Pictured above: Sophomore Ima Kennerly stars in “Shadow,” a short film submitted to Portland Film Festival’s Future Filmmakers.
Two sophomores at Portland’s Catlin Gable School have won $500 for the best overall monster movie – high school category, in a contest sponsored by Comcast in conjunction with our partnership with the Portland Film Festival.
In the span of two weeks, Ima Kennerly and Oscar Goranson wrote, filmed, and edited a movie they titled “Shadow,” which addresses themes of mental health and the stress teens face, particularly around issues of diversity.
“We wanted to address things that were scary and stressful for us and apply them to our movie,” said Ima. “I focused on what it felt like to be a student of color in a predominately white school.”
Every year as a component of Comcast’s sponsorship of the Portland Film Festival, a Future Filmmakers workshop gives children the opportunity to make short films — usually through the Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland Metro — and under the volunteer supervision of professionals in the film industry, with professional equipment. But this year, due to the new realities of Covid, Future Filmmakers broadened to include all K-12 kids in the community, and made into a contest with $,2500 in prizes awarded.
“We gave kids the opportunity to express their independent voices: demonstrate their creativity in a medium they might never have experimented with before,” said Rebecca Brown, Senior Director of Community Impact at Comcast. “Any child can make a pretty professional-looking movie today with a smart phone or tablet.”
Winners in the middle school age group were three friends, Violet, Samantha, and Joshana of West Sylvan Middle School in Portland. They heard about the contest and asked their parents if they could participate. They came up with the entire creative idea themselves – “Today Humans, Tomorrow Monsters” – which focused on a couple friends dressing up to go trick-or-treating, but then they actually turn into the monsters they dressed up as.
The winning film from the youngest age group, “The Clown,” was made by a cohort of K-5 students from the Boys & Girls Club Eastwood in Hillsboro. An award for the Best Use of Costume went to “Gotcha” by the high school teens at the Boys and Girls Club Inukai, also in Hillsboro, and Best Scary Moment went to “Just one Piece” by the high school teens at the Boys and Girls Club Rockwood in East Portland.
Clearly, the mission of Future Filmmakers is effective: “Participating in this contest has really inspired us to create more films,” said Oscar. “We’re already looking for more film festivals to submit movies to.”
The Monster Movies are available to watch free for Comcast customers simply by saying, “Portland Film Festival” into your voice remote until November 8.