Dear friends,
After nearly four years of working on After Jonestown – a documentary film on the lives of Jonestown survivors, former Temple members and relatives of the people who died on November 18, 1978 – the producers have made the difficult decision to shelve the project. The decision was purely one of finances, and has absolutely no bearing on our interest in or commitment to the work. Most emphatically, it had nothing to do with the people we interviewed, filmed, and collected materials from over the past four years. We have been humbled by your stories, we have appreciated your patience, and we wish there had been a way to proceed with these efforts. We urge each of you to hold onto your willingness to share your stories with others, for the sake of each other and for the generations to come. There are no words profound enough to express our respect, admiration and love for you. We hope only that the friendships we have found in the process will endure.
On behalf of myself, Pam Harris, and Rick Butler, I thank you.
Paul VanDeCarr
(Paul VanDeCarr is a regular contributor to the jonestown report. His other articles in this edition include Jonestown docudrama yields no easy answers; Doing Justice to Jonestown; and (Un)Covering Jonestown, 25 Years Later. Paul can be reached through this website.)