A family is terrorized by strange, demonic occurrences in Director Lee Daniels’s exorcism thriller, The Deliverance.

Inspired by the Ammons haunting case, Daniels’s film tells the story of a struggling single mother fighting her personal demons, who soon finds herself locked in a battle for her life and the souls of her children when they become demonically possessed.

On August 25, after the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles, Daniels discussed the making of The Deliverance during a Q&A moderated by Director Adam Shankman (Hairspray).

During the conversation, Daniels spoke about why he wanted to make this film.

"I realized we were in dark times, really dark times, and it's not about spooky, spooky, it's really about finding your higher power. For me it was about like tomorrow we could be gone and it was really about scaring you to a higher power."

He also shared some of his philosophy on directing actors.

“The way that I work is I am an open portal. So, I am demanding this honesty from the actors. Every breath has to be right.”

Daniels’s other directorial credits include the DGA Award-nominated feature, Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire, the features Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Shadowboxer, The Paperboy and The United States vs. Billie Holiday; the movie for television Good People; and the pilots for the series Empire and STAR.

A DGA member since 2007, Daniels has served as a co-chair of the DGA’s Eastern Diversity Steering Committee and is a member of the LGBTQ+ Representative Committee.