I'm so sorry I didn't write right after the movie opened but I needed to take a minute and catch my breath.

I gotta tell you, a press tour can be really rough, especially dealing with a lot of people who don't get it, and don't get what I'm doing here. I refuse to deal in the negative though--I refuse.

So, let's look at the real deal and let me tell you what kind of blessing this is. Out of all of the people who wrote in saying that they were given tickets to the wrong movie and had to argue to get them to reprint tickets to Preys; out of all of the movies that opened this past weekend with 800 to 1,000 more screens then I had; out of all of the critics who said how awful the movie is, out of all the bootleg copies on the streets; out of all of my people in Texas dealing with the devastation of the hurricane; out of all that is going on in this economy; out of all the foolishness I've been dealing with since the movie opened; YOU STILL WENT, YOU STILL MADE “PREYS” NUMBER 2, YOU STILL CROWDED INTO THE SAME THEATERS, AND I
THANK GOD FOR YOU!

It is my prayer that not only did the movie make you laugh and move you to want to enjoy every day on this earth but it is also my prayer that every dime you've spent to invest in me that it comes back to you one million fold. Thank you.

I wrote this movie because I was going through some things, I had family members preying on me. I had been betrayed. People that I have done more for then than they have done to help themselves broke my heart and I was so hurt by how ugly people could be. I was at a place where I didn't trust anybody, I thought everybody was after something, and I thought nobody was sincere. I was becoming cynical and very unhappy. Lots of people look at the outside and think all is well, but sometimes it isn't. So, I started writing this movie after I heard a song called I HOPE YOU DANCE. I had Gladys Knight re-record it for the end of the movie. You should hear it. It talks about no matter what happens, just dance. Just dance.

All of this to say to you, life is a gift and a blessing. Don't let people change you. No matter what happens be wiser the next time. But, don't let it change you. There may be people in your life that have hurt you, but
don't make the next person who has the best intentions come along and you run them away because you think they're going to do what the last person did to you. Don't be afraid. In life you can't live in fear of what people will say or do. If you lose love or a friend, then maybe you never had it.

THE FAMILY THAT PREYS is still in theaters. If you haven't seen it, you still can. And for all of you who did and LOVED it and made no bones about telling me that its my best movie yet. I read it and I heard it. You really encourage me to keep going no matter what anyone says. I write for you and only you. God Bless and thanks again,

T.P.

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