Since The Great Commandment opened in movie theaters in 1941, many Christian filmmakers have attempted to pursue theatrical releases. The film became widely distributed among churches and church camps in the 1970s. The pair made a number of other films together (each being 1974's The Burning Hell and 1977's The Believer's Heaven), but this first film is the team's most well-known. Pirkle joined with filmmaker Ron Ormond in their first collaboration, and converted the sermon into a film. The sermon was made available by print, and Estus W. The 1971 Christsploitation film If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do? was based on a sermon by Estus Pirkle held on Januat Camp Zion in Myrtle with the title 'If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do?'.

The film's commercial success enabled Williams to direct and write additional feature films for Sack Amusement Enterprises, including two films with religious themes: Brother Martin: Servant of Jesus (1942 now considered a lost film ) and Go Down Death (1944). Robinson's Heavenly Choir, who sang the film's gospel music score. To present the afterlife, Williams used scenes from a 1911 Italian film called L'Inferno that depicted souls entering Heaven and in addition to Williams, the cast was made up of amateur actors and members of Reverend R. The film was produced in Texas on a budget of US$5,000. Spencer Williams's 1941 race film The Blood of Jesus was screened in cinemas and in black churches. The Christian Film and Video Association (formerly the Christian Film Distribution Association) gave out Crown Awards for films that 'glorify Jesus Christ.' The CFDA began holding a conference each year for Christian filmmakers and distributors. The growth of Christian film libraries led to the Christian Film Distributors Association (CFDA) being formed in 1974.

Christian Cinema operated a movie theater that showed only Christian films, but closed down in the mid-1990s. Circa 1968, Harry Bristow launched Christian Cinema in a small theater in the Germantown area of Philadelphia, and in the early 1970s, the ministry moved to a theater in Ambler, Pennsylvania. Marks started the Visual Aid Center in 1945.

In the 1940s, Christian film libraries emerged. In 1899, Herbert Booth, as part of the Salvation Army, claimed to be the first user of film for the cause of Christianity. Through the years, many Christians began to utilize motion picture for their own purposes. In the 1800s, missionaries such as David Livingstone used the lanterns to present the Gospel in Africa. Controversy soon followed as priests and masons used the lanterns 'to persuade followers of their ability to control both the forces of darkness and enlightenment' and temperance groups used the lanterns to fight alcoholism. History Beginnings Magic lantern at the Wymondham Museum.Ĭatholic priest Athanasius Kircher promoted the magic lantern by publishing the book Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae in 1680. This has been on the rise since the success of Sherwood Pictures whose Fireproof was the highest grossing independent film of 2008. Many films from the Christian film industry are produced by openly confessing Christians in independent companies mainly targeting a Christian audience. These films generally also have a much higher budget, production values and better known film stars, and are received more favourably with film critics. Popular mainstream studio productions of films with strong Christian messages or Biblical stories, such as Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments, The Prince of Egypt, The Robe, Sergeant York, The Blind Side, The Book of Eli, Machine Gun Preacher, Risen, Hacksaw Ridge, and Silence, are not specifically part of the Christian film industry, being more agnostic about their audiences' religious beliefs. They are often interdenominational films, but can also be films targeting a specific denomination of Christianity. The Christian film industry is an aspect of Christian media for films containing a Christian-themed message or moral.

Catholic movie production company