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Producer Jody Eldred Talks About the Upcoming Release of the “Passion Re-cut” and His Documentary on “Miracles of the Passion” Jody Eldred has worked for over three decades in the film industry with one of his latest productions a documentary of the experiences in filming the Passion of the Christ, Changed Lives—Miracles of the Passion, also details the lives of many of those impacted by Mel Gibson’s film. A new re-cut and unrated version of the Passion of the Christ, that leaves out some of the hardest violence, releases today (3/11) in selected theaters. A director, cameraman and writer for more than 30 years, Jody Eldred’s expertise has been behind many exclusive news stories including coverage of the Los Angeles riots, Northridge earthquake and the war in Iraq. Hundreds of documentaries have been directed and shot by Eldred and his work recognized through the winning of many prestigious awards including an Emmy Award for camerawork on ABC’s Nightline series covering the Fox 2/5 Marine company in 2004. But it was at a viewing of a portion of The Passion of the Christ, that he felt God’s urging strongly upon him as he “…knew God was indeed up to something big, something I’d never seen before in my 30 plus years in the TV and film business.” The seasoned reporter and producer took out a scrap of paper and scrawled the words, “TV doc. about changed lives from the film.” From that quick note a documentary was borne that describes in detail many of the miraculous events that took place during the filming of the Passion of the Christ, as well as the real-life stories of those whose lives have been forever changed by experiencing the epic film. Jody Eldred’s life is one of those that has been greatly touched by the portrayal of Jesus Christ’s final hours in the Passion. “The Passion of the Christ is kind of a Christian version of Saving Private Ryan,” says Eldred, “There is a whole generation of people alive in America that really didn’t fully appreciate the freedom that Americans enjoy until they saw Saving Private Ryan and the scenes in the beginning of the film that showed the incredible sacrifice that was made by volunteers on the beaches of Normandy. Likewise, the Passion of the Christ has done the same thing. There were maybe generations of Christians who did not fully appreciate the sacrifice that Jesus made, and the freedom that we have as Christians. But after seeing that, it gives you a much greater appreciation for Jesus Himself, and the sacrifice that He made, for our salvation…it’s done all that for me. I’ve been a Christian for a long time, but it’s really impacted me quite a lot.” Many moving stories are shared in the documentary and the accompanying book, Changed Lives—Miracles of the Passion, including the story of a couple who had recently seen the Passion of the Christ, Michael and Krista Branch and their 11 month baby girl, Kenna, who was brought back to life after drowning in her bath. Michael Branch, relates what happened, “There was no life in her, from the moment I touched her…I knew she was gone. I realized right away that this was an attack from Satan, and it didn’t have to be this way. Yes there was fault on my wife’s and my part, but literally the thief came into my house to steal, kill, and destroy that morning. This is where The Passion comes in. I began to have visions—as Krista did—of the flogging scene, so vividly in my mind. The Scripture ‘by His stripes we are healed’ continued to run through my mind…I began to yell, ‘You are not going to steal my daughter. I kept having visions of Jesus holding our baby and bringing her back to us.” –(from Changed Lives—Miracles of the Passion). Resuscitation began on baby Kenna by paramedics as she was life-flighted to the hospital but by the time they arrived, Kenna Beth was miraculously breathing on her own, later tests revealing no brain damage whatsoever. Other stories in the book and DVD mention some of the amazing experiences that happened during the actual filming of The Passion of the Christ, including Jan Michelini’s account of being struck by lightning twice and only suffering a minor burn and nosebleed, and how his life has changed because of it. Since the Passion Re-cut was releasing soon I asked Jody Eldred about this softer version of the movie that has impacted so many. “I talked with Mel (Gibson) about it, he told me that he cut about five minutes out of it. Mel said he feels like it’s even more poignant in spots now. The things he took out are just some of the most gruesome things like when they put Jesus on the cross, you don’t see that (the nail) going in. There were just a few things that weren’t really necessary to the telling of the story, like when his flesh was being ripped out and flying through the air, a few of those scenes were left out in order to get an unrated version of the movie. They’re not allowed to show “R” rated movies in prisons so they’ve only been running my documentary and I’ve gotten all kinds of letters. I told Mel and he said they were going to re-cut it (The Passion)and do a “PG” version, what they ended up with is an “Unrated” version. All he’s done is some very selected editing. There is nothing at all (in the re-cut version) that diminishes the impact of the film. And now different people will have access to the movie who didn’t have access before.”
Editor’s Note: For more information on and to purchase either the DVD or the book, Changed Lives—Miracles of the Passion, visit www.thewellbookstore.com or click on the link below.—Aimee Herd, Breaking Christian News 
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