A ministry based in Pennsylvania has announced a new venture that would bring more Christian content to the big screen.
After 50 years of delivering stories from the Bible to the stage in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Branson, Missouri to more than 300 million audiences, Sight & Sound ministry has announced the launch of Sight & Sound Films. This comes at the heels of their streaming service Sight & Sound TV, which launched during the COVID pandemic.
According to a press release, Sight & Sound ministry's Christian film studio will be backed by a "long-standing team of talented writers, actors, engineers, builders and even animal trainers" who will collaborate to create content that would "inspirational true stories" globally.
"This multi-generational, family-run ministry began as a traveling multimedia show, so in many ways, making motion pictures feels like we're returning to our roots," Sight & Sound President and Chief Story Officer Josh Enck said.
What is Sight & Sound Films?
Sight & Sound ministry traces its roots back to 1976 as a traveling multimedia show. Today, the ministry continues on its mission to "create spectacular entertainment experiences for the whole family." Today, the ministry owns and operates two live theaters in Pennsylvania and Missouri. In 2020, it launched an online streaming platform that serves a global virtual audience from more than 175 countries all over the world.
Sight & Sound ministry's new Christian film studio continues on that very same mission to deliver Christian content through accessible mediums. Sight & Sound CEO Matt Neff said that they were "humbled" to be able to share stories beyond the stage, adding, "We want these films to ring out above the noise of culture and bring hope, truth, and inspiration to the silver screen."
Sight & Sound's Director of Marketing and Communications Katie Miller, who is also the granddaughter of company founder Glenn Eshelman, recounted to the Christian Post about how the Christian film studio came to fruition. It turns out that the idea for a Christian film studio had come even before the COVID pandemic hit. The pandemic stalled the project, Miller admitted, saying that they thought they could probably do it "years down the road."
Surprisingly, the COVID pandemic in fact "sped up" the process of developing the Pennsylvania ministry's Christian film studio instead of slowing it down. Miller admitted, "That became just such an answer to prayer and just really felt like God's faithfulness throughout the whole situation."
What to Expect from Sight & Sound Films
Sight & Sound productions are known for bringing biblical narrative found in Scripture to the stage. Now, with its Christian film studio, the ministry will be able to tell "different stories...all still with a biblical foundation, and inspirational stories of faith," Miller explained, as per Religion News Service. The goal of the Christian film studio is to tell the "true stories about historical figures who changed the world because Christ first changed them."
Viewers can expect to see Sight & Sound Films' first endeavor as soon as December 2022. The film is titled "I Heard the Bells" and it follows the story of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who is known as America's Poet. During the time of the Civil War, Longfellow's life is turned upside down with grief. He then finds the will to write again on one Christmas morning, as it helps him reignite his "lost voice" and discover the "resounding hope of rekindled faith."
Related Article: 'The Chosen' Studio Announces New Content To 'Amplify Light' Amid Darkness
