WILMORE, Ky. (March 31) – Leading up to the live showcase event for Highbridge Film Festival April 18, seminar sessions and other events will be held on Friday, April 17, featuring our expert judges and special guest, Tony Bancroft. Engaging Culture Weekend events are also included in the three-day schedule, including concerts and theatre shows to attend. Follow the schedule below for Engaging Culture Weekend:
Festival Seminars & Events Schedule
Thursday, April 16
7:30 p.m.
Sounds of Stage and Screen Concert
Presented by Asbury University’s student ensembles
Orchestra, Women’s Choir, Men’s Glee Club, Handbell Choir, Chorale, and Concert Band
Jameson Hall / Akers Auditorium
Free Admission
Friday, April 17 – Highbridge Seminar Sessions
9:00 a.m.
Session 1 – Storyboards to Second Units
How Films Plan and Shoot Big Scenes
David Negron Jr.
Miller Center – Gyertson Screening Room
10:00 a.m.
Asbury Chapel – Featured Speaker
Animator-Director Tony Bancroft
Hughes Auditorium
11:00 a.m.
Session 2 – From Script to Screen
Writing and Producing Films That Actually Get Made (and Seen)
Michelle Jubilee Gonzalez
Miller Center – Gyertson Screening Room
1:00 p.m.
Session 3-A – Production Design and Illustration for Film
Going Beyond Storyboards
David Negron Jr.
Miller Center – Gyertson Screening Room
1:00 p.m.
Session 3-B – Running the Room
Inside Animation Showrunning
Jim Krieg
Miller Center – Room 309
2:00 p.m.
Session 4-A – Set Leadership & Creative Professionalism
How to Be the Person Everyone Wants to Rehire
Michelle Jubilee Gonzalez
Miller Center – Gyertson Screening Room
2:00 p.m.
Session 4-B – Writing Icons
Adapting Crisis on Infinite Earths
Jim Krieg
Miller Center – Room 309
3:00 p.m.
Session 5 – Judges’ Panel
AI and Preparing for the Industry Today
Panel: David Negron Jr., Michelle Jubilee Gonzalez, Jim Krieg
Miller Center – Gyertson Screening Room
4:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Film Screening – “Light of the World”
Followed by Q&A with Tony Bancroft (Director of Animation)
Miller Center – Gyertson Screening Room
7:30 p.m.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
The Broadway musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
Presented by the Asbury University Theatre Department
Greathouse Theatre
$15 General Admission | $12 Faculty/Staff | $10 Students
Buy Tickets
Saturday, April 18
10:30 a.m.
Judges’ Reception with Official Selection Filmmakers
Exclusive event for producers and directors
Windsor Manor – Great Hall
2:00 p.m.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
The Broadway musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
Presented by the Asbury University Theatre Department
Greathouse Theatre
$15 General Admission | $12 Faculty/Staff | $10 Students
Buy Tickets
7:00 p.m. (6:30 doors)
Highbridge Film Festival – Showcase & Awards
Presented by Asbury University School of Communication Arts
Hughes Auditorium
$15 Festival Pass
Buy Tickets
Ticket includes Red Carpet Reception immediately after the awards show in the Miller Center for Communications Arts.
Livestream begins at 6:45 p.m. on the main web page.
About Highbridge Film Festival
The Highbridge Film Festival began in 2004 as a vehicle for Asbury University’s School of Communication Arts to showcase student films and, in the process, encourage visual storytelling. Each year, the festival selects about a dozen student films and provides a venue for special presentations from Communication Arts and the panel of judges from the film and television industry. The film festival is entirely produced and promoted by the School of Communication Arts’ Special Events class and student volunteers. 2026 marks the 22nd edition of the festival, which has grown into a nationally recognized collegiate film festival, delighting audiences and attracting wide-ranging interest from the film industry.
