We were lucky to catch up with Diana Davis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Diana thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

When I learned about the appalling situation of corruption and organized pedophilia hiding under the guise of a twisted religion that was, and is, rampant in the USA, I made a movie about it. I had never made a film before and had no money…..but I knew that this was not something going on halfway around the world. This was going on in my own backyard on the border of AZ and UT.

Bringing it in way under budget and ahead of schedule, the film I produced, “Cathedral Canyon”, went on to win Audience Choice Award at the Palm Beach International Film Festival and Special Achievement at The Worldwide Women’s Film Festival where much of the film’s audience were horrified to learn for the first time, the extraordinary story of what was going on in their own country. While making the film, I met some of the heroic survivors. I couldn’t just say,”Okay, I raised some awareness. Now you’re on your own.” So I turned it into a nonprofit and made this it’s mission.

I started MoviesMakingADifference, 501c3. Its’ ambition was to produce inspiring and commercial films that highlight social ills and injustice and plow the proceeds back into the non-profit to benefit the survivors of these issues. And that is exactly what MMAD does.

In the absence of any action by politicians, my team at MMAD started raising money for the victims and survivors of the cult Church that inspired that first film. A Church that forces its’ followers into child marriage, forced labor and are often even starved out by their Church or excommunicated with little education or knowledge of the outside world should they fall into disfavor.

MMAD has been able to fulfill our initial mission and go even further. We have found shelter and furnishings for those that became homeless after being expelled from the Church and being stripped of their possessions as a result. My partner, Chip Williams, an addiction counselor, purchased a home as a Safe House for emergency rescues until proper placement is found. MMAD has obtained scholarships for drug/alcohol treatment programs, job training, transportation, employment and dental care. For others, one of the most important has been the ability to study for and achieve a GED since schooling was not available in the community. I often convinces the courts that these young people do not belong in jail when they escape and often end up in the hands of even more predators, often traffickers. When provisions are needed; personal hygiene items, blankets, sewing machines and fabric to help. I also fly to other states to rescue some that fall into the hands of traffickers when they escape or meet others left stranded by their so-called Church and offer them help. And then sometimes it is as simple as just taking the time to listen, talk, guide, inspire and be inspired, for some survivors to continue to forge ahead. Last year I stopped counting as she aided her 200th survivor.

By staying involved with the survivors long after the cameras stopped rolling, I had a devoted and talented team (28 of whom are the actual survivors themselves) who were ready for work as production started again. The first scenes of the sequel, ‘Cult Cartel’, were shot in and around Palm Beach before the production returned to Arizona to historically shoot inside the infamous town of Colorado City, a town where viewing movies had been banned, let alone one shot there. Donny Most – Ralph Malph of ‘Happy Days’ fame, Jud Tylor – Samantha from ‘That 70’s Show’ and Winsor Harmon – Thorne from “The Bold & The Beautiful’ star in the film and work coaching their remarkable cast members some of whom with no formal schooling, had difficulty reading the script.

“Cult Cartel” Premiered on the Rooftop of the beautiful Ben Hotel in West Palm Beach last year. Donny Most was on hand along with first time star and ex-FLDS member Young Barlow, who portrayed a young man not unlike himself. Our writer/director Paul Davis recently won “Outstanding Director” at the Palm Beach Film Festival, one of the many accolades it has received.

The lives that this movie has changed on so many levels, is almost too huge for me to take in.

A third film, “Carmelita” is entering it’s pre-production stage and will be a murder mystery, tackling the very real atrocities on both sides of our Mexican border. The script has already earned accolades from former CEO of MGM Roger Birnbaum, and actors Danny Trejo and Emilio Rivera. And we are so excited that a dear friend of our Executive Producer, actress and philanthropist Julia Rosengren, the legendary casting director Bonnie Timmerman (Glengarry Glen Ross, Dirty Dancing, Carlito’s Way, among a string of box office hits), read the script commenting, “It’s a very important subject and a story that should be told. The writer did a great job.” We are beyond thrilled and grateful that Bonnie has come on board as our casting director. This will undoubtably increase our visibility and commercial impact.

I intend to continue making even more impactful movies and keep MakingADifference in many more lives.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

On my twenty-first birthday, my mother gave me an astrological reading from a well-known astrologer. It came on a cassette tape. I had just graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and was all set to seek my fame and fortune as an actress in New York.

Eagerly I pressed the play button and heard that I would indeed achieve fame, but within seconds my heart fell. She wasn’t predicting that I would be a successful actress, rather I would be advocating a cause that was dear to my heart. I would be speaking and in the public eye.

This couldn’t possibly be true! I had no cause! I had just spent four years studying theater and now had enrolled in acting school in Manhattan! How ridiculous to think that I would throw all of that away to run around rallying people for a cause? I tossed the tape aside, and planned for my new head shots and finding an agent. Soon I began getting commercial print work, off-off Broadway showcases, and bit parts in TV movies.

As I navigated through the streets of New York, trying to remember my lines for an audition, my thoughts would often be interrupted by women with brutal signs of sex trafficking in Africa or Southeast Asia. At twenty-two and practically broke, what in the heck could I do about this horror going on halfway around the world? Why didn’t they stop someone who looked like they might be in a position to help, instead of me? Couldn’t they see they were wasting both of our time?

Fast forward twenty years. I had acted and modeled for a good fifteen years, and had had a restaurant in the Hamptons during the summer. I was now living in Phoenix, married with children and helping my aging father after my mother died. After we got my father situated, I became a successful Realtor and planned to pursue acting on the side.

One evening at a kids school function, I saw Mike Watkiss, a popular news reporter whose son was in my son’s class. I approached to congratulate him knowing he had just returned from Washington DC having won an Edward R. Murrow award for his documentary. He thanked me but dejectedly said, “Sadly not enough people watch documentaries. And with such a tragic subject matter, people want to go have a drink and just forget about it.” I asked him what his subject matter was. He told me the FLDS community of Colorado City on the border of Arizona and Utah. Perplexed, I asked,“You mean those crazy women in their prairie dresses that don’t mind sharing their husbands?”

I could see he was crushed. Passionately, he explained how they were slaves and did not want to be there. How they were forced into arranged marriages at childbearing age and were raised solely to have babies for child labor. With no education, no birth control, and no employment experience, they were destined to a gruelingly abusive empty life with no hope for escape. Seven hours straight into the desert from Phoenix, Warren Jeffs, their self-proclaimed “prophet,” was in complete control of every person. Even the police department was appointed by him. This was organized crime operating
under the guise of a religion. Mike went on to say that he just wished someone would step up and make a commercial film about it, maybe one with an uplifting ending so people could become invigorated by helping these women instead of feeling helpless themselves.

This situation was no longer halfway around the world, but was right in my own backyard. I knew a slew of people still in the acting and film world. Not only that, my husband was a writer. Mike said he’d been trying for years to find a filmmaker willing to help. I had no excuse. I couldn’t go home and face myself in the mirror if I once again turned my back. So, I timidly raised my hand and said, “I’ll make that movie.” My husband, Paul Davis, went to Mike Watkiss’ news room. He perused hours of footage, much of which had never been aired as it implicated too many politicians. He then started writing Cathedral Canyon. By the end of that summer, he had a script.

A friend introduced me to her houseguest, Kurt, who worked in the film industry. After sharing that my husband was a screenwriter, he asked, “Has he written anything lately?” “Well as a matter of fact, he just finished something last night,” I said. “You could be the first to read it!” He loved the script, said it was fantastic. He took it to Hollywood and CBS to produce it.

And with that, the market crashed, not only giving me no houses to sell, but putting the film project on hold indefinitely.
We knew it was good. Why not make the movie ourselves? I read every single book about filmmaking.

My old friend Kurt got back involved and roped in Winsor Harmon, the star of the daytime series The Bold & The Beautiful, who then enticed his friend Lorenzo Lamas to direct. David Grossman composed an incredible soundtrack.

What I hadn’t considered was with the market at its lowest in a generation, there was no money to make the film. The $5,000 raised with a crowd-funding campaign was not going to cut it. Yet, people were much more enthusiastic about getting behind a cause than I’d ever been. Our composer entreated his mother-in-law to kicking in $60,000, the
majority going towards food and a lot of water for the cast and crew in the 110 degree Arizona summer heat. Winsor, Lorenzo and the rest of the cast and crew were still in, agreeing to work for food and a copy of the film. Although a week before we were slated to start, Lorenzo Lamas could no longer direct due to another project – “Dancing with the Stars”! Paul took on that role and Lorenzo appeared in a cameo. Friends opened their homes for sleeping accommodations, restaurant donated meals, local film crews excitedly jumped on board and we were ready to roll!

We made a movie. And a pretty darn good one. Or, so I thought until the rejections started coming back from all of the southwestern film festivals. That was dis-heartening, however I gave it one last ditch attempt and submitted to the Palm Beach International Film Festival. Not only did we get in, we won for “Audience Choice for Best Feature Film”! It turned out
there were no FLDS work crews on the east coast of Florida. Nobody was hacking my email and Facebook accounts when I mentioned Colorado City. No one was getting threatened if they dared show our movie. Newspapers were even writing articles on us and I was being interviewed on News Programs!

People came out of the theater in disbelief that this could be going on in our own country, and wondered how they could help. I’d made the movie and raised awareness. I’d also met many of the remarkable survivors. After learning about the appalling situation of corruption and organized pedophilia hiding under the guise of this evil religion, how was I going to look the other way? I told all of those benevolent people that I would establish a nonprofit. The proceeds
from the movie would go directly back to aid those people escaping such horrors. And I did.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

A friend took me to a cocktail party . I didn’t know any of the other guests, but my friend Katy had told many of them about my unique career. By this point I had gotten embarrassingly used to people gushing over my achievements and telling me what an angel I was.

I was not ‘an angel’. I had the greatest life. Not only did I get to express myself creatively, work and learn from people much more talented than I, meet all sorts of wonderfully interesting men and women, schedule my time as I thought best, travel to fabulous places and then change others lives on top of it all. Sure, as it was a nonprofit, I was making very little money, but the trade-off was immeasurable.

So once again as Katy introduced me as “my friend I’ve been telling you about” and one of the women immediately started into “there’s a special place in heaven for you . . .” I quickly interrupted saying, “NO, I am the lucky one! I have the most fantastic life. I could be making much more money working somewhere in the back room of a bank, but what a dreary and dead end existence that would be!” My friend hurried me away apologizing. I was very confused. Katy said, “that woman works in the back room of a bank!!!”

I was mortified. I couldn’t believe of all things I would pick out of thin air! This bothered me for weeks, running it over in my mind what a coincidence that was. Until it dawned on me. As they say, there are no coincidences. Maybe, just maybe, that was exactly what that woman needed to hear to make a decision on a move she was struggling with.

That’s the most important thing I impart now. But in a much more conscientious manner!

How did you build your audience on social media?

I could not have made the first movie had it not been for social media, specifically Facebook. Starting with our Kickstarter campaign, all the way through to celebrating our win at the Palm Beach Intl Film Festival.

We cast through Facebook announcements and then found our crew there as well. Every day while shooting I would post to the local film community what was needed. We would be on set and realize the car we were using wasn’t quite right. A post would go out and someone inevitably would show up with the right vehicle. Once I even reached out for baby!

We could also get the word out for a change of shooting venue. Practically everything was done and of course promoted and celebrated on Facebook.

By biggest piece of advice to build a loyal and eager following is to make your page all about thanking them, not about you.

Contact Info:

• Website: moviesmakingadifference.org
• Instagram: moviesmakingadifference
• Facebook: Diana Davis
• Other: Facebook page: MoviesMakingADifference

Image Credits
Matt Yeadle www.beautybymatt.com