When artist Chris Koelle first began working on Job the Film, it seemed as if it was not going to happen. In 2008, the company he worked for produced a sample animation to show how it would produce a full-length animated adaptation of John Piper’s poem “The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God.”
“We put a ton of thought, care and hard work into the sample,” Koelle said, but “a full-length film at that level of production cost just wasn’t feasible.”
Instead, Koelle was asked to draw an illustrated edition of the book, which sold out quickly. “In the fall of 2011, while working nonstop on The Book of Revelation graphic novel, I was still getting emails on a pretty regular basis about the Job book,” Koelle said. “My friend had the vision to bring back the Job story as an animated Ken Burns-style movie, using the existing artwork and Piper’s reading of the poem on CD from the original publication.”
After pitching the idea to the poem’s publisher, they began work again. Koelle co-directed the movie with Danny McNight, who animated it using Koelle’s illustrations.
Job the Film is now available as a digital download from iTunes and on DVD from their website, where churches and small groups also can schedule a free showing of the 45-minute movie.
The first run of DVDs sold out, but a second run recently was printed. “I’m thrilled that we’ve been able to bring it back and get it in people’s hands again,” Koelle said, because of the response Job the Film has prompted. “We regularly receive messages from viewers who, through the message of the film, have been able to see Jesus, the suffering Savior, more clearly and treasure Him more deeply in the midst of pain. It’s this kind of faith-building, Christ-exalting response that we love to see from people who have experienced the film.”