The 10th Annual Real to Reel Global Youth Film Festival presented by Better Youth Inc. commenced on October 5th at the Los Angeles Film School with support from City Officials, local celebrities, and seasoned industry professionals.
The festival opened with support from local celebrities walking the red carpet, which included Jasmine Sanders (Co-Host of The DL Hughley Show), Ben Cain (Hulu’s Cruel Summer), Angie Ayala (The Girl In The Pool), Queen Mother Freda Sideroff (Public Figure) and Melvin Jackson Jr. (HBO’s The Wire; BET’s The New Edition Story), to name a few.
During the festival, emerging young filmmakers had the opportunity to hear personal stories and groundbreaking information from seasoned industry professionals during two panel discussions. In addition, award-winning producer Kristina Sullivan lead an exclusive screenwriting workshop from her book “Script To Screen 101” discussing how to turn an idea into a script, then how to turn a script into a film or series.
This year’s panelists included Festival Founder & Screenwriter Syd Stewart (Hulu’s Johnson; AllBlk’s G.R.I.T.S), Director Sean McNamara (Disney’s That’s So Raven), P. Frank Williams (Emmy & NAACP Image Award Winning TV & Film Producer/Director; Director Hulu’s Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told and A&E’s Who Killed Tupac?), Actor Merrick McCartha (CW’s All American), Legendary Author Bryan Michael Stoller (Filmmaking for Dummies), Jan Lucanus (CEO of ReelwUrld – Cinematic Social Network), Isabella Blake Thomas (British Actress), Zay Domo (Actor), Montana Jacobowitz (Actress & Voice-Over Artist), Jax Malcolm (Actor & Filmmaker), Marcus Marshall (President of NAMIC), Ayana Hawk (Independent Filmmaker), moderated by Johna Rivers (Festival Co-Founder) and Tarrence Bryant Jr. (Youth Author).
The festival featured several films, among them included “Flesh and Blood”, “re:connection”, “The Jazz Pianist”, “Going Green”, “Unconditional”, “Afterworld”, “Bare Luxuries”, “Room”, “How to make a college?”, “Way To Go”, “CIN-E-RAMA”, “Colored Color”, “MAX”, “Missing with Privilege”, “Intertwined”, “This Isn’t The End”, “Ablaze”, “Token Two: The White Version”, “Guiding Light”, “A Better Life”, and “Bird Drone”.
This year’s winning films included Best Drama – “Unconditional” directed by Grant Housley, Best Action – “Afterworld” directed by Oscar Bermudez, Best Documentary – “Going Green” directed by Sanchali Pothuru, Best Animation – “re:connection” directed by Directed by Kristina Tran, Best Horror Movie – “Flesh and Blood” directed by Paul Vo Le, and Best Storyline – “The Jazz Pianist” directed by Shahan Rao.
The festival ended with an awards ceremony congratulating the festival founders, panelists, staff, and sponsors. Awards were presented by the office of Councilmember District 13 Hugo Soto-Martinez and Supervisor Lindsey Horvath was onsite to present an award from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. The festival founders were specifically recognized for their commitment to providing community arts programing and services for foster and system-impacted youth.
Better Youth Inc. has earned and learn pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship training programs. Applications are open. For more information visit https://www.betteryouth.org/
To support Better Youth Inc. in their commitment of uplifting foster and system-impacted youth, donations can be made online at www.betteryouth.tv/DONATE.
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ABOUT BETTER YOUTH INC.
Better Youth is a social impact non-profit with a mission is to build creative confidence, close resource gaps and prepare foster and system impacted youth for sustained success in the creative economy. Better Youth’s no-cost creative media programs provide technical skills training, mentorship, professional skills development and paid work experience to bridge the digital and diversity divide. Their program progression includes state and federally registered pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship career pathways in animation, interactive gaming, filmmaking and project management. Better Youth’s vision is to activate our youth as the next-gen powerhouses of the creative economy. Founded by CEO Syd Stewart who has extensive nonprofit experience, Better Youth started as a music and creative writing organization. In the heart of New York City, Stewart led with the goal to ease children from their daily adversities. She worked with children from The Ronald McDonald House battling cancer and children facing poverty in the housing projects of Harlem. In 2010, Stewart set her sights on the west coast in Los Angeles. To learn more or donate to the organization visit www.betteryouth.org.
ABOUT REAL TO REEL GLOBAL YOUTH FILM FESTIVAL
Real to Reel is an extraordinary film festival in Los Angeles showcasing the incredible talents of young filmmakers from diverse backgrounds. Presented by Better Youth, our festival is a vibrant celebration of creativity and a platform for youth empowerment through showing their talents on the big screen. Aiming to bring together audiences and emerging artists, our film festival celebrates captivating stories and the artistry of the next generation of filmmakers. We receive hundreds of submissions each year and showcase the best and most captivating films created by our diverse young filmmakers. To learn more visit https://www.betteryouth.
