We spent all day Saturday on the set of BILLY: The Early Years in Lebanon, TN. It was a long, but rewarding day talking with the cast, producers, and the director, Robby Benson. It took 12 hours of shooting to capture what amounts to perhaps 3 minutes in this film. The producer, Larry Mortoff, told me that is about on par with this entire production. So, you can see that movie-making is a very tedious process. When I asked the director, Robbie Benson, if covering everything in such detail detracted from his creativity, he looked at me slightly puzzled at the question and answered that details ARE his job as the director. And what an experience watching a director like Robby bring his passion to his work.

The scene involved a young Billy Graham preaching his first sermon in a little country church while he was a student at the Florida Bible Institute. I won't say more, you'll have to see the movie, except that when the call went out for extras for the scene, who stepped forward but 3 of our radio crew? Christian Klein, Alan Duncan, and Tony Zanotti were rushed to wardrobe and came back transformed. Alan even paid the ultimate sacrifice of shaving his beard. You can see the results :)

Tonight is the big scene in the tent revival meeting where Billy Graham walked the sawdust trail as a teenager. Filming starts around 8:00 pm tonight and should last until 5:00 am Monday. We'll see if I stay awake all night before flying home...