Cinematic Jesus: Status 2023 Sep

Cinematic Jesus Update

By Santiago Kneeland

We are pleased to inform you that we’ve submitted a grant application for the Templeton Fund. We’ve developed a project called “Jesus Shorts” that focuses on the stories of the lives Jesus touched during his lifetime. This calls for the development of 4 to 5 short films of 10 to 15 minutes each, that will be presented together as a collection.

The purpose of this is to present the stories of the characters we’ve all read about in part IV of The Urantia Book. Stories about subjects such as “the two courtesans” and “the husband and wife.” These are lives that were changed by the brief moments they had with Jesus and we believe they are worth expanding into what might have happened after their experience with him. We will develop the screenplays of these stories with the writers of the CFU, once the grant is approved. We will later produce these stories with Morrison Productions and WYES of New Orleans, and distribute them mainly via digital platforms.

We are awaiting the resolution of the Templeton Fund committee, which will come in October and we expect to move to the second round. This Foundation finances many projects in different fields, and we’re applying in the Religion, Science and Society area. We believe that expanding these stories will contribute to the knowledge about Jesus of Nazareth, and the way he touched lives. This is surely a way that common people can relate to his life, not only as a Divine person, but as a human being.

We will keep you updated on the development of the grant, and invite UB students to participate as writers once this project is underway.