lost soul stories
THE CREATIVE ENDEAVORS OF JUSTIN SABESTINAS
HELLO
My name’s Justin, but friends call me Gus. I create stories, scripts, movies, music, and problems. I try to also create solutions to the problems, but I don’t always succeed. My greatest creation by far would be my four children, but God and my wife can take most of the credit where they’re concerned. I created this page in case you heard my name and wanted to know more or get in touch. If that’s you, read on!
Current Work
Writer. Coach. Creative Consultant.
Film work
Since 2022 I’ve been writing scripts with Exodus Cry, a non-profit leading the charge in breaking the cycle the exploitation perpetrated by the global commercial sex trade. We’ve been developing films that will carry on their work through a cultural conversation in various genres: historical epic, horror-thriller, and sci-fi noir to name a few. Soon we’ll put down our pens and pick up our cameras, clapboards, and mics to put at least one of these movies onto a screen near you. Check back here for updates.
Book development
I’ve had the privilege of coaching my father-in-law Pastor Craig Lotze through the process of writing his first book: With the Generations, for the Generations: Building Healthy Churches That Last.”. We’re beginning the editing and layout phase of the self-publishing journey and plan to have it available to order in early 2027. If you’re leading a church in any capacity, I urge you to check back here for updates and glean from his decades of wisdom building a fantastic church.
Writing projects
In between these other projects I can be found scratching away at a few different poems, essays, shorts, scripts, and book ideas. In the script department I’m currently cooking up a contained sci-fi thriller. As for novels, I’ve been meandering my way through an epic novel inspired by a combination of the journey of St. Brendan, an Irish folktale about a drunkard named Connor Crow, and the true story of a junkie I hit when he stepped in front of my rental car in Dublin. I’d love to say any of these projects are coming soon, but that’s up to the muses, my self-discipline, and circumstances beyond my control.
Some of my story
My first time on a movie set was 1986 in Babb, Montana, where I was cast at five years old against my knowledge in a small role for an independent shoot-em-up kinda picture. My scene was cut and it was rated R, so I never saw it anyway. But I got the bug for playing pretend and telling stories. In seventh grade I co-wrote my first script for my school’s drama club.
After high school I went into church work for about twenty-five years. As creative director I wrote, directed, produced, and acted in many stage productions and short films. Meanwhile I studied at Eastern Washington University and graduated in 2009 with a degree in Creative Writing and a minor in Screenwriting. I landed a few side gigs in regional commercials and independent films, but my IMDB page remains sadly blank, mostly because I turned down a job to be the photo double for some guy named Robert in a weird-sounding vampire flick called Twlight. (I guess it did pretty well.)
I wound up focusing more on ministry, my wife and I pastoring a campus of Victory Faith in Spokane, WA from 2018 to 2023. Since that chapter closed, I’ve been focusing on my work as a writer while still leading mission teams to Thailand once a year. For my next act, I plan to get back onto some movie sets, play pretend with some great people, and tell some good stories.
Contact
Want to connect or chat about a project? Drop me a line.