A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR

The River Within came about very quickly. While various parts of the story had been floating around in my head for a couple of years, they didn't come together until February, 2008; as I was sitting in the theatre watching the premiere of a friend's movie. I walked out of that theatre knowing that it was time to put this story together and put it on paper. Two weeks later, the first draft was completed. Two months after that, I was in Arkansas doing prep work for the shoot; which came another two months later. Less than two months after we wrapped principal photography, we had the first edited cut; giving The River Within a script to screen ready time of under 6 months- which is almost unheard of in Hollywood.

One reason for such a fast turn around time was necessity. We shot this movie on a shoestring budget. "Micro-budget" films are usually considered to be those with a budget of $250,000. Our budget was less than $40,000. Such a low budget forced us to be creative with our shooting schedule, locations, catering, etc. We could only afford to rent the camera and equipment for three weeks, which meant a 17 day shoot giving Sundays off and accounting for time to deliver equipment back to the rental house. We were able to turn the 23 script locations into 18 physical locations by doubling and even tripling the number of script locations we were able to get out of a few of the physical locations. We also scheduled our shooting schedule around our physical locations; shooting at places in the same neighborhood on the same or back to back days, thus allowing for one "Base Camp" for those days. When it came time to eat, we decided not to go with a caterer (because we couldn't have afforded one) and instead ate meals prepared by my mom. (After making 3 meals a day for 3 weeks, she's already made it clear that for my next film, the first thing I am to put into the budget is catering). In order to save money on hotels, most of the cast and crew slept in guest rooms or pool houses that belonged to people in Paragould, AR. Wherever we could cut corners on the budget, we did.

Another reason we were able to complete this so quickly was the cast and crew. Everyone helped everyone else. There was very little time spent standing around and waiting. We were always on the move. We were very excited to be a part of this project, and that enthusiasm translated to hard work even over long hours and often less than favorable working conditions (we shot in July in Arkansas; very hot, very humid). Complaining and arguing was not a part of this production. We believed in the message of the movie, and we all love making movies. As many of the cast and crew have said to me since, "It was like being at camp for three weeks."

The final reason I'd like to mention in how quickly and seamlessly this project came together is rooted in my faith. As Jason says in the movie, I believe that God is always at work in the world around us. And while I don't believe that He "magically" dragged us through this process to make this movie, I do believe that He was there every step of the way providing strength, peace, confidence and inspiration. There were numerous events that happened early on, and a couple towards the end, that could have derailed this film. But whenever we faced those events, we were able to do it with confidence as we felt we were right where we were supposed to be, and therefore, things would eventually work out like they should. Sure enough, doors would always open that allowed us to continue (often times in ways that actually made the movie better). It is that sense of peace and purpose that I hope audiences will take from The River Within.