Show sees announcement from former presidential candidate Rick Santorum, appearance by Michael Landon

Films and video took the spotlight at this year’s ICRS in St. Louis, with the announcement of new studio partnerships and screenings of upcoming releases. CBA President Curtis Riskey said DVD sales in Christian stores increased 27% from 2010 to 2012, and he sees this category as an area as a vital one for Christian retailers and for spreading the gospel in a postmodern world.

“One area where we are seeing growth is Christian films,” Riskey said. “We’re at a critical place in the church, where young people either don’t know about Jesus Christ or don’t care. We need to go where they are, and Christian films can do that.” 

On the opening night of the show, former U.S. Senator and GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum told the audience he has accepted the position of CEO of EchoLight Studios. At a later press conference, Santorum said that EchoLight is the first fully integrated faith-based film company, meaning it can produce, finance, market and distribute films across every platform.

“We can develop not only our own projects, but we can build this industry from the bottom out,” Santorum said. “One of our key partnerships must be CBA and the Christian retail store, and we want to be their trusted brand. I have no doubt that we can serve and minister and share the gospel, not just to the flock, but to the world. I’m jumping in with both feet.”

Santorum and EchoLight President Bobby Downes said the company has a $20 million investment fund to produce Christian films and to help new screenwriters and filmmakers. To that end, EchoLight recently pledged up to $1 million to produce and distribute a new work from the Best Film winner of 2013’s 168 Film Project, $250,000 to the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival (SAICFF) and committed to a five-year, multimillion-dollar production and distribution deal with Liberty University.

EchoLight treated convention-goers to a screening of its upcoming fall theatrical release, The Redemption of Henry Myers, starring Drew Waters of TV show Friday Night Lights and Erin Bethea of Fireproof. 

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment invited retailers to a reception to catch a glimpse of its upcoming films. Due out this fall and in early 2014 are Heart of the Country, starring country music star and actress Jana Kramer; The Ultimate Life, a sequel to the hit film The Ultimate Gift; and Cowgirls ‘N Angels 2.

Director John Ward said he signed Kramer to film Heart of the Country right when she left the TV series One Tree Hill and before her country music career took off. He said his goal in the film was to take the biblical story of the prodigal son and bring it to life in a modern-day setting.

“What I wanted to do was adapt the words of Jesus, make them about a prodigal daughter and show what that might look like if they were lived out today,” Ward explained.

The Ultimate Life stars Waters and Peter Fonda, among others, and was directed by Michael Landon Jr. and produced by Rick Eldridge. Landon recently directed an original film, When Calls the Heart, based on Janette Oke’s “Canadian West” series from Bethany House. The pilot will air in October on the Hallmark Channel, and Hallmark will launch a TV series beginning in January. Landon and Oke answered questions from retailers during a screening of the pilot.

“I like to create projects, like my dad did with the Little House series, that bring the family together in one room, not the kids off in one room watching something and the parents in another room watching something else,” Landon told the audience. “I love the idea of everyone gathering around the dinner table, then watching something together—like my family did on Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. 

“Not that I had any choice about that,” he added with a laugh.

Word Distribution celebrated 20 years of VeggieTales with a sneak peek of Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas, featuring the voice of Duck Dynasty’s Si Robertson.

Co-creator Mike Nawrocki was on hand to thank retailers and Big Idea’s Greg Fritz announced that since DreamWorks acquired the company, it has partnered with Netflix to create a new VeggieTales TV series to debut in 2014. Retailers broke into applause when told that the show will air uncensored, meaning that it will have faith-based content.

At a workshop titled “Retailing in the Digital Media Age: Where does your store fit in the value chain?” a panel moderated by the Dove Foundation’s Dick Rolfe considered whether digital downloads, Redbox and Netflix are signaling the end of DVD sales.

“Three years ago, the headlines all said that once consumers went digital, they would never go back,” said Paul Lauer, president of Motive Entertainment, the firm that has helped market films that grossed more than $2 billion worldwide, including Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ. “But what we are finding is that 25% of American households make up almost 75% of sales across all channels. They use them all—Redbox, Netflix, DVDs, CDs and movie theaters.”

Another screening featured Pure Flix’ sequel Revelation Road 2: The Sea of Glass and Fire, slated for DVD and Blu-ray release Sept. 10. Actors David A.R. White and Brian Bosworth spoke after the event. 

Bridgestone Multimedia Group announced it will be moving beyond its licensed properties to begin filming its own productions in 2014. Bridgestone also screened its newest licensed DVD releases, The Lost Medallion and Jimmy. The Lost Medallion stars Alex Kendrick (Courageous, Fireproof) in a film that teaches foster kids how important they are to God. Jimmy—winner of five Dove Foundation awards—tells the story of a mentally disabled teen finding faith.

City on a Hill Productions invited key retailers to a VIP reception followed by an open screening of Acts of God, which won two Crown Awards as Best Picture and Best Drama at the International Christian Video Media Conference in June.

Capitol Christian Distribution held suite events to introduce its sales team and two upcoming properties to key retailers. Iesodo (pronounced yay-so-doh, which means “The Way of God” in Japanese) is a new children’s series with birds as the leading characters, including a white dove Jesus figure named Iesodo. The character made several appearances on the exhibit floor with actress Erin Bethea. The first episode is due on DVD in October. 

Grace Unplugged hits theaters Oct. 4 and follows an 18-year-old Christian singer who sets out to become a pop star and finds that success puts her faith to the test. 

Kingstone Media Group announced that Affirm Films/Sony Pictures Entertainment is adapting to film Kingstone’s  graphic novel The Remaining. Premiering in fall 2014, the thriller follows a group of friends who must figure out what to do after the rapture.

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