By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
It’s JIMMY Week on the Jake’s Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast!
This week, we are welcoming the creative minds behind the 2026 biopic JIMMY. Co-produced and directed by Aaron Burns, the film is the untold true story of America’s most beloved actor, James Stewart, and the iconic role that saved him. From winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in The Philadelphia Story to enlisting and becoming a combat pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps at the beginning of World War II. He flew twenty missions over Europe, rose to colonel by the end of the war, and returned home broken and disheartened. Then, George Bailey and It’s a Wonderful Life came calling. The film stars KJ Apa as the entertainment legend, along with Max Casella, Kara Killmer, Julian Works, Sarah Drew, Rob Riggle, Jen Lilley, Neal McDonough, and Jason Alexander.
I am thrilled to welcome JIMMY’s musical supervisor, Barry Landis, to the podcast! Barry is the President of Pivot Music (an on-demand music service for Film and TV), Executive Director of The Briner Institute (a Tennessee 501c3 think tank dedicated to helping young people influence culture), the Founding Partner of the Faith in Entertainment Guild (a networking gathering of more than 4000 people working in faith-based storytelling) and the co-founder of the Ribbow Media Group, an online marketing firm on movies such as Jesus Revolution (Lionsgate/Kingdom Story), Paul, Apostle of Christ (Sony AFFIRM), The Shack (Lionsgate), Hacksaw Ridge (Summit Entertainment), War Room (Sony TriStar) and more than 150 others. Before Ribbow, he was a partner in WTA (later acquired by K-LOVE) and led the marketing campaign for the theatrical launch of the first Pure Flix movie, God’s Not Dead, which earned more than $63 million at the box office.
He is the Former Associate Publisher at Howard Books/Simon & Schuster, where he published fiction and nonfiction trade books, including 5 New York Times #1s, with authors like Dave Ramsey, the Robertson family of Duck Dynasty fame, and Karen Kingsbury. A Warner Bros. Records employee for 20 years, he was President of Word/Curb Records, where he launched POD and Plus One to multiple platinum albums and led the company in a remarkable financial turnaround by reestablishing one of the world’s leading country music artists, Randy Travis, back to prominence with the Country Music Song of the Year in 2003, “Three Wooden Crosses.” Christian Radio/Retail Weekly Magazine called him one of the Top 50 Most Influential People in America, and Worship Leader Magazine selected him as one of the 20 Most Influential Voices in Christian Music.
He is on the faculty of Belmont University in Nashville, where he teaches courses on Motion Pictures Marketing & Distribution as well as Record Company Operations. He started his “Christianity in the Entertainment Industry” course there in 2000, and it is now in its 25th year as a continuous course. He has been honored by two of the three universities where he holds degrees–in 2002 he was given the Outstanding Alumnus Award by Western Kentucky University, where he received his master’s degree, and in 2005 he was presented the Medallion Alumni Award from Mt Vernon Nazarene University for his Outstanding Achievement in the field of Entertainment. In the book publishing world, he contributed to Devotional Ventures (Regal Press, 2006), edited What We Want to Say to Grads (David C Cook, 2009), wrote Get Wisdom (Briner Press, May 2019), and in 2024 became the publisher of Roaring Lambs.
On this episode of The Jake’s Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast, Barry Landis spoke about working with Amy Grant, Randy Travis, and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and shared his insights on working on JIMMY.
For more information about JIMMY, visit the film’s website!
Speak Your Mind