"I know this is God's project," says John Prin, a Minnesota filmmaker who just finished directing and producing his first independent film/video project.

The original script by Prin explores the spiritual, emotional and physical effects of divorce on children. Shot entirely at Twin Cities locations, including the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport, the film "Between Planes and Parents," explores the uncertainty, fear, and resentment felt by children of divorced parents, and touches on the peace that God can bring to such troubled lives.

God's hand seen

"One of our criteria for doing this project was that somebody else would have to invest in it, or else my wife and I would have had to put all of our money into it. We got an investor to put in a very substantial amount, which we took as a sign from God," explains Prin.

There were times in shooting when our permission to shoot was yanked out from under us," he continues. "It turned out to be a mistake that was rectified later, but at the time we had to improvise, and God took care of that. Once we had to work in a plane, and there were supposed to be thunderstorms and hailstorms, but God held the weather off until noon the next day. We continued to shoot until 11:30 Saturday morning, and within a half-hour of when we stopped shooting it poured buckets."

John Prin (kneeling, center) directed the production of "Between Planes and Parents" at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport.

Narrowly averting disaster again and again during filming might have driven other filmmakers to throw a stereotypical "Hollywood tantrum," but Prin says realizing that he was only a tool being used by God help him keep his cool. "There was time after time when things were beyond my control and God showed that He was in control because it was His project. There were just too many things going on, and you cannot control everybody's behavior, the weather, executive whim from an airline, and where things beyond a person's control, I would have gotten all crazy, but I never lost my cool, and the reason is because I was a servant to this process. I was taking the point of view that if things were going the way they're going, and God was allowing it, I would work with those conditions, rather than blow up and take it personally."

A first for Prin

"Between Planes and Parents" is a first for Prin; though his company, J.P. Mediaworks Inc. has made many industrial films, this 35-minute story is his first independent commercial project. "This is the first thing where there is a commercial market and I'm doing it for the right reasons, including God said do it," he explains.

It's also one of the few Christian films to be produced in the Twin Cities area. Prin says he worked to make "Between Planes and Parents" a top-quality production. "The quality of Christian films is going up fast," he notes. "In this particular film you'll see footage of a Hollywood caliber. I'm not bragging, that's just a cold fact. I have 10 years of Hollywood experience."

Prin's interest in media may stem from his father, Toby Prin, who was a well-known local entertainer in the days of live television. "I've been spinning stories since I was a college freshman at the University of Minnesota, ever since my high school girl friend abruptly ended our romantic relationship and I wrote a letter to her that totaled 352 pages," he recalls. "It was then I discovered my goal was to write; especially fiction."

He pursued his interest by attending screenwriting classes, writing four screenplays, and working in Hollywood for 10 years during the '70s, doing set design for various television producers.

He returned to the Twin Cities in 1981 with his wife Susie and their daughter Emily. After working in public relations for Control Data, Prin founded his own writing consulting business in 1986 and has done work for a number of clients, including Lutheran Brotherhood and Goodwill/Easter Seals.

While happy in the lucrative field of industrial filmmaking, Prin longed to turn his talents to something more dramatic than the instructional and promotional films that were his normal stock in trade. "I have been praying for years that my competence in the video area, which I've been sharing with the corporate world, would merge with my faith so the spiritual aspect of life could be brought into my work," Prin explains. "For me this is far and away the biggest challenge I've ever taken on artistically, spiritually, professionally, and financially."

Getting the idea

The idea of doing a film about the young victims of divorce came to him from a couple of sources.

"I saw an article in my daughters' teen magazine," he recalls. "It happened to be laying on the floor when I was doing some cleaning in her room, and I noticed this article on the long-range effects of divorce on children. It basically said divorce doesn't blow over and leave everyone feeling fine again. Years later kids whose parents divorce are wondering about their own marriages, wondering if they should date and so on."

Prin wrote the 35-page script in about 10 days earlier this year, and spent the next three months making small revisions to the script — including adding bits of humor to provide some comic relief in a film that deals with a heavy theme. With shooting and post-production work, the project has consumed about six months of his life, and about $70,000 of his own money.

Learning about divorce

Though Prin is not divorced and his family has not been touched by divorce, he explains, "You just can't live a day in this culture without hearing about divorce. Half of the kids in schools today are from broken families. It's a major cultural issue that had to be addressed." In fact, after choosing actors to portray the two main characters based on their talent, Prin discovered both leads were children of divorced parents.

Though divorce is not uncommon in movies and on television, Prin approaches the topic from a different angle. "There's a lot out there about people being unhappy with each other, and having to leave each other, but what about the kids who are left behind? My film doesn't deal at all with why the parents have a divorce. It's about the kids."

Prin had a sign that he was onto something during the filming in late May and early June. "I was at the airport, wearing a shirt that said `Between Planes and Parents.' One lady walked up to me and said, `I know what your film is about. It's about kids who fly on planes because they're part of divorced families.' I said `You're right, how did you know?' She said, `I live it every day. I see it every day.'

He continues, "About half of our friends are divorced, even in the church, and certainly in the world. My wife and I do not take a judgmental point of view about that. It's not for me to judge a person's walk with the Lord. But when it does happen, there are consequences that go with it, just like when we have gambling habits or drinking habits there are consequences that go with their behaviors."

Prin hopes the film can speak to the needs of both children and parents. "It's for kids who are in this situation. They can see it portrayed on the screen and know that somebody knows what they're thinking," he says. "I also think it's for kids who don't have any idea what it's like, so they can understand what their friends are going through. And I think it's for parents. If somebody has a poor marriage and is thinking of divorce and sees this film, perhaps they'll say, `I'm going. to get counseling,' or `I'm going to put my spouse before myself and change my priorities and make this marriage work.' I see a ministry in this area too."

Gospel message

"Between Planes and Parents" has a gospel message, although it's handled in a low key manner. "One teenager, seeing that another teenager is going through something very profound, starts trying to minister to her pain. In telling her about his story, which involved his discovery of Jesus and how Jesus helped him in his parents' divorce, he talks about divorce more than he talks about `You've got to come to Jesus.' He never even says that. He just says `Jesus was the answer for me, and you might want to try it.' "

Prin continues, "Even then she rejects it, and her rejection is very true to life. But at the same time she's heard something new, and thinks there might be some kind of hope. There's an open-endedness to it. There's no putting on the clamps. He just says `Think about it.' It's true lifestyle evangelism, without the collar grabbing. He doesn't say a Scripture, he doesn't open his Bible, he just talks to her with his eyes and talks about his life. His face is vulnerable, and she sees there's something here. He opens a window for her."

The "soft-sell" of Christianity may help get the message of the film past the mental barriers of non-Christian viewers. "I showed it to non-Christians, and I said `Do you think this is a Christian film?' One woman said, `No, it's a film about divorce.'"

Who will see it?

"Between Planes and Parents" will be distributed through Christian Visual Media International (CVMI), a network of 65 distributors, including 45 in North America. CVMI outlets, including the Golden Valley-based Gospel Thru Films, rent films and videos to local churches, retreat centers, and counseling centers, where short features like "Between Planes and Parents" are often used as a discussion focus for a small group.

Prin says the rental life of a good quality Christian film is about five years. Don Lundeen, owner of Gospel Thru Films, expects "Between Planes and Parents" to do at least that well. "I think it will have a good life," Lundeen predicts. "It's not going to be a flash in the pan. It's more apt to be one that will not start out real fast but will hang in there for a long time. It's got a good message, and it's right for various uses. It speaks to the victims of divorce, the children, and tells them there are other kids hurting like they are. It speaks to the parents who have entertained the thought of getting divorced, and tells them they might be hurting their children."

Action Box
For more information on "Between Planes and Parents," contact John.