“Our goal is to make films that uplift and inspire the human spirit, that ultimately bring people to higher levels of insight to who God is and the purpose that he has for their lives.”
It’s been a long journey for White, who after years of odd jobs as a struggling actor, founded Pure Flix in 2005 with two friends. For years, the shadow of financial uncertainty loomed, but the company’s big break came in 2014, with the success of the film “God’s Not Dead.” Produced on a $3 million budget, it went on to make over $65 million at the box office. The demand for inspirational, family and faith films was loud and clear.
Since then, White has starred in all four of the “God’s Not Dead” films, and early 2023 will see the filming of the fifth installment, which will star White, alongside Dean Cain, Isaiah Washington, and Cory Oliver.
White is currently starring in the new film “Nothing Is Impossible” (streaming on Pure Flix), with Harry Lennix (“The Blacklist”), Nadia Bjorlin (“Days of Our Lives”), Stephen Bauer (“Scarface,” “Better Call Saul”), and country singer/songwriter Stella Parton. White plays Scott Beck, a janitor who gets a second chance at life and love.
“Everyone has a past and Scott Beck is no exception. This is an inspiring movie about how our past doesn’t define us and how we can learn from failure in a profound way. That goes for life and love—we see Scott confront past mistakes with his high school girlfriend, Ryan. This may be a movie with basketball in it, but it’s also about love, learning how to trust again and about finding purpose in failure,” said White in a press release.
Mennonite Upbringing
White was born in Dodge City, Kansas, the son of a Mennonite preacher.“I grew up conservative. We didn’t drink, dance, smoke,” he said. “I saw one movie in the theater the first 18 years of my life.”
At age 8, unbeknownst to his parents, a friend’s family took White to see “Grease.” After viewing Olivia Newton-John’s wardrobe at the end of the film, he concluded, “I, for sure, thought I was going to hell.”
“Entertainment didn’t really exist in the Mennonite Church,” he said. “Other than music. Music was very big.”
Television was allowed in White’s household, but his viewing was limited.
“They wouldn’t allow me to watch ‘Dukes of Hazzard,’” he said, although all his friends were allowed to watch. This didn’t make the young White happy.
Movies fascinated White, and, upon graduation from high school, he “wanted to explore” entertainment. He attended college at Chicago’s Moody Bible Institute as a communications major.
“That was the closest I could get to any entertainment,” he said. “They had radio!”
All the elders in his family had graduated from Moody, and also had met their significant others there.
“After one year, I basically called my dad to say, ‘Dad, I want to leave Bible school and I’m going to Hollywood to be an actor,’” White said.
Early Beginnings
White landed in Venice Beach, California, and crashed at the apartment of another actor he had met. He worked some odd jobs, including as a baggage handler for US Airways at Los Angeles International Airport and as a waiter at events at a Marriott.Six months later, White’s big break came when he was hired as a background artist (called an “extra” at the time) for the primetime sitcom “Evening Shade” in 1991.
The series starred Burt Reynolds, who was a household name from the long list of feature films he made—most notably, “Deliverance.” The supporting cast included several other accomplished actors, including Marilu Henner (“Taxi”), Ossie Davis (“Do the Right Thing”), Hal Holbrook (“All the President’s Men“), and Charles Durning (”Dog Day Afternoon").
“I had no idea who any of them were” at the time, White said.
During the rehearsal of a scene, he noticed what he described as a “dead spot” in the dialogue, and he ad-libbed a line.
That was a dangerous move. He was hired as an extra, and extras don’t speak on film. Once an actor has a line, his daily rate of pay goes up. Some directors, producers, and lead actors aren’t interested in ad-libbing extras, so it’s one way to get fired.
Yet, it worked.
The line was kept in the episode and White stayed on as a recurring character. But that wasn’t the only result of his gutsy move.
Reynolds soon became a mentor to the inexperienced White. Now that White had a speaking role in the series, he had to join the Screen Actors Guild and pay the initiation fee of $800, which the 19-year-old didn’t have.
The first thing Reynolds did for him was to see to it that his pay rate for the episode was bumped up to a “three-day week,” which covered the cost.
“He was a great role model for me in the beginning,” White said of Reynolds.
With no previous formal training as an actor, he would rely on Reynolds for critiques after scenes were shot.
“He was like my Hollywood dad in a way,” White said.
Sitcoms are almost always shot in front of a live audience. One way the producers have of getting the audience to laugh is to introduce the cast a few minutes prior to the filming, putting them in a good mood and making them more likely to laugh at the jokes.
In one particular episode, the teens of the community (including White) were putting on a play in which they take on the roles of the adults.
White’s character was playing Reynolds’s character.
White was made up in a black wig and mustache, to resemble Reynolds’s recognizable look. Then, he had an idea.
“I thought it would be funny if I stuck a big pillow in my stomach for the accent,” White said, because Reynolds had recently gained weight.
“At that time, I had a repartee with Burt. I thought I was on solid ground,” he said.
White asked Reynolds if he could do it, and he replied, “Sure, kid. Sure.”
Reynolds introduced the cast to the studio audience, saving White for last and calling him his “discovery.”
White came out with a wig, mustache, and “the biggest pillow” he could find, looked at Reynolds, looked at his lower torso, gave it a pat, and then mimicked Reynolds’s laugh.
“He smiles, but it’s this weird smile,” White said. “He ends up turning all of his rings around, putting his arm around me, and punching me in the ear in front of everybody as they’re all applauding and laughing.”
They shot the episode and Reynolds even ad-libbed a line about the size of his waistline.
Creating Pure Flix
In his early 20s, White began acting in faith-based, Christian films. They weren’t feature films; they were shorts for organizations such as Focus on the Family, Youth for Christ, and Concerned Women for America.By the late 1990s, the market was successful enough for production companies to make direct-to-video, feature-length films. In his late 20s, White and some buddies raised $87,000 to finance a feature for this market.
When White was making his fourth faith-based feature, he met commercial producers Michael Scott and Russell Wolfe. They decided to form Pure Flix, which would be both a production and a distribution company for faith-based films.
Production and distribution aren’t cheap. Pure Flix needed to raise enough capital to make the movies and then get them seen.
“The biggest thing when raising money is finding people that will believe in your vision as well,” White said.
They found those people.
Pure Flix morphed into a streaming, video-on-demand service, which is the distribution half of the company. On the paid site, monthly or yearly subscribers can see original features and television series, which White describes as “faith and family content.”
For another Pure Flix production, White needed someone to play his father. He emailed Reynolds and offered him the part. (White had apologized for his stunt more than 20 years before.) Reynolds accepted the offer, and White spent three days with him in Jupiter, Florida, recording his voiceover.
All was forgiven. Reynolds died about a year later, in 2018. Wolfe died from ALS in 2015. Liz Travis has since joined Pure Flix as a partner.
In 2020, Sony/Affirm acquired Pure Flix and finances its current productions.
White credits the 2004 feature film “The Passion of the Christ” for illustrating the public’s “large hunger for faith-based content.”
“I definitely think there’s a need and a want for these films.”
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