David Garrett (Zac Ryan), and Kendra Staub (McKenna Roberts)
I never ended up going to film school; I had
zero film experience, and yet here I was
moving to North Carolina, by faith, to make
a feature film. Within a short period of
time I was able to get a job on “The Hobby
Stop” as a script supervisor. Basically It was
my job to make sure every line in the script
had been shot as well as keep track of takes
and mark the best take as deemed by the
director. This was my film school. I worked
for free, but it was worth every hour spent.
Every day I took private notes on what to
do and what not to do. After the wrap, it
became clear that it was time to begin the
task of shooting my feature. Suddenly, the
overwhelming task of bringing so many
folks together hovered over me like a thick
storm cloud.
I prayed. I laid out my fears of failure and of
my future - what if I spend years and still
don’t make the film? What if I make the
movie and it’s terrible? I recall a still small
voice say, “Share your story and I will take
care of the rest.”
From that moment on I began to share the
story of Zac Ryan as well as the personal
story behind the movie. I must have shared
the story with over 500 strangers. It turns
8 > CHRISTIAN REVIEW
out that some of them had connections
and in a short period of time I found myself
on local and then national radio talk shows.
From there, I was able to connect with a
few experienced producers and so I began
to write the script.
The first hurdle to getting your film made is
funding. My past experience in starting a
clothing line proved aces when it came to
fundraising. After much prayer, I settled on
making a pro-life t-shirt to offer to folks
who gave a gift towards production. I soon
found myself speaking at local churches
and selling out of t-shirts. It took over four
years to raise the funds - selling over 1,000
t-shirts and running two Indiegogo
campaigns.
Though a long and difficult road to getting
fully funded, it proved to be a blessing in
disguise. It ended up being a way of
promoting the film at local churches and
various pro-life events around the country,
which ultimately allowed us to build a solid
fan base. Our first day of filming was on top
crowder mountain - needless to say, t