Michael Scott is the co-founder and former CEO of Pure Flix and a film distributor and pioneer in faith-and-family streaming, whose work has generated more than $200 million at the global box office. He recently created EKKL Entertainment with Willie and Korie Robertson (Duck Dynasty) to make a trusted home for entertainment, inspiration, and connection. Scott sat down with The Collision to talk about the origins of this company, his hopes for its future, and his experience as a person of faith in the entertainment industry.
(Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Watch the full conversation above.)
Nyah Phillips: Tell me about eKKL. Where did this idea come from?
Michael Scott: I’ve been looking at the market over the last few years and asking, “What does the faith-based audience and the family-friendly audience really need?”
We realized that there are a lot of movie services out there that stream video, whether it’s Faith and Family or your standard Netflix and everything like that, but there was no central hub for this type of entertainment. We said, “What if we did something different—a multi-vertical platform where you can get all your entertainment in one place?”
We’re bringing movies and television. We’re bringing podcasts. Very shortly after launch, we’ll have audiobooks, prayer, and devotionals. We also have an incredible travel shop and health benefits that bring great discounts to our members, because we’re saying you can do everything inside eKKL. “EKKLevery day” is the idea.
I think people will find something they enjoy. People might watch a movie once a week, but they may love their favorite podcast or whatever it is. They’re going to be able to get all of that here.
Phillips: You started Pure Flix in 2005. How have you seen the industry change in the 20 years since you started?
Scott: What’s interesting is that streaming has been around for a while. When we started, it was just beginning to really take off. What I’ve been most excited about is that the content has gotten so much better. If you go back 15 or 20 years, a lot of it was really cheesy. People would cringe but still watch it. Now I think the content has improved tremendously, especially in movies and television, but also in podcasting and other areas. You’re getting great content that makes you think, makes you laugh, and really moves you. You can feel the production value.
That’s what we want to bring to eKKL—more of that kind of content that people can really get involved with. And it’s not just Christian content. There will also be great family entertainment where you can laugh, have fun with your family, and not have to worry about thinking, “Oh my gosh, what am I going to be confronted with today?”
Phillips: Definitely. And She Dances—is that your first acquisition?
Scott: That’s one of our first acquisitions. It’s got Ethan Hawke, Steven Zahn, and Maddie Ziegler. It’s a great father-daughter movie. If you have girls who are into dance, I think people are going to love it. It’s a touching, heartwarming story, and we want to bring more stories like that. It’ll first go to theaters, and then it’ll come to our streaming service.
Phillips: How have you wrestled with your own faith and remained strong in your relationship with God while living and working in the entertainment industry?
Scott: I’ve been in this industry for a long time—about 20 years. Before I did this, I worked in commercials for a long time. If you remember the “Yo Quiero Taco Bell” commercials, I did a lot of those.
Over the years, it’s been interesting because I’ve always been on the faith-based side once I got into movies and television. Hollywood has always been uncertain about it. It’s like, “We think there’s an audience there. We think there’s money there. How do we get to it? We want it but we don’t want it.”
It goes in cycles. It’s hot for a while, then it’s cold. Then it’s hot again, then it’s cold. It’s like a ping-pong match. They don’t always understand the audience or what they’re looking for. It’s always great when everybody wants faith-based content, and then there are other times when people say, “I don’t want that.” It really does go through cycles.
As for my own faith, I grew up with parents who were pastors, so I grew up in the faith. I always wanted to combine great storytelling with my faith. It’s been a journey. At times it’s been tough because you’re wondering, “Where are we going to get this out? How are we going to get people to see it?” You can get worried or discouraged. But I’ve learned to keep pressing because I know the audience is there, and they’re looking for something great.
It’s one thing to bring somebody a great story. It’s another thing when someone says, “That movie changed my life. I was at a point in my life where this movie made me think differently about what I was doing or how lucky I really was.”
I’ve heard so many testimonies over time of people whose lives have been touched by these movies, and that’s why I’m doing this. That’s what encourages me to keep going, because if I can touch even one life and help change it for the better, I’m all for it.
Phillips: What do you hope eKKL accomplishes once it’s released and widely established? What are your hopes for the company?
Scott: I think it goes back to what I was saying earlier. I want people not only to be entertained, but I want this to touch them in the soul of their being. There’s a lot of entertainment out there, whether it’s Netflix or Disney. But I want people to come to eKKL and say, “Wow, that actually had an impact on me. That built me up.”
So often entertainment can be really dark. It might be really well done, but you leave thinking, “That was cool, but I don’t know how I feel right now.”
I want people to come away saying, “Wow, that uplifted me. That made me think about my life from a totally new perspective.” If we can do that even once, then we’re accomplishing our goals.
Every piece of entertainment reaches people differently. Maybe it’s a podcast and something someone says that really speaks to them. Maybe it’s a movie and a moment where someone says, “I’ve been there. I know what that dark moment feels like, and now I see how someone made it through.”
If we can accomplish that, that’s a huge win. That’s what I’d love to see.
EKKL Entertainment is now available at https://m.ekkl.com/
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source thecollision.org ’
