BALLARD HIGH SCHOOL FILMMAKERS SWEEP DOCUMENTARY PRIZES

Students from the BHS Digital Filmmaking Program swept both Documentary awards at the 2015 Dominique Dunne Film Competition.  The competition was one of the first events in the nation to showcase the work of young filmmakers and has attracted international entries.  It has a distinguished Advisory Board including producer Samuel Goldwyn, Jr. (of The Samuel Goldwyn Company and Samuel Goldwyn Films), actor/director Griffin Dunne (An American Werewolf in London, After Hours, The Good Wife) and producer/ director/actor Ed Sherin (Law & Order).  The competition awards only four prizes: two for Dramatic, and two for Documentary.  Only schools with outstanding film programs are invited to participate. 

Coleman Andersen, Duncan Gowdy and Leo Pfeifer won First Prize in the Documentary category for Clipped Wings, an examination of the ban on gays in the Boy Scouts of America.  Second Prize went to Rachel Cole, Jaya Flanary and Meagen Tajalle for Raven Rock, a ranch that treats abused children through equine therapy.  The awards come with cash prizes.

Coleman Andersen and Leo Pfeifer also received an Honorable Mention in the Dramatic Narrative category for their short film Stolen. 

To see the films, visit the BHS Digital Filmmaking Program at www.vimeo.com/bhsfilmprogram .

BALLARD FILM STUDENTS WIN GRAND JURY PRIZE AT SIFF

The Grand Jury of the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) selected the short documentary Audio Input, by Duncan Boszko, Jack O’Neal, Piper Phillips & Sho Schrock, for the WaveMaker Award.  The prize was presented yesterday at the Golden Space Needle Awards, the culminating event of the festival.  The WaveMaker Award is given annually to the best film shown in the FutureWave screening.  This screening features the best shorts by filmmakers younger than 19 from around the world.  The jury selected the production “for its insightful and engaging portrait of podcasting, an audio art form, through a collage of interviews and images.” 

To screen Audio Input, visit the Digital Filmmaking Program’s vimeo page at www.vimeo.com/bhsfilmprogram .  

BALLARD HIGH SCHOOL FILMMAKERS WIN BIG AT EMMY AWARDS

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Students in the Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking Program won five High School Awards of Excellence at the regional Emmy Awards on June 5.  Coleman Andersen & Leo Pfeifer won the awards for Short Form Fiction and Writing for their film Stolen.  The drama concerns the price of revenge.  For their documentary Clipped Wings, Coleman Andersen, Duncan Gowdy and Leo Pfeifer won the awards for Long Form Non-Fiction and Photographer/Editor.  (This is the fourth year in a row that the award for Photographer/Editor has gone to Ballard film students.)  Clipped Wings explores the impact of the ban on gays in the Boy Scouts of America.  Finally, Leo Pfeifer and Raven Two Feathers won the Short Form Non-Fiction award for GeoForce: A Journey to Understanding.  This promotional documentary examines the strategies and success of a University of Alaska field geology program for rural youth.

The Northwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) presents High School Awards of Excellence to celebrate and promote the most outstanding high school television productions from five Northwest states: Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.  Students from the BHS Digital Filmmaking Program led the pack of winners this year, taking awards in five of the six categories in which they had received nominations.      

The award winning productions can be screened on the program vimeo site at www.vimeo.com/bhsfilmprogram .