*I recently had the privilege of chatting with actor Demetrius Grosse and Bishop Martin about their inspiring new film, “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot” from Angel Studios.
This movie unpacks the remarkable true story of Bishop Martin and First Lady Donna Martin and their small Bennett Chapel church nestled in the woods of East Texas. Together with twenty-two families, they bravely took in seventy-seven of the hardest-to-place children from the local foster care system, sparking a powerful national movement for vulnerable youth that endures to this day.
Grosse portrays Bishop Martin in this heartfelt portrayal of courage, compassion, and community.
“The word of God is so instant within him and it’s always in season,” Grosse told EURweb about Bishop Martin.
“One of the things that he would say before we started rolling, to me, was, “My, my, my, what God is doing. At such a time as this,” that was sort of a mantra, that this is the time that this is ripe for the world and just to be so present,” Grosse continued. “I think I borrowed that from him and being instant with the word, and being able to speak a word to a situation straight from the Bible and it resonates with truth. That was something that was a great exchange.”
Director Joshua Weigel said in a statement, “This story was not just important—it was critical.”
“Over a 20 year span, it was featured on Oprah, local tv and every national news outlet in between, and still no one was willing to bring it to the big screen. That’s when I locked in, enough to move my family from LA to East Texas, near the actual community. I knew we’d never understand it completely, but we had to commit if we hoped to get anywhere close,” Weigel explained.
“When first considering this story, I wasn’t sure it would work. Too many characters, no clear story, and I wasn’t the right color to tell it. But it was also somehow monumental,” he said.
“After an arduous seven years, we distilled the story from the actual people and events, and managed to get it funded entirely through donations, which makes it the first film I know with all profits committed to children and families in crisis,” Weigel shared. “There’s a lot of faith in this story, which is important to me.”
Weigel hopes audiences “leave this film ready to follow this community’s lead, so they have to relate and see themselves in it.”
When I asked Bishop Martin how he felt when he learned his story would be adapted into a film, he replied, “Mind-boggling.”
The bishop added, “The only thing I could do is just thank God and praise God.”
When asked what impact he hopes this film will have on viewers, particularly regarding the foster care system and community involvement, Bishop Martin said, “I want to see children in a lovely, godly home. I want to see them grow up knowing that somebody cared.”
He added, “Over 400,000 children in the system, 100,000, they’re ready for adoption. They don’t even know who they are, don’t have identity. But God, if they get into a lovely home, God is going to bless that family and bless those children. This is all I’m concerned about. I want to see evidence of this movie, this film, this movement, bringing children out of the system.”
Watch my conversation with Demetrius Grosse and Bishop Martin in the clip below.
“Sound Of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot” also stars Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost), Nika King (Euphoria) as First Lady Donna Martin, and Diaana Babnicova (Don’t Breathe 2). The film arrives in theaters nationwide on July 4.
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