THE BEGINNING:

Last July, I met Carman on his tour bus and we instantly clicked. As he began to open up to me about his personal life and ministry, I felt connected to him even more. It was clear to me that he was passionate about his desire to lead people to Christ. As I continued to listen, the story got even better as he began sharing stories about his brother Mario (just think Joe Pesci meets Jack Black). Mario was the older brother that Carman looked up to, but he found himself in some pinches from time to time when Mario exercised authority he didn’t really have. On the streets of New Jersey one day after an encounter with a bully, Mario taught Carman how to stand up for himself. It follows that he would later become Carman’s tour bodyguard. Mario fired people he didn’t have any authority over and overstepped boundaries at times, yet everyone who knew him found him endearing and hilarious. It was clear to me from listening to Carman’s stories that Mario was a huge part of his life story. He never really got over Mario’s death in 2000.

Carman quickly became my friend, and over the course of the next eight months, we started planning a feature film about his life. It had become clear that this was not the typical “Christian” film. At one point I said, “I’m not sure if we can make a movie that’s part ‘I Can Only Imagine’ and part ‘Goodfellas’. We laughed about that, but the truth is this: Carman’s story is really about a guy who was the least likely to achieve this platform where millions of people would come to know Christ as their Savior. Many people considered him the Billy Graham of Christian music. To some, he was more like the Elvis of the genre. He led millions to the Lord, and this truly was his only passion.

By helping us tell Carman’s full story, we believe you will be not only entertained, but essentially responsible for bringing millions more to Christ. This is not a documentary. This is a narrative, scripted film that will be based entirely on Carman’s own words, with funny and heart-wrenching stories about his childhood and family life, going all the way through his music ministry and career.

PRODUCER BACKGROUND:

I’m Jack Vale, and I have been in the entertainment industry for 13 years. Starting on YouTube in 2007, I have produced and starred in TV shows and films, and recently created a show with an academy award-winning director which was sold to Fox. I currently have another feature film in pre-production which is being shot in February and March, 2022. My social media platforms have a combined following of 5 million fans, and over the years, my family-friendly comedy videos have been viewed 10 billion times on YouTube and Facebook.

I have always felt God gave me this platform because it was a conduit to reach people for Jesus. You see, when I was 15, I had a rather unique experience: one night after a concert, I spent half an hour alone in a room with my favorite Christian music artist: Carman. He was at the top of his career, doing the Radically Saved tour, but he took time to sit with a teenager with questions. That time, mostly I talked and he listened. He prayed with me. That night, his words changed my life. The fact that I met him again (this time as a 47-year-old film producer) and became his friend was no accident. It was ordained by God, and Carman and I both knew that. We began to work consistently on this project together, discussing the storyline, potential cast members, and music. I made it clear to him that my goal was the same as his: reaching more people for Jesus. I found out early on that there was nothing more important to him than that. 

One of my last meetings with him was November 24th, 2020. He showed up with a giant poster-board and various colored markers, so that he and I could map out his life story for the film. I was completely blown away by his stories. Not only were they some of the most entertaining stories I had ever heard, but many were touching and frankly, life changing. I had never met anyone who was more focused on the end result being “souls saved”. When I had an idea for something, his main focus was “How will this contribute to leading people to the Lord?” He said to me several times, “If it doesn’t bring more people to Christ, then what’s the point?”

On February 16th, 2021, I received the most unexpected, devastating news: Carman had passed away after complications from surgery. My friend, who was so full of life and energy, was gone. I realize that eight months is not a long time to get to know someone, but we had spent hours together planning this movie, sharing stories, and putting all the pieces in place. This film was the most important thing to him, and I promised him several times that I would see it through. Even today, as I am still grieving the loss of Carman, I can hear his voice motivating and encouraging me to move this forward. He wanted things done yesterday, because “The people might not be here tomorrow”.

THE MUSIC:

I called Carman several months ago to tell him that legendary record producer Rodney Jerkins was a fan of his, and he’d told me he would love to be involved in the music for this film. Carman had followed Rodney’s career and was thrilled with the news. Rodney’s involvement in production will be in the scoring for the movie and also in producing an all-star artist tribute album to Carman with re-imagined songs of some of his biggest CCM hits. Over the years, Rodney has produced for Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Kelly Clarkson, Justin Bieber, Mary J. Blige, Kanye West & many others. He has had multiple Grammy nominations and two wins!

I know Rodney, and can tell you that this man has a heart for God. Aside from his extensive accomplishments, he is a loving and committed husband and father. Rodney is excited to be a part of our project to bring honor to Carman’s legacy and contribute by creating a soundtrack that Carman would be very proud of.

SCRIPT & PRODUCTION:

Carman and I carefully considered some accomplished screenwriters, directors, and additional producers who we felt would do a great job bringing his story to the big screen. I am happy to say that we have made some of these decisions. The writers are very familiar with Carman’s ministry and music business all the way through his life. And here’s the BIG NEWS: The script is FINISHED! We even have the shooting schedule and plan to be filming SUMMER of ’22!

We cannot yet divulge who this next person is but we are in talks with an Academy Award-winning director to join us as an executive producer. As we get new information, we will be updating you. Gathering the team and crew is something that we largely have done already, but as I’m sure you can imagine, it is a process and we are SO EXCITED about the level of interest from some of the most accomplished movie industry professionals!

CAST and CREW:

The obvious elephant in the room is… “WHO’S GOING TO PLAY CARMAN?” Well, we will need three actors to cover various ages. We knew we needed someone very special to play him for the majority of the film and decided to do a nationwide casting call for this Italian Stallion. We do have someone in mind to play his older brother Mario, and all I can tell you is that you have seen him a lot! When I called Carman to tell him, he shouted his name and said, “I THINK HE COULD PULL IT OFF!” We did have discussions about the rest of the cast, and since this largely has to do with coordinating shooting schedules with theirs, we will be flexible while only hiring top-tier talent. We will update you as these decisions are made. Experienced crew members are being rounded up as we speak, and we plan to shoot in New Jersey and Tennessee.