Cedar Crest Introduces “Hold Your Horses” (Hour 2)

Hey, welcome to nightlight ladies and gentlemen happy Thursday everybody It is the Christmas Eve of weeknights Joining me again tonight for this episode of nightlight is the wonderfully talented very sharp incredibly smart dynamically handsome Aaron Zombers.

Hey, buddy.

You know, I'm not the one who decides

whether or not you get a raise.

Oh Yeah,

you don't know.

Yeah, you don't have to say all that

Some people just call you Zomers.

I never know how I feel about that like you don't seem to mind, but I still I Don't know if I we were never in the same frat together.

So I don't know if I should call you just by your last name

We haven't

known each other that long so I honestly I will call you whatever you prefer buddy

as long as you don't call me late for dinner No one's ever made that

joke before No, I actually I I don't think anyone's ever made that joke before to me.

So we made radio history here tonight

Great to have you partnering up again tonight.

Thank you, buddy.

We have a fun show tonight.

And you know, that intro you used said something about McNuggets.

I can't remember what I did with that story, but remember there was a story about McDonald's having McNuggets and offering caviar sauce.

What on earth?

Like, would you ever try that?

Yeah, here's what it is.

So.

McDonald's is debuting McNugget Caviar for Valentine's Day.

Coming up soon, you can enter a contest on McNuggetCaviar.com to win a McDonald's tin just with, you know, normal caviar.

It says normal caviar.

I don't know what, if the average person knows what that means, I certainly don't.

But anyway, normal caviar and a McDonald's tin and a $25 McDonald's gift card so that you can go and get some McNuggets to dip in the caviar.

I mean, what is the grossest part of that?

The caviar?

I've had caviar maybe once or twice, whatever, but McDonald's nuggets.

Who's the loser in that pairing?

If you're a caviar company, how desperate for business are you that you have to pair up with McNuggets?

I wonder if you

use a pseudonym like people want to do for the Melania movie.

I have the credits.

Two-thirds of the people that worked on that film the crew did not want their names in the credits And it's interesting because we could talk about this because it's a movie and they're talking about it like it's this big success because no privately financed documentary Has made that much money, but frankly in the first week they made seven million dollars.

I think there's 75 million underwater They made back seven million.

It's they're not gonna recoup.

No, but most documentaries

are done with grants, funds, sometimes privately financed for sure, but they don't spend 40 million bucks.

So there's a little bit of a skewed playing field there.

I have not seen the film.

I am curious, but I'm not going to pay for it.

But anyway, it was interesting.

You went to the Melania doc, Aaron, right out of the gate there.

Yeah.

Have you seen

it?

I have not seen it.

I also don't want to pay money.

I really liked Vanity Fair's review of it, in which they said,

You know, whether you're watching this in the theater or it's offered on an airplane, it will make people walk out of the theater.

And then the memes are going around, people walking off planes, like just... There was a great reel I saw a couple of years ago where there was this independent artist, this girl, she had a guitar and she's on a subway in New York.

And she says, hi, everybody.

I'm so-and-so.

And I can't remember her name.

But she says, I don't want your money.

I'm just putting out a video.

And she starts playing the guitar while she's getting bounced around on the subway.

And this dude prized the doors open and jumps off a subway going full steam.

And I don't know how they did it.

But it was absolutely hilarious.

You could get you could go down that rabbit hole, right?

Of the reel.

Sometimes I lay in bed at night.

And I'm like, I never should have brought my phone into bed

because this is

trouble.

The other one I saw is everybody and their brother has a podcast.

Nightlight included, we're Radio First and podcast, but a friend of mine posted something a couple of years ago.

A guy was about to step off a cliff and he said, no, no, really, tell me more about your podcast.

He's about to jump off a cliff.

Gorgeous stuff.

Hey, welcome, folks.

We have a great show planned for you tonight.

Wherever you're joining us from, it is great to have you.

We're gonna talk some movies tonight.

This is exciting, Aaron.

I don't know if you saw the guest list, but I know you're a great producer and you do your homework, so I'm gonna assume you did, but we've got Hudson Henley on the show tonight from the movie Song Song Blue.

Now, have you seen that film?

I have not.

No, I've been bad about watching new movies.

I've mostly been catching up on old movies.

Okay.

I say old, but like...

I don't know.

Blade is from 1998, so it's as old as I am.

OK.

Well, that's a good one.

Blade is good.

I mean, you were supposed to watch Dumb and Dumber last night.

I don't know if you remember that.

Yeah, I went to bed.

So no, assignment failed.

OK.

Tonight?

Is it a possibility?

It is, you know?

I don't have to get up super early tomorrow a little bit because I have a drive, but not too bad, you know?

OK.

I gotta find what it's on, make sure I have access to it.

It's gotta

be, I would assume that that's probably, you could probably stream that for free.

I don't know 100%, but I would imagine if you do some digging.

You're a resourceful guy.

Anyway, Hudson Henley will be here from the movie Song, Song, Blue, and I will say this, and I'm not just saying this, my favorite scene in the whole movie involves Hudson, and it's near the end of the movie.

We'll talk to him about that.

He did a great job acting.

opposite Hugh Grant and Kate Hudson, just a great cast and a really fun film, especially if you're from Wisconsin or the Milwaukee area, because it's based on lightning and thunder.

Mike and Claire Sardina, their Neil Diamond tribute band has been turned into, well, it was a documentary first, as we learned from Molly Snyder last week, and now it's a feature film.

So there you go.

So we will talk to Hudson at 535, coming up right after news, sports and weather at 530.

And then, are you ready for this?

Have you ever produced, Aaron, when we've done the popcorn pick of the week?

I don't think I have.

Oh,

well, I was watching once when you did the popcorn pick of the week when it was Todd Albaugh, who had a very

fun outfit,

wearing like a tutu and a cowboy hat.

He, I talk about, that is still, the bar is still set way too high.

Todd outdid himself, and that was, and he, you know what?

He did it again, and then he was like.

Somewhere in Madison where I think buddy Holly jumped out of a car or something like

that Yeah, it was where Elvis got or talked down allegedly talked down a fist fight.

There were some people getting someone up He hops out and he's like you guys stop that.

They're like, oh, it's Elvis.

Okay, we'll stop

I'm a good singer you shouldn't fight.

Okay So we're doing that tonight as well.

But before that Sandwiched in between Hudson Henley and the popcorn pick of the week will be Jeff Blankenship a director with a cool new film

He just won some award for it.

We're going to talk to him about that.

He's also very involved in the Door County Film Festival, which is just about a week away.

And we'll talk to Jeff at 6.10.

And then the popcorn pick of the week happens at 6.35.

And we've got a jam-packed schedule here.

Shannon Simon from Cedar Crest Ice Cream will be here.

They had this great contest they did with 4-H, where they were looking for a new flavor.

And we'll have the winners of the Cedar Crest.

I have to find what the title is again here.

The winner of the Cedar Crest, we need a big flavor, flavor creation contest.

Also known as the Cedar Crest Ice Cream 4-H flavor creation contest.

We'll be here, and the winners will be here.

Ann Jaroski, she is the adult leader of 4-H and Hope Irath.

We'll be here, I hope I'm saying her name right.

She is the youth president of 4-H.

All three of these people will be here talking about the winning flavor.

We will tell you.

what the winning flavor is when we do the popcorn pick of the week, because we're going to ask these girls, women, about movies, and they're going to make the popcorn pick of the week after we talk about this cool new flavor.

One that there is chocolate involved, so I loved it.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to that.

Absolutely.

Were you a part of 4-H when you were?

Yeah, I

was.

I wasn't as much in the farm-related side of things.

The 4-H club I was in mostly did

more scientific stuff.

We did Rockets for Schools, a program, I'm not sure if it's still around, where we did, we did, you know, model rockets, you get like the class A, B, C engines, these little, I don't know, lip balm and bigger sized engines.

We went up

to ones

that were like H and bigger, just huge and have like six and a half foot tall rockets and then do science experiments in them and compete to see who's was the most interesting and successful.

It was really cool.

That's 4-H.

We our 4-H club did that.

I thought it was all like farm

stuff.

Okay Interesting.

All right.

Well, we'll do some 4-H talk tonight and Cedar Crest ice cream and then in act three folks I'm very excited for this guest.

We've we've finally figured out a way to get her on the show David Giddish She is a film critic based in New York City and the editor of film comment magazine

and a film critic, and her reviews are all over Rotten Tomatoes.

She does great work, and she's really fun to talk movies with, so we'll do that in Act 3.

So there you go, there's your show.

Coming up in the second segment tonight, we will spotlight our Wisconsin Olympic athlete.

And another good one.

Boy, we've got... I don't know if this is normal.

The person we're going to feature tonight is like our third athlete we've featured that's in the military.

And I didn't realize that was such a thing.

But we'll tell you who that is in the second segment.

We've got lots to get to and lots to talk.

But first, folks, I think it's time we get to our nightlight question of the night.

Let's talk

about the question.

OK, question.

Question.

Question.

Pregunta.

Question.

Question.

OK, I have a question.

Questions.

This question.

Domanda.

Question.

Question.

Questions.

All right.

It is the dead of winter.

And yesterday was National Soup Day.

So tonight's question of the night is, what is your favorite winter soup?

How do you like that one, Zomers?

You know, soup is a good food.

Soup is great food, especially during the winter.

So, I mean, nothing, there is nothing like a bowl of soup in the winter.

So it is the dead of winter and yesterday was National Soup Day.

What is your favorite winter soup?

We've got some great responses on social media.

But let us know what you think, 855-752-4842-855-75CIVIC.

You can also text us on the app.

If you have not downloaded it, you're missing out, folks.

Go to the Civic Media website and download the app today.

If you're watching the radio on the stream at Facebook, YouTube, or X, you can drop us a stream comment.

Let us know what your favorite winter soup is.

I have a few.

I'm going to try to narrow mine down before I say, because I like soup in the winter more than in the summer.

There you can't really ask this.

This is not a summer question because everybody just like you

know, I'll eat soup in summer But I understand that not everybody is that dedicated, you know,

correct Not everyone is as dedicated to soup as Aaron's armors.

So we'll read some text We've got I wanted to get to this yesterday, but we did the guy that stole the plane Who the guy stole two planes and as it turns out he was high on meth

And he didn't have a pilot's license.

And I know this is reliable, Zomers, because it comes from a website called MotorBiscuit.com.

Oh, well, of course, the most well-known and authoritative

source.

On people who use math and steel planes.

They have cornered the market on those stories.

I will say this.

It said he doesn't have a pilot's license.

Now, maybe he had some flight experience.

But maybe it's one of those things where you get in the zone like when you play pool And you've had a couple drinks and you're great.

It could be the same thing with flying planes when you're on meth It's like you just it's like whoa it all comes to you and you feel it right Or maybe just played a lot of

Microsoft flight simulator.

I don't know Is that a thing?

It is and it's actually I I mean I haven't played it myself, but as I understand it's pretty accurate

Try

that without the meth, folks.

That's my advice to you.

We are coming back to give you our Olympic athlete of the week.

It's Pete Schwabba in Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.

All right.

It is Thursday night, folks.

We are just, the opening ceremonies are tomorrow in the Olympics.

I have that, right?

Right, Aaron?

Tomorrow.

I think so.

What is today?

Yeah, February 6th.

So this is exciting.

Every night leading up to the Olympics, we've been talking about a homegrown, Wisconsin competitor who will compete in Italy this year.

and we've gotten to know some of these great athletes.

And I feel like when we get to know someone's background a little bit or put a spotlight on them, it helps us, it just makes it more fun because it gives us someone to root for.

And that's the same almost in any sporting event.

When you know someone's story, you know, if I knew, I'm not really a hockey fan, but if I knew some guy had battled back from a horrible car accident, learned how to walk again, whatever it is, wife divorced him after he had a cocaine problem, I would wanna,

I would be interested, I would have a vested interest in that

guy.

Though I won't question his choice to go

into

hockey after having already had a bunch of limbs broken in a terrible car accident.

I don't know, you're just asking to have him broken again.

You know what, that was sort of a hypothetical.

Okay, I'm reading too far into it.

Well, he already knows pain.

So a hockey fight to this guy is nothing.

Bring it on.

That's what I would say.

That's a good point.

If I were said hockey player.

But I love your attention to detail.

So all week we've been meeting and last week we've been meeting these athletes.

Tonight's athlete is a straight shooter.

There is no horrible divorce or drug problem or car accident or anything.

His name is Ben Loomis and he is 19 years old, Aaron, originally from Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

And he is what they call, he's in what is called the Nordic combined category.

You know what that is?

No, I do not.

Okay, so when he was like four years old he started cross-country skiing and then I think when he was like six years old he learned how to ski jump so it's those two Sports combined in the winter games.

It's called the Nordic combined And there's just a couple tidbits about Ben I couldn't really find much about his family, but he loves to listen to music when he trains He has been in the army.

I believe since Well recently he's only 19 All right, let's double

checks

Okay,

that didn't seem right.

He joined the army when he was 19, my bad.

Okay, there we go.

So this guy has been in the army since he was 19.

So he's pretty tough, right?

And he's out there cross country skiing and ski jumping in 2016.

He, I think he got the silver medal in the Olympic games or the youth Olympic games in Norway.

So ski jump and cross country, Ben Loomis, 27 years old.

been at it for a while, native of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and he is competing in the Nordic combined event.

Which of those two is more excited for you?

It was more exciting for you, Aaron.

The Nordic combined or?

Well, just the two events in the Nordic combined, cross country skiing and ski jumping.

I think the ski jumping is really cool.

Yeah, definitely the jumping.

Yeah, because there's a chance at a serious injury.

Which always makes.

Sports more fun.

It does.

I can't lie if you're watching So good luck Ben Loomis Sorry, I confused your age.

You're 27 a very mature 27 and in the army since he was 19 a soldier athlete They call that and he will be competing in the Nordic combined in Italy very excited to watch Ben and we only have one more night to do this so you know what?

Maybe we'll even tease the athlete for tomorrow because we've met some really cool people here

that are competing from our state in the Olympics.

How do you feel about February, Aaron?

You know, it's a month.

I really don't have a lot of strong feelings about February because, you know, it doesn't have a whole lot of significant events other than Valentine's Day, which is not really something I care a whole lot about personally.

Yeah.

So February

is kind of just

there.

It's kind of just cold.

Last week.

I told Conrad I hated February.

I thought it was useless.

It actually might have been on Monday, because I was not looking forward to February.

I just think it's like the Tuesday of months.

There is literally nothing going on.

You've got just a few things.

Like you said, there's Valentine's Day, there's Black History Month.

Typically, there's always the Super Bowl, but I'm kind of wrong.

I was looking this up today, and the Daytona 500 is in February.

The NBA All-Star game, although seriously.

Who really cares?

Does anybody watch the NBA All-Star game?

The final score is like 190 to 180?

I don't think so.

Especially like people don't want to play in it.

Why would people watch

it?

Correct.

But I did find, so I stand corrected.

I did find some cool things about February.

On TV, I'm a big fan of color television.

The Muppet Show was on last night.

That's kind of cool.

The new Burbs show based on the 1989 Tom Hanks movie.

Great movie.

Offbeat movie.

You ever see that one?

I did not.

No.

I'm going to make a list for you, buddy.

OK.

I appreciate that.

I'll add it to my already extensive list.

All right.

Fantastic.

And season 24 of Family Guy starts the 15th of February.

You've got the newest Dick Wolf show, CIA, which drops on CBS the 23rd.

The voice, if you're into that kind of thing, returns on the 23rd.

Survivor, what season do you think they're on in Survivor, Erin?

I'm gonna guess 90.

You're almost half right, 50.

And the new Scrubs reboot premieres on ABC, which is great.

Anything to get those two guys off those T-Mobile commercials, I'm all in favor of.

You've got some big movies hitting the big screen.

Crime 101, I remember doing a report on that.

on the Hollywood beats.

That looks like a great caper film with Chris Hemsworth, Halle Berry, and Barry Keogan and Wisconsin native Mark Ruffalo.

Very excited to see Crime 101.

And then you've got a new animated movie.

Goat was Stephen with Steph Curry, Nick Kroll, Jelly Roll.

Scream 7 is in the theaters.

And National Pizza Day was or is on the ninth.

So I have to apologize to February.

It's not so bad.

Got a little more going for it than maybe a thought.

The weather just sucks.

It's still the Tuesday of months.

Hey, when we come back after the news, sports and weather, Hudson Henley will be here from Song Song Blue.

Ladies and gentlemen, you won't want to miss that.

It's Pete Schwabba in Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen!

Great to have you here.

I'm Pete Schwab, this is Nightlight.

Is that your favorite Neil Diamond song you're in?

I don't know, it's just one that I know was in the movie.

They're all fantastic.

He is talking about, of course, the movie Song Song Blue, and I'm very excited.

My next guest is one of the stars of that hit movie.

And he plays Dana, the son of Kate Hudson and stepson of Hugh Jackman's characters.

It is my pleasure to welcome actor Hudson Henley.

Hey Hudson, how are you?

Hey, I'm doing great.

How are you doing?

Doing very well.

You look very presentable.

That is an outstanding smart-looking sweater.

I love

it buddy.

Thanks for, thanks for making the effort.

Thanks for having me.

Oh, my pleasure.

Love the movie.

It was so much fun to watch.

We'll get to that in just a moment.

How are you doing tonight?

Are you in a good mood?

Where are

you joining us from?

I'm joining you from Nashville, Tennessee.

Oh, outstanding.

Beautiful city.

Thank you.

Is that a good place for an actor to live and be based

on?

Yeah, it's wonderful, especially for music.

It's a great city for music.

Are you a musician too?

Yes, I've been playing piano for nine years.

You know what?

I took piano lessons for a couple of years when I was a kid and I'm so glad I quit.

That's not true.

No one has ever said that Hudson.

I regret quitting because it's

such a

great instrument.

I bet you're pretty good at it.

That's fantastic So our question every night Hudson we do a question of the day and tonight's question is at least up here in Wisconsin It's cold.

It's winter and yesterday was national soup day So my question is what is your favorite winter soup if you have one

my favorite winter soup?

I would have to say chicken noodle soup.

I love chicken noodle soup.

You cannot go wrong with chicken noodle

soup.

You cannot go wrong.

Excellent choice,

my friend.

Like a classic Campbell's chicken noodle soup.

Yeah.

Oh, that's outstanding.

I love it.

All right.

So, you know, you're part of this great movie.

You seem like you're kind of starting out in your career.

I know you've done some other stuff, too.

You're obviously a musician.

That's exciting.

But what was your experience like on Song Song Blue?

It was just so amazing.

I got to work with the biggest names in the industry, you know.

Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson, Jim Belushi, Ella Anderson, who I grew up watching in Henry Danger.

That was my kind of childhood TV show.

Yeah, it was just such a great experience.

I got to be around so many really nice people and I just loved every second of it.

I can't even imagine.

I have a weird story.

When I was in college in Chicago, I worked at a kids club.

I was just starting out my own career.

And I was the coach of Jim Bellucci's kid, Robert.

He was part of the kids club.

And I actually remember talking to Jim Belushi a little bit, and I got such a kick out of the guy.

He's

such a funny guy.

He's such a funny guy.

He just walks into the room and then in one minute, I'm not even exaggerating, the whole room's just laughing, their butts off.

It's crazy.

Is he like that?

Is he pulling pranks?

Is he just making wisecracks?

What's

his style?

He's making jokes.

He's doing everything, honestly.

He's doing everything.

He's just so fun to be around.

You know, he's so fun.

He's so charismatic and he's really got some, I'll see, I'm also like great stories.

I

bet.

And yeah.

He's a great

guy.

You also worked with, well, there was Fisher Stevens, who's another great Chicago

stage

actor and done some good things.

Michael Imperioli from the Sopranos.

Sopranos.

Was it like, you must have been like wide eyed on the set, getting to work with all, not

to mention

Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman.

I mean, did everybody get along?

Yeah, everybody got along great.

The chemistry of the cast was unbelievable.

And it's just, I was so starstruck.

The first time I saw Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman, they came up to me and they were like, hi.

And I just stared at them for a solid like 30 seconds.

I didn't say anything.

Just air was coming out, like no words.

It

was,

I was so starstruck.

But then once I got to know them, they were so unbelievably kind to me.

It really just took me under their wing and gave me some advice and just acted like my set parents, which was great.

That's so great.

Did they teach you things?

Like, they've both

been

around for so long and they've had great careers

and so

talented.

Who did you like to watch the most and what did you learn from any of these actors?

Well, I like to watch all of them.

It was really a gift to see them in their element, you know what I mean?

Putting together this...

this art project, you can think of it as just all of them contributing and to see now the final product on big screens everywhere.

It's just so awesome.

Yeah, everybody was so nice to me.

I mean, Hugh Jackman taught me that everybody, trust yourself, trust your gut instinct.

Don't let anybody...

take advantage of you, which I thought was great advice.

And Kate Hudson just told me to stick to what you love doing.

Just always, if you don't like acting, if you end up don't like acting, don't do acting.

Do what you absolutely love, because that's what's going to get you places, which I thought was really cool.

That's a great answer.

And it's so great that they can teach you things about the craft of acting,

but

also about the business side of it, too.

Trust

your instincts, like you just said, and stuff like that.

That kind of advice isn't valuable, I would imagine, to a young actor like yourself.

For sure.

For sure.

So this was your first big movie credit.

Tell us a little bit about what you were thinking, what you felt like, Hudson, when you got the news that you were in the movie, that you got the part.

I I Kid you not my my parent my parents came home my mom and dad were actually like Getting lunch with like some of their friends and then they came home my mom got the email and she was like You got the part and I just started running around the house doing laps running down the hallway And I kept on saying repeatedly.

This is not real.

This is not real and

for so like 30 minutes too I was screaming and then finally I was like wait are you guys actually like are you guys is this actually real are you guys actually a thousand percent serious they were like yes they kept on telling me yes Hudson yes and I only started to really believe it when I got on that flight to New Jersey to act and then I actually met them because I was like this cannot be happening to me

I, this has always been my dream to be on a major movie set and now I finally get to do that.

And I was just in awe of everything.

I still don't think it's 100% real, but you know, it's okay.

First

of all, that would be like, those would be the worst parents ever if they played that kind of joke on you.

You would have probably-

No, my parents are the best.

I love my parents.

Well, I'm sure they're obviously very supportive and to put you where you are and put you in a position, they've got to be like, when did you first tell them Hudson that this is what you wanted to do?

At the age of five, I saw Tom Cruise's Mission Impossible, the first Mission Impossible.

And after that movie, I ran to my parents' bedroom and I said, Mom, I want to be an actor.

Dad, I want to be an actor.

I've been in love with it ever since and they've really supported my dream through and through and you know, I They've been unbelievably supportive to me and I just love them.

That's outstanding My guest is Hudson Henley.

He plays Dana in song sung blue the stepchild of Hugh Grant or Hugh Grant Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson's son and I want to talk to you I'm gonna ask you in a minute about the final scene your final scene but

What did were you familiar Hudson with Hugh Grant or Kate Hudson like before you got to the set?

Did you know their work

for sure?

Yeah Hugh Jackman's work, you know, obviously I've seen Wolverine I've seen all of his Marvin movies, but I've also seen the greatest showman And a bunch of other of his movies and I was like Hugh Jackman's like he's the best of both worlds.

He does Broadway, but he also does

um acting and I was um oh he does acting in both but you know what I mean like um screen acting so I was like I that's my dream if I ever want to become an actor that's well I mean I obviously wanted to become an actor but if I achieve that dream then I definitely want to become Hugh Jackman and then Kate Hudson I was definitely familiar with as well I love the um I absolutely love the movie almost famous that's one of my favorite great movie

Totally agree.

You know I love I love music from the 70s and like 60s.

So that was that was a really cool movie.

I was and my mom absolutely loves Goldie Han and and Kurt Russell.

So I was like, yeah, that's really cool.

And I was like so on in the get this the premiere the I got to meet the one and only

Goldie Hawn at the premiere of the movie.

I was

like,

excuse me, this is... I was like, I don't even believe this.

I have to be honest with you.

Yeah, she's an icon.

Kurt Russell's an icon.

Oh yeah, for sure.

But I will say, and this is just my opinion Hudson, that I think Kate...

and she's surpassed them.

She

is so good.

Well, she was great and almost famous, like you said, but in Song Song Blue, she's Oscar nominated.

Obviously you're polling for her.

What do you

think her

chances are?

I think, well, I obviously am a little biased, but I think that she has a solid chance.

I agree.

I

hope she wins.

I really do.

I do too.

Sorry.

I really do too.

I think she has like a...

like an 80% chance of winning because she is so good um I don't know um I don't want to spoil the movie but the way she handles um the accident and the way she uh the way she acts um like that it was it was it gives me chills it's spectacular spectacular she was

she was great

so amazing

no question about that and very well said I want to ask you

Before we get to a break I want to tell you this and I was not expecting this to be the case so when Someone from your team reached out to me to have you on the show.

I was thrilled because I had just seen the movie.

I was kind of late to the party my favorite Shot or my favorite scene in the whole film is when you're watching the video of Mike or Hugh Jack yeah

That is such a sweet scene and you were so natural in it.

How were you coached or is that your natural talent?

Obviously, it's collaborative and you were directed and all that kind of stuff.

But what were you thinking?

What were you thinking when you thought I have to approach this scene?

How am I going to do this?

What was on your mind?

I'm a bit of a method actor.

So I was I was kind of imagining that that was that that was actually my dad.

And I just got really emotional inside.

But

I didn't I wanted to show not tell so I didn't want to like I wasn't gonna like cry I wasn't gonna be like oh my gosh, but I was gonna feel it so and then Actors do this a lot so they feel something and they don't realize what's happening with their face They don't try to make anything happen with their face, but they really feel it deeply

right

and then it comes out as very natural Which you actually do in real life, so that's what I was kind of doing in that scene

Well, it totally worked, and you just, I mean, you were good through the whole movie, but that truly is my favorite scene in the whole film, and it was just very, very well done.

And that, to me, Hudson, that is gonna be the scene where, like I said, you were really good, you got great stuff for your reel through the whole movie, but that scene is where people are gonna go get that kid from song, song, blue, like, honestly, God, I just think it put you on another level, so very well done.

And Kate Hudson was a good pretend mom.

We've established that.

She was a great set mom.

She actually gave me a blanket at the end of when we wrapped.

She gave me a blanket with lightning bolts on it, which is great.

Hudson Henley is here from Song Song Blue.

He plays Dana and he is outstanding in it.

We're going to do a very short break and then we will come back and have a few more minutes left with our new pal Hudson Henley.

Tremendous little actor.

This is Peach Wabba in Nightlight on the Civic Media, our radio network.

So great That is a Hugh Jackman that is Hugh Jackman right here, and that's not the only okay Hudson though.

Okay, great.

That was so great The great thing about this film folks Welcome back by the way.

My name is Peach Waba.

This is nightlight We're talking about the film song sung blue with one of the main actors in the film Hudson Hensley is my guest here.

I called you Henley earlier.

I apologize for that Hudson but

You will forget like some of the music in this movie I had forgotten about like the music is so fun Did you know about Neil Diamond before you before you were in the film?

Of course, everybody knows Neil Diamond.

I love Yeah, I love Neil Diamond Especially, you know crunchy granola sweet I discovered way more of his music when I like

yeah

dove into his music of course because the movies about a Neil Diamond tribute band

And yeah, I just realized I was like Neil Diamond has some really, really good songs.

You know,

besides Sweet Caroline and all

of

his popular songs.

I was like, he really has a song for like every mood, every occasion, really.

Very well said.

That's great.

So you are an award-winning actor.

You've already won like two best actor awards at film festivals.

You've got another film coming out Hudson called The Wild Man of Shaggy Creek where you play the lead role.

What was your experience like in that film?

Was that more pressure playing the lead or how did you adjust to that?

Oh, it was my first ever movie.

So

I didn't know anything coming into filming.

And I would say it's a great experience because it was actually shot

It was a great first experience, rather, because it was shot in Nashville.

So I got to go home

to my

own bed, you know, my

dollocks and all

that stuff.

But yeah, it was mainly kids on set, which was nice to, like, ease me into it and not just be, like, only adults in my first movie.

So, you know, I got acclimated to the industry a little bit and I learned so much.

You know, everybody was really nice to me, kind to me, and yeah, I loved it.

Well, it's very impressive.

My guest is Hudson Hensley.

You know, for you to get a part in a major film like this at your age, without many credits, you must have crushed the audition.

I mean, how was that process?

Are you a good auditioner?

Did you get nervous?

Tell us about it.

I would say so myself, but...

It's a self-tape audition, so it's not with the director, it's not with

the casting

director.

You get to do as many takes.

I think I did at least 20 takes with the actual audition that I sent in.

So yeah, you go and you film yourself with your ring light, and then you got your phone, and you got a blank background, and then you do the lines that they give you.

then you send the audition in and then I didn't hear back for like three months and then they were like you're still being considered we'd like to call you back and so then I got on a zoom with them and then I performed my lines live with the director the casting director and yeah

And then they didn't call me back for another three months.

And

then in like October of 2024, they were like, okay, we need you to be in New Jersey in a week.

And they called my mom and they were like, you need to be in New Jersey with Hudson in a week.

And I was, and she was like, excuse me, what?

And then they had to explain to her that was for the movie.

And I was like, okay, I am not getting that audit.

I am not getting that role because it's been three months.

They haven't said anything

to

me.

I'm like, okay, I'll move on.

Maybe I'll get the next audition.

So, and

then I

was

in the

middle of filming the Wildman of Shaggy Creek when they called my mom.

So luckily it lined up perfectly with

the

ending.

So I had one day in between to pack for Song Sun Blue and then to get flown to New Jersey for three months to shoot the movie.

Man, what a great story.

Thank you for letting us live vicariously through you.

This is so fun to hear this.

Hey, we have about a minute left, Hudson, and thank you for your time.

I hope this leads to so much work for you and your career just takes off.

Thank you.

What are you I ask a lot of my guests this because I love to talk about color television.

What are you watching?

Are you binge watching anything?

Yes, I'm actually in the middle of watching suits.

Oh Yeah, I discovered that on Netflix.

I was like, okay.

I just finished

I just finished a bunch of movies.

I haven't watched a TV show in a while.

Okay, let me see what's on Netflix.

And then I'm like, okay, suits pops up.

And I'm like, you know what, I'll give it a try.

And then I watched the pilot and I'm like, okay, I'm hooked now.

So now I'm on season three.

And you've got so many seasons to watch.

I love finding a show when it's like, oh my God, there's 11 seasons.

This is gonna be fantastic.

There's nine seasons in suits and I'm like, let's go.

Well, you've earned a little TV time.

Keep up the great work.

Break the leg in all your future endeavors.

And please come back and talk to us sometime when you're the new Tom Cruise and doing all the new Mission Impossible movies.

That would be a lot of fun.

So it's been great chatting with you and getting to know you.

And keep up the great work.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

All right.

That's Hudson Hensley, folks.

A really, really solid young actor who just crushed his role in Song Song Blue.

And I am sure we're going to see a lot more of him in the future.

I was thinking Aaron with the Henley.

Maybe I was thinking of Don Henley.

Maybe.

I wouldn't be one to say.

You wouldn't know.

That was really fun.

Check out, folks, Song Song Blue, a great movie.

And, you know, I said this before.

It only matters to people here in Wisconsin.

But it would have been fun if the film was actually shot in Milwaukee, Mike and Claire's hometown, but...

To be honest, regardless of that, it's a really fun movie with tons of charm, tons of heart, and obviously great music.

And as I've witnessed firsthand, really great acting with Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson, and Hudson Hensley.

There you go.

All right.

We are coming back, folks.

We are going to break for the news here.

And we will be back with Act II.

The Popcorn Pick of the Week is coming up, and director Jeff Blankenship...

And we'll read some of your texts.

All kinds of fun here on Nightlight.

Folks, great to have you here.

It's Pete Schwabbo.

We are coming back on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Broadcasting live statewide from the Civic Media Studios in Green Bay.

This is Night Light with Pete Schwabba, your inside source on everything entertainment from Wisconsin to Hollywood.

And now a guy who can still look intimidating and leg warmers, Pete Schwabba.

Welcome back to nightlight ladies and gentlemen as we kick off act two here on this gorgeous Thursday night in the state of Wisconsin Actually, it's in northeast Wisconsin here.

It was snowy.

We got snow again last night.

It's just become like a nightly thing But I was talking to a colleague earlier who said it was like sunny on the other part of the state So it's just not fair but wherever you're at in Wisconsin.

I hope you're having a wonderful night, and I'm so glad you're here.

This is

Thursday night the Christmas Eve of weeknights Aaron Zommers is Riding shotgun work in the board tonight.

You hanging in there, buddy Yeah, and I got to say in Madison.

It was downright balmy today, you know, we got up to 30 Come on 30 degrees

You know there are some days in Marinette it can be like 25 degrees colder than Madison It's just that it's like there's like a line of longitude or whatever.

It's just

yeah, there really is

Kind of a ripoff.

Well, I'm glad you're having a great day there buddy and enjoying the weather If you missed the first hour folks check it out at civicmedia.us We interviewed song song blue actor Hudson Hensley who joined us and was a lot of fun man Is that kid a sharp kid or what?

Oh, absolutely and I Did not see the movie yet unfortunately, but that only makes me want to more and I already did

yeah, I'm telling you his

His I was late to the party too.

I just saw it last week and his scene with Sort of with Hugh Jackman at the end of the movie is my favorite scene in the whole movie.

It was just great.

So it was great to talk to Hudson Hensley Check out the podcast Aaron and I also we shared our Olympic athlete of the night, which is Ben Loomis He is in the Nordic combined that's cross-country skiing and ski jumping.

So we did our Olympic spotlight, which we've been doing

Every night as we lead up to the Olympics so and our question of the night folks It's the dead of winter and yesterday was national soup day.

So tonight's question is what is your favorite winter soup?

We always do well with the food questions and I'm excited to share mine.

I'm still formulating Did you tell me yours there?

I did not just there's there's so many good soups, you know Hudson said

chicken noodle, just good old Campbell's chicken noodle soup.

But you know, yeah, you can't go wrong with that.

In the winter, some chili, I think you can call a soup.

It really depends on the chili.

Right.

So a soupy chili, I think is really good.

A nice minestrone is good.

Yes.

Just generally a vegetable soup.

I like a hearty soup.

Same.

As you know, in Marinette, they call minestrone soup minestrone soup.

Well, that's just wrong.

I think that's just what they say.

And what do you do?

You don't correct someone.

I'm not going to go.

Hey, it's actually a ministry.

It's like such a useless piece of knowledge to share with someone and just, you know, let them be blissfully ignorant.

All right.

So, folks, as I mentioned earlier, the Door County Film Festival is just around the corner.

And this hour, in addition to making the popcorn pick of the week,

thanks to Cedar Crest Ice Cream, and we're gonna announce contest winners.

They did this really cool thing.

But before we get to that, I'm very happy to introduce this next guest.

He's a very talented director, and he's behind such films as The Last Rung on the Ladder, and he has a new film called Houston We Have a Problem, and he joins us now over the stream, Mr. Jeff Blankenship.

Hey, buddy.

Hey, Pete, how are

you?

Good,

how are you?

Good.

Good to see you again.

You too.

I think last time we did this, I was in Madison and you were there in person.

We were in Madison, came downtown to see you, and then I saw you recently in West Bend.

Yeah.

Or Waiwiga?

Oh, it was Waiwiga.

You're right.

I can't keep track.

I'm just saying here, Waiwiga.

I knew it was Waiwiga or Milwaukee because your film is on this, or, you know, you're part of everything, but my son's film is in that trajectory.

Yeah, it was

Waiwiga.

You're correct.

Yeah.

Where are you joining us from tonight?

I live in Baraboo.

Okay, beautiful.

Just north of you there.

Yep.

Love that

part of the state.

Do you have a favorite winter soup that can get pretty cold in Baraboo?

I was

thinking about that.

I like hearty soups as well.

And I like chicken soup, and I like it with big, if when possible, big homemade noodles, real heavy noodles.

Oh, wow, yeah.

I do like chili, but I like a thicker chili for that too.

But a good winter soup also is

Good tomato soup.

Oh nice with maybe a grilled cheese sandwich or something grilled cheese sandwich hard to beat that Dude, I don't know how you can follow yourself after that answer that is perfect, but we'll do our best here as well right jump into some films here I know you're kind of a regular at the dorm door County Film Festival.

Will you be there next week?

I will be for sure.

Okay, and your film Houston we have a problem.

We'll be playing there

That would be playing there.

That was a 48-hour project.

Yeah, tell us about that.

It sounded really interesting when Kurt was telling me about it.

Was he telling about the process or the story?

Yeah, it was the 48-hour film competition in Madison.

He called it a quirky short film competition.

And it's every year in Madison, I guess.

That's really all I know about it.

But tell us about

it.

The 48-hour is great.

And we have a lot of fun with it.

And there's a really nice balance between doing

film-like, Last Run in the Ladder, which is extremely serious, extremely focused.

It's a full production, as opposed to the 48-hour, which you do in literally 48 hours.

You don't know the genre.

You don't know the theme.

You don't know anything about it until Friday evening.

And then you have to write and produce a final product by 7 o'clock Sunday evening.

and that's every aspect of it.

So you have to come into the project with some idea of cast, but you don't know what you need, obviously, and

you don't

know where you're going to shoot.

So you have some locations in mind, but you don't know how to apply the locations until you get the story idea.

And then you've got to come up with an idea, write it, and then start shooting through it.

And so

it's a lot of fun.

Yeah, it's it's it I mean obviously the pressure is on because you got such a short window But it almost seems like there's kind of no pressure because it's it's ridiculous to put those kind of constraints on a filmmaker But it must be a blast.

It's a blast.

You got to find you got to find that happy balance You've got to you've got to know what you can and can't do in that time frame.

What can't you do?

Well, you can't You can't you can't contrive a very sophisticated story

because you don't have time to tell it.

The film can only be seven minutes long.

So you've got to keep the storyline compelling, but relatively simple.

If you get too deep, it can get complicated and then it doesn't read well.

The other thing is shooting super high definition footage because you can't edit it fast enough.

You know, the editing time is where the pressure comes because you've got to have a rendered finished thing online uploading by, you know, the by seven o'clock.

And so sometimes the editors under the most pressure because they get the footage later on and are constrained by that time.

So you

find tricks, you find ways to... Go ahead.

No, I didn't mean to cut you off.

I apologize.

Please continue.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Yeah, so you find ways to get the editor footage earlier in the day so they can start putting out a rough.

And you learn little tips and tricks of the process and time limitations.

So tell us, obviously it's not longer than seven minutes, but tell us the story behind Houston.

We have a problem.

Yeah, it's a it's a very whimsical story.

It's it's pretty funny and anything Kurt Krause is in is going to be is going to be a great, great show.

So it's a it's a funny story where three guys have a regular time where they're going to get together and play.

They play charades together.

It's a guys thing.

And for whatever reason, the character that Kurt plays, he's on his way to the buddy's house to play, but his car breaks down.

So he calls him and says, hey, guys, I can't make it.

And they're like, well, what do you mean you can't make it?

And they're making fun of him.

Kurt's character is a motivational speaker.

So they're teasing him about being a motivational speaker.

And so then they decide to just have Kurt in his car on his cell phone, playing remotely on the cell phone.

And Kurt can't figure out how to work the phone.

He's kind of a buffoon in the film.

It's really, really funny.

And so they're doing all these character impersonations.

And it's just their way to play.

And then all of a sudden, Kurt disappears.

And they don't know what happened.

Because he saw a car coming.

He's trying to find a ride to get over to the guys to finish the game.

So it's just silly and whimsical and a bunch of funny lines in there.

Oh, that sounds great.

So What festival have you is will this be the premiere?

Have you other than the 48 hour?

Have you played it in anything else?

We did we played it.

Where did it play?

It was in a I can't keep track of the festivals.

Yeah, we play it's played in the festival already

and then

it'll be it'll be there Was it a while?

No, I can't remember where we had it.

Yeah

I can't remember, but yeah, it's played, and it played well.

Again, the Kurt character gets a lot of laughs.

So it's not the premiere, but I think it's maybe the second time it'll be shown.

I'm excited to see it.

My guess is Jeff Blankenship.

He is a Wisconsin-based director.

Behind such films as The Last Rung on the Ladder and his new short film, Houston We Have a Problem, which you can check out at the Door County Film Festival, which starts next weekend.

Jeff...

I'm excited to see you next week.

I'm now I want to see this because I do think Kurt is funny and I want to ask you the last time you were on the show when we were in Madison you talked about doing a behind-the-scenes Film about another short film you made the last rung on the ladder, which was a program that Stephen King Sponsored or you had access to his material and you guys made a film the last rung on the ladder Which I enjoyed very much, but to make a behind-the-scenes about a short film.

I have not heard of that before

something must have happened.

What on earth was worthy of you doing a whole other film about your

film?

The story of the story is so interesting.

It's got to be told.

There was something, and if you've talked to Kurt about it, he'll say the same thing.

If you talk to Max Blask about it, he'll say the same thing.

If you talk to Kayla Kelly, she'll say the same thing.

There was something magical about this film, about the...

about the process of making the film in part because it almost never got off the ground and it got off the ground almost miraculously the last minute we were ready to pull the plug part of the problem was we're on a time frame you've only got so much time to make it and we were running out of time to get things lined up and

So we were already kind of on the edge and then when Kurt got involved things took off right away.

He became our producer and There was just something about and there might have been something about the urgency, but everything fell into place We had we had our challenges because we shot in seven different cities

and we

had a shoot between January and May to get it all done

So we're all over the state.

We are in Land O'Lakes, Oshkosh, Madison, Belleville, Middleton, all over the place.

And we had to get cast and crew and talent to all these different locations.

And we only had to find the window of time to do it in that short a period of time was amazing.

And just all of the things that happened at each shooting location was very, very special.

for a lot of different reasons.

And it's kind of a compelling story.

It's

fascinating.

It's just all the things that happened just in the making of the film.

That's great.

Well, Jeff, thank you for joining us tonight.

Please, folks, check out the Door County Film Festival next weekend at the Northern Sky Theater in Beautiful Fish Creek.

It's just going to be a blast.

Jeff will be there.

And you can check out his film, Houston.

We have a problem.

which we just heard about, and Jeff, keep us posted on anything else you got cooking.

This is fun.

Thanks for being on the show tonight.

Sounds really good.

Yeah, glad to have you.

I'm glad to be here, and I appreciate the time.

Anytime, bud.

We'll see you next weekend.

OK, thanks a lot.

See you then.

All right.

You got it.

That's Jeff Blankenship.

Are we out of time already?

Yeah, we got 20 seconds.

What the H?

What the HE double hockey sticks?

All right, we come back.

We're going to read your texts.