Thirteen student teams began work in February on short films in a range of styles. The Learning Studio again provided training sessions on getting the most out of the camera, whether students used traditional camcorders or one of our Canon 60D SLR check-out cameras. Thanks again to Canon for sending pro-series lenses as well.

This year we also put video lighting into the check-out pool as well with some Lowel Omni kits. Thanks to Matt and Nathan in the studio for evening workshops to help students getting started.

Student winners were announced Friday night, representing familiar faces and some new Freshmen groups.

• “Pride of Life,” directed by Lucius Patenaude and produced by Adrian Patenaude, took Best Director, Best Writer and Best Actor for Nick Palmieri.
• “Liberation,” directed and produced by Jacob Kitts, brought in Best Direction, Sound Design and Production Design as well as Best Actress for Jennifer Feise.
• “Yemiffimey,” directed by Caitlin Bradford, earning Best Non-Dramatic Film and Best Producer, with Best Technical Director for Ben Weaver.

Saturday morning gave student filmmakers time with the judges for critiques and recommendations about future work. The panel of judges again included Randy Brewer (’93), Executive Producer at Revolution Pictures in Nashville; Kris Young, screenwriting lecturer at UCLA and the LA Film Studies Center; and Jessica Gray (’99), who has worked with Fortis Films most recently producing a PBS series.

.