A Season of Miracles

Mount Juliet’s little league baseball fields in middle Tennessee were filled with movie actors, film crews and 12-15 year old actors playing baseball on Saturday, May 12. Production is officially underway on A Season of Miracles, the award winning script written by Rusty Whitener and directed by Dave Moody.

The movie features John Schneider (Dukes of Hazzard, Smallville, October Baby), Grayson Russell (Talladega Nights, Diary of a Wimpy Kid), Andrew Wilson Williams (We Are Marshall) and Nancy Stafford (Matlock, BayWatch, The Wager). Kids were cast from Tennessee, the Carolinas, Kentucky and Arkansas.

“We are so excited to be underway,” says Dave Moody who is producing/directing his third feature film in five years for Elevating Entertainment, the company he started with his son in 2007. ”It’s a family thing for us.”

Moody’s son Josh is also a producer and is co-directing Miracles. Daughter Rebecca is heavily involved on the production serving as part of the Assistant Director team and Susan, (wife and mom) handles all the business office support for the film.

The story is based in 1970s Alabama.  Shooting will continue into early June. For more information, contact Elevating Entertainment at 615.379.2121.

Elevating Entertainment Motion Pictures announced today that Grayson Russell has agreed to join the cast of the upcoming feature film A Season of Miracles, which will be in production  in and around Wilson County (near Nashville) throughout the months of May and June 2012.  Russell, who lives in Alabama, and is just days away from celebrating his 14th birthday, has already garnered an impressive list of film credits. He’s perhaps best known for his role as Will Farrell’s son Texas Ranger in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and as Fregley in the Diary of A Wimpy Kid movies.  Russell will play the very demanding role of Rafer, who has autism, in A Season of Miracles.

“I’ve been a fan of Grayson’s for a while now… he’s a very talented actor and we’re honored to have him join our cast,” says Director/Producer Dave Moody. “The role of Rafer is so important to our story.  It’ll be a challenge that I’m sure Grayson is up to.”

Andrew Wilson Williams, also from Alabama, has been cast to play the lead role of Zack, easily the best player on the Robins team who always seem to finish in third place behind their rivals, the Hawks.  But in Miracles, as the story unfolds through the eyes of this teenager, Zack learns there’s so much more to life than a little league championship season as he wrestles with himself and his beliefs. Andrew Wilson Williams is no stranger to a movie set, having played Matthew McConaughey character’s son in We Are Marshall.

“We really feel like Andrew is a great actor… and up to the task of being on screen the entire movie,” says Co-Director/Producer Josh Moody.

After hundreds of auditions for the role of Rebecca, Sydney Morgan Layne has been cast as the only girl role in the story.  Jacob Hunnicutt will play Donnie (Zach’s best friend), and Austin Vickers has been cast as the colorful Batman.  Other Robins include Rocky Block as Duffey, Greyson Turner from South Carolina will play Jimmy, Reid and Max Steen from Kentucky will play the twins Harrold and Clay, Joseph Lopez has been cast to play BoDean, Eric Madison Williams II will play Skeeter, Daniel Walton is Tigger, and Jake Studebaker from Arkansas will play the role of Little Richard.  Hawks team members include Trevor Allen Martin from Kentucky as Booger, and Jordan Von Tagen as Red.

Joining previously announced John Schneider (Dukes of Hazzard, Smallville, October Baby) as Coach and Nancy Stafford (Matlock, Baywatch, The Wager) as Nurse Barbara, will be Sandra VanNatta (The Notebook, The Shunning) as Zach’s mom Paulette, Zach’s dad Del is Byron Herlong, Terry Warren is Mr. Carson, Jessica White is Mrs. Carson, Emily Landham is cast as Mrs. Powell, William McKinney will play Captain Powell, Susy Schumann will play the colorful Mary Keller, and local pastor and Wilson County native Jacob Armstrong will play Pastor White.

A Season of Miracles is based on the award winning novel, Christy Award Finalist, and Kairos Prize winning script by Rusty Whitener, who will also play Rafer’s dad Mr. Forrester.

For more information, contact Elevating Entertainment at 615.379.2121.

Elevating Entertainment Motion Pictures is proud to announce that John Schneider has agreed to star in the upcoming feature film A Season of Miracles, scheduled to start filming in and around Nashville in May/June 2012.  Schneider is best known for his portrayal of Bo Duke in the 1980′s American television series The Dukes of Hazzard, for his role as Jonathan Kent in the 2001–2011 TV series Smallville (an adaptation of Superman), and most recently for his role as the father in the 2012 film October Baby, in theaters now.

“We’re so excited to have such a talented and well-respected actor as John Schneider join us in the telling of this fabulous story,” says Director/Producer Dave Moody.

Also joining the cast is Nancy Stafford, best known for her role as Michelle Thomas on the hit TV series Matlock.  A veteran TV and film actress, Stafford’s credits include ER, Frasier, Babylon 5, Baywatch and most recently, The Mentalist.

A Season of Miracles is based on the award winning novel, Christy Award Finalist, and Kairos Prize winning script by Rusty Whitener.

For more information, contact Elevating Entertainment at 615.379.2121.

We’re putting the finishing touches on our production schedule, revisiting actors’ auditions for final casting, and making calls to potential crew members as we prep for the filming of A Season of Miracles.

If you’ve already submitted your headshot and resume online, there’s no need to re-submit. If you have not yet submitted, see the casting page.

Crew Applications are located here.

Stay tuned for more information, coming soon…

As the fall approaches, we have seen nearly one thousand headshots and hundreds of auditions for the roles in A Season of Miracles.  Thanks to all the actors, casting agencies, and others who have taken an interest in our story.   While our plans were first to shoot in October, we have decided to push our principal photography dates until after the first of the year.  This is based on a number of factors, but mainly we feel the movie will be better with this delay.

Casting agents have been notified of the actors we’re interested in casting, and all final decisions will be made in January ’12.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.

After receiving over 500 cast applications from our online call for submissions, we’re now scheduling several days of open casting calls in Nashville.  August 1st and August 26th are scheduled at Kingswood Studios at the United Methodist Communications facility in Nashville.

All online submissions are also being reviewed as well and the producers will be contacting actors and their agents with instructions on how they can submit a video audition.  Look for an email from us soon if you have been selected.

For more information or to schedule your audition time, visit the Casting page of our website.  Crew applications are also being accepted here.

Rusty Whitener’s Novel Garners Prestigious Christy Award Nominations

Friday, May 6, 2011 – This year’s Christy Award nominations have been finalized, and Kregel Publications’ A Season of Miracles: A Novel (978-0-8254-4191-2, $14.99), by Rusty Whitener, made the list in both the Contemporary Stand-Alone and First Novel categories. Just days earlier, Elevating Entertainment Motion Pictures announced the company had started pre-production of a feature film based on the novel.

The Christy winners will be announced at the 12th annual Christy Awards Dinner in Atlanta during the 2011 International Christian Retail Show. The dinner will honor nine Christy Award winners.  Feature film screenwriter, director, producer, and songwriter Randall Wallace who wrote “Braveheart” and directed “Secretariat” and “Pearl Harbor” will be the keynote speaker.

ABOUT THE BOOK: A Season of Miracles is a touching novel that takes readers down memory lane and into the deep south of the 1970s to a place where Little League is all that matters. The championship trophy is within reach, but not without the help of a mysterious boy named Rafer, whose special gift to the team is a lesson in God’s grace.

ABOUT THE FILM: The feature film A Season of Miracles is based on the award-winning screenplay now in pre- production by Elevating Entertainment Motion Pictures.

For more information on the book, visit www.aseasonofmiraclesbook.com. For more information on the film, visit www.aseasonofmiraclesmovie.com

Watch the video trailer for the novel: A Season of Miracles.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rusty Whitener (DMin, Gordon-Conwell Seminary) is a novelist, screenwriter, actor, and pastor. His first screenplay, Touched, (a.k.a. A SEASON OF MIRACLES) won the 2009 Kairos Prize at the Los Angeles Movieguide Awards and first place at the Gideon Film Festival.  A lifelong baseball enthusiast, Rusty and his wife Rebecca live in Pulaski, Virginia, where he writes a weekly column for The Pulaski County Patriot. Find out more at www.rustywhitener.com.

THANKS ACTORS AND AGENTS!   The producers have been blown away with the overwhelming response to the casting call for A SEASON OF MIRACLES.  In the first five days alone, over 500 headshots and resumes have been submitted and that number continues to rise.

Requests for auditions via skype and/or video submissions will be the next phase of the process and these will be sent personally via email to requested actors.  This will start in late May, and continue through much of June.   So, please have patience with us as we sort through everyone’s submission.

Open casting calls in select cities will also be held in the coming weeks.  Stay tuned here for more information.

We’ve also added a new section for crew applications and a way for anyone interested in supporting this film to get involved.

Elevating Entertainment Motion Pictures launches production information site for their upcoming feature-length film A SEASON OF MIRACLES.  Written by Rusty Whitener, the screenplay was the winner of the Kairos Prize at the 2009 Movieguide Awards in Hollywood, presented by Oren Aviv, President of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Productions.

A nationwide search for lead and supporting cast is underway.  See the casting page for more information.  The producers expect principal photography to start in last 2011/early 2012.

Check out Rusty’s award winning novel at Amazon.com