Mississippi College Student Creating Award-Winning Videos

Ethan Milner

Mississippi College senior Ethan Milner could become his generation’s Steven Spielberg.

A 21-year-old from Birmingham, Ala. with family ties to Clinton, Milner is on his way. During his sophomore year at MC, the graphic design major began working for the university’s public relations department and since then has tapped into his creative juices to direct some rather interesting short films.

In the running for an award at the Oxford festival is Milner’s 20-minute film “Humble Circumstances” that tells the story of three friends who are reunited after attending three different colleges. It’s in the Mississippi Narrative Shorts category. “Humble Circumstances” was the winner at MC’s Independent Film Festival.

Over the weekend, Ethan’s video was judged at the Oxford Film Festival, one of the region’s hot spots for rising young stars in the movie industry. The home of the famed Hoka Theater, the University of Mississippi and the launching pad of literary luminaries from William Faulkner to John Grisham, the North Mississippi cultural hub became the latest spot for Milner’s talents to get noticed.

The Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, an international association of more than 3,400 colleges and universities honored Milner with an award in early 2012 for his videos appearing with increasing regularity on the Christian university’s website. One of the more recent short films captured the mood of MC’s 2011 Homecoming, including music-laced clips from a  road race to a lively table tennis tournament. The film spotlighted returning alums relishing the memories at their alma mater in Clinton.

“I love movies because I love telling stories, and I think in our world today movies are the most effective form of storytelling,” Milner says. “I love being an audience member and experiencing the world, big or small, for that period of time. I want to be able to give that experience to other people.”

Milner first got hooked on videos as a ten-year-old watching some of Steven Spielberg’s movies that depicted fictional archeologist Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones. The birth of the Indiana Jones films began for Spielberg in 1981 with “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Spielberg’s many blockbuster hits have ranged from “Jaws” in 1975 to “Jurassic Park” and “Schindler’s List,” both released in 1993.

When seeing the Indiana Jones movies starring Harrison Ford, a pre-teen Milner asked himself lots of questions as he watched the big screen in Southern theaters. “Who is telling all these people what to do? Whose idea was to put the camera there? Who tells the actors what to say?,” were just a few of the questions racing through his head. He learned years later that this person was the film director. “I knew that was exactly what I wanted to do with my life.”

His new career took off as a Mississippi College student two years ago when he met a friend who shared his film passion and indulged his interest in becoming a director. “Since then, Nathan Truong has produced several of my short films, and not a single one of those would have come close to getting off the ground without his help.”

Milner also credits God for giving him the vision and abilities to pursue his craft.

“I feel like God has put me on a very specific path toward glorifying Him with my passions and abilities,” Milner said. “I don’t think it’s too lofty a goal to say in five years, I literally want to be changing the world using that same passion. I really don’t know what that will look like, but in my me-sized world, I see myself directing future films with a theatrical release by that time.”

Sounds like a plan within the grasp of the humble Mississippi College senior. He’s one who never forgets to thank the many people guiding his path, including mentor Kevin Johnson, who was the first to teach him editing skills.

Milner’s immediate plans are to get married on July 7, 2012 and then, with his MC diploma on display in his office, begin a full-time position as director of media production at Shades Mountain Baptist Church in his hometown of Birmingham.

No doubt, Ethan Milner cannot be replaced as the Baptist-affiliated university’s gifted video man once he takes his talents to an Alabama church.

Mississippi College’s public relations director Tracey Harrison joins colleagues on the Clinton campus who know he will be missed.

“Ethan is an amazing cinematographer with an eye for what looks good on the screen, as well as what will resonate with the heart of the viewer,” Harrison said.

MC public relations staffers will miss seeing some of Milner’s “world premieres” and supplying feedback when he releases his newly-minted videos on computer screens in Nelson Hall.