Jan. 15, 2023, column from the Amarillo Globe-News

Higher quality in Christian films includes Amarillo studio

By Mike Haynes

                Most of the 1,300 seats in the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts were filled the night of Dec. 1, 2022, with some in the audience decked out in black tuxedos or glitzy dresses and others wearing jeans and sweatshirts.

                The dressed-up people had walked between velvet ropes to enter the building through a door marked “VIP.” In the lobby, actors were posing for photos, and posters showed the stars of a film that was created in and around Amarillo. The event was a movie premiere, Hollywood-style, something rarely seen in the Texas Panhandle but which its producers hope will become a regular occurrence.

                Sharpened Iron Studios, located on the city’s historic Polk Street, was displaying its first completed feature film, “What Remains,” that stars two veteran, recognizable actors, Cress Williams and Kellan Lutz, and Anne Heche, the actress known for high-profile television and movie roles. Heche died Aug. 14, 2022, at age 53 of injuries suffered in a car accident not long after “What Remains” finished filming, and the studio described the movie as her “final film appearance.”

                In a live question-and-answer session after the Dec. 1 premiere, studio CEO Sean Doherty said he believes Heche became a believer in Christ as a result of working on the film.  

                It’s notable that such talent came to Amarillo to shoot a movie. It also is notable that “What Remains” hits on Christian themes in a production by a faith-based studio.

                The founding of Sharpened Iron a couple of years ago seems part of a trend toward more excellence in popular arts created by Christians and promoting Christian beliefs and values. Part of the trend is away from direct evangelizing in favor of more subtle messaging – something the best authors, screenwriters and songwriters in the secular culture do.

                “What Remains” does include a pastor as a key character and discussions of guilt and forgiveness in a plot involving a past murder. The clergyman (Williams) struggles with how much forgiveness he can give to the man (Lutz) who had killed the pastor’s wife. But the obvious spiritual issues don’t overwhelm the murder story, in which the local sheriff (Heche) plays an important part.

                I hope Sharpened Iron continues to produce quality stories that promote Christian themes without preaching them and that also can compete with mainstream movies at the box office.

The studio isn’t the only Christian effort to create spiritually relevant art for general audiences. In the same month that my wife and I attended the “What Remains” premiere, we saw “I Heard the Bells” at a local theater. It’s the story of the famed writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and the tragedy that led him to write the poem, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” during the Civil War. The poem later became a beloved Christmas song.

The Longfellow film was produced by Sight & Sound, which refers to itself as a ministry to spread the Christian gospel. Sight & Sound started in Pennsylvania in 1976 as a multimedia show and has expanded to several U.S. locations, including a live theater in Branson, Missouri. “I Heard the Bells” is its first feature film.

                The 1860s story is a decent telling of Longfellow’s life and the genesis of the poem, but its production values don’t match those of “What Remains.” To be fair, it’s a period piece, so maybe that’s harder to do. But it’s noticeable that a Union army parade that must have included hundreds of soldiers is represented in the movie by about 20 actors. The overall quality is good, though, and the lead actors don’t come off as just well-meaning people picked from a local church to fill out the cast.

                Probably the best example of recent Christian TV/film production is “The Chosen,” a worldwide phenomenon available through a streaming app and other online platforms. The series showing details of the life of Jesus and his followers has offered some episodes in movie theaters, including the first two episodes of its season 3. That pair of shows premiered last November and has made more than $14 million at the box office.

                “The Chosen” is shot primarily at the Salvation Army’s Camp Hoblitzelle at Midlothian, south of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with some scenes done in Utah. Financed heavily by donations, it is first class in all areas, including acting, writing, music and cinematography. Angel Studios creates “The Chosen” along with other dramas, comedy shows and children’s animated stories.

                Since the 1990s, I have written about the need for quality Christian entertainment. I still strongly believe that instead of only criticizing the culture – and instead of trying to shut down voices that we don’t agree with – Christians should produce their own movies and TV shows for general audiences to show the other side and maybe counteract harmful messages that seem to multiply every year.

I’ve addressed the fact that some Christian creations settle for less than the best with the rationalization that the sacred message makes up for a lower standard of work. It seems that assumption is being challenged more and more, which is encouraging.

The greatest story of all time needs to be told in the greatest possible manner.