San Antonio Independent Christian Film Academy (SAICFA)
Wow, what an incredibly encouraging week! I've attended every SAICFA-Festival event since 2005 and I've enjoyed it every time! Just a quick note here for those unfamiliar with all this...you can register for the Academy and Festival seperately if you wish to attend only one event but they have always been held during the same week so it just kinda makes sense to go to both. (Academy is held the first half of the week, and the Festival is held the last half)
Highlights for me at this years Academy were the lectures by Kirk Cameron "Acting" - Steven Kendrick "Directing Actors" and "Behind the Scenes of Courageous" - Geoff Botkin "Story Structure" - Isaac Botkin "Christopher Nolan vs. Steven Speilberg" - Doug Phillips "Radioactive" where he critiques Food, Inc., Avatar, The Cove, 2012, the Al Gore documentary, and more.
"[the Academy] included messages on Epistemology for Filmmakers, comparison of the acting styles of Marlon Brando with Jimmy Stewart, an amazing Christ-exalting dialogue with Kirk Cameron that ranks as one of the most inspirational messages in the history of any Vision Forum event, discussions on managing sets, unions, and a rousing, hilarious and very practical session on screen tests and acting."
-Doug Phillips
KIRK CAMERON
STEVEN KENDRICK
"Stephen took us on a first look at his latest film “Courageous,” but the substance was a no-holds bar homage to absolute duty of the Christian filmmaker to make hard choices that honor Christ, and the blessings which come from it...The maturity and excellence of the story-line, production values, acting and structure of “Courageous” was so significant, that those of us who had the privilege to be present knew we were watching the birth of something that promises to make headline news as it blazes across the nation blessing millions and changing lives for Christ."
-Doug Phillips
At the 2010 Christian Filmmaker's Academy, Stephen Kendrick (the Producer of "Flywheel", "Facing the Giants", and "Fireproof") presented a keynote message entitled " 'Courageous'-The Vision, The Story, The Lessons." Here's a snippet.
We also got to see several rough clips from their upcoming film Courageous. Let me tell ya...it's going to be REALLY good!! - Movie Website
GEOFF BOTKIN
"Geoff Botkin Wows Us With a Brilliant Discussion on Structure, Story Arc and Beats of a Well-Drafted Script."
DOUG PHILLIPS
"[Avatar] is definitely anti-coporate...it's a very personal film in the sense that when I was a kid...in high school it was the start of the environmental movement, and I made a film in high school about pollution...In the years since, trying to get documentaries funded about the environment - you can't raise any money to do that. Nobody wants to buy that stuff. So I thought if i make a big, spectacular ation science fiction film, I can embed these themes in a movie that people are going to see for other reasons. It's absolutely subversive."
-James Cameron interview on "The View", Feb. 17, 2010
"...the effectiveness of Hollywood pantheists and environmentalists to subvert culture through media, and, second, the absence of a thoughtful response in film from the Christian community because we have abandoned the dominion mandate, and failed to mount an army to take the field." Watch the clips.
I found this bag sitting on a table, and in light of the "Radioactive" lecture...I took a picture of it ;) Now don't get me wrong, I do believe it is important to take of this wonderful world God has given us, but I also believe that there is balance. Taking care of the earth shouldn't be more important than people.
OTHER LECTURES
Isaac Botkin gave a very interesting lecture comparing two very successful directors!
"The Art of Scoring Films," with Oscar-winning composer Bruce Broughton.
A lecture by the young men behind the new EffectsForge company.
David Cook talks about his new film Seven Days In Utopia starring Robert Duvall. Movie Website
- stay tuned for a review of this year's festival!
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Lots of pictures and video used from "Doug's Blog"
2 Comments
Reader Comments (2)
A very encouraging week for sure! You re-capped the Academy very well...
This was a very good re-cap to be sure. I was SO interesting there. I especially liked the talk about Christopher Nolan vs. Stephen Spealburg. I was able to meet lots of people there too, people that I can (hopefully) make movies with in the future. It was SUCH an encouraging week. And I completely agree, COURAGEOUS WILL BE GREAT! I cried 3 out of 5 clips. ;)