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Email director Anthony J. Caruso at anthony@reddawnproductions.com

What is this movie about?

Brotherly Love, the film adaptation of the critically-acclaimed novel Seventy Times Seven by Salvatore Sapienza, has been adapted for the screen by award-winning writer/director Anthony J. Caruso. Brotherly Love is the story of Brother Vito Fortunato as he struggles with his vow of celibacy. Does he have to be single in order to serve God? Or can he still serve the God he loves with his soul mate by his side?

Vito struggles with this question as he works as a teacher at an all-boys Catholic school in New York. He loves God but there’s something missing in his life. He goes searching for it in seedy bars, parking lots and locker rooms. His witty best friend, Tim, thinks he should leave the brotherhood.  “You tried it out and it just didn’t work - like Cher’s infomercial career.” His fatherly fellow brother, Mike, feels Vito needs to take his vocation more seriously. “What would one of our parishioners think if they saw you coming home at the crack of dawn?” Vito is at his wits end. He decides to go to Austin for a couple of months and volunteer at an HIV/AIDS recovery home. Vito thought he was going to clear his head but what (and who) he finds in Austin has him more confused than ever. 

Why are we doing this?

Millions of people all over the globe struggle with their sexuality because of religious reasons. The all react in different ways. Some try to maintain a straight lifestyle. Some engage in addictive, destructive behaviors. Some attempt suicide. Sadly, some succeed. Both Sal and Anthony, as well as several other members of the cast and crew, have also struggled with this, but we have come to merge our faith and sexuality seamlessly. Unfortunately, we’re not the norm. We've seen it become an election issue. We’ve seen it tear families apart. We’ve seen friends turn their backs on each other. We’ve seen people die. 

Frankly, we’ve seen too much.

Sal’s book has had a great impact on people all over the globe. So many have written, saying how it’s shaped their life. We saw this as a real opportunity to help others. We wanted to bring this story to the masses through the wonderful medium of film, as so many more people are interested in a movie than picking up a book.

This isn’t the first movie made about homosexuality and religion. There have been some great films made on the topic. However, those films focus on the main character having to choose between God and their soul mate, as if you can’t have your faith and your boyfriend too. Brotherly Love focuses on characters who have all reconciled their faith and religion. Vito’s struggle is celibacy, not homosexuality. In fact, the subject of if it’s OK to be gay and spiritual is never brought up. This movie is full of LGBT persons who all live a spirit-filled life and no one is looking back. It’s important to all of us that this movie is not a debate on the issue, but rather an opportunity to portray the millions of LGBT people who no longer struggle. To us, this isn’t even a “gay movie” but rather a tender love story, and discussions on religion will detract from what is a beautiful, moving story.

Where does the money go?

Our producers never make any film thinking it’s not Oscar-worthy. To make that high quality of a film costs money. A lot of it. Especially this film. There are 30 speaking roles plus dozens of background actors. Everyone has taken a pay cut to be a part of this film, but they still need to get paid for their extraordinary talents. They also need to be fed while putting in the long hours it takes to make a beautiful movie. Feeding a family of four dinner can be expensive – can you imagine breakfast, lunch and dinner for a cast and crew of 40 people? We also have 20 different locations. Each of those locations requires props and set dressing, not to mention rental fees. These are just a few of the many expenses making a movie incurs. Sal has not asked for a dime to use his story and Anthony has already spent thousands of dollars of his own money to make this happen. However, even with the sacrifices we’ve all made, we just can’t do it without outside support. Your support.

We believe in giving back as well. The producers of Brotherly Love have decided to give a portion of the proceeds from the sale and distribution of the film to The Trevor Project, the leading 24/7/365 suicide hotline for LGBT and questioning youth. The money you donate will not only help this film, but in turn, it will help such a worthy charity that has prevented countless suicides all over the country.

How can you help?

DONATE: There is no amount too small. Or too big. :) We’re asking for $80,000 now, but, in reality, it will cost well over $100,000 to make and promote the movie in order to get the right distribution deal to reach the masses. We’ve come up with some great perks for you as sincere thank you’s for helping our dream become a reality. We know times are tough for many of you, but if you feel led and are able, we would greatly appreciate your financial support.

SHARE: Tell your friends. Family. That crazy guy at the bus stop. Word of mouth is everything. Facebook and Twitter are awesome for spreading the word quickly. Even if you can’t donate, sharing will expose this to more people who can donate.

TALK TO US: To do something like this takes a lot of faith, hard work and determination. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter and let us know you’re excited to see this movie. The audience for this film is growing exponentially every day. To hear from you along the way keeps us going and energized. We’ll keep you updated as things go along and send you production pics and sneak peeks as we go along, too!

Brotherly Love Facebook Page

Seventy Times Seven Facebook Page

Brotherly Love Twitter Page

Note - The Trevor Project is not a sponsor of this project. We are choosing to bless them with a portion of the proceeds of the project, but they have no direct or indirect involvement with this project.