Sharon Johnson
I woke up in the middle of the night a couple of years ago with the plot for a play in my head. Now, I had never written any fiction in my life. I had written articles for our church newsletter but absolutely no fiction. The plot was complete from start to finish. I went into my office and started writing notes on old pieces of paper and backs of envelopes. I think I was afraid to type anything. That plot has essentially stayed the same since then and is now the movie, My Birthday. I am still amazed. I know that God gave this story to me.
I told the story line to a few people in the next year or two and they seemed to think it was a good story. One of the people was Lorraine Stinson. I knew that she would be good in the role of Rose, but she really didn’t want to do it. I also knew that I wanted her song, If You Haven’t Chosen Heaven…, in the play. I wasn’t thinking movie at that time – just a nice little church play.
I finally wrote the play script out and it was very rough, but I let Pastor Ken Clowdus read it because I knew he would be honest with me, and he wouldn’t allow anything unscriptural to be in the church. He liked it and agreed to have the church present the play. He directed me to Mike Paraspolo who works in Hollywood and has written and directed plays for the church. He also wrote and directed a film, The Prodigal Son.
Mike immediately wanted to make a film. I decided to produce it. He cast it from church members and his ‘Hollywood’ friends. We hired an amazing Cinematographer, Danny Lopez. And…finally, Lorraine Stinson agreed to do the film. She turned out to be an awesome actress – we already knew she sang beautifully. Guy Cozza, a tremendous talent, helped me turn it into a script that we could use.
I hope you enjoy it and are touched by it.
I am a retired R.N. I worked in a prison as a charge nurse of a Maximum Security psychiatric unit. I thank Pastor Ken Clowdus and all the people from Community Christian Center for their prayers, support and encouragement. I thank my wonderful sister and brother-in-law, Marty and Ray Bunch, for their help with the website and many other things. And, most of all, I am thankful to God for everything.