Imagine if you will…
You wake up one morning and find that everything has changed.
You’re in a completely new situation, surrounded by people you don’t know.
People with no connection to you—no common blood, faith, values, or worldview.
And because of that lack of connection…
People you cannot trust.
How would you survive?
And even if you do survive, what kind of life would it be, never able to open up to a spouse or friend, never able to lean on someone in your darkest moments, never able to share even the most trivial of secrets.
Never able to build a life on love and…trust.
Sometimes we all feel like that, don’t we?
Maybe not in our families, but as we face the wide world outside our households and kinfolk. We see a vast array of cultural institutions led and run by people who are not just different from us, but actively hostile to us, to our families, to our faith and values.
This hostility makes it hard to make choices, even on something so (seemingly) minor as what movies to watch, or what books to read.
Sure, the cultural elites and their fans will tell you, “That new movie is great!” Or “This hot new book series is a must-read!” But you can tell enough from a quick glance online to know that these "Top Picks" are going to feature a significant amount of material that will range from inappropriate to downright wicked.
How can you find the best stories without someone you can trust?
Since the release of Kenny Sargent’s first novel, Generations, in 2018, Sargent Family Productions has aimed to be Your Trusted Partner in Family Entertainment.
Since then, we’ve released the sequel to Generations; produced the first Generations book in a full-cast, dramatized audiobook form with sound effects and original, Hollywood-style music; given the same treatment to award-winning author K.M. Weiland’s Wayfarer, a Gaslamp fantasy telling the story of the world’s first superhero; and will soon release the dramatized audiobook version of Generations 2: The D.C. Gambit.
In short, we don’t just complain about the bad stories out there. We don’t just ask for your trust out of the blue. We strive to earn it by creating hard-hitting, high-quality stories that will leave you both breathless and inspired.
Stories of genuine grit and even darkness, but stories that will never slime you with moral filth and "Kids, Don't Look!" scenes.
But we believe we can do more.
That’s why we’ll soon be launching our new podcast, The Bitlings.
Hosted by Generations writer and director Kenny Sargent and Sargent Family Productions staff writer and author William Chad Newsom (that’s me), The Bitlings will feature lively and engaging weekly conversation on the best stories for your family—books, movies, and audio dramas.
The Bitlings is a play on the name The Inklings, the group of influential early-twentieth-century writers that included C. S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and others.
They wrote with Ink, we write with Bits (as in, the smallest unit of data in computing). Thus, The Bitlings.
In every episode, we’ll talk about the stories that have most shaped our lives, and what makes them great—why they succeed as stories, and why they are worth your time and attention.
We’ll also feature guest authors, so you can get the scoop on good stories straight from their creators.
And we’ll talk about a wide range of topics related to stories and why they are so important for Christians as we raise families with healthy souls and imaginations.
Our focus on The Bitlings is on this simple question:
Why Did We Love It?
Rather than simply recapping the entire plot—you can always watch movie trailers if you want that—we will instead talk about specific scenes, chapters, and character moments that simply knocked us out when we first encountered them; and which we still return to again and again because they changed our lives or our perspectives, or because they made us see something about life in a new way.
Because they train our hearts to respond with the right emotions when we encounter beauty, wonder, or virtue. Or evil, horror, and tragedy.
Because we still love them.
We aim to pour that enthusiasm and love into each episode of The Bitlings, to perhaps kindle a flame in your own heart, and help you find another Story You Can Trust!
Up first for The Bitlings: We'll be taking a look at some of our favorite moments from The Lord of the Rings. You won't want to miss our multi-episode discussion of this beloved fantasy classic.
And I think you'll find some surprises along the way: hidden meanings and inspiring qualities in The Lord of the Rings you may never have considered.
We’ll be making an announcement soon to let you know the date of launch, and where you can listen in.
Until then, put our trust to the test: try out one of our paperbacks or audiobook stories today. You can do that at the link below:
https://www.sargentfamilyproductions.org/shop
William Chad Newsom
Staff Writer, Creative Content Developer
Sargent Family Productions
Posted by William Chad Newsom
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