Alumni give students a first-hand look at Hollywood

A dozen video production students at Ballard High School will get a first-hand look at the competitive film industry this spring. The students will visit Hollywood to meet with professionals, visit world-class film schools and connect with Ballard alumni.

Matt Lawrence, the Video Production teacher at BHS, tells us the following alum will talk with the 12 students:

Kyle Seago graduated from BHS in ’07, and attended the film production program at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. By his second year of college, Kyle was getting such attractive job offers that he decided to put college on hold. The next few years took him to Italy, Morocco, Greece, and Macau for location shoots as he rose to the position of Associate Producer. Kyle is eager to talk with current students about the program at Loyola Marymount and entering the industry.

Brendan McCarthy graduated in ’04 and attended film school at New York University. He is currently in Los Angeles working in the writers’ room of the new CBS series Rob! (broadcast Thursday evenings at 8:30 pm). Brendan will talk with students about writing for the industry and give them a tour of Studio City.

Chloe Warner-Moyer (’11) is currently attending Chapman University’s Creative Producing Program on a Dean’s Scholarship. She’ll be joining us for a tour of the new facilities at Chapman’s Dodge School of Film & Television and giving students the inside scoop on the producing program.

Rikke Heinecke (’11) is organizing our tour of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema Arts, where she’s studying film production. She’s also arranging a chance for us to screen work by USC film students and meet some of the faculty.

All of these schools made the Hollywood Reporter’s list of the world’s top film schools, released last year.

The film industry is highly-competitive and getting into a top college is difficult. “Despite these odds, BHS video students regularly gain admission to these prestigious schools,” Lawrence says. “As they move through college and enter the industry, these program alumni provide an ongoing source of inspiration and support for students currently in the program.”