Interview: Charles Humbard of UPTV on “The Passion of the Christ”

Posted on April 10, 2014 at 12:09 pm

Charles “Charley” Humbard, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of UP, is a 32-year entertainment industry veteran. Since the network’s inception, he has led the channel’s overall business strategy and growth and maintained the network’s mission to uplift, inspire and entertain viewers through quality entertainment programming. Launched as the Gospel Music Channel and later known as GMC TV, the network changed its name to UP on June 1, 2013 to better reflect its programming mission of Uplifting Entertainment.
Son of the country’s first television minister, Charley Humbard began his career writing music, performing and producing gospel music for Rex Humbard Worldwide Ministries. Today, Mr. Humbard continues to be committed to bringing uplifting family values entertainment to viewers across America through UP. He took time to talk with me about UP’s Holy Week programming, especially the first network television showing of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.”

Will this very intense and involving film work well on television?

It is an intense and involving experience. I really believe “The Passion” is most of all a love story, really a love story of a son for his heavenly father and a mother for the support of her son. It is a depiction of what was probably the worst thing that could happen to human being — crucifixion. I mean the Romans did that for a reason, right? It wasn’t the easiest way to kill you but it was definitely a way to make others pay attention. And try to dissuade them from doing things the Romans didn’t want them to do.

So the movie has a lot of very difficult, very tough and challenging scenes. But for all audience and for people out there who really understand the Easter story and try to live their lives and follow the teachings that comes from Christ and from the Easter story, who really feel like it, it is such a powerful movie that can move hearts.

It’s also an opportunity for people to invite other people to church. I really believe this is a moment when you can invite maybe a non-believer to watch and really, I think move their heart in a good place. I think the movie is very powerful that way and as you look back ten years ago when it came out and after some $616 million in the box office, the biggest independent film ever made. People weren’t going to watch just because somebody in it got crucified. People went to that movie because of the real story it tells and the impact it has on peoples’ lives to truly understand the depth and the importance of that story.

So for us I think it’s a perfect way. We like to say that “Easter lives here.” It’s our way of saying to our viewers and others that we get Easter just like we do Christmas in a way you really want to celebrate it. We understand what Easter is really about. It’s kind of a little secret handshake in a way that say it lives here right? So I think this is the perfect movie to be one of the pillars of the entire two weeks. We are on this on Palm Sunday right in the middle of the two week Easter celebration of one of the biggest Bible movies ever. Every night a good Bible story is on, and it would be remiss almost not to have “The Passion of the Christ,” right?

Are you going to be showing it with limited interruptions? Are you editing it at all?

We’re showing it with limited commercial interruptions. The guidelines on how this movie is allowed to be aired is really set by Mel and the distributor. And they have very specific guidelines for us on how many commercial breaks they will allow us to air. We didn’t want to do it with a lot anyhow so it kinda fit beautifully, I think there’s only four breaks in the entire two hours so that fit very well with how we would have desired to have it. And they also will not allow you to edit past the re-edit they did, so the second edit Mel Gibson had done back when he first released the movie to make it more appropriate for a television audience is the version we are airing.

What are some of the other movies that you are going to be showing during this week?

All week, two weeks really, beginning the week before “Passion” and going all the way through Easter, we’ve got the greatest stories of the Bible: “Peter and Paul,” “Solomon,” “The Story of David,” “Barabbas,” “Jeremiah,” “The story of Ruth,” “The 10 Commandments,” “The Book of Ruth,” “Esther,” – it’s just like mega Bible movie mania! “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” “The Passion of the Christ,” “Mary, Mother of Jesus,” “The Story of Jacob and Joseph,” “Judas,” “King of Kings,” and “Jesus,” which was a great miniseries and our highest rated ever on our network that was aired last year for Easter. Also “The Robe,” “Demetrius,” “The Gladiators,” “The Apostle Peter,” and “The Last Supper.”

Is there a Bible story that has not been made into a movie that you would like to see?

I have never really thought about it at that angle. We in the past have traditionally made these types of movies, these are movies we acquire. The movies we make a more modern and contemporary in theme. Though next year, in 2015 we’ve partnered with the BBC and we are creating “Noah.” So that will of course be a real Bible movie. We were kind of timely with Noah coming out this year as a theatrical release.

How do you see your audience? Do you see your audience as believers?

Here’s what we know from research. Our research tells us that faith is very important to our viewers. Our viewers, people who watch us today, faith is an important part of their lives and how that faith plays out in their values and therefore their entertainment choices. That we know. We know our audience, from the recent Nielsen research, is the audience that believes those things and is seeking programming like ours is in excess of 42 million. So that’s a substantial… It’s a huge audience. As a matter of fact, in the three groups that Nielsen identified, they are the largest group, bigger than the reality seekers, bigger than what I would like to call my “Breaking Bad” audience out there that is kind of anti-this kind of programming. I think that shows in the success of our growth and distribution and also in the continued ratings growth, quarter after quarter year after year. So we know our audience is seeking programming that aligns with their faith and values right. But is also seeking programming that affirms and inspires those values. So we do know that our audience is a more faithful audience but the thing that’s nice about the programs that we would like to use and maybe the movie “The Blind Side” as a good example, what’s nice about the movies we make; even if you are not someone who is practicing faith in your life every day, who doesn’t like a great inspirational story?

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Trailer: Decoding Annie Parker

Posted on April 10, 2014 at 11:21 am

Helen Hunt, Samantha Morton, Aaron Paul, Rashida Jones, and Corey Stoll star in this fact-based story of two women, one with breast cancer and one trying to solve the genetic link in families with high incidence, research that led to the discovery of the kind of diagnostics that made it possible for people like Angelina Jolie to take preventative measures that can save their lives.

And here’s the real Annie Parker.

Interview: Tom Allen on “The Passion of the Christ”

Posted on April 9, 2014 at 6:36 pm

The Passion of The Christ is making its commercial television debut on UP TV on Palm Sunday night, April 13, with limited commercial interruptions and edits approved by the producers. I spoke to Tom Allen who worked closely with Mel Gibson on the distribution and marketing of the landmark film ten years ago and co-wrote A Guide to the Passion: 100 Questions About The Passion of The Christ, which became a million-selling NYT bestseller and served as the tip-of-the-spear of the film’s historic grassroots marketing campaign. He said that the old Bible epics of the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s, were followed by “such a dearth in the intervening decades,” but that “there is so much excitement, so much pressure building on the part of the faith community for serious Hollywood movies” that explore the Bible. What made “The Passion of the Christ” possible was the involvement of a major Hollywood figure, Mel Gibson. While there were concerns about the violence, the portrayal of the Jews, and the use of Biblical-era Aramaic for the dialog. But “the controversy added to what I contend was a condition of great excitement. It broadened interest beyond the faith-based community to general audiences.” The language was “another brilliant choice, adding another element of authenticity.”

He is especially proud of the cinematography, “like a Caravaggio painting,” which also added to the film’s feeling of authenticity and reality, adding to the sense of the history and the teachings behind what was portrayed on screen. Ten years after it was released, it “holds up very well. It is the gold standard, and its influence has been significant.” He is proud that it will be shown on UP TV during Holy Week.

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Exclusive Clip: Finding Vivian Maier

Posted on April 9, 2014 at 2:33 pm

Vivian Maier never showed her photographs to anyone while she was alive. After her death, some of her images were put online and she was quickly acclaimed as one of the foremost street photographers of the 20th century. In this exclusive clip from “Finding Vivian Maier,” John Maloof, who bought her possessions at an auction, talks about the mystery of the nanny who turned out to be a photographer of immense gifts and humanity. The documentary, “Finding Vivian Maier” is on VOD and in selected theaters.

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Tribute: Mickey Rooney

Posted on April 9, 2014 at 8:00 am

One of the last remaining links to the golden age of Hollywood left us this week when Mickey Rooney died at age 93. That means he was in show business for more than 90 years, from his first performance in vaudeville before he was 2 to his last in the upcoming remake of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” In the Washington Post, Adam Bernstein’s graceful obituary paid him tribute.

The irrepressible performer Mickey Rooney, who died April 6 at 93, began appearing before audiences at 15 months in his parents’ vaudeville act, singing “Pal o’ My Cradle Days” while sporting a tuxedo and holding a rubber cigar.

So launched a nine-decade career of unapologetic scene-stealing — he could sing, dance, play drums and do pathos, pratfalls and impersonations — that once made him the top box-office draw in the world.

Born into a performing family as Joe Yule, Jr., he was just 15 months old when he joined his parents on stage. He appeared in more than 300 films, television shows, and theatrical productions, winning a special Oscar and nominated for a Tony. He was a performing powerhouse. His greatest success came as the star of the popular series of Andy Hardy movies, playing a small-town kid in an idealized America, and as the co-star of his close friend and fellow second-generation vaudeville veteran, Judy Garland. They made several musical films together and were usually finding some reason to put on a show in somebody’s barn. The stories were corny but the musical numbers were magnificent.

He first appeared as a child in silent films. Here he is in an early talkie, as Puck in the lovely “Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Rooney was a gifted serious actor as well. Some of my favorites of his early performances are “Boys Town,” “The Human Comedy,” “Young Tom Edison,” and especially “National Velvet.”

He was nominated for an Oscar for another horse movie, “The Black Stallion.”

He appeared in every kind of film, from crime drama (“The Strip”) to sports (“Requiem for a Heavyweight”) to wacky comedy (“It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World”). But in a romance, he was more likely to be the wacky neighbor (his most embarrassing performance, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”) than the lead.

Off-screen, he struggled, with eight marriages (including Ava Gardner), and substance abuse, gambling, and financial problems, all described with candor in his autobiography, Life Is Too Short. His real home was performing and we were very lucky to be his audience. May his memory be a blessing.

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