Deep in the Heart of Texas Wildlife

Factual America

28 May

Written By

Deep in the Heart (2022) is a visually stunning portrait of Texas, told through the eyes of the wildlife species themselves. Narrated by Texas icon Matthew McConaughey and featuring state of the art cinematography, this documentary brings to life one of the world's most diverse, but possibly lesser known set of ecosystems.

Similar in style to Planet Earth, the film shows off some of the most remarkable wildlife spectacles and eco regions in the state of Texas, weaving in the story of our society's relationship with wildlife in Texas over the past 150 years.

Award winning filmmakers Ben Masters and Katy Baldock join us to celebrate the diverse landscapes and remarkable wildlife of the Lone Star State. Joining us as well to co-host this conversation is Patrick Scott Armstrong, host of The Lone Star Plate podcast, who interviews famous Texans and explores compelling Texas stories.

Deep in the Heart has its Texas-wide theatre release on June 3rd, and will be available on streaming platforms in July 2022.

“I learned a lot about my home state during the production of ‘Deep in the heart.’” - Ben Masters

Time Stamps:

00:00 - Guest introduction and Deep in the Heart Trailer.
07:00 - Where people can see the film in Texas and when it will stream online.
08:38 - What Deep in the Heart is about and how the idea for the film came about.
15:50 - How the film crew managed to capture ocelots on camera and what other animals they filmed.
26:30 - What message Ben and Katy want to get across to the audience with this film.
32:30 - How they got Matthew McConaughey to narrate the documentary.
37:05 - Cinematography in Deep in the Heart and the approach to filming the wildlife.
44:00 - What Katy and Ben want the legacy of this film to be.
50:30 - What actions are taken every day to preserve Texas waters and Texas wildlife.
01:01:20 - Further plans for the outreach and film distribution.
01:09:00 - The role of writing, narration and music in the documentary.

Resources:

Deep in the Heart (2022)
Take action to preserve Texas wildlife
Fin and Fur Films
Planet Earth series on BBC
MovieMaker Magazine
Innersound Audio
Alamo Pictures

Transcript for Factual America Episode 99: Deep in the Heart of Texas Wildlife

Katie Baldock 00:00
Hi, I'm Katie Baldock. I'm one of the producers for Deep in the Heart. I am a native Texan, and I currently live in Austin. And I've been working in film production for a little over four years now.

Ben Masters 00:12
My name is Ben Masters, and I'm part of a film company called Fin and Fur Films, which is based in Texas, and I direct and shoot, and I was the director for Deep in the Heart.

Speaker 1 00:25
Texas is a land of mystery and legend. Incredibly vast and diverse. It's where the Rocky Mountains give way to the Great Plains, and where the forests of the Deep South converge with the Blackland Prairie. From the spring fed rivers that bless the Hill Country, to the tropical forests of the Rio Grande Valley, Texas give life to animals found nowhere else and attracts migrations from across the hemisphere. From our headwater springs to the Gulf of Mexico, it is a land sculpted by water where nature has selected for the most adaptable and to those willing to stake their claim. For the very first time, this film will celebrate the natural wonders of Texas. It is a story about tragedies in our past, of recoveries against all odds, and is a call to action to conserve the wildlife and wild places in our home. This is a story for all who love Texas.

Matthew 02:36
This is Factual America. We're brought to you by Alamo Pictures, an Austin and London based production company making documentaries about America for international audiences. I'm your host, Matthew Sherwood. Each week, I watch a hit documentary and then talk with the filmmakers and their subjects. Today, we're talking about a subject close to my heart. Maybe I should say deep in the heart, as in deep in the heart of Texas, as we celebrate the diverse landscapes and remarkable wildlife of the Lone Star State. We are joined by award winning filmmakers Ben Masters and Katie Baldock. Their new film, Deep in the Heart, is a visually stunning portrait of Texas told through the eyes of the wildlife species themselves. Narrated by Texas icon Matthew McConaughey and featuring state of the art cinematography, Deep in the Heart brings to life one of the world's most diverse but possibly lesser known set of eco-systems, at least until now. Joining us also as my podcast partner-in-crime, Patrick Scott Armstrong, host of the Lone Star Plate. Patrick interviews famous Texans and explores compelling Texas stories. Every so often our worlds collide. Given my Texas roots and the overlap between documentary filmmaking and a truly compelling story about the Lone Star State, we decided to team up again. We hope you enjoy another special Factual America - Lone Star Plate episode. Welcome to Factual America and the Lone Star Plate. Before welcoming our guests, just wanted to welcome Patrick Scott Armstrong, host of the Lone Star Plate, to the Factual America podcast and say a big howdy to all Lone Star Plate listeners. Welcome for joining us for this special episode and we've done this before, Patrick, we did one on The State of Texas versus Melissa. I don't know about you guys, but I think we've got over 100,000 watches on YouTube for that one, and great news about Melissa Lucio in the last few weeks. So, yeah, welcome, and thanks for agreeing again to do this joint episode.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 04:48
They had to twist my arm but I said, Okay, if Matt really needs me, I'll be there. No, I'm kidding. Yeah, absolutely. I love doing this. This is always awesome. To change it up, and do something else. And you're sort of an expert in these realms with these films, so it's good to let me piggyback on here. Not that we don't discuss films on the podcast, but it's great to have experts, per se. So, yeah, I'm really looking forward to this phenomenal film. I can't wait to dive into this deep.

Matthew 05:20
Well, I agree with you there. And you're too kind about your comments about me. But I'm not being a good host, because we're keeping our guests waiting. So, Ben and Katie, welcome to Factual America and the Lone Star Plate. How are things with you, Katie?

Katie Baldock 05:37
Things are good. We just had our world premiere of Deep in the Heart on Thursday and have gotten a lot of great feedback from it. And getting ready for the theatrical release of the film on June 3. So, lots of exciting things happening.

Matthew 05:51
And Ben, how about you?

Ben Masters 05:55
I'm just glad nobody slept through my movie the other night!

Patrick Scott Armstrong 06:01
That's hilarious. I love it. Set the bar here, right? You're like, let me just put the bar here, we're good.

Ben Masters 06:07
Yeah, yeah. A wise film producer once told me that the key to meeting your goals is to set low expectations, so - !

Matthew 06:16
Well, if I can share, because this was sort of a - and thank you so much for your flexibility; I mean, this is sort of a last minute arrangement. And as a middle-aged man with a big glass of red wine watching this late at night, I didn't fall asleep. I was riveted. So, if that's a, you know, a thumbs up, a backhanded compliment, obviously. But please take it as it's intended. Just to remind our listeners, we're talking about the film is Deep in the Heart. As we've already heard, the theatrical release is coming. Limited, if you can describe a Texas wide theatrical release as limited, on June 3. Are there other plans for theatrical releases in the US? Or, what are we looking at in terms of streaming? How are people going to be able to see this in the weeks and months to come?

Katie Baldock 07:17
We have no other plans for theatrical release outside of Texas currently, but it'll be playing in about 60 theaters across Texas. So, pretty widely available in Texas theaters. In mid July, we'll be streaming on Apple TV, Google Play; so, it will be available for audiences outside of Texas in July.

Matthew 07:37
Okay, that's excellent news. Although, and I wish I had this opportunity, I would highly recommend going to the theater because that cinematography on a 15 inch screen just doesn't do it justice, I have to say; so, do come if you can, if you're anywhere in Texas, it's on the website. I know all the - I'm from San Antonio, I saw there's a bunch of Santikos theaters there that are showing it; so, do check it out. And certainly, we got a lot of - we're a UK based podcast, we got a lot of listener - more than half of our viewers and listeners are US based, and I know a decent number in Texas. So, do check that out. Ben and Katie, so most of our listeners, we're going to be releasing this in the next few days, weeks - week or so. Ahead of the - certainly around the time of the release, the theatrical release, but - Ben, maybe, we start with you. What is Deep in the Heart all about? Maybe you can give us a little synopsis for our listeners.

Ben Masters 08:42
Yeah, so Deep in the Heart is a 100 minute movie that is similar in style to Planet Earth, in the sense that it has, you know, different wildlife sequences that build on top of each other, that show off some of the most remarkable wildlife spectacles and, you know, eco-regions in the state of Texas, and it also weaves in the story of our society's relationship with wildlife in Texas over the past 150 years. And then, you know, the movie begins with the great slaughter of the bison on the plains and, you know, this horrible loss of our wildlife in Texas. And then it shows these amazing recoveries that we've had in the state, as well as, you know, some opportunities for us to do a lot better in, you know, ensuring that we conserve our amazing rivers and bays and, you know, functioning eco-systems here in the state. You know, I studied wildlife biology. So, this has been a passion project, and a real dream come true to get to show off my state.

Matthew 10:02
That's a very good point. I think, you know, because having been born and raised there, I'm aware. But I think probably, for a lot of listeners, both in the US and internationally, they think of Texas, and they think of tumbleweeds, and desert, and things like that. But it is probably one of the most ecologically diverse set of eco-systems that you could imagine in one sort of place, isn't it? I mean, maybe you could give us a little bit more on that, because it's quite amazing what you are presenting in your film. You often would have to go around the globe to find these different eco-systems, and they're all in one state, you know.

Ben Masters 10:45
Yeah, if you look at where Texas is positioned, and also, its just massive size, I mean, we have a little bit of the Rocky Mountains out west; we have, you know, some of the swamps and pine forests in East Texas, and then it merges with the Great Plains up north; then we have this amazing band of Hill Country, you know, right there in the center with Edwards Plateau, with this awesome aquifer system that just brings life to like twelve different rivers that then flow down to the Gulf of Mexico, into this really elaborate bay system that's protected from the Gulf that is, you know, just an incredibly rich coastline. And then the southern tip of Texas has more of like a subtropical or tamaleaf and thorn scrub type of eco-system where we've got these, you know, animals like ocelots, and these tropical species. So, Texas kinda has a ton of different eco-regions inside of it. But then it's also situated in the continent to where a ton of our butterflies and bats and birds that go, you know, north to south during their annual migrations, they get funneled through the state, because we have mountains to the west and the Gulf of Mexico to the east. So, yeah, it's a really cool spot. And, you know, to be honest, I learned a lot about my home state during this production. And it's been a really amazing experience.

Matthew 12:27
I mean, there's a lot to - and I know we're going to be talking about all these things; you mentioned ocelots. That's one I want to talk about. And the Edwards Aquifer I've been hearing about since I was a little boy, but, I mean, how did this idea for this film come about? You don't just, you know, Ben and Katie, you don't just one day say, You know what, I'm gonna do a 100 minute nature film, you know, like Planet Earth, or do a David Attenborough, or whoever; I mean, this is quite a challenging and quite an amazing film that you're bringing to the screen. I mean, how did the idea for this come about? And how do you go about making a nature doc like this? Katie, Ben wants you to answer that one. You get all the tough questions!

Katie Baldock 13:19
Well, yes, it really - Ben was the mastermind behind it, but I can take this one. Really, the inspiration for this came a lot from previous projects that we've worked on. One of those things being the ocelots. We were filming ocelots for probably a few months before we started on Deep in the Heart. And just the more we've learned about different wildlife species in Texas, different eco-regions, it really brought our awareness that there's a lot of these wildlife stories that people don't know about. And, like, we discussed previously, there's a lot of misconceptions about Texas, you know, ideas of like what Texas is, that in some cases, it's true, and some cases it's not. So, we really just wanted to show what we have here, and the diversity of the landscapes and the wildlife and the fragility and resiliency of the natural resources that we have. So, it's really just been kind of accumulation of inspiration from past projects that we've worked on, the biologists we've met, wildlife species we've been able to see. And just wanting to showcase that to the rest of Texas.

Matthew 14:44
Well, I mean, since you brought it up, I mean, let's talk ocelots because I seem to remember coming across this news story a few years ago, where, I mean, essentially we thought these were mythical beasts or whether they even existed anymore. You guys must - and that would have maybe been in my hometown paper - and I think as you have a whole segment on them. But you've got to, probably have some of the - you know, they're very hard creatures, I gather, to get on film, or to track down - but you guys must have some of the most, well, probably the best footage ever of ocelots, I would imagine. I mean, maybe tell us a little bit more - our viewers, listeners - what we're talking about as this guy keeps talking about ocelots. What are we talking about here? When it comes to this thing - it's another one of these great stories that you interweave throughout this doc.

Katie Baldock 15:44
Yeah, so ocelots are an endangered cat species that live in South Texas. They're about 30 pounds, similar looking to a jaguar or leopard, but smaller, and they're just a beautiful, beautiful cat. They are pretty isolated, as far as where they live. So, there's pretty small populations. Populations that exist are pretty fragile. But we started trying to film ocelots, about three years ago. And really what allowed us to do that is advanced camera trap technologies. So, because the cats are so elusive, and there's so few of them, it's not like filming elk, or certain bird species where you can just go out and see them. They live in really dense, thick thorn scrub habitat that's difficult to get through. And you could be walking through this landscape, and there could be an ocelot ten feet away from you, but you wouldn't be able to see it, just because it's so thick. So, we set out camera traps, that are - they're high quality cameras inside of waterproof boxes, essentially. And they're connected to beam brake sensors, where if an animal walks through, it triggers the camera to turn on and then it starts filming. So, that is what allowed us to get so much footage of ocelots in the wild. And we do have the first known footage of wild ocelots in the United States. And it was just - we really, we weren't - we thought that it was a very slim chance of getting any daytime footage of ocelots because they are typically nocturnal. And we were really surprised by how much we were able to see. I think in a year of filming, we got over five hours of footage of ocelots just in the daytime, that's not including night time shots. They really didn't seem to mind the presence of our cameras being there. And it was just really, really special to get that intimate look into how they interact with each other, how a mother interacts with her kittens, and teaches the kittens how to hunt and provide for themselves. So, that was a really, really special opportunity for us.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 17:11
Well, let me jump in real quick here.

Matthew 18:22
Yeah, go ahead.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 18:25
This leads me to a great question. So, like, I'm curious what animals you could be the most open with filming and what, you know, what ones you had to be the most secretive with. So, it sounds like ocelot were, you know, some of the ones you had to sort of, right, we got to be out of the picture here, per se, no pun intended, to get them in picture, I guess. So, yeah, what sort of other animals were - you could just be more free with the camera, right, and some you gotta be sneaky with - curious. Ben, or Katie, sorry.

Ben Masters 19:01
Yeah, so, one of the things that we wanted to do is to show about twelve different species that were each in a different eco-region in Texas.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 19:14
Sure.

Ben Masters 19:14
So, a lot of it was figuring out kind of where to film, and then to also find an animal, and the behavior for that animal, that represents something larger than itself. For example, the alligator gar that we filmed on the Trinity River. It's this amazing, seven foot long fish that's the size of you that lives in a river, grows to be 70 years old, and once every five years, whenever the floodwaters are just right, the females will leave the rivers and go out onto the floodplain, deposit their eggs and as they go they, like, leave these scent trails where the males follow. So, you've got these, you know, like a dozen fish the size of a human, out swimming through water that's only like 10 inches deep, just this amazing behavior. And it's cool by itself, but it also speaks to the importance of healthy rivers and how, you know, those naturally occurring floods are really important for our native fish to have the reproductive cycle. So, that's kind of how we decided to identify our characters. And what we decided to do was, the bison up in the plains, because that, you know, tells us a lot about our history, and then a wonderful recovery story. We did a white tailed deer sequence down in South Texas that was really rowdy, and, you know, deer is this cultural phenomenon in Texas. Then we did the ocelots, which is, you know, the super rare animal that we haven't recovered, but we need to recover. And there is a lot of opportunities for us to do so. And then we tried to shine a light on some of our more elusive and crazy animals, like the blind cat fish and the blind salamander, which are literally found below my feet right now in the aquifer down to, like, 2000 feet deep in this subterranean world in which we know very little about. And they've just adapted to these cave systems; there's enough nutrients that soaks through the soil where its created this whole evolution of life, where stuff doesn't have eyes, and they just kind of creep around and eat each other, which is really crazy. But, you know, they're also connected to us, in a sense, because they rely on the same healthy aquifers that support our springs, which, you know, bring life to our rivers. We did a very intense sequence on Bracken Cave, which is the largest bat cave in the world. I think we spent like twelve and a half minutes there, that just showed this, not only this amazing emergence as twenty million bats exit in a batnado from a cave to go fly 100 miles and kill moths, you know, many hours away, but everything else that comes in and preys upon these baby bats as they learn how to fly. It's a really cool sequence.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 22:39
Yeah. It's unbelievable.

Ben Masters 22:42
Yeah. It's rowdy, yeah!

Patrick Scott Armstrong 22:43
So amazing. I thought they should have hired you guys for Morbius, right? Because, those bat shots sucked in that movie! That's what I was thinking. They needed to bring these guys in. No, honestly, and being from Texas, I'm in Dallas right now, like, I'm a Texan; like, I lived in Austin for a long time. I've never seen the bats like that. That was really cool. Honestly. Quite amazing, to be honest.

Ben Masters 23:09
Yeah, it was pretty wild. The editor and I, Sam Klatt - you know, kudos, hats off to him - we watched a lot of horror films for that sequence, to figure out how to do jump scares properly; how to, like, set up the music and make it as scary as we possibly could.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 23:28
Wow.

Ben Masters 23:28
And we succeeded. On the premiere night, I looked up in the front row and there was, like, this seven year old kid that, like, had to leave the scene!

Patrick Scott Armstrong 23:39
That's all, Yes. Scared a kid!

Matthew 23:43
I haven't had a chance yet, but I'm going to show it to my nine year old, so I'm gonna see how - I'll let you know how he reacts.

Ben Masters 23:50
Yeah, I know I shouldn't be proud of that, but, like...

Patrick Scott Armstrong 23:52
No, no, I love it. I love it. I love it. That's great.

Katie Baldock 23:56
Ben, I think you're referring to my nephew!

Ben Masters 23:59
Oh, really? Sorry about that. I didn't say anything bad about him.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 24:08
No, no, no. He recovered.

Ben Masters 24:11
Came in from East Texas.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 24:13
No, no, no. Hey, that's real. I mean those are real, you know, that's like legit - no CGI in that, right? Those are real bats.

Ben Masters 24:23
No, no; like, you're gonna jump and get scared and...

Patrick Scott Armstrong 24:27
There was a trap one, too. There was a trap part that got me, too, that was honestly my biggest jump scare in the film. I don't know if you remember when the trap went - that got me. I was already tense at that moment.

Matthew 24:39
You're talking about mountain lions.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 24:40
Yeah, yeah, I was already tense at that moment, though, with the traps.

Ben Masters 24:42
Yeah, that was a well edited sequence. I'm really proud of that one. It just kind of shows the reality of what these mountain lions have to live with in Texas. But to keep going through our list, we did a beautiful dark sky sequence out in West Texas; you know, we have the darkest skies of any national park in the United States. You know, a black bear story, this amazing story of how they're coming back. A mountain lion story. I'm not going to give away anything there, cos you gotta go and see it, and see what happens. But it's scary, like you said. We showed a story of hope in East Texas and how many of these forests have regrown. And, you know, through those forests flow these really amazing rivers in the eastern half of Texas that support this gigantic fish, the alligator gar. We show a spawning sequence, then we kind of take the rivers out into the Gulf of Mexico. And along the way, we show all the life that it brings to alligators to migrating birds, red fish, and then, you know, the movie kind of climaxes at the end, or finishes with this really beautiful coral reef that growing up here, I didn't even know that we had; there's a coral reef off of Texas. So, yeah, it's a true journey across the state. It has some of our most charismatic animals and also has some of our most unknown.

Matthew 26:17
And, you know, we could take each one of those - so, in trying to weave these, you know, in weaving all these stories together - sort of cut to the chase, because there's plenty to talk about. What's the message you're trying to get across? Are you trying to reach Texans? And is this a bit of a call to action, in terms of this is where we've been, this is what we have achieved, to make up for some of the past wrongs. And, but yet, a lot more still needs to be done. Is that a fair enough assessment?

Katie Baldock 26:59
Yes, I think, excuse me, a lot of times, when looking into conservation issues, really all over the world, it's easy to get really discouraged by animals that are being endangered and going extinct, and eco-systems that are being impacted by human activity. It's easy to kind of get down and lose hope on that. But at the same time, a lot of these wildlife species and eco-systems are resilient, and when given the room to recover, they can and in some cases, you know, that just means humans stepping back and allowing it to recover. We've seen that with the forest in East Texas, by just purchasing land, and allowing them to regrow. In other cases, such as the ocelots, that involves human interaction with us stepping in and then, you know, taking measures to recover those species. But regardless, there's always stories of hope. What we hope to show with this film is that, yes, there's a lot of work we have to do. And there's a lot of, you know, problems that we have to solve, but there are people and organizations that are working on doing that. And there's a lot of actions that people can take both in large and small ways to contribute to that recovery.

Matthew 28:32
I mean, I think we'll have - well, your website certainly has links to many of these organizations. But do you want to, at the risk of leaving someone out, but maybe give some more shout-outs to some of these people because - how important were they in the making of this film?

Katie Baldock 28:51
A lot of the organizations and biologists were critical in the making of this film, whether it was donating money or giving us land access or providing information. One example is, again, back to the ocelots, the population that we filmed in South Texas is on private land, and we had access to - it's the East Foundation - they're an incredible organization that works with ranchers in South Texas to show that you can have private land and ranching and still be stewards of the land with benefits to wildlife. So, East Foundation, Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute in South Texas, both were really critical in helping us get footage of the ocelots, and just examples like that all across the state; the Nature Conservancy in West Texas. Their property is where we filmed mountain lions. The San Antonio Zoo helped us with the blind catfish and blind salamanders. So, every single sequence that you see in the film, there are organizations and people behind that, that contributed to us making that a reality, and that are doing work to conserve that eco-system or that species.

Matthew 30:13
And then, how about, I mean, you mentioned something financially, but, you know, these nature docs aren't cheap to make. Were they also involved in sort of - how did you, you know, I mean, I don't want to get into the business side of this yet, or at all, really, but the sort of, I mean, how did you get backers behind this film?

Ben Masters 30:39
I mean, you know, Texas has a lot of individuals that have made a lot of money. And it's also an extremely philanthropic state. I mean, almost all of our conservation work has been done through private dollars, a lot of it is, and, you know, we've been making wildlife movies for ten years or so now, that we've just developed a network of people who think that film and movies is money well spent, whenever it comes to, you know, promoting their goals of advancing the education of conservation and of wildlife. And so, we were able to apply for grants and reach out to individuals and philanthropists in Texas that funded the film. And, you know, I think that that's something that's also kind of unique to Texas, because we have, you know, the people that can fund this kind of stuff. And I'm extremely grateful for it because it's very expensive. You know, we had probably over 1000 cameraman days in production, and you know, some high quality gear and really good composers. So, yeah, it was an expensive endeavor, and it was still tight on funds. And I'm really hoping, really hoping, the release is successful, because that'll make it a little bit easier for us to make the next one. But yeah, I mean, it was self-funded, you know, it was made by Texans with Texas money.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 32:17
Was that how you guys got McConaughey involved?

Ben Masters 32:22
Yeah, that actually happened a lot easier than I had anticipated. We got to a rough cut stage. And I called his agent, I just googled McConaughey's agent, and, yeah, called him on the phone, and he actually picked up. Told him about the project. And he asked for some sample footage to send to Matthew, and Matthew saw it and was, like, this is awesome. Like, this is just bleeding Texas. I want to be a part of this. And he delivered a phenomenal performance.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 32:54
So good. So, he really makes - it's really an integral part of the film. Not that the visual part isn't but his narration really does add - plus people know, right, he is a true Texan. He loves Texas. He cares about Texas; like, it's a perfect match. It really is. Yeah, he's amazing. Even a nice little dig at Oklahoma in there. I saw it. I thought, Yeah, perfect. Yeah, it's no - look, that's what we do here in Texas, right. What's the best thing about Oklahoma? It's close to Texas. That's, you know, that's it. So, look, I get it. No, I loved it. Yeah, he added such a great element to it. Was his narration - Okay, so, you'd already shot some stuff, brought him in afterward; did he narrate with a finished rough cut, sort of thing, that sort of style, like, or did he help with his narration, then helped the edit somewhat, if that makes sense, like help direct the edit.

Ben Masters 33:56
It was a dance. It was a dance. You know, I did the tip narration then we actually got to a soft lock, a soft picture lock. And then Matthew came in and did his narration. And what we discovered is Matthew's voice is - it, like, almost as a melody to it, where he strings together a complete thought almost as one and it's very legible. And he has just, like, such an iconic, beautiful voice. Whereas my tip narration kind of had these pauses and halts, so it was a lot, you know, more spread out. So, he delivered it and then we, you know, had to maneuver a couple of scenes around to make it fit just right. And some of the words, you know, rolled off better for him, but overall, you know, it worked out really well.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 34:52
Yeah, it's amazing.

Matthew 34:54
Wow. Was he at the premiere the other night?

Ben Masters 34:58
No, he was on a shoot. It's a bummer.

Matthew 35:03
Well, that's really - I mean, no, I agree with you. I think it's a - what a bit of inspiration if it was always so easy to just call someone up and say, Do you mind narrating this film? You know, it's - but that's...

Patrick Scott Armstrong 35:16
It's all about your message, right, and the footage, right. I think that probably had a lot to do with it. You know, in your past work, I'm sure, Ben, and, you know what you guys stand for. Yeah, I'm sure that had a lot to do with it.

Matthew 35:29
Yeah.

Ben Masters 35:29
And it speaks to the values that Matthew has, as well. Like, he cares about this kind of stuff.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 35:35
Absolutely. Yes. 100%. Yeah.

Matthew 35:38
I think we're gonna, maybe right there, we'll give our listeners a quick break, and let our sponsors say a quick hello to everyone. So, we'll be right back with Ben Masters and Katie Baldock, the award winning filmmakers behind Deep in the Heart. Limited theatrical release on June 3, but as we heard, it's going to be out on various different streaming platforms in the very near future.

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Matthew 36:35
Welcome back to Factual America and the Lone Star Plate. We're here with Ben Masters and Katie Baldock, the award winning filmmakers behind Deep in the Heart. It's getting its release in Texas on June 3; come July, you'll be able to find it on places like, what, I think we said Google and Apple and other streaming platforms. So, we've been talking about this amazing film, I mean, your vision, maybe talk a little bit about the cinematography, because I think that's what's so, you know, you've made a very artful and stunning film with - you've already talked about the number of cameramen hours you had, and, you know, it doesn't happen overnight. I mean, that must have been a conscious decision when you were making this film, that you wanted it to be something that was stunning, as well as telling these Texas stories.

Ben Masters 37:39
Thank you for the compliment, there. The director of photography, Skip Hobbie, was kind of the guide of, you know, how many of the scenes were shot. And kind of how we went into it is whenever we would go and shoot a sequence, we would have an idea of what that sequence would be about. But because it's nature, and it's not scripted, you don't know what you're gonna get. So, what we would try to do is get the critical behaviors first. And whether that was a buck fight, whether that was black bears climbing trees to get, you know, acorns or whether that was, you know, the alligator gar spawning, we went for the critical behaviors first, because without the critical behaviors, there was no reason to get any of the establishing shots. So, we went for the critical behaviors, once we got them, we were like, alright, how do we then build out this story with the right light, and with the right type of setting that is going to take you into that critical behavior, and then also to look at coming out of the transition as well into the next scene. So, throughout the whole process, as we would shoot, we would bring the footage in, ingest it, kind of put together these rough string outs and just kind of see how the movie was playing together, which then guided a lot of the shooting. But it was all small teams, and none of us are super experienced cinematographers so we just watched a ton of Planet Earth II, and saw what other people were doing and figured it out.

Matthew 39:32
And was this all - I mean, how many years did this take to make, and was most of it done during the pandemic?

Ben Masters 39:39
Yeah, so this started in 2018. And we shot most of it in two years, but there was kind of some pickups and stuff. And we didn't shoot, you know, the entire time. Some of the shoots only took an afternoon; like, the alligator gar sequence took an afternoon, whereas the mountain lion took a year. I mean, we had camera traps for a full year.

Matthew 40:04
Yeah. Wow.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 40:08
Yeah, some of the Texas sky shots were unbelievable, right? Like with the clouds in there. I mean, there was shots of Texas in this I've never, like, I've never seen captured before, but I've always known about, right? It's like when you try to tell people, describe a Texas sky to people, it's hard. You got to see a bunch of them and, like, you know, put it together, right? Like y'all did such a great job of just showing, you know, really these unique parts of Texas, even for people that are from here, right. Like I learned things about Texas, I had no idea and I've, you know, lived here my whole life. It's crazy. Yeah, amazing. Amazing. Really.

Katie Baldock 40:48
If you've never been out to Big Bend and seen how dark the skies are, you really don't understand it or comprehend it. I grew up in East Texas, and we have dark skies there. But I, you know, I always heard about dark skies in Big Bend, you can see the Milky Way, and you don't fully understand it until you see it.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 41:10
Yes, yes, I agree. Yes, absolutely. Yeah, it's a beautiful part of Texas. Marfa, that area, too. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, y'all did just such a great job of capturing, again, parts that a lot of people go out and capture. But I don't know, just the way y'all shot it.

Matthew 41:30
I've seen The River and the Wall. And it had similar - was Skip Hobbie involved with that as well, because you had some similar, not similar - well, similar; I mean, it was very evocative. I mean, I remember commenting, because - just so you know, back, when we first got started, one of the first films we did was The River and the Wall. That one of our illustrious sponsors talked about, who's also got Texas connections. And I remember thinking, you could actually - I could feel the heat coming off of one of the scenes when you're filming out in West Texas, so. So, what's your goal? You want people to come out of the theater, or Texans to come out, just inspired, right? And what can we do? I think you made a very good point, Katie, and something that Patrick and I were discussing beforehand, and we've, as you know, on Factual America, we've had a few now of these nature docs, and they run the gamut. And certainly, not long ago, many nature docs were all trying to scare the hell out of us, and maybe rightfully so. But we know, most people when you scare them and shock them like that, they basically kind of go comatose, and go into a bit of state of inaction. And certainly, you're of a generation of filmmakers who are making these films that are actually saying, wait a minute, okay. There are challenges, obviously, but there are solutions as well. And there are things we can do. And yes, sometimes we take steps forward, and sometimes we take steps back, but, on the whole, if we all get in, you know, pull together, and there are things that we can do, whether we're part of big organizations, or, I think, as Ben was saying, in Texas, which is a very interesting point you were making that, you know, how much of this is done through the private sector. But, you know, what do you want to have? What do you want this film's legacy to be?

Katie Baldock 43:45
I think it's a tricky balance to reach between highlighting the urgency for action without making people feel discouraged, and, you know, a good balance between doom and gloom and hope. You know, so, in order to highlight the urgency, like, you have to show our failures and our challenges and the areas where we aren't doing well and statistics on, you know, what could happen if we don't take action, but also providing ways that we can preserve these eco-systems and wildlife species. Finding that balance is tricky sometimes, but if people go see this film, and then walk out of the theater feeling inspired to go to the website, support organizations that are listed on the website; if they feel specifically compelled to focus their efforts on helping the gulf coast of Texas, and then they go to the website and either donate money for an organization on the Gulf Coast, or if they go home and transform their front yard into a native garden instead then that is what we hope to come out of this film.

Matthew 45:12
And Ben, what do you think are the priorities? I mean, in terms of what we, you know, in - globally, but certainly specifically, Texas, what needs to - you know, is it - I mean, it's probably all the above. But is it water conservation? Because that certainly was - no pun intended - running through all the - most of the different stories and vignettes. Is it rewilding? What do we need to - I mean, you know, what would you think are the priorities in terms of the ur - you know, given the, you know, there is an urgency here?

Ben Masters 45:53
Well, before I dive into the priorities, I do want to acknowledge what we did in the credits; like, the film ends, and then, right there, it tells you many different ways how to get involved; like, here's how you can sign your support for TPWD to begin managing mountain lions to ensure that they have a future in our state. Like, here's what you can do to get involved in ocelots. Here's some resources, how you can transition your lawn to where they can provide habitat for these amazing migrating birds and these amazing, you know, migrating butterflies and bats. You know, we live in the most important migratory corridor in North America. And if you have, you know, a lawn, you can provide habitat for that stuff. And, I mean, that's really cool. That's better than having some stupid exotic plant that just looks pretty. You tell that to your landscaper.

Matthew 46:52
And absorbs tons of water. Yeah, exactly.

Ben Masters 46:55
Yeah. But like, as a society, you know, in Texas, a lot of our endemic animals, animals that are found nowhere else, they're primarily water based. And water is an issue that an individual can't fix. An individual can do things to reduce their use of water. But at the end of the day, if government doesn't make the decision to, you know, put the right actions to ensure that we have healthy rivers and healthy aquifers, and, you know, kind of delegate those tasks out to different water conservation districts, you know, that would be the biggest shame of all, because, you know, Texas rivers are absolutely integral to our identity. And it should be very alarming to people that just in the last 50 years, we've lost one half of our major springs in the state. And, you know, it's not like a political thing. It's not a left or a right thing. It should be something that everybody gets behind. And that was really important to us with the messaging of this film is we didn't want to alienate people. We wanted to bring all Texans together and be like, hot damn, our home is fucking rad. And we should make sure to make it better.

Matthew 48:20
That should be your tagline, I think, for this film.

Ben Masters 48:24
"Hot damn, Texas is fucking rad."?!

Matthew 48:27
"Fucking rad!" Yes! You'll get more wider distribution...

Ben Masters 48:31
Right there on the posters!

Matthew 48:32
You've got it right there. But, Katie...

Katie Baldock 48:35
That won't go well with our messaging about the film being family friendly!

Matthew 48:39
Yes. It is. Well, you know, I mean, some - I mean, I would finally get one of my teenagers to watch. But, I mean, this is - you know, I think that's a very good point, too, because one thing I haven't done, I do - I have a family and I do want to - and I know Patrick's got some nephews and stuff, you know - I do want to sit down and watch this with them, because I think it's a great film that they will really appreciate. Especially since they haven't grown up there. But, you know, this water thing's interesting, because, I mean, I'm of an age - when I was a little boy, all we heard about was, it was absolutely verboten, you could not build on the recharge zone for the Edwards Aquifer. Lo and behold, 50 years later, there's, like, I mean, as you say, the Hill Country is the fastest growing part of the state. There's buildings, I mean, many of the people who are going to be coming to see your film live in the recharge zone now and in subdivisions and developments and, you know, is that - at the same time in the film you mention that a lot of areas have now been protected, I don't know if that's through nature conservancy or, you know, which is a great organization or how they've done it, but, you know, is the water issue - you've mentioned, it's a big one. It's certainly is the big part of this Texas story, but is there anything specific, is there any legislation, are there anything that's going to be happening in terms of protecting Texas's water?

Ben Masters 50:15
There's a lot of stuff that happens every single day with Texas's water. And some of its voluntary, it's not regulatory, actually a lot of it's voluntary. One of the organizations that is supported in the credits is Texas Water Trade. And what they do is they take a look at who has the rights to water, and they figure out ways to buy those rights. And then, you know, either put them back into the river or put them back into the aquifer. And whenever you take a look at something like Austin, and Barton Springs Pool, you think about what that does to the economy and to the culture of Austin. Like, if it was needed for them to raise, you know, $100,000 to buy the water rights that were critical for that spring to flow, it would be a no brainer. And that's what they're doing pretty much across the state is saying, like, alright, like, you know, these water rights used to be here, let's buy these water rights. And if that brings freshwater into the Gulf, then that's going to provide, you know, this economic benefit for recreational fishing and shrimping and Gulf Coastal tourism. So, they're just shifting these things around, and working with the system that is because it's Texas, you know, regulation is a bad word. And it's just important to know the landscape that we're working with. And, but yeah, I mean, it's - I was super inspired. I mean, across the state, everywhere we went, we found landowners and a lot of private folks doing stuff as well as, like, public and private-public partnerships. It's a great time to be in conservation, because you can actually do something, or there's plenty of opportunity.

Matthew 51:56
Yeah, I think that's - well, what struck me, too, was, we used to hear - that C word doesn't get used that much anymore, in some ways. We always hear about the environment and things but conservation it's almost sort of a 19 - I mean, I don't mean in a bad way. I mean, it's kind of almost an old school way, but I think it's probably a good way, to approach this. Used to hear a lot about fishermen and different hunters' organizations, and all working on these sort of things and trying to preserve nature for future generations. I mean, what about farmers and ranchers, are they - I mean, I don't want to make too much of it, but are they slowly coming on board as well? I know you mentioned some of the ones in South Texas with regards to the ocelot but is that - is this something - do you sense a sea - I guess what I'm getting at, do you - and I'm not trying to give farmers or ranchers a bad name, believe me - but do you sense I think generally, is there a kind of a sea change, people are realizing that actually, it is in our interest to preserve, you know, to ensure that we have the water that we need? I don't know if any of these springs can come back. But you know, to have those all come back into action?

Ben Masters 53:12
Yeah, I think so, certainly. You know, again, we filmed across the state. You know, now we have the technology and we have the tools to where, you know, if a rancher wants to replant in native grasses, they can do that; like, we figured out how to propagate it, we figured out how to, you know, bring these prairies back. And I think that there's tremendous interest across the state from different private landowners who really want to take as good of care of their land as possible. And they get it; like, you know, Texas is really, really special. And to get to own a piece of that and to steward a piece of that, the people who have that opportunity they take a lot of pride in it.

Matthew 53:59
So, basically, what we're talking about is rewilding the state, isn't it?

Ben Masters 54:05
Yeah, I mean, I think some stuff already has been rewilded extremely successfully. If you look at whitetail deer, you know, a hundred years ago, there was fewer than 100,000. Today there's 5 million. If you look at turkeys, you look at desert bighorn sheep, you look at bison, you look at pronghorn, there's a lot of success stories in Texas. And, you know, there's obviously some spots for improvement. You know, the ocelot we've been dragging our feet on doing reintroductions there, but we definitely need to get some more ocelots on landscape. Mountain lions, you know, they should be managed with some degree of regulation just so we don't lose that species from Texas. It's so important to our identity and the current regulations are just from a bygone era that need to get updated.

Matthew 54:51
I just think how many Texas high schools have cougars as their mascot? I mean, I think that enough should be enough to keep, you know, to get a change there.

Ben Masters 55:01
So, an interesting statistic is in the Top 10 mascots in Texas, the panthers, the lions, the cougars, and the wildcats are in the Top 10. So, I mean, it's a part of our identity, and it's bullshit that somebody can go out and trap a cat and just leave it in a trap until it dies from dehydration. That's crazy.

Matthew 55:22
Yeah, I mean, as you say, I thought that's something we'd left behind many, many years ago.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 55:27
Like, what can restaurants and, you know, I come from the restaurant industry, what can restaurants do to sort of help with this? You know, what they provide right to the community creates demand, right? And that trickles down, which leads to this. So, has that ever been thought of or, I don't know, any plans for that. Anybody?

Katie Baldock 55:48
I mean, that's not something we go into on the film. But really just being conscious on the ingredients and where the food comes from, and how it's sourced and as far as produce, getting produce from local farmers and being aware of where the meat comes from, and how it's raised. And, yeah, there's definitely things that the restaurant industry can do. But it's not something that's touched on in the film right now. But...

Matthew 56:19
To pick up on what Katie saying, also, I think what the film does so well is, and I know, like Ben was saying, well, there's things we can do as individuals and there's certain things we, you know, are beyond our abilities as individuals and we need to work with organizations and things like on water and stuff. But the film does so well and opens with is that there was this woman who saved the last five bison back in the 1880s or 90s, whenever that was exactly. And then basically had them, I don't know how she did it, but she saved them, and that herd that was in Palo Duro Canyon, I think it's been moved, but now we've got a - I mean, look, we're not talking 5 million as there used to be, but there at least is a herd of bison roaming free in the plains of Texas, and that started with one person, right? Someone who was way ahead of her time. And I think there's going - there must be - probably, Ben, you're probably being well, there's limits to what you could do and being maybe even a bit bashful. But you're probably coming across examples of that all the time when you were going around Texas filming, I would imagine.

Ben Masters 57:37
Yeah, another thing that comes to mind is in East Texas, in the Big Thicket preserve in the 1940s, there was a lady named Geraldine Watson. And whenever she was a kid, she got to see some of the Big Thicket before it was all cut down. And I'm talking about all of it cut down. And then, you know, it came back as these small trees, but they weren't the same, and she just had this vision of, like, trying to bring back this forest that she knew in her childhood. And she dedicated her life, and she had family members, she had friends saying, like, Hey, you're crazy. You're off the rocker. And whenever she died, she could look back and say that she was one of the main reasons and was the force behind the Big Thicket National Preserve, which is, you know, almost a quarter million acres. It's found in East Texas and is one of the most diverse preserves and was the first National Preserve in the country. So, you look at these different issues, and these different reintroductions, and rewilding, and these big ideas that we take for granted. They're often started by just a handful of individuals who just won't give up on them.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 58:57
Yeah, absolutely. Activists, right?

Katie Baldock 59:01
Adding on to that, really a big part of it, too, is public outreach, and just sharing the word about the importance of conserving these resources, because back to Geraldine Watson, and what Ben was talking about her, a big part of her mission was public outreach in the Big Thicket region. At that time, a lot of people in the area were really against conserving those landscapes and preserving the land to bring back the forest. And so, what a big part of what she did was just reaching out to people in the community and expressing the importance of preserving that and I think that's, you know, that's something that anybody can do. If you don't have money to donate to an organization, don't have the resources to, you know, plant an extensive native garden, anybody can spread the word on the importance of conserving.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 59:59
Absolutely.

Matthew 59:59
Well, well, thank you for the job you two are doing for spreading that word. I think it's - as someone, I don't - I'm not privileged to live in Texas at the moment, but I certainly have a lot of fond memories of going fishing and going for hikes and going trips to the Big Bend and all these things. And I think it captures a - something that I think is, like, we said at the top, I mean, probably many people around the globe or even within the US or in some even within the state of Texas do not appreciate the diversity in the various eco-systems that the state has, and a beauty that it has that is very unique, I would say. We've already talked about there's gonna be a bit of a wider release, but what are the further plans for this film? Once you've gone - you've got the release in June, wider release streaming in July? It's just to continue spreading the word, is that the plan?

Ben Masters 1:01:12
Yeah, we're gonna keep spreading the word. And we've broken down the film into shorter segments to, you know, live as standalone pieces, and to give to the different organizations that helped us put it together. And then each of those segments is also going to have, or already has, a curriculum guide. So that teachers have the resources to, you know, show their kids like, this is the bison, this is the history in Texas, this is how it works in that part of the region. So, yeah, trying to get as much good out of the footage that we can.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 1:01:43
That's awesome. Wow, that's so cool.

Matthew 1:01:45
And I know, Patrick on his site, we'll do it on ours as well, we'll have - in the show notes, certainly - we'll have links to the website and these things, so...

Patrick Scott Armstrong 1:01:55
Oh, yeah, of course.

Matthew 1:01:56
I've had a look around. I highly recommend everyone have a look at the website. And yeah, there's all these great resources, all these great organizations, whether it's ocelots or Guadalupe bass or whatever it is that tickles your fancy there is some organization that you can reach out to, or support, if that's something that you're able to do; so, I do highly recommend the - besides watching the film. Watch the film and then go to the website, and do what you can. Ben and Katie, you've collaborated on a few films now. I mean, what's next for you? Are you able to think ahead that far? Are you still really focused on this film? Any new projects coming in the works?

Ben Masters 1:02:50
Well, I think we're far from done. But we're not - I'm not ready to really announce anything right now. But there's stuff cooking on the back burner and it's getting moved up to the front burner pretty...

Patrick Scott Armstrong 1:03:02
Maybe with Mr. McConaughey, again? I bet he was like, Let's do something again.

Ben Masters 1:03:07
We'll see.

Matthew 1:03:07
Yeah, there you go. There you go.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 1:03:08
I'm just saying. That's my guess.

Ben Masters 1:03:10
I want to see how the first one does first. I mean, having a blue chip, feature length in theaters is a really, really strange movie-in-release model. So, I have no idea how it's gonna do. Fingers crossed it's super successful and we can just keep this going.

Matthew 1:03:30
Yeah, well, well, definitely. I mean, you've another nature doc. I mean, I know you've done nature shorts but you've also had some that were more, say, sort of adventure-ish type - we've mentioned The River and the Wall - more character led, you know; do you have another full length nature doc in you? Or are you thinking moving in maybe a slightly different direction?

Ben Masters 1:03:57
I think we'll probably continue to do both. You know, we're coming out with a 15 minute film for PBS Nature called American Ocelot this fall. But, yeah, we're scheming up some feature lengths that are blue chip. I like the nature docs. It's fun. You don't have to deal with audio!

Matthew 1:04:24
Exactly. But you've got - I mean, that's the other thing, we haven't talked about, but you've got great, there's great sound to this.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 1:04:30
The sound's amazing. Y'all did a good job of knowing when the music should come in and not; like, letting Texas be on stage and in the crowd. It was cool. It was - y'all did a good job of that.

Ben Masters 1:04:45
Did you notice any of the melodies in the movie? Any of the melodies in the cue? In the score?

Patrick Scott Armstrong 1:04:51
No, no, like, in reference to something else, you mean? No, no, I didn't. Oh, no.

Ben Masters 1:04:56
Yeah. So, we adapted The Texas National Anthem, Deep in the Heart of Texas.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 1:05:04
Okay.

Matthew 1:05:10
So, there's a reason I had that - I was gonna say I had that tune. I had the Bob Wills version running around in my head for the last few hours.

Ben Masters 1:05:17
[hums Deep in the Heart of Texas]

Patrick Scott Armstrong 1:05:23
That's cool y'all did that. So, you pulled it out. You extended it.

Ben Masters 1:05:27
Yeah.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 1:05:27
Yeah, yeah.

Ben Masters 1:05:28
Rewatch it, and you'll get a new appreciation.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 1:05:32
That' so cool.

Ben Masters 1:05:33
A lot of subtlety and detail on that. Watching it a second time. Pay especial attention to the cue.

Ben Masters 1:05:40
That's cool.

Ben Masters 1:05:41
That's the Texas theme.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 1:05:41
That's so cool. Wow, great, great job. I gotta say real quick. My favorite shot. I hope I'm not spoiling anything. It's the one where the bat is stuck with the cactus. And I feel so bad for this little bat. And then you just see in the background, this little snake come around, and I'm just like, No...

Matthew 1:05:59
That's when you needed to cue the Jaws music.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 1:06:00
No, no, no, no. I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, don't. And that little snakes like, Hey, hey, what's going on over here? Oh, hey, little buddy. Seems like you're stuck, like, I mean, my gosh, that was just, like, the craziest shot. I can't even imagine getting that, seeing that. You know, oh my god, we got this. Like, what an amazing shot that was. Amongst many phenomenal shots that were captured, but yes.

Matthew 1:06:24
I agree, and not to spoil it either, but did you know that that was potential to happen? I mean, when you're filming that, that this happens with the bats and the snakes?

Ben Masters 1:06:36
We did. Yeah, we actually put a camera operator in the snake pit for, like, a month.

Matthew 1:06:42
I wouldn't want that job!

Ben Masters 1:06:44
Yeah, he had, like, this gas mask, and he was just like, getting covered in bat poop and pee for like three hours a night with the sole job of, like, getting the snake eating the bat.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 1:06:55
Oh my...

Ben Masters 1:06:57
And yeah, he nailed it.

Patrick Scott Armstrong 1:06:58
He got it. That shot is just so - the way it comes in, like out of focus in the background, right? Like, if you're not really paying attention, you don't notice it right away. That's what's cool about - yeah, it's representative to - like, it's such a, it's just - that shot was my favorite.

Ben Masters 1:07:13
It's a great jump scare. Like, you don't see it coming. You're like, Oh my God, no!

Patrick Scott Armstrong 1:07:18
That was me. I'm not gonna lie, man, I actually shed a few tears watching the film a few times. You know, my heart goes out to these animals to be honest with you, and seeing some of the shots y'all captured. Just seeing the bear. Again, I don't want to give anything away, but, you know, noticing that it's got three limbs, right? So, I'm thinking, I already know there's a backstory, right? You don't even need to tell me just that shot alone tells me, Wow, this bear's had a history and that bear got me, I'm not gonna lie; that bear living right here with me.

Matthew 1:07:51
So, these narra -, I mean, I think we're starting to come to the end of our time together - but these narratives, you know, it's - I mean, if when you're filming with people who do observational docs, you also don't know what you're gonna get. But that's the same thing here with these animals. You've just got to let the cameras roll. And then once you've captured it, that's when you've got these stories, whether it's the mother ocelot, or the bears or the mountain lions, is that right?

Ben Masters 1:08:20
Yeah, it's getting the right behaviors, and then working with what you have in the edit room, in the writing, because there's no reason to write the bat is struggling as the snake comes round. You can see it, but - so, a lot of the writing, it was setting up a scene that then allowed the viewer to have the necessary information that they needed for the visuals to then make sense. And we tried to strip the writing down to as minimal as we could and just let the animals - and then for the emotional stuff, or for, like, the prime emotions, it was largely done musically. And the score is just gorgeous. Our composer just really did an amazing job.

Matthew 1:09:20
Yeah. Hats off, and shout out to him, I think just the thought came to me knowing how - because I know Mr. McConaughey has a young family. Just keep this in mind. I wouldn't be surprised if one of his children thinks the coolest thing that Daddy's ever done is narrating this nature doc. No, just - also cos how kids are, you know, he could have won an Academy Award or whatever, but, you know, kids are like, wow...

Patrick Scott Armstrong 1:09:49
Yeah, it is a wow. It is a wow film, for sure.

Matthew 1:09:50
Daddy's narrating that bat scene. So...

Patrick Scott Armstrong 1:09:55
That's funny.

Matthew 1:09:56
There you go. Patrick, you have anything else you want to...

Patrick Scott Armstrong 1:10:00
No, I just want to say thank y'all. Thank y'all for making this, thank y'all for bringing attention to Texas, and what we need to do to protect it. I love this state, I have a whole podcast dedicated to the state and highlighting great Texans that do wonderful things for the state. So, it's also my mission to help the state. So, yeah, thank y'all so much for doing this. And not just presenting a great message and a great film, but it's, you know, it's very entertaining as well, and again, just seeing different sides of Texas. So, thank y'all so much. What a great film. I can't wait to watch more of y'alls work. And yeah, see what else y'all do.

Matthew 1:10:02
Yes.

Ben Masters 1:10:02
Thank you.

Katie Baldock 1:10:20
Thank you so much.

Matthew 1:10:39
Well, likewise, thank you for coming on to Factual America. When you make your next, it doesn't even have to be a feature, but when you make your next feature, let us know, we'd love to have you on again. And it's been a thrill finally to get you on and to talk about this, certainly for me personally, and I think something for our listeners and viewers - do check out Deep in the Heart, you'll find out, many of you will discover something that I've known for a long time, that Texas is a very beautiful place. And just amazing countryside and wildlife. And it's probably one of the lesser, less publicized aspects of the state, and that shouldn't be the case. So, guys, thanks again. We've been here with Ben Masters and Katie Baldock, the award winning filmmakers behind Deep in the Heart. Its theatrical release on June 3, wider release coming later in the year in July. Just be on the lookout for that. Google it. I'm sure you'll find it. Go to the website. I'm sure it's there as well. And just to say, thank you again, and wish you the best of luck with this and all your future projects.

Ben Masters 1:10:40
Thanks, guys. Have a good one.

Matthew 1:10:57
I want to give big thanks to our special guest host, Patrick Scott Armstrong of the Lone Star Plate podcast. Definitely check out his show whether it be on traditional podcasting channels or YouTube. I'd like to give a shout out to Sam and Joe Graves at Innersound Audio in Escrick, England, in deepest, darkest Yorkshire. A big thanks to Nevena Paunovic, podcast manager at Alamo Pictures, who ensures we continue getting great guests onto the show. And finally, a big thanks to our listeners. As always, we love to hear from you, so please keep sending us feedback and episode ideas. You can reach out to us on YouTube, social media, or directly by going to our website, www.factualamerica.com, and clicking on the Get in Touch link. And as always, please remember to like us and share us with your friends and family wherever you happen to listen or watch podcasts. This is Factual America, signing off.

Factual America Outro 1:12:56
You've been listening to Factual America. This podcast is produced by Alamo Pictures, specializing in documentaries, television, and shorts about the USA for international audiences. Head on down to the show notes for more information about today's episode, our guests, and the team behind the podcast. Subscribe to our mailing list or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @alamopictures. Be the first to hear about new productions, festivals showing our films, and to connect with our team. Our homepage is alamopictures.co.uk

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Deep in the Heart of Texas Wildlife

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Deep in the Heart of Texas Wildlife

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More from Factual America:

Interesting Reading from Factual America:

Transcript for Factual America Episode 99: Deep in the Heart of Texas Wildlife

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