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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend November 6, 2005 ‘Conversations with God’ heads for silver screen By JOHN DARLING for the Mail Tribune Shooting of a film based on the best-selling book "Conversations with God," by Ashland author Neale Donald Walsch, begins Monday with 13 actors from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and lots of local extras and continues at a dozen local spots over the next two months. Directed by Ashland resident Stephen Simon, who produced "Somewhere in Time" and "What Dreams May Come," the film portrays the spiritual journey of the once homeless and desperately ailing Walsch, who began to ask God some hard questions. The answers became a book that sold 7 million copies in 34 languages and spawned many follow-up books. "From a spiritual, emotional and psychological point of view, it’s an extraordinary moment, one of disbelief and celebration, to see this extraordinary film being done and its message is being sent to an audience in a whole new way," Walsch said Friday. He will take no part in its production. Walsch was approached by many producers who wanted to shoot his book, but, not wanting it "Hollywood-ized," he turned them down, until he met and became friends with Simon. Walsch believes Simon to be a man of artistic integrity and vision who’s willing to collaborate, according to press materials for the movie. The $2.4 million film will employ a 60-person crew. It will be shot in Medford at the old Carnegie library, the City Center Motel, the Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport, Lausmann Annex, Barnes & Noble Booksellers and Land Mind Productions. Advertisement Ivy Street between Main and Eighth streets will be closed from 6 p.m. today through 2 p.m. Tuesday to accommodate film crews. Ivy Street between Main and Sixth streets will be closed from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday. In Ashland, shooting will take place at Ashland Springs Hotel, Pangea Restaurant, Pasta Piatti, Geppetto’s, Bloomsbury Books, Soundpeace and at Emigrant Lake. Shooting also will take place at Ashland’s Festival of Light the Friday after Thanksgiving. "For the past 10 years I have dreamed of making this movie," said Simon in a press release. "‘Conversations with God’ will be a powerful, mystical, controversial and surprising film." Simon plans to distribute the film through his Spiritual Cinema Circle and in "new- thought churches" and theaters late next fall. OSF actors featured in the film are Vilma Silva, Abdul Salaam El Razzac, James Peck, Aisha Kabia, Greta Oglesby, David Kelly, Jonathan Toppo, Dee Maaske, Frederick Charles Canada, Chris Maslen, Andrea Ferraz, Bill Geisslinger and Matt McTighe. Walsch, in an interview, said his story is only a vehicle for a much larger story that "is happening to everyone all the time and that’s that God is talking to everyone all the time. If everyone would listen to the message, the collective consciousness of the world would change overnight ..." The message? "That God is saying, ‘Hey, you’ve got me all wrong. You have no idea who you are. You are one with everything,’" Walsch said. "Once we understand our intrinsic unity with all life and apply that to all our interactions, everything will change dramatically." The picture will star Henry Czerny as Walsch. He acted in "Mission: Impossible" and "Clear and Present Danger" and dozens of other movies and television shows. "Every once in a while, we actors get a chance to be part of an extraordinarily insightful story," said Czerny in press materials. "I’m sure this is the way some of van Gogh’s colors must have felt when they were asked to mingle in ‘Starry Night’. " Co-starring will be Frances Fisher, who acted in Clint Eastwood’s "Unforgiven" and Steve Martin’s "L.A. Story," among many other movies and television shows. Executive producer of the film is author Gay Hendricks, co-founder of the Spiritual Cinema Circle. Screenplay is by Eric DelaBarre, author of "Why Not Start Living Your Life Today?" and writer-director-producer of NBC’s "Law and Order." Joao Fernandes of Ashland is director of photography. Post-production editors are Dennis Connors and Jeff Bates of Jackhammer Films in Ashland. "We’re incredibly happy and so are a lot of guys on crew who live here and have been waiting for a big local production for 13 years, since we started this company," said Connors. "We hope this beginning will attract more business, so that we’re shooting a new film every year or two." Local casting was done by Erika Bishop of Jacksonville, who said that because of the wide popularity of the book, many people from all over the world have been applying for some 400 roles as extras and flying here. The roles pay minimum wage. Glenda Owens, assistant city manager of Medford, said the shooting will be mostly on private land, but will occasionally cause congestion and detours. There will be no stunts or chases. "It’s the city’s stand to encourage shooting of films here, because it’s good for the economy and this area offers a lot of diversity of scenery," Owens said. For more information about the movie, visit its Web site at www.cwgthemovie.com . John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected]. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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