It’s only a matter of time and a few tweaks: Things are looking good for an independent campaign to create a feature movie about the remarkable survival under Adolf Hitler’s regime of a teen Jewish girl who became a Christian.
The project, “Trapped,” got a thumbs-up from a team of professional script analysts who gave it a “consider” rating, which was given only to 4 percent of scripts submitted.
A few changes and the rating could end up being “recommend,” according to George D. Escobar, vice president of WND Films and the co-writer and co-director of Academy nominated film “Alone Yet Not Alone” and the documentary “Isaiah 9:10 Judgment,” based on Jonathan Cahn’s New York Times bestseller, “The Harbinger.”
“Trapped” is the working title of the true story of Holocaust survivor Anita Dittman, set against the perilous backdrop of World War II and Nazi Germany. It features her unbreakable bond with her mother, her faith and her testimony, which resonates even more today with America’s violent antifa and hate-filled anti-Trump rhetoric.
It would be a first in cinema history:Â a harrowing true story in which a Jewish girl embraces Christianity during the Holocaust, handled in a way highly respectful of both faiths.
Escobar recently discussed the project’s latest news with Jan Markell, who wrote “Trapped in Hitler’s Hell,” the book on which the movie is based.
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He explained a fundraising plan is moving forward to pay for the preliminaries that would set up investor interest in making the full-length movie.
AÂ team of professional script experts was hired to evaluate the groundwork so far, he said.
The award-winning executive team for the project includes Escobar; Joseph Farah, founder of WND; Julian Head, co-president and CEO of Ponder & Company; and Ken Carpenter, producer of the upcoming feature film “Run the Race.”
Hear about the story:
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The movie’s makers say it’s a timely story that offers plenty of lessons for the present age. All the critical issues young Anita faced in the 1930s and ’40s are resurfacing today. Fake news is being pushed, just like Nazi propaganda. Jews are once again facing persecution, and now Christians are as well. People are trading away liberty for a false sense of security, just as Germans did immediately before Hitler rose to power. And faith in God is once again being tossed aside as irrelevant or used as a weapon to silence believers.
Dittman, at 90, lives in Minnesota with her husband and continues to speak at conferences about God’s faithfulness in her life.
At the conclusion of recent meetings near Nashville, Tennessee, with WTA Group, one of the leading film marketing and funding companies in the faith market, the “Trapped” movie team has garnered important support.
WTA previously worked on successful hit films such as “War Room,” God’s Not Dead,” “Heaven is for Real” and “Miracles from Heaven.”
With the demand for bigger and better faith films in Hollywood, Escobar and his team have devoted considerable time and resources over the past two years crafting the best story possible.
They recently completed the story development phase, which entailed researching, interviewing, script-writing and storyboarding.
Now the movie project is entering its next phase. The “Trapped” movie team will be pitching to investors who can supply the money necessary to begin production and later, distribution.
To that end, WND has set up a GoFundMe page to raise $120,000. Already more than 10 percent of the money is lined up.
It will pay for legal expenses, business operations, marketing plans and materials (promo reels, websites, posters and press kits) as well as pre-production budgeting, scheduling, some location scouting, and early casting.
According to the GoFundMe page:
The math is simple. If 2 percent of our WND audience of 6-8 million monthly visitors each donates $10 (that’s less than two cappuccinos, or lattes, or mochas from Starbucks), we’ll reach our film investor package goal of $120,000. If 10-15 percent of our audience donate, we can bypass the investors altogether, and make the movie immediately. Wouldn’t that be something?
“If we forget our history, ignore our mistakes… we will suffer greatly by repeating them,” Escobar said on the GoFundMe page.
Anyone interested in learning about the next phase of film financing for the movie should contact George Escobar at [email protected].
