About COGfilm

The Mission of COGfilm is to tell great stories that make a difference, through the production of profitable, creative, and artistic faith-based or values-driven films.

About Our People

Loren Small

Loren Small is an independent filmmaker based in Nashville, Tennessee. A pastor’s son, he has worked for ten years with Christian non-profits in various capacities, giving him a diverse skill set and a unique outlook on Christian filmmaking and ways to approach the Church. His work has included print and web marketing and design, web based content delivery systems, and live event production. Loren has a degree in Film Production, and movies he has directed have been featured as official selections at film festivals across the country. Besides directing, Loren has worked in various crew positions on film and television productions, gaining hands-on knowledge of the entire production process. His most recent work was as Senior Editor/Producer for The Worship Network, a production company and television network that operated a digital television channel in 54 television markets as part of ION’s (formerly PAX TV) digital programming lineup. Loren’s work in leading the post-production team at Worship won more than 25 Telly Awards and has been seen in over 70 million households.

Selected Projects:

• REMNANTS (Web Series) Director/Editor 2010
• LINCOLN AND JOHNSON ON RECONSTRUCTION (NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE SPECIAL) Director/Editor 2010
• LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION (TELEVISION SPECIAL/DVD) Director/Editor 2009
• ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S FAITH (TELEVISION SPECIAL/DVD) Director/Editor 2009
• JEFF ALLEN: HAPPY WIFE, HAPPY LIFE (COMEDY TELEVISION SPECIAL) Editor 2008
• HYMNS OF HOPE (TELEVISION SPECIAL/BEHIND THE SCENES DOCUMENTARY) Editor/Documentary Producer/DVD Author 2008
• HOSPITAL VIDEO DELIVERY SYSTEM (NEW CONTENT DELIVERY TECHNOLOGY) Technology Developer/Co-Designer 2008
• LIFEWAY DIGITAL HYMNAL (MODULAR VIDEO DISTRIBUTION) Video Technology Developer/Senior Editor 2008
• QUIETIME CHRISTMAS Senior Editor/DVD Author 2008
• THE PSALMS SERIES REMASTERED (DVD SERIES) DVD Author/Technical Coordinator 2008
• THE WORSHIP NETWORK REELS (ADVERTISING) Editor 2005, 2007, 2008
• LIVE SHOWS (VARIOUS CONCERTS/EVENTS) Sound/Lighting/Video Playback & Recording 1999-2008
• RING THE BELLS (TELEVISION SPECIAL) Senior Editor 2007
• TIM HAWKINS: FULL RANGE OF MOTION (COMEDY TELEVISION SPECIAL) Editor 2007
• THE WORSHIP NETWORK V.O.D. SYSTEM (INTERNET CONTENT DELIVERY) Technology Developer/Designer 2007
• WORD VISUAL TRACKS (DVD SERIES) Senior Editor/DVD Author/Technical Coordinator 2005-2007
• 20Q (SHORT FILM) Director of Photography/Editor 2006
• BERASHET (SHORT FILM) Co-Writer/Director/Editor 2006
• CAROLS OF CHRISTMAS (DVD) Editor/DVD Author/Technical Coordinator 2006
• LIFEWAY TRANSITIONS (DVD SERIES) Editor/DVD Author/Technical Coordinator 2004-2006
• RESTORATION (TELEVISION SPECIAL/BEHIND THE SCENES DOCUMENTARY) Editor/Documentary Producer/DVD Author 2004
• THE QUEST Assistant Editor 2004
• COG (SHORT FILM) Writer/Director/Editor 2004
• ANGEL IN CHAINS (FEATURE FILM/BEHIND THE SCENES DOCUMENTARY) Feature Editor/Documentary Co-Producer 2004
• SCHOOL OF VISUAL ART AND DESIGN PROMOTIONAL DVD Editor/DVD Author 2004
• GET SONNY (ADVERTISING) Cinematographer 2003
• ECLASS (ADVERTISING SHORT FILM/VIRAL VIDEO) Director/Editor 2003
• SKYLAR ANNE (SHORT FILM) Camera Operator 2003
• THE BLIND DATE (SHORT FILM) Director/Editor 2002

Chris Small

Chris Small, M.A., Loren’s elder brother, resides in Greeneville, Tennessee. He brings a pastor’s experience to this faith-based, values-driven film studio, with a degree in Religion and six years of pastoral service in Michigan where he oversaw clear church growth and was an effective teacher of Scripture. In 1998, he was the local pastoral coordinator for two congregations participating in an unprecedented 5-week simultaneous worldwide satellite evangelism event broadcast in over 35 languages. Chris also has a graduate degree in Communication, with an emphasis in Interpretation and Performance Studies. He created the university-level course Drama in Religion and Religious Ritual, and taught both it and other communication courses in several Michigan institutions of higher learning as an Adjunct Lecturer. He has presented papers and workshops integrating faith and performance to academic, church, and professional audiences. Chris later formed a company, Small Associates LLC, that provided public speaking and consulting to churches, including church visioning, equipping for spiritual gifts, and evangelism planning. He also founded The Lincoln Project^®, a company dedicated to “Bringing Abraham Lincoln to Life” via living historiography and other means. Through this company Chris wrote, produced, and portrayed the sixteenth President in two films during the 2009 Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial. Clients of The Lincoln Project have included the National Park Service, the United States Post Office, the East Tennessee Historical Society, the Illinois Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, churches and schools throughout the country, and many others.

Selected Projects:

• LINCOLN AND JOHNSON ON RECONSTRUCTION (NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE SPECIAL) Producer/Actor 2010
• LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION (TELEVISION SPECIAL/DVD) Writer/Producer/Actor 2009
• ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S FAITH (TELEVISION SPECIAL/DVD) Writer/Producer/Actor 2009
• DOCUMENTARIES (VARIOUS SPECIALS & FILMS) Documentary Subject as Lincoln Living Historiographer 2006-2008
• THE CALLING (SEMINAR) Writer/Speaker 2006-present
• FREE YOUR EFFECTIVENESS (SEMINAR) Writer/Speaker 2006-present
• SOCIODRAMA FOR INREACH AND OUTREACH (CHURCH WORKSHOPS) Author/Workshop Director 2003-present
• DRAMA IN RELIGION AND RELIGIOUS RITUAL (GRADUATE/UNDERGRADUATE CLASS, EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY/CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY) Writer/Professor 2005-2006
• SPEECH COMMUNICATION (UNDERGRADUATE CLASSES, EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY/WASHTENAW COMMUNITY COLLEGE) Adjunct Professor 2004-2006
• BIBLIODRAMA (VARIOUS PUBLIC & PRIVATE INTERACTIVE DRAMA) Director 2004-present
• SIX FIGURES PLAYBACK THEATRE COMPANY Co-Founder/Artistic Director/Actor 2003-2006
• THE THEOLOGY OF PLAYBACK (INTERNATIONAL PLAYBACK THEATRE SYMPOSIUM) Author/Workshop Director 2005
• PERFORMANCE AS PRAXIS (INTERNATIONAL PLAYBACK THEATRE SYMPOSIUM) Co-Author/Panel Participant 2005
• PERFORMANCE DEVELOPMENT: LIVING HISTORIOGRAPHY FROM SCRATCH (CENTRAL STATES COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE) Writer/Presenter 2005
• HOMILY AS CARNIVAL (INTERPRETATION & PERFORMANCE STUDIES PAPER) Author/Presenter 2005
• ADDRESSING GETTYSBURG AND OTHER SCRIPTS Writer/Ethnographer/Director/Actor 2004-2005
• AJA DRAMA PROGRAM Director 2001-2003
• THE HUNDREDTH SHEEP (DRAMA TROUPE) Director 2000-2003
• HERBERT MITGANG’S “MR. LINCOLN” Producer/Director/Actor 1997-2003 (various productions)