Standing Firm : Blog

To call the week spent at the San Antonio International Christian Film Festival, “the greatest week of my life,” would truly be an understatement.  Why was it so amazing?  Well then, let me articulate it a bit for you.  If you’ve ever seen someone’s dreams come true, it’s an incredible sight.  If you’ve ever seen someone who has worked for something so hard finally get it, it’s an incredible sight.  Things like High School Graduation, getting your drivers license, shooting your first shot on your first movie, the list goes on.  This past week has seen many things I’ve been waiting for since 2007 come to pass, as well as other things I’ve waited for since I was a kid.  I got to rub elbows, and have meaningful film related and spiritual conversations with MANY people young and old who have a passion for the Lord.  The place was dripping with talent and enthusiasm.  Even in the obvious inexperienced folks or much younger guests, their willingness to learn and their attentive ears brought a smile to my face when the seminars at the Academy and Guest Speakers got up to the podium.

Being in a place with thousands of people of like mind and interest is something I have NEVER had the opportunity to experience.  I live in a one stop light town next to a bunch of bigger towns…but nobody does film here.  It’s void of film interest, movies on opening day unless its 8pm on a Friday Night are practically empty.  I’ve always felt a bit alone in terms of my own interests, which is why the internet has been an escape in recent years, especially on forums.  90% of the folks I met I have talked to online or on the phone.  It was a thrill to have countless people say “Hey!  Your that Standing Firm guy right?”  Apparently the internet advertising (or what little I”m able to do) is working, that was a big encouragement.

I also walked around with my laptop showing pieces of Standing Firm to whoever would lend an ear and eyeball.  The overall consensus was very favorable.  People especially loved the look of it and the stack of business cards I received is very thick.  I also brought Promo DVD’s to give out to choice people.  Out of the 20 I brought, 19 were given away.  Stephen Kendrick (Producer/Writer of Facing The Giants & Fireproof) received his disc on Monday Jan 5th.  Myself and Justin Tolley (Unit Production Manager on Fireproof) talked on Tuesday for about an hour and a half about all sorts of things, it was a great conversation.  He was a great guy, had a lot of passion and was open to chatting.  I gave him a disc as well and that night himself and Stephen sat down to view the disc.  It included the first 6 minutes of the film (in its current form), the unreleased trailer, and scene 38 which acts as a centerpiece in the film.  Their comments the next day were great, they both loved how it looked and were very impressed that it was film #1 for me.  Hearing that from Stephen was like an electric bolt, I was floored that he had even taken the time to watch it after he had received so many discs already that first day (thanks Justin…*smile*).

I can’t talk about EVERYTHING but here is a list of the other wonderful people I had the pleasure of either meeting or hanging around: 

John Moore, Doug Phillips, Geoffrey Botkin, Kirk Cameron (I was 3ft away, what an awesome guy he is), Chris Staron, James Burgess, Rich Christiano, Jimmy Broyden, Jon Erwin, George Escobar, Chad Burns, and many more.

The awards night was a very emotional night.  Seeing people I know go up and get recognized for their obedience to Christ was a sight that moved me to tears.  I couldn’t help it, I was so overwhelmed with the Blessing.  Such God Honoring, selfless young and older men being Blessed for their work, it was incredible.  Stephen Kendrick when Fireproof received the Best Feature Film award help the trophy up in the air and looked upwards.  That is EXACTLY the kind of attitude needed.  That is what was so incredible, that nobody looked at their awards as “theirs.”  Where else does that happen?  It’s GOD’s award, He gets the Glory, He is lifted up and Magnified.  Christ 1st, all else 2nd…that includes ourselves.  It was amazing to see that displayed.  This past week was a Blessing that this blog post even at its current length can’t articulate.  Congratulations to ALL the winners, and ALL the people who were involved in making them.  Congratulations to ALL the entries submitted, even those that weren’t accepted.  We all have a common goal here, to Glorify Christ with our work.  Some of us are better filmmakers than others, but we all have a common goal, and should be encouraging and helping each other with a passion and a drive to see others succeed regardless of where we may fail.  God is so good to each of us, and the best part is…he doesn’t have to be.  He saved me from what I was…isn’t that enough?  Let that sink in and reveal just how much Blessing he really gives us on a regular basis.

I hope to enter Standing Firm into next years competition to see what God does with the project, regardless of its possible release by that time.  Who knows…

I’m ready to get back to work!  Time to create something Honorable and Glorifying to Christ AMEN!?  I’ve never felt so uplifted.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 11th, 2009 at 11:16 pm and is filed under News/Press. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.