Producer, director, and writer, Rich Christiano, has been making films for almost 30 years. His feature films, like "Time Changer", have led me to believe that God does want to be known in media, and has been doing so through this talented and godly filmmaker. It is an honor helping to host his current project, 'The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry,' in Jacksonville, FL. I was blessed to forward him a few questions to where he was kind to answer them for me.
Here they are:
Mau-B: Thank you for allowing me to interview you, Rich. First question is, what was your first experience in the film industry?
Rich: I was raised in upstate New York, Roman Catholic. Was an altar boy for ten years, went to a Catholic grammar school, went to a Catholic college, but I did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. My brother and I wrote a script and when we were twenty years old we got in our car in Waterloo, New York and we drove cross-country to Hollywood. We gave our script to Max Baer, Jr. Most people remember him as Jethro on "The Beverly Hillbillies" and he wanted to buy the script! We negotiated one year with him, not over money, but over content. Even though we weren’t Christians this was a wholesome high school story and he wanted to put a lot of junk in it and we never signed a deal. He had an assistant who liked the script and offered us twice the money. We signed an option deal with him but he reneged on the first payment and we got our script back.
Mau-B: When did you come to know Christ?
Rich: I became a born-again believer on May 3, 1980 which is another long story. The first non-Catholic church I ever walked into was John MacArthur’s church; a fine Bible teacher. It changed my life. Now a lot of people think when you become a Christian you’ve got to go to Africa or something. But my brother and I wanted to make movies and God said, "Make them for Me." God got us out of California and we went to Jonesboro, Arkansas in 1981 to go back to school. I lived there for twenty one years.
MauB: I know that this isn't the first film you did with Gavin MacLeod. He was in "Time Changer", one of my favorite Christiano movies. Did you think about Gavin when you were writing about "Sperry"?
Rich: We wrote the character after Gavin MacLeod. When I was shooting "Time Changer" Gavin and I went out to eat and I told Gavin I had an idea for another film but I hadn’t written anything for it yet. I explained it to him and he said it sounded wonderful. Then I said we want you to play lead, Mr. Sperry. So when we set out to write the script, every line we wrote we knew Gavin could live it. About a month before we started I went over to his house and Gavin and I went through the whole script to make any changes and Gavin had some really simple, little things.."could I change this word to this and I’d say this"... and made a couple really nice additions. When I left that day we were both 100% on the same page with the character.
MauB: This film isn't based on a true story, however your intension is to get viewers to see how one individual can make a difference. How did you come up with the story? Where did the name, Jonathan Sperry, come from?
Rich: Growing up I didn’t have a Jonathan Sperry in my life. I had a good relationship with my parents, but I didn’t have a Jonathan Sperry. I’m not sure how I got this idea. I wanted to make a movie about an older man, just a normal person, and show with his wisdom how we can impact kids. Basically "The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry" could have been called "The Wisdom of Jonathan Sperry." It started out as an idea about this seventy-five year old man who starts talking to these three twelve year old boys to motivate them to read the Bible and follow the Lord. I wanted to set it in a small town. I grew up in a small town in upper New York and that’s where we filmed it. I wanted the double-decker houses, I wanted the sidewalks, the simple lifestyle. There are some elements in the film from my childhood. For example my two best friends growing up were Albert and Mark and so I used their names.
MauB: How would you encourage Christians to support Christian films, like Jonathan Sperry?
Rich: We want to give Christians the power to turn away from the secular movies they are being offered. Entertainment is like a drug, the God of this society, and people got to have their drugs and for the most part the Church plays defense. They complain to Hollywood, "Don’t make this" or "don’t do that" and that’s not going to get it done. You’ve got to play offense. You’ve got to provide the alternative. This is the alternative. I think people will be entertained. There are some good laughs in this film, and I think they will be inspired.
MauB: Rich, thank you so much for this interview opportunity.
The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry opens up at the AMC Regency Theater on Friday, February 26, 2010. Don't miss out on this outreach/family time.
About the author...
Mauricio Belgrano has been involved in video production for the last few years. After being taught by the best he now uses his craftsmanship to help Christian organizations enhance their message through visual media. His desire to do videography comes out of his deep passion for Christ.
Contact him at:
www.facebook.com/maubfilms
Producer, director, and writer, Rich Christiano, has been making films for almost 30 years. His feature films, like "Time Changer", have led me to believe that God does want to be known in media, and has been doing so through this talented and godly filmmaker. It is an honor helping to host his current project, The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry, in Jacksonville, FL. I was blessed to forward him a few questions to where he was kind to answer them for me. Here they are:
Mau-B: Thank you for allowing me to interview you, Rich. First question is, what was your first experience in the film industry?
Rich: I was raised in upstate New York, Roman Catholic. Was an altar boy for ten years, went to a Catholic grammar school, went to a Catholic college, but I did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. My brother and I wrote a script and when we were twenty years old we got in our car in Waterloo, New York and we drove cross-country to Hollywood. We gave our script to Max Baer, Jr. Most people remember him as Jethro on "The Beverly Hillbillies" and he wanted to buy the script! We negotiated one year with him, not over money, but over content. Even though we weren’t Christians this was a wholesome high school story and he wanted to put a lot of junk in it and we never signed a deal. He had an assistant who liked the script and offered us twice the money. We signed an option deal with him but he reneged on the first payment and we got our script back.
Mau-B: When did you come to know Christ?
Rich: I became a born-again believer on May 3, 1980 which is another long story. The first non-Catholic church I ever walked into was John MacArthur’s church; a fine Bible teacher. It changed my life. Now a lot of people think when you become a Christian you’ve got to go to Africa or something. But my brother and I wanted to make movies and God said, "Make them for Me." God got us out of California and we went to Jonesboro, Arkansas in 1981 to go back to school. I lived there for twenty one years.
MauB: I know that this isn't the first film you did with Gavin MacLeod. He was in "Time Changer", one of my favorite Christiano movies. Did you think about Gavin when you were writing about "Sperry"?
Rich: We wrote the character after Gavin MacLeod. When I was shooting "Time Changer" Gavin and I went out to eat and I told Gavin I had an idea for another film but I hadn’t written anything for it yet. I explained it to him and he said it sounded wonderful. Then I said we want you to play lead, Mr. Sperry. So when we set out to write the script, every line we wrote we knew Gavin could live it. About a month before we started I went over to his house and Gavin and I went through the whole script to make any changes and Gavin had some really simple, little things.."could I change this word to this and I’d say this"... and made a couple really nice additions. When I left that day we were both 100% on the same page with the character.
MauB: This film isn't based on a true story, however your intension is to get viewers to see how one individual can make a difference. How did you come up with the story? Where did the name, Jonathan Sperry, come from?
Rich: Growing up I didn’t have a Jonathan Sperry in my life. I had a good relationship with my parents, but I didn’t have a Jonathan Sperry. I’m not sure how I got this idea. I wanted to make a movie about an older man, just a normal person, and show with his wisdom how we can impact kids. Basically "The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry" could have been called "The Wisdom of Jonathan Sperry." It started out as an idea about this seventy-five year old man who starts talking to these three twelve year old boys to motivate them to read the Bible and follow the Lord. I wanted to set it in a small town. I grew up in a small town in upper New York and that’s where we filmed it. I wanted the double-decker houses, I wanted the sidewalks, the simple lifestyle. There are some elements in the film from my childhood. For example my two best friends growing up were Albert and Mark and so I used their names.
MauB: How would you encourage Christians to support Christian films, like Jonathan Sperry?
Rich: We want to give Christians the power to turn away from the secular movies they are being offered. Entertainment is like a drug, the God of this society, and people got to have their drugs and for the most part the Church plays defense. They complain to Hollywood, "Don’t make this" or "don’t do that" and that’s not going to get it done. You’ve got to play offense. You’ve got to provide the alternative. This is the alternative. I think people will be entertained. There are some good laughs in this film, and I think they will be inspired.
MauB: Rich, thank you so much for this interview opportunity.
The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry opens up at the AMC Regency Theater on Friday, February 26, 2010. Don't miss out on this outreach/family time.
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