In mid-March, students in the BHS
Digital Filmmaking Program travelled to Los Angeles to visit college film and
television programs, catch up with program alumni, and meet with professional
filmmakers to discuss their crafts and careers.
The college visits included Chapman
University, Emerson College, Loyola Marymount University, and the University of
Southern California – all institutions ranked by the Hollywood Reporter as
among the best film schools in the world.
In addition to official tours, the students
received the inside scoop from recent graduates of the BHS Digital Filmmaking
Program currently studying at these institutions. Sho Schrock (BHS ’15) gave a
presentation on Creative Producing at Chapman University. Kelsey Mendenhall (BHS ’13) met
students at the Emerson LA campus and talked about the semester that film
students at Emerson College spend in LA. Matt Law (BHS ’10, LMU ’15), recipient
of LMU’s Top Production Student accolade, met with students on campus after
their official tour. (Visit www.thematts.tv for a look at what he’s been up to since
finishing college last spring.)
On the professional side, students
heard from program graduates now working in the industry (many of whom had also
visited Los Angeles during their time in the Digital Filmmaking Program). Following a tour of the School
of Cinematic Arts at USC, Producer Rikke Heinecke (BHS ’11, USC ’15), Head of
Production at Oceana Branding (www.oceanabranding.com),
gave a great talk on producing music videos. (She works with artists such as Justin
Beiber, Tiesto and The Chainsmokers). Director
Jesse Harris (BHS ’04, www.jesseharrisfilms.com), met
students for dinner to talk about making commercials. (Jesse has the distinction of being
the youngest filmmaker ever to write and direct a feature film that obtained
multi-state theatrical release. His
feature, Living Life,
was his senior project at Ballard High School.) Louis Weissman (BHS ’12) talked with
students about working on camera crews, writer Blair Scott (BHS ’11, NYU ’15)
talked with students about breaking into the industry, and Brendan McCarthy
(BHS ’04, NYU ’07), writer on Grace &
Fankie, invited students into the Writers’ Room at Paramount to explain
how stories for series television programs are developed. In addition, students spoke at
length with Writer/Producer Jason Cahill (winner of the Writer’s Guild of
America Award for The Sopranos). Students also toured two major
studios: Universal and Warner Brothers.
