I’m one of the rare folks who has enjoyed every Disney Star Wars, from the nostalgic fan-service to letting the past die, I’ve been right on board enjoying every minute. That being said I know the episodic Skywalker story-arch can’t last forever. For a great article on that check out Nick Doll’s thoughts here. I’m talking more specifically about characters like Han Solo or Poe Dameron. SOLO a Star Wars Story, despite it being a financial failure, was really fun and proved that characters can be more than just the actors who made them. Poe and Han can have ongoing serialized adventures within the SW universe just like...

Have I mentioned that I like Indiana Jones? Did I? Oh, yea...


Indy is another no-brainer, in that he draws heavy inspiration from Bond. Spielberg looked at Indy as his 007 and when it came time to cast his Dad, who did they look to? None other than Bond himself, Sir Sean Connery. Indy’s adventures are not really episodic, pulling from old serials of the 1930s, each is an adventure focusing on another powerful artifact in a different part of the world. We want to be Indy, where his clothes, own his whip, travel around the world to exciting and exotic places. Why should we have to say goodbye to this character because Harrison Ford is old? Indy six should be a recast and not with a girl!

Furthermore, passing the torch (or hat) won’t work for a character like Indiana Jones either. Indy’s hat is just a hat unless it’s on Indy’s head. It isn’t a mantle to be passed on like Batman or Superman, there’s only one Indy and it’s Indy. The time setting is another problem, we like Jones pre-WW2. In other words, a contemporary Indy wouldn’t work, you’d just have folks yelling “nice hat loser” at him all the time. (I know this from experience.) We need Indy punching Nazi’s.


In the end, I imagine the current trend of nostalgia-fueled blockbusters will fade, so this may all be redundant but if it doesn’t, I wouldn’t mind seeing my favorite character return in some way shape or form every few years. Let me know what you think by commenting below or tweeting me @Indy_Filmmaker.

“So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. Look, you have what is yours.’”
Matthew 25:25 HCSB

You have a calling on your life!

What's holding you back? Whether you're an artist, athlete, soldier, office worker, contractor, or entrepreneur God has a purpose for you. Ultimately our purpose is to bring glory and honor to God in everything we do and win souls for his kingdom by sharing his love. This is how we were designed to express ourselves... so why aren't we?

Michael Arndt, the writer of Toy Story 3, explains writing as climbing a mountain blindfolded. This is also true of living in Faith as a Christian and the enemies goal is that we die having never climbed at all.

Allot of us view Spiritual Warfare like a scene from Lord of the Rings, Angels, and Demons locked in a battle for the fate of humanity, when actually we know that the battle was already won, the enemy defeated, and humanity saved. We would be better off looking at it as a defeated enemy’s last attempts at taking as many poor souls with him as he can in a blaze of glory. The way to do this is not to simply focus on the non-believer but rather the Christian. If he can stop the Christian from fulfilling his purpose then how will non-believers ever be saved?

“Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 1:13 HCSB

Please know that I'm talking about myself before anyone else and for me, my biggest weakness is procrastination. Procrastination is probably the most effective tool in the enemies arsenal because it keeps us in the mindset of I WILL do it but I’ll do it tomorrow. The enemy would love to have us saying this until we die. In my film ’A Town Called Redemption’ Doc states ”there are thousands of promises in the bible but tomorrow isn't one of them.” Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

“Don’t boast about tomorrow, for you don’t know what a day might bring.”
Proverbs 27:1 HCSB

Now it’s easy to blame outside forces for our problems. ”The devil made me do it” would be too easy for us to get out of our problems. The sad truth is the enemy doesn't force us into anything. He just plants the seed and we act out on our own. We create the drama in our lives, turning every day into a soap opera which turns us into the very thing we fear. We begin to criticize, judge and gossip, getting into all kinds of trouble.

We should not accept this behavior in ourself because it's going to prevent us from our calling. We need to put the sparing gear away and actually get into the ring. We need to change our ideology of ethics. We will stumble and fall from time to time but we must work hard every day.

“Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us,”
Hebrews 12:1 HCSB

Although we may fear rejection, which is human, the Pro doesn't let it paralyze him. The Amateur waits for his hand out. The Pro takes the day. The Amateur dreams of success. The Pro knows work breeds success. The Amateur entertains hope and disappointment. The Pro lets the chips fall where they may and trusts God. The Amateur lets adversity discourage him or victory fool him into complicity, where the Pro doesn't fall for it, he accepts what may come, presses in, and keeps fighting, win or lose. When the Pro wakes up in the morning and his feet touch the ground the enemy says ”oh, no.” The Pro doesn't take things personally and instead gives God the glory in everything he does. Because at the end of the day the Pro knows that if he just takes the first step God will meet him the rest of the way. What’s the hardest part of climbing a mountain blindfolded? Finding the mountain. We just need to forget excuses, find our mountain, and start to climb.

Bible Verses:

Matthew 25:25
1 Peter 1:13
Proverbs 27:1
Hebrews 12:1

A Town Called Redemption has been nominated for an Oscar!

Just kidding, we’ve been nominated for something WAY better. The International Christian Film Festival has nominated A Town Called Redemption for Best Screenplay for a Short Film! On behalf of the cast and crew, we cannot be more honored and would like to give God every once of credit and glory.

What is ICFF? Sometimes referred to as the ”Christian Oscars” ICFF draws some of the biggest names in Christian Cinema and the most talented emerging faith-based filmmakers in the world. Widely considered the largest Christian Film Fest, they have concerts, screenings for nominated films, seminars, and an award ceremony for the winners in each category.

What is ’A Town Called Redemption’? It's a short faith-based film made by my Church and myself about a young boy who, with the help of his best friend, takes on a ruthless band of outlaws to protect his father. The film is an action adventure in the style of old Zorro and Lone Ranger serials that's sure to please fans of both Westerns and Superheroes. It's also a film about life choices and how your decisions determine your destiny.

Show your support for the film by emailing them and letting the festival know you're excited for ’A Town Called Redemption’ HERE

If you are just making a movie to make Saints nod their heads and feel good you’ll never evangelize non-believers. One note evil atheist villains and perfect Christian protagonists who have to overcome not their own flaws, like Judah Ben-Hur needing to repent of his hatred, but just being oppressed by people who disagree with them aren’t entertaining to anyone who isn’t an “oppressed” Christian. Entertaining Christian movies can exist, if they focus on being good movies that have a message, not a message that’s slapped into a mediocre movie.

Maybe they need to shake the formula that seems to be the current format or maybe we as Christians need to ask for more than feel-good mediocrity. Either way, if it's not preaching the gospel to new souls, what’s the point?

Things to Google:

1. Christian Film reviews
2. Ben-Hur (1959)
3. Hacksaw Ridge
4. Creating realistic characters

Something I’ve had on my mind lately is good storytelling. Partly because my son watches Pixar movies 24/7 and, if he isn’t watching on TV, he’s looking up scenes from the films on his iPad (he’s two btw) (I know I’m a horrible Dad). One thing I can’t get over is how every Pixar movie, at least for me, a twenty-nine-year-old man, seems to always be able to tug at your heartstrings, no matter how silly the subject matter. I feel bad for fish, I root for grumpy old men, and I need a tissue because toys are holding hands in a furnace. What’s wrong with me? (allot but that's another blog post)

I began to look at Filmmakers like Andrew Stanton, Michael Arndt, and Brad Bird, all of whom have wonderful storytelling videos on YouTube, and they all had one thing in common: they wanted to make the audience care. They accomplish this by giving these silly characters REAL problems, relatable, that hit home for everyone that has the ability to feel empathy. The Iron Giant, for example, was built on the premise ”what if a gun didn't want to be a gun anymore.” That seems silly but think about it: We’ve all be in positions that we didn't want to be in because it just wasn't for you. Now apply those feelings to a giant weapon of mass destruction and you have a cult classic, apparently.

In my research, I discovered the name, Brian McDonald. Brian is a screenwriter, director, teacher who teaches classes at Pixar after Andrew Stanton had supposedly read his book “Invisible Ink” in one sitting. The book was said to have helped Stanton finish WALL-E (one of my favorite Pixar’s). So I picked up Invisible Ink and gave it a read. I was fascinated! The book reveals another side of writing the viewer never see’s. In other words, a story's moral, heart, or inspiring message is the Invisible Ink behind the movie or ” armature” as the book explains. It’s the single most important part of the story. This was exactly what Pixar had been doing and without anyone even knowing it.

Frankl;y, this is missing from most movies that hit theaters today. Why? It seems Hollywood is more interested in the CGI spectacle rather than a movie that can inspire a whole new batch of filmmakers. You hear/read stuff like ”Chinese box office” and ”mass appeal” or ”high concept”. Which is just code for ”money, please”. I'm not against making money, I'm actually very pro-making-money, but I believe movies with Invisible Ink actually make more money than soulless blockbusters.

Let's look at a similar, sister studio, under the same umbrella as Pixar: MARVEL. According to Wikipedia Marvel’s total box office to date is $13.511 billion after 18 films. This is fantastic. Not to mention the fact that they brought to life the first comic book universe like we had only previously seen in the books, where the story of one character would cross with another and eventually to lead to a huge event. (cannot wait for Infinity War) Most studios would have shuttered at the thought of doing something risky like that. I bet some actually said, ”how did they get away with that?” That answer is INVISIBLE INK.

Now let’s look at another huge library of heroes that, in my humble opinion, is the Pixar of the comics world: DC Comics. Who else could make a man dressed as a Bat or an alien from a faraway planet seem relatable? In fact, Brad Bird even draws from Superman in The Iron Giant. Why is it then that the attempted DC movie universe has essentially failed? No invisible ink. They rushed it, stuffed it with spectacle, and packaged it for maximum profit. They saw Avengers BO numbers and cut their nose off to spite their face, disregarding what made the source material so special.

So, as I continue to write and create my own films, I'm inspired to apply invisible ink, to make the audience care, and to speak truth into all my stories. For faith-based filmmakers like myself, I believe this subject is ten times more important. Our invisible ink should come from the truths and lessons of God’s word. How Jesus died for each and every person so that they would not perish but have eternal life. Why do you think Jesus taught using parables? They were also full of invisible ink.

​Written by James Burns

Subjects to google:

• Invisible Ink by Brian McDonald
• Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling
• The Pixar Story
• Michael Arndt on Story
• Andrew Stanton TED talks
• Brad Bird
• The Iron Giant​​

NOTE: This is my first blog post on my site. I'm not a huge fan of blogs, in fact, I think they can be very pretentious. I’m going to start writing here though as an attempt to inspire more faith-based filmmakers who can make a difference in the industry by sharing what I learn along my path. Never think that I'm someone who knows it all or has it all figured out. A wise man said: ”I'm just a nobody trying to tell somebody about Jesus.”