“Movies have become more influential than the church.” – George Barna
How can one ninety minute seminar be equally inspiring and disparaging at the same time? George Escobar’s was the first session I attended at the 2009 Screenwriting Expo and I came away with mixed emotions.
Mr. Escobar spoke of Sherwood Pictures’ Fireproof and Facing the Giants as the gold-standard in Christian entertainment. Financially speaking, he’s absolutely right – Fireproof alone raked in over $30 million theatrically against a reported budget of $500,000 – but from a creative slant both movies fall far short of excellence. Don’t get me wrong, I love the messages of both movies, but the execution is painfully amateurish.
I’m optimistic about the upcoming movie, One Good Man, produced by Mr. Escobar’s Christian production company, Advent Film Group. Mr. Escobar was quick to separate his new film’s production quality from the Sherwood efforts. And he did so in a humble, non-incriminating manner.
However, Mr. Escobar also claimed to be unable to produce a Christian-themed movie that could compete with blockbusters like Transformers or The Dark Knight. “I’m not talented enough yet,” was his claim. Maybe by earthly standards he is correct, but even if he isn’t talented enough, there are many talented individuals out there, Christian or otherwise, that could turn mediocre into outstanding.
I hear the argument already. When so-called industry experts are brought in, the Christian message is compromised. I agree with Mr. Escobar’s assessment that Hollywood adapts a world-view instead of the Christian Godly-view. That’s why it is imperative that we Christians work our way into leadership positions within the industry so the Godly-view can prevail while Hollywood quality standards are upheld. Is this a paradox? I certainly don’t think so.
While I don’t aspire to make Christian movies, I do aspire to be a Christian who makes movies. I have a Christian screenplay sitting on my shelf, but before I do anything with it, I need to secularize it a bit. Preaching to the choir is not my mission, nor is it my strength. Fireproof and Facing the Giants may have their choir audience, but I’d rather reach the crowd outside the church walls.
Advent Film Group looks like a wonderful organization poised to groom Christians to fill prominent creative positions in Hollywood. I just hope the groomed don’t turn out to be Sherwood Pictures clones content to make below average movies with above average messages. Judging by Mr. Escobar’s desires, I’m optimistic that Christian movies will one day turn a corner and be good enough to compete with the summer blockbusters.
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