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Fireproofing Your Dreams
Sometimes, all God that is waiting for is for us to let go. In the case of David Nixon ’79, it was not until he finally gave up on his dream that he realized his heart’s desire.
Nixon is head of DNP Studios of Orlando, Fla. His studio has produced a number of commercials for companies like Subway Restaurants, Nickelodeon, the New York City Convention and Visitors Bureau, Campus Crusade and Walt Disney World – he calls those commercials his bread and butter.
Although he had enjoyed the satisfaction of working in a field he loved, Nixon’s ultimate career goal was not in commercials. "I always had a dream of using motion pictures to get the gospel out," he said. "But the distribution of feature films is controlled by a few studios in Los Angeles … You could have the nicest film in the world, but if there is no way to distribute it, it means nothing. Five years ago, I gave up on my dream."
It was a dream that had been born in Nixon’s childhood. The son of missionaries in Australia, Nixon’s earliest exposure to media came when his mother worked in television. That dream continued through his college years at Taylor, where he built the school’s first television studio, and later as his career led him through Marion and Indianapolis, Ind., before he finally settled in Florida.
He now says giving up on that dream – or at least his iteration of it – opened the door for the Lord to give him the desire of his heart. A few months later, two men showed up at his office with an intriguing proposition, "We really feel God wants you to help us make a Christian movie."
They were brothers Stephen and Alex Kendrick from the Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga. If you have not heard of them or their church, you may be familiar with two films they have made: Facing the Giants and Fireproof.
"They had a film; it was called Flywheel. They asked if I would watch it and pray," Nixon said. "I thought, they took $30,000 and made a movie. How good can it be?’ It was so compelling. Everybody was bawling at the end, including me. The production was poor, but the story was great. I called them back and said, ‘I can help take you to the next level.’”
To do that, Nixon enlisted industry professionals to aid the shooting, lighting, sound needs and production of Facing the Giants. By industry standards, it was a low-budget film. But its David-and-Goliath plotline helped it rake in more than $30 million. That, along with the phenomenal success of The Passion of the Christ, whetted the appetite of distributors for more.
The formula for Nixon’s and Sherwood’s latest collaboration, Fireproof, was the same: low budget plus a compelling story. Fireproof used a handful of professional actors – with former Growing Pains star and born-again Christian Kirk Cameron in the lead role – to compliment a large group of volunteers.
Although it was not extensively marketed, the film about a firefighter struggling to revive his dying marriage drew significant word-of-mouth buzz. Nixon said the film has already earned more than $33 million, and he believes the total earnings could climb to $100 million with DVD sales.
Nixon is working on three films for Sony this year. The first is Letters to God, the true story of a child with brain cancer, and is due for release early next year.
"Movies are like modern parables. Jesus told parables to bring complex concepts to men. When you get down to it, that is what touches people's hearts," he said. "Someone who would never go to a church, but would sit in a darkened theater for two hours and hear our message; it is a phenomenal evangelistic tool. Everyone goes to the movies."
