WHNT spotlights Huntsville faith film Amazing Grace ahead of distributor pitch

The launch for Amazing Grace was underway in Huntsville with a clear next step in view: collect feedback, sharpen the project, and take the film toward distributors. The faith-based drama, filmed almost entirely in the Tennessee Valley, was presented May 6 at Rock Family Worship Center as an exclusive first look at Amazing Grace - An Unqualified Call, not just a one-night screening.

The setup gave the local crowd a real hand in the film’s future. Attendees were invited to watch a 30-minute concept version and use real-time tap technology to respond as they watched, a rare kind of feedback loop for an independent production. For a movie built from Alabama roots, that mattered. The project was designed to move from a community event into a distributor-facing rollout, with the launch serving as both a showcase and a test run for what comes next.

WHNT’s Day to Day with Mariah brought the film back into the Tennessee Valley spotlight just as that launch got started, and the coverage centered the people driving it. Executive producer and screenwriter Terita Saint Julian and producer, director and lead actress Kathlene Robinson have been the key public faces of the project, which is being developed through In The Vine Ministries in collaboration with DE House of Vision. The ministry describes Amazing Grace as based on the true story of the St Julian family, with a nationwide theatrical release planned.

The film’s earlier milestones show how long the project has been building. In The Vine Ministries says the screenplay was officially selected at the International Christian Film Festival in Orlando in 2022, giving the movie an established development history before the Huntsville event. The casting page also listed a January 1, 2026 deadline for video submissions, a sign that preproduction and talent search work were still active heading into this spring’s push.

The story itself reaches beyond a standard faith-based premise. The ministry materials tie Amazing Grace to Terita Saint Julian’s book Training Your Children to Remain in the Vine and to Aleesa St. Julian’s The Day I Met Walt, which she began writing at age four before later publishing The Day Walt Met Me as a sequel. Avery St. Julian is set to help compose the film’s original musical pieces, extending the family’s creative role from the page to the soundtrack. For Alabama independent film watchers, the significance is immediate: a homegrown Tennessee Valley production is now moving from local launch event to its next real milestone, the distributor pitch that could carry it far beyond Huntsville.