Aspiring filmmakers gathered on Thursday, December 5 at Sprayberry High School for the annual Cobb County Movie Extravaganza, allowing video production students to express their creative energy and receive recognition for their hard work and dedication to their craft. Each year, a host of Cobb County video production teachers decide on a line, character name, and prop that students must incorporate in their films.

“The prompt is a great way to start everyone on even grounds for the Festival. The prop this year was a bracelet, the character name was Avery Cooper, and the line was ‘Anything can happen if you let it,’” NC’s video production teacher Dan Knode said.

Students in teams of ten or less received the prompt and randomly assigned genres on November 1. The teams then scripted, shot, and edited a five minute short film incorporating all aspects of the prompt and embodying their genre.  

On November 10, the groups submitted their films and scripts to their video. A team of video production teachers and other industry professionals then judged the entries based on story, acting, cinematography and how the groups used the prompt. Former NC video production teacher Joshua Dempsey hosted the night of celebration, adding his own touch of well-received dad jokes.  

“The ceremony was done really well and it was good to see Dempsey there because he was a big motivator for me to continue with film. As a teacher, he really helped me realize how much I liked filmmaking,” senior Nico Cava said.

Four sets of films paraded the screen in a randomly selected order. The audience  enjoyed a screening of exemplary student films.

“Film fest was more than just the ceremony with awards, an audience actually gets to see your creativeness in your video and that’s really amazing,” senior Brandon Martinez said.

After all fifteen selected films received their time on the big screen, Dempsey took to the stage to announce awards. First place in the advanced category went to NC’s very own “Was it worth it?” produced by Syndicate Productions. Senior Nate Richards received the best actor award for his performance in “Was it worth it?,” where he played a struggling videographer who unknowingly filmed the ransom video for his girlfriend. The audience also cast a vote for their favorite film of the night, which went to NC’s other advanced submission “180” produced by Shubh Productions. Senior Sam Wender received the best supporting actor award for his role in “180” as a kid with childish motivations.

“Competing in the film fest was a really cool learning experience for everyone, and I feel like as filmmakers we learned a lot and we can take that and do bigger and better things,” senior Christophe Cesar said.

Overall, NC dominated the county at the festival and set a high standard for next year’s entries.