Ken Wales, Producer of Amazing Grace, gives an inside scoop of the background of the film, his inspirational motivation behind it, and the future projects he plans to work on.
You said it took seven years to plan for Amazing Grace. Can you describe the process, and how it developed to what it is today?
I had long wanted to tell the story of John Newton. That and how Amazing Grace came to be in the story of his life in transformation were on my plotting schedule in wanting to do the film. I met Philip Anschutz of Walden Media and we began to talk about that, and he asked me if I knew much about William Wilberforce. I told him what I knew, that Wilberforce was a part of the John Newton story in that Newton mentored Wilberforce and encouraged him in Parliament to ultimately see that the slave trade was abolished.
That intrigued me and the more I got into the story and the more I found out about Wilberforce, the more I discovered that he had a second great obsession. Not only did he pursue the end of the slave trade, he also campaigned for a reform of manners, morals, decency and a return to civility. And I thought, "Wow. That meant he was a man of those times in the 18th century, and look how relevant that is in our 21st century." And I thought, "This is something that people need to know about" - not only ending the slave trade, but his idea of reform of society, especially a return to civility. We can certainly do with that today. People might ask how we could put that into practice. Very simply, one idea, we can start with our attitude to road rage - being gracious to people we move about with in our daily life, and to have a sense of gentleness and kindness, encouraging dialogue, and not breaking into rage, but have good conversation, which really helps solutions to be found.
I thought this is an intriguing man, and the more I got into it, the more I loved his story. So we started talking about doing both of their stories in one film, Newton's and Wilberforce's. But, as you can imagine, you can't do the John Newton story and Wilberforce story in one film - it's too much. So we decided that we would indeed proceed with Wilberforce, and we ultimately used the title Amazing Grace because that was associated with Newton and in the film, we anticipated in using it. Have you seen the film?
Yes, I did.
You saw how we used "Amazing Grace". The first time was where Wilberforce stands on the table and announces to the other members of the Parliament that he is going to oppose the slave trade. And it's his way of taking a stance when he gets up on the table and sings. And then, of course you saw it beautifully used when Barbara, his bride, requests it to be sung for their wedding. And then with John Newton in that beautiful scene with Wilberforce where he says "Wilber, two things in my life I know of: I am a great sinner, and Christ is a great Saviour." That is remarkable to be in a feature film.
Was there a reason why you were so interested in John Newton in the first place?
His story is extraordinary and dramatic in terms of how bad God let him be. But God allowed him to have a dramatic moment to see several things all together at one time. Newton was able to realise, 'Somewhere here I've missed a boat - literally. There is a God, and He is active, and hounding me. He changed my life.' And Newton's eyes were open and he was able to see clearly the people in the slave trade. So when he got back to England, he began to work against it. Of course many people called him a hypocrite. And I think they do that, anytime they see an ark. They'll say Wilberforce was a hypocrite. Not true. His life was changed and it was very transparent.
It's a lot like the story of Apostle Paul, isn't it?
Yes, from a Saul to Paul transfiguration. Absolutely. So when you add that all together, this story of Wilberforce is extraordinary. And of course back in 2001 or 2002 I was aware that it would be the 200th anniversary in 2007. I thought this would be a wonderful point to work towards and a great way to celebrate it at the same time.
