Called As Creatives
Called As Creatives is a faith-driven podcast for women who feel called into the creative industries and want to learn how to follow that calling with obedience, courage, and clarity. Hosted by actress, director, and ministry leader Shari Rigby, each episode dives into conversations with women who are actively walking out their creative purpose while staying rooted in Christ.
Called As Creatives
Writers Room Roundtable | Defiant Ones Immersive Audio Drama
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Go behind the scenes of Defiant Ones: The American Revolution's Bravest Women with the writers who helped bring these remarkable stories to life.
In this special Called As Creatives roundtable, Shari Rigby sits down with Claire Yorita Lee, Katie Kenny Phillips, Marianne Haaland, and Bridget T. Crawford to discuss the research, faith, creativity, and collaboration behind the eight-episode immersive audio drama. Together, they share how they uncovered the untold stories of women like Abigail Adams, Phillis Wheatley, Deborah Sampson, Sybil Ludington, Two Kettles Together, Penelope Barker, Prudence Cummings Wright, and Agent 355, while reflecting on the courage, obedience, and calling these women still inspire today. If you've ever wondered what happens inside a writers' room or how history becomes cinematic storytelling, this conversation is for you.
Defiant Ones premieres July 2 and is available at The Washington Times, as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts.
Links to Series LISTEN HERE:
https://www.washingtontimes.com/defiant-ones/?utm_campaign=linkinbio&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=later-linkinbio
https://www.teapartypatriots.org/foundation/defiant-ones/
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2626669
Connect with THE WOMEN IN MY WORLD:
Official website: https://thewomeninmyworld.org/
Instagram: / thewomeninmyworld
Facebook: / thewomeninmyworld
YouTube: / @thewomeninmyworld
Connect with Beautifully Flawed Productions: Official Website: https://www.beautifullyflawedproductions.com/
Instagram: / @beautifullyflawedproductions
Song: “Blessing in Disguise”
Performed by: Carlie Conner
Written by: Carlie Conner, Maggie Youngs
Produced by: Nick Lewkowski
This podcast is a celebration of women who are shaping culture, influencing the world, and boldly stepping into the entertainment industry to create God-honoring content across all media platforms. I'm your host, Sherry Rigby. Grab your coffee, settle in, and join me for an inspiring ride. Okay, before we get started, ladies, I want to share with you this incredible theme song that was built just for Defiant Ones by Luke Snyder, and this is what you're gonna hear each and every time the series opens and closes.
SPEAKER_04That is good, amazing.
SPEAKER_03Isn't that so it transports you to exactly the right place?
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. Yeah, and it's so, so good. It is beautiful. The original score on the series is absolutely mind-blowing. And so it is just and it's incredible. So, y'all, that was just a little bit to give us a little taste as we dive into this incredible conversation that we're gonna have today. I'm so excited to have y'all with me. And welcome to everyone who's listening and watching to Called As Creatives. As our nation approaches the 250th anniversary of America's founding, we're preparing to launch an immersive audio drama unlike anything we have ever created. Defiant Ones, the American Revolutionary's bravest woman, brings to life the extraordinary stories of eight courageous women whose faith, conviction, and sacrifice helped to shape this nation. But before these women could come to life on the page and in the recording studio, they first had to come together in a writer's room. Today I am joined by the incredible women who helped to write this series alongside of me. Each of them brought their own unique experiences, talents, and perspectives to these stories, helping us craft authentic, compelling portrayals of women whose voices deserve to be heard again. Joining me today are, and I'm gonna go through them a little bit because you have to meet each and every one of these women. First, let me introduce to you Bridget Crawford, an author and storyteller passionate about faith-filled stories and suspense. Katie Kenny Phillips, writer, producer, and IP development executive who is dedicated to creating meaningful content that inspires audiences. Marianne Holland, actor and writer, whose love for collaboration and storytelling shines through every project she touches. And Claire Urita Lee, award-winning writer, producer, and co-founder of Beautifully Flawed Productions, whose career spans television, film, animation, and audio storytelling. Together, we'll take you behind the scenes of the Defiant Ones. Share what it was like to write these remarkable women of the American Revolution and talk about the calling, creativity, and collaboration that brought this project to life. So let's dive in. Welcome, ladies. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_04Yes. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01Okay. First of all, I have to ask Bridget and Marianne because Claire and I and Katie have been probably privy to listening to the theme song that came in when we were recording. And also, as we have been in post-production on these episodes, I would love to hear from the two of you how you felt about the theme song and how it inspired you in this moment to launch you into this podcast.
SPEAKER_04Well, honestly, it was it was compelling. I I love it. And being a music lover, it set the tone of the show. I'm excited about it.
SPEAKER_03So excited. I feel like it transports me exactly to where I've been writing to 1700s. I feel like I can smell the smells and hear the sounds, and and it it makes me excited to know what's going to happen. Who are these people?
SPEAKER_01I could not agree more with both of you. We have every time we hear this piece of music, we literally sit with our arms up and we are like, uh, I really, really believe that that's what every person is going to do as they listen to this series. And it's just going to prepare them for the stories that they're about to encounter about these very, very special women of the Revolutionary War. So I want to jump right in because we've got a lot to talk about. First and foremost, I want to ask Katie, how did you become involved with the Defiant ones?
SPEAKER_00Well, I have the extreme privilege of being on the team at Beautifully Flawed Productions and the Women in My World. And I get a front seat to all of these exciting projects that we have going on. And I just felt extremely blessed when Sherry and Claire came to me and said, Hey, do you want to write one of these? And as someone who um didn't know a ton about the American Revolution and these women, I thought, oh my goodness, you know, I I don't know, but I mean, I wanted to have the opportunity to be a part of this project. So I dove in and I'm so glad I did because it was a job of a lifetime, really, to be able to tell these stories.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome. I want to ask you, Bridget, what was it like to get the email, or maybe it was a text message or a phone call from Claire and asking her or asking you, she was she was asking you about potentially writing. We're gonna talk about the character that you pinned here in a couple minutes, but how did that make you feel?
SPEAKER_04You know, initially, I would say possibly fearful, because this is out of my what I'm used to doing. So when Claire told me that, you know, it would be revolved around the American Revolution, and I'm like, okay, I'm down, but I know nothing. I know nothing about. So I'm glad I accepted the challenge because it it really blessed me tremendously to be able to learn so much about the American Revolution, these women. I'm glad I I did.
SPEAKER_01Well, these are incredible stories, and what you're telling me in your answer, Bridget, is you stepped into exactly what these women were also doing. There was an obedience, a calling, and there was a fierce desire to do something out of the ordinary. And so I think that is so profound with every one of us. But Marianne, you've been a part of, I feel like the Women in My World and Beautifully Flawed Productions for such a long time. And Claire and I really just every time we have a project, we the one of the very first women who comes to mind for us every time is we want Marianne to be a part of this somehow, somehow. God, how is what does that look like? So, what was it like for you? Because you just came off of a movie that you had written and acted in. What was it like for you to step into a writing position for television?
SPEAKER_03Very different. I mean, when Claire first, I I don't remember if it was Claire or you, Sherry, who approached me and I and I was like, Well, if you guys would like to consider me, I would like to be considered. And you were like, no, you we've already decided we would like you to join in. And I was like very flabbergasted and honored. And it's something very different from going from your own imagination to something that's already happened in history and to have to gather historical information. Yeah, I am also in the boat of not having known a lot about, I didn't had never heard of these women and had to look up every single detail and didn't know anything. But but what's what's really fun for me is that that week that you wrote to me, I had been praying, Lord, I don't know what's next for my year. I have no plans on the slate for 2026. I have absolutely nothing. If you want me to write something, you know, speak. And then I got this message from you guys and it was like, okay, Lars, I hear you. I will, I I guess I will, I will join in and write something. So felt very, very honored.
SPEAKER_01Well, we loved having you on this project. And, you know, I want to talk a little bit and I'm gonna go to you next here, Claire. We we told stories about eight extraordinary women who were part of the American Revolution that really did have an incredible legacy and impact on what we know today. And we really do believe they are the bravest uh women of the American Revolution. And we have some incredible characters to talk about today, but I want to say eight women who were extraordinary and they really did tackle obedience and faith, and they stepped in between the gap. And so, Claire, I want to talk to you a little bit about how did you share with everybody how we actually found this project, what inspired you about it, and talk a little bit about the women that we decided that we were gonna, we were gonna start writing about and why they were the ones to inspire us.
SPEAKER_02Well, we were just coming off of a lady in defiance. We had been working with Heather Blanton. We decided let's do another project with Heather. And she had sent us all these pieces, right? And we looked through all of them, but for some reason, this is the title, the story, all of it. Defiant ones was so exciting. I know we both agreed. There were so many good ones that she sent us, but we were both like, yes, Defiant ones, these are the ones we're supposed to do. And Heather had, I don't even know how many women she had in this book that she had written. It must have been like 40 or something like that. So it took us a little while to pick all the women, but we went through all of their stories. We, you and I read through all of them. We picked our top 12, we picked another top 12, and then we like came together and we were like, no, these are the women. And it was you, Sherry, who were who was like, we need someone to connect everybody. And so you said, let's do Abigail Adams because she wrote the letter Remember the Ladies. And it's just it kind of just all came together. We're such a collaboration. Katie helped us choose. I think we all just kind of came together and decided this is the way to do it. And we love Heather. So we love working with her. So we brought her on then to do the novelettes, and it's just been such a great process and such a great project. And then it being the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it just made sense. And everybody we presented it to got so excited about it.
SPEAKER_01It was such a great, well, first of all, I have to say I love the name alone, Defiant Ones. I mean, come on. That in itself is just super cool because there's something about not that it's defiance and anger or hostility, but it's a defiance and I I believe that I can and I have a God who is able. And I think that was something that was really, really part of the conversation too, is like these women were so strong in their faith and in their family, and then what they stood for with freedom. I wanna, I wanna go and talk with you a little bit also, Claire, and then I'm gonna jump to some of the other ladies. One of the things that I want to share a little bit about is here we are, we're all sitting here together. You and I have been dreaming a long time. Katie's joined us in our dreams and and visions now. Marianne, you've been with us for a long time. But Claire, share a little bit about what we've desired and dreamed about with this vision of bringing writing rooms together, women's stories, particularly told by women, created by women, and for women. And so talk a little bit about that.
SPEAKER_02I think, Sherry, what you and I love more than anything is collaboration. And so this has given us the opportunity to collaborate, but we also really love to mentor. So we love to speak into women and take them in their dreams and what their gifts and talents are and cultivate that. And I think that this opportunity, these writers, this project has allowed us to do that. I think the first thing that you and I thought about was we're not writing all of these. We need to bring on the women to write these stories. We have this is the way it has to be. And we want to prayerfully decide which woman it's gonna be. And it began with Katie. We were like, we know we are gonna have Katie write an episode. She ended up writing two episodes, which was fantastic because she she even picked a new woman for us to a second woman to write about. Then we had talked about Marianne. Marianne has literally been on every project we've ever done. It's been amazing to watch her and to see her come into this writing process and be become a writer and do it. And that's been so exciting. And Bridget, Bridget and I met at uh ICFF last year. We met her Sherry and I read her book. And I remember telling you, this is a woman we have to work with. We have to work with Bridget. And so it just kind of all fell together. I mean, it's such a God-ordained thing to me that God steps in and sort of handpicks these women and we just get the privilege of working with them. And then this writer's room and being able to you guys, Zoom is like the greatest thing. Zoom and Google Meet, these ways that we can be we are literally in how many different states right now? Four state between all of us. So the fact that we can all get together and we can create a writer's room online like this, it's it's amazing.
SPEAKER_03I just also would love to shout out you guys for opening your capabilities and abilities to share with us. Like I have learned so much through this process. And being mentored by someone who knows what they're doing is such a gift. And you didn't have to do that. You could have just written all the episodes by yourself, but you chose to invest in us and invest your time and your abilities into us so that we also can, you know, flourish in this it it's it's such a gift. So thank you guys for doing that.
SPEAKER_04Thank you. Thank you. A second Marianne, 1000.
SPEAKER_01I do. Well, thank you, ladies. One thing I think we dreamt about, and I'm gonna dive into our women here in a second, but we dreamt about really creating something like this where it wasn't just an audiobook or an audio drama. It really was a piece of work that was created with episodic, with lots of talents and characters and lots of voices. And we have some incredible men too on the this cast list and who they are and how they're bringing these voices together. I want to dive in to talk about our characters because they are exceptional. And I keep using extraordinary, exceptional, um, powerful, intelligent, brilliant women. And really the ripple effect they all had on our lives today, I hope that's one of the things that the listeners really take away from these women. But I want to go to you, Katie, because when we got into the process, we finally, you know, I I want to say we partnered with the Washington Times and the Tea Party Patriots. And we all know in the entertainment industry, it's like hurry up and wait, hurry up and wait, hurry up and wait. And then all of a sudden it's like when it happens, it happens, right? And you just have to be ready to go. And so we really got to a place where we were like, okay, well, we just got the green light. And oh, by the way, we have less than 30 days or whatever it was, you know, at that moment to finish writing these scripts and take all the concepts and you know, put it to paper and get it cast and the whole line yards. And so, Katie, you stepped in and you and Claire, Claire, I think our dream and vision has been this writer's room. And how do you do that? So you are teaching, you are mentoring, you're encouraging these women to be storytellers because Bridget, Marianne, Katie, Claire, myself, anyone else, we all have some different ways, the talents and gifts that God has bestowed upon us. So we're gonna bring some unique voice to these women, right? Like that's a really powerful thing. And so as Claire started to work with everyone, and then Katie stepped in as well. You two really started the process to navigate the story, the women, how these were gonna come together. Talk Katie, talk a little bit about that process where you and Kate you and Claire were working on this. Also the two women you wrote about and how you ended up discovering about one of the women who was very new to us. In fact, we we didn't have her anywhere on our books. Right.
SPEAKER_00Well, I I love working with Claire and I I love that we kind of collaborated and we we just focused on yes, each episode stands on its own with an individual woman, but it is a complete story that we wanted, we wanted to tell a complete story through all these individual women. So it really did involve looking individually, but then looking at it, you know, as as one project. And so that was just it was fascinating and seeing how we could incorporate, like you mentioned, Abigail Adams and John Adams, their letters back and forth, which are just so rich, their their relationship was so interesting. And we hear so much about uh John Adams, and it's just fascinating to hear how much he valued his wife's counsel. And so seeing how we could weave Abigail and John's letters throughout each of the episodes and throwing in some intrigue with Agent 355, our mysterious spy, and those storylines. So it was just a really fun, big jigsaw puzzle, I think, to see how they would all work together and how they could each have their own personality. And and they all do, they all have their own unique stamp, but they are collectively part of the same family. My particular characters, I had Sybil Levington, who is a 16-year-old dynamo, and we brought in um a woman named Two Kettles Together, Tiana Jonagan, who is an amazing Oneida woman. And we didn't we didn't know anything about her, but when we dove into her story, we realized she was such an important part of our nation's founding. Yeah, she really was.
SPEAKER_01I think what was also fascinating is I think originally, Claire, we were only gonna do six, and then we went to seven, and then before we knew it, we were at eight. And we were like, look at the scope of these women. They were so fantastic. Bridget, tell us about the character that you wrote about and talk to us about, you know, how much did you know about this wonderful woman and what surprised you the most as you dug into her history?
SPEAKER_04You know, the only thing I knew about Phyllis Wheatley, that was my character, was her name. I knew nothing about Phyllis Wheatley. I'm from Ohio originally, and we had a community center or something. It was named after her. I knew she was someone important. But one of the things that was so intriguing about her was that she was the first enslaved woman to have published work. And I was like, wow, and she was a poet. So her poetry was published, and she was the first enslaved person to do that. And I just I was so fascinated by that. But yeah, she was she was remarkable.
SPEAKER_01She was remarkable. I think one thing that I w found so fascinating too was that here she was an enslaved woman. She was the first published enslaved, but also woman. I mean, this really was a time that women were not given they they they weren't out there writing papers and doing this kind of thing and being recognized for it. And Phyllis Wheatley was recognized. In fact, she was recognized also by some of the founding fathers and also by the very famous George Washington.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, she was actually to prove that you know she was capable of doing the writings that she was doing around Boston and the colonies. She had to go before these 18 Boston men and prove her validity. And she held her ground and they they determined, like, okay, an enslaved woman is capable of doing these writings. So it was it was an amazing time.
SPEAKER_01It was wonderful. Well, I'm very excited for people to learn more about Phyllis Wheatley and the impact that she had on poetry, on writing, on the quest for freedom and the voice that she lent to so many who were not, you know, that were still enslaved. Uh Mary Ann, I'm gonna dive in. Talk a little bit about the woman that you wrote about and something that maybe a historical detail or fact that you learned about her while you were studying her. And did you know about her before you actually were writing?
SPEAKER_03I wrote about Deborah Sampson and had never heard of her before. She is considered the first female soldier, and she disguised herself as. As a man to fight in the Revolutionary War. I was really inspired by her. And you just you recognize how much we are allowed to do as women now and how hard it must have been when you had to be you you just you weren't allowed to to to do the things that you wanted to do and to to have such honorable dreams of of fighting for your nation and fighting for freedom and not being allowed to do it just because you're a woman. I it's it's really amazing to see somebody defy what the rules are and kind of do it on the sly.
SPEAKER_01She was incredible. I don't know. We keep thinking about her and just what she went through. And I don't want to give it all away, but she was injured several times. The history reports that she was given an honorable discharge. There's so many things that is really fascinating about this young woman. She was 18 years old, just incredible. What do you think, Marianne? You know, a young woman in today's world could learn from somebody like Deborah Sampson.
SPEAKER_03I think we can learn that a scraped knee is not that bad. True pain has been felt. And what we go through is probably like, let's stop whining, you know? Like we could whine a lot less. And if we just pursue what we are called to do and stop whining, then maybe we actually get somewhere.
SPEAKER_01I love it. I love it. I love it. Well said, my friend. And that's a mic job.
SPEAKER_03That's what I think I learned from that. Because it's easy to just say, no, I can't do that. It's there's too many things that are stopping me. But but really, if we really want something, we go make it happen. Right. You know?
SPEAKER_01Right. So I love it. I love it. Claire, you had your fingerprint on all of these characters. And you were also working, and I'll talk to you about this too, Katie, but you were also working off of some of the novelettes, and we'll talk a little bit more about that as well. But talk about one of the women that you you really just fell in love with and that you were writing on, and that you felt like I didn't know about this woman. And the more and more I learn about her, the more and more I realize that her gift to us in today's culture. I mean, you've got everybody from Abigail Adams to Prudence Right Coming. So there's so many women. But talk a little bit about the characters that you were writing about and what inspired you.
SPEAKER_02I think for me, I got to write on Abigail Adams with you, Sherry, and Penelope Barker with you. And then I got to do Prudence Cummings Right. I think what sticks out to me about all three of them is that they were, they were all very courageous. But what I appreciated about them was that all three of them had their husbands leave for different reasons. Abigail's husband went to Philadelphia to be part of the Continental Congress. Penelope's husband went to England to be with the British Parliament over there. And Prudence Cummings right, her husband went to fight in the militia. And so I think it was really interesting to see how each of these women was able to run their farms, take care of their children, and run their bank accounts. So they took care of all these things without their husbands while doing these monumental, impactful things like stopping a spy or writing these letters that would impact all women, or Penelope Barker, getting 51 women to sign a declaration. And something that stood out about Penelope Barker to me was that she got all these women to sign their name to this declaration, but they signed their real names. Whereas in the Boston Tea Party, they all hid behind masks. So that was something I learned. And I was really inspired by that because to stand up and actually sign your name to something and say, hey, this is me and this is what I believe, and I'm gonna sign my real name is difficult. That was something that really impacted me. But also what all three of these women did was they just were willing, despite not feeling equipped. I'm sure they none of them felt equipped, none of them felt ready. I'm sure all three of them had to step out of their comfort zone to do something, but God called them to do it and they were willing and willing to step on an obedience and just say yes. And so to me, that was extremely impactful.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I love that because these women did go through so much. You know, I think when you're talking about, you know, Penelope Barker, first of all, I would say that their husbands left not for a month or two or even a couple of weeks or a couple of days. I mean, you're talking years without their husbands, their partners to help them raise children and take care of these farms and to live through a time when there was a revolutionary war that was happening. They didn't know what was going on from day to day. I think one of the stories that I love too is Prudence Cummings right. And she ends up becoming the first woman to form the Guardians of Liberty, which is the militia of women who hold the bridge and, you know, stop the spy, the courier that's going off. And I thought, here's a woman just like Penelope and these others. They've lost children, they've lost their husbands, their livelihoods in a lot of ways, and yet they're still willing to go and risk their life. And I thought that was something that was really fascinating about these women. And I love just being a part of these stories. And I think where I want to go from here, because as we talk about this, the two things. One, I think there's a fabulous, the way I love how God works is all of these women's stories were different. But when you start to see and you hear all the stories together, you realize there is a thread that weaves all of these women together. And for such a time as that, you know, their stories were unique, but at the same time, they were purposed and they knew that they were standing for one another. And even though they were in different places. Kitty, I want to talk a little bit more about your two characters, and I'd love for you to share a little bit more about them and then also give us, you know, what inspired you about these women, and then also talk to us a little bit about the additional pieces that Beautifully Flawed Productions is doing with Heather and the stories, the additional stories that are being told.
SPEAKER_00Sure. So one of my episodes was Sybil Luddington. I mentioned she was a 16-year-old girl who was one of many, many children, but she was the oldest. And she's remarkable because she learned that the British were attacking Danbury and they were headed towards her house. Her her father was in charge of the local militia, and they were coming for him. And there was no one to alert the militia because they had all been sent home for farming season. And she was it. There was no one but her. And she stepped into it. And she, I love that story because um I think courage, it doesn't mean you're not afraid. You know, we talked about that at the beginning of the podcast. Like we all stepped into this, we were all afraid. But, you know, courage is stepping forward anyway, and knowing that you're being called to a higher purpose. And she hopped on her horse and she rode 40 miles in the middle of the night in a storm. The more research I did, you know, she she did twice the distance of Paul Revere. She's known as the female Paul Revere, but she went twice the distance. And I don't know her, but I feel like I do, and I'm proud of her because, you know, she she comes back and she did it and she alerted the militia. She's an amazing young woman. And then two kettles together, Tiana Jonagan, the Oneida woman, she is amazing because of her loyalty to her husband and to her family and to her nation. The Oneida were some of the only Native Americans that were siding with the Patriots. And so they were called to help and they willingly went into one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War. She didn't send her husband into war. She went alongside him and in fact played a very important role during that battle. So I'll leave a little mystery there so you can listen. There are some exciting battle scenes, but she she was not only loyal to her husband and her community, but she also was very important in helping the wounded and just a remarkable woman. So, anyway, those were the the two women, and we're so excited with Beautifully Flawed Productions launching a publishing arm. And so I know Sherry, you mentioned that we have these amazing novelettes that are accompanying each episode. So Heather Blanton, who is just an incredibly talented writer, she wrote these novelettes for each of the women, and we will be releasing them, and they go hand in hand with the audio episodes. People can listen to the audio episodes and just immerse themselves in the audio experience, be transported back in time, but then also get these novelettes that dive a little deeper, round out the stories a little longer. And um, we're excited that people can can do both and just get a really great, beautiful picture of each of these women.
SPEAKER_01I love it. Yeah, we're so excited. I know. People are hearing it first. Beautifully flawed productions is launching their publishing arm. More to come. More to come. Stay tuned. Hey friends, if you're enjoying today's episode, we'd love your support. Hit like, subscribe, comment, and share this video, which helps us grow the channel that directly supports the women in my world and our mission to develop, educate, and launch Christian women in the entertainment and media industry. Every action you take truly makes a difference in our ministry. And now we'd like to share a brief video about the heart and mission behind the women in my world. Thank you for being a part of this incredible journey with us. Hi, I'm Sherry Rigby, the founder of the Women in My World. Our goal is simple but powerful. We focus on developing, educating, and launching Christian women in entertainment and media. Our aim is to train up emerging talent, empower them to craft impactful, God-honoring content across various platforms, and contribute to positive global change through leadership roles. We invest in women by providing opportunities to learn essential skills in their desired field. Through hands-on education and on-the-job training, we build a community of like-minded women who shepherd others to grow and flourish in their careers. The Women in My World has helped support and launch women into key positions, such as producers, script supervisors, production and costume designers, directors, makeup and hair artists, and so many more. These women have gone on to expand their resumes and their relationships, which have provided opportunities to work on major network television shows and feature films. Due to the small percentage of Christian women in decision-making roles and entertainment, believers must invest in their training, mentoring, and discipleship. These women can then become a voice to change in the negative narratives influencing our culture and shed light on topics we desperately need to tackle from a biblical worldview. The Women in My World is honored to help support women and their careers in entertainment and media as they bring redemptive stories to life and uplift, encourage, and influence the world for Christ? You know, we're just like every story we get so excited about, but we really see and and we'll have to do a whole nother episode on why and and how and all that looks. But I want to go back and I want to talk a little bit more because with these women, they were so unique for their time. And Marianne, I want to ask you, did you did you see any type of of your own story or struggle or experiences that reflected in Debdor Sampson? Did you feel like there was some connection there? And did you have a scene that you wrote that was really meaningful to you?
SPEAKER_03Ooh, such a good question. Well, one of the things that I really appreciated with Claire's mentorship through this is that she challenged me to make it more emotional and to find a really emotional beat in it. I think I was, I was just putting the actions that were happening down on the page, and she said, make it your own or make it emotional. And so one of the first scenes in in my story is of Deborah and uh her siblings being at their mother's funeral, which is one of the big, the pivotal moments for her, really, is that all the children were scattered to different homes. And having been a missionary kid myself and being kind of ripped away from my family uh at a young age, so that we lived in dorms away from my parents, it was it was one of those moments where I was like, okay, I'm gonna take that pain and I'm gonna put it on the page and I'm gonna see that that pull away from those that you love. Um, and I think that really, you know, you you know that it's going to be impactful when you're crying. That was definitely one of those moments where I was like, I can I can see her pain and feel her pain in this moment.
SPEAKER_01I love that. Yeah, it's interesting as we start to dive into characters and people always say, Well, write what you know. And so often there's a lot of times we don't write what we know. We we write what some of the desire or passion is, right? But when we start to write what we know, boy, the the pen can really, you know, flow and and the story and it just resonates deeply. So I love that you shared that. And Deborah does go through a lot, you know, she goes through a lot as a young child, all the way through growing up and then to, you know, going and fighting in, you know, George Washington's army. So it's it's pretty incredible story. Bridget, I want to ask you, you know, was there anything particular about Phyllis Wheatley that really also resonated with you personally? And when you were diving in and writing any of the scenes that you put down on paper, was there one that just really hit you emotionally, or you thought, you know, this is something that everybody needs to know about?
SPEAKER_04Well, I would say one of the ones, this the scenes that hit me uh was possibly her being ripped away from her father. That I was like, oh my goodness. I I feel like it paints a very vivid picture of the horror of the transatlantic slave trade. And as far as me relating to her, I would definitely say um being a black writer and just in America before America was the colonies, but just having this desire to be seen, you know, and not always feeling like you're seen. So definitely. And also with you and Claire, the mentorship, I feel like that, you know, Susanna, which was the Susanna Wheatley and John Wheatley were the ones that purchased her. Them, her fighting for her uh with the the Boston men and just to be free to be published. I s that correlation. I saw that with you all just kind of giving me that chance because I don't know if Claire told you, Sherry, but I have been just on Cloud9. I'm like, you know, God, you're so amazing for giving me this opportunity. So I I'm grateful and I see all that correlation. Y'all fought for me to be a part of this. So I'm grateful.
SPEAKER_01Well, thank you. We're so excited, and I know Claire is so connected. I love it because she was like, Bridget, Bridget, you know, and you just know when God locks your arms with somebody, and it's the same way we feel about Marianne and Katie. But we're just we we're just so uh honored that you you pinned this and you lent your voice to bring Phyllis Wheatley to life. So she's gonna be in a a really phenomenal character for people to know more about. So thank you for that. Thank you. Yeah. Claire, I want to talk to you a little bit about uh what your writing process is like when you're, you know, tackling historical figures and how did you prepare? What did you do research process look like? Because not only were you tackling them from your perspective, you and Katie were working together, you were also working with the other writers. So, what was that process like for you? And how did you then share that with the women that you were connecting with?
SPEAKER_02Well, I have to say thank goodness for the internet, because you can learn so much in a little amount of time. It's it's not like back in the day when Sherry, you and I had to look at encyclopedias. Well, I mean, it's it's so wonderful to be able to just type things in and research online. It's so helpful. And then I would say just the writing process was it did take, did take quite a number of steps to figure it out. I especially with Agent 355 and putting her in every episode. It was just a process. Like we would try it, and then if it didn't work, we would rework it. And I think I'm really grateful for Katie for coming on board. We spent so much time actually just discussing before we even went further. We'd say, okay, how are we gonna rework this? How do we rewrite this? How does this make sense? And then even with the writers, like with Bridget and Marianne, we would have them do a draft. And then we would come together and we'd be like, let's come up with the notes. How are we gonna get them to rewrite it? Or what is it that we want them to do? So we're really trying to get everybody involved in the process. Sherry always comes on board. And what I love about Sherry is she's such a visionary, and so she makes all these pieces so cinematic, even though it's audio, it's so cinematic. So I feel like the collaboration between all of us was so real. The the process was very collaborative, and not any of the episodes were just one person's hand on it. It was all of us coming together and sort of putting our heads together and coming up with stories and and making them work. So that was the whole process, and it was so much fun, guys. It's not the same without being able to work with other people.
SPEAKER_01That's what makes it such a great process to be in a writer's room. And it's such a fascinating way to do it in the stories and stuff. And we sharpen one another. That's what it's supposed to be. Iron sharpens iron. Katie, talk a little bit about what was the most challenging aspect of writing these episodes. And again, you know, how do you balance historical accuracy with a compelling story? Because that's something that we have to do. And I will say, I think we were going through the process of understanding how much was historical. And I think we were at about an 85%, which is really fantastic. So talk about those challenges and how you tackled it.
SPEAKER_00Well, writing anything is challenging, right? As writers, you you open up a blank page and it's like the most impossible task. But in order to write a compelling story, you have to know your characters. And so for this, these are real women. These aren't people we're imagining up. And it really did take a lot of time and research to look into who these women were. I can't tell you how many hours I spent diving into the letters between Abigail and John because it's amazing. They're all documented. And you can, you know, you can put in a date or you can put in a subject and you can pull it up and read their letters to one another. And you think, oh my gosh, we we don't we don't write letters, we just text now. But these were like handwritten letters back and forth. So I think the challenge was just really doing a deep dive, not only into our own characters, but to the characters that were in their world, Abigail and John and Merciotis Warren and figuring out what drove them and what compelled them. So, but that's also the fun part, too, right? Once you get to know who these people were, you realize, you realize Abigail and John's relationship was so important and and really uncommon.
SPEAKER_01I think that was something that I loved. First of all, I want to say too, is our characters or our talent who played these two leads. Abigail Adams is played by the wonderful Rachel Hendricks. And Jonathan Adams is Jonathan Stoddard, and these two really they were not in the same room together, and you would have thought that they had known each other all of their lives. Like it was so beautiful. In fact, we keep we keep laughing because we're like, and Jonathan Stoddard, Jon Adams is our Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. Get ready, ladies, get ready. But it it's something so unique to see these two wonderful, talented people bring these characters to life. And then, you know, we have Alex Kendrick, who plays George Washington, and he brings this very, you know, formal but yet enduring, you know, voice to life, and and uh so many incredible characters all the way along. But but I think that one of the things that I loved about these characters so much, and I want to talk a little bit more about it, was what you were saying, Katie was the historical pieces that people don't really know about. It's these letters that really did share and show the love between a husband and wife and what they were going through and how much both of them mattered to one another. Uh, talk a little bit about, and I and I'm gonna go to Marianne on this, and and we can piggyback on this a little bit here, but I want to talk about what are some of the spiritual themes that emerged most strongly from your character through this process of writing and maybe some of her attributes.
SPEAKER_03One of my favorite songs comes from it's it's an old hymn, but it's fight for all that you hold dear, die if God so meant it. And I feel like that's kind of her theme throughout her story is that if God is asking of you to Die, then that is what God is asking of you, and you go forth and you obey. So that song is just kind of the theme that I had for her storyline of just being obedient to the path that God has called you to, no matter what comes your way.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's really good. I love that. And the old hymns were so important in that day, too. Bridget, how did your character demonstrate faith, courage, obedience in a way that really inspired you?
SPEAKER_04Well, one of the things about Phyllis was she adored George. I think it's George Whitfield, right? Because his name is spelled Whitefield, but I think it's pronounced Whitfield, right? Okay. It's spelled George Whitefield, but she was she adored him. And that was also reflected in her in her poetry, but not just him, just Jesus, period. And one of her poems, she also, it was kind of like apologetic. It she was speaking to like the atheist, just kind of saying, like, this is God, you should believe in him. In a sense, so she she definitely wrote her faith into her poetry. And you can see that she also believed that freedom was for everyone. And I believe that was because of how she surrendered her life to Jesus. And that happened after she, you know, was came over from Africa. So yeah, um, I it's a blessing that she was a believer in Jesus. So I think that also helped when I was writing because I'm a believer, I'm a writer, she was a believer, she's a writer. I'm like, oh, this is kind of easy to write, you know, so yeah.
SPEAKER_01I love that. Katie, what would you say were some of the faith characteristics of your two characters and how did they inspire you?
SPEAKER_00Well, I think that, you know, we see this theme you've mentioned before of um for such a time as this. And these two women both were presented with an opportunity to either step forward in faith, to walk in courage, or not. And I think both of them did that. So I think that that's just really inspiring. I think we all have opportunities in our daily lives where we feel the prompting of the Holy Spirit and we think this is this is my time.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And so I'm inspired by both of them in that way. Um, you know, I I mentioned two kettles together, just her her loyalty and love for her husband and to never leave his side. It it's a beautiful, it's a beautiful love story. And I loved putting that into the episode alongside Abigail and John's love story because it's different than the time that we're living in now, but it is beautiful. It's beautiful. I love it.
SPEAKER_01Well, before I move on to talk about some of the other things that we're gonna talk about before we wrap up our conversation, you had a moment we we've kind of sat and we've laughed about it a little bit. Uh there was a particular scene that you wrote into your storyline. And I remember as we were doing the read-throughs, we were like, wait a minute. Wait, what? What?
SPEAKER_00Talk a little bit about that particular scene, Katie. So this goes back to being historically accurate in these stories. Yes, we've dramatized them and we have kind of tied these stories together for the sake of a great story, but we really are historically accurate. And for two kettles together in the battle scene, there's a we were doing a read-through, and I was doing the read-through, and there's a particular scene with one of the colonels, and he says a line like, you know, take me to this tree and sit me under this tree. And and I just had to stop the entire table read. And I had to be like, I didn't write that line. Like, that's not my line. Like he said that, and he's kind of famous for that line. So I just want y'all to know, like, if I if I had written it, I would have like, you know, pizzazzed it up a little. But we wanted, we want to be historically accurate and we want to give honor to the people who who were a part of the story. So anyway, I just kept saying, that's not my line. I loved it.
SPEAKER_01It was so we got some really good laughs out of that. Claire, I'm gonna ask you that quick question too. What were some of the attributes or you know, different elements that might have inspired you about the characters that you were putting your hand to? And how did you was there any particular scene that really stood out to you?
SPEAKER_02I think for me, it was be strong and courageous that God goes with us wherever we go. And to me, that is the faith element that resonates with me for each of the characters. There's so many things that I appreciate about these women and about the characters. I think one of the things that really impacted me was how many of them were widows. And I am, you know, this past year has been that for me. And to have to take care of my family without my husband for the over the last year and to take care of my all the kids and take care of college and take care of life and take care of feeding everybody and all of those things has been really impactful for me to see these women go through the same thing and do that. I think that was inspirational for me. And I think that takes a lot of courage of these women, and it takes a lot of courage, I think, for me, I guess, to have to do that as well. Yeah, that's not easy. So I've gotten to see what and they did it for years and years and years, you know. I think that was something that really impacted me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think that everybody's gonna kind of walk through or answer some piece of this, but I'll start with you, Katie. Why do you think that these stories matter still today? And after spending so much time with these women, how has your perspective on American history changed?
SPEAKER_00I think these stories matter because they happened and we don't know about them. And they all went into forming our country and they all went into our collective story. And if we don't know about them, we're miss we're missing something. It reminds me that there are always layers to every story. There's always different perspectives to every story. And if we're only looking at one, we're missing, we're missing out. And I hope that people, women, men, children, families, homeschool families, I hope they all come around these episodes and I hope it inspires them to dig deeper and learn about. I mean, we we tell eight stories. Eight stories. We could tell eight thousand stories. I hope they dig deeper and I hope they find those other little stories that are unknown or unseen and are inspired to get the big picture of our collective story as a country. That's really good.
SPEAKER_01Claire, what do you hope that that people learn from this? And where do you see the defiant ones going from here?
SPEAKER_02Well, I I hope that what people get from it is not just the history and learning about some things that maybe they hadn't known about, but also that they would be inspired to realize that God used these ordinary women to do these extraordinary things. And in that same way, God can use you to do the same thing. You just have to be willing. You have to step out in obedience and you have to know that God is calling you to do something, but you have to get uncomfortable and say, Yes, I'm gonna do that. And I felt like each and every woman did that. Each it's reflected in each of the stories. So I hope that's something that the audience will take from it. Where I see Defiant once going, there's so much, and I'm so excited, ladies. I just see we've had we've discussed this, Sherry. We've been discussing some of what could be possibly to go through more of history, to go through some of the other wars, some of the other things that happen in American history and tell these women's stories from that era. And I would love to be able to do that and keep telling these kind of stories because I think it's so important, like Katie is saying, historically, to know these stories that we don't get to read about in our history books. Right. So yeah, that's what I see and hope for the future for Defiant Ones.
SPEAKER_01I love that. Well, you know, one thing I would say too is as we're talking about this piece of it, you know, when as we were dreaming about this and then hearing it come to life in the way that it does, it is an immersive Dolby Atmos experience, you're really transported to another time. It's such a great way for families and their car together and to put the screens away, you know, and to use their imagination. It's so incredible. We're talking about the atmosphere in schools that children can be actually immersed into something and really learn and listen and use their imagination again, other than visually having to see it, but they can hear it. It's almost, you know, I think that's something that's been so cool is to think about how are all the ways that we can tell these stories about these incredible heroes and then also give experience or, you know, the experience to people in and and this new kind of world of audio listening and take it to a whole nother level with the immersive experience. So I think the sky is the limit. We're really excited and um cannot wait to tell so many more incredible stories about, you know, these heroes that have left an you know impact on our world. Marianne, I want to ask you if if listeners, what what do you hope listeners take away from Defiant Ones and when they listen to Deborah Sampson, which is episode seven, what is your hope that they will take away from not only Defiant Ones, but also from her character?
SPEAKER_03I hope that people will see these women's courage and I hope that it inspires others to be courageous. You know, we were talking about all these puzzle pieces coming together, and each of these women is a puzzle piece to what led to the American Revolution and the success of everything. And I I think that we ourselves are puzzle pieces in God's story, and allowing ourselves to be placed on the big puzzle board is really important. And without us, we don't get what God intended for the big the big picture. I just hope that people would come away with the courage to to be who we're created to be and to believe in ourselves, to have the ability to to do something new and hard. And and you know, like Claire, you were saying this, this is this is a fun project. Like we had fun doing it and let's make it fun. This was so hard for me. This was one of the the hardest things because history is not my forte, like it wasn't my forte. I hated history in high school. And one of the reasons I hated it was maybe it wasn't taught the way that I understood it. So the fact that this could be an audio drama where people see that history is real people who experience these things, who walked through these battles. And so I think that one day we will be history. And so for others to see what we did. And and just as females in the entertainment industry, the fact that we have gone and written this and the fact that we are a part of something bigger is really exciting. So I just I hope that people will see the the courage that it took to make this, and the courage that it took for these women to to walk through these really intense situations. I just I hope that people will know that you can do hard things.
SPEAKER_01So good. And I love that you just said that about history and learning. Cause let me tell you, I think there's so often that we forget about that, that we all learn differently, and the way that we consume something can really affect and impact our lives. And can you imagine what it would look like if we were able to take people and really allow them to be immersed in history, to experience it in a whole different way, to be transported into something that they could actually experience it, not just watching it anymore, but really using their imagination, their senses to bring something to life. And all of a sudden it becomes, you know, ingrained in and the experience, and now we can talk about it, right? And what an incredible opportunity is. I just I love that perspective, Marianne. So thank you for sharing that. It's just it's so good. And Bridget, I I'm gonna ask you if listeners remember one thing, just one thing about your character, Phyllis Wheatley, what would you hope that it is?
SPEAKER_04So two things that I can think of, and this is from the story of Joseph, where he said, you know, what the enemy meant for evil, always butcher the second part. I can't remember if it said, God turned it around for my good or God, but I know there's something like God turn it around. Definitely that, because her story did not start out well at all, but God got the glory in the end. And the second one, one of my all-time favorite scriptures in Romans 8.28, that God works all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. So just knowing that it doesn't, the sit the circumstances does not limit God. He can work in whatever. We just have to, like so many other other ladies said, just be willing, just be obedient, and just trust God. He has a plan beyond what we can see. So just be courageous and just say yes, God, because we don't know. We don't, we can't even see it to the next second. We just have to trust God. I know his plans are bigger, way bigger than ours.
SPEAKER_01That's really good. It's really good. I I there's one more thing I want to talk about really quick, because I I'm going back to what Marianne was saying about history, and and then we'll wrap up our conversation together and and get excited about sharing these episodes with people because they're getting ready to launch. But Katie, I want to ask you really quick. We've done some things now. You and Claire, we've been working on um some really cool things for the youth. And I want to talk about that really quick and some of the additional assets that we've created puzzle pieces, games, things like that. And hopefully those will be available for people soon.
SPEAKER_00Yes, we have a coloring and activity book that we've pulled together that really are for young kids. They can color and learn more about fun facts about each of the women and do some different games and activities. And we're excited about that because we want this to be an experience. You know, not only can they listen to these episodes, but they can have conversations with their kids and bring them in at whatever level they're at to teach about these these women. Yeah, we're excited about our games and our our coloring and we have some some plans in the work to teach even the youngers about these women and their lives. So we have a lot we have a lot of of things in the hopper. We do. We have a t-shirt that says we have a lot of work to do. It's our motto.
SPEAKER_01But it it's so it's so cool because I think that that's the thing that that I keep thinking through as we talk about Defiant Ones. There is something for everyone here, all the way to our youngers who really do have an opportunity to learn about history, to learn about so many of the the men and women who put their fingerprint on this country and what we're getting ready to celebrate America 250 coming up here in just a very short period of time. And then really for this next year to celebrate the birth of our nation. And I think with that, you know, we get to experience the women who helped to birth this nation and to forge something that we know today as the Defiant Ones, the bravest women of the American Revolution. And it's been so incredible to see though the assets, the games and the coloring pages for the youngers and the novelettes for the next age group, and then up to the olders, and then also the audio drama that can be listened to and experienced by all. So I just I'm so excited about this particular series. If there's anything else that you want to say before we head out, I'm gonna give a little bit of a where people can find it, but uh, because we're getting ready here to launch.
SPEAKER_02So excited. Everybody should listen. It's gonna be so much fun. The music's great, the companion pieces are great, the novelettes are so fun. It's gonna be fantastic. It's gonna be perfect for different age groups. Everyone's gonna learn something and have fun doing it.
SPEAKER_00We have we have a devotional, we have character one sheets, we have lots of resources for whatever people want to use them for. If they're homeschooling and they want to supplement some of their curriculum, or if they're just interested like we are in learning, there's something for everyone.
SPEAKER_01I love it. Well, we're so excited that everyone who has listened and joined us today to talk with and talk about the Defiant Ones. And uh just to be a part of this conversation with the writers, these are women who, first and foremost, as you can tell, they love the Lord with all their heart and they love to tell these types of stories. And so we're excited to see what Defiant Ones is gonna do. We also want to let you know that Defiant Ones will be streaming on thewashingtones.com. Backslash Defiant Ones. You're gonna be able to go there, you're gonna be able to listen to the first episode here on July 2nd. Then each episode will start to come out one week after and to follow, and it'll be on all of the RSS feeds that you love. So Apple, Spotify, you name it. But we would love for you all to first and foremost go to the Washington Times and log on there. And also stay connected. The Tea Party Patriots, they have a lot of assets as well. Beautifully flawed productions. We're gonna be launching new pieces of work uh throughout this series, and we're gonna be sharing so many different things that we're gonna be hopefully bringing to life to accompany this fantastic series on the Defiant Women, prophets, poets, spies, the bravest women that you will ever meet. I'm just like, I get giddy over it. So, anyway, ladies, all I can say to you is thank you for being a part of this conversation. Thank you for being called as creatives, and I look forward to seeing you all again very soon. We hope today's episode inspired you. If it did, don't forget to like, subscribe, and share with somebody in your world so we can reach more and more amazing women in entertainment and media. We'd love to hear from you. So drop us a comment below. Your support truly means the world to us and it helps us keep doing this important work. Also, don't miss out on signing up for our newsletter and you get our acting prep guide for free. It's packed with tips to help you step into your purpose. If you feel led, also please consider donating to support our ministry. All the links are in the show notes below. We can't wait to hear from you to join us next time.