Fireproof pastor continues film's message

For everyone who leaves the theaters or finishes a Sherwood DVD thinking “That was me . . . now what?”—good news: the Sherwood message continues.

Sherwood Church’s Senior Pastor Michael Catt, executive producer of the surprise movie successes that put Albany GA on the world map—Fireproof (2008’s top-grossing indie film), Facing the Giants (the breakout Christian film of 2006), and Flywheel (now in a re-mastered DVD)—has written The Power of Desperation, a biblical look at the human pain and divine promise that Sherwood stories surface.

Desperation, from B&H Publishing Group, is the first in a three-part “Power of” book series on the reverse logic of God’s using our brokenness to make us whole. Learn more at www.MichaelCattBooks.com.

“Audiences identify with Sherwood movie characters because their lives and problems ring true to the human condition,” Pastor Catt said. “The Power of Desperation aligns the facts of our screw-ups with the bigger fact of God’s unconditional love. No one’s life is too messy, no one’s, to be completely cleansed in Jesus Christ.”

Flywheel’s Jay Austin cheated at work and nearly lost his family . . . Giants’ Coach Grant Taylor couldn’t win for losing . . . Fireproof’s Caleb Holt was a fireman who could rescue strangers but failed to save his own marriage. All resisted God until they reached the ends of themselves.

“Most of us never seek the Lord until we are forced to,” says this pastor whose 25 years serving real people with real needs shows in chapter titles such as: “When There’s Nowhere Else to Turn,” “When Your are Up Against the Impossible,” and “Broken and Spilled Out.”

Southern Baptist leader Tom Elliff salutes the inevitability of the book’s message. “Read it while you can,” he says. “You’ll be there soon enough.”

Michael Catt is the think-outside-the-sanctuary leader making good on his church’s goal to “change the world from Albany, Georgia.” Sherwood films are on every continent, in 158 countries and at least 13 languages. Catt has been interviewed by FOX News, CNN Headline News, CBS News, The TODAY Show, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Baptist Press, Leadership Journal, The Glenn Beck Show . . . and Dr. Phil. And many more. In 2008, he headed the Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference, representing more than 42,000 churches. He is a prolific author, speaker, conference founder and leader, and pastor to pastors.

B&H Publishing Group, a division of LifeWay Christian Resources, produces
some of today's most sought-after books, Bibles, church supplies and
multimedia products.

Robin Shope novel to be a movie!

Author Robin Shope and Salty Earth Pictures have recently announced Shope's novel The Christmas Edition is to be a feature film.

Wisconsin newspaper The Daily Union online has run a piece which says in part:

Salty Earth Pictures has announced that it will begin filming a new feature movie later this year, with Fort Atkinson serving as the on-screen setting.

The non-profit film company based in Fort Atkinson specializes in producing Biblically-based entertainment, including such shows as the family-friendly comedy series "Fifth Pew From the Front" and the puppet-populated "Movie Critters" and its follow-up 30-minute series.

Company founder Steve Zambo announced the feature film will be based on the novel, "The Christmas Edition," which was written by Robin Shope. Shope, an author now living in Dallas, Texas, has written a series of novels that are set in Wisconsin, known as The Turtle Creek Edition series.

...Without revealing too much of the story, "The Christmas Edition" movie will be based on a struggling family-owned business in a small Wisconsin town. It focuses on relationships, secrets, trust, faith and the hope that Christmas and its message provide.

"The Christmas Edition is one of her series of books, like The Valentine Edition and The Easter Edition," Zambo explained. "They all take place in Wisconsin."

Zambo recalled how one day, he received an invitation via Facebook to do the movie adaptation.

"I had known she was an author because a mutual friend had written some other books with her," Zambo said. "So I joined, and she said 'take a look at my books.' I did, and right about then we had made the decision to make some more features, like our project 'Scrooge's Next Christmas.' But that is a bigger budget movie, and we needed a bridge picture, like the movie 'Facing the Giants,' which was filmed by a small group in Georgia."

So Shope sent Zambo the books, read by his daughter.

"She knew we needed to do a picture that we could do within a reasonable budget, and my daughter said, 'Here Dad, read this.'

And Zambo decided to adapt The Christmas Edition for the screen.

Read the full article here.

Read our interview with Robin.
Read our review of The Christmas Edition.

Come What May movie made by homeschoolers

Come What May is the first release from Advent Film Group (AFG), but the production group founded by George Escobar is planning on producing many more movies in the future. Inspired by Sherwood Pictures (creators of FIREPROOF, Facing the Giants, and Flywheel) AFG has constructed its own model for creating great movies for a faith-based audience.

"Like Sherwood Pictures, we believe Christian filmmakers should always work alongside organizations already in service for the Lord. We will always be under another's covering and authority," George says. "While Sherwood has its home church, with Come What May, we partnered with Patrick Henry College."

The college's academic rigor is attractive to home-schooled students. George, a home-school parent advocate, sees the potential of these motivated and talented students to become a generation of trained and gifted filmmakers. The AFG model pays the young filmmakers as they learn the craft through the actual making of movies.

"There was a core team of 40 home schooled student from across 16 different states that worked on the movie," he says. "We tapped into the speech and debate clubs for home-schoolers, in particular the NCFCA league. That is our 'secret sauce.' These students and their parents are already dedicated to becoming 'Communicators for Christ' and have a proven track record for hard work and accomplishment. Graduates from NCFCA go on to dominate the debate tournaments in college."

With a team at the ready, George and others worked on the script. The central plot is based on a real experience that Patrick Henry College's Moot Court team faced in a national tournament. Having to choose between what is right and what could win is a challenging dilemma, especially when it comes to a life-and-death issue like abortion.

"We want to tell stories that the Lord will bless," George says. "That means removing our own agendas and ego from the writing process. We enlisted the help of PHC students and faculty during the story-development phase and during the final script polish.

"Ben Adams, a PHC alumnus, worked with me on the six-page treatment. Manny Edwards, my collaborator, wrote the first draft and together we worked on all subsequent drafts, as did David Hallbrook, the college's Director of Communications, who is a Pulitzer Prize nominee author. Finally, Dr. Michael Farris, a constitutional attorney who is the founder and chancellor of PHC, wrote the legal brief for overturning Roe. Our shooting script was the eighth draft, followed by one more draft during pickup filming."

Come What May was filmed over five weeks in Virginia during the summer of 2007. In early 2008, the crew shot an additional seven days of pickup filming. After months of sound mixing, editing, and other post-production work, the DVD was made available through AFG. Later in 2008, Provident-Integrity Distribution signed an agreement to market the movie and the Come What May trailer was highlighted on the FIREPROOF DVD.

You can read more about production in Stories from the Set.

The Velveteen Rabbit coming to DVD March 17

The Velveteen Rabbit is an enchanting combination of live-action drama and animated adventure that tells the story of a lonely boy who wins over his distant father and strict grandmother with the help of a stuffed toy rabbit and other toys he befriends in the attic.

Featuring the voice talents of Golden Globe® winner Jane Seymour (“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” Somewhere in Time) as Mom with Emmy Award® winner Tom Skerritt (Top Gun, “Picket Fences”) as Horse and Oscar® winner Ellen Burstyn (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Requiem for a Dream) as Swan, and directed by Michael Landon Jr. (“Love Comes Softly,” Saving Sarah Cain), The Velveteen Rabbit is a heartwarming “…adventure for the whole family” (The Dove Foundation®).

Coming to DVD March 17th, The Velveteen Rabbit will first be released theatrically in select Carmike Cinemas February 20th by Family1 Films, and distributed to Christian retailers by Thomas Nelson. For more information go to www.thevelveteenrabbitmovie.com.

Synopsis:
In this brand new feature film, inspired by Margery Williams’ classic novel, one of the most beloved family tales of all time comes to life. It’s the story of a young boy named Toby who is sent by his busy father to spend the holiday season in the home of his stern grandmother. Toby’s world instantly changes when he discovers the house’s ‘magic attic’ where three forgotten toys – including a special stuffed rabbit – unlock a world of imagination that will change all their lives forever.


About Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment is the home entertainment division of Starz Media, LLC. It includes the Anchor Bay Films and Manga Entertainment brands. It distributes feature films, children’s entertainment, fitness, TV series, documentaries, anime and other filmed entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray formats. It is the exclusive home media distributor in the U.S. of the theatrical titles from Overture Films. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA, Anchor Bay Entertainment has offices in Troy, MI, as well as Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Starz Media (www.starzmedia.com) is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation attributed to the Liberty Capital Group.

About Family1 Films
Family1 Films is an integrated entertainment company committed to producing and distributing movies that tell great stories – entertainment that inspires, educates and motivates families to explore the world around them together. With an outstanding network of production, promotional, distribution and exhibition partnerships, all with extensive experience in the family market, Family1 Films develops high-quality film content and entertainment the whole family will enjoy.

About Feature Films For Families
Feature Films For Families produces and distributes uplifting and entertaining motion pictures that are suitable for all ages and strengthen positive values while containing no profanity, vulgarity, sexual content or graphic violence. Founded in 1988, it has provided positive entertainment to more than 8 million families worldwide.

Watch the trailer:

House movie coming to DVD April 7

House the movie (based on the book by Ted Dekker & Frank Peretti) is coming to DVD on April 7th with a special cover for the CBA market.

According to Christian Retailing:

The DVD cover features an exterior shot of the old house in which the thriller is set, rather than the pentagram that was on the movie poster for its theatrical release late last year.

Lionsgate marketing manager Ashlee Meese said the special cover for Christian stores was an effort to address any concerns retailers may have about the film, whose restricted rating for "terror and violence" concerned the makers. They feared the R rating might limit the audience for the film, as Dekker in particular has a strong teen fan base.

Read our review of House the movie.
Read our interview with Ted Dekker.

Fox Signs on for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader!

According to Christian Retailing, Fox has signed on to make The Voyage of the Dawn Treader!

The article says in part:

Fox--which was entitled to first crack at The Voyage of the Dawn Treader after Disney pulled out because of the shared Fox Walden marketing and distribution label--has made a commitment to develop the project. The two sides are still working out budget and script issues, but the plan is to shoot the film at the end of summer for a holiday 2010 release through the Fox Walden label, Variety reported.

Read the full piece here.

Read our review of Prince Caspian the movie.
Read our feature on "The Characters of Narnia".

Poster for Karen Kingsbury Like Dandelion Dust movie

It's looking like we'll see the movie based on Karen Kingsbury's novel "Like Dandelion Dust" sometime in 2009. It's classified as "complete", but no word yet on an official release date. Visit the official blog to learn more. The movie's been accepted into some noteworthy festivals.

Summary of novel:

Jack and Molly Campbell enjoyed an idyllic life with their adopted 6-year-old son, Joey. One phone call shatters their world when they learn Joey's biological father has just been released from prison and discovered a loop hole in the adoption papers and now lays claim to his son. He wants to start a new life by taking back his son. When a judge upholds the biological father's claim and Molly and Jack learn they must give Joey over to this brutal man they devise a plan. How far would you go to protect your family?

Read our interview with Karen Kingsbury.

Jenkins Entertainment to make Riven movie

According to Dallas Jenkins, Jerry's son and the co-founder with him of Jenkins Entertainment, Jerry's novel Riven is to be a movie.

Says Dallas at his blog:

"We've also decided that Riven, the book my Dad wrote that came out last year (and for my money, is his best book), is going to be the second film in the Jenkins/Pureflix partnership. We will be talking to screenwriters in the next couple of weeks and hope to be in production by the end of the year. I'm actually going to send a letter to Joe Eszterhas, the famous screenwriter of Basic Instinct, Flashdance, Music Box, and Jagged Edge, among others, who recently became a Christian. I know it's a long shot, but I think he'd be interested in some of the films we're doing. His books are incredible (any aspiring filmmaker should read The Devil's Guide to Hollywood), including his recent one, Crossbearer, which is about his conversion. Maybe Riven will strike a chord, or perhaps Youngest Hero, which is about baseball, one of his great loves. We'll see."

Read the rest of the blog here.

Read our review of Riven.
Read our interview with Jerry B. Jenkins.
Read our interview with Dallas Jenkins.

Dallas Jenkins article "Does Hollywood Love Christians Anymore?"

Filmmaker Dallas Jenkins (Midnight Clear, Hometown Legend) has a new article up at the website Big Hollywood entitled "Does Hollywood Love Christians Anymore?"

Says Dallas about the site:

If you have any interest in Hollywood, media, and pop culture from an inside perspective, and if you lean to the right, check out the new website from Andrew Breitbart, http://bighollywood.breitbart.com. Andrew ran the Drudge Report for a few years and is a writer/commentator who's guest hosted for Dennis Miller, Michael Savage, Lars Larson, etc. and is always a guest on various news and talk shows. The site is a collection of conservative Hollywood and media types writing about the business and pop culture from a conservative perspective. He invited me to write articles for the site, and my first article (Does Hollywood Love Christians Now?) was part of the site's launch. Check out the site, I think you'll enjoy it.

His piece begins thus:

After my first feature film Hometown Legend had been sold to Warner Brothers, I had some meetings with the WB marketing team in 2001. Near the end of their presentation, I said, “Now you know that this film has some faith elements in it, and my Dad (the executive producer) wrote the Left Behind books, so we could take advantage of his fan base and also promote the film to churches and youth groups.” After an awkward pause where I assume they were expecting me to explain myself, they had two questions: “What are the Left Behind books, and what are youth groups?”

Read the full article.

Read our interview with Dallas.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader a "No Go" from Disney

According to our friends at Narniafans.com, Disney has "jumped ship" on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Reuters & The Hollywood reporter say:

“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” will have to sail without Disney.

The studio said Tuesday that for budgetary and logistical reasons it will not exercise its option to co-produce and co-finance the next “Narnia” movie with producer Walden Media.

The third entry in the series, based on the classic books by C.S. Lewis, was in preproduction and set for a spring shoot for a planned May 2010 release. The development puts the participation of the talent attached in doubt. Michael Apted was on board to direct a script by Steven Knight. The key players of the second installment, “Prince Caspian” — Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, William Moseley and Anna Popplewell — were to return for the third film. It is rare for a studio to pull out of a planned trilogy in midstream, but the number-crunching showed a franchise on a downward trend. “Lion” roared to $745 million worldwide. This year, “Prince Caspian” grossed just $419 million.

Read the full piece at Narniafans.com here.