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Last week, I traveled with director Herb Kossover and producer Stephen Ostrander to Angola Prison, Louisiana to screen the documentary film, “A New Hope.” What a great privilege to be there and to see this project come full circle, displayed in front of the men who have graduated and are currently enrolled in this very unusual bible college. Thanks to our Panasonic friends at The WH Platts Company in Atlanta for use of a PT-DW6300US projector and to the films Executive Producer, the North American Mission Board, for use of their Panasonic AJ-HD1400 deck. (Here is an article about the event by Panasonic, thanks to CreativeCow.net)

After we preset the equipment, there was a brief dinner & reception with the warden, president of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and other V.I.P’s.  We then rode back to the main cell block, passed through the security gates and walked into the church now packed with 750 prisoners. The prisoner who was helping us whispered to give a “thumbs up” when we were ready to turn out the lights.  After some brief comments were made, we gave him the signal and pressed play. It was great to see the piece big, in full 720p HD, and interesting to experience the reaction from the men.

I didn’t think of it at the time .. there sitting in the dark behind us were 750 pretty rough guys … each with a story that in many cases is hard to believe. Only because of the transformation caused by the bible college & ultimately by God (so we were told) is this kind of gathering possible.  Couldn’t help but wonder if my own personal faith has transformed my world? God bless those guys, the prison & staff, college & professors … and this effort … hoping it it will spread.

And on the 7th day, OMX Season 2 was completed.  So, in a continued effort to NOT be “all talk and no action” here is some of my own editorial work put on the line (now that the actual episodes are completed!) … a couple segments I personally edited for the show, produced by Amy Kossover for the North American Mission Board and aired on FamilyNet.

Under Amy’s very fine direction, the “On Mission Christian” segments for OMX have been a fun editing challenge, each pushed creatively to take on a personality reflected in narrative, bites & music selection and editing style. Your thoughts welcome. In addition to airing on FamilyNet, the show is podcasted here. Thanks again to the North American Mission Board and its Media Services folks for backing this effort.

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Thrilled to announce the creative team I work with in Atlanta has completed a new documentary short. The thirty minute special entitled, “A New Hope”, is part of the show, “On Mission Xtra”, and tells the story of how a bible college inside the walls of Angola Prison in Louisiana has transformed the institution from one of violence, into one of peace. If there are questions as to whether or not faith-based programs can have positive impact on state-run institutions, this story, more than any I’ve encountered, may answer those questions. [Documentary open posted below]

The project is the concept of director, Herb Kossover, and was guided through production by producers, Amy Kossover, and Stephen Ostrander. I had the great pleasure of being associate producer and editor for the film. A sincere thanks to the media services leadership at the North American Mission Board for funding this piece and for letting the OMX creative team run with it. We hope to have additional airing opportunities in the near future, including the ability to watch the entire episode in its entirety via iTunes podcast.

Below is my short Amazon review of Phil Cooke’s book, The Last TV Evangelist: Why the Next Generation Couldn’t Care Less About Religious Media. If you are involved in faith-based film and television or just interested in seeing “Christian” television & film improve and truly inspire then this book is a must read. I found it to be an honest modern-day assessment of faith-based content creation that shows respect but does not hold back. It may not be what you want to hear … but is what you need to hear.

The only downside (and this is probably just me) is there are a couple of spots in which the narrative feels a bit like a text book, making the read for a postmodern gen’Xer slightly tedious. That approach is perhaps needed though, given the broad overview of faith-based television presented in the work and the author’s desire to reach the next generation of content creators. That being said, the author makes up for it by incorporating interesting stories from his own work in faith-based media creation, insightful applications of scripture to modern media-esk situations, and solid thoughts on media trends occurring in the now. In particular, I enjoyed the last three chapters in which the author wrestles with the future of faith-based media creation. Here he finds a way to uniquely verbalize what many faith-based content creators (self included) struggle with … how to, as he says, “embrace the ambiguity” of life while not compromising the Message.

A solid book full of insightful nuggets any faith-based content creator is sure to take away … and a book that challenges to create better in order to effectively engage the culture for Christ.