A healing, magnanimous Love story honoring our Integrity:
QUEST – The Truth Always Rises
“In Honor of Tim Moellering & All the MENTORS, TEACHERS, & COACHES that Help the Kids that Need It the Most”
A magnanimous Love story honoring our Integrity and Healing:
QUEST
The Truth Always Rises
“In Honor of Tim Moellering & all the MENTORS, TEACHERS, & COACHES that Help the Kids that Need It the Most”
A fearless true story of courage, faith & forgiveness
“Lying might get you what you want in the short run, but honesty will get you what you need in the long run.” – Tim Moellering
Forthright Radio
Healing requires going toward the truth and that can take time to face. At some point, the Truth Always Rises. Through the struggle, the power of love will come and shift everything. By the end of the movie, it should open a door to transformation and welcomes you to a more fruitful path of truth, empathy, health, and forgiveness.
Audience reaction at World Premiere in Germany:
Starring Dash Mihok (Ray Donovan), Lou Diamond Phillips (La Bamba), Lakeith Stanfield (Judas & the Black Messiah, Sorry to Bother You, Get Out…), Betsy Brandt (Breaking Bad) & Introducing Greg Kasyan (Netflix Original “Daybreak”)
What Lou Diamond Phillips says:
“Trust Your Struggle” – Debt (played by Lakeith Stanfield)
Audience Members from Mill Valley Film Festival explain why Hollywood is fearful:
“#1 Film on ZED’s Top 10 Movies of 2017” (posted by the Producers of #2 Good Time)
A Letter from A Juvenile Detention Center in Arkansas that Removed the Locks Off their Doors One Year Later
A year ago, we showed the movie Quest at the White River Regional Juvenile Detention Center (WRRJDC) in Batesville, Arkansas—and it has completely transformed the lives of everyone who saw it. So much so, I want to share its powerful message of hope, redemption, and compassion with you.
To understand the movie’s true impact, I should first let you know just how dark of a past we’re coming from at our facility. While we’ve been upfront about it with the FBI and media, what went down at White River Regional between the years of 2012–2014 has had long-ranging consequences we’ve been working to undo. Built in 1998 by a private corporation, the center initially operated to be able to profit off locking up youth. It was eventually sold to the county, and in 2012 entered a scary, dark patch when a new administrator was hired who decided to make the facility her own island of control. She re-wrote policies, fired most of the veteran staff, and hired people who knew nothing about working with youth or the juvenile justice system. She cut off communication with other facilities and trained the new hires with falsified state guidelines that she had written herself, including using excessive force and making sure the youth never wanted to be locked up again. She and staff falsified thousands of reports in an attempt to cover up what was occurring.
Thankfully, a brave employee went to the County Judge to reveal what was happening, who together contacted the FBI to investigate. In 2014, the administrator and staff members suspected of being involved were all fired.
Shortly after I applied for her job at WRRJDC, but was offered the position of a juvenile detention officer instead. I eagerly accepted. With over 14 years of experience in the adult incarceration system, I recognized WRRJDC was being run like an adult facility, and was determined to change it. Several months later the administrator resigned, so I applied for the position and this time was selected.
To change radically, we were going to reinforce inmates positively instead of negatively. We phased out punitive practices. We revised training around better ways of communicating with the kids.
Many staff quit, believing that the new approach was not hard enough on the kids. For those who stayed, they cooperated but the tension between them and the new administration was high. Together we worked with all three shifts of staff to help ease the process of change, rewriting policies and looking for opportunities to help the staff better understand why the old approach caused more harm than good. But tensions rose, with staff, the local community, and several other districts who all didn’t like how we were changing. I wasn’t giving up but I also didn’t know how to move forward.
That is when a breakthrough occurred. We received a 17-year-old boy from another district, who had been institutionalized since he was 7 and in juvenile detention since 10. His mom was a drug addict, his stepmother had disowned him, and his community had given up hope. His rap sheet included negative, aggressive behavior, but we noticed a glimmer of hope, how his behavior with us was changing. He was communicating with staff and me instead of acting impulsively. With every step back, he made two steps forward.
One night, he had a terrible episode. Having taken some metal from his door, he refused to exit his room, threatening to stab anyone who approached. But a staff member got through to him and he handed over the piece of metal, exiting his room and going to a more private area where I was waiting. We spoke for much of the night, where he admitted that we have been more of a family to him than his own. He told me things that had happened in his life that no one knew. We ended the conversation with a handshake and short hug. I immediately went into my office and cried. If someone like him, who had been through so much, could keep fighting to overcome all that trauma, only because people were willing to listen to him, how could I not push and fight harder? The system had to change.
I started to publicly speak out and educate the public and those in positions of power, but it wasn’t enough. Then one day, I noticed that a film director/producer was coming to Bentonville, Arkansas, to present his movie at a film festival. The movie was called Quest. It was about a troubled boy, and how his teacher and coach, Tim, showed him compassion and that completely changed the trajectory of the boy, who had been giving up and traveling down the wrong path. It was about the power of love. I immediately contacted a colleague connected to the festival who gave me his contact information, and I reached out to the director, Santiago Rizzo. Honestly I was not expecting a response, but hope cannot become reality without trying. Santiago replied.
We finally arranged a time for the kids and staff to see his movie, which entailed Santi changing his flight back to California, renting a car, and driving several hours from Bentonville. He did not ask for any money for his services. He only asked for the time to show the kids his movie and time to speak to them afterwards. On May 7, 2018, Santi showed Quest to the kids and spoke with them afterwards.
After we all watched it together, Santiago revealed that film was about him. Then he did something that many of the kids and staff were not expecting. He confronted the kids with the truth and power of love and empathy. Kids that who are in our care for offenses such as murder and other violent crimes opened up to him. They wondered how their lives might be different if they had someone like Coach Tim to just show them love and compassion, to take a chance on them. Santi did not let the conversation end there.
Santi reached out to show them it’s not too late. Their lives can still change through the power of love, dedication, empathy, and forgiveness. He pointed out several parts in Quest that illustrate his points. The impact was phenomenal. Many of the kids cried and opened up to the truth. They spoke about how they could help each other, help themselves, and most importantly help their communities when they return home.
Only one of the kids had refused to participate, going back to his room instead of talking about the movie after. After Santi finished speaking with the group, he attempted to reach out to him. I could not allow Santi to speak with him face to face because the young man was visibly upset and acting aggressively. And a year before, he had ripped the ligaments of two officers and put one on leave of absence. Despite explaining that, Santi still tried, refusing to give up on him. He went to his cell and told him to scream into a pillow until he cried. The young man stared him down with hate and I watched Santi, fearlessly feed him back love, gently shifting his energy and judgement. A week later, he reached out again to see how he was doing.
I could not believe the impact that the film Quest had on the youth. They were opening up and speaking about their trauma, oftentimes for the first time I’ve ever heard. They were speaking openly about their feelings. They were not acting out of aggression but instead acting out empathy toward each other. The youth who walked away, after witnessing what was happening around him, even started opening up. He started to participate more in school. His history of attacking other youth and staff seemed nonexistent compared to his behavior before Santi’s visit. It was a spectacular change coming from this young man.
The teachers, staff, and therapists at the facility all spoke with enthusiasm about the change in attitude from the youth. The change did not end there—I’ve noticed that the staff had changed too. They started volunteering their free time to speak to the kids and do projects with them, painting murals and helping kids build gardens. Suddenly it was commonplace to see the staff spending their down time working with kids who needed extra attention. It was beautiful.
Since that date in May, this facility has undergone so many changes. In all, the facility was not what it was built to be but is becoming what it was supposed to be. We are leaving the prison of juvenile detention behind. The locks are coming off the doors as we make the facility into a home away from home for those kids who need help. Juvenile detention does not work. All children deserve to experience how, despite their current situation, people who show them love and compassion. How people are there to help them reunite with and work with them in their community. They need to experience that when we challenge our fears, and tell the truth, with love and empathy, we can have a wonderful life. It is not about success and money but about living.
The film Quest reignited a flame in the youth and ignited a flame in the staff that have made real change possible at this facility. As of May 8, 2019, White River Regional Center is now in the news not for its dark past, but for what we’re pioneering. We are hoping to be the example for a new approach that is working and cannot fail. On May 10, 2019, we received a phone call from a judge who is part of the Judge’s Panel for Juvenile Justice Reform, who informed me that they are in full support of our transition and she has shown our plan to rest of the panel and are in full support of what we are becoming. I know this would not have been possible without Quest. It would not have been possible without Santi opening up, personally reaching out to the kids, and staying in touch about their progress after. His film reached everyone here in a profound and unexpected way.
Quest is more than just a small part of our journey. It not only reached many kids that day, but also changed the attitudes of so many who were supposed to be there for the kids. It changed how they felt about the kids and opened up a more honest, loving way for people to reach kids in need. It was a small seed that has grown into a magnificent tree. The branches reach far and have in turn planted the same seed into the hearts of so many others.
Jonathan Pickering
Administrator of White River Regional Juvenile Detention Center
Tim taught in the Berkeley School District for 28 years until he passed away in 2011 from pancreatic cancer. In 2013, the City of Berkeley voted on a $5mm bond to build a grass baseball field on MLK Jr Way which they named in his honor.
Tim did not judge. He believed if a kid has at least one redeeming quality, then he or she is redeemable. Despite being meaner to Tim than anyone he ever knew, Tim shared unconditional love with Santi and taught by never breaking a promise. Tim didn’t think there was such thing as a bad kid, only a bad situation. He was a great listener and a committed mentor & coach who treated all his students and players the same – with kindness, trust, empathy, and integrity.
Tim Moellering Field is on MLK Jr. Way & Derby in Berkeley, California
The Power of Kindness
& Launch To Stanford
This unlikely friendship uncovered the astonishing — Santiago’s Quest for learning, healing, sharing, and caring. Without violence or conflict, he was able to channel his intensity, born from trauma, toward getting into college. He became an emancipated minor through the court, Student Body President of his high school and with good grades and hustle, he became a Quest Scholar (nonprofit that helps underserved and low-income youth get into college). After demonstrating an intense drive to succeed and dig deep, he was awarded financial aid to Stanford University.
In a safe, vibrant, creative atmosphere, he gained the tools and space to process his past and focus on a brighter future. Santiago studied, debated, and learned new truths and possibilities. With that confidence, the world continued to open up. In 2003, Santiago graduated from Stanford with a major in Economics, minor in Psychology and a 3.55 GPA.
WALL STREET – TO HOLLYWOOD – TO DETENTION CENTERS
After graduating, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue filmmaking where he met mentors like Haskell Wexler (Oscar winning cinematographer) while catering the Oscars for Wolfgang Puck. This inspired a greater vision, voice, and artist in him. Quest, continued — without a financial pillow to fall back on, and not yet earning the privilege to pursue the arts, he got an internship with a financial advisor, met a “Michael Jordan” of finance catering a party in Malibu, and left Hollywood for the fortunate opportunity of working on Wall Street. While in NYC, he learned from the homeless on Sundays and volunteered at the Administration for Children’s Services (foster care in NYC). When Tim died of pancreatic cancer in 2011, he reached even higher, wanting to pay back his debt and help troubled youth – face their truth – and take action. After Quest was rejected by every agent and producer Santiago approached, with zero filmmaking experience, he sold the house Tim bought with him, produced and directed Quest. A script he originally wrote with Tim 10 years prior. Quest stands as a living tribute not only to Tim but to all the beautiful mentors, teachers, and coaches who are committed to saving those who are struggling and restoring their ability to dream for a better day. Tim lived as an example of integrity, as he promised; with courage, humility, and empathy.
This is the house Santiago and Tim bought together. Santi left Wall Street to be with Tim during his final year and worked full time on remodeling it with his own hands. Santi sold it in 2014 in order to create QUEST. Tim never broke a promise to Santi. Before Tim passed, Santi promised he would make Quest in Tim’s honor. Quest is the completion of that promise. Please watch the Eulogy from January 2011 at the bottom of this page.
“All of us struggle. It is only when we share and embrace our struggles that we can collaborate on a newer, bigger and more important Quest toward a safer world. But we all have our own Quest to get there. We cannot change anyone else other than ourselves. We do that by focusing on our shadows and privileges and bringing those to light so we can be a source of light for others. The only thing we can control in life is what we give. We cannot control what we receive.” -Santiago Rizzo
“There’s no such thing as a bad kid. Only a bad situation.” – Tim Moellering
“Every child is born as a blank slate – a beautiful blank canvas where anything and everything is possible when we have love, compassion, sharing, and truth. Many of us had to inherit a negative energy that was no fault of our own which we then perpetuate by acting out in unhealthy ways. When we let go of the hate and resentment — when we forgive — we create space for love. Love is the only energy that can heal.”
Dylan Mattingly was one of Tim Moellering’s students and ballplayers. He wrote all the original score for Quest at just 23 years old. One of the most powerful elements of the movie is the music he wrote, some of which he literally wrote from outside Tim’s garage (which was also the house we filmed out of, the house Tim died in, and the house Santiago used to live in with him). When Dylan was a senior in high school, Tim used to tell Santi that Dylan would be one of the world’s most influential composers. Tim had impeccable taste in music and after watching Quest, I think you will agree that he wasn’t just saying that. Below are a few videos from rehearsal with Dylan in the Member’s section. Please join us.
“Your pain can be the greatest teacher and gift. It is the unexpected and valuable pathway out. You must trust it and have faith. It WILL get better and there is a future beyond your past. When we can accept our discomfort, we can let go and release it, by no longer being a victim to it. Instead we can empower. Light and love suddenly appear where it was not possible before. This is why the first frames of the movie have Mills running with the birds flying away. This is what the movie builds toward.
Let the pain humble you to the release. The truth will eventually rise and set you free.”
Thaden School screened to their 7th and 9th graders. After the screening, we talked about how understanding the pain someone else might be living in helps us empathize instead of judge and with empathy we can help open up gateways to a better future. We discussed privilege as safety and love and how those of us with it now have a responsibility to share with those of us that don’t yet get it. The kids acting out likely have a struggle we don’t yet know about (and can’t speak about).
After feedback from the students, parents were very thankful to the administration. I believe it’s time we stop sheltering children from the reality of what other children go through. When we do this, the children with the gift of love from healthier families, FEEL and therefore empathize with the child they would normally be fearful of and isolate. With new understanding of they can step out of fear and come to the rescue with love.
My favorite part of the movie is being of service and seeing the kids shift! They begin to recognize the ways in which they push people away and can begin their Quest of empowerment by not being a victim anymore, and begin taking responsibility for their actions, therefore healing themselves and others while building toward a brighter future. I have a dream that one day these detention centers can become healing centers that produce of the most powerful healers our world has ever seen! These kids have been through the worst pain and trauma. They are our world’s greatest gifts because they have the potential to bring the darkest shadows to the brightest light.
Toby Eagle was one of my best friends as a kid. We used to work together as kids collecting cans in the streets of Berkeley and West Oakland to make some income. His spirit was inspiration for Diego’s character played by Lakeith Stanfield. On March 8, 2011, Toby was shot and killed in Berkeley. Here’s Toby talking about Tim at Tim’s Memorial just 38 days before Toby died. My step-father played by Lou Diamond Phillips, also died in 2011, as did Tim Moellering.
Santiago Rizzo’s Eulogy for Tim Moellering, January 29, 2011
