2021 Summer Youth Film Lab Week 1 Recap

The Woodstock Film Festival’s Summer Youth Film Lab began last week with students and their instructors meeting over Zoom and in-person at the Kingston Library. Now in its fourth year, the free filmmaking bootcamp will continue to unfold over the next two weeks as the students continue to develop their projects and convene with a rotating cast of accomplished film industry guest mentors.

Location manager Michele Baker (upper left) speaks with the Summer Youth Film Lab students.

(sitting, left to right) WFF Summer Youth Film Lab alumni Zoe Harvey, Mactier Freeman and Asha Lee with the 2021 program students and instructors.

On Monday July 12th, the students attended a virtual Q&A session with location manager Michele Baker. Born and raised in Ulster County, Michele cut her teeth working on independent films in upstate New York such as Academy Award-nominated director Debra Granik’s DOWN TO THE BONE and on prestige television shows like RUSSIAN DOLL and MR. ROBOT in New York City. Michele spoke to the students about the negotiation skills needed for her position, which involves delicately balancing the needs of the production shooting on-site with the wishes of the property owner. She also walked the students through the location scouting process, showing them the numerous types of photos her team takes on the job to send back to creative in order to help them visualize and plan a shoot.

The next day, the students and instructors met with Summer Youth Film Lab alumni Mactier Freeman, Asha Lee and Zoe Harvey at the Kingston Library. Mactier, Asha and Zoe spoke about their experience in the program as well as the challenges, pitfalls and triumphs that come with creating your first film project. Since participating in the program Zoe has gone on to study filmmaking at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Filmmaker Rachel Grady (bottom row, center left) chats with the Summer Youth Film Lab students.

Screenwriter / producer / director Oren Moverman (second row, right) talks with the Summer Youth Film Lab students about their craft.

Wednesday kicked off with another virtual mentor visit from Academy Award-nominated documentarian Rachel Grady. Rachel and her frequent creative collaborator Heidi Ewing have co-directed several critically-acclaimed documentary films and docuseries including the Academy Award-nominated JESUS CAMP, the Emmy-winning DETROPIA and the Peabody Award-winning 12TH AND DELAWARE. Rachel talked about her journey into the world of documentary film after studying journalism at NYU and advised the students on how to conduct interviews for their projects. A key takeaway from the discussion was to not make art at the expense of your film subjects.

The week concluded with a Zoom meeting with Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning screenwriter / producer / director Oren Moverman. Equally sought after for his writing and directorial skills, Oren’s credits include 2009’s THE MESSENGER starring Woody Harrelson and the upcoming PASSING starring Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson. During the mentor session Oren explained how screenplays exist to kick off the filmmaking process, acting as a bridge between the story concept and the final onscreen product. He also offered words of encouragement for the students, explaining how true creative instinct is born out of hard-earned experience and the failures that come with it.

Stay on the lookout for our next update as the 2021 Summer Youth Film Lab completes its second week!