Filmmaker Elrico Tunstall and Ascension Sacred Heart have reached an agreement on the name of Tunstall film project. When the project was initially announced this summer, the movie and subsequent television series was called “Sacred Hart.” The film is a drama about Dr. Darin Brooks and his family who struggled to keep Sacred Hart Hospital open. It was filmed in the old Sacred Heart Hospital building on 12th Avenue.
Tunstall told Inweekly that had been going back and forth with Ascension’s legal team and board.
“We were just trying to be as amicable as possible with them, to let them understand, and of course, to let the whole public in general know that our project, which was originally Sacred H-A-R-T and did not in any way infringe upon their trademark at all, as far as our logo, or even the characters,” he shared. “Because as I’ve always stated, the whole story and concept is from the imagination and from the mind of me, Elrico Tunstall. We actually never used their property far as going on actual Ascension grounds and shooting, using none of their facilities and people.”
Tunstall continued, “It was just a whole concept of being called Sacred H-A-R-T when I first initially came up the idea. But going back and forth with them, I made the agreement to verbally say that we would be called ‘Sacred’ from here on out. The new name really works because this is a community project that was put together to enhance our community, not to cause division, especially not with Ascension.”
The movie will premiere over two days in early November. Tunstall will host a red carpet, black-tie viewing at the WSRE PBS Jean & Paul Amos Performance Studio on Saturday, Nov. 5. The following day, a community celebration of the movie release will held at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
