Student films coming to the big screen
After receiving $1000 from Eastland Community Trust to make their idea a reality, the five Campion College students behind next month’s inaugural Gisborne Youth Short Film Festival say they are excited to put the work of young film-makers up on the big screen.
The festival’s 17-year-old communications director Myles Ashworth said if it worked well, it would definitely become an annual event.
“We and some of our friends have been making films for more than a year now, with the 48-Hour Film Festival, but we felt we could improve the youth factor — which is why we came up with this, because adults really dominate the 48-Hour Film Festival and kids never really get a chance to win anything.”
The festival will take place at the Odeon Theatre between 6pm and 9pm on Monday, September 5.
“Basically, how the night will work is we will screen all the films and then give out the prizes — with a break in the middle.”
Mr Ashworth said the students had formed a company through their participation in the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme, which encourages students to form their own company and seek seed funding to bring a commercial idea to the market.
So far the film festival had received “overwhelming” public support, he said.
“It’s quite exciting, we’ve never done anything like this before.”
Odeon manager David Hall said he jumped at the chance to host the festival in the Odeon’s main 280-seat theatre.
“We’re very community-minded here and what the boys are doing is very positive for the community.
“We felt we could actively support them. We applaud them for what they are doing and back them all the way.”
Films needed to be loaded on to a USB stick so they could be used in conjunction with the Odeon’s own projectors and projected on to the theatre’s main screen on the night.
Teams must be made up of high school students, who could enter the festival through the Gisborne Youth Film Festival Facebook page.
The festival’s marketing and sales director Ryan Higgs said they aimed to have at least 10 entries on the night.
“The top prize for the overall film is a $700 camera, sponsored by the Big White Shirt.”
Entries should be three to 10 minutes long.
Prizes would be awarded for first, second and third-placed films, alongside extra prizes for Best Actor and Best Actress as well as prizes for the best use of technology and the most creative film.
Teams could enter the festival for a $25 fee, while people could attend the event to view films for a $10 fee.
“That’s $10 for three hours of entertainment.”
Fellow Campion students Robert Hall, Nikolii Veenstra and Andrew Wall, all aged between 16 and 17, make up the rest of the festival’s organisation team.