Episode 2: Jonathan Frakes Behind The Scenes Interview

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Voyage. Hi everyone, this is
Nat Mundell, founder and CEO Voyage and

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one of the producers of this show
an episode. I'm here today with Jonathan

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Frakes of our true crime anthology episode
Money Supply. Very excited to connect with

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you, sir. Mister Frakes as
an award winning actor and director and of

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course known for his role as Commander
Will Richer in the Star Trek universe.

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Jonathan's also a director of television in
films including Star Trek First Contact. He's

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also an accomplished voice actor, notably
providing the voice of David in the Disney

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animated series Gargoyles. Maybe you didn't
know that, but that's cool and exciting,

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and sir, it's a great honor. I'm a huge fan and just

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couldn't be more excited to get to
know you. Oh, I'm very happy

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to be here. Glad we got
through all the technical mumbo jumbo. Yeah,

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we should have done that as a
behind the scenes well thanks for you

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know, participating in Money Supply.
I revealed what a true ludyte I am.

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Yeah, exactly. We just had
to, you know, go behind

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the scenes of this futuristic Star Trek
guy and learn how tech savvy. You

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know, that of course is the
that's the irony, It's not Oh my

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gosh, so funny. All right, so money supply? What an interesting

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story. Um, you know,
what was your initial reaction when you read

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the concept and story in script?
I was surprised that the character who I'm

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about to record where I have recorded, the character that I'm playing in the

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show originally plays as a kind of
a republican peckerhead asphul thoughts, rude,

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narcissist, and turns out to be
Robin Hood. Yeah. What an incredible

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sort of tournament events. And I
was really very surprised, pleasantly surprised actually

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that the the the density and the
and the depth of the of the character,

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of the variety of what he's been
through is not revealed until this story

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is completed, which is the spite
of good writing. Congratulations, no spoilers

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here. Um, you know,
so you know, going back in time

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too, when you hosted Beyond Belief
Factor fiction, Um, you know,

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in much the same way, this
episode lets the audience decide, you know,

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did it happen, did it not
happen, is it true? Is

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it not true? And where do
you you know? Having now you know,

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sort of read it and uh and
learned about it. Where do you

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fall on the spectrum? I feel
like it. It could easily be true.

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I'll tell you something interesting. I
hope it's interesting about beyond belief factor

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fiction. Al Schwartz was our director
and Barry Adelman wrote it, and those

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puns at the end of each segment
or at the end of the episodes we

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used to call the Aidelman's And when
I was asked to break down whether this

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one's true or this one's false,
which had become these wonderful memes. Abelman

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and Schwartz both made her decision early
on, and we did this for a

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few years, never tell me which
was fact and which was fiction. And

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therefore my read, if you will, or my wrap around or whatever we

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like to call these things at the
beginning and end would not be influenced by

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my personal knowledge of what was fact
and what was fiction. And I think

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it served the show. It was
a wonderful decision on their part, I

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thought, and served the show brilliantly, so that my delivery of the Adelman's

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and of the information was on the
same timber, on the same tone,

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whether it was fact or fiction.
End. As families gathered to watch that

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show, they uh, they really
did argue about what they was factor fiction.

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They often were as surprised as as
I was. Yeah, well that's

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an interesting theme. And it's actually
a theme as we're kicking off this anthology

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show and sort of creating it in
real time and getting to know it through

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the through the act of production.
It's a theme we're considering bringing forward into

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multiple episodes or in fact, potentially
the whole series. So maybe we'll have

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you back the idea of the idea
of factor fiction. Correct. Oh,

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and are you going to tell me
which this is never of course not.

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I don't even know. I mean, it's a it's such an incredulous story.

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Um. You know, I've been
working with you know, the quote

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unquote creator or you know, son
of the Father for for quite a few

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years. Um, you know,
because we're we're considering a movie about the

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project too, or a series,
and you know, I don't even know,

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and I'm not sure I care to
know if it's true or not.

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It's such an interesting, like you
know, amalgam of so many different things.

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It's to me that's fascinating in and
of itself. Well, if the

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intention was so good for mankind as
it feels like it is. It's the

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way the story is told. Weaved
it and wonderfully complicated and a much more

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interesting story than a linear Do you
know what I mean? I do,

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And you know I'll take that as
a compliment to our to our writer and

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director and creative behind this approach,
and so you know, I'll make sure

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to pass that on to him.
I'm sure he'll appreciate knowing that. So

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you know, on that note,
as you were reading the role, did

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you was there something specific that that
has led you into the character and how

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you're going to be approaching it.
I think the the narcissism of the man

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and the the sort of that superiority
that we've seen in people, that's the

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character that is in in uh In
there. They're sort of flashbacks in the

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story because his son paints him as
his son sees him through a different light

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than scenes themselves imply if you know
what I mean, absolutely, yeah,

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I've I've spoken to the son several
times and you know, hearing his point

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of view is also you know part, so you know it made this story

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about his dad where if this you
don't know if it's true or not?

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No sir, No, sir,
And what's that happened? You don't know

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if you don't know if his story
is true or not for real? No

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sir, Yeah, no, sir. And that's part of the joy of

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of you know, going into this
story is it's so inciting what happens when

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you get to post by the Supreme
Court and they asked you if it's true

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or I'm gonna just avoid that question
for now and stick my head in the

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sands, sir um like an honorable
man, I don't think that you want

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to be lying to the Supreme Court. Well, that's true and uh and

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certainly I wouldn't, but it sounds
like maybe you're an agent of the Supreme

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Court deposing me right now. So
I'm gonna I'm gonna plead the fifth at

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this point. Excellent. You know, is this Have you done podcasts before?

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Is this your first? And a
lot of podcasts? I have not

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done a lot of scripted podcasts.
I've done I've recorded novels and audio books

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and that sort of thing. So
this is a new and I gotta say,

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as my kids said, what are
you doing today? Is it a

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regular party? I said, no, this one's scripted because I was.

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I was rereading the script before I
came into our Shark Tech meeting, and

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they too thought it was a very
idea. They I asked, because everybody

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as what we said earlier in off
camera. People now ask what podcasts are

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you into? In the same way
they ask what show are you watching?

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What show are you streaming? Are
you are you into Queen's gambit? And

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and uh, it's it has that
same sort of judgmental but also informative.

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I know I have a list on
my notes on my phone of people whose

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opinions I respect, who are watching
a show that I would like to watch.

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And now that is also happening with
with podcasts, and I'm thinking scripted

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is the future. And I think
you've I think you you're going to ride

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a big wave into some big success
with this. Well, thank you.

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I appreciate that vote of confidence.
The wave is already sort of swelling up.

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And uh, and yeah, we're
we're gearing up to really, you

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know, go for a double overhead
barrel. I hope you know, So

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tell me, um, you know, what are you up to? What

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do you want your listeners and audience
to know what's the next thing you're you're

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doing in your life and your work. Well, I just I just finished

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editing a block of episodes on Piccard
Start Creek Piccard. I'm a regular director

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on. I also have helped to
reboot a show I worked on for many

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years called Leverage, which is now
called Leverage Redemption. But now I'm currently

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happily with both my kids and they're
significant others, and my wonderful wife in

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Maine altogether for the first time since
the kids were in high school. For

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so I'm fishing and swimming and voting
and looking for the best lobster roll into

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the Maine. So that's my What
a sweet, What a sweet moment.

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I'm from the Northeast and have spent
I'm from Boston and spent a lot of

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time in Vermont, and I've spent
some quality time in Maine. So I'm

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I'm happy to hear what you're up
to. Yeah, I know what it's

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like on a sunny day like today. It's gorgeous out here today, spectacular.

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Well, um, you know,
as as I mentioned earlier when we

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first met, I'm just so grateful
to have you, you know, play

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with us in this new space this
podcast Money Supply just couldn't be more excited

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and and also I've just really enjoyed
talking to you and getting to know you.

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Likewise, I'm glad we finally got
the kinks work out. I'm I'm

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looking forward to as Actually, I
appreciate your I like your style, and

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I like your philosophy and high shared
so I'm in. I hope we can

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do more well. Listeners, you
can find Money Supply in our true crime

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anthology series on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you listen. I want

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to thank our star Jonathan Franks for
joining us today for Voyage Media. I'm

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Nat mun Bill signing off Voyage Hi. Listeners, this is Dan Benamore,

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head of Podcasts for Voyage Media.
I hope you really enjoyed that interview with

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Jonathan Freakes, and I just wanted
to tell you about the next episod so

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of Allegedly, which is going to
be coming out in two weeks. The

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episode is called Love Gone Wrong in
the Philippines. It's about a man who

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went to the Philippines in search of
new love, thought he had found it

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in this very dramatic way, and
it went so bad. It went so

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wrong in so many ways. It
cost him pretty much everything, cost him

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money, cost him time, cost
him prisoner, and ultimately even almost cost

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him his life. So it's really
a pretty incredible story and the gentleman who

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lived it is going to tell it
to you, and he's also going to

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be played by Australian actor Charlie Clawson. So we're very excited to bring you

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that episode in two weeks. Keep
an eye out for it on the allegedly

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Feed. Thanks for listening.