TV Production wins 5 nominations at All-American Film Festival

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RED CARPET SMILES: The students of the television program smile for a photo at the All-American High School Film Festival in New York City on Oct. 23. Several students would go on to be awarded five different nominations for their films in drama, best film invitational, rising female star, best screenplay and best horror/sci-fi/fantasy. Photo courtesy of Erika Kostzer.

By: Erica Zuber

After 10 weeks of preparation for the All-American High School Film Festival Invitational, the three student-led teams from TV Production arrived in New York and began a three-day filming and editing schedule for the competition. The students’ filming efforts would result in
several nominations, with senior president of TV Club Ayden Kostzer receiving the Rising Female Star award.
The other student competitors were also given one-word prompts for the topics of their films and had the first two days to film. The last day of the competition was spent editing and re-filming, and then the students attended the film festival event where projects from other students around the world and their own projects were showcased in the AMC Theater in Times Square.
“Seeing works made by our TV program up on the big screen at the award ceremony and seeing ‘Pembroke Pines, FL’ was crazy that at the biggest film festival in the world, our small city made it so far, our school had made it so far,” said sophomore Sophia Truong.
The prompts for the films that the students had to make for the competition were sent 10 weeks prior to the competition. Lead TV Production Advisor Chuck Rivera and TV Production I Advisor Maricel Buena chose three students as directors, and they each chose their own teams to create the films for the competition. The teams of students worked on the pre-production together for 10 weeks until they arrived in New York.
“They did very well. They had two weeks to write the script, practice and refine, do what they need to do and make sure they had the right equipment,” Rivera said. “Then from that, we had to get locations and the permits to film, and then once all that was done, logistically we had to move the teams around New York.”
The TV Production students spent the first two days of the competition filming their projects all around New York City, including Times Square and in subways located in the heart of the city. They spent the last day of the competition editing and then finally submitting their projects.
“We sat there on the floor of the lob- by and submitted our project and just watched it together,” said senior TV Club president Ayden Kostzer. “It was really fun to see what 10 weeks of hard work turned into.”
Five of their films were nominated, and the Rising Female Star award was given to Kostzer for her performance in her group’s production. Their films were showcased
at the AMC Theatre in Times Square, alongside films from other students across the world.
“It is really an achieving moment, because all of the hard work we put into these films gives us a sense that we are on the right path or in the right direction, especially for those of us who want to do this as a career,” Kostzer said.