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??????????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ? "THE DEAD WILL TELL"
(Broadcast Date: Oct. 24)
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?October 20, 2004

FAMED MEDIUM AND BEST-SELLING AUTHOR JAMES VAN PRAAGH DISCUSSES "THE DEAD WILL TELL,"
THE NEW SUPERNATURAL THRILLER MOVIE ON CBS THAT IS INSPIRED BY HIS READINGS
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On Sunday, Oct. 24 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) CBS will broadcast the "CBS Sunday Movie" THE DEAD WILL TELL, a new television movie inspired by the readings of famed medium James Van Praagh. The supernatural thriller stars Emmy Award nominee Anne Heche, Academy Award nominee Kathleen Quinlan, Jonathan LaPaglia, Academy Award nominee Chris Sarandon and Eva Longoria. It revolves around a young woman (Heche) whose world is turned upside down when her fiancé (LaPaglia) gives her an antique engagement ring after which the ring's late original owner repeatedly tries to make contact with her.

James Van Praagh is the author of The New York Times best-selling books Talking to Heaven and Reaching to Heaven. He also hosted the television show "Beyond with James Van Praagh." His ability to communicate with the world beyond and his inspiring message of comfort and hope has touched a chord in people around the world, and he has become a healing force for millions of readers. His gifts of clairvoyance, the ability to "see clearly," and clairsentience, the ability to have "clear feeling," which result from "feeling the emotions and personalities of the deceased," have made him an internationally recognized and respected spiritual medium.

An interview that was recently conducted with James Van Praagh, who is also one of the executive producers of THE DEAD WILL TELL, follows.? ?
Q: Would you please give some examples of the readings that spurred the idea for THE DEAD WILL TELL?

VAN PRAAGH: The idea for this movie came from two actual events that occurred. The first was a lecture I was doing in Cleveland, Ohio when the spirit of a woman's husband came through and mentioned how she had lost the engagement ring he had given her. Inside it there was a special inscription made just for her. She acknowledged the lost ring and revealed that the loss had been bothering her for some time. Her late husband told her that it could be found underneath a vat at a factory. Several weeks later, I received a letter from the woman who told me that she remembered that she had visited her son-in-law's beer bottling facility and was looking at beer vats. She told the son-in-law to look for the ring and sure enough he found it behind a leg of the vat. She also told me that the inscription read: "Eternally yours." A similar situation occurred with a friend of mine, so I incorporated both ideas for the movie.

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Q: Is it common for spirits to remain attached to the objects they leave behind?

VAN PRAAGH: It is not unusual for a spirit to be attached to objects, places or people for that matter. They become so attached that in some cases they don't move on until something is resolved. I remember one case where a woman would not leave her china set until it had gone to the right family member.

Q: Do spirits only contact humans when there is something unresolved in their lives -- like in this story?

VAN PRAAGH: No. Spirits are always around us. Depending on our own sensitivity and awareness, we can be more attuned to their presence. Very often they want us to know they are alright and are alive. They will often demonstrate they are around by flicking lights, playing with the radio or phone -- or very often will show up in our dreams. It seems, though, that when something very seriously bothers them that is unresolved, they will come through in stronger ways to make themselves known.

Q: What's the most dramatic example you've encountered of a spirit trying to make itself known?

VAN PRAAGH: As I wrote about in my first book Talking to Heaven, I was once called by a woman who had been attempting to rebuild her house. For some reason, the moment a wall was put up, it fell down -- or windows blew out. No one wanted to work there. Through my psychic investigation, I found that the house used to belong to a doctor who had ties to organized crime. He used to experiment on and hurt people upstairs. Once I went in and freed up (the spirits) and changed the energy in the house, it was resolved -- and the woman was able to finish building the house of her dreams.

Q: Do people need to have special clairvoyant abilities in order to tap into this sort of occurrence, or can it happen to anyone? For instance, do you think Anne Heche's character is clairvoyant? Her assistant (played by Eva Longoria) certainly seems to be.

VAN PRAAGH: Everybody is born with a certain amount of "intuition." It is our sixth sense or "survival sense." Some have more of a keen awareness of it and use it, as is portrayed by Anne's assistant in the movie. Anne's character is also very psychic, but it is a great example of someone who has it, but looks at it through a rational, left brain mind-set. It makes it difficult when you try to rationalize gut feelings. Everyone has the ability to, indeed, increase their own psychic awareness.

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Q: During this thriller Anne Heche's character is often terribly frightened by what's happening to her. Do the "relationships" with the spirits tend to evolve over time and become less terrifying?

VAN PRAAGH: I believe that knowledge is power. The more one understands what spirit communication is all about -- and has a thorough knowledge of the subject -- they will find that there is really NO reason to be terrified. Because this is an entertaining business, we must entertain the audience. But, I find some of the best filmmaking involves having the audience leave with something they have learned -- a message if you will. This movie has that. So, through the "terrifying" parts, it is a means to an end to tell us that love never dies.

Q: You have a cameo in the film -- as someone complimenting Jonathan LaPaglia's character on his photo exhibit. With all of your vast experiences, do you still get a kick out of being on set as your project is brought to life?

VAN PRAAGH: The most exciting thrill is to see, played out before you, what you envisioned in your mind -- and to see how close it is to that original vision.

Q: Was there a psychic reason why New Orleans was chosen for the filming and setting of this movie?

VAN PRAAGH: New Orleans, of course, is known to be one of the most haunted of all cities in the United States, but, ironically, this was not our original idea. It really was a matter of production concerns and the New Orleans film chapter was extremely welcoming to this project.

Q: We heard you had a real ghost on the set. Would you describe what happened? Was that the only incident?

VAN PRAAGH: This was extremely wild. I was watching the dailies of what was shot the day before. In this one scene, Jonathan's character is taking pictures of Anne's character at various sites in the French Quarter. The next day, Anne's character is looking at a shot and there is the movie's spirit lady in the window frame behind her. But, the next shot of the window, where it is supposed to be clear, you can actually make out a man with a large forehead and piercing eyes, wearing an old time suit jacket. I immediately called up the other producer and asked her and the director if this was meant to be this way and they said no. No one was standing anywhere near the window. I was amazed -- we'd filmed a spirit. And we have kept it in the actual movie, which will be airing.

Q: In the film, Anne's character ends up unofficially working in conjunction with the police as she gets clues from the spirit about an old murder investigation. Do you work with the police to solve actual crimes? Are there any well known cases you can share?

VAN PRAAGH: I used to work with the police on kidnapping cases exclusively for years, but could not take the brutality I used to witness. I do work on other very well known cases from time to time, but out of the public eye. I have worked on the Chandra Levy case. I also have worked on the Nicole Brown-Simpson murder case.

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Q: What do you hope/expect people take away from watching this television film?

VAN PRAAGH: I believe that the medium of television is one of our greatest teachers. I hope to reach a mainstream audience and introduce them to this subject matter -- and bring it into a context of believability for them. I hope in some way they will look beyond just the entertainment and see a longer more lasting insight into the reality of life after death and just how healing love can be.

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Press Contacts:  Susan J. Marks 323/575-2118            susan.marks@tvc.cbs.com
                  Barbara Abseck        212/975-4637            beabseck@cbs.com