I was born with a dream. I wanted to write. It took me a long time to fulfill my dream but with God’s help and persistence anything is possible. That mantra defines my life. No matter how difficult life becomes, no matter how many curve balls life throws your way, never give up.

A prolific producer of many major motion pictures once told me that the story of how my first screenplay, September Dawn became a movie was a miracle. It began when I brought the first draft of September Dawn to my very dear friend, Christopher Cain of Young Guns fame.  

Director/Producer/Screenwriter Christopher Cain is an accomplished filmmaker whose impressive career has spanned over thirty years and who has directed 18 Academy Award winning actors. He has won Golden Reel Awards, a People’s Choice Award for Best Picture and a Western Heritage Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. He and his wife Sharon have encouraged and supported me throughout this amazing adventure.

The New York Times wrote an article on September Dawn that appeared on January 22, 2006. The film is extremely controversial and is based on a real life event, the Mountain Meadow Massacre, the first act of religious terrorism in the United States that occurred on September 11, 1857.

September Dawn was shot in Calgary. The cast included Jon Voight, Dean Cain, Terence Stamp, Jon Gries, Lolita Davidovich and newcomers Trent Ford (Gosford Park, How to Deal, The Island), Taylor Handley (OC, Dawson’s Creek, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Beginning), Tamara Hope (Shall We Dance?), and Huntley Ritter (Bring It On).

Music producer Bill Ross (Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Josh Groban) did the music. Cinematographer Juan Ruiz-Anchia and film editor Jack Hofstra were also enlisted. The result is a cinematically beautiful love story that takes place during the horror of a massacre that was kept secret for a very long time.

I found the nature of terrorism especially intriguing and relevant today. Creating likeable characters that take part in unimaginably atrocious acts is a chilling reminder that terrorists can be anyone who chooses to blindly follow fanatical, charismatic leaders. I believe we should examine the leaders we follow that we might not be misled.

Our fight is not against certain religions or “flesh and blood,” as the Bible says, but “against principalities and powers of darkness” which are prejudice, hate, ignorance, and fear perpetuated by leaders who history will surely judge by their deeds. 

I am grateful that Christopher Cain took the time to read an unschooled attempt at screenwriting and believed in the project enough to turn it into a stirring, evocative movie that will force people to think about the nature of terrorism. 

Most of all, I am grateful to the Lord Jesus Christ who took one of the “foolish things of the world to confound the wise.” In a world where only 1.1% of all screenwriters ever get a movie made, Jesus gave me a miracle. He turned me into a screenwriter and fulfilled a lifelong dream of being an author. Thank you, Jesus. What He did for me, He can and will do for you, if you never give up, and simply believe.