FTVM Students Get in on the Action

In December 2018, six CSUDH students took a weekend-trip to the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) enabled by Hollywood By the Horns. They attended screenings, panels and interacted with filmmakers and Academy Award nominees.

The SBIFF is a non-profit organization with the aim of bringing people together through film. After 34 years, this has been one of the most populous film festivals with an average of 95,000 attendees in the United States. This experience includes almost two weeks of playing over 200+ films from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. and panels for aspiring media influencers to connect with Oscar nominees who contribute to the art of storytelling.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association covered the expenses for this opportunity. They grant similar events to expose students to the film world and heightens their chances of increasing their network pool. This gives students a sense of direction of what it takes to be successful and revamp the industry.

Assistant FTVM Professor Virginia "Toddy" Eames in the Communications Department developed the idea and chaperoned the students. She collaborated with the FTVM Assistant Professor Dr. John Vanderhoef to make this possible.

The selection process was based on those who proclaimed their interest for the film industry. In addition, these driven students completed a scholarship application where they expressed their passion for filmmaking. Those who took part in the trip were Carnel Anderson, Jennifer Caballero, Joshua Cooper, Rachel Dantzler, Carrie McClain, and Kevin Turf.

Eames said the students researched the films they wanted to see prior to the trip. Upon arrival, students either paired up or went all together to view screenings and panels. Each morning, they would gather to debrief their venture.

"They had five or six different venues," said Eames. "They took over the whole downtown Santa Barbara and all day you're just going from screening to screening or lecture to lecture."

The importance of these events includes hearing how successful filmmakers progressed and the difficulty in doing so. Eames said it helped break down barriers for students to achieve their goals when they enter the industry.

"Sometimes it seems like these people are far away," said Eames. "But the reality is that these people are just going to work and to be able to sit in a room and hear them breaking down their stories makes it feel more achievable."

FTVM student Carrie McClain described this as her first film festival. McClain said she absorbed everything in her surroundings confidently. She had many highlights where she heard from director Betsy West, Ai-Ling Lee, actress Marina de Tavira, and met production designer Hannah Beachler on a women's panel.

"These women were present, happy to be there, hilarious and dropped so many quotables," said McClain. "I was so inspired and loved hearing about their experiences and upbringings and work."

Another attendee, FTVM major Jennifer Callabero, particularly enjoyed, among all the events, the Women's Panel discussion.

"They had amazing advice for their work methods and the industry in general," said Callabero. "Seeing so many powerful women seated together really gave me faith that maybe one day I can be seated there with them. I think this trip was incredibly helpful because it really exposed me to how many careers you can look forward to in the film industry."