Bob Beltz was part of a small Wilberforce fan club long before anyone made a movie about him. As associate producer of Amazing Grace, he helped bring to the screen the story of William Wilberforce — the British parliamentarian who put a bill on the floor of Parliament every single year from 1787, watched it fail every single year, nearly had a nervous breakdown at the 10-year mark, and finally saw it pass in 1807. Three days after Parliament abolished slavery in 1833, Wilberforce died. The film is now celebrating its 20th anniversary and is back on Angel and all major platforms.

Persistence, purpose, and the faith that drove a man to start over 90 ministries and make doing good fashionable: Bob shares what drew him to Wilberforce's story, why Christ was at the center of everything Wilberforce did even when the film does not fully show the depth of his devotional life, and what the 1797 defeat — when his opponents bought opera tickets for every pro-vote in Parliament — teaches about perseverance in a culture that expects instant results. He also talks about his decades of work keeping the Narnia films faithful to C.S. Lewis, why they had the rights to all seven books but could only make three films, and why he is nervous about what Netflix might do with the series now.

Highlights

• Why Wilberforce was part of a small fan club before the film and how little most people knew about him
• How he came back to faith through reading the C.S. Lewis equivalent of his day while on vacation with a mathematics professor
• Why both William Pitt and John Newton told him he did not have to choose between politics and faith
• The 1797 defeat when his opponents bought opera tickets for every pro-vote in Parliament and what it did to him
• Why Wilberforce died three days after Parliament finally abolished slavery in 1833
• How the British slave trade was abolished a year before America's, and how slavery itself was abolished 30 years before the U.S.
• The cast of Amazing Grace — none of whom were famous when they were cast — and why the film looks like it was made yesterday
• Bob's role in keeping the Narnia films faithful to C.S. Lewis and why he is nervous about the Netflix version

Resources / Links / CTA

• 🎬 Amazing Grace
• 📖 Book: Real Christianity by Bob Beltz
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