The VetsConnection Podcast
Join host Scott McLean, a veteran and also a passionate advocate for veterans' well-being. Each week Scott will bring you an episode that will feature insightful conversations with representatives from non-profit organizations dedicated to supporting veterans, as well as experts discussing programs within the Veterans Affairs (V.A.) aimed at assisting veterans with their needs. From discussing innovative therapies to highlighting community resources, this podcast sheds light on the myriad of ways veterans can find support and healing thru nonprofit organizations and also to connect nonprofits with each other in hopes of creating a network that will be beneficial to all.
The VetsConnection Podcast
Ep. - 69, Award Winning Director, Richard X. Golphin - How A 17-Minute Short Film Captures Three Generations Fighting For One Veteran
We talk with filmmaker and actor Robert X. Golphin about Chest Candy, a 17-minute short that shows how PTSD reshapes a home and how three generations of women fight for one veteran. We explore craft choices, authentic casting, festival wins, and why community screenings matter.
• origin of the story in a 30-second reel and veteran feedback
• why the film focuses on family impact over battlefield scenes
• research, consultants, and restraint to avoid sensationalism
• casting serendipity and a military child’s authentic perspective
• a compressed 48-hour shoot and visual claustrophobia
• festival grind, awards, and deeper validation from veterans
• Brian McKnight Jr.’s intimate score and framed dedications
• title meaning linking medals to family as true chest candy
• veterans’ benefits battles, stigma, and better language for thanks
• plans for screenings, talkbacks, and possible expansion
If you want to find the short film, go to YouTube and type “Chest Candy film.” To request a screening or connect: robertxgolphin.com • robertxgolphinentertainment.com • robertxgolphinentertainment@gmail.com
Like, Subscribe and Share. If you have comments or suggestions email us at: vetsconnectionpodcast@gmail.com. You can also find the video of this podcast on our YouTube Channel - Vetsconnection Podcast
Welcome to the podcast. I'm Scott McLean. My guest today is Robert X. Golfin, filmmaker, writer, and director, and star of the award-winning short film Chest Candy, which can now be found on YouTube. If you search Chest Candy, I put film at the end. It'll take you right to it. I watched it, and it's very good. It's very good. Um, we're gonna get into that, but first, Robert, how are you today?
Robert X. Golphin:I'm doing well, sir. How about you?
Scott McLean:I'm doing well, man, and thanks for coming. Uh uh, we we were supposed to do this. This is Monday. Uh we were supposed to do this on Friday, and I hate those last minute cancel. I hate it. Like when I have to do it. I've had guests say, hey, but when I do it, it just doesn't feel right. I try to keep it. You know, you you're gracious enough to give me your time, but when you have a water heater leak, uh everything has to go to the side of the side of the road, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Things happen.
Scott McLean:Absolutely, my friend. So I gotta ask you first and foremost, how old are you?
Speaker:I'm sorry. Well, I'll just say this. My age is all over the internet. I'm I'm I'm older than I look, and I've got a birthday coming up. I'm a groundhog baby. So Okay. Yeah.
Scott McLean:All right. Well, for you uh you people that are interested, seek it out and then email me. I want to know how old he is. That's okay. And where are you from?
Speaker:I am from the great city of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, city of brotherly love and sisterly affection.
Scott McLean:There you go. All right. So chest candy is a story about a veteran that came back from from the war. And the I'll just put it this way: the trials and of coming back from that war and the trials on the family. Uh, and I want to get in. There was a very interesting point in there that I noticed that I want to talk about when we get to that point. Um why did you I do you have a military affiliation?
Speaker:So, no, I am not a member of the military. I am a civilian, but my family is rooted in service. My grandfather served. I have so many relatives, so many cousins that have served or are currently active uh in various branches of the government, uh, including some in some secret branches of the government. Um I don't know what they do, but you might never know. And I might never know exactly. But uh I've always heard the conversations, had conversations, and also seen the silences that some of my uh loved ones have have gone through uh because of the sacrifices that that they made. And not everybody saw combat, but you know that's that's a whole other conversation I'm sure we'll go into. Um, but just growing up around all of that, um, it it was it was definitely inspiring before I even knew it was inspiring.
Scott McLean:So you decided at one point you wanted to make a short film about a veteran. Where did that come from? What what inspired that?
Speaker:Well, the nugget came from a short scene that I made for my acting reel years ago because I didn't have a performance scene that I really thought would help my reel. And so I came up with this 30-second scene uh about a soldier. And once I put the reel out, I had veterans contact me and say, This is really powerful. Uh, you know, something that I thought would just be a great moment in the reel, but I didn't think it would hit like it did. And they said, You need to expand on this, you need to expand on this. And so uh for a few years after that, it was gestating in my mind, and then ultimately I uh I decided to to try my hand at totally putting an entire story together. And the difference between the original scene and the film is that the original scene was more of the stereotypical uh way of of approaching it. The the soldier was contemplating uh whether he wanted to be here or not. And I didn't want to go that route. I mean, that's an important story, and we've seen them, and we'll see more of them, and we should, but I really wanted to show how it impacted the family, and that's that's how Chess Candy was born. And and you know, it evolved a little bit.
Scott McLean:Yes, and and you got a lot in in a it's what 17 minutes and like 47 seconds, I think, uh, in that it's between 17 and 18 minutes long. You got a lot in in that time. I saw I saw that I watched it and I I saw how long it was, and I I kind of thought right off the bat, like, okay, how much how much can you really get in? You you got a good amount in uh to a very accurate level, I'll give you that. It was well done. It was well done. Appreciate that. The the PTSD aspect of it is a very complex subject. Um where uh and how did you come up with the character development? Because you you were the veteran, and you are the veteran in the film. Um where did you get the like how did you get that character development?
Speaker:Well, I knew that for this film I I wanted the character to have seen combat, so I knew that that's where it would start from. Uh, but uh, you know, in reality, I immersed myself in as much army culture and and war culture as I possibly could. Uh in the time that I was writing the script and developing the script, but also the year leading up to filming, I just watched everything I could get my hands on news stories, documentaries, films, war films every day. Uh to an unhealthy degree, probably, but you know, as I always say, nothing compared to what service people have seen uh in real life. But I just immersed myself in it and uh and and tried to learn as much as I could. You know, I didn't do any kind of a boot camp thing. I to be honest with you, I don't think I would be able to survive it. But um I I did try to mentally as much as I could put myself there, uh, even if I couldn't physically be there.
Scott McLean:Right. And it was uh I guess they're all different, right?
Speaker:It's it's definitely not monolithic in any way.
Scott McLean:Correct. Yeah, uh PTSD affects everybody that has it in different ways. Um so if anybody watches it and they think, oh, this might be a little over the top, I'm here to tell you it's not. It's not. Uh you know, I grew up in a generation where war war was normalized through movies, right? And you always saw the heroic part of it. So then you saw the downside of it. I think my generation's uh movie that really first broke the stigma of PTSD, which they used to call uh shell shocked or whatever, was Deer Hunter. The effect that it had on these Vietnam veterans coming home, uh that's I mean, that's why it was such a great movie. It really did touch the nerve. But when you don't experience it and you're not around people that experience it, uh it's it might be a little hard to understand, you know. Um, but this is why films like yours make a difference. It gives people a little bit of insight.
Speaker:Um and if I can add, I just I I wanted to make sure that the film had a lot of restraint to it. You know, I didn't want to do the whole over-the-top thing, and um, you know, and and that's where my my uh consultants came in handy as well, because again, you won't be able to depict it in a way that everybody will be satisfied, as you just alluded to, but I wanted to make sure that it was raw and authentic as as it as as possible without being uh an exploitation or you know, sensationalizing it.
Scott McLean:Which there's a lot of that out there.
Speaker:There's a lot of that out there.
Scott McLean:Uh how did you how did you find your consultants?
Speaker:You know, it was a mixture uh of of family, of um ment, you know, because I had military and mental health consultants, and some of them I reached out to just from past conversations with, you know, before we even, before this film was even a thought, uh, just folks that I've come across over the years. And uh and then I had a lot of consultants that were unnamed because either they didn't feel comfortable putting themselves out there publicly, or it was just such an informal conversation, but it made such an impact on me. I considered them a consultant, even if they weren't officially. So it, you know, it was there there's I think five named consultants on the credits of the film, but a lot more than that that exist.
Scott McLean:So I had alluded to this at the beginning of this interview. Um on your research, right? Your research on how you came up with the character and how you portrayed the character. The film also has three other characters in it that uh each one you took just enough time to touch on. Um the wife, the daughter, you got perspective as the viewer without overdoing it, right? Um but it gave you uh it gave the viewer, it gave me uh good insight right away, without having to even it it okay, it it got you thinking. It got me thinking, like you're watching it and it really kind of brought you into the moment the part when the with the stuffed animal in the bag, the camera angle. Thought that was really interesting. That was well, that was well done. That said a lot, just in that about two-minute clip, said a lot. But what I found most interesting was the mother. And I I don't want to be giving away the whole thing.
Speaker:No, no, we we we can. That's yeah.
Scott McLean:Um we can talk about it. The mother, I thought you really you came up with something there that I I I found intriguing. Um you see her as the mother, she comes in as the mother, she treats him like his mother, talks to him like his mother, lays it on him like his mother. But then there's that one little blurb where talking about the house. Was it her grandfather came back and my father?
Speaker:Yeah, her father, my grandfather.
Scott McLean:Yeah, her father came back, but he held it together. And and there was that back and forth while you don't understand. Well, I do understand basically is what she said. He just never talked about it, but he took care of business, you know, so she's she telling him to man up is she saying I'd freaking been through this. Like I lived through this as a child. Like, so she is you can see the daughter, right? Is live is walking in her grandmother's shoes. Right? And I just thought that was interesting because she touches on it, like he always kept it together. He never talked about it, which is what that generation did or didn't do is talk about it. And I I just I thought that was a really good touch. You included everybody. That's right. Yeah, you know, you everybody, every one of them had a touch point that was that was done very well. So the process of of creating a short film. What is that like? Where where did where does it begin? I know we talked about the idea, right? And then the the kind of inspiration, but there's gotta be that like one giant step into the next phase, like pulling it all together. How long did it take you to make this?
Speaker:So I wrote the script. Uh, you know, at this point, I don't even remember when I wrote it. I I want to say it was around uh the pandemic time that I started writing this script because no, you know what? It was right before the pandemic. I wrote the script. I was trying to get traditional funding for it at that time, which it's a short. So that's that's next to impossible because what's the return on the investment? Um but I still try, you know, I look for grants and all that kind of stuff. Yeah, and then the pandemic hit, and so things shifted, and I knew okay, well, I'm not gonna be able to make this kind of a film right now. And ultimately I ended up making another short with the same actress who plays my wife and chess candy, okay. Um, called uh Essential, which was set in during the pandemic, and we shot it in different places. Everybody was shooting movies at that point with their computers and stuff.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker:And so I did that, but this project was still jest dating, and then I would, you know, keep working on the script through the years as I was continuing to seek out financing. And then ultimately in 2024, I said, okay, something about this project is still speaking to me. I don't want to give up on it. Let me try the crowdfunding route. Now I had tried crowdfunding for projects in the past and it was always unsuccessful. So I said, All right, third time. Hopefully it'll be a charm. If nothing happens with this, I'm never trying crowdfunding again. And if something does happen with it, I'm probably still not going to do crowdfunding again. Um, but we did it. And surprisingly, it was, you know, relatively successful. We we made our campaign, and and you know, I had a lot of uh people from from the very beginning that said, yeah, this is an important story. We want to help you with this. So then I started developing the script even more and having you know, taking counsel from my consultants and making little changes here and there. Uh ultimately we shot this project on June 1st and June 2nd of 2024. It was a 48-hour marathon shoot.
Scott McLean:Wow.
Speaker:Yeah. And then I went on like a six or seven month break where I didn't even touch the film. I wasn't in post-production because there were other things going on. I teach uh a film camp every summer in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. So my time was consumed. And um, but I I actually think it was a good thing that the film was kind of lying in wait for a bit before I was able to really get in there and edit it because I edited it myself. I didn't have an editor come in and do it for me. So it was a time-consuming process. And then courting the film festivals, and that's a process. And you know, we finished the film uh in February of last year, but it didn't premiere until May of last year. So it was it was a journey. It was a journey.
Scott McLean:Absolutely, absolutely. So the co-stars, how did you okay? So you were already working with uh the woman that plays your wife.
Speaker:Her name is Lauren Michelle Morgan, right, who who also co-produced the film. So yes, we saw that together.
Scott McLean:Yeah, excellent. How did you uh cast the daughter and the mother?
Speaker:So we had traditional casting call and breakdowns put out on uh a website called Actors Access, which is what most of us actors use to and and our agents and managers to seek out projects and whatnot. And then I was told that it was in backstage as well. I don't know how it got there, but it got into a few different places and we had actors submit. But you know, the the interesting thing is the woman who plays my mom in the film, Antoinette Green, I saw her on the HBO miniseries We Own This City, and I thought, wow, she was really good. I would love to work with her someday. Lo and behold, she submitted for the film. I had no idea that was gonna happen. Um, but we we saw a lot, you know, we saw a lot of tapes and headshots from various actors that that gave strong performances, but she was the one. And uh Ariana Pratt, who plays my daughter in the film, she's an actress out of uh Atlanta, and we saw some kids, they sent some tapes and some headshots and and resumes, and you know, great actors, but Ariana just stood out. The one the one thing that we were concerned about was Ariana is a sweetheart of a person, and we just didn't know is she really this is heavy lifting, can she handle this? And she sent in the tapes, we were blown away, and so we cast her. It was after we cast her that we found out she herself is a military child. Her mom was army, and her mom ended up becoming an onset consultant for us, and uh her other parent is you know was a marine, so she has it honest, and she was able to bring a type of authenticity to the film that would not have been there otherwise because nobody else in the film has a military background, yeah. So I mean I I think it was it was meant to be. Did and then there's Joey, Joey Collins, who plays the the sergeant.
Scott McLean:Uh oh yeah, yeah, that's yeah, the the bad guy. Right, right. No, but that's how that's how we saw it. That that was another thing that um kind of struck me because I I've spoken with veterans who have still have a hard time with either the way they were treated, the way they were talked to, how they were told things that they might not have agreed with, uh conflict, and I have a few that and it's still to this day there's resentment, there's a little anger, um so watching that and then connecting the dots with the veterans that I've worked with or spoken to was uh it was pretty enlightening because you can't really uh say how they feel, but they can tell you, right? And you can go, oh okay. But then the film kind of portrayed that.
Speaker:And it's a complicated situation. Yes. You know, you you again, I don't know this, but just from the conversations I've had, you go, you have to be mentally conditioned to you know be the way that you need to be to survive over there.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, and so whether you take certain things personally or not you know you know it's all you can't tell someone how to feel but it's it's all definitely something that is um interesting to navigate did you have the co-stars do any of their own research like okay this is your character go immerse yourself in it and come back did they how how did that work well I didn't um I didn't formally instruct them to go do research uh you know at I can tell you with Lauren she is just a a bona fide brilliant talent and she was immersed in all of this from the time she was the first person that I shared the script with back in 2019 and so she was researching the entire time uh leading up to us shooting in 2024 that's a lot of years of of of research um obviously Ariana is already there I I know that Joey Collins who plays the the sergeant he did his own level of research can't tell you exactly what it is but he did um I want to make sure I get this story right he when he was growing up he worked as a volunteer at a I think it was a veterans hospital and so he would always you know have conversations with uh the different veterans and all that kind of stuff that put him in the the mindset that he needed to be in for this film that would come along many many many years later that he had no idea about so yeah I mean I I had I definitely had conversations with them and I do a lot of my direction uh for my films as pre-direction so it's the conversations that we have on the phone or Zoom leading up to filming because when we get on set you know I have not ever really had the luxury of having time for us to rehearse. Time is money it's just not there. So I I expect that if I hire you once we get on set you're ready to go. And I definitely had that with this cast and and I will say you know about Joey he comes from theater he's a Broadway actor as well as film and TV so there's a certain discipline that he has that's very military like anyway um that really caused me to be more on my A game and as as focused as I was I had to be even more focused. So and you did it in in in breakneck speed yeah yeah well and and I'll say you know my my cinematographer who also was the first AD first assistant director this is a very tight knit yeah uh intimate crew yeah we had a a film professor and two of her students that also were on crew but um my my cinematographer kept a really tight ship on time you know there were a few times where I wanted to do this or do that he's like we we just don't have the time that's that's what an AD is supposed to mean someone to say no to you yeah yeah where did you film it? We shot in uh Spring City Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Pennsylvania but most of it was shot on a horse farm in Spring City PA okay did you go out and research that like this is the spot or how did that spot come up well so the funny thing about that is we lost our location uh about three times leading up to production obviously me and and the producing staff were the only people that knew that you don't tell your casting crew that ahead of time but um you know behind the scenes it's like ah what are we gonna do um and then I found this this spot you know at one point we had a really large estate that we were we were going to be filming at but I think that the universe the cinema gods whatever you want to call them knew exactly what we needed this needed to be a claustrophobic story and we were in a very tight beautiful residence but very tight quarters you know we couldn't we didn't have the the space to move the camera too much or to have tons of equipment inside and I think it mirrored what my character and what the entire family was going through. You know we're we're boxed in trying to figure this all out but the beautiful part about shooting on the horse farm was as heavy as the subject matter was we could walk out the door and have an encounter with a hen a chicken or a horse and it and it totally kept the temperature absolutely breaks it up so you went out and won some awards you want to tell us about those wasn't expecting that at all and let me tell you the festival grind is just that it's a grind because it's so much hurry up and wait just like the industry itself but you you take your film you take your baby and you put it out there in the world and you hope that someone will see it acknowledge it uh that it'll resonate with them and you know for all the success that we had on the festival journey there were a lot more no's than yeses and that just comes with the territory but uh you know we got into our first film the People's Film Festival in Harlem New York and lo and behold we ended up winning Best Short Film Honorable mention was not expecting that at all and then uh a few minutes a few months later at the Newark independent film festival festival in Delaware we won uh best original score for the music that was done by Brian McKnight Jr. I was gonna get to him yeah so well I may not jump the gun there but but I mean you know you don't do it well I don't do it for awards some people may uh you always hope that that you'll receive some sort of acknowledgement yeah yeah it's validation for the work you did and everything that everybody did yeah that's great to get and and that's the thing it wasn't so much about me wanting to be validated I I definitely wanted the work of my cast and crew to be validated just in the sense that they know others have seen your work and they appreciate it. But here's the thing with this film that I came to realize quickly that it wasn't so much the festival attention that mattered it was all of the veterans and veteran families that came up to me and are still contacting me telling me how much the film impacted them that means more than any festival Laurel any day.
Scott McLean:So I had that on my list of questions because I told you earlier I'd sent you the text I have a lot of questions but first I want to get to uh so I saw Brian McKnight Jr. I'm like is that could that like because I'm a music guy right I know who Brian McKnight is yeah yeah yeah and I'm like that is that coincidence and so I I looked it up I nope not a coincidence I thought that was pretty cool.
Speaker:How did you get uh Brian McKnight Jr uh to do this with you well BJ as I call him BJ and I have been a family for years uh I've collaborated with and continue to collaborate with his family on different projects uh you know and we always wanted to do something like this together where he would you know score and I'm happy to say that my film is the first film that he has scored and I I just know he's he's gonna do some amazing work uh in other people's projects his music has been placed in shows like The Chai and um I I can't even rattle them off right now.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker:Yeah uh I I directed a feature film a few years back called Freshman Friday that BJ starred in and he did some music for that but he had never actually scored an entire project from front to back. And so it was really cool to involve him with this but it was a very unorthodox process because I was in Philly at the time he's out in Hollywood at the time he scored the entire project virtually um while he was starring in a a a stage musical out there and so it was it was a lot of me picking up my cell phone texting him constantly BJ where's the where's this track where's that track you know that kind of thing being a director yeah yeah and a producer and a writer exactly and I know I was getting on his nerves I know it I know it I know it but he was still so invested in the project and the great part about working with an artist like Brian McKnight Jr.
Scott McLean:is that I I don't have much to say to him he's a genius at what he does he's a prodigy he's the son of of RB superstar Brian McKnight and house house music icon Julie McKnight so he he okay he has a lot of music uh I love me some house buddy yeah oh do you I do okay well I I gotta hip you to Julie because she's absolutely you know overseas she is just uh I mean everywhere but overseas she's she's top that's where it's really big house is really big we can go into a whole rabbit hole there but we'll we'll stay on topic I loved how at the end you put the dedication for Nico yeah so that's Julie's son that's BJ's brother who passed away two days before this film premiered at the festival okay um and you know my grandmother had passed about two weeks before and so she's also uh the film is also dedicated to her you know I had no idea that my and BJ's worlds would collide in that sort of way um you know through grief but you know and on top of that even before uh BJ's brother took ill um the character the play of of my daughter her name is Nika because when I originally wrote the script I wrote the script with BJ's brother in as a nod to his brother long before he was um was sick and so it it really I mean the universe spoke so loud with this entire project so then you know as I'm in New York going to this festival getting ready for the premiere to get the news that he had passed it was it was just uh it was a gut punch absolutely yeah but I was but I was happy that we were able to um honor him in in this way yeah I that was I thought that was pretty cool so you mentioned uh feedback from veterans is there I uh well I suppose there's a lot is there one uh that stands out to you that one a veteran or or a family member because this encompassed this encompassed mother wife daughter like three levels of family um is there anything that stands out what somebody might have said to you or could relate to it or yeah I mean I you know I was at a funeral recently for in fact uh a funeral for the mother of one of my film's consultants uh who was army and um at the repast one of the relatives came up to me and she's uh retired Marine and she said you know um I'm I'm she hadn't even watched the film yet so that that's the interesting part she did reach out to me later and say how much the film impacted her but she just said to me um I'm I'm having a hard time I'm fighting right now uh to get my benefits you know I have this illness that I'm dealing with and it you know it's just a rough time and it mirrors not the sickness part necessarily but it mirror well it depends on how you look at it but it mirrors my character uh and you know trying to get his benefits something that may be something that all service people endure but it there is a systemic issue with people of color trying to get their benefits and so it was interesting that she connected with it before she'd even seen it and then uh I had other uh veterans say yeah I I relate to this I relate to that you know so it's not one story I think the main thing that has always stuck with me from the veterans that have seen it is they'll say to me the look in your eyes nothing you said in the film it's just how you were looking it was it was almost like yes yes and it was almost like um you know looking in my soul in in a in a way um for for some some of the veterans that I spoke to that have gone through similar uh bouts with mental health challenges or PTSD or whatever it is and again I keep saying it's not monolithic because it's not but um that's one of the main things this is what I call a quietly loud movie I knew that there wouldn't be a lot of dialogue especially for my character and if you watch the film you know I don't even think people people that were in the film even said I didn't realize until watching it you only have one speaking scene yeah that was in the bedroom yeah yeah everything else is just well in the kitchen when you were saying put it down put it down you know but that was yeah yeah but still okay one or two in the whole you know within the whole thing and you're the main character yeah right um but see that's that's another thing you're the main character but really you're not that's it and and the interesting thing you're the focal point exactly but you're not the main really the main character which is a kind of kind of a it was how you put it together was done very well because you really have to take a step back and notice that.
Speaker:But that's the thing that I found when I went to go edit the film we had a completely different log line for the film while we were shooting it. And then when I went to edit the film I started piecing the scenes together and I was like this isn't a film about my character this is a film about three generations of women that are trying to you know save their patriarch and I was like how did I not realize that I wrote the script but maybe you know that was just my my male way of thinking it's I don't subconscious took over somehow some way yeah but that's what it came out to be again you have to take a step back and look at it from the outside in and say okay you're in it you're in almost every shot right right but it's really it's about you but it's not really about you. Exactly which was very very well done even though you might not have meant to do it that way you did it that way and it came that's how it was supposed to be right yes that's just the way it was supposed to work out so what do you have planned for the future so you're uh I don't know how old you are I will find out what um do you have is is this something that you might touch again uh this topic not that particular topic because veterans there's such a wide range uh of of topics that can be touched um has that entered your mind or are you just gonna say this was my my Mona Lisa of that kind of topic that genre well everybody is continuing to say to me you have to expand on this again you have to turn this into a feature film and um I'm you know it's the idea of expanding on this project again is gestating in the back of my mind but I think you know if I do it the question is how to do it in a way where it's not recycling the same exact right story. And there there's lots of options. I mean there's lots of characters that can be explored further and lots of new characters that can be introduced. So I think it would be very interesting to explore it. And I've always been drawn to material that deals with mental health and identity and you know domestic life and and those kind of slice of life type stories. I mean if you go back through the history of the projects that I've created you'll find that uh these are themes that are recurring. So I'm always drawn to that sort of space. And so just figuring out a way to make sure that it is unique enough and you know powerful enough and that we're not being redundant in what we're putting out that's that's the task to complete.
Scott McLean:I guess it's easier said than done. Oh you could do a series and you could do like a a whole little like you know lineup of this one's PTSD and this one is you know traumatic brain injury and this easier said than done. But if someone said well I'm ready to fund your project right now I'll figure it out all right yeah I mean then you're good buddy you you you are good because as my listeners and my viewers know I just started my YouTube channel and I say this all the time and I mean it I I really put off like the first 60 episodes of this podcast were all audio because I really as we talked about before I really it's not about me. It's really I'm just the host I'm just the person that delivers the message. And I usually interview uh nonprofits that work with veterans because based on my story uh that I didn't even know they existed until I went through equine therapy and that was a that's a whole nother story that my listeners are sick of hearing um but it's true um I always say that uh if you like what this nonprofit is doing with veterans give them your money just give them your money that's what I always say give them your money now I don't know if that works but it's my way of giving of trying to give back to my guests uh now you probably won't do the the the uh the source funding the crowdfunding again is that what you said well you know I I never say never never say never exactly but I I think the thing with crowdfunding that folks who are thinking about doing it especially if it's for a film project or folks that have never done it before is it requires a special kind of energy and a special assortment of people because you cannot largely do a crowdfunding campaign solely you need an entire machine behind you.
Speaker:Now if you have you know a worldwide name or a household name then maybe you could do one by yourself. But you need to have people you know pushing that project out constantly every single day with the same amount of passion as you do because at some point the well of people in your orbit dries up So you need Jack, John, Scott, Lisa, and Angel to help you, you know, focus on that project. So I had, you know, a few folks, especially some of my consultants that were out there getting the word out about it, but it was grueling. And a lot of the time that I spent trying to make sure that we get the funding that we needed, I could have spent doing a little more pre-production for the film, but it was pulling my my energy away from that. And so I I couldn't do that. So it's it's it's a tall order to do a crowdfunding campaign. And then the other thing is how many times can you go back to your same well of people to say, hey, you want to help with this project? You want to help with that project? Um, but this one was just really, really super important. And I would say uh one of the most important projects in my entire catalog as an artist.
Scott McLean:Yeah, absolutely. Uh I I I this is my this is my cheap plug. I do this every episode. I have my own foundation, the one man one mic foundation, where I teach veterans how to podcast to give them a voice, and uh also emphasize uh storytelling. Because storytelling, a veteran's voice is their biggest strength, and their story is king. This story is everything. And uh I I I know how it is to try to get donations, and because nonprofits run money. I don't mean to sound greedy, but that's it. Money is the engine that runs the machine, donations and donors. And in the case of a nonprofit, it's an ongoing thing. Whereas if you're making a film, right, you get you get the film done, and then the film gets put out and the film wins awards, but then the film kind of just keeps moving in its own direction, and the donor, right, is like, uh, you know, what's next? Do they do that? You know what I mean? So what's your next film? What's your next thing? Again, going back to them, and and and asking for money is hard, as you know.
Speaker:But I will say, with a film like Chess Candy, the thing that sets it apart from the average film is that it isn't just a film that goes in a festival and then dies, because there's a whole conversation built around it.
Scott McLean:I agree. I did not, I I'm sorry if it sounded like I diminished it. I I don't mean that.
Speaker:No, no, no, I know you weren't. I know you weren't. But I was just, you know, I know, but in general, like if you're trying to get funding for a film, it is something that you know typically you you you get the funding, you put it in a film festival, uh, maybe it screens in some theaters or something, and then it is done because there generally isn't a a conversation built in. So that's that's the distinction.
Scott McLean:Let me ask you this as far as that goes, if so it's on YouTube, right? So it's it's easily accessed. Is there any like if a nonprofit wanted to show that uh that that film, can they just do that? Uh now this is me not knowing the film industry, the rights, the copyrights, all that. Uh, do they have to let like if I know a nonprofit, because I'm in touch with a lot of nonprofits, and they watch and they're like, I'd love to show this, you know, for whatever. Is there a process to that?
Speaker:So the process would be reaching out to me and and my company, and we can set up, you know, try to set up some sort of a screening and talk back and hopefully have mental health or military consultants, and maybe some of the people from the film uh be a part of it, even if some of us just chime in virtually. And during that time, likely what will happen is that the film will be pulled from public viewing during the special screening of the film.
Scott McLean:Right, okay.
Speaker:So, like we we have a we have a screening of chest candy that is being prepared for uh a mental health awareness event in May. I can't say anything more about it because they're still putting the pieces together, but in a in a particular city, and when that happens, it'll be pulled, and then when the event's over, it'll be put back on online.
Scott McLean:Gotcha.
Speaker:So yeah. Now, if somebody, you know, is at their workplace and they grab five, ten people at the workplace and say, hey, come look at this film. I mean, I can't stop it.
Scott McLean:That's one thing. You know, but like if I'm not gonna, I I don't think, but this is why I asked, because there might be someone that tries to do a fundraiser and we're gonna show this film, but they should let you know that that's the case. I just want to make sure we get that clear.
Speaker:They can reach out at robert xgoffinentertainment at gmail.com, uh robert xgoffin.com forward slash uh chess candy. Uh, you know, I'm out there. Social media is out there.
Scott McLean:Yeah. Um, well, you might you might be uh making a trip to South Florida.
Speaker:Let's do it. Let's do it. Because I I want to I want this film to have as much reach as as possible. And and as I said, the festival journey, which ended last year, that was phase one of the film. Now we're in a different phase.
Scott McLean:So yeah, yeah. I think that's great, man. I think that's great. Uh did we forget anything? Um let me see. I have uh future short films, veteran-based. We got your info. Give us the info one more time. If someone just wants to reach out to you, uh, there might be veterans out there that say, Hey, I have an idea. I I think it's always good to listen to ideas, right?
Speaker:Yeah. Well, definitely, definitely, definitely. Uh Robert XGoffinentertain at gmail.com, Robert XGoffin.com, or Robert XGoffinentertainment.com forward slash chess candy. Uh, I'm my company's on Instagram at Robert XGoffin Entertainment, and I'm on Facebook at Robert XGoffin. So if you just look up my name, you'll find me somewhere. And uh yeah, I mean, I we're looking to continue to foster relationships and collaborations with organizations, community groups, uh, veteran groups, you know, let's let's continue to get the the word out there. And I do want to say that we have a warning label on the film.
Scott McLean:Yes.
Speaker:Uh, I think it's very important that projects of this nature have that. Uh, because if you feel like it's sensitive, yeah, definitely. And we definitely want to make sure that everybody is as comfortable as possible, uh, or at least has uh a strong support system around them when they watch it. Um and we didn't talk about the title of the film.
Scott McLean:So there you go. Uh see, I as a veteran, I'm kind of I kind of got it. You know, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sorry. So let's let's talk about the title. How did you come up with the title and why did you come up with that title?
Speaker:So people have asked me uh and and still ask me, what does chess candy mean? Uh, and some people have have uh have gotten the first layer of it that it it you know it it it has to do with the medals, yeah, and the ribbons and the ribbons and uh all of the uh respect that you get for what you've done in the service. But the hidden meaning, or not hidden meaning, but the deeper meaning behind it is my character's chess candy is also his family, and that's where the the title comes from for me.
Scott McLean:Okay, that's that's an interesting perspective. Yeah. Now that I look at it, absolutely. Um yeah, that that that's great. That's great. So again, I just wanted to oh, I want to stress this. It's as you explained to me, uh, it's Robert X golfin, as in dolphin, except with a G. Yes. That I get that's the way to just it's it's dolphin, except put a G at the beginning of it. Golfin. That is it. Instead of somebody might go G O L F F I N, like I can't find this guy. What were you gonna think?
Speaker:I no, I've had some uh some situations where uh the D has gotten on there. I'm like yeah, I've got mail with D on it. I'm like, no, not dolphin.
Scott McLean:Excellent. So let me see. I think I think we covered everything. If you want to find the the short film, again, it's on YouTube. Just type in chest candy film. That's how I did it, and it takes you right to it. Uh, you'll see trailers, you'll see, you know, the actual short film. Uh watch it. I I I suggest you watch it. It's if you're a family member, uh, if you're a friend, if you're a veteran that maybe experiences and there there is the warning at the beginning, it's a little heavy. It's it's it is a little bit heavy. I I will tell the veterans that and the family members, but um it's it's it's it's pretty accurate in its portrayal. Um give it a watch. Uh I'm gonna I'm going out today. I'm gonna as soon as we're done, I'm gonna brag about interviewing you. Right. Well, thank you. You got it, my friend.
Speaker:I'm honored to be here.
Scott McLean:Uh, and thank you again. Thank you for coming on. I I appreciate your time. Um, but I'm gonna I'm I'm going to send it out. Uh I'll start talking down here to some uh veteran organizations that I know that maybe, maybe in the future, sometime this year, we can get you down here and they want to do a showing, and maybe if it's during a fundraiser or whatever, you know, I think it would be uh pretty interesting.
Speaker:That would be fantastic. And and I did remember one thing that you might want to chat about really quick.
Scott McLean:I know we're at the Yeah, no, no, I got plenty of time. This is a podcast.
Speaker:We we in our in our pre-interview, we we talked about how the the experiences that I've had with some of the veterans that have seen this film. Yes, uh, and just crossing with veterans in in you know in general life, is you guys don't tend to have egos. Like that is not what you're about. Uh I've I've had so many people watch the film and come up to me afterwards, and we have a whole conversation about how much the film impacted them. And then as they're walking away, oh, by the way, I served, and I didn't know. And um, you know, and I think sometimes it's a protection thing, a self-protection thing, uh, because you know, they don't want to uh I mean you you know, you probably are in a better position to say it, but they're they're not some of them are not necessarily wanting to uh receive that kind of attention. Um and some of them don't want to have to explain to me what they've gone through, and I have to be able to respect that as uh a civilian.
Scott McLean:So there's a couple of things there. This is this is a good conversation. There's a couple things there. I come across and I find it I find it um kind of an uh an unanswered, I don't have I don't really ever have a comfortable response to the and this doesn't mean for people to stop saying it, but when uh a non-veteran says to a veteran, thank you for your service, yeah. Uh uh there's a number of veterans, a good percentage of veterans that just kind of don't know how to handle that. Like some of them like it, some of them don't like it, but they're not gonna say anything. Uh it's some of them it's uncomfortable because I I don't know what to say, because there is also a good percentage of veterans that didn't see combat. And a lot of non-veterans think every veteran has seen combat. And so what you'll have is you'll have veterans that were maybe uh back office people. They worked in the chow hall, they worked in the medical center, they worked in the carpool, or you know, whatever they did, civil engineers who didn't see war, they didn't see battle. And I've come across a number of veterans that don't really think they're a veteran because they didn't see battle, and I think that that's a product of a 20-year war. Uh I think that that's um but I always tell them if you signed your name on the line, you gave four years, minimum four years of your life, usually to the United States of America. You served, you did what you were told. It was hard, it was easy, it was fun, it was happy, it was sad. You know, you had experiences, you met people from all over the country, maybe some of you traveled around the world. Just because you didn't see combat does not mean you're not a veteran. You should honor your veteran status once you signed your name on the line. Um but again, this is how people's mindsets are. I you know, I can't change everybody's mind, but um so those are the things, right? That like you were saying thank us for our service and everything. It's kind of weird sometimes.
Speaker:But I mean, I I I I think a sacrifice is a sacrifice, but absolutely um, you know, you can you can try to get that message across to to them and hopefully they'll receive it. But um I I think it's important for uh civilians like myself to just continue to be, and and this is one of the reasons why this film is so important, to be more empathetic about that, to be compassionate, to be sensitive, to be thoughtful, considerate, all those kind of things, and just continue to learn. You know, I will continue to learn. I'm learning so much even after this film, just in the conversations that I'm having with veterans. So if I do uh expand on this project again in the future, I'll have a a whole nother level of knowledge than I had before. You know, so I'm I'm continuing to to learn uh a lot. But I think sometimes it's even just about figuring out a way to have better language when we communicate with our veterans and with people in general. Um and I and I hope that you know we're able to start figuring out a way to better do that as a as a society so that it doesn't make a veteran feel hopefully uncomfortable, but that veterans feel appreciated and seen, not just on Veterans Day or Memorial Day, but all days.
Scott McLean:Yeah.
Speaker:I think that's important.
Scott McLean:Now, now that you know you brought up something from earlier, I want to bring something up that I meant to touch on. This might be the never-ending interview, my friend. Because we got, like I said, we got a lot to talk about, a lot of questions. Um you mentioned the part in the film. It doesn't really, it it touches it, but it doesn't go deep into it. The um uh battle for the benefits. The battle for the benefits. Um that is a real that is a real topic. That is a real subject. That is a very big sore point for a lot of veterans. Um look at I I I'm I like the VA. I'm a fan of the VA. The VA has helped me, but I understand also I am not a you know 100% apologist for them. Uh there are the system is big and it is broken in the in some places, and you can only hope that it gets fixed. But I have dealt with veterans that their battle with the VA is as hard on them as their disability. Uh, and that's a fact. I I I'll I don't want to tell it here, I'll give you a quick story once we go off the air. Uh, and it's it's pretty hardcore. But uh, I think that that was a good uh touch point also. And how the mom just looked at the refrigerator and saw the veteran group thing and was like went away, right? Whatever the message was there was pretty was pretty interesting. Like I didn't know how to take that when I saw that scene. I was like, I don't know if she didn't really look at it, or if she just doesn't believe it, or if she just thinks it's weakness, or if she thinks because of the way she was raised. She's that is a very important scene in that movie, her.
Speaker:Yeah, no, she's definitely uh a pick yourself up by the bootstraps type person. And yeah, and and I will say that specifically in the black community, um, and again, nothing is monolithic, but right uh in the black community getting help, uh, you know, mental health help is very taboo. Since the pandemic, it it's a little bit more of an open conversation, but it's still a thing, you know, especially generationally, of what you know, we're not you're not gonna see a a shrink, you know. You've you've gotta figure this out and and man up, like you said.
Scott McLean:So Right, right. And that's a that is a generational thing. I am the last of the boomers, so to speak. I was born in December 63. Gen X has started in 64. So the beginning of the Gen X is and the end of the boomers are the same, but we learned from those people. That's why I went 20 years. I went 20 years. I'm like, there's nothing wrong with me. Right? It's okay. Until eventually I did, because with age comes wisdom. Right? Yeah, and I think the older we get, uh, the more uh well, the smarter we get when it comes to looking inside ourselves. Um people are stuck, and that and that's that's their thing. But uh the yeah, you don't you don't, you know. Look at I see a VA psychologist once a month. I'll tell anybody now. You think I would have said that 15 years ago? No. No, I wouldn't have. I wouldn't have. It's it's just it's that it's a generational thing, it's a race thing, it could be a uh a culture thing. It's however it's put on, I think there's a shift now with this hopefully with this newer generation uh who see more than we ever saw. You know, um, maybe it shifts a little too much, and everything is a problem, right? Everything is a problem.
Speaker:You know what I always say? I I I feel like we are in uh a time where we are insensitive and overly sensitive at the same time, and there's no balance to it at all. That's a great point, but that's a whole nother conversation. We need about three hours for that.
Scott McLean:We need a Joe Rogan podcast for that one. We need that length, but you're right. Well, listen, my friend, I will let you go. All right, I I truly appreciate you uh uh taking your time today. I do again apologize for last for this past Friday. Bad podcaster, bad podcaster.
Speaker:No problem at all.
Scott McLean:Um, and I want you to one more time give us your all your information uh for the listeners and viewers.
Speaker:Robertxgoffin.com, Robert XGoffinentertainment.com, uh, Robert XGoffinentertainment at gmail.com. You can look up Robert XGoffin Entertainment on Instagram, Robert XGoffin on Facebook, or just Google my name. You will find me somewhere.
Scott McLean:Tell me how old you are. To my listeners and viewers. Tell me how old he is.
Speaker:What's the prize if they do?
Scott McLean:A free viewing of Chet Candy. How's that?
Speaker:There you go. There you go.
Scott McLean:All right, my friend. Hang on. I'm going to do my outro and then we'll go off and uh uh talk to you for another minute.
Speaker:I will I'll give you real one real. I am I am a millennial, but I'm like on the outgoing range. So I'll just say that.
Scott McLean:Okay. Got you, buddy. Got you. Well, there you go. Uh, we built another bridge today. This is a this is a wonderful bridge. Uh it's a short film bridge, and it's a go watch it. It's called chess candy. Um, I think you'll enjoy it again. There is a a warning uh at the beginning, it can be a little heavy, but as long as you're prepared for it, um go watch it, comment on it, like it, share it. Uh, if you want to get in touch and you want to let Robert know yourself how you felt about it, reach out to him or comment in the video. Um, yeah, it's it's very well done. It's very well done. Thank you. And again, so we built the bridge and uh like we try to do every week. And if you like this, share it. If you didn't like it, well, thanks for watching and listening for one hour, one minute, and twenty seven seconds. I appreciate that. And uh, like I always say, you will see me and hear me next week.
