Filmed & Filmmakers – How Local Filmmakers Emerge Into the Film Industry
A multitude of Yorba Linda High School graduates have gone on to study filmmaking at the top film schools in America. Filmed Academy of the Arts helps provide and equip high school students with the love, passion, and tools for visual storytelling.
October 2, 2022
To many students at Yorba Linda High School, the knowledge on our campus’ filmmakers extends to Mustang Mix, and Mr. Cadra’s advanced video productions class.
Filmed Academy of the Arts has helped supply countless schools from across Orange County with a taste of the film industry with cinema-grade equipment. Students participating are required to take a two-week-long beginners course, and complete various exams to ensure proficiency, before entering their designated video productions course.
After this, all schools work to create their broadcast (typically within a 2-3 week deadline) that showcases the creative side of its students. These are student-driven classes, meaning (with the help of an instructor) each class has producers to drive the direction of the broadcast. Natalie Neal (12), one of the current producers of Mustang Mix, states that Filmed has provided her with opportunities to “refine [her] my filmmaking skills and exemplify that [she] could go beyond the boundaries of high school filmmaking and actively engage in larger projects in the film and screenplay industry in the future.”
Filmed has provided me with opportunities to refine my filmmaking skills and exemplify that I could go beyond the boundaries of high school filmmaking and actively engage in larger projects in the film and screenplay industry in the future.
— Natalie Neal
However, what is often unrecognized is the creative freedom beyond the broadcast. With high-quality equipment, students have the freedom to create and produce their own projects with the resources graciously provided by Filmed. Students can submit to the annual Orange County Film Festival hosted by Filmed Academy of the Arts as an opportunity to experience and broadcast their creations on ‘the big screen.’
Just recently, El Dorado High School Alumni Nikola Boyaonov won an Emmy for Outstanding Editing in a Drama Series for the hit HBO series, Euphoria. He then went on to study Film at Chapman University Dodge and continues to edit the series. Boyanov is not the only critically acclaimed Filmed Alumni. Rayka Zehtabchi, Filmed alumnus, won an Academy Award for her short Documentary “Period. End of Sentence.”
A multitude of Yorba Linda High School graduates have gone on to study filmmaking at the top film schools in America. Filmed Academy of the Arts helps provide and equip high school students with the love, passion, and tools for visual storytelling- beyond the classroom.
