Note: Part 1 of this 4 part interview can be found here and Part 2, here.

J.R. Head: Changing gears, (Executive Producer) Gary Sinise said of this film, “Brothers at War celebrates the courage and integrity of the American Soldier and the American military family.  It is also a film about a man’s love and respect for his two brothers and his dedication to telling their story.  A great film that I am proud to be a part of.”   That’s got to feel good, coming from someone of Gary’s caliber.

“Brothers at War” Director, Jake Rademacher:  Yeah, it was funny.  I was invited to screen “Brothers at War” in Iraq for General Petraeus’ public affairs folks and a number of our warriors stationed over there.  Upon viewing the film, Marine Lieutenant Colonel Loretta Vandenberg, extremely moved by “Brothers at War” said, “You need to get this to Gary Sinise.  He’s a big supporter of the troops, you need to get him to present this film.  Call him when you get back to Los Angeles.”  I was like, “okay… do you have his phone number?” (more…)

Last fall, a small, unheralded movie called Fireproof (IDP/Samuel Goldwyn) arrived in theatres and became a huge surprise hit and among the most profitable movies ever made (at least according to budget-to-gross ratio). Now that the film will be released on DVD this Tuesday (January 27), I thought it was worth revisiting the mysterious recipe for the movie’s success.

“I’m not impressed with Hollywood in general. They don’t make a lot of movies that lift our standards and morality.” That’s what director Alex Kendrick told me in a telephone interview on the Monday after his new movie Fireproof generated a downright shocking $6.5 million opening weekend. Despite never being on more than 839 screens, the little Christian-themed indie released on September 26 finished its theatrical run with a stunning $33.4M in ticket sales. Los Angeles and New York are filled with talented film professionals, who spend countless hours and millions upon millions of dollars making movies. The cost of development, production, a director, actors and marketing make the craft of filmmaking prohibitive. So how did a little church in Georgia score a legitimate box office hit?

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