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Chicago, Illinois (I-Newswire) February 1, 2012 - Jackson Changes History as Being the First Black Romance Author to Fully Finance a Feature Film
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Brenda Jackson has accomplished something no other Black romance author has done, which is produce, direct and fully finance a feature film based on one of her series romance stories, Truly Everlasting.
While many good authors with great story plots and characters patiently wait with fingers crossed for Hollywood or major film production companies to translate their book to the silver screen, Brenda Jackson took a leap of faith with a moderate budget and moral support from family and friends and embarked on her quest to create Truly Everlasting—The Movie.
The decision to embark on such a bold venture was driven in part by Jackson's desire to create a movie that remained true to her storyline after a 2002 made-for-television movie by a major network for one of her other novels left her readers disheartened.
She vowed that when the opportunity presented itself again, she would produce and direct it herself. "I wanted the movie adaptation to be as close to the actual book as possible. My loyal Madaris readers deserve that," said Jackson.
Utilizing the directing skills of her talented son, Gerald Jackson, Jr., a graduate of Columbia University and owner of Five Alive Films, casting a remarkable team of actor and actresses, hiring interns from several colleges in North Carolina, New York and Florida and bringing on board a gifted group of songwriters and singers for the musical score, Jackson was able to fulfill her dream and her reader’s vision as well as provide opportunities for fresh, undiscovered talent in the music and movie arena.
Truly Everlasting is a short story written by Jackson in 1998 and re-released as a stand-alone edition to compliment the release of the movie to DVD. It is currently one of 17 novels in the Madaris Family series, a sequence of romance stories dealing with family saga and filled with passion, great plots, strong, believable characters and beautiful endings.
Jackson’s movie closely follows her book bringing Felicia Madaris face-to-face with her childhood rival-turned-family-friend, Trask Maxwell, a three-time Heisman trophy winner. As the holidays approach, Felicia learns that her young son, Austin has only one wish and that is to have a Christmas Daddy. Felicia is faced with the chore of turning to Trask to fulfill her son’s wish only to discover that it's not just Austin’s Christmas wish that is coming true.
The leading cast includes Kenny Rogers as Trask, Mikki Marbra as Felicia; and Makhi Marbra as Austin. Other cast members include Omarr Dixon, Charte Jones, Robin R. Reed, Schwanda Winston, Don Justice, McCarrie McCausland and Carter Irvin.
The official soundtrack, produced by BreMaDa Productions, contains beautifully written and arranged love songs and features Brian H and Jamia Alesia. BreMaDa has also written for Grammy nominated artist Troy Sneed and Bishop Rudolph McKissick, Jr. featuring The Word & Worship Mass Choir.
Referred to as the "Diva of Romance", Jackson’s professional writing career began in 1994. To date she has penned over 80 novels with more than 3 million copies in print. Currently under contract with Harlequin, one of the world’s leading publishers of books for women, Jackson was able to leave her management job of 37 years with a major insurance company to write full time.
Throughout her career she has been on the receiving end of several prestigious awards and is recognized as a trailblazer being the first Black author to have a book published under the Harlequin/Silhouette Desire line and the first Black romance author to make the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists for the series romance genre.
She has managed to keep her readers coming back for more and has a continuously growing base of new fans that are discovering her books for the first time. Jackson readily acknowledges the importance of education and the financial needs of Black colleges. Over a period of years she has donated over $100,000 to Florida Memorial University, a HBCU located in Miami Gardens and
alma mater of Barrington Irvin, the first Black pilot and youngest person ever to fly a plane solo around the world.
In November FMU was the recipient of a $20,000 donation by Jackson as a result of ticket sales to the public for
the red carpet debut of Truly Everlasting—The Movie attracting over 2000 fans from all over the country. During February, a portion of sales from each DVD will be donated to FMU in celebration of Black History
Month.
"I remember as a little girl how my grandmother and other members of the Baptist community used to bake pies and sell them to raise money for FMU. My grandmother was a giving soul who believed in education. I am just continuing the work that she and so many others like her started", says Jackson.
Fans can visit the Truly Everlasting website to purchase the commemorative edition of the novel Truly Everlasting ($15.00) which contains the movie script and photos of the movie set; the official soundtrack ($10.00) and the DVD ($19.99) with bonus features.
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