Well, we wrapped up the fourth “What’s in the Bible?” DVD, which takes us through the book of Ruth. It should start showing up in stores around the beginning of October. I’m now in the midst of writing DVD #5, covering the lives of Samuel, Saul, David and Solomon. Fun stuff! That one will come out in the Spring of 2011. Response to the DVDs has been great, though we still need to keep getting the word out to churches and families who don’t know what we’re up to.
The church curriculum version of What’s in the Bible? is coming along well, and will probably be available this November. (Yes, we had hoped for an earlier date, but, well, we haven’t made Sunday School curriculum before! We’re getting the hang of it…)
On the JellyTelly front, we’re deep in talks with our partner Focus on the Family about plans for JellyTelly over the next few years. Too soon to say, but we’re talking about some fun stuff. We’re also looking at ways to create a TV series out of some of the stuff we’ve created, perhaps for Christian television. Oh, and 24 episodes of “Clive & Ian’s Wonder Blimp of Knowledge” are headed to your local Awana Club this Fall! (They’ll also probably show up on JellyTelly, but I’m not certain when that will happen yet.)
So… yeah… we’ve been busy. On top of that, our editor, Bill Ebel, has spent a bunch of the summer helping the Kendrick brothers (Facing the Giants, Fireproof) with their next feature film. Bill had a co-editing credit on Fireproof, and will probably have another one on the next film. He’s learning lots about theatrical production that could come in handy as we take on progressively more elaborate productions here at Jellyfish. We had a couple great interns in from our friends Huntington University to help out while Bill was gone. They were up to their elbows in Awana episodes!
Hmm… what else… oh, Sunday School Lady may be coming to a radio station near you to give Beth Moore a run for her money as America’s favorite female Bible teacher! We’re producing a series of 1-minute radio shorts where Sunday School Lady teaches different facts about the Bible. Those shorts are being picked up by numerous radio networks, including Moody and American Family Radio, so our slightly-deranged Sunday School teacher should be popping up all over the country!
What does it all add up to? Well, the goal is to provide multiple ways for kids and parents to bump into good, in-depth biblical teaching. We live in a world where 65% of our kids are walking away from the church as soon as they graduate from High School. We’re losing a generation. I recently spoke at the national Christian retail show, and, in reference to the shrinking budgets facing Christian producers everywhere, I said that if I have a chance to work with Pixar-sized budgets to produce Pixar-caliber animation, I will. If not, I’m going to grab a puppet and start shooting. Our kids need the content. We need to be resourceful enough to get it to them in as many ways as possible.
So… back to the lab! There’s more work to be done!
