The end of a production comes with both a sadness that the whole thing is over, along with a relief that you can finally get some rest. Then your brain immediately goes to the possibilities of the next project. It’s like childbirth, you forget the pain that you endured to make it happen, but only that you were left with this amazing child. Giving birth to a film, a play, a song or painting is not only about creating a product, it’s about creating a story and storytellers.

 

That’s what has happened as we have wrapped shooting this summer’s Young Filmmakers Series, spearheaded by filmmaking teacher, Malia Jakus. The past three weeks have been a wonderful experience to watch as she has taken these 6 high school students and turned them into pros. I was a witness to it all on set as they learned about shots, about thinking like an editor, about being creative, until by the end of seven short films, they were all seamlessly working together. In addition to that, the experience they got as they rotated between camera operator, assistant director, script supervisor, sound technician and production assistant was incredible. These 6 young people – 5 from Palisades Charter High School and 1 from Malibu High School, all have become best friends in this collaborative process.

And our actors were amazing. Five teens took on the roles of our “teachers” and 13 young Eco Heroes helped bring these films to life. They had the opportunity to work on a real set, doing take after take of the scene for the wide shot, the medium shot, the close up, the over the shoulder shot… definitely realizing the amount of time and effort it takes to shoot a professional five minute film. Our subjects were Air Pollution, Alternative Energies, World of Waste, Composting, Climate Change, Endangered Bees, and Being an Eco Hero Kid.

And none of this could have happened without your generous support. (You will see all your names in the credits)

And of course, we are forever grateful to our angels, Paula Mae and Steve Schwartz of Chockstone Pictures. The Schwartzes are producers on such dark and edgy films as THE ROAD, THE COUNSELOR and KILLING THEM SOFTLY. Now in post-production, the Schwartzes (along with Nick Wechsler and Matt Jackson) are producers of Amazon Studios’ love story/spy thriller, ALL THE OLD KNIVES. Directed by Janus Metz, the film stars Chris Pine, Thandiwe Newton, Jonathan Pryce and Laurence Fishburne.

Click HERE to see the entire article at The Malibu Times website!

We have so much work to do. So please consider becoming a supporter. It’s the only world we’ve got. The time is now.

Much love,

Julia