Industrious Family Fun Films Blog

Jan 13, 2025

Join Us On February 2nd For The Christmas Special LIVEstream!

We hope that you join us on February 2nd for our Christmas LIVEstream. The Marsh authors will be reading a chapter form their new book, Jordan Sax will perform LIVE his new single and we will be premiering 2 Christmas shorts! Please note that we officially changed the time to 6:00pm PT. Learn more about this exciting event.

Jan 10, 2025

Industrious Family Is Partnering With Tea Time With Teen Day By Promoting Beautiful Music

We have collaborated with Tea Time With Teen Day Radio since 2017. Child actor Rodney Allen Rippy (Jack in the Box commercials, Blazing Saddles) and Dan Pettigrew have been trying to revive a lost genre of music: Beautiful Music and Easy Listening. The Industrious Family loves this music and we also hope that it rises in popularity and blows out of the water the disordered music that we are surrounded by in our daily lives. The team has provided a replay line up from KJBM's Christmas Special that aired a few weeks ago and this beautiful music will be featured in Industrious Family's Christmas Special LIVEstream.

You can learn more about Tea Time With Teen Day, Beautiful Music and Mr. Rippy here.

Listen on demand to Beautiful Music on KJBM radio here. (See how many Industrious Family voices you can name during the commercial breaks 😉.)

Jan 10, 2025

The Beloved Poor Soul Story Comes To Life In A Home For Christmas

A young woman spends her last penny to have a Mass said for the poor soul in Purgatory which is closest to being released. Afterwards, she meets the poor soul in person and he helps her turn her life around for the better as the girl is directed to his mother's house.

After its premiere release on February 2nd, 2025, during the Christmas Special LIVEstream, A Home For Christmas will take its place alongside our other Christmas movies on Industrious Family Theater.

Jan 09, 2025

Don't Miss Out! Explore Our Livestream Event Page Now!

We have released all the details covering our Christmas Special LIVEStream! This is going to be a fun evening filled with Christmas themed family fun entertainment. Plus! We will be releasing our two new Christmas movies that same night! Don't miss this LIVEStream! Please note that we officially changed the time to be at 6:00pm PT. Learn more about the Christmas Special LIVEStream and bookmark the page because the video will be hosted here.

Jan 09, 2025

Faustina's 'Merry Anne Bright' Wraps Filming: What's Next?

I started filming on a Friday and made a wrap on the following Wednesday. It's amazing to think that in just a short week, the entire film went from a concept on paper to a filmed reality. Of course, just getting something shot does not mean that it is as good as done. In fact, there are many things that we film that just never get edited and never get published.

But that isn't going to happen with this short film. No sooner was I done filming than I got deep into editing. Film days always feel like a mess - like you have no idea if you got the perfect shot or not. Truth be told, it is only after you get the footage onto the computer and start editing that you really start to feel like this really could shape up nicely. And I am glad to say, it really is shaping up nicely.

I got away with just one small mistake of not recording audio for one close up, but considering that I was practically going solo as a crew that's not bad. Although I think in the future I will try to always have another hand to help out with the filming.

I only saw the film Elf once when I was very young. Since then I haven't rewatched it because I don't like vulgar films. My childhood memory of it was cheerful, fun colors that really popped. My dream is to see something similar in Merry Anne Bright. But that, of course is up to our colorist but if his work holds true to our past experience, I know it will not disappoint!

Just writing this blog has renewed my excitement about the film. Thanks for being along for the ride and giving me someone to share this experience with. Keep an eye out for our LIVEstream release of both our Christmas shorts on February 2nd!

Jan 08, 2025

Discover the Inspiration Behind "The Storyteller" with Filmmaker Allison Volk

We'd like to introduce you to Allison Volk, the director of "The Storyteller". We are very happy to have this short film on Industrious Family Theater. Like she says herself, Allison likes to create pieces that uplift audiences and give a sense of hope and community and we are very happy that our audience will be able to enjoy the film.

Here's a note from Allison about the film:

"My husband, Colin Martin, plays the lead role in the film. I wanted to write something that I felt showed off his strengths as a performer, and we had just watched BARRY, a show with a lead character who suffered from PTSD. I was interested in exploring a more positive/hopeful depiction of PTSD, and the character Chase was born.

The entire film was filmed inside of a Shelby museum. We were able to shoot there because my dad is the executive director at the museum. I approached him and asked if we could shoot a project that would show off the collection and celebrate Shelby Racing history, and with him on board, the rest was easy.

Although it was amazing to be able to film at such a location, it was honestly a challenge shooting at the museum. The day we shot it snowed really hard, which was great for our opening scene, but tough on the team otherwise. The museum has a huge heater, a high, echoing ceiling, and lots of extremely valuable and delicate memorabilia and historic cars! All those things presented unique challenges for us in having a crew present (and a green screen) at the venue.

The themes portrayed in this film are usually at the center of my work, although it often takes a more sardonic tone. I can’t help it!”

Jan 08, 2025

From Darkness To Light: A Riveting Film On Sts. Cyprian And Justina’s Journey

This was such a fun movie to film! The script was satisfying, Cyprian is so creepy and the entire movie was colorful. Another thing that I love about The Martyrdoms of Saints Justina and Cyprian was the fact that our entire family had a role to play.

When Cyprian (Becket Bowen) was born, his unholy parents consecrated him to the devil. He grew up worshiping and serving Satan and using the infernal powers to preform spells to meet his own ends. Cyprian was hired by a Roman noble named Agladius (Patrick Bowen) to cast a spell on a particular woman to fall in love with him. This woman was Justina (Faustina Bowen), a Christian woman who had no intention of falling in love with and marrying a pagan.

Cyprian tried all his powers to get her to fall, but she armed herself with prayer and mortification and all his efforts came to naught. Feeling the superior powers of God over the devil, Cyprian himself became a Christian alongside Agladius. During the persecution that followed under Diocletian (Matthew Bowen), Cyprian and Justina were presented to the same judge (Mary Bowen) and were executed together.

After its release a fan commented, "Good job! You told the story well! I enjoyed it very much! All the acting has improved, the sets and costumes were great. Thank you for bringing this story to life!"

Learn more about our streaming service to watch this exciting story come to life in Industrious Family Films' The Martyrdoms of Saints Justina and Cyprian.

Jan 07, 2025

Unyielding Spirit: A Young Hero's Stand in Outlaws of Ravenhurst

We are happy to see so many people enjoy this film. Our full length film, Outlaws of Ravenhurst, features a cast of over 50 young people who brought their talent together to tell this adventurous and fun tale.

Outlaws Of Ravenhurst takes place in 1641 in the wake of the bloody Protestant Reformation when Catholics in Scotland were denied the right to true worship of God. It reminds us of our past and encourages us to hope in the future, come what may.

Learn more about our streaming service to watch this heartwarming story come to life in Industrious Family Films' first full length movie.

Jan 07, 2025

Tune In Now: Exciting Updates in This Week’s Industrious Family Podcast

The Gofers are back with some exciting updates such as new jobs and a new puppy. Also in this week's podcast the team briefly reviews movies new and old as well as literature that they are currently reading.

Listen to these interesting discussions and more here...

Jan 06, 2025

Keep the Christmas Cheer Alive: Embrace the Joy of Epiphany!

Happy feast of the Epiphany. Today is the twelfth day of Christmas, and we still have our tree up are receiving a few more gifts and looking forward to a house blessing. Many times, we have had the priests from the FSSP come and bless our home, but the father of the family can do the blessing if the priests are too far away and alas they are too far away. I am looking forward to eating Kings Cake, and have a beautiful gift wrapped for the lucky person who gets the Infant Jesus in their piece.

Happy feast day from Industrious Family. We'll see on February 2 (the last day of the Christmas season) for our Christmas Special LIVEstream. It is going to be a wonderful event!

Jan 04, 2025

Trending On The Industrious Family Theater: Full Length Films

Feature length films are taking the lead as the most watched films on Industrious Family Theater. This family streaming service is an affordable way to entertain the whole family and support independent moviemakers. Learn more about Industrious Family Theater.

Jan 03, 2025

Great LIVEstream Event Lined Up! Join Us On February 2nd For An Afternoon Of Wholesome Christmas Themed Entertainment

A handful of our guests for the Christmas Special LIVEstream have confirmed that they will be contributing something to the event! Recording artist, Jordan Sax, will perform his newest song release and Fr. Moylan will share some words on why Christmas is celebrated until Candlemas and hopefully give an off the cuff reaction to A Home for Christmas, a film that he pitched to Industrious Family.

Other contributions that you can look forward to will be from the Marsh Authors and Joe McClane of A Catholic Take. Mr. Smeaton and Mrs. Majors are tentative with their performances but we are begging them on our knees and I am very positive that they will also be there! Don't miss this important event where we will also be premiering our two Christmas short films.

Sign up to our free newsletter to get an email reminder minutes before we are LIVE on February 2nd.

Jan 02, 2025

Fabiola Auditions Planned For 3rd Week In January

This is going to be a great year for FABIOLA and we are kicking it off by hosting our second round of auditions! If you would like to try your hand at acting, we are looking for actors and actresses all over the United States to apply for a role. We are auditioning soon so get your application in now!

Jan 01, 2025

What Will The New Year Hold In Store For Industrious Family?

Happy Feast Day and New Year!

We powered through and welcomed in 2025 last night. We watched Ben-Hur to keep us awake, played a few card games then we poured champagne, did a countdown and sang Holy God We Praise Thy Name followed by Auld Lang Syne.

We don't have New Year goals written down yet but this year we are going to focus on areas that make money. Beefing up the streaming service, streamlining our customer's shopping experience, and have a steady amount of site sponsors are a few things in this area. This is a big year for our current project

FABIOLA as we have exactly 364 day to meet our minimum investment deadline. I hope that we have a film week in store but we will see.

Stay tuned for our hard set goals and dreams for 2025!

Dec 31, 2024

2024 In Review: Goals Met And Dreams Set

It is the last day of 2024. Wow. Around this time we all look at what goals we met in the last year. Here are a few of ours that were written down in the first page of the 2024 planner"

Dec 30, 2024

Keeping Christ In Christmas With Our Short “Merry Anne Bright” Film

Over the winter I, Faustina, have been working away from home as an elf who provides children with a unique experience: riding out on a cruise boat to the “North Pole” to see Santa Claus and hear him read the nice list.

When I hatched the plan for my Christmas short, I had no idea which direction it was going to go. While I was writing, the story seemed to come alive and had a mind of its own. The film wanted to have an appearance by Santa. I argued, not knowing if I could even get a Santa to be in the film, but in the end my film script won the day, leaving me with a few long and touching lines that I had to find an actor for.

Here is where my winter job came in. I texted one of our Santas, saying that I was making a short film and would really appreciate it if he would be Santa in it.

He obliged. Then something crazy happened. Since I work on one side of the lake and he works on the other for the cruises, we had never met in person. It always makes me a little uncomfortable having an actor I had never met before on a shoot and bossing them around.

The day before our shoot, the wind caused our cruise to be canceled. To alleviate some of the stress of having parents who brought their kids all the way to the cruise, we moved Santa to where I usually work!

So I ended up getting to somewhat know my Santa actor before our shoot. And get this: we weren’t going to be able to use the Santa costume from the “North Pole”. I was just going to roll with this and find something that would work, but we were able to use the costume that had to come over anyway!

Someone once told me that the word "coincidence" wasn’t used until after the Enlightenment. Before people used the word "Providence". My film is all about how hard the world is trying to wash Christ out of Christmas and replace Him with commercialism. The film speaks of how Christ is the reason for the season.

Santa in my mind has always been the same as St. Nicholas who honors the reality that that is what Christmas is about. I have gotten a lot of support from many of my coworkers for making this the point of my film and am very grateful that Producer Kathleen pushed me to make the film. And I think Providence is directing the project for me!

Remember that we are still in the Christmas season! At least celebrate through the 12 days if not until February 2nd! Because Christ deserves more recognition than just one day.

Dec 29, 2024

St. Thomas Becket - The Archbishop That Did Not Flee From The Wolves

St. Thomas Becket is a reflection of Christ as Priest as he also laid down his life for his sheep. He was martyred 855 years ago by the hand of the king’s soldiers for defending the rights of the Church. Several novel, poems, and films have been made on the life of this saint. My favorite is BBC's Cathedral Murder at Canterbury. In fact, I was so inspired by this docudrama that I named my second son Becket after this brave bishop who forsake everything and lived only for Christ. It is now free on YouTube. Here is the link to Cathedral Murder at Canterbury.

The Oscar winning movie, Becket (1964), is a favorite among many, but I do not like it for reasons that the cover proudly boasts as a "Lusty, boldly provocative film." It touches way too much on the injustices suffered by the Saxons and not on the true political events surrounding the day. It is over sensualized at times too at least for family viewing.

Dec 28, 2024

Celebrating The Family Baby: Traditions on Holy Innocence Day

Today is the feast of the Holy Innocents. On this day we remember the innocent souls that bore witness to the royalty of Christ and were slaughtered due to the jealousy of King Herod. It is a neat custom to honor the youngest child in the family on this day either by presenting him with a small gift or by decorating the highchair and crib.

Continue celebrating all 12 days of Christmas by implementing these great ideas.

Dec 27, 2024

Enjoy Some St. John's Wine On The Feast Of The Beloved Apostle

Enjoy!

Dec 26, 2024

Remember The Sacrifice Of St. Stephen The First Martyr At Our Lord's Crib

Today we remember the Church's first martyr, St. Stephen. It is fitting that his feast day falls on the day after Christmas because by it we recall the heroic stand of the first Christians who gave their lives in defense of Christ's Church. If you have bought a poinsettia, place if near the Christ Child's crib today to commemorate His first martyr.

St. Sebastian and St. Agnes are among the early martyrs we will meet in our forthcoming film: Fabiola. Many martyrs witnessed to Christ of which St. Stephen was the first. For three centuries, the Church was watered by the blood of the martyrs.

"May the Church in her days of peace and of victory never forget what she owes to the age of her martyrs." We have a long way to go to get this movie into production. Please help us crowdfund here!

Dec 25, 2024

Merry Christmas From The Industrious Family Team

“O God, Who hast made this most holy night to shine forth with the brightness of the true light, grant, we beseech Thee that we who have known the mystery of His light on earth, may attain the enjoyment of His happiness in heaven. Who with Thee liveth.”

Have a grace filled Christmas Season!

Love, The Bowen Family

Dec 24, 2024

Christmas Eve Refections On Past Christmas Films

Happy Christmas Eve! Please enjoy our Christmas music video. The song, "Christmas" was performed by our friend Jordon Sax who will be a special guest at our Christmas Special LIVEstream.

Dec 23, 2024

From Exile to Joy: Lessons from Singing Around The Advent Candles

We have a custom of singing "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" around the advent candles as a family every night leading up to Christmas. It captures so well the moving sad feeling of desire and longing. And in the middle, there is that stirring line of encouragement, “Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel.” The moment is fast approaching us now.

Dec 23, 2024

King Of The Gentiles And Desired Of Them: The Significance Of The Three Kings Honoring The Christ Child

And we continue the countdown to Christmas! I can't tell you how surprised I am to think that this great feast is just two days away! I think the fact that we haven't really had very much snow is throwing me off a little.

As I go to grab a few last minute gifts (This is Faustina and it seems like I usually put things off to get them done just before my official deadline!), I am thinking of how lucky we are that for Catholics, the Christmas feasts do not end on December 25th, but continue even after the 12 days of Christmas are complete.

Today's Antiphon also reminds me of another thing that makes us very fortunate. "O King of Gentiles"! Being of completely Gentile lineage, Christmas is a good time for me to remember the first heads of state who accepted the reality that Christ is King: Kings Melchior, Balthazar and Gasper - all three Gentile kings from lands far away from Christ's birthplace.

It's also comforting to know that the kings were not the first people there celebrating the earliest moments with Christ, but came long after His birth bringing their gifts. Their celebration lingered for some time like our Catholic celebration of Christmas does now. Last minute gifts? Maybe...but ones that counted.

Speaking of last minute, another thing that I have yet to do this season is watch one of my favorite Christmas movies: The Muppet Christmas Carol! I love this movie and would watch it all the year round if I could get away with it. Another Christmas movie I like watching every year is The Man Who Invented Christmas. Oh! and another one...

But I could go on all day and by the time that you were done reading just this blog post, it would be time for bed and there wouldn't be time to watch even one of them. So to spare you from reading every recommendation here, be sure to check out our favorite Christmas movies for the whole family if you are looking for something to watch this Christmas!

Dec 23, 2024

What Does John the Baptist Have In Common With The Winder Solstice?

"O Dawn!" Looking at those words just now reminded me of a discussion I recently had with my aunt. Although yesterday is actually the shortest day of the year--meaning the least amount of daylight hours--the Christian understanding of the winter solstice is usually placed on December the 25th, Christmas. According to the actual calendar day, the 21st of December is the shortest day of the year, and the 21st of June is the longest day of the year.

Catholic calendars place this change of season on the 24th and 25th of these months. That is because these are the days we remember the Nativity of Christ and the Nativity of John the Baptist. Today is also coincidentally the fourth Sunday of Advent, a Sunday in whose Gospel St. John the Baptist takes center stage.

The "voice cry of one crying in the wilderness" said, "He will increase but I must decrease" and that is an important part of the forerunner's mission. Prepare the way of the Lord. After the 25th of December--Christ's Nativity--the days get longer, they increase in daylight hours. After the 24th of June--John the Baptist's Nativity--the days get shorter, decreasing in daylight hours.

So let us on this day where we are reminded of John the Baptist's mission and look forward to the "Dawn of the East" let us remember to decrease the attachment to sin in our souls and increase the love and longing for Christ's coming this Christmas.

After all this discussion of St. John's nativity, perhaps you are curious on how to celebrate. Look forward to this great feast by learning about the customs here!

Dec 21, 2024

How The Story Of Redemption Is An Often Storytelling Pattern

The days of waiting and longing are fast closing to an end. In today's O Antiphon we refer to ourselves as captives that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death in need of setting free. Only Our Lord can open the doors to our life of eternal happiness through His passion and death on the cross. Thanks to His choice of becoming man and coming into this world as a Little Child, we will one day be happy with Him in Heaven.

As the story of man's redemption is the greatest of all stories, it is most often used in our own storytelling patterns.

In A Home for Christmas, the first few minutes of the movie follow the bleak, cold, dreary mundane existence of a young girl. There is a feeling that nothing changes, nothing will get better. This world is her prison but she lives with the promise that she will be rewarded and set free.

Halfway though the story is the critical moment of her life: she meets someone who points her in the right direction. This is similar to how Our Lord came into the world in the most unexpected time and in the most unexpected circumstances. He lived for 33 years to point us in the right direction. The girl now transitions into her second life, one of comfort, peace and happiness. Her life of darkness and shadow is a thing of the past thanks to a chance meeting with someone.

Our own lives are the same. We life in a Valley of Tears but with the hope of a promise that this is only our temporary home. Then about this time every year, we remember most vividly the miracle of the Incarnation. Lent and Passiontide quickly follow to remind us what it cost to be redeemed. But we are filled with joy in the knowledge that He conquered death and by that death we will join Him, Our Blessed Mother and the angels and saints forever in paradise.

If you'd like to help tell stories like A Home for Christmas, please consider sponsoring this year's Christmas Special LIVEstream! Fill out this form on our advertising page.

Dec 20, 2024

Deliver The Souls From Purgatory And Tarry Not

I am talking about Purgatory a lot in these O Antiphon posts, and that is because it is one of the themes in our upcoming short film, "A Home for Christmas". In the third O Antiphon we ask Jesus to deliver us and tarry not. During advent the Church draws our attention to the symbolism and typologies found in the Old Testament.

When we hear the words come to deliver us, and tarry not, we think of God delivering the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. Jesus delivered us from the bondage of sin when He died on the cross. This one act of redemption satisfied for the sin and Adam and our own sins allowing us to become heirs of heaven. And yet, we must cooperate with grace and follow God's laws to attain heaven.

Debt is owed for our sins and if that debt isn't paid on earth by good works, penance, and fasting, it will need to paid in Purgatory. God loves us and is merciful, but we must be pure to enter heaven because we could not be happy with God if we were not perfectly holy. Often after death, souls are not pure enough to enter heaven but first must pass through the purifying fires of Purgatory. These poor souls cry out: come deliver us, and tarry not!

Pray for the poor souls and have Masses said for them.

We are seeking sponsorships to help cover our Christmas Special LIVEstream. If you have a brand you want to promote we want to partner with you during this special event. Contact us on our advertising page for more information.

Dec 20, 2024

Here’s The Inside Scoop And My Takeaways From Angel Studio’s Bonhoeffer

One of my brothers bought me a ticket to watch Angel Studio's new release, Bonhoeffer. (It has actually almost been out for a month but it just now arrived at our small town movie theater. ☺️) I have written an honest movie review touching on what I enjoyed and what did not resonate with me in the film.

Continue Reading "Bonhoeffer Movie 2024 Explores Another Angle Of A Hitler Assassination Attempt"...

Dec 20, 2024

Can A Poor Soul Be God's Messenger? Explore These Mysteries In "A Home For Christmas"

In the second O Antiphon we are reminded that God appeared in the burning bush to Moses. Under the Old Law, it was the prophets who were sent to warn the people to change their ways. Angels often appeared as God's messages in both the Old and New Testaments. Under the New Law God most often sends the Blessed Virgin Mary to warn the people to change their ways. There are also many accounts of poor souls appearing in modern times to promote devotion to the poor souls as well as to warn the living to convert their hearts.

A poor soul appears in "A Home for Christmas" for an unusual reason: to give thanks and be God's hand in helping his benefactress.

"O Adonai, and Leader of the house of Israel, Who didst appear to Moses in the flame of the burning bush, and didst give unto him the Law on Sinai: come and with an outstretched arm redeem us." How happy for us that we have been redeemed! We have also been given a Law and when this Law is transgressed there is debt owed. This debt for our sins is paid in purifying fires of Purgatory.

Join us as we explore these themes at the "A Home for Christmas" premiere. This premiere will be a part of an hour of entertainment made for Catholic families! As our guest appearances list is confirmed we will be announcing other entertainment we have lined up for you.

Until then, you may find our page about ways to observe advent in joyful expectation here.

Dec 19, 2024

Countdown To Christmas LIVEstream Where Wisdom And Joy Will Be On Full Display

We are counting down the days until our Christmas Special LIVEstream as we count down the days until Christmas.

We have a full hour of entertainment lined up for you. It is the very best Christmas gift that we can make for wholesome entertainment fans this year.

Our first short film is color locked and we are paying a rush fee to get it through post production. In "A Home for Christmas", a young lady spends her last penny to offer a Mass for the poor soul closest to heaven then she meets just the person to turn her life around.

"O Wisdom, Who didst come out of the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end and ordering all things mightily and sweetly: come and teach us the way of prudence." This O Antiphon that we pray first in the days leading up to Christmas is shone in the right decisions made by the young lady in the movie and how even though feeling desperate she aligns her will to the Will of Almighty God. She is rewarded in this life although this is not always the case. The true reward for practicing the virtue of prudence is the reward we will experience in heaven.