Episode 172
Set Culture and Christian Sci-Fi
Episode 172 - Set Culture and Christian Sci-Fi
In this episode of the Faith and Family Filmmakers podcast, host Matt Chastain welcomes back Chris Kiefer, a talented video graphics supervisor with credits on major films and TV shows. Chris shares behind-the-scenes stories from his work on projects like the new Naked Gun movie and Interstellar, reflecting on the unique challenges and rewards of designing graphics for big productions. The conversation explores the importance of set culture, the evolving role of technology and AI in filmmaking, and the need for Christian voices in science fiction. Chris also discusses the balance between writing for faith-based and mainstream audiences, and offers practical advice for networking and building a career in the film industry.
Highlights Include:
- The Naked Gun Project
- Film Set Experiences
- Crew Dynamics and Leadership
- Impact of AI on Filmmaking
- AI as a Creative Tool
- Christianity in Science Fiction Films
- Technology and Faith
- Writing for Christian and Secular Audiences
- Networking in the Film Industry
Bio:
Chris Kieffer is a writer, producer, and Creative Director creating faith-based, story-driven content that shares biblical truth through powerful storytelling. A father of four, Chris also brings 20+ years of film and TV experience, including 12 at Warner Bros., He has led creative teams on projects such as The Mandalorian & Grogu, Westworld, Interstellar, Star Trek: Picard, Fallout, and Godzilla, crafting immersive UI and visual storytelling for screen.
A.K.A - Chris: a guy who makes stuff.
https://www.chriskieffer.com/
Editing by Michael Roth
Content Christian Media Conference: https://www.christianmediaconference.com/
FAFF Association Online Meetups: https://faffassociation.com/#faff-meetings
Screenwriters Retreat - Mexico: https://www.faffassociation.com/writers-retreat
Jaclyn's Book - In the Beginning, Middle and End: A Screenwriter’s Observations of LIfe, Character, and God: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9R7XS9V
VIP Producers Mentorship Program https://www.faffassociation.com/vip-producers-mentorship
The Faith & Family Filmmakers podcast helps filmmakers who share a Christian worldview stay in touch, informed, and inspired. Releasing new episodes every week, we interview experts from varying fields of filmmaking; from screenwriters, actors, directors, and producers, to film scorers, talent agents, and distributors.
It is produced and hosted by Geoffrey Whitt and Jaclyn Whitt , and is brought to you by the Faith & Family Filmmakers Association
Support Faith & Family Filmmakers Our mission is to help filmmakers who share a Christian Worldview stay in touch, informed, and inspired. If you would like to assist with the costs of producing this podcast, you can help by leaving a tip.
Enter the Faith & Family Screenwriting Awards festival
Faith and Family Screenwriting Academy: https://www.faffassociation.com/
Script Notes and Coaching: https://www.faffassociation.com/script-services
Copyright 2024 Ivan Ann Productions
Transcript
All right.
Matt:Welcome back to another episode of the Faith and Family Filmmakers podcast.
Matt:I am Matt Chastain, as the announcer said, and more importantly, we have back with this Chris Kiefer.
Matt:I, I pronounced it wrong at the beginning of the, the last episode.
Matt:I said Keifer, but keifer's more interesting.
Matt:'cause it, it's one of my favorite actors, Keefer Sutherland, so I can remember it that way.
Matt:Welcome back, brother.
Chris:Thanks for having me back.
Chris:Yes, thank you.
Matt:Yeah, man.
Matt:Well, let's kind of dive a little more into, we heard about your faith journey a little bit last time we heard about kind of how you got into, Warner Brothers.
Matt:Um, I talked about like your IMDB page.
Matt:It's pretty impressive.
Matt:Let 's go ahead and start off with the most recent movie you did.
Matt:'Cause I want to hear more about the Naked Gun I have.
Matt:You are the video graphic supervisor on that one, and I So again, I'm guessing you got to see an early cut of the film.
Matt:They had to send it to you to work on it.
Matt:Have you seen the movie yet?
Chris:I have not seen the movie.
Chris:Um, no.
Chris:Um, I read the script.
Chris:It's, it's weird how it works out sometimes, like if we're on a project and it might be a, I am in it from pre-production all the way through post-production.
Chris:I've seen it 20 times and I'll probably, you know, I'll probably go see in the theater or go to screening or something.
Chris:And then there's times where I'll work on a project and I still haven't seen it.
Matt:You forget about it until you're scrolling Netflix and you're like, wait, I
Matt:think I made that
Chris:Yeah.
Chris:Like two years ago I worked on that, I forgot.
Matt:fully forgot.
Chris:And, uh, yeah, this, that one was one of those ones where it was just, it came in really fast.
Chris:They called me about that project, I think three weeks before we started filming.
Chris:We need graphics and stuff, and it was just jump in, go hammer it out, and then we were out.
Chris:Like it was
Matt:How many days were you on set?
Chris:I wasn't actually, so I'm located in LA and what we do, so a lot of what we do too is remotely, in that instance we had playback 'cause of incentives and things like that.
Chris:So there's a playback groups out in different areas.
Chris:You have Atlanta, New York, wherever.
Chris:That was all shot in New York.
Chris:And so we used local playback operators.
Chris:Oh, wait, no, that was in Atlanta.
Chris:It was shot in Atlanta.
Chris:Actually, the, the team that we were using was it Atlanta, and so we used a local playback operators in Atlanta.
Chris:And so what we do is we designed everything out here or wherever we are, and then send all the assets to them on set and then they play back.
Matt:So they put you at a bit of an arm link from.
Matt:Him the project so that you,
Matt:it's, uh, it's hard for you to get in there and know really how well he, how well they pulled that off.
Matt:I was just fascinated to see how they could pull that kind of humor off.
Matt:Again, it was so specific to that late seventies, early eighties that
Chris:Yeah, I had my doubts too, and I was like, I don't, I didn't know how I felt seeing Liam in there.
Chris:I was like, really?
Chris:I don't know.
Chris:Like it was just me, you know?
Chris:I'm thinking like, I don't, does that work?
Chris:You know, like, you know, having Liam and reading the script, I was trying to picture it and I, I couldn't really, but from what I've seen it, it's, it's doing really well and people are just thinking it's hilarious.
Chris:I'm definitely gonna watch it.
Matt:And he might be the only one who could do it.
Matt:I saw
Matt:him and, and, the most, this is not a faith and family film
Matt:that you should see, but there's an outtake from the movie Ted, where he comes into the, to the grocery store and Ted's checking him out and he's talking about, you know, I'm, I'm buying these tricks, but I, I'm told they're for kids.
Matt:Will there be any problems?
Matt:And, and it's such a funny clip.
Matt:And I was, and after having seen that, I knew he was the only guy who could pull the Leslie Nielsen off.
Chris:Yeah, it's that him believing that it's not funny, that reality of this is normal and that's hard to do, and I think he, he pulled off, well,
Matt:I'd have a stupid grin on my face the entire time, so I'm not sure that I would be the actor for that.
Matt:But anyway, let's, let's, we've gone into a rabbit hole now, so,
Matt:What are some of the films that have just kind of inspired you the most?
Matt:Like what, when you're doing, what part of your job do you feel like you're really in the flow and you're, and you're loving designing graphics?
Matt:Is it when you're, you know, it's a, it's a giant LED wall and there's spaceship and, and screens everywhere, or what, what is it that really, really gets you going and makes you excited about a project?
Chris:I think at the beginning it would've been the bigger and cooler it was.
Chris:But I think as you know, I've done this long enough where to me it's the crew.
Chris:When you get that crew that's just in it, it, it makes everything better.
Chris:Even if it's just a show that's, oh, we're just doing phones and like it's people on Instagram.
Chris:Like kinda boring stuff, right?
Chris:But like, when that crew's on, it's on.
Chris:And so a lot of the experiences I've had that were my favorite was when you're on a crew like that and one that comes to the, my head is interstellar.
Chris:That was probably one of my favorite times on set, living in those spaceships for, you know, the weeks that we're in there.
Chris:And, um, the drive was the worst ever.
Chris:But I thought, we shoot at wb, I was like, great, I'm already there.
Chris:And then we ended up shooting a lot of it over at Sony and that's due to 4 0 5 and it's, you know, three hour drive.
Chris:So.
Chris:I ended up, uh, sleeping in my car on some couches a lot, but that film, it was a whole different experience.
Chris:And I, because the other thing too is like, I've worked a lot of films.
Chris:Most of 'em shoot all digital.
Chris:And so when you get onto a film set, we're shooting film and imax and there, it's, it's a different vibe too.
Chris:You know, like it's weird when that camera starts rolling and it's film.
Chris:You watch the performances light up, it's like, 'cause it's more permanent in a way.
Chris:It's weird.
Chris:I know.
Chris:It's, it's, it's not, but it, it is, in a way, when you hear that film camera, it just starts rolling and it's film, I don't know.
Chris:And it just, the preparation for it is different than digital.
Chris:And the crews are definitely different.
Chris:Most of them are, you know, have been around for a long time.
Chris:And so the professionalism and, and the detail, everything that's there and it's all there, you know, especially in camera too.
Chris:Like Chris loves shooting everything in camera.
Chris:So like on Interstellar, like even when you're looking outside of the spaceships.
Chris:You see a black hole that was in camera.
Chris:We had these gigantic projectors that were doubled up on top of each other, shooting on a wall outside of the spaceships, and like everything is there in camera.
Chris:It's crazy when you, when you're there doing all that.
Matt:I mean, is that intimidating?
Matt:Walking into a, Christopher Nolan said that guy is,
Matt:uh, he's not a, he's not a bad director.
Matt:I see a future for him.
Chris:it, it definitely is.
Chris:You know, and, and I think.
Chris:That's what I liked about that project was from the very beginning when I got on that one meeting the art department, it started with them, you know, meeting over the lot, reading the script and going through everything and, and then when when you see the detail and everything that's put into that project, you walk and you're like, oh, I want to contribute to this.
Chris:It's, you know, it's not just another job, you know.
Chris:What we do is, is tell some of that story, or we are a part of that character like Tars in the, in the show.
Chris:And he is, he is a cube robot.
Chris:Right.
Chris:You know, like you gotta bring some something to life with him and, you know, building his, the screens on his face or chest or whatever you wanna call it, all the cockpits, any type of techy stuff you see in there.
Chris:You know, we've, we've made all those things and it's, it's, sometimes it's just texture and then sometimes it's telling a story on a show.
Chris:Well, we could tangent off of it, right.
Chris:Westworld was a TV show, which so much of the story is told off the technology with the tablets and, and how it all works.
Chris:'cause you know, it's robots and tech and future and sci-fi.
Chris:And so what you're designing is a character in that show where you have to do a big reveal on a tablet or you have to tell some type of story that the audience has to grasp within like that one sync that we cut to a tablet.
Matt:A hundred percent.
Matt:I wanna go back to set culture here for a second.
Matt:'cause you're talking about how that that's can be the most fulfilling part of it is when you're part of a good set culture, who do you feel kind of is most responsible?
Matt:Terms of roles for kind of developing that set culture?
Matt:I mean, is it the producers and directors pretty much, or do you feel like there's just, it's a crew that has worked together enough that they've got a good set culture?
Matt:I, I find it comes a lot of times from the, from the ad down, because that's who most of the crew is really interfacing with is the ad. So where do you see kind of, when you step onto a set and you say, gosh, this is a good culture, where do you feel like that kind of spawns from?
Chris:I think the leadership will set the tone, but I've worked on stuff where I've worked with other people I've previously worked with, and so like even if the leadership isn't good, we'll watch out for each other.
Chris:Because we've worked together.
Chris:But when you, you know, all random new crew, like it's all different people and the leadership's are terrible, it usually is bad from the start.
Chris:But when you've got a great leader, even when you're working with people you'd never worked with before, it sets it up for, you know, success.
Chris:But I think.
Chris:It, it depends on the project.
Chris:'cause I've had projects where even though you think the director's the leader, it's, it's usually a producer or maybe the writer or the showrunner, right?
Chris:So you might have a, a TV show that there's a showrunner in charge, but you have a director.
Chris:So you've still gotta appeal to the director for that episode.
Chris:But in, in the end, it's the showrunners, you know, that's the person in charge or the producers or whoever, depending on the project.
Chris:And when they set that tone, that's going to kind of give you the crew based on, on that, that setup.
Matt:Yeah, I was on a Walking Dead shoot one day, and I just happened to be sitting next to Greg Nicotero and you know, he's both, I think he served his showrunner for a while.
Matt:He directed a bunch of 'em.
Matt:Obviously he's the makeup guy, but you could tell that he was the tone for that show.
Matt:A hundred percent.
Matt:And he
Chris:Yeah, you can, you can tell who it is when you're on, on the project.
Matt:could tell who the alpha is and he scared the mess out of all of us.
Matt:So
Matt:it's.
Chris:Yeah.
Chris:I think what's nice too is when you do get to work with people repeatedly, it kind of gives you a little bit more room for error.
Chris:Not that you wanna make any, but there's a little bit more forgiveness because they know that you're doing the best you can at all times and things just happen.
Chris:And so it kind of gets rid of some of that fear of like, oh, I'm gonna mess up because I, I've done it, you know, when they're rolling that film, you know, it's not a delete button, it's a film, and they're like, Q playback, and then Chris's playback doesn't work, and so everyone just stops and waits for you.
Chris:So
Matt:Inevitably, my computer froze.
Matt:It's like
Matt:anytime you're doing a presentation of a daggone PowerPoint in front of 500 people worked, worked well, worked perfectly.
Matt:The
Matt:entire time you rehearsal, you rehearsing, but then when it's live, it always freezes.
Chris:Every single time, and then especially on a film set, right?
Chris:Like we try to do everything wired as much as possible because now on film sets, there's so many devices that are wireless and it, it's always fine.
Chris:You know, we, like I said, running through rehearsals, setting it up, it's queuing, everything's perfect.
Chris:They say action, and then like all the electronics come on, everyone's running and your signal's gone, and then nothing works.
Matt:The boom op's mad at you because his
Matt:signal's being, uh, interfered with Yeah, that, that sounds
Chris:It's everything.
Chris:Yeah.
Chris:The fan kicked on on the computer.
Chris:It's too loud, you know, or something.
Chris:It doesn't matter, right?
Chris:Like things are completely outta your control.
Chris:It doesn't matter.
Chris:Things happen.
Matt:Let me ask you this.
Matt:I don't know about you, but me and my filmmaker buddies the day that that Google, oh, what?
Matt:What is their.
Matt:New AI video generator the day that came out and we started seeing some people release things they had created just with prompts.
Matt:It, it kind of was haunting for a lot of my filmmaker buddies and I, not that that's what we have to compete with at the moment, but we can tell what's coming.
Matt:And so for you, what do you feel like, where's the industry going?
Matt:Is, is AI gonna take our jobs like everybody says, or are there gonna be fewer jobs because there's gonna be fewer people kind of programming and prompting the AI or.
Matt:do you see the future of filmmakers with the onslaught of ai?
Chris:I mean there, there's no way to really, I wouldn't say I can predict it or tell you where it's gonna go.
Chris:I could say what I've seen in kind of the response and the reactions people have had.
Chris:A lot of people are worried about it.
Chris:And I think it does, it can affect a lot of different types of jobs in the film industry for sure.
Chris:I spent a lot of time, I worked with a startup company with ai 'cause I wanted to, I wanted to know about it.
Chris:So I wanted to know.
Chris:I basically, I was like, who's coming for my job?
Chris:Right?
Chris:So I ended up, uh, as a consultant on a, uh, AI company that was coming up And, uh, doing that exact thing, same thing, because I wanted to know what it can do.
Chris:And, um, there's still a lot of limitations.
Chris:Yeah.
Chris:I'm sure at some point it will break all those, right?
Chris:Like right now, I mean, you can, it's, it's incredible what it can do.
Chris:You know, you shoot yourself on a phone doing, acting out, whatever you want, and then swap out yourself for, you know, me, character, whatever.
Chris:And it's matching your lines and your dialogue and it's doing all these incredible things, which is cool, but like, I dunno, I, I think there's a group of people, there's like.
Chris:The filmmakers who are like, it'll never replace film, it'll never replace it.
Chris:And I don't think it will.
Chris:It is concerning as, but some people are okay.
Chris:Like, 'cause there's things about AI that like, obviously the process is hard and I'm sure it'll get better, but like if you're doing like say, visual effects on something and you wanna like change something, right?
Chris:You can get very detailed and granular about your changes and, and, and ai, oh, change this and then it changes everything.
Chris:You're like, no, no, no consistency.
Chris:I need to change.
Chris:And so like, there, there's a lot of those.
Chris:But I'm sure that that'll change too, and it'll get very fine tuned and things like that.
Chris:But I think there's something about the entire creative process from having a good story, right?
Chris:That all starts for from a story, right?
Chris:If you don't have a good story to tell, it doesn't matter how you shoot it, it's gonna suck.
Chris:And so like if you have a good story and you get those people that are so good at their crafts to come together, there's a life in that product that you don't get in ai.
Chris:I haven't seen it.
Chris:Plus it's like, I think as a filmmaker.
Chris:What I get out of making the film is important too, not just the final product.
Chris:And using AI to make a film to me isn't as fun as making a film.
Chris:And it is incredibly hard and, and it is costly, a lot more things involved, but that process and journey of doing it is so much more fulfilling than just running it through prompts for me.
Matt:I totally agree.
Matt:There's there's something magical about it.
Chris:yeah, and I think as a tool, it's incredible.
Chris:I mean, I use it as a tool daily all the time.
Chris:And I think it, it'll definitely, it can help you in many ways as a filmmaker and make you faster in some areas, or cut out some things that would normally take a long time to do.
Chris:And I think there's a way to use it creatively as a tool to enhance what you do.
Chris:And so, like, getting behind it in that sense, I, yeah, sure.
Chris:You know, but it's just a replacement tool.
Chris:No, but I mean, it'll replace, and people are gonna make little shorts and movies with it, but it doesn't mean I'm gonna watch it or people are gonna wanna watch it.
Matt:That's what I hope that producers can keep in mind is that, like you say, there's a life to.
Matt:It when, when humans come together to tell a story, and I'm afraid that if we... because AI so cheap that they're gonna go down that road so much more often and there's gonna be even fewer jobs within the film industry and the the products are gonna be.
Matt:Just less authentic.
Matt:and I wonder how long or at what point AI can actually take that kind of a touring test where it fools us.
Matt:And as viewers, we can't tell the difference that's what I'm, I think that'll last longer than we think.
Matt:'cause we, we have an instinct to know when something's authentic.
Chris:And when you see something, it might look real.
Chris:Like photo reel, I guess I could say.
Chris:But like I said, that life, I guess behind it or that, that there's something behind it.
Chris:When you're on a set and you see.
Chris:All these people come together, you're in the actual element, right?
Chris:The actor, actresses there doing their or performing, and you're in that moment.
Chris:And then I think that plus like that spontaneity of somebody, oh, because of where we're at, the timing this and these things just happen on set, these little moments, these magical moments, right?
Chris:Like you can't recreate that or think ahead of it to recreate those moments and things like that with ai.
Chris:And then even if you train it to do that, it's still gonna just copy what it knows.
Matt:That's right.
Matt:It's Dr. Spock.
Matt:It's all logic.
Matt:Well, plus there's a reason that somebody like Christopher Nolan uses practical, almost exclusively for effects
Matt:and that kind of thing.
Matt:'cause practical effects still we can tell there's an au to them that, that don't come
Matt:even with the best CGI.
Chris:Yeah.
Chris:I mean, there's been times where they call me on set in Westworld.
Chris:It was one of those things where we had these like tablets that were like trifold tablets and stuff that were data and stuff on 'em.
Chris:And, um, they were like super thin, like a, a little tiny sheet of metal, right.
Chris:But, um, they look really cool when you add 'em, the visual effects and stuff.
Chris:But obviously we can't do practical playback on those.
Chris:So now the actors now have to like, act like they know what they're doing and it never looks right when you just hand an actor or a tablet and you're like, just fake it, right?
Chris:And so they were very good about all those things where I would come set and I would literally map out physically on the tablet, like where he's gonna gesture, what he's gonna do, why he's doing it, and all these things.
Chris:And, and I would show him a pre-designed element.
Chris:And so like, even though you can't do it in camera.
Chris:You're still thinking it at through, right.
Chris:So that the actor knows what they have to do, why they're doing it, and then when they're performing their scene, it just, it just looks so much better because they're in the moment versus just figure it out, you know?
Matt:Absolutely.
Matt:Well, I wanna bring up a topic now that I think that it's, I wanna bring it up almost as a challenge, both to you and, and to other Christian filmmakers who I think there's a gap that.
Matt:Needs to be filled and, and perhaps you are the, are the guy for that,
Chris:Yep.
Chris:That's awesome.
Matt:A lot of what you do is sci-fi based, because like you talk about graphics and screens and spaceships and things like that.
Matt:there aren't a lot of stories set in the future that bring a Christian worldview to it.
Matt:And I think that's a giant mistake.
Matt:And a giant gap because I dunno about you, but I'm not willing to secede to the future that Christian worldviews don't exist in the future.
Chris:Okay.
Chris:Exactly.
Matt:need to tell stories in which Christians still exist in the year.
Matt:2100 if, if Jesus hadn't come back by then.
Matt:So I don't know if why we've kind of stayed away from that.
Matt:Maybe it's simple cost that it's, it's the Christian market responds better to biblical stories or if it's taking too much of a leap into the future.
Matt:I, I, I don't know.
Matt:Is, is it hard to stay true to, to the Bible if you're kind of projecting into the future, but where do you see that?
Chris:I love that topic actually.
Chris:I've got a few things I'm writing and doing right now because I think there's a lot of things you can explore, right?
Chris:That not just because there's graphic work involved, but like, you know, in the future, right?
Chris:Like you can ask questions that are, they're, they're biblical.
Chris:That could be set in a sci-fi setting, right?
Chris:Like people start replacing their body to the point where they're fully mechanical.
Chris:Like, are they still a human being?
Chris:You know, is there a soul in that person?
Chris:Like there's a lot of questions you can ask in, in that type of a setting and theme, and I think we never really explore, and I don't know why they don't explore that.
Chris:Too much.
Chris:That's something that I really would like to do.
Chris:I did, you know, obviously there is a big gap between funding and stuff like that for Christian films and, and I, I don't know if that's a big reason why, or maybe they just don't know how to do it.
Chris:That was part of the thing.
Chris:Like I, you know, that's why I was jumping on these networking and stuff like, Hey, this is what we do.
Chris:How can we help you guys do that?
Chris:You know?
Chris:And I want to bring that to this and yeah, I don't know if it's just a category that's not really explored or whether it's cost or what.
Chris:Yeah.
Matt:I think it should be though.
Matt:I, I think it should be.
Matt:I try to keep my kids as much as possible and I'm.
Matt:Failing every day at it.
Matt:But I try to keep them at least limited in these digital worlds, you know, in the, in the Roblox universe and things like that.
Matt:Because, you know, I, I tell 'em, because these are human created worlds.
Matt:These simulations, the matrix.
Matt:God's not in there.
Matt:God's in the real world that he created.
Matt:And so if we live in these digital worlds and these simulations.
Matt:are we really able to honor God and live for him in, in those worlds?
Matt:And so, you know, as we move into the future, that's kind of the, unfortunately what I see in a lot of the futuristic sci-fi is that where's God?
Matt:I think as we move into the scary future where AI could be taking us over and where, you know, this transhumanism movement, I think we kind of need God in there more so than ever.
Chris:And I think you can, there's a lot of things, especially with where technology's going, right?
Chris:Like how is that going to affect us?
Chris:And then how does that work into the world, you know, and how do we deal with those types of things that are coming up?
Chris:And there's a lot of really good topics you can play into in that realm of sci-fi and science fiction and those types of things.
Chris:And we try to, like you said, same thing with the kids, right?
Chris:Trying to keep them aligned in what they're looking at, what they're doing.
Chris:And, and it's funny, like our kids, you know.
Chris:Doing the best we can, you know?
Chris:And like they'll watch a movie and they're like, Hey, you know what?
Chris:I noticed they kind of took that from the Bible.
Chris:They took that.
Chris:I'm like, yeah, I mean most of these stories you see are gonna do that.
Chris:And we were watching, you know, transformers was the Transformers one.
Chris:And I remember, you know, the kids were watching it and, well, I guess spoilers, I dunno if we're allowed to do that on here.
Chris:But, um, there's a scene where like a character basically.
Chris:Is willing to like, sacrifice himself.
Chris:And, because of that, he comes back and then he saves, then these floodgates open and all these, all these little like, thematic things in there.
Chris:And she just starts calling him out.
Chris:And I'm just like, okay, okay.
Chris:You
Matt:They're paying attention in Sunday school.
Chris:Exactly.
Chris:You know, I'm sure it wasn't written for that.
Chris:I, maybe it was, I don't know.
Chris:But even in that type of a genre, there's, there's plenty of ways to dive into those really hard questions too, you know?
Chris:And deep ones.
Chris:Yeah.
Matt:We can make a, what, a remake of Noah's Ark set in space where he is got a big spaceship, I don't know, things like that.
Matt:You, you, you start running into people calling you a, you know, calling it heretical and, and things like that.
Chris:But it's like the same thing with like, like the chosen, right?
Chris:I mean, that is written for exactly what it's supposed to be.
Chris:And there's still people that it's like, it's not meant to replace your Bible, you know?
Chris:And yeah.
Chris:And so it is a form of entertainment, you know, they're doing what they're doing and I think they're doing a great job at it.
Chris:And, and if it raises questions, good.
Chris:Go read, go check, go
Matt:That's what Dallas Jenkins says.
Matt:He said, if you think I'm, I'm wrong, or if I'm taking too much artistic liberty, my goal is that you open your Bible, you know, call me out on it, no problem.
Matt:But if you're opening your Bible, then I've accomplished, you know, what I wanna accomplish.
Matt:And I'm, I'm totally with you on
Matt:that.
Matt:Yeah.
Matt:I think we need like a biblically based black mirror.
Matt:That's what I wanna
Chris:Yeah.
Chris:That's interesting you say that.
Chris:And it's funny 'cause like a lot of the times too, like I, I think about like, well what am I writing for?
Chris:Right?
Chris:Am I writing.
Chris:Just for Christians, you know, like I should be writing projects that are reaching people who, who may know nothing about it.
Chris:You know what I mean?
Chris:And like, and that there's a hard line to meet in the middle there, right?
Chris:Like, how do you meet in the middle to where Somebody knows nothing about it, but you still want to, you know, open, open those doors to them.
Chris:Um, and there's so many ways you can do that, but some people are like, yeah, but then you're writing a film about that.
Chris:It's like, yeah, I'm supposed to spread it to everybody.
Chris:And I think film and TV alone, it's such a strong medium that.
Chris:It can be so influential to people and it's a dangerous but an awesome thing, right?
Chris:Like if you use it properly, it can do so much good.
Matt:When used for his glory.
Matt:No doubt.
Matt:I mean, look, the disciples were asking Jesus the same thing.
Matt:Why aren't you preaching to them?
Matt:Preach, preach, preach.
Matt:Why are you telling 'em stories?
Matt:And he said it himself.
Matt:He is like.
Matt:They're not gonna get it.
Matt:You know, if the people who who haven't been saved yet aren't going to understand it, and so you tell them stories so that they can understand a parallel logic.
Chris:I think that's where it hit me the most was when I became a Christian and I started watching Christian films 'cause it was so late in my life, right.
Chris:That like, had I wa I was like, I, I remember trying, like watching a film that was a, like a made Christian film, like back then.
Chris:I was like, I can't watch this.
Chris:And it wasn't that it did anything wrong, it was just that like.
Chris:I didn't understand what they were talking about.
Chris:Right.
Chris:And, and I didn't understand that, where just the perspective, all of it, it was, it was another language to me.
Chris:And so it was hard to really relate to.
Chris:So I, you know, I've thought about that and like, that's kinda where I'm at.
Chris:Like, I wanna make those films that are gonna, that's all about glorifying God and, and directing people to him.
Chris:But like, I remember who I'm talking to.
Chris:And so like, and sometimes I thought about like, I wanna make a film that is reaching people who may know nothing about it, and I don't wanna talk to them in the language that they're gonna forget, but I also don't want to cater, right?
Chris:I wanna make sure that everything is you know, sound theologically.
Chris:Um, but it's, it's really hard to toe that line of where you're at and how to convey that message.
Matt:Yeah, it's just about telling the right story.
Matt:God will, be glorified in the story.
Matt:You know, I'm, I'm a big proponent of when I reed scripts from Christian filmmakers.
Matt:It always goes on the first.
Matt:Well, look, my first drafts are terrible too, so everybody's first drafts are
Matt:terrible.
Matt:But you do find the most common problem of a first draft in a Christian story is that it just seeks to be a, uh, a vaguely disguised sermon.
Matt:And that's not what we ought to do.
Matt:We don't need to be preaching sermons in our stories.
Matt:We need to just tell stories, tell them realistically, tell 'em faithfully, and God will be glorified.
Matt:That is awesome.
Matt:Well, man, this has been a whole lot of fun.
Matt:I, I really appreciate it.
Matt:Is there anything else that's burning inside of you right now that, like some advice that you could give to, to Christians who want to succeed in the world of film?
Chris:Oh man.
Chris:Well, we just had a meetup about this recently.
Chris:It's networking, right.
Chris:And I think it's super powerful.
Chris:I mean, with the amount of, especially like you're talking about with ai, right?
Chris:Like I get emails.
Chris:All day, every day from, I dunno if it's a human or a robot, right?
Chris:And so if you really want to connect to people and start working with people in the film industry and television is that you need to go find them.
Chris:And so one of the biggest things that's helped me.
Chris:Be successful in what I do is, is knowing people.
Chris:And so, 'cause those people, and then you, when you work with them and then they're, they're gonna refer you word of mouth, right?
Chris:That, that is gold in this industry because when you get hired it's because somebody trusts you.
Chris:Or sometimes it's if your budget's lower, whatever, but you know, they wanna know that even if your budget's lower, they can still trust you're gonna get it done.
Chris:And so networking I think is key.
Chris:Which, and it's funny, like I'm literally starting over right now with my networking.
Chris:So, 'cause now I'm networking from the Christian aspect.
Chris:And so one of the things I did, I started networking out, I went and I found I new people that worked at Kappa and I didn't know they did.
Chris:And you know, I, I'm on, you know, faith and family and I'm meeting all these people and these people were so kind and awesome looking to help you network One of the ladies on there.
Chris:She couldn't make it to the film festival.
Chris:I bought her tickets.
Chris:Me and my wife went to the festival.
Chris:me and my wife met so many awesome people.
Chris:Then those people were connected to this and that, and so networking I think is key as far as getting into the industry.
Matt:Absolute.
Matt:Couldn't have said it better myself.
Matt:And so, uh, make sure you guys pay attention to all of the, uh, happenings and the networks and the meetups, and hopefully keep listening to the Faith and Family Filmmaker podcast and all that can be, uh, pretty well facilitated.
Matt:Well, Well, Chris Kiefer again, man, this has been an awesome conversation.
Matt:I really appreciate you joining us.
Matt:Um, we definitely wanna, as you kind of, uh, get involved in more, more projects, especially in the faith world, we wanna have you back a little later to, to kind of give us an update on what's going on in your world.
Chris:I'd love to, you know, see how this new dream's gonna to take me, you
