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LOS ANGELES, November 8, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Every minute Americans spend more than $3,000 on pornography. The average age of exposure to porn is now 11 years old. An estimated 25 percent of all internet searches are for porn. Every second, more than 28,000 people are looking at porn. And more than half of all divorces cite porn as a contributing factor to the breakdown of the marriage.

Indeed, from a statistical standpoint, odds are that you have looked at porn, and that either you or someone you know is seriously hooked on it. Yet, despite the fact that porn and porn addiction is practically ubiquitous, even amongst dedicated Christians, can you think of the last time you had an open, frank conversation about porn?

Chances are you can’t.

According to the creators of a new documentary called Shamed, which is currently in production, this deafening silence is precisely the environment in which porn addiction flourishes – leaving those struggling with sexual sin isolated and trapped in a self-destructive cycle of shame and deception.

“It’s imperative that we shift our culture’s current attitude of not speaking openly about pornography and sexuality for the sake of our children, emerging adults, and young adults with sexual secrets, confusion, or addictions,” reads a message from the creators of Shamed.

According to Jessica Mockett, co-producer and director of the film, the goal isn’t to talk about sex in the same way the wider culture talks about sex – to trivialize it or affirm immoral behavior. The movie, she assured, will approach the issue of porn from the standpoint of traditional Christian sexual ethics. But, she told LifeSiteNews.com, it will also seek to teach “from a compassionate and hopeful place.”

“Removing the mass amounts of shame does not mean we condone acting out sexually,” according to a synopsis of the project on the website for Shamed. “What it does, is allows for a safe place for those entrapped by pornography to come forward and begin to heal.”

The creators of the film draw a distinction between guilt – which they say is a good thing, because it can drive someone to change and healing – and an unhealthy “shame” – which they say “is a constricting emotion.”

“Shame tells us that we are not worthy of love or support; that we have to conceal the worst parts of ourselves in order to be accepted and loved,” they explain.

To break the cycle of unhealthy shame, Shamed has compiled a who’s-who list of experts on porn addiction, as well as a variety of men and women who have struggled with or otherwise been affected by porn addiction and who are willing to share their stories.

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Recently, Mockett and her team released an eight-minute segment from the film, as part of an effort to raise publicity – and funds.

The first thing that strikes a viewer is the top-notch production quality – the crisp camera work, the visually striking set, and the music that perfectly sets the mood. But then comes the testimony – earnest, honest, hope-filled and frequently heartbreaking. Men and women whose lives have been torn apart by porn addiction – either their own or that of a loved one – and who have since climbed to a place of hope and healing.

“There’s something in [porn] that kept me from having a whole life, and I mean just experiencing things to a depth that’s rewarding and fulfilling,” recounts one tearful man interviewed in the clip.

Another woman, Jessica Harris, agrees. She recounts how she accidentally encountered porn while researching for a school project. After this she began to “sex chat,” before being pulled deeper and deeper into the world of hardcore porn.

“I think the biggest thing,” she says, “is that I lost my joy. When I was little I can remember just being so full of energy and life and creativity, and I wanted to go outside. I would sing because I was happy. But when I got exposed to [porn] I lost that, and I lost the connection that I wanted to have with real people.”

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Every testimony approaches the problem of porn with an understanding of the power of the addiction and the difficulties inherent in overcoming it – but also with a profound conviction that a porn-free life is a much happier and joyful life than one tainted by it.

Mockett doesn’t hide her eagerness to see the film hit the shelves. “Of all the video material on the subject that I have seen to date, I feel our work is the most viable in helping to get to the root of the issue and to bring healing,” she said.

But at the moment the project has come to a temporary standstill.

While there have been some very positive developments – the film has already secured a distributor who is willing to market and shelve the DVD, something that Mockett observes “is a big feat, especially for an independent project” – at the moment the production team lacks the funds to finish the project.

The production schedule calls for another cycle of interviews, which requires the use of a studio, the proper film equipment, and the experts to operate it. And then there is the business of post-production.

While Shamed has the enthusiastic support of numerous anti-porn organizations, Mockett says these groups have understandably been unable to offer major funding for the project, and so instead she has turned to the grassroots. Last year a fundraiser in Kickstarter raised $40,000. But this fall, a fundraiser on indiegogo to cover the costs of the second phase of the project has stalled at just under $5,000, far from the $50,000 they need to complete stage two, and the $110,000 they need to finish the project completely.

“How amazing that so much money is spent on the destruction of our culture and how ironic that it has proven so hard to find the needed $160,000 to complete Shamed, an amount that pornographers make in under a minute!” Mocket says.

Mockett attributed the difficulties they are having in completing the project to the widespread addiction to porn, and the effectiveness of the porn industry’s marketing.

“So many people believe the porn industry’s well placed lies that it is harmless entertainment, many others are involved as users and too ashamed to go near the subject in any way, many naive people think that pornography doesn’t affect them personally,” she observed, “so there is only a small group of folks who really get that pornography is damaging and are willing to make a stand against it.

But despite the present setbacks, the Shamed team is determined to forge ahead.

“We know this film has the potential to help hundreds of thousands of people to find the much needed hope, tools, and motivation to remove pornography/lust from their lives in healthy, realistic ways,” they write on their indiegogo fundraising page. “The producers are dedicated to the cause and movement.”

To learn more about Shamed, click here. To contribute to Shamed, click here. To see more videos from the film on the Vimeo page for Shamed, click here.