Who is John Newton?
John Newton was a prominent Anglican clergyman who is probably best remembered as the author of the hymn “Amazing Grace.” Newton lived a very interesting life with certain elements which seem almost paradoxical. He lived in a very tumultuous period of English history, when society was undergoing major reforms and shift, and Christian evangelists were leading the way. He interacted with a number of notable British people as a priest and counselor, including prominent members of parliament and society. Newton was born in 1725 in Wapping. He sailed on several voyages with his father, also a sailor, as a youth after the death of his mother at age six. His father had high hopes for him; the plan was to install John Newton as a slave master on a plantation in Jamaica, but the young man was pressed into naval service before this could occur. When he attempted to desert, he was severely punished, and he ended up taking service on a slave ship. Oddly enough, it was during his time on a slaver,
He asked us to go and find out on our own and Morgan and I picked up the challenge and it was amazing the volume of materials we found in London and Germany about the man. Then, I decided that if I must produce the film, it must be on 35 MM and, of course, when I first mooted the idea to friends in the industry they thought I was going crazy, considering the daunting task that is required to bring such an ambition to fruition. My UK connection I have been a close friend of Nick Morgan for a while and I trust him alongside my UK partner, Alicia Arece, both of whom were very instrumental to the successful making of Amazing Grace. Apart from carrying out the initial research with me, Nick virtually gave me unlimited access to his bank account, and he played the lead role of John Newton free of charge! When people say that Nigerians cannot be trusted, I usually tell them that those who chose not to be trusted would never be trusted. Frustrations No situation can daunt me, because I have al
