God Provides Blog

San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival Photos

Here are a few of the highlights from our time at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.

 

So, how was the film festival?

In a recent post we told you that Crown was chosen by the  San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival (SAICFF) to premier three of our new Hope and A Future films from our new learning system. So, how was it?

The World Premiere of these short films was a great success. The historic Lila Cockrell Theatre’s three levels were filled to capacity as the Von Trapp Singers started the evening.  We then heard from Stephen Kendrick with a behind the scenes look at the movie, Fireproof, and a bonus visit by the star of that movie, Kirk Cameron. It was then time to introduce the live audience to Abraham & Isaac, Widow & Oil, and Rich Man & Lazarus. The films were shown one after the other with resounding applause as the credits rolled.

The world premiere was followed by a very special event as Dean Jones was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award.  He was introduced by his long time friend, Ken Wales, the producer of Amazing Grace. The audience honored Dean’s work with three standing ovations, one of them following a brief, impromptu reenactment of Patrick Henry’s famous speech climaxing in the words, “Give me liberty or give me death!”  Dean wanted to emphasize the kind of leadership needed to take a stand for Christ in media today.  His testimony for Christ, his humility and his professional achievements are equally remarkable. He inspired all of us.

After Dean’s award, Doug Phillips, founder of the event, moderated a panel discussion between Dean, Jon and Andy Erwin and myself. We each gave our perspective on the film series and shared our passion and vision to reach the world with visual media. I could not have been more pleased with the overall event and the reception of our work.

Some of the comments that we received from various members of the audience were:

-“Wow! I love Larry Burkett, but this is not what I was expecting from Crown. You will reach millions with this series.” (Texas)
-“The films reminded me of the quality and feel of The Passion of the Christ.” (California)
-”The rich man was incredible in his role.” (Texas)
-”I am in a Crown small group now and just love your ministry, keep up the good work.”(Colorado)
-”I support Crown and knew you were working on this, but it far exceeded my expectations.” (North Carolina)
-”How did you do that? It made me cry.” (total stranger)
- “Great event! Great films!” (Georgia)

The most affirming part of the event for me is that God gave us a very high quality tool that can impact a worldwide audience. God’s stories are powerful and alive whether on film or in print.  Millions who may never have an opportunity to go to a movie theater will be blessed by the encounter with God’s principles.  We are working as fast as we can to get them ready for release and distribution. Stay tuned as we take the next steps in this exciting journey and keep praying for us.

Also, be sure to check back for pictures of the event.

Hope And A Future

On Wednesday's edition of MoneyLife, Chuck Bentley interviewed Doug Phillips from the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival (SAICFF). As mentioned in the previous post, Crown has been selected to premier three of the new films. Click below to listen:

If you are interested in attending this exciting world premier, sign up for the festival here. Not only will you get to see the premier of the films, but also during the event, Dean Jones will be honored with a special award.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Also, earlier in the week, we decided on the official title of the series: "Hope And A Future." Going forward, "Hope And A Future" will replace Short Film Series.

San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival

Crown is honored to have been selected by the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival (SAICFF) to premier three of the new films. We pray the first viewers will be moved by God’s truth.

More news to come on how the films will be released as part of our teaching solutions in Spring 2009.

 

Well…it has been a while…

We apologize that it has been so long since we have posted anything on the site. We do want to take a moment and bring you up to speed on where we are with the Short Film Project here at Crown.

I will say this, we have all been blown away by God’s hand being involved in the finalization of the films.  The original music scores, the computer generated graphics and the insight God has given us has been amazing!  On numerous occasions, we have had to just step back in awe and praise God for His goodness throughout the process.

 On Wednesday, November 12th, a small group of us will meet to review the films one last time to make any tweaks and adjustments that need to be made to each of the films.

We feel and know that there are great things on the horizon for the films and what God wants to do through them.  Our desire is for His Word to go forth into the world to touch and change people’s hearts. 

We would like to ask for you to join us in this journey specifically through prayer.  We really do need your prayer covering.  Would you join with us?  If so, please feel free to share your thoughts and prayers in the comment fields below, if you feel led.

We have some very specific items we need to be covered:

•    Spiritual and physical protection for everyone involved in producing and distributing these films.

•    Wisdom and discernment as we work through the final steps in finalizing the films as well as looking at different teaching and distribution models.

•    Continued funding for the production of the films.

•    Ultimately, that lives would be changed, people will be saved and God will be glorified every step of the way!

There are some very exciting announcements that we will be sharing with you very soon regarding the films.  Please check back here for updates.

Thank you so much for your support and prayers for these films and what God is doing through Crown Financial Ministries! 

God Bless!

Jason Gazaway
Crown Operations Producer

Lifted Up - Staff Preview

Today the Crown staff previewed the film "Lifted Up" during our weekly devotions. For those of you who are new to the blog, "Lifted Up" is the presentation of the Gospel from John chapter 3.

It was truly an amazing and emotionally moving film, even for a believer like myself!

We were also treated today to hear from a special guest, Anatoliy Musiyenko. Anatoliy is Crown's Ukraine director. After the preview, I was able to chat briefly with Anatoliy about the film we just watched. He was extremely excited about it and looked forward to using it in the Ukraine.

To find out more about what Crown is doing in Europe, click here.

The Rich Man and Lazarus - India Review

This week ,Crown's National Director for India, Richard Samuel, reviewed "The Rich Man and Lazarus." On the double video screen pictured below, Richard is on the left. As mentioned in the last post, it is very important for us to get feedback from our international leaders since we will use these short films globally.

 

Screening Of The Rich Man and Lazarus

This week, the team did their first screening of "The Rich Man and Lazarus" - which is based on Luke 16:19-31. This film relies heavily on computer generating graphics, as it depicts Heaven & Hell. Since these computer graphics are not completed yet, you can only image how difficult it is to picture what the background scenes would look like.   

Next week, we will show "The Rich Man and Lazarus" to our International VP's of South Africa & India to get their critique. Since we plan to use these films globally, it is very important for us to get their feedback as well as feedback from our other international leaders.

Just a quick update on "Abraham and Isaac," we have sent the film over to the musician for him to create the background music and he is just about finished.

Here are some photos taken from the screening:

Setting up iChat before the meeting starts.

Just before the start of the meeting. 

Group discussion just before viewing "The Rich Man and Lazarus."

A very blurry picture of the team on iChat.

Follow-up discussion after the viewing.

Check back early next week, as we will have new updated pictures from our screening with the international team.

Post-Production Update

As mentioned in previous posts, we are full swing into post-production work. Roughly, there are 6 major stages we have identified for the project:

• Raw footage review
• Final edits done and video "locked"
• Background music written and reviewed
• Computer graphics generated
• Determine practical applications
• Packaging/Fulfillment

This week the team had the first screening of "Abraham and Isaac." During the screening, we had iChat/Video conference sessions with The Erwin Brothers. The main focus of the screening was to discuss what the group liked and how emotionally impactful the film was. Also, edits and changes to the film were also discussed. The same process will be repeated for each of the remaining films.

Here are a few photos from the screening:

Pictured L to R: Jim Armstrong (Creative Services Manger), Amanda Johnson (Director of Web Media), Ben LeVan (VP Human Resources)

Pictured L to R: Amanda Johnson (Director of Web Media), Ben LeVan (VP Human Resources), VJ Demsky (Information Security Officer)

Group shot

Chancy Burrell (Director of Management Information Systems)

John Erwin (From The Erwin Brothers) on iChat

Pictured L to R: John Erwin on iChat, John Smith (VP of Content & Project Management)

Pictured L to R: Mark Nunnally (Multi-Media Specialist), Kevin Light (Director of U.S. Project Management)

Pictured L to R: Megan Pacheco (Director of Alliances), Curtis Schwartz (Sales Manager)

What a lively bunch, huh?

Poster Mockups

A great film has to have a great "coming soon" poster, right? Check out these poster mockups of the upcoming Short Film series.

NOTE: These are only mockups and will likely change between now and when the finished product is released.