During the 11 years he spent in the Standish Correctional Facility in Michigan, DeWayne Wilkerson had a revelation. Realizing that poor decisions in his life had led him to where he was, Wilkerson committed to spreading the word that people have power over the choices they make in life.
After viewing an old recording of the George Burns movie Oh God! You Devil on a grainy black-and-white television in prison, Wilkerson decided the best way to spread this message was through filmmaking. With a copy of a book entitled Screenwriting 101 as his guidebook, he began writing a story of good versus evil, where God walks the streets of the inner city, encouraging those he encounters to make good decisions.
The result is The Greatest Gift 2.0, a film that premiered at the Greater Grace Temple in Detroit on June 29.
“The greatest gift is the power to choose,” says Wilkerson. “I’m trying to tell people the power is in their hands. I know, because I made the wrong decision.”
The film was assembled on a shoestring budget. None of the actors appearing in the film were paid. Much of the funding came from Wilkerson’s mother.
Wilkerson contacted Captive 8 Productions to pitch his idea. “He said, ‘We don’t know what we’re doing, we don’t know how to hold a camera, but we got this script,'” says Captive 8 founder Brion Dodson. “He was totally honest. I could tell he was a straight-up guy.” With Dodson’s help, Wilkerson was able to produce the 70-minute film at a much lower rate than the $300,000 such a film would usually cost.
Wilkerson is planning to take the film to church groups in cities throughout the country to spread the message. He hopes that this will eventually lead to a career in filmmaking.
“I’m the impossible,” told the premiere audience. “I’ve got six felonies … In my mind, I’m the success that society says can’t happen.”