When Shalyn and I decided to shoot our first film in our hometown of Jasper Indiana, the community was so eager to get involved and went above and beyond to support us. Through that experience, we realized there was a local desire to explore filmmaking, but there weren’t very many resources or outlets. There are several opportunities to get involved in theatre or visual arts, but when it comes to media, it's mostly in the form of sports or radio broadcasting. So, Shalyn and I created the Va Bene Film Challenge.
By creating the Challenge, we aimed to create a space for southern Indiana high school students to let their creativity fly via narrative storytelling. Each film must have characters, dialogues, and costumes; the stories must have a beginning, middle, and end. Select films screen at an event in the spring where we also feature a guest speaker, a professional in the film industry to discuss their experience. And at the end we give out equipment prizes to help classrooms build up their supply and continue to grow their skill sets.
It has been incredible year after year to watch the original films and to see the students' passion for their projects. We also have had the pleasure of meeting several dedicated teachers, who are deeply invested in nurturing their students' creativity. It’s our hope that the program churns out future filmmakers, or at the very least, creates a new class of film-lovers.
By creating the Challenge, we aimed to create a space for southern Indiana high school students to let their creativity fly via narrative storytelling. Each film must have characters, dialogues, and costumes; the stories must have a beginning, middle, and end. Select films screen at an event in the spring where we also feature a guest speaker, a professional in the film industry to discuss their experience. And at the end we give out equipment prizes to help classrooms build up their supply and continue to grow their skill sets.
It has been incredible year after year to watch the original films and to see the students' passion for their projects. We also have had the pleasure of meeting several dedicated teachers, who are deeply invested in nurturing their students' creativity. It’s our hope that the program churns out future filmmakers, or at the very least, creates a new class of film-lovers.
