Is There a Gold Rush in Hollywood Over Faith-Based Films?
Put a bunch of really creative in the same room, toss in some hot topics like “niche marketing,” “Christian filmmaking,” and “FoxFaith,” and what do you get? The Biola Media Conference. Jeffrey Overstreet (sometimes loved, sometimes hated film critic) did a great recap for Christianity Today, giving an overview of some of the opinions expressed the day of the conference.
Are Christians a niche market, or do they really represent the force that statistics say they do?
It was an amazing experience to be in a room with industry giants like Ralph Winter (producer of The X-Men and Christian films like Thr3e), Simon Swart (Executive Vice President of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, North America) and Steve McEveety (producer of Braveheart and Passion of the Christ). Each spoke very passionately about their work, the good trends they’re seeing in our industry, and the warning signs to observe.
Like most everyone else, I came away with more questions than answers. Is it good or bad that studios are setting up faith divisions? Should Christians be making movies with overt Christian messages or should they be telling the stories of life through a Christian worldview? Are Christians a niche market, or do they really represent the force that statistics say they do? (Some surveys put the percentage of Americans calling themselves Christians as high as 87%) If Christians are that big a block of the population, why aren’t they supporting movies made especially for them?
The great thing is people are talking about it. It’s out in the open. Filmmaking from a Christian perspective has been going on for a long time, but people haven’t openly acknowledged it. Or the films haven’t been released to the general market.
For people trying to navigate the waters of their faith and art and doing something that reaches the public, these conversations are exhilarating. Truth is, no one has all the answers. Everyone has a part of the answer, and hopefully we can get along well enough to put all of our answers together and make a cohesive picture. Will we all agree on everything? No way. But can we all find a common ground? Absolutely, and events like the Biola Media Conference allow us to see that what we share is a lot bigger than what divides us.
