The inaugural movie from what has been called the "world's first Christian fan-owned movie studio" releases in theaters this weekend, and it has some well-known Hollywood names behind it.
Camp Hideout, a PG-rated family comedy, will release in theaters Sept. 15 across the United States. It tells the story of a teenage boy named Noah who flees to a Christian summer camp in order to escape two clueless goons. There, Noah finds hope and purpose. It stars Amanda Leighton (This Is Us, Trolls: The Beat Goes On!), Corbin Bleu (High School Musical) and Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future trilogy). Sean Olson (F.R.E.D.I., Max Winslow and the House of Secrets) directed it.
It's the first theatrical film from Called Higher Studios, a crowdfunded company that launched in 2019 and calls itself the "world's first Christian fan-owned movie studio." The production and release of Camp Hideout was delayed due to the pandemic.
"You can watch this movie with your kids," producer Jason Brown of Called Higher Studios told Christian Headlines.
"Christopher Lloyd thought it was a great script, and wanted to be a part of it and played such a great character. Corbin did, too, as well as Amanda Leighton," Brown added. "I think it's a testament to the script and the storytelling that those actors wanted to be a part of it."
The studio's website asks: What if Christians came together to spread the name of Christ through movies? The goal, the website said, is to "produce quality faith-based content that spreads the gospel of Jesus Christ and also transcends story telling."
"We have thousands of investors," Brown told Christian Headlines. "I always joke and say we had a three-year plan and COVID hit and we just had to hit pause. So we basically paused life for a year and then kind of got back on track. Movies inherently take a long time to put together. ... But this one worked out really well."
Through crowdfunding, the studio gives Christians the ability to own stock in the company and "shape the movies that our children and grandchildren will watch," according to the studio's website.
Called Higher Studios has other movies in the works, including one on Anne Beiler, the founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels, Brown said.
Learn more at CampHideoutMovie.com.
Photo courtesy: ©Called Higher Studios, used with permission.
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
