Shownotes
Episode 83 - Pastoring A Filmmaking Church with Tyler Sansom
In this episode of the Faith and Family Filmmakers Podcast, hosts Geoffrey and Jaclyn Whitt interview Tyler Sansom, a pastor and filmmaker from Corydon, Indiana. Tyler shares his unique history of blending pastoral ministry with filmmaking. He discusses his journey from aspiring filmmaker to full-time pastor, pioneering the online ministry ‘Church Anywhere’, founding First Capital Films, and producing Christian feature films like 'A Father's Fight' and 'I Can.' He highlights the role of his church community in filmmaking and the impact of using media for ministry. They also talk about the upcoming Purpose Film and Media Festival set for 2025, aimed at equipping content creators and filmmakers.
Highlights Include:
- Adoption and Tyler’s Unique Family Story
- A Journey into Ministry and Filmmaking
- Behind the Scenes of 'I Can'
- Balancing Church and Filmmaking
- Theatrical Releases
- Purpose Film and Media Festival
Bio:
Tyler is a pastor and filmmaker based out of Corydon, IN. He is married to his amazing wife, Sarah. They have a 22 year old daughter and a 2 year old granddaughter. He is 31.
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
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Copyright 2024 Ivan Ann Productions
Transcripts
Welcome to the Faith and Family Filmmakers Podcast.
Geoff:I'm Geoff,
Jaclyn:And I'm Jaclyn.
Geoff:and we're happy to be with you today.
Geoff:We're excited to have Tyler Sansom.
Jaclyn:Tyler is a pastor and filmmaker based out of, Corydon, Indiana.
Jaclyn:He is married to his amazing wife, Sarah.
Jaclyn:They have a 22 year old daughter and a 2 year old granddaughter.
Jaclyn:He's 31.
Jaclyn:,Okay, help me with the math.
Tyler:Um, no, I did not have my daughter when I was nine.
Tyler:a few years ago, um, through a ministry of our church, we met our daughter at a local orphanage.
Tyler:And we started fostering her when she was 16, we adopted her when she was 17, and she's 22 now.
Tyler:And, uh, did not have this in the cards when I was maybe a high schooler or something, but, she had our first granddaughter, um, in 2022 and she just turned two years old and, uh, she was born on my wife's birthday.
Tyler:So that's kind of neat.
Jaclyn:That's amazing.
Jaclyn:Yeah, I know that, um, actually years ago I was learning about like the foster care system and adoption and stuff like that.
Jaclyn:And uh, yeah, the older children, a lot of the time they, don't get considered nearly as much as the younger children.
Jaclyn:And I think maybe sometimes it's because the parents are thinking, well, I don't have a whole lot of time to connect with them and they've already lived so long.
Jaclyn:So much of their childhood and, you know, and so sometimes the older ones get passed over.
Jaclyn:But if you think about it, like they still need to have a place that they call home even when they move out.
Jaclyn:And yeah, so there's something really special about adopting an older child and it's a really interesting story and it's amazing you're 31 and you're a grandfather.
Tyler:yeah, my daughter had 17 homes before she was with
Geoff:Oh, wow.
Jaclyn:Wow.
Tyler:the system, since she was three.
Tyler:And, uh, we don't have any other kids.
Tyler:So we're all this one cool family unit.
Tyler:That's got a unique story now.
Jaclyn:Yeah,
Geoff:Cool.
Geoff:Well, let's talk about films.
Tyler:Let's do it.
Geoff:And your roles.
Geoff:all, you're a pastor.
Geoff:Tell us about that.
Geoff:us about your church and what led you into filmmaking.
Tyler:Yeah.
Tyler:So I've always wanted to make films since I was about five years old and that's what I went to school for.
Tyler:Uh, but I ended up going into full time ministry very, very young.
Tyler:Uh, so I was 19 when I left college and took a job as a worship leader at a church.
Tyler:And I thought I was going to be a worship leader for a long time and ended up leaving the church that I was at for a ginormous megachurch.
Tyler:Um, it was like, One of those things where shiny new toy and I thought it was going to be the next big thing and I got there and realized that I really like doing hands on ministry and the spotlight was not a good thing for my ego.
Tyler:Um, so enemy will use power.
Geoff:Yeah.
Tyler:I'm glad that the Holy Spirit helped me recognize at the time that this was not a good trajectory for my career path.
Tyler:So I actually came back to the church that I started at, which is the church that I currently am at today.
Tyler:And when I came back, there wasn't really a role for me.
Tyler:But they allowed me to experiment with online ministry, and this was like way before it was cool.
Tyler:So,
Jaclyn:Right, right.
Jaclyn:Yeah.
Tyler:2020, everyone had to do online ministry in 2015, nobody was doing online
Jaclyn:Yes, it was extremely rare.
Tyler:so I helped pioneer a ministry called Church Anywhere, which was one of the, um, kind of OGs of the online ministry world.
Tyler:And um, I did that for about seven years full time, and took over as the lead pastor of the church, three years ago.
Tyler:So, we've been heavily involved in using media and digital strategies for ministry for about a decade now.
Tyler:And um, out of that ministry, birthed First Capital Films, which is a branch of our church that makes feature films.
Tyler:So we made one in 2017 that was tremendously bad, that I'll never tell you the name of.
Tyler:Um, but it, it, it kind of, It kind of sparked, uh, sparked a little bit of, a passion in group of people here at the church.
Tyler:And we've really honed in our craft.
Tyler:Um, we released a movie in 2020 called A Father's Fight that did fairly well.
Tyler:Um, and that's where we got connected with Kappa Studios out in Los Angeles.
Tyler:and then those guys, co produced a movie called I Can with us that released in theaters last September, and they're a pretty big ministry partner of our church now.
Tyler:So we're producing another film.
Tyler:starting, Principal Photography in February, and they're a co producer on that as well.
Jaclyn:Yeah, we saw that movie actually.
Jaclyn:I didn't know anything about it before we watched it, which is actually sometimes the best way to watch a movie, right?
Jaclyn:When it just unfolds before you and you have no expectations.
Jaclyn:And so, I really enjoyed it.
Jaclyn:I was, you know, surprised.
Jaclyn:I didn't know the story.
Jaclyn:It was based on a true story.
Jaclyn:Right.
Jaclyn:And, and I didn't already know that story.
Jaclyn:And so to see it all play out, it was just like, everything was fresh and new and interesting.
Jaclyn:And, um, I'm not going to get into spoilers or anything like that.
Jaclyn:I do encourage people to watch the movie.
Jaclyn:but because this happens early on where, young woman loses her arm, So, I'm curious about the filming part of it.
Jaclyn:Did the actress actually, uh, Not have the arm or like, how did that work out?
Jaclyn:Because it looks very real.
Tyler:thank you, because that was like the big, the biggest point of stress for the last, like, two and a half years of my life.
Tyler:So, um, we, we knew that it would be challenging because the movie's about a, Not just softball player, but she's like an all American softball player.
Tyler:So we couldn't get someone that couldn't play softball.
Tyler:And to find someone that's good at softball is one thing.
Tyler:To find someone that can do it with one arm is like impossible.
Tyler:She's
Tyler:one of one,
Jaclyn:And who can
Jaclyn:act?
Tyler:And so we tried to get the real girl to be the actor.
Tyler:the girl that the movie was based off of, Caitlyn, she's an athlete.
Tyler:She's not an actor.
Tyler:she would say the same thing.
Tyler:Um, So that was not going to be an option, but we knew that to pull off the stunts, the real life girl had to be the stunt double.
Tyler:Um, so we did a, really long, like six months casting, search to find an actress that had the same height, same hair color, same build that could actually act.
Tyler:Um, so the whole
Jaclyn:softball
Tyler:no, she
Jaclyn:No.
Jaclyn:Oh, she never did.
Jaclyn:Okay.
Jaclyn:Okay.
Tyler:Yeah.
Tyler:So she is the actress and the real life girl is the stunt double.
Tyler:And, um, The actress is wearing, one of three prosthetic molds of the real girl's arm, so the entire time she's acting, her arm is strapped behind her back and attached at the shoulder as a prosthetic.
Tyler:Um, yeah, so, I think, I think we pulled it off, but
Jaclyn:making sense now.
Jaclyn:It's making sense because I remember watching and just thinking like even the way that she moves her body implies that she only has one arm because you do change how you move and, and how you balance yourself and all of that.
Jaclyn:When, you know, when your body is shaped differently.
Jaclyn:And so I was amazed, but now it makes sense because it was the stunt double who was actually real girl.
Jaclyn:And but it was seamless.
Jaclyn:it was, done
Jaclyn:really well.
Tyler:it was
Tyler:very strange on set because when they would put her in the prosthetic and they would be dressed exactly the same in every scene, like it got confusing, especially from a distance.
Tyler:We would say, Caitlyn come here, but it was actually Danner the actress, or vice versa, over and over again.
Tyler:So.
Jaclyn:Wow.
Geoff:So your primary role, if I understand, was director.
Tyler:Yeah.
Geoff:and as the pastor of the church, I'm guessing that makes you also a producer on some level?
Tyler:Yeah.
Tyler:Yeah.
Tyler:It's a, it's a good team effort.
Tyler:We had about a hundred people on set.
Tyler:So it was, a big set, but, um, it was, uh, interesting trying to juggle being lead pastor of a, decent sized church and being on set for a couple of months.
Tyler:I felt like I worked about two years worth of work in a two month span of time right there, but it was worth it.
Geoff:Tell us about the process with regards to a church producing a movie.
Geoff:You would say that, correct, that church produced the movie, and obviously a lot of people involved as you already mentioned.
Geoff:And what percentage or to what degree is that?
Geoff:Um, church people being involved, uh, as opposed to filmmakers from outside the church.
Tyler:It's been a process.
Tyler:When we first started doing it as a church, it was primarily church people, actors, all crew, that kind of thing.
Tyler:As it's grown, and really after a father's fight, the first taste of like national distribution, that's when we were able to kind of expand it to more industry professionals.
Tyler:probably 40 percent was people from the church, and 60 percent were, professionals within the industry.
Tyler:And almost, almost all of the actors were professionals within the industry.
Tyler:Just a couple from our church.
Tyler:we crowdfunded the whole thing.
Tyler:so none of it was from the church budget.
Tyler:it was all from donations above and beyond giving.
Jaclyn:Amazing.
Jaclyn:And so then within your church, how many people from within your church are involved in the filmmaking?
Tyler:Yeah, we've got a producer team.
Tyler:our first capital films team is around 11 people, we meet once a month and we're kind of the, decision making, Avenue of the whole film ministry.
Jaclyn:That's amazing.
Jaclyn:Yeah.
Jaclyn:Like for me, I feel like that is a dream church, um, well, a place to be able to, pursue your creativity, because when I was growing up, I attended the Salvation Army Church and, you know, it was during the time where the brass band
Jaclyn:so, you know, as soon as you're old enough to hold an instrument, they gave you one.
Jaclyn:So when I was seven, I started playing trumpet.
Jaclyn:And so throughout, my childhood, I was very much involved in music.
Jaclyn:And so I had that creative outlet, but then I didn't really understand the value I had at that time because as I grew up and I moved away and then, you know, looking for churches, a lot of the churches that I went to, they just didn't have it.
Jaclyn:didn't really have space for creativity.
Jaclyn:Um, and it's not to say that they had anything negative to say about it.
Jaclyn:They just didn't necessarily provide an opportunity within the church to pursue it.
Jaclyn:So, I mean, that's really amazing that you have that, for those that are creative, that they could actually, pursue that within their church community.
Tyler:What's fascinating that we've learned over the years, and keep in mind, been doing this, this is our ninth year, so it's not like brand new, but it's not super old either.
Geoff:Right.
Tyler:what we've learned is at the beginning, people didn't quite understand how media and ministry could be tied together.
Tyler:Until life change started happening, and it's really hard to argue with life change.
Tyler:Um, and after a father's fight, God has used not just the movie projects, but just, other pieces of media that we create on a weekly basis in this incredible way.
Tyler:Uh, we've baptized, between us and our partners that have used our films, over 1, 200 people.
Tyler:In the last, like, seven years, just from people hearing the gospel in a different way and then getting them connected to local churches, and when that kind of thing starts happening, it's really easy to get people on board with, hey, you can be creative and still be doing this for the right reason.
Tyler:So it's been fun, fun to be a part of.
Geoff:Yeah, and as a church, it's not just for the right reason, but it's also, very real ministry,
Geoff:and not, just entertainment,
Tyler:Yeah, it's not theoretical, there's tangible results that are happening, kingdom results, so.
Jaclyn:sure.
Jaclyn:So, I Can was your third feature film, is that correct?
Tyler:Yep.
Jaclyn:So, your third feature film went to theaters.
Jaclyn:did you say that your second one did also, or was it?
Tyler:Yeah, it was like the perfect, storm of, there was a pandemic, nobody else was making movies, and it like, there was an open door for us to be in theaters.
Tyler:It was in nine states, so it wasn't like a, a huge thing.
Tyler:I think we were in 19 total theaters for the second one.
Jaclyn:Well, still, that's a pretty big jump for somebody that, you know, is just starting in independent filmmaking.
Jaclyn:do you want to maybe talk about how that even came about?
Jaclyn:Like, what made you even decide to pursue a theatrical release?
Jaclyn:Mm
Tyler:Yeah, honestly, at the time, it was the opportunity because of COVID, theaters were just starting to open back up and there wasn't much being put in from Hollywood.
Tyler:so they were craving content.
Tyler:that kind of gave us like an open door there.
Tyler:Um, with The Father's Fight, we actually, week before the theatrical release, we had written the movie to challenge dads who were caught in addiction.
Tyler:And so, we decided to release it in, every prison in the state of Indiana before the theatrical release.
Tyler:And we didn't realize that it would be kind of a nice PR bump.
Tyler:So, not only did God use, God used it in a huge way,
Tyler:we had 30, 35 baptisms on opening night in the prisons, which was amazing.
Tyler:but then some newspapers and things like that picked up on that story, and that actually gave us some like free marketing for the theatrical release.
Tyler:So that was like a happy accident.
Tyler:Um, the, the motives were very much kingdom minded, but then God honored that with, publicity.
Tyler:so that showed us that there was at least, somewhat interest in people going to the theaters at that point.
Tyler:Um, when I can came about though, um, it was, it was like one of the first ever softball movies.
Tyler:And so we knew that there was going to be this built in audience of young girls that they didn't have Rudy and Rocky and like anything in their sport that they could go watch.
Tyler:So we knew there'd be teams that would take their teams to the theaters.
Tyler:And that's why we chose a theatrical release for that one.
Jaclyn:Okay.
Geoff:I think that might be something valuable for us to get into in second half of the interview The process of distribution and theatrical release, um, if I understand correctly, a fairly significant theatrical release from an independent film.
Geoff:Um, I'm sure there's a lot of filmmakers out there, Newer filmmakers, independent filmmakers who have not yet, gotten to that point and would love hear about the process.
Geoff:So, let's talk about that.
Geoff:But one other thing I'd like to talk about and I think it's fairly new.
Geoff:It's new coming across my, social media feeds and such.
Geoff:Am I correct that the purpose, is it Film and Media Conference?
Geoff:Uh, festival Purpose Film and Media Festival.
Tyler:Yep.
Geoff:this the first year, is that correct?
Tyler:Yeah, it's 2025.
Tyler:So not
Tyler:this year, the following August.
Tyler:Yeah.
Tyler:Um, it has been a, pet project of mine since 2019.
Tyler:We branded it the online media or online church conference.
Tyler:Uh, did not, work the first time.
Tyler:Um, and what I realized is we were trying to get other churches to.
Tyler:hear our story and take it and run with it.
Tyler:But I think the actual audience that needs to hear that are content creators and filmmakers because they need to understand that what they're doing can have like significant kingdom impact.
Tyler:And so, over the last five years, we've kind of morphed it.
Tyler:We have an unbelievably good lineup of speakers that are going to
Tyler:be doing
Tyler:workshops.
Tyler:Um, so I'm really excited about it.
Tyler:And we get to host it here in our little small town.
Tyler:So,
Geoff:Awesome.
Geoff:So tell us about, the format.
Geoff:obviously, you've got, lineup of speakers, so you're gonna have workshops and classes, that type of thing.
Geoff:And is it a film festival that people will, submit their films for?
Tyler:So you go to purposefest.
Tyler:net, there is a bunch of information.
Tyler:The submissions actually open up June 28th.
Tyler:I don't know when people listen to this podcast, but June 28th of 2024, and they won't be announced the nominees until like next July in 2025.
Tyler:So you got plenty of time.
Jaclyn:Right.
Jaclyn:Yep.
Jaclyn:And it's good to submit early.
Jaclyn:It costs less.
Tyler:It does.
Tyler:You get significant price breaks.
Tyler:Uh, so there'll be a film festival, there'll be an award show at the end of it.
Tyler:The big thing that I wanted, um, with this festival and conference was actual practical workshops.
Tyler:I, spoke last year at ICFF and, we did a, a workshop on the don'ts of filmmaking.
Tyler:Uh, so it was me and three other people.
Tyler:We had 60 combined credits of directing and producing and we just talked about our experiences of what not to do And that was such a practical learning experience that, like, even going to film school, I wish I would have had a class like that.
Tyler:And all of these workshops that we're trying to do at Purpose are in that vein, so it's less theoretical and more, put the rubber to the road and let's figure out how to actually make films than, you know, have a kingdom impact from people that have been doing it.
Tyler:so I'm really excited for that practical teaching.
Tyler:That's kind of the basis of the whole film festival.
Jaclyn:Yeah.
Jaclyn:And it's very valuable.
Jaclyn:And I know for myself, like, the connections that you make with people, um, there's a ton of value there, but when you can have that atmosphere where there's so much encouragement, and then also you're given those tools that you can take away and apply to your work in that very practical sense, like, it's amazing how just a few days at a conference or festival can shift everything for you and just, it's like it launches you into that next level of what you're doing.
Tyler:Yeah.
Tyler:And at this one, our speakers understand, when I pitched it to them that I want them to be very accessible.
Tyler:I mean, the price of admissions worth it just to go and hang out with guys like, people that made the shift and the chosen and like all these huge projects, like to be able to build personal relationships with them.
Tyler:that's
Jaclyn:Mm hmm.
Jaclyn:Absolutely.
Jaclyn:So as we're wrapping up this portion of the interview, do you have any final thoughts for our listeners?
Tyler:Yeah, I think that when I first started making films, I thought I had to have everything figured out or to try to maybe mimic what I had already seen people do.
Tyler:And, uh, the older I get, I'm a grandpa now, so I've got like lots of, lots
Tyler:of life
Tyler:experience.
Tyler:Uh, the older I get, the more I learned that it's totally okay to just be in your own skin and make your own way through this thing.
Tyler:Like, Post Covid, nobody has making movies figured out.
Tyler:Um, streaming's a mess, theatrical's a mess, we're all, it's like the Wild West right now.
Tyler:So, just, if you're, if you want to be a filmmaker, go make films.
Tyler:Allow God to use you in that way and then continue to hone your craft.
Tyler:We made a short film every month in between, A Father's Fight and I Can.
Tyler:So two years worth of short films, because we knew we wanted to get better and we're going to continue to get better, but that doesn't mean that God won't use you where you're at right now.
Tyler:So the best advice is like, just get up off the couch, go ahead and start, start doing it.
Tyler:and see how God can use you.
Geoff:That's good advice.
Geoff:And also, please tell our listeners where they can watch I Can, and A Father's Fight.
Geoff:and also where they can access, Purpose and, sign up or submit.
Tyler:Yep.
Tyler:So I can is out.
Tyler:pretty much anywhere that you can watch movies, for rent or purchase.
Tyler:we're on, UpFaith and Family as a UpFaith and Family exclusive, uh, for the next few months.
Tyler:But after that, it will be very, very wide.
Tyler:you can also watch it on Apple TV and Amazon.
Tyler:Um, Father's Fight has been out for a long time.
Tyler:So just google it and you can probably watch it for free on YouTube, I think.
Tyler:So, uh, yeah.
Tyler:Purposefest.
Tyler:net is the website for Purpose Festival.
Tyler:Go check it out, a lot of good workshops, a lot of good people.
Geoff:Awesome.
Geoff:Cool.
Geoff:we weren't aware of the father's fight, so we'll, uh, go look for that ourselves, and encourage others to do it as well.
Geoff:And we'll make sure we get those links in our show notes as well.
Geoff:So that, uh, if anyone doesn't remember, you can go look at the show notes and we'll make sure you can find it from there.
Tyler:Sweet.
Geoff:Well, it's been great talking to you, Tyler.
Geoff:we look forward to talking more about that whole distribution path, and theatrical releases for independent films as we get into our members portion.
Geoff:Thanks so much for your time.
Tyler:for having me.
Geoff:Take care.
