Christians in Cinema

Producers/Writers/Directors - C2 Series

Son of Christian music’s Michael W. Smith, Ryan Smith is setting his own course in the entertainment field. Ryan founded Seabourne Pictures with producing partner Mark Cowart with the objective of creating thought-provoking and engaging feature films. (Ryan, left, and Mark, right, work on a scene from C2: Relapse in Nashville, TN)

I think the responsibilities and our gifts overlap a bit.

Since the beginning of the company in 2005, Seabourne has produced various music videos and short films, while developing several feature film projects. On a busy summer afternoon, I had a conversation with Ryan and Mark about starting a film company, being the son of a music legend, and where the name “Seabourne Pictures” came from.

At what point did you each decide you wanted to be filmmakers, and what was your path to forming a company together?

Ryan:  When I was growing up, I wanted to be a Disney animator. Somehow along the way, it morphed into live action. When I was in high school, I started my own production company and did various projects like EPKs and music videos. I met Mark at one point and we were both looking to start something new, so we started Seabourne together.

Mark:  I loved movies for years and years. I was into photography in high school, then went to college and studied missions at a Bible college, and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in missions. I never thought of filmmaking as an option.

After I graduated, I was hired at the missions agency my parents were with. They hired me to learn the whole video thing, and I started doing that. It all sort of took off from there. I think shortly after that is when I met Ryan.

I had decided to move out to LA and try to do the film thing, but before I was able to move, we started talking about Seabourne Pictures.

What’s the inspiration for the name?

Ryan:  It comes from an ancient Jewish folk tale….

Mark:  You’re lying!

Ryan:  We both really liked the idea of sea imagery, and somehow we landed on that, and it just felt right.

Mark: We went through about a month of trying to decide what we were going to be called. He was working under a different name, and I was too. We went through a process of trying to think of something new.

We loved the scope of Seabourne. It sounded like something big, like a feature film company.

What was the inspiration for the C2 project, and how many do you think you’ll produce?

Mark:  I was at my church one Sunday, and they used a film clip as an example, as a sermon illustration. I thought it would be a cool thing to do for churches and for small groups.

I talked with Ryan about it, and he liked it too. Then we talked to Michael (W. Smith) and he liked it as well. One thing led to another and it sort of evolved into what it is right now.

We’ve done these first two and I think we’re going to see how these do. We have several other scripts and ideas, some written and some not. We’re kind of mulling over what the next one will be.

What we’re not trying to do is attack mainstream movies because they have objectionable content.

Ryan, you wrote “Relapse.” What was your inspiration for that story?

Ryan:  I wish I had a really amazing answer about some memory or personal experience that inspired it, but I don’t. I was brainstorming about a short, and this was really before we had C2 set up. It was independent of that.

I thought it was a great hypothetical situation. Here’s this mother who’s lost a child and she has an opportunity to bring him back for one day at a time. It brings up some pretty major moral dilemmas. Given that situation, I tried to think, “How would I react?”

I’ve got a one-year-old, so I guess I can relate to the mother in some ways. I don’t know what I would do, and I think a lot of people can relate to that also. I think it’s a story we can all relate to in some way, because we know what it’s like to lose someone we love, no matter who that person may be. I think all of us would have to make a really difficult decision, whether or not to bring that person back if the technology were there to make it happen.

Some executive producers are very hands-on during a production. Others act in a more advisory role. How active was your dad in the project as an executive producer?

Ryan:  He’s acted really in an advisory role. It’s been great because he’s really trusted us with a lot. We definitely run all the major decisions by him, but he trusts our individual creative instincts and capabilities, so at the end of the day, most of the creative decisions were made by us.

Mark:  He’s definitely played the role of an enabler in Seabourne Pictures. He’s really believed in Ryan and myself and has done everything that he can to enable us to follow our passions.

As partners, can you identify each others’ strengths and weaknesses, and the roles you play in your partnership?

Ryan:  I pretty much do everything, and…

Mark:  I just tag along.

Ryan:  Yeah, he cleans up my office… no, really, here’s the truth.

We started Seabourne Pictures with the intention of making feature films. The short films are kind of something that happened along the way, and we’re grateful for it. But over the last four years, we’ve been developing a number of feature-length scripts for each of us to direct.

I write and direct, Mark directs and does a little writing too. I think the responsibilities and our gifts overlap a bit.

Mark:  In the beginning, our relationship was kind of director and cinematographer because I was shooting a lot of stuff at the time. He needed something shot, so he hired me as DP (director of photography) on a project or two. So that’s sort of the roles that we assumed.

The first feature film we were going to do, Ryan was going to direct, so we funneled everything in that direction. We were trying to build his reel as director and my reel as cinematographer. C2 is the project where we’ve branched off, each of us doing our own directing. That seems to be the way it’s going for the future.

Ryan:  At the same time, we still work in that director-DP relationship too. We’re shooting a feature later this year that I’m directing, and Mark is going to DP that. That’s still part of what we do and how we work together.

Only, now, Mark is starting to do his own stuff. We’re developing a feature for him to direct in the future as well.

Ryan, can you give us an idea what your feature is about, or is it a state secret?

Mark:  There’s still a question of rights for the title, and things like that.

Ryan:  I can say that the whole thing will be shot at one location in Nashville, but I can’t say much more yet.

You’ve said that you want to help people think critically about the films they see. What are you hoping to accomplish with that goal?

Ryan:  What we’re not trying to do is attack mainstream movies because they have objectionable content. A lot of times, that’s the case with Christians and the arts. We’re not looking from a content perspective, but from a worldview perspective and from an artistic perspective.

In other words, when you go watch a film, how do you learn to understand what you’re seeing? Why are they using this shot in this scene? Why is there a close-up here? Why is the camera tracking like this? Why is the music like this? Why that particular line of dialogue, or that prop in that scene?

All of those things are motivated decisions, and I think sometimes we watch films and TV, the visual arts in general, and instead of understanding them, we just consume them. So our intention is to help people not only appreciate movies in general, but to discern and understand what they’re seeing.

Mark: I think Christians in general take things at face value at times. That’s probably broader even than just Christians, sort of across the spectrum. I think as Christians, we need to be discerning about the entertainment we consume, and understand that films, music and art are not done flippantly.

Most of the time, I think they’re done very intentionally, and that’s the awareness we’re trying raise. There are people with worldviews behind 100% of the films that we watch.

Ryan:  I think you’d probably agree that if you saw these shorts, you wouldn’t necessarily assume they’re made by Christian filmmakers, which is intentional. We’re not really interested in telling stories about Christians.

There’s an audience for that, but that’s not what we’re interested in. We’re more interested in telling stories that everyone can appreciate, but with a Christian worldview behind it.

Who are some filmmakers that have successfully done what you want to do, and are there some who have presented a Christian worldview in their films without turning it into propaganda?

Mark:  I think it’s a transitional time for Christians in film. There was a film called Bella, and the guys who made that are believers. Even though it’s not a “Christian film,” you can definitely tell they were working from a Christian worldview. That’s kind of the direction we want to go. It’s an interesting time for Christians in film.

There are people with worldviews behind 100% of the films that we watch.

Could each of you tell us what you might say to a group of 12 – 16 – year-olds who may be interested in filmmaking?

Mark:  I’m a firm believer in the gifts and desires that we have. I think they’re God-given. Those deep passions, most of the time, in the environment I grew up in, are kind of pushed aside. It took five years of college and a professor telling me that I should really pursue some of the things that I wasn’t pursuing because I was afraid to. I was told they weren’t valid pursuits.

If a young person is really passionately interested in film or the arts, I think they should go for it. They should pursue it as best as they can.

Ryan:  I’m a big supporter of the idea that if you want to make movies, grab a camera and just start making movies. I did make tons of stupid little movies with my friends growing up, but I wish that I had done even more.

We have a good friend who’s shooting a feature film right now, and for all intents and purposes, he has nothing; no money. But that’s not stopping him from doing it. I think it’s going to be an incredible experience for him.

Go out and shoot, even if you don’t have the resources. I have a lot of regret about waiting for resources. I could have done more.

Hopefully one day the resources will be there, but in the meantime, learn how to tell a story, learn how to shoot, just go out and do it! And watch a lot of movies.

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