Wanderlust Productions is set to release a 48-hour world premiere of Darren Wilson's newest faith-based film, Holy Ghost, on September 6th-free of charge for viewers.
In an unprecedented move, Wanderlust Productions is staging a one-time premiere event in which fans from all over the world will have the opportunity to view the film directly on any digital device, free of charge. The film's producers hope that the one-time, global event will attract viewers from all over the world and drive future purchases.
The stream will also include a concert with Christian rocker Jake Hamilton, along with a special guest appearance by Brian "Head" Welch from the metal band Korn.
The film is backed by 2,500 consumer-investors who support Wilson's Kickstarter campaign, which raised a whopping $360,000 in just 45 days. According to the film's website, "producers are deploying a futuristic, direct-to-audience strategy that will fundamentally change the way movies are consumed."
"Holy Ghost" is a film that breaks all kinds of barriers. We shot it with no script and no plan; we just showed up and allowed ourselves to be led on an adventure. Our distribution model is equally unique," said Wilson. "We put our audience - the fans - in the driver's seat. They are the investors, marketers, promoters, distributors and the consumers in this new model. Technology has changed the way people are able to consume entertainment products, and with "Holy Ghost" we are setting out to prove that the future is already here."
The trailer for the film, which was released on Facebook, was viewed nearly 2 million times in less than 2 weeks. On Aug, 9, tens of thousands of fans paid $5 to watch a 24 hour online "digital premiere" of the film, which streamed all over the world.
According to the Kickstarter website, some of the casts include Bill Johnson, Todd White, Randy Clark, Michael W Smith, RT Kendall, William P Young, Kris Vallotton, Will Hart, Jamie Galloway, Robby Dawkins, Jake Hamilton, Jeremy Riddle, Banning Liebscher & Jesus Culture, Shawn Bolz, Lee Grady, Devon Franklin, Kobus Van Rensburg, Heidi Baker, and more. From the trailer, the more well-known Christian figures in the film include artist Lenny Kravitz, Dove Award winner Meredeith Andrews, Veggie Tales Creator Phil Vischer.
From Sept 6-Oct 10, the American tour of "Holy Ghost" will span 15 cities with Wilson and Hamilton appearing at nearly all of them. They also hope to have over 500 churches having their own "premiere nights" during that time period. DVDs of the new movie will be available at all of the showings, all around the world.
On Sept. 16, the DVD itself will be released in Christian bookstores worldwide.
"We threw out everything we thought we knew about releasing a movie," says Braden Heckman, CEO of Wanderlust, "and recreated a film release from the ground up. What we came up with looks very different from traditional DVD releases, but we hope this will become a new model for other independent filmmakers in a world where all the rules are changing."
"My first three films were really about my own exploration and questions," added Wilson, "but with this movie, I've finally made up my mind, and I'm excited to share a movie with the world that was birthed out of the boldness that can only come from friendship with God."
Thus far, 400 churches are already signed up to show the film on the upcoming U.S. Premiere Tour immediately following the September 6th World Premiere event.
To learn more about "Holy Ghost", click here.
