Sacramento-filmed movie ‘No Address’ is released across US. Can it help reduce homelessness?

When the film “No Address” debuts Friday nationwide, anyone who lives in the Sacramento area might recognize numerous nods to it.

There are shots in the movie about homelessness, which was filmed locally in 2023, of the Tower Bridge, a Regional Transit train with a billboard of attorney Anh Phoong and the entrance area to Tower Theatre. While the film’s setting is fictionalized and meant to depict homelessness as something that can happen to anyone, anywhere, there’s no question where this movie was filmed.

One thing that’s not explicitly mentioned in the film but might be its biggest locally-inspired theme: the work of South Placer homeless organization The Gathering Inn.

During a promotional event for the film on Feb. 17, one of its stars, William “Billy” Baldwin, noted that there were effective homeless outreach programs throughout the country. He then said The Gathering Inn “has a wonderful success rate up there with some of their programs” and that he hoped people would be inspired to replicate these programs across the country.

The locally-produced film opens Friday at theaters across the country and is part of an ambitious effort that includes a documentary, “Americans With No Address” and a book and will donate 50% of its net profits to charity. What remains to be seen is if the film and its ties to The Gathering Inn can make a difference in reducing homelessness.

How The Gathering Inn and ‘No Address’ got connected

Around 2½ years ago, Keith Diederich, president and CEO of The Gathering Inn received a call from Bayside Church in Granite Bay.

The Gathering Inn is something of a South Placer institution. Among its programs, staff welcome people experiencing homelessness to a daytime service center at 201 Berkeley Ave. in Roseville. The organization travels to a network of churches for people to sleep. It also has a medical respite program that discharged 83% of participants in 2023 “to a positive housing destination,” Diederich said.

Diederich learned during the call with Bayside Church that one of its members, Meadow Vista resident Robert Lenney, who goes professionally by Robert Craig, was interested in doing a film on homelessness. The church’s representative asked if Diederich could help Craig.

“He came into the office and then actually had Julia Verdin on by Zoom, who’s the director out of LA,” Diederich said. “We just took a look at the script and gave him some advice regarding authenticity. And then he asked me, ‘Hey, can you, would you be willing to take some of the actors through the encampments?’”

Craig, who didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday, self-financed his film and landed numerous well-known actors or actresses for its cast.

Cast members include: Beverly D’Angelo of “American History X” and the National Lampoon’s Vacation film series; singer Ashanti; and veteran character actor Xander Berkeley, who is known for “Terminator II,” “Air Force One” and the television series “24.”

“Films that are spoken-word dramas that have a social message and that will have a social impact are probably the most important to me and you don’t get a chance to do them very often,” said Baldwin.

Diederich brought some of the cast members of “No Address” to a seven-mile encampment along Roseville Road and the area near homeless service organization Loaves & Fishes in Sacramento. Footage of this was included in the documentary.

“What really struck me was the level of engagement that both Billy and Xander had with people experiencing (homelessness) that we came into contact with, the willingness to engage, to go right up, have conversations with people, the openness to it… the lack of anxiety,” Diederich said.

He added, “I find the general population has an anxiety around people experiencing homelessness because they can’t quite understand why some people would be in that position and they hear these horror stories about a homeless person attacking this person.”

This cast wasn’t most people, though.

While in town to film the movie, Baldwin executed what he referred to as a “hostile takeover of The Sacramento Bee editorial board.” Baldwin, as recognizable now as when he appeared in “Backdraft” in 1991, rolled up to the glass doors of The Bee’s newsroom at 1601 Alhambra St. and spent 15-20 minutes holding court around a conference table with editors.

It’s in keeping with an actor who has no qualms about appearing on news networks with differing ideologies and who has attended every Democratic and Republican convention since 1988, save for last summer when he was sick. Baldwin said he finds it much more valuable to attend Republican conventions since he gets access to a group less likely to already be on his side about issues he cares about.

“We get a chance to bend their ear a little about those issues, about campaign finance reform, about climate change, about government funding of the arts or the National Endowment or whatever and all of a sudden you get a bid,” Baldwin said. “He turns – the congressman or the senator turns to his chief of staff, ‘Give him your business card. Call him first thing Monday. We’ll set something up.’”

Berkeley, who gave a joint interview with another member of the film’s cast, Ty Pennington, during the press event on Feb. 17, eschewed blaming either political party for the homeless crisis.

“It’s not a political thing on the left and the right,” Berkeley said. “We’re all messing up. We’re not doing it right. But there are a few people, a few organizations that are kind of nailing it with 70%, 80% success rates getting people off the streets.”

A willingness to work across the aisle might have been critical for anyone willing to be part of this production. Robert Marbut, who was executive producer for “Americans With No Address” and who didn’t respond to a request for comment through his website, served in Donald Trump’s first presidential administration as his homeless czar.

Getting ‘No Address’ out into the world

Toward the end of filming of “No Address,” Diederich’s wife Jennifer Stolo joined Robert Craig Films as its CEO. Previously, Stolo had spent almost 10 years as CEO of the local chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. She’s hopeful about what the film can do.

“I think it’s all about creating a sense of understanding,” Stolo said. “And when people understand more, they can be inspired to do something. And obviously, when action takes place, that’s where tangible change happens.”

The film includes a call to action from members of the cast and not-so-subtle messaging around the value of religious faith in overcoming homelessness. Craig had told The Bee during filming that the movie would have a connection to faith. Stolo called the film “faith-infused.”

Asked if he’d seen the film, Berkeley said he hadn’t seen its final cut, though he liked the documentary. “The experience has been incredibly rewarding and I’m committed to the cause 100%,” Berkeley said.

Pennington, previously known for his appearances on HGTV, said that no one had ever tackled homelessness like this. “We don’t look at it,” Pennington said. “We look away. And I think that’s why this is such an important film, because it sort of forces us to take a look and see, what if this happened to you?”

The film tells the story of a small encampment that was located during filming just off Del Paso Boulevard in North Sacramento.

The characters represent people from different walks of life each experiencing homelessness. Berkeley and Ashanti, who was unavailable for interview, each play veterans. Isabella Ferreira plays a young adult just termed out of the foster care system. D’Angelo is a former actress struggling with a dementia-related illness.

The Rev. Cliff Haggenjos, vice chair of The Gathering Inn, said he would be purchasing 30 tickets for a group of people to see the film. He’d watched the documentary and read the book and said he could relate to every story in the book. “All of those things do happen and they happen on a regular basis,” Haggenjos said.

Placer County Board of Supervisors Chair Bonnie Gore, whose husband Rob has a small role in the film, attended a premiere event for the film on Feb. 18 at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles. She said the film’s story drew her in.

“I would say that the movie was a really powerful story… and a great example of some individual stories of how people can end up on the streets,” Gore said.

Gore urged more compassion for people for people experiencing homelessness.

“They really are human beings with struggles and challenges and issues and as an individual, how can I help?” Gore said. “That could have been my son on the streets if he didn’t have a family to come home to during COVID.”

Asked if he was confident that “No Address” would make a difference, Diederich said that with the scope of the film’s distribution, it certainly couldn’t hurt.

“It’s such a national conversation right now, homelessness,” Diederich said. “I mean, it’s in the top one, two or three in every community. So people going to see ‘No Address,’ if it shines a light on the issue and the folks that are going to it can identify with one of the characters, perhaps they come out of that movie with a little bit different mindset.”

If you go

“No Address” will be screened at various theaters in the Sacramento region starting Friday. To find your nearest venue and show times visit https://bit.ly/43h8g62

This story was originally published February 27, 2025 at 5:00 AM.