Director Shari Rigby on What It Means to Be a 'Divine Influencer'
You may recognize Shari Rigby from her star turn as Amy Harrison in the Kendrick Brothers 2019 movie release Overcomer. But what you may not realize is that Rigby has quietly been building an exciting resume as a movie director.
Beginning with the short film Birdie’s Song in 2015 and flowing through to the recently released Identity Crisis, Shari has painstakingly developed a reputation as one of the more talented directors in faith-based film today.
Her latest offering, Divine Influencer, now available on Great American Pure Flix, tells the story of Olivia Golden, an affluent twenty-something influencer who loses the financial support of her parents and is forced to take a job at a local homeless shelter. Along the way, she discovers what it truly means to be an influencer.
I recently sat down with Rigby to discuss the origins of Divine Influencer, what it means to discover the true meaning of influence, and who are some of the greatest influencers in her own life.
For every director, there always seems to be a trigger point, an event or something happens in your life, that says you need to direct this movie! What was that for this film?
I was part of the Dream Center for many years in Los Angeles as my home church, and also the ministry that I worked with. And I was really inspired by the stories and the people who came through the center. I think when my writing and producing partner, Claire Lee and one of the other writers, Susie Eldridge, had been at an event, they pitched this idea of this young homeless woman and how it affected her life. And so, we saw this journey over years of how this movie morphed. I just really felt like it was a story that I wanted to tell and to hopefully, as an influencer for Christ in my world, and in what I do every day. I think you can serve and be an influencer wherever you're at. I wanted people to understand what the power of their influence could be and how they could do it better. I really wanted to make sure that I was a part of that storytelling process.
In this movie, Olivia Golden (Lara Silva, The Chosen) is an entitled influencer who suddenly loses just about everything. For the sake of our conversation, what is an “entitled influencer”?
I think an entitled influencer really becomes that person who's all about self. How is it promoting me? How can I make money off of something? How do I look? It's that filtered life that we live in today that we see so often. I see those as entitled influencers, and a lot of them think that they might be doing better for the world around them. But I think so often what we see is that they're really either selling something or selling an image versus really serving others with those talents and gifts that they've been given.
In the movie, Olivia discovers the true meaning of influence. I’m going to turn the tables on you for a moment. Who or what are some of the key influencers in your life?
I think as long as I can go back, it would've been really my family, a lot of my family. First and foremost, and I know this is probably going to sound corny, but if I don't have Jesus with my cup of coffee every single morning, I'm probably not one who should be out influencing anybody. Then I would say people who really inspired me and influenced my life greatly. That was of course, my mom and my grandmother. I had a grandmother that lived through the Great Depression. She was always a fighter and just never gave up. She would serve people with the little means that she had. And then, in the entertainment industry, I think people like the Kendrick Brothers (Alex and Stephen) have really come alongside me, really elevated me, and poured into me. And then the last thing I would say is the women in my world. I have so many incredible women who walk alongside me in this ministry, who really do sharpen me day in and day out.
In the movie we find that Olivia eventually takes a job at a homeless shelter but quickly discovers the joy and purpose that comes with serving others. Why is this such an important message to convey in the times we are living?
It is so important. We actually live in a culture that tries to tell us that that's what people are doing. But really in essence, the culture that we're living in is really about me, myself, and I, and my own feelings. And so, what we're missing is that God is first, and when we look at what the greatest two commandments are, that the Lord left us with Jesus, is that we are to serve God first, and love others second. Culturally, we've been sold the lie that we think that we're doing that. But the reality is that so many of the people out there today in our world are not doing that well. They're not loving Christ first. They're not serving the Kingdom, and they're not serving others first and foremost. And so, we really do need to show people and share with people that you can do better, you can serve others more. It's not about me, myself and I, it is really about loving people and treating them the way that you would want to be treated. And I think we've got to shift that in the culture, and I think Divine Influencer is a great story to do that with.
After audiences have had a chance to see Divine Influencer, what would you like to see people get out of the viewing experience? What is your greatest hope for the film?
My greatest hope for this movie is really that people, the family unit, will be able to sit down and know that they have a great movie that they can watch, and that there's some topics that they need to talk about. As a family, they can discuss how to do things better. How do they evaluate some of the things that they might already be doing and influencing others in their community? Overall, the message is how are we influencing others in our lives? And we want people to be able to really look at that, to see what they're doing day in and day out. That is the message. I hope this movie spreads deep and wide and people develop a better understanding of how to serve better and love people better.
Watch a Trailer for Divine Influencer:
