For six long days in the heat of a Charleston August, West Ashley resident Cynthia Pulsifer coached nine volunteer actors and a number of crew members through the production of a film that had come to represent as much of a journey for her as it had to her main character.
Eileen’s Journey, a 34-minute short film produced in West Ashley and the surrounding Charleston area, is the story of a Christian woman who faces a serious life situation, but instead of trusting in God, says Pulsifer, she takes the situation into her own hands.
“It’s a multifaceted tale of love, friendship, real trust and learning to trust God,” say Pulsifer.
Pulsifer, who plays the main character Eileen, began writing the script for Eileen’s Journey after the pastor of her church sparked the idea for the film.
“I couldn’t get the idea out of my head and the next day I called him and asked if I could turn his idea into a film,” says Pulsifer.
Three months of script writing later, Pulsifer had gathered a team of actors and a professional film crew to bring her story to life.
“I really believe God helped me think of people who would be perfect for the film; everyone just fit their roles so perfectly. Some were professional actors and some were just so natural on camera, you wouldn’t believe they weren’t actors,” say Pulsifer.
Thanks to a role she had in the film Dominion: Media Matters, Pulisfer was able to get Dominion’s director, Jason Gourdine, to co-direct Eileen’s Journey with her. Gourdine brought with him Geno DiMaria from Block One Studios to work as Director of Photography and his brothers, Ezekiel and John DiMaria, to run the sound.
“We even had a hair and makeup person, Roe Osteen, on hand on a couple of the days to do some of the more complicated makeup,” says Pulsifer.
Along with Pulsifer, the film includes Marty Spivey as Edward, Ruthann Oliver as Ruthie, Debra Campbell as Megan, Tuesday Beebe as June Carter, Tracy Alexis Trapani as Roxanne, Linda Neuhaus as Annette, Theresa Schmulske as Dr. Haines, Taqueshia Brooks as Taqueshia, Thomas Brooks Jr. as Thomas, and M. Patrick Hubert as Pastor Mark.
“Terry Serpico from the show Army Wives also helped out as my acting coach before we started production, as well as his girlfriend, Tuesday Beebe,” says Pulsifer.
It was a labor of love to be sure, Pulsifer adds, as the film was done on what she describes as a “no-budget scenario.” While she handled the bulk of the editing, sound, and color correction, as well as supplyed food and the occasional gas money to the actors, Pulsifer did end up hiring some additional help to assist her with final production. And thanks to the kind donations of time and labor from her actors and crew as well as dinner donations from Fiore’s Pizza in West Ashley and Outback Steakhouse in North Charleston, the film ended up costing very little to produce. But even a little cost can add up in the film world and for this reason, Pulsifer launched a crowd funding page on the website FaithLauncher.com, where she hopes to collect $1100 to cover expenses and to help enter her film into film festivals.
“That’s the next step. My overall goal is to submit Eileen’s Journey to film festivals and if it receives good accolades, I hope to do a feature film in the future,” says Pulsifer.
In the meantime, Pulsifer hopes to hold a special premiere of the film at the beginning of year in the Charleston area.
“In a way, it seems like it came from nowhere, but I really believe God gave me this film. It was a personal journey of learning to trust and now it’s become a journey of faith to see what will happen with it now,” says Pulsifer.
To find out more about Eileen’s Journey,
visit them on Facebook or check out their FaithLauncher.com site.
