By Jacob Sahms The story of Phil Vischer and Veggietales is a comeback story. In the late 1980s, Vischer and his friend Mike Nawrocki founded Big Idea Productions, aimed at using the Bible to teach children. By 1993, they had released the direct-to-DVD episode of Veggietales, “Where is God When I’m S-Scared?” Following over the […]
By Jacob Sahms The road to Vindication started with single episode in 2015. Four years later, first-time director Jarod O’Flaherty has a ten-episode detective serial on Amazon that tells the story of individuals who are wrongly accused, who find themselves vindicated by the end of each episode. While Christian film can often fit a certain […]
By Jacob Sahms Tom Shadyac believes films should have a beginning and an end that bookend each other. It’s why his latest film begins and ends on a football field with an intense journey of self-discovery and human freedom in between. But for much of his film career, Shadyac was a king of comedy with […]
By Jacob Sahms Bethany Hamilton refuses to be defined by the left arm that a tiger shark stole from her at age thirteen. Now twenty-nine, the married mother of two has more than enough purpose to thrive, and she’s using a new documentary by director Aaron Lieber to share her story […]
By Jacob Sahms When John Smith fell through the ice of a St. Louis lake, Smith’s body shut down and doctors could not find a pulse. His mother Joyce refused to stop praying and begged doctors to keep working to revive him. Then John came back. This is the story told in Twentieth Century Fox’s […]
The very first movie I made, in 2000, was Hometown Legend, a high school football story before those movies were cool! I’ve made ten movies over twenty years, and I’m pretty sure that all of the projects I’ve ever made have been Dove-approved! In 2017, The Resurrection of Gavin Stone was Dove-approved but not box […]
By Jacob Sahms As a nine year old, Brian Ivie filmed stories with his friends, echoing the tales spun by J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, and Ian Fleming. While his friends re-enacted parts, Ivie used southern California’s idyllic summers to capture ideas on film, the only activity that held his attention when school and other activities […]
By Jacob Sahms Cyprus-born Dome Karukoski moved to Finland with his Finnish/Swedish mother, journalist Ritva Karukoski, when he was five. When he reached school age, he found himself bullied and picked on, an outsider in a new place. By thirteen, he had discovered the works of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (J.R.R. to his fans), diving […]
In Waiting for the Miracle to Come, country star Willie Nelson joins actors Charlotte Rampling and Sophie Lowe in a magical story about a young trapeze artist grieving her father’s death who travels to “the Beautiful Place” in Ransom, California. There she meets Jimmy Riggs (Nelson) who has been longing for the daughter he gave […]
By Jacob Sahms In 2017, Jenn Gotzon married fellow actor Jim Chandler, bringing a new angle to her decade of acting experience. Now, the two of them work together on projects, like the upcoming romance The Farmer and the Belle, telling the story of their courtship, and encourage each other in their professional careers as […]