By Leah MarieAnn Klett, Assistant Editor Thursday, March 26, 2026

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Filmmaking brothers Matthew and Daniel Kooman didn’t set out to have a spiritual moment on set. But while filming their upcoming movie about the biblical prophet Daniel, something unexpected happened.

They were shooting scenes using direct Scripture when the environment shifted.

“When you were actually filming these scenes, incredible things were happening,” Daniel told The Christian Post during a sit-down interview. “Wind blew like actual winds blew in. Trees were blowing. Tents were literally flying off the set.”

For the Canadian brothers, who have been making films together for 20 years through their company, UnveilTV, the moment reinforced the weight of what they were creating. Backed by one of the most successful faith-based crowdfunding campaigns in recent memory, “Daniel” raised $1.2 million to fund its production.

“We literally prayed before we made this movie,’ God, if you're not supposed to make this movie, let us make this movie,’” Daniel said.

Their project marks a significant step for the duo, along with their brother, Andrew: a full-scale biblical adaptation centered on the early life of Daniel, focusing on the first chapters of Scripture and the start of what they hope becomes a larger series.

“We grew up in a home that loved the Bible, like the Bible was open at the dinner table, and we read it. My dad read the Bible stories. We went to Sunday school, did all the things,” Matthew said, adding that Daniel was even named after the Old Testament prophet.

“As we grew into filmmaking, it was like, eventually we'll make Bible movies. That was always on our hearts,” Matthew said.

The turning point came after the 2020 shutdowns, when they revisited Daniel through the lens of a changed culture in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The brothers also saw opportunity in a shifting entertainment landscape, helped in part by the success of projects like “The Chosen.”

“The Daniel story, after the shutdown in 2020, we kind of had a way into the story that felt really fresh and really applicable to basically Western culture today,” Matthew said. “There’s a different kind of energy and maybe even suffering that some people experience that was sort of new to Western.”

“The market really has opened up to stories like this to be told and to be received in a broader way that has never really been there for us,” he added. “Being able to tell Christian stories like is such a blessing.”

Rather than attempt Daniel’s entire arc, the brothers focused on his earliest years. Their entry point came from reading a Complete Jewish Bible translation that described Daniel and his companions as “boys” when taken into Babylon.

“There was this sense of youth and this young Daniel approach, which I don't think we've seen,” Matthew said.

The film concentrates on the first three chapters of Daniel, with plans for additional stories later, the brothers said, but choosing a movie over a series was deliberate.

“We love movies,” Matthew said. “Going through the pandemic for everybody and having that taken away as a culture was so damaging. … There’s something special about watching a story together on a big screen. You get to sit there, and you watch, and you take it in.”

Though cinema remains “the ultimate way to share a story,” the Koomans stressed that when creating “Daniel,” accuracy was their highest priority. The film, they said, was vetted by pastors, theologians and biblical historians.

“It’s like a tightrope, and it’s also scary,” Daniel said. “You want to honor it, because it’s biblical Scripture, so there’s really literally nothing else like it.”

They spent months rereading Scripture and mapping timelines, noting how Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Habakkuk overlapped historically. That allowed them to integrate multiple biblical voices and use direct quotations.

“There are quite a few scenes where they're just literally verbatim, just quoting Scripture,” Daniel said, adding that Bibles were kept on set and cast members regularly stopped to confirm accuracy.

“They were like, Hey, is this right? Is this accurate?” Daniel said.

The production took place in India, where the contrast between the story and the surroundings sometimes became stark. While filming the scene with King Nebuchadnezzar’s statue, they watched people worship nearby physical idols.

“We're sitting there going, this is the irony of this moment is so, so strong,” Matthew said.

That same day, they shot the fiery furnace sequence, and later that night, after an exhausting shoot, the emotional weight of the scene landed on the cast.

“One of the actors came to me and said, ‘I've never seen this from actors,’” Matthew recalled.

“We wanted God to bring the right people who were going to be changed through acting or going to be changed through making,” Daniel added.

The film will also feature a new version of the worship anthem "Awesome God," recorded by Michael W. Smith. The collaboration came through the composer, Tyler Michael Smith, Michael W. Smith’s son, who was already working on the score.

The brothers said that through “Daniel,” they hope audiences find the courage to share their faith, no matter the cost. They cited 

“Are we willing to take courage? Are we willing to be bold in the public square?” Matthew said.

The brothers quote the words found in Daniel 3:17-18, spoken by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to King Nebuchadnezzar: “

“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

“That’s not a light faith,” Daniel said. “That’s a truly bold faith.”

Matthew also emphasized Daniel’s ability to navigate political power without compromising belief: “They stood before kings. Politics was right out the window when it came down to it. They stood for what they believed,” he said.

“We’re still telling their stories today because of those acts of faith,” Daniel added. “So can we live with that kind of faith and see God deliver us in our own lives?”

News Source : https://www.christianpost.com/news/filmmaking-brothers-say-god-moved-while-shooting-daniel-movie.html