The movie “Santa Girl” that was shot here at Shenandoah University with the help of students and faculty from around the university is now in post-production and set to complete editing by May of this year.

In case you missed it, last semester the cast and crew took over campus for three weeks of shooting with stars Jennifer Stone, Barry Bostwick, Devon Werkheiser, and various SU students.

Professor Paul DiFranco worked with Capital Arts Entertainment to bring in Blayne Weaver to direct the film and bring it to life here in Winchester.

Shenandoah acting senior Darcy Maxine Pierce, who acted in “Santa Girl” and took on the role of Weaver’s assistant said, “Capital Arts couldn’t have chosen a

better director on it. We are so incredibly grateful to have had Blayne come here and take this risk with us.”

The first edit of the film is done but there is still a lot of work left to do before “Santa Girl” is ready to be seen by the public. The movie still needs its score, digital effects, and sound editing. Once all of the editing is done Capital Arts Entertainment will be able to shop it out to buyers as in television networks, international markets, and digital platforms. Stone is excited about the finished product and said, “It’s always cool to see the final product and it’s very rewarding. There’s also special effects in this movie and when you’re on this side you don’t really get to see it all until its done and I’m very excited to see it with all of them.”

Once this is all done, many Shenandoah students will be able to put their work on a feature film into their portfolios. Pierce says, “This has proved invaluable

in that I can now go in feeling comfortable on a professional set.”

The future of “Santa Girl” is not certain yet but one thing is for certain, this experience will help jump-start the study of film here at SU. The school now has high quality equipment for the students to use and further their studies while many acting majors were able to act in their first feature film.

The future is bright for the study of film at SU, DiFranco says, “The goal is to create a possibly unprecedented college film program, where students are making films for the marketplace.”