China TV
The source of the narratives to follow began for me with a telephone call from a producer named Scott Hannah. Scott owned a small, “boutique” post-production studio located in the beach town of San Clemente, California. He had built up a healthy business providing post services for ESPN2. At that time ESPN2 was the network to watch for action sports and Scott’s studio supplied the edgy, stylish look and pace that complemented the material. Scott also had strong connections to Campus Crusade for Christ, one of the largest evangelical organizations on the planet. He had produced a variety of multimedia and short-form video projects for them, many of them incorporating the contemporary style utilized in his sports productions.
By the time he called to discuss a new project for television I had been working with Scott for about a year, mainly writing for a variety of video projects. We had developed a comfortable, friendly and solid relationship.
As for the new television project, each thirty-minute episode would feature an entrepreneur, the founder of his or her business, providing the viewing audience with a tour of their company. During the tour they would explain how the company came into being and how their products are manufactured, or services rendered. Several business people had already committed to do the show. All were extremely successful in their field and all were completely committed to their Christian faith. The show was to be produced specifically for broadcast in China.
Why China? China had been working through a process of moving towards capitalism for many years. Guided by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the reforms began in the late 1970s with a major effort materializing towards that end in the early 1990s. Since coming to power, the CCP traditionally maintained an iron grip on business and industry. To oversimplify it, if you were a citizen of Communist China the government dictated how much education you would receive, where you would receive it, what your career would be and where you would work. The idea and practice of free enterprise had been extremely limited if not entirely nonexistent.
A high-ranking “volunteer” at Campus Crusade reasoned a television program that encouraged entrepreneurship, promoted industry and literally showed the viewer, step-by-step how to provide a service or manufacture a product, would be welcomed in China. With each of the business leaders featured in each show being devoted Christians, the project carried the potential of exposing viewers to Christian faith in practical, real life application.
Seeing potential for this creative approach to evangelism presented in a practical, helpful and entertaining package, Campus Crusade green-lighted the project. The Chinese government approved it as well and issued only one caveat; we could say anything we wanted regarding Christianity as long as we did not attempt to tell the Chinese audience they should or should not do something. In other words, a business leader could not say, “You should pray for the success of your company,” but it was acceptable for him to say, “I pray regularly for the success of my company.”
As Scott and I worked to develop the series we further determined what would and would not be said in each of the shows. As the leaders of the creative team we wanted the message of faith to come through loud and clear; that was the main goal, after all. But it was also vitally important to us that we make that message palatable for everyone; we wanted the series to be viewed by as many people as possible. We wanted it to stand on its own as good television, as well. We assembled a small, talented, travel-light production team and prepared to shoot the first show. We were almost ready to begin.
© 2011 Philip Kassel
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