TORONTO, Canada, April 8, 2003 — The actors wore long robes with beards and hair to match. Their characters' names, (neatly stencilled on cardboard signs, taped to individual dressing room doors) identified them; Simon Peter, James the Less, Judas Iscariot, John.
Outside Toronto Film Studios, the men, nearing the end of a busy day, were taking a break from their labours. Some laughed and chatted. One talked on his cell phone. Another had a cigarette. Their activities seemed strangely incongruous, given their Biblical attire.
Jesus' star had fallen off his door
PHOTO: Robert Simpson
Visual Bible International shot the 'Gospel of John' on location in Spain and at Toronto Film Studios on Commissioners Street in Toronto Canada.
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Jesus, also known as British actor Henry Ian Cusick, was inside his dressing room. His door was notable for the absence of a cardboard star. It had fallen off, apparently. But everyone knew both who he was and whom he portrayed. His colleagues on the set called him, affectionately, 'J.C.'
The movie being filmed inside the huge green warehouse on Toronto's Commissioners Street was The Gospel of John, Visual Bible International's third production and first feature film planned for exclusive theatrical release.
Visual Bible creates films from word-for-word adaptations of books of the Bible. The Gospel of John is based on a word-for-word adaptation of the Gospel by the same name, from the American Bible Society's Good News Bible.
Visual Bible bills itself as a 'faith based media company'
Headquartered in Toronto, Visual Bible bills itself as a "faith based media company". The firm has previously produced films for the home viewing market based on the Gospel of Matthew and the book of Acts.
Having completed two months of filming on this latest production, (one month on location shooting exteriors in the south of Spain, another month at Canada's biggest film and television studio complex), the movie is now in the post-production phase of development. Post-production will continue in Canada as well as in Britain.
This is the first film Visual Bible has tackled since they underwent a complete reorganization last June; a reorganization that included refinancing as well as the appointment of an all new Board, Management and Advisory Team.
The new Visual Bible team is out to do things bigger and better
The new team is clearly determined to do things right. Stunning sets, authentic to first century Judea, 75 principal actors (all exquisitely costumed), 2,000 extras, countless crew members and an original musical score with instrumental sounds of the period are all testimony to the fact this will be Visual Bible's most expensive production to date.
A recent corporate news release indicates the budget is approximately $17 million CDN. Company spokespeople describe it in movie-making terms as "big". It would have to be. They've hired big talent to put it all together.
Veteran producer and six-time Academy Award nominee, Joel B. Michaels, is Executive Producer. Philip Saville brings 35 years experience to the director's chair. David Lee (who recently won an Oscar for his sound work on Chicago) is the Sound Editor. Costumer Deborah Hanson can site Costumer for the Stratford Festival on her resume.
Garth Drabinsky: impresario extraordinaire, Gospel of John Creative Consultant
And impresario extraordinaire, Garth Drabinsky, is Creative Consultant. Well-known for his meticulous attention to detail and ability to pull off breathtaking theatrical extravaganzas, (Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime, Show Boat); Drabinsky's influence permeated the set.
In addition to the contributions of the production personnel, there was another influence that could be felt on set; that was the influence of the Advisory Committee. Visual Bible has assembled an impressive team of internationally renowned Biblical and Theological scholars to act as advisors to the creative and production team.
Peter Richardson is Professor Emeritus in Christian Origins, in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Toronto. He chairs the Advisory Committee and says he and the other committee members were brought together for planning meetings every six-to-eight weeks throughout the pre-production period.
Biblical scholars met with the Creative Team to help shape the Gospel on film
"The most satisfying part of the way in which things have proceeded over the past year," Richardson reflected, "is that at the meetings of the advisory committee, they also flew in all the key members of the creative team. When the advisory committee met and had its discussions, the creative people were sitting right there at the same table.
"So it was a conversation between the scholars on the one hand, and the creative people on the other hand," he added. "I think you'd be hard put to find other examples of films, especially films related to Biblical material where the same thing has been true."
Hard put indeed. Co-operation between the two elements was instrumental in defining the project's earliest creative options. Richardson says that after selecting John's Gospel as the book on which to base the next production, one of their first decisions was which translation of the Bible to use for the word-for-word adaptation.
'Which translation has the most dramatic potential?'
"At that point, Garth Drabinsky challenged us in a very interesting way," Richardson remembered. "We were challenged to read through the gospel of John in the two relevant translations, the Good News Bible and the New International Version, and ask ourselves one question; 'Which translation has the most dramatic potential?'
"Uniformly, everybody came back and said the Good News Bible", he said.
Richardson described the relationship between the film's production and advisory teams as "a very happy partnership".
The Word becomes film - with authenticity, creativity and integrity
"I think (the Advisory Team) really kept the creative peoples' fingers to the fire on the questions of accuracy, authenticity, integrity and so on," said Richardson. "I think we have acted as both an encouragement, and as a kind of sober group that insists they get it right with respect to all sorts of issues; from the largest, most general issues such as scenery or dress, right down to the detail issues like the size of the stones in the temple," he added.
Richardson said moviegoers will leave the theatre with an extremely accurate impression of life in the time of Christ. "I really think that (the creative and production team) have caught the atmosphere better than I would ever have dreamed that they could do it," he commented.
"It's getting the daily life right as the setting for the story that's being told, that will make it live the best in people's reactions to it."
It goes without saying that Visual Bible is hoping those reactions will warrant all their time, expense and creative efforts. The publicly owned company is, after all, not producing the films for sentimental purposes, but for business ones. "If the first (film) isn't a success," stated Richardson, "there won't be a second one. It's just got to be done well. And it's got to be marketed in such a way that there will be a return on it, that will permit us to do more."
The Gospel of John is due to be delivered to theatres the end of August, 2003.
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