PRODUCED BY FAITH by DeVon Franklin—read an excerpt!

8/7/2019 PRODUCED BY FAITH by DeVon Franklinread an excerpt!

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HOWARD BOOKSA Division o Simon & Schuster, Inc.

New York Nashville London Toronto Sydney


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Howard BooksA Division o Simon & Schuster, Inc.

1230 Avenue o the Americas

New York, NY 10020Copyright 2011 by DeVon Franklin

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereoin any orm whatsoever. For inormation address Howard Books Subsidiary

Rights Department, 1230 Avenue o the Americas,New York, NY 10020.

First Howard Books hardcover edition May 2011

HOWARD and colophon are trademarks o Simon & Schuster, Inc.

For inormation about special discounts or bulk purchases,please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949

or [email protected].

The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authorsto your live event. For more inormation or to book an event,

contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

Designed by Davina Mock-Maniscalco

Manuactured in the United States o America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library o Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Franklin, DeVon.Produced by aith: enjoy real success without losing your true sel /DeVon Franklin with Tim Vandehey.

p. cm.Includes bibliographical reerences.

1. SuccessReligious aspectsChristianity.2. Motion picture industryMiscellanea. I. Vandehey, Tim. II. Title.

BV4598.3.F73 2011248.4'86732dc22

2010045978

ISBN 978-1-4391-7103-5

ISBN 978-4516-1270-7 (ebook)

Scriptures marked NIV are taken rom the Holy Bible, New InternationalVersion. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

Used by permission o Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scriptures marked NLTare taken rom the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1995.

Used by permission o Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.All rights reserved. Scriptures marked The Message are taken rom

The Message, 1994 by Eugene H. Peterson, NavPress, all rights reserved.Scriptures marked NASB are taken rom the New American Standard Bible,copyright 1971 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.

Scriptures marked NKJV are taken rom the Holy Bible, New King JamesVersion, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Scriptures marked KJV are taken romthe Holy Bible, Authorized King James Version.


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This book is dedicated

to the memory o

my ather, Donald Ray Franklin I;

my grandparents, Anita and James Camell;

and my great-grandparents, Ida and Percival Phillips.

I also dedicate this book to all o you

who have struggled with holding on to your aith.

This is one o lies most challenging pursuits.

I understand you, and I applaud you or not giving up hope.

This is my tribute to you.


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vii

CONTENTS

Preface 1

ParT ONe: DEVELOPMENT

chaPTer ONe: You, the Movie 11

chaPTer TwO: Whats the Big Idea? 21

chaPTer Three: Selling It 37

chaPTer fOur: Writing the Script 57

chaPTer five: Getting Notes 73

chaPTer six: Development Hell 89

chaPTer seveN: Gods Budget

and Production Schedule 105

chaPTer eighT: Its All About Casting 123

chaPTer NiNe: Gods Green Light 137


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CONTENTS

viii

ParT TwO: PRODUCTION

chaPTer TeN: Lights, Camera, Action! 155

chaPTer eleveN: Cutting It Together 173

chaPTer Twelve: Marketing and Publicity 191

chaPTer ThirTeeN: Gods Distribution Plan 207

chaPTer fOurTeeN: You, the Sequel 223

ackNOwledgmeNTs 241


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Also, each chapter is accompaniedby a video introduction.

When you see a code, simply scan it with the free WiMO app

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Scanning chapter codewith the WIMO App:

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1

PREfACE

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:56 NKJV

iwas deep in the heart o Beijing, Peoples Republic o China,

in the summer o 2009. For the rst time in my career, I wasthe lead studio executive on a eature lmthe remake o

The Karate Kid, starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, son

o actor Will Smith.

Its important to understand that Beijingthe ancient

capital o Chinais huge. The urban area alone contains

about 13 million residents; thats our cities o Los Angeles.

Beijing is also complex on a Byzantine scale, and with theproducers, entire crew, and cast there, we had ventured ar


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PREfACE

2

into some o the oldest parts o the city, into ancient neigh-

borhoods called hutongs where the living style was more

communal and we could nd the character and eel we were

looking or.

Getting cast, crew, and equipment there was a major

undertaking, the shots were taking a long, long time to set

up and complete, and as I stood there, we were running out

o daylight.

Sunset is usually panic time or a lm crew. Unless

youre shooting night scenes, you try to work in every last

shot you can, using refectors to capture every last bit o

natural light. The crew was working as quickly as they

could to maximize what was a very expensive day o pro-

duction. But I had other concerns. I glanced at my watch,

shot a look at the disappearing sun, and knew that even

though I was the sole representative or Columbia Pictureson set, I had to leave.

I had no choice. That is, I didnt give mysela choice.

Fortunately, the producers knew that I would be making

my way back to the hotel. It wasnt a surprise to anybody.

I pulled one o the production assistants aside, told him I

would be catching a taxi, let the production in the capable

hands o the producers and director, and disappeared intothe streets o Beijing. It was an act that might have been ridi-

culed i I hadnt set a precedent years beore and remained

committed to it. Leaving set on the rst movie youre run-

ningshooting halway around the worldisnt advisable i

you want a long prosperous career in Hollywood.

But I didnt lose my job.

In act, my departure didnt make a ripple in the daysshoot. I was able to attend to something innitely more im-


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PREfACE

3

portant: keeping a promise to God that I made many years

beore.

I was born thirty-two years ago and raised as a

Seventh-day Adventist. Among other things, that means I

celebrate the Sabbath. So rom sunset on Friday to sunset

on Saturday, I unplug rom my hectic lie as a Columbia

lm executive. No work. I dont check e-mail or roll calls.

I break the ourth commandment o the movie business

Thou shalt never turn o thy BlackBerryand turn o my

BlackBerry.

The Sabbath is my time with the Lord, my time to un-

wind rom the pressures o work, heal, and refect on the

many blessings in my lie and the career path that has led me

here. On Friday nights I study my Bible, pray, spend quiet

hours in communion with God, and make plans with amily

or church and ellowship on Saturday.Unless I happen to be in Beijing. In that case, Ill read

Scripture, watch the incredible metropolis slowly come to

lie, and pray that the dailies look good. Normally I would

go to church, but in China most o the Christian churches

are underground and I had no idea how to go about nding

them. So I settled or reading the Bible and spending time in

private communion with Godmy own personal church inthe midst o one o the worlds busiest cities.

The next morning, I decided that didnt want to spend

the entire Sabbath in my hotel room. I ended up going

to a park right outside the Olympic Village where I could

sit under Gods sky, watch the birds, listen to gospel music,

and read the Word. As I was going through Romans,

the idea came to me or this book. Just like that, clearas day.


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PREfACE

4

* * *

YOU MAY fIND IT impossible that a Hollywood studio ex-ecutive is also a devout Christian. But its not a contradic-

tion. In reality, my business is not very dierent rom your

own. There are opportunities, politics, unspoken expecta-

tions, and a set o rules or advancement that are very di-

erent rom the Lords rules. No matter what line o work

you nd yoursel in, you may eel that being a Christian is

holding you back. You may eel caught between a rock and

a hard place. On one hand, i you dont toe the company line

and put your career rst, can you still call yoursel a com-

pany man or woman? On the other, i you ignore the Word

and set aside the precepts o your aith when its convenient,

can you still call yoursel a Christian? Sometimes, it eels like

were walking on a tightrope and below us theres no net,

just a big, dark abyss.

Ive got great news. Ive ound that it is possible to put

Christ rst and have a thriving career. In act, I believe its

necessary. My avorite scripture is Philippians 4:13, I can

do all things through Christ who strengthens me. God is

our strength; his love, demonstrated through us, can move

mountains and change hearts. Being a Christian is actually

a competitive edge . . . provided that you place your aith

rst above even your proessional aspirations. Even i in the

past youve compromised and slid partway down that slip-

pery slope, its still possible to nd your way back. I I have

learned anything, its this:

To get where you want to go, you frst haveto become the person God wants you to be.


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PREfACE

5

I know writing this book is denitely part o my journey

to become who God wants me to be. Some would probably

say Im crazy. The common practice when youre in business

is that you write a book ater youve either reached your goal

and accumulated some power and prominence or let your

industry altogether. Im in neither place. Im just like most

o the people reading this book: still climbing the corporate

ladder and/or right in the middle o my career pursuit. Yet

I believe God has called me right now to share my unique

experiences and this urgent message with you, so I must be

obedient to his will.

The message? During my time in the lm industry, I have

put my aith ront and center or everyone to see. Its my

experience that people handle the intersection o aith and

career in one o two ways. Some conceal their belies at the

workplace, dumping their Christian principles on the kitchentable like a spare set o keys when they leave the house in the

morning. Others reuse the command to be in the world but

not o the world and work only in environments run by and

or other Christians.

Both approaches are problematic. I we lock our aith in

the closet rom nine to ve because were araid o ridicule

or questions about our loyalty, what governs our choicesin climbing the career ladder? Will we lie, cheat others, or

stab people in the back, then go home at the end o the day

and put on our Im a Christian clothes again? Plenty o

people do exactly that because they ear that i they go pub-

lic with their aith at work, they will be perceived as weak,

divisive, or unwilling to do whatever it takes to succeed.

But i we make such a choice, what does that say about ouraith?


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PREfACE

6

On the other hand, as believers we sometimes shun the

secular world and limit our job prospects to a select group

o potential employers or industries that we believe will be

Christian riendly. But by doing so, we can lock ourselves in

an echo chamber o ideas and belies just like our own, so we

never really stretch or grow. Sometimes, we come to regard

the world outside our bubble as the enemy.

When some Christians learn that Ive worked in enter-

tainment or over ten years, I can eel them take a mental

step backward, as i they eel Im sleeping with the enemy.

Im not oended; to many Christians, Hollywood is a

modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah. This business is prob-

ably the last place most people expect to nd a young Chris-

tian visibly and vocally expressing his aith while progress-

ing in his career. But the truth is that not only has relying

on my aith not harmed my career prospects, it has actuallyenhanced them.

Thrilling opportunities to work with the most dynamic

people in the world have come my way precisely because I

have been uncompromising about my Christian principles

and making service to God the centerpiece o my work. Over

the course o my career I have developed a set o guiding

principles that I live by:

Gds will s pririty vr i.

Cit t t prcss f sccss tt Gd

s pld fr , ttr w lg it

takes.

Gd s t trity t pt y iti icheck.


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PREfACE

7

Striv t lt t lv f Crist pprt i

vrytig I d.

D t llw si t rsid i y r f y

lie. I I allow it, I understand it will limit my

ility t rciv Gds fll lssigs.

D vrytig i y pwr t rig Gds

prps fr y lif t friti (faith without

works is dead).

Dt tk srtcts; if I wt t tr ty lifs, t srtcts d t xist.

Rr t dw dys t vr

giv p yslf d t drs Gd s

giv .

I base every career decision, big and small, on these pre-

cepts. Thats not an easy thing to do. There is a lot o tempta-

tion in every business rom nance to academia to take the

quick and easy path to successto violate our values or

promotion or because no one will ever know. Ive elt pres-

sure on numerous occasions to abandon my commitment

to Christ, but then I remember the words o Jesus when he

asked, For what will it prot a man i he gains the whole

world and loses his own soul?

I can truly say there is nothing in this world worth giving

up what I believe in.

Im amazed at the number o people o all aiths Ive met

who dont understand that their aith is not an obstacle to

ullling their dreams but the path to them. They dont under-stand the power that a total commitment to God grants them.


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PREfACE

8

I spent a great deal o time not long ago with a young

aspiring actor who talked about his career struggles: going

to auditions, trying to get in to see casting directors, exhaust-

ing himsel, not knowing what to do, going to church to try

to hook up with this or that individual. I listened or a while

and then said, Where do you think God is in all o this?

Have you prayed and looked or where he is leading you in

your aspiration?

He hadnt.

He was a Christian, but it never occurred to him that

God had a place in his career pursuits.

I know rom many o my own experiences that i you put

your career in Gods hands and trust him, you cant account

or all the ways he will bless you. But you have to take that

leap o aith, and even i you consider yoursel a believer,

that can be the hardest part. Gods love is unconditional,but we need the aith to silence our own voice and listen to

his. Then we can really hear what hes been trying to tell us

about our careers all along.

Ive written Produced by Faith to help you make that

leap o aith. By sharing my story and my testimony o how

my aith has actually been the greatest asset in my advance-

ment, I hope to inspire you to take a new view o Godsrole in your career. At the end o the day, you dont have to

choose between your aith and your work. Faith and works

are two sides o the same coin.


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PART ONE

DEVELOPMENT


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11

ChAPTER ONE

YOU, THE MOVIE

In the beginning

God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1 NIV

T

he movie business is all about telling great stories. Its my

job to identiy those stories that will entertain audiencesall over the world. Stories are built on setups and payos.

When a screenwriter creates characters and situations in the

rst act o a lm, those characters and situations have to

pay o by the end. The bad guy goes to jail, the girl nally

chooses the cool vampire instead o the hunky werewol, and

so on. I you dont have a payo in the third act, you dont

have a commercial movie . . . you have a bad student lm.Ive ound that one o the best ways to talk about how to


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DEVELOPMENT

12

nd success and keep your aith is by putting it in the con-

text o your lie as a story. Its much easier to put your trust

in God when you can see your lie and career as a story

with setups and payos, high points and low points just like

every movie has.

The trouble is that when you are a character in a story

when you are immersed in ityou cant see how things will

progress in the uture. You lack perspective. Its tough to

lose the job you loved, shrug, and say, Oh well, God is

obviously putting me in a position or something better to

happen in a ew weeks. It becomes very easy to assume

that things will always be the way they are today. When

things are going well, we sometimes lose perspective and

start to think were in control o things. But all it takes is

one wrong turn and we quickly remember thats just not

true.The truth is, you and I are in control o only two things:

how we prepare or what mighthappen and how we respond

to what justhappened. The moment when things actually do

happen belongs to God.

You might be writing your story with the choices you

make, but God is the director. Like all good directors, he

has a vision or how your story will progress. He has aplan that will shape you into someone who can best serve

him and this world. But how will you know what God has

in mind or you unless you trust him to direct your story?

Even when our aith seems to get in the way o our prog-

ress, we can remain aithul to God and trust his direc-

tion. Thats been my approach since I got to Hollywood. It

hasnt always been easy to remember that God has a planor me, but whenever I have trusted in that plan and sur-


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YOU, THE MOVIE

13

rendered my ate to the Lord, he has done amazing things.

Another approach is to abandon Gods path at the rst

sign o resistance and do whatever it takes to climb the lad-

der, regardless o cost. But beore you do that, let me ask

you this: What i you are just one bend in the road away

rom achieving your God-ordained purpose? I you give up

on your aith now, could you live with knowing that your

chance o a lietime was only one act o aith away? I had

a conversation recently with Will Smith about this idea; he

told me that many people trying to make it get rustrated

and dont give themselves over to the process o success. He

said, The distance between you and success isnt necessarily

a yardits an inch. But to get that nal inch is excruciating.

You have to stay committed.

Then theres that word: success. Its a unny word with a

lot o denitions. For some people, success means making alot o money. Full stop. For others, it means ame. However,

i youre really a Christian and you have made your aith the

centerpiece o your lie, then true success is much more than

ortune or ame. Success is condence and contentment in

the person God has made you to be. Success is living a good,

just, and honorable lie, becoming the kind o person who

inspires others to ollow God. Success is also discovering andliving in your purpose.

I you crave this kind o success in your career, then Gods

purpose must take the place o your own. Faith is your in-

surance. Even i you are laughed out o the conerence room

because o what you believe, your aith will reconcile what

you lose and more than make up the dierence in what you

will gain. There are times when I get earul or upset aboutsomething that doesnt work out in my avor, and in those


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DEVELOPMENT

14

moments, I have to remind mysel that God is working. He

will ultimately provide. He will help me get to my destina-

tion, even when it eels like I might be moving slower than

I think I should or watching other people pass me by. The

more we rely on God to direct our lives, the closer we draw

to our ultimate purpose . . . even i we dont realize it.

TheReS noThInG abouT ambITIon that runs counter

to Christianity. Joshua 1:8 also reads, Keep this Book o the

Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so

that you may be careul to do everything written in it. Then

you will be prosperous and successul. When aith in Gods

purpose guides your eet on your career path, your work is

blessed, because ultimately what you do serves Gods higherpurpose.

Career isnt everything. We have our amilies, our civic

lives, and our private inner lives. But career permeates every-

thing. You might spend hal your adult lie wanting to run

a company, laboring to care or patients, teach students, de-

end the accused in court, sell homes, build homes, or write

or newspapershow can such a pursuit not shape who youbecome?

So i career is shaping who you become, and your aith

isnt integrally involved in your career choices, then what

good is your aith? Its time to start looking at your aith

not as an obstacle to your career progress, but as an asset. A

lot o times we dont look at aith in that way. But its time

to uniy aith and career as dual assets toward achieving thesame goal: our progress in becoming people who can have


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YOU, THE MOVIE

15

the maximum positive impact on this world. Career should

be a spiritual pursuit, not just a physical or nancial one.

Your career should be where your dreams, aspirations, tal-

ents, and hopes or the present and uture play out.

So how do we balance career and aith? How do we

climb the ladder toward our vision o who we want to be-

come while remaining true to the undamentals that make

us who we are? How do we serve God while operating

in a realm that sometimes disrespects what we believe in,

where we might be regarded as weird or irrational? How

do we engage in, trust, and stay with the process when at

times it looks as i were going nowhereor worse, going

backward?

The key is remembering your story. The spiritual career

journey parallels the steps involved in bringing a movie rom

the initial idea to theatrical releasea process known asDevelopment and Production. In this process you are Gods

writing partner, God is the director, and each step is crucial.

No idea becomes a movie without passing through these

stages, and even though some o these stages can be dicult,

tedious, or even painul, each leads to the next and hopeully

to success.

Development is the oten challenging, sometimes con-ounding process in which a raw idea slowly takes shape

as a clear vision. In Hollywood, development starts when a

writer or producer has an idea, something like A disabled

soldier goes native with an alien race and deends their beau-

tiul civilization against his own people, which is the idea

behind the blockbuster movie Avatar. In your career, Devel-

opment begins when you have your rst vision o what youwant your uture to look like. When you can see yoursel as


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DEVELOPMENT

16

a lawyer, athlete, speaker, or engineer and decide to pursue a

path that leads to the realization o that vision, Development

is under way. It has its own distinct stages:

whaTs The Big idea?your vision or the

kind o success you want to have and the person

you want to become

selliNg iTwhen you nd an employer or in-

dustry that will serve your goals and Gods goals

wriTiNg The scriPTmaking and ollowing

your plan through all its plot twists

geTTiNg NOTeswhen God gives you eed-

back and you (hopeully) listen and adjust your

course

develOPmeNT hellthe times when you

hit obstacles and must nd a way past them

gOds BudgeT aNd PrOducTiON

schedulewhen you gure out what achiev-

ing your goals will cost and how long it will take

iTs all aBOuT casTiNgguring out the

people you need in your lie to bring your story

into production

gOds greeN lighTwhen God brings

you together with the opportunity youve been

working toward


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YOU, THE MOVIE

17

In Hollywood, a production executive oversees the devel-

opment o a lm, guiding the idea as it is shaped and rened.

In your lie, God should oversee the Development o your

career. With a lm idea, there are many points along the way

where a project can ail and be abandoned. In your career

pursuits, there are also many opportunities to surrender your

principles or lose aith in Gods direction. Through stories

rom my own career and the careers o others, Im going to

show you how important it is that you trust God and trust

the process. I you stay true to your ideals, pay attention

to the things God reveals to you, work hard, and surround

yoursel with good people, you will develop. You will grow

in aith, wisdom, and abilityand eventually you will reach

your goals.

When that happens, you go into Production. The stages

o Production:

Lights, Camera, aCtion!where you are

in the position youve sought and now must per-

orm and produce results or God

Cutting it togetherwhere you experi-

ence how God will put the pieces o your career

and aith together to create your road to success

marketing and PubLiCityin which God

will market and promote who you are becoming

gods distribution PLanyou see how

the person God has shaped you to be impacts

the larger world


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DEVELOPMENT

18

you, the sequeLGod gets you ready or

the next stage o your career

Production begins when God has ully shaped your vi-

sion, character, and talents and is ready to put you to work

or his purpose. For a lm, going into production signi-

es that it is time to turn the idea into a product. For you,

Production occurs when you reach the position or career to

which you have long aspired and youre ready to start re-

ally making things happen. Youll begin becoming someone

who can have a meaningul impact on Gods behal. God will

distribute your infuence to the world and you and he will

observe what kind o positive eect you can have on those

around you. Youll reap some rewards and learn how you can

improve the outcome the next time youre in Development.

In his wisdom, the Lord sends us on an endless, cycli-

cal journey. Thats what You, the Sequel, is all about. Youll

achieve one goal or him, and immediately start working on

another. He might send you back into Development again

so that you can learn new lessons, test your aith, and grow

wiser and stronger. He might even direct you into a new

career. The more you trust God to lead you to glory, even

through layos and setbacks, conficts and ailed ideas, the

more success and joy you will nd.

Through this book, my intent is to be your guide through

all the stages o Development and Production, even as I move

through those stages mysel with no idea o what is com-

ing tomorrow but innite aith that God has a great plan.

Along the way, Ill pass along some crucial strategies thatIve learned about in my career, including:


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YOU, THE MOVIE

19

hw t discvr T big Id fr yr lif

hw t tk yr crr t t xt lvl

hw t rcgiz t sigs Gd sds y

tt idict w its ti t v i

new direction

hw t std fir yr Cristi

pricipls witt cpris

hw t wrk wit ppl w dt

drstd yr lifs

hw t cs prfssi, idstry, r

cpy tt is i t wit yr prps

I I can take my personal ambition and my service to

Christ and make both more successul without compromis-

ing, you can. Let this be your handbook or progressing in

your career and your aith at the same time, without com-

promising either one.

Documents

PRODUCED BY FAITH by DeVon Franklin—read an excerpt!