Samples of Award Winning Productions

Visit our vimeo site for a larger selection of more recent productions.  Below are a few examples of the many types of projects Ballard High School video students learn to produce.



PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

"Nordic Heritage Museum"

Nomination, Student Television Award for Excellence, Photographer and Editor Northwest Regional Emmy Awards, 2013




"Ballard Northwest Senior Center"

Award of Excellence, Public Service Announcement Northwest High School Film Festival, 2010
Special Recognition for Overall Excellence in Media Images of Youth Video Festival, 2010




"Don't Spill"

Student Television Award for Excellence in Craft Achievement Northwest Regional Emmy Awards, 2009
Special Recognition for Overall Excellence in Media Images of Youth Video Festival, 2010
Peer Achievement Award Images of Youth Video Festival, 2009
Official Selection Westport Youth Film Festival, 2009

Don't Spill from Ballard H.S. Video Program on Vimeo.


"Wash Your Hands"

Best PSA Westport Youth Film Festival, 2008

Wash Your Hands from Ballard H.S. Video Program on Vimeo.



DOCUMENTARY

"Henry"

Winner 34th Annual Young People's Film & Video Festival
Documentary Award of Excellence Northwest High School Film Festival, 2011
Official FutureWave Selection Seattle International Film Festival, 2011
2nd Prize, Non-Fiction Derek Freese High School Video Festival, 2011
Nominee Student Television Award of Excellence, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Northwest Region)

Henry from Ballard H.S. Video Program on Vimeo.


"Deep Down"

Winner, Best Documentary 17th Annual Derek Freese Youth Media Film Festival, 2012
Winner, Creative Self-Expression Award Fresh Film Northwest, 2012
Second Prize, Documentary Dominique Dunne Film Competition, 2013
Official Selection National Film Festival for Talented Youth, 2013
Honorable Mention, Documentary Northwest High School Film Festival, 2012




"Ladies in Armor"

Winner 32nd Annual Young People's Film & Video Festival, 2008
2nd Prize Derek Freese High School Film & Video Festival, 2008
Official Selection National Film Festival for Talented Youth, 2009
Official Selection Los Angeles Film Festival, 2009




"Domestic Disturbance"

Winner 32nd Annual Young People's Film & Video Festival, 2008
Finalist Derek Freese High School Film Festival, 2008
Official Selection National Film Festival for Talented Youth, 2009





DIGITAL FILMMAKING

"Blindsided"

Merit Award for Writer/Director Kyle Seago NFAA Arts Recognition & Talent Search, 2007
Honorable Mention Derek Freese High School Film & Video Festival, 2007
Official Selection Westport Youth Film Festival, 2007
Official Selection Images of Youth Video Festival, 2007

Blindsided from Ballard H.S. Video Program on Vimeo.


"Bittersweet"

Winner (Northwest Region), Writing National Student Television Awards, 2007
Winner 30th Annual Young People's Film & Video Festival, 2006
Award of Excellence, Dramatic Narrative Northwest High School Film Festival, 2007
Official Selection Westport Youth Film Festival, 2007
Official Selection & Finalist Derek Freese High School Film & Video Festival, 2007


Bittersweet from Ballard H.S. Video Program on Vimeo.


"Spaced Out"

Winner (Northwest Region), Writing National Student Television Awards, 2008
Jury Prize, Best Experimental Film National Film Festival for Talented Youth, 2008
Award of Excellence, Dramatic Narrative Northwest High School Film Festival, 2008
Official Selection and Finalist Derek Freese High School Film & Video Festival, 2008


Spaced Out from Ballard H.S. Video Program on Vimeo.


"Safe at Last: The Story of Antwaan Dixon"

Winner, Creative Self-Expression Award 35th Annual Young People's Film & Video Festival, 2011
Official Selection National Film Festival for Talented Youth, 2012
Nomination, Writing, Student Television Award for Excellence Northwest Regional Emmy Awards, 2012
Nomination, Photography and Editing, Student Television Award for Excellence Northwest Regional Emmy Awards, 2012




"The Craft"

Winner, Long-Form Fiction Student Television Award for Excellence, Northwest Regional Emmy Awards 2012
Second Prize, Dramatic Narrative Dominique Dunne Film Competition, 2013
Official Selection Westport Youth Film Festival, 2012
Honorable Mention Northwest High School Film Festival, 2012





VISUAL STORYTELLING

"Nice Touch"

Winner 31st Annual Young People's Film & Video Festival, 2007
Official Selection and Finalist Derek Freese High School Film & Video Festival, 2007
Award of Excellence, Dramatic Narrative Northwest High School Film Festival, 2007
Official Selection National Film Festival for Talented Youth, 2008


Nice Touch from Ballard H.S. Video Program on Vimeo.


"Reflection"

Winner 34th Annual Young People's Film & Video Festival, 2010
Award of Excellence, Dramatic Narrative Northwest High School Film Festival, 2010
Official Selection National Film Festival for Talented Youth, 2010
Nomination Dramatic Presentation, National High School Award of Excellence (NW Region), Northwest Regional Emmy Awards, 2010
Official FutureWave Selection Seattle International Film Festival, 2011

Reflection from Ballard H.S. Video Program on VImeo.


"Great Mimes Think Alike"

Best Editing 17th Annual Derek Freese Youth Media Film Festival, 2012
Honorable Mention, Comedic Narrative Northwest High School Film Festival, 2013
Official Selection National Film Festival for Talented Youth, 2013





COMMERCIAL

"Crash Landing Pizza"

Winner, National Student Television Award for Excellence, Photography/Editing Northwest Regional Emmy Awards, 2012
Award of Excellence, Commercial Northwest High School Film Festival, 2012





MUSIC VIDEO

"Stop Pretending"

Winner, Creative Self-Expression Award Fresh Film Northwest, 2013




"Song for Anna"

Winner, Merit Award for Writer/Director Lucy Harstrick NFAA YoungArts Talent Search, 2013

Ballard Film Students Win Regional Festival

July 2007

Two productions by students in the BHS Video Production Program are among the winners of the 31st Annual Young People’s Film & Video Festival. The winners are the short films “Nice Touch” (about the power of music to bring people together) by Alec MacLurg, Ben Steiner & Kevin Vitz-Wong, and “Tile M for M-U-R-D-E-R” (about a deadly serious game of scrabble) by Michael Gore, Sami Kubo, and Kyle Seago.
This competitive festival accepted entries from students in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Alaska, and Washington. It was coordinated by the Northwest Film Center in Portland, Oregon, and sponsored by Comcast. Submissions were judged for their storytelling, originality, artistic merit, technical achievement, and investigation of subject matter by a jury of educators and film professionals.
Winning productions will be shown at an awards ceremony Sunday, July 15 at 2 p.m. at the Portland Art Museum Whitsell Auditorium (1219 SW Park, Portland, Oregon). The event is free, and the public is welcome to attend. The program will run approximately 120 minutes.
Last year, Ballard High School students had three winning productions in the festival. One of these, “Bittersweet”, went on to win an Award of Excellence at the Northwest High School Film Festival and a student Emmy at the Northwest Regional Emmy Awards.

And the Emmy goes to... Ballard Video Students!

June 2007

Two productions by Ballard High School video students have been selected for honors by the Regional 2007 National Student Television Awards. A project of the National Association of Television Arts & Sciences, the awards serve to promote the best in television production in a variety of categories. “Bittersweet” by Coburn Erskine, Becca Rice, Devan Sizemore & George Westberg won the Writing category and “Ave Rats” by Clinton Carucci, Ian McKagan, & Mixtli Zavaleta received an Honorable Mention in the Documentary category. These BHS productions have also been honored at a number of other regional, national, and international film festivals.
The award will be presented at the Northwest Regional Emmy Awards Ceremony on June 2.

Ballard Filmmakers in SIFF

June 2006
Two shorts by Ballard filmmakers have been selected for FutureWave. This special program of the Seattle International Film Festival includes the best of young people’s filmmaking from across the US and as far away as Italy! SIFF describes FutureWave shorts as “imaginative, evocative, innovative, and inspiring… made by youth expressing the issues and ideas important to youth in our communities.” Included will be “Ave Rats” by Clinton Carucci, Ian MacKagan & Mixtli Zavaleta, and “Chasing Game” by Matt Hess, Graham Milgate, and Jordan Stead. The shorts will be screened at the Egyptian Theater of Capitol Hill on Saturday, June 9 at 4:30 p.m. and will include Q&A with the filmmakers. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at www.seattlefilm.org up to 30 minutes before showtime.

Northwest High School Film Festival Honors BHS Producers

May 2007



Students from the Ballard High School Video Production Program won 15 awards and honors at the 9th annual Northwest High School Film Festival on May 5. This is the largest and longest running festival for high school filmmakers in the Puget Sound region. Over 270 productions were entered in the competition from 22 schools. The festival was judged by a panel of 14 industry professionals and college media professors. The event was organized by the Media Educators’ for Excellence Team (MEET) and sponsored by Adobe.

This is the third time in the last four years that Ballard High School students walked away with more awards than students from any other school: 7 top prizes (Awards of Excellence) and 8 Honorable Mentions. Many of the awarded productions can be seen Friday, June 8 at The Showing, a screening of work by students in the BHS Video Production Program. The event begins at 7 p.m. in the BHS auditorium. There’s a suggested donation of $5.00.

Here’s a list of Ballard’s Northwest High School Film Festival winners:

AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE

Anti-Ad
“Anti-Steroids”
Taylor Halbett, Steven Nansel, Tommy Nast

“Anti-Tag”
Lars Kaldestad, Doyle McCarthy, Marissa Neroutsos


Commercial
“Crash Landing Pizza”
Justin Amorratanasuchad, Sami Kubo, Cedar Scarlett-Lyon


Dramatic Narrative
“Bittersweet”
Coburn Erskine, Becca Rice, Devon Sizemore, George Westberg

“Nice Touch”
Alec Maclurg, Ben Steiner, Kevin Vitz-Wong


Documentary
“Belize: The Potential of a Nation in Need”
Riley Heckel, Cedar Scarlett-Lyon


Music Video
“Hey, You!”
Michael Gore, Sami Kubo, Kyle Seago, Jordan Stead


HONORABLE MENTIONS

Commercial
“Don’t Waste Your Life at the Bus Stop”
Michael Gore, Mike Hipp, Evangeline Spracklin


Comedic Narrative
“Chasing Game”
Matt Hess, Graham Milgate, Jordan Stead

“A Good Knight’s Sleep”
Marina Bambans, Elizabeth McCallum, Marissa Neroutsos


Dramatic Narrative
“Blindsided”
Dylan Pharoah-Whitney, Kyle Seago, Jordan Stead

“Like Father, Like Son”
Justin Amorratanasuchad, Mike Hipp, Cedar Scarlett-Lyon


Music Video
“Frontier Psychiatrist”
Riley Heckel, Audra McCafferty, Ben Steiner


News Feature
“The Gymnast”
Audra McCafferty, Scott Miller

“Sean Daley: Male Cheerleader”
Hannah Kreimer, Lena Takamori, Paul Wilson

Ballard Filmmakers Score at International Festival

June 2007

Six short films by Ballard High School video students were Official Selections of the Westport Youth Film Festival last weekend. The films were “Bittersweet” by Coburn Erskine, Becca Rice, Devan Sizemore & George Westberg, “Ave Rats” by Clinton Carucci, Ian McKagan & Mixtli Zavaleta; “Slave to the Needle” by Emily McVicker, Lars Phillips & Becca Rice; “Soccer Dads” by Coburn Erskine, Devan Sizemore & George Westberg, “Blindsided” by Kyle Seago, Jordan Stead & Dylan Pharaoh-Whitney, and “Chasing Game” by Matt Hess, Graham Milgate & Jordan Stead.

Westport, Connecticut, is home to many New York film professionals, and the festival, in association with the Westport Arts Center, is designed to provide an outlet for young filmmakers to share their work in a professional environment and receive constructive criticism from a combination of peers and professionals. The festival screens “the best international and national high school and middle school films”. The Independent Film Channel is the primary sponsor of the event. For more about WYFF, visit http://www.westportyouthfilmfest.org/eventguide2007.pdf.

Ballard High School students distinguished themselves by having work in three different areas of festival competition: Drama, Comedy, and Documentary. Some of these honored productions will be screened in the BHS auditorium at a showing of work by students in the BHS Video Production Program on Friday, June 8 at 7 p.m. There is a $5 suggested donation.

Award-winning Ballard H.S. Production Premieres at Northwest Film Forum

October 2006

“Ave Rats”, a short documentary about homeless youth in Seattle’s University District by BHS Video Production students Clinton Carucci, Ian McKagan & Mixtli Zavaleta, has been selected by the Northwest Film Forum for their annual showcase of outstanding films, Local Sightings. This is a northwest premiere for the documentary. It was previously screened only at Temple University’s School of Communications for the Derek Freese High School Film & Video Festival, a prestigious national festival at which it won 1st Prize.

The NWFF will screen the documentary alongside work by accomplished filmmakers from Seattle and Portland in a segment entitled “Doc’s with a View” on Tuesday, October 10 at 9:30 p.m. For tickets and full program information, visit www.nwfilmforum.org and click on the “Local Sightings” link. Below are brief descriptions of the “Doc’s with a View” films.

Air
(Patti Sakurai, Portland, 2005, DVD, 5min.)
AIR is the filmmaker’s response to the anti-Asian remarks of two New Jersey
DJs in the spring of 2005. Shot on Super 8, the film also points to the
importance of alternative media by using audio from APA Compass, an
Asian Pacific American monthly radio program on KBOO 90.7FM in
Portland.

RC Driver
(Sophia Betz, Seattle, 2005, DVD, 18min.)
Competitors vie for the title of World Champion in the World Finals of
Radio Control Monster Truck Racing.

Ave Rats
(Clinton Carucci, Ian MacKagan & Mixtli Zavaleta, Seattle, 2006, MiniDV,
6min.)
Giving voice to one of Seattle's most misunderstood and marginalized
communities, homeless youth, Ballard High School students present a
fresh, unsentimental approach to this important topic.

Aquarium Kids
(Wes Kim, Seattle, 2006, DVCam, 10min.)
Every Sunday, three high school interns, Sam, Shun and Savy, come to
the Seattle Aquarium to help clean the exhibit tanks and feed the
animals. They all come from families with roots in Asia, but their
unique personalities and life histories illustrate the diversity within
the Asian American community, a diversity that in turn enriches the
lives of the aquarium's staff and visitors.

Tientsin Diaries
(Serge Gregory, Seattle, 2006, MiniDV, 31min.)
Tientsin Diaries is a fictional documentary about the courtship of Misha
and Natasha, whose Oriental idyll begins to unravel with the outbreak
of WWII. Using actors, family photographs and newsreels, the film
recreates the lost world of Russian exiles against the backdrop of the
disintegration of pre-revolutionary China.

Ballard HS Filmmakers Win Arts Honors

November 2006

The National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts has recognized two Ballard High School video students for the artistic achievement and promise evident in their productions. Mixtli Zavaleta received an Honorable Mention, and Kyle Seago a Merit Award. As a result, each will receive a cash prize from the NFAA. Both are third year students in Ballard’s Video Production Program and plan to study filmmaking in college.

The NFAA Arts Recognition and Talent Search identifies and supports young talent in the areas of music, theater, visual arts, photography, writing, and film & video. Students submit a portfolio of work that is carefully reviewed by a panel of filmmakers and educators. Mixtli and Kyle produced work that was selected from more than 5200 submissions nationwide.

Mixtli has also won the Grand Prize at Temple University’s national high school film and video festival for “Ave Rats”, a short documentary about homeless youth in Seattle’s University District. The production also received an Award of Excellence from the Northwest High School Film & Video Festival. Kyle’s short film “Exposed” also won an Award of Excellence from that festival, in addition to the prize for Best Student Short at the Maple Valley Film Festival last spring.

To see award-winning shorts by Ballard video students from the first five years of the program, join us for “The 5th Anniversary Showing” in the BHS auditorium on Friday, January 12 at 7 p.m. Admission is free, but a $5 donation is greatly appreciated! (All proceeds support the Video Production Program!)

BALLARD FILM STUDENTS WIN REGIONAL FESTIVAL

July 2006

Three productions by students in the BHS Video Production Program are among the winners of the 30th Annual Young People’s Film & Video Festival. They are “Bittersweet” (a short film about a contagious bad mood) by Coburn Erskine, Becca Rice & George Westberg, “Special Successes” (a documentary on the BHS Special Education Program) by Clayton Brendan, Jenna Gregor & Madison Murphy, and “Beacon Hill B-Boys” (a documentary about the dance culture of the Jefferson Community Center) by Nick Davis, Tony Maurice & Fiona Shearer.
This competitive festival accepted entries from students in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. It was coordinated by the Northwest Film Center in Portland, Oregon, and sponsored by Comcast. Submissions were judged for their storytelling, originality, artistic merit, technical achievement, and investigation of subject matter by a jury of educators and film professionals.
Winning productions will be shown at an awards ceremony Sunday, July 16 at 2 p.m. at the Portland Art Museum Whitsell Auditorium (1219 SW Park, Portland, Oregon). The event is free, and the public is welcome to attend. The program will run approximately 120 minutes.
Last year, Ballard High School students also had three winning productions in the festival. Two of those went on to further honors. “TC4” took 3rd Prize at the national Derek Freese High School Film & Video Festival in Philadelphia. “The Drive Thru” won the Audience Award at the Seattle International Film Festival’s FutureWave – the forum for young filmmakers.

Ballard Filmmakers Win SIFF Audience Award

June 2006
Four filmmakers from the Ballard High School Video Production Program won the Audience Award at FutureWave, the Seattle International Film Festival’s forum for young filmmakers. Seventeen shorts from across the US and Canada, and as far away as Australia, were selected by the SIFF jury for screening in the FutureWave program. Their selections included two shorts by Ballard High School students. The shorts were screened last Saturday at the Egyptian Theater. Young filmmakers from across the country attended, as well as their teachers and SIFF regulars. Everyone present voted on the Audience Award. “The Drive Thru” was announced as the winner at SIFF’s closing ceremony, the Golden Space Needle Awards, on Sunday, June 18. A music video about the horrors of fast food, “The Drive Thru” was produced by Matt Lewis, Jesse Lomax, Stacey Rozich, and Ashley Russell.

Ballard Filmmakers Win National Festival

June, 2006

Ballard Filmmakers Win National Festival

Two works by students in the Ballard High School Video Production Program were winners at the 10th Annual Derek Freese High School Film & Video Festival last Sunday. “Ave. Rats”, a documentary on homeless youth in Seattle’s University District, took the Grand Prize, netting $500 for filmmakers Clinton Carucci, Ian McKagan, and Mixtli Zavaleta. They plan to split the money with the homeless teens they had interviewed. “TC4”, a documentary on Tent City by Kyle Daley, Beth Graves, and Adrienne Rosado, took 3rd place and will receive a $200 prize.
This prestigious festival draws competition from high school producers throughout the nation and is judged by professors from Temple University’s renowned film school, acclaimed filmmakers, and members of the Derek Freese Foundation. The festival took place at the School of Communications & Theater at Temple University in Philadelphia on June 4th at 1 p.m.
This marks the third year in a row that students from the Ballard High School Video Production Program have been Finalists in the Derek Freese Festival, but the first time they have won top prizes.

How to Enroll

The Digital Filmmaking Program is part of the free public education at Ballard High School, and is open to BHS students of all grades. Students planning to pursue degrees or careers in film/television production, broadcast journalism, art, advertising, media studies, or public relations should enroll no later than their sophomore year to begin to build a portfolio that meets college and industry application requirements. An application is required.  Students successfully completing each year of the program are invited to apply for the next. The classes are electives, fulfill either the Fine Art or the Occupational Education requirement, and result in a digital portfolio. The diverse curricula results in a varied portfolio that prepares students for success in a wide array of media-related college programs and careers.