HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE

The Chosen, a faith-based show that depicts the life of Jesus through His followers, not only made its way to broadcast television this summer but is currently one of the only productions still standing amid the Hollywood WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

YOU CAN’T TELL ME GOD IS NOT RUNNING THINGS!

Though the industry seems like it’s crumbling, I see the deck reshuffling. There is potential for Hollywood to become so much more than it is, but “you have not because you ask not”.

As one with fresh eyes who observed the industry over the last two and a half years as an emerging writer, though AMPTP has not agreed to what WGA proposed, I still don’t think they’re asking enough.

Since God is running things, I have faith that anything can happen. Like giving writers a seat at the table.

Yes, I know. Unprecedented, and impossible to think that the very creatives that are the lowest on the totem pole, who keep a multibillion-dollar engine running, could actually have autonomy over the work they create. Sit just as high as a decision-making network exec without having to censor the words God gave them to write. What an opportunity there is to renegotiate full creative control but seems so far-fetched with the rejection of their initial meager requests.

Just as far-fetched to think back in the nineties that a mail-order DVD business could replace the way we watched movies. But the so-called “impossible” turned into Netflix and

Netflix turned Hollywood on its head. Not to fault innovation but to demonstrate how high one must aim to fight for their dreams Sleep.

Netflix’s number-one competitor. However, the industry was wide awake when the whole world was shut down due to the pandemic, and now it’s judgment day. God is holding these entities accountable. Illustrated in the Parable of the Vineyard Workers, God is a fair and generous God and hates to see businesses act differently than his “love your neighbor as yourself” command. In other words, treat your employees well, and the profits will follow.

They’re already making billions; can you imagine how much more God would bless the entity if they took a page from the Bible and did the right thing? The generous thing, or worse case just be fair.

Or perhaps they should take a page from The Chosen

To fund the show over the last few seasons its equity crowdfunding campaign, comprised of 16,500 people donating on average $100, has in turn become an entity generating over $200 million in revenue

You do the right thing for the right reasons, and profits will follow.

Through negotiations, God is giving an opportunity for corporations to make things right for the artists and entertainers who are responsible for feeding His sheep.

At the same time, it’s an opportunity for His actors and writers to renegotiate how they prioritize Him in their lives Do they idolize the industry they’ve become a part of? Worship their paychecks as their livelihood over Him? God is seeking their attention now that they’re at a standstill, just as He is constantly competing with the audience for theirs. On average, Americans watch 3.2 hours of television a day, and spend 2 hours and 27 minutes on social media yet spend less than 3 minutes a day with Him

He has given society a warning on both ends of the screen that has often been ignored. According to 1 John 2, He tells us not to love the world or the things in the world The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of one’s possessions are all magnified by creating and watching media. The constant need to want more. More of what we don’t have, more of what others have and to have more to impress others.

It’s no wonder He has shut it all down, trying to get everyone’s attention the best way He knows how. Through the pockets.