What really motivated me was just, you know, I think a lot of, especially my friends, they, they, and how I grew up and where I grew up, they wanted to be like their father so bad, including myself.

But, you know, sometimes it's like, hey, man, you, you're blessed with having people around you that love you and you shouldn't even kind of try to take those footsteps of a person

that probably wasn't, you know, a grade A. Hello and welcome back to the director's cut, brought to you by the Directors Guild of America.

In this episode, an emotionally absent real estate tycoon has

his world shattered by an act of kindness in director Derek Hallamond's drama, Life of Mike.

The film tells the story of Mike Smith, a thriving real estate tycoon who lives a life

devoid of close friends or family. As his birthday unfolds, his wife makes a heartfelt attempt to show him love, setting off

a chain of events that make him confront the reality of who genuinely cares for him and

who doesn't.

Life of Mike is Hallamond's feature directorial debut. Following a screening of the film at the DGA

Theater in Los Angeles, Halliman spoke with director Christine Swanson about filming Life of Mike.

Listen on for their spoiler-filled conversation.

Hello, everyone, and... Hello everyone and hello Derek.

Hey, how you doing?

How are you doing?

I'm very, very excited to have a conversation with you.

One of the first things that I thought of because Derek directed and shot the movie. So that alone, kudos to you. Because it's

an impressive looking film. So it's a rarity to see a movie shot and directed by the same person.

So are you intentionally following Steven Soderberg's footsteps?

I felt like I was like like, forced to do it.

When I, my first passion is photography and deep end, but I knew I really wasn't

seasoned enough to feel confident to go to a, go to a company or someone to say, hey, I'm a,

...