when I was in high school. And just, like, taking
those kind of things. I really do hope that others
will see this movie. Maybe just think
about, um, people in their own life that they would love to be
able to go and live the life that they've been given
with them and make the most of that life with
them. Uh, I always try to live my
own life out with as much authentic,
authentic laugh and absurd things that I can do. If
you know me, you know my humor, and I will be laughing my way through everything,
clapping my hands. Um, so I just hope that
people are able to, like, walk away from this film, you know,
doing the same thing, laughing and clapping their hands. And,
um, I know that the film definitely
made me, Emma and po all walk away with
separate ideas of how we want to move forward in
our vocation and our career. And
as I kind of walk forward with that, I guess, I don't
know that people would encourage
us all and the choices that we're making and
help support us in the paths that we're about to choose.
Emma Broyles: Do you mind repeating a question?
Hope: Uh. Um. I kind of restated it
as something that you're taking away, um, or
something that you want the audience to
take away, or just how this is different
than other projects you've worked on.
Emma Broyles: I think something I'd love for the audience
to step away from is,
again, it's
easy to take life for granted.
Um, and I think, just like the posture of the
classic question of what would you
do if you had only one day left to live and what
kind of choices and decisions would
you make and how to view life
as precious as it is.
Um, something that I think about sometimes
is a line from the play r town
in which the main character, Emily,
asks the narrator, actually very
meta. Um, do human beings ever
realize life as they live it? Every, every
minute? And the narrator says,
the saints and poets do
sometimes, but most not other people.
Um, and I think, I hope in
this film that people can kind of
get to be able to see through maybe a
saints or a poet's eyes. I don't want that to sound pretentious, but
just to have a second where they're like, oh,
like, how do I want to live? What are things that I want to say
to people? Or do, you know, because
life is short and fleeting,
um, and we kind of don't know
our last day. Only the Lord knows
that. Um, and I think
one thing that I'm taking away is, I think, like, the
power of friendship, confidence in
speaking your mind, I think, is like, which sounds
so cheesy, but I think
this. I was so nervous
to kind of go into this. Um,
this is the first film that
I can. That really. I mean, there's
projects in there, but, like, that I actually
not only, like, co directed, but just, like, directed in
general of a film.
And that was really nerve wracking,
especially working with Jonny, who is super
talented, and a lot of other people who
are, for students, at least, kind
of got a lot of experience under their belt, and I felt
very green, but I think just
learning to ask a lot of questions,
um, but also to kind of trust some of
the instincts that I had,
um, even though I
felt, in
some ways, like, insecure.
Um, but I
think learning how to do that and
learning,
um, yeah, kind
of the importance of, you know,
I hate it. Everyone says it, and it's so true, but, like, the fake it
till you make it. Um, I'm still trying to figure
out how I feel about that. Um, but
I'm super thankful for the
friends who I was able to make this with,
um, and for all the people who, along the way, inspired
this in big and small ways, um, because
all of life and all of experience is kind of just like your little
notebook for whatever art you're gonna make.
Um, and that's something that's beautiful and super
weird and lovely.
Um, and, yeah, so,
cheers.
Jonny Harmon: Cheers.
Po Yin Sham: Cheers.
Hope: Thanks for sharing, guys. Um, I feel like I've gotten
to know not just the movie a whole lot better, but, like, each of
you guys in relation to the movie and, like,
as people, and that's just been, like, really
cool. So thanks for sharing that with
me.
Po Yin Sham: Thank you for having us.
Emma Broyles: Thank you, Miss Li, for, uh, hosting
our little podcast.
Jonny Harmon: It's so warm in here. It's like there's a torch that's just this
hearth that's so welcoming.
Emma Broyles: There's actually a real torch in here. You can't hear it in the recording, but, like,
it almost like, uh, m.
Jonny Harmon: It singed my mustache a little bit.
Emma Broyles: I was gonna say that, but I didn't know if you wanted that on the air.
Jonny Harmon: Oh, okay. Well, I'm confident in the mustache.
Hope: I thought I smelled something.
Po Yin Sham: Something in the air. Sounds like a song
title.
Jonny Harmon: The musical, too.
Po Yin Sham: The loveliest ending the world
ends again.
Hope: So, um, can someone tell us, when is
this premiering? Like, when can we see this? I'm just
so excited. Like, when can we see this?
Jonny Harmon: Well, come on down and watch "A Lovely Ending" on
September 20 at the new renovated
Sutherland auditorium, now called Ethel Lee. And you can get your
tickets on the eventbrite, which is linked in the
Lovely Ending musical Instagram bio. It will
be co premiering alongside what is it called,
Farthest Space, and which was directed by Ryan
Pollard as his senior thesis and produced by Tristan Baumgardner and Nick
Bash. All lovely human beings who also love tea.
So come enjoy some tea, enjoy some good times
with your friends, your family, and get everyone there.
Come and watch it. And if you don't have a ticket still come.
Please preserve your ticket so we know who is coming. All that to
say, September 20 at 07:00 p.m. at Biola's campus at
Ethel Lee Auditorium. Thank you so much. And that is.
There's probably more stuff to say anyways.
Po Yin Sham: No, I think. I think that was. That was great. That was
perfect. Yeah. That's all.
Po Yin Sham: Um, you really need to know,
Hope: Thank you for listening to this episode of Biola Backstage. It
was such a pleasure getting to talk with Jonny, Emma, and Po and
hear about how the film has shaped them. Head to the show notes to check
out the trailer for "A Lovely Ending" and some of the work they referenced in
the episode. Until next time, Biola.
Emma Broyles: Oh, we didn't even talk about the pond dogs.
Jonny Harmon: Oh, my gosh.
Emma Broyles: Can we hop on here for a second?
Po Yin Sham: And we're back on it.
Hope: This episode of Biola Backstage was produced and
hosted by Hope Li with music from Adobe Stock.
Biola Backstage is recorded in the Torch radio studio at
Biola University. For more podcasts like this one, follow us on
Instagram @ kbr_the_torch with underscores in between. That's
KBR, underscore the, underscore torch.
