about us

12 YEARS IN THE MAKING

This site has been 12 years in the making, conceived in Grad School in 1999 where we discovered that we were not alone as Christians called to the Film Industry.  At Regent University, we met hundreds of other filmmakers with a vision to tell their stories through motion pictures.  After graduation, there was no resource to track all of our productions, to tell our stories, to learn from each other’s mistakes or to pass along knowledge to others.

Looking around for websites who might be doing just that — creating a network of faith-based filmmakers — did not turn up much.  Most Christian Film sites fall into the category of Watchdogs (Reviews and Commentary…”247 cuss words, definitely 247!”), eCommerce (maybe there’s an interview about the film — buy it here now!!!) or Gospel Entertainment News (mostly about our Christian Film Poster Children Mel Gibson, Kirk Cameron, the Left Behind guys, the Omega Code guys, not to mention Tyler Perry and Carman).

But there’s sooooo much more out there to cover.  There are dozens of Feature films currently in some stage of production which need Writers, Actors, Producers, Editors, Effects Guys, etc.  There are thousands of young filmmakers looking for training who need to know about Film Schools across the nation and first class training programs like ACT ONE in LA.  And there’s a growing conversation of the role of faith in film, film in culture and culture in Church.

We’ve got a lot of work to do.  Together.

A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY

In a recent MovieGuide(R) publication, Hollywood watchdog Ted Baehr made this report:

When we started MOVIEGUIDE(R) in 1985, the major studios in Hollywood released only one movie with any positive Christian content. Last year, however, 132, or 49.3%, of the top movies released by Hollywood contained positive Christian content!

Every studio now has a Christian film division, and several studios are doing major films with strong Christian content. This does not mean that the studios are not still doing bad movies, but it does mean that there are less of the bad, and an increasing number of the good.

Because of the success of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion”, Walden Media’s “Chronicles of Narnia” and Sherwood Baptist Church’s “Facing the Giants,” Hollywood has begun taking note of the Christian audience to begin creating more faith-based, family friendly fare. 

In April of 2007, Lionsgate has become the latest studio to tap into the lucrative Christian market with releases involving Tyler Perry, Kirk Franklin and Christian non-fiction author Lee Strobel.   The Weinstein Company announced in December 2006 that they were getting into the Christian Film Business through the formation of a faith-based distribution label and a first-look production deal with Impact Entertainment.  And three months prior to that, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment unveiled FoxFaith, a branded distribution label set up to house the division’s growing portfolio of faith-based programming.  Even Sony Pictures has successfully sold and marketed titles in the “Left Behind” Christian thriller series.

All of this news provides a major opportunity for Wired4Film.com because currently there is no single source for Film fans, Filmmakers, and wannabes to get the scoop on Christian Films.  To wit, there is no Hollywood Reporter or Variety for Christian Filmmakers.  

OUR MISSION

Our mission is to create an information network based on current events in the Film making arena.  To inform, inspire, challenge and equip Faith-based filmmakers.  To become relevant and innovative instruments of a Cultural Rennaissance.

THE PLAN

It’s interesting that George Lucas waited so long between the first and second Star Wars Trilogies because he was “waiting for technology” to get to a point where he could do the things he had in his head to do.  In a way, that’s where we are.  12 years ago this site would’ve cost an arm and a leg and required a team of programmers and IT support to happen.  Even as recently as the summer of 2008, it would have cost thousands of dollars to pull together this Magazine Format.  But today, using a WordPress Blogging Engine, a Revolution Theme Template and a handful of plugins and widgets, we can get started small and grow:

PHASE 1:  (Hollywood Reporter Phase) Provide timely and up to date News, Articles and Interviews with Industry Insiders

PHASE 2: (Craig’s List Phase) Provide Discussion Boards for users to post Production Questions, Cast and Crew Needs and Production News

PHASE 3: (Facebook Phase) Build a Social Network for filmmakers to build an on-site identity, profiles, blogs, film clips, etc.

PHASE 4: (Sundance Phase) Wired4Film.com Film Festival – host a competition to screen your projects and forums to provide feedback

PHASE 5: (American Film Institute Phase) Provide Film Training Opportunities and Seminars

PHASE 6: (Weinstein Phase) Find, Acquire, Produce and Distribute Feature Length Productions under an original label.

PHASE 7: (Google Phase) Take over the world.

FOR THE HATERS

Look, just like with the Food Network or ESPN or any of the multitude of genre programming available out there, we are not saying Christian Filmmakers and their work are the bee’s knees and the ant’s pants of modern cinema.  But it’s a fascinating niche whose story and evolution we will track right here on this site.

HELLO INVESTORS

If you’re a potential investor and would like to meet with us to see a business plan and the growth potential please drop us a line.

Let’s Make a Movie!

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S. David Acuff, Editor