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IN THE NEWS
October 10, 2008
“A Thumbs Up For Teens” (Dani McClain, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
October 10, 2008
“Student Film Festival”: Radio Interview (Paul Kosidowski, WUWM: Lake Effect)
October 10, 2008
Director’s Cut: TV Interview (Charles Monroe-Kane, Wisconsin Public Television)
April 2007
“Not Just Another Teen Movie” (Evan Solochek, Vital Source Magazine)
May 22, 2006
“Mike Cheslik ‘Takes Five’: Don’t ‘Blink’ and Miss Whitefish Bay Student’s Movie Magic” (Marie Rohde, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
April 13, 2006
“Festival to Feature Films by Students” (Staff, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
November 14, 2005
“Milwaukee Spotlight Illuminates Young Talent” (Molly Snyder Edler, OnMilwaukee.com)
May 20, 2005
“Youth Film Festival Shoots to Expose Talent: High School Students Get Chance to be Next Reel Deal” (Annysa Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
MAYOR TOM BARRETT SPEAKS
This festival is Wisconsin’s only youth-focused talent showcase for filmmakers. Milwaukee joins the ranks of cities like Chicago, New York, and San Diego, who have long offered youth film festivals. Now we can boast the same.
Students in the first three years submitted short documentaries about dating and multiculturalism, Chaplin-like silent pictures, historical dramas, original music videos, short animations, and more. Some worked with their teachers, many with friends and family, many more flew solo. The films were of amazing quality, considering that most students were working with limited equipment and editing capabilities, and all had to juggle their studies with their filmmaking.
As Wisconsin rapidly becomes one of the best places in the country for filmmakers to develop the craft, the festival is offering students an opportunity and an invitation to build their careers here, keeping valuable and youthful creativity in this state.
THE AUDIENCE SPEAKS
“Very professional”
“Very high quality movies”
“Wide range of skills”
“They were all impressive”
“Some of them think about life and appreciate children and life”
“Good mix in presenting”
“You can tell the hard work that was put in”
“Fun”
“A nice event”
“Great talent”
“Wonderful opportunity”
“Keep it going”
Renato Umali
Community High School
“Thanks a lot for a great awards ceremony. Fun times. I can’t wait until next year.”
STUDENT FILMMAKER REACTIONS
Kyle Olson
Best Still-Frame Video Award, 2005
“The film festival is a great way to show off our community’s grown strength in the film industry. As a student, it’s great to be able to work side by side with other students, and even adults, who share the same interest with me.”
Mike Cheslik
Grand Prize & Best Narrative Awards, 2006, and the Best Music Video Award, 2007
“I’m looking at going into film. This is a step, and there are a lot of steps I’ll have to take. I’m learning so much that I feel that as I do more, I’ll get better and better and learn more things. [On winning the Grand Prize:] I can’t tell you how thankful I am for the opportunity to use professional equipment and editing resources this summer. Well, I can: I am very thankful. I thoroughly enjoyed the film festival.”
Sam Shapson
Grand Prize and Best Narrative Awards, 2007
“HOLY FRIGGIN BLEEPING BLEEP! GRAND PRIZE AND NARRATIVE SHORT!!!! OH, MAN! I’M SO……. WAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m going to be in MIFF [Milwaukee International Film Festival]!!!….Wow…I yelped involuntarily when I read the e-mail. Oh, my god. Geez!”
Kaleigh Atkinson
Best Live Performance Video Award, 2006
“The festival gave me an experience of what it may be like working in the real world of film. It encouraged us to find the true artist within, to branch out and put our visions to work. I was always taken seriously and was respected by the adults and student filmmakers, which created great communication and innovative ideas for the future of student filmmaking in our city.”
Doug Bruce
Director of Crash, 2006
“I appreciate the opportunity you have provided for students like myself to showcase work, especially locally . . . I have been fortunate enough to have clients rely on me as a video producer; however, the down side to that professionalism is I haven’t just goofed around and made films for fun with friends without business purpose in a while. That is why I appreciate opportunities like this.”
Sarah Whiteaker
Director of Project Asian Fusion, 2005
“Nice job! The kids and their parents really seemed to enjoy it all, and the students did well with the resources and training they had available to them. It’d be great to see what could happen if they had even more because some of them have the ideas to make excellent videos.”
Jeffrey Locklin
Best Animation Award, 2006
“The festival is the perfect opportunity for kids in the Milwaukee area to start their pursuit in filmmaking. It’s a great encouragement to young filmmakers.”
Andrew Kemp
Best Experimental Video Award, 2007
“The student film festival was a very helpful experience during my high school career. It gave me a good chance to look at what many other kids around the state, and even the country, are doing in film. This was a great opportunity for all aspiring student filmmakers out there to come together, see what others have to offer, and even find some people to help you with your films later on. I felt honored to have won the best experimental film, and I can’t wait to participate again next year.”
Billimarie Robinson
Beyond Wisconsin Award, 2007
“I loved the sheet you sent with all the reviews on it…one thing I didn’t really like about a lot of the film festivals I submitted Sugar Water to was that there was hardly any time or patience for thorough critiquing, just a bunch of ‘nice visuals’ comments. Once again, I really appreciate it and I’ll be saving the review sheet in my mini portfolio so I can look back on it and actually have some of my weaknesses and strengths in Sugar Water on paper.”
Tyler Trykowski
Director of Bad Chemistry, 2007
“It’s rare to find a film festival that cares so much about a participant, willing to send back submissions if needed and returning judging feedback sheets, small things like that that can help students so much. I was talking about this with one of my peers in class today and he reminded me that most festivals don’t even return feedback sheets, much less submissions, and it’s nice to know you guys care.
Thank you for the opportunity to create and submit a film- the experience I had in making that film has taught me so much about directing actors for the camera and telling great stories, I can’t even begin to tell you. That was probably the first “real” film I’ve created, and from there I went on to create a really cool TV show that became really popular within my school and community through YouTube, and now I’m at Interlochen Arts Camp, studying film for 6 weeks. Without the inspiration entering your film festival provided, none of that would really be possible.”
PARENTS SPEAK
Pam Shapson
Mother of Sam Shapson, Grand Prize and Best Narrative Awards, 2007
“Thank you and your staff and volunteers at Bucketworks for the phenomenal opportunity you have given to so many young film makers to produce films and be acknowledged in such a meaningful way through the Spotlight Student Film Festival. As a parent of a first-time participant, this was a remarkable experience for my son and his crew to create a film and have it reviewed and screened by the organization. He has aspired to be a film-maker long before we could possibly take his interest very seriously. But now, as he is looking into his future to decide where to go to college, we can see that he is extremely passionate about and talented in this art-form. The contest has drawn amazingly talented kids from all around the country. I couldn’t believe the quality of the films we saw at the festival! Thank you for giving him and all these kids such a wonderful opportunity to push the envelope on their creativity.”
THE COMMUNITY SPEAKS
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TEACHERS SPEAK
David Kaminski
Clarkstown High School, New City, New York
“Many thanks for screening our work at your festival! It means a lot to us.”
Dr. Melinda Skrade
Principal, Pius XI High School
“Thank you for your advocacy for film as a literacy! We are really fortunate.”
Terry J. Burant
Assistant Professor, Educational Policy and Leadership Studies
“Hats off to you for pulling off the filmmakers event! I really enjoyed the films I was able to see and had fun imagining all the students from so many places working on these films.”
THE SPOTLIGHT TEAM SPEAKS
Jeff Cartier
Spotlight Team 2005–2006
“The festival affords a unique opportunity for budding filmmakers to exchange ideas with more seasoned professionals. This really increases the chances that we can grow a more vibrant production community right here in Milwaukee.”
Holly Moore
Spotlight Team 2005–2006
“The festival is a great opportunity for future filmmakers to prepare themselves for film school, display some of their infant ideas to an audience, and enable them to master their craft for the future.”
Dave Polacek
Spotlight Team 2005–2008
“What an amazing showcase of talent. It is great to see so many talented young storytellers and filmmakers. Young people have so many great stories and ideas to share, so it is great to have a program and a forum like Milwaukee Spotlight to give them that voice.”
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