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"I think the material is getting better," Cooke said, "but we're not making giant leaps and bounds. I joke about wanting to make a museum of bad Christian screenplays and not being able to find a building big enough. I get a lot of stuff sent to me that's pretty awful."

Working on films like Big Fish and Anger Management, Lisa Swain, Interim Chair of Biola's Mass Communication Department, has learned a lot. These days, she's looking at film projects made by Christian students.

"I wish they would learn that they don't have to be afraid of their struggles," she says. "We get so caught up in wanting people to see Christ, we forget that they also have to see us. And by seeing our struggles, then they will see Christ. You don't show Christ by showing them grace first. You have to show them the wound first."

Swain says she encounters many young, talented Christian writers who can't tell convincing stories about suffering because they "haven't lived enough life yet." "We get a lot of prayer scenes," she says, "a lot of lingering looks, a lot of swelling music. And it's just superficial. There's no subtext whatsoever."

Cooke, president and CEO of Cooke Pictures and a founding partner of TWC Films, is weary of proposals for derivative entertainment. "People come to me all the time to say, 'What we need is a Christian version of Jay Leno' or 'a Christian version of Oprah.' I get so sick of it. We worship the Creator of the universe, and yet we're the least creative people on the planet."

While Batali ranted against "bad art," others expressed concerns about a lack of new ideas and creativity.

Mark Joseph thinks it's time to take advantage of great Christian stories that have been neglected.

Mark Joseph

"Hollywood's idea of an interesting movie is to go back to a '70s sitcom and recast it, and I think the country is just saying, 'This doesn't make any sense,'" Joseph said. "As creativity in Hollywood is drying up, I think Christians have this basement full of amazing stories. But because we were raised in a generation that was told that [filmmaking] is not an acceptable way to tell stories, we're just backlogged with amazing stories to tell.'"

Bird, producer/screenwriter of The Last Sin Eater who also formerly worked with TV's Touched by An Angel, has some advice for Christian artists: Learn how to tell great stories by copying those who've done it best.

"That doesn't mean rip off the masters, but it means drawing inspiration from them," Bird said. "Throughout history, artists have gone to school to learn to be better artists.

"Young writers and directors need to be voracious students of the best writers and directors.They need to consume great scripts.They need to analyze how the masters nailed the scenes.How they paced the stories.How they let the characters write their own dialogue.They need to draw inspiration from how the masters practice their craft—and then go and do likewise."

Even if Christian filmmakers produce powerful movies, they face difficult choices about how to proceed. Should they allow their projects to be swept up by the new faith-based media divisions and marketed primarily to churchgoers? Or do they want to fight for a mainstream spotlight alongside Hollywood's heavy hitters?

The idea of marketing "faith-based" entertainment specifically to Christians has inspired a wave of new "niche market" ideas, many of which were discussed by conference guests. Some even spoke about the possibility of a new movie theater chain: separate cinemas for Christians, built within churches.

Brian Bird

"Some are saying we are just creating a Christian film 'ghetto,'" says Bird. "I'm not so sure that's the case. Niche marketing is not exclusive to this new faith-based push. Niche marketing is happening across the entertainment landscape. When I went to see The Pursuit of Happyness, the pre-show included trailers for four African-American/urban-themed films.

"Niche marketing is how businesses maximize their profits and provide product to specific interest groups in all sectors of the economy, and it's not going away. I think our goal has to be to understand the nature of the business, but try to deliver films that have as universal appeal as possible so that we are not just preaching to the choir."

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