Cast Announcement

We are excited to finally announce our cast for Not Today! These amazing and gifted actors have patiently waited with us for this day and here it is! I hope that as you look at each one, you’ll begin to pray for them and the impact that they will have as a part of this project. Check back in the next week or so for a personal message from each of them and their thoughts on being involved with Not Today.

Cody Longo as Ezekiel

Click here for Cody’s IMDB Bio

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Walid Amini as Bhupinder

Click here for Walid’s IMDB Bio

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Sarah Habel as Audrey

Click here for Sarah’s IMDB Bio

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Shari Wiedmann as Sarah

Click here for Shari’s IMDB Bio

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Wilson Bethel as Bill

Click here for Wilson’s IMDB Bio

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Preston Davis as Z-Roy

Click here for Preston’s IMDB Bio

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Justin Baldoni as Eli

Click here for Justin’s IMDB Bio

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Producer’s Update

It’s Thursday, May 13, 2010.  It’s a beautiful day outside.  We let our kids sleep in this morning because we were out LATE last night.  Well, late for our family.  My wife, Elaine, is graduating from BIOLA University in a few weeks with her BA in Psychology.  This has been her dream – to finish college.  And, not only is she realizing her dream, she is graduating with Highest Honors, a 4.0 GPA and was inducted into the Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society (sorry, I had to brag).  That’s where we were last night.  Elaine’s mom, Carol joined us too.  It was great to see her and to celebrate my amazing, gorgeous and brilliant wife!  🙂  I posted some pics on my Facebook wall if you’d like to check them out.  I know that you’re not here to catch up on my family trivia…but, it’s been an important part of our lives for the last few years, so I thought I’d devote a paragraph of my blog to it!

So, in regard to the movie, we have a few updates.  We’ve heard from India and things are moving forward with our permit.  If all goes well, we should have a permit next week!  Which means we are pretty close to full steam ahead and setting a calendar schedule for production. I don’t want to go into too much detail until it is confirmed, but that should be happening soon.

Oh, and we need to introduce our cast to you – we’ve waited and waited because our dates were pending…and while we hoped the cast would be still available, we didn’t want to list them and then have it change due to scheduling conflicts.  So, stand by on the cast announcement, which we are really excited to share with you.  They are really cool people and have been so patient and dedicated to the cause.  So, keep looking this week for the announcement – you’re going to love them too!

This has been a crazy journey and if you’ve been reading Jon’s blog, you know that nothing has been as we expected it to be.  I guess we shouldn’t be surprised…but we are human.  The spiritual journey behind the scenes for me, has been impactful.  The lessons I’m learning are varied…trust, conflict, patience, perseverance, commitment, etc.  I think you get the picture.  Thanks for being on this journey with us and for continuing to pray for the project and each of us involved in it. As we approach receiving the news that we’ve been waiting on FOREVER, we need your prayers more than ever.

Good Friday & Easter Services

If you are in Orange County this weekend, join us at Friends Church for Holy Week Services…beginning on Friday, April 2nd as we present the Orange County premiere of Good Friday Suite.

The Good Friday Suite is a collection of five familiar hymns, orchestrated for chamber orchestra and vocalists by Don Harper. Accompanied by narration and media, these classic hymns will provide a contemplative setting for us to remember Christ’s death. We will also observe communion. The services will be at 5:00pm and 7:00pm.

Easter Weekend service times are Saturday, April 3rd at 4pm & 6pm and on Sunday, April 4th at 9am & 11am. We’ll celebrate the resurrection of Jesus with music, media and a message by Pastor Phil Hotsenpiller entitled, Leap of Faith. For kids, there will be high-energy, multi-media drama production designed just for them!

For more information, go to www.ylfc.org and click on the Easter banner or call 714.777.2875. We hope to see you this weekend!

Please Pray

I wanted to give a brief update on what has developed last weekend. Dr. Joseph D’souza was speaking at Friends Church last weekend. Joseph is the leader of OM India – our partner ministry in India and an outspoken advocate of the Dalit people. Through Joseph and OM, our church has committed to build 200 schools for the Dalit children in the next 10 years. That is the main reason why we are making this movie – to help this cause. So, this weekend we’ve had some extended time to discuss the movie and our current situation/frustration with the delays imposed by the Indian government. We’ve talked about a lot of different strategies and ways that we can take the next step. Joseph cannot imagine this movie being made anywhere else but in India. After church last night, Joseph sent me an email that he has approached Udit Raj – the current leader of the Dalit movement in India – for his help. Udit is the National President of the Indian Justice Party (which he started). Udit immediately responded that he will do whatever he can do to help us. Basically, that means that he is taking this project on personally. In fact, his wife, Seema, works in the office next door to the film office – probably not a coincidence!

I sent Udit the script last night. He is reading it and will be contacting me when he is through reading. He has asked that we STOP communication with the film office, India Take One and anyone else besides him and Sam Paul. They will be leading the charge for this cause and don’t want any confusion with too many people getting involved. In his words, this situation is past the time when a production services company can do anything for us in regards to the permit.

So, please pray that Udit can connect with the right people and make things happen. We are still pushing towards our March 1 target for production and we may or may not hit it, but we have more of a chance than ever before with Udit involved. This is a huge praise and something that I never expected to happen. With Udit involved, this movie is likely to get international press even before it is filmed – just like God to move in ways that we could never dream of our make happen on our own. And, one more amazing way that OM has come to our aid.

And today…

I received this email from our friends at OM India. Please read it and let’s be praying!

Udit Raj and Sam Paul made many phone calls to the various offices in Delhi and also visited in person on Friday, re-submitted the script to the concerned people. The Home Ministry officials said that it would take a minimum of two additional weeks to process the script for permission for filming. Udit and Sam told them that this was not acceptable and that they would begin making additional phone calls asking for a faster response time starting Monday.

They then reported back the same information to me and to Joseph and will begin their phone campaign on Monday. Udit does have significant contacts and may be able to use his power to hasten this 2 week time line. Sam Paul has an additional appointment with a higher official on Monday morning in this regard and hopes for a positive result. Please mobilize more prayer and we will see what God does.

Thank you and I will keep you updated!

Brent

Prayer Gathering

Had an amazing Prayer Gathering last night for Not Today. Over 30 people came together to pray for God’s direction and blessing on the film. Today, one of the people that was at our Prayer Gathering last night sent me this Scripture:

Commit your way to the Lord; trust him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways. Psalm 37:5-7

Let’s pray that the “justice of our cause will shine like the noonday sun!”

Brent

Happy New Year

I’m sitting in Park City, UT and looking out the window of this 7,300 sq. ft. house that some friends of ours were given to use for a week. Our families (8 kids between us) made the long, 10-hour drive from LA on Monday of this week.  The drive was long, but completely worth it when we got here.  It has snowed every day so far, but mixed with the snow falling are moments of brilliant sun and “catch your breath” views from the panoramic windows of this house.   Oh, and did I mention that there is an 8-seat, 120″ HD Blue Ray theater?!  We’ve made good use of that – besides the fact that Blockbuster in LA gave me 9 Blue Ray movies with NO disks in them!  Who knew that XBox could look so amazing – the characters on screen are nearly the same size as the boys playing the games!  

This trip is kind of nostalgic for me.  Last year, we were able to come here as well.  It was at this house that I started writing for Not Today.  Jon and I would email back and forth and discuss direction for characters, specific scene elements, etc.  It was here that Not Today began to take shape for me – where it became a reality.  So, to be back here again and to be weeks away from starting principal photography is pretty amazing.  What a year.

This has been a year that I won’t forget.  I’d like to say that it has been mostly good, but in reality, it has been mostly difficult.  I guess I was a bit “Pollyanna” to think that getting this film made would be a smooth process.  Oh, was I wrong!  I have never had so much frustration, mixed with hope and determination, mixed with discouragement and unmet expectations, mixed with joy and new relationships – and the list goes on and on.  

My son just yelled, “I’m going snow surfing after waffles!”  Ah, to be a kid again!  

There is a little cottontail rabbit outside of the window as I write this.  I think it is trying to find something to eat under a foot or more of snow.  Life is a challenge for each of us, I guess.  No one gets a free pass on the difficult stuff.  I can’t imagine making this movie without God’s hand on it.  Truly, that has been the only thing that has kept Jon and me focused on what we set out to accomplish.  We know that this film really isn’t our film.  It was given to us and we are only stewards of it – placed here at this time by God.  For some reason (unknown to us for sure) he entrusted Not Today to us.  He wants to tell this story – to let the world know about His children that are being abused and exploited.  That is extremely humbling and sobering to me.

So, in spite of obstacles and set backs, we move forward.  Right now, we’re dealing with the Indian government.  Evidently, we have quite a challenge in front of us to get this film made.  Ever since Slumdog Millionaire, they are very cautious and overly protective of what is filmed in their country.  So, we are being delayed and our permit is still pending.  We could use your help to pray for this process – it will be God that makes this come together.  And it will – in His time.  

So, as I sit here I still have many of the same questions as a year ago.  Some of them have been answered – we have a great crew and an amazing cast (who we hope to tell you all about in the next week or so)!  Those are huge answers to prayer.  God is with us – it’s just that He moves in His timing and in His way.  We trust in that completely.  We keep moving forward with determination – like the rabbit in his ongoing quest for food – In the times of confusion and struggle – that is the ONLY thing that keeps us focused and determined to finish what God led us to begin.

Thanks for journeying with us.

Happy New Year – here’s to an unforgettable and life-changing 2010!

Brent

trip to kolkata

Last Tuesday, we headed back to OM for casting. I met with 9 little girls from the DEC (Dalit Education Center) there on the campus.  They were a little nervous, so we played Simon Says with their teacher and that seemed to loosen them up and help to them to relax.  They are only 7-9 years old, so there was a pretty big language barrier.  Fortunately, one of the teachers was there to help translate.  I talked with each of the girls individually, asked them some questions about their families, what they liked to do, how old they were, etc. and then would have them say a few lines from the script and role play some improv situations.  It was cool to see them respond – some more than others – to the games and the situations.  They would giggle at each other and the teacher would sshhh them – it was fun.  Hopefully, we can find a Kavya in that group.  If not, we’ll keep looking.

After the casting, we shared lunch with the other Friends team and then headed off to Ramoji Film City  – kind of like our Universal Studios.  Only this place is 3,000 acres big! Because of an OM contact, we were allowed to drive right through the gates and were met personally by someone who toured us around to the various sound stages that we were interested in – train station, airport, night club, etc. During our tour, we saw them filming a Bollywood movie – it was pretty cool! Evidently, the male actor is one of the biggest stars in Bollywood films – how cool is that!  We also met with their equipment department regarding our need for rentals.  They will be extremely helpful.  Ramoji is the biggest film studio in India – and it is right outside of Hyderabad (well, OK, that means it takes 90 minutes to get there!).  They can also help with casting, crew and location shoots, too.  This was a great part of the trip and gave us many answers.

On Wednesday, we got up early, checked out of our hotel and made our way to the airport.  We flew to Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and met up with another OM friend, Rev. Mahadeb Mondal.  He was with Jon, Abe and me in February as well.  It was great to reconnect with him.  He has been working in Kolkata with OM for over 16 years.  He took us to the places that we visited in February.  We went through the Red Light District (well, one street of the 10 streets that make up the Red Light District in Kolkata).  I was pretty blown away.  In February, we saw maybe 10-20 girls.  This time, there were 10 times that many – probably close to 200 girls, many of them appeared to be 12 years old – on just the one street.  The streets are more like alleyways and as our SUV honked it’s way down the narrow passage, the girls were literally right outside of our car windows.  Some of them made eye contact and flirted with us as we drove past.  It was nauseating and disgusting.  It isn’t their fault – their pimps were sitting right there telling them what to do as this car with, in their minds, potential customers drove by.  It was pretty awful.

After this, we headed to the Ganges River – the holy river of India.  We toured through a Hindu cremation temple and saw bodies burning before being pushed out or dumped into the river.  Again, this experience continues to blow me away.

We headed to the old train station in Kolkata next. It has over 25 platforms and it was busy with activity (video above). So many people getting off of trains or waiting to board trains to unknown destinations.  We hope to shoot here as well.  We also found the street that we discovered in February. It has an old, abandoned house there.  Oh, yeah, and a mongoose that is leashed!  It was there in February, too!  Gotta love India!

Our host took us to an amazing Chinese restaurant for lunch.  It was different from the one we went to in February.  It was probably the best Chinese food I’ve ever had.  Since Kolkata is in the northeast of India, it isn’t far from China.  The Chinese influence can’t be overlooked on the city – and especially the food.  I want some more of that Wonton Soup!

After lunch, we headed to Mother’s House – where Mother Teresa spent 58 years of her life.  It is such a peaceful place. She is buried there and people come from all over the world to visit her final resting place (pictured above). In the middle of this city, boasting a population of over 12 million people, this little, humble house still stands as the headquarters for the Sisters of Charity that Mother Teresa started so many years ago.  This amazing, Godly woman changed the culture of a nation from that house.  Her selfless, sacrificial example is still being felt today.  You can feel the peace and the humility permeate your body while you are there.  It is life changing.

We traveled back to the airport and flew home to Hyderabad where we spent a quick night in a local hotel and then headed to the airport early the next morning for our 25-hour journey home.  As our plane took off, I was eager to get home to my family (my wife, Elaine, has been really sick since I left and now has a secondary infection in her airways).  At the same time, I can’t wait to return, to see how God will use this movie to impact the world and the country of India.  There is so much to be done.  I am humbled to be a part of it.  God, please do amazing things.

location scouting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We headed off for the day and started at Rasoolpura Slum.  We’ll be shooting a bunch of scenes here.  It is right by the old Hyderabad airport.  OM has had a ministry here for over 15 years.  280 kids cram into this little school each day to learn English and about a God who created them in His image – something totally crazy for a Dalit to consider.  Since they’re told from birth that they are worth nothing, less than animals, this thought that they are created in the image of God, is overwhelming to most of them at first.  When that thought sinks in, the reality of it is pretty amazing.  The kids sang songs and danced for us.  Their smiles and joy is contagious!

From there, we headed for the dump – yet another one of our intended locations.  It seems that no one really knows where the dump is.  Our friend from OM didn’t seem to know.  Our driver didn’t know.  So, we did what you do in India.  You pull over and keep asking people until you find people that “know” how to get there.  This isn’t always very reliable.  We ended up at the central dump in the middle of Hyderabad – not exactly where we were supposed to be, but the theory was good – if we follow a truck from here, we can follow it to the right dump outside of the city.  This was good in theory – until we lost the truck. Now, if you’ve never driven in India, you may ask, “How can you lose a big, trash truck?  We lost the big, trash truck.  So, back to pulling over and asking for directions.  After about 3 hours (and 33 kilometers, yes 33 kilometers in 3 hours), we found what we were looking for. You could see it from the road below it before we even got to it.  The dump proved to be just as compelling as before – if not worse.  Steven and Allan were both pretty shocked at the overall experience, I think (PIC 5 & 6).  Is it even safe to bring actors here?  Will we have to compensate them with “hazard pay?”  These kind of questions, totally appropriate for their jobs on this film, hit me.  People live here (PIC 7)…and we’re not sure that it is safe to bring actors here to shoot a few scenes in a couple of days!  How is that for sobering…  Our 3 hours journey home was quiet for a while as we reflected on what we had just seen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Monday, we met up with the other team from Friends Church.  It was great to connect with them and to hear about their adventures in Chennai, Bangalore and now Hyderabad.  We met up with them at OM and the school there was having a singing and dancing competition.  Phil and Tammy Hotsenpiller (our teaching pastor and his wife) were asked to be the judges – not an easy job with so many talented kids!  They also had a Science Fair for us to look at – experiments and “hands on” exhibits and all!  It was pretty cool. We were also given access to a cooking fair – where various students had made their favorite dishes.   I was pretty adventurous and the food was really good!  Outside, several of the girls had made sand art on the dirt.  So many beautiful designs.  One of the other ladies from the team and I were asked to judge these designs.  This one was our favorite – the student used flowers to accentuate her colors.  It was awesome!  That school, now three stories high (and still building) is changing lives and giving opportunities to children that only a few years ago, would have had no hope for a better future.

After our time with the other team, we traveled to Pipe Village.  I’ve been there several times now, but I wanted Allan and Steven to see it as well.  It was pretty quiet this time – most of the kids were still in school at OM and the parents were working at the nearby factory that makes the pipes.  There were a few little kids running around and a few grandmothers there who were watching the kids.  It was great to see that OM has set up a solar powered light for them.  Although it is only one light, it definitely helps and allows them to see at night.  It also gives a sense of security as well.

Charminar

After 23 some hours of travel, I arrived in India with Steven and Allan about 4:30am on Thursday morning.  The flights were without incident – always something to be grateful for!  Ramesh, a friend from OM (Operation Mercy), was there to meet us and held up his sign that said OM INDIA on it.  This was awesome because on our scouting trip in February, we missed the sign, looked for him for over an hour and ended up hiring a taxi to drive us into Hyderabad.  So, it was great to connect with him so quickly on our arrival!

After a few hours of rest and a hot shower, we were off to look at a few of the locations again.  We went to Charminar (pictured right) and it was crazy yet again.  The place is buzzing with activity no matter the day or the hour.  The largest mosque in Hyderabad, maybe in India, is in Charminar district.  That being said, it is a highly Muslim area – and interesting being stared at by dark eyes of women through the small opening in their head wraps.  I think the sight of three white guys walking through the market area is a bit unusual.  But, we weren’t the only people there doing film scouting.  Another group of young Indian guys were shooting video down the same street that we hope to film as well.

You also take your life into your hands any time you decide to venture out of your vehicle and walk – especially at a place like Charminar.  I narrowly escaped being hit by at least three auto rickshaws as they carried their fares through the area.  Our local guide/driver told us that a woman had jumped off of Charminar the day before and committed suicide.  Amazing how a structure that was built to commemorate the ending of a plague was the choice for someone to end their life.

After Charminar, we headed around the town, looking at different sites and potential locations for our shoot in January and then back to our hotel.  The three of us to met in the lounge to continue our discussion about budget and schedule.  Steven and Allan are great guys and it is great to have them on the team.  They have so much experience and bring incredible expertise to this film – plus they’re just great to hang out with!  We’ve had many laughs already and have started to create those memories that make for great jokes through the production process – remember when, etc?!

Friday was spent at OM – our ministry partners.  Again, OM stands for Operation Mercy and they have quite a campus.  We were greeted warmly by Beena, one of the administrators at OM.  She has been our host before and it was good to see her again and to introduce her to Steven and Allan.  She was amazing and had our day planned.  We toured the OM compound and it was great to see all that OM is doing.  From their college to train pastors, to their school that educates 450 Dalit children, to the Lydia School that trains women in sewing, to their two churches and on and on, OM is busy impacting their world.  It is so cool to be partnering with them on this film.  Many questions were answered today – housing, production office, security, medical, transportation, locations, finances and banking, etc.  We met with several other OM leaders for lunch and a great discussion.  Dr. D’Souza was unable to join us because his mother has become quite sick and has been hospitalized.  Fortunately, the lump they found was not cancer, but they aren’t taking any chances.  He is spending as much time as he can with his mother.  Please keep her in your prayers.

Our good friend, Sebastian, joined us for lunch, too, with his wife.  He is in charge of all media production from OM.  He’s excited to be a part and to help out however he can.  I’ll be meeting with several girls for the role of Kavya next Tuesday.  They are bringing girls from their surrounding schools into the OM campus to meet with me.  I am very excited about this part of the trip!  They also arranged for us to fly to Calcutta on Wednesday to further scout the locations for the last part of the film.  Our day ended traveling back to our hotel in rush hour traffic – India style!  We met again to discuss the film and the many details that will make or break the production.  More laughs, more memories.  Can I just say that the time change of flying around the world takes its toll in strange and interesting ways?!

After a good night’s rest, today (Saturday), we’re off to the dump and a few slums as well.  Just the thought of going to the dump again makes me not look forward to this trip – and yet thousands of people call this their home.  Another reason to pray that God continues to shine on this film – it can have such an impact.  Pray that all goes well and we continue to find blessing and safety!

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Global Forum On Human Trafficking

Jessica and I went to the Global Forum on Human Trafficking in Carlsbad.  It was an amazing event – full of information that was both amazing and disturbing.  The fact that we even had a forum on this topic was somewhat discouraging and reminded me, once again, about the evil that lives in this world.

The forum was hosted by North Coast Calvary.  Our friend, Derek DaPena is the High School pastor at that church.  It was great to connect with him again and to spend some time with him during the forum.  We even had the opportunity to grab some lunch at a local restaurant.  He brought his son, Kasen, with him.  Talk about energy and passion for life!  It was awesome!

The event was kicked off by Luis C. de Baca the Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the State Department. He was appointed by President Obama to help combat this rising issue.

Not for Sale hosted this event.  Their mission – “The Not For Sale Campaign equips and mobilizes Smart Activists to deploy innovative solutions to re-abolish slavery in their own backyards and across the globe. Together, we can end slavery in our lifetime.”  They really mean that and are diligent in their efforts to accomplish this mission.

We also had the chance to meet Jenise who works with Giving Children Hope and “Giving Children Hope is a faith-based nonprofit organization dedicated to alleviating poverty (domestically and abroad) through disaster relief, health and community development, vocational training and advocacy.”  Their annual gala to raise awareness is this Saturday, October 24, 2009, in Buena Park.  David Batstone, founder and director of Not for Sale, is the keynote speaker.

When we were driving home from the forum, I was reminded of the importance of our cause – to free the Dalits in India and put an end to the trafficking of people in this world.  There are other vigilant groups also fighting for this same cause.  As we continue to work together, we will see change.