Lights, Camera, Gospel!

Gravity's director of photography, Jens Klein, is a blond, urban-chic German filmmaker and one of the only WYSIWYG personnel with any professional filmmaking experience. He was living on the island of Malta, directing commercials and music videos, when Richard Gazowsky visited two years ago to shoot the opening scene for The Roman Trilogy. Charmed by Gazowsky and his epic movie plans, Klein visited San Francisco and stayed with one of Gazowsky's cousins. Then he came to church services at VOP, where he felt the Holy Spirit move inside him; tears began to flow down his face. Now Klein flies to San Francisco for several weeks at a time to volunteer his services for Gravity.

In the foyer, Sunny Gazowsky gathers the male actors around him. "Brothers, brothers, listen up," he says, gently. He motions for somebody to hand him the ax. "You gotta step up on him -- and then BAM!" He slams the ax on the floor near the actor's head. "You're not going to be able to kill him from far away!"

WYSIWYG has bought its cranes, cameras, lights, sound equipment, and other filmmaking odds and ends with donations from members of VOP. I was eager to see this generous congregation and get a sense of where it envisioned its dollars were going. On the Sunday before Christmas, I attend church.

Though Gazowsky holds a Bible study on Sunday morning, the bulk of the church members begin trickling in around 11, during the song and dance portion of the service. About 300 people of all races clap and sing in the old movie theater while VOP Musical Director Doug Lanza and several teens play rock 'n' roll Christian ballads onstage. A group of young people, including a few of Daktarri's Dickens Faire buddies and the two Gazowsky girls, dance at the foot of the stage, waving their arms above their heads, beatific expressions on their faces. Occasionally, Lanza throws a line into a song that's spoken in tongues, and others in the congregation break into glossalia at a tastefully low volume.

When the singing is over an hour and 45 minutes later, Gazowsky takes the mike and gives the congregation an update on the movie.

"This week was our first filming day, and we practiced having 150 actors here, to see if our staff could handle it," he says. "Now we'll take you behind the scenes ...." WYSIWYG has put together a short video on the progress of filming thus far, and it's played for the congregation on a screen pulled down over the stage.

There's Rocki Starr, with fake snow in her eyebrows, for a scene that's going to be set in a digitally rendered ice castle. ("We've already located a walk-in freezer to shoot in," Rossetti told me that week.) There's Sunny and the fight scene. A dramatic symphonic score, composed by Rocki Starr, plays in the background. Enthusiastic clapping and a few whoops follow the close of the video.

Then Gazowsky asks for tithes, donations to the church that are traditionally supposed to represent 10 percent of one's income. People hand over their money.

Gazowsky's sermon that day is about viewing your life positively, even if you've had past hardships, because "just like the name of our ministry, WYSIWYG Filmworks, what you see in life is what you're gonna get outta life." Afterward, he asks for additional donations, not only for the films but also for structural renovations to the church and to help the homeless. The congregation seems eager to give. Checks are written and stuffed into envelopes.

Marc Senasac, an independent producer and engineer, has donated generously to WYSIWYG's film projects. Three and a half years ago he got a call from Gazowsky, who wanted to hire him to help a young member of VOP's congregation, Buddy Raspberry, make a hip hop CD. When Senasac got to the church, Gazowsky's beautiful daughters were practicing dance routines in the foyer, and their looks and talent impressed him.

"I remember telling my wife, 'It's like the set of Fame in there!'" says Senasac. He ended up staying late into the evening, forging a friendship with the affable Raspberry and deciding to contribute his services for free. Then he came back, and came back again, and ended up joining VOP with his wife.

"I've given them money for x, y, and z, and I've never been disappointed," says Senasac. "One time I donated over $1,000, because I felt it was really significant. It was for some part of the final push on The Roman Trilogy, I can't remember what for. ... The fact that that movie even got completed was sort of a miracle. It was made on a wing and a prayer! ... But why not? Why not have a little fun? The films keep things dynamic."

Raspberry, who is now interning at WYSIWYG, enthuses, "The vision and everything is so raw. You can see where your money is going. It's going to a crane. The crane's right there."