New Cinematic Arts Center to Open at Liberty University

ChristianCinema.com founder Bobby Downes will be among several leading industry figures participating in a special event September 1 to celebrate the opening of a new Cinematic Arts Center at Liberty University.

Downes, who also co-founded EchoLight Studios with Christopher Morrow in 2011, will be part of a panel discussion on “Reaching a Christian Audience.”

He’ll be joined on the panel by Morrow, EchoLight’s chief global strategist, Stephen Kendrick, writer and producer of the films “Courageous” and “Fireproof” and David Cook, executive producer of “Seven Days in Utopia.”

Downes and Morrow will also host an open Q & A about film production and distribution.

Liberty University in Lynchberg, VA, was founded by Jerry Falwell Snr. in 1971 and bills itself on its website as the largest Christian university in the world. Jerry Falwell Jr. currently serves as the university’s chancellor.

In July, Scotty Curlee, founder of Red Cloud Productions, announced he has joined the Cinema Arts faculty at Liberty University as an assistant professor. Curlee is the writer, producer and director of the film “The Potential Inside” which is being distributed by EchoLight Studios.

The Zaki Gordon Cinematic Arts Center features state-of-the-art technology and equipment. The Goal, the university says, is to provide both conceptual and practical experience to students with the goal of training “the next generation of filmmakers in a Christian-focused environment.”

The celebration and dedication of the new facility begins Thursday Aug. 30 with screenings of “The Passion of the Christ” and “Secretariat.”

On Friday Aug. 31, there will be screenings of “Courageous” and “Seven Days in Utopia.”

A Q&A with filmmakers will follow each of the screenings.

On Saturday Sept. 1, screenwriter Dan Gordon, whose credits include movies “Wyatt Earp”and ”Murder in the First” and the TV series “Highway to Heaven,” and writer, producer and director Randall Wallace, best known for “Braveheart,” “Pearl Harbor” and “Secretariat,” will take part in a morning panel on the theme of “Reaching a General Audience.”

They will be joined by Rich Peluso, vice president of Affirm Films, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s faith label, and Paul Lauer, president of Motive Marketing that handled themarketing campaign for "The Passion of the Christ.”

Following the “Reaching a Christian Audience” panel with Downes and Morrow, the panelists will host afternoon breakout sessions on a variety of topics.

All the events are free and open to the public.

For more information visit http://www.liberty.edu/cinemapremiere