Nine works by students of the Ballard High School Video Production Program have been named semi-finalists for the 15th Annual Derek Freese High School Film & Video Festival. 

This prestigious festival draws competition from high school filmmakers throughout the nation and is judged by professors from Temple University's renowned film school, acclaimed filmmakers, and members of the Derek Freese Foundation.

“I’m really proud of them especially because the school is particularly known for its documentaries and six of our films are documentaries,” said teacher Matt Lawrence.

“Nine out of the 31 films selected as semi-finalists are from Ballard. I’m like ‘Wow!’ that’s really flattering.”

The jury is currently selecting finalists and will make an announcement next week.  

“If we look at the record, students from our program have taken prizes in the past so it’s certainly possible that we’ll win something,” Lawrence said.

Ballard High video students have been finalists in this festival every year since they began entering in 2004.  
Lawrence said the Derek Freese Foundation was created in the memory of Temple graduate Derek Freese, a talented film student who passed away from heart-failure mere days after arriving in Hollywood to pursuit his filmmaking dreams.

“They’re really trying to promote young filmmakers,” Lawrence. “And it has become a truly international festival that brings high school and college students together.”

The festival will take place on Saturday, Dec. 11th at The REEL, Temple University's Student Cinema in Philadelphia, PA.

Unfortunately, due to a limited budget the students won’t be making the trip to Philadelphia, Lawrence said.

Ballard's semi-finalists are:

The documentary “Bar Ink” by Robyn Cochrane, Georgia Peck, Spencer Miller & Justin Smith-Mercado

The dramatic short “Buy, Sell, Trade” by Emily Deering, Amelia Elizalde & Blair Scott

The documentary “Henry” by Amelia Elizalde, Levi Friedman, Sean Hendricks & Sheridan Koehler

The dramatic short “The Real World” by Matt Law-Phipps, Tony Meyer & Ryan Zemke

The documentary “Seattle Street Performers” by Matt Law-Phipps, Tony Meyer & James Vitz-Wong

The visual story “Signs” by Rikke Heinecke, Tony Meyer & Lizzy O'Laughlin

The documentary “Split Mind” by John Christensen, Rikke Heinecke, Blair Scott & Allie Stock

The documentary “Tanaholics” by Dana Baumgartner, Elise Neroutsos & Alex Papac

The documentary “Without Our Cars” by Sydney Jarol, Dylan Miller & Ryan Zemke