Cinematic arts center celebrated

The dedication of the Zaki Gordon Cinematic Arts Center marked the first academic year of the film institute and brought filmmakers, Liberty University officials, students and community members together for a special three-day premiere weekend.

The dedication service, held Saturday, Sept. 1, featured two panel discussions with the filmmakers as well as two breakout sessions in which each panelist focused on elements involved in the film industry.

According to a promotional brochure, the new cinematic arts center was established to engage students in the digital and media delivery revolution that is transforming all areas of contemporary culture. The courses offer cross disciplinary boundaries, providing students with a conceptual and practical experience as they attend Liberty’s new world-class professional training facilities.

Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. and Ben Gutierrez opened the center’s dedication with words of encouragement and scripture.

“This center is about exalting the name of Jesus Christ. We will actually bring glory and acknowledgement to the creator of the world in the field of cinematic arts,” Gutierrez said. “Anyone can mimic our financial approach, but there is one thing they cannot do, and that is mimic the commitment and passion that we have to be passionate Christ followers and to exhibit unapologetically the testimony in the name of Jesus Christ in the field of cinematic arts.”

According to a promotional brochure for the center, students will be trained using industry-standard equipment from Red camera packages to Avid edit bays, to ProTools and THX-certified surround sound mixing equipment.

“The folks in Hollywood are jealous of the equipment we have here,” Falwell said.
The event featured free screenings on Aug. 30-31 of movies such as Passion of the Christ, Secretariat, Courageous and Seven Days in Utopia. Each screening was followed by a question-and-answer session with someone involved with the movie’s production.
Ian Miller, a junior transfer student from Virginia Beach, took part in the premiere weekend. He is a student in the film program.

“Lighting and camera staging are my passions. I like that whole process of the filmmaking,” Miller said. Miller attended Thursday night’s screening of Secretariat and was able to interact with Dan Gordon, professional screenwriter and co-founder of the Zaki Gordon Institute.

“Being able to ask questions about how the production went, the problems they ran into and the success they had, inspires me to be a filmmaker,” Miller said. “One thing that struck me from what Dan Gordon said was that, as a screenwriter, you can’t falsify facts. You don’t want to lie to people.”

The institute is named after Zaki Gordon, the late son of Dan Gordon. Before his death, Zaki had expressed his dream of a unique film school to his father. Gordon knew he was called to carry out his son’s vision.

“The Lord graced me with the opportunity to meet Chancellor Falwell and share with him Zaki’s vision, and at the end of that several-hour presentation, Chancellor Falwell said, ‘I’m in,’” Gordon said.

Gutierrez shared how much the process stretched and how much it has grown.

“After deliberating with his cabinet, the chancellor approved a four and a half year forecast, and as of Monday, we have met all of our enrollment goals,” Gutierrez said. “We have two fully-enrolled immersion groups and enough core students that will populate two additional immersion groups. We have tripled the amount of online course offerings prior to [the] goal that we presented to the chancellor, and to that I say, praise the Lord.”

Each speaker was given the chance to address questions pertaining to the film industry and making successful faith-based films.

“We’re looking for true stories that are compelling and have some connection to a large audience, and that really frees a writer to dive into that story,” Peluso, vice president for AFFIRM Films, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, said.

According to Stephen Shultze, the executive director for the Zaki Gordon Cinematic Arts Center, he has no doubt that this educational venture will open the doors for the next generation of filmmakers to fulfill the great commission of Jesus Christ.