After The Passion of the Christ and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe collectively earned over a billion dollars, it should surprise no one that a Hollywood studio would begin actively targeting the Christian crowd with films produced for them. After all, they have focused on the youth demographic of 18-25 year olds with blockbuster fare for decades offering various genres including action-adventure, romance and horror to get the most moviegoing, DVD-viewing niche to spend their disposable cash. So now we have a new division, Fox Faith, that will produce and market to the church folks.
Going to the Fox Faith site, (and click on the image above to see the company motto),you’ll immediately see the headline that indicates clearly which faith it is appealing to: “Christian and Family Films Everyone Can Enjoy!” Whether the everyone includes you depends on whether you like what you see. Most of the titles could be found on the “Family” section of a video store and Fox Faith’s site has till now been concentrating on marketing DVDs to consumers. This Los Angeles Times report goes into some interesting angles on the new venture. This comment goes to the heart of marketing to a faith-based group like evangelicals:
Still, courting evangelical Christians can be tricky. “If this is something Fox is doing only to exploit the audience — or if it’s something they don’t believe in or are doing cynically — then there could be problems,” said Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo, a box-office reporting service. “There isn’t a huge turnout for these films unless they speak to what Christianity is all about. People want a guide to life and Hollywood has ignored that by saying nothing or dwelling on vices.”
In other words, vague talk about wholesome values that doesn’t “get” the meaning Christianity holds for the intended audience can result in rejection of the overtures by a demographic that feels used. Another comment by an executive at one of the Christian companies partnering with Fox Faith could be interpreted as overly giddy with joy:
“It is extremely satisfying to be taken seriously,” said Nancy Neutzling, vice president of marketing for Word Distribution, FoxFaith’s distributor to Christian retailers. “It’s like we have arrived.”
Is this an evangelical example of Sally Field Syndrome? “You like us! You really like us!”
Whether the “everyone” referred to at the Fox Faith site will really like the DVDs sold and the films produced for theatrical released is another question. The studio’s first theatrical release, an adaptation of one of Janette Oke’s popular frontier romance series, Love’s Abiding Joy, is, according to its Internet Movie Database listing, originally a TV-movie. Fox Film seems to understand that sincerity and production values, even for a low-budget film, are crucial to their success, but this is a new thing, a Hollywood studio expressly focused on the Christian faithfu. Whether all the Hollywood talent behind these productions will be able to produce films both artful and faith-friendly is a challenge like any cinematic efforts–most theatrical films fail to make a profit even with a lot more production and marketing dollars, so it may be a while before Fox’s faith in their mission is realized. And so, the Christian demo, just as it has been courted by politicians, is now being wooed by another American institution, one long associated with liberal tendencies, crass tastes and opportunism. Pinch me.
This’ll probably seem terribly pessimistic, so please forgive me.
While it is somewhat encouraging for Fox to court the Christian demographic, I wonder if it doesn’t alienate an already polarized market. Once you stamp the “Christian” label on something, you’ve already singled out your audience, and my fear is that many will take a pass imply because they do not wish to be preached at. “The Passion of the Christ” already proved that a Christian movie can still be a good movie—these films should not need to be produced or distributed under an exclusive label.
The Times article says that Fox Faith plans to give the films they produce (to be based on Christian bestsellers, they say) a $5 million dollar budget as opposed to the $60 million typically given to other pictures. Why not throw $60 million at some of these films? Why not hire reputable writers to adapt their material so it doesn’t come off as cheap? I’ve seen the first adaptation of Janette Oke’s “Love Comes Softly” and it looked like a Hallmark movie of the week.
Comment by taj — September 23, 2006 @ 12:52 pm |
Regarding your first paragraph, those other than Christian consumers who would avoid the clearly marketed “Christian content” because of the faith themes, well, that is the nature of niche marketing, whether to Christians, sci-fi, romance, gay & lesbian fans or any other demo–the audience, though not a mass one, is reliable if you make the connection with what they enjoy. And as you say in your next paragraph, Fox Faith isn’t spending a lot on the films and indeed they expect most of their revenue to come through DVD sales. It sounds like a well-thought through business plan. I am not at all surprised that you found the Oke story felt like a Hallmark movie–that’s the impression I get just hearing about it.
And that’s a problem other people have with this marketing concept–it settles for the nice, “soft” and safe themes of frontier romances with predictably platitudinous content. Sure, it’s entertainment for middle-class American Christian, sort of like Contemporary Christian Music–anything but cutting edge and innovative and as long as there’s a market for it, someone will seek to address it. And heaven knows there’s a need for a respite from the sensational junk that is offered by Hollywood. I’m more interested in something more challenging and with a wider scope.
Thanks for writing again.
Comment by Alex — September 23, 2006 @ 9:50 pm |
Oh great, more cheese whiz, only it’ll have the Fox imprimatur.(Sigh)
Comment by Gina R Johnson — September 27, 2006 @ 5:44 pm |
Gina,
Short, pithy and to the point.
Thanks for your comment!
-Alex
Comment by Alex — September 27, 2006 @ 9:36 pm |
“The Last Sin Eater” was very interesting, scarry, kept our interest and we ended up really liking it. “The Love Comes Softly” was a wonderful series, I have seen all of them. Thank You Micheal Jr. for your committment to making
good interesting movies.
Another author is Bill Myers “Blood of Heaven” trilogy is WONDERFUL!!!! would make a great movie!
Comment by Linda Thielen — July 28, 2007 @ 4:24 pm |
Linda,
Thanks for your comments. I have heard good things about “The Last Sin Eater” and it is on my Netflix list.
Comment by Alex — July 28, 2007 @ 10:00 pm |