Isaiah Hoban Halvorsen (class of 2013)
When I was a high school sophomore,
I knew I wanted to go to film school for college. I also knew I wasn’t anywhere
near ready. I made the dive and transferred to Ballard High School in order to join
the Digital Filmmaking Program I’d heard so much about. In two short years,
surrounded by creative and passionate classmates, and under the guidance of an
incredibly supportive and knowledgeable teacher, I was able to not only build
the portfolio I needed to get into film school, but also learn the skills and
principles necessary to feel truly confident in diving right into student
projects, jobs, and internships as soon as I arrived.
Right after high school
graduation, Mr. Lawrence landed me my first internship on a professional film
set, working for the locations department on Laggies, directed by Lynn Shelton. This not only taught me the ins and outs of a professional film
set, but also helped my résumé to stand out. I entered my freshman year at NewYork University in 2013 to study Film & Television. My first semester, I
got a job as a technical assistant at the NYU editing labs. The next summer, I
worked with the same locations department, this time as a Production Assistant
on Captain Fantastic, directed by
Matt Ross. I am currently interning at Dimension Films, The Weinstein Company, doing
coverage (reading and assessing submitted screenplays).
As I enter my last semester
at NYU, I can’t help but think of my time making films at Ballard. Visual
storytelling is the core foundation of film itself, so it is no surprise that
it is the core foundation of the curriculum of both the Digital Filmmaking
Program at Ballard and the Film & Television program at NYU. Throughout my experience
at NYU, I have found time and time again that my foundation at Ballard has
helped me to excel in the program. Most recently, my film The Champion was a finalist at New Visions and Voices, NYU’s junior
level film festival. I have recently begun to focus on screenwriting, and am
currently writing my thesis, which is a feature screenplay.
The Digital Filmmaking
program at Ballard helped me to actualize my passion for film. From teaching me
the principles of filmmaking to helping with my college essays and writing
recommendations, Mr. Lawrence played a huge part in my acceptance into film
school. By pushing me to run my sets as professionally as possible, from
pre-production through production, the program also helped me to develop a
strong sense of professionalism and responsibility, very necessary traits in
the pursuit of any career. It is difficult to say what the future will hold.
All I can say for certain is that I am doing what I love.
