Are Adventist Leaders Abandoning Contemporary Cinema Version of Ellen White Classic?
by Monte Sahlin
By AT News Team, January 23, 2014
The Record Keeper is an 11-part film series that premiered in October based on the primary theme from the book The Great Controversy by Ellen G. White, one of the cofounders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It uses at least two new approaches to film; distribution on the Web and a “Steampunk” genre, as Adventist Today reported last year.
Now there are indications that denominational leaders may be thinking of abandoning the project before it is released despite the positive response to it. Release of the series was delayed until February and Adventist Today has been told that it is at risk of being shut down. The denomination's General Conference (GC) owns the copyright to the series and so it is free to block its distribution before it starts or have it deformed through directed edits.
The film series is very likely the first use of “Steampunk” in communicating the Adventist message. “Steampunk” is a literary genre and design aesthetic originating in the CBS Television series from 1965 into 1969 entitled The Wild, Wild West and a 1999 Hollywood movie by the same name. It focuses on 19th century technology (the steam engine being the central piece) and a type of science fiction or alternative history. The most representative recent literary piece of this type is a novel, The Anubis Gates by Tim Power, according to the Web site www.steampunk.com.
Distribution of television dramas via the Web has emerged in the last couple of years and is becoming widespread with many major television channels maintaining web sites where viewers can see all of their programs. This may not be the first such programming by Adventists, although sources have told Adventist Today that it may be.
Principal photography began early last year by Big Puddle Films with funding from the GC as well as private donors, as reported by the official Adventist News Network (ANN) at the time. An independent youth ministry blog, www.asabbathblog.com, carried a link to a pilot episode of the series.
A blog has urged Adventists interested in encouraging creativity to write to Williams Costa, GC communication director, and urge the release of The Record Keeper. His Email address is costaw@gc.adventist.org.
"This situation presents a clear choice for denominational leaders," an Adventist academic who has taught courses on the media for many years told Adventist Today. "Are they really interested in communicating the Adventist message in contemporary contexts or is it more important to hold onto literary and artistic formats that are becoming outdated?"
I met the writer, and watched a pre-release screening of the show in Berkeley last year. It has tremendous potential. It likely will not meet the present corporate sanction approval, despite the seven figure investment which the GC has to date committed. No matter how it is accepted outside of traditional culture of findamental Adventism.
The radical nature of Jesus, and the radical roots of the SDA faith community seem to be not enough..
The culture of fundamental SDAism seemingly dooms us…we want it safe and staid.
I love what you said, 'the radical nature of Jesus, and the radical roots of the SDA faith,…" Thank you, good to hear this!
Recently I attended a Unitarian lecture series on the history of that religious community, interesting. When you get to the Americas it gets interesting. There are a lot of cross trails in the Christian Connection movement with Unitarians and Universalists, all were coming to the same thinking about the real nature of God and his character. I love reading Channing especially. But out of all of this came the Advent Movement. Another interesting note is that Michael Servetus who Jean Calvin burned at the stake, you read his works and he sounds a lot like a later SDA including the Great Controversy theme, interesting! My own family were typical New England Unitarians like a lot of famous Americans and radical reformers, and western pioneers.
I believe the investment by the GC was closer to a six-digit figure – appx $500,000.
Now for a non denominational funded version. Are there any backers? Someone needs to show the power brokers who is joss.
Read my comments Billman, but there have been a few attempts at this but with little support. I think that an indirect approach to this as a regular Hollywood type film that is more like science fiction would fly at the box office and make an impact for good. But with some seed money for development it could be started and funded through the regular means, and be picked up by distributors like 20th Century Fox who have a dept for faith and values films, its an idea.
It probably won't be me though, as one doctor said to me when I first came aboard the Your Life & Health production, "Your one of those Hollywood film makers, therefore not a very spiritual person." After all of the persecution for standing on principle that I have had to endure over the years, and even from the denomination, and loss of income rather then submit to violate my conscience, that came as a real insult. I held my tongue and gave the man a simple, nice, but firm reply. I think it went right over his head! LOL
I think a Kickstarter campaign would successfully fund this if the GC is looking to get their money back.
I wonder who these "denominational leaders" are who want to stop the project. In a fairly recent incident, a major decision was made and released, signed by only three individuals.
I haven't seen it so shouldn't jump to conclusions, but if this is like any other new approach to reach the secular person, Rusty is right in saying, The culture of fundamental SDAism seemingly dooms us…we want it safe and staid.
I stand by the truths ( small t) that elevate the Truth of Christ, but it seems it needs contemporary dressing, logic, explanation, terminology, and certainly creativity for the current generation. Those opposed to such change will have to stand before God one day as responsible for holding back the Gospel and warnings of the end-times.
Right on, I'm sick of the "advent speak" kind of like in Orwell's 1984, a language with its own meanings. Its being a real SDA to speak in ellen White language of the Victorian Age today [some even think looking like them is cool,] but no one out there gets it.
I think both the church, and its approach, plus our understanding of "present truth" needs some serious overhauling. Time to make it relevant and clear in language no one will mis-understand.
Cinema, audio, visual media, is the most powerful communication tool since the advent of the printing press at the end of the 15th century. Time to use it to it's full potential to communicate truth and useful information that elevates humanity.
No such "contemporary dressing" such as represented by The Recorder should have any support by the SDA Church. I have viewed the trailer and it is not in a genre that speaks to serious Adventist Christians of any age group in my view .
Maranatha
The target audience is likely not "serious Adventist Christians."
The pilot episode of The Recordkeeper we screened was breathtaking in it's production, flawless in it's cinematic presentation, and the casting and acting phenomenol. I am proud of our young people for the impressive work they produced. No one can say we have no talent! I spoke several times briefly with Rajeev Sigamoney, the creative genius behind the pen, and can say the GC chose well in their choice of backing him. We spoke briefly about a new screenplay idea; there is much untapped potential. That folks in the pews are apparently resisting the release speaks sadly about the reality that witholding tithe money works in manipulating the leadership. Wisdom would predicate some independence between the two.
At the moment in the garden, in the shadow of the apple tree, the messenger angel reports to God in a manner that was absolutely gripping.
"Mankind just defected"
Sounds great. How can I get a look at it?
Sabbathblog.com link requires a password but doesn't give you a place to get one as far as Ican see.
@Truth Seeker who wrote: "it is not in a genre that speaks to serious Adventist Christians of any age group."
If the movie were to meet its objective, your objection would be irrelevant. Why should it speak to "serious Adventist Christians"??? It's the world we are supposed to speak to!
Ella, the pilot prescreening was in April, and it was broadcast back in October. I'm unsure where it might be viewed now. There is a Facebook page, perhaps peek here https://www.facebook.com/TheRecordKeeper Stated purpose of packaging the controversy in this genre was to reach unchurched young folk. Here is a brief trailer link on youtube.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqATTCrzOv4 and a longer preview here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBZ7tTErQQM&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Some of the comments, especially below the second link, are interesting.
It won first place in the GeekieAwards2013. IMDb site appears to offer some episodes here
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2399652/
Some might -quite mistakenly-coercively force their tastes and opinions we need to try reach post-postmoderns with the predigested unquestioned standard narrative cultural adventism message fed to them in their youth…seems God tries meet us where we are, instead of demanding we conform to some pre-determined formula before revealing his truth.
Hey, even "Finding Nemo" has a spiritual theme to it, if you engage into the story of a lost fish lookin' for daddy and purpose and something bigger than himself. Some, seems, are content in their little boxes, or fishbowls. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose, but to ridicule and sneer at an alternative approach definitely is. I'd venture so far as to suggest in the final analysis, when we see more than darkly through a glass, we shall see God wrote his truths in a thousand additional ways for each one we see.
Simple, its "…….. more important to hold onto literary and artistic formats that are becoming outdated….." Or better yet, if it does not look like an Adventist evangelist of the 50s talking in black and white, its of the devil! Of course I doubt if the real message of The Great Controversy comes through very clear, that is if Goldstien has any say, his comments on that subject really water down it's message, but not surprising after the year I spent in SMC with him.
I watched the trailer film some time back on the Record Keeper, very creative, I like Steam Punk,…but I thought it dragged and the message was a bit lost. A bit too creative. It was annoying to watch. As a Hollywood film professional I've worked over the past more then 25 years on major motion pictures and TV films and shows. This is not great stuff, sorry.
When contracted a few years ago to develop, produce, and direct a TV series on health for Hope Channel, a committee of mostly conservative, old school doctors stifled our creativity and ability to make a top notch show, although it still turned out pretty good, and the content was mostly great! [Your Life & Health]
So, I'm back to the usual stuff, documentaries, and we are getting ready to produce a new war movie, should be really good, great screen writers with various REAL awards in the industry. Hope some day to produce a Great Controversy film, but not make it off of the book or use the name, that way you avoid interference from the church corporation and the fossils who haunt its musty hall ways.
I just googled "RecordKeeper" and found it's Facebook page, in which it states that the GC is NOT abandoning the project. ???
You can find that here: https://www.facebook.com/TheRecordKeeper