A communications training and film festival for a new generation of storytellers, creatives, and media practitioners. 

Communicating Christ By All
Means Possible

02 – 07 NOV 2026

Six days of learning, worship, collaboration, and hands-on creative work with communicators from across the Asia-Pacific Region.

Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary
Manila, Philippines

For Online Participation

Register Here

faith

is where

creativity

begins.

I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
-1 Corinthians 9:22-23

El Festival equips and inspires the next generation of communicators, storytellers, and media practitioners through practical, hands-on training in media production and digital communications.

Through film, photography, design, sound, motion, and digital media, participants explore different ways of communicating one message.

What
you’ll
Explore

from idea
to story
to screen

01/PRE-PRODUCTION

Build the story.

Every meaningful story begins before the camera starts rolling. Learn how to shape an idea, develop a story, and prepare it for production with clarity and purpose.

 

  • Story development & conceptualization
  • Scriptwriting
  • Directing
  • Production Planning
  • Acting

02/PRODUCTION

Capture the story.

Turn ideas into images and sound. Explore the practical and creative decisions behind capturing a story—from composition and lighting to camera movement and audio.

 

  • Cinematography & Camera
  • Photography & Composition
  • Lighting
  • Audio & Sound Recording
  • Camera Movement

02/PRODUCTION

Capture the story.

Turn ideas into images and sound. Explore the practical and creative decisions behind capturing a story—from composition and lighting to camera movement and audio.

 

  • Cinematography & Camera
  • Photography & Composition
  • Lighting
  • Audio & Sound Recording
  • Camera Movement

03/Post-PRODUCTION + Distribution

Shape and share the story.

Bring the pieces together and prepare the story to reach its audience. Explore how editing, design, motion, and digital platforms can shape how a message is experienced and shared.

 

  • Video Editing
  • Motion Graphics
  • Graphic Design
  • Digital Storytelling
  • Social Media Strategy
  • Content Distribution

Speakers

LEARN FROM / CREATE WITH

People behind the stories

Stephen & Mayen Cadd

Storytelling, Directing, and Acting

Joshua Chew

Photography

Erwin Balangue

Audio Production

Rico Bicol

Audio Post-Production

Dek Khu

Graphic Design

Rachel Cesneros

Social Media

Tim Dela Paz

Cinematography, Editing and Color Grading

Brian Utter

Plenary Speaker

Crystal Gibbons

Plenary Speaker

Register Now

FAQs

Need to know questions?
Start Here.

What is El Festival?

El Festival is a communications training and film festival designed to equip and inspire communicators, storytellers, and media practitioners in the Church of the Nazarene.

November 2–7, 2026

El Festival is for creative communicators and creators within the Church of the Nazarene. It is designed to equip volunteers from each field with the skills and tools to tell meaningful stories effectively and use their creativity for Kingdom-building.

No, professional filmmaking experience is not required. But if you have experience and your own professional camera, feel free to bring it with you!

You will learn practical skills in storytelling, directing, acting, photography, cinematography, video editing and color grading, audio production and post-production, graphic design, and social media.

In-person attendance is by invitation only, but we’re opening online participation via Zoom so you can still be part of the learning, conversations, and creative experience wherever you are!

Online registration is open.

$10

Stephen & Mayen Cadd

Stephen Cadd, the son of missionary parents, was raised in the Philippines. After graduating from Faith Academy, he earned music and drama degrees from George Fox University. He returned to the Philippines to launch a music and drama outreach ministry, then later studied filmmaking at The London Film School, graduating in 1982.

Back in the Philippines, he produced the country’s first evangelistic films in the national language and culturally specific films for people groups in Mindanao. In 2002, he led an evangelistic film project in Mongolia that became a training initiative resulting in a Christian-owned Mongolian production company that produced 12 feature films over the next decade.

With his wife, Mayen, he later replicated this model in Cambodia and Nepal and led production training projects in Vietnam, Bhutan, Uzbekistan, the UK, the USA, and the UAE.

Mayen Cadd is a professional actress who has been in stage, television and movie productions in the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. With over 30 years of professional experience from productions such as Alice in Wonderland, Joseph the Dreamer, Hairspray, The Bluebird of Happiness, Come from Away, and Going Home to Christmas, The Little Mermaid to name a few. In addition to her extensive experience in the world of acting on stage and on screen, singing, doing VOs and ad jingles, hosting for live events, she also directs shows and plays, and teaches Acting & Musical Theatre to teens and adults. Along side her husband, she has taught/coached acting in training projects across Asia and USA, UK and the Middle East. She is currently in a musical production for Repertory Philippines

Joshua Chew

Joshua Chew is a mobilizer, photojournalist, and media producer with over a decade of cross-cultural missions experience, having served in 16 nations across three continents. His vision is for everyone to hear the Gospel at least once and for every believer to discover their strategic role in the Great Commission.

He founded Ablaze Media Productions, which provides production services and media training to mission organizations through in-person workshops across Asia and online Zoom programs. He also offers technical and media consultation to missionaries and ministries serving the Unreached, and he is part of the wider leadership team for Eurasia Media Distribution Consultation, a network of more than 500 organizations.

Joshua believes that when the church is shown, through visual media, what Jesus sees in the world, it will be moved to take part in the Great Commission.

Erwin G. Balangue

Erwin G. Balangue is an audio consultant, live sound engineer, trainer, and writer with extensive experience in broadcast television, live sound, church production, and audio system design. He spent 17 years with CBN Asia, producer of The 700 Club Asia, beginning as the program’s first audioman and later serving as a voice talent and line producer, which gave him a strong foundation in broadcast and field production.

Today, he works as an independent AVL and Acoustics Consultant, serving churches and ministry organizations, and leads the HEADS UP Audio Boot Camp, a technical training program that equips church audio teams with practical, immediately applicable skills. He also contributes articles on gain staging and vocal processing to Worship AVL Magazine.

Erwin believes that good audio is not about equipment but about serving the story, and he advocates an approach that begins with the story, anticipates the editor’s needs, and captures both the words and the emotion of the moment.

Rico Bicol

Rico Bicol is an accomplished audio engineer, sound designer, and educator with nearly three decades of professional experience in music and audio production, and was among the early adopters of Digital Audio Workstations.

He has collaborated with some of the Philippines’ most respected record producers and recording artists, and has handled sound design and mixing for feature films shown at the Metro Manila Film Festival, Cinemalaya, Cinema One Originals, Cine Filipino, and QCinema, as well as projects produced by CBN Asia.

A former faculty member at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde and Asia Pacific College, he remains a sought-after lecturer nationwide and a regular judge for the Awit Awards. He was commissioned by TESDA and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts as a Technical Expert for the Audio Production Services Program.

Rico serves full-time at the University of Santo Tomas, manages his own audio consultancy, and is National Secretary of the Audio Engineering Society Philippines Section and National Chairman of Anointed Worship.

Dek Khu

Dek Khu is a graphic designer and illustrator who earned her Bachelor of Applied Arts in Visual Design from Miriam College in 2013. Her work centers on graphic design and illustration, complemented by experience in motion design, video editing, and photography.

Since 2011, she has served with Generation Congregation, the youth service of Taytay First Church of the Nazarene, contributing as a documenter, photographer, video editor, and graphic designer. In 2016, she founded Hopencourage, a small creative business offering stickers, art prints, and other illustrated merchandise.

Over the years, she has lent her creative talents to a range of Nazarene-related projects and events, including the General Assembly (2013), NYI The Journey (2021), Third Wave (2025), the Arise Asia-Pacific Regional Conference (2025), and APNYC (2026).

Rachel Cesneros

Rachel Ann is a communication practitioner and social media manager who studied Communication Arts at La Salle College Antipolo and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Communication, majoring in Communication Management, at PUP Open University.

She serves as Executive Assistant to the Regional Communications Coordinator of the Church of the Nazarene Asia-Pacific Region, supporting regional communications, digital content creation, and social media management. Her journey in social media began in 2012, when she started helping manage the platforms of New Hope Church. She later joined the social media ministry of the Church of the Nazarene Metro Manila District, where she discovered her passion for digital communication and graphic design.

Since then, she has continued to develop her skills in storytelling, content creation, and visual communication. A pastor’s and missionary’s kid, she is also a worshipper at heart who desires to use her gifts to serve God and others.

Brian Utter

Brian Utter is a media professional with decades of experience in content creation, radio broadcasting, and global missions, currently serving as executive director of Olivet Media Group at Olivet Nazarene University, where he has mentored aspiring radio and podcasting professionals since joining the faculty in 2015.

A graduate of Olivet in broadcast communications, he holds master’s degrees in missiology and in communication, education, and culture. He previously served seven years as program director of WCFL before relocating to Buenos Aires in 2001 as South America regional coordinator of World Mission Broadcast, where he oversaw multilingual radio and television productions, including Mujer Valiosa (The Valued Woman), which reached an estimated 100 million radio listeners across 24 countries.

Since 2009, he has led World Mission Broadcast globally, and he continues to serve as a volunteer missionary in that role.

Crystal Gibbons

Crystal Gibbons serves as the Global Missions Communications Coordinator for the Church of the Nazarene, helping tell the stories of what God is doing through the Church around the world.

A missionary with experience serving across Eurasia, Crystal is passionate about communication, creativity, and helping people discover how God can use their unique gifts for His mission. She loves equipping the next generation to tell meaningful stories, communicate with purpose, and find their place in what God is doing around the world.

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