how did all this begin?........................
A simple gift of a plastic sword, shield and helmet to a 6 year old sparked a heartfelt passion... to make movies.
After 3 months of telling his parents, they finally took seriously their firstgrader's resolve to make a movie. With storyboards all drawn, the journey began.
Luke's vision was big...
It included a big cast and a premiere of the feature (which grew to be a trilogy). Within a year, we found ourselves hosting 200 guests at a local movie theatre with 22 actors lining the stage for applause and handmade actor awards. As Luke worked on the remaining 2 movies to complete his trilogy, he would also tinker with smaller film shorts. The second premiere was equal in size and a bit bigger in scope with 9 local businesses financially supporting Luke in trade for original "Luke produced" commercials shown at the premiere event... a real hoot to see his hand at clever and memorable commercials. On the road to completing the 3rd & final "Swords & Shields" movie, Luke met Jeffrey Sparks and others of the Heartland Film Festival -- a wealth of enthusiasm and encouragement. Luke welcomed Mr. Sparks' challenge to try documentary and other filmmaking options. We all 3 volunteered at HFF -- great fun! Luke's poise and thrill at the Heartland Festival's Gala was a joy to watch, equalled only by his enthusiasm and interest at the director seminars.
Additional events along the way have included Luke speaking several times to students and adult audiences about his filmmaking; invitations to create opener shorts for conferences and church; and a local public movie event invitation to show his 2nd Trilogy as an opener to a Disney feature. Luke was thrilled at newspaper articles and the TV News coverage/interview on his 2nd premiere.
As I write, Luke is editing the 4th chapter book he's writing and editing one of his 3 documentary projects. (THIS is why I take vitamins!) What a journey... and everyone we've met along the way, directors, editors, teachers, parents, kids, all have been embodied genuine kindness and encouragement. A deep, heartfelt thank you to those of you who have been a step on this journey... be it role of a sponsor, director, student actor, or a seat at a premiere.
And his journey continues.
(enjoy the pics below; previous premieres, Luke speaking, behind the scenes, Heartland, etc )
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