BY WILL DALTON
AND LAINEY HALE
MEDIA WRITING REPORTERS
#TheWord, shot in one weekend, hopes to entertain FilmFest audiences and retell classic biblical stories in new and imaginative way. Screenwriter Lauren Ramsey called it “a reinvented Bible story with social media.”
The film reimagines three Bible stories: Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel and the Burning Bush.
Photographer Elizabeth Dzina, who also plays Abel in the film, describes her character as, “your basic white girl today, like a social media influencer.”
After their first FilmFest project this year, The Legend of Lake Fort Phantom, the four students began working on their second film, after Ramsey was inspired by a joke her boss made.
“Wouldn’t it be funny if people had social media in biblical times?” Ramsey said. “I immediately texted everyone, and I was like ‘Hey, would y’all want to make another film?’ ”
The team learned a lot about communication from the #TheWord experience.
“I learned that it is important to stay on top of your communication with your team,” said producer Judson Voss, who is also one of the cast. “Especially with our close-knit team.”
With the small amount of time spent creating it, the filmmakers still felt the pressure.
“We decided that we wanted to do a second film and so we did this film in one weekend,” said director Kaylee Wilkins, another cast member. “It was a lot of pressure, and then we decided to submit it to FilmFest. It was just a lot to have to process and work on.”
FilmFest requires several deadlines to keep creators on track to finish in time.
“You only have so many weekends, and you think you have so long until FilmFest happens but you have got to meet a lot of deadlines,” Voss said.
The filmmakers said they hope to receive the ‘“People’s Choice” award but their main goal is to entertain the audience.
“More than anything we just want people to laugh,” Ramsey said.
Crew/cast: Kaylee Wilkins, director, actor; Judson Voss, producer, actor. Lauren Ramsey, writer, actor; Elizabeth Dzina, photographer, actor.
