For Bill McAdams, Jr. the movie God’s Here was a labor of love and personal grief.
The film revolves around a tragedy that occurs just before Christmas and the protagonist Jack Gilmore’s journey towards forgiveness.
It was written shortly after McAdams, Jr.’s own father passed away and conjured up memories of his beloved brother, who tragically died in 2012 in a similar manner to Gilmore’s family in the film.
Apparently, it struck a chord with a lot of viewers.
Brian Serratelli, Sarah Reeves, Kevin Sorbo, and Mack Bennett
Bill McAdams
God’s Here is one of the leading nominees for this year’s International Christian Film & Music Awards, nominated in six categories, including best picture, best director (McAdams, Jr.), actor in a leading role (Kevin Sorbo), actress in supporting role (Sarah Elizabeth Reeves), musical score (Reeves), and cinematography (Ron Gonzalez and Jeff Barklage).
McAdams Jr. is humbled by the nominations.
“It’s an honor for my entire team,” McAdams said. “You can’t do these things without a team of players, and people with the same goals and aspirations that line up with the message of Jeremiah 29:11. Everybody has to come together and do their jobs, and these films are hard to make, they’re hard to prep, and when you get nominated for six, which I think is the most I’ve ever had on a film, it’s quite rewarding to know that the people out there got the message.”
The sentiment expressed in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,” is not always easy to accept.
But it is precisely that level of faith and personal touch that likely earned the film multiple nominations.
“This one was my biggest challenges because of my emotions,” McAdams said. “I have always had my emotions in check, but in this film, after losing my dad and bringing back my brother’s death, I kind of got a little more emotional than I normally do, and people saw that. And I think they fed off of it in a positive way because they realized that this meant something to me and it wasn’t just another movie.
“I had a couple of tiffs with the crew where things weren’t lining up, but when that happens, there is passion. People really care about what they’re doing and that’s when you come out on top in the end and you get these nominations. It is quite an accomplishment and an honor.”
McAdams, Jr. said in a prior interview that the camera work and lighting were “great” and everything “just fell into place,” recalling an emotional dance scene between himself and co-star Reeves, the woman who would eventually become McAdams’ actual wife.
The Aledo man was not at all surprised when one of the categories for which his film was nominated was cinematography.
“I’ve worked with Ron Gonzalez, who got nominated, and Jeff Barklage,” McAdams said. “I direct movies here and in Ohio. When I am here, I use Ron, and when I’m in Ohio I use Jeff. But for some reason, I just wanted the best of both worlds, and I brought them together, which usually doesn’t happen. People usually have their own vision, and they don’t want to share it.
“But Ron is a spectacular steady cam operator. He’s the one who shot that scene. And then Jeff is a spectacular lighter and designer, and the two together were just magical. I thank them both because they could have had egos and neither of them did. It was cool.”
McAdams, Jr. first met Reeves on the set of God’s Here, and when she was nominated in two categories, Best Supporting Actress and Best Musical Score, he was not at all surprised
“This was her first acting film,” McAdams said. “I gave her not one note on set. She fell into the part. Sarah’s a natural. She’s from Athens, Alabama, so she pushed the southern accent a little bit, and that was one of the first things I said to her. She said, ‘Hi, my name is Sarah.” And I said, ‘You’ve got the southern accent and all.’ That was our first exchange with dialogue, so it was kind of cute. When she got her nominations, and we filmed us watching ourselves listening to the nominations, I went nuts when she got her nomination for best supporting actress, because it was her first part.
“It was a bit comical, because then the realization hit that, wait, we have to go now and you could possibly win this award.”
To be able to share this experience with his wife, cast and crew and the community means a lot to McAdams, Jr.
“It means everything,” McAdams said. “I’m bringing my cast and crew from Texas, and I’m also bringing the city of Granbury and we get to share our story. We get to share it with Orlando, Florida, and we get to share it with the International Christian Film Festival, which is films from all over the world. That is what makes this really special.”
The International Christian Film & Music Festival will be held in Orlando from March 30-April 3.
McAdams, Jr. previously won Best Picture at the festival for Gallows Road in 2015.
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