Major Christian Moviemakers Didn’t Plan on Getting into Film
By Movieguide® Contributor
Alex and Stephen Kendrick began their movie-making career from scratch. They learned from their mistakes the hard way, but they never gave up.
“I did not know I was gonna be getting into film. That has been a surprise for me and a blessing. It’s amazing,” Stephen shared on a recent episode of the “Faith & Family Filmmakers” podcast.
“My journey began with my parents going into ministry out of teaching, so my dad was a high school science teacher. My mom was a third-grade teacher. They ended up just giving God their marriage,” he explained.
When his mom became pregnant with him and his two brothers, his parents prayed each time that their children would be used for God’s glory. Stephen “grew up in ministry” which started when his dad volunteered with youth at church.
“He would rent these film reels from Disney, and we had these movie nights for families at our church because the theaters were full of junk even then, and he would pop popcorn.”
“When my brother Alex saw RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK in the theaters, it was like one of the first movies he’s ever seen,” Stephen said. “It was so emotional and bigger than life even as a 12-year-old, Alex was becoming unglued in the theater. He was excited and terrified and enjoying the music and everything else, and he thought, ‘I wanna do this one day.’”
As the boys’ interest in filmmaking grew, they saw God’s impact in their lives and others and knew the Bible to be true. They went to seminary and made their first movie, FLYWHEEL, in Albany Georgia.
“We were growing up with a VHS camera on our shoulders, running around our backyard, making chase ‘em down, beat ‘em up kind of movies as kids. But they were action or silly. They weren’t drama serious or [scriptural],” Stephen said.
After home movies, the brothers made videos for the ministries they were involved in. Alex’s first serious short film was a veterans memorial video. It was a huge success that received a standing ovation.
When the brothers made their first feature film, they made a lot of mistakes.
“We had no idea about production schedules or call sheets or continuity. I mean, we were trying our best,” Stephen said. “But if you go back and watch those early films, you laugh because you see how low budget and cheesy and goofy they were.”
“But you do see, you know, the storytelling and the editing and the planning being forced because you just have to, you know,” he said. “So FLYWHEEL for us was so difficult because we didn’t have call sheets. We didn’t even know what call sheets were. And we didn’t know that we needed a wardrobe person.”
The brothers learned everything about filmmaking the hard way. So Stephen appreciates anyone who tries to give it a shot.
“So for me, anybody who completes a feature film, even if it’s terrible, I give them a high five and say, way to go,” Stephen said. “You got the football in the end zone. And you can grow from here. You know, you can get better. You can learn from your mistakes.”
At times, Stephen questioned whether he was doing the right thing as a scriptwriter and filmmaker. Sometimes he felt stuck. But God showed him this is what He wanted him to do, so he always persevered.
“And every movie is an opportunity for you to take the criticism, not don’t take it personally like they’re insulting your identity, but take the criticism on the chin as you’re going to grow really fast. And we’ve learned to like, we welcome criticism. Now, early on, it was a little bit offensive, you know, that people didn’t think our baby was beautiful, but now we are at the point where it’s like, hey, I want to make this as good as I can,” he explained. “Please tell me everything you hate about it, everything that doesn’t work.”
Stephen understands that he can’t let his identity be impacted by what people think of his work.
“There’s a difference between an insecure person who doesn’t know their identity in Christ and someone who realizes that through Jesus, I’m loved, I’m forgiven, I’m chosen, I’m adopted, I’m okay. And my identity is not wrapped up in opening weekend of a movie with the film critics say about it, you know, and my identity is not wrapped up in my performance.”
Several of the Kendrick Brothers movies — FACING THE GIANTS, FIREPROOF, OVERCOMER, WAR ROOM and COURAGEOUS — have all won Movieguide® Teddy Bear Awards®. The Kendrick Brothers’ latest project is THE FORGE, which releases on Aug. 23.
Many members of THE FORGE’s cast have acted in other movies by the Kendrick Brothers. THE FORGE features Cameron Arnett from OVERCOMER, Ken Bevel from COURAGEOUS and FIREPROOF as well as WAR ROOM’s Priscilla Shirer and Karen Abercrombie.
Movieguide® reported on THE FORGE last month:
THE FORGE is a fictional story about a young man named Isaiah Wright. A year out of high school with no plans for his future, Isaiah is challenged by his single mom and a successful businessman to start charting a better course for his life. Through the biblical discipleship from his new mentor, prayers of his mother and a prayer warrior named Miss Clara, Isaiah begins to discover God’s purpose for his life is so much more than he could hope for or imagine…
The filmmakers spoke of the experience on set for THE FORGE as a great moment of Christian fellowship for all involved. Director and Writer Alex Kendrick stated, “We started every day with prayer, and the cast were people of faith.” Producer and Co-Writer Stephen Kendrick added that the movie’s emphasis on the power of prayer was immensely important to them, largely due to their own childhood, saying “We have grown up seeing answers to prayer.”
Of the movie, Stephen said, “We believe the church right now needs this message.”
