Concord, New Hampshire (May 27th) – The beginning of the summer blockbuster movie season is upon us, and the popcorn was already popping as New Hampshire’s future filmmakers were showcased at Red River Theatres in Concord on Saturday at the 2015 New Hampshire High School Short Film Festival, where 25 films by students from around the state were shown.
“Approval,” by Andrew Sevigny, representing Nashua Technology Center, received the Jury Award for Best in Show. “Wolf Man,” by Peter Dubois, Patrick Mulhern, Jake Aldrich and Conrad Dundorf of Oyster River High School, was Jury Award runner-up.
Both “Approval” and “Wolf Man” will be screened at the New Hampshire Film Festival in Portsmouth in October and at the SNOB (Somewhat North of Boston) Film Festival in Concord in November.
Jury Award Finalists included “Do Something Meaningful Project” by Oyster River High School’s Shelby Shepherd, “Perspective” by Seacoast School of Technology’s Kyle Masury, and “Evil” by Pinkerton Academy’s Jenelle Giordano, Allie Patt and Ryan Fuller.
The Public Service Announcement Award was awarded to “Put an End to Bullying PSA,” by Nashua Technology Center’s Tyler Thompson and Nicholas Arenburg.
“Media arts education is one of the cornerstones of the future of the industry here in New Hampshire,” said Matt Newton, director of the New Hampshire Film and Television Office and co-founder of the Festival. “The festival has provided a terrific opportunity for us to work with and recognize young filmmakers and media arts education programs in our high schools and career and technology centers.”
New to this year’s festival was a handcrafted trophy made by Festival Program Director Mike Place and Lakes Region Community College, with metal donated by All Metals Industries of Belmont. The trophy will spend a year at the winning filmmaker’s school, starting with Nashua Technology Center.
“We’re very excited to offer a festival trophy that will continuously represent excellence in the arts and that can stand beside other academic and athletic recognitions in the schools,” said Place.
In addition, the school received a prize package that included two high-definition cameras and production software for use in their video program. Each winning student project also received professional editing, effects, and audio tools as prize packages.
The award prize packages, with a total value of over $18,000, were sponsored by Dan Bérubé of Boston Creative Pro User Group (BOSCPUG), and featured contributions by Apple, Adobe, Blackmagic Design, Boris FX, Imagineer Systems, iZotope, and Other World Computing.
“Students are gifts to our planet. They ground us and fuel our creative passion. It’s important to empower our New Hampshire students to share with us, as we learn from each other,” said Bérubé. “I am honored to be working with the New Hampshire Film and Television Office and the Festival to help aspiring New Hampshire student filmmakers to tell their stories and build their audience.”
The New Hampshire High School Short Film Festival has become one of the marquee film festivals in the state, fostering interest in filmmaking, supporting media arts education in schools, and rewarding future members of the industry for their craft. More information is available at http://nhstudentfilm.com.
The New Hampshire Film and Television Office, as part of the New Hampshire Department of Cultural Resources, works to expand business activity and employment throughout the state by acting as a liaison between the film industry and an established network of government agencies, the state’s film industry workforce, and local property owners. The Office is responsible for location assistance, public relations and general production support in an effort to broaden the cultural and economic impact of film and television production in the state. For more information about film and television production in New Hampshire, call 603-271-2220 or visit http://nh.gov/film.
A list of the award prize packages is available at http://nhstudentfilm.com/awards.
