"… We Can Transform One Family at a Time…"

FamilyLife is the next National Partner in the October Baby credits.

Some interesting characteristics of FamilyLife:

• They are a part of Cru; Campus Crusade for Christ.
• A part of their mission is, "We may not be able to transform every family all at the same time, but we can start with one family."
• They are in 100 countries
• Their FamilyLIfe Today radio program is heard on hundreds of radio stations daily across the US
• FamilyLife consists of a volunteer network of more than 10,000 members
• Many are helping FamilyLife reach families by serving as city ministry directors for a marriage conference or by leading a HomeBuilders Couples Series study.
• Another part of their mission is to "effectively develop godly marriages and families who change the world one home at a time."
• Each year approximately 100 FamilyLife Weekend to Remember conferences will be held in almost every major city in America.

Here's an interesting quote from their website…  "For decades now we have been ministering to couples and families with our radio broadcasts, events and our resources.  Recently though our attention has shifted to minister with you by focusing on adding resources that you can use to reach your friends, neighbors, co-workers, and community."

It's great to connect with a ministry that offers a major media presence.  FamilyLIfe goes beyond that in they offer a presence in thousands of small groups across 100 countries.  This is a great network in which to utilize your film as a ministry tool, which will live beyond a theatrical strategy and touch people's lives into the future.  

Consider approaching a group like FamilyLife (one that shares the vision of your film) to use your film and combine it with a small group study that you (or they) would write.  This is a fresh way to reinforce Biblical truths using something people will love; your film.

"Nothing is Bigger Than the Church…" - Rick Warren

Continuing on with the next credited affinity partners for October Baby, we have Heartbeat International and Hope for Orphans.

Heartbeat International "currently serves 1,800 affiliated pregnancy help locations, maternity homes, and non-profit adoption agencies on all six inhabited continents."  (http://www.heartbeatinternational.org/hbi-about-us/our-story)

They were founded in 1971 in response or anticipation of the Roe v Wade ruling legalizing abortion in the US.  I would presume there are many women who were blessed by this ministry and are no longer engaged with them, but there are undoubtedly many women who were blessed and continue to be engaged with Heartbeat International.  

Consider engaging these 1,800 affiliates worldwide and their constituents with the message of your film.  There are opportunities for theatrical mobilization... and consider this opportunity…  How about offering a password protected viewing of your film on a platform like Vimeo to each person in the engaged multitude, allowing them to not only view the film but also share it with someone who needs to see your message?  Your film can be a great ministry tool.  Think of ways you can be a blessing to your partners through your film.  In some instances, your film can be the best way to communicate to people who are hurting and are at a crossroads.  Don't underestimate its power.

From their website…  "In every place throughout the world, children without families are the most vulnerable. Hope for Orphans was founded by Paul and Robin Pennington in 2001 with the purpose of galvanizing the Church to serve and protect these children.

Hope for Orphans (a part of Family Life) was a key founder in the creation of the Christian Alliance for Orphans, and have partnered with Focus on the Family and Show Hope to develop the Cry of the Orphan awareness campaign. We have a resource library containing books and DVD curricula to help churches begin their own ministries to orphans, and have encouraged churches across the world to partner with their local foster care systems, and other key organizations. This effort has brought Hope for Orphans to serve and connect with churches throughout North America, Europe, Central America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East."  (http://www.hopefororphans.org/#/home/ and http://www.hopefororphans.org/#/resources-gps-orphancare/)

On their video link, you will see and hear Rick Warren make the statement, "I could take you to ten million villages in the world that don't have a clinic, don't have a post office, don't have a grocery store, don't have a business,... but they have a church…  We have the largest, widest distribution, we have the most volunteer manpower…  Nothing is bigger than the church."

Take some time and ruminate on that last statement…  And think of it in terms of your film.  Until next time.

The Next October Baby Affiliate Partner…  Care Net

Back to the credits we go where we see the next affiliate group partner, Care Net. 

From their website, "Care Net supports more than 1100 affiliate pregnancy centers across North America.   Our affiliate pregnancy centers are faith-based organizations with deep roots in their communities. Each center empowers women and men facing unplanned pregnancies with practical help, emotional support, and information about their pregnancy options."  (https://www.care-net.org)

This is a great partner as their 1,100 affiliates around the US can get the word out and support your local market initiatives (think theatrical mobilization).  

An idea here would be to show a portion of your film to the entire organization, (including individuals who staff the affiliate offices) so they catch the vision (and leaving them wanting to see the entire film) and can spread the word to their world.  Encourage the individuals to act as an extension of your social media effort for the film.  If you are planning a theatrical distribution, the people in the 1,100 affiliate centers around the US can act as ambassadors, inviting people in their sphere of influence to their local theater.  

Ask who they know in their local markets…  They may have contacts with local media that will benefit the film. 

Determine the "super ambassadors", those people who want to go above and beyond what you are desiring in a local market contact and think of ways to bless them as they give of 

their time to the effort.  Establish a set of guidelines of what you generally expect of a local market ambassador and what you might expect of the super ambassadors and again, how you might bless them to thank them for their effort.

Care Net is also a good example of an affiliate partner that may not move with you to your next film as their interest in supporting your film is probably only based on your film's subject matter.  Different subject matter in your next film = New affiliate partners needed.

From last time… "Did the Lifeway World Premiere generate awareness for downstream marketing channels?"  Yes.  

How?  It facilitated us being able to successfully negotiate a distribution deal with a major Christian film distributor. 

Sidebar here…  I might have mentioned this on a previous post, but about three months before the Lifeway world premiere, we were "at the altar" with another major Christian film distributor on the eve of receiving an agreement from them.  They came back and said they were moving away from distributing documentaries.  Fortunately, I had what has turned out to be an excellent "Plan B."  I had met with a second distributor and we discussed the fact I was already in negotiations with the first party, but if something went sideways we would move forward on this film.  And even if things worked out with the first party, we would look at ways to potentially work together on future projects.  Well, things didn't work out with the first party and after feeling sorry for myself for around five minutes, I then called our distributor and they have done a very good with the film. 

The Lifeway World Premiere idea resonated with both distributors as the awareness factor of having the film screen at 1,100 venues (mostly churches) was intriguing for them (especially since they didn't have to pay for the promotion).  The initial major dates in the marketing plan were: 

• Mid-July for the Lifeway World Premiere
• During the month of August, the film on DVD was featured as the premium on the ministry's radio program (…"For your gift of any amount this month, you receive the film on DVD as a thank you…")
• September, the film on DVD hits the Christian Bookstore Association (CBA) market

The awareness generated by the Lifeway World Premiere was seen as a major boost for the CBA launch, which is a vital revenue generator for the distributors.

The success of the Lifeway World Premiere enabled us to chronicle the high points in the process in a series of press releases.  Here is the final one that highlighted the fact that over 2,700 venues has registered to stream the film…

FILM’S INNOVATIVE WORLD PREMIERE REACHES THOUSANDS WITH THE HOPE OF THE GOSPEL

2,725 venues registered for a free, web‐based, on‐demand premiere of Harvest Ministries’ film Hope for Hurting Hearts with Greg Laurie

Riverside, Calif., July 12, 2013—Eschewing an expensive and risky theater distribution, Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie chose a more inventive method to premiere their new film, Hope for Hurting Hearts. More than 2,700 venues—churches, groups, and individuals—registered for the free world premiere, screened from July 10–14, making the film one of the most‐watched online film events in Lifeway Digital Events history.

Harvest Ministries partnered with Lifeway Films and their online Digital Events division to offer this compelling film, and its strong gospel message, to thousands of sites through their convenient, proprietary on‐demand platform.

“The medium of an on‐demand, web‐based movie event proved successful, as many groups of people, as well as individuals, watched in churches, on computers, and on handhelds,” says Scott Mills of LifeWay Films.

Narrated by Dr. James Dobson, Hope for Hurting Hearts tells the true stories of how Greg and Cathe Laurie, Jeremy Camp, and Nick Vujicic stood at a spiritual crossroads marked by challenging and painful circumstances, and how each chose the road of trusting, following and ultimately glorifying God.

"We were excited to see the response to the Hope for Hurting Hearts premiere event. It means thousands of people watched and were encouraged with the hope only found in Jesus,” says Mills. “Now is an amazing time to use technology to share Jesus, and we could not be more excited about the ministry this film had, and will continue to have.”

Calvary Chapel Aurora, in Colorado, was one of the world premiere host venues. Aurora was the location of the tragic 2012 theater shooting. After the church’s viewing of Hope for Hurting Hearts, Senior Pastor Ed Taylor wrote, “Our time with the movie was glorious. We were standing room only with folks sitting on the floor.” The church sanctuary seats 1,300. After the premiere, people responded to the gospel invitation and the movie was said to be a tremendous tool for Jesus.

“Marie and I personally were encouraged by the movie as the Spirit ministered to our hearts. Thank you for the privilege of being a part of something so special,” said Pastor Ed.

The film on DVD can be pre‐ordered now at hope.harvest.org. The DVD will be in Christian bookstores on September 24 and is in negotiations for distribution starting in October through digital streaming services and additional DVD retailers.

Greg Laurie is the senior pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, one of the largest churches in the U.S. Laurie is also the founder and evangelist for Harvest Crusades, evangelistic outreach events that have drawn some 4.7 million people to stadiums and arenas around the world since 1990. Laurie serves on the board of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, established in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1891, is one of the world's largest providers of Christian products and services, including Bibles, church literature, books, music, audio and video recordings, films, church supplies, and internet services through LifeWay.com. The company also owns and operates 160 LifeWay Christian Stores across the nation, as well as one of the largest Christian conference centers in the country. LifeWay is a religious nonprofit organization that receives no funding from the denomination and reinvests income above operating expenses in mission work and other ministries around the world. 
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The Lifeway World Premiere idea helped us to sell the film to our distributor and offered the distributor excellent selling points for their pitches to their customers.

Finally, we did not have a finalized, finished film when we were pitching this to distributors.  We have a rough cut and only a portion of the finished film (the first 12-20 minutes).  Not surprisingly, not having a finished film can be a drawback in this negotiation.  But we were able to sell it based on the quality of what we did present as well as the marketing plan for the film (especially what would precede the launch into the CBA market).

Was the Lifeway World Premiere a Success for Hope for Hurting Hearts?

From last time…  "Did the Lifeway World Premiere achieve what we wanted?  Overall, was it a success?"  Absolutely…   My goal was to try to generate 80% of the awareness that a theatrical release would create through Lifeway.  We viewed it as a success that the film was on 1,110 screens (primarily churches), worldwide over the five day premiere window.  Figure a conservative estimate is fifty people per church…  that yields over 50,000 people seeing the film.  And remember…  It costs  (conservatively) around $15,000 per screen for Prints and Advertising for a traditional theatrical release.  So for $25K (the cost from Lifeway) we reached a projected 50,0000 people.  

Another way to look at it is for $25,000, we secured 1,100 screens where the cost breaks out to $22.70 per screen.  Compare that to the traditional theatrical release model of $15,000 per screen.  

"Did it generate awareness for downstream marketing channels?"  Yes.  Next time I'll detail this answer, but I'll leave you with this…  We were able to secure a distribution deal with a major Christian film distributor on the strength of only around 12 minutes of the completed film and this innovative idea of the Lifeway world premiere…