The Piedmont Highlander

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The Piedmont Highlander

The Piedmont Highlander

Campers Produce Nationally Recognized Films

Campers+Produce+Nationally+Recognized+Films

Camp Reel Stories As freshman Clarissa Lam watches through the viewfinder of a camera, senior Mariah Papy shouts
out “action” and MHS junior Jenna Tessler transforms into her character on screen.

For one week every summer, a congregation of girls aged 13-18 from across the Bay Area come together for Camp Reel Stories. In just seven to nine days, these ambitious young women split up into production companies to plan and produce every aspect of their own short films with the guidance of industry professionals. Occasionally, their shorts gain recognition at prestigious festivals and inspire audiences across the nation.

The camp seeks to empower young women to value and nurture their own unique voice, create their own media, view current media critically and thoughtfully and aspire to leadership in all aspects of their lives, according to the mission statement on the camp’s website. Camp Reel Stories gives a voice to young women who in many cases have not been represented in the film industry, PMS film teacher Anne Smith. Smith is also on the Board of Directors at the camp, where she has worked since its founding three years ago.

“Female characters are not just whimpering princesses in despair,” Papy said. “There are so many stories about women that are not being told.”

This year, 10 Piedmont students were among the Camp Reel Stories campers. These girls attended the camp to learn the behind-the-scenes aspects of film and translate their ideas into film.

“[Camp Reel Stories] gets girls more into the media and behind-the-scenes so we can be better represented,” Lam said.

Three short films made by Piedmont students this past summer have been accepted into the All American High School Film Festival (AAHSFF) in New York City. The films are “Sleepy House,” a dramatic narrative by Papy, Lam and Tessler, and documentary style shorts “Between the Shelves”
by sophomore Emma Ziegler and “What If?” by freshmen Jane Simonetti and Elizabeth Winters. The girls also received help from students from other schools within their production companies.

“I am beyond excited to have an eye-opening opportunity like this and to meet many interesting people along the way,” Winters said.

Before this year, no films from Camp Reel Stories have ever been selected by the AAHSFF, which receives submissions from throughout the country. Recognition by a national festival allows the girls to share their films with a larger audience that goes beyond the Bay Area, Smith said.

A panel of industry professionals judges the films, which compete for various prizes and awards. The event is scheduled to take place from Oct. 7 to 9 in Times Square.

All three shorts, along with other films made at the camp, can be viewed by the public on Camp Reel Stories’s website and Youtube channel.

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