What DeVon Franklin Prayed Before Landing First Producer Job
By Movieguide® Contributor
Movie producer DeVon Franklin joined Andrew Erwin on “The Storytellers” podcast to share how he got into the entertainment industry.
“Everybody was like ‘You need to preach’ and ‘You need to go into ministry,’” he said. “And I was like ‘Listen, I’m going into movies, that’s what I’m going to do.’”
Franklin knew he was called to entertainment and stuck to that calling despite the negative response from people in his church. After his father died of a heart attack when he was 9, movies became “therapy” to him.
“At that age, I got really curious about who’s making these movies, where does it come from, how does Hollywood work,” Franklin said.
He attended the University of Southern California in Las Angeles to follow his dreams.
Franklin ended up interning for Will Smith, where he learned about the industry. But after years of interning, he still hadn’t become a producer.
One night, in the midst of frustration, he cried out to God.
“I was like ‘Look, you said you would open a window of heaven and pour me out a blessing. You also said anything I ask for in the name of Jesus you would do, so in the name of Jesus, Lord, you must move on this job today,’” Franklin recalled.
That evening, his boss offered to help him find a job as a producer.
As an act of faith, he put in his two weeks’ notice. The two weeks came and went, and on his first day of unemployment, he got a call.
“I got called from another production company run by Tracy Edmond. She did the movie SOUL FOOD…and her head of film called me and said ‘DeVon, we want to offer you a job as a junior executive in our film department, do you want it?’ And I said yes. And that was the beginning of my executive chapter of my career,” he shared.
Since then, Franklin has produced several faith-based movies, including MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN, THE STAR and BREAKTHROUGH.
“The faith-based audience is much bigger and much more diverse than Hollywood understands,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “And the faith-based audience is the same audience that’s going to see all of your big tentpole films and all your animated movies. There isn’t a clear understanding of this audience. That’s where I’ve had my success: bridging that gap.”
He made his acting debut in 2023’s JESUS REVOLUTION.
“Listen, it was something that chose me,” Franklin said of the role. “I worked with an acting coach for months and really worked on understanding the history of the time and what was going on, especially with Black journalists at that time.”
“…right now, what people want is authenticity, and they want love. And that’s what the movie says. The movie says the love of Christ is available to everyone,” he said.
Movieguide® previously reported:
DeVon Franklin, producer of MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN and HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, opened up with Movieguide® about the importance of family and responsibility in his latest impactful motion picture, FLAMIN’ HOT.
“I think it [FLAMIN’ HOT] is going to speak to families today, and it really shows the power of family…When his [Richard Montañez’s] family came together and rallied around him, amazing things happened, and I do feel that anyone watching the film, any family watching the film will be able to take that away for themselves,” Franklin told Movieguide®.
Franklin continued, “The introduction of family into his life also came with the responsibility and accountability in a way that he had not experienced up until that point. And the idea that he was…living for more than just himself and that he needed to, you know, get his life straight and that he needed to make sacrifices for his family.”
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