Seventh-Gay Adventists Blog

The Film That Emerged

Daneen Akers — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:51:06 +0000

After almost three years since we first had the idea that the stories of gay and lesbian Adventists trying to reconcile their identity and their faith would make for an interesting film, we finally are nearing completion. It's been a packed summer and fall editing or thinking about edits around the clock. We've been hugely fortunate to have an incredibly talented editor and assistant editor (sadly, she had to return to school after her summer internship in San Francisco), and several other story consultants and trusted advisors have given us valuable feedback and insights as we've been crafting the film.

I think you will be pleased with the film that has emerged. We've now shared the work-in-progress film three times in small, private screenings to get feedback form different types of audiences (Adventist, gay Adventist, and general documentary lovers). So far the response has been overwhelmingly affirming. People from every background are drawn into the stories and find them compelling. They laughed and cried (in the right places), and they've had helpful suggestions as we've continued to tweak and polish the film.

This past weekend we shared the film with a small group of Adventist religion teachers and theologians who were in San Francisco for a conference (many of them had agreed to be interviewed by us two years ago when we though we were making an issue film rather than a character-driven film). I was quite nervous because I knew many individuals were brilliant scholars who hold very traditional views of biblical morality; however, even they found the stories compelling and the experience valuable. Here are a few of the comments I can remember:

"I was very resistant to this film coming in. I really just came out of obligation, but somewhere in the middle I completely changed my perspective. I was so taken in by these stories. I feel like I've just experienced some really deep spiritual growth, and my stereotypes and theology got rubbed in a way that needed to happen."

"Thank you for making this film. I think this tone is exactly what the church needs around this topic, and I don't think anyone--no matter where they stand theologically--can help but be utterly moved by these stories." (This point was the prevailing theme of the comments.)

"This is exactly the right way to go about changing the tone of the conversation. Nobody can help but love the people in this film."

And LGBT advocates and secular professionals have connected with the spirit of the film and the hearts of the main subjects as well--we all get wanting to belong and wanting to have a safe spiritual home to raise our families, and the main subjects of the film are just absolutely amazing people. I fall in love with them every time I see the film. They inspire me to show up more intentionally in my community, to parent better, to love more authentically despite differences.

A Gentle Film

The film that has emerged is actually a gentle and quiet film, and I mean that in all the right ways. At some point we realized that the only people who watch combative films are those who already agree with the filmmaker’s premise. Several people commented that it was a “peacemaking” film. It’s contemplative, a powerful and revealing look at the inner spiritual world of the main subjects who have to struggle mightily with how to reconcile their religious and sexual identities. It’s a compelling intersection of faith and identity.

I can’t wait to share it with you! Before that happens though, there is still actually a lot of work to do. We still are tweaking, polishing, and trying to arrange for a host of final pieces (like a sound mix and color correction).

What's Ahead

What’s ahead besides actually finishing the film is submitting to festivals. That’s a slow process, and we won’t know the results for several months. So, when people ask when it will premiere and where they can see it, I truthfully don’t know yet. It all depends on which festivals accept the film. Please know that I will be shouting it from the rooftops when I know. After it plays at festivals, we absolutely want to plan an extensive screening campaign to play the film around the country (and internationally as that is possible).

The Part About Money

The great news is that the incredible community that has sprung up to make this film happen raised enough money to cover all of our post-production expenses (and we even won some grant money). I'm afraid that I'd hoped that would be all of the fundraising we ever had to do, but I'm realizing just how expensive it is to actually get the film seen. We're committed to not just making the film but making sure it's seen wherever people are willing to hear these stories. We'll need funds for marketing, travel, and screening expenses (such as renting a theater). I'm not launching a campaign for that yet because I don't feel like I know enough of the need yet, but I did want to let people know as they're planning year-end tax-deductible contributions that this is still a worthy project to give to, and you can still donate through the San Francisco Film Society. Thank you, thank you for all this community has done to make this film happen. Our credits list is long and growing!

Blessings to you and yours this Thanksgiving, and please stay tuned for updates as we have a firmer sense of when and where the film will be showing.

Summer Film Update

Daneen Akers — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 04:41:58 +0000

Summer is a relative term around here. We’re currently in the midst of San Francisco’s famous summer fog. While it may be cold and gray, it’s actually great weather for hunkering down to edit a movie. And that’s what we’ve been doing.

If you follow our Facebook page, you know that we’ve had an editor and an intern working out of our apartment this summer—we actually moved our bed into our living room to make a separate office, which sounds extreme but has actually been working really well. Now we can at least keep Lily out of the office, although she does like to sneak in to “help.”

It’s been an extremely busy summer, but a productive one. We’re aiming to make some fall film festival deadlines, and I think with some more late nights, some luck, and some divine grace, we are going to make it. I saw a rough cut of act one last night (films typically have three acts), and I was blown away. Of course, it’s the people who have generously agreed to let us into their lives to share their stories who make it compelling, but our editorial team has been absolutely rocking it.

Meet the Team

Richard Levien, film editorWe feel extremely lucky to have Richard Levien, a local editor and filmmaker, on board as our editor. We met him a few years ago after the screening of D-Tour, a local documentary that had just won an award at the San Francisco International Film Festival. Stephen and Richard also took a master’s editing class together from the great Walter Murch the next year, and when we started asking around for editor recommendations, people kept mentioning Richard. He’s known to be especially good in situations where the director/producers are very close to the film subject. He actually has a PhD in theoretical physics from Princeton, and while he’s a Kiwi, he says that he’s “one of the few New Zealanders who played no part whatsoever in the making of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.”

Abby Potts, assistant editor

Our intern, Abby Potts, whom we’re crediting as an assistant editor because she’s been that good, actually sent me an email this spring asking if she might be a good fit for this film. She’s a grad student at USC in their film program specializing in editing, and she had been following the project and wanted to be a part of it. In the small world of Adventism, it turns out that she and I shared a beloved favorite English Professor who had been at PUC but is now at Andrews. A generous friend in San Francisco who was off to Germany for work for the summer offered to let Abby stay in her apartment while working with us, and she’s been here long hours assembling scenes for Richard to polish. She’s also very patient when Lily wants to help, which has endeared her to all of us! We’re already feeling very gloomy that USC will be back in session soon.

We're Getting Close and Need Your Help to Finish

We still have a great deal of work to do, but I am energized and enthused about how things are coming together. I feel like there was a period this past winter when we were faced with a mountain of footage to shape. I had moments of feeling overwhelmed and not fully up to the task, but now the shape has emerged, the stories are clear, and I know this is going to be a powerful film. (And we're going to have the world's best special features section on a DVD one day with all of that additional footage!)

This is still the most expensive phase of the film because we have to hire others to help and because the final touches of a film are done on expensive equipment (music composing, sound mixing, and color correction). In my last newsletter, I shared the good news that we’d received half of our post-production funding. Well, it's time to begin raising the other half now.

If you're able to contribute to help us finish the film, we need your support one last time.

I’m in awe of what this community has done so far to get this film made. There are hundreds of people who have contributed, and many who have done so very generously. I’m humbled by your trust. And I finally feel fully confident that we will be watching it with you soon.

Thanks so much for being on this journey with us.

So, When Will This Film Be Done?

Daneen Akers — Fri, 27 May 2011 23:05:53 +0000

A fan of the film on Facebook recently sent me a message teasing me about when he’s going to be able to see the film, “I'm excited to see the movie finished. Everybody says it will be done soon, but there is no date announced...sounds to me like the Coming of Jesus—it will be soon, but we don't know the date!”

I hear you! And I feel the same way. It really is coming along, but it’s just a lot of work, most of it difficult to make visible to the film fans unless you want to come sit in front of our computer monitors as we go through footage and work on the script.

I wanted to give you all a spring update on just what’s been happening with the film.

The Big News: First, the really, really good news is that we just found out that almost half of the funding we need for post-production is in the mail! Wow. If I tell you that I was actually playing the Hallelujah Chorus on my computer when news of this came in on my email, you’ll think I’m exaggerating. But remember, I’m a documentarian, so I only tell the truth! (Lily likes big, grand pieces of music right now, hence the melodrama.)

I cried with relief and joy. It was the first moment when I felt like I could honestly know that this film will get done. We will need definitely need more funds—this final phase of the film is actually the most expensive because it’s no longer a phase where we can do pretty much all the work ourselves, but critical mass we needed to build momentum, both for ourselves and with the other supporters who support the vision of the film.

So thanks to the donors who step in big ways, but an equally big thanks to the many, many of you who continue to support the film in your own capacity. Truly, it wouldn’t be happening without all of you. We have a friend from college who contributes $20 a month, and her encouragement and support is just as vital to preserving the momentum and vision of the film. I’m absolutely amazed beyond belief when I think of how many people have contributed to this film. I continue to live by Margaret Mead’s words, “"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

It Gets Better Video: As many of you know, I also produced a short project as part of the “It Gets Better” campaign with the help of Traveling Muse Pictures and New Name Pictures in Hollywood. Especially after the suicide in the Kinship family at Christmas, it felt like an appropriate response to try to get the message out to Adventist LGBT youth that it can get better—sometimes even in the church. (We featured people who have stayed in the church and those who have left to find spiritual wholeness). It was an incredible shoot, and I’ll be meeting with the editor next week to trim the first cut down.

What’s Next: For the SGA film, the timing always depends on funding, which is why I tend to say “soon” instead of give a real date. My personal goal is to be screening the film by this fall, and after the good funding news that we got this week, I am starting to feel pretty strongly that that is going to happen.

Our next step is to find an editor (we’ll still direct and produce—and write—through the editing process). If we can’t find the right editor with availability this summer, then Stephen will edit the first cut, and we’ll bring another editor in for a consult and polish after that. And then we’ll have music, sound mix, color correction, website design (I want the website to be a place where people can continue to share stories), and, one day not-too-far-off, screenings and discussions! We still are planning some production travel—we’re not done shooting, but we’re just a lot more focused on what we need. One big July event is the wedding of one of our main characters in Canada.

Thank you so much for your support and ongoing encouragement. Your feedback and thoughts are always welcome.

Back to that small group of committed people…

I attended a workshop a few weeks ago on emotional intelligence at our church, and the presenter (a widely respected brain function expert), said that it only takes five percent of the population having a consciousness shift to have a ripple effect on the rest of the population. She was actually referring to the recent events in the Middle East, but I suddenly felt really positive about the potential for this film to start a movement not just within the Adventist church but also in other conservative religious circles.

Here’s to the five percent!

What’s Saving My Hope Right Now

Daneen Akers — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 23:02:42 +0000

Now that we’ve spent much of the past two years immersed in the stories and politics surrounding gay rights in religious communities, I’ve had my eyes opened to an entire world of hurt, pain, and downright hypocrisy that I’d not really stopped to listen to before.

Of course I had heard a story here or there, sat through the occasional sermon that threw around phrases like “the gay agenda” in ominous tones, but I hadn’t had a true or authentic encounter with a gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender person until I started going to an inclusive (truly non-traditional in the best sense of the concept) church in San Francisco.

When I finally started paying attention, there wasn’t a lot to give me hope for real and transformative change—my home state had just passed Prop 8 and stripped people I knew and loved of their newly acquired right to marry, and the Adventist churches around me were preaching outrageous sermons and slowly but surely shutting their doors to gays and lesbians.

And now that I have actually journeyed with several people who mean a great deal to me over the past two years and heard their stories (and the stories of their friends), it’s gotten harder in many ways.

When I hear that someone I know was just told that she can no longer play her instrument in church because that might be seen as “condoning her lifestyle”, it just hits me at my core.

When I get an email from a friend saying that his church board just stripped him of his Sabbath School class teaching duties because he personally believes that committed, monogamous same-sex relationships might not be sinful (even though he never said anything on the topic in class), I feel utterly discouraged and start to wonder what the heck we are even thinking in attempting a film project like this.

What was missing was the stories…

But last week I had a conversation with a friend that reminded me again why there is good cause for hope.

My dear (straight, formally conservative Adventist) friend Heather came to visit me last week. We stayed at her house twice while filming, and she has heard me talk a lot about the people and stories we’ve encountered with this film.

As we walked to one of my favorite restaurants in the neighborhood, she suddenly stopped and said:

“By the way, I have to thank you so much for doing your film project. I’ve always had compassion around the whole gay topic in the church, but I didn’t know what to do with it. What was missing for me was the stories. Real people and real stories. What you have shared with me about the people you are filming has completely transformed me and my heart. Thank you.”

Her testimony couldn’t have come at a better time. Stephen has been logging long hours in front of the computer editing the nearly 150 hours of footage we have, and we’re in that space that comes with every creative endeavor of knowing there is something very good ahead but not being able to see exactly how we’re going to get there. It’s really like walking with a flashlight in the dark to a great destination—morning will come, but right now, we can only see a few feet ahead, and not all that clearly.

Hearing Heather affirm how her heart was moved and transformed by the stories of LGBT Adventists is what’s keeping me fueled for the next few months. And as Stephen said later, “And she hasn’t even seen the movie yet!”

So here’s to the Heather’s out there giving me hope that stories do have immense power. Thanks for being willing to listen. Oh—and can you sit on a few more church boards?

Holiday Wishes

Stephen Eyer — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 14:30:37 +0000

As 2010 draws to a close, I've been reflecting on what has happened with the film since last Christmas. Last year at this time we were just returning from our 10,000 mile road trip around the country. We filmed dozens and dozens of LGBT Adventists as well as several friends and allies sharing their stories. (The first teaser using this footage is now posted on the home page.)

This year we've finished major filming with our main subjects (this time traveling by air!), and we're moving into the post-production phase. All this time, you, dear film supporter, have been an integral part of production. We've raised 65% of our budget, all from direct contributions from people who believe in the vision of this film.

Thank you for being an integral part of the Seventh-Gay Adventists production. As you know, this is an independent film, and your contributions are vital. I am writing to ask you to support the film with a tax-deductible year-end gift. And by this time next year, you may very well be watching this film at a screen near you!

We are moving from an active production phase to the post-production phase. Even though there will certainly be more to film, we have enough footage (over 100 hours!) to begin the editing process.

We have started the process of applying for post-production grants and have now submitted three major proposals. It’s a long, arduous, and highly competitive process, but we’ve got our fingers crossed that the right foundations will see that stories of gay and lesbian Adventists offer a compelling look at the intersection of faith, identity, and sexuality with implications that go far beyond Adventism. Unfortunately, we won’t know until June if we’ve even made the first cut. Until then, we still need your support as we start shaping the film in the edit studio.

Here are some highlights of what your tax-deductible gift of any amount will help support:

- An edit space: A friend and supporter of the film has offered us an ideal editing space at an incredible price, and we’d like to move in our gear right after Christmas and start sifting through footage.

- Media drives: Digital filmmaking has absolutely revolutionized film, especially small films like this one that just could not have been made with the expense of film. However, we have an enormous amount of data that has to be securely stored and backed up in multiple places (I’ve have an entirely new appreciation for Stephen’s insistence on robust back-up systems after seeing what a toddler is capable of!). We are in dire need of several more drives to back-up content.

- A Jamaican filming trip: One of the film’s main subjects is from Jamaica. Part of his story is his attempt to get asylum in the U.S. so that he does not have to return to a very homophobic home culture (gay cruises won’t even stop there). What I didn’t know until I met our subject was that Adventism is huge in Jamaica. One in 12 Jamaicans is Adventist. Just think about that. Only about one in 350 Americans is Adventist, so Adventism is a huge presence in Jamaica, which is why we feel that to adequately tell his story we need to do some filming there and explore in what ways Adventism’s narrative and doctrines about homosexuality contribute to the homophobic conditions.

- Archival film footage of the Phil Donahue Show: Many of you may know that the Adventist church was one of the first denominations to really embrace and support “change/reparative” therapy. In the 80s, Colin Cook—supported by the church—started Quest Learning Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. Although he wasn’t a therapist, he counseled gays on how to overcome their homosexual tendencies (he claimed to have overcome his homosexuality). In 1985, he was featured on the Phil Donahue show, and thousands of calls came in for more information. The center eventually closed amid scandal when it was revealed that he was molesting many of his clients. We’d like to look into this chapter of one way Adventism has attempted to address the needs of its gay members. Obviously it was pretty much an unmitigated disaster that damaged many people, but it’s a compelling story. We need funds to acquire archival footage and documents.

- An animation sequence telling the highlights of Adventism: While we know the first viewers of this film will likely already be fans of haystacks, we also hope that this film will have a broader appeal, and to that end we envision a short animation sequence that tells the history of the church in a fun and engaging manner. Ascension robes, anyone?

Those are some of the specific projects we have planned in the next few months. Post-production is actually the most expensive phase because this is when it all comes together—music, sound, color correction, online edits, animation sequences, and more. But we’re planning to continue taking it one step at a time.

Making this film has been an exercise in faith and stepping into a vision without fully knowing how all of the necessary resources and funds will come together. There have been very rough patches when I question our sanity—I mean, who makes a film about sex and religion, two tricky topics most people avoid? But it’s actually because we avoid and ignore that we have a problem. People fear what they don’t know. And the best way to mitigate fear is to share our stories with each other. When you get to know the other, it turns out that we’re not all that different.

Thank you, thank you for your continued support and encouragement.

As you know, change happens slowly, but just look at the historic changes in Washington this week as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" finally joins the dustbin of history. What a Christmas present for our gay and lesbian troops! If the military can change, churches can change. But all of this change is happening because we are getting to know each others stories.

As you plan your year-end giving, please consider a generous, tax-deductible gift to help us share the stories of LGBT Adventists. If all goes well, by this time next year we’ll be sending you screening times and DVD offers! Donate Now!

Merry Christmas!

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Daneen Akers — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 18:29:16 +0000

Meister Eckhart, the 13^th century Christian mystic and philosopher famously said, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is ‘thank you’, that will suffice.”

It seems fitting this Thanksgiving week to take a moment and think about what we have to be thankful for this year in the context of our documentary film and for the larger cause of inclusivity and affirmation within religious spaces for those who are most often cast in the role of The Other, namely LGBT individuals who are frequently marginalized or outright ostracized in our churches. So here’s my list of top five things I’m grateful for as we near the end of the production phase of the film:

Gratitude #1: I’m grateful to be almost done with production! We’re home from our two-month production trip this fall (hooray for a toddler who travels well!). We have two more filming trips (a quick trip to Chattanooga and Los Angeles), and then we’ll officially enter the post-production phase of this project. Now that doesn’t mean that we’ll be completely done filming, but we will be getting a whole lot closer to finishing! A huge thank you to all of the many courageous individuals who have opened their hearts and shared their stories with us.

Gratitude #2: I’m grateful for churches that are courageous enough to actually follow Christ’s example of radical love and acceptance. There are still far too many stories of rejection and hurt, but there are a growing number of churches, pastors, and thought-leaders who are unwilling to continue supporting the second-class citizenship status of gays and lesbians in the church. Here’s the story of just one church.

The great side upshot of this that I’ve witnessed when visiting churches like this is that everyone feels safer. Once a church becomes accepting and grace-oriented for one demographic, the ripple effect of authenticity and welcoming embrace impacts every demographic. Suddenly church is a safe space to actually be yourself and come as you are without your mask or pretentions, and that’s when real transformation becomes possible.

Gratitude #3: I’m grateful for Seventh-day Adventist Kinship International, a support ministry for LGBTI Adventists that has been around since the 80s and was actually sued by the Seventh-day Adventist church over their title for trademark infringement and brand dilution (why does that sound familiar?) in the early 90s (the church lost). I have a distinct memory of the first time I met the Kinship board members. Lily was three months old, and I nursed her under a hooter hider as we sat around a conference table while trying to explain our vision and hope for this film. We were bitterly disappointed over the Prop 8 results and had seen first-hand what the hurtful sermons had done to people we loved and cared about, and we felt that a film sharing stories would be the very best way to ultimately impact hearts and minds in the pews and get a real dialogue started.

They were very supportive—as one board member later told me, “I was just excited after so many years of work to have someone from outside of Kinship—who wasn’t even gay—want to do a project like this. It was a very encouraging sign.” So this year-end, as you consider good causes and favorite non-profits to donate to, consider supporting the work of Kinship. Especially with the slew of tragic stories this fall about bullying and gay teen suicides, I think the work that Kinship does to let LGBT Adventist youth know that God loves them and that it’s not incompatible to be both gay and Adventist is hugely important work.

Here’s their donate page.

Gratitude #4: I’m grateful for Steve Moran. A self-described conservative Seventh-day Adventist, Moran makes a beautiful and compelling argument for why he’s a pro-gay Adventist. He represents a growing momentum that I’ve sensed as we’ve visited many Adventist institutions having conversations around the film. This is clearly on a lot of hearts and minds.

Gratitude #5: I’m grateful for you, a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens. You, dear supporter, have been absolutely vital and incredible during this filmmaking process. This film is an independent, non-profit production and is being funded primarily by tax-deductible donations from individuals who are committed to the film's vision.

Being independent gives us full editorial control and a great deal of freedom to tell the stories of LGBT Adventists in an honest and authentic manner, but it also means that we tend to always need to be reminding people that this film won't get made without their tangible support.

You have risen to the occasion time and again when I’ve been close to giving up. And I thank you. You give me hope that a group of committed individuals, however small, can indeed change the world. As Margaret Mead reminds us, that’s the only people who ever have accomplished change. As the year ends, I’m sure we’ll remind you that your contributions are fully tax-deductible (and, if desired, they can also be anonymous). Here's all the info you need on our donate page.

Thank you. You are my miracle this Thanksgiving.

With gratitude,

Daneen Akers, producer

P.S. Several of you have asked for updates on our legal situation. It’s really still in limbo. As before, we aren’t entirely opposed to a title change, but we haven’t found another one that fits the film’s subject and subjects better. We did just find an absolutely fantastic entertainment lawyer who specializes in trademark law and is fully committed to pro bono work (especially around GLBT issues), so that has been a huge relief should the church chose to pursue their objections to our title.

Fall Film Plans: On the Road Again

Stephen Eyer — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:14:41 +0000

Fall Shoot

I don’t know what it is about fall and this film, but we seem to be getting in the habit of being on the road filming. Last fall, almost exactly a year ago, we left on a three-month, 10,000 production road trip visiting major Adventist population centers, schools, and churches (See: "Travels With Lily").

We set up story booths in safe spaces and gathered stories about what it was like to grow up gay and Adventist. We went to churches large and small. We visited places that helped us understand the history of Adventism (like Ascension Rock, site of the Great Disappointment in 1844). We interviewed articulate thought-leaders representing various perspectives. And we sang a lot of renditions of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” as we tried to entertain Lily, who was nine-months old when we started the trip and just a few days shy of her first birthday when we finished.

A year later, we’re set to begin a compressed version of that trip, only this time we’re flying thanks to an unlimited JetBlue travel pass. And this time we’re doing a lot more filming with fewer people, trying to spend enough time with subjects to really capture the heart of their stories. We’re set to visit New York, Seattle, D.C., L.A., and Ohio in the next six weeks.

Of course, we still have Lily along, and this time she’s a talking, walking wonder. She did really well on the road by car, and I’ll let you know in November how she does by plane!

Legal Dispute Update: A Symbol of Freedom?

I wish I had more of an update about the legal tussle over the film’s title. In my last blog post (See: “When Your Church Sends You a Cease and Desist”) I shared that we had received a cease and desist directive from the law firm representing the Adventist church claiming trademark infringement and brand dilution. Several letters have been exchanged, and we still feel that we have a clear First Amendment right to the title, but there’s really nothing new to report.

I continue to be a bit torn about whether changing the title would result in more people seeing the film, but no other title has grabbed our hearts, and I still find that Seventh-Gay Adventists does a good job describing the excruciatingly difficult challenge that LGBT Adventists face reconciling their religious and sexual identities. And I do like the inherent question the title asks about who gets to control a label. Can Adventists self-identity? Or do they have to pass doctrinal muster. And how do labels change?

Someone I know by reputation to be a true thought-leader within the church wrote me an encouraging email lately urging us to keep the title:

Regarding the reaction of the General Conference to the proposed title of your movie, I hope you will not capitulate. When I first heard it, I thought it was a bit too "cutesy"; but, like you, I have come to like it. And now it has become something of a symbol of freedom within the church. If the matter goes to court, I am sure many people (Adventist and otherwise) will be willing and able to help with the costs of a trial.

I hope he's right! We’ll keep you posted. It’s off to NY tomorrow. If we’re coming to a town near you, please drop me a line!

When Your Church Sends You a Cease and Desist

Daneen Akers — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 06:07:54 +0000

A few weeks ago, Stephen and I received a cease and desist letter from the Seventh-day Adventist church claiming that our film title was an improper use of the Seventh-day Adventist trademark that infringes and dilutes the mark. Actually, the letter was from the law firm that represents the General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists (GCCSDA), the legal entity that holds the rights to the trademark of “Seventh-day Adventist”:

“Your use and modification of the SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST mark in this manner is without permission of the GCCSDA and/or the church, and is likely to cause dilution by blurring the distinctive qualities of the SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST mark and by tarnishing the reputation of the mark. Your use of the mark in this manner is also likely to cause confusion among consumers who may mistakenly believe that the Church has authorized or approved your use of the SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST mark,” the letter read.

While it was more than a little surreal to see the church I grew up in referred to and acting as a corporation and members as “consumers,” I also found it hard to swallow that anyone would be duped into thinking the official church was behind a film entitled, Seventh-Gay Adventists: A film about love, sex, and eternal life. I gotta think the average member—ahem—“consumer” is a bit brighter than the church is giving them credit for.

I’ve always realized that the title was a bit flip and maybe even irreverent. And in some circles that has helped us gain credibility because people immediately realized that the church was in no way connected with our project. In other circles, it went too far and seemed disrespectful.

Even I wasn’t always a huge fan of the title. It was a working title, something that very succinctly and accurately got across exactly who and what the film was about. But the more I talked to LGBT Adventists, the more the title seemed a perfect description of the excruciating challenge they faced in trying to integrate their religious and sexual identity. We all know it isn’t easy to be a gay Christian, but being a gay Adventist is an entirely more challenging proposition because, to most, Adventism is much more than just a belief system, it’s an entire culture and community that’s more like an ethnicity than just a church. As one religion professor said recently to a group of SDA Kinship members, “You have two incurable conditions—you’re gay and you’re Adventist. And it’s awfully hard to stop being either one of those things.”

Stephen also loves how the title Seventh-Gay Adventists also gets at one of the themes of the film—who gets to define labels and who is in and out? How do those definitions get challenged or changed?

I’ve always asked myself if I thought that the title would keep anyone who should see the film from seeing it, and, so far, my answer has been “no.” Those who are dead set against seeing anything that might open their hearts a little to the very real rejection that gay and lesbian members of the church face weren’t likely to see the film no matter the title.

But, does the church have a fair point? Are we infringing on their trademark? And first, let me say that while it is odd to think of a church as a corporation, it’s a reality, and I understand that they want to protect their name. This strikes me as a wholly different situation. If we were starting a church, I’d understand the problem. But we’re not. We’re making a film.

There are a few points that our lawyer made in response, some of which hinge on the technicalities of trademark law that is best left to the lawyers. But here are the highlights:

The film isn’t done yet, and nobody can watch it.
Back in 1991, the church sued Seventh-day Adventist Kinship (a support group for gay and lesbian Adventists) over the use of the name and lost because the presiding judge found the Seventh-day Adventist mark to be generic.
The title of a film is a preview to viewers of the film’s subject—nobody is going to think the title denotes the maker of the film.
Most importantly, when the title of a literary work makes commentary on the trademark holder, then we’re no longer talking about trademark law, we’re talking about the First Amendment. And the First Amendment trumps.

And that’s really the crux of it.

Yes, the title is an allusion (though it’s clearly not identical) to the name of the church because that’s the church our subjects grew up in. It’s the church that most of them love dearly despite the marginalization, suspicion, and often outright rejection they have to deal with.

And the title gives those “consumers” a hint of what’s to come. They’re likely to realize that the film is about the Seventh-day Adventist church’s policies on homosexuality, or at least the experience of gay members of the church in the face of those policies.

This means, in the words of our lawyer, “The expression inherent in the title is protected by the First Amendment.” We don’t need to be ceasing or desisting.

The church may not like our title, or the inherent identity and authority questions it raises, but because we live in a country where we are privileged to have the freedom to speak our minds and question our religious institutions, we aren’t infringing on their trademark or copyright. We are making a commentary.

Just thought you’d like to know what’s been going on behind the scenes over here in our production office. Did I mention the production office is a side-by-side desk in our kitchen? We’re about as indie a production company as they come, and we’re producing this film out of our home office, which works pretty well except when our 18-month old flings her applesauce all over my laptop (hazard of small SF apartments in which offices have to be fit into kitchen nooks).

We’ll keep you posted!

A House of Prayer For All People

Stephen Eyer — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 05:17:53 +0000

One of the ironies of making this film is the push-back we've received from some people within the church who are concerned that this film is an attack on the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

It's actually quite the opposite.

We're trying to make a film that captures how much people want to be a part of the church. Which means we need to show why they are attracted to it in the first place. Our critique, if you want to call it that, is simply that there exists a barrier of entry for those who are classified as "willful sinners" -- in this case, gay and lesbian members who make the personal choice to be in relationships, rather than live celibately. (Contrary to the Adventist Review article that mentions the film, this does not mean all our characters are making this choice, but for those who do, they are often rejected for their decision.)

So I thought it was ironic when filming at the Andrews University conference on Marriage, Homosexuality, and the Church in the fall of 2009, that I noticed written on the wall of the campus church the words, "An House of Prayer For All People".

I wonder if this is simply an ideal yet unrealized or a false statement.

My hope in making this film is that more and more SDA churches will truly become a welcome place for all people -- even those who are misunderstood, shunned, marginalized, and often pushed out because of their need for intimacy and companionship.