By India McCarty
HOUSE OF DAVID director Jon Erwin celebrated the recent “explosive growth” of faith-based movies and television.
“The more successful these things become, the more we’re able to go bigger and bigger,” he told Crosswalk. “I mean, HOUSE OF DAVID had almost 700 people working on it — and so these things are not inexpensive to make. And so when the audience speaks this loudly, it gives us an opportunity to improve our craft — to keep trying to master our craft and to keep making things bigger and better.”
Erwin explained that the entertainment industry is in a “renaissance,” calling it a moment where “faith [is] fused with art.”
“And so to think that we’re in this moment of just explosive growth in film and television is so cool, and I’m just grateful to have any role at all in it,” he continued.
Erwin also pointed out that faith-based content has improved every year.
“As they say, if you leap further, it’s because you stand on the shoulders of giants. Every single film that was made [in the faith genre] kind of laid the foundation,” he said. “And we needed the time to try to bridge the gap between Christianity and the craft of film and television, and we needed to get better and better at what we did. And it was the early successes that allowed for the moment that we’re in.”
The director said he “can’t wait to see the stories that are told over the next five years,” as well as “the talent that is going to come behind us and far outshine our abilities.”
Related: Is Faith-Based Content Taking Over Hollywood?
Erwin isn’t the only one who has noticed the growing mainstream popularity of faith-based content. Actor Neal McDonough remarked that “something’s changed” in Hollywood during a recent interview with Glenn Beck.
“Never, ever, ever have I seen before four or five [studios] saying, ‘Oh by the way, if you have something of faith, we’re very interested this year,’” he explained. “Something’s changed.”
Erwin also teased the upcoming second season of HOUSE OF DAVID to Crosswalk, saying it “focuses on the friendship between Jonathan and David.”
“We start the season right in the aftermath of Season 1, which is the epic battle between Israel and the Philistines. And it is epic,” he continued. “So it really is much more of an action-adventure season as David becomes the warrior he’s destined to be. And it’s bigger in every way.”
In an interview with Deseret, Erwin called HOUSE OF DAVID “the story I’ve always wanted to tell.”
“This is a story about destiny. It’s a story about overcoming fear, stepping beyond your fear to something you deeply believe in,” Erwin continued. “There’s a lot of themes that are deeply resonant and deeply meaningful to me, and I hope they are the people that watch as well.”
Erwin’s success with HOUSE OF DAVID, as well as the popularity of many other Christian movies and shows, is indicative of audiences’ desire to see faith-based stories on screen.
Read Next: Roma Downey on Faith-Based Content: ‘People Are Hungry for God’
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