A few months ago I stood in line for two hours to see Stanley Nelson\u2019s documentary at the Tribeca Film festival, but I didn\u2019t make it in. So to satisfy my curiosity I began to read about Peoples Temple on my own. That was when my obsession began.<\/p>\n
The Jonestown tragedy was like no event I had ever heard of, particularly because the community was founded with such good intentions. In the wake of a disaster like Hurricane Katrina, I found the plight of Peoples Temple very moving. After much research, I was tempted to begin a screenplay about Jonestown, but I wasn\u2019t sure how to present a story of such complexity. To my knowledge there has never been a narrative film which has dealt effectively with the subject matter of religious sects, political activist groups or \u201ccults.\u201d I tried to find out why.<\/p>\n
In her book Hearing the Voices of Jonestown<\/i><\/a>, Mary McCormick Maaga explain how \u201canti-cultists\u201d study Jonestown from an \u201cus versus them\u201d point of view, basing analysis on the assumption that Peoples Temple members were different and abnormal \u2013 not like \u201cus.\u201d I didn\u2019t want to make the same mistake. I wanted to put myself in the people\u2019s shoes.<\/p>\n