Prominent Philadelphia-based business leader, philanthropist and film producer J. Eustace Wolfington joined Forbes Chief Impact Officer, Seth Cohen, to discuss the new film “Cabrini”, a biographic drama centered on the life of Italian Catholic missionary (and relentless entrepreneur) Francesca Xavier Cabrini (portrayed by Cristiana Dell’Anna).
The screenplay was written by Rod Barr, produced by Jonathan Sanger and directed by Alejandro Monteverde, is distributed by Angel Studios.
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The screenplay was written by Rod Barr, produced by Jonathan Sanger and directed by Alejandro Monteverde, is distributed by Angel Studios.
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Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 Hi, everyone. I'm Seth Cohen, Chief Impact Officer for Forbes, and I'm joined today with
00:09 my friend Eustace Wolfington, who is a legendary Philadelphia businessman, entrepreneur, investor,
00:18 philanthropist. He is the founder of Half a Car, which was the original two-year leasing
00:25 companies. He actually created that model. And since the company he created was sold,
00:32 he's now invested his time, his resources, his energy in a variety of different charities,
00:39 Catholic charities, local Philadelphia-based initiatives. And he is also the producer of
00:47 one of the newest and most phenomenal films on the life of the first American saint, Saint
00:54 Cabrini, which is out in theaters now. And so I'm delighted that Eustace could join us
00:59 for this conversation. Eustace, how are you today?
01:02 Wonderful, Seth. Wonderful. How are you doing?
01:04 Eustace, you as producer of the movie Cabrini are now fulfilling in a lot of ways a lifelong
01:10 alignment and relationship with Saint Cabrini that started at your earliest days. Tell me
01:14 why Saint Cabrini is so important to you and why this movie now is so important to you.
01:22 Well, I'll go back to the beginning. I was 23 years of age back in 1955 when I met -- was
01:35 introduced to Mother Cabrini in a spiritual sense. And I'd gone to this church and she
01:45 had founded this church back in 1912. And I had never heard her name. She's the first
01:51 American saint. I'd been through 12 years of Catholic education and I'd never heard
01:57 her name. So they said we're going to do a nine-week novena on Mother Cabrini. What they
02:03 do for nine weeks, that's nine weeks they talk about Mother Cabrini once a week. So
02:09 I went. And I was fascinated with what I learned about her life because she was a great entrepreneur.
02:18 And the way I like to say it is she made things happen and I wanted to make things happen
02:22 in my life so I adopted her as my role model or patron saint. And that was it. And I'd
02:34 go all over the world and talk about her and nobody would know her because my business
02:39 took me around the world. I was especially shocked that the young Italian generation
02:45 had never heard of her because she's probably the greatest Italian woman that ever lived.
02:53 So fast forward 60 years and this nun walked in my office and said, "Will you help me do
02:59 a movie on Mother Cabrini?" Now I had named my company Cabrini Asset Management. They
03:05 knew that. They knew I had done a film called Bella back in 2003, 2004. And so they thought
03:15 they would ask me to help. I said, "I'm sorry. I did one film in my life. I never want to
03:21 do another film ever." Because it's just too much work. And I was now 85, whatever. And
03:32 she bugged me for six years. She never stopped bugging me.
03:35 Very Cabrini-esque.
03:36 Very Cabrini-esque.
03:37 Very Cabrini-esque.
03:38 And then in the seventh year she called me on the phone and said, "I have an Italian
03:43 film company. They're going to do the movie on Mother Cabrini." And they were a very good
03:47 company and they were very excited about doing the movie. They were putting three million
03:52 dollars of their own money in it. She said, "Please come up to New York to the Shrine
03:58 and I'll introduce you." I went up and I met them and I saw what they were going to do.
04:07 And they were going to make what I call a fairy tale saint movie. You know, patting
04:12 kids on the head, giving out candy. I said, "That's not Mother Cabrini. We cannot do that
04:19 to Cabrini." I said, "We have to do a movie about a woman who just happened to be a nun."
04:29 I said, "Like Gandhi was a Hindu, but it didn't get in the way. She's a nun. It can't get
04:36 in the way."
04:37 That's right.
04:38 We have to do a movie that's universal, that everyone who gets to know about her life,
04:45 whether you're a Muslim, whether you're a Hindu, whether you're an atheist, you shall
04:50 fall in love with this woman and what she does.
04:52 So this movie, I mean, as we talk about it, Mother Cabrini had a very long, illustrious,
04:58 successful life. And this movie, Cabrini, focuses really on her origin stories, on her
05:05 arrival first to New York City on a ship, her time in the slums, essentially at the
05:13 time the Italian slums, Five Points, in New York City. Why did you choose that era of
05:20 Cabrini's life to focus on specifically?
05:22 Well, you know what's interesting? Mother Cabrini did not leave Italy until she was
05:27 39 years of age. So all her time in Italy was opening schools and orphanages on a local
05:35 basis. And all the hierarchy, like the work she did so much, they didn't want her to leave.
05:42 But in the back of her head, she wanted to be a missionary. Because when she was young,
05:47 her father, every Sunday around the dining room table, would read to her stories about
05:52 the great missions and what people were doing in missions. And people would visit her city
05:58 from time to time. So she had in the back of her head she wanted to be a missionary.
06:02 The name Frances Xavier comes from a great missionary from China. She adopted that name.
06:11 So it took her until 39 to begin her career as a missionary. So the United States was
06:17 her first mission. She wanted to go to China. And the Pope talked her out of it, said, "We
06:26 need you in America." And so that's why she started in America.
06:29 And Eustace, in this film, you have an all-star team of writer, director, producer, Cristina,
06:41 excuse me, Cristiana D'Alene as a phenomenal actress in this role of Mother Cabrini. You
06:50 have John Lithgow playing the role of Jacob Gould, the mayor of New York. So this is really
06:56 an all-star cast in many ways of individuals with, as you said, Italian actors and extras
07:04 to really feeling authentic. But there's a very special executive producer of this film,
07:13 which is the first name that comes up when you look at the production credits, which
07:16 is Mother Cabrini herself. So what was the thinking behind actually naming Mother Cabrini
07:23 as the executive producer of this film?
07:26 Right. Well, first of all, we always refer to -- you don't hear us say Mother Cabrini.
07:31 You hear us say Cabrini. Because whenever she was in Rome and the Pope would see her,
07:37 he would yell, "Hey, Cabrini!" And so we adopted that as her name, Cabrini.
07:46 We were having -- I learned in my business world that communication is the most important
07:52 thing in the world. And I developed 80 foundational principles, which hang on my wall, that I
08:01 want everyone in our business to be in sync with and think of them as a language. So when
08:08 we formed the group for the -- to do the film, I had a two-week retreat down in Avalon, New
08:15 Jersey and brought everybody in to go over all the principles. And one of our principles,
08:22 for example, is you're never allowed to say "I." Everything's "we." If you want to say
08:28 "we" -- if you want to say "I," you say "we," period. It's an amazing effect that has on
08:33 an organization when you're not saying "I."
08:37 So at that meeting on the third night, we were having dinner, and I announced to everybody
08:43 what had come to me the night before, that Francesca Cabrini was going to be the executive
08:49 producer of this film. I had no idea the impact that was going to have. But the very next
08:59 day, the director came to me, and he was so motivated with that idea. And when we got
09:07 on the set and started to produce the movie, everybody was into Cabrini. They all read
09:13 our books, read the script. If you walked into the wardrobe department, they were talking
09:16 about Cabrini. If you walked into the makeup department, they were talking about Cabrini.
09:19 Wherever you went on that set, they were on fire for Cabrini. And it showed on the set.
09:26 You could have gone, Eustace, to any major studio for Cabrini, but you chose to partner
09:32 with Angel Studios, which is, through both its work recently of The Sound of Freedom,
09:38 now the hit television show The Chosen, obviously is making a name for itself in Hollywood.
09:43 But what was it about Angel Studios and their model that spoke to you for this particular
09:49 film?
09:50 That's a very interesting question, because I started out going to all the majors, and
09:58 they all loved the film. But when it came to marketing, there was just a sense that
10:07 they didn't know how to market this film. I was involved with Sound of Freedom because
10:15 our director and our writer wrote Sound of Freedom. And I watched what happened with
10:22 Sound of Freedom with Angel. Now Sound of Freedom was a film that was sitting on a shelf
10:28 and nobody would pick it up. And when Angel got a hold of it, they turned it into a great
10:37 movie. Now how does Angel work? There's three brothers, the Harmon brothers. They're Mormons,
10:46 but they're very faithful people. If they believe in something, you have the sense they'll
10:52 stay with it. And they create kind of a partnership. It's a partnership with you and them. Not
11:01 only is it a partnership in spirit, it's a partnership in the compensation. So they don't
11:07 take anything first. We all take equal at that time with what's left over. So they're
11:13 aligned where we're aligned. And I went out and I met their people and their organization.
11:20 They have about 275 people in their organization. They're very good at social media. And I was
11:28 just impressed. And again, based on their Sound of Freedom experience, they have a board
11:38 that they present all their films to.
11:42 Like a panel.
11:43 Yeah, like a panel. They call it, they're going to be upset with me because I forget
11:48 the exact name. But everything has to go through that group. And they presented Sound of Freedom
11:55 and I came out with a score of 70 or whatever. They presented Cabrini and we had the highest
12:01 score ever. We had like an 85, whatever it was. And so they embraced Cabrini right away.
12:10 And that was also what got me. They embraced it right away. The other studios always had
12:16 questions. You know, how they're going to market, how they're going to do this. But
12:21 they embraced it.
12:24 There's been a lot of research recently that has come out about the relationship between
12:30 faith and media. And the way perhaps the entertainment industry, even organizations such as Forbes,
12:38 engage with stories around faith and belief. How do you think this film fits into that
12:45 narrative? And maybe, I think, is there a part of this film that is not just also about
12:52 faith but also of this time, of this time of an individual with perseverance and tenacity
12:59 but also of faith? How does this fit into this moment right now that we're in, in 2024?
13:05 When you asked that question, the first thing that came to my mind was how important a faith
13:10 angle was in picking our distributor. They were such a faith-based organization. And
13:20 I didn't think of it at the time, but looking back, that's what attracted me most.
13:27 As far as the movie for Cabrini for this time, I always like to tell the story about Winston
13:35 Churchill. In 1942, a movie was made called Mrs. Miniver with Greer Garson and Walter
13:43 Pidgeon. And he said that movie did more to win the war for England than anything else
13:51 because it caught the spirit of the people of the time. Cabrini is a movie that catches
13:59 the spirit of the time. I tell people that in every era, there's a movie that comes along
14:07 and that movie is Cabrini for this time. You know, Sophie Loren was going to do a movie
14:13 on Mother Cabrini in 1950. Scorsese and Loretta Young wanted to do a movie on Mother Cabrini
14:18 in 1973. They never got it done. So I said, "Why did we get it done?" We got it done because
14:27 I really believe in my heart that God wanted that movie for this time. Because people walk
14:32 into this movie and they say, "We're really upset, have anxiety about the broken world
14:38 we're in. We're fearful about the future." When we walk out of this movie, we're excited
14:46 about life again. We can't wait to make a change.
14:48 >> Optimistic.
14:49 >> Optimistic. And you know, it's also a change of attitude. When I was 28 years old, John
14:55 F. Kennedy was elected president. And he opened up his inauguration speech with, "Ask not
15:01 what your country can do for you, but what can you do for your country?" When the people
15:08 walk out of Cabrini, I think they're saying to themselves, "That's not what my country
15:15 can do for me. But what can I do for my country?" But when they walk in, they walk in with,
15:21 "What can my country do for me?"
15:23 >> Yeah. So it really changes their -- this is a --
15:26 >> It's a transformation.
15:27 >> Yeah. It's a film that is intended to change minds. I have one question for you related
15:32 to the theme of changing minds. Obviously, a huge part of the narrative of Cabrini is
15:39 the story of immigration and the power of immigrants in this country to create, to connect,
15:45 and really become part of what makes this country so exceptional.
15:49 >> Right.
15:50 >> Obviously, in 2024, the conversations we're having oftentimes about immigration feel much
15:56 more strained and difficult. What lessons could we take from Cabrini that perhaps are
16:01 applicable to the moment we're in today in this conversation of immigration in 2024?
16:09 >> I think that's what makes the film so magical. And I think why people have this feeling when
16:14 they walk out that they're excited about life again. Cabrini's whole life was dedicated
16:22 to help immigrants. She was sent here to help the Italian immigrant who was really being
16:27 persecuted. I mean, like no other. And their dignity, they were down. They couldn't speak
16:37 the language. They weren't going to schools. They had their churches. They couldn't communicate
16:45 with their churches. And she came in. And the first thing she said was, "We're going
16:54 to make you great citizens. We're going to do it through education. And you're going
16:59 to do it on your own." And she said, "You came from a great country." She instilled
17:05 dignity into them right off the bat. "You come from a country that had great music,
17:09 great language, great art. But now you're in America. And you're going to be great Americans."
17:17 And that was her driving force. But it was her care and her love. You know, a story a
17:27 lot of people don't know that I like to tell, which helps amplify what I'm going to say.
17:33 In 1976, July 7th, Mother Cabrini was canonized a saint. A woman who had been a schoolteacher
17:42 for 18 years went to that canonization. The woman left that canonization, said, "I'm going
17:48 to model my life on Mother Cabrini." She went and resigned from her order and changed her
17:54 whole life. Her name was Mother Teresa. And Mother Cabrini, that was her life. She worked
18:05 in prisons. She worked in the mines. Her nuns worked all night long with the families, spent
18:11 all day long educating the kids. She opened orphanages. You know, we did a lot of testimonies
18:18 after our film. We have people, cameras outside so people can spontaneously tell what they
18:23 thought about the film because they were all so excited. And a gentleman got on and he
18:31 said, "I was so moved by this film." He said, "I can't see where anybody could come to this
18:36 film and not walk out with palpitations of the heart." He said, "But it's special for
18:40 me." He said, "I grew up in a Cabrini orphanage for the first six years of my life." And he
18:49 said, "I can't begin to tell you what the love of those people towards me meant to me
18:56 in my life." And that came out of nowhere. But everyone just, I'm sure I'm rambling here
19:10 a little bit, but because when you talk about Cabrini my mind goes into a twirl. Her love,
19:19 her humility, her leadership, and her simplicity. They were the four principles she taught every
19:26 one of the people who worked for her in any way, shape, or form. You have to be humble,
19:31 you have to love, you have to serve, and you have to keep things simple. And that was her
19:38 life.
19:39 So I want to ask you one last question. I mean, Cabrini, we've spoken so much about
19:45 her life. Your life also has had really a tremendous amount of lessons and wisdom. You
19:52 were sharing an anecdote with me about letters you exchanged with your father that are principles
19:59 and ideals that you hold close. And as someone, again, who has had both success as an entrepreneur
20:06 and a business person, now as a philanthropist and even a movie producer, maybe what are
20:13 those principles, what is the wisdom that you can impart to some of the younger listeners
20:17 or listeners of all ages who are tuning in and saying, "How can I be maybe a bit more
20:23 like Eustace and a bit more like Cabrini?"
20:26 Well, I didn't begin this talk at all about Cabrini, but I also talk as a parent because
20:35 I have 10 children. But when I was 18 years old, I was at Notre Dame as a freshman, and
20:41 I wrote my father a letter. I said, "Dear Daddy, please tell me how to be a success
20:46 in life." And my father and I had never exchanged a letter in our life. So he wrote me back
20:52 this letter, and he said, "I don't know what you're going to do in life, but I'll
20:57 give you eight things. If you follow these eight things, you'll be a success." And
21:02 the first thing was stay close to God. The second was respect old people because someday
21:09 you'll be old. The third was whatever job you do in life, whether it's cleaning
21:14 floors or running a corporation, do it better than anybody else. He said, "Third, never
21:21 worry about money because if you're doing the best job, people will notice you and you
21:26 won't have to worry about money." He said, "Number five, never forget your friends."
21:32 And I remember him with his high school friends years later, no matter how they did in life,
21:37 they were so close. He said, "Number six, when opportunity comes, don't be afraid.
21:46 Take it." And that had a big impact on my life because I quit my first dealership at
21:50 28 years of old without a penny. And I shouldn't have been in the business. I didn't know
21:55 what the hell I was doing. But if he hadn't said to me, "When opportunity comes, take
21:59 it," I had an opportunity and I took it. The seventh principle was always be sincere
22:05 because people will know. And the eighth principle was life's a hairline and all your life you're
22:15 going to be making decisions. And those decisions will determine what side of the hairline you're
22:21 on. So they were--
22:23 >>Very powerful. Eight powerful lessons to live by, not just for you, but for all of
22:28 us. So Eustace, I want to thank you again. Eustace Worthington, the film "Cabrini" is
22:35 out in theaters right now, distributed by Angel Studios. And I just want to say thank
22:39 you. It's obvious that the impact Cabrini's had on your life has been significant and
22:45 no doubt the impact this film will have on other lives will be significant as well. So
22:48 thank you.
22:49 >>Thank you, Seth. And I would like to say one thing to everybody. Don't miss "Cabrini."
22:56 It's a must-see film and it's a must-see on a big screen. Get out and see this film.
23:02 It'll change your life.
23:03 >>Put the phones down. Go to the theater.
23:04 >>Go to the theater.
23:05 >>Great. Thank you, Eustace. Thank you.
23:06 >>Thank you, Seth. Thank you.
23:07 [END]