How a Mom’s Prayers Transformed This Hollywood Producer’s Life

Published: December 9, 2024

How a Mom’s Prayers Transformed This Hollywood Producer’s Life

By Movieguide® Contributor

Producer and actor DeVon Franklin recalled the impact that his family had on his life after his dad died from alcohol addiction when he was just 9 years old.

“I was in my most formative years, with more cards stacked against me than for me. Here was my mom raising three boys on her own,” Franklin told Guideposts. “‘The village’ as I call them — my grandmother and her seven sisters — selflessly came together to help my mom raise my two brothers and me. The role of prayer has been integral from the beginning. There was a lot of praying — days when my mother didn’t know how she was going to provide food or pay the rent.”

Franklin knows that if it wasn’t for his family and the community around him, he wouldn’t be the man he is today.

“The life I’m living now is a direct answer to her prayers and the prayers of the women in my family,” he said. “If not for them, I don’t know where I’d be. They taught us to express ourselves and speak with confidence — not hide our light under a bushel. Right now we need community and connection more than ever. In a time where there’s a lot of division, it is a key to overcoming and withstanding whatever may come our way.”

Throughout his life, he experienced God’s providential timing.

“There’s a lot of things that happen in certain periods of time that only God can control,” Franklin explained. “We have to be open to how God wants to do things in the way that only he can. The same year my aunt Ida married my uncle Pastor D. J. Williams, they started an independent ministry in East Oakland, California.”

“That ministry, called Wings of Love, became our family church and helped save all of our family’s lives,” he continued. “That happening the year my father died was a lifeline. We were active in the church; we felt ownership of the church. We would not only go to church every Sabbath but have Bible study during the week, sing songs and read Scripture on Friday night. We would listen to gospel music while getting ready for school in the morning. My mother was very much of the mindset ‘as for me and my house we’re going to serve the Lord,’ and I’m grateful for that.”

Franklin continues to serve the Lord through his busy Hollywood career. He’s working on a retelling of the biblical story of Ruth and Boaz for Netflix titled R&B.

“Set in Tennessee, R&B tells the story of a young woman who escapes the Atlanta music scene to care for an elderly widowed woman and in the process finds the love of her life and gains the mother she never had,” a synopsis reads.

“My brother @tylerperry and I have set the cast and director for our new production, the Bible-Inspired Love Story ‘R&B’!” Franklin posted in October celebrating the movie.

“R & B will debut on @netflix next year,” he continued. “this is the first production of the new partnership Tyler and I formed to bring faith based content to the world!”