Church Football Movie Scores in Hollywood
ALBANY, Ga., Nov. 10, 2006 — -- Family church projects usually mean picnics or Bible studies, but a church in rural Georgia now enjoys Hollywood success with the inspirational movie it filmed on a shoestring budget.
"Facing the Giants" tells of a struggling underdog football team and was filmed at the Sherwood Baptist Church with one camera, volunteers and $100,000 in church donations.
When Hollywood executives found out about the project, it was picked up by Samuel Goldwyn Films. It's now a modest box office hit with nearly $7 million in ticket sales and distribution in 400 theaters nationwide.
The lead actress is one of the church's secretaries. "I play Brooke Taylor, who is the head football coach's wife," Shannen Fields said.
She stands by as her husband, who endures six years of losing seasons before changing his strategy. He challenges the players to strive in every area of their lives and find inspiration while praising God in both success and failure.
The coach of the opposing team, who is the bad guy in the story, is played by Sherwood Baptist Church's pastor, Jim McBride. He said he'll probably stay at that post, regardless of his onscreen success.
"God called me to be a pastor. He didn't call me to be an actor," McBride said.
The story was written and directed by two brothers who are also pastors, Stephen and Alex Kendrick. They describe the filmmaking experience as a community project.
"We had home-school kids pushing the dollies," Stephen Kendrick said. "Sunday school classes were providing the food on the set. And so for us, it was [a] family project on the set."
And that is a family project that could gross an additional million dollars once it hits DVD. After the studios take their cut of the profits, any remaining funds will be used for an 82-acre sports park the church is already building.
And they're already planning another film. "Everybody still likes a good story. Jesus told parables to draw people in," Alex Kendrick said.
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