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Twentieth Century Fox recently announced the launch of FoxFaith, a new division that will distribute films and other programming specifically aimed at the Christian market.

FoxFaith Movies makes its theatrical debut this week with Love's Abiding Joy, the fourth in a series of films directed by Michael Landon Jr. that are based on Janette Oke's popular Love Comes Softly books. The second FoxFaith theatrical release comes just a week later when One Night With the King, adapted from the biblical book of Esther, hits the big screen on October 13.

FoxFaith plans to acquire as many as 12 new films per year, movies that specifically include Christian content, and they plan to release at least six of those to limited theaters. 

The new brand, with its motto "Films You Can Believe In," already has a number of previously released DVDs available, including End of the Spear, The Hiding Place, Hangman's Curse, and many others. They even have a FoxFaith Film Club.

We wanted to learn a little more about FoxFaith, so we spoke with Steve Feldstein, senior vice president of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Why is Fox doing this?

Steve Feldstein: It's really simple. We saw an opportunity to fill a need in the marketplace. The Christian market, in terms of filmed entertainment, has been drastically underserved, and we intend to correct that.

Was that market first noticed with The Passion of The Christ?

Feldstein: Well, I think that opened all of Hollywood's eyes. We were interested in the marketplace and actually dipping our toe in years ago, actually years before that. Our head of sales, Simon Swart, is very active in the Christian community and friendly with Ralph Winter (producer, X-Men, Fantastic Four), who's also very active in the Christian media community. They struck up a conversation with a retailer and basically the nugget of Fox Faith was born.

But you didn't act on it until now?

Feldstein: No, we've been acting on it. Up till now, Fox Faith has been a trade marketing umbrella for a collection of movies for the CBA [Christian Booksellers Association]. Now, we're rolling it out to the consumers. The first movie we were involved in specifically for the audience was based on a Frank Peretti novel—a movie called Hangman's Curse. It had very limited theatrical release, but was extremely successful in home video.

Why just movies for a Christian audience? There are a lot of people of all kinds of faiths out there?

Feldstein: It was a clear opportunity with the Christian audience. Among the audiences of faith, the "loudest" was Christian, honestly.

Did Fox do some research about whether, for instance, a Muslim or a Buddhist audience or a Jewish audience might be worth marketing to?

Feldstein: We're actually focusing on the Christian audience right now.

Is there a possibility it could expand to other faiths, or will FoxFaith be exclusively a Christian brand?

Feldstein: For right now we are focusing on the Christian audience.

Christians will be happy to hear about FoxFaith, but some cynics would say that Fox is just doing it for the money. How would you respond to that cynical response?

Feldstein: I think, unfortunately, there have been interlopers in the business that weren't committed to it. And to those people I would simply say, watch us.

What are some of the things you're doing that would show that commitment?

Feldstein: We're doing up to 12 movies a year—and that's just the theatrical stuff. We have no intention of flooding the marketplace. We are focused on quality, not quantity, and bringing true production value to this storytelling. Some of it is more polished than others. We intend for all of ours to be of the highest production value.

That's good, because some of us are getting tired of saying, "Oh no, not another crummy Christian movie.?

Feldstein: That's not our business. Every one of these movies will have a message of faith. Some will be more overt than others, but that is the common link amongst all of them—like with the Janette Oke stories, with Love's Abiding Joy coming out. The trials and tribulations of that family, it's their faith that keeps them together. You look at Hangman's Curse, it's their faith that gives the kids the strength to go forward.

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