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David L. Cunningham

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David Loren Cunningham (born February 24, 1971), an American film director and producer. The founder and President of the Los Angeles-based production company Pray For Rain Pictures, Inc., he was born in Switzerland and raised in Kailua-Kona, Hawai'i.[1]

Background

His father, Loren Cunningham,[2] was a founder of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and the unaccredited University of the Nations,[3] an international, interdenominational Christian organization with campuses in over 100 countries with a special emphasis on education for the developing nations.[4]

At age 20, David Cunningham participated in a University of the Nations Leadership Training School (LTS) in Santiago, Chile. His LTS project "centered on his call to be a missionary to Hollywood. It was a plan to create an independent film company whereby he could both influence the Hollywood film industry and produce major motion pictures which would carry a biblical values based message". A bio section of a training document for that event also stated that: "[David] and his wife, Judith... feel called of God to influence society through this medium, keeping "one foot in the film industry and one foot on the mission field."[5]

Cunningham studied film and graduated from both the Vanguard University of Southern California (VUSC)[6](pg 11) and University of the Nations (Hawai'i, Amsterdam, and Santiago, Chile campuses).

After directing documentaries in over 40 countries,[7] Cunningham ventured into the independent feature film arena with his debut film Beyond Paradise.

David traveled with his father Loren to create a documentary about the world's most remote country - Pitcairn Island of "Mutiny on the Bounty" fame. Other films took him to the deserts of Egypt and Australia, and the inner city life of teen prostitutes living on the mean streets of Hollywood.[8]

Youth With A Mission students donated $14,000 towards his $14 million dollar independent film To End All Wars[9] (p 176) which later caught the attention of Hollywood[10] Since that time, Cunningham has made a number of movies, including the recent The Path to 9/11.

He filmed After, one of his latest movies, under Moscow's Red Square in the secret tunnels built by Stalin.[11]

Memberships

Cunninham is a member of the Traveler's Century Club, whose members can document visits to over 100 countries,[12] and of the Directors Guild of America.[13]

The Path to 9/11 controversy

See: The Path to 9/11-Controversy.

Cunningham directed the controversial ABC miniseries The Path to 9/11. The made-for-TV docudrama dramatized 10 years of terrorist events and the Clinton administration responses leading up to 9/11. The film concluded with the 9/11 Commission's report card that criticized the government's response after the tragedy. The docudrama was praised by supporters as being "a well-crafted dramatic interpretation"[14] and condemned by critics for scenes which portrayed events which never occurred, and supported a story line which would lead viewers to incorrect conclusions.[15][16]

Official promotions of the film made varying claims about its factual basis: Fox TV on Sept 6, 2006, quoted the producers as saying the show was based "soley and completely on the 9/11 Commission report."[17] However, On ABC's Path to 9/11 blog, Cunningham emphasized: "This is a movie or more specifically a docudrama. Meaning, it is a narrative movie based on facts and dramatized with actors."[18]

Max Blumenthal reported in "The Nation" that Cunningham's Path to 9/11 had been heavily promoted by right wing activist David Horowitz and the conservative Liberty Film Festival and that ABC CEO David Iger had initiated a last-minute investigation and edit of the film. [19]

On September 12, 2006, The New York Times reported Cunningham was chosen by Quinn Taylor, ABC's senior vice president of motion pictures and miniseries, to direct the film. Taylor and Stephen McPherson, the president of ABC Entertainment, wanted to do a movie based on the 9/11 Commission Report. They hired Marc Platt as a producer and Marc chose Cyrus Nowrasteh to write the script. Edward Hyatt, the author of the article, wrote that "Mr. Platt and Hope Hartman, a spokeswoman for ABC, said the political and religious affiliations of the two men (David and Cyrus) had nothing to do with and did not influence the mini-series in any way."[20]

Nowrasteh also defended Cunningham in a Wall Street Journal column, arguing that criticism of the director's association with his father's Christian mission was akin to McCarthyism, in which "the merest hint of a connection to communism sufficed to inspire dark accusations."[21]

The Film Institute

In 2004, The Film Institute (TFI), a non-profit organization, was established by David and several University of the Nations alumni. TFI became embroiled in the Path to 9/11 controversy when several bloggers claimed it funded or influenced the movie. TFI's primary purpose is to help aspiring Christian filmmakers through internships, scholarships, and seminars. Six unpaid TFI interns worked on The Path to 9/11 set among the approximately 140 other paid workers in order to gain experience about the filmmaking business. [citation needed][22]

Original members of the group, Mark and Krista Harris stated on their website, which was later removed, that TFI is a "auxiliary branch of Youth With A Mission... TFI's first project is a doozy: simply being referred to as: The Untitled History Project,(later renamed Path to 9/11) it is already being called the television event of the decade and not one second has been put to film yet."[23]

According to Mark Harris' speech at a Latin American Youth With A Mission conference: "One goal of TFI is to fast-track UofN School of Digital Film interns, placing them within the film industry, not to give them jobs, but so that they can begin to impact and transform Hollywood from the inside out." He also states that it is "dedicated to a Godly transformation and revolution TO and THROUGH the Film and Television industry. TO it, by serving, living humbly with integrity in what is often a world driven by selfish ambition, power and money – transforming lives from within, and THROUGH it, by creating relevant and evocative content which promotes Godly principles of Truth married with Love."[24] Mark also stated that he was a volunteer cordinating TFI's interns. He rebutted the use of his quote as proof that TFI initiated or funded The Path to 9/11. [25]

Director - Filmography

  • The Dark Is Rising (2007) (pre-production)
  • The Path to 9/11 (2006) (TV)
  • After... (2006)
  • Rebels (2004)
  • Little House on the Prairie (2004) (mini) TV Series
  • To End All Wars (2001)
  • The Dream Center: Hope for the Inner City (1999)[26]
  • Beyond Paradise (1998)
  • Baja 1000 (1996)
  • Walkabout Australia (1996) (V)
  • Pacific Mercy Ships (1995)
  • Passport to the World (1993)
  • Target World (1992)
  • The Pitcairn Story: Mutineers in Paradise (1991)

References

  1. ^ Biography
  2. ^ Loren Cunningham: Christian Heroes: Then & Now - Page 163
  3. ^ University of the Nations - accreditation
  4. ^ David's IMDB biography
  5. ^ Principles Made Practical YWAM Handbook
  6. ^ www.vanguard.edu/uploadedFiles/Alumni/Magazine/vumag_sum03.pdf
  7. ^ http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/10/prweb467213.htm
  8. ^ http://starbulletin.com/2000/05/22/features/story2.html
  9. ^ http://www.ywamdtscentre.com/docs/Resources/Principles%20Made%20Practical.pdf#search=%22david%20cunningham%22
  10. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0192289/bio
  11. ^ The movieAfter
  12. ^ David's biography at ABC Medianet
  13. ^ Directors Guild of America
  14. ^ http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/09/the_path_to_911a_postmortem.html,Victor Davis Hanson
  15. ^ "Clinton Blasts 9/11 Film, Amid Report of Changes", CNN.com, September 8, 2006
  16. ^ "Path to 9/11 Tells a Sad, Riveting Tale", MSNBC, September 12, 2006.
  17. ^ http://thinkprogress.org/2006/09/06/abc-fox
  18. ^ Path to 9/11 Blog by David L. Cunningham.
  19. ^ "ABC 9/11 Docudrama's Right-Wing Roots", Max Blumenthal, TheNation.com, September 11, 2006
  20. ^ Edward Wyatt, New York Times
  21. ^ "The Path to Hysteria" @ opinionjournal.com, Cyrus Nowrasteh, September 18, 2006.
  22. ^ YWAM Founder's report
  23. ^ http://www.yuricareport.com/Media/YouthWithAMissionAndMakingOfFraudFilm.html
  24. ^ http://www.yuricareport.com/Media/YouthWithAMissionAndMakingOfFraudFilm.html
  25. ^ http://www.markandkrista.com/
  26. ^ http://www.toendallwarsmovie.com/players_cunningham.html
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