The judge panel for the TogetherLA Film contest waits on their decision as to which student will win an award of a $2000 scholarship.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LOVE L.A.?

Church leaders, pastors and college students will come together at the TogetherLA conference Feb. 26-28. The conference is intended for people who love Los Angeles and want to aid  the city. The conference will have speakers like Timothy Keller and President Barry Corey, said Brian Miller, senior director of brand marketing and creative production. As a contribution to this conference, Biola students had the chance to win a $2000 scholarship by submitting an original short film that portrays what it means to love L.A.

“They [the judges] will be looking for a combination of quality, but really it’s more about the message,” Miller said.

GETTING BACK TO THE CITY

A video has still not been chosen for first place, but the winner will have their video debuted during the conference at the end of February. This short film will help all attendees of the conference recognize how much Biola wants to help the initiative to get back into the city to show that we genuinely care, Miller said.

“What we’re hoping is that the church of Los Angeles, all of these ministry leaders when they’re all in the same room together, that they’ll be able to see that Biola cares and that Biola loves the city,” Miller said.

BIOLA’S PARTICIPANTS

There have not been many entries for the competition, but those who have submitted a film hope that they can spread the message of what it means to love LA. So far, junior film major Jason Khera and junior art major Natalie Crane are the only two entries.

Khera believes in the cause of the TogetherLA conference and wants to share something that God has shown him through his life.

“Right when I first saw the poster, I remember I looked at it and even from the beginning I first thought about how in Los Angeles, a lot of the times we usually say we love it because we love the beach, or we love Hollywood, or we love the Dodgers or something, but right when I saw it I thought of the unconditional love of Christ who loves us regardless of whether we try to earn his love or try to do something good or if we just do anything even if we mess up,” said Khera.

Crane found her inspiration for her video submission from observing the city and its inhabitants.

“I decided to just try to write a poem about LA and what people see when they go there or the people that are there. I started with that and then basically went there and spent the day looking and filming,” Crane said.