George Escobar

George Escobar has written and directed over a dozen feature films and documentaries for the faith and family market, including the Oscar-nominated ALONE YET NOT ALONE for Best Original Song, and THE ISAIAH 9:10 JUDGMENT (based on the New York Times bestseller “The Harbinger” by Rabbi Jonathan Cahn). It was Amazon’s No. 1 faith DVD for over 75 weeks in 2012. Escobar’s films have been released by Sony/Provident Films, Universal Home Entertainment, Netflix, Capitol Christian Distribution, PureFlix, Cinedigm, and Amazon Prime Video.

Most recently, Escobar co-wrote and produced THE WORLD WE MAKE, distributed by Universal and Netflix (Fall 2019). Another upcoming film is FIRST LADY, written and directed by Nina May. Escobar served as 1st AD and associate producer. Escobar also produced THE FARMER AND THE BELLE, produced by and starring Jenn Gotzon and Jim Chandler.

Escobar's screenplay, TRAPPED, co-written with Ken Carpenter was 1st Runner-Up for the Kairos Pro Award and Finalist for the ScreenCraft Family Contest. His other narrative feature work includes co-writing, co-directing, and producing COME WHAT MAY which garnered several film festival awards and was distributed by Provident Films. EVERY BOY NEEDS A HERO, was released by Capitol, and won Best Score at the Pan Pacific Film Festival and was Audience Favorite Runner Up at the Christian Worldview Film Festival (CWVFF). The 1940s period film, THE SCREENWRITERS, which he executive produced, won several awards at film festivals, including Audience Favorite Runner Up at CWVFF. Mr. Escobar also directed best-selling documentaries, including BLOOD MOONS, THE RABBI WHO FOUND MESSIAH, and GOD'S DAY-TIMER. He also produced, along with Joseph Farah and Joel Richardson, END TIMES EYEWITNESS and GLOBAL JESUS REVOLUTION.

Escobar’s newest feature projects in development are historical biopics: TRAPPED - about Holocaust survivor Anita Dittman, and MISSILEMAN - about Wallace Clauson who was America's top-secret​ weapons engineer during the Cold War.

Mr. Escobar was a producing fellow at the American Film Institute Conservatory. He was co-founder of Advent Film Group and was Vice President of Product Development for Discovery Networks, Executive Director of AOL/Time Warner, and Vice President of Advance Products for Tele-TV. He holds seven U.S. patents for interactive design and technologies and is a regular speaker at many Christian film festivals, universities, workshops, and conferences. Escobar has taught filmmaking to over 3,500 students, including about 150 students, interns, and associates during the production of Advent’s feature films.

RECENT SPEAKING/TEACHING ENGAGEMENTS:

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY AT LONG BEACH (2019) - Lecture to design students
 "Designing For Cinema: Beyond the Page, Set, Screen, and In-Between." 


The script is a blueprint for cinematic design, not just story. It encompasses tone, movement, and emotion. But it doesn’t stop there. Design elements include color, sound, and music. The pacing of scenes, the cadence of the dialogue, and the rhythm of the cuts are all part of the grand design. This lecture covers how a filmmaker incorporates all of these elements under the pressures of time, budget, and personalities.

CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW FILM GUILD - Franklin/Nashville, Tennessee (March 11-13, 2019) - Lecturer and moderator 
"Screenplay Book Adaptations: Best Practices and Workflows
" Learn how to option books, find the ‘core’ story within the story, and balance the tension between ‘what really happened’ against using ‘dramatic license’ to tell a more dramatic story while remaining faithful to the spirit of people and events. Discover which structure and scene-by-scene templates or workflows can work for you.

Screenwriting for Christians: It’s More Dangerous Than You Think
Christian films (aka faith films) get a bad rap, mostly justified. Learn how to avoid preachiness and predictability by turning ‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’ upside down and sideways. There are greater scrutiny and challenges in making stories of faith organic and authentic, rather than dogmatic. This is the course to learn how that’s done.

PREVIOUS SPEAKING/TEACHING ENGAGEMENTS:

Christian Worldview Film Guild - Texas, Tennessee (2014,‘1,5 ‘16, ’17, ‘18) - Lecturer and keynote speaker on the following topics:

- How To Write Powerful & Effective Scenes

- How To Write Great Dialogue

- How To Sell Your Story & Feature Screenplay

- Elements For A Successful Script

- Cracking the ‘HIGH CONCEPT’ code using a ‘STRANGE ATTRACTOR’

- Ten “Must Haves” Elements For A Successful Script

- Writing the Visually and Emotionally Compelling Screenplay

- Pixar’s 22 Rules of Story - Revealed and Exposed

- Funding Your Movie Starts with a Solid Finance Plan

- Writing Authentic Dialogue that Propels Your Story Forward


Lamplighter Guild - New York (2017) - Lectures on Screenwriting and Short Films


Expolit Conference - Florida (2017) - Lecture on Screenwriting and Production Panels


Bob Jones University - South Carolina (2016, ‘17) - Lectures on Screenwriting and the Business of Cinema


Gideon Film Festival - Tennessee (2013, 2014) - Keynote Speaker and Production Company Panelist


Advent Film Workshops - Virginia, Colorado (2010, ‘11, ‘12, ‘13, ‘14, ‘15, ‘16) - Series of 2-Day Workshops


Screenwriter’s Expo - Los Angeles (2010) - Lecture on Screenwriting for the Family Market


Homeschool Conferences - Virginia, New Mexico (2010, ‘11) - Lectures Careers in Filmmaking


Patrick Henry College - Virginia (2009, ‘10) - Lectures on The Art and Business of Cinema