The moral indecency all around us is indeed shocking. Everywhere you look. Chaos. Confusion.

- Warren F. Vanderbilt (Richard Dillard)

Synopsis:

Esther Harris, a young woman praised for her virtue and devotion to Warren F. Vanderbilt’s Prophetic Watchman Ministries, has been given the opportunity of a lifetime – to attend Vanderbilt’s Kingdom Bible College.  

When the fundamentalist Christian sect falls on hard times, Esther looks for employment at a local health food store to supplement the group’s income.

At the store, Esther gets a chance to share her faith with her new manager, Gabriel, a devout skeptic and preacher’s kid, and his roommate, Mark, a college drop-out who finds Christian television to be great entertainment.

The friendship with Gabriel and Mark help Esther determine her human worth while helping her reframe her faith in a whole new light.

Shot entirely on location in Southern Indiana and Austin, Texas, Paradise Recovered attempts a modern-day retelling of the parable of the Good Samaritan while addressing hard questions involving faith, tolerance, and spiritual abuse in modern culture. 
 

Fun Facts about Paradise Recovered:

We put the 'ultra' in 'ultra-low budget', relying on a lot of in-kind support, goodwill, donated items, and stuff from our houses as props. 

Length of shoot:  Seventeen days.  Oh, and there was a road trip in the middle. 

Amount of footage shot:  Forty hours.

Number of locations: Twenty-three.

If you aren't a film person, you might like to know that the last three fun facts let film people know how completely crazy we are.

The camera used was the Holy Grail of Ultra Low-Budget Filmmaking:  The RED One.

At the beginning of the shoot in Austin, the temperature topped out at 110 degrees.  The RED took the heat.

Most films boast that no animals were harmed during their shoot.  We boast that one kitten was saved during the making of Paradise Recovered, thanks to the generosity and heroism of David Blue Garcia and Julio Quintana.

The profits of Paradise Recovered will help provide mental health services for survivors of religious abuse, as well as assist our team of aspiring filmmakers, musicians, actors, and artists in doing what they do.  They make art.  Making art takes money.  Spreading the wealth around to all who shared in making it is the right thing to do. 

About the Filmmakers:

Andie Redwine, Writer/Producer 

Andie’s passion for the story of Paradise Recovered began as a response to understanding the dynamics of aberrant religious groups. After attending Earlham College and graduating from Austin Graduate School of Theology, she devoted two years of evenings, early mornings, and weekends writing ‘Paradise Recovered’ as a testament to those who have suffered from spiritual abuse.

A native Hoosier with an Italian heritage, Andie enjoys cooking, reading, telling stories, and entertaining good friends around her table. While she considers herself a follower of the teachings of Jesus, she also enjoys port wine, dancing, card-playing, dice-rolling, and two cigars a year. 

She and her husband, Ron, live with their four children, Abel, Alexander, Angelina, and Anna Valerie, and their two dogs, Belle and Lady, on a hay farm near Bloomington, Indiana.

Storme Wood, Director/Producer

Storme loves to tell stories, and he loves having a camera on his shoulder. A graduate of The University of Texas at Austin in Radio, Television, and Film, he has over a decade of experience directing, producing, editing, and shooting. He is also pretty good with a pen.

From editing initial drafts to editing the rough footage of the film, Storme has been involved with Paradise Recovered since the beginning.  Besides all things filmmaking, Storme passionately enjoys coffee and beer (though not at the same time), collects old pulpy paperbacks, and talks back to television news. He recently took up mountain biking and wonders why he didn’t do it sooner.

Storme lives with his wife, Rachael, and their two children, Harper and Truman, in Oklahoma City.