ABC’s Nightline to Feature Report on Marriage Blessing 2014
A prime-time special of ABC’s Nightline magazine will air Saturday, April 12th at 10 p.m. EST, including a substantial documentary on the path of several young Unificationists as they prepared to say their marriage vows in Korea. The viewer audience likely will be one and a half million. There may be a shorter additional segment that would air during the regular Nightline program (from 12:35 a.m.) Monday to Friday, according to sources at ABC.
ABC correspondent Ju Ju Chang, and producers Victoria Thompson and Sarah Kolinovsky worked for six months to produce the film which required the cooperation of at least a half-dozen couples, leaders of the Blessed Family Ministry Department and Unificationist ministers in New York and Seoul.
Couples who gave generously of their time to participate in the extended filming project include Sunkwon Bush of Clementon, NJ and his bride, Naomi Parks of Orlando, Florida; Glenn Haider and Judilee King Haider of Carlstadt, NJ; Sean Nadeem Rahman of Phoenix and his bride, Romina Tosca from Albania; Mr. Don Rhee and his bride, Dr. Marsha Walker of Charlotte, N.C.; Yoshio Akuzawa and his bride, Christina Haugen of Los Angeles; and Ademar Rodrigues of San Franciso and his bride, Niina Mikkanen of Finland. No preview of the film has been made available to church officials, and not all couples interviewed will be featured in the final version. Douglas Burton, former public affairs director for the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, served as logistical liaison to the ABC team both in the United States and in Seoul.
The Nightline crew was allowed access to the Philadelphia Church center, the home of Hubert and Claire Haider in Carlstadt, NJ, and the Clifton, NJ church for a fundraiser, Christmas worship services at 4 W. 43rd St. in New York, to the Blessing III Workshop in Ontario, CA and to the condominiums used by blessing candidates near Gapyeong, Korea.
Contributed by Douglas Burton, public affairs coordinator