Wednesday, June 18, 2008

BHS Producers Awarded by National Festival... Again!

Seven works by students in the Ballard High School Video Production Program were named Finalists for the Grand Prize at the 12th Annual Derek Freese High School Film & Video Festival. This prestigious festival drew competition from high school producers in all corners of the nation and was judged by professors from Temple University’s renowned film school and professional filmmakers. The festival took place in Philadephia at Temple’s Film and Media Arts department on May 31st.

The productions were “Checking Out” (a comedic narrative by Justin Amorratanasuchad, Jacob Fabian & Annalee Milar), “Brotherly Love” (also a comedic narrative by Colin Colebrook, Mohamed Kassim & Devon Rensberger), “4th Floor” (an eerie drama by Coburn Erskine, Sami Kubo & Nolan O’Connor), “Seattle Needle Exchange” (a documentary by Coburn Erskine, William Pierce & Ben Steiner), “Domestic Disturbance: One Family’s Struggle” (a documentary by Justin Amorratanasuchad, Colin Colebrook & Lilah Horwitz), “Ladies in Armor” (a documentary by Diana Federighi, Sami Kubo & Audra McCafferty), and “Spaced Out” (a satiric narrative by Justin Amorratanasuchad, Michael Hipp & Devan Sizemore).

At the conclusion of the festival, the documentary “Ladies in Armor” was awarded 2nd Prize. This is a real honor, as Temple has one of the most respected programs for documentary production in the country.

This marks the fifth year in a row that productions by students from the Ballard High School Video Program have been Finalists in the Derek Freese Festival, and the third time they’ve been prize-winners.

Sunday, June 01, 2008

SIFF Features Work by Ballard High School Video Students

The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) will be featuring two shorts by students in the Ballard High School Video Production Program as part of FutureWave, its showcase for young filmmakers. The first short, “Claudio the Magnificent,” was produced and directed by Bridget Berg, Lilah Horwitz & Will Livesly-O’Neill. It’s a comedy about a street mime whose unrequited love spurs him to extreme actions. The short also won an Honorable Mention at the Northwest High School Film Festival.

The second short, “4th Floor”, was directed by Sami Kubo and produced by Sami with Coburn Erskine & Nolan O’Connor. In “4th Floor”, a tardy job applicant chooses the elevator over the stairs, with unexpected results. The short won an Award of Excellence at the Northwest High School Film Festival. Both shorts will be screened at the Egyptian Theater on Saturday, June 7 at 4 pm.

BHS video students Riley Heckel, Kyle Seago, Devan Sizemore and Mixtli Zavaleta were production interns on the feature film “Visioneers”, a dark comedy which was shot in the Seattle area during the summer of 2006 and will have its world premiere during SIFF. Advanced press on the film is very positive. It will screen at the Egyptian Theater on Thursday, June 12 at 9:30 pm, and Saturday, June 14 at 4:00 pm.

Tickets for these SIFF events can be purchased at http://www.siff.net/festival/tickets/.