NY Times Best Selling Author Brenda Jackson Takes Book To The Big Screen


By Five Alive Films

JACKSONVILLE, FL- In the world of film, romance plays a major role. Everyone falls in love at some point in their life, and to see it on the big screen is to live it! Several filmmakers are currently living the romantic life- but just a little differently- from behind the camera. Passion sits in the hands of screenwriter/ director Gerald Jackson Jr., who’s current project “Brenda Jackson’s Truly Everlasting” is stirring up buzz throughout Jacksonville. His adaptation of New York Times Best Selling Novelist Brenda Jackson’s novella takes place in the wintery setting of Houston, Texas, focusing on a football hero, Trask Maxwell, who makes a deal with his childhood rival, Felicia Madaris, to be her son’s “Holiday Father”.

With a cast of actors from all over the state of Florida, and a crew based mostly from Jacksonville, Gerald Jackson Jr.’s production company, Five Alive Films,  is spending two months in production-shooting the film, mainly in Jacksonville. Brenda Jackson, who serves as Executive Producer, put this production together after making several book trailers with Five Alive Films, and decided it was time to go bigger. “Brenda Jackson’s Truly Everlasting” is the second film adaptation of one of her stories.

Brenda Jackson, started writing as a hobby, and it soon became her life. Now, she is a New York Times Best Seller as well as a USA Today Best Seller, with over 75 books under her pen. She continues to write, with her main books centering around the Madaris families and the Westmoreland families. Five Alive Films kicked off in 2005 under the leadership of Gerald Jackson Jr., and has made it a point to focus on developing the film scene in Jacksonville. Since then, independent film has made a huge impact on the scene, with Five Alive Films at the tipping point of the scale. While “Brenda Jackson’s Truly Everlasting” is Five Alive Films first feature, the production company has been on the forefront, with the book trailers and also with the creation of “FAT! Five Alive Television” - a Youtube channel that promotes local filmmaking, from music videos to short films.

“Brenda Jackson’s Truly Everlasting” began as a novella that was published in the collection, “Something to Celebrate” in 1998. It became a fan-favorite, and was re-released in 2008 by Madaris Entertainment in the collection, “Essence of Desire”. After Brenda Jackson began working with Five Alive Films on her book trailers, she became inspired to make her dreams of turning one of her books to life, and began working with screenwriter/director Gerald Jackson Jr. on the script.

By bringing in people from all over the Jacksonville area and beyond, Brenda has kept this production a local gig, which has been a success thus far. She has encouraged the educational opportunity of internships- bringing in young people from North Carolina and New York- to take part in the film making process with a professional advisor. Brenda Jackson plans on continuing her ground breaking path by proceeding on in film-in Jacksonville.