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 […]
By Jacob Sahms Walt Disney has done it again, this time taking a 1941 animated film and giving it a Tim Burton face lift that updates its issues and lessons to the present day. Full of whimsy and magic, as well as invention and humanity, Dumbo circa 2019 reminds us of so many of the […]
By Jacob Sahms Kara Tippetts was a mother of four and a pastor’s wife when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she courageously vlogged about her treatment with humor and faith at mundanefaithfulness.com. In the midst of her treatment, she connected with filmmakers Jay and Sofia Lyons, bonding in a powerful way that drove […]
By Jacob Sahms Justin Baldoni is a man on a mission. He’s created a digital documentary series told from the perspective of people who are terminally ill, founded Wayfarer Entertainment to tell stories that challenge people, starred in The CW’s Jane the Virgin, and developed a male talk show called Man Enough to look at […]
By Jacob Sahms In 2014, Tim Mahoney directed the Patterns of Evidence: Exodus documentary that explored evidence of the Biblical story of the Exodus by the Israelites from Egypt. With recreations, expert interviews, and on-the-scene archaeology, Mahoney’s film challenged audiences to consider the historicity of the Exodus and what that meant for the rest of […]
By Jacob Sahms Run the Race shares the story of two brothers who battle life on and off the football field, but who find themselves desperately in need of a higher power to see them through the struggles they encounter. For writer Jake McEntire, the film was about portraying the different avenues to grace, while […]
By Jacob Sahms Optometrist David Evans has been helping people renew (and find) their vision for decades, since graduating from Southern College of Optometry and founding a practice in Memphis in 1994. But Evans had been making homemade films since he was a child, and his storytelling tendencies continued to be displayed at Passion Play […]