Advent Film Group Offers Film Workshop, June 23-25

June 22nd, 2011

By Sarah Pride

CONTACT:

David Halbrook Patrick Henry College (540) 441-8722 OfficeOfCommunications@phc.edu

 

Setting up for the weekend's seminar in PHC's Library Study Center

From Thursday through Saturday, June 23-25, more than 80 potential Christian filmmakers are thronging the Patrick Henry College campus for Advent Film Group’s (AFG) fourth annual film workshop. The production group has set a solid track record of movie production over the last several years, starting with feature film Come What May, shot mostly on the PHC campus in 2007. Since then, dozens of PHC students, staff, and alumni have joined AFG on projects, learning the skills of video editing, shot arrangement, screenwriting, and much more in an apprenticeship environment.

AFG founder George Escobar notes that the burgeoning Christian film movement has expanded in the last years. Following the model of Sherwood Baptist’s Facing the Giants and Fireproof, many churches across the nation are developing their own production companies. From Escobar’s own AFG workshop alumni, at least four feature films are currently in production. AFG’s next feature is Hero, which is scoring an average of 8.4 out of ten in preview screenings across the country. Escobar and Mike Snyder also worked with Mission City Productions as co-producers for Alone Yet Not Alone, which recently released its teaser trailer. Escobar co-directed and co-wrote that film as well.

Peter Forbes (R) checks camera performance for the AFG workshop on a monitor.

In this year’s workshop, along with having the largest number of participants, AFG has added a third day of classes for alumni of previous seminars, to cover acting, casting, and auditioning. View the Advent Film Group website for more information.

Many PHC students and alumni have benefited from Escobar’s mentorship. Senior Brett Harris co-starred in Alone Yet Not Alone, and senior Ian Reid worked on the backend editing side. Peter Forbes (Literature, ’09) has just finished the novelization of Come What May, which AFG will self-publish by the fall.

 

View trailer for Hero below:

HERO Movie Trailer from George Escobar on Vimeo.