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Once again, we are beyond grateful for your contribution to save Blue Like Jazz, the movie. It’s done. The movie is saved, and we are moving forward! Steve is busy calling all donors to thank them, along with choosing the supporting cast and lining up production. We will start filming on October 28th, in Nashville, TN. We will likely also film in Portland, Houston and Los Angeles. If you’ve donated, you will be on an exclusive, behind-the-scenes e-mail newsletter that tells you where we will be and when, along with constant updates about how things are going. You will truly be in the production loop, along with all the principal cast and crew. If it weren’t for your contributions, the movie would have been dead. It’s amazing to think what can be done in two weeks. That said, we are still a very low-budget movie. None of the principals who have been involved with this movie, from the very beginning of the writing stages, have been paid anything. We are rolling everything into the film with you. In the industry, it’s called “putting the money on the screen.” With our film, the more money we bring in, the more well-known [...]

It’s been a while since I’ve created a Sunday Morning Music spotlight, but driving toward town yesterday I saw The Weepies on the billboard at The Aladdin in Portland. Just bought my tickets this morning. I see a lot of bands on that billboard, but that’s the fastest I’ve picked up tickets. I don’t want to miss them. If you’re not familiar with The Weepies as a band, there’s a good chance you’ve heard their music anyway. The married couple stopped touring in 2008 when their son was born, but their music was all over television and the Obama campaign even picked up one of their songs for an ad, growing their underground following. As songrwriters, they seem more interested in creating a soundtrack to their pleasant, simple life than in becoming famous. Their commitment to stay off the road for two years is proof of this, and that simplicity and disinterest in things show-business plays out in their songs. It’s sunday morning music. Here are The Weepies.

This past week a friend hosted several pastors and I for a hunting trip on His ranch in Central Oregon. We were there for a few days, but while we were there our friend treated us like Kings. He guided us up and down the mountains, making sure each of us got a buck. He and his team paddled us across the lakes on his property, making sure each of us caught a trout. All the while, he never fired a shot or put a hook in the water. One early morning while watching the sunrise from on top of a hill, scouting for deer, he mentioned he’d only shot at one buck the entire time he owned the ranch. He simply said I like guiding more than hunting. It’s more fun. The experience got me thinking, once again, about how Jesus told us He’d gone to prepare a place for us, a place where we could some day be together. I imagine Jesus preparing a place for my friend, a place for Him to hunt, to cultivate land, to entertain friends. Jesus is creating an existence, a material place for wonderful things to happen.  It made me think about [...]

Unbelievably, you saved Blue Like Jazz! Incredible. I went to the Save Blue Like Jazz website and Jonathan and Zach, our fearless rescuers had posted a terrific thank you video. Just some clapping and dancing, but it pretty much sums up how we are all feeling! I’ll blog more about all of this soon, but for now, raise your glasses friends, because WE ARE MAKING A MOVIE! We did it! from Save Blue Like Jazz on Vimeo. Steve and I talked tonight and are figuring out our plan on how to make a return on your investment go to a non-profit. Essentially, the money you made would be returned to help somebody else, plus some interest as an investment. So the story may just be getting started. We are making the movie, and if the donations keep coming, we may make history. Unbelievable. Thanks for all your support. We are busy making calls to thank people, but there are hundreds of you, so give us some time and grace. Grateful, Don Miller

Last week about 500 people came to Portland for our first Storyline Conference, a conference for people who want to tell stories rather than simply consume them. I was amazed by our time together, but at the same time, I was coming off of a four-year failure, and while you always have stories that don’t work, this one hurt. Four years before, Steve Taylor, Ben Pearson and I started writing the screenplay for Blue Like Jazz. We decided to make a movie that obeyed a story rather than a message, and the story was about a kid transitioning out of a faith that had all the supposed right answers, to a faith that stayed with him through the confusion and the doubt. He’s an arrogant kid at the beginning, willing to walk way from the “hypocrites” all around him, but after some very hard things happen, he’s humbled, and has to reconsider his own motives. That said, it’s not the typical story arc of a “Christian” movie. To be honest, I have a lot of respect for Christian film. The evangelical church is a subculture, and despite most people thinking I have a problem with it, I honestly don’t. A [...]