15 March 2017 Update on the Father Vincent Capodanno Documentary Dear Guild Supporters; We would like to update you on the status of our efforts to develop a new documentary on the life of Father Vincent Capodanno, Servant of God. As you know we have partnered with the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) on this project. Our producer, James Kelty, is an award-winning producer who has created similar documentaries for EWTN; specifically, on Saints Kateri Tekakwitha and Junipero Serra. As we started our project, we planned to conduct numerous interviews with family, friends, fellow seminarians/priests and the Marines who served with him. These interviews are complete and contain amazing testimonies witnessing to Father Capodanno’s virtuous life and heroic death. You can get a sense of these interviews and the professionalism that James Kelty is using to pull it together by visiting our website capodannoguild.org and clicking on the “Called and Chosen” video clip. After you see this, you will understand our excitement. Our initial production plan included a trip to Vietnam where we planned to film on the site where Father Capodanno gave his life while ministering to the Marines. Just two days before departure with our plane tickets, in-country hotels and transportation all purchased, the Vietnam government denied our visas even though we had received earlier written assurance that we were “good to go. Given the loss of the Vietnam trip, we assessed our project and considered various alternative solutions to move forward. James Kelty recommended that we develop reenactments. A reenactment can replace the lost Vietnam segment, but as we considered this, we recognized that these reenactments can help weave the interviews into an exceptional video. They will also add to the length of the video. To move forward, we reopened our talks with EWTN and asked James Kelty to find some potential actors. Both actions are complete. James has found actors (non-SAG-non-union) to portray Father as a child, teen and adult along with young catholic college ROTC students to play the Marines in the combat scenes. To ensure realism and accuracy, we will have several of the Marines that were with Father on the “Knoll” to be present during this critical reenactment. This production will be a great tribute to Father Capodanno and will spread the news of this Servant of God to a much wider audience – helping to fulfill a Guild mission. We plan to air the documentary on EWTN on 4 September, the 50th anniversary of Father’s death. DVDs will be sold through both EWTN and the Guild. As you may have guessed, adding reenactments and actors to the payroll for our project makes it more expensive, almost doubling the cost. While we considered canceling, our sunk costs and the quality of the work to date made this an inappropriate choice. Instead, we decided to move forward and prayerfully count on folks like you to help us finish this important work. EWTN has increased its contribution by $40k. We need your help to raise an additional $60k. In other news, we are meeting all the financial requirements to complete the Archdiocesan phase of the Cause. This will be completed in May when the “Acts” of Father Capodanno’s Cause are officially sent to the Vatican. This momentous occasion will occur at the annual Memorial Mass sponsored by the Archdiocese for the Military Services at which His Excellency Archbishop Timothy Broglio will celebrate at the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception at 4:30 PM on May 21st. All are invited. We truly appreciate your support for this immediate and urgent need. George J. Phillips Chairman, Board of Directors. Father Vincent Capodanno Guild
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