Christians in Cinema

Screenwriter/Producer/Editor – One Night with the King

Stephan was born in Perrytown, New York, (the location of Sleepy Hollow). His dad moved the family around every few years, and eventually wound up in Malibu, California. He attended UCLA where he played football and was part of the team that played in the Rose Bowl his senior year.

God doesn’t need me as a filmmaker. He created me this way so I can relate to Him in that aspect of my life.

A fan of Italian food who would love to move his family to Italy, Stephan is also a surfer. His parents have a small vacation home on a golf course in the desert where the family likes to vacation. They also visit his wife’s parents at Hume Lake Christian Campground (only a few miles from the offices of ChristianCinema.com).

Stephan and his wife Jennifer have 5 children: Madison (13), Tatum (10), Dax (8), Caleb (4), and Luli (14 months). Because they live close to Malibu, they spend lots of time at the beach surfing. They’re an active family; so active that in the space of a few weeks in February, Caleb broke his arm and Dax split his head open ice skating. Stephan and I talked by telephone the other day about his work on One Night with the King, being part of Gener8xion Entertainment, and his family.

Angela: Critics gave mixed reviews to One Night With the King. Some thought the script was a bummer, but the sets were great. Others praised it for being visually lavish, with consistently high production values. Producing a film based on a Biblical story can be a challenge from many aspects. Why did y’all choose to do the story of Esther?

Stephan: Tommy Tenney, who wrote the novel “Hadassah: One Night with the King,” came to us in 2000 to tell us about the idea for his first novel. He had seen our other projects (Omega Code) and liked our work. He thought it would be fun to concurrently develop the story of Esther into a film. We got the book in late 2002 and focused on raising the funds for the picture. Matt (Crouch) called me on Christmas Eve of 2003 to tell me we had complete funding. We left about three weeks later to scout locations around the world. It was in Jodhpur, India, that we discovered we could do almost the whole thing in that one location.

Matt asked me to consider writing the screenplay. Even though writing screenplays is not a top priority for me, I wrote the scripts for Omega Code and Megiddo: The Omega Code 2. He thought I could do the story of Esther also. Honestly, the story didn’t excite me that much. Matt asked me to think about creating a character for my daughters, to give them a vision of who I want them to become. How could I say no to that? The moment he gave me that pitch, it all came alive in my mind.

I based Esther on my second daughter, Tatum. She has an innocent quality about her that is very appealing. She has an incredible sense of wonder and a fertile imagination. She’s able to play with her friends or just hang out by herself in her own little world. Sometimes Esther is perceived as a victim; she’s one girl against an empire and life is one conflict after another. I wanted Esther to represent something.

Looking beyond the surface of the story, you begin to realize that there had to be some very compelling reasons that she was chosen by the king. She was just one of many, but there was something very special about her. I believe she had a heart to see God working through everything, and knew trials didn’t come to crush her. One of her lines was “Perhaps we’re not meant to ask questions of our trials, but allow our trials to ask questions of ourselves.” (I probably butchered that line, and I’m the one who wrote it!) She was able to discover the purposes of God; something full of wonder.

Angela: I can understand that and appreciate the desire to go deeper into the story. But romance? When you read the book of Esther in the Bible, there is no romance there. A friend I went to see the film with said she doesn’t see anything romantic about the tale. How could romance develop when you’re taken forcibly from your home, your life is threatened, and you’re just one of many young women who are being paraded before this despot?

Stephan: I can’t take credit good or bad for the romantic aspect of the story. The concept was Tommy Tenney’s. And frankly most good stories have an aspect that is completely implausible and almost impossible in real life. The concept I ran with was to create a parable for approaching God. The other women in the palace sought things for themselves. Esther would only take before the king what she knew he wanted. King Xerxes was possibly a tyrant to be feared, but I didn’t want to portray him that way. I wanted him to be someone people would want to draw near to as an example of God. For historical accuracy, people should read the original story in the Bible. It’s a matter of storytelling. From a functional aspect it creates better melodrama.

In the Biblical account, the king’s whims fly first one way then another. We needed something to hinge the story on so I created a more likeable and stable king. Their relationship creates an emotional core for the story that isn’t there in the purely historic story. I also wanted to model how to pursue a relationship. I hope that youth see this movie and realize that a relationship goes far beyond only the physical aspects. In reality, the story of Esther could have been X-rated if someone took it at just face value and didn’t look deeper. So giving her character more substance took it beyond a merely physical relationship with the king.

We’ve received some letters from people who said the film saved their marriage. That leaves me scratching my head at the grace of God. There’s no way a film did that. What it did was open up a channel of communication and maybe softened their heart toward God. That’s incredible. Others said they wept all the way through it. Each person receives it in a different way, and hopefully they all pick up something valuable for them.

[Esther] was just one of many, but there was something very special about her.

Angela: One critic said they found this to be a “surprisingly satisfying attempt to revive the old Hollywood tradition of lavishly appointed Biblical epics aimed at mainstream audiences.” (Joe Leydon, Variety) That’s pretty high praise.

Stephan: When we first started this project, we expected that we’d have to do it very small and very contained. We knew we wanted to have good costumes, because we see too many Biblical movies that have bad costumes, and it ruins the film for us. When I started writing the script, I did it as much visually as anything else. I did a lot of research and got very excited about the images and pictures I found. They were inspiring me to aim for a very broad, epic look. Then what we saw during the scouting trip convinced us that we could achieve an epic look, and the possibilities just exploded from there.

From my perspective, one real coup was the addition of Steven Bernstein, the cinematographer. He has an ability to create a magical realism, which has to do with the way things are lit and composed. It’s more of a genre than a shooting style. Like his earlier film, “Like Water for Chocolate,” magical things happen but it’s well-grounded. There’s a scene where Esther goes outdoors and it snows. That was very magical, but it’s still not a fantasy.

We didn’t want the film to look like a traditional period piece. It’s a stylistic difference. It’s almost a fantasy world, but remains grounded in our world. Much of it has to do with the kind of color tones he uses. He uses color tones to create a sense of place and time that you haven’t ever experienced before. The look of the film reflects that sense of wonder an innocence of who Esther was. If we were to try to be too straight, it would come across as very heavy-handed and manipulative. We didn’t want to re-create 500 BC, but create a place that would cause people to say “I want to be there, to be the person walking there and doing those things.”

Angela: Your actual role during production went beyond screenwriter. How did that come about?

Stephan: Matt and I had agreed that we were going to take turns being on location overseeing things. We’re a little more like television producers in that they’re very involved in the creative process. So we knew we needed to be on location, and were going to trade off every couple of weeks. I made the first trip over, and not very long into it, we found out we were going to be able to turn Gener8xion Entertainment into a public company. While that’s exciting, it also meant that it was an all-consuming process for Matt.

So my 3-week trip turned into a 3-month stay in a place that was way out of my comfort zone. It was a great learning experience for me. I dealt with a foreign culture and crew, and a big part of my job was keeping everyone together and happy. We were shut down for a week once when a truck burned down and took out 3 cameras. Some of our vendors tried to blackmail us and wouldn’t let us use their equipment. The banking system there is convoluted and there were a couple of times that I couldn’t pay the crew. I was challenged to keep them in good spirits in spite of that. By this time, I had 5 years’ experience working on films, but this caused me to call upon and develop skills I never knew I had. God completely set up the perfect training environment for us. I learned many lessons about keeping my eyes and focus on God and keep moving to the finish line.

Angela: I bet your wife was thrilled about that.

Stephan: My wife is the most amazing woman and partner a man could have. We had just moved into a new home 3 days before I got on the plane, and our youngest (Caleb at that time) was just beginning to talk. I experienced pangs of loneliness, but for the better part of the day I had what seemed like a million challenges to keep me occupied. My wife, on the other hand, was suddenly managing a family with 4 young children in a brand-new house. I think we both wondered what would happen to us personally. Where would our relationship be after all of this?

The last week of filming, I found accidentally learned that Jennifer was coming over to surprise me for a visit. I decided I would spring a surprise on her. I called just to talk, and when she told me she was taking the kids up to her folks’ for a few days, I gave her a really hard time about it. When the day came for her arrival, I went to our costume and wardrobe crew and got dressed up like an (East) Indian. I put on native attire and a wig and even had my skin colored. I sat in the front of the car and waited while someone else went into the airport to greet her. When she came out, I was sitting in the front, talking with an Indian accent. I don’t know if it was my size (Stephan is 6′5″, 240 pounds) compared to the natives or if she just knows me that well, but she caught on after a while.

It was great for her to be there because she got to experience what my life had been like for the last 3 months. That gave her a frame of reference for the stories I shared about what happened on the set in another country. It also demonstrated the depth to which God has solidified our relationship. We saw not only how much we depended on each other but how well we were doing apart. It wasn’t that we were doing well without each other, but that in spite of the distance, we were able to stay strongly connected. It was a life-changing experience for me and she was able to relate to that in a very personal way.

Angela: What did your family think when they saw the film?

Stephan: We saw it at an industry and press viewing. It was very intimate; there were about 200 people there. My daughters loved it. Tatum knew the character of Esther was based on her. She even got to do the voice-over for the young Esther, so it was very special for her. My son Dax wasn’t so impressed. He fell asleep about halfway through!

On a personal level I was glad to experience it as a completed project. I found myself able to enjoy what it was on its own merits. I edited the film myself and I really liked the finished project. I know that no matter what anyone says about the film, I like it. I was also very interested in the audience reaction. For that showing the audience was mostly friends, so I didn’t expect to hear too many negative comments. There were some comments I expected. During filming, something would happen that I knew would affect the end result of the film. Still, reading the secular reviews was a little difficult. My wife kept saying “There’s nothing new here. What are you worried about?”

Both [football and filmmaking] require teamwork, discipline and a strong work ethic.

Angela: Let’s talk about going from being a member of championship football team to filmmaking. That’s an interesting path.

Stephan: I had two dreams growing up. I wanted to play football and I wanted to work as a filmmaker. Because I played college ball I couldn’t be a film major; there were too many conflicts. Instead, I focused on communications, which is really the core of filmmaking. Then I talked my way into as many film classes as I could. The two are very similar really. It has to do with teamwork. Both require teamwork, discipline and a strong work ethic. They both take massive amounts of determination and grinding things out.

I managed to get an internship at Universal; mostly because the producer I met with loved football. He really like my work and told me when I graduated he’d try to help me. So I called him up and gave him some Rose Bowl paraphernalia. He tried several times to get some work for me but things didn’t work out. Finally he managed to connect me with Farhad Mann (creator of “Max Headroom”) who did some very high-rated, highly stylized movies of the week. I came on board as his personal assistant. Shortly after he received a script treatment that he wanted rewritten. Basically, it was me writing with his input.

It’s so interesting how God works. I had no intention of pursuing writing. I was just excited to be working with a director of that quality and learning the craft. God has walked me through so many avenues that I didn’t plan to pursue: writing, editing, producing. I have a better skill set because of that. Producing was really the last thing I wanted to do. I really wanted to stay on the creative side of things. However, producing really helped me learn the business filmmaking. It was through a friend from church, who happened to direct the Omega Code, that I met Matt Crouch. Farhad and I had become writing partners and had several projects we wanted to get off the ground. He had to close down his company and suddenly I was out on my own. Jennifer was pregnant with our 3rd child, and I didn’t really know what I was going to do.

Out of the blue, Rob Mark Reilly called and asked if I wanted to help on some straight-to-video children’s projects for TBN. I was glad to get the work and excited about the project. That segued into the Omega Code project. I read the treatment and made some notes for the writer, who was having a hard time with it. They came to me and asked me to take a try. I wound up writing the screenplay.

From that point forward Matt and I worked together. He needed someone to come on staff and oversee the production/development aspect of the company. I almost said no because I was getting tired of working for other people and wanted to have creative control. After 2 weeks of praying it became abundantly clear this was where my destiny lay. Matt has become one of my best friends. I’ve learned a lot about faith from him. He and Laurie, his wife, are always willing to put everything on the line to see God work. He has a saying: We’re never out on a limb. We’re either in the right tree or the wrong tree. God’s either here to support us or we’ve made a big mistake. We’re mostly focused on films, but do have a few other projects for television (“Gifted” is a project for a client of theirs).

Angela: What do you see in the future for yourself and Gener8xion?

Stephan: There are some studios talking to us about doing some projects and possibly some slates of films. We really want to move away from being thought of as “faith-based” toward being considered a brand that produces high-quality entertainment. I want to continue learning the craft and developing my gifts and talents. Ultimately, I want to produce films that will feel like a “real film”, and not something people will see because of what the makers stand for.

I’d like to become more of a mentor because I had the benefit of so many good ones. With the schedule I’m keeping that has been a huge challenge. Right now I’m trying to balance the business side of things with finding time to be creative with my family. So I’m directing lots of energy into my kids. Madison (13-year-old) has declared that she wants to be a filmmaker, so I’m trying to sow as much into her as possible.

Part of our vision for this company is to create a program that provides mentors for young people interested in the performing arts, especially film. We want to bring them in and let them get experience so they can explore more and move the industry further down the road.

I realize that God doesn’t need me as a filmmaker. He created me this way so I can relate to Him in that aspect of my life. The bonus of my work is how I use it for Him, but it’s not the end itself. He’s not asking what the outcome of my work is going to be; He’s asking me to live in relationship with Him. I’ve learned that trusting God means I don’t need to beg Him for the things I need. Instead, I must keep a continuous heart of thankfulness, and ask Him what He wants to talk with me about.