wfn.org | Video producer segues from camera to classroom

[BethAH <BethAH@mbm.org>]

August 22, 2001
Beth Hawn
Mennonite Board of Missions
(219) 294-7523
<NEWS@MBM.org>

August 22, 2001

Video producer segues from camera to classroom

HARRISONBURG, Va. (MBM)  On July 31, Jerry Holsopple officially
wrapped up a 12-year career as executive video producer at
Mennonite Media in Harrisonburg, Va.

During his tenure, Holsopple produced two dozen full-length,
front-runner videos in addition to many shorter video and radio
projects.  He also developed a youth curriculum on peace and
justice issues and founded Third Way Cafi, a bilingual
informational web site devoted to dialogue on current social and
religious issues, political commentary, and information on the
Anabaptist tradition and faith.

Holsopple remained at the forefront of media technology,
especially in the area of Internet production.  Technology has
changed in the last 12 years, and Ive tried to stay on top of
things, he said.  Video, digital art, music  they all come
together in the Internet.

Holsopple brought to Mennonite Media a combination of
technological expertise, artistic creativity, curiosity, and a
deep commitment to peace and justice issues.  His work was both
politically oriented and an assertion of his faith.

For me, as an Anabaptist, the life of Jesus is important,
Holsopple said.  He focused on Jesus and his life in his final
project at Mennonite Media, Seeing Jesus, found on the Third Way
Cafi web site (www.thirdway.com).  The site shows several
artists interpretations of Jesus through many forms of media and
includes images of people of all ages, genders and colors.

Seeing Jesus is a nice way to end, Holsopple said.  Its an
affirmation of faith, but its also very political.

Because he chose his own material to produce, all of Holsopples
work was very personal.  Starting with the questions people are
asking, he researched the ideas that he was pursuing filming and
then proposed them.
I wanted to cover serious issues, he said.  These are the
things that are important to me  they were at the core of what I
was called to do at Mennonite Media.

Holsopples first video series was the highly acclaimed Beyond
the News, which discussed such social issues as homelessness,
racism, sexual abuse, television violence and immigration.
There was so much pain involved in these stories, although they
were not hopeless, Holsopple said.  It really takes a toll on
you.

Faith is hope and pain together, he said.  He considers his
work not necessarily for comfort, but to bring healing and
hope.

Not all of Holsopples projects were as emotionally difficult for
him as Beyond the News.  His favorite series was Rhythms of
Peace, which used stories, music videos and animation to
communicate with a 7-to-10 year-old audience.  These videos were
fun.  I let my mind go to the edge of what Im capable of
creatively, Holsopple said.  Rhythms of Peace reflected who I
am.

Holsopple came to the position at Mennonite Media with a
background in youth ministry, and several of his series have
targeted children and young adults, most specifically Rhythms of
Peace and Whole People, Whole Earth, which was targeted for
youth, discussed peace theology and the environment.  While some
of the videos, such as Beyond the News, were intended for church
distribution, they have reached a much wider audience through
secular distribution for home and classroom use.  Still other
videos were intended to bring knowledge of Mennonites to
non-Anabaptist and urban audiences.

Third Way Cafi aims to speak to the public about who we are as
Mennonites.  Its a safe way [for non-Mennonites or non-religious
audiences] to get information, Holsopple said.  We put our
voice into the marketplace of ideas.

Holsopple sees a trend toward conservatism in North American
Mennonite churches and that scares me, he said.  In his Cloud
of Witnesses series, he focused on modern Anabaptists in England,
Africa and South America and explored the reasons that
Anabaptists with no biological roots to the faith are choosing
it.  North America doesnt have the corner on what it is to be
Anabaptist, Holsopple said.
Although Mennonite Media is based in Harrisonburg, Holsopples
projects have taken him to Africa, South and Central America and
Europe.  Ive traveled to more places than George Bush, he
joked.  I dont go to the typical places.  The Rhythms of
Peace series alone required shooting in the United States,
Bulgaria, Jamaica and Cuba.

According to Holsopple, many of the locations were really
difficult to shoot for political and social reasons.  Jim Bauman
served as primary videographer, while Jerry planned and produced
the video and interviewed participants.  When in such countries,
he was flexible.  I became who I needed to be.  If it wasnt all
right to be Christian, I was a person who worked with peace and
justice issues.

This fall, Holsopple will take his love of peace and justice
issues to the classroom.  While he has been teaching part-time at
Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg for several years,
he will now take on a full-time position there.  He has taught a
number of classes in Photoshop, video editing, field technology,
Internet design, pop-culture and contemporary film, and will
continue to teach a combination of technical and more
philosophical aspects of media.

Media can destroy the community, he said.  What do we do
face-to-face to build community?  Then how do we use media to
make it real?  I want to take my passion and pass it on, to help
build the next generation.

Holsopple sees the move to full-time teaching not as an end to
his ministry, but as a logical extension of what Im doing
already.  He is also pursuing a doctorate in communications
through European Graduate School.

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Rachel Lewis for MBM news      PHOTO AVAILABLE