Actor Patrick Thompson as Vangel. Photo Credit: Robert Ryu
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The Growing Faith-Based Genre Goes Global as Action-Packed Fantasy Film “Heavenquest: A Pilgrim’s Progress”—Featuring a Powerful Cast of International Stars from Asia, Australia, Mexico, and the US—Begins Filming in California
Bolstered by the success of faith-based and inspirational hits in the U.S., King Street Pictures—a production company with domestic and Asian ties—seeks to foster and develop a new global faith audience with an edgy, fantasy adventure film inspired by “The Pilgrim’s Progress”, a 1678 novel by John Bunyan, best-selling fiction author of all time, whose work is widely considered second only to the Bible in Christendom
Cast highlights— South Korean film and television legend In Pyo Cha (LAUREL TREE TAILORS, CROSSING, MOKPO GANGSTER’S PARADISE, SEOUL SEARCHING), Karyme Lozano from Mexico (Televisa’s QUIERO AMARTE, FOR GREATER GLORY: THE TRUE STORY OF CRISTIADA), Peta Sergeant from Australia (CW’s THE ORIGINALS and ABC’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN WONDERLAND), Ricky Kim from South Korea (SBS’ OH! MY BABY), and Fernanda Romero from Mexico (400 DAYS and THE EYE), and including Americans Alan Powell (THE SONG, lead singer of Christian group Anthem Lights) and introducing Patrick Thompson with Matt Bilen making his directorial debut alongside Producers Dan Mark and David Kang and Executive Producers In Pyo Cha, Ricky Kim and Darren Wilson (FATHER OF LIGHTS, FURIOUS LOVE, HOLY GHOST)
(LOS ANGELES, CA—July 11, 2017) Heavenquest: A Pilgrim’s Progress, a highly-anticipated, groundbreaking new faith-based fantasy adventure film, has officially started production in Los Angeles and Redding, California. The film, inspired by John Bunyan’s iconic 1678 novel The Pilgrim’s Progress, which is second only to the Bible itself in global Christianity, brings together a powerful cast of well-known U.S. faith-based actors, and international film and television stars, including South Korean megastar Cha In Pyo. As the best selling fictional author of all time, John Bunyan and his masterpiece The Pilgrim’s Progress is known in virtually every corner of the globe.
“With this film, we’re trying to break new ground in the faith-based genre. It’s dirt-under-the-fingernails, action-packed, grittier, more stylistic, and more cinematic than what audiences have seen previously. Our cast is diverse, representing faith around the globe. We think this unique combination is the ‘next step’ faithful moviegoers have been looking for, said Director Matt Bilen. “We’ve wanted to make Heavenquest for so many years, I can’t tell you what a thrill it is to be on set making this incredible epic brought to life.
“The Heavenquest team has long believed that while the success of faith based and faith inspired stories in the U.S. is exciting, this powerful genre can and should have a life far beyond just the U.S. market. The international market for faith based films is relatively untapped and full of potential. As we have traveled the world, especially Asia, we have seen the strong demand for such content amongst Christians abroad, and we believe the next generation faith films should be designed to engage all of those audiences worldwide,” said Dan Mark, Producer and Principal of King Street Pictures. “We believe our modern, edgy retelling of this classic story with a diverse international cast is going to pioneer new markets for faith based content abroad and will capture the imagination of audiences worldwide, especially in Asia. So we are incredibly honored and blessed to have the esteemed In Pyo Cha in our cast and as our Executive Producer. We couldn’t have asked for a better creative partner to see this vision come to life on screen.”
Director Matt Bilen, Director of Photography Chris Ellison and Actor Patrick Thompson as Vangel (left to right). Photo Credit: Robert Ryu
Pilgrim’s Progress has been translated in 200 languages in last 3 centuries, making it the second most read faith book after the Bible.
Film Synopsis: King Street Pictures proudly presents an epic new fantasy adventure film inspired by the world of John Bunyan’s classic tale “The Pilgrim’s Progress.” In a war between the Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Eos, a regal man named Vangel is thrust on a journey against his will when he is suddenly and mysteriously arrested. Brought before the Southern King and sentenced to death, Vangel escapes a chain gang and flees for the North. Armed with a book called the Record of the Ancients that he receives from a wise sage, Vangel embarks on an adventure that takes him through haunted forests, dark swamps, and enchanted mountains while being hunted all the while by the Southern King’s men in hot pursuit. Along the way, mysterious travel companions with special giftings arise and assist him on the journey, sharing about a fabled good king and pushing him onwards towards the Wicket Gate, the gateway to the North, while enemies lurk at every corner trying to derail him from his path.
Actor Patrick Thompson as Vangel. Photo Credit: Robert Ryu
About King Street Pictures, LLC
King Street Pictures, LLC develops and produces faith-based and faith-inspired genre films of uncompromising artistry, sensibility and craft. Founded in 2016 by producers Dan Mark (“Snakehead” and “Fiction and Other Realities”) and Rachel Tan (“Always”), King Street Pictures was founded with the idea that faith audiences are not monolithic and that they, like everyone else, enjoy films of all genres, whether fantasy, romance, sci-fi, action or adventure. Noting the absence of such genres from the faith and inspirational marketplace, King Street Pictures mission is to produce faith-based and faith-inspired genre films to create immersive worlds, tell modern parables for today, and redefine what it is to be a faith based film. Founded by veterans of the entertainment industry with major studio backgrounds and deep ties to Asia, King Street Pictures also seeks to pioneer a shift towards global storytelling and diverse casts in the so far untapped international markets for faith based content.