Posted by Austin Collins
More than 300 students from around the world attended the 2013 Christian Filmmakers Academy (CFA), held on February 4-6 in San Antonio, Texas. This year’s Academy broke new ground by not only featuring fourteen general sessions, but offering eighteen breakout workshops that delved deeper into various sub-disciplines of the filmmaking craft.
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Stephen Kendrick, producer of such films as Fireproof and Courageous, shared six messages, including, “The Superior Mindset of a Christ-Honoring Filmmaker” and “12 Reasons Why Christian Movies Fail.” Kendrick emphasized the need for excellence, “Filmmakers are a dime a dozen. But filmmakers who are making excellent films for Christ are priceless. . . . Nobody gets excited about mediocrity — pursue a vision worthy of God.”
Veteran filmmaker Geoffrey Botkin also gave six talks, covering such topics as “Creating the World of Your Film” and “Editing Fundamentals of Documentaries.” Botkin noted that Christian filmmakers will only be good storytellers if they carefully study God’s Word and read widely: “You must be far bigger than the world of cinema to have anything worth saying at all. . . . Our dominion assignment [in film] is to bring forth the meaning of man, morality, and the universe.”
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Botkin’s eldest son Isaac presented five lectures, including, “Shooting for the Edit” and “The Importance of Theme.” Isaac explained that “every film should have one central theme, and the clearer the theme, the more powerful the story can be. The consistency of your theme will give your film power.” Composer Benjamin Botkin, brother to Isaac, gave a helpful address on music composition for film. “Music’s role in film is to be servant and subject of the film’s story,” Benjamin remarked. “If story is king, then music is queen.”
Pat Roy, the creator of the popular Jonathan Park Radio Drama, offered twelve steps for effective scriptwriting and storytelling. Even as he explained character development, story arc, and different plot concepts that can be employed to tell a compelling story, he stressed the need for humility and for seeking a larger kingdom purpose, “Don’t write a story to draw attention to yourself, but to communicate an eternal message. Check your motives.”
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Philip and Chris Leclerc, established filmmakers in their mid-20s, shared “Camera, Lenses, and Style,” along with key filmmaking lessons they’ve learned. The two brothers got interested in filmmaking at age 17 and 15 and bred and sold puppies to purchase their first camera. They encouraged aspiring filmmakers to embrace an innovative mind-set, to seek out sound mentors, to study theology and be kingdom-focused, and to work hard to pursue excellence. “Once you commit to a project, give it all you’ve got and go the extra mile,” they stated. “Don’t make it look like everyone else.”
Marketing expert Tryg Jacobson outlined principles of branding in his two messages; and Justin Tolley, producer of numerous television and film projects, spoke on “Preproduction Planning” and “Managing a Camera Department.”
The Academy faculty also highlighted several filmmakers whose productions are currently in process. Among them were Chad Burns, director of the 2008 film Pendragon, whose new film Beyond the Mask was recently shot and now is in post-production. Stephen Kendrick commended Chad and his team for their humility. “They were willing to receive counsel,” Kendrick observed. “They honored their fathers and submitted to a board of advisers, [and] they have rapidly made good decisions.”
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Academy founder Doug Phillips spoke with J.D. King, the 22-year-old producer of Crying Wolf, about his new film project, Axed: The End of Green. The upcoming documentary will expose the agenda of the radical environmental movement and promote wise stewardship in keeping with the dominion mandate given in Genesis.
“You’ve seen the polar bear floating on a mini-iceberg in the melting waters. There are actually more polar bears now than ever before,” King said. “The Green Movement’s claim that if only man wasn’t on Planet Earth, things would be better, is foolish and not true.”
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Phillips chaired several other panel discussions and delivered three keynote addresses at the CFA. In his final keynote, titled “Authenticity,” he urged filmmakers to only make movies on themes that burn inside them. “You cannot be a good filmmaker if you are not authentic,” he remarked, “You seek to know God. You long for Him. . . . Only then can you say something to the world.”
Yet an “authentic” idea is not enough, Phillips underscored. It must be rooted in the truth of God’s Word, a principle championed throughout the week at the Academy: “As Christian filmmakers, every frame should be taken captive for Jesus Christ.”