Regent Alumni Win Best Student Film at Burbank International Film Festival
Photo courtesy of Beecher Reuning.
Having the power to manifest random objects into existence is incredible. But giving that power to someone with a lackluster imagination is, well, pointless.
This is the plot for Regent University School of Communication & the Arts (SCA) alumnus Beecher Reuning’s ’15 short comedic film, A Pointless Pencil.
With the help of a “collector’s item pencil, a mundane employee trapped in the corporate ladder battles his irate supervisor by manufacturing Nutri-grain bars, strange clouds, until “all heck breaks loose.”
The film was a part of Reuning’s thesis project, which he completed with SCA student Eric Camacho ‘17 – the final stamp on his MFA degree. Though the project had a much bigger purpose than dotting his academic I’s.
Fall 2016, Reuning and Camacho took home first-place in student film at the Burbank International Film Festival, bringing the running total of SCA student film awards to 421.
“I decided that when I made this film I’d be ‘swinging for the fence,’ I was going to go all out,” said Reuning. “That’s what everyone should be doing. Going into with everything they have, and working really hard. I didn’t make it just so I could graduate, I made it so that I could make connections for the future.”
And he did.
The film has gained the attention of several festivals – taking home third place in Comedy at the 2016 College Television Awards. Furthermore, Reuning has been pursued for European distribution, and will play in more than 100 cities in 20 countries around the world.
Reuning attributes the success of his film to his connections, to great equipment, and the financial support Regent gives to pay entry fees for festivals. Reuning explained that before he began the process of entering his films into festivals, he had no idea how much time and energy it took to put films in the ring.
The support he’s had from his alma matter he considers a “blessing.”
“If you’re a Regent student and you make something really good, Regent will do what it can to get it out there,” he said.
Reuning currently works full time at Lee University’s film department. And, he’s working on the script for his second feature-length film.
Learn more about Regent University’s School of Communication & the Arts.