Local kids win big at Summer Visions fete

By Dan Hilborn
Published Oct. 1, 2005


Five young filmmakers from Burnaby are absolutely ecstatic after winning a raft of awards from one of the most sought-after summer school programs in the province.

"I had a blast and I didn't expect it to be so interesting," said Jenia Sukhan, a Grade 12 student at Burnaby Central who was co- winner of the Most Original Script Award for the film Stan the Man at the Summer Visions Film Institute for Youth.

Other Burnaby winners at the student film school included Aiden Brant-Briscall who won Best Cinematography and Mentor's Choice for his film Spaceman, Giulia Lombardo who won Best Sound Design for her film Serenity Now and Jen Wu-Dipopolo who won Best Editing on Reflection.

Summer Visions, now in its sixth year, matches students between the ages of 14 and 19 years with experienced film industry professionals as they spend two weeks creating their own short films.

Sukhan, who first heard about the program while taking an acting class at Burnaby Central, said he simply wasn't prepared for the wide variety of skills and talents needed to produce even his own short seven-minute film.

"It was very involving," Sukhan said. "We only had a week and a half to work on it, and the entire time everyone was collaborating. We had a whole bunch of mentors and they basically gave us classes in how to film well, the different aspects of using the camera, how to put together a storyline and we actually had a brief acting class with Jimmy Crescenzo."

While Sukhan won his award for scriptwriting, his official title in the film's credits was unit production manager. "I don't really know what that means, but I worked closely with the director and was sort of the art director," he said. "I created the storyboard of the film, because that's a hobby of mine - drawing. I also worked with the director on the original story line."

While Sukhan is planning to enter law school next year, he does admit that his experience at Summer Vision may open the door to new possibilities. "My parents are always telling me to make sure I go into something I enjoy," he said wistfully.

Lombardo, a 16-year-old Burnaby resident who attends Notre Dame, is already active in the film industry, having served as an extra in the locally produced film Paradise Redrawn and in the drama club at school.

Lombardo said nothing compares to the fast pace and steep learning curve of Summer Visions.

"I have worked on films before, but this was different," she said. "It was working with people I'd never met before, and I didn't know their style or what they did well. After a couple of days we found out who was good at what, and it was a real learning experience."

Lombardo had one of the more unique jobs among the 30 films produced this summer. Her film, Serenity Now, had very little dialogue and mostly used music and background sounds to convey its message.

After creating a drum rhythm on a computer program, Lombardo found sampled sounds of nature which were editing over top the music to create an aural landscape that tells the story of a man who becomes frustrated with the mundane world and returns to nature.

This year's Summer Visions program was opened to 150 students - including 20 from Burnaby - who produced 30 films that were showcased over two nights at Pacific Cinematheque last week.

The program is cosponsored by Templeton Secondary and student scholarships are provided by the Autoplan Brokers of the Lower Mainland, who benefit by having the students return at the end of summer to produce some of the more remarkable short films of the seasons - a series of very well-produced and alternatively hilarious and serious public service announcements o safe driving.

For more information on this unique summer film program for youth, visit the website at www.summervisions.ca.