Q:

Hi Ondi, I am an ex-cult member of the New York City International Church Of Christ. I can't tell you how glad I am that you have made this documentary. When I was in the church there was a Timoner who worked for the church office. I wonder if she was any relation of yours. No need to answer that. I don't really have a question as I haven't seen the movie yet. I have been exploring the site. I wanted you to know that it is one of the hardest things to recover from becasue you feel like you are holding onto a big secret(like an abused wife or a rape victim) that not many people understand and no one really wants to hear about. So it feels great to have a filmaker take it on to bring about an awareness of the problem. As I watch the religious right take over this country I am afraid and appalled. People think they are immune to being involved in a cult. I never thought I would be involved in one. They think of a cult as something obvious like the polygamists of Warren Jeffs. But the mind control and manipulation happens one step at a time and before you know it you aren't the person who walked through the door on the first day you visited. Anyway, thank you, thank you, thank you for making this film. Leslie

A:

Hi Leslie, Thank you for sharing this with me. I absolutely agree with you. People are uncomfortable to realize/admit/believe how easily they can be manipulated and so there is a stigma attached to mind control and cults that prevents awareness. I think it is sad and perpetuates the problem. I can only imagine how lonely that can be for you:( Hopefully this movie will help open a dialogue and help us all overcome some of the ignorance that leads to misunderstanding the subtlety and pervasiveness of mind control... People actually don't realize that elements of the 8 techniques of mind control exist in our society to control us on all sorts of levels, not just in cults. Did you see those on the site? I wish you luck and if you know the full name of the Timoner who was in the cult with you, Id be most interested to know that too! thank you, Ondi

Q:

Hello. I just saw the movie at the Philadelphia Film Festival. I loved it so much that I bought a copy of the DVD outside the theater. I brought it home and tried to watch it, but the disc was defective. I tried it both in my DVD player and on my computer just to double-check. I was going to submit a request through Neoflix, but I didn't purchase it through them, so I thought that might be a dead end. This also doesn't seem like the appropriate place to submit this request, but I couldn't find any other contact information on the site. Is there any possibility I could get a replacement? I'll happily send you the defective DVD if you provide an address. Thanks, Matthew Herrera Philadelphia, PA meherrera@yahoo.com

A:

Matthew, I am so sorry to read this. We’ll fix the problem right away. Send us the bad dvd please so we can share it with our manufacturers, and we’ll certainly get a new one right out to you. Don’t forget to send us your address please. Thanks for your interest and support in the film. I apologize again for the inconvenience. Best, Ondi

Q:

Hi Ondi - I just came home from seeing your movie Join Us at the Philadelphia Film Festival and ... I loved it! What an eye opener. My question: During the Q&A, at the end of the film, you mentioned as part of answer to someone's question that Raimond and Deborah were the first to seek help from cult abuse. What abuse were they seeking help from? I was led to believe by the film that they were always the abusers (with the exception of their own childhoods). Also, do you know where his first wife is today and if she had an reaction, or anything to offer to your project? Thanks so much, again - it was great! Catherine Jennings

A:

Thanks so much for coming in Philadelphia! Raimond and Deborah went to Wellspring to be treated for being cult leaders a few weeks before the families in JOIN US attended. Basically, their congregation had confronted them, telling them that they had gone over the edge and that they needed help. I think R&D’s hope was to assuage their concerns and keep the church family together by attending Wellspring. But once there they felt too under the microscope (and that the buildings werent up to snuff) to stay. They left early. We werent allowed to film them. That wouldve been good... I don’t know where Raimonds first wife is. Great question! I never even got her name from him. You should’ve been there with me making sure I followed up on that! Thank you, Ondi

Q:

hi ondi, this is oslo over her in london. just got around to looking at this site. the film looks great! you clearly are suffering from lack of publicity because Join Us seems to be an obvious connect, particularly with people over here in europe who are so fascinated by american weirdness. how's stuff? did you get in touch with jeff thompson? i told him you might call. okolker@gmail.com

A:

We’re calling Jeff and excited to interview him in his rigged house. I was just in Ethiopia and New York shooting “We Live in Public” (and screening JOIN US) and it was clear that the private/public aspect of the internet’s affect on social interaction is by far the most riveting realm the film explores. Wow! I can not believe how much our world has changed in the last decade due to the internet, and I’m so excited about this next film after this lasting “shooting spree” I’ve been on. Thanks for the kinnd words about JOIN US. I hope we can find the love abroad. Audiences here really respond but it seems distributors are scared to touch it after the losses incurred by “Deliver Us From Evil” and “Jesus Camp.” They are totally different films but both deal with churches I suppose, and both came out in the year before JOIN US and got huge advances from distributors and did no box office business. Timing is not everything, but close:( I think JOIN US will have to reach audiences. It tackles mind control, not christianity, and with the latest news about the horrific abuses in the FLDS and the fascination around the topic in general, it must must find its way into mass media! Let’s visit end of April when we’re both back in LA! Best, Ondi

Q:

Hey Ondi, Felicia just sent me the link to your website and I watched everything in the clips, etc. It's really good. Congratulations. I see that its been reviewed by Variety already. Does that mean its been released? Is it in theaters? Hope all is well. Happy Spring. Love, Lilith

A:

Hi Lilith! Thanks so much for writing. The film is being distributed solely through this website and sold on Amazon, and its touring festivals. I was in Philadelphia and New York last week at sold out screenings with awesome, passionate audiences, and its playing Nashville next week. I’ll be there for that too. I hope to get it to theaters or national television, but that hasn’t happened yet. Variety chose it to review as one of three docs they did that with when it premiered at the LA film festival. That was great. Hope you are well and enjoying springtime fertility of mind and spirit. xxxxxxO

Q:

Hi Ondi, why this project after "DIG!"? Your fan, Lauren

A:

I was interested in charismatic leaders after studying Anton for so long, and the spells that people seem to be able to fall under. Also, when Bush won the election in ‘04, I was sure that there was some sort of mind control operating in America and wanted to discover how it really looked and worked. I found that for the most part, people not thinking for themselves and voting against their best interests and despite all the facts wasn’t the result of an overall conspiracy but rather the existence of thousands of little organizations that had gone too far. They remian under the radar of the law due to religious freedom in our country.

Q:

i am a movie critic and journalist wrriter from paris ( france i would be very interested to see your movie is there any way i could get a copy ? thanks best dominique godrèche do.godreche@wanadoo.fr

A:

Please do check it out. It is available both a filmbaby.com and at Amazon.com. I appreciate your interest. Let me know if you have problems getting ahold of it through those channels.

Q:

Ondi, it's Richie, your music man. Quick question for ya: um, why do you rock so fucking hard? Let me know when you get the chance. Thanks.

A:

Thanks Richie. The answer is: I don’t know any other way to be and therefore I attract rad people like yourself who also rock hard and work until its perfect, and together we make things! Yay! Thank YOU for an incredible score. Check out my next film, We Live in Public. Have you seen the trailer yet?