#epoch studios

Erik Ortiz and Daniel Arkin at NBC News:

In recent years, The Epoch Times has amassed a large audience as a publisher of right-wing news articles and peddler of baseless election conspiracies. This summer, the conservative media company is hoping to conquer new territory: Hollywood.

Epoch Studios, a branch of the wider Epoch Times Association, plans to release “The Firing Squad,” a drama starring Kevin Sorbo and Cuba Gooding Jr. as drug smugglers who find God behind bars. “The Firing Squad” marks Epoch’s entry into the growing market of faith-based cinema, a genre that includes recent box-office successes such as “Sound of Freedom,” “Unsung Hero” and “Jesus Revolution.” The film’s Aug. 2 theatrical debut comes as other right-wing media companies are pushing into entertainment, releasing content that counters what conservatives view as Hollywood’s progressive and secular agenda. The creation of Epoch Studios has caught the attention of those who have closely watched the New York-based media company’s ascent from a fringe print newspaper startup formed in 2000 by followers of Falun Gong, a religious group persecuted in China, into a prominent conservative outlet with content amplifying Donald Trump’s conspiracies and right-wing messaging.

[...] In a news release announcing “The Firing Squad,” Epoch Studios described itself as a “platform for storytelling that fosters hope, healing, and growth.” The studio is overseen by executive director Sally Sun, who has supervised Epoch documentaries and streaming specials, some with religious themes, such as “Divine Messengers” and “Church & State.”  The Epoch Times Association did not respond to a request for comment on this article.

Tim Chey, who wrote and directed “The Firing Squad,” told NBC News he is grateful that Epoch Studios came aboard his passion project as a co-producer and distributor. “I’m a huge fan of Epoch Times. I absolutely love these guys,” Chey said in a recent interview. Chey’s film follows three Christians — played by actors Sorbo (TV’s “Hercules”), Gooding Jr. and James Barrington — who are set to be executed by firing squad in Indonesia. (Right-wing audiences may seek out the film in part because of Sorbo, a pro-Trump conservative activist who previously appeared in the Christian film “God’s Not Dead” and produces faith-based movies through his own production company.) “The Firing Squad” is inspired by actual events in the country in 2015, when eight people convicted of drug smuggling were put to death. One of them, an Australian national, became a Christian pastor while on death row and led the singing of Christian songs while the smugglers were being executed. (The Southeast Asian nation is known for its strict drug laws.)

[...] But whether Epoch Studios can attain the cultural prominence and commercial reach of other conservative and Christian-focused media companies remains to be seen. (“The Firing Squad” debuts in theaters the same weekend as the kid-friendly “Harold and the Purple Crayon” and a new psychological thriller from M. Night Shyamalan.) The Daily Wire, which was founded by conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro and film director Jeremy Boreing, launched its own movie and TV studio in 2021. Fox Nation, the entertainment unit of Fox News, runs a streaming service that hosts various reality shows and historical documentaries. Great American Pure Flix, a production company with a streaming service, features Christian-themed movies that have found mainstream success, including the “God’s Not Dead” series. Big corporate players have clearly seen a business opportunity, too. Sony Pictures owns the independent Christian studio Affirm Films, which has produced and distributed titles such as the Jennifer Garner vehicle “Miracles From Heaven” and last year’s “Big George Foreman.”

#Nigerian #Comics Warrior Queens from @comicrepublicng @YouNeekStudios and @epochcomics_ng don't come from nowhere you know. But the historical figures that helped create #Nigeria

A recent pattern coming from Nollywood involves the warrior queens of Nigerian Comics. That might be because these characters connects to two of Nigeria’s historical heroes. Larger than life patriots like Guardian Prime are all well and good, but a little nostalgia goes just a little further. When Nigeria has two historical warrior queens, what better way to show your nation’s pride than…