August 4, 2023 • 31 mins
Today's Episode was recorded on location at the ASI convention in Kansas City Missouri. In this Episode we hear about what Hope Studios is doing and how business and ministry are needed to complete the work.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Music
(00:23):
Welcome to Mission Sunlight Chat from the Media Missionaries of Network 7 Media Center.
Typically I tell you, if you're a regular watcher of our podcast, we're from our world headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee in the United States of America.
I'd introduce our guest Kevin, I'd introduce our director, our engineer today, Jordan Wagner.
But I'm not doing those things from our usual location. We are in Kansas City, Missouri at ASI.
(00:49):
And really excited to be doing this series with ASI Ministries from around the globe.
And so this is a special episode. You'll hear noise going on around us.
Jordan will pop up the camera and you'll see down the particular aisle that we are producing here at ASI from right behind the ASI welcome booth.
And so we're glad to be here and doing this special series of broadcast.
(01:12):
Again, my name is Christopher Beeson. My director of production, engineer for today is Jordan Wagner.
Jordan, you can give a wave up here to our friends on the camera. We're just kind of casual and having a blessed time here at ASI.
And my guest, Kevin, you are the director of Hope Studios.
Give us your elevator speech of who you are and what you do in the next minute or so. Welcome, by the way.
(01:35):
Thank you. Thank you so much for having me on here. I appreciate it.
It's funny because I currently live in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and yet it took us coming all the way out here.
I know we have such busy schedules. But yeah, as you mentioned, I am the director for Hope Studios,
which is the newest evangelistic arm of Hope Channel International.
And we are hyper focused on evangelism, which means we care about people that are non Adventist and non Christians.
(02:01):
We would love for Christians and Adventist to get on board with the content that we're doing.
But not because they are the end goal, only because this is tools for them to be able to share that with the rest of the world.
So we focus on cinematic content and we want to reach the people where they are.
That's on streaming platforms, in cinemas, and on YouTube.
(02:23):
You know, everybody is watching something on this device. You know, it's it's can't get away from it.
Yeah. Yeah. A couple of years ago, I took off and I put my phone all my devices away for five days. I went on vacation.
It was wonderful. But it's really hard to do. We're just inundated with media today.
So what you're doing is bringing good content to the world. Yeah. To Christians, non Christians, pre Christians, I like to call them sometimes.
(02:50):
Yes. So, Kevin, before we go further, we're going to talk a little bit about your work with Hope.
We're going to talk a little bit about ASI. Let's invite the Lord to bless our conversation.
That would be great. Gracious and Heavenly Father, we are thankful for the time that we can spend here.
We want to ask that you bless ASI, the work that is happening here, the connections that are being formed,
and ultimately the ministries that are being grown, nurtured and expanded.
(03:17):
And please bless our conversation now as well.
May we connect with someone out there that maybe has been waiting to hear something that we can share today.
These things we ask in your name. Amen. Amen.
So at the end of our conversation, you can remind me of this because I have a bad memory.
If you want, I want you to talk about the big project. Yes. But I want to do that at the very end.
(03:43):
Okay. You're going to want to stay listening into this program to catch the really cool thing that's happening at Hope Studios right now.
But for the moment, tell us about who you are, your family, maybe a little bit about your growing up.
How you got from here, I know there's a little family history with media, or from there to here today.
(04:05):
Just share that with us. Yeah.
And let me tell our audience, they're used to us typically pulling out little details from your present, your past and your future.
We're going to do that in a separate program from the studios in Chattanooga at a later date.
So right now we're just getting some highlights in your connection with media. Go ahead.
Yeah. So I was born and raised in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kettering, Ohio.
(04:31):
And I was homeschooled until seventh grade. And then I went to Spring Valley Academy in eighth grade.
And after graduating Spring Valley Academy, I went to Southern Adventist University where I did not actually study film.
Even though I've worked in and now I work in film, I actually studied business.
But growing up, both grandparents on both sides, they were part of the Adventist Church.
(04:58):
And my grandfather was actually part of the very first Adventist Christian television to ever happen.
He was on the first nationally syndicated broadcast in America, which was...
Is it a voice of prophecy?
No, no. He was actually part of Faith for Today. Specifically, he was in the quartet for Faith for Today.
(05:25):
So I grew up hearing these stories about Adventists that were in media and they were telling stories.
And Elder Fagel was bringing in kids from New York City that are memorizing their lines on the subway.
And they get there and they're telling these stories.
And then that progressed into shows like Westbrook Hospital, which was a medical drama that was Adventist produced that I believe ran on ABC.
(05:53):
And fast forward to I graduated from Southern. I went and worked in the film industry, did projects in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, and other places.
Even some international films. And I said, why is it that there were more opportunities 60, 70 years ago for Adventist storytellers than there are today?
(06:15):
It just did not sit right with me. And so fortunately, our leadership at Hope Channel International, they had a vision.
And I have to give a big shout out to Derek Morris and Vyacheslav Damian, who said, you know what? This is a good idea.
We should return to our heritage of storytelling. And we launched Hope Studios.
(06:40):
So that's a little bit of my journey there. And it's been exciting. And God has blessed beyond what we thought we could do.
Very cool. That's a great story. May I ask what your grandfather's name is? Maybe somebody would remember?
Yeah, Roger McNeely was his name.
Roger McNeely. Okay. And that, of course, isn't your last name. So I'm assuming it was on my mother's side. Yeah.
(07:02):
So my last name is Kristen Son. My grandfather on the Kristen Son side, he actually was a professor at Miami University in Oxford.
So I had two very big shoes to fill in success on both sides of the family there.
Wow. But just an incredible connection to ministry and media and mission.
(07:27):
Yeah. It's in my DNA, apparently.
And I'm going to re-say your last name because I realize I've been saying it wrong, incorrectly. I'm Kristen Son.
That's correct. Yeah.
Okay. So I've got it right. Kevin Kristen Son. Very cool.
We're going to take a break and we're going to come back and talk about the connection with ASI.
Mission Sunlight, as you know, as a regular watcher, is a nonprofit Christian media organization.
(07:52):
So if you'd like to know more, you can visit us at missionsunlight.org.
And if you want to give, you can click donate there.
Thank you in advance for what you may be led to give, whether it's prayers, whether it's money or any combination of these two.
We're truly grateful for you and we appreciate whatever you would like to do for this work.
Now, just one more thing. We need to grow to touch more lives for Jesus, to share the story of Jesus,
(08:15):
to spread the truth as it is in Jesus. So please, if you can't give your time, you can't give your prayers,
maybe you can't give your monies, would you please, please share this link to today's program with a friend or even an enemy.
But post it on your social media, text it to a friend right now, even snail mail it if you want.
Share Mission Sunlight Chat today. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We'll be back in a moment.
(09:03):
Thank you so much for joining us for Mission Sunlight Chat.
(09:30):
We are here with our friend Kevin Christensen from Hope Studios.
And Kevin, as I mentioned in the first segment, we are live or at least we're recording live in the ASI Kansas City edition,
the convention hall, the exhibit hall here. Folks are walking by. We've got folks watching, stopping to listen for a moment.
(09:52):
So as folks hear the ambient sound around us, it's very much intentional.
Even when they're making announcements about giveaways up on these speakers.
How did you know to do that? Wow, the coordination here is incredible. Perfect timing.
Hey, we are thankful for the Lord has given us an opportunity to be here.
We do want to say to our viewers or our listeners, depending on how you're absorbing this program,
(10:14):
you can find out more about us at MissionSunlight.org.
We want to ask you to share the link to today's program or the entire show podcast platform with a friend by text, by social media, or even by email.
You can take a moment right now or during the break coming up, share it with somebody.
And we just want to thank you for being a part of our Mission Sunlight chat family.
(10:35):
Kevin, you are here at ASI representing Hope TV, Hope Channel, Hope Studios.
I'm going to use that broad umbrella look of Hope International. Hope Channel International, yes.
So tell us why. Why bother with ASI? What's significant? What's important?
Or maybe it's not significant or important at all. Tell me why you're here.
(10:56):
Well, I think that Hope Channel International has really has a place for everyone.
It has a place for people outside the church and it has a place for people that are actively engaged in mission in the church.
Because Hope Channel International is exclusively focused on evangelism, which means we are not here to reach people that are already in the pews.
(11:21):
We're not here to preach to the choir or even tend to the flock, so to speak.
Our goal is to reach out to people that are beyond our churches, people that would never walk into a church,
people that would maybe never watch a sermon or listen to even a religious podcast.
Those are the people that we feel called to reach.
(11:42):
Now, to reach them, we've got to find people that are dedicated to mission.
Because I don't believe that media should be a substitute for evangelism.
I want to say that again. I don't believe that media is a substitute for evangelism.
And to me, evangelism is telling people person to person about Jesus.
(12:05):
Exactly. Media is to be a tool for evangelism.
Because it's these kinds of conversations that get people excited. They go, there's something different. I have questions. I want to talk about it.
The media is the thing that can get those conversations going.
But the relationships, that's really where the evangelism happens.
So we're excited about that because we want to be able to provide those tools to members,
(12:30):
to people that are actively engaged in mission, to be able to share that with people that may have never heard the gospel before.
And hopefully something in our shows, in our films, in whatever content we have on social media,
something clicks with them and they go, you know what, I'm curious.
Because our goal is not to provide answers as much as it is to instill questions.
(13:00):
Because if you have all the answers, why do you need to go to church?
Why do you need to talk to someone? I already got all the answers.
Instead, we want to inspire people to actually be intrinsically motivated to seek out the answers. That's our goal.
You know, a lot of those answers change when you really do dig in.
So you're really challenging people to find more.
(13:24):
And I would dare say, I know you said, you know, we want to reach people outside the church, those unchurched,
those who are wanting more of a faith build.
Or they don't even know they need or want a faith build.
But there are a lot of us within the church family that are seeking that faith build too.
(13:46):
Absolutely.
Maybe struggling on our way. And so I think hope just covers both of those segments.
So why ASI? What did you come for?
ASI is a perfect place to bridge the gap between, I would say, nonprofit, more church related mission
and missionally minded for-profit and nonprofit business people.
(14:12):
So there's a famous writer.
She actually is, I believe, listed as one of the Smithsonian Institution's top 100 most influential women writers in America.
Her name was Ellen White.
And she said something that was kind of inspirational that said religion and business are not two separate things.
(14:38):
They're to be one in the same.
That's right.
And the more you look into that, the more it makes sense.
And that's one of the things that we looked at.
And specifically with my department of Hope Studios, we said, how can we bridge this gap?
How can we bridge the gap between the two?
Because we've got to find a way to work together.
(14:59):
And we were actually able to do something that combined both sides.
We were able to work as essentially a bit of a film financing company, investing in quality media,
and then bringing in for-profit companies to execute the production on a higher quality than we've ever done before
(15:22):
and in a more effective capacity than we've ever done before and then help distribute that to the world.
And ASI does that.
They bring ministry members and business members together to network, potentially to share resources,
because ministry resources are valuable to business people.
(15:44):
And frankly, business resources are valuable to ministry people.
The Hope Studio model operates, or at least initially, through gifts and support from individuals who are likely in business
and have discretionary funds to share.
The business people who love Christ and want to share Christ in their marketplace,
(16:07):
that's what we say in ASI, sharing Christ in the marketplace,
those business people find resources from people who are doing ministry every day
and be able to take those ministry resources and apply them either in their business to their customer or their client,
or they're able to apply those principles so that their business can be doing related ministry work.
(16:31):
So there is a hand in hand to work together.
And so having, whether it's Hope, which is what we call an institutional organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church,
to having, I'm just looking around, I'm trying to just pick one of the ministries, ACM here across the way from us,
who does audio media ministry, having them where they're what we call a supporting ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
(17:03):
Hope is a part of the organized church.
ACM, the media ministry there, is a specific lay ministry.
Those folks aren't paid by the church.
They are doing what they can with the time that God has given them and the talent that God has given them outside of the paid work.
(17:24):
And so ASI brings all of these dynamics, all this diversity in life and work and ministry together, just a fascinating way.
Oh, it's amazing to watch the two come together because I really think that they both need each other.
You know, we've had discussions both on the church side as well as on the independent business side.
(17:50):
What if you work without the other? What does that look like? It's not as effective.
I don't think it works. I think it's broken.
I completely think it's broken.
So we talked about that. We said, OK, let's say, for example, you had just a for-profit production company.
And you said, well, I want to do things that are going to have the church's support.
(18:16):
And they're going to be, you know, like we're creating films, right?
Let's say we did this last film that we're doing now without the church's support.
We would struggle. We would struggle because we need Adventists to engage with this, to share it.
If we did that without the church, we wouldn't have NAD leaders telling conference and union presidents and youth, young adult leaders and pastors, you've got to hear about this.
(18:47):
You've got to know about this. We wouldn't have that kind of support.
We wouldn't have even had the funding in the first place to get it off the ground because those conversations are usually, well, yes, I'm an investor, but who else is investing?
Right. Because I don't want to take all the risk. Well, who else? And no one's first to the table. And then that's where a lot of ideas die.
They don't they don't get that funding. Now you flip the model. You say, OK, OK, let's just say we're just church and we're not working with with a separate production company.
(19:15):
Well, what happens? Well, you typically hire a bunch of full time employees.
If they are churched enough to pass all the HR requirements, you pray that they have some skills to be able to use for that.
And then, you know, when you have a lot of the same people doing the same things day after day, it starts to look the same.
And then as a result, the other piece of that is the institution for good for good reasons has a lot of checks and balances.
(19:43):
There's committees that make sure people aren't, you know, embezzling funds or things like that.
And those are healthy, but they also slow the production process down.
And so you can't accomplish things with the speed that you need.
And that's where that that blending again, I go back to that quote, religion, business, one in the same.
(20:04):
Now you have impactful mission.
We could talk for a couple more hours about this subject alone. Yes, we could bring in a few more people and have a roundtable, couldn't we?
Oh, my goodness. It's been incredible. I mean, when you start bringing the two together and I won't.
I know we're limited for time, so I won't go too much into this.
But just for example, what we did with this film and I know we're not there yet.
(20:26):
So I'm giving a sneak peek. But one of the things that we did was because we worked with a separate it's called a limited party, which is essentially it was the Australian version of a of an LLC here in the U.S.
Because we worked with them, they were able to tap into film tax incentives and we were able to get a 40 percent tax incentive on the money that we were going to be spending.
(20:49):
So all of a sudden, your budget just increased almost half. Yeah.
Yeah. And that right there to me is the parable of the talents right there in action.
And that's something that if you were just working exclusively as a 501 C3 nonprofit church, you could never tap into that.
Right. Wow. We will talk more about that in our next segment.
(21:12):
We hope you've been encouraged and blessed by listening to the program today.
We have more to come, but we need to take a break. So remember, you can give it mission sunlight dot org.
You can share this program with anyone right now. Thank you for doing both or either.
We'll be back with more mission sunlight chat.
(21:44):
Try to get some sleep, you two. Oh, father, I can possibly see. Tell us a story. Oh, yes. Please tell us a story, father.
Very well. What shall it be tonight? How you fell in love with mother. No, an adventure with a battle.
You know, a tale that has both. You do? Oh, yes. A story of courage and hope, war and true love.
(22:13):
Friends. His word. No, you heard him. Consider me someone who's fallen off the path.
(22:43):
Is the story and father.
That is a sneak peek of the new film, The Hopeful. My guest, Kevin Christensen, is the director of Hope Studios, producer of The Hopeful.
(23:14):
Kevin, this is exciting. Can you tell us some more about it? Oh, we are so incredibly excited.
You know, we've done a few private test screenings for non-Avenis, non-Christian audiences.
And what happens is incredible. They stick around afterward. They ask us questions.
(23:35):
We did a private screening for Capitol Records. And afterward, people were talking.
We had both presidents show up from Capitol Christian Music there in Nashville.
And the next day, one of the presidents ran into the director.
And he said, hey, I went on a deep dive last night that that Ellen character and these these these Adventists and like.
(24:00):
And I was saying, hold on a second. You mean to tell me probably one of the most most busy people in the Christian and quite frankly, one of the most powerful people in the Christian music.
Yeah. In the world took his free time to look us up and do some research.
And that's that's what's so exciting about this film. So we've we've pitched it as you know, it's it's a true story of a group of people in the mid eighteen hundreds who thought that the world was coming to an end.
(24:29):
And spoiler alert, as it is based on a true story, the world does not end. But we're still here.
We are still here. But they had a choice for that to either be the end chapter of their journey or the beginning chapter of their journey.
And it and what it has turned out to be is an incredible 90 minute feature film that will be coming to cinemas in early twenty twenty four.
(24:55):
So let me put this spin on it. The hopeful. Yes. Became the hopeful. Yes.
And that did. All right. So people have just watched this sneak peek. We've shown them how again, how can someone find out more?
(25:16):
What can they do to look online? Because that's where everybody's going to go. I want to know more about this. What's what's the link?
Absolutely. If you go to the hopeful movie dot com, the hopeful movie dot com, the hopeful movie dot com.
You can sign up there. You can get updates. We will be updating that website as things change.
(25:38):
So when tickets are available, then people will be able to follow along there.
And if people want to see what we're doing on the larger scale, that was going to be my next question.
I'm jumping the gun. That's OK. My next question is how do they find out more about the whole gamut of things?
Yes. Hope Studios is doing. Go ahead. So you can visit Hope Studios dot org.
Yeah. And you can and you can follow along with what we're doing there. That's H.O.P.E.S.T.U.D.I.O.S. dot O.R.G. Hope Studios dot org. Yes.
(26:07):
Very good. Thank you. Kevin, we're going to wrap up here in a moment.
But would you maybe just look at the camera here and share with those watching someone may be just needing hope.
Not to be coy with it, but they may be struggling with something. Can you share a word of encouragement to our listener or viewer today?
(26:28):
Absolutely. If I've learned anything throughout this process of creating the hopeful, it's been a lesson in O ye of little faith.
Because when we started with this film and I quite frankly can't really take credit for this because so many things have happened with it that we did not anticipate and we could not have planned for.
(26:58):
And I was reminded, oh, you have little faith at the beginning. I didn't quite I didn't quite see it.
And then all of a sudden, doors started opening. Things started coming together. We started getting some of the best of the best in the industry wanting to work on this project.
We would go to edit in a small room that it was it was all that we could afford. And then we would find out that, oh, the big movie pushed.
(27:26):
Do you guys want to move into the large space instead? We're only going to charge you for the for the small one.
Oh, you have little faith. So if I can give anyone some encouragement out there, it's don't be the me of faith.
Have big faith. We're told faith, even as small as a mustard seed, can do great things.
(27:48):
So have that faith. Set the vision. Pray for it. Follow it.
Trust the Lord, because you're going to learn real quick. Whatever faith you thought was big, still was small.
Wow. Thank you. I'm encouraged. Good. And just hearing the story and the journey, I know a little bit more the back story of the hopeful.
(28:14):
I'm excited for people to see this. I'm excited to see it myself. Excellent. When that opportunity comes, which is coming soon.
Yes, it's coming soon right here at ASI. We're going to do a private screening on on Friday, which is which is a good way to say you need to be here at ASI.
Good things happen. Yes, you need to be here. All right. Well, thank you, Kevin. Thanks so much for joining us. Thanks so much for having me.
(28:41):
Our program today has not been in our usual studio. As I mentioned at the beginning of our program, we have been here in the great convention hall,
the exhibit hall of ASI here in Kansas City. And we have been blessed to have Kevin Christensen as our guest.
Jordan Wagner, as our director of production, has been engineering today. Jordan, thank you so much for all that you've done to keep our program moving.
(29:04):
This is today's program from the Media Missionaries of Network 7 Media Center. And I'm Christopher Beeson.
We want to invite you again to share our show with your friends via text, email on your social media platforms.
We also thank you for your gifts and your prayers, especially, Kevin. We all need these, especially your prayers.
(29:26):
That's all today from our studios here, our roving studios. Before we close, let's have a word of prayer.
Our Father in Heaven, we thank you for this time together with you.
We thank you for the opportunity to hear more about what's happening with Hope Channel, to hear the value and the distinct benefit of coming
and being a part of the ASI community, the network of ASI ministries and businesses.
(29:50):
Lord, I pray that as our viewers and listeners have watched and listened and learned, that they would be blessed, they would be encouraged on their journey with you.
Thank you for being with us in this conversation, in this Mission Sunlight Chat. We are grateful for your presence in your spirit.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Amen.
Thank you for joining us. This is Mission Sunlight Chat.
(30:38):
Thank you.
Music
(00:23):
Welcome to Mission Sunlight Chat from the Media Missionaries of Network 7 Media Center.
Typically I tell you, if you're a regular watcher of our podcast, we're from our world headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee in the United States of America.
I'd introduce our guest Kevin, I'd introduce our director, our engineer today, Jordan Wagner.
But I'm not doing those things from our usual location. We are in Kansas City, Missouri at ASI.
(00:49):
And really excited to be doing this series with ASI Ministries from around the globe.
And so this is a special episode. You'll hear noise going on around us.
Jordan will pop up the camera and you'll see down the particular aisle that we are producing here at ASI from right behind the ASI welcome booth.
And so we're glad to be here and doing this special series of broadcast.
(01:12):
Again, my name is Christopher Beeson. My director of production, engineer for today is Jordan Wagner.
Jordan, you can give a wave up here to our friends on the camera. We're just kind of casual and having a blessed time here at ASI.
And my guest, Kevin, you are the director of Hope Studios.
Give us your elevator speech of who you are and what you do in the next minute or so. Welcome, by the way.
(01:35):
Thank you. Thank you so much for having me on here. I appreciate it.
It's funny because I currently live in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and yet it took us coming all the way out here.
I know we have such busy schedules. But yeah, as you mentioned, I am the director for Hope Studios,
which is the newest evangelistic arm of Hope Channel International.
And we are hyper focused on evangelism, which means we care about people that are non Adventist and non Christians.
(02:01):
We would love for Christians and Adventist to get on board with the content that we're doing.
But not because they are the end goal, only because this is tools for them to be able to share that with the rest of the world.
So we focus on cinematic content and we want to reach the people where they are.
That's on streaming platforms, in cinemas, and on YouTube.
(02:23):
You know, everybody is watching something on this device. You know, it's it's can't get away from it.
Yeah. Yeah. A couple of years ago, I took off and I put my phone all my devices away for five days. I went on vacation.
It was wonderful. But it's really hard to do. We're just inundated with media today.
So what you're doing is bringing good content to the world. Yeah. To Christians, non Christians, pre Christians, I like to call them sometimes.
(02:50):
Yes. So, Kevin, before we go further, we're going to talk a little bit about your work with Hope.
We're going to talk a little bit about ASI. Let's invite the Lord to bless our conversation.
That would be great. Gracious and Heavenly Father, we are thankful for the time that we can spend here.
We want to ask that you bless ASI, the work that is happening here, the connections that are being formed,
and ultimately the ministries that are being grown, nurtured and expanded.
(03:17):
And please bless our conversation now as well.
May we connect with someone out there that maybe has been waiting to hear something that we can share today.
These things we ask in your name. Amen. Amen.
So at the end of our conversation, you can remind me of this because I have a bad memory.
If you want, I want you to talk about the big project. Yes. But I want to do that at the very end.
(03:43):
Okay. You're going to want to stay listening into this program to catch the really cool thing that's happening at Hope Studios right now.
But for the moment, tell us about who you are, your family, maybe a little bit about your growing up.
How you got from here, I know there's a little family history with media, or from there to here today.
(04:05):
Just share that with us. Yeah.
And let me tell our audience, they're used to us typically pulling out little details from your present, your past and your future.
We're going to do that in a separate program from the studios in Chattanooga at a later date.
So right now we're just getting some highlights in your connection with media. Go ahead.
Yeah. So I was born and raised in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kettering, Ohio.
(04:31):
And I was homeschooled until seventh grade. And then I went to Spring Valley Academy in eighth grade.
And after graduating Spring Valley Academy, I went to Southern Adventist University where I did not actually study film.
Even though I've worked in and now I work in film, I actually studied business.
But growing up, both grandparents on both sides, they were part of the Adventist Church.
(04:58):
And my grandfather was actually part of the very first Adventist Christian television to ever happen.
He was on the first nationally syndicated broadcast in America, which was...
Is it a voice of prophecy?
No, no. He was actually part of Faith for Today. Specifically, he was in the quartet for Faith for Today.
(05:25):
So I grew up hearing these stories about Adventists that were in media and they were telling stories.
And Elder Fagel was bringing in kids from New York City that are memorizing their lines on the subway.
And they get there and they're telling these stories.
And then that progressed into shows like Westbrook Hospital, which was a medical drama that was Adventist produced that I believe ran on ABC.
(05:53):
And fast forward to I graduated from Southern. I went and worked in the film industry, did projects in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, and other places.
Even some international films. And I said, why is it that there were more opportunities 60, 70 years ago for Adventist storytellers than there are today?
(06:15):
It just did not sit right with me. And so fortunately, our leadership at Hope Channel International, they had a vision.
And I have to give a big shout out to Derek Morris and Vyacheslav Damian, who said, you know what? This is a good idea.
We should return to our heritage of storytelling. And we launched Hope Studios.
(06:40):
So that's a little bit of my journey there. And it's been exciting. And God has blessed beyond what we thought we could do.
Very cool. That's a great story. May I ask what your grandfather's name is? Maybe somebody would remember?
Yeah, Roger McNeely was his name.
Roger McNeely. Okay. And that, of course, isn't your last name. So I'm assuming it was on my mother's side. Yeah.
(07:02):
So my last name is Kristen Son. My grandfather on the Kristen Son side, he actually was a professor at Miami University in Oxford.
So I had two very big shoes to fill in success on both sides of the family there.
Wow. But just an incredible connection to ministry and media and mission.
(07:27):
Yeah. It's in my DNA, apparently.
And I'm going to re-say your last name because I realize I've been saying it wrong, incorrectly. I'm Kristen Son.
That's correct. Yeah.
Okay. So I've got it right. Kevin Kristen Son. Very cool.
We're going to take a break and we're going to come back and talk about the connection with ASI.
Mission Sunlight, as you know, as a regular watcher, is a nonprofit Christian media organization.
(07:52):
So if you'd like to know more, you can visit us at missionsunlight.org.
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Thank you in advance for what you may be led to give, whether it's prayers, whether it's money or any combination of these two.
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(08:15):
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(09:03):
Thank you so much for joining us for Mission Sunlight Chat.
(09:30):
We are here with our friend Kevin Christensen from Hope Studios.
And Kevin, as I mentioned in the first segment, we are live or at least we're recording live in the ASI Kansas City edition,
the convention hall, the exhibit hall here. Folks are walking by. We've got folks watching, stopping to listen for a moment.
(09:52):
So as folks hear the ambient sound around us, it's very much intentional.
Even when they're making announcements about giveaways up on these speakers.
How did you know to do that? Wow, the coordination here is incredible. Perfect timing.
Hey, we are thankful for the Lord has given us an opportunity to be here.
We do want to say to our viewers or our listeners, depending on how you're absorbing this program,
(10:14):
you can find out more about us at MissionSunlight.org.
We want to ask you to share the link to today's program or the entire show podcast platform with a friend by text, by social media, or even by email.
You can take a moment right now or during the break coming up, share it with somebody.
And we just want to thank you for being a part of our Mission Sunlight chat family.
(10:35):
Kevin, you are here at ASI representing Hope TV, Hope Channel, Hope Studios.
I'm going to use that broad umbrella look of Hope International. Hope Channel International, yes.
So tell us why. Why bother with ASI? What's significant? What's important?
Or maybe it's not significant or important at all. Tell me why you're here.
(10:56):
Well, I think that Hope Channel International has really has a place for everyone.
It has a place for people outside the church and it has a place for people that are actively engaged in mission in the church.
Because Hope Channel International is exclusively focused on evangelism, which means we are not here to reach people that are already in the pews.
(11:21):
We're not here to preach to the choir or even tend to the flock, so to speak.
Our goal is to reach out to people that are beyond our churches, people that would never walk into a church,
people that would maybe never watch a sermon or listen to even a religious podcast.
Those are the people that we feel called to reach.
(11:42):
Now, to reach them, we've got to find people that are dedicated to mission.
Because I don't believe that media should be a substitute for evangelism.
I want to say that again. I don't believe that media is a substitute for evangelism.
And to me, evangelism is telling people person to person about Jesus.
(12:05):
Exactly. Media is to be a tool for evangelism.
Because it's these kinds of conversations that get people excited. They go, there's something different. I have questions. I want to talk about it.
The media is the thing that can get those conversations going.
But the relationships, that's really where the evangelism happens.
So we're excited about that because we want to be able to provide those tools to members,
(12:30):
to people that are actively engaged in mission, to be able to share that with people that may have never heard the gospel before.
And hopefully something in our shows, in our films, in whatever content we have on social media,
something clicks with them and they go, you know what, I'm curious.
Because our goal is not to provide answers as much as it is to instill questions.
(13:00):
Because if you have all the answers, why do you need to go to church?
Why do you need to talk to someone? I already got all the answers.
Instead, we want to inspire people to actually be intrinsically motivated to seek out the answers. That's our goal.
You know, a lot of those answers change when you really do dig in.
So you're really challenging people to find more.
(13:24):
And I would dare say, I know you said, you know, we want to reach people outside the church, those unchurched,
those who are wanting more of a faith build.
Or they don't even know they need or want a faith build.
But there are a lot of us within the church family that are seeking that faith build too.
(13:46):
Absolutely.
Maybe struggling on our way. And so I think hope just covers both of those segments.
So why ASI? What did you come for?
ASI is a perfect place to bridge the gap between, I would say, nonprofit, more church related mission
and missionally minded for-profit and nonprofit business people.
(14:12):
So there's a famous writer.
She actually is, I believe, listed as one of the Smithsonian Institution's top 100 most influential women writers in America.
Her name was Ellen White.
And she said something that was kind of inspirational that said religion and business are not two separate things.
(14:38):
They're to be one in the same.
That's right.
And the more you look into that, the more it makes sense.
And that's one of the things that we looked at.
And specifically with my department of Hope Studios, we said, how can we bridge this gap?
How can we bridge the gap between the two?
Because we've got to find a way to work together.
(14:59):
And we were actually able to do something that combined both sides.
We were able to work as essentially a bit of a film financing company, investing in quality media,
and then bringing in for-profit companies to execute the production on a higher quality than we've ever done before
(15:22):
and in a more effective capacity than we've ever done before and then help distribute that to the world.
And ASI does that.
They bring ministry members and business members together to network, potentially to share resources,
because ministry resources are valuable to business people.
(15:44):
And frankly, business resources are valuable to ministry people.
The Hope Studio model operates, or at least initially, through gifts and support from individuals who are likely in business
and have discretionary funds to share.
The business people who love Christ and want to share Christ in their marketplace,
(16:07):
that's what we say in ASI, sharing Christ in the marketplace,
those business people find resources from people who are doing ministry every day
and be able to take those ministry resources and apply them either in their business to their customer or their client,
or they're able to apply those principles so that their business can be doing related ministry work.
(16:31):
So there is a hand in hand to work together.
And so having, whether it's Hope, which is what we call an institutional organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church,
to having, I'm just looking around, I'm trying to just pick one of the ministries, ACM here across the way from us,
who does audio media ministry, having them where they're what we call a supporting ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
(17:03):
Hope is a part of the organized church.
ACM, the media ministry there, is a specific lay ministry.
Those folks aren't paid by the church.
They are doing what they can with the time that God has given them and the talent that God has given them outside of the paid work.
(17:24):
And so ASI brings all of these dynamics, all this diversity in life and work and ministry together, just a fascinating way.
Oh, it's amazing to watch the two come together because I really think that they both need each other.
You know, we've had discussions both on the church side as well as on the independent business side.
(17:50):
What if you work without the other? What does that look like? It's not as effective.
I don't think it works. I think it's broken.
I completely think it's broken.
So we talked about that. We said, OK, let's say, for example, you had just a for-profit production company.
And you said, well, I want to do things that are going to have the church's support.
(18:16):
And they're going to be, you know, like we're creating films, right?
Let's say we did this last film that we're doing now without the church's support.
We would struggle. We would struggle because we need Adventists to engage with this, to share it.
If we did that without the church, we wouldn't have NAD leaders telling conference and union presidents and youth, young adult leaders and pastors, you've got to hear about this.
(18:47):
You've got to know about this. We wouldn't have that kind of support.
We wouldn't have even had the funding in the first place to get it off the ground because those conversations are usually, well, yes, I'm an investor, but who else is investing?
Right. Because I don't want to take all the risk. Well, who else? And no one's first to the table. And then that's where a lot of ideas die.
They don't they don't get that funding. Now you flip the model. You say, OK, OK, let's just say we're just church and we're not working with with a separate production company.
(19:15):
Well, what happens? Well, you typically hire a bunch of full time employees.
If they are churched enough to pass all the HR requirements, you pray that they have some skills to be able to use for that.
And then, you know, when you have a lot of the same people doing the same things day after day, it starts to look the same.
And then as a result, the other piece of that is the institution for good for good reasons has a lot of checks and balances.
(19:43):
There's committees that make sure people aren't, you know, embezzling funds or things like that.
And those are healthy, but they also slow the production process down.
And so you can't accomplish things with the speed that you need.
And that's where that that blending again, I go back to that quote, religion, business, one in the same.
(20:04):
Now you have impactful mission.
We could talk for a couple more hours about this subject alone. Yes, we could bring in a few more people and have a roundtable, couldn't we?
Oh, my goodness. It's been incredible. I mean, when you start bringing the two together and I won't.
I know we're limited for time, so I won't go too much into this.
But just for example, what we did with this film and I know we're not there yet.
(20:26):
So I'm giving a sneak peek. But one of the things that we did was because we worked with a separate it's called a limited party, which is essentially it was the Australian version of a of an LLC here in the U.S.
Because we worked with them, they were able to tap into film tax incentives and we were able to get a 40 percent tax incentive on the money that we were going to be spending.
(20:49):
So all of a sudden, your budget just increased almost half. Yeah.
Yeah. And that right there to me is the parable of the talents right there in action.
And that's something that if you were just working exclusively as a 501 C3 nonprofit church, you could never tap into that.
Right. Wow. We will talk more about that in our next segment.
(21:12):
We hope you've been encouraged and blessed by listening to the program today.
We have more to come, but we need to take a break. So remember, you can give it mission sunlight dot org.
You can share this program with anyone right now. Thank you for doing both or either.
We'll be back with more mission sunlight chat.
(21:44):
Try to get some sleep, you two. Oh, father, I can possibly see. Tell us a story. Oh, yes. Please tell us a story, father.
Very well. What shall it be tonight? How you fell in love with mother. No, an adventure with a battle.
You know, a tale that has both. You do? Oh, yes. A story of courage and hope, war and true love.
(22:13):
Friends. His word. No, you heard him. Consider me someone who's fallen off the path.
(22:43):
Is the story and father.
That is a sneak peek of the new film, The Hopeful. My guest, Kevin Christensen, is the director of Hope Studios, producer of The Hopeful.
(23:14):
Kevin, this is exciting. Can you tell us some more about it? Oh, we are so incredibly excited.
You know, we've done a few private test screenings for non-Avenis, non-Christian audiences.
And what happens is incredible. They stick around afterward. They ask us questions.
(23:35):
We did a private screening for Capitol Records. And afterward, people were talking.
We had both presidents show up from Capitol Christian Music there in Nashville.
And the next day, one of the presidents ran into the director.
And he said, hey, I went on a deep dive last night that that Ellen character and these these these Adventists and like.
(24:00):
And I was saying, hold on a second. You mean to tell me probably one of the most most busy people in the Christian and quite frankly, one of the most powerful people in the Christian music.
Yeah. In the world took his free time to look us up and do some research.
And that's that's what's so exciting about this film. So we've we've pitched it as you know, it's it's a true story of a group of people in the mid eighteen hundreds who thought that the world was coming to an end.
(24:29):
And spoiler alert, as it is based on a true story, the world does not end. But we're still here.
We are still here. But they had a choice for that to either be the end chapter of their journey or the beginning chapter of their journey.
And it and what it has turned out to be is an incredible 90 minute feature film that will be coming to cinemas in early twenty twenty four.
(24:55):
So let me put this spin on it. The hopeful. Yes. Became the hopeful. Yes.
And that did. All right. So people have just watched this sneak peek. We've shown them how again, how can someone find out more?
(25:16):
What can they do to look online? Because that's where everybody's going to go. I want to know more about this. What's what's the link?
Absolutely. If you go to the hopeful movie dot com, the hopeful movie dot com, the hopeful movie dot com.
You can sign up there. You can get updates. We will be updating that website as things change.
(25:38):
So when tickets are available, then people will be able to follow along there.
And if people want to see what we're doing on the larger scale, that was going to be my next question.
I'm jumping the gun. That's OK. My next question is how do they find out more about the whole gamut of things?
Yes. Hope Studios is doing. Go ahead. So you can visit Hope Studios dot org.
Yeah. And you can and you can follow along with what we're doing there. That's H.O.P.E.S.T.U.D.I.O.S. dot O.R.G. Hope Studios dot org. Yes.
(26:07):
Very good. Thank you. Kevin, we're going to wrap up here in a moment.
But would you maybe just look at the camera here and share with those watching someone may be just needing hope.
Not to be coy with it, but they may be struggling with something. Can you share a word of encouragement to our listener or viewer today?
(26:28):
Absolutely. If I've learned anything throughout this process of creating the hopeful, it's been a lesson in O ye of little faith.
Because when we started with this film and I quite frankly can't really take credit for this because so many things have happened with it that we did not anticipate and we could not have planned for.
(26:58):
And I was reminded, oh, you have little faith at the beginning. I didn't quite I didn't quite see it.
And then all of a sudden, doors started opening. Things started coming together. We started getting some of the best of the best in the industry wanting to work on this project.
We would go to edit in a small room that it was it was all that we could afford. And then we would find out that, oh, the big movie pushed.
(27:26):
Do you guys want to move into the large space instead? We're only going to charge you for the for the small one.
Oh, you have little faith. So if I can give anyone some encouragement out there, it's don't be the me of faith.
Have big faith. We're told faith, even as small as a mustard seed, can do great things.
(27:48):
So have that faith. Set the vision. Pray for it. Follow it.
Trust the Lord, because you're going to learn real quick. Whatever faith you thought was big, still was small.
Wow. Thank you. I'm encouraged. Good. And just hearing the story and the journey, I know a little bit more the back story of the hopeful.
(28:14):
I'm excited for people to see this. I'm excited to see it myself. Excellent. When that opportunity comes, which is coming soon.
Yes, it's coming soon right here at ASI. We're going to do a private screening on on Friday, which is which is a good way to say you need to be here at ASI.
Good things happen. Yes, you need to be here. All right. Well, thank you, Kevin. Thanks so much for joining us. Thanks so much for having me.
(28:41):
Our program today has not been in our usual studio. As I mentioned at the beginning of our program, we have been here in the great convention hall,
the exhibit hall of ASI here in Kansas City. And we have been blessed to have Kevin Christensen as our guest.
Jordan Wagner, as our director of production, has been engineering today. Jordan, thank you so much for all that you've done to keep our program moving.
(29:04):
This is today's program from the Media Missionaries of Network 7 Media Center. And I'm Christopher Beeson.
We want to invite you again to share our show with your friends via text, email on your social media platforms.
We also thank you for your gifts and your prayers, especially, Kevin. We all need these, especially your prayers.
(29:26):
That's all today from our studios here, our roving studios. Before we close, let's have a word of prayer.
Our Father in Heaven, we thank you for this time together with you.
We thank you for the opportunity to hear more about what's happening with Hope Channel, to hear the value and the distinct benefit of coming
and being a part of the ASI community, the network of ASI ministries and businesses.
(29:50):
Lord, I pray that as our viewers and listeners have watched and listened and learned, that they would be blessed, they would be encouraged on their journey with you.
Thank you for being with us in this conversation, in this Mission Sunlight Chat. We are grateful for your presence in your spirit.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Amen.
Thank you for joining us. This is Mission Sunlight Chat.
(30:38):
Thank you.
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