The University of North Georgia’s Film Department has gotten the privilege to host a sneak preview screening of the Amazon feature film, “On a Wing and a Prayer.” This event will take place on Thursday, March 30, at 7 p.m. at the Film and Digital Media Building on the Gainesville campus in room 147. 

After the screening of the film, there will be a Q&A with screenwriter Brian Egeston and producer Karl Horstmann of Triplehorse Studios in Atlanta. 

“On A Wing and A Prayer” stars Dennis Quaid as Doug White and Heather Graham as his wife, Terri. The film is about passenger Doug White having to land the plane to safety and save his entire family on board after the small-town pilot dies during the flight.  

“When you meet someone, who has written or produced a film for a major studio, you realize they’re not all that different from yourself. All of those dreams you have about making movies for a living become tangible and seem a little more attainable than they did before. “-Dr. Jeff Marker, Head of UNG’s Film Department on the Gainesville campus.  

Marker said due to Professor Michael Lucker’s connections to the screenwriter and the production team, they were able to get in touch with some of the filmmakers and the studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He said MGM and everyone liked the idea of UNG hosting a screening of the film.  

“We have been planning the screening for a couple of months, but it really came together quite easily,” Marker said. “Everyone who worked on the film, everyone at MGM, and everyone at Allied Marketing, who are promoting the film in our region, have been great to work with.” 

He said he hopes that the UNG students will enjoy getting to screen a film before it opens in theatres or on home videos and learns from the Q&A with the screenwriter and producer. “More generally, I hope we can bring more events like this to campus to provide more fun, unique experiences for the Gainesville campus. If we can use the event to help raise awareness of the film for the distributor MGM, we are happy to do that in exchange for the chance to host an advanced screening,” Marker said.  

With this event, UNG’s film department will be entering a new phase in the development of its program. Marker said that the new film facility is second to none and maintains a high-level connection in the industry, and the facilities rival any film school in the Southeast. “Our student films routinely play in festivals throughout the region, and each year we use our own film festival to draw attention to the greatest work they do. All of these efforts have attracted industry attention,” he said.  

Marker stated he hopes everyone who comes to the screening will enjoy the film and learn from the interactions with Egeston and Horstmann. “I hope our guest filmmakers feel honored and leave knowing we appreciate them,” Marker said.  

For those who can’t attend the premiere screening of the film this Thursday night, they can watch the film on Amazon Prime when its initial release comes out on Friday, April 7.