Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
For filmmakers, ‘Little Boy’ moved mountains of its own

For filmmakers, ‘Little Boy’ moved mountains of its own

Last updated on: April 25, 2015 at 9:54 pm by CNA Daily News

For filmmakers, ‘Little Boy’ moved mountains of its own 2015-04-25T21:54:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Hollywood, Calif., Apr 25, 2015 / 03:54 pm (CNA).- A new film from award-winning writer and director Alejandro Monteverde proved to not only tell a story of faith, but to strengthen the faith of those working on it as well.

“It was going to be a very, very difficult film to produce, but at the same time we were in love with the story which is about believing in the impossible,” said Eduardo Verastegui, one of the film’s producers and stars, known for his role in the 2006 movie Bella.

From the beginning of the film, the town runt, Pepper Busbee (Jakob Salvati), and his dad, James (Michael Rapaport), share a special bond, but it’s tested when older brother London (David Henrie) gets rejected by the Army for being flat-footed, and their dad has to go to war instead.

With thousands of miles between them, Pepper, the “Little Boy,” relies more than ever on his and his dad’s motto during their imaginary adventures.

“Do you believe we can do this?” his dad asks, to which Little Boy always responds with a resounding, “Yes!”

Now with his dad in real danger, Little Boy thinks he can bring him home if only he believes strongly enough. During Mass, he hears Father Crispin (Eduardo Verastegui) quote Matthew 17:20 and tell the congregation that if they have faith the size of a mustard seed, they can move mountains.

The lesson that he learns in the story that follows is one faith, mercy and trust in God.

Having faith in the impossible was not only in the film’s plotline, but also in its production.

From the onset, it was clear that as an independent film made “totally outside the system,” it would be very difficult to produce. Verastegui said.

“I knew that this was going to be a big, big challenge,” he explained in an April 22 conference call.

First, the production team had to find the money to create the film, including authentic costumes and a set made to look like 1940s small town America. They also needed to cast the film, knowing that the lead role of “Little Boy,” Pepper Busbee, had to be perfect.

After going through auditions with more than 1,000 children, Monteverde saw Jakob Salvati sitting in the lobby, waiting for his brother, who was auditioning for the film. Eventually the young boy – then seven years old – won the part, even though he had only acted for television before.

During filming, Salvati would reportedly go missing before a scene he was in, only to be discovered by Monteverde praying.

“I was praying that the scene would go well,” he said. “I would go over and over and over again saying, ‘God, please help me so I can get this scene right and everyone else can get this scene right,’ because I wouldn’t want to have to do it over and over and over again.”

Actor David Henrie, who plays Little Boy’s older brother London, said that he was searching for a film like this after he emerged as a Disney star.

Little did he know that producer and co-star Verastegui was praying for him and asking for prayers on his behalf. During a keynote address at a 2012 fundraiser for a women’s pregnancy center in Denver, Verastegui told attendees about the new film and requested prayers for Henrie, who he said was in the midst of returning to the Church.

In a different interview, Henrie told BreatheCast.com that the film’s producers were producers were “instrumental” in his conversion and that they “led me back to my faith, led me back to my beliefs”.

“I will forever be grateful for (“Little Boy”) because it was the film that saved my life,” he said.

As an up-and-coming actor, Henrie said that he’s noticed a growing popularity in faith-based movies over the last decade.

“I think the past 10 years, when you look at the top-grossing films, the majority of them have inspirational values or positive messaging and those types of elements to them,” he said during the conference call. “I think there’s a reason why those films are the most successful every year and it’s because that’s what the human heart wants.”

“The theme really spoke to my heart in a big way. I think it’s a very foundational element and theme that everyone deals with,” he said, namely, “do you put your faith in yourself to find your own existence or do you put your theme in something bigger than you?”

“Little Boy” is distributed by Open Road Films and opened in select theaters nationwide April 24.

Previous Post

April 25, 2015

Archbishop Kurtz on March for Marriage: Sacrament is much more than "adult friendship"

Next Post

April 26, 2015 Pope Francis talks about his soccer ‘skills’

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was Paul's hometown companion?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Silas Barnabas Timothy Luke