Hey all,
We wrapped up filming of the Your Love Is Strong promo trailer last week, and I think we’re still on a bit of a high. 🙂 Talk about more than we could have asked or imagined. The footage looks great, but on top of that it’s pretty hard to deny that someone upstairs was really in charge. Any film shoot is a logistical nightmare, coordinating 30+ people to be at multiple locations at specific times, staying within union regulations, parking and feeding everyone, and in the meantime trying to function at max creativity within all those parameters… all on about 4 hours of sleep per night. Honestly it’s a miracle any film gets made. There were definitely moments on this shoot when David George (DP) and I were out of ideas and had less than enough time to get the shots we needed, and my brain was functioning at about 10% capacity, but somehow a tweaked camera angle later we had what we needed and it looked amazing. We managed to stay on schedule every day, which is an incredible feat in and of itself.
God blessed the project in so many ways, I think we’re left feeling a little freaked out! 🙂 2 weeks before the shoot, our budget took an unexpected 40% leap skywards. I said a prayer, made a phone call, and 15 minutes later my jaw was on the floor and the money was pledged. We had some really brilliant professionals working on this shoot for a fraction of the pay they deserve. A licensed drone operator donated his drone and his time. Tiffen donated a steadicam — we’re still trying to figure out why they did that. Thanks to our incredible camera operator Bryan Fowler, we got to shoot on the lovely Arri Amira. Most of our meals were donated. I still remember asking associate producer Tiffany Thomas for her help during preproduction. I couldn’t offer her anything but her response was, “This is God’s work and that’s my job.” Pastor Michael Kelly from Mt. Rubidoux SDA church, Stew Harty from Loma Linda University Church and 1st AD Theo Brown also played huge roles in making all of this happen.
We had an unexpected special appearance by Michael Lewis and his parents. Michael has cerebral palsy; I met him at church 7 years ago. There was one particular praise service back in 2009 when I was so touched by the look of pure joy on Michael’s face. I can still remember thinking to myself, “Someday I have to try to capture that moment in a movie.” Well as it turns out, one of our cast members Randy Morgan is now Michael’s caregiver. Randy offhandedly mentioned to me that he would be bringing Michael to set on Day 3 of the shoot. I instantly remembered that moment 7 years ago… and asked Randy if there was any chance we could put Michael in the film. The rest is history. 🙂
It’s crazy to think about all the things that have led up to this moment. Feels like a lot of things in my life are coming full circle and it makes for a very exciting, emotional, joyful, stressful and all-around crazy season. There’s nothing like seeing God at work.
We want to thank our amazing cast and dream-team-of-a-crew for making this a reality. And thanks to each one of you for the prayers, encouragement, support, and feedback. The journey is only beginning; in the next several weeks we’ll edit the trailer, do another draft of the feature script, and get ready to pitch to investors. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, not forgetting the purpose of it all — to help foster a healthy dialogue about sex and purity in the church; to empower young adults to make healthy choices that will lead to lasting relationships.
We’ll send out the trailer in a few weeks, but in the meantime here are a few behind the scenes pics by Tanya Musgrave. Enjoy!
Blessings, Melody, Elizabeth, and Marilyn
Make his praise glorious
Psalm 66
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