DownHill (The Play) - Ronald Diltz II

Ronald Diltz II reflects on his journey of meeting Anderson C. Hill II and how he was inspired to adapt his life story into a film and now into a play.

SYNOPSIS: Based on a true story of a successful man who gets seduced by the high life, he finds himself on the edge of losing it all, including his wife and kids.

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DownHill (The Play) premieres this May 29, 2026 – May 31, 2026, at the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center in Orlando, FL.

Purchase tickets to the show: https://www.drphillipscenter.org/events/tickets/2026/downhilll-the-play/

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This season we're planning to focus on my new upcoming project, Downhill the Play. All right, woo, downhill the play. So we're gonna be talking a lot about this show that we have coming up this May, Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center. So tying all that in, all those shows that I've done, it's time to do one of my own. So we were super excited. Um, we've been talking off and on about the journey of downhill and the amazing Anderson Seahill II, uh, my great brother, who this uh project is all about. So we've been working hard trying to move accordingly in however God leads us. And so, as you all know, the goal is uh, of course, to do it as a feature film. All right, that is the ultimate goal. We want to do it as a feature film. So I'm gonna talk about in this session how did we get to where we are doing it on the stage, right? That's the big question. This is Ronald Dilsta Second, and I welcome you to the Ronald Dilsta Second Podcast. With degrees in theater, film, entertainment business, and creative writing, I've been extremely blessed with opportunities to produce media, digital films, commercials, music videos, and stage plays. Through these experiences, I've had the wonderful pleasure of meeting and working with some amazing talent in the entertainment industry. My goal for this show is to share their stories and experiences while learning about the challenges and obstacles they may have faced while going after their dreams and ultimately succeeding. While serving as a college professor and running my own production company, Ronald Dilsa Second Productions, I'm always seeking for ways to educate, encourage, and inspire the whole entire world. Welcome to the Ronald Dilson Second Podcast. All right, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome. I gotta say it again. Welcome to the Ronald Dilsa Second Podcast. Wow, it's been so long. All right, so long. It's been a year. I feel like it's been forever, right? All right, but I miss you all. I miss doing this, I miss doing this wonderful podcast. Uh, as you all know, this is this is my baby. This is how I, you know, share so much with the world. Um, I reflect over my own journey um and hopefully and preferly inspire you on your own journey. Uh, so it's it's been you know, truly, truly um a miss uh season, you know. Uh we were, of course, last last year, 2025. Um, wasn't able to record because I was busy, y'all. I was so busy. Um, I went on this uh this this wonderful journey of getting back onto the stage. Um and it started out in 2024. You know, I was casted in the show. Um it was called the I had to write my notes here. It was called the Soul, Soulful Music Review, something like that. But it was the wonderful, wonderful group called Stand Innovation Talent Group. Um, and so what it is is my um wonderful, amazing dance minister, uh, dance ministry instructor, uh, Miss Terry Burns, Mrs. Terry Burns, uh, she was doing, you know, one of her shows where she does several shows, you know, throughout the year. And so this particular show she was doing, it was called like a soulful music review, very, very amazing, full of all our soulful favorite music songs. And so um, I ended up, you know, was was um asked to join. Uh my dad was in it, my mom was in it, and then my sister ended up getting in it, one of my sisters, and so it just became this wonderful family event. But that event is what sparked the fire, all right, to where we are right now. But we have time, right? Um, so yeah, so that sparked the fire. That made me want to get back on stage so much more just after that one performance. Um, and I want to say, did we do the show? I think we did it once or twice, two shows. I think it was two shows. Um, but yes, that did light the fire again. And I was like, ooh, I missed this. I miss being on stage, I missed performing. And so that's what ended up happening. I ended up uh starting my journey of starting to go to auditions again. Um, that led me to another show, The Grinch, same same organization, Standard Ovation Talent Group. They produced the Grinch in December 2024. And so I ended up going um for the casting call for that and um ended up getting um one of the the roles, uh Mayor Um, actually. So I ended up being Mayor Who in that. That was a great fun experience. It was really great. Um, my amazing sister Catrice Galloway, uh, who's been with me on this journey for quite some time, she also auditioned for it and got uh one of the roles. She was the narrator of the whole piece. So so yeah, so it was really great to be back on stage, to be on such a wonderful um journey, being in the Grant play that I even imagined being in. You know, love the movie, of course, the movies that have been done, uh especially Jim Carrey's version, right? Um, but yes, I was uh super excited to be in this show, and that show, of course, kept that fire burning to the point while I was in that show, right before we went up for that show, and it was done at the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center, both of these last two shows. Um, before that show, right? Uh or during that show, I ended up um going to an audition for a piece, uh, a play that I had been wanting to do for quite some time, and that play was Fences, right? Uh, from August Wilson. Whew! I was so excited to see that someone was doing this play, and so and I had an opportunity to audition for it. So I was super pumped about that play. That play was done by Sparkle Entertainment, um, a wonderful, amazing, amazing production company over there. They do a lot of amazing plays. Um, and so it was such an opportunity for me, such a great opportunity um to have an opportunity to audition for that. And so I ended up getting a call um from uh my great sister, uh Mrs. Keanu Levine Farmer. All right. Um, I I got the um call right before I want to say our opening night for the Grinch that they wanted to move forward with me for the role of Bundle. So it was just kind of like, man, I don't know. I gotta focus on this role now. So so yeah, so I got a voicemail and I basically was like, okay, I gotta call her back, you know. And so I said I'll just, you know, focus on the show and of course touch bases the next day. But that was just kind of like, whoa, this is really happening. Things were starting to pick up so fast, right? So from there, of course, we had after uh the Grinch wrapped up, we had fences, we started rehearsals February, we want to say 2025. Um, and then that show went up in March 2025. So it was just really like just things were starting to pick up. While we were actually rehearsing for that show, another show came about, another opportunity for someone that I was also connected with through Standard Novation um Talent Group. They were branching off and doing a play of their own um with one of their um new producing partners, and so that play was Dream Girls, y'all. Whew! I'm just like, I never imagined being a part of Dream Girls, but this seemed like a really great opportunity. Uh so I ended up, you know, also going to that audition. And usually with auditions like this, I'm like, yo, I'm gonna take a moment and uh actually try to sing at the audition. So I did that, not only for this audition, but also for the Grinch, uh, just so I can get used to singing. I love acting, I'm very passionate about that. Singing, I'm still a little nervous, y'all. Still a little nervous with that one. But I said I'm gonna take the opportunity and use this to kind of build build that confidence. And so I actually did a singing piece at the audition as well, um, as well as did um a monologue. And so, of course, I got called back for that role. Um, and they wanted me as Marty in Dream Girls, so that was another opportunity. So, as you see, things just started picking up boom, boom, boom, to the point. By the time I got to Dream Girls, my voice was tired. I was I was so tired, I was exhausted. And mind you, this is with a wife and three kids. So I'm really it's a it's a lot, and a full-time job and a production company working on various projects. So, so it has been a busy season. So I tell you all to say that I I missed you all, and I'm so excited to be back at it. Uh, we have been working on some really great projects, and I'm so excited to be talking about those projects in this first episode uh for this new season. Now, I do want to let you know, we just wrapped up our new, our brand new podcast, the Monique Dills podcast, with my amazing, beautiful queen, my wife, Monique Dills, Dr. Monique Dills. I gotta put the doctor on there, right? Uh, we just finished up her first season um that we launched this year. So make sure you all check that out. That can be found on all your favorite platforms, as I always say. Um, but also you can find it on our YouTube channel, all right, at rd2productions. All right, that's what that gotta put that dot on the end on that one. Um, you can also find it on our website at rd2productions.com. So so check us out. Check out that podcast. Uh, we're excited. Godfamily business is coming back this year, y'all. Woo! It's gonna be epic. So much to share with y'all on that end. Um, so yeah, so we're super pumped, we're blessed. We have three podcasts, um, shows now. I'm just like, how did I get here? Um as you can see, I'm very passionate about podcasting now. Um, and so so I'm super pumped, super pumped of everyone I'm being able to connect with in this way. Um, I'm learning a lot, just steady trying to grow our podcast, um, as well as our YouTube channel. So I'm growing a lot and just trying to figure out various ways to get the message that God wants us to put out there and just make sure it reaches the masses, and you know, and whatever God wants it to do, it reaches there. So, so yeah, so we're super pumped. All right. Um, so definitely check us out on that note. So, as we tie it all back in, I just had wanted to get you all caught up to what's been going on. That's why I've been so ghost. That's why I was ghost last year. Um, that's why we didn't have an actual season because I was busy on stage. Um, so we're back now, 2026. We're in here full speed ahead. And this season, I want to let you know, this season, we have a special treat. This season, we're planning to focus on my new upcoming project, Downhill the Play. All right, woo, downhill the play. So we're gonna be talking a lot about this show that we have coming up this May, Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center. So tying all that in, all those shows that I've done, it's time to do one of my own. So we we're super excited. Um, we've been talking off and on about the journey of downhill um and the amazing Anderson C. Hill II, uh, my great brother, who this uh project is all about. So we've been working hard trying to move accordingly um in however God leads us. And so, as you all know, the goal is uh, of course, to do it as a feature film. All right, that is the ultimate goal. We want to do it as a feature film. So I'm gonna talk about in this session how did we get to where we are doing it on the stage, right? That's the big question. All right. So let me take you back, take you back a little time now, all right? And so how did I end up meeting the great Anderson Seahill the second? So around this time, we were doing a teach-in at Robinswood Middle School. I was a drama teacher at this time uh for Robinswood Middle School. I was also a TV productions instructor. So I'm working, I'm you know, learning, learning the ways, as you all know at middle school students. You you you work with middle school students, you can work with anybody. I always tell everybody that. But I was loving, I was passionate, of course, about theater. I was passionate about TV productions. So I was just like, this was like, you know, starting to be like a dream job, you know, for me, because I was able to use all the tools that I have used, you know, through the various degrees and everything that I have learned on my journey. And so I was able to share that, you know, with my students uh at Robinswood Middle School. So I'm at Robbinswood, I'm getting the hang of things. This is probably my first school year at Robinswood. And um, one of my amazing colleagues approached me, Dilts, we have a teach-in coming up. Um, do you have anyone you work with in the production world that want to come out and speak um to the students, you know, about what they do and what you all do? Um, at that moment, it was kind of like, man, all my production family, I know they work full time, just like me. So um I was like, I don't know if I know anybody that's free, that's available, that can come. And they say, Oh, don't worry about it. We'll we'll get someone for you. I'm like, oh, okay, cool. Sounds great. So the day come for teaching, and I'm just like, okay, super excited to see who they were able to get. Didn't expect nothing crazy. I'm just like, ah, probably just someone that, you know, you know, talk about their career, you know, just whatever their nine to five is. And so that day comes. We're waiting, and um, the day come. They send, of course, those wonderful, amazing individuals that was coming in for the teaching. They send them to their classrooms. Um, our door open, and in comes brother Anderson C. Hill II. I mean, he was dressed up, you know, suit, tie. Uh, could have been a custom suit. I always mess with about that. You could have had a custom suit on, uh, but he was looking sharp, you know what I'm saying? And this was a black brother, all right, coming in, um, looking sharp, have a suitcase, he had his stuff together, just from a totally different um time, you know what I'm saying, compared to what we're used to, especially with that suitcase or that briefcase he was carrying. And so he came in and had the most wonderful smile, most uh wonderful, genuine smile when he came into the room. He introduced himself, um, and then he went right on to talking about his journey. Um, so he got into talking about his journey, what he was doing in that season of his life, having his own construction company. How did he get to that point having that construction company? But it was his journey prior to having that construction company that caught my attention. So he started to tell us about this wonderful book he wrote about his life, and then he went into how he had a lot of trials and tribulations, how he almost lost everything because of greed, because of some of the things that he got him found himself getting into on his journey. All right. Um, and so that's what really caught my attention. So I'm I'm thinking to myself, someone like me, I'm like, man, this would make a good good film, you know, because I'm I'm a filmmaker now at this point. So I'm always looking for great ideas. I'm like, this sounds like a great movie. So naturally, after his presentation, I stepped to him and was like, hey, I would love a copy of that book. And of course, he promised the class a copy of his book. And I was like, shoot, I would love a copy too, if it's possible. And so um, so yeah, so we were looking forward to receiving that book. I know I was. Um, so some time went by, didn't necessarily get that book. I want to say in that school year, um, but some time moved by fast forward. His wife, uh, the great queen Sandra Hill ended up in my mom's chair getting her hair done. Now, this was like a major big surprise, and I'm just like, God, you are something else in this because you can't make nothing like this up, right? This is all God's connection, his divine timing, as we all know, right? So the great Queen Sandra is sitting in my mother, my mother's chair getting her hair done, which was very random because I'm like, I didn't know how did my mom and Miss Sandra meet? You know, I just didn't know how that happened. I was all God. So they were talking, of course, about their families as great mothers do, great wives do. Um, and then they started talking about, of course, their children. And then they realized that we have a son that's the same age. So uh, of course, um Sister Sandra have has a son, Andy the third, same age as my mom's, you know, her son, her oldest son. And so they started putting two and two together, what schools and all that stuff, and they found out that their sons were connected. And for some reason, uh, when Sister Sandra went home to tell um the great brother Hill, Anderson Hill, about this story, um, he ended up putting two and two together that this is the gentleman I met at Robbinswood. That's the filmmaker. And so, lo and behold, when the great sister Sandra came back to see my mom, she had a copy of Anderson C. Hill II's book. It was a message inside that book that it will be a dream of mine to bring to make this my story, this story, into a film. And I'm just like, whoa. Like it was just like uh, like it was kind of almost like my career, just like boom in that moment when I read that message. And so that's how all of this came about, all right? Um, and this was years ago, as you see. Um, it came about, you know what I'm saying? I'm trying to remember. So I met Hill back, it was the school year of 2011, uh, 2012. That was when he came in for the teach-in. Um, and of course, maybe like a year or two after that was when his wife ended up in my mother's chair. Uh, so we're looking at maybe 2013, 2014, in that time period when uh Sister Sandra was actually in my mother's chair getting her hair done. So it's just mind-blowing how God allowed all of this to come back around in such a special way, where she's his wife, right, is talking to my mother, right? And and you know how women, how y'all connect the dots. A wife, you know, connecting the dots for her husband, and a mother connecting the dots for her son, bringing us two together in such a special way. So I never will forget that, right? So that's how we started this journey. So I started, of course, diving into that book, started taking notes on it. I was just so excited, um, of course, to meet uh with Anderson Seahill II to talk about his story and his vision and all that he wants to do. Wasn't even thinking about nothing when it came to how much this is gonna pay me. You know what I'm saying? One thing and no money. I was just so excited to get started, right? Um, and so a little while later, we ended up having our first meeting. I want to say it was sometime in 2016, we had our first meeting, our first sit down in this office, and we discussed everything. I had by this point had read the book, I started kind of putting pieces together. I want to say we probably talked on the phone a few times prior to that, but those in-person meetings, they were something special because that's when we really got to talking. And and he'll start to tell me a lot about his journey, you know, um, different things he had been through working with the CIA, different things that I had no clue um but what I've read in that book. So he was breaking things down even further for me. Um, so it was a lot to digest. I was recording these sessions, I had my little recording on my phone going and uh was just trying to digest everything. It was so much. And of course, naturally, his book um at that moment is in search of the truth. There was so much uh to cover in that book, all right? Um, so I was just like, my mind was just spinning of how we're gonna tell this story into a film that's usually 90 minutes to 120 minutes. Um, so that was kind of like, whoa, I don't even know how we're gonna start. But I was processing everything and I was so excited about this journey, right? My first adaptation project, you know, was this book. All right. So a little after that, um, in this time, I was busy um producing um a couple short films. I had Fallen Fruit. This was around 2020 uh 2016. I was producing Fallen Fruit. Um, I was also producing a film, a short film we did as well called Paint It Black. So these were two short films we were producing, kind of almost, you know, a couple few months apart from each other. Uh, we were producing these films. Um, the goal was to, of course, do a film premiere where we could release two films at the same time at this film premiere and showcase both of them at a film premiere. So that was the goal. All right, um, starting out. Little did I know that film premiere would change and um turn into an opportunity for me to propose to my lovely queen, my wife, uh Monique Diltz. Now I actually ended up proposing to her at that film premiere. So as you can see, a lot of things have been going on throughout this journey. So from there, of course, you know, we had our wedding. All right, so things were just kind of a little, it was we were still working, you know, of course, on downhill, but things start to kind of slow down because now I'm getting married. Um, soon after that, of course, we start having kids. COVID season. Um, our firstborn, we had some birth complications that we had to kind of deal with, you know, right after he was born. And so things was just like boom, boom. And I say all that to say that sometimes uh we want things so fast, right? Not even sometimes, you know, if you're like me. Um a lot of times we want things so fast. Like when when I originally finished this first script, I sent it off to various um production friends, you know, my wife, um a couple of my other producing partners at the time. I sent it out to them to get their get their opinion about it. And, you know, of course, they gave me notes. And I want to say when I first started writing this, um, it was kind of like, man, um, I feel like I want to go back to school, you know, and and learn some more so I can give this film what it deserves. And so I ended up enrolling myself um um into the creative writing master's program at Full Sale. And so um Full Sale was, you know, had an up I had an opportunity to go back and um do some continuing education. And so I took advantage of that. And so ended up enrolling to the Creative Writing Masters, and I learned so much. Like just imagine you have a book that you're trying to turn into a film. Now you're back in school learning something that you're very passionate about on a whole nother level. So that's what I was going through. I was digesting all, and it was a fast paced program. Uh fast forward maybe like a year or so later, I'm graduating and uh I'm valedictorian, y'all. Right? That's just blew me away. Like I'm valedictorian. Who would have ever thought, you know, someone who's been on my journey, you know what I'm saying? Um, being valedictorian of this master's program. So um, so yeah, so that's just show you how much I was soaking in and how excited I was about learning um this wonderful craft of screenwriting. And so from there, finishing that program, I went back to that script that I had wrote. It was probably like 30 pages in at this point, and I deleted all 30 pages and started over. That's how much I learned from that creative writing master's program. And so I was just like, okay, I got to start over, I gotta figure this out, I gotta come up with a great opening image and what's gonna happen here, what's gonna happen here? This beat, this beat, that beat. And so I my mind was just flowing on a whole different level than it was prior to that program. So super thankful for all my wonderful course directors and instructors uh who taught me in that program because everything you taught me, I'm still using today. So thank you. But uh, but yes, that changed everything for me as a writer, especially on a project like this. And so I automatically knew like certain elements that I had to include um to make sure this film works. And so I started going through and trying to figure that out and what it looks like. And of course, that took me down a whole different journey um with the writing process for this script. Um, naturally, he'll and I were meeting. Um, our meeting started to pick up a little bit here and there. Uh, I want to say it was probably maybe once a month that we would get together and meet. Um, but yes, I ended up talking to him. I was like, well, if we're working together, you know, um, I wouldn't mind bringing you on board, you know, help help him produce, you know, he's um our sponsor, you know, uh a couple of my short films I'm doing. So those short films was Fallen Fruit and Painted Black. And um, Brother Great Hill, Anderson C. Hill actually sponsored um both projects. So he he gave towards both projects so they could be produced. So that's how the the business side of things started to pick up for us um in that. So so yeah, so that was an amazing opportunity to be able to have him on board and I mean um bless both projects and ended up becoming um an executive producer on both projects because of that, you know, um the funds that he did um put towards those projects. And so so yeah, so that was super amazing, super exciting, and uh just to have him at that film premiere where where I ended up proposing to my queen um and hit and knowing that he had a part in those films that were being produced uh was such a fulfilling, um special moment for us there. Um so yeah, so fast forward from there, of course, we had the wedding. Um course the Hills were invited to the wedding, and that was an awesome time. Uh I know Brother Hill was able to make it to the wedding, but Sister Hill, I think, had some another engagement that she had to be at. So, but um Hill was there and enjoying, and we had a great time. It was so so so great to see him and be able to share that moment with him as well. So, yeah, so so much had happened, you know, um to that point, of course, getting married, starting a family. Um, I was still working on the script, getting it done um over the years. Uh, we had some time that it kind of looked like, all right, what's gonna happen with the film? Because it, you know, I had finished the script. Um, he'll read through it, I read through it, he'll approved it, you know, I approved it at this point. And then I'll come up with another idea, like, oh, let me go through it again. And I rewrote it again, rewrote, you know, different elements again, to the point that I want to say, after a while, I had wrote this script probably about, I want to say about 10 times, y'all. Right? 10 times over this time, um, you know, because you learn more. Um, the fire had actually kind of started to fade out a little bit. And I was warning, okay, I don't know, you know, if we're gonna be able to move forward with this film. Little did I know, I was I didn't know I was gonna be one getting married at the beginning of this. Um in this season, of course. I wanted to be married, of course, but I didn't know it was gonna be happening so fast. And then, of course, naturally, we were gonna have kids right back to back. So didn't know all that, didn't know we were gonna be on the journey, of course, with our firstborn. Um, and so a lot was happening. I started to think, okay, God, I see why you held this project. I see why you held your hand. I had no clue we were gonna be going through all of this um in this season. Then no COVID and all this stuff was gonna come as well. Um, so it was it was it was a journey, you know what I'm saying? And just trying to stay patient, uh, trying to stand still, you know what I'm saying? Because as you all know, when you want something so bad, you ready, you're ready to go. And I had poured so much into this project, you know, so much time, so much effort, even going back to school and getting a degree. So I was I was getting a little frustrated about it. Um, and got to the point I was just like, I it's probably time to just move on to one of my other projects, you know, um, because I had a few films already that I had written. Um, so I was really considering moving on um to another project and to this one, of course, when God opened the door for this one, um, and it and we can take off. And so during this time, I want to say it probably was about four years in by now, um, I get a message from Hill about this wonderful individual that he wanted to connect me with. Um, and he, of course, told me about this individual. And um, this is the wonderful, amazing, as I call my brother from another now, um, brother CJ Joseph, the superstar, call him superstar, CJ Joseph. Um, and now he's a super producer too, because he produces with me now. So um, but yeah, CJ and I met through um the great brother Hill um in this journey. And I was probably about four years in, you know, uh three to four years in. We were working, and and uh, of course, brother CJ came in. He's a SAG actor who was originally from from Orlando, but now he's out um in Texas. Um and he's a SAG actor out there, you know, doing various TV shows, various commercials, and different things. And so um we ended up connecting, of course. Um he did his research on me, and of course, I did my research on him. Um, he ended up finding out that two wonderful, wonderful individuals, um, two wonderful young ladies that I was connected with, he was also connected with. And of course, he reached out to both of them about me and and kind of my work ethic. And of course, both of them approved, and so he was happy just to hearing from them too, um, you know, how how I handled my business on this end. And so that led him, of course, that made him very comfortable with moving forward. And so we ended up, of course, talking and he course filled me in on everything. I filled him in on any everything as well. And um from there, we just started kind of talking. He was um, of course, he was in the process at um at that time reading the script. He was also in the process of reading the book at the same time. So he was doing that like right at the same time, going through both. So that was just amazing, just even to see him on that on that level. But um, but yes, so once he finished getting through the script, of course, we had meetings and stuff about it. Um, we ended up coming up with an idea to get the um the script, get it to someone to review, you know. And I want to say it was someone out in LA, one of those amazing um script reviewing companies. And so we wanted just to get some feedback, you know, from a company. So we kind of cover our base. Um, we all love the film. We just wanted to make sure um that we had something, you know, here. So we ended up, of course, finding a company that we all trusted and went with this um company. They read the script, gave us some major feedback, right? And so, of course, naturally I took that feedback. Um, all of my brothers here, they both went through that feedback as well, gave me their opinion on everything. And of course, I took the feedback and let it sink in a little bit and kind of just figured out, okay, I like this, I don't like this. Oh, I love this. Ah, how can I do this? So I'm going through every element trying to figure out what I wanted to incorporate, uh, or what did I want to change, what did I want to bring in. So that was an experience. And as you all know, uh, I know my students know this particular, when you receive um feedback from anyone, you know what I'm saying? I always tell them, you know, send your script to some some great individuals, whether they're producing partners, some great friends, your spouse, uh, send your script to them so they can review your script and give you some feedback. And make sure they are all from totally different backgrounds. So um, like I always give an example, my wife didn't go to film school, you know what I'm saying? She's a pharmacist, all right? Also produces with me, but she's a pharmacist. That's her background. So she'll see the film in a totally different way than someone that actually went to film school, right? And so it's always great to have these wonderful individuals that are just totally different backgrounds. You know, some are filmmakers, some different backgrounds, you know, pharmacists, doctors, lawyers, whatever. Send them your script. And of course, you want to, of course, get them something to sign. Um, usually it's the case, an NDA or something. And then um you basically want them to kind of give their feedback and and their opinion. You know, do they think this is a great project? You know what I'm saying? And so once you get that feedback, you may see some things you like, you may see some things you you probably just like, I don't care for that. I like this idea better. But you're getting a bunch of feedback from different individuals, some that look at things totally different from the other. All right. So that's always great. So in this case, getting this feedback, I'm like, man, you see all this red ink on all the stuff. I always tell my students, when you see a lot of red ink, you're like, well, dang, did you like the project? Right? But if you didn't see anything, this is the difference. If you don't see anything, you'll be like, Well, what can I work on? I'm glad you like it. What can I work on? And so it's always great to give a little of both. And I felt that from this individual. Um, naturally, she gave some stuff that she thought worked well, some things that could be a lot better, um, and some elements that need to be incorporated. So naturally, I took that information, I let it digest. I started working on that project, incorporating what I wanted to take from what she gave me. And I was like, I understand because I went to, you know, I got my creative writing master, so I understand where she's going with a lot of this. So naturally, of course, my brothers, they were like, Man, uh, yeah, I don't, you know, they wasn't really feeling none of the feedback and kind of gave their opinion on things. But I understood, uh, of course, it hit me here, because you know, of course, you're like, man, I worked really hard on this. But I understood what she was, what she was trying to um, you know, incorporate, you know, um, through this, you know, through this project. So so yeah, so I took what I needed, updated the script again. By this time, you know, we're in deep. Like I think I'm on like version nine, version 10 coming up. Um, and so it was just kept going through. Every time I made like a big adjustment, I'm like, okay, this is another version. So I would actually update the version to for that. And so, yeah, so by this time, we had 10 versions of the script now, right? And so it's just like, okay, what's next? You know, we got the script. We all happy. I'm happy with it. Brother CJ is happy with it, brother Hill is happy with it. Um, and so we're all on the same accord. By this time, we had came up with a plan um that we all three of us was executive producers. And of course, brother CJ, if he was a part of it, of course, he told us like he would want to want to be, of course, credit producer and executive producer, but he also um it has to be a SAG film because he's a SAG actor. And so those were kind of some elements like, okay, because lo and behold, before Brother CJ came on board, we were close to just getting started. We knew we wanted to consider making this a sag film. Mind you, I didn't know how to go about doing that. We had did Monique, my wife and I, we were doing some research on okay, what would it take to make this a sag film? And we started even having like light production meetings with a possible crew, um, just telling everyone to get ready because the script is ready. This is how we're gonna move forward. But again, after that point, that's when stuff started to kind of die down because again, we needed financing, we needed funding, and we didn't have that at that moment, all right. Um, and so lo and behold, after that, a little after that, brother CJ comes into the picture and lights the fire again, right? So God used him to relight that fire, and now that fire is burning on a way that we never imagined it to burn because of his affiliation with SAG. So, so we were able to now move forward and of course looking at the films and all the projects moving ahead as SAG films because of his affiliation. And so now he's on as a producer, he's on as a second producer, and so now we we can make this a SAG film because we can do it through him. And you know how I think. I'm like, okay, if he can handle, you know, he can handle the um sag business, you know, he can handle the actor business, is what I'm really saying. Then I'll handle the crew business. And so that's the way we looked at it. And then, of course, I have a wonderful, amazing brother by the name of um Ryan Funk, who I actually brought on um and have been working with. And so I brought him on also as a producer um because the two of us kind of work really well together in in and producing. So he has a crew that he pretty much brings together, and I have a crew that I bring together. And then imagine we bringing all those crews together, right? Now with Brother CJ. So, man, sky's the limit, right, for us. But um, but yeah, so we started a course um from that point. We started kind of having these meetings um every other week, was what it was. So every other Wednesday, we would have an executive producer meeting and we would start meeting, you know, um and talking about ways to basically push the project forward. That was our goal for these meetings. How can we push the project forward? And so these meetings were very great. And of course, we tried to make sure they stayed on task because sometimes we know, as you all know, we can get off task real quick. Um, so we tried to make sure these projects, um, these meetings stayed on task. So in this season, of course, when I started doing these shows, this is how I'm tying it all back in. When I started getting back on stage in 2024, going into 2025, I would invite, of course, brother Hill. I would invite him and Sister Sandra out to these shows. You know what I'm saying? Um, I would I would invite them out to these shows. And um, and of course, naturally, you know, they would come if they were available. And so one show I want to say it maybe was the Grinch. Sister Sandra and and Brother Hill um were able to attend. I think both of them were able to attend, but I know Brother Hill was there. Um they came, and of course, Brother Hill, he loved, he just loved it, loved it so much. Anytime, you know, to come to a show, and then of course to see me on stage, I know he was getting a kick out of that. Um, and so after that show, I mentioned to my great brothers in the meeting, I was like, um, or through text, I want to say, I was like, um, how do y'all feel about um taking downhill to the stage? Just just throwing it out there to see what they would say. And them jokers took took a hold of that and just ran with it, like, yo, that would be so epic. Yo, let's do it. And it just became this big thing. And so naturally, we did talk about that more in the meeting, and we came up with a budget for it because now I gotta take our film script now and change it into a play script for stage. So I had to adapt it into a play script. So, of course, that was a whole nother job for me. Um, and so when I originally had this idea to say, hey, we we can take downhill, if we could take downhill to the stage, it would be epic. Of course, it's so many scenes, it's a film. So, of course, naturally we gotta figure this thing out, how it would work for stage. And so the biggest thing for me was like, I don't just want to do a play, I want to bring both of my worlds together. I want to bring the film world and the theater world together um to make this an experience like no other. And so that was my plan. So, of course, my great brothers were on board of this because they're like, okay, do what you need to do. Um, you know, dynamic director, that's what they call me. Um, thanks to Brother CJ. Thank you, Brother CJ. All right. Um, and so started to kind of figure this out how would this look? What would it take? What would the budget um be? Um, we came up with an idea, of course, thinking about certain scenes that I would want to shoot as like the film elements for the live show. And looking at the budget, it kind of was just adding up because of those film scenes and just coming up with a budget for a crew to help me with those scenes. And by the time it started adding up, I was like, by the time we pay um to have these scenes shots, we might as well just do a short film. So it was just kind of like a light bulb just went off in that moment. God just gave me that that that moment, like, yeah, let's let's we should have done this first anyway. We should have been doing this, turning this into a short film, and um building, you know, kind of like that, that, that support for it um through that. Excuse me. And so um that's what we ended up doing. I was just like, I want to do it as a short film. I didn't even run it by the brothers. I just went ahead and and um and of course did a short version of it. And so, in the midst of that, of course, when I rented by Brother CJ, um, brother CJ had was currently working on a couple films on his own uh with some of his producing partners out in Texas. And so he was able to give me kind of some great feedback for different things like uh the time limit for a lot of film festivals. This is where we should stay in. And I knew this stuff, but of course, y'all know me. I'm I don't like fallen rules. If you didn't know, right? I don't like fallen rules. So, but um I'm someone like uh knowing these rules about the film festivals and knowing that they like to keep the time at a certain um, which I understand totally. I understand totally, um, because you can get more films in that festival. So of course I had to learn that over the years, but I still was someone I'm like, I want to produce a 25, 30 minute film. That's just me, you know, and I'd do my own film premiere if they don't want to take it, you know. Um, and so that's what I have been doing. And so when this opportunity came, it's kind of like, okay, uh, Brother CJ said, uh, I think originally I had got the script, I did a short film adaptation, you know, adapting uh the screenplay and into a short film. I want to say I got it down to like maybe 20 pages, 20, well, 25, 30 pages. And he was like, uh-uh, you gotta cut that down, you gotta cut that like in half. Try to get it down to originally was been saying 10 to 15 pages. I'm like, oh my goodness. I've never wrote a script that short. So that was a challenge. So I went to the cutting board, right? And so um ended up um looking at this thing. I was like, okay, how can I do this? Never done this before, but I'm gonna trust Brother CJ with this, and I'm I'm gonna cut this down, okay, because he recommended. And so I ended up getting the script down. I want to say we got it down to like 15 pages, and I was so pumped, right at 15 pages, and I was like, man, this is solid. Like it was just the story, it was just everything, everything had a point and everything had a purpose within those 15 pages. And it was just like, this is pretty much what my my instructors at full sale were trying to teach me um on this journey. And so I was just like, this is like wow. So I was pumped um to get that script down, and so from that script, we started working towards okay, how can we produce this? Um, brother CJ came up with a brilliant idea from his experience that he was um going through on another film project as a producer that we should give this film a different name than the actual film Downhill. And so we tossed some ideas, and um, I don't know if I ever even even brought this up, but the original film title Downhill came from my wonderful queen Monique. Um, she had came up with that wonderful title, and Hill and I, it just blew us away. Like, that's it, you know. Um, and so of course, naturally I went back to her, like, my love, we got to come up with a different title. Something would still heal in it. I want that, but a different version. So we just started throwing all these different ideas out. The brothers threw some ideas. Monique and I, I think we threw like maybe came up like three or four ideas. One of them I think I really like. I think Rock Hill was one of those, and it was another one that I really like. But my great brothers, and of course, these me and me and my wonderful wife Monique, um, coming up these these sessions we have. So I went to my brothers, and of course, they they really, Brother Hill really loved Rock Hill because of the connection um from where he's from, you know what I'm saying, where everything kind of originated between him and Sister Sandra. Um, so that kind of brought everything back together um for him. So that was kind of like this is the one. I'm like, you sure? Are you sure? And so he was so adamant about this one. So we moved forward, called the short film Rock Hill, started making the plan to shoot it as a short film, as we say, short film proof of concept. Um, so we built the crew. Um, we handled casting a little different, actually chose individuals that we had worked with or that we trusted, um, actors, you know, um that we had worked with or trusted. And so we were really wanted to have them come in and read the script so we can kind of get a feel of it. Um, and so of course, naturally with that read, we promised them the roles. Um, if you know, if it was a good fit. And so that's what we ended up doing. And so we had a virtual table read, read the script with these actors, everything was great. Um, then we started working a Budget, um working up dates was really um gonna move forward with these actors, but it had came to a point like, man, if we can cut this down even more, we can probably, you know, have a lot lower budget. Because mind you, we're trying to make this a sag film too, because brother CJ is the one that's playing Anderson Seahill II, right? So he's playing Hill in this, and so we're like, if we can cut this down, you know, this would be even better, you know, because now we don't have to spend so much with it being a proof of concept. So um, so yeah, so that's what we did. The budget was going to be a lot higher than we wanted um for the version that we had for that many pages. So we ended up cutting the script down. I want to say we cut out um, I want to say like two to three actors, maybe four, um, and just kind of focus on the five main characters. And as I always say, my protagonist, my antagonist, uh, my love interest, my mentor, and my reflection character. I went to school, y'all. I went to school. All right. So I learned so much, as you see. So those were the five characters that we decided to move forward with um for the film. So everyone else we ended up just cutting out because of the budget, you know, no heart feelings. Um, just business. Now, we still stayed in contact with those individuals, and those individuals that were still in on good terms with us, um, we ended up bringing them, guess what, y'all, to the play. So a lot of them are in the play, those that were on good terms with us. And so, so that's where we are. Right? So we shot the film. Um, man, what a blessed time it was. Wow, what a blessed time. It was two days. Uh, we had a few locations, and we had such an amazing time. Ended up getting the film script down to 10 pages, keeping it solid. Um, but it ended up growing because, you know, when the Holy Spirit leads, the Holy Spirit leads and take over. So um we had this church scene that I originally had where he'll comes into the church and he breaks down, and of course, he's surrendering to God in this moment from all the stuff that he had got himself into. And everybody's looking at him crazy. The pastor comes put his hands on him. Um, his um uh one of the deacons in the church, I'll leave that to you. One of the deacons in the church put their hands on him. Um, another young lady put their hand, hit their hands on him, which is actually his mother in the film. Um, and so they're actually praying over him in this moment, and you know, and uh our pastor, our amazing pastor, Dr. Frazier, um he just took off with that prayer to the point I was like, I ain't want to stop him, y'all. I couldn't yell cut during prayer time. Sorry, all right? I ain't trying to get in no trouble. But I couldn't yell cut, that spirit was moving. And I had him do it a few times, and each time it was different. You know what I'm saying? It was just a nice, powerful prayer each time. So we had so much to choose from. So the prayer was so powerful that I was like, we can't cut that prayer out, y'all. We gotta keep that prayer in the film. So now that prayer is in the film. So guess what? The film went from 10 pages to now, which is about 10 minutes, to a lot more now, you know, probably about five, I want to say about three to four minutes just because of that. Um, naturally, you add credits and all that other stuff and it adds up. And so that experience was so amazing. All right. We went from there wrapping up that film, hailing the budget, you know, over time. I want to say within a month, we were able to get everyone paid. Um, we did an amazing, amazing um fundraiser um for this event um to shoot the film, and we raised so much. Thank you so much to all of our investors um and all of our sponsors. And so we ended up raising um, you know, the majority of the funds to shoot this film. And so that was a huge blessing there. And we were able to pay our cash and crew within a month after wrapping production. So that was major kudos. All right, kudos. Now, we wrapped up, um, want to say wrapped up the short film. The editing process took a little longer. Um, just trying to make sure everything was perfect, um, making sure, you know, certain elements were in place. Um, so we ended up, of course, wrapping up the edit. Want to say this past, what was it, March or um February, and of course, composing, you know, took probably another month. So um, so yeah, so we ended up wrapping up probably the end of February, early March. Um, and so that was huge, you know, to be able to wrap up the film in such a special moment. Um, and right away just started sending it to Film Festival. We applied for a grant um also, you know, um, through Film Florida and ended up getting that grant. Praise the Lord, right? We got a thousand dollar grant from Film Florida Um for this film. And they they wanted to see, of course, the Rough Edit. Um, once they saw the Rough Edit, they they they awarded us with that grant. So praise the Lord for that. Um, and that was great because now that that those funds can go towards, you know, of course, film festivals and it's wrapping up anything else that needs to be done and completed. And so that was a huge, huge plus, you know, for us to be able to move forward um and do that. And so, yeah, so a lot has happened through that. And then naturally now um we had come we came up with a plan late last year in 2025 um that we wanted to move forward. I wanted to do it. I really personally didn't want to do it at no other theater than Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center. Um, that was kind of like my favorite theater through all the shows that I had been through over the the last couple years. That was my favorite. So I was like, I'm doing a show, I want to do it at Dr. Phillips. But the biggest reason, too, was because of the screen and the amount of my the amount of scenes that we have and scene changes. It was very important for me to do it on that stage because of their screen and um being able to project backgrounds onto the screen that our actors can act in front of the screen. So so that was huge. That was huge, that was something very important. So, yeah, so that's how that's where we are now, my great people. Um, we are preparing for our show, Downhill the Play. Um, it's featuring now, featuring the majority of our cast from the short film. All right. What we have one of our beloved that couldn't, of course, be here. They're out of town. Um then we also was able to bring back some of those amazing actors that was in that first virtual read when we read the the film Rock Hill, the short film. And so with that, we're sending out the film festivals. We're gonna be shopping it around um as a proof of concept, but then we also are preparing for downhill the play. All right, now downhill the play goes up, all right. May 29th um through 30 to um May 31st, right here in Orlando, Florida. So we're coming up on it this season in the Ronald Second podcast. We're gonna focus on that show. So we're gonna be interviewing, you know, the Hills, we're gonna be interviewing um some of our amazing actors, brother CJ, uh, all right, our executive producer team. We're gonna be interviewing them. We're gonna be interviewing some of the casts, we're gonna be interviewing some of the amazing crew that I'm so blessed to work with on this project. So, so definitely stay tuned because this is definitely gonna be an epic, epic season uh where you're gonna be able to hear all about our experience preparing for Downhill the Play. All right, and beyond, because we we this this thing, this train is moving. All right, this train is moving. So thank you all for tuning in to this session. Of course, make sure you make preparation if you're here in town to check out our show, Downhill the Play. Um, premiering again at Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center May 29th to 31st. All right, check out all the episodes this season. It would be all geared towards Downhill the Play. And we look forward to seeing you on the stage. All right, take care, everyone, and be blessed. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of the Ronald Dills the Second Podcast. I hope this episode blessed, inspired, and encouraged you on your career journey. We have so many great episodes in store, so make sure you stay tuned. In the meantime, I pray that God blesses your career. May He bless the work of your hands and all He has for your future. Take care and be blessed.