Episode 107 - Testimony Series - Let Go and Let God

This episode is a part of our December Testimony series. A series of short testimonies of times that God showed up upon set or in ways related to the film-industry.

In this episode, Selah Avery shares about her divine guidance in the film industry. Feeling disheartened by the difficulty finding roles that didn’t require nudity and compromising her values, Selah prayed for meaningful work. She then discovered an opportunity with the Kendrick Brothers and despite lacking an agent, she auditioned, received a callback, and eventually landed the role of Keisha in ‘The Forge’. She recounts the supportive and prayerful environment on set, including a powerful moment when the cast paused filming to pray for her sister in the ER. Selah expresses immense gratitude for this experience, emphasizing God's role in fulfilling her dreams.

Bio:

Selah Avery is known for her debut Supporting Role as Keisha in The Forge; a Kendrick Brothers feature film. 

-Acting since JR high 

- 3x Grammy® Considered Singer and Songwriter and married to 7-time Grammy® Considered & Billboard Charting Producer Sam Peezy.

-Proud Mom of a US MARINE 

-REP: Treasure Coast Talent; LA

Selah Avery website: http://www.selahavery.com

TV and Film Reel: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1534705/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Actor's Access: https://resumes.actorsaccess.com/cherylselahavery

Voiceover Reel: https://youtu.be/hBJKh-IdOdM?si=OBOmog9bFQOPrJ6B

● Writers Retreat - Mexico: https://www.faffassociation.com/writers-retreat

● Jaclyn's Book - In the Beginning, Middle and End: A Screenwriter’s Observations of LIfe, Character, and God  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9R7XS9V

● VIP Producers Mentorship Program https://www.faffassociation.com/vip-producers-mentorship



The Faith & Family Filmmakers podcast helps filmmakers who share a Christian worldview stay in touch, informed, and inspired. Releasing new episodes every week, we interview experts from varying fields of filmmaking; from screenwriters, actors, directors, and producers, to film scorers,  talent agents, and distributors. 

It is produced and hosted by Geoffrey Whitt and Jaclyn Whitt , and is brought to you by the Faith & Family Filmmakers Association

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Selah Avery here from The Forge Movie.

I play Keisha and a couple of days ago, I saw your post on Facebook and you invited people to tell about their God moments in the movie industry.

And boy, do I have a God moment.

And I wanted to share that with you.

I have been looking for my own work and I've been doing this for a number of years.

without an agent, had been doing this for a while.

And all I would come across were things that said you had to be okay with nudity.

You had to be okay with simulated sex.

And, and that just wasn't what I wanted to do.

And I didn't want to compromise who I am in the kingdom, you know, who I am to God and didn't want to do anything that would embarrass my family and my friends, you know, that type of So I remember this day specifically that I closed the websites.

I put my phone down and I just prayed.

And I said, God, I want to do good, meaningful work.

That's also fun and I don't want to compromise who I am to you and who you are to me.

And so I just stopped for that day and I didn't look for any more work that day.

The next day I logged in to Actors Access to find my favorite The Forge movie casting by the Kendrick Brothers.

Now, I looked at the thing because I have been on that site for a long time.

I have never, ever seen them post anything and I may have just missed it in the past, but I thought to myself, God, is this you?

You know, so I went ahead and I submitted to it.

I'm like, I don't have an agent.

And sometimes when you don't have an agent, a lot of times it's hard for you to get those, uh, good roles in major motion pictures without an agent.

So I went ahead and I submitted to it.

A long time went by and I didn't hear anything.

But meantime, I had written myself a note that said, book Kindred Brothers movie.

And so I kept that in my phone and so a long time went by and when I wasn't thinking about it, I got a call back and I was so excited to do this audition.

I did the audition and went another long time and didn't hear anything and, and came across that note one day and I was getting ready to erase it.

And I heard something say, and I believe it was Holy Spirit that said, don't erase that.

So I kept it.

So some more time, some more time went by and I was like, Oh, well at least I got the call back.

I got, I got the audition.

Then I got a message not paying attention, not even thinking about it one day, got a message that I got the call back to do a zoom audition.

with the Kendrick Brothers live.

And I just lost it.

Of course, as you can understand, I just left it all on the table, put it all out there.

So by the time I got done with my audition, I did tell them, look, I really want to work with you.

You know, what did I have to lose?

So I went ahead and said that.

And then before you know it, I was booked as Keisha on the Forge.

And I was just so grateful that God let me be a part of such an amazing production.

To get to work with Priscilla Shire, to get to work with BJ and Cameron Arnett, to get to work with the Kendrick Brothers, to get to work with Karen Abercrombie, who plays Miss Clara, and I get to call her my friend now.

So God is just amazing.

And there was no greater experience than to be on that set.

and have, see prayer warriors there every single day.

And if you had a prayer request, you just walked up to them and gave it to them and they would pray over it every day.

One instance that happened, um, we were filming the scene in the salon and I looked down and had a text message from my mom telling me that one of my sisters was actually going into the ER and it took me by surprise and the makeup artists to notice that I was You know distraught and she said what happened and so finally told her and she said oh no we're going to get everybody to pray about this.

So they stopped filming that scene for a few minutes just to pray for my sister.

So I just thought that was an amazing thing and before long before the end of rap that day I had gotten a message that she was home and everything was well.

So That is in and of itself the greatest God moment I have ever seen in the movie industry.

And I'm grateful to the Kendrick Brothers.

I'm grateful to God that he put me in a place where I'm able to live my dream and spread the word of God.

So that is just my little story.

I want to thank you for the opportunity and I hope to work with you soon.

I hope that you have a great day.

Bye.