Have a Blessed Christmas!

We hope that you and yours have a blessed Christmas and a wondrous New Year!

This year has had some exceptional highs and lows for us. The deepest valley was resigning from The MasterWorks Festival after serving on the faculty for 16 years and directing the theatre program for ten. Joyce also had served as director of pastoral care for six years. Though it was a difficult decision we know that the Lord was leading in it, and we are planning to use the connections and experience we've gleaned after being a part of 17 film projects since 2010 to work on our own. Details to come.

Two of those films are coming to theaters on Valentine's Day (Princess Cut: I play suave realtor Nigel Livengood) and April 6 (Beyond the Mask: I play Dr. Bonneville). Click on those titles for more information, and for Beyond the Mask they're looking for people to help promote the film and are offering paid and volunteer positions, and volunteers earn an iPad! I've posted their new trailer below.

I also do not feel called away from teaching, and I will be doing that and coaching actors at The Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp this summer. Registration is opened, and there are only a few places left, so apply as soon as possible. It was through this camp that the feature film In His Steps was produced. I was just there as an actor that year, playing John Gray, who runs a soup kitchen. This summer we helped our students audition for a live project, the feature film Mayflower II. One of our students was cast in the key role of the son of the characters played by Joyce and myself. One of his scenes led up to my favorite scene in my 19-year career!

Speaking of screen children, when Joyce and I went through pre-engagement counseling (something we highly recommend!) we were asked all sorts of things that you just don't naturally bring up as you're getting to know each other: spiritual background, denomination, political affiliation, etc. We were connected on so many levels, and the session was going so very well that I thought I'd throw in a joke when the counselor asked how many children we each wanted. I said twelve. Joyce just about fell out of her chair! Though we haven't had any children of our own, it just dawned on me that we've now had 13 screen children! We've played husband and wife in four films. In Indescribable we had nine children, in The Unexpected Bar Mitzvah we had one, in Rather to Be Chosen we had two, and in Mayflower II we had one. I hope in the future we'll have many screen grandchildren, but we'll be putting the pressure on casting directors (far into the future), rather than on our screen children.

 This was a busy traveling year with numerous performances and workshops in 17 states, Sochi, Russia, during the Olympics, and three provinces of Canada (a personal record for me).

We're planning to take a team of performing artists to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Summer Olympics. If you're interested in joining us, and if you're on Facebook, click here. If you're not on Facebook be sure to watch your inbox for the announcement that registration for the trip is open.

Joyce continues as counselor and lead pastor of Westchester Chapel Church of the Nazarene in White Plains, NY, where we've seen profound connections with each other and with the Lord. You can hear her sermons at www.WestchesterChapel.org/JoyceSwingle and the few that I've had opportunity to share at www.WestchesterChapel.org/RichSwingle.

I just submitted to play the role of a lifetime on a $16M project. If you have a moment, please visit www.IMDb.me/RichSwingle and Like it in the right column. Even if you're not on Facebook, just visiting the page will give it a boost. If you have the time (took me about five minutes), it would be great if you could also visit and Like all the projects in which I’ve performed. If you do undertake that, please make it a time of praying for those projects and others that the Lord wants to birth through his people as he raises us up to tell His stories with excellence.

May the Love of Christ grow in your hearts and lives this Holy Season, and if you don't celebrate Christmas or see it just as just a season of obligation, consider inviting Christ into the manger of your heart. It will radically transform the way you see Christmas and the world. Find out more about that at www.RichDrama.com/MyPassion.

Joyce started Treasure Seekers for the children of Westchester Chapel, and I do short videos for them as Trevor the Treasure Seeker. Here's the video we put together to promote our Christmas Party for them...

Click here for the highlights of the year Facebook picked. And you can browse our blog for more.

 If you're still checking off your Christmas gift list, some of our films are available for instant download: www.RichDrama.com/Films.

Here's the new trailer for Beyond the Mask:



This list is only updated a few times a year. If you got this far you may be interested in more frequent updates, and you can sign up for those here: www.RichDrama.com/Updates.

Amp up your World Cup experience!

For the Glory, in which I play soccer coach to Olympian Kurt Kuykendall, is now available for digital download. Invite World Cup fans over to see this inspiring story of a failed basketball player who became a world-class goalie. 

If you're anywhere near Winona Lake, Indiana (halfway between Fort Wayne and South Bend), Pittsburgh or New York City, I hope you'll attend the MasterWorks Festival Theatre Department production of Much Ado About Nothing: www.MasterWorksFestival.org and www.MasterWorksFestival.org/tour. Our students are hilarious! South Hills Church of the Nazarene is hosting the play as the culmination of their 50th anniversary celebration, putting the emphasis on the celebration of marriage. 

On the way into the theater to see Alone Yet Not Alone I stopped my bride Joyce and said, "We've been praying for years for this moment." So we stopped and praised the Lord for my first nationwide theatrical release!  I play a land speculator, and the Academy Award nominated film is still playing in a few theaters. Catch it while you can. 

Heading for Sochi / Actor Deadlines

As the Opening Ceremonies sweep across the time zones we’re making final plans to be in Sochi during the last week of the Olympics. We appreciate your prayers for us while we're there!

We’re in the process of having translations done for the people we meet from around the world. So far we’ve only completed Spanish, though Portuguese, German, Korean and Simplified Chinese are in the works. If you can contribute to any of those translations or if you’re interested in having an impact on people who speak your language shoot us a note.

We won't be posting from Russia, but watch your inboxes for a report when we return.

February 15, the eve of our departure, happens to be the deadline for two events at which I’ll be directing and teaching later in the year:

The Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp is adding an acting component. I'm thrilled to inaugurate this program as the sole instructor! Many of you know me from my stage work, but I've been in 15 films since 2010: www.RichDrama.com/Films. I’ll be teaching classes and directing the students in a film we’ll shoot in the glorious Colorado Rockies.

I learned much of what I know about screen acting from the fabulous faculty that we've had at the MasterWorks Festival over the years. We're bringing in some more performing arts veterans this year as well.

I wrote about Torry Martin in a recent blog post that went out to those who receive our more frequent posts. Now I’m pleased to announce that we’ll have a second Adventures in Odyssey cast member, Katie Leigh. Katie will coach our students reading sides from… a show for which she’s been a cast member. Sign up for her MasterClass will be based on date of application, so act now. She got her start in Improv, so on July 2, she will join Torry Martin and our students to perform Improv! That night has the potential of being the funniest in the history of MasterWorks!

Our tickled funny bones will propel us into performances of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing in Winona Lake, Bethel Park, PA, and in an Off-Broadway theatre!

Again, the early bird deadline for MasterWorks and the The Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Acting Camp is February 15. So get the application process rolling now, or send this to young actors who might be interested.

I play a quirky clerk in Christmas Grace.

Another place I’ll be teaching and performing is the inaugural Christian Worldview Film Festival and Guild. Five of the films in which I’ve performed will be featured there in full or represented by a short piece. The Guild will be March 11 and 12, and the Festival will be March 13-15 in beautiful San Antonio, TX. Though there’s no early bird special, you can get 25% off all tickets to the Festival or Guild using the code RICHSWINGLE.

Check out my touring schedule at www.RichDrama.com/Schedule and see if I’ll be in your area. I always love to add performances and workshops whenever I’m outside the NYC area.

I'm really hoping to set up performances in San Antonio, TX, Colorado, Tuscon, AZ, and Oregon. Hope to see you somewhere in the world this year!