Up Close and Personal With Filmmaker Jillian Bullock

9:58 AM asenseofpurposemovie 1 Comments

 A Sense Of Purpose: Fighting For Our Lives #ASOPmovie
Jillian Bullock, author, professional speaker, screenwriter, and award winning director has completed filming on A Sense of Purpose: Fighting For Our Lives. Now in post-production Jillian is in high gear on promotion for the movie in order to get a distribution deal. Let’s hear from Jillian in a Q& A.

 Q: WHAT IS A SENSE OF PURPOSE: FIGHTING FOR OUR LIVES ABOUT?

A: The feature film focuses on veterans who have post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of military sexual trauma. The main focus is on Tamara Woods’s character, Sgt. Diane Torres, an Army medic, who struggles to learn how to cope with PTSD and assimilate back into society after she has been sexually assaulted by her commanding officer.

 Q: WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO WRITE ASOP?

About four years ago, I  was watching “Sports w/Bryan Gumbel” when they featured a segment about military veterans who used mixed martial arts as a way to help them cope with post- traumatic stress disorder. As someone who trains in MMA I thought that would be the perfect story for me to tell. It took me two years to conduct interviews with veterans, therapists, and do extensive research on PTSD. It took me another six months to write the script.
Once I went into pre-production, however, I stumbled up a documentary entitled “The Invisible War” (http://www.invisiblewarmovie.com). This film centered on veterans who had been raped or sexually assaulted while they served in the military. I had no idea the problem was as rampant as it is. As I did more research I became sickened by this epidemic that plagues the U.S. Armed Forces. Kirby Dick, the director of the award winning documentary “The Invisible War”
stated, “sexual assault in the military is the most underreported significant crime in the country.” I agreed and changed the course of my movie.

Q: HOW DID YOU RAISE THE FUNDS FOR THE MOVIE?

Joe Hunter, A Sense Of Purpose: Fighting For Our Lives #JoeHunter #ASOPmovie
(Joe Hunter)
A: Through Indiegogo campaign, which actually didn’t go as well as expected. But Lamont Fountain, the DP and Producer, had a friend, Joe Hunter, who got cast in the movie. Joe wanted to do more to help out so he put on three fundraisers. He also got investors and donated money from his own pocket. After all that we had to give Joe an Executive Producer credit because he stepped up to the plate and really came through for the movie. Love that guy.  

Q: WHAT WERE SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF FILMING?

A: One highlight was doing the fight choreography. Since my background is in martial arts and boxing, plus I teach women self-defense, it was so much fun to teach actors on set. We had a couple of fights scenes in the movie and the actors involved worked well together to learn the steps to “fight” without anyone getting hurt, especially Tamara who was pregnant at the time. I have done fight choreography on other projects and I plan to do more on upcoming movies. 
 A Sense Of Purpose: Fighting For Our Lives #ASOPmovie  A Sense Of Purpose: Fighting For Our Lives #ASOPmovie

 Q: WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING WITH JOHN QUINLAN (LEAD MALE ACTOR) AND TAMARA WOODS (LEAD FEMALE ACTOR)?

 A Sense Of Purpose: Fighting For Our Lives #JillianBullock #TamaraWoods #JohnQuinlan #ASOPmovie
(Tamara Woods, Jillian Bullock, John Quinlan)
A: They are both wonderful people to work with. Tamara has a great deal of experience as an actor, so I knew she would bring her A game with each scene as Sgt. Diane Torres. She could go from laughing to crying just like that, which is great skill. Tamara is a very talented actor and a joy to be around due to her sweet and loving personality. John is a novice when it comes to acting. However, he also killed it when it came to portraying Captain Jake Nixon, a very complex character. He had to get inside the head of a rapist, which is difficult to do. A director loves to work with actors who know how to take direction well, and John and Tamara both did just that. I’d work with them again in a heartbeat.

Q: YOU PORTRAY CAPTAIN NIXON’S WIFE IN THE MOVIE. HOW DID YOU AND JOHN DEVELOP INTIMACY NEEDED FOR THE ROLES? 

 A Sense Of Purpose: Fighting For Our Lives #ASOPmovie #JillianBullock #JohnQuinlan
(Jillian Bullock, John Quinlan)
A: We had to rehearse a lot. John kept messing up on the kissing scenes on purpose. LOL. Just kidding. We’re actors. We get paid to act. Whether that’s acting like we hate each other or we love each other, we come together and communicate how we’re going to do the scenes. Our chemistry comes from knowing each other for about four years now. We ‘met’ on Facebook because of our love for fitness and we kept getting to know one another so by the time we met in person in December 2015 we already had a special connection.  

 Q: WAS IT DIFFICULT TO DIRECT AND ACT?

 A Sense Of Purpose: Fighting For Our Lives #ASOPmovie #JillianBullock
(Jillian, in black hat, directing a scene)
A: The only time it was difficult was during the rape scene. Tamara Woods’s character, Diane Torres, was the rape victim, but at the time Tamara was eight months pregnant. I stepped in as her body double. John and three other actors, David Bazemore, Nick Mangino and Ben Yon were also involved in that scene. So it was a bit difficult to get “raped” and yell out directions. But all the guys were professional. Like I said before, we’re actors and we have a job to do. 

Q: DELAYNE POWE AND LAMONT FOUNTAIN ARE YOUR PRODUCING PARTNERS. TELL US ABOUT THEM.


                   

A: I have worked with Delayne for about 20 years now. She is the COO of my company, Jillian Bullock Enterprises, LLC. Through thick and thin, through blood, sweat and tears, Delayne has been the best producing partner ever. No matter how rough it got sometimes, she always supported and encouraged me. She also has invested much money in some of our projects. Lamont and I met just a little over a year ago. We connected on a film site called Stage 32. We met at this little diner in Havertown, PA, talked for a bit. We really hit it off, which is rare on a first meeting. Now, we are so connected we plan on doing many more films together. Lamont is a guy who has no ego. He listens well, takes direction well, and offers his opinion and suggestions, which I’m always open to. As the director of photographer, Lamont and I have to have a clear and open communication in order for me to convey my vision as a director. Plus, he’s a great guy. Spending 12 hours a day on a set, you want to be with someone you like and respect.

 Q: WHAT DO YOU HOPE PEOPLE WILL WALK AWAY WITH ONCE THEY SEE THE MOVIE?

I hope people will have a better, and clearer, understanding about this horrific issue that the military has had for years dating back to WWI. Now more people are speaking up, and out, about this, especially the men and women who are coping with military sexual trauma. The military must make drastic changes in how they handle cases of rape and/or sexual assault and not continue to sweep it under the rug. PTSD and MST is not something that just happens to those who serve in the military. This affects all of us as a society and awareness is the key. This film will help raise more awareness.  

 Q: WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON NEXT? 

Listen To What The Dead Are Saying, Jillian Bullock, A Sense Of Purpose: Fighting For Our Lives #ASOPmovie #JillianBullock
 A: This month, March, we’re shooting the music video for the title song of the movie, entitled “Fight Of Your Life.”  Lamont, Delayne and I are also in development on two movies, “A Cup Full Of Crazy,” and “Listen To What The Dead Are Saying.” Both are psychological thrillers.

Q: ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD ABOUT THE MOVIE?

A: I’d just like to give a big shout out to everyone who has supported this important movie, especially people who have donated money, the sponsors, veterans, and those who continuously give words of encouragement. My hope is that when the movie comes out, people will continue to support it by going to see it, and talking about the movie in order to help change happen. 

 FIVE FUN FACTS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT JILLIAN

I have 10 tattoos
I have a driver’s license, but can’t drive. Well, I don’t drive since I had an accident years ago.
My nickname is Vulcan, from Star Trek. Long story why I was given that name.
I hold two black belts, one in Tae Kwon Do, the other in Wing Chun.
I wrestled at the Wild Samoan Training School in Allentown, PA. It’s run by Afa Anoai, former WWE Tag Team Champion with his brother Sika. They were known as The Wild Samoans. Afa is the uncle to many WWE wrestling greats, like Rishki and The Rock. Met those guys, too.

Stay Connected With Jillian

#ASOPmovie #JillianBullock  #JohnQuinlan #LamontFountain #TamaraWoods #JoeHunter  #PTSD

1 comment:

  1. Great article! I pray that true awareness and change concerning MST takes place

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