This is the new music video of Jacob Favela's "Forgiven," with Jacob performing his song. The choreography is by Meosha Adams. In it Jacob tells the story of his mom's sordid life and the results it had on her family. In the end he forgives her.

Forgiven is the first film from the Children's Music Project at the Hill Country Youth Ranch. It was directed and produced by Tony Gallucci (Milk River Film).

The Ranch is a family-oriented facility housing disenfranchised, abandoned and abused children. They are wards of the state of Texas. The Children's Music Project is one of several fine arts programs at the Ranch that seek to discover, encourage and accommodate the artistic talents of these children. With a state of the art recording studio, theatre and fine arts center, the Ranch is immersed in providing kids the opportunity to expand their horizons in ways that may lead to future vocations and careers.

Typically, children at the Ranch write poetry, which is then taken by professional songwriters and musicians and recorded in an effort to spread the words of the child and the story of their lives.

The project is now working on its third CD of songs featuring such luminaries as Dana Cooper, Stephen Bruton, Monte Montgomery, Sara Hickman, Tommy Spurlock, Jamie Oldaker and Flaco Jimenez.

This video represents two firsts for the Ranch -- the first public release of a song both written and performed by the child, and the first attempt at a music video of such a song.

We hope you enjoy this production.

[UPDATE: Since the production of this video, it has made the rounds of social service agencies and folks invested in the future of abused children. Because of this Jacob was invited to a leadership conference in Wasington D.C. where he saw George Bush speak and met with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama; he has spoken to another national leadership conference in Denver; met Elton John, Lance Armstrong and Andy Roddick at a function where he was honored as the CPS Youth of the Year for Texas. He was the subject of FoxNews-Houston's Thanksgiving 2007 feature story which utilized much of this video in the presentation and is being nominated for an Emmy. You can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3syIBivbmSk]

The Ranch and its fine arts programs are supported largely by private donations. If you would like to contribute to the cause, you can check out the website at http://www.youth-ranch.org, or mail them at P.O. Box 67, Ingram Texas 78025.

"Forgiven"
*Written and performed by Jacob Favela
*Choreographed by Meosha Adams
*Dancers are Meosha Adams, Vonda Velasques and Mona Medina
*Mom is played by Olivia Navarro
*Costumed by Carol Priour
*Music recorded, mixed, engineered, mastered and produced by Tony Young
*Film directed, filmed, edited and produced by Tony Gallucci
*Special Thanks to Theresa Brown, Ciara Rodriguez, Holly Riedel, Joshua Rose and Gary Priour

© 2007 The Children's Music Project, Hill Country Youth Ranch, Youth Ranch Music (BMI)

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