Makeup! (W5:D4)

For a decade, Curry Bushnell lived out his dream as a Hollywood make-up artist. For nearly that long, he let that dream fade into the woodwork. Now, he’s doing what he loves … with a purpose.

“I’m making movies for God,” he says. And he is doing it in Albany, Georgia!

Curry Bushnell applies makeup to Erin Bethea.

“I moved to Hollywood in 1977 and went to makeup school,” Curry says. “I did some show on ABC, various commercials, and some major motion pictures. But I got tired of the fast lane of Hollywood, so I came back to Albany.”

Without much call for a Hollywood-trained makeup artist in southwest Georgia, Curry put down the tools of his trade. Eventually, he took a job with the Department of Corrections, where he still works. And then …

“I saw FLYWHEEL and I was so moved by it, I said I have to get in touch with Alex Kendrick,” Curry says. “In late 2003, I met with him. Afterwards, he told me ‘I think God sent you to me.’ A few months later, we started filming FACING THE GIANTS.”

Curry was the volunteer Key Makeup Artist for that film, as he is again with FIREPROOF. He is on set every day, for as long as his work schedule allows him. He has a team of volunteer makeup artists from Sherwood that help as well.

“I was out of makeup for several years until I saw FLYWHEEL … and then everything changed,” Curry says. “That was all God’s timing. So now, making movies for God is my ministry.”

Volunteer Firefighters (W5:D3)

Some fire departments have volunteer firefighters. FIREPROOF has volunteer actors playing firefighters!
Eric Young, Ken Bevel, Stephen Dervan, and Jason McLeod (L-R) look the part of Albany firefighters.

Filming returned to Albany fire stations this week. All five of the actors playing the main firefighting crew are volunteers and each has a strong connection with Sherwood. Three of the actors are members of the church: Ken Bevel, Eric Young, and Jason McLeod.

A fourth actor, Stephen Dervan is the youth pastor at First Baptist Church in Alpharetta, Georgia. He grew up at Sherwood and served there when he began his ministry. And Kirk Cameron has become a good friend of the ministry since the release of FACING THE GIANTS.

After intense training led by Albany Training Chief Ron Rowe and Capt. Kenny Loudenbarger, a Sherwood member, the actors had a taste of real firefighting during last week’s filming of a house fire. This week, they get to enjoy the camaraderie that firefighters have when they live together 24 straight hours every third day.

While acting is new to Ken, Eric, and Stephen, there is a firefighting connection for four of the five actors. Eric actually served as a firefighter in Albany for three years in the early 1990s. Stephen’s dad was a longtime member of the Albany Fire Department. Kirk’s aunt was one of the first two female firefighters in the city of Los Angeles. And Jason grew up wanting to be a fireman. The odd man out? Ken, who serves as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps!

The quintet is schedule to face one more on-film calamity before filming concludes. Be sure to check in to the blog next week to see more from behind the scenes.

Bringing Continuity to You (W5:D2)

Have you ever been sitting in the movie theater and the milk container you see on the kitchen table goes from being half-empty to completely full—in the same scene? That makes Holly Stiegel cringe.

Holly, like most of the cast and crew of FIREPROOF, is a volunteer. In her role as Script Supervisor and Continuity, she helps ensure that scenes and props look exactly the same, even if they’re filmed on different days.

“I try to write down everything Alex Kendrick, David Nixon, and Bob Scott say as they set up a shot,” Holly says, talking about FIREPROOF's director, assistant director, director of photography.

“I take photos of the set to make sure they put everything back in the scene that was there the first time.”

Through a home-schooling network in Albany, Holly knew the Kendrick Brothers. Before FACING THE GIANTS began production, they called her to see if she could get a group of home-schoolers together to help with the filming.

“At the first boot camp before FACING THE GIANTS, David Nixon asked me if I wanted to do the script,” she recalls. “I would be classified as a rank amateur.”

The professionals thought otherwise. Holly was asked to reprise her role when FIREPROOF was in pre-production. Despite spending 12 to 15 hours a day on set for six weeks, she is excited to return as part of the Sherwood team.

“These are the most patient people in the world, and the most caring,” she says. “It’s an incredible group to work with.”

Answered Prayers (Week 5, Day 1)

An award-winning commercial director and editor, Bill Ebel has long prayed for the opportunity to use his skills in movie-making. A series of faith-affirming events has allowed him to become a key crew member on FIREPROOF.

Bill serves as the movie’s online editor, recording the digital cut of the film directly onto a Mac and doing the first edits of scenes—right after they’ve been filmed.

“I’ve been feeling led to get into Christian films,” Bill says. “But I didn’t know anybody in the business.” However, the pastor of the church he went to growing up did. That led to an initial meeting for Bill with Kris Fuhr, who heads up Provident Films’ operations. She encouraged Bill to connect with the Kendrick Bothers.

“I hadn’t seen FACING THE GIANTS before that,” Bill says. “I was blown away. I watched it with my kids and I was wiping away the tears. I realized that these guys got it. They know how to tell a great story.”

Bill’s story has the twists and turns of any good movie plot. He met Alex and Stephen Kendrick in July and connected well with them. He was soon offered his role in FIREPROOF … and decided to turn it down.

“I couldn’t really afford to do it for what they offered me. With a family and a mortgage I just couldn’t do it,” Bill says. “Stephen encouraged me to pray about it. My wife said I couldn’t not go.

“I sent Stephen an email saying I would do it. I was trusting God to make things work out financially. Stephen was in a budget meeting when I sent the email and he didn’t even see it before he called me to say, ‘We have more money for you and we want you to come.’”

Despite being away from his family for extended stretches, Bill Ebel knows an answered prayer when he stumbles upon it!

“My three older kids were excited for this opportunity for me. My five-year-old wanted to know why everyone couldn’t come to Chicago to film there,” Bill says. “From the beginning, my wife has been focused on this is where the Lord is leading. She knew we couldn’t say no.”
Bill Ebel (right) shows a just-filmed scene to cast and crew members on his computer screen.

Feeling the Heat (Week 4 wrap)

It’s the dream of nearly every little boy: to be a firefighter. This week, five actors from FIREPROOF were able to live out part of that dream. Highlighting an intense week of filming was the shooting of the fire scenes.

We wanted to give you the thoughts of the actors closest to the fire, as well as the chance to see some more of the incredible images that were captured on the set this week by photographers Todd Stone and Hayley Catt.

“I’ve been looking forward to this since we went through training a few weeks ago. But it was a whole lot more intense than I thought it would be. I always wanted to be a firefighter. Now I’m consumed with it. I would love to do it for real, especially now that I know these real guys.”
Jason McLeod (Eric Harmon)

“It was just awesome. It really was a blast from the past. But it was different, because we kept doing the same scene over and over again. It took its toll; it was exhausting. Doing this one or two days every 15 years is good for me.”
Former AFD firefighter Eric Young (Terrell Sanders)

“I have a new appreciation for firefighters. Of all the days we’ve shot, this was one of the most exciting. One of the best scenes in FACING THE GIANTS is the death crawl. Alex has been calling this scene the ‘death crawl on fire.’”
Kirk Cameron (Capt. Caleb Holt)

“It was by far the coolest thing I’ve done in a long time. I can’t say enough about how the city of Albany has been to us. The fire looked more real than I thought it would.”
Stephen Dervan (Wayne Floyd)

“Today was amazing. It gave us an opportunity to see what real firefighters go through. I have a much greater appreciation for the service they give us each day.”
Ken Bevel (Lt. Michael Simmons)
Finally, when told she did a great job of playing dead, the youngest member of the cast said:
“I don’t play dead; I play unconscious.”
Jade Young (Lacie)