Bryan Coley is the founder and artistic director of Art Within. Under Coley’s guidance, Art Within launched a resident theater company, a creative team to partner with writers, a script development process, a producer’s symposium and showcase and an annual screenwriter’s lab. During the ten years he has served as Art Within’s artistic director, Art Within has commissioned and developed over 30 projects from ground up. Likewise, he has established a distribution network of theatrical producers, Hollywood producers, and studios as outlets for Art Within’s content. Coley is currently writing and executive producing Art Within’s first feature film- Crackerjack.
- Screenwriters are the greatest asset the Christian community has.
- Story arts are the main way people are shape their worldviews and determining their values.
- Christians have a miniscule presence in this space.
- The limited representations we have are cliché and embarrassing.
The Evolution of a Voice
- Hey That’s Me! – introduced/reintroduced
- Hear Me ROAR! – subcultural
- Tipping Point
- Wait, I’m Just Like You! - mainstream
- Cultural Impact
- I’m Like You But Different - reclaiming
- I am Without You – diversified and integrated
As Christians, we took our ‘Tipping Point’, The Passion of the Christ, and created films [Left Behind, etc] that all communicated the same thing: we are perfect and we want you to be like us.
A movie that has accurately portrayed Christians without being overtly Christian was the move The Blind Side. In that movie, the characters openly wrestled with their doubts, fears, and insecurities, and displayed authenticity and vulnerability. They weren’t perfect.
A director friend told him, “I’m with putting Christians on screen but I’d like you to portray that you aren’t always perfect.”
It’s more important to tell the truth than it is for their own worldview or agenda to be communicated.
Tell the truth.
