Meet Chris Blackford | Film Producer / Writer / Director / Editor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chris Blackford and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chris, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
The Psalmist writes in chapter 139:14- “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well.” We are crafted. We are designed. God placed in each one of us something unique, something He didn’t give to anyone else. Each one of us has this gift from Him and it truly is a gift. Yet none of us get an instructional booklet that maps out what that gift is or how we should use it. We only know that we should use it. God spent time thinking about us as individuals. We are his artwork. Like very artist leaves a piece of themselves in their work, He left a piece of him inside of us.
He gave us the gift of creativity. He created his art to create art. The thing is; He didn’t give us a gift so we could suck at it. He is the perfect Creator. His plan is perfect. He gave us these gifts to use, to share, and to bless. As a father watches his child fall in love with something, a craft or a task, so he too waits for us to fall in love with what he designed us for. He waits to see the joy it brings us when we do it. He waits to see the joy it brings others. And he waits for us to point it all to Him. Matthew 5:16- In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
It seems easy, then, to say we are all gifted with something unique and that we must share it with others. Yet why is it so hard to chase that which we were created for? Why can’t we all find that thing that brings us great joy and fall in love with it every day?
Fear.
Fear is an uninvited guest that overstays his welcome. If God’s desire is for us to use the gifts, He has given to bring Him glory, then it is the plan of the enemy to make sure we never complete that task.
The enemy is skilled. He knows what he needs to tell us to create doubt in these gifts. He knows which buttons to push to get us to run from God’s plans. That voice that tells us we can’t do it, that we don’t have the talent to pursue these dreams, often sounds a lot like our own voice inside our head. Its whisper is toxic but often irresistible. Like a sweet tasting poison, we consume it and it seeps into our core, into our minds, and into our hearts. We believe that voice because we think we can trust it. We believe that voice because we think it makes sense. We believe it because it’s the easy way.
Yet it is not only our own voice that whispers. The voices of those closest to us also have weight. We are surrounded by those who think they have found the right way, the right path, the right life to live. Most are comfortable and live lives of little risk. They see life through their own lenses and believe, genuinely and often sincerely, that this is how life should be lived for everyone.
Fear is not a voice that only speaks to some of us. It speaks in every tongue in every nation. And these well-meaning people want you to be comfortable too. Comfortably miserable.
Yet we were created for more than that. We were created to be lights in a dark place. We were created to shine like a city on a hill, a beacon of the hope that is within us. And the darkness hates the light and will do whatever it can to snuff it out. That is fear’s job- to get you to hide your own light, to keep you from believing you were created for more than the ordinary life.
However, we must understand one simple thing; fear is a wuss. Fear is the bully in school who pushes around those that let him. He believes he holds the power over others yet fails to realize, all it takes is one push, one stand, one moment of courage. That one moment will send fear fleeing like a mouse from a wolf.
We must have that one moment in our own lives to push back against the fear and his whispers. We do this by chasing what we know we were created to be. We do this by actively doing what we were created to do. Deliberate action is the enemy of fear. It scares him.
God didn’t create us to live in fear. Second Timothy 1:7- “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” He gave us a gift he wants us to use. We need to use it.
Dance. Sing. Write. Paint. Craft. Create. Serve. Share. Love.
Become who God made you to be. Act. The only way to move is to take a step. The only way to create is to create. The only way to love is to love.
Jeremiah 29:11- For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Hold to this promise. God has a written a story for you and he has written one for me. Yours is yours. Mine is mine. There is one constant in the life of an artist: you have to create, no matter what life throws at you.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I didn’t grow up doing film and editing. Youtube didn’t exist and the only way to get into the film industry was to move to California or New York. Having a young family meant I couldn’t go to school full time and work full time and be a present husband/father. For many years I had assumed this dream of mine was just that; a dream. But God is good and He gave me an opportunity to finally chase the thing He designed me to do. There is a lot of risk in leaving a career to chase the unknown. It’s never easy to take risks. But muscles only get stronger when they face resistance and the only way we get stronger as people is by doing things that push us, challenge us, scare us. Starting a business, especially a film and video production business is scary. But I love doing this work. I love working with clients and helping bring their vision to life.
The thing I am most excited about right now is the feature film I have written and am currently in the preproduction process on. While working with clients and helping them, in my downtime I am working on this story about a young girl who is put into foster care when her mother can no longer care for her. We journey with her as her traumas stand in the way of receiving the love she deserves. The only way to become a film director is to direct films. I’m hoping that this story reaches people and also opens doors for all who help work on it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Oof. I am an incredibly boring person. My favorite place to be is home. I’m not a foodie either, as I could eat the simple things in life and be content. If my friend was visiting, I’d have to ask everyone else in my life what I should take them to experience. So if we meet in real life or online, feel free to send me recommendations on how to spice up my life!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I am on my second act in life, having spent the first 15 years of my marriage working various jobs to make sure the bills were paid. A few years ago my wife and I decided it was time for me to go back to school and pursue a long time dream of mine to get a degree in Film Production. My wife deserves a lot of credit for saying ‘yes’ when it would have been easier to say ‘no’. She’s always believed in me and stands by me no matter what. Without her, I am nothing.
To my fellow classmates and alum who took in this old man and helped him learn a new industry and skill, one they had basically grown up doing. Surround yourself with people who respond, “yes, absolutely” when you say, “Hey, I got an idea.”
To Youtube university, Film Courage, Cinecom, Jason Satterlund, Judith Weston and so many others who videos I’ve learned from.
And the to people who ask me, “Hey, can you help me with this video/film idea?” Without you, I couldn’t do what I love.

Website: www.chrisblackford.com

Instagram: @thechrisblackford

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-blackford/

Youtube: Coming Soon

Other: https://vimeo.com/user120676542