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I just found out that Ken Wales went to be with the Lord on August 21. The news brought back a flood of memories.
Sometime in 2004 I heard from my friend Sean Gaffney that Ken, who had produced the original Pink Panther films, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Christy, and many others, was interested in producing the rest of the Chariots of Fire story. I was working on Beyond the Chariots, my one-man play that tells that story, at the time, so I was very interested in auditioning for Eric Liddell in the film.
At the time I knew they were working on Amazing Grace, so I was shocked when Ken called me up. I told him about my play and hoped he could see a reading of it at a Christians in Theatre Arts gathering near him that year, hoping he'd think of me for Liddell. He shocked me again when he mentioned that they didn't have a script yet!
In 2006 I was back in LA, and I invited him to a performance. He saw it, and took the stage afterward to tell the audience how much he loved it. At a late dinner he invited me to work on the screenplay.
I invited him to teach at the MasterWorks Festival two different summers, and he always made an effort to meet with each student, to hear their dreams and encourage them. One of the reasons he was so enthusiastic about encouraging the next generation was that Walt Disney invited him to stay in his home when Ken was in high school. Walt wanted to hear from a young person, and Ken's principal recommended him. At the end of the week, Walt took him around Disneyland, which I believe was still in testing mode at the time. On the It's a Small World ride Walt asked Ken what he wanted to do in life. When Ken told him he wanted to make movies, Walt took out his personal checkbook and wrote out a check for Ken's tuition for five years at the University of Southern California film school.
At MasterWorks and Christians in Theatre Arts, Ken would stay up until the wee hours telling stories of his adventures in Hollywood with students. I remember being shocked once that he beat me to the classroom where he was teaching first thing in the morning after he'd kept many of us up past 2:00 a.m.!
Ken's greatest help with my career was probably when he recommended me for Alone Yet Not Alone, which he was producing. I landed a small role, but it connected me with so many wonderful people that I've worked with over the years.
Sadly, Ken got dementia before we were able to get our screenplay to market.
I got to visit Ken once after that. I made him weep as I reminded him of some of the stories he told me and thanked him for his great influence on my life and career. I'll always be glad I was able to spend that time with him.
Join me in praying for more mentors and producers like Ken to rise up and create films that point people to Christ.
It's a very powerful film about how Ashley Smith, played by Kate Mara (Fantastic Four), was held captive by Brian Nichols, played by David Oyelowo (Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma), in her own home for seven hours. Brian put a woman in a coma and then shot and killed four people as he made his escape from an Atlanta area courthouse and carjacked one vehicle after the next. He took refuge in Ashley's home, where she read from The Purpose Driven Life, the second most translated book next to The Bible, to Brian, and he [SPOILER ALERT for any who weren't aware of this front page incident over ten years ago] turned himself in to authorities.
The film has the crucible of Ashley's home at the center of its tightly wound plot, with glimpses of the world outside, terrorized. Michael K. Williams (RoboCop) plays Detective John Chestnut, who is leading the pursuit. Joyce pointed out that his character sets up a picture of the power struggle between Satan (Nichols: "I have a demon"), Man (Chestnut, so frustrated by his powerlessness he destroys a coffee machine while Brian Nichols' image mocks him from the monitor behind him), and Jesus Christ (in a postlude Oprah says to the real Ashley, "Jesus loves you!").
Ashley's book is titled Unlikely Angel because she was a methamphetamines addict at the time she was taken hostage in her own home. After the screening we saw, Ashley was a part of a panel interviewed by Gayle King of CBS Good Morning. Gayle asked Ashley about a moment in the film when Brian asks Ashley for drugs. She brings out the methamphetamines she almost flushed earlier. Brian tells her to take the drugs along with him. Ashley told the audience at the screening that in that moment she knew she had been more of a captive to drugs than she was to Brian that night. She refuses the drugs as he's taking them, but later, when he thinks they were laced, he tries again to force her to take them. Still she refuses. Ashley told us that her Aunt Kim had prayed for the Lord to take Ashley Home if she were not able to stop taking the drugs. Ashley thought that if she capitulated to taking the drugs when Brian held the gun to her head, she would literally die. Caught between death at Brian's hand and death at the drugs' hand, she chose obedience to God, risking her life with the man who'd killed four people that morning. Brian hijacked five vehicles within fifteen minutes, and one woman reported that he told her, "Don't you see this blood on my hands? I'm a dead man." Ashley also knew he had nothing to lose, but still she chose not to take those drugs. Ashley told us that after that moment she began to see Brian through the eyes of Jesus. Later in the interview Gayle King asked Ashley what compelled her to make pancakes for Brian. She took us back to that moment of refusing to take the drugs and how it sparked her ability to see him through the eyes of Jesus and treat him as a real human being.
Ashley told how she watched Captive for the first time sitting beside her daughter, Paige, who is now 16. Ashley thought she'd gone through all of the emotions since that day, but the film brought them flooding back for both of them.
Ashley was joined in the talk-back by Kate Mara, David Oyelowo, Mrs. Nichols the mother of the murderer, and Terry Botwick, one of the producers. In the audience were director Jerry Jameson, Mr. Nichols and Ashley's Aunt Kim, who had a major role in Ashley's recovery.
Kate talked about spending the day with Ashley. She focused on being truthful to who Ashley was at the time she was a hostage, though Ashley has been drug free since that night and was clearly transformed.
David Oyelowo pointed out that his character didn't speak for the whole first act of the film. We don't hear his voice until he was in the apartment with Ashley. That was an intentional choice to make him the two-dimensional mugshot we all saw on the news when he was the most wanted man in America. When we first hear his voice he's yelling over Ashley: "If you scream again I'll kill you!" But as Ashley is able to see him through the eyes of Jesus, gradually, so are we.
Gayle King asked David what drew him to portray someone who could murder four people in one day. He's made it clear he is a Christian, and he told us he doesn't naturally go after that kind of role. He said that was a sacrifice he knew he had to make so that Ashley's story could be told. He believed in it enough that he came on board as a producer.
David was unable to meet Brian Nichols because Brian is still -- a decade later -- in solitary confinement serving four consecutive life sentences. His mother explained during the talkback that she and his father are the only ones allowed to see him at this time. When Brian's son turns 18 he will be added to the list.
Mrs. Nichols told us that she feels no personal guilt over what Brian did because they raised him right. They always brought him to church, and he was living a good life, but when he was accused of raping a woman something snapped. Mrs. Nichols said demons entered him.
David asked Mrs. Nichols what it was like to watch the film. He almost stopped himself from asking the question, acknowledging how awkward it might be. Mrs. Nichols honored him, saying she was so drawn into David's work that there were times she forgot it wasn't her son.
She and her husband continue the ministry into Brian's life that Ashley began. His mother said he is deeply repentant and knows that turning himself in was the very best thing he could have done. He recognizes that part of his purpose is showing others that they should never turn from God.
Caroline Duffy is Ashley Smith's publicist. When I contacted her she was on her way to a screening of Captive, but she took the time to send the following about working with Ken Wales:
I can’t recall if I found Ken through connections or he found me, but I can tell you that it felt like a God thing when he called me out of the blue in the middle of so much chaos. He had worked with ‘instant celebrities’ before and gave me a primer on what to expect. Ashley was too overwhelmed to even consider the dozens of movie offers coming her way and Ken understood that the movie would only happen in God’s timing. She initially was very wary about Hollywood, so it was critical for us to do the movie with someone who respected her faith and frailty at the time. We agreed to table any movie discussions until after the book launched. Ken stayed in touch, assembled the right players, and persevered with this project through many highs and lows. The fact that it has landed with a major studio and major actors has us all in awe of what God can do when you get out of the way and just let him direct the show!
One of the lows Ken shared with me was how at least one studio wanted to run with the story only if they left out The Purpose Driven Life angle. Ken refused to give in to that kind of thinking. When he was spending time in Atlanta with Ashley it occurred to him that The Purpose Driven Life was actually a character in the film! So he brought director Jerry Jameson and writer Brian Bird out to meet with the book's author, Pastor Rick Warren.
Ken happened to be in Atlanta with Ashley and her family when she was honored by the governor. When she received the award she thanked, "my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ."
When I called Ken to congratulate him on making such a great film and confirm my recollections over the many years I've been tracking this production he said, "We kill and badly wound people every day with our attitudes and remarks, and God's saying, 'Stop it! You have a choice!'"
Here's a shot from someone else who was there that evening. Each preview of the movie is dubbed a "Night of Purpose"...
Our friend Jim Betts was interviewed before seeing the film. He helped 130 recovering drug addicts of the Salvation Army's Adult Rehabilitation Center be a part of that Night of Purpose.
Christians should know: *Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements involving violence and substance abuse. *In Unlikely Angel Ashley mentions that she was dressed comfortably for an evening alone, and that when Brian was there she was uncomfortable with what she was wearing. Costuming reflects that. *A single use of dam_.
As we walked into the theater I stopped Joyce and said, "We've been praying for this moment for a very long time!" So we stopped and praised the Lord for my first nationwide theatrical release!
We noticed improvements since we saw it screened at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival last year, and we recommend it for everyone mature enough for PG-13 war violence.
And here are things folks said after the show, as interviewed by co-director George Escobar:
I performed the role of a land speculator in this amazing true story of two young girls who were abducted by separate tribes during the French and Indian War.
They made a number of cuts, including my scene, but they've retained one of my lines in a flashback. Hurrah! Hopefully they'll put the whole scene in the extended scenes of the DVD.
The title song from Alone Yet Not Alone was nominated for an Academy Award! Then the nomination was taken away because the composer, Bruce Broughton, emailed his friends asking them to listen to the song. It's common practice, and Bruce received many such emails over the thirty years he was serving the Academy. Our prayer is that the heightened publicity will make more people aware of the film, so that it's message of hope will bless even more.
Joni sang the song at the Movieguide® Awards on the Reelz Channel:
Here's what I wrote before the nomination was rescinded:
It's sung by one of my childhood heroes, Joni Eareckson Tada, and written by Dennis Spiegel and Bruce Broughton. Executive director of the film and MasterWorks frequent MasterClass instructor Ken Wales talked his friend Bruce into writing the song that got him his second Oscar nod, the first being in 1985 for the Best Music, Best Original Score for Silverado. The nomination put the song over a number of A-listers such as Taylor Swift's "Sweeter than Fiction" ("One Chance"), Coldplay's "Atlas" ("The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"), Lana Del Rey's "Young and Beautiful" ("The Great Gatsby"), Beyonce's "Rise Up" ("Epic"), Ed Sheeran's "I See Fire" ("The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"), Jay Z's "100$ Bill" ("The Great Gatsby") and Fantasia Barrino's "In The Middle of the Night" ("Lee Daniels' The Butler").
Studio System News includes an interview with Bruce in which he mentions Ken Wales:
Ken Wales (far right), producer of Amazing Grace, Christy, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the original Pink Panther films, among many others, met with most of our students to help them see how their unique giftings can help them fit into the entertainment industry. This was his fourth year, and the reason he didn't get to every student this year was because he was hard at work on another film he hopes to shoot in Winona Lake, just before MasterWorks.
Bev Holloway (next to John), casting director for Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius, The Ultimate Gift, An American Carol, and about 30 others, did a casting session with our students, and some of the roles they read are for two upcoming films! A man who lives in the community came up to me with tears in his eyes and shared that he's always enjoyed MasterWorks, but when he attended Bev's workshop and watched her giving direction and the students taking that direction and instantly making great adjustments, it finally dawned on him: MasterWorks is really training up the next generation of professional artists!
Patricia Mauceri (center), called us the week before she arrived, saying that she'd been given a script she couldn't perform. She made rewrites, but they were refused, and the role was recast. Her bold stance was a great witness to our students.
All four of them participated in one of two panel discussions, set up to answer questions the students had. Both panels were recorded for Romanian radio by one of our students, Krisztina Fekete, far right in the photo below.
This panel featured (from left to right), myself, Kohli Hessler Calhoun (dialect coach at NYU and the Stella Adler Studio, and our first master class instructor who attended the program!), Susan Sommerville Brown, and Harvey Johnson.
I was so thrilled with all that Harvey, Susie and Kohli brought, not only to this session, but to each one-on-one and class session they had with our students. The level of artistic and spiritual growth that was achieved because of their efforts is mind-boggling.
The only master class artist who wasn't around during a panel was Mac Nelson. He shared stories from his work with Liz Taylor and Jerry Lewis, from his most recent book, Memoirs of a Hollywood Adventure. He also shared from his first book, Waiting for my Fingers, about how he was healed from near-paralysis of both arms through surgery and the Lord. After the surgery he only had one note in his vocal register, but during a faculty recital he sang with his full range and tap-danced, swinging both arms with full-strength, to the Glory of God!
One of the spiritual highlights of the festival was when Joyce, my bride, led our students in a foot-washing. After we finished, the presence of the Lord was so palpable that I didn't want to lead them in anything. I just said, "Do whatever you want to do." They chose to wash each other's feet.
By the end of the month, one of our students asked to be baptized. Since Joyce is an ordained minister, we made plans. Another student had been taking baptism classes but had never been able to follow through to actually being baptized. She was delighted to do it with the close friends she'd made over the month. We went down to Winona Lake, the site of our festival, before church on Sunday. Their parents read scripture and prayed over each of them. Joyce baptized them officially, and then I got to dunk them. As we were walking off the dock singing, "Down To The River To Pray," Joyce yelled, "We've got another one!" The friend of one of our students was so moved by the service he asked to be baptized, too.
Photos from top to bottom by Nathan Nesbitt, Rich Swingle, Bernie Bernhardt (last two).
I just received a couple of books from award-winning author, Joan Bauer, who I met at this year's Christopher Awards. The theme of the Christopher's is, "It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness." Joan and filmmaker Ken Wales (far right in the photo) were both presenters at the awards ceremony: Joan for books and Ken for films.
Joan's book Hope Was Here was previously awarded the Christopher Award, along with the Newbery and other honors. Joan just learned that the State Department is translating the book into Russian. Her understanding is that it's the first time a novel has been translated for official public diplomacy.
The other book she gave us was Hudson Taylor on Spiritual Secrets, a 30-day devotional, which I'm looking forward to, since I'm reviving a monologue I created in which I portray Hudson Taylor.
One of the highlights of the evening was when Caroll Spinney shared a very touching story about how a father wrote to him to see if he would call his dying son as Big Bird, who he's played on Sesame Street for decades. Caroll did so, and after the call the boy said, "Big Bird called me! He’s my friend." And he closed his eyes. And he passed away. Caroll shared how the incident made him realize how important his words to children are.
Ken Wales joined us at MasterWorks last summer (click here for the post).
Ken recently was used as the centerpiece on an article on a very encouraging article, Faith on Film in Charisma.
Starting today the DVD of his film Amazing Grace is available on DVD.
Amazing Grace, from acclaimed director, Michael Apted, tells the inspiring story of how one man's passion and perseverance changed the world. Based on the true-life story of William Wilberforce (Gruffudd), a leader of the British abolition movement, the film chronicles his epic struggle to pass a law to end the slave trade in the late 18th century. Along the way, Wilberforce meets intense opposition from members of Parliament who feel the slave trade is tied to the stability of the British Empire. Several friends, including Wilberforce's minister, John Newton (Finney), a reformed slave ship captain who penned the beloved hymn Amazing Grace, urge him to see the cause through. Rated PG. Approx. 111 Minutes.
DVD Special Features:
Widescreen, Closed Captioned
English, Spanish and French Subtitles
Audio Commentary with Director Michael Apted and Ioan Gruffudd
How Sweet the Sound: The Story of Amazing Grace - Documentary
Finding Freedom
Interactive Discussion Tools and Study Guides
Music video of Grammy Nominee Chris Tomlin's version of Amazing Grace
Ken Wales (actor in 34 films opposite James Dean, John Forde and the like, and filmmaker on all the original Pink Panther films, The Tamarind Seed, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Party, Christy and Amazing Grace) blessed our theatre department for four days. He critiqued a runthrough of The Crucible and met one-on-one with every student but one (he gave him his personal phone number because he ran out of time). He said to post how much he loves our students.
Edwina has said she wants to stick around after the session to answer questions.
7/15, 7:30-?
Ken Wales will give a brief talk during the faculty recital in Rodeheaver Auditorium, then afterward he will invite people to stick around and he'll answer questions until curfew at 11. He may stick around for those who don't have curfew.
Now the television series based on Catherine Marshall's award-winning novel comes in one affordable boxed set! Christy: The Complete Series features 19 episodes about Christy Huddleston's life as a schoolteacher in the impoverished Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Determined to make a difference, 19-year-old Christy left the comfort of her home to help the children. Christy is home entertainment at its best, these wholesome programs star Kellie Martin, Tyne Daly, LeVar Burton, and many special guest performers. Four double-sided DVDs. Approx. 15 hours total.
Last year the MasterWorks theatre program was blessed to have John Kirby as one of our master class instructors. He has 30 years of experience in Hollywood running his own acting studio and working on 17 feature films including Narnia, Deja Vu and The Count of Monte Cristo. He's launched the careers of Cameron Diaz, Jim Caviezel and many others. For all this and much more, he's considered one of the best acting coaches in Hollywood.
Despite his weighty credentials, John made every effort to encourage students in and out of his master classes. His great wisdom is delivered with great care. I was thrilled to see that he enjoyed his time with us so much that he flew himself and his assistant Nathan Nesbitt back from LA to see our final performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. I figured if he saw our vision that clearly he might be open to returning, as indeed he will be.
Patricia Mauceri of One Life to Live, will put her Julliard training to work directing us in Arthur Miller's The Crucible. When I was a college student our school's production of the play impacted me so strongly that I wrote a play directly influenced by Miller's brilliant work. The themes of justice, morality and guilt are quite powerfully penned, and it's my prayer that many will come away inspired as I was at my first encounter with it.
Ken Wales is returning to teach some master classes. He was the producer of Christy and a dozen films. Most recently he produced Amazing Grace, the powerful story of how William Wilberforce spearheaded the abolition of the British slave trade. Ken will teach a couple of master classes and is looking forward to spending time with individuals talking about their dreams. It's no wonder he enjoys giving back: Walt Disney himself did the favor for him when he was a budding artist.
Our annual improv night is about to kick it up a notch. We're bringing in Mark Oppenlander, who was the team captain of the improv troupe for Taproot Theatre, the professional Christian theatre company in Seattle, which has sent us a number of great artists in the past. Mark is going to spend several sessions getting us up to speed and will take part in the final performance himself.
Susan Somerville Brown, who performed on Broadway in CATS will lend her buoyant spirit to the faculty once again.
I so wish I could have attended something like this when I was a young actor!
The deadline is extended to May 20. Apply now, and/or forward this to someone who might be interested. Go to MasterWorksFestival.org for an application and more info.
I met with Ken Wales last week while I was in Southern California. He's agreed to be a master class instructor at the MasterWorks Festival!
He signed a copy of his latest book, which he co-authored with his wife, Susan, and Ted Baehr. There are numerous photos from the film and a great shot of Wales and Ioan Gruffudd, who played William Wilberforce in Wales' film, Amazing Grace. The film opened on February 23 and is still in the top 25. Wales told me that because of the limited release its opening at 10th place doesn't point out that it was #2 in a per theatre breakdown. Wales said it won't be in theatres too much longer, so get out soon. To find out where it's playing, visit AmazingGraceMovie.com.
The book also includes a copy of the letter John Wesley wrote on his deathbed to Wilberforce. My friend Roger Nelson includes the letter in his one-man play The Man from Aldersgate, about Wesley. He performed the play alongside my Beyond the Chariots Off-Broadway last spring.
* Meet the man God used to eliminate slavery in England! This lavishly illustrated companion book to the motion picture celebrates the powerful legacy of Christian abolitionist William Wilberforce. Behind-the-scenes stories about the film's production plus in-depth essays from respected scholars demonstrate Wilberforce's far-reaching impact on his time---and ours. 140 pages, hardcover from New Leaf.
Ken Wales was just interviewed by ChristianityToday.com. He spearheaded the production of Amazing Grace, which opens this Friday, the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British slave trade, Wales discusses upcoming projects, including With Wings as Eagles, the rest of the Chariots Of Fire story.
Read the article: Save the Wales.
I've devoted my life to a career in theatre, knowing that films changed my life as a boy.
Tonight I experienced the kind of film that could inspire someone to be a world-changer.
I caught a sneek preview of Amazing Grace, which opens in theatres nationwide on February 23.
I was weeping through much of the film, and by the time the credits rolled I had tears streaming down my face. Everything I've ever heard or read about William Wilberforce was inspiring, but to see his story lived out before my eyes was breathtaking.
In performing A Clear Leading for over a decade now I've lived in the skin of someone who stood up against his whole world to fight slavery, but John Woolman, the protagonist in my play, had comparitively little to lose. Wilberforce was a politician, with a strong career in the public unfolding before him. He risked all of that and more, living with a disease brought on by the stress he endured year after year.
The story is brilliantly told to a woman with whom his friends (played by Sylvestra Le Touzel and Nicholas Farrell of Chariots Of Fire have set him up. (I'm shedding more tears thinking of how my dear friends the Whitakers set me up with the most wonderful woman alive.) The future Mrs. Wilberforce (played strongly by Romola Garai) followed the abolitionist's career from afar. He inspired her, as a young girl, to change the world. But newspapers don't tell all the details. They tell the facts, but story tells truth.
The filmmakers didn't need to dwell on brutality. In fact, the only whipping shown is of a horse, which also moves Wilberforce to action. Instead, we see the evidence of the brutal trade in much the same way the other members of Parliament would have, laid forth by a brilliant orator. But this is no film of talking heads. The sets and costumes are lush, and the dramatic tension is high.
There isn't a weak link in the cast. These actors have clearly given their all to tell this powerful story. Ioan Gruffudd (Black Hawk Down, The Fantastic Four and its sequel due out in June, who's trailer is #1 at IMDb.com), plays Wilberforce well at a variety of ages, as does upcoming actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Wilberforce's friend who becomes Prime Minister, William Pitt.
Though his story is only hinted at, John Newton, who wrote the song "Amazing Grace," is at the center of the story because the former slave ship owner inspired Wilberforce as his pastor, and then again later in life as he began to transcribe his memoirs after he really did go blind. Award-winning actor Albert Finney plays Newton with such passion at every turn. Ken Wales, a producer of Amazing Grace wants to create a film that tells Newton's full story. Pray this film does well enough to make that happen.
I really believe this film is going to inspire someone to make big changes for good in the world, and in fact it already is. Do your best to be certain as many people as possible see it. Let people know about it this weekend and take as many people as possible to see it opening weekend, starting February 23. Visit AmazingGraceMovie.com for more information.
Ken Wales, the executive producer on CBS's series Christy and the film Amazing Grace, came out to see my performance of Beyond the Chariots in Los Angeles. He wants to produce a film about the same part of Eric Liddell's life covered in my play, and he invited me to write the screenplay. The working title is Wings as Eagles. Please join me in praying for this project.
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