When Bill McAdams, Jr., made his most recent film, "God's Here," he had no idea that he would ultimately fall in love with his future wife.
The movie stars McAdams, Kevin Sorbo and Sarah Reeves, a Christian Pop singer and actress, who played McAdams' wife Mary Gilmore in the film.
Now Reeves is the Aledo man's wife in real life.
“The scene where we fell in love in the movie made it," McAdams said. "It's one of my favorite scenes."
"God's Here" premieres on Nov. 2 at Cinergy Cinemas and Brazos Drive-In Theater.
The film will be streaming on all platforms in Mid-November.
McAdams, whose father passed away in April at the age of 84, said it started with a lunch meeting at Bob's in Granbury and was sealed with the couple's first kiss that same night.
"It was so magical and it was not supposed to happen,” McAdams said. “It was so innocent. Then I had an idea. I had used her song 'Christmas Feels Different This Year,' which is a sad Christmas song about being alone for your first Christmas. It kind of hit with me being the first Christmas away from my dad, and I thought I need to have a dance sequence where she gets her spirit.
“I walked by the Granbury Live (theater) and I imagined her name was in lights, like 'Only tonight,' and I walk in and she is on the stage, performing to no one and looking beautiful.”
McAdams and Reeves then had what the filmmaker described as an “old school film dance,” with absolutely no rehearsal.
“The camera work was great, the lighting was great,” McAdams said. “Everything just fell into place. When we ended the first take, the whole crew was crying behind the monitor. It wasn't supposed to be that magical, but in the film, it just breaks your heart. We watch it now and still get emotional."
For McAdams, the movie was a tribute of sorts for his brother, John, who was killed in a motor vehicle accident 12 years ago by a distracted driver.
The film revolves around a personal tragedy that occurs just before Christmas and the protagonist Jack Gilmore's journey towards forgiveness.
"I wrote this probably about eight years ago," McAdams said. "It was kind of a rough draft or first idea about texting and driving and loss. Then, ironically, I lost my brother in 2012 in a motorcycle accident, and my mother forgave the driver and actually invited her and her family to the funeral 10 days later.”
At the time, McAdams was dumbfounded.
“I was in shock,” McAdams said. “But today, I think about the ultimate forgiveness and being able to accept the fact that it was a terrible accident and this poor girl has to live with this the rest of her life. That was enough. To try to prosecute or sue for money didn't make sense. So with that in mind, it was just trying to work through my brother's death again through another film. 'Gallow's Road' was the first one that I did."
McAdams' other works include such films as "Bully High" and "The Truth Hurts."
Making "God's Here" was especially cathartic for McAdams because it helped him to process grief.
"When you hold trauma, it's not good for you," he said. "Through the trauma of making this film, I met the most wonderful person in my life. That is my now wife, Sarah Reeves, who plays my wife in the film. Not even a year ago I met her, and now we are already married. We both have had trauma in our past, and we just came together on this film.
“She wrote the score for me. Her song in the trailer of the movie is going to be released as a single. So I think in working through trauma, you can really find some good light and joy. Now all I have is joy, all I do is laugh in knowing that my dad and John are together and in having a woman that I love."
Granbury was selected as the filming location because McAdams loves the ambiance around the holiday season.
"The town was the perfect backdrop," he said. "It's beautiful over there around Christmas time. They're very festive."
McAdams, said he would like for people to take away two messages from the movie.
“The big one is not to text and drive, which is huge with everybody,” McAdams said. “I think it's called 'End the Streak,' where someone's died on Texas highways every day since 2000, and they're trying to end the streak. So any kind of awareness I can bring to the to anti-texting and driving I will. We all do it and we're used to doing it, but it's something that can change your life in a second.
“The other thing is that it's okay to grieve. When you lose somebody, it's okay to be sad. It's okay to work through things, but you've got to work through them. And in the end, it's forgiving whoever harmed you and I think this movie is about the ultimate in forgiveness.”
12:30-1:45 pm: Red Carpet event at Cinergy Cinemas, 1201 Waters Edge Dr. in Granbury.
2-3:30 pm: Invite-only movie screening. Dress is Hollywood chic.
6 pm: Red carpet event at Brazos Drive In, 1800 W. Pearl St. in Granbury; doors open at 5:30 pm.
7:15-8:45 pm: Public movie screening. Dress is casual.
Tickets: Drive-in screening, $20 per carload and $10 per single. Purchase at www.brazosdrivein.com.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here