'Remember we're not alone': Lakeland filmmaker aims to bring hope to those with depression

LAKELAND – On a personal level and through the lens, Jonathan Sawyer hopes to project hope for those who are dealing with suicidal notions or know others who are.

Sawyer is a Lakeland-based film director who’s producing two feature films, one a documentary, “I Am This Dark World’s Light,” about suicide and mental-health awareness. The other is entitled “Remember,” a narrative movie about those who are suffering depression and “facing the end of our ropes.”

From his home nonprofit media production company and studio, Vox Visuals in North Lakeland, Sawyer, 54, said he shot interviews with 11 subjects for “I Am This Dark World’s Light” from Monday through Friday.

“Remember” is a feature narrative film that follows a fictional Pastor Bruce Calloway, a character based on Sawyer's own personal story, as he struggles with overwhelming feelings of despair, loneliness and abandonment. Through the guidance of the character Isaiah Owens, an angel, the pastor finds hope through faith in God.

Both of Sawyer’s productions were shot on digital video. “I Am This Dark World’s Light” will include clips from the third annual Ride & Rally Out of the Darkness motorcycle event to be held Sept. 23 starting 8:30 a.m. at Kathleen Lion’s Club to Lakeland’s Tiger Town, where a rally will be held.

Sawyer said the 90-minute “Remember” film draws from the Biblical stories of Adam, King David and Jesus to deliver its message. He said by exploring the journey to salvation, he and his Vox Visuals production team “aim to encourage people to seek help when they feel like all hope is lost.”

And Sawyer said that aim comes on a personal level.

On Dec. 10, 2017, Sawyer said he was diagnosed with severe diabetes. Two days later, he had an undetected stroke while broadcasting a show in Boston. He said he suffered memory loss and couldn’t work for about a year.

“That’s when I felt like I was a shell of a human being. I went into unbelievable depression and I wanted to kill myself,” said Sawyer, who was born in Miami and moved to Lakeland when he was 1 year old.

“But I spoke to my brother, Rick Sawyer, a Lutheran Church Missouri Senate pastor, and a lot of my friends. They all helped me,” he said.

Much of the message for “I Am This Dark World’s Light” is a focus on the symptoms leading to possible suicide, Sawyer said. He said the motorcycle ride and rally is being done to help prevent suicides through getting the word out that there’s always help.

“That’s what people are going to the ride for, to prevent this and ride for the cause to get this out there for the lost loved ones and to feel what they have felt,” he said.

The screenplay for “I Am This Dark World’s Light” was written by Cynthia Yarbrough of Lakeland and the film will be narrated by Kathleen Michelle of Orlando, an actor. Once the documentary is completed, Sawyer said he hoped to get it promoted for air on regional TV stations. “I Am This World’s Dark Light” has a budget of about $70,000, most of which comes from donations to the nonprofit Vox Visuals and the use of Sawyer’s personal filmography gear.

“The goal is to get the word out there and to help who’s actually suffering with depression and those who are missing the symptoms. It’s an awareness documentary,” said Sawyer, who lives with his wife, Andrea, and has a son, Jon Jr., 24, and daughter, Mariah, 22.

For his upcoming narrative drama film “Remember,” Sawyer said it’s in the pre-production stages now and filming for it will begin in January. Filming locations will be across Central Florida, including Lakeland, Winter Haven and Orlando. The bulk of the period pieces from the Bible will be filmed at Capernaum Studios in Poolville, Texas, on Feb. 24, and other filming sets will be at Champions Church and a phosphate terminal in Mulberry. A crew of about 50 in Florida and 50 in Texas will work to finish the film.

Sawyer said the budget for “Remember” is $4 million, with funding again coming from donations and grants.

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Michael Carnes of Nashville and Mark Wooden of Orlando are co-producing the movie. Wooden said he co-wrote the script for “Remember” and plans to be at the film shooting as “the spiritual guy to make sure the script is up to snuff.” He said he hopes future audiences will pick up on Sawyer’s tribulations and the will to overcome them.

“Jon has taken quite the spiritual journey, and he has this vision to make the project happen. I want to make sure that his story is the best presentation of the spiritual journey that he took from negativity to positivity,” said Wooden, 49, who works primarily as an audio-visual technician.

Carnes, who has worked in the entertainment industry since 1981, said Sawyer’s drive as a filmmaker and activist comes from his passion about his work and his faith in God. He met Sawyer while working in the event business and is the owner of Palette Productions in Nashville.

“As for Jon, when you’re that close to death as he was with heart attack and stroke, the whole world is fading before you and he had no serious faith walk at that time,” he said. “He has since taken that to task and with so many people at the end of the rope, they need to know there’s still life and something to do. I think that’s where his passion is, showing there’s life and things to do and people who care.”

“I Am This Dark World’s Light” and “Remember” are being slated for international distribution, and Sawyer mostly wants audiences to feel inspired and motivated.

“If someone is at the end of their rope, I want them to see that they’re not alone and there were people in the Bible that actually faced the end of the rope,” he said. “That’s what all of this is for, to remember we’re not alone and to know there’s always hope through Jesus.”

Sawyer said “Remember” should be wrapped up and ready for screening by August 2024.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Two films by Lakeland filmmaker spin tales of hope from depression