It was announced today that internationally renowned music artist and actor Ja Rule (“The Fast and the Furious” “Shall We Dance”) and popular “Cheetah Girls” performer and former lead vocalist of the R&B group 3LW, Adrienne Bailon (“That’s so Raven”) have signed on to star as the male and female leads in the faith based urban drama “I’m in Love with a Church Girl.” The film is the debut feature from Reverence Gospel Media (RGM), a new independent production shingle, founded by Galley Molina that develops and produces faith-based films and other products for a broad commercial audience.
Based on Galley’s own amazing true life story of high level crime, redemption, love and faith, the film is directed by Steve Race (“The Beach House”) from a script written by Galley himself. Principal photography is slated to begin on May 10th in San Jose, California. The film will also be shot in parts of San Francisco this May.
In the film, Miles Montego (Ja Rule) has it all – cars, boats, good looks, mansion, money, women, but more importantly, he has a past. Miles is a retired high level drug trafficker who is now completely legitimate. Even though Miles has turned over a new leaf, the DEA can’t seem to let him out of their sights. Miles’ only downfall is that he is extremely loyal to his circle of friends and former colleagues who are not retired from the lucrative business.
Struggling to keep on the right side of the law, Miles meets the one girl of his dreams but she’s not the usual type of girl that he’s used to dating. Vanessa (Adrienne Bailon) is a church girl in every sense of the word. They are tested to their last ounce of faith and strength in God and each other. God continues to chip away at Miles through struggles from his past, having to live up to his reputation, feelings of unworthiness, the death of his mother, federal charges, his friends being indicted, the strain on his relationship with Vanessa, almost losing her in a near fatal car accident, and finally the spiritual breakdown and one on one with God that brings Miles to his knees.
Miles is faced with the decision of holding on to the old ways of his past or letting go and letting God have His way in his life……
Additional casting announcements for “Church Girl” will be made in the coming weeks.
“The message of this film is really simple but profound,” said Molina. “Sometimes God needs to use extreme measures to deal with extreme circumstances. I was that Extreme Circumstance. This film is simply about the Power of God in a man’s life. The unique part of this story aside from being based and inspired on my real life experiences is that I wrote it while I was incarcerated in a Federal Prison on Drug Trafficking charges.”
“I’ve been blessed to be a part of so many amazing projects throughout my career but this new company will focus only on projects that are Eternal. We’re tremendously excited to have Ja Rule & Adrienne Bailon on board for ‘Church Girl’ – two extremely gifted performers who will bring the story to life.”
RGM is a boutique film production company dedicated to providing commercial faith based films for a worldwide audience. The company has a mandate to create filmed entertainment that is both commercially viable and socially responsible and is poised to serve as a top-tier supplier of commercial projects for both the studios and major independent distributors worldwide. RGM intends to produce 2-3 films a year, with budgets under $20 million.
Galley Molina has been in the entertainment industry for over 20 years. Throughout his career he has produced and written several chart topping hits as well as developed and produced a multitude of DVD’s and music videos. During this time Galley’s reliance on his Christian faith led him to become an ordained Pastor.