America is no accident

The paths of three longtime friends of American Family Association (AFA) have merged to produce a stirring film titled The American Miracle. Through the decades, all three men have been featured numerous times in The Stand and on American Family Radio (AFR).  

First came Michael Medved in the 1990s. His decades as author, radio host, and conservative political and cultural commentator are rooted in his traditional Jewish faith.  

Ralf Augstroze, former executive director of the Providence Forum, has long carved out creative ways to restore and preserve the nation’s Christian foundations.  

Beginning with Exodus: Patterns of Evidence in 2015, Timothy Mahoney emerged as an author, archeological scholar, and top-tier filmmaker verifying the truths of scriptural narratives. He is the founder of Heroic Pictures.  

Mahoney and Augstroze explained to The Stand just how God brought the seemingly unlikely trio together. Mahoney first sought out Medved as a resource for insights on biblical history.  

“Later,” Mahoney said, “Michael reached out to me with the idea of turning his 2016 bestselling book, The American Miracle, into a motion picture project.” 

“Why me?” Mahoney asked. 

“I trust you,” was Medved’s response.  

Meanwhile, Mahoney met Augstroze only a few years ago, when Augstroze was producing Against the Tide with Christian actor Kevin Sorbo (God’s Not Dead). 

“Tim and I hit it off right away,” Augstroze said. “He was a wealth of information, encouragement, and help with some challenges we were experiencing with that project. We became fast friends, and he later invited me, along with our third principal, Douglas Maddox, to sign on with Heroic Pictures.” 

The American Miracle is a film that reveals America’s founding as a feat of providential proportions. Sorbo, actor Richard Dreyfuss, and the legendary Pat Boone appear in supporting roles. Christian music artist Nicole C. Mullen plays a pivotal role in a gripping plot element, as does singer Libby Smallbone.

Augstroze shared the following additional insights into the storyline, filming challenges, authenticity of the script, and more about this stirring dramadoc. 

The Stand: How does this film adaptation differ from others that cover the same historical period? 

Ralf Augstroze:  In his book The American Miracle, Michael goes to great lengths to do primary-source research on the many inexplicable and unlikely successes that arose from almost certain catastrophe and defeat during the American Revolution and formative years of our nation.  

Instead of calling it a docudrama, I coined the term dramadoc to describe the unique form we established in this movie. It’s mostly narrative drama with just enough documentary elements to support the reenactments. 

TS: What challenges occurred during filming? 

RA: The very first day of filming, we recreated the French and Indian War’s Battle of Monongahela. We had over 200 cast and crew on set, including armorers, musket fire, choreographed skirmishes, stunt coordinators, horses, caterers, and five cameras, filming deep in a remote Maryland forest. The late August temperature was in the 90s, and the actors playing soldiers wore wool Revolution-era uniforms. Later, in Petersburg, Virginia, we filmed several street scenes where we had an actor pass out from the incredible heat. 

Another challenge was securing a location to film the Constitutional Convention scenes. We were planning to film at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the event took place 240 years ago. However, logistical and scheduling challenges made that option impossible.  

Providentially, we found an exact reproduction of Independence Hall at Houston Christian University in Texas, and we were able to film there. 

A particular challenge was the soundtrack. We wanted an original score that embellished the cinematic experience. As music advisor and soundtrack coproducer, I worked with Emmy Award winner Lolita Ritmanis, a Hollywood composing veteran, to create an original soundtrack.  

We recorded the score with the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra and Latvian National Choir in Latvia. Coordinating all of that with the composer on the West Coast and the musicians in Europe was a Herculean effort.  

TS: How did you balance historical accuracy and Christian faith? 

RA:  There was very little balancing to do, if any. We were committed from the outset to tell the truth and to be historically accurate. If we couldn’t verify it factually and historically, then we wouldn’t include it in the movie. We also had a fantastic historian, James Gallagher, on set for every moment of filming. On occasion, we halted filming to do additional research from the set. 

Were all the founders Christians? Of course not, and we don’t portray them as such. However, when portraying a character who was, in fact, a Christian, or at least a theist, we don’t sweep that under the rug, as many historical productions do. 

The majority of the Founding Fathers believed not only in God, but also in the role of divine guidance and providence in the events leading to and through American independence.  

TS: How do you hope viewers will be impacted? 

RA: To see that one doesn’t have to be George Washington or Benjamin Franklin to be a hero. … Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. One can be a hero to his or her spouse, family, community, church, workplace, the nation, or the world.

TS: What’s next for Heroic Pictures? 

RA: The true American miracle is not an untold story, but rather a forgotten one. We simply bring the facts of that period back to the forefront. As the movie’s subtitle states, “Our Nation is No Accident.”  

That implies agency and purpose behind the founding of the United States and the ongoing progress of the American Experiment. That places immense responsibility and duty on us, the inheritors, to guard that purpose and to make sure it is preserved and advanced.  

We formed Heroic Pictures to make inspiring movies about real heroes from history, who, driven largely by their faith, accomplished heroic things far beyond their own perceived capability.  

These are the stories we will continue to tell, in the Lord’s providence, to inspire new generations to strive for heroic accomplishments.