Tag Archives: Let the Church Say Amen movie

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The Making of the BET Movie & ReShonda Tate Billingsley’s “Let The Church Say Amen!”

Hello World,

say amenTomorrow night at 8 p.m./7 C, best-selling author ReShonda Tate Billingsley will realize a dream come true – the network premiere of her movie “Let The Church Say Amen,” based on her book of the same name. But it has been a long road to her dream….Read about her journey below and by all means, watch the movie tomorrow night!!!

From a previous post…

Bishop T.D. Jakes’ MegaFest 2013 in Dallas is making headlines from Tyler Perry laying hands on the bishop AND donating $1 million to help build a youth center to mega artists Jennifer Hudson, Erica Campbell, Joe and more performing at the Women of Purpose concert!

Aside from these fantastic events, it was also the premiere of “Let the Church Say Amen,” a movie based on the best-selling novel by ReShonda Tate Billingsley, which was featured as a part of the First Annual International Faith & Family Film Festival at MegaFest 2013 ! As a fellow author, I am truly inspired by ReShonda’s success, and I wanted to highlight her achievement here. Below is a summary of the movie.”

Twenty-one-year-old Rachel Jackson (Naturi Naughton) is a wayward preacher’s kid who is struggling to pull her life together. With a six-year-old son out of wedlock and a high school diploma, Rachel’s mission in life is to marry her son’s father in order to forge a traditional and respectable family and regain her father’s respect.

LET THE CHURCH SAY AMEN is a powerful journey through one family’s trials and tribulations and a remarkable story of reconciliation and love. This two-hour movie of the week will be a BET Premiere Cinema event starring Steve Harris, Naturi Naughton, Lela Rochon, Hosea Sanchez and Collins Curtis Pennie. The film is Executive produced by Reina King and co-produced by Queen Latifah, Shakim Compere, Shelby Stone, Roger Bobb and Regina King who is also making her directorial debut. LET THE CHURCH SAY AMEN is a BET Networks, Royal Ties and Flavor Unit Production.

Below is my interview with ReShonda! Check it out!

ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Regina King, Hosea Sanchez & Brely Evans

ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Regina King, Hosea Sanchez & Brely Evans

1. As a fellow author, when you wrote your book “Let the Church Say Amen,” did you ever dream that it could be made into a movie? When I first start writing, I don’t do it with a movie in mind, but of course, like many authors, I dream for all of them to be on the big screen. It just doesn’t play a role in my writing process.

2. And for my fellow authors and dreamers out there, how did this movie come to be? By being nice. I know that sounds like a cliché but I bought a book for a woman who didn’t have enough money for a book. She gave it to her sister who worked for an airport bookstore. One day, Juanita Bynum was in that store and the sister convinced Rev. Bynum to buy my book. Long story short, she did, loved it and got in touch with me to ask my permission to take it to Hollywood. The journey to where I am today was a long one, as we’ve had several delays over the years, funding issues, and normal “movie delays.” But Regina King, who was set to direct the movie and her sister/business partner Reina King, believed in the project and kept fighting for it. Eventually, they partnered with Queen Latifah’s Flava Unit and got a deal with BET, who was getting into original programming. They bought four of my other novels, including “Everybody Say Amen,” “Say Amen, Again,”and “I Know I’ve Been Changed.”

3. How is the movie different from your book or did the movie match what happened in your book? As with all novels that are made into movies, you will see a condensed version of my novel. Many people don’t know this, but they take a 300-400 page novel and shrink it to about 90 pages, so a lot of things have to go. Although there are a few key changes, they definitely captured the essence of the book.

4. What has been the most surprising experience you’ve had as you watched your words being turned into a movie? The most surprising experience I would have to say is that they let me be a part of it from beginning to end. When production companies buy your novel, you sign the contract and receive your check, which is normally where the communications stop. It is rare that they let an author be involved, so I am extremely blessed to be involved behind the scenes, and on camera. Yes, I also have a small part in the movie…yes, a speaking part. But perhaps the best feeling was watching the crowd reaction at the recent screening of the movie. I had seen the movie, but watching it with a crowd, that loved it, made me feel …. Full.

5. I know you probably can’t pick favorites, but what actor in the movie is your favorite and why? And if you don’t want to answer that, how have the actors brought your story to life in a way that you haven’t thought about before? What was it like to work with Regina King? Oh, my God, I can’t. For real, because they were all phenomenal. I couldn’t have asked for a better cast! Each actor brings their own flavor to make their character come to life. And to see the passion and commitment they brought to the roles meant the world. It’s like each person chosen was meant for that role. Casting director Robbie Reed did an AMAZING job. And Regina, I simply love her. Both her and her sister. They made sure that I was not only included, but happy with the direction of the story and the characters. I was a fan of Regina before. But just based on her on-screen work. Now, it’s how she is off-screen that has made me a fan for life.

6. How was your film chosen to be screened at MegaFest, and is this the first time the film has been shown to an audience? What did you think? What did the audience think? It was chosen to be screened at MegaFest because of T.D. Jake’s relationship with BET. BET believes in this project and worked with him to make it the official television entry at the festival. This was the first time it was shown to an audience. Seeing it for the first time on the big screen was priceless. I’ve never been so excited and proud. (I only wished my mom could have been sitting in the audience watching.) The audience, which was a seating capacity of 800 people, was full and we had to turn away hundreds of people. They loved it. They laughed, cried and gave a standing ovation when it was over. It was the highlight of my literary career. (That, and winning the NAACP Image Award in 2012)

7. What’s next for the movie? And also, besides this current movie, which book would you like to see made into a movie next and why? I don’t have an actual release date yet. They’re still working out the details because there is the possibility that it could go to the big screen (say a prayer, y’all). Once I know, I’ll make sure all my readers know as well. As I said earlier, I would love to see all my books made into a movie. But honestly, if I had to pick, my top three would be “The Secret She Kept,” “Holy Rollers,” and “I Know I’ve Been Changed.”

live tweetAlso, I will be live tweeting “Let The Church Say Amen!” Use the hashtag #ChurchSayAmenBET!

Any thoughts?

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Brown Girls Publishing Founders Release Similar-Themed Novels Without Intending To Do So…

writing twins

Hello World,

Victoria Christopher Murray & ReShonda Tate Billingsley, who refer to themselves as “writing twins,” have written several novels together such Sinners & Saints,  Friends & Foes and Fortune & Fame: A Novel, and the two also co-founded Brown Girls Publishing in 2014. However, apart from their joint ventures, ReShonda Tate Billingsley & Victoria Christopher Murray maintain separate careers as novelists. Still, without intending to do so, Victoria Christopher Murray’s latest novel Stand Your Ground: A Novel which debuts TODAY, and ReShonda Tate Billingley’s latest novel Mama’s Boy, which debuts a week from today on July 7, explore topics that dominate today’s headlines. Read the descriptions of each book below as well as my interview with the “writing twins” and Brown Girls Publishing founders.

image1

From the #1 Essence bestselling and award-winning author Victoria Christopher Murray comes Stand Your Ground, a new novel about two women who are faced with the same tragedy.

A black teenage boy is dead. A white man shot him. Was he standing his ground or was it murder?

Janice Johnson is living every black mother’s nightmare. Her seventeen-year-old son was murdered and the shooter has not been arrested. Can the D.A. and the police be trusted to investigate and do the right thing? Should Janice take advantage of the public outcry and join her husband alongside the angry protestors who are out for revenge?

Meredith Spencer is married to the man accused of the killing and she sees her husband and the situation with far more clarity than anyone realizes. What she knows could blow the case wide open, but what will that mean for her life and that of her son? Will she have the courage to come forward in time so that justice can be done?

#1 national bestselling and award-winning author Victoria Christopher Murray’s Stand Your Ground is a pulse-pounding meditation on race, motherhood, marriage, and vigilante justice that will have readers spellbound until its shocking end.

mama's boy

When her son is in trouble, a heartbroken mother finds the courage and faith to save him, in ReShonda Tate Billingsley’s powerful family drama—a novel as timely as today’s headlines.

The breaking TV news rocks Jasper, Texas, to the core: a white police officer is fatally shot in a scuffle with three black youths—and a cellphone video captures Jamal Jones, the sixteen-year-old son of esteemed Reverend Elton Jones, escalating the tragic encounter. Now, as the national spotlight shines on a town already rife with racial tension, Jamal is a murder suspect on the run. And all of Jasper—even the Reverend’s congregation—rushes to judge the boy they thought they knew.

But Gloria Jones knows her son best, and she races to find Jamal before the law does—to the outrage of her workaholic husband. Once she finds him, she has to decide whether to turn him in or help him run. With ruthless prosecutor and Houston mayoral candidate Kay Christensen hungering to put another young thug behind bars, Gloria will face her biggest battle yet. And when long-hidden secrets and shocking lies come to light, throwing Jamal’s case and his destiny into a tailspin, all Gloria can do is pray that the truth—and a mother’s unconditional love—will be enough to redeem the mistakes of the past and ultimately, save her son.

INTERVIEW

1. I’m sure that the deaths of several black males such as Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and more at the hands of police officers and or self-imposed authority figures inspired you to write your respective novels “Stand Your Ground” and “Mama’s Boy,” but please share what specific case(s) or news story(ies) inspired you to pen your novels?

Victoria: I was actually watching the Michael Dunn trial, the first one, and when the verdict came back and it was announced that it was a mistrial — the jurors couldn’t decide on guilt or innocence — my social media timelines blew up. But people didn’t understand the law, and I saw this as an opportunity to entertain and teach.

ReShonda: There was no case in particular. As a longtime member of the media, we would get the ‘you can’t film us’ from law enforcement. And we knew our rights. The rise in people recording just got me to thinking of how many people don’t know their rights. So that was the nugget that started this story brewing. From there, I threw in the dynamic of ‘what would you do if your son had committed a crime’ and doing the right thing meant turning him over to a racist police department.

2. How long did it take you to write these novels, and what emotions did you experience as you wrote your novels?

Victoria: It took me a year, and as any writer experiences, you go through the same emotions as the characters.

Reshonda: It took me about five months to REWRITE my novel. I say rewrite because I firmly believe good novels aren’t written, they’re rewritten. It was an emotional roller coaster because I’d like to think I would always do the right thing, but as a mother, and under extenuating circumstances, I found myself seriously questioning that.

3. What do you hope readers will learn and or experience through reading these novels?

Victoria: I really hope readers will come to understand not only the SYG law, but how dangerous this legal license to kill is for our community. Stand Your Ground only seems to work when our boys are the ones on the ground. We must fight against this.

ReShonda: I want readers to think about how they would react. I also hope to educate people while entertaining them.

4.Victoria and ReShonda, the both of you refer to each other as writing twins! In fact, you have written three novels together such as “Sinners & Saints,” “Friends & Foes,” “Fortune & Fame” and the upcoming “A Blessing and a Curse” to be released in 2016. When did you discover that the both of you had written separate novels about similar themes, and what did you think about that?

Victoria: We read each other’s books so, we knew we wrote about issues in the church. I didn’t think anything about that fact — lots of authors write about similar themes.

ReShonda: It’s amazing. We talk about everything, but we had no idea how similar our stories were in terms of dealing with topical issues, until we began reading each other’s completed manuscripts. Honestly, I even asked my editor about waiting on my book, but it was already done and in the production process. But I realized that while we both deal with serious issues, we use our own unique storytelling styles, so that makes the books uniquely different.

5. Brown Girls Publishing has been in existence for just over a year now. What accomplishment has your company achieved that you are most proud of to date?

Victoria: The fact that we are still standing is an accomplishment to me. It is much more difficult than we anticipated. I am proud of the fact that we’ve given new authors who would’ve never been published a chance for exposure.

ReShonda: Wow, there are so many things I’m proud of, so it’s hard to narrow it down to one thing. I’m thrilled with our author roster, the new imprints, and especially the Brown Girls Kids/Brown Girls Teens division because that is giving us the opportunity to begin building the voices of tomorrow.

6. Why did you start two new imprints, Brown Girls Faith and Jacquelin Thomas Presents, and what do you hope to do accomplish with these imprints?

Victoria: The imprints give us an opportunity to publish more authors and give better attention with Jacquelin Thomas and Rhonda McKnight joining our team.

ReShonda: We had to close down our submissions process because of the sheer volume of submissions, and there were so many good manuscripts that we weren’t getting to. Jacquelin Thomas and Rhonda McKnight are two consummate professionals who we thought we be good additions to our tear. Our hope is to further expand the Brown Girls brand and bring readers a wider array of quality books.

7. Victoria, I know that you are a political junkie. Now that our sorority sister, the newly elected Attorney General Loretta Lynch, the first black woman to be Attorney General of the United States, is in place, what do hope you she will accomplish during her tenure? Congratulations ReShonda! I’ve learned that TV One recently announced that it will adapt two of your novels “The Devil Is A Lie” and “The Secret She Kept” into original movies to be released in 2016! How did this happen? 

Victoria: Wow. I don’t know how to answer that. I don’t know what she has in her plate. She’s not a policy maker in the Obama Administration, so there aren’t any policy issues. I just hope she continues the work of Eric Holder with voter rights and police brutality cases. And I wish her the best.

ReShonda: Well, my movie, Let the Church Say Amen (which will air on BET on Aug. 29 at 8 pm/7m Central), based on my sophomore novel, has been in the works a long time. And I’m blessed to have been on Hollywood’s radar. So TV One actually reached out to me because they are serious about revving up their original programming. I am honored that they chose two of my titles.

Thank you ReShonda & Victoria for your time!

Any thoughts?

 

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ReShonda Tate Billingsley’s ‘Let the Church Say Amen’ Premieres at MegaFest 2013!!!

Hello World,

ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Regina King, Hosea Sanchez & Brely Evans

ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Regina King, Hosea Sanchez & Brely Evans at the premiere…

Bishop T.D. Jakes’ MegaFest 2013 in Dallas is making headlines from Tyler Perry laying hands on the bishop AND donating $1 million to help build a youth center to mega artists Jennifer Hudson, Erica Campbell, Joe and more performing at the Women of Purpose concert!

Aside from these fantastic events, it was also the premiere of “Let the Church Say Amen,” a movie based on the best-selling novel by ReShonda Tate Billingsley, which was featured as a part of the First Annual International Faith & Family Film Festival at MegaFest 2013 ! As a fellow author, I am truly inspired by ReShonda’s success, and I wanted to highlight her achievement here. Below is a summary of the movie.

The audience watching "Let the Church Say Amen."

The audience watching “Let the Church Say Amen.”

Twenty-one-year-old Rachel Jackson (Naturi Naughton) is a wayward preacher’s kid who is struggling to pull her life together. With a six-year-old son out of wedlock and a high school diploma, Rachel’s mission in life is to marry her son’s father in order to forge a traditional and respectable family and regain her father’s respect.

LET THE CHURCH SAY AMEN is a powerful journey through one family’s trials and tribulations and a remarkable story of reconciliation and love. This two-hour movie of the week will be a BET Premiere Cinema event starring Steve Harris, Naturi Naughton, Lela Rochon, Hosea Sanchez and Collins Curtis Pennie. The film is Executive produced by Reina King and co-produced by Queen Latifah, Shakim Compere, Shelby Stone, Roger Bobb and Regina King who is also making her directorial debut. LET THE CHURCH SAY AMEN is a BET Networks, Royal Ties and Flavor Unit Production.

Below is my interview with ReShonda! Check it out!

1. As a fellow author, when you wrote your book “Let the Church Say Amen,” did you ever dream that it could be made into a movie? When I first start writing, I don’t do it with a movie in mind, but of course, like many authors, I dream for all of them to be on the big screen. It just doesn’t play a role in my writing process.

2. And for my fellow authors and dreamers out there, how did this movie come to be? By being nice. I know that sounds like a cliché but I bought a book for a woman who didn’t have enough money for a book. She gave it to her sister who worked for an airport bookstore. One day, Juanita Bynum was in that store and the sister convinced Rev. Bynum to buy my book. Long story short, she did, loved it and got in touch with me to ask my permission to take it to Hollywood. The journey to where I am today was a long one, as we’ve had several delays over the years, funding issues, and normal “movie delays.” But Regina King, who was set to direct the movie and her sister/business partner Reina King, believed in the project and kept fighting for it. Eventually, they partnered with Queen Latifah’s Flava Unit and got a deal with BET, who was getting into original programming. They bought four of my other novels, including “Everybody Say Amen,” “Say Amen, Again,”and “I Know I’ve Been Changed.”

3. How is the movie different from your book or did the movie match what happened in your book? As with all novels that are made into movies, you will see a condensed version of my novel. Many people don’t know this, but they take a 300-400 page novel and shrink it to about 90 pages, so a lot of things have to go. Although there are a few key changes, they definitely captured the essence of the book.

4. What has been the most surprising experience you’ve had as you watched your words being turned into a movie? The most surprising experience I would have to say is that they let me be a part of it from beginning to end. When production companies buy your novel, you sign the contract and receive your check, which is normally where the communications stop. It is rare that they let an author be involved, so I am extremely blessed to be involved behind the scenes, and on camera. Yes, I also have a small part in the movie…yes, a speaking part. But perhaps the best feeling was watching the crowd reaction at the recent screening of the movie. I had seen the movie, but watching it with a crowd, that loved it, made me feel …. Full.

5. I know you probably can’t pick favorites, but what actor in the movie is your favorite and why? And if you don’t want to answer that, how have the actors brought your story to life in a way that you haven’t thought about before? What was it like to work with Regina King? Oh, my God, I can’t. For real, because they were all phenomenal. I couldn’t have asked for a better cast! Each actor brings their own flavor to make their character come to life. And to see the passion and commitment they brought to the roles meant the world. It’s like each person chosen was meant for that role. Casting director Robbie Reed did an AMAZING job. And Regina, I simply love her. Both her and her sister. They made sure that I was not only included, but happy with the direction of the story and the characters. I was a fan of Regina before. But just based on her on-screen work. Now, it’s how she is off-screen that has made me a fan for life.

6. How was your film chosen to be screened at MegaFest, and is this the first time the film has been shown to an audience? What did you think? What did the audience think? It was chosen to be screened at MegaFest because of T.D. Jake’s relationship with BET. BET believes in this project and worked with him to make it the official television entry at the festival. This was the first time it was shown to an audience. Seeing it for the first time on the big screen was priceless. I’ve never been so excited and proud. (I only wished my mom could have been sitting in the audience watching.) The audience, which was a seating capacity of 800 people, was full and we had to turn away hundreds of people. They loved it. They laughed, cried and gave a standing ovation when it was over. It was the highlight of my literary career. (That, and winning the NAACP Image Award in 2012)

7. What’s next for the movie? And also, besides this current movie, which book would you like to see made into a movie next and why? I don’t have an actual release date yet. They’re still working out the details because there is the possibility that it could go to the big screen (say a prayer, y’all). Once I know, I’ll make sure all my readers know as well. As I said earlier, I would love to see all my books made into a movie. But honestly, if I had to pick, my top three would be “The Secret She Kept,” “Holy Rollers,” and “I Know I’ve Been Changed.”

Also, please share anything else you would readers to know! I would like to thank all my readers for their continued support and I urge them to follow me on facebook at reshondatatebillingsley and on Twitter at Reshondat so we can keep them updated on the movie.

Any thoughts?