Shine

About

What a story... this is going to take a minute friends so buckle your seat-belts, turn up the volume and tune in...
Our Founder and Creative Director Max Zoghbi has had a special place in his heart for a girl for some time. Not just any girl mind you, but a very very special girl. After being friends a while they dated shortly and broke up, the timing was just not right. Having not communicated to each other for some time after the break up, something traumatic happened next in the summer of 2012...

On July 20, 2012, on the way back home on a cross-country road trip with a friend, this very very special girl stopped on a whim to see the midnight premiere of Batman : The Dark Knight Rises in a small town in Colorado. Minutes into the film a man we now know as James Holmes opened fire killing 13 people and injuring dozens more, including this very very special girl who was shot by an AR-57 in her left knee. By God's grace, after barely making it out alive through a hellish nightmare of events, this girl's life was spared.

After many long, painful, dark yet transformational weeks in the hospital and after 5 intense surgeries, this girl made it back home with her leg intact and has been healing ever since. However along her road to recovery a song called "A Thousand Things Are Happening" made its way to this girl and her family. The tune spoke of God's sovereignty and how in one thing, even one terribly dark thing, a thousand more unseens things are happening with purpose for God's glory. Needless to say this song, it's lyrics, melody and tune ministered to this girl and her whole family while dealing with such a traumatic event by giving them perspective and pointing them to the hope of their faith in Jesus and the salvation therein. This song was the creation of an artist named Christa Wells.

Back to Max. The shooting put things into perspective for him as well and soon he and Bonnie Kate (the very very special girl) became friends again in the fall of 2012 putting the heartbreak behind them. As a birthday gift he reached out to Christa Wells sharing how her song had ministered to Bonnie Kate and her family. Christa then mailed Bonnie Kate a video singing happy birthday along with her albums, t-shirts, and kind words of encouragement. The gift was well received and months later Bonnie Kate and Max's friendship grew to be more than just friendship.

Months later in early 2013, inspired by Bonnie Kate's story, Christa wrote a song about Bonnie Kate and her graceful yet very hard and long recovery from the Aurora Batman Shootings. That song is called "This Thing's Not Gonna Break You" from her new record "Feed Your Soul". Aware that Max is a commercial director in video and film, Christa wanted to bring her single from the record, "Shine", to life through video.

That is the story behind what you are about to see. The concept of "Shine" is a fictional story inspired by real trials, real perseverance, real pain, suffering, endurance, mercy, power, strength, tears, long nights, the grace of a young girl shot in an unlikely massacre, her reliance on Jesus to see her through, how all of our stories are connected and how song and video can powerfully connect them ever further. It is about using your gifts, whatever they may be, to the best of your ability regardless of how unqualified you feel so that you can color this dark and difficult world with beauty and hope.

With her family, friends, church and God supporting her, Bonnie Kate is due to make a full recovery in time and her and Max are happily dating still. So without further adieu, and with much joy Christa, Bonnie Kate, Max, and the whole Loupe Theory Studios team proudly present to you, "Shine".