Daniel Kooman | Writing and Directing Inspiring Stories

Secrets to creativity and engaging audience imagination
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What does it take to write or direct an inspiring story? Are there ways I can increase my creative output or engage my imagination in my daily life? I share some of the treasures I've unearthed through storytelling, talk about films I made, films I watched, books or scripts I've written, and share a few stories from my life that will engage your own creativity. I also read excerpts from my latest written works and talk about the films I've directed. danielkooman.substack.com

  1. Sep 14

    WATCH an Exclusive Clip from Daniel

    Daniel and the Fiery Furnace opens this Friday. Sneak previews in 1000 theaters across USA begin Thursday afternoon, and tickets can be reserved now for screenings throughout the weekend. If you don’t see your theater, please check again throughout the day as a few hundred more are added over the next 24 hours. Of course if you’re Canadian you’ll have to wait a little longer. Canadian screens will post local showtimes Tuesday afternoon. Keep checking your listings, and if you’re not satisfied with the result, please let your local theater owner you want Daniel to show there. It’s been a 20-year journey in filmmaking and 3-year journey through the Book of Daniel to reach this milestone. And to finally be able to share it with you is a real gift. Many of you have prayed it forward, and some have also invested to make it a reality. In other words, without you (you know who you are!), there would be no Daniel and the Fiery Furnace. Thank you for following the journey. Now that it’s finally opening I ask for your prayers once more: that the impact of the film will be global, that faith will rise in real life 2026 Daniel’s, Hananiah’s, Mishael’s and Azariah’s. And that a generation (young and old) will turn to the scroll of Daniel and the entire Book of Scripture for hope, guidance and wisdom. May the God of peace be with you and your loved ones this week. And if you want to see Scripture on Screen, please make your move right now. Book at least 2 tickets to see Daniel come to life on screen this weekend. If you don’t go to see it in cinemas, films like this will not continue to be made. With sincere thanks for your prayers and support. Keep Breathing,Daniel Kooman Don’t forget to grab the free Bible study guide or sermon series from our website. Over 100,000 others have already downloaded these resources for encouragement and help through the book of Daniel. I pray they encourage your faith, and add fuel to the fire that God has lit in your life. Get full access to Breath of Life by Daniel Kooman at danielkooman.substack.com/subscribe

    WATCH an Exclusive Clip from Daniel

  2. Aug 31

    WATCH: The Heart of DANIEL

    What do The Kooman Brothers, Michael W. Smith, Disney’s Aladdin, The Chosen’s fan favorite Atticus, TobyMac, and Thousand Foot Krutch all have in common? We are all huge fans of the Bible. And all of the above are part of the upcoming release Daniel and the Fiery Furnace. There are thousands of people buying their tickets in advance to watch Daniel on opening weekend, with sneak previews September 17th and wide opening release exclusively in theaters September 18th. And you can be one of them. It makes all the difference for the number of theaters that this Biblical epic will screen in, if you purchase seats in advance, and you can help ensure maximum reach in just 3 weeks, when the movie opens across North America. US audiences can reserve seats now, and Canadians can reserve seats beginning September 13th. Buy your tickets now, and use the code DANIEL10 in the promo code field at checkout to get a 10th ticket free when you buy 9. This is a perfect movie for your Bible study, small group or church community. And this ticket promotion helps to make it a little more affordable for everyone, or serves as a gifted ticket for someone in your community. Thanks for being part of this 3 year journey to bring Scripture to Screen with us. And for many of you, I’m excited that when you get in the movie theater you’ll also find your name scrolling in the end credits. You helped to make it possible. I truly appreciate your prayers, as will our entire team, when you lift us up over the next 3 weeks. Crunch time has rarely been crunchier. And the fruit is going to be sweet, when God gets all the glory and many souls are added to the Kingdom. The Word of God is living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword. And the Word of God will not return to Him empty, but it will achieve the purpose for which Yahweh sent it. Let’s band together to ensure the maximum number of moviegoers are in the Theater to watch Daniel, Jeremiah, King Nebuchadnezzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego come to life in cinemas. With sincere gratitude for your support. Don’t forget to reserve your tickets. Keep Breathing,Daniel Kooman PS Share this post/email with a friend so that they know they can get into a theater to be inspired by Scripture on Screen. Get full access to Breath of Life by Daniel Kooman at danielkooman.substack.com/subscribe

    WATCH: The Heart of DANIEL

  3. Jan 5

    New Year, New Breath!

    The Universe began when God the Creator of everything said, “Let there be light.” As the wonder of the world came to life with all its intricate beauty, the most miraculous moment had yet to become reality. In this must-see clip, Jen Ledger of Skillet explains the glory at work in God’s hands as Sculptor. “I love how God is described as a sculptor, a Creator, He wants us to see how glorious He is but also just how creative He is.” As remarkable as the Universe is, the thing that should bring us the most amazement and wonder, is the idea that God has made us in His image. The Biblical text uses three Hebrew words for God bringing into existence human beings. He made us. He created us. And then the author of Genesis uses the word Yawtsar in the Hebrew which is a combination of make and create, making the point that the physical bodies that we have have are not brand new. Other animals have physical bodies but there’s something about us that is brand new that never existed before. The word Yawtsar literally means, ‘through the squeezing into shape, to mold into a form, especially as a Potter.’ The author is describing how God - the Father of Adam - formed His son and shaped his being by kneading him together with raw materials, literally the dust of the Earth, as a potter or a sculptor works with clay. Yahweh was Adam’s actual father as we see in the genealogy from Luke 3. “The son of Seth, the son of Adam, the Son of God.” God gives him the name Adam which sounds like the Hebrew word Adamah meaning dirt. Inside His garden studio, Yahweh is found at the height of creative expression, sculpting his Masterpiece. “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being.” God created Adam in such an intimate and personal way to show us that He has made each of us in an intimate and personal way. He’s knit us together in our mother’s womb and he knows us intimately. He longs for friendship and relationship with us, as a Father to a son. I hope you enjoy Breath of Life as you start the new year. You can stream the full 4-part series exclusively on UnveilTV. Paid subscribers enjoy it free in the bundle that comes with membership. OR, Free subscribers to this newsletter can gain access with either a paid upgrade to this newsletter, or by signing up for UnveilTV here. The inspiring series features Dallas Jenkins, Skillet, Kim Walker-Smith, Thousand Foot Krutch, Rabbi Schneider, Dr. Hugh Ross and many more. Keep Breathing,Daniel Kooman Watch the full Series Today! Get full access to Breath of Life by Daniel Kooman at danielkooman.substack.com/subscribe

  4. 04/21/2025

    The Nine Day Journey to Babylon

    In the coming weeks, I will be sharing and unpacking and meditating over new revelations from inspiring women in Scripture. If you missed last weeks post, I had a lot of feedback and personal emails about Sarah, the first chapter entry in the new book, Volume 2 of The God Who Hides. You can read it first by clicking below. In the meantime, you’ll thank me later for this post, because when you invest in DANIEL, you not only get your name in the credits of the must-see Bible movie of 2026. You also support my brothers and I as we forge ahead with our most audacious project yet, with our eyes on millions impacted, and millions in box office. This will be our first movie seen North-America wide, on the BIG SCREEN. And you can be a key reason why it all happened. You will have a huge smile on your face when you watch the film in theaters, or pause the stream on Netflix or Amazon to point out your name in the credits to a relative or friend. But don’t take our word for it. The last 3 Bible releases either trended Top 3 on Amazon Prime, or top three in theaters nationwide…or BOTH! The appetite for Biblical cinema has never been bigger, and we are perfectly timed for the early 2026 release of this epic and timeless story about four young men who stood for the Truth. Did I mention that our conversations with Key Cast for the movie are on fire? You will probably do three backflips when you hear the actors we are negotiating final terms with. The names of the full cast on Daniel are hotter than the fiery furnace. But none of the above means as much as the key point. A faithful adaptation of Holy Scripture does what all the apostles and prophets ultimately admonished us to do as followers of Christ. THE FILM WILL GLORIFY GOD! And on Easter Monday, there are few things more exciting than the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy that honors the Lord and leads audiences to God, and into a deeper dive in Holy Scripture. We are privileged to be in the cross-section of faith, Scripture and modern media. Going back to the ancient paths, featuring the timeless true story of Daniel’s faith, is sure to challenge, uplift and inspire. Will you join us? If you are in BC, AB or ON, just respond to this email, or direct your inquiry about investment to productions@unveilstudios.com (because the crowdfund portal doesn’t work online from those 3 locations). For everyone else, you have 9 days left to invest through our Registered Crowdfund here. We just flew passed $727,000 raised, and we can’t reach our stretch goal without YOU. All glory to God, this is one of the most successful faith film crowdfunds of all time. And when we get to $745K on the raise (18K away) we get a HUGE BOOST through a marketing push by the crowdfund site. In other words, your impact will be magnified even further right now, due to the heights we’ve risen during this campaign. It’s a story of faith, and when we add our faith to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah’s, we reach more people with the good news, that a God once hidden is clearly revealed, even tangibly visible, to those who believe. Thank you for praying and partnering with this timeless film. The best is yet to come! HAPPY EASTER. Our Savior has conquered our two greatest foes: sin and death. Keep Breathing,Daniel Kooman PS Share the new teaser trailer on this post with a family member or friend, and help us reach a wider audience! You can also find it and share it from our Youtube channel here Get full access to Breath of Life by Daniel Kooman at danielkooman.substack.com/subscribe

    The Nine Day Journey to Babylon

  5. 03/17/2025

    Overseas and Overjoyed

    In the early hours, we are off, another flight scheduled before sunrise. Why is it always BEFORE sunrise? We are embarking on a long-planned mission, continuing pre-production, planning and film preparations in India for our Biblical Daniel film. Prayers are so valuable as we travel far, experience high temperatures, long travel days, logistical challenges and yes, eat delicious new food. Please keep the Daniel film and every member involved in the movie’s actualization in your prayers as we work with a team of talented individuals from every creative discipline and background, combining hundreds of years of filmmaking experience with a common vision: to make the must-see Biblical epic of our generation, to inspire millions to STAND FOR THE TRUTH. Are we dreaming big enough? If you haven’t joined us yet, and put your name in the credits of this epic new Bible movie, here are two ways you can partner today: * Join the 360+ investors crowdfunding us to $625,000 and counting. Even though we’ve extended it, the campaign closes in 40 days! The time is now. * Make a one-time gift, if you don’t have an interest in the crowdfund investment or prefer to contribute this way (without a tax receipt). We will make sure your name is in the credits, because we can’t do this without you. Both options make our travel and pre-production possible, and help bring a must-see Bible movie to life. We might even be able to grab a mango lassi thanks to you. We sincerely appreciate your partnership, prayers and encouragements. Keep Breathing,Daniel Kooman Get full access to Breath of Life by Daniel Kooman at danielkooman.substack.com/subscribe

  6. 08/19/2024

    Stand For the Truth

    Daniel, the hero in the Bible, stood for something. And I am so inspired by his tale of courage and faithfulness, that my brothers and I have decided to stand with him. You might feel like you’ve heard a lot of Daniel chatter lately. But I implore you to read a little further for an important update about the project. This is a critical tipping point for our movie on the beloved Biblical character. Daniel Kooman explains ‘why Daniel’s story needs to be told (in 30 seconds) Matthew Kooman explains why Daniel's story needs to be told (in 30 seconds) As we continue to develop the movie, we are seeking partners. We have some big partnerships brewing right now that we plan to announce soon. But there are also significant details that are hanging in the balance, and we are asking for you to join us in the most important way - so that our momentum really carries us forward with strength. Will you Pray for us - and our Film? There’s a line in our movie SHE HAS A NAME where Marta, a lawyer working to rescue real victims of human trafficking asks Jason, working undercover to rescue a young Cambodian, to do ‘the one thing you can do in this line of work.’ “What’s that,” Jason replies, looking defeated. Marta simply replies, “PRAY.” When it seems like there is nothing left to be done, there is but ONE thing we must do. And that is pray. If each one of my weekly readers prayed for 3 minutes after reading this post, we would bank 10,000 minutes of prayer TODAY for the Daniel movie. That is 168.25 hours. Which is SEVEN DAYS OF PRAYER! It’s a great example of how the Body can lift a big load, if we lift together. Daniel prayed like few other followers of Yahweh in Scripture. Today with absolute sincerity, I’m asking for your partnership in prayer as a way of honouring and continuing his legacy of faith. Here are 6 simple but key requests for you to pray with us - please take 3-5 minutes to join with the others reading this right now: * That we would see the key partners we are in talks with about the movie come officially on board - this month! * That we would shatter past our next milestone of $6,000 on the Crowdfund we launched on WeFunder a couple weeks ago * That we would gain favour with key cast that will take the movie to an even higher level. * That we will see our vision fulfilled to film the movie by or before March 2025, and that the logistics of filming in India will be blessed. * Pray that our core team of The Kooman Brothers and our producer Travis (he produced I Can Only Imagine) will be encouraged, empowered, and have endurance. * Pray that our marketing team Collide Media will feel joy, strength, and energy as they build a following for the film to have maximum impact. I look forward to reporting back in a couple of weeks, to see what 7 days of prayer, by believers AROUND THE WORLD reading this newsletter has done. I do not take prayer lightly, for it is a mighty weapon by which the Bible reveals we can DESTROY STRONGHOLDS. If you believe with me for something beautiful to be filmed by Unveil Studios that honour’s the legacy of a champion in the faith, please pray with us and blow some serious wind of encouragement and grace our way. It means the world. Keep Breathing, Daniel Kooman Get full access to Breath of Life by Daniel Kooman at danielkooman.substack.com/subscribe

  7. 07/08/2024

    Crowd-Funding Launch for DANIEL

    It’s my birthday this week. Just the right time to birth something new. Which is why I’m thrilled to announce the crowdfunding equity campaign for DANIEL. You can own a piece of the must-see movie coming to a theater near you in 2025. Daniel is an epic drama from Unveil Studios (She Has A Name), Cobalt Pictures (I Can Only Imagine) and in association with Collide Media (their team is behind some of the biggest faith-based hits of all time). The film will tell the timeless story of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, from a fresh perspective that you haven’t seen before. So far we’ve filmed the first 10% of the movie, but we need your partnership to make the rest of the film this Winter. With your help, we will inspire, challenge, and reach MILLIONS OF PEOPLE. As a frequent reader and supporter, I’m inviting you to take 5 minutes to peruse our crowdfunding campaign, where you can be the first to see the brand new teaser trailer for the film. And hop on board with any amount ($100 and up) to bring this film to the world. As a bonus, you’ll own a piece of the film’s profits and earn the right to share with friends and family that you were part of bringing a timeless Biblical story to life. Together, we can make this timeless and gripping story of faith a reality on film. Thanks for making this birthday about birthing something brand new that will bring a much-needed breath of life into the world. Keep Breathing, Daniel Kooman P.S. If you have any film-specific questions or need help with the crowdfunding portal, drop me a line by responding to this email Get full access to Breath of Life by Daniel Kooman at danielkooman.substack.com/subscribe

  8. 06/24/2024

    Longing for Heaven on Earth

    “Oh how I long for Heaven in a place called Earth.” It’s the opening lyric of Lauren Daigle and Jon Foreman’s song bookending our Tanzania 2024 missions video. It’s been the heart cry of many followers of Christ over the years, as the centrepiece of the Lord’s prayer. “Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.” We saw beautiful glimpses of Heaven on our recent trip with 17 volunteers eager to serve and love the welcoming and kind people of Tanzania. I hope you take 8 minutes to be encouraged by the testimonies captured in this short video. Reach out to me if you’re interested in joining our team in 2025 when we return to share about God’s love and kindness once again. It’s well worth a watch, with stories of healing, salvation and genuine transformation in both the locals and the visitors. When we respond in big and small ways to the call, God’s Kingdom fire burns in every direction. Keep Breathing, Daniel Kooman Get full access to Breath of Life by Daniel Kooman at danielkooman.substack.com/subscribe

    Longing for Heaven on Earth
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What does it take to write or direct an inspiring story? Are there ways I can increase my creative output or engage my imagination in my daily life? I share some of the treasures I've unearthed through storytelling, talk about films I made, films I watched, books or scripts I've written, and share a few stories from my life that will engage your own creativity. I also read excerpts from my latest written works and talk about the films I've directed. danielkooman.substack.com

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