Calvin alumnus and attorney Gordon Toering ’85 was not anticipating where God would lead when he decided to attend a 2004 conference on Christians in media organized by Calvin communications professor Quentin Schultze.
Little did Gord and wife Susan know that this would lead to starting an independent film company and debuting a movie across the country on Valentine’s weekend—juxtaposed against a full-budget Hollywood film with a very different message.
“I feel that the media is such a powerful tool for moving a person emotionally—and that could be for good or for bad,” said Gord. “This conference seemed to call Christians to get engaged with producing positive media rather than just boycotting what is disliked.”
At the conference Toering viewed a short video interview from a film titled The Least of These, which featured a story by the dynamic Christian speaker Tony Campolo. Toering was inspired by the conversation between Campolo and the filmmaker, Rik Swartzwelder. Swartzwelder had won numerous awards in mainstream film festivals based on the Campolo story.
Swartzwelder later became well known at Calvin by being on campus numerous times as an invited teacher of filmmaking during the college’s January interim.
Gord and Sue invited Swartzwelder to church that weekend, and afterward, the three of them began talking about “making a film you wouldn’t be ashamed of,” said Gord. “People may not agree with the film, but it would be solid, a real movie, excellently made.”
Gord and Sue (a 1985 Hope College graduate Gord met taking summer courses and who currently serves on Calvin’s Parent Council) decided to support the film Swartzwelder dreamed of making—and so the journey of Old Fashioned began.
“It was suggested that we form a film company, and in 2007, Skoche Films was born,” said Gord. “We mapped out an 18-month plan for the film to be made and also began developing two other scripts for future productions.”
Then came the financial downturn of 2008, and the project had to be reconceived and retooled a number of times.
“This period required a lot of faith and a lot of trust,” said Sue.
Old Fashioned, the story of a former frat boy who is determined to court any potential bride in ways decidedly counter-cultural to today's dating patterns, was ultimately completed in late 2013. The film had its first public viewing in January 2014 at a sold-out performing arts center in Ohio and was slated for nationwide release in mid-year. However, when a rather unique marketing opportunity presented itself, the Toerings and Swartzwelder decided to be patient and release the film in 2015.
Swartzwelder learned that the film adaptation of the sexually explicit book Fifty Shades of Grey would be released nationally on Valentine’s Day in 2015 and saw the opportunity to present an alternative message about relationships.
The decision to debut Old Fashioned on the same weekend as Fifty Shades of Grey led to a stream of national publicity about these opposite depictions of courtship and has immensely benefited the visibility of the movie.
“The net result of the marketing for our film meant that an originally small regional release becomes a much wider national distribution with 200 theaters booked and mainstream publicity,” said Gord.
Media sources such as Time, Variety, Yahoo Movies and the International Business Times have covered the “David and Goliath” story of an independent film opening on the same weekend as a big-budget national movie—and with decidedly different themes.
The soundtrack for the film will be released on Milan Records, a national label known for its film movie work. Two Calvin alumni, Karisa Wilson ’99 and Ralston Bowles ’76, have songs on the soundtrack. Rachel Dik ’05 is one of the executive producers on the film.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Sue. “We just want to be faithful. We’re optimistic, but we’ve learned anew that God’s plans are not ours.”
“Actually,” Gord concluded, “this has all been so much better than we could have imagined.”
More
For information about the film—including showing dates and locations, and a trailer —see www.oldfashionedmovie.com and Facebook.
See the movie
Opening weekend is Valentine's Weekend all over the country. Find out where you can support this movie.
In the media
Film studio releases 'Old Fashioned' romance to nation - Grand Rapids Business Journal
