Senior film dreams :::
LTHS senior needs your vote to make her dreams in film come true
Lights! Camera! Action! Lyons Township High School senior R. Kuntz, recently wrapped up a film project and is in the throws of a competition to win a nationwide screening in Los Angeles.
Kuntz worked on the crew of a film, which is one of six finalists in the running for "Sprite Refreshing Films," a program, sponsored by Sprite and Dreaming Tree Productions, which enables teens to write, create, produce, direct and edit six short films, alongside industry pros.
In April, the finished films will be showcased at
www.spriterefreshingfilms.com and will go
head-to-head for viewing and a nationwide text voting competition to select the top three films.
The films will also be viewed and judged by the Green Ribbon Panel, a collection of industry
experts who will judge on the technical aspects of the films. The final winning film will be
announced in early June and that film will be showcased at a major film festival, with the
associated winning film crew, staff, and screenwriter in attendance.
Kuntz applied for the program in December and was one of only 15 students chosen from
thousands of applications to work on the Chicago film crew. Films were also shot in Atlanta,
Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami and New York.
In February, the film crew met for seven days in Chicago at the Dreaming Tree Production headquarters. They were given a script. They casted and rehearsed with actors, found catering, bought costumes, secured locations and equipment, choreographed a fight scene, and finished the necessary paper work. They had one day to shoot the entire 10 minute film and shot from 7am to midnight. The last day was reserved for editing.
Kuntz says, “Overall, the week was one of the best weeks of my life. Dreaming Tree and Sprite put together a program that gave us full control over our film. Each of us left with new skills and knowledge, as well as industry connections that will be very useful in the future.”
Dreaming Tree Films specializes in producing programs that provide teens with hands-on experience and allows them to interact with and explore the creative process of filmmaking. In fact, LTHS and LTTV have a growing reputation with Dreaming Tree Films, beginning with Camille Suknovich, a current LT sophomore, who was selected as a Reese Puffs Los Angeles crew member and was flown out to LA to make a film last year.
All six teams finished filming in the last week of February, and all six films will be completed by April 1st and will premiere online. Voting is as follows:
Round One: One on one battle, whichever team wins from each week is in the top 3
April 1-11 Chicago vs. New York
How to vote:
- Text "CHI" to 777483 to vote for the Chicago film.
- Each phone can text "CHI" to 777483 up to 500 times each day.
- Caps from Sprite and Sprite Zero 12oz, 20oz, and 2 liter bottles contain codes under the
lids. These codes can be texted with "CHI" to 777483. Each cap is worth 25 votes.
-MAXIMIZE VOTES: 500 text votes (490 regular texts +10 Sprite cap codes) = 740 votes per
day.
Kuntz adds, “If the Chicago team wins, the 15 crew members plus the screenwriter will be flown to LA to attend the LA Film Festival in June and be given an opportunity to be involved in an event that might possibly change our lives and futures in the film and television industry. Please vote”& amp; lt; /p>