While his background is music production and media production, Louis "Buster" Brown considers himself first a servant of God. He says, "God has given me the ability and the unique toolbox to work from." He has worked on projects with popular Christian recording artists like Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams, Nicole C. Mullin and Natalie Grant. A milestone project in his life was working as producer and executive producer for The Prince of Egypt soundtrack, which included songs from Boys II Men, Shirley Cesar, Jars of Clay, DC Talk, and Carmen, not to mention the Oscar award winning song "When You Believe" from Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.
Brown believes that the many unique opportunities God has given him have been preparation for his current role as a producer and executive producer of The Bible Experience. (www.thebibleexperience.com). This new audio bible from Inspired By Media Group and Zondervan features the voices of Hollywood's hottest African-American stars. Catalyst recently interviewed Brown about Inspired By The Bible Experience project, purpose, and people.
Catalyst:
It seems like this is more than just another audio bible. Tell us about product, and also the
purpose behind it.
Louis "Buster" Brown:
The Bible Experience is not just a narrative, talking head Bible project. We cast each of the 368 characters to create a dramatized version of the Bible, including full music and sound effects. The current product is the entire New Testament in audio format on 19 CDs. It includes one behind-the-scenes DVD that includes the "making of The Bible Experience", cast interviews, links to the website, music, and more.
Musically, we have an underscore that goes from Matthew to Revelations, and we also recorded 25 minutes of original cinematic score with the Prague Symphony Orchestra. The sound effects we did with Technicolor, who have 100 years of experience in creating audio for film.
Why did we do all that stuff? Because we wanted The Bible Experience to be a theater of the mind and spirit. That means when you put that CD in, or push "play" on your iPod, or download it onto your phone, or however you get it, you don't just hear it - you also see it through your spirit and your mind.
Catalyst:
What inspired the project's unique design?
Louis "Buster" Brown:
I had three other partners on this project: Ron Belk, who is our technology expert; Kyle Bowser, who comes from film and television; and Robi Reed, who's an Emmy Award-winning casting director. We all have been involved with high level production for many years, and one of the thoughts we had was, "Why is it that when we come out with Christian products they don't always have the same production value that we're so used to dealing with on our everyday jobs?" And so the first inspiration was saying, "Hey, first of all, we need to come out with a Bible that has high production value that everybody can get into."
The second thing that we realized was that young people are not reading the Bible like my generation of people did. Their information doesn't all come from a book. They're on the internet. They're texting. They're downloading. They have viral communities and chat rooms. So, rather than to try to get them and drag them into Bible studies, we've said, "Let's get this information to them where they live." And rather than change the message, we said, "Let's keep the message the same. It's Christ, your soul's salvation, born, died, crucified, resurrected, and is the Savior today - but let's change the method in which we get it to them. And let's get it to them through the distribution channels which currently engage them."
Catalyst:
Some are calling this "the most ambitious recording collaboration in history." You have some of the biggest names in entertainment working with you on this project. How were you able to get this many people involved?
Louis "Buster" Brown:
The people that showed up - Denzel Washington, Bishop T. D. Jakes, Samuel L. Jackson, Cuba Gooding, Angela Bassett, Blair Underwood (who is phenomenal as the voice of Jesus in this project) - they all showed up not because of just who they are. They took that all out. The ego was put at the door, and they showed up because of whose they are. They represent Christ, and they knew they needed to do anything that they could to help the people today that are not engaged in the Bible to get the word of God.
Catalyst:
How were the actors and performers impacted as a result of being a part of this project?
Louis "Buster" Brown:
Well, you know, let me give you a couple of examples. Bishop Charles E. Blake pastors the West Angeles Church of God in Christ located in the Los Angeles area. After he came in and read, we were doing our exit interview and we asked him, "Bishop, how did you feel?"
He said, "Well, you know, it's very interesting. The engineer asked me to take my shoes off, because my shoes were making noise on the stool that I was sitting on. Immediately, I just thought in my mind, y - it just went back to the fact that Moses, as he approached the burning bush, that God spoke to him and said, ?Take your shoes off, because the ground you're standing on is holy ground.'"
And he said to us, he said, "I think that this is holy ground, and what we're doing here is a holy work that's going to last for generations and generations to come."
Bishop Joseph Walker from Nashville read the role of Joseph. We asked him to describe the impact of this project and he said, "Well, it's very funny. Over 2,000 years ago when Christ was born, the Word was made flesh. But now, to be a part of this project is to witness flesh becoming the Word."
Catalyst:
When was this released and what are your future plans?
Louis "Buster" Brown:
The New Testament is available right now at www.thebibleexperience.com. It's also available at Family Christian bookstores, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Costco and Sam's Club. We're about 85-90 percent done with the Old Testament, and now we're just knee deep in the production. The release will be next fall, sometime around September 2007. Look for ring tones and ring backs, digital downloads, breakout stories, texting, animation and even live events in the future. Keep your eye out for "Inspired By? The Bible Experience" resources.