FruitfulMedia (Shaped by FAITH)

Dylan Matthews is the CEO and founder of Fruitful Media.

FruitfulMedia is a non-profit Christian media organization that has several radio stations, a television channel, a publishing house and several other platforms that are in the works and almost ready to be launched.

Fruitful Media's Mission is to serve the Christian Community as well as bring unbelievers to Christ and strengthen the local church and family unit through the difference making content created and broadcasted, they provide spiritual encouragement and a personal challenge with a Christ centered focus, through Biblical teaching, relevant information and uplifting music and programming to the Glory of God.

Stepping out in Faith, Dylan and his wife Valeria started Fruitful Media. Here are the questions I asked Dylan and his response. Hope you enjoy!

Where did you grow up and what was your childhood like?  Well that is a bit of a list. I was born in a area called Victorville, CA. I grew up in foster care for most my life. Childhood was pretty tough. I was 8 when I went into the system. I was there till I was 18 when I aged out of the system. It was pretty tough, I got bullied most of the time but that never stopped me. well until July of 2010. I injured my are in a clumsy accident. I bled out and according to the medics I had stopped breathing three times. It was a wake up call to be more Christ-like.

When did you come to know Jesus? I finally came to know Jesus in May of 2009 when one of my good friends now and a former group home staff member never stopped asking me if I wanted to go to church. Every Sunday like clockwork

What profession were you in before Christian Media?  I am a baker and chef or at least that was the plan. I wanted to open a Bakery Cafe that served baked goods and sandwiches. However, now that I am married my wife and I plan on opening a bakery and food truck when we can finally save enough money to do so. It is kinda tough to save because we put all God has given us in to ministry.

What got you interested in Christian Media? Actually I was a Youtuber when I traveled doing rideshare to make ends meet. I have always loved taking pictures and making videos. I never thought I would get into Christian media. That was a surprise when my wife brought up the idea of a radio station.

Tell us about FruitfulRadio, and why you and your wife Valerie started it. Well Valerie and I were actually just joking about it. I actually called it tacky. Now that I think about it I have always wanted to have a radio show. I just did not think much about it. I mean I am 25 and am the CEO and co-founder of a worldwide media organization. That doesn't happen every day. But the biggest reason is we launched FruitfulRadio because I don't like commercials.

What led you both to decide to expand this media platform and how has it expanded?  Well we wanted to do more than what the mainstream media is doing for family friendly content. Being a Christian station is a plus but the main reason was creating a platform also for the Independent christian artists who's music needs a platform. Family friendly content and a platform for people to share their faith through music and videos that sums that up.

Tell us about the three radio stations and what genre of music is played on each station. FruitfulRadio is multi genre Christian radio station. Then our second station FruitfulGospel well that speaks for itself. It plays Gospel Music. I started that one because of a woman who had stopped me in Atlanta when I got lost trying to find the passport office in 2019. She actually got me talking about what we do and she found out we are full time ministry workers and don't get paid for this work. She handed me a check for 100 dollars and that paid for the majority of my passport. I didn't expect that to happen. then there is FruitfulWorship it plays worship music. none of our stations have commercials or ever will. Like I said I don't like ads. We have several other stations planed such as FruitfulRock and FruitfulR&B and probably many more.

How and why did you start your own TV Channel FruitfulTV? To be honest I was tired of seeing mainstream media programs not being family friendly especially because I had a very confusing time finding who I was before I got married. I mean I have TV shows and movies I like but then they insert politics and other unneeded content into it all. FruitfulTV launched because of what I just mentioned about earlier.

What type of shows are on FruitfulTV?  FruitfulTV currently plays the music videos of the songs we play on FruitfulRadio but will have our own content as well as other ministries and individuals content who we have agreements with.

 Are you looking for new Christian content or programs?  Definitely our platforms are designed to bring the content of Independent Christian musicians and content creators to a safe family friendly place to view content and listen to spirit filled music.

What kind of content are you looking for? Well If You are an Independent Christian artist or if you are a big Christian artist we will welcome your content as long as it it age appropriate for everyone. We make exceptions for testimonies as we want to give a platform to all who believe and want it. If you got a story to tell in testimony reach out if you have music videos reach out if you have TV programs such as series movies and sermons we want it.

How would someone submit their content for your review? You can do that by submitting a contact form on fruitfultv.com/submit. that is the website to submit all request for content to be reviewed for all platforms.

You are also working on a new Platform called FruitFlix. What can people expect with this platform? The Roku app is already available to the public  but the other platforms are launching as the apps get submitted to the appstores. But FruitFlix is a VOD platform for FruitfulMedia Originals that are being planned. Like I will be filming a nature program called Walking In Nature and another one Called Dylans Food Eats. but FruitFlix is also a platform for believers to submit their content and get it out there. We do have three content agreements in place with the LUMO Project, JesusFilm.org and your program Shaped By Faith. we welcome any faith based or family friendly content on the platform.

You also have a publishing platform called Fruitful House Publishing. That platform is still up and coming and is in the works.

Will you be accepting authors book proposals? Yes we are always looking for authors. We are only wanting to give a platform for people to create and use their skills. We focus on young people who want to make a stable way of life. But we will publish books of any author who is wanting to get their books out there. My wife and I have two books published through this platform and at least three on the way.

Are you looking for any specific genres of Christian books? Any Christian books we will publish. We also accept submission of secular titles as long as they meet the quality requirements. those requirements will depend on the type of book.

Tell us about Foster4Hope Well Foster4Hope is an idea I had to give current and former Foster youth the choice to stay off the streets and become a part of something bigger. That is because I spent most of my childhood in foster care and I was homeless after aging out because of a technicality in the California extended foster care law. It wasn't fun. We havent officially launched the program due to funding constraints but we will be. we are looking for major sponsors for this program and all of our other platforms and programs.

What other platforms are you working on? Well we have started a worldwide Youth competition Called YTC it stands for youth talent competition. Right now it is only setup in Kenya but we want to expand and partner with other ministries to bring the program to the rest of the world. along with tha program we are planning to have the ability for my wife and I to travel to different places and speak to people. We have many mor eprojects in the work for our video platforms like tv shows and movies. we Just need to raise the funds.

How can people find out more about FruitfulMedia?

Well for the radio stations you can visit fruitfulradio.com

For FruitfulTV you visit FruitfulTV.com and for Our VOD platform FruitFlix well FruitFlix.com. you can always find our apps we have two different ones FruitfulMedia it is spelled as one word and FruitFlix the first app is available now and the fruiflix app is still being created but should be available at the end of the month.

https://fruitfulradio.comandhttps://fruitfultv.comhttps://fruitfulpublishing.com