Christian Producer on TV Execs: 'Worried We’ll Make the Audience Uncomfortable, Like Jesus Freaks'

MRCTV Contributor | April 24, 2017
DONATE
Font Size

Surprise! According to the New York Times, there is a disconnect between the liberal world of the mainstream media and the evangelical Christian community.

In a April 22 piece, Times reporter Katherine Rosman profiles Pure Flix, the faith-based entertainment film production and distribution company in Scottsdale, Arizona.

“Our God-given dream was to provide content on a consistent basis to be an alternative to what Hollywood was putting it out,” Pure Flix founder David A.R. White told the Times.

The Christian company has produced a number of films since forming in 2005. It’s biggest hit was 2014’s “God’s Not Dead,” which earned over $60 million on a $9 million budget.

White, who has long been an actor, also said that he wants to star with his wife in a faith-based reality TV series, but that when they took the idea to mainstream TV network executes following the success of “God’s Not Dead” the response was not enthusiastic. From the Times:

In part “it was a faith thing,” Mr. White said.

“The major networks like the audience of faith,” he continued, “but when you have to go to the audience and say faith things on television, well, we might be too open.”

Andrea White responded, “They’re worried we’ll make the audience uncomfortable, like Jesus freaks.”

“I think the climate is different now,” Mr. White said of producing a reality show based on an evangelical Christian family. “I think it eventually will happen.”

The climate has certainly been good for Pure Flix, the company’s most recent theatrical offering, “The Case for Christ,” has earned $9 million and is currently playing in theaters.

 “The Case for Christ” is the true-life story of Lee Strobel, a liberal journalist for the Chicago Tribune who set out the debunk the story of Christ’s resurrection only to become a Christian himself.

In June 2015 Pure Flix introduced an on-demand streaming service, by March 2017 they had nearly 715,000 unique visitors.

Greg Gudorf, chief executive of PureFlix.com, told the Times that business is good, with a catalogue of over 7,500 titles. “We’ve been blessed with really strong growth,” he said. 

Thank you for supporting MRCTV! As a tax-deductible, charitable organization, we rely on the support of our readers to keep us running! Keep MRCTV going with your gift here!

 

donate