West Coast Christian Filmmakers Networking Tour

Last week I had the great opportunity to meet Nathaniel Bluedorn, founder of the forum ChristianFilmmakers.org.  He’s on a tour trying to help Christian Filmmakers network.  Unfortunately, only two of us in the Salt Lake area responded to his message, me and Kurt Eilander.  Even more unfortunate, Kurt couldn’t make it to dinner due to work.  You can view a posts about the tour and some photos at http://www.christianfilmmakers.org/forums/viewthread/4791/

Love Poem

An Invitation:

Then descending from the stallion,
Gathering roses in my hand,
I beseeched the maiden’s presence
For a walk upon the sand
And then waited for her answer
While songbirds softly trilled.

Brandan Curtis Hadlock

What is the next step?

Is the business model the next step?  Or is it the team?

I think it’s the team.

The internet is amazing at bringing people together.  Thanks to the Internet, I have now talked with a guy in Indiana who is interested in the idea of producing good, clean media.  There is another person in Utah who would like to be involved in contributing to a company that creates media that teaches gospel principles.  A lady, I don’t know from where, has expressed her interest.  I’m hoping to talk to a man from Ohio, and another from California.

Someone in New Zealand told me that he might have a script I’d be interested in.  That opportunity has been revoked, but it still amazes me that it happened.  Another person in Egypty loved my ideas.  He happens to be looking for financing for his own projects right now, but perhaps sometime we can collaborate.

I talked with somebody else who had tried to create clean and safe media but was unable to come up with a good business model.

Is there a way to effectively create a successful company where management is located in different parts of the world, meeting only by phone and email?

I know we need a good business model.  I don’t want to follow the traditional route of finding a million (or $10 million) in financing.  I want to grow the business with cash flow start off profitable the first year. 

I know that sounds impossible, but it’s not.  It’s been done before with at least one business I know of.  A key is to have customers right from the start.  Have the customers pay you to develop the first products, and build from there.

So I’ve got to work on the revenue model.  But I think it’s also important to be building the team.  And perhaps if I bring the right people on board at first, then together we’ll come up with an even better business model than if I worked on how to earn the money first.

To Save Just One

I noticed that many visits to this site came from searches related to encouraging words for a friend.  All of us need encouragement sometime, and it’s nice to be able to offer encouragement to dear ones when it’s needed. 

I share with you an inspirational poem you may be able to use to encourage someone you love who doesn’t recognize right now his or her true worth. 

Please let me know what you think.  I’d love to hear your comments.

To Save Just One

Through the reflection in the mirror
She believes her worth is told.
Imperfections or perfections
Equal dross or equal gold.

Then she judges of her value
By the beauty of her face.
Yes, she thinks it’s all determined
By her figure or her grace.

But God sees more than skin alone,
That’s why He sent His son–
Not to save the perfect person,
But to rescue everyone.

Christ knelt to suffer all our pains.
In agony He bled.
Then He rose to meet betrayal
With saddened heart and humbled head.

Soldiers stripped Him, whipped and beat Him;
Friends denied Him, strangers mocked.
He submitted to the torture
Knowing to His death He walked.

He died with hopes of saving many,
Yet He’d die to save just one.
He thought a single soul more precious
Than all the wealth by nobles won. 

My friend, that single soul is yours.
Christ bought your life with love.
He saw worth in you greater than
A mirror could e’er dream of.

–Brandan Hadlock

Organizing Worldwide Christian Talent

The other day, someone from another part of the world contacted me about a film script.  I thought it was amazing and  that if the Lord could send me a possible script from that country, he could definitely give another righteous desire of my heart that I’ve been praying for. 

Some people have expressed interest to me in the idea of creating Christ-centered media (or even just good old-fashioned media) and a few in actually helping out.  The key now is to create a team that can organize and build a sustainable company that is profitable from the start.  Being profitable not only helps us recruit the best talent, it gives us freedom to make movies and distribute other media according to our standards without being at the mercy of investors.  It also helps put wives at ease becuase they know a paycheck is coming.

There are so many good people out there who want to make Christian movies.  It would be wonderful to be able to organize all that talent and desire to do more good than any of us could do by ourselves.  Perhaps part of this organization’s — Beacon Enterprizes — purpose could be to really organize in a synergistic way all the Christian filmmakers out there, whether they be script writers, gaffers, directors, actors, or Moms and Dads who just want their kids to watch good, clean movies and tv shows and listen to music that teaches values and true principles. 

This would require some programmers.  So in addition to “artists” and businessmen, we need programmers.  Any volunteers?

Gospel Blesses the World

The following quote shows the importance and singular power of the gospel in blessing the world.  Media is one way to share the God’s message:

“The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing that will bless the lands of the world.  Many people live in poverty and ignorance.  They have a long way to go, and the gospel provides a bridge over which they walk, as it were, from their present situation to a brighter future.”
                                     –Gordon B. Hinckley                   

Parables: Using film to teach

This will be a short post.  A week ago I was blessed to talk (chat via IM, really) with a man in Egypt who wants to make films to glorify God.  It reawoke my desire to create films in different countries and use a nation’s culture and stories to teach them the gospel; in other words, relate gospel principles to what they are familiar with, just as Jesus did.  There may not be economic advantages to doing this, but there could be teaching advantages. 

In fact, Christ taught in parables so that those who were ready to understand or learn, could, while others would be blind to the true message and would only hear a story.  Plus, stories are easy to remember.

So perhaps that’s a good way to think of the movies I’ll make: parables.

Unifying or coordinating organization for Christian Filmmakers?

I just sent my first message to the Christian Filmmaker Yahoo group.  I think it’s worth listing here too.  What are your thoughts on this subject?

It looks like there a lot of people out there who want to use and develop their talents to bring people to Christ through film.  Is there a unifying or coordinating organization to help direct efforts?  I know God is THE DIRECTOR, but He often works through us.  And if we take Paul’s analogy of the body and it’s members, it sounds like there a lot of toes, arms, and ears out there doing their best to serve, but that much more could be done if people’s efforts and talents were synergestically coordinated into complete body.

Has anyone tried to do something like this?  What would be the pro’s and con’s? 

Would you be interested in participating in something like this?

Sincerely,

Brandan

Encouraging Words from a Friend

Friends can provide wondeful encouragement.  I talked with a friend today about my desire to produce Christ-centered, good media.  She thought it was a wonderful idea and encouraged me to do it.  

She said, “It’s a critical thing you’re doing and I really hope you do it, ” and “We’ve got to save these people.” 

We’ll we can’t save these people, but Christ can.  And we can help them learn about and follow Him.  

My friends words were so good for me to hear.  I think we all need to hear about the importance of our dreams.  To hear someone really believe in what I want to do and to hear her that she believes there is a true and urgent need for it was motivating and nourishing.

We all need encouragement and motivation.  It’s important to surround ourselves with people who will help us be happy and do what is right.  Our friends really do influence us and as I’ve read stated elsewhere (in other words, this is someone else’s thought, but I know it’s true), when we’re vacillating, what we end up doing — whether good or bad — can depend on the close friends we keep.   Good friends can help us make right decisions.  Bad friends might cause us or support us in doing bad. 

Choose your friends wisely.

Thank you, Gloria, for your encouragment this morning!

Spam, Encouragement, & Repentance

I found a comment today to a post that had been tagged as spam.  But it wasn’t spam.  It was a beautiful comment that inspired me.  So I deleted the spam and posted the good comment. (see the comment here)

The influences around us are a lot like that.  We are surrounded by that which is bad or worldly.  We need to quickly delete those bad influences and protect ourselves from them.  We also need to hold fast to the good. 

Taken from another angle, I didn’t notice that good comment until months after it was posted.  I don’t know now when the truely spam messages were left because I already deleted them.  Those spam messages, or at least one of them, could have been sitting in the spam box for months too.

Each of us has been given the Spirit of Christ, or a conscience, that allows us to know good from evil.  We need to examine our lives, like I looked at the spam box, to see what is good or bad.  If there is bad in our lives, we should repent immediately.  Christ’s atonement can then delete the bad stuff and make us clean.  Where there is good in our lives, we should give thanks to Him from whom all goodness flows.