This year’s huge success of Christian movies has prompted a group of film industry insiders to launch a Hollywood studio, dedicated to targeting a “faith and values-oriented audience.” They say their WONDER Project will seek to create a trusted brand to serve that largely untapped market.
Project founders include The Chosen creator Dallas Jenkins; Jesus Revolution director Jon Erwin; and former Netflix and YouTube executive Kelly Merryman Hoogstratten. They plan to give Christian creatives including writers, directors, actors and producers a level of freedom and resources they’ve never had before.
Ms. Hoogstratten said their goal is to flood the world with ‘hope’ by telling stories about Christian believers, families, communities, and God. She asserted that: “Entertainment sits upstream from culture. Today, the world needs a way to find common ground again. I am convinced we can make a difference by telling stories that restore hope in things worth believing in. We will do this at scale for a global audience that seeks faith and values-driven entertainment. And we will give the audience a brand they can call their own.”
Mr. Erwin told Variety magazine that Hollywood “realises the audience is enormous and under-served,” but it needs their help to reach into that market. He noted the WONDER Project already has many of the creatives lined up with 12 writers working on creating scripts in the earlier stages while the management team scouts for other like-minded creators to help produce more faith-based content. “This level of talent combined with the power of the stories we are developing is really inspiring! I can’t wait for the audience to experience the things we are working on,” Mr. Erwin proclaimed.
So far, more than A$115 million has been raised to launch the new studio to create movie, television and streaming content tailored for that “faith and values-oriented audience globally with movies and TV shows believers didn’t know were possible in today’s world.”
The project has been made possible through seed and Series A funding from Sovereign’s Capital, Lionsgate, Powerhouse Capital, United Talent Agency and Jason Blum, CEO of Blumhouse Productions. It will be headquartered in Los Angeles and Austin, Texas.
Mr. Blum touted the “power of an affinity audience that is under-served with programming options. I look forward to the many high-quality stories this talented team will curate and produce for the faith and values-based audience across the globe over the coming years.”
Powerhouse Capital’s Managing Partner Ian Doody noted the WONDER Project is “tapping into a massive, global need. The faith and values audience is global, and the quality shows being developed will meet the long-standing and growing consumer demand”
Mr. Erwin who is used to producing on lower budgets, said having financial aid from these partners will contribute to better-quality films and TV production. The company will target sales of its productions to mainstream networks, streamers and film distributors, while creating its own distribution and streaming options.
“What if we could dream a little bigger? What if we could build a studio of our own that empowers creatives in this space with a level of freedom and resources they haven’t had before. We want to be partners with studios and streamers and anybody who wants to reach this audience in profound new ways. But we want to do it while building something that is independent and can last,” Mr. Erwin explained to Variety.
