Stephen Kendrick, the co-writer and producer of Facing the Giants, will tell the behind-the-scenes story of his highly successful independent film as part of the Third Annual San Independent Christian Film Festival to be held in the Alamo City on October 19-21. This will mark Kendrick’s first festival appearance since Facing the Giants opened in theatres nationwide two weekends ago.
“We are pleased to have Stephen share the story of Facing the Giants at our festival,” remarked Doug Phillips, president of Vision Forum Ministries and founder of the San Independent Christian Film Festival. “This is a true David-and-Goliath story and a great example of what Christians can do when they have a vision, and they set their mind to it. This film is proof-positive that Tinseltown doesn’t have a corner on the arts — that Christians can produce God-honoring films rather than feed on the scraps that Hollywood gives us.”
Produced on a donated budget of $100,000 using volunteer actors, Facing the Giants outperformed many big-budget Hollywood films during its opening weekend, grossing $1.4 million on only 441 screens. With a per-screen average of $3,149, it was fourth among the top ten grossing films for the weekend and ranked twelfth for national box office receipts.
“Facing the Giants is a success story for independent Christian filmmaking,” noted Phillips. “One of the film’s main themes is trusting God against all odds, and those involved with the film did just this in creating such a highly-professional film on limited funds. It is encouraging to see how God has blessed their efforts.”
Stephen Kendrick, along with Ken Carpenter (producer of Facing the Giants: The Making Of) will share a behind-the-scenes look at the production process for Facing the Giants during the festival’s Friday evening keynote, following the showing of Facing the Giants: The Making Of. A copy of the complete schedule and production notes for the feature film will be available to festival attendees for a small fee.
More than forty separate films chosen as semi-finalists will be shown on three screens during the third annual festival. Each semi-finalist will compete for the “best-of” award in one of the following four categories: Documentary, Narrative, Biblical Family, and Stop-Motion Animation. In addition, each semi-finalist is eligible to win the “Best of Festival Award” — a $10,000 Grand Prize. To view all the semi-finalists, visit www.independentchristianfilms.com/program.
The San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival aspires to offer a joyful vision of victory to both amateur and professional filmmakers who are committed to advancing the work of Jesus Christ through the medium of film. Festival passes are $85 for adults, $75 for students. Passes afford access to all the festival events. Space is limited. For more information on the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival and Jubilee Awards, please visit the festival Web site at: www.independentchristianfilms.com.
To interview Doug Phillips about his vision for the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival, contact Wesley Strackbein by e-mail at wesley@visionforum.com or by phone at (210) 340-5250, ext. 222.
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Press Contact:
Wesley Strackbein
Vision Forum Ministries
wesley@visionforum.org
Phone: (210) 340-5250, ext. 222
www.independentchristianfilms.com