I have been actively working on serious documentaries since 2014, and have had a life long passion working with cameras starting with a Canon AE-1 as a teen. Our photo and film departments in high school were on par with university. I've had incredible access to great equipment and creative freedom since I was 16. I had my own band then, called ADD Chronicles. At 18 I worked in our local news station running live cameras and sound. I later attended university for film photography and digital media in Minneapolis, where I was introduced to the artists featured in Witness Underground.

JW upbringing:

I was raised on the fringes of the Jehovah's Witness culture, as my father joined the religion when he was about thirty and I was six. I was coerced into baptism as a teenager like most in the religion. I realized I didn't believe what the religion taught and left at 19, but got dragged back into it by my father for family and cultural reasons. I gave this faith a proper go, on my own terms, for a few more years in my early twenties, unofficially volunteering as a part-time minister (50 hours per month), before and during university, well beyond any dedication my immediate family had ever made up to that point (grandparents, father and four siblings). As a last ditch effort to try to find a way to make this religion work, after photography school, I moved to Ecuador to see first hand how the religion operated internationally. That was truly a life changing experience and where I began to deeply question their methods of preaching abroad. It's a gross form of cultrural colonialism and vastly different from how they operate in USA.

Final Chapter:

Abroad they have a serious quasi-racist superiority complex and do not treat locals with much respect, for example: opting for a white 18 year old from England as elder over a local in his 30s or 40s who'd been knocking on doors in his childhood town, for many years, risking his life long reputation for this cult. Experiencing that repeatedly, first hand, was ultimately the catalyst to question and do more research. Then the real information cascade began flowing. I was becoming aware of an insane list of nonsense that they teach and use to manipulate and coerce members into compliance through social control, which I believe should one day be illegal, especially their extremist form of shunning. Witness Underground focuses on this. I learned about the crimes they are becoming known for globally: protecting pedophiles, rampant child abuse that results, and the many deaths from their ban on certain basic medical treatments, a practice which functions as a way to create martyrs and get away with covert human sacrifice, which sadly, keeps people under their control, as they offer the only path to see their dead family. It's really dark! If that's not enough, they are also extremely homophobic.

After Ecuador I exited the religion permanently. I had made some close friends in the religion, most of whom have since come out as well. Together these artists and I are working on this project to demonstrate a positive path to healing through self expression.

We'd love to experience your art!

Minneapolis band with one ExJW member, Chad Rhiger.

Some songs really hit close to home including, "Stay Away, Stand Firm, Grow Mighty (in the soundtrack)

Chad Rhiger - Vocalist, Songwriter, Bassist

Chad is a powerful social foundation: a natural skeptic, philosopher, comedian, and father to a wonderful child. He joined Eric and Cindy to create HighTV, a featured band, as the bassist and built out their sound. Together, they found a healthy way to bridge the gap between their lives as Witnesses and their new life in the real world through music. He later fronted his own band, Ghost Army, and continues to write music. He now does UX design.

Support them!

Buy the Album here:

Album: Sleepywood Dojo

James is the author of Deliverance At Hand and a skilled filmmaker. During production, he offered up his entire archive of short films and collaborative video projects spanning over 15 years that made this a historical documentary. It was a precious gift to get access to all of his past work and also have him tell such a detailed intertwined exit story with Ryan Sutter. Today, he does technical writing and is raising three kids.

I was born into the religion and baptized young. In the decade + since my exit, I’ve traveled extensively, learned eagerly and forged new relationships. I was inspired by the concept of the project and am excited to be part of the team!