John Risner spends most of his time in the Mansfield, Ohio, area, as youth pastor at Ontario Christian Fellowship and a student at Ashland Seminary.
But this weekend, the Bluffton University alumnus will be in San Antonio, Texas, where a movie in which he made his professional acting debut-in the lead role-is among eight nominees in the Feature Film category at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.
Winners in various categories will be announced Saturday, Oct. 30, including the recipient of a "Best of Festival" award that carries $101,000 in cash-the largest cash prize given by a film festival in the world, according to the festival's website.
The story of how Risner came to star in "The Free Ride" as Colter Reese, a washed-up bicycle racer who gets a chance to race again to save his son's life, has a plot twist of its own.
Mike Dornbirer, a photographer who created a production company with his wife Rachael in 2008 to make Christian films, placed posters in Ontario Christian Fellowship and other Mansfield-area churches seeking prospective actors for his first feature. "I saw the poster in our church and thought, 'What a great project to be a part of,'" recalls Risner, who earned a bachelor's degree in social work from Bluffton in 2003. He then talked to his wife Rachel, also a 2003 Bluffton graduate, "and she encouraged me to go for it," he says.
"It was very appealing to me, the idea of doing film," admits the Mansfield resident, who lacked any acting experience beyond church plays. He passed up the chance at Bluffton, where he considered trying out for plays several times, he says, but always had "a million excuses" not to, notably school, work and soccer, which he played throughout college.
But in the summer of 2009, Risner was ready to give acting a try when he walked into auditions with the Dornbirers in Bucyrus, Ohio, for the Reese role. Mike Dornbirer called him the next day, he remembers, expressing concern with his lack of experience and saying "we really like you, but we're not going to use you as Colter."
At the same time, though, Dornbirer asked Risner if he would consider another character and, about a week later, he returned to read again. When the shoot began in August 2009, he was that character, "Lacey," but after two days of filming, he got another call from Dornbirer.
"We're making some changes with the cast," the writer, director and co-producer told Risner. "We would like you to be Colter."
Suddenly looking at a time commitment of up to two months, and as a full-time seminary student with a job at the church, a wife and young children, his initial reaction, he says, was "I don't know if I can do that." But he also thought the offer was "very intriguing," he continues.
Knowing both that he would be paid in the lead role and that the movie would be used for ministry purposes and not just "mindless entertainment, Risner told Dornbirer he would get back with him.
Granted flexibility in his work schedule at church, the Mansfield resident took on the part and a shooting schedule that continued through September 2009, primarily in Bucyrus.
The experience was not without challenges for the acting novice. Among the biggest, he says, was that he hadn't done much bicycling and was playing a competitive cyclist who's training after not having raced in three years. "I was exhausted," he says, noting that Dornbirer's desire to capture the character riding at sunup and sundown made for some early and late hours. In the finished film, "I was doing a lot of huffing and puffing," he adds. "That's not acting."
Then there was the matter of getting into character as Reese, a dark, depressed man whose wife had died and career had fallen apart. A self-described upbeat person, Risner was also making friends with cast mates and crew members who were sometimes cracking jokes right before the "Action!" command came. "It was hard for me to have a light switch" to turn off and on between himself and his character, he concedes.
When filming ended, "I went back to life as usual," says Risner, who plans to graduate from Ashland Seminary next June with a Master of Divinity degree. The movie went on the back burner until winter, when, asked for his input on the soundtrack, he suggested to Dornbirer that it include music from an extended play recording by the Christian rock band that he and two of his soccer teammates started while at Bluffton. And some of the band's music did make the final soundtrack, Risner says.
He was also called back last spring to do voiceover work-and ended up doing almost all of his lines as voiceovers-but didn't learn until late summer that Dornbirer had finished the movie. "It was his goal to enter it into that San Antonio festival," Risner recalls, saying Dornbirer thought the film was good enough to compete there. "If you're a Christian filmmaker and you want to be noticed, San Antonio is the place to go.
"I'm really pleased with how the film turned out," adds Risner, who credits Dornbirer with "inspiring me to do my best." Calling it "a very unique opportunity for me," he points out that not only did the movie come about "right in my backyard," but now it may gain national recognition as well.
The experience has also left the Bellefontaine, Ohio, native open to acting again. He continues to feel called to local church ministry, he says, "but if the opportunity arises for me to be involved with a Christian film, I would like to do it."
Editor's note: Mike and Rachael Dornbirer are booking showings of "The Free Ride" through their Sanctum Entertainment website, www.sanctumentertainment.com.
