Hollywood Heads South: Music City’s Faith-Based Film Boom

Lights! Camera! How-dee!

The city of Los Angeles is losing film and TV productions at an alarming rate. That opens up new opportunities for cities to prove that La La Land can hunker down just about anywhere.

Take Nashville, for instance. Other non-L.A. destinations have made their mark as production hubs — think Atlanta, Georgia, and Toronto. Now, it may be Nashville’s turn in the spotlight.

The Tennessee locale is known as a country music Mecca. More recently, it’s welcomed a growing group of filmmakers who clamor for its talented locals, rich cultural history and, yes, a lower price tag than the City of Angels.

Think “9-1-1: Nashville,” Showtime’s “George & Tammy,” Nicole Kidman’s “Holland” and the upcoming “Scarpetta” (Prime Video), Netflix’s “Ruth & Boaz,” and a film opening Feb. 20, “I Can Only Imagine 2.”

The sequel to the sleeper 2018 hit revisits how MercyMe became a Christian music sensation, and the struggles lead singer Bart Millard (John Michael Finley) had following his breakthrough hit.

Co-director Andrew Erwin, a pioneer in the faith-based film space, tells The Daily Wire why he tackled the sequel.

“It’s the movie that you didn’t know you needed,” he says. The first film appeared to wrap Bart Millard’s story up, but the singer and his fellow musician Tim Timmons — played by Milo Ventimiglia in the film — suffered subsequent tragedies that made a follow-up film make sense.

And Nashville has proven to be particularly welcoming to Christian artists. That wasn’t the case back in Los Angeles, Erwin said.

“There’s a group of us that started doing faith stories 15, 20 years ago, and we were all struggling to get our feet under us,” Erwin says. “We could literally end any dinner party in L.A. by saying we were faith film guys. They would instantly get a fake phone call and walk out of the meeting.”

Entertainment culture started to swing in their spiritual direction.

“Something has shifted in the past 10 years, particularly in the last five … there has been an appetite for hope. Stories of faith were considered cheesy. Now, they’re counter-culture, rebellious. It’s kind of punk rock.”

What better place than Music City to sing from their storytelling hymnals?

“There’s been a real freedom here,” says Erwin, who even bumps into fellow filmmakers at church. “You don’t have to apologize for us being able to do things that we believe.”

“For whatever reason, a group of actors and writers and directors and producers are all finding (Nashville),” he continues. “I can’t give a reason why … we just feel like we’re supposed to be here.”

“I Can Only Imagine 2” filmed exclusively in Nashville, save a critical sequence shot at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater. The veteran filmmaker was initially hesitant to lean so heavily on Nashville, but the film’s team assuaged those fears.

“We had been worried if the crews were strong enough … it was the best crew I ever had … the most cheerful, the most team-oriented, the least amount of divas, blue collar, everything you aspire to,” he says.

He still wants the state to beef up its incentive programs to grow that crew base and keep it steadily employed.

Nashville has an Oscar-winning benefactor on its side: Kidman is eager to make movies closer to her Tennessee home. 

Plus, newer studio space is helping smooth this transition. Recent Nashville-area additions include Vu Studios in West Nashville, Worldwide Stages in Spring Hill, and Skyway Studios.

Erick Goss, CEO of the Christian streaming platform Minno, says Nashville has a cultural advantage.

“People recognize there’s a real creative community here in Nashville [already] with Christian and country music, a real appreciation of the arts,” says Goss, who established his kid-focused company in the city seven years ago.

“It’s not like institutions have moved here, but talent has moved here,” Goss says. “It’s different than Seattle or L.A. There’s a real sense of pride and civic nature here … people love what Nashville stands for and want to be a part of it.”

Some pieces of the Hollywood-like puzzle are still missing, he says.

“There are really world-class storytellers here in Nashville. They don’t necessarily have access to capital in the way they need,” he says.

Goss brings a wealth of experience to Minno, including time spent at Amazon and in the U.S. Military. He praises Nashville as having the “highest caliber” of talent he’s seen. What’s missing? Major tech companies that can complement the city’s blossoming production.

“What company will aggregate and bring that talent together?” he asks. “We need more talented operators coming into the systems, creating companies that execute really well,” he says, noting that Erwin’s “I Can Only Imagine 2” arrives courtesy of his partnership with Lionsgate, an established film studio.

The key to creating the next L.A.-style production hub is simple, Goss says.

“Get the best projects, the best people, and the best money together. That’s happening. We’re beginning to see these things coalesce [in Nashville],” he says.

Erwin says it helps to believe in both the city and a Higher Power.

“There’s an emboldening that happens when you realize you’re not alone. I can really stay true to the stories I’ve felt called to tell and not have to apologize for it because there are a lot of others who believe what I believe,” Erwin says. “It’s been amazing to see people of faith just find Nashville.”