Playing ‘The Grace Card’

By career choice, David Evans is a doctor of optometry.

By heart choice, he’s a creator of scripts, dramatic scenarios and now a soon-to-bereleased movie that all seek to tell about God’s love and grace.

His first foray into filmmaking, “The Grace Card,” with Louis Gossett Jr. among the stars, is scheduled to open on 400 movie screens across the country on Feb. 25.

For Evans, temporarily moving from the front of an optical refractor to behind the movie camera was a natural transition.

He’s committed to taking care of people’s vision, but he also has a longstanding passion for helping provide illumination into matters of faith through his love of drama.

He made his first homemade film at age 12. As a junior high school student in Bentonville, he began acting in plays. (He graduated from BHS in 1986.) While earning his undergraduate degree at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., he produced a number of large-scale productions and events.

“My real passion remained in theater and drama,” he said.

After Evans completed optometry school in Memphis, Tenn., he stayed in the area, establishing a practice andputting down roots, including membership at Calvary Church, Church of the Nazarene in Cordova, a Memphis suburb.

Since 1994, he has overseen the church’s annual Easter passion play. He’s developed a method of presenting the message by crafting modern-day tales that parallel the story of Christ. These days, the production includes a cast and crew of more than 250 people, along with huge sets, hydraulic lifts, computerized lighting and exotic animals.

Every year, the event was growing, he said.

And then he saw a movie, “Fireproof.” It was an “Aha” moment.

Sharing The Model

“Fireproof” was produced in 2008 by Sherwood Pictures, a Christian film company associated with Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga.

Prior to “Fireproof,” the same film company had produced “Facing the Giants.”

“Fireproof” debuted at No. 4 at the box office and became the highest grossing independent film of 2008 with more than $33 million in box office receipts.

When Evans considered the story behind “Fireproof,” he decided scripting and staging Easter presentations for more than 15 years was perhapspreparation for what would lie ahead.

He had no doubts; he wanted to make a movie.

He approached the pastors at Calvary Church.

The Rev. Lynn Holmes, senior pastor, said Evans talked about sharing something he had written for the Easter program, titled, “The Life Giver.” It tells the story of two Memphis police officers with one of the central characters having lost a son in an accident. Ensuing bitterness and pain erode his love for his family and leave him angry.

The white officer is paired with a cop who’s black and a part-time pastor. The movie’s themes include forgiveness, loss, race and reconciliation.

“David said, ‘I can see this story in my mind’s eye, but not on stage, (on screen),” Holmes recalled.

Calvary’s senior pastor said the church is involved in a number of projects aimed at the notion of making a difference. One of the church’s mottos is that it’s MAD for Memphis. The movie was to become another MAD project, Holmes said.

The church embraced the movie concept and formed Calvary Pictures. Evans and his wife, Esther, formed Gracework Pictures to partner on the project.

The group didn’t have to start from scratch.

Veteran filmmaker and screenwriter Howard A. Klausner developed the movie script from Evans’ original story and helped produce the film.

The Sherwood moviemakers in Georgia provided a kind of blueprint. They offered production files used to organize the shoot, the Sherwood prayer strategy and team values, organizational spreadsheets, descriptions of how they broke down the script into a shooting schedule, a call sheet and key contacts they used to make the movie.

It was a great help, Evans said. “We didn’t have to create a production company from the ground up.”

Holmes, the senior pastor, noted that the people at Calvary were able to take the model and modify it to suit their particular needs.

A real plus for Calvary was the presence of people with expertise within the congregation. For example, employees of Memphis television stations are also members there.

Most of the actors came from more than 50 churches in the Memphis area.

A small army of 300 volunteers attended Calvary Pictures’ “boot camp” before working on the shoot itself. From catering to wardrobe to anything needed, the volunteers turned Evans’ concept into a feature-length fi lm.

Sharon Fox O’Guin ofthe Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission said she was impressed by the passion and dedication of the moviemakers - both from the volunteer crew and from the professionals hired for the project.

“Everyone seemed to have a like-minded spirit on the set,” she said. Filmmaking can be grueling and diff cult work, she explained. With this project, “There was a mood of excitement and of doing something positive.”

Star Power

A lot of doors opened unexpectedly.

Evans had thought in terms of the project perhaps going to DVD.

Affirm Films, Provident Films and Samuel Goldwyn Films became involved in the marketing and distribution. Suddenly, the movie was going to be shown on the big screen across the country.

Other faith-based filmmakers had told Evans he needed a name actor in the movie. Many roles were fi lled, but there was a mentor part still to be cast. Louis Gossett Jr. came to mind, Evans said. He looked at Gossett’s website and learned about the Oscar winner’s commitment to end racism.

The screenplay for “The Grace Card” pairs black and white police officers, and racial reconciliation is among the themes addressed. When Gossett looked at the script, he was interested, Evans said.

The film also received help from other quarters. St. Francis Hospital allowed filmmakers to use a wing there. And O’Guin, of the Memphis Film Commission, noted that the moviemakers also were able to partner with the Memphis Police Department to use police cars and locations, something that hadn’t been done before.

The department believed in the project and its message, Evans said.

The ability to use public locations allowed fi lmmakers to avoid having to pay location fees and thus to hold costs down.

With more than 10,000 hours of service by volunteers and similar offerings, the fi lm required much less money to make than would be typical of a Hollywood production. Evans said the budget was less than $1 million.

Although the movie doesn’t open until February, promoters are now doing what’s called “influencer screenings” across the country. Pastors and other group leaders are invited to watch the screening in hopes that they will find the movie and its message something worth supporting. A screening in Rogers is planned for Nov. 9. Evans plans to attend that event.

His parents, Jane and Danny Evans, still live in Bentonville, and his son, Houston Evans, lives in Rogers and actually has a line in the movie.

Evans and Holmes have high hopes for the February opening. Both say that the aspirations revolve around sharing a message about reconciliation and God’s love with all kinds of audiences, including people who wouldn’t darken the doors on a Sunday morning.

“This movie can take this message to places outside the walls of the church,” Holmes said.

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