About
Since the early 1980's, the Kendrick brothers have been making movies. The three brothers, Shannon, Alex, and Stephen, took their bulky VHS camcorder around their neighborhood in Smyrna, Georgia and filmed numerous short videos with their friends.
As their storytelling ability developed, they expanded their experience with productions for church groups, businesses, and schools. Shannon, the oldest of the three, ended up working for IBM. Alex, became a Christian radio announcer, then went into the ministry as a college minister. Stephen, the youngest, followed suit and ended up working along side Alex at a metro-Atlanta church as middle school minister. Although they loved ministry, the desire to produce movies never waned, and the brothers used their passion for producing videos as a ministry tool.
In 1999, Alex was called to Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia to oversee their television and media ministry. At the time of his hiring, he expressed a desire to produce Christian movies. The church showed interest, but wanted to work on their media ministry first.
With his gift of preaching and teaching, Stephen joined the Sherwood team in 2001 as the preaching assistant to the pastor, Michael Catt. After the staff found a survey in 2002 that said movies and television were now more influential than church and religion, the stage was set for developing a movie ministry.
Alex prayed for the right story, and God answered by giving him FLYWHEEL. This story about a dishonest used car salesman who changes his methods when confronted with God's truth seemed a small enough story to shoot in Albany. A small budget of $20,000 was raised, and church members came aboard as the cast and crew.
After a three month shoot, which took place on lunch hours and weekends, the team edited the movie and obtained permission to premiere it in their local theater. To everyone's surprise, it lasted six weeks and received an incredible response. After expanding to two more cities, the movie was released on DVD, where it sold over 30,000 copies. Seven Christian television networks showed it, and Blockbuster placed it in every store in North America. FLYWHEEL also picked up seven film festival awards the following year.
Even today, emails continue to come in from viewers touched by the story and message. God had done more with this small movie than anyone could have believed.
In 2004, Alex and Stephen wrote the story for their second movie, FACING THE GIANTS, about an underdog high school football team. This time, the production took a step up in quality, and the movie was shot in high definition with professional lights and audio. Once again, Sherwood's members stepped up to work as the cast and crew, offering their time and effort as an investment in ministry. After a year of post production, the movie is now complete and awaiting its premiere date in theaters. God has shown His faithfulness with each project dedicated to Him, and the church and the brothers look forward to what He will do next.