Christian Worldview Film Festival 2017
These past few days have been some of the most renewing and inspiring of my life. I hopped a Megabus from Orlando, FL Tuesday night and began the 36-hour journey to San Antonio, TX for the Christian Worldview Film Festival. This is my second time traveling out West by bus. The diverse beauty of the American countryside is breathtaking. Although there were some trials involved (2 hour layover in Atlanta with 30° weather!), the experience was well worth it.
I have learned so much about what it means to glorify God through your talents from people who are living the example within the media industry. People like John Doryk, a prominent film composer and, funny enough, a fellow Florida Tech grad! John has had a long career in the industry with credits ranging from Miami Vice to the recent PBS miniseries For Love of Liberty: The Story of America’s Black Patriots starring Halle Berry, Colin Powell, and Morgan Freeman. I was deeply honored to spend time with these people discussing the passions we share and our visions for the future.
I was brought to the Christian Worldview Film Festival through my participation in the 2017 Film Scoring Competition. The contest involved writing a music score for “The Unspeakable”—a Bob Jones University short film directed by Marc Pagliuca. I was honored to have my score selected as a finalist and share a screen alongside scores by five other extremely talented composers. We all developed a bond through our mutual love of music over the course of the festival and enjoyed much time together discussing the intricacies of film scoring and our stylistic influences.
Although I did not win, the experience was nothing short of incredible. I have a deep respect for the fellow composers I met, and my heart was filled with joy when I heard Christopher Cain’s and Rodney Wilson’s names called at the awards ceremony Saturday night. It is my hope for all of us to stay in contact and continue to grow in our talents together. Who knows, we may possibly see some collaborations in the future!
I was blessed to share the spotlight briefly with my good friends Will and Morgan Willer when their short film, “The Legacy of Craftsmanship,” was announced as the third-place winner of the Honor Your Father short film competition. I had the pleasure to compose the score for their beautiful film about fatherhood earlier this year. You can see the film along with some of their other work here (https://soundlightstory.wixsite.com/soundlightstory).
I will not soon forget the friends I made or the conversations I had this week. I want to give a special thanks to my friends from Bob Jones University who helped me out with travel to and from the festival each day and were just wonderful people to hang out with. You guys are great!
It’s now time to put my hand to the plow. I have many ideas in my head and projects in the works, and I will be releasing some of the cues from my score for “The Unspeakable” here soon. Subscribe to be notified of new content!
God Bless,