During the second week in March, a dozen students in the BHS Digital Filmmaking Program travelled to Los Angeles to visit college film and television programs, catch up with program alumni, tour the industry, and meet with professional filmmakers. The trip included Chapman University, EmersonCollege, Loyola Marymount University, and the University of Southern California – all colleges ranked by the Hollywood Reporter as among the best film schools in the country.
In addition to official
tours, the students received the inside scoop from recent graduates of the BHS
Digital Filmmaking Program who are currently enrolled, or have studied, at these
colleges. Sophie DeGreen (’16) and Sho
Schrock (’16) are both attending Chapman University. Sophie is majoring in Film Production, and
Sho, Creative Producing. Lorenzo Rossi
(BHS ’14) is currently at the Los Angeles campus of Emerson College. The program allows film majors to work an
internship in the film industry as they complete their degree. At Loyola Marymount students met with Matt
Law-Phipps (BHS ’10, LMU ‘15). Matt has
a production business in Los Angeles and moonlights as an actor. (You can see him currently as Kendrick in The
Payne’s on the Oprah Winfrey
Network.) The students met with Rikke
Heinecke (BHS ’11, USC ‘15) at the University of Southern California. Rikke is currently producing music videos for
major artists such as Justin Bieber and The Chainsmokers.
The students also toured Warner
Brothers and Universal Studios, and attended a live multi-camera shoot of a
television episode (Mom, with Allison
Janney). They also met with industry
professionals to discuss their craft and careers. On the itinerary were writer/producer Jason
Cahill (Writers Guild of America award
winner for The Sopranos) in addition to BHS Digital Filmmaking Program
alumni such as writer Brendan McCarthy (BHS ’04, NYU ’07) – nominated this year
for a Writers’ Guild of America award
for his work on Grace and Frankie – production manager Mixtli Zavaleta (BHS ’07,
UW-Seattle ’11), and writer/director Jesse Harris (BHS ’04). Harris’s second feature, Borrego, is currently in development.
