Tuesday, February 13, 2007

John Schneider, Part 2

Today is the second part of our two-part check-in with the many projects that John Schneider -- our own handsome Bo Duke -- has going on right now. In this installment, we're going to take a look at a couple of his faith-based projects.

Schneider's been no stranger to wholesome family-oriented entertainment over the years -- TV shows like not only our beloved "The Dukes of Hazzard" but also CBS' 1990s "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," "Christy" and "Touched by an Angel," and the "Felicity: An American Girl Adventure" movie. In fact, he's gone out of his way to make decent, safe-for-the-family entertainment his thing, and it was one of the goals of his independent "Collier & Co." film. Now, Schneider will be appearing in "Hidden Secrets," a new faith-based film that will premiere on the big screen in select markets this spring.

Schneider is joined by Tracy Melchior of "The Bold and the Beautiful" and Christian recording artist Rachael Lampa in the film, which will be a one-night event in U.S. markets such as Atlanta, L.A., Orlando, Philadelphia, Dallas and Denver. Brought to the big screen by Pure Flix Entertainment and NCM Fathom, the movie is about a man, played by David A.R. White, who finds himself caught between his new fiance and an old flame when he joins some childhood friends for the hometown funeral of his best friend. Stacy Keanan of the ABC sitcom "Step By Step," looking lovelier than ever, also stars in the film. (We also have to make a note about David A.R. White: If you haven't seen the Christiano Bros. film "End of the Harvest," you really need to -- in a scene at a college debate, White delivers the single-most-amazing chunk of dialogue defending Christianity, and illuminating an interesting end-times theory, that you will ever see. Trust us on this one.) Lampa and the Christian recording group Building 429 provide the music for the film. Schneider plays Gary Zimmerman, "the skeptic."

"Hidden Secrets" will premiere on April 30 (note that this is a changed date from the film's earlier press info). Read more about it in this press release, and visit FathomEvents.com to see a complete list of theaters and buy tickets. There's also an official film site here, where you can watch the trailer and even see a video of Schneider talking about the film (click on "Behind the Scenes" from the "About the Film" menu).

Schneider also lends his voice to a new Bible CD project -- "The Word of Promise: New Testament Audio Bible." While he plays Jesus' brother James, author of one of the books of the New Testament, he'll be joined by narrator Michael York, Richard Dreyfuss as Moses, Marisa Tomei as Mary Magdalene, Stacy Keach as Paul, Lou Gossett Jr. as John, Lou Diamond Phillips as Mark, and several others. Ernie Hudson, who played Avery on the "Dear Diary" episode of "The Dukes of Hazzard" and even voiced a security guard in "Batman: The Animated Series," plays Peter. Now that looks like fun. Jim Caviezel even reprises his "Passion of the Christ" role as Jesus for the audio project.

The 20-CD set will be 25 hours long and will also feature the music of wildly popular Christian artist Michael W. Smith. The CD project comes from publishers Thomas Nelson Inc. Read more about "The Word of Promise" at this press release.

And have you heard -- Schneider will put a lucky fan into a speaking role in the sequel of "Collier & Co." Write your name and phone number on the back of your "Collier & Co." ticket stub and mail it to JNE Inc., 4607 Lakeview Canyon Road, #569, Westlake Village, CA 91361. This summer, once the film has completed its run, Schneider will draw a ticket stub for a speaking part in the sequel.

Keep your eye on the Screenings page of Schneider's Collier & Co. website and the film's MySpace page, as the film keeps showing through March at theaters all over the place.

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