Family Friendly DVDs to Watch For:

"Faith Ford in "Field of Vision"

Actress Faith Ford is probably best known to television audiences for her roles in sitcoms, most notably Murphy Brown and Hope & Faith. She received several nominations and a couple of awards for her comedic work on Murphy Brown, so it's a nice change of pace to see her in a dramatic role as a wife, mother and high school guidance counselor in FIELD OF VISION.

"For me, it wasn't heavy drama," Faith said in a recent interview. "I got to be me. It was heartfelt and occasionally emotional in some ways, and was sort of true to life for me."

Real-Life Characters

Faith's role is a wife, and guidance counselor and mother of two children: Lucy [played by Alyssa Shafer], who is an avid reader and precociously intelligent, and Tyler [played by Tony Oller], who is star quarterback, captain of the football team, and a very popular guy.

"Tony did an amazing job of standing up for the right thing without being too goody-goody. I thought he did a really terrific job with this role. The characters were very real.

"I'm a mom who's working. I'm helping other kids and I make promises I can't keep, in the sense that I say I'm definitely going to come home and make dinner. Of course, something happens at school and I can't, but my kids allow for that. They've already planned to order in pizza. I love those moments; they're so realistic and good."

I'll Do It!

The offer for the film came to Faith through her agent, and when it was presented, it was potentially a back-door pilot for NBC [a standalone movie that's also a way to show what a series might be if someone wanted to do a series based on the movie]. "I read the script and said, 'Look, whether it becomes a series or not, I'd like to do it.'

"That's very uncharacteristic of me during pilot season to sort of toss all pilots aside that are definitely going to be series and choose to do a back-door pilot for a series that might never see the light of day. But I really liked the message, I liked that it was heartfelt family entertainment."

Imperfect People

In addition to the message, what captured Faith's attention about the script was her role. "I don't like perfect-perfect people, and if someone is, I think you should make fun of them, because no one's perfect. Jody isn't. She leaves her briefcase, she can't getdinner on the table, she's overly emotional at times. She's also strong.

All of those things helped me love the character.

"I found her to be very realistic and someone that a lot of women would identify with." Faith also liked all the characters around Jody, and that combination is really what drew her to the movie. "I thought the coach was strong and right and real. I loved all the relationships, and thought they were perfect."

When you watch the film, it's not clear whether or not the husband works. Is he a house-husband, Mr. Dad, or does he have a job? Faith laughed when I asked that question. "We talked about that. He does have a job, but it probably was in one of the scripts that didn't make it through."

Family Entertainment Forgotten

"We need every kind of family entertainment, but the kind that's been forgotten is family television. It goes all the way back to Roseanne and Home Improvement. In 'the day,' we used to have things like Disney's Wonderful World of Movies, and they showed SOUNDER and WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS.

"This was my childhood growing up and we can't forget families. Look, we're all sitting around one widescreen TV these days. You see all these home-improvement shows, and they're doing little mini-theaters in one room of the house. That's why it's important to have Family Movie Night."

The Old Days
The first Walmart and Procter & Gamble Family Movie Night film was THE SECRET OF THE MOUNTAIN, which Faith saw. "It completely piqued my interest. I thought, 'Wow! That's great! It reminds me of the old days.' Yet it was fresh, and the subject matter was current.

"I think what they've hit on here is that it's a family situation movie, instead of circumstances. It's something that people are dealing with in real life and gives them a solution at the end. So it has a mini-message but it's not preachy."

What's in the Future?
With her strong history of television sitcom work and her comedic timing, as well as her capacity for more dramatic roles, it would be nice to see Faith in another series. "I would love to do at least one more series in my career. Maybe I could combine this sort of story with comedy, with a lighter side. I think that it's important to feel good because there's so much negative out there.

"I'd like to do something positive without being preachy. I produced something here in Louisiana last year, and it would be neat to be able to bring a series back here that I could be in. Those are my little goals. It doesn't mean it won't happen. I could end up doing something in Los Angeles or New York. Either way, I would love to do another series if the right part came along."


At Home in Louisiana

One of the behind the scenes videos for the film shows Faith talking about being at home on her front porch in Louisiana, a place where she finds rest and relaxation. "I'm a nature girl, and I love gardening and stuff. My dad just passed away this year, so I got to spend the last year that I didn't know was going to be the last year with him. That was amazing.

"My husband and my two dogs are here. We have four acres of land, and for me it's definitely my core strength in my life right now. LA has been wonderful for me, but right now on a deep core level, I've needed it. It's been so amazing for rejuvenation for me.

"I've been gardening with my mom and cooking, and all that kind of stuff. For me, it's been wonderful. For my work, for my health, in many ways. It may not be for everyone, but for me it's been amazing."

Money Goes Away

What advice would Faith give others wanting to enter the entertainment field? "Stay true to yourself. Listen to that inner voice, and if something makes you feel uncomfortable, don't do it.

"I don't care if it is this business, because you can't sell your soul to be in this business. Make choices that fit the life for you, whatever those are, OK? That's the one nugget of advice I would give anyone going into our business. It's the only thing you have when you finish. And you will finish one day.

"When you leave, you have your integrity and your convictions. But if you don't keep them right, you might have fame and you might have money, but if you don't have the strength of your convictions and your integrity, you kind of don't have it all.

"Money goes away, it's on the surface. It's what's on the inside that sticks with you forever." That's wisdom gained by years of experience .