<\/strong>In case you don’t know, Odyssey produces a wide range of multi-faith video programming over a wide range of platforms, including traditional TV, the web, smartphone and other emerging distribution technologies (i.e. web-to-TV channels).\u00a0 It is comprised of several member organizations representing the diverse spectrum of religious traditions (i.e. Christian, Jewish, Muslim and others) that are dedicated to utilizing faith and media to build bridges rather than walls.<\/p>\n I had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Stuart for a half hour or so last week to discuss a wide range of topics, including his transition from the U.K. to the U.S., the future of Odyssey and of television in general.\u00a0 Here are some of the highlights.<\/p>\n JWK: <\/strong>How long have you been at this job now?<\/p>\n NICK STUART:<\/strong> Two years and nine months.<\/em><\/p>\n JWK: <\/strong>Are you enjoying it?<\/p>\n STUART:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yeah. I mean it\u2019s a huge challenge.\u00a0 One of the things that always strikes me is the irony of religion in the media and religion in the media in the U.S.\u00a0 (compared to ) the U.K. Because in the U.K. we have a state religion but people tend to think we\u2019re a post-religious society. But, ironically, you get quite a lot of religion on mainstream television in (British) prime time.\u00a0 In America, where a broad belief in God lives, you can scour the networks and the channels and find a very small percentage of such programming compared to the U.K.<\/p>\n JWK: I know. I think that most overt religious programming I’ve seen on network television this year was found in the coverage of the royal wedding.<\/strong><\/p>\n STUART: <\/strong>That was a good service, wasn\u2019t it?\u00a0 (There’s) a history of Christianity on PBS. But, apart from that, there used to be (programming) coming out of Nat Geo, Discovery and History on biblical archeology and history and that seems to have fallen away as well.<\/p>\n I think what excites me is actually being broader than that. We\u2019ve just done a single doc for the Oprah channel\u00a0 called\u00a0 Serving Life<\/a><\/em> (about a prison hospice program in Louisiana in which hardened inmates care for their dying fellow prisoners). That wouldn\u2019t be seen as a religious program in the old way of putting it. But, if you look at the motivation and the way some of the people –the warden , the inmates — see what\u2019s happening and their transformational experience, some name it in religious terms.\u00a0 And I think that\u2019s the way to go because otherwise you\u2019re preaching to the choir.<\/p>\n JWK:<\/strong> It would make a good feature film.<\/p>\n STUART:<\/strong> Yeah, it would be brilliant. Tom Hanks! Another Green Mile<\/em>!\u00a0 But, you\u2019re right.\u00a0 for me that\u2019s the doc I wanted to make when I came over.\u00a0 I\u2019d heard about (the prison program) in the U.K.<\/p>\n JWK: <\/strong>So, you seem to be saying that you can tell stories about faith without hitting people over the head it.<\/p>\n STUART: <\/strong>You don’t have to shove the message down viewers’ throats.\u00a0 The story doesn’t have to involve religion with a big “R.”<\/p>\n <\/em>JWK: <\/strong>So, it’s not about dogma.<\/p>\n STUART: <\/strong>It has nothing to do with that…To me (it’s about) people who are inspired by faith, people who can live a life which is inspired by faith.\u00a0 Sometimes maybe they\u2019re not even aware\u00a0 (of\u00a0 it) but essentially we\u2019re made in God\u2019s image. There is potential within the human being to do the most amazing things.<\/p>\n <\/strong>JWK: <\/strong>I’m always amazed both by how extraordinarily good and kind people can be and how cruel.<\/p>\n STUART: <\/strong>There\u2019s a piece in (the sci-fi movie) The Fifth Element<\/a>\u00a0<\/em> at the end \u2013 at a moment when (a character) wants to destroy mankind because she\u2019s seen the destructive power that we have\u00a0 and Bruce Willis argues, yes, that\u2019s true but we also do this (the good things) . And that sort of stops her and he stops mankind from being destroyed.\u00a0 Within us all there is this potential for greatness, potential to live out our potential in a positive way.\u00a0 And yet we can also give in to our dark side\u00a0 The pieces we try and tell are stories of transformation \u2013 going from the darker side to the light.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/em>JWK: <\/strong>I think NYPD Blue<\/a> <\/em>on TV was a great example of that. We followed Dennis Franz’s Detective Sipowicz character on a twelve year journey\u00a0 from bigoted drunk to a healed and respected squad leader<\/a> and it was all done so believably.<\/p>\n STUART: <\/strong>That is the hallmark of a great viewing experience because something changes and you\u2019ve invested as a viewer emotion in seeing how this character is changed.\u00a0 For me, if you look at it spiritually, theologically, the thing that I find so wonderful about Christianity is the incarnational aspect of it.\u00a0 Now, to be truly incarnate, the darker side or the\u2026 There has to be that interplay.\u00a0 You know, Christ Himself had those moments where the temper came out. The olive tree which became barren because He was angry. The bit where He said to the Gentile feed the scraps to the dogs. The bit on the Cross and in Gethsemane.\u00a0 \u201cLord take this away.\u201d\u00a0 You know, those moments where weakness, confusion, anger came through to me were very important because that showed how much God cared, how the Incarnation was real.\u00a0 So, when we see our lives depicted on television, I think you need to see that. NICK STUART’S JOURNEY<\/strong><\/p>\n JWK: <\/strong>May I ask about your religious background?<\/p>\n STUART: <\/strong>Ye<\/em>ah, I\u2019m Church of England which can mean virtually anything. No, the wonderful thing about the Church of England, I\u2019m an Anglican, is it breadth \u2013 from liberal to Evangelical, Conservative Evangelical, Charismatic Evangelical, across the spectrum. In my career,\u00a0 I\u2019ve had wonderful opportunities to make documentaries\u00a0 and features about every part of that spectrum and I\u2019ve been (enthralled) by making docs and meeting Evangelicals.\u00a0 That\u2019s not the tradition I come from but I am strengthened in MY<\/em> faith by seeing how they live out THEIR<\/em> faith. It doesn\u2019t mean to say that I\u2019m going to join an Evangelical church but I\u2019ve admired them. So, that\u2019s my background.<\/p>\n I did study for a theological and philosophical degree with the Jesuits\u00a0 in London, Heythrop College.\u00a0 I think it was started in the 17th<\/sup> century on the banks of the Rhine and then moved to Oxford after persecution and then came to London and that\u2019s where it is now.\u00a0 So, I was an Anglican at a Jesuit college and I did theology and philosophy and, because my ancient Greek was rubbish, I opted for comparative religion as well. I did sort of (look into) Buddhism as well. \u00a0A pretty wide spectrum. I think I\u2019ve made more documentaries on Islam than any other producer in Britain.\u00a0 So, I\u2019ve got a broad spectrum.<\/p>\n JWK: <\/strong>A perfect background for a multi-faith media organization. We’re you looking for this opportunity or did it find you?<\/p>\n STUART: <\/strong>If you made programs about religion in the world, you knew of Odyssey because they were the big boys making\u00a0 films, etc.\u00a0 And so, looking for co-productions, when I was making programs for the BBC or ITV, we would talk to Odyssey about possible co-productions.\u00a0 So, when the opportunity came — three and a half years ago when I was first asked — I thought “Well that\u2019s an exciting new challenge.”\u00a0 Technology was moving apace and there were no opportunities.<\/em><\/p>\n FAITH, TV & NEW TECHNOLOGY<\/strong><\/p>\n JWK: <\/strong>Speaking of technology, I’m told you have some pretty significant web-to-TV plans, perhaps involving a channel delivered to television through streaming players like Roku.<\/p>\n STUART: <\/strong><\/em>It’s not so much a channel as a new way of delivering television. It\u2019s like internet television but it\u2019s gonna take a while for it to take over from more traditional viewing. I mean, the thing that I wanted to do when I arrived was to…have Odyssey Everywhere.<\/p>\n Basically, what\u2019s going on is a proliferation of platforms. You can view video over numerous platforms now and I felt that programming about faith, and inspired by faith, should be available at a high quality on all those platforms.\u00a0 So, we started from the word go here to look to see how we could get A.) the programming improved, in terms of quality and B.) on as many platforms as possible.\u00a0 So, I brought in Mat Tombers. He had been influential in launching Discovery Channel in Australia and India and was one of the foremost thinkers in terms of new media.\u00a0 Basically, I pay him to live in the future.\u00a0\u00a0 Not too far \u2013 just enough to say \u201cNick, I think in two years, three years this is where we\u2019ll be watching \u2013 on this device and this is how we\u2019ll be doing it.”<\/p>\n So, when I arrived, he talked to me about smart phones. He took the projections of the cost coming down and then looked at technology \u2013 how you could actually compress video.\u00a0 We took a bit of gamble but we thought the next big thing for a platform for video would be on phones. And, of course, luckily, iPhone took off.\u00a0 So, the cost came down and, hey, we\u2019ve got a double whammy because we\u2019ve also got Tablet.\u00a0 Tablet arrived and so mobile is a very exciting platform. And, then you think “Well, how do people consume video when they\u2019re on the move?” Because, another thing we do is work out psychologically…what they need on the different platforms. If you\u2019ve got a smart phone you\u2019re probably going to be on the subway and you\u2019re coming home from work or going to work.\u00a0 You may be a bit stressed.\u00a0 So, we work out, what do people want?\u00a0 Meditation? Inspiration? Things that aren\u2019t too long, aren\u2019t too demanding, are quite visual, relaxing music.\u00a0 So, that\u2019s what we\u2019ve put on that platform.<\/p>\n Roku will take us next year, our 25th<\/sup> anniversary, back into the living rooms of America.\u00a0 We had a cable channel, five years ago.\u00a0 Hallmark took it over, bought it, we went off cable.<\/p>\n Now, we\u2019ve found new ways to reach people \u2013 Call on Faith<\/em> on smart phones and on Tablet. We\u2019re expanding that. We have 14 channels on that with our member channels.<\/p>\n We wanted to get back, though, into the mainstream living rooms of America. I\u2019m thinking it\u2019s gonna cost a little bit of money to have a cable channel but there is another way in.\u00a0 That\u2019s through Roku or Boxee.\u00a0 There are a number of set-top boxes linking your huge plasma living room TV to the internet.<\/p>\n It\u2019s non linear (though) some use Boxee and Roku for linear programming.\u00a0 They put their linear programming on that.\u00a0 It\u2019s really up to you what you do with it.\u00a0 And the cost of delivering a channel to your living room through that is a pittance compared to what it would be run a cable channel.\u00a0 So, there\u2019s a wonderful coming together, I felt when I took this job, of technology providing the opportunity to be more adventurous than before at a fraction of the cost.<\/p>\n <\/strong>JWK: <\/strong>That would seem to solve the distribution problem — because, I’ve always found that, while there’s no shortage of an audience for faith-based programming, and no shortage of producers, writers and actors wanting to create it, distribution always seems to be the breakdown point in getting more of it out there.<\/p>\n STUART: <\/strong>You\u2019re spot on, John. The issue of distribution, linear distribution, was always the problem…There were gatekeepers and you couldn\u2019t get to your audience without going through them. They would skim off lots of revenue but would also editorialize and your voice would be muffled by the time it got to audience.<\/p>\n What we have now is a mechanism and systems which are professional, which enable you to deliver your product in high quality to people\u2019s high-quality receivers \u2013 whether they be mobile smart phones or whether they be 42\u201d plasmas.\u00a0 And, who would have thought you could have done that not even five years ago?\u00a0 So, that\u2019s the exciting bit for us.<\/p>\n The hard part is that there is so much noise out there, how does your voice get heard?\u00a0 What excites me is\u00a0 (that) Odyssey has its membership.\u00a0 Now, we\u2019ve grown from I think 45 organizations to (over a hundred)…So, we go from the Baha’i through the Salvation Army, Seventh-Day Adventists, the Episcopalians, the Catholics, you know.<\/p>\n FINDING THE AUDIENCE<\/strong><\/p>\n JWK: <\/strong>So, you can market your programming through congregations.<\/p>\n STUART: <\/strong>That\u2019s true and that\u2019s one of the benefits of having membership. \u00a0The thing is we also want to be there for the mainstream.\u00a0 I mean there\u2019s always this false distinction. There\u2019s the mainstream and there\u2019s congregations, as if the congregation is not made up of regular guys who go to the supermarket and watch ballgames.<\/p>\n I think we want to be there for everyone. And you can reach directly through the congregations or you can reach them wherever they are.\u00a0 I talk about Odyssey Everywhere \u2013 wherever YOU are we want to be able to reach you to share the inspiration that we believe our programming offers.\u00a0 So, they might meet us online by accident. Or they might meet us through viral video.<\/p>\n <\/strong>JWK: <\/strong>Does fragmentation — the fact that there is so much programming out there over so many platforms — make it more difficult to produce traditional movies?<\/p>\n STUART:<\/strong> Fragmentation is one of those things that is both a blessing and a curse. At one level you go \u201cOh no! How am I gonna reach them all now?\u201d Because there\u2019s not just one way…But the thing is technology helps you so much these days.<\/p>\n A fragmented audience means that they\u2019re also not just in one place. They\u2019re in many places because they\u2019re on their website, they\u2019re on their smart phone, they\u2019re on their whatever.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to reach them at every one \u2013 just one.\u00a0 So, yeah, it\u2019s a blessing and a curse.<\/p>\n A COMEDY QUIZ SHOW ABOUT RELIGION?<\/strong><\/p>\n JWK: <\/strong>Reading your bio, I find it interesting that you’ve created a couple of quiz show.<\/p>\n STUART:<\/strong> Yeah, that was fun.\u00a0 In fact, I did a religious comedy quiz show in the U.K. It was for Channel 5…5 was always a pretty irreverent channel in the U.K. but they wanted to do religion.\u00a0 And one of the things that I picked up from working and knowing quite a few Evangelicals was how smart they could be \u2013 funny. I don\u2019t mean that in a patronizing way but they really got popular culture in a way that the rest of the groupings, the mainstream, the liberals, perhaps, didn\u2019t get. They seemed to be ahead of the curve when it come to utilizing (technology) in worship or outreach or whatever.\u00a0 They always got it.<\/p>\n I did a series for Channel 5 called Alpha Zone<\/em>\u00a0 which was contemporary Christian music and, in the U.K., it really was a pretty uninspiring genre. The U.S. was way ahead\u00a0 with great crossover bands and one of those bands (we featured) came from the Evangelical quarter and that first got me thinking that faith coming out of that sector was dynamic and alive and very in touch with popular culture. So, I began to explore where else you could go with faith\u00a0 — with popular genres but still be true to the faith roots.\u00a0 So, humor was the next one that I moved to after music \u2013 and we had two teams of people. It was more about wit and speed and being clever…It became cult viewing for some reason amongst Church of England ministers in the Midlands.\u00a0 They used to swap tapes because it would go out over Sunday morning when they were delivering their sermons.<\/p>\n JWK: <\/strong>Any chance of doing\u00a0 a U.S. version?<\/p>\n <\/strong>STUART: <\/strong>That\u2019s an interesting question.\u00a0 I\u2019d love to do it but one thing I\u2019ve probably learnt\u00a0 is that faith is lived a lot more in the day-to-day life and on the surface of people\u2019s lives in the U.S.\u00a0 than it is in the UK. I think to say you\u2019re doing a religious comedy show is intriguing in the U.K. and people\u2019s faith isn\u2019t as prickly at times because it\u2019s not lived so openly.<\/p>\n <\/strong>JWK: <\/strong>Do you think the U.S. is more religious than the U.K.?<\/p>\n STUART: <\/strong>The U.S . is far more religious and faith is more acutely lived on the surface.\u00a0 I don\u2019t mean to say it\u2019s not lived with depth — it is lived with depth —\u00a0 but Brits tend to be thicker\u2013skinned, I think,\u00a0 about their faith.\u00a0 Sometimes it\u2019s a good thing, sometimes it\u2019s a bad thing but I don\u2019t know if I could do a religious comedy show in the U.S.\u00a0 If I did do it, it would be with the Evangelical sector.<\/p>\n THE FUTURE OF ODYSSEY<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>JWK: <\/strong>Where do you see Odyssey going over the next five to ten years?<\/p>\n STUART:<\/strong> I want us to be the go-to people if you want a story about faith.\u00a0 If you are a channel and you want to do a story with insight into faith then come to Odyssey.<\/p>\n I talk about an image that I have which is the hour glass. The top of the hour glass with the sand running through, that\u2019s the mainstream media. At the bottom of the hour glass you have the faith communities. Both want to reach out to each other. The faith communities want to be able to share what they have. The mainstream wants to reach out because it\u2019s a significant market, the faith market in America, and neither understands nor trusts each other.<\/p>\n But in the middle is Odyssey because we are a member organization\u00a0 which understands the sensitivities of faith and the members\u00a0 but we are made up of program makers. I mean our head of production for mainstream has got two prime time Emmys. Our head of new media launched Discovery \u00a0in India and Australia. Our head of content, Maura Dunbar, was, I think, EVP of features at Hallmark. She was an exec at ABC.\u00a0 So, when we talk to the mainstream, they see people who\u2019ve got medals, as it were, who’ve got the awards. They trust us.<\/p>\n Note:\u00a0<\/strong> Odyssey continues to produce TV movies for Hallmark Channel, In development is The Confession,\u00a0 <\/em>a sequel to the Amish-themed drama The Shunning <\/em>(based on the Beverly Lewis novel)\u00a0 which drew strong ratings for the network when it aired\u00a0 on the network earlier this year.<\/p>\n Encourage one another and build each other up \u2013 <\/em>1 Thessalonians 5:11<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 1. Odyssey CEO Nick Stuart talks about his personal journey and the path he’s forging with the multi-faith media group he heads. In case you don’t know, Odyssey produces a wide range of multi-faith video programming over a wide range of platforms, including traditional TV, the web, smartphone and other emerging distribution technologies (i.e. web-to-TV…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9,13,18,19,21,22,23,31],"tags":[35,1443,742,1442,1432,1440,1435,1433,1438,1434,1445,1436,531,1437,1439,1444,1427,157,1425,1329,1428,1430,1441,179,1429,1236,1431,1446,1426],"class_list":["post-1226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic-church","category-christianity","category-family-matters","category-internet","category-islam","category-judaism","category-media","category-mormonism","category-television","tag-1-thessalonians-511","tag-alpha-zone","tag-bbc","tag-boxee","tag-bruce-willis","tag-call-on-faith","tag-church-of-england","tag-dennis-franzs-detective-sipowicz-character","tag-discovery-channel","tag-gethsemane","tag-hallmark-channel","tag-heythrop-college","tag-iphone","tag-itv","tag-mat-tombers","tag-maura-dunbar","tag-multi-faith-video-programming","tag-nypd-blue","tag-odyssey-ceo-nick-stuart","tag-odyssey-networks","tag-oprah-channel","tag-prison-hospice-program-in-louisiana-in-which-hardened-inmates-care-for-they-dying-fellow-prisoners","tag-roku","tag-royal-wedding","tag-serving-life","tag-the-confession","tag-the-fifth-element","tag-the-shunning-based-on-the-beverly-lewis-novel","tag-web-to-tv-channels"],"yoast_head":"\n
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