Wylie Soltes, a senior in Ballard High School’s Digital Filmmaking Program, has been awarded Finalist in Cinematic Arts by the National YoungArts Foundation for his short film Richard. Finalist is the top prize.
The
YoungArts program identifies and supports young talent in the areas of music,
theater, visual arts, dance, photography, writing, and cinematic arts. Soltes’s film was selected from thousands of
submissions through a blind adjudication process by an independent panel of
highly accomplished artists.
After
high school, Soltes plans to study film production in college. He pitched Richard to his filmmaking
class last winter. The story concerns a stolen tool kit that creates a bond
between two adversaries. Stoles worked
with co-producers Ethan Hawthorne-Dallas, Aaron Mamaril, and Ian Colbeck to
realize his vision. Richard had its premiere
at the international All American High School Film Festival in New York City in
early October, and screened at the Portland Art Museum in November as a winner
in Fresh Film Northwest – a festival that receives competition from 5 Northwest
states as well as the province of British Columbia. Richard can now be seen online at www.vimeo.com/bhsfilmprogram .
As a
Finalist, YoungArts will fly Soltes to
Miami in January for a week of networking and mentoring with other promising young
filmmakers and professionals (such as award-winning director, producer, editor,
writer, and cinematographer Doug Blush).
In addition, Soltes will be sharing his film with the public at Miami’s
New World Center. YoungArts will also
provide Soltes with financial assistance for college.
Soltes is the eighth YoungArts winner from Ballard's Digital Filmmaking Program in the last five years. Others have gone on to top-ranked college programs for film and television.
