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Stephen Brock
Russia, Germany, missionary work, broken homes, unique people, exotic sceneries and unusual animals—Stephen Brock, a 19-year-old telecommunication and film major at UA, is the epitome of achievement when it comes to his love for film-making.
“Most of my film work has been inspired by my love to travel,” Brock said. He moved to Germany in the summer of 2006, after he graduated from high school, to work for a mission organization called Globe Europe (a branch ministry of Globe International). Brock lived in Hamminkeln as a resident intern at the missions center.
“We asked him to write a script for a promotional video, advertising our youth work,” said Brad Thurston, director for Globe Europe. “It was well done, in both German and English, and was quite successful in what we intended to use it for. Since we had never done anything like that before, it is hard to compare iBrock worked in Holland for three months, while living in Germany, as the multimedia director of several projects. He shot and edited footage for each ministry individually.
“I was counseled and trained by missionaries there,” Brock said. “It wasn’t just a media thing for me, it was an educational experience.”
He had lived in Germany previously as an exchange student in 2004 and found himself fascinated with all of the different kinds of people and a passion for Eastern Europe, he said. The family he lived with, had a son who was an atheist, which made Brock more interested in the reasons behind the lives of people all around the world.
Amidst Brock’s missionary film work, he studied German in Wesel, which is close to Duesselfdurf, Germany. About six months had passed, but Brock wasn’t ready to return home. He told his parents that he was going to move to Russia to study their language and continue doing missionary work. He already had experienced Russia because he started going there every summer in 2005, doing documentaries for a church in Oneonta, Ala. Brock worked on a film called Russia for Christ 2007, for Cornerstone Missions. He went to Murmansk, near Finland and about four hours from the North Pole, to film for Agape Medical Ministry. Other than experiencing what actual freezing feels like, Brock got to see unusual animals and scenery.
“It was a fascinating experience to be able to combine my passion for film and traveling to exotic areas,” Brock said.
He almost got into some trouble while taking pictures in Murmansk near a building that he was not supposed to be around. About six different officials questioned Brock, but he did not get into any serious trouble.
He lived in a dorm in Tver, a northern suburb of Moscow, for part of his time in Russia and then lived with a family for another portion.
“I also shared a flat with a friend of mine in the south of Moscow over the weekends when I worked on media stuff for Agape,” Brock said. “My friend was a full-time project coordinator for the organization and Agape owned the flat we both stayed in. There are many other places I stayed in during short-term trips including hotels, homes, churches, airports, benches, buses, and trains.”
Brock also worked in central Moscow as a part-time children's ministry assistant and promotional photographer with the ROSA, an Evangelical Church in Russia. He had raised most of his travel support through speaking at churches, saving up, and sending newsletters and emails to monthly supporters who contributed on a usual basis.
He finally returned home to America last August, just in time for the new school year and his first semester at UA. Brock has been working on a series of six films that portray spiritual warfare and the philosophy from C.S. Lewis and Frank Peretti.
“I don’t want it to be a religious film but more of a supernatural thriller,” Brock said. “It’s more of an innovative concept of demons and angels and goes against all the rules.”
An independent production company in California called Signature Productions, picked up Brock’s idea and is currently discussing a contract. Brock also recently directed a music video for a band called DGN, from Madison and is currently working on its production. He hopes to go back to Russia full time in late 2010.