‘Duck Dynasty’s Willie & Korie Robertson Drop News About New Project Away From Show

Willie and Korie Robertson have built a multi-faceted empire in West Monroe, Louisiana. The Duck Dynasty power couple revealed the latest addition to the media arm of their business with the launch of EKKL Entertainment. The premium faith-and-family entertainment platform aims to bring together trusted stories, voices, and experiences in one destination. It’s a venture, in partnership with Michael Scott (co-founder of PureFlix), that leans on two of their most important fundamentals. 

The name EKKL (pronounced EK-UHL) pulls from the Greek word ekklesia, meaning a gathering or assembly. The two hope to bring people together through its offerings that will include podcasts, daily devotionals, live experiences, movies and more. Among the slate of films under the EKKL banner is the upcoming Elijah Peel, the true-story-inspired rock-and-roll drama about redemption and second chances that they executive produced and will be released theatrically on August 14.

We sat down with Willie and Korie to talk about hopes for their latest project. Plus the pair share an update regarding Duck Dynasty: The Revival. 

I feel like this is a culmination of everything you’ve worked for over the years. How long has this platform been in the works? 

Korie Robertson: It really is. It’s  amazing to see it all come together. We’re so excited to finally see it launching. It has been a couple of years in the works. 

Willie Robertson: Or a couple of decades, our lifespan. 

Korie: For real. I think it is that when we started Duck Dynasty, we had no idea the impact it was going to make because a lot of people make television shows that don’t make it. We went into it holding it loosely where it was to see what happens. It has been this whole journey. Of course, Dynasty ended in 2017, and we moved into podcasting. Seeing how podcasting has impacted people. We made a movie about our family’s story. I think for us it’s because God has put us in this place, so we want to keep telling stories. It really truly impacts people’s lives. Also, we also see how people are looking for something that is refreshing, wholesome, uplifting to culture, and has good values. So, we’re going to keep providing that. 

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Can we expect to see other members of the family involved on the platform? 

Willie: They could be, but one of our things was really to go beyond this family and stretch it further. We’ve had so many people come up to us to ask how do you do a show? How do you do a podcast? We want to try to help other people tell their stories as well. So, this is our version of helping a lot of people. When Korie and I got into this with our family, there weren’t a lot of people to call. Who do you talk to? There is no playbook for this. We could. We work with our family in different ways. They also go out and do their own thing as well. That could happen. Also, we want to create a bigger tent, a bigger space for a lot of families, a lot of stories, a lot of podcast, a lot of movies, a lot of television shows that we can help them pull that of. 

Over the past two seasons of Duck Dynasty The Revival, we’ve seen some behind the scenes of you all working. Are we going to see any of your journey to the platform launch on the show through a future season potentially? 

Korie: We are not filming right now actually. We did two seasons of the revival and had so much fun catching up everyone on where our family is and what our family is doing, but we are not filming right now. Willie’s happy not to have cameras in our house every day at this point. But we will see. Our family has definitely been an open book in the years we have a reality show. We’re excited to do more of that, but we don’t know what the next phase of that will look like. Who knows? 

I watched the trailer for Elijah Peel and teared up a bit. It’s such a powerful story. What does it mean to have this story told under your umbrella?  

Willie: It’s a great story that I think fits in line with the stories we like to tell. It’s similar to The Blind with my father.

Korie: Except the opposite. Phil was more starting at rock bottom where Peel is starting at the top of his game with fame and success. 

Willie: He ended up rock bottom. He falls and there is this big fall. It’s about forgiveness and how God can provide answers sometimes in the strangest ways. For this movie, it involves a little girl, a child who is in a tough situation. It’s just a great story. 

You mentioned Phil. It has been a little more than a year since the patriarch passed. How is the family holding up? 

Willie: Everyone is great. Our faith is so strong, that’s why we have faith and hope. That was something Phil talked about every day of his life. The hope he had and where he was going and his confidence. This is part of life and moving on. I think the mark he left and legacy he left was great. 

Korie: What was really sweet was for the revival we got to do an episode that honored Phil. We were really excited to do that. Miss Kay did an interview. When she did that, she was still really struggling. Of course, it’s hard to lose your partner 

Willie: And we’re talking since age 14 years old. 

Korie: Exactly, it has been hard for her, but she is doing remarkably well and great right now. We’re so grateful for that. Just to see her come back to life in a way because it was a really hard season, but she is doing really well.