America, the Church, and TV.

Last October myself, Matthew Bouwense and Andy Kennedy were invited to come down to Jacksonville, Florida to produce a number of films for a church there. It may sound strange to say, but I've found that churches can simultaneously be one of the most fun and the most challenging clients to work with/for. It's fun because of the depth and sincerity of the ministry and story that faith organizations can have, but challenging because of all the weird associations myself and many Americans can have with churchy things and how tricky it is to navigate issues of faith and religion in a way that shows care for all viewers, religious and non-religious alike. I believe It's important to make sure it's done right, and can easily be offensive when done wrong-- to everybody. It's an association that, while I love Jesus, make me not like Jesus on TV. So our challenge then is to clearly communicate a message in 30 seconds but done in a way that looks and sounds very different from how we're used to experiencing Jesus on TV.

While I provided the imagery for the commercials, the writing and editing processes were highly collaborative. These two 30 second pieces we the last of seven films we produced for Fort Caroline Baptist Church and the easiest to share since they are so short. And I just have to mention, we did the shooting for all 7 films in just 2 days. I don't remember how, but it happened. The Church Vision Film we produced for them can be found on their website at www.fcbcjax.com/our-vision/.

It was a pleasure to work with the people of Jacksonville and the team at Fort Caroline. And as the autumn weather takes hold here in Michigan I think it's time to start looking for a few projects in the warmer parts of the States again. But really. Offers now being accepted.

Thanks for reading,

JohnPaul Morris

Director of Photography

PRACTICAL