SeanPaulMurphyVille: RUN ON -- True Confessions About True Confessions

Sunday, September 13, 2020

RUN ON -- True Confessions About True Confessions

After a very long hiatus, I am returning to writing the behind the scenes stories of my feature film productions. But where to begin? Which film to discuss next?

I have been writing about the films in chronological order of their creation. (For example, Holyman Undercover was shot before Sarah's Choice but released after it.) However, this period of my career was very confusing. My former partner Tim and I were essentially working on a number of scripts and concepts simultaneously. We were working on The Encounter, Marriage Retreat, Brother White, Run On as well as a possible western starring Randy Travis and the notorious Proof script, which would lie at the heart of John Sullivan and Brad Stine's multi-million dollar lawsuit over the PureFlix film God's Not Dead.

Tim and I started on the script to what would be David A.R. White's segment of Run On at least a year before we started the script for Marriage Retreat. Marriage Retreat would be shot first, but Run On would be released first. Therefore, I think I should write about Run On first.

The chronological order of the work might not be clear, but the purpose of the film was clear to everyone involved from the start. The sole purpose of this film was to generate bookings for David A.R. White's one man show.

When I first started working with David, he was still sporadically performing his one-man show Holyman Undercover at churches around the country. Holyman Undercover was an extremely exaggerated version of his own life and adventures in Hollywood. I don't know how often he actually performed it. The original show, written by Jill Gatsby, was loaded with drug and sexual humor which couldn't possibly have played well with evangelical audiences. When Tim and I adapted the show into a movie, we sanitized it considerably and our version will still lambasted for its sinfulness. Oh well.

With David A.R. White and my wife Deborah after a
performance of Holyman Undercover in New Jersey.

While we were still in post-production on Holyman Undercover, David asked if Tim and I would be interested in writing his next one man show. I wasn't surprised that he asked us, despite the fact that neither of us had written a one man show before. I assumed David had had a very nasty break with his previous writer Jill Gatsby. Why? Because when David sent us our contracts for the film version of the show, he said he wanted to pay us the bulk of our money as producers, not screenwriters. I asked why. He said it was because his contact with Jill specified that she would be paid as much as the other screenwriters if the show was made into a film. By paying Tim and I mainly as producers, he was legally able to pay Jill less money. I was actually shocked by the suggestion. Technically speaking, David was following the letter of the law, but ethically, it seemed to me like he was miles away from the intent. It didn't seem Christian to me. That's why I assumed he had broken with her in a very bad way. Why else would he treat her, in my humble opinion, in such an unethical manner? But that wasn't true. Jill even showed at the premiere. I'm glad I wasn't there. I would have had a hard time looking her in the eye. David didn't. He even interviewed her for possible inclusion in the DVD extras.

In retrospect, I now see that the contract for Holyman Undercover was a truly defining moment in my career in faith-based films. A very shameful one, too. In my desire to serve the Lord by making Christian films, I became a willing party to what I considered unethical deceit. I could have called David out on this issue. But, rather than risk my own opportunity to work on the film, I invented a justification in my mind that allowed me to look the other way. And I would find other opportunities to do so in the future. And it's not just me. That mentality runs rampant in Hollywood. That's why monsters like Harvey Weinstein managed to terrorize people unabated for so long. Everybody looks the other way out of fear of losing a job. So did I. That's why I don't want anyone to think I am pointing my finger at PureFlix or David A.R. White. My purpose with this blog isn't to expose them. It's to expose me for looking the other way. This is my confession, placed in the context of the events. And, Jill, if you're reading this, don't worry. We got screwed out of a lot more on Holyman Undercover than you did, but that's a tale for another day. Now, back to our story already in progress....

David had a plan. He wanted a show called Christian Film Star to capitalize on all of the faith-based films he had starred in. Additionally, he wanted an agent who could get him bookings with high-end mega-churches and ministries. That agent was Mike Smith. Mike represented a number of Christian acts including comedians Brad Stine and Tommy Blaze. Brad Stine was the more famous of the two men. He built a national reputation as God's comedian, and appeared before many groups like Promise Keepers. That's exactly what David wanted to do. That's when David the movie mogul went to work for David the actor. He felt the best way to win Mike Smith's favor was to hire his clients for the movies. That's how Brad Stine and Tommy Blaze came into the PureFlix orbit. Brad appeared in films like Sarah's Choice and Christmas with a Capital C and hoped to partner with PureFlix on the controversial Proof project. Tommy would first show up in my next film Marriage Retreat and subsequently appear in and write many other projects, becoming a true PureFlix insider. I hear he recently became acting Director of Development for the company.

David was making the right connections. But there was a problem. Mike Smith didn't like the script for Christian Film Star. He didn't think David, or his films, were well-known enough to generate bookings. (This was years before God's Not Dead. Ironically, David was probably better known for his small, supporting role in that film than all of his previous starring roles combined.) Smith suggested working a Biblical theme into the show that would resonate with Christian audiences whether or not they had seen the films. Tim and I thought about it. The solution was obvious: Turn David's life into a parable....

David's story was already very familiar to us. David was a preacher's kid who grew up in a small Mennonite community outside of Dodge City, Kansas. While attending Moody Theological Institute, he saw Kirk Cameron on a television show and decided to become an actor. Moving to Los Angeles, the impossible happened. He found success almost immediately and became a regular on the Burt Reynolds series Evening Shade. Unfortunately, an ill-timed joke on the set lost him Burt's support and David was dropped from the show. Now David's real struggle began. He discovered that the life of an actor on a hit show was considerably different than the life of an actor without a show. Now came the dark days. The difficulties. The soul-searching. And let's not forget all of the sin. Then David finally found his niche in Christian films, which brought him back to the faith of his father.

Our solution was obvious. Tim and I would turn David's life story into the most famous parable of all: The Prodigal Son. David, our innocent corn fed youth, hears the siren call of the big city and fame, leaves his godly preacher father for the pleasures of the city. Then, after indulging in all of the requisite evils, returns to his father, metaphorically-speaking, by becoming a minister himself through the movies. It seemed perfect.

There was a long moment of silence after we pitched the concept to David as we sat around the dining room table in Tim's house. Finally, David said, "I don't feel comfortable calling it a ministry."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because it's not," David replied. "It's just a business."

Frankly, I was stunned by his response. It caught me totally off guard. My work with PureFlix was certainly a ministry to me, and I thought we were all on the same page. PureFlix flaunted its so-called mission in all of its publicity. Whenever a film was released, David would appear on the Christian talk shows discussing the mission of the film and how their goal was to reach the world for Christ. In fact, they still say the same thing. Check out their website: PureFlix: About Us.

After an awkward moment of silence, I did what any screenwriter would do. I told David how it was essential it was for him to say it. How the Prodigal Son metaphor wouldn't work without it. David agreed. Then we got to work. In the process, we became the opposite of Catholic priests in confession. Catholic priests are supposed to listen to your sins and keep them quiet. Instead, we listened to a recitation of David's sins, revealed through emails and phone calls, so that we could reveal them, but in a way that Christians would find understandable, entertaining and ultimately forgivable. When we finished the script, we sent it to David. He rehearsed the show a few times at his home and sent us MiniDVs of his performance for our evaluation. I found it funny and poignant, despite the hypocrisy, but it didn't seem to go any further than our Christian Film Star show did.... Tim and I were back to other projects.

I later discovered it was actually Brad Stine who came up with the idea of the Run On film. David brought Brad into the PureFlix world in order to break into the world of live performing. Brad returned the favor being suggesting a three man comedy video which would expose David to Brad's existing fan base -- and that of fellow comic Tommy Blaze. It must be said, however, that Brad thought that making this film would increase the possibility of the three of them playing the husbands in the upcoming film Marriage Retreat. That didn't happen. While David and Tommy played two of the three husbands, Brad was relegated to a small cameo.

Tommy Blaze expanded on Brad's idea for the three man show. The three separate performances were structured as a continuous thematic tale of a fall and redemption. David would tell how he fell away from God in the pursuit of fame in Hollywood. Tommy would continue the tale with his true story of seeking God in a time of crisis. Then Brad would finish the show with his tale of living a triumphant life in Christ. A singer would bridge the three performances singing the title song.

The film was scheduled to be shot in Nashville over two nights before a live audience in a theater. Tim and I were invited to attend, but we declined the invitation. Not going to the shoots was starting to become a habit with us now. I'm glad we didn't. That way we managed to avoid some last minute stress. Right before the shoot, Brad and Tommy were told that they weren't going to be paid the agreed amount for their performances. For a moment, it looked like the project would collapse. One of the comedians demanded a full payment and received it. The other one took the cut just to get the film done. As for money, Tim and I were not paid at all for our work on the film. Our agreement for Prodigal earned us a percentage of the gate when David performed the show live. We didn't take a film version into account with the initial contract. However, we were both awarded net points for the film in a follow-up agreement. Sadly, said points have not generated any income for us yet in the years since the film was released.

The film was quickly edited and released with extremely little fanfare -- even by PureFlix standards at the time. No television shows appearances by the stars. No reviews. Very little, if any, retail placement. Tommy and I frequently called each other comparing notes on whether it was available in stores in our respective parts of the country. Sadly, neither of us could find any trace of it -- although I must say it became readily available. I saw it on the shelves every time I went to the movie section of my local LifeWay bookstore -- before it closed, that is.

The sight, however, brought me no joy. Every time I see that cover, I am reminded of David's words that Christian films were just a business to him.

Those words explained a lot of things that had happened earlier, and would ring increasingly louder as I continued making films for PureFlix. Perhaps because I did not confront him when he said those words, David became much more open about his personal goals and the reasons for making the films that followed. And, trust me, they had very little or nothing to do with sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In retrospect, I truly wish I stopped making films with PureFlix after The Encounter. If I had, I would be nowhere near as cynical and disillusioned about the growing Christian Entertainment Complex.

Oh, well.

Here's the trailer for Run On:

Read about the making of my other features:

The Making of 21 Eyes
The Making of Hidden Secrets
The Making of Holyman Undercover
The Making of Sarah's Choice
The Making of The Encounter
The Making of Run On

Other Faith Based Writing Blogs:

Building The Faith Based Ghetto
God Told Me To Write It
Enter The Haters

Do Christian Creators Know Their Films Are Bad?
Zach Lawrence and the End Times Quandary

Be sure to check out my memoir The Promise, or the Pros and Cons of Talking with God, published by TouchPoint Press. It is my true story of first faith and first love and how the two became almost fatally intertwined.

Here are some sample chapters of The Promise:

Chapter 1 - A Photograph

Chapter 2 - My Death

Chapter 3 - Childhood

Chapter 4 - Saved!

Chapter 5 - The Promise

Chapter 6 - The Mission

Chapter 7 - Mission Accomplished
Chapter 15 - Quarter To Midnight

Be sure to check out my novel Chapel Street. It tells the story of a young man straddling the line between sanity and madness while battling a demonic entity that has driven his family members to suicide for generations. It was inspired by an actual haunting my family experienced.

You can buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble.

Learn more about the book, click Here.

Watch the book trailer: