A Bold Move

Any time a church steps out of the boundaries of traditional ministry, it’s a bold move. This is especially true when it happens to venture into the world of filmmaking. The Vineyard Community Church based in Springdale, Ohio, which is located near Cincinnati, Ohio, has made this bold move and is currently in production on it’s first, full-length featured film. Most of the people involved in the unnamed project work at the Vineyard or attend the church. Brad Wise who is the creative director for the church serves as the film’s director and writer. Teaching pastor, Joe Boyd, who has a background in the film industry in Los Angeles, is the executive producer. The Vineyard’s video coordinator, Isaac Stambaugh, who is the former producer for the syndicated Zone television program, is credited as the director of production and the first assistant director.

Much of the remaining crew, including production assistants, extras and grips will donate their time to the project. In fact, this is not a big-budget affair. In industry speak, it would be considered to be a micro-budget film. Isaac Stambaugh will more likely consider it to be a no-budget film. With no expectations or little money at stake, this gives the Vineyard an opportunity to test the waters into the world of filmmaking. But it does offer potential rewards if the film can find distribution and a potential market. It is a labor of love for all who are involved. Joe Boyd sees this as a first step for the Vineyard, who may very well be in the process of launching a future production company.

Brad Wise has also written another script that will likely go into production the spring of 2011. The working title for this project is called A Strange Brand of Happy. It has a significantly larger budget and already has a commitment for a theatrical release. If everything comes together as planned, the Vineyard Community Church will be in a unique position. Joe Boyd’s vision is to create, produce and market faith-based films to a mainstream market.

Currently, there is no church or religious organization that has attempted this goal. Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia has produced films such as Facing the Giants and Fireproof. But their movies are mostly aimed at a faith-based or Christian audience. The Vineyard believes they can offer compelling stories that point the audience to Christ and, at the same time, offer solid entertainment value.

Their current production, which is yet to be named, is a classic example of this concept. This film deals with prejudice and racism. It is a timely topic considering the debate that rages in today’s headlines. The story revolves around an idealistic, young, white social worker who moves into a predominately African-American suburbia community. He discovers that he may not be as enlightened as he believes he is. The main character finds a suspicious bag in his back yard which he believes could be cocaine. What surfaces is suspicions and prejudice that lie right below the surface. The film examines what we really think about each other and our misconceptions that we’d rather not discuss. It’s an excellent topic that the Vineyard believes is relevant and capable of reaching a large audience.

The film will wrap by mid-October. Expectations are that the movie will be ready for distribution sometime in early 2011. The Vineyard Community Church has taken a bold step. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the months and years ahead. Will they be able to accomplish what no one else has done—to create faith-based films for a predominately nonChristian audience?