The Christian Broadcasting Network

Christians Go to the Movies

As Fireproof approaches the $25 million in box office receipts, more churches may be looking to filmmaking as a form of outreach. New Song Community Church in Oceanside, California is currently in the production phase of its own movie, How to Save a Life. The film, which was written by the church’s youth pastor as a way to reach young people, draws mostly from local talent and private donors. The project has also drawn the attention of several Hollywood pros, including CSI: Miami/As the World Turn’s Deja Kreutzbert and Randy Wayne who was in the recent Duke of Hazzard movie. The movie tells the story a popular high school student who seeks the help of a pastor after he finds out his girlfriend is pregnant and a close friend commits suicides.

After the success of Albany, Georgia’s Sherwood Baptist Church’s movies (including Facing the Giants and Fireproof), I have a feeling that even more churches will be undertaking independent films. After all, most churches have all the elements needed to produce a film—a group of motivated private donors, willing volunteers, and in some cases, young, creative talent.

The Sherwood model of moviemaking also works outside the Hollywood world, using mostly volunteer casts and crews,  giving limited work to Guilded filmmakers, which keeps costs down. But, along with any creative endeavor, churches open themselves up to criticism (despite measured financial success, many independent Christian films are panned by critics). But despite the criticism (hey, you've got to start somewhere), I think the trend of churches making movies is a good thing, and opening up dialog through the film (which are, for better or worst, dissected by critics) can only further avenues for Christians to talk about our faith in ways that are disarming (you can watch a film in the comfort of your own home) and culturally engaging.

And, since we're talking about movies ...

Fans of the big-screen adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy should be excited about filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro’s vision for his upcoming movie version of The Hobbit. Del Toro told MTV that he wants to stay as close to the original story as possible, even if that means it will be two separate films (sort of). Because of the magnitude of Tolkien’s book, Del Toro will create two films that are essentially telling one long story (like Peter Jackson did with the LOTR films).
Del Toro explained to MTV, “We all agree that if we do our job right, it should all feel like a continuous journey. That’s what we’re striving for. You should see a movie that’s five pictures long. If we do our job right, you put in ‘The Hobbit’ and you wind up watching the entire Pentology!”

Print      Email to a Friend    posted on Wednesday, November 05, 2008 11:31 AM