Bethany Payne said she always had an interest in media and film-making, and she had an opportunity to learn about the industry when she attended The San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival in 2010. Now, Payne, with the help of Lightworks Inc. Production Company, is working on a feature-length film based on the book “Lightbearers” by Amandabeth Williams.Payne said she was drawn to the book because of its message. “I like how clearly it depicted the battle between light and dark and God’s sovereignty, and we feel it’s a really timely message for this day and age,” she said.In the book, the main character becomes disheartened with his Christian faith and decides to start looking for answers to resolve his religious unrest. In doing so, he and his two friends take on different challenges, only to rediscover their faith in God.Payne, who said she has been following the Christian film movement for about 10 years, is primarily self-trained in film-making. “I’ve been studying film making mostly by following the movement, checking out online resources, training myself basically, but then (I) received more formal training at the academy.” Payne and her sister also attended The San Antonio Independent Christian Film Forum Vision Academy, offered in conjunction with the film festival.Vance and Carmella Payne, owners of Lightworks Inc. and Bethany Payne’s grandparents, said they have been interested in producing this film for years. “(Bethany) loves the book ‘Lightbearers'” Carmella Payne said. “She was interested, along with her sister, in one day making a film of it, and we felt it was a worthy project. When they had some training and some involvement in the Christian aspect of the industry, we decided that now would be a good point in time.”Lightworks officially incorporated in May 2011. Vance and Carmella Payne live in Falcon and run the production company from their home.Judy Bellows, Lightworks marketing and public relations representative, said the film is in the second phase of its pre-production process. “In phase one, we established a network of people who were interested in seeing this movie come about,” Bellows said. “We were working on public relations through articles and flyers, talked to people, got the word out. We also set up our Web site so that it can be a hub of communication about this project.” In phase two, the team is working on script finalization and editing, putting up applications online for acting parts and finding set locations, she said.Their main focus is getting sufficient funding for the project. “August 28 is our deadline. We need to have received sufficient funding by then,” Bellows said. The team is using Kickstarter, a large online funding platform for creative projects worldwide. “On Kickstarter, people read about projects and if they are interested in supporting them, they make a pledge,” Bellows said. “The money isn’t required immediately, so once a project hits its minimum funding requirement, the money becomes due. This way people can pledge if they like the idea but don’t owe anything right away.”With the August deadline closing in, Bethany Payne said to keep the momentum going they will move forward as if they already have the funds. Through Kickstarter and other fundraising efforts, Payne said she is confident they will finish the project. Her goal is to release the film in the spring of 2012.For information, visit http://lightbearersmovie.com
