Do you enjoy satire?┬á How about enjoy vampires?…I mean, what what vampires used to be before a certain franchise came in and made them all sparkly and lovable?┬á There is a movie being made that can revive the genre, whilst adding a secular twist!┬á Filmmaker,┬áJohn Schuermann, needs help to bring this film to fruition.┬á This is our call to action to support secular film.
“The Gospel According to Stephenson” is a vampire film with the theme of the believer vs. the skeptic at the very heart of the film’s conflict. The story concerns the appearance of what appears to be a supernatural being in our modern society – Stephenson – and┬áhow the worldview of the people he comes in contact with colors their perception of him. Those with a supernatural worldview ÔÇô ÔÇ£The BelieversÔÇØ – see him as an evil being needing to be stopped in the name of God and morality. Those with a naturalistic world view ÔÇô ÔÇ£The SkepticsÔÇØ – see vampirism as a disease that needs to be understood, and if necessary, cured. The Believers call in armies of Christians armed with crosses, wooden stakes and holy water. The Skeptics call in reason and science in the form of the CDC.┬á While these two factions battle it out, Stephenson works behind the scenes to start his own religion based on the concept of “Eternal Life – Guaranteed.”
By exploring these types of religious, scientific and political themes within a horror / science fiction framework, our goal is to encourage people to re-examine their worldviews and belief systems while being entertained by a straightforward, fun, and darkly satirical vampire tale.┬á With all the current political debate about the role of religion in government, we are excited about exploring the clash between belief systems and objective, scientific reality in a unique and entertaining fashion. Much in the same way that pop culture visionaries such as Gene Roddenberry (“Star Trek”) used fantastical settings to explore “hot button” cultural issues, we hope that our science fiction / horror setting will allow us to examine these issues┬áwithout┬ábeing heavy handed or – despite the subject matter -┬ápreachy.
Read more about the project and donate at The Gospel According to Stephenson