Filmmaking team behind ‘A Case for Love’ is developing fictional movie about teen anxiety

[Episcopal News Service] Grace-Based Films, a nonprofit founded and run by Episcopalians with experience in the film industry, has gradually increased the scope and reach of its projects in recent years. Its most recent success was the feature-length documentary “A Case for Love,” which was inspired by and featured interviews with former Presiding Bishop Michael Curry.

“A Case for Love” was released theatrically in January 2024 and has been available since October on all digital rental services. Revenue from each of the nonprofit’s project helps fund future Grace-Based Films productions, and while the filmmakers await an eventual payout for “A Case for Love,” they have begun pivoting to their next project.

The new movie has a title and a concept but is still very much a work in progress. It will be called “HOPE,” and unlike “A Case for Love,” the new project is a fictional film. It will tell the story of a group of diverse teenagers, struggling with the anxiety of contemporary life, the influence of social media and an epidemic of loneliness and isolation fueled largely by the pervasive availability of screen time.

But Brian Ide, the director, told Episcopal News Service in a phone interview that he and the rest of the filmmaking team aren’t interested in creating a “problem” movie. In keeping with the nonprofit’s Christian calling, the filmmakers want “HOPE” to resonate with teenagers and inspire them to connect with each other and their faith communities.

“The job first is to create something [teens] want to go to. … They need to see themselves in it. They need to see people they aspire to be,” Ide said, adding, “the film is called ‘HOPE’ for a reason.”

He summarized the concept as a “modern day ‘Breakfast Club.’” Like that 1980s classic, “HOPE” will feature a cast of young characters who might not normally socialize with each other but are brought together and learn to trust and rely on each other. Instead of a stint in detention, the characters of the new film will bond when they get lost in the woods while on a trip.

The filmmakers are working with a professional screenwriter on the story and recently received a $500,000 matching grant from a foundation that will commit Grace-Based Films to begin filming this year, with an estimated budget of $1.5 million. The team is in the middle of fundraising to cover the rest of the budget, and is planning to film on location in Sewanee, Tennessee, on the campus of the Episcopal-owned University of the South. Early donors have included Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati, Ohio; the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast, and Virginia Theological Seminary.

Ide spoke to ENS from Des Moines, where he had recently screened “A Case for Love” before an audience of about 150 people at an event hosted by St. Paul’s Cathedral in a rented downtown theater.

Touring with the documentary has been “an amazing journey,” Ide said, and talking to audiences around the country has been the focus of 90% of his work since the movie was released to streaming sites. The film’s distributor now is in talks with subscription-based services for a distribution deal that could get it in front of even more viewers.

Grace-Based Films was founded by Ide with fellow members of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills, California. Last year, it notched impressive numbers for the single-day theatrical release of “A Case for Love” in theaters across the United States. The 25,000 tickets sold placed it 10th out of all movies playing in the country on that one night.

The documentary is structured as seven chapters featuring 14 individual stories of people from a range of backgrounds, whom Ide described as “ordinary people doing ordinary-to-extraordinary things.” The stories cover a wide range of experiences, from racial justice issues and the fight for LGBTQ+ rights to the foster care system and the military.

The October timing of the release of the film on rental services was intended both as a tribute to Curry, who was concluding his nine-year term as presiding bishop, and to amplify the message of love over divisiveness as the United States approached its Nov. 5 presidential election.

This year, in the early months of the Trump administration, audiences have found the message as relevant as ever, Ide said.

“What felt like a film that touched on where we were in 2024 continues to evolve,” he said. “We still have to figure out how in the world we’re going to live together.”

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.