The Contraband Decision

Welcome to the development page for THE CONTRABAND DECISION, a prolific film based on a true story. It chronicles three slaves who took an amazing and dangerous journey to Ft. Monroe in Virginia. It was a Union fort surrounded by the newly established Confederacy. They were at war and the slaves pinned all their hopes on finding refuge at the fort. And they did. What happened next changed the world and the lives of many slaves that would come after.

Michael Mines had heard the story and as he researched he became more and more intrigued. Eventually Michael decided to document the subject, bringing family members of the slaves and those at the fort, historians, and local community leaders together for a dinner to discuss it. The DINNER AND A MOVEMENT documentary is what came from that event. Michael was eventually introduced to Filmmaker Shawn Justice through one of the participants, Duke White. The three discussed and decided to move forward on the development and production of a dramatic feature film.

THE CONTRABAND DECISION movie will show the struggles of slaves at the time, show their deep God given desire for freedom, as well as seeing their will power and miracles that helped them succeed. Michael, Duke and Shawn hope the film will inspire and empower moviegoers. Though the plan is to create a $30 million dollar feature film though support and investors, the beginning phase is the development of the full story and screenplay. Thus, we are inviting you to journey with us by giving your tax-deductible donations through the National Christian Foundation to help us raise $300,000 that will cover research, travel, writing and initial meetings with actors and key crew members such as a Production Designer and Director of Photography. Actors, such as Brad Stine, have already expressed strong interest in roles. We will also upgrade the documentary and shoot materials to help promote the movie to investors and distributors. We look forward to you journeying with us to help tell this amazing and inspiring story!

You can watch the DINNER AND A MOVEMENT documentary below for free on both YouTube and the GoodVue network. See the links below.