Let Go

Our newest Short Video. Directed By Charis Joy Jackson.

Life on The Road

On the set of "Life on The Road"

We made an award winning film! We took part of the Brisbane 48 Hour Film Project again this year. The Basic Premise is that teams have 48 hours write produce shoot and edit a short film. Its pretty difficult. The past years we were met with limited success. The first year we competed (Watch The Film Company) we were nominated for an award (best actress) and were in the top 10 films. The next year (Moving On) we missed the deadline by 15 minutes. I was shattered, to use the Aussie colloquialism (it means devastated). But this year's was much better. Our film was called "Life on The Road" and was about a young man who had to decided between his love of the road and his girlfriend.  When they announced the nominations, we knew we were going to do better, since we already had nominations for 8 of the 13 awards. We won 6 of those. Including: best production design, best editing, best writing, best lead actor, best direction and best film. Winning best film, also means that we will compete in the international finals competition held at the Miami International Film Festival, which is really exciting.  Check out more pictures!

School of Digital Filmmaking and Landscaping

I was recently going through some old files on my computer and came across a document I had written as prep for the first SDF.  We were setting up our website and my boss asked me to write up a history of the SDF for it, so this is what I wrote.  I thought you all might enjoy it.  (Oh and at the time were doing a bit of fund raising for the school by landscaping for people)


The School of Digital Filmmaking and Landscaping (or SDFL) started in 2007 when some filmmakers decided that there was better and easier money in landscaping, but they couldn’t get as many girls by saying they were landscapers. So they got themselves lots of training and learned how to make movies, they became fairly good at it (some fairer then others) but no money came in. So instead of trying to make more movies to make money (which was only a little bit more difficult) they started mowing lawns and pruning hedges, the pay wasn’t good, but it didn’t require much thought, and was therefore easier. From this they got the idea to become landscapers. After a few failed attempts to pick up on women they got together to discuss the problem. They had previously been able to get any one they wanted. They realized that they could no longer get women because they called themselves gardeners and landscapers. Right then and there they realized that they could have the best of both worlds by just saying they made movies. They had enough knowledge and stories to convince the women for at least a day, and that’s all they really wanted. And they also got buff and tan from working outside which helped as well. And thus the SDFL was formed, and now they strive to teach these important tricks to others.

I don't know why my boss didn't use it

48 Hour Film Blitz

I am now, officially, an award winning filmmaker.  Every year on the SDF we do a 48 hour film blitz, where we have 48 hours to write, produce shoot and edit a film.  And afterwards they are judged and this year the one my team made won! Now, there were only two other films for a total of 9 filmmakers, so its a small victory, but it is a victory dang it. 

SDF 2010

One of the student's films (that I got the privilege of acting in)

The SDF 2010 has officially started, (and is now over half way through).  It's has been a rather busy school (note the time since my last post).  But it is going well and we have some really good students (always seem to).  They have just finished principle photography on their first projects, and while they are editing them we decided to give them a bit bigger challenge and we are again doing our 48 hour film blitz.  We have three teams of three (with the other teachers mixed in) and they get 48 hours to write, produce, shoot and edit a film.  Team one is in the editing bay now, and my team starts tomorrow night.  It is always a great time to help teach the students more about the process of filmmaking (and how quickly you can do it).

This school has had a very different feel to past schools.  It took me a while to realize it, but I have finally come to the (oddly startling) conclusion that it is because we have now done this several times before.  Much off what before was running around with my head chopped off was because I (we all really) were learning on the fly, we didn't always know what to expect.  And now I am finding that I do know what's coming and and it doesn't sweep my off my feet nearly as often (as often as I need?)  But it's a great feeling to see excellence growing in my life.

14 Hours

So I just got done with a 14 hours film shoot, and it was awesome!  I started at 5 PM and finished 7 AM (although since I'm waiting for the guys from the bus company to come pick up the bus I'm still "on set")  Final day of shooting (our smallest yet only 7 hours) Sunday afternoon!

Yea for Producing!

I’m finally producing again! This is the job that I feel I fit in most with, it’s not as involved in the creative side. Producing is more of an administrative job, the producer is the one who gets everything together. The film I am producing is one that the school leader wrote and is now directing. The film’s setting is a man going to work, so I have been almost constantly on the phone with the various bus and train lines in the area trying to get a vehicle to film in. As well as a vast multitude of other small details that keep filming interesting.

We had our first shoot last Monday, it went from 9:30 AM to about 10 PM, it was long. We are shooting again tomorrow night (Friday) from 6 PM to around 8 AM. It’s an intense schedule. I have been going through cycles of “hey I got this, everything is pretty much done and we are ready to go” to “AHHH! There’s no way to get all this done it won’t work and it all my fault.” But so far, it is getting done (and in time to shoot).

Finding God in the Atheist

I recently finished reading Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy.  The series starts with The Golden Compass, (originally titled Northern Lights in the UK),recently made into a movie, and finishes up with The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.  This was the third time I have read them all.  The last time I read the series, I specifically looked for some analogy I could find, some good moral.  I grasped at every straw, looked beyond the names, but was unable to find any.  It seemed Pullman had succeeded in creating a book without God, (despite having God as a character).

I am against picketing studios and boycotting movies.  I laugh when I hear the reasons people boycott movies because their reasons seem extremely legalistic and just plain ridiculous.  I don't find the reasons against The Golden Compass ridiculous, because I have read the books.  (And I still watch the movie, and I want to see it again having finished the series).  Pullman is trying to, through this series, vaccinate (or indoctrinate, depending on your point of view), children against Christianity.  He is quoted as saying "I'm trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief."  This indoctrination is about as clear as Lewis' in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and Perelandra.  It is very strong. 

This time I read the series, God pointed something out to me.  He showed me an analogy to the tower of Babel.  In the books the main characters (the main characters or "good guys" are all fighting against God), try to set up a world without "the trianny" of God.  But they can't really succeed because they can't live outside their own world for very long (they are all from different parallel universes).  The people come together to try to live without God and God scatters them, just like He did with the Tower of Babel.  In the books it is not specifically God scattering them, but it is the nature or laws of the world.  Me, being from a Christian perspective, see God as the author of those laws, and therefore ultimately responsible for the effects.

All the main characters "succeed", in that they reach their goals, but they are all left empty and sad, broken.  It made me smile when God pointed this out to me.  Despite Pullman trying to show people "God is Dead" he showed them (in fact one character even says it), life without God is lonely.  We need God. 

This book (and therefore Philip Pullman) has helped teach me more about the truth of God, the real one.  (Ha! Take that Pullman.)  Specifically, God doesn't just write His name in the heavens and in all the world around us.  He even writes His name in the fictional worlds of works by athests, there to be found.  If that's not proof that God has a sense of humor and is in complete control, I don't know what is.

28 Months Later

I’m now a Basic Leadership School Graduate! By my reckoning, February 13th 2008 (the start of the first SDF in Australia) is when I consider myself to have started the BLS. Officially it wasn’t until the second half of that year when I actually started BLS. But I was given credit for the “prior learning” I received from the lectures and by staffing the first SDF. And now that I think about it, the first BLS lectures I went to were a few weeks before the start of the school, so it’s closer to 29 months (but I didn’t want to miss out on the movie reference).

BLS is a 18 month (normally) school that is run on the campus here. It teaches leadership skills (hence the name, although it is far from basic) as well as some of the logistics to staffing the various schools that run. I was supposed to graduate last October, but I still had a few assignments to finish (See here for that amazing story, and if you haven’t read it yet, this story is one of the most incredible events in my recent life, which is why I have now linked to it twice. So read it). Now all those assignments are finished all the various elements are completed and I have my certificate! YAY!

Back to Work

For Easter we (the 10 or so staff on the campus who aren’t involved with the currently running schools), had four days off. It was great, I got to do all the things I love, read, watch movies, install car audio systems, sleep late and fellowship. The campus was pretty much deserted so I got time to reconnect with some of the other staff and just hang. It was time well spent.

The campus was deserted because all of the schools (70 some odd people) were in a city two hours inland call Toowoomba (tu-’womb-ba). Toowoomba is the host of “Easterfest” The largest Christian music festival in Australia. Every year now for about 10 years YWAM has helped out, we even have a venue that hosts some of the 140 musicians.

While I wasn’t there for the full weekend I did go up for one day on Wednesday to help set up lights. It was hard to leave. I’m not a music-fest person, and camping amongst thousands of people in the rain (which is normal for Easterfest, although this year was beautiful) is not my idea of a fun weekend, which I why I declined to go volunteer for the full weekend. But I wanted to get to spend time with the schools. A few weeks back I went back to Stradbroke Island with one of the Discipleship Training Schools.  This time for the full week. I got a chance to get to know the students, even leading small-group discussions. They travel a lot and it had been two weeks since I had seen them and I found myself missing them. This was a huge thing for me, since I don’t find myself missing large groups of people. Half of me said just stay, it will be amazing (and it would have been) the other half was screaming “No you fool, mud, loud noise, LOTS of people, no time off, stay away!” So in the end I didn’t stay more than the day, and it was the right decision. I didn’t realize how much I needed the rest during those 4 days.

And I just found out as I’m writing this that my visa was granted (yea!) and its good until May 2012 so I don’t need to worry about visas for over two years, and that’s when my commitment is finished (well, to YWAM, I still have a commitment to God so he might want me here longer)

We are Filming again!

We have just started production on a short film about a girl overcoming fear and auditioning for a play. The girls emotions are symbolized through a kite flying through the air; it’s a very fanciful story. I am running camera, which is something that I have normally kept away from, one because I don’t normally like running camera, and two because there’s lots of things that you need to remember to do (like focusing). But this time I am really enjoying it, since there is a lot less responsibility and a lot less stress. I don’t need to know when different scenes are being shot or how they relate to the story as a whole. I just need to listen to what the Director of Photography tells me and I’m good. I don’t think I have ever been this relaxed on set.

I am also just finishing up running lights for a community theatre production of “Fiddler on the Roof”; which has not been as relaxing as filming nowis. I’m not used to the way this theatre works, and so I’m trying to fit my routine in and it doesn’t fit well, so I’m almost having to learn how to do it all over again, which is not fun.

But I have managed to have fun, I have gone back up to Cedar Creek several times to hike and swim.  It makes me wish I had a car so I take people up every weekend because it is so amazing.  Pictures are here

Also my visa is expiring in less than a week, but since I have an application for another visa in already I won’t have to leave the country, which is nice, even if it pretty much is limbo.

The Old Guard

Last night we had a concert with Karen Lafferty, a YWAMer from way back.  She wrote "Seek Ye First." Recently I have been thinking a lot about the "Old Guard" of YWAM, the people who have been in it from almost the beginning.  In Canberra I was able to hear from them and hear their stories.  I, mean I already know many of the stories from reading about them and hearing them told. Stories about these young guys just going off somewhere following God and really doing the impossible, seeing miracles and seeing God moving in powerful ways.  They still haven't really changed.  They are still crazy and still ready to hop on a plane to, well anywhere.  Despite being grandparents.  And the image I had of them, (something along the line of the Catholic view of Saints) way off.  That is what has really stuck with me: They are people.  They are like me.  And that's comforting.

Leaving Canberra

Well, I'm ready to go back to Brisbane.  Canberra has been amazing, Loren Cunningham spoke on the future of YWAM and what's currently going on in the world and it was very inspirational.  He is the type of speaker that, while being soft spoken and not very exuberant in his mannerisms, speaks with incredibly moving words.  It is very hard to listen and not be moved.
The weather at the beginning of the week was quite cool, but now it has warmed up considerably.  It is currently 7:45 AM and already "sensory deprivation temperature," where the air temperature is so close to skin temperature that you don't feel anything, especially in the courtyard where the wind doesn't blow very hard.  I look forward to getting into a nicely air-conditioned car for the trip to Sydney.  Oh, yeah rather than going straight back to Brisbane my mate (Wayne) and I are going to spend a day exploring Sydney.  Check out the harbour and the opera house and see if I can find a few of the locations they shot The Matrix at.  It's going to be great, God bless.

YWAM 50th Celebration Conference

Like I promised I have uploaded a few pictures I took from Canberra, I didn't take many inside the buildings because I was too interested in what was in them to worry about pictures sorry.  But here is the link

The conference is going well, it has been a great time to connect with other campuses around Australia and just bask in the "YWAMness" the sense of shared bonds with complete strangers.  There have been some awesome times of worship and ministry.  I am so glad to be here, God has really been showing me some new things, and its making me excited.  This evening we are having the first of four talks by Loren Cunningham, the founder of Youth With A Mission, on the past, present and future of YWAM.  I am really looking forward to hearing him speak again.  He has a passion that is hard not to catch.

Canberra (ok, apperently its pronounced Can-bra not Can-bur-ah)

As I write this blog I'm setting in a cell. Not a prison cell, but a room in a former monastery, even now the entire YWAM Canberra campus (the former monastery) has a meditative feeling.  Walking around I feel like the whole place is breathing, (but not as loudly as the snores of my roommate, so glad I remembered to bring ear plugs).  The building is old and made of brick and I think sandstone, it is marvelous to look at.  And I have gotten to see a whole slew of new exotic parrots feeding all around.  You can see them too just go to your local pet store.

Canberra is the capital of Australia and the campus here is one of the host campuses of the year-long 50th Anniversary of Youth With A Mission. I came down early as a friend's 'offsider' (Aussie term for right hand man, from the trucking industry, similar to riding shotgun) to help put up a large tent that is being used to house the week long conference. Which we finished today. Tomorrow we are going to go check out the town again (we went last night after dark, so this time i get to go in the buildings). I should be writing again soon and I'll post a bunch of Pic from Canberra

Long, but worth the read

Looking for/breaking trail for the obstacle course

Ok, so I just returned from a day on Stradbroke Island.   I only had one day since tomorrow morning I’m headed off to Canberra to help pitch a tent.  What was I doing on “Strady”? Well, before we send our outreach teams on outreach, we run them through a mission simulation.  This includes a mock airport in “Bagistan” local contacts that don’t show up, and uncomfortable food.  A big part of this is called “Mission Impossible.”  In Mission Impossible the teams are woken up at random times during the night (they don’t know it’s coming) they are run through an obstacle course with several team building activities, food challenges, and the like.  After they leave the course, they go to a mock village to share the gospel to the locals.  This course took an average of about 2 and a half to 3 hours to complete.  I went through my own personal mission simulation that same night.

My roll was first to help make the course, normally it takes about 2 hours to set up, but we had problems finding the trail we normally use and it took us about 5 hours to set up, but the time we finished it was getting dark and we needed to run the guides through so they knew where to go (plus we hung glow sticks to mark the very rough trail).  When all was said and done I had been in the bush for 7 and a half hours eating only a small sandwich and had only a little water.  9:30 PM I emerged and was able to eat and rest for about a half hour.  At this point I was tired, hungry and dehydrated I had no desire to continue helping with the simulation, but we were rather short staffed and I had no choice but to continue.  I had cut my foot while building the Obstacle course, so I was assigned to the village as one of the locals that need the gospel.

So at this point I have no desire for ministry of any kind, I just want to go to sleep, much like the outreach teams that come to the village.  Right before the first team arrives to the village some random drunk guys come up and we start talking to them.  One of them was really interested in who we were and what we had to offer.  His father was a Pastor, but he didn’t follow God on his own.  We told them what we were doing and asked them to join our tribe.  They agreed since they were bored.  The first team came up and was surprised to have complete strangers to present the gospel to so it worked really well.  William, the pastor’s son, was very interested and stayed for a while, and even the members of the “village” were sharing true God and love with him.

It was an amazing experience and I’m really glad to have had it.  Especially when I was so tired and not wanting to do any ministry, it was God’s way of showing me that there are a lot of things much more important than me. And I'll write about Canberra when I get back.

Oz...Finally!

Wow, travel gets weird.  So, let's start from the top.  First off, I left my house without the visa I needed to get into Australia.  Which any traveler will tell you is a bad idea.  I had been trying to apply for it for a month.  But I couldn't even apply until I got my old visa canceled, and the office is closed for Christmas holidays, and only open the day I needed to leave.  LAX is about 4 hours from my house, meaning I had to leave at about 3:30 pm to get to the airport on time (four hours before my flight to cope with longer lines due to new restrictions and holiday travel).  The visa office in Australia opens at 3 pm my time.  So right before I leave I call them on Skype (the only way it would work) to get my visa canceled.  They tell me that the office in Perth (on the west coast of Australia) handled my visa application so they have to cancel it.  But they didn't open for another 2 hours.  So I decide that I need to leave, and figure I'll just find an internet cafe on the road.  Two hours later I'm in Santa Barbra.  I find a cafe and call up.  I talk to a new guy and he puts me on hold for 15 minutes.  Once he comes back on the line he says that he talked to Perth but since I was studying in Queensland (east coast) they had to cancel my visa, but their office wasn't answering.  I figured that it was probably that they were out to lunch.  So an hour later I call from Ventura (this time a small burger joint with wifi, go figure).  So sitting on a dark curb waiting on hold finally the lady comes on and tells me that my visa has been canceled, success! (Well for part one, canceling the visa.)  And about 3 hours before my flight I can apply for a visa.  Normally this shouldn't be a problem since the visa is processed online, and "in most instances approved within seconds."  So after doing all the application stuff I checked to see if it was approved, it wasn't yet.  So I'm now 3 hours away from leaving and still don't have a visa, but at least I have an app in.  Luckily for me they let me check in, so I guess I got my visa.  Oh and that long wait I was expecting because of all the new security stuff?  From standing in line to check in to standing in front of the gate took me, oh all of fifteen minutes!  I think that's the fastest I have ever gotten through an airport.  But at least during the 13 hour overnight flight I had a row all to myself, so I could "stretch out" and sleep, and that was sweet.  Although I only got the row after I subtly rude Canadian couple went in search of new seats. ("Are YOU in this row too?  We like it when we have the row to ourselves so we can kind of stretch out." Doesn't everybody? (Well most people, I would have rather had the chance to talk to them since I'm one assignment away from finishing a two year course, the one assignment?  Share the gospel, kinda hard when sitting by myself.) Oh and I was already sitting down when they asked, if I was sitting there, that's what made it seem rude and rather obtuse.