Hard Faith Podcast: Season 4 - Episode 6 Marty Richards "Nickel on the Grass" 9/11 Best Screenplay at Hard Faith Fest NYC 2025

In Episode 6 of the Hard Faith Podcast, Spencer Folmar sits down with screenwriter and veteran fighter pilot Marty Richards, winner of Best Screenplay at Hard Faith Fest NYC 2025 for his first screenplay, Nickel on the Grass.

Marty shares the remarkable true story behind the screenplay. On September 11, 2001, he was both a United Airlines pilot and an F-15 pilot in the Massachusetts Air National Guard. What began as a routine training mission became a scramble into the skies during the terrorist attacks. Marty ultimately spent hours over New York City helping intercept aircraft and stabilize American airspace.

But his story is as much about what happened after September 11 as what happened that day. Marty opens up about the lasting toll of the experience, his struggle to understand and process what he had lived through, and how faith, family, surrender, and eventually writing helped lead him toward healing. His screenplay grew out of that journey and his participation in the Writers Guild Foundation’s Veterans Writing Project.

Twenty-five years after 9/11, Marty offers a deeply personal perspective on service, trauma, storytelling, and the importance of asking for help. It is a conversation about what happens when a warrior discovers that sometimes the hardest act isn’t fighting—it’s surrendering what you cannot control and trusting God with what comes next.

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