WHITEHALL — Filmmaker Derek Sanchez continues to push forward with his documentary project, "Red: The Journey of Self-Discovery," a film that will focus on Jim "Red" Heeres, who taught the popular Self-Discovery class at Whitehall High School for nearly 50 years.
Sanchez found some community support Friday evening when he and wife Tiffany, whose experience in the Self-Discovery class sparked Derek's interest in a film about Red, hosted "An Evening with Red" at Evangelical Covenant Church in Whitehall.
A couple dozen community members came out for the event, and the guest of honor, Heeres, fielded conversations with well-wishers in the church's lobby before the proceedings moved to the church sanctuary for the main event.
Sanchez, who's not from the area, hailing from Florida, spoke to reintroduce his project, showing the teaser trailer for the film, which was posted to redthefilm.com earlier this year after he conducted days of interviews with Heeres over the winter. He discussed how hearing about the amount of lives Heeres had touched made it an irresistible project for his Inspired Films company, which creates storytelling projects for businesses, churches and other entities.
"We took a step of faith," Sanchez said of the film. "This is a story that has to happen. (Red's) story has such an impact that can live on beyond us."
Sanchez has launched a crowdfunding effort for the film at redthefilm.com/fund, hoping to raise $85,000 to cover the costs, which include travel, interviews, post-production and events to promote and celebrate the film. According to the website, over $9,000 has been raised so far.
Also speaking in support of the film were two former Self-Discovery students - Kelly (Farnsworth) Thomas and Dr. Cad Shannon, who were also slated to record video interviews with Sanchez. Both shared emotional stories of how Heeres helped direct them on the right path, which led to unimaginable personal and professional triumphs.
Shannon talked about how he only narrowly graduated from Whitehall - echoing Heeres' own story about doing the same from Western Michigan Christian - and even then only after he paid for an adult learning class. Shannon wasn't all that interested in doing so until Heeres told him he would pay for the class as long as Shannon attended college.
Shannon recalled sarcastically thinking, "Yeah, I'll do that," but that decision led to a successful career and even a Ph.D. Shannon is now a vice-president for the Dental Care Alliance and later went on to speak to Heeres' class after he got his master's degree. He shared his hope that the community would say 'yes' to helping fund the film in the same way Heeres once did for him.
Thomas' story was similarly touching. She shared that Heeres "didn't just talk about faith, he lived it" and changed her life by inviting her to an Easter church gathering. Thomas soon, she said, gave her life to Christ, and it so happened that she met her husband a month later. Her oldest of four children now is in a leadership role at her church's youth group.
"The seeds you planted almost 30 years ago are still growing, and they will continue to grow for generations," Thomas said. "You have been one of the greatest heroes of my life."
A few other community members shared Heeres stories during the event, and a brief video from Heeres' close friend, Troy Love, who was out of town at the time, also expressed strong support for the film.
Sanchez said he is excited to see the community support a positive message like the one he hopes to deliver through Heeres, now more than ever.
"I think it's cool to see how people want his story to continue to live on and to go into other lives of people, who might watch this film and just be excited," Sanchez said. "Just to see the community come together for something like this in a time where our world is so divided, to see people come together for a project that's full of hope and encouragement, I think that's what I'm really most excited about."
From Friday's event, Sanchez said he was slated to go to Grand Rapids for interviews with Thomas and Shannon, and he and his family will be back next month for an Aug. 21 golf outing at Hickory Knoll Golf Course in support of the film. The choice of course is no accident; Heeres was for many years a seasonal employee of the course and led Bible studies there. Sanchez plans to contact local businesses in hopes of securing partnerships to sponsor that event.
"(We want to hear) if there are any businesses or organizations that want to partner with us or help sponsor the golf event or help fund the film, so we can put the word out there so we can get this film rocking and rolling and see it to the finish line," Sanchez said.
