The Words of the Burton Family

Unified Family in Maryland Releases Good Samaritan Film

Douglas Burton
June 14, 2009

A small but spunky independent film company is raising eyebrows with the premiere of Cashing Out, a 98-minute mystery comedy that explores the miracle of giving and how oddly unwelcome it can be to pecksniffs at the FBI. The film was launched in Maryland at the University of Maryland at College Park on June 14, where it was lauded by State Sen. David Harrington and a crowd of well-wishers.

Scriptwriter Kathleen Tsubata, a longtime columnist at the Washington Times and a community activist in West Lanham Hills, teamed with daughter Mie Smith and son-in-law Sun Jae Smith, who are the proud operators of LightSmith productions. Last year the Tsubata -- Smith team won the West Virginia International Film Festival with their first 60-minute feature drama, Soul Search, a film about a girl seeking stardom who sells her soul to gain her dream, only to find that, without a soul, life becomes miserable.

This time out the company of First and Second Generation Unificationists took on a new challenge: Make a full-length feature film with a cast of 120 actors, shoot it in 20 separate locations in a two-week time frame and on a budget of only $1,700. They did it. After 10 months of postproduction editing they have shown the film in Petersburg, West Virginia, and at the University of the District of Columbia to appreciative audiences. Altogether 32 Unificationist actors joined with approximately 10 professional actor -- volunteers (recruited with the aid of Craigslist) and 78 volunteers from Maryland and Virginia communities in venues where the scenes were filmed. As writer -- director Tsubata tells it, everywhere the film company went to shoot, they explained to local people they were shooting a no-budget film about anonymous giving, and, like magic, folks volunteered to act on short notice. “Everyone who came into contact with the production wanted to get involved,” said producer Sun Jae Smith. “We were amazed how things worked out. Everywhere we went, people offered to play parts that were already in the script and which they were perfect for. We had waitresses play waitresses and bankers play bankers. It brought a lot of realism to the scenes.”

Washington Family Church viewers will see quite a few familiar faces, including every single member of the Tsubata family. Reviewers of the film raved about the 3.5 minutes of animation worked by Second Generation Unificationist Harmony Becker, as well as a closing original musical score by Mehrdad Mizani. Kensei Tsubata, Kate’s son, served as an adept sound engineer.

The script is based on two true stories: a recent Japanese newspaper story about a person in Japan who was giving out anonymous cash gifts and a letter between Ben Franklin and his friend Benjamin Webb. The little-known letter from Ben Franklin to a friend who was requesting a loan inspired Kate Tsubata.

Franklin turned a simple loan request into a way of helping many people. Learning of Webb’s dire need for financial help, Franklin wrote that he “sent a significant sum, along with a letter.” “I do not pretend to give such a Sum; I only lend it to you,” Franklin wrote to Benjamin Webb. “When you shall return to your Country with a good Character, you cannot fail of getting into some Business that will in time enable you to pay all your Debts. In that Case, when you meet with another honest Man in similar Distress, you must pay me by lending this Sum to him; enjoining him to discharge the Debt by a like operation, when he shall be able, and shall meet with another opportunity.

“I hope it may thus go thro' many hands, before it meets with a Knave that will stop its Progress. This is a trick of mine for doing a deal of good with a little money. I am not rich enough to afford much in good works, and so am obliged to be cunning and make the most of a little.”

Franklin thus set into motion a chain of personal lending, which has been called “paying it forward.” This story and what has been taking place in Japan are at the root of the plot for Cashing Out, according to Mrs. Tsubata.

In the film, authorities are baffled by a series of mysterious “cashings,” anonymous cash gifts that appear just when someone is in greatest need. Suspecting criminal activity, officials chase and close in on the perpetrators, only to find that things are not as they seem.

“The story portrays the conflict between two belief systems,” says Mrs. Tsubata. “It asks the question “When times are tough, should we hoard wealth and just take care of Number One? Or should we invest in each other?” The trailer and “behind the scenes” clips can be seen on the website www.lightsmithpro.com/cashingout.

“Like Ben Franklin, we’re sending out this movie as a way to ‘do a lot with a little,’” Mrs. Tsubata says. “We want people to know that when we all put our minds and hearts and actions together -- we can do anything.” It also demonstrates what a united family of Unificationist filmmakers in Hyattsville, Maryland, can do when literally everybody gets into the act.

Contributed by Douglas Burton 

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