WPAOG Podcast

EP64 From Ground Zero to Hollywood Director with Sean Mullin ‘97, Award-winning Filmmaker

Episode Summary

This episode features an interview with Sean Mullin award-winning filmmaker and West Point grad, class of 1997. In this episode, Sean talks about his time serving in the national guard, how he made the transition from Army officer to Hollywood director, and the release of his first independent feature-length documentary on Yogi Berra, “It Ain’t Over”.

Episode Notes

This episode features an interview with Sean Mullin award-winning filmmaker and West Point grad, class of 1997.

Sean’s feature film debut as a writer/director — AMIRA & SAM — won numerous film festivals and was distributed theatrically. Following that, Sean co-wrote and co-produced SEMPER FI, and wrote and directed KINGS OF BEER. Now, he’s happy to announce the release of IT AIN'T OVER, Sean’s feature-length documentary about baseball legend and American icon, Yogi Berra.

Prior to his filmmaking career, Sean served in the military. He was stationed in Germany as an Army officer, but finished his time as a Captain in the New York Army National Guard — where he was a first responder on September 11th, 2001. For several months, he spent his days working as the Officer in Charge of the soldiers stationed at Ground Zero — and his nights performing stand-up comedy.

In this episode, Sean talks about his time serving in the national guard, how he made the transition from Army officer to Hollywood director, and the release of his first independent feature-length documentary, “It Ain’t Over”.

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Key Quotes

“ I get this a lot of times I'm like, 'oh, you went to West Point, you're a director, those couldn't be more different'. I go, honestly, they couldn't be a better fit in a lot of ways. I mean, yes, you need the creative side, right? And, I was very fortunate. I had a very creative father and I had a very creative mother. My mother was in theater and a very, super creative writer and all these things that she's done in her life that have been really, truly incredible. So, I had a very creative upbringing, but the structure from West Point and the leadership, you know, when you're on set and you've got 80 people looking at you, and you're supposed to shoot this massive scene, and it starts the rain comes in unexpectedly. You've got to move, you've got to motivate, you've got to get people inside, you’ve got to switch things around, you’ve got to go on the fly, you’ve got to manage egos. I mean, it is so similar to being a commander of a unit that, I think those skills are really, extremely transferrable to the film business. And, I've found myself to be extremely fortunate to have had those at West Point.” - Sean Mullin

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Episode Timestamps

(01:44) Sean’s background and West Point experience

(05:39) Military career and life after the academy

(10:46) Resigning from active duty and attending film school

(14:50) Writing and directing It Ain’t Over

(18:30) Sean’s first independent film: Amira and Sam

(21:01) The Long Gray Line in the film industry

(23:09) Advice for aspiring filmmakers

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Links

Sean Mullin's LinkedIn

Jamie Enos' LinkedIn

West Point Association of Graduates

Episode Transcription

Narrator: Hello, and welcome to the WPAOG Podcast. This episode features an interview with Sean Mullin, award-winning filmmaker and West Point grad, class of 1997. Sean's feature film debut as a writer and director, Amira & Sam, won numerous film festivals and was distributed theatrically. Following that, Sean co-wrote and co-produced Semperfi and wrote and directed Kings of Beer. Now he's happy to announce the release of It Ain't Over, Sean’s feature length documentary about baseball legend and American icon, Yogi Berra. Prior to his filmmaking career, Sean served in the military. He was stationed in Germany as an Army officer, but finished his time as a Captain in the New York Army National Guard where he was a first responder on September 11th, 2001. For several months, he spent his days working as the officer in charge of the soldiers stationed at Ground Zero and his nights performing stand up comedy. In this episode, Sean talks about his time serving in the National Guard, how he made the transition from Army Officer to Hollywood Director, and the release of his first independent feature length documentary, It Ain’t Over. Now please enjoy this interview between Sean Mullin, West Point class of 1997, and your host Jamie Enos.

[00:01:29] Jamie Enos: Hi, Sean. Thanks for coming on the show today. I'm excited for today's show because I just love profiling West Point grads and showcasing the depth of experiences that can result from coming to the academy. So thanks for being here. 

[00:01:41] Sean Mullin: Oh my goodness. Thanks for having me. This is really wonderful. 

[00:01:44] Jamie Enos: Let's get started. Can you talk about your decision just to attend West Point?

[00:01:47] Sean Mullin: Yeah, I don't come from a military family really. I had spent my first nine years in Indiana and then my second nine in Boca Raton, Florida. And so I was, played a lot of sports, um, big family, six kids. And so, you know, my parents didn't, uh, save up anything for college.

My dad was an entrepreneur, so we either had money or we did not have money. So he is a bit of a, A gambler, uh, with life in a lot of ways. So, yeah, I, I got recruited to play football at West Point. I got recruited to play tight end and when they reached out to me, I thought that sounded interesting. And I dunno, my mom always had a really strong kind of patriotic streak through her.

She used to read me Abraham Lincoln's letters, you know, at night before bed and stuff. And she was always very much, you know, into the idea of America, you know, to put it broadly. So, you know, thought it was a good fit. And then, um, you decided to come up for a visit, visited like a really great challenge and decided to go ahead and go for it.

I got up. To West Point. Um, I ended up not playing football. I ended up switching over and, and playing rugby. And rugby kind of saved my life, uh, my cadet life at least. And, and I guess maybe the rest of it, you know? 

[00:02:43] Jamie Enos: Yeah. So what kind of cadet were you? Did you walk a lot of 

[00:02:45] Sean Mullin: hours? I walked 69 hours, which was like, you know, just under a hundred.

There's, I was not a century man, but yeah, I walked five grad week. I remember that. I remember I was at 64 and then I got five more grad week. Something was wrong with one of my uniforms. I think so, I think I was a decent cadet. You know, I, I don't know. I mean, I'll leave that to others. I, I, I mean, my grades were good.

I had good grades. I was kinda a bit of a joker. I had kinda done comedy in high school. I had kinda done some sketches. I was the mc for all of our high school events and stuff like that, and, you know, did all that kind of stuff. So, I, I don't think I fit the, necessarily the typical mold maybe of what Cade should be.

But I always, I good leadership skills from sports and everything. Lead my team and, and get people excited and, you know, think I had a little bit of maybe charisma or something, whatever that entails. And so I was able to, you know, I think I was able to fit in in some ways and maybe other ways, maybe not quite as much.

But again, I think, you know, being able to hook into that rugby team the first semester plebe year and I spent all eight semesters in a blood, sweat and tears on the Army rugby pitch. And so I think that really informed most of my time at the academy. 

[00:03:47] Jamie Enos: Yeah, that's for sure. Right. You get the leadership, you've got the time management skills.

Right? And then I've heard that you also have had an investment skill, right? So how did you use your Cal is. 

[00:04:00] Sean Mullin: Well, yeah, so again, having a father that didn't really, you know, understand money and, and again was up and down with his finances, you know, his whole life, you know, you get this Cal loan junior year as a $17,000 loan and I mean, I was like 17,000.

It was more money than I'd ever could imagined having $17,000. And so I had already had about, I dunno, probably eight or nine grand racked up in different credit cards, you know.

Really just, you know, kind of crappy Buick Century off an old woman down in Boca Raton, uh, for a, you know, five or six grand maybe. And then I bought a video camera and I started videotaping my buddies telling ridiculous stories. And I just was always a storyteller at heart. You know, it's something I always love to do.

I, I never thought I could do it for a living, but, uh, you know, I'm fortunate to be there now. But yeah, so I think that was like kind of the beginning of, uh, my journey as a storyteller. Sure. And what was your major here at West Point? I was a law major. Yeah, law. It was law. F o s It wasn't a major, it was law field of study.

So I don't know if the difference, but yeah. Law. And then, uh, you know, when I was with law, I, I wanted, again, typical just of my father, just being, you know, this again, I was raised with this like toxic optimism, honestly, it's just like ridiculous. So when I was a law major, I was like, oh, you, you know, what do you wanna do for your a i d?

And I was like, Well, I'm an intern of the Supreme Court. They're like, we don't do that here. Like, how do you, I was like, I called the Supreme Court and I said, Hey, would you take an intern from West Point? They were like, um, yeah, maybe. Sure. Can you fax us? I mean, I had to fax over a letter. So I faxed over a request and they accepted it and I, I was the first cadet to intern of the Supreme Court, and they still do that, I think, or they, they, they did it for a long time.

I dunno if it's still going on. But, uh, so yeah, I just kind of always carved my own path in a way, you know? 

[00:05:36] Jamie Enos: Yeah, that's in Incre. Wow. Oh my goodness. So you graduate West Point. Congratulations as a rugby. Thank you. 

[00:05:44] Sean Mullin: Thank you. 

[00:05:45] Jamie Enos: You know, and you have your investment in your, in your BHS camcorder or what have you.

You commission field artillery and you end up in Germany. And so you have any inspiring stories from that tour that you can 

[00:05:59] Sean Mullin: share? I mean, I have a lot of stories. You know, I don't know how you define some of them. I had a really wonderful, I'm was late nineties. This was 97, 98, 99 in Germany. You know, I was a field artillery officer, a fire support officer for mechanized infantry unit and Swineford Germany.

Had a really great time. I ended up playing a lot of rugby. I cooked for a little bit of time. I co-captain the Armed Forces Europe rugby team for a couple matches. I took them Amsterdam for a. Kind of did a lot of training, you know, uh, you know, the Balkans were kinda winding down around then. This was obviously before everything heated up on September 11th.

So I actually ended up transferring in 99. They offered active duty officers the opportunity to transfer from active duty to the National Guard. So I put my name in the hat for that and I got accepted to the, uh, the New York Army National Guard. In Manhattan. There's a big armory on the Upper East side of Manhattan on 68th and Park Avenue.

And so I, I became the plans officer. All of a sudden I became a logistics kinda officer and uh, I became a plans officer for Manhattan, which was one week in a month and two weeks a year. So that was a real shift for me to kind of sort of go from. It was really from going full-time active Army to National Guard in New York was like a real, you know, gear shift.

You know, I ran the qualification range. I was a marksman, you know, marksman status or whatever from active duty and I running the qualification ranges outta Fort Dixon, New Jersey and doing stuff like that on weekend. But then I started like bartending. Started writing really bad screenplays. I started doing standup comedy.

I did some improv theater. There's a, there's an improv theater in New York called the Upright Citizens Brigade that opened in 99. And so I started doing improv and standup and started living more of a creative life. And then September 11th happened, and I was the plans officer for Manhattan. So, uh, we went from needing no plans in Manhattan to needing a lot of plans.

And so, you know, I spent those first two weeks I was in my uniform before noon on the 11th. You know, I got my wife time, got her, got her safe. Got her dropped off at a friend's house. We just pulled like $400 in cash outta an atm. I remember I got her my uniform and I went into the army. I was the first officer to make it in the army.

I was the only officer that lived in Manhattan. Most of the other officers lived out in Long Island or upstate. So got to my armory and then ended up going downtown. Those next two weeks were really intense, so the first two weeks after the attacks. And so I was, um, you know, helping cordon off the area and, and my commanding officer was the commander there.

And then eventually, When we went from about, we had about 250 national guards went to like about 25 when it shrunk down, they put me in charge and they ended up making me the officer in charge of the soldiers at ground zero. And I ended up retaining that position until August of oh two, so almost nine months after I took kind of command in January.

So yeah, it was an interesting experience, but I was still doing standup comedy at night and improv theater at night. And then I would do spend 12 hours a day at ground zero and then. Go, you know, try to be creative at night and, um, tried to stay married, tried to do all that type stuff. And it was, it was a difficult time, but I think something that, you know, my time at West Point prepared me for and, and actually my time on the rugby pitch as well, you know?

Yeah. 

[00:08:37] Jamie Enos: I would think that that's quite the shift going from ground zero to standup comedy and kind of making that transition. But perhaps it was also an outlet at the time for you cause. The intensity of what was going on during the 

[00:08:50] Sean Mullin: day? Absolutely. No, it was, it was absolutely an outlet. Uh, it was, you know, completely different world, completely different sets of people, uh, completely different groups of friends.

But it was really helpful to me, I think, to kind of, sort of try to keep some sort of sense of humor. It was a dark, I mean, anybody who was in New York for those first, like six months after the attacks, it was a dark, dark. Kind of time and dark place, but it was also like this really strangely, like hopeful everybody just strangers, you know?

I remember prior to September 11th, I would take the bus for my drill, my drill weekend. So my unit was on the east side, so I lived on the upper West side. So I would take, I would wear my uniform. And I would take the M seven nine bus through Central Park and I remember before September 11th if I was in my uniform, the bus rider bus driver always allow me to ride for free.

B, my uniform and I remember got got on one woman said something that's paid. And I always remember that story because after September 11th, anytime I wore my uniform in Manhattan, I was, you know, people were buying me drinks and, uh, you know, buying me meals and pat me on the back and just hugging me out of the blue.

And I just, I don't know that, that kind of shift in perception of people in uniform. I think, uh, before and after September 11th was e extremely, uh, pronounced for me and something that has always stuck with me. It ended up bleeding into, uh, my first feature film, Amira and Sam, I, which is a love story about an army.

Veteran who falls in love with an Iraq refugee in New York, and some of those, some of those ambivalent feelings about the military and, and stuff, I kind of bled into that script and that story. So, to jump ahead in the story, I, while I was at ground zero, I got accepted Spring of oh two, uh, I got accepted to Columbia's MFA program for film directing.

And that was like a real dream of mine. And I, I just took the leap and I, I went for it. And so I, I resigned from the military in August. Of oh two and um, it was the last day I shaved actually the beard ever since. And uh, and I went to film school and I was at Columbia from oh two to oh five, getting my masters in, in film directing.

[00:10:37] Jamie Enos: Yeah, it's amazing. Like, you know, we have to look for those bright spots, like you said, the opportunistic points where we had the tragedy that can bring everybody together at the same time. You applied for, um, film school for mfa, what made you decide to do that? Where was that shift or where was that motivation to go to film school?

[00:10:55] Sean Mullin: I mean, I think it was probably rooted in the, in the same urge for me to use my Cal loan to buy a video camera. You know, it was just this urge to tell stories. And in high school, I mean, to back it up even further, like I said, I did stand up and sketch comedy in high school, but I even, I wrote some short stories in high school, in my high school, you know, magazine and stuff.

So I was always a storyteller. I think I. I think it just became more and more pronounced. You know, it was like kind of coming out, you know, as if I was like coming outta, you know, this shell or whatever, and I, I just said, Hey, if I'm gonna take a stab, especially spending all that time down at ground zero and realizing life is so, so fragile and, and life can really just vanish in, in an instant, you know?

I mean, some of the stuff we had to do down, you know, we had to turn, you know, we had to turn the Burger King into a morgue. You know, my unit was in charge of escorting the body parts from one side of the pit to the other side. You know, so you're dealing with that stuff on a daily basis, at least for the first few weeks.

And, you know, you start looking at life, you're like, well, you know, this, this, this could be a short trip. You know, so why not do what you love? And I always love telling stories, and so I, I took the big leap of faith. Well, 

[00:11:48] Jamie Enos: WPA g profiled you in the West Point Magazine back, um, the winner issue in 2016, and listeners can find that on our website@wpaaog.org.

At the time, the author Keith Hamel, he referenced an Orson Wells quote, and that goes, A writer needs a pen. An artist needs a brush, but a filmmaker needs an army. You've gone to West Point, you graduated as a law in law study as a law major. You commissioned as an army officer. You've had boots on the ground experience, and I know you're not bashing the amazing experience that you've had at Columbia, but you've been quoting guests saying that West Point is the best film school.

So how do you feel that West Point actually prepared you for Hollywood and directing and writing and producing the films and everything that you're all wrapped up in right now? 

[00:12:37] Sean Mullin: Well, it was definitely a bit of a tongue in cheek, uh, you know, response when I said West Point's the best film school in the country.

Cuz they also obviously don't have a film program. But, you know, it's funny, after this podcast today, I'm actually going to my office here in LA and I have three cadets who are in. LA right now sponsored by the English and Philosophy Department. They are out here for two weeks on an A I A D that I helped set up, uh, with Captain Rodriguez, who's really wonderful.

And they are shooting a short film out here in LA for two weeks, and they're gonna go back and edit it and we're gonna have a short film for their, you know, their summer academic internship. And so that's super exciting. So I, you know, for me, you know, the qualities, I, I get this a lot of times. Oh, you went to West Point, you're director, those couldn't be more different.

I go honestly, couldn't a better fit in a lot of ways. I mean, Yes, you need the creative side, right? And I was very fortunate, very creative father, and I had a very creative mother. My mother was in theater and, and very super creative writer and all these things that she's done in her life that have been really, truly incredible.

So I had a very creative upbringing. But the structure from West Point and the leadership, you know, when you're on set and you've got 80 people looking at you, and you're supposed to shoot this massive scene, and it starts, the rain comes in, it's unexpectedly, you've gotta move, you've gotta, you gotta get inside, you gotta switch around, you gotta fly.

I think those skills are really extremely transferable to the film business and I've found myself to be extremely fortunate to have had those at West Point. And so that's why I kinda, I try to flip the, uh, the perception a little bit anytime someone asks me that question. 

[00:13:58] Jamie Enos: Like you mentioned, you've welcomed some West Point cadets out there this summer out in California for an A I D.

For anybody listening, the AEDs or academic individual advanced development opportunities that the Academy offers, and for those that may not know, the AEDs are comparable to internships that cadets must complete. They either complete a military, a physical, or an academic IAD in order to graduate. So it sounds like an amazing opportunity to coach and just connect with the cadets while they're out there and help guide them.

[00:14:25] Sean Mullin: Yeah, I'm teaching 'em a, a directing class this afternoon. Uh, we're doing a script read of their script and they go into production on Monday. So it's a a four day shoot and then they're gonna go back to West Point. So they're super excited. They're loving it already, so it's really great. That's great.

[00:14:35] Jamie Enos: Yeah, and it's an incredible opportunity, and I'd be totally remiss if I didn't mention that most of those a IEDs and opportunities outside the classroom like that are made possible by donors supporting the margin of excellence. So to any of our donors listening, thank you so much for your support. It really does impact the cadets in a positive light.

Congratulations on your recent work where you directed and wrote It Ain't Over, which is a documentary on Yogi Berra. The film has an impressive list of guest appearances that helped tell the story of Yogi's incredible baseball career with the New York Yankees. How'd you get involved with that project?

[00:15:09] Sean Mullin: Uh, there's a father son duo, Peter and Mike Beloff, who helped finance Amir and Sam. My first scripted film, my my scripted feature film, uh, from 2015. And they put some money into that. I mean, I made that movie for nothing. I made my first film for $300,000, which is really no money to make a feature film, but, but it was my first movie and, and you have to make your first one for not much.

Cause people dunno who you are. People dunno if you can actually tell the story. So that's kind how it works. So they put a, a chunk of money into that first film. They loved how it turned out. They were really, really happy. And so, you know, they approached me. They called me and said, Hey, we have got a connection to the Bara family.

You know, they had just seen, this is 2018, this is how long these things take. It's 23 now, right? So thousand 18, summer I got a phone call and they had just seen that, um, Mr. Rogers documentary and said, Hey, you know, there's this Mr. Rogers documentary. We have a connection to the Bara family. We feel like there could be a similar documentary.

Would you be interested in directing it? And so I, I got on board and, you know, started meeting the family and met the three sons. And then Yogi's granddaughter, oldest granddaughter Lindsay, um, met her and she's like, this, Of nature. And I was like, wow, she's an incredible person. And I decided, I kind of, you know, about a third of the way through it, doing interviews, I decided to make her the narrator of the film, which, um, I think worked out really well.

And yeah, we premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. You know, we went out, raised the money all independently. It's not a studio film at all. It's an independent film. So went out, raised the money independently and premiered at Tribeca, had a sold out screening. You know, we had everybody. You know, we had, you know, Joe Torre was there, Bob Costas.

We had a really great, uh, premier and sold it to Sony Pictures Classics, uh, which is a great distributor and they've, they've been having it in theaters. It opened in theaters in May, and it's still in theaters. And it's actually just now, it's actually now available also on video, on demand too. So like Amazon and all that stuff, you can purchase it.

So it's, uh, been an incredible ride, a really incredible ride. And the reviews have been through the roof. It's just been beyond, uh, my wildest expectations. Yeah, it has. 

[00:16:53] Jamie Enos: All right. I have to admit, I have this family lore story about Yogi Berra. Um, my family is originally from Clift, New Jersey, and my grandfather used to bowl regularly at Burra Lanes right there.

Um, and he would tell all the time how Yogi would entertain all the littles, like after the business. And even, even after the business was like sold and turned over and stuff, he would come in and just entertain while all the grownups are bowling. And so I have no memory of this, and I don't even know if it's, you know, fact or fiction.

That's the story, but, I personally do think it's why I occasionally make these strange analogies, and that's the story I was brought up with to make maybe excuses for why my brain is a little bit programmed in that way, but, you know, oh, well, but you've crafted an interesting documentary there. It's great work.

I laughed, I was angry. I was maybe even a little watery eyed at points, um, during the storytelling. But do you yourself have a favorite yogi them you 

[00:17:47] Sean Mullin: wanna share? Oh goodness. Yeah, I mean, I, you know, I like the ones that are just, um, kind of a bit philosophical or, you know, he was driving his family one time and his wife was like, Hey, you know, we're lost, you know?

He said, yeah, we're lost, but we're making great time. And so I always liked that one. He also talked about his favorite restaurant in St. Louis. He said, nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded, which is another great one. So, yeah, I mean, I like the ones that really pop with some sort of, um, You know, kind of philosophical, kind of zing.

So there's so many good ones. It's really incredible. I had read somewhere, he's the second most quoted American outside Mark Twain, but I couldn't factually verify that. So that's not in the doc, but yeah. But if you see the documentary, you'll see we get into the, you know, the ones that are true, the ones that are fake, and how kind of his myth, I mean, that's a big part of the documentary is how his kind of myth overtook his, you know, accomplishments on the diamond.

[00:18:31] Jamie Enos: All right, so Amira and Sam 2014 came out, um, available on Amazon Prime, and that film basically looks at immigration and veteran simulation. Do you wanna explain that a little bit more and tell us where your thoughts were with that film? 

[00:18:44] Sean Mullin: Absolutely. No. I mean, I was the time, you know, I didn't go overseas.

I didn't go over to Iraq or Afghanistan, and a lot of my friends did, and I lost a couple friends and, and the friends I who came back, I just, some of my closest people in my life, some people, some of the people respect the most in my life and truly, deeply love on a, on a deep level. And so, You know, I wanted to tell the story about a veteran who comes home, who doesn't really have ptsd, but kinda the country had PTSD after this war.

And so, kind of flipping that a little bit and kinda looking at a veteran who just really wants a fair shake when he comes home and comes home to a country, kinda doesn't really recognize in a lot of ways. And, and just, just the idea that both veterans and, you know, refugees or immigrants in this country, you know, we're being marginalized, you know, in different ways.

You know, and when I feel like those are kind of the core of who we are as Americans. And so I kinda wanna tell a, this kinda cross-cultural love story about an Army veteran and Iraq refugee. I had a lot of friends who were helping their interpreters try to get out of the Middle East. And so that was kind of the seed for the idea of this character who played by Martin Starr, who's like from Freaks and Geeks and he's, um, Silicon Valley and now he's on this Tulsa King show on Fairmont Plus.

So he's a big great actor and he, you know, his character in the film helps get his interpreter out and then his interpreter. Then helps get his niece out, the interpreter gets his niece out. And then, uh, you know, the interpreter's niece, uh, has a, you know, a relationship with, uh, Martin's character Sam. And so kind of it goes from there.

But I tried to explore a bunch of issues. I mean, again, this is like the type thing where was my first feature film, so I didn't know if I was ever gonna be able to make another film. So I, I crammed in a lot of stuff I crammed in. If you watch the film you can see that, you know, it's definitely set in post nine 11 era you thousand seven, eight, you know, right around the issues with everything.

Yeah, I definitely drew on my time. I think living in New York and being down at Ground zero and being around a lot of the Wall Street guys and, and kinda sort of navigating that world in an interesting way. I been offered some jobs by some Wall Street guys that didn't take and, and IED and mingled with them a lot and learned a little bit about that world.

So I, I kind of. I jammed a lot into the film. You know, I jammed a lot into to, to 90 something minutes, but I'm, I'm really proud of how it turned out. And it got me started, it got me over the hump. You know, we won 10 film festivals. We got bought by Alamo Drafthouse, the, you know, the chain of theaters, uh, the Drafthouse films.

They put us in their theaters. You know, I got signed at uta, a big, uh, big talent agency. I've been with them ever since. So I've had agents since then, which is a big deal in LA to have an agent to actually represent you and get you work. So, yeah, it was a real win ultimately for me. But, uh, it was a difficult thing to pull off that story, but I.

[00:21:02] Jamie Enos: Do you find that there's a laundry line connection out there when you're in, in the industry that you've been able to work with 

[00:21:08] Sean Mullin: or? I'm making a documentary right now about the West Point rugby team. So again, rugby was so important to me that I've been trying to tell the story of, of army rugby for 25 years.

And I, I finally got my in, um, I teamed up with Brian Anthony, who was the captain of the, the one rugby team and just one. Greatest people you ever really wanna meet. And, uh, one of my closest friends, he's a television, very successful, uh, television writer out here in Hollywood. So we teamed up and we are producing, we're kind of, you know, co-producing, co-writing.

And then I'm directing this documentary about the West Point rugby team. So I've been following the West Point rugby team for a year. I've been embedded with the team and we got full, it's been a tough ride, but, um, We got full approval from the public affairs at West Point, then we had to go up the chain, we had to go to the Pentagon.

We got full approval from dod. So it's been really great. So that should be coming out hopefully sometime in, in 2024. So keep your eyes peeled for the, the Curt working title is Brothers, but uh, who knows if that sticks. Uh, we'll see how that goes, depending on our distributor. But yeah, you know, the Army rugby team won the National Championship in 2022, and so we're kind of following them.

Kind of the season after that. And so it's been great. But no, as far as you know, out here in Hollywood, there are some older grads, uh, that are, that were in the business that I'm not as close with. But, uh, you know, Brian Anthony, and then TJ Brady is a 96 grad who I'm also super close with. I mean, TJ and I have had, um, you know, morning, uh, you know, monthly breakfast, uh, you know, once a month for about 15 years.

And so he's a very successful television, right. Television writer as well. So you know, between TJ and and Brian, those are probably my two closest West Point alumni kinda allies, but there's, there's others as well and some Navy guys too, you know. That's great. 

[00:22:36] Jamie Enos: That's great that everybody can come together and just support each other on projects and, and help you through it all cuz it's the networking right?

So always good. Well, I keep looking at that calendar and the class of 2027 is coming in this year. So the class that enters West Point in 2023 is your 30 year affiliation class. We, at aog, we don't have a formal 30 year. We have a, the formal 50 year affiliation class that we like to work with, but knowing that the Plebes will be 30 years after you.

Has gotta hit home a little bit. Right. And so what advice do you have for them? 

[00:23:14] Sean Mullin: Uh, what advice do I have for them? Oh goodness. I mean, I dunno. Just, you know, be true to yourself. You know, take it, take an experience. You know, it's only 47 months, but you know that those 47 months have an outsized. Kind of impact on the rest of your life?

I think I'm a big believer, and this is a big storytelling, this is a big film directing Dan, this is what I'm getting. I've been, I've been a film professor for, I taught at USC for three years. I teach at AFI now American Film Institute out here in la. So I, I teach a lot of film, I teach a lot of directing.

And the, the two kind of greatest tools for any director are, you know, well the greatest tools. But two, two of the most important tools, I should say, of any director are the ability to compress or elaborate, you know? Cause I think life is, you know, life's about what you elaborate and what you compress.

You know, at the end of the day, you know, when you're on your get too morbid death. A dozen, two dozen moments, you know, that's really what you're gonna, that's what you're gonna, that's what you're gonna walk away with. And so I think those 47 months have, at least for me, and I think for most people, but, and I don't wanna speak for everyone, but, uh, have an outsized kinda influence on the rest of your life.

Those 47 months felt, felt like a much longer time and so much growth occurs. So if I was gonna give any advice to kinda incoming cadet, I'd say just really, you know, sink into those moments and, and really make the most of there. Trying to stay outta trouble. I guess that's what I did, but I didn't do, I didn't do that.

That good a job? Maybe keep 

[00:24:29] Jamie Enos: the hours under a hundred. 

[00:24:30] Sean Mullin: Yeah, I did. I was proud of that. I, I mean, listen, I deserved about 2000 hours, but uh, I got away with under a hundred, so that was good. That's really 

[00:24:39] Jamie Enos: great. Well, thanks Sean so much. Thanks so much for coming on today. You know, all the best with it Ain't over and we always love when everybody can share their stories.

We look forward to following this and keeping up with the rugby, distribution and release if that movie, when that film comes out. It's just always interesting to see the different paths that grads can take from West Point that it's not this script, right? Um, there's a lot of differences that come out at the end of the same experience.

I always find that really interesting and, and, and something to smile about, but can always note that you stayed connected and that that longer line is there and that you fall back on that a little bit. So we totally look forward to when that next film comes out on Army, west Point, rugby's Brotherhood, and we'll talk to you then too.

We'd love 

[00:25:25] Sean Mullin: to have you back on. Yeah. Well, thank you so much. It's been really wonderful. And you know, I, I'm excited to, um, you know, ride out the rest of the year. I've got some other projects coming out as well, so stay tuned for those. And, uh, and then the yogi thing, yeah, they're gonna be doing a big awards push at the end of the year for the, it ain't over, so, you know, you know, I'll be excited to see how, how far we can ride that.

It's been a really wonderful, wonderful time and such a great time talking with you. Thank you for having me. It's, you know, it's so great that you guys do this stuff. I've, you know, been listening to some of these podcasts and it's really, really wonderful. So it's an honor to be here. Aw. Thanks 

[00:25:55] Jamie Enos: Sean. We'll talk to you soon.

We'll have you back. 

[00:25:57] Sean Mullin: Yep. Okay. Sounds good. Thank you so much. 

[00:26:01] Narrator: This has been a production of the WPAOG Broadcast Network. Please take a moment to rate and review the show and join us each week for a new episode. Thank you for listening.