What I saw at the world's largest gatherings of Christian communicators
Top moments from NRB 2025 in Dallas
I’m in Texas this week at NRB, an international conference for Christian communicators. I'm here in my Brand Partnership role with Compassion International, meeting people from other brands, organizations, and companies that share the values of seeing kids set free from poverty.
It’s been a whirlwind week.
Prime’s new House of David series was splashed everywhere. AI and how it fits into the creative process was a big topic of discussion. Podcasters were everywhere. The big media players had booths that gave Macy’s parade floats a run for their money.
Here are my Top moments so far:
Meeting Dr. Alveda King.
The niece of MLK and I ran into each other in the hallway. Actually, it was an elevator. It was a surreal life moment to be sure.
Here's what happened:
She was on a mobility scooter.
She was backing out of an elevator.
She didn't see me.
She almost ran over me.
We had a good laugh.
It's fun to see people you recognize on TV in real life and experience them in unexpected ways.
Attending the “Future of Kids Content in TV & Film” talk.
The panel conversation featured Robert Baehr, the CEO of Movie Guide, Larry Stephens, the Hollywood liaison for Cru, whose Jesus Film has reached billions (and is being adapted to an animated film), Christian McGuigan, the CEO of Sycamore Studios who started a studio focused on family content after the success of Wonder, and Jeff Holder, a writer with a resume all the way back to Hannah Barbara, Tom & Jerry, The Flintstones, and Scooby Doo.
The big takeaway is that content creation is so directly connected to the consumer, now more than ever. And that kids are often overlooked, even though kid’s films are often the biggest money-maker in Hollywood (eg. Mario Bros did more sales than Oppenheimer and Barbie combined).
I connected with amazing filmmakers, including the Huffs of Dot Conner fame. It’s awesome to see family-focused films flourish.
I interviewed Andrew Huff here on TIWD. It was fun to see him and person and a screener of the Dot Conner Webtective film which will hit theatres in 2025.
Attending a screening of The Light of the World.
It was really special to meet some of the team at Salvation Poem Project who are bringing an animated film about the life of Jesus. If you've ever watched Superbook, you'll be familiar with their work. Their song plays at the end of every episode. They’re real salt of the earth people with incredible hearts. It was inspiring to connect with them.
Their upcoming film is beautifully animated. It focuses on the life of John, a 13 yr old boy when he becomes a disciple (which, tbh, isn’t something I’d really thought through before, but makes so much sense. At 13, Jewish boys in that time followed rabbis to get spiritual training and develop their vocation).
The film is set for a September release in North America, and will be in multiple languages all over the world thereafter. The team has developed an amazing curriculum to go with it and these resources will be a huge opportunity for kids around the world to experience the story of Jesus for the first time in their own language.
Live at the Crown Awards
If you’ve followed Unveil’s film journey, you may have heard of these awards before. Matt, Dan, and I have attended them before as nominees (and subsequent winners). It’s a night that celebrates independent filmmaking and has really carved out space for new and established filmmakers dedicated to excellence in their craft and who want to tell stories that bring faith onto the screen.
It was an honour to attend the awards on behalf of Compassion and to see so many talented filmmakers recognized for their contributions to faith and film.
Compassion sponsored the award for Best Children's Program. It's amazing to see content creators make stories for kids around the world that encourage them in their development and faith.
The Gold Award winner was Torchlighters: The William Carey Story and it was a packed category, including Wingfeather Saga 2, iBible, Burnett Detectives, and More to Explore with Mia and Ralfie.
It was fun to be around people who work in the content creation space, using their creativity and talents across media to tell impactful stories. There was such a spirit of optimism about what’s possible, how God is moving around the world, and how new technologies pose unique challenges and open doors to wider audience now more than ever.
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Great summary of your time there. I was such a good year for NRB. Felt like the best one yet.
I wish I could have been there. I heard them talking about it on Flash Point and it sounded awesome. Thanks for sharing.