An article in Christianity Today reports that LifeWay Christian Bookstores will close all 170 of their brick and mortar locations by the end of 2019.
Wow.
This will be a blow to the small, independent Christian filmmaker. LifeWay was one of the few brick and mortar stores that would stock lower budget faith-based films. In a very real sense, they were our floor. Our firewall. It was the one chain -- after the demise of Family Christian -- where we could hope to be stocked. When last I stepped into my local LifeWay in White Marsh, Maryland, I found eleven out of twelve of my faith-based DVDs on the shelves. That was certainly cool, and a feat I don't ever expect to see repeated elsewhere.
Some of my later films made it to the shelves of the Holy Grail of American retail: Walmart. Obviously, that is a much bigger deal. It puts your film in front of a much larger audience. However, unless your initial sales are very brisk, your stay on the Walmart shelves will be very brief. The great thing about LifeWay is that they stock your film indefinitely. There is certainly something to be said for that. I am genuinely grateful for the platform they gave us.
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| Revelation Road 1 in Walmart |
It means that now, more than ever, we must compete in the mainstream marketplace. We can't count on having safe little spaces where consumers will reward us for our intentions, and not our execution. When I started out, any filmmaker could expect to turn a profit with a modestly budgeted, family-friendly Christian film with a recognizable name or two in the cast. Not anymore.
And maybe that's a good thing.
While I am genuinely saddened by this news, particularly for all the folks who will lose their jobs through no fault of their own, there might be some upside to the fall of LifeWay, The company served as a powerful gatekeeper in the world of faith-based films. When I was making my early films with PureFlix, we lived in terror of not getting a family-approved rating from the Dove Foundation. Without that rating, LifeWay wouldn't carry the film and our path to profitability was put in dire jeopardy.
I remember talking to a Christian filmmaker years ago who made three faith-based films. His first two films were Dove-approved and dutifully stocked by LifeWay. They made money. His third one wasn't approved. It didn't get stocked by LifeWay and it lost money. That filmmaker wasn't going to make that mistake again. He would work within the approved parameters, even if it meant ignoring issues important to him.
I am constantly approached by young faith-based filmmakers chafing at the unwritten but very real restrictions placed on their vision by the many so-called gatekeepers intent on dictating what is appropriate for Christian audiences. Perhaps the fall of LifeWay will loosen those restrictions a bit....
But don't count on it.
There are plenty of other gatekeepers.
In all seriousness, my prayers are with all the people whose lives will be disrupted by the closings. I know how you feel. I work for a company going through a similar transition now. Just remember: When God closes a door, He opens a window. I just always pray that window isn't on the fiftieth floor. (So far so good.)
You can read the article here: LifeWay To Close All 170 Christian Stores.
You can also read my memoir The Promise, or the Pros and Cons of Talking with God, published by TouchPoint Press. It is my true story of first faith and first love and how the two became almost fatally intertwined.
Here are some sample chapters of The Promise:
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