Media Leaders Retreat Itinerary

A Texas Hill Country retreat for focused, ministry-driven filmmaking

This schedule is a framework. Times and exact locations may shift based on weather and the leading of the Holy Spirit, but the flow below gives you a clear picture of how the retreat works.

Each day balances spiritual time, teaching, production, and rest so you can hear from God and create at a high level without burning out.

Tuesday – Travel and Check In

Day 1

12:00 pm to 9:00 pm

•Arrivals and check in at the property
•Guests claim bunks or tents and get settled

6:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Casual dinner for whoever is in

7:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Optional welcome fire hang

•Names
•Where you serve
•One thing you are hoping God does this week

After 9:00 pm

Rest

Wednesday – Day 1

Day 2

Theme: Interviews, testimonies, lighting, and sound • Location: Property

7:30 am to 8:30 am

Breakfast

8:30 am to 10:15 am

Morning session: Lighting a story – interviews, testimonies, and sound basics

Teaching plus live demo in one block

•How to think about testimonies and interviews
•Asking questions that go past surface answers
•Creating safety and trust for real stories
•Natural light foundations
•Simple three point lighting
•Sound basics – lav versus shotgun

10:15 am to 11:00 am

Quiet time on the property

Prompt: God, who do you want me to be as a storyteller

11:00 am to 1:00 pm

Hands on interview labs – Several stations around the property

Stations: Natural light interview • Three point lighting interview • Sound station

1:00 pm to 2:00 pm

Lunch at the property

2:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Testimony practice shoot – Small groups capture at least one real short testimony

4:00 pm to 5:15 pm

Free time – showers, rest, hang time

5:45 pm to 6:45 pm

Dinner

7:00 pm to 8:15 pm

Evening session: Why we even do this – calling and media in the church

•Being a leader in media, not just a tech
•Pairing calling with working in a church body
•Using media to glorify God

8:15 pm to 9:30 pm

Fire hang and unstructured community

Thursday – Day 2

Day 3

Theme: From sanctuary to streets • Location: Property, church, local downtown area

7:00 am to 7:30 am

Quiet time – Solo prayer and Scripture

8:30 am to 10:00 am

Morning session at the church: Serving the room – multi camera as worship

•Excellence as worship instead of perfectionism
•Camera angles, lens choices, and audio that serve real people

10:00 am to 11:15 am

Multi camera lab – Set layout, run worship/teaching block, rotate roles

12:00 pm to 1:00 pm

Lunch at a local downtown restaurant

1:00 pm to 2:00 pm

Quiet and solo b roll time in the local downtown area

Prompt: God, help me see this town and these people the way you do

2:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Group street shoot in the local downtown area

Visual sequence, on-the-fly interviews, texture coverage

4:30 pm to 5:30 pm

Ingest and quick look – Show standout clips from each team

7:45 pm to 9:00 pm

Evening session: Street stories and Kingdom eyes

What was hardest about approaching people, where you sensed God, being a media missionary in your own city

Friday – Day 3

Day 4

Theme: Hike, story brain, live edit, sending • Location: Property and hike

8:00 am to 8:20 am

Short teaching setup: Walking with Christ as a storyteller

Calling, wilderness, obedience shaping your voice

8:20 am to 10:15 am

Hike with built in quiet time – Prayer and reflection walk

Prompts: What are you asking me to lay down? What are you asking me to pick up?

10:15 am to 10:45 am

Debrief back at the property – Small circles share what God highlighted

1:00 pm to 2:15 pm

Live edit part one: From footage to film

Organization, selects, bin structure, building a selects sequence

2:30 pm to 3:45 pm

Live edit part two: Build a one minute retreat piece in real time

Define story, drop music, build spine, layer b roll

3:45 pm to 4:15 pm

Final solo quiet time

One spiritual rhythm I am committing to • One story I will tell in the next three months

4:15 pm to 5:00 pm

Small group share and prayer – Groups of three

7:15 pm to 8:30 pm

Evening session: Next steps and commissioning

Final word, testimonies, corporate prayer and commissioning as servant-leader filmmakers

Saturday – Check out and travel

Day 5

8:00 am to 9:00 am

Light breakfast and coffee

9:00 am to 11:00 am

Pack up, tear down tents, clean up property

11:00 am to 2:00 pm

Airport runs and departures