Steph Curry is on a Mission
May 2019
Steph Curry is on a Mission
Carey, Jesse. “Steph Curry is on a Mission,” Relevant Magazine, Relevant Media Group, May-June 2019.
Steph Curry is a name that is much better known to my sports-loving husband than it is to me. He is an NBA superstar who was named MVP in 2016 and continues to have a thriving career as a professional basketball player. What role does he have to play in the scene of faith-based arts? He has chosen to step into the role of film producer and has created a company called Unanimous Media with the mandate of creating faith based films that bring families together. They have already had their first film come out; Breakthrough tells the story of a boy who falls through ice and is saved by a miracle. It was released in 2019 and the reviews were lukewarm at best. Other projects that Curry is working on are a documentary about the shooting of Emanuel AME church and a game show that focuses on extreme mini-golf.
Hearing of Curry’s plans to create faith based content evoked my cynical edge. What does a basketball player know about good art? Can he succeed where so many other creators have fallen? The response of his first movie confirmed my worst suspicious - Breakthrough did not break any barriers in faith-based storytelling. But I have to check myself, the cynicism that I felt came from a place of artistic elitism, a trap that is so easy to fall into - one based mostly on envy. The reality is that Steph Curry has the income and the influence to create a faith-based production company - the platform that he has to launch this project is one that most artists could not even dream of, from the safety of my couch it is very easy to criticize him and say that he does not have “the right” to create art, as if anyone ever needed my permission anyway. The simple fact is if he applies the same hard work, perfectionism and drive that (I’m told) he has when he is playing basketball to his production company, he will get better. He will learn what creates good art and good storytelling and he will provide Christian artists with the funding to make their dreams a reality. I hope that the Christian arts community welcomes Steph Curry as an unlikely ally (even if they have to google him first) and that we are able to learn from each other what it means to tell faith-based stories and bring families together.