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KCSM Airs Spotlight! Teen Filmmaker Awards A couple of weeks ago, I was quite pleasantly surprised at KCSM-TV 3 rd Annual Spotlight! Video Competition Awards for high school students! Filmed at the College of San Mateos Theater last May, and broadcast Friday night (with a reprise on Sunday), the ceremony and all the winning 3-5 minute films were broadcast on KCSM-TV.
Seven local high school students took home eight awards, including the grand prize Best in Show, and the work was exemplary. This broadcast was really an insiders view of the hottest student film awards around, as the talent took to the red carpet like they were born to it. Each of the seven students was different from any of the others, and they all projected their unique personalities in their speeches. These teens are truly the most promising local high-school filmmakers of the Bay Area, and their dedication to filmmaking was evident to the crowd of family members, friends, and local film-industry supporters, along with the crews that helped them turn out their minor masterpieces.
KCSM Executive Producer Dante Betteo has been quoted as saying, I was frankly amazed at the quality of these films, and he is right on the mark. One of the people responsible for putting the program in place, Betteo is clearly excited to be giving the talented youngsters a chance at greatness. And he isnt just blowing smoke when he says, All of these youngsters can have successful careers if they keep producing work like this.
A rangy group of teens from six high schools received up awards in nine categories Directing, Special Effects, Script or Story, Cinematography, Animation, Editing, Sound Design, Lighting Design, and that great catchall: Best of Show. KCSM reps say that the entries this year show a 67% increase over last years entries, which is indicative of the growing popularity of video and filmmaking. And this cannot be refuted, just judging from the number of teens tossing clips and while films up on YouTube.
For the 2009 Spotlight competition, 31 local schools submitted work, and it was judged this year by a panel of local industry professionals.
The winners receiving awards were William Ilgen (directing) and Cameron Vaughan (special effects), both of Foothill High School, Pleasanton; Nicholas Dobkin (animation) of Homestead High School, Cupertino: Daniel Bresnahan (cinematography), St Francis High School, Mountain View; Jordan Velsco (lighting design), Carlmont High School, Belmont; T. J. Barber (sound design), College Preparatory High School, Oakland; and Melody C. Miller, of San Leandro High School, who took home awards in script/story, editing, and Best of Show. Miss Millers three awards included a $1,500 cash award for Best of Show.
All the winners received Gorilla production management software which allow producers to oversee via spreadsheets all aspects of their production, schedule and budget and Adobe Premiere editing software which give them a professional editing toolkit to polish up their next endeavors, as well as gift bags from KCSM-TV management chock full of hats, t-shirts and other swag, including $500 scholarships to College of San Mateo to continue their development as filmmakers.
The films were fun to watch too. The Interview showed what can go wrong when an interview starts to deteriorate; Vaughans Time Machine theorized about the effects of time travel on the present state; Bresnahans Baby Bullet was a farcical view of an underworld deal gone awry; Dobkins Somnium explored various alternate realities in lush animation; Barbers The Mask was a surreal journey that suggested states after death; Jordan Velascos Interrogation Scene was a gut-wrenching piece seemingly pulled from a longer narrative, and Melody C. Millers Permanent Marker was an up-close view of domestic abuse and its effects on children. Dobkin, who also won in the 2008 competition (at age 15) shows enormous promise in the field of animation.
Starting Sunday, October 18, Spotlight! will air as a weekly series on KCSM-TV. The series will show the student films, giving them exposure that most students cant get, says Emmy-winning KCSM director Katherine Russell (Check, Please! 2009). Our audience is larger than they're likely to get on YouTube.
Several of the winners participate in this innovative show pairing high school filmmakers with working film professionals. We all should be looking forward to this 15-part series, since the paring of local film pros and the talented student filmmakers promises an entertaining and lively half-hour each week. Says Russell: Next year well add a Best Documentary category to the Spotlight! festival. And in the meantime, we anticipate that viewers will also like our new Youth Cinema series.
Were looking forward to the work coming out of this local TV station, which covers most of the Bay Area and this show got five stars from us!