International Production

An important question we are frequently asked is:

"Can video courses made in one part of the world, be properly used in another part of the world?"

"The answer is: yes, provided they are made through and for co-production!"

The Housetop video courses have been specially made as co-productions.

This means that throughout the planning, writing and filming, we kept the need of local adaptation in other parts of the world firmly in mind.

• On all our videos we use story and dramatization.
  We did this because research has shown that people everywhere can enter a story that reflects a genuine human experience.
• To avoid any form of neo-colonialism, the stories were filmed among Christian communities in all continents: Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America. The filming was done by our Christian partners in those countries.
• Before filming, we sent our scripts out to 160 feedback advisers all over the world.
  They are pastoral leaders, theologians, sociologists and religious educators who can judge how the story will be understood by their own people.
• To avoid the need of lip-sync, the stories are told with the help of voice-over narration.
  We have kept the voice-over sound track separate from music & effects, so that it is easy to dub the production into a new language.
• Our Masters are of the highest quality and can be converted into any required format: PAL, SECAM or NTSC without loss of quality.

The international cooperation that has gone into the production of our Housetop videos gives them a uniquely 'catholic' dimension. It enables participants to transcend the narrow boundaries of local experience, and embrace a wider and profounder vision of faith.

For a more technical and theological discussion of responsible Christian co-production, click here.