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UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Marketing Miracles: The Modern Relationship between Hollywood and Christian Filmmaking Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0vs811fw Author Sampson, Benjamin Nelson Publication Date 2016 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Marketing Miracles: The Modern Relationship between Hollywood and Christian Filmmaking A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Film & Television by Benjamin Nelson Sampson 2016 © Copyright by Benjamin Nelson Sampson 2016 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Marketing Miracles: The Modern Relationship between Hollywood and Christian Filmmaking by Benjamin Nelson Sampson Doctor of Philosophy in Film and Television University of California, Los Angeles, 2016 Professor Denise R. Mann, Chair This dissertation examines the relationship between Hollywood and American Christianity from 1998 to the present—a time frame that encompasses the recent rise of the “Christian blockbusters.” This period saw unprecedented interaction between Hollywood and what has been called the “Christian film industry,” or “Holywood”—a loose and ever-changing assortment of Christian film companies and independent filmmakers that have operated in one form or another since the silent era and whose productions were, until recently, primarily relegated to local theatrical markets, church screenings, and Christian television. Although historically unprecedented, this new interaction between Hollywood and “Holywood” can be understood as a clear extension of the rise of both new media technology and transmedia industries. This ii dissertation argues that a once not-for-profit filmmaking exercise by Christian filmmakers, for the purposes of inner-church ministry, has now become a huge business built upon selling films to churches as resources for both inner-church ministry and outer-church evangelism. Indeed, the business has grown so profitable that Hollywood studios now regularly market their mainstream wares to Christian audiences as well, utilizing the rise of middle-men marketing firms to reach faith-based demographics and speak a Christian sales language unfamiliar to most studios. My dissertation is structured around six chapters: an introduction and conclusion, two contextual chapters, and two case study chapters. Chapter 1 sets the stage for the historical and cultural roots of “Holywood” since the silent era, the modern model for “Holywood” marketing established by Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (2004), and the ways “Holywood” filmmakers have continued to adopt and adapt this model and earn great financial rewards in the process. Conversely, Chapter 2 establishes Hollywood’s modern relationship to Christian audiences. Little has been written on the Hollywood/Christian relationship after the Production Code disappeared, and yet this time period leading up to the early 2000s contains some of the most controversial and essential encounters between studios and faith-based audiences. Chapter 3 then presents the first case study: an examination of the indie-Christian film Fireproof, the highest grossing independent film of 2008. Conversely, Chapter 4 investigates Hollywood’s interaction with Christian film culture through a case study of Man of Steel (2013). This case study allows me to address the rise of Christian marketing firm Grace Hill Media since the early 2000s, as well as the film’s narrative and paratextual marketing appeals Christian demographics. My main research methods for each chapter include industrial analysis, textual readings of films and marketing materials, and on-site ethnographic-based observations and interviews with the filmmakers, marketers, and production companies behind the films. iii The dissertation of Benjamin Nelson Sampson is approved. John T. Caldwell Jasmine Nadua Trice Ross Melnick Allyson Nadia Field Denise R. Mann, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2016 iv For my mother, who insisted that I take that film history course back in high school. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………...… vii Vita…………………………………………………………………………………………...….. xi Introduction – Hollywood Meets “Holywood”………………………………………………..…. 1 Chapter 1 – “Holywood”: Historical Roots, The Passion of the Christ, and the Rise of the Christian Blockbuster……….. 29 PART 1: ROOTS OF THE CHRSTIAN FILM INDUSTRY………………………….. 31 PART 2: THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST……………………………………………. 48 PART 3: CHRISTIANS MARKETING TO CHRISTIANS…………………………… 63 Chapter 2 – Hollywood: The End of Censorship, the Rise of Controversy, and the Birth of the Middlemen…………..... 78 JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR & THE LIFE OF BRIAN……………………………….. 81 THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST………............................................................... 86 MIRAMAX: PRIEST & DOGMA……………………………………………………… 92 TENTATIVE BEGINNINGS: THE PRINCE OF EGYPT……………………………. 100 THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA SERIES………………………………………….. 107 Chapter 3 – “Holywood” Case Study: Fireproof and the Rise of Sherwood Pictures…………………………………………………. 127 SHERWOOD BAPTIST CHURCH…………………………………………………... 129 INITIAL OFFERINGS: FLYWHEEL AND FACING THE GIANTS………………… 131 FIREPROOF………………………………………………………………………….. 139 SHERWOOD AND HOLLYWOOD…………………………………………………. 147 Chapter 4 – Hollywood Case Study: Grace Hill Media & Warner Bros.’ Man of Steel…………………………………………...… 169 THE RISE OF GRACE HILL MEDIA……………………………………………….. 171 SON OF KRYPTON/SON OF GOD: MARKETING MAN OF STEEL……………... 187 Chapter 5 – Strange Bedfellows: Conclusions and Complications……………………………………………………………….. 208 2014: “YEAR OF THE CHRISTIAN FILM”………………………………………… 210 TYLER PERRY…………………………………………………………………….…. 218 Filmography…………………………………………………………………………………… 226 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………... 230 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS When I consider all the support I have received during the writing of this dissertation, let alone my entire time in graduate school, I feel truly overwhelmed. Writing an acknowledgements page is a reminder of how much collaboration buttresses the accomplishments of our lives, and how much community saves us. This project truly would not exist without the support of my dissertation committee members, who not only advised this project to completion, but were voices of the support from the very beginning. The first seed of this project was planted in a conversation with Ross Melnick. As a young(er) Masters student at UCLA, coming from the film production into academia with wide eyes and a heart full of imposter syndrome, I looked for PhD candidates who could advise me on navigating the waters of graduate school. Ross could not have been more generous. One day, over coffee in Westwood Village, I mentioned an interest in examining the modern relationship between Hollywood and Christianity, and Ross immediately seized on the idea as a valuable contribution to the field of media studies. Over the years, as he pursued his own research and career, Ross would check in on the project, visiting panels at the SCMS conference or a presentation back at UCLA, and always continuing to encourage the work while offering insightful comments and critique. When the time came to form my committee, he once again proved a gracious voice of support and advisement. Likewise, Allyson Field and John Caldwell were early champions of this project and invaluable resources during its formation and eventual realization. My first research for the dissertation took place in Allyson’s American Film History seminar for MA students, where I examined Universal/MCA’s management of the controversy over Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ. From that work, Allyson and I developed a deeply constructive and on- vii going dialogue that would span my entire time in graduate school. Her thoughtful advisement over the years would lead me to chase many avenues of investigation that proved fruitful not only for this dissertation, but for the next several projects ahead. I truly cannot express my gratitude for all of her shrewd insights, perceptive criticisms, and heartening support at every stage of the process. Similarly, John Caldwell proved beyond invaluable in the shaping of this project. My first research into Christian filmmaking and audience marketing were produced for and shaped by his seminars on cultures of production. John’s insights, both scholarly and moral, into issues of labor would challenge every level of my research. John’s seminal work on media industries would provide the theoretical and methodological framework for this entire project. John’s personal example as a patient, generous, and rigorous mentor will continue challenge my standards as both a professor in academia and as a person in the world. While this support surrounded my project from the beginning, the work could not have been completed without the aid of many along the way. Jasmine Trice came aboard my committee during the latter half of the dissertation’s development, and proved immediately essential in her support. Not only did Jasmine express instant enthusiasm for the project, she also reminded me throughout the revising stages to think about the institutional periphery of the research, to expand and refine my methodologies, and complicate my argumentation. I will always be indebted to her for the generosity of her time and acute perception of her commentary. Finally, Denise Mann has been the kind of committee chair that PhD candidates dream of working
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