Building on years of student-produced and faculty-directed work, “Fire Creek,” BYU’s first feature-length film, is set to debut Wednesday on campus and in select Cinemark theaters.

Combining the creative efforts of students and faculty from various departments around campus, “Fire Creek” will be the first undergraduate-produced film to be theatrically released.

Based on a novel by BYU graduate Nathan Chai, “Fire Creek” tells the story of Jason Malek, a soldier who returns from the war in Afghanistan.

Wounded in battle and suffering from the death of a friend and fellow soldier, Malek comes home confused, searching for the reason behind his survival and the death of his friend.

“Fire Creek” began as a project by Chai in a philosophy and literature class taught by philosophy professor Dennis Packard and family life professor Terrance Olsen.

“It was developed based on a short story I had written years earlier,” Chai said. “It won a few contests so I decided to take it and run with it.”

Seeing potential in the story, Packard and Olsen worked with Chai in order to publish it into a novel and eventually mold it into a script for film.

“The film is a dramatic example of what BYU mentorship can do,” said Dennis Packard, a philosophy professor and co-producer of the film.

Packard then took leadership of the project along with Charles Cranney of BYU Publications and Graphics, recruiting Jed Wells, then a photography student, to direct the film.

Students and faculty from the Department of Dance, the Visual Arts Department and BYU Publications and Graphics took part in the filming, choreography and other aspects of the production and post-production.

Student interns from the Marriott School of Management participated in marketing and publicizing the film to different venues, and according to Packard, they luckily came in contact with Cinemark, who agreed to show the film.

Although this release is a major accomplishment in film for BYU, participants in the film’s production hope the entire university will benefit from its success.

Jordan Hill, one of the marketing interns, said the project provided a great opportunity to understand what type of business path he could take.

“(The project) has provided insight into an industry that I had not planned on working in,” Hill said. “It also gave me great work experience in general marketing.”

Packard and Wells hope the film’s success will provide a door to more mentorship opportunities for students to participate in similar projects.

Quoting President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Packard said, “It’s amazing what students will do when it is expected of them.”

“Students are not given enough opportunities to explore what they can do,” Wells said. “I want people to see the quality of work [they] can do.”

“Fire Creek” debuts in the Varsity Theatre on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Admission is free. The film is set to open in Cimemark theatres around Utah on Friday.



Copyright Brigham Young University 5 May 2009