Anything Worth Saying

In the words of Aaron Shust...

Give me words to speak

Don't let my spirit sleep

Cause I can't think of anything worth saying

So is the lament of the lonely blogger. I'm sure Mr. Shust was thinking of bloggers when he penned the lyrics to Give Me Words to Speak.

Give me words to speak

My blog is feeling weak

Cause no one really cares what I've been saying

That's gotta be the long lost chorus that didn't make it into the public EP release of Whispered and Shouted -- a great easy-listening Christian CD, by the way.

Moms' Night Out, my favorite faith-based film of 2014, opens with our hero, Allyson, typing, "I am a mommy blogger… I have 3 followers. Yesterday I had 4, so that's awesome."

Wow, can I relate. Although, according to my tracking software, last week's post reached a few more eyes than normal. Which is a good thing.

Except…

I'm not sure my words were received as intended.

I'm supposed to be sharing in this post some wonderful nuggets of wisdom from the superbly talented screenwriter of Moms' Night Out, Andrea Nasfell.

But…

I wanted to clear up any misconceptions that may have surfaced from my post imploring Christian filmmakers to take risks and raise their standards.

First, I didn't mean to imply that all Christian movies released in the time period between What If… and Moms' Night Out were bad movies. On the contrary, Christian cinema is progressing in the right direction, both aesthetically and message-wise. Yes, there have been Christian movies that fall into one or more categories of too preachy, meandering story, inconsistent acting -- but a similar percentage (probably a higher percentage, actually) of mainstream movies fall into the exact same categories.

I've produced two feature films that definitely fall into more than one of those categories!

It's not my intention to tear down any films or filmmakers, which is why I didn't reference specific titles. Still, specific mentions or not, speculative deduction can bring a number of titles to readers' minds. If that's the case, there's a good chance the reader feels the same way about certain movies. I can live with that.

But… as a filmmaker myself, I know how personal these projects can be and to hear negative comments, directly or indirectly, can spur emotions that debilitate and invoke fear of future failure. I know from experience! And I hate those feelings!

Or they spur anger over the idiot typing them.

Either way, the last thing I want to do is tear down Christian filmmakers. I'm trying to encourage, but I suspect that sentiment may not have been completely evident.

I'm not taking back my plea to make better movies, but I'm not implying that the majority of Christian movies in the market today are bad. I've seen probably 40-50 Christian movies in the last five years and I didn't hate a single one of them. Every one had redeeming qualities that I could appreciate, if not for my own personal growth, for the potential growth they could encourage in other audience members.

And that is the key. If a movie has the power to speak to somebody, anybody, in a way that can improve his or her life, that movie is a worthy tool in God's belt.

I have so much to say on this topic, but I don't know if any of it is worth saying, so I'll just Shust my mouth for now.

Christian cinema needs to take more risks

"God chose to introduce Himself to us in the first verse of Genesis as a Creator. And yet so few Christians really understand the power of creativity to influence the culture." -- Phil Cooke

Three years ago I saw a movie that forever changed my perception of Christian cinema. What If..., directed by Dallas Jenkins, proved that faith-based films didn't have to be plagued by poor production value, underwhelming acting, meandering story lines, and heavy handed preachiness. Finally, I had found a Christian movie I wasn't embarrassed to share with my non-believing friends.

Unfortunately, What If... didn't start a new trend. High quality faith-based movies are still the exception, but church audiences tend to give them a free pass because the filmmakers are "doing God's work." Really, does a movie have to look pretty to be effective?

Yes. It does.

I'm not talking pretty in the sense of beautiful scenery, gorgeous stars, and shiny plot points (though it's not like any of those elements are bad!). I'm talking about faith-based films meeting the production standards of the secular motion pictures that dominate the box office. There's no reason Christian cinema shouldn't be held to the same standards as, say, Dallas Buyers Club or Captain Phillips or The Hangover, part 8.

It's time for Christian filmmakers to raise their own bars. It's time to bring story to the forefront and let the message come out organically instead of forcing it down the audience's throat. It's time to employ talented folks who may not share our worldview, but who bring world-class sensibilities to any and all stages of production.

It's time to take the kid gloves off and tackle some of the bigger issues that are running this world into the ground. Or, on a lighter note, it's time to crack some jokes about ourselves and tear down that wall that separates the overly pious from the shunned bystanders.

Now, What If... isn't a movie that risks a lot, but its production value ranks up there with mainstream Hollywood cinema. The script is tight, the acting is solid, the direction is spot-on, and the overall feel is unlike most faith-based films available today.


New on DVD last week is a faith-based film that rivals What If... as my favorite Christian movie of the last decade. At times riotous, always heartfelt, and undeniably relatable to me as a stay-at-home dad, Moms' Night Out finally continues the trend I'd wanted What If... to ignite. It's no coincidence that Moms' Night Out is written by What If... screenwriter Andrea Nasfell, who will join me in my next blog entry to share some of the backstory behind Moms' Night Out.

I can't recommend Moms' Night Out and What If… enough. To me, they set the standard for what faith-based films should be. Are they perfect? Of course not. No movie is. But strip away the Christian message (which isn't nauseatingly forced down the throats of the audience), and these movies look like they belong in the same category as typical wide-release Hollywood fare.

And that is what makes them effective.

What's quality got to do with it?

"The actor's popularity is evanescent; applauded today, forgotten tomorrow." -- Harrison Ford

Is it better to be good or popular?

One needn't look past the Kardashian empire to find the answer to that question.

Then again, building your own popularity is a talent in itself.

A talent I don't possess.

Justen Overlander, Keri Bunkers, and Gary David Keast
at the Action On Film Festival's screening of The Bequeather.

Here's what I learned last week at the Action On Film Festival where my feature comedy, The Bequeather, screened late Monday night to an audience of nine:

The quality of a film is inconsequential to film festivals.

What does a festival care whether a movie is any good? All that matters is that people come to see it. Period.

And that's the way it should be. One certainly can't fault a business for wanting to make money.

Still, it's frustrating as an artist who works his tail off to create something through years of blood, sweat, and caffeine, to have his film screened after something that clearly wasn't tended to as much as it should have been.

I'm not saying The Bequeather is a modern Citizen Kane, but it's a coherent story with decent production value. I can't say the lead-in movie last week was either.

But they promoted themselves well. I tip my hat to them. And I really don't mean to send any negative energy their way. I'm reflecting as an artist, separating myself from the partiality I have to my own movie, and assessing both projects as unbiased as I can.

One movie deserved to screen at the festival; one didn't.

The Bequeather is the one that didn't deserve to screen.

I'm a terrible self-promoter and until I can get over my deficiencies in that essential part of artistry, I will not achieve the success I crave. It doesn't matter how good I am; If I'm not popular, nobody will care.

A better press kit, a bigger social presence, unashamed promotion… I need these. All artists need these. The trick is to attain them without also adapting obnoxious egocentrism.

Wait a sec… obnoxious egocentrism is working for a ton of people. Surely that's the way to go. What have I been thinking all these years?

Time to make a trip to Sarr Chasm.

LA Casting Director Jeffery Passero Offering Acting Intensive Class In Duluth, August 16

"Acting is not about being someone different. It's finding the similarity in what is apparently different, then finding myself in there." -- Meryl Streep

Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to audition for a feature film being cast by Jeffery Passero, a casting director based out of Los Angeles. His experience and passion were immediately evident and his willingness to work with me on the character for whom I was reading gave me insight beyond what I picked up on my own. It was exactly the kind of interactive audition I appreciate.

Talking with Mr. Passero after reading my audition sides, he said something that took me by surprise. Having been in Minnesota for several days trying to cast the remaining roles in Jim Ojela's feature film, Strange Nature, he was surprised by the lack of preparation by so many auditioning.

I was embarrassed for us. We Minnesota actors take pride in being a talented group. Our theater community is widely recognized as one of the best in the nation. Therein lies one of the problems.

Stage acting is drastically different than screen acting. Only a small percentage of actors can truly excel in both arenas. Many auditioning for Mr. Passero may have been projecting to a live audience that just isn't a part of movie production. Stage actors are often too big for the camera.

Still, Mr. Passero's comment was specifically aimed at the lack of preparation actors brought to their auditions. Stage or screen, preparation is necessary for any audition.

Then it hit me. We're a theater community, for sure. But we're also a commercial and industrial video community. One can make a career in commercials and industrial films by simply being themselves. Auditioning for a 30-second commercial requires familiarity with a page of story boards and maybe a few lines of dialogue. Rarely is there much real acting involved in a commercial.

So when a feature film comes to town, perhaps many who find success in commercial auditions simply don't know how to make the transition from one-dimensional archetypes to layered characters with a history. A great smile, great voice, great energy can take an actor a long ways in commercials, but it takes authenticity to bring a movie character to life.

Some readers of this are rolling their eyes right now, maybe even angry at this pretentious Justen Overlander claiming to know this and that. Rest assured, this is only a theory, one that I only developed recently after meeting Jeff Passero. Agree or disagree with my conclusion, one can't argue with Mr. Passero's observation that too many actors he saw were unprepared.

On Saturday, August 16th, Jeffery Passero will be teaching his one-day acting intensive workshop from 10am - 5pm at the Duluth  Playhouse (The Underground). The workshop consists of two classes in which students will do a memorized scene and at least two audition sides which will be prepared as if students were auditioning for Mr. Passero. The memorized scene will be provided before the class.

Fee for the entire day is $150, which includes two 3-hour sessions. Students also have the option of enrolling in just the afternoon session (audition skills) for $75.

For more information about Jeffery Passero and his classes, visit his website: www.jeffpassero.com.

To enroll in his August 16th Duluth class, please call 818.506.8400.

Casting Director/Acting Coach Jeff Passero

I'm crying because I didn't think of this

There are things I wish I would have created. Like the iPhone and Disney World.

Then there are things I'm happy I didn't create. Like sauerkraut and The Real Housewives of Wherever.

This brilliantly funny book falls into the former category:

I mean, come on. It's cute, funny, and so ridiculously simple. Like me. Except for the cute and funny part.

Can you guess from the title what it's about?

No. It's not about baby goats. Or Storck Chocolates.

It's a bunch of pictures of kids crying with captions explaining the reasons they are crying.

So simple. So brilliant. Like me. Except for the brilliant part.

It all started with the blog of a father raising his kids during the day while moonlighting in a creative field. Sounds a little familiar.

I'm inspired now to change the content of my blog. From now on, I'm going to go around to parks, beaches, schools, and church nurseries to make kids cry so I can take their picture and make up funny captions.

Wait a sec. Kids cry enough on their own. For reasons more ridiculous than I could ever invent. And that's what makes Greg Pembroke's book and blog so brilliantly simple and charming. Like me. Except for the brilliantly charming part.

As a parent of three creatures that can go from sobs to laughter and back again in less time than it takes me to forget what I'm looking for in the fridge, Reasons My Kid is Crying struck a chord with me and is sure to do the same for other child overlords.

That's what creators need to do. Create things that resonate with an audience. It doesn't have to strike a chord with every audience, but it needs to connect to some audience. And it's not always about the size of the audience but the loyalty of the audience.

I know there's an audience out there for my Naked Gun soap opera. A big, loyal audience, aged 18-49, that spends a lot of money on products they see in commercials.

But I digress.

Hey, how about my own contribution to Reasons My Kid is Crying?: