Blue Like Jazz (How I Helped Save a Movie)

A few weeks ago some friends of mine attended Don Miller’s Storyline conference in Portland, Oregon. I wanted to go. I wanted to be with them and I wanted figure out all the buzz about Don Miller.

After they attended with rave reviews, I purchased the audio version of his latest book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. I love to read, but I knew if I bought the book, it would get started and then overcome by my life of late. So with two hours in the car every day, the audio version would get a fair shake.

I listened to it twice in two weeks. I chewed on it and let it soak in. I wondered if I liked it after the first listen. After the second I knew that I did.

Then came the viral campaign to save Blue Like Jazz, a movie based on his earlier best seller. On Oct 16th, Miller announced that the movie, (which is a central character in A Million Miles), was being shut down. But fans of the book wouldn’t let it die so quickly.

Much like the central character of Christian Spirituality, the movie was resurrected. Sorry if that seems blasphemous…it isn’t intended to be. It’s just that the story of the movie’s creation matches the story of the point of it all.

So I bought Blue Like Jazz. Also in audio (though disappointed it wasn’t read by Miller). And in just a few days, I finished it–just as the deadline approached to donate to the movie.

Blue Like Jazz intrigued me. It offended me at times, but it made me think. It made me question things I’d taken for granted. It made me want to be a better Christian, but more importantly it is making me want to know Christ better.

We are all on a spiritual journey, whether we admit it or not. Miller documented his for us, and I could identify with much of what he wrote.

And now a few minutes ago, just before the deadline hit, I became an Associate Producer of the movie. I helped save Blue Like Jazz.

Why?

I liked it. It’s cool to be a part of something like this. And it’s a story that needs to be heard by more people. I believe the movie can do that.

To Don Miller, Steve Taylor (Director) and everyone else involved in the movie: Thank you and go make it a good one!