Seen the Planned Parenthood Video? Now Watch My Short Film: The Choice

I'm still thinking about all the people haunted by the revelation what of Planned Parenthood is doing and the recent video that surfaced. In my previous post we recognized that video about Planned Parenthood must be bringing up some awful feelings and memories for some.

We also talked about the love God has for you, even if you are one of the millions who has lost a child to abortion. (Tweet that!)

That was the very topic of the short movie I co-produced with my husband a few years ago.

You can watch our short film on YouTube. It runs only 10 minutes.

It is based on Chris Jackman's true story told in my book Deliver Me. The story is also titled "The Choice," page 74.

Thanks to my film crew, we also have a 2-minute trailer for our film. Here are both, the trailer first, then the film:

bit.ly/TheChoiceTrailer 

bit.ly/TheChoiceFilm

Tweetables:

2nd #PlannedParenthood #video today. Were u a client? Haunted? Here's #Mercy&Love. (Tweet that!)

#PlannedParenthood Lost a child to #abortion? Find relief, love, and forgiveness from #God. (Tweet that!)

Related Post:

This Breaking News Planned Parenthood Video HAS to Be Bringing Up Horrible Memories for Some -- Here's Love and Relief

Please share this post with your friends and contacts. Thank you.

View "The Choice" short film now!

It's here! The Choice has premiered at the 168 Film Festival! You know what that means?

That means now that the premiere is over, we can show you the film!

It's on YouTube here: The Choice short film. It will take 10 minutes of your time.

Please enjoy it. Leave a comment if you wish. "Like" it. And send a link to your social media contacts.

Our prayer is that our film will reach the people who are still struggling, who can finally see that they are not the only one who struggles, and who can find direction, help, and hope in this film.

This film is based on a true story in the book Deliver Me: Hope, Help, and Healing through True Stories of Unplanned Prenancy.

Please help us spread the word about The Choice short film. Thank you!

Tonight! Premiere of "The Choice" short film

Do you know what today is? Today is the premiere of the short film I wrote, directed, and produced in February. The Choice is premiering at the 168 Film Festival in San Fernando, California, TONIGHT!!

Here is the 168 Film Festival schedule. If you scroll down to "Screening Four" tonight, you'll see our film, The Choice, (Team 22) is listed third. That portion of the screenings starts at 8:35 PM. All the films are a maximum of 11 minutes. Ours is 10 (9:56). At the Festival, they just run film after film after film with no break or commentary in between. So...I'm guessing The Choice will screen approximately 8:55 or 9:00 PM California time (if they're running on schedule). That's about 10:00 PM Colorado time. I hope that excites you as much as it does me!
Did you know...  This short film, The Choice is based on a true story in Deliver Me by the same title? The story is written by Chris Jackman.

Chris Jackman also wrote a song by the same title with appears on her CD "The Choice."  Her song is featured in the film.

If you're interested, you can watch The Choice movie trailer right now!

168 Film Project -- See movie trailer for "The Choice" now!

If you were reading this blog back in February, you know I participated this year in the 168 Film Project for the second time. I'm very pleased with the film we produced this year!

We can't show you our film until after it premieres at the 168 Film Festival which March 30 - 31 in the Los Angeles area.

Unfortunately our film was not nominated for any awards. However it will still be shown at the 168 Film Festival. We are Team 22 and our film is titled The Choice.

However, we can show your the movie trailer! We just got our trailer produced and uploaded a few days ago. You can see it on my YouTube channel and on my Vimeo page. Here are the links.

The Choice movie trailer:

YouTube: http://youtu.be/MCQjvaZl0t8

Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/dianneebutts

Please "Like" it, leave a comment, and/or send a link to your Facebook, Twitter, and friends. I hope you enjoy seeing the movie trailer for The Choice.

Our 168 Film Title: "The Choice"

Our film we made for the 168 Film Project is titled "The Choice."

Here's the Bible verse we were assigned:

As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:11-13, TNIV)

What a great verse to build a story around!

168 Film Project 2012

My second year participating in the 168 Film Project has been exciting and challenging once again. We started out very well. During our 10 days in pre-production we were assigned Romans 10:11-13 for our Bible verse.

I found a story that fit the verse that I liked and it was amazing to watch the story develop. Many people pitched in ideas that were helpful, and some ended up in the final script. We could feel the Lord richly blessing this project.

Production week started Thursday, February 16th at 11:00 am local time. We planned two days of filming. Could we really get it all filmed in two days?! Well we did. We were done filming by 3:30 Friday. The filming all went very, very well.

My editor, Zach Hubbell, had a rough cut on Saturday. Took time out to attend church Sunday morning and by Sunday afternoon we were adding the wonderful music by John Doryk.

We were amazed we'd be ready to turn in the film on Monday -- three full days ahead of schedule!

But then...don't ya know. Something glitched. When we tested the film, it wouldn't play back right. The picture was herky-jerky and the sound wasn't synced anymore. We knew it had to do with converting the film to the format required by the 168 Film Project. The problem was how to fix it.

We couldn't possibly have come this far, with the Lord so obviously blessing the project in so many ways, and then not have a film that would play to turn in, could we? The Lord would work this out. Wouldn't he? But we know there are no such guarantees.

It was a good thing we were so far ahead of schedule because it took two full days to find a solution and get it implemented. But in the end we triumphed (Thank you Jesus!) and our film went to FedEx a full 17 hours before turn-in deadline of today at 11:00 am.

I think we made a fine film, one I will be proud to show. I'm very proud of every member of my Film Team and I cannot say thank you enough to each and every one of them.
 
My prayer is that God will be glorified in what we have produced this week. 
 
(Nope, sorry. You can't see it until after judging is completed.)

More later...

Finished Principal Photography - 168 Film Project

Yesterday morning our early shoot went really well. Lots of actors and extras to direct, but we got the job done and the film we got is very good based on what I've seen so far. We finished pretty much on time, I think. (Forgot to look at the clock!) We let almost everyone go and finished shooting the last scene at 20 minutes after 9:00 when the store opened. But the Christian bookstore owner, which was our location for the shoot, said the store doesn't get busy right away so it would probably be okay if we ran over a little on time. So I think it was good.

Had a few hours break before we could get into the last location, but when we did we got the job done. Again, I forgot to look a the clock! I'll have to ask someone, but I think we finished on time and let our actors go.

The last scene that we shot was pretty amazing with the actress walking down the hallway into growing darkness -- which was great both visually and symbolically considering the context.

We got home and started post production right away until late. Will continue post production today. The editor has lots to do and so do I--typing up the credits, a few more releases, etc. Better get to it.

"The Choice" 168 Film Project

For ten days we've been preparing to film our 168 Film Project. Today we started filming -- starting at 11:00 AM local time. What an amazing day!

Amazing acting. Great filming. Awesome crew.

Starting in again early tomorrow. What an amazing journey.

The 168 Film Project Aftermath

I so totally failed to blog every day of the 168 Film Project. There was absolutely no time. Long days. Short nights.

So how did it end up? Well, we ended up with a movie. But the movie was not without its problems.

We had sound problems and weather problems. (The wind blew a lot which created some of the sound problems.) We had equipment problems. We had other problems.

Needless to say we weren't in the running for any contest prizes or awards.

So if the point was to come out of the contest with a really cool, award-winning movie, I guess we failed at that, too. But if the point was to make a movie so we could learn all we could and gain experience in film-making, then I'd say it was a shining success!

One thing that kept me busy that week was working with a reporter on an article about the 168 Film Project. A bit of a role reversal with me being the interviewee rather than the interviewer. You can read the article in the Pueblo Chieftain here.

Has it really been six weeks ago?! Life has been a whirlwind since then and I have so much to tell you! But that will take some time. So for now, let me just say that RIGHT SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 168 FILM PROJECT, GUESS WHAT HAPPENED?!

Deliver Me was published! That's right. It's out!

The official release date was April 12th. That's part of why life has been such a whirlwind . . . and part of why I've been too busy to blog. (Okay. I know. Is anyone ever really too busy to blog?) Well, it seems everything in the world conspired to keep me away from the blog.

But as of this evening, Deliver Me  is on Amazon.com! How cool is that?

I'll try not to leave the blog so long this time. I have so much happening that I want to fill you in on. Until next time..

Camera's Roll Tomorrow!

What a whirlwind! The last few days have been so busy! You know what? I haven't been here for a few days, and at this point I can't even tell you what I did on those days. I did something. I can assure you of that. Oh yea. Bought food and props and stuff and thing.

This morning I picked up actress Martha Schad and team member Micah at DIA. Then back home by noon.

At 2:00 was interviewed by a reporter from the Pueblo Chieftain. That article will run on Saturday. Then she wants to talk to me again in a week.

Can't believe cameras roll tomorrow! At 11:00 local time.

I doubt I'll be able to do anything here on the blog for the next three days at least. Will be long days!

See you on the other side! (Pray for us!)

And oh by the way -- got the second proof copy of the Deliver Me book and it looks TERRIFIC!

(EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING AT ONCE!)

The Scrip! The Script!

Uh oh! Did I miss a day on my blog?! Where did that day go?

The script! We're still working on the script. While time ticks away.

The fundraiser dinner is tomorrow. (Can't make it? Make a donation to our film here!)

Can you believe we roll camera in less than a week? Yikes!

Back to the script. . .

Writing with a Team - 168 Film Project script

Our 168 Film Project has a Team of writers. As a freelancer, I'm used to working alone. So how do you work as a Team? Especially when people are in different locations?! Two here in Colorado. Two in Los Angeles. One in Iowa?

Not to mention all the ideas floating around.

We're working on getting a story to come together for all of us, and then working on getting it down as a script.

It's a challenge, but it's a good challenge!

***  Make a donation to our film here! ***

We got our assigned Bible verse! - 168 Film Project

We received our assigned Bible Verse from the 168 Film Project! The verse we need to portray in our story is . . .

                                    DRUM ROLL PLEASE! . . .

Genesis 9:8-10


We received our verse the evening of Super Bowl Sunday. We got ours early because we're out of the Los Angeles area. The teams in LA got theirs yesterday.

We're off an running to write a story!

*** Help us fund our movie with a donation here. ***

Read about a Crazy Act of Faith

TheChristianPulse.com posted my article about the 168 Film Project last Friday. You can find it here: "A Crazy Act of Faith."

Please visit and rate the article or post a comment. Thanks!

Tonight is "Verse Night"!

I know what you're thinking: What the heck is "Verse Night"?


Last summer when I was attending the Act One Program, some of my classmates and I got together as a team to enter the "168 Hour Film Project." This is a speed-filmmaking competition. We get a short time (168 hours = 1 week) to produce a short (11-minute) film based on a Bible verse! I hoped I could contribute something of value by helping the team in Los Angeles write the script from here in Colorado.

So before Christmas, our team's leader, producer Nancy Bevins, got all available team members together by phone to get the ball rolling. She asked each of us what locations we had access to. When it came my turn, I reminded her that, um, I'm in Colorado, ya know? So . . . She said, "Yeah. What locations do you have?"

I said, "Well, um, we have some mountains out here."

The conversation continued and about five minutes later I said, "Hey! I know something fairly unique that I get you in Colorado: Bikers!"

One thing led to another and guess what? We're filming our short in Colorado. The whole team is coming to my house!!

Nancy and I have been working hard to get things ready for cameras to roll on February 17th and, boy, it's a ton of work. But hey, what an education I'm getting! I'm getting to see--and take part in--the whole production side of filmmaking! Something this little writer never thought she'd get to do. Most people only get an education like this in Hollywood. But for me, Hollywood is coming to my house. Literally!

So, what is "Verse Night"? All 168 Film Teams are assigned their own unique Bible verse that we are to base our story on. Bible verses are assigned ten days before production week--this year February 6th. So, around the end of the Super Bowl, we'll get a phone call and the folks at 168 Headquarters will tell us what our verse is. That's Verse Night.

I have to tell you that there is a lot more going on at my house. Like the publishing of my Deliver Me book. But there's even more totally wild unbelievable things going on. I'll tell you more later. Right now I'm pretty swamped!

I would really like to blog every day about the 168 Film Project, like I did throughout Act One last summer, and I'm going to give it a shot. But honestly, I don't know if I'll be able to keep up. I'll try. So stay tuned. I'll let you know what verse we get!

• We need a short budget to make our short film in the short amount of time. If you'd like to donate to the project, you may do so here: Harley Heat. Thank you!