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by Rocki Gazowsky

The first movie I ever acted in was “Guardians.” It was so much fun to dance and sing on the set that WYSIWYG had created. Even though I was in only one scene, I loved the sheer thrill of being on set so much that I came to every call time to watch and help out as much as I could, even when it stretched into 16 to 22 hour days! There was intangible electricity in the air. When the director (my dad) yelled that famous phrase “action,” I knew that this was where I wanted to be.

Movies have the ability to motivate and grip the hearts and imaginations of generations. With God in control, I knew that He would take our motley crew of die-hard actors, production staff, and writers and mold us into a crew with such passion that not even the desire for a big paycheck could separate us. And that’s what He did. When times got tough, as they most certainly did, the entire crew became more passionate about sticking together and thanking God for His blessings. At one point, we all had to buy food from the Food Bank, which we were very happy to receive, to keep going from month to month. The harder the circumstances were, the closer my family got to each other.

As a young girl, I dreamed of acting in great dramatic roles like Scarlet O’ Hara in “Gone With The Wind,” and Queen Nefretiri in “The Ten Commandments.” These roles, among many others, captured my imagination. At night, I would stand in front of the bathroom mirror and act out imaginary scenes. Performing in church and school plays was a highlight for me. I remember some of my first roles; I played a sheep in the school Christmas play, and then a girl who was raised from the dead in the church Christmas play. Many more varied and exciting roles awaited me in the following years and increased the love and joy of acting in my heart. One year, I played the role of a snobby schoolgirl, which was a lot of fun for me since it was also a singing role. But after the play, several people were asking if I really was that way. I guess that comes with the territory; people will sometimes believe that if you act a certain way in a production, then that’s who you are in real life. Being only 10 at the time, I was a little confused until my mom explained to me that it was really a compliment to my acting ability.

I grew up in a strict denomination in which going to the movies was not allowed. So I didn’t think that my dream of acting on the big screen could ever come to pass. I was allowed to see the old classic movies at home but never to go to the movie theater. But after God told my dad to leave the “old traditions” of our denomination behind and start a movie company (WYSIWYG), I realized how different God was from what I had thought. God is so much more fun than I expected. God likes to tell stories, as we see in His many parables, and He likes movies.

When WYSIWYG began, I was around 14 years old. I thought that the company would skyrocket immediately and we would be making movies in no time. But for those of you who know anything about the movie making process, you know that nothing could be farther from the truth. Making a “good movie” takes time; not to mention building an entire company from the ground up! We set out to follow God on this exciting adventure to make films and found an investor in the process. This investor promised us the initial funding for our company, so we~ with investment capital in mind~ leased a studio in downtown San Francisco, dreaming of our cinematic success. After a year of dangling the promised funds before us, the investor finally gave us a check for $14. 2 million USD ~ which promptly bounced! Our hearts sank.

With a million dollar debt hanging over our heads for wages and other expenses, my family went on a long road trip to climb out of debt. We traveled all over the United States in a Ford Taurus, visiting almost every state. My dad would preach at churches, raising money, and sending the donations back home to cover the debt of WYSIWYG. My sister Misty, my brother Sunny, and I would do our homework in the back seat of the car while driving to our next destination. At the time, I was a sophomore in high school. We would spend anywhere from 2 to 8 hours everyday in the car and I can remember frequently arguing for “elbow room.” Sunny, Misty, and I would ask my dad endless questions about anything and everything on those long car rides. We had very little money, but I felt like I was the richest girl in the whole world. There were countless memorable moments to treasure. During the 2 years we were on the road, my family became closer than ever before, and I felt like I was getting to know Jesus better too. We knew that God would never leave nor forsake us. I felt as though my dreams of acting and making music were becoming more real than ever before.

When we finally returned to San Francisco, we moved into a small apartment for a while, then into slightly larger condominium. After that, we moved into a beautiful home on top of a hill overlooking the city. We lived in this home for three years and during this time, WYSIWYG made “The Roman Trilogy”, a film about the last days of the apostle Paul in Rome. I had my first big on-screen role, playing the part of Electa in this film. At first, someone else was cast in this role but she couldn’t fit the filming into her schedule. So when I was asked to portray troubled Electa, I jumped at the chance.

Filming “The Roman Trilogy” was an amazing experience for me. Terrance Todd, who played the Apostle Paul, and who is a deeply knowledgeable actor, gave me tips along the way. I learned so much during the filming. One thing I learned about myself was that I was rushing through some of the lines. I found that saying to myself, “Slow down, Rocki, take it slow”, would help me take essential breathing moments to react to what was going on within the scene. The action sequence at the end of the film was one of the most exciting parts. There were small fires put on set as we acted out the burning of Rome. In the last shot, we (the actors) had to jump out of a window about 10 ft. off the ground into a freezing vat of water. We thought that the shot of us in the water would take around 10 minutes to wrap up, but 10 minutes turned into an hour. It was hard to even stand up when I finally got out of the water, because I was so cold and tired from shivering. I had so much fun that night! I felt as though the little bit of suffering that I had gone through pushed me into the realm of an actress. There are challenges when it comes to acting, but that’s what makes it exciting and a memorable experience.

Around a year after making “The Roman Trilogy”, our family sold our home and bought a high-speed 70mm camera to film our next movie “Gravity.” Right now, we are living with my grandmother, Marilynn Gazowsky, who has been so gracious to us, allowing our family to share her home.

About 4 years ago, we started pre-production for “Gravity”. Then God had us to stop and wait to resume our work. So right now, we are experiencing the exciting pause before God says, “Go!” I don’t know what this year will bring but my heart is joyfully expectant that Jesus will complete what He started in us.

But until my next exciting role in “Gravity” begins, I’ll continue acting in front of the mirror at home, having a blast!

Rocki Gazowsky is the oldest daughter of Richard and Sandy Gazowsky and has worked at Christian WYSIWYG Filmworks for 9 years. She has scored the soundtrack for “The Roman Trilogy” with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra, and is currently working on the score for the theatrical release “Gravity.”