Inspired in part by director Edd Blott's embracing of his own bisexuality, our film addresses the fears that arise when one is involved in a culture that deems all nonhetrosexual desire sinful. For this reason, we have developed an incredible team of LGBTQ+ individuals and their advocates.

Escaping Freedom began over two years ago with single question...

 

Are you enslaved to your own idea of freedom?

 

Escaping Freedom follows two estranged siblings, Vincent and Krystal, who must reconnect after Krystal shows up drunk at Vincent's church late one evening. The subsequent explosion caused by their conflicting approaches to life forces the other to question how they find their freedom. Inspired in part by writer-director Edd Blott’s real life wrestlings with religious doubt and sexual identity, each and every character in this film addresses the theme in their own way feeding a project of awareness, acceptance, and love.

 

 

One of the many ways we explore the theme of freedom is through both Vincent and Krystal's sexuality. Vincent, a doubting pastor of a failing church, is forced to bury his affection for a fellow pastor in order to be "free in Christ" and shepherd his flock; while Krystal, a theatre actress and self-proclaimed party girl and free spirit in search of her "true self", finds herself slowly becoming defined by her open sexuality. Ironically, they enter our story seeing clearly these self-destructive behaviors in the other while being completely blind to it in themselves. They are truly two sides of the same coin.

 

 

Up to this point, we've funded this film with our blood... Literally. Edd has been selling plasma to get us to where we are. Talk about commitment, right? Unfortunately, his wife noticed he's a bit paler than usual so here we are, looking for members to become a part of our team and help share the message of embracing and loving who you are. We'd love to build this film with you!

  

 

MEET THE CHARACTERS

Vincent (Patrick D. Green)
Vincent is a pastor living in the Pacific Northwest. During his childhood, his best friend was his foster sister, Krystal. The two regularly found themselves in all sorts of trouble which brought no end of frustration to their parents. Broken by the death of their minister father, Vincent committed his life to the church and began a career behind the pulpit. This decision directly led to a falling out between him and Krystal. Over the last two years, Vincent wrote her letters of an increasingly personal nature. These "confessions" reveal his crisis of faith and a supression of his sexuality. They are documented in the webseries, Letters (Prologue to Escaping Freedom). His best friend is Marcus, a fellow pastor at the church, who Vincent's affection for has developed into something he knows must be kept hidden.

 

Krystal (Kelly Godell)
A self-proclaimed hedonist, Krystal lives every day basking in the moment. After Vincent left town to begin his time at seminary, she decided to dedicate her life to the theatre, a passion she has held since childhood. Today she is a well-respected actress in town with a reputation for bringing "a foul mouth and a good time" wherever she goes. She finds immense pride in always striving to be authentic to who she is, even if she does not like what she sees. After receiving a series of letters from Vincent, Krystal finally responds with a hurtful message for her brother to move on in his life and leave her alone. This response can be seen in Letters, Part 6 (Prologue to Escaping Freedom).

 

Marcus (Jonathan Daniel Miles)
Marcus is a fellow pastor at Vincent's church and his dearest friend. Along with his wife and son, Marcus is known for being a beacon of hope and love to everyone he interacts with in the congregation. However, buried deep under that perfectly maintained exterior is an unbearable shame. Marcus knows as well as Vincent that there is a romantic affection towards each other, but fears for his status and reputation should those desires be entertained.

 

René (Brian Adrian Koch)
René's chief aim in life is to invite people to experience a deeper and more beautiful level of self-awareness and artistic expression. As Krystal's theatre director and mentor, he finds something incredible in her talent and approach to life. This invigorates his own work and she quickly becomes his muse. As their relationship grows, the lines that were once clearly drawn begin to blur and René's position unknowingly shifts from mentor to manipulator.

 

Katie (Laura Welsh)
Despite the stigma of being a single mother, Katie is perhaps the purest member the church has ever had. As their only deaconess, she can always be found serving in some capacity, but is most frequently in the copy room putting together bulletins for the upcoming worship service. Little is known about the father of her daughter and she would like very much to keep it that way. Her attraction to Vincent is the church's worst-kept secret. Being known as a Godly lady, however, she impatiently waits for Vincent to make the first move.

 

ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS 

Edith (Jill Sughrue), Laurel (Bethany Jacobs), Josh (Jeffrey Arrington),
JD (Adam Dunlap), Elder (Jonathan Wexler), Alexis (Stephanie Leet)

  

 

THE PROLOGUE

Created alongside the writing of Escaping Freedom, this six-part webseries serves as an experimental prologue to the story we are about to tell. Find out more about Vincent and Krystal's journey in Letters (Prologue to Escaping Freedom).

 

PREVIOUS WORK

In 2012, Edd Blott released his debut feature-film, A Tale of Delight.