Expanding arts opportunities through filmmaking at GRHS

A stranger sits alone in a diner, but every time they order food they disappear before the waitress can bring it to them. When the waitress starts to question the stranger's mysterious nature, she also uncovers a murder cold case. . .

Two freshmen students are locking up the theater at their high school and are told to leave the "ghost light" on - an old theater superstition. When one of the girls starts switching the ghost light on and off, she starts seeing strange silhouettes. . .

These are the stories told by two Green River High School students in the short films they entered in the Cheyenne Youth Short Film Festival - both of which earned three nominations, with one winning an award.

Junior Madilyn Grubb's film "5-0" was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, and Best Actress for Beth Figenser. Sophomore Keira Mollman's film "Ghost Light" won Best Artistic Direction and was nominated for Best Editing and Best Actress for Dakota Bernal.

These two films are just some of the work Green River High School students have submitted to film festivals in the past few years, and hopefully just the start of a new opportunity for involvement in the arts at the high school.

The student that started it all

In 2020, the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic was hard on everyone, and theater students were no exception. Unable to perform for audiences, Green River theater students had to find different outlets, including helping with livestreams for school events that couldn't have in-person crowds.

While helping film livestreams, Madilyn Grubb, a freshman at the time, realized how much she enjoyed filming. Bradlee Skinner, the theater director at GRHS, encouraged her to try making her own film and entering it in the short film category at the annual Wyoming State Thespian Festival.

"After that, I found out that Cheyenne was doing competitions, so that's when I started just entering them," Grubb said.

The Cheyenne Youth Short Film Festival does different events throughout the year, including the "Fear Film Fest" in the fall around Halloween. This short film competition specifically focuses on horror, suspense, thriller, and other scary genres. Students enter short films (typically under seven minutes) that meet specific requirements, including using a certain prop and line in the film to ensure it is new material.

"You have two weeks from that release [with the rules] to have your film written, filmed, edited and submitted," Skinner explained. "So it's a pretty quick turnaround. But it's fun."

Everyone involved in making films for the festival has to be under the age of 18, so students are the ones writing, producing, filming, acting, editing, doing music, and more.

"It's all student-driven," Skinner said. "They come up with the concepts, the ideas, and then they make it happen."

"I write it, I direct it, I film it and I edit it," Grubb said, explaining her own filmmaking process. "So I do it all."

As she's made films over the last few years, Grubb has learned and grown through the process, saying you can "drastically see the improvement" from when she started.

One of the things she likes about being a part of film festivals is being able to watch films others have made and learn from what they've done. She said a lot of what she's learned has come from "just being able to see what other people submit and then adding that to mine to make it better."

Grubb has also learned that she enjoys writing and directing, but isn't as interested in filming and editing. For her, it comes down to the story itself.

"I learned how to portray human emotional experiences better, because you can read it and talk about it, but actually seeing it is completely different," she explained, adding she learned showing emotion allows people to "have an emotional connection with the film."

At first, Grubb was the only Green River student entering films in competitions. Since then, she has inspired other students to try their hand at filmmaking as well.

"Madi has had a lot of success," Skinner said. "She's received several nominations for the last couple of years for several of her films and continues to see success with what she's doing. So I think that's where a lot of the motivation for other students came from. They've been seeing what Madi is able to do and how creative her work is, and they've wanted to start diving into it as well and kind of following in her footsteps."

The film that won an award

One of the students Grubb helped inspire was Keira Mollman.

"I have loved theater since I was a little girl, and I have always been interested in the art of film," Mollman said. "When I heard about this festival I was very excited that I could test my skills and put in the work to make something I could look back on in the future."

Mollman worked with other students from her theater class to develop and create the film, using around 20 other students to act and help operate cameras, according to Skinner. Even with the help, however, Mollman took the lead.

"It really was her film," Skinner said. "She did the majority of the work on it, and was pleasantly, I think, surprised and rewarded for her work, and especially with that being her first film."

While this was her first official film, Mollman said she used to make short videos and "mini-movies" as a kid. Still, doing even a five-minute film for a competition was a new challenge.

"There is more put into the process of making a film than most people realize," Mollman said. "I was always behind the scenes making sure that things went according to plans. I needed to direct camera positions, tell the actress/actors what to do and where to go, I also needed to create a storyline that would be accurate and understood by the viewer, and that is only a few of the works that I needed to do. I think the best part of making a film is being able to see it all come together in the end and see how all of the hard work paid off."

The future for the filmmakers

While Grubb and Mollman's films both did well at the "Fear Film Fest," they're not done yet. Both films, along with a few others from GRHS students, are being entered in the short film category at this year's State Theater competition, which is taking place in Gillette next week. From there, the films could potentially be entered in other film competitions and festivals across the state and beyond.

Skinner is also looking into options for offering a local screening of the films within the next few months, and has been working with Jonathon Crawford at WyoMovies.

"We've talked to him about being able to play them up on the big screen so family and friends and the students could come in and actually watch their film in a theater environment," Skinner explained.

Even if having the films at the movie theater doesn't work out, Skinner is still planning to find a way to have a local screening so everyone can see the students' hard work.

As for Grubb and Mollman, while they still have some time in high school to keep making films and entering them into festivals, neither filmmaker is planning to stop there.

"I hope to make many more films in the future and to gain experience so that possibly I could make a career out of it," Mollman said. "I feel as if that would be a lot of fun. I have learned through making films that to get something to where you want it, you have to persevere and stay committed so that your final product can be something you can be proud of."

Grubb also plans to persevere and continue filmmaking, explaining she hopes to study film in college and go into directing for her career.

The future of film at GRHS

Just as these students have discovered a passion they want to turn into a career, Skinner is hopeful that even more students at GRHS will see all the possibilities the film industry offers.

Students are starting to learn that many things they do in their free time for fun and things they're already working on in classes are "actual marketable skills," according to Skinner.

"We have kids that make amazing creative videos on Instagram and TikTok all the time," he said. "So bring those same skills to something productive like this. And you might find that you have a possible career path."

The film industry also isn't just for actors and directors, according to Skinner, but has a variety of jobs and skillsets that students at the high school are already learning and excelling in, from welding and woodwork to culinary arts to creative writing and art.

"I'd like to see more students get involved and just share that creativity that they have in a positive outlet, and maybe find something they didn't know about themselves to tell a story that needs telling or to find a potential future career," Skinner said.

It's also important to Skinner to encourage students to find a career path they enjoy so they can last longer in it and be healthier physically, mentally, and emotionally.

"Work doesn't have to be boring, it doesn't have to be tiresome, it can be something that you love and that you're passionate about," he said. "And they can bring those skills to it."

When it comes to the high school, Skinner hopes even more students get involved with and bring their ideas to filmmaking. He also said he would love it if the school could eventually have filmmaking classes and students could take advantage of more opportunities, like taking field trips to visit film sets or even being extras in a movie.

"To have just those opportunities would be amazing and to have more time dedicated to that craft, I think it'd be a wonderful opportunity," Skinner said. "I would love it. I think it'd be one that the students would really enjoy."

But for now, Skinner is happy students are learning and finding their passions through making films for festivals.

"More than anything, it's just been exciting to see the students excited about another format," Skinner said. "We've been focusing so long on theater and stagecraft. So to have them be interested in film just gives more students more opportunities. . . to be involved in the arts."