Faith Driven Consumer™—the consumer advocacy organization representing 41 million Christian consumers who spend $2 trillion annually, has earned wide recognition for rating the faith compatibility of Hollywood films, measuring how they will resonate with faith-driven audiences, and predicting box office performance. The group’s Faith-Friendly Film Review system serves as a key resource for consumers to evaluate entertainment choices. 

The National Geographic/Scott Free Productions television movie Killing Jesus—which examines the life of Jesus Christ from three different perspectives—rates 3 out of 5 stars. 

Chris Stone, founder of Faith Driven Consumer and Certified Brand Strategist, has issued the following statement: 

“Killing Jesus failed to earn more than thee stars because it largely ignores the divinity of Jesus Christ—a non-negotiable for the faith audience. This offering from Ridley Scott and National Geographic has strong production values and is entertaining, but its humanistic depiction of the Son of God—void of the divine essence of His life—lacks appeal to audiences who hold this as the pivotal and most important story in all of history and in their personal lives.”

See Faith Driven Consumer’s review of Killing Jesus here: killing_jesus

Faith Driven Consumers and Christians overall: What they want in entertainment

• 96 percent of Faith Driven Consumers (FDCs) say that their faith has a major influence on their entertainment choices, compared to 47 percent of Christians overall. Sixty-one percent of FDCs rate faith’s influence as a 10, compared to 18 percent of Christians overall.
   
• 87 percent of Faith Driven Consumers are much more likely—58 percent very much more likely—to choose entertainment options that promote Christian-compatible values, compared to 54 percent of Christians overall, while 73 percent of Faith Driven Consumers avoid watching television and films that conflict with their Christian worldview, compared to 41 percent of Christians at large. 
   
• 81 percent of Faith Driven Consumers are likely to recommend a movie to others, compared to 79 percent of Christians overall. Forty-nine percent of FDCs are very likely to recommend a movie, compared to 39 percent of Christians overall, while 61 percent of Faith Driven Consumers are likely to discourage others from seeing a movie, compared to 49 percent of Christians overall. Thirty-one percent of FDCs are very likely to discourage a movie, compared to 17 percent of Christians overall. 
   
• 78 percent of Faith Driven Consumers say it would have a significant influence on their decision to see a film if their church encouraged it, compared to 55 percent of Christians overall, and 57 percent of Faith Driven Consumers’ churches encourage members to see specific faith-based films, compared to 36 percent of Christians overall.

Faith Driven Consumers and Christians overall: Importance of specific attributes

On a scale of 1 to 5, Faith Driven Consumers rate biblical accuracy as the No. 1 factor in considering a film. Below is how all factors were rated.

• 60 percent gave “how accurately the movie reflects the Bible” a 5 (4-5: 84 percent), compared to 28 percent of Christians overall.
   
• 59 percent gave “compatibility with Christian values” a 5 (4-5: 89 percent), compared to 23 percent of Christians overall.
   
• 56 percent gave “how appropriate the film is for children” a 5 (4-5: 78 percent), compared to 30 percent of Christians overall.
   
• 51 percent gave “faith-compatible characters and relationships” a 5 (4-5: 83 percent), compared to 21 percent of Christians overall.
   
• 51 percent gave “faith-compatible situations” a 5 (4-5: 83 percent), compared to 20 percent of Christians overall.
   
• 50 percent gave “entertainment value” a 5 (4-5: 83 percent), compared to 36 percent of Christians overall.

For further details on the poll, please go to: 

Faith Driven Consumer™—the consumer advocacy organization representing 41 million Christian consumers who spend $2 trillion annually, has earned wide recognition for rating the faith compatibility of Hollywood films, measuring how they will resonate with faith-driven audiences, and predicting box office performance. The group’s Faith-Friendly Film Review system serves as a key resource for consumers to evaluate entertainment choices. 

Coming to theaters nationwide this Friday, March 20, Pure Flix Entertainment’s latest film Do You Believe? receives a strong 4.5 out of 5 stars from Faith Driven Consumer, meaning the film is highly likely to resonate with the Faith Driven Consumer audience. Do You Believe? is the first major Pure Flix offering since last year’s surprise box office sensation God’s Not Dead, which captivated and inspired faith audiences for its willingness to directly address the issue of God’s existence and role in the world, and as a result raked in over $60 million in domestic box office returns.  

Chris Stone, Founder of Faith Driven Consumer and Certified Brand Strategist, has issued the following statement:
 
“Do You Believe? is bold, brave, reality filmmaking that every Faith Driven Consumer should see. Pure Flix does not shy away from a highly contentious cultural flashpoint but decides to meet it head on. Audiences will be fundamentally challenged to answer the question—do you really believe … enough to lose everything? What are you willing to risk by accepting Jesus and standing for your faith? 

“We see real life instances of people facing this reality today. Christians are losing their jobs, being prosecuted in court and ridiculed in the public square—all for expressing their faith.

“Do You Believe? squarely hits home. As with God’s Not Dead, faith-driven audiences will feel challenged, and inspired, by this movie. It’s not just entertainment; it’s a call to action.”  
 
Faith Driven Consumer’s Faith-Friendly Film Reviews are based on five core criteria: Overall Faith and/or Biblical Relevance; Faith-compatible Depiction of Characters and Character Relationships; Faith-compatible Depiction of Situations, Family Viewing Suitability; and Entertainment Value. 

Read the entire Do You Believe? review: you_believe 
 
American Insights Poll Finds Strong Consumer Demand for Faith Entertainment

• 89 percent of Faith Driven Consumers feel that they have different entertainment needs than the market at large.
   
• 87 percent of Faith Driven Consumers are much more likely—58 percent very much more likely—to choose entertainment options that promote Christian-compatible values.
   
• 55 percent of Faith Driven Consumers say there are not enough faith-and family-friendly movie options available, and 62 percent of Faith Driven Consumers would watch more than three hours of additional television or movies in a week if there were more faith-and family-friendly options available.

Wanderlust Productions—the independent film studio behind the cult hit trilogy Finger of God, Furious Love and Father of Lights—is poised to disrupt the entertainment industry’s long-established business model with the debut of its dynamic new documentary film, Holy Ghost.

Featuring a concert by Jake Hamilton & The Sound, the Holy Ghost World Premiere Experience will be a one-time, live global event on Sept. 6 in which anyone anywhere can see the film—for free.

Funded by 2,500 investors who surged to support director Darren Wilson’s Kickstarter campaign, Holy Ghost raised a record-breaking $360,000 in just 45 days to become the No. 1 most-funded, faith-based film in Kickstarter history. 

The film’s producers, who turned to fans to fund Holy Ghost, are now asking 25,000 of their most deeply dedicated fans to crowd-market and promote it with the launch of a new #HolyGhostExperience social-media campaign.

“Our fans crowdfunded Holy Ghost, and now they’re our mass-marketing and promotion team around the world. That’s why #HolyGhostExperience has gained instant traction, because tens of thousands are working to bring this project across the finish line,” said Braden Heckman, CEO of Wanderlust Productions.

“Every day the Holy Ghost team is working with supporters to spread the word by setting up events, signing up their friends, and engaging within their spheres of influence to give as many people as possible the opportunity to experience this movie.”

#HolyGhostExperience puts the consumer in the driver’s seat, empowering fans to take unlimited steps to promote the World Premiere Experience. Fans have the opportunity to participate by engaging in as many as five easy, seven moderate, and two challenging promotional tasks plus a daily, bonus challenge posed by the Holy Ghost social-media team. These include:

1. Share the Trailer: Show the movie’s trailer in local churches.
2. Enlist Churches to Join: Recruit their church to participate in the Holy Ghost World Premiere Experience on Sept. 6. Nearly 600 churches around the world have signed up to date.
3. Bring the Film to More Theaters: Create demand for HOLY GHOST to be shown in movie theaters using the demand-first distribution website Tugg. Almost 60 theaters have signed on purely by popular demand.
4. Host a Screening Party: Host a Holy Ghost house party.
5. Invite Friends: Encourage 10 people to see the World Premiere Experience.
6. Donate Accounts: Lend their social-media accounts to Holy Ghost to automatically send tweets and Facebook posts about the movie.
7. Fund the Marketing: Give $10 for 1,000 more people to see the trailer.
8. Send to a Stranger: Pre-purchase the DVD and send it to a randomly selected person in the U.S.

To learn more about Holy Ghost the World Premiere Experience and view the trailer, visit .

The group behind the recent  movement, which played a leading role in Phil Robertson’s return to Duck Dynasty, is tracking the commercial viability of major Hollywood films courting faith audiences this year. During 2014, the year of the Bible movie, studios are targeting 46 million Faith Driven Consumers who spend $ trillion annually.

The first such offering, Paramount’s film about Noah, could face commercial challenges with Faith Driven Consumers, according to a new online survey released Monday. The study shows that 98 percent of faith-driven consumers indicate their entertainment needs are not satisfied by Noah, a Bible-themed movie in which the biblical theme is reportedly replaced with one of Hollywood’s creation.   

“Faith Driven Consumers are eager to channel their formidable purchasing power toward entertainment choices that resonate with their values, and are keenly interested in the Bible-themed films that Hollywood studios are offering this year,” says Chris Stone, founder of Faith Driven Consumer and a certified brand strategist. “As such, moviemakers are positioned to realize large profits if they are successful in connecting with Faith Driven Consumers.

“However,” he continues, “our online survey finds that Paramount’s upcoming Noah film—widely reported to stray significantly from the core biblical message of the actual story—is going to face serious challenges resonating with Faith Driven Consumers, which could hurt the film’s bottom line. In order to increase its commercial viability, Paramount would be wise to take another look.”

With the impending release in March of the Paramount Pictures film Noah, starring Russell Crowe and directed by Darren Aronofsky, Faith Driven Consumer questioned members of the film’s target audience about the commercial viability of the $125 million movie given its widely reported and controversial deviation from the actual biblical narrative. 

Faith Driven Consumer surveyed its supporters online over several days, and with more than 5,000 responses thus far, found that 98 percent are not “satisfied with a biblically themed movie—designed to appeal to you—which replaces the Bible’s core message with one created by Hollywood.” The survey’s current margin of error is percent.