Remember the Christian Film Pioneers
A recent article in the Video Business magazine quotes Ken Davis (senior VP of Christian book distributors) as saying, “The biggest change in the Christian market over the years hasn’t been [in distribution technology], but in content. The typical videos we used to carry were sermons, talking-head type stuff. Now, thanks to Fox Faith and Lionsgate and other suppliers, Christian fiction has become popular.”
While it’s true that the entry of Fox Faith and Lionsgate brought more attention to fiction in the faith-based film market, Christian filmmakers have been creating fiction content for believers for more than 50 years. Let me name a few:
- Billy Graham created World Wide Pictures in 1951.
- Russ Doughten, Jr., began making films in the 1950s as well.
- The Christiano brothers started making their films in 1985.
Those are but 3 examples of the pioneering filmmakers who were active in the Christian market considerably longer than the studios. And, there’s a very important distinction between these filmmakers and the studios.
To my knowledge, none of the studios have yet financed the production of a film. They are, instead, acquiring completed films from independent filmmakers and bringing their money and marketing machines to bear once the films are completed. Even filmmakers who are pitching ideas to the studios now are expected to provide the majority of the production budget.
It’s not the studios we have to thank for the improvement in the content and the addition of Christian fiction to the market. It’s our friends who are out there finding great stories, making good movies, and are passionately advancing the cause of the Gospel through story.
In the course of doing our podcast we’ve watched many, many Christian movies. And I have to say that the World Wide Pictures films are usually a treat. They are well made, have strong stories, and are very lean in their construction. I guess they don’t have the budget to spend on endless scenes of special effects or set design extravagance, the way “One Night with the King” padded out its running time.
I linked to this article in our weekly wrap-up.
http://supercandid.blogspot.com/2008/07/weekly-wrap-up-11-july-2008.html
July 11th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
World Wide Pictures has made some great films. Some of them that we’ve seen and enjoyed are the Climb, the Ride, and The Hiding Place (which is incredibly moving). We recommend these films to anyone interested in seeing great Christian films.
July 14th, 2008 at 10:15 am
The real pioneer was C.O. Baptista, probably the first, if my memory is correct.
He filmed sermons and added dramatic vignettes to ‘illustrate’ a particular message
point. Over time, the sermon segments grew shorter as the dramatic content lengthened.
Others were Concordia Films, Family Films, Ken Anderson Films, Gospel Films.
My father, Robert Burgess, produced one of the very first ‘christian’ documentaries
in the 50’s by giving a 16mm Bolex camera and 100′ daylight loads to a missionary
in Tibet. The film was sent back to the U.S. and edited in our home. That production
contained scenes never before seen by Westerners; a ‘National Geographic’ special
for church audiences.
July 20th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
James, thanks for the information about earlier pioneers. That’s a great legacy & history for us as filmmakers. Does anyone have those now? Sounds like they would be something great to see.
July 21st, 2008 at 3:34 pm
I have just started to research the web about the Baptista films and projectors. My dad had a ministry in the 50’s of showing many of the Baptista films in churches around the Minnesota area. I have many of the films, maybe a couple of dozen and one of the high end projectors that were sold back then. It has been years since I have had them out and looked at them but I am going to be doing that soon. I really need to sell them if they are of any value to collectors. If not I know of a couple of Christian universities that would love to have them in their historical archives. I would appreciate any information anyone would have about my collection.
JOHN
August 26th, 2008 at 6:03 pm