Could a British film about religion reach mainstream audiences? Albion Productions intends to find out. The Christian feature film production company is a small-scale, local response to developments in Hollywood such as the formation of Walden Media (the makers of The Chronicles of Narnia ) and FoxFaith — a division of Twentieth Century Fox — in the wake of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ .

Founded by David Fairman and Jon-Paul Gates, Albion claims to be in negotiations with a US financier, Hannibal Pictures, and boasts letters of support from leading British Christians, including Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster.

A photographer and advertising director, Fairman moved into feature film-making in 2000 with Cold Fish , a psychological thriller, and has since directed and co-produced two more features, Lighthouse Hill (2002) and Messages (2005). All have enjoyed releases most charitably described as “modest”.

He is adamant that Albion’s releases will appeal to religious and secular viewers alike: “I want them to reach out to the broadest audience possible," he says.

For Fairman and Gates, as for so many Christians in the entertainment industry, the tide turned in spring 2004, with the release of Gibson’s Biblical epic: a film that was dismissed during its production as a folie de grandeur yet went on to become the most successful independent picture in history.

But might the global success of The Passion not be considered a broader socio-cultural phenomenon — a historical blockbuster that also happened to be religious in theme — rather than a strictly evangelical one? “Whatever you say, a movie in Aramaic is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a typical blockbuster," Fairman says. “ The Passion showed that people are crying out for movies that have a spiritual message that nourishes the soul. People need more of it, and Darkness into Light ” — Albion's first planned feature, the story of a man who goes on a modern quest to find “the truth behind resurrection” — “will provide that”.

So far, though, Albion is operating on little more than the good wishes of its supporters. Apart from Darkness into Light there is no slate of features. “As the company gears up,” Fairman explains, “we’ll be seeking to work with Christian film companies in the US and Europe to build up our production slate.”

Nor is any talent yet attached, although Fairman notes that “we’ve always been successful at getting great names in the past — people like Jason Flemyng [ Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels ] or Jeff Fahey [currently starring in Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse ]."

His optimism is commendable and his enthusiasm infectious — but is it enough?

There’s no denying that the religious market is a lucrative one: in America alone Christian books, music and DVDs currently earn over $4 billion (£2 billion) a year. But Christian movies have long struggled to eke out a space in commercial cinemas, relying instead on a network of church and community group-organised screenings, often in church halls. Most of their revenue comes not from theatrical grosses, but DVD sales.

Fairman, though, is undaunted: “Audiences for films with a moral message are growing every day," he says. “In the US, for instance, there’s a core audience for such films. So we can start with a platform release, and then build up from there."

In support of his argument, he cites a recent report in Variety , the trade magazine, which stated that “approximately 58 per cent of Americans qualify as ‘frequent churchgoers’, attending religious services at least once a month (that’s 128 million adults, plus their kids)" — although he does concede that “theatrical releases are much tougher in Britain. The market is crowded, and advertising costs are so huge.”

But Variety’s report also notes that, given the diversity of the Christian audience — split between Protestants, Catholics, evangelicals, charismatics, and so on — it’s almost impossible to devise a universal marketing strategy.

The solution might lie in satisfying secular audience expectations, rather than simply preaching to the converted. For example, The Chronicles of Narnia — the work of C. S. Lewis, an avowedly Christian author, and produced by the Christian-friendly Walden Media — was a massive worldwide success. It worked, critics claim, not only because of its bigger budget and higher production values, but because it veiled its religious subtext.

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