Guest bio
Young Filmmaker Wins Full Scholarship
By Mimi Elliott
The 700 Club
CBN.com
– Timothy Kay was 15-years-old and in high school when a friend started making a film. Inspired, Tim wanted to do the same.
“A young kid was doing what I thought was impossible,” Tim said.
He started writing feature length scripts and later applied to Liberty University for college.
“I never heard of Regent,” Tim said.
When he and his twin brother Ben went to a Christian summer camp, Tim, now 19, said he heard about Regent and visited the website.
“What caught my eye was that the first major listed was cinema television,” he said. “I was big into journalism and most schools offer that. But I wanted something related more to cinema.”
Last year, Tim, Ben and their parents came for Regent’s Preview Weekend.
“As soon as we got here, we took the tour, spent the weekend, and we knew the Lord wanted us here,” Tim said. In January, both Tim and Ben were accepted on academic scholarships.
Tim, who is one of 13 siblings, heard about the ReelDreams Film Competition hosted by Regent and invested all of the $3,000 he saved for college to make the film. He entered his 5-minute production, “A Fragile Hope,” and won. Tim, who was home-schooled, gives credit to others who helped with production (everyone on the project was homeschooled). His sister, Sarah, made the costumes with fabric donated by their grandfather who owns a fabric store. His 15-year-old friend wrote the original score.
The computer graphics, which include an explosion and a special effect that makes 20 actors appear as several hundred soldiers, were executed by a 16-year-old. Ben helped with production and appears in a small acting role, as well as an extra for the film. The finals for the ReelDreams competition were held at Regent but were made available to an online audience. Tim won a full-tuition scholarship in the competition.
Tim says when he started production on “A Fragile Hope,” he was helping with another project that took all of his time during the week. The only day they had to shoot was Sunday. Knowing he would need full days to shoot scenes, Tim asked all of his friends and crew to skip church. Tim’s pastor was concerned.
“He asked me if I’d prayed about it and I hadn’t,” Tim said. So after praying, Tim said the crew call would be after church on Sundays. The project took a month to shoot.
Regent’s ReelDreams Film Competition will accept film submissions for next year’s competition beginning in January 2009. The final is set for May 30, 2009. Tim will be assisting in next year’s competition. The phone number for Regent’s School of Communication is 888-777-7729 and the web site is www.ReelDreamsFilmFest.com.
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