AMAZING STORY
An Inside Look at The Bible Miniseries
By Gorman Woodfin
The 700 Club
CBN.com -Hollywood couple Mark Burnett and Roma Downey have joined forces with the History Channel to create an epic 10 hour miniseries called The Bible. They recently spoke with 700 Club producer, Gorman Woodfin about the project.
Gorman: “When you look at a project of this magnitude and this scope, how do you boil the Bible down in to ten hours? How do you do that?”
Mark: “It took us a couple of years really, and we got the advice of many theologians and advisors. And figured out that we should be a through line narrative: God’s love for all of us, Genesis through Revelation.”
Roma: “From the moment Adam and Eve fell from grace we have been a people wanting to get back in connection with God. That was one of the themes we felt we really wanted to see through those Old Testament characters. We see each of them attempting connection and failing. Attempting connection and failing. And so, God so loved us that He sends Jesus for us. And our New Testament narrative begins with the birth of Jesus. Who comes and brings us home. And so that was the connective love story that we wanted to tell. We only had ten hours so we had to condense the stories. It ended up really it’s more of an introduction to the Bible.”
In tackling a production of this magnitude, great care was taken to make the finished product look and feel authentic.
Roma: “We went to Ouarzazate (Morocco) which is about three or four hours drive down over the Atlas Mountains, out to the edge of the Sahara. We chose this location because it allowed us to achieve these beautiful biblical landscapes.”
Mark: “There’s no way to replace some of those epic cazbars (restaurants) which look like they belong, and probably do belong, two thousand years ago.”
Roma: “We wanted to make the Bible come to life with fresh visual imagery for this generation. So we gathered to us just the best in the business. We have the best C-G-I, an Oscar winning team who created the special effects for Gladiator.”
Portuguese actor, Diogo Morgado, plays the role of Jesus Christ.
Gorman: “When you were approached about doing this role as a performer, as an actor, what went through your mind?”
Diogo: “I think the first thought was, ‘I can’t do it.’ Honestly, it’s like ‘This is too much.’ We’re not just telling a story. We’re trying to touch people’s hearts. We’re telling a story that people live by. I grew up knowing the Bible. I grew up believing in Jesus Christ. So, with the fact that my own faith and my own beliefs, getting involved is like, ‘How can I do Someone that I know so well? What should we do? Should we go to the thing the people will know about or just share in your own experience?’ So I think I try to do it both… a little bit.”
In their years of successful work in Hollywood, Mark and Roma say this project is one of the most powerful productions they’ve ever worked with.
Roma: “It’s human. It’s connective. It’s beautiful. Then through the whole thing it’s this heartbeat of faith; this heartbeat of God’s love. The project was made to glorify God.”
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