An artistic documentary film exploring the greatest promise ever made to mankind: we can have a deep and intimate relationship with the infinite and personal Creator of the Universe.
The Vision of Personal. To help every person possible to move closer and deeper into relationship with God, and in turn, experience continual transformation rippling into every part of their lives.
The Story of Personal. Viewers will be given personal access to the inner lives of real people pursuing and experiencing a deep relationship with God in the context of their ever unfolding stories. Viewers will witness the presence of the living God in the mundane, in the overlooked and obvious, in the joy, and even in the deep pain and sufferings of life. Viewers will experience people struggling against and overcoming all that threatens our connection to God the Father, Son, and Spirit.
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Project Leads for "Personal"
The film project is being produced by Altaer Creative as an original work that will be made accessible online to as many people as possible. The core project team assembled below consists of the the leadership charged with bringing the vision of Personal to life -- each person brings their unique gifts, experience, expertise and shared passion in helping others experience the Almighty God.
James Spradlin
Co-Creator, Film Director, Producer
"I'm the founder of Altaer Creative and an indie filmmaker and photographer. I've spent nearly two decades driving complex creative projects across a myriad of industries -- from billion dollar global brands to homegrown innovative startups and God centered organizations and ministries. I've produced and co-created dozens of short films reaching millions of people, and written and directed projects traveling across the world capturing stories of God transforming lives. But, I wasn't always "all in" on leveraging my skills to make much of God and help others know him. I resisted for years giving into fear and making clever yet stupid excuses to pursue my own vision ... then everything changed. A few years ago filming on a project, I had an unexpected encounter with God in the wilderness. Standing before a campfire I heard His distinct whisper: "enter into the front lines of My work, suffer with others, see My presence and power, and share what you've seen and heard ... so others may experience Me more." Though I'd already been following Christ, I hadn't fully surrendered my work to Him. But I knew it was meant to be, and I accepted this deeply profound calling and dedicated my life's work ever since. This project, Personal, is the culmination of all God has been preparing through my entire life. Even the deep pain, loneliness, frustration, and anger towards God I experienced as a kid and young adult, is being redeemed. I move forward with deep empathy as I've struggled as much as anyone to know God personally, feeling abandoned by Him as a child, and even being a confused Christian trying to sort through the mix of religion and relationship with the Father, Son, and Spirit. Beyond pain, I know the unbelievable miracle of a personal relationship with God, not a result of my might or power, but only by the Spirit. And I still want more of Him, as well as for everyone I know, especially my son -- and especially for those who once knew God and even more so for those who have never heard. It is truly an undeserved gift and I'm am fueled by gratitude to be charged with such an audacious vision. And so there is nothing I'd rather be giving my life to."
Jeremy Schurke
Co-Creator & Creative Director
I’ve been telling stories my whole life. From speaking on college campuses, creating several podcasts and short films, helping pastor an inner-city church plant and even now as a director of one of the largest men’s ministries in the country - conveying in fresh ways the unfolding story of God stands at the heart of all I do. I believe life is truly found as we find ourselves in God's story. I have personally witnessed this realization transform countless lives all over the world; on college campuses, in middle-class homes, after school programs, on the streets and orphanages of Haiti and the DR, as well as Bolivia, Cuba, and the Czech Republic. In all my experiences, I’ve seen story be one of the most powerful conduits to connect Truth with the root of a person’s soul for change to begin and continue. Because without the personal connection to God and His story, our lives have no context, no objective meaning, no lasting reason for anything. Story gives us context for our existence: helping to answer why we are here, who we are, where we are going, and how to relate to our Creator and each other. Nearly every day, I wake up and am amazed that we can have a personal relationship with God. It's so hard to believe something so amazing. I know many people who have struggled and lost all hope that a relationship with God is possible. They are the disillusioned and disenchanted, the de-churched, the ex-Christian, even some current Christians who are struggling to believe this promise of an actual relationship. I struggle with the idea that there are people, friends of mine, whom Jesus will say, “I never knew you, depart from me.” Mainly because God's invitation to them for relationship returns void. My hope is that anyone who experiences this film will walk away with a new hope, a fresh curiosity, and an awe and wonder at the chance to experience the embrace and mystery of relationship with God. This is the boldest claim ever made - God wants relationship with us and it's available to us right now. What could possibly be more pressing and important to address than the scope and depth of this personal offering?"
David Pezzoli
Co-Creator & Co-Producer
"I’ve spent 23+ years in various forms of ministry and had the honor of working personally with thousands of people to help them know God and pursue a relationship with Him. I have done missions and media work in Haiti, Panama, Jamaica, Cuba, Mexico, and Italy. I have had the opportunity to write, co-write, edit, and produce dozens of videos and short-films to help people grow in their faith. I'm also an entrepreneur, author, and founder of a missions focused creative consultancy. One of my favorite quotes is from C.S. Lewis and goes something like this: '“One of the great functions of art is to present what the narrow and desperately practical perspectives of real life exclude.” Which is why I love storytelling because it has the power to communicate deeply profound truths, helping us see the Unseen. And today, so many people are lonely, afraid and living without the knowledge that God loves them. This results in so much pain and suffering. Through all I do, my heart is to help people possess the deep satisfaction of being in relationship with God -- being fully forgiven, fully known -- and fully loved. Somehow this idea of building a more personal walk with God seems to no longer be our collective primary focus, instead becoming another duty on the long list of endless things to get done ... and we need it to be central again. I need it. My wife and kids need it. Everyone I love needs it. We all need to be reminded in these crazy times that God is profoundly aware of us, communicating with us, and wanting more of us. As this is what we have been created for, a personal, present and never ending relationship with Him.
Distribution Partners for "Personal"
Sharing "Personal" with every person possible. Once the film is complete, our strategy to bring the vision to life is to partner with like-minded organizations, ministries, churches, leaders, and individuals to share with their audiences in order to create the initial groundswell. And though we will be creating pathways for viewers to go deeper after experiencing the film, we are depending upon our distribution partners to leverage the film as they best see fit by incorporating Personal as a powerful tool in their current evangelistic and discipleship strategies. Currently, our potential distribution partners have a combined reach of hundreds of millions of people all around the world. If you'd like to explore being a potential distribution partner, reach out to us below.
Email us at Hello@Altaer.co
Altaer Vision
Ultimately our greatest hope, the vision of Altaer, is to help others see and experience God, to enter deeper into relationship with him, and in turn to be radically altered across every aspect of life. Because when this happens, everything changes, especially our relationships with each other.
Then, we simply can’t but help care for all whom God cares for. And we can’t but help follow God in action into whatever he has put before us.
Altaer Mission
Our day-to-day focus, our mission, is to strive to do the somewhat impossible: we leverage the creative forms through powerful storytelling striving to help people see the unseen, always dependent upon the Spirit to do what we cannot do alone.
We do this by capturing and creating life-changing stories of transformation to help people see and experience true reality -- seeing who God is, what he has done, experiencing what he is doing, and even moving towards what is yet to come.
Altaer Creative is a specialized storytelling company exclusively focused to help make big and bold God given visions happen.
Altaer creates original works and partners with like-minded visionary leaders and organizations who share the same passion to create significant and lasting change in the lives of individuals, communities, and even nations through the power of transformative storytelling.
Altaer was formed from the fusion of two complementary core desires: to be a living sacrifice bringing our lives and creative gifts to God as worship (the altar) and in turn to be used for change and transformation in people's lives (to alter).
This dual desire is the essence fueling and focusing every single thing we do.
Altaer Featured Project 1 of 6
Experiencing forgiveness empowers us to see ourselves how God sees us. After many years, Fausto's journey takes him back to his home country to give back and help his country of Honduras ignite a new generation of leaders.
» View Project Page
Altaer Featured Project 2 of 6
For the first time in human history, the message of Jesus Christ can be shared nearly anywhere, with anyone, and at anytime. See how this vision has become a reality, and continues to expand across every inch of the earth and reaching all peoples in all places.
» View Project Page
Altaer Featured Project 3 of 6
Now more than ever, the world needs great leaders. Leaders who desire to leave a lasting and significant impact in the lives of others, above receiving power, fame, and glory. Meet five leaders striving to make the most of what they'e been given.
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Altaer Featured Project 4 of 6
As a child growing up in poverty, Daniel's grandfather shared a vision that one day he would grow up to be a judge. An amazing and unexpected chain of events unfolded in his life for that vision to come true. Today, Daniel humbly serves as one of the most influential justices in Kenya.
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Altaer Featured Project 5 of 6
Over 50,000 Americans die each year in the opioid epidemic. But not every story must end that way. Follow Zakk and his new brotherhood of men on the path to a new and transformed life.
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Altaer Featured Project 6 of 6
"Sometimes people in church try to be helpful, but they say the dumbest things and you just want to punch them in the face." Lauren's honest story is filled with suffer and isolation, great heartache and unparalleled joy as she experiences an unexpected miracle, that even science says is impossible.
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No matter how much planning and professionalism we have poured into our projects we’ve also humbly learned, “unless the Lord builds, the builder builds in vain.” Experiencing this ever present reality continually helps us to give our best by being extremely methodical, yet ultimately to live in the uncomfortably vulnerable space of the mercy of God for him to ultimately make every vision happen. This is ever so more true in the unpredictability of documentary filmmaking. But, it is quite an amazing thing to co-create with God as we move through the journey of each project, being given ideas and opportunities we never dreamed possible. As this happens time and time again, these challenging experiences always result in greater gratefulness.
We Reverse Engineer from Impact.
Beginning with the end, we first develop a razor sharp understanding of the project’s vision, strategy and goals. What specific thoughts, feelings, and actions in specific people do we hope to influence? After experiencing the story, what specific change do we hope to see in individuals, communities, or even nations? Then, we reverse engineer the best and the simplest path forward with the resources at hand. All artistic ideas remain anchored and fully integrated in each project’s broader strategy to maximize impact. Ultimately, changing people's lives is what we are after. And it's extremely important we know exactly what change we strive for in their minds, in their hearts, and in their lives.
Process 1 / 3
We Drive Every Detail Start to Finish.
Using proven methods, we de-mystify the elusive and often overwhelming creative process as we move from big ideas into systematic and coordinated actions to get things done. Leveraging our decades of leading complex projects, we drive the project forward every step of the way from ideation and writing, to planning and filming in very challenging situations, to delivering the final story, and even to developing strategies to share the story with others. All clients, collaborators, and partners are given access to real-time project progress and all pertinent project details through easy to use apps.
Process 2 / 3
