On Saturday, Aug. 19, The Avalon Theatre hosted a screening of “Farway Canyon,” a feature length Hollywood film which was produced and shot primarily here in Grand Junction. Before the director and cast returned to Hollywood for the film’s eventual red carpet premiere in California, it opened locally to an audience of 760.
Director Hank Braxtan, who works closely with students in the Digital Filmmaking program at Colorado Mesa University’s Technical school (CMU Tech), hired many students at both colleges to give them real working experience on a large scale film.
At the screening of the film, prior to the lights fading to black, Braxtan was given the opportunity to say a few words to the audience, and made a point to ask students from Colorado Mesa University (CMU) and CMU Tech to stand and be recognized by the audience. Perhaps two dozen or so current and former students rose to loud claps and cheers by the audience in attendance.
Their roles on the film ranged from Production Assistant (PA) to working as an extra, but each and every student who was hired, worked tirelessly with a local filmmaker to make a product that they can be proud of.
During the post-screening Q&A session, which featured Braxtan and lead actor Kevin Brooks, Braxtan was asked about what it was like to bring film to the Grand Valley after growing up here before moving out to California for 20 years.
“I didn’t bring film here.” Braxtan said. “But I’m happy to bring projects here to help the film community that’s here.”
Braxtan, of course, explained that when he left the Grand Valley, there was no film community. When he came back, both CMU and CMU Tech had film programs that he was excited to see blossoming.
“[Hank] Braxtan is a guy that seems to know how to bring both a balance of positivity and also professionalism within his sets,” senior Theatre Arts student Austin Jensen said, “and it allows for the filming of his projects to both be smooth and entertaining for the crew.”
And now, having seen the fruits of their labor, the students at CMU Tech’s Digital Filmmaking program, in CMU’s Film, Art, and Animation (CMU AFP) degree were able to see their hard work pay off to an ovation that filled the theater with shouting and cheering at their success.
Although some of the crew of “Farway Canyon” have graduated, there are still plenty of current students who now have to return to school and begin to work on their own films. CMU Tech students will begin to put together projects of their own to film this semester, as well as CMU AFP students.
CMU AFP and CMU Tech students will have the opportunity to showcase the hard work they put into their films next May, when they offer small film festivals to give their projects a platform to be seen by the community at large.
