When film producer Kristen Brancaccio heard there was a film in the works about Easter called “Forty-Seven Days With Jesus,” she was immediately interested because it reminded her of performing in Vacation Bible School plays as a child.
She ended up being in charge of finding distribution for the film and helping to cast actors.
The show stars “The Chosen” actors Yoshi Barrigas and Catherine Lidstone, as well as Cameron Arnett and Joshua Triplett.
“I remember these Bible stories so well from childhood,” Ms. Brancaccio told The Epoch Times. “You learn them in Sunday school but you get a different experience when you’re actually engaging with them creatively through the arts, through dance, singing or acting. It felt like coming full circle for me to work on the film.”
“Forty-Seven Days With Jesus” is one of a slew of faith-based films and TV shows that have been produced and released by various directors and production companies in recent years.
Others include “His Only Son,” “Journey to Bethlehem,” “The Chosen,” “Birthright: Outlaw,” “Legacy Peak,” and “Testament: The Story of Moses.”
But “Forty-Seven Days With Jesus” is different, according to Ms. Brancaccio.
“The movie is about a modern family and we’re directly showing how the Easter story is still relevant to them today,” she said. “We’re going back in time with the family, but because the framing of the story is from the modern-day family’s perspective, they’re dealing with very modern-day problems.”
Those problems include general disconnectedness, such as cell phone addiction and workaholism among family members, and how they impact the Burdons.
The father, Joseph Burdon, struggles with work-life balance as his father, Poppa, nears the end of his life. Joseph’s wife, Juliana Burdon, is frustrated with how little time he spends with her and the children.
“All these things are just so relatable,” Ms. Brancaccio said. “We tell the Easter story through music, and that’s unique because worship music is such a big part of the modern Christian experience. It’s these elements coming together and showing how the gospel can impact us today.”
The family faces a critical moment when Joseph Burdon ponders working Easter weekend until a book called “Forty-Seven Days With Jesus,” which Poppa reads to his grandchildren, influences the outcome of their holiday in a positive manner.
Ms. Brancaccio attributes the rising number of faith-based films like “Forty-Seven Days With Jesus” to Christian audiences seeking ways to proselytize to non-believing friends and family.
“Of course, people enjoy them and want to be entertained but it’s also coming from a place of wanting to share aspects of themselves that can be difficult if you have a loved one who doesn’t want to go to church with you,” she said.
Filming was completed partly in Gato, California, adjacent to Santa Barbara, after 35 days with a temporary interruption caused by last year’s SAG-AFTRA strike.
Biblical scenes were filmed in Temecula, California, and at the film production company Capernaum Studios in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, which is where a few seasons of “The Chosen” were filmed.
“We were operating from a very simple and pure place but we didn’t have any studio attachment and we didn’t have any deep connections in Hollywood,” Ms. Brancaccio said in an interview with The Epoch Times. “We were just making this movie and hoping it would somehow find its audience.”
Rolland Jacks, executive producer, bankrolled the entire production and Ms. Brancaccio secured distribution after meeting with Dave Mechem, an executive associated with Pinnacle Peak Pictures.
Headquartered in Scottsdale, Pinnacle Peak Pictures is an American evangelical Christian film production company and distribution studio that has produced Christian films, such as “God’s Not Dead,” “Do You Believe?” “Woodlawn,” “The Case for Christ,” and “Unplanned.”
“Rolland just wants to spread the good news,” Ms. Brancaccio said. “Rolland and Emilio Palame started writing music together about the story of Easter. It was from that meditative musical place they realized it should be something else.”
In addition to helping create the music, Mr. Palame also directed the film while David Gutel wrote the screenplay.
Earlier this month, the film premiered at more than 950 theatres nationwide in just three days.
“Building out the awareness was the hardest thing for us because, with a small independent film, we weren’t dealing with a whole lot of money for marketing but just even having the opportunity and the fact that we finished in the top 10 in the box office every night we screened, shows there is strong interest,” she said.
Currently, the film is available through the end of May for churches to screen as a holiday film, not just Easter.
Eventually, it will be available on demand to the general public on a streaming platform
“It’s a great family movie in general, but it could particularly be great for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day because there’s so many family themes in the movie,” Ms. Brancaccio added.
