John Schmidt to Share Feature Film Producer’s View in January 21 General Meeting

“A film is never finished. It’s just finally abandoned in post,” says John Schmidt, Associate Professor of Cinema and Media Arts at Biola University, who will be our General Meeting speaker via Zoom on Thursday, January 21, at 7 pm, sharing “War Stories from A Feature Film Producer.” Prof. Schmidt has worked on over 40 films in various capacities as director, writer, producer, or editor.

A graduate of the UCLA film school and Fuller Theological Seminary, Prof. Schmidt was founder and president of Dean River Productions and John Schmidt Productions, having won numerous awards in the process. A feature screenplay he wrote, “Mountain of Fire,” based on a true story, is currently in pre-production. Prof. Schmidt has taught at Biola since 2002, teaching cinematography, editing, documentary production, pre-production, production, and post-production, and brings over 35 years of film industry experience into his teaching.

“Each of us in the film industry has a limited amount of time on this earth, and a limited number of films on which to work,” Prof. Schmidt says. “At the end of the day, I want the ones on my filmography to have told stories that matter, which are needed messages for our time, and which are a reflection of God’s grace in the world.

“The projects I’ve worked on which I consider the most significant never made a dime at the box office,” he continues. “One was a feature documentary about the needs of children living in the slums of Nairobi, another a short on the life of a deaf orphan boy who had surgery to allow him to hear. Projects like these were a privilege to work on.”

To attend, send your name, email, and phone number to videocluboflagunawoods@gmail.com. Please mention the January 21 General Meeting.