Christian Filmmakers (w/ Kevin T. Porter)
Cast & Characters (5)
Bits & Timeline (16)
Roundtable Roll-Call: The Christian Filmmakers
The panel of Christian filmmakers introduces themselves, including a Shreveport-based action director, an Orange County studio owner, and a former youth pastor from Texas.
"I'm Pierce Bird and I'm a Christian filmmaker based in Shreveport, Louisiana."
"I am Bruce Bobby. I have a film studio outside of a church, The Rock Church."
Steven's Gritty MTV Collaboration
Steven Prescottwood Smith discusses his gritty production company and their surprising MTV VMA nomination for a Tyler, the Creator music video, which he justifies as a 'moment for God to remind you that He exists.'
"When I signed on with Tyler, I thought he was a religious man."
"What is fear if not a moment for God to remind you that He exists?"
Mary Sue Ellen's Journey from Sin to Pure Flix
Mary Sue Ellen reveals her past working in pornography studios in Huntington Beach before finding Christ and securing a first-look deal with Pure Flix, the 'Netflix that is not for sinners.'
"The streets are deep and the porn is heavy."
"Pure Flix, that is the Netflix that is not for sinners."
Parker Mayne: The Storyteller Who Happens to be Christian
Parker Mayne rejects the 'Christian filmmaker' label in favor of being a 'storyteller,' describing his films as disorienting experiences that sneak in a biblical message at the very end.
"I'm a storyteller who happens to be Christian."
"Sometimes our God is a god of Trojan horsing a really strong message."
The Biblical Precedent for Unpaid Interns
Parker Mayne explains his use of unpaid interns by citing 'Original Scriptures' and claiming that God is a 'god of exposure.'
"Jesus was very serious about no payment for interns."
"What is our God if not a god of exposure?"
The Avant-Garde Christian Soldier Movie
The panel discusses a film that follows Roman soldiers for three acts before revealing Jesus is gone, which the characters interpret as a profound Christian narrative despite the lack of explicit religious naming until the end.
"They did not say his name until act three."
"Jesus is gone and that must mean he's God."
Little Shack in the Frozen Woods
Pierce describes his movie about a boy persecuted by pitchfork-wielding Americans for refusing to sit for the Pledge of Allegiance, revealing the idea actually came from a child's parents.
"This happens every day in America."
"This ended up being an idea that her parents told her to pitch."
The Legal Definition of a Coma
Bruce Bobby pitches a web series about a woman who saw God during a 45-minute coma, leading to a debate about the 'legal' definition of a coma in America starting at 30 minutes.
"In the law of the land in America, a coma begins at 30 minutes."
"Episode four: Gaslight Believer."
The Passion of the Christ / La La Land Mashup
Parker describes his birthday tradition of watching a seamless iMovie cut that intersperses Mel Gibson's 'The Passion of the Christ' with 'La La Land' to answer the question of God through music.
"It goes from Passion of the Christ to La La Land back and forth."
"It immediately answers: God is music."
The Sin Show Confessions
The filmmakers confess their 'sin shows' on Netflix, ranging from the high-calorie Great British Bake Off to the demonic Stranger Things and a misunderstood viewing of Sesame Street.
"The calories alone are sinful."
"There's literally demons in that show."
The Sin of Misgendering and Forgiveness
During a prayer session to help Bruce Bobby stop watching 'Sesame Street Porn', Parker accidentally misgenders Bruce, leading to an aggressive prayer for 'ramming' forgiveness into him.
"I'm a boy."
"Father we pray that you just ram your forgiveness into him."
"I wouldn't consider that Walking Dead. He came back to life."
"Zeus, Athena, Aphrodite, Dionysus... they're all gone. They left Greece. They moved on."
The Blind Girl GoPro Movie Pitch
Pierce Bird pitches his next film: an hour and a half of a blind girl stumbling around shot on a GoPro, with a five-second cameo of Jesus's hand at the very end.
"It is just like a little blind girl for like an hour and a half just stumbling around."
"The only thing you get of Jesus is you just get his hand for five seconds at the end."
The Heart Transplant Cookie Blog Movie
Mary Sue Ellen describes her new film based on a viral internet story found on a cookie blog, asserting that organ donation is legally impossible without the love of Christ.
"Who do you think gave you the heart?"
"You can't donate an organ if you don't love Christ. I don't think they let you."
Florence + The Machine's Rapture Duet with Jay-Z
Parker Mayne discusses his youth group's music video project featuring a dated Jay-Z remix and an anti-technology app called 'God Date' conceived by a child with a salvia addiction.
"She just did a new duet of Dog Days Are Over with Jay-Z."
"Was this before or after he was clean from the salvia addiction?"
The Bible App's Unskippable Glee Club Web Series
Bruce Bobby reveals her production company is launching 'Ugly Club,' an unskippable web series that pops up inside the Bible app to catch people while they are praying.
"We are doing a web series on the Bible app. It's going to be unskippable."
"It's a glee club called Ugly Club."
Zombie Jesus and the Keys to Shreveport
Steven Prescottwood Smith pitches 'Zombie Jesus' while the panel discusses the legality of the city of Shreveport giving them master keys to every production studio in town.
"Jesus is back and he is hungry."
"Shreveport gave us the keys and we can just make copies and give them out to anyone."