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/

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  That opportunity has been revoked, but it still amazes me that it happened.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.

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?

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

Story Ideas for Christian Film