Too Saved
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Film Overview

Directed By: Shuaib Mitchell View Official Website	Release Date: 2007-03-24 Running Time: 1:18 Content Rating: GA (General Audience)	DVD Region: 1 - U.S., Canada, U.S. Territories Media Format: NTSC-DVD Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Audio Language(s): English
Genres: Drama >> Love & Romance :: Drama >> Coming of Age :: Religion >> Christian Influences: Ashes & Embers by Hailie Gerima, Autumn in New York, Sankofa

Synopsis

“Be careful of what you ask God for, because he might just give it to you”.

Too Saved is an inspirational and spiritually enlightening love story centering on the life of Lisa, (Lolita Clayton) and her boyfriend Bobby (James “J.J” Johnson). Lisa is a lot like many young single women. She has been in a relationship with Bobby for several years and hopes that they will one day get married. However, there is a slight dilemma. Lisa is a Christian and Bobby is not. And Lisa is determined to marry a man who “knows the Lord”. She therefore resorts to the only tactic she believes is guaranteed to succeed, prayer. Unfortunately, when her prayer is answered she finds out that it’s much more than she ever bargained for. Bobby’s conversion forces her into a serious examination of every important relationship in her life, including her relationship with her (deceased) father and with God Himself.

Cast

Lisa: Lolita Clayton | bio
LOLITA-MARIE CLAYTON (Lisa), a Virginia native, delighted in her role as Lisa and thoroughly enjoyed the entire film-making process. It was truly a pleasure working with the Too Saved cast and crew. Lolita-Marie has been involved with community and professional theatre as an actress and period make-up/hair consultant, and also volunteers her voice on Books-on-Tape for the visually impaired. She most recently graced the stage as Sadie in 'Having Our Say," Cyrillia in ‘Jocasta,’ and Lorraine in 'The Man Who Came to Dinner.’ She received her M.B.A. from Johns Hopkins University and her B.A. from Howard University. Lolita-Marie thanks God for His bountiful blessings. None are more apparent, meaningful, and humbling to her than the patience, love, and support she has received from Brandon, Bernice, Michael, James, her family, and friends as she continues to live her dreams.
Bobby: James "J.J" Johnson | bio
JAMES JOHNSON (Bobby) is a Virginia native. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre in 1997, from Virginia Commonwealth University. DC theatre credits, include: Romeo & Juliet (Shakespeare’s Sistah Theatre Co.), Member of the Wedding (Ford’s Theatre), Macbeth (Theatre at Lime Kiln), Anna Lucasta (Rep Stage), Kingdom (African Continuum Theatre Co.). Currently onstage at Imagination Stage, in the production of Junebug and the Reverend. NYC theatre credits include: Richard III (TWAS Project), All’s Well that Ends Well (Tattooed Potato), The Meeting (Paul Robeson Theatre). Film/TV credits include: America’s Most Wanted, Kid Fitness TV, Eleven, Gratuity’s Included and Too Saved. He wants to thank God, friends and family for their love and support.

Crew

Director: Shuaib Mitchell | bio

Shuaib Mitchell
Screenwriter, Producer/Director
(Filmography)

A native Washingtonian, Shuaib Mitchell is a graduate of Howard University’s Film school (Dept. of Radio TV& Film), where he studied under an esteemed faculty that included internationally acclaimed filmmaker Haile Gerima. He began his professional career at C-SPAN, where he later directed the live nationally televised viewer call-in shows. His independent filmmaking career was launched in 1992 with the one-hour documentary film, Straight Up Go Go, which he produced and directed. The documentary, which examines the culture and history of Washington, DC’s “Go-Go music”, was distributed internationally by ATA Trading Corp. and has aired numerous times on PBS Television after premiering at the Kennedy Center AFI (American Film Institute) Theater in March of 1992. In 1999, Brother Shuaib completed a feature length screenplay entitled A Rose By Any Other Name for which he has won several awards, including the prestigious Larry Neal Writer’s Award (1999), the DC Screenwriter’s Competition (2000), and the Maryland State Individual Artist Award (2001). The “coming of age” teenage love story has two Hollywood actors who have agreed to star in the film, Meagan Good and legendary film and stage actress Ruby Dee and is targeted for production in 2009 by Nubia Filmworks, Inc. Brother Shuaib’s latest film, a feature length motion picture entitled Too Saved, was shot in High Definition (HD) video in only three days of production. Written by Dr. John L. Mc Coy (President of The Washington Baptist Seminary), the Christian themed love story features a talented cast of local (Washington, D.C) and New York based stage and screen actors and will premiere March 24, 2007 at the AFI (American Film Institute) Silver Theater in Silver Spring, MD before being released nationally. In addition, Brother Shuaib is currently editing a feature length documentary entitled A Giant Among Men: The Life and Times of Andrew Fowler, based upon the life of the legendary Human Rights leader and former President of The Washington Baptist Seminary. Brother Shuaib is currently employed as a Producer/Director for The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). His additional credits include a host of screenplays, music videos, commercials, corporate videos, and stage plays.

Bonus Features

Director Commentary
Cast Interviews

Accolades

Awards

Nominated: Best Religious Film, San Diego Black Film Festival
Dove Family Approved ****4 Star Rating

Festivals

Official Selection 11th Annual Urbanworld/Vibe Film Festival, New York, NY (2007
Official Selection 2nd Annual Indie Can Film Festival, Toronto, Canada (2007)
Official Selection 5th Annual San Diego Black Film Festival (2008)
Official Selection 16th Annual Pan African Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA.(2008)

Press Reviews

Washington City Paper | show/hide snippet
Mitchell's "Too Saved" comtemplates the consequences of conversion.
IndieBridge.com | show/hide snippet
**** Four Stars – Intriguing! Too Saved is a great film that gives the idea of being saved a new dimension.

Have you ever been so connected to someone and if they would just take that one step, that one extra step, you could give yourself to them completely? Well what if they went too far and that extra step became so important to them that they changed? In Too Saved that’s just what happens to Lisa (played by Lolita Clayton) when she prays for her boyfriend Bobby (played by James J. Johnson) to come over to the lord and he becomes Too Saved. Lisa finds her life turning in ways she never anticipated when Bobby becomes a servant to the Lord, preaching and testifying to everyone about the Holy Spirit that has filled him so. His new vision has Lisa carrying some big decisions on her shoulders that at one time seemed easy, but now have become exceedingly difficult for her to make.

Too Saved has a good message that gets right to the point in the beginning with a pace that sets the characters around an intriguing plot. Clayton brings her character’s angst and turmoil to the forefront making the film’s intentions exceedingly clear as her decisions concerning her boyfriend, become more and more convoluted concerning his newly saved choices and decisions. Johnson is great as the tunneled visionary boyfriend whose love for the Lord has all of his decisions now more clear than ever before.

Too Saved is directed by Shuaib Mitchell and poses an intriguing question that would usually be faced in a comedy, but Mitchell braves the dramatic line with a well-written script that tells a believable story, around likeable characters that can be easily related to. Though the story line seemed a bit predictable I enjoyed the dialogue, which says something for a film that takes on many back-to-back one-on-one conversations. Too Saved tells a simple story with a clear message and each scene reveals a new dimension to Clayton’s character and the choices she is faced with. It manages to keep itself interesting and doesn’t become repetitive or long winded.

James Gabriel
Film Critic
IndieBridge.com
Washington Informer | show/hide snippet
"Too Saved" (truely) A Sermon on Film
DC Urban Lifestyle Magazine | show/hide snippet
"Too Saved is truly a prayer that has been answered"