Director Alex Kendrick Talks About Faith, Faith-Based Films and ‘Flywheel’

In 2003, Alex Kendrick co-wrote (with brother Stephen), directed and starred in Flywheel—a movie produced by Sherwood Baptist Church for $20,000.

You get what you pay for, and Alex admits that some of the technical aspects of the original Flywheel weren’t quite what he’d hoped for. But the film made its money back and then some, sold more than 300,000 DVDs (when DVDs were a thing), launched the Kendrick brothers’ cinematic careers and, I’d argue, propelled a low-key revolution in the Christian movie industry.

More than two decades later, Alex is now behind a new version of Flywheel. The remake is titled Flywheel: Ignition of the Soul, and it takes place in Brazil. It’ll be in theaters nationwide Oct. 16.

We had a chance to talk with Alex about Flywheel—then and now—and discuss how Christian storytelling and moviemaking has changed since 2003. Sit down and join us, won’t you? I think you’ll enjoy our conversation.