FlashForward – God’s Sovereignty Vs. Free Will

FlashForward from ABC

I recently reviewed FlashForward: Part One, Season One on DVD. The ambitious ABC Studios’ series explores the aftermath of a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon that renders everyone on the planet unconscious at exactly the same moment. Millions die. Destruction of property and infrastructure is enormous. Yet during those few moments of global blackout, every man, woman and child is given a rare and precious gift. They get to see a brief glimpse of his or her life exactly six months in the future.

Make no mistake, FlashForward is not even remotely a Christian TV series. But it is a series that at least dares to ask some essential questions that Christians have wrestled with since the founding of the faith. Questions like how much of our lives are determined by divine fiat, and how much of our lives are the result of acts of free will? And what effect does knowing the future (prophecy) have on our present actions? Is the future set (fate), or can we alter the future by our actions (free will)?

I don’t ponder these issues in a vacuum. During our recent morning devotions my wife and I studied the story of Isaac and Rebecca. You remember – Rebecca was pregnant and having a tough go of it. She went to inquire of the Lord and was given a glimpse into the future. “And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23).

The scripture goes on to talk about Isaac loving Esau while Rebecca loved Jacob. Now, my wife and I have twins – a boy and a girl. They are totally different personalities and we love them both – differently, but equally. It’s hard for me to imagine … Continue Reading

Deadline Approaching for $10,000 Grand Prize Screenplay Contest

Friends of HOSFU,

The April 1st entry deadline for the Raw Talent Screenplay Contest – Grand Prize $10,000 – is now less than one month away. The contest is free to enter and, as such, it is a free chance at $10,000!

We would really appreciate it if you would help publicize the Raw Talent Screenplay Contest in your circles. Post a link to RawTalentContest.com on Facebook, send out an email to some friends or go door to door! Okay, that might be a little much.

For those of you who decide to go the email route, feel free to copy and paste or take from the press release below. It’s brand new and updated.

Thanks for you help in promoting Christ through film!

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For Immediate Release:
March 1, 2010

Deadline Approaching: Raw Talent Screenplay Contest Offers $10,000 Grand Prize
Trost Moving Pictures, In Association With HOSFU LC, Searches For Feature Length Script

Albuquerque, NM (March 1, 2010) – The entry deadline for the Raw Talent Screenplay Contest is … Continue Reading

Richard Lackey: An Introduction

Many thanks to the HOSFU team for giving me the opportunity to be a guest blogger. It really is an honor and a priviledge. It’s an honor to have an outlet for my own writing, and to actively encourage and invest some of my own knowledge and experience in certain fields to other Kingdom film makers and story tellers.

In this first post from me, I’d like to introduce myself.

My name is Richard Lackey, and I am currently a feature film (or long-form as we call it) post production producer at South Africa’s (probably Africa’s) leading studio, lab and post production facility, Waterfront Studios. We currently operate the largest sound proofed stages on the continent, one of only two Kodak Imagecare approved film labs in South Africa, and a state of the art post and VFX facility.

I’m one of a team of two that service our long form clients, which are made up of of some local producers, but a fair number of British, German and American producers who come to South Africa to save money. We’ve serviced large scale film based television series such as NBC/Universal’s The Philanthropist shot here last year, more recently Clint Eastwood’s … Continue Reading

Review: Every Hidden Thing

Reviewed by Doug Phillips

I personally know some of the principals involved in Every Hidden Thing, from writer/producer/director Fritz Green.

Fritz wrote the first draft of this script many years ago. Then, after he came to Jesus Christ in real life, he revised the story and gave it a new direction. Fritz shared some highlights of his script with me at the Real-To-Reel filmmaking seminar in Oklahoma City, June 2005. In turn, I shared a suggestion or two; I don’t know whether my suggestions had any impact on the final draft. In any case, he started filming in July of 2005 and finished around Christmas. After a couple of years in the editing room getting things “just right,” he premiered the film at the 2008 Script-To-Screen Film Festival in Tulsa, picking up Best Feature, Best Actor, Best Actress and Audience Choice awards. Since then, he’s released a revised edit which I think is an improvement on the original release.

I worked with lead actress Victoria Esher in Zero Hour, and have seen her in several other films. She makes a bad film watchable and a good film better. And Every Hidden Thing is a good film. I don’t really know starring actor Rob Boyd; I’ve just met him casually a couple of times. But his work here was well deserving of a Best Actor award.

Let’s talk about the film itself.

Jeremy Saunders (Boyd) is a nondescript businessman with a loving wife named Brandi (Esher), and good friends Rick and Melinda Jones (Michael Bush and Susan Burris). But Jeremy’s life changes radically, the day he has an experience of traveling fifteen minutes backwards in time. In the weeks that follow, the same phenomenon is repeated at random. Light flashes, which only Jeremy can see, always mark the beginning of the fifteen-minute period that’s going to be “erased.” So, once he figures out how the flashbacks work, Jeremy has the unique temptation of being able to do anything he can imagine…knowing it’ll all be wiped out. Obviously, he could engage in illicit … Continue Reading

Christian Movies: Is the message or the story king?

The Ten Commandments 1956

In a Christian Movie, is the message or the story king?  Obviously the King is King (and I’m not talking about Elvis.)

But this has been a topic of great debate.

I know some filmmakers that will not “water down” the message of Christ in their films, and have very strong overt messages that come across to many as a sermon wrapped in a movie’s packaging.

Then there are others that focus on the story, only the story.  They hope that the message will come out through the telling of the story, and claim that this is how the Christ Himself taught, through parables.

There are arguments for both philosophies.

Some argue for films with a devout and overt Christian message which is the trademark of veteran, and very talented filmmakers, like Rich Christiano (Time Changers, Unidentified, The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry.)

While yet others argue for story, story story.  The point being that movies are, or should be, stories that inspire the viewer to … Continue Reading