It had the sixth highest average per screen for any film. Not bad for a low-budget Christian film with a nonexistent marketing budget. To Save a Life is the latest offering from the new emerging Christian cinema, which is now playing at your local multiplex.
Christian cinema has been a work-in-progress. Before the days of home video, there was no distribution for Christian movies. They were presented in churches on 16mm film. They had little or no opportunity to reach a mainstream audience. With the start of the home video market in the early 1980s, Christian filmmakers such as Worldwide Pictures and Christiano Film Group found new opportunities to reach their audience.
During the late 1990s, the digital age allowed Christian filmmakers greater access into the industry. The number of Christians making films increased, and costs were significantly lower due to digital video. The year 2004 became a landmark year for Christian filmmakers.
Film historians may debate the lasting impact of Mel Gibson’s, The Passion of the Christ, but Hollywood discovered that Christians will go to the movies if you give them the right product. It wasn’t surprising that several major studios formed Christian divisions looking for the next “Passion of the Christ”. Hollywood was soon offering us a full slate of Christian movies such as The List, The Last Sin Eater, The Ultimate Gift, One Night with the King, Facing the Giants, and the list goes on and on. For the first time, Christian movies were receiving support from major motion picture studios. With increased marketing and promotion, movies with a Christian theme or message were given access to theatrical distribution.
I don’t want to sound critical, but I think it is our responsibility to ask questions. What are we getting for our efforts? Are we reaching a mainstream audience? I think that’s the goal for most of the filmmakers who are producing Christian films. Are we achieving any noticeable results?
Before we can ask those questions, let’s take a look at a formula that many Christian filmmakers are using. They have found a plausible and, perhaps, a predictable business plan to make Christian films—one that I think offers financial success but limits the potential spiritual impact to a broader audience.
First, you start with a large mega church which has an abundance of people and resources. Some of these mega churches have already started to create independent production companies. The key is to produce low-budget films. You must control the costs. In order to do that, you need volunteers. You typically hire a handful of key professionals, such as a director of photography and then train your volunteers to fill in the other roles. Where do you find the money? Often church members will either donate or invest in the film. Why? Because the church is behind the project. So why wouldn’t they want to be part of it. Everybody loves a little Hollywood.
Your next goal is to find a hot topic that plays well in the Christian community. What are you looking for? Marriage, teen pregnancy, abortion, teen issues or suicide are all good topics. The next objective is to build some natural tie-ins. You are looking for a parachurch or Christian organization that has an interest in the topic or theme of your film. They will be your natural allies and can also help you in your marketing and promotions campaign. Why would they get involved? It increases their exposure and can help in fundraising efforts, especially if your film is a success. Your goal is to create a win-win situation for everybody.
Next stop on this journey is to create a product line that supports your film and theme. Study guides, books, and T-shirts are just a few. The various organizations you partner with will probably play a significant role in the development of these products.
Next up, find a distributor. It may be easier than you think. You have a finished product. In other words, you have a film to offer them. You have taken the risk. They will be more than glad to evaluate your film for its marketability. Most film distributors and studios realize there is a select audience for your movie. Chances are you don’t realize this. They are aiming at a specific niche audience and are betting on a limited release with you taking all the risk which could lead to a big payoff for the distributor. They are planning on “you and your partners” doing the marketing.
Now the real fun starts. A grassroots marketing plan heavy on social media, e-mails, and internet presence begins. Several months before the movie opens, you develop a cutting-edge website that will create the buzz your film needs. Your goal is to get as many local churches on board as possible to help you get the word out. You and your partners will be sending weekly e-mails to update potential movie goers on the progress and development of your film. It’s all about the buzz, and you’re doing the majority of the work. Everything depends on a solid grassroots marketing effort. And remember, chances are your distributor isn’t really putting much money into the effort.
And, finally, the BIG opening weekend. In the movie business, the opening weekend is everything. If you don’t get impressive numbers, you may not see a second weekend. Your distributor will handpick markets that are favorable to your film. That means for most Christian films, you don’t expect to play on the West coast or in the Northeast. Look for a heavy concentration in the South and small-town America. Also, don’t expect to open at Christmas or during the summer blockbuster season. Your film will more than likely open in January or September when exhibitors and distributors are willing to take a risk to fill empty theaters.
In order to get solid numbers on that opening weekend, your goal is to get local churches and donors to “buy out” movie theaters. They, in turn, usually give the tickets away to members and their families or employees, etc. Do you get the picture? Do you think we’re preaching to the choir? That’s a real possibility.
Christian filmmakers now have a successful business model. It involves finding the right theme, getting the church involved, tie-ins with Christian organizations, product development and a grassroots marketing effort. So far it seems to be working. Undoubtedly more mega churches will join in. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with this strategy as long as we are honest with the results. To be fair, we are not reaching a mainstream audience. I think we all know this. If we are happy with making films that speak primarily to a Christian audience, that can make some money and can play theatrically, that’s fine. But let’s not fool ourselves into thinking it is more than that.
We have created a filmmaking process that, for the most part, is stacking the deck and creating artificial numbers. We are not taking the risk necessary to reach a broader audience. If our goal is for edification and for encouraging the body of Christ, mission accomplished. And I am sure that along the way we may have invited friends and family to join us at the theater, and perhaps their lives may have been changed.
So is there a better strategy? First, we need to develop media missionaries. I believe Hollywood is a valid mission field. It is a unique tribe with its own customs, language and culture. For the most part, it is an unreached people group. It is in desperate need of being redeemed and reformed. Media missionaries are media makers who are called to Hollywood and the entertainment industry to work within the system to create art that reflects Biblical values. Their mission is to partner with Hollywood. I understand that this is a difficult concept for some Christians to accept. Our best hope to impact this culture will come from inside of Hollywood.
Second, some Christian filmmakers may not feel led to go to Hollywood, so can we change the strategy? There is nothing wrong with mega churches helping to start up production companies to produce films and media. But they need to be autonomous and separate as far from the church as possible. Otherwise, they will be open to criticism and will be portrayed as a Christian organization producing propaganda. This is a killer because it will limit your audience.
Remember, the goal is to reach as large and as broad an audience as possible, if we want to impact the culture outside of the Church. We also need to change the marketing plan and limit our tie-ins with third-party Christian organizations, product development (Bible studies and books), and theater buyouts. Our films have to stand on their own and compete in the general market. As soon as it is labeled a Christian product or film, we lose our ability to impact culture. I realize that means taking financial risks and not following an easy, predictable formula. But that’s the price we have to pay.
This next step will be a difficult one for some of you. But it is really the key to reaching a broader audience. We need to stop making Christian movies and start making redemptive films. Redemptive films are Christian movies without being Christian movies. What are some recent examples? Bella, Lars and the Real Girl, Spitfire Grill, and To End All Wars.
I am going to offer you my best example of a film that is not tied to the Christian filmmaking community. Rain Man won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1988. In my opinion, it is one of the best examples of a redemptive film. Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) is a man who is self-centered, emotionally disconnected, abrasive, lacks an understanding of love, is estranged from his father and is driven by his past. He goes through a remarkable, emotional journey towards enlightenment and discovering what love really is. We have all seen the film. It’s a remarkable character arc.
Tom Cruise’s character (Charlie) discovers that he has a brother, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman) of whom he is unaware. Charlie forces Raymond to take a cross-country journey, which challenges Charlie to reevaluate his priorities and the meaning of life. At the end of the film, a different Charlie Babbitt begins to emerge. He is in the process of becoming fully human. He begins to feel and realizes that he is no longer the center of the universe. The story is totally believable, and we accept the fact that Charlie Babbitt is capable of this incredible change. Perhaps, we are capable of making this journey as well. That’s the power of the redemptive story.
So you might ask, “Where is the conversion scene?” Does anybody talk about Christ? We have a somewhat narrow perspective of how God works. The divine can be found in everything. In the case of Rain Man, it’s the love between two brothers. That’s God at work. When we see people that start to reflect love, acceptance and commitment, that’s God at work. It challenges us to think about our lives, and it gives God a chance to speak to our hearts.
Charlie began to realize his father was protecting him and, on some level, was able to begin to heal and to forgive his father. That’s God at work. I hope you begin to understand that Christian movies, which express Biblical values and themes, do not need to look like “Christian” films. Rain Man, in my opinion, is an authentic Christian movie.
If Christian filmmakers continue on the current course, they very well may be successful in creating a Christian film industry. But they will face three problems. First, Christian filmmakers will not achieve their goal. Most Christian filmmakers want to make films that motivate people to come to Christ. That’s hard to do if you are reaching only a Christian audience. I think we’ve made the case for this argument. Second, as Christian production companies continue to grow, they will hire more media professionals and film school graduates. It’s very possible that some of these people are called to be media missionaries. Instead of going to Hollywood or the entertainment industry to make mainstream films, they will be tempted to take the course of least resistance. Unfortunately, Hollywood suffers and becomes a darker place. And third, Christians will be successful only in creating a new Christian film subculture. We did this with music in the 1970s, and we are doing it again with film. We can do better. Why settle for second place?
So how do we make redemptive films that point people to Christ? First, redemptive stories are about positive change. Redemption for Christians is reconnecting with God. And there are many ways that can be demonstrated in mainstream film. How do we depict this in a tangible form? Is it when somebody reaches out in love or learns to accept somebody different? Or forgives people who have hurt them? How about when somebody overcomes alcohol or drug problems? These are part of the human condition and the process of healing. They can lead us home to God. That’s the power and hope of the redemptive process.
