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{"id":1869,"date":"2012-04-24T10:34:49","date_gmt":"2012-04-24T16:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tinseltalk\/?p=1869"},"modified":"2012-04-24T12:50:54","modified_gmt":"2012-04-24T18:50:54","slug":"is-the-christian-fatwa-over-makers-of-blue-like-jazz-and-october-baby-talk-it-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tinseltalk\/2012\/04\/is-the-christian-fatwa-over-makers-of-blue-like-jazz-and-october-baby-talk-it-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the ‘Christian Fatwa’ over? Makers of ‘Blue Like Jazz’ and ‘October Baby’ talk it out"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>We reported previously on a \u201cChristian fatwa\u201d<\/a> allegedly imposed on Steve Taylor\u2019s Blue Like Jazz<\/a><\/em> by the Kendrick brothers. Their company, Sherwood Pictures, makes Christian market movies like Fireproof<\/em> and\u00a0Courageous<\/em> and distributes them with Provident Pictures. The most recent distributed through Provident was October Baby<\/a>. <\/em>The \u201cfatwa\u201d involved a refusal to promote Blue Like Jazz <\/em>via trailers at October Baby<\/em> screenings and a threat that people who worked with Blue Like Jazz<\/em> would no longer be able to work with Sherwood and Provident.<\/p>\n

In a blog post just published<\/a>, Taylor describes a phone call Saturday night in which he hashed out the issue with Alex Kendrick, whom he describes as \u201cwarm, humble, and generous\u201d and \u201ca Christian brother who wanted to make things right.\u201d Taylor writes:<\/p>\n

He explained how he and his brother\/filmmaking partner Stephen had no prior knowledge that their church\u2019s Executive Pastor (who is also an Executive Producer on their movies) had issued the edict last year that I described in\u00a0a previous blog<\/a>, wherein he let it be known that anybody who worked on\u00a0Blue Like Jazz<\/em> would not be working on future Sherwood Baptist movies. Alex told me that, while he and his brother are members of the church and have worked closely with this pastor in the past, they disagreed with his decision, and he further confirmed that none of them, including the pastor, have seen\u00a0Blue Like Jazz. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It seems the two also found a way to bridge the gap between Kendrick\u2019s sweet faith-based films and Taylor\u2019s more edgy style.<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve stated before, I have great respect for what Alex and his brother have accomplished as filmmakers. Making movies is hard. They\u2019ve had extraordinary success using very limited resources, and each time they do it they get better. We\u2019ve had a number of their fans tell us how much they liked\u00a0Blue Like Jazz, <\/em>and Alex and I agreed that there are a variety of ways for Christians to approach storytelling. We\u2019re humbled and grateful that he reached out to us in such a direct and personal way.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sounds like a good ending to the story. Maybe it would make a good movie.<\/p>\n

More on this story:<\/em><\/p>\n

Read our original post about the \u201cChristian fatwa.<\/a>\u201c<\/em><\/p>\n

Read our review of Blue Like Jazz<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Read our interview with Steve Taylor<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Read our interview with John Schneider for October Baby<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Update: October Baby is not made by Sherwood Pictures, but is distributed by Provident Films, which has co-distributed the Kendrick Brothers\u2019 films for years and is closely tied to them. A previous version of this story identified October Baby as a Sherwood production, which it is not. Thanks to reader Matt Smith for the catch.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"