Pendragon Cycle 11: What Pendragon Tells Us About The Future of Conservative Media

We appear to be almost at the end of these Production Diaries, but I have to say I've been very impressed so far with what I'm seeing. But more than a nice warm blanket of good content, this is far more significant in my view. "How so?," you may ask. Well, let me tell you...

I used to see these all the time (as a filmmaker, myself) because you'll never know what you'll get to learn from the BTS and "making of" documentaries. You could learn a secret technique for finding a great technician or writer, or you could learn the subtleties of shooting miniatures (which is fog, lighting, and frame-rate, if you didn't know). But what you often don't get to see is a new genre for film taking shape. It's a rare thing, indeed.

New film movements can only take place with great craftsmanship, because these are fundamental aspects of great art. They're a requirement! And one of these fundamental crafts in film is acting. So, why do I say this is something so new?

This is the Daily Wire, a conservative, non-woke media company. It is, by necessity, going to shake Hollywood up when this project hits the marketplace, for the simple reason that the mainstream establishment media will unfairly attack it and try to stigmatize it. But with art that is so skillful, this attack will only end up making this show (and DW itself) more infamous. If it were just one or two movies the way DW started out (Run Hide Fight in 2020, and Shut In and Terror on the Prairie in 2022), it could be easy to dismiss this studio, but now it is no longer easy to do so.

The three essential elements to film are: story, camera, and acting. You cannot make even a decent film without all three. These three (in my own film theory) are exemplified through the triune expressions (as used in Aristotle's old Greek academy called the three modes of argumentation) of pathos, ethos, and logos. Pathos is human relatability (appeal to emotion), ethos is the bonifides, the perception of authority, ability, or certification required to gain trust (appeal to authority), and logos is the actual way you accomplish it or the plan by which it's executed (appeal to logic).

This makes pathos the actor's craft in this equation, and it is something that conservative media will require if it plans to effect the culture at all. The logos or logic that we use in our arguments are often enough for us, as conservatives, but they're not enough for the majority of people in order to be persuaded by conservative ideas. And as we do this with "logos" and "pathos" more and more, we will gain applauds and bonifides, leading to strong "ethos." These three forms of argumentation will be necessary if we seek to effect the culture through our art.

And, here we are.

The Daily Wire has proven that they have some of the professionalism (ethos) and well-laid plans (logos) required to bring things into life. This is why they were attacked by the media on the grounds of ethos and pathos. Ethos, because DW's legitimacy can always be disputed by a marketplace that inordinately relies upon political & social virtue signaling, even though it ought to be signaled through solid craft. Pathos, because this mode of persuasion holds such incredible influence in Hollywood, and on their thinking. But now, DW are proving that they have pathos, as well.

Just watch these performances! These actors have serious chops! And additionally, these actors are mostly unknown in Hollywood. It's not that they don't have bonifides. Colin Cunningham has been in Stargate SG-1, Falling Skies, and Preacher and Rose Reid has mostly been in faith-based work, for example. But Hollywood hasn't rewarded them much for these bonifides, just yet. None of them are really stars by Hollywood standards.

Well, that may change after this. It's indisputable in my view, after watching this.

So, I'm seeing all this in the three parts of film? Yes. The three parts of film are essential for us to make a difference in film, in any genre, and of course in any new film movement, so of course one cannot start one without it! This is why faith-based film has never been that strong of an art movement. Many Christians I know do not understand this, but it is required in any cultural movement to really bring change.

You can also see these parts more generally in art as: craft, meaning, and authenticity.

The story (or script) is often weak in faith-based film, as is the acting. The technicals (camera, lighting, sound) have grown stronger in the last twenty years. But, if this is all that we have to show for growth in the past twenty years I find this to be surprisingly anemic, and it's why the faith-based genre had been seen as weaksauce artistically. Until Angel came along, of course. Even faith-based media defenders attacked Angel. Angel was making them look bad, so you have to dump on them to remove their applauds (attack their ethos).

But what we are seeing here with DW is a growth from great technicals (ethos) & writing (logos) to great acting (pathos) as well, in only four years. Their script will likely be exemplary, considering The Pendragon Cycle fantasy novels, so this show may be a sweep of the conservative marketplace (which I call ConWave), just as The Chosen has swept up in the faith-based markets in the last few years, and now Angel is bringing many more films to theaters, this year.

Exciting, indeed!

So, just as I watch Angel Studios and The Chosen to give us exemplary faith-based work now, I will likely continue to watch DW for the best in conservative film, due to this show. It is still unknown whether an additional studio or platform can deliver the quality of Angel or DW in the conservative and faith-based world, but we will continue to watch the skies.

So, while it's true that Loor.tv, The Babylon Bee, Blaze Media, Kappa Studios, GAF/PureFlix, Breitbart, and Epoch TV have all put out an effort into these two marketplaces, none have come close to the work of these two studios.

I hope you will continue to stay tuned to our work here so we can update you on whenever these companies do something new. As we continue to support this work, they will continue to start replacing Hollywood entirely, and we will continue to replace many of the Hollywood media publications.

Did you enjoy this article? Do you enjoy seeing DW make waves in the ConWave movement with their new work, The Pendragon Cycle? Let us know your thoughts down below (with subscription) or on our social medias!