Mar. 25, 2021 -- Hollywood, Bollywood … and Heights middle schools? That’s right, middle school students from Monticello and Roxboro will have the opportunity to write, direct and even star in their own short films this spring and summer as part of Heights Middle School Shorts.

The multi-week mixed media arts camp is focused on youth film production from start to finish, according to HMSS founders and district parents Jennifer Holland, Lance Godard and India Meesig.

HMSS, which exists under the auspices of Reaching Heights, hopes to fill ten more spots in its inaugural spring-summer film production camp. Twenty free-of-charge spots have already been filled by Heights middle schoolers eager to learn and create in the camp. For the initial portion of the camp, students currently enrolled at Monticello and Roxboro Middle Schools will gather at Lake Erie Ink for four Saturdays of short story/screenwriting instruction with Cliff Sweeney.

After two weeks off, students will meet at Heights High for the next stages in the film production process: everything from scouting film locations to holding casting calls for actors to directing and filming their “short” to editing it for production. This portion of the camp will run Monday through Friday for two consecutive weeks from June 14 until June 25 under the guidance of Heights High graduate and producer Antonio Harper.

Mrs. Holland, who grew up involved in youth arts, is big on partnering with and lifting up other organizations, like Lake Erie Ink who is leading the writing workshops for campers. Mr. Harper is also bringing in a music producer friend to guide the students in creating their soundtracks or film scores.

Each student will have the opportunity to be in charge of their own production, while they each may also play supporting roles in the productions of other campers, whether that be as an actor or helper. “I really wanted them to be in the driver’s seat and make it their own,” said Mrs. Holland. “When kids have an actual hands-on opportunity to create something, they’re hungry to learn more and keep going.”

Mr. Godard agrees. “It’s really exciting because the kids will get make all the decisions. They’ll have to be creative and resourceful. If it’s cloudy outside on their filming day, how will they make that work? It forces ingenuity.”

Mrs. Meesig likes that the camp appeals to children who might not typically be recognized as leaders since they will be able to work independently if that’s what they prefer. “Even the child who is so shy, … this will help them find their voice and tell their own story in a unique way.”

The camp will close with a screening of films for socially-distanced campers and their families (stay tuned for details). Mrs. Holland hopes to eventually be able to screen the films for the broader community.

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The Saturday short story/screen writing portion will be held from 11am to 1pm at Lake Erie Ink at the Coventry Peace Campus on May 8, 15, 22 and June 5. The two-week film production portion will be held at Heights High from 11am to 3pm, Monday through Friday June 14 to 25. Lunch will be provided.

There are some available scholarships for the program. The application, which has a March 31 deadline, can be found here.