You are invited

To a prayer meeting this Sunday!

Here's a quote from Stephanie's blog:

We are having a time of prayer/worship/blessing/fellowship and food this coming Sunday at my house! (We are leaving on the 24th of March for CA!) Everyone interested in hearing about The Nick Project, and meeting the crew is welcome to come! Please feel welcome to come!

Where: Stephanie's House (visit our contact page and send a note to the secretary for info)
When: Sunday, March 2nd
Time: 2pm-4:30pm

If you can join us, you won't want to miss this opportunity to hear more about this exciting project, meet the crew, and get involved in the heart of this film through a time of prayer.

Lots going on

Yes, lots going on.

Our January meeting went exceptionally well--much was covered, great fellowship was enjoyed, and we were blessed with upwards of 40 attendees! Our largest meeting yet! A few of our guests you might recognize.....

Colin Gunn, as mentioned in the previous post, was our guest speaker. He says he's not great at pubic speaking, but I don't think any of us believe him anymore. He gave an amazing talk on the various documentary forms and shared from his experience producing Shaky Town and Monstrous Regiment of Women. Later on we might share some of our notes with you. We are SO grateful for his gracious willingness to come and speak.....and bring his adorable children!

21 of the 40.
After the meeting. Straining to see a film short online.
If you don't already, you might like to follow these guys and their new film, The Widow's Might.

Friday night we celebrated our one year anniversary! Here we took some time to pray, sing, share and reflect on God's goodness.

We find Mr. Gunn's encouragement and teaching very timely as we are in the midst of producing a documentary on the life and ministry of Nick Vojicic. In fact, last week, half of the Measure of a Man (working title) crew made the trek down to Houston to see him in person. THE "official" trip for this project will take place next month, Lord willing, as everyone heads out to L.A. California for a packed three-day shoot with Nick and his team. Please keep us in your prayers as we work diligently to get everything ready (originally, we were planning on shooting in September!) during the next (very) few weeks.

The portion of the MM team that went to Houston left last Wednesday at 4:30 A.M. and returned home to Dallas the following Sunday. The week was filled with shooting Nick speaking at various churches and schools, meeting with him for continued movie planning, and following him behind the scenes as he ministered to so many. If you've not been to Nick's website, please check it out. Also, visit Stephanie's blog for updates from the Director.


Houston's a big place. Might get lost. (We did. Several times.)

While on the topic of big places, one church Nick spoke at was Second Baptist Houston. As with everyone we worked with on the trip, we were so blessed to get to know some of the staff here. Thank you for your warm hospitality!

The traveling Life Without Limbs team and half of the DCFM crew.

JC (site, blog) is leading his team of writers as they continue work on scripting Spurs of Change. Production has been postponed to Spring of '09 to allow more time for pre-production. We've learned it's important to be honest with ourselves and realistic with our schedules. We could have shot SoC this year, and were intending to, but it was decided to give the project extra time so the story and production could become all it can be. We're also learning we need to be true to our mission. As filmmakers, it's easy to "jump the gun" and move ahead with our projects, shortchanging ourselves and our audience on not only elements of quality that are being overlooked (like continuity, flow and realism in our films) but also the communication of our message. Have we really said it well? Will the audience really get what we're trying to say.....will they miss the message completely.....or, worse yet, will they misconstrue it? All because we were in too much of a hurry to get our film out? What is our main goal? A movie? Or proclaiming the Truth and glory of God that hearts might be changed?

I'm sure it was a hard decision, but JC has made a very wise choice, and DCFM admires him for it. We believe in the heart behind his project, and want to maximize the time we have to more fully develop the story and prepare the technical elements of production. Our hope is that God will bless these efforts, and bless many through the Spurs of Change film.

SoC might be off center stage for a while, but the crew is working in the background! So we'll keep you updated! As you think of us, please pray for the SoC crew that God would grant wisdom, insight, creativity, open doors, and effective planning and preparations.

Another of our many schedule changes include the next SAICFF. If you haven't seen, the festival has been moved from Fall '08 to January '09. Looks like a good change. Visit their website here.

Look forward to another post with more pictures from the Houston trip, as well as other exciting announcements!

DCFM meeting

Greetings!
After the Christmas season, DCFM is getting geared up once again!

We will be holding a meeting this Saturday, Jan. 19th, in Duncanville, TX from 9am-5pm, and if you are interested, we would love for you to join us!

We will have a special guest speaker, Colin Gunn, maker of award winning documentaries Shaky Town and The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women.

We will also be discussing the projects DCFM currently has in production, Measure of a Man, a documentary about the life of Nick Vujicic; and Spurs of Change, a feature film about a young man who finds that it is possible to turn his life around, after all. If you are interested in joining us for the meeting, either online or in person, please contact us for more information. Hope to see you there!

Be sure to check back for upcoming updates on DCFM's projects.

At SAICFF

In the Lila Cockrell Theater.


Jeremy, JC, Kayleen, Mandy, Danielle, Tabitha, Jake, Matt, John V


The Call of Courage screening on Saturday morning at SAICFF.
The only decent shot I could get--it was so quiet in there I was afraid to keep shooting for fear of greatly disturbing the event!


Most of the DCFMers present at SAICFF.


A highlight for us this week was the Award Ceremonies. COC didn't win anything, but JC's other project, Joel's Journey, won the Best Biblical Family Film award!!


The back left corner of the theater absolutely exploded as all of us DCFMers cheered JC and the Morrises.


JC gave some very gracious words in response to winning the award. I don't remember what they were, but I remember thinking they were very appropriate, God-glorifying, and said simply perfect.

You can visit JC's blog and website for more info, and to order your copy of this powerful and inspiring documentary that will touch your heart and strengthen your faith.


DCFMers and lots of friends after the Awards Ceremonies. (minus JC and company, who were at a reception for a bit)


DCFMers.


All the lovely ladies.


Then we all went out to ice cream on the San Antonio Riverwalk. A SAICFF tradition.


Um. Having issues here. Hmm. In any case, this is Steph and Alan--Mrs. Lee and Whitey, respectively, in COC--with their ice cream. Stephanie broke her foot several weeks ago which is why she's being lovingly pushed around by her brother in a wheel chair.


Some very proud siblings.


It was great to see some of y'all in SA! Congrats to all of you who won awards, and congrats to everyone who made a film this year--keep up the good work and keep seeking to shine forth His Truth!

"For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." 2 Corinthians 4:5

If you were there, leave us a comment with your thoughts on SAICFF '07!

Milestones

Well, the Big Day has come and gone, and we are all grateful for all that God has done. The Premiere went very well and it seemed like everyone enjoyed the evening. We loved seeing everyone--thanks for coming out to join us for this special event.

For those that couldn't make it, thank you for your prayers. Friday evening was definitely another time to fully rely on God to help us get done everything that needed to come together. So many details!

For those of you who pre-ordered your DVD, it should be in the mail already, or will be soon, and in your hands shortly! If you missed the window for pre-ordering your copy, no worries--you can still order! Just follow the "Add to Cart" link on our store page. Or, if you'll be at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival and Academy, we'll be there too, and we can give you a copy in person.

Today many of us head to San Antonio for the Festival, and some have already been enjoying a week at the Christian Filmmakers Academy. When we get back, we'll post pictures from the Premiere, as well as our time in San Antonio, and we'll let you know how the film competition went! See you there, or see you here when we get back!!

The Big Shin Dig

I trust most of you have seen it on our home page, but in case not....

The Call of Courage Premiere
is
October 12th, 2007
7 o'clock PM
Harvest Meadows Christian Church
Colleyville, TX

Come hear from the Director and Producers, see the movie for the first time on the big screen, and enjoy a reception where you can meet the actors and crew members who helped bring this story to life! Visit our home page for more information.

If you order before October 12th, you receive a discount plus free shipping! And if you plan on attending the Premiere you can still get in on the deal--we will have your order ready for you at the table. And you won't want to miss out on getting your own copy--DVD special features include set pictures, two audio commentaries by cast and crew, a bloopers/funnies reel, and an exclusive Behind the Scenes documentary where you can see what happened on and off the set, and hear some of the amazing things God has done in the making of this project.

And as if all that weren't exciting enough, after the COC Premiere, guests will be treated to a special screening of Joel's Journey, the touching and compelling story of Joel Morris and his family, and the stand they made for the sanctity of life.

So make plans join us! And bring as many family and friends as you can! We'd love to see you there for the celebrations!


And here are some pictures for you--it's been way too long!

Main Camera tied to JC, Panasonic HVX something-or-other; BTS Camera held by Stephanie, Canon XL1S.

BJ Irvin and son Noah--two of our stars.


Susan is just awesome with set and costume design! She had answers and ideas for everything! And a smile to go with it!
Nathan and Justin looking quite sharp. Two of our wonderful Re-enactors.

You think so, huh?
Oh yeah. You're totally dirtier than I am.
(actually, I have no idea what they were enjoying talking about)

Call of Courage Update

Praise the Lord!!!! The Call of Courage is a semi-finalist at the San Antonio Indepedent Christian Film Festival!! All of us are incredibly excited about what the Lord has done for us. In February - who would have dreamed that we would 1)finish a movie in so short a time and 2)receive semi-finalist status at SAICFF.

When I heard the good news I was actually working on a video. Since my camera was right beside me, I was able to record the phone call John-Clay made to me. The video below is that phone call.

We have many things ahead of us. On October 12 we will be having our premier. That same night we will also be showing Joel's Journey (a film made by John-Clay). The DVD is also availbale for pre-order - so get your orders in quickly before the price goes up!! SAICFF is next month and we are all lookig forward to having a great time not only within our group, but also with the many filmmakers that will be there.

That's all for now, but more updates are coming soon!

Movie is Done!

As of today, Call of Courage was finished and sent off to the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival! Our Director, Producer and Editor will probably sleep very well tonight! We look forward to however the Lord wants to direct from here. We praise Him for how He has blessed and taught us along this journey, and for bringing us to this milestone.

Between now and the festival, though, we have a lot of work to attend to which will keep us busy. Meetings to attend, a Premiere to plan, duplication to oversee...and our next movie to gear up for!

Many apologies for how slow the blog has gone--we've been revamping a lot of things, so hopefully it'll be up and running again soon.

As you wish.

Someone asked for this picture. So here it is.



And here's a couple random shots.


Susan and her family did a LOT of sewing that week. Susan was a wonderful costume and set designer.


Driving was a big part of our week, too.

As were packing the cars.


"Hmm......."

Pictures from Saturday

Many apologies that these pictures couldn't be posted with their written stories below. But they can be posted now, so hopefully you are enjoying a peak into our week on the set. Here in a bit, we'll try to be updating you on Post Production.


Our clapboard apparatus. "Marker!" as we came to call it, probably due to the fact that our set-up consisted of a marker board, and that we were forever looking for the marker. The system worked very well.






John V and JC checking the monitor. Eventually we moved it out of the room because it was so cramped in there.


Reeling from the fog.
That's just how it looks. Really, John V is shooting BTS (camera is out of shot), Matt B is looking at the monitor and messing with his hat while leaning against the wall. JC is working on his camera and looking at the monitor. While no one really enjoyed breathing the dense fog put out by JC's machine, we were very grateful he used vanilla-scented fog rather than unscented. Apparently, unscented is pretty bad stuff. Now that's a thoughtful DP.


In between takes.
It was dark, humid and hot in that small room. Amazing all the action that took place in spite of it. Lots of pressure, but lots of learning, fun and prayer!


Good Job!


A glimpse at this scene's finished product.