Blue Like Jazz (film)

Cast

• Marshall Allman as Donald "Don" Miller
• Claire Holt as Penny
• Jason Marsden as Kenny
• Tania Raymonde as Lauryn
• Eric Lange as The Hobo
• Justin Welborn as The Pope
• Natalia Dyer as Grace

Production

Steve Taylor pitched the film to investors for four years until two investors, one from Seattle and one from Los Angeles, agreed to sign on for $250,000 each. The day before pre-production, the Los Angeles investor backed out and the film was scratched. When Donald Miller posted on his personal blog that the film was to be cancelled, however, two readers from Tennessee announced that they would raise the remaining required funds by way of the Kickstarter website.

According to Yancey Strickler, one of the founders of Kickstarter, only six films had ever raised more than $100,000 through the website as of May 2011. Taylor didn't believe that this fundraising effort would work, so he agreed to personally call and thank every donator of more than $10 if they met the target goal of $125,000. By October 2010, $345,992 had been donated through the website towards the film. Considering so much money had been raised through Kickstarter, the backer from Seattle matched that amount and contributed even more. Taylor was able to shoot the film for $750,000 and have an extra $500,000 left for post-production.

By May 2011, Taylor had personally called and thanked half of the 3,300 people who donated more than $10 through Kickstarter. He had called the remainder by April 2012. Blue Like Jazz: The Movie was the second most successful Kickstarter fundraiser in 2010.

Miller's 2009 book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years is based on his experience of revising his memoir into the screenplay for this film.

Filming took place in Nashville, Tennessee and Portland, Oregon.

Release

The film had its world premiere as an official selection of the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 13, 2012. It was released in theaters on April 13, 2012 through Roadside Attractions. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 7, 2012 in the United States and Canada.

Reception

For The New York Times, Rachel Saltz wrote that "Don's crisis of faith, which should be the movie's core and engine, is never really convincing."{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/13/movies/blue-like-jazz-directed-by-steve-taylor.html?partner=rss&emc=rss |access-date=August 11, 2025}} In his review for San Francisco Chronicle, David Lewis concluded his comment by stating that "In a genre in which preaching to the choir seems to be the norm, this film is a welcome entry."{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Blue-Like-Jazz-Off-to-college-back-to-church-3478001.php |access-date=August 11, 2025}}

References

References

1. Henry O. Arnold. (2009). "Kabul 24". Thomas Nelson Inc.
2. Ira Boudway. (May 26, 2011). "Kickstarter: Financing Small Movies Online". Bloomberg Businessweek.
3. Mark Moring. (May 25, 2011). "Our Film . . . Is an Awesome Film". Christianity Today.
4. "Blue Like Jazz (2012)".
5. "Blue Like Jazz". Schedule.sxsw.com.
6. (March 10, 2012). "'Blue Like Jazz' to Premiere at Film Festival in Texas Before Nationwide Release, Christian News". Christianpost.com.
7. (2012-02-21). "Roadside Acquires 'Blue Like Jazz' Before SXSW Premiere". Indiewire.