EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was originally published in the February issue of GCU Magazine, available in the purple bins across campus or digitally.
Photos by Ralph Freso
When Grand Canyon University alumna Anna Shaw was little, she was fascinated by cameras.
She walked up to a videographer at church one day to ask if she could try out his camera.
Shaw was never without a camera in her hand again.
From volunteering at church as a videographer to making family films with siblings and cousins, she knew early on the profession she wanted to pursue. Now she travels the country as an independent filmmaker.
“We’ve known that she’s been interested in that her whole life,” said Caleb Shaw, her younger brother and a GCU men’s basketball player. “We grew up with her making movies with our cousins in the summer. But then to see her actually grow into it and make it her own and now actually doing it for a living, it’s super cool to see.”
Anna Shaw quickly found a way to turn her hobby into a career.
When she pitched to her parents the industry she would like to pursue, she came prepared with schooling options, job opportunities and various paths that would land her in a film director’s chair.
Her freshman year at Belmont University in Nashville kicked off her college education in digital film. But with her family at GCU – dad Casey Shaw is an assistant men’s basketball coach, mom Dana Drew Shaw the vice president of government relations, and uncle Bryce Drew the men’s basketball coach – it was only a matter of time before the young filmmaker became a Lope.
After COVID-19, she joined her parents at GCU, where she majored in digital film production.
While the transition made it tough for her initially to create films without friends, it challenged her to step out of her comfort zone.
“I grabbed a couple random people and was like, ‘Do you want to try to make a feature film with me?’ ” she asked. “We produced a roughly 90-minute film. It taught me a lot about how you plan, schedule and produce in a nutshell.”
Film projects snowballed, and she earned her master’s degree in business from GCU to prepare her for the administrative side of filmmaking.
Then she received an opportunity to work for Shawn Boskie, a notable figure in the world of Christian films. He is known for his work with Pure Flix and the film company he founded, Canyon Productions, which produced “God’s Not Dead: In God We Trust” and “Divine Influencer.”
Shaw started out as Boskie’s production associate, working on 2023’s “Identity Crisis,” which was shot and premiered on the GCU campus. She also had a hand in 2025’s “The Last Supper,” screened in theatres across the country.
With an itch for travel, she took to the road. From Georgia to Tennessee, New York, Mississippi, Colorado and Arkansas, she has grown her art through versatile projects and has done everything from coordinating and managing productions to script supervising and even serving as the on-set medic for cast and crew.
“You have to be very self-motivated in film,” she said. “It’s long hours, you are constantly trying to problem-solve and figure things out. GCU’s program lent itself really well to people who are going to chase after film and do that.
"It presents a very neat way of teaching that I think especially fits well in film. It taught me the most how to pull all the pieces together, how to bring a team together and fill in the gaps that you need on each project.”
But Shaw’s most memorable moment, which motivated her hard work, happened at the screening of her senior practicum film.
Telling the Bible story of Peter and Judas, she wanted to use the film to remind the audience of the Gospel and emphasize the work of Jesus on earth. At the end, her dad complimented her work, telling her that God is proud of her efforts.
"Something that Dana and I always have tried to give our children is that no matter what you’re called to, you can have a ministry,” Casey Shaw said. “She could use this as a platform to spread the message of Jesus and to help people grow in their own faith and her own. There is a place where people want good Christian movies, so she felt that was something God called her to.”
"That is something special to translate into all projects," she said, as she prepares to head to Japan for more film opportunities. "That the Lord is proud of what you created."
GCU staff writer Izabela Fogarasi can be reached at [email protected]
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