Freedom Film Distributors

Colin Gunn takes a school bus on the road to document Indoctrination in public schools

Jason Matyas — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:56:26 +0000

Colin Gunn, award-winning filmmaker of The Monstrous Regiment of Women, departed his hometown of Waco, Texas earlier this week to travel across the country in a yellow school bus with his family and investigate the subject of Indoctrination in the public school system.

He is live-blogging the trip on the IndoctriNation Blog, and is sharing photos and videos cataloguing the journey. We will be following his progress as he makes his way to Boston, MA, stopping along the way to talk with educators, historians and everyday Americans about the problems with public schools.

Colin and his team still need people to contribute to their effort and support them financially, so be sure to visit The IndoctriNation Movie site and learn how you can donate.

Here's the sneak preview trailer:

IndoctriNation Trailer from IndoctriNation on Vimeo.

Family Industry and Virginia Agriculture

Jason Matyas — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 01:17:18 +0000

This past weekend I took my family to our local town's 75th annual Newport Agricultural Fair (the oldest in Virginia) and we set up a booth to sell our products and meet and greet our neighbors. While it was primarily a booth for Freedom Film Distributors, we also took the opportunity to support some friends of our that also have home businesses. So next to the large selection of DVDs that make up the Freedom Film Distributors catalog, we set up a display of the Goat Milk Soap made by our friends Jim and PJ Jonas in Indiana, and a display of the Slickepott All Natural Chocolate Fudge Sauce made by my friend Ian Lamont in upstate New York.

We had a great response to the Freedom Film Distributors presence and collection of video resources, and it was a great opportunity to meet other families that are interested in God-honoring and family-edifying films. I was even blessed by the visit of a young lady named Billie Huskey who is a quadriplegic after a severe auto accident 5 or 6 years ago. For someone who had to learn how to talk again, it was a beautiful experience to see her bubbly personality and positive outlook on life that comes from her faith, and to learn how she is impacting other peoples lives as a physical therapist (yes, the licensed professional kind) and a motivational speaker.

Most importantly, we used this opportunity to train our children about the importance of hard work, attention to detail, industry, and the selling skills of communication and friendliness. My two daughters, age 6 and 4, made over two dozen beaded necklaces and bracelets during the week before the Fair that we set up on a display outside of our booth. My oldest daughter Lydia is naturally outgoing, and she would go from handing out samples of goat milk soap to asking people if they wanted to see her collection of home made jewelry. She was even consistent in closing each engagement with "would you like to buy one?" When faced with the engaging personality of this bright-eyed six year old, most were fully ready to make a purchase as soon as she asked.

In all, this was a great opportunity to meet many of our neighbors in our valley and the surrounding areas, and talk about family business and family films. It is encouraging to know that this kind of community engagement has been happening all over the nation with our existing distributors, and will continue to grow in frequency and impact in the months and years to come.

If this report is encouraging to you, would you consider joining us as a distributor or movie night host, or spreading the word to friends and family about the opportunity we provide? Thanks, and we hope to see you next year at the Fair.

Happy Birthday George Washington Carver – special birthday savings on An Uncommon Way DVD

Jason Matyas — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:25:22 +0000

July 12th is the birthday of a special man in America's history: George Washington Carver. We are offering a special birthday discount on our George Washington Carver DVD – you can find the details at the bottom of this post. American historian Bill Federer notes this about Carver:

"Born a slave around July 12th, 1864, George Washington Carver became a scientist of international renown. On January 21, 1921, Carver addressed the United States House Ways and Means Committee on behalf of the United Peanut Growers Association on the use of peanuts to improve Southern economy. Initially given ten minutes to speak, the committee was so captivated, his time was extended. Explaining the many products derived from the peanut, including milk, mock beef and mock chicken, George Washington Carver stated: "If you go to the first chapter of Genesis, we can interpret very clearly, I think, what God intended when he said 'Behold, I have given you every herb that bears seed. To you it shall be meat.' This is what He means about it. It shall be meat. There is everything there to strengthen and nourish and keep the body alive and healthy." After nearly two hours, the chairman asked: "Dr. Carver, how did you learn all of these things?" Carver answered: "From an old book" "What book?" asked the Chairman. Carver replied, "The Bible." The Chairman inquired, "Does the Bible tell about peanuts?" "No, Sir" Dr. Carver replied, "It tells about the God who made the peanut. I asked Him to show me what to do with the peanut and He did."

The George Washington Carver documentary beautifully traces the valiant life of George Washington Carver, chronicling his improbable odyssey from slavery to becoming a household name. Get 20% off the DVD at the Freedom Web Store by using coupon code carver20 at checkout, offer good now through July 31st.

The Freedom Web Store is here! Special Independence Day weekend sale!

Jason Matyas — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 07:00:31 +0000

Freedom Film Distributors is pleased to announce the grand opening of our Freedom Web Store, the online store you can trust to provide you with the best in films and educational media that are God-honoring, family-edifying, and thought provoking. We've added many new products to our catalog, so take a few minutes to browse the store and take advantage of the great savings we're offering during our Grand Opening Sale for Independence Day weekend (sale ends midnight EDT on Monday, July 5th). Use discount code FREEDOM4th for 25% off all regular priced items.

See our announcement email here for more details, including special discounts on featured products and sets. Please spread the word by Forwarding to a Friend the announcement email mentioned above, or share this page via email or on Facebook or Twitter with anyone who might be interested.

Thanks for your help. Happy Independence Day!

The Wintons visit the Highlands of Virginia

Jason Matyas — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:23:21 +0000

The Wintons are enjoying the east coast portion of their cross-country tour, and they had the opportunity to stop in the Blacksburg, Virginia area to visit my family and perform a concert for friends and neighbors. Their wonderful performance of bluegrass gospel music was a perfect fit for the Sinking Creek Valley where we live, where this kind of mountain music has a long history. Attendees were excited to see all the films from the Freedom Film Distributors catalog, in addition to enjoying their great music and fellowship in our little spot of heaven in the Virginia mountains.

It was a joy to spend some time with their lovely family, and witness the beauty of a father and sons working together, supported by their wife and mom, who helps keep them on time and ensures all the little details are taken care of. Many thanks to the Wintons for coming to visit and blessing us with their presence and their music. Y'all come back, now.

Faith, Family, and Freedom in Virginia

Steve Morales — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 19:53:39 +0000

We’re having a great time with thousands of home educators at the 2010 HEAV Convention in Richmond. There is wonderful attendance this year at this very well-run conference, with hundreds of volunteers that make this event possible. I caught this sight of a father and daughter browsing products at our booth that really demonstrates a wonderful and unique aspect of home education – just being together.

The feedback on our products and vision for sharing them in communities across the nation has been very positive. We look forward to what God has in store for Freedom Film Distributors in the days and weeks ahead.

The most popular product so far for the weekend is the American Heritage Digital Library, which is an outstanding value for a massive educational resource such as this.

(Special thanks to Ethan Ledden for outstanding job he did on this product flyer being displayed at the HEAV covention.)

Meanwhile, up in Connecticut

Jason Matyas — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 18:03:20 +0000

While Steve Morales and family are meeting homeschooling families in Virginia at the HEAV Convention, Alan Hillman and family are on the road again, this time in Connecticut at the CT TEACH homeschooling convention. Now at their 5th homeschooling convention of the year, our road warrior distributor family is excited about this last convention before they get a chance to rest for the summer.

As always, the Hillmans set up a beautiful display of their DVDs from the Freedom Film Distributor catalog and other products that they sell through their Honeysuckle Farms family business.

Getting Ready in Virginia

Jason Matyas — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:20:55 +0000

Founder Steve Morales has been working hard lately with the help of his older children to get ready for this day. Today is the start of the Virginia homeschooling convention hosted by Home Educators of Virginia (HEAV) in Richmond. Before packing up and getting on the road, they did a mockup of the Freedom Film Distributors display table. As you can see, there was a lot of anticipation and excitement to be found.

Stay tuned for updates from the convention, as we share the vision of Freedom Film Distributors with home educators from across Virginia.

The Wintons at the Creation Museum

Jason Matyas — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 10:00:05 +0000

The Wintons, one of our distributor families from northern California, are on a cross-country tour this summer and playing concerts to the delight of many across the country. They recently had the pleasure of visiting the Creation Museum in Kentucky, and were invited to meet and play for the museum staff, including Answers in Genesis founder Ken Ham.

You can read more about their visit and see more pictures on Ken Ham’s blog. Stay tuned for more news from The Wintons as they continue their tour across America.

The Hillmans on the Road Again – All the way in PA

Jason Matyas — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:40:42 +0000

Alan and Shelley Hillman have been busy lately. Very busy. After having a productive and busy weekend at the Massachusetts HOPE convention two weeks ago, they traveled last week all the way from Maine to Pennsylvania to attend the CHAP homeschool convention, one of the largest in the nation. (It seems we don't yet have any distributors in PA willing to go sell lots of our products to eager buyers at a place like CHAP – if you or someone you know in PA might be interested in Joining Us, read more about Becoming a Distributor.) They had a special treat while there, meeting up with our Director of Distributor Support, Scott Eash, pictured below.

The Hillmans don't do anything small, it seems. They have a strong desire to establish an atmosphere, even as a vendor at a large convention, where people can relax and enjoy fellowship while browsing their Honeysuckle Farms product library (and it literally looks like a library). They have had many wonderful opportunities to talk to and even minister to people by related the stories from the films in the Freedom Film Distributors catalog, as well as from their own journey of faith.

Of course, to get such a wonderful vendor display set up requires a hefty logistics effort, which Alan deftly handled with his two red monsters.