Faith-driven films have proven more than once that there’s an audience ready to support them. Every few years, another project breaks through and brings renewed attention to a part of the industry that has been building steadily for decades.

There’s still plenty happening in that space right now. A growing slate of faith-centered films is headed to theaters, while the two-part continuation of The Passion of the Christ, The Resurrection of the Christ, has recently finished filming and moved into its next stage of production.

Beyond the releases themselves, programs like Act One continue training writers and producers to pursue truth, goodness, and beauty. Meanwhile, ministries and creative communities are supporting Christians working throughout entertainment.

A recent analysis of faith-based films points to some of the reasons these projects can work. They’re often made at more modest budgets, speak to an audience that isn't always well served, and benefit from strong grassroots support.

Those advantages matter. But they’re not the whole story.

A faithful audience still deserves thoughtful, cinematic storytelling. Marketing and audience-building still matter. So do strong performances, professional craft, and a clear sense of who a film is trying to reach.

And while biblical dramas and inspirational stories will always have a place, faith-driven filmmakers don’t have to limit themselves to one kind of movie. Comedy, action, science fiction, mystery, and other genres can carry questions of truth, sacrifice, hope, and redemption too.

This isn’t the first promising moment for faith-driven film. The opportunity is to keep building on the groundwork already there: strengthening the craft, telling a wider range of stories, and making films that stay with people.

Inspired by the Book of Job, The Shift follows Kevin Garner as a mysterious figure known as the "Benefactor" sends him into a dark alternate world, far from the woman he loves. The film uses science fiction, parallel realities, and dystopian world-building to explore temptation, perseverance, and hope. It's an ambitious reminder that biblical truth doesn't have to remain inside familiar genres to feel unmistakably rooted in faith.

WHERE TO WATCH →

Set against the counterculture of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Jesus Revolution follows Greg Laurie as his path crosses with hippie preacher Lonnie Frisbee and pastor Chuck Smith. Together, they help open a traditional church to young people searching for truth in unexpected places. The film understands that movements are rarely tidy. They grow through flawed people, difficult relationships, and the willingness to welcome someone who doesn't look like they belong.

WHERE TO WATCH →

Twenty-three years ago, filmmaker John David Ware kept meeting people who wanted to make faith-based films but could always find a reason not to begin. The money wasn’t there. The schedule was impossible. The right team hadn’t come together.

So he turned the excuses into a due date.

Launched in 2003 by Ware and a group of filmmakers connected through Bel Air Presbyterian Church, the 168 Film Project challenged teams to turn an assigned Bible verse into a finished short film. After a brief period to prepare, filmmakers received exactly 168 hours to shoot and edit their work.

The idea was simple: spend less time talking about how difficult filmmaking is and start making something.

Since then, more than 1,500 Scripture-inspired shorts have come out of the competition. Some teams arrive with years of experience. Others are making a film for the first time. All of them have to work within the same constraints, make decisions quickly, and find a way to get the story across the finish line.

Plumb News founder Ian Max Eyre actually participated in the first year and is returning this summer with a team from Memphis. Alongside the production itself, the team is giving more thought to what comes next: finding the audience, building interest, and helping the film reach beyond the competition.

This year’s theme is “Revival.”

On July 28, teams will receive their assigned verses and begin 10 days of preparation before the seven-day production clock starts. Filmmakers can still join Speed Film Group 3 through July 27.

More than two decades later, 168 Film is still inviting filmmakers to work with what they have, trust the process, and bring the story before them to life.

The results are in! 40% of you voted for “Absolutely” in last week’s poll: Do you plan to watch the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina today?

The 168 Film Project is built to get filmmakers across the finish line. But finishing the short isn't the same as preparing it to travel.

In a compressed production, marketing is easy to leave for later. By then, the premise is set, the team has come together, and many of the best moments for introducing the project have already passed.

A better approach is to plan a simple handoff while the film is taking shape. Capture one strong image, one clear description, and one place for interested viewers to follow what happens next.

This reflects the principle behind the P.R.O.V.E. Method™:

The takeaway is simple: finishing the film is only one part of the handoff. Filmmakers also need a clear image, a clear message, and a clear next step that can help the work find its first audience and start the flywheel turning.

_{*Plumb News is not affiliated with the 168 Film Project and does not receive compensation for featuring it. We’re just highlighting it because we believe projects like this deserve support.}

“Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!” – Psalm 90:17 (ESV)

A film can be planned down to the final shot. The schedule can be built, the team assembled, and the audience considered before the cameras ever start rolling. Still, no amount of preparation can guarantee what the work will become once it leaves our hands.

That may be the hardest part of making anything. So much care goes into the choices we can control, while the life of the finished work remains beyond us.

The verse above doesn’t ask God to replace the work. It asks Him to establish it.

That’s a humbling prayer for anyone who creates. We bring the skill, effort, and attention we have. We finish what’s in front of us. Then we trust God with the part we cannot manufacture: whether the work lasts, whom it reaches, and what it might awaken in them.

Until next time,

THE PLUMB NEWS TEAM