The “world’s first Christian fan-owned movie studio” is making its theatrical debut this weekend with a movie about none other than Christian summer camp.
Camp Hideout, a PG family comedy, tells the story of a teenager named Noah who flees to a Christian summer camp to escape two goons, unknowingly finding hope and purpose along the way. You know, the classic camp story.
The film stars a few known names, like Amanda Leighton (This Is Us, Trolls: The Beat Goes On!), Corbin Bleu (High School Musical) and Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future trilogy).
“Christopher Lloyd thought it was a great script, and wanted to be a part of it and played such a great character. Corbin did, too, as well as Amanda Leighton,” said Jason Brown, a producer for Called Higher Studios. “I think it’s a testament to the script and the storytelling that those actors wanted to be a part of it.”
Called Higher Studios calls itself the “world’s first Christian fan-owned movie studio” on its website, where it details how its funding works. Similar to Angel Studios’ crowdfunding model, the company relies on investors and donors to support their projects, which were delayed briefly due to the pandemic.
“We have thousands of investors,” Brown said. “I always joke and say we had a three-year plan, and COVID hit and we just had to hit pause. So we basically paused life for a year and then kind of got back on track. Movies inherently take a long time to put together. … But this one worked out really well.”
The studio’s website asks: What if Christians came together to spread the name of Christ through movies? The ultimate goal, according to the website, is to “produce quality faith-based content that spreads the gospel of Jesus Christ and also transcends storytelling.”
