Math 101: Facing the Giants
I’ve read a lot of press releases and articles lately that refer to the wonderful success of Facing the Giants from our friends at Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. It’s tempting to look at that story, look at the budget, and do some kind of differential equation that projects equal, or even greater, results. That then becomes the measure of success or failure, without taking into the account that you might be applying principles of geometry to an algebraic equation.
The most important factor in the equation for a Christian filmmaker is prayer.
Today I talked with Pastor Jim McBride (executive pastor, executive producer and villain extraordinaire) about their upcoming film Fireproof. [I’ll post that interview later] During that conversation, he reminded of some elements that are integral to the success of Sherwood Baptist.
We all know there is no formula that guarantees the success of a film. Actually, that statement itself begs the question, “What is success in filmmaking?” That’s another post. For today, let’s look at Sherwood Baptist’s model and learn from them.
- Write what you know. Much of the material for Facing the Giants was based on actual events in the life of the people of Sherwood Baptist. In talking with Jim McBride, I learned what inspired the character that walked the halls of the school, praying over the students and teachers.
- Determine your audience and write for them. Alex Kendrick said many times that they were trying to encourage the church with this film, so they geared the film to the church. They’ve been criticized heavily for that, but you can’t argue with their success.
- Make sure your leadership team is in unity. According to Jim, he and Michael Catt, along with Alex and Stephen Kendrick met to discuss and pray over every decision in the process, and didn’t leave until they were in unity. That keeps the vision intact, core values intact, and is a great source of strength for your cast and crew members.
The answers in God’s equations aren’t always extreme financial success, but they are always the right answers.
- Start small and grow as the opportunities arise. Flywheel, Sherwood’s first film, was made on a small budget and was originally distributed from the church. We helped sell it from the ChristianCinema.com website, and much of the time, Alex was handling our orders himself. After the success of Facing the Giants, Flywheel was picked up by Sony/Provident for distribution and it enjoyed greater success.
- Do your homework and be willing to work hard. Without the massive grass-roots effort of many people, including the filmmakers, Facing the Giants would not have had the success it did. Their leadership team and hundreds of other people in cities all across the United States came together to get audiences in the theaters to see the film. That doesn’t happen by accident, and it doesn’t happen overnight.
- The production budget is just the first step in the financing. Most references to the success of Facing the Giants don’t talk about the “P&A” budget that Sony kicked in once they picked up the film. P&A is prints and advertising - the cost of producing film prints for theaters (about $2000 per theater), promotional and advertising buys, etc. According to The Numbers website, the “average film” spends more than $34.4 million, and some have even spent as much as $100 million. I don’t think the budget for Facing the Giants was that high, but you can see how the $100,000 production budget is just the tip of the iceberg.
- Volunteers = audience = organic promotion. They used church members for all but a small handful of key roles in the films, and those volunteers create great word-of-mouth advertising for the project. They also generate an audience, they bring their friends, they email their family around the country, etc. Never discount the power of that factor in the equation.
But by far the most important and influential factor in the equation is prayer. With it, there is no limit to the potential available to you. Without it, you might have a good film, or maybe even a great film. But what could it have been with prayer?
A number of key ingredients I’ve noticed from reading about Sherwood Chruch was that it was a church project — So there was a built in support group (so long as the congregation was supportive - which it appears they were) and most importantly the the pastor was very supportive . The church came together, volunteered, provided food, acted, worked on crew, and supplied financial support as well. Also God placed people who were clearly gifted in storytelling through filmmaking in that church. God had positioned everything for that situation. These guys are real filmmakers.
But I don’t know how this formula can work for all Christians who run a film company - especially one that is for profit. This becomes a gray area. Because when a filmmaker approaches a church - they might look at the filmmaker (even though he or she is a Christian) as a business rather than a ministry. And what if that Christian is another denomination or another church. Volunteering is a little harder to find unless their own church supports the project. When it is a church project — the whole congregation when united can do so much because they are working together in support of their church and for the LORD (and that goes for anything) but I’ve seen at times that churches are supportive, but only to a certain extent…
What if a filmmaker desires to pay their crew and do things right but doesn’t have the funds. Volunteers, since they are not getting paid are not always be reliable. Thus the filmmaker gets extremely discouraged.
For Facing the Giants they were able to raise one hundred thousand dollars, which isn’t a lot of money for filmmaking according to Hollywood’s standard, but on the other hand it is a substantial amount of money still yet for an independent DIY (Do it yourself) Guerilla filmmaker. It can provide for his or her family for two years as well as provide for some additional professionals.
I know a Christian filmmaker who had been looking for investors on a film they were developing and they had a screening of a film they finished and a lot of folks from that filmmaker’s church came in support to watch the film, but I don’t know if folks from that church were actually willing to financially support the next project by becoming investors. This is the area that creates a divide between business and ministry.
Tom Swift
PS If you are a Christian, reading this post - and you go to church with or know a filmmaker who is Christian and you know he or she is called to it — this is something you can pray about whether you should invest in that filmmaker’s project — because YOU might be the very person who can help that project to succeed.
May 15th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Hi Tom. You have made very good points - really good points. There is hope for a Christian film-maker all the same and God will not use the same strategy He used with Sherwood Baptist Church for all other film-making organisations, or else everyone would do it and there will not be very authentic stories for certain audiences. I work with a commercial media company based in the UK (which is an even harder sell for Christian movies period) but God has given us other very amazing and creative avenues that we would never have known about if we never took the time to pray and ask God what His plans were for us as film-makers and businessmen. It is very important the three things I have identified (there is more but this is just the main stuff) in terms of being a successful filmmaker who is a Christian: (1.)Make sure you have a strong prayer life in other words that you are close to the Lord and that you hear Him and follow His directions. (2.) Make sure you have at least one business and/or film making partner who sees your vision but can bring another perspective to it and is also willing to spend time praying with you and you with him/or them - remain in agreement and unity, this is very important. 3. Know who your films are being made for and spend time researching that audience, in a sense know them very well and what their needs are that the media may not be addressing. This last part took at least four years for to me to discover before I was finally able to identify my core audience in terms of film-making and I am surprised how many people will volunteer for you once you are hitting their sweet spot. I discovered that my audience did not come from my immediate Church neither were films targeted to all believers - but a specific part of the Body of Christ with a specific kind of belief system. Secondly my secondary audience are not Christians - and it was not just to any unbeliever but a particular kind of audience group who wanted what the Lord has given me to make for. I hope this helps. Please remember it takes time to build something of worth and value - and I believe God is worthy of our best.
May 16th, 2008 at 3:17 am
Thanks for sharing. Great points that you make. You are absolutely right about praying and being connected with others who can pray with and for you. It is imperative first and foremost to keep God first and be connected to Him in prayer. I know that can sound like a formula, too. but it’s truly like living off oxygen. If we stop breathing we die - it’s a law of the universe. If we stop praying we break communication with our Father.
Even as Christians in film we can get caught up with our calling and lose sight of Him who called us. For us as believers in filmmaking, sometimes God strips away the “formula” from us and stretches us and purges us to complete reliance on him. What is supposed to work all of a sudden doesn’t work — we then must trust him. This is just the way it goes. On the other hand we must still research and learn what does work on the business side of things. That’s wise stewardship.
I think this is also a lot about perseverance. If we know this is God’s will for our lives are we going to give up when adversity and storms come? Or maybe the adversity has come to make us stronger. Look is it really too difficult for God to provide 100 thousand dollars to make a film? Was it too hard for George Mueler to pray and God brought food to the table at his orphanage or provide the money for what he was called for? Is it too hard for God to provide a million dollars for a movie?
May 16th, 2008 at 8:17 am
Tom & Leslie -
Such great thoughts about the challenges in filmmaking, and the distinction about audiences and investors vs. volunteers.
I think a very common thread for the filmmakers I’ve talked with is they have each found their own distinctive path through prayer, discernment, and counsel.
Tom - great suggestion for people watching to think about becoming investors - but a word of caution. Only do that if God confirms it, and with no expectations.
And I think as filmmakers we have to have a good business plan and be honest with our investors - it could take a while to get the funds back from a film. Not every one is a blockbuster out of the starting gate. Some take time to build, but do your homework ahead of time and show your investors that you have a plan.
There’s a line from Facing the Giants that says “Prepare for rain.” That’s a Biblical principle - prepare for God’s blessing. Do your work to make the fields ready - do your part.
May 16th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Angela - it’s definitely good you put in this word of caution. I’m definitely not saying for an investor to invest blindly. The investor should prayerfully make sure the filmmaker is called (and also that they are in agreement to the worldview of the film) and that they are being called to put forth that investment money. I wonder how many people do business just because someone goes to church with them. That can be a terrible disaster and it leaves room for a person of faith to be taken advantage of and can cause all kinds of division and problems. Larry Burkette’s ministry Crown.org is a great place to learn more about “doing business by the Book”.
This is not a call for Christians to blindly spend their money either. It’s just that it appears some Christians who are financially able — might not consider this as a relevant place to put forth their investment. They might see a Christian in their congregation doing this and not realize that they can greatly support their God-given expression. Also there is a temptation for an investor to want to control the project and that’s another issue to deal with.
There’s not room in this forum either to discuss the legal issues and the aspect of bringing business into a place of worship either. This is a touchy issue that has not yet been resolved There is definitely a balance that only the Spirit of God can lead us to.
I also agree also that the filmmaker should indeed be prepared and have their fields ready. We do our best and God does the rest
May 16th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Great comments here. I’ve ready every article, press release, newspaper clipping, etc. on Facing the Giants and Flywheel that I could find. Lots of great information in there about how it came about.
Both of those movies gave me the push I needed to create the film we are shooting in the next few weeks called STANDING FIRM (http://www.standingfirmmovie.com). Besides a few donations all of it is personally funded, so it made things difficult but we’ll be ok.
I think Sherwood has THE model to follow for Christian filmmakers, whether you like their films or not. They got it right, plain and simple. We are following their model as closely as we can. Success isn’t guaranteed as previously stated, but if you keep plugging away every day working towards what you feel God has called you to do, praying to him in times of trouble and for questions, he’ll bring you through…very simple concept. Not saying I know in what way he will but thats not for me to know. We’re going to make the best film we can, and leave the fruit in the Lord’s hands where it always is.
I can think of no greater success for the film than to get a letter telling me someone made a decision for Christ. Financial return is something that is needed if we wish to continue making films, but its all icing on the cake in my opinion.
Business wise, I just hope to make a 2nd film thats my hope. I can’t fund a feature film twice, so it definitely is a risk but if I was 100% sure everything was going to be just peachy I wouldn’t need much faith than would I? Biggest thing I’ve learned is to let go of whatever I think should be done and ask God what should be done.
We’ll see where He brings us.
May 17th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Excellent and well said Tom Swift & Kyle Prohaska!!! I just want you to know that sometimes it is when we step out that God shows the next step that we did not know and how to take it as well. Be encouraged that one day someone else will call you to make a film for them because they have the funds but can’t execute it creatively or commercially. We don’t always have to do everything ourselves and what we started with in the beginning is not necessarily the way we will finish or continue to do film-making in the end. One thing the Lord made very clear to me (this was to me so I am not advocating it for everyone else) was that He did not want me to make movies just to be alternative in the marketplace but rather to make a difference, be an example and lead the way to what true life in Him is all about in such a wise and creative way that will make people rethink their lives and not know when they start to question what they once thought was acceptable and see what they do or think as wrong want something better - much better than what they have will not get satisfied till they find it. He told me never to give answers in my media projects especially in the movies and TV programmes we make but rather create stories that will ignite a spark to really search for the answers if they are really looking for it. He gave me a list of marketing and creative strategies one of which I will tell you about, found in a very unique creature called the Oyster. How does it form the pearl - by irritation! It can’t rid of it but it has to solve this dilemma of this foreign object that has entered into it by constantly layering it and eventually within itself will produce a pearl of great treasure. I will leave you to figure the rest out in how that applies to marketing and film-making:-)
May 20th, 2008 at 1:24 am
My wife has recently completed her 1st book and is wrapping up the second installment to the series. It’s called, “Drawing Marissa”. I We have worked together on the script and as a Christian filmmaker who is not to sure on how to go forward, I was wondering if anyone had any advice.
I was really impressed with Facing the Giants and have been reading about there ‘formula’ with making the project. I understand each project is unique in it’s goals and ideals, but is there a general consensus on how to get going?
July 17th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
There is an organization called “International Christian Visual Media” (http://icvm.com/). It is a group of independent Christian filmmakers who are wonderful about sharing their knowledge, experience, and thoughts. Go to their website & connect with them. You will find all kinds of helpful people.
Additionally, the filmmakers I talk with have a common response to your questions. Just get out there and do it! There are some great books on filmmaking that can help you think through your process - how much will it cost? How big will it be? What kind of locations/equipment, etc., do you need?
But the best thing? Just go for it! If you don’t have experience in filmmaking, find someone making a film & go help them. Do whatever you can to be around other filmmakers. Then take what you learn & jump into practice. There is no substitution for that.
There is also a Yahoo forum group for Christian filmmakers that you can join & find ALL KINDS of help - it’s incredible how much discussion is going on: http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/ChristianFilmmaker/
But again - do the “Nike” thing and go for it! Do your best with what you have right now - don’t try to make a huge blockbuster, but make the best film you can with the resources you have.
Let us know how it goes!
July 17th, 2008 at 10:17 pm