A Film To Inspire You
Source: Charlotte Observer
Article By: Lawrence Toppman
Date: November 19, 2005

Movie being shot in Charlotte region steeped in basic human values.

McCONNELLS, S.C. - Contentment hung over the set of "The Ultimate Gift" the way intoxicating haze hovers over a wood-fired barbecue. The film crew had settled in around the Love homestead off Ott Moore Street, transforming it into a Texas ranch, and love was in the air.

Nobody shouted, quarreled, barked orders. Nobody cared that I'd been invited with a photographer in the middle of a 30-day shoot. (And how rare that is! "Shallow Hal," "Juwanna Mann" and Will Ferrell's unnamed comedy wouldn't do it.)

Maybe the atmosphere sprang from the subject matter. "Gift" adapts Jim Stovall's novel about Jason Stevens, a spoiled man whose wealthy grandpa promises him a legacy -- but only if he learns such basic human values as humility, kindness, charity and responsibility toward others.

Drew Fuller (best known for TV's "Charmed") plays Jason. James Garner has the small role of the grandfather; Tony-winner Brian Dennehy is Gus, a ranch owner with lessons to teach; former Charlottean Ali Hillis gets her breakthrough role as a single mother Jason comes to love.

Shall we meet five of the people making things happen?

The director

Michael Sajbel pronounces his name "CY-bel," and Sajbel-space is a relaxed realm. Most of his works from "The Ride" (about a rodeo cowboy) to "One Night With the King" (about the biblical Esther) have been religious."Gift," he says, is more about "standard core values, such as loving thy neighbor as thyself. Not everything I do has an overtly Christian element."

Sajbel almost qualifies as a local -- his brother lives in Fort Mill -- and found two-thirds of his cast in the Carolinas and north Georgia, plus many a crew member.

The book is set in Boston, but the film takes place in Charlotte; the script's first setting, he says, describes "The Queen City in all her raiment." Sajbel says Charlotte has "thrown open its arms to us. In the long run, that's what will bring people to shoot here."

The writer

Though Sajbel gets a co-script credit, Charlotte native Cheryl McKay's screenplay set the project in motion. (She and Hillis acted with Children's Theatre of Charlotte in the 1980s.)

McKay's on the set, which is also rare unless rewrites are demanded. The project's close to her heart, because she understands the idea of enduring trials and coming out stronger: She lost almost all her possessions to toxic mold in her California apartment and had to face the prospect of her dad's death during quadruple bypass operation.

"I got this job on the last day of his surgery," she says. "He made it, but I understood how precious it was to make a day count. I'm a different person, and I wouldn't trade all the stuff I lost for that."

Her Christian faith subtly affects the tale, which urges us to use our resources to take care of others: "It's really about love. Until he becomes a better person, he's not worthy of the money."

The star

Scroll through Drew Fuller's credits on the Internet Movie Data Base, and you see such titles as "Voodoo Academy," "Vampire Clan" and "Final Contract: Death on Delivery." Look into his pale blue eyes, and you'll see a 25-year-old capable of more."Work begets work," he says, taking a break from the inevitable "making-of" documentary someone always shoots nowadays. "My profession's based on the fact that I can do horror or action and then step into a project like this, where the character has as many layers as an onion.

"Michael saw a lot of Jason in me. I grew up in Newport Beach (Calif.), where the kids in my high school drove BMWs and Mercedes. My family wasn't that rich, but I saw what it does to people.

"A lot of acting is instinctual, little things that happen organically. It's a testament to Michael that he's so open to ideas: We have space to move around in."

The producers

Lines blur when you talk about John Shepherd and Rick Eldridge, who teamed on last year's "Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius."

Eldridge runs The Film Foundry, the Charlotte facility where "Gift" will go into post-production (editing, scoring, visual adjustments) after shooting ends this month. He expects the picture to reach theaters the week before Thanksgiving 2006.

He also helped raise money through Financial Planners of America, which is creating a TUG-X package -- "The Ultimate Gift Experience" -- for clients who want to instill core values as well as leave legacies to families.

Shepherd, who shares day-to-day producing duties with Eldridge, works out of Los Angeles. His describes his Dean River Entertainment company as "a gun for hire;" this indie filmmaker counts the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, World Wide Pictures, Prison Fellowship and various nonprofit charitable institutions among his clients.

"Our hearts are in pictures like `Gift,' " Shepherd says. "I look for subjects that will resonate with my faith in God but will also enchant and entertain audiences. There's a place for gritty, down-and-dirty stories, but they're not the ones I want to make."

Eldridge bought the rights from Stovall, after Universal took a crack at making the film but unearthed no script Stovall would approve. Eldridge found McKay, who had written for him before, and Sajbel, who was considered as the director of "Bobby Jones."

"This is the most relaxed picture I've ever made; I can sleep in my own bed every night," says Eldridge. "It's still a bit of a battle to get people to come here to shoot movies, so we'll have to build an infrastructure ourselves.

"The budget for `Gift' is in the low eight figures, so we needed ancillary groups that would give us financial support. We learned a lot on `Bobby Jones' about marketing. We also put that one out too quickly, to meet a deadline with very little time to breathe. Now we realize that, if you want a groundswell of support, you really have to let the ground swell."