Home Media Magazine - September 16-22, 2007 - (Page CER11)

and leads viewers through the pieces of evidence. “My role was to represent the openminded spiritual seeker,” Strobel says. His wife, Leslie, also appears in the DVD to illustrate Strobel’s frame of mind as he undertook the investigative journey. Ultimately, Strobel says the DVD is designed to reach both non-believers and help believers strengthen their faith. “My hope is that people who are Christian will watch it to understand why they believe what they believe, but also will use it to reach out to friends and family who are skeptics,” he says. One of Strobel’s favorite DVDs to recommend is Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. “That’s one that I have used and given out to people,” he says. “But it’s so powerful that it may not be the right film for some people.” Strobel — who was a teaching pastor at Saddleback Valley Community Church in Lake Forest, Calif., from 2000 to 2002 — interviewed Gibson in front of 4,000 pastors there. “Mel’s an intense guy,” he says. “I remember when he got the ‘R’ rating [ for Passion], I was kind of disappointed,” Strobel recalls. “I told him, ‘Mel, you could have toned down the violence.’ “He said, ‘Dude, I did tone it down.’” Gibson aside, Strobel thinks Hollywood has a lot to learn when targeting the Christian market. After the enormous success of The Passion of the Christ, Hollywood executives woke up to the power of the Christian viewer, but they have made and will make some mistakes, Strobel says. “I think the evidence is there that this market is alive and vibrant and hungry for material that will challenge it,” he says. “I hope that Hollywood takes more risks. They’re going to make mistakes.” One Hollywood mistake he remembers is trying to market the Christian satire Saved! to pastors. “It has a very, very obscure faith connection,” he says. “That just doesn’t work. It’s a smart and savvy market. It’s a minefield out there. If you step too far in any direction, you’re going to blow yourself up.” But finding that enthusiastic audience can be rewarding. “When you connect with the passion of that audience, the sky’s the limit,” Strobel says. Pastors are looking for help in reaching their flock, but Hollywood can overdo it. “There’s getting to be a little fatigue, frankly, among pastors,” he says. He says such films as The Nativity Story and Evan Almighty had some appeal, but “often films are just a little lukewarm.” Pastors “are looking for tools, but they’re looking for the right tools.” Strobel himself failed to convince Hollywood to buy one of his television projects, “Faith Under Fire,” which brought together atheists, Christians and folks from other religious traditions. Ironically, the networks found it too controversial. “They said, ‘If this is done right, you’ll be on the front of Time magazine, but we’re not going to buy it,’” Strobel recalls. He eventually found a spot for the show on PAX-TV, but the major networks remained hands off. “They were fearful that advertisers would not support anything controversial,” Strobel says. “It was an eye opener for me to Hollywood.” EXTRA NOTES The Case for Christ The best-selling book The Case for Christ features comments from many scholars in its pages, and the lineup had to be streamlined for the DVD. However, DVD extras offer many additional segments featuring the slate of theologians and philosophers in the documentary. “One of the great things about DVD is you can produce a tightly edited documentary, but then you can produce more information on the side,” Strobel says. Included are scholars’ discussion of the uniqueness of Jesus and their individual views of their faith and ministries. Other extras feature: I excerpts from the soundtrack by Mark Edward Lewis, I a rundown of prophesies from the Old Testament – written centuries before – that foretell Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and death, I a reference library for further study, I an introduction by Strobel to his new book, The Case for the Real Jesus, I and a list of resources by Strobel. SEPTEMBER 2007 / CHRISTIAN ENTERTAINMENT REVIEW 11

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - September 16-22, 2007

Contents News Commentary TV DVD Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Christian Entertainment Review

Home Media Magazine - September 16-22, 2007

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