Christian filmmakers to discuss replacement industry for Hollywood

Jul 23, 2007 / 09:15 am

Hundreds of Christian filmmakers will gather in San Antonio for the Third Annual Christian Filmmakers Academy this fall to discuss a replacement industry for Hollywood.

The academy, a project of Vision Forum Ministries, is designed to give Christian filmmakers the nuts-and-bolts skills to succeed in creating films for the glory of God. 

"The Christian Filmmakers Academy exists to help these aspiring culture changers find success outside of Hollywood as part of a rising replacement industry built on biblical presuppositions of aesthetics, morality and cultural influence,” said Doug Phillips, president of Vision Forum Ministries and founder of the Christian Filmmakers Academy.

"Our goal is to help students recover the lost traditions that will equip them to make films that advance rather than undermine the Christian worldview ethic -- films with cultural, moral, and artistic integrity," he continued.

During the three-day conference, Oct. 22-24, the academy will offer more than 16 hours of formal classroom instruction from seasoned industry professionals, personal discussion and interaction with school faculty and guest lecturers, and the opportunity to network and build professional personal relations with like-minded individuals interested in independent Christian filmmaking.

Classroom topics will include: an introduction to Christian philosophy of independent film, lighting techniques, camera-work, editing basics, animation, production logistics, choosing projects, making public affairs documentaries, producing a human interest short, how to direct a television multi-camera studio project, a live critique/analysis of students' work, ideas and projects.

"In the past, Christian filmmakers who have grown up with Hollywood have been prone to create culturally poisonous and financially wasteful films," noted Phillips. "While desiring to be different from Hollywood, they've tended to unwittingly default to the destructive Tinseltown trends in structuring their projects."

"We are here to light a candle -- to create an alternative industry that gives hope through films that champion the standards found in the Word of God," he said.

Geoff Botkin, a seasoned filmmaker and faculty member of the 2007 Christian Filmmakers Academy, remarked that today’s filmmakers need historical perspective.

"In the late 1920s, the Hays Code committed Hollywood filmmakers to the responsibility of producing films that would be 'directly responsible for spiritual or moral progress, for higher types of social life, and for much correct moral thinking,'” he said. "In departing from this responsibility, the modern cinema industry has departed from both culturally uplifting and intellectually stimulating content," Botkin explained.

Following the Third Annual Christian Filmmakers Academy, Vision Forum Ministries will host the Fourth Annual San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival on October 25-27, which features a $10,000 Jubilee Award for the top film submission.

For more information, visit www.independentchristianfilms.com.