Christian Worldview Film Festival 2015

March 10, 2015 dawned clear and sunny.  Hundreds of people gathered for the Filmmakers Guild preceding the Christian Worldview Film Festival in San Antonio, Texas.  Teachers included John Fornof, George Escobar, Andrew Garcia, Rebekah Cook, Mimi Sagadin, Rich Swingle, John-Clay Burnett, Brett Varvel, Joel Jost, Jurgen Beck, Nathan Ashton, and many more.

Each day started with a time of worship, followed by a general session.

Break-out workshops followed, and provided instruction in specific areas of interest.  There was something for everyone.  Topics included producing, directing, acting, editing, cinematography, sound design, marketing, distribution, and more.

One brilliant part of the festival's design were the networking lunches.  You could pre-order your daily lunches from the caterer, and tables were even designated for particular areas of filmmaking (i.e. directing, acting, documentaries, etc.) to enable attendees to more easily find the right people to talk to for their networking purposes.

On the third day of the Guild, the Festival began and hundreds more people started filling the church where the event was held.  Films screened simultaneously throughout the weekend, providing viewers with multiple options for each block.

"Wanted" screened three times, and was very well attended and well received each time.  It was fun to watch it with an audience and listen to their laughter and their applause.  There were even audible gasps of surprise on occasion.  We were approached by people all weekend, telling us how much they loved the film.

The week reached its grand finale on Saturday evening with the Awards Ceremony.  The Jost family got the show started with some of their delightful music, and then it was time to start handing out awards!

I tried not to hold my breath while we waited for the Short Film category.  Finally, the time came.  I hadn't let myself believe that we would actually win, but at the same time, I knew it would be close.  The feedback we had received throughout the weekend had confirmed our belief that Roses and Wanted would be very tight in the running.  Little did we know how close.

First, six finalists were announced and their titles displayed on the big screen.  Next, the Runner Up was announced, which was neither Wanted nor Roses (but congratulations to my friend Caleb Hermann for winning Runner Up with "Book Ends"!).  Now my heart was really starting to pound.  Anticipation grew as the box containing the award was carried across stage and handed to Phillip Telfer, the presenter.  The box was opened, and a note was taken out.  My brain hardly processed as Mr. Telfer explained that when the judge's results were all tallied, two films rose to the top and received the same number of votes.  So instead of flipping a coin, they decided to present two awards for Best Short Film.  You could feel the excitement buzzing in the room as murmurs rippled throughout the huge auditorium.

A second award box was retrieved and brought to the podium.  After clarifying that he was not reading them in any particular order, Mr. Telfer announced that the first Best Short Film Award went to...WANTED!!!  Still hardly processing what was happening, I quickly stood to my feet and made my way out to the aisle.  I joined a few more of our team as we walked toward the stage amidst loud, triumphant music, sweeping spotlights, and the applause and cheers of the crowd.

When all had grown quiet, the second winner was announced...  ROSES!!!  We were beside ourselves with joy as we welcomed our friends on stage!

As much as we would have enjoyed winning, we didn't want Roses to lose, so it was perfect that we could BOTH win in an historic tie!  Many of the same crew members worked on both films, and we already felt like a team, so it was very fitting.

We were all still in shock as we made our way backstage and headed towards the lobby to have our pictures taken.  "Did that really just happen?"  "Somebody pinch me!"

The night ended on a great note as the other film I acted in - "Polycarp: Destroyer of Gods" - won Best Original Score, Best Feature Film, and Audience Choice!

It was a wonderful week full of helpful teaching, great networking, and encouraging fellowship!  The Christian Worldview Film Festival has truly become like a big family reunion to me, and is one of the highlights of my year.  I urge everyone interested in filmmaking to attend.

Christian Worldview Film Festival 2014

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the very first Christian Worldview Film Festival (CWVFF) in San Antonio, Texas.  This festival was created to fill the gap when the San Antonio Independent Film Festival (SAICFF) dissolved.  I had attended the SAICFF for the past three years, and the CWVFF did a great job of picking up the mantel and carrying on.

I flew to San Antonio on Monday and my "Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club" friends (Justin, Amanda, Seth, Harmony, and Mr. Cade) picked me up.  We walked along the Riverwalk in the sprinkling rain, had a grand time, and eventually ended up at the Guadalajara Grill for dinner.  Nathan Jacobson (writer/director of "Wanted") had ridden down to Texas with Jonathan Potter and Johnathan Schutz, and they joined us at the restaurant for a great time of fellowship.

There was a Guild on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning, with workshops led by talented artists in a wide variety of occupations - actors, composers, editors, writers, producers, etc.  I really enjoyed attending workshops on acting taught by my friends Rebekah Cook, Mimi Sagadin, and Rich Swingle, as well as keynote addresses by Phillip Telfer and George Escobar.  In addition, I bought the tapes to hear the writing workshops by John Fornof, and can't wait to listen to them!

Rebekah, Mimi, and Mr. Escobar

I actually missed half a day during the Guild because I was feeling sick, and then I missed the next two days of the festival because we were working hard to raise the rest of our budget for "Wanted" before the Kickstarter campaign ended on Sunday.  It wasn't ideal to be spending so much time on the campaign while we were down there for the festival, but God worked it out for the best because several of our friends there came to our aid, and without the time and skills they contributed, we wouldn't have been able to do everything that we did to bring in the rest of the money.  But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Wednesday evening was our Meet-and-Greet for "Wanted."  There were some conflicting events going on, and I really wasn't sure how many people would show up.  We wanted to host it in the outside courtyard at our hotel, but it was too cold so we moved it inside to the lobby.  To my surprise, we had over 40 people come!!!  It was like a big party!  Some people even stayed two hours.  I am so grateful for everyone's support!

Nate, Rusty, and me with writer John Fornof.

Signing posters!

Thursday and Friday, a few of us stayed at the hotel most of the day working on our fundraising campaign.  We are so thankful for Paul Hastings (producer of "Roses," and very knowledgeable about crowd funding - in fact he taught a workshop on that subject at the Guild!), who came alongside us during this time and gave us a strategy to implement during our final days of the campaign.  It made all the difference!

Friday night, I was rescued from the hotel and taken to dinner by Garry Nation (Polycarp himself!), and his wife, along with Nate and Rusty.  It was a very refreshing outing, and such a joy to spend time with them!

 Next, we actually got to go to the Festival for the evening!!!  Just in time for the first screening of "The Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club"!  Amanda and I dressed up in our waitress costumes and handed out surveys that Justin had cleverly printed to look like they were on guest checks from a restaurant.  It was amazing to watch the film with an audience for the first time, and to hear their reactions and feedback!  They laughed and laughed...and cried...  There was a screening the next afternoon as well, and both rooms were packed out with standing room only.  Everyone loved the film, and was very touched by the message!  Praise God!

We got back to the hotel around 11:30 that night.  We were getting ready to go into our respective rooms, when my friend and fellow actor Josh Murray messages me on FB and says, "Looks like you guys made it, congrats."  When that popped up on my phone, I instantly dropped my stuff and swiped over to the Kickstarter app.  When I saw that we had indeed passed our goal of $10,000, I started screaming!  In the hotel hallway.  At 11:30 p.m.  No, I wasn't thinking clearly.  But I was deliriously happy!!!  (After loosing major amounts of sleep and working so hard for weeks, I think I was slightly justified.)  :-)

Nate wasn't actually with us at the time, so we went in search of him and found him soaking wet in the hotel lobby.  He had been with Paul Hastings, Jason Vaughn, Nathan Webster, and Dustin Ledden when they found out the news, and had promptly gotten thrown in the pool by way of celebration!

Well...let's just say there was much rejoicing.  And very little sleeping that night.  I was much too excited to fall asleep until after 2am.  In fact, Rusty and I went downstairs and did some swing dancing and line dancing with Caleb and Courtney Vetter, Arielle, and my roommate Rachel.  But one of the highlights was when we all circled around in the hotel room and lifted up our thanks to God, because He is the one who made it all possible.  There was nothing we could do in our own strength to bring in that money.  We trusted God to provide, and He did.  It's nothing short of a miracle.  Over 50% of our goal was raised in two days.  When everyone thought it was impossible, our goal was met and passed with more than 30 hours remaining!  That was only God.  :-)

Celebrating Friday night with our hero, Paul!

Saturday, with the huge load of meeting our fundraising goal off our shoulders, we were finally free to enjoy the Festival!  For the most part.  There was still work to be done, but we brought our computers to the event location and I was able to talk to a lot of people when I wasn't drafting follow-up emails for our technical wiz, Jonathan Potter, to send out.

I was also trying to get lots of pictures with my friends on Saturday since I hadn't done it sooner...

With my friend and fellow actor, Torry Martin! This guy is amazing!

With my new friend and talented actress, Mimi Sagadin!

Love these guys.  Can't wait to be on set with them soon. :-)

Reunion photo for "In His Steps," which was also screening at the festival!

Saturday night was the Awards Ceremony!!!  We went back to the hotel, frantically changed clothes and tried to freshen up a bit, and rushed back just in time for the ceremony.  Which means we didn't get any nice pictures beforehand.  Oh well.

"The Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club" was a selected as a finalist for best feature!  Very exciting!

After the ceremony, a huge group of us met in front of the Alamo and visited for a while.  Here's a picture of our LITTLE group - my roommates and the boys next door (plus Zack on the far left, who became part of our little family).  Most of us rode together every day.

Photo courtesy of Hannah Kenney.

Later we walked down to a Mexican restaurant on the Riverwalk and had a huge long room to ourselves.  I have no idea how many people were there...  We had a great time!

Photo courtesy of Gabriel Hudelson.

By the time we left (well after midnight), I had reached the state of sleep deprivation where I was starting to slur my words and could hardly walk in a straight line.  It was pretty bad.  But with help, I made it back to the car and was very happy to fall into bed that night.

Sunday morning, I finished packing, had lunch with the guys next door (plus Jason Vaughn and Nathan Webster) before they all headed out, and then my friend Anna Becker picked me up at the hotel and took me to her house for a few very fun and relaxing days.  (It ended up being an extended stay because ice in Virginia canceled my flight on Monday.)  I finally made it back to Virginia on Tuesday, but my luggage didn't.  Thankfully it arrived the next morning and my brother picked it up from the airport, then picked me up from a friend's house, and I finally made it all the way home.  Home sweet home.  It's always good to come back.

Final reflections...

The film festival is an event that I look forward to every year.  In fact, it's one of the major highlights of my year.  A big family reunion.  A time to meet new friends and network within the Christian filmmaking community.  A time to learn from godly leaders who graciously share their wisdom and knowledge with us and offer to meet us on a personal level.  A time to see new films and support our fellow filmmakers and actors.

My heartfelt thanks go out to Phillip Telfer (of Media Talk 101) and his amazing crew for putting together such a great festival, and to all the speakers who came and shared of themselves with us.

To all my friends -- I can't wait to see you next year, Lord willing!  (Or better yet, on a film set before then!)

To everyone who met me for the first time -- I'm sorry you only saw me in such a sleep-deprived state.  Haha!  I promise I can put together coherent sentences a little easier than it may have appeared.  ;-)

To everyone else -- if you're looking for a good Christian film festival to attend, I highly recommend this one.  Mark your calendars for March 10-14, 2015!  www.christianworldviewfilmfestival.com

CW Film Festival Selections!

I am very excited to announce that "The Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club," "In His Steps," and "Hero" have been accepted as feature films to be screened at the Christian Worldview Film Festival in March, as well as the promo video for "Polycarp: Destroyer of Gods"!  After being involved in the industry and networking with these filmmakers in Texas for four years, it is very exciting to finally have some of my films screen at the festival.  (This is technically a new festival, but many of the same people will be in attendance who came regularly to the SAICFF in past years.)

"Hero" was my first feature film, way back in 2010.  I helped as a Props PA for a week of pickup filming, and was chosen at the last minute to serve hot dogs at a concession stand for the big baseball game at the end of the film, giving me my first film debut!  I have four seconds of screen time as a featured extra!  :-)  I find it pretty neat that my screen debut and my first leading role (TWMBC) will be screening at the same festival.  :-)

I am also very excited for many of my other friends who will have films showing at the festival as well!  It's always a very fun event, much like a huge family reunion.  I must say, it is blissful to be surrounded by thousands of other Christian filmmakers.  What a blessing to share the same passions and be serving the Lord together in this industry!

And just for fun, here are pictures taken before we shot my scene in "Hero"...