Wow! What an amazing week!

Can I take you on a little journey with me?

This past Friday morning, Yetta and I jumped on a plane at Dulles and flew out to LAX for a screening of Revolutionary America at the Reagan Presidential Library. The evening was a screening followed by a panel Q&A with Tom Selleck, Dr. Larry Arnn, Jeremiah Regan, and me.

Confession: during the screening, I almost fell asleep (we’d been up since 4:00 A.M. AND I’ve watched the film about a thousand times, ok!?)

But then the movie ended and they called us up on stage. And man, what a rush!

There were around a thousand people at the sold-out event (check out the photo below!).

(The crowd sits under Reagan’s original Air Force One jet. Thank you Yetta for taking all of the photos of the event!)

That’s crazy! And as I contemplated that, two thoughts came to mind:

• First, our country is still full of wonderful, patriotic Americans who genuinely love learning about our history.
• Second, people really love Thomas Magnum and Jesse Stone (and its fun to see the audience’s enthusiasm for Tom’s incredible career).

Anyhow, I walked away feeling incredibly blessed to have been there. One of the biggest takeaways from the evening was the responsibility we all share to carry forward the stories of our past and of who we are as a people. It’s often said that a people who forget their history are doomed to repeat it. Whether or not that’s the exact quote, the principle is certainly true.

That’s one of the reasons I’ve felt called to filmmaking for almost twenty years.

The stories we tell ourselves and the stories we tell about ourselves shape the kind of nation we become. And they shape the kind of individuals we become. Stories quietly answer questions about what is worth loving, what is worth sacrificing for, and ultimately what it means to live a good life.

By my estimation, that’s the kind of storytelling that leads to human flourishing.

I’m incredibly grateful to Hillsdale College, the Reagan Presidential Library, Tom Selleck, Dr. Larry Arnn, Jeremiah Regan, and everyone else who made the evening possible. They’re preserving stories worth remembering and reminding all of us why those stories still matter.

Check out some of these additional photos from the event!

Also in unrelated news: This week I’m speaking with some friends at the 2026 Bridge Conference in Washington DC.

I have a session with Allen Thornburgh (Sublimity) and John Darnell (Global Outreach International) on Thursday at 11:35am. It’s titled “Attention That Converts: How Audience-Powered Film Changes Minds and Grows Your Nonprofit.”

We’ll be talking about the way we strategically developed a film that helped position Global Outreach International to get a letter of intent from Angel Studios for an upcoming series. If you’re going to be at the Bridge Conference this week, hit me up! I’d love to see you there!

Here’s to Human Flourishing!

-Ian

Today, instead of thoughts on strategy, life, and the ideas behind film and storytelling, I thought it might be fun to show some behind the scenes from a recent production we ran at the Supreme Court.

It’s been said that if you can light a beautiful interview, you can light almost anything. And over the years, I’ve found that there’s a lot of truth in that statement. Most of the incredible directors of photography I’ve worked with cut their teeth on interview lighting. Interviews demand that all the elements work together. The lighting has to feel cinematic without drawing attention to itself. The composition has to create depth and visual interest while remaining flexible enough to accommodate multiple camera angles. And because the subject often remains seated for an extended period, every detail in the frame has to hold up under close scrutiny.

Over the last decade, the team at Distant Moon and I have spent countless hours refining our approach to multi-camera interviews in every kind of environment imaginable, from corporate offices and museums to historic homes and warehouses. Every location presents a different puzzle, and solving those puzzles has become one of our favorite parts of filmmaking. And so I thought, in this week’s newsletter, I’d give a bit of a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into making a beautiful interview setup!

One technique we’ve relied on for the past few years is intentionally framing extremely wide shots that include our lights, C-stands, flags, and other grip equipment. At first glance, it looks completely wrong. But we know those elements won’t appear in the finished film.

(Bishop Barron talks with Justice Amy Comey Barrett in at the Supreme Court)

(The same shot before VFX/color)

The process depends on careful planning. After capturing the interview, we’ll remove pieces of equipment one at a time and photograph multiple clean plates of the room. Those plates become the foundation for our editorial and VFX teams, who seamlessly composite the room back together (i.e. paint away the equipment in photoshop before layering it into the final video). The result is a wide, immersive frame that would be nearly impossible to light conventionally without compromising the quality of the image.

For these particular setups, we captured at least four clean plates for every wide shot. It’s a little extra work on set, but it gives our VFX artists and editors the flexibility they need to preserve consistent lighting, maintain realistic shadows, and create a final image that feels effortless. Like so much of filmmaking, the best work is often completely invisible. If we’ve done our job well, no one notices the hundreds of small decisions that made the shot possible. They simply experience the story told through the interview.

(An alternate angle showing the behind the scenes.)

Let me know if you like the little looks behind the scenes. If so, I’ll mix in more of this sort of thing into future newsletter content!

Here’s to Human Flourishing!

-Ian

(Camera B – Justice Barrett’s Medium Closeup)

(Camera C – Bishop Barron’s Medium Closeup)

(Camera D – A medium two shot)

My film Revolutionary America released two Sundays ago, and one question I’ve been asked repeatedly is “How do you feel about it?”

The honest answer is: It’s complicated!

On one hand, it performed well! During its three-day theatrical run, it generated nearly $1 million at the box office. Not bad for a documentary. Most people don’t go to theaters to watch documentaries the way they do blockbuster films, so we’re grateful for the response.

Our goal was to give patriotic Americans an opportunity to celebrate their country together on the big screen during America’s 250th anniversary. By that measure, the film succeeded. And, according to audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes, it was the highest-rated film in theaters for two weeks.

On the other hand, the work of a filmmaker never really ends.

In many ways, you’re only as good as your last project. That reality has driven generations of filmmakers. I suspect it’s one reason so many directors continue working well into their 80s and 90s. They love storytelling, and they believe the next film can always be better than the last.

So when people ask me, “How are you feeling?” my first thought isn’t, “I’ve achieved my dream.”

Instead, I think, “I can’t wait for you to see what we’re working on next.”

One of the strange realities of filmmaking is that the work audiences see today is often a year or two behind where you are creatively. The film playing in theaters now was likely written, shot, and edited long ago. The projects that excite me most today are the ones the world won’t see until next year, or perhaps the year after.

That’s not to say I’m not proud of Revolutionary America. I am.

I’m proud of the way it honors the story of freedom-loving Americans and the generations who came before us. I’m honored when audience members tell me they were moved to tears. And I’m grateful to have played a small role in preserving and sharing the story of this country, its achievements, its struggles, and the ideals that continue to inspire people around the world.

But when I really think about the question, “How do you feel?” my mind goes to a book called The Gap and the Gain by Dan Sullivan and Ben Hardy.

A few years ago, my business coach Chad Johnson spent a lot of time discussing this idea with me. The premise is simple:

If you measure your life by what you haven’t accomplished yet (“the Gap”), you’ll often feel frustrated and unfulfilled.

If you measure your life by how far you’ve come (“the Gain”), you’ll have a healthier perspective on your progress.

This doesn’t mean ignoring what remains to be done. Ambition is good. Goals matter. Growth matters.

But there’s wisdom in honestly holding both realities in mind at the same time, recognizing how far you’ve come while remaining aware of how far you still have to go.

One gives you gratitude. The other gives you hunger. Together, they provide both the confidence to keep moving forward and the humility to keep improving.

So here’s to living neither in the future nor in the past, but in the present. Here’s to holding the future and past in tension with each other. Here’s to being grateful for the opportunities we’ve been given and the blessings we’ve received. And here’s to remaining hungry for the work that still lies ahead.

Here’s to Human Flourishing!

-Ian

There’s often a moment on set (maybe you’ve felt it in a boardroom, marketing meeting, or on a stressful project) when your inner voice gets very loud and brutally critical. Mine hit hard the day I was directing Tom Selleck.

Yeah. THAT Tom Selleck. Magnum PI. The man who defined “Mustachioed Heartthrob.”

Only we weren’t on set. He was in a recording studio in Burbank. I was sitting in a borrowed office on Zoom while the team and I were in the middle of set construction and prelighting for a new series.

Tom was an absolute gentleman. Kind. Thoughtful. Invested in the narration. He had spent the weekend prior to our recording sessions studying the script (He read through it three times over the weekend). He was a consummate professional. It made immediate sense why he has become a legend – He cares deeply about the craft. And somehow, his professionalism and dedication to excellence made me feel even more unqualified.

Look, over the years, I’ve gotten pretty good at being direct with talent, giving notes, and working with them to get the performance we need. I don’t often get super nervous with famous individuals. But man, this time hit different. And listening back that first night of recording, I cringed almost the whole way through listening to playback.

Imagine a pre-pubescent boy who is trying to nervously give notes to one of the acting legends and trying desperately not to offend said legend with notes that come across demeaning or critical in any way. That’s a pretty good mental picture of how I sounded during that first three hour long recording session.

And that first night at 11:42pm, I made a decision: “Be the professional everyone expects you to be. Give the direction you were hired to give. Tom is bringing himself fully to the recording session. You owe it to him and the client and the investors in the project to be the director they hired you to be.”

The next two days I still struggled with whether my notes were “right” or not, but darn it, I gave the notes! Push the emotion here. Be more reserved there. The characters are thinking “this at that moment.” etc. The role of the director is to be part psychiatrist, part philosopher, part storyteller with the actor, so that the actor can access the sort of weight, emotion and pacing needed by the film. It was a great reminder for me that day. It doesn’t matter what the inner voice is telling you (positive or negative), you still have to show up and do the job you were hired to (and hopefully do it excellently).

What I didn’t know at the time was that Selleck was working through his own version of that same voice. In his book You Never Know (you grab a copy of here), he writes about how everyone (in front of and behind the camera) wrestles with whether they’re good enough for the moment. The doubt is a part of the job. It doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong.

Since those three days of working with Tom and the recording team, I’ve had the privilege of reading his book. It’s a great autobiography by one of the greats. And I think it will be encouraging to you as well if you pick it up and give it a read.

AND, the powerful narration that Tom delivered earlier this year? You can check it out for three days only in theaters starting this Sunday (May 31). It’s not guaranteed to hit streaming before July 4 and this is the only three days it will be in theaters! So if you want to inspire your family with the tumultuous and inspiring history of America’s revolution on the eve of the 250th, we’d love to see you at the theaters this weekend!

Check out Tickets and showtimes here!

Here’s to Human Flourishing!

-Ian

If you’ve known me long, you know that I’m a HUGE goal-setter. One of the conversations I often find myself in at the beginning of each year is with people who ask “But what do you do when you don’t accomplish all the goals you set each year?” And admittedly, I usually don’t accomplish most of my goals each year (like over 50%). But, for me, goals don’t act like taskmasters beating me over the head. They act as friends reminding me what I’m working toward and for. If I can revisit those goals each week, each month, I have a better chance of landing where I want to land over the coming decades.

Among the over 30+ goals I set for 2026, two stand out that I want to share with you today. The first was to have a film open in theaters before the end of the calendar year. And the second was for that film to succeed at the box office.

Now, for the first time, I can say we’re one step closer to both (at least the first one). And completion of the second is up to you.

On May 31, the documentary I’ve spent the last year and a half making will be released in theaters nationwide.

Revolutionary America tells the story of the founding conflict of our country – the men and women who risked everything to establish a nation unlike any the world had seen. We made it in honor of the 250th anniversary coming up in July and I really hope you’ll join me to see it in theaters on May 31!

But more than telling you about the film, I wanted to give you a peek into making a feature-length theatrical documentary.

The film really began to take shape in January of 2025. We were filming in Michigan (one of several locations we would shoot over the course of the year). What made that moment distinct was that we were actually producing two projects at once: this film, Revolutionary America, and its prequel series, Colonial America, which explores the settlers who first came to this continent and why they risked everything to enter an unknown world.

From the beginning, one question drove the entire process: what kind of people would put everything – their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor – on the line against the most powerful nation in the world? On paper, it was suicide. So why would they do it?

Directing this film has been about chasing that question. And that’s not just an abstract philosophical question. To me, it was a very human one. Imagining what it would take for me to put my entire life on the line brings this point home to me personally. And so my goal has been to bring the audience close enough to these individuals that their decisions don’t feel distant or inevitable, but personal, costly, and necessary.

But what people often don’t see is how demanding that process really is. A documentary like this begins long before the camera rolls. You’re writing, outlining, and trying to shape a coherent story out of something incredibly dense and complex. Each historian and expert we interviewed spoke with us for anywhere from three to nine hours. And each usually ended their sessions ready for a nap (or a stiff drink). It was exhausting. By the end, we had around forty hours of interviews alone.

But the harder work comes after that.

Taking all of that material and distilling it into a clear, compelling, ninety-minute narrative is its own challenge. A documentary especially is made in the edit. It involves months of shaping structure, refining the story, and cutting anything that doesn’t earn its place. Even after the edit is locked, there’s still a long road: color, sound design, theatrical mixing, visual effects, motion graphics. Every layer matters if you want the audience to feel fully immersed.

One of my personal goals for this film was that it put audiences into the history in a way that they’ve never experienced before; and I think there are some uses of both old and new technologies to help us achieve that goal that will pleasantly surprise audiences. To create something immersive like that, even a “simple” documentary requires a long, collaborative effort across dozens of people. This film was made over two years and a budget 1/30th of last year’s Ken Burns documentary series about the American Revolution. Different approaches, different forms. But it gives you a sense of the scale.

I think the reason we were able to pull off a project of this scale at the budget and timeline we did was twofold: 1. the Distant Moon leadership has built an incredible internal team that punches way above its budget class and 2. Hillsdale: Hillsdale team of researchers and historians brought an immense knowledge of the subject to bear. I was talking with my friend Jeremiah Regan (Executive Producer of the film) and he made the remark that for filmmakers like Burns, perhaps as much as half of the time it took to produce their series was spent learning the material to the level that they could piece together the story arc. Our partners and many of our teammembers have spent the last decade studying, learning and understanding the history before ever working on the project. Having partners who can speak to the history with confidence and mastery was vital to the timeline of this project.

With that in mind, I’ve been incredibly grateful for the partners who made this possible: Hillsdale College, Jeremiah Regan, Fathom Entertainment, and the team at Distant Moon. Films like this don’t happen without people who believe deeply in the work and are willing to carry it forward over a long stretch.

We made this film because we believe these questions still matter. Not just what happened, but what it required, and what it might require of us today.

The film will be in theaters for three days only: May 31-June 2. If audiences show up, it extends. If you’re curious about how to help us bring this film to even more audiences, hit me up! I’d love to talk!

And, if you’re curious, you can watch the trailer now!

Here’s to Human Flourishing!

-Ian

So, I have a confession…I had never been to a standup comedy show before last week. Ok…not much of a confession (I’m trying clickbait now! Cool, right guys?). I digress. Anyhow, I’ve always been a bit more of a theater kid than an improv or standup kinda guy. In fact, Yetta and I have made it an annual tradition since the year we got engaged to go to a Broadway show each year. (Covid was tough! Destroyed our unbroken record) And don’t even get me started on asking my opinion on the best Broadway shows. Let’s just say I have a lot of opinions. BUT…I had never been to a comedy show…that is, like I said, until last Friday. And boy, it was a good first.

Yetta and I went to Nate Bargatze’s show at Capital One Arena in DC and sat in the middle of a stadium filled with 16,000 people. The energy was palpable. And considering how much I love Nate’s comedy, it’s safe to say I was a bit giddy.

(Above: Nate surrounded by 16,000 people. Imagine the pressure of talking and making that many people laugh.)

What struck me most was how effortless he made it feel. No gimmicks. He just tells simple stories in a deadpan way. Stories about family, travel, everyday life. And somehow the entire arena was locked in. In tears one second. Dead quiet the next. He pulls you into the ordinary and reminds you how absurd and funny it all actually is.

But the thing that stuck with me longer than anything was how he ended the night. He pulled out his phone and opened a family text thread. Then he started telling a story about how one day while caddying for Jimmy Fallon (long story), he got drawn into this absurd family conversation with his sister who had just been arrested in Mexico for getting into a fight on the beach. It was the sort of “real life story” that rang totally true: Nate is at a mountain peak moment, and meanwhile elsewhere in his personal life: total chaos. And somehow, that’s the point. The whole set builds to this quiet realization: success doesn’t simplify life. It complicates it. The higher you go, the stranger it gets.

Then, last week, I was reading a new favorite book, The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers (a story told from the perspective of a dog who guards a wild, beautiful park). It’s simple on the surface, but the language is anything but. Eggers has this way of writing that feels both playful and profound at the same time. Every sentence is precise, but never heavy. And his pacing is unbelievably gripping.

And this line caught my attention: “If we expect life to be complicated, and life is complicated, then life is simple, right?” (Remember, a dog gave this nugget of wisdom. Yeah, read the book. It’s great).

Anyhow, perhaps we make too much of life’s complications. Perhaps the chaos isn’t something to escape, but something to recognize for what it is: a sign that we’re alive, in the middle of something real and something special. That life, in its chaos, is beautiful.

I think there’s a kind of freedom in that. To laugh at it. To step outside. To notice the world God made and realize that you don’t need to have it all figured out. You’re just called to enjoy it, enjoy Him, and walk faithfully.

Everything is fine.

Not perfect. Not tidy. Not safe. But good.

Here’s to Human Flourishing.

-Ian

P.S. If you want to give The Eyes and the Impossible a read (which I highly recommend), you can buy it on Amazon here!

(Above: A picture of Yetta and me after the Nate Bargatze show. I had a bunch of poison ivy. Maybe that’s why I look crosseyed. haha)

There’s a strange thing about the life we say we want…

It comes with complications.

And most of the time, those complications feel like interruptions. You know: things to push through, complain about, or survive… But I’ve been thinking this week:

What if the complications are actually the clearest evidence of the blessings?

People with no complications live quiet, simple, undisturbed lives. They’re also, almost always, empty.

Because everything that makes life meaningful (people, responsibility, purpose, creation) brings friction with it. Even other human beings are complications! They interrupt us. They challenge us. They demand something of us. And yet, none of us would choose a life without other people. right?? 

This idea hit me again this week while we’re finishing a feature-length documentary that’s heading to theaters at the end of May (I can’t share details yet, but soon!).

On Tuesday, I worked an 18.5-hour day. On Friday, I worked until 2am…again. By the end of the week, I felt like death. And if I’m honest, I was tempted to be irritated. Short. Grumpy. The kind of attitude that whines, “Why is this so hard?” But then I remembered a line from Mark Batterson’s In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and the idea behind it: The very thing you’re frustrated by might be the thing you once prayed for.

(Pictured Above: A screenshot of the timeline for the feature documentary part of our team is working on. Every little sliver of color is a different clip…)

I’ve wanted to make films that go to theaters for as long as I can remember. And now it’s happening. So what would it mean to be annoyed…when the dream is finally becoming real? That long days aren’t an obstacle to the dream. They were a direct result of and a requirement for the dream.

And the longer I live, the more I realize this truth applies more broadly to all of life.

• The late nights.
• The responsibility.
• The pressure.
• The complexity of relationships.
• The weight of building something that matters.

These aren’t detours from a flourishing life. They are the evidence of it.

So here’s the challenge I’m giving myself (and maybe you too, haha): When you feel the friction this week, pause and ask: “Is this complication actually a sign of blessing?”

And if it is…if it’s tied to something you once hoped for, prayed for, or worked toward, then don’t just endure it.

Be grateful for it.

Because in many cases, the complication is not the problem. It’s the proof of blessing.

(Pictured Above: Just a quick glimpse of the team in it – heads down, putting in the kind of work that never looks glamorous but makes everything possible when you’re working toward the dream.)

Here’s to Human Flourishing.

— Ian

A couple weeks ago, a few of us from the Distant Moon team spent several days in Nashville at the National Religious Broadcasters convention. If you’ve never been, imagine thousands of people who care deeply about media, ministry, and the future of storytelling all gathered in one place.

We called it “The Future of Film.” The room filled up with nonprofit leaders and storytellers who are using film not just to entertain people, but to advance missions that genuinely change lives.

But instead of doing the typical conference thing (you know: PowerPoint slides, a panel of experts pretending to have all the answers, etc…) we tried something different.

We handed the microphone to the leaders in the room and asked them to share the film they’re most proud of. And to discuss what worked…and what didn’t.

The stories ranged from prison ministry to Bible translation to missionary work in Ecuador. Different missions. Different audiences. Different goals.

But as the conversation unfolded, a few themes kept surfacing about how organizations are using film today.

1. The best films do not live alone.
2. Authenticity is the most powerful currency in storytelling.
3. Clear purpose shapes great storytelling.
4. Sometimes the audience understands the story better than the filmmaker.

So instead of a traditional newsletter this week, I wanted to share a few highlights from the discussion. Each one captures a different way organizations are using film to expand their mission.

Prison Fellowship: One Story as an Ecosystem of Impact

One of the films we featured told the story of Jermaine, a convicted felon who encountered Christ through Prison Fellowship and turned his life around.

What I loved about this conversation with Marko Albrecht was how it shows that a documentary is rarely just a single piece of content. The real impact comes from how organizations extend that story across multiple channels and audiences.

Here is part of our conversation with Marko:

Ian: “That is a great story. It’s really cool to see stories like that. How are you guys using this branded doc, and what is the objective in terms of what you are wanting to accomplish with this?”

Marko Albrecht: “The objective is, the mission is always first, right, to have that encounter with Jesus. And then with this, there are multiple variables with it. We had it as a short doc that churches play in their services. That is why it is that three minute length. There is a little slot you get to put it in, and you will see this in the service. And then afterwards, we have our church mobilization team led by Will and they kind of sign up churches on the fly.

We have Jermaine as our mission ambassador now, so he takes this into speaking engagements with corporations. So we built corporate restoration partners where they build out long term donors. We run CTV ads from this. We do cut downs at 30 seconds. We have social media clips from this and teasers. So we really try to extend content out to reach those goals. And this one had really, really great results.”

Ian: “When you talk about all the different types of content that come from the single piece, where have you guys seen, as an organization, the biggest kind of shifting of the needle? Has it been in churches, or has it been on the CTV stuff? Or where are you seeing the most impact?”

Marko Albrecht: “Well, luckily, we were kind of early movers a little bit in terms of three and a half years ago, there was not as much content. Now, you said there is every day, there are like five, six million videos uploaded an hour even now. It is absolutely insane. So you have to keep up with that.

This [documentary] is about two and a half years ago now. We have 100,000 subscribers on our YouTube channel. This had 120,000 views. The CTV metrics on this did really well. We run ads on this and it had a 23 percent increase month over month, using variations of this ad, different hooks, endings, and trying out different things.

[What] I think is important to hear you talk about here is the audience, because what the audience wants to see is always changing. But then also Jermaine, he played this at Chick-fil-A headquarters, and he said everybody started crying. So I think there is that heart, changing minds and changing hearts. For a guy like Jermaine, just to tell his story, I think there is healing there too on his end as well.”

Featuring stories like Jermaine’s remind us that a single film can ripple far beyond the screen. But just as important as reach is something we heard about in the next conversation: authenticity.

Seed Company: Authenticity Still Wins

Seed Company produced a beautiful film about the translation of the Bible for the Notsi people in Papua New Guinea.

Their approach highlights that, sometimes, the most important metric for a film is its authenticity.

Here’s what producer Jim Monroe (pictured above on the right) had to say about that:

Ian: “First of all, beautiful film. When Seed Company makes a film like this, you mentioned that the primary audience is investors and donors, correct? So talk to us a little bit about the different types of content you have experimented with as an organization. Is it all that cinematic, visual approach, with the characters themselves telling their story? Are there other formats? 

Jim Monroe: “This specifically was a dedication, but we do not just document dedications. We also do story trips, where we focus on small communities or individuals and tell life impact stories. In the past couple of years, we have been branching out even more, trying to bring in broader audiences as well. Because for years, our department was more like a white glove: high quality films for our investors. We have a great marketing team too, so we still focus on high quality films like this in our department. But we also assist our marketing team by giving them the footage and content. They have been doing a great job creating little snippets and pieces that are easy to watch. You pop it up, it is just a few seconds long, it intrigues them, and then they do a build up release to the actual film that we make.”

Ian: “What I am curious about is how do you guys define project success? When you are showing a film like this to a small, close group of people, or individual donors, what are the metrics that your organization is using to go ‘This was a successful project, or this was not a successful project’?”

Jim Monroe: “Our primary focus is, has been, and always will be, authenticity. People want real. When we do what we do, they want real. And that is what we try to reflect in a lot of our films.

The feedback we got from the individuals who have seen it, especially ones who have served and lived in Papua New Guinea, has been really positive, saying that this, like some of those shots at the very beginning, people washing their clothes in the river, getting coconuts out of trees, the sounds, that is authentic, that is Papua New Guinea. And that is what our investors want. They want to see, we live in such a closed-door, bubbled reality, being able to see God’s impact globally is huge.”

Authenticity helps audiences trust what they are seeing, which can be considered a win. But as the next conversation shows, some organizations wrestle with the question “What does success actually look like for us?”

Global Outreach International: The Tension Between Art and ROI

Josh Yerkes, the VP of Development at Global Outreach International, shared a challenge that I suspect many nonprofits in the room could relate to.

Sometimes the question is not “Is this a great story?”

The question is “What is the ROI?”

Here is part of that exchange:

Ian: “What was the biggest challenge from your perspective in making this project?”

Josh Yerkes: “The biggest challenge was this: ‘How do we reconcile something that we just want to be a beautiful piece of art that challenges people, however it challenges them, and then [knowing that] we need tangible ROI and [how do you] bring those things together?’ Which is kind of what you saw. It is tailored there at the end, to invite a donor into giving, into a digital sustainer, monthly giving program we call ‘The Farm.’ I think we landed where it is, in a good place with that tension.”

Ian: “What does victory look like with GOI’s media strategy?”

Josh Yerkes: “We have two marketing strategies that actually compete against one another: the recruitment of missionaries and then also donors to fund that, because we accomplish that vision at no cost to the missionary (we do not take a percentage from our missionaries).

For support based missionaries, raising funds for their specific work is vital care for them. And so with this film, we are kind of recruiting missionaries like, ‘Hey, go be a part of missions!’ But while doing that, we are increasing our costs, so we are also recruiting donors that says ‘Hey, maybe going across the pond is not your part in missions, but here is one way that you can support that.’

And so that marketing strategy success really looks like more missionaries, which means a greater need and more partners to fulfill that.”

Josh’s story highlights the tension between telling a meaningful story and delivering measurable results. And often, the bridge between those two things is surprisingly simple. It begins with understanding the audience you are trying to serve.

Soil & Story: Let the Audience Interpret (and Guide) the Story

The final conversation came from Geoff Peters, CEO of Soil & Story, who works with projects like The Chosen and other major faith-based productions.

His insight reinforced something I have written about before in this newsletter:

The audience is the hero.

Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do as filmmakers is listen to how communities interpret a story.

Here is what Geoff shared:

Ian: “You mentioned before the video some of the work that you guys are doing, working with The Chosen, working with some other productions and organizations. I guess maybe as a starting point, what are the things that you guys are seeing as you are working with productions like The Chosen that you are like, ‘Wow, this is something that nobody is thinking about! And if more organizations knew this, it would really help them’?”

Geoff Peters: Yeah, I think what comes to mind first is two examples. A few months back, I was with, we had a round table with ministry leaders in Brazil, and we were talking about an upcoming film from The Chosen (which will come out early 2027). We gave them the basic specs on how many people would come to theater showings and what has happened historically. And we asked them, as the leadership of the body of Christ there in that place, that as you pray and discern, what do you think God is telling you about how many people should come and see this film in theaters in the first 90 days?

And the number they came back with was two and a half times higher than what the industry metrics told us was possible.

And so the first lesson was that the body of Christ often has a much bigger idea than if we just go with what industry says. If we do not invite the Holy Spirit into that process, and we do not talk to the local believers, we do not talk to the local church, we can potentially underestimate what God wants to do.

The second big learning is really one that is right in the midst of us right now. Next week, I will be in the UK with another film about miracles (different piece) that we are helping to work with. But in the UK, pastors are saying they want to be able to utilize this film. They want to promote this film. They want to get people to see this film because, in the UK, they have an epidemic of loneliness and they believe this film shows a God that is next to you and near you, even if you do not feel like anybody sees you. This is not what the filmmakers intended. But when you ask the local church how they might use it, how God might use it, they are seeing it through the lens of that loneliness and God is always with you.

So…when the local soil of believers and church leaders looks at [a film] and they know what their community issues are, they are going to actually want to market, promote, and utilize that film for a different purpose that is contextual, right for them, right for themselves, even if that is not what the filmmakers intended.”

Geoff’s insight brings the conversation full circle: Great films rarely stand alone. They become the starting point for an entire ecosystem of storytelling and engagement and authenticity matters because when audiences sense something real, they lean in.

Clear purpose matters because when organizations know what they are aiming at, the film becomes a guide that helps people move toward action. And finally, sometimes audiences understand a story in ways the filmmaker never anticipated.

All of this points to something essential for storytellers and the organizations they serve. Film is not just about creating beautiful images. It is about helping people see the world and their place in it a little more clearly. When that happens, stories can move hearts, spark conversations, and sometimes even change lives.

Here’s to Human Flourishing.

-Ian

So this past week, I was really in the thick of it.

And by “it,” I mean the valley of despair that comes when you have so much to do across multiple projects that you don’t even know what to do next…while also feeling like everything you’re making kinda sucks.

That moment of “This project is amazing! Life is amazing!” way in the rearview mirror. My mental state was more like…

“This is the worst. Why can’t I make anything good? Do I just suck at everything?”

It reminded me of that creative process chart that floats around the internet:

The Creative Process:

1. This is awesome.
2. This is tricky.
3. This is crap.
4. This is really crap.
5. I am crap.
6. Maybe this is okay?
7. Oh, this is actually awesome!

I’ve always loved it, not just because it makes me laugh, but because it’s also deeply encouraging. More than anything, it reminds me that we all experience the same highs and lows.

But this week, for the life of me I couldn’t find the diagram anywhere on the internet. So…I did what every 36-year old millennial creative does and asked ChatGPT: “WHAT THE HECK DID THAT IMAGE LOOK LIKE AGAIN?”

And this is what it looks like in all its uncanny valley AI glory!

It makes me laugh every time because it’s true. But it’s also important. Because if you don’t internalize the main idea, this phase will either keep you moving forward or completely derail you.

Every project begins with excitement. You can almost taste how great the final product will be.

Then life shows up. Not enough time, that collaborator you love working with isn’t on the same page, the executive suite disagrees on ideal outcomes…OH, yeah, and have you noticed it’s actually just really hard to make something GOOD, let alone EXCELLENT?

I think this is the moment most people misdiagnose. They think:

• “We picked the wrong idea.”
• “I’m not actually good at this.”
• “Maybe this project was a mistake.”

But as a filmmaker who’s been working professionally since my teens (and just ask my kids: I’m REAAALLY old), I can tell you: this moment isn’t failure. It’s actually proof you’re on the right track. It’s the normal friction that comes from making anything meaningful.

Ira Glass (famed host of This American Life) talks about this beautifully: when you hate your own work, it’s often because your taste is outpacing your ability to execute. That’s normal. And it means you care.

But I’ve also noticed a corollary: Even after decades of experience, you never skip the “this doesn’t live up to the hope” phase. For most of a project’s life, it isn’t there yet. And living in that gap is where the pain comes from.

But it’s also an encouragement. It means you’re on the right path. And if you push through it, that end-vision in your mind is achievable.

Speaking from my own experience: Every finished film I’m proud of has passed directly through that valley. And just to be clear: It’s not MOST. Not SOME. It’s EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

And over the last 20 years, I’ve recognized that I’m not alone.

Last fall, Distant Moon quietly launched ORBIT, a director partnership program with some of the best filmmakers of my generation. Each of them is working on huge things that impact the world. Angel Studios series. Youtube empires. Projects with brands like Sony and Marvel.

And all of them face the “this is crap” phase. BUT, they’ve all learned to stop asking “Is this project bad?” or “Do I just suck?” 

Instead, they ask better questions:

• What’s not clear yet?
• What’s trying to emerge?
• What does this actually need from me now?

Asking these questions is important, because if the right questions aren’t asked, I often see people overcorrect, like a pendulum. And as a result, they confuse discomfort with failure and abandon good ideas too early (often right before breakthrough would have occurred).

Ok, so what’s the takeaway?

If the work feels hard, it’s because it’s becoming significant.

If its hard and doesn’t matter, you just stop. If it matters but isn’t hard, you’re probably not making something lasting. If its hard AND it matters, you push through and make something meaningful. The fantasy idealistic phase is over. The responsibility phase has begun. So push through, ask the right questions, and know you’re not alone. Everyone doing something meaningful faces the valley of despair.

You’ve got this. Here’s to Human flourishing.

-Ian

Oh. and here’s a picture of me on set of a recent film, struggling through a scene that wasn’t clicking. Its worth it once you make it work!

P.S. – I’m hosting a special invitation-only session at NRB next month called “The Future of Film.” If you’re going to be there (or in Nashville area) on February 20th. I’d love to see you there! Structurally based on the idea of a mastermind session, we’re showcasing work from some of the nation’s leading nonprofits and discussing the state of the industry and where we’re headed.

Join leaders and thinkers from Global Outreach International, Prison Fellowship, Mission Aviation Fellowship, Ligonier Ministries, Charity Water, and more. And hear incredible insights from marketing strategist Allen Thornburgh, veteran producer Bobby Downes, and myself. It will be a really beneficial time for all involved.

“I’m sick of my videos online only being seen by a few people.”
“The audience we’re reaching isn’t even the right audience.”

If you’ve heard (or said) either of these things, you’re not alone.

Very few organizations are truly reaching their audiences, and most are frustrated. Many are close to throwing in the towel on this whole “video content” thing altogether. The truth is (and deep down, I think we all know this): people don’t care about your story unless you tell it in a way that is important to THEM.

Look, I know this firsthand. Last year, I experimented with putting video versions of this newsletter on YouTube. Just me, talking. No real optimization. And let’s just say…they didn’t exactly light the internet on fire.

The videos barely cracked 40 or 50 views. And I’m not confused about why. I wasn’t designing for retention, discovery, or scale. And…by most metrics, it looked like a failure.

But something interesting happened anyway.

Even with small view counts, some of the right people were watching. They reached out. They booked calls. They started conversations. Those few imperfect videos contributed to closing roughly $150,000 in projects.

Now, that’s not enough to keep the lights on at Distant Moon for even a month, but it’s more than enough to prove something I’ve believed for a long time: reach is not the same thing as impact.

And I don’t think most meaningful results come from scale. Rather, they come from deep connection with the audience about something they care about.

Do I wish those videos had reached more people? Of course. That’s why we pressed pause on YouTube last fall and, after strategy, restructuring, and preparations, we will return to YouTube in 2026.

But this isn’t just about Distant Moon or my own experiments.

What those YouTube tests confirmed is something we’ve been quietly refining for years with partners like Hillsdale College and others: When the strategy is “bless the audience” or “make the audience’s lives better” success follows. That’s been Hillsdale’s strategy for over a decade now with their free online courses. And when we partnered with Hillsdale to reconfigure and produce their cinematic online courses about 8 years ago, I had no idea it would grow to become one of the most fulfilling aspects of my career: nearly a decade of reaching tens of millions of people with the most important ideas in history.

I’m continually blown away by the impact the Hillsdale courses and documentaries have had on people’s lives (from prison inmates turning their lives around, to veterans processing PTSD through encounters with truth, beauty, and goodness). And I’m equally moved by the ripple effect: how brands, faith movements, and nonprofits have reshaped the way they tell stories because they’ve seen what’s possible in online courses and documentary production, all because Hillsdale has focused on serving their audience with truth, beauty, and goodness.

Which inevitably leads to the question I received at event I attended last week: “How did you guys build Distant Moon to be able to produce work like Hillsdale’s courses and documentaries?”

And after pondering the question, here are the top four things that come to mind:

1. Start Small.
Don’t start with the million-dollar production. With Hillsdale we started with one small project. It wasn’t glamorous. But over 8 years of close collaboration we’ve been able to scale to dream-level projects together. Start with strategy. Testing. Low lifts. Build from there. I think about the verse all the time: “Be faithful in the little things, and much will be added.”

2. Your Audience Is the Hero.
You are not the hero. Your brand is not the hero. Your audience is the hero. They are looking for a guide who understands their problems and can help them address the most pressing concerns in their lives (Read Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller for a deep dive on this idea).

3. Marketing As We Know It Is Dying. Focus on Entertaining and Enlightening.
Here’s my 2026 thesis (ok, I also was saying this in 2025) –  Traditional advertising will shrink to a bare minimum and become almost entirely AI-driven. People will hate it. They’ll live for the moment they can hit “skip.” Smart brands will reallocate their budgets to storytelling that enlightens and inspires. And audiences will flock to those brands.

That’s why Red Bull is thriving. That’s why Chick-fil-A has gone so far as to launch its own streaming platform. That’s why Under Armour is shifting away from a heavy dependence on traditional ad campaigns, toward in-house, narrative storytelling (In fact UnderArmour basically gives their whole thesis here).

The smartest nonprofits and brands aren’t investing big in commercials. They’re investing in education and entertainment. They’re investing in the sort of content that tangibly improves their audience’s lives.

4. Know What You’re Aiming At.
People without a plan perish. Brands even more so.

This is the primary reason most startups (including nonprofits) fail. They don’t know why they’re doing what they’re doing, or where they’re going.

At Distant Moon, our aim is to build the most impactful film studio of the 21st century. Our mission is to foster human flourishing around the globe by helping audiences wrestle with life’s deepest questions, understand the world around them, and come into contact with the Creator who made that world. That’s because we firmly believe that Audiences around the globe need uplifting and enlightening entertainment and education.

So here’s my encouragement to you: Don’t add more noise to an already deafening world. Serve your audience with your content the same way you serve them with your product or service or mission.

Every organization will do this eventually, or they’ll go out of business. Most will do it in the next five years. You could do it this year and define your industry.

That’s what we’re focusing on at Distant Moon in 2026. That’s what our forward-looking partners are doing. And I hope it’s what you and your organization will do too.

Happy 2026. Here’s to human flourishing!
-Ian

P.S. – I’m hosting a special invitation-only session at NRB next month called “The Future of Film.” If you’re going to be there (or in Nashville area) on February 20th. I’d love to see you there! Structurally based on the idea of a mastermind session, we’re showcasing work from some of the nation’s leading nonprofits and discussing the state of the industry and where we’re headed.

Join leaders and thinkers from Global Outreach International, Prison Fellowship, Mission Aviation Fellowship, Ligonier Ministries, Charity Water, and more. And hear incredible insights from marketing strategist Allen Thornburgh, veteran producer Bobby Downes, and myself. It will be a really beneficial time for all involved.

Sign up at https://distantmoon.com/futureoffilm/