Creation Mandate - Take God's Good and Make it Better

I took am 8 week business course in January/February and loved it so much I'm leading the course this time around (We started this morning). FaithDrivenEntrepreneur.org has videos that challenge me to integrate my faith into every aspect of my life, including my finances, my relationships, my businesses and my community. 

https://www.faithdrivenentrepreneur.org/session-1-our-call-to-create

God cares about beauty. He partners with us to create, as we are created in his image. He gives us the raw materials and expects us to perfect what's in our domain as a reflection of Him. This guy created the coolest leather coffin so that when he dies people will see how much he cares about beauty, and why, hoping to point people to our Creator. He also provides free day care so that his employees' families can be whole.

Jesus' first miracle was an actor of beauty: turning water into wine. 

What is the Creation Mandate? Genesis 1:28 (ASV)

And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 

Adam and Eve were the first entrepreneurs. They had a job to do, together.

God made everything good, not perfect. He expects us to co-create with Him!

I hereby declare myself Chief Steward of everything God has given me, my time, relationships, talents, skills and finances.

Ian Max.

Cancelling CANCEL CULTURE with LOOR TV

Ever heard of Shark Tank-like pitching for Faith Driven Businesses? I just spent two days in Dallas with the winners of the Tampa Lion's Den pitch competition, LOOR.TV. The Lion's Den connects investors with faith driven entrepreneurs. LOOR.TV is creating a game-ified, equity-crowdfunding, streaming platform aimed at funding and sharing movie, TV and documentary content that young people actually want to watch.

The business model for independent filmmakers is broken. It's a winning-the-lottery mentality where they beg, borrow and steal to make a movie that's hopefully not too compromised in apparent production value (making $100K look like $1M) and then sells for a profit at film festivals or to streaming channels. The chances of making money this way is super low, and I keep meeting exhausted filmmakers that are sad when they can't find a distributor that will spend the same kind of sweat equity selling their movie as they spent to make it. So, they give their precious baby away, but at least the movie they slaved on for years is out there for people to see. Repeat after me: It's a movie BUSINESS.

The smart (and Biblical) way to finance a movie is to count the cost in advance and pre-sell the movie before making it. Kinda like a high-rise apartment complex will determine a need and start pre-renting apartments first. Ideally, filmmakers copy the model of Angel Studios and raise the fans in advance who pre-purchase tickets to the movie. LOOR TV is pursuing this model. This is hard work. I helped produce two features that are upside down for the investors. I intend to remedy this.

The problem with most Christian movie distributors is they don't know how to reach young people, nor do they even try. So we have generations of film goers who are being spoon fed junk food by a Hollywood world view that is in conflict with Biblical values. There's some good content out there, some neutral, but tons of woke content that clearly contradicts God's truth, goodness and beauty.

And young people get all the content they want on social media for free, so why should they pay for my movie? What's my value-add to them?

Eyre Films and LOOR TV have a lot in common. How to cancel Cancel Culture with slightly irreverent movies that appeal to young people (likely mostly to young men, but niche down to find those super fans). As I reactivate the fans who have watched "Run Cholo Run" 2.2M times, but with music I didn't license :(, and promote the digitally enhanced re-release of Vengeance Trail, I will be learning to find superfan audiences for Prey For Mason, Smash and Run, and Puberty From Heck! all in various stages of development. Stay tuned. 

Meanwhile, here's Jason Farley and Marcus Pittman enjoying a pitch I made for a Romans 6:23 monster comedy that might have to be hosted in Finland, lol! It will definitely cause Cancel Culture to get triggered!

Ian

THE HUNT Movie

When The Hunt came out (original trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tzgfDLJUhw), my first reaction was; Yes! I do believe some liberals want to wipe out conservatives, but the conservatives in this movie fight back and win!

As per usual, the uproar came from people who hadn’t seen the movie. Would conservatives rather the roles were reversed and conservatives were hunting liberals a la The Most Dangerous Game, and the liberals then righteously killed the conservatives in self-defense?

I want to see a movie where conservatives actually fight back!! As compared to the lame conservatives in DC politics who lie down and give up (not all of them, and certainly not as often as before the Trump era).

I just watched this interview between Jason Blum and Ben Shapiro regarding The Hunt. I actually celebrate Jason Blum for doing this interview, and both he and Ben made some really great points. Start with these soundbites, then watch the whole interview: https://youtu.be/kQ3Yb3nYVyY?t=623

This: We have to laugh at ourselves when we laugh at the other side, then listen to each other.

I once heard Brian Coley of Art Within speak at a Faith in Film Breakfast in Atlanta. My understanding (paraphrase) of what he said is: If Christians want to tell stories that gain cultural acceptance, we must start with cliches so that people recognize our subculture (Hey that's me - aka Christian exploitation) before we can reach a tipping point and leave our subculture for mainstream (and be heard outside our choir). The way to do this is first through comedies, Coley says, but where are the Christian comedies? Mom's Night Out, Believe Me, and Blue Like Jazz are not enough. 

I moved to Atlanta from Toronto when I was nine. I was a fish out of water and didn’t sound or dress like anyone in the South, so I got made fun of a lot. My defense mechanism was to make fun of myself before others could (maybe that’s why Canadians are considered to be so funny). Christians have plenty of material to make fun of. The world makes fun of us, partly because the Gospel is foolishness to those who don’t understand (1 Corinthians 1:18), but especially because we don’t recognize how crazy we act and how confusing we make the Good News of Jesus.

I don’t know if Christians made the movie Saved! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiV-pvjOc_w), but that was a funny movie! Best line, as Mandy Moore throws a Bible at a classmate while judging her; “I am filled with Christ’s love.” The Hunt had two writers, one on the left one on the right. It makes fun of both groups and has authenticity toward both groups. Where are the Christians making comedies, admitting to the world that we’re broken, messed up, stupid at times, but learning to reflect the Messiah who calls us, forgives us, saves us, and perfects us?

I can’t wait to announce my teen abstinence comedy and my monster comedy, both self-mocking, speaking to culture, and outrageously funny. Meanwhile, here are a couple of short comedies inspired by Scripture for you to enjoy: “Don’t Talk About Jesus!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Tmt1r4LpHI, “Joseph’s Wheel of Destiny” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJPWoAtUmXI

Ian