Moonlight Media, LLC

I didn't know it would be so hard to type this post. I feel tears rising as I compose my thoughts, although I know this is the correct decision. It takes a wisdom beyond my own to know when to step through a door, and when to close it and turn my eyes forward to what lies ahead.

I (Sarah Pride) have decided not to run the Moonlight Film Fest again. Even with the generosity and support of others, it has cost me almost more than I could afford the last two years in time and money. I know it has been God's project because the effort it has required from me is more than I could have rallied on my own. But I have learned what I needed to know in order to undertake the next steps to see a story I have written play on the big screen, one of my life goals:

• Who are the people who are creating work that is beautiful, good, and true, and how can I get in contact with them?
• What does the overall landscape of Christian independent film look like? (It is hopeful, but still rather dim on average.)
• What is the standard we all need to reach?

I have greatly enriched my life with a universe of film most people never experience, immersed as they are in the standards of the theatre movies. I have tasted the bitter difficulty of taking a story from the page to the screen. And I have grasped that this is something I can do.

On my side, I know that producing this film festival for another year will not draw me any closer to seeing my own stories on the big screen. To do the MFF properly and continue to build it, I would have to give my life to it, something I am not equipped to do right now. Nor do I believe it will serve the greater good for me to grow this particular festival.

I do believe I did a superlative job, by God's grace, of locating the best lineup of Christian independent film that existed in 2009 and 2010. And yes, there is nobody else focusing specifically on the qualities of goodness, beauty, and truth and encouraging others in those distinctives.

Nonetheless, I think of the Gideon Film Festival in Ridgecrest, NC. This event is much larger than my own and in the same general geographic area. It could easily encompass the entire focus of my festival as a single aspect, if it so desired. I hope to make it out to the Gideon this year, and I have no desire to build another event that will compete with it.

The last and greatest reason for ceasing the MFF, however, is that I think I have learned enough about the world of film that I no longer need to lend it much attention in order to stay relevant for my purposes. Rather, it is time to put in the dedicated effort to move forward on the second of my major life goals -- to compile an overall history of how different peoples travelled to their current world locations, mixing and mingling along the way to create the world as we know it. I am returning to something I was unusually good at in high school and undergrad -- the study of ancient languages. My goal is to apply for a graduate program in Classics in Fall, 2012, so I will use 2011 (God willing) to refresh my Greek and Latin, earn recommendations, and become the best candidate I can.

I drafted my first feature film screenplay in 2010. With my real-world study in the world of film, along with the M.F.A. screenwriting classes I took in 2009 and 2010, I imagine I will be writing and improving my stories for life. I also hope to study ancient languages and history all my life.

I hope others have found the Moonlight Film Fest illustrative, enjoyable, and useful. Occurring alongside a full-time job, church, Tae Kwon Do, and grad school, it has been the hardest thing I have ever done. It is also one of the most joyful. Press on, my friends!