Deborah Menelaws’ unofficial response to the Moriel letter:
Btw: Global Vision TV did NOT edit the clip shown from Bill Randles church and he admits it himself. It was a short clip showing David Nathan agreeing to what Bill Randles had just said. Another ministry did a response showing this at : https://vimeo.com/302448589Sorry. I’ve been forced to share this YET again. Please read to the end if you haven’t already.
We have been overwhelmed by the precious messages and emails that have been arriving over the last few weeks – but some poor souls still don’t understand.
So here is a little background again as to what is involved in making films, so let’s look at The Daniel Project first. I’ll write it slowly so that EVERYBODY can follow along. God Bless.
::MAKING A DOCUMENTARY::
Yes, we sign over the rights to a distributor – because THAT’S their job – to get it in front of as many millions of people as possible. Yes, they own the rights for a certain number of years and that’s how it works in professional TV and Cinema production.
We made TDP as a follow-up to the first Biblical doc we made in the mid 90s which was for Christians. That one was made by our ministry and was only semi professional because we had no money, but it’s still my favourite!
Dave Hunt, Roger Oakland, Chuck Missler, Gary Kah and many, many more gave interviews without pay – none of us ever got paid – we were looking to see souls saved – and so we did, all glory to God. Not only that, but it revived an interest in the end times, and other ministries flowed out of that.
Then, nearly 2 decades later, we made the follow up called The Daniel Project, but this time it was for the UNSAVED. Our vision was to share the Gospel of The Kingdom with the world, to warn of the coming judgement in the hope that some would turn to Jesus.
The only way to reach these folks was via television – terrestrial and cable etc, so we had to use our professional production company to make it this time. Therefore it cost all we had – and more.
We had 10 contributing experts including Jacob Prasch (who wrongly claims to be the narrator / presenter and also wrongly claims it was written around his premise – it is a follow on from Cup of Trembling as my friends already know. Jeremy Hitchin was the narrator / presenter, and he was paid because that’s his job) all of whom signed a Release form which was required for the lawyers on both sides of the Atlantic for E&O insurances, licences, classification, royalty agreements etc. etc etc. A never ending list of costs.
It is a strict rule, that any professional documentary does not pay its contributors, to avoid accusations of tampering with their evidence as each basically serves as an expert witness in their subject.
That is made clear to each person who signs the Release. For ANYBODY to claim they didn’t know it was being made for TV ie for commercial broadcast, they are either deluded or lying – especially when they make that statement 8 years after it was first released!
We not only paid for it all out our own pockets (having sold everything we could to make it) without asking for a penny from anybody, we also handed it over to be distributed, thus not MAKING millions either – because that’s NOT why it was made.
It was made to reach as many people as possible… and we have hundreds of the most amazing testimonies. From the jungle to the bush to the desert, churches to house groups and individuals, God has done amazing things through The Daniel Project – and continues to do so.
Praise His wonderful Name!
We were allowed to keep the rights for a Director’s cut DVD version to be sold to Christian groups (any other versions belong to the distributor – but ours has ‘extras’ on it) for the excuse of recouping costs, but more specifically for us, we were able to put The Way of Escape on it!
However no reputable ministry will handle it now because Jacob Prasch is on it, which is very disappointing to us. Berean Call were the last people to pull out – much as they loved it.
We spent a further £13k in 2012/13 to have a Hispanic / Brazilian Portuguese version made for evangelism in South America having been told by Jacob Prasch that Marco Quintana would use it as that was his area of expertise. We had it made in little cardboard envelopes to make them as affordable as possible and easier to carry.
Nothing. Nada. No response from Moriel.
We did however gift many hundred of pounds worth of DVDs to Jacob and Moriel as a thank you and they also purchased some from us for resale which would also boost their funds. The one proviso from the distributor being that they were either to be (1) given away free or (2) a set minimum charge was to be made.
We paid a similar amount again to also have English subtitles added for the hard of hearing. Again, we had to work hard to raise the money to do that but it was worth it to help get the truth out to more and more people.
::SHOW US THE MONEY::
The big difference is this. And this is what I cannot get my head around when Moriel make statements that I’m a profiteer for example! It’s beyond astonishing – and may God be my witness here! It is because of that accusation that somebody contacted me to go into deeper detail.
Stewart and I work extremely hard to make money to pay for each ministry project we produce and to pay the costs for Gv247 etc which is a completely free service to the public and costs us thousands every year.
We don’t rely on other people to fund anything (although donations are very gratefully received as we get older and are slowing down!) However, any donations we do receive are not to pay our bills or buy food, but to enable us to produce the ministry work we do. I work separately to pay for certain domestic bills and I drive a 10 year old car. Stewart does the same, making commercials and corporate films and turning away more than he makes if it is anything against our Biblical beliefs.
That’s nobody’s business but I only state it here because the contrast with Moriel Ministries is colossal.
Jacob does not work outside his ministry – and if I am wrong and he proves to me that he does, then unlike him, I will be very quick to apologise. And it will be sincere. Or will he claim that it’s in a tax free Channel Island haven?
Moriel has taken a huge amount in donations over the last few years – I’ve been told it is $millions though I haven’t fully checked because [a] I don’t have the time and [b] I quite frankly don’t want to – although the records are there FOR public scrutiny as unlike us, they are a 501(c )(3) in the US** and a registered charity in the UK*** .
However, what I have been shown is that both Jacob and David Lister have not gone short financially. They could well have afforded to help us get The Daniel Project into even more places worldwide.
But they didn’t.
Even though it certainly made Jacob better known than he was before we made it.
God knows – and He is in charge of it all.
It’s our HEARTS that God is concerned with, not the outer, but remember, we knew Jacob for over 20 years, he stayed with us often and we worked and travelled with him, so we know him well. I remember Jacob telling me how much he enjoys “la dolce vita” – and there’s nothing wrong with that I suppose. Fine dining, the theatre, good single malts and so on. So we also tried to look after him well and to bless him when we could. I thought we were at least ‘friends’ in some way after all that time.
They won’t rest until they destroy us apparently.
For what?
Oh yes, Jacob did warn me.
For interviewing David Nathan.
That is why we have been fairly quiet – being prayed for and seeking The Lord as we worked through this unbelievable sewage – until we could come to the place where it truly doesn’t matter and we can let it go – to love our enemy and bless those who curse us.
It also means NOT being part of the occult – the hidden things, the sins we all covered with love because hey – don’t we just do that as believers? How much it pleases our Heavenly Father when we dwell together in unity…
But now, many people around the world have been praying that God would shine His light and expose their darkness and it is certainly happening…
For here’s the thing.
Jacob was forever asking us about the money, if we’d recovered our costs for making TDP and lately, on his videos and emails, he has gone on and on and on and on about having done it for free, gratis etc.
Well you know what?
So did we.
And we worked thousands of hours longer than Jacob ever did to get that film made. 5 years it took from beginning to end.
Without pay.
And now this ludicrous request published all over the internet requesting us to remove Jacob from The Daniel Project?
Seriously???
My husband took advice and and the official statement was issued – see further down this page, and we have received so many beautiful and supportive emails and messages from brethren, including pastors and other leaders all over the world, even from many we don’t know, sending scriptures, praying and uplifting us during this time. Many are asking questions – questions that they have the right to ask because they have shared The Daniel Project in many ways.
THAT is why I have had to respond.
It is to those people I address this – not to the gossip mongers or those with an opinion they believe must be heard. None of this is up for debate. It is simply a series of facts and if you want to know more, the website is http://www.thedanielproject.tv
which has lots of information. There are also several episodes on the subject on The Weekend Show on Global Vision TV starting at Episode 8. (at http://www.gv247.tv
).
::The Daniel CONNECTION::
And finally… The Daniel CONNECTION was a feature film made for the exact same reason – but this time for unsaved people who would never watch a documentary. We are strongly opposed to conspiracy theories so this is based on The Daniel Project prophecies and many copies are given away free when people watch the movie version. Again, we’ve never recovered the costs – never mind make a profit – and we don’t expect to – as long as it does the job it was sent forth to do. At its Scottish premiere – people thoroughly enjoyed it and many said it would encourage them to find out more, (you can see the reviews on the website) and one person was saved at the English premiere organised by a local church.
Further info is on the website at http://www.thedanielconnection.tv
and on The Weekend Show on Global Vision TV from Episode 12 at http://www.gv247.tv
Our love, prayers and thanks go to all of you who have prayed for and used The Daniel Project over the years. We love to hear your testimonies so please do contact us privately and share if you haven’t already.
All glory to God – every tiny victory gained through this film – He gets the glory.
For He alone is worthy.
Amen.
========
*and Global Vision TV – subscribers to the network have almost doubled over the last few weeks and we’ve a few more on the YouTube channel too!
Please feel free to share this widely as I haven’t had the chance to thank everybody personally so I have made this public.
::MORIEL FINANCES::
We have not looked at this in detail but in case you want to check as I may have been given a wrong quote from an ex Moriel staff member, which I apologise for in advance if I have made a mistake.:
https://www.erieri.com/Form990Finder/Details/Index?EIN=980175401&fbclid=IwAR3v3he6JRU_F6Xj5rQoz2vAOsdZ447x3Tont3OwHZCaUSB9-9Q_APNq-5g
In the UK http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityWithoutPartB.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=1119363&SubsidiaryNumber=0&fbclid=IwAR2RJQ5yXb88cdy4LYcsDjJ5St2QF1XiVGI8xhntHLgijbdTxXCGavMpZqw
Bethel Communications on November 29, 2018 at 3:29 pm said:
Moriel’s admission on their website (now removed funnily enough) they always knew it was a secular production:
‘The Daniel Project’ is a secular film production with a scriptural message, focus, and theme, which can reach non-believers in the postmodern world. A companion book will be published soon but the producers have brought out a special edition DVD set which is an effective tool for house groups, church groups and in one to one dialogue…. Remember, this is a secular product and a secular production, which takes the message into the secular world via the secular market.
We would urge all who seek the salvation of the lost and who look to the return of Jesus to obtain a copy of the DVD and the book.
Bethel Communications on November 29, 2018 at 3:26 pm said:
Studio Scotland’s official response to Moriel:
FAO: Mr David Lister
Moriel Ministries USA
Moriel Missions UK
Date: 7th November 2018
I always make myself available to meet and discuss challenges that life can bring, particularly where conflict may arise and yesterday I replied to a disparaging email from Jacob Prasch with the intent to see if we could meet to discuss recent events – his response was both unhelpful and shameful. To that end I have been counselled to keep my reply to your organisation only to the subject of the production questions raised.
The following information is given in accordance with PACT industry regulations during the period 2006-2010 covering documentary production and distribution.
::The Daniel Project television documentary::
Mr Prasch was one of 10 participants to be interviewed who claimed a specific knowledge on related subject matter. In accordance with regulations governing the use of interviews within a documentary format for terrestrial television, interviews must be conducted with no payment so as to confirm a non-bias agenda (expenses only are normally covered unless waived).
Payment may only be made to professional presenters or voice-over artists in accordance with the type of contract agreed in writing. Presenters are not deemed expert witnesses but merely actors. Every professional documentary or film project is subject to very strict rules and under no circumstances would a film be acquired by any distributor or broadcaster if the substantial paperwork necessary was incomplete.
After stringent legal processes, productions are acquired by a distributor(s) (they are not sold by the production company) whereby the producers (Studio Scotland Ltd) must sign away all rights but are still liable for all broadcast compliance files, insurance, lawyers, clearance, classification, translation and marketing costs. This is standard procedure. The distributor is the one who leases the production to a broadcaster for a fixed term and agreed rate which we may eventually see a proportion of once all their costs are covered. This can take several years because the remuneration is small and the distributors have to cover the cost of their stand and associated expenses to travel to a film market or festival in order to ‘sell’ our particular film – amongst the thousands of others that are also vying for attention.
Mr Prasch signed a full release contract form in accordance with ‘The Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television’ broadcast standards, a copy of which, if requested may only be sent to Mr Prasch at his personal request or a legal body acting on his behalf. If Mr Prasch would like to receive a copy of said document please ask him to send an SAE to our studio with a signed covering letter. This will be dealt with promptly.
The signed contract is with Mr Prasch and not any bodies or groups he is a part of. By law we cannot divulge personal contractual information to a third party. Removal from commercial films is not possible. Studio Scotland has no rights over both productions. This is standard practice.
::In regard to Mr Prasch’s request to share his beliefs within an evangelistic format::
Proselytisation within a TV documentary format will be rejected under European broadcast standards, however, in keeping with this request, this was made possible by Studio Scotland via an ‘extras’ section available on an approved DVD and on free digital download for The Daniel Project. The distributor at that time ‘Mercury Media International Ltd’ gave approval (not usual for a distributor) in allowing many churches, and faith based organisations all over the world to use the film as an outreach tool as long as no payments were made – hundreds of showings in churches, halls, hotels, prisons, army camps and universities were granted free licenses. We have a substantial file of emails from churches, pastors, educators and individuals around the world, who have been positively impacted by watching or showing the production. There is also a tiny selection of many hundreds of reviews listed on the official website.
The production was translated to Brazilian Portuguese and Hispanic Spanish for use across South America – and could also be understood by Europeans who didn’t understand English – and we also provided English Subtitles for Hard of Hearing. All of that at a cost of many thousands of dollars. Controversial TV documentaries have strict translation guidelines and must be passed once again through the legal, insurance and certification system. Like everything else, this was financed solely by Studio Scotland. We have not recovered the costs for doing this.
With a legally cleared South American DVD master, we have since been able to supply various ministries reaching out to those communities with 100s of DVDs in card folders at the cost of physical production and delivery. Hundreds if not thousands of DVDs have been given away free of charge and our production / mastering house near London has a record of every DVD produced. This is a requirement in regard to library footage licencing as The Daniel Project has over 100 library licences which we must adhere to as another legal requirement.
::The Daniel CONNECTION feature film::
The Daniel CONNECTION feature film was made for those who would not watch a documentary and has the same aims as The Daniel Project. It has a different distributor, rules and regulations, Studio Scotland Ltd are still thousands of dollars in debt to the distributor and that is before payments can be made to recover costs for production. This is standard for the industry and is clearly understood by professionals within the media. All actors are paid during production in accordance with their agency contracts along with point system benefits after full recovery costs for those eligible. This is a standard practice for cinematic production.
::Commercial gain?::
Three international broadcasters/distributors and an international DVD distributor (servicing supermarkets and book stores worldwide) asked us to re-edit the documentary and in some cases to incorporate other spiritual beliefs to be more in-line with their broadcast policies, which in turn would have enabled Mercury Media and Studio Scotland to gain financially. We refused and those broadcasters/distribution outlets rejected The Daniel Project. We believed it to be important to remain true to the original format and to have integrity in all our dealings.
::In Summary::
Based on an original cable TV /Video resource produced by Stewart and Deborah Menelaws, ‘Cup of Trembling- countdown to Armageddon’ in 1996, ‘The Daniel Project’ was without doubt, one of the most ground breaking terrestrial TV documentaries of its time, working within the strict confines imposed on production covering faith based subjects. As a secular project within a secular environment it has touched the lives of millions via a wide range of networks world-wide.
Tragically, in recent years, a number of Christian based distribution outlets regretfully will no longer stock ‘The Daniel Project’ DVD – and it is Mr Prasch’s behaviour and conduct that has been cited as the issue. Sales of the actual DVD are almost non-existent. The documentary itself is currently showing on Amazon Prime TV and was acquired by the multi award winning documentary distributor ‘Journeyman Pictures’’. All distribution rights belong to them (they acquired Mercury Media resources who went into liquidation owing us royalties). The film continues to touch lives on secular media – and that is who and what it was made for.
::Mr Prasch appearing / removal on faith based media::
In regard to Mr Prasch appearing on our free to view subsidiary Global Vision TV at GV247.TV which is a non-profit part of the company but is required to be connected due to licensing contracts with interviews, film, video and imagery, we had already taken steps to remove Mr Prasch. We are still in the process of clearing his image from various files and whilst this will take time, please be assured, we have made that a priority.
Sincerely: Stewart Menelaws
Managing Director
Studio Scotland Ltd
