Writing comes naturally for Kelli Bolton. Since grade school, she’s kept a journal, and in the year 2000, a visiting pastor at her church prophesied that she had the gift of writing. With this confirmation, Bolton wrote her first unpublished book. Whether she knew it or not, she was on her way to becoming a produced screenwriter.
She penned the screenplay for Church Gossip, about a college student who struggles to overcome the ramifications of a sexual sin, in 2014. The script is Bolton’s adaptation of the novel Church Gossip which she also wrote.
While looking into getting a book trailer for the novel, Bolton met with Kasper Harris, owner of a graphics business in her home state of Ohio. Harris put her in contact with Karlos Fulton Sr, . a local director and Church Gossip the movie was born.
“Kelli dropped the book in our hands and God orchestrated everything from there,” said executive producer Harris. He hopes that the movie’s themes resonate with viewers. “We’re praying that each soul that comes into viewing the movie will feel each element: love, redemption, and forgiveness. We all need to be loved. We all need to be redeemed and we all need to be forgiven.”
Church Gossip is the first first feature film for Bolton, Fulton, and Harris.
The crew faced some hurdles on set, but overcame by their faith.
“We practiced to pray before we went into each scene,” said director Fulton. “Prayer can really change things and make things run more smoothly. It was something that was impactful to us and people around us.”
While screenwriting is a leap from novel writing, Bolton said she wrote the script for Church Gossip in a few weeks. According to Bolton, one of the hurdles she overcame was depending more on her scenery to help her tell the story and understanding what she wanted to convey to her audience with a limited amount of words.
“I saw Church Gossip as a movie. This was my very first screenplay, so l was leaning on the wisdom of God to do this,” said Bolton. “We really didn’t have a budget at all. Our director, Karlos had the equipment and the Lord opened doors for us. We contacted friends and they would let us use their homes for different scenes,” she said.
Some scenes were shot at Bolton’s church, Agape Family Worship Center in Columbus, Ohio. “My pastor Yolanda Tolliver graced us with using the building and some church members were cast. They fully supported me, and that is an awesome blessing when you have that support,” said Bolton.
Harris encourages other first-time filmmakers to “know the sacrifice that you’re putting into it. Continue to be diligent over your vision. We all know that we’re going to have setbacks, but I encourage you to push through the setbacks. You have a vision for a purpose which is to bring that story to life.”
Church Gossip screens at the Churches Making Movies Christian Film Festival on Saturday, October 10, 2015 at 5:00 pm.
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