Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 02/17/23

Holy Hyphenate! Meet Art Ayris. The Executive Pastor at First Baptist Leesburg Church in Florida is also the CEO of Kingstone Comics and Kingstone Studios which, respectively, produce comic books and movies with a Christian worldview. The studio’s debut film, No Vacancy, produced and written by Ayris, received a lot positive attention in the faith film community when it was released in theaters last year (including from this critic whose plaudit is cited in the above trailer for the current streaming release). Based on a true story that involved Ayris’ own church, the film follows a jaded reporter (Sean Young) who is demoted to a new rural bureau but finds her cynicism slowly being transformed when she befriends a recovering addict (T.C. Stallings) while working a story about the church’s struggle to purchase a motel to help homeless families. Dean Cain plays the church’s compassionate pastor.

JWK: Can you tell me how you came to make No Vacancy?

Art Ayris: Sure. I (saw) a lot of it firsthand. I knew the main characters portrayed in the movie. I knew the pastor. I also knew the Orlando Sentinel writer. As I saw their three stories they just kind of converged. God was doing something different in their lives. Each of them were part of the miracle that happens at the end of the movie. It really just came naturally and kind of flowed out of the story. I’ve (done) some other screenwriting that I’ve done and have had success with. I won Best TV Movie in a Hollywood (writing) contest and (have had) screenplays optioned but this was something that was local in my own town. I saw it. I knew it was true and I felt like it needed to be a motion picture.

JWK: Are you portrayed in the film?

AA: A lot people were part of seeing that hotel come into fruition. When we tried to purchase the hotel for the benefit of homeless families, we had a lot of pushback in our city as is portrayed in the film. The city ended up kinda coming around but it was still a difficult time getting there.

JWK: What do you hope people take from the film?

AA: You know the main thing I’d like for them to take, brother, is that God really cares about broken people. I think that in each community where churches are situated that God wants us to intersect with their lives and show that God really cares about them and there’s another way for them other than the path that they’re living. What’s really great about this story – and, I think, the true story that it’s based on – is…I think it’s really key that that the Church (and) individuals really (understand that) these people that are least among us are people that God cares for, that Christ died for and that we, as believers, should be involved in their lives.

JWK: So, this story kind of offers an example for other churches to follow.

AA: Yeah – and then individuals and also communities too. I think that there needs to be more public-private partnerships to be able to help people to work together to really deliver the needs of the people. We’re in the process of building a feeding center right now. We’re spending quite a bit of money building this feeding center. Right now we’re giving away fifteen tons of food a week and I think we’ll probably expand that.

JWK: So, you’re the executive pastor at First Baptist Church in Leesburg, the CEO of Kingstone Comics and you also run Kingstone Pictures. How did that all come into play and how do you balance all those hats? Is this your first film?

AA: Actually, I had done another movie earlier and it did well. It won several film festivals but I didn’t have any big stars in it. I felt like the next movie I did, I definitely wanted to have stars in it. My wife had been a television producer and director so I’ve been around it a little bit.

JWK: Tell me about the comic books.

AA: When I first started in ministry I was a children’s pastor. I was always struggling to try to find good material to connect with kids. I had this opportunity with comics that just really began to make sense. Through comics we could connect with kids. Everybody knows about Marvel and DC. Now, we’re seeing our comics go into prisons (as well as) schools and other places. It’s a great (medium). The efficiency of the format and the attractiveness of the format (reaches) people that maybe struggle with reading or don’t know anything about The Bible or whatever. Very quickly they can begin to understand the major themes of The Bible or whatever you’re trying to teach.

JWK: And all your comics at Biblically-based?

AA: Everything we do is Biblically-based. That is correct. It has Biblical worldview. Kingstone Comics is our faith imprint. We have The Bible, we have apologetics, we have biography and we have different things that we have under that imprint (of) Kingstone Comics.

JWK: And I guess you’re building Kingstone Studios. Do you plan to make more films?

AA: Yes. Obviously, this one needs to do well but we have another film that we kind of have in early development – and we’re working on an animation right now. We’re actually talking to some people about partnering with us on animation. Either animation or another (live-action) movie, God willing, will be the next thing to come out.

JWK: I guess an animated movie would mesh well with your comic book imprint. Now, No Vacancy has already been out in theaters and you got some good feedback, right?

AA: Really good feedback! Just great feedback! I was just overwhelmed with the things that we heard from people. When it went on Pure Flix we heard a lot of (great) stuff. We’ve just had great feedback from people. The other day I had a guy email me. I think he was from Illinois. He watched the movie and he (was so happy it was) a true story. He was blown away…We literally have people come to Leesburg twice a month to do tours of our ministry center.

JWK: You mentioned getting stars for the film. One of my personal favorite actors is Dean Cain who I’ve actually met a couple of times. He’s a nice guy and my favorite screen Superman which, I’m sure you appreciate, is one of the ultimate book heroes. What was it like working with him?

AA: I tell you, my friend, he was outstanding! One thing that really impressed me about Dean is he was very professional. Every time he came to set he had his lines locked down. If we needed to shoot a scene at nine o’clock at night, he showed up and shot it. He was super uber professional. T.C. (Stallings) was awesome. I hope to do another movie with T.C. He was incredible! He said that playing Cecil was his hardest role to date. Then we went to cast the female character we really had a problem because the casting director said “You’re gonna have a lot of people come to this (audition) because there’s not a lot of (movie roles) for older ladies.” We had like 1400 ladies apply for the role. Anyway, Sean Young emerged at the top – and we love Sean! She was incredible! We thought she did a really good job with the movie.

Note: No Vacancy is currently available on major digital platforms, including Prime Video, Apple TV, VUDU and the aformentioned Pure Flix.
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The Knights of Columbus’ ongoing relief efforts for internally displaced persons and refugees are chronicled in the new Knights of Columbus-produced documentary In Solidarity with Ukraine. The hour-long documentary will premiere on Sunday, February 26th for a six-week run on ABC-affiliated stations across the country through a partnership with the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission. More after the trailer.

“Our message to internally displaced persons in Ukraine and refugees in Poland is one of solidarity, gratitude and a commitment of continued support,” says Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly, adding “Knights in Poland and Ukraine are committed to meeting the long-term needs of the people and communities most impacted by this devastating conflict. This is why I can say with confidence to the Ukrainians: ‘You’re not alone.’ This is why I can promise we’ll be there for as long as it takes.”

The Knights responded within 36 hours of the Russian invasion by committing $1.5 million toward humanitarian relief and established the Ukraine Solidarity Fund. To date, the Knights have raised over than $20 million and, with the help of the more than 9,000 members in Poland and Ukraine, distributed over 3.2 million pounds of food to those affected by the war. During the first weeks of the war, the Knights of Columbus Mercy Centers provided much-needed opportunities for refugees to find shelter, warmth, rest, food and water — as well as spiritual support through the presence of Knights chaplains and the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy.
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Fathom Events will release the documentary Santiago: The Camino Within in theaters in English and Spanish for one night only, Tuesday, March 28th. The much-traversed, physically demanding and spiritually challenging trek known as the Camino de Santiago is the pilgrimage path to the burial place of the apostle St. James at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The journey has fascinated people all over the world since the Middle Ages and was the subject of the excellent dramatic feature film The Way starring the father-son team of Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez (who also directed and adapted the screenplay from the book Off the Road: A Modern-Day Walk Down the Pilgrim’s Route into Spain by Jack Hitt).

Produced by Ahava Productions, the new documentary follows narrator Bishop Donald Hying as he makes his personal pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago. You can check out the trailer below. For ticket info click here.

John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.