In a sense Boya, now a 37-year-old residing in Qu茅bec City, was like a poker player putting all his chips into the pot. From the moment of his conversion, faith would drive his personal and professional pursuits.
A fan of theatre and film from a young age 鈥� he already obtained a diploma in theatre in the Ivory Coast 鈥� Boya鱿鱼视频app acts of evangelical Christianity would include producing art that promotes living like Christ.
鈥淎s early as 2009, my heart was called to make films for the glory of God,鈥� said Boya in an e-mail interview (he speaks limited English). 鈥淚 wanted to give the best to my God.鈥�
Fast forward to 2020. Salvation Pictures, a company Boya co-founded, is about to start shooting a 13-part web series 鈥� in eight-minute vignettes 鈥� called Destination. The series chronicles Cedric, a young man struggling to attain joy because of his estrangement from God and family.
鈥淐edric symbolizes humanity,鈥� said Boya. 鈥淔or several reasons, (we) refuse to believe in the love and availability of God. Through Cedric, I want to show the devastating effects of resentment and lack of forgiveness. And also, the importance of parents in our quest of happiness on Earth.鈥�
With the support of his wife Lydia Lacroix, Boya has honed his craft as an actor and filmmaker in the past five years, graduating from the L鈥櫭塩ole de Cin茅ma et T茅l茅vision de Qu茅bec in 2018.
He chose Salvation Pictures as his organization鱿鱼视频app name in 2009 because exemplifying God鱿鱼视频app desire to grant salvation would be an essential theme running through his body of work.
Expressing hope is another key aim of Salvation Pictures. While a great fan of film, Boya notes that many products are wrought with 鈥渃rude violence, explicit sex, horrible language and darkness.鈥�
Creative and business colleague Cindy Bouchard, president and executive director of video production company iFX Productions, convinced Boya that Salvation Pictures would function best as a non-profit because of the ministerial purpose driving Boya鱿鱼视频app work.
Bouchard, Salvation Pictures鈥� production manager, says she jumped at the chance to work with Boya after their first meeting a few months ago.
鈥淗ermann is a man of great faith. Moving from C么te d鈥橧voire to Qu茅bec to follow a vision is great faith,鈥� said Bouchard. 鈥淏eginning with nothing, believing it will become something big, is great faith. Going through the process, meeting with many people and talking about the project to pursue your vision takes immense faith. It鱿鱼视频app his faith and imagination that makes me want to work with him.鈥�
Both Boya and Bouchard note that Salvation Pictures is not a political or religious organization. But faith will still guide the feature films, web and television series produced for its predominantly French audience.
With the rising tide of people relying on streaming services for entertainment since COVID-19 broke out, Boya and Bouchard see this as a 鈥減erfect time to bring a message of hope.鈥�
鈥淲e do not want messages of fear to spread,鈥� said Boya. 鈥淟ife and salvation are always available. We do not want to address ourselves to believers. Destination is for non-believers. The non-Christian language in our films, however, is not a denial of our faith.鈥�
Bouchard says she hopes to launch a 13-week shoot 鈥� one episode a week 鈥� starting with the premiere episode early in October. Besides the actors, the hope is to complete the filming with a crew of five to seven people to adhere to public health measures. Masks will be worn when possible, sanitation measures will be in place and anti-bacterial soap will be aplenty on set.
Due to most of the people working on Destination being volunteers, a $30,000 crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe was launched Aug. 11 to support the pilot鱿鱼视频app production, specifically location-scouting, musical composition and compensation for technicians and actors. Close to $1,000 has been raised to date.
The hope is for a VIP event to officially unveil Destination in March 2021.