Conversations With God:The Human Story - Soon to Become Feature Film

by Arielle Ford

As a book lover, I like to peruse the bookshelves of my friends when I visit their homes. During the past ten years there is one book that I have seen in nearly every home I have visited: 'Conversations With God' by Neale Donald Walsch. With approximately seven million copies of the 'Conversations with God' series of books in print, worldwide, it shouldn't come as a big surprise that this 'spiritual classic' will soon become a feature film.

Over the past ten years, Walsch has received multiple offers from producers (and one major studio) to turn his book and life story into a film. He turned them all down. Until now. 'Conversations With God: The Human Story' will soon become a feature film.

Walsch, who recently starred in the movie INDIGO (he played the grandfather of an Indigo child), has agreed to portray himself in the movie with the Indigo director, Stephen Simon.

“Stephen Simon has an extraordinarily high level of artistic integrity, vision, and willingness to collaborate and he is the reason I am finally agreeing to have the Conversations With God story told on the big screen,” Walsch explains. Five years before 'Conversations with God' hit bookstores Walsch was homeless.

“I spent my days collecting cans to sell for five cents each just to have enough money to eat. It was important to me that this story not become Hollywood-ized,” Walsch explains.

Walsch became homeless after breaking his neck in a car accident. At that time he was working for himself. With no health insurance and no means of covering his living expenses, he found himself out on the street for the better part of a year.

One day, while he was dumpster diving in the park, he found the classified section of the newspaper and saw an ad for a job as a fill-in weekend radio announcer. With his past experience as a broadcaster, he used his last quarter to call the station from a phone booth to request an interview. He landed the job and ended his days living in the park.

Walsch sincerely believes that God talks to everyone, every day. His believes that his experience was in fact not 'special' but can and does happen to everyone.

The tagline of the movie is: If It Can Happen to Him, It Can Happen to You. This tagline is meant to be not only descriptive but also inspirational.

“As we all come to understand that each of us has a very real, very present conversation with God all the time, suddenly everything in our life changes. My dream for this movie is that it will turn people back to themselves. That it will allow them to notice themselves as who they really are,” says Walsch.

Stephen Simon, co-founder of The Spiritual Cinema Circle and veteran Hollywood producer of Somewhere In Time, What Dreams May Come, plus 23 other features, has dreamed on making this film for the past ten years.

“This movie is a personal story about heartache, loss and ultimate re-discovery, re-definition of God and the redemption of a man's spirit. 'Conversations with God' will be a powerful, mystical, and surprising film,” says Simon who will produce and direct the film.

The Spiritual Cinema Circle (www.spiritualcinemacircle.com), which launched May 1, 2004, has quickly become America's fastest growing DVD club. Each month subscribers receive four uplifting and inspiring films (a combination of shorts, documentaries and features found at film festivals around the world) on DVD, which they get to keep. Conversations With God: The Human Story will premiere exclusively for Circle members.

The Circle will finance the $1.5 million dollar project. Gay Hendricks, who co-founded The Circle with his wife Kathlyn will Executive Produce. Simon will direct and produce. Eric DelaBarre is writing the script. DelaBarre won 'Filmmaker of the Future' at the Newport Beach International Film Festival for writing, producing and directing his first feature, Kate's Addiction. He also authored the book Why Not (Start Living Your Life Today) and spent six years as a writer/director/producer on NBC's 'Law & Order.'

Production begins Nov. 7, 2005 in Southern Oregon where Walsch and Simon both live. Members of The Circle will be treated to exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the pre-production and production on upcoming volumes of Circle DVDs.

The 'Conversations with God' series of books, the first of which spent nearly 3 years on the New York Times bestseller list, has sold approximately 7 million copies in 34 languages and launched thousands of discussion groups around the world.

Arielle Ford is the author of the Hot Chocolate For The Mystical soul book series. Arielle will make her theatrial debut in 'Conversations With God.' She is slated to portray a homeless woman. She lives in La Jolla, CA with her husband and cats (otherwise known as angels in fur coats)