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Faithful on the Clock is a podcast with the mission of getting your work and faith aligned. We want you to understand Who you're serving and why so you can get more joy and legacy from every minute spent on the clock. Thanks for joining us and taking this step toward a more fulfilling job and relationship with God!

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In this episode...

Mastering Meaningful Storytelling with David Alford and Joseph Stam

https://faithfulontheclock.captivate.fm/episode/mastering-meaningful-storytelling-with-david-alford-and-joseph-stam

Storytelling is central to success and connection, but how can you do it with heart, power, and influence? Episode 135 welcomes David Alford and Joseph Stam for insights.

Timestamps:

[00:04] - Intro

[00:44] - Guest introductions

[02:05] - Background and start of Cross Purposes Productions

[09:36] - Business lessons David and Joseph learned from the process of starting the studio

[11:11] - Thoughts on the surge of Christian films, genres, and the direction of the Christian of the film industry

[17:04] - What David and Joseph look for in stories they choose to pursue

[18:53] - Summary of Searching for the Elephant

[22:38] - Advice about taking time, being authentic, and embracing life’s messiness in storytelling in a rushed world

[25:19] - Balancing authenticity against formulas and patterns for marketing

[31:37] - Being authentic while producing from the subconscious; the subjectivity in art

[34:10] - The role of the audience in helping artists discover who they are and what their calling is

[36:30] - Being passionate about what you do and being fulfilled

[41:23] - David and Joseph’s biggest takeaways

[44:21] - Advice on asking for help against a culture of independence and grit

[47:39] - What’s ahead for Cross Purposes

[49:40] - Prayer

[50:30] - Outro/What’s coming up next

Key takeaways:

• Cross Purposes got its start with submissions to multiple film festivals, which led to the production of initial feature-length films and allowed David and Joseph to start collaborating professionally.
• Working in something like film means the work is speculative — you don’t know if a project is going to hit or not, but you hope it will.
• “Christian” film isn’t just inspirational stories. It can include all genres (e.g., mystery, thriller, comedy) and be challenging in many positive ways. This means there’s a huge spectrum of creative possibility in it, reflecting God, and that we should be careful not to allow “Christian” film not to become a caricature. 
• Cross Purposes Productions looks for stories that take people places they’ve never been with people they want to travel with.
• Searching for the Elephant, Cross Purposes Production’s latest release, is a neo-Western story about addiction. But it is also a messy story of familial...