Andrew Huff is making faith-friendly, kid-approved films
Andrew Huff is making faith-friendly, kid-approved films
10 Qs with writer and director of Dot Conner Webtective
Andrew Huff sees a big opportunity for family entertainment. Maybe it’s more like a faith-shaped hole that’s missing at the heart of stories. So he’s working to fill it with content and characters that are creative and fun, that the entire family can enjoy together.
I interviewed the filmmaker who is in the midst of bringing his new film, Dot Conner: Webtective, to the big screen.
I asked Andrew about making films with family, why Christians are playing catch up to the culture, what it’s like to bring a popular series to the big screen, and more.
1. I had a strange sense of deja vu or at least deep familiarity reading your bio. You’re a screenwriter, producer and author with a background in theological studies. That’s a very unique path!
What’s the thread in your career that helps you make sense of your interesting creative path?
The thread for me has always been my deepening faith in Jesus Christ. I’ve always been a creative person, but heading into my teen years I fully committed to following any path God laid before me, which meant doing things I never expected. The theological studies/ministry angle of my background was the more surprising given my trajectory going into college seemed to align most with creative storytelling. But I know God called me into local church ministry not only to spend a season of my life helping shepherd church congregations but to also learn what it meant to tell true stories. What Hollywood storytelling is currently devoid of is truth, and my theological training helped me anchor my understanding of God’s truth in His Word.
My stories would not be as rich in character and truth if it were not for the path God took me on to get here.
2. Your creative journey is intertwined with a love story. How did you end up filmmaking with your spouse?
Jae and I both are highly creative people. I write and direct while dabbling in post-production while my wife has more of a background in stage and voice acting. We met on a drama ministry team in college, fell in love goofing off with a video camera, and have infused our family with art, stories, and a big heathy dose of fun. God called us to strike out on our own not long after the Covid pandemic as we both sensed a darkness descend upon entertainment that was directly targeting our children (truly, the darkness was descending long before Covid; that was just the season for us to finally decide to fight back). With that calling in front of us, we launched our own media production company to build toward producing original entertainment content devoid of evil agendas.
3. Who (and what) are some of your creative influences as a writer and director?
As a novelist, I was heavily influenced by authors such as Clive Cussler, James Rollins, and Matthew Reilly. I wrote action thriller novels from a Christian perspective merely because I love those kind of novels and no one else was doing it. There were also plenty of talented writers who also carry a disdain toward religion. A good example is Dan Brown. His novels (and the films based on them) are very anti-Christian, and yet he’s a very good writer. I was inspired by his dedication to detail.
On the filmmaking side, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have been a huge influence on my love for adventure flicks. But I’ve also really come to regard Ron Howard as one of the most underrated legendary directors of the last several decades. I’m also a huge Alfred Hitchcock fan.
4. You highlight that faith dramas aren’t necessarily family films and have your eye on a wide audience (faith-focused families) that are overlooked. Why are faith and family films a big opportunity for creatives and investors alike?
I believe the audience has simply grown tired of poorly written, agenda-driven storytelling. The dismal box office showing of Summer 2023 films that on paper should’ve been huge successes was eye opening. Yet there’s still a desire for the theatrical experience. Just speaking for ourselves, as much as we would love to take our entire family to the movies there’s simply just not many options that kids and adults can enjoy alike, and especially enjoy without fear of having kids exposed to harmful ideologies.
It doesn’t feel like a gamble to us to make a faith-infused film that harkens back to the days of quality family entertainment in theatres. But many of the Christian films coming down the pike aren’t necessarily films you would want to take an elementary-age child to. Movies about the evil forces at work in the world (such as trafficking) are important and should absolutely be made, but so should entertaining adventures and comedies that uplift and inspire. Those are the movies we grew up on and are so eager to see return.
5. In a recent social post you responded to the question “Why are [Christians] still so far behind on culture?” in a nuanced way, and it resonated with me. There seems to be such an appetite for faith-infused content, but it’s difficult to make the meal. Why do you think that is?
I think it all starts with intentions. As Christians, we rightly place high value on the Great Commission, and so sometimes our intention of spreading the Gospel message can take precedence over other things when it comes to culture building. So we excuse mistakes made in the filmmaking process because the intentions are right. I personally think this is what ends up standing in the way of Christians creating entertainment that resonates because we should first and foremost focus on excelling at the craft.
Instead of looking at filmmaking as a Great Commission tool, we should approach it like Christ did in telling the parables. We should tell stories that are both eternally true and engage everyone and realize that just like the parables not everyone is going to understand the deeper truth. But for those that do, good stories can be life-changing.
6. Who is Dot Conner and how did this character come to life?
Dot Conner is a precocious young teen girl who loves detective stories so much she aspires to be one in real life. Only she’s also like most teens today and has a very online life as well. So she combined her two loves of mysteries and the internet into her own brand of “crime” solving, hence the title “Webtective”. While many of the mysteries Dot has solved in the original series involved the mysteries of her faith and the common problems kids her age face, she’s got a real mystery on her hands in the movie as she investigates the mysterious disappearance of her father. I created the character of Dot Conner because of my love for classic detective films, books, and TV series.
One series from the 80s in particular was especially influential: Remington Steele. Dot’s trademark fedora was inspired by the character of detective Laura Holt in that series. I imagined how fun it would be for a kid to treat questions about their faith as mysteries and use detective skills to find answers. Thus Dot was born! From the beginning, the character was always meant to inspire kids to be more curious about the Christian faith and about God’s Word in particular.
7. How have young audiences responded to the character?
Kids LOVE Dot! I really tried to infuse the character with all of the things I loved in heroes from the entertainment I watched growing up, but in all honesty lead actress Gili Gould has taken what I wrote and made Dot come alive in a way that is hugely inspiring for kids.
And while Dot is an inspiration for young girls, it’s been fun to see her be embraced by young boys as well. Ultimately, we wanted kids to know it was okay to ask questions about the Bible and about Christianity, and we also wanted kids to have fun at the same time. We’ve gotten fan mail from parents who’ve expressed gratitude for creating a show that they know is safe and biblically sound while also being actually entertaining for their kids to watch.
8. What’s it like to work with child and young actors and how is it different from working with adults?
We were blessed to bring on young actors who are absolutely some of the most talented people we’ve worked with. So in some ways, it’s not even fair to compare! What has been great is that often with younger actors there’s still a sense of wonder matched with a humility that might be absent from working adult actors. So the younger actors are both sometimes more easily malleable but also more nervous about the job.
Older actors with a lot of experience may not take direction if they disagree with your approach, but younger actors can also struggle with implementing direction into their performance because of inexperience. So both can present challenges to a director. On Dot Conner: Webtective, we’ve not only worked with great young actors but great adult actors as well who made the process seamless from beginning to end.
9. It’s one thing to have an idea and to bring a concept or character to life. It’s another to get the story or finished content in front of people so it’s actually seen. What was you journey like to secure distribution the for your Dot Conner: Webtective series?
To make a long story short, it really has just been using some elbow grease and chasing down distributors on our own. Persistence is definitely key, but I should also add that because of our connection to the media industry for the past several years we had some relationships that helped blossom into opportunity for us to get the series onto various platforms over the course of a year.
Our goal was always to get as big of an audience as possible whether we ultimately benefited financially from the series or not (spoiler alert: we did not) knowing that A) kids would love it if they saw it, and B) that audience would be receptive to new Dot Conner adventures down the line. We also got creative with placement of the series seeking not only traditional streaming platforms both here in the US and abroad but also finding ways to connect the series to church children’s ministries (with a free companion curriculum) and families through homeschooling conventions and community sports leagues.
10. You’re bringing Dot Conner to the big screen as a feature film. How is fundraising going and what can you tell us about the production (where you’ll shoot, the scale of the film, how it fits into the Webtective universe)?
Dot Conner: Webtective, The Movie was originally planned as the second season of the series, but the entertainment industry strikes of 2023 unlocked what we believe is a huge opportunity for independent theatrically released films so we adapted the Season 2 storyline into a movie. We've successfully raised enough funds to cover the production phase, but we'll need to secure additional funding for post-production to ensure the final product meets our high standards. We just wrapped production and shot in and around the Nashville, Tennessee area.
The scale was so much bigger than the series based on the big mystery surrounding Dot’s father. We even managed to shut down a downtown Nashville street to film an exciting chase scene! The film will expand the Webtective universe in a big way, especially offering fans a more robust look at Dot’s family, school, and life while maintaining the focus on deep theological truth in the midst of Dot’s adventures. We can’t wait to share this film with audiences all over the country!
BONUS Q: What books or podcasts are you consuming right now that you just can't get enough of?
I’m probably betraying a little bit of my personal tastes by admitting this, but the podcast Blurry Creatures is a huge jam of mine currently. I like how the hosts approach topics that might seem way out there from a biblical perspective. While I don’t always agree with the conclusions their guests reach, it’s always great fodder for imaginative storytelling.
About Andrew Huff
Andrew Huff is an award-winning writer and director of short films, streaming series, and feature films. He’s the novelist of the action-packed, multi-nominated Shepherd Suspense Series published by Kregel Publications. Visit his website and follow him on X. You can learn more about the feature film and support the production here.
