Film students catch attention of national news crew as work begins on TV episode

For a moment, it’s unusually quiet on a dead-end street in Downtown Lynchburg only miles from Liberty University’s campus.

“CUT!” someone yells.

Suddenly, 51 Liberty cinematic arts students are on the move. Actors get up from their seats on the front porch of a small home and check in with the script supervisor. Production assistants grab blankets to keep the talent warm as the crew quickly resets the scene so they can roll again before they wrap later in the afternoon.

This week, students are shooting the pilot episode for “Eleanor’s Bench,” a television series that the cinematic arts program hopes to pitch to streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon or to major networks. The show stars Karen Abercrombie (“War Room”), Nancy Stafford (“Matlock”), and Clarence Gilyard (“Walker Texas Ranger”).

Early on Tuesday morning, the crew was busy shooting Eleanor (Abercrombie), a prominent judge who returns to the low-income neighborhood where she grew up, as she urged her elderly father to move into her home in a gated community. But her father doesn’t want to leave Eleanor’s childhood home.

Though professors and faculty members oversee every production, students gain hands-on experience in roles such as behind-the-scenes, production assistants, and assistant camera operators. About nine alumni have returned to assist the production.

The students are filming the episode this week at various locations around Lynchburg. A news crew from CBS Sunday Morning followed the students on Tuesday and talked to them about what it means to be a Christian filmmaker. The CBS segment is scheduled to air on April 21, Easter Sunday.

Shooting a large-scale production has become a staple for students in their junior year. The cinematic arts program is a two-year immersion cohort in which students focus solely on filmmaking. Students earn credits on the sets of short films and feature-length productions, where they serve in at least two different roles. Past feature film productions include “Extraordinary,” “God’s Compass,” and “The Trump Prophecy.” This is the first time that the program is producing a TV episode.

“It’s incredible,” junior Judah Justine said. “I’ve heard about other (film schools) in Virginia and none of them have a program like Liberty’s. They allow us to go on a real film set with real equipment and professors who have been in the field directing, sound mixing, and doing editorial. We get to learn from them face-to-face.”

“In the filmmaking world, it’s more important to have experience rather than just a résumé,” he said. “It’s so important to be able to get on a set.”

Junior Ruthie Grumbine said being on set helps students understand how a production works, rather than just learning about it in a classroom.

“Before I came here, I didn’t know what any of the equipment was called,” she said. “Now that I’ve been on set and see how it works, I know what things are called and I know how to use them. And I’ve been able to observe the other departments and see how they run things.”