NFFTY to Feature Shorts by Ballard High School Filmmakers

Three 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 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. This year NFFTY will feature 248 films from 30 states and 25 countries. Screeners made the selections from a pool of nearly 1,000 entries. NFFTY opens at the Seattle Cinerama Theater on Thursday, April 23 and continues through Sunday, April 26 at the Seattle Center.

These short films by Ballard High School film students have been selected for screening.

Air Pressure by Coleman Andersen, Leo Pfeifer & Josh Vredevoogd

Clipped Wings by Coleman Andersen, Duncan Gowdy & Leo Pfeifer

Stolen by Coleman Andersen & Leo Pfeifer

BHS also has a team competing in the 48-hour Film Off. Teams from 10 high schools have 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 Lyric Gonzalez, Bergen Johnson, Leo Pfeifer, Stephanie Shao and Meagen Tajalle. You can catch the 48-Hour Film Off – and cast your vote - on Saturday, April 25 at 1:30 pm at the Uptown 1 Theater.

In addition to screenings and awards, NFFTY includes forums on filmmaking. For a complete schedule of events, show times, and ticket information, visit www.nffty.org.

NFFTY itself is 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, Kyle Seago (’07) – a Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking student at the time - and Jocelyn RC (Bellevue High School, ’07). A growing list of sponsors and partners paved the way for this ninth annual event.

BALLARD HIGH SCHOOL FILMMAKER WINS NATIONAL ARTS AWARD

The National YoungArts Foundation has awarded Coleman Andersen an Honorable Mention in Cinematic Arts in recognition of the “exceptional artistic achievement” evident in his work. The YoungArts program identifies and supports young talent in the areas of music, theater, visual arts, photography, writing, and cinematic arts (motion picture). Coleman’s production was selected for honors from more than 11,000 submissions nationwide through a blind adjudication process by a nationally and internationally renowned panel of judges, master teachers, and artists.

A third year student in Ballard’s Digital Filmmaking Program, Coleman is no stranger to recognition. His short film Air Pressure, created with classmates Leo Pfeifer and Josh Vredevoogd, has already won awards at the Northwest High School Film Festival, Fresh Film Northwest, the Dominique Dunne Film Competition, and the Northwest Regional Emmy Awards. The short concerns a catastrophe at the World Balloon Animal Championships. His documentary Clipped Wings, created with classmates Duncan Gowdy and Leo Pfeifer, has also been a success at festivals and on YouTube, were it has received over 195,000 views. It explores the ban on gays in the Boy Scouts of America.

A senior at BHS, Coleman has gained admission to some of the most competitive and prestigious college programs for film and television production in the country. Next fall he’ll be studying filmmaking at New York University.

This is the second year in a row that a student from Ballard High School’s Digital Filmmaking Program has been awarded by the YoungArts Foundation.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Lily Bennett (Class of 2012)

We live in a competitive culture, school is a competitive environment, and film is a competitive field. By the time I was a junior in high school, I already had a clear idea of how to pursue my goals, but I thought my chances of getting into a film school were slim at best. The path from high school to university appeared to be strict and concrete: must needed all-round outstanding academic and extra-curricular achievements. But by the time I was a junior in high school, I'd not been able to tick off all those boxes. However, I had been able to tick off a few boxes of my own: a strong film portfolio containing official selections at regional, national, and international film festivals, and awards of excellence. I was worried, though. I thought "how much does a college really care about what I've done in a high school film program?"

In 2013 I was accepted into the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS). AFTRS is the most rigorous film school in Australia. The schools application process judged on merit, meaning that a panel sat down and evaluated my work. Thanks to the portfolio of narrative shorts, documentaries, music videos, and PSAs that I had created over my four years in Lawrence's classes (as well as an Australian citizenship) I was able to get into my dream school! On my first day of class I realized I had some of the most experience among my classmates with story, camera, lights, and on-set safety. Now, just over a year later, I've worked on countless student productions, Production Assisted on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was a Costume Assistant on the feature film Mad Max Fury Road. This goes to show that one great opportunity leads to the next, and the Ballard Digital Filmmaking Program is the first great opportunity. The work you produce in these classes will be valuable to you in the years ahead. I am so grateful to have been a part of such a program. It opened the doors to my greatest career goals.

BHS Films to be Featured at International Festival

Two films by students from the Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking Program will be screened at the Seattle Children’s Film Festival this weekend. This year, the festival will screen 175 films from 58 different countries. Most of the films were produced by professionals, but all the films are aimed at children and their families. The festival will screen at Seattle’s Northwest Film Forum through February 7.

The two Ballard films will be among 19 by young filmmakers to be featured in the Super Shenanigans: Films by Youth screening this Sunday, January 25 at 7 pm. Great Mime’s Think Alike (by Will Slater, Michael Vitz-Wong & Kiana Wyld) explores a turf war between two competing mimes. Air Pressure (by Coleman Anderson, Leo Pfeifer & Josh Vredevoogd) concerns a disaster at the World Championship Balloon Animal Competition. Both films have previously been honored by a variety of regional and national festivals.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.nwfilmforum.org .

DON’T MISS NEW SHORTS FROM BALLARD’S AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKERS

Everyone is invited to a screening of new work by students in the Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking Program. The Ballard Film Festival (BFF) will be on Saturday, February 7 and Friday, February 20 at 7 pm in the Ballard High School auditorium. The screening will feature short comedies and dramas, advertisements, news features, and documentaries. Tickets ($10 for adults and $5 for students) will be sold at the door. Films that first screen at the BFF routinely take honors at prestigious national and international film festivals and the Northwest Regional Emmy Awards.

Funds raised will benefit students in the Digital Filmmaking Program. Students in the program regularly travel to Los Angeles to tour college schools of film and television, visit program alumni enrolled in these colleges or working in the industry, and meet with film and television professionals. Students have visited Jason Cahill (Writers Guild of America Award winner for The Sopranos) to discuss screenwriting, and Visual Effects Supervisor Bill Powloski (Breaking Bad) to discuss special effects. Ticket sales and donations will make these trips possible for all accepted students and also provide additional production equipment.

BALLARD FILMMAKERS WIN AT FIVE-STATE FESTIVAL

Three short films by students from the Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking Program are winners at Fresh Film Northwest. This competitive regional festival is coordinated by the Northwest Film Center in Portland, Oregon. It accepts entries from filmmakers ages 13 to 19 in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Only 10 films were winners at this year’s festival. This is the tenth year in a row that students from Ballard’s Digital Filmmaking Program have been winners at the event.

The winning films include a visual story and two documentaries. The visual story Air Pressure, by Coleman Andersen, Leo Pfeifer & Josh Vredevoogd, is about a disaster at the World Balloon Animal Championship. The film has already been a winner in the Dominique Dunne Film Competition and been featured at the Chicago International Film Festival, the Seattle International Film Festival, and the Northwest High School Film Festival. Clipped Wings, by Coleman Andersen, Duncan Gowdy & Leo Pfeifer, made its festival premiere at the Northwest Film Forum’s regional festival last month. The short documentary explores the impact of the Boy Scouts of America’s ban on Gays. (Clipped Wings has received over 100,000 views online. Check it out at https://vimeo.com/107528934 .) The festival jury also honored Clipped Wings with a Heart Award for “authenticity, originality, and humane treatment of a subject.” The other winning documentary is Raven Rock by Rachel Cole, Jaya Flanary & Meagen Tajalle. It concerns a treatment program that pairs survivors of childhood abuse with abused horses for mutual healing.

The Northwest Film Center also recognized Audio Input - a documentary about the Seattle podcasting scene by Duncan Boszko, Jack O’Neal, Piper Phillips & Sho Schrock – with an Honorable Mention. The festival selected only 5 films for this honor.

A jury of filmmakers and educators screened 80 entries from across the five state region to select winners for the festival. The festival seeks to celebrate “originality, freshness, authenticity, and conviction” in the voices of young filmmakers. The program will be screened and prizes awarded at the Portland Art Museum’s Whitsell Auditorium on Saturday, November 8 at 1 pm. Filmmakers, film lovers, and families are welcome to attend. To see new work by BHS filmmakers, attend the Ballard Film Festival on Saturday, February 7 or Friday, February 20 at 7 pm in the BHS auditorium. Tickets are $10 for adults or $8 for students. All proceeds support students in the BHS Digital Filmmaking Program.

BHS FILM TO BE FEATURED AT REGIONAL FESTIVAL

Three students in Ballard High School’s Digital Filmmaking Program will have their film featured at the Northwest Film Forum’s Local Sightings Film Festival. This festival is local in a regional sense, as it programs the best works by filmmakers from Oregon to Alaska. Clipped Wings, by Coleman Andersen, Duncan Gowdy and Leo Pfeifer is a short documentary that explores the impact of the Boy Scouts of America’s ban on Gays.

Clipped Wings will screen before Mind Zone – a documentary feature by Portland director Jan Haaken about therapists working in the 113th Army Combat Stress Control detachment. Their mission is contradictory: to protect soldiers from battle fatigue, and to keep these same soldiers in battle.

Clipped Wings and Mind Zone will screen this Sunday, September 28 at 7 pm. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit http://localsightings.nwfilmforum.org/ .

BHS FILMMAKERS WIN AT THE EMMY AWARDS

Five students in the Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking Program won Awards of Excellence at the Northwest Regional Emmy Awards on June 7. Coleman Andersen, Leo Pfeifer and Josh Vredevoogd won best Short Form Fiction for their drama Air Pressure. Julian Amrine and Josh Vredevoogd won best Photographer/Editor for their drama Going it Alone. This is the third year in a row that these awards went to students from the BHS Digital Filmmaking Program.

The Northwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) presents High School Awards of Excellence to celebrate and promote the most outstanding high school productions from five Northwest states: Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. The awards are judged by the same professional organization that selects Emmy winners.

Eighteen other BHS filmmakers had also received nominations from the Academy this year.

BHS FILM FESTIVAL TO FEATURE AWARD-WINNING WORKS

Everyone is invited to a screening of films produced spring semester by students in the Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking Program. The BHS Film Festival will be Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7 at 7 p.m. in the BHS auditorium. Included will be short comedies, dramas, news features, and documentaries. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and will be sold at the door. All proceeds benefit students in the Digital Filmmaking Program.

The festival will feature a variety of productions recently honored by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences as well as international film festivals such as the Chicago International Film Festival and the Seattle International Film Festival. In addition, program alumni will return to share their stories and work they've produced in college or during their professional careers.

NORTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL FILM FESTIVAL HONORS BHS FILMMAKERS

Students in the Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking Program have won 15 awards and honors across six different categories at the 16th annual Northwest High School Film Festival at the Cinerama Theater in downtown Seattle. This is the largest and longest running festival for high school filmmakers in the Puget Sound region. Twenty high schools from the Puget Sound region competed for awards in twelve different production categories.

Perhaps the biggest prize of the festival is the “J-Dogg” Scholarship. The award was established in 2011 by the family of Justin Amorratanasuchad, the gifted Ballard High School filmmaker whose career was tragically cut short by an accident during his second year of college. The memorial scholarship gives upwards of $5,000 each year toward the college education of a festival winner preparing to pursue a degree in film and television production. This year, the award was presented to BHS Digital Filmmaking senior Raven Two Feathers. In the fall, Raven will be studying film production at the Santa Fe University of Art & Design.

The festival was judged by a panel of industry professionals and college media professors. The event was organized by the Media Educators for Excellence Team (MEET) and sponsored by the Academy of Interactive Entertainment, Advanced Broadcast Solutions, the Art Institute of Seattle, Glazier's Camera, and Sanford-Brown College. For more information on the NWHSFF, visit www.nwhsff.weebly,org.

Some of the award-winning productions will be screened at the BHS Film Festival on Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7 at 7 p.m. in the BHS auditorium. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults and will be sold at the door.

Ballard’s Northwest High School Film Festival winners by category:

AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE

Comedic Narrative
Stuck in Time
Sage Borlo, Tor Randolph, Remy Robin

Commercial
Benito’s
Joseph Downey, Max McCann, Tor Randolph

Whizz Education
Julian Amrine, Stephanie Shao, Josh Vredevoogd

Dramatic Narrative
Air Pressure
Coleman Andersen, Leo Pfeifer

Music Video
Song for Anna
Lucy Harstrick, Isaiah Hoban-Halvorsen, Josh Vredevoogd, Kiana Wyld

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Comedic Narrative
A Taste of Courage
Carlos Caceres Martinez, Victoria O’Laughlin, Leo Pfeifer

Caf-Fiend
Jonny Cechony, Tristram Fetters, Simon Gibson-Penrose

Commercial
Don’t Drop the Bass
Milo Adams, Jonny Cechony, Nathan Roe

Music Video
A Day at Ballard High School
Jaya Flanary, Meagen Tajalle, Raven Two Feathers

Goodbye, Paraguay
Matt Nguyen, Sho Schrock, Stephanie Shao

News Feature
Real World Maritime
Danny Allen, Elliott Atkinson, Henry Romano-Weller

Public Service Announcement
The Bank
Leo Pfeifer, Auston Thompson

Deadly Education
Aurore Bouriot, Will Erstad, Sid Johnson

Words Matter
Ethan Ayrault, Kimi Rutledge, Kajsa Woolford

BALLARD HIGH SCHOOL FILM AT SIFF

BHS Filmmakers Leo Pfeifer and Coleman Andersen

The short film Air Pressure by Coleman Andersen and Leo Pfeifer, is an Official Selection of the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF). A visual story about a disaster at the World Balloon Animal Championships, it will screen at SIFF this Monday, May 26 at 1:30 pm at the Uptown Cinemas.

It will also screen at the BHS Film Festival on Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7 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 HIGH SCHOOL FILMMAKERS

The Northwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) has announced nominees for the Northwest High School Awards of Excellence. These awards celebrate the most outstanding productions from five Northwest states: Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. Productions are nominated by NATAS industry professionals. Students from the Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking Program earned eleven nominations, more than twice as many as any other school or organization in the five-state region. The winners will be announced on June 7 at the 51st Annual Regional Emmy Awards ceremony.

Ballard’s nominations span four categories, reflecting the diverse skills students learn in the program. These are the nominations by category.

Music Video:
Goodbye, Paraguay by Sho Schrock-Manabe, Matt Nguyen, Stephanie Shao & Elizabeth Turnell

Song for Anna by Josh Vredevoogd, Lucy Harstrick, Isaiah Hoban Halvorsen & Kiana Wyld

Photographer/Editor:
Caf-Fiend by Simon Gibson-Penrose, Tristram Fetters & Jonny Cechony

Going it Alone by Julian Amrine & Joshua Vredevoogd

Public Service Announcement:
The Bank by Leo Pfeifer & Auston Thompson

Short Form Fiction:
Air Pressure by Coleman Anderson, Leo Pfeifer & Josh Vredevoogd

Caf-Fiend by Simon Gibson-Penrose, Tristram Fetters & Jonny Cechony

Going it Alone by Julian Amrine & Josh Vredevoogd

The Need to Groove by Kyle Goodwin, Max Nelson & Jonny Cechony

Omar the Girl Scout by Coleman Anderson, Brian Cropp & Lindsay Fasser

Stuck in Time by Sage Borlo, Tor Randolph & Remy Robin

Three of the films nominated in the Short Form Fiction category were produced by students in their first year of the Digital Filmmaking Program. In the Photographer/Editor category, all the nominees were Ballard High School students.

One of the nominated productions, along with other new works completed this spring by students in the BHS Digital Filmmaking Program, will be screened at the Ballard High School Film Festival. This will take place on Friday, June 6th or Saturday, June 7th at 7 pm in the BHS auditorium. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults.

This makes the eighth year in a row that Ballard High School producers have been nominated. Last year they received 8 nominations and won the categories of Community/Public Service Announcement, Long Form, Fiction and Photographer/Editor.

BALLARD FILMMAKERS WIN NFFTY AWARDS

Two short films by students in the Ballard High School Video Production Program were award winners at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY). The festival featured 214 films from across the country by filmmakers 21 and younger. Many of the featured works were produced by college students from such prestigious schools of film & television as the University of Southern California and New York University, so there was no shortage of competition.

Song for Anna by Lucy Harstrick, Isaiah Hoban-Halvorsen, Josh Vredevoogd & Kiana Wyld won the Audience Award of the Musical Masterpiece program. Song for Anna had previously won the Merit Award from the prestigious YoungArts Organization, and had also been named an Official Selection of the Chicago International Film Festival, where it will be screened next week.

Ballard filmmakers also distinguished themselves in NFFTY’s 48-Hour Film Off. In this festival event, high school media production programs of the Puget Sound area compete to produce the best short in 48 hours. To ensure that no pre-production has been done before the competition starts, teams were given a key line of spoken dialogue, a theme, and a prop that must be prominently featured in the short. The prop this year was a hydroplane, so teams had to be particularly resourceful and creative. Jonny Cechony, Will Erstad, Simon Gibson-Penrose, Elizabeth Rosario and Raven Two Feathers represented Ballard High School, and their short Just Plane Lucky took 2nd Prize in the competition.

Just Plane Lucky will screen at the Ballard Film Festival on Friday and Saturday, June 7th and 8th at 7 pm in the Ballard High School auditorium. Admission is $5 for students and $10 for adults.

NFFTY TO FEATURE SHORTS BY BALLARD HIGH SCHOOL FILMMAKERS

Four short films by thirteen 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 festival showcases outstanding work by filmmakers age 22 and younger. NFFTY is a rare opportunity for high school students to share the spotlight with college students from our nation’s best film schools. This year NFFTY will feature 214 films from 30 states and 15 countries. Screeners made the selections from a pool of 800 entries. NFFTY opens at the Seattle Cinerama Theater on Thursday, April 24 and continues through Sunday, April 27 at the Seattle Center.
These short films by Ballard High School film students have been selected for screening.

Song for Anna by Lucy Harstrick, Isaiah Hoban-Halvorsen, Josh Vredevoogd & Kiana Wyld

Stop Pretending by Marlene Anderson, Khasbold Bataa, Gabe Fabens, Zach Green & Lorenzo Rossi

Then & Now by Enjuli Chhaniara (’13), Dayan Flynn-Walsh (’13) & Ana Krafchick (’13)

Also selected was A Sleeping Giant, produced independently by Ballard film student Leo Pfeifer.

BHS also has a team competing in the 48-hour Film Off. Teams from ten high schools have 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. You can catch the 48-Hour Film Off – and cast your vote - on Saturday, April 26 at 1:30 pm at the SIFF Uptown 1.

In addition to screenings and awards, NFFTY includes forums on filmmaking. For a complete schedule of events, show times, and ticket information, visit www.nffty.org.

NFFTY itself is 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, Kyle Seago (’07) – a Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking student at the time - and Jocelyn RC (Bellevue High School, ’07). A growing list of sponsors and partners paved the way for this eighth annual event.

A Day at Ballard High School

DON'T MISS NEW SHORTS FROM BALLARD'S AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKERS

Everyone is invited to a screening of new work by students in the Ballard High School Video Production Program. The Showing will be on Saturday, February 8 and Thursday, February 13 at 7 pm in the Ballard High School auditorium. The screening will include short comedies and dramas, advertisements, news features, and music videos. Some of the work has recently won regional and national awards. Tickets ($10 for adults and $5 for students) will be sold at the door.

Funds raised will benefit students in the Video Production Program. Each spring, students in the program travel to Los Angeles to tour college schools of film and television, visit program alumni enrolled in these colleges or working in the industry, and meet with film and television professionals. Your ticket purchase or donation will make this trip possible for all accepted students and provide additional production equipment.

BALLARD HIGH SCHOOL FILMMAKER WINS NATIONAL ARTS AWARD

The National YoungArts Foundation has awarded Lucy Harstrick a Merit Award in Cinematic Arts in recognition of the “exceptional artistic achievement” evident in her work. The award comes with a college recommendation from this prestigious organization. The YoungArts program identifies and supports young talent in the areas of music, theater, visual arts, photography, writing, and cinematic arts (motion picture). Lucy’s production was selected for honors from more than 11,000 submissions nationwide through a blind adjudication process by a nationally and internationally renowned panel of judges, master teachers, and artists.

A third year student in Ballard’s Video Production Program, Lucy plans to study filmmaking in college next year. She pitched her idea for the winning project to the Advanced Video Production class last spring. It was selected for production by her classmates, and Lucy worked with Isaiah Hoban-Halvorsen ('13, now at NYU), Josh Vredevoogd ('14), and Kiana Wyld ('14) to realize her concept. Titled Song for Anna, the music video tells a nuanced story that could suggest a couple trying to get together – or trying to break up.

Song for Anna will have its premiere with other recently awarded works by filmmakers in the Ballard High School Video Production Program at The Showing on Saturday, February 8 or Thursday, February 13 at 7 p.m. in the BHS auditorium. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students. All proceeds support students in the Program.

BALLARD FILM STUDENTS WIN FIVE-STATE FESTIVAL

For the ninth straight year, students from the Ballard High School Video Production Program are winners in Fresh Film Northwest.  This competitive regional festival is coordinated by the Northwest Film Center in Portland, Oregon.  It accepts entries from filmmakers ages 13 to 19 in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. 

The music video Stop Pretending by Marlene Anderson, Khasbold Bataa, Gabe Fabens, Zach Green & Lorenzo Rossi won the Creative Self-Expression Award for “outstanding achievement in cinematic storytelling.”  The video features the original song of the same title by Rossi for his band Yellow Peril and concerns relationships that are held together by social expectations.  An Honorable Mention was awarded to the music video Song for Anna, by Isaiah Hoban-Halvorsen, Lucy Harstrick, Josh Vredevoogd & Kiana Wyld.  It tells an ambiguous story of romance and loss.  Finally, winner of the Heart Award for “authenticity, originality, and humane treatment of a subject” is the visual story The Eye of the Beholder by Walker Evans, Isaiah Hoban-Halvorsen & Brian VanWagenen.  It takes a subjective look at the destructive impact of fashion marketing.         

A jury of filmmakers and educators screened 117 entries to select 14 works for the festival.  The festival seeks to celebrate originality, freshness, authenticity, and conviction in the voices of young filmmakers.  The program will be screened and prizes awarded at the Portland Art Museum’s Whitsell Auditorium on Saturday, November 16 at 1 pm.  Filmmakers, film lovers, friends and families are welcome to attend. 

To see the winners as well as other new work by BHS filmmakers, attend our end-of-the-semester Showing on Saturday, February 8 or Thursday, February 13 at 7 pm in the BHS auditorium.  Tickets are $10 for adults or $5 for students.  All proceeds support the BHS Video Production Program.  

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Sydney Jarol (Class of 2011) with Rebecca Fons of the Chicago International Film Festival

After three productive, enjoyable, and undeniably educational years in the Ballard Video Production Program, I was lucky enough to be granted a generous scholarship to Columbia College Chicago. Columbia had been my first choice, both because it was located in a new and exciting city, and because it’s film program is one of the best in the country (it recently made #14 on the Hollywood Reporter’s Top 25 Film Schools of 2013). It would not have been possible for me to attend without such a scholarship, and I am extremely grateful for all the instruction, both constructively critical and supportive, that I received from Mr. Lawrence during my time in the video program. It was this guidance that inspired me to create the best work possible, and therefore helped me to build a portfolio strong enough to obtain this award. 

Since starting at Columbia College, I have been involved in several projects, filling a wide variety of roles including producer, writer, director, editor, script supervisor, sound designer, and production assistant. It has taken me a while to decide where to focus myself within the world of film production, but I have finally decided on sound design. Sound is something that I never even considered as an option when I thought about working in film, but my first sound class changed my mind completely. I had never realized how much fun sound could be, and once I came to the conclusion that I was perfectly capable of working the equipment and software, it rapidly became my favorite aspect of the filmmaking process. I hope to pursue a career in post-production audio, but I also plan to learn how to work on location sound.

In addition to coursework, I have done my best to continually be involved in extracurricular activities that will ultimately help me achieve my career goals. I have worked as a lab assistant in the post-production center at Columbia, as well as in a teaching assistant position for an art in schools program with Chicago Public Schools. And this past summer, I spent five weeks working as a film instructor for a summer camp at a Chicago elementary school, which was both challenging and rewarding.

But the best, and most exciting experience thus far has been my internship with the Chicago International Film Festival. Beyond the actual process of filmmaking, being a part of making film festivals happen is another passion of mine, and I had been dreaming about working with the festival ever since I first arrived in Chicago and learned of its existence. For two years I volunteered with the festival each fall, and then last spring I was granted an internship working with the Education Outreach Coordinator, Rebecca Fons. In my internship position, I helped to plan and carry out the 2013 CineYouth Festival, in addition to other duties such as assisting with education screenings and general festival events. Although internships generally last only a semester, I was asked to return for the fall, which means that I will be a part of the force behind the 49^th Chicago International Film Festival itself, and I could not be more delighted.

I will graduate next spring (2014) with a B.A. in Film and Video, and a minor in Arts Management from Columbia College Chicago. 

BALLARD HIGH SCHOOL PRODUCERS HONORED AT REGIONAL EMMY AWARDS

Each year, the Northwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences presents High School Awards of Excellence to celebrate the most outstanding high school productions from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.  The productions are nominated, and the winners determined, by a jury of Academy members.  When the envelopes were opened at the 50th Annual Regional Emmy Awards on June 15, students from the Ballard High School Video Production Program won 3 of the four categories in which they had been nominated.  

Here are the winners, by category: 

Community/Public Service Announcements:
Not Even Once by Sam Baldwin, Paris Burhen, Brian Cropp & Gabriel Tagulao

Long-Form, Fiction:
Godsend by DJ McCoy

Photographer/Editor:
Dream House by Ariahna Ghormley, Ana Krafchick & Louis Weissman

This marks the seventh year in a row that Ballard High School video producers have been winners at the event.