Cinematic Jesus: Status 2023 Dec

Cinematic Jesus Update – December

By Santiago Kneeland & Steven Marble

This has been a year of expansion and distillation through exercises to define structures, formats, and story concepts for depicting the Life of Jesus as cinematic projects. We are happy to inform you that the range of the project has grown, and we now find ourselves with many people and organizations that want to collaborate with us. This has taken us to open the Cinematic Jesus project branch into many different projects, each with a different scope and purpose. Below is a summary of the projects now at hand.

Feature Film

What the Urantia Revelation can benefit from is a cinematic “Billboard” that shares the intricate story of the Life of Jesus depicted in The Urantia Book. The goal of this project is to create original stories that go into and beyond the pages of the 5th Epochal Revelation to act as an entertaining, mind-opening portal and depiction of the Life of Jesus as never before revealed to a global audience.

An original feature film scenario depicting the intrigues surrounding the birth of Jesus has been conceived as a major film production. Its purpose is to capture the attention of young and old, believers and nonbelievers, through a dramatic, character-driven telling of the most pivotal event in human history.

As this project requires substantial funding capacities and the highest standards in contemporary cinematic production, a separate legal entity has been formed under which this project will create and develop a worthy production using financial and technical modalities common to the motion picture industry.

The development of the story, and greater production plans, was developed over a 5-month period this past year and is now copyrighted and ready for script development. The Center for Unity’s Cinematic Jesus project has acted as an incubator to launch this ambitious endeavor. CFU will continue to be involved on many levels and benefit from this independent project’s success when that time comes.

Naturally the success of such a project will allow further development of a streaming series utilizing many of the assets developed to produce the initial feature film. As this is in the early stages there will be much work ahead. Once the project has gained a foothold more information will be shared in this forum.

Jesus Shorts

This project focuses on the stories of the people that Jesus touched. It gives us a back and/or forward story to the people he encountered and whom he touched. The project is to compile 4 to 6 short films (10-15 min) that can be presented as a collection.

We want to include The Urantia Book community to participate. So, we want to develop a contest among UB students, where we ask them to submit one 10 to 15 minute-long script. We will select the winning 6 – and produce short films based on the scripts, with one of our associate production companies.

Documentaries

What has been a common need with those conversant in The Urantia Book is a way to demonstrate the profound authenticity of the information present within its pages. Since academic and theological scholarship benefit from the scientific method we see a grand opportunity to promote the assets within the UB, specifically related to the Life and Teachings of Jesus, by validating this information with archeological and historical evidence. This can be accomplished through specific documentaries that focus on available proven connections to the clues provided in the UB.

With the capacities developed this year by the Cinematic Jesus project we can now conceive, develop, and produce modern documentary investigations revealing new insights into the Life of Jesus. As these stories will go beyond the scope of the Canonical Gospel it will become apparent that another “research source” will find startling validity. The evidence-based results will substantiate the clues provided by The Urantia Book. This revelation will benefit the viewers and the research community at large.

Additionally, the projects that the Center for Unity is undertaking such as The Jesus Experience at Yigal Allon will benefit greatly as it now undertakes direct involvement with a wider interfaith ecumenical Advisory Board to shape the content for a world class museum venue. This group will be able to refer and utilize the academic investigations of such themes as the Nazareth home where Jesus lived for 24 years, the place where he became a renowned carpenter and then turned his interests into boat design on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. This story has archeological evidence and a uniquely mysterious boat as the centerpieces for a documentary worthy of NOVA. Supporting the story is the immense historical background that points directly to the needs of such master carpenters and especially one that lived right where his skills were most needed.

Other archaeologically driven investigations can lead to further validation of descriptions of Jesus' Life in The Urantia Book, further substantiating the immense value that this unique document provides to the curious truth-seeking academic community.

The Cinematic Jesus project now has a direct relationship with WYES Productions to continue the conceptual growth and development of such projects through their production and distribution capacities.