Director Mike Norris might be recognised by many as the son of the legendary action hero Chuck Norris, but Mike has already established a name for himself making faith-based films.
One of these is a film he wrote called Mission Air, which is inspired by people who buy airliners in order to deliver Bibles to third world countries.
"It's kind of like a bowl of gumbo," he told Breathe Cast about Mission Air. "There's a lot of little experiences from a number of different people that kind of went into the creation.
"The genesis of the idea came about 15 years ago. I'm a private pilot, I like flying airplanes and I was looking through my notes and saw a treatment about a thing I had written about a wing and a prayer, and I just kind of revamped that idea and turned it into Mission Air," he added.
Mike shared that he grew up in a loving Christian home and he credits his grandmother for leading him to Christianity. His passion for the movie-making industry, on the other hand, grew because of his father.
Mike started out as an actor and he recalls taking a lot of minor roles and really working his way up the Hollywood ladder.
The first time he dabbled in creating faith-based films was with the movie Walker. "We were the first ones to use the name of Jesus in a fictional kind of way on primetime network TV. I was fortunate enough to be the one who directed that," he shared.
After Walker wrapped up, Mike felt invigorated to do more inspiring movies. "I wanted to do films that glorified God but the passion hadn't come out yet. So there's been a lot of trial and error in it," he said. "That wasn't so much from my father, that was something I wanted to do. Getting into the film industry though was definitely because of my father."
Aside from Mission Air, Mike also directed AmeriGeddon, I Am... Gabriel, Maggie's Passage, and The Rage Within.
Mike lamented, however, that the American "church is dying" and that the country has allowed the "enemy" to take over lives and culture. "I think America has let the enemy root in and sink its disgusting talent within the fabric of our society within our children, within me," he said. "I pray for my children. We're living in such ugly times right now."
Mike added that he can only hope to continue living as a true "heir to Jesus Christ" and keep his heart and mind open to what God wants him to do.
