Facing Their Giants
by Paige Longenecker—September 27, 2006
With a low budget and a high calling, a church in Albany, Georgia is set to make its mark on Hollywood and the heartland through their feature film, Facing the Giants.
No stars. No big budget. No expensive sets. Talk about facing giants.
These ingredients don't exactly add up to a nationally-distributed independent film. But Sherwood Baptist Church decided that with God on their side they could "reach the world from Albany, Georgia."
The Christian-themed football movie Facing the Giants opens in more than 440 theatres in 86 markets around the country this weekend. The church did it all with a budget of less than $200,000 raised by its members and with actors who were all volunteers from the congregation.
But, why would a church in the farmland of South Georgia decide to make a movie?
A 1999 study by Barna Research says movies are the most direct way to communicate. That thinking motivated Alex Kendrick and his brother Stephen to reach people for Jesus Christ by making motion pictures.
"This is where people are on the weekends. If they're at their local theatre or renting DVDs at their video store, let's go down that avenue to reach them," Alex says.
Sherwood Baptist Senior Pastor Michael Catt agreed, "We were having a conversation about, 'What do you want to do with your life?' and Alex said he wanted to make Christian movies. But, he wouldn't be able to stay on the church staff because no church is going to do that. And my response was, 'Why not?'"
That was the beginning of Sherwood Pictures. Soon after, Facing the Giants was written, directed, produced and cast by the Kendrick brothers. Alex even took the starring role as Coach Grant Taylor because he was the only cast member able to spend all five weeks on the set.
It's a story about a down-and-out coach and football team at a Christian high school. Betrayal, financial pressures, and the discovery that he and his wife can't have children push the coach to God. As his life changes, so do the lives of everyone around him.
"We wanted people to see a very human story. We chose the platform of the small town football story, but it's so much more than that," Alex explains. "The football is fun to watch and engaging. But, the people in the story have human dilemmas you can identify with."
The movie's plot centers on overcoming fear and huge obstacles through faith. Ironically, the story behind how Facing the Giants gained such a wide distribution reflects the same theme.
"During final editing, someone mentioned that the film's song by the group Third Day required permission from Provident Music. Unbeknownst to the Sherwood team, Provident had recently partnered with Sony Pictures to add Christian-focused films to their charter," Alex says. "When Provident President Terry Hemmings received the call for a church-made film to use Third Day's music, he intended to decline. But, he agreed to watch five minutes before giving his customary 'no'."
Fifteen minutes into the film, Alex says Hemmings' office was full of people and he was booking a ticket to Albany. A short time after his visit there, Sherwood Pictures had contracted with Provident and Sony via Samuel Goldwyn Films to release the film nationally.
"When we look around at the team that put all this together, we know God gets all the glory for this," says Pastor Catt. "We could have never orchestrated these circumstances."
God also used the Motion Picture Association of America to get more publicity for the movie. The producers of Facing the Giants say it's the first film ever rated PG for explicit Christian content.
In a June interview with Scripps Howard News Service, Kris Fuhr, vice president at Provident Films, said the MPAA told her "it was decided that the movie was heavily laden with messages from one religion and that this might offend people from other religions." Fuhr added, "It's important that they used the word 'proselytizing' when they talked about giving this movie a PG… It is kind of interesting that faith has joined that list of deadly sins that the MPAA board wants to warn parents to worry about."
The MPAA has said the controversy is a result of a miscommunication with the filmmakers. It reportedly insists that discussions on pregnancy and depression, not religion, were the reason for the rating.
The controversy surrounding the PG rating gained the filmmakers access to national interviews with CNN, Fox News, and several newspapers. Capitol Hill even picked up on the debate. Members of the U.S. House of representatives accused the MPAA of being more concerned about children being exposed to Christian themes than to sex and violence.
"We certainly couldn't buy publicity like that. And, it's probably a good thing this movie is rated PG because more teens will go see it," explains Alex. "They wouldn't have 'darkened the door' if it was rated G."
Since the movie cost so little to make, Facing the Giants is almost guaranteed to make money. Sherwood Baptist Church will receive 50% of the film's profits.
"None of the staff will be compensated for the movie," Pastor Catt says. "We have broken ground on a $12-million dollar, 40-acre recreational park for the Albany community. Proceeds will go to that project. Anything beyond that will go into other ministry opportunities."
In the movie, as the Shiloh Eagles "face the Giants" for the state championship, the coach says, "We weren't supposed to have a winning season, but we do. We weren't supposed to advance to the playoffs, but we did. We're not supposed to be here, but we are." An all-volunteer, church-member funded, big-screen independent film is not supposed to be successful. Hollywood and the heartland will soon find out if this one is.
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