Sharpened Iron Studios prepares for future faith-based productions

After he thought he was out of the entertainment industry for good after going into politics, Sean Doherty had a dream one night that outlined his future.

“I was convinced I would never be in the entertainment industry ever again,” he said. “So, this dream I had last June, I was making Christian films here in Amarillo.”

At the time, Doherty did not think anything of the dream. But on a plane ride from Washington D.C. to Amarillo, he heard God speaking to him once again through a song by the Christian band Casting Crowns.

“The song ‘What If I Gave Everything’ came on,” Doherty said. “The first part of that song goes, ‘All my life, I longed to be a hero, my sword raised high, (running to the) battle. I was gonna take giants down, be a man you’d write about, deep in my chest (is) the heart of a warrior. So why am I still standing here?’

“I awoke with such a start that the flight attendant who was walking by literally jumped… I pulled out my notepad and wrote what would ultimately be the mission, vision statement and business plan for Sharpened Iron Studios. God literally said, ‘You are going to do something different.’”

Now, through God’s calling, Doherty has returned to an industry he never thought he would return to: the one that he and his sister Shannon, of “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Heathers” fame, began in.

And Doherty is bringing that industry to Amarillo and hopes to transform the city into the “faith-based entertainment hub of the world.”

Sharpened Iron Studios, located at the downtown campus of Amarillo College, just wrapped filming of its first short film “Iridis,” which will premiere with the groundbreaking of the studio and the college’s Innovation Hub later this year. This comes after the studio entered into an agreement with the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation that will help fund the construction of a 22,000-square-foot production film studio.

“It’s the perfect place for, not only a film studio, but a faith-based film studio,” he said. “One of the things I love being at the (Amarillo College) downtown campus and the vision we plan for this facility is that we are surrounded by the four major downtown churches. I know we are going to be wrapped in prayer.”

Devenie Graham, the artistic director of Sharpened Iron Studios, said the Texas Panhandle has stories that people want to see and the goal of the studio is to do it with the highest quality.

“A lot of the faith-based films and shows that you see are very cheesy,” she said. “That is not life. You can ask anyone in the world who has faith that it is the hardest thing that you will do, and your morals and your ethics are constantly questioned. We want to portray that there are real moments and the stories that we tell, yes some of them are lovely and nice, but they are not cheesy. They are very real… These are stories that people need to see and work with and say hey, this is a quality show, this is a quality movie. This is real life stuff.”

Eventually, through the partnership with Amarillo College and its new film and production arts program, Graham said Sharpened Iron will give students the opportunity to have hands-on experience in a professional studio atmosphere.

The program, which Graham is spearheading, is scheduled to begin in Fall 2021.

But with the filming wrapped on the studio’s first short film, Doherty said Sharpened Iron is already working on its first feature film “Tipping Point: The Bonton Farms Story.”

With the studio’s first television series, Doherty said he wants to showcase Amarillo in a different way, being one of the “main characters” in a detective series, incorporating locations like Hodgetown, Amarillo College, The Big Texan as well as the Amarillo Police Department.

“The concept (for the television series) is the lead character is Rudy. He’s an undercover cop and has been an undercover cop for 20-25 years. He finds Christ and wants to renew his relationship with his daughter,” Doherty said. “At the same time, he gets an assignment to go undercover in a Dallas prison to get close to a cartel underboss but the idea is to get to the boss so that we can shut down the drug and sex trade they are doing up and down I-40.”

Doherty wants to show people that Amarillo is not just a “Cowtown” or an “oil and gas town” and how much culture is within the city limits.

Doherty’s vision is for downtown Amarillo to turn into an entertainment hub. But with the studio being faith-based, prayer from the surrounding communities will help bolster Sharpened Iron.

“To have a community that has such a strong faith to it itself is the foundation for us,” he said. “We are not here to just be another studio. We have a very specific calling, a very specific mission.”

For more information about the plans for Sharpened Iron Studios, visit its Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/SharpenedIronStudios.