MMASFY

What kind of widget are you wanting to sell?

A DVD of your latest movie, perhaps?

As “FilmPreneurs,” we need to be super creative. The MMASFY crew are already graced by some of the most cutting edge filmpreneurs to date. And the one thing that sets us apart from all of the others hoping for enough financial success to sustain the lifestyle of a filmmaker?

Great sales using great marketing skills!

Case in point, B & H Photo, New York, NY. I’ve been a fan of theirs since before moving to New York in 1989 (stayed a little over a year – whew!). The “films” they make – video.bhphotovideo.com -  actually number over 410! These “hands-on tutorials” are designed to entertain and educate and provide one desired result – that, through what’s called “permission marketing,” you grow to trust B & H and actually think of them when it comes to purchasing time… even if their costs are slightly higher than what the market is bearing elsewhere.

How does all this apply to us indy storytellers for Yeshua? Focus on your Video Podcasts!

Look at how one of our favorite forerunner film teams, who make movies as singularly for the  glory of YHWH in Yeshua (Jesus) as is humanly possible, Sherwood Baptist Church and Sherwood Pictures does it!

Consider how effective “permission marketing” becomes when you take the time – as the Courageous crew has done – to share your moments, your wins, your losses… your goals and visions. This becomes the ideal staging area for someone in today’s hustle-bustle, information overload world to feel connected… and to give you permission to cast your vision… a place to speak intimately into their lives…

Perhaps even more so than in the theater!

And I’m not making any money from BHPhoto for all this! They just inspired the heck outta me and I’m truly inspired myself to share more videos! (I put up an audio recently and I have a video coming soon.)

Excelsior in Yeshua, the Light of the world!

‎”Super Zooms” – look like DSLRs but have fixed-lenses and are a fraction of the price. The 2 heavy hitters for about $350 (Panasonic) and $400 (Canon) are amazing pieces of machinery and a great idea for beginning (or low-budget) movie makers. Here’s a fun video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpxHpj4ww1A and an amazing… article http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/q110superzoomgroup/

My wife, Michelle, and I just finished viewing Standing Firm, by Kyle Prohaska and his awesome community in Ransomville, NY (Praise Pictures). What a fun, gripping and wonderfully and refreshingly evangelical film! I haven’t watched the entire behind the scenes video yet, but what I did see communicated the interesting genesis of the making of this movie. Indeed, it had the most organic, realistic feel I think I’ve ever seen in a film. Sure, there have been films made for millions of dollars with teams of hundreds working around the clock (think Lord of the Rings) that may have paid closer attention to continuity and lighting, but what Kyle has done with Standing Firm is a testament to actual “ekklessia” (assembled together ones) and what God can do through an individual who is willing to work with his community… indeed, his friends… to make a beautiful movie.

A screen shot from Standing Firm by Praise Pictures.

And, I believe, this movie, along with others being made with the new tools available to us at the end of the age of the gentiles, will be referenced for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Why do I say that? Because of the time we’re living in.. we are living at the height of Earth’s corruption and mankind’s avarice and in the midst of that, there is a shining light of hope in the Christian community worldwide. Angels long to see what Yeshua is doing with His Bride!

Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought and searched diligently… for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would follow them. To them it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to you, they ministered these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into. (1st Peter 1:10-12)

I’ve been working on a script for several years (and 8 children!) and one of the things I want to “find” with my script is the organic process I believe happens when you allow the Holy Spirit to “get in there” – in the mix – and make Himself known.

Filmmakers are in a kind of “double bind” – the medium almost negates the chance for authentic, intimate moments. Case in point, Director says with faster than normal, not meeting deadline, anxious voice, “Ok. She’s in love with you. You’re just recognizing it. Ok. Act! (shouts) Ready on the set! Lights! Roll tape! ACTION!…” Not quite conducive to the gentle, romantic experience, is it? Maybe if you eat, drink and breathe on set in Hollywood… but who wants to live like THAT?

I submit that the method of communication called “film” or “movies” – DVDs, BluRay, etc – belongs to YHWH. And, yet, the use of this communication, along with the printed word (which is no different, really), has been VIOLENTLY CONTESTED by the kingdom of darkness. And the “ekklesia” – the Church – has been losing the battle.

Whether believing farmers battling for supremacy in the field of seed genetics (keeping it “organic” rather than “roundup ready”) or believing media producers in the field of communications, there IS a battle for the very atoms of our planet – whether seed atoms or light atoms. Will you engage it with the Word of YHWH, which is the sword of the Spirit (Heb. 4:4-14)? Or will you surrender to the “powers that be” and let them strip your children of seed and light in the generations following yours? Call it culture war, call it “reasonable service of worship”… if we don’t engage this battle, our children will suffer dearly. It is a battle for “the laws of nature and nature’s God” (USA’s Founding Fathers, Declaration of Independence)… and nothing less.

It is a battle to retain “organic expression…” a battle for love. Love of God, love of people, love of land, and love of the free and honest expression of those grand themes.

Yeshua longs for people who won’t “suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Because that which is known of God is revealed in (people), for God revealed it to them. For the invisible things of Him (since the creation of the world) are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even His everlasting power and divinity… (and yet still) knowing God, they don’t glorify Him as God, neither do they give thanks” for His glorious Presence, Creation and Love.

And Yeshua loves light. It was the first thing He established from within the bosom of the Father. “Let there be light,” He sang… establishing some kind of molecular basis for all we see … and all the myriad spiritual orchestration we cannot see.

As we capture light on our hard drives and memory cards (and film?), we should find new ways to BYPASS all the artificially generated emotions so often portrayed on film. What if the “Lights! Camera! Action!” of the “set” is just a bad design for the movie-making process? As believers and intercessors with King Yeshua, we should seek to let the Holy Spirit help us capture figments of light that MAGNIFY the Creator’s “everlasting power and divinity” and give transparency and purity to the human experience on planet Earth.

What Kyle and Ransomville did with the Standing Firm movie, I think, is very similar to what we capture here in Kansas City on ThePrayerRoom.TV – a 24-hour-a-day reality. An authentic expression of the Body of Messiah – filled with prayer, praise and the YHWH who loves to dwell richly amidst people who live like that! Kyle mentions in his behind the scenes piece that he pretty much “showed up” every day for years… praying, playing, designing, writing, crying, loving… basically life. And it shows on film.

MMASFY actors, forerunners who cling only to Yeshua – not “fame” in any of sordid manifestations, don’t “act.” They intercede. Every performance is a prayer. That’s what makes the difference.

And that’s what sets this film apart, I think.

Blessings to you, Ransomville… and Kyle Prohaska. May your righteousness go before you and the glory of the Lord be your rear guard. (Isaiah 58)