Hi Raquelle,

This year my friend Jared and his sons built a treehouse in their backyard. They researched plans on the internet, shopped for supplies, then went to work. The result was an engineering marvel and the source of much enjoyment.

I think there’s something special about fathers and sons doing a project together. Great conversations happen as they work, and you see the relationship grow. Father and son Jerry and Dallas Jenkins (author and film director) are building Jenkins Entertainment, a film production company.

To date, their company has produced 4 films. The first was based on Jerry’s book Hometown Legend, followed by Dallas’ directorial debut, the short film Cliché. After that, the duo released the successful short film version of Midnight Clear.

After winning multiple festival awards, someone suggested to Dallas that he expand Midnight Clear into a full-length feature film. His father agreed with the idea, but only if Stephen Baldwin (Six, Livin' It) would reprise his role. Stephen agreed, and is joined in the feature-length version by K Callan, Kirk B.R. Woller, Victoria Jackson (Thou Shalt Laugh The Deuce), and Richard Riehle. Kevin Downes (The Moment After 1 & 2), who also produced, has a cameo as well.

The story focuses on 5 characters whose lives converge one Christmas Eve. It's the most depressing time of the year for them, and as the night progresses they randomly cross paths. In unique and subtle ways, they change each others' lives forever. Watch the trailer and order yours today. The movie is a compelling illustration of how our lives affect others in powerful ways.

There were other compelling films released this year, and it’s not too late to order them for Christmas, either for yourself or for gifts. I’ve listed a few of our favorites below to get you started.

From the screening room,

Angela Walker
ChristianMovieNews.com

For many people, the holidays are the loneliest time of year.

'Twas the night before Christmas in the Southwest, and for five strangers spread out across town, it's the most depressing time of the year. As the night progresses, they randomly cross paths, and in unique and subtle ways, change each other's lives forever.

Based on a story from best-selling author Jerry B. Jenkins (Left Behind series, Though None Go With Me), this is a parable for today about how random acts of kindness can, unbeknownst to us all, have a life-altering impact on others.

A film that will have an impact on the way you do Christmas this year.

Featuring incredible performances by veteran actors such as Stephen Baldwin (THE USUAL SUSPECTS), K Callan ("Lois & Clark"), and Kirk B.R. Woller (FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS), as well as newcomers Mary Thornton and Mitchell Jarvis.

"Midnight Clear" is a quiet tapestry of lonely people trying to connect in the midst of pain.

The film also features terrific and surprising guest work from Victoria Jackson ("SNL") and Richard Riehle ("OFFICE SPACE").

Special Features:

• Audio Commentary: Dallas Jenkins - Director, Jerry Jenkins, Wes Halula - Screenwriter
• Behind-The Scenes Featurette

Get the short film that inspired this moving motion picture.

Jerry Jenkins began his career as a writer before he could drive. In high school, he became the sportswriter for a local newspaper. His parents drove him to games, then on to the newspaper office so he could file his story. After school he wrote for several daily papers before going to work for Moody Press Magazine in 1974.

He worked his way up from editor to publisher to the head of Moody Press, reaching the office of Vice President of Publishing in the early 1980s. In all, he worked about 30 years for Moody Bible Institute. In 1990 he left his position at Moody to work full-time as a freelancer. He now serves as a member of the board of trustees.

CC.com: Your writing covers several different genres. Is there one that you enjoy more than others?

Jerry: My main love has always been contemporary adult fiction like Midnight Clear. Initially, when I declared myself as a full-time freelance writer, I never said no. I needed the work. I’ve always felt I only had one gift, writing, and that I was obligated to exercise it.

I have many different interests; sports, marriage and family, writing for kids. As a writer, you can’t afford to pick and choose unl ess you have a hit. The Left Behind series became a hit, and that let me write what I love.

CC.com: You’ve written several biographies. Were they done on request?

Jerry: Actually they were my idea. I got interested in someone’s life and was fascinated by what they had to say. Then I made contact and asked if they were interested in working on a book with me. If they were, I contacted publishers and asked if they were interested in contracting for such a book.

The more of these projects that I completed successfully, the more came the other way (from publishers). Someone from Word (publishing) called me and told me they had an inside track with Nolan Ryan, would I be willing? I was thrilled to do it!

I believe success breeds success, especially in the publishing business. I have worked with 40 different publishers, and right now I’m under an exclusive contract with Tyndale. For a long time I’ve worked with multiple publishers and had to juggle deadlines that overlapped, as well as a myriad of other business details. Having an exclusive contract really simplifies things for me, which is very appealing at this point in my career.

CC.com: Will you continue to write books in multiple genres for Tyndale?

Jerry: It will probably be mostly adult contemporary fiction. We have discussed the possibility of doing some non-fiction, maybe sports biographies, but I’ll mainly focus on fiction.

CC.com: You’ve had several books made into movies (Left Behind, Hometown Legend, Though None Go With Me, Midnight Clear). Have you been pleased with the film adaptations?

Jerry: I was very happy with the results of Though None Go With Me, very pleased with how it turned out. I’m happiest with the ones that Dallas (my son) has done. (Hometown Legend and Midnight Clear) I’ve had more control over them and been pleased with the outcome. You can’t really do a full movie of any book. In adapting books to film, you have to really condense.

The process is much more collaborative than writing a book; you might be working with 10-15 people to produce a screenplay. That’s why I like writing novels. To have a film adapted, you have to be willing to give up your ego and your baby. I’ll let the movie people do that, because they do it best.

CC.com: Have you considered writing a screenplay yourself?

Jerry: Briefly, but it’s really not my gift, and again, there are too many people involved.

I did visit the set of Midnight Clear (in Roanoke, Texas) during filming. I loved seeing it come together and watching Dallas in his element. I believe he’s a fantastic director and I couldn’t be prouder of him. Stephen Baldwin did a terrific job underplaying his role.

After the short film played in several festivals and won awards, someone approached Dallas about making a feature of it. When we talked about it, I told him I’d finance it if Stephen would play his role again. One of Dallas’ friends from college did the expansion of the screenplay, and I thought he took the story from a short to a full-length feature very nicely.

CC.com: Are there other books you’d like to see made into films?

Jerry: I have a couple. One is a novel called “Youngest Hero,” about the youngest kid in history to make a major league baseball team. Jason Alexander (George Castanza, Seinfeld) actually optioned it, but nothing has happened with it yet.

Another is a novella called “Twas the Night Before.” It’s a really well-received story in which we find out that Santa Claus is actually real. It’s a great romantic sort of story. There’s some interest from some parties.

CC.com: What about producing them through Jenkins Entertainment?

Jerry: We want to be careful with the production company that we aren’t seen as only making films of my books.

CC.com: Besides writing your own books, you’re now the owner of the Christian Writers Guild, which mentors new authors. Why did you get involved with that organization?

Jerry: I have always felt like I wanted to teach. Before the Left Behind series became a hit, I made the writers’ conference circuit and spoke and taught. After the books got so big, the media attention made it hard to get around, but I still wanted to teach.

I was a fan of Norman Rohrer’s, who started the Christian Writers’ Guild. He was teaching about 400 students via correspondence. I told him several times that I wanted to work with him one day.

A few years ago, when it got to be too much for Norm to do by himself, I bought the guild. With some advertising, it’s grown to more than 2000 writers using email to send their work back and forth. We have 50 mentors working with our writers. The first 30-35 I handpicked from people I knew from various publishing houses and conferences. The rest were handpicked by my first 30-35 mentors and staff, so I’m very confident in the quality of instruction our students receive.

CC.com: You mentioned earlier that you prefer to work alone, yet several of your books have other people’s names on them as well.

Jerry: I have worked with others to develop books, but we didn’t write as teams. The Left Behind series I did with Dr. LaHaye were his idea and he did the theological research to give me themes for development. But I did all the writing.

I have done more than 50 fiction books for kids with two other authors, but we didn’t write the books together. We noodled the story to get it set, they wrote the first draft, and then I came in to do a heavy editing and re-write of the books.

I’m not an outliner. I try to put interesting characters in difficult situations and write to find out what happens.

I’ll immerse myself in a story for 4 - 5 weeks and constantly work on the story. When I was doing the Left Behind series, I would start over and re-read the previous book to remind myself about the characters and situations. That’s probably the most challenging thing about not outlining. To make sure I don’t contradict myself, I take notes as I go.

CC.com: Are you a fan of technology and writing?

Jerry: I’m always employing the latest technology. I learned to type on a manual typewriter, then graduated to electric, Selectric, self-correcting, etc. In 1980 I got a computer with a 5” floppy disc drive. I had to insert the program disc for the word processing software, then switch to another disc for spell checking. I upgrade computers very frequently.

I have tried using writing software. Some people really enjoy using it, and you’re supposed to be able to do everything you do manually with it. But I’ve found that it’s just not that handy for me. I like to use index cards to scribble things down and move them around. I just don’t have time to teach myself, so I use Word and Windows.

CC.com: Just this last week the news revealed that you have endorsed Mike Huckabee for President of the United States. You mentioned that you’ve never affiliated with a candidate publicly before. Why now?

Jerry: I really do respect people on both sides of the [political] aisle. It doesn’t pay to alienate anyone or cost yourself readership. However, the differences are so very stark right now. There are people campaigning who do not share our values at all. They are very popular, but don’t have our values.

People have somehow missed the fact that Mike Huckabee does have our values. He is also articulate, open and honest. A mutual friend found out that I had decided to support Huckabee and was thrilled. He asked if I would do an endorsement, and I declined. But I had a conversation with Governor Huckabee, and decided I could get behind him publicly. There have been other presidents (Carter and Clinton) who were unknowns before they ran, so Huckabee does stand a chance.

CC.com: Have you received any negative feedback about that?

Jerry: No, but the news isn’t out too far. I expect there will be some. If people fear President Bush, they won’t like Huckabee for his religious standing either. He’s a former Southern Baptist preacher. He’s not going to push his religion on anyone, but will support everyone’s right to their beliefs. But, like Bush, his faith will inform his decisions.

CC.com: A couple of times you have been named one of entertainment’s “most powerful” people. How has that affected your work? Or has it?

Jerry: I think that was in recognition of the sales of Left Behind and the movies coming out. The main thing is it opened doors for other Christians to receive the same recognition. I don’t feel like a powerful Hollywood person. Probably most of the other people on the list have no idea who I am, other than they might have a vague knowledge of the Left Behind series. It’s kind of humorous to me. I wish I had the power it implied.

CC.com: We’re familiar with your oldest son Dallas (director of Midnight Clear). Could you tell us about your other sons?

Jerry: My second son is sports information director and assistant baseball coach at MidAmerica Nazarene University. He’s a good sportswriter, and this position helps keep his skills honed in that area. He’s carrying on my writing tradition some.

Our youngest son is a senior at Colorado Christian University, majoring in theater.

My wife is a reader and my cheerleader. She loves to read but isn’t an analytical reader or writer, so when she reads my work, it’s a good harbinger of how the average reader will respond.

CC.com: What are your reading habits?

Jerry: I’m an avid reader. I read the New York Times bestsellers so I can see what those authors are doing, and how they’re doing it. I really enjoy biographies and histories. Right now, I’m reading about Charles Schulz, the creator of “Peanuts.” I grew up on those comics, so his life is fascinating.

I really enjoy Rick Bragg in nonfiction. He’s a former New York Times columnist who wrote a memoir called “All Over but the Shoutin’.” I love that book. It’s very poetic. I go back and re-read sections of it frequently. He’s the kind of writer about whom I’d say: “I’ll never write like that, but I love to read it.”

My next book is the latest history of the Beatles. I read another one a couple of years ago and enjoyed it so much I emailed the author. I got a nice note back from him.

CC.com: Are there any books or authors you’ve read that would surprise people who think they know you?

Jerry: I really like reading Stephen King. We’re actually email buddies. We have the same audio reader for books on tape. I found that out a while ago when our reader was severely injured. We got together and visited him. We’re strange bedfellows actually. We’re on totally different sides of the street and are opposites in many perspectives. But I really enjoy certain of his books. I loved The Green Mile (King’s novel about death row that was made into a movie.)

My writing book Writing for the Soul is really patterned in many ways after his book On Writing. He endorsed my book. They are both part instructional/part personal experience. Like I said, we’re strange bedfellows.

CC.com: As busy as you are, you might not have much free time. But when you do, what are some things you enjoy doing?

Jerry: I love to go to the movies. And I love to see our family. We just got back from seeing our son at CCU today.

My most favorite thing is having our kids and grandkids visit us here or going to see them in their homes. This year they’re all coming home for Christmas and we’ll have a good 7 or 8 days with everyone together at the same time. I can’t wait.

CC.com: What advice do you give others wanting to follow in your footsteps?

Jerry: The main thing I tell new writers is that they need to develop a thick skin, because every piece of published writing is a duet. You always have to work with an editor, and it can be hard to do that. I’ve written 174 books, but I still have to work with an editor. They won’t love every word you write because it’s their job to help you along the way. So develop a thick skin and you’ll have a good career.

CC.com: Jerry, thank you for your time. Have a great holiday season, and we’re hoping for terrific results with Midnight Clear.

©2007 ChristianCinema.com