We are thrilled to be working to raise awareness for this debut film from By The Glass Productions. World premiere in Indy at the Heartland Film Festival, regional premiere at Austin Film Festival- the crew heads to LA next for the Downtown Film Festival on November 29th, 2010. Check out this interview with Storme Wood, filmmaker:
About You:
♥ How long have you been involved in filmmaking?
Storme has been directing, producing, editing, shooting and writing for over a decade. Andie has been writing stories since she was four.
♥ Please list college/university alma mater.
Storme is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. Andie attended Earlham College and Indiana University and graduated from the Austin Graduate School of Theology.
♥ Where were you born? Where do you currently reside?
Storme was born into a Navy family in Panama, and currently lives in Oklahoma City. Andie was born in Muncie, Indiana, and graduated from the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities. She lives surrounded by a hayfield in Springville, Indiana.
♥ Do you have any ties to Indiana (school, work, family, etc.)?
Storme’s mother is from Indianapolis, and he has a great deal of family still in the area. Andie is a born and bred Hoosier who spent some time in St. Louis and Austin before coming home to her roots.
♥ Are you available for pre-Festival telephone interviews?
Absolutely.
♥ Please list a cell number where you may be reached during the Festival for on-the-spot media interviews.
Storme: 512-922-2853
Andie: 812-508-5244
About the Film:
♥ Why did you create this film? What attracted you to the subject of this film?
This film started as a novel until another fellow Hoosier, Denis Hennelly of Open Road Films in Los Angeles and a very good friend, convinced Andie to write it as a screenplay. For the past decade, Andie has been researching cults and spiritually abusive churches. Her own upbringing in a spiritually abusive church and her love for her family was really the catalyst for the project. She has assisted spiritually abused people from many kinds of groups for many years, and she felt that their voices needed to be heard.
Storme felt drawn to this project because of some of the ex-members that he met while working with Andie. He wanted to help tell this story to give these and other hurting people hope. Additionally, he wanted to use his storytelling abilities and his resourcefulness to tell a story that didn’t have to apologize for a small budget or a small crew. He believes that technology, skill, and intuition can be combined to tell great stories with very limited resources.
Storme and Andie believe that they have created something very special with Paradise Recovered, and they hope that their audiences share in their vision.
♥ Share something unique about the film that you think the media might be interested in. It can be related to the subject, the title, the making of the film, the vision behind the film, casting, location, script, etc.
Andie is a stay at home mom with four children ranging in age from 16 to 5. She wrote this script from 5 am to 7 am nearly every morning and on every other Saturday for two and a half years. This is her first screenplay.
While Storme has directed many short films and worked on larger feature projects, this is his debut as a director.
They have included their families in their work as much as possible. Andie’s daughter, Valerie, is a supporting actor in the production. Her son, Abel, served as a utility sound assistant, and her son, Alex, was a grip and managed craft services. Her daughter, Angelina, serves as her fancy business assistant, choosing her wardrobe and critiquing her makeup.
Storme is a stay-at-home dad who spent the summer balancing caring for his daughter, Harper, and his son, Truman, with his career as a director and producer.
They both work a lot from their kitchen tables.
Storme and Andie are committed to sharing profits of this film with Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center, an accredited mental health facility specializing in clients coming from cult abuse. 10% of the profits from Paradise are earmarked for Wellspring.
By The Glass Productions, LLC, is a for-profit company, but is very cause-driven. 10% of profits from all By The Glass projects have designated charity recipients. By The Glass champions their up and coming filmmakers, musicians, and artists by promoting their talents.
By The Glass shares profits from our projects with those who worked so hard to make them: the cast and crew. From the sound editor to the production assistant, from the director of photography to craft services – by sharing profits, future projects will be launched and future dreams financed.
This feature was shot on a RED camera for $75,000 on location in Bloomington and Lawrence County with a cast and crew from Austin, Indianapolis, and Bloomington. Some interiors were shot in Austin, Texas. Principal photography took seventeen days in twenty-three locations. And there was a road trip in the middle of the shoot.
All of the music in this film comes from Indiana-based artists. A soundtrack is being compiled and is scheduled for release in October 2010.
This film was created to give those who have been spiritually abused a voice and to validate their experiences. It was also created to help turn down the outrage between those who have faith and those who choose not to have faith. Diverse test audiences have been overwhelmingly positive.
Our appearance at Heartland Film Festival will be our World Premiere.
♥ Please list recognition/awards/festivals for this film.
In addition to Heartland Film Festival, Paradise Recovered has been named an official selection of the Austin Film Festival in Austin, Texas (still under embargo as of this writing, but we can let you know when that lineup is released). It has also been selected by LA Talk Radio’s Film Courage Interactive to appear as a featured selection on November 29, 2010 at the Downtown Independent theatre.
“’Paradise Recovered’ is a remarkable film, the best in memory, about cult mind control and how people are able to help themselves and others to freedom. It is so well done. Great writing. Great acting. Great directing, lighting, music, and editing. Can you tell that I loved it?
“I hope millions of people watch this movie and understand that it is a fictionalized depiction of groups that really exist, with charismatic leaders who claim to speak for God exclusively. These groups control people’s behavior, information, thoughts, and emotions, and they make followers dependent and obedient.
“It is also about people who see someone and realize how ‘stuck’ they are with phobias, thought and information control. These loving people make great efforts to incrementally help to empower cult members to grow, learn, and develop more choices.
“Please watch this movie. And please encourage your family and friends to watch it as well. It deserves to be seen. It is an instant classic.”
- Steven Hassan, Cult Expert and Cult Counselor. Author of Combatting Cult Mind Control and Releasing The Bonds. http://www.freedomofmind.com/stevehassan/presskit/appearances
About Heartland:
♥ How did you hear about Heartland?
Being from Indiana, Andie has attended Heartland screenings for many years. Storme’s family has also supported Heartland for a number of years. Together with Andie’s husband, Ron Becker, they attended the Heartland Gala last year and found it to be a fun night for celebrating filmmakers. It inspired them to do their very best work with ‘Paradise Recovered’.
To be having the World Premiere of ‘Paradise Recovered’ here in Indianapolis at this amazing festival is truly a dream come true.
♥ What prompted you to submit the film to Heartland?
By The Glass Productions, LLC is committed to doing “Film For Good.” This means that we believe in the power of love to overcome adversity, and our current and future film projects exemplify our commitment. Because of Heartland’s vision to recognize and honor filmmakers whose work explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for positive values of life, we felt that our company’s vision ties in nicely with Heartland.
The Indiana connection was also a very nice bonus. We are committed to promoting the arts and up and coming artists in Indiana, and Heartland is a great venue for that as well.
