- Hello and welcome to this special edition of Knightcast.
Today I’ll be talking to Eduardo Verastegui,
actor and producer, about his new film, “Sound of Freedom”.
Eduardo, thank you for being with us.
- Thank you so much. Thank you.
- Yeah.
Making a movie about child trafficking
is not the kind of thing someone would think
would make great theater.
But nonetheless, you’ve decided to make this movie.
Maybe you could say something about what it is
that moved you to have to make this move.
- I met Tim Ballard in Los Angeles, California,
eight years ago.
I met him with his friends.
These guys are ex-Navy Seals, ex-FBI agents, ex-CIA agents.
And when I learned what they were doing,
these people travel around the world undercover,
rescuing children.
When they explained me in details
what these children are going through,
the pain, the suffering, I couldn’t sleep.
I was, in one hand, I was very inspired
to meet a true, a true American heroes.
But in the other hand, I was in shock.
And I remember when Tim looked at me and he said,
“Eduardo, it’s very sad what I'm telling you,
but it’s more sad, but it’s more sad now that you know it
if you do nothing.”
I wanted to do something.
I didn’t know what, so I asked this question,
you know, I asked God, what can I do?
I wanna join this army, I wanna end child trafficking.
I started asking questions.
You know, these conversations were very long.
I was learning more and more and more
about what child trafficking is,
to understand what this evil is doing
to millions of children around the world.
Tim Ballard told me this is a global problem.
It’s happening everywhere, especially in US and Mexico.
US is the number one consumer of child sex in the world.
Mexico is the number one provider.
And I said, “Okay, Tim, hold on a second.
How come United States,
the most powerful country in the world,
you have the money, the intelligence, technology,
the army, the police, everything,
how come we don't finish this problem?”
And he said to me, “Eduardo, because it's not a priority.
we are not the solution.”
“What do you mean you’re not the solution?
You rescue thousands of children.”
“Listen, I can be the solution for one child.
And of course, you save one child, you save the world.
Thank God, we’ve been rescuing thousands of children,
but we’re not the solution to end this terrible reality,
because we’re talking about millions of children.
We need a movement. This is beyond us, this is too big.”
So we need a movement
because if this thing is not a priority
for the American government,
neither for other governments in other countries,
then what we need to do is to create a movie,
because movies have the potential to move people.
Movies raise awareness in a massive way.
And that’s when I understood, okay, this is my calling.
I have a weapon.
I have a weapon of mass instruction and inspiration, films.
As I said before, movies can move people.
So I decided to put pause
in everything that I was doing at that time.
Forget about every other projects
so I can dedicate my entire life.
I made a promise to God
that I will dedicate my entire life
to end child trafficking.
It’s not just about the film only, it’s about the movement.
And the film is part of that movement that already started.
This is a global problem.
And for a global problem, you need global solutions.
And this film, it will be seen by millions around the world.
Finally, after eight years of work
the movie is coming out July 4th.
This is a very important week
because we’re celebrating in United States
Independence Day, freedom.
Yes, in one hand we should celebrate freedom.
But on the other hand, we should do something
to bring freedom back to those children that that day
unfortunately won't be able to celebrate freedom.
And that's the message that we're sending to everyone.
- What are people, what can they do?
They’re gonna see this film, hopefully,
gonna be touched by it like you are.
They’re gonna go home and wrestle with God and say,
““God, what do you want me to do?”
What are the kinds of things people can do
to create a movement?
- I didn’t see a movie.
I heard a story from someone eight years ago,
and I was moved to the point
that I canceled everything that I was doing
so I can dedicate my life to do a film.
That was my reaction, right?
I’m a filmmaker, I’m an actor,
I’m gonna make a movie, I’m gonna act,
and then I’m gonna use the movie as an instrument
to raise awareness and to create a movement, right?
I hope that when people see the movie
will have the same reaction that I had eight years ago,
that they will ask themselves, “What can I do?”
I don’t wanna put limits on this is what you should do.
Well, of course I will ask you,
please go and see the movie.
But that’s the beginning only of the journey.
Go and see the movie July 4th.
We are David with five stones, right?
And Goliath has the power.
If I believe that my efforts, my human efforts,
will be enough to succeed, I’m already fail.
But if I’m doing this
because God’s children are not for sale,
and because I love God and I love people,
especially those who are most vulnerable, children,
and if I say I go after you in the name of God
because I put my faith in God,
that’s how we become that David.
And we know how this story ends.
Let me tell you something.
When I finished the film five years ago,
for three years every studio passed,
talking about patience and talking about faith,
and talking about, you know, perseverance.
I was very, you know, very close to give up.
It was three years waiting and nothing.
You know, it’s eight years of work.
And, you know, the people loved the movie
but the professional distributors, they don’t.
For some reason, they think that this is not for them
because it’s not a business for them, right?
And then next thing you know
I received a phone call from Angel Studios.
Because of them this movie now is gonna come out
in more than 2,500 theaters.
I hope it’s gonna be 3,000 theaters, July 4th.
This is huge. This is big.
And you know why this is happening?
Because of the people, are responding.
They’re buying tickets.
They’re visiting our website, SoundOfFreedomMovie.com,
and you can learn there what can you do
to buy tickets for you, for your family.
or for others who cannot afford tickets,
through the program Pay It Forward.
And because of the people responding
and buying tickets in this pre-sales,
we started with 200 theaters, 500 theaters, 1,000 theaters.
Now we’re close to 3,000 theaters.
This is a miracle. This is amazing.
I mean, the miracle is happening right now in our faces.
And we want it 4th of July, July 4th,
because it’s Independence Day.
It’s a lot of symbolism.
- Thank you, Eduardo.
You know, I got to see the movie thanks to you.
And are you happy with how it turned out
in terms of this difficult topic
but making people able to see it and learn it?
- No one has to, you know,
we don’t want people to walk out of the theater because,
“Oh, this is too...”
It’s gonna be poetry.
It’s gonna be claroscuro like Rembrandt, you know,
you see dark and then you see light coming.
It’s almost like the symbolism of this invisible fight
between good and evil.
It’s full, the entire movie is full of that.
You can put pause in it, in any scene,
and you’re gonna see this claroscuro Rembrandt,
light in the darkness.
- Eduardo, congratulations on the movie.
Thank you so much for your time,
and we look forward to seeing this movie,
July 4th, the “Sound of Freedom”.
- God’s children are not for sale.
Thank you very much, and God bless you.