Issa and ICUP Media
From Child Soldier to Filmmaker for Jesus
Issa was abducted as a child soldier. His ordeal and escape were harrowing to say the least. The trauma left him mentally and emotionally broken. Issa received healing in a Northern Ugandan refugee camp through a ministry named Tutapona and went on to become a trauma counselor with Tutapona.
Issa and a group of pastors formed ICUP (Integrated Children United for Peace) to train pastors, plant churches and share the Gospel through media. Issa started off using radio, but longed to train young filmmakers to use video to reach their peers. He joined us for training online and later at Heroes of the Nation in Kenya.
Now, Issa and his team are passing that training on to the youth of South Sudan.
Short and Long Term Impact
Why train filmmakers in emerging markets?
Some Hollywood studios spend $100 million dollars on a film that elicits a yawn or at best a brief cultural moment in the saturated U.S. movie market.
Simultaneously, meaningful films with little to no budgets in places like South Sudan have BIG IMPACT! There aren't many locally produced films. So, people notice!
And the filmmakers who help establish new film markets in places like South Sudan are poised to have ongoing spiritual and cultural impact for decades. As a case study: Imagine the impact the families who first built and continue to lead Bollywood have had on over a billion people in India and beyond over the decades!
Children from Conflict Zones
Change imaginations. Change the future.
Issa's team is already training and mobilizing young filmmakers. Those youth are bringing hope and a new vision for South Sudan.
In the very near future, we hope to partner Issa's filmmakers with South Sudanese filmmakers here in the US and refugee filmmakers from around the world to create programing specifically to meet the needs of children from conflict zones across the globe.
Preproduction
Storyboards,
Art, Audition,
Locations
Target April 2024
$900
Production of
Pilot and 1-2
Episodes in
Kenya
Gear for
Series
Target May/June 2024
$25, 000
Postproduction
Edit, Sound,
Color,
Etc
Budget TBD
Marketing
and
Distribution
Produce
Remain
10 Episodes
Budget TBD
Budget TBD
Story
Development
Treatments
to
Screenplays
Target April 2024
$2,000
Story Impact
The real life stories will help set African Youth free to fulfill their divine calling.
Promote Heros
The series and fundraising process will promote HTN's Kenyan orphan ministry.
Heroes recoups returns
Heros of the Nation will own the series, so any financial return will be recycled to support Heroes.
Filmmaker Training
Emerging international filmmakers gain experience with experienced professionals.
Team
Sam West
Show Creator/Himself
Leader Kingdom Nation Team
Titus Hug
Executive Producer
President Heroes of the Nation
Violet Gitonga
Executive Producer
Cofounder Heroes of the Nation
Kush Tracy
Herself
Social Celebrity, Kingdom Nation Team
Kingdom Nation series is a partnership between International filmmakers and regional organizations to create best in market media and tell compelling stories that exemplify the best of the human spirit and our reliance on our beautiful creator.
Jackline Kamanjiri
Kenya Producer
Heroes of the Nation Producer
Greg Silker
U.S. Producer
Co-founder Rocketsled Studios
Jazzmine Maina
Screenwriter
Writer from the hit Showmax series Faithless.
Cristobal Krusen
Script Advisor
Writer/Director. Founder Messenger Films
This is the short film Heroes produced with our team during our 3 day training session. It shows that Heroes is poised for much broader filmmaking impact.
