July/August 2014 – Dave Johnson is a television veteran, and his recent work on Summer Snow, AFA’s first feature film, is rooted in founder Don Wildmon’s discovery decades ago that Johnson was determined to produce family-friendly entertainment. Still, the two men didn’t meet until 2011.

After years of doing commercials, acting and writing, Johnson’s first big break came with Against the Grain, a series he and his brother Gary  wrote and produced for NBC in the mid 1990s. When the show was marked for cancellation, the Johnsons were stunned when 200,000 AFA Journal readers deluged them with letters of encouragement. The AFA mail campaign didn’t save the show, but it created a career turning point for Johnson. 

“It challenged me to keep looking for ways to incorporate my Christian faith into my work,” he said. Later, Johnson’s family favorites Sue Thomas F.B.Eye and Doc found success on the PAX network. He recently shared with AFA Journal how he came to be a part of Summer Snow. The project epitomizes what Wildmon and AFA have been asking Hollywood to do for 37 years – offer decent, family entertainment.

AFA Journal: How did you come to faith in Christ?
Dave Johnson: That happened when I met my wife. She had had a different encounter [with Christ]. Mine was real, but it was shallow. She had a relationship. That intrigued me. Her kind of faith became a part of my life as well. Then I understood what faith can be, how deep it can be, and how full and encompassing it’s supposed to be.

AFAJ: When did you get into the entertainment business?
DJ: When I got to Arizona State University, I fell into some acting. I was in music and, by divine intervention, I sort of got brought into the acting thing – and I liked it! 

Then, I went out to L.A., and I made my living as an actor for about eight years. Through that process I started to write. Before long, things started to take off.

AFAJ: What was your first big break?
DJ: Well, we were contract writers on three series with Dick Wolf (Law and Order). But the first big, big break was Against the Grain. That was huge, and that’s when I met you guys at AFA. 

AFAJ: How does your faith impact your work? 
DJ: It’s in everything. It’s who I am. One thing I’ve learned through the years is that, even more important than faith coming through the work and through the end product, it has to come through the process because you’re dealing with a hundred people, and in many instances, they’re not believers.

People really pay attention to how you behave, how you deal with other people, and how you respond to certain things. You can have a real impact. It’s how you conduct business. 

AFAJ: How did you, Jon and Andy Erwin (October Baby) and AFA get together?
DJ: A friend introduced me to Jon and Andy, and I got to work with them on October Baby. 

We were talking about it over a cup of coffee, brainstorming how to market it, and I said, “You, know, I think AFA would like it. They’ve been really helpful to me, and they’ve got a lot of influence.” 

AFAJ: What did you think about AFA working on our first feature film?
DJ: I thought it was great. I know your hearts. I know what your worldview is. But I’ll be honest, I’m always cautious because it’s not easy to make good content, and it’s not something you can learn – you’re gifted with it. However, I knew you guys would attack it the right way. 

AFAJ: Why should Christians be in the film industry?
DJ: This is the marketplace of ideas. This is how thinking has changed in our world. Politics is secondary, always, to what’s happening in film, entertainment and the culture.

We know that when our ideas are in the marketplace, they do well. People respond to Judeo-Christian concepts. Whether they believe or not is a secondary question. The concepts of Judeo-Christian teachings are paramount and fundamental to healthy and prosperous living, prosperous not by making a lot of money, but by having a rich, full life. 

I know what we have to sell is attractive. We’ve got to be excellent. We’ve got to be relevant. But we’ve also got to be true to what we stand for and what we believe. 

AFAJ: How did you wind up as executive director of Summer Snow?
DJ: Somebody at AFA asked me if I would read the script. I really liked it. It was well written. It had clever dialogue. It made me laugh. It touched me. And I thought, “Wow. This could be a really good movie.” 

Time passed, and months later, I asked someone about the project.

They said, “Well, it’s done, but we’re not sure what we’re going to do with it. Would you look at it?”

I watched it, and I came back to AFA and said, “I think there’s something really good here.”

Then they asked, “Would you like to work on it?”

I said, “Yeah.” I worked with your editor, Austin Brooks, and we did a bunch of stuff, and I thought, “They’ve really got a little gem here.”

Rachel Eggleston [who plays 8-year-old Hallie] is gold. She’s like Shirley Temple good. 

AFAJ: What impact can Summer Snow have? 
DJ: For believers, I think this is a movie that’s going to touch them in their hearts. 

For people who I would call nominal believers, I think it has a chance to deepen their faith. We all have troubles in life, nobody gets through unscathed, so there’s a question of how do you deal with these troubles? And this is a movie about people who learn that love is what pulls you together. It’s God’s love at the core of that. I think Summer Snow will touch people in that way.

And for non-believers, I think they will see an entertaining movie about people they really, really like.

AFAJ: What is the guiding principle that directs your work?
DJ: My purpose is to be obedient to God and to be a vessel He can use wherever and however He wants to use me.  

”In the Christian film niche, there aren’t a lot of films [other than animated kids’ videos] that kids can watch. There are some about marriage and about families – but not a lot that kids can enjoy along with the whole family. We wanted Summer Snow to be something the whole family could relate to.” — Kendra White

“AFA wanted to produce a film. We said, ‘We’ve got this idea for Summer Snow. We laid out a rough sketch of the story.’ They said,  ’We like it. Go write it.’” — Jeremy White

The Whites are the brother/sister team who wrote Summer Snow for American Family Studios. Watch for an interview with them in a future issue of AFA Journal.