Teddy James
AFA Journal staff writer
May 2016 – If the American media landscape were a continent, television would be its barren desert, almost devoid of the family-friendly programming that once thrived there. Though the surface may appear hopeless, there are creative people working hard to restore family values and morality to our U.S. culture and even around the world. Brian Wells is one such person, a man intent on making the world a better and safer place for all.
Planning a rescue
As a teaching pastor at Cincinnati’s Crossroads Church in the late 1990s, Wells first became aware of the horrors of human trafficking and resolved to do something about it. He read Good News About Injustice by Barry Haugen with International Justice Mission and knew he had to get involved in a way that would help without getting in the way.
“IJM focuses on getting laws passed that help protect kids from trafficking,” Wells told AFA Journal. Wells has himself participated in rescues, and his church provides aftercare and supports homes that provide a safe living space, food, medical care, spiritual formation, job training, and more for victims they’ve helped rescue.
International Justice Mission employs hundreds of lawyers, police officers, social workers and other professionals to rescue trafficking victims and bring those who abuse them to justice. It has rescued over 25,000 victims.
Producing a film
On the home front, Wells had deep concerns about the culture in which his son and daughter were growing up. That barren television desert moved him to jump into the entertainment arena. He launched that career by producing the 2010 made-for-TV movie Secrets of the Mountain, the first of the Family Movie Night series he produced for major networks.
“My faith informs everything I do,” Wells said. “But the entertainment we create does not necessarily have a big faith element in it. We research the character traits parents are trying to instill in their children and then make entertainment reflecting those traits. We want our movies to make parents’ job easier, rather than harder, after their children watch our films.”
For Wells and his team, those very character traits are rooted in his faith. He said, “The character parents are teaching their children has a God DNA in it. They want their kids to have perseverance, forgiveness, and sacrifice. We desire to celebrate those traits on television.”
That desire helped Wells focus on content for network television, as opposed to theatrical releases. He said, “There are wonderful choices in theaters right now. But turn on the television, especially during primetime, and try to find content appropriate for the entire family to watch. We feel like that is an unmet need and we wanted to do something about it.”
Penning a novel
Recognizing that television is only one entertainment medium, Wells has now entered yet another arena. His latest effort is a series of novels aimed at the 9-14 age demographic. (See The League and the Lantern review here.) The move was very strategic.
“Ages 9 and 14 are crucial change points for people today,” Wells said. “Many of the shifts that happened in high school in the past have been pulled into junior high. During the 9-14 window, kids are looking for significance and for someone to tell them they have what it takes.” His goal is to provide exciting, action-packed stories that offer positive values and heroes in contrast to many of today’s dark cultural heroes.
Wells reflects a clear Christian faith that challenges him to devote his life and his talents to rescuing the world’s most helpless, and restoring a family-friendly culture, beginning in his own home. 
Brian Wells’s upcoming novel The League and the Lantern will be available May 17. Learn more at LeagueAndLantern.com. See review here.
