Conspire Conference in Chicago (Part 7)

The last day was 2 keynote sessions. The first was David Staal who leads the children's ministry at Willowcreek (I think).

He talked about "owning a burden" one given by God. Like Nehemiah - something that causes you to "sit down and weep."

Also, he talked about "loving one another" and how we're commanded to do so.

He shared a story of how he was a secret Santa for a girl in class. She asked for a piece of candy, he gave her (his mom's idea) a big box of chocolates.

The point being that "getting by" and "nice enough" is a piece of candy, but that "owning a burden" and "loving one another" is a box of chocolates.

The last session was Phil Vischer's key not address called "Don't Eat the Glue." He shared a great story of driving on a trip w/ his daughter and son. His daughter got sick just after he was pointing out the beauty of God's creation. The point being that kids can be random.

He shared how burned out he was when he got pericarditis and more. And his burden for the kids at Columbine. He owned a burden that wasn't his.

He realized one night that the fruit of the spirit isn't a commandment, but "fruit" produced naturally when you have the Spirit. He wasn't producing that. Paul had it w/ beatings, jail, etc. so why didn't Phil?

Because Paul was dead to himself, crucified in Christ and alive in Him. What he did was in God's energy and not his own.

I purchased a few of the sessions and I encourage you to do the same. I can't find a link to them, but I'm sure you can if you're motivated. Please comment w/ it here if you do.

It was a great conference and I was very refreshed and can confidently say God used it great in my life.

I was able to see Chicago a bit some and spend time w/ friends which was awesome.

God bless!

Conspire Conference in Chicago (Part 6)

The Timbuktoon session was on Relevant Media and Modern Storytelling. They used several clips and shorts to show how stories can be told visually ("Lifted") and how far Pixar had come ("Andre and Wally B").

Another good point was about how Jesus invaded culture when telling His stories.

We did a great exercise on story construction picking words from a few lists (adjective, animal, trait, etc.) and using the story structure:
1. Setup/Exposition (Creation)
2. Conflict (Fall)
3. Resolution (Redemption)

They also talked about archetypes and monomyths. Also, the referenced a book called "Ideas for the Animated Short."

They had a handy memory device for stories: What's HOT and what's SNOT.
HOT: High energy, Over the top, Teasers (support or reinforce message)
SNOT: Sensory deficient, Narrowly focused, Outdated and Tried/Tested

Next: The last day.

Conspire Conference in Chicago (Part 5)

Unfortunately in the second session w/ Phil Vischer (a discussion session about his book "Me, Myself, and Bob"), many people had not read the book so it basically became Phil telling the story in the book. Everyone, including me, was ministered to this intimate telling of his story. I believe we were all ministered to. Though I was looking forward to the discussion, I know God is in control and it went just as it should.

Phil talked about ambition and dreams... our dreams. About how we mix up the American dream, the Protestant work ethic with the gospel. We get missed up with mixing these things up w/ God's calling.

He mentioned applying an "expediency test" to his efforts he had heard once. "Which path will impact more souls?" It's a formula and can lead us to measure our effort in impact and numbers.

"Until I'm ready to do nothing (rest) for God, I'm not ready to do anything for God."

Phil read several parts of his book and it was very emotional and he was very vulnerable. It was a great session despite not being what *I* wanted/expected/etc. It was just what God wanted it to be.

After lunch, I went to the story telling session w/ the guys from Timbuktoons.com

Silly Jokes with Poodle

Here's a quick little video I did called "Silly Jokes with Poodle".

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Conspire Conference in Chicago (Part 4)

The second day at Conspire started with a session w/ Phil Vischer on kid's media. I saw the same presentation at NRB last month (which was great) and he commented on how I had seen it before. I felt like "Fred" in "Cars" ("He knows my name!").

The presentation was great and I can't wait to read more about Jelly Telly at Phil Vischer's blog: http://www.philvischer.com

He shared some great info:
* Kids 8-18 years old watch about 4hr of video, 1.75 hr music and 2 hours of games/internet per day.
* Christian TV is usually pay-to-air like infomercials so the model doesn't really work for filmmakers
* Christian media is behind the curve for the industry and Christian retail is on the decline

Kids TV is plentiful, good and mostly moral so there's no motivation to go looking for something to pay for. Therefore there's no platform for Christian filmmakers to work and grow.

The new model must:
* use new technology
* scale to match audience size and economics
* create opportunities for entire Christian creative community
* must create something to aim for: community w/ Christian families and long-term teaching relationship w/ Christian kids

Enter Jelly Telly! multi-platform, Christian kids mini-network online: new model, "open source", 2-5 min shows, ministry driven.

It's something to also "connect the dots" btwn the Sundays for kids. Hopefully it can keep Sunday school from being the one time a week kids get good Christian input.

After the first session, I went straight to the second session room for a couple reasons. The second session was a discussion group about Phil's book, "Me, Myself, and Bob" and I was most looking forward to this session. I wanted a good seat.

Also, I wanted to let other people have a chance to talk to Phil. I tend to try to hog his time. I had just re-read his book and God speaks to me so clearly and directly in it. I have asked Phil a few times w/ help in direction, but I felt I had it now. Read the book and you'll get that I felt I needed to rest, wait, listen and trust. Not that you need to read the book to understand that, but you'll see how I felt.

More next about the second session w/ Phil, Timbuktoon guys and more!

Conspire Conference in Chicago (Part 3)

The next session after lunch was by Rick Dempsey (senior VP of character voice direction for Disney), Glen Keane (senior supervising animator at Disney) and Aaron Reynolds (children's ministry guru).

Rick talked a lot about stories and they their truth relates thru the story. Jesus told parables where an earthly story has spiritual truth w/in it.

Some great points he made were:
* Know your audience/be relevant
* Avoid talking down to your audience (Heb 5)
* Good stories have heart (Jonah) - good setting, identifiable situation

Glen Keane told his story of conversion and related it to his characters The Beast and Ariel.

Aaron tried to tie Rick and Glen's points into children's ministry directly:
1. In order to reach kids, we must know kids.
2. We must equip kids for transformation through "ruthless application" (Phil 4:8 - XBox temptaion illustration)
3. Use/tell stories w/ heart and sincerity - we MUST bring the Bible to life

It was a great first day!

More to come on day 2: TWO sessions w/ Phil Vischer and Timbuktoons!

Conspire Conference in Chicago (Part 2)

After the first session, I saw that Phil Vischer was doing a book signing. I'd been meaning to get his 2 children's books so I did and got him to sign them for my sons. He remembered me from NRB (and emails) and we talked for just a minute and I got another pic. It was great to see him again.

The second session was by John Trent and Kurt Bruner mostly talking about ministering to the family. They had some great illustrations and references to mini-vans and how we neglect these years of parenting.

But that they are the best years! Also, the most important spiritual years for kids though parents are the least likely to be intentional about their children's spiritual growth.

They had some great stats:
* 65% of Christians become believers as young children
* 31% of Christians become believers before 13 years old
* 4% of Christians become believers after 13

Generally it's believe that the loss of faith has led to a loss of family in societies and cultures. However, recent research is showing that the loss of family has led to a loss of faith. And many children today are growing up and leaving the church - I believe the number was 50%.

So churches are starting to see more of their congregation being made up of previously unchurched people. Also, people that aren't believers, but think their kids need something good and figure church is it.

Another good point they made was that the family can't be the church and the other way around. Both are vital.

They gave more information and things we can do to help. A great resource is here: http://willowcreek.com/innovationsalliance/

Conspire Conference in Chicago (Part 1)

I got back from Conspire in Chicago on Saturday. I wanted to take some time to write about it, but if I wait for "enough" time, I'll never write about it so here goes...

I got there Wednesday morning and heard Christina Yount Jones speak about "Erase Your Fears." It was great to hear her and others make the point that "you are the right person to be here." It was comforting to believe the God meant for me to be there and that I was the right person to be there.

She talked a bit about how Jesus calmed the wind and the waves (Luke 8) and how that related to all the "storms" we go through. She encouraged us to "Stick with It" and not just change courses for the sake of fearing we might not be doing enough (Ecc 11:4). Don't just change, but if there are problems address those. Also, don't give up best practices for "quick" results.

She also talked about what your "worst case scenario" might be. We fear something bad that can happen be she encouraged us to "lean into" it. She told a heart-wrenching story of losing her husband. She's lived thru her worst case scenario and God is faithful (Ps 23:4).

The last fear she talked about was "Fear of Breaking Something." She encouraged us to "breat it" (Dt 31:8). In many cases God might be calling us to change things up completely and if so He's prepared the way. She felt led to change up her church's children's ministry a few years ago which was strange b/c she wasn't the leader. However, when she shared her thoughts w/ the leaders, she found out they were praying for God to raise someone up to take over!

I'll try to post more in the following days of the rest of the conference.

Conspire Conference in Chicago

I'm heading out tomorrow to the Conspire Conference in Chicago.

I'd appreciate your prayers for a safe, productive trip of learning and meeting others ministering to children.

Also, please pray for my family while I'll be away for a few days. Thanks!

Disney Legend Ollie Johnson (1912-2008) | Animation Magazine

Disney Legend Ollie Johnson (1912-2008) | Animation Magazine

More here too.

Very sad. Big loss.

Booples: Do Everything Without Complaining

Just a quick note to let you know that the latest Booples video is onlne now! Watch it here!



I'd love to hear your feedback!



Also, thanks to all the bloggers and others taking part in the 1-Step Affiliate Program. 40% commission is our way of saying thanks!





Booples is a series of Christian children's animated videos designed to entertain kids with silly, funny videos that include a lesson based on a Bible verse and a song with the verse in the lyrics (learn the song = memorize the verse!).

Livin’ With Me! Reviews "Booples 2: Yikity Blar!"

Livin’ With Me! Reviews Booples: "A cute DVD for your kids that teaches Biblical lessons, has fun music and is cheap? What else could you ask for?"

A very positive review of "Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" from Livinwithme.com.

NRB Convention highlights

The NRB convention was too big and great to sum up, but I also don't want to overwhelm anyone w/ a sea of words. So here's the highlights...




- Got in free thanks to Kirk Longhofer
- Met Phil Vischer the first day (pic on left)
- Met several other great people
- Heard Michael W. Smith play
- Met George and Daniel Temple from SermonSpice.com
- Went to Phil Vischer's session on his upcoming Jelly Telly and got to hang out w/ him some more
- Heard Mark Zoradi and Glen Keane from Disney speak
- Met countless great people on the expo floor who were all very encouraging and inspiring especially Maralee Dawn (pic below)




I hope to follow up on the contacts I made at the expo and look forward to some great opportunities to partner w/ people for broadcast, production, distribution, etc. It was great to be in that environment w/ so many people who share a heart for ministry through media!

Praise God!

NRB Convention

I'm flying out tomorrow to attend the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Nashville. I plan on meeting with TBN's Smile of a Child, SermonSpice, Axiom.TV, the Australian Christian Channel and others while I'm out there.

I'll try to post some updates while I'm out there???

If you're going, let me know!

Booples wins a Telly Award!

I just found out this morning that Booples won a Telly Award for "Jonah and the Tarshish Fish"!!!

It's for the 29th Annual awards so it's not on their site yet, but I got the letter this morning!

Praise God!

HollywoodJesus: Features Booples on front page!

HollywoodJesus: "Booples 2: Yikity Blar | Light-hearted Fare | Melinda Ledman"

HollywoodJesus links to the recent review of "Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" from their front page!

Thanks to Melinda Ledman for her great review!

HollywoodJesus.com - Booples 2: Yikity Blar

"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" reviewed at HollywoodJesus.com...

HJ Live! � Booples 2: Yikkity Blar: "I’m not sure I could ask for a more ideal use of film in my child’s life."

Booples 2: Yikkity Blar

Light-hearted Fare

With food for the soul

Melinda Ledman | 02/03/08 | TV, Editorials

I reviewed the original Booples cartoon a year or so ago, and really liked it for what it had to offer—scripture memorization, the easy way. Truth is, I know that words put to music are much easier to memorize, but I’m just not a musician. I’m a storyteller… which also helps with memorization, incidentally. A story is an excellent mnemonic device. So, when Booples came along, combining the stories, the verses, and the songs, I was pretty pleased!!

This second installation is pretty much more of the same. Some of the episodes on the DVD are better, while others are pretty corny. I had hoped the visual cartoon quality would improve a little this go-round, but I understand the fact that indie filmmakers don’t have giant pocketbooks to make all their dreams come true. Still, the device is successful. My kids not only remember the words to Bible verses, but they remember the application through the stories.

A true story: My oldest daughter was unprecedentedly generous to her little sister one day. I asked her why she did what she did and what prompted her kindness (you know, one of those typical stupid mom questions that she’ll roll her eyes at when she’s older). She shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I just wanted to share. Like that story.” Then she flippantly went off bobbing her head and singing to herself, “Be kind and compassionate to one another…” I’m not sure I could ask for a more ideal use of film in my child’s life.

There is an ongoing debate about whether there truly is a market for “Christian” films and family friendly movie fare. One side argues for clean, moral content, while the other side argues that audiences are already too film savvy to go for it. I think there is definitely a market in children’s programming. Not only will young children ALWAYS go for a cartoon, but parents are still quite protective of their children at young ages. They want only the “best” information going in—hoping that the best information will also come out one day. But we have to be careful not to let television and film become a crutch, an excuse not to teach. Plopping a kid down in front of Veggie Tales or Booples doesn’t necessarily produce clear-thinking, well-behaved teenagers. I believe media is a tool in the hand of a parent. “Good” media and “bad” media can achieve the same result, if handled right.

In the end, I support the ventures of independent filmmakers like Bear Cahill (Booples) who give parents alternative media to work with—because even I don’t always feel like being a model parent every day. There are just some days when I don’t feel like making up a spontaneous Bible lesson or finding applications for the shows that don’t have anything good to say. Sometimes, it’s nice to have a break. Sometimes, I simply need to veg out and let someone else do the talking (and singing, and dancing, and entertaining!). So I’ll keep my Booples DVD handy. Give them a try while they’re still way cheaper than Veggie Tales. You can find them online at www.Booples.com.

Next Booples! Episode: "Children of God" - John 1:12

I'm currently working on the next episode of Booples! which will be the first episode on the 3rd DVD.

The episode is currently titled "Children of God" with the message verse being John 1:12

Yet to all who received him,
to those who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God

I have made some improvements to the Booples' world - adding some depth to the background (as you can see from the images below) w/ additional hills and a focus range so the distance objects are slightly blurred.



The song by Pete Buchwald is great as always and I'm really excited about some new aspects of the stories I don't want to write about just yet.

Let me know what you think!

Past Booples! News...

11.30.07	--	Booples affiliation program featured on the Christian Affiliate Network (CAN) (full article)
11.26.07	--	"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" featured on MamasLike.com (full article)
11.24.07	--	"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" featured in the MamasLike.com "Holiday Gift Guide" (full article)
11.21.07	--	"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" reviewed at Bergers Reviews (full article)
11.17.07	--	"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" featured Christmas gift idea at Christianity.About.com (full article)
11.16.07	--	"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" reviewed by Laura Williams (full review)
11.06.07	--	"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" reviewed by Trish Berg (full review)
10.27.07	--	Booples' "Jonah and the Tarshish Fish" wins best animation and fourth place overall at the Seguin Film and Arts Festival 2007 (press release, official site)
10.23.07	--	Booples review at Kiddie Clique and Bambina Ballerina (here and here)
10.12.07	--	"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" earns "Dove Family Approved Seal" (details)
10.10.07	--	Booples earns Parents Television Council Seal of Approval (details)
10.05.07	--	Booples to air on AngelTV.org (details)
9.28.07	--	"Jonah and the Tarshish Fish" a finalist at the Seguin Film and Arts Festival (details)
9.7.07	--	"Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" DVD released (Press Release, Details)
7.4.07	--	Booples "David Rocked Goliath" completed.
4.4.07	--	Booples "Forgive Each Other" completed.
3.3.07	--	Booples.com website redesigned.
3.1.07	--	Booples "Jonah and the Tarshish Fish" completed.
12.19.06	--	SermonSpice.com lists Boople videos in their children's section
12.06.06	--	Signed w/ SermonSpice.com as online distributor (link)
12.05.06	--	Booples is about.com's Christmas Day 5 "Children's Movie of the Day" (link)
12.01.06	--	Added Booples books and clothes to Booples.com (link press release)
11.17.06	--	Mary Fairchild made Booples #6 on about.com's "Top 10 Christian DVD and Video Series for Children" (link press release)
10.27.06	--	Submitted "Truth" to COMIX35 web animation competition
10.15.06	--	Informed that "Love One Another" was selected by Seguin Film Fest (link press release)
08.24.06	--	Interviewed for Pearls of Shalom on Denton public access ch25
08.22.06	--	Got first Booples T-shirts (link)
08.09.06	--	Submitted Google video "Love One Another" (link)
08.08.06	--	Interviewed for Denton Perspective public access ch 25
08.01.06	--	kidssundayschool.com ministry of the month (link)
06.12.06	--	Airing on Denton public access ch. 25
05.17.06	--	Contract and airing on Smile of a Child network (link press release)
05.15.06	--	Dove Foundation approval (link)
04.27.06	--	HollywoodJesus.com review (link)
04.04.06	--	Booples DVD officially released
03.28.06	--	Booples First sale

Booples on Cross-Eyed Reviews

Booples! - Childrens Bible Songs DVDs free clips online

Booples! gets 5 out of 5 on Cross-Eyed Reviews!

And is awarded their "Seal of Approval"

Thanks!!!

The Animation Podcast

The Animation Podcast



Great animation podcast of interviews w/ big names in animation.

The Laughs Will Go On...: Booples!

A review of Booples! on another site...

The Laughs Will Go On...: Booples!: "Once again, it had great lessons - like forgiveness, or God's faithfulness and each episode has a fun song at the end of it. Of course Tate had fun doing new dance moves to the songs (haha!) and I had fun watching both the DVD and him!"

The On Course Podcast - August 2007 - Phil Vischer

The On Course Podcast - August 2007 - Phil Vischer

A great interview w/ Phil Vischer. Enjoy.

Boople fans are geniuses!

I ran my blogs through this analysis site and one got 'elementary' and another got 'high school', but my Booples blog got 'genius'!

It just goes to show how smart Booples fans are...

Books for Moms: Booples - DVD for Kids

Books for Moms: Booples - DVD for Kids: "I kid you not, before the second story ended, I could hear her singing along with the Bible verse song, and my heart melted."

Read the full review here

The new Booples DVD, "Booples 2: Yikity Blar!" has been released by Booples.com and is available from their website!

"The new Booples DVD, 'Booples 2: Yikity Blar!' has been released by Booples.com and is available from their website! "

press release

Booples video "Jonah and the Tarshish Fish" wins at Seguin!

Booples video "Jonah and the Tarshish Fish" wins at Seguin!

(I-Newswire) - For the second year, Booples.com has submitted a video to the Seguin Film and Arts Festival ( http://www.seguinfestival.org/ ). This year not only did the video "Jonah and the Tarshish Fish" win best animation, but also fourth place overall!

SermonSpice.com

Booples are available for downloadable sale at SermonSpice.com!

Check out the site to view videos, see descriptions, reviews, etc. of Booples videos and other videos and countdowns.

"The goal of spice info is to provide information
pertaining to who we are as a company, our
philosophy, and other information that we
hope you'll find helpful and useful."

It's a great source for videos for sermons, countdowns, Sunday school, etc. Check it out!

New Booples Affiliate program...

You can copy and paste text from the Booples site into your website or blog and you're selling Booples products! Booples.com takes care of payment, processing, shipping, etc. You just email in your contact info and URL. Click here for details

The items look like this:



You can add your own comments around it using text from the site, your thoughts, quotes from other reviews, etc.

Booples Bible Verse Songs CD!

The Booples Bible Verse Songs CD has been released!

The Booples songs CD includes all the Booples songs from the first 2 DVDs each containing a Bible verse in the song...

* "Not Curly, But Straight"- Proverbs 3:5-6
* "Love One Another" - John 13:34-35
* "Treasure In Heaven" - Matthew 6:20-21
* "Forgive Each Other" - Ephesians 4:32
* "Don't Want to go to Tarshish" - Luke 11:28
* "David Rocked Goliath" - 1 Corinthians 1:25
* "For All to See" - Psalm 33:4
* BONUS TRACK: "Look Around" - John 1:12 - Not Previously Released!


Also available for download at CDBaby.com and iTunes.

Booples named #6 on About.com's "Top 10 Christian DVD and Video Series for Children"