Film about man's testimony leads to national award
Inversion Productions won a 2011 Telly Award for its short film about a man whose life was changed through the Church of the Nazarene.
Inversion, based in Olathe, Kansas, produced five Resurrection Stories for Grace and Peace Magazine and were highlighted each night at the Church of the Nazarene's Mission 2011 (M11) Conference last February in Louisville, Kentucky.
Of the five, the award-winning production focused on the life and testimony of Larry, a former general of a white supremacist group who spent a portion of his life in prison. Through the work of Adsideo Church of the Nazarene in Portland, Oregon, God changed Larry's life and he is now "part of the Body of Christ," he said.
The Telly Awards started in 1978 to honor the best local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as non-broadcast video and film productions. The awards were expanded later to cover work created for the Web.
Inversion won the Bronze Statuette in the 32nd Annual Telly Awards for the religion/spirituality category.
Award-winning filmmaker and producer Greg Sheffer, founder of Inversion, said it was an honor to relay Larry and the others' testimonies to the entire Nazarene congregation.
"God is doing great things in our church," he said.
Scheffer, a graduate of MidAmerica Nazarene University and Nazarene Theological Seminary, began work on the Resurrection Stories in September, going to five different locations in the U.S., and wrapped production before M11 in February.
"Inversion has powerfully communicated the inspiring story of Larry's reclamation in a way that has not only impressed thousands of attendees at a national conference event, but has gone viral and is impacting hundreds of churches across the United States and Canada," said Bryon McLaughlin,Grace and Peace's executive editor. "We deeply appreciate our partnership with Inversion and the storytelling ability of Greg Sheffer."
Inversion has produced a broad range of projects, from corporate promotion and commercial broadcast to narrative and documentary film. The company also produced other M11 videos for Grace and Peace Magazine - numerous promotional interviews, discipleship pieces, and the video content for USA/Canada Regional Director Bob Broadbooks' address.
Watch the award-winning film below.