Josh Etheridge, the film team lead at Blue Ridge Community Church (BRCC) in Forest, Virginia, just south of Lynchburg, also runs his own full-service production company, Josh Etheridge Films. He started his career shooting weddings with East West Productions, named “Best Wedding Filmmakers in the World” by Harper's Bazaar. Etheridge is now an award-winning director/DP with work featured in Vogue, People and Rock and Ice magazines. He’s made films for celebrities and influencers like Francis Chan, Nick Jonas, and Andrew Garfield and he travels the world creating video content for nonprofits. Etheridge is also a popular presenter at Church Production's annual Capture Summit, a church filmmaking conference launched nearly seven years ago. We learn more about Etheridge in this month's 5 Minutes.
CPM: Where did your love of filmmaking begin?
Etheridge: I grew up with three older brothers and a little sister. We grew up without TV most of our childhood, so we would play music, write music and make “movies.” We have home videos reenacting war movies from when I was probably six years old.
I started taking video more seriously after high school when I bought my first DSLR. I started making some money with it and never stopped.
CPM: What would you say were your best learning experiences for filmmaking?
Etheridge: Ha! Maybe the time I was working with a massive client spending millions on a shoot and we lost media? Or getting yelled at by a celebrity actress during a five-day shoot in India? I’ve learned quite a few unique lessons while taking the “fake it till you make it” approach, but I’d actually say editing is the way I learn what works and what doesn’t.
Shoot your films from the perspective of the editing room.
You have nowhere to hide when you're trying to color-grade poorly lit footage. At some point editing becomes fun, but in the early days "editing" was another term for "fixing bad footage.” I’d spend hours trying to force clips to work when I could’ve shot them slightly different and saved myself all the hassle. Shoot your films from the perspective of the editing room.
CPM: How did your faith intersect with filmmaking?
Etheridge: I was shooting weddings while serving on our worship team at church. Both of those were weekend gigs, so I wasn’t able to do both of them at the same time.
I would have a recurring dream that I was standing before God showing Him how I used my life. I was holding out my hands showing Him what I did with my life and in them was just a bunch of wedding films. I know that I was made for more, so when the opportunity came to be a video director at my church, I took it, plus I was able to still serve in the worship team.
CPM: How did Josh Etheridge Films get started?
Etheridge: When I took the job at BRCC, I never stopped taking side work. At some point the jobs kept getting bigger and bigger and it just made sense to form a legal business. I spent a few months and a couple grand creating a film reel and website. Literally the day after I launched the site, I booked a Super Bowl ad. We shot the ad two days after arriving home from a two-week video trip to India, and during the last day of production booked a fashion job for Vogue. That was our wild two-week kick off!
The church needs artists and meticulous storytellers to create films and change the world.
CPM: How did you get started working with nonprofits?
Etheridge: Right before getting married, I shot a project in Africa through my church. My fiancé took a trip to Haiti as a nursing student for credit. We got married and were planning a vacation to Iceland, and she mentioned that she’d rather spend our time helping people around the world instead of vacationing around the world. I had a similar life changing experience in Africa that she had in Haiti, so I agreed, and we set aside the week after Christmas.
We searched high and low for a nonprofit to travel with. We spoke to our mission’s director, pastors, friends, and researched ourselves but never felt like we had any real leads. It was mid-December, and I was frustrated that at this point we have no leads, and we didn’t save money for a trip of our own, so we were going to waste the week, but Abby was still hopeful. I had just released the Africa film and was in my office editing and someone came in unexpected. They mentioned their daughter worked for a nonprofit and was wondering what it would take to get me out to India to do something similar for them that I did for my church in Africa. I think God did it this way so that I would know that He was the one organizing everything and that this was His plan. We took our trip, released the film and within six days $11k was already raised for the organization and I still work with them to this day.
CPM: How do you balance your work life between your business and your job at the church?
Etheridge: For me it’s a pendulum. Busy seasons swing back and forth between BRCC and the business. We have a master church calendar that lets me know when church-specific holidays/events take place like Easter, Christmas and baptism services. I know to keep my schedule available for BRCC. Most of what we do as a business is nonprofit work. BRCC has a partnership with my company to let me travel for missions and take more time than the average person. Honestly, I work with an amazing team at BRCC that gives me so much flexibility. They are amazing.
Don’t settle for mediocre video. If you create good work, people will find it.
CPM: What advice do you have for aspiring church filmmakers?
Etheridge: Put in the work. Gain a vision for your projects and put in the work to bring them to fruition.
The church needs artists and meticulous storytellers to create films and change the world. Don’t give in to the idea that no one will see your work. If you create good work, people will find it. Don’t settle for mediocre video. Work hard.
