Hello church organisers!

Here you’ll find images and copy to help you tell your community about Breaking Day.

Breaking Day Film

Here it is on the Riding Lights YouTube. You may share this link directly with your community.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Nb3Go-0GA

Here it is on our Vimeo. This is meant ONLY for churches planning to download the video and add to your own platform as an unlisted video.
https://vimeo.com/524145329/0d16f33d95

The film in three parts will appear here on 17 March.

Breaking Day Reflections
Optional prayers to use during the screening.
2021 Breaking Day prayer material

Please click the link and wait for a box to open. Click Open or Save.

Breaking Day Programme

Breaking Day programme

Breaking Day Images (variety of sizes including for social media)

Graphics– ZIP File

Please click the link and wait for a box to open. Click Save. They’ll be in your Downloads folder, where you can extract the contents and save to your computer.

Breaking Day Copy

Full copy:

As day begins to break on Good Friday, the occupying Governor’s tenuous grip on authority is slipping. It’s festival time in Jerusalem but his wife is plagued with disturbing dreams. Amid the demands of the Sanhedrin and the murderous cries of the mob, the lines between personal and political in Pilate’s house start to blur.  The teacher at the centre of it all remains silent.

Confused by the hopes and fears of her people, a Jewish servant in the Praetorium, clearly knows more than she should. Pilate wrestles with a quandary of his own devising while outside momentum is gathering – the power of the Capitol in tension with the will of the people. 

With stark intimacy, Breaking Day casts a surprising light on the death of Jesus from inside the Governor’s household, immersing us in the decisions that led to crucifixion. Filmed remotely in an innovative lockdown style, Breaking Day is a virtual passion play for Easter 2021.

[ADD CHURCH DETAILS HERE – include date/time of access, sign-up process, and your church contact information.]

 

Short copy (suitable for social media):

As day begins to break on Good Friday, the occupying Governor’s tenuous grip on authority is slipping. It’s festival time in Jerusalem but his wife is plagued with disturbing dreams and his Jewish servant clearly knows more than she should. Between the demands of the Sanhedrin and the murderous cries of the mob, the lines between personal and political in Pilate’s house begin to blur.  The power of the Capitol stands in tension with the will of the people, but the teacher at the centre of it all remains silent.

Filmed remotely in lockdown, Breaking Day is an innovative passion play for Easter 2021, immersing us with stark intimacy in decisions that led to crucifixion.

[ADD CHURCH DETAILS HERE – include date/time of access, sign-up process, and your church contact information.]

Trailer

https://youtu.be/XPJ4BlDgTkc

If you wish to embed the video on your church website, here is the embed code:

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/XPJ4BlDgTkc” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen></iframe>

Social Media

Here are links to Riding Lights’ posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for your church platforms to use and share:

Post with Trailer

https://www.facebook.com/ridinglights/posts/10159500022881019
https://twitter.com/ridinglights/status/1366342702321836033
https://www.instagram.com/p/CL34N_cHTEL/

 

When will the play be available?

The licence allows the performance to be streamed at any time between 15 March and 15 April 2021.

How does the licence work?

Riding Lights has a sliding scale for individual churches based on their regular size. Once purchased, you may share the performance as widely as you like, adhering to the licence terms. You may invite others outside your church to watch it as outreach, or offer it to your church family to enjoy together as part of your Easter celebrations. You may offer it for free, or sell tickets (see tickets question below).

Who is ‘Breaking Day’ suitable for?

It is a play for adults and has a guidance rating of 11+.  Under 16s should watch it with an adult.

How will we share the play with our community?

You will be able to add it as an unlisted video to your church YouTube channel. This means it won’t appear publicly on your YouTube channel, but can be accessed using the direct URL link.

To encourage that sense of participating together, we recommend you set a time to watch it together (with the option for people to catch-up afterwards), but you may also offer it for people to watch in their own time.

Alternatively, you can share the film on the Riding Lights YouTube channel if you don’t have your own.

To comply with the requirements of the licence and protect the intellectual property rights of Riding Lights it must be an unlisted video. After 15 April the video should be removed from your platform.

Can church members share the link?

Yes. Churches are asked to keep some kind of record of how widely their unlisted link is shared by a simple sign up form, if sharing outside of the regular mailing list.

Can we intersperse with reflections or prayers?

Yes.  Riding Lights will provide short reflections for a member of your community to lead before, after and in between the acts. If you would like to use these, the film will be provided to download in three parts with instructions about how to insert your reflections to make one video file, which can then be used online or at in person screenings under the same conditions outlined above. Do take into account that this will make the run time of the play longer.

Can I share it via Zoom?

The licence allows you to watch it together on Zoom or other video calling software, but not through screen sharing. This is to ensure the best possible quality depending on local connectivity.

You can send the link to everyone in advance of the video call, asking them to open it in a web browser to begin watching at the same time. Your group can then watch it all the way through, coming back to the Zoom at the end, or pausing at the end of each act to take part in a reflection on the Zoom call. They can stay on Zoom whilst watching the play but everyone should be muted.

How do we manage the reflections on Zoom?

The breaks between acts will be marked with a few seconds of blank screen. We will provide the length of each act in the YouTube description so your viewers know when to pause their viewing if returning to a Zoom for a reflection.

Viewers will finish each section at slightly different times. You can ask the group to turn their cameras off while watching, then put them back on to signify when they have finished a section. Alternatively the group might use a reaction button to indicate they’ve finished, or write in the chat.

The person leading the reflection can use this indication to know when to unmute themselves and begin. This will ensure that those still watching are not disturbed by people beginning to talk on the Zoom.

What if I have a technical problem?

Please test access to the film in advance during our company office hours (Monday to Friday 10.30 -4.30pm) to allow time to rectify any problems or issues before you wish to use the links, particularly if you are using them on a weekend.

An emergency number will be supplied if there are problems on the day but we are a small team and cannot guarantee instant help, particularly on Good Friday when most churches will be accessing the film. Please help us minimise these technical issues by doing a test run in advance.

What happens if my in-person screenings are cancelled due to a change in government guidelines?

Please contact Riding Lights as soon as you can. We can help you transfer the event into an online screening or extend the licence terms to allow for a postponement.

I want to sell tickets. How does that work?

Standard ticket price is £10 per household for access over the licence period. Any variance in this pricing must be agreed with Riding Lights.

The church will be responsible for their own box office arrangements. The church will keep 100% of the ticket income up to the equivalent of the booking fee. Any additional income will be split 40:60 between the church and Riding Lights.

It is the responsibility of the venue to run a box office, keep accurate records, and report ticket sales to Riding Lights. On receipt of accurate box office records, Riding Lights will invoice the venue for 60% of the profit.

Can you help with marketing?

Riding Lights will provide images, a trailer, and a description for church notices, as well as a simple press release for your local press. There will also be a programme for people attending your screening.

We also encourage you to share any of the company’s social media posts in connection with ‘Breaking Day’.

Can I see a preview?

We are unable to arrange free previews. It would be normal for film companies to complete their work many months before distribution. The constraints of the pandemic mean that our filming timeline has been very short indeed so the work will not be available to watch until 15 March. When we tour a play we often provide a trailer to give a flavour of the whole piece. This is very similar even though it’s a filmed play rather than a live performance. We will release a trailer in the first week of March.

Once you have ordered the film, you will be able to see it from 15 March.

Breaking Day is available to book for Easter 2022. Please contact Jared in the office on jared@rltc.org if you would like to purchase a licence for group/church use.

More About the Play

Breaking Day is a virtual passion play, originally produced during lockdown for Easter 2021, available to churches to purchase for use. It is a 48 minute play in three acts.

Lockdown was an opportunity to be creatively ambitious, both in church services and with online theatre. Forged in this trying time, Breaking Day offers an intimate, innovative performance of the passion story in which whole communities were able to share together, despite social restrictions. It’s available again this year as a dramatic addition to your Easter programme.

Made for your community

Over the last two years, Riding Lights has developed creative ways to make virtual theatre available to your community. We can help you plan in-person screenings or watch-at-home-together events.

If you would like to include moments of guided worship within your screening, Breaking Day also comes with suggestions for short reflections to use in between the three acts, responding to the themes of the play.

How does the tech work?

The film is hosted privately on Vimeo and YouTube by Riding Lights. Once you’ve signed and returned your licence agreement you will receive an access link. If you would like to insert your own reflections, we can send each of the 3 acts separately to integrate with your other segments.

For the duration of the licence period, you can share it on your online church platform as a private video as well as using it at in-person events.

Costs and Booking

Pricing is on a sliding scale for churches based on the size of your regular congregation (online or in person). Booking includes access to the play and a licence for public use between before the end of April 2022. Buying a licence enables you to share the play as widely as you wish. The price is based on the size of your church, not the number of households you can distribute it to.

We have tried to make Breaking Day affordable to as many communities and individuals as possible. We recognise that some churches have experienced a drop in income as a result of the pandemic and so the fees listed below have been significantly subsidised; our contribution to your Easter reflection and celebration. We hope that you will find the film enlightening, challenging and, ultimately, uplifting and encouraging.

Size of church                Price

2 – 15 households         £55.00
16 – 25 households       £110.00
26 – 60 households       £190.00
61 – 100 households     £425.00
100+ households          £650.00

prices do not include VAT

If the cost is an insurmountable barrier to access, please contact the office for a conversation. Joint bookings of 2 or more churches will benefit from a 10% discount on the fee for each church – you can partner with another church, or involve your local Churches Together to share the experience across your whole community.

Selling Tickets

You can sell tickets for online or in-person events, as you might for a Riding Lights touring theatre show.

If you decide to sell tickets to watch the film (we suggest £10 per household), you will keep 100% of the ticket income up to the equivalent of your booking fee. Any additional income will be split 40:60 between the church and Riding Lights.

You can, of course, make the play available for free to your congregations but you will still need a sign-up process to keep track of who has the access link.

More questions or ready to purchase a licence? Call us on 01904 655317, or email jared@rltc.org.