NORTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL FILM FESTIVAL HONORS BALLARD HIGH SCHOOL PRODUCERS

Students from the Ballard High School Video Production Program won multiple awards and honors at the 12th annual Northwest High School Film Festival at the Cinerama Theater in downtown Seattle on May 18. This is the largest and longest running festival for high school filmmakers in the Puget Sound region. This year 267 productions were entered in the competition from 22 high schools. Ballard High School led the pack of winners with a total of 14 awards and honors. In addition, seniors Emily Deering and Levi Friedman were each presented with $1,000 scholarships to The Prodigy Camp, a week-long summer workshop for young filmmakers led by writer/director Rick Stevenson of The Film School.

The festival was judged by a panel of 18 industry professionals and college media professors. The event was organized by the Media Educators Excellence Team (MEET) and sponsored by Adobe, the Art Institute of Seattle, Canon, DigiPen, Glazier’s Camera, Seattle University, and Shoreline Community College. For more information on the NWHSFF, visit nwhsff.org.

BHS productions were honored in five different categories, reflecting the diverse skills and talents of Ballard’s video students. Some of the winning productions will be shown on Friday, June 11 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 is a suggested donation of $5.00.

Ballard’s Northwest High School Film Festival winners:

AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE

Comedic Narrative
The Crumb
Emily Deering, Karli Lafferty, Sarah Maloney, Taylor Rubright

Dino Utopia
Lily Bennett, Levi Friedman, Blair Scott, Ryan Zemke

Documentary
Bar Ink
Robyn Cochrane, Spencer Miller, Georgia Peck, Justin Smith-Mercado

Dramatic Narrative
ReflectionSheridan Koehler, Blair Scott

News Feature
Stick With It
Tinh Pham, Bryant Rubright, Dylan Spence

Public Service Announcement
Ballard NW Senior Center: Gardening
Amelia Elizalde, Rikke Heinecke, Ashleigh Klemetson, Ryan Zemke

Ballard NW Senior Center: Knitting
Amelia Elizalde, Rikke Heinecke, Ashleigh Klemetson, Ryan Zemke

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Comedic Narrative
Finding the Music
Sheridan Koehler, Alex Scheller, Blair Scott

Manimal
Levi Friedman, Matthew Law-Phipps, Esther Magasis, Ryan Zemke

Documentary
Without Our Cars
Sydney Jarol, Dylan Miller, Ryan Zemke

Dramatic Narrative
Dead End
Emma Hutchison, Kaila Lafferty, Karli Lafferty, Kirsten Zeller

News Feature
The Beautiful Game
Jacob Scott, Colin Shively, Edwin Tellez

Public Service Announcement
Loose Change
Emma Hutchison, Georgia Peck, Alex Scheller

Make a Wish
Daniel Maldonado, Elizabeth O’Laughlin, Allie Stock

EMMY ORGANIZATION NOMINATES BALLARD HIGH SCHOOL VIDEO STUDENTS

Six productions by Ballard High School video students have been honored with student Emmy nominations at the regional level. The awards are a project of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (the professional organization that gives the Emmy awards) and honor the best in student television production. The regional awards celebrate the most outstanding productions from five northwest states: Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska. The winners will be announced at the 47th Annual Northwest Regional Emmy Awards on June 5th.

Four of the nominations are in the Dramatic Presentation category.

The Crumb by Emily Deering, Karli Lafferty,
Sarah Maloney & Taylor Rubright

Dead End by Emma Hutchison, Kaila Lafferty,
Karli Lafferty & Kirsten Zeller

Manimal by Levi Friedman, Matt Law-Phipps,
Esther Magasis & Ryan Zemke

Reflection by Sheridan Koehler & Blair Scott

Only six productions received nominations in this category, so odds are good that BHS producers will take home the award on June 5.

The other two nominations are in the Public Service Announcement category.

Loose Change (produced for Real Change) by
Emma Hutchison, Georgia Peck &Alex Scheller

Swine Flu Apocalypse (produced for the Teen
Health Center) by John Christensen, Conner Jarvie & Matt Law-Phipps

This makes the fourth year in a row that Ballard High School video producers have been nominated. Last year they received 5 nominations and won student Emmy awards in the Public Affairs and Technical Achievement categories.

BHS video students will present new works completed this semester at 7 pm on Friday, June 11 at the BHS auditorium. Admission is free, but there is a suggested donation of $5.

BALLARD HIGH SCHOOL PRODUCERS WIN NFFTY FILMMAKING COMPETITION

Ballard High School won the 48 Hour Film Off at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) on Saturday, May 1. The competition began at the conclusion of NFFTY Opening Night on Thursday. To ensure that no pre-production had been done before then, the teams were given critical props, a key line of spoken dialogue, and a theme that must be prominently featured in the short.

Students then worked around the clock to produce a 3 minute narrative short in only 48 hours. BHS video students John Christensen, Sydney Jarol, Matt Law-Phipps, Rikke Heinecke & Ryan Zemke represented Ballard, competing against production teams from Bellevue, Franklin, and Mount Si high schools. Each team worked on scripts, storyboarding, production schedules, shooting and editing in order to deliver a finished short in time for the Action Sports screening on Saturday night.

A jury of four professional filmmakers, along with audience voting, selected the BHS short, Charlie, as the winner. The winning producers received Nike 6.0, Skullcandy gear, and a $2,500 scholarship for the BHS Video Production Program. The winning short will be screened, along with other award-winning work from students in the BHS Video Production Program, at The Showing in the BHS auditorium on Friday, June 11 at 7 pm.