Irreplaceable

Yesterday was the big day... after months of prepping for it, Irreplaceable was shown in 70 theatres across Canada.

It?
Was really good.
The final cut was much tighter than the pre-screening version I had seen back in early March. I was unmoved during the staff screening but got a little choked up last night in that dark theatre. Which I was totally not expecting.

I had a comp ticket, so Sandra came with me. When it was over she looked at me and said, "That was way better than you led me to believe it would be..." And then she said, "We need to talk about what we just saw." So we sat in her car in the parking lot for a few hours and talked about families. And brokenness. And the role of fathers. And divorce rates. And STI statistics. And the stories we saw and the heart ache we witnessed and the hope that we have.

Families are the building blocks of a healthy society. Our culture/the world depends on family units to shape and mold people. The health and well-being of future generations depends on families.

While I wouldn't say Irreplaceable is an unbiased documentary, I will say it has an important message drawn from the opinions of many smart and experienced people. It will inspire and challenge you to think about the value of families. And it will confirm that the effort is worth it.

The response to the movie has been over-the-top. Totally surprising us, were the stats that came out the States (which had their one day showing on May 6, one day before we did in Canada). Sold out theatres everywhere. People being turned away because of full movie houses. As a result, they will be showing an Encore Performance on May 15. 

And in Canada?
The results were the same. Sold out/very full theatres all across this country.
So awesome. So very awesome.
(I think some of us were too close to this project to see the impact it would have. We've worked with the material every single day for months. Which reminds me of my days at Billies'. We'd be shopping for/preparing for Christmas in May. And continue all summer/fall long. By the time Dec 25 rolled around, we were done. But all our efforts made for great Christmas experiences... we were just numb to it. We needed to see it through others' eyes.)

If you want to know what non-Focus employees thought, check out the comment section on yesterday's post on our Facebook wall. 

Did you miss it?
Make sure you buy the DVD. 
And keep an eye on the website for more details about The Family Project.