BROKEN HIP PRODUCTIONS
presents
A Feature Film now in Development!
Major James Lide Coker returns from the Civil War to rebuild his shattered community, but when a theater student stages his complicated story generations later, Coker’s legacy divides him and his friends over history, judgment, and redemption.
Watch our teaser trailer:
The Major is currently in development as a feature motion picture. Broken Hip Productions is seeking producing, financing, distribution, and strategic partners to bring the film to the screen.
The Major: A True Story | Revisited.
America, 2020. As a nation reexamines its past, theater student Jacob Pinckney becomes captivated by Major James Lide Coker, a Confederate officer who returned from the Civil War physically shattered to find his South Carolina community devastated. From the ruins, Coker rebuilds his life and helps rebuild Hartsville, leaving behind a remarkable and complicated legacy of industry, education, faith, and service.
Jacob, a part-time research assistant at the Hartsville Museum, begins writing a one-man play about Coker, bringing the Major’s story to life onstage. But as rehearsals unfold, the project strains his closest friendships. What Jacob sees as a story of transformation and redemption, others see very differently.
As Jacob digs deeper, the boundaries between past and present begin to blur. His stage gives way to the battlefields and broken towns of the Civil War and Reconstruction, while the conflicts of 2020 echo across generations.
The Short Film.
As a first step toward the feature film, we produced a short proof-of-concept film inspired by the extraordinary life and legacy of Major James Lide Coker, bringing together the historical and contemporary worlds of The Major.
Be among the first to watch it. Enter your email below and we’ll let you know as soon as the short film is available!
COMING SOON: WORLD PREMIERE IN HARTSVILLE SC!
Be among the first to experience The Major in a theater as we introduce the project to the Hartsville community and the world! Subscribe below for premiere announcements, screening dates, and first access to the short film.
Why this film? Why now? | DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
The Major asks a difficult question: What do we do with complicated history in a time that demands simple answers? James Lide Coker returned from the Civil War physically shattered and devoted the decades that followed to rebuilding his community. Through his story and Jacob’s modern encounter with his legacy, the film explores history, transformation, and whether grace, forgiveness, and redemption can still have the final word. — Joaquin Fernandez
Watch Joaquin explain the vision behind the film. Recorded in Hartsville, SC, June 2024.
The Filmmakers
Joaquin Fernandez
Writer/Director/Producer
Joaquin Fernandez is an award-winning filmmaker whose work explores culture, faith, and the human experience. Founder of Great Commission Films and a filmmaking alumnus of New York University, he has produced stories across the United States and around the world. As writer-director of The Major, Joaquin brings his passion for historical storytelling, reconciliation, and renewal to the life and legacy of James Lide Coker.
Will Joslin
Executive Producer, Author
Will Joslin is an author, theologian, entrepreneur, and the great-grandson of Major James Lide Coker. A graduate of UNC–Chapel Hill, he holds a Master of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Sacred Literature from Wycliffe Theological Seminary. As author of God, Guts, and Gallantry, the biography on which The Major is based, Will brings a deeply personal connection to Coker’s story along with extensive historical research and insight.
Kevin Peeples
Co-Producer/Editor
Kevin Peeples is an award-winning filmmaker with more than 20 years of experience in feature films, documentaries, and post-production. His credits include LIFEMARK, Like Arrows, and LUSO, along with work on films including War Room, Overcomer, and Courageous: Legacy. As Co-Producer and Editor of The Major, Kevin brings extensive feature-film experience to production planning, storytelling, and post-production, helping guide the project from development through final delivery.
The Story Behind the Film
The Major is inspired by God, Guts, and Gallantry: The Faith, Courage, and Accomplishments of Major James Lide Coker, written by Coker’s great-grandson, Dr. Will Joslin, the film's executive producer.
Drawing from extensive historical research and family history, the book explores not only Coker’s remarkable accomplishments, but the Christian faith that shaped his life after the Civil War. That spiritual dimension lies beneath one of the central questions of The Major: Can a person’s past leave room for grace, forgiveness, and redemption?
The film brings that question into the present through a new generation wrestling with Coker’s complicated legacy and what it means to judge a life in its entirety.
The Major's Faith & Legacy
For more than four decades, Major Coker and his wife, Sue, helped lead the Sunday School ministry at First Baptist Church of Hartsville, where his faith found expression in a lifetime of service and leadership.
At the heart of that faith is a conviction that also runs through The Major: God is willing and able to forgive, redeem, and restore, desiring that all people come to salvation.
Watch this 6-minute film, produced for the church’s 175th anniversary and narrated by Dr. Will Joslin, for a glimpse into Coker’s enduring faith and legacy.
Partner With Us!
The Major is now moving into feature-film development. We are seeking producing, financing, distribution, and strategic partners who believe in the power of compelling stories to bridge divides and inspire meaningful conversation.