Wilmington brothers filming for change

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Three brothers with no budget, zero experience, and one goal: highlighting people with disabilities on the big screen.

“People with disabilities need to be included in things,” Joel Ertzberger said.

That is the message Luke, Paul, and Joel Ertzberger are trying to get across in their film “Friends Squared,” and they are getting recognition for it.

“If you disclude people just because of their looks, that you shouldn’t disclude them because of that, because they’re the same on the inside as we are,” director and actor, Paul said.

The film inspired by Paul’s friend Myles, who has down syndrome, is up for the Best Student Film of 2018 at the International Christian Film Festival in Florida.

“We really just begged and borrowed a lot of different people and borrowed all of our equipment,” producer, Luke said. “And we really learned a lot along the way. And it was really cool to see how God put all the pieces together when we really had nothing. No experience, no budget, no equipment.”

At 13, 10, and 6, the homeschooled brothers made it their mission to make a difference one take at a time.

“Pretty much for two months our school became making this movie,” mother, Heather Ertzberger said. “Because it was a very tight time frame. So they really had about 6 to 8 weeks to write it, film it, edit it, produce it.”

“Friends Squared” all started with the Valorem Film Festival last fall which highlights people with disabilities. It was an opportunity the boys could not turn down.

“I’ve always loved people with disabilities,” Paul said. “And so we thought it would be a great chance to put our strengths together and work on it. And that’s where the inspiration came from.”

“Because I like technology and he’s a great actor so it worked out well,” Luke said.

The film “Friends Squared” featured about 30 people with disabilities.

The Ertzberger brothers received a special recognition award at the Valorem Film Festival for their work. They now hope to take first place for the Best Student Film of 2018 in Florida this weekend!