Last month, Studio Re: and Hallelujah Gospel Family worked together to do a film shoot of a large concert featuring approximately 300 singers in a Japanese black gospel choir.
Recently, CAN founding member and leader of the Hallelujah Gospel Family network, Ken Taylor, was featured in a news story by ANS News. The article is called "How 'Sister Act' has inspired the formation of 30 Japanese Gospel Choirs run by a Filipino former night club entertainer who found Christ."
Studio Re: has produced our first "My Story" -- a series of videos featuring Japanese sharing how God is at work in their lives. Genuine and winsome, this series speaks to the heart and appeals to a wide audience. Some amazing circumstances allowed us to produce this video including funding to buy a $6,000 mac computer for editing.
I want to recognize and thank Megumi, Scot, Shane, Josh, Graham, and Tim for all you did to make this happen! Featuring original music composed for this series by Tim, we are really pleased to make this short film available on the Internet.
Please make use of this!
Send the youtube link for this video to your friends, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r02G8l6CLgs
Copy the "embed" code that appears next to the video on youtube and paste it into your blog or web site.
Show it to your Sunday school class or small group
Use it as part of a message or Bible study
Please leave comments with ideas on how to use this video and/or input on how we can improve it.
A previous post from this blog regarding Studio Re:
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"Studio Re:" is an innovative initiative that I have the great privilege of being a part of. We have an amazing team forming around our vision of "Impacting Japanese culture through redemptive films."
“Studio Re:” is a group of Christian artists who are producing films that lead Japanese to discover that there is more to life...much more.
We produce films in a variety of genres that present redemptive content and pose crucial questions. These films seek to affect and change the shape of contemporary Japanese culture and its inhabitants by assuming a biblical paradigm; offering redemption instead of separation, hope instead of resignation, design instead of chaos. It is a sowing ministry that will prepare the minds and hearts of the Japanese in order to shorten the spiritual distance between them and Jesus Christ.
Our strategy:
To establish a team of empowered, dedicated staff with common values who live out their faith.
To gain, interact and follow up with our audience via the Internet.
To cultivate a library of award-winning films that are redemptive and have value to Japanese society.
To collaborate closely with key churches, schools, and other groups
To build a solid business plan that results in financial stability
A film we produced in collaboration with Biola University won first place at the 2008 Inigo Film Festival. You can view the trailer for Mujo No Kaze at the following web site: www.mnkmovie.com
If you want to help with this vision, or know someone else who you think might want to be involved, leave a comment on this blog or write to me at pnethercott (at) mac.com
In particular, we are looking for skilled, dedicated people to come and work with us for at least two years.
We are also looking for $30,000 dollars to buy equipment and pay other expenses related to producing films. But, small contributions will help and are deeply appreciated.
Studio Re: is part of CAN (Christians in the Arts Network), which is a Tokyo based project under TEAM (The Evangelical Alliance Mission.) Contributions are tax deductible and can be sent to:
TEAM P.O. Box 969 Wheaten, Illinois 60187
Online contributions are also an option at the TEAM Home Page. Select "Japan" under the "ministry area" tab and then under the "project" tab select "Christians in the Arts Network."
For more information: Email: can.studio.re (at) gmail.com Studio Re: Web Site: www.studio-re.com
If you want to know what Scot Eaton and I have been doing the past week, take a look at the Biola Film Japan 2009 Blog.
A few facts about our film:
1. The script, by a young Japanese writer, was conceived in Japanese, written in English and then "back translated" into Japanese (almost all the dialogue is in Japanese).
2. We usually have about 22 people (cast and crew) on the set and we all spent a number of hours crammed into a one bedroom apartment (in Niiza) shooting scenes for this film.
3. Yugo Saso, the main character has appeared in several films including "To End All Wars." Jack Hafer, who is now the chair of Biola's film department, was a producer for "To End All Wars." Masayuki Yui, who appeared in four films directed by Akira Kurosawa plays the role of an "old man" in "Bicycle."
4. We are using two bicycles to make this film. One is intact and the other one has been broken down into small pieces. Casey, the prop guy, has told me that we may or may not be able to get it back together again.
5. The production budget is $3,000. But, that doesn't include many donated items, including a steadycam rig, lenses, and the use of a good camera and other equipment that belongs to the Biola film department. It also does not include the cost of International travel and housing for the group of 15 from Biola and other expenses on the Japan side. I think the "actual" budget is close to $50,000.
The cast and crew have been fantastic! Biola sent a wonderful group of people over here to work with us. Making this film has been a huge challenge, full of crazy moments (explaining that will require another post) and I am VERY tired out right now but that is OK. It is a profound privilege and honor to be a part of this project, one of the best experiences of my life.
