Industrious Family Fun Films Blog

Jul 26, 2024

What's The Intrigue With This Mysterious Hero Of The French Revolution? A Look At Baroness Orczy's Classic Novel The Scarlet Pimpernel

A favorite story of ours which has been retold at least twice in film is The Scarlet Pimpernel, the story that follows the daring and cavalier English hero of the French Revolution. In this fictitious story, a mysterious champion under the pen name "The Scarlet Pimpernel" whisks away the doomed French aristocrats on their way to their deaths just in time to a safe new life in England far from the horrors rending their own country.

Meanwhile, a French actress, Marguerite, now married to the greatest fop in England finds herself drawn in by the mysterious hero, wondering who could be daring and adventurous enough to complete such feats.

When danger suddenly strikes at someone she loves, she has a new need of the Scarlet Pimpernel for more than just to satisfy her curiosity. Through a mistake, she reveals the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel to his greatest enemy, Committee of Public Safety member Chauvelin.

Now Marguerite must rush to warn the Scarlet Pimpernel before he is discovered by the French government or live with her conscience knowing that she caused the hero of the world's downfall. But will she make it in time?

Jul 26, 2024

Daniel Rabourdin Teams Up With Industrious Family To Elevate Catholic Performances

For this week's collaboration, we would like to mention our connection with Catholic Film Acting. Recently, we have been taking classes provided by Daniel Rabourdin. Now we are collaborating with this group to help form Catholic actors so that Catholic films can be on par with the talent that goes into Hollywood productions.

If we are to compete with the big studios, we must sharpen our talents in every area of production and right now, Industrious Family is joined by the director of the Oath film as we try to hone in on our skill sets as actors. This class is not only teaching our actors to get better, but is also helping us learn how to be better directors.

There is a whole philosophy behind film acting and really being able to delve into that in this class will take our films to the next level and we deeply appreciate Daniel offering this class so that we can improve all around!

If you'd like to join this class, contact us here!

Just make a note in the comment saying that you'd like to join the acting class and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Jul 25, 2024

Popular Now: Don Juan Of Austria "There Was A Man Sent By God Whose Name Was John" - Remembering The Legacy Of The Last Crusader

Cardinal Nicholas Patrick Wiseman tells us in his novel Fabiola that there are crucial days in the life of man and of mankind. These are the days "in which a different result might have influenced the social or political fate of mankind. It is probable that Columbus could look back on not only the day, but the precise hour the decision of which secured to the world all that he taught and gave it, and to himself the singular place which he holds among its worthies."

The Cardinal goes on to describe how even the human soul, like Columbus, has its day. The history of the world has had a series of crucial days. A day in which a different result might have influenced the remaining course of history had it gone down differently.

The Battle of Lepanto was such a day.

Our hero in this event has been dubbed "the last knight of Europe" by Chesterton, he is the bastard prince, Don John of Austria, whose name should be as familiar as Columbus'.

On October 7th 1571, the Catholic Holy League and the Turks met for a great sea battle. The Pope requested all Christendom to pray the Rosary and beg the Blessed Virgin to intercede for them in the outcome of the battle. All Christian Europe was on its knees begging their Mother by her favorite title to aid Don John of Austria and claim a victory.

Continue Reading "Don John of Austria - Last Defender of Europe Against the Turks In the Battle of Lepanto with the Help of Our Lady of Victory, Queen of the Rosary"

We have something special to share with you on October 7th! Can anyone guess what it is? I will give you one clue: WISEMAN

Jul 25, 2024

Are You Missing Out On Insider Stories, Contribution Perks, And Production Updates?

Very soon we will announce the day that we will release an important scene from the Fabiola film. Subscribe to our newsletter to get notified right to your inbox along with other special weekly studio updates!

Jul 25, 2024

What Perplexes Us

Hello, it's Mary again. Something interesting that we have observed is that our social media posts do not get as many likes as they do click throughs. The good news is that our audience is reading what we are saying then immediately following a link to read more.

This is of course a good thing as it means that our posts are serving their purpose and getting people to look at our site but it leaves behind a pathetic social media post that barely gets likes which in the end looks like no one is seeing our content. However, we are still excited to see the pages that we push go up in our traffic stats!

Jul 24, 2024

Who Is Industrious Family? Learn More About Us!

Like all engaging websites, industriousfamily.com has an about us page. This page has developed much over the last ten years. Currently on this page, Mary and Faustina's bios can be viewed along with the bios of many other members of our family.

This page also contains a very brief business plan and roadmap complete with milestones and achievements, and ends with a small glimpse of where we came from as a family business and website.

Get to know us by visiting our About Us page today!

Jul 24, 2024

Letting Children Try And Sometimes Fail The Musings Of A Filmmaker And A Mother

I went out on a limb and said sure when the boys said they wanted to start a podcast. Hello, Kathleen here to chat a little about ignoring the desire to protect our children from failure.

As my oldest children were growing up so was the internet. This public realm where people could be exposed to embarrassment and failure was intimidating in the least. My husband and I didn't give our kids full access to the internet, but we did decide to allow them to create content under our watchful eye.

Other Traditional Catholic parents who were raising kids at the same time were not willing to expose their children to the ridicule of others, and I've always understood and respected that point of view. We on the other hand encouraged our children to do their best work then we willingly published their first attempts at articles and short films.

For the most part the criticisms that they received helped them develop thick skins and humble confidence. The analytical and social skills they learned by trying and sometimes failing are invaluable. It's made them better filmmakers.

So when Michael, Becket, Patrick and Declan asked if they could start a podcast, that same feeling of wanting to protect them and this time our brand from embarrassment came rushing in. Matt and I decided to let them try just like we let them try making films.

With some level of surprise, I'm happy to see that our podcast, Gofers Get A Grip is one of our best performing pages, so people are listening and coming back for more.

I hope the Gofers continue to develop their broadcasting skills and their ability to engage an audience and create valuable content through this medium. I pray they continue to use all their gifts for the greater glory of God. Thank you for listening and supporting them as they grow as podcasters.

Jul 23, 2024

Popular Now: Be Inspired By Who And What Shaped Our Culture Through Their Stories

Are you looking to be inspired by the heroes from the past?

You are not alone.

How do I know? Well, it turns out that our page covering good stories is popular right now on our site. This page shares not only historical stories about the great heroes from our culture's past but also authors and works of fiction that have shaped our culture in some way or that we think are absolute must-reads which are heroes in their own right.

Good stories are important because they encourage us and make us feel less alone in our struggles and destinies. All heroes were fed by the stories of past heroes and who is to say which of us are to be the next heroes? So take a chance to make a change and be inspired when you read:

Jul 23, 2024

Learning Something New! Working With WordPress To Get A Membership Site Up And Running

Good morning, Faustina here with something interesting. (I hope. lol)

I've been learning a lot lately. Fortunately, my education didn't teach me absolutely everything there is to know, but instead stressed a love of learning. This capability given to me by my education has helped me to never shy away from things that interest me and a confidence that if I keep at it eventually I will understand. Yes, even Dr. Wile's Physical Science is finally starting to make sense.

Right now the thing that doesn't quite make sense yet but that I am keeping at despite feeling a little lost, is getting a new membership site up. Now, I've only ever used the hosting software that is the main for industriousfamily.com, SBI!, but now I am beginning to learn how to use Wordpress.

Clunky though it sometimes feels, SBI! has a comparatively smooth user experience. And if something doesn't quite make sense, they also have a forum and help guides that are easy to navigate and, if you still can't find what you need help with, quick customer service.

WordPress doesn't to seem to have any of these perks. So it's been a bit of a learning curve for us. Not only are we setting up the site, but we are also trying to use a new way to host our videos independent of YouTube.

Why? Because we want to use a host that will give us better control than we have with YouTube. With the new hosting service, there aren't any suggested "Watch Next" and other things that can be undesirable. We want our users to feel safe turning something on for their kids on our membership site, confident that their kids aren't going to go down a YouTube rabbit hole.

After a little bit of messing around with the software, I am still struggling to find a way to embed the uploaded videos into the Wordpress site. I am confident, however, that we will figure it out.

We aren't ones to quit when the going gets tough. We are going to stick with it and work something out. But that will all be a part of the learning experience.

Jul 23, 2024

Enjoy Your Own Tea Party While Listening To Tea Time With Teen Day!

It’s Mary again. Do you remember being a little kid and having tea parties all the time? I do! And my younger brothers and sisters enjoy having tea parties all the time now too.

Every now and then we all sit down and enjoy a tea party. We have a few guides to some of the best tea parties that you can host yourself.

Enjoy a picnic tea, a high tea, an afternoon tea, a princess tea or, my personal favorite, a Mad Hatter’s tea! And you can listen to the best of Beautiful Music which pairs well with any tea occasion.

Learn how to host your own tea party here…

Jul 22, 2024

With The Spirit Of Pelayo, Pilgrims Approach The Covadonga Shrine With The Aim Of Reconquering Spain For The Old Faith

Good morning, it's Mary. Pilgrimages don't seem as popular now as they were a few hundred years ago. It seems like young Catholics today attend things like World Youth Day and so on though it would be hard to ignore the great turnout of young people the Chartres Pilgrimage has had year after year.

A pilgrimage that takes place in Spain ends at the Shrine of Our Lady of Covadonga. If you have seen our film, Pelayo, you will know that this is the church that was built near the cave where Our Lady appeared to 300 Visigoth warriors. Pelayo would defeat the Muslims and then go about starting the Reconquista which was a movement that reclaimed Spain's Catholic identity.

A pilgrim shared on a blog that the Latin Mass has been under attack for many years in Spain, but the same was hopeful, mentioning that the success of the pilgrimage is similar to a new Reconquista in the country. "Last year a group of traditionalists organized a pilgrimage to Covadonga, scene of the opening of the Reconquista, with the aim of reconquering Spain for the Tridentine Mass."

It is with great disturbance to learn that the Vatican has canceled this pilgrimage and has asked the pilgrims to not return to the shrine next year. Their crime is that they walk the pilgrimage for the restoration of the Traditional Latin Mass.

One is reminded of a line in Outlaws Of Ravenhurst when the Gordon is asked if he is of the old Faith or the new. A similar question is being asked in our own Church: Are you of the old faith or the new? One is being persecuted and asked to not enter churches while the other hosts funerals for perverts. The question is now not between Protestants and Catholics but between modern Catholics and Traditional Catholics.

"We are all Catholic. Some are just more fanatical than others." This line was coined by Jim Morlino in his film The War Of The Vendée. This was said by the revolutionary general who a very different kind of Catholic than his "fanatical" counterparts. The Vendeans stand for an old idea, an old way of life...and old religion.

When you read this I will be about 3 hours in on a 45 mile, 3 day pilgrimage. It recently struck me how lucky I am to have had the opportunity to now walk three pilgrimages in my life. This is an experience that many of my fellow Catholic brethren miss out on simply because it has no place in the new faith. We have something worth being persecuted for and, as Michael Matt says, "it is hands down the greatest honor."

Photo: Fr. Z's Blog

Jul 19, 2024

The First Of Many FABIOLA Costumes Has Arrived! We Are Proud To Support Our Friends In Pakistan In This Way

We have received a demo costume from our friends in Pakistan, Awais and Aneeta Monzoor! We are so excited that we can help their mission by purchasing costumes through this group.

Here is Fausitna trying on the costume! We realized that we heavily rely on tags as we tried this costume on every way possible before we got it right.

Awais is organizing voice actors so that the Fabiola scene can be dubbed in Daubi. This is exciting for us because in the very least, the 200+ orphans that Awais takes care of can enjoy the film!

(Side Note: Awais and his family are being persecuted in Pakistan by their Muslim oppressors. Recently, Awais' brother was attacked at an ice cream stand for being a Christian. Please keep this family in your prayers as they navigate a dangerous life that is all too real in the Middle East.)

Jul 18, 2024

NEW ARTICLE! Did Summorum Pontificum Pave The Way For Traditionis Custodes?: A Traditionalist View On Both Moto Proprios

Did Summorum Pontificum set up for Traditionis Custodes? Perhaps the earlier Moto Proprio was actually employed to completely stamp out the Traditional Mass once and for all. Decide for yourself after you read this opinion with comments from a Traditional Catholic writer, Faustina Bowen.

Read the article now!

Jul 18, 2024

Sponsorships Help Us And Our Sponsors Get The Word Out About Their Projects!

Something that is working for us right now is our sponsorship opportunity. We are very happy to have the Marsh girls, whose book review you may remember, opting to sponsor our website for another three months. We are glad to have the girls continue to sponsor the site and even had the opportunity to interview them last week.

Although our site is currently being sponsored, we still have opportunities to sponsor our newsletter, YouTube uploads and podcast, or our social media accounts.

Your sponsorship not only raises awareness about your own website or foundation, but also helps us keep our site running!

Jul 18, 2024

Thanks To Catholic Owned, We Will Be Represented At The Eucharistic Congress Along With Other Catholic Owned Businesses!

We are so honored to be represented by Catholic Owned at the Eucharistic Congress this weekend! Thank you Brooke Joiner for reaching out and providing this opportunity for us. If you are attending the congress, Catholic Owned will be at booth #1350. Keep an eye out for our Fabiola flyer which will be displayed on the table!

Jul 17, 2024

Why Are Movies About The Life, Death And Resurrection Of Christ Popular In July?

According to The Numbers, the most anticipated movie is Mel Gibson's Resurrection. This film has been in the works for many years but I think that it will be released in Spring 2025. But until that happy day comes, here is a list of movies centered around the life, death and resurrection of Christ.

Jul 17, 2024

Is The App Working For Us? We Are Looking For A Lower Maintenance Method To Show Our Movies

Hello, it's Mary. I'm challenged today to share with you what is not working. It has been about a year since we launched we app and we are starting to think that we need something that is a little bit lower maintenance.

We don't want to spend time reading and understanding Apple Developer certificates and all the fun app maintenance stuff independently. And recently Google updated their policy that the app will need to be updated every two months instead of once a year. We would much prefer to have someone who is already well versed in all this to work on it while we focus on making movies.

As it stands, the app will expire on August 1st unless we upgrade our account, which we do not feel like is a good use of funds. So we are working on launching the membership site as soon as possible. If you are using the app on Android, the app will no longer be available on August 1st. If you are using the app on an Apple device, it will still function but we can no longer publish updates.

Stay tuned for a membership site with all the great content which we hope to later convert into an app version.

Jul 16, 2024

We Are So Excited To Have The Opportunity To Interview The Marsh Authors. Have You Listened To The Interview Yet?

Through our advertising opportunities Faustina and I have had the pleasure of befriending the Marsh sisters! These two ladies write time travel novels and we have really gotten to know them through our monthly phone calls. We recently had a lot of fun interviewing them.

Enjoy their new book Charity Versus Tyranny with confidence after you watch the Marsh author interview and discover entertaining and wholesome teen novels.

Jul 16, 2024

Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make It Do, Or Do Without: The Reality Of Filmmaking On A Micro Budget

We have two inexpensive yet quality cameras. Our dream cinema camera is in the tens of thousands of dollars, but for now we are getting along nicely with the cameras that we do have.

Kathleen here to talk to you about lighting and filming with a tight budget camera. During a recent shoot we lit the scene to look amazing on our monitors. And it really did!

When we reviewed the footage, we were surprised by how dark and orange the shots were. We knew that all the brown we were using on the set walls and floor would be challenging but orange was not the look we were going for.

Anyhow what did we learn from shooting this scene? We learned that our camera prepares an image that is ready for viewing. This made the contrast that we intentionally created very dark, darker than the monitor was showing me.

We also learned that with our camera and its limitations we need to over light a scene because it will be easier for the post production team to control the desired look. Which makes complete sense because if there is a presence of light it can be controlled whereas if there is an absence of light a lack of image is recorded and that cannot be controlled in post-production.

Never fear, Aaron Kessler FABIOLA's colorist came to the rescue. He was able to fulfill all the production team's vision of how the finished product would look even with the high contrast and overall orange scale. The scene looks awesome and I can't wait for you to see it this fall! By the way the orange has been tamed to a completely balanced look.

So if you are a budget movie maker like us, you may need to over light your scenes to get the desired effect in post-production.

Jul 15, 2024

...Have You Heard About Our Moviemaking E-Course Yet?

Good morning! Faustina here this morning ready to share a little about what we are currently working on.

Recently, we wrote a few interesting articles about making a call sheet and how we have crowdsourced movies. As these are both things that are important for any aspiring filmmaker, of course we are adding them to the appropriate topics in our e-course!

In case you haven't heard, we have a beginner movie making e-course that teaches filmmakers how to get their ideas off the ground and into a film. It covers how to write a script, how to budget for movies, how to crowdsource, how to edit a film, and how to host a premiere! Plus, you can easily get a hold of any of us by filling out our contact form at the bottom of each lesson.

If this sounds like a course that you would be interested in, it is available to purchase here! The course has a table of contents, allowing you to easily navigate to where you are in the course, plus there are reminder updates sent out for every other month to keep you on track.

Jul 15, 2024

The Gofers Are Back - And One Of Them Has A Very Special Announcement

With so many summer jobs such as haying, cutting wood and cleaning out old shops, it is surprising that the gofers squeeze in pilgrimages, karaoke and acting classes! Today they share what they are reading for a summer book challenge, an update on the FABIOLA movie pilot and progress on the mustang.

Over the 4th of July a very special event happened and one of the gofers is excited to share how his marriage proposal went. All that and more in this episode of Gofers Get A Grip.

Jul 12, 2024

Spaniards Whose Stories Never Get Old

At industriousfamily.com we are dedicated to telling the stories of national heroes because we know that this is how a society becomes great. One such nation's greatness stands on the shoulders of amazing heroes. Names like Pelayo, El Cid, Queen Isabella, Saint Ignatius, and Cortes form the legacy of famous Spanish people in history. Daily, humble, and anonymous heroism like theirs is the only sure foundation of a nation's greatness.

Last week we exhorted you to go see Mike Rowe's film, Something to Stand For.

This week we'd like to direct your attention to some of our Catholic Spanish heroes.

Jul 12, 2024

Collin Knutson, A YouTuber, An Actor, And An All Around Great Guy That Is Happiest When Lending A Helping Hand

Collin Knutson was a brave young man that showed up with his little brothers and sisters to act as extras in Pelayo two years ago. He and his family have been friends of Industrious Family Film's ever since.

This is Kathleen, and I'll tell you, when those children showed up with machetes I wasn't too sure. But these were amazing kids, so well behaved and a true pleasure to work with. They were very obedient to their big brother and he was so kind and tended to all their needs.

Collin recently lent a hand in our disassembling of the Fabiola prison scene set that was used for our pilot that was shot in June. He came equipped with his construction belt and made fast work of demolishing the set and even providing water bottles for the rest of us.

It took three months to build the set, a week to film, and three hours to tear it down. What we could salvage is now store in our shed.

Thank you for your hard work Collin! We appreciate your generosity as well as your friendship!

Jul 11, 2024

Be With The In-Crowd And Subscribe To The Industrious Family Films Journal

Be the first to see what's new with our movie productions, the FABIOLA project and video uploads delivered every Thursday straight to your inbox. Plus...

Read what's popular on our site at a glance by checking out our newest articles which will cover our most recent topics including

Jul 11, 2024

Popular On Our Site Now: Did You Know That We Specialize In How To Throw Themed Parties As Well?

With twelve birthdays to celebrate every year, we've had quite a bit of practice throwing parties. Sometimes we just make a cake, bring presents and decorate with balloons and streamers. But there have also been many years that we've thrown all out parties complete with themes and related games!

Some of my favorites for sure are the:

-Arabian Nights Tea
-Mad Hatter Tea
-Luau, and
-Circus Party

We have had so much fun putting these parties together and we had to share the fun with you. So on our fun family party themes page you will find complete guides to how to throw themed parties complete with games, food ideas, attire and itinerary.

Do you have summer birthdays or reunions coming up? Pick an outdoor party theme to celebrate!

Or have a themed tea!

However you like to celebrate, we are sure to have something for you in our party section of the site.

Jul 11, 2024

Membership Site And Renewing Our App: Two Things That We've Been Dragging Our Feet On That Is Eventually Going To Need Work

Well, it's been almost one full year of having our app. That means that all of our licensing and legal work is in need of updating and renewing. Yay. I'm going to face it, this is something that we are really not that into.

We want to be outside playing, making movies, or writing things that you will find interesting, but business being what it is, we know that the more techie stuff needs occasional attention as well so we will be working on that sometime in this week or next week.

Speaking of which, Lovey Maher who is playing the role of Fabiola told everyone that they need to download the Industrious Family Films App. So if you don't have it yet, be sure to download it. This app is available in Apple and Android stores and features all of our films as well as updates on our current project, FABIOLA.

Another idea that we've been wanting to put into affect that has not yet made it is a membership site. The concept of this site would be a Catholic place to stream independent and otherwise Catholic movies for a flat monthly fee. This would require us to come up with some sort of agreement with the filmmakers we host as well as coming up with pricing for our audience.

Jul 10, 2024

Good Movies For Movie Night: Spot-On Titles That Will Warm Your Heart, Give You A Thrill, Or Scare You To Death.

Popular on our site right now are our good movies for movie night reviews. So many of our fans love these honest movie reviews. We cover all genres and are constantly adding new reviews!

There is nothing more fun than having a special movie night with your friends! Whether you are an adult, teenager or looking for something for your kids to watch, this list will provide you with all kinds of good movies for movie night. With our special “things to consider” sections, you won’t be surprised by anything that comes on during the film.

Jul 10, 2024

Promoting Ourselves On The Internet And Social Media Has Allowed Us To Have A Wider Reach

Lately we were surprised at how well we have promoted ourselves on the internet and social media. Mary here to share an interesting promotional story.

Recently one of our collaborators was telling his family about his involvement in the Fabiola movie. When he was sharing the story details, his mom said, “Oh, I saw that on Gab.” We were excited to hear that she had been following the progress on the project long before she knew that someone in her family would one day be part of the post-production team. He came across us from a completely different source too, so that was good news!

Putting yourself out there can be hard and maybe a little awkward as you feel like you are talking about yourself all the time. But this strategy works as we have met so many people who are eager to help us simply because we promoted ourselves. We don’t have very many followers on our social media platforms but we are certain that the few who are following us are true and loyal fans. And our posts must be interesting because you have told us that you enjoy the journey and keep coming back for more!

You can follow Industrious Family on:

LinkedIn

Instagram

Gab

or by subscribing to our newsletter!

Jul 09, 2024

Marsh Authors Interview

Enjoy the new book Charity Versus Tyranny with confidence after you watch the Marsh author interview and discover entertaining and wholesome teen novels.

Continue reading "Marsh Authors Interview"

Jul 09, 2024

Have Some Fun Watching Our Comedy Short Films!