'Faith' films in edgy territory

Erik Lokkesmoe was one of the producers of the visually lovely Last Days in the Desert, an independent film now in limited release. I thought it was too enigmatic, but that was partly what drew Lokkesmoe to the project. Lokkesmoe, a Christian, wants to produce films with his company Aspiration Media, in what he calls “the middle space.” He talked about why he backed Last Days and what he thinks about films targeted at the “faith-based audience.” This interview has been edited for length.

Your production company, Aspiration Media, is not Christian by description. The company is rooted in a common grace vision for what art and entertainment should be. … That opens up a number of scripts for us to look at. That’s also a better tactic for cultural stewardship because we’re not afraid of difficult things. We’re confident in what we believe, but we’re not afraid of taking on difficult things. … That protects us from chasing whatever the hottest thing is in the moment.

Our view of art is that it’s really about a pre-Christian mindset, a pre-Christian culture. If we believe in a post-Christian world, we’re naturally going to be in a defensive posture. … If you believe you’re in a pre-Christian world—the pre-evangelistic idea of art—we can enter in with excellence and artistry. We can ask new questions and start new conversations. … I don’t believe my job is to give all the answers all the time. I’m called to give a defense and be at the ready, but … my job is to give you an amazing experience, so you can’t shake what you see on the screen.

It’s the most cluttered marketplace in history. People are gravitating more toward brands rather than one-offs. The Kendrick brothers [who produced Fireproof and War Room] have a brand. That’s why they’re winning and doing so well. … Fox Searchlight, Pixar, Marvel, Disney—when I hear as a parent that Pixar has a movie out this fall, I’m going. It’s not even a question.

So as applied to Aspiration … Whatever we market, distribute, produce, we want to say that it represents that “middle space” audience and you can trust that we’re bringing the best in that category.

Did you have reservations about backing a movie about Jesus? It is such a personal thing—and I get it, why people can be taken aback or offended.

I almost wish it was titled “Son of Man,” or log-lined “Son of Man.” It was the first chance I saw of Jesus as lonely, isolated, and maybe more theologically interesting to me. … We know in the life of Christ, He passed by people who are sick and he didn’t always intervene. He didn’t intervene at every point.

I’m not interested—is this one line correct. I’m more interested in what’s happening below the surface. … I wasn’t trying to please the broadest audience from day one. Six people at a table could have six different variations of the story. That’s not good for marketing, but it’s good for art and where biblical storytelling should be.

What kind of audience does Aspiration target? We have those in the faith category who are looking for better stories … they just want something that’s a better story. It’s not even production quality, because production quality is improving every year. But is it a good story?

There’s a larger group of people who are maybe fatigued by large, tent-pole, apocalyptic, superhero movies who want more deeper, thoughtful, soulful stories. … We’re trying to create for an audience that doesn’t have any natural buckets to go to. There’s not a natural Aspiration audience.

I don’t want to make a living off peddling my wares to the church. I want a big and diverse audience, and the church is very much invited. But we’re not doing things just for that market.

What kind of response have you gotten from audiences on Last Days? Some people hate the ending. Some people love the ending. … Is this theologically correct? Is Satan omniscient? All these things are coming up that are fantastic questions. That’s what I think art should do. So hopefully there’s an audience that sees there’s a different way.

In the Apostles Creed, we talk about the fact that Jesus descended into hell. We go over that very quickly. But wait a second, what is that? Are we telling stories that are just Easter Sunday type of stories, empty tomb—which is great, we don’t want to critique those. But there is a Friday and Saturday story … Permission should be given to those artists who are wrestling with the gospel and what it means to follow Christ.