NFFTY TO FEATURE SHORTS BY BALLARD HIGH SCHOOL FILMMAKERS

Two short films by students in the Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking Program have been named Official Selections of the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY).  This competitive, international festival showcases outstanding work by filmmakers age 24 and younger.  NFFTY is a rare opportunity for high school students to share the spotlight with college students from our nation’s best undergraduate and graduate film schools.  NFFTY opens on Thursday, October 25 at the Uptown Cinemas and continues through the weekend there and at the Seattle Center.  

The Official Selections from Ballard couldn’t be more different.  Richard by Wylie Soltes, Ethan Hawthorne-Dallas, Ian Colbeck, and Aaron Mamaril shows how a stolen tool kit creates an intergalactic friendship.  On the Backs of Salmon by Chris Barrett, Martin Bolivar, Caroline Harader, Jasper Land, Maddie Lausted, Freeman Marshall, Aaron Miller, Cecilia O’Rollins and Miles Whitworth recounts the struggle of the Elwha people to remove the dam that flooded their creation site and blocked the salmon essential for their way of life.  Both films will be shown on Sunday, October 28 at 11:30 am at the Uptown Cinema 1.   Tickets can be purchased online at www.nffty.org.

BHS also has a team competing in the 48-hour Film Off.  Teams from high schools across the country had two days to produce a short from start to finish.  The winner (selected in part by the audience) will win funds for their school’s production program.  Ballard’s team consists of Liam Bonds, Saia Dugan, Brendan Hickey, Jasper Laur and Marley Rankin,   You can watch the films – and cast your vote – at 10:30 am on Saturday, October 27 at the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall.

In addition to screenings and awards, NFFTY includes a Future of Film Fair featuring representatives of various college programs for film and television and a variety of media businesses.  The event includes Film Career Day, a series of informative lectures and discussions coordinated by the City of Seattle in partnership with NFFTY.  For a complete schedule of events, show times, and ticket information, visit www.nffty.org.

NFFTY itself was the brainchild of Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking alumnus Jesse Harris (’04).  Harris made history in 2004 when Living Life, the feature film he had written and directed as a senior project, was purchased by FilmMates and given a theatrical release.  (It opened in Seattle in April, 2005.)  The festival was co-founded by Harris and Kyle Seago (’07) – a Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking student at the time.  A growing list of sponsors and partners paved the way for this thirteenth annual event.

BALLARD FILM STUDENTS WIN NATIONAL AWARDS FROM ACADEMY

When the envelopes were opened at Emerson College in Los Angeles on Oct. 18, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) announced that students from Ballard High School’s Digital Filmmaking Program had won three National Student Production Awards.  

Best Short Form Non-Fiction film went to On the Backs of Salmon, by Chris Barrett, Martin Bolivar, Caroline Harader, Jasper Land, Maddie Lausted, Freeman Marshall, Aaron Miller, Cecilia O’Rollins, and Miles Whitworth.  The documentary is about the struggle of the Elwha people to remove the dam that flooded their creation site and blocked the salmon essential to their way of life.  The students produced the film for IMAX, and it premiered at the United Nations’ World Environment Day.  Best Short Form Fiction film and best Editing went to Bottled Emotions by Zach Boone, PJ Hase, Aidan Jereczek and Bailey Wall.  Set in an alternate reality, it concerns a dealer in stolen emotions who has a crisis of conscience.  It premiered at the All American High SchoolFilm Festival in New York City last fall. 

This is the third year NATAS has given student awards at the national level, and the third year Ballard film students have been among the winners.  Only a minority of regional winners from 19 Academy chapters across the country are nominated at the national level.  In addition to the 3 winners, Ballard’s Digital Filmmaking students were also nominated for best Long Form Non-Fiction film (Oso Strong by Maddie Lausted and Freeman Marshall), best Writing (Richard, writing by Wylie Soltes) and best Audio/Sound (Paul, Dark, and Handsome, audio by Cole Kastner).  The films were judged by members of the Academy.  All the honored Ballard films can be viewed on the Digital Filmmaking Program’s vimeo page.

For more information, and to screen the awards presentation, visit http://emmyonline.com/nationalstudent.

All of Ballard’s honored productions were first screened at the Ballard Film Festival (BFF).  The next BFF will be on Saturday, February 9 at 7 pm in the BHS auditorium.  Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults, and will be sold at the door.

ACADEMY NOMINATES BALLARD STUDENTS FOR NATIONAL PRODUCTION AWARDS

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) has nominated students in Ballard High School’s Digital Filmmaking Program for six National Student Production Awards.  Members of the Academy selected the nominees from regional winners produced by students throughout the nation. 

Altogether, nine productions by students in the Northwest Region (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska) were nominated for national awards.   

The awards will be live-streamed from the Los Angeles campus of Emerson College on Thursday, October 18 at noon, and will be hosted by television personality Tom Bergeron, star of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.  You can view the presentation at https://www.facebook.com/TheEmmys .

Ballard’s nominations reflect the diverse skills students learn in the program.  These productions can be seen on the Digital Filmmaking Program’s vimeo page at www.vimeo.com/bhsfilmprogram.  Here are Ballard’s national nominations by category. 

Best Short Form Fiction Film:

Bottled Emotions by Zach Boone, PJ Hase, Aidan Jereczek & Bailey Wall

Best Short Form Non-Fiction Film:

On the Backs of Salmon by Miles Whitworth, Cecilia O’Rollins, Chris Barrett, Martin Bolivar, Caroline Harader, Jasper Land, Maddie Lausted, Freeman Marshall & Aaron Miller

Best Long Form Non-Fiction Film:

Oso Strong by Maddie Lausted & Freeman Marshall

Best Editor:

Bottled Emotions, Editing by Zach Boone, PJ Hase, Aidan Jereczek & Bailey Wall

Best Audio/Sound:

Paul, Dark, and Handsome, Audio by Cole Kastner

Best Writer:

Richard, Writing by Wylie Soltes