OC’s David Jurney helps produce an award-winning film while building connections for film students

“Lord Finn” was a featured film at numerous festivals, leading to several nominations and wins this year.

September 2, 2020

Oklahoma Christian University Communication faculty often use their summer breaks to sharpen skills and knowledge in the areas they teach. For Instructor of Communication David Jurney, that means working on award-winning films. Jurney was the executive producer for the award-winning film “Lord Finn,” which tells the story of Daniel Finley. Finley is a free-spirited son of a Native American tribal councilman and Irish mother who attempts to navigate the world while struggling with mental illness and a staggering contempt for compromise. 

The film was written and directed by Al Mertens, a local filmmaker. Jurney and Mertens became acquainted at a film festival after a screening of OC’s first short film “Dead Tired.” The two began a professional friendship, and soon after, Jurney had the opportunity to be involved in Mertens’ first feature film. 

In 2016, Jurney was present when the script went through multiple table-reads and revisions in addition to pre-production preparations. During the shooting of the film later that year, he assisted the director and producer with creative decisions and helped the camera and lighting departments. The two-plus years of post-production included everything from choosing the key creatives to helping craft the edits, as well as weighing in on the look and sound of the film, recording some replacement dialog and co-designing the title sequence.

“Being involved in independent feature films helps me stay on top of my skills to develop my craft further,” Jurney said. “All those things help me bring back that experience to the classroom for the things that I teach our students. The experience was very long and taxing, but it was also very rewarding,” Jurney said. 

“Lord Finn” has been accepted at 13 festivals, earning a dozen nominations and wins. Some of the recent wins include the Best Oklahoma Feature and the Best of the Fest Lord of the Fly award at the Fly Film Festival.

To learn more about “Lord Finn” and to watch the trailer, visit https://lordfinnfilm.com.