Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 10/18/23

The King of All Media. In what is probably a first for any TV/streaming series, the entire fourth season of the Christ-centered episodic drama The Chosen will premiere exclusively in movie theaters in the US and Canada before being released via streaming services (including The Chosen app) and linear TV channels (including The CW network which has yet to commit to airing the fourth season). Fathom Events is handling the theater distribution.
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What if you had a centennial celebration and hardly anyone cared? Disney, which celebrated its 100th birthday on Monday, is finding out the hard way as it’s Woke-fueled decline has long-term fans seeking family-friendly alternatives elsewhere.

One such alternative is Bentkey. Aimed at kids, the streaming platform officially launched on Monday with the intention of not just sharing a birthday with the company that Walt Disney built but also its original values.

The app (priced at $99 a year) is a product of The Daily Wire, the conservative media company created by Ben Shapiro and Jeremy Boreing. Daily Wire’s subscribers will have access to the content for free.

Originally proposed to operate under the name DWKids, Boreing says the company decided upon the separate branding to keep its content apart from politics and focused on timeless values.

The name Bentkey derives from Bentkey Ventures, the name of The Daily Wire’s holding company. The firm has invested $100-million to provide original and curated content to the service over three years.

Here’s Boreing’s Opening Day pitch for Bentkey:

More Disney than Disney. Another rising challenger to the mighty Mouse is the faith and family-friendly production company of The Boylan Sisters. Daughters of a Massachusetts pastor, Alexandra Boylan and Andrea M. Polnaszek (nee Boylan) are producing films aimed at the tween and teen market but which are also relatable to audiences of all ages.

Alexandra has spent the past 24 years working in the film industry as an award-winning filmmaker, writer, producer and actress. Andrea is a licensed clinical social worker, producer, screenwriter and author whose Elijah Project book series has been an international success.

The sisters’ first feature-length film Catching Faith streamed on Netflix for two years and spawned a sequel. That success paved the way for other movies, including The Greatest Inheritance (starring a grown-up Jaleel White of Family Matters fame) and Switched (featuring Denise Richards and John Schneider).

Their latest offering, Identity Crisis, is currently streaming on various platforms. My conversation with Andrea – in which she serves up her honest opinion about Disney’s identity crisis – follows the film’s trailer.

JWK: So, tell me about Identity Crisis.

Alexandra Boylan: Identity Crisis is about a shy science wiz in college who struggles with Imposter Syndrome and (lack of) confidence. She figures out how to clone herself to create what she thinks is the perfect identity. She sends her clone off to do all the things that she’s afraid to do only to discover that God already created the perfect version of herself…It’s a really beautiful illustration of how our identity lies in Christ and that we are fearfully made and wonderfully made by a Creator who loves us.

JWK: You and your sister wrote the movie. How did the story come to you?

AB: We’ve made a lot of teen girl movies like Switched, Wish for Christmas and Catching Faith. We’re always looking at the landscape of what young girls are dealing with right now…and we realized that one of the biggest struggles for girls in college – (especially) their freshman year – is confidence. So, we kind of started talking about confidence and what would it be like if you could actually see yourself doing all the things you’re afraid of doing and then you would step in and own it. My sister and I had that conversation which went like “What if you could clone yourself ?” and then it just spiraled from there…We really wanted to make a story that would encourage young girls to step into their purpose in life.

JWK: This is your first movie produced under your Boylan Sisters production banner, right?

AB: Yes. We used to be Mustard Seed Entertainment. Andrea and I decided to rebrand and we’re now The Boylan Sisters – but we both (previously) made Catching Faith 1 and 2, Wish For Christmas (and) The Greatest Inheritance…We made all those movies but this is our first time under the umbrella of The Boylan Sisters.

JWK: How did you two daughters of a Massachusetts minister get into the whole writing and producing business?

AB: I moved out to Los Angeles in 1999 when I was 19 years old in pursuit of (a career in) the film industry. I spent like ten years pursuing acting and then, honestly, I feel like God called me into making faith-based movies. I had actually made a thriller. I produced my first movie which was a thriller. I ended up selling that and then I felt very called to make faith-based family movies. I got an opportunity to make a football movie. That was our first movie – called Catching Faith. I actually called my sister who lives in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin…I said “Hey, do you want to team up with me and help me write a faith-based film from the woman’s perspective. She and I teamed up on Catching Faith. We wrote and produced that together. That movie- at the time it came out in 2012 – was one of the first female-led faith-based films…It ended up going on to become a top-five movie for the distribution company. It sold all over the world. It actually spawned a sequel. So, we were just like “Woe! I think we’re onto something!”…Now we’ve made six features, so pretty amazing!

JWK: Tell me about your upbringing.

AB: Our father was the pastor of the Byfield Parish Church in Georgetown, Massachusetts for 41 years. We grew minister’s kids. We grew up watching a lot of faith-based content. So, when we were able to make our own content we wanted to do it really fun and different. Our movies are kinda like Disney for Christians. Our movies are outside the box (with) crazy themes but we’re pointing everyone back to Christ.

JWK: When you say “Disney for Christians” are you suggesting that the stuff coming out of Disney – particularly recently – might not be the best for kids?

AB: That’s the thing. We’re doing old-school Disney for Christians. What I mean by Disney is fantastical movies that are fun…We try to make sure (our movies are) hip and fun because our main objective is we really want kids to go to school and tell their friends about the movie and share it at slumber parties. A lot of times faith-based films don’t really speak to young people. They’re more adult heavy or not something they might share at school. Our goal has been to make something that is so much fun and so, sort of, mainstream…but has a Christian worldview.

JWK: So, would you say your films have reached beyond just the choir, so to speak, and beyond only the Christian audience?

AB: Yeah, you know what? We really have. Our film Switched – which is about two girls who switch bodies in high school and is all about loving your neighbor as yourself – went on to have a huge audience. Both Christians and non-believers love it because we put our faith into the movie so that it’s intertwined (with the story). It never feels like it’s preachy…It’s just woven in a beautiful way so that even if maybe you don’t believe you can still enjoy the movie. I hope that people will come to know the Lord after they watch our films. That’s always the hope and the goal…My hairdresser in Los Angeles, his family are not believers but he said that he showed our movie Switched to his kids and they watch it every single day – and I thought well that is so cool that we made something that they want to watch every single day and, in the process, they’re getting the message of love your Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and love your neighbor as yourself.

JWK: What are your thoughts on Disney as a reliable provider of entertainment for kids?

AB: I don’t think it is. I’ve been really disappointed with the representation in Disney (films) for young people. That’s one thing that we’ve been really wanting to do – is to fill that void that Disney used to (fill). It’s not there anymore. Now the messaging is horrible. I personally am very disturbed by a lot of the messaging to young women. Andrea and I, instead of complaining, we’re trying to do something about it. You know what I mean? We’re actually making films that empower and inspire young girls to know that they’re fearfully and wonderfully made. I’m very disappointed as I continue to see the landscape of Hollywood and the way they’re speaking to young girls. It’s getting worse – if that’s even possible. So, I’m not a huge fan of Disney anymore and it’s too bad…Everything has an agenda and it’s not a good agenda, that’s for sure. We’re trying to combat that with entertainment. We’re trying to fill that void that so desperately needs to be filled right now.

JWK: What movies and television shows entertained and inspired you growing up?

AB: Definitely Back to the Future and Indiana Jones – but, honestly, I grew up in a pretty strict Christian home so I didn’t get to watch a lot of movies. I grew up listening to a lot of Amy Grant. You know Amy Grant?

JWK: Oh yeah.

AB: She was my everything. I loved Amy Grant! She was my rock star!

JWK: She was your Taylor Swift.

AB: She was my Taylor Swift, yes! As an adult that’s exactly what I want to do for film – for young girls – because we didn’t really have a lot of entertainment as kids. My parents were pretty strict on what we watched. I think I got to watch Full House and Family Matters and the TGIF lineup on Friday night. You know, I’m 44 years old so when I was younger we had a lot more appropriate programming on television…but, like I said, there were just a lot of things I couldn’t see. Now, as an adult, I want to create movies for young kids that they can watch, that are appropriate, are fun and speaks to them.

JWK: What’s next for you?

AB: We have a couple of teen girl movies that we’re working on. We also have a family film that’s a little more like our films Catching Faith and The Greatest Inheritance. Right now we’re just kind of in the writing room.

JWK: Do you have any thoughts about getting into television and doing your own TGIF-type shows?

AB: I would love to! I would absolutely love to do a television show! Andrea and I did actually develop a show that we would love to make. It’s just really hard to get into the TV space. We make all our films independently. We write the movie, then we raise the money, then we make it and then we go out there and sell it – but, when it comes to television, you have to have a TV deal. That makes it a little harder. We have pitched to some networks…but there aren’t a ton of places to go for faith-based (material) when it comes to TV. We need more platforms for faith-based.

JWK: So, you’re doing all this independently. Imagine if you had control or a Disney or something like that. That would be great, wouldn’t it? Here’s a question: What would you do to save Disney?

AB: Oh, my gosh…I mean I would love to be the head of a studio where I could curate all the content and the messaging. That would be a dream of mine.

I spent my twenties pursuing acting. Even as an actor I didn’t really like the roles I was auditioning for. They really weren’t depicting women great and most of the content was really not great. So, for me, I feel so passionate about not only creating content that goes out and gives life-giving truth to people but also being able to cast actors in roles that they’re proud to play.

If I could be the head of Disney I would obviously curate it so much differently. I think it’s just gotten too Woke…They forget to just tell stories. There is so much need for great stories. Look at some of the original Pixar movies. I loved the original Pixar movies. They had such beautiful stories about people going through life. Disney has gotten away from that. Now it’s more like they’re trying to push some sort of agenda onto people.

We always say that our films could reflect a broken culture or we could create a culture that leads with love. All of our movies are trying to show people how life could be. I think that’s what Disney used to do – especially Pixar…Now, they’ve kind of gotten away from that and made it more about an agenda instead of a story.

It’s the same (principle) with faith-based. If we start our stories as sermons they won’t be as impactful. We don’t tell a sermon. We tell a story – and, within that story, we are giving life-giving truths and facts from a Christian point of view. Disney has stopped making stories. They’re just pushing an agenda. They’re checking off boxes. When you start doing that your story falls apart.

Note: Identity Crisis can be streamed on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Vudu and Spectrum on Demand.

John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.