The Treasure of the Secret Cove

McKenzie (left) and Rachel on the
set of "Milk and Oranges."

McKenzie Harris and Rachel Marley were my students together at the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp (RMCFC) in 2016, where we produced the short film "Milk and Oranges."

This January, McKenzie was in charge of wardrobe on the set of "There," which was written, produced and directed by William and Morgan Willer, two other alumni of RMCFC (2015 and 2016). In the middle of production, McKenzie got a call-back for the lead in the Lamplighter Theatre production of The Treasure of the Secret Cove. As an alumna of RMCFC she received the casting call I sent out to all my former students. The Lamplighter production team listened to over 250 auditions without considering who the actors were. They were shocked to discover McKenzie was also an alumna of the Lamplighter Guild (2017), where I got to teach this summer, as well as Lamplighter Live, where I first worked with her.

Rachel and McKenzie in the
studio for The Treasure
of the Secret Cove.

McKenzie discovered that Rachel was cast as her character's best chum in the production. Our friend and colleague, Nato Jacobson, plays the husband of McKenzie's character. David Sanborn, a friend I've worked with on projects since 2001, plays a mysterious visitor. Nato and Rachel also played smaller roles.

Joyce and I just listened to it, and they all did splendid work! So many nice moments. So much truth spoken so eloquently. It's a wonderful story, based on the classic book of the same title by Amy Le Feuvre. It's about the power of the covenant of marriage, and it's set up in a very creative way! You can order it as a set of CDs or download it now.

I was honored to be a consultant on several elements of preproduction.

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We're about to announce that registration is open for the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp. Sign up for the announcement.

Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp Deadline Extended

Rachel Marley (left) and McKenzie Harris experienced another blessing from their association with the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp.  They just performed in a God-honoring professional audio drama for Lamplighter Theatre that they learned about because they had been students at the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp.

Our camp is more than a fully immersive training experience. It begins before students arrive on campus with online tutorials we've put together, so that once they arrive we can immediately jump into production on a short film. All four years that I've taught at Film Camp I've been able to coach our students for an audition for a live film project. Several of our students have landed roles or been hired on crew because of that process.

But the benefits of Film Camp extend beyond our week together. Whenever I hear about film, stage and radio projects that are planning to honor the Lord I send out casting notices to all of our acting camp alumni.

If you or someone you know is interested in acting now is the best time to register for the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp.

Due to some logistics issues we were not able to get the word out in a timely manner about our early bird special to some of our potential acting camp students. In order to be fair with all who are interested in attending either the acting or filmmaking camps we have decided to extend the $150 early bird discount until the end of the month.

The registration website has already been updated to the full price since the early bird discount expired on January 15th. However, we have created a special discount coupon code that you can use to get the same discount. Here’s how it works. Register for either the 2018 Rocky Mountain Christian Acting camp or the Filmmakers camp from our regular camp registration page and enter the following coupon code on the payment screen to receive the discount.

Coupon Code: EB2018
Acting Camp Registration SiteFilmmaking Camp Registration Site

The discount coupon is only good through January 31st and only while we still have space available. Once the camp is full registration will be closed so register now to assure your spot and to take advantage of this extended discount.

If you choose the 3 payment option the $150 discount will be applied to your initial payment. So the first payment will only be $150, the second and third payments will be $300 each.

Hope to see you in the Rockies!

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Join us for the 2018 Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp.

There

Joyce and I joined my former students William and Morgan Willer who directed and produced the short film, "There."

Joyce served on crew, and I played a father in search of his daughter during a storm who finds that he has to decide between getting her to safety and bringing a woman in labor to the hospital in his two-seat car.


You Should Be THERE: A Short Film from William Willer on Vimeo.

Joyce played my character's wife while the cameras weren't rolling. It was a sociodrama to help get our 22nd screen daughter ready for an emotional phone call. We were all deeply moved by the experience, and hopefully you'll hear that in her performance.

It was an official selection at the Christian Worldview Film Festival and the International Christian Film and Music Festival, where I was nominated for Best Lead Actor in a Short Film.

They created this brilliant fundraising video for the project:

William and Morgan attended the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp in 2016. William was on the filmmaking side, and Morgan was one of my actors. Our film for that year, "Felicia's Pledge": www.RichDrama.com/FeliciasPledge. The next summer the siblings switched places and I got to work with William. Our short film that year was "Milk and Oranges": www.RichDrama.com/MilkAndOranges.

We also got to work with other Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp alumni: Rebekah Stought, who plays the expectant mother, did both camps in the summer of 2015, when we offered two week-long camps back-to-back. Click here to see the film Rebekah directed and the two in which she performed.

Gwendelynn Martindale was a filmmaking student, and she wrote, produced and directed her own short film, "One Day."

Though RMCFC alumna Gabby Campana needed to be out of town during filming, she helped with pre and post-production. While we were there we got to see her in a really fun short she starred in with the Willers.

McKenzie set up a performance and
workshop for me in her church in
Albuquerque. Her brother, Matt,
also worked on "There."

While we were on set, RMCFC alumna McKenzie Harris got a call-back to play the lead in a Lamplighter Theatre production, of The Treasure of the Secret Cove. The production team listened to over 250 auditions without considering who the actors were. They were shocked to discover McKenzie was also an alumna of the Lamplighter Guild, where I got to teach this summer.

Of course, my own bride attended the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp as well. The short she directed (...for one scene, and she did cinematography, lighting and sound for other scenes) is now online: www.RichDrama.com/MilkAndOranges.

Here's a great review of "There":

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Sign up for the announcement that registration is open for the next Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp.