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Developing Young Filmmakers
The Cinema Arts Centre's Youth Advisory Board is a group of volunteers age 14 - 25 who meet monthly to plan and promote special events for young people at the CAC. YAB member John Gifford discusses developing as a filmmaker with the YAB:
Hmmm, how should I start this? Well, how do people start normal newsletters? Probably a typical “Hi! I’m John and I like movies!” but that’s too straightforward, gotta make a good first
impression! Maybe a film joke?! What do you call security guards outside of Samsung stores? The Guardians Of The Galaxy.
Nope, maybe a fun film fact?! Did you know that if you watch Jaws backwards it’s actually a very heartwarming story about a great white shark that gives disabled people back their missing
limbs?!
Okay, better idea, why don’t I talk about all of the wonderful opportunities the Youth Advisory Board at the Cinema Arts Centre has offered to me in the last two years!
About two years ago, my friend Tom and I attended a film showing at this amazing theater because the films we wanted to see weren’t playing anywhere else. It’s so rare nowadays to see cinema still appreciated as an art form and not just mindless cash grabs whose success is decided by old out of touch rich white men who think the masses want to watch a Skibbidi Toilet film directed by Michael Bay instead of an experience full of new, unique artistic expressions.
Well actually, that first one kind of sounds interesting.
Anyway, since then, even though it’s a forty minute drive, we’ve attended every special film screening, every film festival and almost every Trivia Night event… sorry Dan French. The amount this theater has to offer and what it has done for not only Tom and I, but many other young film makers looking to get their voices out there is immeasurable. From the 48 Hour Film Contest last year to the Long Island Youth Film Festival this year, I have grown not only in my knowledge of behind the scenes production (and realizing I can’t do everything myself), but also gaining a knowledge of my limits as a filmmaker and finding different ways to push past them. This is something I continue to improve upon with each festival that I participate in and there has been a noticeable increase in quality since first starting with the Cinema Arts Centre.
Aside from making films I also attend as many as I can here at the CAC. As I said before, this place has a special knack for showing films that aren't accessible anywhere else. That and the kind, supportive staff at every event will make my friends and I always come back for more.
Instead of putting you readers through another awful movie pun, I’ll end with this: Thank you so much Cinema Arts Centre and especially the Youth Advisory Board for the memories we’ve made so far and for the countless more we’ll make in the years to come. Looking forward to seeing you all at the next event.
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