Ballard certainly hasn’t “gone Hollywood,” but students from the award-winning Ballard High School Digital Filmmaking Program flew to Hollywood for several days to visit college film and television programs and learn about the business.
Fortunately that’s not the plane they took (above in the background), but a disastrous scene at the Universal Studios backlot. They also visited Warner Bros. and watched a multi-camera shoot of “Mom” with Allison Janey, and they chatted with writer/producer Jason Cahill (Writers Guild of America award winner for The Sopranos).
The trip included visits to Chapman University, Emerson College, Loyola Marymount University and USC – all colleges ranked among the best film schools in the country.
One of the highlights was meeting up with alumni from BHS’ filmmaking program: writer Brendan McCarthy (BHS ’04, NYU ’07) who was nominated this year for a Writers’ Guild of America award for his work on Grace and Frankie; production manager Mixtli Zavaleta (BHS ’07, UW-Seattle ’11); and writer/director Jesse Harris (BHS ’04) who has a second feature film, Borrego, currently in development.
“It is exciting to teach a program long enough to see graduates gain traction in their careers,” explains Matt Lawrence, who heads up the BHS filmmaking program.
Great stuff. Just remember: Don’t ever give up… and (for the writers) keep writing… every day.
Ballywood!
Ugh, not sure Hollywood needs more teens.
What a cool opportunity!
As a film school graduateX do yourself a favour and don’t go to school for film. Save that as a hobby/backup. Go to school for something more employable, especially if you want to stay in the PNW. Not enough jobs for the amount of people with high hopes.
Very cool opportunity
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