A PASTOR DESPERATE TO INCREASE MEMBERSHIP AT HIS CHURCH PUTS HIS FAITH IN FILMMAKING AS THE ONLY WAY TO FULFILL A PROMISE
SHOOTING THE PRODIGAL
The New Faith-Based Comedy That Has Charmed All Audiences Comes to Digital Platforms and DVD in August From Virgil Films
New York, NY (July 20, 2016) – Spirituality and cinema intersect delightfully in the one-of-a-kind SHOOTING THE PRODIGAL. The hilarious yet daring new film about a Southern church hoping to boost its flagging membership by producing its own movie comes to HD digital platforms and DVD from Virgil Films on August 16, 2016.
SHOOTING THE PRODIGAL is a winning culture-clash comedy about what happens when a brash young Jewish filmmaker from New York tries to help an overly zealous Baptist preacher in Alabama make a movie based on the story of the Prodigal Son, the biblical parable in which a father lovingly welcomes back the son who had gone off and wasted his inheritance and fully expected to be rejected upon his return home.
Optimistic pastor Robert P. Cross Jr. (Paul Wilson, Reenact!) wants to fulfill his late father’s dream of building a youth center and sports complex for the church congregation, and while he doesn’t have the means to build it, he does have the place all picked out – land belonging to a local widow. “Brother Bob” tells the woman that he has heard of a film project that helped increase membership at a church in Texas, and he thinks the same thing could work in their town. The widow agrees to put up the money for a film – but on the condition that Bob bring on her nephew Josh (Sterling Hurst, Shifting Gears), a struggling film student in New York, to direct it.
An Old Testament-New Testament culture clash is set in motion, but by the time the project is over, both Josh and Bob will appreciate the themes of acceptance, love and forgiveness that lie at the heart of the story of the Prodigal Son.
SHOOTING THE PRODIGAL was directed and co-written by David E. Powers, a retired pastor at Richmond, Virginia’s First Baptist Church. It received a special theatrical release through one-night-only and limited weeklong engagements that served to build immense buzz among the faithful as well as secular audiences. Its engaging ensemble cast also includes Christie Osterhus (Finding Faith).
Tony Farrell of the Richmond Times-Dispatch called the film a “charming and winning faith-based comedy,” adding, “this warmhearted movie comes as a blessed breath of fresh air.”
Press Contact:
Nicole Torchio
nicole@virgilfilmsent.com
646.723.7057
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SHOOTING THE PRODIGAL
Digital EST/VOD, DVD release: August 16th, 2016
Run Time: 92 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
