By Gavin Boyle
A study from Barna found that roughly two in three Americans find Christian media both trustworthy and valuable, revealing how faith-filled stories can be unifying for our nation.
“I think anytime you see major controversies, it definitely drives people to our platform because we are the opposite,” Pure Flix CEO Michael Scott said in 2023. “People ask, ‘Why do you exist?’ I say we exist to be a light in the darkness through the power of storytelling. Our stories are about hope, forgiveness, redemption, inspiration. I think those things are so important in our divided society today.”
Barna’s study certainly supports this claim. Ever since the pandemic, more and more people are asking big questions like ‘Why am I here,’ and Christian media — and the Lord — have answers. From the younger generation to people high up in the corporate world, Americans are more open to faith than have been for decades.
“I think COVID did something to us,” Ben Pilgreen, a pastor in Silicon Valley, told Vanity Fair. “I’m still not sure about everything it did to us as a society or individuals. But it called people to think about what matters.”
At the same time, Christian media has become much more serious, shedding its “cheesy” nature and delivering high quality stories that happen to focus on faith. THE CHOSEN started this craze and has since been followed by dozens of movies and shows.
“The more people that come out and watch this content…that means [studios] say, ‘Oh, there’s an audience here.’ And more filmmakers, more actors, and more money flows make better content,” Scott said. “I think as long as the audience wants it and supports us, it will continue to get better and better.”
Wonder Studio’s HOUSE OF DAVID is a perfect example of this phenomenon, as it was released on Prime Video. This allowed it to instantly reach millions of viewers who caused it to hit No. 1 on the streamer.
“Our goal at the Wonder Project is to tell stories that restore faith in things worth believing in, and to do this at scale,” Wonder Project executive Kelly Merryman Hoogstraten said during the studio’s HOUSE OF DAVID announcement. “We’ve been blown away by Amazon’s commitment to help us do this – both through the significant resources they are dedicating and their trust in us to tell these stories authentically to our audience.”
Hollywood was originally built on faith-based movies, and it is amazing to see the industry start to turn back to its roots as the success of these shows and movies continues to prove that this is the content audiences want.
Read Next: Jon Erwin Explains Why He’s Opening a Faith-Based Movie Studio
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