Michael Todd, pastor of Transformation Church in southeast Tulsa, is turning his book on relationships into a movie.
The film “Relationship Goals” is inspired by Todd’s book of the same name. Todd said the idea started as an eight-week series he preached in 2017. Then, he decided to write a book that was published three years later.
“I was just going to be excited that the book was out,” Todd told The Eagle. “And for some reason, the book resonated with a lot of people and really helped them. It went No. 1 New York Times bestseller for multiple weeks, and that let us know there was something there that needed to continue to be exported.”
The movie follows TV producer Leah Caldwell as she competes with her ex, Jarret Roy, for the top position at a New York morning show. It follows Caldwell’s — and her friends’ — journey as they attempt to rediscover their aim in relationships.
Caldwell is played by Kelly Rowland while Clifford “Method Man” Smith plays Roy.
Producer DeVon Franklin said when he saw how the book resonated with people, he felt inspired to turn it into a motion picture.
“I was like, ‘Man, this is kind of like, a spiritual version of ‘Think Like a Man’ a little bit,’” Franklin said, referring to the film based on a 2009 Steve Harvey book. “And so that was my motivation. It was like, alright, let me see if there’s something here that we can do to kind of create a rom com that has purpose to it.”
Franklin, who also produced “Ruth and Boaz,” said this venture is even more unique because of its religious ties.
“When was the last time you saw a mainstream rom com that mentions God and people trying to reconcile their relationship with God as it relates to their dating choices?” he said.
Todd — a father to four daughters — has been out of the dating game for a while. So his experience with “the different apps and sliding into the DMs” (direct messages for the uninitiated) is limited.
“I’m just thankfully married for 16 years, because it seems ghetto in these dead end streets right now, because there’s just so many things that are happening,” he says. Still, he said, the foundations of successful dating don’t change.
“Everybody can win in relationships if they fix their aim,” Todd said. “I think the principles are that if you don’t aim at something, you’ll miss every time, and people aren’t aiming at the right things.”
He said it starts with becoming “OK in your season of singleness.”
“Actually figure out what you desire, what your design is,” he said. “Some people have a list that is so long that it also includes where you can’t take them to eat. And it’s like, hold on, wait a minute, there are things that are outside of your control.”
Both Todd and Franklin say the movie is for everyone seeking “to have purpose in their relationships and in their connection with other people” whether it’s romantic or not — and regardless of their religious makeup.
“Relationship Goals” premieres Feb. 4 on Amazon Prime.
