Kendrick bros talk equipping believers through film: 'Not aimed to win Academy Awards'
When creating films, from “Overcomer” to “War Room,” brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick aren’t out to win Academy Awards; rather, they want to equip, uplift and challenge the Church to live out the calling set before them.
“Jesus said the Church is the salt of the Earth and the light of the world, and God will reach the world through a revived, surrendered, unified Church,” Alex Kendrick told The Christian Post.
“Before we tell the world, ‘You need to work on your marriage,’ we within the Church need to be aligning with Scripture and under the Lordship of Jesus. … When we surrender an aspect of our lives to the Lordship of Jesus, He takes this worldly mindset that is often twisted and broken and leads us to disarray and chaos and confusion, and He leads us back to His good, pleasing and perfect will in each area of our lives.”
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“God has given us an opportunity through film to take the best messages in the world … we can help the world, we can be a blessing and be the salt in the light that Jesus has called us to,” Kendrick continued. “We know that our movies are not aimed to win Academy Awards. We're not interested in that. We want to go after the hearts, minds and lives of the viewers because love will desire God's best for them in every area of their lives.”
On Aug. 23, the brothers — who are both ordained ministers — are releasing their latest film, “The Forge,” starring Cameron Arnett, Priscilla Shirer, Aspen Kennedy, Karen Abercrombie, T.C. Stallings and BJ Arnett.
Set in the same universe as the Kendrick brothers' 2015 box office hit film “War Room,” “The Forge” follows Isaiah Wright, a 19-year-old man facing the challenges of growing up. A year after high school with no clear direction, he is urged by his single mother, Cynthia (Shirer), and a successful businessman (Arnett) to begin shaping a better future. Supported by his mother's prayers and guided by biblical teachings from a new mentor, Isaiah starts to discover God's plan for his life exceeds his wildest dreams.
The film delves into the themes of discipleship, mentorship and prayer, concepts the brothers said they explored deeply during production.
“We prayed about the direction for our next film after our last project,” said Stephen Kendrick. “God clearly pointed us towards discipleship. Both of us are ordained ministers, and while we were already familiar with the concept, diving deeper into it impacted us, our crew and our cast. Following Jesus and making Him the top priority is profound. Embracing the scripture that says, ‘deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him,’ is a lot to process. It means something has to die to honor the Lord with our lives.”
"The Forge" also focuses on the importance of male leadership and mentorship; concepts rarely elevated in mainstream media. Over the course of the years, viewers watch Isaiah’s transformation as he’s mentored by older men who invest in his life, stepping up in the place of his absent father.
“God’s design is perfect,” Alex Kendrick said. “Men and women complement each other, like two wings on an airplane. In ‘War Room,’ we showed a godly older woman mentoring a young woman. In ‘The Forge,’ we explore what it looks like when a man mentors a young man … we wanted the Pauls mentoring the Timothys to be modeled in a modern-day context in this film, and we think it couldn't come at a better time.”
In the film, Cynthia is depicted as a prayer warrior for her struggling son, regularly asking God for wise, male mentors to come into his life. The power of a praying parent, the Kendricks stressed, cannot be emphasized enough.
“She regularly prays for him, asking the Lord to bring the right people into his life,” Alex Kendrick said. “As parents, one of our highest callings is to introduce our children to the Lord. We hope single moms and parents watching this film will be inspired to invest in their children’s spiritual growth.”
As studies show that intergenerational relationships are key to keeping young people engaged in the church, the Kendricks said they hope their film will inspire viewers to invest in the next generation.
“That’s one of the best things you could do with your life is to invest in someone else in that regard,” Stephen Kendrick said. “We hope that people watch ‘The Forge’ in the movie theater or wherever they see it, and then say, ‘I need to be pouring into the next generation’ or they may be in a situation where they say, ‘I need to be discipled myself.’”
“Our hope is after watching the movie, that they would be inspired to either seek out someone to disciple them or to begin pouring into someone else that needs to be discipled,” he added. “One of the most crucial things we could do as a follower of Jesus Christ is to say, ‘I want the Lord to continue growing me, and then I want to help others to grow.’ Hopefully, when people see ‘the Forge,’ they see an example on the screen and it inspires them to say, ‘I need to be doing the same thing.’”
“The Forge” hits theaters as a partnership between The Kendrick Brothers and AFFIRM Films, a Sony Pictures Entertainment company.
The brothers, who each have six children, are known for creating films that speak to society’s most pressing issues. The duo launched their filmmaking journey by founding Sherwood Pictures, an independent production company that served as a ministry for a church based out of Albany, Georgia.
Since then, they’ve released a slew of faith-based films, including "Overcomer,” “Facing the Giants,” “Fireproof” and “Courageous.”
“War Room,” filmed on a $3 million budget, was released by Sony in just over 1,500 theaters. It earned $27.9 million in just two weekends and eventually grossed $74 million worldwide.
Through “The Forge,” Alex Kendrick said he and his brother hope to help the Church to “spiritually reconnect with God, fully surrender to Him and make their lives count for His glory.”
“We also want to help them in their most important relationships, their marriages, their relationship with their children,” he added. “In this film, you see it at work in that context and how it can impact family and the culture around you.”
Learn more about “The Forge” here.
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
