Freshman Zac Alsens, a resident of Hope Hall, has an entry in the Emerson Film Festival. This is the first and only year that the Emerson Film Festival will allow films outside of Emerson residents to participate. | Ashleigh Fox/THE CHIMES

What was once a creative All-Hall idea has blossomed into a campus-wide event in Biola’s most testosterone-charged residence hall.

The Emerson Film Festival is expanding the annual dorm-only competition to now include any aspiring Biola filmmakers, according to Emerson Hall resident adviser Trevor Glenn. Students will create short films to be screened at a premiere party this Thursday at 8:30 p.m.

EMERSON FESTIVAL NOW INCLUDES ALL FILMMAKERS 

The only stipulations on the films are that each has to be shorter than eight minutes and must include at least a passing reference to Emerson, Glenn said. Each film submission will be pre-screened by the RAs to check for inappropriate content, and the best six or seven will be chosen, depending on length.

“In the past, it’s been people from Emerson making films … and then everyone gets together and watches [them],” Glenn said. “Emerson just has to be represented [in the film].”

The event will kick off with a red carpet walk, snacks, desserts and a photo booth at 8:30 p.m. At 9 p.m., the first movie will be projected outside between Emerson and Horton Hall. Event organizers are hoping the end of the parking garage construction will allow the street to be roped off for the screening.

FILMS EVALUATED BY JUDGES 

Each film will be evaluated and rated by a panel of four judges. The judges consist of math professor Matthew Weathers, Alpha Hall East resident director Tiffany Tomlinson, associate dean of students Matt Hooper and Chad Miller, director of spiritual formation and soul care.

Miller lived in Emerson for two years and was an RA for one of them.

“In five years, [students are] not going to remember that that was a dorm, which is terrible for me,” he said. “It makes me sad. Anything we can do to preserve its goodness is good.”

WINNER TO EARN GIFT BASKET 

The winner of the film festival will earn a movie-themed gift basket worth $100. The runner-up and third place will each receive a smaller version of the basket, Glenn said.

For the first time, non-Emerson residents will be presenting their films. Freshman communication studies major Zac Alsens, who lives in Hope Hall, is almost through editing his eight-minute film.

“It’s sort of a spoof on a Discovery Channel special … I play the host,” he said. “Basically, it’s a bunch of comedy sketches all strung one after the other, all under the guise of being a spoof of a documentary.”

As to how he will incorporate Emerson into his presentation, Alsens has created a commercial break entitled “Save Emerson,” a nod to the dorm’s imminent transformation into an office space. The commercial is a parody of the oft-ridiculed ads for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, starring singer Sarah McLachlan.

“It kind of just popped into my head,” he said. “I always thought those commercials were hilarious. They’re about animal abuse, so they’re sad, but they’re also just kind of awkward to watch.”

The end-of-Emerson theme presented in Alsens’ commercial is part of the reason the Emerson RAs wanted to open up the event to the entire campus, Glenn said.

“With Emerson closing soon, we wanted to get everyone in there … to experience Emerson culture,” he said.

The event is free and will be held in the Emerson courtyard.