If God spoke to you and asked that you re-define the Hollywood epic with a multi-million dollar cross between Star Wars and The Ten Commandments, what would you do? Ten years ago, charismatic pastor and fledgling filmmaker Richard Gazowsky received such a prophetic message. Using donations from his congregation, he slowly transformed his Voice of Pentecost Church in San Francisco into a fully functioning movie studio with the far-reaching goal to make a film entitled, Gravity: The Shadow of Joseph, a $50 million biblical science fiction movie that would change filmmaking forever. AUDIENCE OF ONE, director Michael Jacobs feature documentary debut, chronicles the energetic Gazowsky as he attempts to film “the greatest picture ever made”. The festival favorite – winner of the Silverdocs Beyond Belief Award and the Audience Award at the SF DocFest -- will be available from IndiePix® on August 18 wherever DVDs are sold, online and at indiepixfilms.com for $24.95SRP.
NEW YORK, NY – If God spoke to you and asked that you re-define the Hollywood epic with a multi-million dollar cross between Star Wars and The Ten Commandments, what would you do? Ten years ago, charismatic pastor and fledgling filmmaker Richard Gazowsky received such a prophetic message. Using donations from his congregation, he slowly transformed his Voice of Pentecost Church in San Francisco into a fully functioning movie studio with the far-reaching goal to make a film entitled, Gravity: The Shadow of Joseph, a $50 million biblical science fiction movie that would change filmmaking forever. AUDIENCE OF ONE, director Michael Jacobs feature documentary debut, chronicles the energetic Gazowsky as he attempts to film “the greatest picture ever made”. The festival favorite – winner of the Silverdocs Beyond Belief Award and the Audience Award at the SF DocFest -- will be available from IndiePix® on August 18 wherever DVDs are sold, online and at indiepixfilms.com for $24.95SRP.
A “film-within-a-film”, AUDIENCE OF ONE follows Gazowsky – who saw his first movie at 40 -- and his newly-formed Christian production company, WYSIWYG Filmworks, as they re-shape their congregation to cater to God’s theatrical “wishes”. After contributions from his small flock of parishioners, unnamed donors and the sale of Gazowky’s house gives them the seed money to cover initial production costs, the verité-style doc follows cast and crew on an incredible journey that tests the very limits of faith, capturing everything from the group’s impressive pre-production and shooting principal photography in Alberobello, Italy, to leasing an enormous studio on an island in the San Francisco Bay. Keeping pace with an embattled church production, forever looking to God in order to keep a dream alive, AUDIENCE OF ONE shows what transpires when obsession and faith meet delusion.
Called an “eccentric slice of Americana ” and “a harrowing, oddly funny look at a fantastically misguided excursion ”, home audiences are certain to warm to the irrepressibly cheerful Gazowsky and his flock in AUDIENCE OF ONE, an Official Selection of several top-tier U.S. film festivals including SXSW, New Directors/New Films, Silverdocs, San Francisco International, Newport and Bend, where it was given the Special Jury Award.
The AUDIENCE OF ONE DVD has also been blessed with a treasure trove of special features and bonus programming, including: a director’s commentary track; deleted theatrical scenes, “Second Wind”, an original song by Pastor Gazowsky and his family and director Michael Jacob’s screentest for Gravity: The Shadow of Joseph.
About the Director
San Francisco-based filmmaker Michael Jacobs was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado. His interest in documentaries began during his senior year of college at the University of Vermont where the town of Burlington provided a wealth of quirky documentary subjects. A self-taught filmmaker, Jacobs is influenced by the American cinema-verité pioneers. Jacobs has produced and directed numerous short form pieces and is a frequent contributing producer to Current TV. He makes his feature debut with Audience of One.
About IndiePix®IndiePix is a New York-based distributor that delivers a highly-curated collection of the best Independent Films from around the world. Offering a hand-picked catalog of over 3,000 independent film gems – art-house, foreign, and documentary – the IndiePix team selects the best titles from the international festival circuit. Avenues for distribution include IndiePix' patented Burn-to-Own technology, delivery of DVD by mail, retail and theatrical.
Links
IndiePix: http://indiepixfilms.com
Audience of One: http://www.audienceofonemovie.com
