Dana Newell has been burning the candle at both ends to ensure her big idea gets to the big screen for this year's Ignite film festival.
An entrant into last year's drama category, Dana is keeping the storyline close to her chest.
But she is prepared to drop the occasional hint.
"It's in the style of "Buffy the Musical' " it really inspired me," she laughs.
Dana is one of the dozens of filmmakers preparing for the second year of the Ignite film competition, a showcase of Christian media talent being held at the Sydney Town Hall on September 17, 2005.
A graduate of the Wesley Institute, Dana has been making short films for the past four years.
"I want to make movies that make people rethink their lives and that change people," she explains as she deftly edits a scene
Her current work has been claiming a couple of days a week since the beginning of April, but she doesn't mind the long hours, as making movies has become her way of retelling the greatest story ever told.
"My first film was an expressionistic interpretation of Colossians 3," she says. "I tried to show life framed through the cross of Christ."
Dana picked up her editing skills elsewhere, but she is impressed with the filmmaking courses being offered by Ignite organisers.
Workshops address everything from script development and camera use, to editing and effects.
"We're getting people signing up from all over NSW," says short course director Marcus Cheong from Total Visual Solutions (TVS).
"To date people have travelled from Albury to Forster to hone their skills for the competition."
Which all points to a bigger, better event this year, Mr Cheong says.
One of last year's finalists, "Stuck In Sin' is available for free download from Sydneyanglicans.net.
"The competition not only develops and recognises the media talents of the Christian community, it delivers those talents right to where they're needed the most," he says.
"Each year we release a DVD of the best films submitted so that Christian workers can use the gospel tools film makers are developing."
Meanwhile Dana sees countless hours of editing ahead if she's going to make the cut.
Any final hints on her entry?
"Basically there's a lot of blood dripping," she laughs, not taking her eyes from the screen. "I like blood in my movies " there's always blood."
Click here to see 2004's DVD release.
For more information regarding the competition, visit the Ignite website.
