![Hi [YOUR NAME], A New Moses Comes to Theaters This Week](http://www.christiancinema.com/catalog/images/ten_commandments_top.jpg)
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Hi friend,
Imagine your response if you read this headline: "Today two million people crossed a ten-mile stretch of the Red Sea on dry ground. As they crossed, walls of water also ten miles long and 1 mile high rose up on either side. Right after the last person crossed, the army following them drowned when the walls of water collapsed."
The Bible, especially the Old Testament, is full of dramatic, exciting and TRUE stories like this. Many filmmakers tried to reproduce the magnitude of these events. Cecil B. DeMille made two films about the Ten Commandments , one silent, the other a classic we all watch every Easter. DeMille's ability to translate Old Testament events into sweeping epics inspired the partners at Promenade Pictures to develop a series called "Epic Stories of the Bible."
"The Ten Commandments" is the first of 12 films in the series, and opens this weekend. The CGI animated film stars the vocal talents of Sir Ben Kingsley (narrator), Elliott Gould (God), Christian Slater (Moses), and Alfred Molina (Rameses). We follow Moses as he grows from a baby who floated in a basket in the Nile all the way to the Promised Land. We see Moses as an ordinary man with an extraordinary calling, a man whose lack of self-confidence caused him to question God.
We can support them in their work and vision by going to see the movie this weekend. Remember that attending a film on opening weekend is like voting in a presidential primary election. You help set the course for success of this film, and others like it. Read our exclusive interview with producer Cindy Bond for more insight into the making of "The Ten Commandments."
From the screening room,
Angela Walker
ChristianMovieNews.com
Congratulations to the following winners in "The Ten Commandments" giveaway: Aaron (Oregon), Wanda (California), Steve (Iowa), Jeanette (Oklahoma), Karen (Florida) and Michael (Arizona).
The Ten Commandments - 50th Anniversary Edition - DVD
The classic biblical epic starring Charlton Heston plus DeMille's original 1923 silent film
This spectacular biblical epic from legendary showman Cecil B. DeMille tells the story of Moses from his infancy to the triumphant moment when he led the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt. The film begins as the pharaoh's daughter (Yvonne De Carlo) discovers the abandoned infant Moses and takes him to the shelter of her family. Charlton Heston stars as the young man raised by the pharaoh as an Egyptian prince.
Moses is righteous and kind, the favored successor to the kingdom, which results in the deep-seated jealousy of Prince Rameses (Yul Brynner). Rameses and Moses compete for the throne and the love of the young princess, Nefretiri (Anne Baxter), until Moses learns the truth about his origins and joins the Jewish slaves in their fight for freedom. After receiving the Ten Commandments from God, Moses helps free the Jews from the pharaoh's tyrannical rule, surmounting all obstacles in his way--including the parting of the Red Sea, in one of the movie's most famous scenes. Cecil B. DeMille's extravagant final film--and remake of his silent 1923 version--is a legendary combination of the master showman's love of historical realism, spectacle, lavish scenic design, and dizzying crowd sequences. The exodus alone is a stunning feat of modern cinema, featuring thousands of actors trekking through the arid desert as Pharaoh's chariots chase after them.
Bonus Features:
- DeMille's 1923 silent film starring Theodore Roberts with commentary by Katherine Orrison, along with hand-tinted footage of the Exodus and Parting of the Red Sea Sequence.
- Commentary on 1956 film by Katherine Orrison, author of Written in Stone: Making Cecil B. DeMille's Epic, The Ten Commandments
- Six-part documentary (Moses, The Chosen People, Land of the Pharaohs, The Paramount Lot, The Score, and Mr. DeMille)
- Newsreel: The Ten Commandments Premiere in New York
- Trailers (1956 “Making of” Trailer, 1966 Trailer and 1989 Trailer)
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Featured Filmmaker: Cindy Bond
by Angela Walker
From golfing to modeling to acting to producing, marketing and distributing a series of films called “Epic Stories of the Bible,” Cindy Bond’s determination and perseverance have brought her to a dream job as President and Chief Operating Officer of Promenade Pictures. One of the driving forces behind the epic new CGI animated film “The Ten Commandments,” Cindy’s found a place at Promenade that feels like family.
Her own family consists of husband Steve (former daytime soap opera star from General Hospital), 22-year old Ashlee, who is a champion equestrienne, and son Dylan, 16, who is a great student who also loves to surf. They have a place on a few acres outside the city of Los Angeles that has about 15 horses and a barn. According to Cindy, they are all homebodies who love nothing more than going to the house and sitting in the backyard, enjoying time together as a family. They’d rather hang out and watch movies at home than attend red carpet premieres.
CC.com: Cindy, give us an update on your latest project, The Ten Commandments movie.
Cindy: The idea to make an animated film about the Ten Commandments was first pitched to me over three and a half years ago. The person who brought it to me didn’t have a script, but had a great idea. I thought it was a great because in my mind, a movie hadn’t been made about the story that was very scripturally accurate or told the whole story of Moses from a baby all the way through to the Promised Land. Because there wasn’t a script and because we were in the middle of other projects at the time, I just tucked the idea away in my brain.
A few months later I met a wonderful writer, Ed Naha (writer/creator of “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids), and we hit it off great. He enthusiastically expressed interest in working with me and asked if I had any projects in mind. The Ten Commandments idea popped into my head because of his great ability to write comedy and because he had shared his upbringing with me. He grew up in a household full of family values. A few months later he came back to us with a draft.
As I shared, our idea was to take a familiar story, but tell it in a way we hadn’t yet seen. In addition to focusing on scripture and telling the whole story, we focused on the character of Moses as a man of great faith, but also an ordinary man with an extraordinary calling. We also focused on showing God as a loving God who is just and fair, rather than the stereotypical wrathful, vengeful God that has been portrayed in the past. Additionally, we wanted to present one of the greatest stories ever told with some of the greatest superheroes to ever exist. Superheroes for people of all ages to relate to.
After Ed delivered the script, we came up with the idea to do a series of films and named it “Epic Stories of the Bible.” The word “epic” was lodged in my brain as I had been a huge fan of Cecil B. DeMille (the original Ten Commandments, Samson and Delilah), as well as Rodgers & Hammerstein as a kid. They created sweeping epic movies that were compelling in their telling and are so rare now. It seemed like a logical step to bring them back to the big screen.
I batted the idea around with my partners Frank Yablans, Ron Booth and Charlie Gay, and we agreed that we would embark on a journey to produce, market and distribute The Ten Commandments. In total, we planned to do six films in the Epic Stories of the Bible series. Then we set out on a journey to arrange financing. A short while later we entered into a partial financing arrangement with EKD Media in Germany. Then we entered into a full co-production partnership with Huhu Studios and their CEO Trevor Yaxley (in New Zealand). With Trevor fully onboard, the series went from one picture to six pictures to twelve pictures.
CC.com: What are the other stories you’ll do in the series?
Cindy: We’re more than halfway through production on our second story. Noah’s Ark: The New Beginning, will hit theaters in early 2009. We definitely did our best to follow the Biblical account of the story of Noah, but we took more creative license than The Ten Commandments and added a wonderful twist.
The animals talk, but the humans don’t hear them. My favorite characters are the two animal leads, Zed and Zenna who are prairie dogs. The male is a chubby little malcontent who has asthma and allergies. He’s always getting himself into trouble. Currently, we’re casting the picture and are receiving great enthusiasm for the project from actors and agents alike.
We’ve also attracted great enthusiasm and involvement from exception animation talent. Tony Bancroft, (co-founder of Toonacious, co-director of “Mulan” and animation supervisor for “The Lion King”) came on board a few months back. He is fantastically talented. We’re striving for excellence, so we’ve also brought on numerous animators from Disney, ILM, and The Lord of the Rings.
The 3rd story in the Epic Stories series is David and Goliath. We’re about a week away from seeing the first draft of the script. All of the animators are overseas; most with our co-production partner Huhu Studios in New Zealand. The rest are with our other co-production partner, Singapore-based iVL Animation. I’ve been very fortunate to visit both New Zealand and Singapore, and they are both magnificent countries.
After David and Goliath, we’re considering The Battle of Jericho, Daniel in the Lion’s Den, maybe Samson and Delilah. Genesis is on the slate as well some New Testament stories.
CC.com: You have some great actors involved in the “The Ten Commandments.” Can you tell us about them?
Cindy: Sir Ben Kingsley is the narrator, and Elliott Gould is the voice of God. For Moses, Christian Slater was the perfect choice. He has three kids and was drawn to the script because it was family-friendly and because of the quality of the script and the power of the story. Unilaterally, the actors who worked with us said the story just leapt off the page. They all thanked us for letting them voice these roles. They were all such great professionals and class acts!
CC.com: What are some other projects y’all are working on now?
Cindy: We have a number of films in various stages of development, financing and pre-production. We are partnering with The Salvation Army and are producing a motion pictures based on the life story of William Booth (founder of the Salvation Army); that is at the end of script development. We have quite a few comedies in development, and are planning soon to go into production on a direct-to-home-video special with a wonderfully talented comedian named Michael Jr (Thou Shalt Laugh).
One project I’m very excited about is "Gideon’s Gift", based on the novel of the same name by Karen Kingsbury. It’s a phenomenal story, kind of a modern-day Miracle on 34th Street. We have already had a few meetings with Elle Fanning and Christian Slater who want to play the leads. William Dear (Angels in the Outfield) will be directing, and we’re planning an early 2008 production.
We’re also an executive producer of “The Note,” which is a TV movie that the Faith and Values Network will air this Christmas through their deal with Hallmark.
CC.com: You have some very strong partners in your company. How did that come about?
Cindy: I had known Ron Booth for several years back in the mid-90s when I ran Norann Entertainment for Norm Miller. We were all trying to get involved in the Left Behind films, which Ron ultimately executive produced. A number of years later Ron became partners with Charlie Gay (Cher’s former manager) and Frank Yablans (co-founder of Buena Vista, former President of Paramount, and former Co-Chairman of MGM/UA). Ron showed Frank a promo reel for a film he was producing called “The Lamb,” which is the story of Jesus as told through the eyes of a 12-year-old Jewish boy. Frank initially told Ron he wasn’t interested in doing a film on Jesus, but after watching the promo, he was incredibly moved and told Ron he was in.
Frank is an icon in the business. He’s been involved in over 300 films. Some were family-oriented (Paper Moon), and others not (The Godfather, Chinatown). Even though Frank is best known for a family film of a different kind (The Godfather), he is more passionate about promoting our mission of family values than anything he’s done before. I know God brought us together for such a time as this, as we are of the same heart and the same mind. It’s a dream team. We rarely have a disagreement, and we’ve been working together more than five years.
We formed Promenade Pictures in December, 2002, and I’ve been learning constantly from him since then. I’ve been blessed to have him as an amazing mentor. He really knows how to take in and organize a huge amount of information. He’s a great multi-tasker who knows how to turn the work off and segue to family life at the end of the day.
I, on the other hand, have struggled with being a workaholic. It’s my Achilles heel. Frank has taught me to go home and leave the work at the office. He’s helped me a great deal in that area, as well as in many others. He loves to mentor and share his huge amount of wisdom, knowledge and discernment about the inner workings of the business on a day-to-day basis. This has been a huge blessing, and is directly responsible for getting my career to a whole other level.
My advice to others is to be a sponge in this business. You must do a lot of observing and learn how things operate in Hollywood. Surprisingly, much of this business is learned through osmosis. Despite being such a complex industry, a lot of it is who you know.
This business is full of glass and mirrors, seduction and deception. You meet people who are ego-driven and power- and money-hungry. This town in large part is all façade, with little substance. The key that has worked for me is to be myself and do my best to treat others the way I want to be treated. I want to be in business with the people who have the resume they say they do and can back it up. That’s Frank. He has a huge amount of wisdom and discernment, and knows the inner workings of how these businesses operate on a day-to-day level.
CC.com: For someone who was a professional golfer, your life has certainly taken a different turn. Some pro athletes get into entertainment, but they’re usually in front of the cameras, not behind.
Cindy: That’s true. I did some modeling and acting after golf. My career has been an example of Romans 8:28, in that the various areas of interest in my life have all rolled up together to bring me to where I am today. Back in the days when I was a golfer I made some wonderful friendships with people in the industry. I golfed with a lot of celebrities and studio executives and we had something in common; we loved the game of golf.
Then later, when I was taking acting classes, I worked with some actors who weren’t famous then, but are now. My various interests melded together perfectly because this industry is very relationship-oriented. God was kind enough to bless me with a substantial Rolodex! Of course, having the connections is important, but only if you have the right projects. Together it’s a potentially winning mix as long as you have a strong work ethic and have integrity.
My best training has really been on the job. My first big break was getting a movie set up at NBC.
I really got into show business because I wanted to use the media to make a positive difference in the lives of people across the world. The media, as we know, is the most powerful tool in the world to influence for good or bad. In my case, I’ve only wanted to make movies to influence for God within a Judeo-Christian worldview. I’m completely blown away by all God’s done in my life, and how he’s used me. I give him all the glory.
There aren’t a lot of women in this industry who are executives, so I’m trying to forge forward. I’ve been pretty myopic about keeping my eye on the ball. There’s the ball, there’s the tee, there’s the hole, get the ball in the hole!
There are a myriad of genres that we’ll produce films within: drama, romantic comedies, family action, adventure, animation. We’re going to stay away from edgy, dark, eclectic, art-house films. They’re not for us. I love to do great, meaningful, wonderful dramas, and love true stories, as well as comedies, which are my favorite. Great stories are very powerful when brought to the screen with excellence. High quality storytelling with excellent production values is our goal.
We’re currently experiencing a wonderful time in the life of our company. We have the structure in place to protect our content and don’t have to compromise our work. Our plan is to build a modern-day Buena Vista that Walt (Disney) would’ve been proud of.
CC.com: Your husband Steve is a very successful actor. How did the two of you meet?
Cindy: At a health club. Rolling Stone magazine took a picture of us and did an article on us. (It was during the time the movie “Perfect,” starring John Travolta, was made) We had just met, and here was this magazine doing a story on us. Fortunately, we weren’t featured too much in the story other than a full-page picture. The writer was just looking for scandalous material to use as a basis for a movie.
Steve and I will celebrate 25 years of marriage on November 7. I love and respect him so much. He’s my sounding board and voice of reason when I get home. He originally came to the States when he was 12. He’s Israeli, and at the time, he didn’t speak a word of English. He played the Jungle Boy in Tarzan. About a year before we married, he became a Christian, a Judeo-Christian as he calls himself.
When our daughter Ashlee was born, he was a big star on General Hospital, so during those days I was a stay-at-home mom. Now I’m the one who goes to a full-time job and he supports me in my work. Like everyone else, we’ve had ups and downs in our relationship, but I’m happy to say we’re stronger than ever today and it’s great!
We have a date night every Friday. We live near Malibu so there’s a lot to do, and many great places to go.
Ashlee resembles me in personality, and many people say in looks as well. She’s very independent, driven and focused. She gets tunnel vision in a good way when it comes to competition. She sets her eyes on a goal and the objectives before her. She doesn’t let anything deter her. She’s a champion equestrienne in show jumping. She went to the Olympic trials in 2004 and is currently working hard to make it to the World Cup Finals and the Olympic Games in 2008.
CC.com: What kind of advice do you have for others who want to follow your steps into a role as an executive in filmmaking?
Cindy: First, I would say “Seek ye fir the kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall come unto you.” Keep your priorities in order. Also try to be like a sponge to carefully observe and absorb how the business operates. The Bible verse “Be wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove,” will serve you well here. Build your house on the rock, stay true to your faith and your convictions, and learn as much about how this business works as you can. Also, find a mentor.
It’s also very important to do your best to be humble and authentic. There are a lot of people in this business who aren’t concerned with anything other than doing what they need to do in order to achieve success, even if that means stepping all over someone or selling them out. The irony is it pays to be nice to everyone not only because it’s the right thing to do but also because you never know whom God has put in front of you at which time.
I also believe in addition to spiritual and emotional well-being it’s important to keep physically fit. I do my best to work out, run and hike as much as I can. This has helped me in a big way. In this town, you have a lot going on all the time, and you have to be pretty sharp to remember facts and details.
It’s really important that those of us in this industry that are blessed and have gained favor do a better and better job every day of walking the talk. Be examples and learn to work together.
Most importantly, keep it all in line and keep your priorities straight: God, family and work. That’s the hole-in-one for me.
©2007 ChristianCinema.com
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