'The Star' Producer DeVon Franklin Has Faith in Hollywood
Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you. – Psalm 37:5, NLT
Ask movie producer, and Christian, DeVon Franklin what's he's doing in Hollywood and his answer will be an inspiring quotable that may end up sounding like this line from the Book of Psalms.
With each passing year, Franklin's growing influence in the movie industry becomes more and more sure. He's worked closely with Will Smith, produced at Sony Pictures, and has brought faith audiences such films as Heaven Is For Real, Miracles from Heaven, and most recently, The Star.
The always-pointing-to-Jesus producer and author recently spoke with CBN.com about life since The Star opened in theaters last fall, its Blu-ray/DVD release, and how putting faith into action can change the world. Here are excerpts from that conversation:
Hannah Goodwyn: Do you have a favorite reaction story to The Star?
DeVon Franklin: My nephew Malachi … he's three years old. He saw the movie and one, he loves the part where Dave the Dove is dancing. He loves that. While we were together for Christmas, he interrupted everybody and said, 'Everybody, everybody, I want to tell you about The Star.' He literally, at three years old, went through and pitched what the movie was about and his favorite characters. And I'm like, at three years old? This is unbelievable! So that really just warmed my heart and just underscored for me personally why there's such a need for these types of films and my commitment to make more of them.
Goodwyn: So he loves what uncle's doing...
Franklin: Oh my goodness, he sure does. And he doesn't mind telling people about it, which is just the cutest thing ever.
Goodwyn: On The Star Blu-ray/DVD, there's a bonus material gift of a segment called 'Faith All Year Round'. Tell us a little bit about that.
Franklin: 'Faith All Year Round' is one of the things we wanted to do just to show the importance of the lessons of The Star and how those themes are not just specific to the holiday season, but they are evergreen. We wanted to put that there as an extra, so that anybody that watches it can see how these things play out, how families can play into these things and begin to use these things in their day-to-day lives.
Goodwyn: So it's specifically for kids, but also a whole family experience?
Franklin: Oh, of course, absolutely. The goal would be for parents and their kids to be able to watch together. I had so much fun doing it. It was a blessing. And I do think it's something that parents and kids can sit down and have a good time and experience with it.
Goodwyn: You're an active guy on Twitter and I was reading one of your retweets this morning. Someone posted this quote and tagged you: 'Your prayers alone are not enough. Faith with works is alive.' How does this fit in context of the work you are doing in Hollywood?
Franklin: For me, it's about praying and preparing. That's what it's about and we have to pray and prepare. So for me, when I say your prayers alone are not enough, it's from my book The Hollywood Commandments. It's the First Commandment and I wanted to really show people that we do have to pray and prepare. Sometimes, people of faith, our first and only resort is prayer. And that's effective, but we have to put that with work too. So that's why I say faith with works equals life. Faith with works is alive. So every day I'm coming in the office, and I'm putting works behind my faith, I'm putting preparation behind my prayers and I do believe that is a winning combination.
Goodwyn: There's definitely blood, sweat, tears, and prayer, but you have to keep moving forward, even when you hit obstacles...
Franklin: That's right, absolutely. You've got to keep moving forward even when you meet obstacles. And sometimes obstacles are good because they actually are confirmation, at times, that we're headed in the right direction. Conflict builds character. It's very difficult to sometimes get where we want to be without the conflict along the way because the conflict is essential to prepare us to manage what we're actually praying for and working for.
Goodwyn: That really connects with the story we see unfold in The Star. Bo the Donkey, he's got this destiny he's seeking out. But, his journey takes him in a different, yet better, direction. Still, that can be hard. In life, we see what we think is God's plan for our lives, but then He might take us on a detour…
Franklin: You've got that right, my goodness. That's why we've got to just stay the course, we've got to keep moving, keep pushing, and just know that whatever is intended to be, as long as we work for it and we keep following God, it will ultimately be revealed.
