Arts & Entertainment

Red Carpet Movie Premiere Complete with Meet and Greet

Meet Georgia actors Jason Burkey and Zoe Myers at the Alpharetta premiere of the film "A Long Way Off," a retelling of "The Prodigal Son."

Get ready for the red carpet, Alpharetta.

The film “A Long Way Off” will hold a red carpet premiere complete with a meet and greet with local actors Jason Burkey (“October Baby,” “Mom’s Night Out”) and Zoe Myers (“Anchorman 2,” “Necessary Roughness”), a Smyrna resident.

In this modern retelling of the story of the Bible’s “The Prodigal Son,” recent college graduate Jake (Burkey) is the son of a successful produce farmer in North Carolina with no plans to stay in the family business. When his father offers him his inheritance, Jake heads to the city and meets Summer (Myers) at a coffee shop.

In an interview with Patch, Burkey described Jake as being torn between his love and devotion to his family and also wanting to get out and see the world and experience things for himself.

“I was excited for [the film] the moment I found out about the project,” Burkey said. “There’s a lot of elements to the story that deals with forgiveness and a father’s love and just kind of being a victim to circumstances. There are a lot of elements to the story that people will be able to connect with.”

Myers told Patch in an interview that the best thing about the film is its message.

“No matter what age you are, it’s kind of perfect for pretty much anyone to be able to see, which doesn’t happen much these days,” Myers said. “I think it’s a beautiful message that it has. I hope people walk away feeling inspired.”

Myers said the modern retelling of the Biblical story “takes into perspective of how we could relate to it today, but with the exact same message.”

“She’s been through some struggles in her life,” Myers said about her character, Summer.  “When she meets Jake she realizes he’s been going through a tough time. What helps her recover from her struggles is finding Christ and being part of a church and being honest with herself about where she is in life.”

Myers, who said she has a lot of kids who look up to her, is excited to have a good message to share with them through the film.

“I hope I can share certain things with them as opposed to the celebrities out there that are doing crazy things,” Myers said. “It’s nice to do something a little more encouraging.”

The premiere will take place on Friday, June 6, at the AMC Mansell Crossing 14 at 7730 North Point Parkway in Alpharetta. The first showing begins at 7:30 p.m. The meet and greet with Burkey and Myers will begin at 7 p.m. and attendees are encouraged to say hi to the actors and take pictures with them before seeing the movie, organizers said in a news release.

Burkey said he is excited to have a meet and greet in Georgia where both he and Myers live. And, he is eager for viewers to see the scene of his character, Jake, going home after hitting rock bottom as his father runs out and accepts him.

“It was a powerful scene when we were filming it,” Burkey said.

“A Long Way Off” has already won Best Picture in the International Christian Film Festival, Best of Show at the 2013 Sedona Faith and Family Film Festival, a Davey Award, and is an official selection of the Life Fest Film Festival, the release said.

The film follows a line of numerous other Bible-based films released this year that each broke $50 million at the box office, including “God’s Not Dead”,” Son of God,” “Noah” and “Heaven is for Real.”

“There are so many great stories in the Bible to be told, and there’s an audience for that, as well,” Burkey said. “I’m definitely hoping that “A Long Way Off” finds some of that same audience, as those other films released earlier this year. It’s exciting to see these films being made and to see these stories being told. I think they’re necessary and they’re entertaining and they’re true to life.”

Will you be watching the movie and going to the premiere? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section.  



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