Why I Made the Daisy Movie
You have to make a movie to know how to make a movie, and that is why I made What About Daisy. I was looking for a story that would be compelling and worth spending a year or so of my life on in my spare time. I studied screenwriting, wrote a feature length screenplay, created news videos and produced Sharathon's, programs and promos for He's Alive Television Station, KHBA Channel 39 in Spokane. But movies are different. I needed the experience of making one.
At a recent Harris family reunion at Wallowa Lake, Oregon, we had just finish a potluck lunch and suddenly my mother stood to speak, “I want to tell you a story, she said," I’ve always had a strong attachment to my Aunt Bessie, my Uncle Ted's wife." Everyone listened to her story because Mother wasn't one to speak to a large group of people. When she spoke, we figured it must be pretty important. And we listened to a story we had never heard before. Of how she went to live with Bessie and Ted while a very young child.
This is the story -- told in a short version -- in What About Daisy.
Making this movie has taught me allot about how to, and a little of how not to, make a movie. There are some things I would do differently, but I think many areas went well. And because it is still in process, I'm still learning.
Why I made the Daisy Movie
So I still need to answer this question, "Why did I make this movie?" The super short version is, To learn how to tell the story of Jesus on screen.
If you want a bit longer version, read on. I did not set out to make movies, it was not on my radar. I never watched TV as a child and the first movie I ever saw was, "One Flew Over the Kukoo's Nest. Growing up in a very conservative home, I thought I was probably going to hell because I saw a movie. But as I watched various movies I began to realize that if all Christians and people with high standards avoid watching movies then the selections of movies will reflect that. When we come out in force to see "good" movies we raise the standard higher.
The Story
One day about 11 years ago I read the book, Messiah, which is a modern version of The Desire of Ages, by Ellen G. White. I couldn't put it down. I had to keep reading not just a chapter a day but several chapters. I finished it in about a week . During the reading, I vividly saw the life of Jesus in my mind's eye and became convinced that "someone" should put THIS story on the big screen. Not just his death and birth, but his LIFE. No one has ever made a movie or a TV series about the Life of Jesus. As I wrestled with how to plant this idea in the heart of someone who could do this, I felt the mantle fluttering on my shoulders.
I argued, "Why me? I'm not trained!"
"You have always wanted to go back to school, go be trained."
"Okay, but I don't think I'm the right person to do this," I said.
"Just go to Eastern Washington University and learn how to tell my story to the modern mind."
"I will go back to school and I will do what you ask but I still can't believe you would choose me to tell your story."
A few days later I had registered for some classes at EWU and I continued to argue in prayer about this situation. I said, "Your story needs to be told by the best production company around." I gestured to God, while driving up the Sunset Hill toward my job. "Like Sony, Touchstone or the group who made Shindler's List. Your story is worthy of the very best director, the very best actors, the very best of everything ..."
"I was born in a barn."
I continued, "You need someone other than me to do this because this is a huge task and ..."
"I was born in a barn."
"Okay, okay what does being born in a barn have to do with telling the story of your life?" I prayed, trying to understand why this same phrase keeps entering my mind. I didn't understand. But as I asked God what "being born in a barn" has to do with this conversation, he makes it clear that just like he came into the world in a humble stable, he wants his story told to the world through someone weak. He wants to show his power through weakness.
The Mantel Settles
That is when the mantel finally settled and stayed and I began to study in earnest. I've read several books over more than once and now have a collection of books about Jesus. I wrote a practice feature length screenplay that could be a pilot for a weekly series of his life. I still do not feel qualified, but when What About Daisy is completed, I will surround myself with people who believe in this calling and who will pray and study with me to make it happen.
If you believe you, too, are called by God to tell his story on the big screen, which is the biggest ministry you or I will ever undertake, then please pray about it. After you have prayed about it, if you still feel called to be a part, please email me: [email protected]
Why the Story of Young Jesus should be told
Jesus is our example. There are many who dwell with interest upon the period of His public ministry, while they pass unnoticed the teaching of His early years. But it is in His home life that He is the pattern for all children and youth. -- Ellen White, Desire of Ages, p. 74.
At a recent Harris family reunion at Wallowa Lake, Oregon, we had just finish a potluck lunch and suddenly my mother stood to speak, “I want to tell you a story, she said," I’ve always had a strong attachment to my Aunt Bessie, my Uncle Ted's wife." Everyone listened to her story because Mother wasn't one to speak to a large group of people. When she spoke, we figured it must be pretty important. And we listened to a story we had never heard before. Of how she went to live with Bessie and Ted while a very young child.
This is the story -- told in a short version -- in What About Daisy.
Making this movie has taught me allot about how to, and a little of how not to, make a movie. There are some things I would do differently, but I think many areas went well. And because it is still in process, I'm still learning.
Why I made the Daisy Movie
So I still need to answer this question, "Why did I make this movie?" The super short version is, To learn how to tell the story of Jesus on screen.
If you want a bit longer version, read on. I did not set out to make movies, it was not on my radar. I never watched TV as a child and the first movie I ever saw was, "One Flew Over the Kukoo's Nest. Growing up in a very conservative home, I thought I was probably going to hell because I saw a movie. But as I watched various movies I began to realize that if all Christians and people with high standards avoid watching movies then the selections of movies will reflect that. When we come out in force to see "good" movies we raise the standard higher.
The Story
One day about 11 years ago I read the book, Messiah, which is a modern version of The Desire of Ages, by Ellen G. White. I couldn't put it down. I had to keep reading not just a chapter a day but several chapters. I finished it in about a week . During the reading, I vividly saw the life of Jesus in my mind's eye and became convinced that "someone" should put THIS story on the big screen. Not just his death and birth, but his LIFE. No one has ever made a movie or a TV series about the Life of Jesus. As I wrestled with how to plant this idea in the heart of someone who could do this, I felt the mantle fluttering on my shoulders.
I argued, "Why me? I'm not trained!"
"You have always wanted to go back to school, go be trained."
"Okay, but I don't think I'm the right person to do this," I said.
"Just go to Eastern Washington University and learn how to tell my story to the modern mind."
"I will go back to school and I will do what you ask but I still can't believe you would choose me to tell your story."
A few days later I had registered for some classes at EWU and I continued to argue in prayer about this situation. I said, "Your story needs to be told by the best production company around." I gestured to God, while driving up the Sunset Hill toward my job. "Like Sony, Touchstone or the group who made Shindler's List. Your story is worthy of the very best director, the very best actors, the very best of everything ..."
"I was born in a barn."
I continued, "You need someone other than me to do this because this is a huge task and ..."
"I was born in a barn."
"Okay, okay what does being born in a barn have to do with telling the story of your life?" I prayed, trying to understand why this same phrase keeps entering my mind. I didn't understand. But as I asked God what "being born in a barn" has to do with this conversation, he makes it clear that just like he came into the world in a humble stable, he wants his story told to the world through someone weak. He wants to show his power through weakness.
The Mantel Settles
That is when the mantel finally settled and stayed and I began to study in earnest. I've read several books over more than once and now have a collection of books about Jesus. I wrote a practice feature length screenplay that could be a pilot for a weekly series of his life. I still do not feel qualified, but when What About Daisy is completed, I will surround myself with people who believe in this calling and who will pray and study with me to make it happen.
If you believe you, too, are called by God to tell his story on the big screen, which is the biggest ministry you or I will ever undertake, then please pray about it. After you have prayed about it, if you still feel called to be a part, please email me: [email protected]
Why the Story of Young Jesus should be told
Jesus is our example. There are many who dwell with interest upon the period of His public ministry, while they pass unnoticed the teaching of His early years. But it is in His home life that He is the pattern for all children and youth. -- Ellen White, Desire of Ages, p. 74.