In a culture where quality content is increasingly more difficult to find, creatives like Jason Taylor are putting their talent toward producing material that stands out and educates people about the Catholic faith.
Taylor, a father of three with twins on the way, recently started a Kickstarter campaign to fund his idea: creating a Catholic kids’ show on par with the likes of “Veggie Tales” that effectively conveys the joy of the Gospel.
He hopes to fund his project, “The Opus Joyous Show,” by Christmas and start production after the New Year. Denver Catholic: When did your passion for media start? What do you wish to see more of in the world?
Jason Taylor: Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been doing creative things. I used to make vignettes, claymation and stop motion movies. This blossomed my passion for creativity through the use of media.
In my late teens, I had a re-conversion to my Catholic faith, graduated from a multimedia program in college and felt called to combine my media skills with the love of my faith.
Since then, I’ve been blessed to work for a number of amazing Catholic organizations, including the Archdiocese of Denver.
There is a lot of amazing Catholic media being produced, which is really encouraging. Media and the arts are a great way to showcase the goodness, beauty, and truth of the Church. That being said, I don’t a see ton of Catholic-based content being created for children, and I believe that there’s actually a need for this.
DC: How did the idea come about, and what gave you the courage to follow through?
JT: I’ve had this idea for a Catholic kids TV show brewing for years. Working in the Archdiocese of Denver as a Creative Production Specialist and being in what I consider the Catholic media hub of America, I really got to work with and meet some amazing people. It gave me the confidence I needed to pursue my Catholic media production dreams.
Jason Taylor, a former staff member of the Archdiocese of Denver, shares his passion for faith and media with his project producing a Catholic kids’ show. (Photo provided)
DC: How did you come up with the idea for the names, characters and storylines for this show?
JT: I recently listened to an audiobook called “Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration” from Ed Catmull, one of the founders of Pixar. This book really motivated me to stop dreaming and start doing. One of the sections that struck me was how long it took them to come up with some of the characters and storylines for their blockbuster hits. Knowing this gave me permission to try something new.
Over the last five months, I developed the names, the characters and the storylines for “The Opus Joyous Show” and I’m sure there will be new inspirations and modifications along the way.
DC: What does success for this project look like for you?
JT: Step by step. I’m aiming towards one success at a time. The first thing I needed to do was make an effort and move out of the dreaming stage. This was a success. Then I developed a storyline and characters and produced a number of demo scenes to test out the concept.
Next, I committed to running a crowdfunding campaign as a means to raise the initial startup funds to produce the show.
The next major success would be meeting my funding goal by its end date, which is Dec. 25. I’m praying that people who believe in this project and are excited about it will consider backing it on Kickstarter.
If I meet my Kickstarter goal, that would be a dream come true. The ultimate success for this project would be creating a new, imaginative Catholic video series that catechists, teachers, families and children are excited about.
God’s will be done.
For more information, or if you want to see this show become a reality, you can visit his Kickstarter page at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/opusjoyous/the-opus-joyous-show-catholic-video-series-for-kid