News
Admittedly, it's not The Ten Commandments, but Curtis Graham and Tim Paskert have high hopes that their new movie will become an Easter classic for television audiences across the country. Make that around the world. The Glass Window, which tells the story of a young, successful executive searching for life's answers, makes its debut on Tampa Bay-area television today.
"It's an inspirational film," said Graham, a St. Petersburg native who is the movie's director and one of its producers.
"I think that it's really a modern-day Easter story."
It's the story of Stuart Wright, a television executive who achieves success in his life except for his relationship with his father. When his father dies, Wright's life is turned upside down, forcing him to return to his roots and embark on a quest for answers and peace.
The movie was more than a decade in the making. Paskert, 45, a former atheist turned ordained nondenominational minister, wrote the script, but struggled to get it noticed.
"I guess God's timing is perfect, because when you see the film, the film is much more relevant to what is going on in our country than when it was written 14 years ago," the Plant High School graduate said.
"Hopefully, it will be a classic," said Graham, 58, whose production company is GreyHouse Films.
"We just thought it was a great story that should be told."
The movie was shot in the Bahamas and Florida. Some interior scenes were filmed in Tampa, while a scene meant to represent Southport, N.C., was shot at St. Petersburg's Lassing Park. St. Petersburg's historic Greenwood Cemetery, where many of the city's earliest pioneers were buried, including Graham's great-grandfather, was the setting of a funeral scene.
The Tampa Bay connection doesn't end there. Retired St. Petersburg Times employee Rick Rutan, 84, was recruited for the dream sequence. St. Petersburg's Tom Stovall plays a pivotal role. Tampa natives John McWhirter and John Hotchkiss joined Graham and Paskert to produce the movie.
Graham, an award-winning filmmaker, said he has always wanted to make inspirational movies.
"I just love great stories and I believe great stories are inspiring. Certain films I've seen have made a great impact on my life and the power of the visual medium is meant to move people," said Graham, an adjunct professor of cinematography at the University of Tampa.
He and Paskert, whose production company Hannah Rose is named for his infant daughter who died of SIDS in 2000, met a couple of years ago.
"He had shopped the script around for about 12 years and he came and talked to me about it and I liked the script and I said I'd help him get it done," Graham said.
They count themselves fortunate to have found an avenue to distribute their work.
"We're to the point of just being beyond words," Paskert said.
"It's just so far beyond what we thought was possible. The executive producer is the Lord. We didn't do this; God just chose to give us favor."
They worked with a Longwood firm, the Television Syndication Co., to get the movie shown on television across the country.
"They saw the movie late last year and became very excited about it and we all agreed that this was the perfect Easter story for today," Paskert said.
The movie has already been on television in such places as Atlanta; Spokane, Wash.; Charleston, S.C.; Hartford, Conn.; and Colorado Springs, Colo.
"We had a No. 2 share in Atlanta last week. The only thing that beat us out was NASCAR, so we know one thing: that is, God loves NASCAR," Graham joked.
The Glass Window also has been seen in Guam and the Bahamas. Easter Sunday audiences will include viewers in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and San Antonio, Texas.
Paskert said he hopes viewers take away at least one thing from the movie: "That God knows everything that is going on and he loves us anyway and he just wants us to come home."
Reach Waveney Ann Moore at wmoore @sptimes.com or (727) 892-2283.
Loading...
