UCLA

This dissertation examines the relationship between Hollywood and American Christianity from 1998 to the present—a time frame that encompasses the recent rise of the “Christian blockbusters.” This period saw unprecedented interaction between Hollywood and what has been called the “Christian film industry,” or “Holywood”—a loose and ever-changing assortment of Christian film companies and independent filmmakers that have operated in one form or another since the silent era and whose productions were, until recently, primarily relegated to local theatrical markets, church screenings, and Christian television. Although historically unprecedented, this new interaction between Hollywood and “Holywood” can be understood as a clear extension of the rise of both new media technology and transmedia industries. This dissertation argues that a once not-for-profit filmmaking exercise by Christian filmmakers, for the purposes of inner-church ministry, has now become a huge business built upon selling films to churches as resources for both inner-church ministry and outer-church evangelism. Indeed, the business has grown so profitable that Hollywood studios now regularly market their mainstream wares to Christian audiences as well, utilizing the rise of middle-men marketing firms to reach faith-based demographics and speak a Christian sales language unfamiliar to most studios.

My dissertation is structured around six chapters: an introduction and conclusion, two contextual chapters, and two case study chapters. Chapter 1 sets the stage for the historical and cultural roots of “Holywood” since the silent era, the modern model for “Holywood” marketing established by Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (2004), and the ways “Holywood” filmmakers have continued to adopt and adapt this model and earn great financial rewards in the process. Conversely, Chapter 2 establishes Hollywood’s modern relationship to Christian audiences. Little has been written on the Hollywood/Christian relationship after the Production Code disappeared, and yet this time period leading up to the early 2000s contains some of the most controversial and essential encounters between studios and faith-based audiences. Chapter 3 then presents the first case study: an examination of the indie-Christian film Fireproof, the highest grossing independent film of 2008. Conversely, Chapter 4 investigates Hollywood’s interaction with Christian film culture through a case study of Man of Steel (2013). This case study allows me to address the rise of Christian marketing firm Grace Hill Media since the early 2000s, as well as the film’s narrative and paratextual marketing appeals Christian demographics. My main research methods for each chapter include industrial?analysis, textual readings of films and marketing materials, and on-site ethnographic-based observations and interviews with the filmmakers, marketers, and production companies behind the films.