The Sony Pictures' faith-based division is launching a television arm.
The most successful studio in the Christian movie sector, Affirm Films is joining a growing list of moviemakers in the genre turning to TV. The new division is called Affirm Television and it pairs Affirm Films with Sony Pictures Television.
Marybeth Sprows, a top executive at Crown Media Family Networks - the outfit that owns the Hallmark group of channels - will lead the new venture and report to the heads of both the aforementioned Sony entities. She is to oversee all development and production, with a focus on making faith-based as well as family-friendly and inspirational content.
Affirm Films, which works with the Kendrick Brothers and has released their films and other big hits in the Christian genre like Soul Surfer, is the latest faith-based outfit to turn to TV, joining Mark Burnett and Roma Downey's MGM-owned Lightworkers Media and the recently launched Kingdom Studios, a partnership between Lionsgate and the Erwin Brothers, in the race to supply content to this growing and increasingly lucrative niche.
Christian Film Blog feels sure you'll get top-notch production and doctrinally sound output from the new venture, largely because of the man at the top of Affirm Films, Rich Peluso. He is Executive Vice President and Head of the studio and also a devout Believer. How devout? Earlier this year at a Christian film festival outside Nashville, he said filmmakers ask him periodically if faith-based movies ought to have "less Jesus" in them to make them more successful, to which he responded that he'd like to see "more Jesus" in those pictures!
Gotta love that. Here's hoping - and praying - that Affirm Television is a huge success.