Coming Soon The Media Missionary's Journey

By Harold Hay
The following is the introduction from my new book The Media Missionary’s Journey: A Roadmap for Commercial and Spiritual Success

Chances are if you’re reading this book, you are interested in pursuing a career in the media, film, or television industry. Furthermore, it’s safe to say that your faith and belief in God are also important aspects of your life. The real question is how do you balance the two and achieve the results that are pleasing to God while at the same time obtain a certain degree of success in your career. It can be a very challenging endeavor in light of how the media industry functions. After all, won’t you be forced to make compromises in your beliefs and values?


My first book, The Red Pill: The Cure for the Mass Media Culture explores what a media missionary is and is not. Media Missionary School defines a media missionary as one who creates art that speaks of Jesus the least but has Him in mind most, by living out our faith in front of our peers and by creating media that is thought-provoking, socially redemptive and above all, truthful. A media missionary understands the power of the redemptive story and has the passion to influence what is on the screen and what is behind the scene.

I wrote this book as your personal resource to help direct your pathway. The Media Missionary’s Journey: A Roadmap for Spiritual and Commercial Success is not only about how to break into the industry but also explores why faith is essential for your success in this business. Of course, this raises an interesting question of what exactly success is.

The dictionary defines success as: (1) the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; and (2) the attainment of wealth, position, honors or the like. Wikipedia sees it as an achievement of an object or goal. Of course, this raises two more questions. What are you attempting to do, and what is your objective or goal?

I think it’s safe to say that God views success differently than how our culture or society views success. The Media Missionary’s Journey: A Roadmap for Commercial and Spiritual Success is talking about a different kind of success. The front cover of this book depicts a row of theater seats. In one sense, the media industry is only interested in putting people in seats. Success can be viewed in terms of profitability. You as a media missionary certainly desire to achieve the same results: however, in order to be truly successful you have to go a step further. The media missionary sees success in terms of communicating a message that can impact and change lives.

Through visual media, our goal is to create stories that challenge the viewers to reassess their lives and the decisions and lifestyle choices they make. In reality, there is no success unless we get people in the seats, but, at the same time, we must have a message that points people to the Truth. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. Whether that’s getting people to the movie theater, sitting at home on their couch watching television, or sitting at the computer screen. It’s all about having an audience and then having something profound and important to communicate. If you can accomplish both, not only will it be pleasing to God but will also provide you and your family a reliable income.

Reading this book will require you to re-evaluate everything you think about Hollywood, the entertainment industry, and what success looks like. Your success will be determined in the spiritual realm: therefore, it will be more difficult to analyze. Sometimes, success can take years to come to fruition. You may never actually witness its total completion. Your success is about influencing the lives of the people around you within the industry and creating art through film and television that can impact viewers. You are changing the face of Hollywood and the broader entertainment industry and, by doing so, you are transforming culture. Are you interested in that kind of success?

The Media Missionary’s Journey: A Roadmap for Spiritual and Commercial Success can only serve as a guide. This is not a one plan fits all because no single plan can fit everybody’s path. Your roadmap will be different because it is also based on your gifts and talents. That’s why it is so important to understand God’s will for your life, which is a major theme throughout this book.

For over 20 years, I have been working on putting all the pieces together concerning faith, media and culture. This book is a culmination of all of that work and research. No matter if you have gone to film school or not, you will find this information critical for success on your journey. Everything from fundraising, low-budget filmmaking, steps you should be following today, deciding if you need to go to film school, your calling, how to break into the business, learning about the Hollywood system, and how to make your first movie are included in this book.

The journey starts now.