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Trouble Writing Stories For The Christian Market
So, I’m in the Christian market, the Christian movie market to be more exact. I work within the Christian movie market niche, which means my distribution window is much smaller, and my audience is much smaller. Although there’s different niches within that niche regarding the viewers, there’s still a major through-line that most Christian movies tend to have. It’s no secret that many filmmakers out there are frustrated with the restrictions that the market tends to have and although it’s slowly starting to soften a bit, there’s still pretty solid walls around what you can or can’t do. By can’t I mean you can still make the movie you want, and possibly even get it on a shelf, but you’re not likely to move many units. There’s a few key rules that someone typically has to follow if they want their movie to do really well in the market. Someone has to get saved in the film and someone has to share the Gospel, and the spiritual elements tend to be on the nose and the more obvious the characters and situations are the better the film tends to sell. You have to stay away from most violence, and when you use it use it very conservatively, because if the film isn’t safe for family viewing, then it’s not likely to sell much. The movie has to has a happy ending, which is another thing I absolutely hate LOL. Most of my favorite movies have sad endings, so when the time came to finish Standing Firm, I wanted to do an ending that was more honest and true to life and not all tied up with a bow. Some people didn’t like me for that, but since I still gave it a happy ending in terms of the relationships (which get mended) I think I got a pass.
The problem with all of these audience requirements is they make it very difficult to make stories with different structure. All the Sherwood films for instance, follow the exact same story structure, and I think Courageous finally had a lot of folks getting wise to the game. Basically you take a flawed character or characters, and somewhere around 1/3 to 1/2 of the way through the movie, take them through a specific change, and then see that change lived out or not lived out. So basically that means you have a flawed protagonist (which you should have anyway) but have them either come to Christ or have their “aha!” moment somewhere, and then watch how that plays out. In Flywheel, a used car salesman sees the error of his ways and gets right with God, gives money back to those he cheated, and mended his relationship with his family. In Facing The Giants, a school and its coach are in the dumps spiritually and their football record stinks, and once they have their spiritial awakening, have the best season ever, the school busts out in revival and they win the State Championship. In Fireproof, a man comes to Christ amongst his failing marriage and does the Love Dare (turned into a product after the fact) to win the heart of his wife back and eventually mend their marriage. In Courageous, multiple fathers with various family issues sign a Resolution (also made a product) and then we see how they live out that promise in public and at home. By the way, I’m not knocking the films, they’re great and have been a great kick in the pants for me to get going as a filmmaker! 
In Standing Firm, Sherwood’s influence was obvious, with a character coming to Christ almost dead-center in the film, reconciling his anger with God, reconnecting with his son, and living out his new faith in his job/life. It’s a formula that always works in its own right, all you do is swap out the situations, people, characters, jobs, etc. Sound easy? Well, it is.
Same goes for Bible themed movies. Even if it’s awful, they sell like hotcakes by default with zero exceptions. If you make another tired dispensational cheesy end-times movie, you’ll be sitting high and dry because those always make a few bucks. Really, it’s not hard to just pick a well known target and shoot at it with a cookie-cutter story and come out on the other end with a couple hundred thousand dollars. This isn’t rocket-science, and I think a lot of Christian consumers are unaware of just how easy they are.
This has been a real problem for me as I’ve tried to develop a new story for movie #2. I’m trying to stay away from the stereotypes as best I can while still making something the market will accept. With Standing Firm I think I broke a few rules, and came out on the other end ok, thankfully, but it’s hard to do. I was even told to consider changing my cover when the release time was approaching because it was black, and you’ll almost never find a darker cover on a Christian movie shelf. It’s always got heads floating on it that look happy, all lit with soft light, bright colors, and lens flares all over it.
Most of the buyers in the market are women ages 35+. Moms, grandmas, etc. Very few men are buying the Christian movies so most movies have that flare to them to attract female buyers. Even movie made for men is marketed towards women even with main characters as men. A movie like Courageous (in my opinion) although it was marketed through a ton of mens organizations, was pitched as a movie wives need to take their men to go see. It always trickles back to the wives, the girlfriends, and the moms. That changes how the movies get made, how they’re marketing, how the covers look, and on it goes. It also puts a squeeze on the kinds of movies you can do and in return, how much you can risk. It’s difficult to come to terms with and most first time filmmakers are oblivious to it, making whatever they think is proper without any thought given to who is and isn’t going to pick it up off the shelf. It’s just the reality of being in this business.
EDIT: I’m throwing this in there and it’s likely to cause some anger but whatever, it needs to be said. Many women are calling for someone to make Christian movies for women, and I understand I really do. So many movies are made with men as main characters, nearly ALL of them. But, you know what the real problem is? Good luck making a movie in typical Christian movie fashion from the woman’s point of view. Most of the time even in Christian movies, the men are shown to be the lackie’s, and the ones with the problem. Now I realize plenty of women could be humble enough to buy a movie that outlines a problem they’re having, but it’s not as likely. It’s far more likely they’ll buy a movie that involves a problem their husband needs to fix then the other way around. Making a movie about the problems women have (meaning things they get wrong) has yet to be made, and we’ll see how the market reacts when someone gives it a shot. I won’t say who, but someone very high up on the food chain in the Christian market told me flat out that this assessment was accurate. Women in the market don’t want to buy products that say they have something to fix, but they’ll always buy products that say their husbands have something to fix. Don’t take that as a blanket statement for everyone, I’m talking collectively as a “market,” that is likely true. Don’t like it? My goal has never been to be popular, just honest. Moving on.
NOTE: A movie I’m involved with called Georgia Justice is told from a woman’s perspective, but it’s got a different spin on the problem I noted above, so women are likely to embrace it all the more because of that. So, it’s likely a winner.
It’s hard to come up with a fresh story because once you realize what a lot of people want to see, your story is almost always the same structure. That’s why almost all the movies I’ll likely ever make are going to be (I hope) looking at the world from a very honest perspective. Showing things how they are and being emotionally honest with folks. I’m not likely to take a character and throw him into some otherworldly circumstance, or do an action movie, or do a big outrageous comedy or anything. It’s been really hard to find something that story wise will be marketable and message wise can be strong enough to invest 2 years of your life into. These movies take so much work that unless the idea grabs me by the throat, I just can’t justify the time spent. I’ve shelved a lot of ideas for later as well because they’re just too good to do on the kind of budget I’de like to shoot for this next time around. I realize movies are supposed to be exaggerated reality in a lot of ways, but I think we push things a bit too far, LOL. Sometimes people aren’t looking for something extraordinary to “escape” their present life, but they’re looking for something to help them better understand their present life, and feel more secure and confident that they’re not alone. Picking issues that are primal and easily relatable no matter your age, gender, background, etc. is what wins, because no matter what situation you pack into the story or even what character, it’s likely a lot of people will mold the story to their life experience…and that’s what I’m after, because overall I think that’s what made Standing Firm work the most.
The Christian audience is fickle, it’s picky, and it shows no mercy. If you break just a few rules, you get ostracized really fast, it’s brutal. I’m all for movies that are redemptive in nature, but we need to figure out a new way to show it. The same old formula has been beaten to a pulp, and although I think the audience will still continue to drink the cool-aid (and boy do they like the flavor), I can’t handle it anymore. I’ve been tormented for a year now trying to come up with the right story to tell, and I think I’m close, but I’ve thought that before. I dont’ want to repeat myself, and I don’t want to wait forever either. It’s difficult to know what God wants in these situations.
People have no idea how easy it is to try and satisfy their indoctrinated stereotypical minds/hearts. That sounds harsh perhaps but it’s true, LOL. Right now the typical Christian consumer seems so unwilling to accept something new because they’re being pounded over the head with product completely opposed to the idea. Most trying to break the mold come out bloodied with angry investors, but I think there’s a way to get this right and do something out of the ordinary, but still satisfy. The Christian market is one of the most difficult markets to be in if you want to be progressive. Sad, but given the research and facts I’ve collected over the past few years, it seems to be the truth. Originality need not apply if you’re interested in popularity in the market.
Prayers appreciated as I continue developing ideas…this is the hardest part of the process for me.
Becoming an Anchor Man
So I read that Alex Kendrick was currently reading Anchor Man, a book by Steve Farrar so I decided it was a good book to be reading with a marriage beginning soon. The book is something right up my alley and after chapter one today I know it’s going to be a great read. Since I was a teenager I have always had my mind set on “the goal.” With the application of Christ around that time, my goals began to change. They didn’t change too much though to be honest, just why they were the way they were…the reason for that changed greatly. It was no longer for me but for the Kingdom. My brain just seems to move quickly from idea to “how can we make that happen.” It’s how I operate my life, sometimes to great levels of stress, but I get things done! I have been thinking about how to properly provide for my family for years and I’m happy to be getting started soon. Denise has her last day at work today (it’s AM here already), and from this blog post and forward, I will be providing for both of us. No easy task, and it’s the main concern I think of any man…but BRING IT ON, I’m game!
This book is about grounding your family and your children at home in such a way that you set them up for 100 years. Not financially, although that can come into play when it comes to your goals. It’s speaking spiritually. Do I believe that salvation for an individual is a sovereign choice of God? Yes, I do. That isn’t in question here, because I know some might be thinking “Well how do you know that your child will be saved even if you bring him up properly and in a God fearing household?” There are no guarantees of that, but the book goes so much farther.
It references the kinds of promises made in scripture for the fathers who walk in integrity before their wife and kids, who bring up their children in the Lord, who follow God with their whole heart, etc. A promise from God is a promise you can count on. His Word is his signature on the dotted line. Also spoke of the word “blessing” and how often it’s mis-represented. Blessing isn’t riches, it’s favor. When the book spoke of America, it basically presented the idea that this country has been benefitting from the promises of God for quite a number of years and the tank is running dry. Because of the strong foundations of the founding fathers, countless generations into the future have been living off the benefits, even if it’s in a very removed type of way. The idea here isn’t to simply be an honorable father and husband for the sake of a reward, because the reward won’t be mine, it’ll be my children and their children, etc. I’ll have the reward of watching it happen, if only for a spell…but it’s my children who will really “cash in” on the promises in the most direct way.
I’ve said this before but the kind of man I am today and the kind of man I strive to be tomorrow directly affects the next generation, hands down. The man I’m determined to be tomorrow is either going to benefit my marriage or destroy it. I don’t plan on “winging it” when it comes to parenting. I plan to read whatever I can on the subject from Godly sources, ask questions from Godly men who have done this before (lol), read the Word to look for guidance, etc. This isn’t a joke, and this isn’t just my future that I’m investing in everyday as I invest in myself and my walk. It’s a longterm investment in my marriage, my wife, my children, and the children my children have.
I’ve had the pleasure of spending some time with Stephen Kendrick as I’ve mentioned before on a few occasions. I’ve read what I can about him and his brother as well. You know what those men had? A tremendous father. They had a father who prayed for them, poured into them spiritual truths, supported them in the direction God was leading, and look at things now? Look how God is using them and Blessing. Their father didn’t know what his sons would become for the Kingdom, and that didn’t matter. He stayed faithful, and now look at the fruit. I want that for my children. I want to trust God for big things and look forward to the future of those alive long after me, but it’s gotta start with me.
I want to be an Anchor Man. My father is a great man who I love dearly, and he did what he could during my childhood and while I was a teenager to give me all the life advice he could. Much of what I’ve learned from my dad has been very helpful and I’m thankful. But, I’ll be the first link in the Spiritual chain of future generations. I’m the first link. If I fail or if I let up and decide to do things my way…what a tragedy that would be. I don’t know how much longer this planet is going to be around, but I can tell you what…whether I’m 1 of what becomes only 5 or 100 links in the chain, my children will have a strong anchor. That must be the case, the future of my family depends on it.
Online Facebook Marketing – Top 10 Tips
The principles below are gathered from experience. I’ve ran quite a few successful fan pages on Facebook, particularly for films in the Christian market. I’ve also kept my eye on pages for other films, to see what they’re doing and what works and what doesn’t. I thought I would try and help out those who’re attempting to build an online presence for their movie, and give a few tips. These principles can apply to pages unrelated to movies, but movies will be the specific focus here.
1) Properly Name Your Page – This is at the top of the list because doing this wrong has the worst consequence. Once you create a name for you page, you can’t change it. If you get this wrong and begin building your fans then realize you want to change your films name, you’re out of luck. Perhaps in the future Facebook will allow name changes, but for now it’s permanent.
Keywords – Putting in words like “movie” or “film” at the end of your title can be helpful for anyone searching for the movie. Just as a side note, “movie” is always a better option than “film” since it’s the most common word for the product. “Film” is a more elegant term and the average person won’t put that into a search bar. If your film is more than two words, you might benefit from placing a dash in-between the title of the film and “movie.” You really have to lay them out in a word document though and see which one looks better. I talk about this a bit below in the “Special Characters” section.
Length – Don’t make the name of your page too long. If you have no choice then go for it but remember that you can’t change it. Keep the names potent and easy to remember. Another thing to consider is how much space your name will take up if you’re ever tagged in another post. For the fan page of Ace Wonder: Message From A Dead Man that I setup, I simply made it Ace Wonder Movie. Short, sweet, and to the point, and it includes the word “movie.” Odds are an individual searching for the film in Google will input “Ace Wonder Movie,” so this will help greatly with search engines.
Special Characters – Don’t use these unless you absolutely have to. Maybe something like Ace Wonder – Movie instead of Ace Wonder Movie but you’ll have to make a judgement call. Never put a character right next to a word without a space, since it won’t be read properly but as one completed section by search engines. “Ace Wonder:” isn’t the same as “Ace Wonder :” because “Wonder:” would be read together. Who’s likely to put in the “:” in a search engine or when they search on Facebook for your film? No quotes or punctuation either, it’s not necessary. Even if your film is called What About Bob?, you would be better making it What About Bob Movie or What About Bob – Movie (I prefer the dash in there to be honest).
2) Setup A Username – Seems like a no-brainer to make sure your page gets a username eventually. When I do marketing for others I try and keep the usernames for their accounts the same across the board. In the case of Ace Wonder, all three accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube have the same url called sitename.com/acewondermovie. Again with this choice you have the main title of the film with the word “movie” in it which search engines will pick up on. Just so you’re aware as well, you can’t setup a username for your page until you pass the 25 mark I believe. Visit http://www.facebook.com/username to setup the username.
Example of Ace Wonder’s Search Engine Results: http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=ace+wonder+movie&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Length – Keep the username short just like the title and if you can make them the exact same words as your title. If you picked your title wisely this should not be an issue.
Special Characters – Using these in your username is just fine since search engines read entire blocks of text for the URL to pick out keywords. This isn’t the case with the Titles of pages which is why I told you to choose that wisely. HOWEVER, it’s important to remember that if someone wants to quickly visit or remember the URL to your fan page (or you plan on putting it on promotional materials or at the end of trailers), one more character like a dash or whatever is just another thing someone has to remember. Remove all possibilities of error on the part of your fan/supporter because it’s foolish not to!
3) FBML – Huh? That’s what I thought when I first heard about it. FBML is a plugin you can add to your fan pages that allows HTML to be added. It becomes a tab next to the Info, Videos, etc. up top on your page. These pages can also be created to be the landing page of your fan page for anyone who isn’t yet a fan. Once they “like” the page, they’ll be taken to your wall every time but a landing page can be a great way to quickly connect with your potential supporter with trailers, buttons, etc.
4) Potent Content – One of the greatest mistakes I see with other fan pages is their abuse of the wall post. Nobody wants to see a giant paragraph as your status update. Keep things short and to the point. In my experience the longer the post, the less results it grabs in regards to “likes” or “comments.” It’s a simple fact, people are lazy. If your post is ever so long that it needs a “see more” button for them to read it, forget it! That’s one more thing for them to click! You’ve already lost them at that point. Keep your posts short and remove words you don’t need, characters, long winded phrases, etc. What sounds better and is easy to read…”STANDING FIRM is on DVD the 24th of August. Get your copy today!” or “STANDING FIRM on DVD Aug 24th. Get yours today!” See the difference? That isn’t the greatest example but the latter is definitely more fine tuned and easier to read quickly. Abbreviate where you can, especially dates. Nobody needs to see months like September spelled out.
5) Links / Attaching – Another comment error that I’ve made many times that links to #4 is adding links and attaching items to your posts. Have you ever noticed when you add a link into a wall post that Facebook automatically makes that little box show up that inserts the title, description, and lets you choose an image from the page? That isn’t always necessary and unless you absolutely think you need to, delete the box and simply include the link within your post. Depending on the length of the link you may want to setup an account with bit.ly and insert the link short form. In my opinion attaching things is rarely necessary, unless it’s a video. Also if you are attaching something, do NOT attach it by pasting the link into your post and letting Facebook do it for you. That means the link is not only in your post and taking up valuable wall room on your customers front page, but then the attachment box is below it! There is an attach area below every posting area that lets you pick links, photos, videos, etc. Use that instead so your post is as short as possible.
6) Monthly Active Fans – This was a new feature added some months ago and it’s made the process of keeping a fan page healthy extremely easy to manage. Why is this number so important? Well, what good is 20,000 or even 100,000 fans if you only have 500 interacting with your page during the month? Your 20,000 really isn’t 20,000, it’s 500. The way I look at it is the Monthly Active Fans is actually your fan count. I think it’s safe to think that way. This number changes constantly for me, almost daily but it gives me an idea of tracking when posts are working and when they’re not and when I need to post something again before that number drops below a certain amount (that I simply set for myself as a warning). You’ll keep this number high if you keep posting relevant content free of spam that your fans can interact with, dialog on by commenting, and “like.” Also, be sure to keep your eye on this early and continue to build it as your fans build. I’ve noticed that it’s very hard to increase this number when a large capacity fan page if you’ve let it die for too long.
7) Notes – Need to get a longer message to your fans but you don’t want to make a big wall post that annoys them? Write a note! Fan pages have notes that you can write and then you’re able to link to them like a blog. So if there’s ever something really important you need to say or you need to give them detailed instructions don’t do it with a wall post, write a note. Simply tell them that there’s a “New Note for all our fans! CLICK HERE – link here” and let them respond and read that.
Be Patient – Building these kinds of things takes time, especially if you’re doing it the old fashioned way and coaxing people to invite their friends or trying to make backdoor deals with other fan pages to post about you or tag you in their posts. Be patient because it’ll take some elbow grease to get things started.
9) Don’t post TOO MUCH – Another extremely common mistake is posting 5 things a day. One potent and relevant post a day is enough, or every other day. Your only goal is to keep them coming back for more and more. If you annoy them you’re likely to get hidden on their front page wall and you’ve lost them forever. This is bound to happen with a certain percentage no matter what you do, but be aware of annoying folks. This is why I brought up the long posts. You’re more likely to be hidden if you’re taking up 1/4 of their front wall when you show up. Assume they’re not as interested in your film as you are, because that’s likely the case. Give them something every once in a while, but don’t beat them over the head.
10) Fan Interaction – This is a very important element to the process. Get involved with your fans and dialog with them. Thank them for posting or leaving a comment, “like” some of their posts, and continue to build fan integrity. The more you interact with them and affirm them, the more likely they are to come back for more. I’ve found that if I don’t check my fan page fairly regularly I miss out on a lot of Blessings as well and great comments. I’ve answered many questions regarding where to buy my film specifically on the STANDING FIRM fan page, and have gotten many sales from that. I also use those opportunities to ask if they can suggest their friends, which a lot of them agree to do after you’re so courteous. You need to respect them, be gracious and kind, and interact with them. Don’t make them feel like cattle to line your pockets!
Well that concludes my article. I hope this has been educational and you can use this in the future to help build a larger and more effective fan base for your movie or film. If any of this results in some success for you please let me know! It’s always great to hear how these posts help people out.
Blessings,
Kyle Prohaska, Praise Pictures Inc.
P.S. – If you’re a filmmaker interested in hiring me to create, manage, spruce up, or build fans on your fan page I’m open to working with you! Please contact me at info [at] praisepictures.com and I’ll be sure to get back to you.
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