Musings on a Faith-Based Summit

I had the opportunity to attend Variety's Family Entertainment and Faith-Based Summit. Some musings:

Good. Someone's recognized that "faith-based" does not have to exclusively mean the Christian faith. Too bad that whenever someone says faith-based or faith-friendly, they're only talking about Christianity. Because saying Christ-based is too scary.

Faith based = the characters talk about God; the movie as obvious ministry

Faith friendly = the characters are actively living their faith. God is referenced to help the audience understand why the characters make certain decisions.

As I suspected you should think of your script as a business. Include the log line, etc. when submitting it. Dream of the ancillary products. Go Jurassic Park with it. Let your imagination spare no expense.

Unless you're Mark Burnett. Who came in cussing and talking faith. A Cussing Christian. Ha!

And then he went all Old Testament on us. Jeremiah and Zedekiah. Stuff only bible scholars know off the top of their heads.

Wait – Mark Burnett's married to Roma Downey?

Is that what they call a rough cut? Because that clip of The Bible, coming to History Channel in 2013, is sizzling. I still prefer Jesus with a Jew 'fro, but hey – if it makes it more accessible to viewers, go 'head, Mark, go 'head. The numbers should be at least as good as Hatfields & McCoys, when all is said and done.

Wait, Little Angels is a Roma Downey production?

Huh. Well, don't start treating the Latino faith based market as you do the African American one. Follow the example of the Christian music section in the Christian bookstore. Everything's in alphabetical order by artist. No more separation into subgenres.

I heart Kim Dorr-Tilley.

Ooo, there's a new concept. Faith-something entertainment that's not for families. Something adults can watch without kids in tow.

I heart Michael Flaherty. His interview with Peter Debruge reminded me why I want to work for Walden when I grow up. Bringing kids to literacy through movies and publishing? Boo-yea!

(Yep. I probably should've been an English major and gone to work as a school librarian.)

When Peter Debruge said "explicitly" he thought naughty thoughts and got embarrassed. The rest of us…not so much.

When someone asks a question without the benefit of a microphone, you repeat the question so the rest of us can hear. Thank you for being a model moderator, Mr. Debruge.

D'oh! Didn't get a chance to fawn at Michael Flaherty.

D'oh! Didn't get a chance to fawn at Brian Lowry.

Eyes glazed over during Digital Media panel. Went to the bathroom and later got to talk to Kim Dorr-Tilley. Yay!

I am horrible at networking.

We were given a tweet hashtag for the conference after the digital media panel. Which was after lunch. Too much too little too late.

D'oh! Didn't get a chance to ask Charlie Ebersol what the four demographics are.

Finally! Someone has pointed out that quality doesn't matter. Not with the crap that regularly comes out of Hollywood.

How do you finance a faith-based film? Any which way you can.

A Christian writer/producer said the movie Courageous didn't inspire him to be a better father. The inaudible gasp from the gallery made me giggle. No group is a monolith, mon ami.

I can see how those who've had their homes picketed might be hostile to Christians. And some are Jews who remember being mercilessly teased at school, bullied and called Jesus killers. That can't account for all of Hollywood's hostility to Christians, can it?

I don't think honest accurate portrayals of Christians will grace the big or small screen during my lifetime. Which is stupid, but not surprising. Hollywood has a tendency to leave money on the table for much longer than it should. (Remember, Fox became the 4^th network in large part due to Living Single, In Living Color, Martin, and New York Undercover. Not because of Duets. They took the money off the table.)

You know, if we were biblically truthful in our adaptations, they wouldn't be all puppy dogs and double rainbows. There are ugly things in The Book.