The Las Vegas nonprofit Unshakeable helps women who are survivors of human trafficking, domestic and sexual violence, addiction and homelessness. The organization is teaming up with the Beverly Theater to hold a film screening fundraiser at the state-of-the-art venue on October 19.
Founder Debbie Isaacs admits that the movie to be screened—her filmmaking debut Ghosts of Goldfield—is “the most horrible horror movie ever.” But there’s a lesson to be gleaned in showing it some love and attention.
“I think the real story of Unshakeable is that your past doesn’t define you, and that is how the movie [fundraiser] idea came about. … The mission of Unshakeable is really to empower the women to know that victimization is what happened to them. Victimhood is a mindset they don’t need to stay in. And we are about building their future.”
Filmed at the historic and reportedly haunted Goldfield Hotel in 2007, Ghosts of Goldfield had a “bad script but great talent,” including Kellan Lutz, Mandy Amano and the late, legendary professional wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. Isaacs produced and sold the movie, which was distributed by Barnholtz Entertainment and amassed a “cultish following,” according to the Beverly’s chief experience officer Kip Kelly.
“Some of the best experiences in a film house are with terrible movies. I mean, we showed Leprechaun 3 on St. Patrick’s Day because there was a Vegas connection. And that’s probably a step above what Ghosts of Goldfield is,” Kelly says.
Although they make fun of it, the film kicked off Isaacs’ career in filmmaking.
“It was the first thing I ever did, and it led me into the production world, where I met great people like Kip. And because of that, I ended up being in a courtroom many years ago, and my life was forever changed,” Isaacs explains.
The idea for Unshakeable came about when Isaacs was a freelance producer. She heard about a court program helping to rehabilitate women who had been through traumas and ended up in the court system.
“I went in wanting to tell their story, and came out knowing I needed to change it,” she says. “When I heard the women sharing their story, just either about how they were ashamed of what had happened to them or what they did or they just didn’t feel good enough … I understood what it feels like to not just feel good about yourself or confident or love yourself.
“I just realized that their story is so much more than what [put] them in this particular program.”
Unshakeable has helped more than 275 clients since it started in 2016. “We collaborate with probably 20 nonprofits here locally in Clark County, from SafeNest to the Shade Tree to WestCare, the Fearless Kind, Crossroads. … We offer our program to those nonprofits at no cost to them,” she says.
As for the nonprofit’s collaboration with the Beverly, Kelly says it was an easy decision that aligned with his nonprofit’s values, “creating memories and giving people a reason to want to enjoy cinema.”
“We joke that it’s the worst horror movie ever. But what is the experience really going to be like on that day? It’s going to be a communal gathering of like-minded individuals who just want to have fun and watch a movie,” he says. “It doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad or in between.”
THE MOST HORRIBLE HORROR MOVIE EVER October 19, 6 p.m., donation collected at the door. The Beverly Theater, unshakeable.org.
