A couple of weeks ago, I went to a Q&A at Bel Air Presbyterian with DeVon Franklin, the Senior VP of Production at Columbia Pictures, about the making of Heaven Is For Real.
– How all of the right people fell into place to get this film made who were believers.
– How there was a woman who couldn’t get pregnant for years and year, and when she finally did she said she felt the Lord was calling her to put her baby in this movie, and that was the baby in the film.
– How all of the actors reduced their rates so the production could stay within it’s limited budget because they were so passionate about this project.Truly some incredible stories.
The Lord is doing some great things in the entertainment industry. Some people are referring to 2014 as “the year of the Christian film” with Heaven Is For Real, Noah, God’s Not Dead, Son of God…
Something DeVon said really stood out to me. And I am paraphrasing here:
A lot of Christians sit around and bash the entertainment industry – how inappropriate everything is, how there’s nothing wholesome out there. The entertainment industry is saturated with “secular” content. What we can do is dilute the concentration of that content with “Christian” content.
What people need to do – what Christians need to do – instead, is to contribute to the entertainment industry instead of bashing it. Give them a faith-based film as an option to see on a Friday night. Give people wholesome content as an option to consume.
I love that perspective. DeVon is such a dynamic, powerful person. The Holy Spirit is so alive in Him. This man’s love for Jesus radiates through him. He has a true gift in speaking and his passion is so contagious.
I left feeling more motivated than ever before to get the projects I have going off the ground. DeVon encouraged everyone there to follow through with whatever passion is in your heart – whether it’s writing, acting, producing.
Start contributing.
I know I am guilty of telling myself lies of – I can’t make a difference, I haven’t done anything to make people listen to what I have to say, it’s too much work, etc. It’s so easy to look at someone else and say – well, they are just more talented, or people listen to them because ____, or I can’t do all the things they are doing. Right?
Wrong. We can all make a difference. We all have unique gifts and talents the Lord wants to use for his kingdom. I love this spin on the popular saying of “the grass is greener on the other side” that I once heard:
The grass isn’t greener on the other side. The grass is greener where where you water it.
Which reminds me of this verse I find so convicting:
“All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” – Proverbs 14:23
And I think poverty can be related here to not just money, but the “poverty” – or lack of – anything in life. In this case it’s the lack of contributing quality content for people to consume.
I feel that the Lord has called me here to LA for a reason, to contribute to the entertainment industry in some way. And I feel now more than ever that it’s time I stop looking at the success and contributions other people are making – the greener pastures, if you will – and start creating my own.
