Ep 61 | FILMMAKER, FATHER, HUSBAND & ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS: ANDREW WHITEY ROSS
Episode Summary
Today’s guest is our dear friend Andrew Ross!
He is a talented filmmaker that found his passion for film after doing it as a hobby. He met Kevin’s story through Eric Steel’s documentary “The Bridge”. He also tells the story of how he met Kevin and started working with him. Impacting social causes through Sprout Creative is also a big topic of Andrew’s work. He also shares some fun stories with his ex-in-laws!
Tune in to this wonderful, fun conversation with Andrew Ross.
About the Guest - Andrew Ross
Andrew Ross, or how they commonly know him “Whitey” is a filmmaker, video director at Sprout Creative, and producer/videographer of "The Net."
He began his career in film as a Partner with MotoVike Films in 2014. Having previously worked for seven years in education teaching low-income, at-risk children and families, his passion for storytelling and imparting change ignited. Working on documentaries and short films exposing the shortcomings of our education system has gained him national recognition. Choosing to further his career, Andrew teamed up with Sprout Communications in 2016. He is currently working on additional short films and full-length documentaries that continue to tell these stories. He worked as Assistant Director of Photography in the movie Teach Us All, now on Netflix.
Key Take-Aways
Some life stories can inspire us to follow our dreams.
Having a creative path in life may be hard, but it’s worth it.
Social causes may spark a flame in someone.
Documentaries are another way to tell stories that may be more “real” than fiction.
Resources
Connect and Follow Andrew on LinkedIn.
Find more about what Andrew does on SproutCreative.
Ep 61 Hinesights Podcast_Andrew Whitey Ross: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix
Ep 61 Hinesights Podcast_Andrew Whitey Ross: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Kevin Hines:
My name is Kevin Hines. I jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge. I believe that I had to die, but I lived. Today, I travel the world with my lovely wife, Margaret, sharing stories of people who have triumphed over incredible adversity. Now, we help people be here tomorrow. Welcome to the HINESIGHTS podcast.
Kevin Hines:
Welcome! We are very excited to have the one, the only, the great, the man, the myth, the legend, the one and true, before I say his name, you know a little bit about him. He is a filmmaker extraordinaire, he has a movie on Netflix right now called Teach Us All, and it is a great one. His name is Andrew Ross, but we call him Whitey. Mr Ross, how goes it?
Andrew Ross:
I'm great.
Kevin Hines:
It's going great.
Andrew Ross:
It's good.
Kevin Hines:
It's good. First question I have to ask you, Mr. Ross, is why are we here in the Spanish villa and what is your role in this whole debacle? That's really an awesome thing.
Andrew Ross:
San Francisco ... Valley Specifically.
Kevin Hines:
Across the bridge.
Andrew Ross:
Yes, we are filming a documentary called The Net.
Kevin Hines:
The Net Documentary.
Andrew Ross:
It is a unbiased historical look at the Golden Gate Bridge, the rate of suicides that happen there, and the long-time struggle for a suicide deterrent that eventually ended up in the form of a net and how it was opposed, supported, and ultimately approved and now being constructed.
Kevin Hines:
Andrew Ross, Whitey the great, you came out here, why?
Andrew Ross:
Well, to film the documentary.
Kevin Hines:
But what was so important about this documentary and why did you do it with this guy? What was the impetus?
Andrew Ross:
It's, I'm from Kansas City originally Topeka, Kansas, and it was, I started filming when I was a lot younger, just as a hobby, and eventually kind of became like a side hustle. And so filming was not this like profound thing, it was just for fun, there was no cause behind it, you know, it wasn't to change anything. It wasn't the impact anything, anyone, ever. And I think I was laying in bed. It was like 2:30 in the morning in like 2007, I don't know why I was awake and I don't know why, I was just sitting on the internet. You know, you get down that dark path of getting YouTubes and you just go further and further down. And I somehow ended up on Eric Steel's film The Bridge. And it was, I don't, I think I'd read something about it online just about the controversial nature of its content and how we filmed it and all of this, and so I was really interested in it. And I was just at that point in film really getting into like documentaries. And I watched it like 2:30 in the morning and watched it straight through. And I don't think I went to sleep the rest of the night because it's just, it's one of those films, it's just the content is so heavy. So I don't think I slept the rest of that night, and it was really it was the kick-off for me, really enjoying documentary and just that type of film was something I'd never seen before because my film experience, what I came out of was what I call the Jackass era, where it was a group of stupid young guys going down hills on tricycles and shooting each other in the nuts with like potato guns. So I mean, it was, you know, that's, that's what I mean by like zero impact on anything ever, no educational value.
Kevin Hines:
Well, zero except impact on your....
Andrew Ross:
On my growing, yeah. So is the first time I'd ever seen what could be done with film in a way that I had never experienced before. And so that was really kind of the catalyst to me deciding I could do this professionally like this could be done in a completely different way. And the part of Eric's film that impacted me the most was your part of the story, because you're part of the story was so much different than any other part of that, that, that film, because all the others in that film only ended really one way and yours ended so differently. And it was, it was the way you told your story, it was the way your story is portrayed on film, and it was just it's, it's, it's crazy. I mean, you know, from this, this place you, you were in to complete hopelessness, to choosing to do what you did, and from the, you know, all the parts of it and you've told him 100 times, I mean, you know, just down to like you. I tell that story to people and it gets the same reaction that I remember reacting with, the sea lion, and like the, all of that stuff, I mean, just these unbelievable parts of the story, stuff you can write something that compelling. And the fact that, you know, you've used it in a way to help other people and advocate for, for people who will either end up in that place or advocating for the ones who didn't get the opportunity to, so rewind all the way to that scene, that story, the way it was portrayed on camera and the way those stories can be used made me figure out like, oh, I am a storyteller, I enjoy hearing stories, I enjoy telling stories, so rather than just retelling stories person to person, I could use the skill set I was already beginning to capture compelling good stories, whether they're funny stories or sad stories or scary stories. I could capture those stories and rather than just sharing on a person-to-person basis whenever I can, I capture those stories and share those to a wide audience. And so for me, film is it's just storytelling and it's not really making stories up, that's not really where I am, I'm not a narrative kind of guy. I respect those who are just make-up stories. But my passion for filmmaking comes from just a place of finding stories and sharing those. So our connection comes from that experience with the Net, with the Bridge and Eric's film, and I retold that story, I think a few times, over the course of the next few years and telling people, like, if you're going to watch any documentary, like, that's one you should watch, like just, this guy that just got the story and they're like, just get to that part and like, hear that story because it's crazy. And so fast forward through all of my, you know, becoming a professional filmmaker and doing all this stuff, fast forward to just this last November, 2018, I was been working for the last couple of years with a local nonprofit that helps kids all the way, they're called ... Family Service and Garden Center. They assist children all the way from like 3 to 18, and they help them with behavioral health, mental health, and then they serve those kids, but they also help serve the families like family counseling and individual counseling and advocacy, and finding them resources to help with that stuff. They're actually the largest nonprofit in town, and it's a town of a lot of nonprofits, so they do amazing work. The director, Pam Evans, calls us back in November, and she says, hey, we got this guy coming in. He's, you know, because Topeka had been experiencing in the last few years like a small epidemic of teen suicides. So they saw the need to bring in somebody who could speak and help influence those who may be experiencing that and maybe help sway them in a direction to reach out and find help. So she wanted us to set aside some time to film some PSAs with this individual they were bringing in. And there are nonprofit, it was a last-minute thing, they couldn't offer a lot of money and they said, hey, we don't know what we can offer you with anything at all, would you still be willing to donate your time? And we're very busy at the time, and they're an amazing organization, so I knew we would have made a way to work. But I just asked, I said, well, yeah, let's, let's see if we can make work. And she's, I said, who is, who's the individual we bring in? She said, well, his name's Kevin Hines. He's a suicide survivor who jumped the Golden Gate Bridge, he lived. I said, stop you right there, I said, I know exactly who that is, we'll, we'll find time, we'll make it work. And more than anything, I think I was just excited at the prospect of being able to sit down and like, explain to you this like kind of weird cosmic connection that we had, even though in hindsight, like it's really not that cosmic. Like it was like I saw you in a documentary just like everybody else did. But the fact that it was a huge influence on me doing film and that we would be sitting down filming together like that to me, it was like I couldn't miss that opportunity. So that's, that's sort of how you and I came together. And so, you know, I think we met at the bottom of the place where we were going to be filming and we set up and this really cool way. And so I told you that story and you were just kind of blown away by that. So that experience, like, alone would be like that would have been enough. Like, I would've been like, man, all right, I got it out there. Like I explained to the guy who helped influence me to do the film that we were there to film together. And that would have been enough, you could have walked away and like, thanks, man, cool story, bro. And then walked away. And I'm, all right, cool, we did it. But we sat down and we filmed some PSAs and Pam had written this out, and this will be, sorry, Pam, she handed us a few sheets of paper. They had prepared a script for you, and I realized two things very quickly. You were very unscripted person and I already knew what I wanted to capture. So she handed us the script and I immediately chuck them in the garbage. And so we sat down together.
Kevin Hines:
Without her knowledge.
Andrew Ross:
Yes, and we closed the door and she was stuck outside and I, I sat down with you and we started from the beginning of your story, and we kind of went through that whole day together and sat down. And I had heard that story probably 30 times already. You know, the BuzzFeed Video, the ,you know, Eric Steel's film, the articles I've read, so I knew how that story was going to play out, I was very familiar with it. What excited me most was to be able to cut that together and produce my own version. You know, there's only one version of the story, but to be able to produce one of my own was like, that was exciting for me because, this is just a crazy story, it reaches people. So we filmed that together, and then that was kind of the end of it. And then, you know, you had had some projects in mind that you wanted to do and you were thinking about who to partner with, and then I think you were sitting downstairs at the coffee shop and you were telling Pam about these potential projects, you were just looking for the right partner. And she said, well, you should go back upstairs, you're right next door to the guys that do that full time. And so we had that conversation and I hope for the best that, you know, maybe you'll call us back, who knows? And then you did call back and then you and I stayed in contact, and it really wasn't even about film at the time. Just kind ... it's ... talking.
Kevin Hines:
... Another.
Andrew Ross:
Yeah, and then eventually you talk to me about this project and we had a couple more meetings and you were the first, I was the first guy you called on and we talked about it for about three, four, or five months. And then I don't think it was like two months ago you finally called back and was like, dude, it's happening, The Net, it's been approved, we've got the funding for the film.
Kevin Hines:
Thanks, Margaret Hines.
Andrew Ross:
And so, yeah, so we set the date, and here we are filming The Net.
Kevin Hines:
Filming The Net, historical unbiased documentary, a humanist documentary about the history of the Golden Gate Bridge, its suicides, the eight .... that were raised between 1939 and today that failed miserably, that, that Wayne, that disheveled, the dispersed and now the one fight that has succeeded because all parties involved have come together to say, let's do this in unison and stop the suicides at the end of the day, at the Golden Gate Bridge, which, as you know, throughout this part in time, I've been saying the Golden Gate Bridge, what some call the most beautiful manmade structure in the whole world, but others call the ninth wonder of the world, will finally become, it will go from being that harbinger of death, I've seen it as to finally becoming the most, brightest, beautiful, largest beacon for suicide prevention and reduction of access to lethal means in the world. Thus interesting, oddly enough, engaging other tall bridges, structures, and buildings to prevent suicide as well and force them to think about the consequences of not caring for every single human being that walks the face of this Earth, especially the ones who cannot care for themselves. And I think this is a really important movie, especially in this time right now, and to show that, yes, we know it's going up, we know the suicides are going to stop. But seeing the history of the, the disconnect, right, between the past board members who ran the bridge and the new board members who run the bridge, and now our collaborative effort to effectively save lives, be a reduction of access, ne of the only proven ways we know how to reduce suicides in the world, but I want to go back to the story of how we met, you left something out, and this is really important to show that I can be a total turd sometimes, but before we do that, you mentioned earlier in this conversation that a sea lion saved my life in the water, and I want to talk about that briefly. Matter of fact instead of talking about it, I want to show you, I'm going to stand up, reveal something, we're going to talk about briefly, and we'll get back to the story ahead. All right. So this is Herbert on my pants, I don't know who can see him, but actually look at him right here, right here, there's Herbert Little Guy, let me break it down, I fell two hundred and twenty feet into the waters below the bridge when I jumped, it was an instant regret for my reaction, everybody knows that, right? Everybody knows there's an instantaneous regret. Nineteen of the former Golden Gate Bridge jump survivors who still, who still are still alive today have come forward and say they had that same instantaneous regret. The moment their hands left the rail or they left the court of the bridge, I was on no court to be talked back to safety, I catapulted myself over that rail in the midst of freefall, the only thing on my mind was what have I just done? I don't want to die, God, please save me. Hit that water, go down 70 feet, back broken, just destroyed. Three vertebrae, absolutely just shattered inside me. Immense, immeasurable pain, the most pain that I ever experienced up until that point, somehow I swam in one breath, 70 feet to ... me, without the use of my legs as fast as humanly possible. All I wanted to do was live. You know that part of the story, folks. But in that water, some of you don't know that I was drowning, it was going to be over, near hypothermia in the frigid waters below the bridge, and something begins to circle beneath me. And as I say in my presentation, you've seen this large, slimy, very, very real. And I think, what do you think? I thought that was a shark. So I started punching this thing with my bad arm, which was, I wrenched my right arm and it will not go away. It circles was faster and faster, faster and faster. No longer my struggling to the surface or waiting in the water, I'm lying on top of it on my back, keen being kept, buoyant by this thing, still thinking any moment now it's going to bite off a leg, bite off an arm, or maybe be like Tyson and by like taking it off. It's all right, Mike, you're the best. And it doesn't. It just keeps me afloat until I hear the murmur of the engine of the Coast Guard boat by, creature takes off, I never remember what it is. I go on a television show, I say my piece, first show I've ever been on nationally with John Quiñones, I say my piece and I say I thought there was a shark beneath me in the water. Guys... Well, people wrote in from all over the world, went online, became viral before viral was cool. And even when Ireland, Japan, China, in the download, one man stuck above all of those letters. His name was Morgan Mick Ward, he was from Las Vegas, Nevada, and he happened to be on that bridge that day with his mother. He happened to be standing next to me when I jumped. And this is what he wrote. Kevin, I'm so very glad you're alive. I was standing less than two feet away from you when you jumped until this day, no one would tell me whether you lived or died, it's haunted me until right now. By the way, Kevin, there was no shark, like you mentioned on the show, but there absolutely was a sea lion and the people above looking down believed it to be keeping your body afloat to the Coast Guard boat arrived. ... I love telling that story because it makes me feel good about mammals and creatures and humans, and potential interaction is a lot of people that are afraid of sea lions because of that fish disease they have in their mouth, which, you know, I didn't get, thank you, Herbert, for not infecting me, by the way. You know, there's a lot of people that are afraid of dolphin because of the stories of how they affect people underwater, which is dangerous and abusive, we're not going to get into it, but this creature obviously saw someone in danger and made an instinctual reaction, and let's be clear, stories like this have existed since the dawn of mankind. Since history can record them, we know of dolphins, sea lions, seals, or other animals, foxes, even lions, sometimes leopards going to, even a bear, going to the aid of another human being in danger from other animals or from situations and animals going to aid opposite, you know, non-species, direct, animals going to the aid of another animal who's about to get killed. So fascinating stories around the world have existed since the dawn of mankind. I just happen to be very blessed that day that Herbert, as I call him, came to my aid. And that's the only reason, buddy, I'm get to be sitting next to you, hearing your stories which fascinate. But the one thing I want to get back to which you didn't mention in that note about how we came together to that video, by the way, the video is called, it was an instant regret, it's on my YouTube channel. Youtube.com/KevinHines, shit, what am I talking about? You're on it right now. Never mind. Good. It was an instant regret. You will not regret it. It's one of the top videos on my YouTube channel today, actually ended, I think it might be the top next to I met my wife in a psych ward. So, you know.
Andrew Ross:
Did you ask that ...
Kevin Hines:
They go back, they go back far.
Andrew Ross:
They will now.
Kevin Hines:
They will now, I think it is, it is probably the best-edited video on my channel. And you, sir, are, I'm going to say you're a maverick on the editing frame. You really are, you do it really well, you know you want, you know you don't want, you know, you see me like, let's get past that moment, that I really jacked up your whole situation. So I walk into this, you know, blacked-out room with a chair and a top light coming down. And the idea is to sit in the chair and tell the story.
Andrew Ross:
We spent, I hate to two to two and a half hours setting that up because I wanted the lighting to be just right, I want, I wanted one singular ... above you and we called around and had to find a room that was completely blacked out. You turn the lights out in there and it's like, that's it. We had to sit in that chair and you turn the lights out and it literally is like, there's nothing. And then there's just like you under this light and we, with a chair that you're referencing, so we can't, we, our office was two, two blocks away from that. So we carried all of our equipment over there, because there's downtown ..., so there's nowhere to go. And so we, we carried all of our equipment and I remember carrying that chair on my back for like two blocks, like just people watching me, like I was crazy just carrying this really nice chair over my back, so, continue.
Kevin Hines:
Can I.
Andrew Ross:
I love your version.
Kevin Hines:
You want my version? Oh shit, that's so embarrassing, my assholiness on this one. So, yeah, I walk in in this very same outfit, which is why I'm wearing this today. And it's a shirt that was an ode to Mr. Lee, let's just say Excelsior. May he rest in peace. It was the day he actually passed that that was why I was one of the shirt and his shoes. And yeah, yeah. Well, I walk in and I look at the chair. I think before I even said hello and I say, I say exactly what, because I'm going to quote.
Andrew Ross:
You sat down. So you put a couple of things now. I think they had lunch for you really quick. So you grab that, you sat down, you've been running all over the high schools and we get in the room and so we get a little more introduced. I mean, I introduce you to Zach, who was like my right-hand man back home, and we got the lights set up and I said, all right, Kev, I say, here's, here's the chair, here's the set-up, we're just going to sit down here, and just have this little bit of a conversation and we'll start at the beginning. And he was like, all right, cool, cool. When you kind of looked around, I said, I'm going to be honest with you, man. He's like, I don't like this chair, this chair, I don't like, it's giving me bad vibes. He's like, I don't like this chair.
Kevin Hines:
At that moment, were you like, what a douche bag?
Andrew Ross:
No, I mean, it's, it's one of those. I mean, like I said, I've heard your stories. You do a lot of this stuff. So I'm thinking, like, if you don't like the chair, you don't like the chair. Like, you know, want you to be comfortable. So I, you know, I had a, really is a comfortable chair. It's one of my favorite chairs in our office. It's a good chair. So I just wanted you to be comfortable and you pick like a metal folding chair, which is like the opposite of comfortable. And so you just you had a very specific idea for how you wanted to sit in the chair.
Kevin Hines:
Turn the chair around.
Andrew Ross:
It was very like, what's, what's that movie with the California teacher standing, and standing in something? He's a math teacher. You'll get it.
Kevin Hines:
We'll put a screen that shows what goes over well, because it will be a ....
Andrew Ross:
And so it was very stand and deliver.
Kevin Hines:
Stand and deliver.
Andrew Ross:
... Stand and deliver. It was it, it was a mix between stand and deliver and the substitute.
Kevin Hines:
Yes. Yeah. I get the, get the metal chair, that's totally uncomfortable. You're supposed to sit in with the back to you, turn that BC around, and I put my arms over the chair because I felt it would be more cinematically entertaining, yeah?
Andrew Ross:
Said the expert.
Kevin Hines:
I wasn't the expert. I just came off being one film and I thought I was some kind of boss like a reject. But no, I really thought it would work out and maybe benefit the shot and benefit the entire video. What do you think? I mean, did the chair make a difference?
Andrew Ross:
It did, we, so we took some test shots and it was all very, you know, like sitting back like, relax, but you're not relaxed when you tell your story, that, that was where I went wrong, where you know, it was a chair where you could have leaned forward or regardless, but you were, you know, you would have been sitting like me, you know, and it would have been, which is not how you typically delivered your story. You know, you're very engaging and very dynamic. And so like sitting back and like a comfy little lounge chair is just not, it's not how you organically deliver that message. And so for you, you know, you flip the chair around, you were sitting over the side and you were actually more engaging with the camera and the viewer. And so when you're watching it on screen actually comes off as more engaging and it's more like you get more of like a student and teacher vibe to it more than like, because I usually do interviews in like a very organic like, oh, let's sit down and have a conversation type thing, just because it's, it's easier for the person you're interviewing, it's just easier for them to open up, they feel more relaxed.
Kevin Hines:
Comfortable.
Andrew Ross:
Yeah, but for you and that message, it was, like I said it was still for PSA. So it was for outreach and it was for, you know, listen to what I'm saying, learn something from it.
Kevin Hines:
Hear me.
Andrew Ross:
And so for you to be sitting in that chair, leaning towards the camera over it, it just, with more of your body behind you, it changed the way the light hit you, it changed the way you were as close to the camera. So it came off as more of like a student-teacher type thing like sit back, listen to me, learn something from what I'm saying. And so it ended up working the vibe of it. It didn't, it didn't change the tone or the emotion, but the way it came off on camera, I think it ended up being a little bit more, I try to think back on what it would have looked like had you just been sitting down on this great chair, and I think it would have, it would have, it would have taken away from the story or the emotion, but it, the engagement of it, the subconscious engagement of it, I think, came off way, way better, so.
Kevin Hines:
Well, good.
Andrew Ross:
Any time now, somebody walks onto my set that.
Kevin Hines:
As your chair, man!
Andrew Ross:
Decides, like, I don't like your chair, I'm not going to immediately think like, what an asshole, I'll probably, I'll probably take some merit and go, oh, maybe I should rethink my chairs.
Kevin Hines:
Say, maybe you talk to Kevin?
Andrew Ross:
Now, yeah. So now next time I'm, I'm going to text you a photo of my set. And what do you think of these chairs?
Kevin Hines:
Oh, I'd love to be your chair consultant, that'd be wonderful.
Andrew Ross:
Just bring multiple chairs next time, yeah, I'm glad there were multiple chairs there because otherwise we would have just been sitting on the floor.
Kevin Hines:
Right.
Andrew Ross:
Very, very awkward.
Kevin Hines:
Yeah. With our shoes off.
Andrew Ross:
With our shoes off.
Kevin Hines:
Yeah. Well, brother, I really appreciate you helping me pull that audible, yo, one foretells for that, for that PSA.
Andrew Ross:
...
Kevin Hines:
Tell somebody what a ... is.
Andrew Ross:
... It's a nationally recognized video, I don't like the word competition, but there is. ... Yeah, so you submit your work and marketing and advertising, storytelling, narrative films, short stories and you submit that, and there's a group of very talented artists and filmmakers across the country that look at that work and give it whatever award it deserves if anything, and there's gold, silver, and bronze, and there's the thing, and maybe this will get me in trouble, there's a thing called the Adi's, but it starts on a local level and you can submit your stuff to the Adi's, it's the same type of deal, but it's done, it starts on a local level, so it's judged by local professionals and you're up against the guys down the street. And for me, I hate awards. I don't like, like, I don't, I don't need a big shelf behind me with a bunch of silver stuff. Now that I have it, I kind of think it's cool, but it does, it's not like a driving force.
Kevin Hines:
It doesn't define what you do.
Andrew Ross:
Yeah, it's not a huge driving force for me, and I don't have anything against those who do because I think there's merit in it, knowing what you're worth, your work is worth and that's really why I did it. So like the Adis start on a local level, but I know the guys down this street and I know the guys down that street. I see their work every single day, you know, I'm working right around them and with them, so I know their work compared to mine. I know it if, this local company chooses them over me or vice versa, that tells me on a local level where my work is worth. So for me, I submitted something on a national level because I wanted to know where my, where my work stood on a national level. I wanted to see how I compared to not the guy down the street, but the guy across Stateline or the guy on this coast or that coast, I want to know where my work stood up on a national level and the work that I am most proud of is, is, one of the projects I'm most proud of in the last couple of years is the one we worked on together and those, we filmed two different thirties and we filmed the seven-minute, we edited a seven-minute version of your story, and the seven-minute version was the most compelling. I feel like it's the one you get the most information out of, you get the most content, the most lessons, and so I submitted that one as health and wellness biography, not for profit, because it was for a not for profit company and.
Kevin Hines:
... Not for profit?
Andrew Ross:
Not for profit.
Kevin Hines:
That's what they said.
Andrew Ross:
And it is and for editing, because I'm just really proud of the way the music and the lighting and the way the shots are cut, we did a lot of really good sound design on at the beginning and the ending of it. Check the link below.
Kevin Hines:
Below.
Andrew Ross:
.... The YouTube.
Kevin Hines:
Yeah. Check ... link inscription below. You'll see it. It was an instant regret.
Kevin Hines:
And so I submitted that. I think it was eight weeks later, I found out that it won four silvers, which is pretty good. I think they got, you know, they don't get, it's not like a pay for, like a pay for play kind of thing. You know, there's guys that go on with nothing, you know, it's not, it's not an Emmy, you know, but I'm not a Spielberg, I'm not a JJ Abrams. But if JJ Abrams is looking for a friend, I would love to hang out with JJ Abrams.
Kevin Hines:
... Ross can be a friend, JJ, and he'd be a good friend.
Andrew Ross:
I have always loved J.J. Abrams, ...., but he, you know, so we got submitted in four categories, won in all four, with silvers, which is really great. So it told me that, you know, I knew what the story was worth and had I walked away with nothing, that story and that video is still, you know, to know that it's like one of the highest viewed videos on your page and the fact that we've we received more comments and likes and more than anything else we put out just on our own social media. You know, the fact that we had two commercials that were running locally in a town, you know, two suicide awareness PSAs running in a town that had been dealing with an epidemic of teen suicides, I can chuck those awards in the garbage and the fact that those run, you have the right content playing in the right area, like that's the merit of that works. The awards are awesome, I love the awards and awards are for clients, they make your clients feel real happy and they help you get more clients sometimes. So there's strategy in them, but for like filmmakers anywhere YouTubers, you know, big names, little names, guys start down on a little DSLR, like if you're, if that's what you're pushing for, for just the awards, like you're, you're already going in the wrong direction because you're going to end up disappointed because you're .... at those awards and they're not, they're barely going to get you new clients, all they're going to do is keep your current clients happy, which current clients come and go. So finding the right stories and putting those in front of the right people like that, that's the merit. Those are my awards. So.
Kevin Hines:
And on that note, let's have a conversation about and you don't know this unless you've actually looked at it. But I do. I've looked at it. I answer all my comments on my YouTube channel because it's relatively small right now. I'm just going to be blunt, we have a 6,245 sub YouTube channel, we have about, you know, a regularity of, average of between one hundred and fifty and three hundred regular views on each video. But this man's video did a few thousand and, and I really appreciate that, that collaboration and connection, but it's not about the awards. But I will tell you this I'm going to send you the comments below that video because there is people that have said in various ways how it helped change or alter the path of their life in a very, very positive way. And then I think it was one of the most commented on, and you'll see like the actual effect of that video, and I think that's more of an award than anything. It's a one, it's a 100 percent positively commented video, which is hard to do in no matter how many people you have in your channel. So, I think that's the award, and to the people that give us these awards and these accolades, let's be, you know, we do appreciate your gesture, but that's not why we do it, we do it because the work matters, the people behind the work matter and if we can affect the life to positivity, hey, man, let's go, you know?
Andrew Ross:
As I say it's always back to the project, I think we're working on now. You know, it's, if I was sitting in front of like the 12 plus people we've interviewed in the last week thinking, you know, just trying to get answers from them of like, what's the best award this answer can give me right now? We're going to do, have some sad, sad interviews, so getting answers that I know are going to make the most compelling and worthy film. That's, again, that's kind of that's the whole idea. I don't want to make an award-winning film, I don't, like I hope I do because I think if we do it right, it's going to be award-winning anyway. You know, if the mission stays the same. But if I, if I'm setting out to make a film for awards, a big, shiny metal object on my shelf, like I quit.
Kevin Hines:
Yeah, just walk away. So on that note, I want to be really, I want to tell you a story. We're here with the great Whitey Ross, Andrew Whitey Ross, of Topeka, Kansas, and then he moved out of Kansas, went to Kansas City, got a job, came back to work in Topeka, but lives in Kansas City, that commute is, is no fun, but he's got, get it on cracking with Caleb. Tell me about your friend Caleb briefly, and I'll go into the story I want to tell.
Andrew Ross:
Caleb Asher?
Kevin Hines:
Yeah, let's talk about him.
Andrew Ross:
He's the owner, CEO of the company that I work for, Sprout Creative. Yeah, it's a, it's like a medium-size marketing company. We don't like the words like firms or agencies. We're just ,we're just Sprout Creative.
Kevin Hines:
Sprout Creative, @Sprout Creative on Instagram.
Andrew Ross:
We do, we do video, obviously, we do design, marketing strategy, web. We've got some really great account managers to take care of all of our clients. I've lost track of how many clients we have right now.
Kevin Hines:
Now that.
Andrew Ross:
We do a ton of really good work. You know, we like working with, we do a lot of cause-based marketing that's really kind of where our heart is, that's what we really strive for, things we can get passionate about, projects we can, we can get behind and support and be proud of. We got a really good team there, yeah, it's like it's one of those things where, as we grow, we're getting further from it, which is a good thing. But we really started out is like friends and family kind of company. We're like, you start out with this core team of a few people and you need to grow when you think, oh, I got a buddy who does this who's really good. And then that buddy gets on and you're like, oh, I got another buddy who does this, we can bring them on. And so you kind of build this almost small little family, and that's how we started out. So it's like this little family, like some of us really love each other. And then like, there's other days you really hate each other.
Kevin Hines:
Like any family.
Andrew Ross:
Yeah, so I mean, there's just like days we're like we're beat down like a bathroom door, you know, for somebody to hurry up, you know, like sharing this small kitchen. So it's like hanging out with your brothers and sisters, like eight hours a day, it's pretty cool. So that's, that's us, man. That's a Sprout Creative.
Kevin Hines:
Shout out Sprout, shout out to Caleb. Let's keep it rolling. So Whitey, I want to tell you a story about my life that probably most people don't know, and I'm going to get into it, we're going to do a total 180 shift from what we've been talking about, and we're going to end this whole podcast on a very positive note. You've been talking about mental health, we've been talking about this film The Net, we can briefly talk about film that came out and then I did with Greg and Cherry. Shout out Greg, for Suicide Ripple effect, thank you to all our Ripple world captains who hosted and showed the film all over. Thank you to our licensing groups that showed it in conferences and universities and still do today. And thank you for Google Play, iTunes, YouTube, Amazon, and Voodoo for hosting it on their servers and on their platforms, greatly appreciate you guys getting this film out to as many people as humanly possible. I think we're at now, the count is over 600,000 people have seen the film in 20 countries, which I love and 300 people have come to the sheet showing of Suicide Ripple effect and said the film saved their life just by being there, which is amazing and that was our goal in the first place. We didn't want to make a movie that ended in pain. We wanted to make a movie that ended with you feeling hopeful, bright, alive. Grady Cherry and AV, the singer and songwriter made a song called Be Here Tomorrow to end the whole film, after the credits, post-credits scene, credits roll, the Be Here Tomorrow song plays, it is a catchy one, and it makes you feel like you deserve to be here for the rest of your life until your natural end. That's it. I've been going through some shit lately, Whitey. And you know though about it because you just, I mean, we meet each other, we end up doing this film together, I'm having a master class in film from the great man Andrew Ross. And every night, up until the last two nights, I have been having issues with, bluntly I'm going to say it, seeing demons, feeling demons, being attacked by demons. Now, this is a, this is the thing that people do not want to talk about who go through it because of their fear of being shamed to no end by people who don't comprehend. So let's break it down in a scientific way. My doctors say I have sleep apnea, sleep paralysis, and a form of narcolepsy. A few weeks before I came to see you being with my wife, we're having a fun conversation, I'm standing up against the wall, head goes down. I go to sleep, like REM sleep, like that and she, on her couch, she's like, Hey, Kevin, Kevin, Kevin, Kevin, you OK? And then like, shaking me, like, what is happening right now? And then I come out and come to it and I go, What were you saying? Thinking, I'm still having the conversation. And she goes, did you just fell asleep? Or what of my body would come to rest, I'd be sitting in a chair, same thing. Or we were, you know, sitting at our doorstep of the house, we just got in Georgia and I'm on the floor like stretching my back, because I have a lot of back issues because that metal plate and cage and asleep in the middle of me talking, in the middle of me making a sentence, I'm out. And she shake me, wake up, I stopped breathing, all kinds of stuff. So it's really a scary reality for me. But I remember I got here in this Airbnb, which we'll talk about later, the story of that is fantastic, I got here, this Airbnb, and the first two nights, three nights, I was having these night terrors and I'm telling you about it and I don't know how you felt about it, but let me just show you, let me just explain something to you. Folks, I have been, I ... to talk to you while I have been seeing these kinds of things since I was about four years old. Now, it only happened a couple of times at four or five years old. And of course, a 4-year-old is not going to tell anybody that they see demons because it's terrifying and people would say it's all in your head and they wouldn't understand at that time, you know, 1980s, why a four-year-old would do that, but the science has come a long way. And there are a lot of people this happens too. Now, a hallucination is one thing. Let me explain to you what I'm talking about when I see or feel demons. It is horrifically frightening. Like they attack me. I was with my wife for weeks on end in our home, and the best way to describe it is imagine, first, and this is what happened like all throughout the last 10-15 years, and they describe it from sleep deprivation, which I really try to get enough sleep. But apparently my body is not, not getting it. And no matter where I moved, no matter what hotel I went to, to work, no matter whose house I went to sleep, no matter who's Airbnb I was in, no matter who I was with these things attacked me at night. Let's get right into it. I'm going to give you four or five real examples. When it first started happening at four years of age, what I would see is a black shadow enter the room, go across the trim of the ceiling, come down the wall, come into my bed, and then begin to choke me. Now, I feel its claws come out and I feel asphyxiated on my neck like I can't breathe. I'm a Catholic. Every time I pray, it goes away. Maybe that's psychological, who knows? But I do believe in God and I have, and I have a higher power, and that's my prerogative. You do what you do, that's up to you. But anyway, so that was the first time it happened, having a couple of times when I was four or five years old, never told, better that way. Maybe I was getting better sleep for the rest of my life. And then when I attempted to dive on my hands off the Golden Gate Bridge, when I jumped, the minute I was physically recovering with my back brace, my cane, originally a wheelchair, going from wheelchair to back braced to cane to, to a walker and walker and a cane going nearly from a wheelchair to a walker and a back brace to a back brace and a cane, and then out of that hospital, it was immediately in my, being in my first psych ward stay at St. Mary's Hospital that I started to have what, what doctors call the night terrors. And I'm sorry, doctor, but night terrors doesn't describe well enough what the f is happening to me. Do you think night terrors is a good deflation for what I described to you the other day? Night terrors? No. This is like catastrophically, violating horrifying interactions with things I cannot control and don't know, are not real. Ok, so four years old, I tell you what happened then, clawed ... thing comes in, attacks, goes away. But these days and in the past, living with Margaret, my lovely wife, I would have, they went from being these sheets of like darkness that ... had hands to choke me or whatever, now when we lived at 17th Avenue in San Francisco, 17th and ..., and we lived there, these things got more aggressive. And the thing I saw as a kid was very similar. But now it's in 3D like a molten lava, charcoal thing enters my room, comes down to the bed just like the other one did, chokes me, his hands begin to burn my flesh, and all I can smell is sulfur. I'm trying to scream, but it's squeezing so tight that I can't. And it's saying to me basically that you didn't off the Golden Gate Bridge, so, buddy, I'm going to kill you now, and if you don't do it right, we're going to come for the rest of your life, kind of the thing, in this demonic voice and these fire eyes and then boom, awake in real life. So you're halfway half asleep and you can see what's around you and everybody who's recounted these sleep paralysis things describes the same similar things. So it's not just me going through this, just nobody's talking about. People who are afraid to talk about it because of people's reactions, you know, people don't empathize with you sounding crazy and I hate that term. But you know, it uses a couple of times today. But that's a, that's a term you can use for things that are for lack of a better term, crazy. I mean, I'm not even, I'm not one of those guys that like is so terrified of language, I've had to censor everyone. You've got to say what you had to say in the way you believe it and the way you feel it. So this molten lava guy is just choking me, I'm praying it's really hard to get them to go away. I can't pray out loud because I can't speak because of the asphyxiation, so I'm praying in my head. All of the kind of prayers I know, finally goes away. But after I jump off the Golden Gate Bridge every night, every night for, I think, almost a decade I would have first dreams, real dreams of me falling off a bridge endlessly, just endlessly falling. And then when I would hit the water instantaneous death and I wake up in real-time, cold, hot sweats, didn't matter. It was, it was horrible. And then the, you know, I go from living in 17th Avenue to moving into a house in San Francisco with my wife and the same shit's happening there every night, we're putting holy water in the house, we're saging the house, we're, you know, putting more crosses up and it's just like, it's just not going away. And the more and more it would happen, the more and more I wouldn't sleep well. So it's just reoccurring worse and doctors wouldn't totally understand this phenomena. But recently, recently in my new house in Atlanta, Georgia, man, this, this stuff went like it was like here at level 10, we shot up like a 15, and then at 20, the sheets would come over me and render me motionless and say horrifying things became visions so real, so physical, so terrifying, I wake up in a cold sweat, crying, just crying my eyes out. Because, you know, seeing Gollum creatures just trying to reach in and grab my insides like it hurt, man, I could feel it. And you can call me crazy if you want to, or you can look this stuff up and understand, or at the very least, empathize, why I'm seeing like certain rappers I'm listening to in outlying neon forms screaming at. And then finally, like, we're going to like sage people and, you know, looking to talk to priests to fix the situation. And now, now, they're having letters on their head that are fluctuating like a, like a, what do you call the machines in Vegas?
Andrew Ross:
The slot machines.
Kevin Hines:
A slot machine is like ... rotate and say, and it's a language I don't see, but it looks like, it looks like death, you know, and they've got war paint on their face. And finally, like, I'm half waking up to go show yourself, I'm not afraid of you, and the face comes right here. It's this big and it goes like this. It just screams at me and all of these things are occurring, and it's night after night after night for months. Oh, Whitey, I'm exhausted, exhausted. But I'll tell you this man, whatever the heck it is, I found a way to cope. You know, by talking, by telling my truth, to my wife, to you here, Whitey, to them. And I found a way to find better sleep in the last few days. And they haven't happened, Whitey, it hasn't happened in three days, man. Three days, what seems like a lifetime is starting to slow down, and I'm very, very grateful because it was impeding on my ability to function in the daytime. You know, why didn't I talked about how we go through half a shoot, it's only, you know, down from 10 or, you know, maybe even eight or nine to 12, and I'm like falling asleep. And I like taking a, I don't like drinking caffeine, I do it once in a while. I don't like the five-hour energy drinks, I don't .. that stuff, I don't mess with the ..., they call sports energy drinks. Do you if you do that, I don't. I've got enough medication in my system for my mental health, so I don't need to take that step. So what I do is when I'm, when I'm tired, you know what I do, I get to work, man.
Andrew Ross:
Be smug.
Kevin Hines:
I get to be smug work, hustling, training, Whitey, I want it, I want us to tell a funny story because we've talked about some serious stuff, we've talked about demons when nobody wants to, we've talked about my jackass move when I moved the chair, we talked about how we're going to make this film and what connected you to me. Now, let's talk about the funniest story you told my friends who I consider family, last night, ... Ashley, Hunt, Justine, ... Joseph and Matty Rudd, or Batman has liked to call them, they got engaged, these are my friends who run infinite strength, NFINITE and the word strength, look them up online, you will not regret it. They are an amazing group of individuals who do health and wellness for corporations and non-profits and the funds they recoup and the proceeds they make, they give a lot of that back to BAWAR, Bay Area women against rape, thank you Ashley, not for doing the work you do, because of what you've been through and how you help save young ladies lives and young individuals lives in general, we appreciate the heck out of you. All right, Whitey, you told that story. I need to hear it again.
Andrew Ross:
Which, which story?
Kevin Hines:
We're talking about the chocolate malted balls.
Andrew Ross:
The chocolate malted balls.
Kevin Hines:
Think that'll be the clickbait title of this podcast.
Andrew Ross:
Yeah, this took place in a relationship of the past. Just set it up my, what we're going to be my future in-laws, we're no fans of mine. They, I mean, I've, I've never experienced a mutual hatred with any individual in my life. I've met a lot of people in my life that I like, I've met a lot of people in my life that I don't like, I've met a lot of people in my life that don't like me, I think that's OK. I think, now there's like seven billion people in the world, any less, they don't all have to like you and you don't all have to like them.
Kevin Hines:
Don't be a people pleaser.
Andrew Ross:
It's OK. It's OK. And this happened to be two of those billions. And so that frames it up. We, me and my fiance at the time were on our way back from our Sunday grocery trip, if there's any Aldi shoppers out there, it's like a bring your own bag kind of grocery store.
Kevin Hines:
It's like a Whole Foods.
Andrew Ross:
Yeah. And so you, if you don't, you go to the bin and you get your box, you know, you're, here's a box, and those juice boxes always have a small hole in the bottom where the cardboard comes together. So we had our box of groceries, we finish up at the grocery store, we're on our way home, just a couple of weeks before Easter, so my significant other at the time had got a bag of those like little malted chocolate Easter eggs.
Kevin Hines:
As you did.
Andrew Ross:
Yeah, the candy-coated and on our way home and she cracks open that bag, the, the Easter eggs we're getting, we're getting close to and she's snacking on those. And I said, you know, hey, before you throw those back to the box, twist the bag, make sure you twist the bag. And so those don't, don't fall out in the box, she's like, yeah, yeah, whatever, shut up.
Kevin Hines:
There's a hole in the box.
Andrew Ross:
Yeah, there's a hole, there's a hole on the bottom box. And so we get back to the house, at the time, we were staying with her parents at this, this big house. But the basement of the house was like its own separate house that had bathrooms and bedrooms and kitchen, all that stuff. So we go down there and it was like having our own space. And so we're headed into the house and she's back in the car, I kick open the door to the basement to go in, and when I go to lean and kick open the door, I hear, like almost every single one of those eggs out of the bag, just rain through the bottom of the box. And so the, the floor, just like literally with these chocolate Easter eggs, and after the sound of those Easter eggs on the floor, the next thing I hear is Marley, who's like the family dog like this one hundred and thirty-pound behemoth. And I hear Marley coming around the corner, and I know she hears the Easter egg, she heard it just like I did, and she knows there's a snack on the ground.
Kevin Hines:
She probably smelled it.
Andrew Ross:
Yeah, and she, so I hear this behemoth coming around the corner and I'm holding like a 50-pound box of groceries and she's out in the car and I've got the door open, and so this dog just inhales like a vacuum cleaner across the ground, just inhales all of these Easter eggs, these chocolate Easter eggs.
Kevin Hines:
Chocolate for dogs.
Andrew Ross:
Dogs have a dietary restriction that includes chocolate.
Kevin Hines:
Deadly!
Andrew Ross:
And so it's a massive dog, it's milk chocolate, you know.
Kevin Hines:
That's a lot of diarrhea.
Andrew Ross:
So she comes in and I'm kicking like the dog away and I trying to kick these eggs out of the way and holding this box of groceries. But she gets like way too many eggs in, eats tons of eggs ... So we go downstairs. I'm like, crap, Marley had chocolate, I think she'll be fine, she's a huge dog, it was a little bit of chocolate, it's fine. We put our groceries away, went on with the day, it's fine. I was like in the afternoon, we're sitting on the couch downstairs that night and, her dad comes downstairs and he's a very like, solid dude, not emotional guy. He's, he's a very like, he's a good dude.
Kevin Hines:
Tough dude.
Andrew Ross:
Yeah. Is it tough too, like, you know, it's all.
Kevin Hines:
Old school.
Andrew Ross:
... Stuff. Yeah. And he goes downstairs and he never comes down unannounced and he comes downstairs unannounced and he comes in, you just got like just tears, like coming down his face, it's like distraught and it sets us down. We're like, what's going on? He's like, I don't want to upset you guys too much, Marley just died. And so he gets even more upset and she's getting upset because let me rewind and tell you about this dog. This is not just the dog, this is like the family patriarch. This dog sits atop the family tree on a throne of gold. This dog is just relished over in this family. They love, love, love this dog, certainly more than they love me.
Kevin Hines:
No, they hate you.
Andrew Ross:
They hated me.
Kevin Hines:
With a fiery passion.
Andrew Ross:
Yeah. The way they felt about this dog, as much as they hated me, they felt the opposite about this dog, that's how much they love the dog. Two opposite sides of the spectrum. And so we asked, like, what happened? And he says, well, we were sitting on the couch with me and your mom and your grandma and Marley just started convulsing and then just died.
Kevin Hines:
You killed the dog.
Andrew Ross:
And so he says, Marley's upstairs, your mother's upstairs, come up and see Marley, if you like. And so he goes up the stairs and I turn immediately to my fiancee. And you can bleep this. But I said, keep your fucking mouth shut. Don't say a word. Knowing, knowing that if they found out what had happened with me and this dog and this chocolate, that would be the starting point for a complete downhill race the rest of my life, I was never going to get any better than the guy who killed the family dog.
Kevin Hines:
Wow.
Andrew Ross:
It would have been blamed on me. That would have been, that would have been my title, family reunion, year after year after year. We had a wedding coming up, I could see every interaction and every introduction for the rest of my life, to anyone I hadn't previously met is this is Andrew, he killed our dog.
Kevin Hines:
Which is exactly how they introduce you.
Andrew Ross:
They would. Oh, absolutely.
Kevin Hines:
They were going say, this is Andrew, he killed Marley, because everyone around them would know who Marley was.
Andrew Ross:
Yeah, no, it would be, it would be set up that way. So we go upstairs, there's Marley, massive dog, and she is, she's dead. Like, it's done, it's gone, and I, everyone is sad, everybody's crying, and I want it to be sad. I wanted to cry like she was a really, really good dog. I wanted to be upset. But internally, I had like this weird like coping mechanism where I think internally I was laughing really, really hard because of the situation, just knowing, like, I killed the dog, I killed this family dog. They're all crying, it's my fault. Like, this is me. And so.
Kevin Hines:
This is who I am.
Andrew Ross:
I'm thinking, this is it, I'm going to have to keep this secret the rest of my life. Me and her are going to have to keep this a secret until the rest of the family dies. Like, this is going to be the bane of my existence until her mother starts getting very upset and she starts screaming, I want an autopsy, I want an autopsy, take this dog to ...... Med and get an autopsy done. And that's when I start, like visibly sweating because I know that they're going to cut this dog open and they're going to find a mound of chocolate in this dog stomach.
Kevin Hines:
Three pounds of chocolate.
Andrew Ross:
And that chocolate is going to come right back to me. Secret's out. So I get in the car with her dad. We drive the dog to ... Med, the vet school they have there. And during the course ride, was a very, very quiet ride, was at nine o'clock at night. Very, very quiet, very, very dark ride. And me and her dad are sitting in the front seat, we're they only do that went, Marley in the back of the Jeep, we're driving and this very like solemn moment, you know, like almost like a funeral procession and we're sitting in the front seat, and all of a sudden we hear this giant release of gas from Marley and whatever was left, whatever toxicity was left inside of that behemoth of an animal, flooded the Jeep. And it was like this final kind of funny moment, and we drop her off at the vet. He explains that they want an autopsy done, and I think I had the longest two or three weeks of my life waiting for that to come back, knowing that the vet was going to write them a letter going, hey, dog confirmed dead, Andrew fed her chocolate, signed veterinarian, such and such. And I was going to have that, and that was going to be my life's Scarlet Letter forever. It's like, Andrew, the guy who kills your family dog. So they, yeah. So three weeks go by, I didn't get any work done for like two or three weeks, like I'm every day I'm just sitting at my desk just waiting to find out that the family hates me.
Kevin Hines:
And ... always put ... on or something.
Andrew Ross:
Yeah, and I get it, I get a call from my lady at the time who says, hey, autopsy just came back. Apparently, Marley had a massive blood clot that went straight to her heart, instantly. They found no traces of chocolate, whether or not they looked for it or didn't even, didn't see anything. But all of this, all of the stress, all of this anguish and sadness and frustration, all because she didn't twist the bag.
Kevin Hines:
To always twist the bag.
Andrew Ross:
Twist the bag.
Kevin Hines:
If Andrew tells you to twist the bag, twist the frickin bag.
Andrew Ross:
Yeah.
Kevin Hines:
Wow.
Andrew Ross:
Yeah.
Kevin Hines:
Wow, you, what do you take away from that twist?
Andrew Ross:
Twist the bag.
Kevin Hines:
Besides that, you were one of the luckiest humans on the face of the planet.
Andrew Ross:
Well.
Kevin Hines:
Potentially.
Andrew Ross:
I was probably the second luckiest in the room, right?
Kevin Hines:
Right, fair enough.
Andrew Ross:
At least.
Kevin Hines:
At least ... it was there. Wow. Well, Whitey, that was that was a phenomenal story.
Kevin Hines:
are going to be having some of the most fantastic, phenomenal, intelligent, incredible, indubitable, totally capable and flawless individuals, groups, celebrities, YouTube influencers and Instagram stars. Some athletes, some great athletes, pro athletes, college athletes and so much more coming up on this podcast, we're going to talk a little bit about mental health, we're going to talk a little bit about suicide prevention, hope, healing and recovery and the art of the honest word and talk a lot about stories that make you laugh, stories that might make you cry, and stories that make your body want to move and get it in where you can fit it in for your brain mind and behavioral well-being so you can change your life today. We're going to be talking, talking, talking. You're going to be joining and listening on all available platforms online that exist. We will be there. My name is Kevin Hines. This is.
Andrew Ross:
Andrew Ross.
Kevin Hines:
Andrew Whitey Ross, one of the greatest filmmakers I know that is not a joke. When you see The Net, you're already blown away. This film is going to change lives. It's going to augment people's vision on what they thought they knew their whole lives about caring more about aesthetics than they do about human life. And I want us to take it away with a little story about hope myself. And this story is about the things I have learned from my mom and dad. And then this thing is around. It'll be quick. It'll be concise. Here we go. Patrick Kevin Hines, my dad, I'm John Kevin Hines, formerly Giovanni Gabriel Prasad Canales, was my birth name, I'm adopted by Pat and Debbie Hines, they took me in, they made me their son, I love them dearly, they have their flaws, we've had our fights, we've had our issues, even some really hard shit that I'm not ready to talk about yet. They'll be into the blog, on the same channel. But Patrick Hines. Real quick. Thank you for teaching me the value of hard work because as he says, ain't nothing good ever come without it. Thank you, dad, I appreciate that, I work tirelessly to the bone every day to help people, to do the best I can to try to help them in the ways that I can. Thank you, Margaret, for helping me do all of that and being my best friend and my go-to, my hardcore rock, my ride or die, and my beautiful, loving and caring wife and caregiver for my mental pain. You're the best. Now, mom, Debbie Hines, you know, we haven't had the best of latest relationships. We're trying to mend that right now. I really am glad and grateful that we are changing our relationship and making it a better one. you taught me something I want to impart to all of you podcasters today. Mom, you taught me how to be kind, compassionate, loving, caring, empathetic and non-judgmental to every single person you ever come in contact with, no matter their behavior toward you, no matter their ethnic makeup, no matter their socioeconomic background, no matter their religious affiliation or none, political affiliation or none, and no matter anything, most people judge others for, difference, right, Whitey? You taught me to give back because giving you the true receiving, Pat, you got a lot to do with that too, ... And I want to end this on a note of gratitude, I am so grateful to meet you, Whitey, to have you come in my life, and me enter yours and us, change each of our lives to build a relationship, this wasn't a road trip, this was a.
Andrew Ross:
Bro trip.
Kevin Hines:
Bro trip. That's a copyright on Whitey, he made that that's his.
Andrew Ross:
Hashtag.
Kevin Hines:
Hashtag BroTrip. Right, right here you do, bro. I'll do trip, right here. Right? Right there, Bro trip, and you come into my life and helping me to see this vision in reality means the frickin world to me, so huge package of gratitude out to Whitey Ross, to my mom, my dad and my wife. And lastly, a huge, huge package of gratitude to Caleb Asher and Sprout Creative for lending us a few things that it matter to make this all possible. All right, guys. That's Whitey Ross. Good day, good evening, good night, compared to where you are ever in the world and holla at your boys. Let's go. Whoa. Whoa.
Kevin Hines:
Margaret and I love sharing stories of people who have triumphed over incredible adversity. For more content and inspiration, go to KevinHinesStory.com or visit us on all social media at KevinHinesStory or on youtube.com/KevinHines.
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