Missionary in Hollywood
Matthew Crouch sees his films filling a need for religious-themed entertainment. It's a niche that almost seems heaven-sent. The funding is from a higher source too: Crouch's parents at TBN.

By William Lobdell and Stuart Pfeifer, Times Staff Writers
October 23, 2006 

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Matthew Crouch, 44, could use a box-office hit. Of his first three movies, none has turned a profit, although his 1999 movie, an apocalyptic thriller called "The Omega Code," is credited by some for showing Hollywood the potential of Christian-themed films, leading to such hits as "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and "The Passion of the Christ." Crouch's small, publicly traded company is struggling, having lost nearly $3.7 million last year, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Even so, Crouch's ties to his parents' cash-rich ministry — which operates the world's largest religious broadcasting company — may help explain why he never had to take a vow of poverty. He owns a Hollywood Hills mansion. He and his wife, Laurie, have eight vehicles, including a $240,000 Bentley Arnage.

For fun, Matthew Crouch hunts big game with a bow and arrow in Alaska and at a private reserve in Texas and displays his trophies — stuffed elk, gazelle and ram heads — on his study wall.

In many ways, Crouch and his company, Gener8Xion Entertainment, are Hollywood anomalies. He hasn't had to look further than his parents — with their tax-free donor base and worldwide television reach — to bankroll and market his movies. In other ways, the stereotype of a Hollywood producer fits snugly. Friends and foes describe him, by turns, as charismatic, arrogant, charming, ruthless, visionary and greedy.