Jesus Revolution Making a Worldwide Impact - Jon Erwin AlongTheWay 126

John Erwin recently appeared on Charisma News to talk about the success of his faith-based film Jesus Revolution, which has earned close to $40 million in revenue over its three weeks of release. In 2015, when he bought a magazine with the Jesus Revolution cover story, it felt like the late 60s, with a lot of division and despair. He believes that people are at a moment of desperation and that the key to the Jesus Revolution of the past was people becoming desperate enough to cry out to God for change.

The conversation is centered around the recent release of the movie Jesus Revolution, which was a passion project for director Jon Erwin for many years. The movie was released on the heels of the Asbury Revival, which has sparked a hunger for more of God's presence in the culture. Erwin discusses the steps that he had to take to get the movie made; it was a miracle that a movie studio like Lionsgate allowed them to make a movie with the title “Jesus Revolution.” He also talks about how God can use disappointments for good, and how His timing is always perfect. He believes that God is writing a story that we may not be able to see, but it is perfect.

See The Movie!

https://jesusrevolution.movie/ 

TIMESTAMPS 

0:00:04   Interview with John Erwin on the Success of Jesus Revolution Film

0:02:39   Heading: "The Making of the Jesus Revolution Movie: How God Used Disappointments to Create a Miraculous Story"

0:07:12   Heading: Reflections on the Asbury Revival and the Success of "The Chosen"

0:08:40   Heading: The Impact of Jesus Revolution on Hollywood Studios and Faith Audiences

0:18:05   Conversation with Jon Erwin: Achieving Success Through Long-Term Commitment and Consistency

0:24:03   "Exploring the Opportunities of Christianity in the Digital Age"

Transcript

John Matarazzo: 0:04

All right, John Erwin, it's great. stumbled on your name Hold on a second. John Irwin, it's great to have you on charisma news to talk about the success of Jesus revolution. I love that it's been out for three weeks now. And it is close to $40 million in revenue, which, especially because this is a Christian film, this is a face faith based film. It's It's amazing the release that it's getting, and just how many people's lives are being affected by this film. So welcome to charisma news. And I'm looking forward to hearing how, what your view what your view is, since this has come out.

Jon Erwin: 0:46

Well, I just want to say thank you to everyone that has seen the film. I mean, once again, it's great to see those headlines that that, you know, the faith audience shocks the industry. And after such a long, long season of an industry being rebuilt, I mean, the last three years have been the most disruptive, disruptive time ever in the history of, of theatrical movies. And so to see this movie, really reinvigorate people's excitement for this type of movie is incredible. You know, they say, your movie ticket really is your vote. But also just the movie coming out at such a spectacular time. I remember it was, it was going to seven, eight years ago that I bought the magazine, the Time magazine cover Jesus revolution. Now after the movies come out, when you find one on eBay, they're like a couple of grand back then it was like two $300 I bought this magazine. And, and I read this article. And I was so deeply moved by what God was doing in a generation, in the most unlikely place was amongst the hippies, and college students and high school students. At a very similar time, even in 2015, when I when I bought this magazine, it felt like Man, this is starting to feel like the late 60s, again, just a lot of division and despair. And it's only gotten more like that, you know, as the years have gone by, and what do they say when you're paying outweighs your fear, change can begin and and I just feel like we're at this moment of desperation. And what I found in the research was that was really the key to the Jesus revolution was was people finally being desperate enough to cry out to God and and that's when God broke through in our culture. And so the more I studied the movement, the more I felt like, Can this happen again today. And that's been the driving force that behind this movie. And so in between every movie, I can only imagine, I still believe American underdog. I've been dreaming of getting this movie made. And this has been a passion project for a very, very long time. So to see an idea, find its time and to see God's hand of Providence, in the release of the film, and how it's coinciding with things that are happening all around America is really amazing. To me, it just feels like we're a part of something bigger. You know, and, and that's a wonderful feeling. And I can't wait to see, you know how God uses the movie as it continues in theaters across America.

John Matarazzo: 3:19

Yeah, and I love how this film came out, right on the heels of the Asbury revival. And all eyes were on that for several weeks. And you know, people are still if they hear about the asthma revival, people are still their ears are perking up and they want to go see what is God doing? You know, there's this hunger that is happening in this day and age. And God put this hunger in you years ago with this inspiration for this with this magazine cover, and just how you have so much going on eight years ago preparing you for this, what were some of the steps in your journey, putting this film together? Because I mean, seriously a film that's called Jesus revolution actually being you know, on the on the marquee on movie theaters, I mean, having Jesus up there is kind of a big deal, but having a Jesus film, this widespread, God had to really have some steps along the way. Can you tell me about some of those?

Jon Erwin: 4:23

It's a miracle. I mean, it's a total miracle that a movie studio like Lions Gate allowed us to make a film called Jesus revolution. It's not called the revolution it's called Jesus revolution and and I think it's a miracle that that everyone you know, watching this or reading this helps create because when we champion pieces of entertainment, doors fly open in Hollywood, and and there's quite the uprising on behalf of Christianity in Hollywood, right now and and It's amazing to be a part of it. So, you know, this project has been, you know, years in the making. For me, it's the longest I've ever worked on a movie. And it's amazing how God can even use disappointments. You know, it's like he had this plan for this movie. And we had, you know, we've tried to get this movie made several times. And when we got closest was when we had a movie called I still believe, which was right after, I can only imagine, it was number one. I had the box office on Friday night. Unfortunately, all theaters were closed five days later on COVID Shut down the world. So the movie sort of took a bullet to the heart. And we had two movies in pre production we had American underdog and Jesus revolution in pre production Jesus revolution was, was just a couple of weeks away from filming. And John Gunn, my co writer was directing the movie at the time. And, and so the, you know, the plug was pulled all productions globally, we're shut down. And we had to wait a very long time to make this movie because we had to wait till we could use large crowds. So even in like the movie American underdog that we made, all those crowds are fake, because they're in the stands, we were only able to have about 100 people on set, because of all the COVID restrictions. So we waited and waited till we could make Jesus revolution correctly, which means I was available to direct it with print McCorkle, and, and so just see that even God even uses disappointments. Because he's got a timeline that's perfect. And if there's anything that I've taken from this is that God's timing is always better. God's timing is always perfect. And even if you're walking through life, and you can't see that, and things are disappointing, and things are confusing, God's writing a story that maybe you can't see. And it's perfect. And that's been a wonderful takeaway from this film that I've seen. And so again, to see this movie coming out, as revivals are happening around the country, is incredible. I remember talking to Dallas Jenkins about this creator of the chosen and I'm like, we didn't sit down and have this meeting where we're like, okay, you anchor the beginning of the month with the walking on water, and then we'll there'll be super, Super Bowl commercials in between, and, and we'll have our movie, you know, at the end of the month, and we'll have a revival in between, like, we didn't have that conversation. This is something God just did. But it really is, you know, we were joking around like this, this, February was sort of the month of Jesus and pop culture. And, and I think it's so cool to be a part of. And then the amazing thing was to see the Asbury revival began. My wife, Beth and I were we were in Kentucky, a couple days into that revival, and I saw it on social media, we're working on a project. And so we're only about 60 miles away. So on day three, we drove over and just sat there and listened to what God is doing in a generation. And I remember Greg Laurie called me and said, What did it feel like? You're the first person I've talked to that that was there. And I said, it felt just like the movie. I mean, it felt just like scenes in the movie. So what's driven this project forward has always been God, you did it once you can do it again, if this happened before it can happen again, it can happen now. And, and that's, that has always been the rallying cry of this movie. So even before the movie came out to see it happening, was just amazing to me. And it was surreal. And and, and it's amazing to see and then obviously, to see the film, so vastly over perform at the box office is just amazing. It just, you know, Hollywood is is is you studios are are wondering, what still works. The Patrick Lee is it only avatars and only Top Gun. So to say that no, the faith audience is hungry, and underserved. And if you make a great film, they'll show up. It was just such a wonderful thing for us to say, as a community that I think will lead to many, many more of these type films being able to be released in theaters. And so it's just been an incredible, incredible month and of both financial success with the movie and I'm grateful for that. But what that means is that millions of people have seen it, you know, we're going on 4 million tickets being sold in just a few weeks in theaters. And, and that just means that people are seeing it and lives are being transformed. Or whether it's people being baptized in a fountain outside the theater or in a lake the next day or praying in the theater or having worship in a theater. I've never seen the type of response to a movie that we have, which is revolution. It really is on a whole nother level.

John Matarazzo: 9:25

Yeah, I know whenever I saw it, I had the opportunity to watch it with my wife watching a screener. And just seeing that in the in our home on a small screen, which I definitely recommend everybody go to see it in the big screen because obviously number one, your ticket is your vote. But just some of these things, of seeing these events happening that really happened in real life, but being portrayed on the big screen with other people. There is something so powerful about that, but whenever I watched it with my wife, I spontaneously broke into tears and prayed and cried at the end of the film God use me God use me just like this. And I was just overcome. And I know that that's that that's the experience that I'm hearing about other people. And so people are having this true life experience because they've been watching a true life story. And being that it is true life. You have people like that you mentioned Greg Laurie, who you're weaving his story alongside the story of Chuck Smith and Lonnie frisbee and you bring them all together. So obviously, you had to use Chuck Lorre or Greg glory as a, as a resource quite a bit, can you just tell me a little bit about like, with going that extra step from taking the article in the Time magazine to turning this into a film with real people about real?

Jon Erwin: 10:52

Well, I would just say, Greg and Kathy Laurie, they're some of the most wonderful friends that I have. And I have such incredible respect for him as a leader, and as a mentor, and just as a friend. And our relationship started with this magazine, because I had read this magazine that I wanted to meet people that lived the Jesus movement. And that led to a relationship with Greg and, and he's just the real deal and a wonderful friend, incredibly creative. And, and has, you know, an incredible heart for evangelism. I call him The Last Jedi, you know, he's one of those last guys that can, can put that many people in a stadium and preach you know, and, and, and he's just become a wonderful friend. And our friendship has spanned the seven years, we've done other projects together, like the documentaries on Steve McQueen and Johnny Cash. But this is the project that started at all and this is the one that we've been dreaming about, for years together, and so to see it happen, and to see it come out, you know, in the same year that he and Kathy are going to be celebrating their 50th anniversary is so it was very important to me to make a movie that was multi multi generational, you know, screens, rip our families apart much more than they bring our families together. So I wanted to make a film that you can watch with your with your kids, your teenage kids, with your you know, I remember watching in the premiere, and it was my wife and I and our teenage daughter, and then my parents, and you have three generations loving the movie, for different reasons because of the different characters represented. But we really designed the film to be multigenerational. And to be a great experience. You know, I'm first an entertainer, and my the love of my life, vocationally is to entertain audiences. And, and so I hope to make a movie that makes you laugh and cry. And I've never been involved in a movie where the audience cheers during the film. But in doing that, and entertaining the audience, you really have an opportunity to tell a story, that that can change their life. And that's why I love true stories is I think true stories of lives transformed, lead to true stories of lives transformed, imagined. And so we're just the where the where the where the we bring the story to people. But I think a lot of people see it and say, Okay, I want this to happen in my life. And I want this to happen in my city. I want this to happen into our country right now. And, and that is the outpouring of the film that I'm most passionate about is people saying, Can this happen again? Can this happen in my life? I felt that way filming the movie. You know, I've never had such a powerful day on the set of movies. When we did those baptisms at the real pirates cove. We went back to the real place and and I remember Jonathan Rumi he plays you know, Lonnie also plays Jesus in the Chosun came up out of the water. And he said, people are, are making real decisions. Like I'm doing this, just like Greg taught me. But, but this is very real for a lot of these people. And you could feel it on the day, I've never felt anything like that before. And I was saved very young and baptized at age five. But I was like, man I who doesn't need a fresh renewal of their ID this, you know, and, and so people are responding personally to the movie in ways that I've never experienced before. And you're right. It's a wonderful experience at home. I can't wait for people to see it at home. But there's a magic to seeing this film, in a theater with other people, absent, like anything I've ever been involved with. There's just a feeling in the room. And it's this wonderful experience that sort of washes over you in a very unique way when you're with other people in an environment with no distractions with a giant screen. And I've never enjoyed watching a movie with an audience like this before. It's just a wonderful, wonderful experience. And then amazing things are happening in theaters afterwards, especially when parents or youth pastors, you know, take take teenagers. It's so cool to see a new generation of Christians on their faith in a unique way. And that's what I felt at Asbury and that's what I I felt in theaters across America.

John Matarazzo: 15:02

That's really cool. Yeah, I had an opportunity to talk to your brother Andy. And he also told me that that you don't like watching your films in the theater, people. So why? Why did you start watching this film in theaters with other people?

Jon Erwin: 15:18

Typically, I don't, I don't watch films in a theater after they're done just because I have to move on. And also, George Lucas said films are never complete, they're only abandoned. So all I see is the mistakes or I'm like, Oh, we could have done this better. We could have, you know, and so typically, I have to get years of distance from a movie, to go back and watch it. Just because I'm, you know, you know, I, I see the flaws and, and but there was, there's something so special about this movie, and experiencing it with an audience. And watching them watch the movie. There's a feeling in the room that I've never really experienced with a movie. And so even though there's no perfect movie, the experience of this one is just so magical, that I love sitting with audiences and watching it in ways that, that I've never really felt before with another movie. And I love all the movies that we get to make. And I'm grateful for all the movies we get to make. But this is the first time I've just sort of savored watching it with an audience. Just because the experience is so phenomenal. And again, I've never I've never been involved with a movie where people have multiple times the movie cheer along with the movie. That's incredible. So So I'm grateful that the audience loves it as much as they do.

John Matarazzo: 16:39

Yeah, that is so cool. I know that you and your brother did a lot of stuff as you were kids, because your your dad worked at a Christian television network. Yeah. And so I'd like to hear you just tell a little bit about what that experience being in that environment has basically launched you into what you're doing now. well being,

Jon Erwin: 17:01

I would say, Yeah, I would say that the best piece of advice that I can, that I can give people is that success is long obedience in the same direction. And I had the good fortune of starting very early, vocationally. I was 15 and I cameraman got sick at a University of Alabama football game, born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. I was and I was he was from this cameraman from my church, that I knew I was carrying around his tripod and apprenticing for him. And he was at that game as well. And so he called me and said, hey, somebody just got sick. I told him I knew a guy get over here right now, don't tell anyone how old you are. Don't tell anyone you've never done this before. And I went over there. And I literally had the time of my life like that it was sort of like a good joining a circus. There was my life before that moment. And my life after that moment. And, and it was spectacular. And I just fell in love with with, with, with film and television. The year after that, when I was 16, my dad helped me buy a camera with money he did not have. And he helped me get a loan for$10,000. For a for the first editing system that you could use at home. You know, this was way back when editing on a home computer was this was the first Apple computer that you could actually edit with professionally. And and that was the beginning of our business. My brother quickly joined and my dad said dream bowl dream big dream, the impossible. And then he said give 20 years of your life to something and you'll be successful at it. And I think people people really overestimate you know what they can do in the short term. You know, whether it's weight loss or business or whatever it is, you know, none of which I'm in the fitness stuff, none of which I'm good at. But I think people vastly underestimate what they can do over a long period of time with consistency. And and so, you know, what happened was we just had years and years and years of making things for other people. It started with promotional videos for our church or, or corporate videos, or we filmed all these orthopedic trauma surgeries, a ton of weddings. And then that led to music videos that artists Michael, Debbie Smith and Amy Grant. Still, for reasons to this day. I don't understand why they did it. Let us do music videos for them. And that led to a career in music videos. And just what Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Outliers, calls the 10,000 hour rule just refining your craft and, and getting a little better every day. And then I worked on a Christian film called courageous and wanting to direct the action sequences to that film. And it was the director of that film, Alex Kendrick that said, that asked me a wonderful question that everyone should ask themselves. He said, What is your purpose and the purpose of your work? And I couldn't answer it. It all just happened up to that point. And that was a moment where this where there was this fusion of a career and a life's calling. And that's when we jumped into make to to the to bleeding at the bleeding adage of faith based films. And it's like Mike Tyson said, every boxer has a plan until he gets in the ring gets punched in the face. But, but we started making films, raising money to make them and release them. And everything finally just tipped, you know, when we had our, our breakout hit, which was I can only imagine, oddly enough, that was about 20 years, since my dad told me, Hey, give 20 years of your life to this need to be successful. So I think a lot of people just need to understand that. Sometimes there's long periods of preparation before a season of influence. And, and don't underestimate that time of just getting a little better and a little better and a little better. The biggest point is to just wake up and improve, just get a little better at what you do every day. And if you'll stack those, those incremental improvements on top of each other, a few years go by, and you'll realize that, that you're now in a position to really influence people through your craft and, and so it was a long, long, long time, what I had the advantage of starting very early, and, and there's never been a time to for kids out there. There's never been a more accessible time to start a career in entertainment. Because you know, an iPhone now is a professional camera, you know, and so it's you can, you can create very early, and there's nothing stopping your journey from beginning, you know, right now.

John Matarazzo: 21:18

Yeah, that is so cool. There's so many amazing things that you just said in that last answer to that question that I think I'm going to have to go back and take notes on what you said all over again, I love long obedience in a good direction is definition for success, long obedience,

Jon Erwin: 21:35

it's all about, it's about it's about its you know, activity and progress are two different things, you know, and a lot of times people think, well, I've got a lot of activity, and I'm gonna go over here and do something, I'm gonna go over here and do something. Well, you've traveled just as far and you've gone nowhere. The key is consistency in the same direction, like, basically, you know, taking 20 more steps in the same direction. That's what's important, you know, and, and so that's what we tried to what we tried to do. And, and, and I think that's the key is, is just, it's just going, you know, choosing a course and going in same direction.

John Matarazzo: 22:14

Yeah, two more quick questions as we wrap up here, and I just greatly appreciate your time. What is next on the bleeding edge of faith based films for you? What's the direction that God's that's God's leading you? Because we've just been talking about long obedience in the right direction? And then also, how can we, as charisma viewers, as charisma, the audience that love this, this type of film, how can we be praying for you in this in your next phase?

Jon Erwin: 22:43

Well, I mean, I would just pray for an attitude change in, in, in Christianity at large, I think, so many times we, we have this mindset, I actually put the verse in the film. Kelsey Grammer is Chuck Smith says it by the way, he's so fantastic as a person and as a performer. But basically, he says, He who endorses the end will be saved. And that's, that's such the mindset. I think I'm Baptist, I'm from the south. And it's just like, hunker down, wait for the end, all is lost. The next verse in that passage says this, this gospel of the kingdom will go to all nations. As a testimony, I think it's in Matthew 24. And, and that has always been the first to do list of Christianity, get the gospel to the entire world get good news, by the way, what the word means to everyone, everybody. So Jesus says this to his disciples, and you know, the 1400 years plus, before the continent that we're on would even be discovered at all. And so they didn't even know how big the world was. And so on this distance medley relay of Christianity, we're finally at a point in time as a generation where we could say, we could get this done, we could get this done in our time, the gospel to the entire world. And I wish we had that mindset, you know, you know, Jesus said to Peter, on this rock, I build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. So a gate is not something anyone's gonna attack you with. Gates are meant to be stormed. And that should be our mindset. And so I think we need to change the way we think, as Christians, and say that we're living in a spectacular time of opportunity. We have more opportunity for Christianity than every generation before us combined. And yeah, life is tough. But they're not feeding us to lions as a pre show in a gladiatorial you know, gladiator arena or whatever. And so I just wish that we would have a renewed sense of optimism. and hope that that the times in which we live are pretty amazing. And I think we're seeing signs all over the country, that there is incredible and increasing spiritual hunger, in America, and all over the world. And so my hope is that Jesus revolution is one of those pieces of entertainment that says, hope is not lost. This is not the end of the story. This is the beginning of a new chapter. And in entering that new chapter, we have more opportunity than we've ever had as Christians. So let's get after it. And I think in getting after it, each of us has to say, you know, what's my mountain, you know, like Caleb, in the Bible says to Joshua out, this is the mountain I want, because I want this mountain for us, and an increasing number of people that want to work together, which I'm really excited about. We're saying it's that hill with the Hollywood sign on it, like that's, that's the mountain that we're called to climb. And every ticket sold every time someone watches the chosen on their phone, or, or their television or, you know, we get a little more oxygen to get a little further up the mountain, you know, and, and that's what's going on in entertainment. But I love that, you know, Paul in Acts as a David that he that he served the purposes of God and his generation, and that's something that we can all do. It's like, how do I serve God's purpose in my time, using my talent, you know, and for us, God put a camera in our hands. But we're all in this together, we all have a role to play. And I think the biggest hope that I have is that we would just change the way we think. And we would change our attitude. And we would dare to hope, again, with all that God's doing in the world today in our time. Because I think when you see the world through that lens, you begin to really get excited about using your gifts to get the gospel out there to the world. When you think about a movie, like Jesus revolution, because of its of its success in America, and it's ongoing success in theaters, it triggers what we call global output deals. And what that means is that entertainment is America's second largest export behind agriculture. And the further the entertainment goes, in America, the more successful it is in the box office in America, the more it triggers these global deals. So the first four countries just due to their theatrical releases of the synth synth Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia, New Zealand, Latin America is going to quickly follow. And so because we've made such noise in America, this film was going to go global, you know, and that is that is because of, of technology that couldn't have happened 100 years ago. And so that's just one illustration of the incredible times in which we live. And so my hope is that we can, that we can adopt a new mindset and attitude as Christians. And then also my hope is that we can continue to, to, to combat the stigma, of faith based entertainment, that these films are just getting better and better and better, so that they can see be seen by more and more and more people. And that we can get back to where we were, you know, there was a time where Christian movies were the blockbusters of the day. There was a time where biblical epics were the Marvel movies of the day. And I think we can get back there if we if we work together. And, and that's my hope.

John Matarazzo: 28:29

Amen. Amen. Oh, John, I greatly appreciate you taking some time to be able to talk with us here at charisma news. I know you're on vacation right now, which is a well deserved vacation. I hope that you get some good rest there. But thank you so much for creating this film making Jesus revolution. This, really, it's an epic film, and just getting it on the big screen and just seeing what God is doing. And as you were describing how it's getting to other countries, now I'm just thinking about what Jesus said in Acts chapter one, verse eight, the Holy Spirit was poured out and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And by us buying tickets to go see this film in the United States. It's causing this film to start to reach to the ends of the earth. And we need to be a part of helping this message of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, go to theaters around the world and it's going to impact more lives. So if you go to Jesus revolution dot movie, you can get all the information, but basically just go to any movie theater because it's there right now. So go and enjoy the film. Take a family, take friends, and check it out. John, it's great to have you on charisma news. Thank you very much.

Jon Erwin: 29:47

Thank you so much for getting the word out and and it's fun to be in this together and fun to see what Oh, God is doing in America today. It's it's a wonderful time to be a Chris

John Matarazzo: 30:00

Should Amen