Student Talent at Film Fest

Earlier this month San Bernardino Valley College (SBVC) hosted its second annual student film festival, attracting amateur filmmakers and film/media students from high school, college and university to show their work and exemplify their talents. The two-day festival featured films submitted by dozens of applicants. Each film, regardless of genre, was produced during the 2012–2013 school year. Outstanding films were showcased on public TV station KVCR. With the intent to establish partnerships among local school districts, community colleges, universities and businesses, to “provide extraordinary learning opportunities in the areas of radio, television and film,” to “ensure that students of all ages receive the best theoretical and practical training in the media fields,” to “facilitate the smooth transition of students from high school to community colleges and to four-year universities and beyond,” and to “provide opportunities for job placement in the media industry and local businesses,” according to the festival’s mission statement, the festival was brought to the Inland Empire after San Bernardino Community College District Chancellor Bruce Baron in 2011 asked SBVC Professor of RTF Diane Dusick to create the Inland Empire Media Academy. An advisory board was created and a number of projects, including the film festival, began, shared Dusick, an idea brought to the table by then-president Larry Buckley. “The goal of the film festival is to create a showcase for student films both on campus and on district public television station KVCR,” said Dusick. Films submitted by filmmakers at the high school, community college and university levels are submitted and then screened by film festival producers, which include Dusick and Donna Trewhella, KVCR producer, shared Dusick. “Films are screened … for quality and content to ensure that they are acceptable for the film festival,” said Dusick. “Then Donna, I, and a third neutral person review films and nominate them for awards.” Films receive nominations when all three reviewers agree on a film, explained Dusick. Local television and video professionals judge and select all film nominees, with the KVCR marketing director then judging the nominations, she went on. The film festival also includes various workshops to students interested in working in film, including workshops on how to get auditions, how to secure an acting agent, and workshops on Movie Magic scheduling and budgeting, an introduction to video editing software Avid, location lighting for film, script writing and plot development, and how to submit entries to film festivals. Speakers at the event included Hollywood casting agent Joe D’Agosta, retired agent Phil Arcara, Cal State University San Bernardino (CSUSB) Dean Margaret Perry, Lake Arrowhead Film Festival producer Mary Dippel, and adjunct SBVC faculty Lindsay Wagner. “Students have an opportunity to submit films to a local student film festival, preparing them for larger, professional film festivals as they learn and grow in their art,” said Dusick. “This year, we gave over $6,000 in prizes, including three copies of Movie Magic Scheduling and Budgeting, two copies of Avid Media Composer, an Xbox bundle, a Blu-ray player, and two $2,000 scholarships to the CSUSB summer digital cinema workshop.” And being produced nearly entirely by SBVC students, “[T]hey have an opportunity to learn how to bring such an exciting event to life,” Dusick added. And the festival benefits the SBVC RTVF as well. Dusick finished, “The Inland Empire Media Academy is bringing the SBVC RTVF department to the forefront of media education in the Inland Empire, and I am proud to be a part of it.” Winners of the 2013 SBVC film festival included Jerit Smith (SBVC) in Best Audio, Best Special Effects and Best Producer–Community College; Mistre Murillo (SBVC) in Best Lighting; Stephen Cardenas (Redlands High School) in Best Original Screenplay; Blake Dirksen (Redland High School) in Originality/Creativity and Best Producer–High School; Romulo Mena (CSUSB) in best Editing–Film and Best Cinematography–University; Tanya Velazquez (University of La Verne) in Best Editing–News or PSA; Carlos Flores (Cal State University Fullerton) in Best Producer–University; Alan Sanchez (SBVC) in Festival Producer’s Choice; Jesse Haendinges (Redlands High School) in Best Cinematography–High School; and Janca McIntosh (SBVC) in Best Cinematography–Community College.