Hollywood Producer DeVon Franklin's Seeing Miracles from Heaven

DeVon Franklin faithfully works in the entertainment industry with one purpose in mind, to positively and spiritually touch people's lives. The Pursuit of Happyness and Heaven Is For Real filmmaker knows the power of film and he's dedicating his life to it.

Franklin's new movie, Miracles from Heaven, stars Jennifer Garner as Christy Beam, a mom of three who fights to save her daughter from a debilitating illness. Recently, Franklin spoke exclusively with CBN.com about taking this real-life story and making a faith-filled movie that will speak to all audiences. Here are excerpts from that sit-down interview:

Having seen your 2014 film, Heaven is for Real, how is this new "heavenly" movie different?

DeVon Franklin: Yeah. Totally different story, totally different family, completely different circumstances. Everything about it is different. So I would really frame it as that Miracles in Heaven is a new story that is life-affirming, faith-affirming, the story of the Beams and how they shared their experience. I think it's going to be so compelling on an equally satisfying level.

Was there a moment in reading the book that you said, 'yes, this is the next movie I want to make'?

Franklin: I think the tree. I mean, I was already compelled because the book was so good. It was a page-turner. But, when I got to the tree part, that's when I was like, 'oh, wow, I think this is a movie. I think this is our follow-up to Heaven is for Real.'

Was Miracles from Heaven "produced by faith"?

Franklin: Every production is by faith, every single one. You can't do it unless you have faith because one, you never know if it's going to work, and two, if you aren't compelled and you aren't passionate, then you can't convince the studio to give you millions of dollars to make a movie and then spend millions more to market it. So, it absolutely is produced by faith.

Were there any miracles on set?

Franklin: You know, I think people underestimate how miraculous getting a movie made is. So there were miracles every day. We finished on time. We finished on budget. No one got hurt during this film and that is miraculous. One of the things that Sony said when we delivered the film, they said—a lot of times when you turn in a movie, you have a budget and sometimes depending on what happens, sometimes you're either over what they had budgeted for you or you're under. This is true what I'm getting ready to tell you. When we delivered this film, we were not a dollar over; we weren't a dollar under. We spent the exact amount of money that they gave us. They said they have never seen a movie come in to the penny. That's a miracle.

What was the tone like on the set?

Franklin: It was hectic, yet there was a devoted tone, a committed tone. Even on our toughest days, everyone was anchored by the commitment to the story, the connection to the story. I can't tell you—from the grips to the director to those that were in front of the camera, everyone would always talk about how the script made them cry. They were so committed to tell this story and get this story out to the world. So that was the anchor that helped us through on the most challenging days and in the most difficult moments.

Did it make you cry?

Franklin: Did it make me cry? Yeah, at the end of the movie. Reading the script, I never fully cried. When I was watching behind the monitor as we were shooting certain scenes, there were scenes that without question brought me to tears.

What did you see in the personality and character of Christy that you saw Jennifer Garner could pull off?

Franklin: Dignity, class, tenacity, commitment, love, passion, devotion, these are the things that the real Christy Beam exhibits, and those are also things that Jen Garner exhibits in her life and her career. We really wanted Jen to do the film, and we were so grateful that she chose us. We sent her the script and people didn't know. It was like, 'oh, is Jen really going to want to do it?' She read the script and immediately hit back and said she's in. She said that when she read the script she was up all night. She knew she had to play the part because a real mother went through this and she felt so compelled by the real journey that it was the thing that made her do it.

Beyond box office numbers, what would success be for this film?

Franklin: Yeah, I look at the box office as an indication as how many lives that you've touched, so my hope is touch as many lives as possible. That was why I wanted to make the film. That's why I exist as a producer, as an author, as a speaker, to impact lives. So my hope and prayer is that lives would be impacted by people who see this film, that they would turn their hearts back to their family, that they would turn their hearts back to God, that they would see in the minutia of their life the miracle that has been there all along.

Just because you may not see this big, grand show or you may not fall down a tree and all of a sudden get miraculously healed, that doesn't mean the miraculous isn't all around you. Waking up in the morning, you didn't have to even think, you did it. Being able to get to work, didn't even have to think, you did it. That's miraculous. Someone says, 'oh, you know what? I'm going to give you a shot to see what you can do', and you've been praying for a promotion, now someone gives you an opportunity, that's a miracle. You're pulling out and someone says, 'hey, you know what, go ahead and take my spot', miracle. So my hope and prayer is that people will be impacted by the realization that miracles are everywhere and that God uses them to communicate to us that we're not alone, and that we do have help.