Reel Works Summer Lab Graduation
“In Summer Lab, I learned to find new meaning in my surroundings and appreciate the beauty of everyday life. I enjoyed documenting the world and getting to explore New York City with other aspiring filmmakers.” - Olive Ephross, 15
In the face of the Covid climate, we recognized how important it is to reach students where they’re at. That’s why this summer, our education team was determined to provide programming to students who were itching to find an in-person community and also offer virtual online filmmaking to students from their homes. As a result, we were thrilled to be able to provide two Summer Lab cohorts this year - one virtual and one in-person.
We were fortunate to have two amazing instructors - filmmakers Naja Newell and Kevin Schreck - who taught the two courses alongside 4 peer mentors and 1 teaching assistant. With every day being a new topic, the students' understanding of film broadened. We saw students become more intentional with their thought processes as they created their weekly short films. From the choices they make when shooting footage to when they are ready to edit, they all bring something from their unique backgrounds creating an environment where everyone is learning from each other.
Rohan Gelber-Higgins, 14, shared, “I learned how to utilize color in the film. In my film, in the dream world and when it transitioned into the real world, the colors shifted… I was experimenting with something I learned which is how colors can convey different emotions in your film and I was inspired by The Wizard of Oz.”
After four intensive weeks, the Summer Lab students screened their films on July 29th. 19 brilliant young filmmakers from the two cohorts were joined by family and friends to celebrate their accomplishments and showcase their final shorts. Students from the in-person Summer Lab program gathered at the Reel Works office for a small and intimate screening of the student’s works. Students in our virtual Summer Lab class premiered their films online and mingled together in Zoom Q&A where students shared what they learned and their favorite moments of the program.
