Everything you see has actually happened
Rick Garside
The ‘Faith Happens’ series tells the true stories of several people who discovered God’s miraculous intervention in their lives, in the midst of unspeakable hardship. In the eight episodes of the series, the viewer gets the chance to encounter eight different stories about God’s unconditional love. While most episodes are set in Los Angeles, one is set in a Kenyan refugee camp.
Impressed by the size of the project, and by the intensity of the stories told, we reached out to Rick Garside, the director of the series, and we asked him a few questions about the project.
Stories inspired by the experiences of a small church community
“In Faith Happens, EVERYTHING you see actually happened”, Garside says. “Every incident we depicted was something that actually took place, and every story came from the same small church”. The series is based on the lives of several very different Christians and the way in which they experience faith.
“As a Christian, I have always been involved in a good local church and I have experienced many blessings because of that” the director notes. ‘Faith Happens’, shows how being part of a church family gives you so much more support when hardship hits”, Garside adds. He highlights that being part of a faith community has massively helped his family get through difficult times, and that some of the moments in the stories actually came from his own family’s experiences.
A truly unique moment: filming in a refugee camp
“I love working with actors, and I have a great deal of respect for people who can turn on just the right emotion and deliver powerful performances when the pressure is on and the crew is standing all around watching you”, the director notes. Concerning the most special moment in the whole process of filming, Garside notes: “We shot some of the scenes in an actual refugee camp, and being there was one of the highlights of my directing career. It was also sobering. The people in the camps literally showed up because we were handing out food. It made me very thankful for how God has provided in my life”.
Striking stories
Although all eight stories have powerful moments, Garside thinks that two of them stand out as the most inspiring ones: “Probably the two moments that inspired me the most were the old lady that punched out her mugger and the drug addict who went to everyone he stole from to repay them. What gives a person that much courage, or what drives them to do the right thing to that extreme?”.
Regarding the end result, he says: “I am absolutely delighted with the result. Whenever people laugh at a funny scene or cry during a moving moment, I am grateful to be a part of it. When I think about all the work and effort my family put into the project, I feel very happy that I did it.” Finally, Garside notes that even if the series only touched and gave strength to one person, making it would still have been worth it. We couldn’t agree more!