Magnifying Glass Film

The Making of the Resurrection Window

Magnifying Glass is a vigorous, three-year journey about the converging of two artists and three very different communities seeking to make history – the creation of the largest stained-glass window in the world.

Watch the Trailer

This feature-length documentary dives deep into the fascinating relationship of a highly talented, conflicted American protégé and his famous, charismatic, Italian mentor as they struggle to make a masterpiece. It is also an expedition into the hopes and fears of the people who shape a 120-year-old art studio from L.A., a Portland-based fused-glass manufacturing company, and the largest mainline church in America. Along the way, it illuminates the remarkable art form of glass itself, an artistic expression many believe is dying.

Magnifying Glass is a story of great risk – a story that explores profound questions about the intersection of art, faith and business, and reveals what it takes to surmount the overwhelming obstacles that stand in the way of greatness. 

Cast + Crew

Justin Monroe

Director

Imagine if Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Joel Coen, Wes Anderson, and John Hughes all created a filmmaker baby. And then imagine that baby was raised in Oklahoma in the 1980s. If such a person existed, Justin would have forced that kid to be his best friend.

Justin Monroe is deeply inspired by the beauty, brokenness, quirks and humor of the human condition. He has spent the last two decades striving to authentically capture that condition in songs or stories that inspire people to become more than they thought possible.

Both an artist and an entrepreneur, Justin began his creative ventures as a singer in a rock and roll band, touring across the country in a little van, and doing most of his own marketing and booking. After studying film in Oklahoma and Los Angeles, he is now the founder and president of the award-winning production company, Tandem Arts. Justin has directed, written, and produced numerous projects, both dramatic and comedic, since his filmmaking career began in 2005. His recent features include the award winning comedy The Rock ‘n’ Roll Dreams of Duncan Christopher, the 2016 thriller The Unraveling, and the surreal drama  Legume (recently penned). Magnifying Glass is Justin’s first feature-length documentary.

Justin resides in Pasadena, CA, with his wife and two children.

Ryan harnesses technology to tell creative stories. Although he draws on a range of experiences including producing, writing, and event production, he is first and always an editor.

Ryan began his Hollywood career in 2001 at Cary Brokaw’s Avenue Pictures. As a filmmaker and producer, Ryan co-founded a production company, Tandem Arts, in 2004, where he produced and edited award-winning short and feature films, including The Rock ‘n’ Roll Dreams of Duncan Christopher. In 2008, he serves as online editor and trailer editor for the Oscar-nominated documentary The Garden, directed by Scott Hamilton Kennedy.

After moving to New York in 2010, Ryan spent several years at Yahoo! Studios as editor, designer, and producer/director of The Weekly Flickr, a documentary series profiling exceptional photographers and their work. In the nonprofit sector, Ryan produced and edited Ray of Hope, a series of short documentaries about a NGO advancing education and humanitarian development amongst some of Brazil’s poorest Amazonian villages.

Ryan and his family reside in Brooklyn, NY, where he also operates Breve Films, a filmmaking venture with his wife, writer and director Gillian Fritzsche.

Ryan Fritzsche

Editing

Luc Nicknair

Cinematography

Luc is a cinematographer who from the foliaged land of New England, where the contrast of autumn colors and bleak winters are engrained into his consciousness. Nicknair began his career with the BBC in London, working directly for Alan Yentob and Mike Southon, and later for CBS News, working for the likes of Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather. From there, he transitioned to feature film work on movies such as Batman Forever, Addams Family, The Nutty Professor, L.A. Story, The Babe, Tap, Last Action Hero, and A Nightmare on Elm Street, to name just a few.

With more than 25 years of experience as a visual storyteller, Nicknair has shot music videos for music legends such as Snoop Dogg, Master P, The Temptations, New Edition and Tupac Shakur; he has worked in television on shows such as The Wonder Years and reality TV shows like Self Made and The Studio. He has shot several documentaries, including the Lucile Ball special Lucy in London, which screened at the Museum of Television in Beverly Hills; and he has shot interviews for hundreds of celebrities, including Jim Carrey, Robert DeNiro, Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt, Kate Beckinsale, Christopher Walken, Bruce Willis, Javier Bardem, Robin Williams, Tony and Ridley Scott and George Lucas.

At first glance, you would never consider Tim the artist-type. He grew up in a family of doctors, so he grew up thinking he should be one too, but his grades didn’t agree. As an alternative, Tim’s mother convinced him to pursue commercial art (he was good at drawing) and he didn’t fight her on it, ending up as a bit of an outcast at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. Where many of the students were tattooed and mohawked, Tim came to art school with polo shirts and combed hair.

Nowadays, Tim can often be spotted in gym shorts on the couch, watching the Dodgers, or coaching tee ball for his kids’ teams… not the persona one envisions when they think of a world-renowned artist in the making. Tim is nervous, hilarious, stubborn, unpredictable and a bit of hypochondriac. The battle between these sides of Tim makes him a dynamic character that is captivating to watch.

Tim Carey

Glass Artist

Narcissus Quagliata

Glass Artist

Narcissus started out a rebel and ended up a maestro. He is one of the most famous glass artists of the 20th century. Not only is his art provocative and moving, so is the man himself. Never one to pull his punches, Narcissus has aggravated, uplifted and influenced many people in his prolific forty-year career. He is wise, dynamic, colorful, moody, challenging, funny and ultimately inspiring!

Narcissus Quagliata was born in Rome, Italy, in 1942, where he studied painting with the metaphysical painter Giorgio De Chirico. At the age of 19, Narcissus moved to the United States and studied at the San Francisco Art Institute. Soon after graduation, he began working in glass and continues to use it as his principle form of artistic expression. Currently residing in Mexico City, Quagliata’s recent monumental glass works, one built on Michelangelo’s last Roman basilica and another on a Taiwanese transportation station, underscore the multicultural issues inherent in the artist’s use of light and color.

David Judson is the 5th generation owner/operator of The Judson Studios, a small,  distinguished stained glass company in Los Angeles founded in 1897 by his great-great grandfather. David reveres the tradition he has inherited. After the sudden death of his father, Walter Judson, David took over the studio with a heavy heart and the huge weight of his family’s legacy on his shoulders.

Now, with more than thirteen years at the helm, he has successfully transitioned the business into the 21st century by introducing new technology and new vigor into the company.

Even though David and his team are facing the greatest challenges in the company’s 120-year history, you’d never know it from looking at him. He is a calm, cool and composed gentleman with a gentle spirit. David’s affable personality is the perfect balance to Tim and Narcissus.

David Judson

Studio Owner

Adam Hamilton

Senior Pastor

Adam Hamilton is the senior pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. Resurrection began as a small community church in a funeral home, but now, with more than 20,000 members, it is one of the fastest-growing, most influential mainline Protestant churches in the United States. PBS’s Religion and Ethics Newsweekly identified Adam as one of their “Ten People to Watch.” In 2013, Adam was invited to deliver the sermon at the National Prayer Service in Washington’s National Cathedral as part of Barack Obama’s second presidential inauguration.

Known for his ability to explain questions of faith in a down-to-earth way, Adam is the author of numerous widely selling books. But with the release of his provocative book Making Sense of the Bible: Rediscovering the Power of Scripture Today, the beloved pastor is now becoming known as someone who is challenging contemporary understandings the Bible.

Whatever your opinion of his faith may be, Adam Hamilton is an inspiring speaker and gifted leader. He brings an engaging and thought provoking presence to this story.

Support the Film

This film has been fortunate to have received support through principal filming but is now in need of funds for post-production and finishing. Donations can be made by check to Church of the Resurrection, Attn: Finance, 13720 Roe Ave, Leawood, KS 66224 with “Stained Glass Documentary” in the memo, or by clicking the “Give Now” button below. If you plan to make a gift after February 22, 2019, or intend to combine a donation with a small group or family members, please email debi.nixon@cor.org. Any funds not utilized on the documentary will support the church’s Sacred Arts Fund.

Donation Levels:

(each level includes the benefits of the previous levels)

$250

An invitation to the private screening of the documentary and a DVD of the feature-length documentary, with cover art signed by documentarian Justin Monroe

$500

Up-close tour behind the Resurrection window with Pastor Adam

$1,000

Stained glass window coffee table book signed by lead artist Tim Carey and fused glass expert Narcissus Quagliata, as well as donor names listed in the film credits

$5,000

A framed 8” x 10” limited edition giclée print of the main portrait of Christ in the Resurrection Window, signed by lead artist Tim Carey

$10,000*

One-of-a-kind 8.5” x 11” fused glass creation (see an example here) by Tim Carey, using remnant material from the creation of Resurrection’s stained-glass window
(A portion of this gift may not be tax deductible)

 

$25,000*

A unique fine glass art creation, designed in collaboration with artist Tim Carey. The panel, up to four sq. ft., will use the same fused glass technique used in the Resurrection Window.
(A portion of this gift may not be tax deductible)

On the giving page, please set the Giving Type to “Documentary.”