Entries tagged with “Don Miller” from FaithBasedBlog.com

» Christianity Today: Jazz Gets the Blues

Interesting update on the movie project based on Donald Miller's popular book ...

A film adaptation of Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz, one of the most popular Christian books of the decade, has been put on hold until filmmakers can raise more money.

Director Steve Taylor, who has co-written the script with Ben Pearson with creative input from Miller, says they need to raise another $2.8 million before they can move forward with production. Filming for the $3.8 million project was to begin several months ago in Portland, but has been postponed indefinitely.

Taylor says his team is "fully prepped and ready to shoot. All we lack is the rest of our budget so we can finalize our lead cast."

Taylor says he's been surprised at how difficult it's been to raise the money for this project, considering the phenomenal success of Blue Like Jazz--more than a million copies sold, and counting.

"Some Christians came in early with a few hundred thousand dollars, and I just assumed the rest of the money would follow quickly," Taylor says. "It's surprising to me that most of the Christians we've met who have the resources to invest aren't familiar with Blue Like Jazz. The book's readership is primarily people in their 20s and 30s, but the investors we've met with tend to be much older, and typically don't have a frame of reference for what we're trying to make.

"Blue Like Jazz is for a college audience that goes to movies every weekend, whereas most movies developed within Christian circles seem pitched to older audiences that go once or twice a year. A few of the investors we've met have kids who love the book, but it's not like I can wait around until Daddy retires. This movie, like the book, doesn't have a ready precedent--which is one of the reasons I want to make it--but that lack of precedent makes investors uncomfortable. That, and the sweat that pours off me when I sit in high-backed leather chairs."

Taylor joked that he doesn't play golf or polo, "so how can I expect to cultivate wealthy friends? My business partners have a new strategy for these meetings--they're keeping me out of the room."

I'll be honest, I've got no idea what to expect of a movie adaptation of this book, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. I'm just not sure how entertaining this story comes across in movie form. But hopefully, I'm just not imaginative enough on this count and it'll be a great movie once it's finally made.

On another Don Miller note, he finished out the first night of the Democratic National Convention by giving the benediction. And since it's Tuesday, it may as well be another YouTube Tuesday: