Producers have taken Bible verses and created 11-minute shorts inspired by the theme “Family Business” in the seventh annual 168 Film Festival.
Whether it’s joy over a birth or sorrow over a prodigal son, it’s all family business, said John David Ware, founder and director of the festival.
“We’ve chosen a wide theme to encompass all the films we expect to get,” Ware said. “Films are about the family’s happy times and how they handle the problems.”
Screenings are from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday at United Community Church, 333 E. Colorado St., Glendale; and from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. April 4 at the Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. The awards ceremony is from 9:30 to 10:30 p.m. April 4.
For this festival, producers have to create a film in 168 hours. Filmmakers randomly receive a Bible verse and then have 10 days for brainstorming, writing the script, casting, scheduling and finding locations for filming, Ware said.
“They are allowed to start shooting on a date and, seven days later, turn in a finished film,” he said.
Some are new to industry and others have some experience behind them, like Burbank resident Richard Juden, Ware said.
“Richard is a very determined individual and one of the hardest working producers on 168,” he said. “I look for great things from him in the future.”
Juden has been a professional cinematographer and produced and directed shorts. For this year’s 168 project, he’s the main producer on “Ashes to Apples.” His co-producers are Nathan Ford and Duncan Frazier, both also from Burbank.
Their verse was Second Corinthians 6:18 — “I will be your father, you will be my sons and daughters says the Lord almighty.”
It’s about a father fighting to keep his unborn twins alive, Juden said.
“A father kidnaps his ex, who is pregnant and is planning to have an abortion,” he said.
The story isn’t autobiographical, but he has had similar experiences with his former girlfriends who have had abortions without his knowledge, he said.
The message he’s trying to relate is “be a father to your kids,” he said.
“These are lives, not inconveniences you can get rid of,” Juden said. “Having children can be a good thing. You don’t have to terminate pregnancies because you are scared.”
