Film distributors have had more and more opportunities to reach audiences with their content in recent years thanks to a boom in streaming platforms. But what has been a surge in viewing options for audiences, has often been challenging territory for those forced to update their business models away from physical media. Anyone can publish content online, but making it discoverable to target audiences and earning revenue is not as simple.
Enter Roku, the streaming device industry leader that hosts both live and on-demand entertainment, with approximately 500 new apps being published per month. One of the newest channels launched this spring is the Gospel Films Archive, who shared with Video Librarian their experience creating a channel from scratch for their niche catalog of classic films.
About Gospel Films Archive
Gospel Films Archive began in 2012 as a collaboration between three friends—who also happened to be film industry colleagues: Bob Campbell, Ron Hall, and Derek Meyers.
Many Christian films and television episodes never successfully made the leap in format from 35mm and 16mm to VHS or DVD, and many studios closed before the 21st century. As the goal of these films was to be shared openly, most were not copyrighted, and if so, not renewed. Thus, as the companies dissolved these works fell into the public domain or were orphaned. Prints of titles once part of the same catalog ended up dispersed – some into the hands of private collectors, but many into neglect and storage conditions conducive neither to access nor long-term preservation. Over time, and as with many films on reels of the era, they ended up at estate sales and periodically on eBay.
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A selection of Gospel Films Archive titles
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Logos of some of the many distributors of Christian content included in the Gospel Films Archive
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A selection of titles from Gospel Films Archive's Bible Era section
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A selection of titles from Gospel Films Archive's Modern Era section
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A selection of titles from Gospel Films Archive's Feature Films section
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A selection of titles from Gospel Films Archive's Documentary section
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A selection of titles from Gospel Films Archive's TV Series section
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A selection of titles from Gospel Films Archive's Christmas section
Therefore, the Gospel Films Archive library is comprised of original film prints from the 1930s through the 1970s. These films typically saw distribution to churches across the United States, with many individual films and film series finding their way to television and some to movie theaters. Once in the care of the Gospel Films Archive staff, they are meticulously digitized and become part of the archive's mission to become the preeminent resource of classic Christian film and television series from the 20th century.
The abundant film content being acquired by Gospel Films Archive chronicles how the Bible, faith and Christianity in the modern-era were presented to 20th century audiences through the medium of films and television." - gospelfilmsarchive.com
But after years of dedicated work and hundreds of films digitized, sales of DVDs began to wane in recent years. With much of their content already being hosted by Vimeo, they began to investigate their options.
Roku, Inc.
Roku was founded in 2002 as an LLC. In 2008 it incorporated, with Netflix as an investor, and released its first Roku player. Its first branded smart TV was released in 2014, and its stock went public in 2017 followed by the launch of The Roku Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel for its devices. In the subsequent years, Roku has continued to diversify its products to include audio and smart home systems and has grown to dominate the international streaming device market. As of 2023, Roku is the leading streaming operating system in North America, by far.
Creating a Channel
The three requirements for a Roku channel are 1) original and/or licensed video content, 2) a place to host your content on the web, and 3) a feed - which brings your content onto the Roku platform.
The three ways to produce a Roku channel are 1) with a lease, 2) by direct publishing, or 3) by hiring a developer. A Roku channel can be free or for purchase. It can be completely free, free with ads, subscription-based, or sponsorship-based.
After exploring their options, the Gospel Films Archive team partnered with OTTfeed.com—an all-in-one video feed management system founded by Samir Attun.
With OTTfeed.com platform you can create and manage your Roku and Amazon Fire TV video channels with ease on a small budget. You can lease a custom Roku SDK or Amazon Fire TV channel for as little as $99/month." - Samir Attun, OTTfeed.com
After partnering with OTTfeed, the process was clear. The Gospel Films Archive team imported all their video metadata to the OTTfeed platform and organized the content based on genres and type. After five business days, they received a "build" of their custom Roku SDK channel for testing. Once they approved the build, their channel was submitted to the Roku Channel Store for publishing. The entire process took 10 business days.
Since launching their channel, the team continues to grow their video content library on Roku using OTTfeed.com.
Glossary of Streaming Abbreviations
- ASVOD - Ad-Supported Video-On-Demand
- AVOD - Advertising Video-On-Demand
- CDN - Content Delivery Network
- DTR - Download to Rent
- EST - Electronic Sell-Through
- FAST - Free Ad-supported Streaming Television
- NVOD - Near Video-On-Demand
- OTT - Over-the-Top Media Service
- Push VOD - Push Video-On-Demand
- PVOD - Premium Video-On-Demand
- SDK - Software Development Kit
- SVOD - Subscription Video-On-Demand
- TVOD - Transactional Video-On-Demand
- VOD - Video-On-Demand
Gospel Films Archive on Roku
On May 22, 2023, Gospel Films Archive debuted on Roku in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. It is free without ads and is approaching 300 titles, with a goal of adding approximately 30 to 50 new titles a month until it reaches about 500.
The channel invites viewers to explore films from major studios like Cathedral Films, Family Films, and Concordia Films, to series such as The Living Bible, The Book of Acts, and Old Testament Scriptures, to the works of iconoclastic filmmaker Rolf Forsberg.
As of launch, the channel includes the following categories:
- Introduction and Trailers
- Most Popular
- Bible Era Films
- Modern Era Films
- Movies
- Life of St. Paul
- Living Bible series
- Living Christ series
- Old Testament Films
- Documentary
- Biography
- This is the Life TV series
- Crossroads TV series
- Moody Bible series
- Films of Rolf Forsberg
- Christopher Films
- Christmas
- Easter
While its classification as a Faith-Based channel is one of the most populated on the platform, few if any of Gospel Films Archive's peers are a repository of film history and a showcase of films from the golden age of Christian cinema and television.
Interested in exploring Gospel Films Archive further? Its target audience includes academic librarians, schools, and universities with religion, theology, or Biblical history departments. But anyone interested in New Testament and Old Testament film history, or individuals seeking inspiration through vintage religious film and television content, should consider the channel as well.
To learn more about Gospel Films Archive visit their website, Facebook, or contact Bob Campbell at gospelfilmsarchive@hotmail.com.
Add Gospel Films Archive to your Roku TV or device here.
Visit Vision Video here to purchase DVDs of Gospel Films Archive titles.
If you know of an individual or archive that has classic Christian content on 35mm or 16mm and is looking for help with digitizing, contact Bob Campbell at gospelfilmsarchive@hotmail.com.
Read Video Librarian's reviews of the following Gospel Films Archive titles:
- The Story of the Pope and The World of Martin Luther
- Queen Esther and Ruth: Two Inspiring Stories from The Old Testament
- Day of Triumph
Day of Triumph, produced by the Reverend James. K. Friedrich, was released by Cathedral Films in 1954. It was the first color and sound feature film about the life of Jesus Christ. Watch "The Making of Day of Triumph" featurette.
The Gospel Films Archive Roku Channel was inspired by RedeemTV. Add RedeemTV to your Roku TV or device here.
I appreciate your effort to preserve Christian film heritage. Gospel Films Archive plays a unique and special role in this." - Bill Curtis, RedeemTV, Vision Video, The Christian History Institute