Let’s have a talk about the faith and family movie and television industry. There are two kinds of ‘Christian movies”, the faith based and the faith adjacent. ‘The Blind Side’ or ‘Chariots of Fire’ would be examples of faith adjacent projects. They are stories that have a faith element to them in the storyline and/or the characters, and many of the characters might not be professing Christians. Faith based projects on the other hand, are produced by openly confessing Christian producers by mainly independent companies generally targeting a Christian audience with a definite Christian message. Sherwood’s Pictures, ‘Fireproof’, or Kingdom Storybook Company’s, ‘Jesus Revolution’, are a few examples. The family movie genera is a film that can be a lot of fun without the presence of a strong faith message, but still have good morals without a WOKE agenda attached to it. ‘Field of Dreams’, ‘Sandlot’, old favorites like ’Sound of Music’ or ‘E.T.’ and ‘The Princess Bride’ are just a few examples. It is easier to find these types of programs a few years back, but there are some good ones still being made, like ‘Peanut Butter Falcon’ and a new one ’IF’, my favorites.
A new definition to understand is the difference between a Faith Driven Consumer (FDC) and an overall professing Christian. Here are stats from an American Insight poll that are quite telling.
99% of Faith Driven Consumers (FDCs) rate the importance of having an intimate and personal relationship with God as a 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale (88% at 10), compared to 63% of Christians overall (50% at 10).
95% of Faith Driven Consumers rate the closeness of their personal relationship with God as 8 to 10 on a 10-point scale (59% at 10), compared to 64% of Christians overall (24% at 10).
96% of Faith Driven Consumers say that their faith has a major influence on their entertainment choices, compared to 46% of Christians overall. 61% of FDCs rate faith’s influence as a 10, compared to 18% of Christians overall.
Since the 4 Academy Awards from the 1982 film ‘The Chariots of Fire to present day, I have compiled a cross section of 68 Faith based and Faith adjacent films and their box office receipts which total over 3 billion dollars. A graph would show the growth of this genre of filmmaking rising rapidly over the past 10 years. This is not about the money as much as it is pointing out that people are going to see these types of movies and want more. With the advent of all the streaming services available, content is at a premium and networks are crying for more good content.
The decision to have the Christian Charity Film Festival here was based partly on this information. We, the old regime of Hollywood, must mentor the new crop of Christian filmmakers in the craft of producing excellent films. More and more content needs to be created and an audience is more likely to watch a well-crafted movie or series. On Aug. 2nd and 3rd some great Hollywood media moguls will be gathering at Brentwood Baptist Church to pass on some of their knowledge to young filmmakers and creatives. The site to review who is coming and to register is www.christiancharityfilmfestival.com.
Middle Tennessee is establishing itself as a hub and a mecca for the creative minds behind faith-based and family-oriented film and television, expanding beyond its renowned music scene. Studios are increasingly greenlighting projects that promote positive and faith based/ adjacent messages.
This will bring a more discerning audience as to judging the quality of the story and the production. ‘Good enough’ is a phrase that needs to be stricken from the mindset of producers, directors and writers if their projects will be accepted by the masses.
The Sr. Advisor to the Governor of Tennessee will be the Keynote speaker at the dinner on August 2nd. He has been in television and advertising, pastors a church in Memphis, has been a TN state Representative in Memphis and now Sr. Advisor. He brings a great deal of insight and knowledge as to why we must stand up and produce films, television, podcasts and music, that uplifts, encourages and is biblically based. Reverend De Berry states very plainly the need for a message of hope through media.
“As Americans, we find ourselves in a state of disbelief and shock. Our Nation that once boasted faithfully that, “In God We Trust”, and that we were, “One Nation under God,”, has now sought to expel God from His position of influence. It has been said that this is the most spiritually illiterate generation in the history of our nation. This has occurred because a Nation that once taught its children to pray, read the Bible and pledge allegiance to the flag, now teaches them gender expression, satanism and that America is a rouge nation with no right to exist. President Ronald Regan once said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction”. Basically, we have witnessed the erosion of our basic freedom in a woke society that seeks to silence the voice of Patriots of Faith. “
It is the mission of CCFF to encourage young media professionals to set a new standard for media production and be the new and loud voice for the Patriots of Faith.
Michael G. Carnes – 40 year media executive, author, speaker, and motivator – http://paletteproductions.org/
