Shpak Entertainment is currently shooting a documentary in Israel called Light to All Nations. Inspirational stories from artists, teachers, musicians, media personnel and other professionals tell how they overcame the hurt and destruction terrorists brought to their part of the world. Events and happenings they experienced and how they recovered and forged ahead with their lives will be explored. The film will serve as a blueprint to western civilization on how to cope with fear and trauma associated with the recent threat of terrorism on the home front.
ComingSoon.net recently took the opportunity to have a one-on-one interview with Eve Shpak, the founder of Shpak Entertainment. As a director and producer, she has taken on the enormous task of traveling to Tel Aviv with a hand picked team of producers to discover how individuals in Israel have flourished even though acts of terrorism could have very easily destroyed their goals and ambitions. The documentary was brought into existence with Shpak’s hard work and perseverance. She scrimped and saved for years to bring this project into fruition. Personally paying for her team’s airfare and accommodations in Israel certainly took a large amount of funding to get the documentary off the ground. She is extremely grateful for the ones who have contributed in various ways to get this worthy project into production.
Eve feels the media as a whole has been long overdo in spotlighting the positives during times of adversity. The media tends to generate fear and dwell on the dark side of things. They rarely show any of the good and inspirational stories coming out of a war torn region.
“We will be using international news footage that covers the events mentioned and show that the after stories, which hold the most valuable lessons, are never told. Instead, the media pushes on to the next negative explosion, leaving places stricken by war as a dark place in the memory of the world.
“We will also use footage of leaders and politicians speaking about how the world has taken on a new face and their suggestions to their people on how to cope. Then we will show that the U.S. brought in the Israelis to help us implement many precautions, such as security and food supplies, along with Army tactics. We will briefly recreate the events we reference using animation before this news footage plays,” said Shpak.
Israel was chosen as the ideal location to shoot the documentary because of its diverse multi-ethnic cultures that have had to deal with the destructive forces of terrorism over a long span of time. Jews, Copts, Druse, Bedouins, Greek Orthodox, Palestinians, Christians and Muslims in that area have faced the instability of a hostile environment and have developed the necessary coping skills for their survival. Many have lived with the sights and sounds of bombs exploding near their homes and businesses. Kidnappings aren’t uncommon and the serious threat of losing a loved one hangs heavy in their thoughts. One would think living under these conditions would stifle any productivity and advancement in their society. Fortunately this is far from the truth. The country, no bigger than the state of New Jersey, has excelled in its irrigation systems and technology. Professionals and laymen alike continue to contribute their special talents to Israel and the world.
While visiting some of her family in Israel, Eve discovered how many of the diverse cultures in that land had found their footing in an unsteady environment. Born in America, she had never experienced the horrors associated with fanatics and extremists bent on destroying peace while spreading hatred along the way. Over the years, Eve had heard stories from her father, Symcha (Sam) Shpak, who has been an inspiration to her since she was a little girl. Her dad, who has lived in the U.S. for many years now, has seen his own share of warfare due to his involvement in the underground when he worked in an effort to bring the state of Israel into existence.
Eve said, “One the stories we wish to cover is of the late Rabin, who was definitely touched by war, and, of course, went on to become a great leader. We would like to interview anyone who knew him since he is not here to tell us his story. As a founder of Israel, and someone who truly served his time trying to accomplish peace, he deserves to be honored as an example of someone with great will, who stuck with his mission and who crossed boundaries that no one else dared to cross.”
Documentaries, short films, feature films, movie videos, TV shows, and promotional films for nonprofit groups are a sampling of Shpak’s credits in the entertainment industry.
Other producers working on the project in Israel are Joanna Pernia, Guy Rahamim, Richard Baker and Ayelet Afek.
In reference to their mission and goal, Eve said, “We aim to discover the positive transformation and its motivator between the trauma experienced and the recovery and achievement made… We are not only going to show people who have recovered, but we are going to show people who have delivered incredible things to the world in spite of all that. And that there are great things coming out of places with war ridden terror.”
Light to All Nations is scheduled for completion in March, 2008. It will hit the film festival circuit next year and possibly air on a TV network in the future. To learn more about this project, Shpak may be reached at [email protected].
