USI Communications and Media faculty, students and alumni connected with Nashville Film Festival entry
USI is making its mark at the 2026 Nashville Film Festival, running Thursday through Wednesday, September 24-30, with Only the Lord Will Set You Free, a short film featuring the work of USI faculty, current students and alumni.
Produced by Dr. McManus Woodend, Assistant Professor of Digital Media, who also appeared in the production as Big Dave, the film will screen as part of the Nashville Film Festival’s Graveyard Shorts program.
Set in the early 2010s, Only the Lord Will Set You Free follows Pete, a teenager who finds himself bound in the back of a windowless white van with a bomb strapped to his chest. As he recalls online conversations with an enigmatic girl known as MOAB_Didion, the film explores the dangerous intersection of online relationships, ideological fantasy and real-world consequences.
Colin Millsap, a current USI Communications and Media student who will graduate in Fall 2026, contributed sound design and location sound. Several USI alumni were also involved with the production—Jordan Barclay, a 2005 graduate with a degree in art, served as the film’s behind-the-scenes photographer; Esther Addis, a 2025 graduate with a degree in radio and television, portrayed Little Dave and worked as a production assistant; and Kaz Mull, 2025 graduate with a degree in radio and television, worked as a production assistant.
While the film is not a USI production, Woodend says it reflects things to come for the University. “Providing direct on-set experience for students and alumni alike who are looking to make a film outside the parameters of an academic production is an essential component of what we’re beginning to do here at USI,” he says. “Each student knew what was expected of them, did a great job and impressed the professional crew who came in from New York City. With the USI Film concentration launching this year, I look forward to developing future projects that will provide students the opportunities they need to build their careers in this highly competitive industry.”
The Nashville Film Festival, one of the longest-running film festivals in the United States, showcases feature films, documentaries, shorts and other works from filmmakers around the world. For more information about USI's Communication and Media Department visit the department webpage. The film’s screening information is available through the Nashville Film Festival schedule.