Pure Flix

Pure Flix (stylized as PURE FLIX) is an Evangelical Christian film production and distribution studio founded by David A. R. White and Russell Wolfe, inspired by Netflix.[3] Pure Flix produces Christian films, including God's Not Dead (2014), Do You Believe? (2015), Woodlawn (2015), The Case for Christ (2017), and Unplanned (2019). Since 2014, films produced and distributed by Pure Flix have collectively grossed over $195 million at the worldwide box office.[4] The company has headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Pure Flix
Private
IndustryEntertainment
FoundedNovember 21, 2005 (2005-11-21)
FoundersDavid A. R. White
Russell Wolfe
Headquarters
Scottsdale, Arizona
,
U.S.
Key people
David A. R. White
Michael Scott (CEO)[1]
ProductsChristian films
ServicesEducational curriculum
Revenue$27.4 million (2018 box office receipts)[2]
DivisionsPure Flix
SubsidiariesQuality Flix
Websitepureflixstudio.com

History

Pure Flix was founded in 2005 by David A. R. White, Michael Scott, Russell Wolfe, Randy Travis[5][6][7][8][9] and Elizabeth Travis.[10][11]

Since its foundation, the company has created many films, such as The Wager,[12] Home Beyond the Sun, In the Blink of an Eye, Sarah's Choice,[13] A Greater Yes: The Story of Amy Newhouse, The Book of Ruth: Journey of Faith, Holyman Undercover, and Samson.

The company produced Jerusalem Countdown in 2011, with 10 West Studios.[14] They also produced the first two seasons of TBN's Travel the Road. God's Not Dead (2014) starring Kevin Sorbo, Shane Harper and Dean Cain[15] earned over $60 million in the U.S. box-office and was released in digital format by Lionsgate on August 5, 2014.[16]

Since late 2015, Pure Flix had its own theatrical distribution arm.[17] In late 2016, Pure Flix announced a homeschooling curriculum for families with home-schooled children[18] and decided to allow their users to delete words such as "hell" and "damn" from their programming.[19] The company has teamed up with the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference to supply further opportunities for Hispanic actors to improve the media representation of the Hispanic community.[20][21]

In 2016, Pure Flix announced that it has struck a long-term multi-year distribution deal with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, which would officially manage the home media releases of every Pure Flix-produced film, starting with Woodlawn.[22]

God's Not Dead series

Their film God's Not Dead was 2014's highest grossing independent film[23] and one of the most successful independent faith-based films of all time despite negative criticism.[24] In 2016, God's Not Dead 2 grossed over $1.4 million in Brazil[25] and was considered by Vox to be "moderately commercially successful".[26] A third God's Not Dead film, titled God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness, was announced,[27] and released on March 30, 2018. The Christian band Newsboys appear in and provide music for the first two films in the series.[28] Legalities related to the Johnson Amendment were referenced in the second film.[29]

Awards and nominations
Year Nominated work Award Result
2014 God's Not Dead Inspirational Film of the Year - GMA Dove Awards Won[30]

Productions and distributions

2000s

2010s

2020s

On-demand service

Pure Flix Entertainment also has an Internet video on demand service simply named Pure Flix.[43] The company was founded by David A. R. White, replacing the streaming platform "I Am Flix".[44] It specializes in Christian streaming media and video-on-demand online.[43]

Subsidiaries

Pure Flix owns a subsidiary known as Quality Flix.[45] Quality Flix works with international films, in contrast to Pure Flix, which is primarily focused on distribution of films within the United States.[46]

Controversies

In 2019, Pure Flix's anti-abortion film Unplanned attracted controversy in both mainstream and evangelical media. Some Christian commentators perceived the film as being unfairly censored after it received an R rating from the Motion Picture Association of America and following a brief and subsequently rescinded suspension of the film's Twitter account.[47][48] Michael Gryboski, writing for Christian Post, criticized major Canadian film distributors (such as Cineplex) refusal to screen the film in the country, calling it a "de facto ban."[49] Film critic Normal Wilner countered that statement by accusing the distributors of employing disingenuous tactics to "manufacture a controversy," pointing out that the film was eventually shown in about 25 Cineplex and Landmark theaters in Canada and claiming nothing had prevented an earlier release. In turn, he accused Pure Flix of deliberately choosing not to screen Unplanned for critics to avoid negative reviews.[50]

Despite Pure Flix films generally being well-received by its evangelical Christian viewership, the company has also attracted criticism from several Christian commentators. Film critic Alissa Wilkinson, who wrote for Christianity Today and teaches at the Christian King's College in New York City, criticized Pure Flix films for being intellectually unstimulating and reinforcing their audience's prejudices "instead of exercising and challenging the imagination of their audience in ways that would make their audience better Christians."[51] She also criticized the studio's successful God's Not Dead trilogy for being "far more interested in bolstering a certain sort of persecution complex than in encouraging its audience toward Christlike behavior."[52] Justin Chang, another film critic who identifies as Christian, likewise criticized Pure Flix's brand of faith-based films for what he perceived as their "self-victimizing" depiction of the evangelical Christian community.[53] Kayla Bartsch, writing for National Review, argued that Pure Flix's films "work to confirm the hypothesis that American Christianity must needs be artless and unrefined," making a case for more nuanced and stimulating religious films.[54]

gollark: My laptop has a dual-core mobile CPU, but it actually works okay with my hundreds of tabs.
gollark: Perhaps the real purpose of folding@home is just to allow one person somewhere to do 8K gaming without buying a good computer.
gollark: I would call the open source police, but they're only reachable on GNU Social or something.
gollark: Okay then!
gollark: Opera's based on Chromium's rendering stuff and is closed source.

See also

References
  1. Scribner, Herb (July 11, 2018). "'This isn't just about a movie': Pure Flix CEO explains why he wants movie rights to Thai cave rescue story". Deseret News. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  2. Pure Flix Box Office Receipts by Release Date | Box Office Mojo
  3. "Genius Products Announces Exclusive DVD and Digital Rights Distribution Agreement with Pure Flix Entertainment". BusinessWire.com. Business Wire. 11 March 2014. Archived from the original on September 10, 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2014. BusinessWire Genius
  4. "Pure Flix Production Company Box Office History - The Numbers". The Numbers. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
  5. http://wordnews.org/2013/03/14/a-conversation-with-pure-flixs-david-a-r-white-faulty-brakes-broken-radiator-spiritual-battles-and-the-lords-favor-part-3/
  6. https://www.patheos.com/blogs/sisterrosemovies/2014/04/heaven-is-for-real-is-a-compelling-story-not-a-canned-sermon/
  7. https://mountaintopent.com/about-us/byron-jones/
  8. https://web.archive.org/web/20070109054939/http://www.pureflixentertainment.com/
  9. https://countrymusicinsight.com/randy-travis-still-inspiring-others-after-stroke/
  10. Mia Galuppo, hollywoodreporter.com, Faith-Based Company Pure Flix Launches Theatrical Distribution Arm, USA, November 17, 2015
  11. KATHERINE ROSMAN, nytimes.com, Forget Netflix and Chill. Try Pure Flix and Pray., USA, APRIL 22, 2017
  12. "New Production Releases On DVD November 17". BREATHEcast. November 18, 2009. Archived from the original on March 11, 2012. Retrieved December 12, 2009.
  13. Donovan, Kevin P. (November 23, 2009). "Pro-Life Movie Starring Rebecca St. James Hits Stores". The Christian Post. Retrieved December 12, 2009.
  14. Jokich, Alex; Greg Miller (April 13, 2010). "Movie Shoot Aboard S.S. Badger". WWTV. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
  15. Faughnder, Ryan (11 April 2014). "Can 'God's Not Dead' relive its early success this weekend?". Box Office. The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 17 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014. The indie film about a college student who debates his atheist professor about the existence of God has grossed about $35 million in ticket sales so far, making it one of the biggest surprises of the year, with little sign of stopping as it enters its fourth weekend in theaters.
  16. Sandler, Jennifer (10 July 2014). "LIONSGATE ACQUIRES DOMESTIC DIGITAL, VOD AND TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS TO FAITH-BASED BOX OFFICE HIT 'GOD'S NOT DEAD'". The Wall Street Journal.
  17. Patrick Hipes. "'God's Not Dead' Producer Pure Flix Launches Theatrical Distribution Arm". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 2016
  18. Billy Hallowell, Deseret News (November 2016). "Hollywood movie house launches free curriculum for home-school families". East Idaho News.
  19. Gene Maddaus (2016-12-19). "PureFlix Lets Users Delete Words Like 'Hell' and 'Damn'". Variety.com. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  20. Kevin Porter (November 2016). "Pure Flix, NHCLC Transform Hispanic Roles in Hollywood With Ambitious Film Industry Project". The Christian Post.
  21. Jerry Bowyer, The Case For "The Case For Christ" And Other Christian-Themed Films, forbes.com, USA, September 25, 2017
  22. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. "Pure Flix Entertainment & Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Enter Into Long Term, Multi-year Distribution Agreement". CISION® PR Newswire. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  23. Efrem Graham. "'God's Not Dead' Creators Hope for Double Blessing". Christian Broadcasting Network. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
  24. Jeannie Law (December 2016). "'God's Not Dead 3' Is in the Works, Says Actor-Producer David AR White (Interview)". The Christian Post.
  25. "God's Not Dead 2". Boxofficemojo.com. 2016-04-01. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  26. Alissa Wilkinson (December 2016). "How 2016's movies and TV reflected Americans' changing relationship with religion". Vox.
  27. Mark Judge. "Confirmed: There Will be a 'God's Not Dead 3'". CNSNews.com. Retrieved November 2016
  28. Don Thrasher. "7 fast facts about Newsboys before Fraze show". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
  29. Alissa Wilkinson (November 2016). "Mike Pence's church pitch, the Johnson Amendment, and the decline of the religious right". Vox.
  30. Emma Koonse. "'God's Not Dead' Earns Two Prestigious Awards, Sequel Film in Development". The Christian Post. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
  31. "What if..." AllMovie. 2010. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  32. "Jerusalem Countdown". AllMovie. 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  33. Buchanan, Jason (2012). "Apostle Peter and the Last Supper". AllMovie. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  34. "Book of Esther". AllMovie. 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  35. "The Book of Daniel". AllMovie. 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  36. "God's Not Dead". YouTube: GodsNotDeadTheMovie. 14 August 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  37. McNary, Dave (28 October 2014). "AFM: Faith-Based 'Do You Believe?' Aims to Match 'God's Not Dead' Success". Variety. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2015. “Do You Believe?” focuses on a dozen different lives that intersect on the streets of Chicago, starting with a local pastor (Ted McGinley) being moved by the visible faith of an old street-corner preacher, played by Delroy Lindo.
  38. webadmin (7 April 2015). "Woodlawn: Dare to Believe Will Come to Theaters in October". PeopleNet. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  39. Jeannie Law. "Ex-Atheist Lee Strobel's Journey From Atheism to Christ Hits Theaters in Spring 2017 (Trailer)". The Christian Post. Retrieved November 2016
  40. robesonian (2018-08-17). "Avondale releases 2 films, start work on 3rd". Robesonian. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  41. Unplanned Movie, Unplanned Official Trailer - In Theaters March 29, retrieved 2019-02-04
  42. Bryan Welk (April 29, 2020). "DJ Caruso Adapts Romance Novel 'Redeeming Love' With Abigail Cowen, Tom Lewis". The Wrap. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  43. Rosman, Katherine (2017-04-08). "Forget Netflix and Chill. Try Pure Flix and Pray". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-08-19.
  44. Law, Jeannie (June 4, 2015). "'God's Not Dead' Creators Launch Video on Demand Service for Families; Offers Unlimited Access to Pure Flix Faith Based Films [SEE HERE] | Jeannie Law". breathecast.com/. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  45. Arkin, Daniel (August 5, 2018). "How a faith-based movie studio is seizing the moment in Trump's America". NBC News. NBC UNIVERSAL.
  46. "Pure Flix / Quality Flix". Quality Flix. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  47. Lamm, Olivia (2019-04-09). "Unplanned: How it has been censored and why it is significant". Mississippi Center for Public Policy. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  48. "'Unplanned' makes twice the expected box office sales despite social media censorship". www.christianpost.com. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  49. "'Unplanned' finally coming to Canada after de facto ban of pro-life film". www.christianpost.com. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  50. Wilner, Norman (2019-07-09). "The manufactured controversy over anti-abortion movie Unplanned". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  51. Wilkinson, Alissa (2016-03-30). "I'm a Christian and I Hate Christian Movies". Thrillist. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  52. Wilkinson, Alissa (2018-04-03). "How the Christian movie series God's Not Dead fails to be Christian". Vox. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  53. "A Christian critic wrestles with new biblical films and the hope of a better 'faith-based' cinema". Los Angeles Times. 2018-03-30. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  54. "The Catholic Film Alliance and a Rebirth of Religious Patronage of the Arts". National Review. 2019-06-30. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
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