The latest spiritual smash from Sherwood Pictures will be available on DVD and Blu-ray starting early next year.

“Courageous,” the tale of four police officers whose lives are transformed by loss, gave the spiritually aware studio its fourth hit in as many tries following “Flywheel,” “Facing the Giants” and “Fireproof.”

A collector’s edition DVD of “Courageous” will be sold exclusively through CBA: The Association of Christian Retailers starting Jan. 17, 2012. The disk will feature more than two hours of bonus footage. The film, which will also be available on Blu-ray, earned more than $32 million during its theatrical run.

The aforementioned bonus features include:

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Sherwood Baptist Church Associate Pastor Alex Kendrick joined the culture wars after reading a poll claiming film, television and the Internet had a bigger cultural influence than the local church.

But Kendrick couldn’t predict the impact his Albany, Ga. church would make on a film industry indifferent to matters of faith.

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Kendrick rallied his 3,000-member congregation to fund the 2003 film “Flywheel.” The movie, which followed a sketchy car salesman who finds Jesus Christ, ended up playing six consecutive weeks at a Georgia movie house despite featuring an all-volunteer crew. The film’s shock success helped fuel “Facing the Giants” and “Fireproof,” two faith-based indies which proved more profitable than many Hollywood features.

“Fireproof,” budgeted at $500,000, hauled in $33 million with no bankable stars and a tiny marketing push.

By the church’s own standards, Kendrick‘s latest film represents a quantum leap in both budget and outreach.

“Courageous” tracks four police officers whose lives are changed after tragedy strikes close to home. It’s a tale of grief and healing, one that emphasizes the profound influence fathers have on their children.

The film cost $1 million to produce and will be shown in nearly 1,000 screens nationwide as well as in Canada starting Sept. 30.

Kendrick and crew researched the role fathers play in the family structure before making “Courageous,“ uncovering some alarming statistics along the way. They learned more than 90 percent of gang members come from fatherless homes.

“They’re looking for that belonging to a male group,” says Kendrick, who typically writes, produces and directs his church’s films as well as appears in front of the camera.

Children who grow up without a strong, positive male figure are also less likely to believe in a higher power.

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My last column offered hypotheses on why America feels that the entertainment industry is having a negative effect on the way things are going in the country these days.  I theorized that many Americans feel that the entertainment industry does not reflect their values, and consequently avoid paying for its content.  I provided support for this argument in the form of several different studies.

Matt Damon and Director Paul Greengrass on the set of the 2010 flop “Green Zone”

There is little doubt that the arts attract people with more liberal perspectives.  That their values should appear in content is therefore not surprising.  These values, including political ideology, may take many forms.  In some cases, they are simply a one-off joke about Sarah Palin.  In other cases, there are full-blown television episodes and movies that directly espouse values, morals, or political ideology often associated with the left-wing of our political spectrum.  I’ve been in countless story sessions for both TV and film.  Some writer-producers are eager to inject their ideology into the content.  Some are not.  But the ones that do are always Liberal.  Sometimes that’s just fine. You can’t make Bulworth or Bob Roberts, under-appreciated and entertaining films, without Warren and Tim and their Liberal ideals. (more…)

Director David Nixon says Hollywood should stop being shocked when a no-budget, faith-based movie makes a profit.

“This has been an under served audience, with ’The Passion of the Christ’ opening the door,” Nixon tells Big Hollywood. “Millions of people out there are looking for these kinds of films.”

And Nixon just co-directed one which falls squarely in that genre.

“Letters to God,” inspired by a true story, hits theaters April 9. The movie follows a boy named Tyler (Tanner Maguire) who galvanizes his community with his bravery – and faith – in the face of brain cancer.

The story is unapologetic in how it uses God as the narrative thread which ties the characters, some noble, others in need of redemption, together.

“Letters to God” employed seasoned actors this time around, a far cry from the “let’s put on a show” pluck that helped make “Facing the Giants” for a paltry $100,000.

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“In fifteen minutes, everyone will be famous.” —Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol also spoke that jewel of wisdom, presumably demonstrating a sense of humor in referring to his most famous quote.  Or was it, perhaps, prescient, albeit unintended foreknowledge?  Pity he’s not around to toy with Twitter.

Bridge as visual metaphor, Media as bridge, Pittsburgh.

Looking back at Part 1, we considered a couple of insights into Andy’s Pop Life with the aim of solving some problems surrounding Mr. Breitbart’s incisive assertion that conservatives must come to terms with popular culture, and more, use it to advantage, or fail catastrophically in countering the negative effects of said culture and restoring public confidence in fundamental ideals.  Narcissism, amorality, and an attitude of entitlement, as examples, speak poorly to the future of democracy, while the virtues of valuing others, the practice of ethical discernment and choice, and the elevating ideas of individual liberty and self-reliance are greatly to be desired in the body politic, and traditionally set America apart from typical “statist” governments around the world.  Evidence abounds of the former set of attitudes in common currency as reflected in pop culture; the latter set, highly prized by conservatives, goes sorely wanting for attention in movies, TV, music, etc. (more…)

Last fall, a small, unheralded movie called Fireproof (IDP/Samuel Goldwyn) arrived in theatres and became a huge surprise hit and among the most profitable movies ever made (at least according to budget-to-gross ratio). Now that the film will be released on DVD this Tuesday (January 27), I thought it was worth revisiting the mysterious recipe for the movie’s success.

“I’m not impressed with Hollywood in general. They don’t make a lot of movies that lift our standards and morality.” That’s what director Alex Kendrick told me in a telephone interview on the Monday after his new movie Fireproof generated a downright shocking $6.5 million opening weekend. Despite never being on more than 839 screens, the little Christian-themed indie released on September 26 finished its theatrical run with a stunning $33.4M in ticket sales. Los Angeles and New York are filled with talented film professionals, who spend countless hours and millions upon millions of dollars making movies. The cost of development, production, a director, actors and marketing make the craft of filmmaking prohibitive. So how did a little church in Georgia score a legitimate box office hit?

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