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Faith, Media, and Embracing Your Call with Tim Shields
Episode 72 • 28th August 2024 • Faith & Family Filmmakers • Geoffrey and Jaclyn Whitt
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Episode 72 - Faith, Media, and Embracing Your Call with Tim Shields

In this episode of the Faith and Family Filmmakers Podcast, hosts Jaclyn and Geoffrey Whitt welcome Tim Shields, co-founder of the Content Media Conference and staff member at Capernaum Studios. Tim shares his journey, beginning with his devotion to Christ at 17, his unexpected entry into media at age 20, and his continuous evolution in the world of Christian Media. He discusses the founding of various media organizations and the challenges faced along the way. The conversation emphasizes perseverance, faith in following God's call, and the significance of hard work in fulfilling one's destiny.

THe HIghlights:

  • First Meeting Geoff and Jaclyn
  • The Start of a Media Career
  • Challenges and Growth in Media
  • Transition to Stock Footage
  • Founding the Christian Media Association
  • Launching Content Christian Media Conference
  • Embracing God's Will
  • Details about Content 
  • Prayer for You, the Listener

Content Christian media Conference Discount Code: 50FAFF

Timmy Ray Ministries https://www.timmyray.com

Content Christian Media Conference   https://www.christianmediaconference.com

Bio:

Pastor Tim Shields (Timmy Ray) is a forerunner and is passionate about prayer and helping the body of Christ find their God given destiny - promised land. He is the co-founder of the CONTENT Media Conferences and is on the staff at Capernaum Studios, and has served as a pastor for many years.

Jaclyn's Book, In the Beginning, Middle, and End https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9R7XS9V

The Faith & Family Filmmakers podcast helps filmmakers who share a Christian worldview stay in touch, informed, and inspired. Releasing new episodes every week, we interview experts from varying fields of filmmaking; from screenwriters, actors, directors, and producers, to film scorers,  talent agents, and distributors. 

It is produced and hosted by Geoffrey Whitt and Jaclyn Whitt , and is brought to you by the Faith & Family Filmmakers Association

Support Faith & Family Filmmakers Our mission is to help filmmakers who share a Christian Worldview stay in touch, informed, and inspired. If you would like to assist with the costs of producing this podcast, you can help by leaving a tip.

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Enter the Faith & Family Screenwriting Awards festival

Faith and Family Screenwriting Academy: https://www.faffassociation.com/

Script Notes and Coaching: https://www.faffassociation.com/script-services

Copyright 2024 Ivan Ann Productions

Transcripts

Geoff:

Hi there.

Geoff:

Welcome to the Faith and Family Filmmakers Podcast.

Geoff:

I'm Geoff.

Jaclyn:

And I'm Jaclyn.

Geoff:

And we're happy to be back with you today and honored to have with us our guest, Tim Shields.

Jaclyn:

Tim Shields, also known as Timmy Ray, is a forerunner and is passionate about prayer and helping the body of Christ find their God given destiny promised land.

Jaclyn:

He is the co founder of the Content Media Conferences and is on the staff at Capernaum Studios and has served as a pastor for many years and we are so excited to meet you.

Jaclyn:

You are actually the first person in the Christian film industry that I Ever spoke to, ever.

Jaclyn:

Remember when we came to, we came to your festival back in, I think it was maybe 2017 or something like that, we contacted you from Canada and you were like, who are these people?

Tim:

what do you expect?

Jaclyn:

I know, right?

Tim:

know

Tim:

I do remember, and I remember having communion in the garden at, Capernaum Studios, and I remember you all were there that year, so it must have been 2018.

Tim:

That was.

Tim:

the first year we were at Capernaum for the, conference.

Geoff:

and it was the first time we went to a festival.

Geoff:

Jaclyn had just you know, had moved into treating screenwriting as a profession and, uh, you know, getting serious, mentorship and moving in that direction.

Geoff:

And, she went searching, okay, if we're going to do this, let's start networking.

Geoff:

and she searched online and really content was the first and perhaps only one she found.

Geoff:

And so that was the beginning.

Geoff:

for us

Tim:

Mm

Geoff:

industry.

Tim:

Well, that's amazing.

Tim:

Thank you so much.

Tim:

I'm so, um, I don't know, I want to say humbled that, God would choose me to hold the mantle of a lot of these different names that we have now.

Tim:

We have christianmedia.

Tim:

org.

Tim:

We have Christian Media Association.

Tim:

All these things just came into my lap in my life because media started in my life when I was 20.

Tim:

And so, um, I don't know if you want us to get into

Jaclyn:

Yeah, yeah, I want to actually, I, I, that was exactly the question I was going to ask next is how this all started for you.

Tim:

Yeah, honestly, I received Christ or surrendered my life at the age of 17 as a senior in high school.

Tim:

I was living close by D.

Tim:

C.

Tim:

and, my life radically changed at that point.

Tim:

It really did.

Tim:

I became like the forerunner in my family to lead the faith and, I didn't know that at the time.

Tim:

I can look back now 41 years later and say, okay, that's what actually did happen.

Tim:

So what I started doing at the age of 18, I went to Bible school right after high school.

Tim:

There was a Bible school right down the street.

Tim:

I could walk to it.

Tim:

And so I went there for two years and graduated from it.

Tim:

It was a two year Bible school.

Tim:

And when I was about 20, the pastor came up to me and said, Hey, Tim, what do you think about you being our producer director of our new TV show?

Tim:

and I'm like, uh He's not talking to me because I'm the janitor.

Tim:

You know, I was the janitor of the church at that time, and I was enjoying being the janitor of the church.

Tim:

It was kind of behind the scenes, and was a lot of people involved, but I was enjoying it.

Tim:

Of course, To be head of the media team and I didn't know anything about really leading people or leadership or media, I just thought, wow, that's craziness.

Tim:

And so, um, that's when the journey started at the age of 20.

Tim:

So I had to go to many training classes.

Tim:

That the ministry paid for, and then we had a big team and it started from there.

Jaclyn:

So was it enjoyable?

Jaclyn:

obviously it seems like it was something that wasn't even on your radar, but once it dropped in your was it something that you, you know, really enjoyed and embraced, or did it take you a while to warm up to it?

Tim:

well, the reality was is that, the load of that first job was probably the heaviest load I've had of any jobs in my life.

Tim:

So the first, it was a job for about three years.

Tim:

It was a, position for three years, three or four years.

Tim:

We produced 100 TV shows.

Tim:

And I have to say, I guess was enjoyable for me because, you know, I stuck close to the Lord, but it was the toughest job I think I ever had.

Tim:

And so in one sense, it was the most difficult thing.

Tim:

I wouldn't want to go back to that because it was constant work.

Tim:

It was, you know, 70, 80 hours, 90 hours work to you.

Tim:

sit down or sit down and fall asleep at the same time.

Tim:

So I'm just giving you the real deal.

Tim:

I was doing it for the right reasons.

Tim:

I was still in charge of the janitorial, aspect of it.

Tim:

so I have to say it wasn't on my radar screen.

Tim:

My dad was in media, but he was, uh, he wasn't in media, like in front of the cameras.

Tim:

He wasn't in media, like, setting up and producing.

Tim:

He was in media, like, fixing the equipment behind the scenes, right?

Tim:

So he worked for Channel 5, Channel 4, Channel 9, Channel, you know, 7, all the channels.

Tim:

We were, we lived by Washington, D.

Tim:

C., and I never thought that my life would be in media.

Tim:

It wasn't it was off my radar, it just never was on at the time.

Tim:

I had just given my life to Christ, went to two years of Bible school to say, Lord, what do you want from my life?

Tim:

And so this came on my radar screen right after I finished Bible school.

Jaclyn:

Interesting.

Tim:

from that point on, media has followed me, and at times I've wondered why, but I've embraced it because, um, it just follows me everywhere I go.

Tim:

And so if that's the mantle on my life, if that's what God chose before I was born in my mother's womb or before the creation of the world, then that's what I want to follow.

Jaclyn:

Mm.

Jaclyn:

Amen.

Jaclyn:

That's amazing.

Jaclyn:

Yeah, exactly.

Jaclyn:

And so then where did the, the festival come in to that?

Jaclyn:

Because I mean, that's, I mean, it's one thing to be working in media, and it's another to actually, like, now create this whole festival.

Jaclyn:

So did things move in that direction?

Tim:

Yeah, well, to give you a summer, a very summarized version of this was, is that I did create about a hundred shows for, our church.

Tim:

Uh, went to the NRB conference many times.

Tim:

Met a lot of the great leaders of that time.

Tim:

We interviewed them all.

Tim:

And then eventually I had, uh, resigned that position and went into creating my own music videos.

Tim:

Um, and that got into quite a few bookstores around the country.

Tim:

And then just, uh, kind of find my way into, shooting stock footage.

Tim:

So I started shooting stock footage cause I love, the camera.

Tim:

I was the, uh, we pick up the camera, the heavens would part, you know?

Tim:

And so it was like, well, if that's what's happening, then that's God's mantle.

Tim:

Let's do

Tim:

this.

Tim:

And so I found my way one time as I got counsel from a pastor.

Tim:

you know, it was 1992.

Tim:

I had a family of two children at the time I was married and we were living in a townhouse by DC.

Tim:

And I called this pastor and said, Lord, I really need I mean, I told him, I said, I work for this one company and I'm only making 19, 000 a year.

Tim:

If anything happens, I don't have no money,

Tim:

uh, left to pay.

Tim:

Um, he said, well, what is your talents?

Tim:

That's why I could do a camera.

Tim:

And so I started shooting stock footage that didn't take off for three years.

Tim:

It was really until 1995, the stock footage started taking off and that was my fault.

Tim:

I tried to sell it to networks and stations.

Tim:

They didn't want it.

Tim:

But when I sold it to churches, we sold them to thousands upon thousands of churches wanted my stock footage, and that's when it took off at that point.

Tim:

Now, fast forward about ten years after that, 2005, the stock footage started to phase out a little bit there was many, many, many other Christian ministries that started doing the same thing.

Tim:

So the price of stock footage came down to where it would not, like, provide for a family anymore.

Tim:

And at that point, uh, 2005, I had five children.

Tim:

And so, it was like, okay.

Tim:

at that point in time, I started restructuring the ministry to really the Christian Media Association, where we had an association for any Christians involved in media.

Tim:

There was a membership.

Tim:

Et cetera, and we started getting involved in film at that point, and television, not just church media.

Tim:

And um, it wasn't until like 2010, and I'm moving, I'm trying to move fast here,

Tim:

2010, where we started doing we started doing these small gatherings of Christians involved in media in the Dallas area.

Tim:

so I met a gentleman named Bob Higley.

Tim:

Bob, at that time, was working for TBN.

Tim:

He said, Hey, let's start a chapter of, Christian Media Association down in the Dallas area.

Tim:

So I said, let's do it.

Tim:

I was living in Virginia at the time.

Tim:

so we started it.

Tim:

And, you know, every meeting we had, We had 75 to 100 people at them on a Monday night or Saturday morning.

Tim:

It was free.

Tim:

We didn't have a lot of advertising and this media man was following me again

Tim:

everywhere I went.

Tim:

So for the next like several years we had about 2, 000 people, 2, 000 separate emails

Tim:

of people that showed up at our meetings in the Dallas Fort Worth area.

Jaclyn:

Wow.

Tim:

that even humanly possible?

Tim:

When you don't have a marketing plan, you don't really have, um, people, a big following or anything.

Tim:

So from that, after about 2, 000 people showed up, and when I say 2, 000, not at one time,

Tim:

about 100 each, each meeting, and we'd have like six or seven meetings a year.

Tim:

So in 2014, we started the conference.

Tim:

Okay, you had asked that question, so I kind of led up to that.

Tim:

And because there were so many people in the Dallas Fort Worth area that wanted media, that was in media, after much prayer and after talking to my board, I said, let's just start this and see what happens.

Tim:

So right after that, 2014, we started in the Dallas Fort Worth area, and we had 250 people show up to our first conference.

Tim:

How is that humanly possible, right?

Tim:

So all this was a God thing.

Tim:

I can't take any credit other than I said, Lord, here I am.

Tim:

Send

Tim:

me.

Tim:

And for anybody listening could do the same thing, Jaclyn and Geoff.

Tim:

So here I am.

Tim:

Send me.

Tim:

Find the calling on your life.

Tim:

Run with it.

Tim:

Don't, don't rebel against the calling.

Tim:

Don't try to work against it.

Tim:

don't just push back against it.

Tim:

Embrace it.

Tim:

Run with it.

Jaclyn:

Absolutely.

Jaclyn:

Yeah.

Jaclyn:

Don't waste time trying to argue and convince God to find somebody else.

Jaclyn:

He already chose you.

Jaclyn:

He's not gonna change his mind.

Tim:

yeah, it had nothing to do with qualifications.

Tim:

I wasn't the most qualified person.

Tim:

I think I was the most available person.

Tim:

I was willing to do whatever it took.

Geoff:

so in 2014 you started the festival, and of course we want to talk more about that as well, but you continue to do these meetups in the, in the Dallas area, or is it beyond that?

Tim:

Yeah, we did.

Tim:

We continued to do the meetups until about 2016.

Tim:

We had changed them up a little bit, um, but it got too much to do the meetups and the conference.

Tim:

And, uh, we started focusing just on the conference,

Geoff:

I asked because, I still see you, on social media from time to time promoting something, whether it's just a coffee meetup or whatnot.

Tim:

you're so right.

Tim:

We had stopped it for a while, and then just recently we said, Hey, let's do a few.

Tim:

Let's just see if we still got it.

Tim:

we wanted to promote not only the conference, but Copernium Studios and others promote their stuff.

Tim:

So we did a one day conference in the, um, the winter.

Tim:

in Nashville the day before the NRB,

Tim:

okay?

Tim:

We did it at the Wonder Center there in Dixon, Tennessee.

Tim:

We had a hundred people show up.

Tim:

I thought that was cool, just a one day conference.

Tim:

And then we did a, free evening on April 29th in the, uh, Carrollton area, Prestonwood Baptist Church.

Tim:

We had 110 people show up.

Tim:

I said, oh my goodness, it's still following us no matter where we go.

Tim:

And just shows you that if you stay faithful to the call.

Tim:

persevere and keep in the word of God.

Tim:

Keep seeking him.

Tim:

And if he keeps saying, I didn't tell you to quit.

Tim:

If he keeps saying, I want you to keep just going a straight and narrow, then that's what you have to do.

Tim:

You know, we surrendered our life to him.

Tim:

We don't really have a choice.

Tim:

I mean, in reality, we do.

Tim:

We could say no.

Tim:

But where else would we go?

Tim:

What else would we do other than walk away from the Lord, right?

Tim:

So, I mean, he's, he's the one controlling our lives, Geoff.

Tim:

So, we did the meet up on April 29th, and then on June the 4th, there was another meet up by Hollywood Prayer Network.

Tim:

So, we really promoted that one, too, and we pushed to have it in the church I currently attend.

Tim:

So, they had about 200 people show up at that one.

Tim:

A mind blower.

Tim:

I don't think anybody really has had 200 people show up to a free meeting on a Monday night.

Jaclyn:

Yeah.

Tim:

craziness.

Tim:

So, these things are working.

Tim:

Um, we have planted the seeds.

Tim:

We've cultivated.

Tim:

We've worked hard in the labors of the Dallas Fort Worth area.

Tim:

And we felt like the Dallas Fort Worth area was our calling.

Tim:

And so if anybody else wanted to come in from the ends of the world, they could.

Tim:

But the Dallas Fort Worth area was a place where there was a lot of Christians involved in media.

Jaclyn:

Yeah, and you know, I like what you're saying too about, there's this combination where on the one hand there is this mantle and this calling in this, you know, it's following you, but there's also a lot of work involved.

Jaclyn:

It's not just something where, you know, because God has chosen you to do something that he's making it like, here, let me just clear this away for you and make that all easy and, yeah, definitely he's opening doors and providing opportunities, but it's not.

Jaclyn:

For, you having not having to put in a lot of work, I think that's important for people to understand too Because I think sometimes we can assume that oh, this is so hard and it feels like you know I'm not getting anywhere or This thing went wrong and that thing went wrong and and we can kind of wonder like am I doing What I'm supposed to be doing, or did I miss it?

Jaclyn:

am I not in God's will?

Jaclyn:

And so I think it's important to be able to recognize that work is part of the journey.

Jaclyn:

Wow.

Tim:

I mean, I remember when, in 1992, we started trying to sell stock footage.

Tim:

It didn't work.

Tim:

I thought it would work.

Tim:

I went out there and shot it.

Tim:

I knew stock footage at that time was 1, 000 per minute, if it was good, And so it was hard to get a hold of stock footage.

Tim:

I shot it, but I went to the wrong people, meaning the clientele, the wrong clientele.

Tim:

And so in 1995, I remember, I said, I'm going to try this one more time.

Tim:

If it doesn't work, I'm going to give it up.

Tim:

And so I switched my audience to churches.

Tim:

At that time, it worked, and it just flooded my office with orders.

Tim:

And I said, oh my goodness, I've been going to the wrong people.

Tim:

And from that point on, I remember typing up, and it was 10 years, I typed up personally 10, 000 invoices.

Geoff:

Wow.

Tim:

The average, sale was 100, 150.

Tim:

I shipped them all.

Tim:

You know, I had some helpers come in here and there, but I loved every part of it because somebody would call in to order, and then after the order was done, if it was me or if it was Jerry, Jerry was a father figure of mine who came in and helped me.

Tim:

We would then ask people what their prayer request was, and we would pray for them before they left that call.

Tim:

So we had prayed for probably 10, 000 pastors and their needs.

Tim:

during that time.

Jaclyn:

And you wouldn't have been able to pray for your clients if they weren't pastors, you know.

Jaclyn:

It wouldn't have been part

Jaclyn:

what

Jaclyn:

you

Tim:

no, no, not at all, probably not, no, they wouldn't

Tim:

understand,

Jaclyn:

Yeah, and this whole story, it reminds me of you know, when the fisherman, when Peter, he was fishing and Jesus says, No, put your nets down on the other side of the boat.

Jaclyn:

And so you're like, okay, I'll try one more time.

Jaclyn:

And you try it on the other side and like, boom,

Jaclyn:

it

Jaclyn:

it did.

Jaclyn:

And you know, this is the thing, one more time I want to add into this, is that while you were talking about, it seems like things are not going, it seems like things are not happening, could be the clientele, but also what I'm reminded of, many times I would tell God, I'm not qualified for this.

Jaclyn:

I don't have the administration skills.

Jaclyn:

I don't have the qualifications that other people have.

Jaclyn:

And I would go to prayer about it and God would say either nothing or he'd say, I called you, so let's get going.

Jaclyn:

So you're not allowed to quit until I tell you it's over.

Jaclyn:

Yeah, he won't accept your resignation.

Tim:

no, he doesn't accept resignations.

Tim:

Like I didn't have very good administration skills at all.

Tim:

It was tough.

Tim:

I mean, I loved when people had them, when other people had them, I thought it was cool.

Tim:

I embraced it, but for me,

Jaclyn:

it

Tim:

just didn't work.

Tim:

So this conference forced me.

Tim:

To be an administrator, and to think in the future, and to plan, so that's all I do now.

Tim:

That's all I think.

Tim:

I plan six months in the future, a year in the future, and I think about planning.

Tim:

I want to know the plan, right?

Tim:

Because that's what a visionary has to do.

Tim:

That's what a leader must do.

Tim:

Joshua chapter 1, Joshua didn't know he was going to have to take over, right?

Tim:

And then when he did, he had to become the visionary and the leader now, not just the assistant.

Tim:

And so it didn't matter whether he was qualified or not.

Tim:

God thought he was qualified by his heart.

Tim:

And so if somebody's listening right now, you're qualified by your heart.

Tim:

or you're qualified because before the creation of the world, he chose you to do this.

Tim:

So now go do it.

Tim:

Moses wasn't qualified.

Tim:

He gave God five reasons why he wasn't qualified.

Tim:

And he couldn't talk very well.

Tim:

And they were good reasons, but God did not accept it.

Jaclyn:

Exactly.

Tim:

anybody listening right now, don't accept it.

Tim:

Go forth and do the call of God in your life.

Jaclyn:

Amen.

Jaclyn:

Amen.

Geoff:

Let's take a few minutes to talk about content.

Geoff:

Let's share a little with our listeners in case some aren't really familiar with it.

Tim:

the conference has been going on for 10 years now.

Tim:

This is our 10th year anniversary, which is shocking when I think about all the work that has been done and how I have had to grow as a leader and so forth.

Tim:

But I would say it's a five day immersive experience.

Tim:

Into screenwriting, acting, producing, directing, and podcasting, and now, authoring books.

Tim:

So we have five different subjects there we deal with, you can choose workshops and boot camps, uh, there's screeners, and we have a real emphasis on Jesus.

Tim:

of laying at Jesus's feet.

Tim:

We have a real emphasis on networking and building community.

Tim:

We're rated five star in that.

Tim:

people have said, well, it's like a camp meeting feel with a networking feel and with a conference, but the festival.

Tim:

it's all those combined together, and now you're on an active film studio for the Chosen Films Season 1, and where 150 media projects have been filmed.

Tim:

don't know about you, but if I'm going to go to a festival or a conference, I would love to be on a real film set, give that feel about me, with filmmakers, on a retreat feel, I can hear the word of the Lord.

Tim:

It's just going to do magnitudes, it's just going to catapult me and push me forward into the future.

Tim:

Geoff.

Tim:

It's September 23rd through 27th.

Geoff:

I was gonna say, the location does help give it that immersive feeling.

Geoff:

Like you say, that camp feeling,

Geoff:

because everybody's kind of contained there.

Tim:

well, that's the thing.

Tim:

It really does.

Tim:

I've gone to plenty of conferences and hotels.

Tim:

I used to work on staff at the NRB for seven years.

Tim:

And I've gone to other conferences.

Tim:

And when you're in the hotel, they have their own mantle.

Tim:

They have like, a trade show mantle.

Tim:

it's a wonderful thing.

Tim:

We have our mantle.

Tim:

Our mantle is, you get away on a retreat, uh, you're on an active film set, you feel like God is moving, you worship Him, and then you get trained, and you fellowship, you network, you build community, you really, at the end of the five days, you build a new family that will support you in your mission.

Tim:

It's

Tim:

craziness, but I love it.

Jaclyn:

absolutely.

Jaclyn:

Me too.

Geoff:

and those dates again.

Tim:

Yeah, September 23rd through 27th this year, Capernaum Studios, ChristianMediaConference.

Tim:

com.

Geoff:

And, uh, we will be there, Jaclyn and I.

Jaclyn:

This has been a fantastic conversation.

Jaclyn:

Do you have any final thoughts for our listeners before we finish this portion of the interview?

Tim:

Yeah, I'm gonna pray with them right now, a 20 second prayer.

Tim:

Father, I pray for everyone listening, that Lord, they would embrace your call.

Tim:

They would not quit.

Tim:

They would persevere.

Tim:

They would go forth, and if they have actually quit, Lord, give them a new plan for their life, and give them the strength to go forth in whatever calling you have for them.

Tim:

In Jesus

Jaclyn:

Amen.

Jaclyn:

Thank you

Jaclyn:

so much for that.

Geoff:

Thanks, Tim.

Geoff:

And, um, we look forward to talking with you more in our members portion of the interview.

Geoff:

And, uh, it's been a pleasure having you today.

Tim:

Yeah, it's been a pleasure being here.

Tim:

Thank you all.

Tim:

God bless you on what you all do.

Geoff:

Thank you.

Geoff:

Bye bye.

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