Why You Need Someone to Believe in You First

Who saw something in you before you could see it yourself?

Sometimes you need someone to believe in you before you can believe in yourself. Joe Amodei spent 45 years helping other people's documentaries find an audience. It took a friend to tell him he could make one.

In this Deep Dive on Documentary First Episode 283, Christian follows one story from her conversation with Joe, founder of Virgil Films and Entertainment, which distributes her film The Girl Who Wore Freedom and sponsors the show. Joe set out to help his friend Morgan Spurlock, the director of Super Size Me, by bringing him a hockey story about the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers. Morgan told Joe to direct it himself. Joe said he wasn't a director. Morgan said he was. Morgan died before Joe shot a single frame, and Joe made Cold War in Philly anyway. Watch the full conversation: Episode 283 with Joe Amodei.

Christian knows this one from the inside. When she wanted to make The Girl Who Wore Freedom, she asked her friend, producer Sandy Gordon, to take the reins. Sandy told her to do it herself and promised to stay by her side, and she did. Then, at Christmas 2018, with the film shot and her production company in trouble, Christian was ready to quit. Her son Hunter watched La La Land with her, followed her out of the room when she broke down, and kept telling her she would finish the film until she believed it. From there Christian follows the same thread through Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, a 40-year study of children on Kauai, a teenage stage role as Don Quixote's horse, Fred Shero's Flyers and the BELIEVE sign in Ted Lasso. The lesson she lands on: belief costs almost nothing to give, and it has to be given again and again. (Audio only this week: a storm knocked out power in Wheaton.)

In this episode, Christian explores:

• Why Joe Amodei, after 45 years in distribution, couldn't see himself as a director
• What Morgan Spurlock told him, and how that belief outlived Morgan
• How producer Sandy Gordon told Christian to make The Girl Who Wore Freedom herself
• What C.S. Lewis had to do with The Lord of the Rings
• What Emmy Werner's 40-year Kauai study found about kids who thrive
• What playing Don Quixote's horse in Man of La Mancha taught a teenage Christian
• Why belief gets you to the starting line but not always to the finish
• The Christmas her son Hunter believed in her when she was ready to walk away
• Why encouragement has to be repeated, not announced once
• How the 1976 Flyers beat the Soviet Red Army believing in their coach, Fred Shero
• Two things to do this week: remember who believed in you, and become that person for someone else

Chapters

0:00 Morgan's Three Words

2:46 Seen From the Outside

5:29 Hitting a Wall

8:31 Fred Shero's Flyers

11:04 Two Things This Week

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is it important to have someone believe in you?

Most of us can't see our own potential clearly because we know our doubts too well. In a 2026 Documentary First Deep Dive, Christian Taylor pointed to Joe Amodei, who had 45 years in film distribution but couldn't see himself as a director until his friend Morgan Spurlock told him he was one. Belief from outside fills that gap, often right when we're ready to quit.

How do you keep going when you want to quit a creative project?

Borrow belief until you can make your own. Christian Taylor said in a 2026 Documentary First Deep Dive that belief gets you to the starting line, but the middle of any hard project brings a wall. What carries people through is rarely one pep talk. It's someone who reminds them, again and again, usually right when they're about to quit, that they can finish.

Can one person really change your life?

Research suggests yes. Christian Taylor cited Emmy Werner's study on Documentary First in 2026: Werner followed almost 700 children on the island of Kauai for 40 years, many born into hard circumstances. What most separated the kids who thrived wasn't money or talent. It was having at least one steady adult who believed in them. One person was enough.

How did Joe Amodei come to direct Cold War in Philly?

Christian Taylor told the story on Documentary First in 2026. After 45 years in film distribution, Joe set out to help his friend Morgan Spurlock, the director of Super Size Me, by bringing him a hockey story. Morgan said he wanted Joe to direct it. Joe said he wasn't a director, and Morgan said yes, he was. Morgan died before Joe shot a frame. Joe made the film anyway.

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Source Episode

Cold War in Philly: Joe Amodei Directs His First Documentary (Ep. 283)

About Joe Amodei

Joe Amodei is the founder of Virgil Films and Entertainment and has spent 45 years in film distribution, with releases including Super Size Me, Restrepo and Forks Over Knives. Cold War in Philly is the first film he directed.

About Virgil Films and Entertainment

Virgil Films and Entertainment is an independent film distributor led by Joe Amodei. Its releases include Super Size Me, Restrepo, Forks Over Knives and I Am Chris Farley. Virgil distributes Christian's film The Girl Who Wore Freedom. virgilfilms.com

About Documentary First

Documentary First is a weekly podcast about the people behind documentaries and how the work changed them. Host Christian Taylor, director of the award-winning The Girl Who Wore Freedom, talks with filmmakers, distributors, entertainment lawyers, actors and more, from Ken Burns and PBS American Masters creator Susan Lacy to first-timers, across nearly 300 conversations. Each week brings one of two formats: a long-form conversation with the people behind films for HBO, Netflix, PBS and independent film, or The Deep Dive, where Christian takes one insight from a recent conversation and follows it wherever it leads. Listen Notes ranks the show in the top 5% of all podcasts worldwide. New episodes every week.

Resources Mentioned

• Cold War in Philly
• Episode 283 with Joe Amodei
• Joe remembers Morgan Spurlock (Ep. 234)
• Virgil Films and Entertainment