When a Dream Ends, What Comes Next?

When a Dream Ends, What Comes Next?

Documentary First: The Deep Dive · built from Episode 280 with Andrew Davies Gans · 8 minutes · June 24, 2026

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What happens to a family when the same dream is taken away three times?

Andrew Davies Gans grew up wanting one thing: to play professional baseball. He was drafted out of high school, then tore his labrum for the third time and his career was over. That same month his father, the Las Vegas entertainer Danny Gans, died suddenly. Andrew lost the dream and his dad within a few weeks. When a dream ends like that, what comes next? For Andrew it was acting, then writing, then producing, and finally directing a film about his father, Voices: The Danny Gans Story.

In this Deep Dive on Documentary First Episode 280 with Andrew Davies Gans, Christian Taylor notices that it had all happened before. Andrew's grandfather played pro baseball until an injury ended his career, and he became a singer and a comic. Danny was drafted by the White Sox organization, severed his Achilles tendon, and became the Man of Many Voices in Las Vegas. Three generations, the same dream, taken away the same way. As Christian puts it, "The closed door was the only door."

From there she follows the same pattern through the making of Andrew's film, which COVID shut down for more than a year, and through her own family: her son Hunter's disappointment in 2014 is what led to her film The Girl Who Wore Freedom. She ends with a warning about chronic pain and pain medication that reaches people only because Andrew didn't quit.

In this Deep Dive, Christian explores

  • How Andrew Gans lost his baseball career and his father in the same month, and turned to acting, writing and producing before he directed
  • How three generations of the Gans family lost baseball to career-ending injuries, and what each of them found on the other side
  • Why the year COVID took from Andrew's film is the reason its most personal part exists
  • The choice Andrew faced when he learned things about his father he had never known: protect his hero or tell the truth
  • How a last-minute disqualification sent Christian's son Hunter to Normandy and led to The Girl Who Wore Freedom
  • Why Christian, who lives with chronic pain every day, took Danny Gans' story as a warning to stay involved in her own medical care
  • Andrew's advice to filmmakers about letting go of control in an interview

Questions and answers

How did three generations of the Gans family lose their baseball careers?

Andrew Davies Gans' grandfather played professional baseball until an injury ended his career, and he became a singer and a comic. Andrew's father, Danny Gans, was drafted by the White Sox organization and severed his Achilles tendon. Andrew was drafted out of high school and tore his labrum for the third time. In this Deep Dive, Christian Taylor points out that each time, the life waiting on the other side was one none of them would have found any other way.

How did COVID change Voices: The Danny Gans Story?

COVID shut the film down, investors walked away, and Andrew Gans lost more than a year. During that year he became a father, and his own child ended up in the film. Andrew says, "If we hadn't had those setbacks we wouldn't have been able to capture that during the filming of the movie." Christian Taylor's reading: the obstacles didn't happen to this film, they became this film.

Should a documentary about your own father protect him or tell the truth?

Andrew Gans set out to honor his father, Danny Gans, and in the course of filming learned things he had never known. He chose to tell the truth. "But I think he's more of a hero when you realize that he's human and that he has flaws and that he lived his life the right way," Andrew says. Christian Taylor calls that choice brave, and says the film's warning reaches people only because Andrew kept going.

How did a disappointment lead to The Girl Who Wore Freedom?

In 2014, Christian Taylor's son Hunter was in the 101st Airborne Division and favored to win an Army Soldier of the Year competition. At the last minute the Army added a combatives course he had never been sent to, and he was disqualified. Christian told him God had something better in store. Not long after, the Army sent him to Normandy as part of an honor guard for the 71st anniversary of D-Day. That trip became the foundation for her film.

What does the Danny Gans story teach about pain medication?

Danny Gans lived for years with chronic pain, and the treatment meant to help him is what ended his life. Christian Taylor, who lives with chronic pain every day, says the film was a warning to her: be careful with pain medication, stay involved in your own medical care, do your research, and ask your doctors intelligent questions. In Episode 280, Andrew Gans says his father was one of millions of people in real pain who were led down a very dangerous path.

Chapters

  • 0:00 A Warning That Might Save Your Life
  • 1:09 Andrew Gans: Losing the Dream and a Father
  • 2:08 Three Generations, Three Closed Doors
  • 2:54 How COVID Setbacks Shaped the Film
  • 3:13 Making a Documentary About Your Own Family
  • 3:33 Telling the Truth in a Documentary About Family
  • 4:28 My Son Hunter and the Door to Normandy
  • 5:42 Danny Gans: An Extraordinary Life and Tragic Loss
  • 6:21 Chronic Pain and the Danger of Pain Medication
  • 6:40 Why Persistence Matters in Filmmaking
  • 7:02 Letting Go of Control
  • 7:49 When Disappointment Is a Doorway

About the topic

This episode of Documentary First: The Deep Dive is about the door nobody would choose. Christian Taylor traces it through three generations of the Gans family, through the making of Voices: The Danny Gans Story, and through her own son's road to Normandy. Her advice to filmmakers comes from Andrew: in his interview with the comedian Louie Anderson, he set aside his list of questions and let the conversation go where it went. "It wasn't because I was in control, it was because I allowed myself not to be in control," Andrew says. Christian's version: hold your plans loosely.

About Andrew Davies Gans and Voices

Andrew Davies Gans grew up in Los Angeles, was drafted to play professional baseball as a high school senior, and has produced about a dozen films. Voices: The Danny Gans Story is his directorial debut, a film about his father that also follows Andrew as he becomes a father himself. It premiered at Dances With Films in Los Angeles and played about a dozen festivals.

Danny Gans, the Man of Many Voices, was a Las Vegas headliner known for his impressions. He died in 2009 at 52.

The source episode

Danny Gans: The Man of Many Voices Who Lost His Own, Documentary First Episode 280 with Andrew Davies Gans, director of Voices: The Danny Gans Story. Read the episode page: Danny Gans: The Man of Many Voices Who Lost His Own.

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 more than 290 episodes. 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. Follow the show · About the podcast · Support the show on Patreon

Resources mentioned

Full transcript

Read the full transcript of When a Dream Ends, What Comes Next?

0:00
What are the odds that three generations of one family would lose their dreams of playing professional baseball to different career-ending injuries only to find their true calling in the aftermath? I'm Christian Taylor, and this is Documentary First: The Deep Dive. Last week on the Documentary First podcast, I sat down with filmmaker Andrew Gans and we talked about his new film, Voices: The Danny Gans Story, and the incredible legacy of his father. But that conversation stayed with me long after we stopped recording and It made me realize that the worst thing that happens to you is almost never the thing you'd have chosen. But sometimes it's the only door to the life you might actually have been meant to live. Today, we're going deeper into Andrew's story and the heartbreak that changed everything. And stay with me because by the end, this becomes a warning that might just save a life, maybe even yours. Andrew set out to make a film to honor his dad. But as he shared in our interview, what he ended up making was something much harder and more honest than just that. Andrew grew up wanting one thing, baseball. He was good enough to get drafted out of high school.

1:18
And then unfortunately, he tore his labrum for the third time and his career was over. That same month, his father suddenly died. He lost the dream. and his dad in the same few weeks. According to Andrew, he was lost. Baseball was the whole plan, and that plan was gone. So he reached for acting, mostly to have somewhere to put his grief, then writing, and then producing. And when he finally decided to direct, the story he chose was his father's. Now, here's the part from our conversation that really made me think, it had happened before. Andrew's grandfather was a pro baseball player whose injury ended his career. He became a singer and a comic. Andrew's father, Danny, got drafted by the White Sox organization. He severed his Achilles. He became the Man of Many Voices in Las Vegas. Three generations, the same dream, taken away the same way. And each time the life waiting on the other side was a life none of them would have found any other way.

2:34
The closed door was the only door. Now, watch what Andrew did with his own closed door. He started strong with this new film, and then COVID shut everything down. The investors walked away. He lost over a year. But listen to his response to that closed door.

Andrew Gans clip 2:58
If we hadn't had those setbacks we wouldn't have been able to capture that during the filming of the movie.

3:05
During that lost year, Andrew became a father. His own child ended up in the film, and that reality gave Andrew an entirely new perspective on his own story. The thing that wrecked his timeline is the only reason the most personal part of that movie exists. Then came the harder turn. Andrew's desire with this film was to honor his father, but in the course of filming, he discovered new things he'd never known. things that on the surface didn't seem worthy of honor. So Andrew had a choice, protect his hero or tell the truth. Andrew bravely chose the truth. Listen to what he had to say.

Andrew Gans clip 3:51
But I think he's more of a hero when you realize that he's human and that he has flaws and that he lived his life the right way.

4:02
The obstacles didn't happen to this film. They became this film. You know, as I thought about my conversation with Andrew, it dawned on me that I recognized this story arc. I had watched my own son Hunter a while back, live it. In 2014, Hunter was in the 101st Airborne Division, and at the last minute, though he was favored to win, he was disqualified from an Army Soldier of the Year competition when the Army added a combatives course. he had never been sent to. Now mind you, when he was in Afghanistan, he did win the Friday night fights. Anyway, he wasn't sent to the course because his army was shipping out to Afghanistan. Well, he called me furious and I told him not to get angry about it because God had something better in store for him and he just needed to watch out for it. Not long after, he called back. The army, knowing that it had been unfair, was going to send him to Normandy to be part of an honor guard for the 71st anniversary of D-Day. Now, if you're a regular listener to the podcast, you'll know this disappointment which led him to Normandy was the foundation for my film, The Girl Who Wore Freedom. The door he didn't choose became the doorway of blessing, not only for our whole family, but for thousands around the world.

5:25
But the story of a closed door doesn't always end with a new career or an award-winning film. Danny's injury opened the door, the same as others. He walked through it and built an extraordinary life. His faith, his family, the career that made him the Man of Many Voices. The door was real and so was everything he built. But the end of that life was taken from him by something separate and horrible. He lived for years with chronic pain. He was being treated for it and the treatment meant to help him is what suddenly and tragically ended his life. He was one of millions of people in real pain, led down a path that turned out to be very dangerous. I say that as someone who lives with chronic pain every single day. For me, this film was a warning to be careful with pain meds, to stay involved with my own medical care, to research, to ask intelligent questions of my doctors. And here's the thing that ties Andrew, Hunter, and Danny together. That warning only reaches you because Andrew didn't stop. If he had quit when the film died, his father's caution never gets told, and the next person carrying that kind of pain never hears it.

6:44
The doorway and the warning ride out on the very same act. He kept going. For the filmmakers listening, there's one more piece of advice, and it's quite the center of all this. Take a listen.

Andrew Gans clip 6:58
If I was too rigid, I would have gone back to my notes and gone back to my list of questions. But because I allowed myself to be open, we got one of the greatest interviews in the film. And it wasn't because I was in control, it was because I allowed myself not to be in control.

7:16
Hold your plans loosely. The detour is often the better film. If you haven't heard the full story yet, go back and listen to my interview with Andrew in episode 280. And if someone came to mind while you listen today, someone standing at a closed door, text this podcast to them. And while you're here, follow the show. And if you're on Spotify, check out the poll on the episode page. The disappointment you didn't choose is not always the end of the story. Sometimes it's the door and sometimes it's the warning that saves the next person. Andrew Gans made a film that is both and he made it by refusing to quit after losing his dad and his dream in the same month. I'm Christian Taylor and this has been Documentary First: The Deep Dive. I'll see you next time.

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