Christian Filmmakers

Mikey, you’re the man!  And right on too.

http://www.facebook.com/MikeThornAC?ref=ts

Mike Thorn What we need is NOT more good Christian movie makers. What we need is

more good Christian movie WRITERS.
Fri at 6:40pm via Twitter · Comment · Unlike
You, Clairen Kearney, Stephen J Nasby, Ryan Eckerson and 6 others like this.

Brandon Rice true
Fri at 6:41pm

Sam Gaw Writers would be nice but Christian financiers would be on the top of my list!!
Fri at 6:50pm

Geno DiMaria Amen.
Fri at 6:51pm

Mike Thorn Yes but consider it this way. Hollywood already has a very efficient and well-crafted system in place for making movies (including funding and distribution, the 2 hardest things for indies to accomplish). Where Hollywood goes awry is in their choice of production material.

If you kept a single crew busy all the time you could make ten movies a year quite easily (and have one very, very happy crew at the end of the year). How many movies are we as a Christian film industry making annually? I mean movies that actually reach a mainstream audience…maybe 3 at the most on a good year? We can’t blame it on the economy because Hollywood continues to churn out big-budget movies at an astonishing rate.

The money is there - they’re funding ‘Hot Tub Time Machine,’ people, let’s not kid ourselves that money is completely dried up anymore. If they can get rubbish like ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ funded, there is no reason why any film with an even marginally more positive message can’t get through the offices….
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Fri at 7:03pm

Michele Kluczynski one right here!
Fri at 7:04pm

John Calvin Young Working on that…
Fri at 7:32pm

Dave Martin Well said Mike. I think the general public is sick of what’s being served up. The big “stars” can’t even bring ‘em in for some of this dreck anymore. Retread after retread, sequel after sequel. I think the time has never been better for us to get moving, both inside & outside the system.
Fri at 7:38pm

John-Clay Burnett I agree with ya Mike! Great stories will draw talent, crew, and funding!
Fri at 7:51pm

Kurt Or LaZann Eilander “The money is there…”
Now, maybe I don’t understand what you’re saying, but I’m not sure I agree with that. Lets just say IF Hollywood actually even bothers to read your wonderful script, and IF they actually ever make it rather than just buy it and shelve it, then how much creative control do you think you’ll really have to make sure it STAYS ...
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Fri at 9:59pm

Mike Thorn But Hollywood is making 10 films a year, and more than that. And how many of the A- or B+ movies that debut every year actually make a profit? Ok, well, we could debate the numbers all week. My point was that there IS a cash stream out there and it IS available to us one way or another.

What qualifies a script to make it into that cash flow I don’t know - but script quality surely has something to do with it and that genre or topic has less given that, historically, “clean” and “family-friendly” movies do quite well.

Regarding keeping control of a script - none, I’m sure. But take an *honorable* story and run it through the paper mill, and compare it to a dishonorable story through the same system, and if nothing else, the end result is sure to be a little cleaner….
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Fri at 10:54pm

Zechariah Stover I would certainly agree with you. Writing is the first step and without it, the rest is hopeless.
Fri at 11:02pm

Eric S. Highland Mike Thorn, you MUST go to Gideon this year. I mean MUST. Ask me for details.
Fri at 11:39pm

Melinda Webster Very true! You find the scripts—I know a great director;)
Sat at 12:55am

Paul Gregory Munger I’m writing, I’m writing! I’ve got several scripts in various stages, so once completed, will you help me find the funding for them Mike?
Sat at 2:29am ·

Philip Daniel Bolzman You know mike…the reality of what you say has been gradually dawning on me over the last few months. I mean I have always said it, but now I can see the truth in it. Writing movies is an art form, some day we may finally have some Christian writers who have mastery of it. The thing is, that is also takes an art form knowing what will work on ...
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Sat at 5:45am

Kylene Arnold AMEN!
Sat at 7:27am

Ralph Lumley While writing is one of my strong points, where is the funding? I disagree that Hollywood has a good production system. A good distribution system, no doubt, but the exhaustive union rules slow the process and end up costing the film more than it should. Also, like the writers strike, they can cripple the industry whenever they feel. I believe the ...
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Sat at 10:57am

Mike Thorn But the productions still get made. I agree with you that it is costing way more than it really needs to - anyone who’s worked on a $500k feature knows that - but nevertheless Hollywood studios keep shelling out big bucks to get productions shot. It’s not stopping them from pumping out a steady stream of crass movies, so what is stopping us from ...
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Sat at 12:24pm

David B. Thompson The Hollywood script selection process has more to do with politics than writing ability, and let’s face it, the people making the decisions don’t WANT truly great material, they want cinematic filth!

That’s one of the reasons that so many of us are going completely independent. That said, great writing is even more critical to us! I agree with Mike that there is money to be had, but at the moment really lousy scripts are getting most of it.

Oh, and yes, I’m writing like crazy right now! That’s the only way you can really improve your skills, so that’s where I’m focusing….
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Sat at 12:25pm

Philip Daniel Bolzman Acting is also huge! A weak actor can butcher a descent script. However, if the writing is good enough it will certainly help to carry the actor.
Sat at 1:54pm

I agree, we need great, well-crafted, compelling stories with intelligent and thoughtful character development - then we need good actors to pull it off.  One problem is, truly great talent are drawn into the system and therefore marginalized by the allure of Hollywood.  I believe there is a bit of a vacuum of talent in the christian filmmaking realm, particularly in L.A., so close to the studios.  People who know their craft well, aren’t often satisfied with marginal christian films.  We need to make them better to attract top talent.  Easier said than done, but I’m trying to do my part.

What concerns me most as a writer is that (1) purity of my intent will not be kept [i.e. ruined by some producer who doesn’t know anything about the story, particularly a secular one…] and (2) that the prodco won’t have the budget or quality level to do it right.

On the other hand, I figure that if I write enough scripts , I’ll have enough that if they don’t all get made with the budget that I think they deserve, I’ll still be happy…

I think it is every writer’s dream to have a big-budget film that looks just like they imagined the script to be.

Are there producers looking for good solid short scripts, I wonder…?