Further down this page you can find free, totally free Christian TV for kids.
Media is changing, we can all see that. Maybe it's not so obvious to the very young, the very people who will be watching out wonderful new Christian kids' TV show Jovis Bon-Hovis, (formerly Jovis Bon-Hovis and the Creation Crew) but to anybody over ten it's clear it's changing rapidly.
Until very recently there hasn't been much in the way of truly free Christian content, even less Christian children's content. With terrestrial TV in the UK, even if we wanted to watch ITV, channel 4 or 5, we still had to pay a license fee. If we use 'freeview', we still have to pay a license fee for the BBC's content.
Now for those of us who get internet bundled with our phone and TV subscription, we might finally be able to say that watching Christian kids' shows like Jovis Bon-Hovis is truly free for the first time.
Earlier this year, UCB, who partner with us to produce our show, removed themselves from SKY altogether, moving to an entirely online streaming format. Since that happened I have had more people come to me and say they have discovered UCB than previously when they were on SKY! Now you can watch UCB, with all it's wonderful content (including Jovis Bon-Hovis of course) on any number of devices from your XBox or Playstation, mobile phone, tablet, PC, Apple TV, smart TV, Freeview HD, Chromecast...the list goes on!
So why not join the fun with Jovis Bon-Hovis and his pals the Creation Crew? The show encourages children that a relationship with God belongs to them, it's relevant and interesting to them in the context of a normal child's experience. Covering topics children relate to like bullying, kindness, stealing, friendship, Christmas and so much more, Jovis always uses the good advice of his friends and of course the Bible to discover the right way to solve his problems with Jesus' guidance.
Kids just love Jovis Bon-Hovis, and season 3, which is airing now, has all-new sets as well as some brand new friends in the garden! With a new episode each week, you can watch Jovis at these times:
We are delighted to announce that we have air dates for the shiny new season of Jovis Bon-Hovis! With all new sets and characters, season 3 promises to be a real step forward in Christian kids entertainment.
You may notice we have dropped 'and the Creation Crew' from the title. Don't worry! All your favourite characters are still here, we just thought it was a bit of a mouthful and we wanted to differentiate between the new and old seasons. So, if you're ready for a big barrel of laughs (and Monkeys!) then here's when and how to watch:
How can I watch UCB TV?
You can watch UCB TV live through UCB Player on your computer or mobile devices, or through TV Player on Freeview HD and other devices. You can do that easily by just clicking right here for the live stream: http://www.ucb.co.uk/player/live
If you want to watch it on your TV and you have a smart there are a few ways you can watch, check here to see how: http://www.ucb.co.uk/tv
And now the important bit: the air times!!!!
Starting from December 2nd 2015 with the Christmas episode, you can watch every week.
Monday at 4.30
Wednesday at 8am
Thursday at 4pm
Friday at 7.30pm
Saturday at 8.30am.
Prime kids' viewing times they are indeed!
The first week will be the Christmas episode, and then there will be a new episode each week until the Christmas episode is repeated again at Christmas. After Christmas we will start the cycle again, so you'll see the first couple repeated and then going into all new episodes up until the Easter special. So there are a total of 14 new episodes on the way!
Here's a little treat for you, an episode from season 2 never before given away on-demand. Mr Bon-Hovis is struggling with jealousy! And it's very very funny.
Here we are folks, Matthew chapter 9. I hope you enjoy reading along with me or just listening, don't forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel for loads more original and unique Christian videos and songs.
This is a video of me, Joseph Cheetham-Wilkinson reading chapter 9 of the Gospel of Matthew from the New International Version. It's ideal for just listening along and I throw in a few thoughts and questions at the end which might be helpful for study or conversation starters! Join the conversation and 'like' our Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/ChristiansTogetherWorldwide .
Would you enjoy helping us out? We need your help!
This is an unpaid opportunity, UCB are a Christian charity and I am currently involved in a co-production with them on our third season of kids' TV, it's a show called 'Jovis Bon-Hovis and the Creation Crew'. Previous seasons air in numerous countries including on KICC in the UK, The Dove in the USA, in Australia, New Zealand, across Scandinavia, the Philippines and India, as well as on Satellite across North, South and Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.
Contact Joe at ChristianMoviesUK@gmail.com
Phew! There you go, so the show gets seen and season 3 is going to be MUCH bigger. In each episode, there is a story time featuring a short story of about 3 minutes or so, during which six illustrations appear on screen.
Until now, I have personally been illustrating each story, but in consideration of the steps forward we've made with season 3 including all new sets and characters, I would dearly love to see more variety in the illustrations. Truth be told, I'm not that great!
I really need a few helpful souls to jump on board and take one or two episodes each, and produce six big, bold colourful illustrations for them.
You would have a great deal of creative freedom, you can choose how to go about it, which medium, how to create the characters, which parts to illustrate etc. And of course your name would appear in the credits of the show as illustrator!
I know 'exposure' is not a fair reason to do this. I'm just asking for your help, what we do is a good thing, a quality, entertaining show for kids which teaches good wholesome Christian values. We don't do it for the money, we do it because it's the right thing to do.
However being a published illustrator for TV does look good on the CV!
Below is an example of one of our earlier episodes of the show, bear in mind the new show has all new sets since then (picture below)! Also, you can see an example of the kind of work I've been doing. If you can work to this standard (which I'm sure a gibbon with a Biro probably could!), I would dearly love and appreciate your help. We need these illustrations complete by Nov 20th at the latest, however as you can see we are aiming the show at 3-7yrs so we're not looking for time-consuming intricately detailed work, just fun, bold, bright images which fit the story.
NEW SET ABOVE
Below is an episode from season 2 with the old cut-out sets:
Here is an example of the kind of simple, bright illustrations I have produced so far:
If would would enjoy helping out, please send some examples of your work or a link to Joe at ChristianMoviesUK@gmail.com
God's Not Dead 2 trailer and review. After the massive success of the critically acclaimed and critically panned God's Not Dead (mostly determined by which faith camp the reviewer stood in), comes a sequel sure to generate as much clatter in the Twittersphere, the unimaginatively named God's Not Dead 2.
Have a first look at the trailer below and let us know what you think! And of course don't forget to subscribe to our channel while you're at it.
What we gather from this trailer is that the film explores the issues surrounding sharing faith and the message of Jesus in the public school system, by following the journey of an unfortunate Christian teacher who shared Jesus' words in the classroom as a response to a student's question.
The writers have taken it upon themselves to stretch this seed of a story to its ultimate end in the high court, where the burden of proof appears to lie with the defendant to prove that God is not dead.
It appears, perhaps wisely, to shy away from some of the more contentious issues which divide both the church and the secular world such as gay marriage and abortion, and instead focusses on the bigger picture. The key question in God's Not Dead 2 is not so much whether God is alive, but instead to what extent Christians should be free declare their faith in Him publicly and whether or not the teachings of Jesus have value and relevance in a state funded education system.
I'm very much looking forward to the film, I find the debate fascinating and even as a Christian myself I keep and open mind as to whether the state should pay for children to be taught what is right to believe. What interests me is where that line should be, since every school in every part of the world decides what children are taught, what is right to believe and what isn't, so, what criteria should be met for something to be considered worth teaching?
Halloween. Groan. Sometimes I just want to give in and let my kids join the 'fun', and then I look at what 12 year old's do for Halloween, what 16 year old's do, what 18 year old's do...and it worries me. Then I think about how different Halloween was just ten years ago, what's it going to be like ten years from now? What am I leading my children towards?
The struggle that I have is that I enjoy fantasy and imagination, I like stories and fancy dress parties. There's just something about Halloween, it's invented, nobody really knows the point, it's mostly a means to selling product or media, and surely those producers year on year will continue to compete, out-do each other with the next most radical, boundary pushing concepts in horror and what's acceptable. What is Halloween exactly? I don't mean historically, I mean now. The worst kinds of baddies are definitely getting cooler, and there's no doubt in my mind that more and more young people are being heavily influenced into horrific behaviour by a world which clamours for their attention with bad information. I think the fundamental problem is that we are all quite naive, we genuinely believe that we are open-minded free-thinkers who are not influenced by our environment and what information we ingest, and that we are wholly capable of objectively digesting and processing what we encounter, without realising to what extent we are all products of our environment and upbringing. That requires humility, and I don't see much humility around today.
We have been producing a number of videos starting from the Gospel of Matthew, and working through chapter by chapter.
At the time of writing we have recorded up to chapter 8, and intent to record the entire new testament for discussion, fellowship, group study on and off line as well as personal enjoyment and meditation.
Please consider supporting this important work, contact us at Christianmoviesuk@gmail.com if you feel you'd like to help us make the entire new testament available on video read verbatim.
It takes a lot of time, and we hope to improve quality as we go in terms of lighting and sound, while keeping the format simple and clean.
I just thought I write this quick article to help anybody with a Panasonic GH2 who wants to improve sound quality with an external mic, who is wondering about plugging a microphone straight into the Panasonic GH2 with no external power source.
I have read numerous blogs and forums on the subject but I couldn't get an answer to this simple question, can I plug a tie mic/lavalier straight into my GH2 without any external power source? Answer? Yes I can.
Everybody was saying there is no ghost power on the GH2, and were offering loads of 'cheap' solutions, ranging from £40 to hundreds, but my solution cost me £3.98, about $6.
Even the GH2 itself came up with a notice on the screen telling me to ensure that my mic's power was on, but lo and behold, there was a strong signal.
My tie mic cost me £2.99 on eBay with free delivery, and the adapter to take it from 3.5mm jack to 2.5mm cost me .99p with free delivery. I already had an extension, which you may need to buy as the leads aren't very long.
This makes it perfect for presenting to camera, doing gaming videos, that sort of thing.
Granted, we're not talking Hollywood sound quality, but compared to the GH2's on-board mics at a six foot distance the sound quality is VASTLY improved!
Check out the video below and hear the advantage over the on-board microphone:
"WHOEVER TRIES TO SAVE HIS LIFE WILL LOSE IT." Who are you? I understand these words better today than I ever have before. When difficult times come, who we are is defined more critically than ever. And I'm not talking about difficult times for ourselves, but for others. I think it's fair to say, and most will agree that our lives amount to a series of choices which bring us to the place we are now, or will be in future. Whatever criteria we use to make those choices, the consequences of them, and even the act of making them develops our character. I am the person I am today, believing what I believe and being in my current situation because of choices I've made. That's not to say I had all the power, but it was my free will. Both the darkness and the light inside me can be traced through veins and roots of choices, consequences, choices, consequences. Our characters are being defined right now, all of ours. This is pretty straightforward stuff. If somebody reaches out a hand to you in need and you turn away, what happens to your heart? More and more, people around the world are being faced with these choices daily. Every day we hear more about refugees, the homeless, suffering children, war. And more and more we hear about people hardening their hearts, contriving the most selfish excuses not to help. Here's one truth I see pretty clearly; this country is not going to remain a cottage garden postcard full of middle class prosperous white people merrily flag-waving and defending it's borders while the world outside descends into chaos. We all need to make a concerted effort to make up our minds right now WHO we are going to be. The world is changing. We cannot save our lives, we are all going to die. So while we live, who are we going to be? While people are suffering and drowning, are we going to harden our hearts with excuses about their politics? Their poor life-choices? Their demands on our welfare system? Or are we going to make our lives worth something, are we going to choose to care? Because that means letting go. It means letting go of fantasies about what we think life should be about, it might mean opening our homes, it might mean sharing our food, it might mean sharing our money. It means releasing ourselves from the need to hold on the useless things of no value which we can't take with us and paying more heed to the one thing we will, namely our soul. I believe that every time we choose not to love and not to care, and choose to let others suffer and die in order to protect our status quo, whatever we think that is, then part of us dies. I don't mean that poetically, I mean it literally. I think the world is full of people like that, walking dead, heartless people who are the very best at talking sense. I think that's what Jesus means. If our purpose in life is to protect ourselves, serve ourselves and ensure our lives remain as we would comfortably hope them to be, we simply kill the part of us which is of any value at all. I'm going to die one day, and when I do I really hope that the world is better for having had me in it, and not worse. Right now is a defining time in world history. On your deathbed, if you are asked 'Who were you?' what would you like to be able to say? I am somebody who fed those in need? I am somebody who shared my home with desperate people? I am somebody who tried to help when it cost me a great deal to do it, even my life? Or do you hope to say 'I am somebody who ended up with a nice car parked outside this hospital.' or 'I am somebody who upgraded the locks on my doors so I could shut the world out and keep everything I have for myself.' I'm saying all this now because this is creeping up on all of us. Many of us have already chosen. But the time is close, even right at the door, when 'who we are' is going to be demanded of us. We need to make up our minds.
Not only do we now have nearly 600 likes on our Facebook page: 'Christian Together Worldwide' (check it out here) but we are also moving forward with our Bible study videos.
It's a simple idea really, we're getting people together who enjoy reading the Word to share an online Bible study community experience through both Youtube and Facebook. Below are some examples of our videos so far. They are meant to be entry level Bible study, I'm no Biblical scholar but really just a Christian who felt I needed to read the Bible more, so I thought I'd share the experience with you guys!
Why not join us? Sit back, relax, and let the Lord's words soak into your spirit, and then share your thoughts with us.
HAVE YOU DONE SOMETHING AMAZING FROM A SMALL BEGINNING?
Would you be willing to share your story with our viewers?
We are pleased to announce that we are in production of a fun new chat show called 'Faith in Action' in partnership with UCB TV UK.
The show is being filmed on the week beginning Sept 14th 2015 at UCB Broadcast Centre, Hanchurch Lane, Hanchurch, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 8RY
As the title of the show implies, 'Faith in Action' is about sharing stories of ordinary people (you?) who have taken their faith outside the boundaries of their own prayer life and Bible study and into the world to achieve extraordinary things in God's power and blessing.
The purpose of the show is to break down the barrier between viewers of Christian media and those in front of the camera by sharing encouraging experiences, exciting journeys and fun stories which will motivate and inspire the viewer into action themselves.
We hope that interviews with people who have achieved a great deal from humble beginnings will enlist a practical response from viewers, leading to action, and making this a potentially powerful and unusually productive television ministry.
Ultimately it is our desire to open viewers' minds to their own capabilities as empowered believers, and leave the screen feeling 'I could do that'.
Crucially, we are interested in creating a show which is light, fun and enjoyable. We hope to create a show which will be viewed and returned to because it's entertaining, amusing and engaging. We are keen to produce quality media, worthy of the Gospel, which people watch because it's a good show, rather than because it's Christian and they 'should' watch it.
Do you have a story to tell? Are you available during the day on any of the above dates? Some examples of the kind of people we are looking for might be:
Somebody who bought a cheap guitar as a child and now runs an international music ministry.
Somebody who experienced a time of hunger and went on to set up a major food distribution charity.
Somebody who took their art into the world to help disadvantaged children.
Somebody whose compassion for the lost lead them into church leadership with great success.
Somebody who became a successful writer from difficult beginnings.
There are millions of stories like this, we need you to join us in sharing them with the world! We are completely open to hearing other ideas.
We are looking for stories of joy, optimism, triumph over adversity and God blessing your work.
Guests should be prepared for fun and banter to bring a touch of silliness to the proceedings if necessary. Most of all, let's have a great time and leave the viewers feeing inspired and capable. There is no payment available for the appearances, we hope you will join us for the benefit it will bring our viewers and the publicity it will offer your good work. If you are available please contact Joe at ChristianMoviesUK@gmail.com with your information and a brief summary of your story (no more than 200 words). Thank you.
Can you get to Eccleshall, Staffordshire tomorrow and Tuesday 27th-28th July 2015 for one hour per day?
Can you act in a characterful cartoon voice?
Would you like to make £25 per hour for these two hours?
We are in pre-production of a new children's animation, and require one or two people (adults, probably female) to create three beautiful, convincing characters for the trailer. Each character speaks less than 100 words of dialogue.
We are looking for american accented voices for a girl of approximately 8, a boy of approximately 10 and a boy of approximately 12.
We would normally expect such voices to be created by an adult female actress.
It is intended that this show will become a mainstream production for television, and so there is potential for the successful artists to be involved in numerous 12 minute episodes in future.
For more information please e-mail cheethamwilkinson@yahoo.com preferably with a recording of your voice attached, fao Joe.
We are delighted to announce that in the week beginning Monday Sept 14th 2015 we will be filming a new chat show called 'Faith in Action' in partnership with UCB TV, at the UCB Broadcast centre in Hanchurch, UK.
We are looking for performing artists such as songwriters, poets, comedians, rappers or anybody with a great gift to showcase. All work must be completley original work to which you hold full copyrights.
'Faith in Action' takes on a traditional chat show format, with live performances, chat, VT's and a variety of guests.
Aimed at the Christian faith community, our new production is intended to serve a practical purpose, namely to motivate and encourage viewers that ordinary people can put their faith into action in extraordinary ways.
Each show will feature a live performance interlude, offering space for original Christian artists to showcase their work to an audience potentially reaching many thousands.
Are you an original artist with your own poetry, rap, songs or other performance art which you would like the opportunity to share? We'd love to hear from you.
UCB are a Christian charity, which means this is a UNPAID opportunity.
Here you can see some of UCB's great content:
http://www.ucb.co.uk/player/live
We understand that exposure alone should not be a motivation to perform, however we are serving the Lord and creating something intended to strengthen, inspire and lead people into a strong place of self-confidence and connectedness with their calling and potential to serve. In sharing your work with us, you will be a part of that.
Are you able to commit 100% to coming to Hanchurch, in Stoke-on-Trent, UK, on Sept 14th from 2pm onwards?
Are you able to bring everything you need to create a live performance to camera?
Do you create your own ORIGINAL content; music, songs, poetry, rap, comedy?
We'd love to hear from you. If you would like to bless us and our audience with your gifts, please e-mail some examples of your work via links/youtube to ChristianMoviesUK@gmail.com fao Joe.
UCB, a British Christian charity, are in production of a new television chat-show series called 'Faith in Action'. The show is intended to inspire and motivate people to take their faith outside the boundaries of their own homes and their own personal prayer life, and out into the world where it is so desperately needed.
Check out some of UCB's great content here: http://www.ucb.co.uk/player/live
We want you to be a part of it!
The show is bright, uplifting, fun and non-preachy. Original thought and new ideas in compositions and performances are welcome.
As a guest on the show, you will be playing a part in fulfilling the great commission, and ensuring that your performance has the greatest possible impact. We are looking for musicians and performers with a genuine heart for sharing the love of the Lord with a needy world, in a media context with the potential to reach many thousands of viewers.
We are looking for writers and performers of original Christian music, comedy, rap or poetry to perform as guests within a traditional chat-show format.
As UCB are a charity, this is not a paid performance.
We understand that 'exposure' should not be the main motivating factor. Although there is significant potential for your music to be heard by a large audience, we are keen to recruit people who can offer their services to a charity whose fundamental aim is to share the Gospel.
Do you write and perform original Christian music?
Can you be at UCB broadcast centre in Hanchurch, Stoke-on-Trent, UK from 2pm on Monday Sept 14th 2015?
Can you bring everything you need to produce a live performance to camera?
If you would enjoy the experience of working in a small professional television studio environment and creating a polished live video performance for the inspiration and uplifting of our viewers, then please send your details including an MP3, YouTube link or other example of your work to Joe at ChristianMoviesUK@gmail.com .
We have launched a new Facebook page called Christians Together Worldwide. We would be delighted if you would join our growing community by liking our page, we are growing daily and share some great posts from a variety of excellent quality Christian sources. If you like daily Christian encouragement, Christian Bible study and fellowship on your Facebook page then join Christians Together Worldwide today. Click here: https://www.facebook.com/ChristiansTogetherWorldwide
Jovis Bon-Hovis and the Creation Crew is a television production for children created on a very tight budget. This video illustrates the importance of planning. Part of the problem we faced when we first began producing this show was the wrong mindset. Once we started thinking that our limitations went beyond simply the budget, there were compromises in other areas. What I mean by that is that a low budget can get you thinking that your production isn't valuable, when in fact the value of your show lies in the quality and fullness of your vision for it, and not the amount of money you have to throw at it.
In fact, when the budget is tight, even more attention should be given to the areas where you are not constrained by a tight budget. One of these areas is planning. It doesn't cost anything to spend time planning colour schemes and designing sets, beyond your own time and some cardboard and glue.
Enjoying the process of making mock-ups and colour swatches can mean the difference between a show that looks the part and one that doesn't, and that has nothing to do with budget.
The above was a very enjoyable part of the production process. Just spending time and care on nailing the colour scheme boosted our confidence and gave credibility to the process.
All of the colours we chose were compared, balanced, agreed, composed and juxtaposed until we were happy.
The entire set including all paint, boards, fixtures frames and fitting cost very little, far below that of any mainstream TV production. But care and attention means it looks polished and professional.
How to make a TV show for children and get it on television.
For those of you reading this who don't know me, I am currently in production of season 3 of my kids' TV show which airs in numerous countries around the world.
Here's the thing. Do it. Just do it. I'm not being simplistic and dismissive, read on. Don't wait for permission or approval. If you have a passion for children's literature and want to turn it into TV, do it. If you have a heart for telling your own stories and want to do that through the medium of TV, do it.
That's the most important advice I ever received. Don't wait for permission, don't wait for approval, don't wait for somebody to tell you it's a great idea. Don't wait for anybody except God to lead you.
Here's how I like to think of it. There are two kinds of people, one in the majority and one in the minority: those who say 'I want to make a kids' TV show' and those who say 'I am going to make a kids' TV show.' I can't stress enough how important those two heart attitudes are to the success or failure of your project because here's the thing, you CAN do it.
I'm not saying you're hugely talented, I'm not saying your show is going to be brilliant, but what I am saying is that unless you make that second statement and speak it confidently into your own life, you are highly unlikely to succeed. You see, so much of the difference between the wannabes and the doers is just that attitude.
'I want to' is waiting for support, permission, affirmation, leadership, a pat on the back, encouragement and even assistance.
'I'm going to' is saying 'I will lead, I will affirm my partners, I will encourage and assist, I will give approval to those who draw alongside.'
So how do you become the kind of person that thinks like that? That may be a bigger question that I can't answer right here, perhaps there's a little soul-searching that needs to be done on your part but I will give you a clue as to how it worked for me. It's this. If I didn't feel confident, I acted like a confident person and did what I thought a confident person might do. If I didn't feel kind or generous of spirit, I behaved kind and generous of spirit as I thought such a person would,
Your speech is important too, not just to the people you are trying to communicate to, but to yourself as well. Never say 'I am trying to make a kids' TV show', never. Say 'I am producing a kids' TV show.' You may feel like you are lying, but simply be sure that you aren't, get on and do it. People will believe you, why wouldn't they? You are doing what you say. But so much of it is about self belief, which requires convincing yourself over and over again until you really believe it yourself.
I am not talking about any kind of deception whatsoever, please don't be tempted to exaggerate, that will put you in a very difficult position. I remember when my wife first started teaching and had her first class to herself, she felt like a fraud. But she wasn't, she was qualified and she was doing it. What are your qualifications? Getting on with it, doing what you say, that's what qualifies you.
Now that you're all pumped up and you're going to do it let's really make sure you're not wasting your time. There are any number of ways you can go about it practically, I'll list a few that will help you.
Create a show 'bible' and tout it round existing studios who might be willing to invest with you. This is the most cost effective idea, but probably the least likely to succeed since all you are offering is a concept. But if it's brilliant...A 'bible' is a document which outlines characters, synopses of storylines for the first season, as well as outlining the scenario and themes, USPs etc. It also contains artwork. Do an awesome one.
Create the bible as above but with a trailer. This will really enhance the saleability as the concept will be strengthened and clarified. Tout it around studios and investors.
Create a full episode and bible as above. This will demonstrate you as a serious player with a fully realised show which is far more investable.
Create an entire season. This puts you in a very strong position, you have 'hard assets', and the market is always on the lookout for quality content. Here, the risk lies entirely with you, as sales and revenue are not guaranteed.
Remember, you ARE making a kids' TV show, you are not TRYING.
My own approach was somewhere between 2 and 3. I then approached a local studio and we made season one together on a tiny budget. Now, at season 3, budget is increasing, popularity is growing, and distribution is more widespread.
Now that some of the basic (very basic!) theory is out of the way, I just wanted to touch on a couple of things which will help ensure you succeed.
Go for quality! At every step, ask yourself how it can be done better. Squeeze the absolute best out of whatever limited resources you have, and don't accept anything less. It's incredible what you can achieve with a very tiny budget in live action TV. My puppets are made from old towels, cereal boxes and children's clothes we no longer used. I made the sets from old board I found in the garage when we moved house, and the paints were poster paints from the pound store. And yes, they're on TV!
Research! Understand your audience, what engages them and keeps them entertained. The first half of our first season suffered from some real issues of lack of punch and flow, and the entire structure had to be changed to keep the kids gripped!
Listen to constructive criticism. It's tough, but get ready to be put through the mill. I'm not talking about nay-sayers and discouragers, Let them stew. But people who are genuinely interested and have something to say, hear them out. Be open hearted, be ready to adjust and don't bother being pointlessly defensive over your baby. A one-man-show often ends up looking like a one-man-show, and is worse for it. More ideas, more brains, more invention should be encouraged and sought.
Be original. It's easy to think that you can make a kids' TV show because you've seen them all your life, you know what they look like and how they go. With this attitude you'll probably just end up with a worse version of something which already exists. Who wants that? Think your idea through deeply, share it with people and adjust it according to feedback. Give it back-story, enrich it with a well considered scenario full of meaning and purpose, give your characters purpose. Be original, so that if even the biggest studio saw you bible they would say 'Wow, we've never seen that before!' If you're not original, why would somebody put money and time into your idea? Make something new.
Consider live action before animation. Puppets and human actors can be extremely cost effective, but animation is very expensive, even poor animation.
So, just a very short blog on the subject I wrote this simply to encourage you that it can be done. I may write a blog post about how to do it with no money, how to do it with £200 and how to do it with £1000, but that's for another time. Please share! Below is an example of my kids' TV show, showing the cut-out sets and clothes puppets I mentioned above.
We have a new Facebook page for people wanting to share an online Bible study and community fellowship. Check it out here! www.facebook.com/ChristiansTogetherWorldwide
'Christians Together Worldwide' is an exciting new on-line community drawing together believers from every walk of life to share and study God's word together.
Using video Bible readings from Joseph Cheetham-Wilkinson, this fellowship is all about being supportive, exploring Scripture, and encouraging one another on our diverse and varied journeys.
This is a fellowship of believers and seekers, and we are different in that we are not passively listening to a preach before walking away, but we are engaging, learning, growing and getting our teeth into it together. So come on, get involved, wherever you are in the world, if you are a Christian or you are genuinely seeking answers about the Christian faith then let's draw alongside one-another and JOIN THE CONVERSATION!
Why not start with us on Chapter one of the Gospel of Matthew as we work through the whole new testament?
It's been a few weeks since my last post, but here we have my first new Christian praise song in a while! Feedback so far has been good, what do you think? It's made me want to spend a bit more time in the studio anyway! It's called 'God's Love Pours Down', and it's about remembering how we came by our salvation, by grace! Not by what we've done, and certainly not by what we deserve. It's always worth keeping that in mind, especially in these times where so many Christians fight, argue and snipe at each other! We're all imperfect, flawed, broken damaged goods, saved by the same unmerited favour of a loving God.
