My Phone Call With Richard Jackson
By Reca Bayles
I'm a member of Jonathan and Richard's fan club and every
newsletter includes a contest entry form for various autographed
items and phone calls from Jonathan and Richard. Well, of course
I'm going to send in the form, even though I never win anything.
Well, I've finally been proven wrong that I never win anything. On
the night of August 1, my ordinary night of getting settled into my
new apartment and studying for the CPA exam took a very
interesting turn. At 8:45 my phone rang and I wondered who could
be calling me. Well, I picked it up and after being asked if I was
Reca (and if she was pronouncing it correctly), the woman on the
other end of the line (who was Mrs. Jackson) told me I won a
phone call with Richard and did I have a moment to speak to him.
Of course I had a moment! Did I really have something better to
do?
Needless to say after I say that I have time for Richard, Mrs.
Jackson puts him on the line. Now, I have to gush about him still
asking me if he was pronouncing my name correctly since I had
already told his mother she was saying it correctly. I wonder if
they have had people that don't remember their name for the phone
call, lol. After Richard put me at ease by asking me a little bit
about where I live and what I do for fun, I was able to finally think
clearly enough to ask some questions.
I asked if he had any projects going on and all he said he was
doing was going on audtions. I asked about True Rights and found
out that it was being submitted to more film festivals, as was the
short film he and Jonathan directed that starred Maurice Benard
and Tava Smiley. I told him how I had heard nothing but great
things about True Rights from friends who had seen it and I was
looking forward to eventually seeing it on video if it doesn't make a
film festival close to me. We talked briefly about some of
Jonathan's projects after he mentioned that he has a few films
completed that haven't been released. I mentioned internet rumors
of Smiling Suicide Club being changed to Catch the Sun, but he
said they hadn't heard the change was official yet.
We talked about the gospel hour since I had mentioned I was at
the GH fan weekend, but I had to admit that because of other
events I was doing around the time of the gospel hour, I wasn't able
to make it in. I told him about how everyone found it so
inspirational and that I was looking forward to seeing it on the video
that Real's fan club is selling (the proceeds go to charity, which
makes it an even better purchase). He said he and Jonathan really
have been blessed to be able to share their faith with everyone.
Since I had taken up more than enough time, we ended the phone
call after that. Richard was such a sweet person throughout the
entire phone call and to put up with some of my babbling at times,
he definitely earns the title. I can't even begin to put into words
what this phone call meant to me, but I can say it is an experience
I won't soon forget.
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