Powegians share their faith-based values through movies

Longtime Poway residents Dick and Martha Lyles are on a mission — to turn the tide on what they say is Hollywood’s ever-pervasive and growing anti-Catholic and anti-Christian themes in movies.

“Finding (movie) investment in Hollywood is almost impossible due to anti-Christian and anti-Catholic (attitudes),” Dick said.

To counteract that, several years ago the couple — who attends St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church in Poway — founded The Genesis Initiative, a non-profit organization focused on making quality films that reflect Christian values and themes, or can spark conversations about societal issues.

Their first project — released last year — was the 14 1/2-minute film “In Memory” that stars Lee Meriwether and Max Gail as an elderly married couple in declining health. The film was inspired by Dale Francis’ “The Waiting Room 2050 A.D.” and tackles the subject of euthanasia. In the film’s futuristic world, the government decides when people are to die based upon their physical or mental decline, inability to continue their contributions to society and the high financial cost of keeping them alive through medical intervention.

“It shows the consequences of the government running our lives, even choosing when we get to die,” Martha said.

“One of its big, underlying themes ... is euthanasia, the right-to-die and when it is too expensive to keep someone alive,” Dick said. “It raises issues like the value on human life and can you (put a value on life)?”

Dick said because it is a short film, “In Memory” is a good vehicle for those wanting to create conversations about life-or-death subjects. For example, after a few minutes of introduction and showing the film, a half-hour discussion could follow. “It gives a meaningful framework on the issue of euthanasia,” he said.

In its first competition last fall, the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards, “In Memory” won “Best Drama” and “Best Actress” honors and was nominated for “Best Actor.” Other awards include “Best Narrative” at The World’s Independent Film Festival in San Francisco, “Best Drama” at the Cape Fear Independent Film Festival, “Best Actress” at the Vancouver Short Film Festival and “EC Award” at the Emerging Cinematographer Awards. To date, it has become an “official selection” at 19 film festivals.

“With a movie like this, with this kind of content, at secular (competitions and festivals), this is pretty incredible,” Dick said.

The Genesis Initiative — based in Poway — has partnered with The Magis Institute for Reason and Faith to produce the 48-minute documentary “Cosmic Origins.” It poses the questions “Did the universe have a beginning?” and “If so, what are the implications for each of us?”

Projects in the works include “Fatima,” a film about the “trial of faith” that occurred when the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three Portuguese children in 1917. The film was announced at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and is set to premiere there next year. At Cannes, a Mass was celebrated across from the festival venue and attended by an estimated 1,000 festival goers, the couple said. Genesis also launched its year-long Pray for Peace campaign that will culminate when “Fatima” debuts. The campaign asks for everyone, regardless of faith, to actively seek peace in the world through prayer.

Genesis is also involved with “Thirst,” an authorized film that focuses on Mother Teresa’s early days in Calcutta and her efforts to help the poorest of the poor, while “Mary” — distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment — will be a feature-length movie being written as a prequel to “The Passion of the Christ.”

Dick, who is CEO at Origin Entertainment, a broad-based film and television production company, said while they have always been faithful to their religion, increasing their efforts to spread their Catholic values came about after his near-death experience. Due to an illness in 2004, he was in a coma and on life support for more than a week. The couple said doctors told them it was a “miracle” that he survived.

In seeking a reason for God giving him a second-chance at life, Dick said his renewed focus on his faith led to several projects, including the couple to co-founding The Genesis Initiative in 2007. It is an entirely volunteer-based organization. Dick is its chief executive officer and Martha its chief financial officer.

With years of experience in the film industry, the couple said they have seen a shift in how Hollywood is shaping society, one they see as detrimental.

“There is a movement in our culture to eradicate religion and move to secularism,” Martha said. “Some very powerful voices in Hollywood are influencing the young people in our culture. Their young minds are still open (to various ideas) and that’s their target.”

“A lot of people like to say we live in a post-Christian era, but it’s really an anti-Christian era,” Dick said, adding the “new age” attitudes, including narcissism and worship of self over a deity, have taken hold in Hollywood.

While Martha said money is at the root of it, and the industry says it just produces what will rake in money at the box office, Dick said in reality G-rated films net eight to 12 times the profits of R-rated films. In addition, since “The Passion of the Christ,” faith-based movies have achieved high profit margins because demand for such entertainment is great.

Martha said their upcoming films, like “Fatima” and “Mary,” look for the good in others, are “beautiful and actually uplift human nature.”

According to Dick, too many productions with faith-based content are created on a shoe-string budget, so their production values are not high. Through Genesis, they want to show how well-crafted films can be made with sufficient funding.

They are not only finding an audience, but many who work in the film industry are “coming out of the woodwork, undercover,” expressing interest to help with their projects or contribute financially, Dick said. This includes screenwriters, directors and actors.

For more about The Genesis Initiative, its projects, ways to donate and the Pray for Peace campaign, go to GenesisInitiative.org.